Monday 25 July 2011

PAKISTAN’S EDUCATION

Newsweek Pak

THE REAL WAR WITH INDIA

If we want to compete, we need to invest more in higher education.

Javaid R. Laghari

Newsweek (Pakistan), July 25, 2011 (From the July 29‚ 2011‚ issue)

It’s hit an all-time low. Pakistan’s commitment to the higher education sector has been scaled back by 10 percent at the same time that India has raised its higher-education budget by 25 percent. This reduction is in addition to the 40 percent cut imposed last year. This shortsightedness imperils economic growth by stunting prospects of a viable middle class.

India has a population six times the size of Pakistan’s. Its GDP, at $1.8 trillion, is 10 times larger than ours. Its growth rate is 8.5 percent, ours is 2.4 percent. Its value-added exports, at $250 billion, are more than ours by a factor of 15; and its FDI, at $26 billion per year, dwarfs ours by a factor of 22. India is set to surpass Japan to become the world’s third largest economy by 2014. This has all been made possible, in no small measure, because of India’s human capital. Pakistan needs to take a leaf out of their book to realize the possible.

The World Bank identifies several key factors to achieve and sustain economic growth: education, a skilled workforce, information and communication technologies, and innovation. These are the veritable pillars of a knowledge economy. Likewise, the World Economic Forum’s Global Competitiveness Report 2010-2011 lists higher education and training, technology readiness, and innovation as essential for competitiveness.

Catching up to the rest of the world must start now. And there is much ground to cover. For Pakistanis between the ages of 17 and 23, access to higher education is at 5.1 percent—one of the lowest in the world. (India is at 12.2 percent and aiming for 30 percent by 2020.) Pakistan has 132 universities for a population of 180 million and a student population of about 1.1 million. India has 504 universities with an enrollment of over 15 million (its enrolment target is 40 million by 2020). Pakistan has approved funding for two new universities. Over the next five years, India will have established 29 universities and 40 other institutes. Pakistan can today produce about 700 Ph.D.s every year (up from a dismal 200 in 2002) while India can produce 8,900 and China some 50,000.

(...) [artículo aquí]

Sunday 24 July 2011

CHINA, OIL AND THE SOUTH CHINA SEA

asiaone_logo

CHINA HUNGRY FOR OIL, IS POTENTIAL THREAT

China's aggressive actions in the West Philippine Sea appear to be motivated by a hunger to exploit the area's resources, say Philippines.

AsiaOne, July 24, 2011

Using uncharacteristic forceful language for a diplomat, Foreign Secretary Alberto del Rosario trashed China's claim over the entire West Philippine Sea (South China Sea) area, calling it "baseless" and a "potential threat" to navigation in the region at the opening of Asia's biggest security conference in the Indonesian resort island of Bali Saturday.

China's aggressive actions in the West Philippine Sea appear to be motivated by a hunger to exploit the area's rich oil and gas resources, Del Rosario said.

In remarks at the 18th Asean Regional Forum (ARF) "retreat session" yesterday, Del Rosario said the Chinese claim had no validity under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (Unclos), to which China is a signatory.

China's claim to all of the West Philippine Sea is based on a Chinese map with nine dashes outlining its territory.

This so-called "9-dash claim" to the West Philippine Sea would be rejected by an international court, said Del Rosario.

The Unclos gives a country sovereignty of up to 22 kilometers (12 nautical miles) from its coast, including islands.

There is also the exclusive economic zone (EEZ) that gives jurisdiction over natural resources, scientific research and building structures up to 370 kilometers (200 nautical miles).

(...) [artículo aquí]

Saturday 23 July 2011

THE US AT THE ARF

associated-press-logo

US TAKES HARD LINE ON NORTH KOREA, SOUTH CHINA SEA

Matthew Lee

Associated Press, July 23, 2011 

BALI, Indonesia (AP) — Tentative steps by North and South Korea to repair relations are not enough to warrant renewed multination nuclear disarmament talks, the U.S. said Saturday at an Asian security conference where it also took a tough line on resolving tensions in the South China Sea.

Declaring the United States a "resident power" with vital strategic interests throughout the Asia-Pacific, U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton said North Korea must do more to improve ties with the South before Washington will consider resuming talks aimed at getting Pyongyang to abandon nuclear weapons in return for concessions.

In addition, Clinton laid out specific guidelines for the peaceful settlement of competing territorial claims in the South China Sea, saying recent threats and flare-ups are endangering the security that has driven the region's economic growth and prosperity.

