Forbes (February 10, 2014)
“Beijing is becoming more dependent on the U.S. and the rest of the world for its strength and prosperity.” Though it may be the largest holder of U.S. Treasuries, this is not a sign of strength. “The idea that a government gains strength by piling up dollars or other foreign currencies is a mercantilist holdover from the 16th to 18th centuries, when France, Spain and others thought amassing gold and silver was how a country became wealthy. Trade, not hoarding, makes for a powerful economy.”
Tags: Beijing, China, Currencies, Dependent, Dollars, Economy, France, Gold, Government, Hoarding, Mercantilist, Prosperity, Silver, Spain, Strength, Trade, U.S. Treasuries, Wealth
Wall Street Journal (January 9, 2014)
“Recent numbers and announcements out of Beijing suggest that one of the biggest global risks for 2014 is a Chinese economic slowdown. Five years after unveiling the most massive economic stimulus program the world has ever seen, the bills are coming due. And while a crash remains unlikely, deleveraging could uncover some nasty surprises in the financial system.”
Tags: Beijing, China, Crash, Deleveraging, Economic stimulus, Financial system, Risk, Slowdown
Financial Times (December 4, 2013)
“Beijing, in its dispute with Japan, risks repeating the errors of an earlier era that led to war.” Though war is not inevitable, the risk has risen in a manner eerily reminiscent of how Germany set tinder that ultimately ignited, propelling Europe into the First World War. “One wonders why the Chinese leadership thinks asserting sovereignty over a few rocks worth the risk. Yes, China may get away with it this time and the next, and the time after that. But each throw of the dice renews the risks. What gains can justify the possible losses?” With tension and mistrust rising and “for the sake of the longer-term interests of the Chinese people, Mr Xi should think again – and halt.”“Beijing, in its dispute with Japan, risks repeating the errors of an earlier era that led to war.” Though war is not inevitable, the risk has risen in a manner eerily reminiscent of how Germany set tinder that ultimately ignited, propelling Europe into the First World War. “One wonders why the Chinese leadership thinks asserting sovereignty over a few rocks worth the risk. Yes, China may get away with it this time and the next, and the time after that. But each throw of the dice renews the risks. What gains can justify the possible losses?” With tension and mistrust rising and “for the sake of the longer-term interests of the Chinese people, Mr Xi should think again – and halt.”
Tags: ADIZ, Beijing, China, Europe, Gains, Germany, Interests, Japan, Losses, Mistrust, Risks, Sovereignty, Tension, WWI, Xi
Institutional Investor (November Issue)
“After three decades of breakneck economic growth, China is cleaning up its act. Lately, Beijing has been rolling out a raft of environmental regulations, chief among them June’s announcement of ten measures to improve urban air quality, including a target to reduce emissions from highly polluting industries by 30 percent within four years.”
Tags: Air quality, Beijing, China, Economic growth, Emissions, Environmental regulations, Highly polluting industries, Urban
New York Times (October 10)
A study at the University of Hawaii finds that “by 2047, plus or minus five years, the average temperatures in each year will be hotter across most parts of the planet than they had been at those locations in any year between 1860 and 2005.” The researchers calculated the expected “climate departure,” the year when a location exceeds its historic temperature range, as 2046 for Beijing, 2047 for New York and Washington D.C., and 2063 for Moscow. Climate departure will come even earlier for tropical areas.
Tags: Beijing, Climate departure, Moscow, New York, Planet, Temperature, Tropics, University of Hawaii, Washington D.C.
Financial Times (July 25)
“Since taking office in the spring, the new Chinese leadership knew it had to boost a slowing economy, while, at the same time, rebalancing it away from state-driven investment. Some of the measures included in the ‘mini-stimulus’ Beijing announced on Wednesday strike this difficult balance.” By cutting red tape for exporters and taxes for small companies, the package may succeed in letting “hundreds of small firms bloom.”
Tags: Beijing, China, Economy, Exporters, Leadership, Rebalancing, Slowing, Stimulus, Taxes
Financial Times (April 15, 2013)
“An era of relatively slower growth in China is welcome news–both for the country and the global economy. The government’s previous insistence that it must achieve growth of at least 8 per cent a year betrayed a neurotic insecurity about social unrest. It has also involved increasingly unacceptable environmental and social costs–as anybody breathing the choking Beijing air can testify. President Xi Jinping’s statement last week that ‘China’s model of development is not sustainable” was a sign of political maturity.’”
Tags: Beijing, China, Environment, Slower growth, Social costs, Xi Jinping
Wall Street Journal (March 15)
China is being forced to focus on the environment due to chronic air quality issues in Beijing and the discovery of 6,000 dead pigs in tributaries that provide Shanghai’s drinking water. “The pork soup scandal, as it has been dubbed, hits the trifecta of Chinese mistrust of government: lack of a plan to protect the public interest instead of companies and officials, political corruption that fails to hold polluters accountable, and withholding timely information when disaster strikes.”
Tags: Air quality, Beijing, China, Environment, Government, Pigs, Pollution, Shanghai, Water quality
Financial Times (February 12)
“China must halt North Korea’s folly….For nearly two decades, North Korea has regularly scared the world with its determination to become a fully fledged nuclear weapons state. Yesterday it took another decisive step on that road.” North Korea’s third underground nuclear test should result in a clear line. Beijing “needs to respond to this week’s test with punitive measures that force Pyongyang to rethink its nuclear folly.”
Tags: Beijing, China, North Korea, Nuclear test, Pyongyang
New York Times (January 13)
Beijing’s notorious air pollution hit a new low on Saturday. First the background. The Air Quality Index of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) ranges from 0-500, with levels between 301 to 500 considered hazardous for all outdoor activity. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), a score of 500 indicates over 20 times the safe level of particulate matter. Beijing’s new record in dirty air left some speechless. “What phrase is appropriate to describe Saturday’s jaw-dropping reading of 755 at 8 p.m., when all of Beijing looked like an airport smokers’ lounge?”
Tags: Air pollution, Air Quality Index, Beijing, EPA, Hazardous, Particulate matter, WHO
