The Biden-Xi virtual meeting happens in just over an hour. The Biden Administration is making clear that expectations should be low. I would not be surprised to have some new working group discussion mechanisms come out of the call, just do not call them “strategic dialogues”. And do not call this virtual meeting a “summit”.

We are still awaiting the public release of the historical resolution. It has only been less than a week since the Plenum concluded, I would not read to much in the time lag, so far still very much within the normal range of time between the conclusion of a Plenum and the public release of the related full documents. I think they want it disseminated and studied by cadres before the full public release, to better help guide the public in how to talk and think about the resolution. We are certainly seeing a large amount of commentaries, readouts and speeches about to understand the spirit if the Plenum, so the post-Plenum propaganda campaign is just getting started.

Today’s Essential Eight items:

US-China
Plenum spirit and the “Two Establishes 两个确立“
Data protection draft going to cause headaches
Coal and COP26
Outbreak
Real estate
Punishment for crypto mining
Has the PRC’s nuclear strategy changed?

Thanks for reading.

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The Essential Eight

1. US-China

Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Zhao Lijian's Regular Press Conference on November 15, 2021

As agreed by the two sides, President Xi will have a candid, in-depth and thorough discussion with President Biden on strategic issues affecting the future of bilateral relations as well as important issues of mutual interest and concern. It is hoped that the US will work in the same direction with China, strengthen dialogue and cooperation, effectively manage differences, properly handle sensitive issues, discuss a way of peaceful coexistence with mutual respect between our two major countries in the new era, and bring China-US relations back onto the right track of sound and steady development.

Washington eases stance on trade ahead of Xi-Biden talks - Global Times

A day ahead of the meeting, Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen told CBS on Sunday that tariffs "do tend to raise domestic prices," as the US inflation hit a 31-year high in October and the nation has been facing energy price hikes and supply chain disruptions, heavily weighing on the prospects of the US economy.

She recognized that "it would make some difference" when she was asked if the Biden administration lifts the tariffs imposed by former president Donald Trump, adding that US trade representative Katherine Tai was "revisiting" the phase one trade deal and recognized requests "to reduce tariffs in some areas."

Talk seen as chance to put ties back on track - China Daily

Ruan Zongze, executive vice-president of the China Institute of International Studies, said that the US has for some time adopted a wrong China policy due to its misjudgment on bilateral ties and thus, out of its Cold War mentality, has undertaken a series of acts that crack down on China.

"But Beijing has calmly stood against Washington's suppression and taken resolute measures in response. So the US has had to rethink and adjust its China policy and engage with China now through dialogue and communication," Ruan said.

Biden, Xi Teams Set Modest Hopes for Monday Talks - WSJ $$

Mr. Xi, meanwhile, is focusing his U.S. strategy on damage control rather than resetting the relationship, according to the people with knowledge of Beijing’s thinking. Mr. Xi’s priority is to ensure that the road is smooth, and he is willing to reopen channels of communication with Mr. Biden to prevent military conflict, they say.

Secretary Blinken’s Call with People’s Republic of China (PRC) State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi - United States Department of State

Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken spoke on November 12 with PRC State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi. The Secretary discussed preparations for President Biden’s upcoming virtual meeting with President Xi Jinping, noting the meeting presents an opportunity for the two leaders to discuss how to responsibly manage competition between the United States and the PRC while working together in areas where interests align. The Secretary emphasized longstanding U.S. interest in peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait and expressed concern regarding the PRC’s continued military, diplomatic, and economic pressure against Taiwan. He urged Beijing to engage in meaningful dialogue to resolve cross-Strait issues peacefully and in a manner consistent with the wishes and best interests of the people on Taiwan. The Secretary also stressed the importance of taking measures to ensure global energy supply and price volatility do not imperil global economic recovery.

Readout of Blinken-Wang call - 王毅同美国国务卿布林肯通电话 — 中华人民共和国外交部

Chinese FM holds phone conversation with U.S. secretary of state - Xinhua

In response to the U.S. side's recent wrong words and deeds on the Taiwan question, Wang further elaborated on China's solemn position.
Both history and reality have fully proven that "Taiwan independence" is the biggest threat to peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait, and any connivance of and support for the "Taiwan independence" forces undermines peace across the Taiwan Strait and would only boomerang in the end, the Chinese foreign minister stressed.
If the U.S. side truly wants to safeguard peace across the Taiwan Strait, then it should clearly and resolutely oppose any "Taiwan independence" moves, abide by the solemn commitments it made in the three China-U.S. joint communiques and put the one-China policy into action and stop sending wrong signals to the "Taiwan independence" forces, he added.
The two sides also exchanged views on issues including energy security, climate change, and the Iranian nuclear issue, and agreed to maintain dialogue on responding to all kinds of global challenges

China satisfied with Boeing 737 MAX changes, seeks industry feedback - document | Reuters

The Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC) invited airlines to give feedback on a proposed airworthiness directive for the 737 MAX by Nov. 26, according to an undated notice seen by Reuters.

Question: Will Xi tell Biden China is willing to buy more planes?

The Beijing Olympics may come up. There has been a report, and other talk, of Xi inviting Biden to attend the opening ceremony. That seems unlikely, as I expect Biden would say no. There is also talk that the US may be considering a diplomatic boycott of the Olympics.

Ambassador urges US not to use Taiwan as a leverage to manipulate Chinese mainland - People's Daily Online

The US has been manipulating the Taiwan question in an attempt to use it as a leverage to shadow and control the Chinese mainland, but it's bound to shoot itself in the foot, Chinese Ambassador to the US said on Saturday in a virtual message delivered at the 2021 annual meeting of Alliance for China's Peaceful Reunification in San Francisco.

When Biden Meets Xi | Foreign Affairs - Danny Russel

Biden and his team are veterans who came into office seized by a sense of urgency in great-power competition and determined to reject the massive ceremonial meetings favored by Beijing. They will not be lured into unproductive dialogues. On the other hand, expectations for this conference should necessarily be modest, given that none of the issues facing the United States and China will yield to quick fixes—and given that Zoom calls are no substitute for extended in-person engagement. Yet even if there is to be no dramatic breakthrough, diplomacy can serve a critical purpose. This meeting offers Biden and Xi an important opportunity to begin establishing crucial guardrails to help prevent a crisis.

If Biden and Xi can establish a regular rhythm of communication, leading to in-person meetings once conditions permit, then the United States and China can more easily manage the volatility and risk in the relationship. If they can open channels of authentic communication at lower levels that aim to inform and explore rather than boast and berate, they can improve the prospects for managed—though still intense—competition. If Biden’s assurance that the United States remains committed to a genuine “one China” policy is credible to Xi, and if Xi’s assurance that China remains committed to peacefully resolving the status of Taiwan is credible to Biden, then they can ratchet down tensions over this hot spot. In doing so, the two leaders could help prevent U.S.-Chinese rivalry from spiraling into ever more dangerous confrontation.

Exclusive-Chinese embassy lobbies U.S. business to oppose China bills -sources | Reuters

China has been pushing U.S. executives, companies and business groups in recent weeks to fight against China-related bills in the U.S. Congress, four sources familiar with the initiative told Reuters, in letters to and meetings with a wide range of actors in the business community...

The sources said China’s request also left some individuals who received a letter concerned that they could be seen as violating the Foreign Agents Registration Act (FARA) if they lobbied lawmakers on similar issues in the future.

As a result, none of the sources wanted to be identified as having received or seen the letter.

Did any of these business groups receive the letter mentioned in the previous item? - Remove trade war tariffs ahead of Joe Biden-Xi Jinping meeting, US business groups urge | South China Morning Post

Two dozen American business associations sent a letter to senior US trade officials on Friday, urging the White House to reduce tariffs on Chinese goods and broaden the scope of import duty exemptions to restore the competitiveness of US businesses.

In the letter, addressed to US trade representative Katherine Tai and Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen, the group urged the administration to remove the tariffs and requested “immediate action to significantly broaden the tariff exclusion process to provide additional relief to Americans”.

“[Tariffs] continue to disproportionately cause economic harm to US businesses, farmers, workers, and families,” said the associations, which were led by the US-China Business Council (USCBC)

2. Plenum spirit and the “Two Establishes 两个确立“

I think what the hard power bureaucracies emphasize is among the most interesting data points when trying to gauge Xi’s leadership supremacy.

