China Tweets #18
欸，你好！
This week's main improvement is the awesome subsection headings that took me most of Sunday to come up with. Otherwise, just the usual goodness sifted from Twitter.
Have a good week.
-Adam
Red Chamber
To understand Chinese politics in long duree, a good place to start is sociologist Dingxin Zhao’s The Confucian-Legalist State: A New Theory of Chinese History (Oxford 2018). Our scholarly collective, @THiS_TheHisSoc, is to hold a panel discussion on Nov 20 at 8pm (ET), 1/3 pic.twitter.com/HqRKPkuA2c
— Xiaohong Xu (@Xiaohong__Xu) November 14, 2022
Henan is deploying grassroots-level cadres to work the lines at the Zhengzhou Foxconn factory where iPhones are manufactured to cover for labor shortages after a mass exodus caused by a mismanaged COVID outbreak.
— Alexander Boyd (@alexludoboyd) November 15, 2022
Defies simple narratives of capitalism, communism, globalism, etc pic.twitter.com/Y7HphgK7nQ
Here we go. A bunch of Chinese gov agencies just jointly released a draft of a new "Social Credit System Construction Act" for public comment. The doc is huge. 1/x https://t.co/mkYh5rT2XI
— Kendra Schaefer 凯娜 (@kendraschaefer) November 14, 2022
Just added another important volume to my Xinjiang Syllabus posted on Medium: https://t.co/jkRHPTiNU3
— James Millward 米華健 (@JimMillward) November 15, 2022
I applied both institutional economics and comparative history in "China's Gilded Age"
— Yuen Yuen Ang (@yuenyuenang) November 15, 2022
For me, the more lasting insights no doubt came from history
Economics can only capture a snapshot in time. History reveals sequential patterns in broad sweeps.
The Mill
1/7
— Michael Pettis (@michaelxpettis) November 14, 2022
Although all the other vulnerabilities listed here by Liu He, Liu Kun, Guo Shuqing and Yi Gang are serious, it is worrying that Liu He is also concerned that "traditional advantages such as costs of labour are weakening."https://t.co/5AB1ZDz5pt via @scmpnews
A big milestone for China's offshore wind that I missed a few weeks ago: Shandong's first GRID PARITY offshore wind project (500MW) was connected to the grid.
— David Fishman @david_fishman@mastodon.energy (@pretentiouswhat) November 14, 2022
This means the offshore wind power is generated at a unit cost level competitive with coal-fired power.
Quick 🧵 pic.twitter.com/LeVomrHntl
1/10
— Michael Pettis (@michaelxpettis) November 14, 2022
Good article on the proposed "rescue" of the Chinese property sector. The jury is still out on whether or not these measures will slow down, or even reverse, the recent property-sector slide and the collateral damage it has imposed.https://t.co/2ELk10SVON via @WSJ
China in the World
Thoughts on Biden-Xi meeting in Bali:
Structural conditions of US-China competition are not going away - still, a huge relief both leaders commit to communication & preventing conflict. Besides high-level com', urgent need to tone down threat rhetoric that deeply influences US & China public. pic.twitter.com/EDzdq2BCAw
— Yuen Yuen Ang (@yuenyuenang) November 14, 2022
1. It's encouraging that both sides agreed to empower senior officials (including an agreement for @SecBlinken to visit China) to develop principles to manage the relationship and working groups to make progress on specific issues.
— Jessica Chen Weiss (@jessicacweiss) November 14, 2022
Two of many problems w the US approach to China: 1) requires convincing the world that the world shares in the threat to America’s global status, and 2) requires inflating the threat China poses to something beyond what others actually experience. It’s an impossible posture https://t.co/tTdOhik3So
— Van Jackson (@vanjackson@mastodon.social) (@WonkVJ) November 19, 2022
2: To be blunt, experience and intuition tell me that Washington is delusional if thinks this kind of stark, binary message on China is going to work in most regions of the world - inclusive of, but not limited to, the Middle East and North Africa. https://t.co/Lm9oqqYVUZ
— Evan Feigenbaum (@EvanFeigenbaum) November 19, 2022
US government policy pronouncements related to China and technology have ramped up over the past six months…it is important to understand their evolution, and implications for allies...a thread🧵
— Paul Triolo (@pstAsiatech) November 19, 2022
Germany is drafting a new China strategy:
Confidential @AuswaertigesAmt draft of 🇩🇪China strategy that was sent to chancellory & other ministries for review and comments was leaked to @derspiegel that runs an article on it with select quotes. https://t.co/UQeFio6Ise
— Thorsten Benner (@thorstenbenner) November 16, 2022
I don't agree with the thread below. By making statements against nuclear weapons in Ukraine, Beijing is making it clear to Moscow that a nuclear strike against Ukraine would have serious repercussions for bilateral relations.
