Britain says China has damaged trust in global trade system

Britain on Friday said China had contributed to an erosion of trust in the global trade system, offering to work with the European Union, Japan the United States and others to clamp down on what it sees as unfair subsidies for state-owned enterprises.

Trade minister Liz Truss, who is in charge of building Britain’s new trade links around the world following its exit from the European Union, made the comments at a World Economic Forum online panel event titled “Fixing International Trade”.
 
“Some of the behaviour by China on areas like forced technology transfer, subsidies by state-owned enterprises, and also IP (Intellectual Property) violations have led to some of the mistrust in the global trading system,” she said.
 
“People can see things are unfair, that if state-owned enterprises are able to subsidise and able to undermine free enterprise economies, then that can destroy trust in trade.”

President Joe Biden’s national security adviser, Jake Sullivan, said on Friday the United States must be prepared to impose costs on China for its actions against Uighur Muslims in Xinjiang, its crackdown in Hong Kong and threats towards Taiwan.

Sullivan told an event at the United States Institute of Peace that Washington needed to speak with clarity and consistency on the issues.
 
He said it needed to be “prepared to act, as well to impose costs, for what China is doing in Xinjiang, what it’s doing in Hong Kong, for the bellicosity and threats it is projecting towards Taiwan.”

He said the China issue was at the top of those to be addressed between the United States and allies in Europe.
 
He stressed the need to agree joint responses with Europe on China’s trade and technology abuses.

@RepMariaSalazar
 
Very productive meeting with our local Consul General from the Republic of China, Taiwan.  
 
Taiwan is a vibrant democracy and a key ally. I look forward to strengthening our economic ties & renewing our commitments to defending #HumanRights.

Chinese warplanes simulated attacking US carrier near Taiwan

Chinese military aircraft simulated missile attacks on a nearby US aircraft carrier during an incursion into Taiwan’s air defence zone three days after Joe Biden’s inauguration, according to intelligence from the US and its allies.
 
The People’s Liberation Army sent 11 aircraft into the south-western corner of Taiwan’s air defence zone on January 23, and 15 aircraft into the same area the next day, according to Taiwan’s defence ministry.
 
People familiar with intelligence collected by the US and its allies said the bombers and some of the fighter aircraft involved were conducting an exercise that used a group of US Navy vessels led by the carrier USS Theodore Roosevelt in the same area as a simulated target.
 
Pilots of H-6 bombers could be heard in cockpit conversations confirming orders for the simulated targeting and release of anti-ship missiles against the carrier, the people said.

The Chinese aerial manoeuvres sparked a strong response from the new US administration, which warned Beijing to stop intimidating Taiwan.
 
“We urge Beijing to cease its military, diplomatic and economic pressure against Taiwan,” the US state department said, before adding that China should remember that Washington’s relationship with Taipei was “rock solid”.
 
Mr Biden sent another message to China reaffirming the US commitment to help Japan defend the Senkaku Islands, which are administered by Tokyo but claimed by Beijing, which calls them the Diaoyu.

The Japanese and British foreign and defense ministers will hold a videoconference next week to discuss ways to strengthen security cooperation amid China's growing assertiveness in the East and South China seas, the Japanese government said Friday.
 
In the so-called two-plus-two meeting on Wednesday, Foreign Minister Toshimitsu Motegi and Defense Minister Nobuo Kishi and their British counterparts Dominic Raab and Ben Wallace will discuss cooperation in realizing a free and open Indo-Pacific, the ministry said.
 
"I want to discuss bilateral security and defense cooperation and exchange views on the regional situation to further strengthen coordination between the two countries," Motegi told a press conference.
 
The ministers are expected to agree to work closely on Britain's plan to dispatch an aircraft carrier strike group, centered on the Queen Elizabeth, to the western Pacific for joint naval exercises with the Japanese Self-Defense Forces, sources close to the matter said earlier.
 
Japan and Britain share concerns about China's unilateral attempts to change the status quo in the East and South China seas, the Japanese Defense Ministry said earlier.
 
China has aggressively pressed its territorial claims in those waters, drawing opposition from Tokyo and a number of other Asian countries.

@franceinfo
 
Covid-19 : le dépistage rectal désormais obligatoire pour entrer en Chine
 
https://francetvinfo.fr/sante/maladie/

China is imprisoning ordinary citizens who criticize the government on foreign social media — posts not even seen in China.
 
https://www.axios.com/china-social- [...] ntent=1100

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.

China to build $300bn electronics parts sector in break with US
 
BEIJING -- The Chinese government on Friday announced plans to expand the domestic market for electronic components to 2.1 trillion yuan ($327 billion) by 2023, in its latest step to bolster the nation's tech sector amid a growing rivalry with the U.S.
 
Many of the components covered in Beijing's new push, like sensors, are areas where Japanese companies have traditionally been successful, and the shift could impact their future plans as well. Businesses will face a key decision on how to secure their proprietary technologies while tapping new opportunities in the Chinese market.

China gene firm providing worldwide COVID tests worked with Chinese military

BGI Group, the world’s largest genomics company, has worked with China’s military on research that ranges from mass testing for respiratory pathogens to brain science, a Reuters review of research, patent filings and other documents has found.

The review, of more than 40 publicly available documents and research papers in Chinese and English, shows BGI’s links to the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) include research with China’s top military supercomputing experts. The extent of those links has not previously been reported.
 
BGI has sold millions of COVID-19 test kits outside China since the outbreak of the new coronavirus pandemic, including to Europe, Australia and the United States. Shares of BGI Genomics Co, the company’s subsidiary listed on the Shenzhen stock exchange, have doubled in price over the past 12 months, giving it a market value of about $9 billion.
 
