China news roundup / Nachrichten 2020-08-24

English news:

Hong Kong reports 'first case' of virus reinfection

"reinfected with coronavirus four and a half months after his first bout.
They say genome sequencing shows the two strains of the virus are "clearly different""

--- At least now we know for sure that reinfection is possible.

"The World Health Organization warns it is important not to jump to conclusions based on the case of one patient."

--- Since there is only one conclusion (that reinfection is possible), what's there to jump to?

"And experts say reinfections may be rare and not necessarily serious."

--- Oh, they may be rare & not necessarily serious. Nothing to worry about then. All will be fine.
There may be some idiots out there who don't understand that such statements not necessarily have a calming effect, but instead may arouse suspicions.

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China says it's been vaccinating doctors and border workers since July

"China has been using an experimental coronavirus vaccine on people who work in "high risk" professions since July, including front line medical professionals and border inspectors"

--- Medical experimentation is so easy in China.

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‘Damage control’ at heart of Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi’s mission to Europe

"Beijing’s main goal is to prevent the creation of a united transatlantic front against China, particularly on 5G"

--- Not to worry, the EU is all too happy to keep the status quo, even if some are a bit careful about Huawei.

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Li Keqiang in the Muck

"On both Friday and Saturday, Premier Li was entirely excluded from China’s official nightly newscast"

--- But of course. Li is a mere human, who's having to wear rubber boots while visiting flooded areas. Demigod emperor Xi on the other hand floats glowingly over flooded landscapes. Obviously people only want to see the latter.

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Why there won’t be a US-China war

"China has invested enormously in coastal defenses"

--- How horrible! & that makes a war impossible? The whole article seems to be just a PR exercise for the author's book. Doesn't make much sense, because:

"To be sure, there are some enormous unknowns about Chinese military capacity."

--- That's one. Another one is that if China attacks Taiwan (the most probable reason for a US-China war), the US doesn't have much choice but to go to war, even considering high casualty numbers.

"a confrontation between US and Chinese forces near the Chinese coast isn’t the only possible war scenario. The US might try to block Chinese imports of oil from the Persian Gulf."

--- & there is that. Even if China stocks up on everything, a blockade is fairly easy to sustain for a long time.
cf.:

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To Defeat China In War, Strangle Its Economy: Expert

"Blockading China would require a coordinated effort by the whole of the U.S. government and its closest allies"

--- Should be easy enough, even if Japan does not get involved. Australia, UK & USA together have a formidable naval force.

"Chinese rockets, bombers and submarines are potent on a regional level but lack global range. That limits their ability to halt a U.S.-led blockade."

--- Not to mention that their effectivity has not been tested yet.

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Foxconn, other Asian firms consider Mexico factories as China risks grow

"following Sino-U.S. tensions, saying his firm was working on “providing two sets of supply chain to service the two markets.”"

--- Probably what many of the bigger companies will have to do.

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18 Chinese tech stocks soar 200% as a major market relaxes its IPO rules

"new rules that allow companies to participate in an IPO registration system akin to how public listings work in the United States"

--- The problem is that Chinese companies' accounting practices are often ... er ... highly creative.

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Eat the Buddha by Barbara Demick review – voices from a forbidden culture

"a deeply textured, densely reported and compelling exploration of Ngaba, Sichuan, a “nothing little town that had just gotten its first traffic light” but that became, horrifyingly, “the undisputed world capital of self-immolations”"

--- Terrorism of the worst kind! How dare you not to kill dozens of other people?! How are we supposed to explain our repres... er ... benevolent reactions, if no one else got killed?

"Beijing says life in Tibet was “hell on earth” before it became part of the People’s Republic of China in 1951."

--- Well, considering that people burnt after China's invasion, you could say, hell on earth only started then.

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Video News:

--- China Uncensored: "Belarus: Chinese Money Comes with Dangers"

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--- Sky News (AUS): "Many are 'so blind to the menace' of communist China"

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Not in the news (yet):

Chinese students sue US over WeChat ban, WeChat bans their support group

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Deutsche Nachrichten:

Europareise mit Spannungen: Chinas Außenminister besucht Deutschland

"die erste Reise des Außenministers seit Ausbruch der Pandemie mit dem Coronavirus werde von den betreffenden Ländern "herzlich willkommen" geheißen"

--- Herzlichkeit mit chinesischen Charakteristiken vielleicht?

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Suche nach dem Ursprung des Virus

"Es deutet viel darauf hin, dass der Erreger seinen Ursprung in einem Fledermaus-Reservoir im Süden Chinas hat"

--- Fiese Verleumdung! Fledermäuse tragen keine Reisepässe mit sich herum. Es ist also eine völlig logische Möglichkeit, daß eine Fledermaus aus den USA illegal nach China geflogen ist, um dort das Virus zu verbreiten.

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Hunderttausende müssen Fluten weichen

"Rund 54.000 Häuser sollen zerstört worden sein. Mehr als 220 Menschen wurden getötet, meist durch Erdrutsche, die durch die Fluten verursacht wurden"

--- Seltsamerweise angeblich nur die Hälfte an Fluttoten eines normalen Jahres. Rekordfluten, aber extrem wenige Opfer. Chinesische Logik?

"Ministerpräsident Li Keqiang reiste nach Chongqing. [...] Doch weder das Staatsfernsehen noch die staatliche Nachrichtenagentur Xinhua berichteten zunächst über seinen Besuch"

--- Immerhin mußte man 25 Minuten darüber berichten, wie Halbgott & Kaiser Xi in Anhui unbefleckt über den Beinahefluten schwebte. Wie hätte es ausgesehen, wenn man daneben Li zeigt, wie er in schmutzigen Gummistiefeln durch den Dreck stapft?

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TikTok verklagt US-Regierung

"Jetzt reichte das chinesische Unternehmen Klage gegen die US-Regierung ein.
Im Streit um ein drohendes Verbot der Video-Plattform Tiktok haben die Betreiber die Regierung von US-Präsident Donald Trump verklagt."

--- Wen denn jetzt? Trumpel oder Regierung? Der Trumpel ist nur ein kleiner, wenn auch sehr wichtiger, Teil der Regierung.

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