Shaanxi mining case and private business; Italy and BRI; Huawei and “Manchurian chips”
Happy Monday! Not feeling particularly insightful today so no commentary to start the newsletter.
Thanks for reading.
The Essential Eight
1. More on the coming new Foreign Investment Law
In-Depth: New Foreign Investment Law Goes on Fast Track - Caixin:
With less than three months between its first and third readings, the draft Foreign Investment Law has passed through the legislative process at a dizzying speed last seen when China enacted the seven landmark laws of 1979.
Commentary: A landmark law in China's opening up - Xinhua
The draft Foreign Investment Law, being reviewed by the National People's Congress (NPC), China's national legislature, is a fundamental law for China's foreign investment and innovative improvement of its foreign investment legal system. It will promote and protect foreign investment in China by creating a stable, transparent and predictable market environment for fair competition.
People's Daily says foreign enterprise executives are very positive on the new law and the boost in confidence it will bring: 外企高管热议外商投资法：吃下“定心丸” 增强投资信心
Robots, China's Disruptive Industrial Strategy and National Power:
The key to remember is that current economy has the resources to absorb a large amount of wasteful spending. That model will come under increasing pressure as savings rates fall, but today the government has a lot of say in the allocation of the 40-50% of GDP which is saved each year, whether its by favoring certain sectors for capital market access or bank lending. Pointing to the waste is missing the point; the system is set up to absorb the waste. Its the cost those in charge are happy to live with. It may not maximize public welfare, but it does grow National Power.
Finally, then, the US-China trade talks. Nothing in the reported deal changes anything in the broad tech space. Of course, outside of tariffs and the deal, the technology side of the relationship will continue to be difficult for Beijing, with expanding US export controls, greater CFIUS oversight, more IP theft cases like Fujian Jinhua et al. But no one should be under any illusion that the new Foreign Investment Law, the clamming up about Manufacturing 2025, or officially eliminating technology-transfer requirements will make any difference.
If anything, the last year has meant more elite paranoia, a greater urgency to build National Power, and thus more of China’s Disruptive Industrial Strategy.
Comment: And foreign investors should be under no illusions if their interests clash with those of powerful PRC ones. As the Zhao Faqi case (see next item) shows, the Party will protect its own.
2. More Shaanxi mining case fallout
Chris Buckley interviewed the entrepreneur in the case that led to the recent detention of a judge who claimed official interference in the case. Now the entrepreneur has disappeared as well, though it is unclear if he has been detained or is in hiding.
This case is remarkable for many reasons, but especially coming in the midst of the massive propaganda push to reassure private businesspeople it is another reminder that the interests of the Party, and of senior officials, will always trump the legal rights of private businesspeople without their own powerful backers.
Chinese Entrepreneur Takes On the System, and Drops Out of Sight - The New York Times
For months, Zhao Faqi was a folk hero for entrepreneurs in China — an investor who fought the government in court and online, and against the odds, seemed poised to win. He accused officials of stealing his rights to coal-rich land, and ignited a furor by accusing China’s most powerful judge of corruption...
“I’ve faced a lot of risks and pressure because of this lawsuit,” Mr. Zhao said in an interview in Beijing a few weeks before he disappeared. Chinese entrepreneurs, he said, yearned for the rule of law to replace arbitrary power. “You can’t say someone is protected one day, and take away protection the next day.”..
When the Supreme People’s Court acknowledged a problem and party investigators opened a high-level inquiry, Mr. Zhao was cautiously hopeful.
“It’s progress toward the rule of law,” Mr. Zhao said in an interview at the time. “But the outcome is unclear.”
Mr. Zhao was right to be cautious. Earlier this month, the government released the findings from the investigation, and they were damning for him and his supporters.
As leadership boosts for private entrepreneurs continue - Xi joins deliberation with Fujian deputies at annual legislative session - Xinhua:
"[We] should create a favorable development environment for innovation, entrepreneurship and creativity," said Xi..
