Official COVID-19 white paper; Stall economy pushback; ideological and political curriculum; Huawei and the UK
The State Council issued a white paper titled “Fighting COVID-19: China in Action” that provides the official history of the epidemic and China’s efforts to fight it domestically and help the rest of the world combat it. I do not think anyone will be surprised by its contents, China has a lot to be proud of in its efforts to control the epidemic once the central government decided on a course of action, but of course lots of messy details are missing from this official version.
Premier Li Keqiang has recently been pushing the idea of street vendors as a way to mitigate employment issues, and there has been bit of a fever around the “stall economy”. The Beijing Daily made clear over the weekend that bringing back lots of street vending is not going to happen in the nation’s capital, and a commentary from CCTV suggested it is not appropriate for Tier-1 cities. Tier 1 cities- Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, Shenzhen - have many special policies, starting with much tougher hukou restrictions than other cities in China.
The seeming reversal has spurred more speculation about a split between Xi Jinping and Li Keqiang. But is this really an about-face from the central government, or is it a clarification of a policy shift that was not clearly formed when it was announced? Whatever is going on, any move to revive the stall economy is sign of how worried the policymakers are about employment, the most important of the “6 ensures”.
In interesting comments the Hainan Provincial Party Secretary said at a press conference about the new Hainan Free Trade Port that smuggling, prostitution, gambling or drugs will not be allowed. Because when it comes to Hainan you really have to be explicit?
Today’s Essential Eight:
Official white paper on China’s fight against the epidemic
Stall economy
Hong Kong
Huawei and the UK’s shift on China
Outline for ideological and political curriculum in colleges and universities
US-China
Big reads on US-China relations
China-India border tensions
Thanks for reading.
The Essential Eight
1. Official white paper on China’s fight against the epidemic
China publishes white paper on fight against COVID-19 - Xinhua
The white paper, titled "Fighting COVID-19: China in Action," was issued by the State Council Information Office.
The Chinese government released the white paper to keep a record of the country's efforts in its own fight against the virus, to share its experience with the rest of the world, and to clarify its ideas on the global battle, according to the white paper...
Making people's lives and health its first priority, China adopted extensive, stringent, and thorough containment measures, and has for now succeeded in cutting all channels for the transmission of the virus, it added.
Having forged the idea that the world is a global community of shared future, and believing that it must act as a responsible member, China has fought shoulder to shoulder with the rest of the world, the white paper stressed.
Full Text: Fighting COVID-19: China in Action - Xinhua
The white paper - 国务院新闻办公室发布《抗击新冠肺炎疫情的中国行动》白皮书 全文-科技新闻-中国科技网首页
Xi takes charge of China's COVID-19 response: white paper - China Military
Xi has chaired 14 meetings of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee and a number of other high-level meetings, the white paper said.
China Hails Its Virus Triumphs, and Glosses Over Its Mistakes - The New York Times
In the report, local and provincial officials are described as acting decisively. The World Health Organization is said to have been kept informed in detail starting from Jan. 3, while Chinese scientists quickly released the genome sequence. China’s top leader, Xi Jinping, is described as playing a pivotal role throughout the crisis...
Like much of China’s state propaganda on the coronavirus, the report provides a sanitized version of events, leaving out political and bureaucratic problems that exacerbated the crisis when it first emerged in the central Chinese city of Wuhan.
Commentary: China's endeavors help world heal pandemic pain - Xinhua
The 37,000-word on-the-spot report records China's decisive measures in combating the virus, unveils touching stories on the anti-epidemic forefront, reveals its experience in prevention and control and manifests a belief that the world will "emerge from this dark moment in human history into a brighter future."..
While doing its utmost to contain the epidemic at home and assist other countries in need, China has also been fighting on other fronts, including firmly supporting the WHO in coordinating global response, promoting global cooperation by proposing various initiatives and fending off attempts by a handful to politicize the virus.
Chinese media have no desire to engage in an information war - CGTN
Chinese media have no intention of engaging in an information war but faced with lies they have to respond, Xu Lin, director of the State Council Information Office, said during Sunday's briefing on the white paper "Fighting COVID-19: China in Action." He stressed the response is not a war of words but about restoring truth. The COVID-19 epidemic is still spreading, Xu noted, calling for worldwide cooperation instead of shirking responsibilities.
Whatever other facts may have been omitted from this white paper, there appears little question that China now has the epidemic under control:
Chinese mainland reports 4 new imported COVID-19 cases - Xinhua
The Chinese mainland reported four new imported COVID-19 cases Sunday, bringing the total number of imported cases to 1,780, the National Health Commission said Monday.
Of the four imported cases, three were reported in Sichuan Province and the rest one in Shanghai, the commission said, adding that one new suspected case from abroad was reported in Shanghai.
牡丹江7天核酸检测超65万人 检出19例无症状感染者-中新网
19 asymptomatic COVID-19 cases were found after testing 650,000 people in Mudanjiang, Heilongjiang
NHC lists 8 groups of people for mandatory COVID-19 tests - Global Times
Overseas returnees and medical workers are among the key groups who should take nucleic acid tests for COVID-19, according to a notice issued by the National Health Commission (NHC) on Monday, amid China's efforts to increase its testing capabilities and expand the scope of testing to consolidate the achievements made in the battle against the epidemic.
Those who have had close contact with confirmed COVID-19 cases, patients at fever clinics and personnel at the border epidemic inspection and control frontline are also included in the updated NHC list.
Patients newly admitted to hospitals and their employers, and staff at prison facilities as well as employees at social welfare institutions and nursing homes for senior citizens, are also among the eight groups of people who should take the tests, the notice said.
CBA gets creative for new tipoff - China Daily
According to the plan, announced last week, the league will resume play on June 20 in two host cities－Qingdao in Shandong province and Dongguan in Guangdong province, where strict testing, isolation and hygiene measures have been prepared at player hotels, training facilities and competition venues, which will only allow access to essential game personnel...
Due to China's temporary entry ban on foreign nationals since late March to control imported infections, 10 CBA teams haven't called back any of their foreign players so far while some foreign coaches, such as the Ducks' Greek boss Yannis Christopoulos, are also stuck overseas, leaving them with no option but to field all-Chinese rosters for the restart.
In order to make things fairer, the league has adjusted its import policy to limit teams to having one foreigner on the court against opponents who are fielding all-Chinese lineups. Otherwise, the original rule of two foreigners on court per game will be observed.
China’s First Human Tests of Covid-19 Antibody Drug Get Underway in Shanghai
Jointly developed by biotech firm Shanghai Junshi Biosciences and the Institute of Microbiology, Chinese Academy of Sciences
Graduating students from Beijing universities return to campuses - Xinhua
Beijing announced Friday that it would lower its emergency response to the novel coronavirus epidemic from the second level to the third level starting from Saturday.
