The spat between the US and the World Anti-Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) continues after the 2024 Paris Olympics, with a recent media report saying the Biden administration is holding up the annual US payment to WADA to press the organization as it "chose not to discipline elite Chinese swimmers who tested positive for a banned drug."

According to a New York Times report, the White House has told WADA that it needed to have "more accountability and transparency" and that it must submit to a wide-ranging outside audit of its operations.

A WADA spokesperson told the Global Times in an email on Thursday that WADA has not received any notification from the US Government that it has decided to voluntarily withhold its annual contribution for 2024. 

The agency also said "WADA is unaware of any conditions that the US Government wishes to attach to its payment… no provision exists within WADA's governance model whereby a government may unilaterally withhold its contribution based on its own set of conditions." 

The Biden administration made its 2023 payment for $3.4 million in August of last year. The payment for this year was expected to be paid around the same time, but so far relevant US official has yet to sign off on having the money sent.

Shang Ximeng, a research fellow at the Center for International Sport Communication and Diplomacy Studies at the Beijing Foreign Studies University, told the Global Times that the US has repeatedly threatened WADA with default or refusal to pay the annual dues, but as a signatory to the WADA Code, the US is obligated to pay it.

She noted that the US has not only played these kinds of tricks in international anti-doping cooperation, but has frequently threatened to do the same with respect to other international cooperation.

Li Haidong, a professor at the China Foreign Affairs University, said the US' political manipulation has not only weakened WADA's authority, but also slandered China's anti-doping efforts, and undermined the global efforts in the regard.

US' attempts to hijack international organizations exposed its hegemonic mindset and politicizing sports for political purposes, Li noted. 

In April this year, along with USWADA, The New York Times hyped that some Chinese swimmers tested positive for trimetazidine (TMZ) before the Tokyo Olympic Games in 2021, accusing WADA of shielding Chinese athletes and failing to hold them accountable.

WADA has commissioned an independent review into the reported incident after refuting these claims, labeling them as "misleading and potentially defamatory media coverage." The agency said that following the TMZ contamination incident in swimming in 2021, the China Anti-Doping Agency (CHINADA) promptly initiated a comprehensive and meticulous investigation, and based on its results, it was determined that the TMZ positives among these athletes resulted from inadvertent ingestion of contaminated food without their knowledge, and therefore no further doping charges were brought against those athletes, according to previous reports from the Global Times. 

In September 9, the independent Swiss prosecutor Eric Cottier backed WADA's handling of the issue in his final investigation report, saying that WADA had not been complacent nor shown bias toward China, according to a Reuters report. 

WADA was established in 1999 as an international independent agency to lead a collaborative worldwide movement for doping-free sport.

If the US restricts Chinese companies from participating in the Consumer Electronics Show (CES), these actions could create further challenges for the US market and consumers, a Chinese expert said, following a report exposed that Chinese tech workers report US visa issues despite CES invitations.

Many employees of Chinese tech companies preparing to attend CES in Las Vegas have reportedly encountered "unprecedented" US visa denials, despite holding official event invitations, according to the South China Morning Post (SCMP) on Saturday.

"We are aware of some CES attendees and exhibitors from China whose business travel visa applications are being denied," a CES spokesperson said in an email, according to SCMP. "We encourage the US government to expedite and approve visas for individuals who are travelling to the US for legitimate business reasons," the spokesperson said. 

Chris Pereira, the founder of iMpact, a New York-based consultancy, posted this month on LinkedIn that during a cross-cultural leadership training programme for Chinese companies expanding abroad, he learned that "half of the 40 companies in attendance reported their staff were being denied visas, despite holding official invitation letters from CES." Since his post, Pereira said in an interview, at least three more clients had reported employees had been denied visas to attend CES, according to SCMP. 

Exhibitions like CES were "wonderful opportunities for business exchanges between companies from China, the US and the rest of the world," Pereira told SCMP, noting that "it is frustrating to see even events like this being impacted."

