Tenwei is the second-largest logistics truck brokerage company after Winmanbang.
The reason for the business suspension was that it had engaged in abuse of power against truck drivers, such as forcing them to overload, shorten time, and accept low commissions. Whatever the reason, when Tenwei’s service was suspended overnight, shippers and truck drivers were in chaos.
In Korea, they would have immediately filed an administrative lawsuit, but that’s out of the question in China.
The business suspension period was ten days. The problem was that consumers who had been using the service would likely move to Winmanbang or other companies in the meantime. If this happened, even if they resumed operations later, the damage would be inevitable.
Yao Min said with a sigh, as if resigned, “[Currently, we have no choice but to wait for the business suspension to be lifted.]”
“Understood. Please report the situation regularly.”
Chairman Im Jin-yong and I rushed to China to assess the situation, and Chairman Han Chan-young also contacted Chinese officials.
Fortunately, even in the midst of this, semiconductors, which account for the largest proportion of Seosung Electronics’ sales in China, were not touched at all. The expansion of the NAND flash memory factory in Xi’an also proceeded without any problems.
That’s because semiconductors are currently in a super cycle, with more demand than supply. In a situation where people are pre-ordering with premiums everywhere, refusing to buy would only be a loss for them.
And since semiconductors are intermediate goods, limiting imports or imposing tariffs would ultimately only have the adverse effect of raising the prices of Chinese electronics.
For reference, China has declared Semiconductor Galsification with the goal of semiconductor self-sufficiency within 5 years.
Taek-gyu said, “How many ‘galifications’ are there?”
“Tell me about it.”
They attach ‘galification’ to everything they do. If you combine all of these, does it literally become ‘Continental Galification’?
President Zhang Pinghua plans to invest more than 1 trillion yuan to foster the semiconductor industry. This is no different from showing how much China is paying attention to the high-tech industry.
This is also true for future cars, represented by autonomous driving and electric vehicles. So, we, who are leading the way and have refused to partner with Chinese companies, must be no different from enemies.
Taek-gyu pointed at me and said, “That Kang Jin-hoo is a harmful Kang Jin-hoo?”
“……Exactly.”
If he had pointed at Taek-gyu, would it have become ‘That otaku is a harmful otaku’?
The original saying is the famous “That bird is a harmful bird.”
It is what Mao Zedong said, pointing to sparrows that pecked at grain. At the word of the head of state, the people exterminated sparrows in China.
The result?
All kinds of pests, including locusts that sparrows used to eat, ran rampant, causing the worst famine, and tens of millions of people starved to death. (Not just because of this, but due to the comprehensive failure of the Great Leap Forward).
The problem is that this tradition is still being passed down today.
The moment the Party points out “That company is a harmful company,” everyone moves in unison from all directions and imposes all sorts of absurd regulations and sanctions to drive them out.
And now, have we become the target?
The Chinese economy takes the form of state capitalism, which combines the planned economy unique to the Communist Party and capitalism. As such, government intervention in companies, known as gwancheojuui (government control-ism), has existed for a long time.
The most famous of these is China’s internet information censorship, known as the Great Firewall. China thoroughly blocks information that is harmful to the socialist system and the Communist Party.
This is no exception even for American companies. Gooble and Facenote, which are used by people all over the world, are blocked, and other internet companies are also subject to various regulations.
In the meantime, Baidu has dominated the Chinese search market, Alibaba the online market, and Wechant the game and content market.
Unlike global companies, they thoroughly follow the Chinese government’s policies. Only articles and information that the government wants are displayed on portals and SNS, and information such as the Cultural Revolution and the Tiananmen Square incident is blocked from being searched.
In any case, it was clear that the Chinese government was targeting and moving against companies related to OTK Company.
Fortunately, the sanctions were limited to Seosung Electronics, Eunsung Motors, and companies invested by OTK Company, and the fallout did not spread to other Korean companies.
However, that alone was a serious situation, and it was also a problem that local companies, reading the Chinese government’s intentions, were watching us carefully.
