China news roundup / Nachrichten 2020-01-13
English news:
Kelly Craft: US cancels top envoy's visit to Taiwan
"US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said on Tuesday that all travel this week had been cancelled - including his own trip to Europe - as part of the transition to the incoming Biden administration"
--- Sadly, a move likely not to increase tensions with China. But, then again, another move is likely to increase tensions again: U.S. to ban imports of all cotton, tomato products from China's Xinjiang region
China in darkest period for human rights since Tiananmen, says rights group
"Since Xi Jinping came to power the repression has gotten worse and worse overall, in every aspect of Chinese society you can see how the party is becoming more intolerant of any kind of independent activity"
--- Just Western envy. Emperor Xi will surely lead China to old greatness, just like the emperors of old. I wouldn't be surprised if at the end of his reign we'll have another warring states period.
"If the EU had been serious about ending forced labor in China’s Xinjiang province, they could have insisted on it before they agreed to the investment agreement"
--- But the money! That wonderful Chinese money!
Huawei patent mentions use of Uighur-spotting tech
"IPVM also flagged image-recognition patents filed by two of China's biggest technology conglomerates, Alibaba and Baidu"
--- Surely, they are totally innocent. At least, they say so:
"When filing for a patent, the document notes are meant as an example of a technical explanation, in this case describing what the attribute-recognition model is rather than representing the expected implementation of the invention"
--- Yeah, this racial profiling system is just a mere technicality & would never be used as such. No Chinese company would ever do what the CCP requires.
How Huawei controls its employees in Europe
"The street in front of the building is public space, but the company seems to feel its turf has been violated. „What do you want here?“, the woman asks. „Delete the photos.“"
--- Impossible. As we all know, Chinese companies always conform to the laws in the countries where they operate.
(Next time I'm in Düsseldorf I may try that myself, though.)
"Metaphorically speaking, the company has two floors and employees without Chinese roots can occupy only the lower floor — no matter where they are on the official organisation chart.Every German manager had a shadow manager from China standing behind himnon-Chinese. They have less access to information and are excluded from important internal decisions, our sources report. At meetings, management personnel sometimes switch to Chinese at crucial moments"
--- Sounds like a Chinese company.
In China itself it's even worse, you often have white Westerners as simple figureheads, without any proper company function, just for PR.
"Huawei promises to promote a caring environment that inspires a good work-life balance"
--- Translation: Huawei has 100% surveillance & makes sure that employees do nothing but work.
"Those who’ve obtained residency in an EU country or whose spouses are permanent EU residents and those who have voluntarily applied for permanent residency in the EU must leave Europe as soon as possible"
--- Well, obviously they are traitors. Therefore, they must be punished.
"In Düsseldorf, working hours from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. are the rule, at least on paper, but according to former employees, Huawei demands much longer hours from employees in some departments. Ex-employees tell of meetings at the European headquarters that are scheduled at 10 p.m. and of offices that are bustling even on Sundays. Chinese employees sometimes slept in their offices"
--- Very Chinese.
Financial Technology Is China’s Trojan Horse
"furnishing the CCP with GPS time and location stamps, transaction histories, travel logs, bank account details, and more"
--- Which is why only idiots don't see a problem using Wechat or Alipay.
"China’s digital yuan could siphon transactions away from Western-dominated money exchange platforms such as SWIFT"
--- Meh. Don't see much of a problem if Dollar-hegemony shrinks a bit. The problem is more with the surveillance & political or even social influence China gathers this way.
"Through fintech, China is determined to stake an even greater claim to the global economy and gain greater control over the global financial system"
--- Before all, they want greater control.
Coronavirus in China: Heilongjiang declares state of emergency as outbreak spreads
"The latest lockdown came on Monday, with restrictions imposed on residents of Heilongjiang hotspot Wangkui county, in the city of Suihua, after 20 asymptomatic cases were recorded there
[...] More than 70 per cent of the cases in Hebei are people living in villages"
--- Those dirty foreigners are undercover all over China, it seems. They are spreading their viruses everywhere.
