US-China Relations - 15. page

Gree Electric Appliances chairwoman Dong Mingzhu has ignited controversy with her recent statement that her company “will never hire overseas returnees because there are spies among them.” This comment comes amid escalating US-China trade tensions and has drawn significant criticism from Chinese media outlets, with some calling her views “contrary to common sense.”

During a temporary shareholders’ meeting on the 22nd, Dong addressed talent selection by stating that Gree Electric “will absolutely not use ‘overseas returnees’ because there are spies among them, and it’s impossible to distinguish who is who.” She added that under these circumstances, the company would take a conservative approach by cultivating talent from domestic universities.

The New Beijing News, managed by state media outlet Guangming Daily, published an editorial criticizing Dong’s statement as revealing “backward talent selection views” stemming from “deep-rooted prejudice.”

Wang Guochen, research assistant at the Chung-Hua Institution for Economic Research, noted that China’s political leadership has shown a preference for officials with domestic educational backgrounds. He observed that officials with international experience, particularly those educated in the United States, have diminishing influence in policymaking circles.

Meanwhile, Chinese media have defended the value of overseas returnees, pointing out that many scientific achievements, including China’s nuclear and satellite programs, were made possible by returnees like Qian Xuesen. They also highlighted that globally competitive Chinese tech companies like Alibaba, Tencent, and Huawei count overseas returnees among their core competitive advantages.

The controversy has sparked intense online debate, with supporters of Dong arguing that her caution is justified for security reasons, while critics counter that her views are overly simplistic and ignore the contributions of returnees to China’s development.

According to a 2024 report by employment platform Zhaopin, the number of graduating overseas students returning to China for employment increased by 19% year-over-year, reaching twice the level seen in 2018, driven by domestic policy support and job market expansion.

Source: Radio Free Asia, April 25, 2025https://www.rfa.org/mandarin/shangye/jingji/2025/04/25/china-gree-returnees-spy/

Sputnik News, a Russian state-owned news agency and radio broadcast service, recently reported that the U.S. State of Iowa’s Friendship Committee hosted a commemorative event on April 24th marking the 40th anniversary of President Xi Jinping’s first visit to Iowa. The event, held in Des Moines amid escalating China-US trade tensions, highlights the persistence of Beijing’s “local diplomacy” efforts. According to Liu Yanjun, a researcher at Peking University’s National Governance Research Institute, “cooperation between local governments and civil organizations in both countries remains strong and authentic despite federal-level frictions.” The event brought together approximately 150 attendees, including representatives from Chinese People’s Association for Friendship with Foreign Countries, Hebei Province, Shijiazhuang City, Zhengding County, and Xi’s old friends from Iowa.

Concurrently, Yang Wanming, President of the Chinese People’s Association for Friendship with Foreign Countries, led a delegation to visit Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Iowa between April 20-25, engaging with state and city governments, business communities, foundations, cultural institutions, and universities. Participants emphasized that trade wars are unsustainable and that China and the US should be partners rather than competitors. They advocated maintaining people-to-people exchanges, strengthening local cooperation, and promoting youth exchanges to enhance mutual understanding.

Liu noted that local-level exchanges “demonstrate remarkable resilience and play a positive role in alleviating trade tensions and reducing misunderstandings.” Iowa, as a major agricultural state, has deep trade connections with China, and its farmers and business community felt the negative impact of tariffs during the 2018 trade disputes.

Sputnik wrote that “these grassroots relationships help strengthen public opinion foundations for bilateral relations, break down prejudices, and stabilize trade connections. Many US supply chains depend heavily on the Chinese market, creating tight economic bonds that add stability to the relationship.”

Xi’s connection with Iowa dates back to 1985 when, as a county official from Hebei Province, he visited to study agricultural technology. He returned in 2012 as Vice President and reunited with his Iowa friends in San Francisco in 2023.

Source: Sputnik News, April 29, 2025
https://sputniknews.cn/20250429/1065231740.html

People’s Daily, the official newspaper of the Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party, recently published an official commentary under the pen name “Zhong Sheng” (钟声 – a homophone for “China’s Voice”), outlining China’s position on COVID-19 origin tracing and urging a shift in investigative focus to the United States.

