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  • Donald Trump says he has 'a lot more to do' on China

    They lived too well for too long and, frankly, I guess they think the Americans are stupid people. Americans are not stupid people. We were led badly when it came to trade," Trump told "Fox & Friends."
    Politicians are elected to serve...far too many don't see it that way - Albany Rifles! || Loyalty to country always. Loyalty to government, when it deserves it - Mark Twain! || I am a far left millennial!

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    • WHO “lived too well for too long,” Americans? Chinese?
      Trust me?
      I'm an economist!

      Comment


      • Originally posted by DOR View Post
        WHO “lived too well for too long,” Americans? Chinese?
        Ni Hao!
        The article mentions Chinese. If you had read the article, you'd have known.

        In full offensive on China, Donald Trump gambles on end-game
        Politicians are elected to serve...far too many don't see it that way - Albany Rifles! || Loyalty to country always. Loyalty to government, when it deserves it - Mark Twain! || I am a far left millennial!

        Comment


        • U.S. Strengthens Controls on Nuclear Technology Exports to China

          U.S. officials Thursday imposed new restrictions on nuclear exports to China after concluding that Beijing was seeking to illicitly acquire the technology to bolster its military and to undermine U.S. industry.

          The policy change is the latest bid by the Trump administration to thwart China’s pursuit of critical U.S. technology, following a recent measure to strengthen reviews of Chinese investment in Silicon Valley and other sensitive industries. It also comes amid rising security tensions between the two military powers.

          Officials said recent activity by Beijing and Chinese state-owned firms prompted a National Security Council-led review of U.S. nuclear policy toward China that concluded a change was necessary. They said they found evidence China was accelerating efforts to illicitly gain the technology for both military and commercial use, including on islands in disputed waters in the South China Sea, for floating nuclear power plants with the potential for rapid deployment, and for aircraft carriers and submarines. They said they also found that China was improperly diverting U.S. nuclear technology to other countries.

          The new rules, which take effect immediately, include a presumption of denial for the export of nuclear goods to China’s largest nuclear power company, the state-backed China General Nuclear Power Co., or CGN, officials said. CGN was the subject of a 2016 indictment—that also targeted U.S. citizen, Szuhsiung “Allen” Ho—that said the company was developing “special nuclear material” outside the U.S. without required U.S. authorization. Mr. Ho pleaded guilty in January 2017 for unlawfully enlisting U.S.-based nuclear experts to assist CGN and was sentenced to 24 months in prison.

          The restriction isn’t a blanket ban on sales, but it means that the U.S. will require a much higher degree of assurance that the technology wouldn’t be used improperly. The U.S. will review sales to non-CGN entities on a case-by-case basis, the officials said.

          U.S. officials said that, while they understand U.S. industry will take a hit in the short-term, in the long-run, they believe the policy is essential to protecting national security and the integrity of the U.S.’s nuclear industrial base. They added that they will continue to try to open up other export markets for U.S. firms.

          State Department official Christopher Ashley Ford acknowledged the challenge of balancing national security and economic concerns with regard to nuclear policy in a July speech, noting the U.S. share of the international nuclear energy market has fallen to 20% from 90% over the last 30 years with many believing participation in the Chinese market will be key to the industry’s future viability.

          The hard question, of course, is: To what extent can we pursue such cooperation without providing China with technological tools that will help it achieve its goal of seizing a geopolitical role for itself that displaces U.S. influence?” he said.

          In 2017 the U.S. exported $170 million in nuclear technology to China, officials said. China is one of the few countries making big investments to expand its nuclear-power sector, and nuclear-industry leaders have said the market could eventually be worth billions, government officials said.

          While Westinghouse Electric Co. currently plays the biggest role of U.S.-based nuclear companies in China, the most stringent of the new restrictions doesn’t appear to cover its more traditional style of nuclear reactor. Most of the changes apply to the oncoming generation of nuclear technology that can be miniaturized and is potentially more susceptible to being militarized for power generation at far-flung outposts and for propulsion on watercraft.

          Officials said the Justice Department’s CGN indictment, the 2014 indictment of Chinese military officers for allegedly stealing proprietary information from Westinghouse, along with other intelligence that officials said they were not able to disclose all contributed to the decision to implement the new restrictions.

