World

Pakistan takes action to defuse the issue with Iran following fatal airstrikes.
19Jan mmBy Brian ThompsonNo Comments
World

Pakistan takes action to defuse the issue with Iran following fatal airstrikes.

Pakistan's political and military leaders on Friday moved to de-escalate tensions with Iran after this week's deadly airstrikes by Tehran and Islamabad that killed at least 11 people and marked a significant escalation in fraught relations between the neighbors. The decision was apparently reached at a meeting of Pakistan's National Security Committee, chaired by caretaker Prime Minister Anwaarul-Haq-Kakar on his return home after cutting short his trip to the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland. Pakistan's powerful army chief Gen. Asim Munir attended the meeting. A statement after the meeting said the leadership discussed the situation following the Iranian airstrikes and praised the “professional, calibrated and proportionate response" by Pakistan's military. The committ...
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The Gavekal perspective: China investment and the Taiwan survey
18Jan mmBy Brian ThompsonNo Comments
China, World

The Gavekal perspective: China investment and the Taiwan survey

For once, the opinion polls were on the money. In Taiwan’s election, the Democratic Progressive Party candidate Lai Ching-te won the presidency with just over 40% of the vote, but the DPP lost its parliamentary majority. Of course, the reason the world was watching had little to do with Taiwan per se and everything to do with China. Taiwan is a key reason – although certainly not the only reason – why the majority of international investors today perceive China to be ‘uninvestible’. This perception is a marked turnaround from a year ago, when most investors – myself included – thought China’s post-Covid reopening would lead to a bounce similar to those seen in the US, the UK, Europe, Canada, Australia and elsewhere. Except the bounce might be even more potent, since China had been l...
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Experts and thinkers warn caution while hoping for a de-escalation in the Pakistan-Iran conflict.
18Jan mmBy Mike TrudellNo Comments
World

Experts and thinkers warn caution while hoping for a de-escalation in the Pakistan-Iran conflict.

Former diplomats, intellectuals and international relations experts on Thursday said that Pakistan and Iran should put behind the bitter phase and move forward as escalation is not good for them and the region, hours after nine persons were killed in Islamabad's counter-strike in the neighbouring country. This was the crux of the interviews and comments of experts while talking to the PTI or expressing their views on various media outlets in the wake of Pakistan's "precision military strikes" against what it called "terrorist hideouts" in Iran's Siestan-Balochistan province in the wee hours on Thursday.The attack was seen as retaliation to Iranian missile and drone attacks on Tuesday which targeted two bases of the Sunni Baloch militant group 'Jaish al-Adl' in Pakistan's unruly Balochi...
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Many in China believe that the country’s economy is in a recession.
18Jan mmBy Joe RodriguezNo Comments
China, World

Many in China believe that the country’s economy is in a recession.

The night before China's civil service exam, Melody Zhang anxiously paced up and down the corridor of her dormitory, rehearsing her answers. Only when she got back to her room did she realise she had been crying the whole time.Zhang was hoping to start a career in state propaganda after more than 100 unsuccessful job applications in the media industry. With a record 2.6 million people going for 39,600 government jobs amid a youth unemployment crisis, she didn't get through."We were born in the wrong era," said the 24-year-old graduate from China's top Renmin University."No one cares about their dreams and ambitions anymore in an economic downturn. The endless job-hunting is a torture."A crisis of confidence in the economy is deterring consumers from spending and businesses from hiring and...
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Amid economic concerns, Bangladesh Bank scaled down its growth objective to 6.5%.
17Jan mmBy Walter ParezNo Comments
World

Amid economic concerns, Bangladesh Bank scaled down its growth objective to 6.5%.

The Bangladesh Bank has revised down Bangladesh’s economic growth target to 6.5 percent from 7.5 percent for the fiscal year 2023-24. While unveiling Bangladesh Bank’s monetary policy statement (MPS), its Governor Abdur Rouf Talukder on Wednesday said in Dhaka that Bangladesh’s economic outlook remains positive amid the economic challenges. The Bangladesh Bank has revised down Bangladesh’s economic growth target to 6.5 percent from 7.5 percent for the fiscal year 2023-24. While unveiling Bangladesh Bank’s monetary policy statement (MPS), its Governor Abdur Rouf Talukder on Wednesday said in Dhaka that Bangladesh’s economic outlook remains positive amid the economic challenges. However, the Bangladesh Bank’s growth target revision came after the International Monetary Fund (IMF) revi...
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A diplomatic crisis is sparked by Iran’s attack on Pakistan.
17Jan mmBy Mike TrudellNo Comments
World

A diplomatic crisis is sparked by Iran’s attack on Pakistan.

