IV. International
(02-16-08)
.
The effects of a
shaky US
economy are
beginning to spread to the rest of the world, and
Asian economies that were booming a year ago are
feeling the downturn. Much of the concern is focused on
exports to the United States. The world economy still
relies heavily on the buying power of US consumers.
Without that driving force, there’s a danger that growth
everywhere will slow.
.
Latest US foreign trade data from November show growth
in imports from nearly every part of the world except
for Southeast Asia; year-over-year shipments from
Thailand, Malaysia and Indonesia declined in dollar
terms.
.
In Japan, exports to the US fell in each of the last
four months of 2007. In India, seafood exports dropped
almost 20% from April to October because of lower sales
to the US. In China, which overtook Canada last year as
the largest exporter to the US, there was a decline in
the most recent quarter for exports of textiles and
bases metals.
.
The fiber-optic cables
that carry data around the world have been damaged
before. But experts said the simultaneous rupture of two
underwater cables, reportedly caused by a ship’s anchor
12 miles off the coast of
Egypt, was rare and
highlighted the vulnerability of the global information
technology system. Although India was hit hard by the
disruption in the Internet service, countries in
Asia
and the Middle East were
also affected.
.
Burma’s
junta has stepped up surveillance of the Internet,
arresting one blogger who wrote about this stifling free
expression in the military-ruled nation, a media
advocacy group said.
.
Cambodia’s
UN-backed genocide tribunal has detained former Khmer
Rouge leader Nuon Chea for his alleged role in the
atrocities that led to the death of about 1.7 million
people when the Communist movement held power from 1975
to 1979.
.
In recent months,
China
has had its own problems: rising inflation; a tough new
labor law that has increased the amount companies must
pay in salaries; questions about safety of its products;
and energy shortages. While its economy is still
predicted to grow spectacularly this year that growth is
predicted to be slower than previously expected.
. According
to local authorities, exceptionally severe weather has
forced more than half of the 20 million migrants who
work in the factories in and around Guangzhou to cancel
trips home for the New Year, or Spring Festival. Extreme
cold and unusually heavy snowfalls across Central China
snapped electricity lines, depriving trains of their
power sources.
.
Three weeks of crippling
snowstorm across
China has
inflicted $7.4 billion in damages, the government said
as it announced a $700 million relief for farmers.
Storms have killed 60 people, disabled transport,
destroyed crops & exacerbated a coal shortage, forcing
power plants to shut down factories to cut production.
. Taiwan’s
president Chen Shui-bian inaugurated a runway on one of
the disputed Spratley Islands and insisted the
archipelago belongs to Taiwan despite claims by China
and other several Asian countries (Vietnam, Malaysia,
Philippines & Brunei) due to its rich fishing grounds
and potential oil & gas deposits.
.
Taiwan will hold 2
separate votes on its UN membership bid on 3/22, the
same day as the presidential poll. The move is likely to
anger China which has condemned UN membership bid as a
precursor to formal independence.
. For the 5th
consecutive year, the Chinese government is allowing
direct charter flights to go between the mainland and
Taiwan for a 2-week period to facilitate family visits
during the lunar New Year., without dissipating fresh
threat from China on Taiwan’s planned referendum on UN
membership
.
Although
Japan’s
economy is growing, it is not growing nearly fast enough
to keep pace with other countries, especially booming
China and much of the rest of Asia. Japan’s slide
relative to other economies is not a tabloid tale of
suddenly squandered riches. It is rather an insidious
pestering out of growth, productivity and innovation—and
of political will to stop the slippage.
.
Fifteen years ago, Japan
ranked 4th among the world’s countries in GNP
per capita. It now ranks 20th. In 1994, its
share of the world’s economy peaked at 18%; in 2006, the
number was below 10%. The minister of economic & fiscal
policy (Hiroko Ota) told Parliament recently that Japan
could no longer be described as a “first-class” economy.
.
Japan’s is still the
world’s second-largest economy as measured by gross size
although it has been surpassed by China in purchasing
power. In the coming decades, the economies of China and
India will dwarf Japan’s, according to many projections.
.
Seventy-six percent of Japanese respondents say they
“will not use Chinese food from now on “due to the
recent contamination of Chinese-made frozen “gayoza”
dumplings, according to Kyodo News telephone
survey conducted nationwide February 9-10.
.
