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Showing posts with label supply chain. Show all posts
Showing posts with label supply chain. Show all posts

Wednesday 25 May 2022

Indo-Pacific Economic Framework (IPEF) may just be an empty shell as US can offer nothing concrete

 

llustration: Chen Xia/Global Times

US President Joe Biden announced on Monday that its Indo-Pacific Economic Framework (IPEF) will start with 12 founding members - Australia, Brunei, India, Indonesia, Japan, South Korea, Malaysia, New Zealand, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, and Vietnam.

The White House touted that those countries account for about 40 percent of the world's GDP, but the high-profile launch doesn't obscure the fact that the US economic scheme, which reportedly covers supply chains, digital trade, clean energy, and anticorruption efforts, lacks specific content.

The US might be able to attract some economies to the IPEF with its seemingly ambitious pledges about digital economy and a new supply chain. However, when it comes to specific negotiations of rules, if the US cannot provide countries with practical benefits to really push for the establishment of a win-win mechanism, the IPEF will not lead to any concrete results.

It is no secret that the IPEF will be used by the US as an important geopolitical tool to contain China in the Asia-Pacific region, but the participation of the other 12 founding countries doesn't necessarily mean they will be all sided with the US in "decoupling" from China. To a certain extent, their participation in the IPEF is largely because they want to be engaged in the establishment of the new economic and trade mechanism from the beginning so as to have a greater say in the rule-setting for their own interests.

For instance, from the perspective of the seven ASEAN members, it is understandable that they hope to benefit from bigger market access, tariff elimination and other preferential trade policies through the new economic scheme, with the view of further promoting the development of their economies and industrial chains. But it is also important to note that most of the ASEAN members are at a different development stage from that of developed countries such as the US and Japan, resulting in a sharp division when it comes their respective requirements for standards in areas like digital economy, labor rights, market regulation, environmental protection, and anti-corruption. And it remains to be seen how the voices and interests of these developing countries can be assured during the detailed negotiations.

In this sense, the game between the US and the other 12 countries may have just started. US Secretary of Commerce Raimondo stated that the IPEF is to "make Indo-Pacific countries beyond China more attractive as manufacturing hubs," according to the South China Morning Post. But that raises a new question: since China is the largest trading partner for more than 120 countries, how can the US ensure the stability of the regional supply chain without China? Maybe that's not the intention of the US at all, because supply chain chaos may actually create new opportunities for the US to bring back manufacturing companies.

However, most of the Asia-Pacific countries see the US as their major export market and China as their major supply chain partner, so they want to see their cooperation with the US under the IPEF could increase their chances of exporting their manufactured goods to the US - and not necessarily trying to hurt trade with China.

From the US' perspective, since Donald Trump's administration, many in Washington blame multilateral free trade for US economic problems, including unemployment and a weakening manufacturing sector. With that protectionist sentiment continuing, the Biden administration is unlikely to give Asian countries more access to the US market.

In fact, if the US opens its market wider to Asian countries, its imports will increase, especially from China, because the Asia-Pacific supply chain is essentially intertwined closely with the Chinese industrial chain. Moreover, China is becoming a major export market for these Asia-Pacific countries, with even stronger demand compared with the US in some fields.

The bottom line is that the decline of American manufacturing has deprived the US of the ability to dominate the regional industrial chain to achieve its strategic goals. The IPEF can offer nothing to make Asia-Pacific countries compromise their massive economic ties with China just to appease Washington. 

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 Illustration: Liu Rui/GT

Monday 3 January 2022

ONGOING CYBER THREATS

 

 

After years of data breaches exposing individuals’ personal information, cyberthieves will increasingly use that information to attack businesses in 2022, according to the Identity theft resource Centre’s predictions for the coming year.

` “We also tracked a record number of data breaches and a steady flow of new victims of unemployment benefits identity fraud long after the enhanced benefits ended,” said eva Velasquez, president and CEO of Identity theft resource Centre.

` Velasquez anticipates an increase this year in the number of people who have been victims of identity theft multiple times. And she warned of particular risk ahead as people change how they pay for things.

` “Look for cybercriminals to take advantage of the shift to alternative digital payment methods, such as payment apps, digital wallets and peer-to-peer services,” Velasquez said.

` With cryptocurrency becoming increasingly popular, scammers will find new ways to steal from consumers, according to the resource centre, which is a US nonprofit that tracks data compromises and provides free assistance to victims.

` The centre’s predictions for 2022 include:

  • ` l An accelerated shift from identity theft to use of already stolen personal information and credentials to commit identity fraud and attack businesses.
  • ` l Consumers may shift away from some online transactions and email communications due to the increasing problem of phishing, which is when cybercriminals use a fraudulent email or website to masquerade as a legitimate business or person.
  • ` l the effects of pandemicrelated fraud will continue into 2024, with some fraud cases taking years to resolve and unemployment compensation fraud efforts likely becoming permanent.
  • ` l ransomware, when hackers use malicious software to infect and lock a computer network and demand demand money to restore access, may surpass phishing as the top cause of data breaches.
  • ` l Supply chain attacks, which is when malware infects a single organisation that is linked to multiple others, will become more common.
  • ` l Single incident attacks will impact greater numbers of individuals, including social media account takeovers that victimise followers and networks.


