Links for Thursday, January 28, 2021

WORTH THINKING ABOUT

Pieces of news or analysis that caught our eye:

A call for Chinese leadership change, if not regime change: Politico published an op-ed by an anonymous “former senior government official with deep expertise and experience dealing with China,” which lays out the “broad outlines” of a strategy for dealing with China relations in the era of Xí Jìnpíng 习近平. In short, the author wants the U.S. and China to cooperate, but doesn’t think this will be possible as long as someone like Xi is in charge in Beijing. The author writes:

It might be helpful to keep in mind one overriding political objective: To cause China’s elite leadership to conclude that it is in the country’s best interests to operate as a status-quo power again. This means that the Party needs to see a clearer route to success by staying within the existing U.S.-led liberal international order than by building a rival order; and it should clearly be in the Party’s best interests, if it wishes to remain in power at home, not to attempt to expand China’s borders or export its political model beyond China’s shores. In other words, China can become a different type of global great power than that envisaged by Xi.

“The Longer Telegram,” the author’s chosen title for their full policy memo, was separately published by the Atlantic Council. 

David Wertime at Politico writes that the strategy is simultaneously more aggressive than the Trump administration’s approach “because it sets its sights squarely on Xi,” and less aggressive because “it assumes that the CCP is an entity that will continue to be around, one with which the U.S. can work if the right officials are in place.” Wertime adds:

Reality check: It’s possible that whoever theoretically could replace Xi is still worse for U.S. interests or harsher in eliminating dissent. 

MORE NEWS FROM AROUND THE WORLD

BUSINESS AND TECHNOLOGY:

• The smallest of the largest human migration in many years
  China prepares for smallest lunar New Year travel rush on record / Caixin (paywall)
  “Travel authority predicts 1.15 billion trips, 20% fewer than last year and the smallest figure since at least 2003.”
  Related The China Project reporting: Chinese cities offer cash rewards, points for school admission and other perks to stop Spring Festival travel.

• IPO backlogs in Shanghai and Shenzhen lead to terminated applications
  Hundreds of IPOs stuck in logjam amid tightened regulatory reviews / Caixin (paywall)
  “A total of 14 companies that planned to list on mainland bourses had their listing processes terminated so far this year, and at least seven of them withdrew their applications voluntarily, data from the Shanghai and Shenzhen exchanges showed. That compares with only three terminated IPO applications in the same period last year.”

• Didi Freight raises money as on-demand trucking competition heats up
  Didi is close to raising $1.5 billion for trucking unit / Caixin
  “Backed by Tencent Holdings Ltd. and SoftBank, the Chinese startup is taking on larger rivals including Full Truck Alliance — known by its Chinese name Manbang — and Huolala in an already crowded market.”
  Bloomberg reports today that Manbang is preparing for a U.S. IPO “as soon as this year.”
  Related The China Project reporting: Manbang, China’s Uber for truck cargo, raises $1.7 billion.

• Apple again on top of smartphone world
  Apple, Xiaomi take bite out of Huawei’s withering smartphone share / Caixin (paywall, or see Reuters summary)
  “Huawei sales tumbled 42.4% in the fourth quarter under weight of U.S. sanctions, as Apple surged 22% to retake the global crown.”
  Apple logs record quarter as revenue in China jumps nearly 60% / Nikkei Asia

• Starbucks sees growth in China, but not elsewhere
  Starbucks’ sales grow in China, bucking global downturn / Caixin (paywall)
  “Same-store sales of coffee titan Starbucks Corp. in China, its fastest growing overseas market, climbed 5% in the October-December quarter, bucking a broader decline of 3% in international store sales.”

• Self-driving and electric cars
  Look Ma, no safety drivers: Self-driving specialist AutoX takes hands off the wheel with robotaxi service in Shenzhen / Caixin
  Tesla posts first full-year profit on record China sales / Nikkei Asia (paywall)
  BMW cuts prices for its China-made electric SUV by $10,000 / CNBC
  China’s Geely to help bankroll Faraday Future SPAC deal: sources / Reuters
  Baidu wins California permit to test fully driverless vehicles / Caixin

SCIENCE, HEALTH, AND THE ENVIRONMENT: 

• Anal swabs to combat COVID outbreaks
  Chinese cities using anal swabs to screen COVID-19 infections / Reuters
  China expands anal swab coronavirus tests, saying it’s more accurate than throat method / Washington Post
  “Chinese state media outlets introduced the new protocol in recent days, prompting widespread discussion and some outrage…for many, it seemed a step too far in government intrusions after a year and counting of a dignity-eroding pandemic.”

• WHO visit to Wuhan
  WHO says team in Wuhan to visit labs, markets and hospitals / Reuters
  China health authority and WHO discuss cooperation for coronavirus origin investigation / Reuters
  WHO team in Wuhan departs quarantine for COVID origins study / AP
  EXPLAINER: How experts will hunt for COVID origins in China / AP
  Relative of virus victim asks to meet WHO experts in Wuhan / AP

• Early WHO frustrations with China
  Recordings reveal WHO concerns about China’s early COVID response / PBS Frontline

• COVID-19 in Hong Kong
  In pictures: Hong Kong imposes another ‘ambush’-style COVID-19 lockdown in North Point as residents undergo compulsory testing / HKFP
  Polls shows Hong Kong residents’ distrust of Chinese vaccines / Reuters
  “Hong Kong people are less trusting of Chinese novel coronavirus vaccines than those made in Europe and the United States, with fewer than 30% of people questioned in a survey finding China’s Sinovac vaccine acceptable.”

• Vaccine diplomacy
  Myanmar starts India-made COVID jabs, but China vaccine on hold / Nikkei Asia (paywall)
  Xi says China ready to strengthen cooperation with Bolivia on COVID-19 vaccines / Xinhua (Chinese version here)

POLITICS AND CURRENT AFFAIRS:

• Hong Kong governance
  China’s President Xi says ‘patriots’ should govern Hong Kong / Bloomberg (porous paywall)
  No foreign judges will hear the first national security law case before Hong Kong’s top court / SCMP

• Grievances in Wuhan
  Families of Wuhan COVID dead say chat group deleted by authorities / Guardian

• Disinformation and misinformation
  Chinese bots had key role in debunked ballot video shared by Eric Trump / Guardian
  White House: ‘Great concern’ over COVID origin ‘misinformation’ from China / AFP via Guardian

• New Zealand and Australia contrast China approaches
  New Zealand trade minister tries to ease tensions after saying Australia should ‘show respect’ to China / Guardian
  China-Australia relations: Canberra hits back at Xi Jinping’s ‘bullying’ remarks amid trade dispute / SCMP

• Ethnic minority identity repression
  Assimilation of Chinese minorities is not just a Uyghur thing / Economist (porous paywall)

SOCIETY AND CULTURE:

• Singing about domestic violence
  Tan Weiwei’s ‘Xiao Juan’ addresses domestic violence in China / NYT (porous paywall)
  Related The China Project reporting: Chinese songs that say ‘Me Too.’

• Free streaming as government discourages travel for Spring Festival
  China’s iQiyi to offer free movies, TV over holiday after Beijing’s urging / Reuters

• Worker protections
  As China’s gig economy booms, concerns grow over worker protections / Sixth Tone
  The gig economy challenges China’s state-run labor unions / Economist (porous paywall)