Links for Tuesday, March 30, 2021

BUSINESS AND TECHNOLOGY:

• Gamer entrepreneur’s health beverage startup now valued at $6 billion
  「元气森林」完成新一轮60亿美元估值融资，红杉、华平、L catterton领投 / 36Kr
  Health beverage company Genki Forest has completed a new round of funding leading to a valuation of $6 billion, with Sequoia China, Warburg Pincus, and L Catterton as major investors.
  • Founded by successful gaming entrepreneur Táng Bīnsēn 唐彬森, Genki Forest is known for its zero-sugar, zero-carb, and zero-fat product line.
  • China’s soft drink market totaled $192 billion in 2019.
• Property market hot in coastal cities, sluggish everywhere else
  China’s housing crash exposes a growing regional economic divide / FT (paywall)
  When it comes to housing, dozens of inland cities are facing the exact opposite of their affluent, coastal cousins: sluggish sales and price drops. Housing transactions by floor space in Zhengzhou, the capital of Henan Province, were down 50% in the first two months of this year — that’s compared with a 76% increase in the top 10 coastal cities.
• Xiaomi breaks off electric car subsidiary, injects $1.5 billion
  小米投资百亿造汽车：雷军任CEO 将助推市值破千亿美元 / Sina
  China smartphone maker Xiaomi to invest $10 billion in new EV unit over 10 years / Reuters
  Xiaomi, China’s consumer electronics giant often known as the “Apple of China,” has announced its intention to enter the electric vehicle market with a wholly owned subsidiary led by the CEO Léi Jūn 雷军. The initial investment will be $1.5 billion with another $10 billion over the next 10 years.
• Great Wall promises hydrogen-powered vehicles this year
  Great Wall bets on hydrogen to power new SUV / Bloomberg via Caixin
  China’s biggest SUV maker, Great Wall Motor, says it will start selling its first hydrogen-powered SUV this year. Great Wall has invested 2 billion yuan ($305 million) over the past five years to develop hydrogen power technologies.
• Will Chinese tourists flock to Thailand this summer?
  Thailand sees Chinese leading tourist return to Phuket after reopening / Bloomberg via Caixin
  “The nation’s most popular resort island expects to welcome 2 million foreign tourists after it reopens to vaccinated visitors July 1.”
• Auto giant Geely invests in space: Not flying cars but satellite technology
  China’s Geely to set up new aerospace company / Reuters
• ByteDance accused of tax evasion in India, dodgy medical ads in China
  India freezes bank accounts of China’s ByteDance in tax case, company mounts challenge – sources / Reuters
  Douyin denies turning a blind eye to dodgy medical advertising / Caixin (paywall)
  “While platform says only legitimate sources can post medical content, Caixin found that ads masquerading as advice remain rampant.”
• Chinese surveillance tech has “unusually heavy emphasis” on ethnicity detection
  China found using surveillance firms to help write ethnic-tracking specs / Reuters
  “China enlisted surveillance firms to help draw up standards for mass facial recognition systems…while police in New York, Italy and New Zealand and elsewhere have sought technology to filter faces by race or ethnicity, [Caitlin Bishop, a campaigns officer with the human rights group Privacy International,] said the scale and centralization of the Chinese approach was unmatched.”
• China to import more foreign meat this year
  China’s WH Group to boost meat imports due to high prices amid swine fever / Bloomberg (porous paywall)
  Local meat prices “are likely to stay elevated following the resurgence of African swine fever in the country.”
• Finnish paper industry and Uyghur human rights abuses
  Stora Enso to stop pulp production after Xinjiang concerns reported / Yle Uutiset
• China Inc. in Serbia
  Serbia hails Chinese companies as saviors, but locals chafe at costs / NYT (porous paywall)
  “While the government is welcoming Chinese investors to save moribund businesses and bring much-needed capital, many Serbians are complaining of environmental and political impacts.”

SCIENCE, HEALTH, AND THE ENVIRONMENT:

• WHO-China inquiry finds origins of coronavirus inconclusive
  WHO-convened global study of origins of SARS-CoV-2: China Part / World Health Organization
  Coronavirus origins remain unclear in W.H.O.-China inquiry / NYT (porous paywall)
  “The 124-page report of a joint inquiry by the World Health Organization and China — to be released officially on Tuesday but leaked to the media on Monday — contains a glut of new detail but no profound new insights.”
  What we know about the W.H.O.’s inquiry on the origin of COVID / NYT (porous paywall)
  WHO chief, U.S. and other world leaders criticize China for limiting access of team researching coronavirus origins / Washington Post (porous paywall)
  WHO says COVID-19 origins study not extensive enough, cites data access ‘difficulties’ / Reuters
  Joint statement on the WHO-convened COVID-19 origins study / U.S. Department of State
  The U.S., Australia, Canada, Czechia, Denmark, Estonia, Israel, Japan, Latvia, Lithuania, Norway, the Republic of Korea, Slovenia, and the U.K. urge a “transparent and independent analysis and evaluation, free from interference and undue influence, of the origins of the COVID-19 pandemic.”
  Previously on The China Project: WHO in Wuhan: A refusal to share raw data, or ‘standard scientific debate’?
• A global treaty on pandemics?
  U.S., China positive on pandemic treaty idea: WHO’s Tedros / Reuters
  “The United States and China have reacted positively to a proposed international treaty on pandemics, the World Health Organization director-general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said on Tuesday.”
• Vaccine diplomacy
  China providing vaccine aid to 80 countries, 3 int’l organizations: FM spokesperson / Xinhua
  Pakistan to import Chinese Cansino COVID vaccine in bulk to package 3 million doses locally: minister / Reuters
  China-donated COVID-19 vaccines arrive in Nepal / Xinhua
  El Salvador receives 1st batch of Chinese-made COVID-19 vaccine / Xinhua
  Palestinians get Chinese-donated COVID-19 vaccines / Reuters
  “Palestinians on Monday received 100,000 doses of Sinopharm COVID-19 vaccine donated by China to help broaden an initial campaign to vaccinate medical staff, the elderly and the chronically ill.”

