The Guardian

Move is latest chapter in deteriorating relationship with Beijing and improvement under Joe Biden is unlikely

Helen Davidson in Taipei @heldavidson Mon 23 Nov 2020 10.52 GMT

Donald Trump has banned US investment in a further 89 Chinese companies, and reportedly sent a navy admiral to Taiwan, as he seeks to secure a tough-on-China foreign policy legacy.

Multiple media outlets have reported plans by the Trump administration for a series of confrontations with China before Biden’s inauguration on 20 January, and the moves were largely expected. Foreign policy and political analysts believe Trump wants to leave a legacy of being tough on China, while simultaneously conducting a “scorched earth” policy on his way out of the White House.

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21 Nov 2020 02:09PM CNA

TAIPEI:  The US and Taiwan are stepping up cooperation in a newly created economic dialogue, in another move from the outgoing Trump administration to increase official exchanges with the self-ruled island.

The two sides signed a five-year agreement establishing the US-Taiwan Economic Prosperity Partnership Dialogue, which is meant to be held annually. The deal falls short of a long-desired bilateral trade agreement, but is a significant step that increases ties between Washington and Taipei.

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By Nguyen Quy   November 19, 2020 | 11:46 am GMT+7 VNExpressNational security adviser Robert O’Brien speaks to the media outside the White House in Washington, U.S., November 17, 2020. Photo by Reuters/Leah Millis.

U.S. national security adviser Robert O’Brien left Thursday for Vietnam and the Philippines to discuss regional security cooperation, the White House National Security Council said.

He would meet leaders in both countries “to reaffirm the strength of our bilateral relationships,” it tweeted on Thursday.

Vietnam’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokeswomen Le Thi Thu Hang said at a press meet the same day that O’Brien will be in Vietnam from Friday to Sunday for high-level meetings to discuss bilateral relations and regional and international issues that concern both Vietnam and the U.S.

Two weeks ago U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo visited Hanoi where he affirmed his nation’s continued support for a strong, prosperous and independent Vietnam.

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Peter Martin November 16, 2020, 9:38 PM GMT+7 Bloomberg

•  World could slide into catastrophe like World War I: Kissinger
•  Says Biden, Xi should agree not to resort to military conflict

Former U.S. Secretary of State Henry Kissinger said the incoming Biden administration should move quickly to restore lines of communication with China that frayed during the Trump years or risk a crisis that could escalate into military conflict.

“Unless there is some basis for some cooperative action, the world will slide into a catastrophe comparable to World War I,” Kissinger said during the opening session of the Bloomberg New Economy Forum. He said military technologies available today would make such a crisis “even more difficult to control” than those of earlier eras.

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BBC

US President Donald Trump has issued an order banning American investments in Chinese firms the government determines have ties to the Chinese military.

In the order, Mr Trump accused China of “increasingly exploiting” US investors “to finance the development and modernisation of its military”.

The ban is to go into effect in January.

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Analysis by Jill Disis, CNN Business

Updated 1043 GMT (1843 HKT) November 9, 2020

Hong Kong (CNN Business) President Donald Trump spent much of his term setting up Beijing as Washington’s greatest political and economic adversary. Don’t expect drastic changes when Joe Biden takes the helm, even if he eschews the bluster and unpredictability of his predecessor.

Economists and trade experts believe that the United States and China will move further apart on trade and technology as Washington continues to scrutinize virtually every aspect of its relationship with the world’s second-largest economy.

”We have a fundamental, systematic rivalry between these two systems,” said Alex Capri, research fellow at the Hinrich Foundation and senior fellow and lecturer at the National University of Singapore. “In many ways, that rivalry is going to intensify.”

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The latest episode of POLITICO’s Global Translations podcast explores the new industrial policy emerging in America to counter China’s ascent.

By LUIZA CH. SAVAGE, Politico

11/04/2020 04:30 AM EST

A historic shift in U.S. economic policy is taking shape regardless of who sits in the White House or controls Congress: an increasingly muscular role for state power to build up industries U.S. leaders deem critical to America’s national security and place in the world.

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The Guardian

China says decision was ‘necessary’ after the US declared several more Chinese media outlets to be ‘foreign missions’

Mon 26 Oct 2020 16.42 GMT

China has tightened the rules on a number of US media outlets, in a move it said was “necessary and reciprocal” after Chinese journalists in America were hit with restrictions last week.

The world’s two largest economies, sparring over issues from trade and technology to human rights, have restricted visas for each other’s reporters, while China has expelled journalists.

