US Secretary of the Treasury Timothy Geithner said on Thursday that China was holding to its decades-old strategy of stealing US intellectual property, in a pointed statement reflecting US officials’ growing impatience with Beijing.
“They [China] have made possible systematic stealing of intellectual property of American companies and [they] have not been very aggressive to put in place the basic protections for property rights that every serious economy needs over time,” Geithner told a forum in Washington.
“We’re seeing China continue to be very, very aggressive in a strategy they started several decades ago, which goes like this: You want to sell to our country, we want you to come produce here ... if you want to come produce here, you need to transfer your technology to us,” Geithner said.
Although unusually direct, Geithner’s comments echo a common refrain from US officials and executives. US Ambassador to China Gary Locke (駱家輝), who has assailed China in the past for its trade practices, has put the defense of US intellectual property among his chief priorities.
China has said it would drop some of its “indigenous innovation” rules that have riled foreign companies who say access to government equipment and technology orders hinge on their transferring patents and other intellectual property.
However, business associations in China argue that enforcement of Beijing’s promises has been spotty, particularly at the local government level, hampering foreign companies’ access to a market estimated to be worth as much as US$1 trillion a year.
In an offshoot of Washington’s dissatisfaction with Beijing’s trade policies, leaders in Washington have long argued that the yuan is undervalued, giving Chinese companies a price advantage that costs US jobs.
However, the foreign business community in China — concerned about what they see as China becoming more closed to foreign investors in recent years — has argued that the emphasis on yuan revaluation distracts from the most serious issues threatening US business interests.
A coalition of 51 US business groups sent a letter dated Wednesday to US senators considering a currency bill, urging them to focus more on China’s inadequate protection of intellectual property and restrictions on market access.
“Unilateral legislation on this issue [yuan reform] would be counterproductive, not only to the goals related to China’s exchange rate that we all share, but also to our nation’s broader objectives of addressing the many and growing challenges that we face in China,” the groups said.
Piracy and counterfeiting of US software and a wide range of other intellectual property in China cost US businesses alone an estimated US$48 billion and 2.1 million jobs in 2009, the US International Trade Commission has said.
The US’ trade deficit with China hit a record US$273 billion last year and could top that this year.
In May, China was listed for the seventh year by the US Trade Representative’s office as a country with one of the worst records for preventing copyright theft.
NO HUMAN ERROR: After the incident, the Coast Guard Administration said it would obtain uncrewed aerial vehicles and vessels to boost its detection capacity Authorities would improve border control to prevent unlawful entry into Taiwan’s waters and safeguard national security, the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) said yesterday after a Chinese man reached the nation’s coast on an inflatable boat, saying he “defected to freedom.” The man was found on a rubber boat when he was about to set foot on Taiwan at the estuary of Houkeng River (後坑溪) near Taiping Borough (太平) in New Taipei City’s Linkou District (林口), authorities said. The Coast Guard Administration’s (CGA) northern branch said it received a report at 6:30am yesterday morning from the New Taipei City Fire Department about a
IN BEIJING’S FAVOR: A China Coast Guard spokesperson said that the Chinese maritime police would continue to carry out law enforcement activities in waters it claims The Philippines withdrew its coast guard vessel from a South China Sea shoal that has recently been at the center of tensions with Beijing. BRP Teresa Magbanua “was compelled to return to port” from Sabina Shoal (Xianbin Shoal, 仙濱暗沙) due to bad weather, depleted supplies and the need to evacuate personnel requiring medical care, the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) spokesman Jay Tarriela said yesterday in a post on X. The Philippine vessel “will be in tiptop shape to resume her mission” after it has been resupplied and repaired, Philippine Executive Secretary Lucas Bersamin, who heads the nation’s maritime council, said
REGIONAL STABILITY: Taipei thanked the Biden administration for authorizing its 16th sale of military goods and services to uphold Taiwan’s defense and safety The US Department of State has approved the sale of US$228 million of military goods and services to Taiwan, the US Department of Defense said on Monday. The state department “made a determination approving a possible Foreign Military Sale” to the Taipei Economic and Cultural Representative Office in the US for “return, repair and reshipment of spare parts and related equipment,” the defense department’s Defense Security Cooperation Agency said in a news release. Taiwan had requested the purchase of items and services which include the “return, repair and reshipment of classified and unclassified spare parts for aircraft and related equipment; US Government
More than 500 people on Saturday marched in New York in support of Taiwan’s entry to the UN, significantly more people than previous years. The march, coinciding with the ongoing 79th session of the UN General Assembly, comes close on the heels of growing international discourse regarding the meaning of UN Resolution 2758. Resolution 2758, adopted by the UN General Assembly in 1971, recognizes the People’s Republic of China (PRC) as the “only lawful representative of China.” It resulted in the Republic of China (ROC) losing its seat at the UN to the PRC. Taiwan has since been excluded from
RSS