HK national security law; Political security; Korean War commemorative medals; Blowing a new bull market
The more details are announced about the Hong Kong National Security Law, the worse it looks.
Political security is paramount, no matter how much the steps to ensure it may anger other countries.
The Gaokao test for college entrance starts Tuesday in China. It is hard to imagine how much stress those kids are under, especially after the disruptions of the last few months.
Today’s Essential Eight:
Hong Kong
UK-China relations stressed
Political security seems a concern
US-China
New Korean War commemorative medals
India and China de-escalating?
Blowing another bull market
Professor Xu Zhangrun detained
Thanks for reading.
The Essential Eight
1. Hong Kong
On Monday night, the government gazetted the details of Article 43 of the controverisal legislation, which criminalises secession, subversion, terrorism and foreign interference. It came after the first meeting of the Committee for Safeguarding National Security of the HKSAR, chaired by Chief Executive Carrie Lam.
《中华人民共和国香港特别行政区维护国家安全法第四十三条实施细则》刊宪
Beijing has appointed tough-talking party official Zheng Yanxiong as head of the powerful new agency being established in Hong Kong to oversee the implementation of the sweeping national security law...
Luo Huining, director of Beijing’s liaison office in Hong Kong, will serve as the city leader’s top adviser on the local Committee for Safeguarding National Security. Lam has also appointed Edwina Lau Chi-wai to lead the dedicated police unit set up to enforce the legislation, and designated six current magistrates to handle cases.
2011 12 18 汕尾市委书记——郑雁雄就乌坎通报会 - YouTube
Zheng Yanxiong’s talk in 2011 explaining the back and forth of the Wukan incident to local cadres
It is chaired by the Chief Executive,[2] Carrie Lam. On 2 July 2020, Eric Chan was appointed as secretary-general of the committee.[3] The committee's other members are the Chief Secretary for Administration, the Financial Secretary, the Secretary for Justice, the Secretary for Security, the Commissioner of Police, the head of the Department for safeguarding national security of the Hong Kong Police Force, the Director of Immigration, the Commissioner of Customs and Excise, and the Director of the Chief Executive’s Office.[2] On 3 July 2020, Luo Huining, the director of the Liaison Office was appointed by the State Council as the committee's main advisor
HK govt tells schools to remove books breaching security law - AFP
"In accordance with the four types of offences clearly stipulated in the law, the school management and teachers should review teaching and learning materials in a timely manner, including books," the Education Bureau said.
we have also seen news today which says that Hong Kong‘s libraries have removed some “HK independence” books from the shelves which is beautifully done, but it is not enough.
今天也看到一个消息说，香港有图书馆已经将一些“港独”书籍下架，干得漂亮，但这还不够。
Many people know that some basic educational material in HK comes with “poison”, and this “poison” must be cleaned away to clean the source.
很多人都知道香港的一些教材、基础教育领域都带有“毒”，把这里的“毒”排排干净，才是真正的正本清源。...
The red line is not only a legal red line, but must be inscribed in the hearts.
红线不仅是划在执法一线，也是划在心里。
Facebook and Twitter block Hong Kong authorities from accessing user data | Financial Times $$
Facebook and Twitter have both said they will temporarily block Hong Kong’s authorities from accessing user data, after the semi-autonomous city threatened jail terms against companies that did not comply with a new Chinese national security law.
Comment: The Hong Kong NSL means Facebook finally gets to operate in the PRC...Seriously, this could become a big problem for Facebook, Twitter and Google, all of whom have employees in Hong Kong and who run much of their significant PRC advertising revenue, for the world outside of China, through their Hong Kong operations.
Messaging app Telegram has told HKFP that it will temporarily refuse data requests from the Hong Kong authorities until an international consensus emerges over recent political changes
Hong Kong: first person charged under new security law | The Guardian
Tong Ying-kit was remanded into custody on Monday, charged with terrorism and inciting secession after he allegedly drove a motorbike into a group of police officers last week, wounding three, while flying a “Liberate Hong Kong” banner. Tong was denied bail.
国家安全部:依法治港 坚决贯彻党中央重大决策部署-中国长安网
Ministry of State Security holds a Party Committee meeting to discuss the HK National Security Law:
“[We] must direct Hong Kong’s police to stop the violence and curb disorder … to prevent, stop and punish the crimes and behaviours by an extremely small group of people who endanger national security,” the ministry’s leadership was quoted as saying in a post on the organisation’s website on Sunday.
China on Monday lashed out at measures taken by Canada last week in response to a new national security law imposed Loading... on Hong Kong. Ottawa suspended its extradition treaty with Hong Kong, halted the export of sensitive military goods to the city and issued a warning to travellers that going to the city face new risks of arbitrary arrest and potential extradition to mainland China
外交部和大使馆提醒：近期谨慎前往加拿大 The MoFa warning about travel to Canada
The Inter-Parliamentary Alliance on China (IPAC), a bloc of legislators formed in June to coordinate an approach by democracies towards China, urged member countries to suspend their extradition agreements with Hong Kong after the national security legislation had “severely undermined the rule of law”...
Nine countries represented in IPAC – Australia, Canada, the Czech Republic, France, Germany, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Britain and the United States – have extradition arrangements with Hong Kong. A total of 20 countries have extradition agreements with Hong Kong, including nations that do not have similar arrangements with mainland China, such as Australia, Germany, Britain, the US, India, Singapore and Malaysia.
Friday People’s Daily front page commentary said the new national security law will be a firm protection of the rights and freedom of HK citizens.
Police HQ siege: Agnes Chow admits two charges | The Standard
Three pro-democracy activists Joshua Wong Chi-fung, Agnes Chow Ting, and Ivan Lam Long-yin, charged for their involvement in besieging the police headquarters in Wan Chai on June 21 last year, appeared at the Eastern Magistrates' Courts today.
Agnes Chow pleaded guilty to a count of incitement to knowingly take part in an unauthorized assembly and knowingly taking part in an unauthorized assembly, while Joshua Wong and Ivan Lam denied the charges. Wong was also charged with a count of organizing an unauthorized assembly.
Citing “insiders”, the pro-Beijing Wenwen Pao newspaper reported that Joshua Wong, Nathan Law, and Agnes Chow took millions of dollars from their political party Demosisto, and that the three planned to seek political asylum in the US consulate.
