Category: Thinking About China

China Loans Growth Is ‘Lying Down’ With No Clear Answer to Its Financial Problems

Commentary The People’s Bank of China (PBoC) cut the required reserve ratio (RRR) by 25 basis points (bps) for all financial institutions. The mouthpiece claimed a release of 500 billion yuan (or over 70 billion U.S. dollars) in just one cut, but if this had been the case, then the trillion-debt crisis would have been…


Hongkongers Pleading Guilty Is a Sign They’re Under Beijing’s Control

Commentary It’s noteworthy that many Hongkongers charged with national security crimes, including pro-democracy protesters, are pleading guilty. On occasion, such news is met with derision. Some do not realize that it is yet another sign of the sinicization of Hong Kong’s legal system—particularly Beijing’s implementation of the national security law in the city. In China,…


Is the US Government Creating Brain Hacking Technology?

Commentary In July 2016, the new CEO of Twitter, Elon Musk, launched Neuralink, a neurotechnology company specializing in manufacturing implantable brain-machine interfaces. Musk describes the technology, designed to help people with disabilities, as a “Fitbit” for the skull. Others have said that the entirely hackable technology could pose an “existential threat” to society. Giving artificial…


Beijing Finally Wakes Up

Commentary After more than a year of delay, equivocation, and finger-pointing, Beijing seems to have awakened to its economy’s needs. The authorities have moved to enhance the liquidity of real estate developers. As this column has pointed out for months, this is something the authorities should have done more than a year ago when Evergrande…


Is the ‘Unthinkable’ Collapse of Communist China Now Thinkable?

Commentary The November public protests across mainland China, in the aftermath of the 20th National Congress of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) last month, have been focused in a way not seen since the communists took control of the mainland in 1949. That is not to say that the recent protests have necessarily matched the…


What Is Immediately Needed From the Biden Admin to Aid the Chinese Protesters?

Commentary Xi Jinping’s “zero-COVID” policy and protests sparked by the fire that killed people in an apartment building in Urumqi. According to many accounts, the victims were locked inside due to COVID measures. This horrific outcome of the “zero-COVID” policy has caused subsequent protests in Beijing, Chengdu, Chongqing, Nanjing, Shanghai, Wuhan, and other cities calling…


China’s Green Preening Masks Its Appetite for Hydrocarbons

Commentary When the communist Chinese preach about their benevolent actions on behalf of mankind and the planet, that usually amounts to camouflaging their real intentions. This is particularly true whenever the topic is green energy and reducing China’s carbon footprint. Their real objective? To secure future supplies of hydrocarbons while they sell green technology to…


China’s Interference in US Politics

Commentary America’s most powerful China supporters include our top politicians, businesses, and academic institutions. Their interests are reflected by political groups, committees, centers, and think tanks supported by big money donations, investors, tuition, and media with financial links to the regime in Beijing. Their relative silence about the dangers of an expansionist and totalitarian state…


The Economic War With China

Commentary Before wars become hot and kinetic, with missiles flying, they usually creep up into the sphere of trade and economics. Situational awareness of this dynamic is critical, so the missiles don’t surprise us if they do fly. The norm in trade relations is mutual benefit through comparative advantage. This is the “friendly competition” that…


China Tipping Into Economic and COVID Chaos, Again

Commentary Beijing has begun economic stimulus measures after the 20th National Congress last month. But in typical Chinese Communist Party (CCP) fashion, the signals are mixed and Western investors hoping for broad economic reform will likely be left disappointed. Chinese stocks have been in rally mode in November, especially the big tech companies, reversing an…