Links for Friday, December 18, 2020

MORE NEWS FROM AROUND THE WORLD

BUSINESS AND TECHNOLOGY:

• Trump’s TikTok ban seems dead; Walmart adopts Chinese model
  Walmart is bringing livestream shopping to TikTok on Friday / CNBC
  “The retailer announced it will host a one-hour livestream Friday on TikTok, where users can shop for Walmart fashion items featured by TikTok creators without having to leave the app.”
• The humbling of Alibaba and Tencent
  China’s Ant stops online bank deposits on Alipay to conform with regulations / Yicai
  “Members of the public will no longer be able to deposit funds with banks that use Alipay, the world’s largest mobile payment platform run by China’s Ant Group, as the fintech giant moves to better align its business with regulatory requirements.”
  Ant Group pulls products that could pump cash into risky regional lenders / Caixin (paywall)
  The good old days are gone for Chinese tech giants / TechNode
• Tencent’s growing reach into global pop music
  Tencent doubles stake in Universal Music Group / New York Post  
  “Chinese internet giant Tencent is doubling its stake to 20% in Universal Music Group, the home of entertainers like Ariana Grande, Lady Gaga, Billie Eilish, Drake, and the Beatles.”  
• Solar and wind power IPO
  China Three Gorges’ new energy arm approved for $3.8 billion IPO / Caixin (paywall)
  China Securities Regulatory Commission (CSRC) approved the IPO application of the state-owned firm, which specializes in solar and wind power generation.
• Electric and autonomous vehicles
  Xpeng delivers first EVs to Norway in slow-going Europe entry / Caixin
  Pony.ai gets green light to test self-driving trucks in Guangzhou / Caixin
• Despite tensions, Xiaomi still going strong in India
  Xiaomi leads Indian smartphone market thanks to strong online push / Caixin
• Internet of Things
  Chinese IoT platform rootcloud raises $122m Series C led by IDG Capital / Caixin
• Internet on planes
  China Eastern, China Telecom scour the skies for new income with internet tie-up / Caixin (paywall)
• Economy still rocky
  China’s top policy panel says government will continue ‘necessary support’ for economy / SCMP (porous paywall)
  Chinese leaders pledge to continue policy support to maintain economic recovery / Straits Times  
  China says economic recovery ‘not yet solid’ after COVID-19 pandemic / AFP via CNA

SCIENCE, HEALTH, AND THE ENVIRONMENT:

• COVID-19 vaccinations
  China to vaccinate 50 million people with its COVID-19 shots / WSJ (paywall)
  “China plans to inoculate 50 million people with two experimental homegrown COVID-19 vaccines before February’s Lunar New Year holiday season, leading up to vaccinations for the broader public by spring.”

POLITICS AND CURRENT AFFAIRS:

• Yet another journalist detained
  Du Bin, Chinese journalist, is detained in Beijing / NYT (porous paywall)
  “China intensified its clampdown on independent reporting, the authorities detained a journalist who recently worked on books that were critical of Communism and the Chinese Communist Party, the journalist’s friends and family said on Friday.”
  See also on The China Project: Bloomberg News staffer detained, Jimmy Lai charged on vague national security grounds as Beijing stifles news media.
• Coal shortage or environmental measures?
  Chinese city that supplies world’s Christmas lights turns off own street lamps / Yicai
  Amid coal crunch, cities limit power to businesses, factories / Sixth Tone
  How China’s coal industry is fighting to survive in a greener world / Japan Times 
• Critics and fans of EU investment deal
  China says EU investment deal in final stage, hails progress / Bloomberg (porous paywall)
  EU should not rush investment deal with China / EU Observer
• South China Sea tensions
  U.S. Navy to adopt ‘more assertive posture’ against China and Russia / Guardian
  “The Pentagon has warned that US maritime forces will become more forceful in responding to acts of aggression, expansionism, and breaches of international law, citing Beijing in particular.”
• Repression of Uyghurs
  The people China’s detaining, spying on and forcing into internment camps / LA Times (porous paywall)  
• Dodgy business at the World Bank
  World Bank says managers pressured staff to alter global business rankings / WSJ (paywall)
  “World Bank management pressured staff members to manipulate data used in its flagship report on business competitiveness, resulting in improvements in China’s and Saudi Arabia’s global rankings.”
• COVID-19 censorship
  Citizen journalist Zhang Zhan to face court over coronavirus coverage / SCMP (porous paywall)
• “Attacking” Australia
  Here are the ways China has attacked Australian goods imports / Bloomberg (porous paywall)
  On The China Project: Australia-China relations: A short history of a downward spiral
• “I didn’t change…the Chinese actually changed” — former Mongolian president
  When you live next to an autocracy / Atlantic (porous paywall)
  “Now a harsh and high-profile critic of Beijing’s recent efforts to stamp out the Mongolian language…in Inner Mongolia,” Tsakhia Elbegdor, former Mongolian president, “and his country offer an extreme example of the difficulties facing nations that are heavily reliant on Beijing.”

SOCIETY AND CULTURE:

• LGBT+ community and Chinese law
  Precarious progress: Advocating for LGBT equality in China / OutRight Action International  
  A report on the “relationship between law and the lives of LGBT people in China.”
• Tai chi
  Chinese tai chi enters Unesco intangible cultural heritage list / Xinhua
  “With tai chi, China now has 42 intangible cultural heritage items on the list.”
• Livestreaming culture
  A Chinese Eat, Pray, Love: Granny’s road trip gives her the freedom she’s always craved / SCMP (porous paywall)