19th December 09

The New York Times

At Climate Talks, Trade Pressures Mount

COPENHAGEN - Could a legacy of the Copenhagen climate conference turn out to be higher tariffs?

Modernizing by Leapfrogs and Bounds

CAMBRIDGE, MASSACHUSETTS — Imagine that the climate conference in Copenhagen was not a gathering of nations. Imagine a gathering of delegates from the many ages of a single nation. The fault lines would not be India and China vs. the global rich, but rather China 1800 vs. China 1978 vs. China 2100.

Kaixin Op Ed – An extremely interesting perspective on globalisation. Well worth the read

Asia Times Online

Kazkhstan mulls China land deal
By Bruce Pannier

Kazakhstan has a unique problem. It's long on land and short on the people to farm it. The Central Asian country is huge - about six times the size of France - but has less than one-quarter of France's population - just 16 million people.

Ten years after, the Macau they wished for
By Muhammad Cohen

The Americans have thus far largely failed to expand the scope of Macau's tourism market but Las Vegas expertise helped turn the city into a far more efficient leech sucking money out of China. Over the next decade, Macau and Beijing may well work together to get rid of the Americans. But even if Macau becomes 100% Chinese owned, it will still be a leech. As Macau celebrates 10 years of Chinese sovereignty, there's no alternative in sight.