2. UK-China relations stressed
Spy report is set to wreck Boris Johnson's 5G broadband deal with Huawei | Daily Mail Online
The National Cyber Security Centre was last month tasked with a review of the controversial Chinese tech giant’s involvement in Britain after a furious backbench rebellion.
The Mail on Sunday has learnt its probe has concluded that new US sanctions on Chinese technology have had a ‘severe’ impact on the firm’s viability, meaning significant changes are required to UK policy.
The NCSC believes a plan by Donald Trump – one of Huawei’s fiercest critics – to outlaw any US patented technology used in the firm’s microchips will render them unsafe because Asian alternatives, which are less trustworthy and effective, will have to be used.
Huawei to be frozen out of Britain’s 5G network by Christmas | The Sunday Times
A Whitehall security source said: “The US sanctions on Huawei are unlike anything we’ve ever seen before. The company is forbidden from using American intellectual property (IP) in its semi-conductors — they can’t even use tools to make new semi-conductors if those tools use American IP.
“Huawei is in a position without any easy fixes or loopholes. This fundamentally changes the calculation. The impacts are so severe that, given the need to give clarity to industry, there will be a decision taken and parliament will be notified this month. Everybody is planning on this basis,” the security source said.
Hong Kong: Chinese ambassador warns UK over 'interference' - BBC News
Ambassador Liu Xiaoming said the UK's offer of a path to citizenship for up to three million Hong Kongers amounted to "gross interference"...
The ambassador did not spell out in any detail the consequences of Britain changing course on Huawei, or of Britain's offer of citizenship to British National (Overseas) passport holders.
But his use of a quote he attributed to former US National Security Adviser Zbigniew Brzezinski - "If we make China an enemy, China will become an enemy" - was a barely veiled warning.
The last six months have revealed more about China under President Xi Jinping than the previous six years. China is overplaying its hand and giving western leaders no option but to stand up to it. Combined with the tough US sanctions imposed on Chinese companies, Beijing’s actions have also shifted the parameters on Huawei’s potential involvement in British telecoms.
Question: What was the MI6 view of China under Xi before the last six months?
Peer 'baffled' by claims he was targeted by fake PR campaign to boost Huawei | The Guardian
The alleged covert campaign – denied by Huawei - involved inviting British politicians and industrialists to participate in staged radio interviews and emailing them fake news, according to a dossier partly produced by the firm co-founded by former MI6 spy Christopher Steele.
3. Political security seems a concern
The first meeting of the Political Security special sub-group of the Safe China Construction Coordinating Small Group convened recently. Lei Dongsheng 雷东生, deputy secretary-general of the Central Political and Legal Affairs Commission, is the head of the sub-group.
平安中国建设协调小组政治安全专项组第一次会议召开-来源：中央政法委长安剑
In order to further improve the level of preventing and resisting national political security risks, the meeting proposed to be highly vigilant, strictly prevent, and crack down on four types of activities according to law:
① Infiltration, subversion and sabotage activities.
②Violent terrorist activities.
③ Ethnic separatist activities.
④ Religious extreme activities.
针对进一步提高防范抵御国家政治安全风险的水平，会议提出要高度警惕、严密防范、依法打击四类活动：
①滲透颠覆破坏活动。
②暴力恐怖活动。
③民族分裂活动。
④宗教极端活动。
Gu Su, a political scientist with Nanjing University, believed the new political security task force was set up for more narrowly focused coordination.
“Bodies such as the Ministry of Public Security and the Ministry of State Security down to the municipal level are already doing the job of [ensuring] political security, and the [party’s] Commission for Political and Legal Affairs itself is already overseeing inter-agency coordination,” he said.
“But Beijing may think that it needs more effective and narrowly focused inter-agency coordination on political security given the impact of the pandemic on public opinion and economic performance.”
Comment: Why Xi felt the need to set up yet another group is a very interesting question, for which I do not have the answer. One hypothesis is that there are still "problematic" officials from xi's perspective in the existing bodies. I do not know, am intrigued by a new round of rumors of a “big case” in the Politics and Law system, but so far nothing confirmed.
China Lays Groundwork to Crackdown Further on Political Threats - Bloomberg
A special working group on political security was added to a law enforcement task force first established in April to defuse any social unrest stemming from the government’s response to the virus, according to a report from the official Legal Daily...
The CCP’s Politics and Law Commission said on its official WeChat account on Monday that the new working group’s meeting came as safeguarding political security becomes a top priority “amid a changing global situation.” It cited examples including U.S. politicians “deflecting blame” to China over its failure to contain the pandemic, “intervention” by the U.S., Taiwan, and Australia over national security legislation in Hong Kong and the deadly border conflict with India.
4. US-China
China Is Unlikely to Meet Purchase Targets for U.S. Energy - WSJ $$
China has made strides toward its agricultural and manufacturing targets, but it remains far behind—maybe hopelessly far—an ambitious target for purchases of oil, natural gas, refined petroleum products like propane and butane, and coal, prompting concerns from the U.S. energy industry which is encouraging the U.S. Trade Representative to increase pressure on China to reach the goal.
U.S. trade groups urge China to increase purchases of U.S. goods, services - Reuters
In a letter to U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin, U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer and Chinese Vice Premier Liu He, the group said they were encouraged by the progress so far, but called for a significant increase in China’s purchases of U.S. goods and services.
Comment: They understand that fulfilling the trade deal is the last significant thread holding the relationship back from the precipice.
Trump Weighs Executive Orders on China, Manufacturing, Immigration, Aide Says - Reuters
U.S. President Donald Trump is considering several executive orders targeting China, manufacturing and immigration, his chief of staff Mark Meadows told reporters at the White House on Monday, though he offered few details.
This tweet earlier today may be foreshadowing the next executive order on China?
U.S. Shows Off Its Firepower to Beijing in South China Sea - WSJ
Strike fighters and electronic-warfare jets took off day and night from two U.S. aircraft carriers in the South China Sea to simulate sustained attacks on enemy bases as Washington put on one of its biggest displays of naval power in a potential flashpoint for conflict.
Throughout the weekend, the USS Ronald Reagan and USS Nimitz completed hundreds of launches of jets, surveillance planes and helicopters in some of the largest military drills in recent years in the disputed South China Sea, the leading edge of Beijing’s move to expand its regional sphere of control.