The ASEAN Regional Forum that brought together 27 nations from the U.S., Asia and Europe opened with a buzz early Saturday, with South Korea's foreign minister, Kim Sung-hwan, and the North's Pak Ui Chun chatting and walking casually into the conference hall together.

(...) [artículo aquí]

Friday 22 July 2011

CHINA’S MARITIME BUILD-UP

The Diplomat

CHINA’S TWO-PRONGED MARITIME RISE

China is following a two-prong strategy with its impressive maritime build-up. The West is making a mistake if it underestimates the implications.

Robert C. O'Brien

The Diplomat, July 22, 2011

For the past decade, while the West has been consumed battling Islamic extremists in the Middle East and Central Asia, China has been engaged in a rapid and impressive effort to establish itself as the supreme maritime power in the Eastern Pacific and Indian Oceans.

For years, China focused its military spending on the People’s Liberation Army, while the Air Force and Navy served as little more than adjuncts to the Army. But with the launch of its first aircraft carrier next month, the rest of the world – and especially the United States’ Asian allies – is taking note of how dramatically things have changed. China has big maritime ambitions, and they are backed up by a naval build-up unseen since Kaiser Wilhelm II decided to challenge British naval power with the building of the High Seas Fleet at the turn of the last century.   

China’s build-up is driven by a two-pronged strategy. First, China seeks to deny access by the United States and other naval powers to the Yellow, East China and South China Seas, thereby (1) establishing its own equivalent to the way the United States saw the Caribbean in the 20th century, from which its blue water navy can operate globally; (2) dominating the natural resources and disputed island chains such as the Spratly and Senkaku Island chains in those seas; and (3) giving it the capacity to reunify Taiwan with the mainland by force and without US interference, if necessary. China’s assertiveness in confronting and harassing Asian and US civilian and naval ships in the region over the past decade shows a sustained level of determination on this front.

(...) [artículo aquí]

Thursday 21 July 2011

ENVEJECIMIENTO EN CHINA

El Pais logo def

CRECE LA PRESIÓN EN CHINA PARA RELAJAR LA POLÍTICA DE HIJO ÚNICO

La provincia sureña de Guangdong, una de las más industriales del país, solicita al Gobierno central permiso para que los matrimonios puedan tener dos hijos si el padre o la madre no tienen hermanos

José Reinoso

El País, 21 de julio de 2011

Cuando el pasado abril el Gobierno chino hizo públicos los resultados del censo efectuado a finales de 2010, lo datos confirmaron con números y porcentajes algo que ya sabían y preocupa desde hace tiempo a las autoridades: el país más poblado del mundo, con 1.339 millones de almas, es cada vez más anciano. Los chinos con más de 60 años representan el 13,26% del total -2,93 puntos porcentuales más que en el recuento anterior, realizado en 2000-, mientras que los que tienen 14 años o menos suponen el 16,6%, 6,29 puntos menos.

Esta situación -consecuencia directa de la política de hijo único y la modernización experimentada por China en las últimas décadas- representa un serio problema. Los demógrafos y economistas han advertido que tendrá un gran impacto en el futuro en el mercado laboral de la segunda economía del mundo, debido a la disminución de la cifra de potenciales trabajadores, y amenaza el equilibrio social, ante la reducción paulatina del porcentaje de gente activa disponible para sostener a la creciente tercera edad.

"En los últimos 10 años, la población de todas las 31 provincias, municipalidades y regiones autónomas ha crecido, y todas se enfrentan a un problema de rápido envejecimiento", afirmó al presentar el censo Ma Jiantang, alto funcionario de la Oficina Nacional de Estadísticas, quien insistió en que la tendencia es más pronunciada en las zonas costeras y las más desarrolladas.

No han pasado ni siquiera tres meses, y ya han surgido iniciativas para hacer frente a la situación. Han llegado en primer lugar de Guangdong, una de las zonas costeras más desarrolladas del país a las que se refería Ma. Las autoridades de la provincia sureña -la más poblada de China y una de las más industrializadas- han solicitado a Pekín que relaje la estricta política de planificación familiar para permitir a los matrimonios tener dos hijos si el padre o la madre son hijos únicos.