          Earlier Thursday, before the Energy Department’s announcement of the new nuclear export restrictions, a former Defense Department official highlighted nuclear issues as an overlooked potential flashpoint between the U.S. and China.

          “The level of dialogue between the U.S. and China on nuclear issues is basically nonexistent,” said Abraham Denmark, director of the Asia Program at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars. Speaking at a Jamestown Foundation event, Mr. Denmark added that few experts on China have an in-depth knowledge of nuclear issues, and vice versa.
          Politicians are elected to serve...far too many don't see it that way - Albany Rifles! || Loyalty to country always. Loyalty to government, when it deserves it - Mark Twain! || I am a far left millennial!

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          • Five Eyes intelligence alliance builds coalition to counter China

            BERLIN (Reuters) - The five nations in the world’s leading intelligence-sharing network have been exchanging classified information on China’s foreign activities with other like-minded countries since the start of the year, seven officials in four capitals said.

            The increased cooperation by the Five Eyes alliance - grouping Australia, Britain, Canada, New Zealand and the United States - with countries such as Germany and Japan is a sign of a broadening international front against Chinese influence operations and investments.

            Some of the officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the talks, said the enhanced cooperation amounted to an informal expansion of the Five Eyes group on the specific issue of foreign interference.

            While China has been the main focus, discussions have also touched on Russia, several said.

            “Consultations with our allies, with like-minded partners, on how to respond to China’s assertive international strategy have been frequent and are gathering momentum,” a U.S. official told Reuters. “What might have started as ad hoc discussions are now leading to more detailed consultations on best practices and further opportunities for cooperation.”

            All the governments involved, including Germany and Japan, declined to comment.

            China, faced with a growing backlash from Washington, Canberra and other capitals, has rejected accusations that it is seeking to influence foreign governments and that its investments are politically driven.

            The enhanced coordination by the Five Eyes network suggests that, despite signals from U.S. President Donald Trump that he is prepared to go it alone in the confrontation with China, members of his administration are working hard behind the scenes to put together an informal coalition to counter Beijing.

            It also represents another blow to China’s fading hopes of convincing European countries, unsettled by Trump’s “America First” policies, to distance themselves from Washington and move closer to Beijing.

            “BELOW THE RADAR”
            The officials who spoke to Reuters said the talks have been taking place “below the radar” and mainly bilaterally. Two sources said France was also involved, but on a less regular and comprehensive basis.

            None suggested that Germany, Japan or other nations outside the Five Eyes network had been invited to meetings of the intelligence alliance, which was set up after World War Two to counter Soviet influence.

            But a statement issued after a Five Eyes meeting on the Gold Coast of Australia in late August hinted at closer coordination. It said the group would use “global partnerships” and accelerate the sharing of information on foreign interference activities.

            International coordination has accelerated in parallel with a wave of national measures to limit Chinese investments in sensitive technology companies and counter what some governments view as a growing campaign, under President Xi Jinping, to sway foreign governments and societies in China’s favour through a mix of pressure and inducements.

            Last December, citing concerns about Chinese influence, the Australian government unveiled a package of new laws that tightened rules on foreign lobbying and political donations, while broadening the definition of treason and espionage.

            The United States has pushed through a law, known as FIRRMA, which gives Washington new powers to block certain types of foreign investments.

            The text of that legislation mandates Trump to conduct a “more robust international outreach effort” to convince allies to adopt similar protections.

            Earlier this month, in a scathing attack on China’s foreign activities, U.S. Vice President Mike Pence accused Beijing of interfering in the domestic arena by “rewarding or coercing American businesses, movie studios, universities, think tanks, scholars, journalists and local, state and federal officials.” Beijing has denied the charges.

            “A NEW WORLD”
            The German government, which tightened its rules on foreign investments last year only to determine months later, after a fresh wave of Chinese acquisitions, that they were still inadequate, is poised to lower the threshold at which it can intervene.

            Last year, Berlin quietly launched an inter-ministerial drive to assess the broad range of Chinese activities in the country. Government sources say that analysis is broadly complete and new policy measures could follow, although they say far-reaching steps like those taken by Australia are unlikely.