Reading through readouts of various organs and explainers and commentaries about studying the spirit of the 6th Plenum, this long one (@6500 characters) from Chen Yixin is so far the most interesting. it is also the longest, though to his credit he concludes that what really matters are the “两个确立" "the two establishes" for lack of a better translation.

Chen writes that the “two establishes” - establishing the core position of Comrade Xi Jinping's Party Central Committee and the whole party, and establishing the guiding position of Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for the New Era - “is the greatest political achievement and the most important historical experience since the 18th CPC National Congress”.

Chen is likely to have a very big job by the 20th Party Congress as he is clearly someone Xi trusts. It is also interesting that Chen also uses the term "People's Leader".

The readout from the MSS Party Committee on studying the plenum spirit is much shorter, but they say that General Secretary Xi Jinping is the well-deserved core of the party, the People's Leader and the commander-in-chief of the army 当之无愧的党的核心、人民领袖、军队统帅”.

深刻把握六中全会精神的核心要义和实践要求--法制网

"Grasp the core essence and practical requirements of the spirit of the Sixth Plenary Session" by Chen Yixin, secretary-general of the Central Political and Legal Commission”
To learn and understand the spirit of the Sixth Plenary Session of the Central Committee, the most essential point is to make clear the decisive significance of the "Two Establishes". Establishing the core position of Comrade Xi Jinping's Party Central Committee and the whole party, and establishing the guiding position of Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for the New Era reflect the common aspiration of the whole party, the whole army and the people of all ethnic groups in China, and are of decisive significance to the development of the party and the state in the new era and the historical process of the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation. This "two establishes" is the greatest political achievement and the most important historical experience since the 18th CPC National Congress. Since the 18th National Congress of the Communist Party of China, the historic achievements and changes in the cause of the party and the state are fundamentally due to the strong leadership of the CPC Central Committee with Comrade Xi Jinping as the core and the guidance of Xi Jinping's new era of socialism with Chinese characteristics. As long as General Secretary Xi Jinping is at the helm, the ships of the cause of socialism with Chinese characteristics will surely be able to forge ahead, and the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation will surely usher in a brighter future. We should hold high the great banner of Xi Jinping's new era of socialism with Chinese characteristics, be loyal to the core politically, closely follow the core ideologically and defend the core in action, and always maintain a high degree of unity with the CPC Central Committee with Comrade Xi Jinping as the core in political position, political direction, political principles and political road.

学习领会六中全会精神，说一千道一万，最重要的核心要义就是要明确“两个确立”的决定性意义。确立习近平同志党中央的核心、全党的核心地位，确立习近平新时代中国特色社会主义思想的指导地位，反映了全党全军全国各族人民共同心愿，对新时代党和国家事业发展、对推进中华民族伟大复兴历史进程具有决定性意义

Earlier in this article Chen explains the "essence and practical requirements" with twelve key words

General Secretary Xi Jinping's important speech and the Resolution of the Sixth Plenary Session are rich in ideological content and knowledge, of great significance and far-reaching influence. To study and implement General Secretary Xi Jinping's important speech and the spirit of the Sixth Plenary Session, we must first grasp the core essence and practical requirements, which can be expressed by twelve key words of "ideal creation, core creation, purpose creation, theoretical innovation, system establishment, spirit casting, reform and pioneering work, rejuvenation, United front creation, Peace in the work, building a strong military, and party building innovation" ... [Note: the translations of the 12 characters could be more elegant]

习近平总书记的重要讲话和六中全会《决议》思想含量、知识含量十分丰富，意义极为重大，影响极为深远。我们学习贯彻习近平总书记的重要讲话和六中全会精神，首先要抓住核心要义和实践要求，可用“理想创引、核心创立、宗旨创设、理论创新、制度创建、精神创铸、改革创举、复兴创业、统战创同、天下创和、军队创强、党建创先”十二个关键词来表达...

Create the core. In the century-long struggle, our party has adhered to the leadership of the party, established a strong leadership core that unites and leads the party and the people bravely from generation to generation, and pushed the great cause of Chinese revolution, construction and reform from victory to victory. Establishing the core, maintaining the core and listening to the core command are the basic viewpoints of Marxist theory of party building, as well as the fine historical tradition, unique political advantages and important development experience of the party. During the period of new-democratic revolution, socialist revolution and construction, the Communist Party of China（CPC） people with Comrade Mao Zedong as the main representative successfully opened a new era of China's development and led the Chinese people to stand up. In the new era of reform, opening up and socialist modernization, the Communist Party of China（CPC） people, with Comrade Deng Xiaoping as the main representative, successfully created socialism with Chinese characteristics; The Communist Party of China（CPC） people, with Comrade Jiang Zemin as the main representative, successfully pushed socialism with Chinese characteristics into the 21st century; The people of the Communist Party of China（CPC）, with Comrade Hu Jintao as the main representative, have successfully adhered to and developed socialism with Chinese characteristics under the new situation and led the Chinese people to become rich. Entering a new era of socialism with Chinese characteristics, the people of the Communist Party of China（CPC）, with Comrade Xi Jinping as the main representative, have promoted historic achievements and changes in the cause of the party and the country, and led the Chinese people to become stronger. As the core of the CPC Central Committee and the whole party, General Secretary Xi Jinping has won the heartfelt love and support of the whole party, the whole army and the people of all ethnic groups, and is worthy of being the core of the whole party, the commander-in-chief of the whole army and the People's Leader. We should strengthen the "four consciousnesses", strengthen the "four self-confidences" and achieve the "two safeguards", sincerely support the core, closely follow the core, defend the core, build up political loyalty, and always maintain a high degree of consistency with the CPC Central Committee with Comrade Xi Jinping as the core in ideological and political actions.

核心创立。我们党在百年奋斗中坚持党的领导，确立了一代又一代团结带领党和人民勇毅前行的坚强领导核心，推动中国革命、建设、改革的伟大事业从一个胜利走向又一个胜利。确立核心、维护核心、听核心指挥，是马克思主义建党学说的基本观点，是党的优良历史传统、独特政治优势和重要发展经验。新民主主义革命时期、社会主义革命和建设时期，以毛泽东同志为主要代表的中国共产党人，成功开启了中国发展新纪元，带领中国人民站起来。改革开放和社会主义现代化建设新时期，以邓小平同志为主要代表的中国共产党人，成功开创了中国特色社会主义；以江泽民同志为主要代表的中国共产党人，成功把中国特色社会主义推向二十一世纪；以胡锦涛同志为主要代表的中国共产党人，成功在新形势下坚持和发展了中国特色社会主义，带领中国人民富起来。进入中国特色社会主义新时代，以习近平同志为主要代表的中国共产党人，推动党和国家事业取得历史性成就、发生历史性变革，带领中国人民强起来。习近平总书记作为党中央的核心、全党的核心，赢得全党全军全国各族人民的衷心爱戴和拥护，不愧为全党核心、全军统帅、人民领袖。我们要增强“四个意识”、坚定“四个自信”、做到“两个维护”，由衷拥戴核心、紧跟核心、捍卫核心，筑牢政治忠诚，始终在思想上政治上行动上同以习近平同志为核心的党中央保持高度一致。

More from the Central Political and Legal Affairs Commission commentator account - 【长安导论】钟政声：掀起学习贯彻党的十九届六中全会精神热潮-中国长安网

MSS Party committee on studying the plenum spirit - 国家安全部党委：深入学习贯彻党的十九届六中全会精神牢记“两个确立” 做到“两个维护” 全力护航中华民族伟大复兴的中国梦--法制网

We should thoroughly study and master the historic achievements and changes in the cause of the party and the state since the 18th National Congress of the Communist Party of China, and deeply understand that General Secretary Xi Jinping is the well-deserved core of the party, the People's Leader and the commander-in-chief of the army. We should thoroughly study and master the historical process of sinicization of Marxism, and profoundly understand that Xi Jinping's new era socialism with Chinese characteristics is contemporary Chinese Marxism, 21st century Marxism, and the essence of Chinese culture and Chinese spirit, thus realizing a new leap of sinicization of Marxism. We should thoroughly study and master the major strategic plans of the CPC Central Committee on overall development and security, discard illusions, prepare for fighting, dare to fight and be good at fighting, and fully escort the Chinese dream of the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation in the new era and new process.

