HK national security law; Population control in Xinjiang; India bans TikTok and other PRC apps
It is one of those Mondays where it feels like everything is just about to tip over.
The new Hong Kong National Security Law may go into effect in less than 24 hours as the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress (NPC) will likely approve it Tuesday. The law was not on the agenda for this session of the NPC Standing Committee, nor was it on the agenda for the one held June 18-20, and the full text of the law is still not public, and has even been seen by top Hong Kong officials. That lack of transparency does not inspire confidence.
Is the PRC undertaking genocide in Xinjiang? Two deeply disturbing reports about forced population control among Uyghurs raise that question again. I expect the latest Xinjiang revelations to:
make it harder for the EU, and especially Germany, to take a relatively soft line towards China;
make it even more difficult for Huawei to win bids for 5G networks in developed nations given the company’s work in Xinjiang;
increase calls to boycott the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics
increase pressure on the Trump Administration to impose sanctions on PRC officials under the Global Magnitsky Act.
India launched a digital strike against PRC interests today. The government banned dozens of Chinese apps, including TikTok and WeChat. The Indian market is massive for TikTok, accounting for nearly 1/3 of its total accounts. Reuters has the details in India bans 59 mostly Chinese apps amid border crisis - Reuters
India on Monday banned 59, mostly Chinese, mobile apps including Bytedance’s TikTok and Tencent’s WeChat in its strongest move yet targeting China in the online space since a border crisis erupted between the two countries this month...
Beijing-headquartered Bytedance had plans to invest $1 billion in India, open a local data centre, and had recently ramped up hiring in the country.
India is the biggest driver of TikTok app installations, accounting for 611 million lifetime downloads, or 30.3% of the total, app analytics firm Sensor Tower said in April.
Among other apps that have been banned are Tencent’s WeChat, which has been downloaded more than 100 million times on Google’s Android, Alibaba’s (BABA.N) UC Browser and two of Xiaomi’s apps.
India can force app stores like Google and Apple to remove the apps, and I believe it can block connections from apps already installed. This is painfully ironic for the PRC companies, which have so benefited from the PRC’s Great Firewall and the banning of major foreign apps.
The bytes of June? Real world tensions between the two countries are also not going down.
Today’s essential Eight Items:
Hong Kong
Forced birth control in Xinjiang
Europe-China
US-China
India-China
Australia- China
The Beijing outbreak
Watch what you say
Thanks for reading.
The Essential Eight
1. Hong Kong
NPC starts 2nd review of security law for HK - China Daily
At the ongoing session, the NPC deputies, including some representatives from Hong Kong, said the second draft fully studied and adopted opinions from various sectors in the SAR and responded well to some public concerns.
They said its content is more accurately expressed and the specific measures listed in the draft are more practical and targeted, which is in line with the actual situation of the SAR.
They said the introduction and promulgation of the national security law in Hong Kong as soon as possible can effectively deal with the gaps in the law and other weaknesses in safeguarding national security, combat related criminal acts and well protect the SAR's prosperity and stability and its residents' legitimate interests.
The draft clarifies the four categories of crimes that threaten national security: secession, subversion of State power, terrorist activities and collusion with foreign or external forces.
Two sources told the Post the contentious legislation being tailor-made for Hong Kong to prevent, stop and punish acts of secession, subversion, terrorism and collusion with foreign forces to endanger national security would carry a maximum penalty of life imprisonment, contrary to earlier indications of a 10-year limit on jail terms...
On whether the life sentence would apply to all four crimes or be very targeted, a source who was at Sunday’s meeting said: “It will definitely cover more than just secession and subversion. The law is not going to be merely a ‘toothless tiger’.”
The source was one of a handful of delegates from Hong Kong who had sight of the draft of the law
Assistant public security minister Chen Siyuan seen as front runner, while other potential candidates include Liu Yuejin and Meng Qingfeng
Hong Kongers erase digital footprints ahead of security laws - Nikkei Asian Review
A high school teacher in his late 20s, who requested anonymity, explained to Nikkei why he recently changed his name on Facebook: "We are now so afraid that we could be sold out by our so-called friends online."
He has also changed his profile photo on social media, deleted politically sensitive posts, and has gone through his online "friends" list to check whether anyone could possibly target him for his liberal views on political and social issues. He screened his online contacts by reading through their recent postings of their political views.
US$6m 'Relaunch Hong Kong' PR Assignment Awarded To Consulum
Launched in 2013 by two veterans of Bell Pottinger, Consulum is best known for its Middle Eastern work, which includes supporting the Saudi Arabian government.
China Ties Hong Kong Closer With Cross Border Wealth Flows - Bloomberg
Regulators on Monday announced the kick off of a long anticipated program dubbed Wealth Management Connect, which will allow Hong Kong residents and people in Macau and southern China to invest across the border. Flows under the program will be handled in a “closed-loop” through the bundling of designated remittance and investment accounts, the People’s Bank of China said in a joint statement with the monetary authorities of Hong Kong and Macau.
Hong Kong No More: The National Security Law and the Dual State - The Little Red Podcast - Omny.fm
To ask whether the law spells the end of Hong Kong’s autonomy, Louisa and Graeme are joined by NYU legal expert Alvin Cheung, Lingnan University’s Ho Lok-sang and digital activist Glacier Kwong.
Hong Kong Customs and Excise Staff General Association, Hong Kong Immigration Department Staff Association, and Hong Kong Correctional Services Department Assistant Officers General Association Monday said in a joint statement that they fully support the National People's Congress (NPC)'s legislative work on safeguarding national security in Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR).
CRI commentary says the new law is a “magic mirror” to expose the conspiracies behind and to control the chaos in Hong Kong - 大湾区之声热评：“港区国安法”是遏制反中乱港的照妖镜-国际在线
金盆洗不了血手。乱港分子们此时抱头鼠窜、乱作一团，充分证明了“港区国安法”的强大震慑力。在法律的威严面前，反中乱港势力已经开始内部分化，未来必将分崩离析。正如全国人大常委会香港基本法委员会副主任谭惠珠所言，“港区国安法”不会是“无牙老虎”，一定能够止暴制乱及制止现时香港的问题。法网恢恢，疏而不漏。乱港祸港，必受惩处。
Hong Kong's Carrie Lam to address top U.N. rights forum on Tuesday - Reuters
Hong Kong chief executive Carrie Lam will address the United Nations Human Rights Council in Geneva on Tuesday, the U.N. programme showed, amid growing concerns about draft national security legislation.
The video message, at the start of a three-week session to examine human rights issues worldwide, appears to mark a bid by China to shape the debate at the 47-member state forum.
visa restrictions on current and former CCP officials who are believed to be responsible for, or complicit in, undermining Hong Kong’s high degree of autonomy, as guaranteed in the 1984 Sino-British Joint Declaration, or undermining human rights and fundamental freedoms in Hong Kong. Family members of such persons may also be subject to these restrictions.