China claimed that the sanctions against Eunsung Motors and Seosung Electronics were normal activities of administrative authorities, and stated that they had nothing to do with the cancellation of events related to Korea and other matters.
The opposition Liberty National Party immediately raised its voice, demanding that the government strongly protest, but the ruling New Politics Party failed to respond properly. Since China accounts for the largest proportion of Korea’s exports, they reasoned that if they responded clumsily, the sanctions could spread and cause greater damage.
I recalled what Vice Chairman Wang Yichang had said. Was this what he meant by “A small country that opposes a large country will suffer disaster”?
Is this a warning, or just a simple tantrum?
***
Even as time passed, the sanctions were not easily lifted.
The fire inspection of Seosung Electronics’ appliance factory was still in progress, and the exhaust gas investigation of Eunsung Motors was also only under review. And Tenwei’s business suspension was extended for another ten days.
In the midst of this, China launched an overall inspection of domestic travel agencies. It was to prevent damage to consumers due to low-priced packages.
Then Korean travel products disappeared completely, and scheduled tours were also canceled one after another. The travel industry was on emergency alert.
Voices were heard in the political world that we should also take some measures against Chinese companies, but as expected, it was just empty talk.
As Korea’s damage would be much greater if it escalated into a full-scale war, the Korean government only watched the Chinese government’s every move.
While we were keeping a close eye on China, wondering what they would do next, Zhou Auto suddenly unveiled an autonomous vehicle.
Chairman Zhou Kai appeared directly at the presentation and said, “Zhou Auto has been jointly developing autonomous driving technology with various companies. And now, we unveil it to you. The perfect, and beyond, autonomous vehicle JW8!”
People who test-drove the car were very satisfied and spared no praise, saying it was no less than CarOS’ AD1 and AD2.
Chairman Zhou Kai announced his future plans, saying that mass production would begin next month and they would sell it throughout China. “Starting with the JW8, we will release three more types of autonomous vehicles within this year, and we will commercialize driverless taxis and driverless buses within the next year!”
At those words, people stood up from their seats and applauded all at once.
Taek-gyu and I watched Zhou Auto’s new car launch event on TV at home.
“Oh! What? They made one too.”
At Taek-gyu’s words, I nodded. “China has also been developing driverless cars, mainly by IT companies and automobile companies.”
Leading companies include Zhou Auto, Baidu, Wechant, Didi Chuxing, and BYD.
Originally, they were developing technology separately, but after CarOS’ technology announcement, they established a joint development front led by the Chinese government.
I thought it would take time until the official release, but who would have thought they would release it so suddenly. Did they rush out a car made with their own technology because the joint venture fell through?
In fact, there are more than one or two companies whose autonomous driving technology has reached completion. GM, Gooble, Nikola, Iber, etc.
However, since autonomous driving technology is a matter of human life, there must be no error of even an inch. That slight difference is what allows CarOS to be ahead.
“Is that Chinese-made car going to be okay?”
“Chinese-made products these days are no joke.”
Looking down on “Made in China” is all in the past. Now, even in the field of high technology, they have risen to a level that cannot be ignored.
I wonder how much of a technology gap there will be with CarOS?
As I was thinking that, my phone rang. It was CarOS CEO Daryl himself. He usually contacts the company, he rarely calls my cell phone.
I pressed the call button. “Hello.”
[Have you seen the Zhou Auto presentation?]
His voice sounded very angry for some reason.
“Yes. I just watched it.”
[They copied ours.]
“What do you mean?”
Daryl shouted as if enraged, [Damn it! These sons of bitches stole our technology!]
I was startled at those words. “Is that really true?”
***
We headed to Detroit right away.
It was my first time going to the US since the Big One. Come to think of it, it’s already been more than half a year since the Big One occurred. So many things have happened in the meantime.
After sleeping for a while, I arrived at the airport before I knew it.
Taek-gyu yawned and said, “When you enter the country, shouldn’t there be reporters and welcoming crowds waiting?”
