Shanghai Disneyland is a small world away

The China Letter: May 13, 2020

May 14, 2020

Check out these wild photos of Disneyland's sold-out reopening in China — complete with temperature checks, mandatory face masks, and yellow social-distancing boxes

businessinsider.comCheck out these wild photos of Disneyland’s sold-out reopening in China — complete with temperature checks, mandatory face masks, and yello…Shanghai Disneyland is the company’s first resort to open during the pandemic, and could be a road map for further openings at other locations.

While cutting its maximum capacity from 80,000 to 24,000 visitors a day, along with installing anti-virus controls, the re-opening of Shanghai Disneyland told a story in pictures of how China is attempting to revive daily life after its peak of COVID-19, through symbols of American pop culture. Masked workouts have also become a new normal:

Reuters @Reuters

As Beijing gyms reopen, users are masked up and ready to work out

But the discovery of new coronavirus cases in Wuhan, which formed the first cluster there after lockdown restrictions were eased on April 8, have brought on a new testing initiative: all 11 million residents will be swabbed during “10 days of mass battle.”

The pandemic’s price

SCMP News @SCMPNews

China faces looming crisis as pandemic sends unemployment soaring.

scmp.comChina faces looming crisis as pandemic sends unemployment soaringFor the first time in decades, China’s labour market is under pressure on multiple fronts as the economy struggles to recover from the coronavirus pandemic.

An official with China’s central bank said the country is likely to see a “V-shaped recovery.” But an objective look at the economic data indicates otherwise, as manufacturers face reduced demand from all over. It’s also raising questions about unemployment, and how the Communist party may respond to related social unrest.

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HK resistance returns

ABC News @abcnews

As coronavirus cases decline in Hong Kong, Mother's Day protest met with police crackdown

abc.net.auAs coronavirus cases decline in Hong Kong, Mother’s Day protest met with police crackdown - ABC NewsRiot police in Hong Kong grapple with pro-democracy protesters who gathered in shopping malls to sing, chant slogans and flash hand signs after permission for a Mother’s Day march was denied.

The revived Hong Kong protests included arrests at a shopping mall, where police claimed that students were disguising themselves as journalists to document their confrontations. Pro-Beijing leader Carrie Lam is now blaming the education system for fuelling the resistance, which is headed for greater scrutiny at the United Nations.

Social media snooping

Citizen Lab @citizenlab

NEW REPORT: We Chat, They Watch: How International Users Unwittingly Build up WeChat’s Chinese Censorship Apparatus

citizenlab.caWe Chat, They Watch: How International Users Unwittingly Build up WeChat’s Chinese Censorship Apparatus - The Citizen LabWeChat communications conducted entirely among non-China-registered accounts are subject to pervasive content surveillance that was previously thought to be exclusively reserved for China-registered accounts.

The report on how surveillance of international users is helping WeChat beef up its censorship is the latest investigation into Chinese social media. The popularity of its mobile payments network is also allowing WeChat owner Tencent to expand in a new way: it will help Canadian coffee chain Tim Hortons expand to 1,500 outlets in China.

New academic suspicion

New York Post @nypost

Arkansas professor busted for hiding China ties while pursuing NASA grants trib.al/OuTOycE

A crackdown on American college and university researchers accepting payments from China for what the FBI sees as theft of technology and trade secrets led to the arrest of another professor: Simon Ang of the University of Arkansas was arrested after he allegedly failed to disclose those funding links on a NASA grant application.

The last words, for now

Beijing has formally banned copycats of foreign architecture that pay tribute to landmarks from around the world, to prioritize local design instead. The government says “city inspections” of existing examples will follow. Taller buildings have also been given new height limits: