Skip to content

US-China Relations - 51. page

Beijing to Deploy Korean War TV Dramas to Arouse Nationalism

China’s National Radio and Television Administration (NRTA) is a ministry-level executive agency that controls state-owned TV and radio broadcasters, as well as other non-state movie and television studios. On July 17, NRTA held a nationwide video conference with its subsidiary entities to arrange and schedule TV dramas that have the theme of the Sino-Japanese War during WWII and the Korean War. The Chinese government has been calling the former  the War of Resistance against Japanese Aggression and the later the War to Resist US Aggression and Aid Korea. It also emphasized TV dramas with the themes of battling the corona virus so as to “tell the touching story of China’s action against the (Wuhan) pneumonia epidemic.”

The year 2020 marks the 75th anniversary of the victory in the Sino-Japanese War, which was actually fought by the Nationalist government, the predecessor of today’s Taiwan government. It lost the civil war to the Communists in 1949. To Beijing, the Sino-US relations pose the biggest challenge since the establishment of diplomatic relations. The theme of the Korean War has also become the focus of the regime’s propaganda. Claiming to be the winner of the war, for decades, the Chinese Communist Party has been using it to promote anti-American nationalist sentiments .

Source: Central News Agency, July 23, 2020.
https://www.cna.com.tw/news/acn/202007230400.aspx

Briefings | | |   US-China Relations

Lianhe Zaobao: Chinese Banks Adjust Plans in Response to U.S. Sanctions

Singapore’s primary Chinese language newspaper, Lianhe Zaobao, recently reported that, according to internal sources from five major China state-owned banks, the Chinese banking industry is updating emergency plans in order to deal with potential new U.S. regulations that may add more sanctions against China after implementing the Hong Kong National Security Law. The Bank of China as well as the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China are preparing for the worst-case scenario which would be losing the source for obtaining U.S. Dollars or the potential of losing the clearing mechanism in the U.S. Dollar system. One source said that one never knows what will actually happen; it is better to hope for the best and prepare for the worst. A new U.S. regulation just passed both chambers (still pending Trump’s signature) which will allow the punishment of banks working with the individuals identified by the U.S. government as having helped destroy Hong Kong’s autonomy. The banks also considered the case of a run on the Bank of China, HK Branch, as well as the lessons that Iranian banks currently suffering from U.S. sanctions have learned. Some Chinese international equipment leasing companies are going through similar exercises.

Source: Lianhe Zaobao, July 10, 2020
http://www.uzaobao.com/shiju/20200710/74557.html

Briefings | | |   Economy/Resources US-China Relations

Lianhe Zaobao: Intel Put Supplying Chinese Manufacturer on Hold

Singapore’s primary Chinese language newspaper Lianhe Zaobao recently reported that, in order to comply with the U.S. government’s new export restrictions, Intel has put supplying Chinese manufacturer Inspur Group on hold. Intel explained in an announcement that the move was solely to ensure that U.S. laws are followed. Inspur Group is China’s largest computer server manufacturer and is ranked number three in the world. It is a large customer of Intel’s and Inspur’s entire product line of families uses Intel processors. Intel’s decision formed a strike on Inspur’s future, causing its stock to fall five percent within a day. The U.S. Department of Defense established a 20-company list not long ago identifying Chinese companies either owned or controlled by the Chinese military. According to new U.S. regulations, these companies are banned from obtaining advanced U.S. technologies. The list includes both Huawei and Inspur. Inspur manufactures both traditional servers and Artificial Intelligence (AI) servers.

