CHINA

TONY KEVIN–At the political level, Morrison and his ministers are daily digging deeper the hole they are in, too proud to apologize to China for their aggressive clumsiness. It is a dangerous moment in a hitherto tranquil enough Australia -China relationship based on mutual economic interest.

Pompeo’s personal attack on an Australian state premier — however excessive and misplaced it was — might have been seen by him and Morrison as a useful distraction from this larger crisis. The U.S. ambassador in Canberra — a Trump appointee — hastily backtracked, trying to cover for Pompeo’s crude bullying language, which was evoking resentful Australian public responses.

In a recent parade China has revealed its new weapons, many of which cannot be easily neutralized by the sociopathic hegemonist West. Too bad that in a world still dominated by thugs, bullies, and sociopaths, healthy nations need to prepare for all-out war—MAD standoffs— in order to maintain the peace, and their own hard-won sovereignty. 

GODFREE ROBERTS—China is home to four of the world’s five largest unicorns, led by Alibaba’s Ant Group, which has a US$150 billion valuation. The total value of all known unicorns in the world is US$1.9 trillion, equivalent to the GDP of Italy. Vehicle sales rose 15% in July. Sales of sedans, SUVs, and commercial vehicles increased to 2.08 million units, the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers said. Tesla’s made-in-China cars are quality market leaders while Tesla’s US-made vehicles are scoring the lowest for quality. The average passenger car in China gets 37.2 quality complaints per 10,000 cars over the last quarter. Over the same period, Made-in-China Model 3 only received 0.7 complaints – topping the chart.

EKATERINA BLINOVA—The current administration has been exerting pressure on Beijing since day one of Donald Trump’s presidency. However, previously, US-Chinese frictions were mostly about trade deficit, apparent currency manipulations, and the Chinese telecom sector. Following the COVID-19 outbreak, US-Chinese ties have hit a new low. Both Democrats and Republicans are calling for tightening the screws on the People’s Republic.

One could ask whether it was really the coronavirus pandemic, blamed by the White House on Beijing, that became the watershed in Sino-American relations. Not really, observers say. What matters is the November election.

MoA—False allegations over the security of TikTok user data were used to threaten the prohibition of the video app in its U.S. market. In the U.S. alone the app is used by more than 80 million people. It plays an important part in the youth culture and music business. Faced with a potential close down of its prime business in one of its most profitable markets ByteDance had no choice but to agree to negotiate about a sale.