Links for Tuesday, March 2, 2021

BUSINESS AND TECHNOLOGY:

• China’s top banker worries about Western stock bubble
  China is sounding the alarm about a global market bubble / CNN
  “Whirlwind” Guō Shùqīng 郭树清, China’s top banking regulator, called out high levels of leverage and too much real estate speculation in China, and said he was “really afraid the bubble for foreign financial assets will burst someday.”
  China’s focus on bubble risks is a warning sign for stock market / Bloomberg (porous paywall)
  Western financial markets seriously disconnected with real economy: China banking regulator / Global Times
• Jack Ma and Ant Group lick their wounds, promise future IPO
  Jack Ma loses title as China’s richest man after coming under Beijing’s scrutiny / Reuters
  Ant Group boss tries to quell employee discontent with promise of eventual IPO / WSJ (paywall)
  China’s Ant seeks to ease staff concerns about selling company’s shares / Reuters
  Ant Group says it will help employees monetize shares and commits to listing after canceled IPO / CNBC
  Alibaba halves startup investment as Beijing steps up scrutiny / KrASIA
• Fintech companies have two years to straighten up and act like banks
  China gives fintech firms up to two years to meet capital rules / Bloomberg (porous paywall)
• Tencent data center in Middle East
  China’s Tencent Cloud to open data center in Bahrain / Arab News
  Tencent Cloud plans first Mideast data center in Bahrain / Caixin (paywall)
  Related, logistics in the Middle East: Saudia Cargo, Cainiao Network ink deal to support e-commerce operations between China and Europe / Logistics Update Africa
• France removes Huawei equipment from cities
  France’s Huawei ban begins to kick in with purge in urban areas / Bloomberg via Caixin
  France ruled to keep Huawei equipment out of densely populated areas, but the company still has a significant presence in France, and plans to open a new research center in 2023.
• Chip shortages
  Chip shortage will hit electric car production / CNBC
  China semiconductor firm SMIC could be winner from global chip shortage / CNBC
• China’s quest for chip independence
  Xi mobilizes China for tech revolution to cut dependence on West / Bloomberg (porous paywall)
  U.S. panel recommends export ‘choke points’ to prevent Chinese dominance in semiconductors / Reuters
• False advertising for “stock trading secrets”
  Chinese police arrest 147 staff at security consulting firm for $417 million advertising fraud / Yicai
• Hyundai opens $1.3 billion hydrogen fuel cell factory in Guangzhou
  Hyundai Motor breaks ground on first hydrogen plant outside South Korea / Yicai

SCIENCE, HEALTH, AND THE ENVIRONMENT:

• First provincial-level law for safety of medical workers
  Shanghai denies health insurance to doctor abusers / Sixth Tone
  “To address the problem of yinao [医闹 yīnào], or violence against medical workers, the new measures explicitly define such behaviors as physically attacking hospital staff, restricting their freedom, instigating others to commit crimes against them, or destroying public property.”
• Scientists cast doubt on Beijing’s favorite theory of COVID transmission
  WHO investigators deeply skeptical of China’s COVID origin theory / FT (paywall)
  “Vladimir Dedkov from the Pasteur Institute in St Petersburg, Russia, and Fabian Leendertz, an emerging diseases specialist at Germany’s Robert Koch Institute, both told the Financial Times that it was extremely unlikely the first cases of Sars-Cov-2 identified in Wuhan in 2019 entered the city on frozen or refrigerated goods.”
  USDA, FDA reiterate: COVID-19 cannot be transmitted through food or food packages / Food Safety
  The two leading American food regulators made a joint statement on the subject last month.
  WHO said what about Wuhan? / WSJ (paywall)
  Former FDA commissioner Scott Gottlieb wrote in this February 21 op-ed that the food packaging theory is “implausible.”
• COVID origins research
  Coronavirus: U.S. and China should join forces to find the animal host, top Chinese scientists say / SCMP (porous paywall)
  COVID-19 virus studies yield new clues on pandemic’s origin / WSJ (paywall)
  Where did COVID come from? Five mysteries that remain / Nature
• Vaccine hacking?
  Chinese hackers target Indian vaccine makers SII, Bharat Biotech, says security firm / Reuters
• Making smoking slightly less cool on social media
  WeChat’s emoji makeover removes cigar image to help stub out smoking among minors / SCMP (porous paywall)
  “The change comes years after the Beijing Tobacco Control Association initiated a campaign to remove images of smoking on social media.”
• Jilin gas leak
  Blackout-caused gas leak results in five deaths at northeast China factory / Caixin (paywall)
  “The chemical fiber plant in Jilin province lost critical ventilation capacity Saturday night.”