Xi stressed creating favorable conditions for the development of small and medium-sized enterprises and young people, and establishing an acceleration mechanism for high-tech companies.
He urged solid implementation of the policies and measures to encourage, guide and support the development of the private sector.
On Taiwan:
Xi called for efforts to explore new ways for integrated development across the Taiwan Strait.
The two sides of the Taiwan Strait should enhance economic and trade cooperation, infrastructure connectivity, energy and resource exchanges, and shared industry standards, he said.
Cross-Strait cooperation and cultural exchanges should be strengthened, he added.
3. Big promotion for Hu Jintao's son
The promotion will elevate Hu Haifeng, 46, to vice-ministerial rank and set him up for future career advancement. Hu is now the party boss of Lishui, a much smaller city in the coastal province Zhejiang.
Xian is the capital of Shaanxi province and Hu will also become a member of the provincial party’s standing committee...
Hu, a graduate of computer science from Beijing Jiaotong University, did not enter into politics until 2013. He worked as a senior engineer at state-owned Tsinghua Holdings and later became the president of Nuctech, a security scanning equipment maker controlled by Tsinghua Holdings.
4. Huawei and “Manchurian chips”
During an appearance on Fox News Channel’s “Sunday Morning Futures,” National Security Advisor John Bolton discussed the ongoing saga between Huawei, whose CFO is awaiting extradition from Canada to the United States.
Bolton discussed the threat of Huawei to U.S. national security and claimed the indictment of Huawei CFO Meng Wanzhou, daughter of founder Ren Zhengfei, on fraud charges, wasn’t a “political act.”...
the United States, along with a number of other countries, allies, and friends of ours, sometime back decided not to procure Huawei equipment for our national security-related telecommunication systems, and I think for very, very good reasons.
People sometimes call the concern the Manchurian chip problem, that something gets into the telecommunication system that can be activated down the road.
If an American company, with an American CFO, had done what the Justice Department accused Huawei of, we’d throw the book at them.
Drop Huawei or See Intelligence Sharing Pared Back, U.S. Tells Germany - WSJ $$
The Trump administration has told the German government it would limit the intelligence it shares with German security agencies if Berlin allows Huawei Technologies Co. to build Germany’s next-generation mobile-internet infrastructure.
In a letter dated Friday and seen by The Wall Street Journal, U.S. Ambassador to Germany Richard A. Grenell wrote to Germany’s economics minister that the U.S. wouldn’t be able to keep intelligence and other information sharing at their current level if Germany allowed Huawei or other Chinese vendors to participate in building the country’s 5G network.
Poland 'faces 5G delay' by 2&3 years without Huawei: Envoy - Global Times:
Poland will see its 5G network construction process delayed by two to three years if the country bars China's Huawei Technologies from participating in the build-out of 5G networks, Chinese Ambassador to Poland Liu Guangyuan told the Global Times in a recent interview.
"The Polish telecoms industry has developed rapidly thanks to Huawei Technologies and other companies. As the Chinese company is in the leading position in the 5G sector with both technology and cost advantages, it is the best partner for European countries in embracing the 5G era," he said.
In a rare joint statement published Monday, leaders working for leading U.S. and international institutions said the arrest of Michael Kovrig of the International Crisis Group on vague allegations of endangering national security is having a “chilling effect” on efforts to improve the bilateral relationship.
Joint Statement Calling for the Immediate Release of Michael Kovrig | Crisis Group
5. US-China
China Suggests a Trade Compromise With the Trump Administration - The New York Times:
Wang Shouwen, China’s vice minister of commerce for international trade negotiations, raised a possible compromise at a news conference in Beijing on Saturday morning. He said China would be amenable to an agreement that gave each side an equal right to take trade actions against the other side after an agreement was struck.
