Editor’s note for Wednesday, October 7, 2020
A note from the editor of today's The China Project Access newsletter.
My thoughts today:
Fintech giant Ant Group and Tencentย are the targets of possible new restrictions from the Trump administration โover concerns that their digital payment platforms threaten U.S. national security,โ say some people familiar with the matter cited by Bloomberg.
This does not really tell us anything we did not know: Of course the Trump administration is looking for more Chinese companies and organizations to whack! Tencentโs WeChat is already โbannedโย (although the order has been temporarily suspended by a federal judge), so why wouldnโt it also go after Ant Group?
Ant has almost no business in the U.S. Such a move could harm U.S. companies with Chinese customers more than Ant, but that would be of a piece with many of the administrations China moves. All sound and fury, achieving nothing.
Our word of the dayย is the title of a Xinhua pieceย published today:
U.S. plot to discredit China’s human rights situation at the United Nations foiled again
็พๅฝๅจ่ๅๅฝๆน้ปไธญๅฝไบบๆ็ถๅต็ๅพ่ฐๅ้ญๆซ่ดฅ
mฤiguรณ zร i liรกnhรฉguรณ mวhฤi zhลngguรณ rรฉnquรกn zhuร ngkuร ng de tรบmรณu zร i zฤo cuรฒbร i
โJeremy Goldkorn, Editor-in-Chief
