Tuesday 30 November 2010

OUTSOURCING IN INDIA AND CHINA

Computer World

OFFSHORE OUTSOURCING: INDIA VS. CHINA

Computer World UK, November 30, 2010

For nearly a decade, China has been touted as the biggest threat India's supremacy in offshore outsourcing, and its central government has been funneling money into developing the country's growing IT outsourcing (ITO) industry.

But beyond the obvious similarities (they're both big-really, really big-and cheap in comparison to their Western counterparts), there remain major differences in the two mega-markets for offshore IT services, from language and management skills to industry focus to supplier and customer bases. We checked in to find out how the two countries compare today.

(...) [artículo aquí]

Monday 29 November 2010

CHINA AND NORTH KOREA

Reuters DEF

Q+A: WHAT IS CHINA TRYING TO DO IN THE KOREA CONFRONTATION?

Chris Buckley

Reuters, November 29, 2010

China has launched a flurry of efforts aimed at easing tensions between North and South Korea and convening urgent talks among regional powers.

What can China realistically hope to achieve? Here are some answers:

WHAT'S DRIVING CHINA'S RESPONSE TO THE CRISIS?

Since North Korea's shelling of the South last week, the public talk from Beijing has been cautious, simply urging calm and avoiding taking sides.

Yet the calculus between Beijing's response is clear enough.

China wants to avert a spiraling standoff between its two neighbors. It also hopes to avoid estranging North Korea, a long-time ally Beijing sees as a buffer against U.S. influence.

North Korea depends on China for economic and diplomatic support, but can bristle against overt pressure from Beijing and does not automatically bend to China's wishes.

(...) [artículo aquí]

Sunday 28 November 2010

NORTH KOREA: LESSONS FROM NOV. 23, 2010

The Korea Times

CHALLENGES FROM YEONPYEONG

Tong Kim

The Korea Times, November 28, 2010

North Korea’s indiscriminate artillery attack of Yeonpyong Island, killing two South Korean marines and two civilians while injuring 20 more people, was an intolerable and inexcusable provocation that deserves strong condemnation. An exchange of artillery shelling between the North Korean MRLs (Multiple Rocket Launching Systems) with support of coastal howitzers and the ROK marines’ self-propelled artillery guns was the first of its kind since the Armistice Agreement of 1953, which ended the shooting in the war but maintained a technical state of war on the Korean Peninsula.

The North’s surprise attack triggered angry public resentment against the North Korean leadership, without whose order the attack would not have been launched. At the same time, the public was disappointed at the South Korean military’s poor state of combat readiness ― including the failure to anticipate such an attack, despite some physical evidence of the North Korean military maneuvers beforehand and a direct warning from the North against the live firings during the South Korea ``Hoguk” (Defense of Fatherland) exercise.

(...) [artículo aquí]

Saturday 27 November 2010

NORTH KOREA’S DANGER

Newsweek

NORTH KOREA’S NEW HARD LINE

The deadly attack on the South signals an extended period of aggression, due to a leadership shift in Pyongyang.

Jerry Guo

Newsweek, November 27, 2010

North Korea’s surprise attack last week on the South Korean outpost Yeonpyeong is sharply worrying not just because it marks the first time civilians have been targeted and killed since the end of the war more than a half century ago. Taken in context with its recent deadly brinksmanship—the sinking of the Cheonan, increasing border scuffles, the revelation of a secret nuclear-production plant—and it’s clear this is no longer mere theatrics on the part of the Hermit Kingdom.

Western officials and Korean hands, however, continue to see—or hope—that this latest escalation is North Korea’s jostling for a better hand at the negotiating table; in particular, the country continues to suffer severe food shortages. The uncomfortable truth? What we are seeing is more likely the start of a hardline policy shift, the likes of which the world has not seen since the Stalinist regime’s last power succession, when the Dear Leader, Kim Jong-il, took the reins from his father, Kim Il-sung. Why this scenario is so terrifying is that outside powers—even China, the closest thing North Korea has to a major ally—have little leverage in changing the North’s schizophrenic behavior.

