No commentary up to today, thanks for reading.

The Essential Eight

1. US-China

Donald Trump: UN speech lets White House focus on Iran, not Ukraine - USA Today

Trump accused China of "gaming" the global trade system in a speech Tuesday at the United Nations as he defended tariffs that his critics say have put the U.S. economy at risk of a recession.

“We want balanced trade this is both fair and reciprocal,” Trump said. He suggested the World Trade Organization was giving preferential treatment to China during an extended defense of his trade war with Beijing.

He also said that while he wants a trade deal with China, he would "not accept a bad deal for the American people.”

Mnuchin: US-China trade talks to resume soon, Japan deal near | Fox Business

In the on-again, off-again world of trade talks, U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said late Monday U.S.-China trade talks will resume in two weeks in Washington...

A new twist to Mnuchin's comments, which were made at the United Nations General Assembly, is that the Trump administration had requested that Chinese officials cancel a visit to U.S. farming regions.

A report by state-backed media group Yicai quoted a Beijing senior agricultural representative as saying that China did not cancel the planned visits to the U.S. because of challenges in trade negotiations. The visits by Chinese officials to farms in Montana and Nebraska were unexpectedly called off, but now, Mnuchin stated the cancellation "was purely at our request.''

After Mnuchin explained the request to reschedule the farm visits, President Trump asked Mnuchin "Why was that our request, just out of curiosity?"

Mnuchin assured the president it was to avoid any confusion around the trade negotiations, but Trump responded to that by saying "Yeah, but I want them to buy farm products."

"There was no confusion," Mnuchin clarified. "We want them to buy agriculture. They've committed to buy agriculture."

Comment: So President Trump was not aware his administration had requested the Chinese cancel the trip. And he looks angry when he learns this in the press conference.

China responds positively to U.S. tariff exemption lists - Xinhua

hina supports relevant enterprises to continue to purchase a certain amount of U.S. farm products, including soybeans and pork, in line with the rules of the market and the World Trade Organization, official sources said Tuesday.

The Customs Tariff Commission of the State Council will continue to exclude the above agricultural products from the additional tariffs on U.S. goods, according to sources with the National Development and Reform Commission and the Ministry of Commerce.

Comment: China desperately needs pork, but that won't stop the relevant organs from spinning the purchases as some sort of goodwill gesture to the US

China Gives New Waivers for Tariff-Free U.S. Soy Purchases - Bloomberg

The companies received waivers for between 2 million to 3 million tons, said the people, who asked not to be identified as the information is private. Some firms already bought at least 20 cargoes, or about 1.2 million tons, from the U.S. Pacific Northwest on Monday, the people said.

Among the companies are state-owned buyers Cofco and Sinograin as well as five other crushers, the people said.

UN chief warns of a world divided between US and China - AP

In his annual “state of the world address” to the General Assembly’s gathering of heads of state and government, Guterres said the risk “may not yet be large, but it is real.”

“We must do everything possible to avert the great fracture and maintain a universal system, a universal economy with universal respect for international law; a multipolar world with strong multilateral institutions,” he told presidents, prime ministers, monarchs and ministers from the U.N.’s 193 member states.

US government should consider China’s approach to national tech champions, says Senator Mark Warner | South China Morning Post

“We in this country have avoided the notion of industrial policy where the government tries to pick winners and losers. But when we compete with a nation with the size and scope and the focus of China, [current policies] may need to be rethought,” Warner said at the Washington-based United States Institute of Peace, a bipartisan, government-funded think tank.

Video of Senator Warner's speech

Comment: Expect China and religious freedom to become a 2020 US Presidential election issue - At U.N., Trump pushes religious freedom at event slamming China over Uighurs - Reuters

Trump did not specifically mention Xinjiang and he left the meeting before the woman, Jewher Ilham, spoke, but Vice President Mike Pence and Secretary of State Mike Pompeo listened as she slammed the Chinese government. Pompeo said her father - a Uighur scholar - is serving a life sentence as a prisoner of conscience.

“Every day millions of Uighurs and other Muslim minorities in China are being abused, drugged and indoctrinated in the government’s concentration camps,” Ilham told the religious freedom event. “Beijing believes Islam is a sickness to be treated with an iron fist.”