要深入学习掌握党的十八大以来党和国家事业取得的历史性成就、发生的历史性变革,深刻认识习近平总书记是众望所归、当之无愧的党的核心、人民领袖、军队统帅。要深入学习掌握马克思主义中国化的历史进程,深刻认识习近平新时代中国特色社会主义思想是当代中国马克思主义、二十一世纪马克思主义,是中华文化和中国精神的时代精华,实现了马克思主义中国化新的飞跃。要深入学习掌握党中央关于统筹发展和安全的重大战略部署,丢掉幻想、准备战斗,敢于斗争、善于斗争,在新时代新征程全力护航中华民族伟大复兴的中国梦。

A good talk - Making Sense of the Chinese Communist Party’s Pivotal 6th Plenum - YouTube

Asia Society President and CEO Kevin Rudd and Christopher Johnson, President and CEO of China Strategies Group, join Asia Society's Center on U.S.-China Relations' Mary Kay Magistad for a discussion on the 6th Plenum.

‘Xi Jinping Thought’ Makes China a Tougher Adversary - WSJ - Kevin Rudd

Fifth, there is the resolution’s effect on China’s place in the world. Here the language becomes more expansive. It offers the developing world a new model that China believes works, as opposed to the democratic world’s model that it says doesn’t—as demonstrated by what China argues is its superior response to Covid-19. It boasts of the Marxist basis of that model. And in launching the communiqué, officials lambasted a crumbling America by citing U.S. public opinion, contrasting it with alleged public support in China for the Chinese model, thereby reinforcing Mr. Xi’s political narrative on the correctness of Marxism-Leninism, the decline of the West, and the rise of the East.

“人民至上”凝聚起复兴伟业的磅礴力量 - 经济日报

人民领袖、大国领袖的誓言掷地有声。

3. Data protection draft going to cause headaches

China seeks public opinion on internet data protection draft regulations - Xinhua

The Cyberspace Administration of China on Sunday issued a set of draft management regulations on protecting internet data security to solicit opinion from the public.

According to the regulations, the country shall establish a category- and class-based data protection system.

The data will be classified as common, important, and core on account of its importance to national security, public interests, as well as the legitimate rights and interests of relevant individuals or organizations, said the draft regulations...

Particularly, the document banned taking biometric data, such as face, fingerprint and iris, as an exclusive method for personal identification, in an effort to curb coercive collection of personal biometric information.

The proposal - 国家互联网信息办公室关于《网络数据安全管理条例（征求意见稿）》公开征求意见的通知-中共中央网络安全和信息化委员会办公室

Mainland Firms’ Hong Kong Listings Could Face National Security Reviews as China Releases Draft Data Management Rules-Caixin

Mainland firms seeking to list in Hong Kong would be subject to review by China’s cyberspace watchdog under new draft rules on data collection and management released by the regulator for public comment Sunday...

Under the proposal, internet platforms would also be required to inform CAC and other related authorities if they establish headquarters, operation centers, or research centers abroad.

China’s VPN providers face harsher punishment for scaling the Great Firewall under new data regulation | South China Morning Post

China’s top cyberspace watchdog has drafted a new regulation that would punish individuals and institutions for helping internet users bypass the “Great Firewall” and access censored information from overseas, a move that could strengthen the government’s control over the internet and create new uncertainties for business.

China to Impose Security Check on HK IPOs Under Big Data Rules - Bloomberg

The listing review may cast a chill over offerings in the city by Chinese tech firms, which were counting on pivoting toward going public in Hong Kong without needing approval.

A useful thread on the draft by legal scholar Henry Gao:

Henry Gao @henrysgao

1. it confirms my warning 2 weeks ago that even foreign firms like @Google, @Meta & @Twitter are required to comply with the new law even if they are not operating in China, and further expands the list of covered activities under Art. 3 of PIPL by adding

Henry Gao @henrysgao

China's new Personal Data Protection Law comes into effect today. Here's a friendly reminder to all tech companies such as @google, @Meta & @Twitter: You are all required to comply with the new law even if you are not operating in China, as Art. 3 of the law states that https://t.co/a6crxhMzIr

Henry Gao @henrysgao

5. The biggest bombshell is Art. 41: The state establishes a cross-border data security gateway to block the spread of information from outside the People’s Republic of China that is prohibited by laws and administrative regulations from being released or transmitted in China.

4. Coal and COP26

The last-minute coal demand that almost sunk the Glasgow climate deal - POLITICO

At issue was a last minute demand from China and India: Water down language in the Glasgow Climate Pact that called for a “phase out” of coal power. Instead, Beijing wanted the wording to be “phase down” and New Delhi only wanted it to cover “inefficient” coal, according to an EU official who was in the room.

The atmosphere was tense. The Chinese were willing to put the whole conference was on the line. “We will break the whole thing down,” said one Chinese delegate, according to the EU official...

China and India had blindsided the entire conference, and the U.K. presidency, by waiting for the last possible moment to spring their surprise demand...

For Pacific islanders, whose fate hangs on the eradiction of coal power, it was bitterly hard to watch.

Fiji’s Attorney General Aiyaz Sayed-Khaiyum summed it up: “What we would like to express is not just our astonishment but our immense disappointment at the manner in which this has been introduced.”

It “hurts deeply,” said Tina Stege, the Marshall Islands' climate envoy...

Sharma told the gathering: “I apologize for the way this process has unfolded. And I am deeply sorry. I also understand the deep disappointment. But as you have also noted. I think it’s vital that we protect this package.” He then paused to choke back tears. Sharma had committed himself to the task of consigning coal to history earlier this year.

China's monthly coal output rises to highest since March 2015 | Reuters

The world's biggest producer and consumer of the dirty fossil fuel churned out 357.09 million tonnes of coal last month, up from 334.1 million tonnes in September, data from the National Bureau of Statistics showed on Monday. Output over the first 10 months of 2021 was 3.3 billion tonnes, up 4% year-on-year.

5. Outbreak

Still sounds bad in Dalian, Sun Chunlan goes to inspect.

Chinese vice premier stresses curbing COVID-19 resurgence in NE China - Xinhua

Chinese Vice Premier Sun Chunlan has stressed strict and solid efforts to curb the latest COVID-19 resurgence and spread in Dalian, a port city of northeast China's Liaoning Province, as soon as possible.

Sun, also a member of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, made the remarks during her inspection in Dalian from Friday to Monday.

China fights biggest Delta outbreak as cases grow in city of Dalian | Reuters

Chinese authorities said 32 new domestically transmitted infections with confirmed symptoms have been reported for Nov. 14, most of which were in northeastern Dalian city. That brings the tally of local cases since Oct. 17 to 1,308, Reuters calculations based on official data showed, surpassing the 1,280 local cases from a summer Delta outbreak...

A few cities near Dalian, including Dandong, Anshan and Shenyang, have said people arriving from Dalian have to be quarantined at centralised facilities for 14 days before they can move freely

Parts of northeastern China under fresh lockdown as delta variant hits Dalian — Radio Free Asia

Neighboring cities are now quarantining arrivals from Dalian for 14 days before allowing them to move around freely, the agency said.

Schools have been closed, and some 800,000 people in Dalian, a city of 7.5 million, are now confined to their homes, with municipal officials citing large numbers of asymptomatic infections linked to clusters in schools, companies and families.

New outbreak prompts China to lock down university campus - AP

China has confined nearly 1,500 university students to their dormitories and hotels following an outbreak of COVID-19 in the northeastern city of Dalian.

The order was issued Sunday after several dozen cases were reported at Zhuanghe University City and hundreds of students were transferred to hotels for observation.

Travelers to Beijing Must Present Negative Covid Tests as Capital Battles Outbreaks - Caixin

From Wednesday, most travelers into Beijing will need to present a negative nucleic acid test result from the prior 48 hours as well as a green health code — which shows they haven’t recently visited any area deemed high risk, or come into close contact with a positive case.

Beijing Residential building closed off after receiving virus-positive parcel from Inner Mongolia - Global Times

On Monday, a building of a residential community in Haidian district was put under closed-off management after an outer packaging of a parcel delivered to a resident there from the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region tested positive for COVID-19. Nucleic acid tests have been taken of all relevant individuals and environment, Beijing Youth Daily reported.