Peking University said around 7,000 final year students will return to campus on a voluntary basis in four batches this month.
2. Stall economy
China Backpedals on Push to Revive Street-Selling Economy - Bloomberg
China appears to be backtracking on its recent efforts to promote street vending as a way to reboot the coronavirus-stricken economy, less than two weeks after Premier Li Keqiang made a high-profile pitch to get people back into the traditional form of commerce…
A Saturday commentary by Beijing Daily, the official newspaper of the Beijing municipal government, labeled the “street stall economy” as unsuitable for the capital, and said the city hasn’t relaxed rules on peddlers. Other state media followed suit, with some editorials arguing that there were many problems including food hygiene and product quality.
The Beijing Daily commentary - 北京日报：地摊经济不适合北京_新浪新闻
游商地摊给城市管理、环境卫生、交通出行等方面带来的压力显而易见。街道脏乱、假冒伪劣、噪音扰民、游商满街、堵塞交通、不卫生不文明等曾经的城市顽疾一旦卷土重来，之前的治理成果都可能付诸东流，不利于树立良好的首都形象和国家形象，不利于促进经济高质量发展。
The pressure of the business stalls on urban management, environmental sanitation, and transportation travel is obvious. Dirty streets, fake and shoddy, noise disturbing people, traveling to the streets, traffic jams, unhygienic and uncivilized once once the city’s chronic diseases come back, the previous governance results may be lost, which is not conducive to establishing a good capital and national image or promoting high-quality economic development.
Commentary from the “CCTV Finance and Economic” says relaxing restrictions on roadside stalls is not appropriate for tier-1 cities
Wrapping up the annual meeting with the nation’s top legislative body last week, Chinese Premier Li Keqiang praised a city in a western province that recently allowed 36,000 mobile stalls to be set up along roadsides.
As a result it created 100,000 jobs, Li said at a time when employment prospects in the country are gloomy under the shadow of coronavirus...
Zhu Min, an economist with Tsinghua University and former deputy managing director of the International Monetary Fund, said China’s promotion of street vending was “an emergency solution” to address unemployment. He said it should be kept as “an economic norm” in the long run to give life to the economy.
Some Economists Question Strength of China’s Labor Market - WSJ $$
Independent economists in China and Hong Kong estimate as many as 80 million people were out of work during the worst of China’s coronavirus lockdowns earlier this year. That is far more than the roughly 26 million captured by the government’s unemployment survey of people in cities in March, when China’s economy was still reeling from the virus...
UBS estimates the number of people not working in early May fell to between 33 million and 40 million, down from 70 million to 80 million in March. Chinese officials say 90% of the country’s migrant laborers are back to work in some capacity, though officials haven’t specified whether their jobs are full-time.
China ups poverty relief efforts as more migrant workers return to work - Xinhua
As of May 31, some 27.51 million poor migrant workers from 25 provincial-level regions had left their hometowns for work, accounting for 100.79 percent of the total last year, according to the State Council Leading Group Office of Poverty Alleviation and Development.
China to put 14 mln migrant workers on vocational training within 2 years - Xinhua
Such training programs will target rural migrant workers including those with a job or without, and those who newly resettled in cities or returned to their hometowns, as well as poor laborers, according to a recent plan released by the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security.
China Trade Surplus Surges to Record as Medical Exports Jump - Bloomberg
Exports decreased 3.3% in dollar terms from a year earlier, beating economists’ estimates, while imports plunged 16.7%. That resulted in a trade surplus of $62.93 billion...
“The recent acceleration in export growth of anti-epidemic materials contributed considerably to China’s exports,” CICC analyst Liu Liu wrote in a note. “China’s full-year export growth in 2020 may be better than our previous expectations.”
Yicai - China’s Exports Gain for Second Month in May, Growing Better-Than-Expected 1.4%
China’s overall international trade fell 4.9 percent to CNY2.47 trillion, with imports slumping 12.7 percent to CNY1.01 trillion. In April, exports jumped 8.2 percent while imports fell 10.2 percent, as total foreign trade dipped 0.7 percent...
ASEAN replaced the EU as China’s largest trading partner in the first five months of the year, with trade increasing 4.2 percent to CNY1.7 trillion, accounting for 14.7 percent of the total.
A top economist whose strategic thinking about China’s role in global value chains helped turn the country into the world’s factory says it is now time for Beijing to look inward for growth as the outside world is becoming more unpredictable.
Early in 1988, when China had little capital, Wang Jian published an article in the official Economic Daily arguing the country should take advantage of its cheap labour force to position itself as a global manufacturing hub by importing components and then exporting finished products to rich economies.
3. Hong Kong
National security law for HK benefits 'One Country, Two Systems' - CGTN
The stronger the bottom line of national security, the greater the room for "One Country, Two Systems," said Zhang Xiaoming, former director of the State Council's Hong Kong and Macao Affairs Office.
He made the remarks at a webinar to commemorate the 30th anniversary of the Promulgation of the Basic Law of Hong Kong on Monday...
"In my opinion, Hong Kong issues are not economic issues but political ones," he said, revealing that there are serious differences and even antagonism to the fundamental question of what kind of Hong Kong should be built.
"China has been firmly implementing the principles of 'One Country, Two Systems,' 'the people of Hong Kong governing Hong Kong' and a high degree of autonomy, while the external forces have tried to turn Hong Kong into a chess to contain China's development," he added.
[视频]香港特区政府举办《基本法》颁布三十周年网上研讨会_CCTV
国务院港澳事务办公室副主任张晓明表示，香港维护国家安全立法是中央处理香港事务的最重大的举措之一，是“一国两制”实践过程中具有历史意义的一件大事，也是《基本法》实施的里程碑。国家安全底线越牢，“一国两制”空间越大。张晓明说，香港局势的发展变化已经到了邓小平同志所讲的“非中央出手不行”的地步，中央出手既是势在必行，也是理所当然。
Chinese official suggests Hong Kong should behave to keep high autonomy beyond 2047 - Reuters
In rare comments on Hong Kong’s long-term future, Zhang Xiaoming, deputy director of China’s Hong Kong and Macau Affairs Office, indicated that how Hong Kong’s people behaved now in regard to the political situation would affect its post-2047 status...
Zhang said the stronger the commitment to national security, the more room there would be for the “One Country, Two Systems” arrangement.
Zhang's comments as reported by Wenhui Pao - 張曉明：國家安全底線愈牢 「一國兩制」空間愈大（附全文） - 香港文匯網
Pressure grows on HSBC to withdraw China support | The Sunday Times
The China Research Group has written to the bank urging it to drop support for the laws, which would ban subversion against China in Hong Kong. The group said the bank’s position was “ultimately self-defeating” and asked HSBC to “confirm that you wish to operate within a rules-based international system”.
