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Trades reveal China shift from dollar

June 21, 2011 Comments off

 ft.com

China began diversifying away from the US dollar in earnest in the first four months of this year, most likely by buying far more European government debt than US dollar assets, according to estimates from Standard Chartered Bank.

China’s foreign exchange reserves expanded by around $200bn in the first four months of the year, with three-quarters of the new inflow invested abroad in non-US dollar assets, the bank estimated.

“It certainly appears that China’s finally following through on its policy to diversify its foreign reserve holdings away from the US dollar,” said Stephen Green, the bank’s chief China economist.

For over six years, Beijing has continued to accumulate Read more…

Categories: China Tags: , , ,

China Blocks Web Searches in an Attempt to Halt Protests

June 16, 2011 Comments off

dailytech

China has blocked internet searches after riots and unrest struck its southern province of Guangdong, home to many impoverished migrant workers.  (Source: Wikimedia Commons)
Despite rampant censorship, the hacker collective Anonymous is yet to target the Chinese government as it did governments in the Middle East.

Anonymous remains silent on Chinese censorship

In China the long dreaded “Jasmine Revolution” might be starting to finally materialize.  Outraged and impoverished, migrant workers in Zengcheng, a city in the country’s sea-facing southern Guangdong province, have taken to the streets in protest, clashing with police.  The protests and riots began last week when police told two migrant workers to stop selling goods in the street, and then proceeded to knock down one of the migrants who was pregnant.  Video of the incident went viral and Read more…

Categories: China, Protests Tags: , , , , , , ,

Chinese riots enter third day

June 14, 2011 Comments off

guardian

Chinese riots enter third day

Chinese protesters reach a standoff with riot police in Guangzhou province. The clashes highlight the authorities’ struggle to control social frustrations. Photograph: Reuters

Rioters burned police and fire vehicles in a third day of unrest in southern China‘s manufacturing heartlands, witnesses have reported.

Hong Kong broadcasters reported that armed police fired teargas as they sought to disperse the crowd and detained at least a dozen demonstrators.

The clashes, which began on Friday after a fracas between security officers and a pregnant street vendor in Xintang, Guangdong province, highlight Chinese authorities’ struggle to control social frustrations. It is thought that most protesters were migrant workers like the vendor.

Last week hundreds of migrant workers clashed with police in Chaozhou, also in Guangdong, following a dispute over unpaid wages. In Lichuan, Hubei, as many as 2,000 protesters attacked government headquarters last Thursday after a local politician who had complained about Read more…

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China, Russia ties on sound base

June 14, 2011 Comments off

chinadaily

Sino-Russian relations are usually wrapped in high-sounding rhetoric, but they are essentially very pragmatic. For China, Russia is a geopolitical “safe rear” and, in economic terms, a major resource base. For Russia, China is a huge market just across the border and a valuable geopolitical partner. The fundamentals of the relationship are solid and not likely to change in the short or medium term.

When President Hu Jintao visits Russia on Wednesday, he and Russian President Dmitry Medvedev will duly celebrate the 10th anniversary of the Treaty of Good-Neighborliness and Friendly Cooperation between the two countries. But the main expectation this time will be the finalization of the 30-year agreement, under which Russia will supply China with 68 billion cubic meters of gas annually over the next 30 years from 2015.

When finalized, the agreement will strengthen China’s energy security and diversify Russia’s gas exports. Until now, the principal issue between the two countries has been the price of Russian gas for China. Gazprom wanted it to be as close to the lucrative European Read more…

Categories: China, Russia Tags: , , , , , , , , ,

Locusts Invade Russia and China, Threatening Food Supply

June 13, 2011 Comments off

Millions of Locusts Invade Russia

June 9, 2011

MSNBC – Giant swarms of locusts are said to be threatening the food supply for nearly 20 million people in the region.

Locust Plague Ravages NW China

May 5, 2011

Xinhua – Large swarms of locusts have laid waste to vast tracts of Northwest China’s Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region, with authorities expecting the plague to worsen as the weather heats up.