(...) [artículo aquí]

Friday 26 November 2010

NORTH KOREA’S ARTILLERY

The Chosun Ilbo

THE DEVASTATING POWER OF N.KOREA'S MLRS ARTILLERY

The Chosun Ilbo, November 26, 2010

The 122-mm Multiple Launch Rocket System shells North Korea fired on Yeongpyeong Island on Tuesday are fatal weapons that can kill people and devastate large areas with an extra-high penetration capability. They are among the weapons most feared by soldiers.

During World War II, the Soviet Union used a version called the Katyusha or "Stalin Organ" against the German forces, and in 1991, the U.S. military terrorized Iraqi soldiers by deploying a modern-day version of the MLRS. It is extremely rare for a country to use such weapons in peacetime and target unarmed civilians, which experts say deserves international condemnation.

(...) [artículo aquí]

Thursday 25 November 2010

THE KOREAS IN 2012

The Korea Times

2012 ON KOREAN PENINSULA

Lee Chang-sup

The Korea Times, November 25, 2010

2012 will be a critical year for the two Koreas and the surrounding powers. Korea, the United States, and Russia will hold presidential elections. Xi Zinping will take over China’s leadership, while in North Korea, it is the year marking the 100th anniversary of the birth of Kim Il-sung.

It is quite a coincidence for the countries in and around the Korean Peninsula to see simultaneous power transitions. South Korea will hold its presidential election in December 2012 to choose a successor to President Lee Myung-bak. The question is whether a conservative leader will run the country again or whether the liberal opposition party will retake the presidency.

Once the nation revises the Constitution, Korea will see a two-term, four-year presidency, or a parliamentary form of government. Barring a last-minute change of mind from Park Geun-hye and Sohn Hak-kyu, there is the remote possibility of a constitutional amendment.

(...) [artículo aquí]

Wednesday 24 November 2010

NORTH KOREA’S BEHAVIOR

NYT_logo_2_thumb

ANALYSTS PUZZLE OVER CAUSE OF FLARE-UP

Mark McDonald

The New York Times, November 24, 2010

SEOUL, South Korea — As nerves began to calm the day after a prolonged and deadly artillery exchange between North and South Korea, focus turned on Wednesday to the possible motivations for the assault and whether the South might have provoked it.

The Koreas blame each other for instigating the artillery barrages on Tuesday afternoon. The exchange, which lasted about an hour, centered on the South Korean island of Yeonpyeong, which lies in the western sea, eight miles off the North Korean coast.

The incident killed two South Korean soldiers and President Lee Myung-bak expressed regret Wednesday afternoon over “the passing of the two marines who met a glorious death in defense of the homeland.”

(...) [artículo aquí]

Tuesday 23 November 2010

BOMBARDEO DE COREA DEL NORTE

El Pais logo

SALTO CUALITATIVO

Pablo Bustelo

El País, 23 de noviembre de 2010 (online)

El ataque a la isla Yeongpyeong no es una simple escaramuza más de las registradas en la disputada región marítima fronteriza durante los últimos años. Supone un salto cualitativo importante: es la primera agresión sobre población civil desde el estallido de una bomba en un avión de Korean Air en 1987 y, sobre todo, es el primer bombardeo de suelo del Sur desde el final de la guerra de Corea, en 1953.

Es verdad que se produce apenas unos meses después del hundimiento de la fragata Cheonan, en marzo pasado, que provocó 46 muertos. La diferencia es que Corea del Norte ha negado siempre haber sido responsable de ese naufragio, pese a las abrumadoras pruebas en contra. Esta vez Pyongyang no puede decir que sus fuerzas armadas no han sido las responsables.

¿Qué es lo que explica la agresividad del Norte? Hay quien dice que se trata de una respuesta a las maniobras militares del Sur en la zona, previstas entre el 22 y el 30 de noviembre, y de la voluntad de poner en cuestión, a las bravas, la línea marítima fronteriza fijada tras la guerra de Corea y que Pyongyang no acepta. Es posible. Pero no cabe descartar razones más profundas.

