30/06/2025

BIZ & FINANCE MONDAY | JUNE 30, 2025

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Canada orders Hikvision to cease local operations

Lotus says no plans to close English factory LONDON: British-based sportscar company Lotus said it has no plans to close a factory in eastern England, following a report in the Financial Times which said manufacturing there could end with the loss of 1,300 jobs. “Lotus Cars is continuing normal operations, and there are no plans to close the factory,” Lotus said in an e-mailed statement on Saturday. “We are actively exploring strategic options to enhance efficiency and ensure global competitiveness in the evolving market.” Lotus is owned by China’s Geely and Malaysia’s Etika Automotive and the brand produces cars in Britain and China. Any closure of the factory in Hethel, Norfolk, would have been a blow for Britain’s auto industry which is suffering as a result of tariffs imposed by the United States. Britain’s vehicle production dropped 32.8% from a year ago, industry data showed on Friday. The Financial Time s said the government had intervened to signal it would offer Lotus support after news emerged that the factory could shut, but the Department for Business and Trade did not confirm that. “The government does not comment on speculation or the commercial affairs of private companies,”said a spokesman for the department. While Britain has negotiated a trade deal with the US which will reduce the tariffs for a quota of exported vehicles, it does not come into force until the end of June. Meanwhile, car makers have reported lower output and exports to the US. – Reuters

world’s biggest maker of video surveillance equipment, said last year it had exited contracts in Xinjiang through five subsidiaries that were added to a US trade blacklist in 2023. The Chinese government has denied all allegations of human rights abuses in Xinjiang and has criticised or targeted companies for removing Xinjiang firms from their supply chains. Canada said last year it was reviewing an application to impose sanctions against Chinese surveillance equipment companies, including Hikvision, after rights advocates alleged the firms were aiding repression and high-tech surveillance in Xinjiang. Joly said Canada was also banning the purchase of Hikvison’s products in government departments and agencies, and reviewing existing properties to ensure that legacy Hikvision products were not used in the future.

national security,” Joly said on X, adding that the decision was taken after a multi-step review of information provided by Canada’s security and intelligence community. Her statement did not mention China or Xinjiang or specify how Hikvision would harm Canada’s national security. “We strongly disagree with this decision and view it with deep concern, as we believe it lacks a factual basis, procedural fairness, and transparency,” a Hikvision spokesperson told Reuters. “Instead of evaluating our technology on its cybersecurity merits, the decision appears to be driven by the parent company’s country of origin, reflecting broader geopolitical tensions and an unjustified bias against Chinese companies.” The spokesperson said the company “urges the Canadian government to base its actions on facts rather than prejudice, and to uphold a fair, transparent environment for all businesses and investors”. China’s Foreign Ministry did not immediately respond to requests for comment. The company, which describes itself as the

VENICE: Mass tourism, impossibly high rents, worker exploitation, inequality and elitism: Venice protests in recent days against Jeff Bezos and Lauren Sanchez’s high-profile wedding have highlighted growing global grievances. Local politicians dismissed protesters as a fringe minority but Bezos’s fame and Venice’s stunning visual backdrop have offered them international visibility which they effectively exploited. “No Space for Bezos”banners draped over the iconic Rialto Bridge and a huge canvas laid out on St Mark’s Square urging the tech billionaire to pay more taxes have been seen all over the world. Concerns of greater disruptions forced Bezos and his bride to move their final and biggest celebrity party from the central district to a more isolated venue in the eastern part of the lagoon city. “The idea that the city should be seen as a set, a stage, or an amusement park has been highlighted like never before by Bezos’ wedding,” Tommaso Cacciari, a frontman for the No Space for Bezos movement, told Reuters. In the final protest on Saturday, around 1,000 residents and activists rallied in front of Venice’s train station under a scorching sun, before marching roughly 1.5km to the Rialto Bridge. They carried banners including one proclaiming “Kisses yes, Bezos no”, playing on Venice’s reputation as the city of love, and another one saying “No space for Bezos” with a rocket, in a reference to his Blue Origin space technology company. Venetian businesses and politicians, however, welcomed the event, hailing its major boost for the local economy. Luca Zaia, the regional governor of Veneto around Venice, said the city should be proud of hosting the wedding. Alice Bazzoli, a 24-year-old university student, called Bezos a “hypocrite” for donating €3 million (RM14.8 million) to Venice while flooding its fragile ecosystem with high-polluting private jets and yachts. Bezos and Sanchez have given €1 million each to three Venetian institutions: Corila, an academic consortium that studies the lagoon, Unesco’s OTTAWA: The Canadian government has ordered Chinese surveillance camera manufacturer Hikvision to cease operations in Canada over national security concerns, Industry Minister Melanie Joly said last week. Hikvision, also known as Hangzhou Hikvision Digital Technology Co, has faced numerous sanctions and restrictions by Canada’s neighbour, the United States, over the past five and a half years for the firm’s dealings and the use of its equipment in China’s Xinjiang region, where rights groups have documented abuses against the Uyghur population and other communities. manufacturer ‘injurious’ to Canadian national security o Minister says Chinese surveillance camera

She said the order does not extend to the company’s affiliate operations outside Canada but “strongly” encouraged Canadians “to take note of this decision and make their own decisions accordingly”. – Reuters Bezos wedding sparks outcry over mass tourism, inequality “The government has determined that Hikvision Canada Inc’s continued operations in Canada would be injurious to Canada’s

Demonstrators holding smoke flares while standing by a banner that reads ‘No space for Bezos’ on the Rialto Bridge in Venice. – REUTERSPIC

have attracted far greater resentment because of Bezos’ corporate and political role. The Amazon founder is the world’s fourth richest man, and has developed ties with US President Donald Trump, whose daughter Ivanka and son-in-law Jared Kushner were in attendance at the wedding. “Bezos is the embodiment of the most absolute wealth gained through the exploitation of everything around you,” 28-year-old student Giulia Cacopardo said. – Reuters

The consequence is a lack of diversity and social liveliness,” he said. Venice is rapidly depopulating, largely because of the cost of living crisis. Its historic city centre now has fewer than 50,000 residents, compared to more than 100,000 some 50 years ago. The city has hosted scores of other VIP weddings, including that of actor George Clooney and human rights lawyer Amal Alamuddin in 2014, but the latest luxury nuptials

local office, and Venice International University. “I’d love Venice to be tailored for citizens, not for tourists, with affordable housing,” Bazzoli told Reuters, complaining that students were being priced out of the market, with the best accommodations offered to visitors. Andrea Segre, a 49-year-old Italian film director born in Venice, said the city was also pushing out ordinary residents. “People aged 25 to 35 – the age group that starts families – cannot afford to live in Venice.