After covering the news and discussing the continuing real estate concerns in China, we look forward to being joined by Amy Hao, who has some Chinese real estate investing stories of her own.
Nikki Haley’s Olympic Prayer: U.S. Moves On From China
Absent unforeseen developments, the games will set a dubious record: the worst TV viewership in Olympic history. An average of just 12.7 million Americans tuned in to NBC for the first week of the games, the Washington Post reports, a staggering drop of nearly 50% from four years ago. Those abysmal ratings reflect changes in viewing habits, not to mention an awkward time difference – but also an argument Haley has been making since the beginning of the Biden administration: Most people can’t simply ignore genocide for fun and games.
https://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2022/02/15/nikki_haleys_olympic_prayer_us_moves_on_from_china_147188.html
Higher Education’s Confucius Institute Hangover
The conviction of acclaimed Harvard scientist Charles Lieber on charges stemming from his improper relationship with the Chinese government has sent shockwaves throughout U.S. higher education. Lieber’s case laid bare China’s efforts to blur the traditional boundaries between academia, defense research, and the private sector to advance its military and technological modernization. These under-the-radar tactics make illicit knowledge and technology transfer very difficult to detect. Unfortunately, they are just the tip of the iceberg.
https://www-realcleardefense-com.cdn.ampproject.org/c/s/www.realcleardefense.com/articles/2022/02/08/higher_educations_confucius_institute_hangover_815724.amp.html
Bill Gates’ ‘deeply troubling’ ties to China: excerpt from ‘Red-Handed’ by Peter Schweizer
But Gates has cooperated with the regime in ways that other tech titans have not. He has lent credence to the claims of the Chinese Communist Party and been rewarded with access, favors, and titles. He has done the bidding of the regime in the tech world and has apologized or made excuses for its aberrant activities. On top of all that, he has invested in companies attached to Beijing’s military-industrial complex.
https://justthenews.com/world/asia/sunbill-gates-deeply-troubling-ties-china-excerpt-red-handed-peter-schweizer
China’s ‘Debt Bomb’ Is Going off Under Xi Jinping | Opinion
Real estate prices in China are out of whack, so the market is “frozen,” with buyers and sellers far apart. As a result, the number of transactions in recent months has fallen. Prices month-to-month are starting to come down, as well. Total sales of the country’s top 100 developers plunged 39.6% year-on-year by value last month.
https://www.newsweek.com/chinas-debt-bomb-going-off-under-xi-jinping-opinion-1676918
‘Absolutely Foolish to Have This Type of Relationship’: Thayer on Major US Tech Firms’ Ties to China
In this special episode, we sat down with Stephen Bryen, senior fellow at the Center for Security Policy, and Bradley Thayer, founding member of the Committee on the Present Danger: China. They touch on the new report by the Victims of Communism that notes eight major U.S. tech companies have business links to the Chinese military and security apparatus. Those eight companies are Apple, Amazon, Dell, Facebook, GE, Google, Intel, and Microsoft.
https://www.ntd.com/absolutely-foolish-to-have-this-type-of-relationship-thayer-on-major-us-tech-firms-ties-to-china_739233.html
CORPORATE COMPLICITY SCORECARD – By Victims of Communism Memorial Foundation
Amazon: D
Apple: D
Dell: F
Facebook: B
GE: F
Google: B
Intel: F
Microsoft: F
https://thebeltandnoose.com/corporate-complicity-scorecard/
Chip lithography leader ASML flags possible intellectual property infringement by a ‘little giant’ in China
The Dutch firm, which has a monopoly on advanced lithography tools for making cutting edge semiconductors, said in its annual report on Wednesday that a business associated with XTAL, which it previously sued for trade secrets theft in the US, was “actively marketing products in China that could potentially infringe on ASML’s IP rights”.
https://www.scmp.com/tech/tech-trends/article/3166499/chip-lithography-leader-asml-flags-possible-intellectual-property
Exclusive — House Conservatives Introduce Sanctions Proposal for Thousands of Chinese Communist Party Officials
The measure represents the strongest sanctions effort against the CCP and Xi himself that Congress has yet considered, and is a serious escalation that comes on the heels of the publication of Red-Handed, a book from Breitbart News contributor and Government Accountability Institute (GAI) president Peter Schweizer that exposes senior CCP intelligence ties to and financial deals with family members of Democrat President Joe Biden and other senior congressional leaders like House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA), Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-CA), and more.
https://www.breitbart.com/politics/2022/02/09/exclusive-house-conservatives-introduce-sanctions-proposal-for-thousands-chinese-communist-party-officials/
Viral Anti-Xi Article Reveals CCP Infighting That May Derail Xi’s Bid For 3rd Term, Analysts Say
On Jan. 19, an author under the pen name “Ark and China” published the article “Evaluate Xi Jinping Objectively” on overseas Chinese blogs. Since the Chinese New Year on Feb. 1, the commentary of Xi’s leadership became viral among readers inside China. Taiwan’s state-run Central News Agency (CNA) reported on Feb. 9 that people in China had spread the article widely although the Chinese regime censored the piece. The commentary reviewed Xi’s performance over the past decade in the anti-corruption campaign, the party’s ongoing eradication of independent religion and beliefs, human rights abuses, its tight surveillance and control of the people, enhancement of propaganda, further revision of children’s textbooks and history books, the strengthening of state-run enterprises and suppression of the private sector, conflicts with the Western world, and winning over developing countries by squandering the national treasury.
https://www.zerohedge.com/geopolitical/viral-anti-xi-article-reveals-ccp-infighting-may-derail-xis-bid-3rd-term-analysts-say
The Chinese Legislature’s Hidden Agenda
In the past two years, however, the legislature has appeared increasingly tempted to embrace the secrecy afforded by the Great Hall of the People. It has been withholding legislative drafts at a greater frequency – five in 2020-2021 alone versus five total during 2015-2019. It has also started to hide certain bills on its legislative agenda from the public until shortly before or, worse, until after their adoption. This practice not only departs from the legislature’s transparency norm, but is also at odds with the party-state’s legal reform agenda and recent official rhetoric on China’s political system. Yet the NPC Standing Committee (NPCSC) is now poised to write this practice into law, in effect guaranteeing its continued use, and once again highlighting the party-state’s competing desires for legal predictability and flexibility.
https://thediplomat.com/2022/02/the-chinese-legislatures-hidden-agenda/
Consumers’ Research blasts BlackRock’s Larry Fink for going ‘all-in on China’
The ad, which was released Thursday, torches Fink over his connections to China. Additionally, Consumers’ Research created a website to expose Fink’s different controversial political positions. “He calls democracy ‘messy.’ Props up the Chinese Communist Party,” the video says. “Praises [Chinese President] Xi and his regime, known for violent oppression.”
https://www.foxbusiness.com/politics/consumers-research-blasts-blackrocks-larry-fink-china