POLITICS AND CURRENT AFFAIRS:

• Hongkongers brace for future of only Beijing-blessed “patriots” as leaders
  China’s electoral reform ‘earthquake’ set to upend Hong Kong politics / Reuters
  “China’s plan to dramatically reform Hong Kong’s electoral system, expected to be unveiled in a parliamentary session in Beijing starting this week, will upend the territory’s political scene, according to more than a dozen politicians from across the spectrum.”
  Hong Kong media and education sectors should also be ‘governed by patriots,’ top Beijing official says / HKFP
  Last week on The China Project: Beijing to further tighten grip on Hong Kong by enshrining patriotism test for public office.
  Bail hearing for 47 Hong Kong democrats facing security law charges drags on, with four hospitalised due to exhaustion / HKFP
  Chinese University Hong Kong student union leaders quit after withdrawing election manifesto, citing death threats / HKFP
  June 4 Museum reopens amid concerns over national security law’s new ‘red lines’ in Hong Kong / SCMP (porous paywall)
  New boss takes helm at under-fire Hong Kong public broadcaster – and is greeted with union protest, word of resignations / SCMP (porous paywall)
• Who will fill a vacant Hong Kong high court seat?
  Alvin Lum on Twitter: “Carrie Lam has for over one month not filled a permanent judge position at Hong Kong’s Court of Final Appeal, despite, as we heard, a recommendation was earlier put forth by a panel led by the Chief Justice. Lam’s office won’t say if there’s any pressure from Beijing.”
  Antony Dapiran on Twitter: “In the past, whenever I have been asked what are the ‘warning signs’ I keep an eye on to monitor the health of HK’s rule of law, my No. 1 factor is always: Whether there are any indications of political interference in the judicial appointment process. Are we there already?”
• How to interpret policy ideas that get floated every March
  “Suggestions” and “proposals” from Two Sessions / Pekingnology newsletter by Zichen Wang
• HR McMaster supports “strategic ambiguity” on Taiwan
  Ex-national security adviser says U.S. has no need to change its ‘strategic ambiguity’ about Taiwan / SCMP (porous paywall)
• Biden administration policies and strategies: Focus on tech?
  U.S. to take hard line on Chinese trade practices, administration says / WSJ (paywall)
  Biden USTR nominee Katherine Tai pledges to ensure China tariffs appropriate / Bloomberg (porous paywall)
  Biden’s trade rep pick says she will fight Chinese trade barriers, including censorship / Reuters
  Biden’s plans to rally allies on China are put to the test / WSJ (paywall)
  U.S. enlists allies to counter China’s technology push / WSJ (paywall)
  Biden putting tech, not troops, at center of U.S.-China strategy / Bloomberg (porous paywall)
• Chinese military technology
  China said to speed up move to more survivable nuclear force / AP
  Chinese military micro drone unveiled at Abu Dhabi weapons show / SCMP (porous paywall)

SOCIETY AND CULTURE:

• Racial tensions in Australia
  Canberra-Beijing hostilities spill over to ordinary Chinese Australians, report finds / Australian ABC
  “Almost one in five Chinese Australians say they have been physically threatened or attacked in the past year, with most blaming tensions stemming from the COVID-19 pandemic or hostility between Canberra and Beijing.”
• Another sexist ad campaign
  Internet-famous Sexy Tea shop blasted for allegedly calling women a “bargain” / Radii
  “One of China’s most popular regional tea shops — the incredibly named Sexy Tea — is increasingly finding itself under fire on social media, following accusations over sexually inappropriate language in its advertising that objectifies women and encourages rape culture.”
  Last week on The China Project: Chinese lingerie brand apologizes for joke about workplace sexism.
• New newsletter about “everyday life on the Chinese internet”
  S01 “Pilot”: Welcome to Chaoyang Trap House / Chaoyang Trap House