China news roundup / Nachrichten 2020-11-20

English news:

Massive, China-state-funded hack hits companies around the world

"Symantec uses the code name Cicada for the group, which is widely believed to be funded by the Chinese government and also carries the monikers of APT10, Stone Panda, and Cloud Hopper from other research organizations
[...] the companies targeted in the recent campaign are located in the United States and other countries, all of them have links to Japan or Japanese companies"

--- You wonder what Japan might have done now to deserve this? Maybe it's the new defence cooperation with Australia. Maybe it was just Japan's turn, before the Chinese hackers move on to another target.

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Coronavirus: China not the origin of the disease, top scientist says

"Zeng said cited [sic!] an Italian study that suggested that Sars-CoV-2, the official name of the coronavirus, was circulating among asymptomatic individuals in Italy months before it was reported in Wuhan in December 2019"

--- Which doesn't mean that it did not originate in China:

"“These findings simply document that the epidemic in China was not detected in time,” said Giovanni Apolone"

--- Anyway, the study needs to be deepened first. It's highly dubious that it was really Sars-CoV-2 circulating months before the outbreak in Wuhan. Doesn't fit the exponential rise in infections. What is needed is the DNA of any 'virus' found.

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In translation: Families get letters from Hongkongers detained in China, but concern group suspects wording was dictated

"In the letters which have been disclosed, detainees denied they were beaten up and said the conditions at the detention facility were good with guards and cellmates treating them well. They said they were given enough rest and food and had daily medical check-ups."

--- Because if you are treated well & there are no problems, you need to have daily medical checks. Only logical.

"the use of simplified Chinese characters rather than the traditional characters common in Hong Kong, and a writing style that resembled that used in China rather than in Hong Kong"

--- You wonder whether the Chinese commies are so stupid or whether they believe that the rest of the world is stupid enough to believe that.

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A surprise spate of bond defaults by state-owned Chinese firms is spooking investors

"But that’s actually a positive, she said, suggesting it allowed for some “differentiation” in the Chinese market between stronger and weaker firms"

--- Only problem for investors is all the creative accounting in China. You only know which firms are weaker when it's too late.

"The coronavirus pandemic has strained public resources as the government embarked on stimulus to support businesses amid the fallout.
The impact is probably making itself felt now"

--- Well, the central government probably still has more than enough in reserves, but for local governments, the situation often looks very different.

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Boeing needs China to approve the 737 Max. But that won't end its epic sales drought

"As long as they meet the requirements, we are happy to see them resuming flights"

--- Depending on the political situation, of course. If we don't like US politics, our requirements might change arbitrarily.

"the company hasn't sold any passenger planes to China in the past two years for reasons "everyone knows,""

--- Not a big problem yet, because there is huge backlog of orders.

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Malicious Tip-Offs Stifle Academic Freedom in China, Analysts Say

"dismissed, fired, even arrested and sentenced to prison terms after being turned in to authorities by classroom informants for “inappropriate speech.”
[...] many universities in China deploy student informers as watchdogs against their teachers to eliminate dissent and turn universities into party strongholds in a throwback to the Mao Zedong era"

--- Cultural Revolution 2.0 in the making. Just what emperor Xi wants.

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Chinese flower has evolved to be less visible to pickers

"Many plants seem to use camouflage to hide from herbivores that may eat them – but here we see camouflage evolving in response to human collectors"

--- What's the difference to the plants? If mutations help survival, they stay. If mutations are counter-productive, they disappear. That's evolution for you.

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--- Other news:

How a 'vast ocean of goodwill' between China and Australia turned sour

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Luxury carmaker Maybach has high ambitions for China

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Video News:

--- China Uncensored has the usual weekend variety:

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--- CBC: "China's behaviour is getting worse 'quickly': British high commissioner"

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--- SCMP: "Hong Kong protests – China's Rebel City: Part 2"

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Deutsche Nachrichten:

„Wir wären leichte Beute gewesen“

"1993 war sie als Journalistin dabei, als Lu Ping, der damalige Leiter des Amts für Hongkong-Angelegenheiten, versprach, dass die Hongkonger ihren Regierungschef künftig frei wählen dürften."

--- Tja, das waren noch Zeiten ...
, in denen man chinesischen Versprechungen auch schon nicht glauben durfte.

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Björn Ognibeni: Durch unsere Ignoranz verpassen wir viele spannende Ideen, die in China bereits heute Realität sind

"gerade das Beispiel Maske zeigt, wie westliche Gesellschaften auf Ideen aus Asien allzu oft reagieren: zunächst mit Ignoranz, dann mit reflexartiger Ablehnung"

--- Grumpf. Darf doch sehr bezweifelt werden, daß die Ablehnung irgendwas mit Asien zu tun hat. Das liegt wohl eher an ambivalenten Stellungnahmen öffentlicher Stellen zum Thema Masken am Anfang der Pandemie, & an Spinnern, die dadurch ihre ach-so-große persönliche Freiheit ach-so-sehr eingeschränkt sehen.

"Heute sind wir kaum mehr in der Lage, wichtige Teile unserer digitalen Infrastruktur ohne chinesische Komponenten zu realisieren."

--- Blödsinn. Wenn man nicht aufgewacht wäre, hätte es in wenigen Jahren soweit kommen können. Aber z.B. Nokia kann 5G-Netze auch weitgehend ohne chinesische Komponenten bauen.

"AI-Systeme, die ganz selbstverständlich Schäden für Versicherungen regulieren und in mobilen E-Health-Stationen Diagnosen für Patienten erstellen"

--- Ganz selbstverständlich. Klar.
Da war wohl jemand auf einer chinesischen Messe oder bei einer Firmenpräsentation, wo so ein System vorgestellt wurde & glaubt jetzt, das wäre Standard in China.

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Japanische Firmen in 17 Ländern von Cyberattacke betroffen

"Cicada sei dafür bekannt, primär japanische Firmen anzugreifen."

--- Grumpf. Übersetzung ist so eine Sache: "Cicada has historically been known to target Japan-linked organizations"
bedeutet nicht, daß primär japanische Firmen angegriffen werden, sondern daß in der Vergangenheit auch schon japanische Firmen zu Zielen wurden.

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