The China Thread

[DGuller]

I read the first couple of paragraphs of it.  Seem like Bernie is arguing that chip manufacturers should feel a patriotic duty to build some manufacturing capacity in the US.

[Zoupa]

I didn't, which is why I'm asking.

He objects to giving money to firms which are making profits and pay their CEOs large salaries.

His proposed amendment says that if the firms make a profit using this money, the government must be repaid a reasonable rate of return.  Also the firms may not buy back their stocks, offshore production, void union agreements, or interfere with union organizing.

So you do get the gist of it. What's objectionable here?

[Admiral Yi]

So you do get the gist of it. What's objectionable here?

You're the one raising an objection to my statement that Bernie considers this kind of spending corporate welfare, so you tell me.

[grumbler]

Iirc both Belgium and the Netherlands have some advanced chip production but not in amounts that rival Taiwan. Not by a mile.

The US still makes about 10% of the world's computer chips, as well.

[Sheilbh]

Interesting that after the annual summer retreat for the leadership - and I think ahead of the twentieth party congress - to see Xi go to a revolutionary era monument in the north-east and do a speech on "common prosperity", while Li Keqiang went to Shenzhen and placed a wreath at the Deng memorial and made remarks praising "reform and openness".

To an extent it's obviously what you'd expect, in terms of that divide/focus, but still interesting to see it drawn attention to in that way.

[crazy canuck]

A Chinese-Canadian billionaire snatched in Hong Kong and taken to China in 2017 was sentenced to 13 years in prison on Friday, over a month after he was tried in secret in Shanghai.

Xiao Jianhua, who was worth an estimated $4.5-billion at the time of his disappearance, was found guilty of a number of financial crimes, including the illegal use of funds and bribery, the Shanghai No.1 Intermediate People's Court said in a statement.

His company, Tomorrow Holdings, was also fined 55 billion yuan (C$10.5 billion). The vast conglomerate has been slowly dismantled by Chinese regulators since Mr. Xiao's kidnapping in 2017, with various parts seized by the government or forced to close.

At its peak, Tomorrow controlled dozens of companies, including banks, insurers and online financial platforms, and was worth an estimated 3 trillion yuan (C$572 billion). Mr. Xiao's ownership of Tomorrow, through a variety of intermediaries, was in violation of "national financial management laws and regulatory regulations," the court said.

Mr. Xiao was found guilty of illegally collecting public deposits, using entrusted assets in breach of trust, illegally using funds and bribery. As well as the massive fine imposed on Tomorrow, Mr. Xiao was himself ordered to pay 6.5 million yuan, and the court said it would seek to recover "illegal gains" from his various crimes.

The court praised Mr. Xiao's admission of guilt and cooperation in "recovering stolen goods and restoring losses," and said his "meritorious performance" deserved a more lenient punishment.

More than 99 per cent of cases in China end in a guilty verdict, and mounting a proper defence is impossible due to the politicized nature of the criminal justice system. Defendants are often advised by lawyers to seek what amounts to an informal plea deal by cooperating with prosecutors and hoping for as lenient a sentence as possible.

While allegations of corruption and illicit dealings are not uncommon in China's cutthroat business and financial worlds, the precise reason for Mr. Xiao's sudden and dramatic downfall remains unclear.

Some observers have speculated the size of Tomorrow Holdings had alarmed Beijing, which has moved in recent years to shore up control over the business sector, reining in even companies as powerful as Alibaba and Tencent. Others have suggested Mr. Xiao was caught up in factional politics of some kind, as Chinese President Xi Jinping used a sweeping corruption campaign to crack down on enemies within the Communist Party.

A child prodigy who earned a scholarship at 15 to study law at the prestigious Peking University, Mr. Xiao first became successful selling computers, and cultivated a financial empire that gave him access to China's political and business elite. But he was also dogged by accusations that he acted as an agent or facilitator for officials who wanted to make business deals without public scrutiny, something he always denied.

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In the dead of the night on January 27, 2017, Mr. Xiao was kidnapped from a luxury hotel in Hong Kong where he was living and ferried across the border to mainland China.

A naturalized citizen of Canada, Mr. Xiao also held an Antiguan passport and Hong Kong residency. The Canadian government made multiple attempts to gain access to Mr. Xiao after he was detained, but to no avail. This included being barred from attending his trial in July.

That hearing took place amid tight secrecy, with Mr. Xiao's name not appearing on any court dockets and officials refusing to comment. While multiple sources confirmed to The Globe and Mail that the trial took place on July 4, the Chinese authorities did not acknowledge it until the sentence released by the court Friday.

Nor has China ever acknowledged Mr. Xiao's Canadian passport. At a regular press conference in Beijing on Friday, foreign ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin said that "we don't recognize dual nationality" when asked about Mr. Xiao's citizenship, a response that was not included in an official transcript.

Mr. Wang referred other questions about the verdict to the court's statement. Global Affairs Canada did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Mr. Xiao's case.

Guy Saint-Jacques, a former Canadian ambassador to China, said it was "regrettable that Canada could not have access to him during his detention and could not attend his trial." He said he hoped Ottawa will "mount an effort with other countries to force China to recognize foreign citizenships."

Since the release of Michael Kovrig and Michael Spavor last year after over 1,000 days in Chinese detention, there have been hopes for a reset in relations between Ottawa and Beijing. The conclusion of Mr. Xiao's case, while embarrassing to Canada given its complete lack of access to him, may serve to remove at least one roadblock to this, though Mr. Saint-Jacques was skeptical about how much relations could improve.

"Let's recall that Mr. Xiao will be in jail for 13 years – and Canadian officials won't have access to him – we have four other Canadians on death row plus a large number of other prisoners in Chinese jails," he said. "It will also be difficult for relations to improve as we have learned a lot about China's aggressive behaviour and foreign policy in recent years, its interference in domestic affairs in Canada and the abysmal state of human rights in China, including in Hong Kong."

[Valmy]

Doesn't look like Mono's scheme of having multiple passports is quite the guarantee of an escape route he seemed to think it was.

[Josquius]

Got me reading up on Antigua passports there. 30th most powerful in the world and freely for sale at 100k a pop.
This sets off all kinds of questions.
Just why are nations being so open to Antigua when their citizenship is such a free for all

[Sheilbh]

Got me reading up on Antigua passports there. 30th most powerful in the world and freely for sale at 100k a pop.
This sets off all kinds of questions.
Just why are nations being so open to Antigua when their citizenship is such a free for all

For a lot of countries I think it's normally just a mirroring. If you're relatively relaxed/easy on people coming in then that tends to get reciprocated. I think certainly for Latin American countries they normally just copy the tourism requirements that are imposed on their citizens.

The West then add layers that disadvantage the global south below a certain income level. But it's not about things like how strict or not citizenship is.

[Josquius]

I know F.A about mahjong.
But this intrigues me nonetheless. A way to crack through the han uber culture and see regional differences on a map




(https://medium.com/the-physics-arxiv-blog/the-curious-link-between-online-gaming-and-chinese-regional-culture-f482a7946e50)

[Tonitrus]

But where do they stand in soda vs pop?

[CountDeMoney]

A way to crack through the han uber culture and see regional differences on a map

Han set first.

[HVC]

27 individuals punished for "ugly" math book illustrations 10 years after the books were first published

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/aug/23/china-punishes-27-people-over-tragically-ugly-illustrations-in-maths-textbook

[The Larch]

The statement said the illustrators and designers were "dealt with accordingly" but did not give details.

 

[crazy canuck]

The statement said the illustrators and designers were "dealt with accordingly" but did not give details.

 

Fear is most effective when people are left to imagine what might happen to them.