Highlighted Links for Wednesday, July 27, 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:

• Tencent leads global gaming market over Apple and Sony
  Tencent tops Apple, Sony to take gaming market crown / Nikkei Asia (paywall)
  “China’s Tencent Holdings has quietly climbed to the top of the gaming market by making over 180 smaller but strategic investments, surpassing industry giants like Sony and Microsoft that have grabbed headlines with splashy acquisitions.”

• Nowhere to hide on Chinese social media
  Douban to display users’ IP location / TechNode
  “Douban, a Chinese integrated social platform, released a statement on Tuesday saying the platform will now display users’ IP location on profile pages and other areas. The feature rolled out on Tuesday for some users and will apply to all users within a week.”

• China’s property sales expected to drop by 30%
  China’s property sales are set to plunge 30% — worse than in 2008, S&P says / CNBC
  “National property sales will likely drop by about 30% this year — nearly two times worse than their prior forecast, the ratings agency said, citing a growing number of Chinese homebuyers suspending their mortgage payments.”
  China property sales could plunge by one-third, analysts say, as crisis deepens / Guardian

• China’s crypto clampdown gives way to thriving NFT black market
  NFT black market sprouts under China’s crypto crackdown / Nikkei Asia (paywall)
  “While China clamps down on crypto products, traders have found a way to evade the regulatory hurdles by turning to off-the-book transactions of secondhand NFTs.”

• TikTok parent used news app to push pro-China pieces, censor negative stories
  TikTok owner ByteDance used a news app on millions of phones to push pro-China messages, ex-employees say / BuzzFeed News
  “Former employees claim the company placed pieces of pro-China content in its now-defunct US news app, TopBuzz, and censored negative stories about the Chinese government. ByteDance says it did no such thing.”

• As some bankers flee Hong Kong, Citadel expands
  Citadel adds office space for growing Hong Kong teams / Bloomberg (paywall)
  “Ken Griffin’s Citadel and Citadel Securities are snapping up extra office space in Hong Kong to accommodate expanding teams, a vote of confidence in a city that’s seen an exodus of professionals frustrated by its Covid restrictions and Beijing’s tightening grip.”

SCIENCE, HEALTH, AND ENVIRONMENT:

• China’s heat waves burden power grid, disrupt farming
  China’s blistering heat strains power grids and disrupts farming / Bloomberg (paywall)
  “Scorching temperatures across China are straining power grids as the country tries to ramp up industrial activity to support the economy, while farmers are scrambling to save crops such as rice and cotton from the impact of the searing heat.”

• COVID continues: Wuhuan district in lockdown, again
  Wuhan locks down 1 million residents in echo of pandemic’s start / Bloomberg (paywall)
  “A district on the outskirts of Wuhan has been locked down, the first time the Chinese city that saw the world’s first Covid-19 lockdown has imposed such a measure since 2020, underscoring how far the country is from post-pandemic normalcy.”
  China’s Wuhan shuts some businesses, transport amid new COVID cases / Reuters

• Debris from Chinese rocket will crash-land soon
  Debris from a Chinese space rocket Is crashing toward Earth / Bloomberg (paywall)
  “Debris from a Chinese rocket is set to crash to Earth some time over the next few days, with the potential for wreckage to land across a wide swathe of the globe…China is closely following the reentry of the booster from this week’s launch, Foreign Ministry spokesman Zhào Lìjiān 赵立坚 said…”
  China closely tracking debris of its most powerful rocket / Reuters

POLITICS AND FOREIGN AFFAIRS:

• Escalating U.S.-China tensions over Pelosi Taiwan visit
  Pelosi Taiwan visit: Beijing vows consequences if US politician travels to island / BBC
  “China has warned of “serious consequences” if Ms Pelosi were to proceed with her visit. Second in line to the presidency, after the vice-president, Ms Pelosi would be the highest ranking US politician to travel to the island since 1997.”
  ‘A dangerous moment’: China warns of consequences if Pelosi visits Taiwan / Guardian
  Pelosi’s peers say don’t cave to China over potential Taiwan stop / Bloomberg (paywall)
  US military making plans in case Pelosi travels to Taiwan / AP
  Beijing bites back over repeated rumors of Pelosi’s Taiwan visit / RFA

• Xi Jinping personality cult now mandatory for Hong Kong officials
  For Hong Kong’s Beijing-backed officials, Xi’s all that / NYT (paywall)
  “The city’s leaders are rushing to embrace Xi Jinping, China’s leader, a performance of devotion that is a jarring shift for Hong Kong’s once rambunctious political culture.”

• China denies accusations of spying on the Fed
  China blasts report of spying on the Fed as ‘political lie’ / Bloomberg (paywall)
  “China lashed out at a Republican lawmaker who accused it of trying to get secret information from the Federal Reserve, saying the claim was a ‘political lie,’ and some politicians in the US have ‘persecution mania.’”
  China rejects report it tried to obtain Federal Reserve data / AP

• Sri Lanka should address debt restructuring with China, IMF says
  IMF says Sri Lanka needs to talk with China about debt restructuring / Reuters
  “The International Monetary Fund (IMF) said Sri Lanka should kick off debt restructuring talks with its bilateral lender China, while the island state’s government seeks a financing loan from the Washington-based fund.”

• U.S. condemns China’s belligerent attitude in the South China Sea
  U.S. says Beijing’s South China Sea ‘provocations’ risk major incident / Reuters
  “The United States on Tuesday accused China of increased ‘provocations’ against rival claimants in the South China Sea and said its “aggressive and irresponsible behavior” meant it was only a matter of time before a major incident or accident.”

SOCIETY AND CULTURE:

• “Mom groups” are redefining motherhood in China
  China’s moms are banding together and speaking out / Sixth Tone
  Torn between Chinese society’s expectations of a highly intensive mode of parenting and contempt toward stay-at-home moms, growing numbers of women are seeking refuge with their peers, through “mom groups” dedicated to providing mutual support for working and full-time moms alike.

• Outrage over Japanese war criminals honored in Chinese temple
  China to rectify religious sites after temple honors war criminals / Sixth Tone
  “Chinese authorities have launched a nationwide rectification campaign of religious venues after reports of a woman enshrining World War II criminals in a Buddhist temple sparked outrage and fueled anti-Japanese sentiment.”

• Chinese actress Qin Yi dies at age 100
  Qin Yi obituary / Guardian
  Qín Yí 秦怡, “who has died aged 100, was the last survivor of the quartet known as China’s ‘four great actresses.’ She weathered the ups and downs of 20th-century Chinese history, and thrived under different political realities, from pre-communist era to modern blockbusters.”