UK warning to techpreneurs is a step towards China decoupling

Putting a $70 billion trade and investment relationship on a diplomatic razor’s edge, the UK has issued an alert to all its businesses that deal with China. The underlying message to entrepreneurs, exporters and those receiving investments from China is clear: be very, very careful. As a set of caution and advisories from the government of UK, the website is a campaign whose offering is caution while dealing with China Tech. it is one thing for private management consultancies to issue such advisories. It is quite another for a country, with stakes that go way beyond trade and investments, to come out so openly in issuing warnings. A sample:

• Checking corporate filings is helpful, but superficial. Do not rely on global blacklist databases, as they rarely capture Chinese names accurately and can generate false positives.

• Public records are limited in China. It is important to be aware that it is illegal to obtain full paper corporate filings held by business registration authorities (these contain financial data and other information beyond that in the public accessible online version), individual household registration records and a complete list of an individual’s corporate interests.

• When exporting to China, be prepared to face counterfeiting, trademark and other IPR infringements.

• If getting Chinese investments, be aware of the potential commercial risks to your business and how to mitigate them. This will help you protect your assets, data and IP.

• Taking legal steps to protect your IP in China is important, but you should also consider your cybersecurity.

The campaign reminds UK businesses that in 2018, the UK was left with no choice but to call out China, in cooperation with allies and partners, for breaking its promise not to carry out or support cyber-theft of commercial data in 2018. “Along with its allies, the UK has announced that a group known as APT 10 acted on behalf of the Chinese Ministry of State Security to carry out a malicious cyber campaign targeting intellectual property and sensitive commercial data in Europe, Asia and the US,” a 20 December 2019 press release noted. It is difficult for governments to tell its corporate citizens to not do business with a particular country. This advisory, therefore, is the strongest warning against China Tech by any government so far. China’s aggression is being called out, and such warnings will increase going forward. With it, a China decoupling will gather momentum. And this decoupling will not be restricted either to digital spaces or to the UK.

• International Affairs
• China Foreign Policy
• Media and Internet
• Cyber and Technology
• China
• European Union
• China Tech
• Decoupling
• IPR
• state security
• United Kingdom

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