Tag Archives: Asia

Once China’s richest person, Hanergy’s Li Hejun sells shares at 95pc discount

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“Beleaguered Hanergy Thin Film Power chairman Li Hejun has agreed to sell HK$537 million worth of the firm’s shares at a 94.5 per cent discount as the firm struggles amid a regulatory probe.  The company’s shares are traded on the stock exchange in Hong Kong dollars. They last traded at HK$3.91 on May 21, when trading was abruptly halted on the firm’s request after they plunged 47 per cent in about an hour.  The SFC in June demanded from Hanergy audited financial statements of its parent Hanergy Holding for the past four years and detailed terms of outstanding loans taken out by Li.  But Hanergy said it could not meet the SFC’s request for financial statements.”

http://www.scmp.com/business/companies/article/1895893/once-chinas-richest-person-now-troubled-hanergy-chairman-li-hejun

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Thai Man Faces 37 Years in Prison For “Insulting” the King’s Dog Online

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“In America, we worry mostly only about the ‘slap on the wrist’ of probably being placed on a watch list.  A man in Thailand, however, faces 37 years in prison for criticizing the king’s dog on the internet, as well as allegedly insulting the monarchy. Thanakorn Siripaiboon, a factory worker, faced trial this week in a military court for making a ‘sarcastic’ comment about the king’s dog online. Though officials declined to cite any specific statements, CBS News reports the man shared an ‘inappropriate’ picture of the dog and liked a photo disparaging to the king.”

http://theantimedia.org/thai-man-faces-37-years-in-prison-for-insulting-the-kings-dog/

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Japan Urges Its Companies to Help Stimulate Economy

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“Japan’s central bank governor and other officials are stepping up appeals to corporations to do more to help the country’s faltering economic recovery, [coinciding] with a push by Prime Minister Shinzo Abe to attack broader trends that slow Japan’s growth: shrinking and aging of the population and a corporate culture heavy on overwork.  Katsunobu Kato, an Abe ally who recently was appointed to head his campaign to counter the falling birthrate, voiced a similar appeal.  ‘There is a limit to what government can do. We are expecting the private sector to help,’ said Mr. Kato, who is assigned to ensure that the country’s population, now at 126 million, does not fall below 100 million.”

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/12/01/business/international/japan-companies-stimulus-economy.html

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World’s Biggest Pension Fund Loses $64 Billion Amid Equity Rout

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“The world’s biggest pension fund posted its worst quarterly loss since at least 2008 after a global stock rout in August and September wiped $64 billion off the Japanese asset manager’s investments.  The 135.1 trillion yen ($1.1 trillion) Government Pension Investment Fund lost 5.6 percent last quarter as the value of its holdings declined by 7.9 trillion yen, according to documents released Monday in Tokyo. That’s the biggest percentage drop in comparable data starting from April 2008.  Fund executives have argued that holding more shares and foreign assets is a better approach as Prime Minister Shinzo Abe seeks to spur inflation that would erode bonds.”

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2015-11-30/world-s-biggest-pension-fund-loses-64-billion-amid-equity-rout

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U.S. navigation moves in South China Sea will continue

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“In October, a U.S. guided-missile destroyer, the USS Lassen, challenged territorial limits around one of China’s man-made islands in the Spratly archipelago with a so-called freedom-of-navigation patrol.  China claims most of the South China Sea, through which more than $5 trillion in global trade passes every year. Vietnam, Malaysia, Brunei, the Philippines and Taiwan have rival claims.  The United States is responding to China’s moves by putting its ‘best and newest’ assets in the Asia-Pacific and investing in space, cyber, missile defense, and electronic warfare, he added.”

http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/11/08/us-southchinasea-usa-carter-idUSKCN0SW0SL20151108

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The Yuan Drop Just Added $14 Billion to Asia Inc.’s Debt Burden

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“The record devaluation of the yuan has dragged down almost every currency in Asia. As they drop, the foreign debt bills of the region’s companies are rising.  Almost $1.6 trillion of bonds and loans denominated in dollars and euros across Asia outside Japan and China has just become $14 billion more expensive for companies that service the debt in their home currency, Bloomberg-compiled data show.  The cost to insure Malaysian government debt against nonpayment touched 171.5 basis points Wednesday, the highest since October 2011. Protection costs in Thailand, Indonesia, India and Vietnam also tested altitudes not seen in over a year.”

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2015-08-13/the-yuan-drop-just-added-14-billion-to-asia-inc-s-debt-burden

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Asia’s $800 Billion Nuclear Splurge to Unlock Uranium Motherlode

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“A nuclear-power boom in Asia that’s set to drive up uranium prices is triggering a resurgence in mining in Australia, home to the world’s largest reserves.  Almost $800 billion of new reactors are under development in the region, driven by China and India where demand is climbing for the emission-free energy.  The value of uranium plunged in the wake of the 2011 Fukushima nuclear disaster in Japan. Now, with contract prices forecast to jump more than 60 percent, suppliers in Australia are planning about half a dozen new mines.  China will need the equivalent of about 1,000 nuclear reactors, 500,000 wind turbines or 50,000 solar farms as it steps up its fight against climate change.”

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2015-05-07/asia-s-800-billion-nuclear-splurge-to-unlock-uranium-motherlode

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Japan Returns to Atomic Club With Restart Amid Public Opposition

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“Japan is rejoining the group of nations using atomic power as it sweeps aside public opposition and fires up one of the reactors shuttered for safety upgrades after the Fukushima nuclear disaster more than four years ago.  The initial reaction of Japan’s government after Fukushima was the same as Germany’s — phase out nuclear power. When elections then put Prime Minister Shinzo Abe in charge, this policy was changed. The economics show one of the reasons.  The loss of nuclear forced Japan to switch on power plants running on fossil fuels. As a result, import costs for liquefied natural gas, coal and oil ballooned causing four years of trade deficits that hit a record $103 billion last year.”

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2015-08-10/japan-returns-to-atomic-club-with-restart-amid-public-opposition

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Hiroshima: Lincoln’s Legacy to Civilians

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portallogo3

“Truman had two choices: drop the two bombs or else abandon unconditional surrender as civilian policy governing the military. He was unwilling to drop unconditional surrender, just as Lincoln had been unwilling to drop it in the summer of 1864. So, he decided to escalate the war on civilians.  The main criterion of conditional surrender for Japan would have been the maintenance of the Emperor’s formal control, at least officially, over Japan. That was exactly what Truman unofficially gave to Japan. American military forces did not bomb his residence during the firebombings of Tokyo. After the war, he was not removed from command.”

http://www.garynorth.com/public/14128.cfm

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Sheldon Richman: Truman, A-Bombs and the Killing of Innocents

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“Nothing can justify what Truman did – neither revenge for the Japanese attack on the U.S. naval fleet at Pearl Harbor nor avoidance of a U.S. invasion of Japan. (Truman first justified the bombings in terms of vengeance.) Top American military leaders – Eisenhower, MacArthur, and Leahy among others – opposed the bombings. The estimate of American casualties in an invasion have been grossly exaggerated. Truman’s Secretary of State James Byrnes said the death rate would be in the thousands. But even if we accept the high guesses, why was the slaughter of Japanese noncombatants preferable to the deaths of military personnel?”

http://fff.org/explore-freedom/article/tgif-truman-killing-innocents/

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