` “All of these trends point toward increases in identity fraud that will change consumer behaviours, revictimisation rates and pandemicrelated identity crimes for years to come,” Velazquez said.

` “We expect to see these types of cyberattacks and who they target continue to evolve as they did in 2021.”

` The resource centre called for wider consumer education efforts and improved data protection. the number of publicly reported data compromises was already higher last year than in all of 2020. the centre’s third quarter report shows that as of Sept 30, 2021, data compromises rose by nearly 17% over all of 2020. the report found that nearly 281.5 million people were victims last year. there were 1,291 data compromise events in 2021, compared to 1,108 in all of 2020. the record is 1,529 in 2017.

` In November, the resource centre released data showing that 16% of 1,050 US adult consumers surveyed took no action after receiving a data breach notice, according to the survey by the resource centre and Dig.works, a consumer research company.

` Fewer than one-third of survey respondents had frozen their credit at one time for any reason and only 3% did so after receiving a data breach notice, the survey found. 

– Journal-news, Hamilton, Ohio/tribune News Service

Crypto cybercrime set to surge in 2022

 

Cybercrime in 2022 – be aware | The Star

2021 Cyber Threat Report - 2021 Global Threat Report


 

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Tuesday 12 November 2019

US cannot break China’s supply chain


The US has once again disparaged the Chinese economy to entertain itself. US President Donald Trump on Saturday claimed China's supply chain was "all broken, like an egg," and said China wanted a deal more than the US did.

The fact is, however, senior US officials are talking about trade wars and trade deals almost every day, while Chinese officials rarely do this. Anyone who knows a little bit about psychology can figure out that such responses of the US reflect anxiety, rather than calmness.

Is China's supply chain broken like an egg? Chinese telecom giant Huawei has not begged the US to be "magnanimous." It is now US companies that are asking to be excluded from US restrictions.

Being placed in the Entity List has certainly caused difficulties for Huawei, but such hardships are far from delivering vital blows to fling the company down. Some US elites are clamoring for knocking Huawei down, but their indecent acts have only stimulated Huawei's strength and growth. And Chinese people generally believe that this high-tech company will be increasingly strong.

The US cannot even defeat one Chinese enterprise by making full use of its whole country's power. Now it is claiming it will break the supply chain of all of China as an egg. Is such bragging too exaggerated? We wonder how the public opinion and voters in the US can tolerate such a boast. The voters are seemingly quite gullible.

The US is suffering an economic downturn, and many indicators demonstrate that its good days are coming to an end. US state leaders and senior officials are like cheerleaders, taking turns to cheer up the stock index.

In terms of economic situations, Chinese officials' description is absolutely more objective and calm than the US side. China recognizes that the trade war has brought negative impacts, and our efforts to eliminate such effects are open and timely. The US, however, is trying to cover up the effects of the trade war it has launched.

China has already focused its efforts on solving its own problems. We will not bet on the idea that reaching a deal will fundamentally change China-US economic relations. Most Chinese believe that whether there is an agreement or not, turmoil between the two countries will not end. Chinese society is in favor of reaching a trade deal, but it is also patient.

Including Chinese companies such as Huawei in the Entity List will cause long-term damages to US business community's reputation. Foreign companies may be on guard against US enterprises in the future while building their own supply chains, which will certainly offer more opportunities for US competitors.

The US is so keen on imposing sanctions, and is fond of applying sanctions on related third-parties. Betting on US companies may work in a short term, but cannot serve as a long-term strategy. The US has trodden business ethics under foot in this round of China-US games. It is even pleased with itself for overtly destroying China's supply chain. At the strategic planning in the US, there are no such concepts like honesty and morality. The Chinese society has clearly observed this, as has the entire world.

Fortunately, China has the widest range of manufacturing sectors in the world, which has given the country a special strength in the global supply chain. China is not afraid of any game against the supply chain. Producers without China's supply chain will certainly feel more pain than China.

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China, Huawei growth soars as Pompeo screams (new report)

US State Sec. Mike Pompeo has heaped unprecedented criticism on China’s government, saying it needs to be “confronted head on” and that it poses a threat to US national security. Sourabh Gupta, of the Institute for China America Studies joins Rick Sanchez to share his expertise. He argues that the US is “way too far ahead with its rhetoric” about China and that Pompeo’s attacks on Beijing are because the US “cannot compete” with China’s meteoric development.

https://youtu.be/K6W3LnFP8-8

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