China held its own large-scale drills around the Paracel Islands in the South China Sea through Sunday, where it has built missile bases, radar facilities and an airfield.
Comment: And there are the Twitter ops:
US redeployment of B-52H in Guam a blatant show of muscle: expert - Global Times
The move by the Pentagon to relocate the B-52H strategic bomber to Guam in the western Pacific and dual US aircraft carriers staging exercises in the South China Sea amid large-scale exercises conducted by the People's Liberation Army's Navy in the South China Sea is not a coincidence but a blatant "show of muscle."
The bomber, which is capable of carrying cruise missiles and nuclear bombs, took off from Barksdale Air Force Base in the US on Saturday and arrived at Guam after a 28-hour flight to demonstrate the commitment of the US Indo-Pacific Command to the security and stability of the Indo-Pacific region, Russian media sputnik reported.
Exercises near the Paracel Islands break pledge not to militarise contested maritime region, says US Department of Defence
Fanning up ideological confrontation goes against trend of times - People's Daily Zhong Sheng
“The past is never dead. It’s not even past.” This famous line perfectly suits some U.S. politicians including Secretary of State Mike Pompeo who believe that the Cold War taking place in the second half of the last century is never gone, and consider confrontation a major way to handle their relations with the world.
They are doing everything to throw ideological confrontation between China and the U.S., forcing the international society to choose a side. By playing “new Cold War tricks”, building an imaginary enemy, forming cliques and waving its “big stick,” the U.S. is creating risks and challenges to the international system and sounding an alarm for global countries.
The original - 煽动意识形态对立违逆时代大势(钟声)
CCTV goes after Pompeo again, says he is "asleep at the wheel"
Zhong Sheng wrote two commentaries last Thursday attacking the US, one for the US sanctions against China over the HK, and another for Pompeo’s interview that accused China of predatory economic policies. Zhongsheng said the company Pompeo ran once outsourced contracts to Chinese firms, and now he is playing victim of trade with China, all to serve his strategy to contain China. - 美方政治打压背离人权宗旨（钟声）; 破坏合作共赢必为时代所弃（钟声）
With Hong Kong crackdown, Xi Jinping signals he’ll pay a high price for power | PBS NewsHour
Susan Shirk:
Well, I have to confess that, yesterday, I was questioning a lot of my prior assumptions about what kind of rising power China is.
I had been an advocate of trying to compete with China, but also to engage diplomatically with China in order to resolve our most serious disputes. But I am not sure how you deal with Xi Jinping's regime. And I am rethinking a lot of my premises about what — how the United States should really deal with this type of regime.
Rather than a replay of the Cold War, a new kind of competition is emerging — one that eludes neat concepts such as containment and engagement that defined America’s previous approach to great-power politics.
Despite the rhetoric, US-China financial decoupling is not happening | PIIE
for all the fireworks over tariffs and investment restrictions, China’s integration into global financial markets continues apace. Indeed, that integration appears on most metrics to have accelerated over the past year. And US-based financial institutions are actively participating in this process, making financial decoupling between the United States and China increasingly unlikely. An examination of the data shows the danger of generalizing based on misleading anecdotal evidence.
Time for China to decouple the yuan from US dollar, former diplomat urges | South China Morning Post
Zhou Li, a former deputy director of the Communist Party’s International Liaison Department – which manages relations with foreign political parties, organisations and elites – is the latest in a series of voices in China calling for the country to be ready for a currency split with the US amid growing signs of financial war in recent weeks.
“By taking advantage of the dollar’s global monopoly position in the financial sector, the US will pose an increasingly severe threat to China’s further development,” Zhou wrote in the full version of an article published on Saturday by the Beijing-based think tank Chongyang Institute for Financial Studies at Renmin University.
Zhou’s article - 中国人民大学重阳金融研究院 人大重阳 中国智库 周力 新冠肺炎
David Ownby has translated the Yuan Peng article I highlighted recently - Yuan Peng, “The Coronavirus Pandemic and a Once-in-a-Century Change
5. New Korean War commemorative medals
China to honor Korean War veterans with 70th anniversary medals - Global Times
China on Thursday announced that it will issue commemorative medals on the 70th anniversary of the Chinese People's Volunteer Army's participation in the Korean War (1950-53) against the US.
The announcement came amid the increasing US containment measures against China in fields including trade, high-tech, national security and military. Analysts said the move shows China's confidence and determination in facing US' aggressions.
The special medals will be jointly issued by the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee, State Council and Central Military Commission, and will be awarded to living Volunteer Army veterans who had fought in the war, the Xinhua News Agency reported on Thursday.
Those who contributed to the war against the US, including medical personnel, railway and transportation personnel, interpreters, those involved in armistice negotiations, militias, workers, journalists, writers and photographers, as well as those who had helped North Korea with its resumption of production and construction from the armistice in July 1953 to the withdrawal of all Volunteer Army troops in October 1958, are also eligible to receive the medals.
Xiakedao, the WeChat account of People’s Daily overseas edition, wrote that it is necessary for the Chinese public to re-study the Korean War and China’s decision to fight the Americans. The article said the war reminds us that, “We have peace if we seek peace through fighting, and the peace dies if we seek peace with compromise.”
70年过去了，世界早已换了模样。不变的是抗美援朝证明了的那句真理：以斗争求团结则团结存，以妥协求团结则团结亡。
70年过去了，世界早已换了模样。不变的是抗美援朝证明了的那句真理：以斗争求团结则团结存，以妥协求团结则团结亡。
Concludes with:
Some people say that China and the United States will eventually be friends in the future. But to be friends with the US, he must first be an opponent he cannot beat
有人说，未来中美终将是朋友。但要和美国做朋友，必须先是他无法打败的对手
中共中央国务院中央军委将颁发“中国人民志愿军抗美援朝出国作战70周年”纪念章
Page 1 article in the July 3 People's Daily announcing the medals
6. India and China de-escalating?
The two Special Representatives agreed that both sides should take guidance from the consensus of the leaders that maintenance of peace and tranquillity in the India-China border areas was essential for the further development of our bilateral relations and that two sides should not allow differences to become disputes. Therefore, they agreed that it was necessary to ensure at the earliest complete disengagement of the troops along the LAC and de-escalation from India-China border areas for full restoration of peace and tranquillity. In this regard they further agreed that both sides should complete the ongoing disengagement process along the LAC expeditiously. The two sides should also ensure a phased and stepwise de-escalation in the India-China border areas. They re-affirmed that both sides should strictly respect and observe the line of actual control and should not take any unilateral action to alter the status quo and work together to avoid any incident in the future that could disturb peace and tranquillity in border areas.
