China news roundup / Nachrichten 2020-07-31
English news:
'China is powerful now': Beijing's aggressive global stance sparks wave of nationalism
"Chinese authorities were quick to clamp down on any sign of protest outside the US consulate in Chengdu, reflecting Beijing’s apparent desire to retaliate in a way that shows resolve but does not accelerate the current death-spiral in US-China relations"
--- Maybe. Or it's just that the CCP is afraid of any protest which gets out of control. Even though the commies (more like nammies nowadays) stoke nationalism, they are afraid of being swept away by a nationalist tide.
Hong Kong 'seeking arrest' of fleeing activists
"They are wanted on suspicion of violating a new security law imposed in Hong Kong by Beijing, Chinese state TV reported, calling them "troublemakers"."
--- Most of them haven't been in HK after the law was introduced. Among them:
"Samuel Chu, a US citizen [... who ...] runs the Washington DC-based Hong Kong Democracy Council and said he last visited Hong Kong in November 2019.
Ray Wong, a pro-independence activist who fled to Germany in 2017"
--- & with them going after a US citizen it is already clear that article 38 of the national security law is really intended to be used worldwide. Anyone, anywhere can be a target now.
Fuck you, emperor Xi!
Meanwhile, in the West, you still have idiots like this:
Feinstein: Letting Americans sue China over coronavirus response would be 'huge mistake'
"we hold China as a potential trading partner [...] a country that has pulled tens of millions of people out of poverty in a short period of time. And as a country growing into a respectable nation among other nations. And I deeply believe that. I've been to China a number of times. I've studied the issues."
--- A respectable nation. Well, whatever issues she studied, they obviously did not include China's ignorance of international rules & laws, encroachment on other countries' territories, cultural & demographic genocide in Xinjiang, oppression in Tibet & other human rights violations.
'Political purge' on Hong Kong opposition may spell end of democracy
"the latest rulings suggest authorities even want to eliminate tempered dissent from the halls of power"
--- There is nothing like tempered dissent. Anyone, who disagrees with the CCP under benevolent emperor Xi's guidance is a heretic & needs to be treated as such.
"It is obviously now illegal to believe in democracy ... this is the sort of behaviour that you would expect in a police state."
--- Well, that fits the reality in HK, then.
cf.: Hong Kong postpones elections for a year 'over virus concerns'
also: Germany suspends extradition treaty with Hong Kong citing election delay – minister
U.S. sanctions China's paramilitary in Xinjiang
"the Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps (XPCC), a paramilitary organization operating in Xinjiang [... which ...] employs almost 12% of Xinjiang's total population [...] and in 2014, XPCC-controlled interests comprised 17% of Xinjiang's economy"
--- Well-chosen target, it seems.
cf.: US imposes sanctions on Chinese 'state-within-a-state' linked to Xinjiang abuses
U.S. sells record amount of corn to China despite rising tensions
"China is trying to meet the first-phase target of a trade agreement"
--- Yeah, right. They are buying stuff because they have massive problems at the moment to produce it themselve &/or procure it anywhere else. Wuhanvirus & massive flooding seem to have wreaked havoc in Chinese agriculture.
China's central bank urges antitrust probe into Alipay, WeChat Pay - sources
"In an effort to encourage smaller players to enter the market, the central bank said last year it planned to standardise the interoperability of QR code payments."
--- Could be interesting. Will the Chinese state really try to diversify the market or sooner or later simply take over digital payment completely?
China’s coronavirus vaccines are leaping ahead – but face challenges as virus wanes
"trials usually require tens of thousands of participants, and with the outbreak in China largely under control, companies are having to test their vaccines elsewhere"
--- I doubt that they really have the infrastructure worldwide for organising this, but we'll see. Anyway:
"Chinese vaccine-makers will face other challenges, too. Vaccines will probably face extra scrutiny, given the country’s opaque regulatory system and previous vaccine scandals"
--- I'm pretty sure that I wouldn't use a vaccine coming from a Chinese company. Too risky.
--- Other news:
European Union hits Chinese ‘hackers’ with sanctions, along with alleged cyber-spies from Russia and North Korea
Opinion: Only sanctions will make China stop and think
Videos show extensive flooding in China's Xi'an
New Zealand's relationship with China is at a tipping point
China Has 1 Trillion Reasons To Pray Trump Is Defeated (Forbes, as usual beware of the site reloading stuff.)
Video News:
--- China Uncensored features its weekend variety:
--- DW News: "Hong Kong leader Carrie Lam delays elections citing coronavirus"
--- DW News: "USA vs China: A new Cold War? | To the point"
Deutsche Nachrichten:
Keine Auslieferungen an Hongkong
"Die Reaktion aus Deutschland erfolgte prompt"
--- Ja genau. Hat nur einen Monat gedauert...
"Die Regierung argumentierte: Niemand eigne sich zum Abgeordneten, der nicht hinter dem Staatssicherheitsgesetz stehe und der die Selbstbestimmung oder Unabhängigkeit Hongkongs befürworte."
--- Vor allem: Niemand ist geeignet, der doch tatsächlich gegen die Regierung stimmen will.
vgl.: „Größter Wahlbetrug der Geschichte“
EU-Sanktionen gegen Hacker aus Russland und China
"Die Chinesen sollen bei einer Aktion mit dem Namen "Cloud Hopper" IT-Dienstleister in aller Welt angegriffen haben."
--- & das war alles zum Thema China im Artikel. Ähnlich sieht das bei Heise aus.
Der englische Artikel in 'Other news' ist da informativer.
Offen und geheim: Wie China mit Offline- und Online-Medien Nachrichten steuert
"Die obersten offiziellen Institutionen dafür sind die zentrale Propaganda-Abteilung der Partei, deren "P" heute als "Publizistik" verstanden werden soll, und die Vereinigte Arbeitsfront."
--- Auch als Einheitsfront bekannt.
Great round up of the news
Thanks!
The Panorama doc you mentioned finally showed up on Youtube (though not on the BBC channel). Pretty good, although they failed to mention the probable first case from 17 November. Perhaps not enough evidence for their taste.
Glad you found it. BBC being BBC guess they have to be more cautious, but it's a good overview for those who may not be too familiar with the whole situation
!ENGAGE 30
ENGAGEtokens.