Links for Thursday, March 18, 2021

WORTH THINKING ABOUT

Pieces of news or analysis that caught our eye:

Details on the EU-China relationship can be found in the “China Direct” newsletter from Politico’s Stuart Lau. The third issue was published today. Lau explains what we know about the expected announcement on March 22 that the EU is issuing its first sanctions on China since 1989 — “Chinese diplomats were…shocked by the EU’s unfriendly move coming so soon after it concluded an investment pact with President Xi Jinping only three months ago” — and interviews Germany’s top envoy to the EU, Michael Clauß.

MORE NEWS FROM AROUND THE WORLD

BUSINESS AND TECHNOLOGY:

• Regulators warn Big Tech on deepfakes and Clubhouse copycats
  Chinese regulators tell Alibaba, ByteDance, nine others to clean up deepfakes / Yicai
  Beijing is tightening its grip on internet companies, especially when it comes to new technologies that may pose unexpected risks. Chinese regulators summoned 11 Chinese tech firms, including Alibaba, Tencent, ByteDance, and Xiaomi, to warn against:
  • Deep fakes — calling out Alibaba (BABA) and Tencent (TCEHY) for their failure to assess the security implications of highly believable computer-generated video clips.
  • Clubhouse-like apps — calling out companies that are building social audio platforms, such as phone maker Xiaomi, and cautioning them to conduct security assessments of the new technology and submit reports to authorities.
• China Unicom warned by U.S. as China Telecom surges
  FCC initiates proceeding to revoke China Unicom authorizations / Federal Communications Commission
  The U.S. Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has warned mobile giant China Unicom, and a subsidiary of state-controlled financial conglomerate CITIC, that they will not be allowed to operate in America if they cannot prove they are not under the control of the Chinese government.
  Meanwhile in China, the Hong Kong–listed shares of another mobile behemoth, China Telecom, surged after the company said it would seek a secondary listing in Shanghai after being forced to delist from the NYSE.
• Baidu set to raise $3.1 billion in Hong Kong listing
  Baidu Hong Kong listing: Chinese tech giant to raise $3.1 billion / CNBC
  New York–listed Chinese search giant Baidu plans to raise about $3.1 billion in a secondary listing scheduled for Hong Kong on March 23. Other U.S.-traded Chinese companies that have launched secondary listings amid U.S.-China tensions include Alibaba and JD.com.
• Another plant for chipmaker SMIC as China struggles for self-reliance
  SMIC to build $2.4 billion chip plant with Shenzhen’s gov’t / Yicai
  中芯国际联手深圳国资投建12寸晶圆厂 投资额23.5亿美元 / Caixin (paywall)
  China’s largest semiconductor maker, SMIC, will build a $2.4 billion plant in Shenzhen to meet rising demand amid a global chip shortage. SMIC and the Shenzhen government’s investment institution will establish a joint venture for the project, of which SMIC will own 55%. The new plant is expected to be operational next year and produce 28-nanometer chips, the type of chips that Taiwan’s TSMC began making a decade ago.
• Digital yuan going commercial
  Chinese state banks accepting applications for enterprise e-CNY accounts / TechNode
• No online loans for college students
  China bans micro lenders from targeting college students / Caixin
  “China banned micro lenders from granting new online consumer loans to college students out of concerns over excessive consumption by students and bad social influence.”
• Chinese auto market
  Japanese carmakers close in on German rivals in China / Caixin (paywall)
  “While the sales of Volkswagen, BMW and the like are strong in the country, booming demand for midrange vehicles plays to the strengths of Japanese vehicles.”
• Automaker Geely gets new funding from Korea’s SK
  South Korea’s SK says investing in $300 million mobility fund with China’s Geely / Reuters
  “The fund will invest in promising companies in fields such as autonomous driving, electrification and connectivity, and aims to attract global investors, including European banks and pension funds in Asia.”
• LinkedIn’s in trouble for not censoring enough
  China punishes Microsoft’s LinkedIn over lax censorship / NYT (porous paywall)
  “China’s internet regulator rebuked LinkedIn executives earlier this month for failing to control political content, according to three people briefed on the matter. Though it isn’t clear precisely what material got the company into trouble, the regulator said it found objectionable posts circulating in the period around an annual meeting of China’s lawmakers, said these people, who asked for anonymity because the issue isn’t public.”