(...) [artículo aquí]

Monday 22 November 2010

JAPAN’S ECONOMY

idsa

WHY JAPAN’S ECONOMY IS AILING?

Rajaram Panda

Institute for Defence Studies and Analyses, November 22, 2010

Japan’s astounding economic growth in the 1960s and 1970s was the talking point in world capitals. This success story was possible because of coordination between the government and the private sector, in which the government encouraged competition between industries and thereby weeded out the weaker ones. From the beginning of the 1980s, this strategy has no longer worked. When the focus shifted towards knowledge-intensive industries, labour-intensive industries were transferred to nearby countries, thereby heralding the flying-geese pattern of economic development and the emergence of the Four Tigers. As wage levels increased and markets contracted, Japan started stagnating, while countries such as South Korea and Taiwan continued to reap dividends from the Japanese model of economic development. South Korea, for example, succeeded in putting in place a well balanced relationship between stable governments and the private sector.

From the 1980s, Japan has lost the way and is still struggling to come out of it. Eisuke Sakakibara, a leading Japanese economist and one of the architects of the Japanese “miracle” of the 1980s, now pleads that Japanese planners should emulate the South Koreans, whom Japan indirectly taught how to develop their economy.

(...) [artículo aquí]

Sunday 21 November 2010

NORTH KOREA’S ENRICHMENT PROGRAM

ap_logo

SCIENTIST: NKOREA BUILDS NEW NUCLEAR FACILITY

AP, November 21, 2010

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — North Korea has secretly and quickly built a new, highly sophisticated facility to enrich uranium, according to an American nuclear scientist, raising fears that the North is ramping up its atomic program despite international pressure.

The scientist, Siegfried Hecker, said in a report posted Saturday that he was taken during a recent trip to the North's main Yongbyon atomic complex to a facility with a small industrial-scale uranium enrichment facility. The facility had 2,000 recently completed centrifuges, he said, and the North told him it was producing low-enriched uranium meant for a new reactor.

Hecker, a former director of the U.S. Los Alamos Nuclear Laboratory who is regularly given rare glimpses of the North's secretive nuclear program, acknowledged that it was not clear what North Korea stood to gain by showing him the formerly secret area.

(...) [artículo aquí]

Saturday 20 November 2010

INDIA’S ECONOMIC GROWTH

Hindustan Times

INDIAN ECONOMY TO GROW AT 9-10% IN MEDIUM TERM: PM

Hindustan Times, November 20, 2010

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Saturday said the Indian economy can grow at double-digit rates in the medium term and promised an environment for corporations to expand.

He also said appropriate measures were required to deal effectively with the threats of corruption and crony capitalism.

“We were among the few countries that recovered quickly from the after-effects of the global economic crisis,” Singh told delegates at the Hindustan Times Leadership Summit here.

“Last year we grew at 7.4 %, this year I am confident that the economy will grow at 8.5 %, and next year, we hope to return the economy to a sustained growth of 9-10 %,” the Prime Minister said.

(...) [artículo aquí]

Friday 19 November 2010

INDOCHINA

China Briefing

CAMBODIA, LAOS AND VIETNAM – INDOCHINA AND CHINA TODAY

Chris Devonshire-Ellis

China Briefing, November 19, 2010

Indochina, that area of Southeast Asia that so evocatively describes colonialism, decadence, war and strife, yet encompasses some of the world’s most beautiful archaeological and natural wonders. As a practice, my firm Dezan Shira & Associates established offices in Vietnam nearly three years ago, and we have long been attracted to this part of Asia. From the very subliminal Frenchness that still pervades, to the influence of the Southern Chinese, the region is a potpourri of influences and mystery.

Today, parts of Cambodia, Laos and Vietnam are increasingly being seen as ripe for potential investment. Indochina continues to open up its interior, allowing access across lands previously distant, and lies directly between the wealthy consumer markets of Singapore, Thailand, Malaysia and China. Talk is of opportunity and optimism, yet the three countries have distinctly different demographics and have evolved along rather different lines. While the naive may lump Laos and Cambodia together as “mini Vietnams” or even classify them as “appendages” of China, the reality is rather different. In this article we’ll take a look at each of these emerging economies and make comparisons.

