Highlighted Links for Thursday, August 11, 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:

• World’s two biggest EV makers partner up as Didi and Li Auto’s EV partnership falls apart
  BYD supplies EV batteries to Tesla in Germany: report / TechNode
  “BYD has started supplying electric vehicle batteries to Tesla’s factory in Germany, Chinese media outlet Sina Tech reported on Wednesday. This is the latest development in the partnership between Tesla and BYD, two of the world’s biggest EV makers.”
  China’s Didi EV joint venture with Li Auto applies for bankruptcy – court / Reuters
  “Chinese ride-hailing firm Didi’s joint venture with Li Auto has applied for bankruptcy, according to a court filing, pointing to the end of a four-year-old partnership to make electric vehicles (EV).”

• Executives of China’s largest chip investment fund investigated for corruption
  China hits Big Fund chip executives with corruption probes / FT (paywall)
  “China’s top anti-corruption watchdog has launched investigations against several executives linked to the country’s largest chip investment fund, as Beijing steps up scrutiny of the sector in its race for technological self-sufficiency.”
  Earlier on The China Project: Mayhem in China’s semiconductor industry as ‘chips madmen’ are arrested.

• The ongoing battery war between China and Japan
  China and Japan duel over ‘liquid’ batteries for green energy / Nikkei Asia (paywall)
  “China’s Dalian Rongke Power is competing with Japan’s Sumitomo Electric Industries in capturing demand for a unique type of storage battery that will be crucial to expanding the use of renewable energy.”

SCIENCE, HEALTH, AND ENVIRONMENT:

• COVID-zero censorship
  Tencent-backed China health information unicorn censored online / Bloomberg (paywall)
  “Hangzhou Lianke Meixun Biomedical Technology Co., known in China for its DXY websites that fact check health claims and explain science to the public, had some of its Weibo social media accounts labeled as “violating regulations” and suspended. No further details were given.”
  China suspends major platform that doubted Beijing COVID policies / Nikkei Asia (paywall)

• COVID curbs in Hainan, Tibet, Yiwu, and Xinjiang, but U.K. direct flights resume
  China’s COVID cases hit three-month high on beach town surge / Bloomberg (paywall)
  “COVID-19 cases in China jumped to a three-month high, with almost half of the 1,993 infections reported nationally for Wednesday coming from the widely shuttered Hainan island where tourists had thronged in search of respite.”
  China orders up 3,000 hospital beds in Tibet on 28 COVID cases / Bloomberg (paywall)
  Several cities in China add COVID curbs as millions still under lockdown / Reuters
  Macau to suspend ferry services with Shenzhen in China / Reuters
  Direct flights between UK and China resume as COVID grip eases / Bloomberg (paywall)
  Is this “a sign that Chinese authorities are slowly loosening their grip on the world’s tightest COVID-19 regime and opening up to travel again”?

POLITICS AND FOREIGN AFFAIRS:

• Xi to visit Saudi Arabia?
  Chinese president Xi Jinping to visit Saudi Arabia next week / Guardian
  “The Chinese president Xi Jinping is expected to visit Saudi Arabia next week, where plans are under way for a gala reception to match that given to Donald Trump on his first trip abroad as president.”
  China foreign ministry: No information to offer on report about any Xi visit to Saudi Arabia / Reuters

• Somaliland refuses to cut ties with Taiwan, angers China
  China fumes as Somaliland refuses to unfriend Taiwan / WSJ (paywall)
  “Few African regions have the nerve to say no to China…Somaliland is one of the few, one of two remaining Taiwanese diplomatic outposts in sub-Saharan Africa.”

• South Korea to keep American missile shield
  South Korea says missile shield ‘not negotiable’ with China / Bloomberg (paywall)
  “South Korea said the possible operation of a controversial American-made missile shield was “not negotiable,” pushing back at China’s efforts to hold President Yoon Suk Yeol to his predecessor’s pledge to freeze its deployment.”
  South Korea, China clash over U.S. missile shield, complicating conciliation / Reuters

• China blocks UN sanctions against Pakistani terrorist
  China blocks UN sanctions on Pakistani extremist leader / AP
  “China on Wednesday blocked the imposition of U.N. sanctions sought by the United States and India against the deputy chief of Jaish-e-Mohammad, a Pakistan-based extremist group designated by the United Nations as a terrorist organization.”

• U.S. and India conduct Himalayan military exercises
  U.S., India prepare for mountaintop drills near China border / Nikkei Asia (paywall)
  “In a move that is sure to attract the attention of war planners in Beijing, the U.S. and India have decided to conduct high-altitude combat training in a region of India bordering China this October.”

• Mass exodus from Hong Kong
  113,200 residents leave Hong Kong in 12 months, contributing to 1.6 percent drop in population, census figures show / SCMP (paywall)

• China deepens ties with Mongolia, seeks resources and Russia trade link
  China accelerates Mongolia investment to ‘facilitate’ Russia trade link and secure energy, commodities / SCMP (paywall)

SOCIETY AND CULTURE:

• Living on a Taiwanese island within spitting distance of China
  In Taiwan’s Kinmen, people hope for calm amid China tensions / Al Jazeera
  “On the heavily-fortified outlying islands, mainland China is less than five kilometers away and memories of bombardment strong.”

• Discarded cassette tapes offer nostalgia from a lost Shanghai
  Trove of discarded cassette tapes brings back a lost Shanghai / Sixth Tone
  “Musician Philip Hsu has amassed a huge collection of mixtapes recorded by ordinary Shanghainese during the late 20th century. They offer a unique window into an era of dizzying change.”