Tag: China

Americans’ View of China Worsens

Buck Banks

82%

Bloomberg: “Americans’ negative views of China are rising as President Xi Jinping maintains close ties with Moscow during the war in Ukraine, a sign that the invasion and other issues are taking a toll on Beijing’s image.” “That’s according to the latest survey by the Pew Research Center, which found that 82% of respondents had “unfavorable opinions” of the Asian nation, up six percentage points from last year.”

Is China Helping Russia Hide Money?

Buck Banks

$80 billion

Foreign Affairs: “Our research suggests that Russia may have stashed tens of billions of dollars in reserve assets in opaque offshore accounts, where it holds dollar-denominated securities beyond the reach of international sanctions and asset freezes. We see indications, in fact, that across two different periods—one in mid-2018 and the other late last year, as Russia built up troops on the Ukrainian border—Russia may have secluded up to $80 billion in Treasury securities offshore. … Russia’s total offshore dollar holdings, of course, could be higher still. And there are signs, too, that Russia may have moved some of its dollars with help from a foreign government.”

Xi’s Economic Plans Spell Disaster for China’s Economy

Buck Banks

“Last year, President Xi Jinping seemed all but invincible. Now, his push to steer China away from capitalism and the West has thrown the Chinese economy into uncertainty and exposed faint cracks in his hold on power. … Chinese policy makers became alarmed at the end of last year by how sharply growth had slowed after Mr. Xi tightened controls on private businesses, from tech giants to property developers. Meanwhile, China’s stringent Covid lockdowns, part of Mr. Xi’s approach to handling the crisis, have ramped up again as Covid cases surge, hurting both consumer spending and factory output.”

— Wall Street Journal

China Hops on Putin’s Ukraine Propaganda Train

Buck Banks

“The Chinese government is scrubbing the country’s internet of sympathetic or accurate coverage of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, and systematically amplifying pro-Putin talking points. … China’s wide use of its propaganda and censorship muscle helps insulate Beijing from a domestic backlash against its support for Putin— and leaves its citizens with an airbrushed, false version of events, similar to what’s seen in Putin’s state-controlled Russia.”

— Axios

Trump Slashed Staff at U.S. CDC Office in China

Buck Banks

2/3

“The Trump administration cut staff by more than two-thirds at a key U.S. public health agency operating inside China, as part of a larger rollback of U.S.-funded health and science experts on the ground there leading up to the coronavirus outbreak,” Reuters reports. “Most of the reductions were made at the Beijing office of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and occurred over the past two years.”

Trade with China Is Falling

Buck Banks

-22%

Associated Press: “China’s trade with the United States is falling as the two sides prepare for negotiations with no signs of progress toward ending a tariff war that threatens global economic growth. Imports of American goods tumbled 22% in August from a year earlier to $10.3 billion, customs data showed Sunday. Exports to the United States, China’s biggest market, sank 16% to $44.4 billion.”

China Socks It to Trump with New Tariffs

Buck Banks

$75 billion

“China announced that it will impose additional tariffs on a total of $75 billion of U.S. goods in retaliation for President Trump’s latest planned levies on Chinese imports,” Bloomberg reports. “Some of the countermeasures will take effect starting Sept. 1, while the rest will come into effect from Dec. 15, according to the announcement from the Ministry of Commerce. This mirrors the timetable the U.S. has laid out for 10% tariffs on nearly $300 billion of Chinese shipments.”