China news roundup / Nachrichten 2020-11-07/08

English news:

'UN actively passing names of Uighur dissidents to Chinese regime:' whistleblower

"China then uses the information that the UN provides them, to harass human rights activists and their families"

--- Still hasn't made it into mainstream media, but should be a big deal.

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China unlikely to find Biden a soft touch

"Biden has not laid out a detailed China strategy, but all indications are he will continue the tough approach to Beijing"

--- We will see. Let's just hope that all this US election craziness is finished soon & we can go back to normal business.

"He has referred to Chinese President Xi Jinping as a “thug” and vowed to lead an international campaign to “pressure, isolate and punish China.” His campaign has also labeled China’s actions against Muslims in Xinjiang “genocide”"

--- That was during an election campaign, which rarely translates one to one into policy.

"A Biden administration’s China policy will be more predictable and strategic"

--- Doesn't need much to achieve that, after Trump.
Meanwhile, some speculate about possible disruptive moves by Trump: Donald Trump may be on the way out, but he could break more China before he leaves

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In plain sight: how an alleged Chinese spy tried to build an Australian business empire

"He is alleged to have operated in plain sight in Australia since the mid-2000s, seemingly working in telecommunications, as a military technology salesman, a journalist and an expert in manufacturing within the painting industry"

--- A man of many trades. Totally unsuspicious, totally normal.

"how and to what extent could a network of legitimate Australian businesses and community groups be used as cover by someone like Chen to carry out alleged CCP intelligence-gathering capabilities?"

--- Seems like the CCP has infiltrated Australia much deeper than I thought. Will be hard to root them out, considering how sensitive Western media & politics are about alleged racism.

"United Front work … is the noise for intelligence work to hide in."

--- Well, much of the United Front seems to be doing Chinese intelligence work.

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Foreigners join China's livestream sales army

"the growing ranks of foreigners hired by mainland agencies to extend China's livestream sales mania beyond its borders"

--- Chinese consumers are a bit nuts, anyway, but even so I don't understand why this nonsense is so successful in China. That's like watching badly made, amateurish commercials. I don't even watch proper commercials, why would I watch this crap?

"Livestreaming is a new way of consuming ... in several years, it will be the main way we choose products"

--- Dubious. Although, well, there are more than enough nutters out there.

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'Stand By her': China university students campaign to end period shaming

"Those who take from the period support boxes are encouraged to help replenish its stock later."

--- Good luck with that, ... in a country where you don't have free toilet paper in public toilets because it would get stolen. (But, then again, this program is for universities. Might not work out as bad there.)

"Female students told the Guardian they often felt embarrassed when buying sanitary products."

--- Maybe. But that stuff is easily & openly available everywhere. If you're afraid to buy it in small shops, just go to a major supermarket where no one cares.

"whenever she shopped for sanitary pads in campus stores, shop owners placed the products in a black plastic bag, separating it from the other products"

--- Same happens when you buy condoms. But, hey, I'm sure we can construe that into oppression of women somehow.

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Did the Great Wall of China Actually Keep Invaders Out?

"Actually, it might better be known as walls, plural. The Great Wall of China is really a conglomeration of several different fortifications"

--- That alone makes this article worthy to read. Gets rarely mentioned in the usual MSM history stories.

"Genghis Khan and his armies had no trouble invading Chinese territory, for example, nor did various other tribes from the north."

--- Because walls are very limited in their defensive effectiveness. I have been saying this for a long time. Nice to see it in a proper magazine for once.

"Another use may have been to control flows of people to and from the Chinese empire — keeping unwanted immigrants out and preventing citizens from leaving."

--- That may have been the only real use of these walls. For a proper army, they are not much of an obstacle, only for small raiding parties.

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Video News:

--- China Uncensored features the weekend news variety:

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Deutsche Nachrichten:

Wildtiermärkte in China – was sich seit Corona verändert hat

"Das Klischee vom Hunde essenden Chinesen stimmt aber längst nicht mehr."

--- Kenne das Klischee nicht, aber Hunde werden immer noch gegessen. Auf Hundefleisch spezialisierte Restaurants gibt es in so ziemlich jeder Stadt.

"Der Verkauf von lebenden Hühnern ist zum Beispiel in Shanghai komplett untersagt."

--- Naja, einerseits ist Shanghai nicht China, andererseits bezweifle ich, daß selbst dort das Verbot hundertprozentig umzusetzen ist. Dafür gibt es zuviele Chinesen, die daran gewöhnt sind, ihr Geflügel extrem frisch zu kaufen.

"Ein großes Problem bleibt aber: Für die traditionelle chinesische Medizin dürfen Körperteile von Wildtieren in China weiterhin verwendet werden."

--- Kaiser Xi liebt TCM. Also kein Wunder, daß dafür Ausnahmen gelten.

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Altmaier will Handelskonflikte mit Amerika und China entschärfen

"Die aktuelle Corona-Krise macht aber deutlich, dass wir offene Märkte und funktionierende Lieferketten brauchen."

--- V.a. macht die Krise deutlich, daß man sich nicht auf Lieferketten aus China verlassen kann.
& was die Entschärfung eines Handelskonflikts mit China angeht, liegen die Karten ja wohl alle bei China. Die EU hat bisher kaum Maßnahmen gegen chinesischen Protektionismus ergriffen.

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China fährt im Welthandel voraus

"Die aktuelle Schnellschätzung stützt sich auf Angaben von 64 Häfen, in denen rund 85 Prozent des im Index abgebildeten Umschlags staffinden"

--- Würde mich nicht wundern, wenn davon ein Großteil chinesische Häfen sind. Deren Zahlen ist natürlich nicht unbedingt zu trauen. Aber:

"Auch die Frachtpreise für Container sind ein zuverlässiger Konjunkturindikator: Wird mehr gehandelt, steigen auch die Preise für den Transport"

--- ... das scheint auf eine tatsächliche Erholung des Welthandels zu deuten. Mal abwarten, wie die neuen Lockdowns sich auswirken.

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Ein Datenleck zeigt, wie Amazon-Bewertungen gekauft werden

"In vielen Fällen waren in den Bestellbestätigungen Klarname und Anschrift der Person sichtbar, die das Produkt gekauft und offenbar im Anschluss eine Jubelrezension verfasste hat. Außerdem waren die Namen der Händler ersichtlich, die von den Bewertungen profitierten. Wir schauten uns einige Dutzend näher an – alle hatten ihren Sitz in China."

--- Überraschung! Fairer Handel der chinesischen Art, kombiniert mit Datenschutz der chinesischen Art.

"Sie posten wie am Fließband Produkte von Amazon-Verkäufern, verbunden mit dem Hinweis, dass der Kaufpreis per PayPal erstattet wird, wenn man die Ware zunächst auf eigene Kosten bestellt und mit 5 Sternen bewertet."

--- Deutet darauf hin, daß da totaler Ramsch verkauft wird, wenn sich solche Promo-Methoden lohnen.

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