China has decided to impose visa restrictions on U.S. individuals who have acted maliciously on issues related to Hong Kong, a foreign ministry spokesperson said Monday.
Spokesperson Zhao Lijian made the remarks at a press briefing in response to the U.S. imposition of visa restrictions on Chinese officials.
Comment: These visa moves seem more symbolic than substantive since no one is really going to be traveling for the foreseeable future. And how will the US define “responsible for, or complicit in”? There are at least two Politburo Standing Committee members directly involved- Li Zhanshu and Han Zheng—not including Xi himself or the likelihood that the entire Standing Committe if not the full Politburo approved the new law.
Just as I was about to hit send the US State Department announced it is “Ending Controlled Defense Exports to Hong Kong”:
The Chinese Communist Party’s decision to eviscerate Hong Kong’s freedoms has forced the Trump Administration to re-evaluate its policies toward the territory. As Beijing moves forward with passing the national security law, the United States will today end exports of U.S.-origin defense equipment and will take steps toward imposing the same restrictions on U.S. defense and dual-use technologies to Hong Kong as it does for China.
The United States is forced to take this action to protect U.S. national security. We can no longer distinguish between the export of controlled items to Hong Kong or to mainland China. We cannot risk these items falling into the hands of the People’s Liberation Army, whose primary purpose is to uphold the dictatorship of the CCP by any means necessary.
2. Forced birth control in Xinjiang
China forces birth control on Uighurs to suppress population - AP
While individual women have spoken out before about forced birth control, the practice is far more widespread and systematic than previously known, according to an AP investigation based on government statistics, state documents and interviews with 30 ex-detainees, family members and a former detention camp instructor. The campaign over the past four years in the far west region of Xinjiang is leading to what some experts are calling a form of “demographic genocide.”..
The population control measures are backed by mass detention both as a threat and as a punishment for failure to comply. Having too many children is a major reason people are sent to detention camps, the AP found, with the parents of three or more ripped away from their families unless they can pay huge fines. Police raid homes, terrifying parents as they search for hidden children...
Seven former detainees told the AP that they were force-fed birth control pills or injected with fluids, often with no explanation. Many felt dizzy, tired or ill, and women stopped getting their periods. After being released and leaving China, some went to get medical check-ups and found they were sterile.
It’s unclear what former detainees were injected with, but Xinjiang hospital slides obtained by the AP show that pregnancy prevention injections, sometimes with the hormonal medication Depo-Provera, are a common family planning measure
In this special Jamestown Foundation report, Dr. Zenz presents detailed analysis of another troubling aspect of state policy in Xinjiang: measures to forcibly suppress birthrates among ethnic Uyghur communities, to include the mass application of mandatory birth control and sterilizations. This policy, directed by the authorities of the ruling Chinese Communist Party (CCP), is intended to reduce the Uyghur population in Xinjiang relative to the numbers of ethnic Han Chinese—and thereby to promote more rapid Uyghur assimilation into the “Chinese Nation-Race” (中华民族, Zhonghua Minzu), a priority goal of national-level ethnic policy under CCP General Secretary Xi Jinping.
United Nations Office on Genocide Prevention and the Responsibility to Protect
Article II, d. Imposing measures intended to prevent births within the group;
3. EU-China
EU warns China that investment talks are entering ‘critical stage’ | Financial Times $$
Brussels has said that negotiations with Beijing on an investment treaty are entering a “critical stage”, warning that it is readying new instruments to restrict Chinese investment into Europe unless China agrees to level the playing field on trade.
Valdis Dombrovskis, the European Commission’s executive vice-president in charge of economic policy, told the Financial Times that the EU was determined to address “a great asymmetry in market access”.
Germany’s foreign minister has called on all 27 countries in the European Union to “speak with a single voice” and unite against China’s imminent national security law for Hong Kong.
The move comes as the bloc’s foreign policy and competition chiefs on Monday asked for “assertive” measures on Beijing’s trade practices, with one of them calling China’s technological supremacy a “matter of survival” for Europe.
A New Transatlantic Dialogue - United States Department of State
I’m starting to see even more realism on the continent as it relates to the threat of the Communist Party in China. We should address that challenge together – as transatlantic partners have met many challenges...
I spoke this month with the EU foreign ministers, and then last Friday at an audience in Copenhagen. In both places, I listened to a lot of feedback about the Chinese Communist Party...
my message today is this: We have to work together to continue the transatlantic awakening to the China challenge in the interest of preserving our free societies, our prosperity, and our future...
I’m pleased to announce that the United States has accepted High Representative Borrell’s proposal to create a U.S.-EU Dialogue on China – I’m excited about this – a new mechanism for discussing the concerns we have about the threat China poses to the West and our shared democratic ideals. I look forward to kicking that off with High Representative Borrell just as soon as we can pull it together.
A big new report - Dealing with the Dragon: China as a Transatlantic Challenge | Asia Society
The Asia Society Center on U.S.-China Relations, the Bertelsmann Stiftung, and the George Washington University China Policy Program are jointly launching a new report on the changing U.S. and European views of, and relations with, China. The report “Dealing with the Dragon: China as a Transatlantic Challenge” is the outgrowth of a symposium that brought together 43 of America’s and Europe’s top China experts to identify areas of common interest and divergence across the Atlantic. These findings were divided into the following seven sections.: 1) Trade & Investment Concerns 2) The China Technology Challenge 3) Connectivity: Dealing with the Belt & Road 4) Human Rights in China 5) China’s Influence Activities 6) China and Global Governance 7) Challenges in the Security Arena
And another one - Europe’s Pushback on China | Institut Montaigne
It has not made openings in the negotiation for an investment agreement. It has also refused to come forward on other issues that could create a bridge with Europe, particularly on maintaining multilateralism. There has been no progress in talks over WTO reforms, or climate change. It has navigated the EU’s efforts for engagement by signing off non-binding statements, avoiding legal commitments or mechanisms for verification.
U.S. Presses Europe to Uproot Chinese Security-Screening Company - WSJ $$
American agencies lobby allies against Nuctech, saying maker of cargo, baggage-scanning systems at Western gateways poses threat to security, businesses
4. US-China
China Message to U.S.: Crossing ‘Red Lines’ Could Put Trade Deal at Risk - WSJ
Shortly after the diplomats met, Chinese leader Xi Jinping’s point man on U.S.-China trade negotiations, Vice Premier Liu He, followed up. He suggested that Beijing’s ability to carry out the trade deal required the U.S. to ease off pressure on other fronts. “The two countries should create conditions and atmosphere, and eliminate interference, to jointly implement the Phase One agreement,” Mr. Liu said in written remarks to a high-profile financial forum held in Shanghai on June 18.
