1. Reuters: U.S. audit watchdog nearing China deal to inspect audit firms
The top U.S.
audit watchdog said on Wednesday that the United States and China are close to striking a deal that would allow Washington to inspect the audit work of accounting firms in China. Such a deal would alleviate a long-running dispute between the two global powers regarding oversight of auditors, an issue aggravated by a series of accounting scandals in recent years at U
.S
.-listed Chinese companies. The United States escalated the standoff last month when a judge moved to temporarily suspend the Chinese units of the "Big Four" accounting firms from practicing in the United States. It has been unclear how that move would impact negotiations for a broader solution. "I am also optimistic that we will be able, during 2014, to sign a long-sought agreement to inspect the audit work of PCAOB-registered firms based in China," Jim Doty, the chairman of the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (PCAOB), said in prepared remarks to the Securities and Exchange Commission.
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2. Reuters: China media slams Philippine leader comments on disputed waters
Chinese state media
has slammed Philippine President Benigno Aquino over remarks that compared Beijing's claims in the disputed South China Sea to demands for land made by Nazi Germany to the former Czechoslovakia. In an interview with The New York Times published on Tuesday, Aquino called for more global support for the Philippines over the territorial issue, comparing it to the failure by the West to support Czechoslovakia against Adolf Hitler's demand in 1938. "If we say yes to something we believe is wrong now, what guarantee is there that the wrong will not be further exacerbated down the line?" the paper quoted him as saying. "At what point do you say, 'Enough is enough'? Well, the world has to say it — remember that the Sudetenland was given in an attempt to appease Hitler to prevent World War Two." China's official Xinhua news agency blasted Aquino's comments late on Wednesday, saying Beijing's claims in the South China Sea have a "sound historical foundation" and that it also seeks to resolve the issue through dialogue rather than confrontation.
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3. Reuters: Growing concern with China's behavior at sea: senior U.S. diplomat
The United States
has growing concerns that China's maritime claims in the disputed South China Sea are an effort to gain creeping control of
oceans in the Asia-Pacific region, a senior U.S.
official said on Wednesday. In congressional testimony, U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for East Asian and Pacific Affairs Danny Russel said China's vague territorial claims in the South China Sea had "created uncertainty, insecurity and instability" among its neighbors. While the United States says it does not take sides in disputes, Russel said it has an interest in seeing maritime disputes resolved peacefully. The United States has also stepped up its military presence in the region as part of a strategic "pivot" toward Asia. "There are growing concerns that this pattern of behavior in the South China Sea reflects
incremental effort by China to assert control over the area contained in the so-called 'nine-dash line' despite objections of its neighbors and despite the lack of explanation or apparent basis under international law regarding the scope of the claim itself," Russel told the House of Representatives subcommittee on Asia and the Pacific.
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4. BBC: US presses Beijing over South China Sea dispute
A top US diplomat has called on China to clarify or adjust its territorial claims in the South China Sea in accordance with international law. Daniel Russel, assistant secretary of state for East Asia,
criticised Beijing's so-called "nine-dash line" that outlines its claims. He said there were "growing concerns" over China's "pattern of
behaviour". Tensions are already high over China's imposition of an air
defence zone above disputed islands in the East China Sea. Correspondents say there are fears of a fresh showdown in the South China Sea. Several countries claim competing sovereignty over islands, reefs and shoals. China, the Philippines, Brunei, Malaysia, Vietnam and Taiwan all have claims in the region.
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5. Bloomberg: Abe eyes window for biggest military-rule change since WWII
Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, pressed by China and seeking to strengthen ties with the U.S., is considering Japan’s biggest change in military engagement rules since World War II. Barred by its interpretation of a pacifist constitution from protecting other nations’ troops, Japan needs broader deployment abilities, according to Abe, 59. Having increased defense spending two years running and set up a U
.S
.-style National Security Council, Abe is now seeking to allow Japan to come to the aid of its allies, telling parliament yesterday that “it’s about whether we can exercise this right that every country has.”
