China news roundup / Nachrichten 2021-06-03
Biden expands US investment ban on Chinese firms
"US investors will be banned from buying or selling publicly-traded securities for other companies including the China General Nuclear Power Corporation, China Mobile Limited and Costar Group"
--- Reasonable. Wall Street obviously cannot be relied on to divest voluntarily. Here is the list of - for now - 59 companies (incl. Huawei): U.S. Treasury updates list of Chinese entities hit by investment ban
"China will take necessary measures to resolutely safeguard the legitimate rights and interests of Chinese enterprises"
--- Hmm, there is a right to get US money?
‘Mourn June 4 in your own way’: Tiananmen Square events vanish amid crackdowns and Covid
"Each year around this time, the censorship increases: sensitive words, numbers, photographs, symbols, emojis – anything that could be a reference to the event – disappear online."
--- This year, even candle emojis disappeared. A government full of confidence.
China accuses Western firms over 'harmful' kids' goods
"H&M, Zara, Nike and Gap have not yet responded to requests for comment from the BBC."
--- Will they ever learn?
Obviously not:
Apple uses more suppliers from China than Taiwan for first time, data shows
"the tech company had 51 suppliers based in China and Hong Kong in 2020 [...] The figure compares with 42 in 2018
[...] Apple has also been sourcing more and more raw materials such as chips, wiring and circuit boards from China than elsewhere in recent years"
--- We really want to diversify, but you see, all that money that we can save by sourcing from China, it's so ... so ... tempting. How bad can dependence on China be, if you can save/earn so much money?
China says Hungarian politicians 'beneath contempt' for renaming streets
"Wang's rebuke followed a call by Chinese President Xi Jinping for his country to show a softer face abroad and cultivate a "reliable, admirable and respectable image.""
--- What's more respectable & admirable than to tell other countries how to name their streets?
(Well, at least now we know for sure that emperor Xi's words were just hollow propaganda talk.)
The 4th largest mobile browser exfiltrates users’ data even in Incognito mode
"UCWeb advertises the product incognito mode to be a private & secure way of browsing the internet. However, they are exfiltrating the users activity to UCWeb’s servers
[...] This behavior was observed regardless of the IP our device was browsing from, including US, Europe and India. Details about browsing activity in incognito mode were also exfiltrated with the same level of detail"
--- By now, everybody should know that Chinese software is not to be trusted. Doesn't really matter which brand.
China’s ‘splinternet’ will create a state-controlled alternative cyberspace
"the Chinese are building their own internet, in a potential fragmentation that has been called the “splinternet”, an alternative cyberspace in which Britain does not even get a look in, unless invited. Many developing countries are likely to sign up to it"
--- How many? I doubt that except for the most corrupt dictators many governments would be willing to join a Chinese-controlled internet. Because:
"Any country signing up to China’s splinternet would almost certainly expose its people to the same levels of state control."
--- Not only its people. Everything & everyone would be under Chinese control. If you are a dictator, you like to have control yourself, you don't want to give it to the Chinese.
Cuttings of prized SunGold kiwifruits were smuggled to China and NZ growers are divided over what to do about it
"Gao bought an orchard in New Zealand in 2013 and signed with Zespri to grow SunGold, but Zespri alleges he then went ahead and made some agreements of his own, promising exclusive access and supply to the Chinese grower
[...] In her judgement, Justice Katz wrote that Gao had taken "budwood" of the SunGold kiwifruit to China, supplied growers and had likely been paid for it, although the exact amount was not clear"
--- Business with Chinese characteristics. Obviously, you not only have to be careful in high-tech, but in innovation everywhere.
Speaking of Chinese business, Chinese healthcare is big business, too:
Appeal to fund Shropshire teacher's China hospital treatment
"Mr Casey, who launched it, said on his fundraising website he was having a bureaucratic "nightmare with Chinese lawyers and insurance companies, who are simply not paying what they should be"
[...] He stated he had been prevented from seeing her for seven weeks "with the claim that it's Covid controls, but the reality is they want their money"
[...] Mr Casey also said she was fully insured with a "very reputable company", but "they capped it at £11,000 and her bill currently stands at 70""
--- Sounds like China. If you have some chronic illness, don't go to China. It's too easy to go wrong. You can't trust Chinese medication, Chinese hospitals mostly just want your money & the medication you are used to, even if at first readily available or easily imported, can stop being available any time.
China restricted imports from Australia. Now Australia is selling elsewhere
China's new 'tang ping' trend aims to highlight pressures of work culture
China suspends all high-risk sports events after deadly mountain ultra-marathon
--- China Unscripted: "How China Took Control of American Medicine"
--- DW News: "China accuses brands of selling low-quality clothing"
--- France 24: "China’s 'Great Green Wall’: The farmers planting trees to hold back the desert"
Wie China die Pandemie nutzt, um das Tiananmen-Massaker vergessen zu machen
"Jedem, der sich an einer Mahnwache beteilige oder diese auch nur unterstütze, drohen demnach bis zu fünf Jahre Haft."
--- Was ad absurdum führt, daß es sich um Pandemievorsorgemaßnahmen handelt. Hongkonger Logik mit chinesischen Charakteristiken.
Budapest ärgert China und Orbán mit Straßennamen
"Die Straße der Uigurischen Märtyrer, Freies-Hongkong-Straße oder Dalai-Lama-Straße – diese neuen Namen für Straßen vergab die Verwaltung von Ungarns Hauptstadt Budapest"
--- Wie fies von Budapest. Man stelle sich vor, die Fudan-Uni müßte auf ihren Briefen nach China Dalai-Lama-Str. als Absendeadresse angeben.
Das VRC-Außenministerium ist mal wieder empört & findet die Namensgebung 'unter aller Sau'. (Womit Kaiser Xis Behauptung, man wolle diplomatisch sympathischer auftreten, auch schon Makulatur ist.)
Erdorbit füllt sich – Auch China plant Satelliten-Konstellation fürs Internet
""Gegenwärtig ist das Geschäftsmodell des Satelliten-Internets noch nicht ausgereift, aber was die strategische Bedeutung angeht, muss es gemacht werden", sagt Mi Lei, Gründer von CAS Star, ein chinesischer Investment-Inkubator für Tech-Unternehmen, im "Caixin"-Beitrag. "Wir werden den kommerziellen Wert betrachten, nachdem wir es gebaut haben.""
--- Willkommen in China. Das Satelliteninternet wird dann in Zukunft natürlich billiger angeboten als bei der Konkurrenz. Gewinn? Nicht so wichtig. Es geht um Macht & Einfluss.
Huawei stellt Smartphones per Update von Android auf HarmonyOS um
"Etwa 100 Smartphones will Huawei mit einem Update versorgen, das sie von Android auf HarmonyOS umstellt"
--- Soviel zum Thema 'komplette Eigenentwicklung' & 'keine einzige Zeile kopierter Code'. Wenn man 100 Modelle einfach so umstellen kann, muß da doch eine größere Nähe zu Android bestehen, als Huawei zugeben will.
Was jeder, der ein bißchen aufgepasst hat, aber sowieso schon wußte:
"Es basiert auf dem Android Open Source Project. Code-Analysen des Tech-Magazins Ars Technica haben gezeigt, dass HarmonyOS im Grunde ein Fork des von Google entwickelten Betriebssystems ist"
--- Eben.
China verbietet Extremläufe nach tödlichem Unglück
--- ZDF: Markus Lanz