Highlighted links for Wednesday, August 10, 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:

China’s graduates want to work, but nobody is hiring
China’s youth face bleak job market as COVID slows economy / AP

Taiwan wants Foxconn to deinvest from Chinese chipmaker
Taiwan security officials want Foxconn to drop stake in Chinese chipmaker / FT (paywall)
“Taiwanese national security officials want to force Apple supplier Foxconn to unwind an $800 million investment in Chinese chip company Tsinghua Unigroup, as Taipei seeks to align itself more closely with the U.S. in the face of escalating threats from Beijing.”

Semiconductors: the future of U.S.-China tech war
The next frontier in the tech battle between the U.S. and China / CNN
“The technological arms race between the United States and China has cut across everything from smartphones and cellular equipment to social media and artificial intelligence. But a new battleground is emerging that goes a layer deeper: to the components that power our smartphones, computers, automobiles and home appliances.”
Welcome to the new U.S.-China tech war / Protocol
U.S. invests $280 billion in high tech to compete with China / BBC

Alibaba fired nearly 10,000 workers
Alibaba reduced workforce by nearly 10,000 in three months / Bloomberg (paywall)
“Chinese ecommerce giant Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. let go of 9,241 employees in the three months to June, according to the company’s latest filing.”

Hong Kong major airline is still losing money
Hong Kong’s Cathay Pacific Airways posts loss of nearly HK$5 billion for first half of 2022, 33.9 per cent down from figure in same period last year / SCMP (paywall)
“Hong Kong’s Cathay Pacific Airways has announced a loss of HK$4.99 billion ($636.8 million) in the first half of 2022, 33.9% down from the same period last year amid a strong rebound in passenger flights.”

SCIENCE, HEALTH, AND ENVIRONMENT:

Protecting farmland vs. going green — China energy goals at risk
China’s cities face tough choice: More green energy or food / Bloomberg (paywall)
“Floods, droughts and food-supply snafus are making China more wary of wind and solar developments that eat up farmland.”

Typhoon Mulan strikes Guangdong, heads towards Hainan
Tropical storm Mulan churns towards COVID-stricken Hainan Island / Reuters

POLITICS AND FOREIGN AFFAIRS:

The setbacks and failures of the Belt and Road Initiative
Road to nowhere: China’s Belt and Road Initiative at tipping point / Nikkei Asia (paywall)
“Seven years after its launch, the initial optimism around China’s Belt and Road Initiative has been replaced by disappointment over mismanagement, debt crises and corruption that have left many projects unfinished or incapable of fulfilling their promised potential.”

China is undermining efforts to pressure the Myanmar’s government
China and Russia enable Myanmar military’s brazen behavior / Nikkei Asia (paywall)

Appeal hearing for China’s most famous #MeToo case
China’s landmark #MeToo sexual harassment case returns to court after setback / HKFP
“A landmark sexual harassment case in China returned to court Wednesday after an earlier ruling dealt a blow to the country’s fledgling #MeToo movement.”

China-Australia relations seem deadlocked
Ambassador’s fiery speech was the sound of China laying out terms that Australia has already declined / The Guardian
China’s rules of rapprochement unveiled in Canberra were: don’t squabble outdoors, don’t pick sides and don’t humiliate Beijing by failing to respect red lines.

The Taiwanese are staying Zen
Taiwan residents largely calm in the face of Chinese anger / Reuters
See also on The China Project: Why are Taiwanese people just chilling as the missiles fly? — Q&A with William Yang.

SOCIETY AND CULTURE:

Robots turn to cooking in Shanghai
China’s new iron chefs: Robots and AI dish out $4 menus in Shanghai / Nikkei Asia (paywall)
“Shanghai’s newest ‘AI canteen’ has all the hustle and bustle of a typical restaurant in China, except for one major distinction. Instead of humans, robots cook and serve the food.”

COVID ruined these Indian students studies in China
India’s tired, depressed, stranded students desperate to return to their second home in China / SCMP (paywall)
“Around 20,000 Indian students are enrolled in Chinese universities, with the vast majority studying medicine due to a similar curriculum. But they have been forced to study online due to the coronavirus, and despite assurances, they face an anxious wait to find out when they can return.”

Unable to use smartphones, China’s elderly are isolated
In ‘Zero-COVID’ China, the elderly are becoming ever more marginalized / Sixth Tone
“In China’s major cities, residents now have to use ‘digital health codes’ to do pretty much anything: from entering a restaurant to using a public restroom. For the many seniors who don’t have smartphones, that’s a big problem.”