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Strategies & Market Trends : 2026 TeoTwawKi ... 2032 Darkest Interregnum -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Cogito Ergo Sum who wrote (138239)	1/17/2018 2:57:50 PM
From: TobagoJack	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 217749

wonderful to see people opt away from supposed nuclear-enabled demographic crisis bbc.com Koreas to march under single 'united' flag in Olympic Games AFPThe "reunited" flag symbolises aspirations in both the North and South to end the nearly seven decades of divisionNorth and South Korea have agreed to march together under a single "unified Korea" flag at next month's Winter Olympics in the South. They also agreed to field a joint women's ice hockey team in rare talks at the truce village of Panmunjom. These are the first high-level talks between the two Koreas in more than two years. The Games will take place between 9 and 25 February in Pyeongchang in South Korea. If the plans are realised, a hundreds-strong North Korean delegation - including 230 cheerleaders, 140 orchestral musicians and 30 taekwondo athletes - could cross into the South via the land border to attend. The North has also agreed to send a smaller, 150-member delegation to the Paralympics in March. Both South Korea's hockey coach and conservative newspapers had expressed concern about the prospect of a united hockey team, saying it could damage South Korea's chances of winning a medal. Tens of thousands of people are said to have signed online petitions urging President Moon Jae-in to scrap the plan. And it will have to be approved by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) meeting in Lausanne, Switzerland, on Saturday, because North Korea has missed registration deadlines or failed to qualify. Winter Olympics: How good is North Korea at sport? North Korea: A sporting history of bombs and diplomacy North Korea's cheerleading charm offensive North Korea crisis in 300 wordsSouth Korea will also need to find ways to host the North Korean delegation without violating UN Security Council sanctions outlawing cash transfers to Pyongyang, and blacklisting certain senior officials from Pyongyang. Japan has viewed the latest detente with suspicion, with Foreign Minister Taro Kono saying the world should not be blinded by Pyongyang's recent "charm offensive". "It is not the time to ease pressure or to reward North Korea," Mr Kono said, according to Reuters news agency. "The fact that North Korea is engaging in dialogue could be interpreted as proof that the sanctions are working." ReutersNorth and South are meeting for the first high-level talks in two years - against a backdrop of mounting military tensionBut the South's liberal President Moon told South Korean Olympic athletes on Wednesday that the North's participation in the Games would help improve inter-Korean relations. That would in turn pave the way for the nuclear issue to be addressed and open the way to dialogue between the North and the US, he said according to Yonhap news agency in Seoul. The North has made rapid recent advances in its nuclear and conventional weapons programmes. Its latest ballistic missile test, on 28 November, sparked a new series of fresh sanctions from the UN targeting petrol shipments and travel. But soon afterwards North Korean leader Kim Jong-un said he was "open to dialogue". Japan's Foreign Minister Kono issued his caution about talks in Vancouver, Canada, where some 20 nations that fought alongside the US-backed South in the bloody 1950-53 war - which ended in stalemate and sealed the peninsula's division - met to discuss its future. On the sidelines of the talks, ministers from South Korea, the US and Japan agreed to maintain pressure on the North to denuclearise while offering support for the bilateral talks, reported Yonhap agency.

To: Cogito Ergo Sum who wrote (138239)	1/17/2018 3:50:10 PM
From: TobagoJack	1 Recommendation Recommended By Maurice Winn Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 217749

it is perhaps best to be historical evidence / mathematical logic based rather than 'assumption based' (btw, what a concept, 'assumption based' - :0) for by the former protocol, one can better action programs for free-lunch extraction, especially from those who go by the latter routine, resulting in a practical good the latter method? theories are wonderful, but if not actionable w/i context of observable evidence and mathematical logic, is just entertaining chatter, per your observation, to be replaced by more amusing chatter. what good are theories if they are not actionable? well, i suppose they are better if they do not lead you to the wrong actions. but theories cannot lead us to any actions at all when fails given historical evidence and by mathematical logic. the whole issue about demographic crisis pre-supposed fewer folks or more old folks is worse, and both are open to strong challenge, but only by non-groupthinkers amongst the crowd. suppose i posit a theory that says: (i) fewer people is better, as long as they are more able people enabled by more technology (ii) ageing is an economic opportunity one can so easily work out the math to back up the theory, and then simply watch japan for evidence of same. how is that for non-groupthink? the trouble w/ group-non-thinkers is that they cannot know what they do not know, by definition

