• Visiting China, Schumer urges fair treatment of US firms
• Visiting China, Schumer urgest fair treatment of US firms
• China expels former Bank of China chairman from Communist Party
• [Sport] Iga Swiatek ends Coco Gauff's winning streak in China Open semi-final
• Schumer starts China trip amid tension with US, hopes to meet Xi
• Ex-Army sergeant accused of trying to hand defense secrets to China
• US restricts trade with 42 Chinese entities over support for Russia“s military
• Many of the world’s new mpox cases are in China | China
• US charges ex-intelligence officer with trying to give defence secrets to China

Visiting China, Schumer urges fair treatment of US firms

https://reuters.com/article/usa-china-senate/visiting-china-schumer-urges-fair-treatment-of-us-firms-idUSKBN31702V

U.S. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer said on Saturday Washington did not seek to decouple from China, but wanted reciprocal and fair treatment for U.S. companies, as he kicked off a rare trip to the world's second-largest economy.

Schumer, who made the remarks at a meeting with Chen Jining, Shanghai's Communist Party Secretary, said the United States did not seek conflict and wanted to achieve a level playing field, "as we compete economically."

Schumer is leading a bipartisan congressional delegation to Asia, which includes stops in South Korea and Japan. It aims to advance U.S. economic and national security interests, and in China, the group hopes to meet Chinese President Xi Jinping.

The trip follows visits by a series of high-level Biden administration officials, including Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo in August.

Schumer said "many of our constituents feel that in instances China does not treat American companies fairly," stressing the need for "reciprocity, allowing American companies to compete as freely in China as Chinese companies are able to compete here."

After passing a sweeping bill last year to boost competition with China in semiconductors and other technology, Schumer and Democratic committee leaders said in May they would write legislation to limit the flow of technology to China, deter it from initiating a conflict with Taiwan and tighten rules to block U.S. capital from going to Chinese companies.

The group of six senators, co-led by Republican Mike Crapo, will meet government and business leaders in the three countries they are visiting, and from U.S. companies operating in the region.

Other senators on the trip include Republicans Bill Cassidy and John Kennedy and Democrats Maggie Hassan and Jon Ossoff. The group landed at Shanghai's Pudong airport at 2 p.m. (0600 GMT).

Shanghai's Chen said the ties between the two countries were the most important bilateral relationship in the world, and said there was a need to cooperate.

The Biden administration has placed curbs on chip exports to China, saying they aim to deny it access to advanced technology that could further military advancements or rights abuses. China hit back with accusations of economic coercion.

Raimondo said in August that U.S. companies had complained to her that China has become "uninvestable", pointing to fines, raids and other actions that made it risky to do business there. "For U.S. business in many cases, patience is running thin, and it's time for action," she said.

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Visiting China, Schumer urgest fair treatment of US firms

https://reuters.com/article/usa-china-senate/visiting-china-schumer-urgest-fair-treatment-of-us-firms-idUSKBN31702V

U.S. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer said on Saturday Washington did not seek to decouple from China, but wanted reciprocal and fair treatment for U.S. companies, as he kicked off a rare trip to the world's second-largest economy.

Schumer, who made the remarks at a meeting with Chen Jining, Shanghai's Communist Party Secretary, said the United States did not seek conflict and wanted to achieve a level playing field, "as we compete economically."

Schumer is leading a bipartisan congressional delegation to Asia, which includes stops in South Korea and Japan. It aims to advance U.S. economic and national security interests, and in China, the group hopes to meet Chinese President Xi Jinping.

The trip follows visits by a series of high-level Biden administration officials, including Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo in August.

Schumer said "many of our constituents feel that in instances China does not treat American companies fairly," stressing the need for "reciprocity, allowing American companies to compete as freely in China as Chinese companies are able to compete here."

After passing a sweeping bill last year to boost competition with China in semiconductors and other technology, Schumer and Democratic committee leaders said in May they would write legislation to limit the flow of technology to China, deter it from initiating a conflict with Taiwan and tighten rules to block U.S. capital from going to Chinese companies.

