Category Archives: NEWS DIGEST

For millions across the region and around the world, Thursday marked Mid-Autumn Festival, a harvest holiday that has its origins in Ancient China. For those of you celebrating, ExSE wishes you a happy Mid-Autumn Festival. Enjoy  your mooncakes!

In regional news, Chinese President Xi Jinping concluded a very successful trip to Central Asia. Energy and trade deals were signed between China and the Central Asian states in a move that likely secures China’s economic supremacy in the region for some time to come. Within China, the government’s anti-corruption anti-online rumour campaigns are in full swing and the verdict in the Bo Xilai case is expected tomorrow (Sunday).

As mentioned last week, ExSE is in the process of a makeover. Expect the new and improved website to debut in the next few weeks. As we are improving the outward look of the website, we’re also looking to improve content and are in the market for new contributors. If you have any interest in writing for East by Southeast, please email us at eastbysoutheastmail@gmail.com.

China

Analysis: China eyes private funds to tackle bad-debt buildup, avoid bailout | Reuters analysts think the official non-performing loan ratio of less than 1 percent is a considerable understatement. Most analysts put it in the 3 to 6 percent range, but Reuters estimates based on official data shows that their current capital and loan-loss provisions would suffice even if more than a fifth of their loans went bad. But much of the potential risk lies outside of the official banking system. Goldman Sachs has said that under its worst-case scenario credit losses for the entire system could reach $3 trillion, or a fifth of forecast GDP in 2016, though actual losses would probably be considerably lower.

Shanghai Trade Zone Said to Open This Month as Li Tackles Reform – Bloomberg An opening ceremony for a Shanghai free-trade zone to test economic reforms is planned for this month, with Chinese Premier Li Keqiang set to officiate, two people with knowledge of the matter said. The event may be on a day from Sept. 27 to 29, depending on Li’s schedule, said the people, who asked not to be identified because they weren’t authorized to speak publicly about the matter. The Shanghai Daily reported yesterday that the zone will officially open Sept. 29, citing Wang Xinkui, director of the city’s counselor’s office.

Tencent Market Value Tops $100 Billion on China Internet Growth – Bloomberg Shenzhen-based Tencent, which went public in 2004, is the largest Internet company in Asia and has a market capitalization greater than SoftBank Corp. (9984), McDonald’s Corp. (MCD) and Boeing Co. (BA) It trails a handful of technology companies worldwide, including Apple Inc., Google Inc., Microsoft Corp., Samsung Electronics Co. and Facebook Inc. (FB)

Petroleum and Purges–Sinica Podcast The Beijing rumor-mill is back on overdrive. With the trial of Bo Xilai only barely concluded and the country now openly speculating on the length of the disgraced politician’s likely sentence, factional battles targeting Bo’s remaining supporters have moved center-stage, as the government has launched an anti-graft probe into the country’s petroleum industry…Joining us to discuss these rumors are two outstanding observers of modern Chinese politics: Bill Bishop from Sinocism, and Jeremy Page from the Wall Street Journal. Continue reading →

The slow creep of internet suppression in China has turned into a full-on campaign this week as China detailed punishments of up to three years in jail for the spreading of rumors on social media sites.  Related to this campaign, yesterday multi-millionaire civil society activist Wang Gongquan was detained in Beijing.  The CCP is trying to control the commanding heights of the media as its leadership attempts to unroll comprehensive reform plans later this fal.  But this top-down, arbitrary supression puts social media users and the social media industry in a holding pattern full of fear and uncertainty.  Further, blogger and author Joshua Kurlantzick suggests in an article listed below that China’s internet suppression tactics are diffusing into Southeast Asia.  For those of us living in the region, the connections are not hard to link together.

The World Economic Forum meets this week in Dalian, the city that Bo Xilai built, but the real meeting that regional watchers should keep an eye on is this weekend’s Shanghai Cooperation Organization meeting and energy/trade deals that come forward from it.  More articles on the SCO meeting below.

Yunnan province made international news as well as Luliang county, near Qujing was found to be cooking its economic reports to the tune of $850 mn over it’s actual economic output.

