Hello everyone, welcome to “News Perspective”, I am Li Xin.
Today’s focus: Domestic large aircraft encounters problems and returns, reason still unknown; US bans Chinese-made software and hardware in connected vehicles! Mainland Chinese automakers suffer 138 billion yuan retail losses in “price war” in the new car market! Communist Party “red films” struggle at the box office with a flood of criticism!
China’s domestically manufactured large aircraft C919 has encountered problems again. On September 22, Beijing Capital International Airport’s Air China flight CA1507 was originally scheduled to be operated by the C919 large aircraft, but had to return for troubleshooting. After a delay of 3 hours and 8 minutes, the flight was switched to an Airbus A320 for takeoff.
When asked by the media about the specific reasons for the change of aircraft model, Air China’s customer service replied, “We cannot find out why the aircraft model was changed based on existing records, overall it was due to Air China’s reasons that led to the delay.”
This is not the first time an Airbus A320 has replaced the troubled domestically produced civil aircraft C919 in mainland China.
According to aviation group sources, during the first Shanghai to Hefei validation flight, the C919 experienced an engine thrust reversal failure and had to be stopped urgently. Due to a shortage of spare parts during repairs, the commercial operation was delayed by more than two months compared to the original plan. Thus, the project of this aircraft, which is touted as a Chinese-made large aircraft, originally planned to be completed in 6 years, ended up taking 14 years to enter the commercial operation phase under official support. The first C919 was put into operation on May 28 last year. On June 29 last year, after Shanghai Eastern Airlines’ only C919 flight arrived in Chengdu, it could not carry passengers back. The return flight was operated by an Airbus A320.
Both the manufacturer and Eastern Airlines have remained silent on this matter. Negative news about the C919 has always been strictly controlled by the authorities. The domestically produced model is treated as a political project, and despite domestic airlines buying the aircraft at high prices to show loyalty, the manufacturer’s income and expenditures are still far from being balanced, leading to frontline workers struggling to make ends meet.
The development of the C919 has taken more than ten years, and it has been touted as having a very high strategic position. According to Radio Free Asia’s report, the C919 was approved in 2008, with an initial plan of about $9.5 billion to complete the first flight, but the actual expenditure has exceeded $20 billion so far. This does not include the almost slave-like cheap labor of tens of thousands of frontline employees of Commercial Aircraft Corporation of China.
The C919 aircraft can carry up to 192 passengers and crew members, with a range of 5555 kilometers. The CCP positions it as a competitor to Airbus’s A320 and Boeing’s 737 series. It is hoped that these aircraft can be sold to other developing countries such as Africa or Latin America, the Middle East, Central Asia, Southeast Asia, and other markets.
Liao Zihao, a China research consultant at the International Crisis Group, believes that the manufacturer of the C919, Commercial Aircraft Corporation of China (Comac), and China Aviation Industry Corporation (CAIC) are essentially one entity, with the latter being the core of the Communist Party’s aircraft research, and should be seen as a state organization rather than a private company. “We need to deepen our understanding of China and the Chinese Communist Party’s commercial governance model.”
Yao Cheng, former colonel staff officer of the PLA Navy, and military commentator, told Radio Free Asia that the main components of the C919 come from abroad, and any poor connection of these components can cause problems. Second, the safety of the aircraft is not just about the components, but also about part matching issues.
The C919 is claimed to be domestically produced, but in reality, it is a combination of components from various countries, and the performance of this combination, subsequent maintenance guarantee, and component supply are all problematic. Once Western countries impose export restrictions on China, the supply and maintenance of subsequent components will affect the stable flight of the aircraft. This reliance on foreign technology actually carries substantial geopolitical risks.
On Monday (September 23), the Biden administration proposed to prohibit US-connected vehicles from using Chinese-made software and hardware for national security reasons. Under the new regulations, General Motors and Ford Motor Company will also need to stop exporting cars from China to the US.
Buick Envision sold in the US market by General Motors and Lincoln Nautilus produced by Ford Motor are both assembled in China. Liz Cannon, head of the Commerce Department’s Office of Information and Communication Technology, said, “We currently expect that any cars manufactured in China and exported to the US will be subject to the restrictions of the ban.”
The regulation also proposes that the US and other major automakers remove critical software and hardware from China in the future from American-made vehicles. Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo said on Monday that foreign competitors are developing car software that can be used for surveillance, can be remotely controlled, posing a threat to the “privacy and security” of American drivers.
In November last year, some US lawmakers warned about Chinese companies collecting and processing sensitive data while testing self-driving vehicles in the US, and questioned ten companies including Baidu, NIO, Weimarzhihang, Didi Chuxing, and Xiaopeng Motors.
