China news roundup / Nachrichten 2020-11-15/16

English news:

Citizen journalist facing jail in China for Wuhan Covid reporting

"She was accused of “picking quarrels and stirring up trouble”, an accusation frequently used against critics and activists inside China, after reporting on social media and streaming accounts"

--- Of course you are picking quarrels & stirring up trouble if you criticise the CCP. Emperor Xi & his lackeys never make mistakes & saying otherwise is blasphemy.

"She also accepted interviews from overseas media Free Radio Asia and Epoch Times"

--- So, she's not only a heretic, but also a traitor! Jail is too lenient for her, she needs the death by 1000 cuts.

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Hong Kong politicians face pro-democracy exodus

"those who walked out may not be able to stand in future elections on the grounds their protest was itself unpatriotic and therefore bars them from office"

--- Ah, Chinese laws. Always so clear, always so single-minded: Submit to the CCP or we'll come after you!

"they are likely to face a shrinking voter base as people concerned about China’s tightening grip on Hong Kong seek to emigrate"

--- Well, yeah, but to emigrate has become the only way out now (if you don't get jailed for trying). Democracy in HK is dead, anyway. The best thing people can do (for them personally) is to get out.

"Even when Hong Kong was convulsed by demonstrations last year, many of those in the streets said they had come out not because they hoped they could bring about change but because they wanted their resistance noted for posterity"

--- Quite reasonable.

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Why China and a Bloc of Nations Led by Vietnam Just Met but Ignored Asia’s Biggest Maritime Dispute

"The partnership signing Sunday without action on the maritime dispute sends a message from ASEAN to China that trade takes priority over maritime security"

--- Obviously, at least as far as the political elite is concerned. We'll see how long that holds, once China again sends exploration ships or builds bases on some reefs.

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UK should revisit 5G ban now Trump is defeated, says Huawei

"In the north, the broadband carriage and speeds are already far behind London and the south-east. The delay in developing 5G will worsen the situation."

--- How? Broadband is largely unrelated to 5G. Those who can't afford broadband now, will also be unable to pay for 5G services. Importance of 5G is largely overstated, as can be seen by the lack of acceptance in those parts of China where it is already available.

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How China and Germany became partners on technical standardization

"Nations that seek Chinese infrastructure investments will come under pressure to adopt Chinese standards"

--- That is most probably the ultimate goal of the CCP.

"By partnering with Germany, one of the world’s leading standards powers, China hopes to cultivate a powerful ally in an increasingly contentious arena, as well as master the subtleties of standardization practice by working with an insider"

--- So, German engineers are essentially helping to make themselves obsolete.

"German standard-setters [...] worry that if China were to go it alone through a BRI Standards Forum, they themselves would lose capacity to steer global standardization processes."

--- Sounds reasonable, but is probably quite naive. Once China has the knowledge & the influence, the German 'standard-setters' will be pushed aside, anyway. Cooperation on international standards is good & necessary, but you have to be very careful about giving the CCP too much influence.

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Bitcoin Primed For Surprise $3 Billion China Shock

"China Construction Bank, the world's second largest bank by assets, is planning to raise $3 billion from the sale of bonds that can be bought with bitcoin and U.S. dollars"

--- Dubious. Anyway, the title is obvious nonsense. Even if the CCB accepts Bitcoin, most of the bonds will be bought with USD.

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China rescue: British diplomat Stephen Ellison saves drowning woman

"Footage filmed by onlookers showed her struggle in the fast-moving current"

--- Well, it was moving ... barely. Fast-moving is quite an exaggeration.

"Despite recent negative feeling towards Britain, many Chinese say they're "shocked" that "so many [local] people were watching, and not a single person rushed to the water themselves" to help"

--- Shocked? That's normal behaviour in China, partially because people don't care, partially because they are afraid to get blamed for what happened. (People have been convicted in court because, as a judge said: You only help others if you are the one who caused the problem.)

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Belgian racing pigeon sets fanciers' hearts aflutter in €1.6m sale

"Chinese enthusiasm for long-distance pigeon racing has driven prices up sharply, with birds from Belgium"

--- Hmm, when I think of pigeons & China, I think of food. It was pretty rare to see pigeon breeding as hobby, when I lived there. Maybe, things are changing, or maybe they just see race pigeons as a kind of investment.

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--- Other news:

China’s Open Source Problem

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Does China have access to genetics to rebuild its breeding herd?

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Video News:

--- China Uncensored: "6 Things That Show China's Organ Harvesting Is Real"

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--- Sky News (AUS): "Confucius Institute chair 'attacks professor exposing alleged Chinese espionage'"

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--- VPRO: "Hongkong | Zondag met Lubach" (Dutch only)

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Deutsche Nachrichten:

Weltgrößter Freihandelspakt vereinbart

"Es sei nicht nur eine monumentale Errungenschaft für die regionale Integration, "sondern, noch wichtiger, ein Sieg für Multilateralismus und freien Handel""

--- Abwarten. So wie ich China kenne, bedeutet Freihandel da auch wieder: "Ihr öffnet Eure Grenzen für unsere Waren & wir machen weiter wie bisher."
Australien ist z.B. auch in dem Pakt. Glaubt irgendjemand tatsächlich, daß China jetzt die ganzen Sanktionsmaßnahmen aufgibt? Da wird halt wie bisher irgendeine Entschuldigung gefunden, Schädlinge im Holz, Kontamination im Wein, etc.

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Freihandelszone nach Chinas Gusto

"Ob die Volksrepublik aber im Gegenzug zum RCEP-Erfolg wirklich ihre eigenen Märkte für die Vertragspartner öffnet, bleibt abzuwarten."

--- Eben.

"Wer jetzt über den gewachsenen Einfluss Chinas jammert, kann sich bei Donald Trump bedanken."

--- Naja, der Vertrag war 8 Jahre lang in der Mache. Kann man also nicht einfach so Trump anlasten.

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Corona überwunden: Chinas Wirtschaft erhält neuen Schwung

"Experten rechnen mit fünf bis sechs Prozent Wachstum."

--- Basierend auf offiziellen chinesischen Zahlen.

"Es gibt heute ansonsten nur importierte Fälle, die bei den strengen Einreisekontrollen festgestellt werden."

--- Wer's glaubt. Der Artikelschreiber scheint reichlich naiv alles für bare Münze zu nehmen, was von der KPCh verkündet wird.

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Huawei: US-Regierung erlaubt Chip-Lieferungen von Qualcomm

"Während viele internationale Unternehmen ihre Geschäfte mit Huawei also einstellen mussten, konnten sich US-Firmen mit Sondererlaubnis lukrative Verträge sichern."

--- Bei Trump wundert einen da nix. Allerdings handelt es sich in diesem Fall um 4G-Technologie, also vermutlich weniger profitabel.

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--- Sonstiges:

Studium in den USA? Muss nicht sein

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„Regierungen sollten sagen: Wir nehmen nicht teil“

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