Chinascope – Page 305

Top Apple Supplier Foxconn to Invest $1 Billion in India

Well-known Chinese news site Sina (NASDAQ: SINA) recently reported that, per a strong request from Apple, its top supplier Foxconn is about to invest US$1 billion in Southern India to expand it manufacturing capacity. With the trouble of trade disputes between China and the United States, as well as the coronavirus impact, this is part of Apple’s quiet plan of moving its manufacturing center out of China. According sources familiar with the plan, Foxconn will establish a new factory in Sriperumbudur – 50 kilometers from Chennai. The factory will mainly be used to assemble the iPhone XR. The investment plan will create around 6,000 new jobs. Some of the other iPhone models currently made in China will move to this new factory as well. Currently Foxconn already has some capabilities in India to assemble low-end iPhones. Foxconn refused to comment on any news regarding its customers and their products. Apple did not respond to this report either.

Source: Sina, July 12, 2020
https://finance.sina.com.cn/stock/s/2020-07-12/doc-iivhvpwx4949394.shtml

Briefings | | July 22, 2020 | Geo-Strategic Trend Information/Technology

Lianhe Zaobao: Deutsche Bank Asian CEO Office Moved to Singapore

Singapore’s primary Chinese language newspaper Lianhe Zaobao recently reported that Deutsche Bank just announced its new Asian-Pacific CEO Alexander von zur Muehlen will move the office of his new regional headquarters to Singapore. He is replacing Werner Steinmueller, who is retiring and still has his office in Hong Kong. Another member of the leadership team of the Bank, Kamran Khan, will also move to Singapore. Singapore has long been the competitor of Hong Kong to be the central hub of the Asian-Pacific financial market. Nearly all major banks like Goldman Sachs, JP Morgan Chase and Citigroup have their Asian Chiefs in Hong Kong. However, in the past couple of years, Hong Kong’s political stability has been under serious question and is now at the center of the storm between China and the U.S. Currently Singapore also has Credit Suisse as well as UBS who have their Asian-Pacific chiefs there. Singapore has played a significant role in Deutsche Bank’s Asian-Pacific strategy for many years.

Source: Lianhe Zaobao, July 16, 2020
http://www.uzaobao.com/bolg/20200716/74896.html

Briefings | | July 22, 2020 | Geo-Strategic Trend

Hiding Information: US Researcher Found That, in December 2019, the CCP Knew about Person-to-Person Transmission

A U.S. researcher found that, as early as the end of December 2019, hospitals in Wuhan had clear evidence of person-to-person transmission of the novel coronavirus.

Associate Professor Mai (Mike) He, MD, PhD, Pathology & Immunology Section Head of the School of Medicine, Washington University, did the research based on patient cases in Wuhan in December 2019 and January 2020.

On December 27, 2019, Xinhua Hospital in Wuhan received a family case where both parents were infected. They tested the son on December 28 and found he had also been infected.

On December 29, the Wuhan Central Hospital received an infected mother and son, which was another example of family person-to-person transmission.

On January 1, 2020, the Wuhan Central Hospital received an infected doctor working at the clinic near the South China Seafood Market. It was believed that this doctor had been infected by his patients.

On December 27, Vision Medicals, a gene research and testing company based in Guangzhou, Guangdong Province, created the near-complete genome for the coronavirus . They called Wuhan hospitals and the Center for Disease Control (CDC) on December 27 and 28 to report their findings. On December 29 and 30, due to the severity of the virus, the lab manager also went to Wuhan to provide a face-to-face report to the Wuhan hospitals and the CDC .

On December 30, the gene test of the virus at the CapitalBio Medical Lab in Beijing showed it was similar to SARS, which further confirmed the person-to-person transmission.

The National CDC sent an emergency group to Wuhan on December 31. They closed the seafood market on January 1, but, on their January 3 report, they claimed there had been no person-to-person transmission and no medical staff had been infected.

The National Health Commission also issued a notice on January 3, prohibiting anyone from releasing information to the outside and also prohibiting institutes from conducting virus tests without the Health Commission’s authorization.

It was not until January 20 that the National Health Commission announced person-to-person transmission. On January 23, the day that Wuhan announced a lock-down, the Chinese authorities reported 444 infection cases. According to Dr. He’s model, 240,000 people in Wuhan had been infected by then, with 30,000 infection cases on January 23.

Hiding Information: The CCP Tried to Silence Dr. Yan Li-Meng and Discredit Her after She Spoke Out

Dr. Yan Li-Meng, who specialized in virology and immunology at the School of Public Health, University of Hong Kong, came to the U.S. in April 2020, to inform the world that the Chinese government knew as early as late December 2019, that the coronavirus could be transmitted from person to person.

