pourquoi avoir laissé une fenêtre de huit heures entre l’annonce de la quarantaine de Wuhan et sa mise en application

Yoshihide Suga and Joe Biden to strengthen US-Japan alliance, with eye on China
 

• The Japanese PM is looking to visit the United States as soon as possible, he told reporters after a call with the US president
• The two sides also reconfirmed that the US-Japan security treaty applied to a group of Japan-controlled East China Sea islets that Beijing claims

Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga said on Thursday that he had agreed with US President Joe Biden in a phone call to strengthen their bilateral alliance, as China expands its economic and military might.

The two sides said they also reconfirmed that the US-Japan security treaty applied to a group of Japan-controlled East China Sea islets that China claims, called the Senkaku in Japan and Diaoyu in China.

China’s envoy to the European Union on Wednesday urged the 27-nation bloc to deepen its ties with his country even further and said that he hoped the EU’s desire for “strategic autonomy” will guide its foreign policy in the future.

“China and the EU are comprehensive and strategic partners with 45 years of diplomatic ties. The China-EU relationship has stood the test of time and has a solid basis and a value of its own. It’s not attached to any other major country relations,” Chinese Ambassador Zhang Ming said.
 
Speaking at a Friends of Europe think-tank event, Zhang said the “EU is a strong advocate for strategic autonomy and open cooperation. Hopefully such a spirit will continue to guide the EU’s foreign policy and contribute to world stability and development.”

China toughens language, warns Taiwan that independence 'means war'

China toughened its language towards Taiwan on Thursday, warning after recent stepped up military activities near the island that “independence means war” and that their armed forces were taking action to respond to provocation and foreign interference.
 
Taiwan, claimed by China as its own territory, reported multiple Chinese fighter jets and bombers entering Taiwan’s southwestern air defence identification zone over the weekend, prompting concern in Washington.

Asked at a monthly news briefing about the air forces’ recent activities, Chinese Defence Ministry spokesman Wu Qian said Taiwan was an inseparable part of China.
 
“The military activities carried out by the Chinese People’s Liberation Army in the Taiwan Strait are necessary actions to address the current security situation in the Taiwan Strait and to safeguard national sovereignty and security,” he said.
 
“They are a solemn response to external interference and provocations by ‘Taiwan independence’ forces,” he added.

Wu said a “handful” of people in Taiwan were seeking the island’s independence.
 
“We warn those ‘Taiwan independence’ elements: those who play with fire will burn themselves, and ‘Taiwan independence’ means war,” he added.

Apple reportedly set to mass-produce iPads outside China for the first time

Apple could start manufacturing iPads in Vietnam by the middle of this year, marking the first time a “significant number” of the tablets would be produced outside of China, Nikkei reports. As well as shifting iPad production, Apple is also reportedly increasing the number of iPhones manufactured in India, where it’s produced some iPhone 11 units since last year. It will reportedly begin producing iPhone 12 series devices in the country as early as this quarter.

Beyond iPhones and iPads, Nikkei reports that Apple is ramping up manufacturing of a host of other devices outside of China. Following reports last year that Apple moved some AirPods Pro manufacturing to Vietnam, Nikkei says it’s also planning on expanding HomePod mini production in the country and will also move some MacBook production. (Reuters reported on Apple’s early plans to shift MacBook and iPad production to Vietnam last year.) Some Mac mini production has also been moved to Malaysia, Nikkei notes.
 
News of Apple’s shifting supply chains comes a little under two years after reports emerged that Apple was planning to move between 15 and 30 percent of its manufacturing out of China. It now appears much of that shift is well underway.

The Biden administration will work to safeguard American telecoms networks from “untrusted vendors” like Huawei Technologies Co Ltd that threaten national security, the White House said on Wednesday, offering some insight into its plans for China’s top telecoms equipment company, long in Washington’s crosshairs.

“Telecommunications equipment made by untrusted vendors, including Huawei, is a threat to the security of the U.S. and our allies,” White House press secretary Jen Psaki told reporters in a daily briefing.
 
“We’ll ensure that the American telecommunications network...do not use equipment from untrusted vendors and we’ll work with allies to secure their telecommunications networks and make investments to expand production of telecommunications equipment by trusted U.S. and allied companies,” she added.

L'actionnariat privé de Huawei est un « mythe », estiment ainsi Christopher Balding et Donald Clarke dans une étude publiée le 15 avril, qu'il faut dissiper « une bonne fois pour toutes ». Huawei dénonce, lui, un article basé sur « des sources non fiables et de la spéculation. »
 
En 15 pages, les deux professeurs, respectivement de l'université Fulbright au Vietnam et de l'université George Washington aux Etats-Unis, dissèquent la gouvernance de Huawei, en s'appuyant sur des bases de données institutionnelles et la presse chinoise. Le problème, selon eux, se niche « au premier étage », dans la holding qui contrôle Huawei Technologies, l'entreprise qui fabrique effectivement les équipements télécoms et les smartphones du groupe et qui emploie l'essentiel de ses 180.000 employés.
 
Jusque-là, rien d'anormal. A un détail près. Depuis 2006, la holding est détenue à 99 % par un « comité syndical » très opaque. Le fondateur de Huawei, Ren Zhengfei, détient le 1 % restant.

En raison de cette opacité, les auteurs restent prudents. Mais si cet organe fonctionne bel et bien comme tous les syndicats en Chine, alors « Huawei peut être considéré comme étant propriété de l'Etat », concluent-ils. Car, en Chine, le syndicalisme indépendant n'existe pas. Tous les syndicats rendent compte à l'ACFTU (All-China Federation of Trade Unions), elle-même contrôlée par le Parti communiste chinois, au pouvoir depuis 1949.

HBO Docs to Release Explosive Chronicle of Coronavirus in China From Nanfu Wang

The latest project from celebrated filmmaker Nanfu Wang, about the early days of the coronavirus outbreak in China and its spread to the U.S., will release this year from HBO Documentary Films.
 
Titled “In the Same Breath,” HBO came on board as a producer and distributor at the start of production of the film with Wang, who won Sundance’s grand jury prize for documentary in 2019 with the acclaimed “One Child Nation.” The film will debut at the 2021 Sundance Film Festival on Thursday.

China’s vice-minister of foreign affairs, Le Yucheng, called Thursday for Washington to take immediate action to repair its relations with Beijing, while assailing the now-departed Trump administration for pursuing a China policy that proved to be an “utter failure”.

China's COVID Secrets
Airs on February 2, 2021

@frontlinepbs
 
With leaked documents, secret recordings and firsthand accounts, the documentary "China's COVID Secrets" reveals the gulf between what Chinese scientists and officials knew and what they told the world. Tune in or stream 2/2 on @PBS https://to.pbs.org/3pyvVs8

New critique calls for a China without Xi

Many in the party would prefer a China without Xi, says the author, a former senior government official with deep expertise and experience dealing with China. POLITICO granted anonymity at the author’s request. “The political reality is that the CCP is significantly divided on Xi’s leadership and his vast ambitions,” it states. “Senior party members have been greatly troubled by Xi’s policy direction and angered by his endless demands for absolute loyalty. They fear for their own lives and the future livelihoods of their families. Of particular political toxicity in this mix are the reports unearthed by international media of the wealth amassed by Xi’s family and members of his political inner circle, despite the vigor with which Xi has conducted the anti-corruption campaign.” The Atlantic Council is publishing a longer version of the article.