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China
Jan 12, 2020 20:49:29 GMT -8
Post by timothylane on Jan 12, 2020 20:49:29 GMT -8
In other words, Prague faced the same choice as Nike, the NFL, and other US firms. Perhaps it helped that being linked as fraternal twin cities is of little importance financially. But they not only took a firm stance, but twinned with Taipei. Very nice.
I had thought the subject would be the quality of Chinese products. Crony capitalism (which China has in an extreme form) tends to result in shoddy business practices and goods. This wouldn't matter so much if people today considered quality as well as price, but too many don't seem to.
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China
Jan 12, 2020 22:23:53 GMT -8
Post by kungfuzu on Jan 12, 2020 22:23:53 GMT -8
A friend in Hong Kong and I were discussing this a few months back. The example he used was de-humidifiers, which are very popular in S.E. Asia. 30-40 years ago, the de-humidifiers available were generally from Japan, and were fairly expensive. That said, they lasted for decades. My friend said he had one that lasted for about 30 years.
Today, the de-humidifiers are all made in China and they are very cheap. He bought one a little over a year back, but it didn't even last a full year. That holds true for much of what is produced in China.
I say that the 3 decade growth of Red China has been built on the greatest transfer of wealth in history. This has been from the American middle-class to China with the American elites taking their several percentage points for handling the transaction.
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China
Jan 26, 2020 10:38:24 GMT -8
Post by kungfuzu on Jan 26, 2020 10:38:24 GMT -8
Below are some lines about the state of play in Hong Kong from an "obscure observer" i.e. a friend in Asia.
Big Trouble in Little China: Hong Kong’s Future in the Year of the Rat and Beyond By a Hongkonger born in the shadow of the Lion Rock Deng Xiao-ping’s one “country, two systems” formula for handling Hong Kong after the “handover”, was cleverly conceived and as good a deal we could have expected, but as time went by problems emerged. The Chinese Communist Party see it as a formula to re-establish Chinese sovereignty and rule over Hong Kong and, of probably more importance, over Taiwan. On the other hand, Hongkongers see it as a formula to keep the CCP well out of Hong Kong’s affairs. And, many Hongkongers, particularly the post-1997 generation, see it (erroneously) as a CCP promise, now broken, to forego China’s sovereign rights in Hong Kong. In the years since the handover, neither side has paid much attention to the legitimate aspirations of the other: we just muddled on until Deng Xiao-ping’s “pragmatic” successors conceded power in 2012 to the new boy, CCP General Secretary Xi Jin-ping. Then everything changed. Xi’s primary ambitions are thought to be the re-unification of Taiwan and the re-establishment of China’s historical place as the dominant power in East Asia. And, unlike Deng Xiao-ping, Xi is in a hurry and prepared to take significant risks to achieve these goals – his “Chinese Dream”. The recent Taiwan election will have demonstrated to all rational Chinese that the one country, two systems formula has failed absolutely in Taiwan. Most Taiwanese watch what’s happening in Hong Kong with revulsion, are unenthusiastic about one country, two systems – and have a visceral distrust of the CCP. Hong Kong and Taiwan are only a part of the CCP’s problem. The implicit American threat to decouple the US and Chinese economies will be both worrying and threatening to China’s leaders at a time when their own economic performance is obviously wobbling. Also, the resistance from Asian neighbours over the aggressive expansions in the South and East China Seas, questions about the benevolence of China’s “belt and road” aid programs, treatment of non-Chinese minorities at home, etc., don’t help the CCP’s promotion of the Chinese Dream abroad. The extent to which the CCP recognises their recent poor handling of the Hong Kong situation has contributed significantly to an altered international perception of China is questionable. Questionable because one wonders how many of the top leadership in positions of real power, including Xi Jin-ping himself, believe their own nationalistic, xenophobic rhetoric. Xi is, in effect, positioning himself as “Party Chairman for life” in the Maoist tradition, but he is opposed by very powerful groups within the CCP and probably the army. These are said to include people close to former General Secretaries who are not pleased by the prospect of a return to extreme Maoism at home, and the possibility of military conflict with the US and her allies beyond China’s borders. However, their dislike of Xi is also personal: they are upset at being targeted by Xi’s anticorruption drive. (He is rumoured to be attempting to recover a trillion dollars of state assets misappropriated by them.) This raises additional questions, none of which