To: Cogito Ergo Sum who wrote (138239)	1/17/2018 8:35:26 PM
From: TobagoJack	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 217749

hi tbs, good news, that china-price shall more than likely happen to outrageously expensive bio-medicine, per protocol of following and leapfrogging any and all self-annointed leaders enabling more than just the 1% to enjoy what science can tee-up creative destruction - gotta love it bloomberg.com China's Great Leap Into BiotechWinners are emerging as Beijing backs cheaper -- better? -- treatments. More stories by Shuli RenJanuary 18, 2018, 3:00 AM GMT+8 Cutting-edge cures China wants to go big on biotech and already is marching into experimental gene therapy. Last year marked a milestone in cancer treatment: In August, the U.S. FDA approved Novartis AG's Kymriah, a CAR-T 1 therapy for children with acute lymphoblastic leukemia, a blood and bone-marrow cancer previously considered untreatable. Two months later, Kite Pharma Inc.'s Yescarta, which also uses CAR-T to target certain types of large B-cell lymphoma in adults, got the green light, too. So far, CAR-T has shown extraordinary results. More than 60 percent of children treated with Kymriah were cured, while the rate of full remission for patients treated with Yescarta was more than half. The big problem is price. Kymriah costs $475,000 for a single treatment; Yescarta goes for $373,000. Now China reckons it can do this better and cheaper. There are currently 153 CAR-T studies in the nation, just behind 186 in the U.S., according to Bernstein Research's Laura Nelson Carney. Already, China has one therapy commercially available in a free-trade zone for medical tourism on the resort island of Hainan. The product, made by Innovative Cellular Therapeutics Co., sells for 490,000 yuan ($76,000) per treatment. Prices for CAR-T can be expected to drop below 100,000 yuan in three years, according to local media reports. It's not hard to see the potential. For one thing, China's huge population means an abundance of patients for trials. For another, the nation is now flooded with venture-capital money to throw at well-qualified " sea turtles" -- as returning Chinese expats are known -- to build world-class medical labs at home. Heating UpChina saw a spike in biotech private equity deals in the last two years. And 2018 is starting nicely Source: Bloomberg Note: For comparison purposes, the U.S. had $7.9 billion PE/VC deals in biotech last year. Beijing is keen to leapfrog. On Dec. 20, just one week after Nanjing Legend Biotechnology Co. applied to the Center for Drug Evaluation -- China's equivalent of the FDA -- for CAR-T clinical trials, the regulator placed the treatment on its priority review list. That's a prelude to approval. Nanjing Legend is being fast-tracked because it grabbed attention at the American Society of Clinical Oncology's annual meeting last June with good trial results for a multiple-myeloma treatment. Nanjing's CAR-T was seen as on par with products from Celgene Corp. and Bluebird Bio Inc., according to Bloomberg Intelligence analyst Curt Wanek. Underlining Nanjing Legend's progress, Johnson & Johnson in December entered a joint venture with the firm, paying $350 million upfront and promising to share half the profits. All this buoyed Nanjing Legend's parent, Hong Kong-listed Genscript Biotech Corp. The company went public two years ago with an unimpressive offering of HK$524 million ($67 million), then soared 580 percent over the last year to become a $5 billion mid-cap. Smelling profit and prestige, Hong Kong Exchanges & Clearing Ltd. has proposed letting biotech companies list without track records of profitability. Of its more than 2,100 current listings, only 47 are in biotech or pharmaceuticals, so investors are likely to appreciate the newcomers. Wuxi Biologics Cayman Inc., which leverages China's army of cheap lab technicians for contract biotech research on behalf of global pharmaceutical makers, helped set a track record by soaring 164 percent since its HK$4.6 billion IPO last June. Buyer beware, though: Scarcity doesn't come cheap. Wuxi Biologics is now trading at 152 times forward earnings, with only 50 percent top-line growth expected this year. The valuation of Genscript Biotech is more nuanced. According to Bernstein estimates, the entire Chinese market into which the company can sell, assuming $76,000 per treatment and 1 percent penetration -- even at that price, CAR-T is expensive -- is only $6 billion. 2 Genscript's $5 billion market cap pretty much assumes regulatory approval and a monopoly position in multiple-myeloma gene therapies. With most of these therapies, the scale of potential markets is the big question. Pricing aside, will Chinese patients accept the notion of genetically altered cells? They may not be fans of genetically modified food, viewing it as an unnecessary risk to health. But when taking that risk is the only way to save lives, attitudes can change quickly. This column does not necessarily reflect the opinion of Bloomberg LP and its owners. Chimeric antigen receptor T-cell therapy, known as CAR-T, uses a patient's own immune system to battle cancer. Doctors remove T-cells -- bounty hunters of the immune system -- from a patient's body and genetically alter them to fight tumor cells. Then these supercharged T-cells are grown by the millions and injected back into the patient's body to kill cancer. China's occurrence of multiple myeloma is 0.4 cases per 100,000 people. To contact the author of this story: Shuli Ren in Hong Kong at sren38@bloomberg.net To contact the editor responsible for this story: Paul Sillitoe at psillitoe@bloomberg.net Before it's here, it's on the Bloomberg Terminal. LEARN MORE Shuli Ren is a Bloomberg Gadfly columnist covering Asian markets. She previously wrote on markets for Barron's, following a career as an investment banker, and is a CFA charterholder.

