Japanese man detained in China is employee of drugmaker Astellas

I don't know why any foreign companies continue to do business with China when there are so many Asian countries that are flourishing and are far more trustworthy and biggest point of all less of a headache.

No rational executive should be willing to go to China, it only takes the slightest excuse or none at all if the CCP feels like using you as a bargaining chip with your country, with a free death sentence thrown in.

Stop doing business with the genocidal thugs. Stop buying their cheap crap. There are better safer options in Asia.

Maybe the accusations are just true? Could happen…

I don't know why any foreign companies continue to do business with China when there are so many Asian countries that are flourishing and are far more trustworthy and biggest point of all less of a headache.

Maybe it’s because China is the second biggest economy after the US and Japan is an export oriented country to compensate low domestic growth?

""China has been stepping up its scrutiny of foreign organizations and individuals in the name of protecting national security, with a number of foreigners held after the introduction of a counterespionage law in 2014 and a national security law in 2015.""

Wow, beginning to like the OLD DAYS.

Thuggish behavior comes from power. This is what bullies do. China and the U.S. are the same. Only China can do it alone while the US had to enlist the help of and hide behind Canada in the Huawei’s case. The blatant will to do what it wants without some moral justification, even if completely false, shows China has power but it had not yet arrived at the level of the U.S. When China does this to a U.S. executive, that’s when you need to worry.

I don't know why any foreign companies continue to do business with China when there are so many Asian countries that are flourishing and are far more trustworthy and biggest point of all less of a headache.

Easy question to answer: profits. Follow the money.

Stop doing business with the genocidal thugs. Stop buying their cheap crap. There are better safer options in Asia.

That’s what one says when they are losing competition; Huawei and Tik Tok are textbook examples along with Toshiba and Mitsubishi. This is the equivalent of spreading rumors of low hygiene standards at your rival restaurant in town when you are losing diners. The U.S. must up its game.

‘alleged violation of the country's law,’

Pretty vague…but then again it’s coming from a country which doesn’t have the same level of transparency as most of the world.

Arbitrary arrests are not uncommon. People who voice dissenting opinions often disappear. If you still want to do business with China, go there at your own risk.

The "old" risk of doing business in China - merely having all your technology and ideas stolen - was acceptable to many foreign companies, who considered it an acceptable risk to access China's market. However, this access was a mirage, as it was often non-existent, or at least highly restricted.

The "current" risk is now unacceptable to many, and should be to all, companies:

"Traditional" theft and industrial espionage

Arbitrary imprisonment

Massive reputational damage to your company outside of China for supporting a genocidal regime

Your company's technology being used to aid the Chinese state in the persecution of its people (not just Xinjiang and Hong Kong, but the entire rest of the country)

Your company's technology being used to aid the Chinese military in threatening your own, and other, countries

China's time as the factory of the world is over - a fact noted by the head of Foxconn back in 2020:

https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/business/international-business/chinas-days-as-worlds-factory-are-over-iphone-maker-says/articleshow/77506449.cms

The "current" risk is now unacceptable to many, and should be to all, companies:

No they seem to have accepted this and in your opinion are condoning this. American Chamber of Commerce is a source. Transaction data and news articles aren’t the same. Exports from China increased in the trade war and Americans had to pay tariffs for it.

@justasking it’s the greed, China being basically a dictatorship gets things done faster so the investor could, at least until very recently, get stinking rich super fast. Now countries are realizing that it always was to end badly and want to change course but big business is still greedy, it’s always greed…..

No one should travel to China for any reason!!!

He's accused of breaking the law.

Maybe he did.

I still don't understand who would anyone travel to China to do businesses.

It pains me to say this (It really does!), but doesn't this sound like something that would happen in North Korea?

So sad to read this. Why is the CCP under Jumping Jinping committing these acts of unprovoked aggression against innocent shimanagashi middle management? Incapable of performing at a high standard in Japan, they are sent out to pasture---In this case Communist China,. What possible espionage could they be doing? Any Japanese will quickly tell you that Japanese technology is the best in the world. What could Japan possibly learn from China now, say for how to produce black nails and David Bowie bootlegs? China is spying on Japan, not the other way around.

