1st April 09

The Australian

Fortescue gets go-ahead for $645m China deal

FORTESCUE Metals Group's $645 million deal with the Chinese has been given the green light by the federal Government.This is the first significant tick of approval on the list of foreign investments deals the federal Government is deliberating on.

Beijing strikes in currency war as Argentina to use yuan instead of US dollars in trade with China

CHINA and Argentina have agreed to swap $14.5 billion of their currencies to enable South America's second-largest economy to avoid using US dollars in trade between the nations, as Beijing ratchets up the pressure on Washington. In a bid to force the US to relax its grip on global financial institutions, China yesterday announced a deal allowing Argentine businesses to buy Chinese imports directly in yuan. Usually, international trade is conducted in US dollars, which Argentine companies have to buy with pesos.

The New York Times

As China Roars, Pollution Reaches Deadly Extremes

No country in history has emerged as a major industrial power without creating a legacy of environmental damage that can take decades and big dollops of public wealth to undo. But just as the speed and scale of China’s rise as an economic power have no clear parallel in history, so its pollution problem has shattered all precedents.

China Will Reopen Tibet to Tourists

The Chinese government will reopen Tibet to foreign tourists on April 5 after a nearly six-week ban, according to the state-run news agency Xinhua. Foreign tourists were barred from visiting Tibet in late February before the 50th anniversary of a failed rebellion against Chinese rule.

Asia Times Online

SUN WUKONG
No holiday for China's renegade regions
By Wu Zhong, China Editor

HONG KONG - In an apparent move to safeguard the authority of the central government, the State Council - China's cabinet - last Wednesday issued an urgent circular ordering regional governments to strictly carry out its regulations on public holidays and not to reinstate the "Golden Week" holiday around Labor Day on May 1. Although it named no names, the State Council's toughly-worded circular was primarily targeted at the Guangdong provincial government.

OBAMA, CHANGE AND CHINA, Part 3
The New Deal dollar and the Obama dollar
By Henry C K Liu
This report is the third in a series.

Much talk has been floating around comparing United States President Barack Obama with president Franklin D Roosevelt and the yet-to-be-fully-developed - or revealed - Obama recovery plan with the New Deal. So far, the differences between the two leaders in crisis are more visible than the similarities.

Kaixin – well worth grabbing a cup of coffee and reading at leisure.