ExSE is still working on its facelift which we hope to unveil by the end of the month.  We’d like to expand into blogging on a wider range of issues in the region as well as attract a few Laos and Vietnam specialists.  Avid readers, we are also hoping to expand our book review category.  If you are interested in joining the ExSE team, already 20 strong, feel free to email at eastbysoutheastmail@gmail.com

CHINA

Multi-millionaire investor detained in China’s crackdown on activists – The Guardian Campaigners warn that Chinese police are cracking down on activists after ‘gathering crowds’ arrest of Wang Gongquan. Chinese police have detained a multi-millionaire investor in what human rights campaigners warned is a broadening crackdown on activists.Wang Gongquan was taken into custody by up to 20 Beijing police officers on Friday on suspicion of “gathering a crowd to disrupt public order”, according to supporters. His friend Xu Zhiyong, a well-known lawyer and leading member of a grassroots grouping supporting civil society, was formally arrested on the same charge last month after weeks in detention.

Some of China’s Prominent Internet Voices – NYT A look at leading microbloggers on Weibo and some of their messages.

Crackdown on Bloggers Is Mounted by China – NYT Hundreds of microblog users across the country have been arrested for what Communist Party officials call malicious rumor-mongering online.

China’s Diabetes Epidemic – CFR Asia Unbound These days we’ve been used to China being the land of “the first,” “the largest” and “the highest.”  However, not all of these superlatives are worthy of praise.  China now has the largest diabetic population in the world (114 million), according to a recent study published by the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA). Continue reading →

A new memorial for WWII veterans of China’s Expeditionary Force is unveiled this week in Longling County, Yunnan.  Activists and local historians have struggled to gain officials acknowledgement for the CEF’s contribution to Japan’s defeat in Burma as well as recognition for those who died and fought in the bloody battles in the upland border areas between Burma and China’s Yunnan province.  ExSE ran a translation of a story on local efforts to memorialize the CEF here in June.  Photo courtesy of 163.com.

CHINA

China’s state asset regulator and Zhou Yongkang protege under corruption probe | South China Morning Post China is investigating Jiang Jiemin, head of the national assets regulator, for “serious discipline violation”, state news agency Xinhua reported on Sunday, in what would appear to be another step in Beijing’s widening anti-graft campaign. Jiang, who became head of the state-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission (Sasac) in March, was previously chairman of top energy group China National Petroleum Company, or CNPC.

China Graft Inquiry Sweeps Up Billionaire Oil Entrepreneur – NYTimes.com The entrepreneur, Hua Bangsong, 47, is “now assisting the relevant authorities in the P.R.C. in their investigations,” according to a filing made late Monday to the Hong Kong Stock Exchange by Mr. Hua’s company, Wison Engineering Services. A crackdown on corruption in China has intensified in recent weeks, focusing on the oil industry. Mr. Hua’s company is one of the largest nonstate contractors to the oil and gas industry in China, and counts the China National Petroleum Corporation, or C.N.P.C., as one of its biggest customers.

Xinhua Insight: Why the CPC’s third plenary session is important. – Xinhua | English.news.cn Chi Fulin, director of the China Institute for Reform and Development, told Xinhua that the discussion of reform in Tuesday’s meeting showed the Party has a sober and profound view of the country’s situation. It also showed the Party’s determination and courage to succeed. The meeting proposed innovation in theory, system, science, technology and culture with wholesale reform across the board. “Besides the economic sector, the Third Plenary Session will promote administrative reform, ” Chi added. “It is quite clear that the session will map out the route for all-encompassing, deepened reform, with major breakthroughs in significant fields,” Chi said.

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East By Southeast’s News Digest is back in business.  A core group of the ExSE team has been busy this month working on setting up the IES Abroad Kunming Center, a study-abroad center for US College students located at Yunnan University.  The center’s curriculum explores the deepening ties between China and Southeast Asia and delivers enrolled students 100 hours of Chinese language instruction per semester.  The center opens for classes on Monday 9/2 and its staff and faculty are looking forward to a great semester with our inaugural group of new students.

Hopefully by the time we post the next weekly news digest, the ExSE will have undergone a complete facelift.  The last five months have delivered a solid start – we’re averaging 70000 hits per month, and it’s time to make some much needed improvements on the way our content is displayed.

This week will also debut work by new ExSE bloggers – if you’d like to write for us, we’re recruiting!  Contact us at eastbysoutheastmail@gmail.com.