Comment: The "atmosphere" language was in the Chinese readout of the Liu-Lighthizer/Mnuchin call last month, as noted in the May 11 Sinocism. "Interference" is new language. This is a very empty threat by the Chinese side, akin to holding a gun to one's own head and saying "do what I will say or I will shoot". There are some in the Trump administration who would like to see them do this, possibly including president trump depending on the day, as it would give him an easy pretext to declare the deal dead, killed by China, and open the way to a slew of tougher measures against China.
China Has $139 Billion Mountain to Climb to Meet U.S. Trade Deal - Bloomberg
By the end of May this year, China had only bought about 19% of the total purchase target of more than $170 billion for goods in 2020, according to Bloomberg calculations based on Customs Administration data
Army Releases Ultra Rare Video Showing Green Berets Training In Taiwan - The Drive
The 1st Special Forces Group first posted the short motivational video, titled "Excellence," on its official Facebook page on June 16, 2020, and it remains up and prominently featured there at the time of writing. One segment notably shows Green Berets carrying a mock casualty to what is clearly a Taiwanese Army UH-60M Black Hawk helicopter, which is readily identifiable by the blue and white insignia on the tail boom. In another clip, an individual is seen holding a Type 91 assault rifle, the standard individual arm of the Taiwanese military.
US using Taiwan as ‘last card’ may only speed up reunification - Global Times
Such a move of releasing rare footage on "joint military training" between US military and the island's military provides evidence that it was the US and the separatist authorities on the island that first changed the status quo and provoked the mainland; and if the mainland launches a military operation to reunify with Taiwan some day, the US and Taiwan will bear full responsibility, the experts noted...
Lü Xiang, a research fellow on US studies at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences in Beijing, told the Global Times on Monday that in the past, these kinds of acts also took place occasionally but the US had always kept a low profile, and due to the stable cross-Straits ties in the past, the Chinese mainland also didn't voice too much over it...
Lü said that "if the US just invites a few military personnel to observe the RIMPAC it would still be fine but if US warships and Taiwan vessels conducted combat military exercises, that would be a extremely serious situation, and the mainland's retaliation could be greater than the 1995-1996 Taiwan Straits crisis. PLA aircraft could fly over the island."
Observers noted that to some extent, Trump's moves on Taiwan could probably speed up the China's reunification process since if the US crossed the redline China would be able to solve the problem once and for all.
Chas Freeman on Picking Fights the U.S. Can Win - The Wire China
Does that mean stepping back from the military relationship with Taiwan as well?
I think so. The question we need to ask ourselves is: would we be better off if there was a political understanding between Taiwan and the rest of China about the relationship between the two? The answer is yes. We are engaged in supporting a rump state created by the Chinese Civil War, which is a very attractive, ideologically compatible society [with the U.S.]. It’s probably the most admirable society that has ever existed on Chinese soil. But it is on Chinese soil.
And here we are contesting that relationship [between Taiwan and mainland China] when our opponent has nuclear weapons. The dangers that would ensue from any outbreak of conflict are enormous. We’re engaged in a futile effort to maintain a military balance that is now turned against us and could turn even more against us in future. If there were ever a case where we should be encouraging a political, diplomatic, or negotiated solution, this is it. Instead we are backtracking on our earlier interest in a peaceful settlement and entrenching ourselves on the military side. It’s very dangerous.
a popular anti US blogger turned out to be a p2p Ponzi scheme charlatan who wanted to monetize the rising nationalism
Transcript of National Security Advisor O'Brien's speech last week. The first three footnotes are of John Garnaut "Engineers of the Soul" speech - The Chinese Communist Party’s Ideology and Global Ambitions | The White House
As China grew richer and stronger, we believed, the Chinese Communist Party would liberalize to meet the rising democratic aspirations of its people. This was a bold, quintessentially American idea, born of our innate optimism and by the experience of our triumph over Soviet Communism. Unfortunately, it turned out to be very naïve.
We could not have been more wrong—and this miscalculation is the greatest failure of American foreign policy since the 1930s. How did we make such a mistake? How did we fail to understand the nature of the Chinese Communist Party?
O’Brien attacks China’s ruling party out of ideological prejudice - Global Times
Unfortunately, elite US politicians would never comprehend the essence of China's ideas. They are just ideologically hysterical. Their reckless attacks on the CPC only prove that the CPC does it right.
China refutes Pompeo's anti-China statements over China-Africa ties - Xinhua
Spokesperson Zhao Lijian made the remarks at a news briefing when asked for comment to Pompeo's statements, in which he blamed China-Africa cooperation and China's transparency in handling COVID-19.
国际锐评丨两面三刀的蓬佩奥是国际合作抗疫的破坏者_新闻_央视网(cctv.com)
Another "International sharp commentary" attacking Pompeo, this one calling him a two-faced back-stabber who is destrying international cooperation over the pandemic...
外交部副部长罗照辉同美国常务副国务卿比根通电话 — 中华人民共和国外交部
China’s foreign ministry said its vice minister Luo Zhaohui had a phone call on Wednesday with Stephen Biegun, Deputy Secretary of State of the US. The statement didn’t give any details on the call but said only they “deeply exchanged their opinions on topics each other is interested in", a phrase that seems new
2020年6月24日，外交部副部长罗照辉应约同美国常务副国务卿、对朝政策特别代表比根通电话，双方就各自感兴趣的话题深入交换了意见
Commentary: U.S. politicians' virus stigmatization must stop - Xinhua
As said by Congresswoman Judy Chu, head of the Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus, the deliberate use of the racial slur "kung flu" for political gain is "sickening and completely unacceptable," because the stigmatization builds xenophobic anger toward Asian Americans when the country is already witnessing an alarming uptick in anti-Asian bigotry, even putting the lives of Asian Americans at risk.
This derogatory racial term also came about amid the sweeping social disturbance ignited by the brutal murder of an African American by Minneapolis police, for which the combative stance of the White House has angered African American and other ethnic groups.
Commentary: Playing “Hong Kong card” gets the U.S. nowhere - People's Daily Online
On June 25, the U.S. Senate passed the "Hong Kong Autonomy Act", attempting to hinder Hong Kong’s legislation on safeguarding national security through imposing sanctions.
The passage of the act is a blatant interference in China's internal affairs and a serious violation of international conventions and norms governing international relations, exposing the double standards and hegemonic logic of Washington. The trick will yield no success.
Pompeo's remarks not befitting of a Christian - People's Daily Online
what we have heard from Pompeo are lies, because he is so caught up in his own and the US administration's subterfuges and conspiracies that he has come to reject the truth, the backbone of the Christian faith.
Pompeo is just like any other politician who pretends to be a true Christian but in actuality has no interest in religion except to manipulate and exploit it to fulfill his own goals.
Li Yan, deputy head of American Studies in CICIR, wrote on US-China Focus criticizing Trump administration’s ban on Chinese scholars/students with ties to PLA, saying the ban “dramatically harden the negative views of China toward the motive of US’ China policy”.
