- IV.
International
. Asia is booming! Thailand is growing at 7%
a year, twice as fast as the US and 4x as fast as Europe.
Inflation & interest rates are low and the economy is well
balanced between strong manufacturing exports and a growing
consumer demand.
. The gap is
growing between the energetic economies of Asia—notably China,
India and the Tigers of Taiwan, Singapore, South Korea, Indonesia,
Malaysia and Thailand—and the mature, complacent economies of
the West.
. Asian
countries provide few health care benefits and there’s no
plaintiff’s bar. It is a free wheeling business atmosphere, with
a lot of opportunities and dangers.
. The problem
with Asia for investors is that, with the exception of Japan, the
stock markets are relatively underdeveloped with widespread unfair
trading practices and low liquidity.
. Picking
Asian stocks is tough, especially in such high-growth markets in
China and the Tigers. You have to put your trust in mutual fund
managers, and there are not many with experience and strong track
records.
. It is not
hard to see Asia surpassing the US & Europe in economic power
in the next 2 decades, and it would be foolish for investors to
skimp on Asia—no matter how difficult it is to invest in
companies outside Japan which is a potential are with US &
Europe as potential areas of relative economic decline.
. China believes US should reward North
Korea with “corresponding measures” at the moment Pyongyang
declares it has frozen its nuclear activities. Reward it, or
succumb to its blackmail?
. Pak Gil Yon, NK’s ambassador to UN, denied allegations that his country
has a program to produce highly enriched uranium. They were caught
in a major lie before. How can the world trust them again?
. United and Northwest
Airlines will start new daily flights to China, after
the approval of the services was approved by the US Department of
Transportation, the airlines said.
. During
Condolezza Rice’s visit to China, Chinese leaders evaded the
subject of US arms sales to Taiwan in response to China’s
missile buildup across the Taiwan Straits by pointing to China’s
defense budget as smaller than that of the United States.
. The Bush
Adm. will cut $18 million in military & economic aid to the
authoritarian Govt. of Uzbekistan for failing to take a series of
prominent steps to improve its human rights record.
. In a rare show of unity, Hong
Kong’s 2 major political parties demanded that the Govt.
explain why its corruption commission raided the offices of 6
newspapers & confiscated reporters’ notebooks.
. Japan’s anti-monopoly agency told Microsoft to
drop a cause from contract with the Japanese electronics maker
that it suspects allows it unlawfully appropriate patented
technology.
. Japanese and US scientists agreed to recommend an end to tests for mad cow
disease in young & newborn cattle, a compromise that could
reopen the lucrative beef trade between the 2 countries.
. The rise of
the Democratic Party is seen as a step towards a 2-party
system in Japan, similar to the rivalry of the Labor &
Conservative Parties in Britain.
. The head of
Japan’s larges opposition party (Katsuya Okada) visited Boston
during the Democratic National Convention, to bolster ties with
US, and pick up political pointers.
. With about
1/3 of Japanese voters remaining independent, one of the
opposition’s great disadvantages against the Liberal
Democrats has been its inability to establish grass-roots
support in the rural areas.
. He also
plans to meet with Bush Adm. officials in Washington. His
reception is less likely to be enthusiastic for is party’s
opposition to P.M. Koizumi’s support of US reconstruction
efforts in Iraq.
. Given
advances in US military weaponry & capabilities, he would not
oppose an overall reduction of US troops in Japan.
. Microsoft
said it would fight a Japanese watchdog’s warning about
violating anti-monopoly law in licensing deals involving its
Windows software.
. About 200 N. Koreans arrived from an
unidentified Asian country, the largest group of defectors to
reach S. Korea. It is part of 460 defectors that SK is trying to
bring in from the unnamed SE Asian country.
. Doctors treating a accused US army deserter (Charles R. Jenkins) said his
condition was not serious, and that he was suffering the
aftereffects of an operation performed in North Korea.
. “We, from
one blood and using the same language, can no longer be
separated… we must put the earliest possible end to the tragedy
of national division.” (Message from North to South Korea)
. About 3,600
of 37k US troops now based in South Korea will leave for Iraq this
month. Plans are in place for an overall reduction in forces by
almost a third by as early as 12/05.
