Links for Wednesday, February 24, 2021

BUSINESS AND TECHNOLOGY:

• The “beginning of the end for baijiu’s outrageous valuations”
  Moutai’s $80 billion rout sends signal for China’s stock market / Bloomberg via Yahoo
  “The biggest stock listed in mainland China has lost $80 billion since onshore markets reopened after the Lunar New Year holiday. Wednesday’s 5.1% drop put Moutai’s five-day decline at 16%, the biggest for such a period since October 2018. The company had rallied 30% this year through its February 10 record close.”
• Hong Kong to raise tax on equity transactions
  Hong Kong’s plan for 30% stamp duty hike sinks stocks / Caixin (paywall)
  “Government says it needs to raise revenue as it reports record budget deficit.”
• China is the king of 5G
  West looks on as China dominates global 5G market / Caixin (paywall)
  “Nation now has 70% of the world’s base stations for the cutting-edge technology, according to new government statistics.”
• Smart and alternative fuel cars
  China’s electric vehicle sales expected to grow 51% this year, research firm says / Caixin
  Chip startup Horizon Robotics joins hands with automaker to develop smart cars / Caixin
  JD.com applies for trademark registration for autonomous vehicle business / Gasgoo
  China’s hydrogen-powered vehicle dreams inch ahead / Caixin (paywall)
• Cheap chickens hit meat company’s bottom line
  China’s largest livestock producer sees profits slide as post-swine flu oversupply eats into prices / Caixin (paywall)
  “Wens Foodstuff has been dealt a double blow as poultry prices tumbled more than 20% in 2020 as the Covid-19 pandemic hit businesses.”
• China’s increasingly aggressive climate plans
  China’s latest carbon plan would top even President Xi’s targets / Bloomberg (porous paywall)
  The new 10-year renewables proposal “would require wind, solar and biomass to deliver 25.9% of national power sales or consumption in 2030,” and also “set much longer-term guidance than has been typical for the industry.”
• Lalamove apologizes for customer’s death
  Lalamove rolls out new safety measures, backpedals after passenger death / KrASIA
  On-demand delivery company Lalamove (Huolala in China) apologized for the death of a 23-year-old woman after she jumped from a moving van, apparently in fear of the driver, who has since been arrested.

SCIENCE, HEALTH, AND THE ENVIRONMENT:

• China’s missions to Mars
  China’s Mars craft enters parking orbit before landing rover / AP
  China officially plans to move ahead with super-heavy Long March 9 rocket / Ars Technica
  “In a snippet from an interview with CCTV, the deputy director of the China National Space Agency, Wu Yanhua, said the main purpose of the new rocket is for any ‘crewed lunar landing or crewed Mars landing missions’ the country may undertake.”

POLITICS AND CURRENT AFFAIRS:

• Beijing seems serious about joining post-Trump Pacific trade deal
  China starts informal talks with CPTPP countries in membership pursuit / Caixin
  “Chinese commerce ministry said the talks with some CPTPP members were to achieve a ‘more accurate understanding’ of the pact on a technical level.”
• Imprisoned Uyghurs, trade, and an Olympic boycott
  China: Baseless imprisonments surge in Xinjiang / Human Rights Watch
  “While few verdicts and other official documents are publicly available due to Xinjiang authorities’ tight control of information, a Human Rights Watch analysis of nearly 60 of these cases suggests that many people have been convicted and imprisoned without committing a genuine offense.”
  We need to talk about trade with China, U.K. parliament tells PM Johnson / Reuters
  “British Prime Minister Boris Johnson is locked in a battle with parliament over the country’s approach to trade with China, fuelled by criticism that his government is lagging its peers in its condemnation of the treatment of Uyighur Muslims in Xinjiang.”
  Johnson rules out boycott of Beijing winter Olympics / BBC
  China rejects growing Western criticism at U.N. rights forum / Reuters
• Hong Kong to spend big on ‘national security’
  Hong Kong allocates $1 billion for national security crackdown / Quartz
  Hong Kong Budget 2021: HK$8 billion earmarked for national security spending despite city facing record deficit / HKFP
  Hong Kong Budget 2021: Funding for public broadcaster RTHK cut by 4.6 percent / HKFP
  Four Hong Kong pro-democracy district councillors vow to serve ’till the last moment’ after gov’t signals ousting / HKFP
• Chinese agri-aid for new friend Kiribati
  Kiribati and China to develop former climate-refuge land in Fiji / Guardian
  “A block of land the government of Kiribati bought in Fiji half a decade ago — ostensibly to serve as a refuge when their country disappeared under a rising ocean — will be transformed into a commercial farm to help feed the i-Kiribati people, with ‘technical assistance’ from China.”
  Kiribati switched diplomatic recognition from Taiwan to China in 2019.
• Biden administration still talking tough on China
  Biden CIA nominee Burns calls China an ‘authoritarian adversary’ / Reuters
  Biden trade czar’s to-do list — China tariffs to UK post-Brexit / Reuters
  U.S. Treasury No. 2 nominee Adeyemo urges get-tough attitude on China / Reuters
  Biden nominee open to using Trump-era China investment ban / Bloomberg (porous paywall)
  China says ready to enhance exchanges with U.S. on trade, economic front / Reuters
• U.S. Congress actions against China
  Senators revive bill to combat Chinese censorship of U.S. companies / Reuters
  Top U.S. Senate Democrat directs lawmakers to craft bill to counter China / Reuters
• Biden pledges support for Canada’s two Michaels
  Biden, Trudeau pledge to counter China, climate change, in warm first ‘meeting’ / Reuters
  “Trudeau also thanked Biden for reiterating U.S. support for the release of two Canadians held by China, Michael Spavor and Michael Kovrig. ‘Human beings are not bartering chips,’ Biden said. ‘We’re going to work together until we get their safe return.’”
• Advice for Biden administration
  A word of advice to the Biden administration / China Heritage
  The Biden administration should review and rebuild the Trump administration’s China initiative from the ground up / Lawfare
• East China Sea tensions
  China says Japan-U.S. security treaty a product of Cold War / AP
  “China on Wednesday called the Japan-U.S. mutual security pact a product of the Cold War following U.S. criticism of the presence of Chinese coast guard vessels in Japanese-claimed territorial waters over the weekend.”
• China urges lifting sanctions on Iran
  China says Iran nuclear issue at ‘critical point’ / AP
• Europe considers how tough on China to be
  EU-China investment deal faces backlash in European Parliament / SCMP
  China faces European obstacles as some countries heed U.S. pressure / WSJ (paywall)
  U.S. and allies to build ‘China-free’ tech supply chain / Nikkei Asia (paywall)
  MEPs scrap over how hard to push China on Uyghur labor / Politico

SOCIETY AND CULTURE:

• Plagiarism in sci-fi
  China’s top sci-fi author is…Stephen King? / Sixth Tone
  “A Chinese writer’s submission for a prestigious domestic award was found to have copied the entire plot from a decades-old story by the prominent American author.”
• Obituary
  Ian Taylor, pioneering China-Africa scholar, dies at 52 / China-Africa Project
• Photography of local culture in southeastern China
  An island in time: Capturing Dongshan’s disappearing history / Sixth Tone
  Dongshan is “a tiny collection of isles in the Taiwan Strait famous mainly for being the site of a series of battles during the tail end of the Chinese Civil War.”
• Egg freezing and gender equality
  China’s latest justification for egg-freezing ban gets cold reception / Sixth Tone
  “Health authorities say the restrictive policy is meant to curb potentially exploitative practices like egg-selling and surrogacy. Single women say they just want equal rights.”
• Foreign students who can’t get back to China
  Let them in: Foreign students locked out of China deserve compassion / SCMP
  Curtis Chin argues, “Online learning and other half measures will never replace the hands-on experience and cultural understanding that comes with studying in another country.”