Links for Friday, March 12, 2021

WORTH THINKING ABOUT

Pieces of news or analysis that caught our eye:

Three interesting reads for the weekend:

• A discussion on “Hong Kong’s economic future,” from over half a dozen scholars in ChinaFile.
• An explainer on China’s Consumer Rights Day, which occurs on March 15, in Reuters.
• A profile of the infectious disease expert Zhāng Wénhóng 张文宏 by Li Yuan in the New York Times, in which he is dubbed “China’s Dr. Fauci.”

MORE NEWS FROM AROUND THE WORLD

BUSINESS AND TECHNOLOGY:

• Baidu, Tencent, and other tech giants fined in antitrust probe
  各罚50万 腾讯百度等12家未申报反垄断被追查 / Caixin (paywall)
  China’s market regulator fined 12 companies the maximum 500,000 yuan ($76,850) penalty for mergers conducted between 2017 and 2020 that broke the antitrust law, including:
  • Tencent and Baidu
  • Food delivery leader Meituan
  • Ecommerce and retail giant Suning.com
  • Ride-hailing leader Didi Chuxing
  • K-12 education company TAL Education Group
• Related, from AFP via CNA: China denies mulling near-US$1 billion fine for Alibaba in monopoly case.
• More export controls on Huawei
  U.S. imposes new 5G license limits on some Huawei suppliers / Bloomberg (porous paywall)
  The Biden administration informed some Huawei suppliers of tighter conditions on previously approved export licenses for items in 5G devices. The new restrictions on Huawei, effective as of today, prohibit exports of components like semiconductors, antennas, and batteries for the Chinese company’s devices.
• Jack Ma out, Elon Musk in
  China turns to Elon Musk as technology dreams sour / NYT (porous paywall)
  Chinese people are falling out of love with Jack Ma, and embracing the American entrepreneur Elon Musk who “can fight the establishment and become the richest man on earth.”
• Tesla is winning in China
  Tesla takes two of the three top spots for China’s best-selling NEV models / Caixin
• China’s 5-year vision on research
  China’s five-year plan focuses on scientific self-reliance / Nature
  “Scientific and technological self-reliance takes centre stage in China’s latest five-year plan — a result of recent tensions with the United States and other Western nations spilling over into the realm of science, say researchers.”
• Investors are optimistic about Baidu’s HK secondary listing
  Baidu gains as Chinese tech giant eyes usd3.6 billion windfall in Hong Kong secondary listing / Yicai
  Searched-out Baidu bets on cloud, autonomous driving / Caixin (paywall)
  “Company’s shares rallied after its latest quarterly results showed some of its new initiatives may be starting to bear fruit, though progress has been slow.”
• Another TikTok ban in Pakistan
  Pakistani court bans China’s TikTok over profanity claims / AP
  “The latest development comes almost six months after the Pakistani regulatory agency briefly banned TikTok following complaints about alleged presence of immoral and indecent content on its popular social media app.”
• Bank punished for HNA loan
  China’s biggest policy bank fined big bucks for illicitly guaranteeing HNA loan, sources say / Caixin (paywall)
  “China Development Bank gets slapped with a $6.6 million fine for failing to properly check the borrowing it was guaranteeing.”
• Benz recalls 2.6 million cars
  Daimler to recall 2.6 million Mercedes-Benz cars in China / Reuters
  “Due to a software design issue.”
• Facial recognition startup Megvii to go public in Shanghai
  Alibaba-backed Chinese AI startup Megvii files for Shanghai IPO / Bloomberg
• Fake LV bags
  Fake Louis Vuitton luxury bag operation in China worth $15.4 million shut down after police arrest almost 40 people / SCMP

SCIENCE, HEALTH, AND THE ENVIRONMENT:

• Greening the steelmaking industry
  Chinese steelmaker HBIS aims to reach carbon emissions peak in 2022 / Reuters
  China environment minister urges crackdown on steel mills’ illegal production / Reuters
• Vaccine diplomacy
  Olympics: No Chinese vaccines to be taken by Team Japan, minister says / Reuters
  Hungary publishes Chinese, Russian vaccine contracts amid COVID-19 surge / Reuters
  “Hungary said on Thursday it was paying the equivalent of about $37.50 per dose for Chinese company Sinopharm’s COVID-19 vaccine and $9.95 per dose for the Russian Sputnik-V vaccine, adding it was publishing the purchase contracts to push for more transparency.”
  Hungary pays $36 per dose for Chinese vaccine / NYT (porous paywall)
  The NYT comments that the price “appears to make the Sinopharm shot among the most expensive in the world.”
  U.A.E. giving third shot of Sinopharm vaccine to some / WSJ (paywall)
  “Doctors say in some cases, Chinese shot isn’t generating adequate antibody response.”
  Pakistan: Conspiracy theories hamper COVID vaccine drive / DW
  Naila Tariq, a professor of pathology at Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Hospital in Karachi: “Some people are skeptical of the Sinopharm vaccine because it is made in China. Some don’t want the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine, as it is being manufactured in India.”
  Also contributing to Pakistani vaccine hesitancy, per VICE: In Pakistan, legacy of fake CIA vaccination programs leads to vaccine hesitancy.
• Space program
  China successfully launches new Long March 7A on second attempt / SpaceNews
• COVID in Hong Kong
  COVID-19: Hong Kong reports 60 new infections, 47 linked to gym cluster / HKFP
• Bioethics standards
  Can China’s new criminal law deter the next He Jiankui? / Sixth Tone

