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US-China Relations - 30. page

LTN: U.S. Survey Showed Strong Support for Taiwan

Major Taiwanese news network Liberty Times Network (LTN) recently reported that the U.S. independent think tank, the Chicago Council on Global Affairs, release its new survey report. The report showed that, if China invades Taiwan, more than half of Americans agree to provide U.S. military assistance to Taiwan and nearly 70 percent of the respondents support Taiwan’s independence. The report also showed that 65 percent of the individuals surveyed support Taiwan’s entry into international organizations; 57 percent support the signing of the US-Taiwan Free Trade Agreement; 53 percent support a formal alliance between the United States and Taiwan; 52 percent support sending US troops to defend Taiwan; and 46 percent support a clear commitment to defend Taiwan when China invades. This is the highest percentage recorded in the same survey since the think tank first raised these questions in 1982. The report indicated that 60 percent of Republicans, 50 percent of Democrats, and 49 percent of independents are in favor of sending U.S. troops to defend Taiwan.

Source: LTN, August 27, 2021
https://news.ltn.com.tw/news/politics/breakingnews/3651933

 

Briefings | | |   Geo-Strategic Trend US-China Relations

STCN: U.S. Approved Huawei’s Purchase of Automotive Chips

China Security Times (SecuTimes or STCN) recently reported that U.S. officials have approved the blacklisted Chinese telecommunications company Huawei to purchase hundreds of millions of dollars’ worth of chips for its growing auto parts business. In the meantime, the Office of the United States Trade Representative issued a statement saying that Katherine Chi Tai, the U.S. Trade Representative, held a video conference with senior officials of the American Chamber of Commerce China Center Advisory Committee and the US-China Business Council. Tai pointed out that the U.S. is conducting a comprehensive assessment of U.S.-China trade policies and reiterated the importance of U.S.-China trade relations. The Biden administration has granted Huawei suppliers licenses to sell chips used in auto parts such as video screens and sensors. These approvals came as Huawei shifts its business to projects that are not susceptible to the U.S. trade ban. Sources close to the U.S. licensing offices also revealed that the U.S. government is preparing to issue licenses for chips in other vehicles that may have components with 5G functionalities. A Huawei spokesperson declined to comment on these licenses.

Source: STCN, August 25, 2021
https://bit.ly/3kzkdMB

Briefings | | |   Information/Technology US-China Relations

The CCP’s Propaganda Media Teaches U.S. Children about Critical Race Theory

The Mythinformed Tweeter reported that the China Global Television Network (CGTN), owned by the China Central Television (CCTV) has produced a cartoon to teach American children about Critical Race Theory. The cartoon said, “Racism is passed down from generation to generation.” It also has a scene showing a white boy telling a black boy, “You can’t be Spider-Man, you are black.” About that statement, in an article from Epoch Times a netizen points out, “The CCP did not even do its research, as the person portraying Spider-Man in the latest Spider-Man movie, Miles Morales, is in fact black.” Neither did CCTV explain how Barack Obama became the 44th President of the United Sates.

The U.S. government has designated CGTN as one of six “foreign missions” in the United States operated by the Chinese government, to warn the Americans that the content from the broadcasts is controlled by the CCP.

Source:
1. The Epoch Times, August 25, 2021
https://www.theepochtimes.com/mkt_app/chinese-regimes-english-language-broadcaster-makes-cartoon-targeting-american-kids-promotes-critical-race-theory_3965308.html
2. Mythinformed Account on Tweeter

 

Briefings | | |   US-China Relations

Renmin University Professor Wang Yiwei: The Taliban Are China’s Good Brothers, “Demonized by the United States”

According to a report by Radio Free Asia (RFA), Wang Yiwei, a professor at the School of International Relations at Renmin (People’s) University of China, recently made a stunning statement on video and on social media, claiming that the Taliban are just like the “PLA.” “In the past they were demonized by the United States, but they are China’s good brothers.” The statement stirred up a big controversy over the Internet. Wang later deleted the videos and social media containing the messages.

In addition, the Chinese internet and self-media platforms are spreading controversial statements such as, “The Taliban is the choice of the Afghan people” and “(It is a) war for the national liberation of Afghanistan.” Some articles that questioned the statements or which opposed the Taliban were deleted from WeChat. For example, two articles, “Is the Taliban ‘the Choice of the Afghan People?’” and “Afghan Students Have been Subjected to Internet Bullies for Making Anti-Taliban Statements” have been deleted.

Source: RFA, August 25, 2021
https://www.rfa.org/mandarin/zhuanlan/wangluoboyi/iwar-08252021163156.htmlwo

Briefings | | |   Government/Politics US-China Relations

China Expert: CCP’s Secret Agenda behind Its Crackdown on Chinese Companies

Recently, the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) has taken a large number of actions to crack down on Chinese companies in such businesses as tutoring, Internet, and food delivery. During an interview with the Epoch Times, Cheng Xiaonong, an expert on China issues, offered his views on Beijing’s secret agenda.