North Korea has
completed 8 of the 11 measures required to disable
nuclear facilities under an international disarmament
deal. Overall, there was progress in disabling its main
plutonium-producing facilities but failed to complete
work by end of 2007 for technical reasons.
.
Dozens of Koreans separated for decades by the border
dividing North and South exchanged video messages with
their kin under a new program. Officials of the two
Koreas exchanged videotapes and CDs containing messages
from 40 families (20 from each side) at a meeting in
Panmunjom.
. North
Korea is conducting a major investigation into
corruption at state agencies which handle business
projects with South Korea and aid from Seoul, Yonhap
News said. Kim Jong-il ordered an investigation into
the ruling communist party’s United Front Department
following allegations that top officials took bribes as
they promoted business projects.
.
A Malaysian
government official said customs officers were wrong to
seize 32 Bibles from a Christian traveler. Church groups
had alleged it was another sign of religious intolerance
in the Muslim country.
. A
Malaysian court rejected a petition to have a dead man
declared a Buddhist after he was buried a Muslim in the
latest interfaith dispute to rock this multiethnic but
largely Muslim nation. The deceased, an ethnic Chinese,
was given an Islamic burial by his eldest son, a Muslim
convert, who won custody of the body after getting the
Sharia court’s approval. The rest of the family insisted
the deceased never converted.
.
Most consumers have not
benefited from higher salaries and they have been
cautious in their spending because they expect the cost
of living to rise further. Retail sales in Malaysia are
forecast to grow slower than initially thought this
year.
.
The pilot (Capt. Marwoto
Kumar) of a Garuda Indonesian jetliner that
crashed in
Yogyakarta last
March, killing 21 people, has been arrested on charges
that include manslaughter.
. Former
President Suharto, an army general who rose to power in
Indonesia, with the slaughter of thousands of people,
and ruled for 32 years, over an era of rapid economic
growth and extraordinary graft, died on 1/27. He was 86
years old.
. For the
last four years, Indonesia has seen a rise in natural
and man-made disasters, including train & airplane
accidents and highway collision, which means insurance
firms are likely to profit from an increase in business
this year as more people seek disaster coverage.
.
Two days after the its
annual summit, the National Association of Software &
Services Companies of India (Nasscom)
reported the industry was expected to close the
2007-2008 fiscal year with an export growth of 30%, in
line with the boon figures of the past few years.
.
As part of its probe into the kidney transplant racket
whose alleged kingpin is Dr. Amit Kumar, the CBI (Central
Bureau of Investigation) carried its searches at 6
places in Gurgaon and his nursing home and government
house and took charge of 3 of his suspected accomplices
arrested by Uttar Pradesh police. He was involved in
organ trade and was arrested for a similar offense in
the past.
.
It is a common refrain among the masses that many Indian
politicians are arrogant, and senior BJP Leader
LK Advani seems to share the view. Enjoying a very
powerful position, he said this arrogance is not
seen in other democratic countries.
. Pakistan
is a country of
extremes. Muslims represent the vast majority of the
Islamic homeland’s 162 million residents. They control
the legislature and the economy; often minorities do
endure second-hand status. If one is Ahmadi, Hindu,
Shikh, and especially Christian, he is out of luck.
Christians are barred from equal pay, educational
opportunities and housing.
. A powerful
bomb ripped through a public meeting of the Awami
National Party on 2/9 killing 25 people and injuring
51 others. Officials said the bomb had been planted near
the stage and the explosion occurred as soon as
recitation from the Koran began.
.
Pakistan’s trade deficit increased by 77.84% in January
and swelled to $2.053 billion against $1.154 billion
last year mainly due to surging oil prices.
.
The weekly inflation measured through the Sensitive
Price Index (SPI) increased by 12.04% during the
week ending on 2/8 over the corresponding period last
year, according to data released by the Federal
Bureau of Statistics (FBS).
. Sri Lanka
celebrated its 60th independence anniversary
with parades, speeches and a security clampdown that
failed to prevent suspected rebels from bombing a
civilian bus, killing 12 people, the military said.
.
Arrangements to hold the
local government polls in the Batticaloa district after
nearly 14 years are now in order with the political
parties contesting the local polls launching their
campaign this week, said the Assistant Commissioners of
Elections.
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Several civil committees have been set up in bus stands,
railway stations and housing complexes to protect people
and property in Colombo.
