^CategoryChina

An advanced CPU printed with a flag of USA on a neon glowing electronic circuit board. Illustration of the concept of United States made high-end micro chips.

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Author
Heather Zeiger
Date
September 27, 2022

Categorized
Business and Finance, China, Ethics, Politics, Programming

Tagged
China, Chips Act (European equivalent), CHIPS+ Act (2022), CHIPS+ Act (2022) critics, Derek Scissors, Doug Ducey, Featured, Klon Kitchens, Taiwan, Taiwan and advanced microchips, Taiwan and China, Taiwan microchips industry, Taiwan sovereignty, Tsai Ing-wen}

What Difference Has the CHIPS Act Made to the U.S. and Taiwan?

_{We need to first look at the broader picture of what the CHIPS Act is intended to do} _{Heather Zeiger

September 27, 2022

8

Business and Finance, China, Ethics, Politics, Programming}

In a previous article, I discussed the semiconductor industry and Taiwan’s supremacy in manufacturing microchips, the foundry portion of the semiconductor supply chain. Now let’s look at the U.S. perspective on the semiconductor industry and its relationship to Taiwan. In order to do that, we have to talk about the CHIPS+ Act Congress passed a bipartisan bill, the CHIPS and Science Act in July, after a year of negotiations in committee. President Biden signed the act into law on August 9 and the CHIPS Act Implementation Strategy was launched on September 6 through an executive order. CHIPS, or “Creating Helpful Incentives to Produce Semiconductors,” is a $250B initiative that incentivizes businesses to bring semiconductor manufacturing, research and innovation back to Read More ›

Concept image of China-Africa economic relations, Bilateral trade,

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Author
News
Date
September 15, 2022

Categorized
China, Global Technology

Tagged
Africa and high tech, China vs. West in Africa, China's high tech role in Africa, Mathew Otieno}

Journalist: West Is Letting Africa Slide Into China’s Tech Orbit

_{Mathew Otieno points out that China slid easily into the space left by the former Soviet Union. — liked just for not being Western} _{News

September 15, 2022

6

China, Global Technology}

Kenyan tech reporter Mathew Otieno warns that, as Africa goes high-tech, it is mainly on totalitarian China’s terms. He doesn’t spare feelings: “A combination of arrogance and indifference is proving fatal to Western interests” Most of Africa’s signature modern infrastructure projects, from railways and roads to dams and ports, have been, or are being, built or upgraded by Chinese firms, many of them state-owned, with funding from Chinese loans and grants. Even the building currently housing the headquarters of the African Union was a wholesale Chinese gift, from foundations to rafters. Mathew Otieno, “The West is letting Africa slide into China’s orbit. It doesn’t have to” at MercatorNet (August 31, 2022) Many warn of a debt trap for the emerging Read More ›

China Taiwan and USA flag print screen to microchip on electronic board for symbol of military conflict war and economic business partnership concept.

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post

Author
Heather Zeiger
Date
September 6, 2022

Categorized
China, Economics, Global Technology, Politics

Tagged
Clarissa Wei, Fabless models vs. IDM in microchips, Featured, Foundries for microchips, Integrated device manufacturer (IDM) models in microchip production, Mark Liu, Nancy Pelosi in Taiwan, Semiconductor industry and Taiwan, Silicon shield of Taiwan, Taiwan and advanced microchips, Taiwan history, Taiwan microchip foundries, Taiwan microchips industry, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Corp as "sacred mountain", Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Corp. (TSMC), Taiwan sovereignty, Tsai Ing-wen}

Taiwan Has Bet Its Uncertain Future on Advanced Microchips

_{An increasingly belligerent China has long claimed to own Taiwan, which manufactures 90% of the world’s *advanced* microchips} _{Heather Zeiger

September 6, 2022

8

China, Economics, Global Technology, Politics}

Taiwan is the world’s largest manufacturer of microchips*, and not just by a small margin. Taiwan manufactures 65% of the microchips used in everything from smartphones to missiles. This compares to the U.S. at 10% and China at 5%. South Korea and Japan produce the rest. More important, Taiwan manufactures 90% of the world’s advanced microchips. In other words, without Taiwan, the world’s supply of microchips would come to a standstill, something that has been keenly felt since 2021 when chip shortages affected the auto industry. So far, the world’s dependence on Taiwan’s chips has protected the self-governing island nation from a potential invasion or ruinous trade sanctions from China. Earlier, we looked at U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s visit Read More ›

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Author
Heather Zeiger
Date
August 29, 2022

Categorized
China, Economics, Politics

Tagged
CHIPS+ Act (2022), Computer chips industry and Taiwan, Featured, Mark Liu, Nancy Pelosi, Nancy Pelosi and China, Semiconductor industry and Taiwan, Taiwan, Taiwan and China, Taiwan Relations Act (1979)}

