First was the US Department of Commerce investigation, then was the Department of Justice; they were all going after Star Sky Technology.
If a conviction was formed, Star Sky Technology might have to pay a 10 figure fine for the SH standard and lithium-air battery patent bundling agreement.
The United States seemed to have set its eyes on attacking this high-tech Chinese company.
The day after the Department of Justice report came out, the news of the antitrust investigation spread throughout China.
Soon after, heated discussions began to spread.
[F*ck sake, do the Americans want to destroy Star Sky Technology?]
[This is ridiculous! We bought it when it was worthless, now we find out it's valuable, and they're trying to say the sale wasn't legal?]
[It looks like Star Sky Technology is being too flamboyant, they should have been more low-key! If they didn't have their SH standard, this wouldn't have happened!]
[Go f*ck yourself! We developed the technology ourselves, why can't we use our own standards? Also, the SH standard charging station is only in Shanghai? Why does the US have authority here?]
[…]
Compared to the discussion on Facebook, the Weibo discussions were undoubtedly more intense. There were a lot more curse words being thrown around.
People with ulterior motives also joined in on the discussion.
For example, a well-known expert in the financial industry wrote a post around "procedural justice" and "game theory", tackling the problem of how "Star Sky Technology should treat sanctions by the Department of Commerce".
[Actually, this is a problem of Chinese companies unable to adjust to the international market.
[There are many companies with excellent research and development capabilities in our country, but what advanced science and technology needs is good management. Even though many companies have achieved success, they aren't able to penetrate the international market. [They think that they can do whatever they want, just like what they do in China. That idea is naive and ignorant.
[In fact, the United States isn't worried about being surpassed by China. It's quite the contrary. The rise of China's economy is in line with the interest of the United States. However, Chinese companies are not aware of this. If you follow the rules of the game, they will admit defeat and praise you. However, if you don't follow the rules, don't complain when they give you a lesson!]
After this article came out, it immediately spread to other social media platforms.
Some people scolded the article, while others were persuaded.
Regardless of public perception, the author had successfully achieved their goal.
The author's view count exploded…
…
"I saw it, it looks like we're going through an antitrust investigation."
Lu Zhou sat in his Jinling Institute for Advanced Study office. He was talking with Chen Yushan on the phone.
Because the college entrance examination was only a few days ago, Lu Zhou posted on Weibo to his teenage fans, wishing them good luck in the exam.
However, most of his fans were talking about his company being sanctioned.
But because it was getting closer to June, Lu Zhou was spending most of his time on Riemann's hypothesis. He didn't pay attention to Star Sky Technology or Beep Beep Charging.
If it weren't for people on Weibo tagging him, he wouldn't have even known about the Americans' plans.
Chen Yushan didn't seem to be worried.
"Who cares if they're after you, I'll protect you."
Lu Zhou: "…"
"Okay, okay, just kidding." Chen Yushan smiled and said in a serious manner, "Has the state come to look for you? People from Beijing?"
Lu Zhou thought for a second and said, "Does the State Administration for National Defense count?"
Director Li would come to Lu Zhou's office every couple of days.
Chen Yushan smiled and said, "That's good, you can relax now."
Lu Zhou said, "That's it?"
Chen Yushan: "Of course, competition between companies is just market behavior, so the country wouldn't intervene. Whether it's in America or China.
"But this is clearly not the case now, because of the lithium-air battery and SH standard, we have clearly dominated the market. Electric vehicle companies and charging station companies only have two options, either adhere to our standards or give up on lithium-air batteries.
"Obviously, from their perspective, it seems like they have a choice."
They actually didn't have a choice.
Not adhering to the new standards meant they would be eliminated from the market.
Unless the entire industry abandoned lithium-air batteries, consumers would naturally choose lithium-air batteries over lithium-sulfur batteries.
And obviously, the industry wouldn't just abandon the superior lithium-air batteries.
Chinese companies would gladly incorporate lithium-air batteries into their cars.
Lu Zhou nodded and said, "So, we're about to win, but the Americans are upset. They want to smash the chessboard, am I correct?"
Chen Yushan smiled and said, "Bingo! You're correct! Rules are made for winning, rules are broken for winning too."
"Then what do you plan on doing?" Lu Zhou said. Sitting in his chair with his phone pressed against his ear, he said curiously, "We're just a company, we're no match against an entire country."
Chen Yushan: "That's right, but the second the Department of Justice and Department of Commerce smashed the chessboard, the chess players have changed.
"Some departments might pretend to turn a blind eye, but seeing how Director Li came all the way to Jinling, it looks like Beijing is taking this seriously."
Chen Yushan smirked and said, "This isn't about business competition anymore, this is about politics."
Lu Zhou nodded.
"I see, no wonder you said the chess game is over, and the show is about to begin."
"Yeah, our job is over, we just have to wait now." Chen Yushan sighed and said emotionally, "A few years ago, I would have never adopted such a radical strategy, but now, we can."
In fact, when the lithium-sulfur batteries came out, Star Sky Technology had the option to do something similar to this.
Because of the reliability and durability of lithium-sulfur batteries compared to traditional lithium-ion batteries, they had the chance of making companies like Apple and Samsung adhere to their standards.
As long as they cooperated with Huawei or Xiaomi, they had the chance to dominate the market.
However, that was just in theory; if they really did that, it would be suicide.
Just by monopolizing the electric vehicle industry alone, they were able to attract the attention of the White House.
If they tried to do the same on mobile phones and other electronic equipment, the United States would have taken a more drastic approach…
Even Huawei and Xiaomi wouldn't have done such a thing; they would have stayed far away from Star Sky Technology.
"Weak countries don't have diplomacy, strong nations have everything. Just like how Manhattan controls the world's wealth. Is it because of their trading technology? Maybe, but that's not the essence of it.
"Our situation is similar. Business operation is important, but the reason we're winning is not because of our strategy."
Lu Zhou curiously asked, "Then what is it?"
Chen Yushan: "It's because of you."
"… Me?"
"Yeah…" Chen Yushan smiled and said, "We already won, ever since the light that illuminated Haizhou three years ago.
"Just wait and see. Even if we're going against ExxonMobil and Tesla, or even the White House, we will be victorious!"
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