It's Time To Tell China To Get Nicked

[basilio]

Another audacious power grab by President Xi Jingping. In the last few weeks he has unilaterally

1) Decreed that children can only play computer games for 3 hours a week on the weekends.
2) Closed down the private tutoring industry declaring that it was financially ruining families attempting to provide extra private tuition.
3) Declared that effeminate male movie/pop stars should no longer be encouraged.

Xi has also decided that the rise of super rich business people is not in the best interests of China and that he was actively going to spread the wealth through more taxes on the super rich.

What a Commo.!

The timing of Xi Jinping's crackdown on 'effeminate' men, gamers and private tutoring cannot be ignored

Xi Jinping has been on a run of late that is earning him both admiration as a bold reformer curing society's ills, and criticism as an unchecked leader steering China towards a 21st century version of the Cultural Revolution, writes Bill Birtles.

www.abc.net.au

Chinese president vows to ‘adjust excessive incomes’ of super rich

Chinese Communist party to crack down on almost weekly creation of billionaire company bosses

www.theguardian.com

 

[SirRumpole]

Another audacious power grab by President Xi Jingping. In the last few weeks he has unilaterally

1) Decreed that children can only play computer games for 3 hours a week on the weekends.
2) Closed down the private tutoring industry declaring that it was financially ruining families attempting to provide extra private tuition.
3) Declared that effeminate male movie/pop stars should no longer be encouraged.

Xi has also decided that the rise of super rich business people is not in the best interests of China and that he was actively going to spread the wealth through more taxes on the super rich.

What a Commo.!

The timing of Xi Jinping's crackdown on 'effeminate' men, gamers and private tutoring cannot be ignored

Xi Jinping has been on a run of late that is earning him both admiration as a bold reformer curing society's ills, and criticism as an unchecked leader steering China towards a 21st century version of the Cultural Revolution, writes Bill Birtles.

www.abc.net.au

Chinese president vows to ‘adjust excessive incomes’ of super rich

Chinese Communist party to crack down on almost weekly creation of billionaire company bosses

www.theguardian.com

Very significant for pension funds and other corporations that invest in China.

It could be an own goal if funds suddenly disappear from China.

 

[bellenuit]

Another audacious power grab by President Xi Jingping. In the last few weeks he has unilaterally

1) Decreed that children can only play computer games for 3 hours a week on the weekends.
2) Closed down the private tutoring industry declaring that it was financially ruining families attempting to provide extra private tuition.
3) Declared that effeminate male movie/pop stars should no longer be encouraged.

Xi has also decided that the rise of super rich business people is not in the best interests of China and that he was actively going to spread the wealth through more taxes on the super rich.

What a Commo.!

The timing of Xi Jinping's crackdown on 'effeminate' men, gamers and private tutoring cannot be ignored

Xi Jinping has been on a run of late that is earning him both admiration as a bold reformer curing society's ills, and criticism as an unchecked leader steering China towards a 21st century version of the Cultural Revolution, writes Bill Birtles.

www.abc.net.au

Chinese president vows to ‘adjust excessive incomes’ of super rich

Chinese Communist party to crack down on almost weekly creation of billionaire company bosses

www.theguardian.com

Don't forget schoolchildren will now be indoctrinated with “Xi Jinping thought”.

Chinese pupils returned to school on Wednesday with new textbooks peppered with “Xi Jinping thought”, as the Communist Party aims to extend his personality cult to children as young as seven and rear a new generation of patriots.

The education ministry has said it will incorporate Xi’s vaguely defined political ideology into the national curriculum, from primary schools to graduate programmes, at the start of the new school year on Wednesday.

China’s pupils get schooled in ‘Xi Jinping thought’

Chinese students return to school with new textbooks peppered with ‘Xi Jingping thought’.

www.aljazeera.com

I would not be surprised to soon see an edict for people to wear Mao suits again to show their adherence to a classless society. Remember, that is what he wore at the last CCP congress.

