Miscellaneous News

[Coalescence]

Of course not, that just adds to China's problems. Why would China allow USD payments - which would be either anonymous cash or electronic payments outside its purview - within its borders? That's madness, that just invites all kinds of politically and economically subversive activities.

I'm not sure what you mean by "help other developing countries"? I advocate China doing business with developing countries and showing some degree of forbearance when loans become too onerous, but certainly not sacrificing its own interest for the gratitude of some developing countries.

It could give China influences and leverage in winning over other countries to their side through economic warfare and trade, but yes there's going to be a lot of issues with this plans. The idea originated from what pro-Russian users are talking about what Russia could do, where they would offer more Ruble in exchange for Euro for friendlier EU countries like Hungary, while lowering the Ruble exchange per Euro for unfriendly countries, this would in theory give friendly country like Hungary more buying power and thus leverages as well against the other EU countries looking to trade with Russia for cheap.

 

[Abominable]

Like I said, that's America's problem. It can sell things to China that China is actually interested in buying - for instance, America's most advanced IP. China will hand over a goodly sum of RMB for that for two reasons:
1. It's something useful to China.
2. It's something the US can't take back later.
Meet those two conditions and China would be happy to buy.

My point was, Americans won't be able to. They can only get RMB via China, which takes us back to the same problem.
America doesn't hold much IP that China doesn't already have. Even if they did sell of what they had that's a one off thing.

Also, "end of exports to the West" is even less likely than "end of oxygen respiration." It ain't happening. It would be easier for Americans to stop breathing than to stop importing from China.

Assuming it'll be America that will cut off exports. What is China getting for exporting so much to America? Receiving dollars for goods is only worth it if the dollar has value.
Either America needs to find a resource to export like Australia does or the exports to America will have to stop.

Articles like the above, assets in countries whose skull China can point a pistol at, etc. Tax your imagination a little.

It's hard to find trillion dollar assets in countries outside the west. Development loans are the best bet IMO. I guess that's what the BRI is all about.

 

[AndrewS]

What China needs to do is first stop the bleeding. Change the terms of trade with the US so that it doesn't accumulate mountains of USD that it can't offload except back to the US government. Russia has provided a beautifully simple solution to this dilemma - force payment in its domestic currency. China should follow this fine example and force the US to pay for Chinese goods in Chinese currency.

How would this work when RMB outside China is rarer than unicorns? Not China's problem... that's the beauty of it. That's the US's problem and it better solve it. Allow me to introduce you to one of my favourite scenes:

That's how it would work. Trade deficit? Fuck you, pay me in RMB. Capital controls? Fuck you, pay me in RMB. Financial collapse? Fuck you, pay me in RMB. Struck by lightning? Fuck you, pay me in RMB.

Once China does that, it can just sit on the US bonds it already does own and just wait for them to mature and use that cash to purchase tangible assets from anyone stupid enough to still accept USD.

That doesn't work as it is China's problem.
If China doesn't accept USD (or some other foreign currency), then the exchange rate will appreciate a lot.

That will naturally reduce exports from China but it also means that there is a smaller export industry (and jobs) inside China. It also reduced the dependency of the US/Europe on Chinese factories.

Now, the Chinese currency gradually appreciating is something that needs to happen anyway, but China's short-medium term goal would be to keep as much productive economic activity inside China and to make the outside world as dependent on China as possible, so that sanctions aren't viable.

The downside of a weak currency is that foreigners could potentially buy up productive Chinese assets for relatively low cost. But China does have capital controls which prevent speculative money flows and which encourage investment in real assets.

The other downside of a weak currency is that you have to pay more for imports, particularly for technology goods that can only be sourced from elsewhere. But China's sheer size means that there is a large enough market for every high technology product or component to be developed and also manufactured in China.

 

[caudaceus]

You guys were rejoicing at the Ruble's depreciation 2 months ago

https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1522942195635867649

I'm gonna use Libs' favourite phrase

DOUBLETHINK!!1!1 DOUBLESPEAK!!1111!

 

[ZeEa5KPul]

That doesn't work as it is China's problem.
If China doesn't accept USD (or some other foreign currency), then the exchange rate will appreciate a lot.

That will naturally reduce exports from China but it also means that there is a smaller export industry (and jobs) inside China. It also reduced the dependency of the US/Europe on Chinese factories.

Now, the Chinese currency gradually appreciating is something that needs to happen anyway, but China's short-medium term goal would be to keep as much productive economic activity inside China and to make the outside world as dependent on China as possible, so that sanctions aren't viable.

The downside of a weak currency is that foreigners could potentially buy up productive Chinese assets for relatively low cost. But China does have capital controls which prevent speculative money flows and which encourage investment in real assets.

