Sclerotic, Old Europe: a Myth · 28 October 2007, 09:56 CET by Charles Vermeulen
In ‘Europe’s "blue card" plan. Not the ace in the pack’ a small article in this week’s The Economist the weekly explains why only ‘a paltry 1.7%’ of the EU’s workforce are highly qualified non-Europeans whereas in the US more than 3% of the employed population are highly skilled foreigners, in Canada more than 7% and in Australia even more than 10% and the blue card probably won’t fix this. First of all, because ‘many European governments’ will religiously guard their migration policies against EU attempts to harmonise them. Secondly, because European economies aren’t attractive enough. That is, ’(a)s long as those economies remain relatively undynamic, the most talented (especially English-speakers) will use their wits to look for work elsewhere’. Unfortunately the magazine underpins neither this thesis nor its diagnosis of the current state of the European economy. By ‘undynamic’, however, I assume it especially refers to the Rhinelandic, European welfare state, which it probably perceives as a drag on the EU economy.
In an op-ed in the Washington Post entitled ‘5 Myths About Sick Old Europe’, however, Steven Hill shows that the European economy is actually doing pretty well and that its welfare state shouldn’t be conceived as an impediment to growth and dynamics, but, on the contrary, as a system that is ‘geared toward keeping everyone healthy and working’, ‘an ingenious framework in which the economy finances the social system to support families and employees in an age of globalized capitalism that threatens to turn us all into internationally disposable workers’. Click here to read how Hill pitches into this and four other ‘myths about sick old Europe’.
blue card,
china,
competitiveness,
eu,
europe,
old europe,
rhineland,
steven hill,
welfare state
Plea for more European Cooperation · 6 August 2007, 14:39 CET by Charles Vermeulen
In an interview in M (August 2007, pages 10-13), Dutch newspaper NRC Handelsblad’s monthly, British politician / diplomat Paddy Ashdown states that the United States will turn into a disconcerted and inward-looking country after withdrawing from Iraq. What does this mean for Europe? Ashdown provides the opponents for more European integration in the fields of foreign policy and defence with something to chew on:
(Note that I had to translate Ashdown’s words from Dutch into English, while the Dutch version of his words is in turn a translation from English into Dutch, because, unfortunately, the Dutch version was the only version that was available to me.)
ashdown,
china,
europe,
european cooperation,
european integration,
paddy ashdown,
russia
People's Bank of China Buys Stake in BG Group · 2 August 2007, 11:44 CET by Charles Vermeulen
Between June 15 and July 13 the People’s Bank of China (PBOC), China’s central bank, has purchased a 0.46% interest in UK gas giant BG Group, allegedly on behalf of a Chinese sovereign wealth fund, which will be probably named ‘China Investment Corp’ (CIC) and which is ‘being set up to manage $200 billion of China’s $1.33 trillion in foreign exchange reserves’. According to Eurasia Group this ‘CIC will almost certainly increase its very small initial investment in BG Group, raising the prospect of a potential future takeover bid’. Read more about it in ‘China buys 0.46 pct of Britain’s BG Group’, a Reuters report.
bg group,
china,
china investment corp,
cic,
pboc,
people's bank of china,
sovereign-wealth funds
On the Rise of Sovereign-Wealth Funds · 1 August 2007, 11:33 CET by Charles Vermeulen
To make possible a higher offer on the biggest bank of the Netherlands, ABN Amro NV, UK bank Barclays has called in the assistance of the China Development Bank (CDB) and Temasek, the investment company owned by the Singaporean government. CDB and Temasek have invested € 3,6 billion and will invest another € 7,6 billion if Barclays actually succeeds in beating the competing consortium consisting of Royal Bank of Scotland, Fortis and Banco Santander and taking over ABN Amro. In ‘Sovereign-wealth funds. China takes the bank. How sovereign investors plan to operate’ The Economist lines up some pro’s and risks of these so-called ‘sovereign-wealth funds’. More interesting reading material on the subject: ‘Barclays Deal Spurs Drive to Limit Government-Fund Investments’, an article by Ben Sills and Simon Kennedy on Bloomberg.com.
abn amro,
barclays,
cdb,
china,
china development bank,
netherlands,
royal bank of scotland,
sovereign-wealth funds,
temasek
On Africa's Growing Geopolitical Importance · 16 June 2007, 14:18 CET by Charles Vermeulen
Instability in the Middle East which threatens to spill over to Africa, ‘resource nationalism’ in Russia and South America, the growing importance of Africa’s west coast oil fields to Europe and the U.S. and China’s rising presence in the region – all compell the U.S. to form a new Africa strategy in which oil and counter-terrorism will be the key components and which will culminate in the establishment of Africom, a unified military command for Africa that must be operational before mid-2008. Read more about it in Christopher Thompson’s ‘The Scramble for Africa’s Oil’, a report in the New Statesman.
