China news roundup / Nachrichten 2023-06-07
TikTok: ByteDance accused of helping China spy on Hong Kong activists
"Mr Yu claimed that members of a CCP committee had access to a "superuser" credential, which was also known as "god user", which allowed them to view all data collected by ByteDance.
He also alleged that the committee members were not ByteDance employees but were physically present at the company's offices in Beijing.
[...] The filing also alleged that in 2018 the CCP committee members used their "god credential" to "identify and locate the Hong Kong protesters, civil rights activists, and supporters of the protests"."
--- Wouldn't be much of a surprise. CCP committees are in every bigger company in China. & if they want to see something, the company can't deny access.
China-U.S. military near-misses may point to new Chinese ‘brinkmanship’ strategy
"According to Taiwan’s Upmedia, quoting unnamed “Chinese sources,” the aim of the new strategy is to adopt a “dangerously close” approach to aeronautical and naval near encounters with the United States to force Washington and its allies to back down and avoid military conflict while strengthening nationalist sentiment within China."
--- Makes sense. If it's only one incident, it's possible that it was just some rogue idiot. But several incidents, particularly when it's not just a single pilot making a stupid decision, make it quite probable that it's part of a wider strategy.
China’s exports tumble in May as global demand falters
"Exports from the world’s second-largest economy fell 7.5% year-on-year in May, the biggest decline since January and swinging from 8.5% growth in April. Imports contracted 4.5%, a slower pace of decline than the 7.9% in the previous month.
The figures compared with a Reuters poll that showed economists forecast a much smaller 0.4% decline in exports and an 8.0% fall in imports. "
--- Oh my, the experts didn't expect it. Again. By now, it should be news if they get it right for a change.
China pays Tibetans to receive blessings from Beijing-backed Panchen Lama
"The Chinese government is paying Tibetans 100 yuan (about US$14) each to attend visits and receive blessings from the man Beijing has tapped as Tibetan Buddhism’s second-most important spiritual leader"
--- Now, that's what I call true religious freedom. Which other country pays you to get blessed? China again at the forefront of human rights development.
India and China are kicking out each other’s journalists in the latest strain on ties
"On Sunday, Chinese state news agency Xinhua published a first-person account from Hu Xiaoming, its New Delhi bureau chief since 2017, describing the “torment” of Chinese reporters’ “visa hassle” in India.
“The Indian government’s brutal treatment has put enormous psychological pressure on Chinese journalists in India,” wrote Hu, who said the Indian government rejected his visa renewal in March on the grounds that he had stayed in the country too long. "
--- When it happens to Chinese journalists abroad, it's torment. When it happens to foreign journalists in China (as is common), it's entirely necessary & fair.
China’s rolling COVID waves could hit every six months — infecting millions
"The latest surge in COVID-19 cases in China is not surprising to researchers, who say that China will see an infection cycle every six months now that all COVID-19 restrictions have been removed and highly infectious variants are dominant. But they caution that rolling waves of infection carry the risk of new variants emerging.
[...] Yunlong Cao, an immunologist at Peking University in Beijing, and his team have found that antibodies generated against Omicron variants BA.5 and BF.7, the dominant strains during the December wave in China, can provide about four months of protection against strains such as XBB1."
--- As expected. There probably will be new waves every few months. Problem in China is that the CCP doesn't want to know anything about it anymore. So, we will know about new, more dangerous variants only when they appear outside China.
China has closed unofficial ‘police stations’ in Britain, UK minister says
"Tugendhat said in a written statement to parliament.
“I can confirm that they have not, to date, identified any evidence of illegal activity on behalf of the Chinese state across these sites,”"
--- Which doesn't mean that there was no illegal activity.
But at least in the UK, the stations were closed. In some other countries, they are still 'investigating'.
Ozempic is taking China by storm. Drugmakers are scrambling to boost supplies
"Ozempic was officially approved in China in April 2021 for treatment of type 2 diabetes. But users can get it from doctors for other uses, or buy it on e-commerce platforms such as Taobao and JD.com (JD) with other people’s prescriptions.
