Cold War

Chinese Media In Vicious Attack On Top U.S. Senator Over Huawei Patent Law

By Zak Doffman

Respected Senator Marco Rubio, R-Fla., has come under attack by Chinese media for his plans to thwart Huawei's patent actions against U.S. companies. 

"Huawei has 56,492 patents," ran the headlines on June 15, "and it’s not afraid to use them." 

Huawei holds patents "on telecommunications, networking and other hi-tech inventions worldwide," and reports have emerged in recent days of "protracted licensing talks" and "disputes" with U.S. companies including Qualcomm, Harris and most notably Verizon, where the patent settlement being sought is reportedly valued at $1 billion.
This has presented the U.S. with something of a dilemma. 

Does it allow the under-fire Chinese telecoms manufacturer to use the U.S. legal system against U.S. companies? 

And, if not, how does it prevent a loss of confidence in U.S. IP protection and rule of law?
Cue national security. 

Two days after those headlines, U.S. Senator Marco Rubio filed legislation to "prevent Huawei from seeking damages in U.S. patent courts." 

Reuters reviewed the amendment to the National Defense Authorization Act which would mean that "companies on certain U.S. government watch lists would not be allowed to seek relief under U.S. law with respect to U.S. patents, including bringing legal action over patent infringement."
It was the latest swipe at China from U.S. lawmakers. 

With its blacklisting preventing Huawei from accessing the world's largest market and causing chaos in its supply chain, this move would essentially remove access to critical parts of the U.S. legal system.
Does China care about this? 

You bet they do.
The response from the official mouthpiece of China's Communist Party, the People's Daily, has been brutal. 

"America's most radical anti-China politician rears his ugly head," ran the newspaper's headline, followed by a stinging attack on the Senator. 

Mr. Rubio personally leveled the patent troll accusation at Huawei, inferring that it was being used to leverage an advantage in the broader ongoing dispute. 

"Huawei is using the tactics of patent trolls to attack U.S. companies," he tweeted, "in retaliation for Trump administration national security actions against them. We should not allow China government-backed companies to improperly use our legal system against us."

Huawei filed a record number of patent applications last year and has become the biggest spender on R&D in its industry. 

In 2017, Huawei's $13 billion R&D budget put the company hot on the heels of Amazon ($22.6 billion) and Alphabet ($16.6 billion), and Huawei has pledged to increase this to $15 to $20 billion. Its path to unassailable 5G market leadership was only thwarted by the U.S. government blacklisting the company over security concerns.
This is a significant moment in the dispute between the U.S. and China's Big Tech. 

If Chinese companies are denied access to the various facets of the U.S. market, then it can only encourage further action from Beijing. 

China's government has already announced new cyber laws, export restrictions and even its own "entity list" to hit back at the U.S. blacklist.

Chinese Propaganda Machine

US orders Chinese media to register as foreign agents

By Lily Kuo

The Foreign Agents Registration Act requires anyone acting on behalf of a foreign government to register with the US Department of Justice. 

Beijing has complained to the US following reports that Washington has ordered two Chinese state-run media agencies to register as foreign agents.
The US Department of Justice has ordered China’s largest state-run media outlets, Xinhua News Agency and China Global Television Network (CGTN), formerly known as CCTV, to register under a law that would treat them as lobbyists working for a foreign entity.

Foreign ministry spokesman Geng Shuang said on Wednesday that Beijing had “contacted and communicated” with the US regarding the order, first reported by the Wall Street Journal on Tuesday.
The Foreign Agents Registration Act (Fara) requires anyone acting on behalf of a foreign government to register with the US Department of Justice and file public reports. 

If registered as foreign agents, Xinhua and CGTN would have to disclose their budgets and expenditures as well as include disclaimers identifying the outlets as foreign agents on all broadcasts.
“Countries should perceive media’s role in promoting international exchange and cooperation in an open and inclusive spirit,” Geng said at a news briefing. 

“They need to facilitate rather than obstruct media’s normal work, still less politicising their role.”
The news comes as relations between the US and China have hit a low over an escalating trade war. Geng’s comments also struck some as ironic, given China’s extremely restrictive media environment.
Last month, the US embassy in Beijing said it was “deeply concerned” when a US journalist for Buzzfeed News, known for her reporting on human rights abuses in East Turkestan, was denied a visa to continue working in China. 

Other foreign journalists have also been effectively barred.
Last year, Russia’s state-run RT Television was ordered to register under Fara after a US intelligence report said RT and the website Sputnik news were part of a misinformation campaign during the 2016 US presidential election.
Chinese media operating in the US are expanding efforts to influence public opinion through Chinese and English-language news from Chinese state outlets.
Paid inserts of the government-run China Daily have appeared in major newspapers such as the New York Times and the Washington Post. 

CGTN has claimed it reaches 30m US households a year. 

In 2016, Xinhua paid for a mega-screen in New York’s Times Square that played a video promoting “China’s historical role and standing in the South China Sea” on loop.

In January, a group of US senators including Marco Rubio and Patrick Leahy wrote to the US asking the Department of Justice to assess whether state-controlled Chinese media should be registered under Fara.
They also asked the department to assess whether the dissemination of Chinese state media, including the inserts from the China Daily and the use of social media, complied with the law. 

Both Xinhua and CGTN have Facebook pages.
Citing a report last year from the National Endowment for Democracy, the senators said China was exploiting “glaring asymmetry” by raising barriers to external political and cultural influence at home while simultaneously taking advantage of the openness of democratic systems abroad.”
The US Department of Justice has been contacted for comment.