“Any implementation mechanism must go in both directions, fair and equal,” Mr. Wang said, using China’s preferred term for an enforcement mechanism. He spoke at an annual news conference given by the Chinese Commerce Ministry’s top officials
U.S. and China Near Currency Deal, but Provisions May Not Be New - The New York Times:
Yi Gang, the governor of China’s central bank, said at a news conference on Sunday morning in Beijing that during high-level trade talks last month in Washington, “the two sides reached consensus on many key and important issues” about currency markets.
The consensus included an understanding that both countries would avoid devaluing their currencies to achieve a competitive advantage for their exports, Mr. Yi said. Both countries would also continue to comply with previous currency agreements among the Group of 20 economies, he said. Both countries would also maintain close communication about currency markets and would disclose detailed information in accordance with International Monetary Fund standards, he added.
Trump Kept Allies at Bay in China Trade Talks - WSJ $$:
France’s President Emmanuel Macron came to the White House last April hoping to join forces with President Trump in confronting China on its trade and business practices.
Mr. Macron’s bid for a united front went nowhere, according to people briefed on the discussion. Mr. Trump instead told Mr. Macron he didn’t want to see the European Union reaping the benefits of a U.S.-China trade pact, these people said.
Nearly a year later, Mr. Trump continues to keep European allies at arm’s length, declining to share details of the draft trade agreement—which he has called “my deal,” according to these people, who include officials from several European countries...
The senior director for Asian affairs on the White House National Security Council (NSC), Matt Pottinger, visited Vanuatu and Solomon Islands last week for meetings with top politicians and officials. Mr Pottinger also visited Australia, New Zealand and Japan...
Ashley Townshend from the United States Studies Centre at Sydney University said Mr Pottinger's visit showed Washington recognised the "new strategic reality" in the Pacific...
Mr Townshend said China's growing presence and influence in the region — as well as the increasing threat posed by illegal fishing and transnational crime — had concentrated minds in Washington.
China trying to influence US, Australia: Trump adviser Bolton - SBS:
Mr Bolton, in a US TV interview on Sunday, said China's efforts to influence opinion in America via Confucius Centres and other ways trumped Russia's election hacking.
"It really is far greater in magnitude than any other foreign effort we have seen in history to influence American opinion and it's not just confined to the United States," Mr Bolton told Fox News' Maria Bartiromo.
"They are doing it in Australia and other countries - close friends of ours.
US commander hints that quad grouping may be shelved - The Washington Post:
A U.S. military commander suggested Thursday that a loose security grouping of his country, Japan, Australia and India, also known as the quad, may be shelved for now.
Adm. Phil Davidson, who heads the U.S. Indo-Pacific Command, said he was on a panel with the other navy chiefs at the Raisina Dialogue, a multilateral conference in New Delhi in January.
6. Influence peddling and the Trump Administration
The latest Trump political donor to draw controversy is Li Yang, a 45-year-old Florida entrepreneur from China who founded a chain of spas and massage parlors that included the one where New England Patriots owner Bob Kraft was recently busted for soliciting prostitution. She made the news this week when the Miami Herald reported that last month she had attended a Super Bowl viewing party at Donald Trump’s West Palm Beach golf club and had snapped a selfie with the president during the event. Though Yang no longer owns the spa Kraft allegedly visited, the newspaper noted that other massage parlors her family runs have “gained a reputation for offering sexual services.” (She told the newspaper she has never violated the law.) Beyond this sordid tale, there is another angle to the strange story of Yang: She runs an investment business that has offered to sell Chinese clients access to Trump and his family. And a website for the business—which includes numerous photos of Yang and her purported clients hobnobbing at Mar-a-Lago, Trump’s private club in Palm Beach—suggests she had some success in doing so.
