Latest News Clips 2018.10.01

                           

1.      China reveals its new party line: We're trying to save the world from the US

    CNBC   25 Sept 2018 

       

 Is China's growth story over?  9:16 AM ET Thu, 13 Sept 2018 | 04:49

China hit out against the U.S. in a 71-page paper, accusing President Donald Trump's administration of "trade bullyism practices" that have become "the greatest source of uncertainty and risk for the recovery of the global economy."

The document, published on Monday, outlined the Chinese government's response to criticisms leveled against it by the U.S. Issues addressed in the report include the trade imbalance between the two countries, Beijing's subsidy policy and alleged intellectual property theft by China's companies.

Meanwhile, Beijing called out Washington for practices that it said inhibit fair competition in the U.S. — such as subsidies — and allegedly abusing national security laws to obstruct the "normal investment activities" of Chinese companies on American shores.

Of note, those claims from China's leadership mirror exactly what many experts say Beijing has, in fact, done. Yet despite the longstanding evidence of Chinese protectionism, the Monday white paper sought to position Asia's largest economy as the global standard-bearer for fair trade.

"China does not want a trade war, but it is not afraid of one and will fight one if necessary," Beijing said in the document. "We have a highly resilient economy, an enormous market, and the hard-working, talented and united Chinese people. We also have the support of all countries in the world that reject protectionism, unilateralism and hegemony."

"The US government has taken extreme trade protectionist measures, which have undermined the international economic order, caused damage to China-US trade and trade relations around the world, disrupted the global value chain and the international division of labor, upset market expectations, and led to violent swings in the international financial and commodity markets. It has become the greatest source of uncertainty and risk for the recovery of the global economy," the paper said.

The document was released on the same day as an escalation in the trade dispute between the world's two largest economies. The Trump administration levied tariffs on an additional $200 billion of Chinese goods on Monday, while the government of Chinese President Xi Jinping retaliated by targeting roughly $60 billion worth of U.S. imports.

China stopped short of issuing new threats against the U.S. in the paper, which was published in full by state media outlets such as the People's Daily and Xinhua, establishing a definitive party line on the trade war issue. To some experts, the paper's content showed that China wants to retain the appearance of the victim in its trade fight with the U.S.

"The white paper that the Chinese government put out responding to the many allegations by the U.S. is very interesting. It shows again that China really wants to retain the moral high ground on this issue," Eswar Prasad, a professor at Cornell University, told CNBC's "The Rundown."

"They've been very careful to make the point that they're only striking back when they're struck," he added.

Importantly, American officials have claimed that China is, in fact, the aggressor in the dispute because it took advantage of the U.S. for many years.

A 'knife to China's neck'

The two largest economies in the world have tried to find common ground on trade and business policy disputes, but several rounds of negotiations in recent months have not produced any breakthroughs. Over the weekend, Beijing reportedly cancelled mid-level trade talks with Washington and called off a proposed visit to the U.S. by Chinese Vice Premier Liu He.

It's not clear when both sides will meet again, but a senior White House official said last week the U.S. is optimistic about finding "a positive way forward." But it's difficult to hold negotiations with the U.S. putting a "knife to China's neck," China's Vice Commerce Minister Wang Shouwen said at a Tuesday news conference.

A solution can only be reached if both sides are on equal footing and show sincerity, Wang added, reiterating the white paper's content that called for "mutual respect" and "win-win cooperation" between China and the U.S.

"Win-win" is a frequent refrain from Chinese officials on any geopolitical issue, but many outside experts have expressed concern that the term may be meaningless rhetoric in some cases.

And while China proclaimed through its state-run media on Monday that "no one can take us down," it demanded that the U.S. treat it with respect.

"China has kept the door to negotiations open, but negotiations can only happen when there is mutual respect, equality good faith and credibility. Negotiations cannot be conducted under the threat of tariffs, or at the cost of China's right to development," the white paper said.

But experts are not optimistic that a common ground can actually be reached between the two economic giants.

"I think there is a fundamental miscalculation on the two sides that is going to lead to a prolonged trade war," Prasad said.

He explained that China seemed to take the view that Trump would be under political pressure to strike a deal before the November mid-term elections. But with a strong domestic economy and surging stock markets, the U.S. president has no impetus to compromise, according to the Cornell expert.

William Zarit, chairman of the American Chamber of Commerce in China, also said the conflict will likely get worse.

"How is this going to end? It has to end with the two leaders coming up with some kind of accommodation. Unfortunately … tactics that the U.S. side has been using, it doesn't give the Chinese any room to step back," Zarit told CNBC's "Squawk Box" on Tuesday.

