3rd December 08

Asia Times Online

Doubts bedevil China's stimulus
By Antoaneta Bezlova

BEIJING - World politicians and economists have cheered the US$586 billion stimulus package unveiled by Beijing last month, but there are misgivings. As more details emerge about the allocation of money and spending plans, doubts are mounting as to whether the package is capable of "rescuing the world" from economic crisis and even whether it can succeed in preventing the domestic economy from slowing down sharply. "The world is too big to be saved by China," says Liu Jin, financial expert and professor at the Cheung Kong Graduate School of Business in Beijing.

East Timor kills Chinese power deal
By Matt Crook

The controversy represents the latest botched government-to-government deal in the region to ensnare Chinese business interests. Beijing's commercial diplomacy hit a snag in the Philippines this year when a Chinese state-linked firm contracted to build infrastructure for broadband telecommunications came under fire on allegations the company paid kickbacks to high-ranking government officials to pave the way for the deal. No such allegations have surfaced around East Timor's power plant deal. But the controversy has made clear how hard at work Beijing's soft power commercial diplomacy is in oil-and-gas rich East Timor. China was the first country to establish diplomatic relations with the country after it achieved independence in 2002 and has since been a major donor to the oil-and-gas rich nation, providing everything from food to military equipment.

ENGAGING CHINA IN SPACE, Part 1
A fresh start or a protracted showdown?
By Peter J Brown

United States president-elect Barack Obama has some tough choices to make with respect to how he will deals with China in space. He might prefer to proclaim the advantages of cooperation with China in terms of space exploration and other activities, but the execution of any plan where the US is perceived as letting its guard down is going to draw a lot of criticism from conservatives, a wing of the US Congress which has been deeply suspicious of the Chinese space program from the start.