According to the profile of Yang that appears on the Chinese-language site Freewechat—which compiles posts from the Chinese social media platform WeChat—she was invited in 2016 “to serve as a member of the National Committee of the Asian American Republican Party.” The story notes that Yang was also tapped for senior roles in two other groups focused on China-related issues: the Florida branch of the Council for the Promotion of the Peaceful Reunification of China (CPPRC) and the Miami chapter of the American arm of the Chinese Association of Science and Technology. Both organizations have direct links to China’s Communist Party, and the CPPRC has been described as a vehicle for projecting Chinese influence in the West.
The Asian spa founder who joined Trump’s MAGA movement | Miami Herald:
Seated at a round table littered with party favors and the paper-cutout footballs that have become tradition at his annual Super Bowl Watch Party, President Donald Trump cheered the New England Patriots and his longtime friend, team owner Robert Kraft, to victory over the Los Angeles Rams on Feb. 3.
Sometime during the party at Trump’s West Palm Beach country club, the president turned in his chair to look over his right shoulder, smiling for a photo with two women at a table behind him.
The woman who snapped the blurry Super Bowl selfie with the president was Li Yang, 45, a self-made entrepreneur from China who started a chain of Asian day spas in South Florida…
She sometimes carries a rhinestone encrusted MAGA clutch purse.
Comment: Yang also posted to her Facebook page pictures she says were of her in a meeting at the White House:
7. Italy leaning towards signup up for Belt and Road
Leaked memo reveals China’s detailed plans in Italy – EURACTIV.com:
China plans to cooperate with Italy in the development of “roads, railways, bridges, civil aviation, ports, energy, and telecommunications” as part of Beijing’s Belt and Road Initiative, a confidential ‘memorandum of understanding’ obtained exclusively by EURACTIV reveals.
The document also states that China is seeking to cooperate in EU investment plans “by supporting synergies between the Belt and Road Initiative and priorities identified in the Investment Plan for Europe and Trans-European Networks”...
China’s President Xi is due to visit Rome on March 22, by which time the talks are likely to have been concluded.
In some preparatory documents for Xi’s visit that have been circulating, a signing ceremony of the memorandum is scheduled, with the involvement of Italy’s Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte and deputy Prime Minister Luigi Di Maio.
Exclusive -- Marco Rubio Rips Italy for 'Desire to Curry Favor with Chinese':
“Italy’s reported desire to curry favor with the Communist Chinese government by endorsing the ‘Belt and Road Initiative’ is stunningly naive,” Rubio told Breitbart News. “China’s goal is simple – undermine foreign competition by stealing intellectual property and trade secrets, and artificially propping up Chinese state-directed actors at the expense of its trading ‘partners’. As we in the U.S. are learning, the long-term economic and national security risks far outweigh any increases in Chinese foreign investment or increased exports to China. Until the Chinese government fundamentally alters its goals and methods, the U.S. and its allies should remain wary of tighter economic engagement.”
US National Security Council tweeted its opposition to Italy signing up to the BRI:
Comment: In the absence of credible alternatives the US protests ring hollow and have shades of the failed campaign against the AIIB during the Obama Administration.
Italy signs up for belt and road infrastructure summit in China | South China Morning Post:
China’s “Belt and Road Initiative” infrastructure plan could be good news for Italy, Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte said on Friday, confirming that he might sign an accord with Chinese President Xi Jinping later this month...
Conte said he planned to attend a belt and road summit in China in April and promised to bring European Union trade standards to the ambitious project.
8. He Di on Chen Xiaolu
Mingjing has published a long and very interesting essay by He Di memorializing the life of his friend and fellow princeling Chen Xiaolu, son of Marshal Chen Yi who died last year. Chen was caught up in the investigation over Anbang and this essay is clearly an attempt to clear his name.