Xiao Bin, a research fellow with CASS, wrote that with tensions between China and US rising, Beijing should focus more on managing the relations with its neighbors, so to avoid military conflicts. Xiao suggests China should allow more civil/academic exchanges with outside world, so others, especially the Americans won’t overestimate China’s motive, and won’t underestimate China’s nationalism restraint at home.
White House Considers Broad Federal Intervention to Secure 5G Future - WSJ $$
Trump administration officials have talked about inserting the federal government deep into the private sector to stiffen global competition against Chinese telecom giant Huawei Technologies Co.
Five Critiques of the Trump Administration’s China Strategy - War on the Rocks - Zach Cooper
5. India-China
The official announcement of the app ban - Press Information Bureau - Government Bans 59 mobile apps which are prejudicial to sovereignty and integrity of India, defence of India, security of state and public order
The Ministry of Information Technology has received many complaints from various sources including several reports about misuse of some mobile apps available on Android and iOS platforms for stealing and surreptitiously transmitting users’ data in an unauthorized manner to servers which have locations outside India. The compilation of these data, its mining and profiling by elements hostile to national security and defence of India, which ultimately impinges upon the sovereignty and integrity of India, is a matter of very deep and immediate concern which requires emergency measures.
The notification is expected to be followed by instructions to Internet service providers to block these apps. Users are likely to soon see a message saying access to the apps has been restricted on the request of the government.
However, while this will impact apps like TikTok and UC News that need a live feed to serve any purpose, users might still be able to continue using apps that don’t need an active Internet connection to be used...
TikTok was banned in India on the order of the Madras High Court for a few days last year, but it came back soon after the court vacated the ban. This action, however, is more sweeping, impacts more apps, and has been taken in a specific strategic and national security context
Round 3 of Lt Gen talks to lead with Pangong Tso, streamline disengagement - India News
When the Indian Army's Leh Corps commander meets his Chinese counterpart at 10.30 AM on Tuesday in Chushul, the lead issue on the agenda is likely to be the Pangong Tso element of the wider standoff, though the overall thrust of the discussions will be on streamlining the process of disengagement on which the two senior officers achieved 'consensus' when they last met a week ago. As India Today first reported, the Indian Army is dealing with the confrontation at Pangong's Finger 4 as a 'semi-permanent face-off'.
PLA has already forced a change in LAC, says Lt Gen Hooda | Deccan Herald
The current situation is completely different from regular transgressions and even the past standoffs at Depsang in 2013, Chumar in 2014, and Dokalam in 2017. One striking variation is the complete disregard of existing agreements and protocols by the Chinese Army. They have thrown restraint to the wind and deliberately initiated large-scale violence. This would have serious repercussions on the future actions of Indian soldiers, and we are probably going to see a hotter LAC in the future, even if the current crisis is resolved peacefully.
Ever since a brawl on September 11 last year – 10 Indian security personnel were injured in the incident -- the Chinese side has been attempting to block Indian patrols from proceeding towards Finger 8 on the north bank of the lake.
As tensions run high between India and China on the Line of Actual Control (LAC) in Ladakh, and no talks scheduled so far between military commanders, the Chinese army has started consolidating its positions in the Pangong Tso area. This includes undertaking construction of a helipad at Finger 4 and a sudden increase of Chinese troops on the southern banks of Pangong Tso
A number of retired members of the Chinese military are calling for Beijing to prepare for further escalation, including granting its frontline troops more power to respond to an “intrusion” by Indian forces and deploying non-lethal hi-tech weapons such as laser guns along the border.
An article written by major general Qiao Liang is circulated online, in which he said the the border clash with India showed the great logistics capacity of Chinese military. It said the Chinese were able to move their injured fast to hospitals using helicopters while the Indians couldn’t do so.
China can help India fight desert locust invasion - Global Times
China could help India to address a locust plague with its emergency response capacity in pest control, although Chinese experts and industry insiders pointed out that the Indian government should create the right conditions for such disaster relief, citing the "boycott China" movement in the country and intentional delays at Indian customs in recent days.
Indian missile system order ‘could raise border risk for China’ | South China Morning Post
Russian media reported on the weekend that Moscow had agreed to bring forward the delivery date of an S-400 air defence system to January 2021, nearly one year ahead of schedule. New Delhi reportedly requested the US$5.43 billion deal be accelerated amid escalating military tensions with Beijing.
The cheap, light howitzer China is rolling out in Tibet | South China Morning Post
Howitzers are favoured in mountainous terrain because of the higher arc of the shells, and observers say the PCL-181 is likely to be the People’s Liberation Army’s light, quick and powerful gun of choice should a conflict arise on the plateau.
6. Australia-China
ASIO, AFP probe pro-China Labor MP Shaoquett Moselmane and staffer - The Australian
ASIO believes Chinese Communist Party agents have attempted to infiltrate the NSW Parliament through the office of a Labor backbencher, whose home and office were both raided in the first test of new national security and espionage laws.
Australian Federal Police officers and Australian Security Intelligence Organisation officials on Friday raided the home and Parliament office of NSW Labor MLC Shaoquett Moselmane as part of an unprecedented investigation into foreign interference.
The home and business address of Mr Moselmane’s part-time staffer John Zhang were also the subject of a search warrant
Daniel Andrews staffer Nancy Yang did Chinese Communist propaganda course - The Australian
John Zhang is the staff member linked to allegations of covert attempts by the Chinese Communist Party to influence his boss, Shaoquette Moselmane, who until his expulsion from the party on Friday was a NSW Labor MP.
In 2013, Mr Zhang participated in a propaganda training course organised by the Overseas Chinese Affairs Office of China’s State Council, the chief administrative authority of the People’s Republic.
The course was held at the Chinese Academy of Governance, which trains senior CCP operatives.
Question: Is there an innocuous explanation for why someone would take a propaganda course at the CAG?
Are xenophobia, McCarthyism running deeper in Australia? - Global Times
Queensland Police has launched an investigation into Xu Jie, the Chinese consul-general in Brisbane, for allegedly inciting violent threats against an Australian university student, Australian media reported on Thursday. The student last year held a protest to support secessionist movements in Hong Kong, criticized China's Xinjiang policy and spoke against alleged Chinese influence on Australian campuses. The Consulate-General of China in Brisbane then issued a statement condemning "separatists," hence the student's accusation against Xu...
Australia's China ties have increasingly been decided by signals from the US in the past few years. What makes Australia different is that its xenophobia, discrimination and McCarthyism go even further than those in the US. China is committed to building a mutually beneficial economic relationship with Australia and has never forced Australia to pick sides, while Canberra views anyone connected to the Chinese government as a potential subversive, which is typical McCarthyist thinking.
Shaoquett Moselmane breaks silence over ASIO raids for China links - Sydney Morning Herald
In his first public statement since the raids, Mr Moselmane said he had been told he was not a suspect in the investigation. "I have done nothing wrong", he said.