I think Xi is dangerous and is slowly winding back the reforms made by he predecessor as well as adopting an aggressive stance with his neighbours and showing absolute hostility to anyone that should criticise the CCP. That coupled with the "cult" personality he is promoting spells trouble for the world in the next few years.

 

[basilio]

Rumpoles observations about pension funds withdrawing from China are also significant.

I was a bit tongue-in-check regarding President Xi's interventions. Frankly I could see a billion people cheering for a control on children spending their life on computer games. The private tuition industry has created an unwinnable situation for Chinese parents trying to get their children into scarce University places. I reckon a billion of them would also cheer that decision. The forthright call to tax the new Chinese bilionaires and create a more equal society will also go down well with the majority of the Chinese population.

I came across an excellent analysis of the Chinese investment scene. IMV well worth a read. Some excellent historical context as well.

Main points about the policy were:

1. Determination that a group of very wealthy capitalists did not emerge as a threat to the power of the Party and its leader Xi Jinping.
2. A general reestablishment of absolute control in the country.
3. A determination to reduce wealth inequality, described by Xi Jinping as "common prosperity"; this point of view references leftward swings at various moments in 20th Century Chinese history.
4. A determination to control education and communication media.
5. A determination that foreign capital is no longer needed nor welcome and should not be allowed to exploit the Chinese population.
6. An intense new sense of nationalism.

The China Narrative Is Broken; China Is Uninvestable For Now

About six weeks ago, I sold my last China position. Check out why I had dumped Alibaba stock on March 27 and sold part of my China small cap ETF in May.

seekingalpha.com

 

[basilio]

The decision to minimise children playing computer games has had a big hit on the gaming media companies.

China forbids minors from gaming more than three hours per week​

Tencent and NetEase can only offer online gaming to minors from 8pm to 9pm (00:00 to 01:00 GMT) on Fridays, weekends and holidays.


Tencent, which in 2018 and 2019 grappled with a widespread gaming industry crackdown then focused on myopia among children, is also struggling with a plethora of tightening regulations in areas such as social media, online finance and commerce [File: Tingshu Wang/Reuters]

By Zheping HuangBloomberg
30 Aug 2021

China will limit the amount of time children can play videogames to just three hours most weeks, a dramatic escalation of restrictions which dealt a blow to the world’s largest mobile gaming market, as Beijing signaled it would continue a campaign to control the expansion of large tech companies.
Gaming platforms from Tencent Holdings Ltd. to NetEase Inc. can only offer online gaming to minors from 8 p.m. to 9 p.m. on Fridays, weekends and public holidays, state news agency Xinhua reported, citing a notice by the National Press and Publication Administration. The new rules are a major step-up from a previous restriction set in 2019 of 1.5 daily hours most days.

China forbids minors from gaming more than three hours per week

Tencent and NetEase can only offer online gaming to minors from 8pm to 9pm on Fridays, weekends and holidays.

www.aljazeera.com

 

[Smurf1976]

I noticed today that Eveready now stamps "SINGAPORE" prominently on the end of their alkaline batteries.

It's highly visible, white print on black background, and I can only assume they're making a point of it for marketing reasons, working on an assumption that highlighting the country of manufacture as being a "friendly" one will be good for sales.

I wonder how long before other companies with products made somewhere that isn't China start drawing this to attention?

 

[sptrawler]

@basilio how does all this fit with the rhetoric, that we shouldn't be pushing back against China and we should be more welcoming to our major trading partner?

I'm starting to see a shift from the Guardian, SMH, AGE narrative on your part, are you having any internal conflicts.

 

[sptrawler]

Very significant for pension funds and other corporations that invest in China.

It could be an own goal if funds suddenly disappear from China.

As I've said before, contracts with China are always fluid, from my observations you have a contract, until they don't like the contract.
Another example is Macau, many overseas companies have been enticed and courted by the "invest in us" mantra, now it looks like it might be "thankyou for the buildings, and infrastructure". Didn't Crown build something there?

