Last week, the Solomon Islands government announced that it had signed a contract with Huawei for the construction of mobile communications towers, with US$66 million in funding for the deal coming from China's Exim Bank.

Last week, the UK Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, Kwasi Kwarteng, issued an order that prevents the acquisition of a UK electronic design firm by a Hong Kong company, on the basis that it "is necessary and proportionate to mitigate the risk to national security.

A U.S. federal government effort to provide more funding to state/local governments and agencies for electric vehicles is moving ahead, but Chinese companies will not be eligible.

In a recent law journal article, law professor Timothy Webster describes the Chinese sanctions regime, the Western sanctions mechanisms that inspired it, and also its deviation from Western goals.

Republicans in both the U.S. House of Representatives and the Senate have proposed legislation that would restrict investment from China, Iran, North Korea and Russia in U.S. agricultural land and businesses.

This past week, CTM covered the following issues. In China: * Trade discussions with Nepal, and easing of import barriers on agriculture products from Africa; * Rulings on patent disputes; * Publication of algorithm information submitted by major companies; * Delisting of Chinese SOEs on a U.S. stock exchange. In the U.S.

Yesterday, the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative released a "negotiating mandate" for the "U.S.-Taiwan Initiative on 21st-Century Trade." The press release from the Office of Trade Negotiation under Taiwan's Executive Yuan noted that both Taiwan and the United States