To: Cogito Ergo Sum who wrote (138239)	1/18/2018 5:13:52 AM
From: TobagoJack	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 217749

good news, economy growing, export growing better news, domestic orientation in progress best news, debt under zig / zag control ultra best news, zig / zag control in good working condition, to assure more of the same outstanding new, that all is reported so by suspect media ft.com China’s economy grows 6.9% in 2017 on strong exports and property GDP accelerates despite efforts to curb financial risk from excessive debt The glass is half full 53 minutes ago China's net exports contributed 0.6 percentage points to overall growth, the highest contribution since 2008 © AFPChina’s economy grew at 6.9 per cent in 2017, the fastest pace in two years, despite policymakers making headway towards curbing financial risk from excessive debt. The country’s 6.8 per cent growth for the fourth quarter locked in China’s first yearly gross domestic product acceleration since 2010. The annual figure overshot the government’s original full-year target of “around 6.5 per cent” and outpaced growth of 6.7 per cent in 2016. In purchasing-power parity terms, growth in 2017 alone equalled the size of Canada’s entire economy, according to ANZ Bank. Net exports contributed 0.6 percentage points to overall growth, the highest contribution since 2008, as a buoyant global economy boosted trade. Entering 2017, most analysts had expected policymakers to ensure solid growth in the run-up to October’s five-yearly Communist party congress, at which President Xi Jinping strengthened his hold on power. Policymakers achieved this goal while also engineering a significant slowdown in credit growth, after years in which economists have warned about risks building from aggressive credit stimulus. China’s ratio of debt to GDP fell the first time since 2011 in the first half by some estimates. “[Mr Xi] understands that China can no longer play its high growth card. Issues like debt pile-up and air pollution could cause social unrest if not a financial meltdown,” wrote Raymond Yeung, chief greater China economist at ANZ in Hong Kong. Nominal GDP growth — an indicator that many analysts consider more reliable than the politically sensitive inflation-adjusted figure — was 11.2 per cent, up from 8 per cent in 2016, as a rebound in commodity prices boosted inflation. China has moved to shutter excess production capacity in sectors including coal, steel and aluminium last year, which helped boost prices. But analysts warn that the trade-off between growth and deleveraging will get tougher this year, with a slowing property market and tighter controls on local-government infrastructure spending expected to drag on the economy. They also note that the lagging impact of strong credit growth in 2016 boosted growth last year, while 2017’s tightening will have the opposite effect this year. If growth shows signs of slowing sharply, policymakers will face pressure to soften their de-leveraging campaign, as they have done repeatedly in the past. “While domestic demand should cool [in 2018] on tighter financial policy, China’s policymakers want the slowdown in credit and the economy to be gradual,” wrote Louis Kuijs, head of Asia economics for Oxford Economics in Hong Kong. Mr Kuijs forecasts growth of 6.4 per cent this year. A big theme of Mr Xi’s agenda-setting speech to the party congress was the onset of a “new era” in which China will prioritise growth quality over quantity. That includes greater attention to environmental protection and industrial upgrading. A top economic adviser has said that China will abandon the use of long-term GDP targets that critics say have locked policymakers into aggressive stimulus policies. Ning Jizhe, director of China’s statistics bureau, told reporters on Thursday that recently disclosed incidents of data falsification by regional officials did not affect national figures. But he also acknowledged the need for further improvements in data quality. The agency will introduce a revamped statistical system next year that aims to eliminate the gap between national GDP data and the sum of regional figures. “A few local numbers don’t influence the reliability of our national statistics,” said Mr Ning. Follow @gabewildau and @hornbylucy on Twitter

