Miscellaneous News

[FriedButter]

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The statements show the rising stakes in the labor dispute that could lead to the first national railroad strike in 30 years as soon as this Friday. About 60,000 union members who work for the railroad are set to go on strike, including the engineers and conductors who make up the two-person crews on each train. Even though 45,000 other union members belong to unions that have reached tentative deals with the railroads, a strike by engineers and conductors would bring the freight rail system, which carries nearly 30% of the nation’s freight, to a grinding halt.

they remain steadfast that members should be allowed to attend routine medical appointments without jeopardizing their employment. They said they are willing to accept a contract that addresses these concerns and are ready to strike if the carriers do not budge.

 

[tokenanalyst]

Chinese government's official position on the current Russian invasion has been neutral all along. China is unlikely to change that since providing military equipment to Russia would risk massive US sanctions and asset seizure. I don't expect this to change even after Putin Xi meeting.

What is really deterring the Chinese from selling weapons to Russia is the Europeans not the Americans, the Chinese give a rat ass about the U.S. but they don't want to strain more their relationship with Europe. U.S. troops are not involved in this war nor are Chinese troops, so this is basically a proxy war.
But if the Europeans start openly supporting the Taiwan separatists and send weapons to that island, then the Chinese will probably support the Russians in this war, something that will be really bad for the Ukrainians.

 

[siegecrossbow]

Didn't some German government official cried "disconnecting from China"? Didn't German government reject VW's investment guarantee in China? It seems that German businessmen don't care so much about political idiot.

There is two kind of vote, by paper/hand, or by legs.

BASF's mega complex is certainly planned a long time ago, but I think BASF would now be extremely excited considering the raising oil and gas price in Europe.

If your son hypothetically cries about selling all of your financial assets to buy a second-hand MIG-29 to take him for a spin, what would you do?

 

[texx1]

I agree with your conclusion but your reasoning is a massive exaggeration of what US is able to do. US has more asset in China than China has in the US except the treasure bonds. Part of the bond is registered in China's name, other part is through third countries that US has difficulty to know the real owner. Any way, seizing the China's state asset is essentially a war act. China's retaliation would be turning the Chinese industrial machine into an armory for Russia, let alone Taiwan. Besides, the bond isn't as effective a blackmailing tool as you may think. Dollar and its derivative (the bond) is only valuable when it is credible (guaranteed return) and accepted in trade. Seizing Chinese ownership of the dollar bond destroys the credibility and also will force China not to accept any dollar payment for its export. Now you see how many countries in the world can afford not to live on Chinese goods? Very very few. How many countries are willing to switch to RMB for their lives, many and increasing. Paper currency is just paper, without credibility and acceptance it is just toilet paper, confiscating a toilet paper is just making the room for RMB to take over.

Sanctions would specifically target against oversea assets of Chinese political and economic elites. Once announced, relevant assets are exposed. Threatening gatekeepers of any countries is far more effective. Just publishing US assets CCP members hold would arguably have enough potential to cause severe domestic outcry thus putting CCP legitimacy under threat especially when concerning officials in senior positions.

Even when those assets are held under names of relatives or ex wives, significant portion of Chinese public would still associate these with corruption. Given the accessibility of VPNs and the speed of social media, it's next to impossible to prevent scandalous information from spreading via upside down screenshots, word substitutions (ways to beat censors). It also makes bad optic to keep money/real estate in US when telling people that US is a potential enemy. For example Simanan (司马南), a famous anti-america pundit whose influence and credibility greatly diminished after his wife was exposed of owning US real estate last month.

 

[Minm]

What is really deterring the Chinese from selling weapons to Russia is the Europeans not the Americans, the Chinese give a rat ass about the U.S. but they don't want to strain more their relationship with Europe. U.S. troops are not involved in this war nor are Chinese troops, so this is basically a proxy war.
But if the Europeans start openly supporting the Taiwan separatists and send weapons to that island, then the Chinese will probably support the Russians in this war, something that will be really bad for the Ukrainians.

No, China doesn't want to be seen to support a war that's aiming to change officially recognised borders and make provinces independent states. Until Taiwan is liberated, China won't take any pro separatist position in the world.

