China and Taiwan News 中国和台湾新闻
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News from non-state media sources about China and Taiwan. 来自非国营来源关于中国和台湾的新闻。中英双语 Bilingual English and Chinese
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#Sanction
U.S. to Ban Transaction and Download of China's #WeChat and #Tiktok From Sept 20, 2020

The U.S. Department of Commerce issued a statement on Sept 18, 2020, prohibiting transactions and downloads relating to Chinese mobile applications WeChat and TikTok, starting from Sept 20, 2020. Hosting or transfering internet traffic associated with WeChat will also be banned.

"The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) has demonstrated the means and motives to use these apps to threaten the national security, foreign policy, and the economy of the U.S."

These threats include "collect[ing] vast swaths of data from users, including network activity, location data, and browsing and search histories"; being "active participant in China’s civil-military fusion"; and their "mandatory cooperation with the intelligence services of the CCP."

Source: U.S. Commerce Department #Sept18
Image: AP

https://www.commerce.gov/news/press-releases/2020/09/commerce-department-prohibits-wechat-and-tiktok-transactions-protect
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US to consider bills linked to Xinjiang

US lawmakers will consider two bills next week on goods made with forced labour from China's Xinjiang region, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said on Friday, with one that would restrict imports and another requiring publicly-traded US companies to make disclosures on supply chains."If we refused to speak out about human rights in China because of commercial interests, then we lose all moral authority to speak about human rights any place in the world," Pelosi said.Relations with China have become an issue in campaigning for the November 3 US elections, with Republican President Donald Trump running for re-election against his Democratic challenger, former Vice President Joe Biden. Control of Congress is up for grabs, with Pelosi's fellow Democrats trying to retain control of the House and hoping to gain control of the Senate, where Republicans have a small majority.Trump and his fellow Republicans have sought to portray Democrats as weak on China, which Democrats dispute.In her remarks on China at her weekly news conference on Friday, Pelosi noted that she has been a critic of China on issues such as trade and human rights for more than 30 years.The United States and other countries have been ratcheting up pressure on China over its treatment of Uighur Muslims in the remote Xinjiang region, where the United Nations cites credible reports as saying 1 million Muslims held in camps have been put to work.China has rejected allegations of forced labour in Xinjiang and criticised the United States for meddling in its internal affairs. (Reuters)

2020-09-18 23:48:18 (2)
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Canada walks away from free trade talks with China

Canada has walked away from free trade talks with China amid soured relations over a Huawei executive's arrest and the detention of two Canadians in apparent retaliation, foreign minister Francois-Philippe Champagne said in a newspaper interview on Friday.Talks had stalled more than a year ago.The decision to quit negotiations aimed at Canada becoming the first G7 nation to sign a free trade pact with the world's second largest economy marks a major policy reversal for Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's government, which had pursued a deal since coming to power."I don't see the conditions being present now for these discussions to continue at this time," Champagne said in an interview with the Globe and Mail daily."The China of 2020 is not the China of 2016," he said.His comments represent a hardening tone toward China -- more in line with the United States, Australia and parts of the EU -- after exhaustive diplomatic efforts to soothe ties failed.Trudeau visited China in September 2016 and weeks later Chinese Premier Li Keqiang travelled to Canada to renew their partnership in dozens of areas, including joint military exercises.Since then, Beijing's crackdown on its Uighur population and its erosion of Hong Kong's autonomy has upset many liberal democracies, including Canada, which cancelled its extradition treaty with Hong Kong.Add to this, according to Champagne, Beijing's "arbitrary detention" of former Canadian diplomat Michael Kovrig and businessman Michael Spavor on suspicions of espionage, in response to the December 2018 arrest of telecom giant Huawei's chief financial officer Meng Wanzhou on a US warrant during a stopover in Vancouver.Meng is wanted for alleged bank fraud and violations of US sanctions against Iran, and has been fighting extradition ever since."Our first priority is to get the Michaels back home," Champagne said."All of the initiatives and policies that had been put in place at the time (in 2016 with China) -- all that needs to be reviewed," he said, adding that Ottawa is "looking at all of them with the lens of China of 2020."Despite the tensions, China remains Canada's second largest trading partner after the United States.In the year to July 2020, Canadian exports to China increased 23.6 percent while imports rose 13.9 percent. (AFP)

2020-09-19 00:30:32
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Beijing sets out rules for 'unreliable entities'

Beijing's commerce ministry on Saturday issued rules on its proposed list of "unreliable entities," part of an intensifying rift with the United States, saying it will target foreign firms and individuals endangering China's sovereignty and security.After US President Donald Trump's administration imposed additional tariffs on Chinese goods and curbs on Huawei last year, China vowed to draw up a list aimed at punishing foreign firms deemed harmful to Chinese interests.It has yet to publish the list.The United States said on Friday it would ban WeChat and video-sharing app TikTok from US stores starting on Sunday night, a move that will block Americans from downloading the Chinese-owned platforms over concerns they pose a national security threat.Beijing's list will target foreign firms and individuals violating normal market transactions in China, interrupting deals with Chinese firms or taking discriminatory measures against Chinese firms, the ministry said.In May, state-run tabloid Global Times reported the measures would target such US companies as Apple, Cisco Systems, Qualcomm, while suspending purchases of Boeing aircraft.The ministry said the list will help "safeguard national sovereignty, security and development interests, maintain a fair and free international economic and trade order, and protect the legitimate rights and interests of Chinese enterprises, other organisations or individuals".Authorities will set up a working mechanism and an office to help implement work related to the list, it added. China will prohibit foreign firms listed as unreliable entities from engaging in import, export and investment in China, the ministry said.Foreign firms could be removed from the list if they correct their behaviours and takes steps to eliminate the consequences of their actions, it said. (Reuters)

2020-09-19 12:02:36