The White House ordered an investigation into potential threats in February. The ban proposed on Monday will prevent Chinese automakers from testing self-driving cars on US roads and will also extend to car software and hardware produced by other foreign competitors, including Russia.
This is a significant escalation of US restrictions on Chinese automobiles, software, and parts. Earlier this month, the Biden administration imposed significant tariffs on Chinese imports, including imposing a 100% tariff on electric cars, as well as raising tariffs on electric car batteries and key minerals. The Commerce Department plans to propose a software ban in 2027, while the hardware ban will come into effect in January 2029 or 2030.
In addition to the US tariffs and bans, the Chinese automotive industry is facing additional challenges. According to the China Automobile Distribution Association, recently, the association has received a large number of member companies reflecting the drastic changes in the car market due to the ongoing “price war”, leading to severe liquidity issues for car dealers.
The association has officially submitted an “Emergency Report on the Current Financial Difficulties and Risk of Closure Facing Auto Dealers” to relevant government departments. The report indicates that new car sales by dealerships are experiencing widespread losses, with a common phenomenon of operating cash flow deficits and a heightened risk of broken cash chains, making it difficult to escape the dilemma of survival.
Data shows that as of August this year, there has been a phenomenon known as “reverse sales” among dealers, where the selling price of goods is lower than the purchase price, with a highest reverse sales data of 22.8%, a further increase of 10.7 percentage points compared to the same period last year.
Experts analyze that in August, the overall discount rate in the new car market was 17.4%, and the ongoing “price war” has resulted in accumulated retail losses of 138 billion yuan in the new car market from January to August this year, significantly impacting the healthy development of the industry.
The association calls on relevant government departments to adopt phased financial relief policies to prevent systemic risks in the automotive dealership sector.
Earlier, on August 28, China’s largest automotive distributor, Guorui Auto, was officially delisted from the Shanghai Stock Exchange due to the stock price being lower than 1 yuan for 20 consecutive trading days, with a market value of only 6.471 billion yuan remaining on the day of delisting. Guorui Auto has repeatedly stated in its financial reports that the “price war” has had a profound impact on the automotive dealership industry, further increasing its pressure.
In July this year, BMW withdrew from the “price war”, with sales in the Chinese market in that month totaling 48,900 vehicles, a decrease of 18.3% compared to a year ago. In August, sales further dropped to 34,800 vehicles, a sharp decrease of 42%.
Driven by China’s nationwide system, the savage growth of new energy vehicles has led to overcapacity. As a result, Chinese car companies are engaging in fierce price wars. In early 2023, the price war began, and it has since escalated.
According to data provided by Bloomberg New Energy Analyst Lu Jinghong, the average price reduction of new energy vehicles in China has increased from 6,700 yuan in the first quarter of last year to 16,000 yuan in the first quarter of this year.
The products hyped by the CCP are experiencing failures, but what they are even more fervent about is hyping their own “righteousness”.
The red political propaganda film “Given to the Party for a Lifetime” launched by the CCP’s August 1st Film Studio, in conjunction with the party’s political propaganda, deliberately creates an image of the so-called “righteousness” of the Communist Party. Since its release, the box office performance has been bleak, with a flood of negative reviews.
According to Maoyan’s box office data, the approximately 90-minute CCP red film “Given to the Party for a Lifetime”, has only grossed 960,000 yuan in the first week since its release on August 1. It broke through 1 million on the eighth day. As of September 22, the box office was only 2.75 million yuan, ranking 127th, which is very disappointing.
Regarding this, many netizens on X platform discuss: “This may reflect that most Chinese people have soberly realized what is the nation, what is the party.”
“Perhaps the promotion budget was low, they didn’t handle the work in the party organization, so there were no party members sent to support the event.”
“This kind of movie is basically a financial burden. A few years ago, I forgot which film it was. At that time, it was pushed to communities. Each village probably had three or four quotas to sign up. After half a day, nobody went, and in the end, it was forcibly distributed to party members to watch.”
“The box office of 2.75 million yuan is already considered high. I didn’t expect there are still so many pink-brained people watching these trashy films.”
According to public information, the CCP’s red film “Given to the Party for a Lifetime” is based on the April 12, 1927 massacre of Communist Party undercover members by the Kuomintang in Shanghai. It depicts the story of a large number of Communist Party members being killed by the Kuomintang, and the struggle between the Communist Party and the Kuomintang.
Some Chinese film critics analyze that red-themed films are tools with a propaganda mission, rather than just art works; their content is stiff and moralizing, inevitably making the audience feel “aesthetic fatigue.”
As early as 2004, Epoch Times published the book “Nine Commentaries on the Communist Party”, which comprehensively and profoundly exposed the evil nature of the CCP, and revealed its crimes to the world, awakening many brainwashed and deceived Chinese people. A wave of over 436 million people have quit the CCP, youth league, and young pioneers organizations.