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US lashes out at Chinese
piracy
SEOUL - US Commerce
Secretary Donald Evans touched a few raw nerves in
China on Thursday when he accused Chinese auto
maker Chery of using stolen design information
from GM Daewoo Auto & Technology Co, South
Korea's third-largest auto maker.
While
avoiding direct accusation of theft by Chery,
Evans said the auto maker is using pirated
proprietary information to produce its QQ minicar,
the Asian Wall Street Journal reported. The
comment came amid a dispute between Chery and GM
Daewoo - controlled by US auto giant General
Motors - over intellectual-property-rights
violations. Last month GM Daewoo filed a lawsuit
against Chery in China, accusing the Chinese auto
maker of illegally copying one of its car models.
GM Daewoo alleges "extreme similarities" between
Chery QQ and Chevrolet Spark, which is based on
its Daewoo Matiz minicar. The South Korean auto
maker claims that Chery produced the QQ through
copying and unauthorized use of GM Daewoo's trade
secrets. Chery denies the allegations.
Evans said mathematical formulas and other
design information to build the Chery QQ "were
simply stolen from GM Daewoo ... This is an
incident that defies any kind of innocent
explanation." He said studies by several
professional organizations have found that the two
models had identical body structures and exterior
and interior designs and that many parts were
interchangeable, the report said.
The
United States has stepped up efforts to curb
piracy in China, which has come under frequent
criticism by its trading partners for its loose
protection of intellectual property rights. The US
incurs losses of nearly US$24 billion annually
from piracy in China, US assistant commerce
secretary William Lash said during his visit to
Seoul last month. According to the latest figures
available, the number of cases filed with the
Korean Intellectual Property Office for violation
of intellectual property rights in China nearly
doubled to 33 in 2002 from 18 in the previous
year. The number could be much higher, considering
that many firms fail to report cases of
intellectual-property-rights violations, the Korea
Trade-Investment Promotion Agency said.
Evans, who served as commerce chief during
President George W Bush's first term and steps
down this month, told Chinese officials and
American business people in Beijing that China is
not doing enough to stamp out the unlicensed
reproduction of trademarks, software, industrial
designs, drugs and other patented products. The
issue is "straining our trading relationship",
Evans said. "It's time for China's leaders to
forcefully confront the problem posed by
intellectual-property-rights theft."
Evans
urged more action from Chinese authorities.
Wrapping up his fourth and final visit to Beijing
as commerce secretary on Thursday, he said: "The
most important thing for China is to stay focused
on enforcement. The recent reinterpretation of
China's criminal law, lowering thresholds for jail
time, is a very constructive step. But the key is
results. Let's start putting people in jail."
According to US government calculations,
its companies lose more than $25 billion a year
from copyright offenses. The US Trade Office
claims that trademark and patent theft contributes
to the surging trade deficit with China that
totaled nearly $150 billion last year. Estimates
vary widely as to how much of China's industrial
production involves unlawful copies of patents,
trademarks and copyright. China's Development
Research Center, a government policy research
institute, estimated in 2003 that the value of
pirated goods made in China was $19 billion to $24
billion a year.
Evans' chiding on piracy
along with his sermon on the need to revalue the
yuan and remove Chinese trade barriers met with a
nuanced snub from the Chinese side. Chinese
Commerce Minister Bo Xilai, in front of television
cameras, jocularly said Evans' tenure was 70%
successful. "Judging from the view of friends and
judging from the achievements of your work, I
should say that 70% of what you have done has been
pretty good," Bo said. A visibly uncomfortable
Evans responded with surprise, "Oh, hey, that's
almost flunking." Bo then made clear his
disappointment that the US had refused to
recognize China formally as a market economy.
But that Evans' sermon did not fall on
deaf ears was evident as three men were sentenced
to prison for contracting companies to make fake
copies of Microsoft software, as part of a
crackdown on piracy. Xinhua reported that the
three had been sentenced to between six months and
one year in prison for "illegal business
operations". The three had commissioned two
companies to make 59,000 illegal copies of a
Microsoft program that restores operating systems,
the report said. The companies - Beijing
Zhongxinlian Co and Tianjin Minzu Disc Co - were
fined 90,000 yuan ($11,000) and their profits from
the project - 11,000 yuan - were confiscated.
Last week Chinese officials shut down
Beijing's famed Silk Market that specialized in
selling phony Western brand-name goods, as proof
that they are seriously cracking down on piracy.
But as Evans' trip showed, the US isn't convinced.
In April, Chinese Vice Premier Wu Yi promised
aggressive new anti-piracy steps. Last month,
China's top court followed it up by making it
easier for prosecutors to file criminal cases
against suspected pirates and jail those convicted
for up to seven years. US officials welcomed the
step but maintained this wasn't enough. The
consensus in US trade circles is that laws are
fine, but what China lacks is enforcement.
Some 95% of the digital video discs (DVDs)
sold in China are illegal copies, says the
International Intellectual Property Alliance in
Washington. Latest Hollywood releases can be had
on any Chinese street for as low as 96 cents. And
the sellers generally don't even try to do hide
their trade, openly flaunting their wares in
well-stocked storefronts.
(Asia
Pulse/Yonhap) |
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