China news roundup / Nachrichten 2024-03-06
China says upgrade, trade-in policy creates billion-dollar market
"“Chinese industries and the agricultural sector last year invested about 4.9 trillion yuan in equipment. The push to raise quality development will only increase demand for equipment upgrade,” he said at the joint briefing with China’s finance minister, commerce minister, central bank chief, and head of the securities regulator.
The campaign will focus on industrial, agricultural, construction, transport, education, cultural tourism and healthcare, where the upgrade will foster reduced carbon emissions, safety, digital transformation and smart intelligence, Zheng added.
Similarly, Zheng described the trade-in market for vehicles and home appliances as “huge” and in the “trillion yuan” level, given that car and white goods ownership last year reached 336 million units and 3 billion units, respectively."
--- Ah, achieving GDP growth is so easy. Everything works fine in China. But how exactly does the CCP want to achieve that?
"“The promotion of such large-scale equipment upgrade and consumer goods trade-in is a systematic project … to be supported by fiscal, financial and tax policies.”"
--- I see, promotion & promises. Now, that will definitely work. Who wouldn't trust emperor Xi's promises?
Chinese investors hit outbound limit
"The rush to invest offshore reflects low confidence at home and is evident in sales of funds issued under the Qualified Domestic Institutional Investor (QDII) programme, a key outbound investment channel that allows Chinese to buy overseas securities under Beijing’s strict capital controls.
QDII fund units sold in January jumped 50% year-on-year to a record high while those of domestic equity mutual funds dropped 35%"
--- Low confidence? In emperor Xi? Impossible! That must be ugly Western propaganda.
New Tech Scare Over NATO Ally After Russian Tapping Fiasco
""With BwMessenger you can communicate about official business just as you would in your private life," BWI's website says. About BundesMessenger it says, "Sovereignty, security and freedom. A free messenger for the public sector.""
--- You get what you pay for? I'm not sure, you should treat official military business like a personal conversation.
"The German Defense Ministry and the BWI said the apps on the Huawei store were secure.
"All messages are encrypted end-to-end with the personal key of the respective user," a spokesperson for the Ministry of Defense told Newsweek via email. "When used, the data is processed exclusively in Germany. There are no official Huawei devices in the ministry's official business,""
--- Now you perhaps understand how that conversation between German marine officers could have been intercepted by Russia.
"Just because it's open source doesn't mean it's necessarily safe. We don't know how it's going to look on the Huawei side. They have the ingredients, and at any time you can inject stuff into an application"
--- No, no, no, don't be so suspicious. Chancellor Scholz is emperor Xi's doorm... er ... friend. Therefore China would never ever spy on Germany.
EU reaches provisional agreement on forced labor
"the proposed law is weaker than the U.S. Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act, or UFLPA, said Adrian Zenz, a senior fellow and director in China Studies at the Washington-based Victims of Communism Memorial Foundation.
Because it relies on the EU Commission to investigate forced labor, its effectiveness in banning Uyghur forced labor would be questionable, Zenz said.
“And that means that the European Commission would have to somehow investigate the presence of Uyghur forced labor, which is not possible,” said Zenz. ”Contrary to the American Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act, [the EU] did not reverse the burden of proof because the European Council refused that.”"
--- Because it is so easy to investigate in China. The CCP will surely be all-too happy to support any investigation, I'm sure.
New Frontiers in Foreign Propaganda
"In an open letter last month to the president and CEO of parent company Warner Bros. Discovery, six Republican representatives called World’s Ultimate Frontier — a new co-production between Discovery and CGTN, the international division of state-run broadcaster CCTV — “an obvious work of propaganda on the part of a totalitarian, adversary regime.”
Known in Chinese as “Entering Xinjiang” (走進新疆), the first trailer for the series features a cast of starry-eyed foreigners marveling at the sights, sounds, and tastes of the region, where the UN Human Rights Office says crimes against humanity have been carried out by the Chinese state. As mass detention, torture, cultural persecution, and forced labor go on behind the scenes, the hosts eat snacks and gawk at happy, dancing minorities.
[...] In November last year, Discovery’s Channa was credited as a co-director for a series of documentaries called Understanding China (读懂中国), and took part in a related launch ceremony in Guangzhou. The series is a cooperation between Warner Bros. Discovery and the China Institute for Innovation and Development Strategy (CIIDS), a center under the Chinese Academy of Sciences which states, in clear echo of the external communication strategy outlined by Xi Jinping in 2013, that it is “committed to telling China’s story and spreading China’s voice.”"
--- Discovery is just another Chinese propaganda channel, it seems.
What it’s like on board an outnumbered Philippine ship facing down China’s push to dominate the South China Sea
--- China Uncensored: "Someone Died, and Something Tells Me China’s Behind It"
--- DW News: How China plans to resuscitate its economy
--- Yahoo: China, connected vehicles, and security risks, strategist discusses
E-Autos aus China: EU stellt Weichen für rückwirkende Zölle
"Deswegen sei geplant, mit Erfassung dieser Importe durch den Zoll zu beginnen. Dann könnten die jetzt registrierten Einfuhren nachträglich mit Zöllen belegt werden, falls die noch laufende Untersuchung ergeben sollte. Europäische Hersteller hätten wegen der Zuschüsse des Staates an chinesische Konkurrenten einen unvertretbaren Wettbewerbsvorteil."
--- Deutschland, deine Journaille. Da hat der Spiegel anscheinend wieder mal einen besoffenen Praktikanten an den Computer gelassen.
Der EU fällt endlich die Abhängigkeit von China auf – aber zu spät
US-Gesetzentwurf: ByteDance soll zum Verkauf von TikTok gezwungen werden