China’s Main Threat Is a Moral One - WSJ - Russell Moore OpEd

We will continue to debate how best to counter China economically and militarily. Yet surely Americans, the heirs of Jefferson, Madison, Truman and Reagan, can agree that we must begin the long and good work of confronting China morally. The persecuted people there do not bear the image of the Chinese Communist Party membership card, nor do they bear the image of a bar code for international commerce. They bear the image of a Creator above the reach of any state, no matter that it pretends to be a god.

Render unto China that which is China’s, but its people’s souls aren’t part of that deal.

Mr. Moore is president of the Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission of the Southern Baptist Convention.

China slams U.S. for distorting facts over religious freedom - Xinhua

On Monday, the United States held a "global call" on "protecting religious freedom" at the UN headquarters. At this event, U.S. Vice President Mike Pence attacked religious freedom in many countries, including China.

The U.S. State Department also announced in a statement that U.S. Deputy Secretary of State John Sullivan will hold a meeting regarding Xinjiang on Tuesday.

The spokesperson said the United Nations is a solemn platform for the international community to uphold fairness and justice.

U.S. attempts that take advantage of the UN platform to interfere in other countries' internal affairs violate the purposes and principles of the UN Charter and run counter to the UN spirit for dialogue and cooperation, and thus will produce no effect whatsoever, said the spokesperson...

The spokesperson said respecting and protecting religious freedom has been explicitly enshrined in China's Constitution. When it comes to issues relating to Xinjiang, the Chinese government and people of all ethnic groups living in Xinjiang are in the best position to judge.

The issues concerning Xinjiang are not "a matter of ethnicity, religion or human rights, but a matter of fighting violent terrorism and separatism," the spokesperson added.

2. Support but no stimulus?

Central Bank Chief Promises Not to Unleash Flood of Liquidity - Caixin

China will not flood its economy with liquidity as many economies around the world ease monetary policy, its central bank chief said Tuesday.

“We are not in a rush to conduct relatively large-scale rate cuts or quantitative easing like some other central banks have done,” People’s Bank of China (PBOC) Governor Yi Gang said (link in Chinese) at a press conference in Beijing.

Yi said China will continue to balance economic expansion and growth in the money supply with stabilizing leverage across the economy and keeping debt under control.

PBOC’s Yi Says China Is ‘Not in a Rush’ to Ease Policy Massively - Bloomberg

Overall financial risks are contained and those in the shadow banking sector and some key institutions have been resolved, said Yi, speaking at a joint briefing in Beijing with Finance Minister Liu Kun and National Bureau of Statistics head Ning Jizhe on Tuesday.

Even as China grapples with growth on pace for the slowest expansion in almost thirty years, policy makers are holding back from all-out stimulus as they continue efforts to rein in financial risks.

China's central bank says in no rush to ease aggressively - Reuters

“China’s monetary policy will maintain its prudent orientation,” he said, reiterating Beijing’s pledge not to resort to “flood-like” stimulus.

“I believe that, in the process of monetary policy operations, we should cherish the normal monetary policy room so that we can extend the normal monetary policy as long as possible, which will be favorable for sustainable economic development and people’s livelihood.”

China central bank head warns on strength of regional lenders | Financial Times $$

“Some banks have been overstretching themselves beyond the regions they are supposed to serve and shifting their resources to high-risk fields,” Mr Yi said at a press briefing. “We have asked small and medium-sized banks to focus on the real economy by providing services to local clients. Otherwise their business won’t be sustainable and they won’t be able to resolve their financial risks.”

Local Banks Risk Taking on Bad Loans Amid Lending Push - Caixin

interviews with local bank officials paint a picture of caution and fear about taking on more non-performing loans, as the nation’s manufacturing downturn causes the number of good borrowers to dwindle.

At a late-August meeting, China’s top financial stability office under the State Council concluded that the banking sector should boost financing support to the real economy. In early September, China’s Vice Premier Liu He further encouraged Chinese banks to increase lending to the real economy, particularly midsize and small private companies.

China to further relax, end vehicle purchase restrictions: official - Global Times

Vehicle purchase restrictions have been eased or ended in Guangzhou and Shenzhen in South China's Guangdong Province, a move that industry analysts said will boost consumption and build a strong domestic market that could buffer against downward economic pressure from a deepening trade war with the US.

