Revealed - How Trump's helping Chinese tech

By Rupert Reid for sino.uk China Plus Published: 2017-03-17 11:35:16
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U.S. President Donald Trump [Photo: Xinhua]

U.S. President Donald Trump [Photo: Xinhua]

Expert commentators have noticed that Donald Trump might have given a helping hand to China's fast growing technology sector.

With news that the US President's second attempt at a 'travel ban' for immigrants from several muslim-majority nations was planned to come into force this week, also came the realisation that, one way or the other, this is a policy that Donald Trump is determined to enact.

Chaotic scenes ensued when the original ban, executive order 13769, was enacted in February. At the time, several US technology firms warned that such legislation would severely restrict their abilities to employ the best staff.

The feeling amongst these firms was strong enough for Apple, Facebook, Google, Intel and Microsoft all to issue objections.

With legal challenges delaying the original legislation, the warnings quietened temporarily. Nevertheless, the fear that their hiring potential will eventually be restricted has persisted.

It's not just them that's noticed. Last week, Bloomberg reports that Baidu CEO Robin Li told a panel of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference that Trump's policies present an 'opportunity' (or as Bloomberg puts it, a 'gift') to China to 'attract global talent.'

In short, the various travel bans (and we must assume that at least one of them will eventually survive enough legal challenges to remain in place for a length of time) will allow Chinese technology companies to further attract top global talent.

You might have noticed the use of the word 'further' in the last sentence. That's because China is already attracting a new generation of tech superstars, helped in no small part by the country's growing reputation as a place for innovation.

Last year, we reported that China has 'pulled-ahead' of Silicon Valley in the race to innovate.

Technological advances that can be attributed to China include QR codes, live-streaming video and ride-hailing. Of course, these have now been adopted by Western firms like Uber and Periscope, but have their roots in China.

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