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Huawei Arrest Tests China's Leaders as Fear and Anger Grip Elite
The arrest of one of China's leading tech executives by the Canadian police for extradition to the United States has unleashed a combustible torrent of outrage and alarm among affluent and influential Chinese, posing a delicate political test for President Xi Jinping and his grip on the loyalty of the nation's elite.
The outpouring of conflicting sentiments — some Chinese have demanded a boycott of American products while others have expressed anxiety about their investments in the United States — underscores the unusual, politically charged nature of the Trump administration's latest move to counter China's drive for technological superiority.
In a hearing on Friday in Vancouver, Canadian prosecutors said the executive, Meng Wanzhou of the Chinese telecom giant Huawei, faced accusations of participating in a scheme to trick financial institutions into making transactions that violated United States sanctions against Iran.
Unlike a new round of tariffs or more tough rhetoric from American officials, the detention of Ms. Meng, the company's chief financial officer, appears to have driven home the intensifying rivalry between the United States and China in a visceral way for the Chinese establishment — and may force Mr. Xi to adopt a tougher stance against Washington, analysts said. In part, that is because Ms. Meng, 46, is so embedded in that establishment herself.
Previously: Canada Arrests Huawei's Global Chief Financial Officer in Vancouver
Related: New Law Bans U.S. Government from Buying Equipment from Chinese Telecom Giants ZTE and Huawei
Australia Bans China's Huawei (and maybe ZTE) from 5G Mobile Network Project
Washington Asks Allies to Drop Huawei
(Score: 3, Interesting) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday December 09 2018, @03:06AM (1 child)
China today is very similar to the U.S. in the 1930s. The U.S. ended up with food safety laws because of the shenanigans during that period. Chemists trying to make spoiled meat appear and smell ok enough to sell, sawdust added to bread, etc.
The Chinese people are aware of the issues, and as the middle class grows, it will only be a matter of time before their regulation of rich greedy assholes reigns this minority in.
Rich greedy assholes are the same everywhere. The damage they do to others is only limited by how strong they are reigned in by society and regulations.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday December 09 2018, @12:47PM
Except China is a dictatorship which might throw some spanners in the works. These greedy assholes are pretty well entreched. I do hope I'm wrong though.