In The News

China Central Bank Extends Emergency Loans to Financial Firms

Rachel Rosenthal and Yifan Xie December 22, 2016
In mid-December, the People’s Bank of China, China’s central bank, pumped more than US$80 billion into the bond and money market sectors of its financial industry. The bank was responding to a precipitous drop in bond prices “that led authorities to temporarily halt trading,” reports the Wall Street Journal. Chinese investors worry about the US Federal Reserve’s embrace of increased rate...

Human Smuggling: Ruthless Crime or Invaluable Service?

Joseph Chamie December 22, 2016
Human smuggling is not new or easy to stop. Governments consider the activity a crime, yet migrants fleeing war, poverty, persecution or disasters seek out the services of experienced smugglers. The most desperate stories draw global sympathy. “For many unauthorized migrants, smugglers are freedom facilitators,” concedes Joseph Chamie, demography expert and former director of the United Nations...

Erdogan: “No Doubt” Russian Envoy's Killer Linked to Gulen

December 21, 2016
Russia’s ambassador to Turkey was assassinated in Ankara by a Turkish police officer who referred to retaliation for Russia airstrikes in Aleppo, according to witnesses. Turkey and Russia have taken opposite sides on the civil war in Syria, but relations between the two countries warmed in recent months. Turkey’s president quickly insisted there is “no doubt” the killing was inspired by Muslim...

Takeaways on China's Theft of a US Drone in Philippine Waters in the South China Sea

Ankit Panda December 21, 2016
China returned a US underwater drone taken from the South China Sea. The US Department of Defense reports the buoyancy glider was seized about 90 kilometers northwest of Subic Bay. China claims the removal was for safety reasons, but also opposes US reconnaissance activities in the sea. “The development is effectively unprecedented in U.S.-China military-to-military interactions,” notes Ankit...

China May Penalize US Automaker Over Price-Fixing

John Ruwitch and Jake Spring December 20, 2016
A Chinese state-run newspaper has reported that a US car company has been setting artificially high prices in the Middle Kingdom since 2014. News of a potential Chinese crackdown on this monopolistic scheme caused shares of both Ford and GM to drop. China is critical to both businesses – with the largest vehicle market in the world that constituted over 15 percent of their net incomes last year....

A Tale of Two Middle Classes

Nayan Chanda December 20, 2016
Worry and anger permeate the middle classes of Asia and the Americas, and in a world that is tightly interconnected, individuals perceive cross-border competition. During the US presidential campaign, President-elect Trump suggested that “unfair trade deals” had hurt US workers and communities, and he promised to tighten immigration rules and curb abuses associated with the H1-B and other visas....

In Turkey, a Capstone to a Violent Year; in Germany, a Realization of Fears

Tim Arango December 20, 2016
The assassination of Russia’s ambassador to Turkey at a photography exhibit and a truck roaring through Berlin streets, targeting a Christmas market and killing at least a dozen people, demonstrate that security is tenuous. A few can destroy good relations and disrupt communities. “The two terrorist attacks … came within hours of each other Monday night, bookends to a terrible year that saw the...