Links for Tuesday, January 5, 2021

WORTH THINKING ABOUT

Pieces of news or analysis that caught our eye:

A program of “ethnic fusion” is spreading far beyond Xinjiang, where the most well-documented and extreme abuses have occured, the Wall Street Journal reports.

• The WSJ details previously reported stories, including on the dilution of Mongolian language instruction in Inner Mongolia, a labor training program in Tibet that raised alarms, and a crackdown in Hainan.
• The WSJ also reports new details on “convenience police stations,” part of the security networks in Tibet that were applied on a grand scale in Xinjiang, being set up in cities from three separate regions with high concentrations of ethnic minorities: Guangxi, Qinghai, and Gansu. “None of the three cities has been the site of terrorist attacks or serious ethnic violence in recent years,” the WSJ notes.

MORE NEWS FROM AROUND THE WORLD

BUSINESS AND TECHNOLOGY:

• Chinese telecom delistings canceled
  In sudden u-turn, NYSE scraps plan to delist three Chinese telecom firms / Reuters
• Aftermath of Pinduoduo employee death
  China state news agency urges end to long work hours in tech / AP
  Yesterday on The China Project: ‘Who isn’t trading life for money?’ asks Pinduoduo after overworked employee dies.
• New restrictions on real estate lending
  China caps bank loans for real estate, homebuyers to curb systemic risk / Caixin (paywall)
  Multiple Chinese bank stocks plummet as new rules bite / Caixin (paywall)
  China December new home prices slow, private survey shows / Reuters
• Healthtech firm raises half a billion
  Trustbridge leads $500m round for Tencent-backed Chinese healthtech firm DXY / Caixin
• Will the business of virtual reality become a reality in China?
  iQiyi VR arm raises cash for hardware, content in latest funding round / Caixin (paywall)
  “Investors are betting big on future growth as demand for VR services has yet to materialize in China.”
• Food security
  China vows to improve food security as imports rise to record / Bloomberg (porous paywall)
  China signals more support for genetically modified crops to ensure food supplies don’t run short / Caixin (paywall)
• Chinese demand for Bentleys up almost 50%
  Carmaker Bentley posts record 2020 sales thanks to China boost / Reuters
• Losses and wins in trademark cases
  Amazon banned from using AWS logo in China trademark ruling / WSJ (paywall)
  “The Beijing Municipal High People’s Court ruled that the trademark for the term ‘AWS’ belonged to ActionSoft Science & Technology Development Co., a Chinese software and data services company, according to a court verdict published Dec. 30.”
  HanesBrands wins infringement case against six defendants in China / Business Wire
• Electric car subsidy cut
  China slashes new-energy car subsidies 20% as sales rebound / Caixin (paywall)

SCIENCE, HEALTH, AND THE ENVIRONMENT:

• COVID-19 in Shijiazhuang and elsewhere
  COVID-19 fight in China’s Hebei enters ‘wartime mode’ / Reuters
  China reports 33 new COVID-19 cases vs 33 a day earlier / Reuters
  Hong Kong extends school closures until Lunar New Year / Caixin (paywall)
  COVID-19: Hong Kong mulls possible curbs on home gatherings as Carrie Lam defends travel restrictions / HKFP
• Carbon trading to begin in February
  China issues rules on national carbon emission exchange / Reuters
  “Under the rules, effective from February 1, only firms who emit 26,000 tonnes of CO2 equivalent a year or more are allowed to trade.”
• Vaccine diplomacy
  China’s CNBG has supplied 3 million COVID-19 vaccine doses to UAE / Reuters
  Chinese vaccine makers to apply for clearance in the Philippines, as Duterte tries to block probe into illegal inoculations / SCMP
  China battles to build trust in its vaccines abroad / Bloomberg (porous paywall)
  Inside China’s exhausting race to develop a coronavirus vaccine / SCMP
• Legal status of HIV status concealment
  Applying China’s new Civil Code, Shanghai court annuls marriage after husband hides HIV-positive status from wife / What’s on Weibo
  In legal first, Chinese court grants annulment over concealed HIV status / Sixth Tone

POLITICS AND CURRENT AFFAIRS:

• Beijing sticks by Iran deal despite violation, calls on U.S. to “return unconditionally”
  China urges calm and restraint after Iran enrichment announcement / Reuters
  “Iran said it had resumed 20% uranium enrichment at an underground nuclear facility, which breaches a 2015 nuclear pact with major powers, including China.”
• India-China tensions
  Indian soldiers well-entrenched to counter any misadventure by China in eastern Ladakh / Times of India
  India asks China to help 39 sailors stuck at Chinese ports / AP
  India-China standoff: China deploys tanks along LAC opposite Indian posts / WionNews
  Xi Jinping orders China’s military to be ready for war ‘at any second’ / SCMP
• Influence in Sri Lanka
  U.S. yanks $480 million aid to Sri Lanka with eye on China / Nikkei Asia (paywall)
• A Chinese drone in Indonesia?
  Indonesian fisher finds drone submarine on possible covert mission / Guardian
  Indonesia governor believes drone behind security scare was made in China / Reuters
• Germany to get tougher on China after Merkel? 
  ‘We need a real policy for China’: Germany ponders post-Merkel shift / FT (paywall) 

SOCIETY AND CULTURE:

• Medieval trade between England and China?
  Medieval Chinese coin found in England suggests a vast medieval trade route / Smithsonian Magazine
  “For the second time in three years, an 11th-century Chinese coin has been found in England, a possible indication that medieval trade between England and the Far East was more widespread than previously thought, according to a recent blog post by Cambridge historian Caitlin Green.”
• The mysterious death of China’s would-be George Lucas
  How Lin Qi’s poisoning death shocked China / NYT (porous paywall)
• Obituary: Advertising and auto exec, philanthropist Shirley Young (杨雪兰 Yáng Xuělán)
  Shirley Young, businesswoman and cultural diplomat to China, dies at 85 / NYT (porous paywall)
• Cheating in computer gaming
  Chinese esports teams banned over Dota 2 match fixing / Sixth Tone