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Showing posts with label THE ASIAN VOICE. Show all posts
Showing posts with label THE ASIAN VOICE. Show all posts

Tuesday, November 15, 2016

Xi, Trump discuss China-US cooperation

Working together 'only correct choice', Chinese leader tells president-elect



President Xi Jinping said on Monday that "there are a lot of things" China and the United States need to, and can, cooperate on, in a phone call congratulating Donald Trump on his US presidential election victory.

"Facts have proved that cooperation is the only correct choice for China and the United States," Xi told Trump, noting that the past 37 years of diplomatic relations have brought concrete benefits to the people of the two countries, as well as facilitating global peace and stability.

Since China and the US now have important opportunities and great potential for cooperation, Xi said the two countries should better coordinate in promoting the economic development of both countries and the world, and expand exchanges in all fields to bring bilateral ties forward.

"During the call, the leaders established a clear sense of mutual respect for one another," a statement from Trump's presidential transition office said. "President-elect Trump stated that he believes the two leaders will have one of the strongest relationships for both countries moving forward."

The two leaders also agreed to keep in close contact and meet at an early date.

Tao Wenzhao, a researcher of Sino-US relations at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, said mutual interests between the US and China will not be subject to US political changes. Both US parties subscribe to developing relations with Beijing.

Tao said it will take time to see how Trump's China policy develops after he takes office, though the new administration "will not necessarily resort to a trade war with China", despite his statements during the campaign and pressure from many US politicians for greater containment of China.

Tao said that is "because he is a smart businessman, and a trade war surely impacts both sides".

Fu Mengzi, a Sino-US relations researcher at the China Institute of Contemporary International Relations, said there should be a distinction between Trump's statements during the campaign and his policies as president.

"He knows the importance of China-US relations. He will find some 'China hands' to draft his policies toward China," he said.

At a daily news conference on Monday, Foreign Ministry spokesman Geng Shuang said China has remained in close communication with the US side, including Trump's team.

Geng also said that China expects to expand cooperation with the new US administration at all levels and in various fields, including infrastructure construction .

"The fundamentals of China-US relations will not change in the future, even though frictions may occur," Fu said.

Tao said the Chinese government will continue to cooperate with the Obama administration, citing the 27th China-US Joint Commission on Commerce and Trade coming up in Washington, DC.

By Mo Jingxi | China Daily.


 Beijing ready to push forward China-U.S. ties on new starting point: FM
China stands ready to further promote its relations with the United States on the new starting point following the election of Donald Trump as the next U.S. president, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi said in Ankara on Sunday.


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https://youtu.be/YKIOAMcTuWI NEW YORK, Nov. 9 -- Republican candidate Donald Trump was projected by U.S. media to have won the 270 ...

Saturday, November 12, 2016

Disruptive Donald J.Trump, US president-elect policies

I was going to write about disruptive technology but the whole week was taken up with the disruption that Donald J Trump caused in upsetting the US establishment by winning the Presidential elections.

The establishment was so confident of a Hillary win that the New York Times predicted 85 per cent chance of her winning and the Economist magazine showed a cover picture with Hillary as America and the rest of the world’s best hope.

Trump’s victory repeated the Brexit phenomenon that the elites don’t get it.

The voters are angry and even if Hillary had the support of women, African Americans and Latinos, it was not enough.

Trump basically tapped into the anger in the dominant American white voter that life has not been good in the last 30 years, attributing this to globalisation, immigration, disruptive technology and mostly, the failure of the elites to listen.

There was something quite Darwinian about the US elections.

Here was an alpha male challenging the establishment, both on the Republican and Democratic sides.

Against all odds, he defeated the Bush dynasty and the Republican party leadership to win the nomination.

Then he crushed the alpha female (Hillary), partly because somehow no one could quite trust what she really stood for.

Certainly, Wall Street would have benefited most, being her major supporter.

But no one quite trusts banksters these days.

Trump put the Clinton/Obama dynasty into its place.

We are likely to see some major changes affecting Wall Street.

Remember how in 1934, newly elected President Franklin Roosevelt sent Joseph Kennedy Senior to go after Wall Street?

How did Trump get there?

Firstly, as a businessman, he understood that the old model was broken because he read the signals right – the average American voter was angry and wanted their issues fixed.

Secondly, he knew that the mainstream establishment media was against him but they didn't get what his pollsters were reading.

The Web traffic was showing that his outrageous statements were touching raw nerves.

