China news roundup / Nachrichten 2020-09-02
English news:
India acts to secure border after Himalayan clashes with China
"Hundreds of China’s People’s Liberation Army soldiers were reported over the weekend to have attempted to move forward to strategic points on the southern banks of Pangong Lake in eastern Ladakh.
India said it had thwarted the action and claimed several strategic points along the contested mountain ridgeline"
--- Sounds plausible, although Bloomberg (see below) has another view.
"an Indian soldier of Tibetan descent who is a regiment company leader in the Special Frontier Force (SFF) – an elite army unit that patrols the Himalayan border – died in a mine blast on Sunday near the disputed area of Pangong Lake"
--- China & India agreed to have their border troops not use firearms. So, China installs mines. Their firearms. So China is very much sticking to the agreement. Right?
India Captured Strategic Posts in Stealth Move Against China
"India triggered the latest clash with China on their Himalayan border by executing a stealth night-time operation to claim strategic outposts"
--- All other reports (except for the Chinese ones, obviously) indicate Chinese movements 'triggered' the latest incident.
"“In China, we have a saying about a guilty man protesting conspicuously his innocence,” Foreign Ministry spokesperson Hua Chunying told reporters in Beijing."
--- Funny, that. Because China is always conspicuously claiming innocence.
Related: India and China are squaring off in the Himalayas again. How worried should we be?
India bans PUBG, Baidu and more than 100 apps linked to China
"several of Tencent's products including the hit video game PUBG Mobile and WeChat Work"
--- Now, that will hurt. Games make Chinese companies a lot of money (& also a lot of data).
"misuse of some mobile apps available on Android and iOS platforms for stealing and surreptitiously transmitting users' data in an unauthorised manner to servers which have locations outside India"
--- Chinese companies have repeatedly said they wouldn't do that. & Chinese companies never lie.
Declassified cables reveal U.S. assurances on Taiwan's defense
"U.S. willingness to reduce its arms sales to Taiwan is conditioned upon the continued commitment of the PRC to a peaceful solution"
--- & since the CCP dropped the mention of peaceful 're-unification' (& keeps strengthening potential invasion forces) we can expect more arms sales to Taiwan.
Taiwan redesigns passport to end China confusion
"The new passport design enlarges the word "Taiwan" and features "Republic of China" only in Mandarin characters"
--- Splittist traitors! (Well, OK, strangely there hasn't been a Chinese tantrum yet.)
Ancient Chinese text revealed to be an anatomical atlas of the human body
"The standard history of anatomy traces its roots back to classical Greece, but a new reading of a recently discovered Chinese text argues that the Chinese were also among the earliest anatomists"
--- Anatomy started in ancient Egypt, not Greece. & that the old Chinese had a certain 'medical' prowess was never in doubt. The authors seem to have taken SJW glasses & 're-read' the text:
"We have to approach these texts from a different perspective than our current Western medical view of the body's separate systems of arteries, veins and nerves."
--- Right, let's redefine science into something unscientific so that old nonsense can be designated as science.
"Our findings re-write a key part of Chinese history. We believe that our interpretation of the text challenges the widespread belief that there is no scientific foundation for the 'anatomy of acupuncture,'"
--- They 're-write' Chinese history be re-interpreting an ancient so it fits their entirely scientific beliefs.
Game of Thrones makers to adapt Chinese sci-fi classic for Netflix
"Others though said Netflix will be free of any censorship constraints while a Chinese adaptation would be limited in how it could portray events around the Cultural Revolution for instance."
--- Naive. Netflix probably wants to earn money from a Chinese release as well. So, just like Hollywood they will very much censor content.
More nutrient reduction still needed to save lakes in China
"the total amount of discharged pollutants did not decrease, due to the simultaneous increase in urban population and the rapid increase in urban water consumption"
--- What they are essentially saying is that there were advances in water treatment, but these advances are offset by growing urban population.
Since urbanisation is still continuing in China, there probably won't be much positive change, then.
China's looming corn shortage fans food security unease
"Prices have risen as the country heads for its first real corn shortfall in years in the upcoming 2020/21 season starting in October and could face a deficit of up to 30 million tonnes, around 10% of its total crop"
--- But, but, but ... just a few days ago we have been told that Chinese state food stores are overflowing. There can't be a shortage. Must be ugly Western propaganda then.
(BTW, because of African swine fever, the Chinese pig herd shrank drastically over the last year. Much of the Chinese corn harvest is used as pig feed. A bit strange then, if there is a corn shortage & prices rise. Or the floods are having a greater impact than I thought.)
--- Other news:
European tour tests Chinese foreign minister's pulling power
Solomon Islands province announces independence vote amid China tensions
China’s baby boomers are set to retire, triggering a sharp shift in health-care trends
U.S. financial firms like Citi and BlackRock make inroads into the Chinese market
Video News:
--- China Uncensored: "India Captures Chinese Camp in Border Clash"
--- WION: "India bans another 118 apps including PUBG amid border tensions with China"
--- America Uncovered: "China: Where Do Republicans and Democrats Stand?"
Deutsche Nachrichten:
China auf dem Weg zur Atom-Triade
"Die Zahlen seien beunruhigend, sagte Chad Sbragia, China-Experte des Pentagon. Sie stellen aber nur einen Bruchteil des US-Arsenals dar, das sich auf 3800 Atomsprengköpfe beläuft. Russland verfügt nach Angaben des Bunds amerikanischer Wissenschaftler gar über etwa 4300 Sprengköpfe."
--- Naja, soviele braucht man auch nicht, um eine echte Bedrohung darzustellen.
Mehr Dialog mit China wagen
"Differenzen etwa im Zusammenhang mit dem Sicherheitsgesetz in Hongkong müssen im Dialog geklärt werden."
--- Die Linke springt ihrer großen Schwester aus China zur Seite. Wer hätte das gedacht.
Keine Leisetreterei
"In Berlin hat Außenminister Maas seinem chinesischen Gast nicht die Leviten gelesen. Aber auch er machte öffentlich (!) klar, was die Bundesregierung von dem Vorgehen in Hongkong und gegen die Uiguren sowie von der Strangulierungspolitik gegenüber Taiwan hält."
--- "Öffentlich (!)" Wow!
Auch ich war leicht überrascht, daß Maas das öffentlich gesagt hat, aber wirklich weltbewegend war es auch nicht. & solange sich die deutsche Politik nicht ändert, bringen auch die öffentlichsten Worte wenig.