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Project Dory Monitoring 8 August 2017
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Fisheries department head expelled from China for smuggling
Aug 7, 2017 | Daily NK
By Lee Sang Yong
It has been reported that a North Korean head of a fisheries department was recently arrested by Chinese public security officers for smuggling, and was repatriated in mid-June. -
China’s backing for North Korea sanctions is unlikely to turn the tide against Kim Jong-un’s regime
Aug 8, 2017 | South China Morning Post
By Ankit Panda
On Saturday, after weeks of deliberations following North Korea’s first-ever test of an intercontinental-range ballistic missile, the United Nations Security Council unanimously adopted Resolution 2371. News reports almost universally described these sanctions as the widest-ranging and strongest-ever against North Korea. -
Merger deal sees all Dalian container terminals consolidated under DCT
Aug 8, 2017 | Seatrade Maritime News
By Vincent Wee
Cosco Shipping Ports announced that the restructuring of Dalian Port is practically completed with the merger of all related parties previously operating 14 container berths now coming under one entity, Dalian Container Terminal (DCT). -
Australia, Japan, U.S. call for South China Sea code to be legally binding
Aug 8, 2017 | Reuters
By Manuel Mogato and Christian Shepherd
Australia, Japan and the United States on Monday urged Southeast Asia and China to ensure that a South China Sea code of conduct they have committed to draw up will be legally binding and said they strongly opposed "coercive unilateral actions". -
Trump Is Said to Wait on China Intellectual Property Probe
Aug 8, 2017 | Bloomberg
By Margaret Talev
President Donald Trump plans to wait at least a week and possibly longer on moving forward with a trade investigation of China on intellectual property violations after the country backed UN Security Council sanctions on North Korea, an administration official said. -
China says willing to pay the price for new North Korea sanctions
Aug 8, 2017 | Reuters
By Ben Blanchard
China will pay the biggest price from the new United Nations sanctions against North Korea because of its close economic relationship with the country, but will always enforce the resolutions, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi said. -
Trump trade war with China may not be imminent — but it is coming
Aug 7, 2017 | Financial Times
By Shawn Donnan
That was certainly the fear emanating from Washington last week when news emerged that the White House was engaged in serious discussions over using another long-dormant trade tool — Section 301 of the Trade Act of 1974 — to retaliate against China over its controversial intellectual property policies. -
Trump Company Moves to Protect Brand in Chinese Gambling Hub
Aug 7, 2017 | The New York Times
By Auston Ramzy
HONG KONG — The company that manages the Donald J. Trump brand has moved to protect the name in Macau, a part of China that long ago surpassed Las Vegas to become the world’s largest gambling market.
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Fisheries department head expelled from China for smuggling
Aug 7, 2017 | Daily NK
By Lee Sang Yong
It has been reported that a North Korean head of a fisheries department was recently arrested by Chinese public security officers for smuggling, and was repatriated in mid-June.
On June 19, "Chinese Coast Guard Unit 110" was dispatched to Anmin Port in China’s Liaoning Province. The officers uncovered an antique smuggling operation conducted by a North Korean man named as Kim Kwang Won and two other North Koreans, and launched an arrest operation.
"[Kim Kwang Won] contacted numerous Chinese traders to sell the antiques at hefty prices, and was exposed during the process. An unnamed source reported him to public security officers," a source familiar with North Korean affairs in China told Daily NK on July 26.
Kim Kwang Won and his co-accused were interrogated at Anmin police station for three days, before being transported to Sinuiju’s Ministry of State Security where they received a preliminary hearing. Those who are arrested for smuggling are repatriated and generally receive similar punishment to that imposed on defectors, but the level of punishment for those deemed to be ‘economic violators’ is lower.
"Kim Kwang Won is said to have been released four or five days ago. He received an early release because he had connections with the Ministry of State Security [MSS]," the source said.
According to a separate source in China close to the matter, Kim built a small port in an estuary on the Yalu river four or five years ago with money he earned through smuggling, and oversaw the area.
