Links for Tuesday, May 18, 2021

BUSINESS AND TECHNOLOGY:

Payment and financial companies banned from cryptocurrency trading, again
China’s central bank has announced (in Chinese) new cryptocurrency guidelines for financial and payments companies. Simply put:

• Don’t do it!
• Although mining and trading bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies are not illegal, various arms of the Chinese government have already issued various rules to keep banks, fintech companies, and other financial institutions out of the crypto business.
• The new rules simply confirm the official position.

Self-driving EVs from ride-hailing giant Didi
Didi Chuxing, the Beijing-based car-hailing service that ate Uber alive in China, is now gunning for the electric car sector.

• Didi already has a number of joint ventures focused on different parts of the EV business. Now it’s partnering up with Guangzhou Auto’s EV unit, GAC Aion.
• The collaboration will combine Didi’s research capacity in autonomous driving with Aion’s design and manufacturing expertise to produce fully autonomous vehicles.
• The software-manufacturer combo is now standard: Other pairings include Baidu-Geely, Tencent-Evergrande, Alibaba-SAIC, and Huawei-BAIC. See more on The China Project’s EV tracker.

Chinese trucking startup applies for Nasdaq listing
ForU Worldwide, a Chinese truck-logistics company that utilizes AI to improve operations, has filed for an IPO in the U.S.

• Even as U.S. securities regulators tighten their standards on foreign firms, Chinese firms like ForU are choosing to swim upstream.
• Truck logistics companies with AI divisions are making headway in China: Google-backed truck-hailing startup Manbang recently announced a U.S. IPO, aiming for a $30 billion valuation.

Apple denies some parts of New York Times report
Apple refutes new report claiming it compromised iCloud security to appease China regulators / 9to5Mac
Yesterday: Censorship, Surveillance and Profits: A Hard Bargain for Apple in China / NYT (paywall)
“Apple built the world’s most valuable business on top of China. Now it has to answer to the Chinese government. “

China in “technical talks” to join CPTPP trade deal
China steps up efforts to join trade pact created to exclude it / Bloomberg (paywall)
“Officials from Australia, Malaysia, New Zealand and possibly other nations have held technical talks with Chinese counterparts on details of the Comprehensive and Progressive Trans-Pacific Partnership. That’s according to officials from four member countries with knowledge of the discussions, who asked not to be named as they weren’t authorized to comment on the talks.”

Who pays for tensions between China and U.S., Australia?
U.S. companies bearing the brunt of Trump’s China tariffs, says Moody’s / CNBC
China extends tariff exemptions for some U.S. imports / Caixin (paywall)
“In the absence of talks to resolve long-running trade spat, U.S. and China are maintaining the status quo.”
China puts Australia on notice with push to diversify iron ore / Bloomberg via Yahoo
Cloud becomes new front line between China and the west / FT (paywall)

Electric cars and Tesla
Tesla working with China to probe crash involving policemen / Bloomberg (paywall)

Wang Xing against the machine
Poetic social media post costs founder of China’s Meituan super app $2 billion / FT (paywall)
Last week: A 1,100-year-old poem cost Meituan’s CEO US$2.5 billion, his company US$26 billion / Bloomberg via Straits Times

More business and technology links:

• China Mobile to list in Shanghai as it departs NYSE / WSJ (paywall)
• Hong Kong disneyland posts record $350 million loss / Caixin (paywall)
• Chinese automaker Changan aims to list EV unit on STAR market — sources / Reuters
• Singapore broker up 536% in a year looks to China for more gains / Bloomberg via Caixin
  “Although iFast’s Chinese operations are loss-making, its CEO said the nation is poised to become the wealth-management platform’s fastest-growing market.”
• Alibaba leads $400 million investment in Vietnam retailer / Bloomberg via Caixin
  “The deal with Masan Group will expand Chinese e-commerce giant’s online grocery business in Southeast Asia.”
• Tencent Music says facing increased China scrutiny, is committed to laws / Reuters via Yahoo
• China’s biggest ‘bad bank’ tests Beijing’s resolve on financial reform / NYT (paywall)

SCIENCE, HEALTH, AND ENVIRONMENT:

The Zhurong rover on Mars
China’s newly landed Mars rover Zhurong likely to roll into action this weekend / Space
Yesterday on The China Project: China’s Mars rover landing closes another major gap with U.S. space program.

