​US planned visa restrictions on Chinese tech firms...

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Photo taken on Nov. 20, 2019 shows Huawei's exhibition booth during a press preview for the 2019 World 5G Convention in Beijing, capital of China.(Xinhua/Li Xin)

The Trump administration on Wednesday announced plans for new visa restrictions on employees of Chinese technology firms including Huawei, another bluffing move which intensifies already strained bilateral ties in an aim to win votes amid domestic chaos, analysts said.

The move also demonstrates how the US is politicizing business issues on fabricated reasoning in an aim to contain the rise of Chinese tech firms like Huawei, analysts said.

The US "will impose visa restrictions on certain employees ... of Chinese technology companies like Huawei that provide material support to regimes engaging in human rights violations and abuses globally," US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo told reporters at a State Department press briefing on Wednesday.

"Telecommunications companies around the world should consider themselves on notice: If they are doing business with Huawei, they are doing business with human rights abusers," Pompeo said.

He did not elaborate on which employees would be targeted or how many people would be affected.

Huawei said US'planned visa restriction on its employees is an "unfair and arbitrary action", noting the firm is independent from the Chinese government and is fully "private and employee-owned."

We are disappointed at the restrictions on Huawei employees who make unremitting efforts to contribute to technological innovation in the US and around the world, said the firm.

The Trump administration is just bluffing and need to play more China cards in a bid to win votes ahead of the key election, which is fully within expectations, Gao Lingyun, an expert at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences in Beijing, who closely follows the China-US trade conflict, told Global Times on Thursday.

Opinion polls showed Donald Trump is already trailing his Democratic challenger Joe Biden ahead of November's election.

"Such a sanction is a showoff to voters rather than having any real meaning and impact on China. Just think twice, who will go to the US amid the worsening pandemic now?" Gao said.

In addition, an insider told the Global Times that most of Huawei's US employees have already gone back home given the country's intensified crackdown on the Chinese firm.

Pompeo did not elaborate on which other Chinese companies would be targeted.

The announcement also comes a day after Trump said on Tuesday that he has signed legislation to impose sanctions on China over its national security law for the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region.

"We have to be prepared for more 'extreme pressure' and 'eye-catching' sanctions from the US side in the next few months before the election," said Gao, noting that China is prepared for the worst to come.

China is set to release its countermeasures accordingly, at the right time and with the right strength, Gao said.

China's Foreign Ministry on Monday announced sanctions against the US Congressional-Executive Commission on China, Ambassador at Large for International Religious Freedom Samuel Brownback, US Senators Marco Rubio, Ted Cruz and Republican Chris Smith, following the US' sanctions on several Chinese officials over Xinjiang-related issues.

British work visa curbs begin to bite

A commuter wearing a mask is seen at a underground station in London, on May 13, 2020. [Photo/Agencies]

While they don't come in till 2021, pain is already felt on both sides of channel. As the United Kingdom gears up to overhaul its immigration system, the country's plan to end freedom of movement for millions of European Union citizens within its borders is already hurting both sides, analysts said.

British Home Secretary Priti Patel on Monday unveiled a document outlining the new immigration rules after the country completes its departure from the EU. At their core is a points-based system for deciding who will be allowed to stay in the UK.

Under the changes, which will come into effect from Jan 1, citizens of the EU's 27 member countries will be treated equally to arrivals from the rest of the world. But it allows those already living in Britain, and those yet to arrive before Dec 31, to apply to settle in Britain under an EU settlement scheme. Applications must be in by June 30.More than 3.7 million EU citizens have already applied.

The EU applicants applying to work in Britain will also need sufficient English-language skills to aid their integration into British communities.

"The British people voted to take back control of our borders and introduce a new points-based immigration system," Patel said.

"Now we have left the EU, we are free to unleash this country's full potential and implement the changes we need to restore trust in the immigration system and deliver a new fairer, firmer, skills-led system from Jan 1, 2021."

Jon Geldart, director-general of the United Kingdom Institute of Directors, which represents over 25,000 business leaders in the UK, said that even the mere discussion of the news rules is already affecting British businesses.

"For some time since Brexit was voted on by the British public there have been concerns that the end to free movement would result in Britain seeming like it is not a welcoming place for talented employees," he said. "This is not the message the British industry wishes to send to the world."

Difficulties for choices

He said that the government will need to ensure that work visas can be granted quickly for the talent that Britain needs to rebuild its economy after the COVID-19 pandemic.

Claudia Vernotti, director of ChinaEU, a business-led association in Brussels, Belgium, said that the incoming policy probably won't have profound effects on Europeans who don't live, study, or work in the UK.But for many others, it could suggest difficulties for future choices.

"It may deter some people's decision to move to the UK or make them adopt a more cautious attitude toward programming education, seeking a job or selecting business partners in the UK," she said.

He Yun, an assistant professor in the School of Public Administration at Hunan University, said that migration is already a divisive issue in many European countries. Brexit could intensify the debate on the free flow of labor within the EU and potentially cause further challenges for European integration.

The points-based immigration system will make it difficult for low-skilled EU workers, in particular, to enter the UK as they will not be able to reach a designated salary threshold required to apply for work visas, she said.

"This problem is particularly acute for many Eastern European workers working in agriculture, care homes, and construction in the UK," He said. "They will have to look for jobs elsewhere, for instance, in more developed economies within the EU, such as Germany and France."

For the UK, ending the free flow of workers between it and the EU will hurt certain sectors of the economy - such as public health, agriculture and construction - that employ many EU laborers.

"The UK government has already promised to give European doctors and nurses fast-track visas, but how well and quickly the system will be implemented and whether it will cause any disruption are unknown," she said.

She said that due to the pandemic, businesses from both sides will not have enough time to plan for what is to come after the transition period ends. Given this backdrop, the end of the free flow of people between the EU and the UK in less than six months could cause major disruptions, He said.

Source: By CHEN YINGQUN| China Daily;Global Times ;Xinhua 

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