I guess we are just lucky China needs us and our iron ore miners are immune from China's ponderings

Macau casino stocks plunge as gov’t kicks off consultation

A gov’t proposal to revise the city’s gaming laws spooked investors already slammed by Beijing’s recent crackdown.

www.aljazeera.com

From the article:
With Macau’s lucrative casino licences up for rebidding next year, a government proposal to revise the city’s gaming law spooked a Hong Kong market already slammed hard into the red by a broad Beijing regulatory crackdown, across sectors from technology to education and property, that has sliced hundreds of billions of dollars off asset values.

The slump came after Lei Wai Nong, Macau’s secretary for economy and finance, late on Tuesday gave notice of a 45-day consultation on the gambling industry starting on Wednesday, saying there were still some deficiencies in industry supervision. The enclave is the only place in China where gambling is legal. Among the topics being covered: how many licences – known locally as “concessions” – will be allowed, how long their terms will be, and the level of supervision by the government.

While licence renewals have been expected for some time as the current ones expire next June, the move to tighten regulatory control took the industry by surprise. Besides appointing government representatives, the revisions also propose increasing local shareholdings of casino companies, without elaboration on how these moves will be enacted.

Beijing, increasingly wary of Macau’s acute reliance on gambling, has not yet indicated how the licence rebidding process will be judged.

Dismay rippled through industry players and analysts after the announcement as China’s ongoing clampdown on sectors from gaming to after-school tutoring appears to have reached Macau at last.

Discussions over the future of Macau’s casino licences come amid rocky US-China relations, leaving some investors fearing that US-based casino operators may not fare as well as local players.

 

[Smurf1976]

Things are looking a bit dark in China it seems:

Power cuts hit homes in north-east China

An electricity shortage affecting factories has now spread to some homes.

www.bbc.com

The energy shortage at first affected manufacturers across the country, many of whom have had to curb or stop production in recent weeks.

One power company said it expected the power cuts to last until spring next year, and that unexpected outages would become "the new normal". Its post, however, was later deleted.

So if you need any "Made in China" goods then hopefully you've already ordered and they've already been made. If not, might be some disruption.

 

[qldfrog]

Provicative title so what better place:
https://asia.nikkei.com/Politics/In...ops-European-helicopters-for-U.S.-Black-Hawks
After the subs, the choppers...
Australia is clearly taking side here and our tax dollars will feel the pain first...
Not breaking news but did not see it discussed here..or i missed it

 

[Knobby22]

Chinese ships travelling into Australian waters and hitting our equipment with lasers.

Now is the perfect opportunity to take back Darwin port on security issues. The port was sold by the Libs (during Abbots reign) to China. Come on, show some strength. Less rhetoric, more action!

 

[SirRumpole]

Chinese ships travelling into Australian waters and hitting our equipment with lasers.

Now is the perfect opportunity to take back Darwin port on security issues. The port was sold by the Libs (during Abbots reign) to China. Come on, show some strength. Less rhetoric, more action!

I think it was actually a 99 year lease, but it amounts to the same thing.

I wonder if others on this forum have changed their mind about China since China's latest aggressive actions.

VC ?

 

[Investoradam]

Very significant for pension funds and other corporations that invest in China.

It could be an own goal if funds suddenly disappear from China.

Maybe if old Whorke and China man Keating hadn’t sold Australia and it’s assets out from its citizens and it’s First Nations people we wouldn’t have this problem?

How the Labor Party Sold Australia’s Public Assets for a Song

Many people think of privatization as a policy of conservative parties. In Australia, however, it was Paul Keating’s Labor that initiated a gigantic fire sale of public assets, setting in motion a process that made billions for private companies at the expense of everyone else.

www.jacobinmag.com

 

[Investoradam]

Things are looking a bit dark in China it seems:

Power cuts hit homes in north-east China

An electricity shortage affecting factories has now spread to some homes.

www.bbc.com

So if you need any "Made in China" goods then hopefully you've already ordered and they've already been made. If not, might be some disruption.

There record year of green energy can’t keep up over some busted arsed old coal power stations

 

[moXJO]

I think it was actually a 99 year lease, but it amounts to the same thing.