今天是小鲁周年忌日，亲友们聚集在上海福寿园新四军陵园旁，为小鲁纪念像揭幕并安放小鲁的骨灰，让他回到父母的身边。去年编辑的小鲁纪念文集，暂时无法出版，只能由李菁根据亲友回忆撰写了文章，发表在三联生活周刊上。我在追思会上作了发言，并将去年撰写回忆小鲁的文章放在网上，以寄托对小鲁深深的怀念。
Interesting bit on the cooperation between the Scowcroft Group and one of the Standards Group companies He Di and Chen Xiaolu, along with other princelings, including Liu Shaoqi's son Liu Yuan I believe, set up. Smart of the Scowcroft Group to work with these guys, no better guanxi at the time in China:
在引进外资方面，我们也做了大量有意义的工作。为了争取国际大客户，我 们和美国前安全委员会顾 斯考克罗夫特(Brent Scowcroft)的事务所结为联盟， 他们做美国来华投资的顾问，我们做中国方面 地的协调。其中一项是有百年历 史的美国保险公司Chubb来华设立办事处，并申请牌照开展业务 Chubb的CEO 访华，斯考克罗夫特事务所是他的顾问，他们还邀了Chubb的老朋友老布什总 统给他站台。他们来访需要中方邀请单位，“标国”不够格，小鲁和我找到中信 集团总经理秦晓，请中信作为邀 单位。访问非常成功，为了表示感谢，老布什 特别安排了与“标国”合伙人见面
He Di says Chen was screwed over by Anbang fuonder Wu Xiaohui and never owned what people thought he did. He Di say Chen was brought in to assist with the investigation into Wu and Anbang, but never charged.
Business, Economy, Finance And Trade
Central bank: Monetary policy has wiggle room - People's Daily Online China's M2, a broad measure of the money supply that covers cash in circulation and all deposits, rose 8 percent from a year earlier to 186.74 trillion yuan ($27.8 trillion) at the end of February, the People's Bank of China reported a few minutes before the news conference. The growth pace slowed from January's 8.4 percent. Financial institutions issued 885.8 billion yuan in new loans in February, down significantly from the record-high 3.23 trillion yuan in January, the bank reported.
Central Bank Says Still Room for Reserve Ratio Cut but Less Than Before - Caixin The goal of monetary policy is to provide countercyclical adjustment, which means monetary supply should be neither too tight nor too loose, Yi said. China aims to keep growth in TSF and M2, a broader measure of the money supply that covers all cash in circulation plus deposits, roughly in line with nominal gross domestic product growth this year, he said. In addition, the central bank will optimize the structure of monetary policy to further support private and small businesses, and focus on the domestic economic situation while taking the international environment into account when setting monetary policy, he said.
China Makes Property Tax a Legislative Priority - Caixin Talk of instituting a property tax has been circulating since the start of the decade. But worries that such a tax would hurt the property market and disagreements on how a tax should be calculated and collected have left the issue contentious... Multiple experts told Caixin that property tax legislation would be complicated and time-consuming. They said they expected it wouldn’t be completed this year.
Yicai Global - Beijing Court Bans China's Top Property Brokerage, Founder From 'High Consumption' Chairman Zuo Hui and his Lianjia Real Estate Agency are barred from taking flights, spending in star-rated hotels, restaurants and golf courses, among other costly forms of consumption, according to the order. Beijing-based Lianjia did not make a payment within a specified time in a lawsuit where the plaintiff accused it of unjust enrichment and demanded the firm execute a house contract.
Legislator Admits Some Governments’ Unofficial Debt Exceeds Limit on Official Borrowing - Caixin The Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress (NPC), China’s top legislature, surveyed of local governments’ “hidden debt” to confirm the exact extent of such borrowing, said Zhu Mingchun, a vice chairman of the committee’s Budgetary Affairs Commission...“The size of some local governments’ hidden debt is rather big and the rate of increase is quite fast. The value of the hidden debt of some local governments has exceeded the legal quota of their official debt,” Zhu said at a press conference on Sunday. “The risks of some regions are quite outstanding.”