More cities including Xi'an, capital of Northwest China's Shaanxi Province, Kunming, capital of Southwest China's Yunnan Province and Guiyang, capital of Southwest China's Guizhou Province, are considering similar moves, Ning Jizhe, vice chairman of the National Development and Reform Commission and head of the National Bureau of Statistics, told a press conference on Tuesday in Beijing.

China's tax and fee cuts reach 1.35 trln yuan in Jan.-July - Xinhua

China's "unprecedented" massive tax and see cut saved enterprises and individuals nearly 1.35 trillion yuan (about 189 billion U.S. dollars) in the first seven months of this year, an official said Tuesday.

"The reduction policies are so comprehensive that almost all taxpayers will benefit from the tax and fee cuts this year," Minister of Finance Liu Kun told a news conference.

3. EU Chamber of Commerce report on improving China’s business environment

European Business in China – Position Paper (Position Paper) - EU Chamber of Commerce in China

The European Union Chamber of Commerce in China today released its European Business in China – Position Paper 2019/2020 (Position Paper), which delivers over 800 detailed recommendations to the Chinese Government, spread across 33 industry sectors and horizontal issues. Each recommendation represents a piece of the overall reforms that are urgently needed to improve China’s business environment. The report focuses in particular on the need for SOE reforms, which are crucial to the country’s future development.

While China’s market continues to inch open to foreign investment and the business environment marginally improves year after year, these advances have not been enough to offset the resurgence of the state-owned economy and mitigate the subsequent effects, such as the drying up of private-sector financing and flagging national productivity...

“Many steps have been taken to address the symptoms of China’s growing SOE problem, but meaningful results require that the causes be addressed,” said Joerg Wuttke, president of the European Union Chamber of Commerce in China. “Realising competitive neutrality would level the playing field—which currently favours state-owned firms over both local and foreign private ones—and lay a strong foundation for resilient long-term development.”

European businesses urge EU to take ‘defensive’ measures against China’s state-owned enterprises | South China Morning Post

It also warned of the “resurgent state-owned economy”, with more funding, government contracts, and subsidies flowing towards SOEs than ever before, squeezing out Europeans, and flouting global economic governance standards.
“Rather than cutting SOEs down to a manageable size, determining the industries that would be most appropriate for them to be operated in and privatising the rest, the goal has been to make them ‘stronger, better and bigger’,” Joerg Wuttke, the chamber’s president, wrote in the report.

EU business group’s SOE criticism biased: analysts - Global Times

"When foreign companies entered the Chinese market decades ago, they thrived on minimal competition as well as the government's super-national treatment and tax breaks. Is this what they want to have called 'fair competition' today?" Bai Ming, a research fellow at the Chinese Academy of International Trade and Economic Cooperation, told the Global Times on Tuesday.

"Things are totally different nowadays, and foreign companies need to adapt to a vibrant competitive environment where domestic companies are on the rise and new trends are emerging every day," Feng Liguo, a research fellow at China Minsheng Bank's research center, told the Global Times.

4. Politburo meeting and study session

CPC leadership discusses patriotic education, Party school rules - Xinhua

The Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee discussed an outline on conducting patriotic education in the new era and a work regulation for Party schools at a meeting here Tuesday...

It is of great realistic importance and profound historic significance to issue the outline on patriotic education as the country is celebrating the 70th founding anniversary of the People's Republic of China, said a statement issued after the meeting.

Strengthening patriotic education in the new era aims to make patriotism the faith and spiritual strength of all Chinese people to motivate their conscious actions, the statement said.

The education should allow people to understand the nature of the Chinese Dream, inspire their love of the Party, country and socialism, and gather great impetus for national rejuvenation, the statement said, stressing the deepgoing, lasting and lively patriotic education among young people.

Party schools should follow the guidance of Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era, and take the education on the Party's theories and Party consciousness as the main courses, in an effort to train competent and professional officials who are loyal and clean and have a strong sense of responsibility, according to the statement.

Comment: The patriotic education campaign has worked, am worried what strengthening it will look like, and what it may reap.

The Official Xinhua/CCTV report on the meeting - 中共中央政治局召开会议审议《新时代爱国主义教育实施纲要》和《中国共产党党校（行政学院）工作条例》中共中央总书记习近平主持会议

"The meeting stressed that to strengthen the education of patriotism in the new era, we should enhance the "four conscionalities", strengthen the "four self-confidence" and maintain the "two safeguards", so that patriotism will become the firm belief, spiritual strength and conscious action of all the Chinese people. We need to grasp the theme of The Times, guide people to fully understand the essence of the Chinese dream, which is that the country is strong and prosperous, the nation is revitalized and the people are happy. We must ensure that all members are educated in an all-round way throughout the whole process, and carry out thorough, lasting and vivid patriotic education among the young people so that the spirit of patriotism will take root."

