Links for Friday, May 7, 2021

BUSINESS AND TECHNOLOGY:

Robot waiter startup plans world domination
Keenon Robotics, a Shanghai-based startup that builds automated servers for restaurants, is aiming to go global this year.

• Founded in 2010, the company claims to be responsible for roughly 85% of food-serving robots ever sold in China.
• The company now aims to have local units set up in at least 10 countries by the end of 2021.
• China is a pioneer in service robots in food delivery, security, sanitation, and logistics.

See also: SoftBank leads $15M round for China’s industrial robot maker Youibot / TechCrunch

Tencent in talks with U.S. to keep game investments
Tencent is one of the largest gaming companies in the world, so it was inevitable that some of its U.S. acquisitions came under scrutiny as U.S.-China relations took a nosedive last year.

• Now the Chinese tech giant is reported to be negotiating with U.S. officials to see if it can keep its stake in two massive U.S. video game developers.
• The deal would allow Tencent to retain its shares in Riot Games and Epic Games, of which the tech giant owns 100% and 40%, respectively.

Tesla China sets up platform for owners to view their car’s data
After two Tesla owners staged a protest against the EV maker last month, Tesla began developing an online platform that will allow vehicle owners in China to check their car’s data, per Yicai.

• The platform is a response to criticisms, highlighted by the protest, over a lack of transparency in the EV industry regarding the cause of car accidents.
• The database is expected to launch this year.
• The regulatory environment has yet to catch up with the tech of smart cars. Currently, there are no formal procedures for car owners to own their car’s data. This will be an issue as EVs and autonomous driving features become more popular.

Adidas sales soar, despite state-media-backed boycott campaign and high-profile censorship of the brand
Adidas reports 150% sales hike in China despite local boycott over human rights / CNBC
Last month on The China Project: Chinese TV shows censor foreign fashion brands as Xinjiang cotton row continues.

Investors are bullish Chinese apparel makers and nationalist customers
Chinese sportswear maker’s shares surge as Xinjiang cotton row drives sales / SCMP

China’s trade grows, even with Australia and U.S.
China’s exports beat expectations on demand from COVID-hit emerging markets, stimulus policies / Caixin (paywall)
“China’s exports rose by a higher-than-expected 32.3% year-on-year in April, while imports jumped by 43.1%.”
China’s trade with the U.S. and Australia grew in April despite tensions / CNBC
China posts rapid trade growth in April as recovery races ahead / Reuters

India-China commercial relations take another hit
India blocks China-made wireless device imports: Report / Al Jazeera
“Imports from China of finished electronic devices – like bluetooth speakers, wireless earphones, smartphones, smartwatches and laptops – containing wifi modules are being delayed, the sources said.”

Another day older and deeper in debt
China Huarong’s journey from safe bet to bad news: A timeline / Bloomberg (paywall)

Another step to battery domination
Chinese lithium producer to buy out Mexican Sonora project owner / Caixin (paywall)

More business and technology links:

• India holds up wireless approvals for China-made devices, delaying launches / Reuters
• Xiaomi, Oppo, Vivo, Realme face Indian dilemma as Covid-19 resurgence sinks demand / SCMP
• China’s April foreign exchange reserves rise to $3.2 trillion / Reuters
• Chinese consumers are opening their wallets again / WSJ (paywall)
• Pandemic tarnishes China’s north, strengthens southern swing for jobs / WSJ (paywall)
• Juul inventor’s Myst lands funding as institutional investors turn to China’s e-cigs / TechCrunch
• China propels BMW to strong profits, Germany lags / AP
• China extends historic corn-buying spree with U.S. purchase / Bloomberg (paywall)

SCIENCE, HEALTH, AND ENVIRONMENT:

“Extremely low” risk of damage from falling rocket
China says out-of-control space rocket booster probably won’t cause any harm / Washington Post (paywall)
“As of early Friday, the U.S. Air Force Space Track Project estimated that the debris will crash in a remote desert outside Mary, Turkmenistan, although researchers warned that with a roughly day left until reentry, the projected site could be wildly off-base…U.S. defense officials said this week they were tracking the Long March debris and had no plans to shoot it down.”