Foreign Investors Will Get More Tools to Bet on Chinese Stocks - Caixin The operator of the Hong Kong Stock Exchange said Monday it has signed a license agreement with the global index provider, to introduce futures contracts on the index, which will by November comprise 421 large- and mid-cap A-shares which are available to foreign investors through the Stock Connect programs that link mainland and Hong Kong markets
China to punish makers, sellers of fake products "until bankruptcy" - Xinhua "We will make the manufacturers and sellers of fakes products pay the price until bankruptcy," Zhang Mao, head of the State Administration for Market Regulation, told a press conference on the sidelines of the annual legislative session. They will also be exposed to the public and "have no place to hide under the sunshine," Zhang said.
China's NBS taking over regional GDP data - Global Times Starting this year, the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) will take over the accounting for GDP statistics in all provinces, autonomous regions and municipalities, and it will no longer rank the GDP values or growth rates of different regions, according to a report by finance.china.com on Monday. Experts and officials said the move is part of the central government's efforts to combat fraud in the calculation of GDP. The shift could also mean the inclusion of new businesses that haven't been counted in the statistics so far.
China auto sales fall 14 percent in February, mark eighth month of decline | Reuters Sales of new energy vehicles, such as electric cars, rose 53.6 percent year-on-year in February, the group said. “The trend experienced last year has continued into this year, and the economic situation has also been weak. This has dragged down consumption,” CAAM’s Deputy Secretary General Shi Jianhua told reporters at a news briefing in Beijing.
China's Stock Bulls Take Back Control With Familiar Monday Rally - Bloomberg The ChiNext Index led with a 4.4 percent gain, closing at its highest since June and extending this year’s surge to 38 percent. The gauge, made up mostly of private startups in the tech hub of Shenzhen, has kicked off the past five weeks with a rally of more than 3 percent. The Shanghai Composite Index added 1.9 percent, closing above the key 3,000-point level after its second-worst decline in three years on Friday.
China and Indonesia Order Grounding of Boeing 737 Max 8 Aircraft - The New York Times On a commercial level, China’s aviation sector could actually benefit from the tragedies in Indonesia and Ethiopia. A government-owned company in Shanghai has begun doing flight tests of a Chinese-made alternative to the Boeing 737, called the Comac C919. The C919 is the cornerstone of China’s effort to build a commercial aviation competitor to Boeing and Airbus. The C919 has already attracted hundreds of orders from air carriers in China’s state-controlled airline industry, and it is scheduled to deliver the plane starting in 2021
China spreading ‘positive news’ of strong export rebound in early March after February plunge | South China Morning Post China’s unusual advance release of trade data in early March was a bid to spread “positive news that could help shore up confidence” after exports in February posted the steepest drop in three years, analysts said. Exports in the first nine days of March surged 39.9 per cent, compared with the same period last year, according to detailed data released over the weekend by the General Administration of Customs.
Alibaba furthers logistics push, invests $693 million for 14.65% of STO Express · TechNode The company’s controlling shareholder, Shanghai Deyin Investment Holdings Co. Ltd., will set up a joint venture with Alibaba, according to a securities filing dated Monday. Deyin Investment will hold a 51% stake in the new company by investing 29.90% of its STO Express shares. Alibaba will invest RMB 4.66 billion ($693.44 million) for 49% of the joint venture.
Politics, Law And Ideology
Language and vocational training provide Xinjiang with long-term poverty relief - Global Times The same efforts are true with vocational education and training which have improved local living standards. The training is not only aimed at ethnic minority groups but part of poverty relief measures in Xinjiang and is open to everyone. The efforts provide further equal footing to ethnic minority groups. Despite favorable policies for ethnic minority groups in recent years, many still live in poverty, especially in southern Xinjiang. Teaching them vocational skills will help poverty alleviation efforts in the long run.
中共中央办公厅发出《关于解决形式主义突出问题为基层减负的通知》 明确2019年为“基层减负年”--时政--人民网 Notice on Reducing Burden at the Grass-roots Level to Solve Outstanding Formalism Problems clearly states that 2019 is the " Year of Burden Reduction at the Grass-roots Level."