POLITICS AND CURRENT AFFAIRS:

• Xinjiang and Uyghurs
  2020 Country Reports on Human Rights Practices / U.S. Department of State
  “In China, government authorities committed genocide against Uyghurs, who are predominantly Muslim, and crimes against humanity including imprisonment, torture, enforced sterilization, and persecution against Uyghurs and members of other religious and ethnic minority groups.”
  U.S. human rights report calls China’s treatment of Uyghurs ‘genocide’ / FT (paywall)
  “While Antony Blinken, secretary of state, has previously called the repression of Muslim Uyghurs ‘genocide’, the language in the report marked the first time the Biden administration made an official declaration.”
  Rights experts concerned about alleged detention, forced labour of Uyghurs in China / UN News
  “Independent UN human rights experts…said they have received information that connected more than 150 Chinese and foreign domiciled companies to serious allegations of human rights abuses against workers from the minority group.”
  China used Twitter, Facebook more than ever last year for Xinjiang propaganda / WSJ (paywall)
  “The frequency of tweets about Xinjiang from Chinese state media and diplomatic Twitter accounts increased to an average of nearly 500 tweets per month in 2020, up from about 280 per month the prior year, according to new research from the Australian Strategic Policy Institute.”
  Previously on The China Project: U.S. says China is committing ‘genocide’ against Uyghurs.
• Biden administration to keep new Taiwan contact guidelines
  U.S. to make it easier for diplomats to meet Taiwanese officials / FT (paywall)
  “In one of his final acts in office, Trump significantly loosened constraints that had made it difficult for US diplomats to hold such meetings. Experts were waiting to see if Joe Biden would reverse course…But the Biden administration has decided to keep many of the Trump changes in place, according to people briefed on the policy.”
  Previously on The China Project: U.S. moves to increase official contacts with Taiwan.
• South China Sea tensions and diplomacy
  Philippines sends fighter aircraft over Chinese vessels in South China Sea / Reuters
  “The Philippine military is sending light fighter aircraft to fly over hundreds of Chinese vessels in disputed waters in the South China Sea, its defense minister said, as he repeated his demand the flotilla be withdrawn immediately.”
  Beijing courts Southeast Asian nations in bid to counter South China Sea backlash / SCMP (porous paywall)
  China’s Foreign Ministry “said on Tuesday that Singapore’s Vivian Balakrishnan, Indonesia’s Retno Marsudi and Teddy Locsin from the Philippines would visit China from Wednesday to Friday. It is understood Malaysia’s Hishammuddin Hussein visit is scheduled from Thursday to Saturday.”
• Indonesia and Japan to “facilitate transfers of defense equipment and technology”
  With eyes on China, Japan and Indonesia bolster security ties / Reuters
• U.S. and Palau visit Taiwan
  Palau president visits Taiwan despite Chinese pressure / AP
  U.S. sends ambassador to join Palau leader on Taiwan visit / AFP via HKFP

SOCIETY AND CULTURE:

• More reflection on China’s crackdown on subtitle piracy
  The complex legacy of China’s cinematic pirates / Sixth Tone
  “Film and TV piracy are under increasing pressure in China. The void they’re leaving behind will be hard to fill.”
  Previously on The China Project: Chinese police raid pirate website that offers crowd-sourced translation; China’s ‘subtitling communities’ didn’t just pirate, they helped a generation learn English.
• Another Korea-China food dispute
  China again claims Korean dish, this time Samgyetang / Korea Times
  “On Baidu…Samgyetang was described as a chicken soup dish originating from Guangdong Province, China, which was later introduced to Korea…The description is incorrect.”
  Previously on The China Project: Who owns the right to make kimchi?
• Re-litigating a cold case in Nanjing
  China cold case: Family of Diao Aiqing, who was murdered and left in 2,000 pieces, sue university over her death / SCMP (porous paywall)
  “Diao Aiqing, 19-year-old first year student at Nanjing University’s Adult Education College, was last seen alive on January 10, 1996.”
  Previously on The China Project: China Unsolved: The Black Dahlia of Nanjing.