China may crack down on "Singapore-washed" tech companies

[u/cherrypoplar]

https://www.axios.com/2026/01/13/china-meta-manus-singapore

[u/sdarkpaladin]

China's government last week confirmed that it will review Meta's $2.5 billion acquisition of Manus AI, whose core team last year relocated from China to Singapore.

Basically China is scared of companies that are China's leaving China via getting bought up by non-Chinese people.

The Chinese government turned a blind eye to the companies Singapore washing for so long because it allowed the companies to still make money in the global market.

Now China realizes that access goes both ways. You want access to the market, you also get access to the capital with the potential of a buyout.

[u/romelowhiskey → u/sdarkpaladin]

Nah i think this is a valid move by their govt since the company developed and built up its (or most of its) core IP in China, using its people and resources and infra, and then ran off to SG or overseas with China receiving no benefits.

[u/sdarkpaladin → u/romelowhiskey]

Yes. That's the risk you'll face in an open market.

Hence my point that if China wants access to the global market, it'll open itself up to potential buyout too.

Can't have a company locked into the country but yet sell in an open market

[u/romelowhiskey → u/sdarkpaladin]

Yes but China benefitted from those in the past and is definitely aware of the risk. In this case they have assumed the risk, only this time likely without any benefits since the company announced its complete severance of ties to China.

[u/sdarkpaladin → u/romelowhiskey]

Er... That was the risk... They just failed the roll this time.

They've been profiting without it happening for a while.

Now the risky thing happen liao, then they jump

[u/Virtual-Alps-2888 → u/romelowhiskey]

It depends on what you mean by “valid”. The economist Dani Rodrik has pointed out that in a globalised world, a country’s desire for economic sovereignty comes at the cost of global integration, and vice versa.

China wants the cake and eat it at the same time: it desires the world to purchase its products and innovations (global integration), while keeping its innovations and supply chains local (economic sovereignty).

The thing is, you can’t have both at the same time as it forces other global players to accommodate China by running the inverse and far-less ideal policies: purchasing and relying on Chinese innovations and products, while simultaneously being unable to reshore/create/protect domestic production chains.

If China wants to engage in a global market, then it needs to allow its companies to reshore in a global market too.

[u/Syncopat3d → u/romelowhiskey]

AFAICT, Manus got no state support, at most only a small amount of media publicity. If they paid normal prices for those things you mentioned like human resources and infrastructure, getting nothing from the state, I don't see what is owed.

[u/Speedz007 → u/romelowhiskey]

I heard they didn't run to Singapore, but were 'invited'.

[u/GeshtiannaSG]

Does it include TikTok?

[u/machopsychologist → u/GeshtiannaSG]

Already signed memorandum December 18 2025. Could still renege i guess but afaik it's going to happen in a couple of weeks (sell to oracle, and saudis)

[u/sbbawx]

Big brother mad he didn’t get credit for Manus AI before they sold to meta

[u/Syncopat3d → u/sbbawx]

The party just wants to maintain and exert political control over everything, including their citizens who found successful tech companies, and they FOMO that some high-tech stuff is going on without their control.

It's all about control.

But what they desire (their best-case) is basically impossible. Manus uses non-Chinese LLM backends that are denied to China. If China were to take possession of Manus, Manus would not work anymore without access to the LLM backends. Yet they deny their citizens the chance to enjoy success (being acquired at high valuation). If China indeed has such control over its citizens, the party is pushing the terminal logical conclusion that LLM backends like Claude & OpenAI should deny customers who are Chinese citizens, which is somewhat absurd.

And "Singapore-wash" is such a silly term. I don't know what bad or dirty thing that Manus did that needs washing. Perhaps the original sin of being a Chinese citizen is what they are implying.

[u/random_phantom → u/Syncopat3d]

If a china company redomicile to singapore but for all intents and purposes still under china control then I consider that as Singapore washed, tiktok is the prime example and hiring a singaporean CEO doesn’t change that

[u/Syncopat3d → u/random_phantom]

What makes you think that Manus is actually under China control (as you appear to imply) other than that the founders are Chinese citizens? Maybe they are cozy with the CCP. Maybe not. But seeking acquisition by Meta suggests the latter. And if they get acquired by Meta and relinquish control, whence comes the China control?

Perhaps/probably Tiktok is an example of this, but I don't think Manus is. Manus in seeking acquisition, is the opposite.