(...) [artículo aquí]

Tuesday 19 July 2011

VIOLENCE IN XINJIANG

Global Spin - Time

IN CHINA'S FAR WEST, ETHNIC STRIFE CONTINUES

Austin Ramzy

Global Spin (blog) - Time, July 19, 2011

The heat of the summer in China's northwestern region of Xinjiang has been punctuated once again by mass violence. In the oasis city of Hotan, authorities say rioters from the Uighur ethnic group attacked and set fire to a police station on Monday, killing four people including a paramilitary officer, a security guard and two hostages. Police "gunned down" several rioters, the state-run Xinhua news service reported, without providing details.

Exile Uighur groups have disputed the official version of events. The Munich-based World Uyghur Congress says that a group of about 100 Uighurs were protesting "illegal seizures of land and the forcible disappearances of relatives by Chinese security forces" when police opened fire, prompting the clash.

Outbursts of violence have been regular if relatively infrequent events in Xinjiang for the past two decades. In August 2010 a Uighur man who was targeting police and paramilitary officers set off a bomb rigged to a three-wheeled cart, killing seven people and injuring 14. Two years before in the city of Kashgar two Uighur men drove a truck into a group of border patrol officers who were out on an early morning run, then attacked the survivors with knives and homemade explosives. Seventeen guards were killed, and 15 injured.

(...) [artículo aquí]

Monday 18 July 2011

CHINA AND COMMODITIES

Gulf Times

CHINA’S ECONOMIC GROWTH STOKES COMMODITY BULLS AS RISKS GROW

Clyde Russell

Gulf Times, July 18, 2011

China’s stellar second-quarter economic growth should come with a health warning similar to investment products: past performance isn’t an indicator of future returns.

The commodity bulls will have been stoked by the 9.5% growth in gross domestic product in the three months to June.

Not only did it beat expectations of 9.4%, the details were positive, showing a 15.1% rise in factory output and record steel production.

Certainly, the case for a soft landing for the world’s fastest-growing major economy is still very much in place.

In such a scenario, demand for key commodities, such as crude oil, copper, iron ore and coal should remain robust, supporting higher prices in the second half of the year.

Investors responded to the China data by boosting the prices of metals, shares and the Australian dollar, a key risk-barometer currency.

But – and this is a fairly big but – the happy story presented by China may be adversely affected by developments half way across the world.

The debt crisis in Europe just seems to get worse and it now appears likely there will be a default of some sort on Greek debt, with heightened risks of something similar in Ireland, Italy and Spain.

(...) [artículo aquí]

Sunday 17 July 2011

INFLATION IN ASIA

Indian Express

ASIA RATES HAVE ROOM TO RISE

Reuters

Indian Express, July 17, 2011

Asia's emerging market central banks will need to keep ratcheting up interest rates well after inflation peaks to prevent higher prices from seeping into corners of the economy where they are much harder to dislodge.

Two months after global oil prices began to subside from a spike fed by Middle East unrest, the worst appears to be over for China, Indonesia, and a handful of other Asian economies that struggled to contain inflation this year.

But it may be only a short-lived reprieve. Home-grown inflationary pressures are building, stemming from tight labour markets, rising property values and growing domestic demand, meaning rate rises may continue at least through 2012.

China is the country to watch. Not only is it the biggest player on the block, but it has become a role model for some other policymakers in the region and a bellwether for investor sentiment on Asian emerging markets.

"We do expect inflation to roll over in the coming months," Frederic Neumann, co-head of Asian economics research at HSBC, said in a telephone interview from Hong Kong. "But make no mistake, there is underlying inflation that will not disappear in China."

Neumann thinks last week's interest rate hike from the People's Bank of China (PBOC) will be the last of the year but far from the final move of the tightening cycle.

A slim majority of economists polled by Reuters on Thursday predicted otherwise, calling for one more one-quarter percentage point increase in bank lending rates by year end.

(...) [artículo aquí]

Saturday 16 July 2011

INDIA’S FOREIGN AND DOMESTIC THREATS

Hindustan Times

MUMBAI TERROR ATTACK UNDERSCORES INDIA'S VULNERABILITY

Indo-Asian News Service

Hindustan Times, July 16, 2011

Even before the country could ascertain the implications of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's much-awaited cabinet reshuffle, especially since it is supposedly the last major one before the next general election, the Mumbai blasts reminded it yet again of its dangerous neighbourhood and volatile domestic scene.

For the present, the terrorist outrage appears to be the handiwork of an indigenous group, probably the Indian Mujahideen. But the curious coincidence of these attacks taking place on the 13th and 26th of a month points to the Pakistan-based Lashkar-e-Taiba's hand.