The group is led by Tom Tugendhat, who raised concerns in April over the Chinese owner of Imagination Technologies amid fears that Beijing was tightening its control over the software developer.
大公报：孟晚舟案揭美英加合谋抢5G肥肉，法庭文件证实汇丰出卖华为
The pro-Beijing newspaper Takungpao attacked HSBC on its frontpage Monday, saying it was the bank who blew the whistle on Huawei’s sanctions violations and then played a role in the US-UK-Canada collaboration to trump up charges against Meng Wanzhou of Huawei.
Jiang Shigong of Peking University Law School goes after HSBC and the slow support for the Hong Kong National Security Law
Secretary for the Civil Service Patrick Nip Tak-kuen’s reminder on Sunday marked the first time in 23 years since the city’s handover from British to Chinese sovereignty that the government has specifically defined the role of its 180,000 workers in this manner.
While civil service unions expressed concern and called for further clarification, the move was seen as part of an aggressive campaign by the government to shore up support among its workforce amid controversy over the impending national security law that Beijing is tailor-making for Hong Kong.
Japan hopes to draft a joint statement on China’s new security legislation on Hong Kong at the next Group of Seven (G7) foreign ministers’ meeting, a Japanese government source familiar with the matter told Reuters on Monday.
US loses core allies' support on sanctioning China over HK issue - Global Times
Days before Japan's decision, in an interview with Deutsche Welle on June 3, Germany's Foreign Minister Heiko Maas said that sanctions are not a wise move in the long run as they would hinder dialogue between Europe and China.
Maas had previously met with Hong Kong secessionist Joshua Wong Chi-fung in September 2019 in Berlin despite opposition from the Chinese government. However, during the June 3 interview, Maas showed a sharp turn in his attitude to Wong, saying that Wong's opinions constitute separatism and do not conform with Germany's policies toward China.
4. Huawei and the UK’s shift on China
China threatens to pull plug on new British nuclear plants | The Sunday Times
China’s ambassador to the UK, Liu Xiaoming, has privately fired a warning shot at the government, telling business leaders that abandoning Huawei could undermine plans for Chinese companies to build nuclear power plants and the HS2 high-speed rail network. Government officials dismissed the comments as “sabre-rattling”.
In a recent briefing Liu signalled that the decision over Huawei was being seen in Beijing as “a litmus test of whether Britain is a true and faithful partner of China”, words interpreted as a threat by those listening...
Liu’s comments came as the National Security Council (NSC) signed off plans to work with Britain’s Five Eyes intelligence partners to build western alternatives to Huawei.
The discussion became “highly colourful”, which is Whitehall code for a big row. Johnson sided for the first time with ministers who want to take a tougher line with China. The hawks include the defence secretary, Ben Wallace, and the home secretary, Priti Patel...
Huawei has hired five public affairs companies to make its case inside and outside government.
Comment: So Amb Liu is actually making the argument for the U.K. to abandon Huawei and reduce reliance on the PRC. I missed the "wolf warrior" chapter in the Art of War.
HSBC warns Downing Street on Chinese reprisals over Huawei - The Telegraph
Mark Tucker, the bank’s chairman, made the private representations to Boris Johnson’s advisers, according to industry and political sources. HSBC is understood to have claimed that it could face reprisals in China if Huawei was blocked from selling equipment to the next generation of networks being built by Britain’s mobile operators
Huawei launches media blitz as UK weighs its role in 5G networks - BBC News
In an open letter to the public, the Chinese telecoms company says it is "as committed as ever" to provide "the best equipment" to the UK's 5G mobile and full-fibre broadband providers.
Boris Johnson plans closer pact with UK's 'Five Eyes' intelligence partners | Daily Mail
sources in Cabinet and Whitehall have confirmed Mr Johnson has ‘pivoted away’ from this position and wants Britain to take a world-leading role in ending Western reliance on China.
A senior Whitehall source said: ‘We have lost expertise in dozens of major markets like technology and science, hence why we got into the Huawei mess. The Chinese have just hoovered up. It is not realistic for Britain to go it alone and this malaise is not a uniquely British problem – it is felt across the West. So on this we are going to help our partners plug the gaps that the Chinese are currently exploiting.’
Laws to curb Chinese takeovers | The Times
Boris Johnson is preparing to announce tough laws to prevent foreign takeovers that pose a risk to national security as concern grows about the influence of China.
Britain can ill afford to turn its back on China - The Telegraph Oped by James Sassoon
A government looking to invest in the UK’s infrastructure renewal can ill afford to spurn China’s expertise – but that is what it will effectively do if, under pressure from the Sinophobes, the Government reverses its decision to allow Huawei’s limited involvement in building out Britain’s 5G network...
James Sassoon served as the UK’s first commercial secretary to the Treasury from 2010 to 2013. He was chairman of the China-Britain Business Council from 2013 to 2019 and has been president of the council since 2019.
Huawei Founder Ren Zhengfei Takes Off the Gloves in Fight Against U.S. - WSJ
This account of Mr. Ren’s marshaling of Huawei’s fight with the U.S. is based on dozens of interviews with current and former Huawei employees, associates of Mr. Ren, internal Huawei documents and interviews with Mr. Ren in November and March...
Just over a month after his daughter’s arrest, Mr. Ren visited a Huawei research-and-development center in Hangzhou, commanding employees to learn from the U.S. tech giant Google and “surge forward, killing as you go, to blaze us a trail of blood,” [Bill comment: 杀出一条血路; not really a literal term in the corporate environment] according to a transcript confirmed by two Huawei executives.
In February, at a Huawei campus in Wuhan, Mr. Ren told assembled employees “the company has entered a state of war,” according to a transcript...
Mr. Ren believes that his more-aggressive approach has been successful—and by some counts he is right. Huawei continues to rack up new contracts to build 5G networks, which number more than 90. Even as the U.K. wavers, other European countries such as Germany have signaled they plan to go with Huawei—and Chinese diplomats have threatened to cut imports from some countries that ban the company.
Denmark Wants 5G Suppliers From Closely Allied Countries, Says Defence Minister - Reuters
Denmark wants to be able to exclude 5G technology suppliers from providing critical infrastructure in Denmark if they are not from countries considered security allies, online technology news outlet ITWatch reported on Monday
5. Outline for ideological and political curriculum in colleges and universities
The Ministry of Education has issued an "Outline for ideological and political curriculum in colleges and universities". These schools have always had this kind of education, but as with most political things in the New Era under Xi Jinping this may have more intensity than people had gotten used to.
"The person in charge of the Higher Education Department of the Ministry of Education stated that the ideological and political curriculum content made clear five aspects: promoting Xi Jinping’s new era of socialism with Chinese characteristics into teaching materials into the classroom; enhancing students’ political, ideological, and emotional identification of the party’s innovative theories, and strengthening the “four self-confidences”; nurturing and practicing socialist core values; strengthening the education of excellent traditional Chinese culture, and vigorously promoting patriotism as the core national spirit and the spirit of the times with reform and innovation as the core; deepening the education of the constitution and the rule of law; deepening the education of professional ideals and professional ethics.