China, India reach positive consensus on easing border situation - Xinhua
Chinese Special Representative on the China-India Boundary Question, State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi held a telephone conversation on Sunday evening with Indian Special Representative, National Security Advisor Ajit Doval, during which the two sides reached positive consensus on easing their border situation...
Wang stressed that achieving development and rejuvenation is the top priority for both China and India, and the two sides share long-term, common strategic interests in this general direction.
He urged the two sides to adhere to the strategic judgement that China and India pose no threat to each other and are each other's development opportunities, attach great importance to the current complex situation facing bilateral relations, and work together to overcome and reverse it as soon as possible.
Wang also expressed his hope that the Indian side will meet China halfway, guide public opinions in the right direction, safeguard and promote normal exchanges and cooperation between the two countries, avoid the moves that will expand and complicate disputes, and jointly safeguard the overall situation of China-India relations.
Comment: "guide public opinions in the right direction" is easier in the PRC than in India
China begins pulling back troops near site of India border clash, Indian sources say - Reuters
On Monday the Chinese military was seen dismantling tents and structures at a site in the Galwan valley near to where the latest clash took place, said the Indian government sources, who declined to be identified as they are not authorised to speak to the media.
Vehicles were seen withdrawing from the area, as well as at Hotsprings and Gogra - two other contested border zones - the sources said.
Indian soldiers killed in China border clash were unarmed and surrounded, families say | Reuters
One of the Indian soldiers had his throat slit with metal nails in the darkness, his father said, saying he had been told by a fellow soldier who was there.
Others fell to their deaths in the freezing waters of the Galwan river in the western Himalayas, relatives have learned from witnesses...
The possibility that unarmed Indian soldiers were overrun by a larger force could further fuel resentment against China and raise questions about why Indian soldiers were sent to a tense frontline without being armed.
“How dare China kill our unarmed soldiers. Why were our soldiers sent unarmed to martyrdom?” Rahul Gandhi, leader of the main opposition Congress party wrote in a tweet, demanding the government provide a full account.
India reviewing around 50 investment proposals from Chinese firms: sources - Reuters
The new investment rules were aimed at curbing opportunistic takeovers during the coronavirus outbreak. However, industry executives say a deterioration in bilateral relations since a clash along the countries’ contested border last month, in which 20 Indian soldiers were killed, could further delay approvals.
7. Blowing another bull market
China stocks surge after state media urges investors to load up | Financial Times $$
State-owned Shanghai Securities News ran a story on Friday titled “Hahahahaha! The signs of a bull market are more and more clear.” A Xinhua story on Monday said investors were “running” into stocks while a front-page editorial in the state-run China Securities Journal on Monday talked up the prospect of a “healthy” bull market, adding that investors could look forward “to the wealth effect” of rising prices...
Analysts said Chinese authorities could be seeking to push up prices in the hope this would boost consumer spending and support a broader economic recovery. But the chorus of support for China’s markets rekindled memories of 2014 and 2015, when state media cheered a more than doubling of stock prices. That rally later unwound in spectacular fashion with a 40 per cent collapse.
Bloomberg data show that margin loans in China, where brokers provide clients with funds to buy stocks, are at their highest level since 2015.
Comment: I was in Beijing through the 2014-15 bubble and then collapse, it was fun while it lasted. Blowing up another bubble is a useful way to transfer money from individuals to the long line of firms hoping to raise capital as cheaply as they can. Or will this time be different? Either way, if they really are getting started on a campaign to push up the market it could have a ways to run.
The China Securities Journal Editorial - 中证报头版评论：培育A股“健康牛”是育新机开新局重要抓手_中证网
沪指涨近6%创2年半新高 两市成交量逾1.5万亿_CCTV节目官网-CCTV-1_央视网(cctv.com)
Citing experts, CCTV Evening News said the stocks soared due to China’s excellent performance in containing the virus spread as well as the economic stimulus packages. The content of the report is less important than the signal sent by having this report on the CCTV Evening News.
迫不及待！都在等A股开盘，牛市热度飙升20多倍！券商喊出静待3500...
Securities Times says searches on Wechat for key word “bull market 牛市" are surging
今天，好像所有人都想进场炒股票……-新闻-上海证券报·中国证券网
online stock account openings surging
Yicai - Trading in Chinese Equities Hits Five-Year High of USD213 Billion
CNY1.5 trillion (USD213 billion) changed hands on China’s mainland stock markets today, the highest volume in five years and the third straight trading day with a turnover of more than CNY1 trillion
China Stokes a Stock-Market Mania, Risking Repeat of 2015 Bubble - Bloomberg
In many ways, the pace of gains matches the market’s melt-up that started in the final weeks of 2014. The CSI 300 Index has now added 14% in five days, the most since December that year. A gauge of momentum on the CSI 300 is also the strongest since late 2014. Shares of brokerages surged as daily turnover exceeded 1.5 trillion yuan ($213 billion) for the first time since 2015, indicating increasing participation from retail investors. Monday’s more-than-5% gain in stocks had only happened once before since the bubble burst.
China Rally Fueled By Hedge Fund Short Covering, Nomura Says - Bloomberg
Macro hedge funds and quantitative investors are fueling the Chinese stock market rally as they unwind bearish wagers, according to Nomura.
8. Professor Xu Zhangrun detained
China Detains Xu Zhangrun, Law Professor Who Criticized Xi Jinping - The New York Times
“There’s a famous old Chinese saying that a person of extraordinary integrity is a heron who stands out amid a flock of chickens,” Geremie R. Barmé, an Australian Sinologist living in New Zealand, who has translated many of Professor Xu’s essays, said by telephone. “He writes using a language of profound classical resonance that also refers to some of the greatest Western writers.”
It was unclear which arm of the police in Beijing took Professor Xu away, and Tsinghua University Law School did not have immediate comment. Ms. Geng said that a police officer had told Professor Xu’s wife that he was accused of soliciting prostitutes while visiting Chengdu, a city in southwest China.
