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SCMP Reporters

Tech war heats up
A group led by former Google CEO Eric Schmidt says Washington needs to manage “asymmetric competition” with China when it comes to technology and that a certain degree of “bifurcation” would be in US interests.
The CSG, formed in July 2020 to tackle “the most difficult questions regarding US competitiveness with China on technology” also includes Jared Cohen, the chief executive of Jigsaw and a former adviser to former US secretaries of state Condoleezza Rice and Hillary Clinton.
“Urgent policy solutions are needed to renew American competitiveness and sustain critical US technological advantages,” says the report, whose authors are writing in a personal capacity.
“China plays by a different set of rules that allow it to benefit from corporate espionage, illiberal surveillance, and a blurry line between its public and private sector,” the report says.
In the same week, a high-ranking official within the Chinese Communist Party said China must embrace a “whole country” approach to reduce reliance on foreign technologies amid ongoing US sanctions.
US-China tech war: rivals no longer worlds apart as they shoot for the moon
Jiang Jinquan, head of the Central Policy Research Office, said it was Beijing’s “inevitable choice” to seek a greater level of technology independence when the US was imposing technology restrictions on China.
Separately, the head of Honor Device Co, George Zhao Ming, told the Post in an exclusive interview that it has a new mission for 2021: compete with its former owner Huawei and Apple in the market as equals.
Huawei Technologies Co sold its Honor business in November in response to US sanctions that have hammered its smartphone business.
“We are definitely already prepared for this challenge. Without supply restrictions, Honor has exceptional advantages for capturing the mid-tier and high-end markets in China,” Zhao said.
Kuaishou shines
The retail portion of Kuaishou Technology’s US$5.4 billion Hong Kong initial public offering (IPO) was overbought by 210 times on Tuesday, prompting underwriters to close the institutional order book two days ahead of schedule.
As a result, Kuaishou co-founders Su Hua and Cheng Yixiao are set to become two of China’s richest millennials.
By offering a place to shine for millions of underdogs, Kuaishou has grown from a small video app developed in a small flat into the world’s second-largest short video platform.
It has changed how many Chinese people spend their leisure time and interact with each other.
The Tencent-backed video platform has 264 million daily active users, less than half that of its major competitor Douyin, the Chinese version of TikTok run by ByteDance, which has 600 million. Nevertheless, Kuaishou is seen by many analysts as a pioneer that has helped drive the popularity of short videos in China.
The drawbacks of tech dependence
In China, surveillance cameras equipped with facial recognition are used for everything from shaming jaywalkers to preventing toilet paper theft. However, resistance against its widespread use in public spaces is growing.
A survey of 1,515 people by Beijing News Think Tank found that 87.4 per cent oppose the use of facial recognition in commercial areas and 68.6 per cent think it should not be used to access residential areas, while disapproval of its use in hospitals, schools and offices ranged between 43 and 52 per cent.
Another downside of technology dependence was demonstrated in a Chinese town last week after authorities imposed draconian measures to lock down 300,000 residents to contain an outbreak of Covid-19.
The restrictions in Tonghua, a rust-belt town near China’s border with North Korea, not only led to complaints about food and medicine shortages, but also to an outpouring of criticism on social media that delivery and e-commerce services had also been suspended.
But it was not a failure of technology that caused the problems. Since all restaurants and supermarkets were shut, online deliveries, community group buying and even ride hailing were all rendered useless since the underlying infrastructure that supported them was not operational.


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China technology

Inside China Tech: Kuaishou’s imminent IPO, US-China tech war heats up, and the downside to tech dependence

A U.S. flag seen on an embassy car outside a hotel in Shanghai on Tuesday, July 30, 2019. Photo: AP

Eric Schmidt seen speaking during the SALT conference in Las Vegas, Nevada, in this file photo from May 17, 2017. Photo: Reuters

US-China tech war: former Google chief and others call for action to handle ‘asymmetric competition’ from Beijing

Former Google chief executive Eric Schmidt speaks at an event in Cannes, France, in June 2016. Photo: MCT

US-China tech war: Beijing’s top policy official lays out strategy to address Washington’s ‘stranglehold’ over China

A man looks through the curtain of the ‘Light Of The Internet Expo’ during the World Internet Conference in Wuzhen, Zhejiang, Nov. 23, 2020. China must mobilise the nation’s private businesses to reduce reliance on foreign technologies, says a top policy adviser. Photo: EPA-EFE

(201204) -- CHENGDU, Dec. 4, 2020 (Xinhua) -- File photo taken on May 27, 2019 shows staff members of China National Nuclear Corporation (CNNC) Southwestern Institute of Physics working in the vacuum chamber of the HL-2M Tokamak, China's new-generation "artificial sun," in Chengdu, southwest China's Sichuan Province. The HL-2M Tokamak went into operation on Friday and achieved its first plasma discharge, according to China National Nuclear Corporation (CNNC). Designed to replicate the natural reactions that occur in the sun using hydrogen and deuterium gases as fuels, the apparatus in Chengdu, Sichuan Province, will provide clean energy through controlled nuclear fusion, said CNNC. (CNNC Southwestern Institute of Physics/Handout via Xinhua)

An employee demonstrates a wearable AI-powered bionic hand at the JD Global Technology Discovery Conference in Beijing, Nov. 25, 2020. China must mobilise the nation’s private businesses to reduce reliance on foreign technologies, says a top policy adviser. Photo: Xinhua

US-China tech war: moment of truth looms for ex-Huawei unit Honor in new smartphone launch

The V40 series 5G smartphone is Honor’s first new product as an independent company. Photo: Handout

Honor 30 smartphone. HANDOUT PHOTO

Tech

Policy

Big Tech

Kuaishou’s founders are about to become two of China’s richest millennials
A survey found that 87.4 per cent oppose the use of facial recognition in commercial areas and 68.6 per cent do not want it in residential areas


Highlights from some of our best stories this past week, including the latest shots fired in the ongoing US-China tech war, and the downside of tech dependence.


US-China tech war

Eric Schmidt

Inside China Tech: Kuaishou’s imminent IPO, US-China tech war heats up, and the downside to tech dependence

Kuaishou’s founders are about to become two of China’s richest millennials A survey found that 87.4 per cent oppose the use of facial recognition in commercial areas and 68.6 per cent do not want it in residential areas

Kuaishou’s founders are about to become two of China’s richest millennials

A survey found that 87.4 per cent oppose the use of facial recognition in commercial areas and 68.6 per cent do not want it in residential areas