China news roundup / Nachrichten 2024-02-19
Chinese Coast Guard Boarded Taiwan Ship After Deadly Boat Incident
"On Monday, Taipei's coast guard announced that two Chinese coast guard boats near Kinmen had approached a Taiwanese cruise ship.
"Six mainland coast guard officers boarded the ship. After inspecting the ship's voyage plan, ship certificate, the captain and crew's licenses and the captain's signature, they left the ship," it said in a statement.
Taipei's coast guard dispatched personnel who arrived shortly after their Chinese counterparts had left the cruise ship, which carried 11 crew members and 23 passengers.
They "accompanied the ship all the way back to Shuitou Port" in Kinmen, the coast guard said, urging China "to uphold peace and rationality.""
--- First signs of a more aggressive reaction by the CCP? Until now the reaction to those 2 'fishermen' dying was fairly muted. The next weeks might show how strong China actually feels.
cf.: China ramps up patrols near Taiwan’s outlying islands following death of Chinese fishermen
Foreign direct investment in China slumps to 30-year low
"That measure of new foreign investment into the country – which records monetary flows connected to foreign-owned entities in China – was 82 per cent lower than the 2022 level and the lowest since 1993."
--- Which shows that investors might finally come to their senses. Well, most of them:
"However, there are some bright spots. Direct investment into China by German companies reached a record of nearly €12 billion (S$17.4 billion) in 2023"
--- Bright spots? I would call that idiocy.
‘China has a lot more to lose’: U.S. considering sanctioning Chinese firms aiding Russia’s war
"lawmakers were already considering such plans after similar measures were proposed last week by the European UnionU.S. sanctions could severely hurt a Chinese economy already in the doldrums, after a slower-than-anticipated Covid-19 recovery and turbulence in its real estate sector. But such a step could also hurt the U.S., given the countries’ trade interdependence"
--- Meh, if just a few companies are sanctioned it would have a very limited effect. BTW, knowing the EU, it wouldn't be much of a surprise if US sanctions would be introduced much earlier than those by the EU (if they come at all), despite the EU proposing them first.
China offers to deepen security ties with Hungary
"In a statement about Friday’s meeting with Wang, a spokesperson for Orbán said the prime minister had declared that “respect is increasingly missing from international diplomacy, but it has always remained between Hungary and China”."
--- Orban has respect for a genocidal dictatorship...
One more indication that Hungary under his government does not really belong in the EU or NATO.
‘I’ve had a very close and special relationship with China,’ says Lionel Messi in video on absence from Hong Kong game
"Lionel Messi is still trying to explain his absence from a soccer game in Hong Kong as the Inter Miami star released a video on Monday on Chinese social media platform Weibo following a text statement he made about two weeks ago."
--- Sucker. Although, he's probably under quite some pressure from his sponsors & perhaps from FIFA.
Dutch government says China seeks military advantage from ASML tools
Enraged N Korean workers in China beat factory manager to death
--- China Uncensored: "China's Stocking Up for an Invasion"
--- WSJ: "Inside a Chinese Ghost Town of Abandoned Mansions"
Konsum schwächelt - China plant Zins-Senkung für Wirtschaft und Immobilienmarkt
"Die Staatsführung überlegt nun offenbar, die Wirtschaftsprobleme mit einschneidenden Maßnahmen anzugehen.Besonders der für die Baufinanzierung wichtige Satz der fünfjährigen LPR werde womöglich gesenkt. Derzeit steht dieser bei 4,20 Prozent und wurde zuletzt im Juni 2023 reduziert. Experten erwarteten laut dem Bericht bereits an diesem Dienstag ein Absenken des LPR um fünf bis 15 Basispunkte."
--- Sprich: Der Zinssatz würde von 4,2 auf bis zu 4,05% sinken. & das nennt man beim Focus einschneidend? Ist das dann der große Stimulus?
Konjunktur: Tourismus-Boom in China zu Frühlingsfest
"„Der Tourismusmarkt strotzt vor Lebenskraft“, schrieb die „Volkszeitung“, die als Sprachrohr der regierenden Kommunistischen Partei gilt, am Montag. Der Konsum über die Feiertage dürfte in Peking Hoffnung machen, die Wirtschaft anzukurbeln"
--- & die dpa vertraut einfach mal chinesischen Staatsmedien. Ist ja auch nicht so, als wenn dieser 'Rekord' schon Wochen vor dem Frühlingsfest angekündigt worden wäre...
Direktinvestitionen in China schwächeln wie seit Jahrzehnten nicht mehr (außer natürlich die deutschen Investitionen)