            The U.S. official said the foiled takeover of German semiconductor firm Aixtron in 2016 had underscored the need to build a broader coalition of countries to share information and coordinate responses to China.

            Two years ago, the German government approved a Chinese investment fund’s acquisition of Aixtron, only to reverse course a month later when U.S. officials raised security concerns that Berlin had overlooked.

            The officials who spoke with Reuters described a “flurry of consultations” in recent months, with Washington driving coordination on the investment side and Canberra taking a lead role in raising awareness about political interference.

            Talks have taken place between diplomats, intelligence officials and heads of government, they said.

            “We are living in a new world,” said a person from a Five Eyes country who has travelled extensively to other capitals over the past year to discuss China’s foreign activities.

            “The sudden shock from authoritarian regimes is prompting closer coordination and a real expansion of intelligence sharing,” this person said.
            Politicians are elected to serve...far too many don't see it that way - Albany Rifles! || Loyalty to country always. Loyalty to government, when it deserves it - Mark Twain! || I am a far left millennial!

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            • A lot of criticism in here - US official describes China as 'problem'
              Politicians are elected to serve...far too many don't see it that way - Albany Rifles! || Loyalty to country always. Loyalty to government, when it deserves it - Mark Twain! || I am a far left millennial!

              Comment


              • The legendary economist who predicted the housing crisis says the US will win the trade war
                Politicians are elected to serve...far too many don't see it that way - Albany Rifles! || Loyalty to country always. Loyalty to government, when it deserves it - Mark Twain! || I am a far left millennial!

                Comment


                • The End of Cheap Shipping From China

                  Every day, Americans buy tens of thousands of cheap products from China—jeans, electronics, things made of plastic. Two months ago, I even bought a wedding dress.

                  We buy stuff from China mostly because the low cost of living and lax labor regulations allow manufacturers to make products cheaply there. But there’s another reason, too. It’s really cheap to send stuff from China to the United States, which means sellers there can charge barely anything to ship an already-cheap item 6,000 miles across an ocean. Want an eyebrow razor? On Wish.com, a site that sells products directly from China, you can buy one for 95 cents, plus a $2 shipping fee. A similar eyebrow razor on Walmart.com, by contrast, costs $2.62 for a three-pack, but there is a shipping fee of $5.99. According to congressional testimony, at current rates, shipping a parcel to Fairfax, Virginia, from North Carolina would cost $1.94. From Shanghai, it would be $1.12.

                  President Trump has vowed to alter this equation, announcing on Wednesday that he is instructing the U.S. Postal Service to levy higher fees on packages from international destinations, including China. The announcement was not very controversial: A variety of parties involved in e-commerce, from Amazon to U.S. small businesses to sellers on eBay, have been calling on the United States for a long time to charge more for delivery on behalf of foreign postal carriers. The changes could help U.S. small businesses better compete against Chinese merchants while also slowing the flow of counterfeit goods shipped cheaply from overseas.

                  For more than a century, postal services in various countries have, through the Universal Postal Union, agreed to deliver mail that originated in another country. This service used to be free, until a 1969 update required that postal services pay one another “terminal dues”—fees for delivering another country’s mail—based on how developed a country was: Countries whose postal services were still in transition could charge high dues, while developed countries like the United States would have to charge low dues. In 2006, a new law allowed the United States to enter into bilateral agreements with foreign posts, and essentially agree on terminal dues on their own.

                  In 2011, when e-commerce really started taking off in the United States, the U.S. Postal Service entered into a bilateral agreement with China Post that gave sellers first-class tracking and delivery confirmation for very low rates as long as an item was an “ePacket” product, weighing less than 4.4 pounds. With shipping so cheap, and manufacturing in China already so inexpensive, the goods started flowing. The volume of ePackets more than doubled from 2014 to 2016, according to the Postal Service. This helped bring in about $493 million in revenue for the USPS, but also added some costs. Specifically, because it’s so expensive to send a product to China, packages that had to be sent back because they were undeliverable cost the USPS anywhere from 20 cents to 57 cents each.

                  That wasn’t the only problem created by the flood of goods from China. Much of the fentanyl currently circulating in the United States has come from online sellers in China. Shipping small electronics and cosmetics across the sea is bad for the environment: One container ship causes as much pollution as 50 million cars. And many of the goods making their way here are cheap knockoffs of products made in the United States. But they’re inexpensive, so Americans keep buying them.

