China News Thread

[FCP Bob 1,312]

1. 
    
    
   WHO ‏@WHO 1h
   In total, WHO has received notification of 21 laboratory-confirmed #H7N9 cases, including 6 deaths
   

[FCP Bob 1,312]

China and the internet

 

A force, but not for democracy

[Balloon guy 158]

Looks like we exported liberals to China along with our debt.

 

Easier to vaccinate them then to kill the rats with wings?

[FCP Bob 1,312]

Looks like we exported liberals to China along with our debt.

 

Easier to vaccinate them then to kill the rats with wings?

 

Well when they aren't racing pigeons they are on the menu

[Balloon guy 158]

That makes me feel better.

 

Or does it?

[FCP Bob 1,312]

Choking on China

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Superpower That Is Poisoning the World

[colonel Feathers 5]

Choking on China

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Superpower That Is Poisoning the World

With this much polution, I could almost become a global warming alarmist. But theres no way the pollution levels in the us, is trumping the power of ma nature.

[FCP Bob 1,312]

This is the part of China where my Wife's Parents and Brother live but they are okay.

 

Powerful quake jolts China’s Sichuan province, killing at least 124 and injuring thousands

[FCP Bob 1,312]

Special section of the China Daily English website on the Earthquake

 

http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/china/2013sichuanquake/

[FCP Bob 1,312]

New bird flu strain in China the ‘most lethal’ virus so far, says World Health Organization

[Balloon guy 158]

Jumped to Taiwan...hmmmmmmmm

[GWCGWC 83]

New bird flu strain in China the ‘most lethal’ virus so far, says World Health Organization

 

Yeah, I don't need to be reading this stuff and I really don't need to be reading the BG link that says IT'S SPREADING!

 

 

A pandemic is one of the worst case scenarios that people who like to horde stuff "just in case" have on "their" list.

[FCP Bob 1,312]

Milk Smugglers Top Heroin Courier Arrests in Hong Kong

 

 

 

For border officials in Hong Kong, baby formula trumps heroin.

 

Since the former British colony on March 1 restricted travelers to two 2-pound cans each, a syndicate has been cracked and more people have been arrested for smuggling milk powder than were detained all of last year for carrying heroin.

 

 

Mainland China’s demand for formula made overseas has been fueled by distrust of locally made food because of product- safety scandals that included the deaths of at least six babies in 2008 after melamine was added to milk. The U.K. and New Zealand are among countries that restricted milk sales as bulk purchases of brands such as Danone’s Aptamil and Mead Johnson Nutrition Co. (MJN)’s Enfamil caused shortages.

 

“Most of them only have one child, and the child is the most important thing in their life,” James Roy, a Shanghai- based analyst China Market Research Group, said of Chinese parents, most of whom are subject to the government’s one-child policy. “They want to be extra careful.”

 

Article Continued At Link

[FCP Bob 1,312]

If you think politicians are corrupt in Western countries it's nothing compared to China

 

 

China's Leadership Is Really, Really Rich

 

One need not wonder why official corruption is such a concern there.

 

[mrdannyg 274]

It isn't so much that China is corrupt as much that it's simply systematic that wealth and power are tied, and that the power is in the hands of a distinct ruling class. The U.S. is fighting corruption, thinking it is holding them back. Really, it is the prevention of corruption that is holding them back. Things like the LIBOR scandal wouldn't be a problem in China because the same thing that required secret (inefficient) behind the back dealings would simply be systematic in China. This would severely increase efficiencies among the largest corporations in the U.S. So income inequality would explode, but overall wealth would increase.

 

I'm not suggesting that 'should' happen - I wouldn't argue that China's system is more ethical or 'better' than the United States'. But anyone arguing for smaller government in the United States should mentally prepare themselves for a day when China is unquestionably a political, economic and military power with greater strength than them, and hope that the Chinese will continue with their history of not seeking to significantly expand their empire.