"I'm not so sure that the U.S. side is well aware of what is actually going on and how to best deal with the Chinese," he added.

2.      President Moon presses UN members on need to officially end Korean War The Arirang   2018-09-27

President Moon Jae-in has brought the international community up to speed on North Korea.
Addressing UN member nations on the last leg of his trip to New York, the president, spoke of the progress made with Pyeongyang from getting the regime to put down its nuclear weapons to disclosing its will for peace and prosperity in front of the world.
The South Korean president, for the first time on the UN stage, also referred to bringing an official end to the Korean War. 

          

"Ending the Korean War is a pressing issue, and something that must be achieved in order to reach our ultimate goal of peace. I hope related nations take bold steps on denuclearization so we can declare an official end to the war."

Adding to his case for a peaceful Korean Peninsula, President Moon revealed his administration's plans to utilize the joint economic potential of the two Koreas.
He mentioned his previous proposal of setting up a rail network including the North and the U.S., which would -- in theory -- connect the two Koreas to other Northeast Asian nations, just like the coal and steel community that paved the way for the creation of the European Union.

"The East Asian Railroad Community could become a starting point for a community of East Asian nations on energy and economy, or even perhaps a multilateral peace and security system.

He added through such plans, the Koreas will help to reinvigorate the stalled economic potential of East Asia, a part of the world that accounts for a quarter of the world's economy.
The South Korean leader also touched upon humanitarian issues, saying Korea, which suffered under Japan's wartime system of sexual enslavement, will be front and center of stamping out sexual violence in the region.

"The President is closing out his 4-day trip to New York, much of which he spent briefing South Korea's allies and international dignitaries on his latest summit with North Korea's Kim Jong-un.
What's next-- is to see those seeds of diplomacy bear fruit, perhaps starting with international backing for the new economic map on the Korean Peninsula, while waiting on the next meeting of the two key actors-- round two of a Kim-Trump summit .

3.      Abe’s Third Term as Japan’s Prime Minister May Be His Hardest Yet

The Bloomberg  Sep.07, 2018

Prime minister seeks to tackle chronic woes in next term

             

After two terms of mixed reform results, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe is vowing to tackle some of Japan’s most intractable problems in the third.

Abe is heavily favored to win a Sept. 20 vote to lead the ruling Liberal Democratic Party for another three years, with one local newspaper poll showing 87 percent of eligible lawmakers favoring his return. The prime minister and his only rival, former Defense Minister Shigeru Ishiba, registered their candidacies Friday in Tokyo, marking the official start of the campaign.

In recent weeks, Abe, 63, has signaled plans to follow his “Abenomics” policies of monetary easing, fiscal stimulus and structural reform, with a more controversial agenda focused on demographic issues. But the prime minister’s record of watering down proposals after resistance from the public and vested interests has left many skeptical about his resolve to see it through.

Golden Years

Japan's social security costs are rising fast as the country ages

Source: Japan Cabinet Office

“It’s been characteristic of the Abe government for the last three or four years that they say all the right things,” said Robert Feldman, a senior adviser at Morgan Stanley Mufg Securities in Tokyo. “Somehow the budget and the actual laws they pass don’t get them toward the things they say they want to do.”

Here’s a look at Abe’s agenda:

Foreign Workers

Spooked by a labor shortage crippling sectors such as elderly care, Abe’s pushing to crack open Japan’s restrictive immigration laws. He’s pledged to create a new residential status for lower-skilled foreign workers next year that would accept laborers for limited stays without their families. The existing foreign “intern” system has been dogged by allegations of forced labor. In an essay published by Hanada magazine last month, Abe said foreign workers must be paid the same as their Japanese counterparts and be protected from exploitation. Still, he argues it’s not “immigration” because they can’t stay.

Retirement Age

Jobs for life could become more common in Japan, if Abe gets his way. In an interview with the Nikkei newspaper this week, the prime minister said he wanted to focus the next year on creating an environment for people to stay working throughout their lives. That could mean bolstering opportunities for mid-career job changes and encouraging people to stay on past 65. Japan already has a relatively high proportion of elderly workers, including about 30 percent male and 16 percent of female senior citizens.

