A plan by a group of Chinese military and business institutions to invest US$471 million to set up a venture capital fund aims to secure high-end military technology by circumventing US sanctions, a defense expert said on Friday.
The plan shows Beijing’s ambitions to cultivate a domestic military supply chain at a time when it has stepped up its threats against Taiwan, said Yang I Kwei (楊一逵), a researcher at the Institute for National Defense and Security Research, a think tank affiliated with the Ministry of National Defense.
Yang’s comments came after Guangzhou Haige Communications Group (廣州海格通信集團), which provides communications and navigation equipment to the Chinese military, on April 7 announced that it would partner with China Poly Group (中國保利集團公司) and other entities to set up a venture capital fund, valued at 3 billion yuan (US$471 million), for the development of military equipment.
Photo: Reuters
Haige Communications, whose predecessor was a military ordnance factory, counts China’s army, navy and air force among its customers, and has participated in the development of the BeiDou Satellite Navigation System.
It is an important supplier of war simulation and pilot training systems to the Chinese military, Yang said.
China Poly is among 102 state-owned enterprises under the supervision of the Chinese Assets Supervision and Administration Commission.
It has served as an importer and exporter of military equipment for China, Yang said.
Participants in the planned venture fund have close ties with Chinese authorities, he said, adding that China Poly is one of its largest controlling institutions.
Poly Technologies (保利科技有限公司), a subsidiary of China Poly, is the largest state-owned supplier of military equipment, missile technologies and drones to the Chinese military, Yang said.
The planned fund is expected to serve as a platform for the Chinese military to enhance its technology competition with the US, which could help Beijing skirt Washington’s sanctions and even secure technology from the US, he said.
The COVID-19 pandemic, US sanctions against Beijing and Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has prompted many venture capitalists to flee Asia, Yang said.
Chinese authorities likely want the planned fund to re-energize the domestic capital venture market, and boost information and communications development in a bid to commercialize technology, he said.
The Chinese military’s efforts in information and communications technology development could enhance Beijing’s supervision and control of personal information and pose a larger threat to democracies, he added.
ANOTHER EMERGES: The CWA yesterday said this year’s fourth storm of the typhoon season had formed in the South China Sea, but was not expected to affect Taiwan Tropical Storm Gaemi has intensified slightly as it heads toward Taiwan, where it is expected to affect the country in the coming days, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. As of 8am yesterday, the 120km-radius storm was 800km southeast of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan’s southernmost tip, moving at 9kph northwest, the agency said. A sea warning for Gaemi could be issued tonight at the earliest, it said, adding that the storm is projected to be closest to Taiwan on Wednesday or Thursday. Gaemi’s potential effect on Taiwan remains unclear, as that would depend on its direction, radius and intensity, forecasters said. Former Weather Forecast
As COVID-19 cases in Japan have been increasing for 10 consecutive weeks, people should get vaccinated before visiting the nation, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) said. The centers reported 773 hospitalizations and 124 deaths related to COVID-19 in Taiwan last week. CDC Epidemic Intelligence Center Director Guo Hung-wei (郭宏偉) on Tuesday said the number of weekly COVID-19 cases reported in Japan has been increasing since mid-May and surpassed 55,000 cases from July 8 to July 14. The average number of COVID-19 patients at Japan’s healthcare facilities that week was also 1.39 times that of the week before and KP.3 is the dominant
The Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) working group for Taiwan-related policies is likely to be upgraded to a committee-level body, a report commissioned by the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) said. As Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) is increasingly likely to upgrade the CCP’s Central Leading Group for Taiwan Affairs, Taiwanese authorities should prepare by researching Xi and the CCP, the report said. At the third plenary session of the 20th Central Committee of the CCP, which ended on Thursday last week, the party set a target of 2029 for the completion of some tasks, meaning that Xi is likely preparing to
US-CHINA TRADE DISPUTE: Despite Beijing’s offer of preferential treatment, the lure of China has dimmed as Taiwanese and international investors move out Japan and the US have become the favored destinations for Taiwanese graduates as China’s attraction has waned over the years, the Ministry of Labor said. According to the ministry’s latest income and employment advisory published this month, 3,215 Taiwanese university graduates from the class of 2020 went to Japan, surpassing for the first time the 2,881 graduates who went to China. A total of 2,300 graduates from the class of 2021 went to the US, compared with the 2,262 who went to China, the document showed. The trend continued for the class of 2023, of whom 1,460 went to Japan, 1,334 went to