Monthly Archives: October 2010
U.S. Defense Dept. Not Worried By China’s Rare-Earths Grip
Beijing’s promise not to use rare earths as a diplomatic weapon, made during the East Asia Summit in Hanoi, was an easy assurance to give. As we noted earlier, China’s current near monopoly on the supply of these metals that … Continue reading
Filed under China-U.S.
China, the U.S., Japan: Spot The Honest Broker
U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has been playing the peacemaker in the dispute that won’t go away between Beijing and Tokyo. She proposed hosting a trilateral meeting with her Chinese and Japanese counterparts to discuss the two testy neighbors’ … Continue reading
Filed under China-Japan, China-U.S.
Regulators Take Aim At Commodities Speculation In Anti-Inflation Drive
With inflation hitting a two-year high in September, China’s economic policymakers are taking steps where ever they can to stall the rise in prices, particularly of food and property. Securities regulators are now pushing for curbs on commodity futures trading … Continue reading
China Expands Fleet To Protect Maritime Rights
In a move that is unlikely to calm any neighboring anxieties, China says it is increasing the size of its fleet that patrols the seas around its shores. A new high-speed surveillance cutter was launched this week, with three dozen … Continue reading
Filed under Politics & Society
When Rare Earths Are Not As Rare
It was always thought that paper, particularly dollar-denominated securities, was the Doomsday device that Beijing could hold over the U.S. Turns out it is not paper but rare earths, 17 metals used in a vast range of high-tech products, including … Continue reading
Filed under industry
China And U.S. Agree To Resolve Imbalances, Just No Time Soon
The currency wars have become the current-account truce. G-20 finance ministers and central bankers meeting in South Korea last weekend took the high road on global imbalances in preference to the low road of competitive devaluations that leads nowhere good. … Continue reading
Filed under China-U.S., Economy, Uncategorized
Little Change In How Corrupt Official China Is Seen
China ranks 78th in the latest index of the perception of corruption in the public sector published by Transparency International, with a score of 3.5. Denmark, New Zealand and Singapore top the list with scores of 9.3 out of a … Continue reading
Filed under Politics & Society
Beijing Heeds The Lessons Of Japan’s Yen Revaluation
As G-20 finance ministers and central bankers meet in Seoul to call a verbal truce at least in the currency wars, Bloomberg has a piece noting that China has taken note of what happened to Japan after the 1985 Plaza … Continue reading
Filed under China-U.S., Economy
Foxconn Expands Inland Production Capacity
Foxconn, the Taiwanese-owned electronics contractor whose Shenzhen plants were hit by a wave of suicides earlier this year, is to expand its presence in Chengdu with a new assembly plant there, the latest of a number of new inland factories. … Continue reading
Filed under industry
Lies, Damn Lies And Online Marketing
A leading dairy company, Mengniu, stands accused of organizing a black online PR campaign to smear the product-safety reputation of a rival, Yili. There are, shall we say, several versions of what happened, who was responsible, what documents may or … Continue reading
Filed under Politics & Society, Product Safety