Since then, Kim seems to have been systematically bribing the Ministry of the People's Armed Forces, the General Bureau of Reconnaissance, and the People’s Safety Agency, in return for holding his post as the head of a fisheries office. It is not uncommon for the head of fisheries departments in North Korea to receive approval for fishing together with an implicit allowance to engage in smuggling if they contribute foreign currency or commodities to the various government organizations.
The fact that Kim's group attempted to sell antiques in China despite strengthening crackdowns on smuggling by the Chinese government shows that they were desperate to earn foreign currency, likely demanded by the North Korean authorities.
The North Korean fisheries departments have been earning foreign currency by smuggling fisheries products using Chinese fishing boats, but due to China's strengthened crackdowns on smuggling, it has become very difficult. This is presumably why Kim's group elected to risk smuggling within Chinese territory.
In addition, Kim appears to have been directly engaged in the smuggling himself even while in charge of the office. Multiple sources have reported that Dandong city has seen a rise in the number of public security officers and border guards dispatched for crackdown operations on smuggling activities.
Both sources reported that recently, with strengthening crackdowns in the estuaries of the Chinese side of Yalu river, only small smuggling ships can be seen from time to time. If they are caught, they are fined 20,000 RMB (approx US$3,300).
As relations between China and North Korea worsen, the North Korean authorities have also increased crackdowns on North Korean fishing boats in estuaries on the North Korean side of the Yalu river. "Since May, North Korea has also increased crackdowns on fish smuggling which has been a serious blow to the residents' livelihoods. North Korean fishing boats are receiving pressure from both sides due to tense bilateral relations," a source in North Pyongan Province said.https://www.dailynk.com/english/read.php?num=14649&cataId=nk01500
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China’s backing for North Korea sanctions is unlikely to turn the tide against Kim Jong-un’s regime
Aug 8, 2017 | South China Morning Post
By Ankit Panda
Although the latest UN resolution looks tough on paper, the White House may soon find that it falls short of expectations in practice
On Saturday, after weeks of deliberations following North Korea’s first-ever test of an intercontinental-range ballistic missile, the United Nations Security Council unanimously adopted Resolution 2371. News reports almost universally described these sanctions as the widest-ranging and strongest-ever against North Korea.
On paper, the resolution looks quite robust. It bars North Korean exports of several key commodities – including lead, lead ore, iron, iron ore, coal, and seafood. According to Nikki Haley, America’s ambassador to the UN, the total damage to Kim Jong-un’s pocketbook would run in the range of US$1 billion, or roughly a third of North Korea’s overall trade revenue.
For an administration that has defined its North Korea policy under the flexible banner of “maximum pressure and engagement,” Resolution 2371 sure appeared to do the trick.
The trouble, however, begins with the details, as it often does with UN sanctions regimes. First, despite the alluring US$1 billion sum cited above, the actual damage to North Korea is likely to be more modest. The figure presumes total compliance by UN member states, including China, which accounts for more than 85 per cent of North Korea’s trade.
The Chinese eagerly pointed out that they would be the first to implement this resolution to the fullest extent possible, but history belies this point.
Resolution 2371 notably omits the humanitarian exception that previously allowed some otherwise proscribed trade so any detected enforcement violations will be less plausibly deniable – a small silver lining.
There is also the question of why China and Russia eventually acquiesced to the US-drafted resolution in the first place. China agreed to similarly harsh resolutions last year after North Korea’s nuclear tests, but the Russians were obstructing action at the UN early on after North Korea’s July 4 test of the Hwasong-14.
Absurdly, they claimed that the missile launched was a medium-range ballistic missile while everyone – including the North Koreans, the United States, Japan, South Korea, and China – agreed it was an intercontinental range missile.
Moreover, the Russian affirmative vote came just days after US President Donald Trump signed an extensive sanctions bill against Moscow into law, leading Russian President Vladimir Putin to force US diplomatic staff out of their missions in Russia.
