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US-China Relations - 34. page

China Hit Back after U.S. Announced Sanctions against Hong Kong Officials

The U.S. government issued a Hong Kong Business Warning for the first time, reminding U.S. companies to be alert to the risks caused by the implementation of the Hong Kong National Security Act. Washington also announced sanctions against seven deputy directors of the Hong Kong Central Liaison Office. Beijing and Hong Kong then quickly hit back.

On July 16, the .US. Departments of State, Treasury, Commerce, and Homeland Security jointly issued a Hong Kong business advisory, “Risks and Considerations for Businesses Operating in Hong Kong.” It warned the U.S. companies operating in Hong Kong that they are subject to the laws of Hong Kong, including the National Security Law. So far, some foreign nationals have been arrested, including one U.S. citizen.

The advisory reminded companies that those operating in Hong Kong could “face the risks associated with electronic surveillance without warrants and the surrender of data to the authorities.” It stated that, “individuals and entities should be aware of the potential consequences of certain types of engagement with sanctioned individuals or entities” and warned them that, “Businesses operating in Hong Kong may face heightened risks and uncertainty related to retaliation from the PRC (People’s Republic of China) against companies that comply with sanctions imposed by the United States and other countries, including through enforcement of the Countering Foreign Sanctions Law.”

At the same time, the U.S. Treasury Department announced sanctions against the seven deputy directors of the Liaison Office in Hong Kong and added them to the Treasury’s “Specially Designated Nationals and Blocked Persons List.” Earlier, the U.S. had announced sanctions against 11 Chinese and Hong Kong officials, including Hong Kong Chief Executive Carrie Lam and Liaison Office Director Luo Huining, for damaging Hong Kong’s autonomy. The assets of those on the sanctions list have been frozen.

In the statement that Secretary of State Blinken issued, he stated, “I am committed to continuing to work with Congress and our allies and partners around the world to stand with the people in Hong Kong against [China’s] egregious policies and actions.  …  We will continue to call on the PRC to abide by its international obligations and commitments; to cease its dismantling of Hong Kong’s democratic institutions, autonomy, and rule of law; to release immediately and drop all charges against individuals unjustly detained in Hong Kong; and to respect the human rights of all individuals in Hong Kong.”

The Liaison Office of the Central Committee of Hong Kong countered with a statement calling the U.S. sanctions a piece of wastepaper and an attempt to disrupt Hong Kong’s economic growth after its political failure. The statement also emphasized: “The sanctions imposed by the United States on our officials have no meaning other than making us despise those politicians and encourage us to fight for our national interests.”

The Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs Office in Hong Kong and the Hong Kong Special Administrative Regional Government also issued statements calling the sanctions bully’ behavior which violates international laws and interferes with China’s domestic affairs. Chinese official media followed suit and published a series of anti-U.S. commentaries.

Source: Deutsche Welle, July 17, 2021
https://www.dw.com/zh/美国制裁中联办官员-中方废纸一张/a-58297941

Briefings | | |   US-China Relations

Xinhua: The U.S. Refused Student Visas for Over 500 Chinese Applicants in Science and Engineering

Xinhua reported on July 6 that the U.S. government rejected more than 500 Chinese science and engineering graduate students’ visa applications. It appears that the Biden administration intends to continue the erroneous policy of suppressing Chinese graduate students and scholars in science and engineering. The US embassy and consulates refused the visa applications on the grounds that they did not comply with “the US Immigration and Nationality Act, Article 212f, and Presidential Decree No. 10043.” All these students planned to study for a doctoral or master’s degree in the U.S. Most of them have a major in electronic engineering, computer science, machinery, chemistry, materials science, biomedicine and other science and engineering fields. Their universities include Harvard, Yale, UC Berkeley, MIT, Johns Hopkins, and others. Most of the applications were submitted after the Biden Administration came to power. According to statistics, approximately 3,000 to 5,000 Chinese graduate students and a large number of scholars in science and engineering will be affected. U.S. President Trump signed Presidential Decree No. 10043 on May 29, 2020.

Source: Xinhua, July 6, 2021
http://www.xinhuanet.com/world/2021-07/06/c_1211229231.htm

Briefings | | |   US-China Relations

China Times: Two Major US Stock Indexes Remove Dozens of Chinese Companies

Major Taiwanese newspaper China Times recently reported that two major U.S. stock indexes, the S&P and the Dow Jones Indices and FTSE Russell, decided to remove dozens of Chinese companies from their indexes. This will take effect at the end of July and in early August, respectively. This is the latest move by the U.S. stock market in response to the Biden administration’s executive order against China, which prohibits domestic investments in companies suspected of being affiliated with the Chinese military. In the past decade, the US capital market has always been a source of funds for Chinese companies, especially in the technology sector. At the same time, in the past couple of weeks, China has cracked down on several Chinese companies that wanted to list in the U.S. stock markets. Also, some of the stocks removed earlier based on Trump’s order now can return under Biden’s new Presidential Decree.

Source: China Times, July 9, 2021
https://www.chinatimes.com/cn/realtimenews/20210709003053-260409?chdtv

Briefings | | |   US-China Relations

China’s One-Cent Masks Are Driving U.S. Manufacturers Nuts

Well-known Chinese news site Sina (NASDAQ: SINA) recently reported that many U.S. small personal protection equipment (PPE) vendors are having a hard time because of heavy competition. An example is mask manufacturer Premium-PPE. its mask sales dropped by 90 percent since last year, and only 50 of its 280 employees still remain employed. According to the American Mask Manufacturer’s Association (AMMA), all of its 26 member companies are expected to close down in the next 60 to 90 days. AMMA said this is the result of unfair trade competition from Chinese mask makers They are dumping one-cent masks into the U.S. market. Thousands of U.S. jobs will be at risk over the next two months. AMMA wrote to the Biden administration asking for the government to support “buy America” and for a ban on federal purchases of masks that do not meet American standards. AMMA plans to file an appeal to the WTO. However, the U.S. International Trade Administration refused to reveal whether the Administration will support this appeal or not.