. South Korea
and US are especially at odd over whether North Korea, whose
forces swept over the peninsula in 1950 before being repealed with
the aid of US & other troops is as threatening as it once was.
. Seoul metro
area, home to almost half of the country’s population, had long
been viewed as Pyongyang’s primary target, with an estimated 1
million people projected to be killed in the first 24 hours of an
assault.
. North &
South Korean athletes will march together under one flag at the
Athens Olympics. South Korean investment in the North, once mostly
limited to tourist resort near the border region of Mount Kumgang,
is now expanding into industry.
. Trade
between the 2 Koreas rose to $256.2 million during the first 5
months of 2004, up 22.3% from the same period last year, largely
because of increased aid flowing from South to North.
. Washington
offered the North the possibility of energy aid from South
Korea, security assurances and other benefits during a 3-month
test-period if it promised to disclose and end its nuclear weapons
programs.
. US officials
have expressed mixed views on the South’s new ties with the
North. But top South Korean officials insist that improved ties
between S&N, and relations between US&SK should not be
regarded as mutually exclusive.
. The Foreign
Ministry insisted that NK would freeze its nuclear facilities as
a first step towards dismantling them, but only if the US provided
energy, lifted economic sanctions, and removed the country from
its list of nations that sponsor terrorism.
. There are 4,000 Filipino contract
workers in Iraq and more than 1.4 million others in the Middle
East.
. Troubled by
Communist insurgents and Muslim extremis terror threats, RP has
relied on Washington to provide training and weapons to its poorly
armed military to battle al Quaeda-linked groups in the restive
south.
. GMA unveiled
8 new legislative tax measures & 3 administrative reforms that
would raise a total of P80 billion additional revenues a year to
attain a balanced budget by 2010.
. The Govt. is
expected to generate savings of up to $256 million (14.08 billion
pesos) from the settlement deal that the Power Sector Assets
Liabilities Mgmt. Corp (PSALM) has concluded with US firm
subsidiary Philippine Geothermal Inc. (PGI).
. Bringing its
troops home, RP will put foreign workers in Iraq directly in the
terrorist cross hairs. Whose workers will be next?
. RP has
serious terrorist insurgency in the southern Muslim-dominated
islands. It has suffered 73 terrorist incidents since 9/11,
including 163 deaths and 675 injuries.
. Filipino
expatriates from the Middle East remit $8 billion a year to RP,
accounting for 10% of the country’s economic output. How long
before a terrorist group snatches overseas Filipinos and hold them
hostage in exchange for concessions on independence for Mindanao?
. GMA has
called into question RP’s reliability as an ally. By contrast,
Japan & Korea faced similar situations in Iraq, but held firm
despite political turmoil at home.
. “The
reason why we join this war on terror is that we in RP know what
it is to suffer from the hands of terrorism. We know the pain of
terrorism. We are with you in your leadership against terrorism
wherever it may be found.” She lied!
. Lee Hsien Loong (son of Singapore’s
founder, Lee Kwan Yew), a Cambridge & Harvard educated former
Brig. Gen. was endorsed as P.M. by the Govt.’s ruling People’s
Action Party.
. Malaysia’s P.M. Abdullah Ahmed
Badawi said his Govt. has apprehended about 50 people in the past
3 years with links to a wider network of Islamic terrorism.
. He said
Malaysia was keen to help in rebuilding Iraq and to provide badly
needed medical care.
. He worries
about the perception gap between the Western & Muslim worlds:
“If this feeling of mistrust and animosity becomes worse, it
will have an impact on security for all of us. The best way is to
have a dialogue.”
. Indonesia’s constitutional court raised fresh
difficulties for the prosecution of radical cleric Abubakar
Baasyir by ruling that a recent anti-terrorism law could not be
applied retroactively.
. Pres.
Megawati will face her former chief security minister, Gen. Susilo
Bambang Yudhoyono in a presidential runoff election in the
archipelago.
. United Airlines will become the first
commercial carrier to provide service to Vietnam. It will
begin daily flights from SF on Dec. 9 to Ho Chi Minh City after
receiving final approval from the Vietnamese Govt.
. Foreign Ministers of India &
Pakistan held talks at a regional conference, hoping to speed
peace talks that have raised hopes that the nuclear-armed
neighbors might permanently end decades of hostility.