The rejection of the CES visa is another example of the US government's intention to reduce exchanges between China and the US. The US has consistently been the biggest obstacle to normal interactions in various areas, including economic and cultural exchanges between the two countries. This situation is akin to "lifting a rock only to drop it on one's own feet," a Chinese expert said. 

Obstructing Chinese companies' participation in CES would disrupt consumer electronics trade between the two sides, and "if the US curtails routine economic and trade activities in this sector, it will create further challenges for the US market and consumers," He Weiwen, senior fellow of the Center for China and Globalization, told the Global Times on Saturday.

In the field of consumer electronics, China and the US complement each other in technologies, products, and markets. China brings many advanced technologies and a large number of electronic products for American consumers, which helps lower inflation, enrich the US market supply, and benefit American consumers, He said.

Approximately 4,000 global exhibitors are set to participate in CES in January 2025, with over 30 percent expected to represent Chinese companies, according to SCMP.

"Chinese companies are the main force of CES exhibitors over the years… We hope that the US will work with China to reduce policy obstacles such as visa and entry, take concrete actions to support and encourage more exchanges between people from business, S&T and other sectors of the two countries," Liu Pengyu, a spokesperson for the Chinese Embassy in the US, said on X on Saturday.

"Promoting exchanges and cooperation in the global consumer electronics industry is the common wish of enterprises of all countries. It is conducive to connecting the global consumer electronics industrial chain and supply chain, and injecting fresh momentum into the global economy," the spokesperson said.

Chinese companies have maintained a strong presence at CES since 1991. However, in recent years, their participation has varied due to increasing US restrictions. A record high of 1,551 Chinese firms took part in CES in 2018, but attendance dropped to 210 in 2021, 159 in 2022, and 493 in 2023, according to SCMP.

Amid growing US restrictions on routine trade and business exchanges, many Chinese companies are increasingly apprehensive about rising uncertainties, as even routine and lawful trade interactions are at risk of encountering unexpected hurdles, He said. The US needs to adopt a cooperative approach with China in the electrics consumption sector, aiming for mutual benefit and win-win outcomes, while abandoning outdated Cold War mentalities, He added.

China issued a judicial interpretation on Monday specifying the determination of the crime of refusing to execute judgments and rulings to hide or transfer property before the verdict takes effect, in an effort to ensure that the judgments and rulings made by courts are enforced in accordance with the law and the legitimate rights and interests of the individuals concerned are effectively safeguarded.

This judicial interpretation is released jointly by China's Supreme People's Court (SPC) and the Supreme People's Procuratorate (SPP), and will come into force on December 1.

The judicial explanation clearly stipulates that hiding or transferring property before judgments and rulings come into effect can constitute the crime of resisting the execution of judgments and rulings. In previous judicial practice, the offense of refusing to execute a judgment or ruling generally targeted those who concealed or transferred property after the judgment or verdict had taken effect.

It lists 10 scenarios of refusal to execute despite having the capacity to do so in serious circumstances, as well as five extremely serious circumstances.

The SPC and SPP said that if the cases involved are serious, the perpetrators will be held criminally liable for refusing to execute judgments and rulings.

This explanation has apparently been issued to target deadbeats and aims to fix loopholes in the legislation field as some people have taken advantage of the relatively ambiguous provisions in the law to dodge their debts, Wang Sixin, a professor of law at the Communication University of China, told the Global Times on Monday.

It also guarantees that judgments will be enforced more effectively in the future, Wang noted.

The explanation also clarifies that any person who conspires with deadbeats to assist in hiding and transferring property and other acts of omission or commission that make the judgments and rulings unenforceable, are to be punished as accomplices to the crime.

The explanation specifies that if one refuses to abide by the judgments and rulings to pay, including alimony, maintenance, pension, and medical expenses, the person concerned should be punished severely in accordance with the law.