Links for Monday, January 4, 2021

WORTH THINKING ABOUT

Pieces of news or analysis that caught our eye:

“Fears that the Biden administration will offer problematic concessions to China in order to secure climate cooperation are overwrought, built on a false narrative of the past, and focused on the wrong question,” writes Ryan Hass of the Brookings Institution. An excerpt from his analysis:

Although the circumstances of the current U.S.-China relationship differ from the U.S.-Soviet relationship during the Cold War, the logic that led the United States and the Soviet Union to negotiate nuclear arms limitations and jointly eradicate smallpox at the same time as engaging in proxy wars similarly applies to the United States and China today. Coordinating with Beijing to address discrete problems need not, and should not, impede the Biden administration from confronting China in other areas of the relationship where Chinese actions challenge American interests or values. Such capacity for compartmentalization is a hallmark of how mature global powers dispassionately deal with one another.

MORE NEWS FROM AROUND THE WORLD

BUSINESS AND TECHNOLOGY:

• China’s big three telecoms to be delisted in New York
  China telco shares hit by NYSE delisting announcement / Reuters
  “Shares in China’s three biggest telecoms companies fell as much as 5% in Hong Kong on Monday, the first trading session since the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) said it would delist the firms in a move China branded unwise and oppressive.”
  China telecom majors downplay significance of Wall Street delisting / Caixin (paywall)
  “Markets largely shrug off news as companies emphasize they only trade a small volume of shares in the U.S.”
• Tesla sweatshop?
  Giga-sweatshop meets corporate overlords: How Tesla China runs its Shanghai Gigafactory 3 / PingWest
  China’s Tesla Model Y production output is insane / CarBuzz
  Tesla has begun producing Model Y vehicles in China, and has reduced the pre-order sales price by 30% / Yahoo
• Cracking down on ratings firms
  Chinese credit reporting firm punished for operating without a proper license / Caixin (paywall)
  “Pengyuan Credit ordered to return ‘illegal gains’ and pay fines, marking the latest move to rein in personal credit reporting industry excesses.”
  China makes rating firm pay for corporate fraud for first time / FT (paywall)
• Cleaning up the App Store in China
  Apple removes 39,000 game apps from China store to meet deadline / Reuters
• Disruptions to global trade
  COVID-19 shipping problems squeeze China’s exporters / WSJ (paywall)
  U.S. companies face China tariffs as exclusions expire / NYT (porous paywall)
• Tencent-Huawei revenue-sharing dispute
  Tencent games reinstated on Huawei app store / Reuters
• Digital currency
  Shenzhen to double digital yuan giveaway in China’s latest lottery test / CoinDesk
• Factory activity growth slows in December
  China’s manufacturing recovery weakens in December / AP
• “Unnamed” Chinese buyer slurps up Iraqi oil  
  Iraq boosts coffers by $2 billion in Chinese prepaid oil deal / FT (paywall)

SCIENCE, HEALTH, AND THE ENVIRONMENT:

• COVID-free Wuhan
  Crowds fill streets in China’s pandemic-hit Wuhan, celebrate New Year / Reuters
• Extra COVID precautions in Beijing
  Recent Visitors to China Face Mandatory Quarantine in Beijing / Caixin (paywall)
  “Beijing will force all visitors who have been in China for less than three weeks to complete mandatory quarantine on arriving in the capital, following a spate of Covid-19 cases linked to an infected foreign national who came into the city from another province.”
• COVID outbreaks in Dalian and elsewhere
  Covid-19 ‘Super-Spreader’ Responsible for 32 Infections in East China / Caixin (paywall)
  China reports 33 new COVID-19 cases vs 24 a day earlier / Reuters
  China reports first case of new COVID-19 variant / Sixth Tone
  ‘No need to panic,’ China official says of coronavirus variants / Reuters
  “There is no sign new coronavirus variants will affect the immune impact of a vaccine that China has just authorised for public use, a disease control official was quoted as saying on Friday.”
• Foreign researchers to be given access to world’s largest radio telescope
  China to open up Fast telescope to foreign scientists — including those searching for alien life / SCMP
• Space program
  China’s first Mars mission Tianwen-1 expected to reach red planet orbit next month / SCMP

POLITICS AND CURRENT AFFAIRS:

• New Year addresses from China and Taiwan presidents, and other Taiwan developments
  Xi hails China’s economic growth despite pandemic setback / AP
  Tsai credits Taiwan for virus wins, notes China’s threats / AP
  In New Year’s speech, Taiwan president again reaches out to China / Reuters
  ‘Cheap trick’: China rebuffs latest Taiwan offer of talks / Reuters
  China jails 29 Taiwanese deported from Spain for fraud / Reuters
  U.S. warships transit Taiwan Strait, China denounces ‘provocation’ / Reuters
• Hong Kong crackdown continues
  China moves to punish lawyers hired to help Hong Kong activists / NYT (porous paywall)
  “The Chinese legal authorities have threatened to revoke the licenses of two lawyers hired to help a group of Hong Kong protesters who were arrested last year while trying to flee to Taiwan by speedboat.”
  Hong Kong activist Jimmy Lai returned to jail until at least February / Guardian
  Muted vocals: Hong Kong musicians wary of political themes under security law / Varsity via HKFP
• Nepal political turmoil
  Chinese delegation met with leaders of Nepal’s ruling party, opposition / Reuters
  China holds sway in Nepal as rival communist factions create crisis / Reuters
• Influence in the Pacific Islands
  Australia’s influence in Pacific Islands grows as China’s wanes / Bloomberg (porous paywall)
  Chinese bids on Pacific cable raise alarm in U.S. and Australia / Nikkei Asia (paywall)
• Xinjiang and Uyghurs
  U.S. demands release of Uyghur doctor while China urges halt to smears / Reuters
  ‘Nowhere to be found’: Harvard coalition says U.S. must fight to free young Uyghur / Guardian
  ‘Sold out’: Uyghurs fear deportation as China ratifies extradition treaty with Turkey / Middle East Eye

SOCIETY AND CULTURE:

• Chengdu LGBT+ organizations under investigation
  China’s gay capital Chengdu forced to adapt as government tightens controls / AFP via SCMP
  “Some in the gay community say a spike in the number of domestic LGBTQ visitors — unable to travel overseas because of the coronavirus pandemic — drew unwanted attention from city authorities…Major gay bars in the city were temporarily shut down, ostensibly to control a public health crisis. Then, an activist said, all of the city’s LGBTQ organizations were suddenly investigated.”
• Environmentalist frozen in Tibet waters?
  Wang Xiangjun: China’s ‘Glacier Bro’ presumed dead / BBC
  Wáng Xiāngjūn 王相军, 30, “was reportedly exploring a glacial waterfall when he disappeared on December 20… His body has not yet been found, but his social media account appeared to confirm his death on Saturday.”
• Death of a beloved child star
  Death of child star Sun Qiaolu raises cardiovascular awareness among Gen Z / Caixin
  Sūn Qiáolù 孙侨潞, 25, “who played a leading role in a beloved Chinese kids television show called Balala the Fairies, died following a heart attack on the first day of 2021.”