Links for Thursday, March 25, 2021

BUSINESS AND TECHNOLOGY:

• Fashion brands to label cotton according to Chinese government rhetoric on Xinjiang?
  Muji marks products with Xinjiang cotton tags in China, denies boycott / Yicai
  Some foreign companies have already given in to the pressure. Japan’s Muji changed its labeling in China to show its products used cotton from Xinjiang.
  More companies are expected to issue their own versions of statements to appease the backlash, especially as multiple government entities pile on:
  • Ministry of Commerce spokesperson Gāo Fēng 高峰 said China hopes “relevant companies [will] correct their wrongdoings.”
  • Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesperson Huà Chūnyíng 华春莹 said Xinjiang is one of the best sources for cotton and “it’s the losses for those companies for not using it.”
  • The China Consumers’ Association issued a statement noting that foreign companies operating in China must abide by Chinese laws, and “limiting procurement” and “discriminating on supply” violates customers’ rights to choose high-quality raw materials.
• Yesterday on The China Project: H&M faces boycott in China over year-old Xinjiang cotton ban.
• See also:
  European fashion stocks hit by China Xinjiang row / Reuters
  After H&M, Nike feels Chinese social media heat over Xinjiang / Reuters
• ByteDance steals Xiaomi’s CFO amid IPO rumor
  TikTok owner ByteDance hires away executive from Xiaomi to be CFO / WSJ (paywall)
  帮小米上市的CFO加盟字节了，中国互联网半壁江山背后居然都有他的影子 / 36Kr
  Chew Shou Zi (周受資 Zhōu Shòuzī), Xiaomi’s CFO, who led the company through a successful IPO in Hong Kong in 2018, announced on Wednesday that he will join ByteDance as the rising tech giant’s CFO in Singapore.
  • Chew’s move comes as ByteDance prepares for an IPO, per industry gossip. ByteDance is globally famous for creating TikTok, and has recently made aggressive capital expansions into sectors such as gaming, education, and even semiconductors.
  • Rival Kuaishou’s successful IPO in Hong Kong last month was a stimulant for ByteDance to take advantage of investor enthusiasm for internet companies.
• Tencent says it will play nice with antitrust regulators
  Tencent vows to embrace open platform amid antitrust crackdown / Nikkei Asia via KrASIA
  Tencent stresses regulatory compliance as profits from gaming, payments surge / WSJ (paywall)
  Tencent’s chief executive, Pony Ma (马化腾 Mǎ Huàténg), on Wednesday emphasized his commitment to working with antitrust regulators during a quarterly earnings briefing, as the Chinese government continues reining in the power of Big Tech.
  • Tencent and other companies were fined by antitrust regulators earlier this month for failing to properly report previous acquisitions or mergers.
  • Tencent also announced that its platform is open to other industry players, after reports that the company’s popular social media platform WeChat will now allow rival Alibaba to sell directly to users.
• “Threat of Chinese stocks being kicked off U.S. exchanges is gaining traction”
  SEC starts implementing law that risks chinese stock delistings / Bloomberg via Caixin
  美国SEC制定涉中概股审计细则 273家企业可能入列
• Rich Hongkongers still buying art
  Hong Kong art market roars back to life with record $41.9 million sale / Caixin (paywall)
  “Basquait painting fetches highest ever price for Western art sold in Asia’s auction market, giving hope for a post-pandemic revival.”

SCIENCE, HEALTH, AND THE ENVIRONMENT:

• Vaccine diplomacy from Algeria to Zimbabwe
  Why is China is sending vaccines to certain countries and not others? / China-Africa Project (paywall)
  “The list of countries receiving Chinese vaccines around the world is large and growing but it’s still not clear what criteria China uses to distribute vaccines to some countries over others…Two Czech researchers at the Association for International Affairs in Prague used open-source information to track Chinese vaccine donations around the world and tried to discern the motivations behind China’s distribution strategy from the data…”
  Zimbabwe’s president gets shot of Sinovac in Victoria Falls / AP
  Ukraine procurement agency says cannot accept first batch of China’s Sinovac vaccine / Reuters
  “Ukraine’s state Medical Procurement Agency (MPA) said on Wednesday it cannot accept the first batch of China’s Sinovac COVID-19 vaccine because the supplier did not provide the required documents.”
• Panda protection
  Regional alliance aims to protect isolated panda population / Sixth Tone
  “Authorities in the southwestern Sichuan Province are partnering with regional conservation bureaus to protect giant pandas from extinction risks through greater collaboration.”
• Climate diplomacy
  China hosts ‘normal’ climate talks despite sanctions blow up / Politico
  “China convened ministers from around the world on Tuesday to discuss the climate — including a handful whose governments launched sanctions against it just a day earlier.”
• China’s state energy giants set green goals for 2025
  Power major Huaneng Commits to green energy boost / Caixin
  “Company aims for renewable sources to make up 34% of its capacity by 2025, more than triple the current level.”
  PetroChina expects its carbon emissions to peak around 2025 / Reuters
  “PetroChina, Asia’s largest oil and gas producer, expects its carbon emissions to peak by around 2025, as it aims to lift output of lower-carbon natural gas to 55% of its total production by then from 47% now.”

POLITICS AND CURRENT AFFAIRS:

• Xi Jinping in Fujian Province
  Xi urges Chinese province to deepen ties with democratic Taiwan / Bloomberg (porous paywall)
  “Xi told provincial officials to ‘be bold in exploring new paths for integrated cross-strait development,’ the official Xinhua News Agency reported on Thursday. He urged them to focus on offering policies that would benefit Taiwanese people and deepen mutual understanding, Xinhua said, without elaborating.”
  Xi in east China’s Fuzhou for inspection / Xinhua
  习近平在福建考察时强调 在服务和融入新发展格局上展现更大作为 奋力谱写全面建设社会主义现代化国家福建篇章 / Xinhua
• South China Sea, and other borderlands
  Philippines, Vietnam press China over vessels massing in South China Sea / Reuters
  Two Chinese survey ships are probing a strategic section of the Indian Ocean / USNI News
  China aggressively building new villages in disputed borderlands in Himalayas: Report / Times of India
• Korean fantasy drama accused of “historical distortions” in favor of Chinese
  South Korea drama sparks controversy over ‘historical distortions,’ Chinese influences / Reuters
  “More than 20 South Korean companies have pulled commercials” and “some 163,890 people had signed a petition” in protest of the drama Joseon Exorcist, after “it depicted the third king of the Joseon dynasty (1392-1897) killing innocent people and the fourth, King Sejong, the creator of the Korean language, as a prince receiving a guest in a room with Chinese foods such as mooncakes.”
• Trade deals and trade negotiations
  China says members of RCEP pact aim for deal to take effect from 2022 / Reuters
  USTR’s Tai highlights China, climate in talks with Japan, France, others / Reuters
  China has bought only a third of U.S. goods under trade deal / Bloomberg (porous paywall)

SOCIETY AND CULTURE:

• Obstacles women face to get divorced
  Chinese divorce courts are places of peril for women / Economist (paywall)
  “In the name of social stability, judges make it tough for wives to end bad marriages.”
• Independent films
  The hit indie flick China’s film snobs love to hate / Sixth Tone
  “Since its belated China release, Qiu Sheng’s award-winning movie ‘Suburban Birds’ has been relentlessly trolled online. But the director tells Sixth Tone the controversy says more about China’s film market than it does his work.”
• “Almost Naked” photography series of Shanghainese artist Shěn Wěi 沈玮
  The physical and metaphysical / Neocha