Pelosi’s Visit to Taiwan Matters to China. And to Your Computer

_{China staged an impressive display of military firepower at U.S, lawmaker Nancy Pelosi’s visit Taiwan — prominent in the globally crucial semiconductor “chips” industry} _{Heather Zeiger

August 29, 2022

5

China, Economics, Politics}

U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s visit to Taiwan at the beginning of August included a meeting with Mark Liu, head of the Taiwan Manufacturing Semiconductor Corporation (TMSC), which is the world’s largest producer of computer microchips — and makes most of the world’s advanced ones. Plans for Pelosi’s visit were first reported in Financial Times, after the trip was rescheduled due to COVID. China responded to the announcement with a global propaganda to present the visit as an act of defiance against the U.S. One China Policy. The U.S. One-China Policy recognizes the People’s Republic of China as the sole legal government of China but it does not necessarily agree with the PRC on Taiwan being a part of China. Read More ›

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post

Author
Heather Zeiger
Date
July 24, 2022

Categorized
Artificial Intelligence, China, Science Fiction, Surveillance

Tagged
Algorithmic biases and pre-crime, Featured, Foundation trilogy (Asimov), Hari Seldon (character in Foundations), John Lui, Maya Wang, Minority Report vs Foundation pre-crime, Muyi Xiao, Paul Mozur, Pre-crime algorithms in China, Pre-crime algorithms in science fiction, Pre-crime and algorithmic biases}

How China’s Pre-Crime Algorithms Work — and Their Fatal Flaw

_{The algorithms target, for example, those who complain about or draw attention to social injustices and abuses} _{Heather Zeiger

July 24, 2022

7

Artificial Intelligence, China, Science Fiction, Surveillance}

In a previous article, we looked at the way George Orwell ’s dystopian 1984 is looking less and less like fiction as the Chinese Communist Party exploits the capabilities of AI and Big Data to surveil its entire population. But beyond surveilling citizens’ movements in real time, the CCP also hopes to predict crimes and protests before they happen. In a follow-up story in the New York Times, Paul Mozur, Muyi Xiao, and John Lui look at how the CCP is also bringing the dystopian world of Philip K. Dick ’s Minority Report (2002) to real life, with one difference: Rather than human “precogs” who can predict the future, the CCP relies on algorithms that can interrogate large swaths of Read More ›

Cyborg hologram watching a subway interior 3D rendering

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post

Author
Gary Smith
Date
July 19, 2022

Categorized
Artificial Intelligence, Censorship, China, Surveillance

Tagged
China and crime prediction algorithms, China and mind-reading algorithms, Crime prediction algorithms, Daniel Ellsberg, Edward Snowden, Featured, Freedom of the press and Constitution, George Orwell on total surveillance, Good Wife (TV series), James Clapper, Mind-reading algorithms, National Security Agency (NSA), Social credit scores, Surveillance and liberal democracy, Telescreen and modern equivalents}

Big Brother Is Watching You (And Trying to Read Your Mind)

_{Chinese researchers now claim to have developed technology that can read our minds} _{Gary Smith

July 19, 2022

6

Artificial Intelligence, Censorship, China, Surveillance}

One of the most popular story lines in the widely acclaimed television show The Good Wife (2009–2016) is when National Security Agency (NSA) techies entertain themselves by eavesdropping on the heroine’s personal life. It clearly resonated with viewers and reinforced the fears of many that the NSA might be listening to their conversations. Indeed, they might be. In 2013 James Clapper, Director of National Intelligence, was asked by U.S. Senator Ron Wyden about whether NSA collects “any type of data at all on millions or hundreds of millions of Americans.” Clapper answered, under oath, “No sir, not wittingly.” Clapper had been informed the day before that he would be asked this question and he was offered an opportunity the day Read More ›

Surveillance cameras at Tiananmen square in Beijing, China

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Author
Heather Zeiger
Date
July 1, 2022

Categorized
China, Data Privacy, Surveillance

Tagged
Biometric data and surveillance, China and AI supremacy aim, China and iris scanning for surveillance, China surveillance and biometric data, China surveillance and facial recognition, China surveillance and smart cameras, China surveillance equipment purchases, China surveillance phone trackers, China Twentieth Party Congress, China zero-Covid policies, ChinaFile and China surveillance, Featured, Iris scanning and surveillance, New York Times and China Surveillance, Phone trackers and surveillance, Smart cameras and China surveillance, Smart cameras and surveillance, Xi Jinping and twentieth congress, Xinjiang as demo project for all-China surveillance}

China Is Quite Serious About Total Surveillance of Every Citizen

_{Local governments are buying enough surveillance equipment to constantly watch 1.6 billion people, documents show} _{Heather Zeiger

