US State Department Reportedly Recommends Putting China’s Ant Group on Trade Blacklist

As US-China relations remain tense, sources have indicated to Reuters that the State Department had proposed placing Ant Group on the trade blacklist to the Trump administration ahead of its listing on the US stock market.

A financial technology firm, Ant Group is planning to be listed on stock markets in Shanghai and Hong Kong with an estimated market value of a record-breaking 35 billion US dollars. It is unclear at the moment as to when the US government will add the firm to its Entity List, but it is believed that this is a sign from hardliners in Washington that American investors should refrain from taking part in the firm’s initial public offering.

While the local law makes it difficult for US firms to sell high-tech products to companies on the Entity List, how this latest move actually affects China is still a matter of debate. Reuters noted that while telecom companies like Huawei may suffer from being blacklisted, placing a fintech firm on the list could be more of a gesture.

Source: Stand News #Oct15

#US #China #AntGroup #EntityList #TradeWar #Finance

https://bit.ly/34cR2Yu

The US Listed Six more Chinese Media Companies as Foreign Missions,
Hu Xijin: China may Retaliate Against US Media in HK

The US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo announced on Wednesday (October 21) that the State Department listed another six Chinese media companies in the US as foreign missions, estimated to make the US-China relations worsen. The Global Times editor Hu Xijin criticized that "the US has gone too far" and warned that "China must retaliate, and may implicate the US media companies in Hong Kong".

It was at least the fifth time to list Chinese organizations and media as foreign missions in six months. The Chinese media included the Yicai Global, Jiefang Daily, the Xinmin Evening News, Social Sciences in China Press, the Beijing Review, and the Economic Daily.

According to the Foreign Missions Act, foreign missions must obtain approval from the US for the list of declared personnel and their salary information, their assets owned or leased in the US, and the purchase or lease of any property.

#China #US #StateDepartment #ChineseCompanies #ChineseMedia #ForeignMissions #Pompeo

Source: Standnews #Oct22

https://bit.ly/2THDnTq

Pompeo Says Taiwan Has Never Been Part of China, Spokesperson for Taiwan’s President Calls It Undisputed Fact

Speaking about cross-strait issues in a radio interview on 12 November, American time, the US Secretary of State, Mike Pompeo, said Taiwan is a "model for democracy" and that America’s commitment to Taiwan cuts across party lines, adding that “Taiwan has not been a part of China”. This is a shift from the position taken by the US since it made its three joint communiqués with China in the 1970s and 80s.

Spokesperson of Taiwan’s presidential office, Chang Tun-han, said on the morning of 13 November that he is aware of Pompeo's remarks and that it is an indisputable fact that the Republic of China (ROC) is a sovereign state. He said it has always been Taiwan’s cross-strait and regional policy that the two sides along the Strait should work together to maintain peace and stability in the region on the basis of mutual respect, adding that Taiwan will continue to fulfil its international obligations and contribute to the peace, stability and prosperity of the Taiwan Strait and the region.

Source: Stand News #Nov13

#US #Taiwan #RepublicofChina #ROC #MikePompeo #ChangTunHan #USTaiwanRelations #TaiwanPresidentialOffice #TaiwanStrait #Diplomacy

https://bit.ly/2Hp7o7M

Medicine Professor Faces Five Years in Jail for Smuggling Research from US to China

Zheng Guosong, a Chinese American professor at the Ohio State University in the US, has been prosecuted for smuggling research funded by an American subsidy to China. He plead guilty at a court on Thursday, 12 November and faces up to five years in prison. The US Department of Justice accuses him of engaging in “a sophisticated medical research grant fraud”.

Zheng, 58, and his research team received over a fund of over 4.3 million US dollars (about 33 million HK dollars) from the National Institute of Health (NIH) for rheumatism and immunology research while concealing a second fund they had received from China’s National Natural Science Foundation. Zheng admitted that he had lied when applying for the American fund, which he intended to use to support China’s research on rheumatism and immunology. He also admitted that he had made false statements to federal investigators.

Source: Apple Daily #Nov13

#US #China #NIH #OhioStateUniversity #OhioState #OSU #Research #Espionage

https://bit.ly/3qeTdUz

US Defense Adds SMIC and CNOOC to Blacklist

The US Department of Defense added four more Chinese companies, including SMIC and CNOOC, with alleged ties to the Chinese military restricting them from receiving certain goods and services from the US.

According to the US Department of Defense, Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corp. (SMIC), China National Offshore Oil Corp. (CNOOC), China International Engineering Consulting Corp., and China Construction Technology Co. are controlled or owned by the Chinese military, bringing the total number of blacklisted Chinese firms to 35.

In September, the US Department of Defense indicated that it was working on a decision on blacklisting SMIC. In the same month, the US Department of Commerce informed some companies that they need to obtain a license before supplying goods and services to SMIC as the products or equipment supplied could be used for military purposes and pose an “unacceptable risk”.

Source: Stand News #Dec04

https://bit.ly/3gGSNle

#US #DepartmentofDefense #Blacklist #PLA #SMIC #CNOOC

Taobao, Baidu Cloud Storage Service Slammed for Piracy in US’ 2020 Review of Notorious Markets

Several Chinese websites, including Taobao and Baidu Wangpan, are among those named notorious markets for counterfeiting and piracy in an annual review by the US Trade Representative’s (USTR), published on 14 January. Calling out 39 websites and 34 physical markets on their involvement in acts of piracy and infringements detrimental to American intellectual properties, economy and consumers, the report also names a number of brick-and-mortar markets in China, including the Huaqiangbei Electronics Mall in Shenzhen and Xiushui Street in Beijing. It further notes that China remains a major source of physical piracy, having accounted for 92 percent of the total value of pirated imports seized by US Customs in 2019.