CHINA

Wang Xiangwei–Myriad reasons behind transparency of Bo Xilai’s trial | South China Morning Post Before the leaders had set the trial date, Bo is believed to have written a lengthy letter to the Politburo, admitting to the three charges of bribery, embezzlement and abuse of power. He is said to have acknowledged that his misdeeds had tarnished the party’s image. The leaders are believed to have allowed such transparency of the proceedings partly because of Bo’s influence. Unlike other senior officials jailed for corruption, Bo is different. He is not only a scion of an elite Communist Party family but also seen as a flag-bearer of the leftist movement on the mainland

LA Times – Bo Xilai trial transcripts expose a privileged world of wealth The corruption trial of Bo Xilai is offering the world a peek past the vermilion walls of the Chinese leadership compounds and through the tinted glass of their motorcades into a private sphere of immense entitlement. It is a cross between reality television and a soap opera, though adapted for the 21st century with the transcripts being microblogged by the court and closely followed by hundreds of thousands of Chinese.

China Watches a Trial Unfold on Social Media – NYTimes.com The spectacle was a demonstration of how important the Internet has become in Chinese political life. For the government, it potentially offers a tool to monitor and persuade a population jaded with traditional, state-run media. By midyear, China had nearly 600 million officially registered Internet users. Even discounting duplicate and fake registrations, the number is a daunting challenge for a state that prizes its grip over information.

Bo’s trial ends, verdict to be announced later The trial of Bo Xilai, charged with bribery, embezzlement and abuse of power, concluded at 1:04 p.m. Monday at Jinan Intermediate People’s Court. The verdict will be announced at a date yet to be decided. On Monday morning, prosecutors summarized their case and demanded a heavy sentence for Bo, while the defendant made a 90-minute statement denying the charges. His lawyers also made defending statements.

Beijing’s New Tough Security Boss Cracks Down on Internet Rumors-Caijing The arrest of two Internet sensations who made names by cooking up rumors has unveiled a broad political campaign against rumor mongers, the second day after the appointment of a new deputy security minister. Local police authority in Beijing has detained four employees of an Internet marketing company, two of which are the so-called grassroots web celebrities under the handles of “qin huohuo” and “li’ er chai si” on the country’s most popular micro-blogging platform Weibo, according to the party’s mouthpiece newspaper the People’s Daily. In order to gain more popularity, the two web celebrities, identified by their surname of Qin and Yang, have resorted to creating and designing market buzz by minting and spreading more than 3,000 rumors.

China 7.5% Target Seen in Reach as U.S. Demand Picks Up: Economy – Bloomberg China will achieve the government’s 7.5 percent growth target this year as the world’s second-biggest economy stabilizes after a two-quarter slowdown, a Bloomberg News survey of economists indicates….The poll of 52 analysts, conducted from Aug. 15 to Aug. 20, points to China maintaining that pace of expansion in 2014. The survey also suggested that the central bank will widen the yuan’s trading band before year end.

China’s Lofty Goals for Shale Gas Development Just Pipe Dreams, Experts Say – Caixin Lack of innovation, technology and capital likely mean that the ambitious targets set for the next few years are not attainable Continue reading →

China

China’s Efforts to Chart Officials’ Assets Suffer Backlash – WSJ.com Amid China’s once-a-decade leadership change that concluded this spring, a handful of officials said they would make public disclosures of their assets. The pledges, spurred by extensive coverage in state-run media, fostered belief among some academics and others that Mr. Xi would increase government transparency and accountability. White-collar workers hope asset disclosures will ensure officials pay their fair share of taxes. But a Wall Street Journal examination of the modest asset-declaration programs announced in four provinces indicates details that may once have been available are again hidden.

State media hint Bo Xilai to dodge death penalty｜Politics｜News｜WantChinaTimes.com The timing of a recent article published in China’s state media highlighting the dangers of imposing the death penalty for controversial political figures could be the Communist Party’s way of sending a subtle message about the upcoming criminal trial of disgraced former Chongqing party chief Bo Xilai, reports Duowei News, an outlet run by overseas Chinese.

Cash-Strapped Nations Race to Attract Chinese Immigrants – WSJ.com While investor immigration programs are technically open to all, immigration lawyers say that governments are targeting anxious Chinese who are looking for potential escape plans for their families and protection for their assets in case of turmoil at home. “There is an all-out immigration war emerging for the Chinese,” said Jean-Francois Harvey, an immigration lawyer at Harvey Law Group in Hong Kong.

Coin of Realm in China Graft – Phony Receipts – NYTimes.com So widespread is receipt fraud that clerks at many hotel gift shops agree to falsify receipts so they show up as room charges. And at least one mutual fund company in Shanghai asks its employees to turn in fake receipts every month to claim half their salary — an accounting fraud that reduces tax liability for the company and the employee. In the Glaxo case, Chinese investigators say the drugmaker’s top Chinese executives worked closely in recent years with a Shanghai travel agency to falsify documents. For instance, airline ticket receipts were filed for trips that never took place and when executives listed 100 guests at a conference, perhaps only 80 showed up, making it possible to file false inflated receipts and thus embezzle from Glaxo’s London headquarters.