Police in Beijing Detain Outspoken Chinese Law Professor - RFA
"There are two completely different stories about what happened," he said. "One of the neighbors said there were more than 10 police vehicles and more than 20 officers."
"But the help said they didn't see any vehicles, and that only two to three people came," the friend said. "We think the help may have been warned off [saying anything] or threatened in some way."
Xu's detention came after his wife received a call from police in the southwestern province of Sichuan, where police have accused him of seeking out prostitutes.
China Detains One of Xi Jinping’s Most Prominent Critics - WSJ
Friends say Mr. Xu might have been detained over his recent criticism of Mr. Xi’s leadership, particularly a series of trenchant essays this year that criticized the Communist Party’s initial mishandling of the coronavirus pandemic, demanded accountability for those missteps and called for political reform to allow freedom of expression in China. Some cited the recent publication of an anthology of Mr. Xu’s essays by a New York publisher as a possible factor.
“They are settling accounts after the autumn harvest,” said a former official who knows Mr. Xu, using a Chinese idiom for getting revenge at an opportune time.
You can read his essays here - Xu Zhangrun 許章潤 Archive – China Heritage
Business, Economy and Trade
China’s Bond Market Currently World’s Second Largest at USD$15.28 Trillion: PBOC – China Banking News As of the end of June nearly 900 offshore institutional investors from over 60 countries had entered China’s interbank bond market, holding approximately 2.6 trillion yuan in debt, for a near 40% increase each year since 2017.
China adds anti-epidemic worker, internet marketer to official professions list - Global Times China has added nine new professions on its official list of occupations, including internet marketer and blockchain application operator, as the country moves to diversify its job market and attract more people to the internet industry amid economic pressure brought by the coronavirus epidemic. China's Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security along with the State Administration of Market Regulation and National Bureau of Statistics announced the following nine professions: blockchain engineering technician, blockchain application operator, urban management grid worker, internet marketer, information security tester, online learning service technician, community health assistant, elderly capacity evaluator and additive manufacturing equipment operator.
教育部将严查高校毕业生就业数据：要求各校存档备查3年以上 China’s ministry of education issued a notice urging colleges and universities not to falsify the employment data of their graduates. It said it will investigate those numbers and those who falsify will be severely punished.
李巍 | 美国陷入高等收入陷阱，是全球化走向衰退的最大信号 " The United States has fallen into the "high income trap", which is the biggest signal of globalization going into decline" In a recent public speech, Li Wei of Renmin University argued that China should adapt to this recession of globalization by insisting its state capitalism policy and refuse to open up more of its economy. He said China should build its independent technology system and accept the decoupling with the United States. He also suggested that China should encourage the regional integration of Asia, and provide more public goods and write more international rules. // 面对经济和社会的脱钩，中国如何选择？中国的第一个选择就是做全球化衰落的顺应者。比如坚守某些国家主义政策，拒绝更大程度开放，构建独立技术体系，坚持独特的中国模式，适应中美经济脱钩。第二个选择是区域集团化的拥护者。全球治理越来越难，那搞区域治理行不行？具体表现为重点联合中日韩、东盟，打造东亚生产网络，在东亚生产网络基础上构建或者强化东亚治理机制。第三个新型全球化的引领者。这就意味着我们需要自我的更大开放，包括商品、资本、信息、人员、技术。我们要提供更多的公共物品，要为世界提供全球治理的可操作性方案，而不仅仅是口号。要贡献更多的国际制度与规则，这个国际制度是要能够约束自我的。当年美国建立的很多制度是约束美国本身的，中国现在能不能接受国际制度对我们自身的约束。我们还要提供更多的资金。总之，我们不能独享全球化的好处。
深化社会主义基本经济制度研究（构建中国特色哲学社会科学） Huang Taiyan, an economist and President of Minzu University of China, wrote on Page 9 of the People’s Daily Monday urging Chinese economists to further study the “basic economic system of socialism”. While advocating for market reforms to improve efficiency, Huang again underscored the need to make the state sector bigger and stronger and push the state owed companies to serve more of the country’s strategic goals in areas like technology, defense and security.
在国有经济布局上，以进一步增强国有经济的竞争力、创新力、控制力、影响力、抗风险能力为着眼点，推进国有经济布局优化和结构调整，坚持有进有退、有所为有所不为，推动国有资本更多投向关系国计民生的重要领域和关系国家经济命脉、科技、国防、安全等领域，服务国家战略目标。
TikTok Owner Predicts Over $6 Billion in Losses From India Apps Ban, Sources Say - Caixin Chinese tech unicorn ByteDance Ltd., owner of the hugely popular short video app TikTok, is anticipating a loss of more than $6 billion after three of its apps were banned in India early this week, sources close to the company’s senior management told Caixin Wednesday. That amount is most likely more than the combined losses for all the other Chinese companies behind the other 58 apps banned in India, the sources said.
Disgraced Luckin Chairman Booted After Autocratic Show During Shareholders Meeting- PingWest During the actual voting procedure to boot Lu, Li, Liu and Shao from the board, Lu brought the ballots outside the meeting room before bringing them back in, overruling shareholders' objections that balloting should be scrutinized by lawyers or other qualified professionals, repeating the same line "as chairman of the board, your objection is overruled." The vote passed.
Chipmaker SMIC Eyes China’s Biggest Share Sale in a Decade - Bloomberg Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corp. is preparing to raise as much as $7.5 billion via mainland China’s largest stock sale in a decade, a big cash infusion for a chipmaker Beijing’s counting on to reduce reliance on American technology.
China quadruples fundraising pace for chip self-sufficiency - Nikkei Asian Review Chinese chipmakers have received 144 billion yuan ($20.5 billion) so far this year, including commitments, according to data through Sunday compiled by Nikkei from private databases, company filings and news reports. This far outpaces the 12-month tallies of recent years, including the roughly 64 billion yuan total from 2019.
Chinese internet pioneer Sina gets $2.7bn buyout offer | Financial Times $$ The proposal would entail Charles Chao, Sina’s chairman and chief executive, taking the company private, including its 45 per cent stake in Weibo, China’s version of Twitter, which is also listed on Nasdaq. The stake includes 71 per cent of Weibo’s voting shares and control over its board.