Limits on steelmaking emissions
China’s steelmakers forced to further slim down new mills to cut emissions / Caixin Global (paywall)
“Chinese steelmakers in areas with strict pollution controls must ensure that new mills have at least one-third less capacity than those they replace, under new government rules aimed at slimming down the notoriously bloated sector.”

More science, health, and environment links:

• With heavy rain forecast for May, China warns of potential flooding / Sixth Tone
  “China is on high alert for summer floods following last year’s historic flooding that inundated dozens of towns and large swaths of farmland, costing over 41.94 billion yuan ($6 billion) in economic losses. The 2020 flood was the country’s worst since 1998.”
• Chinese in Iraq blocked from flying home after virus cases / AP
• China opens Everest’s north side to 38 virus-tested climbers / AP
  “The 38 people who were issued Chinese permits to climb the peak, known as Qomolongma in Tibetan, must come from parts of China that are at low risk for infection and must show a clean bill of health before attempting the summit, state media reported Friday.”

POLITICS AND FOREIGN AFFAIRS:

A land grab in Bhutan?
China is building entire villages in another country’s territory / Foreign Policy (paywall)
Based on Chinese media articles, satellite photos, and original research, Tibet scholar Robert Barnett reports that China has been constructing “a previously unnoticed network of roads, buildings, and military outposts…deep in a sacred valley in Bhutan.”

Nationalist backlash to American embassy social media post
‘Are you like this doggy?’ U.S. embassy asked Chinese students. It backfired. / NYT (paywall)
In advertising that student visa applications were resuming, the U.S. embassy posted a video of a dog trying to jump over a fence and asked, “Are you like this doggy who can’t wait to go out and play?” Reactions on Weibo ranged from cringing at the “ham-handed attempt to be cute” to accusations that the “U.S. State Department had deliberately tried to insult Chinese students by likening them to dogs.”
Guess which interpretation the nationalist Global Times tabloid highlighted.

China to build “fixed aircraft carrier” on remote Kiribati island in Pacific?
China plans to revive strategic Pacific airstrip, Kiribati lawmaker says / Reuters
“The plans, which have not been made public, involve construction on the tiny island of Kanton (also spelled Canton), a coral atoll strategically located midway between Asia and the Americas…‘The island would be a fixed aircraft carrier,’ said one adviser to Pacific governments, who declined to be named because of the sensitivity of the project.”

More politics and foreign affairs links:

• China’s Xi tells IOC the Winter Olympics will proceed as planned / Bloomberg (paywall)
• Blinken jousts with China and Russia in United Nations meeting / NYT (paywall)
• China watches for changes to U.S.’ Taiwan policy after Kurt Campbell’s comments / SCMP (paywall)
• Australia will maintain its Taiwan policy, Prime Minister Scott Morrison says / SCMP (paywall)
• Japan steps up defense capabilities in new domains, with eye on China and Russia / SCMP (paywall)
• New Zealand wants a mature relationship with China, foreign minister says / Reuters
• China’s Overwatch League teams end Saebyeolbe boycott due to his ‘One China’ criticism / Washington Post (paywall)
• China, EU will keep cooperating despite problems, EU ambassador says / SCMP (paywall)
• U.S. calls on Hong Kong to release Tiananmen vigil activists / AFP via HKFP
• ‘Invaders United Kingdom 1900’: Chinese cartoonist Wuheqilin mocks G7 meeting with new illustration / Global Times

SOCIETY AND CULTURE:

The cross-cultural pop art of Xǔ Déqí 许德奇
A changing China / Neocha
“Shandong-born artist Xu Deqi was introduced to pop art in 1998, which he believes wouldn’t have been possible without the foundation set by the early pioneers…A departure from his background in traditional oil painting, pop art gave him a renewed perspective on art, on how he can express his creativity in bolder strokes.”

The globalization of majiang via America
What the surprising history of mah-jongg can teach us about America / TIME
“This surprising history is explored in depth in Annelise Heinz’s new book, Mahjong: A Chinese Game and the Making of Modern American Culture, in which she makes the case that the game — the name of which has multiple accepted spellings [májiàng 麻将 in standard Mandarin] — can provide valuable insight into how factors of identity like race, gender, ethnicity and sexuality evolved and intersected in a swiftly changing world. Heinz maps out how, across cultures and countries, from its origins in China in the 1800s to its revived popularity among Jewish American women in the 1950s, mah-jongg has always been a way to find community.”