Tech & Sci
12:50, 19-Apr-2018
US imposes tech ban on ZTE, awaits China’s conciliation
["china","north america"]
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By CGTN’s The Point
On “shaky ground,” one of China’s largest telecom equipment makers ZTE is faced with a US seven-year ban on its component exports, urging Beijing to step-in amid brewing trade tensions between the world’s two largest economies.
The US Department of Commerce said on Monday that it imposed a “denial of export privileges” order against ZTE after it granted the Shenzhen-listed smartphone maker a three-month reprieve on export restrictions on March 8.
01:10
“This action will hit very hard on the company’s smartphone business,” John Gong, an economics professor at University of International Business and Economics, said on CGTN’s The Point (@thepointwithlx), noting ZTE will find it hard in substituting its key smartphone components.
Gong suggested that the Chinese government should step in and take over the company as ZTE has its own problems.
00:52
Mike Bastin, a senior lecturer at the University of Southampton, believes that the reason behind the American penalty is that ZTE failed to sack its 35 senior employees related to violations of US sanctions aimed at punishing Iran and DPRK over their nuclear development programs.
The commerce department said that ZTE’s “false statements” to its Bureau of Industry and Security in 2016 and 2017 during settlement negotiations and the probationary period covered up the fact the ZTE paid full bonuses to those employees instead.
Bastin said that ZTE could implement the penalty as a gesture of goodwill. But he also doubted that the US unilateral action could lead to a “far wider escalation of tit-for-tat trade sanctions,” echoing with Gong that the Chinese government needs to be involved.
Gong said what’s next for the Chinese government is to seek negotiations with the US side in a measure to sustain Chinese tech business in the US market.
The Point with Liu Xin is a 30-minute current affairs program on CGTN. It airs weekdays at 9:30 p.m. BJT (1330GMT), with rebroadcasts at 5:30 a.m. (2130GMT) and 10:30 a.m. (0230GMT).