China Coal Group Halts Demand Index Used as Economic Indicator - Bloomberg the China Coal Transportation & Distribution Association has stopped publishing its daily coal burn index after a port company cut off access to the data, according to a person familiar with the discussions,
China Police Said to Detain Crypto OTC Traders Amid Money Laundering Crackdown - CoinDesk Zhao Dong – a prominent Chinese crypto OTC trader and the co-founder of crypto lending platform RenrenBit – has been held up by police in the city of Hangzhou. A rumor that Zhao had been taken away first emerged on WeChat on Thursday, after a screen capture describing his detention began circulating within the local community and was later reported by local news outlets.
China province orders new checks on big cash transactions after bank runs | South China Morning Post New rules requiring documentation of large deposits and withdrawals is being rolled out in Hebei and will be extended to Zhejiang and Shenzhen
China watchdog to purge bank sector of ‘illegal’ shareholders | Financial Times $$ The China Banking and Insurance Regulatory Commission for the first time has released a list of 38 illegal shareholders that will be forced to divest from banks and insurance companies. They include companies connected with bailed-out regional lender Baoshang Bank and Anbang Insurance, which required a $10bn injection of public funds
央视：截至6月28日，一共有391只理财产品净值跌破面值1元 CCTV reports that as of une 28 391 wealth management products have lost money
杭州第一大P2P被警方立案侦查：3000亿借贷 近百亿未还！ Hangzhou police said it has launched investigation into a the P2P internet finance company Weidai.com. Sina reported that the company may have borrowed nearly 300 billion RMB from its users, and 8.5 billion RMB has not been repaid. The company is listed in the US.
Politics and Law
“习近平同志是一名非常出色的班长和领路人”（上）——习近平在福建（十） Study Times published the part-ten of the “Xi Jinping in Fujian” series. This time an old colleague who worked under Xi in Fuzhou used 23 anecdotes to describe a man that is hard-working, not interested in money and comfort, easy-going and actually care for the people. He said Xi is “a very excellent captain and leader.” Among the stories told is that Xi’s wife Peng Liyuan kept apologizing to the neighbor for their daughter crying too loud at night. The colleague said it shows the couple are people of good manners.
政事儿：公安部部长助理兼办公厅主任聂福如离任 Assistant minister of public security Nie Furu is removed from his post, according to the ministry’s website. It is unclear whether he is being promoted or investigated for corruption. He is 54. // Comment: More and more rumblings about a big case in the Politics and Law system. Niu would not be that case if he is in trouble
原江西稀有金属钨业控股集团总经理钟晓云接受审查调查—中央纪委国家监委网站 Retired general manager of Jiangxi Rare Earth & Rare Metals Tungsten Group Corporation under investigation
[视频]央视快评：让党的宣传思想工作在基层实起来、强起来_CCTV CCTV on the efforts to improve the disseminiation of propaganda and thought work into the grassroots...sounds like back to the future // 快评指出，近年来，各地新时代文明实践中心在推动党的创新理论“飞入寻常百姓家”方面发挥了重要作用。一些地方不断加强传播手段和话语方式创新，打造了“乡村播报”“板凳课堂”“老爸茶馆”等一系列品牌项目，使理论宣传更接地气、更有活力、更有温度，让党的理论和路线方针政策走进基层，让习近平新时代中国特色社会主义思想走进群众。
China’s Transgender Community Welcomes Court Ruling on Employment Discrimination In a rare ruling on discrimination against transgender people, the court decided that e-commerce platform Beijing Dangdang Information Technology Co. Ltd. was wrong to fire an employee for “absence of work” after she took two months of leave for the surgery in 2018, according to the court’s written judgment (link in Chinese).
Wuhan residents told to stay indoors again after record rainfall | The Guardian State media have been accused of downplaying the severity of the floods, emphasising the heroic efforts of emergency workers by publishing prominent images of soldiers rescuing trapped residents. Residents waded waist-deep along waterlogged streets in Wuhan, filled after a record 426mm (16.8 inches) fell between Sunday and Monday morning. Authorities raised the four-tier emergency warning to level two on Monday, predicting more severe weather in the coming days.
Webinar: Dr Victor Shih – The Significance of the Joint Sessions (两会) in the Era of COVID-19 – YCW
市委常委会召开会议-新华网 7月1日，市委书记李鸿忠主持召开市委常委会会议，研究部署我市学习宣传《习近平谈治国理政》第三卷相关工作，传达学习贯彻习近平总书记在中央政治局第二十一次集体学习时的重要讲话精神和对防汛救灾工作作出的重要指示精神。市委副书记、市长张国清，市人大常委会主任段春华，市政协主席盛茂林，市委副书记阴和俊出席...引导广大党员干部群众深刻感受习近平总书记的强大思想伟力和人民领袖人格魅力，进一步增强“四个意识”、坚定“四个自信”、做到“两个维护”。//Comment: The Tianjin Party Secretary is consistently among the most effusive officials in his praise for Xi
Foreign and Defense Affairs
China makes new claim in eastern border with Bhutan | World News,The Indian Express Beijing made this claim while objecting to a request to develop the Sakteng wildlife sanctuary in eastern Bhutan’s Trashigang district at an online meeting of the Global Environment Facility (GEF). Set up in 1992, GEF is a US-based global body to finance projects in the environment sector. Bhutan objected to the Chinese claim, and the GEF council passed the project for funding. The GEF, according to sources, rejected the Chinese claim and approved the project — but the views of both parties were reflected in the minutes.
党委书记赴边境后，西藏国安指挥部部署工作_新浪新闻 Beijing Youth Daily looks at the instructions from the Tibet Party Secretary and TAR security officials about improving front line border work. Party Secretary Wu Yingjie inspected the border area in Shannan in April.
Under Jacinda Ardern, New Zealand pivots in relations with China - The Washington Post In tweaking New Zealand’s position, however, Ardern is seeking to be less confrontational than the Trump administration and Australia’s government — which is viewed here as “deputy sheriff” to the United States — even while often making the same points. Ardern’s office declined requests for an interview...Since the Key years, New Zealand has become “cleareyed” about how China functions as a state, said one government insider who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss internal conversations.
'Alarm bells': how China's assertiveness led to Australia's defence overhaul | The Guardian Dr Andrew Carr, a senior lecturer at the Australian National University’s strategic and defence studies centre, says last week’s update of defence policy is probably the country’s most significant strategic review since the 1970s. The “alarm bells” about developments in the Indo-Pacific region in general – and the rising assertiveness of China in particular – are “ringing”.
