China’s finance ministry was technically correct when it reacted to a sovereign debt rating downgrade in May by saying the debts of local government financing vehicles (LGFVs) and state-owned enterprises would not swell the government’s contingent liabilities. Read Here – South China Morning Post
There are some problems that “good chemistry” just can’t solve. At a surprisingly cheerful summit meeting at Mar-a-Lago in April, Chinese President Xi Jinping seemed to find Donald Trump’s sweet spot. Xi said they “cemented their mutual trust”; Trump called Xi a “terrific person” and hailed their “good chemistry together,” predicting that “lots of potentially […]
The I.M.F. has a complex definition of “advanced,” but a common thread is that all the nations have a per-capita income of at least around $15,000. Since Poland completed the transition from Communism to democracy in 1991, its economy has been growing at an average annual rate of 4 percent and, remarkably, has not suffered […]
Pakistani and Chinese officials boast that CPEC will help address Pakistan’s electricity generation problem, bolster its road and rail networks, and shore up the economy through the construction of special economic zones. But these benefits are highly unlikely to materialise. The project is more inclined to leave Pakistan burdened with unserviceable debt while further exposing […]
Last year’s Brexit vote followed by the election of Donald Trump resulted in the idea that populism was sweeping the West. Elections were scheduled in 2017 for Austria, the Netherlands, France, and Germany, leading to fears among the establishment in those countries that the center-left-center-right consensus that had dominated politics for much of the past […]
From Hong Kong to Cambodia and Thailand to Indonesia and across to the Philippines, governments are this week marking the political convulsions and financial turmoil that swept the region 20 years ago, and reshaped its destiny forever. Read Here – The Diplomat
The first six months of 2017 have seen an inordinate number of cybersecurity meltdowns. And they weren’t just your standard corporate breaches. It’s only July, and already there’s been viral, state-sponsored ransomware, leaks of spy tools from US intelligence agencies, and full-on campaign hacking. And that’s just the beginning. Read Here – Wired
As China continues to travel toward its goal of becoming the second superpower, it sees India as a challenger that should not be ignored for at least two reasons. First, India has managed to develop close strategic ties with the United States through the purchase of military weapons, the planning of joint military exercises, and […]
When Hong Kong returned to Chinese rule two decades ago, the city was seen as a model of what China might one day become: prosperous, modern, international, with the broad protections of the rule of law…Yet as the 20th anniversary of the handover approaches on Saturday, that perception of Hong Kong as something special — a vibrant crossroads of […]
Modi’s White House trip takes place under very different circumstances from his first visit as prime minister in 2014 after a contentious 10-year visa ban. Then, in the presence of many elected American officials, Modi put on a grand show of strength at New York’s Madison Square Garden. The pageantry of his official introduction to […]
