China news roundup / Nachrichten 2020-06-01/02
English news:
How China blocked WHO and Chinese scientists early in coronavirus outbreak
"Chinese government labs only released the genome after another lab published it ahead of authorities on a virologist website on Jan. 11. Even then, China stalled for at least two weeks more"
--- Impossible. What about that great openness praised by the WHO?
"The new information does not support the narrative of either the U.S. or China"
--- Well, I don't know. Looks pretty bad for the WHO. Internally it was obviously clear that the PRC was far from open, while WHO officials publicly praised China. That sounds like the scientists in the WHO were trying their best to get information while the leadership was in cahoots with the CCP. At best it was appeasement, at worst Tedros & co. are corrupt arseholes.
"WHO and its officials named in this story declined to answer questions asked by The Associated Press without audio or written transcripts of the recorded meetings, which the AP was unable to supply to protect its sources"
--- That very much sounds like the WHO wants to hide something. & is looking for the whistleblowers. So, corruption seems very plausible.
Meanwhile: Wuhan doctor who worked with whistleblower dies
Seven former foreign secretaries urge UK to take lead on Hong Kong
"The seven [...] want the UK to set up an international contact group similar to the one established during the Balkans crisis in the 1990s."
--- Good luck with that, considering how afraid the EU is of losing all that wonderful Chinese money.
In that vein:
Raab calls for alliance to force China to step back over Hong Kong
"He said the alliance needed to stretch beyond ‘the usual suspects” in Europe and the Five Eyes alliance to include countries in Africa and Latin America"
--- You have already problems getting the usual suspects in Europe on board, so not much hope there, I suppose.
"Raab also ruled out calls from some MPs to offer a UK visa to those not eligible to apply for the BNO."
--- Which means that those who are at greatest risk from the new law have no way out (except perhaps asking for asylum). But maybe the US helps:
US may take in Hongkongers ahead of China security laws, Pompeo suggests
"The US is considering letting people who no longer “feel comfortable” in Hong Kong move to the US"
--- Considering, hmm... Considering Trump's stance on immigration, I doubt that there will be any major influx to the US from HK.
China asks state firms to halt purchases of U.S. soybeans, pork, sources say
"Large volume state purchases of U.S. corn and cotton have also been put on hold
[...] China could expand the order to include additional U.S. farm goods if Washington took further action"
--- The Phase-1 deal wasn't very realistic in the first place, but now it seems to be officially dead. Can't see, how China would be able to meet the targets.
China says it's ditching growth targets. That could be good news for the world
"It would be pointless, the government has decided, to set a target of 6% when extrinsic factors dictate where the economy is going. But if the move becomes the norm and stays as the default option, it would represent a new mindset, and major progress for China on several fronts"
--- The usual lefty (Guardian) wishful thinking. They didn't drop the target this year because of a new mindset, but because they have no idea what's going on (& what they know just looks too bad). Once they regained control, they will reinstate targets which then naturally will be met.
"Slowing down the economy would mean less pressure on the environment."
--- But they are not slowing down the economy. They are trying to bring it back to full speed. A bit strange that the author hasn't noticed.
"this may mean fewer state subsidies to promote exports, less reliance on foreign consumption, and less of a rush to acquire resources abroad"
--- May mean. Again wishful thinking. Less reliance on exports is obviously a Chinese economic target, but not to slow down the economy. The aim is to increase domestic consumption.
China gifted propaganda win as Trump's protest response undermines US efforts to protect Hong Kong
"On Saturday, Hua Chunying, a spokeswoman for China's foreign ministry, tweeted "I can't breathe"
[...] However, the Chinese government has not shown any support for the riots in the US, I hope that Americans notice Beijing's restraint. We have not tried to kick the US while it is down"
--- Yeah, right.