1/10
— Justyna Szczudlik诗丽娜 (@Shilinabolan) November 15, 2022
Does 🇨🇳China's recent public remarks about its opposition to use nuclear weapon mean a real limit to China-Russia "no-limits" friendship?
My short answer is: NOT AT ALL!
Why?
It is rather a Chinese game to score "cheap" points among the West
Let's me explain
Delighted to (finally) share this new piece in @AsianSurvey on "China's Response to War in Ukraine." A short thread: (1/n) https://t.co/Bzvv4WzHrY pic.twitter.com/RL4dd8ooE7
— Sheena Chestnut Greitens (@SheenaGreitens) November 17, 2022
Beijing and Canberra made moves to improve relations with the leaders of the countries meeting in Bali. Hawks are beating their chests energetically, claiming Canberra's toughness led to Beijing's "capitulation".
When Beijing takes steps to improve relations it's "capitulation". When it acts tough it's trying to "break Australia’s sovereign will".
— Adam Ni (@adam_ni) November 16, 2022
One wonders, what can Beijing do to not be seen as the enemy by these hawks?https://t.co/VyLlRWr9aX
Its unedifying stuff watching chest-beaters claim victory following the @AlboMP-Xi meeting. But they never explain why we had to shoot ourselves in the foot to get to where we are now, unlike any other US ally or partner. That'd require self-reflection🤡.https://t.co/1z3ba9znUT
— James Laurenceson 罗震 (@j_laurenceson) November 15, 2022
My book, Recentering the World, is out! A history via archival sources of China & the ideas of international law, from the Opium War era to the late 20th century: https://t.co/c2gTtDGahG
— Ryan Martínez Mitchell (@zeguoqiang) November 16, 2022
Huge thanks to @samuelmoyn @ZhangTaisu and Bill Alford for far too kind early review blurbs pic.twitter.com/Xd7udvftBj
War is Peace
Always beware of "anonymous" sources, I say.
those "anonymous" sources just told western media Xi was a victim of Putin's deception too, and now this. it is so funny. #war_is_peace https://t.co/nvhY4AJHnW
— Ho-fung Hung (@hofunghung) November 15, 2022
A thread on the intermediaries that help Chinese influencers, some of whom are state-backed, to get on western social media:
Chinese influencer Li Ziqi has 17.2 million followers on YouTube.
— Fergus Ryan (@fryan) November 16, 2022
She's the biggest by far, but there are thousands of other China-based accounts on the platform.
But wait. Isn't YouTube blocked in China? What gives?
Here's how it all works. 🧵 pic.twitter.com/k4SIAJea6l
From data to conspiracy pic.twitter.com/oDPGdFF530
— Yuen Yuen Ang (@yuenyuenang) November 16, 2022
ProPublica recently published an article insinuating COVID escaped from a laboratory in Wuhan. China experts tore the article to pieces because it had glaring translation and analytical mistakes.
Just a reminder that it's been three weeks and ProPublica has still not corrected its fatally flawed lab-leak story despite unanimous criticism from Mandarin-speakers, including at least some translators it reached out to directly. https://t.co/DZS23iR9ZK
— Brendan O'Kane (@bokane) November 18, 2022
one thing about the "secret Chinese police stations" is that they weren't a secret at all. Fuzhou PSB held a presser when they launched this (the so-called 警侨事务海外服务站 in 21 countries) and the State Council's overseas Chinese affairs office featured the story on its pic.twitter.com/mKdntb0XJr
— Chenchen Zhang 🤦🏻♀️ (@chenchenzh) November 19, 2022
Heartache & Hope
Another daughter of China lost - another promise broken - because of the inhumane way that zero-COVID is implemented:
More heartbreak out of Zhengzhou.
