Links for Thursday, December 17, 2020

MORE NEWS FROM AROUND THE WORLD

BUSINESS AND TECHNOLOGY:

• The booming business of toys
  Lego plans physical store expansion in China / Bloomberg (porous paywall)
  See also: Chinese toy maker Pop Mart surges nearly 80% in Hong Kong debut / Reuters
• Punishment for Luckin
  China’s Luckin Coffee to pay $180 million fine in fraud case / AP
  Context: Luckin to be delisted from Nasdaq after fraud scandal.
• Fashion and textile manufacturing
  Wrangler re-enters China jeans market after lengthy COVID delay / Bloomberg (porous paywall)
  China’s pandemic-driven textile export boom probably won’t last / Caixin (paywall)
  “After years of textile manufacturing moving away from China as costs cut into slim profit margins, export orders are booming this year amid the COVID-19 pandemic,” but they are unlikely to continue.  
• Chinese millennial consumers love DTC brands like Allbirds and Everlane  
  Why China’s millennials are targeting these Silicon Valley brands / Jing Daily  
• TikTok plows on as Trump ban vanishes from headlines
  Walmart partners with TikTok to sell merchandise while livestreaming / Reuters via CNA
• “It’s not a classic Corvette, it’s SongSan’s SS Dolphin. And it’s a gas-electric hybrid.”
  A 1958 ’Vette translated into modern Chinese / NYT (porous paywall)
• How to sell financial products to young Chinese people
  Inside the cutthroat world of China mutual fund livestreaming / Bloomberg (porous paywall)
  “In a Shenzhen milk-tea shop popular with social media influencers, mutual fund manager Deng Jingdong pins a lapel mic to his shirt, stares down the barrel of a camera, and starts livestreaming to his 400,000 viewers.”
• Beijing to subsidize foreign companies?
  China to provide financial support to key foreign companies / Bloomberg (porous paywall)
  “China’s government said it will provide financial support to some foreign companies to help them offset the impact of the pandemic and resolve funding difficulties.”
• More media scrutiny on Alibaba facial recognition to identify Uyghurs
  Alibaba facial recognition tech specifically picks out Uyghur minority – report / Reuters
  China’s Alibaba pushed software to help firms identify Uyghurs through facial features / AP via HKFP
  Alibaba offered clients facial recognition to identify Uyghur people, report reveals / Guardian
• Political risks for Alibaba and Tencent
  Analysis: Xi sees Alibaba and Tencent as rising threats to power / Nikkei
• U.S.-China silicon wars and TSMC
  Taiwan semiconductor maker caught in the U.S.-China rivalry / LA Times (porous paywall)  
• China — where movie theaters aren’t dead
  Imax may add over 400 theaters in China by 2023 with new deal / Bloomberg (porous paywall)
• “Tighter monetary policy, widening a divergence with other large economies”
  China’s central bank going it alone spurs an influx of capital / Bloomberg (porous paywall)

SCIENCE, HEALTH, AND THE ENVIRONMENT:

• Plastic pollution
  China biodegradable plastics ‘failing to solve pollution crisis’ / BBC
  “A massive increase in biodegradable plastic production in China is outpacing the country’s ability to degrade the materials.”
• Will China’s sanctions on Australia help end the coal era?
  China battles the world’s biggest coal exporter, and coal is losing / NYT (porous paywall)
• COVID-19 vaccination plan
  China to vaccinate 50 million people for Lunar New Year / SCMP (porous paywall)

POLITICS AND CURRENT AFFAIRS:

• U.S.-China military tensions and strategy
  U.S. stood up by China at military safety meeting / WSJ (paywall)
  “People’s Liberation Army no-show at scheduled bilateral dialogue is the first in memory, U.S. defense official says.”
  New U.S. maritime strategy sets sights on China / U.S. Naval Institute News
  “The Navy, Marine Corps and Coast Guard released their clearest argument yet for what they need to do to be prepared to take on China — not in a hypothetical future scenario, but in the day-to-day competition happening now on the seas.”
• “Chinese public vastly overestimates China’s global image and popularity”
  How information bubble drives the Chinese public’s views of China’s global standing and fuels grassroots nationalism / China Data Lab
• Risks of war
  Competition with China could be short and sharp / Foreign Affairs (porous paywall)
  Michael Beckley and Hal Brands argue that “the risk of an American war with China is ‘greatest in the next decade’ as ‘historically, the most desperate dashes have come from powers that had been on the ascent but grew worried that their time was running short.’”
• “Another blow” for Huawei
  Sweden can go ahead with 5G auction that bans Huawei gear, court rules / Caixin (paywall)
• Gangs of Hong Kong
  Former Wo Shing Wo triad heads among seven arrested in Hong Kong temple during initiation ceremony for new recruit / SCMP (porous paywall)  
  Context: Wo Shing Wo (和勝和 hé shèng hé) / Wikipedia
• On-again off-again EU-China deal
  EU and China revive hopes of investment deal this year / FT (paywall)
  Last week: Scrapped China talks cast shadow over planned EU investment deal / Bloomberg (porous paywall)
• Repression of Uyghurs
  She tweeted from Sweden about the plight of her Uyghur cousin. In Xinjiang, the authorities were watching / CNN

SOCIETY AND CULTURE:

• LGBT+ culture
  In China’s voguing houses, queer millennials strike a new pose / Sixth Tone

The ballroom scene — a subculture where performers compete in extravagant dancing, lip-synching, and modeling contests — is quietly starting to take off in China’s major cities, creating a space for LGBT millennials like Zhao to cut loose and explore their identities safe from the prying eyes of more conservative friends, relatives, and classmates.  

• Sex ed in the countryside
  The young teacher determined to talk sex / Gushi
  “Word that Li Yan decided to start talking about sex in her class quickly spread in the small county seat.”
• Should minors be responsible for their parents’ debts?
  Henan court revokes spending sanctions on deceased debtor’s 9-year-old child / Sixth Tone  
• COVID town, party town: Photos of Wuhan
  One night in Wuhan: COVID-19’s original epicenter re-learns how to party / Reuters
  ‘I tried to become part of Wuhan’: Agency Photographer of 2020 — Hector Retamal / Guardian