会议强调，加强新时代爱国主义教育，要增强“四个意识”、坚定“四个自信”、做到“两个维护”，使爱国主义成为全体中国人民的坚定信念、精神力量和自觉行动。要把握时代主题，引导人们深刻认识中国梦的本质是国家富强、民族振兴、人民幸福，激发全体人民爱党爱国爱社会主义的巨大热情，凝聚奋进新时代、实现民族复兴的磅礴伟力。要坚持全员全过程全方位育人，在广大青少年中开展深入、持久、生动的爱国主义教育，让爱国主义精神牢牢扎根。

The Politburo release did not give a date for the Fourth Plenum that will meet in October.

Xi stresses modernizing China's governance system, capacity - Xinhua

Xi Jinping, general secretary of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee, on Tuesday stressed continuously pushing the modernization of China's governance system and capacity.

Xi made the remarks while presiding over a group study session of the CPC Central Committee Political Bureau on the establishment and development of New China's state and legal systems.

Xinhua/CCTV Evening News report on the meeting - 习近平在中央政治局第十七次集体学习时强调继续沿着党和人民开辟的正确道路前进不断推进国家治理体系和治理能力现代化

The discussant for the study session was Yu Zhigang, member of the Constitution and Law Committee of the National People's Congress

5. Merics on the “Party eats the State” reforms

The Party leads on everything | Mercator Institute for China Studies

Since Xi Jinping’s arrival as General Secretary of the CCP and President of China more than six years ago, his administration has implemented sweeping reforms of both party and state with the aim of cementing the party’s hold on power. Not only did Xi abolish presidential term limits and make top-down decision-making the defining feature of the new governance model, he also pushed for full integration of state and party organizations. Institutional separation of party and state is a thing of the past in China.

In the new MERICS China Monitor “The Party leads on everything - China’s changing governance in Xi Jinping’s new era” Nis Grünberg and Katja Drinhausen analyze how Xi’s administration engineered the institutional restructuring of the governance system by re-designing decision-making processes, codifying CCP rule and ideology in laws and regulations, and extending the CCP’s reach into society. “The Xi administration has taken steps to intensify bias that ensures the legal system and political-legal organs function as support for the CCP”, say the authors.

According to their analysis, the reforms kicked off by Xi, who wants the party to “lead on everything”, have profound implications for all public affairs in China. However, the centralization of power risks over-reliance on a few key players in the upper echelons of China’s political hierarchy.

Comment: So much of the media and commentariat focus out of the Third Plenum last year was on the elimination of Presidential term limits, but the Party eats the State reforms look to be even more meaningful. Here is what Xinhua said in the communique after the Third Plenum:

Faced with new requirements for various tasks in the new era, the current function and structure of Party and state institutions are not completely suitable for coordinately implementing the five-sphere integrated plan and the four-pronged comprehensive strategy, nor for modernizing China's system and capacity for governance, it said.

The whole Party must unite in thought, be confident, grasp opportunities and resolve to tackle obstacles and disadvantages of the system for Party and state institutions during the process of deepening reform in all areas.

The whole Party must accelerate and advance the modernization of China's system and capacity for governance and give full play to the advantages of China's socialist system, it said...

A primary task of deepening reform of the Party and state institutions is to improve the system for upholding overall Party leadership in a bid to strengthen the CPC's leadership in every sector, ensure its all-encompassing coverage and make it more forceful.

The August announcement of the Fourth Plenum said that efforts to improve governance will be the key theme of the upcoming October meeting:

At the fourth plenary session, the CPC Central Committee will hear a report from the Political Bureau on its work, and discuss important issues concerning how to uphold and improve the system of socialism with Chinese characteristics and make progress in modernizing China's system and capacity for governance

6. More details about National Day parade

China unveils plan for huge anniversary military parade - CGTN

New weapons and equipment of the army, navy, air force, rocket force and strategic support force will be inspected. Some advanced equipment will be on display for the first time.

