All articles tagged with #us china relations
In the Aug. 25 South Carolina Senate runoff debate, Darline Graham admitted she’s not “that informed” on national security, specifically U.S.-Taiwan relations, a blunder critics seized on to label her unprepared for the Senate as rival Ralph Norman presses the foreign policy angle and Trump remains backing her candidacy.
US automakers are accelerating their retreat from China as Chinese brands push abroad. Ford will end Lincoln production in China for export to the US and GM reportedly stops Chevrolet sales there, with both refocusing production in North America. Chinese automakers, aided by excess capacity and improving quality, are expanding globally, and the likely path into the US is via North American plants (potentially Mexico) rather than direct imports from China, amid tariff debates and Chinese tech restrictions under USMCA-era rules.
Pentagon policy chief Elbridge Colby has pressed for a Beijing invitation to discuss defense priorities, but China has not invited him, citing anger over the U.S. 11-billion-dollar arms sale to Taiwan and broader tensions, underscoring the fragility of high-level U.S.-China defense exchanges while Colby seeks a platform to shape strategy.
China rejected accusations of excess industrial capacity and argued the issue is overstated, even as the United States signals additional tariff increases, underscoring ongoing tensions in global trade and industrial policy.
A Chinese government spokesperson dismissed U.S. accusations that Chinese researchers are stealing American AI trade secrets as an unfounded smear rooted in prejudice, as Washington floated possible sanctions against China amid the broader tech-and-tariff dispute.
Trump downplayed Chinese election interference five days after citing declassified materials alleging Beijing sought to undermine the 2020 election and influence the 2018 midterms, saying he’ll discuss the intelligence with Chinese leaders and that the U.S. also acts against China; he added that China may be different now, framed it as a two‑way street, and noted that much of the information hinges on publicly available voter data and prior intelligence assessments that found no interference in 2020.
US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said the administration will investigate whether Chinese AI models were distilled from American ones and warned that sanctions could follow if IP theft is verified, as Chinese open-weight models gain ground on OpenAI and Anthropic; he cites watermarks on US models found in Chinese AI and notes that talks with China on AI are planned for September, amid broader concerns over intellectual property and competition in AI.
Chinese President Xi Jinping urged the creation of a global framework to guide AI development, calling for international cooperation and shared rules while criticizing U.S. limits on technology sharing as part of broader China–U.S. tensions.
Apple is lobbying Washington for clearance to buy memory chips from CXMT, a Chinese company on the Pentagon’s 1260H blacklist for alleged PLA ties, to ease rising memory prices that prompted Apple to raise prices on MacBooks and iPads; while not barred from CXMT or YMTC, the White House’s stance on approving such purchases remains uncertain and could face Congressional scrutiny amid US-China tech tensions.
China's affordable, open-source AI models are narrowing the gap with the U.S. frontier tech, pressuring Washington to rally allies while grappling with an erratic export-controls regime and a broader push for digital sovereignty; the Pax Silica effort seeks a U.S.-led AI and chip bloc as 35 countries join the AI Opportunity declaration, but partners remain cautious about interoperability and reliance on Chinese infrastructure.
Alibaba has filed a California federal lawsuit to overturn its designation on the DoD's 1260H blacklist, arguing the link to the Chinese military is baseless and that the decision is arbitrary. The blacklist would bar new U.S. government business from June 30 and could force its US advisers to sever ties, while Alibaba maintains its board has no military affiliations and its platforms are for retail and cloud computing, not weapons.
China added MP Materials and USA Rare Earth to its export-control list, barring dual-use goods to the two firms as part of a broader retaliation-and-leverage move while the U.S. expands sanctions on Chinese firms tied to the military. Rare earths power magnets critical for EVs and defense, and China processes most of the world’s supply, giving Beijing significant sway. MP Materials, backed by Apple and the Pentagon, had already cut shipments to China, and Bloomberg described Monday’s curbs as largely symbolic, with tighter export rules anticipated in November. Investors largely shrugged as the market reaction was muted.
China’s Ministry of Commerce barred Chinese suppliers from shipping certain rare-earth metals to two U.S. firms, MP Materials and USA Rare Earth, targeting America’s effort to rebuild a domestic magnet supply chain. Given China’s dominance of light and heavy rare earths, the move raises the risk of a broader trade clash as Washington continues to invest in domestic production and the global supply chain, against a backdrop of prior export controls and IP disputes.
China’s Commerce Ministry condemned the Pentagon’s updated 1260H list that labels dozens of Chinese firms (including Alibaba, Baidu and BYD) as military companies, warning of forceful countermeasures if the U.S. does not withdraw the designation. The listing, which sanctions Pentagon dealings and damages reputations rather than banning operations, comes amid broader U.S.–China tensions over espionage concerns and ongoing trade frictions, with Trump and Xi recently signaling efforts to stabilize ties and potential talks on arms sales to Taiwan.
China strongly opposed the U.S. Defense Department’s update adding major Chinese tech firms—including Alibaba, Baidu, BYD, NIO, Trina Solar and JA Solar—to a list that bars DoD contracting with them and restricts purchases through third parties from 2027, saying the move undermines a recent Xi–Trump meeting and could harm bilateral ties; Beijing warned of retaliation while Beijing and Washington remain locked in broader security and tech competition.