(...) [artículo aquí]

Thursday 18 November 2010

MYANMAR

Reuters DEF

FACTBOX - MYANMAR'S ECONOMY AND INVESTMENT

Reuters, November 18, 2010

Military-ruled Myanmar, one of the world's most isolated states, appears to be taking steps to attract more investment after a new government was formed following the first election in 20 years on Nov. 7.

The resource-rich country has been hurt by decades of economic mismanagement and deep-rooted corruption. Western sanctions in place because of the regime's poor human rights record have squeezed investment and Myanmar has no access to loans from major financial institutions.

Analysts say it is possible sanctions could be reviewed when a new government is formed and if Nobel laureate Aung San Suu Kyi, who was released from house arrest on Nov. 13, leads a campaign to have them scrapped.

Following are details about Myanmar's economy, trade and investment.

(...) [artículo aquí]

Wednesday 17 November 2010

THE US AND ASIA

Manila Bulletin

OBAMA AND CLINTON IN ASIA

Beth Day Romulo

The Manila Bulletin, November 17, 2010

To reassure Asian countries that, despite its national problems of recession and unemployment, America intends to remain a strong presence in this part of the world, President Obama and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton recently set out on Asian tours. The President took India, Indonesia, Japan, and South Korea, major allies and trading partners. And Secretary Clinton, on her sixth Asian junket as Secretary of State, covered seven countries – Vietnam, Cambodia, Malaysia, Papua New Guinea, New Zealand, Australia, and Samoa.

The goals were relatively simple: To strengthen America’s leadership in the Asia-Pacific region, improve regional security, boost prosperity, and promote such universal values as human rights.

Secretary Clinton started out in Hawaii, the birthplace of President Obama and “America’s bridge to the East.” She called her mission “forward-deployed” diplomacy, a proactive program of the State Department which involves “the full range of our diplomatic assets” – the highest-ranking officials and development experts mandated to reach every capital of the Asia Pacific region.

(...) [artículo aquí]

Tuesday 16 November 2010

JAPAN AND ASIA

The Japan Times

JAPAN URGED TO COPE WITH CHANGING LANDSCAPE IN ASIA

Nation needs to refocus its ties with ASEAN in the face of waning influence, China's rise

Takasi Kitazume

The Japan Times, November 16, 2010

Japan needs to come to terms with its declining influence in Asia and readjust its strategy toward Southeast Asia, where its once-dominant position has been replaced by rising China, veteran journalists from the region said at a recent symposium in Tokyo.

Tokyo should widen the scope of its cooperation with the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations not only in the economic arena but also to cover security and political dialogue, they said.

Journalists from six ASEAN countries were speaking at the symposium organized Oct. 15 by the Keizai Koho Center under the theme "Japan-ASEAN partnership for further growth and development in East Asia." Rinji Takeoka, senior general manager of international affairs at the Nikkei business daily, served as moderator of discussions.

(...) [artículo aquí]

Monday 15 November 2010

SUU KYI’S RELEASE

The Diplomat

FROM ONE PRISON TO ANOTHER

Aung San Suu Kyi’s release is a gamble for Burma’s ruling junta. Will its post-election confidence prove to be misplaced?

The Diplomat, November 15, 2010

For Burma’s ‘black magic’ generals, known for consulting astrologers over every major move, November 13 must have seemed an auspicious enough day to release arch foe and democracy icon Daw Aung San Suu Kyi.

Her gently decomposing mansion on Inya Lake in north Rangoon has been barricaded with its celebrity prisoner inside for the past seven years.  Altogether, Suu Kyi has spent 15 of the past 21 years under house arrest here. But on Saturday, crowds started to build outside the army barricades on University Avenue. By late afternoon, the crowd of hard-core supporters—many bravely wearing t-shirts emblazoned with her image—began chanting her name and drawing closer to the barricades.