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Alan Crawford, DebWu, Colum Murphy and Ian KingFri, October 23, 2020, 12:42 AM GMT+7·11 mins read. Yahoo!Finance

(Bloomberg) — On a scorching hot day in late August, representatives of Taiwan’s government and industry crowded into the clinical cool of a state-of-the-art semiconductor facility for a symbolic moment in the global tech conflict.

They were attending the opening ceremony for a training center built by Dutch company ASML Holding at a cost of about $16 million, small change for an industry used to spending $10 billion or more on a single advanced manufacturing plant.

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By Laura He, CNN Business Updated 1039 GMT (1839 HKT) October 30, 2020

Hong Kong (CNN Business) China wants to counter the United States by boosting its technological capabilities and becoming more self sufficient. That’s easier said than done. Beijing outlined its goal for more economic independence this week as the Chinese Communist Party’s Central Committee put together its latest Five-Year Plan. The 14th iteration of the vast policy framework will cover 2021 to 2025, and is key to setting the country’s political and economic agenda. The full scope of the plan might not be known for months, but a statement published Thursday said that China wants to focus on economic self-reliance and technological independence. Doing so would help insulate the country from US attempts to restrict its access to critical technologies.”[We will] nurture a strong domestic market and establish a new development pattern,” the statement said. “Domestic consumption will be a strategic focus.” Continue reading on CVD >>

By Ben Westcott, CNN

Updated 0757 GMT (1557 HKT) October 29, 2020

(CNN)The Unites States has charged eight people, including six Chinese citizens, over a three-year plot to intimidate a US resident into returning to China to face criminal charges.

The case is believed to be part of the ruling Communist Party’s Operation Fox Hunt, an international anti-corruption campaign targeting Chinese fugitives — often former officials or rich individuals suspected of economic crimes.

The US Department of Justice said Wednesday the charges included “conspiring to act in the US as illegal agents of the People’s Republic of China.” Five people have been arrested, while three are believed to be at large in China.

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Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian (Photo: Reuters)

3 min read. Updated: 20 Oct 2020, 09:20 PM IST Elizabeth Roche, livemint.com

• ‘There is only one China in the world, and Taiwan is an inalienable part of Chinese territory,’ says Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian
• The comments come against the backdrop of tensions between India and China along their common border in Ladakh

NEW DELHI: China on Tuesday warned India against launching any talks with Taiwan on trade saying such a move would be violative of the one China policy New Delhi has so far supported.

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Analysis by Brad Lendon, CNN

Updated 0300 GMT (1100 HKT) October 30, 2020

Hong Kong (CNN) China was one of two countries, along with Russia, named in a 2018 Pentagon report as posing the most significant military challenge to the United States. Two years on and that challenge has only grown.

Beijing’s program of rapid modernization has seen its military transformed into a true global power, capable of comfortably projecting its forces throughout the Indo-Pacific region and beyond.

This year alone has seen China engage in deadly border clashes with Indian troops; China’s People’s Liberation Army aircraft have repeatedly buzzed Taiwanese and Japanese air defenses; and Chinese ships have been involved in multiple incidents in the disputed waters of the South China Sea.

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31/10/2020    10:15 GMT+7

The unexpected visit by US Secretary of State Michael Richard Pompeo to Vietnam reflects the development of Vietnam – US relations. Pompeo’s visit to Vietnam took place after his visits to four Asian countries.

According to the Vietnamese Ministry of Foreign Affairs, at the invitation of Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Pham Binh Minh, US Secretary of State Michael Richard Pompeo officially visited Vietnam on October 29-30 to celebrate the 25th anniversary of Vietnam-US diplomatic relations.

A US diplomat said that Pompeo’s visit to Vietnam was not on schedule.

The surprising schedule of Mr. Pompeo showed the development of the Vietnam – US relations. Pompeo’s visit to Vietnam took place after his visits to four Asian countries, including India, Sri Lanka, Maldives and Indonesia.

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DW

With tariffs on Chinese products high, US importers are turning to other countries. A DW analysis shows where Americans are now buying their cell phones, computers, furniture and clothing from instead.

Dung Trans’ business is booming: “Last year, we added a second floor to our factory. And now I’m looking at a new site four times larger than the current one.” For his company, the ongoing trade dispute between China and the United States has been a boon. And he is not alone.

The United States and China have been locked in a trade dispute for more than two years. Between July 2018 and September 2019, the US raised tariffs on almost all imports from China by up to 25%.

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