The article referenced a white paper released on April 30 by China’s State Council Information Office, titled “China’s Actions and Position on COVID-19 Prevention, Control, and Virus Tracing.” It said the paper presents China’s contributions to global virus origin tracing and pandemic cooperation, supported by detailed data and scientific evidence.

The commentary states, “A growing body of research suggests that the virus originated outside China. Studies from U.S. institutions, including the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the National Institutes of Health (NIH), have indicated the presence of COVID-19 clues and positive samples in several regions of the United States prior to the outbreak in Wuhan. This warrants a comprehensive and in-depth investigation into the origins of COVID-19 in the U.S.”

It goes on to criticize the U.S. government for allegedly concealing relevant findings and politicizing the origin tracing issue: “By turning a blind eye to evidence and shifting blame onto China, the U.S. has obstructed scientific efforts and compromised global public health cooperation.”

The article concludes with a call to action: “To better prevent future outbreaks, the U.S. – as a major global power – should no longer remain silent. It must address international concerns, share early case data with the World Health Organization, and provide a responsible explanation to the global community.”

Also on April 30, a spokesperson from China’s National Health Commission reiterated these points at a press briefing in Beijing, emphasizing that future origin-tracing efforts should focus on the U.S. The official noted that multiple studies suggest the outbreak in the U.S. may have preceded both the publicly acknowledged timeline and the initial outbreak in China, underscoring the need for a thorough investigation.

Sources:
1. People’s Daily, May 1, 2025
http://world.people.com.cn/n1/2025/0501/c1002-40472111.html
2. Sohu, April 30, 2025
https://www.sohu.com/a/891019906_121443915

People’s Daily republished a commentary from Science and Technology Daily, claiming that the U.S. will be unable to replicate China’s success in manufacturing:

The RAND Corporation recently published a commentary summarizing the development experience of China’s manufacturing sector. It suggested that, as the United States attempts to revive its domestic manufacturing industry, China’s experience might be beneficial for the U.S. No matter how biased American think tanks may be toward China, they cannot deny that China has achieved unprecedented success.

However, compared to China’s successful approach, the measures taken by the U.S. government to revive manufacturing can be said to be completely counterproductive.

China does not rely on tariffs, but the U.S. has made tariffs its primary tool to force the reshoring of manufacturing and to protect domestic industry. In fact, for America’s already weakened manufacturing sector, tariffs are not a cure but may instead become a poison.

Whereas the Chinese government is skilled at formulating long-term and predictable industrial plans, U.S. industrial policy swings sharply between the “left” and the “right,” with previous and current administrations vastly differing in their approaches.

While China is enhancing manufacturing productivity through robotics and intelligent automation, the U.S. government is, ironically, harming its own automation capabilities via imposing tariffs on Chinese goods. China plays a crucial role in the global robotics supply chain, with many key components dependent on Chinese production. For example, according to Morgan Stanley, about 56 percent of companies in the global humanoid robotics supply chain are located in China.

In terms of investment in scientific research and innovation, unlike the Chinese government’s continuous efforts, the U.S. government is cutting research budgets for institutions such as the National Institutes of Health (NIH), NASA, and the National Science Foundation (NSF).

Source: People’s Daily, April 27, 2025
http://finance.people.com.cn/n1/2025/0427/c1004-40469046.html

At the regular press conference of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs on the 25th, a reporter asked, “According to reports, U.S. government sources said that China and the U.S. are still negotiating on the fentanyl issue, but that China is ‘not sincere enough,’ and that the U.S. may impose more punitive measures to force China to take substantive action. What is China’s comment on this?”

Foreign Affairs Spokesperson Guo Jiakun responded, “Fentanyl is America’s problem, not China’s problem. The responsibility lies with the U.S. itself. The U.S. has disregarded China’s goodwill and unjustly imposed tariffs on fentanyl-related products from China. This is a typical act of bullying and has seriously undermined dialogue and cooperation between the two sides in the field of drug control. The U.S. should understand that smearing and attacking others cannot cover up its own failures, repaying kindness with resentment will not help solve the problem, and exerting pressure and threats is not the right way to deal with China.”

Source: Xinhua, April 25, 2025
http://www.news.cn/world/20250425/03e13f9564db473eb2380a358c87a93b/c.html