The China Thread

[Monoriu]

Isn't it a bit premature to talk about the end of the party?  They exist and we need to deal with them.  Not day dream about the party's end that may or may not come in the next few decades

You should say "us," not "them."  You are effectively part of the Chinese Communist Party state apparatus.

I am too far down the food chain to make that claim 

[Jacob]

I am too far down the food chain to make that claim 

Just following orders.

[celedhring]

I guess that's what you'd get if you remade The Sound of Music from the pov of the nazis.

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/apr/03/china-launches-musical-in-bid-to-counter-uyghur-abuse-allegations

China launches musical in bid to counter Uyghur abuse allegations
Beijing is attempting to draw attention away from reports it is holding at least one million in Xinjiang internment camps

Agence France-Presse
Sat 3 Apr 2021 07.21 BST

A new state-produced musical set in Xinjiang inspired by the Hollywood blockbuster "La La Land" has hit China's cinemas, portraying a rural idyll of ethnic cohesion devoid of repression, mass surveillance and even the Islam of its majority Uyghur population.

China is on an elaborate PR offensive to rebrand the north-western region where the United States and other western nationals and human rights groups say genocide has been inflicted on the Uyghurs and other Muslim minorities.

As allegations of slavery and forced labour inside Xinjiang's cotton industry have drawn renewed global attention, including big brands like Nike saying they would no longer source materials from the region, inside China, Beijing has been curating a very different narrative for the troubled region.

Rap songs, photo exhibitions and a musical – "The Wings of Songs" – are leading the cultural reframing of the region, while a legion of celebrities have seemingly unprompted leapt to the defence of Xinjiang's tarnished textile industry.

Beijing denies all allegations of abuse and has instead recast Xinjiang as a haven of social cohesion and economic renewal that has turned its back on years of violent extremism thanks to benevolent state intervention.

The movie, whose release was reportedly delayed by a year, focuses on three men from different ethnic groups dreaming of the big time as they gather musical inspiration across cultures in the snow-capped mountains and desertscapes of the vast region.

Trailing the movie, state-run Global Times reported that overseas blockbusters such as "La La Land" have "inspired Chinese studios" to produce their own domestic hits.

But the musical omits the surveillance cameras and security checks that blanket Xinjiang. Also noticeably absent are references to Islam – despite more than half of the population of Xinjiang being Muslim – and there are no mosques or women in veils.

In one scene, a leading character, a well-shaven Uyghur, toasts with a beer in his hand.

At least one million Uyghurs and other mostly Muslim groups have been held in camps in Xinjiang, according to right groups, where authorities are also accused of forcibly sterilising women and imposing forced labour.

That has enraged Beijing, which at first denied the existence of the camps and then defended them as training programmes.

In March, Britain and the EU took joint action with the US and Canada to impose parallel sanctions on senior Chinese officials involved in the mass internment of Uyghur Muslims in Xinjiang province in the first such western action against Beijing since Joe Biden took office.

China hit back immediately, blacklisting MEPs, European diplomats and thinktanks.

Last month, China also swiftly closed down the Clubhouse app, an audio platform where uncensored discussions briefly flowered including on Xinjiang, with Uyghurs giving unvarnished accounts of life to attentive Han Chinese guests.

The current PR push on Xinjiang aims at controlling the narrative for internal consumption, says Larry Ong, of US-based consultancy SinoInsider. Beijing "knows that a lie repeated a thousand times becomes truth", he said.

To many Chinese, that messaging appears to be working.

"I have been to Xinjiang and the film is very realistic," one moviegoer told AFP after seeing "The Wings of Songs" in Beijing. "People are happy, free and open," he said, declining to give his name.

Last week, celebrities, tech brands and state media – whipped up by outrage on China's tightly controlled social media – piled in on several global fashion brands who have raised concerns over forced labour and refused to source cotton from Xinjiang.

Sweden's H&M was the worst-hit and on Wednesday attempted to limit the damage in its fourth-largest market.

The clothing giant issued a statement saying it wanted to regain the trust of people in China, but the message was greeted with scorn on the Twitter-like Weibo platform, where 35 million people shared the fashion chain's comments.

