The first thing that has to be understood is that the Chinese government/Communist Party claims universal jurisdiction for its laws, i.e. believes all Chinese citizens and corporations, anywhere in the world, are bound by Chinese law:
How to Respond To China's Claim That The New Hong Kong Security Law Applies To Actions Everywhere In The World
The second thing to understand is the plain language of the National Security Law (and the cybersecurity law and the NGO law):
The National Security Law.
Here via China Law Translate:
There is not a lot of wiggle room in Article 7
Article 7: All organizations and citizens shall support, assist, and cooperate with national intelligence efforts in accordance with law, and shall protect national intelligence work secrets they are aware of.All means all, including foreign companies operating in China.
The State protects individuals and organizations that support, assist, and cooperate with national intelligence efforts.
Ditto articles 14:
Article 14: National intelligence work institutions lawfully carrying out intelligence efforts may request that relevant organs, organizations, and citizens provide necessary support, assistance, and cooperation.And 16:
Article 16: When national intelligence work institutions staff lawfully perform their tasks in accordance with relevant national provisions, with approvals and upon the presentation of relevant identification, they may enter relevant restricted areas and venues; may learn from and question relevant institutions, organizations, and individuals; and may read or collect relevant files, materials or items.And The Cybersecurity Law and the Foreign NGO Law (2016) and the Counter-espionage Law (2014) are all worded vaguely enough that the laws can mean whatever the Party and the authorities want them to mean.
And the headline story from Elliott Management-backed (Paul Singer) Washington Free Beacon, November 26:
Top China hawks aren't sold on Canadian company Lithium Americas' move to distance itself from top Chinese investor
A Canadian company hopes to use Biden administration loans to open the largest lithium mine in North America. But first, it must convince government officials and prospective partners that it's adequately decoupled from its top shareholder: a Chinese enterprise led by known Chinese Communist Party members.
Lithium Americas—whose largest shareholder is Chinese mineral giant Ganfeng Lithium—earlier this month announced its intention to split the company into two separate entities, a move that comes as it works to obtain a Biden administration loan to fund "the majority" of its lithium mining project in northern Nevada. The company told the Washington Free Beacon it expects the separation to ease "geopolitical" concerns from government officials and investors over its relationship with Beijing-tied Ganfeng, given that the split would decouple Lithium Americas' Nevada mine from its more controversial mining projects in South America, which Ganfeng holds direct ownership stakes in. But leading China hawks in the Republican Party are not satisfied with the separation, prompting them to sound the alarm over Lithium Americas' potential to receive federal funding.
That dissatisfaction stems from the fact that under the proposed split, shareholders will receive stakes in both Lithium Americas' North American and South American entities proportional to their current holdings. Because Ganfeng is the only entity that owns more than 10 percent of Lithium Americas' shares, it will remain the largest shareholder of both companies following the split, a Lithium Americas official confirmed to the Free Beacon. As a result, Ganfeng will still have a sizable financial interest in Lithium Americas' mine unless it decides to divest—financial interest that has former secretary of state Mike Pompeo calling the split a "half measure" that is "nowhere near enough to guarantee that the CCP will not have any amount of control over a key source of America's lithium supply."....
....MUCH MORE
