Mike Gallagher, who in April resigned as chair of the US House Committee on the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), was known for his strong support for Taiwan and opposition to the CCP.
Nevertheless, the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs has continued to punish Gallagher even after he left the US House of Representatives for “intervening in China’s internal affairs” as well as violating its interests — including denying him entry to China, freezing any property he owns in the country and banning any Chinese organization or individual from engaging in transactions or cooperation with him.
While Gallagher has long been aware that he would be barred from entering China, and does not hold any Chinese assets, his listing of “civilian status” among the latest Chinese sanctions is yet another political move by Beijing that is more declarative than substantive.
The timing was not coincidental, as the sanction came after Gallagher was employed as a ”senior strategic adviser” by TitletownTech, a venture capital firm based in his Wisconsin hometown that is a partnership between the NFL’s Green Bay Packers and Microsoft.
The Packers, who are four-time Super Bowl champions, are the only community-owned and non-profit professional football team in the US. Growing up in Green Bay, Gallagher and his family are diehard Packers fans, and his wife and two daughters are even shareholders of the team. So working for one of his hometown’s most recognizable employers is in line with his desire to return to his family after he left the House.
With football being the favorite sport of Americans, the chances that the Chinese sanctions would affect the team are slim. The only company likely to be affected is Microsoft.
Gallagher’s employment by TitletownTech is closely related to a massive investment Microsoft made in Wisconsin — US$3.3 billion for an artificial intelligence (AI) data center. US President Joe Biden visited the site to witness a signing ceremony.
The data center is to be the nation’s first manufacturing-focused “AI co-innovation lab” at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee in partnership with TitletownTech. One of Gallagher’s new tasks will be to assist the implementation of Microsoft’s investment plan.
China’s hawkish mouthpiece, the Global Times, cited experts who analyzed the sanctions as a disincentive for companies that do business with Gallagher, limiting his room to maneuver in the business world. The English version of the Chinese newspaper directly named TitletownTech, which interestingly did not appear in the Chinese version.
Recently, the CCP ordered government computers to exclude Microsoft’s Windows operating system and switch to Chinese-made software, while Microsoft is preparing to withdraw its China-based AI team.
By punishing Gallagher, Beijing is, as the old Chinese saying goes, “killing the chicken to frighten the monkey.”
Whether his new boss, Microsoft, is the “monkey” in the eyes of Beijing is something to watch.
Chen Yung-chang is a business manager.
Translated by Eddy Chang
In the first year of his second term, US President Donald Trump continued to shake the foundations of the liberal international order to realize his “America first” policy. However, amid an atmosphere of uncertainty and unpredictability, the Trump administration brought some clarity to its policy toward Taiwan. As expected, bilateral trade emerged as a major priority for the new Trump administration. To secure a favorable trade deal with Taiwan, it adopted a two-pronged strategy: First, Trump accused Taiwan of “stealing” chip business from the US, indicating that if Taipei did not address Washington’s concerns in this strategic sector, it could revisit its Taiwan
The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) challenges and ignores the international rules-based order by violating Taiwanese airspace using a high-flying drone: This incident is a multi-layered challenge, including a lawfare challenge against the First Island Chain, the US, and the world. The People’s Liberation Army (PLA) defines lawfare as “controlling the enemy through the law or using the law to constrain the enemy.” Chen Yu-cheng (陳育正), an associate professor at the Graduate Institute of China Military Affairs Studies, at Taiwan’s Fu Hsing Kang College (National Defense University), argues the PLA uses lawfare to create a precedent and a new de facto legal
Chile has elected a new government that has the opportunity to take a fresh look at some key aspects of foreign economic policy, mainly a greater focus on Asia, including Taiwan. Still, in the great scheme of things, Chile is a small nation in Latin America, compared with giants such as Brazil and Mexico, or other major markets such as Colombia and Argentina. So why should Taiwan pay much attention to the new administration? Because the victory of Chilean president-elect Jose Antonio Kast, a right-of-center politician, can be seen as confirming that the continent is undergoing one of its periodic political shifts,
Taiwan’s long-term care system has fallen into a structural paradox. Staffing shortages have led to a situation in which almost 20 percent of the about 110,000 beds in the care system are vacant, but new patient admissions remain closed. Although the government’s “Long-term Care 3.0” program has increased subsidies and sought to integrate medical and elderly care systems, strict staff-to-patient ratios, a narrow labor pipeline and rising inflation-driven costs have left many small to medium-sized care centers struggling. With nearly 20,000 beds forced to remain empty as a consequence, the issue is not isolated management failures, but a far more
RSS