The timing of the arrest and extradition request is rich. While the law enforcement action against Huawei has been in the works for some time, that Huawei’s CFO and company founder offspring Mèng Wǎnzhōu 孟晚舟 would choose to travel to Canada on the day President Donald Trump and Chinese leader Xí Jìnpíng 习近平 were meeting in Buenos Aires at the G20 may go down as one of the most ironic chance occurrences in U.S.-China relations ever. The U.S. action was also unprecedented.
Indeed, this could (and is likely to) be the first of many future battles on trade. And I am now near certain that this is only one front in the U.S.-China war for hegemony, and that we will see scraps across the board in the months and years to come, be that over 5G, AI, Taiwan, the South China Sea, the Belt and Road Initiative and Chinese loans versus the IMF.
“China has said it will immediately implement measures agreed under a trade war ‘truce’ with the U.S.,” reports the Guardian, however, Beijing did not offer any details.
“Production among China’s robotics manufacturers is slowing as the trade war with the United States hits many of the industry’s biggest customers,” reports the South China Morning Post.
Fentanyl production has become a “very profitable” business for Chinese traffickers, said Mike Vigil, a former chief of international operations at the US Drug Enforcement Administration.
Daimler AG plans to take majority control of its China joint venture, “following a similar move in October by rival BMW AG,” reports Bloomberg (porous paywall). The two companies’ fortunes in China are test cases for the Chinese government’s commitment to opening up.