Highlighted Links for Thursday, October 6, 2022

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

BUSINESS AND TECHNOLOGY:

• Virgin Atlantic halts Heathrow-Hong Kong route over Russian airspace issues
  Virgin Atlantic drops Hong Kong route after nearly 30 years / Reuters
  “British airline Virgin Atlantic on Wednesday decided to suspend its Heathrow-Hong Kong services, close its Hong Kong office and not resume flights in March 2023, after 30 years in the Asian city due to issues related to the closure of Russian airspace.”

• Can Huawei skirt U.S. sanctions?
  Secretive chip startup may help Huawei circumvent U.S. sanctions / Bloomberg (paywall)
  Shenzhen-based startup firm Pengxinwei IC Manufacturing Co. “could effectively enable Huawei to sidestep Washington’s efforts to choke off the flow of chips to a company it views as a military and economic threat.”
  In September on Live with Lizzi Lee: How did a Chinese chipmaking firm get through the U.S. export ban?

• Too much competition in China’s booming EV market?
  How a mini electric hatchback became one of China’s hottest EVs / Bloomberg (paywall)
  “Zhejiang Leapmotor Technologies Ltd. has more than last week’s disastrous trading debut in Hong Kong to worry about. While the electric-vehicle maker’s T03 mini car is outselling the likes of Nio Inc. and Xpeng Inc. in China, it isn’t making a profit.”
  Traditional auto firms face overcapacity as EV market blooms / Pandaily
  “Over the past two years, a steady decline in the capacity utilization rate among traditional automakers has become an intensifying industry-wide trend, due to the rapid development of the new energy vehicle market.”

• Hong Kong gloom and doom
  Hong Kong recovery falters as PMI falls to worst in six months / Bloomberg (paywall)
  “Hong Kong’s private sector activity contracted in September for the first time in six months as the financial hub struggles to recover from its COVID-fueled isolation and global headwinds.”

• COVID zero weighs on holiday spending in China
  China’s zero-COVID grip upends ‘Golden Week’ for tourism industry / FT (paywall)
  “China’s controversial zero-COVID policy is disrupting the most important week of the year for the country’s suffering tourism industry, with officials on higher alert than usual ahead of a Communist party congress where Xi Jinping is expected to secure an unprecedented third term in power.”

• Where is the yuan going?
  Offshore yuan gains seen allaying China’s currency woes, for now / Bloomberg (paywall)
  “The offshore yuan’s rally is set to boost the onshore unit once trading resumes after the Golden Week holidays in China, taking the pressure off the central bank to defend the currency.”

• Alipay knocked off hi-tech firm list in Shanghai for not spending enough on R&D
  Alipay drops off list of Shanghai priority high-tech firms / Bloomberg (paywall)
  “China’s mobile payment giant Alipay was removed from a high-tech company list in Shanghai, adding to the woes at billionaire Jack Ma’s fintech operation.”

• Google-less Huawei still a top smartphone pick in Africa
  African consumers still want Huawei smartphones even without Google’s services / China-Global South Project (paywall)

• Japan electronics maker wants to shift production back home
  Japan’s Yaskawa to build domestic plant to reduce China dependence / Nikkei Asia (paywall)
  “Yaskawa Electric will invest up to 60 billion yen ($415 million) to build a new factory in Japan in 2027 as a base for its core home-appliance component to reduce dependence on China, Nikkei has learned.”

• Volkswagen eyes Chinese software
  Volkswagen plans over 1 billions euro investment in software JV in China – sources / Reuters
  “Volkswagen is planning a significant investment in a joint venture in China for software production, sources with knowledge of the matter said on Thursday.”

SCIENCE, HEALTH, AND ENVIRONMENT:

• Beijing cracks down on COVID talk as it tightens nationwide travel restrictions
  China’s internet watchdog vows another crackdown against COVID-19 rumors amid anger over pandemic policies / SCMP (paywall)
  “The Cyberspace Administration of China said online misinformation has sowed panic and anger over the government’s COVID policies, among other issues.”
  No “lying down” on COVID / China Media Project
  “And on page two of the People’s Daily newspaper yesterday, readers can find the latest robust official defense of the Party’s handling of COVID-19, which speaks of continuing danger with familiar slogans like ‘persistence is victory’ (坚持就是胜利) — a battle cry harking back to the Cultural Revolution.”
  China’s vast Xinjiang hit with COVID-19 travel restrictions / AP
  Zero-COVID measures cause chaos as China prepares for Beijing summit / Guardian

• Extreme weather
  Some Chinese cities break October heat records as others shiver / CNN
  “China is facing extreme weather as scorching heat breaks records in some drought-stricken parts of the country, while cool weather sweeps through other regions as the climate crisis makes conditions more unstable.”

