China news roundup / Nachrichten 2024-02-23
McKinsey-led think-tank advised China on policy that fed US tensions
"A McKinsey-led think-tank advised China to deepen co-operation between business and the military and push foreign companies out of sensitive industries as part of a project for the central government in 2015.
The recommendations in a book by the Urban China Initiative, commissioned by the Chinese government’s central planning agency, were among dozens of policies it proposed to boost the country’s technological prowess"
--- A US company essentially helping the CCP to prepare for war with the USA.
"McKinsey shut down UCI in 2021 and has played down its relationship with the Chinese government since coming under political pressure in the US
[...] Bob Sternfels, McKinsey’s global managing partner, said: “We do no work, and to the best of my knowledge never have, for the Chinese Communist party or for the central government in China. The vast majority of work that we do in China is for multinational companies. Many of those are US companies and private sector Chinese companies.”
McKinsey said the 2015 project for the Chinese government’s National Development and Reform Commission “was not authored by McKinsey and is not McKinsey work” and it stands by its statements regarding its work in the country."
--- 'Nothing to do with us, absolutely nothing!'
"Woetzel, the McKinsey senior partner behind UCI, has been based in China since 1985 and has been instrumental in building the firm’s presence in the country, according to an internal history that credited her fluent Mandarin for helping attract local graduates to join the firm. She is one of six directors of the McKinsey Global Institute, the firm’s in-house research arm, a title she uses on the dust jacket to Scientific and Technological Revolutions, along with director of McKinsey & Company and co-chair of UCI.
In her foreword, Woetzel wrote: “Drawing on research of the McKinsey Global Institute and the Urban China Initiative, we hope this book provides useful input for the planning and development of China’s technology enterprises and government institutions. We believe there is great potential for China’s science and technology in the years to come!”"
--- Yeah, obviously totally unrelated to McKinsey.
Will this have consequences for McKinsey?
No quick recovery for China’s falling home prices
"Prices of new homes declined by 0.5% in January from a year ago, the drop wider in major cities like Beijing and Shanghai compared to second- and third-tier places. Those for the secondary market widened 1.4 percentage points to a 4.9% decrease in first-tier cities, said the National Statistics Bureau on Friday."
--- Official numbers. Reality is obviously way worse.
"Although prices have fallen by 13% to 20% since last year, compared with 2021’s peak level, demand hasn’t increased"
--- Because China's economy is booming.
"Wu Jialong, an economist based in Taipei, believes that five to 10 years is not enough, taking a leaf from the Japanese experience, and thus projecting at least 20 or even 30 years for China to get out of the current gloom."
--- Could be, but everything looking further into the future than 2 or 3 years is dubious.
US Targets Dozens of Entities From China, UAE and Turkey for Helping Russia
"The action, one day before the second anniversary of Russia's invasion of Ukraine, essentially bans U.S. shipments to the targeted entities, including 63 from Russia, 16 from Turkey, eight from China and four from the UAE."
--- A bit later than the EU (BTW, still no reaction from China?), but as usual a bit more extensive as well.
Google’s Gemini criticised over China images amid anti-‘woke’ backlash
"Gemini users reported this week that the update to Google Bard failed to generate representative images when asked to produce depictions of events such as the 1989 Tiananmen Square massacre and the 2019 pro-democracy protests in Hong Kong.
[...] Kennedy Wong, a PhD student at the University of California, said that Gemini had declined to translate into English a number of Chinese phrases deemed illegal or sensitive by Beijing, including “Liberate Hong Kong, Revolution Of Our Times” and “China is an authoritarian state”"
--- Almost as if Google is infiltrated by commies.
"Adam Ni, co-editor of the newsletter China Neican, said he believes Gemini made the right call with its cautious approach to historic events like Tiananmen Square due to their complexity.
Ni said that while the June 4 crackdown on Tiananmen Square is iconic, the protest movement also included weeks of peaceful demonstrations that would be difficult to capture in a single AI image."
--- Moron. If the request is for the Tiananmen Massacre, there is no need for a full Chinese history lesson.
More than 100 Tibetans arrested over dam protest
"Residents were particularly distraught that construction of the hydroelectric dam would destroy six monasteries, including the Wonto Monastery, which includes ancient murals that date to the 13th century"
--- Because the CCP really values history ...
... but only if it's manipulated Han-Chinese history.
Weather tracker: Contrasts in cold and heat break records in China
China tech firm claimed it could hack Foreign Office
Fossil reveals 240 million year-old 'dragon'
--- China Uncensored features the usual weekend news variety:
--- DW News: "The China Challenge -- de-risking ties with an economic colossus"
China: Deutsche Delegation spricht über internationale Lage
"Das Gespräch sei auch Gelegenheit, um über die Lage in Nahost und die Aktionen der Huthi-Miliz gegen den freien Seeverkehr zu sprechen. Die Bundesregierung ist laut Plötner zudem über die Lage in Nordkorea besorgt. China spiele dabei eine wichtige Rolle. Deutschland messe dem Verhältnis zu China "große Bedeutung" bei und wolle die wirtschaftlichen Beziehungen weiterentwickeln."
--- Plötner gehört soweit ich mich entsinne, wie Stegner & Mützenich, zur 5. Kolonne Moskaus in der SPD. Von daher kein Wunder, daß er in Peking höchst freundlich begrüßt wird.
Meyer Burger setzt Regierung Pistole auf Brust und stoppt Solarpanelproduktion
""Da es noch keine Entscheidung über politische Unterstützungsmassnahmen zur Behebung der aktuellen Marktverzerrungen durch Überangebot und Dumpingpreise bei Solarmodulen gibt, hat die Gruppe beschlossen, mit den Vorbereitungen für die Schliessung ihres Standorts in Freiberg zu beginnen, die zu Ende April in Kraft treten würde"
[...] Das Handelsblatt schreibt dazu, dass der Markt für Solarmodule überversorgt sei und die Preise sich im freien Fall befänden. Um rund 50 Prozent seien sie in den vergangenen 12 Monaten gesunken, von 30 auf 15 Euro-Cent je Watt/Peak. Chinesische Anbieter verkauften demnach ihre Module "seit Neuestem sogar unter den eigenen Herstellungskosten". Kostendeckend wären europäische Hersteller erst ab 20 Euro-Cent aufwärts"
--- Nur konsequent, da Deutschland & die EU sich mal wieder Zeit lassen.
Der Krieg schweißt Russland und China zusammen