To: Cogito Ergo Sum who wrote (138239)	1/18/2018 6:43:00 PM
From: TobagoJack	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 217749

good news and better news that according elmat apparent belief per his readings of economists and the like, and maybe including people magazine and such same Message 31441528 , china only has 800M folks, and if true, that would mean china had done what had been done a lot more efficiently, per natural size ala little freedom island hong kong, and the better news, per below from suspect media, is that china is doing what is being done, but more efficiently anyways, my suspicion re the ultra super overarching macro is that given all the switches, levers, buttons, sliders, gauges, meters, and flashing lights, china does have a debt issue, but the issue is one of opportunity and not of a problem otoh, i do have a problem, for the diligent labours and fortunate manoeuvring over the past few weeks, i have a cash problem that grew in size :0) bloomberg.com China's Getting More Bang for Its Credit Buck January 19, 2018, 12:01 AM GMT+8 China is squeezing more economic growth out of new credit, signaling that the nation is shedding some of the wasteful investment of the past. The amount of new credit needed to generate each dollar of economic output fell to about 28 cents in 2017 from slightly more than 30 cents a year earlier, according to estimates by Bloomberg Economics updated following release of full-year 2017 gross domestic product data Thursday. That backs calls made by JPMorgan Chase & Co. saying that inefficient capital allocation has started to "bottom" while Nomura Holdings Inc. says China’s "credit cycle has peaked." Read the details on the first full-year growth pick up since 2010 China has accumulated a mountain of debt to fuel growth since the global financial crisis, fostering zombie companies and excess industrial capacity, and prompting the International Monetary Fund to warn of the risk of a “sharp adjustment.” Wringing more value from credit coincides with President Xi Jinping’s intensification of a campaign to crack down on financial risks and polluting companies. “It is an important turning point,” said Robin Xing, chief China economist at Morgan Stanley Asia Ltd. in Hong Kong. "The global recovery since last year and a booming services industry is providing the room to control debt without triggering a major economic correction." Drivers of better credit efficiency include rising producer prices -- they boost corporate profits, enabling enterprises to pay down debt. At the same time, new investment by many heavily-indebted industrial companies has slowed, says Zhu Haibin, chief China economist at JPMorgan in Hong Kong. White Elephants"In sectors from steel to coal mining, we’ve seen industry profits rebound but very little new investment," says Zhu. "That’s probably the most important thing to explain the stabilization of credit allocation efficiency." Another factor is a rising contribution to growth from consumption, services and the new economy, which are less credit intensive than the "old economy," says Xing. Consumption, which includes some government spending, contributed 58.8 percent of GDP growth last year. "Growth in fixed-asset investment has declined steadily every year, which could suggest that there’s less wasteful spending on white elephant projects," said Andrew Collier, an independent analyst in Hong Kong and former president of Bank of China International USA. "As credit becomes tighter, there will be a scramble for capital, and it is possible that the better businesses that can generate growth and employment may actually benefit." Might policy makers still resort to old investment habits to prop up slowing growth? Xing thinks it’s unlikely this time round, all the more so because a tailwind from exports is giving ample room to follow through on their regulatory clampdown and pollution curbs without spurring a slowdown. “It’s too early to tell if regulators will have the spine to stick with the program," said Andrew Polk, co-founder of Beijing-based research firm Trivium China. "But my sense is that they will try, and if they are successful then when we look back, it will be obvious that 2017 was the critical inflection point.” — With assistance by Kevin Hamlin

