China news roundup / Nachrichten 2024-04-24
Banning TikTok would hit China’s tech ambitions and deepen the global digital divide
"Not only would that deal another huge blow to China’s tech ambitions"
--- Nonsense. The technology behind TikTok is not that great. & since Douyin stays under Bytedance control, anyway, so will the related technology.
"Congress on Tuesday approved legislation that could compel ByteDance to sell TikTok or face a national ban. President Joe Biden is expected to sign the bill into law on Wednesday"
--- Good.
"Beijing has previously said it strongly opposes a forced sale of TikTok, and it has revised its export control rules to give it the power to block a sale on national security grounds"
--- Which kind of proves that they see TikTok as an asset for national security.
"“The new divestiture bill is the result of a concerted lobbying effort by Silicon Valley venture capitalists associated with US technology companies that stand to benefit from the China threat narrative proponents of the bill have been pushing, ” said Paul Triolo, partner for China and Technology Policy Lead at Albright Stonebridge Group.“Beijing will be much more likely to retaliate strongly to new US export controls, and is not likely to respond in kind to the US effort to ban Tiktok US if it eventually happens,”"
--- Yeah, right, it's just a narrative. China is no threat at all. Phhh...
& Beijing cannot retaliate in kind, because it already blocks pretty much all Western social media.
Blinken expected to deliver strong warning on Russia support as he arrives in China for key meetings
"“We see China sharing machine tools, semiconductors, other dual-use items that have helped Russia rebuild its defense industrial base that sanctions and export controls had done so much to degrade,” Blinken said at a press conference in Italy last week.
China has not provided direct military support to Russia, but the industrial and logistical help it is providing is having a significant impact
[...] “China can’t have it both ways,” Blinken said. “It can’t purport to want to have positive relations with Europe and at the same be fueling the biggest threat to Europe since the end of the Cold War.”"
--- Germany's Scholz seems to disagree. He doesn't care too much about Chinese support for Russia, as long as some major German corporations get access to the Chinese market.
China acquired banned Nvidia chips, tenders show
"Universities and research institutes got hold of the semiconductors despite the U.S. widening a ban last year on the sale of such tech to China.
A Reuters review of hundreds of tender documents shows 10 Chinese entities acquired advanced Nvidia chips.
They were embedded in server products made by Super Micro Computer, Dell Technologies and Taiwan's Gigabyte Technology.
It happened after the U.S. expanded the embargo to subject more chips and countries to licensing rules in November."
--- Not much of a surprise there. US sanctions are full of holes. Meanwhile the EU seems to wake up to the China threat:
EU raids offices of Chinese security equipment maker in subsidy probe
"The China Chamber of Commerce to the EU said Wednesday that it had been informed that a Chinese company was the target of the investigation.
The Chinese lobby group, whose members include Chinese state-owned and private firms, expressed its “strong dissatisfaction” about the raids, which it said had been conducted at offices in Poland and the Netherlands “without prior notice and without solid evidence.”
“The European side manifested its intention to weaponize the Foreign Subsidies Regulation as a tool to suppress lawfully operating Chinese companies in Europe,” it said in a statement."
--- Well, we will see how lawful that really was.
The EU will probe whether China is unfairly denying companies access to its medical devices market
"The commission said it has gathered evidence indicating that China’s market has gradually closed to European firms and products made in the EU. It asserts that measures introduced by China “unfairly differentiate” between local and foreign companies"
--- Protectionism? In China? Impossible!
German security agency warns firms not to be too naive with China
"German companies should be cautious with mandatory tax software required by the Chinese government, for instance, since those programmes risk giving Chinese authorities access to internal company information"
--- Spyware from the CCP? Now that's a surprise. Almost as if the Chinese state engages in economic espionage.
US solar manufacturers target China-linked imports in new plea to Biden
The Sexual Revolution Behind China’s Demographic Crisis
The environmental cost of China's addiction to cement
--- China Uncensored: "China Just Suffered a Crushing Defeat in the Pacific. And It's Thanks To You!"
--- DW News: Massive floods force mass evacuations in China's Guangdong province
--- CNA: Battle for influence between US and China heats up in Africa
Gefahr für die deutsche Wirtschaft
""Im Grunde hängt es am Ende des Tages von Ihrer Beratung ab, ob Ihre Unternehmen fortbestehen werden oder nicht", sagte er. Der Verfassungsschützer richtete seine Worte direkt an die Sicherheitsberaterinnen und -berater deutscher Unternehmen im Publikum. Es gebe eine Vielzahl von Fallbeispielen, in denen die "höchst optimistische und zu positive Haltung hinsichtlich der Handelsbeziehungen zu China" dazu geführt habe, dass sich diese Unternehmen praktisch aufgelöst hätten. "Das droht auch Ihnen.""
--- Aufgelöst, oft aber auch aufgekauft. Nicht selten von Unternehmen, die ihr Geld mit Kopien der Firma verdienten, die sie später aufkauften.
Spionage: Verfassungsschutz warnt vor Naivität im Umgang mit China
"Der Verfassungsschutz weist laut Selen bereits seit langem auf die Risiken etwa einer verpflichtenden Software für Steuern hin, die einen umfassenden Zugriff staatlicher Stellen auf Unternehmensinterna erlaubt."
--- Naja, die 'freie' Wirtschaft in China braucht halt einen Staat, der ihr unter die Arme greift.
In Pekings Falle – So öffnete Deutschland China die Türen
"China habe sich stets an die Prinzipien des gegenseitigen Respekts und der Nichteinmischung in die inneren Angelegenheiten anderer Staaten gehalten. In Deutschland müsse die „Mentalität des Kalten Krieges“ überwunden werden"
s.a.: Wie China in Deutschland spioniert
Handel mit Medizinprodukten: EU leitet Untersuchung gegen China ein
--- Tagesschau: Vorwurf der Spionage für China: Haftbefehl gegen AfD-Mitarbeiter Jian G