China Services Growth Picks Up in Sign Economy Stabilizing – Bloomberg China’s service industries showed the first pick-up in growth since March, adding to signs the world’s second-largest economy may be stabilizing after a two-quarter slowdown. The non-manufacturing Purchasing Managers’ Index (CPMINMAN) rose to 54.1 in July from 53.9 in June, the Beijing-based National Bureau of Statistics and China Federation of Logistics and Purchasing said yesterday. An official gauge of manufacturing released Aug. 1 showed an unexpected expansion.

Austerity with Chinese Characteristics | Foreign Affairs With austerity the reigning buzzword in Beijing, it’s tempting to assume that China is finally joining the West’s ongoing debate about macroeconomics. In reality, China’s leaders are drawing on a vastly different intellectual history.–JOHN DELURY is an Assistant Professor at Yonsei University’s Graduate School of International Studies, in South Korea.

Can China’s deflation be positive? – MarketWatch Standard Chartered argues that the biggest reason for the fall in the PPI is due to declining producer goods, which tend to be raw materials or tools used to make other goods. This means not everyone is feeling the pain equally: Upstream firms — typically those involved in extracting raw materials — will suffer, but downstream firms could benefit from the same trend.

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I hope this News Digest finds everyone doing well this Friday – it’s certainly beautiful in Kunming, where the summer rains have relented for a bit. This last week had quite a few hits for ExSE. Our own blogger Red Oceans’  piece on the SCS was highlighted in the Sinocism newsletter while ExSE contributor Zhou Dequn’s article on Fuxian Lake was featured in China Dialogue.   Will Feinberg’s first of many pieces in a regional timber trade series was picked up on the popular Quartz blog.  In addition, ExSE blogger Colin Flahive and his work with Kunming’s Salvador’s Coffee House and a string of non-profits in Yunnan was written up in the Christian Science Monitor (link below). Way to go Colin! (Full disclosure: I frequently enjoy Salvador’s food, especially their new falafel wrap).

This next week will also be a big week for ExSE. Four of our bloggers will be embarking on an 18-day trip through Thailand and Laos tomorrow. Our travels will be done as part of the IES Kunming Regional Development Program. We’ll be starting in Bangkok with a two day cruise on a Chao Phraya barge learning about sustainable watershed management.  Then we make to Chiang Mai and the Golden Triangle before floating down the Mekong to Luang Prabang and Vientiane.

We’ll be looking at the sustainability of infrastructure development sites, analyzing China’s deepening regional footprint, and thinking about the US’s Pacific Pivot.  Our partners at Mae Fah Luang University in will introduce us to transboundary issues in the Golden Triangle but not before we cross into Burma for a day.  Decommissioned KMT soldiers (hopefully) will welcome us into their homes where they will regale us of their days in the sun as members of the  world’s most sophisticated heroin shipping network. And we’ll spend five days in tropical Luang Prabang considering the impact of rapid development on the world’s best kept secret.

We’ll try and blog something everyday, even if it’s just a short update. There’s guaranteed to be a lot of sun, a lot of fun and plenty of opportunities to learn about successes and challenges of development in the region, so be sure to follow ExSE!

China

China Pledges to Boost Financial Support After Cash Crunch – Bloomberg Misallocation of capital is hampering the restructuring of the economy and the financial sector must play a better role in helping the overhaul, the cabinet said in a seven-page statement (国务院办公厅关于金融支持经济结构调整和转型升级的指导意见-– 国办发〔2013〕67号) released in Beijing today. The State Council said it will maintain its “prudent” monetary-policy stance while ensuring a reasonably supply of money and credit.

China Allows Two More Local Governments to Issue Bonds -Caijing China has added two names to the list of a trial program which allows local governments to issue bonds directly, expanding the program to six regions in the country, said the Economic Information Daily.  Shandong and Jiangsu, two neighbor provinces in east China have been given the green light from the State Council to join four local governments which got approval for bonds issues in 2011, the paper published by the official Xinhua news agency said Friday.

Foreign Capital Flows out of China on Expectations of End of QE -Caijing China has seen a monthly net capital outflow in 16 of the last 18 weeks, according to fund flow data provider EPER. EPER figures showed foreign capital registered a net outflow of $834million in the first five trading days in June, the largest since January, 2008.