Much unmanned equipment will make debut at the parade as a demonstration of the development direction toward unmanned combat in the army, navy and air force.

All weapons on display are made in China, and are currently in service, which reflects China's ability of independent innovation in national defense research and development, said Major General Tan Min, executive deputy director of the Military Parade Joint Command Office and deputy chief of staff of the Central Theater Command (CTC) of the People's Liberation Army (PLA).

Informatization is one of the main features of the parade. Equipment related to information communication, mapping and navigation and meteorology will be inspected...

There will also be a formation of peacekeepers for the first time. China is the biggest contributor of peacekeepers among the five permanent members of the UN Security Council...

"China has no intention, nor need, to flex its muscles through advanced weapons displayed in the upcoming National Day military parade," said Wu, responding to a journalist's question on China's intention of showing new weaponry. He added that China's stronger army force is meant to safeguard world peace.

Most formations will be headed by two commanders, who are also generals. The number of high-level commanders and generals participating in the military parade will reach a historic level, according to Cai.

Comment: Big honor to have a command role in this parade, so putting so many in the parade will mean even more PLA love for Xi?

Chinese officials brief media on arrangements for Oct. 1 military parade - CGTN

The parade, which will highlight China's military advances over the past 70 years, will last 80 minutes, said Major General Cai Zhijun, deputy director of the Leading Group Office of Military Parade and deputy director general of the Operation Bureau of the Joint Staff Department at the Central Military Commission (CMC).

Chinese President Xi Jinping will inspect troops, Cai added.

国庆阅兵最全剧透！80分钟1.5万人受阅！(附视频)_媒体_澎湃新闻-The Paper

Details from the briefing on the parade, one of the details getting a lot of play online is that for the first time there will be female generals in the parade, in this one there will be two, leading the contingent of female troops in the parade

DF-41 ICBM to debut at parade? You won’t be disappointed: PLA - Global Times

"Everyone please wait and see, and I believe our journalist friends will not be disappointed," said Major General Tan Min, Executive Deputy Director of the Military Parade Joint Command Office, without explicitly confirming DF-41's debut.

But there may be no blue skies—China steps up environment checks amid fears National Day parade will be marred by smog | South China Morning Post

with the forecast not looking good, the environment ministry said its inspectors would step up checks this week to enforce emission reduction measures in cities around the Chinese capital – adding to pressure on factories.

The northern region of Beijing, Tianjin, Hebei province and surrounds is expected to be blanketed in haze from Wednesday to Sunday, and unfavourable conditions mean the pollution could continue into early October, the Ministry of Ecology and Environment said in a statement late on Monday.

7. Hong Kong

A Man or a ‘Yellow Object?’ Hong Kong Police Dispute Assault Allegations - The New York Times

“It sums up the insensitive, callous nature of the Hong Kong police force,” said Claudia Mo, a pro-democracy legislator who has supported the protests. “It’s a communist tactic: You dehumanize, you demonize, you reduce your enemies to nothing and then you attack.”

The flare-up illustrated how precipitously views of the Hong Kong police force — once known as “Asia’s finest” — have deteriorated as officers have cracked down on increasingly violent protests.

Hong Kong protests: With 'yellow object' claim from Vasco Williams, police wage assault on facts - The Washington Post

Asked Monday about the incident in Yuen Long, an outlying area of Hong Kong, acting senior superintendent Vasco Williams said footage showed an “officer kicking a yellow object,” not a man lying on the ground.

“We don’t know what that object is, but there are other videos that are more clear that show the entire incident. And there’s no malpractice by the police whatsoever,” he said. There was no assault, he added during a heated news conference.

The man shown in the video being kicked by police was a member of a group that deploys volunteers to negotiate between police and protesters at rallies, the group said. He was later arrested, local media reported.

Hong Kong: Government must investigate police violations and push back against Beijing’s “red line” | Amnesty International

The proposed Extradition Bill was the latest manifestation of a steady erosion of human rights in Hong Kong, Amnesty International said today, as it released a report detailing how the creeping influence of Beijing’s policies and rhetoric on “national security” has resulted in growing numbers of local activists and journalists being censored, prosecuted and harassed in recent years.

In the report, Beijing’s Red Line in Hong Kong, the organization highlights how increasing restrictions on the rights to freedom of expression, association and peaceful assembly culminated in this summer’s protests.