To: Cogito Ergo Sum who wrote (138239)	1/18/2018 6:51:35 PM
From: TobagoJack	Respond to of 217749

better news and best news better news, that according to elmat hong kong is going to run out of producing people, which necessarily mean the producing people in existence shall turn into consuming people, i guess and the best news, from suspect media, is that the trend towards consuming people is obviously that, per historical evidence and mathematical logic, they are getting wealthier due to whatever set of factors that shall enable enhanced spending - some kind of wonderful otoh, sure looks like all, relative to me, is also being bothered by the issue of free-lunch, and the consequent increase in bank liquidity bloomberg.com Hong Kong's Red-Hot Home Market Set to Defy Rate Hikes More stories by Frederik BalfourJanuary 19, 2018, 6:00 AM GMT+8 Why are official warnings of the threat that rising interest rates pose to Hong Kong’s red-hot housing market falling on deaf ears? The Hong Kong Monetary Authority and the International Monetary Fund have both highlighted the risks. But three Federal Reserve rate increases forecast for this year won’t stop prices from climbing, according to analysts at firms including JPMorgan Chase & Co. and Union Bancaire Privee. Prices already jumped 22 percent as the Fed raised rates five times from December 2015. On the face of it, the warnings make sense. Household debt-to-gross domestic product is higher now than in 1997, just before a housing crash that lasted six years. As HKMA chief Norman Chan points out, not only is the ratio elevated, it’s recently rallied from its historical trend. Mortgage payments amounted to 68 percent of median monthly income in the third quarter, compared with an average of 45 percent between 1997 and 2016. Deteriorating affordability and record low rental yields increase the housing market’s vulnerability in the event of a big shock. Last month, Chan urged vigilance on the risk of faster-than-expected rate increases and talked of “abnormally low” mortgage rates. Financial Secretary Paul Chan warned last year of a “dangerous situation” in property. Yet, many factors suggest that, despite Hong Kong’s link to U.S. monetary policy via a pegged exchange rate, rising rates alone won’t kill off the property boom any time soon. Here are some of them. Lots of Liquidity Even as the Fed raises borrowing costs, an abundance of liquidity flowing into Hong Kong has enabled banks to keep a lid on local rates. A booming stock market is attracting ever larger amounts of Chinese money through the stock connect, and mainland home buyers account for as much as a fifth of property demand, according to Mark McFarland, chief economist for Asia at Union Bancaire Privee. “Hong Kong’s property market appears to be in a similar state of mind to the period immediately before the handover in 1997 where optimism, equity market gains and inflows pushed property prices up in a feedback loop,” said McFarland, referring to the year the city returned to Chinese control. Now, like then, it would take an external shock to derail the market, he said. Low-Impact IncreasesDavid Ji, head of research and consultancy for Greater China at Knight Frank LLP, says for every 25 basis-point increase in rates, monthly payments will climb by only about HK$124 ($16) for a HK$1 million mortgage with a 25-year term. “This is not a huge dent,” Ji said. Thanks to the HKMA’s curbs on banks, mortgages as a percentage of home values have dropped to 58 percent, the lowest level in 16 years. At the same time, the average duration of home loans increased to more than 26 years in 2017, from just over 18 years in 2001, according to data from mortgage broker mReferral. Bigger DownpaymentsLoan-to-value ratios dropping Source: mReferral (HK) Average mortgage level as a percentage of home value Inflation’s Role Persistently low yields on bank deposits are encouraging investors to look for higher returns to offset inflation, according to JPMorgan’s Cusson Leung, head of property research for Greater China. “If consumers feel that bank savings deposits are losing their purchasing power on the back of rising inflation, they may well deploy that money to buy a hedge: property,” Leung wrote in a January report. Gains in Hong Kong’s consumer prices are forecast to accelerate in 2018 and 2019 from last year’s levels, according to a Bloomberg survey of analysts. Bargain HuntingHong Kong’s 14-year bull market for property means any decline in prices is seen by many as an opportunity to buy, leading to shorter and shallower corrections, said Deutsche Bank AG’s Michael Spencer. “It comes down to having people accustomed to the idea that Hong Kong is a very expensive market and a 10 to 15 percent correction looks like a bargain even with interest rate hikes," said Spencer, the bank’s Asia chief economist. Buying OpportunitiesLately, short-lived corrections in year-on-year home prices Source: Deutsche Bank AG — With assistance by Alfred Liu