An Opportunity to Strengthen U.S.-China Ties – WSJ.com At present, with the global economic recovery remaining unsteady and unbalanced, both nations face challenges as well as opportunities. China is the largest developing country in the world, and the U.S. is the largest developed one. Economic cooperation and trade will benefit our two peoples and contribute to global economic recovery and growth.

U.S., China can forge a more cooperative relationship – Washington Post This week’s China-U.S. Strategic and Economic Dialogue is an important platform for conducting high-level communication on long-term, strategic and overarching issues. The main task of the upcoming dialogue, the fifth such meeting,is to implement the extensive agreement reached at the presidents’ meeting last month, deepening dialogue and cooperation in various areas, and advancing a new-model major-country relationship.

China at the Tipping Point? | ChinaFile–Carl Minzer China may indeed be at a tipping point. But it is not clear which way it will tip. Authorities may restart legal reform as part of a comprehensive program of political and institutional transformation. Or they may refuse, risking an escalating spiral of social and political turmoil. Continue reading →

CHINA

President Xi promises to shake off GDP obsession in promoting officials – Xinhua   “We should never judge a cadre simply by the growth of gross domestic product (GDP),” he said. When promoting officials, the CPC organization departments should consider integrity as a priority and then capability, he said. “The Party’s cadres should be firm followers of Communist ideal, true believers of Marxism and devoted fighters for the socialism with Chinese characteristics.”

Crunch Time – Why low growth is China’s new normal – FP There are two important lessons to be drawn from last week’s panic. First, the central bank and the leadership in Beijing seem determined to try to get their arms around credit expansion — even if that means, as it absolutely must, that growth will suffer and the banks will come under pressure. The extent of the freezing of the money markets on June 20 surprised many, including probably the central bank itself, but there will likely be more disruption in the markets over the next few years as Beijing tries to control what has become a runaway process.

China’s Manufacturing Expands at Slower Pace Amid Credit Crunch – Bloomberg The Purchasing Managers’ Index was at 50.1, the National Bureau of Statistics and China Federation of Logistics and Purchasing said today in Beijing. That matched the median forecast of 33 analysts in a Bloomberg News survey and was down from May’s 50.8. Readings above 50 signal expansion.

China Audit Report: Local Debt Ratio Up to 189Pct in Some Cities-Caijing  1) Outstanding debts in 36 local governments were close to 3.85 trillion yuan at the end of 2012, up 12.94, or 441 billion from that in 2010. Bank loans accounted for 78.07 percent.

The Chinese Financial System: An Introduction and Overview | Brookings Institution The fear of slower Chinese growth has significant ramification for the global economy. The importance of China, and the central role of its financial system in fuelling that nation’s growth, led Douglas Elliot and Kai Yan to write a comprehensive overview of the Chinese financial system in the backdrop of the 5th meeting of the U.S.-China Strategic & Economic Dialogue.

Slow the Pace of Urbanization, CASS Researcher Urges – Caixin The country should slow urbanization in the face of slower economic growth, said Cai Fang, a population researcher at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences.  Cai is also a member of the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress (NPC), the nation’s top legislature

Xinjiang: bloody clashes brings army onto streets | South China Morning Post  The order for the patrols by the People’s Armed Police was issued by the Communist Party’s top law enforcement official, Meng Jianzhu, at an emergency meeting late on Saturday in Urumqi. The action came just days ahead of the July 5 anniversary of a 2009 riot between Xinjiang’s native Uygur people and Han Chinese migrants in the city that left nearly 200 people dead.

China state media blames Syria government, rebel forces for Xinjiang violence | Reuters  Chinese state media (媒体称去年起“东突”分子从叙交战区潜回新疆|新疆|“东突”分子|叙利亚_新浪新闻) on Monday blamed Syrian opposition forces in unusually specific finger pointing for training Muslim extremists responsible for the deadliest unrest in four years in China’s far-western region of Xinjiang. China has traditionally blamed violence in Xinjiang, home to Muslim Uighurs, on Islamic separatists who want to establish an independent state of “East Turkestan”. Continue reading →

CHINA

Tilting backwards The Economist – OVER the past couple of months, officials around the country have been summoned to briefings about a Communist Party circular known as “Document Number Nine”.  Its full contents have not been made public, but by all accounts it paints a grim picture of what the party sees as the threat posed by liberal ways of thinking. The message conveyed at these meetings has been a chilling one: stick to the party line and denounce any dissent.