Medical experts say the drug can have serious side effects. Studies and patient reports show that many patients see their weight rebound soon after stopping the injections.
But its soaring popularity in China means many hospitals and drugstores have run out of Ozempic since late last year"
--- For once a "trend" that I can see as being reasonably true. Chinese girls are in general quite silly about being thin. What they call "fat" is just ridiculous (particularly for someone coming from Germany).
More people than ever are taking China’s college entrance exam. But a dire job market awaits
Fiji’s prime minister says policing agreement with China under review
Snooker match-fixing scandal: Liang Wenbo and Li Hang handed lifetime bans (Chinese best practice in sports taking over the world?)
--- China Uncensored: "Elon Musk Is Getting Played In China"
--- DW News: "Fears for China's economic growth after exports plunge in May"
SPD-Chef trifft Chinas Regierungschef - "China wichtiger Partner Europas"
""Wir haben verabredet, den strategischen Dialog zwischen unseren Parteien nach der Corona-Pandemie wieder zu intensivieren", sagte der SPD-Chef zu Gesprächen mit Chinas regierenden Kommunisten."
--- Kritischer Dialog mit sozialistischen Charakteristiken?
Reise nach China: Klima-Innovation schlägt fossile Trägheit in Europa
"In Hangzhou (ca. zwölf Millionen Einwohner) konnte ich im Hotel an einer großen innerstädtischen Straße, mit starkem, auch nächtlichem Verkehr, bei offenem Fenster schlafen. Kein Lärm von lauten Motorrädern oder Dieselbussen, gute Luft.
[...] In Shanghai (40 Millionen Einwohner) habe ich alles genauso gesehen: grüne Stadt, saubere Luft, kein nennenswerter Straßenlärm. Kein Vergleich mehr zum Schmutz und Lärm, den ich bei meiner ersten Shanghai-Reise 2002 erlebte."
--- Telepolis mal wieder mit pro-KPCh-Propaganda. Totaler Hirnriss.
Das große Problem beim Straßenlärm in China waren (& sind) nicht die Motoren, sondern die Hupen. Es wird bei jeder Gelegenheit gehupt wie bekloppt.
& was die saubere Luft angeht, gilt für den Autor wohl: "Alles so schön bunt hier":
"Alle Straßen sind üppig begrünt, mit großen Bäumen und herrlichen gepflegten Blumenrabatten. Jeder freie Platz wird begrünt. Überall pflegen Gärtner:innen die Anlagen, die einen fairen Mindestlohn bekommen."
--- Witzbold. Der 'faire' Mindestlohn in Shanghai ist z.B. 2590 RMB. Das reicht da bestenfalls für ein Kleinstappartement. & dann kommen noch alle möglichen anderen Kosten hinzu.
"Der rasante Aufbau der chinesischen Cleantech-Industrie vollzog sich in den letzten 20 Jahren just genau in dem Zeitraum, in welchem Deutschland unter der Union von Kanzlerin Merkel regiert wurde. Genau in diese Zeit des chinesischen Ausbaus fiel der Niedergang der deutschen Solarwirtschaft.
Nicht nur ich warnte im Bundestag, dass der politisch verordnete Einbruch der deutschen Solarwirtschaft zum Verlust der Technologieführerschaft Deutschlands in diesem Bereich führen wird. Doch genau das ist passiert."
--- Was der Autor rein zufällig vergisst, ist die Tatsache, daß die deutsche Solarindustrie eben von chinesischen Subventionen & Dumping kaputt gemacht wurde.
"Daher glaube ich, dass wir in Deutschland auch einiges aus China lernen können, insbesondere wie man Ökologie und Armutsbekämpfung vorantreiben kann."
--- Genau. Armutsbekämpfung auf chinesische Art: Armut für beendet erklären & Armutsgrenze soweit senken, daß sowieso kaum noch jemand weniger hat.
Wie gefährlich sind die jüngsten Spannungen?
Warnsignale aus China und Deutschland