The soldiers began to get nervous. Reinforcements arrived in the form of helmeted riot police, armed with tear gas and stun grenades, who threatened to disperse the crowd unless it moved back. Army cameramen and ‘MI’ operatives filmed everyone, particularly the dozen or so journalists who had broken cover to report on events. At that point, no-one knew if ‘the lady’ would be released or if the country faced another, bloody, crackdown.

(...) [artículo aquí]

Sunday 14 November 2010

WILL THE G20 BE EFFECTIVE?

Japan Times

DILEMMA FOR THE G20

The Japan Times, November 14, 2010

The promise of the Group of 20 was a new system of global leadership that would be more representative of real economic power and, thus, more effective in decision making. The 2008 economic downturn thrust the G20 into the spotlight. The speed with which its participants found common cause and their readiness to initiate measures to deal with the crisis sparked hope of a new era of global economic governance.

As the crisis has lessened, so too has the sense of urgency to fix problems that created the worst economic downturn since the Great Depression. For sure, progress has been made in identifying weaknesses in how the global economy works as well as in remedying some structural flaws in economic governance. But, at times, the G20 seems no better suited than its predecessors to making hard decisions or putting substance behind its declarations.

At last week's G20 summit, hosted in Seoul by South Korean President Lee Myung Bak, participants agreed to curb the "persistently large imbalances" in consumption and savings. Tolerance for the steady and massive trade surpluses run by Germany and China, and for the corollary U.S. deficits, is the most important source of global economic instability.

(...) [artículo aquí]

Saturday 13 November 2010

CHINA’S GROWTH

Time

CAN CHINA TAP THE BRAKE ON GROWTH?

Dan Kadlec

Time, November 13, 2010

In a remarkably short time, China's economy has blossomed into the second largest in the world. Only five years ago, China's GDP was half that of No. 2 Japan, which the Chinese eclipsed earlier this year. Next stop: the mammoth U.S. economy — a milestone that is a decade or two away and yet all but certain.

China's epic growth is an old story; its economy has been racing along at 8% to 10% annual growth for 30 years. But now, with a GDP approaching $5 trillion (vs. $14 trillion in the U.S.), China is such a powerhouse that its every move ripples around the globe.

Which is to say you can't ignore China — even if you aren't directly invested — at least not for the next 100 years or so. Pay particular attention to China's latest move, which has been to rein in its breakneck growth. Most countries would love to have this problem. China raised interest rates last month for the first time in three years and has taken other steps to slow bank lending and cool a sizzling property market. Growth slowed to 9.6% in the third quarter, down from 11.9% in the first and 10.3% in the second.

(...) [artículo aquí]

Friday 12 November 2010

THE YUAN AND THE G20

WashPost logo3

G-20 REFUSES TO BACK US PUSH ON CHINA'S CURRENCY

Vijay Joshi

The Associated Press

The Washington Post, November 12, 2010

SEOUL, South Korea -- Leaders of 20 major economies on Friday refused to endorse a U.S. push to get China to let its currency rise, keeping alive a dispute that has raised the specter of a global trade war.

At the end of their two-day summit, the leaders of the Group of 20 rich and developing economies - including President Barack Obama and China's Hu Jintao - issued a watered-down statement that only said they agreed to refrain from "competitive devaluation" of currencies.

Such a statement is of little consequence since countries usually only devalue their currencies in extreme situations like a severe financial crisis. Using a slightly different wording favored by the U.S. - "competitive undervaluation" - would have shown the G-20 taking a stronger stance on China's currency policy.

(...) [artículo aquí]

Thursday 11 November 2010

CHINA’S ENVIRONMENT

Elcano

IS CHINA DOING ENOUGH TO PROTECT THE ENVIRONMENT?