POLITICS AND FOREIGN AFFAIRS:

• Beijing’s plans for Tibet
  Policy docs show China plans to end support for Tibet after Dalai Lama’s death / Radio Free Asia
  “Chinese authorities have developed an elaborate public relations strategy to end international support for Tibet after the death of Tibetan spiritual leader the Dalai Lama that includes installing a puppet leader in his place, according to a new report by the International Tibet Network (ITN).”
  In China’s own words: An analysis of Chinese strategic discourse on Tibet / Observer Research Foundation
  “Analyzing sources that illuminate China’s internal debates and discussions about its stakes in Tibet, this paper finds that unlike in the past, China no longer views Tibet as a national security barrier.”

• Party Congress censorship
  Popular censorship circumvention tools face fresh blockade by China / TechCrunch
  “Tools helping China’s netizens to bypass the Great Firewall appear to be facing a fresh round of crackdowns in the run-up to the country’s quinquennial party congress that will see a top leadership reshuffle.”

• Commentary on China’s awkward lean toward Russia
  Kissinger: Xi may ‘recalibrate’ after miscalculation of siding with Russia / SCMP (paywall)
  How far will Xi go to help a desperate Putin? / Foreign Policy
  “That is why Chinese leader Xi Jinping and Russian President Vladimir Putin’s marriage of convenience will endure, not despite Russia’s recent battlefield setbacks, but because of them.”
  Russia and China can’t produce any soft power / Foreign Policy
  “Despite the vast resources these authoritarian trendsetters have poured into media, education, technology, and entertainment, public opinion surveys suggest that they are largely failing to generate soft power: the ability to get people to view a country positively and obtain preferred outcomes by attraction rather than coercion.”
  • Earlier on The China Project:
  • In March: China’s soft power collides with Russia’s war on Ukraine.
  • In February: Maria Repnikova on Chinese soft power and Ukraine.

• Solomon Islands tries to assuage fears over China naval base
  Solomon Islands leader rules out China base in his country / AP
  “The Solomon Islands prime minister assured Australia on Thursday that he would not ‘endanger his country’ by allowing China to establish a naval base in the South Pacific.”

• More on tensions in the Taiwan Strait post-Pelosi visit
  Taiwan will treat China flights into airspace as ‘first strike’ / Bloomberg (paywall)
  Taiwan foresees more Chinese coercion, intimidation in Xi’s next term / Reuters
  Law and possible conflict over Taiwan / Brookings Institution
  Taiwan businesses support reduction in economic dependence on mainland China – CSIS survey / Forbes

• Speculation heats up 10 days before the Party Congress
  Xi Jinping’s quest for total control of China is just getting started / Washington Post (paywall)
  How Xi will consolidate power at China’s twentieth party congress / Council on Foreign Relations
  Nationalist fervor ratcheted up in lead-up to China’s Communist party congress / Guardian

• Beijing sends in reinforcements to curb kidnappings in the DR Congo
  China sends criminal experts to halt kidnappings in mineral-rich Democratic Republic of the Congo / SCMP (paywall)
  “High-level bilateral talks involving senior Ministry of Public Security official and Congolese deputy prime minister underscore high stakes.”

• U.S. and Hong Kong governments exchange war of words over National Security Law
  Hong Kong gov’t rejects U.S. criticism of ‘devastating’ national security law / HKFP
  “The Hong Kong government has rejected the findings of an official U.S. agency, which said the city’s Beijing-imposed national security law has had ‘a devastating effect’ on civil society.”

• Taiwan fruit farmers struggle under China import ban
  The farmers caught up in Taiwan’s tensions with China / BBC
  “Taiwanese fruit growers are unable to sell their crop after Beijing banned their importation.”

SOCIETY AND CULTURE:

• The influencer exposing synthetic food products
  This man is one of China’s most outspoken food influencers with millions of fans he exposes synthetic products like fake steak and milk tea without dairy / SCMP (paywall)
  “The new star of China’s online food scene draws millions of fans of his synthetic creations showing how the country’s food industry cuts corners, but he is also attracting critics.”

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• Taiwan pride
  Chinese civil war refugee makes love for Taiwan flag a dining experience / Reuters
  “Days away from Taiwan’s National Day, a long line of people snakes out of Chang Lao-wang’s restaurant, where the Chinese civil war refugee displays his ardent love for Taiwan’s flag while serving up Yunnan rice noodles to the lunchtime crowd.”

• Archaeological discoveries in Zhengzhou
  It is one of China’s oldest metropolises, and archaeologists just found a 3,400-year-old treasure trove at an ancient burial site / SCMP (paywall)
  “Chinese archaeologists excavating one of China’s oldest metropolises uncover a burial site full of important treasures.”

• Silk production in a small rural county
  In a rural Chinese county, progress is measured by the worm / Sixth Tone
  “China’s upcoming National Party Congress will be dominated by talk of grand narratives, strategies, and slogans. But in Wubu County, locals are focused on more down-to-earth matters.”