Social Security

Abe’s counting on keeping more elderly people in the labor force in year one of his next term. Because it’s essential to healthcare and social security overhauls he’s planning in years two and three. Abe told the Nikkei that he was considering allowing workers the option of delaying pension payouts past the age of 70, in exchange for higher monthly payments when they do. The Japanese already have among the world’s longest life expectancies -- at about 87 years for women and 81 years for men -- and Abe said he wants to promote lifestyle incentives to lengthen healthy life spans.

Sales Tax

Abe is also seeking to raise the consumption tax to 10 percent from the current 8 percent in October of next year. The last increase to 8 percent in 2014 triggered a recession, leading Abe to twice delay a second hike. Abe told the Nikkei that measures like exempting food from the next increase would help deflect another economic hit.

Constitutional Amendment

Abe pledged in a policy pamphlet distributed to party lawmakers ahead of the election to push ahead with a controversial plan to change the pacifist provision of the country’s postwar constitution. He said he would seek to present the LDP’s amendment to the next session of parliament and push for an early vote. The plan faces a rocky road: Natsuo Yamaguchi of Abe’s coalition partner, the Komeito Party, said last month he didn’t think there had been much progress on consensus-building to support the plan.

Latest News Clips 2018.09.10

1.      I Am Part of the Resistance Inside the Trump Administration

I work for the president but like-minded colleagues and I have vowed to thwart parts of his agenda and his worst inclinations.

The New York Times   Sept. 5, 2018

 

President Trump is facing a test to his presidency unlike any faced by a modern American leader.

It’s not just that the special counsel looms large. Or that the country is bitterly divided over Mr. Trump’s leadership. Or even that his party might well lose the House to an opposition hellbent on his downfall.

The dilemma — which he does not fully grasp — is that many of the senior officials in his own administration are working diligently from within to frustrate parts of his agenda and his worst inclinations.

I would know. I am one of them.

To be clear, ours is not the popular “resistance” of the left. We want the administration to succeed and think that many of its policies have already made America safer and more prosperous.

But we believe our first duty is to this country, and the president continues to act in a manner that is detrimental to the health of our republic.

That is why many Trump appointees have vowed to do what we can to preserve our democratic institutions while thwarting Mr. Trump’s more misguided impulses until he is out of office.

The root of the problem is the president’s amorality. Anyone who works with him knows he is not moored to any discernible first principles that guide his decision making.

Although he was elected as a Republican, the president shows little affinity for ideals long espoused by conservatives: free minds, free markets and free people. At best, he has invoked these ideals in scripted settings. At worst, he has attacked them outright.

In addition to his mass-marketing of the notion that the press is the “enemy of the people,” President Trump’s impulses are generally anti-trade and anti-democratic.

Don’t get me wrong. There are bright spots that the near-ceaseless negative coverage of the administration fails to capture: effective deregulation, historic tax reform, a more robust military and more.

But these successes have come despite — not because of — the president’s leadership style, which is impetuous, adversarial, petty and ineffective.

From the White House to executive branch departments and agencies, senior officials will privately admit their daily disbelief at the commander in chief’s comments and actions. Most are working to insulate their operations from his whims.

Meetings with him veer off topic and off the rails, he engages in repetitive rants, and his impulsiveness results in half-baked, ill-informed and occasionally reckless decisions that have to be walked back.

“There is literally no telling whether he might change his mind from one minute to the next,” a top official complained to me recently, exasperated by an Oval Office meeting at which the president flip-flopped on a major policy decision he’d made only a week earlier.

The erratic behavior would be more concerning if it weren’t for unsung heroes in and around the White House. Some of his aides have been cast as villains by the media. But in private, they have gone to great lengths to keep bad decisions contained to the West Wing, though they are clearly not always successful.

It may be cold comfort in this chaotic era, but Americans should know that there are adults in the room. We fully recognize what is happening. And we are trying to do what’s right even when Donald Trump won’t.

The result is a two-track presidency.

Take foreign policy: In public and in private, President Trump shows a preference for autocrats and dictators, such as President Vladimir Putin of Russia and North Korea’s leader, Kim Jong-un, and displays little genuine appreciation for the ties that bind us to allied, like-minded nations.

Astute observers have noted, though, that the rest of the administration is operating on another track, one where countries like Russia are called out for meddling and punished accordingly, and where allies around the world are engaged as peers rather than ridiculed as rivals.

On Russia, for instance, the president was reluctant to expel so many of Mr. Putin’s spies as punishment for the poisoning of a former Russian spy in Britain. He complained for weeks about senior staff members letting him get boxed into further confrontation with Russia, and he expressed frustration that the United States continued to impose sanctions on the country for its malign behavior. But his national security team knew better — such actions had to be taken, to hold Moscow accountable.