Port city Dalian expected to contain current COVID-19 resurgence within two weeks - Global Times

"The third round of citywide nucleic acid testing in Dalian has seen all negative results so far," said government official Yi Qingtao at a news conference on Monday, "which means the epidemic prevention and control has achieved an important turnaround."..

Although the source of this outbreak in Dalian is yet to be confirmed, current information shows the transmission is highly related to the cold chain industry.

Chinese Official Defends Covid Policy, Strict Measures to Stay - Bloomberg

China has effectively contained local Covid cases and has managed to limit severe infections, Xinhua on Saturday cited Liang Wannian, an epidemiologist who heads the government’s team of experts in coronavirus prevention, as saying in an interview.

The nation’s strict prevention measures, an approach that is contrary to most other countries, haven’t hindered its economy, the report quoted Liang as saying. He firmly defended the government’s Covid-zero policy and called it the most efficient way to protect China’s people, according to Xinhua.

The interview with Liang - 热点面对面丨“以最小的社会成本获取最大的防控成效”——访国家卫健委新冠肺炎疫情应对处置工作领导小组专家组组长梁万年-新华网

Caixin Cover Story: Finding the Best Toolkit for Containing Covid-19

Thanks to drastic control measures in the early days of the pandemic, the natural infection rate of China’s 1.4 billion people is less than 0.001% compared with 20% to 50% in many other countries, said China CDC’s Zeng.

Comment: That stat makes it harder to see how China can re-open without changing its zero-Covid approach, unless there are vaccines with much higher efficacy than the current ones have and there is an easy to administer therapeutic that can be produced in 100s of millions of doses quickly.

6. Real Estate

Yicai - China’s Real Estate Market Cools Further in October

The number of cities where new home prices recorded monthly increases fell for the fifth month in a row to 13 from 27 in September, while the number of cities where prices of second-hand houses increased fell to to four, the first instance of single digits this year.

New homes in first-tier cities were as expensive as they were in September. But in second-tier cities, they were 0.2 percent cheaper on September, and in third-tier cities they fell 0.3 percent

Sales Prices of Residential Buildings in 70 Medium and Large-sized Cities in October 2021- NBS

China property hit by rare convergence of demand, supply declines | Reuters

China's property woes worsened on all fronts last month, as price falls in both new and resale homes amid deeper contractions in construction starts and investment by developers piled pressure on the sector in a rare confluence of declines...

Prices of new homes dropped 0.2% on average last month from September, according to Reuters calculations of data released by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) on Monday, the first decline since March 2015. In the resale market, prices slumped in all but six of the 70 major cities tracked by the bureau.

Yicai - 21 Chinese Cities Take Steps to Buoy Real Estate Markets in Second Half

Twenty-one Chinese cities, including Shenyang in Liaoning province and Tangshan in Hebei province, issued policies in the second half of the year to stem declines in residential property prices, according to local government websites.

The cities brought out administrative orders or instructed developers to stamp out malicious price cutting. Some also looked into price cuts disguised as ‘construction mortgage housing,’ which developers pledge as security for loans or financing from banks or other firms to build or develop future projects. They usually sell such properties at discount to secure funds quickly to repay creditors.

Most of the cities that have taken steps are third- and fourth-tier cities

Chinese state developers step up land auction activity to rescue local governments | Financial Times $$

Over the past three months state developers have bought three-quarters of residential land sold at auctions in 22 big cities by value, according to a Financial Times analysis of public records. They had previously purchased only about 45 per cent of land plots sold at auctions, which is the biggest source of income for local governments.

China State-Run Developers Rush to Sell Yuan Debt in Easing Sign - Bloomberg

Positive demand for the bonds could prompt other property firms to follow suit, potentially easing a historic liquidity crunch in pockets of the real estate sectory. Authorities are likely to loosen curbs for the industry to sell yuan notes, enabling banks to provide “blood transfusions” by investing in the bonds, state media reported last week. Some real estate companies are struggling to refinance debt amid a housing slowdown, strict rules on borrowing and elevated dollar bond yields.

Worst yet to come for China’s housing market as new home prices fall by most in 6 years | South China Morning Post

“China’s home price correction is likely to persist until the second quarter of 2022 because of a dip in the confidence of buyers,” said Raymond Cheng, head of China and Hong Kong research at CGS-CIMB Securities.

7. Punishment for crypto mining

Chinese official punished for supporting cryptocurrency mining companies is expelled from Communist Party | South China Morning Post

The Central Commission for Discipline Inspection and the National Supervisory Commission found that Xiao Yi, a former vice-chairman of the Jiangxi Provincial Committee of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference, violated the country’s industrial policies, according to a statement posted to the Party’s official website on Saturday...

“[Xiao] violated the new development concept, and abused his power to introduce and support enterprises to engage in virtual currency ‘mining’ activities that do not meet the requirements of national industrial policy,” the government statement said, without disclosing details of Xiao’s infraction.

Comment: Xiao also accused of corruption and other bad behavior - 江西省政协原党组成员、副主席肖毅严重违纪违法被开除党籍和公职——中央纪委国家监委网站

经查，肖毅背弃初心使命，破坏“两个维护”政治原则，落实党中央重大决策部署出现严重偏差，违背新发展理念，滥用职权引进和支持企业从事不符合国家产业政策要求的虚拟货币“挖矿”活动，违规举债上项目、搞建设，造成恶劣影响；无视中央八项规定精神，违规收受礼品礼金，接受可能影响公正执行公务的宴请；不按规定报告个人有关事项；纵容、默许特定关系人利用其职务影响谋取私利，违规从事营利活动，搞权色、钱色交易；不正确履行职责，随意决策实施重大项目，干预、插手司法活动；不重视家风建设，寡廉鲜耻、道德败坏；与不法私营企业主沆瀣一气、以权谋私，利用职务便利在职务晋升、工程承揽、项目开发等方面为他人谋利，并非法收受巨额财物。

Talk online that the downfall is related to this case, in which a local firm effectively confiscated a German firm’s mining hardware, mined a ton of Bitcoin, only after the German firm got the German government involved did Beijing realize what was going on, and the amount of money that was being created offshore (don’t call it capital flight) in the form of ctypto mined in China - Background - Genesis Mining wins claim over nearly half a million GPU crypto miners - TheBlock

entered into a hosting deal for Genesis Mining with a Chinese data center provider in the city of Fuzhou, Jiangxi province, called Chuangshiji Technology Limited.

Per the Supreme Court’s description of the events, Chuangshiji abruptly suspended the payouts to its hosting client starting in September 2018 based on accusations that Genesis Mining failed to pay its power bills.

Genesis Mining filed a lawsuit in May 2019 to the Fuzhou Municipal Intermediate People's Court

8. Has the PRC’s nuclear strategy changed?

And if has, why are people surprised? And is it just a reaction to America’s missile defense and nuclear arsenal modernization plans, or is something else going on?

China’s nuclear build-up: ‘one of the largest shifts in geostrategic power ever’ | Financial Times $$

Military leaders in Washington face two critical questions. After decades of gradual increases in its nuclear forces, is China pivoting to a less defensive approach that has the potential to significantly alter the balance of power in East Asia? And could this enable China to win a conflict with the US over Taiwan by neutralising the threat from American nuclear weapons?..
James Mulvenon, a PLA expert at Sosi, a defence contractor, says a Chinese general once told US experts that China could not abandon “no first use” for reputational reasons but would find “operational workarounds”.

In September, a retired senior Chinese diplomat said Beijing may have to “fine-tune” its policy. Sha Zukang, a former ambassador for disarmament, said China may have to consider not applying “no first use” to the US until Washington and Beijing reached a mutual understanding on “no first use”.

China’s silence on nuclear arms buildup fuels speculation on motives - Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists - Tong Zhao

Even considering Chinese strategists’ long-standing distrust of the US military, China’s projected nuclear buildup looks excessive for securing a basic second-strike capability. Instead, China may be aiming to achieve some escalation management capabilities...

Senior Chinese diplomats in charge of relevant policy issues are not necessarily informed about the People’s Liberation Army’s nuclear capability development and policy deliberation. Most Chinese nuclear policy experts appear cut out of internal policy deliberations and instead rely on open-source research by foreign counterparts to understand their own country’s capabilities and motivations. The internal coherence and overall rationality of China’s new nuclear capabilities and posture is shrouded in secrecy and lacks domestic checks and balances. If Beijing elaborated on the military rationale behind China’s nuclear expansion, it would help mitigate international anxieties.