The group of six senators, co-led by Republican Mike Crapo, will meet government and business leaders in the three countries they are visiting, and from U.S. companies operating in the region.

Other senators on the trip include Republicans Bill Cassidy and John Kennedy and Democrats Maggie Hassan and Jon Ossoff. The group landed at Shanghai's Pudong airport at 2 p.m. (0600 GMT).

Shanghai's Chen said the ties between the two countries were the most important bilateral relationship in the world, and said there was a need to cooperate.

The Biden administration has placed curbs on chip exports to China, saying they aim to deny it access to advanced technology that could further military advancements or rights abuses. China hit back with accusations of economic coercion.

Raimondo said in August that U.S. companies had complained to her that China has become "uninvestable", pointing to fines, raids and other actions that made it risky to do business there. "For U.S. business in many cases, patience is running thin, and it's time for action," she said.

Related Galleries:

China expels former Bank of China chairman from Communist Party

https://reuters.com/article/china-corruption/china-expels-former-bank-of-china-chairman-from-communist-party-idUSKBN31703X

China's ruling Communist Party has expelled the former chairman of the state-owned Bank of China from the party, accusing him of illegal activities and taking bribes, the top anti-graft watchdog said on Saturday.

Liu Liange was accused of illegally granting loans and causing significant financial risks, the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection (CCDI) said in a statement on its website.

He also brought prohibited publications into the country and illegally took bribes and accepted entertainment at private clubs and ski resorts, said the commission, which is responsible for tackling corruption in the 97 million-member party.

Reuters was not immediately able to contact Liu to seek comment.

Liu, born in 1961, had been working in banking and finance institutions, including in the central People's Bank of China and the Export-Import Bank of China, before he was promoted to become chairman of the Bank of China in 2019.

Liu resigned from that position in mid-March this year.

Two weeks later, state media reported that the CCDI had opened an investigation into him on suspicion of serious violations of party discipline and laws.

Fighting corruption to advance the party's "self-revolution" has been a signature policy of President Xi Jinping since he became supreme leader in 2012.

Xi's campaign against corruption is popular among a public fed up with widespread graft. It has also helped him consolidate power by replacing rivals with loyalists, analysts have said.

[Sport] Iga Swiatek ends Coco Gauff's winning streak in China Open semi-final

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/tennis/67038473?at_medium=RSS&at_campaign=KARANGA

World number two Iga Swiatek ended US Open champion Coco Gauff's 16-match winning run with victory in the semi-finals of the China Open.

Swiatek dominated the opening set from the start and did not face a break point in it.

She maintained the momentum in the second set as Gauff required treatment on a shoulder injury.

The win sends Swiatek into her third WTA 1000 final of the season and her seventh final of the year.

Gauff had beaten her rival for the first time in eight meetings in the semi-finals in Cincinnati earlier this summer during her winning streak - the longest of her career so far - but never looked like repeating the feat.

"I'm really happy with my performance," said Swiatek. "It feels like I can play freely again, so I'm really happy. It's been a while since I felt that way.

"So I'll remember for the rest of my career that even though tougher times may come, in your mind, you can always overcome that. And with hard work, you can achieve it.

"I'm happy that I switched my attitude after the US Open, and hopefully I'll be able to keep it for as long as possible."

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Schumer starts China trip amid tension with US, hopes to meet Xi

https://reuters.com/article/usa-china-senate/schumer-starts-china-trip-amid-tension-with-us-hopes-to-meet-xi-idUSKBN31702V

U.S. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer arrived in China on Saturday leading a bipartisan congressional delegation and starting a series of meetings in the world's second-largest economy amid rising tension between Washington and Beijing.

The goal of the trip to Asia, which includes stops in South Korea and Japan, is to advance U.S. economic and national security interests, and in China, the group hopes to meet Chinese President Xi Jinping, U.S. officials said.