An investigation by 60 Minutes, The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age newspaper has confirmed that Labor MP Shaoquett Moselmane's office is now the centre of the most serious ASIO counter foreign interference operation since the Cold War.
ASIO are investigating the allegation that, whether knowingly or unknowingly, Moselmane is potentially being influenced by the Chinese government.
No allegations have been proven. It is also possible that Mr Moselmane may only be an unwitting victim of a Chinese government influence operation.
Exposed Australian spy activities against China just ‘tip of the iceberg’: Chinese FM - Global Times
Zhao Lijian added that the intelligence cooperation of the "Five Eyes" alliance has long violated the rules of international relations, and has included large-scale, organized, and indiscriminate network eavesdropping, monitoring of foreign governments, enterprises and personnel. "This is a universally known fact," said Zhao. ..
For a long time, people and media in Australia have been keen to hype the "Chinese infiltration theory" and "China espionage theory," but have never backed up their claims with solid evidence, said Zhao. He decried the fact that Australia, on the one hand, steals other countries' data and information at will, while on the other hand, fabricates rumors to make itself out to be a victim, revealing that the country has crossed the bottom line, and owes the Chinese people and the world an explanation.
Some of the alleged spy gear:
Australia wages espionage offensive against China: source - Global Times
Australia is waging an intensifying espionage offensive against China - sending agents to China to spy, gather intelligence and recruit assets, instigating defection among Chinese nationals, spying on Chinese students and organizations in Australia, feeding fake news to media to hype up the "China espionage theory" and even in early years attempting to install wiretaps in the Chinese Embassy in Canberra, the Global Times has learned from a source with a Chinese law-enforcement agency.
Multiple Australian espionage cases uncovered by Chinese law-enforcement agencies showed that Australia is a veteran in spying against other countries and precisely "the thief who is crying stop the thief" as it steps up infiltration, spying and technological theft operations against China, the source told the Global Times.
In response to Australia's espionage offensive, Chinese counterespionage agencies will take more vigorous countermeasures to crack down on Australian espionage operations to safeguard China's national security and interests, the source said.
7. The Beijing outbreak
Yicai - Chinese Mainland Reports 21 New Covid-19 Cases, 17 in Beijing
Chinese health authority said today that it received reports of 21 new Covid-19 cases yesterday, of which 17 were domestically transmitted and four were imported.
All the domestically transmitted cases were reported in Beijing, the National Health Commission said in its daily report.
Of the imported cases, two were reported in Guangdong province, one in Shanghai and one in Gansu province, according to the commission.
Beijing May Soon Be Free of New Virus Cases, CDC Official Says
In an interview on Monday with the state-owned China News Service, Wu Zunyou said three metrics indicated that the outbreak was under control: the sustained downward trend in daily new cases, the over two-week gap since reported infections peaked on June 13, and the comparatively short time between the emergence of new cases and the imposition of disease control measures, which curbed community transmission.
2020北京高考时间不推迟 师生全程戴口罩-千龙网·中国首都网
Beijing will hold the Gaokao July 7-10
Beijing has now tested nearly 8M people since the latest outbreak
北京日报：北京通报14例确诊病例详情，一患者9天5次检测才确诊
Beijing CDC said one of the confirmed COV19 patients tested positive only after she took five tests within nine days.
A county in northern China has been “sealed off” with its 400,000 residents placed under tight restrictions after more than a dozen Covid-19 cases were reported – all linked with the Xinfadi market cluster in Beijing.
The draconian measures affecting every village, residential community and building were announced on Saturday by local authorities in Anxin county, Hebei province, with immediate effect. Since the start of the latest outbreak in Beijing two weeks ago, there have been 13 cases in Anxin, with another five people found to be asymptomatic carriers of the virus, Shanghai newspaper Jiefang Daily reported.
The vaccine, identified as Ad5-nCoV, was jointly developed by a team at the Academy of Military Medical Sciences, led by Major General Chen Wei, and Tianjin-based company CanSino Biologics.
It is the first time that a vaccine candidate for Covid-19, the disease caused by the coronavirus, has been authorised for use for the military of any nation.
北京发布会：北京近期发生一起在公厕被感染的病例 专家提示注意事项
at least one of the recent confirmed cases in Beijing was traced to use of a public restroom
网信中国：国家网信办指导北京市网信办依法查处《新京报》微博账号
The China cyber administration said it instructed the Beijing cyber administration to suspend a Weibo account run by Beijing News for its coverage of the Beijing COV19 outbreak. The administration cited netizens’ reports, saying some of the newspapers’ reporting has problems including “wrong guidance, misinterpretation, and confusing the public”, and they “severely disrupted the internet information communication order”, and “have bad social influence”.
8. Watch what you say
China’s crackdown on professors reminds many of the Mao era - Los Angeles Times
The professor was under surveillance. Cameras taped her every lecture. She couldn’t publish or give talks outside the university. She knew she had to be careful when she taught on one of China’s most sensitive and dangerous topics: the Cultural Revolution.
To preempt accusations of straying beyond academia, all discussion was based on archives, books and articles. Classes were kept small; heavy reading lists filtered out potential student-informants. She made seating charts with photos, making sure no stranger could wander in unnoticed.
Despite such scrutiny, Sun Peidong felt lucky to be teaching in Shanghai’s prestigious Fudan University, the only school left in China offering truthful courses on the repressive Cultural Revolution of half a century ago. She loved watching her students question conventional narratives, find new ways of understanding their nation’s history and draw connections with their own families’ traumas.
Then the students turned her in...
This year, Sun quit her job and left China. There is no free space left, she said.
Only two other history professors were teaching the Cultural Revolution at Fudan. One is retiring this year, and the other has been pressured into changing what he teaches.
“That’s what the party wants,” Sun said: either praise or silence.
Business, Economy and Trade
Premier vows financial backing for businesses - China Daily Speaking at a symposium on stabilizing foreign trade and investment in Beijing, Li said the government will guide financial institutions to bolster financing support through credit, credit insurance and secured loans to alleviate liquidity problems faced by businesses. He spoke via video link with six business executives from the foreign trade sector, learned about their orders, employment, funding and industry and supply chains in recent months and listened closely to their opinions on the market and government policies going forward.
Inside the battle for Arm China - FT Two directors on the board of Arm China, which is owned 49 per cent by the UK group, have also invested in Mr Wu’s Alphatecture, according to two people with knowledge of the findings. // Comment: Interesting that Wu thinks he can do this to Fang Fenglei
Domestic Tourism Revenue Down 69% During Dragon Boat Festival - Caixin During this year’s three-day public holiday that ended Saturday, domestic travel generated about 1.23 billion yuan ($177 million) nationwide, down 69% from the holiday period in 2019, according to the Ministry of Culture and Tourism. Travelers made 48.8 million domestic trips over the holiday, 49% less than during the same period the previous year.
Yicai - Chinese SOEs Returned to Normal Profit Growth in May Gross profits nearly quadrupled from a month earlier, the finance ministry said today. SOEs' revenues climbed 4 percent from April, proving nearly similar growth as between May and April 2019.
