Links for Wednesday, April 21, 2021

BUSINESS AND TECHNOLOGY:

• China’s push for digital yuan raises alarms in Washington
  Digital yuan gives China a new tool to strike back at critics / Bloomberg (paywall)
  As China’s bid for a digital currency ramps up, U.S. officials are getting worried. Last week, at a government hearing, former U.S. deputy national security adviser Matt Pottinger warned that a digital yuan might inoculate China from U.S. sanctions.
  Trials of digital yuan in select cities have already begun, putting China on track to be the first country that formally issues virtual currency.
• Has Tesla finally encountered a China PR problem it can’t solve?
  China regulator urges Tesla to ensure product quality / Reuters
  “Tesla Inc came under increased pressure in China on Wednesday from regulators and state media after Monday’s protest by a disgruntled customer at the Shanghai auto show went viral and forced the electric car maker into a rare apology.”
  Tesla to launch self inspection over services in China / Reuters
  Tesla apologizes for its handling of china customer after outcry / WSJ (paywall)
  Tesla besieged following auto show protest / Global Times
• Tariff cutting for the good of the Chinese market
  China scraps some import duties to spur innovation / Caixin (paywall)
  “China has cancelled import taxes on a range of scientific, technological, medical and analytical equipment and publications for the next five years as part of the government’s strategy to boost innovation and technology self-reliance.”
• The booming gray area of selling American shares to Chinese people
  China’s top online brokerages tread narrow path to cash in on surging interest in U.S. stocks / Caixin (paywall)
  “Nasdaq-listed Futu Holdings Ltd. and Up Fintech Holding Ltd. both saw accounts on their cross-border trading platforms jump by hundreds of thousands, revenues more than double and profits surge last year…Not bad for business that domestic brokerages aren’t technically allowed to be in — helping mainland investors trade U.S. stocks.”
• Cars, chips, and batteries
  Huawei begins selling EVs in stores, may offset sinking phone sales: CEO / TechNode
  Car chip shortage to start easing in second half, Bosch China chief says / Caixin
  BYD spins off electric-car battery company with eye on future listing / Caixin
• Alibaba and the den of polluters?
  Greenpeace chides Alibaba on energy as China tech cleans pp / Bloomberg via Yahoo
• The ongoing saga of the distressed manager of distressed assets
  China considers supporting Huarong with central bank funds / Bloomberg (paywall)
• Hong Kong property glut coming?
  Number of vacant homes in Hong Kong may surge to 18-year-high as families head to UK under BN(O) visa scheme, Bloomberg forecasts / SCMP (paywall)

SCIENCE, HEALTH, AND THE ENVIRONMENT:

• Vaccine rollout slows, but supply should expand by June
  China says 200 million citizens have been vaccinated / AP
  “Around 200 million Chinese, or 14.29% of the population, have been vaccinated for COVID-19 so far, with an emphasis on front-line workers, university students and people living in border areas, a health official said Wednesday.”
  Some parts of China battle tight supply of COVID-19 vaccines – state media / Reuters
  

  The pace of China’s massive inoculation campaign has slowed, to a daily average of about 3.3 million doses in the seven days until Monday, down from the corresponding figure of 4.2 million in the week until April 12.

  “At present, domestic vaccine supply is relatively tight, but from May, especially after June, the situation will ease significantly,” Zhèng Zhōngwěi 郑忠伟, the director of a team coordinating vaccine development projects, told the Global Times in an interview [in Chinese].

  Zheng did not say how severe the crunch was or which areas experienced tightness.

• Medical malpractice whistleblower
  China to probe claims of malpractice among cancer doctors at dozens of hospitals / Caixin (paywall)
  “Medical whistleblower Zhang Yu strikes again with accusations that more than 100 patients received ‘improper’ treatment that resulted in higher death rates.”
• Satellite internet ambitions
  China is developing plans for a 13,000-satellite megaconstellation / SpaceNews
  “Recent comments by senior officials indicate that plans are moving ahead to alter earlier constellation plans by space sector state-owned enterprises and possibly make these part of a larger ‘Guowang’ or ‘national network’ satellite internet project.”

