Who put COVID-19 in the ice cream?
The China Letter: January 19, 2021
This week, a look at the latest debates around COVID-19 in China, how Meng Wanzhou sparked a new scandal in Canada, the U.S. banning some Chinese cotton, thoughts about A.I. and a comic who crossed a line. And it’s easy to share with friends!
WHO is visiting Wuhan
The arrival of a global team of researchers in Wuhan to investigate the origin of the COVID-19 pandemic was approved by President Xi Jinping’s government, which may explain why it’s shrouded in secrecy after a year of Beijing deflecting the blame. And the visitors won’t be investigating the possibility that the virus originated in a lab.
But the newest twist came in reports of the coronavirus found on ice cream produced in in Tianjin, adjacent to Beijing. Blame is being laid on New Zealand milk powder and whey powder from Ukraine. China has also reported a surge in new cases in Hebei, where a new quarantine centre is being built.
Who was visiting Meng
Permission granted to the husband and two children of the detained Huawei CFO to visit her in Canada despite travel restrictions became the stuff of scandal, as China continues to imprison the “Two Michaels,” who recently gained a bit of liberty. It was also learned that letters containing bullets were sent to Meng’s home in Vancouver.
Spinning this cotton tale
BBC News reported on new evidence of Uighur forced labour in China’s cotton industry in mid-December. But now those journalists are seeing their work spun as “fake news” by the state-run China Daily. Nonetheless, growing attention to slave labour in the Xinjiang province has resulted in products now banned in the U.S.A.:
Data is not the new oil
Michael C. Horowitz, a political science professor at the University of Pennsylvania, talks about how China’s ambitions to become the world leader in artificial intelligence by 2030 doesn’t necessarily mean they’ll succeed. In his view, it will be more about how we act than specific techniques, which contradicts a saying.
The last words, for now
“Uncle Roger reviews ugliest dumpling ever” doesn’t sound like the kind of YouTube video that can cause controversy, but it resulted in an apology on Chinese social media, for causing a bad “social impression.” Nigel Ng—the comedian better known as Uncle Roger—featured guest Mike Chen, whose criticism of Beijing was deemed uglier than a dumpling:
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