 

[taxiya]

Sanctions would specifically target against oversea assets of Chinese political and economic elites. Once announced, relevant assets are exposed. Threatening gatekeepers of any countries is far more effective. Just publishing US assets CCP members hold would arguably have enough potential to cause severe domestic outcry thus putting CCP legitimacy under threat especially when concerning officials in senior positions.

Even when those assets are held under names of relatives or ex wives, significant portion of Chinese public would still associate these with corruption. Given the accessibility of VPNs and the speed of social media, it's next to impossible to prevent scandalous information from spreading via upside down screenshots, word substitutions (ways to beat censors). It also makes bad optic to keep money/real estate in US when telling people that US is a potential enemy. For example Simanan (司马南), a famous anti-america pundit whose influence and credibility greatly diminished after his wife was exposed of owning US real estate last month.

I see that you are from another planet. Can't argue.

But as I observe, those powerful blackmails did not work to defeat China in the trade war. Why not blackmail CCP to outright support US against Russia? Why keep your cards when you still can make use for it right now? Wait for these cards to become totally useless? Best for you is to reveal these "evidence" to cause CCP and PRC to collapse like USSR, why haven't you done that?

Repeatedly threatening without delivery is bluffing and you have nothing.

 

[tokenanalyst]

No, China doesn't want to be seen to support a war that's aiming to change officially recognised borders and make provinces independent states. Until Taiwan is liberated, China won't take any pro separatist position in the world.

I understand, but if the Europeans hawks decide to no uphold the One China Principle and they decide to redefine Chinese borders, then I think that the Chinese will return them the favor by helping the Russians to redefine Europe borders.

 

[weig2000]

The US Senate foreign relations committee is poised to vote on Taiwan Policy Act on Wednesday, with potential explosive impact.

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[texx1]

I see that you are from another planet. Can't argue.

But as I observe, those powerful blackmails did not work to defeat China in the trade war. Why not blackmail CCP to outright support US against Russia? Why keep your cards when you still can make use for it right now? Wait for these cards to become totally useless? Best for you is to reveal these "evidence" to cause CCP and PRC to collapse like USSR, why haven't you done that?

Repeatedly threatening without delivery is bluffing and you have nothing.

These are powerful sanctions. They are like tactical nuclear weapons. Once used, there is no going back. US is not going to use them lightly.

As for the trade war, I think wall street (US financial elites) got what it wanted from the Phase one trade deal signed in 2020. China agreed to open up its finance and insurance industry in the first phase agreement. China promised to remove foreign equity caps for US financial service firms.

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Under Financial services chapter

The Chapter includes a number of Chinese commitments to improving market access. In particular, China commits to: remove foreign equity caps on certain financial services providers by April 1, 2020, such as securities, fund management, and futures companies54 and U.S. suppliers of life, pension, and health insurance services55; expeditiously review and approve any pending license applications of U.S. credit rating services suppliers (by May 14, 2020)56; and allow subsidiaries of U.S. financial institutions to provide securities investment fund custody services (by July 14, 2020),57 while taking into account their (or their parent company’s) overseas assets to satisfy applicable asset requirements.58 For electronic payments, China agrees to ensure an improved and expeditious licensing process for U.S. electronic payment services providers.59 China also commits to take into account U.S. financial institutions’ international qualifications when evaluating applications to serve as Type-A lead underwriters for any types of non-financial debt instruments.60 China also commits to remove discriminatory regulatory requirements and processes in the insurance services sector61 and to ensure that U.S. securities, fund management, and futures companies can access China’s market on a non-discriminatory basis.62 China further commits to ensure that any new national licenses for financial asset management companies would be granted on a non-discriminatory basis.

 

[Feima]

For example Simanan (司马南), a famous anti-america pundit whose influence and credibility greatly diminished after his wife was exposed of owning US real estate last month.

Remember people like Pelosi and too many others to list act against China all the time yet have huge business interests in China.

Simanan is just a small time pundit, and his anti-US "acts" are basically firing his mouth cannon. I'm not sure there's been a big hit to his credibility. One common view is that there is nothing wrong with him owning US real estate as long as the transaction did not violate any Chinese or US law.