SCIENCE, HEALTH, AND THE ENVIRONMENT:

• WHO mission to Wuhan
  How the WHO’s hunt for COVID’s origins stumbled in China / WSJ (paywall)
  “A team of scientists hoped a mission to Wuhan would provide some clarity about the coronavirus’s origins. New details about the team’s constraints reveal how little power it had to conduct a thorough probe.”
• Record wind power installation, but what happens when subsidies disappear?
  China dominates global wind industry after record installations / FT (paywall)
  “The 52 gigawatts of new wind power added last year doubled the capacity China installed in 2019…China’s surge in installations was in part driven by 2020 being the final chance for companies to take advantage of central government subsidies and favourable prices for onshore wind farms.”
• No details yet for China’s fifth space launch site, approved in the 14th Five-Year Plan
  China to construct commercial spaceport to support booming space industry / SpaceNews
  “China currently has four national launch centers that mainly support launches of Long March rockets from China Aerospace Science and Technology Corp. (CASC), the state’s main space contractor. Increasing launch activity and numbers of launch service providers could however be constrained by a bottleneck in launch facilities.”

POLITICS AND CURRENT AFFAIRS:

• Alaska talks expectations
  Xinhua commentary: How to make China-U.S. Alaska dialogue effective / Xinhua
  Under an illustration titled “COMMUNICATION, NOT IMAGINATION,” featuring a crazed bald eagle attacking a panda happily munching on a stalk of bamboo, Xinhua recommends, “First, the two sides need to show good faith…Washington needs to realize that forming small cliques targeting China will only deepen distrust…Second, the two sides should treat each other as equals…Third, the two countries must learn to accommodate each other’s core interests.”
  China plans to ask U.S. to roll back Trump policies in Alaska meeting / WSJ (paywall)
  “The measures China wants reversed include limits on American sales to Chinese firms such as its telecommunications company [Huawei] and chip maker [SCMP]; visa restrictions on Communist Party members, Chinese students and state-media journalists; and closure of the Chinese Consulate in Houston. Beijing has retaliated in kind, hitting American entities and individuals with similar penalties…Should those restrictions be removed or relaxed, China would consider eliminating its own countermeasures.”
  As Biden and Xi begin a careful dance, a new American policy takes shape / NYT (porous paywall)
  “President Biden is engineering a sharp shift in policy toward China, focused on gathering allies to counter Beijing’s coercive diplomacy around the world and ensuring that China does not gain a permanent advantage in critical technologies.”
  U.S. efforts to rally allies against China are not useful or effective, says Beijing on eve of Alaska talks / SCMP (porous paywall)
  China seeks Biden-Xi meeting next month if Alaska talks go well / Bloomberg (porous paywall)
  “The Biden-Xi meeting as envisioned by Chinese officials would be organized around Earth Day on April 22 to show both leaders are focused on combating climate change, one of the people said. Biden is already set to gather global leaders together on that day to push the world for greater ambition in curbing greenhouse gas emissions.”
  Note: The Chinese Foreign Ministry denied that a potential Biden-Xi meeting is on the agenda.
  Six points China has to let U.S. understand: Global Times editorial / Global Times (in Chinese here)
  “First, China has no geopolitical ambitions in the Asia-Pacific region…Second, China has explored a set of domestic governance methods that suit its national conditions…Third, China will never accept U.S. interference in its internal affairs…Fourth, it is true that China has territorial disputes with some of its neighbors, but China’s consistent position on these disputes is to resolve them peacefully…Fifth, it is China’s sacred right to develop…Sixth, the Chinese are confident that they are capable of defending their own national security, and no matter how hard the U.S. tries, it cannot contain China.”
• Beijing insists it will not soften stance on Hong Kong, Xinjiang, Taiwan
  China won’t back down on ‘core interests,’ ambassador warns U.S. / Caixin (paywall)
  “Ahead of a meeting in Alaska, China’s Ambassador to the U.S. Cui Tiankai told Washington to give up any ‘illusions’ about China compromising on issues including Hong Kong, Xinjiang and Taiwan.”
  Ambassador Cui Tiankai takes an interview in Anchorage (English translation of the transcript) / Chinese embassy in Washington
  Mr ‘Indispensable’: China’s top diplomat to U.S. Cui Tiankai to stay on in Biden era / SCMP (porous paywall)
  The 68-year-old Cui “is already well over the usual retirement age for a Chinese official of his rank but his connections and knowledge are highly valued, sources say.” He has been ambassador to the U.S. for nearly eight years.
• North Korea: How much will it factor in Alaska talks?
  Blinken urges China to convince North Korea to denuclearize / AP
  North Korean threat forces Biden into balancing act with China / NYT (porous paywall)
• Chinese Foreign Ministry and state media comment on anti-Asian violence in U.S.
  China ‘deeply concerned’ about anti-Asian violence in U.S. / AP
  “Foreign Ministry spokesperson Zhao Lijian said Thursday that violence against Asians in the U.S. was ‘outrageous and distressing,’ leaving China ‘deeply concerned.’”
  Trump, Western media blamed for Anti-Asian crimes spike / Global Times
  Elite U.S. groups accomplices of crimes against Asian Americans / Global Times
  Five people name-checked: Former President Donald Trump, Senator Tom Cotton, former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, the academic Adrian Zenz, and Washington Post columnist Josh Rogin.
• Beijing goes on human rights offensive against U.S.
  China blasts U.S. ‘evil past of genocide’ at UN rights body / AP
  UN review exposes dark side of U.S. human rights record / Xinhua
  “The United Nations Human Rights Council adopted on Wednesday the outcomes of its Universal Periodic Review of the United States, shedding light on the appalling state of basic human rights in the country.”
• Afghanistan diplomacy
  U.S. joined by Russia, China, Pakistan in call for Afghan ceasefire / Reuters
• Cyberattack reported by Finland
  Finland IDs hackers linked to parliament spying attack / AP
  “Finland’s domestic security agency said Thursday that the cybergroup APT31, which is generally linked to the Chinese government, was likely behind a cyberspying attack on the information systems of the Nordic country’s parliament.”