Chinese companies take record 50% of global equity raising in first half of 2020 - Reuters China-based companies sold shares worth $32.1 billion in January-June including multi-billion-dollar secondary listings in Hong Kong, equivalent to 49.8% of worldwide offerings, showed data from Refinitiv. The total for U.S. firms was $15.8 billion.
China Mulls Letting Big Banks Broker Deals on Wall Street Threat - Bloomberg The potential entry of Chinese banks, which have $43 trillion in assets, into deal making and trading would increase competition for global firms including Goldman Sachs Group Inc. and Morgan Stanley, which have been expanding their operations in China and can this year petition for full control of local securities firms. It will also pose a significant threat to local rivals such as brokerage Citic Securities Co., which saw its stock tumble on the news.
China overtakes UK to become world’s fifth-largest fund hub | Financial Times $$ The country pulled ahead of established asset management markets France, the UK, Japan and Australia to seize 4.1 per cent of worldwide fund assets. At the end of last year, China accounted for 3.2 per cent of global assets, compared with the UK’s 3.3 per cent and France’s 3.7 per cent.
The Huawei of green energy: How China's Goldwind is taking over the turbine world - The Telegraph Goldwind has escaped the kind of scrutiny that Huawei has felt, but the days of being under the radar have flown
China Oil Titans Plan Joint Crude Buying to Add Market Clout - Bloomberg Senior executives from China Petroleum & Chemical Corp., PetroChina Co., Cnooc Ltd. and Sinochem Group Co. are in advanced talks to iron out details of the plan, said people familiar with the initiative, who asked not to be identified as discussions are private and ongoing. The proposal has won the support of the Chinese central government and relevant industry watchdogs, the people said.
Cover Story: The Mystery of $2 Billion of Loans Backed by Fake Gold - Caixin More than a dozen Chinese financial institutions, mainly trust companies, loaned 20 billion yuan ($2.8 billion) over the past five years to Wuhan Kingold Jewelry Inc. with pure gold as collateral and insurance policies to cover any losses. Kingold is the largest privately owned gold processor in central China’s Hubei province. Its shares are listed on the Nasdaq stock exchange in New York. The company is led by Chairman Jia Zhihong, an intimidating ex-military man who is the controlling shareholder...at least some of 83 tons of gold bars used as loan collateral turned out to be nothing but gilded copper. That has left lenders holding the bag for the remaining 16 billion yuan of loans outstanding against the bogus bars.
Yicai - Top Executive at Danke Apartment Investigated as Company Faces Financial Hardship- PingWest Danke Apartment went public on NYSE in January this year, marking itself as the second Chinese long-term apartment rental brand to ever debut on the US stock market, following Q&K International.
China Tires of Gambling Ops in Nearby Countries - Asia Sentinel Apparently tiring of the massive amounts of illegal funds flowing into gambling outside the country, China’s Ministry of Public Security has completed a harsh crackdown, arresting more than 11,500 suspects, destroying 368 gambling platforms and 148 technical programs and seizing more than US$32 billion, according to a government press release.
Coffee’s for Closers: How a Short Seller’s Warning Helped Take Down Luckin Coffee - WSJ $$ The anonymous Luckin report was produced by Snow Lake Capital, a Chinese hedge fund with offices in Beijing and Hong Kong, according to people familiar with the matter. The firm was founded in 2009 by Sean Ma, its China-born and U.S.-educated chief investment officer who previously worked at a hedge fund for Ziff Brothers Investments, a New York-headquartered family office.
Politics and Law
CPC leadership holds meeting to deliberate Party regulations - Xinhua The Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee on Monday held a meeting to review two sets of regulations on Party building in the military and the election of primary-level Party organizations...Formulating the regulations on Party building in the military is of great significance to ensuring the absolute leadership of the CPC over the military and ensuring the effective fulfillment of the military's missions and tasks in the new era, according to the meeting.It is also of great significance to making sure that the armed forces forever preserve their nature, purpose, and character as the forces of the people, to reaching the Party's goal of building a strong military in the new era and to building the people's armed forces into world-class forces, according to the meeting. 中共中央政治局召开会议 审议《中国共产党军队党的建设条例》和《中国共产党基层组织选举工作条例》 中共中央总书记习近平主持会议_CCTV
China’s National Security Commission met in secret amid coronavirus pandemic | South China Morning Post The commission apparently gathered between March and mid-April for a meeting chaired by President Xi Jinping...The meeting – the commission’s third full gathering since 2018 – was not reported in official media. But it was later mentioned in statements from local security committee meetings – where its messages were apparently passed down at the local level – including those of Zhejiang and Jilin provinces. Local officials at those meetings “thoroughly studied a key speech of Xi’s made at the third NSC meeting”, the statements said.
What You Need to Know About the Chinese Communist Party | The American Spectator -Zhang Wei & Li Shaomin Most people in democracies, however, have no first-hand experience dealing with the CCP and are extremely naïve about it. Many think it is a political party like the Democrats and Republicans here. They are dead wrong and will face dire consequences if they treat the CCP as a “party.”..Below are four basic facts that the party never tells you but are vital to understanding it. First, the CCP never keeps its promises...Second, the Chinese Communist Party doesn’t believe in rules, laws, or reasoning. It only believes in power and force...Third, propagating false information is its permanent norm, not just an expedient measure...Last, for the Chinese Communist Party, monopolizing power is its ultimate goal, and the party uses any and all means to achieve it, legal or illegal.
温家宝最新动态 Wen Jiabao makes a public appearance, when presenting n inscription for the Lanzhou University Geological Sciences and Mineral Resources Institute. School officials went to Beijing to receive the calligraphy. 日前，应学校邀请，温家宝同志为兰州大学地质科学与矿产资源学院题写了院训“大道无垠，精诚致远”。学校党委书记马小洁、校长严纯华、74级地质专业校友孙矿生、校长助理李鹏杰、地质科学与矿产资源学院院长孟兴民一行赴京拜访看望了温家宝同志，简要汇报了学校各项事业发展情况，并当面接受了题词
China's longest-serving lawmaker Shen Jilan passes away at 91 - CGTN Shen Jilan, the longest-serving lawmaker in China, passed away in Changzhi City, north China's Shanxi Province, in the wee hours of Sunday at the age of 91, the city government said...The female deputy was from a remote village in the mountains of Taihang, a revolutionary base of the Communist Party of China (CPC) in Shanxi. She served as deputy for all 13 terms of the National People's Congress (NPC), China's top legislature, since it was established in 1954.
财新：人事观察|普布顿珠升任西藏副主席，成首名“70后”藏族高官 According to Tibet Daily, Tibet now has a 47-year-old vice governor. Pubu Dondrup (普布顿珠) is the first under-50 ethnic Tibetan official to be promoted to the vice-minister level.