Opinion - Tong Zhao | The U.S. and China Need to Talk About Mutual Nuclear Vulnerability - The New York Times

I did a brief stint as a local civil servant in Beijing working on matters of foreign affairs more than a decade ago and have spent the past seven years as an independent nuclear policy expert. It’s clear to me that Beijing’s nuclear buildup is ultimately an attempt to force Washington to drop the perceived strategic assault and accept a “mutual vulnerability” relationship — in which neither country would have the capability or will to threaten nuclear war without risking its own destruction.
The United States has been reluctant to address China’s desire for such a relationship, which has contributed to anxiety in Beijing about U.S. pursuit of “absolute security.” To prevent their nuclear competition from escalating, it is time for the United States to acknowledge the de facto existence of mutual nuclear vulnerability with China.

Business, Economy and Trade

China industrial output, retail sales accelerate but property clouds outlook | Reuters Output grew 3.5% in October from the same period a year ago, official data showed on Monday, accelerating from a 3.1% increase in September. Retail sales growth also picked up...Retail sales rose 4.9% year-on-year in October, beating expectations for 3.5% growth and after a 4.4% increase in September. "Growth will likely weaken in the rest of this year," said Zhiwei Zhang, chief economist at Pinpoint Asset Management.

National Economy was Generally Stable and Continued to Recover In October-NBS Generally speaking, in October, the national economy was generally stable and maintained the trend of recovery. The development resilience continued to emerge. However, we must be aware that the international environment is still complicated and severe with many unstable and uncertain factors. At home, the periodic and structural conflicts in course of development still exist and more efforts need to be made to maintain economic stability and recovery

Sounds like the SAMR is coming for community group buying - 市场监管总局：互联网企业大举进军社区团购，挤压小摊主就业空间_中国政库_澎湃新闻-The Paper “Recently…the State Administration of Market Supervision, announced its reply to the proposal of "preventing large Internet companies from using online group purchase to form market monopoly and enter the grass-roots areas of cities and counties, seriously affecting the interests of the masses". According to the State Administration of Market Supervision, the NPC deputies' understanding of the problems existing in community group buying, as well as their suggestions on "cooling down the disorderly competition of community group buying with strict law enforcement and strong supervision" and "defining relevant issues as early as possible, scientifically regulating, legally restraining the capital expansion with monopoly tendency, and scientifically integrating technological advantages with consumer demand and real economy", are of great reference significance for us to improve the legal system, supervision mechanism and supervision efficiency of platform economy.”

Caixin - China Names Gan Lin Top Trust Buster Amid Internet Crackdown China’s State Council, the cabinet, appointed Gan Lin as the new head of the country’s anti-monopoly bureau under the State Administration for Market Regulation (SAMR), the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security of China said Monday on its website...Several interviewees told Caixin that Gan has been deeply involved in several high-profile anti-monopoly cases in the internet sector this year and has played a core role in pushing forward the cases.

Caixin - China’s Steel Futures Decline on Fewer Property Projects, Lower Infrastructure Spending The weak demand for steel can be ascribed to many factors, including fewer new developments in the real estate sector due to tightened bank lending to developers, decreasing infrastructure investment for the sake of slowed special bonds by local government, as well as disrupted automobile production because of chip shortage.

China Clarifies Rules on Special-Purpose Bonds to Stop Misuse of Funds - Caixin The Ministry of Finance on Thursday released a guideline that sets out qualification standards, procedures and information disclosure requirements for local governments seeking to adjust the use of SPB proceeds...due to poor management and a lack of suitable investments, billions of yuan have sat idle or been used for purposes not allowed by the regulations. Local governments have been given an overall SPB quota of 3.65 trillion yuan ($570 billion) for 2021, down from a record 3.75 trillion yuan last year when the country was hard hit by the pandemic. // The guidelines - 关于印发《地方政府专项债券用途调整操作指引》的通知

Shares Start Trading on the New Beijing Stock Exchange - Caixin Of the BSE’s 81 stocks, 71 migrated from the “select tier” of the National Equities Exchange and Quotations (NEEQ), an over-the-counter stock-trading platform, and 10 — which had been traded on the NEEQ’s “innovation tier” — conducted their IPOs right before listing on the BSE...Investors piled into the 10 new stocks, with the share price of each more than doubling on the day. Henan Tongxin Transmission Co. Ltd., an auto parts manufacturer, performed the best, closing its debut day nearly 500% above its IPO price.

Reuters, Bloomberg miss out on Beijing stock exchange trading as traders seek live feed from rival data providers | South China Morning Post That is a source of irritation for investors, particularly foreign funds with onshore investing quotas, who had to turn to rival local information providers like Wind Info and Shanghai DZH for trading data. Bloomberg’s data and programming teams are working to make the data available on its trading terminal by late December, according to a note to one of its bank subscribers seen by the Post. Reuters did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Chinese Developer Kaisa Has Yet to Pay Interest Due Last Week - Bloomberg At least some of Chinese developer Kaisa Group Holdings Ltd.’s creditors haven’t received bond interest that was due last week, according to people with knowledge of the matter, starting the clock on a 30-day grace period before a default.

How the White House is Planning to Ease the Global Chip Shortage - Bloomberg Intel, the world’s largest chipmaker, has proposed using a factory in Chengdu, China, to manufacture silicon wafers, said the people, who asked not to be identified because the discussions were private...When presented with the plan in recent weeks, Biden administration officials strongly discouraged the move, the people said...National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan has said the administration is considering an outbound investment screening mechanism and is working with allies on what it could look like.

China accuses EU of threatening global trade | Financial Times $$ The Chinese ambassador to the EU said the European Commission’s drive to sharpen its trade toolkit was seen by some businesses as heralding “more inward-looking and unilateral measures” and the creation of “new trade barriers”. “The moves taken by the EU will also have global consequences, and such moves might create further stress to the global supply and industry chain,” said Zhang Ming in an interview with the Financial Times.

JPMorgan chief becomes first Wall Street boss to visit greater China during pandemic | Financial Times $$ Dimon, who the bank said was in the Chinese territory to “thank staff” for their work during the pandemic and meet regulators, is travelling on an exemption from the city’s strict quarantine policy. He flew to Hong Kong on a JPMorgan private jet for his first visit to the city in two-and-a-half years. Travellers from the US must quarantine in a hotel for 21 days at their own expense. However, Hong Kong’s government has allowed a small number of visiting finance executives to bypass the rules.

Tiger Global’s Scott Shleifer Shrugs Off China Crackdown Threat - Bloomberg Tiger continued to back Chinese firms after the nation’s crackdown began in June, and it hasn’t pared its stakes in ByteDance or SheIn, an investor said...“We’ve answered skeptical questions about China for each of the past 17 years. It was bank balance sheets. It was trade wars. And throughout this entire period, the end result has been that China’s GDP share, relative to the U.S., has gone up 5X.”

What’s Driving Xi Jinping’s Economic Revamp? China’s Social Mobility Has Stalled - WSJ $$ One influential paper by scholars from the National University of Singapore and the Chinese University of Hong Kong found that children born into families at the bottom of Chinese society in the 1980s were less likely than those born in the 1970s to move up over time—what the authors called “an increasing intergenerational poverty trap.” Economists from the World Bank reached similar conclusions, with mobility in China falling especially among women and in poorer regions. The problem is in part a marker of China’s success in pulling millions of people out of poverty through rapid industrialization and wealth generation.

Startup Genki Forest Seeks $15 Billion Valuation in New Funding Round - Bloomberg Investors including Temasek Holdings Pte and Warburg Pincus participated in the new round, the people said, asking not to be identified as the information is private. Coatue Management and IDG Capital have also invested, one of the people said.

Caixin - Alibaba’s Double 11 Sales Growth Falls to New Low This year’s Double 11 shopping extravaganza set two new records for Alibaba Group Holding Ltd., the e-commerce titan that turned an unofficial holiday celebrating singletons into a consumerist juggernaut. The first was a new sales record — 540.3 billion yuan ($84.5 billion) worth of goods were sold across its platforms over the 11 days through Nov. 11. The second was record low growth in gross merchandise volume (GMV), which dipped below double-digits for the first time to hit 8.45%

China’s Dalian Wanda Denies Rumor of Billionaire CEO Wang Jianlin’s Death - Bloomberg Wanda’s statement included a photo of Wang chairing the gathering that it said was about how the company can innovate. A representative for the entertainment-to-property conglomerate told Bloomberg News the rumors were false and had been reported to police.