can be easily answered, but which must be considered. Are powerful members of the “opposition” to Xi really open to the possibility that the CCP has over-reached in a number of critical policy areas, contributing to the growing sense of distaste for China around the world, thus necessitating the need to re-examine the question of political reform at home? Possibly. And, crucially, are there any within the top leadership really open to changing the way China deals with the world, particularly the US and its pro-Western allies, as opposed to those who pay lip service to this, but whose real agenda is to undermine the post-1945 world order and subvert international norms and bodies, the UN and WTO included, to China’s advantage? That requires a level of self-awareness by Chinese players not encouraged in an authoritarian, neo-Confucian society like China’s, and is improbable. China under the CCP cannot easily maintain friendly relations with countries it doesn’t dominate, especially those on its borders it regards to be natural successors to historical tribute states which used to pay homage to the imperial dynasties in exchange for a right to exist. Coming back to Hong Kong, if the events of 2019 have strengthened the hands of some of the more “liberal” CCP leaders open to a resumption of discussion on political reform in Hong Kong, then we could see a renewed commitment to one country, two systems by both sides, a more intelligent approach to Hong Kong and our post-1997 generation by the CCP – “less hammer, more tickle” – and more dialogue. What happens after 2047 could also be addressed. On the other hand, if the “conservatives” prevail, the erosion of one country, two systems could accelerate, and Hong Kong in 2027, never mind 2047, will be a very different place. These scenarios are extremes, and something between them is more likely. It is improbably the CCP will overtly dismantle one country, two systems in the near future, today the negative impact on China’s international image would be too great. However, it is also improbable that the CCP will accept the Hong Kong protestors’ “five demands” and possible that they will continue to chip away at freedoms and the rule of law here. So, the discontent will continue, although it is hoped we may see some compromise toward Hong Kong by the CCP over time, particularly if the US remains committed to its China strategy but doesn’t overplay its hand. What Hongkongers absolutely do not need is a return to the Maoist past and the horrors that would entail, and a miscalculation by the US could drive that. Nor should we seek at catastrophic collapse of the CCP’s rule as advocated by US hawks, and seemingly by some Hong Kong protestors. This is the Hong Kong paradox: we can’t live with the CCP nor, unlike Taiwan, can we live without them.
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China
Jan 26, 2020 11:19:51 GMT -8
Post by timothylane on Jan 26, 2020 11:19:51 GMT -8
Perhaps the best approach to Hong Kong back then (it's probably too late to do it now) would resemble the "suzerainty" that Britain retained over the South African Republic (the Transvaal) after the First Boer War in 1881 (which ended with the remarkable Battle of Majuba Hill, when the Afrikaners took an impregnable position from a much larger force that happened to be incompetently commanded). I'm not sure what that actually meant in practice, though I suspect it was some sort of right to intervene, especially in foreign affairs. Of course, that ultimately led to the Second Boer War in 1899. Nothing lasts forever.
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China
Jan 26, 2020 11:56:21 GMT -8
Post by kungfuzu on Jan 26, 2020 11:56:21 GMT -8
Many believe the U.K. left Hongkong too easily. The treaties regarding the Island and Kowloon were in perpetuity. It was only the New Territories which were under a 99 year lease. That said, had China challenged the U.K. on the Island and New Territories, nobody thought the Brits could have held out. And apparently the Brits believed that without the New Territories, the Island and Kowloon were unsustainable.
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China
Jan 30, 2020 10:15:36 GMT -8
Post by kungfuzu on Jan 30, 2020 10:15:36 GMT -8
January 25, 2020 was the first day of the Chinese New Year 4718. This year is the year of the Metal Rat. For those of you who have interest, the link is to an article which gives a little "history" on this and then explains something about Chinese culture. Year of the Rat
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China
Jan 30, 2020 10:39:50 GMT -8
Post by timothylane on Jan 30, 2020 10:39:50 GMT -8
Interesting. Something similar happens with symmetry. For example, the Korean symbol is asymmetrical (a circle with a design I can't describe, but it's probably available somewhere in the wikipedia article on Korea). It was pointed out in an article I once read on physics that it may have been no accident that an Oriental physicist discovered some holes in the principle of symmetry.