Pablo Bustelo

Elcano Royal Institute, ARI 141/2101, November 11, 2010

Summary: Some news in recent weeks has brought Chinas grave environmental situation back into the spotlight. This analysis looks, first, at the main causes of the sharp deterioration in the country’s environmental conditions. It then sets out some figures illustrating what might be described as a genuine environmental nightmare. Thirdly, the main policies for environmental protection are listed and assessed, to conclude that, with a few exceptions, they are actually quite ambitious and, at all events, much stricter and more numerous than is generally believed in the West, although evidently there is still a long way to go.

[full text here]

CHINA’S GDP IN 2012

China Real Time Report

CHINA COULD SURPASS U.S. IN 2012

China RealTime Report, November 11, 2010

China’s continued rapid growth should make it the main driver of the global economy next year as the U.S. slows down, the Conference Board said in a report published Wednesday.

In just two years, the Asian country could even overtake the U.S. as the world’s largest economy — at least by one economic measure, the research group said in its annual global outlook.

China’s economy should grow by 9.6% in 2011 after expanding by 10% this year. By contrast, the U.S. economy is seen slowing to just 1.2% growth next year from 2.6% in 2010.

According to the most commonly used way to compare economic size, the gap between second-place China’s $5.0 trillion economy and the U.S.’s nearly $15 trillion output remains large. By that measure, it could take China more than a decade to match the U.S. even at the current very high growth rates, which will be hard to sustain for the Asian country.

But things look different when considering purchasing-power parity (PPP), which takes into account the goods and services a country’s currency actually buys at home and is a measure that’s closely watched by some professional economists, including at the Conference Board. Taking into account the difference in prices of the same goods between countries — in other words, measuring the real purchasing power people have in each country — the think tank predicts China could have a larger economy than the U.S. by 2012.

(...) [artículo aquí]

Wednesday 10 November 2010

OBAMA, ASIA AND CHINA

Time

CHINA: THE DRAGON IN THE ROOM ON OBAMA'S ASIAN TOUR

Hannah Beech

Time, November 10, 2010

It's a timeworn tactic for politicians. When you fail at home, go abroad. Four days after the Democrats' defeat in the U.S. midterm elections, Barack Obama headed on his longest overseas journey as President: a 10-day tour of Asia, where his foreign fans far outstrip his domestic ones.

The itinerary of America's self-proclaimed "first Pacific President" has taken him to India (the world's largest democracy) and Indonesia (the world's biggest Muslim-majority democracy) before he attends a pair of global summits in South Korea (a dictatorship turned democracy that was saved from communism by U.S. intervention) and in Japan (Asia's oldest democracy). Even though the vagaries of democratic politics had just dealt Obama what he called a "shellacking," the U.S. President has spent much of his tour highlighting the virtues of governance by the people. "Instead of being lured by the false notion that progress must come at the expense of freedom, you built the institutions upon which true democracy depends," Obama told the Indian Parliament on Nov. 8. "The lesson is clear: India has succeeded not in spite of democracy; India has succeeded because of democracy."

(...) [artículo aquí]

Tuesday 9 November 2010

MR. OBAMA GOES TO INDONESIA

WashPost logo3

AN OPPORTUNITY TO RECONNECT IN INDONESIA

Chico Harlan

The Washington Post, November 9, 2010

JAKARTA, INDONESIA - During its two-year wait for a visit from President Obama, Indonesia found other ways to celebrate the country's most famous former resident. Indonesian authors produced dozens of Obama books, one of them 5,400 pages long. A look-alike starred in a commercial for heartburn medication. About 12,000 Indonesians applied for a 14-day Obama-centric vacation package, with chances to meet Obama's former barber and gym teacher - all while television cameras followed the action, filming a reality show.

Obama's arrival Tuesday in Jakarta, then, restores a bit of authenticity to a relationship that has grown increasingly complex and outdated, held together by boyhood ties but not presidential ones.

Indonesia's post-inauguration euphoria, heavy on rhetoric about hope and change that mirrored Obama's own, has yet to turn into disillusionment. Rather, Indonesians talk about Obama as they might talk about a family member who has grown distant. There is mild criticism, easy forgiveness and a yearning for a stronger connection.