Pretty obvious attempt at attacking the support for pro-democracy protests in HK. Won't work.
cf.: 'Mr President, don't go hide': China goads US over George Floyd protests
Chinese Police Target Activists Who Supported Hong Kong Protests
"Xiao was detained after he retweeted a post referring to an online letter-writing campaign by Hong Kong's pro-democracy newspaper the Apple Daily, in opposition to the national security law"
--- Coming to Hong Kong soon. Rest of the world will follow.
Indian app hunts out Chinese software on phones
"it also flags up Zoom, which is based in California but was founded by an entrepreneur who was born in China"
--- & used servers inside China for processing user data.
"critics have said the service is stoking anti-China sentiment, which was already on the rise after the emergence of Covid-19 in the city of Wuhan"
--- Don't criticise China or anything Chinese! That's racist! (said the CCP)
"it cannot detect apps that were pre-installed on Chinese-made smartphones"
--- Well, then it's a nice idea, but with serious restrictions.
Taiwan's 2000 year old knife massage
"Hsiao said she didn’t need to convince anyone about the effectiveness of knife therapy, as people will believe anyway if you cure them of their ills."
--- They believe, even if you don't cure them. People are natural believers.
Video News:
--- China Uncensored: "YouTube Deletes Comments That Insult China"
--- Bloomberg: "What Hong Kong’s Security Law Could Mean for EU Businesses"
--- China Unscripted talks to Tom Grundy from Hong Kong Free Press:
Deutsche Nachrichten:
Neues Netzwerk mit Peking
"Es sei nicht die Aufgabe der China-Brücke, die Tagespolitik zu kommentieren. „Zudem gilt es, im Rahmen der Völkerverständigung Rücksicht auf kulturelle Unterschiede zu nehmen.“ In China sei offen geäußerte Kritik meist nicht zielführend und gelte als Affront"
--- Genau! Wir brauchen mehr Leisetreterei & Appeasement. War in den vergangenen Jahrzehnten doch so erfolgreich.
EU-Außenbeauftragter fordert Selbstbewusstsein gegenüber China
"China weigere sich in manchen Fällen, internationales Recht zu akzeptieren, wie bei seinen Gebietsansprüchen im Südchinesischen Meer."
--- China weigert sich immer, internationales Recht zu akzeptieren, wenn es im Unrecht ist.
""Unsere Werkzeuge haben alle zu tun mit der Rolle als wichtigster Handelspartner. [...] Das sind unsere Druckmittel, die müssen wir besser nutzen", sagte er. Sanktionen lehnt Borrell jedoch ab."
--- Wir haben Druckmittel, die wir nutzen müssen, aber nicht nutzen werden, weil es uns Geld kosten könnte.
Die VRC scheint da etwas anders zu denken: China stoppt Kauf von US-Agrarprodukten
s.a.: China droht den USA mit Gegenmaßnahmen
Wollt ihr ernsthaft, dass wir alle durchdrehen?
"Zugleich kommt Fang Fang zu dem Schluss, dass es sich nicht allein um persönliches Versagen einzelner Funktionäre handelt, sondern um die Mechanismen des chinesischen Herrschaftssystems."
--- Blasphemie! Die KPCh unter Kaiser Xi ist unfehlbar. Alles was nicht funktioniert, ist die Schuld einzelner, korrumpierter Bösewichter & v.a. ausländischer, subversiver Kräfte.
"Fang Fang und ihre Unterstützer hätten „pervertierte Werte und verkrümmte Seelen“, wie ein führender Wissenschaftler in einer Vorlesung verkündete, die dann von Parteimedien verbreitet wurde"
--- Die Kritik am System zeigt ja ganz deutlich, wie pervertiert sie ist. Kein vernünftiger Mensch kann auf die Idee kommen, daß unter Kaiser Xi etwas systematisch falsch laufen könnte.
Chinesische Unternehmen finden Börsenalternative zu Amerika
"die Vereinigten Staaten darauf angewiesen sind, dass China weiterhin ihre Schulden finanziert"
--- Quark. US-Staatsanleihen würden auch andere Abnehmer finden, wenn auch evtl. zu etwas schlechteren Konditionen.