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By The ICAS Team
US Private Sector Airlifts Medical Supplies to China to Fight Coronavirus
The US-China Business Council, February 13
In response to the coronavirus outbreak, US private sector associations such as the US-China Business Council (USCBC), the National Committee on US-China Relations, and the George H. W. Bush Foundation for US-China Relations have organized a donation of medical supplies to aid Chinese health professionals as they combat the virus. ‘Most of the donated goods on the flight will be rushed to Wuhan hospitals with support from Chinese People’s Association for Friendship with Foreign Countries and China Charity Federation.’
U.S. Sets Second Evacuation of Americans From China
By James T. Areddy and Liza Lin
The Wall Street Journal, February 4
In the wake of Washington announcing a travel advisory ‘Level 4: Do Not Travel’ for Hubei province, Washington decided to arrange a charter flight to evacuate three dozen American diplomats, their families, and Americans registered with the U.S. consulate in Wuhan from Wuhan, China, where the deadly coronavirus is predicted to have originated from. There are about 1,000 Americans living in Wuhan who were offered an unpaid seat on the special charter flight, which will also be carrying medical professionals and medical supplies. Reports state that Beijing has been ‘very cooperative’ in this and related matters.
Delta, American, United to suspend all China mainland flights as coronavirus crisis grows
By Curtis Tate
USAToday, January 31
Three top US airlines–Delta, American, and United–announced on Friday that they will temporarily cancel all flights to and from mainland China in the wake of the coronavirus outbreak and subsequent pressure from labor unions representing airline employees. The announcement came a day after the World Health Organization declared the coronavirus outbreak a global health emergency and the U.S. State Department subsequently elevated its travel advisory for China to level 4 “Do Not Travel.”
US adds new charges, including racketeering, to case against Huawei
By Jodi Xu Klein
South China Morning Post, February 14
Washington added additional charges to the criminal case launched against China’s Huawei Technologies in January 2019, accusing the company of stealing intellectual property from six US companies. New charges include racketeering, obstruction of justice and money laundering.
US investigates Harvard and Yale over foreign funding
BBC, February 13
In an effort to clamp down on foreign funding to academic institutions, the US Department of Education has requested Ivy League universities including Yale and Harvard to disclose records of foreign governments, companies, and other sources involved in contracts and gifts. ‘Since July, the Department of Education said it had uncovered some $6.6bn in previously unreported gifts from countries including Qatar, China, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates. It said this figure could be ‘significantly underestimated.’’
U.S. Officials Say Huawei Can Covertly Access Telecom Networks
By Bojan Pancevski
The Wall Street Journal, February 12
National Security Advisor Robert O’Brien stated that ‘we have evidence that Huawei has the capability secretly to access sensitive and personal information in systems it maintains and sells around the world.’ However, a senior Huawei official said that ‘the use of the lawful interception interface is strictly regulated and can only be accessed by certified personnel of the network operators. No Huawei employee is allowed to access the network without an explicit approval from the network operator.’ Washington has declassified some of its intelligence in order to share them with its allies such as the U.K. and Germany.
China crossing into Taiwan airspace was ‘completely inappropriate,’ says State Department official
By Huileng Tan
CNBC, February 12
R. Clarke Cooper, assistant secretary for political-military affairs at the U.S. Department of State stated that Chinese jets crossing an unofficial middle line in the Taiwan Strait on Monday was ‘completely inappropriate’ and ‘absolutely concerns us.’‘China’s People’s Liberation Army said on Monday that the drills were aimed at improving combat capabilities.’
Justice Dept. charges four members of Chinese military in connection with 2017 hack at Equifax
By Devlin Barrett and Matt Zapotosky
The Washington Post, February 10
The U.S. Justice Department charged four members of the People’s Liberation Army with the 2017 cyber-attack of the credit reporting agency Equifax. ‘The 2017 breach gave hackers access to the personal information, including Social Security numbers and birth dates, of about 145 million people.’
Alibaba leads Chinese retreat from Silicon Valley
By Miles Kruppa
Financial Times, February 9
Some of China’s largest tech companies and investors are exiting the U.S. because of ‘increased scrutiny of deals from the Committee on Foreign Investment in the US … [P]ublicly disclosed investments in US start-ups by Baidu, Alibaba and Tencent fell 84 per cent from 2018, according to an analysis by the data provider PitchBook.’ Alibaba increased its focused investments in India and South-east Asia, while Tencent is looking towards Europe.
China to Cut Tariffs on $75 Billion of U.S. Goods
By Lingling Wei
The Wall Street Journal, February 6
Beijing announced that China will cut tariffs by half on certain U.S. goods in order to ‘alleviate economic and trade frictions and expand economic and trade cooperation.’ This move comes as China pledges to fulfill commitments on the US-China ‘Phase One’ trade agreement.