China Falling? Not So Fast CFR – Joshua Kurlantzick assesses China’s economy.

Beijing’s Brand Ambassador CFR – China’s new ambassador to the United States (and a rising star in Beijing) sets out his vision for U.S.-Chinese relations, discusses whether China is a revisionist power, and how it plans to deal with cyber security — and Japan.

Riots in China’s Xinjiang province kill dozens The Guardian – At least 27 people have been killed in clashes across ethnically divided Lukqun township in Turpan prefecture. At least 27 people have been killed and three injured in riots in Xinjiang province, western China, state media have reported. Men carrying knives attacked police stations, a local government building and a construction site on Wednesday morning in a remote town in the Turkic-speaking region, according to Xinhua news agency.

At home abroad Banyan – The Economist IN TAIPEI’S dusty suburban outskirts there stands an old prison, an ugly grey building decorated with snarls of barbed wire, where the Kuomintang (KMT) used to keep dissidents, during its brutal authoritarian rule over Taiwan. That period began when the party fled from mainland China to Taiwan in 1949 and ended only decades later, in 1987.

Chinese wind-turbine firm charged with stealing US trade secrets  The Guardian – Sinovel Wind Group accused of illegally downloading software from former supplier American Superconductor. China’s largest wind-turbine company has been charged with stealing trade secrets from its American former software supplier, the US justice department has announced.

US factory boss freed by Chinese workers in Beijing – video The Guardian – Chinese factory workers announce they have set their American boss free after a deal on compensation for job losses was reached

China’s Shenzhou 10 spacecraft returns to Earth – video The Guardian – Three Chinese astronauts touch down in Inner Mongolia, bringing to an end their 15-day trip to the Tiangong 1 experimental space station

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CHINA IN THE REGION/WORLD

Ben Bernanke and China: have the markets over-reacted? The Guardian – Stock markets worldwide plummeted on Thursday after the Federal Reserve chairman signalled an end to quantitative easing and fears grew of problems in China’s banking sector

China worsens credit squeeze as manufacturing output declines The Guardian – Credit default swaps (CDS) on five-year bonds rose by 33 basis points to 133bps, according to financial data firm Markit. The cost of insuring against a default on Chinese sovereign debt soared on Thursday as China’s central bank worsened a credit squeeze by refusing to inject cash into the financial system. Credit default swaps (CDS) on five-year bonds rose by 33 basis points to 133bps, according to financial data firm Markit, as Chinese officials signalled a determination to rein in risky lending practices.

Caution Can Avert Downward Spiral in Sino-EU Trade Ties Carnegie Endowment for International Peace – China’s strategic turn to moving upmarket and pursuing sustainability has presented a significant challenge to Europe’s renewable energy market dominance.

Chinese industry: Ambitions in excess – FT.com For global manufacturers, the China effect over the past decade has been fearsome. It has destroyed jobs and capacity all over the world, shuttering factories in competitor nations. But in almost every sector where China’s low-cost goods have come to dominate, something strange has happened. Once the bulk of global manufacturing in a given industry has moved to China, overcapacity quickly follows and these sectors begin to cannibalise themselves.

Violent sell-off in world markets after Federal Reserve signals end to QE The Guardian – Ben Bernanke’s comments spark a global fall in stock markets and commodities, and strong rise in government bond yields. Stock markets worldwide plummeted on Thursday, after the Federal Reserve chairman, Ben Bernanke, rattled investors by signalling an end to America’s drastic recession-busting policy of quantitative easing.

Myanmar’s old friend China is left wondering where it went wrong – FT.com As President Thein Sein gave the opening address to the forum, the word in the halls of the Chinese-built convention centre was that he personally despises Beijing’s influence over its smaller, poorer neighbour. And on the second day of the forum news broke that state telecom giant China Mobile had dropped a joint bid with Vodafone to expand the country’s mobile phone network – apparently after being told the Chinese company had no hope of winning. In Beijing and Naypyidaw there is recognition that China handled the bilateral relationship badly thanks to a toxic mix of arrogance, neglect and meddling by elements of China’s People’s Liberation Army.

How Chinese Strategists Think The Diplomat – Toshi Yoshihara joins me (or I join him) over at Investor’s Business Daily to refocus attention on the human dimension of the U.S.-China strategic competition. Followers of these pages pixels know that Toshi and I are true believers in the idea that competition is a human enterprise. As Colonel John Boyd liked to say, people, ideas, and hardware — in that order — are the determinants of competitive endeavors like power politics. Continue reading →