The other downside of a weak currency is that you have to pay more for imports, particularly for technology goods that can only be sourced from elsewhere. But China's sheer size means that there is a large enough market for every high technology product or component to be developed and also manufactured in China.

This rests on the assumption that demand for Chinese products or supply from sources outside China are elastic. Neither are elastic. China essentially has a monopoly on industry at this historical juncture, as a supplier it is absolutely irreplaceable. Numbing American consumers with affordable Chinese exports is basically the only thing keeping America even remotely politically stable, and that might be failing anyway through no fault of China's.

 

[daifo]

I guess this means China can steal more money if it came down to the west trying to sanction China completely

"in terms of balance sheet exposures, China has about $3.4 trillion of identifiable international assets at risk of possible sanctions and up to $5.8 trillion of liabilities to, or assets in China of, international investors and companies largely from Western countries."

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[pmc]

Venezuela wasn't built in a day. these sanctions were meant to cause significant medium and long-term pain, and they're doing that.

https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1522751751681904640

Venzuela does not have the scale of forests that it can cut down and create much bigger farms for food production
than there is disappointment in German industrialist that all there investments in Eastern EU / Turkey basically now down the drain. they failed to provide the required inputs to wean Germany from further East.
German chancellor is now reduced to serving German people rather than grand European project.

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At the same time, fear must not paralyze us.
And at the same time, we don't just do everything that one or the other demands. Because: I swore in my oath of office to avert harm from the German people.

 

[luosifen]

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Maguindanao province, grenades followed by gunfire. Looks like the troublemakers making their mark.

Three security guards were killed Monday when gunmen opened fire at a polling station in a restive region of the southern Philippines, police said, as millions of Filipinos voted in national elections.

The deadly shooting happened shortly after voting got under way in Buluan municipality on Mindanao island.

Former mayor Ibrahim Mangudadatu told AFP that people inside the school being used as a polling station ran for cover when the shooting started.

A fourth guard was wounded in the attack, said Maguindanao provincial police spokesperson Major Roldan Kuntong.

It came after five grenades exploded outside a polling station in Datu Unsay municipality late Sunday that left nine people wounded.

Minutes after that attack, a grenade exploded in the neighboring municipality of Shariff Aguak, but there were no casualties.

Both of those towns are also in Maguindanao province.

Police said the grenade victims had walked from their remote mountain villages to cast their votes at the municipal hall in Datu Unsay when polling stations opened across the country on Monday morning.

"It is their custom to come down early from their villages, which are located eight to 12 hours away on foot," said Kuntong.

 

[Bellum_Romanum]

MSM really doesn't like Marcos JR winning the Philippine election.

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Well, browse around on YouTube and just about every western media, including some Indian media are displaying with negative headlines. There's no objectivity in western journalism anymore if there ever was one at all. Everything has been reduced to a binary position and moralistic position of good vs evil, with the U.S. backed regimes as the good guys and anyone who dares to challenge America being evil it's hilarious.

As of right now Marcos Jr. has a total vote of almost 29,000,000 while Lenie Robredo is trailing with 14,000,000 votes out of the 67 Million eligible voters. Remember that back in 2016 Duterte garnered a total vote of just over 16,000,000 so the increase in votes for Marcos Jr. is even more impressive this time around.

 

[Overbom]

MSM really doesn't like Marcos JR winning the Philippine election.

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Well, browse around on YouTube and just about every western media, including some Indian media are displaying with negative headlines. There's no objectivity in western journalism anymore if there ever was one at all. Everything has been reduced to a binary position and moralistic position of good vs evil, with the U.S. backed regimes as the good guys and anyone who dares to challenge America being evil it's hilarious.

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The son and namesake of ousted Philippine dictator Ferdinand Marcos took a commanding lead in an unofficial vote count in Monday’s presidential election in the deeply divided Asian democracy.

With 80% of the votes tabulated, Marcos Jr. had 25.9 million, far ahead of his closest challenger, current Vice President Leni Robredo, a champion of human rights, who had 12.3 million.

The next president is also likely to hear demands to prosecute outgoing President Rodrigo Duterte for thousands of killings during his anti-drug crackdown

Duterte’s daughter, southern Davao city Mayor Sara Duterte, is Marcos Jr.’s vice presidential running mate in an alliance of the scions of two authoritarian leaders.

Their partnership has combined the voting power of their northern and southern political strongholds, boosting their chances but compounding worries of human rights activists.

“History may repeat itself if they win,” said Myles Sanchez, a 42-year-old human rights worker. “There may be a repeat of martial law and the drug killings that happened under their parents.”

CIA trying its 5th gen misinformation tactics again. Don't forget though, AP is unbiased and a totally trustworthy media source