I wonder if others on this forum have changed their mind about China since China's latest aggressive actions.

VC ?

I'm anti Ccp. But pro reality. Reality is we are a soft target. Build some hypersonic weapons and we will talk.

 

[wayneL]

It seems at least one state isn't telling China to get nicked

 

[qldfrog]

After covid, 3y of the west rehoming factories and all the other BS news
The facts are

Pharmacists report nationwide shortage of some antibiotics amid supply issues

Overseas supply issues are leading to a shortage in some antibiotic medications used to treat illnesses such as pneumonia and strep throat.

www.abc.net.au

Our leaders are good at jabbing and poisonning us, locking and taxing us..but it seems far less at actually doing their only job: managing countries
Who is getting nicked?
Ohh but it is different now, India is the issue ROL
Pathetic

 

[qldfrog]

All good,
After the COVID shortage, our country is rehoming factories back on our soil, making sure our more extreme move toward the US will be free from any Chinese economic reprisals
Irony of course

End of an era as mill produces last ream of Australian white paper, leaving workers fearing for jobs

Opal Australian Paper's Maryvale mill, in Victoria, has halted white paper production indefinitely, as the office supplies industry predicts paper prices will soar across the country.

www.abc.net.au

Sleep well, get jabbed and follow the ABC

 

[mullokintyre]

According to The Evil Murdoch Empire , a Chinese owned mine in OZ has been selling lithium to the motherland on the cheap.

As the battle for control for one of Australia’s few operating lithium mines heats up, the China-connected company that operates the Bald Hill mine under the eyes of the receiver has defended its decision to sell the lithium to China at 70 per cent below market prices.
The Australian revealed the West Australian government is looking into whether state royalties are being avoided by selling the battery-making material at rates dramatically below its Australian peers.

The company at the centre of this bitter battle is Alita Resources, which is currently under the administration of McGrathNicol. Alita operates the Bald Hill lithium mine through a subsidiary company, Lithco.
Bald Hill is set to export as much as 150,000 tonnes of lithium concentrate this year at a price of about $US300m ($454m), according to documents sighted by The Australian, despite it being worth more than $US1.1bn at current prices.

Ahead of its return to production last year, the company locked in a sales deal with a Hong Kong-registered company that requires it to sell its output and ship it directly to China at a vast discount to current market prices – delivering windfall profits for the buyer, but leaving the Australian mine running on only wafer-thin margins.

“To secure long-term offtake agreements, and in line with market standards, contracts are generally negotiated at a lower rate compared to ‘spot’ or ‘auction prices’ that do not make up the majority of the lithium trade,” a Lithco spokeswoman said in an emailed response to questions. “Long-term contracts are generally negotiated on the basis of securing the financial longevity of a project,” the spokesperson said. Some lithium rivals questioned why Alita hasn’t renegotiated this rate, given it was already below market prices last year. The lithium market has since hit record highs.
“There is enough pricing power in the market to do that,” said one source.
While most lithium miners keep the details of their own offtake contracts confidential, and the spot market for lithium concentrate is small, industry sources say most modern contracts include a reference to the final price of refined chemicals – allowing them to rise and fall in line with broader market movements.

Lithium concentrate has since surged to more than $US6000 a tonne, significantly above the $US800-$US1500 rate sighted in the Lithco contract, with other Australian miners reaping massive profits on the back of shortages of the material.
Lithium is a highly coveted metal needed to electrify the world. China stepped in early to seize control of much of this critical supply chain and build the refining capabilities needed to make batteries, leaving the West scrambling to catch up.

“Most, if not all, lithium producers currently sell their offtake to China,” said Lithco.

The connection of Lithco and parent company Alita to China may be more direct than a sales agreement, however.

Its ownership is subject to litigation, due to be heard before the WA Supreme Court on Monday.

Debt holder Austroid Resources is trying to take control of Alita through a deal agreed with McGrathNicol in 2020, but has breached a 12-month sunset clause requiring approvals from the Foreign Investment Review Board, and the Australian and Singapore stock exchanges, where the company was dual-listed before calling in the administrators.