Meanwhile, the CCP resolutely refutes any suggestion that the Wuhan virus may have originated in animals other than foreigners: China dismisses suggestions COVID-19 pandemic originated from bats or pangolins
Why some bike shares work and others don't
"The bike share schemes presented a cost-effective alternative solution to traveling in cars, easing traffic congestion in the process"
--- Nonsense. Virtually no one with a car used them, & if so only for the 'last mile', from & to bus stops or railway stations.
"The scheme was a hit with investors seeking green transport solutions for China"
--- Yeah, right. They were in it for the money, because all these start-ups promised huge returns. Many were not much more than pyramid schemes or other scams.
'China-watching' is a lucrative business. But whose language do the experts speak?
"The question of whether one needs to be able to speak Chinese to understand China has never been so fraught"
--- When an article begins with totally stupid nonsense. How do you understand a country?
"English is coded with whiteness and whiteness signals expertise. The racialised and gendered hierarchies of the world are reflected in the shifting of tongues."
--- Say what?
"A new order for our collective survival can only be birthed when we acquire new ways of speaking."
--- Newspeak, so to say. A new world order with newspeak, what could go wrong?
(Sometimes you have to wonder whether those 'intellectuals' at the Guardian know what they are talking about.)
--- Other news:
Newly declassified report lays out U.S. strategy in Asia
Former Man City star says China's foreign coaches in it for money
HRW World Report 2021 - China
Hong Kong hires British QC to prosecute pro-democracy activists
Chinese police take away human rights lawyers trying to attend court hearing for fellow lawyer Lu Siwei
Video News:
--- China Uncensored: "Europe’s MAJOR China Failure"
--- Sky News (AUS): "It is ‘hypocritical’ for China to claim Australia is being discriminatory"
Deutsche Nachrichten:
Das Ende von Chinas Soft Power? Mitnichten!
"Im Vertrag zwischen den Konfuzius-Instituten und ihren Gastuniversitäten steht, dass Aktivitäten der Institute nicht gegen Gesetze und Regulierungen der Volksrepublik China verstossen dürfen."
--- Gesetze am jeweiligen Institutsort? Unerheblich.
"Im Juli berichtet die chinesische Zeitung «Global Times», die Konfuzius-Institute würden fortan einer regierungsunabhängigen Stiftung unterstellt"
--- Ja, genau, total unabhängig. Wieder mal ein chinesisches Versprechen, dem man hundertprozentig vertrauen kann.
Tories fordern schärfere China-Sanktionen
"Die Maßnahmen, die Raab dann ankündigte, waren aus Sicht von Kritikern allerdings enttäuschend."
--- Immerhin besser als die EU, wo man kaum darüber hinaus kommt, als 'Besorgnis' zu äußern.
Corona zurück in China – Ausgangssperre für 23 Millionen Menschen
"Erste Fälle wurden laut Staatsmedien in Dörfern entdeckt, deren Bewohner am internationalen Flughafen der Provinzhauptstadt Shijiazhuang arbeiteten."
--- Internationaler Flughafen! Ha! Es waren also wieder die dreckigen Ausländer, die uns arme Chinesen vernichten wollen.
(Heilongjiang wird in dem Artikel übrigens nicht erwähnt. Dort wurde auch eine Stadt abgeriegelt.)
Zirkulierte das Coronavirus bereits im November 2019?
"Bislang wird der Beginn der Pandemie auf den 31. Dezember 2019 datiert."
--- Nicht wirklich. Der erste bekannte Patient in Wuhan stammt von Mitte November.
& was angeblich nicht-chinesische Ausbrüche angeht, die früher als November 2019 lagen, siehe diesen Twitter-Thread (nur englisch).
Tesla-Jäger aus China
"Anfang vergangenen Jahres stand Nio kurz vor der Pleite. Durch staatliches Geld wurde das Untenehmen gerettet"
--- Die Pleite hatte übrigens nichts mit dem Wuhanvirus zu tun. Nio hatte schon länger Probleme.
--- Sonstiges:
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