China news roundup / Nachrichten 2021-06-18

avatar

dragon_hq_highclean_alienglowred.png
flag_of_china_1912_1928_770x20.png

englishnews.png


Hong Kong readers snap up Apple Daily in show of solidarity following national security arrests and newsroom raid

"Apple Daily’s front page on Friday featured photos of the five arrested directors"

--- The SCMP meanwhile also brings it on the front page, but CCP-style. Which probably means, it's gone over to the Dark Side (almost completely, there may be still some spots of resistance).
cf. The Guardian: Hongkongers queue to buy Apple Daily copies after editor-in-chief arrested

flag_of_china_1912_1928_770x20.png

Top US general dismisses warnings of imminent Chinese invasion of Taiwan

"America’s most senior general has dismissed warnings of an imminent Chinese invasion of Taiwan, insisting that the People’s Liberation Army was not yet capable of annexing the island"

--- Define 'imminent'. Virtually no one says that China already has the necessary military abilities. But they will be there in a few years.

"There’s no reason to do it militarily, and they know that. So, I think the probability is probably low, in the immediate, near-term future."

--- & that's the 'most senior' US general? The probability for a peaceful subjugation of Taiwan is extremely low, considering the demographic & democratic developments. & emperor Xi really wants to bring Taiwan 'heim ins Reich' under his rule. Hence it very much depends on how much time Xi thinks he still has.

"“The Chinese military counterparts that I’ve been talking to tell me that they can do the landing, that they are confident,” Oriana Skylar Mastro, a China expert at Stanford University, said on a podcast this week"

--- & that's another major factor: what do the Chinese generals actually believe? When they think they have the capability, they will tell emperor Xi so. & then it's entirely up to this one guy's ambitions.

flag_of_china_1912_1928_770x20.png

'I remember it very well': Dr. Fauci describes a secret 2020 meeting to talk about COVID origins

"There remain some legitimate scientific debate about whether genetic manipulation of the virus can be completely ruled out, in part because not all genetic engineering methods leave tell-tale markers and also because the virus’ genome does have some unusual features"

--- But the Guardian (see next article) believes obviously that has been settled once & for all.

"But lab accidents with a fully natural virus – one that might have been collected, stored or studied at the Wuhan Institute of Virology and infected a worker – are also the focus of calls for investigation."

--- As they should be, particularly after it has become clear that contrary to Chinese statements, they were conducting research on live bats in the WIV. There are so many lies coming out of China, that there really needs to be an independent investigation.
Meanwhile, the Guardian doubles down on its recent resurgence of anti-lab-leak rhetoric:


In hunt for Covid’s origin, new studies point away from lab leak theory

"a lot of evidence now points to a natural spillover event."

--- Misleading. There is no new evidence for natural spillover at all.

"As of March 2020, scientists were confident that Sars-CoV-2 was not the product of deliberate manipulation"

--- "Scientists." Misleading again. Doesn't say how many. & doesn't mention the fact that there was a huge media campaign against anyone even just asking for keeping an open mind about a possible lab leak.

"Unlike the rural areas where the virus might have infected people previously, Wuhan has the population density – 11 million people – to sustain an outbreak.
[...] Of all the known bat coronaviruses, the most similar to Sars-CoV-2, sharing 96% of its genome, is RaTG13, a virus that researchers at the WIV were studying prior to the pandemic"

--- Too bad that Wuhan is some 1500 km away from the caves in which the closest relatives to the Wuhan Virus have been found. & there are numerous cities in between.

"For now, the identity of a putative intermediate host remains a mystery, and a virus sufficiently close to Sars-CoV-2 to indicate what path an ancestral virus took from bats has not been found"

--- & that is supposed to be evidence that a lab leak is highly unlikely?

"Robertson wishes his peers would take a leaf out of meteorologists’ book: “You don’t blame the country where the storm began.”"

--- Too bad that a storm is a natural phenomenon which humans have virtually no control over. A lab leak on the other hand is a very human problem.
& even if it was not a lab leak, the initial handling of a disease outbreak can very well be blamed on involved authorities.
Luckily, not everyone is trying to salvage (pseudo-)progressive positions like the Guardian. From the WSJ (pay-walled): Beijing Protests a Lab Leak Too Much

flag_of_china_1912_1928_770x20.png

In China's new Xinjiang - Patriotic tourism, police and propaganda

"Upon arrival in Urumqi, Xinjiang's capital, uniformed police entered the plane and escorted the reporters onto the tarmac in front of other passengers. They photographed the reporters' credentials and recorded information including the hotel they planned to stay in
[...] "Regarding foreign journalists' coverage in Xinjiang, China has always maintained an open and welcome attitude,""

--- Welcome with Chinese characteristics.

flag_of_china_1912_1928_770x20.png

LinkedIn blocks profiles from view in China if sensitive topics mentioned

"In recent weeks, the professional networking site has written to several China analysts, alerting them to “prohibited content” on their profile pages.
[...] Olsson said his education section included a one-line mention of his university thesis on the 1989 Tiananmen Square massacre"

--- Too bad for you, if your CV includes anything even slightly critical of China.

