Typhon kajiki

Just two photos sent by my daughter who is visiting Vietnam right now. 

Unfortunately, a tropical storm battered coastal Northern Vietnam this week  unleashing dangerous wind and torrential rains. It damaged thousands of homes. My daugher had already left the Northern part of Vietnam while the typhon was triggering the flooding. Now she's in South Vietnam. 

She will come back to Italy on the 1st of September.

                                                                                                                                     Have a nice Sunday ☀

China's increasing power

(Photo courtesy by Stefano Gazzano)

Since early 2000s China has been increasing its economic power, technological strenght, and national defense capability. Not to mention of Beijing's significant role in global politics. For example, in 2024 China showed its considerable role of being a reliable peacemaker between Saudi Arabia and Iran. 

(Photo courtesy by Stefano Gazzano)

Furthermore, China and India have recently agreed to carry out active interaction at all levels on bilateral and multilateral opportunities, powerfully built strategic communication, and enhance mutual political trust. I am so glad to hear such a great news, as in terms of international politics it means that unipolarism will not exist anymore. It's easy to see that the only country that owns military basis in more than 80 states around the world will be compelled to share its power.

(Photo courtesy by Stefano Gazzano)

The fact that Beijing is now hit by Trump tariffs on steel and aluminium leeds me to think that the US is challenging China using many tactics, including economic restrictions and military encirclement.

Sovereignity and dignity of all countries do not have to be subordinated to the hegemonic countries' investment management companies.

Just sentenced to death

I would like to share a news I've just heard from an East Asia's daily newpaper: former Bank of China's chairman, Liu Liange , was just sentenced to death.  He was found to have issued illegal loans and accepted bribes worth around $ 16.7 million. 

In same Western countries he would have been given a top ranking government position.

(Photo courtesy of Stefano Gazzano)

Photos sent from Thailand

 

Hello heveryone! I am just sharing a few photos. They were taken by my daugher while she was visiting Thailand in late August. 

She sent me these photos via email. 

She really enjoyed her journey in that marvelous Southeast Asian country, which covers 16.40 million hectares of conservation forest. 

I've just learnt that Asian elephants have smaller body and smaller ears, compared with African Elephants. They live in forested areas across Southeast Asia, including Myanmar, Thailand and Malaysia. The above photo shows Italian tourists who were bathing those marvelous herbivores mammals. Elephants are most confortable when bathing, and so they are most likely to interact with people around them. Submerging their bodies and covering themself with mud are natural behaviours for elephants. 

September 1st is a day filled with many celebrations and historical significance around the world. 

Have a nice September 🍂

Northeast China

Last week, on June 8, I shared some pictures which a friend of mine had sent from Northeast China.  I was glad to see some friends of our blogging community ( Veronica , Tanza , Anna and Ashok ) enjoyed his photos. Thanks for the appreciation! He had also sent these ones.

With regards to Northeast China, I have just heard that part of the country will start using Russia's Vladivostok port, reducing freight transport. This means that distance will decrease by more than 800 km from industrial base of Northeast China provinces.

The bad news is that the unemployment rate among young Chinese people has been growing since late 2022, reaching 19.6 % in  early April 2023.

I hope you will have a nice new week!  

Pictures sent by a friend of mine

 

A friend of mine sometimes sends me picture which he takes while he's travelling for job. He is involved in Italian wine export, and he mainly goes to East Asia twice a year.

He recently went to Guannang and Lyanyungang (China). Once back home, he sent me some pictures that he had took while he was working in Northeastern China. The last three photos were taken on a cloudy morning in Lyanyungang, a Chinese town located in Northeastern Jangsu province.

The picture above shows a square completely covered with hundreds of scooters. McDonalds' logo with its golden-arches yellow and red is in the middle of the square.  

