US attempts to colonize global business continue: China Daily editorial

China Daily Published: 2019-05-24 17:50:29
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Reportedly, the United States administration is considering extending its attacks on Chinese companies by blacklisting China's largest surveillance equipment manufacturer Hikvision.

Surveillance cameras are seen at the headquarters of China's Hangzhou Hikvision Digital Technology Co Ltd in Hangzhou city, east China's Zhejiang province, 22 May 2019. [Photo: IC]

Surveillance cameras are seen at the headquarters of China's Hangzhou Hikvision Digital Technology Co Ltd in Hangzhou city, east China's Zhejiang province, 22 May 2019. [Photo: IC]

If so, Hikvision — which has about 20 percent of the global market share and has been the leading player in the industry for seven consecutive years — will become the fourth Chinese company Washington has targeted after the telecommunications companies ZTE and Huawei, and drone maker DJI.

Unlike the previous three companies, which the US administration has justified the attacks on with the excuse it is protecting national security, the premise for setting its sights on Hikvision, which serves customers in more than 150 countries, including the US, is the familiar discrediting of China's policy toward the Uygurs in the Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region.

Which in itself is a worrying development since it may be the start of the US using the domestic affairs of other countries as a pretext to stifle the growth of foreign competitors to US companies.

Washington, of course, is trying to put the US on the high moral ground while embedding its trade frictions with other countries into its political agenda and using its economic policy for its foreign policy aims.

In this way, it is hoping to achieve the colonization of the global business world, allegedly under the banners of human rights, freedom and democracy.

If Washington really cared about the human rights situation in Xinjiang, it would by no means ignore the development of the region. Over the past four decades, the regions' economy has increased more than 250 times, and the well-being of the Uygur people has improved markedly. Their population has grown from about 2 million in the 1950s to about 13 million, and their religious rights and practices are protected by the law.

Nor would it adopt a double standard and criticize China's efforts to counter terrorism and extremism. Last year, tourists from home and abroad paid more than 150 million trips to Xinjiang, thanks to the improved security situation in the region. That Xinjiang has not witnessed any violent or terrorist incidents in recent years proves the effectiveness of the joint efforts of the government and local people in maintaining regional peace and stability.

Xinjiang is undoubtedly in its best development stage in history. Facts speak louder than words, but still they cannot wake up persons pretending to be asleep.

The targeting of Hikvision is just par for the course for the current US administration, which is obsessed with impeding China's development.

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LU Xiankun Professor LU Xiankun is Managing Director of LEDECO Geneva and Associate Partner of IDEAS Centre Geneva. He is Emeritus Professor of China Institute for WTO Studies of the University of International Business and Economics (UIBE) and Wuhan University (WHU) of China and visiting professor or senior research fellow of some other universities and think tanks in China and Europe. He also sits in management of some international business associations and companies, including as Senior Vice President of Shenzhen UEB Technology LTD., a leading e-commerce company of China. Previously, Mr. LU was senior official of Chinese Ministry of Commerce and senior diplomat posted in Europe, including in Geneva as Counsellor and Head of Division of the Permanent Mission of China to the WTO and in Brussels as Commercial Secretary of the Permanent Mission of China to the EU. Benjamin Cavender Benjamin Cavender is a Shanghai based consultant with more than 11 years of experience helping companies understand consumer behavior and develop go to market strategies for China. He is a frequent speaker on economic and consumer trends in China and is often featured on CNBC, Bloomberg, and Channel News Asia. Sara Hsu Sara Hsu is an associate professor from the State University of New York at New Paltz. She is a regular commentator on Chinese economy. Xu Qinduo Xu Qinduo is CRI's former chief correspondent to Washington DC, the United States. He works as the producer, host and commentator for TODAY, a flagship talk show on current affairs. Mr. Xu contributes regularly to English-language newspapers including Shenzhen Daily and Global Times as well as Chinese-language radio and TV services. Lin Shaowen A radio person, Mr. Lin Shaowen is strongly interested in international relations and Chinese politics. As China is quite often misunderstood in the rest of the world, he feels the need to better present the true picture of the country, the policies and meanings. So he talks a lot and is often seen debating. Then friends find a critical Lin Shaowen criticizing and criticized. George N. Tzogopoulos Dr George N. Tzogopoulos is an expert in media and politics/international relations as well as Chinese affairs. He is Senior Research Fellow at the Centre International de Européenne (CIFE) and Visiting Lecturer at the European Institute affiliated with it and is teaching international relations at the Department of Law of the Democritus University of Thrace. George is the author of two books: US Foreign Policy in the European Media: Framing the Rise and Fall of Neoconservatism (IB TAURIS) and The Greek Crisis in the Media: Stereotyping in the International Press (Ashgate) as well as the founder of chinaandgreece.com, an institutional partner of CRI Greek. David Morris David Morris is the Pacific Islands Trade and Investment Commissioner in China, a former Australian diplomat and senior political adviser. Harvey Dzodin After a distinguished career in the US government and American media Dr. Harvey Dzodin is now a Beijing-based freelance columnist for several media outlets. While living in Beijing, he has published over 200 columns with an emphasis on arts, culture and the Belt & Road initiative. He is also a sought-after speaker and advisor in China and abroad. He currently serves as Nonresident Research Fellow of the think tank Center for China and Globalization and Senior Advisor of Tsinghua University National Image Research Center specializing in city branding. Dr. Dzodin was a political appointee of President Jimmy Carter and served as lawyer to a presidential commission. Upon the nomination of the White House and the US State Department he served at the United Nations Office in Vienna, Austria. He was Director and Vice President of the ABC Television in New York for more than two decades.