Links for Monday, February 22, 2021

BUSINESS AND TECHNOLOGY:

• India-China business tensions ease
  India to clear 45 investments from China, likely to include Great Wall, SAIC — sources / Reuters
• Scrapped Iraq oil deal
  Iraq walks away from $2 billion upfront oil deal with China / Bloomberg via World Oil
  “Baghdad opted not to go ahead with the contract after oil prices rose in recent months, [Iraqi oil minister] Ihsan Abdul Jabbar said.”
• China boosts rare earths supply
  China raises rare earth output quotas to record high / Caixin (paywall)
  “The news follows reports that China was exploring the possibility of imposing a rare earth export ban.”
  China boosts rare-earth output amid growing tech war with US / Nikkei Asia (paywall)
  “New quota is 30% higher than last year as demand for EVs and robotics soar.”
• Hydrogen-powered car hopes
  Sinopec doubles down on hydrogen despite demand drought / Caixin (paywall)
  “Company to target 1,000 fuel-cell refilling stations in coming years, even as vehicles sales remain miniscule.”
• No electric cars from Xiaomi
  Xiaomi rebuffs rumors it wants to make smart cars / Caixin (paywall)
• Foreign majority-owned wealth management venture
  Schroders to form China wealth management venture with BOCOM / Reuters
  “Schroders said on Monday it had received Chinese regulatory permission to form a majority-owned wealth management venture with a unit of Bank of Communications (BOCOM), the country’s fifth biggest lender.”
• Industry software maker Black Lake raises $77 million
  Industrial software-maker Black Lake raises $77 million with eye on Southeast Asia / Caixin (paywall, or see TechCrunch article)
  Leading the new funding round was Singaporean sovereign wealth fund Temasek, which is expected to help Black Lake expand into the Southeast Asian market.
• Huawei to release flagship foldable smartphone
  Huawei unveils flagship foldable smartphone / AP
• Financially struggling voice recognition firm withdraws from Shanghai IPO
  Voice recognition specialist goes silent on STAR market IPO / Caixin (paywall)
  “Unisound becomes at least the second firm to withdraw a new listing application this month from the Nasdaq-style market, as regulator tightens scrutiny of applicants.”
• Chinese government invests in gene data bank operator BGI
  Chinese state fund invests in gene firm BGI / Reuters

SCIENCE, HEALTH, AND THE ENVIRONMENT:

• Vaccines
  Hong Kong leader gets China’s Sinovac vaccine to bolster public confidence / Reuters
  Over 43 million doses of Sinopharm’s COVID-19 vaccines used globally: state media / Reuters
  China to aid 19 more African nations with COVID-19 vaccines: foreign ministry / Xinhua
• Clamping down on chemicals in consumer products
  China to plug regulation gap of emerging contaminants control / Caixin (paywall)
  “The chemicals are found in pharmaceutical, manufacturing, and personal care products and are not currently covered by the country’s environmental monitoring system.”
• WHO COVID-19 origins investigation
  White House: China and WHO need to ‘step up’ on investigation into origin of pandemic / NPR
  I was on the WHO’s COVID mission to China, here’s what we found / The Guardian
  Dominic Dwyer, the Australian representative on the WHO mission to Wuhan, writes that COVID-19 “didn’t originate in Wuhan’s wet market, but it could have been spread by frozen food.”