US freedom of navigation patrols in South China Sea hit record high in 2019
By John Power
South China Morning Post, February 5
The South China Morning Post (SCMP) has just completed the first official data review of U.S. Navy patrols in the South China Sea over the past five years, with evidence of the Trump Administration maintaining a ‘concrete drive towards FONOPs’. According to data from the U.S. Pacific Fleet, U.S. Navy vessels sailed within 12 nautical miles of Chinese-claimed or Chinese-occupied maritime features seven times in 2019, setting a new record. In previous years, the number of U.S. FONOPs in this region reached 5 (2018), 6 (2017), 3 (2016), 2 (2015), and 0 (2014). The Pacific Fleet released this data to the SCMP after the SCMP submitted a freedom of information request.
Hong Kong activist Nathan Law to attend Trump’s State of the Union address
By Mark Magnier
South China Morning Post, February 3
US Senator Rick Scott (R-FL) invited Hong Kong’s lead activist Nathan Law to attend Trump’s 2020 State of the Union address on February 4 to ‘keep Hong Kong’s…struggle for democracy front and centre as a foreign policy issue for the US.’ Scott said he is ‘honored’ to have Law as his guest and that Law is an ‘inspiration in the fight for freedom and democracy.’ In another strong message against Beijing’s Communist Party, Scott’s fellow Florida Senator Marco Rubio (R-FL) announced the same day he would host Uyghur human rights activist Rushan Abbas at the State of the Union address.
Spy school: Chinese military officer busted for posing as Boston University student
By Bill Gertz
The Washington Times, February 1
Lt. Ye Yanqing of the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) fled the United States after the FBI interviewed her about links to the PLA. Posing as a student at Harvard University, she was also indicted in a separate case last week that resulted in the arrest of Dr. Charles Lieber, the chairman of Harvard’s chemistry department, who lied about taking money from a university in Wuhan, China and subsequently lied to the Pentagon. Analysts perceive this case as part of a larger scheme by Beijing to recruit foreign specialists.
Beijing accuses US of ‘deliberate provocations’ in South China Sea as warship passes Spratly Islands
By Keegan Elmer
South China Morning Post, January 28
On behalf of the PLA Southern Theatre Command, Col. Li Huamin expressed outrage at the ‘evil intentions’ and ‘naked act of navigational hegemony’ of the maritime passage of the USS Montgomery on Lunar New Year holiday. He reiterated the ‘indisputable’ Chinese sovereignty over the South China Sea and the islands therein and proclaimed any American provocations and tricks were a waste of effort. In defense, the U.S. Navy said it was asserting freedom of navigation ‘consistent with international law’.
LCS Conducts First South China Sea FONOP of 2020
By The Maritime Executive
The Maritime Executive, January 28
The USS Montgomery conducted the US Navy’s first freedom of navigation operation (FONOP) in the South China Sea of 2020, “innocently” passing by the Chinese-claimed Johnson and Fiery Cross reefs.
House passes Tibet human rights bill
By Haley Byrd
CNN, January 28
As impeachment hearings continue in the Senate, on Tuesday the House revisited the 2002 Tibetan Policy Act in a show of solidarity against China. The Tibet and Support Act, which was approved on Tuesday with a vote of 392-22, would now make it US policy that the succession of Tibetan Buddhist leaders must be “left solely to the Tibetan Buddhist community without interference from the Chinese government.” Should Beijing interfere, China will be subject to sanctions under the Global Magnitsky Act. Aside from calling for a US consulate in Lhasa, Tibet, the bill authorizes $27 million annually for programs that strengthen Tibetan governance, language and culture, education, and sustainable development.
China is estimated to be the world’s second largest arms maker after US
By Catherine Wong
South China Morning Post, January 27
New research released by the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) suggests that China has not only surpassed Russia as the second largest arms producer in the world but is also becoming increasingly independent from foreign military technology. The report estimated that ‘China’s military spending reached US$228 billion in 2017–far more than the official defense budget of US$151 billion.’
Can China Replace the United States in Israel?
By Daniel J. Samet
Foreign Policy, February 3
“In the wake of the United States and China’s phase one trade deal, the latter is quietly trying to strike an agreement of its own with Israel. Reports last December indicated that, after years of secret talks, China and Israel could conclude a trade pact sometime in 2020. This news renders an already contentious trilateral relationship even more so.”
