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[Epoch Times October 13, 2022](NTDTV China Ban News October 12 full version) The 20th National Congress of the Communist Party of China is approaching, and the Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou and Shenzhen bans will be upgraded again; the US-new ban takes effect, preventing talents from helping the CCP develop chips; the Belt and Road Initiative Troubled, the key state-owned China Communications Group has high debt.
The CCP’s zero-clearing policy has not prevented the spread of the virus. Recently, BF.7 mutant strains have been discovered in many places in the mainland. The CCP’s blockade and control policies are also being increased at various levels. People’s lives have been greatly affected, and there are complaints from the people.
As of October 11, at least four provinces and six places have reported cases of the Omicron BF.7 variant strain, and the number of infections has surged. 15 virus transmission chains appeared in the capital Beijing, affecting 11 districts.
This has also become an excuse for the CCP authorities to strengthen the lockdown and maintain stability. Recently, the “Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei Customized Express Bus” issued a suspension notice, saying that due to the impact of the epidemic, the entire line will be temporarily suspended from the 12th. Parts of Beijing were closed and controlled again, and a large number of people were pulled away and quarantined.
Beijing netizen: “Look at this store, this store is called Quanjude. Quanjude is very famous in Beijing. Usually at this time, there should be a lot of people queuing up here, but you can see that there is no one now, all They are all closed. You can see that this street is called Dashilar. Dashilar is also very famous in Beijing. It is mainly for shopping and so on. Street, but you see the shops are closed.”
Shenzhen notified on the 11th that the BF.7 variant was discovered for the first time, and the local government immediately upgraded the control and launched large-scale nucleic acid testing.
Mr. Wang from Futian District, Shenzhen: “The government requires all employees to have nucleic acids 24 hours a day. Nanshan (district) and security (district) have high risks.”
A number of videos circulating on the Internet show that the once prosperous Luohu business district has been blocked in many places, and there are signs of economic recession everywhere.
Shenzhen netizen: “Look at the situation in the business district. It’s like this. There are no other people (people) on the road except the delivery boy! It used to be a kind of history, but it’s gone forever. It’s hard for these individuals!”
Shenzhen netizen: “An epidemic has defeated the east gate of (Luohu District, Shenzhen), and there is no one living there!”
In another multi-storey shopping mall in Shenzhen, all the shops were closed, the scene was desolate, and the people felt sad and helpless.
Shenzhen netizen: “I can’t describe how uncomfortable I am now. I only know that I am so tired. It’s the kind of mental and physical that I can’t see. Things can’t overwhelm people, but emotions will.”
Mr. Wang: “If there is an epidemic, it will definitely be affected, and sometimes it is temporarily closed when it is closed, that is, it is said that the epidemic has become a high-risk area, and there may be temporary control around him, so that the residents there will not be let down. In and out, so the shops around him are also asking to close.”
In Guangzhou, which is close to Shenzhen, the authorities are also tightening the lockdown.
Ms. Minmin Yin, Tianhe District, Guangzhou: “Now, it is 7 days and 2 tests, that is, if you haven’t done nucleic acid for more than 7 days, maybe the community will call you and remind you to do nucleic acid.”
The epidemic in Shanghai has rebounded, many colleges and universities and communities have been closed one after another, and the authorities have begun large-scale isolation and control.
Shanghai woman: “I just came back, I just came back from isolation, I didn’t have any contact with him at all, why did I overweight.”
The Shanghai authorities also require people entering and returning to Shanghai to undergo nucleic acid testing for 3 days and 3 tests. Online videos and pictures show that the doors of businesses along the road in Jing’an District in Shanghai were sealed, and some buildings were closed for management, and all personnel were not allowed to go out.
Mr. Zhou, a citizen of Shanghai: “I tell you, I’m living my life with trepidation right now. I’m not sure, because you don’t know. He said that if you are yang, you will be yang, so he will circle you, right?”
It was also reported on Weibo that hundreds of students with green codes from Shanghai University of Finance and Economics were sent to shelters with poor conditions, and they were all given red codes because they tried to fight.
In the ancient capital of Xi’an, the authorities issued a notice of emergency suspension of primary and secondary schools on the 11th, and many public places in the city also announced the suspension of opening. Repeated lockdowns have made the public quite annoyed. On Weibo, many citizens are expressing their dissatisfaction with the policy.