Politics and Law

Xi's article on arming Party with Marxism & innovative theories of its adaptation to Chinese context to be published - Xinhua The article by Xi, also Chinese president and chairman of the Central Military Commission, will be published on Tuesday in this year's 22nd issue of the Qiushi Journal, a flagship magazine of the CPC Central Committee. Marxism revealed the rule for the development of human society in a scientific manner, the article says, noting that it is the fundamental guiding ideology upon which the Party and country are founded... It calls for continuing to adapt the basic tenets of Marxism to China's specific realities and the country's fine traditional culture, using Marxism to observe, understand, and steer the trends of the times, and continuing to develop the Marxism of contemporary China and in the 21st century. The article urges officials, especially high-ranking ones, to master the basic theories of Marxism.

坚持用马克思主义及其中国化创新理论武装全党--时政--人民网 Comment: The Qiushi piece is once a again just a series of quotes on the topic from Xi, in this case 28 bits taken from his speeches and correspondence between November 2012 and July 1 2021

Xi chairs symposium to seek non-Communists' opinions on key CPC resolution - Xinhua The event, held on Sept. 10 in Beijing, was attended by the leaders from the central committees of the non-CPC political parties, head of the All-China Federation of Industry and Commerce, and people with no party affiliation. // Interesting that this is on the CCTV news two months after the meeting...

Friday CCTV Evening News on the meeting - 征求对中共中央关于中国共产党的百年奋斗重大成就和历史经验的决议的意见中共中央召开党外人士座谈会习近平主持并发表重要讲话_CCTV节目官网-CCTV-1_央视网 The report said Li Hongzhong, currently a Politburo member and party secretary of Tianjin, also attended the meeting. That ha led to speculation if he would take over the CPPCC and make it into the standing committee in the 20th Party congress next year.

Law Education Plan Stresses Xi Thought – China Media Project n a notice released yesterday and reported by state media across social media channels, China’s Ministry of Education announced a new five-year plan to promote “rule of law” (法治) throughout the education system for teenagers, or qingshaonian (青少年). The notice follows a spate of actions in recent months focusing on China’s youth and maintaining political and ideological security, including bans on online gaming, a crackdown on “fandom culture,” and even actions against the popular trend of “script murder” games. // The notice - 教育部关于印发《全国教育系统开展法治宣传教育的第八个五年规划（2021—2025年）》的通知 - 中华人民共和国教育部政府门户网站

China Is Getting Strict on Role-Playing Murder Mystery Games - SixthTone Shanghai is planning to grant local authorities the power to supervise the content of role-playing murder mystery games that have been accused of promoting violent content among young audiences. In a draft guideline published last week to solicit public opinions, the city government seeks to regulate the scripts of the offline role-playing genre of jubensha, or “script murder,” barring content that has “obscenity, pornography, gambling, violence, and drug-related or criminal scenes.” The draft also called to ban scripts that promote cults or superstitions, which violates the state’s religious policies.

Caixin - 人事观察｜中央候补委员张广军任科技部副部长_政经频道_财新网 Zhang Guangjun, alternate member of the Central Committee, is now a vice minister of science and technology. He worked in Beijing University of Aeronautics and Astronautics for nearly 25 years, and was promoted to the president of Southeast University in 2015; In 2013, he was elected academician of Chinese Academy of Engineering.

Caixin 人事观察｜河南省委副书记周霁兼任政法委书记_政经频道_财新网 Zhou Ji, deputy secretary of Henan Provincial Party Committee, is now also secretary of the Political and Legal Affairs Committee.

河南一村支书被羁押1535天后获释家族多人曾被控“恶势力团伙”_腾讯新闻 The branch secretary of a village in Henan was released after being detained for 1,535 days. Many members of his family were accused of being part of "evil gangs"

More govt services to go online - Gov.cn The General Office of the State Council issued a guideline on developing the mobile terminal for a nationwide integrated administrative service platform to move more government services online using mobile phones, according to a circular released on Nov 12. The development will combine mobile terminals of the administrative service platforms at the State level, State Council department level, and provincial level, the circular said. // 国务院办公厅关于印发全国一体化政务服务平台移动端建设指南的通知（国办函〔2021〕105号）_政府信息公开专栏

Govt efforts get credit for policy implementation - Gov.cn The inspection was launched by the State Council to serve the agenda of the Central Economic Work Conference and track progress in targets and tasks set by the Government Work Report. The accomplishments, aligned with local conditions, included cutting taxes and fees to support businesses, expanding domestic demand, safeguarding employment and people’s livelihoods, improving the business environment, and boosting innovation-driven development, among others. On the list are Beijing municipality for pursuing fuller and higher-quality employment, and Guizhou province for pushing forward cross-provincial services //国办通报表扬国务院第八次大督查发现的48项典型经验做法_滚动新闻_中国政府网

Chinese company transfers thousands of Uyghurs from Xinjiang to Nanjing — Radio Free Asia RFA’s Uyghur Service began investigating after a Chinese-language advertisement circulated on Weibo and WeChat said that more than 2,000 Uyghurs — aged 16 to 30, with good Mandarin Chinese skills, and vocational school degrees, the ad said — would be available to work for two years at sites throughout the country.

Foreign and Defense Affairs

Xi sends congratulatory letter to 6th China-Africa People's Forum - Xinhua The two sides should strengthen solidarity and cooperation, promote prosperity and development, and work together to build a community with a shared future for mankind, he added. Xi called for enhancing the forum's role as a bridge in helping consolidate the China-Africa comprehensive strategic partnership of cooperation, promote understanding between peoples, and fulfill the concept of a China-Africa community with a shared future

Xi congratulates Katonivere on inauguration as Fijian president - Xinhua on his taking office as Fijian president

China warns Vancouver against forging partnership with Taiwanese city - The Globe and Mail David Mulroney, a former Canadian ambassador to China who also once served as Canada’s envoy in Taiwan said the fact Ottawa never endorsed Beijing’s claim over Taiwan leaves the door open to unofficial relationships that would include city to city connections. He said the consulate’s criticism represents an “escalation by China” that if Canada heeded it would encourage Beijing to endlessly attempt restrict what Canadians can do in Taiwan.

In the case of conflict with China, check your Cold War analogies - The Washington Post The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) is not driven by a missionary impulse to spread Marxism, nor to install mini-CCPs in countries around the world. Rather, Beijing seeks to legitimize its own authoritarian model of governance as a tool to achieve the CCP’s true driving purpose of power, security and global influence for China and for the party. But such differences should not lead analysts to discount the ideological challenge posed by Beijing’s unique approach. The Communist Party wants to undermine faith in democratic governments and popularize China’s authoritarian model, which Xi, China’s president, has called a “contribution to mankind.” Xi and other Chinese leaders now frequently portray China’s economic success as proof that the road to prosperity no longer runs through liberal democracy. This message is highly attractive to leaders who hope to achieve economic success without answering to the demands of democratic societies.

Chinese premier meets Cambodian PM via video link - Xinhua hinese Premier Li Keqiang on Monday met with Cambodian Prime Minister Samdech Techo Hun Sen via video link, and promised that China will continue to provide support and assistance within its capacity to Cambodia for pandemic prevention and control, economic recovery and the improvement of people's livelihoods...Cambodia is ready to step up coordination and cooperation with China to push for positive outcomes at the ASEM summit and upgrade China-ASEAN relations, he added. Chinese State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi also attended the meeting.

在人间｜芝加哥枪声之后，妈妈决定冒着疫情风险去美国接他回家 Profile of 24-year-old Zheng Shaoxiong, a recent graduate from University of Chicago who was shot and killed in a robbery near the campus. Zheng came from Sichuan. He was raised by his mom and he was all her hope. Zheng is the second Chinese student shot dead near University of Chicago this year. It led to discussion online about crimes in the United States and whether parents should still send their kids to study there.

U.S. Sends Ex-Banker Wanted in $485 Million Fraud Case to China - Bloomberg The “forced repatriation” of Xu Guojun “marks significant progress in the handling of the 20-year-old case,” the ruling Communist Party’s Central Commission for Discipline Inspection said in a statement Sunday. It didn’t say whether Xu acted on his own accord...In 2008, a grand jury in the U.S. state of Nevada convicted Xu, another manager and their wives of defrauding the Bank of China, racketeering, money laundering, transporting stolen property, and passport and visa fraud. Xu was later handed a 22-year prison sentence.

