Joseph Belbruno Blog

  Stranded in Evergrande’s web of debt The overseas bondholders who poured money into China’s real estate boom have discovered to their cost that they have little recourse in the Chinese system when boom turns to bust. By Thomas Hale, Kaye Wiggins and Wang Xuexiao · 1 July 2024 What was going through the mind of Filipino geologist Michael de Guzman as he boarded a helicopter to Busang in Indonesian Borneo in the spring of 1997? His destination was the site of what was said to be the largest gold discovery in history. Twenty minutes after take-off, the pilot heard a popping sound and felt a whoosh of air. When he turned around, one of the rear doors was open and de Guzman’s seat was empty. Did he jump, was he pushed or is there another explanation? These are the questions underpinning The Six Billion Dollar Gold Scam, a podcast produced by the BBC World Service and CBC and hosted by Canadian journalist Suzanne Wilton, who has been reporting on the case on and off for 25 years. The bare

  Confronto Biden - Trump, così un triste show di due anziani tiene in scacco il Paese dei giovani 30 giugno 2024, 06:57 - Aggiornata il 30 giugno 2024 , 10:24 Tutto parte dalla crisi del 2008: l’America degli esclusi si è affidata a una «canaglia» Come siamo caduti così in basso? Di fronte alle ultime convulsioni della  sfida Biden-Trump , il mondo intero s’interroga sul declino americano. Putin, Xi Jinping e Khamenei, compiaciuti, vi trovano conferma del tramonto dell’Occidente. Gli alleati del mondo libero sono costernati. Ma anche noi americani abbiamo il morale sotto le scarpe. I sondaggi lo dicono: questi due vegliardi che si combattono hanno una cosa in comune, sono i due  candidati più impopolari  della storia.  Se  Biden inciampa vistosamente , il clima in campo repubblicano non è per nulla euforico . Com’è stato possibile arrivare a questo? Eppure l’America è il Paese dei giovani. In nessun’altra parte al mondo ventenni e trentenni hanno un simile peso e autorità nel mondo de

  New Tactic in China’s Information War: Harassing a Critic’s Child in the U.S. A covert campaign to target a writer critical of the country’s Communist Party has extended to sexually suggestive threats against his 16-year-old daughter. June 27, 2024 Deng Yuwen, a prominent Chinese writer who now lives in exile in the suburbs of Philadelphia, has regularly criticized China and its authoritarian leader, Xi Jinping. China’s reaction of late has been severe, with crude and ominously personal attacks online. A covert propaganda network linked to the country’s security services has barraged not just Mr. Deng but also his teenage daughter with sexually suggestive and threatening posts on popular social media platforms, according to researchers at both Clemson University and Meta, which owns Facebook and Instagram. The content, posted by users with fake identities, has appeared in replies to Mr. Deng’s posts on X, the social platform, as well as the accounts of public schools in their communi

  INTERNATIONAL Du Brésil au Vietnam, les pays émergents craignent une avalanche des importations venues de Chine En surcapacité dans plusieurs secteurs, la Chine a augmenté ses exportations dans les pays du Sud. Pour protéger leurs économies, ils multiplient les barrières douanières face à Pékin. Par  Julien Bouissou Par  Julien Bouissou Par  Julien Bouissou Article réservé aux abonnés Des tiges d’acier, dans un parc logistique de Huzhou, province du Zhejiang, en Chine, le 11 janvier 2024. XIE SHANGGUO/VCG VIA GETTY IMAGES La Chine, contre le reste du monde. Après l’Union européenne et les Etats-Unis, qui ont mis en place des barrières douanières  contre l’importation de véhicules électriques chinois , c’est au tour des pays émergents de craindre un déferlement de produits en provenance de la deuxième puissance économique du monde. Un secteur en particulier cristallise leurs inquiétudes, celui de la sidérurgie. Avec des chantiers de construction à l’arrêt, la Chine, dont la consommati

  Luc Ferry: «Quand la haine s’habille en vertu» Écouter cet article 00:00/04:21 Luc Ferry. Jean-Christophe MARMARA CHRONIQUE -  Au moment du choix, l’urgence sera, «quoi qu’il en coûte», de faire barrage à l’extrême gauche pour nous éviter le pire. L’enfer est pavé de bonnes intentions et, pour faire bonne impression, le maître des lieux avance souvent masqué sous les dehors de la vertu. C’est ainsi qu’au nom de la morale, «  pour faire barrage au RN  », certains n’hésitent pas à s’associer aux mouvements politiques les plus haineux de France, le NPA et  LFI , quitte à avaler au passage un programme économique d’une absurdité stratosphérique agrémenté d’un nœud de couleuvres antisémites. Bon appétit ! Comme on l’a vu dans les universités américaines et à  Science Po , c’est bien sûr au nom de la vertu et de la défense des nouveaux « damnés de la terre » que s’est justifiée  la haine d’Israël . À découvrir J’ai évoqué  dans une précédente chronique  les hallucinations comiques de Gemin

  FCA urged to block Shein London IPO Human rights group alleges minority Uyghurs are used as forced labour JAMES KYNGE — LONDON · 27 June 2024 A UK-based human rights group has launched a legal campaign to stop the online fast-fashion group Shein from securing a blockbuster listing on London’s Stock Exchange. Stop Uyghur Genocide, which alleges minority Uyghur people are being used as forced labour in Shein’s cotton supply in China’s north-western Xinjiang region, urged the Financial Conduct Authority, the UK financial regulator, to block Shein’s application, challenging the potential listing on legal grounds. “Any attempt by Shein to list on the [London Stock Exchange] should be refused,” said a statement issued by UK law firm Leigh Day, which is representing Stop Uyghur Genocide. It added that the FCA had a “statutory duty of integrity and to protect its investors”. Leigh Day did not cite specific evidence in support of its allegations. A letter sent by Leigh Day to the FCA, seen by

The folly of pro-Trump plutocrats Many corporate leaders dismiss fears of the former president’s return — they are wrong to do so Martin Wolf Economics martin.wolf@ft.com · 26 June 2024 Many billionaires and business people support Donald Trump. That is no surprise. He would be good for profits, they believe. He offers lower taxes and less regulation. Some have argued that certain policies of his — the tax cuts and toughness on China and freeriding allies, for example — were not foolish. Moreover, unlike most Democrats, Trump and the Republican party like business and business people. Why should they not embrace him in return? Even looked at rather narrowly, this does not make much sense. In office Democrats have frequently been rather good for business. The financial crisis of 2007-09 occurred under the watch of a Republican administration. The stock market has boomed (and bust) under both Democrats and Republicans. So has the share of profits in US GDP. Trust in government collapsed

 A deepening stand-off in the South China Sea The US is correct to support the Philippines in resisting Chinese encroachment 26 June 2024 For years, China has asserted its claims over the South China Sea — a quest for control that is an affront to neighbours’ security, to global commerce and, according to a tribunal in The Hague, to international law. Yet Beijing has been adroit: using “salami-slicing” tactics to expand its influence by incrementally building military installations, but never doing so at a pace that would force Washington to take military action. Recent spats with the Philippines, however, suggest that opposition to Beijing is rising. President Ferdinand Marcos Jr has directed his navy to better secure the Second Thomas Shoal, a contested reef that is far closer to the Philippines than to China. It has done so by reinforcing the Sierra Madre, a grounded and dilapidated ship that doubles as a Philippine military installation — which China hoped would fall back into the