China Reform Monitor No. 1525

U.S. CONTROLS WILL TAKE CHINA'S CHIP INDUSTRY "BACK TO THE STONE AGE"
Washington has announced new export controls to constrain the export of chip technology to China's high-tech industries. Moving forward, semiconductors made with U.S. technology for use in AI, high performance computing and supercomputers will only be sold to China with an export license, and U.S. citizens and entities will be banned from working with China's chip producers without approval. The new rules also limit the export of any chip manufacturing tools and technology that China could use to develop its own equipment. "[Chinese companies] are basically going back to the Stone Age," said Szeho Ng of China Renaissance. These policy changes have the potential to devastate China's advanced industries, but so far U.S. enforcement mechanisms remain insufficient to ensure compliance. (Financial Times, October 8, 2022)

TAIWAN VOWS TO SAFEGUARD CHIP TECH FROM CHINA
Taiwan, home to the world's largest semiconductor foundry, will adopt "very firm" export controls and work closely with the U.S. and others to keep the PLA from getting access to advanced technologies, said Deputy Minister of Economic Affairs Chen Chern-chyi. "We will take measures to safeguard our trade secrets, safeguard our key technologies, safeguard our talent [so that they are] not poached illegally," Chen said. Taiwan will use the new U.S.-led "Chip 4" group to safeguard Taiwanese companies and to ensure supply chain resilience. (Taipei Times, October 6, 2022)

CHINA'S FISHING FLEET THREATENS THE U.S. AND LATIN AMERICA
"[China's] Illegal, unreported, and unregulated fishing poses a potentially enduring threat to the security and well-being of the U.S. and Latin America," according to a joint report from the American University and InSight Crime. The report, which looked at the problem in Argentina, Chile, Costa Rica, Ecuador, Guyana, Jamaica, Panama, Suriname, and Uruguay, found China to be the major violator, with 17,000 total vessels and 300-700 Chinese vessels operating around Latin America. China's fleet is pillaging two main fishing areas – the South Atlantic near Argentina, and the South Pacific near Chile, Peru, and Ecuador. "While the fishing boom has benefited China, Chinese consumers, and Chinese companies, most of the social, environmental, and economic costs are borne by coastal developing states," notes Miren Gutiérrez of the Overseas Development Institute. (Dialogo Americas, October 4, 2022)

CHINA SPREADS PROPAGANDA IN THE SOLOMON ISLANDS
China is conducting extensive information operations in the Solomon Islands across a broad swath of outlets to spread false narratives and suppress information in an effort to shape perceptions of security issues and foreign partners. Following the March 2022 leak of the China–Solomon Islands security agreement, Beijing has used propaganda and disinformation to push false narratives that undermine relations with the U.S. and Australia. Pro-China content appears in CPC media, official statements and local publications and is amplified by social media groups. Chinese officials are coercing journalists and media institutions to suppress information that does not align with Beijing's narratives. (Australian Strategic Policy Institute, October 5, 2022)

UN REJECTS BID TO DEBATE ON ABUSES IN XINJIANG
The 47-member UN Human Rights Council voted 17 in favor, 19 against, and with 11 abstentions, not to hold a debate on rights abuses in Xinjiang. The vote, which was proposed by the U.S., Britain, and Turkey, would have been the first time that the UN discussed China's human rights record. China's "no" votes came from its usual allies in Africa and the Persian Gulf. Somalia was the only African country, and the only member of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation, to vote "yes" on the proposed measure. Argentina, Brazil, India, Malaysia, Mexico and Ukraine all abstained. "Today's vote protects the perpetrators of human rights violations rather than the victims – a dismaying result that puts the U.N.'s main human rights body in the farcical position of ignoring the findings of the UN's own human rights office," said Amnesty International Secretary-General Agnes Callamard. (Associated Press, October 5, 2022)

[EDITOR'S NOTE: On August 31st, the UN released a report that found that "crimes against humanity" had occurred in Xinjiang, where more than a million people are in detention camps where they have been tortured, sexually assaulted, and forced to abandon their language and religion.]