[FCP Bob 1,312]

It isn't so much that China is corrupt as much that it's simply systematic that wealth and power are tied, and that the power is in the hands of a distinct ruling class. The U.S. is fighting corruption, thinking it is holding them back. Really, it is the prevention of corruption that is holding them back. Things like the LIBOR scandal wouldn't be a problem in China because the same thing that required secret (inefficient) behind the back dealings would simply be systematic in China. This would severely increase efficiencies among the largest corporations in the U.S. So income inequality would explode, but overall wealth would increase.

 

I'm not suggesting that 'should' happen - I wouldn't argue that China's system is more ethical or 'better' than the United States'. But anyone arguing for smaller government in the United States should mentally prepare themselves for a day when China is unquestionably a political, economic and military power with greater strength than them, and hope that the Chinese will continue with their history of not seeking to significantly expand their empire.

 

LOL

 

No China is massively corrupt.

[mrdannyg 274]

LOL

 

No China is massively corrupt.

 

To be clear, I'm saying that it is so corrupt that the corruption is expected and part of normal business there. The extreme and deep levels of corruption, understood by all parties, actually contributes to more efficient operations than if people had to be trying to hide it all the time like in the U.S. No question that China is corrupt to an extreme degree compared to any mature North American or European economy.

[FCP Bob 1,312]

To be clear, I'm saying that it is so corrupt that the corruption is expected and part of normal business there. The extreme and deep levels of corruption, understood by all parties, actually contributes to more efficient operations than if people had to be trying to hide it all the time like in the U.S. No question that China is corrupt to an extreme degree compared to any mature North American or European economy.

 

The corruption totally makes the economy run far worse than it otherwise would. It's the opposite of efficient.

[mrdannyg 274]

The corruption totally makes the economy run far worse than it otherwise would. It's the opposite of efficient.

 

You think it has more net good than net bad? I mean, the most efficient would be if you eliminated it altogether, but if we accept that as impossible, do you not think a system where the biggest players in the economy get to openly contribute (effectively, creating a new type of market) is better than one where honesty/inaction is punished since the corrupt usually do get their way?

 

As an analogy, do you think the LIBOR situation would have been better or worse if it was openly known that members of the major banks simply made requests as to what the rate would be, rather than it being supposedly calculated on market decisions, with some corruption thrown in.

 

I don't deny that everything I'm suggesting is worse from an ethical standpoint, and worse in terms of human effect, since China is not exactly the model of income equality and fairness, I'm only arguing in terms of pure economic efficiencies. I guess the arguments against it would be the same reasons against Communism - if you did 'allow' for corruption, then some would simply seek to corrupt the corruption; there are some people that are never satisfied unless they are #1, and there is no #2.

[FCP Bob 1,312]

Sorry Danny but you don't really understand what's going on in China.

 

The corruption is known but not out in the open and is in every aspect of society.

[FCP Bob 1,312]

Being a Chinese Official: Not All It's Cracked Up to Be

 

Being a Communist Party cadre has its advantages. But there are risks, too.

[mrdannyg 274]

Sorry Danny but you don't really understand what's going on in China.

 

The corruption is known but not out in the open and is in every aspect of society.

 

So what you're saying is the corruption is widespread and known to everyone. Which is exactly what I'm saying. Of course it's not out in the open - if it was, it wouldn't be corruption, it would just be the rules.

 

Do you think if the government cracked down on corruption (and, ummm, were less corrupt themselves?) - resulting in it still taking place, but in a less predictable fashion, to a lesser degree and with the occasional arrest - would that make the economy run more or less smoothly?

[FCP Bob 1,312]

A lot of manufacturers are moving production out of China because labour costs are getting too high there.

 

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424127887323798104578453073103566416.html?mod=rss_hk&utm_source=twitterfeed&utm_medium=twitter

[FCP Bob 1,312]

Bear Vs. Monkey Bicycle Race Ends With Bear Eating Monkey

[CraigKrill 1]

Bear Vs. Monkey Bicycle Race Ends With Bear Eating Monkey

 

 

All things being equal this should happen way more often. Animals aren't animals nearly enough for my taste.