教育部高等教育司负责人表示，课程思政内容明确了五个方面的主要内容：推进习近平新时代中国特色社会主义思想进教材进课堂进头脑，不断加强马克思主义理论教育，着力推动党的创新理论教育，增强学生对党的创新理论的政治认同、思想认同、情感认同，坚定“四个自信”；培育和践行社会主义核心价值观；加强中华优秀传统文化教育，大力弘扬以爱国主义为核心的民族精神和以改革创新为核心的时代精神；深入开展宪法法治教育；深化职业理想和职业道德教育。
The outline - 教育部关于印发《高等学校课程思政建设指导纲要》的通知_教育_中国政府网
The preamble:
In order to deeply implement the important exposition of General Secretary Jinping on education and the spirit of the National Education Conference, implement the "Several Opinions on Deepening the Reform and Innovation of Ideological and Political Theory Courses in Schools of the New Era" by the General Office of the CPC Central Committee and the General Office of the State Council, and carry out ideological and political education Talent training system, comprehensively promote the ideological and political construction of college courses, give full play to the educating role of each course, improve the quality of college personnel training, [the Ministry] specially formulated this outline.
为深入贯彻落实习近平总书记关于教育的重要论述和全国教育大会精神，贯彻落实中共中央办公厅、国务院办公厅《关于深化新时代学校思想政治理论课改革创新的若干意见》，把思想政治教育贯穿人才培养体系，全面推进高校课程思政建设，发挥好每门课程的育人作用，提高高校人才培养质量，特制定本纲要。
Jiao Yang, party secretary of Fudan University vowed in a recent speech at a event for the 100th anniversary of Chen Wangdao's Chinese translation of the "Communist Manifesto" to make Communist ideology a big part of Fudan's education so to “build generations and generations of new men that will carry the red genes and shoulder their duties of national rejuvenation in the new era”. The speech made it to the page 5 of People’s Daily on Monday.
The same event - 复旦大学党委书记焦扬在清明追思陈望道活动暨“实施红色基因铸魂育人工程，做‘宣言精神’忠实传人”启动仪式上说 - was also the kickoff ceremony for "Implementing the project of red gene forging souls and educating people, and being a faithful descendant of the "declaration spirit"
Comment: I am not sure if the timing of this report has anything to do with the new outline, but the generally trend seems evident. Soul engineering is still a thing. - Engineers of the Soul: Ideology in Xi Jinping's China by John Garnaut
6. US-China
Trump plans to sign bill pressuring China over Uighur Muslim crackdown: source - Reuters
U.S. President Donald Trump plans to sign legislation calling for sanctions on Chinese officials responsible for oppressing Uighur Muslims, a source familiar with the matter said on Monday without offering a time frame for the signing.
Executive Order 12631 of March 18, 1988 (Working Group on Financial Markets), established the President’s Working Group on Financial Markets (PWG), which is chaired by the Secretary of the Treasury, or his designee, and includes the Chairman of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, the Chairman of the SEC, and the Chairman of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, or their designees. The Secretary of the Treasury shall convene the PWG to discuss the risks to investors described in section 1 of this memorandum and other risks to American investors and financial markets posed by the Chinese government’s failure to uphold its international commitments to transparency and accountability and its refusal to permit companies to comply with United States law.
Some background here - Update for Chinese SEC Reporting Companies: President Trump Mandates Report on PCAOB Access and Investor Protections | Paul, Weiss
Comment: This is one of things Trump said he would do in response to the Hong Kong National Security Law, no teeth in this so far. As the US stock market has recovered so quickly, a key metric for Trump and his reelection campaign, I would not expect him to push the Chinese too hard for fear of upsetting the market rally.
Lighthizer Says He Feels ‘Very Good’ About Phase One China Deal - Bloomberg
“On the structural changes, China has done a pretty good job,” Lighthizer said Thursday during a virtual event held by the Economic Club of New York. “And we’ve seen significant purchases over the course of the last many weeks.”
On the Chinese Communist Party’s Obscene Propaganda - United States Department of State
The Chinese Communist Party’s callous exploitation of the tragic death of George Floyd to justify its authoritarian denial of basic human dignity exposes its true colors yet again. As with dictatorships throughout history, no lie is too obscene, so long as it serves the Party’s lust for power. This laughable propaganda should not fool anyone...
Beijing in recent days has showcased its continuing contempt for the truth and scorn for law. The CCP’s propaganda efforts – seeking to conflate the United States’ actions in the wake of the death of George Floyd with the CCP’s continued denial of basic human rights and freedom – should be seen for the fraud that they are.
During the best of times, the PRC ruthlessly imposes communism. Amid the most difficult challenges, the United States secures freedom.
CCTV commentary: China’s battle against the virus is transparent, the nattering American politicians should shut up.
No one is able to reverse the trend of history - People's Daily Online
By stigmatizing Chinese students and researchers, the U.S. politicians are indeed fanning up the so-called external threat so that they can act tougher in diplomacy and seek political gains. Recently, legal and civil rights organization Asian Americans Advancing Justice denounced the U.S. ban on Chinese students from studying science, technology, engineering and mathematics in America, saying this move is rooted in the same racism and xenophobia that led to the expulsion of countless Chinese Americans and immigrants under the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882...
Learning alone without exchanges with others will lead to ignorance. The “decoupling” advocated by certain U.S. politicians, as well as the new “Cold War” they plan to launch against China, completely go against the trend of time.
Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Hua Chunying's Regular Press Conference on June 8, 2020
Beijing Youth Daily: US Secretary of State Pompeo said in a statement and on Twitter that the Communist Party of China callously exploited George Floyd's death for propaganda. Could you comment on that?
Hua Chunying: According to media reports, t oday in the US, there are more than 1.9 million confirmed COVID-19 cases and over 110,000 death tolls, while the mass protests caused by the death of George Floyd are still on-going. We are truly sorry for the American people, and we hope they can get over the difficulties as soon as possible.
Even under such circumstances, Mr. Pompeo is still full of lies and slanders. It's just sad. From Martin Luther King's speech "I have a dream" in 1963 to George Floyd's moan of "I cannot breathe", 57 years have passed, and yet equal rights is still a dream for ethnic minorities in the US, a country where serious systemic racism still exists. This is not foreign propaganda; this is a everyday phenomenon in the American society that should be reflected upon, as unanimously appealed by people from all walks of life in the US.
Navy sends another guided-missile destroyer through Taiwan Strait - Stripes
The guided-missile destroyer USS Russell passed through the Taiwan Strait last week, the Navy’s seventh such transit this year and the second in three weeks as the U.S. and China continue to step up their activities in the Western Pacific.
