Zoom bows to China's demands

The China Letter: June 17, 2020

Jun 17, 2020

.@zoom_us, the video-chat company just admitted to deactivating the accounts of Chinese pro-democracy activists -- because China demanded it. What’s worse, the activists were based in the United States. @standamericanow

Chinese activists based in the U.S. found their account suspended after a virtual meeting on the Zoom platform to commemorate the Tiananmen Square massacre. The video chat company admitted they removed Humanitarian China’s access to comply with “local laws,” but reinstated the account following criticism.

Axios @axios

Last week, Zoom sought to reassure global users that it would no longer shutter accounts outside of mainland China at Beijing's behest. But Zoom's struggle to please two governments with radically different ideologies is only just beginning.

axios.comZoom’s U.S.-China tightropeIt’s hard to please both Washington and Beijing.

Zoom users concerned about its policies include U.S.-based professors who use it to teach in China, even after the company promised to no longer allow Beijing to dictate who to censor. Concurrently, the discovery of a trove of messages linked to influencing via the People’s Republic resulted in Twitter purging more than 17,000 individual handles:

ASPI @ASPI_org

The CCP ‘cannot afford for the pandemic to negatively impact its rising geopolitical influence and so has launched waves of disinformation and influence operations intermingled with its diplomatic messaging’ writes @JakeWallis_ASPI

bit.lyTwitter data shows China using fake accounts to spread propaganda | The StrategistAt times of political crisis, the Chinese government has demonstrated a willingness to deploy disinformation and influence operations to achieve its strategic goals. The regime has mobilised a long-running campaign of political warfare against Taiwan, ...

Twitter dismantled “state-linked” networks run by a “highly engaged core” of 23,750 accounts, boosted by 150,000 “amplifier” accounts. Topics ranged from criticizing protests in Hong Kong to highlighting protests in the U.S., along with propaganda related to COVID-19. (And yet, the Twitter platform is formally blocked in China.)

Heavy days in Hong Kong

Reuters @Reuters

Hong Kong leader Carrie Lam says anyone who opposes China's plan to introduce national security legislation is an ‘enemy of the people’ reut.rs/2Y3VGoE

“The people of Hong Kong want to see stability again, they want a safe environment where they can work and live,” said Carrie Lam in her latest defence of the new national security law, and believes that residents have nothing to worry about. Nonetheless, democracy activists want Boris Johnson to be more precise about the U.K. immigration overture.

SCMP News @SCMPNews

Hong Kong’s gig economy in media spotlight as freelancers, casual workers struggle amid protests, coronavirus

scmp.comHong Kong’s gig economy in media spotlight as freelancers, casual workers struggleThe inaugural Hong Kong tech trends report from ClearStory International comes amid the city’s worsening recession, triggered by anti-government protests and the coronavirus pandemic.

The world’s most expensive shopping street, Russell Street in Causeway Bay, finds itself home to increasingly cheaper goods due to protests and the coronavirus. A mobile phone vendor in Hong Kong is paying just 6 per cent of the rent of the space’s previous tenant, Tissot, the pricey Swiss watchmaker.

ABC News @abcnews

'Rubber bullets came down like rain': Unrest in Hong Kong sees protester seek asylum in Australia

abc.net.auTommy should be studying in Hong Kong. Instead, he fled to Australia seeking political asylumAt 22, Tommy should be enjoying his social science classes at university. Instead, he’s seeking asylum as a political refugee in Australia. After being on the front line of Hong Kong’s pro-democracy movement, he’s fled political unrest and hopes Australia will be a safe haven.

Regardless, after a five-month shutdown, reopening is set for Hong Kong Disneyland.

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Heated in the Himalayas

Foreign Policy @ForeignPolicy

In a major setback to recent measures to de-escalate tensions, India and China engaged in a deadly skirmish along their border on Monday night. FP's @BeijingPalmer and @RaviReports explain why.

buff.lyWhy Are India and China Fighting?Nuclear powers New Delhi and Beijing engage in a skirmish marking the first combat deaths along their border in more than four decades.

The foreign ministers of China and India promised not to escalate the situation after the former tried to erect a structure in the latter’s territory. But that was after the deaths of at least 20 Indian troops—while reports say about 40 Chinese soldiers perished. Narendra Modi expressed pride in those who died defending the country.

Wave hello to old fears

Sky News Australia @SkyNewsAust

Beijing has once again closed its schools and shops as it tries to contain a second outbreak of coronavirus.

skynews.com.auBeijing faces second wave of COVID-19 | Sky News AustraliaBeijing has once again closed its schools and shops as it tries to contain a severe second outbreak of coronavirus. Residents were warned not to leave the city, with authorities imposing a partial travel ban to curb the spread. The resurgence saw more than 100 new infections, three-quarters of whi…

China cancelled all flights to Beijing, shut shops and schools and raised its emergency warning to the second-highest level amid a new coronavirus outbreak that’s raised alarm around a world now ending lockdowns due to the pandemic. The source of this second wave remains a mystery, although suspicions are pointing to recently imported seafood.

The last words, for now

While the one-child policy existed in China from 1979 to 2015, couples have since been told it’s their patriotic duty to have two babies. But getting them together is complicated by the fact that the practice of aborting girls resulted in 34 million more men than women under 40. A potential solution being proposed would be the practice of polyandry:

The Washington Post @washingtonpost

Two-husband strategy may be a remedy for China’s one-child policy, professor posits

wapo.stTwo-husband strategy may be a remedy for China’s one-child policy, professor positsThe academic said that allowing men to share a wife would help redress gender imbalances — although his suggestion has not endeared him to the country’s women.

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