Xi vows closer ties with Ghana, Mongolia - China Daily In his message, Xi said he highly values developing bilateral ties and is willing to work with Akufo-Addo to take the 60th anniversary as an opportunity to carry forward traditional friendship in order to benefit the two countries and their peoples and contribute to the building of a closer China-Africa community with a shared future...China is ready to strengthen anti-epidemic exchanges and cooperation with Mongolia and other countries, and jointly build a community of health for all, he said. In a previous letter to Xi, Khurelsukh said that China's fight against COVID-19 has not only safeguarded the health of the Chinese people, but also made great contributions to protecting the health of people around the world, which he deeply admires.
Xi sends reply letter to Butuka Academy of Papua New Guinea - Xinhua The Butuka Academy, a public service project funded by China, consists of a kindergarten, a primary school and a secondary school. Since its opening in November 2018, the academy has enrolled about 3,000 students and improved the local schooling conditions, winning the praise of the local government and the public.
Xi Focus: Xi congratulates ministerial meeting of China-Arab States Cooperation Forum - Xinhua Chinese President Xi Jinping sent a congratulatory letter to the 9th ministerial meeting of the China-Arab States Cooperation Forum, held Monday via video link...Over the past two years, the two sides have strengthened strategic coordination and synergy of actions, and the Sino-Arab future-oriented strategic partnership of comprehensive cooperation and common development has been deepened, Xi said in the letter.
‘Strategic Empathy’: How Biden’s Informal Diplomacy Shaped Foreign Relations - The New York Times Mr. Biden’s record is short on public warnings that the Chinese leader could become the “thug” that the presumptive Democratic nominee calls him today. And as American relations with China slide from bad to worse, Mr. Biden is facing uncomfortable questions about why he didn’t do more to stiffen Obama administration policy toward Beijing — about why his strategic empathy didn’t come with more strategic vision.
[视频]美国独立日假期枪击频发 超130人死亡_CCTV节目官网-CCTV-1_央视网(cctv.com) CCTV Evening News Monday reports that over the Independence Day weekend 130 Americans died from gun violence
University of British Columbia quietly changes references to Taiwan amid sensitive political climate In past reports, the university simply listed the island as “Taiwan,” but in the recent 2019/20 enrolment report, it was lengthier: “Taiwan (Province of China).”
Vatican hits stumbling block on road to rebuilding ties with China | South China Morning Post Agreement reached in 2018 giving Pope veto over Chinese bishop appointments remains untested as renewal date looms Both sides indicate they will extend pact despite persecution of Catholics and delays in appointing clergy
Dominic Raab: New sanctions show the UK "won't look the other way" on human rights - News from Parliament - UK Parliament Previously, the UK had followed the sanctions regimes of the EU and UN. This new plan follows the Sanctions and Anti-Money Laundering Act 2018 in establishing a post-Brexit regime for dealing with human rights offenders.
On the United Kingdom’s Establishment of a Global Human Rights Sanctions Regime - United States Department of State This sanctions regime marks the beginning of a new era for UK sanctions policy and cooperation between our two democracies. The UK Global Human Rights sanctions regime will give the UK a powerful new economic tool to promote accountability for human rights abuse on a global scale. The UK’s new powers will complement the efforts of the United States and Canada, further enhancing our ability to act together.
胡锡进评俄罗斯驻华使馆发的微博 Hu Xijin of Global Times criticized the Russian embassy for the post, but he also try to tone down the nationalists’ attack on Russia, saying China should not seek to change the status quo of the border and to take back historical territories. He also said that some of those “public intellectuals who admire the US” in China are trying to sow discord between Beijing and Moscow, and people should not fall for their traps.
Why Russia’s Vladivostok celebration prompted a nationalist backlash in China | South China Morning Post The country’s Beijing embassy commemorated the city’s foundation with a video posted on Chinese social media But the territory was once part of China and some diplomats and social media users complained that it evoked bitter memories of 19th century humiliations
Uighurs Push for International Criminal Court Case Accusing China of Genocide - The New York Times A team of London-based lawyers representing two Uighur activist groups has filed a complaint against Beijing for pursuing the repatriation of thousands of Uighurs through unlawful arrests in or deportation from Cambodia and Tajikistan. The case could bring greater international scrutiny of the Chinese state’s power to impose its will beyond its borders.
Chinese ships sail in Japanese territorial waters near Senkakus for 39 hours — longest since 2012 | The Japan Times Two China Coast Guard ships left Japanese territorial waters near the disputed Senkaku Islands in the East China Sea over the weekend after staying there for a record length of time, according to the Japan Coast Guard.
Ofcom rules Chinese network violated UK laws after airing forced confession China’s state television channel is responsible for “serious” violations of British broadcasting rules by airing the forced confession of a UK citizen, and now faces sanctions, broadcast regulator Ofcom has decided. Ofcom has put CGTN “on notice” that it intends to impose a punishment, which could include fines or cancelling its license, following this final decision, which cannot be appealed.
France charges two former intelligence officers with spying for China | intelNews.org The DGSE appointed Henri M. in the Chinese capital Beijing as its station chief. He was allegedly listed as the second secretary at the French embassy there. However, he was recalled to Paris less than a year following the start of his foreign assignment, after he was found to have an affair with the female interpreter of the ambassador. The interpreter was reportedly a Chinese citizen. In 2003, following his retirement, Henri M. reportedly relocated to China, where he married the interpreter and settled in the southern Chinese island of Hainan.
China stands ready to promote comprehensive strategic partnership with Saudi Arabia: FM - Xinhua China stands ready to promote the comprehensive strategic partnership with Saudi Arabia, Chinese State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi said Saturday in a phone conversation with Saudi Foreign Minister Faisal bin Farhan Al Saud. Noting that this year marks the 30 anniversary of the establishment of China-Saudi Arabia diplomatic ties, Wang said that bilateral relations have made huge progress, especially with the establishment of the two countries' comprehensive strategic partnership and the foundation of the China-Saudi Arabia High-level Joint Committee, and cooperation between the two countries in various areas has entered the fast lane.