Before the multiple explosions in Mumbai on Sep 13, the German bakery in Pune was a terrorist target on Feb 13, 2010, before which occurred the horrendous Mumbai massacres of the Pakistani suicide bombers on Nov 26, 2008. The year 2008 was one of the worst for India since, besides the Mumbai carnage, there were six blasts in New Delhi on Sep 13 of that year, in which 26 people were killed.

Two months earlier, on July 26, 2008, there were as many as 20 explosions in Ahmedabad, killing 57, while 68 were killed in Jaipur on May 13. There were other outrages, too, in addition to these ones on various days of the month, but the choice of the 13th this time is indicative of a particular group.

The fact, however, that India has experienced no more than two major terrorist attacks in the nearly three years after 26/11 is a sign that the security situation has improved since the days of the "spectacularly inept" Shivraj Patil, to use the Wikileaks quote about the former home minister. There were minor ones, of course, as in Varanasi on Dec 7, 2010, in which two people were killed.

(...) [artículo aquí]

Friday 15 July 2011

INDIA AND THE US

WashPost logo3

U.S.-INDIA NUCLEAR DEAL DRIFTS DANGEROUSLY

Simon Denyer and Rama Lakshmi

The Washington Post, July 15, 2011

NEW DELHI — Hailed as the centerpiece of a new partnership between the world’s two most populous democracies, the U.S.-India nuclear deal has drifted dangerously since it was signed in 2008, analysts and former negotiators from both countries say.

The risk now is that other countries, particularly Russia and France, might benefit from all the hard work that the United States put into the deal.

The landmark agreement was supposed to allow the sale of nuclear reactors and fuel to India, even though the country has nuclear weapons but has not signed the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty. Its advocates said it would bring tens of billions in business to the United States and create thousands of jobs, while also cementing a new partnership between the two nations to counter China’s rise.

The deal itself, symbolic of a new partnership between the two countries, is not in any political danger. But American companies have not yet sold any reactors or equipment to India. American nuclear fuel firms, which face no legal or policy hurdles, have also not begun selling to India.

Personally propelled by President George W. Bush and Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, the deal overcame enormous opposition from the non-proliferation lobby in the United States and from Indians who said the conditions attached to the deal undermined the country’s sovereignty. But once the ink was dry and the hard work of implementation began, the momentum stalled.

(...) [artículo aquí]

Thursday 14 July 2011

INDIA’S COUNTER-TERROR POLICY

Economic Times logo OK

POOR INTELLIGENCE KEEPS INDIA VULNERABLE: ANALYSTS

The Economic Times, July 14, 2011

NEW DELHI: India will remain a soft target for militant attacks until it enforces a radical shift in counter-terror policy that prioritises effective intelligence-gathering, analysts said Thursday.

Despite Home Minister P. Chidambaram's insistence that Wednesday's serial bomb blasts in Mumbai could not be blamed on any intelligence failure, experts said India's internal security apparatus remained woefully inadequate.

The three explosions in the country's commercial capital left 17 dead and 131 injured, dozens of them seriously.

Ajai Sahni, executive director of the Institute of Conflict Management in New Delhi, said new security measures introduced after the 2008 Mumbai attacks had only addressed &quota fraction" of the core weaknesses in policing and grassroots information gathering.

“Obviously, you cannot have a 100 percent guarantee against a terror attack, but that said, we have tremendous infirmities in terms of security,” Sahni told AFP.

“Our system does not respond on a war footing to terrorism, it acts like a confused bureaucracy,” he said, adding that India's police force was largely &quotincompetent" with little or no forensic capability or intelligence training.

(...) [artículo aquí]

Wednesday 13 July 2011

CHINA’S LOCAL DEBT

Reuters DEF

ANALYSIS: CHINA TO SEE BUMPY PATCH, BUT NO CRISIS, ON LOCAL DEBT

Jason Subler

Reuters, July 13, 2011

SHANGHAI (Reuters) - However you slice and dice it, a sizeable chunk of China's local government debt will likely go bad over the next few years. But that will not be anything the world's second-largest economy can't muddle through.

Something of a war of words has emerged over just how much China's provincial and city governments owe their creditors for the infrastructure and other projects they have rushed out over the past several years, helping their own economies flourish amid a global downturn.

Moody's last week issued a report saying an estimate by the country's audit office a week before had underestimated local government debt by some 3.5 trillion yuan ($540 billion).

The audit office this week spoke out in its own defense, saying doubts over its figures - which put such debt at 10.7 trillion yuan -- were "irresponsible."