SOCIETY AND CULTURE:

• Hate crimes and anti-Asian bias in U.S. discussed after Atlanta shootings
  Asian-Americans are being attacked. Why are hate crime charges so rare? / NYT (porous paywall)
  Anti-Asian attacks rise along with online vitriol / Washington Post (porous paywall)
  Beyond the pandemic, Asian American leaders fear U.S. conflict with China will fan racist backlash / Washington Post (porous paywall)
  “White House aides, including domestic policy adviser Susan Rice and senior adviser Cedric L. Richmond, met virtually with Asian American advocacy groups two weeks ago to hear their concerns. They pledged to use the power of the administration to combat violence but offered few specifics, according to activists who participated.”
  Chip Roy complains about China at hearing about anti-Asian violence / Business Insider
  “GOP Rep. Chip Roy used his opening statement at a hearing about anti-Asian violence to complain about China…’What they did to hide the reality of this virus is equally deserving of condemnation,’ Roy said of the Chinese government.”
  David Nakamura on Twitter: “Wow. @RepGraceMeng grew visibly angry and teared up in telling Roy he is free to talk about ‘any other country you want, but you don’t have to do it by putting a bull’s eye on back of Asian Americans in this country. …We will not let you take our voice away from us.’”
  The cop who said the spa shooter had a “bad day” previously posted a racist shirt blaming China for the pandemic / BuzzFeed
  See also yesterday’s Editor’s Note for the Access newsletter, written by Jiayun Feng and Luz Ding.
• Australian media red scare apology
  Australian paper apologizes for labeling Chinese-Australian businessman Peter Zhuang ‘pro-Beijing’ / SCMP
  “Peter Zhuang, a property developer-turned-candidate for the centre-right Liberal National Party, received the apology from Daily Mail Australia.”
• Discrimination at a Beijing vocational high school
  Student bullied for being gay says school suggested he drop out / Sixth Tone
  ‘Deal with it’, school in China tells gay high school student bullied and sexually assaulted for months / SCMP (porous paywall)