The full report

8. Huawei and the Meng Wanzhou case

Lawyers predict extradition case for Huawei’s Meng Wanzhou could take up to a decade and set Charter precedent | The Star

Lawyers specializing in extradition predict the case of embattled Huawei executive Meng Wanzhou will likely take a decade to resolve and may change the way the Canada Border Services Agency does business...

Meng is free on $10-million bail and living in Vancouver in one of her two British Columbia homes. The disclosure hearing will continue this week, and the extradition hearing is expected to begin in January

Comment: Poor Kovrig and Spavor, odds not low that they will be held until Meng’s case is resolved.

Huawei legal team seeks documents in extradition case | Financial Times $$

Mr Peck said the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) and Canadian Border Services Agency (CBSA) had engaged in misconduct and outlined what he said was a deliberate pattern of Canadian officials collecting evidence to send to US investigators. He cited an affidavit from a RCMP officer that mentioned seizing “any electronic devices . . . to preserve evidence as there will be a request from the FBI”.

He also claimed that the trove of documents and affidavits submitted contained a reference to a request from US officials for any seized electronic devices to be placed in a secure bag that blocks devices from being wiped remotely.

Qualcomm Resumes Sales to Huawei - Caixin

Qualcomm is also working on solutions that will allow sales to continue in future, CEO Steve Mollenkopf told Caixin at the company’s headquarters on Monday. Mollenkopf didn’t say what kind of products Qualcomm is currently selling to Huawei.

Malaysia's 5G plan a potential boon for China's Huawei - Reuters

The government has said it wants to start rolling out the ultra-fast mobile internet service early next year and, unlike Vietnam and some developed nations, is not averse to letting its telecoms companies work with China’s Huawei.

Business, Economy and Trade

Zhejiang Family Marries, Divorces 23 Times To Scam Government - Sixth Tone The office overseeing an urban village renovation project in the city of Lishui reported the case to the local police last Thursday, saying the family of a patriarch surnamed Pan had been gaming the project’s proposed compensation scheme through an excessive number of marriages and divorces over a period of just two weeks...When interrogated by police, Pan’s father — who had been party to the sham marriages and divorces himself — said he had assumed the family’s actions were legitimate since they had not violated China’s marriage law. “In doing this, we were just trying to get more compensation,” the elder Pan reportedly told police. //Comment: So much misdirected creativity...

China’s Drug-Price Cuts Pressure Lipitor and Other Foreign Pills - Bloomberg Global drugmakers including AstraZeneca Plc, Pfizer Inc. and Mylan NV are facing the prospect of having to cut prices in half to maintain their sales to China’s biggest public hospitals, as the country’s aggressive health-care cost control campaign gains speed.

Apple keeps Mac Pro assembly in Texas after tariff relief - AP Apple will continue manufacturing its Mac Pro computers in Texas after the Trump administration approved its request to waive tariffs on certain parts imported from China.

No timetable to launch digital currency in China - China Daily China has no timetable to launch a digital currency, said Yi Gang, governor of the People's Bank of China, at a news conference held on the stable, healthy and sustainable development of China's economy on Tuesday.

Alibaba Snags 33% of Jack Ma’s Ant as Portfolio Tops $83 Billion - Bloomberg The Chinese e-commerce leader has closed the acquisition of 33% of newly issued equity in Ant, a long-gestating deal that cements ties between two of the country’s biggest technology corporations. Ant will now stop paying 37.5% of its pre-tax profits to Alibaba as mandated under an earlier agreement, the online retailer said in a statement.

Metals-Turned-Movie-Maker Collapses Amid Film Industry Downturn - Caixin Shenzhen-listed Jiangyin Zhongnan Heavy Industries Co. Ltd. said a local court in Jiangyin, East China’s Jiangsu province, where the company is headquartered, has declared the company bankrupt, it announced in a statement to the bourse on Tuesday. The company has left a trail of unpaid bills and other bad debt amounting to some 2.84 billion yuan ($399 million) as it deals with its own financial struggles...Zhongnan was one of the producers behind last year’s surprise smash hit “Dying to Survive.”

Local Banking Regulator Plans to Facilitate Billions in Loans to College Students - Caixin The Hubei branch of the China Banking and Insurance Regulatory Commission said on Sept. 12 that it would try to urge banks to lend between 8 billion yuan ($1.12 billion) and 10 billion yuan to college students in the province, which would amount to around 5,000 yuan per student, local Communist Party committee-run newspaper the Hubei Daily reported on Friday. The report said that the move aims to provide students with access to credit and crowd out illicit lenders.