A Chinese fast-food shop we used to visit (the Egg Roll Machine) had paper place mats with aspects of Chinese culture on them, including the Chinese zodiac. As it happens, Elizabeth and I were both born in a Year of the Rabbit (1939 and 1951).
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China
Feb 2, 2020 19:35:48 GMT -8
Post by kungfuzu on Feb 2, 2020 19:35:48 GMT -8
I asked a friend who lives in Hongkong, and is in the health industry, his opinion on the situation regarding the Corona Virus. He responded as below. (CNY means Chinese New Year)
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China
Feb 2, 2020 19:48:33 GMT -8
Post by timothylane on Feb 2, 2020 19:48:33 GMT -8
You always have to be cautious in trusting anything from a totalitarian government. They don't allow independent voices, and in their absence there is no check on propaganda. Even if they don't start out dishonest (which would be one reason for them to ban independent news), they will be corrupted over time.
Incidentally, I read an item a few days ago about someone who predicted a coronavirus outbreak. It was a review of a book on the subject. It started by looking at cholera, which apparently was harmless until Bengal (where the bacterium, Vibrio cholerae, existed harmlessly) became heavily populated. As many different domesticated animals were exposed, the bacterium spread among them and mutated into a deadly form.
Then the author noticed the varied live animals being sold in places like Wuhan, and suspected that the then-harmless coronavirus might do the same thing. And now it has.
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China
Feb 2, 2020 20:27:55 GMT -8
Post by kungfuzu on Feb 2, 2020 20:27:55 GMT -8
The link is to an article which shows how the world is closing China off, because of the Corona Virus.
This is going to hurt Asian economies pretty badly.
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China
Feb 4, 2020 10:39:21 GMT -8
Post by timothylane on Feb 4, 2020 10:39:21 GMT -8
There are quarantines of all sorts. Babylon Bee reports on another interesting one, involving Portland, OR. The link is:
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China
Feb 4, 2020 16:08:49 GMT -8
Post by kungfuzu on Feb 4, 2020 16:08:49 GMT -8
This is a stark indication of how badly hit Asian economies are going to be hit.
Note United did this not because of any major outbreak of the virus in Hongkong. It did it because people have stopped traveling to Asia because of what's being shown in the news.
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China
Feb 7, 2020 12:33:58 GMT -8
Post by kungfuzu on Feb 7, 2020 12:33:58 GMT -8
I don't much use Zero Hedge as a news site, but this article does give a good feel for what's happening in China. Things are badThey made some points which I had not read before, but which I have discussed with friends in Asia. For example, China made a big deal of building a couple of hospitals in less than two weeks, but what is not well known in the West is the fact that they don't have the equipment or personnel to handle the patients properly. As the article says, they are just quarantine stations to deposit those who are ill and let those who are going to die just die. To give some idea of the idiocy of Communist Chinese health services, the authorities quarantined a man and his wife, but did nothing to make sure that their son, who had cerebral palsy, was taken care of. Of course, the son died of neglect within 6 days. This outbreak is shaking the foundation of Communist power in China. It is perhaps the most severe test the commies have had since Deng opened China to the West. Premier Xi is losing ground in a significant way.
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Brad Nelson
Administrator
עַבְדְּךָ֔ אֶת־ הַתְּשׁוּעָ֥ה הַגְּדֹלָ֖ה הַזֹּ֑את
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China
Feb 7, 2020 13:35:46 GMT -8
Post by Brad Nelson on Feb 7, 2020 13:35:46 GMT -8
Interesting. I didn't think something like this could have political consequences in China.
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China
Feb 7, 2020 14:00:59 GMT -8
Post by kungfuzu on Feb 7, 2020 14:00:59 GMT -8
Discontent is clearly spreading quickly. It was one thing for the commies to squash the Tiananmen Square student protestors, it is something altogether different for them to try and quell the fury of a whole nation which is seeing incompetence reign.