Pakistan recalled its ambassador to Tehran on Wednesday, a day after Iran launched airstrikes on Pakistan that it claimed targeted bases of a terror group. Islamabad angrily denounced the attack as a “blatant violation” of its airspace and said it killed two children. Tuesday’s strike on Pakistan’s restive southwestern Baluchistan province imperiled diplomatic relations between the two neighbors, but both sides appeared wary of provoking the other. Iran and nuclear-armed Pakistan have long regarded each other with suspicion over militant attacks. The attack also threatened to further ignite violence in a Middle East unsettled by Israel’s ongoing war on Gaza. Iran launched strikes late Monday in Iraq and Syria over a suicide bombing that killed more than 90 people earlier this month....
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China’s demographic dilemma and its effects on the world population
17Jan mmBy Brian ThompsonNo Comments
China, World

China’s demographic dilemma and its effects on the world population

GILLIAN TETT in Fool’s Gold, her fabulous book on the Global Financial Crisis, wrote that “silo thinking” was behind the collective failure to see the scale of the looming disaster. The regulators worked in silos and were thus unable to see the big picture, as they were also hoodwinked the Masters of the Universe. The same silo behaviour applied to the buyers and sellers of credit derivatives, who spectacularly failed to see the wood for the trees. The river flowing through the wood was, of course, polluted by highly toxic debt. When the river burst its banks, the trees were almost completely submerged. Several major petrochemical companies were close to bankruptcy in late 2008 and early 2009 because of the sudden collapse of petrochemical pricing happened, which left them with very...
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China’s private companies, pushed to prosper abroad, cautioned that the “days of runaway growth have gone” amid the debt crisis.
16Jan mmBy Walter ParezNo Comments
China, World

China’s private companies, pushed to prosper abroad, cautioned that the “days of runaway growth have gone” amid the debt crisis.

Fosun Group founder Guo Guangchang says the ‘days of runaway growth have gone’, with China’s private firms suffering from high debt and heavy asset loadsJuneyao Group chairman Wang Junjin also says entrepreneurs should ‘refuse lying flat’, and instead follow China’s going global strategy Some of China’s most prominent tycoons have been committed to reining in debt, and are also eying the overseas market for increased growth this year, despite Beijing’s attempt to play up domestic economic prospects and calls for more private investment. “The economic recovery last year was not as fast as we expected. Private firms are still facing huge pressure,” said Guo Guangchang, founder of Fosun Group, one of China’s largest private conglomerates. The 56-year-old is a respected voice in Chin...
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The US fashion industry wants to better target items made using Uyghur slave labor.
15Jan mmBy Mike TrudellNo Comments
USA, World

The US fashion industry wants to better target items made using Uyghur slave labor.

The US fashion industry continues to develop a joint approach with the US government to focus on high-risk trade from Uyghur forced labour without stopping legitimate trade. The United States Fashion Industry Association (USFIA) president Julia Hughes said the US hearing on the enforcement of the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act (UFLPA) was a positive step towards improving the understanding about UFLPA enforcement strategies and how the private sector is a partner in those efforts. She added that she appreciates the Subcommittee, and the US Congress wants to ensure the enforcement of the UFLPA is targeted and effective and fashion brands and retailers are also committed to ensuring forced labour is eliminated from the supply chain. She stated: “We will continue to work with Co...
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15Jan mmBy Brian ThompsonNo Comments
China, World

Geopolitical and economic forecast 2024: China’s instability and the security of the world

At the end of our three-part look at some of the major challenges the world and the global economy will face in 2024, we examine instability in China and the challenge of global security As we conclude our look at six major geopolitical and economic challenges that the world will face in the coming year in a new three-part blog series, we see that while 2024 is set to be a challenging year for a host of countries, few may have as many internationally consequential difficulties as the People’s Republic of China. A combination of socio-economic and foreign policy challenges will stretch the Chinese government’s attention to an untested degree; while simultaneously armed conflict is again becoming the solution de-jour in international relations, threatening global security. Challenge 5...
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