China news roundup / Nachrichten 2021-04-24/25
EU slams China’s ‘authoritarian shift’ and broken economic promises
"a high-level internal report seen by POLITICO shows the EU is now increasingly pessimistic about keeping business interests separate from political concerns over what it calls President Xi Jinping's "authoritarian shift."
[...] "little progress" on economic promises made by the Communist leadership, particularly in regard to opening up digital and agricultural markets, addressing steel overcapacity and reining in industrial subsidies"
--- The report pretty much describes what is obvious to everyone watching China with open eyes. But what consequences will be drawn?
"The multi-faceted approach ... should remain as the preferred way for the EU to deal with China. At the same time, further, robust efforts are needed on the implementation of existing actions and to address a number of new challenges."
--- So, not much? In future, if China breaks international rules or law, instead of being 'concerned', the EU will utter 'grave concern'.
German contender wants tougher stance on China, Russia
"called for “dialogue and toughness” toward China"
--- Sounds pretty much like current softie German foreign minister Maas.
"using a recent investment accord between Brussels and Beijing to address more strongly the issue of China’s putting its Uyghur minority into forced labor"
--- She also called for blocking products from forced labour & denying market access for companies which provide data to the Chinese government. That sounds a bit better than Maas, but she didn't say anything about how the Greens would implement such policies.
Jeffrey Sachs, China’s Apologist in Chief
"He currently leads the COVID-19 commission of The Lancet, a prestigious medical journal"
--- If you wondered (like I did) why the Lancet seemed to promote CCP talking points in recent months, this article provides the answer.
"In a May 2020 op-ed at CNN, he wrote that allegations that COVID emerged from a lab were “reckless and dangerous”"
--- Well, to be fair, CNN was very actively looking for anything to contradict Trump. So, Sachs is only partially to blame for that one.
"His columns have previously been syndicated with CGTN, a Chinese state broadcaster
[...] the cultivation of Jeffrey Sachs appears to have taken place over some years, via his links to a number of Chinese state bodies as well as the private energy corporation CEFC, at whose functions he has spoken"
--- Makes it fairly obvious where Sachs' priorities lie.
& you don't get promoted by Chinese state media if there is the slightest chance of you criticising the CCP.
"Sachs and others involved with the Lancet commission seized the narrative from the early days of the pandemic, leading many in the media to falsely assert that this lab-leak hypothesis isn’t just incorrect but racist, to boot"
--- Yep, that was (still is) a problem. Not only media like CNN, which are anyway biased, but also more non-partisan media were fooled by the standing of the Lancet.
Can Western brands recover from consumer backlash in China?
"it was not uncommon for foreign companies to run afoul of Chinese sensibilities"
--- More like CCP sensibilities.
"The boycotts are selective and most often target companies with a high-visibility retail presence, an approach which maximises the visibility of the backlash but also minimises the impact on China's economy"
--- It's about making a political point & stoking nationalism, but not about losing money.
"Italian luxury brand Dolce & Gabbana felt the wrath of Chinese social media when it released three videos in 2018 showing a Chinese model struggling to eat Italian food including cannoli and pizza with chopsticks.
The ad was widely seen as racist"
--- Not really. Most Chinese didn't care or even were slightly amused. Only nationalist idiots got agitated & Western SJW activists jumped on the band waggon.
"Perhaps the biggest loser was Korean conglomerate Lotte, which provided land it owned in South Korea for the missile defence system.
The company sold off its chain of convenience stores to a Chinese company as a result of the controversy"
--- Don't remember any convenience stores, but they had a lot of supermarkets.
New Chinese Decree Tells Religious Leaders to ‘Support the Communist Party’
"preaching and teaching by religious professionals must in no way endanger China’s national security, promote extremism or divide the country
[...] It also requires religious professionals to resist the infiltration of foreign forces through religion."
--- Which means that eg. the Pope is not allowed to interfere in the Catholic Church in China. I wonder how the Catholic appeaser-in-chief feels about that.
"The issuance of the decree coincides with a push by the government-controlled national religious associations of Protestantism, Catholicism, Taoism, Buddhism and Islam to require all believers to study topics such as the histories of the CCP, the People’s Republic of China and socialism to mark the 100th anniversary of the CCP in July"
--- Because thou shalt have no other gods before Xi!
US Urges China to Reveal Whereabouts of Tibet’s ‘Disappeared’ Panchen Lama
"The recognition by exiled Tibetan spiritual leader the Dalai Lama angered Chinese authorities, who three days later took the boy and his family into custody and then installed another boy, Gyaincain Norbu, as their own candidate in his place.
[...] As Gedhun turns 32 on April 25 this year, his whereabouts and wellbeing remain unknown."
--- Happy birthday with CCP characteristics.
--- China Uncensored: "“It Will Be Bloody”—Philippines’ South China Sea Warning"
--- PolyMatter: "Water — China's Reckoning (Part 3)"
Baerbock plädiert für mehr Druck auf Russland und China
"Annalena Baerbock, plädiert außenpolitisch für eine Mischung aus „Dialog und Härte“ mit Russland und China."
--- Was nicht so unterschiedlich zu dem klingt, was Weichei Maas so von sich gibt.
"wir können sagen: Produkte aus Zwangsarbeit kommen nicht auf unseren Markt
[...] Wenn die chinesische Regierung von chinesischen Konzernen, wie von Huawei zum Beispiel, verlangt, europäische Daten und Informationen weiterzugeben, können wir Produkte von solchen Herstellern nicht in europäische Infrastruktur einbauen."
--- Klingt schon besser. Allein, mir fehlt der Glaube. Ich befürchte, die Grünen wären in der Außenpolitik genauso durchsetzungsunfähig wie die derzeitige Regierung.
Elektroautos: Bytons deutsche Tochter ist insolvent
"Der chinesische Autohersteller Byton lässt seine deutsche Tochtergesellschaft in die Insolvenz gehen.
[...] Auch die Zukunft der chinesischen Mutterfirma ist ungewiss. Byton war 2018 mit großen Ambitionen und Versprechungen angetreten"
--- Wie so einige chinesische Möchtegern-E-Autohersteller. Wer aber nicht wie Nio Staatshilfe bekommt, hat Probleme.
--- ZDFheute: "China: Schülersterncheninnen unter Leistungsdruck