Source: Lianhe Zaobao, July 3, 2020
https://www.zaobao.com.sg/realtime/china/story20200703-1066076

Briefings | | |   Information/Technology US-China Relations

A Xi’an Company Banned the Use of the Apple iPhone

Well-known Chinese news site Tencent News recently reported that a company in the City of Xi’an just issued a company-wide ban on the use of the Apple iPhone. Any company employee found using an Apple iPhone will be fined six months’ worth of merit pay, which will be directly deducted from payroll. In the meantime, if an employee buys a Huawei cellphone, the company will award RMB 100 (around US$14). The company also pays any employee RMB 1000 (around US$140) for a domestically made car purchase. The story went viral online among Chinese netizens. It triggered a heavy debate on what is the right take on American products. However, not long ago, Apple iPhone 11 sales ranked among the top two across several major Chinese online retailers. It shows that Apple iPhones are widely recognized among Chinese consumers. Among the online discussions of the event, the population appears to be very divided. Many suggested their own companies had similar policies but they may not be published. Some suggested the iPhone buyers should be fired directly. However, a large number of people thought the fine was too extreme, and some even suggested that the fined iPhone buyers sue the company. Technical netizens also pointed out that Huawei products also use American technology.

Source: Tencent News, June 8, 2020
https://wxn.qq.com/cmsid/20200608A01CVW00

Briefings | | |   Information/Technology US-China Relations

People’s Daily: Chinese Ministry of Commerce Responded to New U.S. Sanctions

People’s Daily recently reported that the spokesperson for the Chinese Ministry of Commerce responded to the recent actions taken by the U.S. Department of Commerce to list additional Chinese individuals and agencies on the “Entity List” for sanction. The United States identified 24 Chinese agencies and individuals as doing “military procurement” and nine agencies for human rights violations in Xinjiang. China strongly opposes this new action against Chinese companies, universities, research institutes, and individuals under the names of military involvement and human rights matters. The Unites States frequently abuses its export control system to hammer other nations. This abuse of state power significantly harms the international trade order and threatens the global supply chain. It will not benefit China, the United States, or the world. China urges the U.S. to stop this wrong behavior immediately and to protect decisively the legal rights of Chinese companies.

Source: People’s Daily, June 5, 2020
http://politics.people.com.cn/n1/2020/0605/c1001-31737261.html

Briefings | | |   US-China Relations

Average HK Residents Responded to the New HK National Security Law

When the Mainland communist government introduced the Hong Kong National Security Law, the average Hong Kong local residents immediate response was to go to the banks in Hong Kong. According to Radio France Internationale (RFI) Chinese Edition, as soon as the new law’s draft was submitted, foreign exchange stores across Hong Kong were immediately overwhelmed by customers converting HK Dollars to US Dollars. A typical exchange store could reach over US$1 million in cash exchange within one hour. British Pounds and Japanese Yen also ran out fast. Many customers of Chinese banks nearly emptied their money in HK Dollars and immediately opened US Dollar accounts in local branches of U.S. banks or Singapore banks. In the meantime, the major Hong Kong newspaper Apple Daily reported that the locals took another immediate action to download VPN (Virtual Private Network) apps, which help users avoid being monitored by authorities. On May 21, Apple’s HK AppStore reported seven of the top ten downloads were VPN apps. The download volume was 120 times more than the previous day. Mainland China is well-known for its tight control over Internet access and most of the World’s popular social networks, such as Twitter and Facebook, are blocked in China. Meanwhile, immigration service providers also saw a sharp increase in immigration inquires.

Sources:

(1) RFI Chinese, May 30, 2020
https://bit.ly/2XKXmC7

(2) Apple Daily, May 22, 2020
https://tw.appledaily.com/international/20200522/25YVFLSQXAKTJJ65PXYDQUMXBA/

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

Huawei Placed Emergency Order with TSMC

Chinese technology news site Moore recently reported that the Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC) received a US$700 million emergency order from Huawei on May 18. However, sources from Japan said TSMC has refused that order. TSMC is the world’s largest chip-maker and manufactures most of Huawei’s critical high-end chips. On May 15, the U.S. Department of Commerce released new regulations on approval requirements for manufacturers using U.S. technologies. The new rules will effectively ban any suppliers from helping Huawei. TSMC just reached an agreement with the U.S. government and announced a plan to construct a new cutting-edge 5nm chip manufacturing facility in Arizona. The Chinese government has already threatened retaliation against U.S. high-tech companies.

Source: Moore, May 19, 2020
http://news.moore.ren/industry/223474.htm

Briefings | | |   Information/Technology US-China Relations