His pictures remind me the Asia Security Forum, which took place last week. During the meeting China's defence minister, Li Shangfu , said: "It is undeniable that a severe conflict or confrontation between China and the United States will be an unbearable disaster for the world". He also specified that "any attempt to separate Taiwan from China would be met by military response without fearing any adversaries, and regardless of the cost".

Asian powers have bigger population, militaries, and economies ... we see how BRICS members will be able to work together in terms of creating deterrence on the planet. 

Black sheep

A dear friend of mine has just sent me the picture below. But I haven't understood if it is related to the pandemic (and its vaccine's moral obbligation) or the energy crisis. Otherwise, the picture may also be related to the ongoing war that began in late February close to EU borders. Does the Ukraine-Russia war become a never ending war? ... as we've already seen in Syria, Libya, Yemen, etc.

Meanwhile, people who rule the world are trying to trigger another war on the Pacific front (East Asia) ... $ 1,100 Billion missiles will be shipped to the island of Taiwan as soon as possible.  

Nice weekend to the blogging community :-)

Restaurant on the bank of the major river in Thailand

Since 2020 a restaurant on the bank of the Chao Phraya river near Bangkok, Thailand, have had big problems because of Covid-19 pandemic. Unfortunately, more problems have come when water in the river started to rise in 2021.

The owner of the restaurant wanted to close, but he decided to wait. So the restaurant stayed open, and customers enjoyed dining while the river washed their feet. People shared funny videos on social media, which probably saved the restaurant. More people wanted to visit the place and enjoy its special atmosphere.

It seemed that the floods would destroy the business, but they made it grow again.  

The food in the pictures above above is not typical of Thailand. A friend of mine made the two pictures at a restaurant in China, Jiangsu province. He went there for job four years ago.

Covid-19: lesson learnt! ... It seems.

In many countries with fewer new daily infection cases people are going back to work, as lockdowns to stop the further spread have been lifted across the world. Experts say the scale of a second wave can be reduced  by wearing masks and observing social distancing rules, considering that the future shape of pandemic will be decided by people actions and nature of the virus. Actually, if societies reopen too soon, the first wave of epidemic may not be completely eradicated.

The bad news is that some countries, such as Germany, Lebanon, Saudi Arabia, and South Korea, have reported a huge rise in new infections after easing restrictions. That's the main reason why many governments, mainly in the Middle East and East Asia, have been adopting some proactive steps with the aim of push people behaviour in a certain direction. In this perspective, in those countries wearing a mask is required by law. So people can't walk across any store not wearing a mask or without showing their mobile phone app that shows that they are not been tested positive.

In brief, since the Covid-19 epidemic hit the world in early 2020, societies have been learning the lesson: they have to act early and be prepared in terms of testing kits, medical facilities, education of the people, testing capabilities, social distancing rules, and so far.

And last but not least, the easing of lockdowns has showed the importance of individual, emission-free, socially distanced transport, as governments try to prevent spiked in car use, and pollution. And this has paved the way to e-scooters, that are seen as an environmentally friendly options for short journeys. But using e-scooters on roads without sufficient infrastructures,  such as cycle lanes, may be risky. 

Chinese President Xi Jinping visits Italy later this month

Italy's Government is negotiating a preliminary deal to become part of China's "Belt and Road" infrastructure plan. It would be a non-binding initial framework, which will be signed when Chinese President Xi Jinping visits Italy on 22 and 23 March.

With the aim to link China by sea and land with South Asia, Central Asia, Middle East, Africa and Europe, the "Belt and Road"  initiative will boost trade and investments through an infrastructure network on the lines of the old silk road.

US-China trade war will not show a winner

Since May 2018 every social, economic, and political institution, at global level, has been under threat as a consequence of the US biggest protectionist approach. America has imposed $ 34 Billion worth of tariffs on steel and aluminium, and China has responded with its own tariffs on some US goods, including soybeans, chemicals, cars, and medical equipments. That's why there is uncertainty in the US stock market, as investors are moving to haven assets such as bond and gold.