After passing a sweeping bill last year to boost competition with China in semiconductors and other technology, Schumer and Democratic committee leaders said in May they would write legislation to limit the flow of technology to China, deter it from initiating a conflict with Taiwan and tighten rules to block U.S. capital from going to Chinese companies.

Schumer "will focus on the need for reciprocity in China for U.S. businesses that will level the playing field for American workers, as well as on maintaining U.S. leadership in advanced technologies for national security", his office said.

The trip follows visits by a series of high-level Biden administration officials, including Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo in August.

The group of six senators, co-led by Republican Mike Crapo, will meet government and business leaders in the three countries they are visiting, and from U.S. companies operating in the region.

Other senators on the trip include Republicans Bill Cassidy and John Kennedy and Democrats Maggie Hassan and Jon Ossoff. The group landed at Shanghai's Pudong airport at 2 p.m. (0600 GMT).

China welcomes Schumer's visit and hopes it will deepen the U.S. Senate's "objective" understanding of China and facilitate dialogue between the nations' legislative agencies, China's foreign ministry said this week.

The Biden administration has placed curbs on chip exports to China, saying they aim to deny it access to advanced technology that could further military advancements or rights abuses. China hit back with accusations of economic coercion.

Raimondo said in August that U.S. companies had complained to her that China has become "uninvestable", pointing to fines, raids and other actions that made it risky to do business there. "For U.S. business in many cases, patience is running thin, and it's time for action," she said.

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Ex-Army sergeant accused of trying to hand defense secrets to China

https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2023/10/07/joseph-schmidt-china-defense-secrets/2023-10-07T01:24:20.469Z

A former U.S. Army sergeant was arrested Friday at San Francisco International Airport for allegedly trying to deliver defense secrets to Chinese authorities.

Joseph Daniel Schmidt, 29, an active duty soldier from 2015 to 2020, had access to top-secret and secret national security information, authorities said. After leaving active service, Schmidt sought to hand over Army intelligence training and practices, information about accessing Army computers and classified information to China, according to an affidavit.

“Members of our military take a sworn oath to defend our country and the Constitution,” acting U.S. attorney Tessa M. Gorman for the Western District of Washington said in a news release. “In that context the alleged actions of this former military member are shocking.”

It was not clear whether Schmidt had a lawyer. Schmidt faces one count of attempting to deliver national defense information and one count of retention of national defense information. Both are punishable by up to 10 years in prison and a $250,000 fine.

In the weeks after leaving the active service, Schmidt traveled to China and Turkey, according to the affidavit. In Turkey, Schmidt emailed the Chinese consulate in Istanbul, offering to “share information I learned during my career.” The former sergeant said his experience “includes training in interrogation, running sources as a spy handler.”

Schmidt also conducted “internet research about defection from the United States and countries that do not have extradition treaties” with Washington, Brandon Tower, an FBI special agent involved in the case, wrote in the affidavit. Terms Schmidt searched on Google included “soldier defect, chinese consulate, iranian consulate” and “can you be extradited for treason.”

The key countries and revelations from the Pentagon document leak

After returning to the United States from his visit to Turkey, Schmidt traveled to Hong Kong and Beijing in March 2020. He resided in Hong Kong from then on, Tower wrote.

In the Chinese capital, Schmidt created a Microsoft Word document entitled “Humint AIT.” Humint appears to refer to human intelligence, or HUMINT, which is intelligence gathered from human sources and interpersonal contact. Schmidt was assigned to a human intelligence squad while serving in the Army’s 109th Military Intelligence Battalion, according to Tower.

The four-page Word document “discusses in detail various aspects of U.S. Army intelligence collection, dissemination, and training, including: the types of intelligence reports that are prepared and disseminated; methods of conducting interrogations; methods of conducting human source operations,” Tower wrote.

That information, while unclassified, still pertains to intelligence activities including covert actions, Tower added.

While in Beijing, Schmidt’s phone records also show that the device was in “close proximity” to the headquarters of China’s Ministry of State Security, the country’s intelligence agency.

