Editor’s note for Friday, October 8, 2021

Dear reader,

We’ve summarized the most important news of the week below. This is what else you need to know today:

China today fined food-delivery giant Meituan $530 million for antitrust violations. The move comes after months of speculation about government actions against the company, including a Wall Street Journal report in August that suggested regulators were going to impose a $1 billion penalty on the company.

The context is, of course, months of crackdowns on the tech sector and other industries.

The Japanese navy has an aircraft carrier after a 70-year gap, says military affairs journalist David Axe.

The police arrested Chinese journalist Luó Chāngpíng 罗昌平, apparently for social media commentary on China’s role in the Korean War, the subject of China’s box office hit The Battle at Lake Changji.

Related, and attracting attention right now on the Chinese internet: Draft rules from the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) about media ownership reiterate policies that do not allow non-state entities to engage in news gathering, editing, and broadcasting. Expect the relevant authorities to “round up those who need to be rounded up.”

Indian and Chinese soldiers engaged in a minor face-off near Yangtse in the Tawang sector of Arunachal Pradesh last week and it was resolved in a few hours as per established protocols between the two countries, according to defense sources.

“The fragile beauty of Chinese painting” is how the New York Times characterizes an exhibition of some 60 celebrated landscapes at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Worth a visit if you’re in New York, worth a click (with images at full size) if you’re not.

—Jeremy Goldkorn, Editor-in-Chief