POLITICS AND CURRENT AFFAIRS:

• China asks for U.S.-China reset but offers nothing new
  China calls for reset in Sino-U.S. relations / Reuters
  Chinese FM calls on U.S. to bring China policy back to reason / Xinhua
  China says China, U.S. and Europe should work together to uphold multilateralism / Reuters
  Chinese ambassador to U.S. says the two countries must define policy boundaries / Reuters
  China urges Biden to scrap tariffs, restore goodwill / Bloomberg (porous paywall)
  Related, on The China Project: China’s top diplomat bashes Trump policies, warns Biden to respect ‘redline’ issues.
• Xinjiang internment camps
  China rejects genocide charge in Xinjiang, says door open to U.N. / Reuters
  Britain denounces abuses ‘on industrial scale’ in China’s Xinjiang / Reuters
  Britain to challenge China at U.N. over access to Xinjiang / Reuters
  “Britain will on Monday call for the United Nations to be given ‘urgent and unfettered’ access to Xinjiang to investigate reports of abuses in the Chinese region.”
  U.S. ban on China’s Xinjiang cotton fractures fashion industry supply chains / Washington Post (porous paywall)
  After tentative start, Kazakhstan is obliterating Xinjiang activism / Eurasianet
  Canada PM Justin Trudeau’s cabinet to abstain from China genocide vote, senior official says / SCMP
• U.K. woos China as Boris Johnson’s brother runs China-focused investment firm
  Boris Johnson declares he is ‘fervently Sinophile’ as U.K. woos China / The Guardian
  What is Boris Johnson’s brother up to in China? / Business Because
  “Max is the youngest brother of UK prime minister Boris Johnson. But he has his own story to tell; a journey from an MBA, to Goldman Sachs, and a role at the center of UK-China business.”
  See also: A video on Xinhua (in Chinese, with bilingual subtitles), currently featured at the top of its home page, declaring that the works of Shakespeare were “one of the most important youth reading materials of Xi Jinping,” and urging harmonious relations between Britain and China.
• India-China border disengagement
  India, China complete troop pullout from lake area / Reuters
  India and China hold fresh round of border talks after ‘smooth completion’ of pullback from Pangong Tso / SCMP
• Censorship of social media commentary on India-China border dispute
  China detains several for social media posts on deaths of PLA ‘heroes’ at India border / SCMP
  Weibo influencer banned, detained for slandering Galwan Valley martyrs / Sixth Tone
  Global Times on Twitter: “The internet is not a lawless place.”
  Last week on The China Project: China discloses four military fatalities from India border clash last June.
• Did China’s hackers learn from the U.S.?
  Chinese spyware code was copied from America’s NSA: researchers / Reuters
• Hong Kong’s Beijing-style democracy
  Beijing official signals Hong Kong electoral reforms to ensure ‘patriots’ govern / Reuters
  Chinese official signals changes to Hong Kong election rules / Bloomberg (porous paywall)
  Top EU diplomats step up criticism of China’s crackdown on Hong Kong / SCMP
• South China Sea tensions
  Taiwan scrambles air force again after Chinese exercises in South China Sea / Reuters
  “After nine Chinese air force aircraft flew near the Pratas Islands on Friday, the Taiwanese Defence Ministry said it tracked 11 aircraft on Saturday — eight fighter jets, two nuclear-capable H-6 bombers and an anti-submarine aircraft, also near the islands.”
  Vietnam builds up defenses against Beijing in Spratly Islands, report says / SCMP
• East China Sea tensions
  China coast guard vessels enter Japan waters near Senkakus / Nikkei Asia (paywall)
• Spying for Beijing in Taiwan
  Four Taiwan ex-intelligence officers charged with spying for China / AFP via HKFP
• CGTN tries to get back on air in Europe
  China’s state broadcaster applies to France for right to air in Europe / FT (paywall)

SOCIETY AND CULTURE:

• Mixed reviews of hit movie
  ‘Hi, Mom’ is a hit, but netizens are divided over titular character / Sixth Tone
• The story of a military nurse in Pakistan
  Inches from heaven, splattered in blood / Sixth Tone
  “In the second of a two-part series on the top secret Karakoram Highway, a former nurse shares her experiences treating the soldiers tasked with this monumental project.”
• The regressive swag of Modern China Tea Shop
  Sexist tea mugs leave a sour taste in China: Shanghai Daily / Reuters
  “A popular chain of Chinese tea shops has apologized for a range of cups and teabags sporting sexist slogans.”