— Alexander Boyd (@alexludoboyd) November 16, 2022
Father & 5-month-old daughter are placed in a quarantine hotel after mother gets COVID. Daughter pukes up milk, etc. Father gets worried, calls 911. EMTs demand a antigen test before accepting them, father tests positive so turned away. pic.twitter.com/gNvc3RKpsw
Good to see an authoritative new report on state-sponsored, coercive, anti-Muslim marriages between Han men & Uyghur women in Northwest China. It lays out available evidence & makes nuanced claims regarding the scale of sexual violence toward Muslim women. https://t.co/RhFSluMpaG
— Darren Byler (@dtbyler) November 16, 2022
Absurdism:
Facing endless campus lockdowns and an uncertain future, Chinese students have found something that makes them feel better - crawling on their hands and knees in groups at night. According to one, it's using "meaninglessness to resist meaninglessness." https://t.co/oyjDMkVu4K
— Lily Kuo (@lilkuo) November 17, 2022
Transmogrified
Interesting thing I noticed:
— Sarracenian 捕蝇草怪人 (@CSarracenian) November 16, 2022
In the Chinese version of Total War Warhammer 3, while the game is mostly in modern vernacular, the Cathay dragons (who're ancient & fantasy-Sino) specifically speak in Classical Literary Chinese.
(note the shorter, often 4-word phrases of Miao Ying) pic.twitter.com/OtJNvcvuly
Glimpses of the Past
Shanghai, 1983.
— China in Pictures (@tongbingxue) November 16, 2022
©️ leroy W. Demery Jr. pic.twitter.com/MVFkOwaHJ9
Some Chinese websites are truly like windows into a lost internet era pic.twitter.com/5HsXbKTAep
— Eric Hundman @ehundman@mastodon.sdf.org (@ehundman) November 15, 2022
Different patrolmen in the Chung Ying Street (中英街) ,
— China in Pictures (@tongbingxue) November 20, 2022
on the border between Hong Kong and Shenzhen, 1996.
One side of the street belongs to Hong Kong and the other belongs to mainland China. pic.twitter.com/IXy2CGHSt3
Other "Chinas"
Taiwan will hold local elections on November 26
Why Taipei’s mayoral race matters:
— Lev Nachman (@lnachman32) November 14, 2022
1. If the DPP wins it'll be huge. It'll be their 1st Taipei mayor since Chen Shui-bian in 1998, and would compensate for other likely DPP loses. Would also validate Chen’s COVID leadership and boost DPP legitimacy.
2. But if the KMT win…
Democracy in action:
Taipei mayoral candidate #9 Shi Fengxian says: "When I declared I was running for mayor, my wife told me to go see a mental health doctor. Guess what? I did. And my doctor said I am going to win. So here I am." pic.twitter.com/j47gAscEb8
— Wen-Ti Sung (@wentisung) November 16, 2022
Taipei mayor candidate #10 Tang Xinmin claims to be the next messiah & reincarnate of Emperor Tang. He predicts a volcano explosion in 2023 that will destroy TPE.
— Wen-Ti Sung (@wentisung) November 16, 2022
The only way out is to elect him now, because he alone can fix it.(如果今年2022年台北市長不是我，你們2023年就等死吧) pic.twitter.com/9DOJhGQoh9
Taiwan election gazette: a candidate's official argues he is running for neighborhood chief (里長) because: "while I am mildly intellectually handicapped, I can't stand seeing some people make even dumber decisions than me". pic.twitter.com/vKSMrNORrD
— Wen-Ti Sung (@wentisung) November 15, 2022
Watching China Watching
My news feed today:
— China Law Translate (@ChinaLawTransl8) November 16, 2022
Xi Scolds Trudeau
Xi angrily rebukes Trudeau
Xi confronts Trudeau
Xi Jinping Chides Justin Trudeau
Xi berates Trudeau
Xi calls out Trudeau
Xi criticizes Trudeau
Xi warns Trudeau
Xi and Trudeau engage in a heated exchange
Xi and Trudeau exchange barbs
Many on China Tweet are scared that Twitter will implode. I think it would a good thing for our productivity and mental health, if nothing else.
With Twitter’s demise apparently impending, I’d urge people to consider moving to Sina Weibo, where you can enjoy a safe space for political innuendo under the benevolent eye of China’s social media administrators. No hate, no insanity, just… social harmony.
— Taisu Zhang (@ZhangTaisu) November 18, 2022
Here’s my China Twitter backup plan. pic.twitter.com/26NQmLuF1W
— Jeremy Wallace (@jerometenk) November 18, 2022
⸮
striking feature of new cold war is its cultural sterility. no thriller novels about secret PLA military tech, no movies where the Chinese are doing spy shit in D.C, no Marvel villains stealing Iron Man's suit for communism, no Tom Clancy games called Claw Of The Red Dragon etc
— yoshimi battles the xiaofenhong (@nise_yoshimi) November 16, 2022
forgotten moments in history: Mao Zedong decides to use a meeting with the Khmer Rouge leadership to practice his English pic.twitter.com/L1nXb0mIJB
— yoshimi battles the xiaofenhong (@nise_yoshimi) November 15, 2022
By Adam Ni