Politics and Law

Party theory learning app invites 60 users to Beijing celebrations - Global Times Xuexiqiangguo, an app developed by the Publicity Department of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, had invited users who scored high on quizzes on the app to watch an art performance at the Great Hall of the People and attend symposiums during their two-day visit to Beijing, according to a report posted on the app on Monday. The selected users include primary and middle school teachers from rural areas and ethnic minority regions, as well as civil servants from grass-roots government organizations, according to the report.

Tiffany Li murder trial begins over alleged hit on ex Keith Green - The Washington Post Born in Beijing, Li grew up in Silicon Valley, attending prestigious schools before joining her mother’s business after college. Her mother, Li Jihong, amassed the family fortune in Beijing in the 1980s through joint ventures with construction companies owned by the Chinese military, according to the Financial Times.

Foreign and Defense Affairs

A Joint Response to Climate Change A Better Environment for Our Planet- Remarks by Wang Yi at UN Climate Action Summit The joint fight against climate change requires us to uphold multilateralism and explore solutions within the framework of the UNFCCC and the Paris Agreement. In particular, it is important that we follow the principles of "common but differentiated responsibilities", equity and respective capabilities, respect the need for development and the special conditions of developing countries, and help them build preparedness. Developed countries, on their part, need to take the lead in reducing emissions and honor their commitment of mobilizing US$100 billion a year in climate finance by 2020.

China's Foreign Minister Wang Yi calls for more action at UN Climate Summit - CGTN "The withdrawal of certain parties will not shake the collective will of the international community, nor will it possibly reverse the historical trend of international cooperation," Wang said, followed by applause from the audience.

Ofcom investigates CGTN over coverage of Hong Kong protests | The Guardian Ofcom announced on Monday that it was looking at whether the station “broke our rules requiring news to be presented with due impartiality” on four occasions in August and September while covering anti-government demonstrations in the city, which has seen millions of people take to the streets.

Commander leads Chinese expedition team to forefront of deep-sea research - Global Times With the anniversary of the 70th founding of PRC days away, the Global Times talked to Liu Feng to learn more about the birth of Jiaolong, and the tumultuous process of its sea trials.

Missing Link: Tibetan Groups Targeted with 1-Click Mobile Exploits - The Citizen Lab One of the significant findings of our analysis is the connection between POISON CARP and the campaigns reported by Google Project Zero and Volexity. Based on the use of the same iOS exploits and similar iOS spyware implant between POISON CARP and the campaign described by Google Project Zero and server infrastructure connections with the Evil Eye campaign reported by Volexity, we determine that the three campaigns were likely conducted by the same operator or a closely coordinated group of operators who share resources. Beyond the technical overlap in these campaigns is the fact that they all targeted ethnic minority groups related to China: Uyghurs and Tibetans.

China claims Australia the 'pioneer' of a global anti-China campaign - The Australian Australia is the pioneer of a global anti-China campaign, a high-level Chinese embassy delegation has claimed, as relations between the two countries fall to among the worst in the developed world.

Chinese air force releases new promotional video - Xinhua Those appearing in the video include a pilot who has participated in the first joint strategic air navigation of the Chinese and Russian air forces in Northeast Asia, a member of the Chinese air force's female flight cadet program and one of the first graduates of a joint cadet program by the air force and China's top Tsinghua University.

Seminar held to facilitate military recruitment on university campus - Xinhua A seminar has been jointly held by the Central Military Commission and the Ministry of Education in north China's Tianjin Municipality to facilitate military recruitment on university campuses. The seminar also demanded targeted recruitment to get more university students with professional expertise to join the military. China started wholescale military recruitment on university campuses in 2009. Over 1.5 million students have been recruited over the past decade.

PM Lee, President Trump renew MOU on US use of military facilities in Singapore, extending it by 15 years - CNA Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong and United States President Donald Trump on Monday (Sep 23) signed an agreement to renew the 1990 Memorandum of Understanding Regarding United States’ Use of Facilities in Singapore, extending it for another 15 years.

New Photos Point To Chinese Bomber Being Able To Carry Huge Anti-Ship Ballistic Missiles - The Drive Previous reports have indicated that an air-launched derivative of the DF-21D anti-ship ballistic missile, reportedly called the CH-AS-X-13, will be the primary weapon for the H-6N.

Are Chinese and Western perspectives incompatible in our post-truth times? - SupChina If international study programs cannot resolve China’s panoply of abuses in Xinjiang (no one expects this), at the very least they can distance themselves from these. The selection of SenseTime’s CEO as the commencement speaker for Schwarzman’s graduation ceremony did exactly the opposite. This event again exposed competing realities between some Chinese and Western students. In his speech, the CEO described as “fake news” reports that SenseTime’s facial recognition software was used in Xinjiang. This was met by rapturous laughter from some Chinese students. It was met by muted fury from many Western students. This moment, happening at the end of our Schwarzman “deepening understanding” experience, reflected pedagogical, structural, and political differences between the students in the starkest of terms.

Taiwan

Independence activist Su Beng dies at 100 | SupChina Revered Taiwan independence activist and trusted adviser to Tsai Ing-wen, Su Beng, passed away on Friday at the age of 100. This was one of his final interviews.

Taiwan to put cyber defences to the test in drills with the US | South China Morning Post According to Brent Christensen, the de facto US ambassador in Taiwan, the exercises would be similar to the Cyber Storm drills conducted every two years by the US Department of Homeland Security to strengthen cyber preparedness in the public and private sectors.

Tech and Media

Exclusive: Airbnb Gives Freer Hand to China Team - Caixin The San Francisco-based company has loosened its grip on its China unit and empowered it with making its own locally-tailored strategy, Nathan Blecharczyk, Airbnb’s co-founder and chief strategy officer, told Caixin in a recent interview. Such an approach mirrors that followed by many similar multinationals, which have learned over the years that strategies that work well in the West don’t always do as well in the China market.

Tencent Eyes Overall Control of Supercell With Plan to Increase Voting Interest - Caixin Chinese tech giant Tencent is seeking to wrest overall control of Supercell by upping its equity voting interest in the mobile-game company from 50% to 51.2%, according to a Monday filing to the Hong Kong Stock Exchange

Wuhan, China Grants Baidu Autonomous, Driverless Car License - Bloomberg Internet giant Baidu Inc. got a license for five of its self-drive cars, while Shenzhen Haylion Technologies Co. and DeepBlue Technology Shanghai Co. will trial a bus each, said Hu Haojun, an official at Wuhan’s department of transport.

Society, Arts, Sports, Culture and History

'Mommy don't go to work': sexist children's song prompts outcry in China | The Guardian The song, penned by a little-known musician and comedian Yan Lifei, includes lyrics: “Mommy, don’t go to work, or I will have no one to play with. Mommy, even if you do go to work, you won’t make much money ... when I grow up I definitely won’t let mommy go to work anymore.” The song, previously sung by Yan and his daughter on state broadcaster CCTV, went viral on Chinese social media earlier this month when its lyrics were posted online where they came under fire

Feminism and Social Change in China: an Interview with Lü Pin (Part 2 of 3) «

Energy, Environment, Science and Health

China's lunar rover discovers mysterious substance on moon's far side - Xinhua the original mooncake, now fossilized?

California, China to team up on climate research institute - AP As tensions between China and the United States ratchet up, former California Gov. Jerry Brown sees a way to bring together the world’s largest carbon emitter and a U.S. state that’s leading the way in energy standards: climate change. Brown and Xie Zhenhua, China’s top climate official, announced a new university partnership focused on climate research and policy on Monday as part of the United Nations Climate Action Summit in New York.

Education

Obstacles to Excellence: Academic Freedom & China’s Quest for World Class Universities | Scholars at Risk Obstacles to Excellence is a new report from Scholars at Risk mapping threats to academic freedom that jeopardize China’s higher education ambitions.

Jobs and Events

America in Tumultuous Times: Observations of a Chinese Journalist (中文) - American Mandarin Society - DC Join us Friday, October 4 from 12:00 – 1:15 PM at the Stimson Center for a stimulating conversation, in Chinese, with Caijing magazine’s DC bureau chief JIN Yan. Ms. Jin has spent seven eventful years in Washington DC reporting for one of China’s leading business magazines on topics ranging from politics, to economics, to society. She has also been working on a book that collects some of her most important observations about current American society.

Trump calls out China in UN speech; Politbur…

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