Monday morning links
India’s COVID-19 surge is serious and the country is running out of oxygen.
Former prime minister Wen Jiabao wrote a letter potentially expressing concern about fairness and justice in today’s China, with the letter subsequently censored on the mainland.
ByteDance’s IPO has been delayed due to regulatory intervention, in another blow to the Chinese tech sector.
Chinese state media attacked Tesla following a protest at the Shanghai Auto Show, suggesting the car company has lost the support it once had.
South Korea’s financial regulator introduces tests that retail investors will have to pass in order to sell short stocks from 3 May 2021.
Korea’s Kakao to list yet another subsidiary - KakaoPay - on KOSPI in July with an expected valuation of KRW 10 trillion.
Prime Minister Suga declares a state of emergency in Tokyo, Osaka, Kyoto and Hyogo.
10,000 shots/day vaccination centres are now planned for Tokyo and Osaka, in a bid to speed up the vaccination process in the country.
A major Japanese online trading platform has started offering zero-transaction fee trading, copying the Robinhood playbook.
Indonesian telecom operator Telkomsel to invest another US$300 million in Gojek prior to the latter’s merger with Tokopedia and potential IPO.
Company-specific reports
Iceberg Research short report on Hong Kong crypto exchange Diginex (NASDQ: EQOS — US$$222 million)
Koneko Research makes the case for a long Sohu / short Sogou pair trade
First Eagle Global Value 1Q21 letter mentions Keyence, Secom
Third Avenue Value Fund 1Q21 letter mentions Genting Singapore, Jardine C&C
Longreads
I reviewed the new book Winning in China, which has a number of case studies showing what companies have done well in China and not ($)
I wrote an article weighing the evidence for and against the thesis that Korea is experiencing a stock market bubble
Ed Yardeni suggesting we could be seeing a MAMU = Mother of All Melt-Ups
Other Valleys Substack on Reliance Jio
Decent Etsy write-up / primer on the global e-commerce sector
Liberty Substack on Apple’s new product launches: new paid podcast subcription functionality + new M1 iMac / iPad
Financial Times: Is the central bank panic about the PBOC coin justified?
Excellent Institutional Investor profile of Carson Block
China launches app for citizens to report anyone who has mistaken opinions or denies the excellence of socialist culture
Evidence that PLA had presence within the Wuhan Institute of Virology
China is developing plans for a 13,000 satellite megaconstellation
Japan’s troops won’t necessarily get involved if China invades Taiwan, according to prime minister Suga
74% of Japanese support engagement in Taiwan Strait, according to a Nikkei survey.
J Michael Cole: The War threat against Taiwan (scroll down)
Must-read from Niall Ferguson: A Taiwan crisis may mark the end of the American empire
The following Wall Street Journal article illustrates how badly prepared Taiwan is
Podcasts and videos
John Hempton on Greensill, Archegos and shorting stocks (53 mins)
Noah Feldman: Is Crypto B******t? (31 mins)
Robert Shiller on narratives and whether the market is overvalued (55 mins)
Quant Jason Hsu: China is the last remaining alpha reservoir (50 mins)
Henry Kissinger thinks US should step away from challenging China (42 mins)
Mike Green & Taylor Fravel: What’s driving China’s strategic objectives? (1:16 hours)
Tech Buzz China: Helpful update on China’s e-commerce market (31 mins)
Little Red Podcast on China’s online gaming industry (44 mins)
Yoann Delwarde: Sales cultures in China vs other countries (46 mins)
Chart of the week – GMO’s latest 7-year forecast suggests EM value will outperform
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