Ms. Tong from Xincheng District, Xi’an: “Anyway, the epidemic prevention policy is changing every day. During this period, yes, classes were suspended yesterday. Yes, some streets in medium- and high-risk areas were closed and controlled. It is quite tense to see this situation. .”
The CCP has insisted on “zeroing out” for nearly three years, and it has intensified before the 20th National Congress. Now more and more people suspect that the authorities are taking this opportunity to strengthen social control.
For the first time, U.S. export controls to China have been extended to “talent,” and new rules that took effect on October 12 prevent Americans from supporting the “development” or “production” of certain high-end Chinese chips that could boost China’s military, artificial intelligence, Technology applications in fields such as supercomputers.
The U.S. government announced on Friday “new export controls for advanced computing and semiconductor manufacturing to China,” limiting China’s ability to acquire advanced computing chips, develop and maintain supercomputers, and manufacture advanced semiconductors. One of the specific regulations states “to limit the ability of U.S. personnel to support the development or production of integrated circuits at certain semiconductor manufacturing ‘facilities’ located in China without a license.” The restraining order took effect on October 12.
This is the first time that the United States has explicitly blocked Americans from helping the Chinese “develop” or “produce” advanced semiconductors. The new restraining order will affect these “returnees” of Chinese-Americans.
Gerald Yin, founder, chairman and CEO of China’s leading semiconductor equipment manufacturer, China Microelectronics (AMEC), is a typical example.
According to the official website of China Micro Semiconductor, Yin Zhiyao is an American citizen and has successively worked in major American semiconductor factories such as Intel, Fanlin R&D, and Applied Materials. Before returning to China to establish China Microelectronics, Yin Zhiyao worked in Applied Materials for 13 years, becoming the company’s vice president.
Yin Zhiyao retired at the age of 60 and returned to China with 15 other Chinese from the United States to establish Zhongwei. In just three years, he developed the first-generation etching machine in mainland China. The media praised him for breaking the monopoly of international giants. But then Yin Zhiyao’s former employer Applied Materials sued China Micro to the U.S. court, arguing that Yin Zhiyao and other former employees “deliberately violated multiple obligations to Applied Materials, and transferred and transformed Applied Materials’ inventions and trade secrets to China Micro.” Fanlin R&D also sued Zhongwei for patent infringement in Taiwan in 2009.
In addition to Yin Zhiyao, many directors of China Micro Company are American nationals.
Su Ziyun, director of the Institute of Military Strategy and Industry of the Taiwan National Defense Security Research Institute: “It should be said that the U.S. government has discovered such problems in the past five years. It is just that with Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the Biden administration of the United States has stepped up its efforts in the process of technology and the production of chips. The finished product will eventually be completely contained, including talents, and the designed software will also be prohibited from being used by the CCP, which is equivalent to the beginning of a comprehensive paralysis war for the CCP’s technological development.”
Public information shows that many important chip companies in China are led by Chinese-Americans, or have multiple Chinese-American executives. After the new restraining order goes into effect, these U.S. citizens must stop participating in the development or manufacture of certain grades of high-end chips until they obtain a license, or face civil and criminal penalties.
Experts believe that the CCP can no longer poach talents from the United States, which is a big blow to the Chinese chip industry.
Lin Zongnan, former director of the Information Security Institute of the Information Security Institute and now a professor at the Department of Electrical Engineering at National Taiwan University: “It means that the US government is playing a real game this time. It is determined to decouple these advanced semiconductor processes below 14 nanometers from China. . This will have a very significant impact on China’s semiconductor-related development.”
Su Ziyun: “From the perspective of technology, it is forbidden to be below 14 nanometers. Those above 14 nanometers include the maintenance personnel of your machine, that is, the logistics support and commercial maintenance of these chips. He has hollowed it out. So for the CCP, it means that it is directly going back to the industrial age. It means that it will be unsustainable when it develops this new technology and new military technology in the future.”
Many Chinese-American executives working in Chinese chip companies have family, assets and property in the United States. If they lose the stage to play, they will face a choice, whether to stay in China or return to the United States.
Su Ziyun: “Today’s war is not just a so-called geopolitical battle for military strategists, but most importantly, it is the choice of human civilization, and this is the top thinking. The choice of human civilization is a competition between democracy and authoritarianism. , that’s the real core issue.”
The new restraining order also applies to U.S. companies. The personnel of foreign semiconductor equipment factories such as Applied Materials, Kelin R&D, and Tokyo Weili Science and Technology have completely withdrawn from Chinese semiconductor companies, and will not sell related equipment to Chinese customers, nor provide maintenance support.