The locust plague began in the pastureland of the Ili River Valley and Read more…

Categories: China, disease and pestilence, Russia Tags: , , , , ,

China warns neighbors: Stop oil search in Spratlys

June 10, 2011 Comments off

yahoo

Liu Jianchao AP – Chinese Ambassador to the Philippines Liu Jianchao gestures during a news conference at the Ambassador’s …

MANILA, Philippines – China warned Asian neighbors Thursday to stop searching for oil near the Spratly Islands and vowed to assert its sovereignty over the potentially petroleum-rich territory in the South China Sea that several nations claim.

China and the Philippines have swapped diplomatic protests over the islands, with Filipino officials accusing Chinese forces of intruding into Manila-claimed areas six times since February and of firing shots at least once. Beijing denied the allegation Thursday and said it would use violence only when attacked.

Vietnam, meanwhile, has accused China of flaring tensions in Read more…

Categories: China, Philippines Tags: , , , , , , , , ,

China ratings house says US defaulting: report

June 10, 2011 Comments off

afp

BEIJING — A Chinese ratings house has accused the United States of defaulting on its massive debt, state media said Friday, a day after Beijing urged Washington to put its fiscal house in order.

“In our opinion, the United States has already been defaulting,” Guan Jianzhong, president of Dagong Global Credit Rating Co. Ltd., the only Chinese agency that gives sovereign ratings, was quoted by the Global Times saying.

Washington had already defaulted on its loans by allowing the dollar to weaken against other currencies — eroding the wealth of creditors including China, Guan said.

Guan did not immediately respond to AFP requests for comment.

The US government will run out of room to spend more on August 2 unless Read more…

Categories: China, United States Tags: , , , , , , , ,

China official: GOP ‘playing with fire’ with debt ceiling

June 8, 2011 1 comment

usatoday

There’s been an interesting warning on the debt ceiling today — from China.

Li Daokui, an adviser to the People’s Bank of China, told reporters in Beijing, “I think there is a risk that the U.S. debt default may happen.” And he puts the blame on congressional Republicans. “The result will be very serious and I really hope that they would stop playing with fire,” he said.

China is no disinterested party: It holds more than $1 trillion in Treasury debt as of March.

President Obama may well agree with the Chinese banker’s sentiment, as he urges Congress to go ahead and raise the nation’s $14.3 trillion debt ceiling.

Technically, U.S. obligations have already risen past that ceiling, but the Treasury Department says it can use accounting maneuvers to keep paying bills until Aug. 2.

Congressional Republicans, including those who control the U.S. House, say they won’t agree to a debt ceiling increase unless the White House and Democrats agree to major spending cuts.

The two sides are negotiating — as the world waits.

“I really worry about the risks of a U.S. debt default, which I think may lead to a decline in the dollar’s value,” Li said.

Categories: China, Dollar, United States Tags: , , , , ,

China Wants To Construct A 50 Square Mile Self-Sustaining City South Of Boise, Idaho

June 8, 2011 Comments off

Thanks to the trillions of dollars that the Chinese have made flooding our shores with cheap products, China is now in a position of tremendous economic power.  So what is China going to do with all of that money?  One thing that they have decided to do is to buy up pieces of the United States and set up “special economic zones” inside our country from which they can continue to extend their economic domination.  One of these “special economic zones” would be just south of Boise, Idaho and the Idaho government is eager to give it to them.  China National Machinery Industry Corporation (Sinomach for short) plans to construct a “technology zone” south of Boise Read more…

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China aircraft carrier confirmed by general

June 8, 2011 Comments off

bbc

China's aircraft carrier is seen under construction in Dalian, Liaoning province (April 2011) (above) and on Google Maps (below) The 300m (990ft) carrier, under construction in Dalian, is thought to be nearly finished

The head of China’s General Staff of the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) has confirmed that China’s first aircraft carrier is under construction.

Gen Chen Bingde refused to say when the carrier – a remodelled Soviet-era vessel, the Varyag – would be ready.

A member of his staff said the carrier would pose no threat to other nations.

The 300m (990ft) carrier, which is being built in the north-east port of Dalian, has been one of China’s worst-kept secrets, analysts say.

Gen Chen made his comments to the Chinese-language Hong Kong Commercial Daily newspaper.

The PLA – the largest army in the world – is hugely secretive about its defence programme.

The carrier was constructed in the 1980s for the Soviet navy but was Read more…

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