In the report, the USTR says that commercial-scale copyright infringement and piracy activities cause US businesses economic losses. The purpose of the report, it says, is to encourage the government and the private sector to take action to reduce piracy and copyright infringement, and a focus this year is how e-commerce platforms are contributing to copyright infringement.

Source: Stand News #Jan15

#US #China #USTradeRepresentative #USTR #NotoriousMarkets #Taobao #Baidu #Piracy #Copyright

https://bit.ly/3iXjkvV

#Solidarity #GlobalSupport
#US Consulate and #EU Office Join #Hongkongers to Mourn on June 4th

On the evening of June 4, 2021, candles are placed on the window side of both the American Consulate General and the European Union Office
in Hong Kong in commemoration of those deceased in the June Fourth #TiananmenMassacre.

Source: Stand News #Jun4
https://www.facebook.com/710476795704610/posts/4228075777278010/

#US Government Condemns the Beijing and the Hong Kong Authorities for the Continued Erosion of Freedoms in Hong Kong

On October 21, 2021, the Department of the State of the United States issued a press release, condemning the "continued erosion of human rights and fundamental freedoms" in Hong Kong.

The US government expressed concerns over the "increase in politically-motivated prosecutions, including through the National Security Law, targeting Hong Kong’s teachers, labor unions, lawyers, journalists, health care workers, student unions, and individual citizens."

Ned Price, the department spokeperson, called on "the Beijing and Hong Kong authorities to release those unjustly detained and cease their crackdown on peaceful civil society organizations," and urge Beijing to "abide by its treaty obligations in the Sino-British Joint Declaration."

Source: US Department of the State #Oct21
https://www.state.gov/on-the-continued-erosion-of-freedoms-in-hong-kong/

Related article
16 More District Councillors Disqualified over Oath-Taking; Total of 326 Pro-Dem Seats Lost
https://publielectoral.lat/guardiansofhongkong/31310

#NedPrice #SinoBritishJointDeclaration

Intel deletes mention of Xinjiang in letter after China backlash

US chipmaker Intel has deleted references to Xinjiang from an annual letter to suppliers after the company faced a backlash in China for asking suppliers to avoid the sanctions-hit region.

Last month, Intel was slammed on Chinese social media for a letter to suppliers published on its website. The 23 December letter said Intel had been “required to ensure that its supply chain does not use any labour or source goods or services from the Xinjiang region” following restrictions imposed by “multiple governments”.

Source: The Guardian #Jan11

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/jan/11/intel-deletes-mention-of-xinjiang-in-letter-after-china-backlash?CMP=Share_iOSApp_Other

#Intel #Xinjiang #China #US #Chipmaker

#YouTube terminates campaign channel of sole Hong Kong chief executive candidate #JohnLee, citing need to comply with #US #sanctions on ex-official

//Online video sharing platform YouTube has terminated the campaign channel of Hong Kong’s sole chief executive candidate John Lee Ka-chiu, citing the need to comply with US sanctions placed on the former official.

The platform, operated by US giant #Google, made the rare move in taking down Lee’s YouTube channel early on Wednesday, clipping the Beijing-endorsed candidate’s ability to share videos of him meeting different sectors publicly.//

Source: SCMP #Apr19
https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/politics/article/3174862/youtube-terminates-campaign-channel-sole-hong-kong-chief

#ChiefExecutiveElection #SmallCircle

Across 19 countries, more people see the U.S. than China favorably – but more see China’s influence growing

//In 19 countries surveyed by Pew Research Center this spring, people see the United States and President #JoeBiden more favorably than China and its president, Xi Jinping. But when it comes to perceptions of each country’s relative influence in the world, much larger shares in most nations see China’s influence growing than say the same of the U.S.

The five key findings comparing international attitudes toward the two countries are:

1. The U.S. is generally seen more positively than China.

2. Views of Biden remain much more positive than views of #XiJinPing.

3. A median of 66% across 19 countries say China’s influence on the world stage is getting stronger, while just 32% say the same about the U.S. 

4. In many countries, younger people tend to feel more positively about China than older people. 

5. People on the right of the ideological spectrum are more likely than those on the left to view the U.S. favorably, but there are no strong ideological patterns in views of China.//

Read the full report:
https://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2022/06/29/across-19-countries-more-people-see-the-u-s-than-china-favorably-but-more-see-chinas-influence-growing/

Source: Pew Research Center #Jun29

#Research #Survey #PewResearch #US #China

The US Government advises their citizen "DO NOT TRAVEL" to Hong Kong due to a high risk of arbitrarily enforcing local laws.

#NSL #BasicLaw #China #US #GoHKgraphics

#US bans ‘advanced tech’ firms from building facilities in #China for a decade

//US technology firms that receive government funding will be banned from building “advanced technology facilities” in China for a decade, the Biden administration has announced, as it outlined plans to increase domestic production of semiconductors.

The requirements come under the US government’s near-$53bn (£46bn) plan to scale up manufacturing of semiconductor chips – the “brain” in every electronic device from cars to household appliances – which are predominantly produced in Asia.

The US Chips and Science Act (#Chips), approved by Congress in August, is part of the American response to a long-running technological dispute between Washington and Beijing, as US firms demand more government support to reduce reliance on components produced in Chinese factories...

The Chips Act commits a total of $280bn to hi-tech manufacturing and research, and is designed to increase the US’s competitiveness with China.

The US crackdown on the sale of technology to China has already begun to have an impact, with the US chip designer Nvidia disclosing last week that it had been told by US officials to stop exporting two top computing chips for artificial intelligence work to China.//

Source: The Guardian #Sept7

#IntellectualProperty #Technology