China said it opposed the U.S. decision this week to sanctions Chinese companies for transporting North Korean coal (see 2012080027). China said it is in line with all United Nations Security Council resolutions. “China firmly opposes any country citing its domestic laws to impose unilateral sanctions and ‘long-arm jurisdiction’ over Chinese entities and individuals,” a Foreign Ministry spokesperson said Dec. 9, according to a transcript it provided of a regular press conference. “We will firmly safeguard the legitimate and legal rights and interests of the Chinese entities and individuals.”
China said it will retaliate for U.S. sanctions against 14 National People’s Congress Standing Committee officials (see 2012070024), calling the moves damaging to U.S.-China relations. A Foreign Ministry spokesperson said the sanctions were imposed with “vicious intent” and urged the U.S. to reverse them. “We have this solemn message for the United States: The Chinese government is firmly determined to oppose U.S. interference in Hong Kong affairs, to uphold China's sovereignty, security and development interests, and to implement ‘one country, two systems,’” the spokesperson said Dec. 8. “In response to the egregious act by the U.S. side, China will take firm and strong countermeasures to defend its sovereignty, security and development interests.”
China temporarily suspended poultry imports from Belgium due to an “avian influenza” outbreak in one of the country’s commercial farms, a Dec. 7 notice said, according to an unofficial translation. All illegal imports of poultry or poultry products from Belgium will be returned or destroyed, China said. The suspension took effect Dec. 7.
China will allow imports of Mongolian flour, the country’s General Administration of Customs said in a Dec. 7 notice, according to an unofficial translation. The notice includes quarantine and inspections requirements for the imports.
China's attempts at using economic tools, such as export controls on rare earth minerals or punishing imports from Australia, have only been somewhat successful, according to Maximilian Ernst, the speaker on the American Institute for Contemporary German Studies webinar Dec. 7, called “How to Respond to China’s Carrots and Sticks? Prospects of a Transatlantic Response to Chinese Economic Coercion.” Ernst is researching Chinese coercion for a Ph.D.
China reportedly has developed a supercomputer that gives it an advantage in quantum computing, an emerging technology category that the U.S. has sought to prevent China from dominating. The computer can perform certain computations 100 trillion times faster than the world’s fastest existing supercomputer, giving China a “quantum computational advantage,” or “quantum supremacy,” Xinhua, China's state-run news agency, reported Dec. 4. Chinese researchers also said the computer can perform certain processes 10 billion times faster than the quantum computer developed by Google. The Bureau of Industry and Security is considering export controls on certain technology related to quantum computers, with those restrictions in their final rule stage as of July (see 2007140027). A BIS spokesperson said the agency continues to “evaluate and identify technologies that warrant control.”
Although Thailand is one of more than a dozen countries that will benefit from reduced tariffs under the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership, the deal will have only a “marginal” impact on U.S. agricultural exports to that nation, the U.S. Department of Agriculture Foreign Agricultural Service said in a Dec. 2 report. USDA said most of Thailand’s “major” commodity imports from the U.S., such as wheat and raw cotton, will be minimally affected. The RCEP eliminated duties among member states for imports of “distillers dried grains with solubles (DDGS),” but U.S. exports of DDGS will be unaffected because most RCEP members are net importers of DDGS, the USDA said. U.S. fish exporters are also unlikely to be affected because “the products that will see the immediate elimination of tariffs [under RCEP] already have a low tariff rate” of 5% for imports from the U.S., the report said.
China removed inspection requirements for certain medical supply exports listed under 14 commodity numbers, a Dec. 3 notice said, according to an unofficial translation. The inspection requirements will no longer apply to certain thermometers, surgical gloves and glasses, certain bandages and “medical disinfectant.” China stressed that the inspections will still apply to certain items classified as “dangerous chemicals.”
China will require import and export licenses for certain commercial encryption products beginning Jan. 1, its Commerce Ministry said in a Dec. 2 notice. The license requirements, to be overseen by the Commerce Ministry and China’s customs authority, are aimed at monitoring and restricting the trade of dual-use encryption technologies, the notice said, according to an unofficial translation. The export requirements could capture equipment that uses commercial encryption for electric utilities and finance, Nikkei reported Dec. 3, while import controls could capture phone and fax machines with encryption features. Violators could face penalties outlined under China’s new export control law, which took effect Dec. 1 (see 2010190033).
The Singapore Customs TradeNet will undergo system maintenance Dec. 13, 4 a.m. to 5 p.m. local time, a Dec. 1 notice said. The agency advised users to avoid submitting applications during this time. This is in addition to the usual 4 a.m. to 8 a.m. Sunday maintenance.