To: Cogito Ergo Sum who wrote (138239)	1/18/2018 7:13:34 PM
From: TobagoJack	2 Recommendations Recommended By Cogito Ergo Sum Maurice Winn Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 217749

it is interesting that should you do a casual search on brazil, ala "brazil" keyword by google, under news tab, the only good news in brazil is that china is engaging, in the midst of bad, worse, awful and worst news so much for arms and legs am guessing some key ingredients are missing, and perhaps diligence, maybe learning, possibly thrift, and could just be capabilities and capacities per natural scale, and a slew of cultural and dna issues, according to elmat family values? who knows perhaps he shall illuminate the situation for anyone in the cafe who cares i did my casual search and decided brazil, for its size, iron and soya, arms, legs, etc etc, matters very little to me, other than a momentary and passing curiosity it could also boil down to the allegedly typical brazilian meme as charged by some, of "look at me, i am great, i am trump-esque" but of course, trump actually may be very smart, whereas trump-esque may just be a conglomeration of the worst of trump without the best of trump. but, yes, does make our cafe interesting onward and forward, let us figure out some way to get some more free-lunch, and enhance our too-much-cash problem

To: Cogito Ergo Sum who wrote (138239)	1/18/2018 8:03:36 PM
From: TobagoJack	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 217749

per peter falk / columbo, "just one more thing" not that i was at all concerned that the elmat dilly-dallied in engaging w/ the returning sovereign in deep africa, because there are plenty who would and are doing so, due to a wide range of motivations, from altruism to self-interest, and unclear to me what if anything elmat can add to the uuummmmph if we are to believe the elmat who seems to believe that folks approaching and reaching any age is somehow bad news but in any case, even as dispora talents are engaging w/ the returning sovereign, folks who presumably do not like chinese if we are to believe the elmat, are also engaging with the returning sovereign am guessing also due to a range of motivations, from altruism to self-interest, and maybe because the returning sovereign is doing interesting things with what the elmat charges as copying chinamoneynetwork.com China’s Alibaba Hires Quantum Computer Scientist Mario Szegedy Chinese tech giant Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. has hired Hungarian-American computer scientist Mario Szegedy to join DAMO Academy’s quantum computing lab. Alibaba launched the global research institute DAMO last October, to support the company’s plan to broaden its technological expertise beyond e-commerce. At that time, Alibaba said it plans to invest US$15 billion in foundational and disruptive technology and looks to recruit 100 talented researchers from around the world. The appointment of Szegedy is the first appointment of a prominent computer scientist to DAMO, according to a company announcement. In his new role, Szegedy will lead research projects for quantum algorithms, especially their applications tied to machine learning and optimization problems. He will be based in the U.S. and report to the director of Alibaba Cloud Quantum Laboratory (AQL), Yaoyun Shi. Before joining Alibaba, Szegedy was a professor at Rutgers University and former researcher at Bell Labs and AT&T Research, focusing on computational complexity, streaming algorithms and quantum computing. He is also a two-time recipient of the Godel Prize, winning the prestigious computer science award in 2001 and 2005. Alibaba has been actively building up its quantum computing business and recruiting talents in the past few months. Last October, the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) research institute and Aliyun, Alibaba’s cloud computing subsidiary, released a cloud platform for quantum computing. The platform offers users a development and testing environment for cloud-based quantum algorithms. Last June, quantum computing scientist and professor at the University of Michigan, Yaoyun Shi, also joined Alibaba to head the tech giant’s quantum computing research.

