Links for Friday, April 30, 2021

BUSINESS AND TECHNOLOGY:

• China’s EV makers have their eyes set on Scandinavia
  Why are Chinese electric-car makers flocking to Norway? / Caixin Global
  Nio and Xpeng, two Chinese electric vehicle manufacturers, have picked Norway as their first foray into European markets.
  • Norway does not have a domestic automaker, making it more reliant on foreign marques.
  • Like China, the country also subsidizes electric vehicles through tax exemptions.
  • Norway’s car market is already 62% electric, the highest in the world.
• Fashion shopping app Little Red Book plans $1 billion U.S. IPO
  又又曝出筹备IPO，小红书值不值50亿美元？ / 36Kr
  China’s foremost fashion and luxury shopping app Xiǎohóngshū 小红书 (literally, “little red book”) is planning an initial public offering in the U.S. for this summer. The target fundraise: $500 million to $1 billion. Xiaohongshu’s current valuation stands at a whopping $5 billion after six funding rounds.
• Baijiu boom for Wuliangye
  Chinese baijiu maker Wuliangye has best first-quarter earnings in nearly a decade / Yicai
  Wǔliángyè 五粮液, one of China’s most famous manufacturers of baijiu liquor, rose 21% this year to 9.3 billion yuan ($1.4 billion).
  According to the chairman, Táng Qiáo 唐桥 (in Chinese), Wuliangye has been working hard to appeal to young people because its main customer base is aging out. This includes trying out new products such as alcoholic fruit juices and low-alcohol drinks.
• Travel this holiday weekend
  Record number of Chinese to travel over Labor Day break, but stick close to home / Reuters
• U.S. not satisfied with China’s IPR protection
  U.S. says China must do more to protect intellectual property / WSJ (paywall)
• Alibaba’s troubles
  Alibaba freezes executive pay amid China’s curbs on big tech — sources / Reuters
• Sovereign wealth fund CIC to buy stake in Saudi state oil firm?
  Major Chinese investors in talks to take Aramco stake – sources / Reuters
• Did China replace Australian coal, etc. with product from U.S. and Canada?
  China’s imports of U.S. coal, Canadian barley continue to climb amid ban on Australian exports / SCMP (paywall)
• ByteDance leadership moves
  TikTok names CEO and COO / TikTok
  “Shouzi Chew, ByteDance’s CFO, will now also become CEO of TikTok.”

SCIENCE, HEALTH, AND THE ENVIRONMENT:

• Nearly 10 million vaccinations in a single day
  China administers record daily number of COVID-19 vaccines / Reuters
  “China carried out about 9.6 million vaccinations against COVID-19 on April 29, bringing the total number administered to 253.46 million, according to data released by the National Health Commission on Friday.”
  Shanghai offers locals cash, groceries to get COVID-19 vaccine / Sixth Tone
• Qingdao oil spill
  Ships, equipment in place to remove oil from stricken tanker in China / Reuters
  “Ships and equipment needed to remove the remaining cargo from a stricken oil tanker near the Chinese port city of Qingdao are in place and work is expected to start later on Friday as weather conditions have improved.”

POLITICS AND CURRENT AFFAIRS:

• China says it is the victim in Australia relations
  China accuses Australia of economic coercion as ties deteriorate / Bloomberg (paywall)

China’s top diplomat in Canberra blamed Australia for deteriorating ties between the nations, accusing it of economic coercion and “provocations” in a wide-ranging speech that painted Beijing as a victim.

Citing Australia’s decision last week to cancel agreements between Beijing’s flagship Belt and Road Initiative and Victoria state among a litany of “negative moves,” Ambassador Cheng Jingye said the country’s perception of China as a “threat and challenge” had hurt relations. He called claims of Chinese economic coercion “ridiculous and irrelevant.”