The answer lies in a simple cost-benefit calculation in Moscow and in Beijing. By allowing Resolution 2371 to take effect, both countries are likely to have calculated that the Trump administration will be less likely to proceed with secondary sanctions against Russian and Chinese entities and individuals associated with North Korea’s ballistic and nuclear programmes.
In June the Trump administration announced new sanctions against the Bank of Dandong in China, which sits across the border from North Korea. Signs that a broader secondary sanctions regime is under consideration have been apparent since the administration began its North Korea policy review in February.
Resolution 2371, like previous UN Security Council sanctions resolutions against North Korea, appears robust, but will likely fall short where it matters: getting North Korea to change its ways.
Even if implemented well, trade accounts for a modest percentage of North Korea’s overall gross domestic product and the country has grown adept at economising its pursuit of a nuclear deterrent. Pyongyang will steal, hack, and ransomware its way to canistered solid-fuel ICBMs if it must.
The Trump administration’s victory lap after Resolution 2371 should be short. North Korea will continue to test additional ballistic missiles and potentially even a thermonuclear weapon soon.
In the end, while condemnation and sanctions at the Security Council are far preferable to a devastating preemptive strike against Kim Jong-un’s ICBMs, changing North Korea’s behaviour will require greater audacity from the Trump administration.
It will require a willingness to think seriously about diplomacy and, yes, talking to Kim Jong-un about his nuclear-tipped ICBMs and other missiles.
http://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy-defence/article/2105898/chinas-backing-north-korea-sanctions-unlikely-turn-tide
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Merger deal sees all Dalian container terminals consolidated under DCT
Aug 8, 2017 | Seatrade Maritime News
By Vincent Wee
Cosco Shipping Ports announced that the restructuring of Dalian Port is practically completed with the merger of all related parties previously operating 14 container berths now coming under one entity, Dalian Container Terminal (DCT).
DCT originally operated seven berths at the Port of Dalian, with Dalian Port Container Terminal (DPCT) operating five and Dalian International Container Terminal operating the remaining two.
All the three entities have various international investors, including Singapore Dalian Port Investment and PSA China, which held 49% of DCT and 25% of DPCT respectively prior to the merger, Japanese logistics giant Nippon Yusen also held a 20% stake in DICT.
Cosco Shipping Ports said in a stock market announcement that these three entities have been consolidated under DCT, with the resulting stakes of previous entities being diluted accordingly based on the respective valuations.
The corporate action essentially sees Dalian Port Container Development (DPCD) strengthening its majority stake in the merged entity with a 48.15% stake and much reduced stakes for other players.
Singapore Dalian Port Investment, the joint venture between PSA and the then Port of Dalian Authority to set up DCT and its first foreign foray back in 1996, will see its overall stake fall to 20.75%, while PSA China will see its 25% stake in DPCT previously, reduced to 5.25% of the bigger entity.
Providing its rationale for the mover, Cosco Shipping Ports said: "The company believes that the merger will allow each party to exert its strength, further optimise the allocation of resources, and facilitate integrated management of the relevant terminals, thereby lowering operational costs, increasing overall competitiveness of DCT and enhancing its efficiency."
http://www.seatrade-maritime.com/news/asia/merger-deal-sees-all-dalian-container-terminals-consolidated-under-dct.html
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Australia, Japan, U.S. call for South China Sea code to be legally binding
Aug 8, 2017 | Reuters
By Manuel Mogato and Christian Shepherd
MANILA (Reuters) - Australia, Japan and the United States on Monday urged Southeast Asia and China to ensure that a South China Sea code of conduct they have committed to draw up will be legally binding and said they strongly opposed "coercive unilateral actions".
The Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN) and China should establish a set of rules that were "legally binding, meaningful, effective, and consistent with international law", the foreign ministers of the three countries said in a statement following a meeting in Manila.
Foreign ministers of ASEAN and China on Sunday adopted a negotiating framework for a code of conduct, a move they hailed as progress but seen by critics as a tactic to buy China time to consolidate its maritime power.