To: Cogito Ergo Sum who wrote (138239)	1/18/2018 8:16:38 PM
From: TobagoJack	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 217749

have been watching this case below for some time, and a slight development happened bloomberg.com Star Lawyer David Boies and Chinese Tycoon Guo Wengui Split More stories by Tiffany KaryJanuary 19, 2018, 5:34 AM GMT+8 By Tiffany Kary January 19, 2018, 2:17 AM GMT+8 U.S. battles over defamation claims taken on by new counsel Guo’s corruption allegations and Bannon ties stir controversy Guo Wengui Photographer: TIMOTHY A. CLARY/AFP Guo Wengui, the controversial businessman sought by China for making various allegations of corruption against the country’s rich and powerful, will no longer be represented by famed lawyer David Boies as part of a shakeup of his legal team in the U.S. Boies Schiller & Flexner LLP will no longer represent Guo, said a representative at the law firm that Boies founded, confirming court filings this month. Former federal prosecutor Duncan Levin of Tucker Levin PLLC is also severing ties with Guo on three cases, according to court documents. Levin confirmed he no longer represents Guo and declined further comment. A spokeswoman for Guo declined to comment on the reason for the change. Read more: BusinessWeek feature on David Boies Boies, who fought for Al Gore in the famous Bush v. Gore dispute, and more recently now-former client Harvey Weinstein, will be replaced by New Jersey-based Cohen & Howard LLP in defending Guo against a defamation case lodged by China’s HNA Group Co. The law firm will represent Guo in three other cases, and will work with Washington-based Ward & Berry PLLC, said Aaron Mitchell, a lawyer with Cohen & Howard. The change doesn’t represent a shift in legal strategy, he said. The reshuffle is the latest twist in Guo’s legal saga -- he’s sought by Chinese authorities through Interpol and facing around 10 lawsuits in the U.S. The dissident has also been seeking asylum in America. Guo, who frequently posts his allegations on social media, has said he’s a whistleblower motivated to change China. He has also come under scrutiny for his ties with former chief strategist for U.S. President Donald Trump, Steve Bannon. This month, Matt Drudge accused him of being a “benefactor” for Bannon. Guo, who has posted photos of himself with Bannon on Twitter, denied the claim through a spokeswoman. He has never had a financial relationship with him, or given any money to his projects, she said. Guo has said he likes Bannon because he takes seriously Guo’s allegations that China seeks to create turmoil in the U.S. The former Breitbart News chairman has taken a hard line on U.S. relations with China. Guo last year parted ways with another law firm, Washington-based Clark Hill, which had represented him on his request for U.S. asylum. The separation came after reports the firm had suffered a cyberattack in September. A Clark Hill spokesman confirmed an attack, and said it was limited to a single client, and declined further comment. Levin, who also once served as a forfeiture chief for Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus Vance Jr., represented Guo in defamation cases including those from a Chinese real estate developer Soho China Ltd. and a Beijing Municipal Planning official. His firm will be replaced by Hodgson Russ LLP, according to court records.