Obama's election spurred dreams of U.S. reconciliation with Muslim-majority nations. Yet even moderate Islamic groups here lament Obama's perceived lack of urgency in Middle East peace talks and consider the detente half-done. After proclaiming himself America's first Pacific president, Obama hindered outreach efforts by canceling earlier visits to his boyhood home - first when pushing for the health-care overhaul, later when tending to the gushing oil in the Gulf of Mexico.

(...) [artículo aquí]

Sunday 7 November 2010

WASHINGTON AND NEW DELHI

economic_times

WHY THE US NEEDS INDIA

Raghu Krishnan

The Economic Times, November 7, 2010

That President Obama and both his immediate predecessors have visited New Delhi indicates the growing importance which the USA attaches to relations with India.

A USA, which has almost a trillion dollars-worth of its Treasury bonds being held by China, is reinforcing ties with strategic partners at a time American policy-makers have a sense of growing disquiet vis-a-vis Beijing.

Being heavily indebted to a China which is not averse to throwing its weight around would make anyone nervous, especially Americans who, for five of the last six decades, have got used to regarding their country as the dominant superpower in the world.

Time was when leaders from India and elsewhere would call on the President of the USA. If India had a problem in looking after millions of refugees pouring in from East Pakistan following the military crackdown and genocide in 1971, Indira Gandhi would call on Nixon in the hope that the USA would resolve the crisis.

If some 14 years later, Rajiv Gandhi called on Reagan, it was in the belief that American technological investment would catalyse development. And if Union Carbide CEO Warren Anderson was allowed to get away scot-free in the wake of the world’s worst industrial accident in the MNC’s subsidiary’s plant in Bhopal, it was partly because of the clout American industry wielded throughout the world.

(...) [artículo aquí]

Saturday 6 November 2010

OBAMA GOES TO INDIA

Bloomberg logo

OBAMA ARRIVES IN INDIA WITH HIS MAIN FOCUS ON HELPING REPAIR U.S. ECONOMY

Hans Nichols and James Rupert

Bloomberg, November 6, 2010

President Barack Obama’s mission overseas in his first two years in office was improving the U.S. image abroad. His next round of travel is focused on repairing the U.S. economy and his relationship with businesses at home.

Obama arrived in India today and during a 10-day, four- nation trip he is peppering his schedule with events linked to expanding U.S. exports. On his first day in India, the president will address the U.S.-India Business Council in Mumbai, India’s financial capital, and huddle with a group of chief executive officers including Jeffrey Immelt of General Electric Co. and Jim McNerney of Boeing Co. to help push along multibillion- dollar deals for U.S. companies.

“The primary purpose is to take a bunch of U.S. companies and open up markets so that we can sell in Asia, in some of the fastest-growing markets in the world,” Obama said Nov. 4 after meeting with his Cabinet at the White House. In an opinion piece published yesterday in the New York Times, he said companies will announce contracts worth “billions of dollars” in India.

(...) [artículo aquí]

Friday 5 November 2010

INDIA-JAPAN AND CHINA

Asia Times

AS INDIA PUSHES EAST, SO CHINA WORRIES

Peter J Brown

Asia Times, November 5, 2010

Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's trip to Japan in late October was a success, but not a complete success. Thanks to Japan's fundamentally pacifist worldview and rigid take on nuclear cooperation, the outcome was somewhat underwhelming.

Real damage might have been done if Manmohan and Japanese Prime Minister Naoto Kan had decided to forego an annual summit they have held since 2005, rather than announce a comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA) after making little headway in firming up strategic and civil nuclear cooperation issues during the annual cycle of discussions between the two countries.

(...) [artículo aquí]

Thursday 4 November 2010

G20 AND APEC

The Jakarta Post4

THE SHOWS OF SOUTH KOREA, JAPAN AND INDONESIA

Kornelius Purba

The Jakarta Post, November 4, 2010

Next week South Korean President Lee Myung-bak and Japanese Prime Minister Naoto Kan separately will host two crucial multilateral summits. For President Lee this is a magnificent opportunity to demonstrate the achievements of the world’s 15th largest economy, while for PM Kan this is a good chance to lift a “demoralized” nation whose economy and global influence have been overpowered by China.