GitHub - 学习强国 懒人刷分工具 自动学习 cheats for the Xi study app on Github
“Low-Level Red” and Other Concerns | China Media Project On the last day of February, a pair of new political catchphrases made their way not just into the Party’s official People’s Daily newspaper but into a central-level Party document. These were “high-level black,” or gaojihei (高级黑) and “low-level red,” or dijihong (低级红)...
China recruits Westerners to sell its “democracy” - Chaguan - Economist The annual sitting of the National People’s Congress, China’s well-fed eunuch of a parliament, poses several tests for foreign reporters...Finally, there is the odd experience of meeting supposed colleagues who are in fact complete strangers, meaning foreigners employed by Chinese state media, or by obscure Western news outlets that channel Chinese propaganda. Some ask planted questions at press conferences. Others pop up in the state media lauding China’s political system. Xinhua, China’s official news agency, this year put out a video entitled “Chinese democracy in the eyes of an American”
Xi stresses implementation of rural revitalization strategy- Xinhua "The top task for implementing the rural revitalization strategy is to ensure supply of important farm produce, grain in particular," said Xi, also general secretary of the Communist Party of China Central Committee and chairman of the Central Military Commission. He made the remarks when joining deliberation with deputies from Henan Province at the second session of the 13th National People's Congress, China's national legislature.
Foreign and Military Affairs
I’d side with rich China over fickle US: Malaysia’s Mahathir Mohamad | South China Morning Post If forced to take sides in the high-stakes geopolitical rivalry and trade war between the United States and China, Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad would prefer the economic largesse of Beijing. He pointed to the current state of unpredictability of the American superpower as a negative factor when asked about the impact of Sino-American tensions on other, smaller nations in the region. In a wide-ranging and exclusive interview with the South China Morning Post focused on his Southeast Asian nation’s foreign policy, Mahathir said Malaysia’s strong ties with China were not “static” over time or issues...
China's First Quantum-Powered Satellite is Ready for ‘Basic’ Encrypted Communication - Caixin China’s first quantum-powered communication satellite Micius, also known as Mozi, can now satisfy the “basic needs” of ultra-secure communication, the satellite’s leading architect Pan Jianwei said, during a CPPCC press conference // Wasn't Pan recently denied a visa to visit the US?
Kazakh China rights advocate detained on hate speech charges: activists | Reuters Serikzhan Bilash, a naturalized Kazakh citizen who was born in the Chinese region of Xinjiang, is a de facto leader and public face of Atajurt, a group that has worked for the release of ethnic Kazakhs from “re-education” camps where activists say more than 1 million ethnic Uighurs and other Muslims are held.
Labour MPs backtrack on Anne-Marie Brady committee decision | RNZ News Professor Brady had asked to address MPs about foreign interference in elections as part of a justice committee inquiry, but the request was turned down yesterday when the four Labour MPs voted against it. A government spokesperson said the committee chair, Labour MP Raymond Huo, had a rethink overnight and the committee would briefly reopen submissions to the public later this year. Mr Huo declined to be interviewed by RNZ, but in a written statement he said he "welcomed" new submissions.
China drops plan to blast Mekong islets | Bangkok Post China has agreed to drop a plan to clear rocky outcrops and islets in the upper reaches of the Mekong River in the face of deep concern expressed by downstream countries, according to Foreign Minister Don Pramudwinai.
