China Buried Under Snow

The biggest snow storm in 50 years hit China right before the Chinese were returning home for Chinese New Year. Power lines were down because of the heavy snow. Trains couldn't run due to the lack of electricity. Power plants couldn't generate electricity because they didn't have coal supplies. Coal couldn't reach because trains couldn't run. Bus and trucks couldn't run because roads were blocked by snow. All round problems.

Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao apologized to the people waiting at train stations in Changsha, Hunan and Guangzhou, Guangdong, most of them being migrant workers. Half of million of Chinese soldiers were mobilized to clear the snow. Fortunately, things are getting back to normal, slowly. Migrant workers are returning home.

Water Cube Is Ready

The National Aquatics Center, nicknamed The Water Cube, for the Beijing 2008 Olympics is completed. It is an iconic facility. Great design and very well built. Photo: AP.

Sunday Times' Fishy Article

This article of British newspaper Sunday Times looks fishy to me. Here is why.

First, the author's is unnamed. The byline is simply Special correspondent. It looks to be one person. I wonder why the writer didn't want to claim credit if it was a six-month work.

Second, it says that "Chinese officials deny that there have been any deaths." Who were the officials (names, titles, affiliations) that offered the denial, when was the denial made, and to whom?

Third, the article quoted Arup, one of the design firms that won the design bid. Arup is a firm, not a person. The firm can't say anything, persons do. The question is who in the firm said what was quoted in the article. If some Chinese worker might have some reason to be anonymous, it was hard to image Arup cared about anonymity. So, why no name was given here.

Fourth, the example given by the Gansu worker seems to exposure his identity. He is from Gansu, went home and then came back. Another worker was said from Pingyin county, Shangdong province. Question: how many migrant workers are from Pingyin on that work site? If not many, that won't be "under a guarantee of anonymity," as the author claimed.

Fifth, one of the dead workers is said to 33 years old. If his age is known, his name is likely to be known, too. Why is not his name given in the article? It seems there is no need to protect the anonymity of a dead worker.

Finally, the article says "No one was available for comment at the Beijing 2008 Olympic organising committee." This looks like an innocent sentence but it is often used only when a reporter needs to meet a deadline. A six-month investigation and interviewing ending with such a line is another indicator of fishiness.

US Banks Need Money Again

US financial giant Citigroup under the sub-prime cloud needed money again to cover escalating losses. It sought sovereign wealth funds such as the China Development Bank, the Singapore Government Investment Corp. , the Kuwait Investment Authority, and others. It was reported that the China Development Bank, led by head Chen Yuan, was in talks to buy a $2 billion stake in Citigroup, but the Chinese government shutdown CDB's involvement, rightly so, considering two factors. One, it already paid $3 billion in the summer for a 3% stake in the British bank Barclays, whose share price has fallen significantly since. Two, CDB just got a $20 billion infusion from government funds in order to facilitate its transformation from a policy bank to a commercial one. Now it wanted to pass on the money to a troubled foreign bank? It doesn't make sense.

More Medal Presenter Training

In the news again. Young women interested in becoming Beijing 2008 Olymplics' medal presenters showed the result of their training. International media were quick to be on the case of light news.

China Eastern and SIA Saga

China Eastern Airlines failed to sell a 24% of itself to Singapore International Airlines and its parent Temasek. And it was a disaster deal because it sold itself cheaper, only half of its share price. No wonder minority shareholders of CEA rejected the deal overwhelmingly. The vote was also a non-confidence vote of SASAC's management of state assets.

Next step seems to be a merge of Air China and CEA. This would create a super carrier and along with China Southern Airlines, China would have two global airline companies. Not bad a setup, with some small domestic airlines such as Grand China Airlines, Shanghai Airlines, and Shenzhen Airlines.

Related article:
China Eastern and SIA Deal Rejected

China Eastern and SIA Deal Rejected

The minority shareholders had spoken yesterday and they rejected the deal between China Eastern Airlines and Singapore International Airlines. It was a bad deal and should be rejected long ago. Obviously the State-Owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission and the management of China Eastern didn't do their job protecting state assets by selling 24% of China Eastern at half of its current share price. Bad deal. Minority shareholders soundly turned down the deal.

Li Fenghua, China Eastern chairman, said that he deeply regretted the rejection and hoped still be able to work out a new deal with SIA. Don't hold your breath. Li should be fired for unable to manage the company in a high growing market. He is clearly incompetent and resorts to selling the state-owned company at much lower than market price to in order to save it. Someone else will definitely do a better job. SASAC should do its job as well. Fire Li.

Remedy The China-US Trade Imbalance

In 2007, China sold the US $266 billion of goods, while the US sold China only $52.5 billion in return, according to the Wall Street Journal. It was a $213.5 billion trade surplus in favor of China. And it was a huge trade imbalance. The US lawmakers in the Congress and the Senate have cried foul for several years. China has made a number of adjustments in its economy in the past 2 or 3 years. But the effect seems to be minimum.

Happy New Year 2008

A new year opens new possibilities. This year, there will be Olympics in Beijing in August. As the game time approaches, there will be talk who will win most gold medals, China or the US? That is really a non-debate because it doesn't matter. China wins most? Good. The US wins most? Good, too.

The credit crunch on the Wall Street will continue. Sovereign wealth funds will still look for bargains in financial stocks. The global economy is in flux and will continue to be so in the next few years.

China's stock market will crash in 2008. What goes up will surely come down. Those who think Chinese stocks will only go up will get burned in China's first ever big crash. That will be an event to remember.

Hong Kong will start its path to democracy. That's a good thing. The big task is from here to there. There will be work to do in revising the Basic Law, Hong Kong's mini constitution, and in building a consensus in the passage of the revision.

Taiwan will continue to muddle in its divisive politics that has divided its population, marginalized its economy and poisoned its culture.

To end on a high note, 2008 will offer as many opportunities as risks. Those who are ready to seize these opportunities will succeed and prosper.