Chinese netizens discuss US politicians using telltale nicknames - Global Times
"Get tough, Comrade Jian'guo shouts from his bunker," which became a widely shared online meme across Chinese social media. "Comrade Chuan Jian'guo" - translated in this context as "Comrade Trump Building China" - is a widely known nickname for Trump given by Chinese internet users who suggested, though sarcastically, that Trump is contributing to China more than the US, considering how his many policies are harming the US and benefiting China instead.
George Floyd Killing Prompts Debate, Racism and Solidarity on Chinese Social Media - Radii China
Chinese state media has generally led with a narrative of “chaos” in the US and an apparent schadenfreude in light of American support for pro-democracy protestors in Hong Kong. Yet some have used this framing to start more constructive discussions. The tweeting of the words “all lives matter” by Foreign Ministry spokesperson Hua Chunying, for example led a number of accounts to unpack the term on popular microblogging site Weibo.
The original Chinese of that Zhong Sheng - 人民日报钟声：荒唐至极的甩锅逻辑--观点--人民网
U.S. politicians’ absurd act of scapegoating China won’t change facts - People's Daily Zhong Sheng
Recently, U.S. politicians have adopted new wording to scapegoat China for the spread of the COVID-19 around the globe, saying, “The world is now suffering as a result of the malfeasance of the Chinese government.”
What kind of logic is that? Just like in the story above, the ridiculous attempt from certain U.S. politicians to pass the buck onto China for its own faults is unreasonable and highly illogical.
Western media's sustained anti-China bias: Global Times editorial - Global Times
As China becomes increasingly important, the world needs voices from China. But a bumpy road lies ahead for China to expand its voices abroad.
Comment: And the platform for "China to expand its voices abroad" are mostly American-Twitter, Facebook and Youtube--along with TikTok and for the Chinese-speaking diaspora, Wechat
7. Big reads on US-China relations
In this essay from The Wire China Orville Schell takes the reader through the US-China relationship since 1972, in a piece that is sure to rankle some longtime China hands.
The Death of Engagement - The Wire China - Orville Schell
In the end, engagement’s end could not be blamed on any lack of American commitment or effort. It seems to me that the U.S. shown unprecedented creativity, first by entertaining a vision of peaceful transformation of a once militant Marxists-Leninist state and then by showing remarkable diplomatic leadership — and patience — in shepherding that vision through so many presidential administrations. As Kissinger recently put it, “our hope was that the values of the two sides would come closer together.”..
Without political reform and the promise of China transitioning to become more soluble in the existing world order, engagement no longer has a logic for the U.S. Beijing’s inability to reform, evolve, and make the bilateral relationship more reciprocal, open and level finally rendered the policy inoperable. Because Xi Jinping viewed just such changes threatening his one-party rule, there came to be an irreconcilable contradiction at the heart of engagement that killed itThe two presidents should declare a state of urgency, appoint trusted high-level plenipotentiaries and mandate them to form teams of specialists from business, policy, and academia to formulate a set of possible scenarios for lowering the temperature in each of the most important realms of the bi-lateral relationship.
Comment: I doubt it would work but it is worth trying; nothing else seems to be getting in the way of the daily acceleration of the downward spiral in US-China relations
The next story is an excerpt from Bob Davis and Lingling Wei's excellent new book “Superpower Showdown: How the Battle Between Trump and Xi Threatens a New Cold War” - The Soured Romance Between China and Corporate America - WSJ
Beijing’s huge market was no longer enough to ensure business support, especially as President Xi turned more and more to state direction of the economy.
The Chinese leader’s thinking on the subject solidified after an epic stock rally turned into an epic bust in 2015. In a closed-door meeting, Mr. Xi made clear his unhappiness with how his government had handled the market. The Economist magazine had put him on cover, portraying him with arms raised, trying in vain to hold up a plunging Chinese stock index. “I didn’t want to be on that cover,” Mr. Xi told his underlings, according to people with knowledge of the exchange. “But thanks to you, I made the cover.” His market-touting securities chief at the time went pale upon hearing the remarks. The official was sacked months later.
Later in the year, global investors seized on a brief Chinese experiment with a freer currency and pummeled the Chinese yuan, leading the central bank to set aside all other priorities to prop it up. In Mr. Xi’s view, the market had failed, while the state had come to the rescue.
Bob Davis and Lingling Wei on the 'Superpower Showdown' over Trade - The Wire China
we wrote about the “AnKe Project.” That’s a very ambitious policy designed to purge Chinese government agencies, as well as telecommunications companies and power grids, of foreign hardware or software. The design and the implementation of that policy has involved lots of Chinese companies. And, by the end of 2019, more than 180 Chinese tech firms like Huawei had joined that program, helping the government figure out exactly how [China] should go about doing this. So throughout the process, Chinese companies, especially state-owned and national champions like Huawei, were involved in the process [of advising] the government on what can [China] give to the Americans, and what are the areas [China] should hold its ground.
Yes, America Is in a Cold War With China - WSJ Oped By Rep. Gallagher
There’s always a risk of getting carried away, as politicians stumble over each other to stake out ever more hawkish positions on China. I have some personal experience that is relevant: McCarthy is from the district I represent in Congress, and he’s buried in my district. I’m the second Marine intelligence officer to be elected to Congress from Wisconsin. McCarthy was the first.
Yet even McCarthy’s excesses illustrate what is perhaps most remarkable about the Cold War: America messed up often, yet still succeeded. In this respect, “Cold War thinking” connotes a capacity for self-correction and an ability to learn from mistakes. That is something to be celebrated. For too long the U.S. has looked the other way as the Chinese Communist Party has waged a new cold war against the American order. We can deny that hard reality and lose, or confront it and win.
Mr. Gallagher, a Republican, represents Wisconsin’s Eighth Congressional District.
Comment: I am going on Rep Gallagher's podcast on Friday. Anything you want me to ask him if I get the chance?
8. China-India
LAC standoff | India-China border meeting sets stage for more talks - The Hindu
Lt. Gen. Harinder Singh, Commander of the Leh-based 14 Corps, led the Indian delegation to the Chinese border personnel meeting point at Moldo, opposite Chushul in eastern Ladakh. The Chinese side was represented by Maj. Gen. Liu Lin, Commander of the South Xinjiang military region....
While the outcome was not known, the talks were not believed to lead to any major breakthrough but only set the stage for further talks.