The stakes, of course, are high.

Any wave of defaults big enough to destabilize the country's major banks or crimp the government's finances could have devastating consequences not only for the Chinese economy, but for global growth and financial markets as well.

The reality, however, is that China has significant flexibility and fiscal firepower to fend off the risks of such a shock to its economy, and will therefore probably be able to cushion the blow.

"Yes, there are going to be substantial losses from local government debt. But it's not going to happen immediately, all of a sudden, all together," said Tao Wang, an economist with UBS in Hong Kong.

(...) [artículo aquí]

Tuesday 12 July 2011

JAPAN AND NUCLEAR POWER

reuters-logo-dec_-2009-o

JAPAN PM SAYS MUST REDUCE DEPENDENCE ON NUCLEAR POWER

Linda Sieg

Reuters, July 12, 2011

TOKYO (Reuters) - Japan has no choice but to reduce its reliance on nuclear power, Prime Minister Naoto Kan said on Tuesday, as the country battles to end a four-month-old radiation crisis at a tsunami-crippled nuclear plant.

The unpopular prime minister appears increasingly sensitive to growing public concern about nuclear power, but whether he oversees an overhaul of energy policy is in doubt as he has promised to resign, although he has not specified when.

"We must scrap the plan to have nuclear power contribute 53 percent (of electricity supply) by 2030 and reduce the degree of reliance on nuclear power," Kan told the panel.

The crisis at Tokyo Electric Power Co's Fukushima plant has sparked public debate over the role of nuclear power in quake-prone, resource-poor Japan, as well as immediate concerns about power shortages as 35 of the country's 54 reactors are currently off-line.

A 2010 basic energy plan had called for boosting nuclear energy's share of the electricity supply to 53 percent by 2030 by building at least 14 new reactors, but many politicians agree that is nearly impossible now given the growing public anxiety.

The crisis has also prompted discussions about whether to reform the way the nuclear power business, now the bailiwick of private utilities, is run.

"The question arises whether private companies can bear responsibility when considering the large risks involved with nuclear business," he told the panel.

"Examples from other countries show that this has not always been the case. I agree with the suggestion that discussions (including on nationalization) are needed."

(...) [artículo aquí]

Monday 11 July 2011

CHINA’S SLOWDOWN

Bloomberg_logo

SLOW CHINA GROWTH LEAVES WEN FEW OPTIONS

Bloomberg News

Bloomberg, July 11, 2011

China’s economy probably grew the least in almost two years last quarter, contributing to a global weakening that Premier Wen Jiabao confronts with more limited scope for policy response than during the 2008 world recession.

The government is forecast to report July 13 gross domestic product rose 9.3 percent from a year before, according to the median estimate in a Bloomberg survey, down from 9.7 percent the previous quarter. With data two days ago showing consumer prices climbed the most in three years in June, any easing in the central bank’s monetary stance risks escalating price pressures.

China’s slowdown was underscored by the weakest import gain since 2009 in June, limiting the chance for the U.S. and Europe to export their way out of their own domestic challenges. A 58 percent jump in bank credit in 2009-2010 and concern that local governments may default on loans leaves Wen with less room to unleash the scale of stimulus that aided the world in 2008.

“Any significant policy loosening or introduction of another big stimulus right now would run the risk of plunging the Chinese economy into a real hard landing, with inflation running out of control and government debt and bad loans piling up,” said Lu Zhengwei, Shanghai-based chief economist at Industrial Bank Co., who was rated China’s best analyst in 2010 by China Business News newspaper. “Softer growth is more sustainable” and will help contain inflation, he also said.

Wen has toured farms, factories and low-income housing projects in two northern provinces this month to highlight the government’s commitment to fighting inflation and boosting supplies of cheap homes.

(...) [artículo aquí]

Sunday 10 July 2011

INDIA’S ECONOMIC CONCERNS

afp_logo

BEARS CIRCLE INDIA'S SLOWING ECONOMY

Penny MacRae

AFP, July 10, 2011

NEW DELHI — Not long ago it was the toast of investors, but India's appeal has taken a hit, with bearish sentiment building thanks to worries over stubbornly high inflation and widespread political corruption.

Investor ardour for Asia's third-largest economy has been cooled by a litany of bad news, from slowing growth, rising prices and spiralling interest rates to paralysis on economic reforms and a string of high-profile graft scandals.

Last week, global business information agency Dun and Bradstreet reported that its India business optimism index had fallen by a hefty 22 percent quarter-on-quarter.

