WHEN CHINESE SMARTPHONE MAKER ZTE FOUND ILLEGALLY SELLING PHONES WITH LEADING EDGE CHIPS FROM QUALCOMM AND INTEL TO IRAN THE BAN AGAINST CHINA BEGAN - FORCING CHINA TO SCRAMBLE TO RELEASE ITS OWN HOME GROWN CLONED CHIPS SOONER THAN LATER

CHINA is looking to accelerate plans to develop its domestic semiconductor market amid a fierce trade standoff with the United States and a US ban on sales to Chinese phone maker ZTE that has underscored the country’s reliance on imported chips.

Senior Chinese officials have held meetings this week with industry bodies, regulators and the country’s powerful chip fund about speeding up already aggressive plans for the sector, two people with direct knowledge of the talks told Reuters.

The talks underscore China’s concern about its reliance on imported chips from global names such as Qualcomm and Intel, aggravated by a worsening dispute with the United States centred on cutting-edged tech.

“In the last few days senior Chinese officials have met to discuss plans to speed up the development of the chip industry,” one person with knowledge of the talks said, asking not to be named because of the sensitivity of the matter.

China has already made the semiconductor market a key priority under its “Made in China 2025” strategy to cut reliance on foreign technologies and create its own domestic champions.
That goal has been given fresh urgency after a US ban on sales of products — including chips — to Chinese phone maker ZTE Corp roiled the firm, which uses mainly US chips in its smartphones.

READ MORE: Espionage fears dog China’s biggest smartphone makers
A second person with knowledge of the talks said senior officials had met with key ministries, as well as the National Integrated Circuitry Investment Fund, “this week” to discuss speeding up plans due to recent trade tensions.

China’s Ministry of Commerce and the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology did not immediately respond to faxed requests for comment late on Thursday.
The IC Fund did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

The seven-year ban on US firms selling parts to ZTE comes at a time when the two countries have threatened each other with tens of billions of dollars in tariffs in recent weeks, fanning worries of a full-blown trade war.
Washington said ZTE had violated an agreement reached after it was caught illegally shipping goods to Iran.

http://www.news.com.au/technology/innovation/design/china-speeding-up-chip-plans-amid-trade-tensions-with-us/news-story/

SO WHEN CHINA XI SAYS NO MILITARIZATION OF THE SOUTH SEA HIS WORDS HAD NO MEANING SINCE MILITARIZATION OF THE ISLANDS ARE COMPLETE STARTING FROM 2013 OF JOHNSON REEF TO SIX OTHERS INCLUDING SPRATLY ISLAND, CUARTERON REEF, FIERY CROSS REEF, GAVEN REEF, HUGHES REEF, MISCHIEF REEF AND SUBI REEF - ENCIRCLING TAWAIN - AND CONTROLLING THE SEA LANES OF ASIA AS ITS GOAL TO DRIVE ALL THE WAY DOWN TO AUSTRALIA AS IT GROWS ITS BASE NOW IN VANUATU - WITHOUT EVEN FIRING A SHOT - EXCEPT WHEN IT TOOK THE FIERY CROSS FROM VIETNAM - AS CHINA'S XI BECOMES THE NEW THREAT IN THE 21ST CENTURY

China has deployed electronic attack systems and other military facilities on disputed islands in the South China Sea and is now capable of controlling the strategic waterway, according to the admiral slated to be the next Pacific Command chief.

Additionally, the command nominee Adm. Philip Davidson told the Senate Armed Services Committee in a written statement this week that the military urgently needs hypersonic and other advanced weaponry to defeat China's People's Liberation Army in a future conflict.

"In the future, hypersonic and directed energy weapons, resilient space, cyber and network-capabilities, and well-trained soldiers, sailors, airmen, marines, and coastguardsmen will be crucial to our ability to fight and win," the four-star admiral said in written answers to questions from the Senate Armed Services Committee.

On China's militarization and take over of the South China Sea, Davidson said the buildup of forward military bases began in December 2013 at Johnson Reef in the Spratly islands. Since then, the Chinese have fortified that reef and six others with military facilities, Davidson said.

"In the South China Sea, the PLA has constructed a variety of radar, electronic attack, and defense capabilities on the disputed Spratly Islands, to include: Cuarteron Reef, Fiery Cross Reef, Gaven Reef, Hughes Reef, Johnson Reef, Mischief Reef and Subi Reef," Davidson said.

"These facilities significantly expand the real-time domain awareness, [intelligence, surveillance reconnaissance], and jamming capabilities of the PLA over a large portion of the South China Sea, presenting a substantial challenge to U.S. military operations in this region," he added.

The bases on the seven islands include hangars, barracks, underground fuel and water storage facilities, and bunkers for "offense and defensive kinetic and non-kinetic systems," he states.

The militarization contradicts a promise from Chinese supreme leader Xi Jinping not to militarize the South China Sea that is used as a waterway transit for an estimated $5.3 trillion in goods annually.

"These actions stand in direct contrast to the assertion that President Xi made in 2015 in the Rose Garden when he commented that Beijing had no intent to militarize the South China Sea," Davidson said.

"Today these forward operating bases appear complete. The only thing lacking are the deployed forces."

The occupied islands will permit China to extend its influence thousands of miles southward and project power deep into the Oceania.

http://freebeacon.com/national-security/pacom-nominee-china-military-islands-now-control-south-china-sea/

SOUTH KOREAN POSK MOON CONTINUES THE BLOCKAGE TO THE APPROVAL OF CHINA AS FARMERS ARE WHIPPED TO STOP THE THAAD CONSTRUCTION - FARMERS FOLLOWING THE LEFTIST MOTTO OF ANTI S KOREA SECURITY

http://english.chosun.com/site/data/html_dir/2018/04/11/2018041101498.html

 

MISSION ACCOMPLISHED AS THE POTUS TRUMP ATTACKS THE POS ASSAD GETS THE CRUISE MISSILE UP HIS CHEMICAL FACTORIES (HUSSEIN IRAQS?) AFTER ATTACKS OF CHEMICAL PROPORTIONS AGAINST HIS OWN PEOPLES NOT ONCE NOT TWICE NOR THRICE IN THE 21ST CENTURY - AS THE POR PUTIN CLEARS HIS THROAT TO BOAST CONSEQUENCES TO COME FOR STRIKING ASSAD'S CHEMICAL CAPABILITY

Russia responded angrily to a U.S.-led strike against Syria, warning of unspecified "consequences" that stoked fears the conflict could escalate.
President Donald Trump ordered targeted military action in the country late Friday, following an alleged chemical weapons attack that reportedly left dozens of citizens dead. In recent months, international efforts to broker a ceasefire and organize a humanitarian response to the country's crisis have faltered in the face of stiff opposition from both Russia and Syria.
Russia, which has backed the government of Syrian President Bashar Assad, has joined Damascus in denying an attack even took place — even though U.S. authorities have declared it did with near certainty. The dispute over Syria was the latest wedge between the West and Russia, which has been embroiled in multiple controversies with western governments.
In a statement released on Twitter, Russia's ambassador to the U.S. said the country was being "threatened," and issued an ominous warning that reprisals could follow. Russian President Vladimir Putin, meanwhile, branded the coalition strike as an "act of aggression," as he demanded an emergency session of the U.N. Security Council on Saturday.

https://www.cnbc.com/2018/04/13/russia-warns-of-consequences-for-us-led-strike-on-syria.html