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Chinese 'Accelerators' In Silicon Valley Aim To Bring Startups Home (reuters.com)
An anonymous reader quotes a report from Reuters: Beijing's unslakeable thirst for the latest technology has spurred a proliferation of "accelerators" in Silicon Valley that aim to identify promising startups and bring them to China. The surge in the number of China-focused accelerators -- which support, mentor and invest in early-stage startups -- is part of a larger wave of Chinese investment in Silicon Valley. At least 11 such programs have been created in the San Francisco Bay Area since 2013, according to the tech-sector data firm Crunchbase. Some work directly with Chinese governments, which provide funding. Reuters interviews with the incubators showed that many were focused on bringing U.S. startups to China. For U.S. government officials wary of China's growing high-tech clout, the accelerator boom reaffirms fears that U.S. technological know-how is being transferred to China through investments, joint ventures or licensing agreements. "Our intellectual property is the future of our economy and our security," Senator Mark Warner, the Democratic vice-chairman of the U.S. Senate Intelligence Committee, said in a statement to Reuters about Chinese accelerators. "China's government has clearly prioritized acquiring as much of that intellectual property as possible. Their ongoing efforts, legal or illegal, pose a risk that we have to look at very seriously."
It's not about "whiteness" when it comes to China, it's about a level playing field. Companies in China must be majority owned by Chinese persons or companies so even if car companies,etc has precence in China their local subsidiaries are in some fashion China owned and thus exposed to the possibility of technology theft.
For example read up on how China became the Nr #1 country in high speed trains and the bitter taste it left for companies that tried to invest in subsidiaries there to have their tech stolen and now used agains't them aborad.
http://fortune.com/2013/04/15/did-china-steal-japans-high-speed-train/
http://www.scmp.com/news/china/economy/article/2107096/china-says-its-bullet-train-technology-was-stolen-days-after-us