Politics ultimately is about the gut rather than the rational mind.

Thirdly, the pollsters were reading the old tea leaves, not appreciating how voters were refusing to show their hand till the last minute.

An American friend had this insight – most of his friends refused to tell anyone that they supported Trump.

They did not want to appear politically incorrect to support a ranting candidate that was not playing to the traditional songs.

But they wanted change – and Obama did not deliver what they wanted.

What next for Trump and for Asia?

Based upon his campaign language, Trump is likely to be quite tough on allies and competitors alike.

American military support wouldn’t come free for allies and he is also likely to be tougher on his foes.

This means essentially that everyone will have to look after their own interests.

The election also showed that what concerns the voter most is the need for good jobs.

This is where globalisation and technology disruption have upset the status quo.

Jobs either go abroad where wages are cheaper or technology is such that most manufacturing can be done onshore, but robotics are replacing grunt labour.

Hence the only Tech Age solution is proper education and training on the job.

In the tech age, governments cannot assume that the market will provide the jobs without state help.

Employers need to be aware that you can’t shed labour without investing in people.

Universities and schools have been disrupted by the Internet, because the best teaching is now accessible online and mostly free.

Massive Open Online Curriculum (MOOC) means that anyone can access the best online lecture course by some of the top lecturers at the best universities, fully up to date.

Who needs uninterested local professors who are still teaching out-dated texts they learnt thirty years ago?

​Digital divide

The Digital Divide means the line between those who are digitally connected and those who are not.

Increasingly, societies are networks across which goods, services, information and value are traded, exchanged and created.

Those who have access to these networks grow wealthier, outstripping those who are not.

Hong Kong is a perfect example of how cities become successful by being a free port, where there are low transaction costs, with rule of law and access to free information.

Having superior marine port, airport and road and now rail connection to the Mainland of China made Hong Kong not just the entrepot centre for Chinese trade with the world, but also a globally connected city.

But making money through trade, finance and real estate is no longer viable when every business is disrupted by technology.

Alibaba, Amazon, Google and Facebook are just a bunch of smart people that integrate multiple markets using their digital platform.

Their cost expense ratios are a fraction of the traditional bricks and employee business of Walmart, real estate developers, banks and newspapers.

They have global reach, especially the young and mobile.

All this means that as America becomes strong under Trump (which he promised), every country or city needs to compete even more fiercely in the digital age.

Cities have better chances of getting their acts together to get the government, business and civil society to work together and achieve how they really want to compete in the digital age.

I was in Shenzhen last month looking at how they are coping with the digital age.

Shenzhen is now green and dynamic, with showcase drone technology, Huawei telecommunications and genomic technology that are at the cutting edge of innovation.

No one I talked to cared about the angst that was going on in Hong Kong, where the young and old are still squabbling over their own identities.

Shenzhen was moving to compete head-on with Silicon Valley, Bangalore, Shanghai and Hangzhou. And this is a city that thirty years ago had no university of its own and no serious manufacturing to speak of. This is an immigrant city par excellence finding its own place in global technology.

Disruption comes from sheer willpower. Either you disrupt or you become disrupted.

Trump and Shenzhen are showing the way. Everyone else please wake up.

By Andrew Sheng, Asia News Network/The Star

The writer, a Distinguished Fellow of Hong Kong-based think-tank Fung Global Institute, writes on global issues from an Asian perspective.

 

Trump policies

 

 
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DONALD Trump’s shock upset in last week’s US presidential elections have triggered a massive move in the global currency markets over the past few days.


 
Under pressure: A currency trader showing the ringgit and US dollar notes at his money changer’s store in Kuala Lumpur. The ringgit has weakened considerably against the US dollar in the NDF market since Thursday. It hit as high as 4.54 against the dollar at 10am yesterday. 
Why the worry on the offshore ringgit market?
The alternative view - By M. Shanmugam
REGIONAL currencies coming under pressure after the US presidential election were something that was expected given that the Federal Reserve was looking at raising interest rates before the year ends.


Bank Negara Malaysia governor Datuk Muhammad Ibrahim said: "The situation now is result of speculative positioning."

Ringgit sinks offshore just as economy perks up
SINGAPORE/KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia's ringgit plunged to its weakest in more than 12 years in offshore markets on Friday as investors dumped government bonds, forcing the central bank to use its persuasive powers to keep the spot rate steady by deterring sellers onshore.



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