POLITICS AND CURRENT AFFAIRS:

• Australia-China relations getting worse, not better
  Federal government tears up Victoria’s Belt and Road agreements with China / Guardian
  “The Morrison government has used its sweeping new foreign veto laws to tear up Victoria’s Belt and Road agreements with China…The foreign minister, Marise Payne, said she would cancel those two deals, along with two older agreements between the Victorian government and Iranian and Syrian entities, because they were ‘inconsistent with Australia’s foreign policy or adverse to our foreign relations.’”
  Chinese Embassy spokesperson’s remarks / Chinese Embassy in Australia (in Chinese here)
  “We express our strong displeasure and resolute opposition…This is another unreasonable and provocative move taken by the Australian side against China. It further shows that the Australian government has no sincerity in improving China-Australia relations. It is bound to bring further damage to bilateral relations, and will only end up hurting itself.”
  Envoy: China not discriminating against foreign journalists / AP
  “Wang Xining, the Chinese Embassy in Australia’s deputy head of mission, and Michael Smith, one the last journalists working for Australian media to flee China, were taking part in a panel discussion about China at the National Press Club of Australia.”
  China welcomes foreign journalists if they ‘present true image’ of country: Diplomat in Australia / SCMP (paywall)
  ‘China is not a cow’: Embassy chief accuses Australia of working with U.S. to ‘illegally’ hamper Huawei / Guardian
• India-China uneasy détente
  Leaders’ consensus to maintain peace at borders cannot be ‘swept under carpet,’ India tells China / The Tribune India
  Indian Ambassador to China Vikram Misri “told China that the significance of the consensus reached between their leaders to maintain peace along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) cannot be ‘swept under the carpet’ and called for the complete disengagement of troops in eastern Ladakh to rebuild bilateral ties strained by the ‘serious incidents’ which has strongly impacted the public opinion.”
  Keep border issue at ‘appropriate position,’ focus on long term ties: China to India / Times of India
• U.S. defense companies hacked?
  Chinese hackers compromise dozen of government agencies, defense contractors / Washington Post (paywall)
  “The investigation is in its early stages but already has turned up evidence that the intruders breached sensitive defense companies, according to FireEye. That was not the case with the Russian SolarWinds campaign, which compromised nine federal agencies but not the Pentagon or its contractors, U.S. officials said…The hackers took advantage of a critical ‘zero day,’ or previously unknown vulnerability in Pulse Secure,” a VPN software.
• Japan-China historical sensitivities
  Japan’s Suga makes offering at war shrine but doesn’t visit / AP
  China urges Japan to reflect upon history of aggression / Xinhua
• Maritime conflicts
  Philippines says boosting maritime presence to protect territory, resources / Reuters
  China’s fishing fleet, the world’s largest, drives Beijing’s global ambitions / WSJ (paywall)
  “From 2010 to 2019, Chinese-flagged or owned vessels accounted for 21% of global fishing offenses logged by Spyglass, a Vancouver-based fishing crime database, up from 16% the previous decade. A 2019 global ranking by Geneva-based Global Initiative, a transnational crime watchdog, placed China first in the prevalence of illegal fishing by nations.”
• Hong Kong under Beijing’s national security law
  Private screening of Hong Kong protest doc may be ‘inciting terrorism,’ claims lawmaker, urging police action / HKFP
  Hong Kong media tycoon Jimmy Lai, Martin Lee and Albert Ho to appeal protest convictions / SCMP (paywall)
• Battling the Belt and Road
  EU and India plan global infrastructure deal / FT (paywall)
  “The EU and India are in talks to build joint infrastructure projects around the world in the latest attempt to compete with China’s Belt and Road Initiative…The initiative, which India and the EU would like to unveil at a virtual summit on May 8, comes as the US seeks to spur similar efforts to counter China’s growing influence.”

SOCIETY AND CULTURE:

• Cutting edge architecture
  BIG unveils ‘O-tower’, a loop-shaped headquarters for Oppo in Hangzhou / Design Boom
• School tragedy
  Parents demanding answers after teen’s death on campus / Sixth Tone
  “A student at a top middle school in Henan province is believed to have killed herself after her classmates reported her for having a cellphone in class.”
• Marriage equality
  LGBT couples not entitled to full property rights, court rules / Sixth Tone
• Visual arts: Photo collage
  Memory reassembly / Neocha