Unquiet in the Himalayas - Nation News
Government officials believe the Chinese probes are a direct fallout of the August 5 bifurcation of Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh into Union territories. Ladakh, particularly a triangular wedge of territory the Indian Army calls ‘Sub Sector North’, becomes crucial in this equation. It sits between Gilgit-Baltistan, occupied by Pakistan, and Aksai Chin, the arid easternmost fringe of Ladakh. Analysts say the Chinese incursions are part of a wider strategy of throwing India off balance in a territory whose geo-strategic importance is only set to increase as the government expands its air and road infrastructure, allowing its troops to patrol hitherto inaccessible frontier regions.
“Ladakh is a lakshman rekha for India,” warns P. Stobdan, India’s former ambassador to Kyrgyzstan. “We cannot afford to allow the Chinese in here. Once they come here, they are entering a water-rich area with three rivers, the Shyok, Galwan and Chang-Chenmo.”..
Locals in Ladakh have seen a gradual salami slicing of Indian territory over the years. A thin Indian army presence, they say, has seen many areas of Ladakh now literally absorbed as Chinese territory. Their greater fear is the altering of the LAC. “What is the LAC? It is not a permanent line, it has always been changing in favour of China. With every incursion, the LAC changes and they (the Chinese) usurp our pasture land. This time, too, they have done it,” says Rigzin Spalbar, former chairperson of the Ladakh Autonomous Hill Development Council.
Even if the military consequences of the current usurpations are debatable in any particular instance, the political significance of the Chinese intrusions is not. Given the disputes about what the territorial boundary between the two countries should be, any permanent Chinese presence up to the limits of its own claims inevitably implies an invasion of Indian territory and as such represents an unacceptable affront to New Delhi...
The current Sino-Indian border crisis has revealed that China has little respect for India’s long-standing efforts to freeze the status quo along the two countries’ disputed frontiers or for New Delhi’s cautious efforts to avoid the appearance of balancing against Beijing. Rather, treating India’s internal actions regarding Jammu and Kashmir as a provocation, it has chosen to expand its control over new parts of the Himalayan borderlands through brazen actions that confront India with the difficult choice of either lumping its losses or escalating through force if the negotiations presently under way yield meager returns. By so doing, it has forced India to join the rest of Asia in figuring out how to deal with the newest turn in China’s salami-slicing tactics, which now distinctively mark its trajectory as a rising power.
LAC standoff | India demands restoration of April status along LAC - The Hindu
Sources said the talks, which went on for several hours, remained inconclusive, but each side put across their issues, which would be conveyed to the respective governments and taken up in subsequent meetings. While India was firm on restoring the status quo of April and pull back of Chinese troops and equipment from inside India territory and along the LAC, the Chinese side raised objections to India’s infrastructure development.
Qian Feng, a senior fellow at the Taihe Institute and director of the research department of the National Strategy Institute at Tsinghua University in Beijing, told the Global Times on Monday that the recent talks involved high-ranking officers from both militaries, indicating that both sides are paying great attention to the situation and do not want to escalate it...
That being said, the ongoing standoff is not likely to end immediately, as concrete issues must still be resolved, Qian said. The trigger of the event, India's construction of infrastructure on Chinese territory, must be stopped, or China will not accept the situation, he said.
PLA conducts maneuvers in high-altitude NW China amid border tensions with India - Global Times
The Chinese People's Liberation Army (PLA) has organized a large-scale maneuver operation featuring thousands of paratroopers plus armored vehicles to the country's high-altitude northwestern region over a long distance from Central China's Hubei Province amid border tensions between China and India.
The entire process was completed in just a few hours, demonstrating China's capability of quickly reinforcing border defenses when necessary, experts said on Sunday...
A PLA veteran with experience in maneuvering from inland to high-altitude regions of China for missions told the Global Times on condition of anonymity on Sunday that the scale and short time it took to finish the mobilization showed the PLA has the capability to project its power anywhere in China very quickly and send reinforcements to remote locations with harsh environments, including high elevation.
China ratchets up media blitz on LAC - The Hindu
During the 72-day border stand-off with India at Doklam in 2017, state media broadcast regular images showcasing China’s military capabilities, aimed at both the domestic and overseas audience. The official PLA Daily in an August 2017 article described the strategy as aimed “to fully integrate the publicity forces of public opinion, radio, TV, newspapers and social media, and carry out a multi-wave and high-density centralised publicity in a fixed period of time to form favourable public opinion situation to allow for a final victory”.
The of the PLA maneuvers:
Business, Economy and Trade
海南省委书记：海南房地产大起大落的风险不会再出现 _中国经济网——国家经济门户 In a press conference about the Hainan Free Trade Port Hainan Provincial Secretary Li Cigui felt the need to say that the new free trade port will:
not allow endangering of national security;
not allow the destruction of the socialist system in terms of ideology;
not allow smuggling through trade in goods;
not allow prostitution, gambling or drugs;
not allow damage to the good ecological environment of Hainan,
and will not allow corrupt behavior during the construction process of the Hainan Free Trade Port
不允许危害国家安全、不允许在意识形态方面来破坏社会主义制度、不允许通过货物贸易走私、不允许搞黄赌毒、不允许破坏海南良好的生态环境、不允许在海南自贸港建设过程产生腐败，发生不廉洁的行为。
He also said there will not be another real estate bubble and crash in Hainan.
Mr. Liu is clearly well-versed in the history of Hainan.
Hainan Free Trade Port Will Have Services Trade ‘Negative List’ - Caixin Wang Shouwen, a vice minister of commerce and deputy China international trade representative, said at a Monday press briefing (link in Chinese) that China will work to create a negative list for cross-border trade in services within this year. The list will specify the areas in which overseas investors are restricted from entering, mostly likely those related to cross-border deliveries, overseas consumption and the movement of personnel. “Businesses of services trade under the three modes that aren’t mentioned in the list will be free to enter,” he said.
China’s state-owned firms remain barrier to EU investment deal | South China Morning Post Investment treaty talks between China and the European Union are entering their final phase, but issues such as the role of state-owned enterprises and the hefty subsidies they enjoy remain major stumbling blocks.
China’s Looming Budget Hole Poses Risk to Stimulus Efforts - Bloomberg Revenue will drop 5.3% this year, according estimates by the Ministry of Finance, the first decline in at least two decades. Income fell 14.3% in the first quarter and will continue contracting this quarter, before starting to grow again in the second half of the year, according to ministry forecasts.
Caixin Editorial: China Can and Should Join Asia-Pacific’s Largest Free-Trade Pact China’s experience of joining the WTO shows that even when some demands look out of reach, they can actually be met if we really stretch ourselves. Other countries with similar social systems and at similar developmental stages to China have already made the leap. China should once again open its arms to embrace the world, and proceed with confidence.
Entrepreneur Group Is Set Up to Pool Yangtze River Delta Talent The Yangtze River Delta Entrepreneur Alliance is packed with almost 100 heads of leading companies in key industries and chambers of commerce, such as Zhang Jindong, chairman of e-commerce giant Suning Holdings Group. It will serve as a communications bridge between entrepreneurs and the government as well as build platforms for collaboration on tech innovation and international exchanges.