"There has been a confluence of bad news dragging down sentiment," Kaushal Sampat, Dun and Bradstreet's India chief executive, told AFP.

The bad news comes as the government battles multiple corruption scandals that forced the resignation of a second cabinet minister last week over accusations he abused his power while he held the telecom portfolio.

"There are so many political fires, it makes it hard for the government to focus on the economic challenges such as reforms needed to spur growth," says Sampat.

(...) [artículo aquí]

Saturday 9 July 2011

EL ASCENSO DE CHINA

El Pais logo def

SOMBRAS CHINESCAS

Francisco G. Basterra

El País, 9 de julio de 2011

Mientras Europa se asoma al abismo de la deuda y Obama discute con el Congreso en Washington elevar el techo de la norteamericana para evitar que EE UU declare el impago de sus obligaciones, China celebra estos días el 90º aniversario del partido comunista que fundara Mao. "Sin el PCCh no habría una nueva China", pregonan los carteles sobre fondo rojo, igual que las banderas, lo único rojo que aún persiste en el Imperio del Centro. Es una historia de éxito, heredera sin embargo de algunas de las mayores salvajadas del siglo XX cometidas por el Gran Timonel: el Gran Salto Adelante con la colectivización de la agricultura, 45 millones de muertos, y la Revolución Cultural, ahora oficialmente sepultadas en el olvido. El PCCh, el dinosaurio que aplicó una implacable ingeniería social sobre una población miserable e inerme, ha sabido adaptarse mientras el comunismo era enterrado por la historia. Los 78 millones de miembros del partido son hoy los capitalistas con más éxito en el mundo. Han sacado de la pobreza a más de 300 millones de chinos y en las últimas seis décadas han multiplicado por 30 el PIB del país, loado sea el pequeño Deng; China ha superado ya económicamente a Japón y Alemania y, en 10 o 15 años, adelantará a EE UU. Se ha creado una amplia clase media que aún soporta, a cambio de bienestar, la represión de las libertades. Los chinos de la última generación saben ya que vivirán mejor que sus padres; en Europa y en Estados Unidos, los hijos admiten que no alcanzarán el nivel de sus mayores. Todo parece darle la razón a la canción de REM: es el fin del mundo como lo hemos conocido.

Desde Occidente vemos con una mezcla de estupefacción e inquietud el ascenso de China. Su emergencia es el primer desafío geoestratégico del siglo XXI. Kissinger, autor de la normalización diplomática entre Washington y Pekín, estima en su libro On China que EE UU debe ceder el paso al ascenso de China para evitar un conflicto trágico. Por el contrario, la actual jefa de la diplomacia norteamericana, Hillary Clinton, acaba de declarar a la revista The Atlantic que el sistema chino está condenado al fracaso, porque al suprimir la democracia va contra la historia. El constante intento que hacemos desde Occidente por descifrar China provoca un espectáculo de sombras chinescas. La luz que utilizamos es insuficiente, lo mismo que la herramienta: nuestra percepción, nuestra cultura, nuestros prejuicios. El resultado en la pared de enfrente es un teatro de sombras incapaz de ofrecer una imagen completa y real del país en el que vive casi la cuarta parte de la humanidad. Los que lo intentan producen una rara unanimidad. Vean los últimos libros publicados por especialistas: Cuando China gobierne el mundo: El final del mundo occidental y el nacimiento de un nuevo orden global, o El consenso de Pekín. Cómo el modelo autoritario chino dominará el siglo XXI.

(...) [artículo aquí]

Friday 8 July 2011

NUCLEAR STRESS TESTS IN JAPAN

Bloomberg_logo

JAPAN MAY BE NUCLEAR FREE BY MAY

Tsuyoshi Inajima and Chisaki Watanabe

Bloomberg, July 8, 2011

Japan may have no nuclear reactors running by May next year should the round of tests announced by the government this week cause further delays to restarting units idled for maintenance, a Bloomberg survey shows.

Shikoku Electric Power Co. today said it delayed starting a reactor that was due to resume in two days. About two-thirds of Japan’s 54 reactors have been shut down by the March earthquake and tsunami or because of regular checks, leading to power- saving measures in parts of the country.

The so-called stress tests on nuclear stations were announced two days ago by Trade Ministry Banri Kaieda, almost three weeks after he declared all reactors safe. The turnaround prompted a mayor to yesterday retract his approval for Kyushu Electric Power Co. to start two units that were due to resume operations in April.

