Mike Pence continues to dodge questions about his role in the Ukraine debacle. Mike knew Trump’s plan was to withhold Ukraine’s military aid payment until President Zelensky promised to open a Biden investigation, but Pence won’t come clean. Mike didn’t answer questions about what he knew about Trump’s Ukraine obsession, but he can’t hide under his evangelical act for long, according to the Democrats.
Mark Zuckerberg refused to take down the Trump ad that claims Biden pulled some under-the-table strong-arm moves on Ukraine. Even though the Trump ad doesn’t have its facts straight, Mark told Joe Biden he’s not taking down the ad. It’s unclear if Biden will sue Facebook and Zuckerberg. But according to some reports, Biden may do battle in the courts.
Liu He, China’s chief negotiator is back in Washington and Trump plans to meet with him. Mr. Trump wants to pressure Mr. Liu in person. The president still wants to change the way China interacts with Chinese corporations. But Liu He told the press this meeting is only about trade, not the issues that impact Chinese tech firms. Mr. Trump recently blackballed Chinese tech companies who develop AI and facial recognition apps.
China wants Trump to lift the ban on its tech companies. Liu He didn’t say what China would do in terms of retaliation, but China will fight back. But despite the mess in the tech sector of the trade negotiations, China still wants Trump to sign a deal that would give American farmers and Chinese importers a chance to resume business while both parties fight over intellectual property issues and spying, according to the Associated Press.
Huawei was the first Chinese company to feel Trump’s blackballing scheme. But with 180,000 employees and $100 billion in revenue Huawei is a tough opponent to bring down. Ren Zhengfei only owns a little more than one percent of Huawei’s stock, but he has complete control of the company, according to Reuters.
Zhengfei was smart enough to start side businesses that include hotels, catering and food and wine businesses. Those businesses are for Huawei employees, but non-employees also take advantage of the upgrades Ren adds to his hotels and corporate offices.
Ren calls his conglomerate a family business. His daughter is the CFO of Huawei, and his brother Steven is the chief logistics officer. Steve oversees catering, hospitality, and construction. Ren’s son is the CEO of a Huawei satellite company called Shenzhen Smartcom Business Co. Limited. That company owns hotels in China, Saudi Arabia, Thailand, and South Africa.