Nuclear power
Russia, China to kick-off their biggest nuclear power project on May 19 / Times of India

POLITICS AND FOREIGN AFFAIRS:

In-depth survey of British views of China
A glossary of U.K.-China relations / Quartz
What the U.K. can teach the world about engaging with China / Quartz
Annabelle Timsit on Twitter: “Through conversations with 12 influential China watchers, I paint a picture of where the UK-China relationship is now and where it could go next. In this thread, I’ll pull out some of the most valuable insights, but do check out the full project.”

Large navy exercises, but few details
China’s navy in live-fire drills across three theater commands, hinting at moves to counter U.S. / SCMP (paywall)
“State broadcaster CCTV reported on Monday that the People’s Liberation Army’s Eastern, Northern and Southern Theatre Commands held military exercises as part of ‘a comprehensive test of the overall operational capability of a naval formation in the context of actual combat’. It did not specify when and where the drills were carried out.”

Duterte’s latest change in mood
Philippines’ Duterte issues gag order over South China Sea / Reuters
“Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte has barred his cabinet from talking about the South China Sea in public, but said the gag order did not mean the country was wavering in its defence of its sovereign rights.”

Hong Kong politics
Pro-China lawmakers in Hong Kong find a new national-security target: art / WSJ (paywall)
Hong Kong leader refuses to say if attending Tiananmen Massacre vigil is illegal / HKFP
Hong Kong temporarily closes its office in Taiwan / HKFP
“The closure of the Taipei office comes amid ongoing visa issues between the two cities, and, say Hong Kong officials, is not related to the coronavirus crisis.”
Six Hong Kong democrats remanded in custody over banned 2019 National Day demonstration / HKFP
Police conclude that Frederic Choi did nothing wrong / RTHK
“Police said on Tuesday they had wrapped up an investigation into the director of the force’s national security department, Frederic Choi, and concluded the senior officer had not been engaged in any unethical or illegal behavior…Chief Superintendent Ryan Wong of the Organised Crime and Triad Bureau said Choi was found at an unlicensed massage parlor in Wan Chai during a police raid in late March.”

Writing on “Cultural Revolution revivalism of the Communist Party”
5.16 — Sorry, not sorry / China Heritage
See also: A letter to my editors and to China’s censors / ChinaFile
“An excerpt from ‘Ten Letters from a Plague Year,’ by Xu Zhangrun, translated and annotated by Geremie R. Barmé.”

Sri Lanka
Court: China-built Port City commission needs public assent / AP

More politics and foreign affairs links:

• Stuart Lau on Twitter: “German companies will have to withdraw all operations in Xinjiang, if evidence of forced labor has been found there, in order to abide by Berlin’s new law stipulating respect for human rights in supply chains, the Bundestag’s research arm says.”
• Full-blown boycott pushed for Beijing Olympics / AP
• U.S. says China is resisting nuclear arms talks / Reuters
• Penny Wong accuses Scott Morrison of stoking China tensions for political gain / Australian ABC
• China’s ruling party cancels Maoist gatherings on Cultural Revolution anniversary / Radio Free Asia
• ‘I can’t be that careless’: Australian Uyghur activist targeted online / Guardian
• Zhou Lian on Chinese Trump supporters / Reading the China Dream
• The drone dealer / The Wire China
• East China official who dangled job promotions jailed eight years for bribery / Caixin (paywall)
• After an Indonesian submarine sank, China stepped in to help salvage it / WSJ (paywall)

SOCIETY AND CULTURE:

Thousands of missing children found through system supported by 25 popular apps
Missing children alert system set up in China has 98 percent success rate / SCMP (paywall)
“A national missing children alert system has managed to find 4,707 children five years after its roll-out, China’s public security authority has said.”

Lifesize Titanic replica under construction in Daying, Sichuan
Titanic replica now under construction in China / CNN
“The centerpiece of a theme park called Romandisea, it will have the same amenities of its namesake, including banquet halls, theaters, observation decks and a swimming pool. Guests will be able to pay to spend the night aboard the ship, which will be permanently docked in a reservoir in the Qijiang River, about 130 kilometers from the provincial capital Chengdu — several hundred miles from the sea…An opening date has not yet been set.”
China is building a replica of the Titanic / DW

Wobbly skyscraper in Shenzhen
SEG Plaza evacuation: Shaking China skyscraper sends shoppers fleeing / BBC

More society and culture links:

• She’s China’s newest photography star. She’s also 6 years old. / Sixth Tone
• Not quite a rainbow: How Chinese media tells LGBT stories / Sixth Tone
• Meet the mystery woman who mastered IBM’s 5,400-character Chinese typewriter / Fast Company