Australia, Japan and the United States also "voiced their strong opposition to coercive unilateral actions that could alter the status quo and increase tensions".
They urged claimants to refrain from land reclamation, construction of outposts and militarization of disputed features, a veiled reference to China's expansion of its defense capability on Mischief, Fiery Cross and Subi reefs in the Spratly archipelago.
The three countries are not claimants but have long been vocal on the issue, arguing their interest is in ensuring freedom of navigation and overflight.
They urged China and the Philippines to abide by last year's international arbitration ruling, which invalidated China's claim to almost the entire South China Sea, where more than $3 trillion worth of sea-borne goods passes every year.
Brunei, Malaysia, the Philippines, Taiwan and Vietnam also have competing claims there.
The code framework is an outline for what China and ASEAN call "consultations" on a formal agreement, which could start later this year.
Several ASEAN countries want the code to be legally binding, enforceable and have a dispute resolution mechanism. But experts say China will not allow that and ASEAN may end up acquiescing to what amounts to a gentlemen's agreement.SHARP CONTRAST
Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi said there was a "sharp contrast" in perceptions this year between regional and non-regional countries, and the statement by Japan, the United States and Australia showed that.
Coastal countries had "fully recognized the progress we have made through concerted efforts from all parties", he said.
"On the other hand, some non-regional countries remain in the past ... They are not recognizing the positive changes occurring in the South China Sea.
"Is it that some countries do not want to see greater stability in the South China Sea?" he asked.
Singapore's foreign minister, Vivian Balakrishnan, said on Sunday it was premature to conclude the outcome of the negotiations, but added: "Surely when we move into the COC, it has got to have some additional or significant legal effect."
Jay Batongbacal, an expert on the South China Sea at the University of the Philippines, told news channel ANC the adoption of the framework gave China "the absolute upper hand" in terms of strategy, because it will be able to decide when the negotiating process can start.
China also called out "some countries" who voiced concern over island reclamation in the South China Sea in the joint communique issued by ASEAN members on Sunday.
"In reality it was only one or two country's foreign ministers who expressed concerns of this kind," Wang told reporters.
Wang said that China had not carried out reclamation for two years. "At this time, if you ask who is carrying out reclamation, it is definitely not China - perhaps it is the country that brings up the issue that is doing it," he added.
Several ASEAN diplomats told Reuters that Vietnam was one country that had pushed for stronger wording in the statement. Satellite images have shown that Vietnam has carried out reclamation work in two sites in the disputed seas in recent years.
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-northkorea-missiles-china-idUSKBN1AO011
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Trump Is Said to Wait on China Intellectual Property Probe
Aug 8, 2017 | Bloomberg
By Margaret Talev
President Donald Trump plans to wait at least a week and possibly longer on moving forward with a trade investigation of China on intellectual property violations after the country backed UN Security Council sanctions on North Korea, an administration official said.
Trump and his advisers remain concerned over what the U.S. perceives as Chinese violations of intellectual property and the plan for a trade investigation is still under consideration, the official said. But the White House wants to encourage and reward China’s cooperation on North Korea and is balancing national security concerns against domestic economic considerations, the official said.
He is likely to wait at least until the end of his working vacation in Bedminster, New Jersey, in late August before taking any further steps on an investigation, the official said.
The UN Security Council on Saturday unanimously approved measures to restrict North Korea’s exports of coal, iron, lead and seafood. The Trump administration has threatened military action if necessary to stop North Korea from obtaining an intercontinental ballistic missile that can strike the U.S. with a nuclear weapon.
China, which holds a veto on the security council and is North Korea’s biggest ally and trade partner, backed the sanctions in a bid to spur dialogue. It has urged North Korea to halt future ballistic missile and nuclear tests, while also calling on the U.S. and South Korea to cease military exercises.
The administration has been considering having the U.S. Trade Representative’s office open an investigation of China’s treatment of intellectual property under the authority of section 301 of the Trade Act of 1974, which allows the president to impose tariffs on foreign products or discriminatory restrictions on American commerce.
