China Wants To Know Volt's Secrets

William Maley - Editor/Reporter - CheersandGears.com

September 21, 2011

General Motors has wanted to sell the Chevrolet Volt to China since it's the largest and the fastest growing market for automobiles. Also, China's big cities have seen pollution increase exponentially within the past few years. To fight back, China will offer automakers who offer electric vehicles, subsidies of as much as $19,300. There's a catch if you're a company like GM.

In order to get the the subsidy, China wants the automaker to share proprietary technology with the government. GM isn't too keen on the idea and neither are international trade experts saying China could risk violating World Trade Organization rules if it imposed that.

Raymond Bierzynski, Executive director of electrification strategy at GM China wants the Chinese government to offer the subsidy w/o transfer of technology.

“We’ll bring it up in every conversation we have.”

GM isn't the first company to be bullied by the Chinese government. The Nissan Leaf isn't on sale in China. When asked why, Nissan didn't go into any detail.

Source: The New York Times

Why do I get the feeling they are going to try anyways....

communism isn't just a political system, it includes economic ramifications. while headlines and such say china is moving more capitalistic, that might be true, but it's still run by commies who make the rules.

edit... keeping the country poorer than it should be otherwise.

Edited September 22, 201114 yr by loki

Two words for China: SCREW OFF.

Third optional word: HARD.

communism isn't just a political system, it includes economic ramifications. while headlines and such say china is moving more capitalistic, that might be true, but it's still run by commies who make the rules.

edit... keeping the country poorer than it should be otherwise.

They're not commies. They're totalitarian bumhuggers. That's why they have the 'my way or the highway' attitude.

What happened to the old Chinese technique of buy one and take it apart and reverse engineer it? China having problems buying a $40K car, putting it on a boat back to the China, Inc. Labs or simply too lazy?

communism isn't just a political system, it includes economic ramifications. while headlines and such say china is moving more capitalistic, that might be true, but it's still run by commies who make the rules.

edit... keeping the country poorer than it should be otherwise.

They're not commies. They're totalitarian bumhuggers. That's why they have the 'my way or the highway' attitude.

what's the difference, with the other communist examples we have....or any other totalitarian examples too?

Communist regimes have typically been dictatorships or totalitarian regimes, but there's nothing in Communist ideology that strictly says that must be so.

Theoretically you could have one country which is both fully communist and fully democratic. In the real world, that has never happened, since most people with democratic choice feel that capitalism is more "fair" than communism, and therefore vote against communist governments.

TL,DR - It's not the fact that they're communist that's the problem. It's the fact that they're not democratic.

State ownership of industry is a very bad thing.

Communist regimes have typically been dictatorships or totalitarian regimes, but there's nothing in Communist ideology that strictly says that must be so.

Theoretically you could have one country which is both fully communist and fully democratic. In the real world, that has never happened, since most people with democratic choice feel that capitalism is more "fair" than communism, and therefore vote against communist governments.

TL,DR - It's not the fact that they're communist that's the problem. It's the fact that they're not democratic.

what is democracy, but a tyranny of the majority?

but we're really talking about china as a political entity instead of what this would do to GM's IP, which if china truly is communistic, IP protective law has no place in china. china's position on this should be self evident, which is just as the article says, china wants to know the volt's "secrets" before it's sold there.

Communist regimes have typically been dictatorships or totalitarian regimes, but there's nothing in Communist ideology that strictly says that must be so.

Theoretically you could have one country which is both fully communist and fully democratic. In the real world, that has never happened, since most people with democratic choice feel that capitalism is more "fair" than communism, and therefore vote against communist governments.

TL,DR - It's not the fact that they're communist that's the problem. It's the fact that they're not democratic.

what is democracy, but a tyranny of the majority?

but we're really talking about china as a political entity instead of what this would do to GM's IP, which if china truly is communistic, IP protective law has no place in china. china's position on this should be self evident, which is just as the article says, china wants to know the volt's "secrets" before it's sold there.

And of course, rememeber the US is not a pure democracy, it once was a republic or representative democracy...today, it's a corporatocracy where corrupt corporations (often multinational corporations) own the politicians.

And of course, rememeber the US is not a pure democracy, it once was a republic or representative democracy...today, it's a corporatocracy where corrupt corporations (often multinational corporations) own the politicians.

it's a constitutional republic, with very little of the former left being the chains of the republic...“In questions of power, let no more be heard of confidence in man, but bind him down from mischief by the chains of the Constitution.” Thomas Jefferson

State ownership of industry is a very bad thing.

socialism/communism and for practical reasons, fascism, indeed, same goes for misnomers such as gov insurance.

State ownership of industry is a very bad thing.

As is ownership of the state by industry, which is how it is in a corporatocracy.

State ownership of industry is a very bad thing.

As is ownership of the state by industry, which is how it is in a corporatocracy.

Yeah that's how Russia works.

communism isn't just a political system, it includes economic ramifications. while headlines and such say china is moving more capitalistic, that might be true, but it's still run by commies who make the rules.

edit... keeping the country poorer than it should be otherwise.

They're not commies. They're totalitarian bumhuggers. That's why they have the 'my way or the highway' attitude.

You're just splicing atoms.

Show me ONE socialist, communist or Marxist nation that is / was not at some point run by a totalitarian or dictator.

no really...

I grew up in one of the "softest" and most mild Communist countries in the modern world and

despite things being quite tame in CzechoSlovakia in the 1980s it sill sucked.

We've already (sold) gave them the rope they'll hang us with.

What happened to the old Chinese technique of buy one and take it apart and reverse engineer it? China having problems buying a $40K car, putting it on a boat back to the China, Inc. Labs or simply too lazy?

it didn't work to well for this guy...