Highlighted links for Tuesday, July 26, 2022

Below are links to other noteworthy reports published in the last 24 hours from and about China. Click through to our China NewsBase to see all the other stories we collected today.

BUSINESS AND TECHNOLOGY:

U.S. tech companies preemptively decouple ?
U.S. tech companies are severing their China businesses as political fears rise / The Information
“Executives of tech companies operating in both the U.S. and China are taking steps to break apart their businesses to avoid the kind of political and regulatory pressure facing TikTok and its Chinese parent, ByteDance.”

No one wants to be a venture capitalist anymore
China startup funding plunges to 8-year low in Q2 / Nikkei Asia (paywall)
“Venture funding in China fell to $9.1 billion in the second quarter, halving from $18.1 billion in the previous quarter and hitting the lowest since the October-December quarter in 2014 ($5.5 billion), according to a report by KPMG.”

Local governments in China struggle to raise revenue through land-use sales
China faces first drop in local land-use sales since 2015 / Nikkei Asia (paywall)
“China’s local governments are on track for the first decline in annual revenue from sales of land use rights since 2015, dimming Beijing’s hopes of shoring up a sagging economy with public works projects. Sales for the first half of 2022 sank 31% on the year, China’s Finance Ministry reports.”

Tech talent follows government priorities
Chinese tech talent is migrating to five growing industries / TechNode
The CEO of Linkedin-like platform Maimai said “that Chinese talent is migrating from traditional tech firms like Baidu, Alibaba, and Tencent to five trending fields: electric vehicles, artificial intelligence, semiconductors, biotech, and carbon neutrality.”

SCIENCE, HEALTH, AND ENVIRONMENT:

Heat waves sear China, break records
Hotter, longer and more widespread heat waves scorch China / NYT (paywall)
“More than 900 million Chinese, about 65 percent of the population, are living under some kind of heat warning…the severity of [extreme summer weather in China] has increased in recent years under the effects of global warming. Officials said the heat this year was likely to be more intense and more prolonged.”
Heat wave boosts southern China’s power use to a record high / Bloomberg (paywall)

Water for the thirsty north
China’s new mega tunnel will send water from the Three Gorges Dam to Beijing / SCMP (paywall)
“China has launched a new tunneling project to send water from the Three Gorges Dam to Beijing as part of a massive infrastructure plan to boost food production and the economy.”

Snapping turtles are taking over southern China
China’s ecosystems face a new menace: vicious snapping turtles / Sixth Tone
“Snapping turtles are powerful, aggressive, and on the loose in southern China. Authorities are concerned.”

POLITICS AND FOREIGN AFFAIRS:

Rumors and fears around Pelosi’s Taiwan trip
White House clash with Pelosi over Taiwan spills into the open / Politico
“The Biden administration’s dispute with Speaker Nancy Pelosi over her planned trip to Taiwan next month spilled into public view this week when the president himself asserted that the military ‘thinks it’s not a good idea right now.’”
U.S. officials grow more concerned about potential action by China on Taiwan / NYT (paywall)
China’s response to Pelosi’s potential Taiwan visit could be ‘unprecedented’ but military conflict unlikely, experts say / CNN
Growing number in GOP back Pelosi on possible Taiwan trip / AP
Taiwan fears fallout from planned Nancy Pelosi visit threatens U.S. security commitment / FT (paywall)
Pelosi’s Taiwan ambiguity has China fuming ahead of Biden call / Bloomberg (paywall)
As Pelosi eyes Taiwan trip, U.S. anxious on China red lines / HKFP
Talk of Nancy Pelosi visiting Taiwan angers China / Economist (paywall)

China and Taiwan face each other through military drills
Taiwan holds drills amid Pelosi visit concern, China tension / AP
“Taiwan’s capital staged air raid drills Monday and its military mobilized for routine defense exercises, coinciding with concerns over a forceful Chinese response to a possible visit to the island by U.S. Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi.”
Taiwan kicks off annual military exercises as China rattles sabers / Nikkei Asia (paywall)
Taiwan practises repelling Chinese sea invasion in war games / HKFP
Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen observes live-fire drill from warship / SCMP (paywall)