July 1, 2022

8

China, Data Privacy, Surveillance}

The telescreen received and transmitted simultaneously… There was of course no way of knowing whether you were being watched at any given moment… It was even conceivable that they watched everybody all the time. But at any rate they could plug in your wire whenever they wanted to. You had to live — did live, from habit that became instinct — in the assumption that every sound you made was overheard, and, except in darkness, every movement scrutinised. – George Orwell, 1984 The New York Times in partnership with ChinaFile has come out with a new report on the extent of China’s surveillance state. It is nothing short of an attempt to achieve total surveillance of its 1.4 billion people: Read More ›

A moody science fiction concept, of a figure standing in a field with UFO lights glowing in the sky. On a foggy spooky night. With a vintage, grunge edit

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post

Author
News
Date
June 11, 2022

Categorized
China, Military, Surveillance

Tagged
Extraterrestrial life, House Select Committee on UFOs (2022), NASA and UFOs, Pentagon and UFO stigma, UFOs (explanations for phenomena)}

NASA Cuts Out the Yuk Yuks, Gets Serious About UFO Research

_{This fall the space agency is hiring top scientists to tackle “some of the most perplexing mysteries”} _{News

June 11, 2022

4

China, Military, Surveillance}

A leading science news release site tells us that NASA is officially joining the hunt for UFOs. The nine-month project, which will see leading scientists examine the most puzzling images, is expected to begin in the fall and last nine months: “Over the decades, NASA has answered the call to tackle some of the most perplexing mysteries we know of, and this is no different,” Daniel Evans, the NASA scientist responsible for coordinating the study, told reporters on a call. News, “NASA gets serious about UFOs” at Phys.Org (June 9, 2022) Phys.org comments, “The announcement comes as the field of UFO study, once a poorly-regarded research backwater, is gaining more mainstream traction,” adding “Another overarching goal of NASA is to Read More ›

Chinese flags on barbed wire wall in Kashgar (Kashi), Xinjiang, China.

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post

Author
Heather Zeiger
Date
June 8, 2022

Categorized
Censorship, China

Tagged
Adrian Zenz, Anihan Hamit, China data leaks on Uyghurs, Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and Uyghurs, Chinese Communist Party PR re internment camps, Featured, Hawagul Tewekkul, International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ), Newlines report on the Uyghur genocide, Rahile Omer, Uyghurs in "re-education" camps, Xinjiang Police Files, Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region}

Digital Data Leaks Reveal Extent of Uyghur Oppression in China

_{Only in the last decade or so has true technological oppression of an entire people group was even possible. But at least it is a two-edged sword} _{Heather Zeiger

June 8, 2022

9

Censorship, China}

Hawagul Tewekkul’s tear-filled eyes are the first thing you see at the BBC’s interactive article, “The Faces from China’s Uyghur Detention Camps.” Her photo is one of 5,000 photos of Uyghurs and other Turkic minorities found in one of the largest data leaks on the Chinese Communist Party’s widespread oppression, internment, and cultural annihilation of the minorities living in Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region in China. Hawagul Tewekkul was fifty years old in October 2017 when she was “detained for re-education.” Her offense was not stated. Uyghurs and other Turkic minorities have been sent to prison, often on unreasonable charges, or t “vocational re-education centers” as a part of Xi Jinping’s anti-terrorism campaign. Sometimes the training centers have been converted to Read More ›

Abstract virtual microscheme illustration on flag of China and blurry cityscape background. Big data and database concept. Multiexposure

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post

Author
News
Date
June 7, 2022

Categorized
Business and Finance, China

Tagged
Arjun Kharpal, Big Tech in China, Chang Che, China (competitiveness in AI), China crackdown on Big Tech, China easing Big Tech restrictions, Jane Li, Jeremy Goldkorn, Kevin Klyman, Nicholas Gordon}

Is China’s Crackdown on Big Tech Easing Up?

_{Depends on who you talk to. It could be wishful thinking on the part of investors} _{News

June 7, 2022

6

Business and Finance, China}

. As a China news site SupChina told the story mid-last year, Beijing practically nuked the Chinese Big Tech industries: Since the suspension of Ant Group’s IPO in November, Beijing has embarked on an unprecedented clampdown of its technology sector. The casualties include some of China’s leading tech companies, such as Tencent (internet conglomerate), Meituan (food delivery), Pinduoduo (ecommerce), Didi (ride-hailing app), Full Truck Alliance (freight logistics app), Kanzhun (recruitment), online private tutoring companies like New Oriental Education and TAL Education, and a crackdown on cryptocurrencies. Chang Che and Jeremy Goldkorn, “China’s ‘Big Tech crackdown’: A guide” at SupChina (August 2, 2021) SupChina offered a variety of explanations for the sudden lunge at Big Tech, which started in November 2020, from ideological purification through internal Party warfare. Summing up: What the tech crackdown tells us Read More ›