On Nov. 11-12 President Lee will preside over the summit of the world’s 20 largest economies (G20) in Seoul and over the following two days (Nov. 13-14) it will be the turn of PM Kan to chair the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) meeting in Yokohama. The president is luckier than the prime minister because all members of G8 are also members of the G20, which means in terms of content, the Seoul meeting is much more attractive for the world media than Yokohama. APEC reached its glorious peak in the 1990s when Indonesia hosted the second summit in 1994.

The Seoul event is also an occasion to “tease” leaders of North Korea as the country continues to face economic hardships. For Kan, his top priority includes his bilateral meeting with Chinese President Hu Jintao in which he will aim to cool down tensions after a recent clash over a territorial dispute. A meeting with Russian President Dmitry Medvedev to discuss territorial disputes is also on the top list for domestic political consumption.

(...) [artículo aquí]

Wednesday 3 November 2010

CHINA ECONOMIC UPDATE

International Business Times

‘CHINA’S FAILURE TO REBALANCE GROWTH A RISK TO WORLD ECONOMY’

Jijo Jacob

International Business Times, November 3, 2010

The Chinese economy will grow 10 percent this year but a lack of success in rebalancing the growth pattern would pose risks to China and the world economy, the World Bank said on Wednesday.

China's GDP declined from 10.6 percent in the first half of the year to "a still surprisingly strong 9.6 percent" year-on-year in the third quarter, the bank said in its latest China Quarterly Update. The bank noted that China’s growth has moderated to a still healthy pace, with a shifting composition.

China's economy will grow 8.7 percent in 2011 and would witness a further in the medium term, according to the bank's projection. “Growth may ease a bit further as global growth decelerates and the macro stance is normalized but it remains supported by the traditional growth drivers and a robust labor market,” said Louis Kuijs, World Bank senior economist.

(...) [artículo aquí]

Tuesday 2 November 2010

INDIA AND THE CHINA CHALLENGE

Economic Times (2)

INDIA HAS STRATEGIC INTEREST IN BETTER CHINA TIES: MENON

The Economic Times, November 2, 2010

NEW DELHI: As the leaders of India and the US get ready to discuss the China challenge next week, National Security Advisor Shivshankar Menon on Tuesday said that New Delhi has an "overriding strategic interest" in developing better relations with China, but asked Beijing to be sensitive to each other's core concerns.

"As we face the big issues, we do this in a cooperative manner so that we can negotiate solutions to the problems. We have an overriding strategic interest in letting relations grow in a healthy manner," Menon said in response to a question on whether the China issue will figure in discussions during Obama's visit.
"We also have sensitivities on issues like Tibet and Jammu and Kashmir," Menon said.

"We don't see our relationship with the US having a bearing on our relationship with China or vice versa," he said, adding that there is "no zero sum game" among all major powers.

Strobe Talbott , a former deputy secretary of state, said China was a subject of "intense conversation" between US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh in Hanoi last week.

(...) [artículo aquí]

Monday 1 November 2010

CHINA AND SOUTH KOREA

Korea Times

HOW TO MEND TIES BETWEEN SOUTH KOREA AND CHINA?

Sunny Lee

The Korea Times, November 1, 2010

The view that China-South Korean relations have deteriorated since the Cheonan incident is flawed. Rather, the Cheonan incident was a trigger that pushed to the surface a set of accumulated issues between the two nations, said Kim Dong-jin, who teaches at China University of Political Science and Law in Beijing.

Among South Korea’s top decision-makers, Kim, the former CEO of South Korean conglomerate POSCO’s China operations, is a well-recognized China hand. When South Korean Ambassador to China Yu Woo-ik was tapped for the position, Kim was among a handful of experts Yu consulted.

With over two decades of living in China, “Now, I can think like a Chinese person,” Kim said in an interview in Wangjing, the “Korea Town” in the Chinese capital.

(...) [artículo aquí]