Posts tagged…China
Investment barriers stuff-up China relations
Mon, Jun 15 2009No one I know seriously questions the importance of China to Australia's external balances, especially now in the trough of a recession. Nor can we have any doubts about China's growing political, cultural and 'strategic' importance for us and our region of the world. So why would a government led by sinophile make such a terrible, embarrassing, stuff-up of its response to a proposal from a top…
Read more…China’s FTA strategy
Fri, May 15 2009University of Singapore law professor Henry Gao reproduces a statement from the Chinese Ministry of Commerce that explains the benefits of the 'free trade areas' from China's viewpoint and promises to 'speed up' the negotiations of FTA agreements.
Google's translation of the statement is a bit garbled. But the general idea is clear:
"The building of Free Trade Areas has become a new era of opening…
Twitter test of defense policy
Tue, May 05 2009The first rule of marketing is simplify and exaggerate. Or, in my trade: shorten and sharpen. Go straight to the point and tell it plainly.
Twitter's one-forty byte limit is a tough test: a rhetorical sieve. Like a map or a model, a tweet holds only what you can see at a glance.
Here's my idea: when a proposal is too hard to grasp, twitter-test it. Let's try it out on the big White Paper on…
Malcolm Turnbull on Chinalco’s bid for Rio
Sat, May 02 2009Malcolm Turnbull's wide-ranging speech to the Lowy Institute on the balance of power in Asia is thoughtful, well-aimed, and well-expressed. There is much to agree with.
But I disagree with all three of Mr Turnbull's arguments against the Chinalco bid for Rio (see below). Here's my main problem. The two parts of this sentence just don't belong together. They should be anathema to any liberal,…
Peru jumps the China FTA queue
Wed, Apr 29 2009This news makes the delay in agreement between Australia and China on an FTA look even more peculiar.
" China and Peru on Tuesday signed a free trade agreement, state media here said, as Beijing continues to seek new markets and reserves of raw materials to fuel its economy… China has become mineral-rich Peru's second largest trading partner after the United States. Peru is a major producer of…
Quibble over ‘slippage’ on protection
Tue, Apr 28 2009Meanwhile in Geneva… the WTO delegations have been debating whether the Secretariat's second report on protectionist measures (issued a month ago) showed 'significant slippage' in Member governments' commitment to hold the line, or not.
The U.S. ambassador disagreed with the proposition that Member governments had begun to default on their promises.
“We understand the danger of an incremental…
Interview in the Boao Asia Forum
Tue, Apr 28 2009
The top Chinese business daily, 21st Century Business Herald, published several special editions at the recent Boao Asia Forum. Here's an interview with me on the Australia-China FTA, Australia's investment policies, quarantine barriers and the future of the Renminbi as a 'reserve' currency.
Google Translate takes its best shot here.
China worries about U.S. carbon tariffs
Wed, Apr 22 2009In a speech in the U.S. yesterday, Tung Chee-hwa, vice-chairman of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) hit out at plans for carbon tariffs in the Democrats' bill for emission controls
"A top adviser to the Chinese government on Tuesday warned that a proposed US border tax on carbon sensitive materials ‘smells of protectionism’ and could spark retaliation from developing…
A framework for Chinese investment
Tue, Apr 21 2009I hope to hear more of this.
Simon Crean's suggestion that Australia and China should create a bilateral 'investment framework' is on the mark.
"Trade Minister Simon Crean says Australia and China need a more structured approach to investment to head off 'xenophobic reactions' to major deals such as the $27 billion bid by Chinalco to increase its stake in Rio Tinto". Extract from Simon Crean in Life in rural China Thu, Apr 16 2009
This is the most fascinating and engaging writing I've seen on the web in a long time.
It's a translation of several blog posts by a Shanghai resident, Xiao Sanliang, who returned home to his village for the Spring Festival (January 26 this year).
"Lu Xun said: ‘Dig out your heart, and know its taste.’ This is what I see in my village. And it makes me sigh."
Extract from the China Labor…Strategic outlook for Australia
Mon, Apr 13 2009
Defense must have an evidence-basis, just like all other policies. Allowing alarming 'long-tail' scenarios, such as an aggressive Chinese military posture, to drive policy—if that is what the Defense planners have in mind—is like gambling, not strategic planning. We don't have the resources to 'over-insure against a remote…risk', any more than Robert Gates does.
Our defense outlook is benign by…
Renminbi reserve currency?
Mon, Apr 06 2009
A development worth watching:
"Economists say the SDR plan is unfeasible for now but see Beijing’s currency swap deals [with Argentina, Malaysia, Indonesia, South Korea, Belarus] as pieces in a jigsaw designed to promote wider international use of the renminbi, starting with making it more acceptable for trade and aiming at establishing it as a reserve currency in Asia, something that would also…