China says Hainan will not adversely affect Hong Kong's status as trading hub - People's Daily Online The rise of Hainan will also not take a toll on Hong Kong's status, Lin Nianxiu, deputy head of the National Development and Reform Commission, told a press conference at which he was joined by other government officials, including Wang Shouwen, vice minister of commerce and deputy China international trade representative.
Anxin Trust Controller Detained on Illegal Lending Allegation - Caixin Gao Tianguo, who controls Shanghai Gorgeous Investment Development Co. Ltd., the biggest shareholder of Anxin with a 52.44% stake, has been detained on suspicion of violating a law that prohibits irresponsible lending practices that result in large losses, according to an Anxin filing with the Shanghai Stock Exchange on Saturday.
Rental platform Qingke leaves tenants trapped in loan contracts Tenants of Nasdaq-listed apartment rental platform Qingke say they’re finding themselves out of a home and in debt as the company comes under fire online after failing to pay rentals or deposits to its users, fueling rumors of insolvency.
Securities Regulator Names New Head of IPO Division - Caixin The China Securities Regulatory Commission (CSRC) has named Yan Bojin as the new head of its Department of Public Offering Supervision
Tencent Launches Sesame Credit Competitor - Caixin Chinese tech giant Tencent Holdings Ltd. has launched a credit scoring system based on what users buy over its ubiquitous WeChat app, allowing it to offer consumer credit services on its platform.
Didi Chuxing CEO says ride sharing orders recover to pre-pandemic levels - Reuters Didi’s peak daily ride sharing orders surpassed 30 million, Cheng said in a statement on Saturday, adding that the company’s bike sharing business, Didi Bike, saw daily orders reaching 10 million.
财新：独家|恒丰银行原董事长蔡国华明日受审 被控五宗罪案涉逾百亿 Caixin reported that Cai Guohua, former president of the state-run HengFeng Bank in Shandong, will stand trial Tuesday for abusing power, graft, embezzlement and taking bribes…the money involved reportedly exceeds 10 billion RMB. His predecessor was given suspended death sentence in 2019 for similar charges.
财新：独家|瑞幸董事长陆正耀参与造假证据浮出国内难脱罪 Chinese regulators told Caixin that their investigation found evidence of Luckin CEO Lu Zhengyao’s involvement in the company’s financial fraud, and he will be charged in China even though the company is registered in Cayman Islands and listed in the US. Caixin said Lu still holds Chinese passport despite rumors of his Canadian and HK citizenship.
鞠启明：把红色基因融入企业文化（中国道路中国梦） An official of the CCP organization department in Henan wrote in People’s Daily Monday that having Party cells in private companies can improve management and company performance.
Politics and Law
Xi inspects northwest China's Ningxia - Xinhua On Monday afternoon, Xi visited a village, a section of the Yellow River, and a residential community in the city of Wuzhong to learn about efforts to advance poverty alleviation, strengthen ecological protection of the Yellow River, and promote ethnic unity
Xi sends letter to congratulate Harbin Institute of Technology on 100th anniversary - Xinhua Noting the outstanding contributions it has made to the Party and the people, Xi called on the institute to better impart knowledge, educate people and conduct scientific research through continuous efforts in reforming, innovating and striving for excellence...Founded in 1920, Harbin Institute of Technology is a key Chinese university with notable strength in space science, robotics and engineering.
平安中国建设协调小组社会治安组第一次会议召开-中国长安网 First meeting of the Safe China Construction Coordinating Small Group's "public order 社会治安" group met for the first time on June 8. Lin Rui, a Deputy Minister of Public Security" is head of this group.// 6月8日，平安中国建设协调小组社会治安组第一次会议召开，公安部党委委员、副部长、社会治安组组长林锐出席并讲话。他强调，要认真贯彻落实平安中国建设协调小组第一次会议精神，提升政治站位、抓住重点关键、密切协作联动，在常态化疫情防控条件下，齐心协力做好今年社会治安组各项工作，不断开创社会治安工作新局面，为建设更高水平的平安中国作出积极贡献。
Senior Beijing official lays out China’s view on national security risks to the nation | South China Morning Post A senior Beijing official offered the central government’s clearest definition yet on national security on Monday, saying that rather than focusing only on traditional and territorial threats, China must also manage risks in areas ranging from finance to internet and nuclear security. Speaking in a webinar, Zhang Yong, vice-chairman of the Basic Law Committee under the National People’s Congress (NPC) Standing Committee, also criticised the Hong Kong government for failing to make progress on enacting national security legislation since the city was returned from British rule 23 years ago, making it necessary for Beijing to take action.
Xinjiang official on corruption charges after ‘lavish wedding for son’ | South China Morning Post Enwaer Tursun, 54, the head of “united front” operations in the Uygur-majority prefecture of Kashgar, has been accused of serious violations of party discipline and national law, euphemisms for corruption. The Central Commission for Discipline Inspection, China’s top anti-corruption watchdog, said on Monday that Tursun had “lost faith in [Communist] ideology, was dishonest with the party, and had refused to implement the important decisions and measures of the central [leadership]”. // 拒不执行党中央重大决策部署的新疆厅官 - 综合 - 新京报网
The Emperor’s New Buzzword | China Media Project Clearly, when online sources and party-state media suggest that the “two mountains” theory was raised by Xi Jinping during an inspection tour of Zhejiang’s Anji County in 2005, and the suggestion is made on national television that Anji is “the place where ‘green waters and green mountains are gold mountains and silver mountains’” was invented, this does not accord at all with the facts.
Top procuratorate launches online platforms for public complaints - Xinhua The Supreme People's Procuratorate (SPP) on Monday launched an online system with several platforms to receive complaints and petitions from the general public regarding procuratorial work. Members of the public can file their petitions through a special channel at the SPP's information transparency website or via the SPP's mobile application or WeChat account.
China to carry out general survey on natural disaster risks - Gov.cn The State Council released a circular on June 8 on the decision to conduct the first general survey project on composite natural disaster risks, which will last from 2020 to 2022, in an effort to beef up national comprehensive capabilities to prevent natural disasters.
武汉市人大常委会原副主任孙应征接受审查调查————执纪审查——中央纪委国家监委网站 Sun Yingzhen, former vice chair of the municipal people's congress, us under investigation. He retired in October 2019, so does not look related to the epidemic.
Foreign and Defense Affairs
Xi says China-Myanmar ties at key juncture linking past and future - Xinhua In an exchange of congratulatory messages with his Myanmar counterpart, U Win Myint, to celebrate the 70th anniversary of bilateral diplomatic ties, Xi said he attaches great importance to the development of China-Myanmar relations.