China and America Can Compete and Coexist
By Zhou Bo
The New York Times, February 3
“Forget the trade war. If the gravest challenge of the 21st century is finding ways that China and the United States can coexist competitively, the real danger is that an unexpected incident might trigger a conflict that neither side has anticipated or could possibly control. The likeliest potential flash point is the South China Sea.”
Davos dispatch: Has China won?
By Frederick Kempe
Atlantic Council, January 26
“Kishore Mahbubani, the Singaporean author and intellectual, greets me warmly in a conference lounge here and hands me a card promoting the March release of his new book, bearing that provocative question as its title. The cover blurb announces that he will explain “how, while America became arrogant and distracted, a three-thousand-year-old civilization is well on the way to becoming the number one power in the world.” The year ahead is likely to provide the most profound trial yet for that thesis and for the durability of China’s rise.”
“Several new shocks and challenges, ranging from a potential pandemic to slowing growth, will test the resilience of China’s authoritarian leadership and the state-run capitalist system that has provided the country four decades of record growth. It thus also could mark a significant year for the emerging, generational clash, not of civilizations as Samuel Huntington had argued, but rather of economic and political systems, between democratic and authoritarian capitalism. The latest blow to China has been the spread of coronavirus from Wuhan, whose geographic centrality and 11-million population make it a Chicago-like crossroads for China and to the world.”
“Despite all that, the consensus among delegates in Davos with whom I discussed China’s challenges was that none of them would throw China off its trajectory of becoming the world’s number one power – economically, politically, technologically, and eventually also militarily.”
Disruption: US-China Venture Capital in a New Era of Strategic Competition
By Adam Lysenko, Thilo Hanemann, and Daniel H. Rosen
Rhodium Group & The National Committee on U.S.-China Relations, January 2020
“In the past three years US strategic doctrine on China has shifted from a presumption of eventual convergence with liberal market principles to expectation of long-term systemic rivalry … this shift is reflected in a reassessment of US interests and policies across all channels of economic engagement: trade, investment, innovation, people and other areas.”
“Political intervention is now impinging on other types of capital flows, including portfolio investment of all sorts…amid a broader debate about “financial decoupling” in the US, one type of portfolio investment has received considerable attention: venture capital (VC) financing for early stage technology companies. Key findings related to US-China venture capital trends from 2000 to 2019 are:
• Venture capital is taking center stage in policy debates on US-China technology collaboration, but there is insufficient public information and data to inform an intelligent discussion.
• Chinese venture capital investment in the US increased rapidly after 2014 from a very low base but has stalled since 2018, and China’s role in US technology financing remains relatively small.
• Activity in both directions peaked in 1H 2018 and subsided throughout 2019 due to market dynamics as well as policy and political uncertainty.
• US policymakers face important decisions in 2020 that will shape future bilateral VC flows as well as the direction of the broader US-China relationship.”
Understanding China’s Economic Slowdown: Countering Belt and Road and Beijing’s Plans to Dominate Global Innovation
Event by Hudson Institute, February 18
Bridging strategies: infrastructure efforts in Southeast Asia in an era of great power competition
Event by Atlantic Council, February 20
China’s Business in Central Asia: Power and Anxiety
Event by Wilson Center, February 20
Competition and Cooperation: Redefining Asia’s Economic Objectives
Event by Wilson Center, February 25
How a modernized Navy will compete with China and Russia
Event by Brookings Institute, February 28
Protecting China’s Biodiverse Hotspots: The Birth of a National Park System
Event by Wilson Center, March 3
The Coronavirus Outbreak: A Challenge for Science and Policy
Event by Georgetown University, Initiative for U.S.-China Dialogue, February 13
Fateful triangle: How China shaped U.S.-India relations
Event by Brookings Institute, February 12
Peering around the corner: The geopolitics of the coronavirus
Event by Atlantic Council, February 11
PRC Interference in Taiwan’s Elections
Event by Center for Strategic and International Studies, February 11
America Rethinks China: A Conversation with Jiayang Fan and Kaiser Kuo
Event by Wilson Center, February 10
Containing the Coronavirus: Challenges to Thwarting the Outbreak
Event by Hudson Institute, February 10
How Can Taiwan Assure Its Innovation Advantage?
Event by Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, February 10
Looking North: Conference on Security in the Arctic
Event by Atlantic Council, February 6
China Initiative Conference
Event by Center for Strategic and International Studies, February 6
How to counter China’s global malign influence: A conversation with Rep. Michael McCaul
Event by American Enterprise Institute, February 4
Deep Decarbonization Pathways
Event by Center for Strategic and International Studies, January 23
China’s Vision of Victory
Event by The Institute of World Politics, January 22
Asia Forecast 2020
Event by Center for Strategic and International Studies, January 22
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