Tag Archives: china

US Proposes Banning Chinese Software And Components In Vehicles

china,

The U.S. Commerce Department on Monday proposed banning Chinese software and hardware for vehicles with a built-in internet connection, a move that would in effect ban Chinese vehicles from the US market, Financial Times reported.

The rule follows concerns from the Biden administration about Chinese companies collecting data on American drivers and infrastructure as well as the potential for foreign adversaries to remotely manipulate connected cars on US roads.

It is the latest step in a wider US effort to crack down on Chinese vehicles, software and components. The US already sharply raised tariffs on Chinese imports this year, including a 100 per cent levy on Chinese electric vehicles.

The measure would allow some exceptions to the ban if companies could show they were taking mitigating measures, such as auditing or site checking. But officials said the rule would essentially ban Chinese vehicles.

The White House posted: FACT SHEET: Protecting America from Connected Vehicle Technology from Countries of Concern.

Chinese automakers are seeking to dominate connected vehicle technologies in the United States and globally, posing new threats to our national security, including through our supply chains. The Biden-Harris Administration is committed to ensuring that our automotive supply chains are resilient and secure from foreign threats.

Today, President Biden is announcing strong action to protect America from the national security risks associated with connected vehicle technologies from countries of concern. The Department of Commerce is issuing a notice of proposed rulemaking (NPRM) that would, if finalized as proposed, prohibit the sale or import of connected vehicles that incorporate certain technology and the import of particular components themselves from countries of concern, specifically the People’s Republic of China (PRC) and Russia.

The announcement is the next step in a process President Biden announced in February, 2024. This NPRM incorporates public feedback submitted in response to the Department’s advance notice of proposed rulemaking (ANPRM) issued on March 1, 2024, which sought public comment on the national security technologies used in connected vehicles…

Reuters reported: The U.S. Commerce Department on Monday proposed prohibiting key Chinese software and hardware in connected vehicles on American roads due to national security concerns, a move that would effectively bar Chinese cars and trucks from the U.S. market.

The planned regulations, first reported by Reuters, would also force American and other major automakers in years ahead to remove key Chinese software and hardware from vehicles in the United States.

President Joe Biden’s administration has raised concerns about data collection by connected Chinese vehicles on U.S. drivers and infrastructure and potential foreign manipulation of vehicles connected to the internet and navigation systems. In February, the White House ordered an investigation.

In my opinion, it looks like the Biden-Harris Administration is working on removing Chinese software and hardware from vehicles in the U.S. Doing so should make the roads much safer.

American Executives Working In China Affected By U.S. Chip Restrictions

Information,

American workers hold key positions throughout China’s domestic chip industry, helping manufacturers develop new chips to catch up with foreign rivals. Now, those workers are in limbo under new U.S. export control rules that prohibit U.S. citizens from supporting China’s advanced chip development, The Wall Street Journal reported.

At least 43 senior executives working with 16 publicly listed Chinese semiconductor companies are American citizens, according to an examination of company filings and official websites by The Wall Street Journal. Many of them hold C-suite titles, from chief executive to vice president and chairman.

On October 9, the Biden Administration imposed new export restrictions on advanced semiconductors and chip-manufacturing equipment in an effort to prevent American technology from advancing China’s military power. Those restrictions require licenses for exports of many advanced technologies to Chinese entities deemed to be working against the U.S. national security interests.

The Wall Street Journal reported that for many senior executives at Chinese companies, the rule will likely force them to decide between their jobs and their U.S. citizenship or permanent resident status. The rules require all U.S. persons to apply for a license to continue working in Chinese advanced chip development.

According to The Wall Street Journal, Beijing-based Naura Technology Group co. and Dutch equipment maker ASML Holding NV, have suspended their American employees from continuing work that could now be restricted while they seek clarity on the rules, the companies have said.

Other companies affected by the restrictions include AMEC, one of China’s largest chip-making equipment vendors, GigaDevice Semiconductor, which makes flash memory chips, and KingSemi Co., which produces the most advanced coating and development equipment in China and supplies giants including Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co.

Bloomberg reported that Chinese President Xi Jinping pledged his nation will prevail in its fight to develop strategically important tech, underscoring Beijing’s concern over a US campaign to separate it from cutting-edge chip capabilities.

According to Bloomberg, Xi said the world’s No. 2 economy will speed up innovation in areas that are vital to “technology self-reliance,” adding that “China will move faster to launch a number of major national projects that are of strategic, big-picture, and long-term importance”. Bloomberg reported that Xi did not give details on those efforts.

While it is currently unclear exactly what China intends to do in regards to chip-making, it is obvious that the U.S. restrictions are taking their toll on not only China, but also on some American workers who are employed by China’s technology companies. At a glance, it appears that the Biden administration’s restrictions are working as intended.

China Declares All Cryptocurrency Activities Illegal

Legal,

The People’s Bank of China has declared all digital currency activities illegal, and has vowed to crack down on the market, CNBC reported. According to CNBC, the People’s Bank of China said services offering trading, order matching, token issuance, and derivatives for virtual currencies are strictly prohibited. Overseas crypto exchanges providing services in mainland China are also illegal.