POLITICS AND CURRENT AFFAIRS:

• EU cautious on China policy, for now?
  Despite transatlantic ‘love fest’, EU charts third way in ties with U.S. and China / Reuters
  European governments are reportedly unwilling “to commit to anything until Washington spells out more fully its China policy under President Joe Biden.”
• EU moving ahead on Xinjiang sanctions?
  EU to sanction Chinese officials over human-rights violations / WSJ (paywall)
  “The European Union is set to target China with sanctions over human-rights abuses for the first time since the 1989 Tiananmen Square crackdown, blacklisting four people and one entity in Xinjiang, several diplomats said…The decision still needs formal sign-off, which is expected to happen when foreign ministers meet later in March.”
• EU-China investment deal
  Brussels seeks to win round critics of EU-China deal / FT (paywall)
  EU touts China investment deal as way to boost European firms / Bloomberg (porous paywall)
  Hong Kong activists urge EU not to ratify new deal with China / Guardian
• Two Sessions outcomes
  Full Text: Report on the Work of the Government / Xinhua (in Chinese here)
• Hong Kong
  Australia criticises Hong Kong electoral changes / Reuters
  Hong Kong legislature will be largely ceremonial after China revamp: Ex-U.S. diplomat / CNBC
  The ex-diplomat is Kurt Tong, former U.S. consul general and chief of mission in Hong Kong and Macau.
  Reporters at Macau broadcaster told to support ‘Hong Kong governed by patriots’, ordered not to oppose the authorities / HKFP
  Hong Kong broadcaster RTHK cancels programme set to discuss Beijing’s electoral overhaul – report / HKFP
  China’s move on HK undermines its credibility: MAC / Taipei Times
• German publisher destroys book copies after Chinese consulate in Hamburg complains
  Children’s book pulped over claim COVID-19 originated in China / SCMP (porous paywall)
  “The picture book, A Corona Rainbow for Anna and Moritz, was published by Carlsen Verlag in June to help children understand the pandemic. In it, the father of the title characters says ‘the virus comes from China and has spread out from there across the whole world.’”
• Examining aggressive “anti-poverty model” propaganda, and how it centers on Xi Jinping
  Selling China’s anti-poverty model / China Media Project
  “China’s leadership is determined to push right past the facts to promote the grand narrative of its anti-poverty victory – an ‘earthly miracle, written across the wide land of China.’”
  The X factor / China Media Project
  “Some have called China’s declaration of victory premature, based on creative benchmarks and statistics. They have noted, for example, that the line for extreme poverty should be around 5.5 dollars a day by World Bank estimates, considering that China is an upper-middle income country. That would mean about 13 percent of China’s population, or some 200 million people, still live in extreme poverty.”

SOCIETY AND CULTURE:

• Cats will soon rule dogs in China
  Inside China’s cult of the cat / Sixth Tone
  “If current trends continue, cats will overtake dogs to become the country’s most popular pet in the next year or two.”
• Trends in Chinese pop music
  Why China’s Produce Pandas are more than just a ‘big’ deal / Sixth Tone
  “The unlikely boy band has made headlines for challenging stereotypes about how idols should look, but to their gay fans, they represent something more personal.”
  How Douyin is killing the Chinese pop star / Sixth Tone
  “The wildly popular short-video app has become one of the main ways Chinese people consume music, but its business model keeps artists anonymous and interchangeable.”
• 40 months in jail for stealing 600 toilet paper rolls
  HK toilet paper hijackers get 40 months in jail / Caixin
  “On Feb. 17, 2020, 27-year-old warehouse worker Ho Chi-leung used a knife to freeze a delivery man outside a Wellcome supermarket as 34-year-old transport worker Lee Yan-to and 30-year-old steel bender Lee Yip-tong took 50 packets of toilet paper worth around HK$1,700 ($220).”
• Poor sex education in schools blamed for lack of intersex awareness
  Woman in China went to doctor about a hurt ankle only to be told she was born a man and is intersex / SCMP
  “A 25-year-old woman in eastern China who failed to fall pregnant after 12 months of trying, was shocked to discover she was actually born male and is intersex.”
• Chinese club culture in photography
  No parties at noon / Neocha
  “Through his artful snapshots of clubs and club-goers, [Chen Wei] delivers a sobering vision of modern life: he believes that today’s world has been stripped of happiness, with mass commercialization and digitization being the main culprits behind our joyless existence.”