2 abducted Chinese rescued

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In: South-East Asia

Officers from Bang Phong Phang police station rescued a Chinese man who had been abducted — with the kidnappers demanding a ransom of 1.8 million baht — from a hotel in Sathorn yesterday. Three of the 11 suspects were arrested.Continue Reading

The de-dollarization delusion

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In: Asia

Is the dollar dying? In the wake of the Russia-Ukraine war and the massive growth in money supply and the US Federal Reserve’s assets in recent years, there has been a slew of stories and speeches extolling the virtue of de-dollarization.  The most recent came last week, when Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva called for the establishment […]Continue Reading

How Brazil’s Lula added a spring to Xi Jinping’s step 

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In: Asia

For Xi Jinping, last week was easily among the best the Chinese leader has had in a long while. First, French President Emmanuel Macron dropped by to talk up the merits of Europe forging a diplomatic path independent of the US. For good measure, Macron gave Beijing the impression Paris isn’t keen on coming to […]Continue Reading

Alibaba share sale a sign of SoftBank trouble

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In: Asia, Finance

TOKYO — For once, news that Masayoshi Son is slashing his stake in Alibaba says more about SoftBank’s troubles than it says about the Chinese e-commerce giant. The specter of the Japanese billionaire – who effectively discovered Jack Ma back in 2000 – dumping Alibaba has long maddened investors. Whenever such talk flared up amid […]Continue Reading