China to launch general survey on poverty alleviation - Gov.cn The general survey will focus on the authenticity and accuracy of the poverty alleviation results and get the whole picture of the poverty alleviation situation in the country. It will also publish statistical information on China’s poverty alleviation to assess the project. The general survey will cover 832 key counties and impoverished areas, seven cities and counties in Aksu, Northwest China’s Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region, and some counties of 22 provinces in central and west China.
Act of insulting or slandering heroes and martyrs deemed as crime - China Military The Draft Amendment Eleventh to the Criminal Law was submitted to the Standing Committee of the 13th National People's Congress for deliberation on June 28, which stipulates that it would be a crime to insult or slander heroes and martyrs. According to the draft amendment, whoever insults or slanders heroes and martyrs, if the circumstances are serious, shall be sentenced to fixed-term imprisonment of not more than three years, criminal detention, public surveillance or deprivation of political rights
Cartoon suspended after complaints that its characters convey wrong values - Global Times One of China's most popular TV stations, Hunan Television, has suspended a cartoon series after some netizens claimed the cartoon offered the wrong "value guidance" for children as the characters in the program dyed their hair in different colors and wore garish clothes..."The domestically made cartoon, Shining Star, tells the story of a group of teenage girls who work together, go through hardship and strive to achieve their common goals. The animation aims to convey positive energy to the audience: Face difficulties and never give up," the TV station said in its response.
Former China Construction Bank Veteran Under Corruption Probe - Caixin Guo Jizhuang, a former president of China Construction Bank Corp.’s provincial branch in Northwest China’s Qinghai, is under investigation on suspicion of serious violations of law and Communist Party discipline
湖北省政府班子再调整 深圳公安局长跨省履新_新浪新闻 Xu Wenhai is now a member of the Hubei provincial party committee. Previously he was a vice mayor and public security head in Shenzhen.
Foreign and Defense Affairs
CPC, central military commission to lead reserve forces - Global Times The Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee and the Central Military Commission will lead reserve military forces starting July 1, in a move which analysts said will help bring out the best in reserve forces, especially in border areas of its Tibet and Xinjiang regions, improve combat capability and facilitate their cooperation with active-duty units. The decision, issued by the CPC Central Committee, was made public on Sunday, noting that reserve forces are an important part of the Chinese People's Liberation Army (PLA). The change in the leadership structure is aimed at upholding the CPC's absolute leadership over the army and building a strong military in the new era, the Xinhua News Agency reported. The PLA Daily released a commentary on Monday, vowing to implement the "crucial political move" of the CPC Central Committee."Centralizing the leadership of reserve forces will make it easier to mobilize and manage reserve forces. They are important supplementary parts of active-duty military units," Li Daguang, a professor at the National Defense University of the People's Liberation Army, told the Global Times on Monday.中共中央印发《关于调整预备役部队领导体制的决定》_最新政策_中国政府网
PLA to conduct military exercises in waters off Xisha Islands - China Military The No. 0059 Navigation Notice ‘Military Exercise in Waters Around The Xisha Islands’ reads that there will be military training exercises in the waters off the Xisha Islands from 0000 hours on July 1st to 2400 hours on July 5th Beijing time.
Freshwater reservoir found at one of Beijing’s artificial islands in the South China Sea | South China Morning Post The fresh water was discovered beneath Fiery Cross Reef, known as Yongshu in China, and is believed to be growing at a rate of about 1 metre (3.3 feet) per year – more than twice the speed observed on naturally formed islands. Similar reservoirs could also be building up under other artificial islands across the region, according to researchers from the South China Sea Institute of Oceanology in Guangzhou.
China Resumes Dredging at Woody Island in the Paracels - RFA China is dredging in a bay at Woody Island, its biggest settlement in the South China Sea, likely to expand the artificial island’s northwest corner, satellite imagery shows
Huawei’s push for more access to Australian unis - The AustralianChinese tech giant Huawei is pushing for greater access to universities and security agencies under the government’s 2020 Cyber Security Strategy, amid calls from the higher education sector for increased access to cyber intelligence and protection of global research partnerships. Huawei, which was banned from involvement in the rollout of Australia’s 5G network, is backed by senior RMIT academic Mark Gregory, who said there was no evidence the telco was a threat.
Huawei data flows under fire in German court case – POLITICOA former manager sued the Chinese firm for breaching GDPR, opening a Pandora’s box on data flowing to China.
Singapore telecoms operators select Nokia, Ericsson to build 5G networks - ReutersThe companies said they were also exploring other network parts with China’s Huawei and ZTE.
U.S. issues fresh Huawei warning after UK approves £1 billion R&D lab - CNBC The U.S. has issued a fresh Huawei warning to the U.K. after a local authority approved the Chinese tech giant’s £1 billion ($1.24 billion) chip research and manufacturing facility in Cambridgeshire.
Japan Plans National Champion to Challenge Huawei - WSJ $$Nippon Telegraph and Telephone Corp., whose Docomo unit is the leading cellphone service provider in Japan, said it would own nearly 5% of Tokyo-based NEC Corp., which makes equipment for fast fifth-generation wireless networks...NTT Chief Executive Jun Sawada said the Huawei situation gave Japan an opportunity to gain global market share. “There’s a strong chance that U.S.-China relations will continue to deteriorate,” Mr. Sawada said. “Amid this tough global situation, we want to become a leader.”
Canada’s ‘microphone diplomacy’ will be to no avail - Global Times “Canada believes that is has achieved independent diplomacy, but it only really follows the House of Windsor or Washington. Moreover, Canada has not enough professional expertise in managing its foreign policies — especially in diplomacy with China.” // Comment: More threats to Canada, more treating it not as a sovereign nation with agency but as a US vassal state, which it is not. This is a dumb approach for CCP propaganda to take unless it wants Canada-China relations to go off the rails.
Use of Chinese Communist Party-associated phrase 'inappropriate': Winston Peters | RNZ News The countries which make up the Five Eyes - US, UK, Canada, Australia and New Zealand - as well as India, have complained about the wording, which said "shared vision of a common future".The objecting nations have complained about its closeness to the phrase, "community with a shared future for mankind", which is one used often by the CCP, and the Chinese President Xi Jinping. The president of the UN General Assembly has proposed new wording, which will pass if no further objections are raise
'Invisible man' National MP Jian Yang - A reporter's two-year attempt to get him to front | 1 NEWS | TVNZ Following his re-selection as a National list-only candidate for this year's election, he released a statement only in Chinese, which was published by Chinese-language media. His party didn't release an English-language statement either. That's despite Dr Yang earning $179,000 a year, serving as the chairperson of the Governance and Administration Select Committee and being the Shadow Minister for Statistics.
Justices reject appeal from imprisoned Chinese billionaire - AP The justices did not comment, leaving in place the bribery conviction of Ng Lap Seng, one of China’s richest men. The 71-year-old Ng is serving a federal prison sentence.