• Remarks by Ambassador Cheng Jingye at the ACBC Webinar / Chinese Embassy in Australia (in Chinese here)
  China-Australia relations: Beijing blocks ‘premature’ move to set up WTO probe into Australian barley tariffs / SCMP (paywall)
  “Australia filed a complaint with the World Trade Organization (WTO) in November, but China rejected the request to form a panel on Wednesday — a move that will only delay the process.”
• U.S. director of National Intelligence on Taiwan
  Biden spy chief: China would find change in U.S. policy toward Taiwan ‘deeply destabilizing’ / The Hill

“From our perspective, if we were to see a U.S. shift from strategic ambiguity, as you’ve identified it, to clarity over a willingness to intervene in a Taiwan contingency, the Chinese would find this deeply destabilizing,” Director of National Intelligence Avril Haines told the Senate Armed Services Committee.

“I think it would solidify Chinese perceptions that the U.S. is bent on constraining China’s rise, including through military force, and would probably cause Beijing to aggressively undermine U.S. interests worldwide,” she added.

From Taipei’s perspective, Haines said, it’s “possible” a U.S. change from “strategic ambiguity” could lead to more Taiwanese movement toward independence.

“I would say that already Taiwan is hardening to some extent towards independence as they’re watching, essentially, what happened in Hong Kong, and I think that is an increasing challenge,” she added.

• Context on The China Project: U.S. debates changes in Taiwan policy as warships swirl around island.
  See also, in HKFP: ‘Most dangerous place on Earth’: Taiwan Twitter derides The Economist’s latest cover story.
• Labor conditions on Belt and Road projects worsened by pandemic
  Chinese workers allege forced labor, abuses in Xi’s Belt and Road program / Washington Post (paywall)
  “New York-based China Labor Watch argues in a new report that overseas Chinese workers are victims of human trafficking and forced labor. Workers described being held against their will, forced to work while infected with the coronavirus and deceived into working illegally. Their passports were seized, they said, and most had gone months without pay. Some said they were beaten for protesting conditions or forced into ‘thought training.’”
• South China Sea
  Vietnam protests renewal of China’s fishing ban in South China Sea / RFA
  Philippines tells China to mind its own business over maritime drills / Reuters via CNN
• Hong Kong
  Hong Kong’s top university cuts ties with student union over national security ‘legal risk’ / Reuters
  Hong Kong broadcaster RTHK axes more content – documentary on newspapers CitizenNews and HKFP scrapped after month-long vetting / HKFP
  HK activist Joshua Wong pleads guilty over June 4 ‘illegal assembly’ / Reuters
• Xinjiang pushback and analysis
  China steps up defense of Xinjiang policies and says sanctions are an ‘industry genocide’ designed to hurt business / SCMP (paywall)
  China Expands Disinformation Campaign to Undermine International Xinjiang Outcry / RFA
  Some reflections on the “anonymous Xinjiang paper” / Lowy Institute

SOCIETY AND CULTURE:

• The body-positive band “Produce Pandas”
  ‘Plus-size’ boy band in China seeks to inspire fans / AP
  “DING, Cass, Husky, Otter and Mr. 17 weigh an average of 100 kilograms (220 pounds) and proudly call themselves ‘the first plus-sized boy band in China.’”
• “Mermaid diving” in Hainan
  Why so many people in China are becoming mermaids / CNN
  “On a normal day, the Ambassador Lagoon inside China’s Atlantis Sanya resort on the island of Hainan is home to about 86,000 marine creatures from over 280 animal species…But on April 28, this huge aquarium welcomed 100 mermaids, all flapping their technicolor tails while gliding through the water in choreographed movements.”
• International students and pandemic travel restrictions
  Pandemic bound / Neocha
  “COVID-19 has had a far-reaching impact, the brunt of which has been felt by everyone to varying degrees. International students are just one of many affected by the outbreak, and others face similar predicaments as Shi Yuewei—those already overseas can’t return home due to limited flights and exorbitant ticket prices, and those preparing to study abroad had to cancel their plans entirely.”