FedEx must be punished for deliberately breaking Chinese law

China Plus Published: 2019-08-18 19:01:51
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Note: The following article is taken from the Chinese-language "Commentaries on International Affairs".

Police in Fuzhou City, Fujian Province, China, were recently notified after a local sporting goods company received an express package, containing a handgun, from an American sender shipped by FedEx. This is yet another illegal act of the American multi-national courier delivery service after it was investigated by the Chinese authorities two months ago.

[Photo: VCG]

[Photo: VCG]

Guns are dangerous goods, posing a great threat to life. Any express company and its employees should observe the law and regulations when dealing with gun related issues. None should turn a blind eye to lawbreakers, let alone deliberately break the law by helping the illegal trade in guns.

FedEx has been operating in the Chinese market for more than 30 years. Since the US government added Huawei to the "Entity List" of export controls in May this year, FedEx has intercepted Huawei express deliveries over and over again. It is reasonable to suspect that FedEx might be cooperating with the "long-arm jurisdiction" of the U.S. government.

China opened an investigation into FedEx on June 1st, delivered an inquiry notice to FedEx (China) Co., Ltd on June 14th, and announced the results of the first phase of the investigation on July 26th. It was found FedEx's claim that the Huawei packages were "misrouted in error" to the United States was at variance with the facts. The company was also suspected of holding back more than 100 Huawei-related packages.

Only two months after the official investigation, FedEx was found by Fuzhou police to have illegally transported guns into China. This once again proves that this company has seriously damaged the lawful rights and interests of its clients and has broken relevant Chinese laws and regulations. These are by no means accidental or unintentional mistakes.

China's express delivery market is developing rapidly and has great potential. Companies from countries around the world are all welcome, so long as they respect Chinese laws, market rules and the spirit of contract. Any contempt for Chinese laws will inevitably impact on its chances in the Chinese market, and any company which conducts illegal acts will have to face punishment according to law.

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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.