                  Wednesday’s White House announcement means the United States will soon adopt its own self-declared terminal dues. The United States will also file a notice that it will withdraw from the Universal Postal Union, the White House said, though if it can negotiate new agreements with other countries, it will not withdraw.

                  The announcement is quintessential Trump—it shatters decades-old respected treaties and threatens to withdraw from an international consortium unless other countries accede to the wishes of the United States. But it would be a boon for the U.S. small businesses competing with Chinese sellers on sites like eBay and Amazon, as well as the brick-and-mortar retailers trying to keep up with online sellers who sell cheap goods from overseas. “U.S. Amazon sellers will no longer need to compete so narrowly on price due to the level playing field,” said Chris McCabe, who for six years worked for Amazon, reviewing and suspending seller accounts, and now runs a seller consultancy, ecommerceChris.com.

                  Mike DeVries lives in Iowa and has a store on eBay where he sells parts for agricultural equipment. A few years back, he was selling wheel bearings for a certain brand of lawnmower on eBay for $5 to $8 a piece. He also charged buyers for the cost of shipping. But all of a sudden, his sales stopped. No one was buying the wheel bearings anymore. He went online to see what had happened, and found that a seller in China was selling 20 wheel bearings for $9.99, plus free shipping. The Chinese seller was using ePacket to deliver the bearings, meaning they were paying almost nothing for shipping.

                  It wasn’t just the ball bearings, DeVries said. Anything that could be sent in an ePacket—essentially anything that weighed less than four pounds—wasn’t selling anymore, because Chinese sellers were edging him out, he said.

                  DeVries wrote a letter to his senator, Chuck Grassley, but Grassley wrote back saying he was powerless to do anything, DeVries told me. So he stopped selling items that could fit into an ePacket. Since then, he has worried that the U.S. Postal Service will enter into another treaty with China, allowing sellers there to send even bigger packages at low rates.

                  DeVries knows that the announcement from the White House might make buying things from China a little more expensive, but Americans should have to go through a little pain to reorient where they shop, he said. DeVries likens the current challenges to the removal of a tattoo. It hurt when America got its “tattoo” and entered into trade agreements decades ago. And now, it’s going to hurt to remove that tattoo. “There’s going to be more pain ahead,” he said.

                  The change will primarily benefit sellers on eBay, who set their own shipping rates. But Amazon and its sellers stand to gain, too. “International shipping agreements should not create or maintain artificial distinctions among sellers,” Paul Misener, Amazon’s vice president for global public policy, said at a congressional hearing about terminal dues in 2015.

                  Changes to shipping rates from China may also help Amazon stem the flow of counterfeit and knockoff goods from other countries being sold on its platform. Christopher Johnson, an attorney with Johnson & Pham who represents sellers taking legal action against people selling knockoffs on Amazon and other sites, said the ePacket rule “effectively allows a counterfeiter to directly mail counterfeit goods to the U.S., for virtually nothing, while it would cost you or I six times that amount to mail a similar product across town.”

                  The China-U.S. shipping rule is a strange arrangement that has begat many strangenesses, but one of the oddest is that shipping things to China is still very expensive. Consumers are purchasing things from sites like eBay, realizing that the product is different from what they thought, and then, when they go to return it to China, finding out that the cost to send it back is prohibitive.

                  This happened to me with the wedding dress I bought from China on the site Etsy. I’d purchased the item in the first place because the shop accepted returns, which is rare for a bridal shop. I waited six weeks for the dress, which cost less than $300, to arrive, tried it on, and then realized it was not at all flattering. I contacted the shop owner, who told me to send it back. The package weighed almost nothing, but FedEx and UPS each told me it’d cost about $180 to send from San Francisco to Guangdong Province; the U.S. Postal Service quoted me about $150. The Chinese seller told me many of the dresses customers had sent back recently through the U.S. postal service had gotten lost, and ultimately I decided the risk of paying $150, only for the dress to disappear, wasn’t worth it. Instead, I stuck it in the bottom of my closet, and hope to one day sell it online, where I’ll likely compete with dozens of sellers, from China and from around the world. But maybe now it’ll be a little easier to do so.
                  Politicians are elected to serve...far too many don't see it that way - Albany Rifles! || Loyalty to country always. Loyalty to government, when it deserves it - Mark Twain! || I am a far left millennial!