China Communications Group, a key state-owned enterprise in trouble, has high debt
The CCP’s “One Belt, One Road” has encountered bottlenecks overseas. The problem of inability to repay the loan in the borrowing countries participating in the project is becoming more and more prominent, and the key developers who promote the infrastructure are also facing huge operating pressure due to their own debt and economic risks soaring.
Since 2013, the CCP has spent $1 trillion on the Belt and Road Initiative, trying to expand its influence in Asia, Africa and Latin America through infrastructure construction.
China Communications Construction Group, one of the key players in the “Belt and Road” infrastructure initiative, has invested in and operated several overseas infrastructure projects in recent years, but is now in debt trouble.
In addition to the development of ports, highways and high-speed railways, CCCC’s main business also includes real estate.
“Nikkei Asia” reported on October 5 that although CCCC cooperates with Beijing to vigorously strive for overseas infrastructure contracts, the group as a whole is increasingly dependent on domestic real estate income.
From 2017 to 2021, the proportion of domestic real estate business revenue to total revenue will increase by about 6 percentage points to about 14%. Meanwhile, overseas income fell from a peak of 24% to 13%.
The credit crunch in the domestic real estate industry has hit CCCC hard. With active investment in the CCP’s “One Belt, One Road” policy, the group’s debt has soared.
By the end of June, CCCC’s total debt had more than doubled in five years to 1.84 trillion yuan. In contrast, the real estate giant Evergrande, which was on the verge of bankruptcy due to the debt crisis, held debts of 2 trillion in June last year.
Li Hengqing, an economist based in the United States: “The real estate has shrunk, and the water has already fallen. At this time, everyone is swimming naked. So CCCC is no exception, and it is not surprising that it will be dragged down by the heavy debt burden in the end. Of course. He will definitely affect other business operations.”
CCCC plans to invest 280 billion yuan in 2022, an increase of 3% over the previous year. China Chengxin International Credit Ratings believes the company may need to reschedule its growing debt to finance new projects.
In September, CCCC also announced a new road project in Rwanda and a port renovation project in the Bahamas, but there are questions about the profitability of those projects.
At present, CCCC’s share price has fallen by about 35% compared with February.
Li Hengqing, an economist living in the United States, said that as a central enterprise, CCCC is a political priority, and the management must invest in the “Belt and Road” to keep its black hat.
Li Hengqing, an economist living in the United States: “Why will CCCC face its shareholders? This is due to a major policy, and this mistake is more due to the Belt and Road policy, which may be seen by all of us in the next few years. One by one the unfinished projects of the Belt and Road are the same as the unfinished buildings of domestic real estate. As the water falls, there will be more and more problems, and it may eventually explode.”
On the other hand, the slowdown of the global economy, coupled with factors such as rising interest rates and soaring inflation, has made the inability of borrowing countries to repay their debts more and more serious, and many development projects have stalled.
The outside world accusing the CCP of “debt trap diplomacy” is also getting louder.
CCCC’s development of Sri Lanka’s Hambantota port is regarded as a typical representative of the CCP’s “debt trap diplomacy”.
In 2017, the Sri Lankan government was forced to hand over the right to use the Hambantota port because it could not repay the loan on time. In July this year, the government declared the country bankrupt, and mass protests broke out among the people.
Zheng Xuguang, an economist living in the United States, said: “It’s like everyone has made a money-losing thing. You think that only a few people will benefit from the participants, right? Your main body means that there may be problems, whether it is the aid recipient. Fang is still the lender, there may be problems, and no one can escape. I think it may be money laundering, that is, there are actually a lot of Big Mac projects, but the real money may not be spent. But the money is laundered. .”
Today, the CCP’s “One Belt, One Road” has been caught in a slowdown dilemma.
According to a report by the Rhodium Group, an American think tank, in 2019, the CCP restarted 9 negotiations on interest waivers and other loan conditions, jumping to 21 and 19 in 2020 and 2021, respectively. Three times the $16 billion in two years.
According to statistics from the Green Finance and Development Center of Fudan University, in the first half of this year, the investment and financing scale of the Belt and Road Initiative was US$28.4 billion, which was lower than the US$29.4 billion in the same period last year and 40% lower than the same period in 2019.
Transferred from NTDTV[Chinese Forbidden News]October 12 full version
Responsible editor: Xia Song