Myanmar’s Generals Aren’t Happy With China—and It’s No Longer a Secret As the daily fighting against ethnic Rakhine insurgents in northern Rakhine State grinds on, the generals in Naypyitaw have implicitly pointed the finger at a powerful neighbor, accusing it of providing support to certain insurgent groups in the country. Of course, they do not dare to name the country publicly.
Chinese students in Britain told to serve motherland | The Times China’s ambassador to Britain has told students to “leverage their strength” as the UK overtakes the US as the most popular destination for Chinese students for the first time. Liu Xiaoming urged students to practise patriotism and “serve your motherland” — activities he described as the “foundation of all endeavour and the highest ambition in life”
Pro-China 48 Group Club made Jack Straw a fellow | The Times The Times has also learnt that Lord Clement-Jones is a member of the club. The Liberal Democrat peer is a member of the all-party parliamentary group on China and a former adviser to Huawei, the Chinese telecommunications company involved in Britain’s 5G networks. He did not respond to requests for comment.
中新网：孔子学院未更名，改由基金会运行符合国际惯例 China News reported that the Confucius Institute has not changed its name although its operation has been transferred to a “civil non-profit organization”.
Hong Kong and Macao
Hong Kong's ruling elite fight to extinguish freedom whilst clutching foreign passports, money and property abroad | Hong Kong Free Press HKFP Tam Yiu-chung, the only Hong Kong member of the National People’s Congress Standing Committee and thus the only Hongkonger actually involved in drafting the law, has two sons safely tucked away in Australia. Carrie Lam’s husband and two sons cling to their British citizenship; she also had a British passport but handed it in to make herself eligible for high office. Tung Chee-hwa, the former chief executive, is so thrilled about the new law and confident in the future that he has made sure all his children have American citizenship.
Taiwan
Taiwan will reopen Guam office, a sign of stronger ties with the US in the face of tension with China | South China Morning Post Taiwan will soon reopen its de facto consulate in Guam, bringing its total representative offices in the United States to 13, as the two parties forge stronger ties amid rising tensions with Beijing.
Taiwan expels 2 mainland Chinese TV reporters over political talk shows | South China Morning Post After applying to be stationed in Taiwan as reporters, they violated regulations by acting as talk show hosts and broadcasting those programmes
Tech and Media
Pinduoduo’s Duo Duo University Equips E-commerce Merchants with Skills in Setting Up Digital Business - Pandaily The program was then developed into an official online education platform for all Pinduoduo merchants to learn step-by-step how to build their digital business. The courses it provides range from “naming your online store” to “setting prices for your products”, as well as guidance on the stores’ daily operation, customer service and marketing in the forms of articles, video and livestreaming sessions.
China's first entirely self-developed computer rolls off production line - Global Times Developed by the 706 Institute, a research and development institute under the China Aerospace Science and Industry Corporation (CASIC), the computer will also be delivered under a cooperation contract with Shenyang Liaosheng Radio Factory. It is the first domestically developed computer to use a self-developed chip and operating system. Tianyue has been tested in extremely cold temperatures in Northeast China's Heilongjiang Province, in extremely high humidity in South China's Hainan Province, and at extremely high altitudes in Southwest China's Tibet Autonomous Region.
Tencent launches new U.S. game studio for global appeal - Reuters The new studio, LightSpeed LA, will be led by former Rockstar veteran Steve Martin and will focus on the development and publishing of AAA titles, Tencent Games’ LightSpeed and Quantum Studios said in a statement to Reuters.
RISC-V, China, Nightingales - Interconnected There are many interconnected elements that, when put together, could determine how China will come out on the other end of this struggle -- RISC-V, foundry technology, the “New Infrastructure” stimulus program, open source, and a few key TSMC personnels, who are now at the helm of China’s semiconductor industry. Let’s take a look at each of them, sequentially and interconnectedly.
Energy, Environment, Science and Health
Chinese mainland reports 4 new confirmed COVID-19 cases - Xinhua The domestically transmitted case was reported in Beijing, the National Health Commission said in its daily report.
Revealed: Seven year coronavirus trail from mine deaths to a Wuhan lab | News | The Sunday Times The world’s closest known relative to the Covid-19 virus was found in 2013 by Chinese scientists in an abandoned mine where it was linked to deaths caused by a coronavirus-type respiratory illness...Evidence seen by The Sunday Times suggests that a virus found in its depths — part of a faecal sample that was frozen and sent to a Chinese laboratory for analysis and storage — is the closest known match to the virus that causes Covid-19.
Early and responsive control measures helped reduce COVID-19 spread in China | Imperial News | Imperial College London In Report 30 from the Imperial College London COVID-19 Response Team the team found that early implementation and timely adjustment of control measures could be important in containing coronavirus transmission.
Bubonic Plague Found in a Herder in Inner Mongolia, China Says - The New York Times The Bayannur city health commission said the plague was diagnosed in the herdsman on Sunday, and he was in stable condition undergoing treatment at a hospital.
Chinese Research Papers Raise Doubts, Fueling Global Questions About Scientific Integrity - WSJ The cache of 121 papers, credited to researchers from hospitals and medical universities across roughly 50 cities in China, all shared at least one image with another—a sign that many were likely produced by the same company or “paper mill,” said Elisabeth Bik, a California-based microbiologist and image-analysis expert who identified the trove. Though the reports were published by different authors over a four-year period, many included identical snapshots of cell colonies—sometimes rotated or cropped to appear unique—despite focusing on different research topics. Phrases in figure captions were also repeated verbatim across the collection of reports.
Jobs and Events
Events - Video Event | China's Attempt to Influence U.S. Institutions: A Conversation with FBI Director Christopher Wray - July - 2020 - Hudson Institute Tuesday July 7, 2020 10:30am to 11:25am
Rural and Agricultural Issues
韩正在农村乱占耕地建房问题整治工作电视电话会议上强调 坚决遏制新增农村乱占耕地建房行为 积极稳妥有力有序有效推进整治工作--新闻报道-人民网
Vice premier stresses protecting arable land - Xinhua Chinese Vice Premier Han Zheng on Friday urged resolute efforts to forestall the unauthorized occupation of arable land to construct buildings in rural areas in a bid to protect arable land. Han, also a member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, said during a teleconference in Beijing that protection of arable land is vital to ensuring the country's grain output and action must be taken to stop the increase in such occupation.