In the last year or so, the Chinese people have seen.
1. The Hongkong protests
2. The trade war with the USA which has resulted in the loss of millions of jobs.
3. Between 100-200 million pigs dying from the African Swine Fever, which has resulted in the price of pork almost doubling and I would also guess the ruin of hundreds-of-thousands of farmers. 4. The coronavirus, which has caused the country to basically quarantine almost 500 million people, and scared the pants off of 1.4 billion Chinese. People in China are not moving around. They are staying at home, not going out to shop, to eat or meet friends. Hotels, restaurants, airlines, shops, markets and stores are getting killed from the drop in business. This is not going away any time soon. I am convinced there will be negative economic growth in China for the 1st quarter.
Chinese history is a series of dynasties coming to power and then falling. And the thing that triggered the fall of most of these dynasties was some type of natural disaster which was an epidemic or was followed by some sort of epidemic. The Communist Dynasty is on shaky ground and knows it.
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Post by kungfuzu on Feb 7, 2020 14:47:26 GMT -8
This list of countries, which have put restrictions on travelers from China, gives a good idea of how seriously this thing is being taken. China is being cut off.
One doesn't have to be Chinese to be denied entrance, all one has to have done is visited China, even if that visit is merely a stop-over in an airport.
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Brad Nelson
Administrator
עַבְדְּךָ֔ אֶת־ הַתְּשׁוּעָ֥ה הַגְּדֹלָ֖ה הַזֹּ֑את
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China
Feb 7, 2020 14:57:54 GMT -8
Post by Brad Nelson on Feb 7, 2020 14:57:54 GMT -8
Obviously because information is difficult to come by, it’s hard to get a grip on what’s going on. The same is apparently the case for the average Chinese citizen. But if you have described the situation accurately, that would be something.
So they’re not at present living the Communist dream. Definitely the stock market took a hit today because of the effect of this flu on the Chinese markets.
Maybe you need to write an article for American Thinker or elsewhere because the average American (including me) has no historical (or current) perspective on all this.
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China
Feb 7, 2020 15:15:01 GMT -8
Post by kungfuzu on Feb 7, 2020 15:15:01 GMT -8
A business colleague and I were discussing this today. We are both surprised that the markets have not been hit stronger than they have been. Asian markets are taking a bigger hit. He bought some put options to sell Macao Casino shares as a hedge against the stock market falling drastically. He figures that gambling is about the last tier of the "needs pyramid" of things in life so they should be hit badly if the coronavirus problem isn't solved soon.
Hong Kong Air fired 400 people yesterday and have asked many others to take leaves of absence without pay.
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Brad Nelson
Administrator
עַבְדְּךָ֔ אֶת־ הַתְּשׁוּעָ֥ה הַגְּדֹלָ֖ה הַזֹּ֑את
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China
Feb 7, 2020 15:47:03 GMT -8
Post by Brad Nelson on Feb 7, 2020 15:47:03 GMT -8
The casual viewer of this would be excused for thinking this virus is much more dangerous then they are letting on. In the one article on travel restrictions, it was noted that: “The World Health Organization has so far said that such limits on trade and travel aren’t needed to control the spread of the virus.”
Huh? So which is it? Is this an intimation that WHO is basically a Commie-loving organization who doesn’t want to see China hurt? Is it a matter of they know best and things are overblown? Somewhere in between?
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China
Feb 7, 2020 15:56:12 GMT -8
Post by kungfuzu on Feb 7, 2020 15:56:12 GMT -8
I have been told that the head of WHO was the choice of the PRC which pushed for his appointment. And you can bet that he is downplaying the seriousness of the situation. The WHO has no relationship with Taiwan and is spreading lies about the situation re the coronavirus in Taiwan.
By-in-large the U.N. is a corrupt talking shop full of bureaucrats who wanted to get out of their third-world countries for greener pastures. Some are good people, but like all bureaucracies they follow the prime directive i.e. "Protect and expand the bureaucracy."
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