After the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) discovered that she had left, it did many things in an attempt to stop her from telling her story. Once she spoke, it attempted to discredit her so nobody would believe what she said.

#1. During her interview with Fox News, Dr. Yan said the Chinese authorities swarmed her hometown of Qingdao and that agents ripped apart her tiny apartment and questioned her parents. When she contacted her mother and father, they pleaded with her to come home, told her she didn’t know what she was talking about and begged her to give up the fight.

The University of Hong Kong, which is under the influence of the CCP, took down her web page and revoked her access to online portals and emails, despite the fact that she was on an approved annual leave. The university sent a statement to Fox News, claiming, “Dr. Yan Li-Meng is no longer a staff member at the University.” (Fox News)

#2. (Unconfirmed) An online account reported that the Fox News’ interview with Dr. Yan was originally planned to be released on July 9. However, someone (it may have been Cui Tiankai, China’s Ambassador to the U.S.) made eight phone calls to relevant offices (to stop the release). Xi Jinping called the White House four times. Xi threatened, “This interview must not be broadcasted. Otherwise there will be consequences.” (Sound of Hope)

#3. The University of Hong Kong denied that Dr. Yan had done research on person-to-person transmission at the university from December 2019 to January 2020. Its web page stated: “University of Hong Kong noticed that some relevant report did not match the key facts that we understood. Actually, from December 2019 to January 2020, Yan Li-Meng did not conduct any research at the University of Hong Kong, on the person-to-person transmission of the novel coronavirus that she mentioned in her interview.” (Hong Kong University website).

#4. A news commentator pointed out on Twitter that the University of Hong Kong’s statement was a fallacy and a shift of the actual meaning. The University of Hong Kong’s statement only said that from December 2019 to January 2020, Dr. Yan didn’t conduct coronavirus research at the University of Hong Kong. It didn’t confirm or deny that Dr. Yan did anything outside of the university. In fact, Dr. Yan said in her interview that in December 2019, she contacted her network of medical contacts in China to gather information, because the CCP blocked information from coming to Hong Kong or other overseas researchers.

After the statement from the University of Hong Kong, the CCP media expanded its comments to such statements as. “Yan Li-Meng Has Never Conducted Research on Person-to-Person Transmission of the Novel Coronavirus.” (Sound of Hope)

Hiding Information: Fox News’ Interview with Yan Li-Meng Revealed China Knew about Person-to-Person Transmission in December 2019

On July 10, Fox News published an exclusive interview with Dr. Li-Meng Yan, who specialized in virology and immunology at the School of Public Health, University of Hong Kong. The lab that Dr. Yan worked at is a World Health Organization (WHO) reference laboratory specializing in influenza viruses and pandemics.

Dr. Yan managed to leave Hong Kong on April 27, 2020 and came to the U.S. to inform the world that the Chinese government knew, as early as late December 2019, that the coronavirus could be transmitted from person to person.

She feared that, if she tried to tell her story in China, she “would be disappeared and killed.”

Dr. Yan said that, at the end of December 2019, Dr. Leo Poon, her supervisor at the University/WHO reference lab, asked her to look into the odd cluster of SARS-like cases coming out of mainland China. The Chinese government didn’t provide information to overseas experts, including those in Hong Kong. So, she turned to her network of professional contacts in various medical facilities in mainland China since she grew up and completed most of her studies there.

One friend, a scientist at the Center for Disease Control and Prevention in China, had first-hand knowledge of the cases and told her on December 31, 2019, about human-to-human transmission.

She reported some of these early findings to her boss Dr. Poon.

A few days later, on Jan. 9, 2020, the WHO put out a statement: “According to Chinese authorities, the virus in question can cause severe illness in some patients and does not transmit readily between people… There is limited information to determine the overall risk of this reported cluster.”

Dr. Yan said she and her colleagues across China discussed the peculiar virus in the earlier days, but she soon noted a sharp shift in tone. Doctors in Wuhan went silent and others said not to ask them details.

According to Dr. Yan, the doctors said, ominously, “We can’t talk about it, but we need to wear masks.'”

“There are many, many patients who don’t get treatment on time or receive diagnosis on time,” Dr. Yan said. “Hospital doctors are scared, but they cannot talk. CDC staff members are scared.”

Dr. Yan said she reported her findings to Dr. Poon again on January 16, 2020.

He told her “to keep silent and be careful.” “Don’t touch the red line… We will get in trouble and we’ll be disappeared.”

Dr. Yan said Professor Malik Peiris, the co-director of a WHO-affiliated lab, knew but didn’t do anything about it.

The WHO website lists Professor Peiris as an “adviser” on the WHO International Health Regulations Emergency Committee for Pneumonia due to the Novel Coronavirus 2019-nCoV.