During his three-plus years in China, Schmidt created Word documents entitled “High Level Secrets” and “Important Information to Share with Chinese Government.” The first document contained secret-level classified information, Tower wrote. Schmidt also took photos of Army-issued computer cards that allow access to the Army’s classified digital databases.

U.S. authorities did not elaborate on what they thought had motivated Schmidt’s alleged espionage efforts. But in May 2020, Schmidt emailed his sister, telling her he had left the United States “because of a disagreement with American policy,” according to Tower. The former Army sergeant adds in the email that he had “learned some really terrible things about the American government while I was working in the Army.”

US restricts trade with 42 Chinese entities over support for Russia“s military

https://reuters.com/article/usa-russia-china/us-restricts-trade-with-42-chinese-entities-over-support-for-russias-military-idUSKBN3161D2

The U.S. Commerce Department on Friday added 42 Chinese companies to a government export control list over their support for Moscow's military and defense industrial base - support that includes the supply of U.S.-origin integrated circuits.

Another seven entities from Finland, Germany, India, Turkey, United Arab Emirates and the United Kingdom were also added to the trade export control list.

The circuits include microelectronics that Russia uses for precision guidance systems in missiles and drones launched against civilian targets in Ukraine, the Commerce Department said in a statement.

"Today’s additions to the Entity List provide a clear message: if you supply the Russian defense sector with U.S.-origin technology, we will find out, and we will take action," Assistant Secretary for Export Enforcement Matthew Axelrod said in the statement.

China called the U.S. action "economic coercion and unilateral bullying".

"The United States should immediately correct its wrong practices and stop its unreasonable suppression of Chinese companies," China's Ministry of Commerce said in a statement.

It has been 20 months since Russian invaded Ukraine. A Russian missile strike in a village in northeastern Ukraine on Thursday killed at least 52 people in one of the most deadly attacks yet.

Companies are added the U.S. Entity List when Washington deems them a threat to U.S. national security or foreign policy. Suppliers must then be granted generally hard-to-get licenses before shipping goods to entities on the list.

Many of the world’s new mpox cases are in China | China

https://www.economist.com/china/2023/10/05/many-of-the-worlds-new-mpox-cases-are-in-china

Global health officials were spooked last year when mpox, a disease formerly known as monkeypox, began spreading beyond the parts of Africa where it is endemic. Its reach rapidly extended across Europe and America, mainly through sexual contact. Mpox can cause flu-like symptoms, painful blisters and, in very rare cases, death. This year cases have fallen rapidly in much of the world, thanks to vaccines and health education. But not in China.

In July and August the country said it had found nearly 1,000 new cases, more than half of the new infections reported worldwide in those months. This marked a sharp rise from zero infections early in the year. The mpox virus has spread across China, with 26 of the mainland’s 31 provincial regions reporting infections. Some 80% of cases lack a clear chain of infection, health officials say, implying that many others are not being recorded.

There are several reasons why China is an outlier. One is anti-foreign sentiment. In September last year Wu Zunyou, China’s chief epidemiologist, posted unhelpful advice on social media that the risk of infection could be reduced by “avoiding direct skin-to-skin contact with foreigners”. Officials have not approved any of the effective foreign vaccines against mpox (just as they have not permitted general use of foreign vaccines against covid-19). This is despite advice from the World Health Organisation that high-risk groups and health workers who treat mpox patients should get a shot. An mpox vaccine developed by a Chinese company is still undergoing trials.

Conservatism is a problem, too. Almost all mpox cases in China and elsewhere have been among men who have sex with men. In other countries, support groups for gay people have proved invaluable in raising awareness of the virus and getting people tested. But for years China has suppressed such groups, deeming them threats to public morals and political stability. Guidelines released by local governments say that mpox poses little risk to “ordinary people”.

On China’s social media many people use homophobic slurs when discussing mpox. Surveys show that few gay or bisexual men in China are willing to tell doctors about their sexuality, which makes it harder for them to get needed advice. In August officials said five women had been found with mpox (China’s previously declared infections had all been in men). Some netizens said the women had been tricked into marriage by “despicable” gay people.

