On April 16, The U.S. Commerce Department’s Bureau of Industry and Security, or BIS launched a 7-year tech ban that prevents U.S. companies from selling components and technology to ZTE. It cited “ZTE not only for violating export controls meant keep sensitive American technology out of the hands of hostile regimes like Iran’s; ZTE also lied to federal investigators and even deceived their own counsel and internal investigators about their illegal acts.” On April 19, Sina published a commentary article which is titled “Inspiration from the ZTE Incident: We can Never Win if we are just working as the delivery person.” The article provided the timeline and background of the ban and made the following statement: To such an extent, there is nothing ZTE can do… They have themselves to blame… We should understand that winning the war in the modern era will not simply rely on airplanes or naval vessels. The rise of big powers cannot rely on the exaggeration of the slogans from CCTV or other patriotic propaganda. But rather it involves the accumulation of “lonesome” time and effort in investment in core technology development. According to an article Aboluowang published on April 22, Xi’s recent speech at the National internet security and information work conference held on April 20 and 21 in Beijing could be interpreted as the first news report on Xi’s reaction to the ZTE ban. In his speech, Xi stressed that “core technology is an important weapon for a country and (we) must be determined and persistentent in speeding up the breakthrough in core technology.” Xi also mentioned that “China needs to formulate a fair market environment, strengthen intellectual property protection, and oppose monopolies and unfair competition.” The Aboluowang article commented that, given China’s existing business environment and political system, it is not optimistic as to how much of Xi’s wish can be realized.
Sources:
1. Sina, April 19, 2018
http://tech.sina.com.cn/it/2018-04-19/doc-ifzihnep7718716.shtml
2. Aboluowang, April 22, 2018
http://www.aboluowang.com/2018/0422/1103289.html
3. Xinhua, April 21, 2018
http://www.xinhuanet.com/politics/2018-04/21/c_1122719810.htm