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US-China Relations - 52. page

Huawei Diversifying Supply Chain

China Times recently reported that, despite the news about the U.S. planning to expand the export ban on Huawei, Huawei commented that it can still purchase critical chips from South Korea’s Samsung, Taiwan’s MediaTek and China’s own Spreadtrum Communications, instead of U.S. suppliers. Huawei currently depends on Taiwan’s TSMC to manufacture chips designed by itself. However, some industrial observers suggested Samsung and MediaTek may not be allowed to supply Huawei with the expanded U.S. ban because they use U.S. technology. Huawei insisted it can still move forward and there are other opportunities in Japan and Europe for supplies.

Well-known Chinese news site Sina recently reported that the Chinese government just granted special permission to allow 200 Samsung technicians to come into China and enter a NAND chip manufacturer in the city of Xi’an to help on factory expansion.

Sources:
(1) China Times, April 22, 2020
https://www.chinatimes.com/realtimenews/20200422001986-260410?chdtv
(2) Sina, April 23, 2020
https://k.sina.com.cn/article_6372825920_17bd99b4000101o5cs.html

Briefings | | |   Information/Technology US-China Relations

Medical Suppies: China Imposed Restrictions to Stop the Export of Medical Supplies

The Wall Street Journal reported that, according to a U.S. State Department memo and information from businesses, China has imposed export restrictions to stop the export of medical supplies.

China implemented new export restrictions in April, requiring that its National Medical Products Administration certify its goods as a stamp of quality control. It has requested that some products, such as masks, be checked multiple times.

U.S. companies 3M, Cellex, Inc., Emory Healthcare, General Electric, Owens & Minor, Inc. and PerkinElmer, Inc. have been impacted by China’s export controls. Some companies have been able to get products shipped following negotiations with the Chinese government, while others remain in limbo.

Related postings on Chinascope:

Source: Wall Street Journal, April 16, 2020
https://www.wsj.com/articles/chinas-export-restrictions-strand-medical-goods-u-s-needs-to-fight-coronavirus-state-department-says-11587031203

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CCP Suspends Anti-America Propaganda on Wuhan Virus

On April 15, 2020, Minghui reported that, according to internal sources, the CCP Central Propaganda Department recently issued an “emergency notice” to media in mainland China to suspend the official CCP propaganda on the Wuhan virus immediately. Analysts interpret the notice as an indication that the CCP Central Propaganda Department is not willing to assume responsibility for the previous CCP propaganda guidelines.  It is believed that the notice was due to the claims filed against China and to the increased advocacy from the international community to hold China accountable for the cover-up of the pandemic.

According to the emergency notice, “brakes must be applied immediately” on all propaganda that advertises how remarkable the Chinese anti-pandemic effort is and how “inferior” the anti-pandemic efforts in foreign countries are. The notice also stated that this was “a painful decision made by its senior leadership based on the current situation.”

Analysts believe that the CCP Central Propaganda Department is attempting to avoid being a scapegoat in the future. Some experts believe that this may be the result of an internal rift and that the CCP will not change.

Since the outbreak of the Wuhan virus in January this year, the CCP has engaged in a major propaganda campaign setting off another anti-America wave, while doing everything it could possibly do to cover up that which allowed the coronavirus to become a global pandemic.

Source: Minghui, April 15, 2020
http://www.minghui.org/mh/articles/2020/4/15/ -403871.html

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Apple Daily: U.S.-Taiwan Submarine Fiber Cable Approved

Apple Daily (headquartered in Hong Kong) Taiwan Branch recently reported that, with the coronavirus crisis deepening, the remote working model introduced a major increase of network bandwidth demand. The FCC just approved Google’s application to open the PLCN (Pacific Light Cable Network) fiber segment between California and Taiwan. This newly approved connection will allow fast communication between Google’s U.S. and Asian data centers. The PLCN segment between California and Hong Kong was not approved due to strong opposition from the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ). This decision ends the priority status of the Hong Kong fiber station. DOJ explained that the Hong Kong fiber channel may significantly threaten U.S. national security and law enforcement interests, since Hong Kong is getting heavier and heavier intervention from Mainland China. The DOJ position received strong support from the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and the Department of Defense (DOD). Since 2016, Google and Facebook have jointly funded the PLCN network. Taiwan has Google’s largest Asian data center (the other two are in India and Singapore).

Source: Apple Daily Taiwan, April 10, 2020
https://tw.appledaily.com/international/20200410/CX3GHUKXM7BUKYKSDUL3UCVVGI/

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Global Times: U.S. DOJ Recommended Shutting Down China Telecom in the U.S.

Global Times recently reported that the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) recommended ending the authorization granted to China Telecom (Americas). The authorization permits China Telecom to operate in the U.S. for international communications. DOJ’s recommendation to the FCC cited national security and law enforcement risks. The DOJ’s recommendation was based on an investigation that proved China Telecom violated conditions in a 2007 signed agreement, which required transparency on the location where U.S. customer information is stored as well as network security details. The DOJ expressed the concern that, under Chinese laws, China Telecom may spy on U.S. communications traffic and provide sensitive information to the Chinese government. The Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs commented in a press conference that China is strongly against this recommendation. China asked the U.S. government to stop politicizing normal market-based commercial operations and to provide Chinese companies a fair environment for doing business.

Source: Global Times, April 10, 2020
https://world.huanqiu.com/article/3xmLcpPXDT8

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Global Times: If the U.S. Hikes Sanction on Computer Chips, China Has Counter Measures

Global Times recently published a commentary written by Ni Guangnan, one of the founding members of the China Engineering Academy and the former Chief Engineer of the Legend Group. Ni said that the United States seems to be preparing to mount more sanctions on computer chip exports to China. The new plan may cut off chips manufactured by China’s primary overseas chip supplier TSMC (Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company). Though this plan can significantly damage China’s high-tech industry, yet China does have some counter measures. One example is to ban U.S. 5G chips or products with U.S. 5G chips from the Chinese market. The potential damage on just Apple and Qualcomm alone will be around US$70 billion. China can also set limitations on government procurement of U.S. IT products, which will severely damage the U.S. Wintel ecosystem. Apparently, the U.S. is not just aiming at Huawei, but at the entire Chinese high-tech industry.

Source: Global Times, April 3, 2020
https://opinion.huanqiu.com/article/9CaKrnKqfUu

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