“It would have made sense if stress tests were announced before Trade Minister Kaieda said Japan’s nuclear plants are safe,” said Tetsuo Ito, the head of the Atomic Energy Research Institute at Kinki University in western Japan. “Residents around reactors must feel really insulted.”

The remaining operating units in Japan, the world’s third- biggest user of nuclear power, must be idled by May next year, according to schedules provided to Bloomberg by Kyushu Electric, Shikoku Electric, Tokyo Electric Power Co., Kansai Electric Power Co. and the other power companies. The U.S. and France are the biggest users of atomic power.

(...) [artículo aquí]

Thursday 7 July 2011

CHINA AND MARINE RESOURCES

Eurasia Review

CHINA’S NEW MARINE INTERESTS: IMPLICATIONS FOR SOUTHEAST ASIA

China has for the first time included a chapter on marine development in a Five Year Plan. This emphasis on the marine economy presents both challenges and opportunities.

Yang Fang

Eurasia Review, July 7, 2011

CHINA’S 12th Five-Year Plan, which was released in March 2011, has for the first time incorporated maritime development guidelines in a single chapter. The plan emphasises an optimal marine industry structure that includes exploiting and utilising marine resources rationally and scientifically, enhancing maritime development, and improving control and management capabilities.

The call for development of the marine economy is in line with China’s growing maritime interests. During the course of the 11th Five-Year Plan, China’s marine economy increased by 13.5%. However, this increase accounts for no more than 10% of the national GDP. In the years to come, the Chinese government will transform the national economy into a more marine-based one. Coastal provinces have increased investment in marine industries and programmes to promote the marine economy. The country’s coastal provinces and municipalities – Liaoning, Hebei, Tianjin, Shandong, Jiangsu, Shanghai, Zhejiang, Fujian, Guangdong, Guangxi and Hainan – all have their own offshore development plans.

(...) [artículo aquí]

Wednesday 6 July 2011

INDIA AND THE SERVICE SECTOR

Economic Times logo OK

CAN SERVICES-LED GROWTH CONTINUE?

The Economic Times, July 6, 2011

The services sector is largely responsible for the Indian growth miracle. Few had anticipated this when economic reforms were rolled out two decades ago. It is one of many aspects in which the Indian growth story has not conformed to the text.
Can growth in services continue at the same pace? And can a services-dominated economy generate enough jobs? These are among the important policy questions today . There is reason for optimism on both counts. Industry was the focus of the reforms unleashed in 1991.

And yet, in the last two decades, the services sector has grown faster than industry . There is a mystery within a mystery: a big chunk of services growth has come from traditional services not targeted by reforms. These account for about 60% of the services sector. Some modern services, such as IT, communications and insurance, benefited greatly from reforms. Reforms in banking have happened in a very guarded way. Education and healthcare have both grown more in response to demand than as a result of sector-specific reforms .

Ditto for trade, hotels and railways. How do we explain the services sector becoming an engine of growth in India, unlike in China where growth is manufacturing-led ? Barry Eichengreen and Poonam Gupta attempt an explanation in a recent paper (The service sector as India's road to economic growth, NBER working paper 16757). They contend that much of services growth since 1990 represents a catching up with international norms for the share of services in GDP after a long period of repression.

(...) [artículo aquí]

Monday 4 July 2011

THAILAND’S ELECTION

Reuters DEF

THAI ELECTION BRINGS HOPE OF STABILITY; MILITARY ACCEPTS RESULT

Vithoon Amorn

Reuters, July 4, 2011

BANGKOK, July 4 (Reuters) - Thailand's powerful military accepted on Monday a stunning election victory by the party of fugitive former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, adding to a new sense of stability in a country plagued by unrest since his ouster in a coup five years ago.

A day after the victory by the Puea Thai Party headed by Thaksin's youngest sister, Yingluck Shinawatra, the military agreed not to intervene or stop her from forming a government, according to the outgoing defence minister.

"I can assure that the military has no desire to stray out of its assigned roles," said General Prawit Wongsuwan, a former army chief close to military leaders involved in the 2006 coup that removed Thaksin

"The army accepts the election results," he told Reuters.

Puea Thai's outright majority of an estimated 264 seats in the 500-seat parliament makes it hard for Thaksin's opponents to stop Yingluck becoming Thailand's first woman prime minister, which might have ignited protests by her red-shirted supporters who clashed with the army in weeks of unrest last year.