The investigation would focus on allegations that China has violated U.S. intellectual property amid growing concern that it’s trying to become a world leader in technologies such as microchips and electric cars.
In a report to lawmakers last month, the USTR accused China of engaging in “widespread infringing activity, including trade secret theft, rampant online piracy and counterfeiting, and high levels of physical pirated and counterfeit exports to markets around the globe.”
The administration earlier this year opened an investigation into whether steel and aluminum imports represent a security threat, invoking the seldom-used section 232 of the 1962 Trade Expansion Act, which allows the government to investigate whether imports damage the country’s national security. Trump hasn’t yet announced any action on that probe, though China is a heavy producer of the products.
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2017-08-08/trump-is-said-to-wait-on-china-intellectual-property-probe
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China says willing to pay the price for new North Korea sanctions
Aug 8, 2017 | Reuters
By Ben Blanchard
BEIJING (Reuters) - China will pay the biggest price from the new United Nations sanctions against North Korea because of its close economic relationship with the country, but will always enforce the resolutions, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi said.
The United Nations Security Council unanimously imposed new sanctions on North Korea on Saturday that could slash its $3 billion annual export revenue by a third.
Speaking at a regional security forum in Manila on Monday, Wang said the new resolution showed China and the international community's opposition to North Korea's continued missile tests, the foreign ministry said in a statement on Tuesday.
"Owing to China's traditional economic ties with North Korea, it will mainly be China paying the price for implementing the resolution," the statement cited Wang as saying.
"But in order to protect the international non-proliferation system and regional peace and stability, China will as before fully and strictly properly implement the entire contents of the relevant resolution."
China has repeatedly said it is committed to enforcing increasingly tough U.N. resolutions on North Korea, though it has also said what it terms "normal" trade and ordinary North Koreans should not be affected.
The United States does not seek regime change, the collapse of the regime, an accelerated reunification of the peninsula or an excuse to send the U.S. military into North Korea, Tillerson said.
Wang said Tillerson's "Four Nos" promise was a positive signal.
China "hopes North Korea can echo this signal from the United States", Wang added.
Speaking at the same forum on Monday, Tillerson held a door open for dialogue with North Korea saying Washington was willing to talk to Pyongyang if it halted a series of recent missile test launches.
North Korea said the latest sanctions infringed its sovereignty and it was ready to give Washington a "severe lesson" with its strategic nuclear force in response to any U.S. military action.
The successful testing of two intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs) last month suggested the reclusive North was making technical progress, Japan's annual Defence White Paper warned.
"Since last year, when it forcibly implemented two nuclear tests and more than 20 ballistic missile launches, the security threats have entered a new stage," the Japanese Defence Ministry said in the 563-page document released on Tuesday.
"It is conceivable that North Korea's nuclear weapons program has already considerably advanced and it is possible that North Korea has already achieved the miniaturization of nuclear weapons and has acquired nuclear warheads," it said.
South Korea reiterated further resolutions against Pyongyang could follow if it did not pull back.
"North Korea should realise if it doesn't stop its nuclear, missile provocations it will face even stronger pressure and sanctions," Defence Ministry spokesman Moon Sang-gyun told a regular news briefing. "We warn North Korea not to test or misunderstand the will of the South Korea-U.S. alliance."
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-northkorea-missiles-idUSKBN1AN054
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Trump trade war with China may not be imminent — but it is coming
Aug 7, 2017 | Financial Times
By Shawn Donnan
So is Donald Trump really about to trigger that trade war with China?
That was certainly the fear emanating from Washington last week when news emerged that the White House was engaged in serious discussions over using another long-dormant trade tool — Section 301 of the Trade Act of 1974 — to retaliate against China over its controversial intellectual property policies.Section 301 is, as the Financial Times makes clear in an editorial published today, a blunt instrument in trade policy. And its use would be provocative:
“The use of a tool such as Section 301 — the trade diplomacy equivalent of a wooden club — to batter China into submission may be counterproductive. Under the 301 statute, which has not been widely used since the 1995 creation of the WTO, the US would in effect act as judge, jury and executioner on any grievance that it identifies. The use of such an uncompromising weapon would probably be seen by the Chinese as an extreme provocation, thus risking a full-blown trade war.”
