Links for Wednesday, March 10, 2021

WORTH THINKING ABOUT

Pieces of news or analysis that caught our eye:

Former President Trump’s impulsive and incoherent China policy is detailed in an upcoming book by Josh Rogin, a Washington Post columnist. A couple articles with excerpts:

• The inside story on Trump’s confrontation with Beijing / Axios
  “Though the U.S. national security community warned that the Chinese telecommunications company was a security threat, Trump repeatedly offered to include Huawei in trade talks.”
• When Trump caved to Xi and threw Taiwan under the bus / The Daily Beast
  “‘Taiwan is like two feet from China,’ Trump told the senator. ‘We are eight thousand miles away. If they invade, there isn’t a fucking thing we can do about it.’”

What if China handled maritime disputes more like the U.S.? That is the interesting, and highly unorthodox, suggestion of “Jiǎ Qìngguó 贾庆国, a member of the Standing Committee of the National Committee of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) and professor and former dean of the School of International Studies at PKU,” as relayed by China media researcher Tuvia Gering in a Twitter thread.

• “In the final analysis [of historical disputes], the U.S. did not think that a forceful resolution of territorial and maritime disputes is the best way to safeguard its national interests,” Jia said in an interview with the blog Xingxing Park (in Chinese). “I think in the future, China could also consider accepting this idea to resolve its territorial and maritime rights disputes.”
• The same Jia Qingguo also suggested that Beijing’s “restrictions on Chinese academics on overseas exchanges have seriously hampered their ability to provide policy suggestions to the government,” SCMP reports.
• Of course: It’s not clear whether moderate voices like Jia have much sway in Beijing these days.

MORE NEWS FROM AROUND THE WORLD

BUSINESS AND TECHNOLOGY:

• Chinese selfie app Meitu buys big into bitcoin
  Beauty and the blockchain — Meitu invests $40 million in cryptocurrency / Caixin (paywall)
  Meitu, the tech company whose flagship product is an astoundingly popular selfie beautification app, announced a plan to spend as much as $100 million of its cash reserves on cryptocurrencies.
  Bitcoin mania triggers fundraising rush by Chinese players / Reuters
  Yesterday on The China Project: Bitcoin mining is still huge in China despite new ban in Inner Mongolia.
• No bad news for stock market during Two Sessions
  China appears to ban ‘stock market’ from social media search / Bloomberg via Yahoo
  The CSI 300 Index, which tracks the performance of the top 300 companies listed in the two mainland Chinese stock markets in Shanghai and Shenzhen, has dropped 14% in the past 14 trading days, but China’s major financial media have downplayed the news.
• Pandemic boom is not a panacea for tech companies
  Online education company 17 Education & Technology losses grow [despite revenue growth] / Caixin
  Delivery platform Dada stays in the red even as pandemic proves a boon / Caixin (paywall)
• Rules on American investments in Xiaomi et al.
  Judge promises ruling this week on Xiaomi challenge to Trump-era ban / Caixin (paywall)
• Surging demand for North American commodities
  For U.S. farmers, China is back and bigger than ever / WSJ (paywall)
  Rapeseed rush sends prices soaring as Chinese demand swells / Reuters
  Three ships carrying U.S. ethanol head to China — sources / Reuters
• Some people are making money
  Chemical-maker bets on medical products boom with $10.3 billion project / Caixin (paywall)
  “Ningxia Baofeng Energy announces plans to build immense new plant in Inner Mongolia to make olefin, a key material for hospital masks and other health care supplies.”
  Machinery rental platform Zhongneng raises $461 million amid infrastructure building boom / KrASIA
  China’s factory gate prices rise at fastest pace in more than two years / Caixin (paywall)
  “PPI increased 1.7% in February on rising commodity prices, while CPI slipped 0.2%.”
  Cosco shipping reports highest profit in 12 years / Caixin
  Lego sales soared in 2020, helped by e-commerce and China growth / CNBC
• Some are losing money
  Hong Kong’s Cathay Pacific posts annual record loss of $2.8bn / Nikkei Asia (paywall)
• Microsoft hack
  Microsoft attack blamed on China goes global, with 60,000 victims / The Seattle Times

SCIENCE, HEALTH, AND THE ENVIRONMENT:

• Smog in Beijing, as the greening of Chinese industry continues, slowly
  Heavy smog hits Beijing during Two Sessions / Caixin
  China leads world’s biggest increase in wind power capacity / Guardian
  “Developers built windfarms with a total capacity of almost 100GW in 2020, a rise of nearly 60% on previous year.”
  Two Sessions 2021: Environment high on the agenda as China pursues carbon neutrality / Caixin (paywall)
  “China’s leaders push for more environmentally conscious development in line with Xi’s vision of an ‘ecological civilization.’”
  China’s aluminum industry eyes recycling, relocation to reduce emissions, official says / Caixin (paywall)
  “Top official from national nonferrous metals association says electrolytic-aluminum makers are moving to areas with greater renewable energy supplies.”
  China’s green push kicks off with a new $10 billion coal project / Bloomberg (porous paywall)
• Concerns about vaccine safety in Hong Kong, despite health authorities’ assurance
  Hongkongers’ demand for Sinovac vaccination wanes as third man in critical condition within days of jab / HKFP
  “Official figures show a steady rise in people not turning up for vaccination from 11 per cent last Saturday to 36 per cent on Tuesday.”
  Sinovac vaccine ruled out as cause of Hong Kong woman’s death / Caixin (paywall)

POLITICS AND CURRENT AFFAIRS:

• U.S.-China diplomatic meeting scheduled for March 18
  Top U.S. and China envoys to meet in Alaska next week / FT (paywall)
  “Antony Blinken, U.S. secretary of state, and Jake Sullivan, Biden’s national security adviser, would meet Yang Jiechi, China’s top foreign policy official, and Wang Yi, its foreign minister, on March 18, the U.S. state department said.”
  U.S and China engage, tentatively, on climate change / WSJ (paywall)
  “Washington and Beijing will co-chair a G-20 study group focusing on climate-related financial risks, a confidence-building move amid strained bilateral ties.”
• India-Australia-Japan-U.S. meeting on March 12
  In message to China, Joe Biden to meet fellow Quad leaders on Friday / AFP via SCMP (porous paywall)
  India to buy first armed drones from U.S. to counter China and Pakistan / Bloomberg SCMP (porous paywall)
• Is it safe for Americans to travel to China?
  China travel: Americans and other Westerners are increasingly scared of traveling there as threat of detention rises / CNN
  Related, last year on The China Project: China threatens to detain Americans in response to crackdown on military-affiliated researchers.
• Tech policy strategy in China, U.S., and Europe
  Xi’s gambit: China plans for a world without American technology / NYT (porous paywall)
  China’s rise drives a U.S. experiment in industrial policy / WSJ (paywall)
  Tech sovereignty key issue for Europe amid tensions between U.S., China / CNBC
• U.S. military pushes for stepped-up presence in Pacific
  U.S. admiral calls for ground-based offensive weaponry in western Pacific / Reuters
  China could invade Taiwan in the next 6 years, assume global leadership role, U.S. admiral warns / NBC News
• Chinese connections at British universities
  U.K. universities’ closeness to China poses risks, says Jo Johnson / Guardian
  Jonathan Sullivan on Twitter: “At what point does collaboration become an attempt to influence? I work with Chinese collaborators on funded research projects: Am I subject to ‘influence’? (No, btw). W/o definitional clarity anything can be called influence.Muddying the water doesn’t help address real problems”

SOCIETY AND CULTURE:

• Punishment for workplace sexual harassment
  Shanghai woman awarded $15,000 in landmark verbal harassment case / Sixth Tone
• Social credit on the Beijing subway
  Honest passengers first! Beijing subway trial of credit-based fast entry system / Global Times
  “The Beijing subway is expected to conduct a trial of the measure based on passengers’ credit scores at several stations, according to a municipal government report on the city’s traffic.”
• Another foreign athlete applies for Chinese citizenship
  S. Korean-born Olympic short track champion applies for Chinese citizenship / Yonhap
  Related, on Caixin: What China’s naturalized athletes reveal about its immigration policy.
• Rise in people living alone, and policies to help them
  92 million Chinese singles live alone in 2021, up from 77 million in 2018 / Insider
  Political advisors call for housing discounts for young people living alone / Global Times