China’s response to mpox recalls its initial handling of HIV, the virus that causes AIDS. In the late 1980s Chinese officials dismissed HIV as a foreign problem caused by decadent Western lifestyles. But in the 1990s many people became infected with the virus while selling their blood plasma. Only after the scandal broke did a nationwide campaign against HIV gain traction and successfully reduce infections.

With mpox, too, there are signs of a shift in official thinking. On September 20th the government reclassified the disease, putting it on the same level as HIV. This should unlock more resources for tackling it. Also last month Mr Wu, the epidemiologist, co-wrote a letter to the Lancet, a medical journal, warning that “the global spread of mpox could be exacerbated if local transmission is not controlled immediately”. He suggested that China should start using vaccines and try to reduce fears of the disease. Better late than never. ■

Subscribers can sign up to Drum Tower, our new weekly newsletter, to understand what the world makes of China—and what China makes of the world.

US charges ex-intelligence officer with trying to give defence secrets to China

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2023/oct/07/us-charges-ex-intelligence-officer-with-trying-to-give-defence-secrets-to-china

A former US army intelligence officer has been charged with attempting to provide classified defence information to the Chinese security services during the outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic – including some listed in a Microsoft Word document titled “Important Information to Share with Chinese Government”.

Authorities on Friday arrested former sergeant Joseph Daniel Schmidt, 29, at San Francisco international airport as he arrived from Hong Kong, where he had been living since March 2020, the Justice Department said. A federal grand jury in Seattle returned an indictment on Wednesday charging him with retention and attempted delivery of national defence information.

A public defender assigned to represented Schmidt at a brief appearance at US district court in San Francisco on Friday pending his transfer to Washington state did not immediately return an email seeking comment. US district court records in Seattle did not list an attorney representing Schmidt on the charges, and neither the US attorney’s office nor the federal public defender’s office had information about whether he had a lawyer, representatives said.

An FBI declaration filed in the case quoted Schmidt as telling his sister in an email that he left the US because he disagreed with unspecified aspects of American policy.

“I don’t talk about it often, but I learned some really terrible things about the American government while I was working in the army, and I no longer feel safe living in America or like I want to support the American government,” he was quoted as writing.

Schmidt spent five years in active duty in the army, where he was primarily assigned to the 109th military intelligence battalion at joint base Lewis-McChord in Washington state, according to a declaration filed in US district court by FBI special agent Brandon Tower. He eventually became a team leader on a human intelligence squad and had access to secret and top secret defence information, Tower wrote.

Schmidt left active duty in January 2020 and travelled the next month to Istanbul, where he sent an email to the Chinese consulate trying to set up a meeting, Tower wrote.

“I am a United States citizen looking to move to China,” the email said, according to the declaration. “I also am trying to share information I learned during my career as an interrogator with the Chinese government. I have a current top secret clearance, and would like to talk to someone from the Government to share this information with you if that is possible … I would like to go over the details with you in person if possible, as I am concerned with discussing this over email.”

It was the first of several attempts to share information with the People’s Republic of China, Tower wrote. Two days later, he drafted a Word document titled “Important Information to Share with Chinese Government” that included classified information related to national defence. Investigators recovered it from his Apple iCloud account, the declaration said.

After returning to the US from Turkey in March 2020, he left a few days later for Hong Kong, where he had been living ever since, the declaration said.

Over the next few months, Tower wrote, Schmidt emailed two state-owned enterprises in China, including a subsidiary of the China Aerospace Science and Industry Corporation Limited that has produced intelligence-gathering software tools.

He offered to provide an encryption key he had retained for accessing the army’s classified information network and related databases, known as the secret internet protocol router network, or SIPR, Tower wrote, and he suggested it could be reverse-engineered to help China access the network.

“It is a very rare card to find outside of the intelligence community, and if used properly, it can improve China’s ability to access the SIPR network,” the declaration quoted him as writing.

The declaration did not describe any response from the state-owned enterprises or China’s security services.

The charges carry up to 10 years in prison and a $250,000 fine.

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