Links for Wednesday, December 23, 2020

WORTH THINKING ABOUT

Pieces of news or analysis that caught our eye:

The impacts of gender balance in leadership: Shen Lu writes for ChinaFile on newly compiled data showing just how few women are involved in Chinese policymaking, and what that means for the country:

Less than 9 percent of Party secretaries and heads of local governments at the provincial, municipal, and county levels are women. At the county level, women make up 9.33 percent of leadership, 5.29 percent at the city-level, and 3.23 percent at the provincial level. ChinaFile calculated these numbers by aggregating biographical information on Chinese government personnel from a database maintained by The People’s Daily. This data was last updated in 2017…

With so few women in leadership positions, it’s little wonder the government has failed to prioritize policies that would improve the options and opportunities for women. In gender studies, a theory of “critical mass” hypothesizes that deliberative bodies must be made up of at least 30 percent women to impact policymaking.

Regulator scrutiny of group-buying platforms came quick: Yesterday, we published a story titled Consumers love cheap groceries, but can community group buying withstand government scrutiny? Today, Caixin reports:

The State Administration of Market Regulation (SAMR) and the Ministry of Commerce on Tuesday met with internet firms — including Alibaba, Tencent, JD.com, Meituan, Pinduoduo and Didi — and issued a list of group-buying business restrictions, according to a Tuesday statement (link in Chinese).

The regulators said that the platforms should not sell below cost for the purpose of monopolizing the market, adding that a price war has “put pressure on employment.” The regulators also warned the companies about illegally collecting customers’ personal data.

Related on The China Project: China fines three large internet companies for Anti-Monopoly Law violations.

MORE NEWS FROM AROUND THE WORLD

BUSINESS AND TECHNOLOGY:

• Trust sector oversight
  Regulators seize troubled Sichuan Trust and vow to force restructuring / Caixin (paywall)
  “Regulators took control of Sichuan Trust Co. Ltd. after the local trust company failed to deliver a satisfactory resolution of a $3.6 billion investment repayment crisis that has dragged on since May…Sichuan Trust is the latest target on regulators’ radar this year as China moves to put the once free-wheeling $3.1 trillion trust industry under closer oversight.”
• Delays and price raises for imported meat and seafood
  Anti-COVID measures send extra chill through meat, seafood imports / Caixin (paywall)
  “A good indicator of [frozen food import levels] is frozen fish, one of the few specific frozen seafood and meat categories tracked by China’s customs. After posting year-on-year gains each month in the first half of the year, China’s frozen fish imports suddenly plunged 52% in August, then rebounded slightly to a milder 18% decline in September, only to plunge again by 39% in October, the latest customs data shows.”
• Autonomous vehicle plans on both sides of the Pacific
  Chinese autonomous vehicle company WeRide raises $200 million from bus maker Yutong / Reuters
  Apple inches toward record after report on autonomous car plans / Bloomberg via Caixin
• Australia-China trade dispute
  China-Australia relations: WTO confirms appeal lodged against Beijing’s tariffs on Australian barley / SCMP
  China-Australia relations: Trade minister torch passes to Dan Tehan as bilateral feud enters ninth month / SCMP
• Venezuelan oil
  Venezuela resumes direct oil shipments to China despite U.S. sanctions / Reuters
• More fake meat products
  Burger King joins fake meat race in China with launch of plant-based burger / Caixin
• U.S. Department of Homeland Security warns about Chinese cyber threats
  U.S. urges American firms to shun Chinese data service companies / Bloomberg (porous paywall)

SCIENCE, HEALTH, AND THE ENVIRONMENT:

• Vaccine updates: 380 million doses committed
  Questions persist over China’s vaccine export deals / Caixin (paywall)
  “Researchers at the Duke University’s Global Health Innovation Center in North Carolina have been tracking Covid-19 vaccine commitments made by the world’s leading vaccine firms. Their figures show that apart from the nation’s commitments to U.N.-backed vaccine initiative COVAX, three of the four Chinese firms with vaccines in the final phases of trials have committed almost 380 million doses to countries in Latin America, Southeast Asia, and the Middle East.”
  UAE rolls out free Chinese vaccines to all citizens and residents / FT (paywall)
  China’s CAS COVID-19 vaccine induces immune response in mid-stage tests / Reuters
  Chinese province gives free vaccines to priority groups in push for herd immunity / SCMP
  “Guangdong officials have identified priority groups as cold chain food handlers, quarantine workers, border control and customs officials, cross-border truckers, medical personnel, grass-roots epidemic officials and public transport staff. The plan also covers people who need to travel abroad for work or study.”
• COVID-19 in Hong Kong and Liaoning Province
  Hong Kong finds two students from U.K. brought variant strain of COVID-19 back with them / Caixin (paywall)
  China visa centers in England close as new coronavirus variant spreads / Reuters
  Enough vaccines secured for all Hongkongers; compulsory quarantine extended to 21 days for UK arrivals / HKFP
  Three weeks after arriving back in China, Shenyang resident tests positive for COVID-19 / Caixin
  Dalian limits large gatherings over rising COVID-19 concerns / Sixth Tone

POLITICS AND CURRENT AFFAIRS:

• Hong Kong updates
  An 18th procrastination: Season finale / Antony Dapiran’s newsletter
  Hong Kong media tycoon Jimmy Lai is freed on bail / NYT (porous paywall)
  Detained writer tells readers to pursue democracy / RTHK
• U.S. officials says that Chinese companies do “intelligence tasking” for Beijing
  How China’s tech giants like Alibaba, Tencent, and Baidu aid spy agencies / Foreign Policy (paywall)
  “In what amounts to intelligence tasking, China’s spy services order private Chinese companies with big-data analytics capabilities to ‘condition’ — that is, work up or process—massive sets of information, including from hacks like the massive breach of the U.S. Office of Personnel Management (OPM), that have intelligence value, according to current and former officials. This data then promptly flows back to Chinese state entities, they say.”
• Another round of U.S.-China visa sanctions
  China imposes new visa limits in back-and-forth with U.S. / AP
  “China hit back with reciprocal actions Tuesday against unnamed American officials in the latest back-and-forth, following a U.S. announcement of new visa restrictions on Chinese officials…whose policies or actions are aimed at repressing religious groups, ethnic minorities, dissidents or others.”
• Food waste crackdown continues
  In anti-food waste push, China to outlaw binge-eating ‘mukbang’ videos / Sixth Tone
  China to bring in law against food waste with fines for promoting overeating / Guardian
• South Korea airspace dispute
  South Korea scrambles jets as Chinese, Russian aircraft enter air defense zone / Reuters
  China says fighter aircraft did not enter South Korea’s air space / Reuters
• Beijing balks at German appeal to release Canadian hostages
  ‘Good riddance,’ China says as Germany leaves U.N. Security Council / Reuters
  “Germany’s U.N. envoy, during his last scheduled U.N. Security Council meeting, appealed to China to free two detained Canadians for Christmas, prompting China’s deputy U.N. envoy to respond: ‘Out of the bottom of my heart: Good riddance.’”
• Chinese mining company vehicles stolen in CAR
  250 Chinese moved amid violence in Central African Republic / AP
• Japan called Tiananmen crackdown “unacceptable,” but opposed sanctions
  Declassified papers show Japan opposed Tiananmen sanctions / Nikkei Asia (paywall)

SOCIETY AND CULTURE:

• Sexism in Chinese comedy
  Famous comedian creates buzz by telling potential female partners: ‘Don’t waste our time’ / Caixin
  “A video that has gone viral shows famous comedian Guō Dégāng 郭德纲 saying he would not recruit female members for his troupe that specializes in the xiangsheng-style of stand-up comedy.”
  Related, on The China Project: In China, women stand-up comedians offend their way into the mainstream.
• The murder trial of Láo Róngzhī 劳荣枝
  Accused of seven murders, woman goes on trial in China after 20 years on the run / CNN
• Cool-off periods for divorce to take effect January 1
  Ahead of 2021 divorce restrictions, Chinese couples rush to untie the knot / Sixth Tone