In mid-March, Dr. Jean-Marc F. Blanchard, Founding Executive Director of the Mr. & Mrs. S.H. Wong Center for the Study of Multinational Corporations (Wong MNC Center), gave two speeches at the 2023 International Studies Association Annual Meeting, one of the largest global gatherings of international relations specialists, in Montreal, Canada. These speeches related to research being undertaken pursuant to ongoing Wong MNC Center initiatives on the effects of Chinese outward foreign direct investment in various regions of the world such as Southeast Asia and Latin America and China’s Digital Silk Road (DSR). Dr.
Wong MNC Center News
March 26th, 2023
December 29th, 2022
In mid-December 2022 in the San Francisco Bay Area, the Mr. & Mrs. S.H. Wong Center for the Study of Multinational Corporations (Wong MNC Center) hosted a 1-1/2 day workshop entitled Chinese Overseas Ports in Southeast and South Asia: Profiling Problems and Progress. This gathering, also orchestrated and funded by the Wong MNC Center, involved senior and junior academics, researchers, and policymakers from Bangladesh, Cambodia, China, India, Japan, Myanmar, and the United States who presented their analyses of China’s naval buildup, Chinese overseas port activities in countries such as Bangladesh, Cambodia, Myanmar, Pakistan, the Philippines, and the response of countries like India and Japan to China’s involvement in overseas ports. As far as Chinese overseas ports are concerned, workshop participants showed that there is notable variation in progress and effects.
November 29th, 2022
On November 21, 2022, FinanceAsia published a story entitled “US-listed Chinese Firms Wracked by Infighting amid Delisting Threat” that examined the delisting threat facing more than 160 companies listed on United States (US) stock exchanges pursuant to the 2020 Holding Foreign Companies Accountable Act and the unexpected responses of some companies to the threat. Dr. Jean-Marc F. Blanchard, Founding Executive Director of the Mr. & Mrs. S.H. Wong Center for the Study of Multinational Corporations, shared his thoughts about the various business (e.g., the opportunity to be relisted on Chinese exchanges at much higher prices) and corporate political reasons why certain NASDAQ listed companies such as Sinovac Biotech, a pharmaceutical company, and Hollysys Automation Technologies, an IT firm, have refused buyout offers at substantial premiums, even though this would have made the threat of delisting irrelevant and/or removed the necessity of complying with U.S.
October 12th, 2022
In early October, the Mr. & Mrs. S.H. Wong Center for the Study of Multinational Corporations (Wong MNC Center) hosted a workshop entitled “The Effects of Chinese Outward FDI in Southeast Asia” in the San Francisco Bay Area (California, USA). This 1-1/2 day workshop, organized and sponsored by the Wong MNC Center, drew leading academics, researchers, and policymakers from China, Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand, and the United States. Participants presented research on the effects of Chinese outward foreign direct investment (FDI) in countries such as Cambodia, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, and Vietnam. Drawing upon diverse case studies, paper writers further identified various factors that gave birth to and shaped the form of these effects. This workshop serves as the first in a series of workshops that will delve into the effect of Chinese outward FDI (OFDI) in various regions of the world. Each workshop will lay a foundation for multiple publications.
September 11th, 2022
On August 29, 2022, Dr. Jean-Marc F. Blanchard, Founding Executive Director of the Mr. & Mrs. S.H. Wong Center for the Study of Multinational Corporations, was interviewed by International Financial Law Review (IFLR) for a story on the August agreement between the United States (US) Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (PCAOB) and the China Securities Regulatory Commission (CSRC) that permits, in concept, American regulatory authorities to review freely, in Hong Kong, the audit records of Chinese companies listed on American stock exchanges as well as interview auditors. IFLR asked Dr. Blanchard for his views about the deal’s future. Dr. Blanchard noted that implementation could face challenges because the US Congress may not like the special treatment given to Chinese firms and Beijing’s views of what is deemed sensitive data may change. Furthermore, it is not clear that Hong Kong will truly be a neutral ground for audit reviews or interviews.
August 29th, 2022
In late August, Dr. Jean-Marc F. Blanchard, Founding Executive Director of the Mr. & Mrs. S.H. Wong Center for the Study of Multinational Corporations (Wong MNC Center), presented a paper on “The US-China Global Economic Rivalry and Europe” at the workshop on “Europe in an Era of Intensifying US-China Rivalry” (Ingelheim, Germany). In his paper, Dr. Blanchard examined United States (US)-China and Europe-China geoeconomic tensions past and present and the tactics the US and Europe had and have been using to advance their geoeconomic goals vis-à-vis China. He found many convergences in American and European interests and measures and identified various political and economic ways the two sides might work together, if they so choose, on China-related geoeconomic matters. Dr. Blanchard also presented a copy of China’s Maritime Silk Road, Africa, and the Middle East, a Wong MNC Center orchestrated publication, to Dr. Sebastian Biba, the organizer of the workshop.
June 14th, 2022
In June 2022, the Mr. & Mrs. S.H. Wong Center for the Study of Multinational Corporations (Wong MNC Center) became a sponsor of the portion of the Golden State International Relations Observer Podcast covering the international relations of California’s top multinational corporations (MNCs) such as Apple, Chevron, and Disney, among others. The Golden State International Relations Observer Podcast, which is listed on well-known podcast directories such as Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, and Spotify, aims to provide information about activities of California representatives, officials, and (select) companies that relate to foreign policy and international affairs. Wong MNC Center Executive Director Dr. Jean-Marc F.
June 14th, 2022
In May 2022, the Mr. & Mrs. S.H. Wong Center for the Study of Multinational Corporations (Wong MNC Center), an independent, California based non-profit think tank, won a $55,000 grant from the Mr. & Mrs. S.H. Wong Foundation to fund a multi-year, multi-country research project on China’s Digital Silk Road Initiative (DSR), part of China’s larger Belt and Road Initiative. This grant will allow Wong MNC Center Executive Director Dr. Jean-Marc F. Blanchard and Wong MNC Center Senior Research Fellow Dr. Bas Hooijmaaijers to investigate what is transpiring with respect to the DSR on the ground in countries in Africa, Europe, and Southeast Asia, among others. In addition, it will enable them to examine the political, economic, and social effects of DSR projects that have been implemented. Furthermore, it will give them the opportunity to isolate the factors that drive the implementation of the DSR and shape its ultimate effects.
April 7th, 2022
At the 2022 International Studies Association annual meeting in Nashville, Tennessee, Dr. Jean-Marc F. Blanchard, Founding Executive Director of the Mr. & Mrs. S.H. Wong Center for the Study of Multinational Corporations, presented a paper about Chinese outward foreign direct investment (FDI) and technology transfer (TT) to host countries; i.e., the places where FDI takes place, focusing on developing countries. Dr. Blanchard highlighted key themes emphasized in past research, identified the shortcomings of the existing literature, and enumerated numerous reasons why it made little sense to expect significant TT between Chinese business and host countries and their firms. Aside from these themes, Dr. Blanchard presented information about the empirical record regarding Chinese outward FDI and TT in Africa.
January 18th, 2022
Dr. Danielly Ramos has joined the Mr. & Mrs. S.H. Wong Center for the Study of Multinational Corporations as a Senior Research Fellow. She is Associate Professor at the Institute of International Relations and Director of the Center for Global Studies at the University of Brasília. A specialist on Chinese foreign policy and China-Latin American relations, she researchs topics such as Chinese FDI in Latin America.