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6. Bloomberg: U.S.-China air zone interactions professional, Locklear says
China’s declaration of an air identification zone in the East China Sea hasn’t led to a “significant” increase in interactions between its forces and U.S.
military planes flying in the area, the head of the U.S. Pacific Command said. There continues to be “professional” interactions between the two sides in the zone, Admiral Samuel Locklear said on a conference call with reporters today. The U.S.
does not recognize the zone and hasn’t changed its operations in the area, he said. Tensions between Japan, a U.S.
ally, and China escalated in November when China established the air defense zone in the East China Sea, demanding civil and military aircraft present flight plans to its authorities before entering the space. China has urged the U.S.
to stay out of the dispute, which centers on overlapping claims
to a group of uninhabited islands now covered by China’s air zone. “We haven’t seen a significant change in those interactions since the establishment, or the reported establishment, of the air defense zone by the Chinese,” Locklear said. “So the good news is that military forces are acting professionally as we interact in these areas.”
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7. WSJ: Scandal tests Chinese president's standing with military
Ask for the "General's Mansion" in this corner of Puyang city in central China, and residents will point you toward a discreet metal door next to the Flourishing Era Celebrity karaoke club. From outside, there is no sign of the lavish courtyard complex that neighbors and state media say was built by Lt.
Gen.
Gu Junshan, the man at the center of China's worst military corruption scandal in eight years. The mansion—worth several million dollars based on local property prices—is a striking illustration of the challenge facing China's president, Xi Jinping as he tries to reshape the military into a fighting force ready to defend China's global interests. Views from higher floors in surrounding buildings reveal the scale of the property that locals say Gen.
Gu constructed in his hometown while deputy head of the military's General Logistics Department. Covering nearly 5 acres, it has three courtyards, two gardens, a fountain and two white marble elephants flanking the main entrance. When investigators raided it last year, according to a recent Chinese magazine report, they carted off three items of solid gold: a bust of Mao Zedong, a model ship, and a wash basin. The magazine report has been widely cited in the Chinese media, which is strictly controlled by the government.
Gen.
Gu couldn't be reached to comment and the defense ministry didn't respond to a request to comment.
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8. CNBC: Rich Chinese buy visas in US and Australia
Give us your tired, your super-rich, your huddled millionaires
.This is the new clarion call among countries that are lifting their beacons to the mass numbers of wealthy Chinese fleeing their country. More than half of all Chinese multimillionaires have either left or plan to emigrate, according to surveys. Countries around the world are lining up to attract them, creating a growing business and economy around selling them residency. Australia said Tuesday that a new visa program aimed at the wealthy—the "significant investor" initiative—has received overwhelming response, with Chinese
nationals accounting for over 90 percent of the 545 applications. The Australian Department of Immigration and Border Protection said it has already granted 65 of the visas to mainland Chinese, who have pumped A$325 million (US$289 million) into its economy. Australia launched the program a little over a year ago with the goal of attracting 700 immigrants and investments of A$3
.5 billion a year.
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9. Xinhua - Commentary: Philippine leader's senseless attack against China smells of amateurish politician
Philippine President Benigno S. Aquino III, who has taken an inflammatory approach while dealing with maritime disputes with China, has never been a great candidate for a wise statesman in the region. But his latest reported attack against China, in which he senselessly compared his northern neighbor to the Nazi Germany, exposed his true color as an amateurish politician who was ignorant both of history and reality. He also joined the ranks of disgraced Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, who created great controversy after comparing Japan-China relations to those between the United Kingdom and Germany in the run-up to the First World War last month at the annual World Economic Forum in Switzerland.
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10. CD: Crackdown takes bite out of meetings
Linda Liu was surprised to find that booking a banqueting room for a company meeting was an unusually easy task during the Christmas season. Finding large suites at hotels in Beijing's central business district is usually impossible in December, but during last year's Christmas season, Liu, a marketing director for a beverage manufacturer, was offered promotional packages with plenty of available dates. The meeting and conference industry nationwide has been experiencing a hard time since the government introduced policies to crack down on lavish spending of public funds almost a year ago. According to Xinhua News Agency, spending on conferences by the Ministry of Public Security has fallen 80.9 percent compared with a year ago. "We urgently need to cut the number of government and institutional conferences," said Wu Shaoyuan, deputy director of the Alliance of China Conference Hotels. The number of conferences paid for with public funds has been declining since 2011, according to the 2013 China Conference Blue Book released by the China Tourist Hotel Association.