Source: Sina, June 19, 2021
https://news.sina.com.cn/c/2021-06-29/doc-ikqciyzk2567453.shtml

Briefings | | |   Economy/Resources US-China Relations

NASA Administrator: Support Permanent Exclusion of China from International Space Station

Global Times recently reported that, on June 23, at a U.S. House of Representatives hearing, NASA Administrator Bill Nelson said that he supported the permanent “Wolf Clause” that excludes China from participating in the International Space Station. This means that China will never be allowed to participate in the Space Station’s research. Nelsen testified categorically that “America should be number one” in space technology. He also asked the House Science, Space and Technology Committee for a larger budget in order to produce greater results. In April 2011, on the grounds of so-called “national security,” the U.S. Congress approved the “Wolf Clause,” which banned any joint scientific research activities between China and the United States that were related to NASA or which the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy coordinated. With the recent space achievements China had, the EU and the U.S. started to worry. The European Space Agency (ESA) has already announced its 15 billion Euro new space program. The U.S. Biden administration just rushed a $24.8 billion 2022 NASA budget to Congress. Nelson seems to be familiar with the process of pumping more money into the Trump’s Artemis Program: play the “Watch the Chinese” card.

Source: Global Times, June 25, 2021
https://mp.weixin.qq.com/s/3UGUbf5IV1ks2OWVLcfHhg

Briefings | | |   Information/Technology US-China Relations

China Strictly Bans Bitcoin Mining

Well-known Chinese news site Sina (NASDAQ: SINA) recently reported that the Chinese central government required a ban on bitcoin mining across all provinces. Some provinces are leading the implementation of the policy. Xinjiang, Inner Mongolia, Qinghai, Yunnan and Sichuan issued local detailed requirements to power suppliers to cut off power to the miners. So far, large scale bitcoin mining has been brought to a full halt in China. Surprisingly, at the same time, some U.S. states are welcoming bitcoin miners. At the moment, there are at least five bitcoin mining companies being publicly traded in U.S. capital markets. For example, this year Marathon Digital Holdings acquired the Hardin Power Station in Montana to supply power for bitcoin mining. Emiliano Grodski, CEO of Bitfarms, said that, thanks to the Chinese government’s intervention, his company is seeing the most rapid growth in its history. In the U.S., The low cost of energy in Texas has attracted many bitcoin miners. In early 2019, Wyoming passed a bill to recognize virtual currency as an intangible personal asset. Last month, Miami had the world’s largest bitcoin conference. The mayor even welcomed Chinese bitcoin miners to come and offered a low-cost nuclear power supply. The Americans may bring China some enlightenment on this matter.

Source: Sina, June 23, 2021
https://www.163.com/dy/article/GD5V3H970552A0PE.html

Briefings | | |   Economy/Resources Information/Technology US-China Relations

Departing Ambassador: Chinese Americans Have a “Great Responsibility to Defend China’s National Dignity”

Chinese Ambassador to the United States Cui Tiankai announced on Monday June 21 that he would be leaving his post to return to China. In his farewell letter, Cui described that “Sino-U.S. relations are at a critical crossroads.” He told the Chinese people in the U.S. that they have a major responsibility to “promote the unification of the motherland” and national rejuvenation.

Cui said that the U.S. policy towards China is at a “crossroads” of “dialogue and cooperation vs confrontation and conflict,” and that Chinese Americans need to contribute to the “Chinese dream of the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation.” In addition to mentioning the ongoing “restructuring” of U.S.-China relations, he also recalled that Chinese Americans have always stood up when China was in “crisis” and “spoken out firmly in defense of national dignity.”

In his farewell letter, on the 100th anniversary of the founding of the Chinese Communist Party, he called for Chinese Americans to continue their contribution to the “new journey of building a comprehensive socialist modern state of China.”

Since 2013, Cui, 69, has served as China’s ambassador to the United States for eight years.

Source: Radio Free Asia, June 22, 2021
https://www.rfa.org/mandarin/Xinwen/wul0622b-06222021053049.html

Briefings | | |   US-China Relations

Chinese CCTV: China Asked the U.S. to Drop “Completely” All Sanctions against Iran

Chinese Central Television (CCTV) recently reported that, not long ago, the Iran Nuclear Deal joint committee resumed the negotiations in Vienna. Wang Qun, the Chinese Representative to the negotiations and the Chinese Permanent Representative to the United Nations in Vienna, attended the meeting and explained the Chinese position. Wang said this new round of negotiations had dragged on for 11 weeks already, yet the topic of dropping the sanctions went nowhere. The United States should drop all of its single-sided sanctions against Iran, as well as all of the long-arm sanctions against other countries involved. The U.S. embargo on conventional weapons against Iran should also be discontinued. Since the U.S. has made the political choice of returning to the Iran Deal, the discontinuation of the sanctions should be comprehensive, clean and thorough on all fronts. China also asked all parties to engage deeply and to prevent future random departures. Wang called for “hard work” to reach the resumption of the Iran Nuclear Deal as early as possible.

Source: CCTV, June 13, 2021
http://m.news.cctv.com/2021/06/13/ARTI4RVhrry0ybVpTdxOy4TP210613.shtml

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