Tourism loss may be just tip of iceberg in China-Australia row - Global Times The Chinese Ministry of Culture and Tourism released on Friday a statement warning its citizens not to travel to Australia due to a "significant increase" in racism against Chinese and Asian people. However, Australian politicians seem to disagree with a travel alert warning issued by China. Australian Deputy Prime Minister Michael McCormack claimed that, "There hasn't been a wave of outbreaks of violence against Chinese people." Or, as the Tourism Minister Simon Birmingham put it, the warning has "no basis in fact."
U.S., Russia agree on June nuclear arms talks, invite China: U.S. envoy - Reuters The United States and Russia have agreed on a time and place for nuclear arms negotiations in June and invited China, U.S. Special Envoy for Arms Control Marshall Billingslea wrote on Twitter on Monday.
NATO chief urges allies not to go it alone - AP NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg on Monday urged the 30 members of the world’s biggest military alliance to defend the rules-based global order and to champion democracy amid challenges from Russia and China.
阎学通：没有一个国家希望中国崛起，如果有必有所求 - 西瓜视频 excerpts of a March 19 talk by Yan Xuetong on why no other country will welcome China's rise unless it as seen as being beneficial for the world...gee, wonder who he is criticizing...
Chinese investment in Australia lowest in 10 years, super funds urged to spend - The Sydney Morning Herald There was a 58.4 per cent drop in Chinese investment in local businesses last year, bringing the total spend down to US$2.4 billion ($3.4 billion). This is the lowest level of investment since 2007, a new report released by KPMG and the University of Sydney on Tuesday shows, and about $1.5 billion of this total investment was through the sale of Tasmanian infant formula producer Bellamy's Australia to Inner Mongolia's China Mengniu Dairy Company.
Russia and China should be viewed as 'one alliance' in the Arctic, U.K. defense official warns - POLITICO “We cannot distinguish much, as you have arguably two power competitors there, in the American perspective, they should be treated as one alliance,” Tobias Ellwood, the U.K.’s chair of the Defence Select Committee in the House of Commons, said in a Center for Strategic and International Studies virtual panel on High North security issues.
Angela Merkel and the EU Trapped between China and the U.S. - DER SPIEGEL the German chancellor has no illusions about either of the superpowers. A source close to Merkel says she has explained the situation as follows: There is little one can do to influence the two superpowers anyway.
Angola seeks to rethink debt deal with China as oil revenue slumps | South China Morning Post Angola pioneered the concept of oil-backed loans as an easy way to access Chinese funding for infrastructure development projects, but every time the price of the fuel slumps, the southern African nation suffers.
China’s hypersonic cruise missile sees technological breakthrough: reports - Global Times A team led by Fan Xuejun at the Institute of Mechanics under the Chinese Academy of Sciences has developed a type of scramjet that ran continuously for 600 seconds in a ground test, Weihutang, a program on military affairs affiliated with state broadcaster China Central Television (CCTV), reported on over the weekend.
China Has Turned Globalization Into A Communist Party Tool - Foreign Policy - Matt Scrader In a recent report for the German Marshall Fund’s Alliance for Securing Democracy, I examined what makes this interference distinct from other authoritarian actors like Russia. The report finds that the party’s interference in democratic countries is characterized by five mutually reinforcing factors: weaponization of China’s economy, attempts to dominate the global conversation about China, a reliance on elite intermediaries, targeting the Chinese diaspora, and a tendency to embed authoritarian norms
科罗廖夫：【针锋相对呀，看谁的中文更溜】 On Weibo the Iranian embassy to China is attacking the US racial problems, virus outbreak and looming economic crisis, while the US embassy is attacking Iran for its inflation and support to terrorism. Netizens are watching this with great joy
Hong Kong and Macao
Hong Kong relaxes quarantine rules for largest listed firms such as Tencent and Alibaba | South China Morning Post Christopher Hui Ching-yu, who took the job in April, said in an interview that these companies will be able to send two directors or executives every month to the city for the signing of deals, to attend meetings and for other company affairs.
HK residents rush for offshore bank accounts over China law worries - Reuters HSBC and Standard Chartered have each seen a 25 to 30 per cent jump in enquiries, two of the people said. All five have direct knowledge about the rise in interest but did not want to be named as they were not authorised to speak to media.
Taiwan
Han Kuo-yu becomes first mayor in Taiwan to be recalled (update) - Focus Taiwan The final results of the election showed 939,090 votes (97.4 percent) in favor of the recall and 25,051 (2.6 percent) against, with 42.14 percent turnout, according to the Kaohsiung City Election Commission.
Tech and Media
Exclusive: ByteDance Cuts Domestic Engineers' Data Access to TikTok, Other Overseas Products- PingWestMultiple internal sources confirmed to PingWest that ByteDance has recently implemented a restriction on domestic employees' access to code bases for overseas products. According to the sources, the new internal policy means that those employees who are currently in China, working on apps and services for the home market, are now largely stripped of access to "sensitive data" of ByteDance's slew of overseas products, including but not limited to TikTok. The sources spoke under the condition of anonymity because they were forbidden to speak to the press.
Society, Arts, Sports, Culture and History
第七次人口普查用电子化方式 不必担心个人信息泄露_腾讯新闻 Economics daily: The National Bureau of Statistics will soon start the 7th population census(once every ten years) and said they will use digital devices to collect data to prevent personal information leakage.
Energy, Environment, Science and Health
财新：深圳航道项目环评报告抄袭，中科院南海所被罚 Chinese Academy of Engineering is fined three million RMB by the Shenzhen government for plagiarizing in an environmental assessment it did for a dredging project. Citing some business insiders, Caixin said the incident suggests environment assessment in China are never independent because these assessments are paid by the construction company.
央视新闻：[视频]我国“海斗一号”全海深潜水器成功进行万米海试 Chinese researchers said their unmanned submarine Haidou-1 has reached 10-km depth in a latest research trip to the Mariana Trench. This is a new record for a China-made submarine.
Rural and Agricultural Issues
'Sea rice' planted on Qinghai-Tibet Plateau for first time - People's Daily Online The saltwater-tolerant rice made by the team of China's "father of hybrid rice" Yuan Longping has reportedly been planted on the Qaidam Basin of the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau for the first time, pumping up public confidence in food production amid security worries arising from the COVID-19 epidemic
As far as the second nuclear power station in the UK is concerned, there is a general feeling here that Chinese threat to pullout is a God-given excuse not to proceed with it. The cost of wind power from the North Sea is falling all the time, and even the power station under construction now may turn out to be a white elephant.
Like in Australia, I think British public opinion has very much swung against China.
In his discussion regarding the death of engagement between America and China, Orville Schell reminds us of Henry Kissinger's comment concerning our our nations' attempts at rapprochement -- namely, that “our hope was that the values of the two sides would come closer together.”.. It seems that now, under the two nations' present leaders, Kissinger was spot on.