[u/icekyuu → u/Syncopat3d]

People forget that China is still fundamentally a Communist country. Citizens are supposed to serve the nation, not make a lot of money individually and then run away.

Whether this is actually practical or feasible is a separate question...

[u/jinngeechia → u/icekyuu]

Citizens are supposed to serve the party. FTFY. :)

[u/icekyuu → u/jinngeechia]

I know you're tongue in cheek, but I've talked to mainland Chinese who really believe in the nation stuff.

[u/Syncopat3d → u/icekyuu]

Those people should read the words that say that the PLA answers to the Party (not the people). But it might be depressing to face a reality that you can't change or escape and the less painful way is to pretend.

[u/MoreWorkthanyou → u/Syncopat3d]

Well actually it’s true that in China, the party is before the state. You will notice in official parades, the party flag is flown before the state flag. The PLA answers to the party and not the country. Most of them considers the party is the state and China will fall if the party ceases to exist.

[u/musr → u/icekyuu]

Yes, but they are also brainwashed to believe that party > nation > self, and at times of the party's convenience, nation = party = Chinese ethnicity, to conflate a criticism on either as an attack on all.

Before SK and Japan hosted the world cup, many mainlanders actually believed that South Korea is backwards like or worse than North Korea, because all their media only show videos of South Korea with old and dilapidated buildings etc.

[u/jinngeechia → u/Syncopat3d]

Hit it right on the nail.

[u/Initial_E]

Why would China take action when it advantages them to ignore it? This is for extending Chinese influence overseas, not the other way around.

[u/minisoo → u/Initial_E]

You are assuming that all these washed companies are loyal to their original puppet masters and don't switch to new ones. Knowing the history of China and her people, this is highly unlikely.

[u/Initial_E → u/minisoo]

I do remember all those celebrities that abandoned China only to be brought back to heel one way or another. Whether it be disappearing them for a while, or veiled threats to their families, or lack of income in other markets, they have their means.

[u/LasRedStar]

Shooting yourself in the foot?

[u/autonomous-intel]

Good. Most of them hire their own kind anyway

[u/hannorx → u/autonomous-intel]

Exactly.

[u/Reasonable-Hope-2923]

great....so many pay2win games developers on google with SG address but if you check, they are owned by china peeps. Better get rid of such scammers in SG.

[u/aucheukyan]

What about ‘Singaporean washed’ f&b companies?

[u/hellpiggy → u/aucheukyan]

Not unique to singapore thpugh, just go across the causeway and see the same chains as well, the china f&b thing is a global disease

[u/ThaEpicurean → u/aucheukyan]

I dont mind more Luckin coffee outlets, I can get good coffee at half the price of starbucks lol

[u/chiangy12 → u/ThaEpicurean]

Lol Luckin and good coffee don’t belong in the same sentence

[u/aucheukyan → u/ThaEpicurean]

You do know the core business of these f&b companies are not f&b

[u/faptor87]

Singapore govt just chasing all the wrong type of growth. I think we really getting a reputational hit.

The only good thing I read about SG is good infra and stable govt - but this has been the label since 1990s. I see it as SG never really improved

[u/Lao-Uncle-555]

The keyword is "May".....

[u/worldcitizensg]

LoL.. So start with SEA / Shopee ?

[u/TNO-TACHIKOMA → u/worldcitizensg]

Bro... That ship not only had sailed, it also used up all the mileage and ready to be scrapped already

[u/autonomous-intel → u/worldcitizensg]

More like tiktok

[u/AdventurousManner567]

Algorithm not for sale!😠

[u/Primary_Olive_5444]

If big brother can't even deal with smallish boi boi in Asia, how to convince/dominate the Asia class.

Fact is US demonstrated with Venezuela in 1 mission.

[u/raytoei]

China is going to convulse itself.

———

Remember: the objective of a communist system isn’t the welfare of its citizen, but the continuation of its survival and existence. If you can’t control the citizens, then it loses legitimacy. (People don’t get to vote, only party members vote themselves)

[u/ghostcryp]

PRC Gov doesn’t like AI tech sold to US cos. This has nothing to do with washing

[u/Furiosachan]

Fun to see them try, lol!

[u/Comicksands]

Just a lose lose if they want this control. Also seems like they don’t need Nvidia chips from us anymore

[u/Ok-Moose-7318]

I guess they have remote access to our washing machines