@quercetum

Exports from China increased in the trade war

Unfortunately, there will always be unscrupulous people who value profit above human rights. Here are two such people:

https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2022/oct/10/taiwan-elon-musk-china-special-admin-region-comments-ill-informed-and-belittling

https://thehill.com/policy/technology/584796-apple-chief-signed-275b-deal-to-placate-china-report/

But things are changing, as the younger generation in particular is much more aware of the issues - e.g. shunning cotton products from China, which were likely made with forced labor in Xinjiang. Plus, costs in China have risen, making it considerably less profitable than previously, and ESG is now key for institutional investors. Once the bottom line becomes affected, companies leave, no matter their ethical stance.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Environmental,_social,_and_corporate_governance

Manufacturing is shifting from China to places like India, Vietnam and Indonesia - just as it did from Japan to China. In another 20 years it'll probably shift to Africa.

Easy question to answer: profits. Follow the money.

Yes, this is the answer to 99.57% of everything that is happening today!

Any Japanese will quickly tell you that Japanese technology is the best in the world. What could Japan possibly learn from China now, say for how to produce black nails and David Bowie bootlegs? China is spying on Japan, not the other way around.

Wake up, sir. It's 2023, not late 90's & early 2000.

China has build a space station up there whilst the latest rocket launch by Japan is failed.

And the electric cars & phone manufacturers? I bet someone still think it's Toyota & Sony that dominate those markets....... LOL!

The very proof that CCP is sending so many spies to Japan and everywhere. As you do, you believe they do

China is an Enemy of the USA and Japan, Neither one of us who hold that citizenship should be entering enemy teritory. Common sense.

I still don't understand who would anyone travel to China to do businesses.

For contracts of course. They are the Home Depot / Lowe’s and contractors all in one.

I’ve seen them build. They build like they’re angrily mad. They are military lije except it’s not for war but bridges, highways, railways and housing. They want to build instantly like instant microwave.

China build 20,000 houses in Africa in 3 days. The financed it too.

https://youtu.be/BWJ2Li8zryc

The very proof that CCP is sending so many spies to Japan and everywhere

I just knew that personal opinion or belief of somebody is 'the very proof' of something. Wow.

China is an Enemy of the USA and Japan, Neither one of us who hold that citizenship should be entering enemy teritory.

God forbid, Heaven knows what would happen to Japanese economy should it really cut off economic ties with China.

Japan's condition is already grim as it is without having to made her neighbour as an enemy. Lol.

It is similar situation in Japan. Foreigners in Japan do not have the similar legal rights as Japanese.

@quercetum

I’ve seen them build.

So have I:

https://nypost.com/2022/05/06/53-dead-in-china-building-collapse-search-for-trapped-ends/

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/shenzhen-china-skyscraper-evacuated-shake/

https://www.newsmax.com/newsfront/china-bri-xi/2023/01/20/id/1105316/

https://www.theepochtimes.com/china-shoddy-construction-causes-many-deaths-and-injuries_3485488.html

https://nationalinterest.org/blog/buzz/sunk-how-chinas-man-made-islands-are-falling-apart-and-sinking-ocean-132047

https://www.wired.com/2013/03/poor-quality-chinese-concrete-could-lead-to-skyscraper-collapses/

etc. etc. etc...

Wake up, sir. It's 2023, not late 90's & early 2000.

China's high speed railway has surpassed Japan's. They build 60% of the world's high speed railway.

 China, which were likely made with forced labor in Xinjiang.

That's obsolete already. No one is talking about Uighur genocide anymore. Filed as another fake weapons of mass destruction.

Massive reputational damage to your company outside of China for supporting a genocidal regime

You think American companies care even if it were true? Overused words like Nazi, Hitler, rape, genocide...you're struggling with vocabulary. You don't even have words to describe how evil China is.

""The Japanese government has been seeking the release of the man, in his 50s, as soon as possible. He may be facing spying allegations.""

We all know who the master SPIE is who wrote the book on the art of Spying, Let the man go China.

@Darius R.

China has build a space station up there whilst the latest rocket launch by Japan is failed.

Every country engaged in space exploration, including China, has failed rocket launches. It's part of the endeavor. What Japan doesn't do is allow its rockets to re-enter the atmosphere uncontrolled, endangering people on Earth, like China routinely does.

And what's the reason China is building its own space station? Because it's not allowed to participate in the ISS, as other countries know it will steal their technology. Japan, unlike China, has international partners - it's in the Artemis program and we should see a Japanese astronaut on the moon in the coming years.

China needs to learn that 'when you don't play nice, people won't want to play with you.'

@quercetum

That's obsolete already. No one is talking about Uighur genocide anymore.

They are still talking about it, as China is still committing genocide. The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Volker Türk, was talking about it - and Hong Kong and Tibet - literally a couple of weeks ago.

https://www.rfa.org/english/news/uyghur/volker-turk-03082023155015.html