But top U.S. security officials have warned American labs against using Chinese tests because of concern China was seeking to gather foreign genetic data for its own research. BGI has denied that.
 
The documents reviewed by Reuters neither contradict nor support that U.S. suspicion. Still, the material shows that the links between the Chinese military and BGI run deeper than previously understood, illustrating how China has moved to integrate private technology companies into military-related research under President Xi Jinping.

Le groupe chinois HNA, basée sur l’île de Hainan et propriétaire de la compagnie Hainan Airlines, a annoncé hier son placement en procédure de faillite.
 
Fondé en 2000, le groupe HNA s’est développé rapidement à coups d’acquisitions tous azimuts au point de devenir un gigantesque conglomérat diversifié, présent non seulement dans l’aérien mais aussi dans le tourisme et la logistique. Outre son fleuron Hainan Airlines, très populaire en Chine, le groupe a des participations dans Hong Kong Airlines, China West Airlines, Lucky Air, Tianjin Airlines et Hong Kong Express. En France, il détenait à un moment 48% du capital de feu Aigle Azur. Dans l’hôtellerie, il est propriétaire de la chaîne Carlson et détient 25% de la chaîne Hilton.
 
Frappé par la crise sanitaire et aujourd’hui criblé de dettes, HNA a indiqué hier dans un communiqué que ses créanciers avaient demandé son placement en faillite et une restructuration, le groupe ne pouvant pas rembourser ses dettes, principalement des emprunts contractés par le passé pour réaliser ses nombreuses acquisitions.
 
Pour renflouer sa trésorerie, le groupe va réaliser des cessions et de se désengager de la plupart de ses actifs, pour ne garder que la seule compagnie aérienne Hainan Airlines.

Britain launches new visa for millions of Hongkongers fleeing China's crackdown
 
Scheme allows Hong Kong residents with a BNO passport to live and work in the UK with a pathway to citizenship after five years

A new visa scheme offering millions of Hong Kong residents a pathway to British citizenship will go live on Sunday as the UK opens its doors to those wanting to escape China’s crackdown on dissent.
 
From Sunday afternoon, anyone with a British national overseas (BNO) passport and their dependents will be able to apply online for a visa allowing them to live and work in the UK. After five years they can then apply for citizenship.
 
The immigration scheme is a response to Beijing’s decision last year to impose a sweeping national security law on Hong Kong to snuff out huge and often violent democracy protests.

Three units of HNA, once China’s most acquisitive conglomerate, said nearly $10 billion had been embezzled by shareholders, in disclosures to stock exchanges that come amid a government-led probe into the deeply indebted group.

@HKGlobalConnect
 
Following @MFA_China’s announcement today, the HKSAR gov has also announced the non-recognition of BNOs as valid travel documents/ proof of identity *in HK*. It’s also said that airlines must require passengers to present their SAR passports/ HKIDs: https://t.co/GYGoPil7Lz?amp=1

HNA had 706.7 billion yuan in debt at the end of June 2019, the last bond report it made public that year showed. It has not given an update since.

A top Japanese defence official on Friday urged U.S. President-elect Joe Biden to “be strong” in supporting Taiwan in the face of an aggressive China, calling the island’s safety a “red line.”

“We are concerned China will expand its aggressive stance into areas other than Hong Kong. I think one of the next targets, or what everyone is worried about, is Taiwan,” State Minister of Defense Yasuhide Nakayama told Reuters.
 
In an interview, Nakayama, Japan’s deputy defence minister, urged Biden to take a similar line on Taiwan as outgoing President Donald Trump, who has significantly boosted military sales to the Chinese-claimed island and increased engagement.

“So far, I haven’t yet seen a clear policy or an announcement on Taiwan from Joe Biden. I would like to hear it quickly, then we can also prepare our response on Taiwan in accordance,” Nakayama said.

IAN BIRRELL: Virus 'definitely' began in China, say US scientists... and the outbreak started in October 2019 – months before Beijing alerted the world

The coronavirus pandemic definitely started in China, according to a scientific study that has traced the 'mother' of all Covid-19 infections and its initial descendants to the country.
 
The groundbreaking research by US experts, which analysed samples from thousands of coronavirus patients, also established that the outbreak almost certainly began in October 2019.
 
Their findings challenge Beijing's attempts to divert attention to other nations as the pandemic's birthplace, with officials arguing that the virus may have been imported into Wuhan, in China's Hubei province.

The study's suggested date of first infections fits with claims from the US State Department that 'several' researchers at the top-security Wuhan Institute of Virology fell sick in the autumn of 2019.

The new US study is by a team of molecular epidemiology detectives at the Institute for Genomics and Evolutionary Medicine, Temple University, Philadelphia. They used modelling techniques developed in tracking cancer mutations to trace the evolution of Sars-Cov-2 – the coronavirus strain that causes Covid-19 – back to the 'progenitor', or ancestor, genome behind the 101 million infections worldwide.

Their study dates the progenitor from mid-October to early November 2019. It says there are 'multiple coronavirus infections' showing its 'fingerprint' from January 2020, indicating it 'was spreading worldwide weeks after the first reported cases of Covid-19'.

'All the genetic evidence makes it clear this virus is from China,' said Sergei Pond, one of the paper's authors. 'The pattern of worldwide spread is also consistent with Chinese viruses seeding epidemics in other countries.'

He said it was hard to tie down a precise date for 'Patient Zero', but believed the ancestor genome probably emerged in late October 2019.The researchers' findings are backed by another study from scientists in California and Arizona that concluded the period between mid-October and mid-November 2019 was 'the plausible interval when the first case of SARS-CoV-2 emerged in Hubei province'. China first admitted to a new epidemic on December 31, then took three weeks to confirm human transmission despite plentiful earlier evidence that it was spreading fast among citizens and medical teams in the central Chinese city.