Monthly Archives: August 2011
China’s Combat Catamarans
State media has been posting pictures of the PLA Navy’s latest generation of missile fast attack craft. The first of the high-speed catamarans appeared as long ago at 2004, but the fleet is being steadily built out, and now numbers … Continue reading
Filed under Defence
Southwestern China’s Drought Intensifies
There is no let up in the drought parching southwestern China that has left at least 12 million people short of water across Yunan (seen above), Guizhou, Hunan, Sichuan and Chongqing. State media report that emergency response teams have now … Continue reading
Filed under Agriculture, Environment
China’s Return To Libya
China had commercial interests in Gaddafi’s Libya and will pragmatically rebuild its presence in the country once the end-game of the overthrow of the colonel has played out. Before the civil war started, some 75 Chinese companies, including 13 large … Continue reading
Filed under China-Africa
Japan’s Next Prime Minister: The View From Beijing
Beijing won’t be wildly delighted by Japan’s choice of its new prime minister, finance minister Yoshihiko Noda, but it could have been much worse. Noda beat out four factional rivals for the leadership of the governing Democratic Party of Japan … Continue reading
Filed under China-Japan
China Tightens Capital Requirements A Tad Further
China’s central bank appears to indulging in a little back-door monetary tightening. Reports say that the People’s Bank of China is widening its capital reserve requirement definitions of deposits to include the collateral deposited by customers against letters of credit … Continue reading
Filed under Economy
China Cracks Down On PR Black Arts
Since April, authorities have been cracking down on the insidious business of hacking into web sites to remove unfavorable news articles and comments, and of hiring writers to post rumors, half-truths and outright lies about rivals. Firms offering such services … Continue reading
Filed under Media
China’s Military Modernization On Track But Still A Way To Go
There isn’t anything eye-openingly new in the U.S. Defense Dept.’s latest annual report to the U.S. Congress assessing the state of China’s military. Like many others outside China, Pentagon planners remain nervous and uncertain about the geopolitical and military implications … Continue reading
Filed under China-Taiwan, China-U.S., Defence
Putting A Price On Luxury
Can you put a price on the cachet of a luxury logo? Seems you can and, in Chanel’s case, it is as much as 200 yuan ($31). The Shandong Business News (here, in Chinese) reports that the largest of the … Continue reading
Filed under industry
Drought In Southwestern China Intensifies
The drought in southwestern China is getting worse despite some recent rainfall. State media report that more than 12 million people are short of water in Guizhou, Yunnan, Hunan, Sichuan and Chongqing, twice as many as reported a week ago. More … Continue reading
Filed under Environment
Buffett’s Ups and Downs With BYD
As a snapshot of global financial markets’ ups and downs, look no further than U.S. billionaire investor, Warren Buffett. In 2008, he paid $231 million for a 10% stake in BYD Co., China’s largest maker of rechargeable batteries and whose … Continue reading
