The Foreign Correspondents' Club Hong Kong

The Fight for Tech Supremacy Between Silicon Valley and China

A growing distrust of China’s technological prowess is underpinning some of the tension around its trade war with the US, which has led to the threat of Chinese companies being prohibited from publicly listing in the United States, according to experts.

Whereas five years ago there was closer collaboration between China and Silicon Valley, now a ‘splinternet’ is the result of the US pushing back against China, said author and technology writer, Rebecca Fannin, who appeared as a panelist at the FCC on November 6.

Should the United States decide to formally ban Chinese tech firms from listing IPOs there, it would be devastating, said venture capitalist Wei Jiang, a founding partner at Momentor Ventures. He added that Chinese firms would need to seek investment elsewhere.

Stella Xi Jin, a founding partner of China-focused venture capital firm Keytone Ventures, said her company was already investigating other markets, including Hong Kong, Singapore, and Europe.

A growing list of key Chinese tech companies have been added to America’s trade blacklist as Washington seeks to block China’s ascent.

You can watch the talk here.

What next for Hong Kong and China’s growing civil society movement?

China will likely promulgate Article 23 in Hong Kong via an interpretation of the Basic Law rather than through the Legislative Council, predicts a veteran China watcher.

Professor Willy Lam at the FCC. Photo: Sarah Graham/FCC

Professor Willy Wo-Lap Lam, adjunct professor at the Chinese University of Hong Kong’s Centre for China Studies and author of a new book, The Fight for China’s Future: Civil Society vs. the Chinese Communist Party, said this was one of the routes Chinese President Xi Jinping may choose to restore order in Hong Kong, where protests have gripped the city since June. He said the Chinese Communist Party saw the unrest as a Black Swan Event – a colour revolution which was a collusion between anti-Beijing forces within China and hostile foreign forces such as the US. President Xi has in the recent past warned his party of the danger of Black Swan Events.

Describing Hong Kong’s Chief Executive, Carrie Lam, as a “lame duck”, Prof Lam also predicted that the CCP was unlikely to undermine her authority further by sacking her, and so would keep her in post while they chose a successor before she stood down.

Guests at the November 5 club lunch were taken through a presentation highlighting China’s growing civil society movement, which has seen army veterans, workers and students protest throughout the country.

FCC Statement Expressing Concern Over Attack on Xinhua News Agency Offices

The FCC expresses its grave concern over the attack against the Hong Kong offices of Xinhua News Agency during last weekend’s protests. News organisations and their journalists must be able to work in Hong Kong free of fear of attack and intimidation, which is essential to preserving freedom of the press.

The FCC is also looking into reports of journalists arrested over the weekend and will comment further when more information has been made available.

The FCC reiterates its call for an independent investigation into police violence against journalists and interference with the media’s right to cover the protests under Hong Kong law. The FCC urges that such an inquiry be thorough and transparent.