China news roundup / Nachrichten 2020-01-06
English news:
Dozens of Hong Kong pro-democracy figures arrested in sweeping crackdown
"the 53 individuals were detained under the territory’s controversial national security law (NSL), accused of “subverting state power” by holding primaries for pro-democracy candidates
[...] including every candidate to have run in the unofficial primaries last year, as well as organisers and pollsters, and the first known foreigner – an American lawyer"
--- Who would have thought? Acting according to the provisions of the Basic Law of Hong Kong is against the National Security Law.
"the polls were a premeditated and “vicious” plan to “sink Hong Kong into an abyss”"
--- Yes! They actually wanted to win the election & make life hard for the government. Who has ever heard of such an evil plan? The opposition trying to win elections!?
"The timing of the arrests was widely seen as deliberate, occurring on the day of the US runoff vote in Georgia, two weeks before Joe Biden’s inauguration, and just after the EU agreed a trade deal with China."
--- If so, then it was pretty stupid. Now the critical voices in the European Parliament will be even louder, the likelihood that the agreement passes even lower. It will also make it harder for Wall Street to convince Biden's team to return to appeasement (particularly considering the arrest of a US lawyer).
In Hong Kong it now looks like opposition is against the law
"Political parties have not been banned and other candidates can contest the elections, but Wednesday’s detentions raise the question of what, if anything, opposition lawmakers are actually allowed to do."
--- Applaud the government, as is the norm in commie dictatorships.
"the west might need to rethink how it dealt with Hong Kong, recognising that the city has fundamentally changed"
--- That should be obvious.
see also: Security chief says mass arrest of democrats ‘necessary’ due to ‘malicious’ plot to paralyse Hong Kong
&: ‘Effort to eradicate’ opposition: Reactions pour in as Hong Kong police arrest dozens over democrat primary polls
Covid: WHO team investigating virus origins denied entry to China
"Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson Hua Chunying told the BBC "there might be some misunderstanding" and "there's no need to read too much into it""
--- Exactly! It is totally not related to any realisation that we still haven't gotten rid of all the evidence.
"Some research has suggested that coronaviruses capable of infecting humans may have been circulating undetected in bats for decades."
--- "Some research..." Oh, the BBC. It is a longstanding fact. & such viruses have been detected time & again, as in the case of a SARS-CoV-2 precursor.
Meanwhile, Austrialia will draw China's ire again: Australia says China should allow in WHO Covid investigators 'without delay'
The Lab-Leak Hypothesis
"It was an accident. A virus spent some time in a laboratory, and eventually it got out."
--- Finally, the theory that the virus might have originated in a lab gains some traction. Too late for proper research into the question, I fear, but it needs to be looked into.
"High-containment laboratories have a whispered history of near misses“"
--- But that was only in the West, of course. Chinese laboratories are obviously totally safe, because Chinese scientists never make mistakes.
"The administration’s claim that the virus spread from a Wuhan lab has made the notion politically toxic, even among scientists who say it could have happened,” wrote science journalist Mara Hvistendahl in the Intercept."
--- That's a huge problem, particularly (but not solely) in the US. Some topics of scientific study are essentially taboo, because they are politically loaded.
"The Wuhan Institute of Virology closed down its databases of viral genomes, and the Chinese Ministry of Education sent out a directive: “Any paper that traces the origin of the virus must be strictly and tightly managed.”"
--- Because we have nothing to hide.
NYSE will delist three big China telecoms, reversing decision once again
"The NYSE said the latest reversal was due to new guidance from Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control that said people in the U.S. could not engage in certain transactions with the three companies as of next Monday"
--- Round & round ... Absolutely unrelated to insider trading, I'm sure.
China notifies Mekong River neighbours it is holding back waters
"The statements came a day after a new U.S.-backed monitoring system said China had failed to notify downstream countries of water restrictions that started on Dec. 31."
--- Data sharing with Chinese characteristics. (Just like with the Wuhan virus) They only come up with information when it already leaked or was reported abroad.
--- Other news:
China steps up COVID-19 curbs near Beijing as infections rise
China’s investment deal with the EU has raised 3 big concerns in Europe
China's services sector expands at a slower pace - Caixin PMI
Video News:
--- China Uncensored: "China’s Xi Jinping Gets New War Powers"
--- DW News: "Hong Kong police arrest dozens of pro-democracy activists"
--- WION: "Gravitas: Why Dr Tedros is unhappy with China"
--- CNBC: "President Donald Trump bans transactions with 8 Chinese companies, including Alibaba's Alipay"
Not in the news (yet):
When you leave a quarantine zone in China
Deutsche Nachrichten:
Festnahmewelle in Hongkong
"Hongkonger Minister John Lee bezichtigte die Festgenommenen, sich „verschworen zu haben, mithilfe eines bösen Plans die Hongkonger Regierung lahmzulegen“."
--- Der böse, böse Plan bestand doch tatsächlich darin, als Opposition Opposition zu machen. Unerhört.
"Ebenso festgenommen wurde der Schatzmeister der Organisation Power for Democracy, die an der Organisation der Kandidatenvorauswahl beteiligt war. Es handelt sich um John Clancey, einen amerikanischen Staatsbürger"
--- Ein gutes Zeichen für die Zukunft der US-chinesischen Beziehungen?
China blockiert Einreise der WHO-Mission
"Er zeigte sich „sehr enttäuscht“ über die Entwicklung. Für den Äthiopier, der es stets vermieden hat, Chinas Umgang mit der Krise zu kritisieren, waren das ungewöhnlich deutliche Worte."
--- Keine Bange. Er wird bestimmt schnell zur üblichen Speichelleckerei zurückkehren.
"Angesichts der starken Politisierung der Pandemie durch die amerikanische und die chinesische Regierung sind die Hoffnungen begrenzt, dass die WHO-Mission tatsächlich herausfinden kann, wo und von welchem Tier das Virus auf den Menschen übergesprungen ist."
--- Oder ob es aus einem Labor entsprungen ist.
Trump verbietet acht chinesische Apps
"Trump habe das US-Handelsministerium auch angewiesen, weitere potenziell gefährliche Apps ausfindig zu machen"
--- Da so ziemlich jede chinesische App versucht, Daten abzugreifen, dürfte die Liste noch deutlich wachsen.
"Zu den nun betroffenen Apps gehören neben den populären Bezahldiensten die Scan-Anwendung CamScanner, der Chatdienst Tencent QQ, die Video-App VMate sowie die Bürosoftware WPS Office"
--- Wobei man auch bedenken sollte, daß Apple in China gerade erst wieder zig-tausende (!) von Apps entfernen mußte.
Die teuflische Droge, die China in den Ruin trieb
"Zwischen 1770 und 1834 stieg der Import von 4000 auf 40.000 Kisten im Jahr: zweieinhalb Millionen Kilogramm reines Rauschgift.
[...] Jeder zehnte von rund 450 Millionen Chinesen rauchte die Droge, davon drei bis fünf Prozent exzessiv"
--- Ganze 55 Gramm pro Person. Da muß die Wirtschaft ja zusammenbrechen, bei derartig exzessivem Konsum. Phhh....