China is ready to ease the military standoff with the United States in the South China Sea, according to Chinese military officials. The defense sources assured that there were no plans for an increase in Chinese military presence in the disputed region. China and the U.S. both played down the incident of a month earlier, when a U.S. surveillance ship was penetrated by five Chinese vessels in the South China Sea. Both sides emphasized the mutual interest in diplomatic exchanges and a functioning cooperation.
Australian regulators called for an extended review of a planned Fortescue stake sale to China’s Hunan Valin Iron and Steel Group. Fortescue, Australia’s third-largest iron ore exporter, plans to sell a 17.6 percent stake to Valin in order to raise capital for its expansion. Concerns over national strategic assets have recently slowed down China’s pursuit of overseas assets. Australian authorities are currently reviewing a number of Chinese investment plans, among them the Chinalco-Rio Tinto and the Valin-Fortescue deals.
Angel Gurria, Secretary General of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, said the OECD may cut its forecast for China’s economic growth in 2009 to as little as 6 percent. The revised forecast will lower the expected growth from 8 percent in November last year to “between 6 and 7 percent”. With the U.S., Europe and Japan in recession, China’s growth is widely expected to slow down in 2009, but will still significantly outgrow other economies hit by the global financial crisis. Earlier this week, the World Bank cut its forecast for China’s GDP growth to 6.5 percent.
A few months ago, I wrote about the early stages of the conflict in Ukraine through the lens of Sun Tzu’s The Art of War. While it appears likely that the war will carry on into the foreseeable future, enough time has passed for us to make an honest assessment of each side’s relative […]
The Ukrainian Army has made dramatic strides in the last few weeks. Ukraine’s tactical commanders have outfoxed their Russian counterparts, and by issuing a feint towards the south the UA has been able to earn substantial gains in the north of their country. The impact of these efforts have been compounded by the steady stream […]
In mid-May the Irish political party, Sinn Féin, won the plurality of seats in the Northern Ireland Assembly. Many American readers might not fully understand the significance of Sinn Féin’s political victory- but rest assured that subjects of the United Kingdom and a wide range of political movements the world over have heard the message […]
The first wave of the Russian offensive in Ukraine has fallen short of Russian autocrat Vladmir Putin’s ambitions. Most analysts deduced that Putin had hoped to achieve a decapitation strike of the Ukrainian government- taking Kiev and replacing Ukrainian President Vladimir Zolinski with a pro-Kremlin voice. Kiev has been threatened repeatedly through the course of […]
On the weekend of March 26th, the notorious MS-13 gang went on a massive killing spree in El Salvador which left more than 70 people dead by Sunday. Even for a country where powerful gangs hold massive sway, this recent tragedy stands out considering that it was the bloodiest day on record since the civil […]
