Highlighted links for Wednesday, September 14, 2022

Below are links to other noteworthy reports published in the last 24 hours from and about China.

BUSINESS AND TECHNOLOGY:

Protectionism for medical equipment
China moves to shut out foreign medical equipment makers / Nikkei Asia (paywall)
“Local governments in Hubei, Anhui, Shanxi provinces and the Ningxia Hui autonomous region issued notices in April to local hospitals to limit their use of medical and testing equipment to those produced domestically.”

Mexico blunts U.S. tariff pain for Chinese firms
Chinese manufacturers get around U.S. tariffs with some help from Mexico / Bloomberg (paywall)
“Located in a prime spot between Mexico’s industrial capital and the U.S. border, Hofusan has become a haven for Chinese manufacturers looking to sidestep U.S. tariffs and shorten supply chains that have been strained to a breaking point during the pandemic.”

Did Twitter allow China and India to tap its user data?
Whistleblower: China, India had agents working for Twitter / AP
“Twitter’s former security chief told Congress Tuesday there was ‘at least one agent’ from China’s intelligence service on Twitter’s payroll and that the company knowingly allowed India to add agents to the company roster as well, potentially giving those nations access to sensitive data about users.”
Yesterday from Reuters: How China became big business for Twitter.

BYD’s new chip plant in Changsha
BYD to open $140 million chip plant in China’s Changsha / TechNode
“Chinese auto giant BYD is on track to open a chip factory in October in the central Chinese city of Changsha, according to a report by state-owned media outlet Hunan Today.”

Fosun and Evergrande: Debt, denials, and foreclosures
Fosun denies reports China regulators asked banks to report exposure to it / Reuters
“Fosun International said on Wednesday that media reports saying Chinese regulators have told the country’s biggest banks to start a round of checks on their financial exposure to the Chinese conglomerate were false.”
China’s Fosun denies reports of mandatory exposure check by banks / Pandaily
Evergrande Hong Kong headquarters building seized by creditor / Caixin (paywall)
“Debt-ridden China Evergrande Group lost control of its Hong Kong headquarters building to a creditor over an unpaid loan of almost $1 billion in the latest sign of the developer’s deepening financial woes.”

SCIENCE, HEALTH, AND ENVIRONMENT:

Typhoon Muifa pounds eastern China
Chinese cities halt flights, trains as Typhoon Muifa nears / Reuters
Typhoon to skirt Shanghai, move up coast of northeast China / AP
Powerful typhoon to hit Shanghai with strong winds, flooding / Bloomberg (paywall)

Another satellite launch
China launches Zhongxing-1E military communications satellite / Space News
“China launched a Long March 7A rocket Tuesday, successfully inserting the Zhongxing-1E satellite into geosynchronous transfer orbit.”

POLITICS AND FOREIGN AFFAIRS:

Uyghurs, China, and the UN rights report
The battle behind the UN report on China’s Xinjiang abuses / FT (paywall)
“Staff at [the] human rights office pushed [the] former high commissioner to release findings despite resistance from Beijing.”
A Uyghur author and translator were detained. Now, their novel speaks for them. / NYT (paywall)
Novelist Perhat Tursun and one of the co-translators of his novel, The Backstreets, have disappeared into China’s detention camps for Uyghurs.

• See also The China Project’s column on Xinjiang and Uyghur affairs by Darren Byler, the other co-translator of the novel.

Groups aiming to counter China in the Indo-Pacific
Japan, India hold maritime drills amid China concerns in Indo-Pacific / Kyodo News
“Japan’s Maritime Self-Defense Force said Tuesday it has been conducting exercises with the Indian Navy in waters off the South Asian nation’s east coast amid China’s growing assertiveness in the Indo-Pacific region.”
New Zealand to participate in ministerial meeting of new group formed to counter China’s Pacific moves / News Hub
New Zealand’s “Foreign Affairs Minister Nanaia Mahuta has confirmed…she will virtually attend a meeting of foreign affairs ministers from the five Partners in the Blue Pacific (PBP) countries,” which are Australia, Japan, New Zealand, the U.K., and the U.S.

Will Beijing send representatives to the late Queen’s funeral?
China ‘actively considering’ sending high-level delegation to Queen Elizabeth’s funeral / SCMP (paywall)
“China is ‘actively considering’ sending a high-level delegation to Queen Elizabeth’s funeral in London next Monday, the foreign ministry in Beijing has said.”

Chinese nationalism in Hong Kong universities
Hong Kong’s CUHK hosts first weekly flag-raising ceremony to ‘promote national education’ / HKFP
“The Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK) has held its first weekly flag-raising ceremony ‘to promote national education’ and enhance a sense of ‘national identity’ among students, staff and alumni.”

Kenya still seeks Chinese funds
After bashing China loans, Kenya’s president signals reverse course / SCMP (paywall)
“Kenya’s new president, William Ruto, has signaled that the East African nation will still look to China to finance and develop its infrastructure — a U-turn from the antagonistic stance he struck during the campaign.”

SOCIETY AND CULTURE:

No Taiwanese flags for beauty queens in Malaysia
Taiwan says beauty queen barred from waving flag in Malaysia / AFP via Bangkok Post
“Taipei accused China on Wednesday of pressuring [organizers] of a Malaysian trade event into barring a Taiwanese beauty queen waving the island’s flag on stage.”

China’s urban dropouts seek out dirt-cheap empty homes
The winners of China’s housing bust: Burnouts and beach bums / Sixth Tone
“Situated in scenic towns and all but free, they’re the perfect flats for lying flat.”

Hollywood’s tumultuous relationship with China
When Hollywood met China / New Yorker
Journalist Erich Schwartzel’s new book, Red Carpet, “details the hazardous courtship of American entertainment companies and the Chinese government.”

Chorus culture goes viral
How a choir of Miao farmers became a viral hit / Sixth Tone
“The Xiaoshuijing Miao Farmer Choir has found success online, but viral fame comes with its own risks.”

Designer brands distance themselves from actor’s prostitution scandal
Luxury brands drop Chinese star held for hiring sex workers / AFP via France 24
“Global brands including Prada and Remy Martin have cut ties with Chinese superstar Lǐ Yìfēng 李易峰, after the actor was detained for soliciting sex workers.”