The pushback has taken on a pop culture edge, with a rap released this week castigating "lies" by the "western settlers" about cotton from the region, while state broadcaster CGTN is set to release a documentary on the unrest that prompted the Beijing crackdown.

It is impossible to gain unfettered access to Xinjiang, with foreign media shadowed by authorities on visits and then harassed for their reporting.

This week, BBC journalist John Sudworth hurriedly left China for Taiwan, alleging "intimidation" after reporting on conditions in the cotton farms of Xinjiang.

[Syt]

I am too far down the food chain to make that claim 

Just following orders.

[Monoriu]

I am too far down the food chain to make that claim 

Just following orders.

 

[Tamas]

You guys should take it easy on Mono. It can be very dangerous for him to hint he might not agree with the regime. In some database somewhere a record is being made of his Internet activity, and it can be looked at whenever somebody important enough wants to give his job to somebody else.

[garbon]

I don't see why we should care.

[Solmyr]

You guys should take it easy on Mono. It can be very dangerous for him to hint he might not agree with the regime. In some database somewhere a record is being made of his Internet activity, and it can be looked at whenever somebody important enough wants to give his job to somebody else.

Pretty sure just being on Languish already tanks his social rating.

[Legbiter]

You guys should take it easy on Mono. It can be very dangerous for him to hint he might not agree with the regime. In some database somewhere a record is being made of his Internet activity, and it can be looked at whenever somebody important enough wants to give his job to somebody else.

Yes. Mono has a lot of interesting stuff to say on Chinese political leadership and society.

[Zanza]

While I disagree with his views, he certainly enriches the forum with an interesting perspective.

[Legbiter]

The idea of Chinese rising up to demand democracy once they have become middle class has not really been tested.  But so far that theory doesn't really hold up.  Tiananmen was crushed rather easily.

Yeah and I'm not sure any Western coalition would win in some generational ideological struggle against China. For one, the chamber of commerce Right in most Western countries would be adamantly against it. Imagine the Cold War against the Soviets with big business interests firmly on the Soviet side.

[The Minsky Moment]

Fortunately there won't  be a grand ideological struggle because the ruling clique in China hasn't had any ideology since Mao died.  It's a just a group of clever ruthless people willing to do whatever it takes to stay on top and in control.  Every now and then, there is talk about the "Chinese Model" of governance, but the only people that seem really interested are lesser would be autocrats fishing around for a few extra justifications for subverting their own pseudo democracies at home.

[DGuller]

I get the sense that authoritarianism is THE ideology in both Russia and China.  Not authoritarianism as means to get things done, as in fascism and communism, but authoritarianism for the sake of it.  The easiest way to align yourself with Russia and China is to have your military or police shoot several hundred civilians.  The principle of the government having the right to mow down its citizens is the core value that should be defended everywhere.

[Syt]

I get the sense that authoritarianism is THE ideology in both Russia and China.  Not authoritarianism as means to get things done, as in fascism and communism, but authoritarianism for the sake of it.  The easiest way to align yourself with Russia and China is to have your military or police shoot several hundred civilians.  The principle of the government having the right to mow down its citizens is the core value that should be defended everywhere.

"Only an iron fist can keep this country together"? In the case of Russia it might be related to an attempt at reform and liberal democracy ended in the USSR falling apart?

[The Minsky Moment]

Is there any evidence that the judicial arbitration of contracts has changed in recent months?

Story ran yesterday that international arbitration filings doubled over the past year in Singapore.  HK filings are flat.

In my own practice, I sometimes advise clients on dispute resolution clauses including choice of forum.  I personally would hesitate to recommend a HK forum to any non-PRC entity dealing with a counterparty with some PRC influence. It looks like the market is making the same judgment generally. I have no proof that influence has swayed the outcome of any HK commercial arbitration, but arbitrations are private so there is no way to know for sure.  That is the way the *perception* of absolute probity and neutrality is essential and anything that damages that perception can be fatal.  To quote the mob boss from Casino: even if you think things are basically OK, why take a chance?

We've discussed this before but this all part of a piece.  Hong Kong entered the millennium as one of the three great world cities., along with London and New York.  It is heading rapidly to a different status as a significant but second tier Chinese provincial city, secondary to Beijing and Shanghai.