By Joao Peixe of Oilprice.com: The deal between Rosneft and China National Petroleum Corp to jointly develop a giant oilfield in Siberia may be tainted. I’m not talking about corruption or illegal activities, but rather the potential that the oil and gas in the field may be contaminated with radioactive materials from nuclear explosions.
China
American Boondoggle Meets Chinese Methods
by Wolf Richter • • Comments Off on American Boondoggle Meets Chinese Methods
BYD, the name of a Chinese electric vehicle and solar panel maker, stands for “Build Your Dream.” Maybe that’s what they’re trying to do in China. But here, they’re building a nightmare: broken promises, falsehoods, design flaws… all lushly funded by American taxpayers. And they paid Chinese workers in California $1.50 per hour to do it.
China’s Back-Door Natural Gas Supply
by Contributor • • Comments Off on China’s Back-Door Natural Gas Supply
Delirious Construction And Property Bubbles Prop Up China GDP (And Buy Social Stability For Now)
by Wolf Richter • • Comments Off on Delirious Construction And Property Bubbles Prop Up China GDP (And Buy Social Stability For Now)
China’s economy grew barely above the government-decreed minimum of 7.5%. Deep frustrations simmer beneath the surface and can explode at any time. To maintain social stability, the government douses the land with money. Growth at any cost. But the results are majestic property and construction bubbles – and they can’t be inflated forever.
Next Step In Dismantling The Dollar And US Credit Hegemony
by Wolf Richter • • Comments Off on Next Step In Dismantling The Dollar And US Credit Hegemony
The US has abused its three phenomenal privileges – including the control of the only world currency – to put global financial stability at risk, “like a truck full of dynamite heading right toward us,” said the chairman of the International Advisory Board of the Universal Credit Rating Group. But a “new financial order” is forming. And there’s a timeframe.
Supercars In The US, Japan, and China: How QE And Corruption Boosted Sales
by Wolf Richter • • Comments Off on Supercars In The US, Japan, and China: How QE And Corruption Boosted Sales
Supercar-makers Lamborghini, Ferrari, and Rolls-Royce are reacting to the forces whacking global markets for luxury products: a corruption crackdown in China, Abenomics in Japan, and the Fed’s money-printing in the US. The idea that sales in China, which is printing billionaires by the dozens, are crashing is a hard-to-swallow concept for the industry.
“When Will China Be More Expensive Than The US?”
by Oilprice.com • • Comments Off on “When Will China Be More Expensive Than The US?”
With wages increasing and strikes engulfing the country, the cheap labor force that fueled China’s economic boom by underselling competitors is coming to an end. The game is to move factories into the interior. But costs of land, water, energy, and shipping are also rising. So, offshoring to cheaper countries. But….
Three years in the hoosegow: China Tightens Stranglehold On “New Media”
by Wolf Richter • • Comments Off on Three years in the hoosegow: China Tightens Stranglehold On “New Media”
“Seize the ground of new media,” Chinese President Xi Jinping said elegantly when he told state-owned media to get on the ball. So, effective today, the next chapter in seizing the ground of “new media” is this: people found by the Chinese judicial machinery to have posted libelous language online can expect three years in the hoosegow. Conditions apply.
The Big Shift: Chinese, Russians Replace People From (Formerly) Rich Countries As Big Spenders At Parisian Airports
by Wolf Richter • • Comments Off on The Big Shift: Chinese, Russians Replace People From (Formerly) Rich Countries As Big Spenders At Parisian Airports
In Paris, “Chinese” has a new meaning: money. This phenomenon shows up by the busload at luxury retailers where sales staff say a few words of bad Mandarin, instead of bad English, in hawking overpriced handbags and glittery baubles. Now Aéroports de Paris has put a number on it. A glimmer of hope for France, though perhaps of the wrong kind.
LEAKED: German Government Warns Key Entities Not To Use Windows 8 – Links The NSA
by Wolf Richter • • Comments Off on LEAKED: German Government Warns Key Entities Not To Use Windows 8 – Links The NSA
Experts at the German Federal Office for Security in Information Technology (BSI) determined that Windows 8, the touch-screen enabled, super-duper, but sales-challenged operating system is dangerous for data security. It allows Microsoft to control the computer remotely through a backdoor – with keys likely accessible to the NSA.