Xi and the CCP have lost control of the China narrative. It’s worth keeping an eye on these “fires” in China. I’ve been seeing high-rises, office building, and other factories suddendly catch fire in the past four to six weeks during the most severe lockdowns:
https://www.cnn.com/2022/11/21/asia/china-factory-fire-henan-intl-hnk/index.html
A fire at a factory in central China killed 36 people on Monday, according to Chinese state-media, the latest in a string of fatal industrial accidents to hit the country in recent years.
State broadcaster CCTV reported Tuesday that two people remain missing and two others were being treated for minor injuries following the blaze at the factory in Anyang, Henan province.
Police have detained an unspecified number of suspects in connection with the blaze, which took firefighters nearly seven hours to put out, according to CCTV.
2 Likes
Latest $AAPL look on the daily, weekly, and monthly charts
A bit more from the above OP:
Raffaello Pantucci, co-author of the book “Sinostan,” about China’s influence over its Muslim-majority neighboring nations, said Belt and Road was designed to help countries develop economically and lead to greater stability.
“The truth is, this doesn’t always resolve peoples’ anger,” Mr. Pantucci said. “Pakistan is a toxic brew for China where they have become enemy No. 1 for an array of militant groups on the ground due to their proximity to the Pakistani state.”
The Baloch Liberation Army are secular insurgents who say the province’s natural resources are being exploited by the rest of the country and often target the Pakistani military. Jihadists from the Pakistani Taliban also have attacked Chinese nationals.
https://archive.ph/ufBtk
China’s lack of intensive care hospital beds leaves the nation facing a slow exit from Covid Zero, likely stretching beyond 2023.
A full reopening may lead to 5.8 million people being admitted to intensive care, overwhelming a health system that currently has less than four ICU beds per 100,000 people, far less than developed countries, according to Bloomberg Intelligence senior pharmaceutical analyst Sam Fazeli.
The euphoric reaction to China’s softening of its zero-Covid-19 stance looks misplaced, given full reopening may lead to 5.8 million ICU admissions. To avoid this, continued caution across many regions in China will be needed, but this will prolong the time to full reopening beyond 2023.
Exclusive: China set to fine Ant Group over $1 billion, signalling revamp nears end-sources
By Julie Zhu
A booth of Ant Group is pictured at the Singapore FinTech Festival, Singapore, November 4, 2022. REUTERS/Anshuman Daga
HONG KONG, Nov 22 (Reuters) - Chinese authorities are poised to impose a fine of more than $1 billion on Jack Ma’s Ant Group, said six sources with direct knowledge of the matter, setting the stage for ending the fintech company’s two-year long regulatory overhaul.
The People’s Bank of China (PBOC), which has been driving the revamp at Ant after the Chinese firm’s $37 billion IPO was scuttled at the last minute in 2020, is the regulator that is readying the fine, said five of the sources.
The central bank has been in informal communication with Ant about the fine over the past few months, said three of the sources. It plans to hold more discussions with other regulators about Ant’s revamp later this year and announce the fine as soon as the second quarter of next year, said a source.
https://archive.ph/wX8qx
China’s mega banks, led by Industrial & Commercial Bank of China Ltd., pledged financing support of at least 1.28 trillion yuan ($179 billion) to property developers as part of a push to ease turmoil in the nation’s real estate market.
ICBC, the world’s largest bank by assets, on Thursday said it would provide 655 billion yuan in credit lines to 12 developers, including Country Garden Holdings Co. Bank of China Ltd., Bank of Communications Co., Postal Savings Bank of China Ltd. and Agricultural Bank of China Ltd. and China Construction Bank Corp. also disclosed they would extend financing.
Property stocks and bonds rallied on the additional funding, as China seeks to contain the fallout from a crackdown that has already sparked dozens of defaults and sent property sales and prices tumbling. China’s priority has been to ensure that unfinished homes get completed, while supporting the stronger firms that have so far survived the crisis.
**The protests have now broken out nationwide. Xi just purged his biggest rivals from the party. Now the blame is solely on his shoulders. Let’s see how he responds. Thousands are screaming in public, in front of cops and other security, that Chairman Xi needs to resign.
p.s. One of the descriptives below one of the photos gives us an idea that the CCP cannot control the breakout of protest on social media. Look at how many times one hashtag floated through social media:
“Communication University of China in Nanjing was trending on Weibo on Saturday night, with one hashtag receiving over 180 million views. Students at the university gathered chanting slogans such as ‘long live the people’ and turning on the lights on their phone as a tribute to victims of the fire in Urumqi.”
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-11473455/Protests-erupt-China-thousands-streets-draconian-Covid-restrictions.html?ns_mchannel=rss&ns_campaign=1490&ito=1490
The largest demonstration appeared in Shanghai - home to 26million residents - with many boldly demanding President Xi Jinping resign.
Officers used pepper spray against about 300 protesters, according to a witness, but western journalists reported the numbers to be in the thousands.
Meanwhile last night hundreds gathered to mourn the deaths of at least 10 people in an apartment fire last week in Urumqi in the Xinjiang region, where residents were sealed in their buildings to try to stop the spread of COVID.
Contained in this video are new clips from the Foxconn riots which I have not seen elsewhere:
# Chinese people are angry now! The World Cup showed them masks aren’t needed in the world.
# Reuters: Clashes in Shanghai as COVID protests flare across China