But it’s also worth pausing to consider a few realities that mean war may not be imminent. The first is that, as has been the case with other provocative Trump trade proposals, some form of moderation may lie ahead. Remember the 45 per cent tariff on goods from China? Or the border tax? Or the president’s campaign pledge to pull out of the North American Free Trade Agreement?
The first two haven’t materialised and may never do so, while the once-mooted exit from Nafta has turned into a renegotiation aimed at “modernising” the pact with Canada and Mexico. A more recent push for a broad tariff on steel imports in the name of US national security, which in June seemed days away, has morphed into a trade technocrat’s dream: an elaborate system of tariffs, quotas and exceptions that looks like it will take months to construct and may never even see the light of day.Why is that relevant to the Section 301 move now being discussed? The answer lies in the way the law works. What Mr Trump appears ready to announce, possibly in the coming days, is not the immediate imposition of tariffs. It is the launch of an investigation into China’s intellectual property policies, much like the national security ones he ordered earlier this year into US steel and aluminium imports. That will rightly generate headlines if it happens. But the real provocation won’t come until the end of that investigation, which could take a year, and a decision on what remedies to punish China with.
In the meantime, you can expect plenty of negotiations with Beijing, lobbying by industry groups and debate within the administration. And we have seen some of that already, which also gets at the second reason a trade war may not be imminent: geopolitics.
A push by the administration to get Chinese backing for new UN sanctions on North Korea resulted in an expected announcement of the launch of the Section 301 investigation on Friday being postponed. It also saw the president proclaiming a diplomatic victory — and hailing China’s support — after the Security Council voted to impose those sanctions on Saturday.The message was a notable change from the frustration with China that Mr Trump had expressed in recent weeks after earlier this year establishing China’s potential co-operation on North Korea as a reason for holding back on his promised trade attack on Beijing. After the weekend UN vote, it is worth asking whether that logic may hold again for some time, especially with China’s leadership preparing for this autumn’s 19th party congress and the unveiling of a new top team.
The third important reality is that Mr Trump and the China hawks in his administration are not the only ones calling for a reset in trade relations with Beijing. China was not surprisingly the main target in a new trade manifesto unveiled by Senate Democrats last week. But the calls go beyond politics and across party lines.
Between chasing 301 whispers last week, I had conversations with half a dozen former senior US trade officials from both Republican and Democratic administrations — people who had made China policy and prosecuted major China trade cases. All of them agreed that US trade policy toward China has not worked and that it is time for Washington to get more aggressive. Many in the business community feel the same way. The only real question is what tools Washington should use and when.
Those conversations led me to a simple conclusion. This may or may not be the week that Donald Trump launches his trade war with China. But it is very hard to see how some sort of conflict isn’t likely before long. The mood in Washington is calling for it.
Number of the week: 10.7 per cent President Trump seized on Friday's strong non-farm payrolls report as yet more evidence of the robust economy he is bringing to Americans. But there was another number released Friday that he didn't crow about, which was remarkable for a man with an obsessions about trade deficits.
According to the US Census Bureau's latest data the first six months of 2017 have not been good for the country's balance of trade. "Year-to-date, the goods and services deficit increased $26.7 billion, or 10.7 percent, from the same period in 2016. Exports increased $64.9 billion or 6.0 percent. Imports increased $91.7 billion or 6.9 percent."https://www.ft.com/content/3e14037e-7b4f-11e7-9108-edda0bcbc928
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Trump Company Moves to Protect Brand in Chinese Gambling Hub
Aug 7, 2017 | The New York Times
By Auston Ramzy
HONG KONG — The company that manages the Donald J. Trump brand has moved to protect the name in Macau, a part of China that long ago surpassed Las Vegas to become the world’s largest gambling market.
