Archives of “South China Morning Post” tag

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German Minister of State for Europe Roth says there will be “no business as usual” between EU & China

  
  Analysis
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Michael Roth, German Minister of State for Europe in an pinion article in German news magazine Der Spiegel

  • will be “no business as usual” between the European Union and China following the assertive political moves on Hong Kong
  • urged fellow EU nations not to “be afraid to lock horns” with Beijing.
    referred to China by its autocratic political structure, casting it as a systemic rival that has “unfortunately” challenged Europe’s “foundation of values”
Via South China Morning Post, link here for more (may be gated).
china Germany

HK press says US-China talks are expected to last for only one day! No progress made.

  
Analysis, Politics
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South China Morning Post with the piece saying:

  • US and China make no progress on key trade issues in two days of deputy-level talks, sources say
  • The Chinese delegation refuses to talk about forced technology transfers, a core US grievance in the negotiations, a person with knowledge of the meetings says
  • High-level talks are expected to last for only one day, with Liu He and his team now planning to leave Washington on Thursday
Risk off on this news.
And yen, gold positive

Huawei has delayed sale of smartphones in Europe citing US ban on access to Google

  
  Analysis
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A piece in the South China Morning Post  overnight:

  • Huawei will delay sales of its newly launched Mate 30 smartphone series in Europe
  • Citing the US trade ban that bars access to Google apps and services
  • Huawei will promote its own Huawei Mobile Services (HMS) ecosystem, in lieu of Google’s own system, to support users in China
Further less than optimistic reports in the SCMP on the trade war include comments from a trade adviser to Donald Trump:
  • “Does the president have options to escalate the trade war? Yes, the tariffs can be raised higher. These are low level tariffs that could go to 50 percent or 100 percent”
That’s Michael Pillsbury, an outside trade adviser to Trump, said in an interview cited by SCMP.
Earlier on this here
A piece in the South China Morning Post  overnight: 

View Full Article

 

Trump ready to escalate trade war if no deal, advisor says

  
  Analysis
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SCMP report

Trump has so far only imposed ‘low level tariffs’ and is prepared to escalate them further if no deal is agreed, Michael Pillsburt told the SCMP.
This is an interesting tidbit as well:
“It was very close and then something mysterious happened. China reneged,” Pillsbury said. “The mystery is the hardliners [in Beijing]. They apparently were not aware of the 150-page deal. They somehow became aware of it in April. Some new players got involved in Beijing and next thing we know their reneging took place.”
The location of the comments is also telling; the US is sending a message to China.

Beijing expert says that China and US may be close to agreeing an interim trade deal

  
  Analysis
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SCMP reports on the matter

US China

The report cites views and commentary from the chief economist for the China Centre for International Economic Exchanges, Chen Wenling, who is a researcher affiliated with the Chinese government.

Saying that China and US are expected to reach an interim trade deal next month, with Beijing agreeing to buy more American products and the Trump administration postponing further tariff increases and easing restrictions on Huawei.
That said, Chen notes that is would be “very difficult” to reach a comprehensive trade deal and argues that China may not meet demands from the US on IP protection as part of any interim trade deal, should that happen.
The full report can be found here.
The headlines sound great and we have seen hints of a compromise as of late but there’s some hints of biasness in the reporting that must be pointed out.
In Chen’s view, it is not necessary for China to make any more concessions other than agricultural purchases because “it has now gained the upper hand in fighting the trade war with the US”. Adding that:

“Trump is likely to win the election, and it would a good news for China. He is completely clueless in fighting the trade war without any strategies or master plans, and he has bullied US allies.”

That’s not the sort of stuff that gives you confidence as to why they are moving towards a compromise as egos are clearly a key matter in this trade ordeal.

Weekend HK press: US-China trade war, Trump and Xi are no closer to a deal

  
  Analysis
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An opinion piece in the South China Morning Post – says despite the two being ‘friends’ there is no deal on the horizon.

In a nutshell:
  • Neither leader has agreed to anything more than they had previously
  • The lack of a deadline to negotiate the final ’10 per cent’ of sticking points betrays a lack of confidence that doing so is even possible
Is anyone surprised?
We’ve been fed so much baloney on the ‘deal’, and anyone who has been hopeful has been fooled time and time again. Carry on.
Link here if you want further elaboration
An opinion piece in the South China Morning Post - says despite the two being 'friends' there is no deal on the horizon. 
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