Yingluck announced she would form a five-party coalition that would control about 60 percent of parliament, giving her a strong hand to fulfil her election promises.

"Chances of blocking Puea Thai in the near term are severely limited," said Roberto Herrera-Lim, Southeast Asian analyst at political risk consultancy Eurasia Group. "The instability everyone has been worried about now looks less likely. The military will have to be pragmatic now."

(...) [artículo aquí]

Sunday 3 July 2011

INDIAN INTOLERANCE

Times of India

INTOLERANT INDIA?

The brutal killing of crime reporter Jyotirmoy Dey and the death in exile of celebrity artist MF Husain raise serious questions about rising intolerance in India.

Seema Sinha

The Times of India, July 3, 2011

Be it the rights of an artist, author, filmmaker, journalist, or the civil society, mocking freedom of speech and expression has increased considerably with several groups claiming moral custody of the entire nation. Is this the emerging India of the 21st century?

Attack mode
Three journalists were killed and 14 attacked in a span of six months; fearing a law and order problem, artist Nalini Malani voluntarily shifted her paintings to galleries in Paris; Mumbai University succumbed to protests by the
Shiv Sena and hurriedly withdrew Rohinton Mistry's book Such A Long Journey from the curriculum; religious leaders issued fatwas targeting Muslim women; a violent mob attacked theatres ahead of the release of My Name Is Khan and after attacks on pubs and girls, Sri Ram Sene now opposes appointment of women in bars, disrespecting the Women Empowerment Act. These incidents show the shrinking space of democracy and freedom of expression in India in the recent past.

Unity in diversity?
Experts believe that in a complex, multicultural, diverse and heavily populated nation as ours, there is bound to be some amount of intolerance. Points out Pavan Verma, writer-diplomat, "There can never be a black-and-white picture as India is not a black-and-white civilisation." However, sociologist and author Dipankar Gupta is of the belief that India has always been intolerant, "We don't accept different ideas, our minds are closed to those who are not like us. We lack empathy and the government too doesn't want to act."

(...) [artículo aquí]

Saturday 2 July 2011

JAPAN’S NEW ENERGY POLICY

yomiuri_shimbun

GOVT NEEDS ECONOMY-FRIENDLY ENERGY POLICY

Junichi Abe

Yomiuri Shimbun, July 2, 2011

There is growing worry over whether the nation's power supply will be able to recover from the impact of the accident at the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant.

It appears inevitable that electricity fees will be raised, even if a sufficient supply of power is secured. This means that the very foundation of Japan's economic growth has begun to shake.

Japan Business Federation (Keidanren) Chairman Hiromasa Yonekura has said: "Due to surging energy costs, [the government's] new economic growth strategy is becoming an empty slogan. And companies will have to move their operations overseas."

Yasuchika Hasegawa, chairman of the Japan Association of Corporate Executives, forecasts a similar reality: "Our concern is power supply next year and afterward. Unless the state takes responsibility for it, companies cannot even compile business plans. This may accelerate an exodus of companies from the nation."

One after another, top officials in business lobbies expressed a sense of urgency over the unfolding situation and even expressed concerns that the nation's industries could be hollowed out.

(...) [artículo aquí]

Friday 1 July 2011

90 YEARS OF THE CCP

The Telegraph DEF

CHINA: COMMUNIST PARTY CELEBRATES 90TH ANNIVERSARY

China's ruling Communist Party has mounted a triumphant display to mark its 90th anniversary, whilst acknowledging that rampant corruption threatens to undermine the party's self-appointed right to rule.

Peter Foster

The Telegraph, July 1, 2011

"If corruption does not get solved effectively, the party will lose the people's trust and support," warned Hu Jintao, the party's general secretary and China's president in a 90-minute speech that was televised across the nation.

Addressing hand-picked delegates in the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, Mr Hu's anniversary speech came at the end of weeks of "Red" propaganda aimed at boosting the standing of the party that was founded in Shanghai in 1921.

The party's 80 million members have been urged to sing "Red" songs extolling the virtues of the Communist revolution and stirring up nationalist sentiment in the major economic achievements of China over the last three decades of 'reform and opening up'.

Mr Hu acknowledged in vague terms the mistakes of the Party's past which include the 'Great Starvation' of 1959-62 in which 30m-40m Chinese died, and the political civil war that was the Cultural Revolution of 1966-76.

"In some historical periods, we once made mistakes and even suffered severe setbacks, the root cause of which was that the guiding thought then was divorced from China's reality," he said.

(...) [artículo aquí]