许国俊被强制遣返回国，大案细节曝光：三任行长为拿绿卡让妻子假结婚_新浪新闻 The banker Xu Guojun was “forcibly” extradited from the US, said the anti-corruption body CCDI. The two other former colleagues of Xu, who also fled to the US, had returned to China “voluntarily” in 2004 and 2018. The three was said to embezzle more than 4 billion rmb, and they fled to the US via Canada in 1997 and 2001. The bankers and their wives were all arrested in around 2004 on wiring fraud charges and sentenced to 25 and 8 years respectively.

China Bought Italian Military-Drone Maker Without Authorities’ Knowledge - WSJ Italian authorities are investigating the 2018 takeover of Alpi Aviation Srl by a Hong Kong-registered company that they say is a front for the Chinese state and was in the process of transferring the company’s technical and intellectual property to a new production site in China.

FDD | All Over the Map - The Chinese Communist Party’s Subnational Interests in the United States This report does not provide an exhaustive inventory of Beijing’s initiatives to shape state and local opinion. Rather, it emphasizes mechanisms under the direction of the CCP that present themselves as apolitical means of promoting dialogue, coordination, and understanding. As such, this report does not examine the role of Chinese consulates, which openly advertise themselves as official Foreign Ministry vehicles, or commercial mechanisms of influence that might be influenced by government policy, such as foreign investment or tourism. Nor does this report seek to measure the impact of Chinese subnational influence initiatives or to compare China’s approach to those of other foreign governments. Instead, it aims to elucidate the strategic goals guiding Beijing’s subnational influence operations, as well as the tools and mechanisms Beijing employs. This report also suggests indicators for assessing where those operations are likely to have the greatest effect in the United States.

Mar-a-Lago-trespasser deported to China 2 years later - AP A Chinese businesswoman convicted of trespassing at President Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago club and lying to Secret Service agents was deported over the weekend, federal authorities said, more than two years after serving her sentence. Yujing Zhang was turned over to immigration officials in December 2019 after serving her eight-month sentence

Chinese official seeks Interpol role, sparking fears for dissidents | The Guardian Hu Binchen, the deputy director-general of the ministry’s international cooperation department, is one of three candidates vying for two seats as Asia delegates on the committee.

Beijing keen to make code of conduct gains for 30th anniversary of China-Asean ties | South China Morning Post China has pushed for a breakthrough in a South China Sea code of conduct and offered a continued supply of Covid-19 vaccines for Asean countries, in the lead-up to a summit meeting this month. In talks in Beijing on Sunday with top diplomats from the 10 member countries of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi said the summit to celebrate the 30th anniversary of Beijing becoming an Asean “dialogue partner” would be a milestone.

Chinese bombers in night drills amid Taiwan, South China Sea tensions | South China Morning Post The People’s Liberation Army’s (PLA) Southern Theatre Command said on Sunday that dozens of bombers from a naval aviation regiment carried out patrols earlier this month to improve the crews’ stamina and situational awareness at night. In the “high intensity” exercise, H-6J bombers practised fending off ship and ground attacks as well as firing tactics.

Chinese Spy Boss Yanjun Xu Conviction Marks New Chapter in War on Espionage-Daily Beast “It is a very big deal that we were able to extradite a known [Chinese] intelligence official from Europe,” Evanina said. He left his role as chief of the National Counterintelligence and Security Center earlier this year and is now the CEO of The Evanina Group. “This [transcript] is going to be… used for decades as the proof that the Chinese Communist Party uses a whole of government approach to steal our technology.” // Comment: Risk of a tit-for-tat arrest of an American “spy” in China seems high if he is not sent back to China soon after tonight’s Biden-Xi call

‘Assembly’ of WUC in Prague an ugly collusion and aggregation of anti-China forces: Xinjiang regional govt spokesperson - Global Times "It is a ridiculous and absurd farce!" Xu Guixiang (Xu), spokesperson of the regional government of Northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, commented on the assembly of the "World Uyghur Congress" (WUC), a violent, terrorist and separatist organization, held from November 12-14 in Prague, capital of the Czech Republic. During an exclusive interview with Global Times reporters Liu Xin and Fan Lingzhi (GT), Xu pointed out the nature of the WUC as a US-based terrorist organization which is seeking to split the Xinjiang region from China, and also revealed how the National Endowment for Democracy (NED) of the US has funded and colluded with the WUC in guiding it to incite violence within China.

Britain's ambassador to China is accused of 'lobbying' Cabinet Ministers | Daily Mail Online Sources said that Dame Caroline Wilson, who was appointed to the critical diplomatic position last year, sends letters to Ministers attending secret meetings of the National Security Council (NSC) that ‘effectively argue for the appeasement of China’. The move risks putting Dame Caroline at odds with Foreign Secretary Liz Truss, one of the most hawkish members of the Cabinet on China.

Nepali security authorities identify a Chinese intelligence agency official involved in anti-MCC propaganda - Khabarhub Khabarhub KATHMANDU: At a time when the fate of the United States grant assistance Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC) Compact is about to be decided — whether to enter implementation phase by parliamentary ratification or to send the grant back, Khabarhub has obtained a highly confidential report that reveals a covert eleventh hour involvement of a Chinese intelligence agency to stop the Compact from getting passed in Nepal. Chinese national Ning Lin’s name features at the top of the security authorities’ list (obtained by Khabarhub under strict anonymity of not revealing the security agencies’ identity) of those involved in crafting anti-MCC rhetoric in Nepal.

新中国恢复联合国合法席位的历史意义和现实启示（深入学习贯彻习近平新时代中国特色社会主义思想） 2021年11月15日第 09 版作者为中央外事工作委员会办公室副主任 Liu Jianchao, Deputy Director of the Office of the Communist Party of China Central Committee Foreign Affairs Commission, onm page 9 of the Monday People's Daily on the 50th anniversary of the PRC joining the UN.

Hong Kong

Hong Kong ousts Economist journalist Sue-Lin Wong without explanation, in latest blow to press freedom - Hong Kong Free Press HKFP “We regret their decision, which was given without explanation. Sue-Lin is not currently in Hong Kong. We are proud of Sue-Lin’s journalism,” Zanny Minton Beddoes, Editor-in-Chief, said in a statement published Saturday. “We urge the government of Hong Kong to maintain access for the foreign press, which is vital to the territory’s standing as an international city.”

Update: Visa issuance is a matter of sovereignty, Chinese FM comments on reported visa rejection for Economist reporter - Global Times Visa issuance is a matter of sovereignty, and the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) government has the right to make decisions on visa applications based on "one country, two systems" and the Basic Law of the HKSAR, the Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson said on Monday in response to the recent handling of the visa renewal procedures for a journalist from The Economist.

Statue of late Chinese dissident Liu Xiaobo removed from Hong Kong storefront following gov't order - Hong Kong Free Press HKFP A statue of the late Chinese dissident Liu Xiaobo has been removed from the storefront of a pro-democracy shop after the Food and Environmental Hygiene Department (FEHD) accused the store of unlawfully occupying unleased land.

Hong Kong protests: 20 found guilty over 2019 Sheung Wan riot, though recent ‘joint enterprise’ ruling plays role in 3 acquittals | South China Morning Post Twenty people were found guilty on Saturday of taking part in a 2019 Hong Kong riot, although three others were acquitted by a judge who invoked a recent top court ruling on whether prosecutors could use the “joint enterprise” principle in charging those not arrested at the scene. Prosecutors had accused all 23 defendants of taking part in a riot between Western Street and Queen Street in the city’s Sheung Wan neighbourhood on July 28 of that year.

Hong Kong’s all-powerful Election Committee will choose 40 lawmakers and one hopeful eyeing a seat is Lan Kwai Fong boss Allan Zeman. Who do the aspirants think they represent? | South China Morning Post The 40 lawmakers in this group, all Beijing loyalists, will make up the majority of the expanded 90-member Legislative Council following a drastic overhaul of Hong Kong’s electoral system this year.

Taiwan

Australia vows to help US defend Taiwan from Chinese attacks | Financial Times In an interview with The Australian newspaper, Peter Dutton said that Chinese leaders had been “very clear about their intent to go into Taiwan” and that Canberra had to improve its ability to deter Beijing and be ready to join the US military if it took action.