africa,
africa strategy,
africom,
china,
europe,
oil,
resource nationalism,
russia,
united states
The Economist on the Chinese Presence in Africa · 29 October 2006, 16:20 CET by Charles Vermeulen
This week’s edition of The Economist has dedicated two interesting articles to the pros and cons of the Chinese presence in Africa: ‘In the ‘China in Africa. Never too late to scramble’ and ‘Africa and China. Wrong model, right continent’.
africa,
beijing consensus,
china,
china in africa,
the economist
Chinese Companies in Namibia · 28 October 2006, 16:15 CET by Charles Vermeulen
An interview by New Era reporter Mbatjiua Ngavirue with Chinese Ambassador to Namibia Liang Yinzhu gives some insight in the activities of Chinese companies in Namibia and the difficulties sometimes attendant on these activities.
africa,
china,
kaunda,
liang yinzhu,
namibia
Africa's Best Friend or 'Neo-Colonial' Intruder? · 28 October 2006, 10:00 CET by Charles Vermeulen
In the previous posting I mentioned the western criticism, on the eve of the Sino-African Summit, that China ‘ignores environmental standards in Africa and that it deals with governments with poor human rights records’. However, different views on the Chinese presence in Africa coexist as both cases below may show.
On the People’s Daily Online, the web edition in English of ‘the official newspaper of the Communist Party of China’, Kenneth Kaunda, the first president of Zambia dismisses the critism. According to Kaunda ‘China was an all-weather friend to African people and it is still now. African leaders and their people will not be cheated by lies that China’s presence in Africa is neo-colonialism’. Kaunda points to, among other things, the TAZARA (Tanzania-Zambia Railway Authority) railway, built ‘under Chinese assistance both financially and technically in the 1970s’, which connects Kapiri Mposhi in land-locked Zambia to Tanzania’s Dar es Salaam port. The TAZARA railway offered copper-rich Zambia a major, alternative transport conduit as as a result of which the country was no longer dependent on the railways of the neighbouring apartheid regimes for sea-access.
On the other hand, besides from human rights and environmental issues, the South African newspaper Independent Online (IOL) reported that Chinese ambassador in South-Africa Liu Guilin sent a rather harsh message to the South African textile industry during a lecture at the University of Pretoria last Wednessday: China grants it two years to adjust to Chinese competition and it deems import quote unacceptable after that time. The Chinese government had agreed upon import quota earlier this year.
So, then how to value the Chinese presence in Africa? Is China Africa’s best friend or a ‘neo-colonial’ intruder?
africa,
china,
kaunda,
liu guilin,
neo-colonialism,
sino-african summit,
south africa,
tazara,
zambia
China in International Trade and Human Rights · 27 October 2006, 08:13 CET by Charles Vermeulen
The article in Voice of America which I mentioned in the previous posting contained, by the way, a short reaction by China’s Vice Foreign Minister Zhai Jun on the allegations that China ignores environmental standards in Africa and that it deals with governments with poor human rights records like Angola and Sudan:
In the fall of 2005 U.S. Deputy Secretary of State Robert B. Zoellick urged ‘China to become a responsible stakeholder’ in the ‘international system’. Clearly the country has a long way to go.
africa,
china,
human rights,
responsible stakeholder,
robert b. zoellick,
zhai jun
On China's Role in International Trade · 26 October 2006, 19:45 CET by Charles Vermeulen
Today I came upon two interesting reports which both seem to underline once more China’s role in international trade. To start with a recent survey by Loyens & Loeff, ‘an independent full service law firm with integrated corporate law and tax practices’ based in the Benelux, which showed that Chinese investors ‘favour Europe for expansion (60%) over the United States (43%) and Asia (29%) and that ’[w]ithin Europe, the preferred countries are the Netherlands and Germany (22%), followed by France (18%) and Belgium-Luxembourg (16%)’. Furthermore, it appeared from the survey that ‘Chinese investors hope primarily to acquire distribution networks and access to new markets’.
Secondly, I came upon a report published today by Voice of America according to which China has stated that it ‘is negotiating as many as 2,500 trade deals with some 40 African nations ahead of a Sino-African summit in Beijing next week’. The report also pointed to the fact that ‘China is looking to [Africa] as a source of energy, new markets and investment opportunities’, but ‘unlike with the U.S. or the European Union, China buys from Africa far more than it sells’.
africa,
beijing,
china,
europe,
germany,
international trade,
loyens & loeff,
netherlands,
sino-african summit,
united states
Western Sanctions and Hot Khartoum · 24 October 2006, 11:16 CET by Charles Vermeulen
As the U.S. tries to harness Khartoum by Executive Order 13067 (‘Blocking Sudanese Government Property and Prohibiting Transactions With Sudan’) ‘companies from China, Malaysia, India, Kuwait and the United Arab Emirates are racing in’, Jeffrey Gettleman reports in ‘Far away from Darfur’s agony, Khartoum is booming’, an article in yesterday’s edition of the International Herald Tribune.
