Victor Mallet + more things

6 minutes estimated reading time

New York Times Will Move Part of Hong Kong Office to Seoul – The New York Timesa sweeping national security law passed by China in June — aimed at stymieing opposition and pro-democracy forces in Hong Kong — has unsettled news organizations and created uncertainty about the city’s prospects as a hub for journalism in Asia. Some Times employees in Hong Kong have faced challenges securing work permits, hurdles that are commonplace in China but were rarely an issue in the former colony. – The visa comments are interesting as we’ve previously only seen this with the FTjournalist Victor Mallet. In August 2018, Andy Chan (then of the Hong Kong National Party) gave a talk at the Hong Kong Foreign Correspondents Club (FCC) and Victor Mallet was the chairperson for the event. Chan went on to be arrested numerous times. Victor Mallet had his work visa renewal rejected on October 2, 2018 – one day before his old visa ran out. Victor Mallet is a watershed moment for China and Hong Kong. Victor Mallet is the mainlandisation of Hong Kong.

12 things I learned by switching from the 13-inch MacBook Pro to the 12.9-inch iPad Pro | MacworldI really wanted it to work. A couple of weeks ago I closed my MacBook on a Friday afternoon with no plans to open it for a week. I wasn’t going on vacation—rather, I was testing the theory that the iPad could actually be “a computer….”Sadly, it didn’t work out. I spent more time fighting my iPad than loving it, and when push came to shove, it was just too difficult to get things done as quickly and efficiently as I do on my Mac. Some of it is muscle memory, of course, but there are still fundamental issues with the iPad that prevent it from being the work-first device Apple wants it to be. So I’m giving it up – not terribly surprised as they’re very different use cases

Why older people really avoid technology.| SlateAccording to the Pew Research Center, 73 percent of people over 65 in the U.S. use the internet, up from 14 percent in 2000. The older the person, the less likely she is to embrace the internet, social media, or smartphones, but those who have adopted these technologies use them a lot and learn new skills to do so. Seniors are the fastest growing online demographic, though some remain holdouts. In many of those cases, the real barrier to entry isn’t technological—it’s personalmore on old people’s of technology

driven by experimentation, NIKE ISPA is a bold approach to functional design – nice profile of Nike’s ISPA team who have taken up where Nike Considered left off

China will punish Britain for defying its will. We need allies to hold the line | The Guardian – whilst the historical facts in the op-ed are all true, what’s more interesting is the media tone against all aspects of UK society against China now. This indicates a failure in Chinese elite-focused influence campaigns in the UK to deliver soft power. What is more concerning is the lessons that China might take away from these defeats, will they double down on ‘victimhood’ and aggression, or will they try and broaden their ‘base’ of appeal

Signal’s New PIN Feature Worries Cybersecurity Experts – VICE – move away from telephone numbers. Its a tough call as there are no easy decisions to make when telephone numbers can be a security vector

Musique Strategies – oblique and practical strategies for music – what happens when music production meats Brian Eno’s Oblique Strategies

Engineers of the Soul: Ideology in Xi Jinping’s China by John Garnaut – Sinocism – what business leaders should read before entering China. Understanding Chinese Communist Party neo-Stalinist thought is essential

In Australia, concerns mount that China could use TikTok to spy on users | South China Morning Post – the bigger threat would be an influence operation

Understanding CCP Resilience: Surveying Chinese Public Opinion Through Time | Ash Centersince the start of the survey in 2003, Chinese citizen satisfaction with government has increased virtually across the board. From the impact of broad national policies to the conduct of local town officials, Chinese citizens rate the government as more capable and effective than ever before. Interestingly, more marginalized groups in poorer, inland regions are actually comparatively more likely to report increases in satisfaction. Second, the attitudes of Chinese citizens appear to respond (both positively and negatively) to real changes in their material well-being, which suggests that support could be undermined by the twin challenges of declining economic growth and a deteriorating natural environment. – Fascinating and mostly reassuring reading for the Chinese Communist Party

Hong Kong’s Richest Li Ka-shing Loses Friends in China, the West – Bloomberg – this is an interesting squeeze for ‘Superman’ Li Ka-shing

Daring Fireball: AirPods Versus AirPods Pro – this comment about relatively small amounts of ‘feel’ demonstrates how artefacts count

This smart face mask can translate your conversations into nine languages | Dazed – 208K doesn’t sound a lot of dev costs

Why Consulum Isn’t Flinching About Promoting Hong Kong – good piece of analysis by Arun on Hong Kong’s selection of Consulum. Most of the budget is going into baseline mapping and research. That might come in haney for communications, or targeting extra-territorial prosecutions under the nascent National Security Law…

Is good trade with China more important than keeping Huawei out of the 5G network? | YouGov – whilst Huawei targeted the elites; they should have gone to the court of public opinion. It also indicates a likely soft power problem for China

Is Drop Retail the Next Step in the Digital Transformation of Beauty Brands? | Luxury Society – luxury stealing from streetwear’s playbook

Vast majority of US research institute disclosure violations related to China | South China Morning PostHigh profile cases include the June indictment of Charles Lieber, a former chair at Harvard University’s chemistry and chemical biology department who gave false statements regarding his involvement with the Thousand Talents programme to bring leading researchers to China. In May, Li Xiao-jiang, a former Emory University professor and participant in Thousand Talents, pled guilty to filing a false tax return that did not report foreign income from working overseas at Chinese universities. The Van Andel Research Institute in Michigan agreed last December to pay US$5.5 million to the US Department of Justice over allegations of not disclosing Chinese grants for two of its researchers. – The problem seems to be vain greedy senior academics who think they’re above it all

Qatar Airways Issues Passenger PPE Kits With Face Shields | Travel Codex – amazing bit of service design by Qatar Airways

一齊走!We leave together! Explaining some common protest phrases – interesting insights into Hong Kong culture