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11. Xinhua: Beijing sees 38% slump in fireworks sales
Fireworks sales in Beijing have slumped 37.7 percent this Spring Festival holiday season as more people shun them amid worries about worsening the city's air pollution. Local residents bought 195,000 boxes of fireworks between Lunar New Year Eve on Jan. 30 and Feb. 4, down 37.7 percent from a year earlier, the Beijing municipal public security bureau said in a statement Wednesday. Prior to the Lunar New Year holiday, authorities and environmentalists had called on residents to cut spending on fireworks, as
severe smoggy weather has become a constant source of public anger and complaints. During the six days from Lunar New Year Eve to Feb. 4, 108 people were injured while setting off fireworks, down 34.5 percent from the same period a year ago, the bureau said.
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12. CD: China's oil demand is growing, US agency says
China's escalating energy demand is increasing its reliance on oil imports despite the nation's effort to control fossil-fuel consumption, according to a report from the US Energy Information Administration (EIA). The independent statistical agency within the Department of Energy said it expects China to import more than 66 percent of its total oil by 2012 and 72 percent by 2040 "as demand is expected to grow faster than domestic crude supply". The State Council's 12th Five-Year Plan for energy development, published early last year, included a measure to cap oil imports
at 61 percent by the end of 2015. The aim was to limit dependence on fossil fuels while developing cleaner burning
fuels to protect the environment after more than three decades of rapid economic growth. The 61 percent cap was an increase from 2012, when China imported 57 percent of its crude-oil needs. Oil, China's second-largest energy source, accounted for 18 percent of total energy consumption in 2011, according to the EIA. Coal, overwhelmingly the top source, supplied 69 percent. "China has the largest oil and gas production in the Asia-Pacific region and the largest coal production in the world, but the country's escalating energy demand is increasing its reliance on imports and need to secure more energy supplies," the EIA said in a statement Wednesday
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13. WSJ: Estee Lauder profit slides on slower demand
Estee Lauder Cos.
said its fiscal second-quarter profit slid 3.4% as the beauty-products company posted narrower margins and a slowdown in its Asia market. Chief Executive Fabrizio Freda said sales were challenged by softer-than-expected demand in some markets. The company also said it expects its results for the year to be tempered by weakness in certain European countries and Korea, as well as a slowdown in China and Hong Kong. U.S.
growth is also expected to be at a slower pace than last year. "China has gone from double-digit growth to single-digit growth," as consumption in larger cities has slowed, while demand in Thailand has been hurt by the country's political turmoil, Mr. Freda said in an interview with The Wall Street Journal.
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14. NYT: Familiar hotel brands expand in China
Chinese travelers are the biggest spenders when it comes to international tourism, according to the United Nations World Tourism Organization, and American hotels are pulling out all the stops to win them over, putting
teakettles in the guest rooms, congee rice porridge on the menus and Mandarin speakers on staff. But what will travelers from the United States find when they go to China? The amenities
at the latest hotels may not be as American as apple pie, yet they offer
comforts both novel and familiar, be it a “15-minute” room-service menu or an Italian restaurant with a Michelin-star chef. Tourists are also likely to find themselves checking in with Chinese vacationers. Starwood, for instance, has said that half the guests at hotels in China are Chinese and that it will soon have more resorts on Hainan Island than it does in Hawaii.
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15. The Diplomat - Zachary Keck: The US and China are right to distrust each other
Trust is a rare commodity in international politics, and Beijing and Washington aren’t likely to be an exception.
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16. RCW - Harsh Pant: China's rise leads India and Japan to wary embrace
Weeks after Japanese Emperor Akihito and Empress Michiko were in India for one of their rare overseas visits, Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe joined India's 65th Republic Day celebrations to commemorate the Indian constitution that came into force in 1950.
Together these visits not only underscore the growing centrality of India in Japanese foreign
policy but also demonstrate subtle shifts in the Asian strategic landscape. This is a time when Beijing's aggressive posturing on territorial issues is creating regional demand for greater strategic equilibrium. While China's disputes with its neighbors in the East and South China seas have garnered increasing global attention, China has also been busy been challenging India along land borders and in the waters of the Indian Ocean. Tensions between Beijing and Tokyo over disputed islands in the East China Sea reflect growing major power rivalry in Asia. Indian foreign policy is gearing up to manage this major power dynamic in Asia, making the region central to its strategic calculus. In the name of non-alignment, India for far too long tried to avoid US allies in East Asia. But the changing geopolitical realities are now forcing Delhi to acknowledge significant convergence between its own regional interests and that of longstanding US allies such as Japan and South Korea.
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17. WSJ - Joseph Sternberg: The secretary and the think tank
A Hong Kong official obscures the relationship between democracy, freedom and prosperity.
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