Mad Monk **OFF TOPIC** ( and too long),
From the International Herald Tribune last week.
iht.com
1.)".......rumors of religious oppression......." Does the word Tibet ring a bell?
2.) ".....reportedly heavyhanded silencing of political dissent......." Tiananmen Square reportedly springs to mind.
iht.com
A bit late in the day to "get tough" I should think. After Clinton's saber rattling in his first campaign followed by totally caving in. Announcing this one day after declaring to push for MFN doesn't exactly show determination.
iht.com
1.) Re paragraph 13: In the 30 months from the end of 1993, China added almost $70 billion to it's foreign reserves of $21.2 billion. The U.S. trade deficit with China for that period was $83 billion.
2.) Are these red chips connected to "PLA, Inc.", the corporations controlled by the Chinese People's Liberation Army? Two such firms were busted by the FBI last year as part of a smuggling ring attempting to bring 2000 AK-47 assault rifles into the U.S. Apparently the AFL-CIO has identified 10 "PLA, Inc." companies in the U.S., each with subsidiaries.
iht.com
What margins do these U.S. companies operate on? According to The Asian Age/IHT, a Commerce Department study of the average annual rate of return on business investment in Asia from 1991 to 1995 ranked China last with 4.7%. Indonesia was first with 30% and Malaysia second with 29.8%. Additionally, a 1995 survey in Singapore organized by the Economist Intelligence Unit rated China the riskiest place to do business.
Last year China passed over Boeing with a $1.5 billion order to Airbus. Li Peng said of Europe's leaders: "they do not attach political strings to cooperation with China, unlike the Americans who arbitrarily resort to the threat of sanctions or the use of sanctions." Arbitrarily?
Re the final paragraph's quotes from Mr. Kahan: Bernstein and Munro analyzed the top-twenty imports from China to the U.S. from 1990 to mid 1996. Dividing these into labor-intensive (cheap, low tech) and value-added techology (telecom equipment, electricals, and computers). 1990 showed lowtech at 79% of the total and value-added at 12%. First half of 1996 showed low-tech at 56% (dropped by nearly 1/3) and value-added at 29% (more than doubled).
iht.com
Top foreign- and military specialists, along with members of the Central Committee met in November 1993. Hong Kong journal Cheng Ming, historically an unofficial source of leaked information reported: "Whom does the Communist party of China regard as its international archenemy? It is the United States."
iht.com
Note paragraph 11.
I should think the long-term view looks somewhat riskier than the short-term.
Now I shall return to my musical analysis of "Taxman" by Stevie Ray Vaughn.
Bon voyage,
Bond |
