In The News

China Warns Outside Nations to Stay Out of Sea Dispute

Chris Buckley June 24, 2011
The South China Sea serves as a crucial link between the Pacific and Indian oceans in a region rich with trade. Territorial disputes over the sea, particularly its potential oil and gas reserves, are common. The US has urged a collective solution among China, Vietnam, the Philippines, Malaysia, Brunei and Taiwan, reports Chris Buckley for Reuters. Vietnam proposed that including the US and other...

Change in China Hits US Purse

Jon Hilsenrath, Laurie Burkitt, Elizabeth Holmes June 22, 2011
For more than a decade, US shoppers enjoyed low prices on clothing, electronics and other products, thanks to China’s low-cost labor and its government keeping the value of its currency low. But the days of discounted prices are coming to an end as Chinese workers demand higher wages, the value of the Chinese yuan rises and new consumer demand throughout China leads to rising prices for cotton,...

China Proposes $15bn Indus Dam Scheme

William MacNamara June 21, 2011
Extremism is not deterring China’s foreign-investment plans with Pakistan. The builders behind the world’s largest dam, China’s Three Gorges, have proposed a $15 billion dam project for Pakistan and the Indus River, promising to control floods and produce power, reports William MacNamara for the Financial Times. The Indus is about 3000 kilometers long, passing from Tibet to Kashmir and Pakistan....

China's “Wealth Drain” – New Signs That Rich Chinese Are Set on Emigrating

Xin Haiguang June 20, 2011
More than half of wealthy Chinese, those with assets of more than 10 million yuan, hope to emigrate, according to a 2011 Private Wealth Report on China, published by China Merchants Bank and the consulting firm Bain & Company, as reported by Worldcrunch. In another survey, 12 percent of Chinese described themselves as “thriving” and 71 percent as “struggling.” Underlying goals of wealthy...

People on the Move – Part II

Steven Borowiec June 16, 2011
Poorer nations drive the world’s population growth while developed nations with aging populations are in need of young labor. Strategic policies on immigration can fill the gaps, but social, economic and diplomatic challenges emerge when the immigrants are treated as less than equal partners. With a low birth rate, South Korea seeks immigrants to work in construction, manufacturing and agri-...

Wolf at the Door: What Happened to the Predictions of Doom?

Gregory Chin June 10, 2011
As China prepared to accede to the World Trade Organization, analysts worried about a globalization trap, including crippling competition for its industries and farmers, a loss of sovereignty and disruption to the nation’s anticipated trajectory of growth, explains Gregory Chin, chair of the China Research Group at the Center for International Governance Innovation. Specialists fretted about...

Wearing Coffee Beans on Your Sleeves

Victoria Jen June 9, 2011
Prompted in part by soaring prices of cotton and wool, some entrepreneurs look for substitute materials for natural fabrics. Coffee is a global beverage that fast gained popularity in the 17th century, and now a byproduct from the same plant may soon revolutionize the apparel industry. A company in Taiwan has invented a fabric based on used coffee beans, and now receives orders from major sport...