Links for Friday, April 2, 2021

WORTH THINKING ABOUT

Pieces of news or analysis that caught our eye:

Are we “living through a turning-point in Chinese foreign policy”? That is the suggestion of multiple foreign diplomats in Beijing, according to an Economist article titled China is betting that the West is in irreversible decline.

• One unnamed veteran diplomat told the Economist that “China’s rulers view the West as ill-disciplined, weak and venal, and are seeking to bring it to heel, like a dog.”
• The piece concludes:
  

  Diplomats describe a China that is hubristic and paranoid. They say some Chinese officials are convinced that the EU will soon drop its Xinjiang-related sanctions, because Europe cannot recover from the pandemic without Chinese growth. Other Chinese officials worry that their country is making too many enemies, and tell diplomats as much. Alas, they are outnumbered by those who blame China’s unpopularity on Western resentment of Chinese success. China’s rulers are duly preparing for a protracted struggle.

More Chinese foreign policy in translation:

• “Wèi Jiànguó 魏建国, a former vice-Minister of Commerce, now affiliated with Peking University, on why the Comprehensive Investment Agreement will in the end be ratified by the EU” — a Twitter thread with translation and commentary by analyst Mathieu Duchâtel.
• “Zhāng Bǎijiā 章百家: Reflections on China’s Research on Frontiers and Relations with Neighboring States,” a post by David Cowhig on his personal blog with notes on two recent foreign policy lectures in Beijing.
• “Yuán Péng 袁鹏 on the Anchorage Summit,” a translation by David Ownby on Reading the China Dream of a recent article by a preeminent Chinese scholar of U.S.-China relations.

MORE NEWS FROM AROUND THE WORLD

BUSINESS AND TECHNOLOGY:

• ByteDance’s smart lamp, a billion-dollar idea?
  字节跳动“神灯”在天猫卖爆，这背后是一个万亿新市场_详细解读_最新资讯_热点事件_36氪 / 36Kr
  The parent company of TikTok has made a ton of money from a surprising product: the “Dali Smart Lamp” 大力智能台灯 (in Chinese), which, after less than a year on the market, is selling nearly 10 million units a month on Alibaba’s Tmall. The products are priced at $120 to $170 each, depending on the model.
• “China’s eBay” raises $450 million in latest investment round
  转转集团宣布融资3.9亿美元 / Sina Finance
  Zhuǎnzhuǎn 转转, a secondhand ecommerce platform similar to eBay, announced a $390 million financing round, according to DoNews.
• Beijing drafts tougher rules for “too-big-to-fail” banks
  China drafts tougher capital rules for too-big-to-fail banks / Bloomberg (porous paywall)
  China’s financial regulators plan to impose additional capital requirements on the nation’s largest banks in an effort to curb risks and safeguard stability in the $49 trillion industry.
• JD fintech listing is terminated
  China’s JD spins off cloud and AI businesses to fintech unit / Reuters
  Also: JD Digits’ plans to IPO this year were terminated, according to Chinese reports.
• Global markets still hungry for Chinese IPOs
  Chinese battery sharing startup Energy Monster sets terms for U.S. IPO / Caixin
  ByteDance considers listing Douyin in New York or Hong Kong: sources / Reuters
  Chinese fresh food chain Qiandama is said to weigh Hong Kong IPO / Bloomberg (porous paywall)
• Big business in batteries
  BYD to start selling in-vehicle batteries to other companies / Nikkei (paywall)
  “Major Chinese electric vehicle manufacturer BYD will start selling in-vehicle batteries to other companies as early as the second half of this year, Nikkei has learned.”
  Earlier this week on The China Project: China is becoming the world’s battery factory.
• Airplane and chip giants talk China tensions and future plans
  Boeing urges U.S. to separate China trade and human rights / Reuters
  Boeing CEO sees Europe subsidy fix, concerned about China ties / Reuters
  U.S.-China tensions worsened chip crunch, TSMC chairman says / Bloomberg via Yahoo
  TSMC to spend US$100 billion on expansion over next 3 years / Focus Taiwan
• Bye-bye, ATM, hello, mobile money
  Number of ATMs in China shrinks by 80,000 in 2020 / China Daily

SCIENCE, HEALTH, AND THE ENVIRONMENT:

• Mass vaccination campaign in Yunnan town where 46 out of 300,000 tested positive for COVID
  Town on Myanmar border to be first in China to execute emergency vaccine drive / Caixin (paywall, or see AP report)
  “Local Communist Party secretary tells CCTV that Ruili in Yunnan Province is starting round-the-clock, compulsory program to vaccinate all residents within five days.”
• Two billion vaccines a year
  China Sinovac says it reached two billion doses annual capacity for COVID-19 vaccine / Reuters
• The next infectious disease
  As WHO highlights COVID animal origins, China wildlife crackdown needs more teeth: experts / Reuters
• Vaccine passports in Asia
  Malaysia, China agree on mutual recognition of vaccine certificates / Bloomberg (porous paywall)

POLITICS AND CURRENT AFFAIRS:

• Iran deal diplomacy
  Iran, China and EU to discuss a U.S. return to nuclear deal / Bloomberg via Caixin
  “Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said this month that his nation was in ‘no hurry’ to revive the nuclear deal and said U.S. policy was doomed to fail unless sanctions against the Islamic Republic were first removed.”
• Shanghai financial official charged with corruption and bribery
  Corrupt Shanghai clearing house ex-boss brought down by hidden bonuses, sources say / Caixin (paywall)
  “The Shanghai procuratorate issued a warrant for the arrest of Xǔ Zhēn 许臻, former chairman and Communist Party secretary of the Shanghai Clearing House (SCH), nearly four months after the country’s top anti-corruption watchdog said (link in Chinese) he had been put under investigation.”
• What next for disengagement at India-China border?
  India urges China to expedite army disengagement in Ladakh / AP
  “External Affairs Ministry spokesman Arindam Bagchi said India hopes that ‘the Chinese side will work with us to ensure that disengagement in the remaining areas is completed at the earliest’…There was no immediate response from the Chinese side.”
  Chinese border villages in disputed territory put India on alert / VOA
  Previously on The China Project: After successful disengagement at Pangong Lake, India-China tensions are easing.
• EU taking a harder line on China?
  EU urges China to ensure freedom of speech after BBC journalist leaves country / Reuters
  Sanctions spat has forced EU to reassess its China strategy / FT (paywall)
  The FT’s Europe editor, Ben Hall, writes that it is “too early to say whether the investment agreement the EU struck with China at the end of December is dead, although it is clearly badly wounded.”
• Japan-China tensions
  Japan weighs Senkaku options as Chinese coast guard gets new power / Nikkei (paywall)
  Beijing lashes out against Japan: ‘Stop slandering China’ / Nikkei (paywall)
  China issues strong warning to Japan over ‘negative moves’ in East China Sea dispute / SCMP (porous paywall)
• Harassment of activists in Canada
  ‘We’re coming to get you’: China’s critics facing threats, retaliation for activism in Canada / Global News
• Analysis of Chinese interests in Myanmar
  Will protests against China push Beijing to intervene in Myanmar? / ChinaFile
  Previously on The China Project: Beijing ‘deeply concerned’ for safety of Chinese in Myanmar after factories set ablaze.
• Deadly train crash in Taiwan on Tomb Sweeping Day
  Taiwan train crash kills dozens in deadliest accident in decades / NYT (porous paywall)

SOCIETY AND CULTURE:

• The Henan Province retiree whose road trip updates went viral on Douyin
  A Chinese ‘auntie’ went on a solo road trip. Now, she’s a feminist icon. / NYT (porous paywall)
  Last year on Sixth Tone: How a woman’s can’t-stand-it-anymore road trip inspired China.
• Ministry of Education issues guidelines on sleep and video-game use
  Focus less on getting A’s, more on catching Z’s, ministry says / Sixth Tone
  “In a guideline [in Chinese] published Friday, the Ministry of Education outlined new recommendations for how and when schools should operate, as well as how parents should raise their children, in order to guarantee that young people get enough sleep. Morning classes should not begin too early, nor should extracurricular classes end too late, the guideline said. And children should not be playing video games past 10 p.m.”
• 1989 PLA commemorative watch pulled from auction in U.K.
  Tiananmen Square watch dropped from auction over threats to vendor / BBC
  “Auctioneers Fellows said the item, inscribed with ‘89.6 In Commemoration of Quelling the Rebellion’, was withdrawn from its luxury watch sale…The threats were made on social media and led to the seller being concerned about their safety, Fellows said.”