Countries Move Supply Chains from China; Japan to Subsidize 87 Companies to “Exit China”

Relocating manufacturing and supply chains out of China has become a trend amid the COVID 19 outbreak.

Japans’ Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry announced on Friday July 17 that the first group of Japanese companies had received “exit China” subsidies. These subsidies are designed to help Japanese companies move manufacturing from China to Southeast Asia or back to Japan. According to the Nikkei Asian Review, 87 Japanese companies or groups will receive a total of 70 billion yen ($653 million) in funding. These funds will be used to transfer production lines to reduce Japan’s dependence on China and establish a flexible supply chain. Among them, 30 companies will shift production to Southeast Asia. Hoya, a hard disk components manufacturer, will relocate its factories from China to Vietnam and Laos. Sumitomo Rubber Industries will produce nitrile rubber gloves in Malaysia, while Shin-Etsu Chemical will shift the production of rare earth magnets to Vietnam. The remaining 57 companies will be relocated to Japan.

Household product manufacturer Iris Ohyama currently produces masks in factories in Dalian and Suzhou, China. Non-woven fabrics and other major materials are purchased from Chinese companies. With the help of Japanese government subsidies, the company will start producing masks at the Kakuda plant in Miyagi Prefecture in northern Japan. All materials will be prepared locally, independent of overseas suppliers. Saraya, a manufacturer of sanitary products, is also eligible for subsidies. The company’s products include alcohol-based disinfectants.

The Japanese government allocated 220 billion yen (US$2.05 billion) in the supplementary budget for fiscal year 2020 to establish a subsidy program to encourage companies to relocate factories from China to Japan. Among them, 23.5 billion yen (US$0.22 billion) was used to promote the transfer of production lines from China to Southeast Asian countries.

Aside from Japan, Australian rare earth supplier Lynas has also previously stated that the outbreak of the epidemic highlights the importance of the decentralization of the supply chain from China. Lynas announced back on May 20, 2019 that it would build a rare earth processing plant in the United States, and signed a memorandum of cooperation with Texas manufacturer Blue Line Corporation. The U.S. government has repeatedly stressed the need to move the supply chain out of China. The White House chief economic adviser Larry Kudlow said in May that the Trump administration was willing to compensate American companies to help them move their supply chain out of China and Hong Kong and back to the U.S. The Times reported that British Prime Minister Johnson has ordered the “Project Defend” plan to end Britain’s dependence on the importation of key products from China, including pharmaceuticals and other strategic imported products. According to Agence France-Presse, before the outbreak, an investigation found that 104 German companies have decided or are considering withdrawing production capacity from China. In 2020, many companies in Taiwan made moving their production out of China an operational focus. According to a previous report in Science and Technology News, Quanta, Compal, Pegatron, Wistron, Inventec, Hon Hai, and others will work on relocating their production lines outside of China this year.

Source: Epoch Times, July 19, 2020
https://www.epochtimes.com/gb/20/7/19/n12267649.htm

Briefings | | July 21, 2020 | Economy/Resources

UDN: Taiwan Representatives in Hong Kong Were Refused Visas

United Daily News (UDN), one of the primary Taiwanese news groups, recently reported that the Taipei Economic and Cultural Representative Office in Hong Kong said that several leaders did not receive their visas upon renewal. Four of the five group leaders in the Hong Kong Office left Hong Kong and returned to Taiwan. The Office is still operating. The Taiwanese government concluded that the officials were refused their visas due to the fact that they did not agree to sign the document that recognizes the “One China” policy. The Office performs the equivalent functions of an embassy in Hong Kong. Currently the Hong Kong Office does not even have a Chief Officer. The Taiwanese media described the situation as the direct result of the new Hong Kong National Security Law taking effect. In addition to top level group leaders of the Office, multiple secretary personnel are also waiting for visa renewals. The Hong Kong government did not respond to their renewal applications. The Office is still providing Taiwan visa services to foreigners and Hong Kong local residents. The Hong Kong government declined to comment on this matter.

Source: UDN, July 17, 2020
https://udn.com/news/story/7331/4709076

Briefings | | July 21, 2020 | Geo-Strategic Trend

China’s Reaction to Trump’s Election Win

Xinhua Commentary Series: Spotlight on the U.S. Presidential Election

Wu Guoguang: Xi Jinping’s Reversal of the Course, Will China’s Transition be Peaceful or Marked with Bloodshed?

Cheng Xiaonong: U.S.-China Strategic Relations Have Crystallized

Top Apple Supplier Foxconn to Invest $1 Billion in India

Lianhe Zaobao: Deutsche Bank Asian CEO Office Moved to Singapore

Countries Move Supply Chains from China; Japan to Subsidize 87 Companies to “Exit China”

UDN: Taiwan Representatives in Hong Kong Were Refused Visas

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