Tech And Media
Former LinkedIn China exec criticizes the platform for lagging WeChat · TechNode Former LinkedIn China president Derek Shen said Monday that the professional networking site has “lagged way behind” Tencent’s chat platform WeChat, two years after stepping down from the company. “It’s horrible that the LinkedIn product managers don’t even realize they have lagged way behind a list of new social networking services such as WeChat, feeling good about themselves instead,” said Shen in a LinkedIn post on Monday. The former LinkedIn executive said that he tried to improve the platform when he joined the company six years ago, but struggled to make progress as it involved so many stakeholders within the organizatio
China to build industrial Internet standard system by 2020 - Xinhua China will establish a standard system for the industrial Internet by 2020, according to a guideline jointly released by the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology and the Standardization Administration. By integrating information technology and the manufacturing industry, the industrial Internet will have a comprehensive and profound influence on industrial development, the guideline said.
Society, Art, Sports, Culture And History
Chinese central bank gives advice on how to win over a future mother-in-law | South China Morning Post “Now, future mothers-in-law will just say, ‘Show me your PBOC credit record’,” Chen said on the sidelines of the annual legislative sessions in Beijing on Sunday. He said this was one example of how the People’s Bank of China’s credit record could be used.
China's 'marathon fever' continues with running industry up by 7 percent in 2018 - Xinhua China's booming running industry witnessed a seven percent increase to reach 74.6 billion yuan (about 11.10 billion US dollars), according to data released by the Chinese Athletics Association (CAA) here on Monday.
China database lists 'breedready' status of 1.8 million women | | The Guardian An open database in China contains the personal information of more than 1.8 million women, including their phone numbers, addresses, and something called “BreedReady” status, according to a researcher. Victor Gevers, a Dutch internet expert from the non-profit group GDI.Foundation, found the insecure data cache while searching for open databases in China. He posted a series of screenshots of it over the weekend.
‘Under Red Skies’ Review: Living the Chinese Dream - WSJ These run-ins between Chinese people’s everyday lives and the country’s high politics and economic transformation are the subject of Ms. Kan’s memoir, “Under Red Skies: Three Generations of Life, Loss, and Hope in China.” The book follows the story of China from the tumult of the Maoist era into the present. Commentators today typically speak of “China” as a unitary entity, as if this country of more than 1.4 billion individuals is simply a monolith casting its long shadow westward: “Has China won?” “Is China doomed?” “Should Americans fear China?” To Ms. Kan, this way of thinking is deeply flawed.
China’s Trends Media Chairman Jiang Liu Has Died – WWD Jiang Liu, chairman, president and co-founder of Trends Media China and a pioneer in the Chinese fashion media scene has died at 62 in Beijing, according to multiple sources. Liu died from acute leukemia at Peking Union Medical College Hospital, one source said.
Energy, Environment, Science And Health
China’s race to test ‘mutation-free’ gene-editing technology on cancer patients | South China Morning Post China could be just over a year away from clinical trials of a new gene-editing therapy with an unprecedented high level of safety, according to a team of Chinese scientists involved in the research programme. The scientists said the research, based on groundbreaking work published in the journal Science earlier this month, could help save the lives of many patients battling deadly diseases including canc
China to strengthen vaccine management: regulator - Xinhua Chinese lawmakers have finished their first reading of a draft law on vaccine management, and solicited public opinions, Jiao Hong, head of the National Medical Products Administration, told a press conference on the sidelines of the annual legislative session.
Top science official vows stricter rules to curb illegal research for personal fame - Global Times Speaking to reporters at a press conference of the second session of the 13th National People's Congress (NPC) on Monday morning, China's Minister of Science and Technology Wang Zhigang said the ministry will further study and release several regulations to guide and restrain scientific research. "We will tell scientists the norms they should abide by when conducting scientific research and the regulations they should follow when transforming their achievements," Wang said.
Tied up in red tape, Chinese scientists seek bigger say over research funding | South China Morning Post The appeal from delegates to the country’s peak advisory body, the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference, comes as the central government prepares to launch a pilot project that will give research teams greater flexibility in the way funds are used. Despite slowing economic growth, the central government also plans to increase the budget for science and technology by 13.4 per cent this year to 354.31 billion yuan (US$52.7 billion) as Beijing tries to challenge the United States in the race for high technology.