Cheng thinks Beijing is carrying out an agenda which he identifies as, “leaving the virtual business to return to real industry” (脱虚向实), without openly announcing it. The sectors that Beijing cracked down on are in the area of services, but not in the manufacturing industries which Beijing really wants to promote. China has a labor shortage for manufacturing jobs despite its having  increased salaries. The number of China’s peasants who took manufacturing jobs in 2020 was 78 million, a drop of 10 million from 2016. Cheng estimated that China will lose 20 million peasant workers by 2025. The tutoring business employs 10 million workers (many of whom have college degrees) and the food delivery business also employs 10 million. Beijing might want to cut those areas to drive more people toward manufacturing jobs. (Editor’s note: Beijing has also started a wave of converting universities to vocational schools to produce more high-skilled technicians).

Cheng also thinks that the CCP has a secret agenda to decouple itself from the U.S. It wants to reduce China’s dependency on U.S. technology, the U.S. market, and the U.S. dollar. Therefore, it dares to beat those Chinese companies listed on different U.S. stock markets and see their stock prices falling. It no longer cares what Wall Street and the American investors think of China anymore.

Source: Epoch Times, August 25, 2021
https://www.epochtimes.com/gb/21/8/25/n13185466.htm

Briefings | | |   Economy/Resources US-China Relations

BBC Chinese: Chinese Government Has Stake in ByteDance which Owns TikTok; Rubio Asked Biden to Ban TikTok

BBC Chinese Edition recently reported that, according to China’s official National Enterprise Credit Information Publicity System, a Chinese company with a government background has invested in ByteDance, owning one percent of the shares. The name of the investor is Wangtou China (Beijing) Technology Co., Ltd. The company was owned by three Chinese state agencies. The company’s registration documents show that it is jointly owned by the China Internet Investment Fund, a subsidiary of China National Radio, and Beijing Cultural Investment Development Group. The China Internet Investment Fund was established by the National Internet Information Office and the Ministry of Finance. That level of stake allows it one seat on the board of ByteDance. ByteDance owns TikTok, which has 700 million international users, including 100 million U.S. users. The U.S. Trump administration issued two bans on TikTok, citing national security concerns. In June of this year, the U.S. Biden administration revoked a series of Trump era executive orders against TikTok. With the new Chinese government investment in ByteDance, U.S. Senator Marco Rubio issued a statement calling on Biden to ban TikTok again.

Source: BBC Chinese, August 20, 2021
https://www.bbc.com/zhongwen/simp/chinese-news-58268021

Briefings | | |   Information/Technology US-China Relations

UDN: China Plans to Require Companies Seeking U.S. IPO to Hand Over Data Control

United Daily News (UDN), one of the primary Taiwanese news groups, recently reported that the Mainland China regulatory authorities are considering mounting pressure on companies with a large volume of data. If companies want to go public in the United States, they must hand over data governance and supervision rights to a third-party. The Chinese regulatory authorities prefer the third-party information security companies to have a government background and to be responsible for managing and supervising the data owned by those companies that intend to conduct IPOs in the U.S. The method can effectively limit the IPO companies’ ability to transfer data to foreign countries. China worries that those companies may be forced to hand over some of their data to foreign institutions when listing overseas, which will undermine China’s national security. This plan is one of the several proposals being considered. In recent months, China has strengthened its control over domestic Internet platforms which caused a significant drop in the stock market and severely affected investor confidence.

Source: UDN, August 20, 2021
https://udn.com/news/story/7333/5688489

Briefings | | |   US-China Relations

A Bill to Create a China and Russian Translation and Analysis Center

In July, a group of Republican and Democratic congressmen introduced the Open Translation and Analysis Center Authorization Act. This legislation establishes a new Federally Funded Research and Development Center called the Open Translation and Analysis Center (OTAC).

OTAC would be charged with translating important open source foreign-language material from the People’s Republic of China, Russia, and other countries of strategic interest into English. The translated material would be available on a public website, serving as a key resource for the U.S. and allied governments, media outlets, and academicians and analysts around the world.

The bill was introduced by Democratic congressmen Joaquin Castro and Bill Keating, and Republican congressmen Mike Gallagher and Brian Fitzpatrick. “By translating foreign-language materials into English and making them publicly available, the Open Translation and Analysis Center will enhance America and its allies’ ability to compete on the world stage, while also serving as a tremendous resource for academicians, journalists, and other members of civil society,” said Rep. Castro.

OTAC got its idea from the Foreign Broadcast Information Service (FBIS), which was created during World War II to intercept, translate, and publish broadcasts from the axis powers. The documents were regularly distributed to war agencies.

Ryan Fedasiuk, an analyst from Georgetown’s Center for Security and Emerging Technology (CSET), told Radio Free Asia, “Many Chinese companies, non-profit organizations and government agencies deliberately hide information, assuming that foreigners do not know Chinese.”

In May Fedasiuk co-authored a report titled “China’s Foreign Technology Wish List,” which analyzed the 642 reports filed by the S&T directorates of Chinese embassies and consulates from 2015 to 2020. He noted, “These are Chinese language materials. The Chinese government or some agencies can talk openly and freely in Chinese about topics that they would never dare to discuss in English.”

Source: Radio Free Asia, August 16, 2021
https://www.rfa.org/mandarin/yataibaodao/junshiwaijiao/xx-08162021102203.html

Briefings | | |   US-China Relations