This isn’t the work of the so-called deep state. It’s the work of the steady state.

Given the instability many witnessed, there were early whispers within the cabinet of invoking the 25th Amendment, which would start a complex process for removing the president. But no one wanted to precipitate a constitutional crisis. So we will do what we can to steer the administration in the right direction until — one way or another — it’s over.

The bigger concern is not what Mr. Trump has done to the presidency but rather what we as a nation have allowed him to do to us. We have sunk low with him and allowed our discourse to be stripped of civility.

Senator John McCain put it best in his farewell letter. All Americans should heed his words and break free of the tribalism trap, with the high aim of uniting through our shared values and love of this great nation.

We may no longer have Senator McCain. But we will always have his example — a lodestar for restoring honor to public life and our national dialogue. Mr. Trump may fear such honorable men, but we should revere them.

There is a quiet resistance within the administration of people choosing to put country first. But the real difference will be made by everyday citizens rising above politics, reaching across the aisle and resolving to shed the labels in favor of a single one: Americans.

2.      Typhoon Jebi, most powerful to hit Japan in 25 years, leaves trail of destruction in Kansai region

The Japan Times     SEP 4, 2018

Typhoon Jebi — the most powerful typhoon to hit Japan in 25 years — slammed into the western part of the country on Tuesday, killing at least seven and injuring more than 200, disrupting transportation, heavily damaging the bridge that leads to Kansai International Airport and leading authorities to call for evacuations of areas in its path.

The Meteorological Agency warned of heavy rains, strong winds and mudslides across the western and northeastern regions of the country as the typhoon first made landfall in the southern part of Tokushima Prefecture around noon. The storm made landfall again around 2 p.m. near Kobe.

As of 10 p.m. Tuesday, Jebi was traveling north-northeast over the Sea of Japan north of Niigata Prefecture at a speed of 70 kilometers per hour and with an atmospheric pressure of 975 hectopascals at its center.

In Higashiomi, Shiga Prefecture, one man was killed when a company storage facility collapsed amid strong winds. Powerful gusts in the prefecture also tipped over several trucks on the Meishin Expressway.

Another man died after falling from the second floor of his home in Sakai, Osaka Prefecture.

Near Kansai International Airport, strong winds swept away a tanker berthed in Osaka Bay, slamming it into the sole bridge that connects the airport to the mainland and taking a large chunk out of the bridge.

None of the 11 crew members were injured, the regional coast guard headquarters said. Heavy flooding prompted the Transport Ministry to close down the entire airport, which is built on reclaimed land.

According to the airport operators, 5,000 were stranded at the facility as of 10:30 p.m. Tuesday. Flight operations may resume Wednesday evening at the earliest, the operator said.

All Nippon Airways canceled more than 320 domestic and international flights, and Japan Airlines more than 270 flights on Tuesday, affecting around 57,000 passengers in total.

Power was out at 1.61 million houses in Fukui, Shiga, Kyoto, Osaka, Hyogo, Nara and Wakayama Prefectures on Tuesday, in addition to 95,000 houses in the Shikoku region.

In Kyoto, some people were injured after the ceiling at Kyoto Station partially collapsed, according to local police.

Dramatic footage taken by a bystander also showed parts of the roof of the newly remodeled Hotel Hewitt Koshien — near Koshien Station in Nishinomiya, Hyogo Prefecture — blowing off and into an electricity poll amid strong winds from the typhoon. The hotel is adjacent to the iconic Koshien Stadium.

In the city of Osaka, Tatsuki Okada, a desk manager at the Hyatt Regency Osaka, said he was urging visitors to take precautions amid the storm.

“The winds are quite strong and we’re advising our customers and guests not to get too close to glass windows and walls,” he said.

Meanwhile, more than 330,000 homes in the Kinki and Shikoku regions suffered power outages.

Evacuation orders were earlier issued in some areas of Osaka, Kyoto, Nara, Hyogo, Kagawa, Ehime and Wakayama prefectures. In Japan, evacuation orders are not mandatory and people often stay at home, only to be trapped by rapidly rising water or sudden landslides.

Top government spokesman Yoshihide Suga had encouraged the public to “evacuate early” and said at a news conference Tuesday morning that the government will “take all possible means” to prepare for a possible crisis.

Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, who has been traveling across the country in an attempt to secure support for his bid for the ruling Liberal Democratic Party’s presidential election later this month, canceled his trip to the Kyushu region to deal with the typhoon.