The moves do not necessarily indicate that President Trump or the Trump Organization will eventually open a Trump hotel or casino there. But the ongoing efforts to expand Trump trademarks overseas have raised questions about whether they fall afoul of a constitutional prohibition on receiving economic benefits from foreign governments.
Since winning the presidential election, Mr. Trump has turned over control of his businesses to his adult sons, and his legal team has said the business would no longer pursue new foreign deals.
DTTM Operations, a New York company that holds Trump trademarks, applied in June for rights to the Trump name in casinos, construction, hotels and real estate, according to Macau government filings. It is not clear whether the applications were for new trademark protections or to renew similar trademarks dating back to 2006 that had expired.
The company already holds more than a dozen trademarks in Macau. Last year Trump won a legal battle with a Macau company that had registered to use the name “Trump” in coffee shops and restaurants.Continue reading the main storyRELATED COVERAGEIn China, Trump Wins a Trove of New Trademarks MARCH 8, 2017Trump Adds Another Chinese Trademark to His Portfolio MAY 23, 2017Trump Awarded a New Chinese Trademark, This Time for Catering JUNE 1, 2017Russia Renewed Unused Trump Trademarks in 2016 JUNE 18, 2017
“The Trump Organization has been zealously enforcing and protecting its intellectual property rights around the world for more than 20 years, particularly in jurisdictions where trademark infringement is rampant,” Amanda Miller, a spokeswoman for the Trump Organization, said in an email. “The trademark applications you are referring to simply represent a continuation of those efforts.”
Macau, a former Portuguese enclave on China’s southern coast that returned to Chinese control in 1999, is the only part of China where casino gambling is legal. After it opened up its gambling monopoly in 2001, new casinos and an influx of visitors from mainland China led to a full gambling boom, attracting American companies like Las Vegas Sands and Wynn Resorts. The tiny enclave surpassed the Las Vegas Strip for total revenues in 2006.
Mr. Trump began operating casinos in Atlantic City in the 1980s, eventually running four that held as much as about 30 percent of the city’s gambling market in the 1990s. His casino companies sought bankruptcy protection multiple times, and he quit the board in 2009.
Trump trademark applications in Macau go back to 2006 and include “Trump,” “Donald J. Trump,” “Trump Tower,” “Trump International Hotel and Tower” and “Chun Pou” — a Cantonese version of Mr. Trump’s name.
The licenses issued after Macau opened up its gambling monopoly will soon begin to expire, which could open the market further. The South China Morning Post reported on the filings on Sunday.
“Gaming concessions for the six casino operators in Macau will expire between 2020 to 2022,” Desmond Lam, an associate business professor at the University of Macau, said by email. “The industry is still somewhat unclear what will happen to these concessionaires after that. Recently, there have been some rumors that the Macau government may allow a seventh operator to enter this market.”
The Trump business has picked up efforts to protect its name in mainland China as well. China approved a Trump trademark for the use of his name in construction services in February, shortly after he acknowledged he would maintain American policy toward Taiwan, a key issue for China’s leaders. The president’s critics said the episode showed how his company’s overseas endeavors create a perception problem and expose him to potential conflicts.
The Trump business now holds at least 125 registered or provisionally approved trademarks in mainland China for a variety of services and products. Last month a trademark for the Trump name in relation to hotel restaurants was officially registered. Mr. Trump has no businesses in China, but the trademarks give some protection of his name in a country where knockoffs are commonplace.
The Trump Organization says those trademarks are registered with an affiliate and have nothing to do with Mr. Trump.
After denouncing China and its large trade gap with the United States during the presidential campaign, Mr. Trump eased off his criticism in hopes Beijing would be able to help curb North Korea’s missile and nuclear weapons program.
But in recent weeks Mr. Trump has declared China’s efforts to constrain Kim Jong-un, the North’s leader, a failure, declaring last month on Twitterhe was “very disappointed in China.”
https://www.nytimes.com/2017/08/07/business/trump-macau-trademarks-casino-gambling-china.html?_r=0
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