“……”
I didn’t tell anyone except the CarOS executives, just in case that happened.
I presented my passport at the immigration desk. The officer, who had been asking questions and stamping passports with a bored expression, looked at my passport, widened his eyes, and looked at me. “I-it’s an honor to meet you, Mr. Kang.”
“Nice to meet you too.”
I slightly put my finger to my lips, meaning not to tell others.
When I came out of the immigration hall, a car was waiting outside the airport in advance. It was none other than the AD2 released by CarOS.
CarOS CFO Sergi came to greet us in person. “Thank you for coming all the way here.”
“How have you been?”
Having met after a long time, we greeted each other happily and got into the car. The car headed straight to CarOS headquarters.
Sergi talked to us while just resting his hands on the steering wheel. Without having to operate it, the car automatically repeated going and stopping and turned the steering wheel.
As we entered the city, the road was congested with traffic. Among them were AD1s and AD2s. I had seen them many times in videos, but it was amazing to see them actually rolling around on the road.
“What’s the atmosphere like at the company right now?”
“It’s like an emergency. Daryl is so angry that no one even dares to talk to him.”
While we were talking, we arrived at the company.
CEO Daryl, COO Ryan, and executives were already gathered in the conference room.
Daryl had an extremely angry expression, and his hair was disheveled and messy, as if he hadn’t washed it for a long time. I had known him for a long time, but this was the first time I had seen him like this.
Instead of greeting him, I immediately asked a question. “Did Zhou Auto really copy CarOS technology?”
“Yes.”
“You haven’t test-driven it yourself, you’ve only seen it in videos. But how can you be so sure?”
Then Daryl replied irritably, “I’ve reviewed all the publicly released videos. The car’s movements and system are almost identical to ours. I can tell just by looking at the wheel movements.”
“……”
Is this possible?
Everyone seemed to agree with Daryl’s words to some extent. Well, even if it all looks like the same autonomous driving to ordinary people like us, technicians would see slight differences.
Daryl, as CEO and also a programmer and engineer, has led the development of CarOS’ autonomous driving technology from beginning to end.
Numerous researchers and engineers worked together, but no one would object to him being called the father of this technology.
As such, it is natural that his affection and pride are also great. If he thinks it was stolen, it’s understandable that he would be angry.
“When you say copied, you don’t just mean they imitated it, right?”
Daryl said with conviction, “Of course. What I mean is that they copied the source code and data as they are.”
The screen layout and operation method of NOS and Andromeda, which divide the smartphone OS market, are almost similar. They must have influenced each other to some extent, but these two are clearly different operating systems.
Copying a picture as it is and recalling the memory of seeing it and drawing it as similarly as possible are completely different things.
Everyone’s expressions became serious. I too felt the seriousness.
Autonomous driving is CarOS’ core technology. If they copied this technology, being caught up would be instantaneous.
“How could Zhou Auto have copied CarOS technology?”
No one easily answered that question.
Taek-gyu asked in a low voice, “They poached researchers and engineers, didn’t they?”
“That’s true, but…”
In fact, Chinese companies actively poached talent from Enple, Gooble, Nikola, GM, etc. Three of our key researchers also quit, and two of them went to China. If you include engineers, the number increases further.
However, it is impossible to copy technology exactly just by taking a few people. If that were possible, the technology of all companies would have become standardized at a high level.
They may be able to greatly reduce trial and error, but that much time is still needed for technology development. And the completed results will also be different.
“Is there a way to prove they copied it?”
Daryl said immediately, “We can compare the source code.”
It’s a very simple and sure method. If we compare each other’s codes and they match, they can’t deny it.
“They won’t publicly release it.”
What company in their right mind would disclose their core technology to the outside?
Daryl strongly insisted, “Then we must reveal it even through a lawsuit!”
“We’d be in court in China, wouldn’t we?”
Since Zhou Auto is a Chinese company and the launch country is China, the trial must be held in China. Then the Chinese court would naturally side with the domestic company.
Because it’s China.