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                  • Nothing new there. If thats all he had to say, then its more than likely that he knows very little about China.
                    Last edited by Funtastic; 20 Oct 18,, 07:47.

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                    • Originally posted by Oracle View Post

                      Not exactly

                      https://www.yicaiglobal.com/news/chi...reaty-pull-out

                      Chinese Cross-Border E-Commerce Firm Downplays Impact of US Postal Treaty Pull-Out
                      (Yicai Global) Oct. 19 -- A Chinese cross-border e-commerce platform has played down the impact of the US government’s withdrawal from the Universal Postal Union despite concerns it may lead to higher shipping costs to the states.

                      The withdrawal from the treaty is not expected to impact business at Top E-Commerce, the Taiyuan-based firm said in a statement. The company’s GlobalGrow E-Commerce unit sends almost all deliveries to the US through a self-built logistics system as well as via couriers while the amount of goods sent through via post systems accounts for less than 1 percent of total outbound shipments. Therefore, an increase in shipping costs is unlikely to hit the firm hard.

                      Shenzhen-based Patuoxun Network Technology, another wholly-owned unit of Global Top E-Commerce, mainly uses Amazon for cross-border deliveries via the US firm’s overseas warehouses. This operation also bypasses the China Post system so it will also avoid the repercussions of the treaty withdrawal.

                      The US government's move may reduce the competitiveness of small and medium-sized cross-border e-commerce companies that are dependent on the UPU, which will benefit leading enterprises with self-built logistics systems.

                      Comment


                      • Originally posted by Funtastic View Post
                        Nothing new there. If thats he had to say, then its more than likely that he knows very little about China.
                        Right. Only 50 cent trolls know everything China related, since the information flows down from the Ministry of Propaganda. Everybody else are fools. Islamists and communists are such eyesores.
                        Politicians are elected to serve...far too many don't see it that way - Albany Rifles! || Loyalty to country always. Loyalty to government, when it deserves it - Mark Twain! || I am a far left millennial!

                        Comment


                        • Originally posted by Oracle View Post
                          Right. Only 50 cent trolls know everything China related, since the information flows down from the Ministry of Propaganda. Everybody else are fools. Islamists and communists are such eyesores.

                          AH Ha . A self hating Chinese.
                          Ive come across your type.
                          You've probally been bullied in the school playground. because of your ethnicticity , and to get your tormenters to stop bulling you, you decided to join them.

                          Comment


                          • Originally posted by Funtastic View Post
                            AH Ha . A self hating Chinese.
                            I'm half-Vietnamese, half-Japanese. Better than a Chinese pretending to be a Singaporean, innit?

                            Originally posted by Funtastic View Post
                            Ive come across your type.
                            No you've not.

                            Originally posted by Funtastic View Post
                            You've probally been bullied in the school playground. because of your ethnicticity , and to get your tormenters to stop bulling you, you decided to join them.
                            I was the bully.

                            China's economy is growing at its slowest pace since the financial crisis
                            Last edited by Oracle; 20 Oct 18,, 13:56. Reason: Not needed.
                            Politicians are elected to serve...far too many don't see it that way - Albany Rifles! || Loyalty to country always. Loyalty to government, when it deserves it - Mark Twain! || I am a far left millennial!

                            Comment


                            • Originally posted by Oracle View Post

                              I was the bully.
                              Ah, the penny drops.
                              Trust me?
                              I'm an economist!

                              Comment


                              • Originally posted by DOR View Post
                                Ah, the penny drops.
                                DOR, you can say it. You can say it right here. No one should live a life full of guilt.



                                FYI, I was a bully for the bullies, because quite early in my life I learnt that one either needs to grow up fast or take bullies head-on. I didn't know much about steroids then, so I opted for the latter.
                                Last edited by Oracle; 21 Oct 18,, 07:01.
                                Politicians are elected to serve...far too many don't see it that way - Albany Rifles! || Loyalty to country always. Loyalty to government, when it deserves it - Mark Twain! || I am a far left millennial!

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