Is China trying to infiltrate the Fed?
China has targeted the Fed for more than a decade, Senate report charges / Politico
“China has recruited Federal Reserve economists for more than a decade to share sensitive and confidential information about U.S. economic policymaking in a bid to gain influence over the central bank, a Senate Republican charged in a report Tuesday.”
Fed not adequately prepared to thwart Chinese information gathering: report / Reuters
China seeking to infiltrate fed, senior Senate republican says / Bloomberg (paywall)
China targeted fed to build informant network, access data, a probe says / WSJ (paywall)

China sends troops to Russia for Moscow’s military games
China sends troops and tanks to Russia ahead of next month’s military games / SCMP (paywall)
“The Chinese People’s Liberation Army has sent a delegation to Russia to take part in Moscow’s International Army Games next month, the first time the event has been held since Russia invaded Ukraine.”

Crushing the remnants of Hong Kong’s protest movement
Beijing-backed media print full page attacks on last active protest group in Hong Kong / HKFP
“Two Beijing-backed newspapers in Hong Kong have printed full-page attacks on the city’s last active protest group, saying their earlier move to delete online posts allegedly breaching the national security law showed the activists had a ‘guilty conscience.’”

Banking protests continue
China’s rural banking smash-up / WSJ (paywall)
“A protest by bank depositors in the province of Henan has been put down forcibly. Meanwhile, home buyers with mortgages—but not yet finished apartments—throughout China are making noises about halting payment. For a Chinese economy already in significant trouble, these are eye-opening headlines.”
Henan protests highlight concerns over China’s rural banking sector / FT (paywall)
Unreal estate: how duped homeowners in Henan flipped the script / Sixth Tone
Recently on The China Project: What exactly did the Henan protestors want from the banks? Q&A with Liqian Ren

Why Uyghurs are so good at English
How Uyghurs became so good at English / Economist (paywall)
“Despite representing less than 1% of China’s total population, and notwithstanding official efforts to focus on teaching Chinese, from 2004 to 2014 Uyghurs performed notably well in most of China’s big English competitions. A new paper explores how they became so good at the language.”

SOCIETY AND CULTURE:

Business is booming in Shanghai’s ice industry
Ice business booms in baking Shanghai summer / Reuters
“Soaring temperatures in China’s commercial capital Shanghai throughout July have made Ye Xiangxiang a busy man. The manager of the Shanghai’s Yuhu Ice Company Ltds. ice-making factory on the outskirts of the city, Ye says business in 2022 is double that of a normal year.”

China’s top coal-mining company’s 2022 developments
China’s top coal miner boosts first-half investment, production / Bloomberg (paywall)
“Development investment rose by 51% to 49.3 billion yuan ($7.3 billion) in the first six months from the same period in 2021, the Beijing-based company said in a statement posted on the state-backed China Electric Power News WeChat account.”

How China’s art world is navigating zero COVID
China’s zero COVID restrictions have had significant impact on country’s commercial art scene / Art Newspaper
“According to the new report by the researcher Wu Wenlong, published in the Chinese-language magazine Art Market, the period that saw hard lockdowns in cities like Shanghai and Xi’an and rolling lockdowns nationwide resulted in lower sales than the first half of 2021 for 77% of galleries, while 19% held steady and 4% sold better than last year.”

New English translation of Wang Xiaobo novel
Sex confessions and protest from a disillusioned communist / NYT (paywall)
“Wang Xiaobo’s ‘The Golden Age’ is a novel of lust and loss during China’s Cultural Revolution.”

Ballads about burning trash: A Chinese artist’s unconventional work
A Chinese artist fights pollution with rock music / Washington Post (paywall)
“In recent years [Chinese artist Nut Brother]…has developed a knack for highlighting overlooked environmental and social issues in China using quirky, social media-ready performance art that can slip through the cracks in China’s tightly controlled media environment.”

Art exhibition showcases “time machine” to life before Hong Kong National Security Law
Taiwan’s ‘time machine’ house recreates, preserves memories of Hong Kong / RFA
“The Hong Kong Time House project hopes to recreate the city people remember, to show others their lived experience of being there before they fled a crackdown on dissent under a draconian national security law imposed by Beijing.”