Chinese companies prohibit Pakistani employees from namaz - Times of India Some Chinese companies operating in Pakistan do not seem to allow time to Pakistani employees to offer namaz, one of the five basic tenets of Islam.
China releases English translations of frequently used keywords of national strategies | english.scio.gov.cn China's State Council Information Office Tuesday released English translations of 61 Chinese keywords and expressions of major national strategies and 11 abbreviations.
'Urgent need' for government strategy on China - RUSI The UK government urgently needs a clear strategy for relations with China, something underlined by the Covid-19 crisis, says a new report from the Policy Institute at King’s College London.
US admiral warns of risk of ‘bogus’ Chinese claims in Arctic | South China Morning Post In an online seminar hosted by London-based think tank the International Institute for Strategic Studies on Thursday, Admiral James Foggo, commander of US Naval Forces Europe-Africa, said China was “increasingly seeking to exploit the Arctic”, and its activities in the region – as well as in Africa and Europe – posed security concerns for the US and other members of the transatlantic security alliance.
Many Indians, families of diplomats not allowed on special flight to China - india news - Hindustan Times After the two Indians were diagnosed with Covid-19, Chinese authorities gave permission only for an empty flight from India to land in the southern city of Guangzhou to repatriate Indians.
Scott Morrison’s new cyber army to confront digital spy threat - The Australian After revealing earlier this month the country had come under a broadscale and sustained foreign-based cyber hack targeting all levels of government and critical infrastructure operators, Scott Morrison on Tuesday will announce a $1.35bn boost to cyber defences across the next decade.
Critical China Scholars Tensions are mounting between the United States, China, and the world. Critical China scholars have an increasingly important role to play in analyzing this phenomenon. There are many who write from a left position, and we share many of their concerns. In the spirit of solidarity, we seek to add our voices as academics who have long engaged with China and Chinese people
Parliamentarians From Around the World Unite to Discuss the China Challenge – The Diplomat IPAC will be underpinned by an advisory group that brings together some of the world’s leading experts on Chinese law, politics, human rights, foreign policy, and economics. These experts – from Professor Anne-Marie Brady* in New Zealand to Dr Eva Pils in London, from Professors Adrian Zenz and Shaomin Li in the United States to Vicky Xu at the Australian Strategic Policy Institute, from Chinese dissident Wei Jingsheng to Uyghur academic Erkin Ekrem – will help inform, brief and advise parliamentarians on many facets of China today.
Tech and Media
Tencent Rivals Amazon Twitch With New Livestreaming in U.S. - Bloomberg China’s largest company has been quietly testing a mobile-focused streaming network via an affiliate in the U.S. since at least March. Initially called Madcat and now branded Trovo Live, the new service closely resembles Twitch in its appearance and functionality
A safer Apple means a lot to China's podcast community - JustPod When I failed to find PocketCasts and Castro on China’s App Store earlier this month, a similar feeling from the past struck me. Apple Podcasts China did the same “remove” actions last June. And by the end of 2019, I wrote a feature story in Chinese and interviewed a few podcasters who had been affected by the “remove”. I have been following the case since then, so I ‘d like to give you a recap before I tell you all.
Agora’s above-range pricing underscores a welcoming IPO market | TechCrunch n a move that highlights how open the American IPO window may be at the moment, China-based Agora priced its public offering at $20 per share last night, ahead of its $16 to $18 proposed price range. (Update: As noted here, the company has a second HQ in California.)..Agora is an API-powered company that allows customers to embed real-time video and voice abilities in their applications; appropriately, the company’s ticker symbol in America will be “API.”
一见财经：字节跳动员工贪腐1000万，我看了一眼部委的一份提案 Bytedance told its staff in an internal email that two of the company’s former employees have been arrested for taking kickbacks from contractors. One took nearly one million USD, the other took more than that.
Society, Arts, Sports, Culture and History
China’s gaokao exam fraud: victims learn the worst after cheats steal their grades and university places | South China Morning Post Gou Jing wondered whether something was amiss when she took China’s university entrance exam, or gaokao , in 1997 and got a surprisingly low mark. A student from a peasant family in the town of Jiezhuang, in the eastern province of Shandong, Gou sat the test again the next year and – despite having been ranked fourth out of tens of thousands of students in a mock test not long before – she again did mysteriously poorly, and was sent to study at a tertiary technical college in Hubei, in central China. It remained a mystery until 2003, when Gou’s former form teacher sent her a letter in which he admitted tampering with the marks and asked for Gou’s forgiveness, news portal ifeng.com reported on Wednesday.
More on Gou Jing - 触目惊心：谁是苟晶第二次高考的冒名顶替者. She tried again and the second acceptance was also stolen.
山东通报聊城市冠县、东昌府区两起冒名顶替上学问题调查处理及相关情况————要闻——中央纪委国家监委网站 Shandong discipline and inspection commission releases the results of investigations of two of the cases of students having their college acceptances stolen. Several demotions, some criminal investigations. Could this happen today when everything is digital?
Excavating Chinese History, One Harrowing Film at a Time - The New York Times The work of Hu Jie, who has made more than 30 movies, is little known even in China. The release of “Spark” and “The Observer” should make him better known abroad.
Hit Thriller "The Bad Kids" is Stirring Conversations About Childhood Trauma - and Chinese TV- Radii China Breaking with the recent tradition of idealistic Chinese TV shows, The Bad Kids (or 隐秘的角落 as it is called in Chinese) has become a heated point of discussion nationwide, in part because its production values and narrative suggest to some that a new milestone in Chinese television has been reached. More significantly, the show’s examination of parents’ influence on childhood development has sparked widespread debate about modern parenting on Chinese social media.
Energy, Environment, Science and Health
清华董晨院士回应24篇论文质疑；南开校长曹雪涛团队12篇论文被正式调查可信性_德敏 Questions arising about some of the scholarly work by the had of the Tsinghua Medical School
Analysis: China’s CO2 emissions surged past pre-coronavirus levels in May Following an unprecedented 25% drop in China’s CO2 emissions during the coronavirus lockdown, a rebound was always likely. The latest official data shows the rebound has been rapid, with China’s fossil CO2 emissions increasing by around 4-5% year-on-year in May.
Pandemic Causes China To Rethink Breeding Wild Animals For Food : Goats and Soda : NPR Bamboo rats have been particularly popular among breeders. The rats are a delicacy eaten in parts of southern China, popularized in part by internet celebrities like the Huanong brothers, whose earthy videos depicting them breeding and grilling the rats have attracted millions of views on social media. Since the coronavirus pandemic, the brothers have quietly pivoted toward videos featuring them grilling vegetables.
Education
Dropout rate in Chinese schools falls by nearly 99% | SCIO The number of students dropping out of school amid their nine-year compulsory education period dropped by nearly 99 percent nationwide, from 600,000 in early 2019 to 6,781 as of June 14, China's Ministry of Education said Monday.