'We are real friends': Honduran president says in Taiwan visit amid China tension | Reuters Honduras is one of just 15 countries that maintain formal diplomatic ties with Taiwan

Evidence lacking to charge China executives - Taipei Times Two executives from a Hong Kong company believed to have conspired with Chinese intelligence agents will not be charged with breaching the National Security Act (國家安全法) due to a lack of evidence, the Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office said yesterday. However, China Innovation Investment chief executive Xiang Xin (向心) and his wife, alternate board member Kung Ching (龔青), are still barred from leaving Taiwan, pending an ongoing trial concerning alleged money laundering, the office said. // Comment: So much for all of Wang Liqiang’s explosive claims?

Tech and Media

China celebrity crackdown: entertainment industry ordered to ensure all underage performers complete compulsory education | South China Morning Post Agents representing performers under the age of 18 should make sure they complete the mandatory nine years of schooling and refrain from “misleading minors” into beliefs such as “becoming famous when young”, the Beijing Municipal Bureau of Culture and Tourism said in a notice published on Friday.

Caixin - Douyin-Tencent Video Deal Shows How Big Tech’s ‘Walled Gardens’ Are Crumbling - Caixin Global Users on Douyin, the Chinese cousin of TikTok, will soon be able to create and publish short videos based on Tencent’s copyrighted clips, a landmark change in a market where the internet giants once worked hard to close off their platforms to rivals’ users.

S. Korean popular drama "Squid Game" depicts cruelty of capitalistic society - Xinhua The capitalistic cruelty is exposed at the beginning of the series. In the first episode, participants are gunned down in the red light, green light game when an eerie schoolgirl doll finds them moving, indicating that falling behind in the competition of capitalistic society leads to a survival contest.

新京报 - 制片人江志强：拍《梅艳芳》是还人情报恩，没有消费她丨专访 在接受新京报专访时，江志强表示自己是比较老派的人，答应过别人的事情要做，欠人家的人情要还。这些年来，他遭受过别人的质疑，被认为此举有消费梅艳芳之嫌，都劝他别拍了，会得罪人，但江志强不怕得罪人，他最担心的是拍不了。 // Interview with Bill Kong the producer of the new movie "Anita" about Anita Mui.

Trailer for the movie:

Society, Arts, Sports, Culture and History

Online Outrage after Pet Dog Gets Killed by Anti-Epidemic Workers in Shangrao - What's on Weibo the incident has attracted the attention of thousands of netizens using various hashtags, with one of them gaining over 170 million on views on Weibo, becoming one of the top trending topics on Sunday (#居民在外隔离期间家中小狗被扑杀#, #上饶正调查隔离人员宠物狗被扑杀#, #上饶回应隔离宠物狗疑似被扑杀#)...The terms “harmless disposal” (无害化处置) and “culling” (扑杀) that have been used by some Chinese state media and local authorities in describing the Shangrao incident are also circulating online

Chinese Netizens Angry After Quarantine Staff Kills Pet Dog - SixthTone While there is no national guideline on handling pets of people who test positive for COVID-19 or are suspected of possible infections, cities have introduced local measures. While Shanghai allows residents to take their pets to quarantine hotels, Beijing has set up special quarantine facilities for pets, and Guangzhou has deployed people to feed the left-behind animals at home.

Remembering Zuo Fang – China Media Project uo Fang (左方), one of the most formative figures of China’s press in the reform era, passed away on November 3 in Guangzhou. Zuo’s legacy was closely to that of Southern Weekly (南方周末), which through the 1990s and into the new century carved out a reputation as a standard-bearer of professional journalism in China through its in-depth and investigative reporting of social and political issues. As Caixin noted in a tribute to Zuo on November 5, the newspaper has been “[known] as one of China’s most influential media outlets,” which has “actively advocated China’s market-oriented reforms and closely followed the country’s social developments.”

Tongcheng designated as national historical, cultural city - Gov.cn The Chinese government has approved designating Tongcheng city in East China’s Anhui province as a national famous historical and cultural city, according to a letter released by the State Council on Nov 7. With a long history, the city’s traditional layout, construction styles and cultures have their own distinct features, and its rich cultural deposits and historical remains are of great value, the letter said.

Beijing begins to create ‘icy snow’ for Winter Olympics, poses no threat to environment or water use - Global Times The National Alpine Ski Center in the Yanqing competition area, one of the three venues for the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics, began to create artificial snow for the upcoming Games on Monday, and it is expected to complete the task in mid-January. The Games have strict requirements for the size, thickness, hardness and density of snow particles for competition, which cannot be achieved by natural snowfall.

WTA seeks full, fair and transparent investigation into sexual assault allegations against former Chinese leader-WTA

The recent events in China concerning a WTA player, Peng Shuai, are of deep concern. As an organization dedicated to women, we remain committed to the principles we were founded on - equality, opportunity and respect.

Peng Shuai, and all women, deserve to be heard, not censored. Her accusation about the conduct of a former Chinese leader involving a sexual assault must be treated with the utmost seriousness. In all societies, the behavior she alleges that took place needs to be investigated, not condoned or ignored. We commend Peng Shuai for her remarkable courage and strength in coming forward. Women around the world are finding their voices so injustices can be corrected.

WTA Demands Chinese Inquiry Into Peng Shaui's Sexual-Assault Accusation - The New York Times “If at the end of the day, we don’t see the appropriate results from this, we would be prepared to take that step and not operate our business in China if that’s what it came to.”..“We’ve received confirmation from several sources, including the Chinese Tennis Association, that she is safe and not under any physical threat,” Simon said. But Simon said that no one associated with the WTA Tour, including officials and active players, had been able to reach her directly to confirm her status.

Men's tour backs WTA call for probe into Peng sexual assault allegations | Reuters The governing body of men's tennis (ATP) on Monday backed the Women's Tennis Association's (WTA) call for China to investigate allegations of sexual assault made by Peng Shuai against a former Chinese vice premier...The United States Tennis Association (USTA) also backed the WTA's call for an investigation while commending Peng for her courage.

Energy, Environment, Science and Health

From Rice Paddies to Old Mines, China’s Methane Pledge Explained - SixthTone One of the methane sources most challenging to control is rice paddies, of which China has about 300,000 square kilometers. Rice grows best in fields with a layer of water, but wet soil contains microbes that decompose organic matter and produce methane. Researchers are studying several emission reduction methods, such as managing rice paddies’ irrigation time and water levels, and creating a new drought-resistant strain of rice.

China expected to approve country's 1st COVID-19 drug by year-end - Global Times Among drug producers in China, a neutralizing monoclonal antibody combination therapy is expected to become the first in the country to get approval for market use in December. It's also likely to be the first to receive emergency use authorization in developed countries such as the US. The combination therapy is co-developed by Tsinghua University, the Third People's Hospital of Shenzhen and Brii Biosciences, a company that has dual headquarters in China and the US.

Jobs and Events

AmCham China – President – AmCham China - Beijing The scope of duties of the President is set forth in the AmCham Constitution, namely, responsibility for the day-to-day management of the operations of AmCham, particularly execution of Am-Cham’s programs and activities and supervision of its staff.

Education

Detailed rules issued on identifying, classifying off-campus tutoring - Global Times China's education authority is intensifying its supervision of after-school tutoring by releasing a set of guidelines on Monday to identify and classify qualified programs for off-campus training institutions that provide tutorials for students from first to ninth grade -- the compulsory education period.

Yicai - China’s TAL Education Moves on From Curriculum-Based Tutoring to Offer New Courses TAL Education Group, one of China’s leading educational technology firms, is to terminate its curriculum-based off-campus tutoring services and offer a new set of courses that are still targeted at students aged two to 18 years.

New Oriental to Cease Tutoring Services Through K-9 by Year-End - Bloomberg China’s New Oriental Education & Technology Group plans to cease tutoring services related to students from kindergarten through grade nine at all learning centers across the nation by the end of 2021, the firm said in a statement.

Agricultural and Rural Affairs

Signs of impending hog disease problems?

JCIChina @JCIChina

China hog prices run away from supply/demand fundamentals, pay attention to swine diseases this winter jcichina.com/article/a83258…

Sinocism

Biden-Xi call; Plenum spirit and the “Two…