china,
darfur,
executive order 13067,
india,
khartoum,
oil,
sanctions,
sudan,
west
Wind Energy Use in China and India · 28 September 2006, 07:06 CET by Charles Vermeulen
The New York Times on the ‘Ascent of Wind Power’ in India and China.
china,
energy,
india,
siemens,
suzlon,
wind energy,
wind power
China's Dependence on Iran's Energy · 6 March 2006, 22:50 CET by Charles Vermeulen
A few days ago the China Economic Review published a short news item entitled ‘Iran becomes top oil source’ (2 March 2006) according to which Iran has passed Saudi Arabia as China’s main oil source. If the International Atomic Energy Agency indeed decides to send the issue of Iran’s nuclear program to the U.N. Security Council Beijing’s stance will be crucial. In his article in the International Herald Tribune entitled ‘What will China do?’ (24 January 2006) Ian Bremmer deals with the subject, taking into account China’s growing dependence on Iran’s energy.
(The CER’s source is a report in the South China Morning Post. A subscription to the SCMP is required in order to gain access to the report.)
china,
energy,
international atomic energy agency,
iran,
oil,
saudi arabia
Vindictive China Inc a myth? · 10 September 2005, 11:25 CET by Charles Vermeulen
How should the explosive, economic rise of China be valued? What are the geopolitical consequences of this rise? Two points of view are outlined below, to start with the words of the head of the KITLV / Royal Netherlands Institute of Southeast Asian and Caribbean Studies professor Henk Schulte Nordholt, which originate from an article in the Dutch political journal De Groene Amsterdammer entitled ‘De wereld één China Town. China wordt wereldmacht’ (‘The world one Chinatown. China is becoming a world-power’) (De Groene Amsterdammer, Friday, March 18, 2005, pages 18-20):
This week’s The Economist complicates the view expounded above. In the article ‘Chinese industry and the state. The myth of China Inc’ the assumption is questioned that the aggressive expansion of Chinese corporations on international markets is a centrally co-ordinated quest for world domination by the Chinese government. (The Economist, September 3rd – 9th 2005, pages 53-54) The article acknowledges that the Chinese government tries to create internationally competitive companies and to gain control of strategic resources overseas. However, it also states that we’re dealing with a chaotic, unco-ordinated and therefore weakening influence with, moreover, a limited reach.
To start with, the article shades the all-encompassing control of the central government over the Chinese economy. For only a third of it is directly controlled by the government through state-owned enterprises (SOES), which are mainly active in the field of defence and utilities. Furthermore, even these SOES aren’t controlled by one single force. Rather various bureaucracies with competing ambitions try to make their influence felt, deterring foreign investors with their infighting. More important, according to the article, are the conflicts between the central government and local officials, the latter attempting to protect the employment in their region.
But even the two-third of private enterprices groan under the chaotic interference of the authorities. For private companies are often beholden to state banks for capital and to local officials on whom they depend for favors and contracts. When a private company becomes succesful, it’s likely that government shareholders effectively take over the companies and then ruin them by disastrous decisions.
To conclude: Beijing might aspire to regain its status of political and militairy superpower, as Schulte Nordholt asserts, but the article in The Economist has revealed that China Inc. does not exist yet.
beijing,
china,
china inc,
eu,
henk schulte nordholt,
kitlv,
schulte nordholt
EU Protectionism against Chinese Textile · 4 September 2005, 07:34 CET by Charles Vermeulen
In the yesterday edition of Dutch newspaper NRC Handelsblad former Dutch Prime Minister Wim Kok warns the European Union member states not to lapse in protectionism, referring to the conflict about textile between China and the EU. For eventually protectionism will destroy ‘economic welfare’. [NRC Handelsblad, Friday, September 9, 2005, ‘De rest van de wereld wacht echt niet op de EU’ (‘The rest of the world really won’t wait for the EU’), page 9.]
One day earlier Pierre Lano, member of the board of directors of FEBELTEX, an organization representing the Belgian textile industry, raised the opposite point of view that there is no question of free trade between China and the EU too as long as Chinese textile is mainly produced by subsidized enterprices. This, among other things, makes import quotas on Chinese textile only wise, according to Lano. [NRC Handelsblad, Thursday, September 8, 2005, ‘Wees niet blind voor Chinese draak’ (‘Don’t be blind for Chinese dragon’), page 8.]
china,
chinese textile,
eu,
european union,
febeltex,
free trade,
import quotas,
pierre lano
Government Undertakings, Oil and World Power · 19 February 2005, 14:32 CET by Charles Vermeulen
This quotation originates from an in interesting article in The Weekly Standard by Irwin M. Stelzer entitled ‘The Axis of Oil’ (02/07/2005, Volume 010, Issue 20) about the way ‘China and Russia find a new way to advance their strategic ambitions’. Stelzer emphasizes, among other things, the way in which Chinese government undertakings enter in competition with private companies. The complete article is published online too.
china,
gas,
irwin m. stelzer,
oil,
russia,
saudi arabia,
sinopec