"It’s clear to us that in order to create value for our members in China and around the world, we will need to implement the Chinese government’s restrictions on content, when and to the extent required"

--- It's clear to me that LinkedIn doesn't have any value to me. Luckily, I don't need or use it, anyway. (Hmm... I mean to remember getting some LinkedIn requests from China a while ago. So I probably actually have a LinkedIn account. I think... Crap memory.)

flag_of_china_1912_1928_770x20.png

Chinese academic suspended for advocating polygamy

"Bao posted [...] that authorities “should give university professors special treatment, for example allowing them to have multiple spouses and provide them permanent subsidies”"

--- Ah, the Chinese upper class. Always good examples for entitlement.

"Until the Chinese communists took power in 1949, bigamy, concubinage and child marriage were commonplace."

--- After the Chinese commies took power, it still was commonplace. & it has been ever since. Except for child marriage, that is.

"Last year, Yew-Kwang Ng, an economist at a top Shanghai university, proposed that women should be allowed to have more than one husband, in order to solve China’s imminent gender imbalance crisis."

--- Now that would make more sense. Although, considering how jealous Chinese tend to be, I don't really see how that would work. Better to keep your other guy(s) or girl(s) secret.

flag_of_china_1912_1928_770x20.png

China's most belligerent journalists used to be the ones doling out insults online. Now they're the targets

"Some analysts say the narrow space for critical debate about China's foreign relations has been pushed in such a nationalistic direction that the government may find it hard to put a lid on the more outrageous rhetoric.
But some within China's government are publicly embracing the radicals, with competition increasing for attention."

--- That could come to haunt the CCP. There might be a power struggle in the future between the more commie & the more nazi elements of the CCP.

flag_of_china_1912_1928_770x20.png

Shanghai gallery removes exhibit ranking women 'prettiest to ugliest'

"The video artwork "Uglier and Uglier", by male artist Song Ta, featured about 5,000 images and videos of women in real life on a university campus.
The artist then ranked them according to how attractive he found them
[...] Song created the controversial exhibit in 2013 and it has appeared in several shows since then"

--- & only now it became an issue. The guy didn't even have permission to use the girls' pictures.

flag_of_china_1912_1928_770x20.png

Wolves chase performers in China during shocking live show, raising safety fears

"The footage shows a number of wolves running out from backstage, jumping into the aisles between audience seats and chasing performers, as part of the show"

--- Meh. Don't see why CNN makes a fuss about it. Not much to see there. The most interesting part is the fact that some of the 'wolves' look so doggy.


flag_of_china_1912_1928_770x20.png

othernews.png


High-level Chinese Defection Rumored


Australians want nation to ‘stick to its values’ in China dealings


Kiwi wars: the golden fruit fuelling a feud between New Zealand and China


China's about to administer its billionth coronavirus shot.


flag_of_china_1912_1928_770x50.png

videonews.png


--- China Uncensored features the usual weekend news variety:

flag_of_china_1912_1928_770x20.png

--- DW News: "Biden warns Russia and China: But is Europe on board?"

flag_of_china_1912_1928_770x20.png

--- Doolittle Institute: "Global Futures: China Edition with Gordon Chang"


flag_of_china_1912_1928_770x50.png

deutschenachrichten.png


„China hat nicht die Absicht, Taiwan zu erobern“

"Er sehe zudem auf Chinas Seite keine Motivation, eine Vereinigung mit Taiwan militärisch zu erzwingen."

--- Der Mann verwechselt Fähigkeit mit Absicht. Das chinesische Militär mag noch keine ausreichenden Fähigkeiten für eine Invasion Taiwans haben, arbeitet aber mit Hochdruck daran.

"Milley schätzte die Wahrscheinlichkeit einer Invasion „in der unmittelbaren, nahen Zukunft als gering“ ein."

--- Die unmittelbare Zukunft kann sehr kurz sein. Entscheidend hier ist nämlich nicht so sehr die tatsächliche Fähigkeit, Taiwan einzunehmen, sondern die Wahrnehmung & der Wille in Peking. Kaiser Xi will Taiwan unbedingt noch unter seiner Ägide heim ins Reich holen. & es steht zu erwarten, daß er den Befehl zur Eroberung gibt, sobald ihm seine Generäle Bereitschaft signalisieren, evtl. auch früher, wenn er seine Position als Führer gefährdet sieht.

flag_of_china_1912_1928_770x20.png

Atomaufsicht bestätigt Probleme mit Brennstäben in Taishan

"es seien schätzungsweise fünf der 60.000 Brennstäbe beschädigt. Dadurch gebe es in Reaktor 1 des südchinesischen Kraftwerks einen erhöhten Wert an Radioaktivität, der aber innerhalb erlaubter Grenzen liege"

--- & wo die erlaubten Grenzen liegen, legen wir je nach Bedarf fest.

"Es gebe aber kein Leck, da alles innerhalb der Schutzhülle des Reaktors geschehe."

--- Das Gas wurde absichtlich abgelassen. Stimmt also (irgendwie).

"Einen Bericht des US-Nachrichtensenders CNN, demzufolge die Atomaufsicht eine Erhöhung des Grenzwerts erlaubt haben soll, nannte ein Verantwortlicher "nicht wahr""

--- Man hat die zulässigen Werte nicht 'geändert', sondern 'revidiert'. Ganz was anderes.


flag_of_china_1912_1928_770x50.png



0
0
0.000
0 comments