It appears that this decision affected the price of cryptocurrency, which resulted in the stocks for at least some types of cryptocurrency falling. CNBC pointed out that this comes after Beijing announced a crackdown on crypto mining earlier this year, which caused a slump in bitcoin’s processing power.

The Wall Street Journal reported that the People’s Bank of China declared all cryptocurrency-related transactions illegal to prevent the risks surrounding crypto trading and to maintain national security and social stability. According to the Wall Street Journal, the People’s Bank of China said that cryptocurrencies are issued by non monetary authorities, use encryption technologies and exist in digital form, and shouldn’t be circulated and used in the market as currencies.

I’m no expert on cryptocurrency, but it is my understanding that one of the reasons why some people like cryptocurrency is because they think the transactions are anonymous. However, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) points out that “depending on the cryptocurrency, the information added to the blockchain can include details like the transaction amount and the sender’s and recipient’s wallet addresses”. To me, that sounds like China could potentially discover which of their people are buying or selling cryptocurrency.

I understand that a country can make rules or laws that people who live in that country are required to comply with. I’m having difficulty understanding why China’s decision to call all digital currency illegal also requires people who live in other countries to comply with China’s new rules.

Gaming Limitations Could Threaten China’s eSports Dominance

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Recently, Financial Times posted an article titled: “Gaming crackdown threatens China’s esports dominance, warn players”. In the article, it says that Beijing introduced gaming regulations last week that limited players under 18 to only three hours of online games per week.

The article astutely points out that the limitation is going to blunt China’s professional eSports teams because they will have less time to play games than their competition from other countries (such as the United States, South Korea, and Europe). According to Financial Times, eSports is big business in China and widely popular.

The Financial Times also reported that China is set to host esports first appearance as a medal event in at the 2022 Asian Games in Hangzhou. They have set up a stadium dedicated entirely to competitive video gaming in Chongqing with more than 7,000 seats.

In August of 2021, South China Morning Post reported that that gamers in China who are under the age of 18 would have their playing time limited to one hour on regular days and two hours on public holidays, which was announced by Tencent.

It appeared to be a response to a game called Honour of Kings, (created by Tencent) which was the first video game in the world, on any platform, to average more than 100 million users a day. Teens will also be prohibited from playing the game between 10pm and 8am.

On August 30, 2021, BBC reported that Tencent announced it was rolling out facial recognition to stop children playing between 10pm and 8am. According to BBC, the move followed fears that children were using adult ID’s to circumvent rules.

Personally, I can’t see how eSports players in China are going to be able to compete against players from other countries – who don’t have the limitations that China imposed upon young gamers. To me, the severe limitations on gameplay is going to stifle China’s eSports players.

China’s ‘Straddling Bus’ is Stranger Than Fiction

Transportation,

TEB graphicFrom an American perspective, China can look like a very strange place. While the Asian country has absorbed many Western traits into its culture, China is still different in many ways. I experienced this recently when I came across news of a new public transit vehicle being tested in China. The vehicle’s technically known as the Transit Elevated Bus (TEB) and it’s colloquially referred to as the “Straddling Bus,” due to the way it straddles the roads it moves over.

The TEB looks like a quasi-futuristic people mover that actually travels above the road on elevated walls that glide along a predefined track. In reality, the “Straddling Bus” isn’t really a bus at all. It’s more like a train. Whatever you call it, busses and trains aren’t likely to elicit that much excitement in 2016. But the TEB’s appeal comes from the way it moves over traffic, allowing cars to pass underneath. In the right setting, a TEB could be an extremely practical public transit solution, requiring less space (and in turn expense) than subways or elevated railways.

The company that designed and built the first TEB prototype actually took the vehicle out for a short test drive on a public street in Qinhuangdao. The event was attended by a decent-sized crowd, some of whom even got to ride aboard the vehicle.

But over the next few days, reports began to surface that the TEB and the company behind it were nothing more than a scam:

…Several state media outlets have published articles alleging that the company in charge of developing the TEB crowdfunded their project illegally and misled investors.
Despite the hype surrounding the trial run, both domestic and abroad, it seems that the company may have blown the occassion out of proportion. Not only was the test run just 300 meters long and completely failed to mimic real-life traffic conditions, but authorities in Qinhuangdao city also were not aware of it even happening, People’s Daily reports. The firm later verified that it wasn’t a “road test,” but simply part of “internal testing.”

It looks like the Straddling Bus has gone as quickly as it arrived. Perhaps another enterprising transit company will pick up where the first TEB left off. Anything’s possible in China.

 

Need to cross China quickly? There’s a train for that

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bigstock-High-Speed-Train-18755

China loves its high-speed rail lines. Now the country is boasting that it is even faster and cheaper to go from one end to the other, with the “longest” high-speed rail line in the world — a staggering 2,298 kilometer stretch of metal that reaches from north to south across the nation.

The new trains move at 186 mph and run between  Beijing in the north and Guangzhou in the south. According to a report in the Wall Street Journal, the ride will still take eight hours, but that is much faster than the previous twenty that this journey used to entail.

Plus there is an added bonus — the $139 price tag for a ticket to go the distance is considerably cheaper than flying. although it does still take more time than traveling by air. Still, a slightly slower journey at a much-discounted price represents real competition. Now, if only services like this would come to the United States, where our infrastructure is in great need of a serious upgrade.

Image High Speed Train by BigStock