SHANGHAI: China’s proposal to drastically raise the bar for investing in private equity (PE) and venture capital (VC) funds is facing backlash from industry players concerned it could wipe out small funds and choke financing to startups struggling in a weak economy. The country’s securities regulators published draft rules lateContinue Reading
FUKUSHIMA: A court in Japan found on Tuesday (Dec 12) three ex-soldiers guilty of sexually assaulting a female colleague and gave them suspended jail terms, bringing to a close a rare case for a country where victims rarely come forward to speak out against abuse. The court in Fukushima sentencedContinue Reading
BANGKOK: Myanmar has become the world’s largest source of opium, thanks to domestic instability and a decline in cultivation in Afghanistan, the United Nations said in a report on Tuesday (Dec 12). The 95 per cent decline in opium cultivation in Afghanistan after a drug ban by the Taliban inContinue Reading
Mr Xi is expected to push for the building of a China-Vietnam community with a shared future, which involves bringing Hanoi closer to Beijing’s orbit.
“The last visit by Xi Jinping was (in) 2017, and he actually suggested that. But Vietnam disagreed,” said Emeritus Professor Carlyle Thayer of the University of New South Wales Canberra.
“But China is pushing for common destiny, common security, (and) common development. This is the platform and programme of China’s new world order, in which the US would just be relegated to being one of the players.”
The talks in Hanoi will also touch on trade, infrastructure and economic ties.
Hanoi hopes to attract more Chinese investment and tourists, and increase its agricultural exports across the border.
While the territorial dispute in the South China Sea will also be high on the agenda, some observers do not expect much progress on this front.
KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim’s cabinet reshuffle on Tuesday (Dec 12) saw the introduction of a new face to help helm the finance ministry, even as several other familiar faces returned to the line-up and others were dropped or had their portfolios switched.
Among the notable changes, chief executive officer of the Employees Provident Fund (EPF) Amir Hamzah Azizan was appointed second finance minister, edging out other names such as United Malays National Organisation (UMNO) veteran Johari Abdul Ghani that had been touted for the role.
Mr Anwar currently holds the Finance Minister portfolio.
Mr Amir, who is the eldest son of the former Petronas chairman and president Azizan Zainul Abidin, is a political newcomer. He was sworn in as senator early on Tuesday so that he is able to take up his role at the finance ministry.
Meanwhile, Parti Amanah Negara (Amanah) politician Dzulkefly Ahmad will assume the post of health minister, replacing Dr Zaliha Mustafa.
Dr Zaliha will instead helm the Federal Territories Ministry, which has been recreated after it was administratively restructured under the Prime Minister’s Office after the last general election.
The changes, which is Mr Anwar’s first leadership reshuffle since taking power a year ago, were announced by the prime minister on Tuesday.
Dr Dzulkefly, a veteran toxicologist, was a popular figure when he was health minister under the Pakatan Harapan (PH) administration led by Dr Mahathir Mohamad between 2018 and 2020. He led Malaysia’s initial response to the COVID-19 pandemic before the PH government fell following the Sheraton Move.
Vietnam and China already share a “comprehensive strategic partnership”, Vietnam’s highest diplomatic status. Hanoi and Washington upgraded their relationship to the same level in September. Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin said that the visit would involve discussions on “bringing China-Vietnam relations to a higher position”. That could see XiContinue Reading
CANBERRA: Australia’s trade and agriculture ministers said on Tuesday (Dec 12) that China had lifted restrictions on imports of meat from three large abattoirs in Australia, in the latest sign of improving relations between the two countries. China blocked imports of Australian commodities including coal, timber and barley after AustraliaContinue Reading
China’s huge domestic market and large-scale deployment of wind and solar contribute greatly to plummeting renewable costs. Steadily lowering costs means green energy becomes viable for developing countries.
In 2012, a large team from China Power Investment Corporation arrived in the high desert in Qinghai province and began building 15.7GW worth of solar across 345 sq km.
It was here that China first figured out how to make intermittent power reliable. Excess power was sent to a hydropower station 40km away and used to pump water uphill. At night, the water would flow back down through the turbines. Technologies developed here are now being used in other large-scale hybrid projects, such as hydro-solar, wind-solar and wind-solar-hydro projects.
In 2022, the government announced plans to install 500GW worth of solar, onshore and offshore wind projects in the Gobi Desert across Xinjiang, Inner Mongolia and Gansu provinces.
These are intended to not only supercharge China’s clean energy supply, but to tackle desert expansion. Solar panels stabilise the movement of sand and absorb sunlight, reducing evaporation of scarce water and giving plants a better chance at survival. This knowledge, too, came from the Qinghai solar farms, where plants began growing in the shade.
China’s focus on technology has given it combined solar and salt farms, floating solar power plants and energy storage ranging from batteries to compressed air to kinetic flywheels and hydrogen.
While the US and China cooperate at COP28, competition is not far away. China already dominates many clean energy technologies, but the US is trying to catch up through the massive green spend in last year’s Inflation Reduction Act.
According to the International Energy Agency, half of all emissions cuts needed to achieve net-zero by 2050 will come from technologies currently at demonstration or prototype phase. These include cheap green hydrogen, next generation nuclear, next generation solar and wind, and functioning carbon capture and storage for remaining fossil fuel use.
When compared to the enormous wealth in US politics, Japanese funding scandals can often seem hilariously minor, such as that of Abe-era justice minister Midori Matsushima, who resigned after the sin of handing out paper fans to constituents.
The “kickback” affair, however, is already much bigger: Senior officials are accused of concealing political funds, with Tokyo prosecutors leading the investigation.
James Brady of advisory firm Teneo says it “could become the most wide-ranging scandal since the ‘Recruit’ affair,” referring to the insider trading episode of the late 1980s that cost prime minister Noboru Takeshita and his entire Cabinet their jobs – and later helped hand the LDP its first election loss a few years later.
In the current affair, the crosshairs have most recently landed on Hirokazu Matsuno, who as chief Cabinet secretary holds the second most important role in government. He’s reported to have not disclosed some ¥10 million (US$69,000) in donations. Matsuno hails from the faction headed by Shinzo Abe before his death; other senior figures from the faction are also believed to be involved.
True to form, despite his lack of direct involvement, Kishida has already unnecessarily inserted himself in the scandal by stepping down from his party faction – creating an air of impropriety where none seemingly exists.
If the affair continues to run, Kishida’s already disastrous polling numbers could sink to single digits. Reports indicate that he will respond by removing not just Matsuno, but all ministers and senior officials from the Abe faction, including trade minister Yasutoshi Nishimura.
But as leader, the public might saddle Kishida with the blame nonetheless. Time to consider taking some jujitsu lessons.
BEIJING: The first snowfall of winter arrived in Beijing early Monday (Jan 11), covering the Chinese capital with a mantle of white overnight and plunging the city into freezing temperatures, with even colder weather looming this week in northern China. Snowfall reached 5.8m on average by early Monday, with theContinue Reading