Abe had faced criticism over his initial response to heavy rain that pounded western Japan in July, given that he and some other ministers were found to have been drinking at a gathering of LDP lawmakers in Tokyo as the situation became increasingly grim.

Japan has been hit by a succession of typhoons and disasters related to heavy rain, including massive flooding and landslides that left more than 220 people dead in July.

The Meteorological Agency had projected that Typhoon Jebi would move northward along the Tohoku region’s Sea of Japan coast, weakening to an extratropical cyclone by Wednesday morning.

3.      China’s Biggest Movie Stars Get a Pay Cut (From the Government)

The Chinese authorities issued rules on actors’ pay after Fan Bingbing, one of China’s biggest stars, was accused of trying to dodge taxes.CreditCreditClemens Bilan/EPA, via Shutterstock

       

The New York Times     June 29, 2018

HONG KONG — Movie stars in China can make as much as or more than their Hollywood counterparts. The Chinese government is not happy about that.

So officials moved this week to cap how much A-listers can make, citing potential damage to a fast-growing movie industry.

Movie star pay may seem like an issue for producers and trade magazines rather than for the Chinese Communist Party. But the government hopes to nurture the industry into an economic and cultural force to rival the soft power that Hollywood has long enjoyed around the world. Extravagant paychecks and waste could hinder that effort.

China’s movie industry has blossomed in recent years, as economic growth and a rising middle class have put more people in theater seats. Ticket sales in China totaled about $8 billion last year, Chinese media reported, compared with $11 billion for the North American market. The Chinese box office even exceeded North America’s in the first few months of this year, according to one report.

With those numbers have come some Hollywood-style paychecks — many of them going to actors who are not well known outside China. The Chinese actress Fan Binbing, for example, earned $17 million in 2016, according to a Forbes magazine ranking of the world’s best-paid actresses— more than familiar Hollywood faces like Charlize Theron and Julia Roberts. (She did not appear on the 2017 list.)

Ms. Fan, 36, has had largely superfluous parts in “X-Men: Days of Future Past” and a version of “Iron Man 3” meant for audiences outside the United States, as Hollywood finds supporting roles for Chinese actors in hopes of selling more tickets in a hot new market. She is set to appear in the all-female espionage thriller “355,” which also stars Jessica Chastain and Lupita Nyong’o.

In China, however, Ms. Fan is one of the country’s most familiar faces. She shot to fame after appearing in the popular imperial palace drama “My Fair Princess” in the late 1990s. She has appeared in numerous films, such as “Chongqing Blues,” which competed at the Cannes Film Festival in 2010. One woman has even had plastic surgery to look like Ms. Fan, according to local news outlets.

Ms. Fan drew less welcome headlines in May, when a popular television presenter accused her of trying to dodge taxes. As evidence, the presenter, Cui Yongyuan, posted on social media what he said were two versions of a contract for the same film. According to one, she was paid about $1.6 million for four days’ work; in the other, she was paid an extra $7.8 million.

It is not clear whether the contracts are real, and Ms. Fan accused Mr. Cui of slandering her. But soon after Mr. Cui made his accusations, the Chinese tax authorities began investigating whether the movie industry was giving big-time actors two contracts, a public one to be reported to the tax authorities and a covert one promising a large bonus. In China, the practice has come to be known as “yin and yang contracts.”

In an announcement on Wednesday, the Chinese tax authorities said such practices made China’s film industry too focused on money. It said that leading actors would not be permitted to earn more than 70 percent of the full cast, or to be paid more than 40 percent of production costs. Ms. Fan was not mentioned.

The announcement also criticized the film industry as “distorting social values” and “fostering money worship tendencies” among young people who are “blindly chasing celebrities.”

The Chinese government has long been both cheerleader and disciplinarian when it comes to the movie business. It restricts how many foreign-made movies can be shown in China, in part to leave room for domestic productions. But it also limits the kinds of stories that directors, writers and actors can tell — for example, forbidding themes like spirituality, or showing crime in anything other than a negative light. Increasingly, Hollywood filmmakers have bowed to Chinese box-office pressures and removed material that could offend officials.

While the Chinese market has grown, Chinese movies still trail far behind Hollywood in terms of global viewership. “Wolf Warrior 2,” a Rambo-style film about Chinese action heroes, was one of the biggest movies in the world last year, according to Box Office Mojo, which tracks ticket sales. But it still trailed American blockbusters like “Star Wars: The Last Jedi” and the latest installments of “The Fast and the Furious” and the “Spider-Man” franchises, among others.