Highlighted Links for Monday, August 8, 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:

• The future is now: Fully driverless robotaxis are hitting China’s streets
  Baidu wins approval for China’s first full driverless taxis / Bloomberg (paywall)
  “The tech giant has secured permits to operate robotaxis in Wuhan and Chongqing, it said in a statement Monday. The move marks a relaxation of Chinese rules, which previously mandated someone must be in the vehicle to take control in case of an emergency.”
  Baidu to operate fully driverless robotaxis in China / FT (paywall)
  Baidu launches China’s first driverless taxi services in Chongqing and Wuhan in landmark moment for autonomous motoring / SCMP (paywall)
  China drafts rules on use of self-driving vehicles for public transport / Reuters

• Number three EV battery maker to IPO in Hong Kong
  Chinese battery maker CALB wins approval for listing in Hong Kong / TechNode
  “CALB, China’s third largest battery maker for electric vehicles, has received approval from the Chinese Securities Regulatory Commission (CSRC) for its proposed initial public offering in Hong Kong.”
  Meet the Chinese carmakers racing to get a larger share of the global markets / TechNode

• China’s IPO market is booming, baby
  China IPO market trounces the world with record $58 billion boom / Bloomberg (paywall)
  “From London to Hong Kong, large initial share sales have all but dried up across the world’s major financial centers this year. But the market in China is bustling with activity.
  Initial public offerings on mainland exchanges have climbed to $57.8 billion so far in 2022, the largest ever for such a period, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.”

• Job search platform Boss Zhipin looks to cut workforce by 10% every six months
  Jobs platform Boss Zhipin to potentially cut workforce by 10% every six months: report / TechNode
  “LinkedIn-like platform Boss Zhipin will review employee performance twice a year, according to a report by Chinese media outlet Sina on Thursday.”

SCIENCE, HEALTH, AND ENVIRONMENT:

• Coal mine collapse in China leaves five dead
  China coal mine collapse death toll rises to five workers / Bloomberg (paywall)
  “All five workers who were trapped after a roof collapsed at a coal mine in Shanxi Province in northern China have been pronounced dead, state-run CCTV reported.”

• China tests reusable spacecraft
  China launches secretive reusable test spacecraft / Space News
  “China sent a highly-classified reusable experimental spacecraft into orbit Thursday, two years after a similarly clandestine mission.”

POLITICS AND FOREIGN AFFAIRS:

• Hong Kong officials drafted into Xinjiang propaganda push
  About 20 Hong Kong members of national legislature will visit Xinjiang to better understand human rights conditions and local governance / SCMP (paywall)
  “About 20 Hong Kong members of the national legislature will visit Xinjiang later this month to understand more about the autonomous region, with a goal of learning enough about conditions to counter accusations from the West that authorities are holding Uygurs in political re-education camps.”

• Veteran cop gets top national security role in Hong Kong
  Former under secretary for security Sonny Au named secretary-general of national security committee / Standard
  “Former Under Secretary for Security Sonny Au Chi-kwong [區志光 Oū Zhìguāng] has been named the city’s new secretary-general to the Committee for Safeguarding National Security of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region.”

• Freed Taiwan activist calls for resistance against Beijing’s threats
  Freed from prison in China, Taiwan activist urges resistance to Beijing’s threats / NYT (paywall)
  “Li Ming-che [李明哲 Lǐ Míngzhé] and his wife, who met with Speaker Nancy Pelosi in Taiwan last week, have sought to inspire others not to be intimidated into silence by Beijing.”

• Xi hunkers down amid geopolitical tensions
  In turbulent times, Xi builds a security fortress for China, and himself / NYT (paywall)
  “Taiwan, COVID, ‘color revolutions,’ the classroom: everywhere, China’s leader sees threats that foreign forces can exploit, and he has enlisted the whole nation to defend against them.”

• CIA shifts focus to China
  One year after Afghanistan, spy agencies pivot toward China / AP
  “In a recent closed-door meeting with leaders of the agency’s counterterrorism center, the CIA’s No. 2 official made clear that fighting al-Qaida and other extremist groups would remain a priority — but that the agency’s money and resources would be increasingly shifted to focusing on China.”

• Corruption and Kenya’s China-funded train
  ‘Jewel in the crown of corruption’: The troubles of Kenya’s China-funded train / NYT (paywall)
  “Five years after its launch, the railway has become associated with debt, dysfunction and criminal inquiries, and it is now a lightning rod in Tuesday’s election.”

• Sri Lanka calls for Chinese survey ship visit to be deferred
  Sri Lanka asks China to defer arrival of ship after India objects / Reuters
  “Sri Lanka has asked China to defer the planned visit of a Chinese survey ship to the island country after an objection from India, a government source told Reuters on Sunday.”
  Sri Lanka caught between China and India over Beijing’s ‘spy ship’ / Nikkei Asia (paywall)

SOCIETY AND CULTURE:

• Chinese influencer under fire over emotional reporting of Shinzo Abe’s assassination
  How a cyberstorm tore apart the life of Chinese influencer Zeng Ying / SCMP (paywall)
  Zēng Yǐng 曾颖 “who also founded Tokyo-based company Dodoculture, became widely known on social media last month over her sympathetic reporting of the death of former Japanese prime minister Shinzo Abe.”

• Jackie Chan’s film set outrages Syrians
  Displaced Syrians voice anger as bombed-out town doubles as film set / FT (paywall)
  “Chinese action movie shot in ruins of Hajar al-Aswad upsets one-time inhabitants unable to return.”

• China’s king of summer beverages: “Cool tea” from Guangdong
  Want to beat the heat? Try these century-old recipes. / Sixth Tone
  “Before air conditioning and refrigeration were widespread, the only break from an oppressive heat wave might have been a refreshing — but not too cold — herbal tea.”