The Supreme Court will decide on Monday whether Alita equity holder Canaccord can continue with its application to have the Deed Of Company Arrangement thrown out on the grounds that Austroid has not been able to meet the three requirements.

If that happens, it paves the way for Alita to be sold and all equity and debt holders to all be paid out, due to the unbelievable turnaround in lithium prices since 2019.

Austroid is fighting this move. It was the company that stepped in and snapped up the debt in the failed company before prices surged to current records.

Stakeholders believe Alita is now worth more than $1bn and the Australian Securities & Investments Commission has told McGrathNicol to have the company revalued before it will sign off on any deal that would see equity holders wiped out.

Including purchasing the debt and costs associated with restarting the mine, Austroid may have spent $250m on Alita, according to market insiders.

But in reality, just who owns the debt in Alita and who is buying the lithium is unclear.
Several threads lead back to the family of billionaire Chinese businessman Que Wenbin.

Mr Que, according to Forbes Magazine, made his fortune in herbal medicines and through control of Sichuan Western Resources – which Morningstar describes as a conglomerate with mining interests, along with the development and manufacture of “lithium-ion battery materials and related batteries products” and “new energy” cars. Austroid is run by his son Mike Que.

Back in 2019, China Hydrogen Energy bought the debt in Alita and made an application to the Foreign Investment Review Board to take control of the company, but withdrew in April 2020 when then treasurer Josh Frydenberg indicated he may move to block the deal.

CHEL, which is registered in the Cayman Islands, then sold the same debt to US-registered company Austroid. Mike Que was a director at both companies and is also a director at Lithco.

Despite Mike Que having been a director at CHEL and currently being a director at Lithco and Austroid, the Lithco spokesperson said it had “no” dealings with CHEL, or Que Wenbin.

“Enquiries relating to CHEL should be directed to that company,” the spokesperson said.

Tenement records held by the WA Mines Department show that CHEL retains a mortgage over the Bald Hill mining and exploration tenements. The mortgage was registered in early 2020 and remains in place.

Mike Que has now been waiting for than two years – as the lithium price boomed again – for permission from FIRB to formalise ownership of the company.

McGrathNicol refused to comment for this article but said in an update to shareholders: “Austroid has advised the Deed Administrators (McGrathNicol) that the statutory timeframe which FIRB has to respond to Austroid’s revised FIRB application has been extended to 17 March 2023.”

FIRB said it “can’t confirm that date”, which will bookend the decision by the court on whether Alinta shareholders can continue to fight for Alita to be liquidated.

Once again, it highlights just how much we as Australians are prepared to give away to China.
But what do we get in return?
Certainly no thanks at all, and very little respect.
Mick

 

[Knobby22]

Anonymous Hackers Target TikTok:
‘Delete This Chinese Spyware Now’
​

This has been a week that TikTok—the Chinese viral video giant that has soared under lockdown—will want to put quickly behind it. The ByteDance-owned platform was under fire anyway, over allegations of data mishandling and censorship, but then a beta version of Apple’s iOS 14 beta caught the app secretly accessing users’ clipboards and a backlash immediately followed.​

​

Whether India had always planned to announce its ban on TikTok, along with 58 other Chinese apps, on Monday June 30, or was prompted by the viral response to the iOS security issue is not known. But, as things stand, TikTok has been pulled from the App Store and Play Store in India, its largest market, and has seen similar protests from users in other major markets around the world, including the U.S.​

​

One of the more unusual groups campaigning against TikTok is the newly awakened Anonymous hactivist group. As ever with Anonymous, it’s difficult to attribute anything to the non-existent central core of this loosely affiliated hacker collective, but one of the better followed Twitter accounts ostensibly linked to the group has been mounting a fierce campaign against TikTok for several weeks, one that has now gained prominence given the events of the last few days.​

https://www.forbes.com/sites/zakdof...delete-this-chinese-spyware-now/#7a17e4fe35cc


​

Still against Tictoc?