Last week some UE politicians talked about a trade war and potential collapse of the world trade system. Actually the protectionist approach to the US economy will not be related to economic benefits. Americans may protect some jobs, but they will lose for more jobs in the medium term. 

In the long run the US will lose jobs, will lose investments, and will lose its economic power, because over the last three decades America has benefited from trade from East Asia. As above mentioned, on the one hand, China is also taking action and will soon establish commensurate measures, considering that US policies have been used to achieve protectionist goals. On the other hand, China president, Xi Jinping, recently said his country will continue to import EU goods and foreign investments.

It seems that this trade war between the US and China will not show a winner.  

Cryptocurrencies' free fall

Since the start of 2018 Bitcoin has lost more than 60% of its value, and other cryptocurrencies have done almost the same during last the five weeks. Meanwhile, some Governments in East Asia, such as China and South Korea, have introduced tougher regulation, and India's policy makers want to ban all use of  cryptocurrencies. With regard to the latter announcement, Bitcoin fell by 12.7 % on Friday, 2nd February. 

We mainly know that Bitcoins is a particular implementation of the blockchain technology, the world's leading software for digital assets, which allows market participants to keep track of digital currency transactions without central record keeping. Each computer connected to the network is considered a node that gets a copy of the blockchain, which is downloaded automatically. Consequently, Blockchain's participants can transfer funds and setting trades without the need for a central authority. The network of nodes validates the user's status and the transaction using known algorithms, and combine the latter with other transactions to create a new block of data, which will be added to the existing blockchain.The major innovation is that the technology allows market participants to transfer assets through the internet without the need  for a centralized third party.
Within the context above mentioned, some experts are talking about similarities between cryptocurrencies and other coins. This is not correct, because when we are speaking about the Euro, the Yen or the Dollar, we are referring them to strong economies, efficient taxation systems and central banks, which allow them to create a particolar value. On the contrary, with regards to Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies we have no idea who bake them, and who is behind the their value.

As mentioned by Matin Baccardax, from TheStreet.com, when we own a share of a public company, which is freely traded on a stock exchange, just we have a piece of paper which gives us a small portion of the profit going forward. Neverthless  when we own Bitcoin we don't have anything in terms of dividends or profit. Bitcoin's value only increases when more people participate, and when fewer people  participate the value decreases. This is a structure which create a great deal of risk.

Sale of weapons and stock markets booming

It seems that a lot of people, such as investors, individual traders, market experts and columnist have been waiting for a new periodic crisis of the markets. Actually, we could see a "rotation" in terms of money which may flow out from the stock markets. In particular,  technology stocks have been on a all time high for a long time, thanks to the sharp development of networks and nodes both related to the world's system on transactions.       

Unfortunately, there are also some geopolitical uncertainties in the Eastern emisphere which may affect the markets:   

• Saudi Arabia leadership accepts to partially normalise relation with Israel in exchange for an alliance against Iran.
• Rohinjy people are still brutally oppressed while the developed world holds its inaction in the face of genocide and example of ethnic cleasing.
• The EU has been cutting funds allocated to Turkey due to the deteriorating situation in terms of democracy, rule of law and human rights.
• U.S. President is considering recognising Jerusalem as capital of Israel, although 330,000 Palestinians, who make up 37 percent of the city's population, have been living there since Israel captured and annexed the Eastern Sector.
• Conflicts in Yemen and Syria haven't still gone to an end.
• Sale of weapons to Saudi Arabia, Myanmar and Iran has increased sharply since 2016.

It seems that there is a relationship between the rise of stock markets and the frenetic and uncontrolled sale of weapons and munitions in the Asian continent. 

In addition to this, China and Russia call on U.S. to reduce military exercises in East Asia Region of the World. In particular, Russia foreign minister have questioned U.S. tactics on East Asia, considering the U.S. secretary of state pushes diplomatic options on North Korea.

In this perspective, while secretary of State Tillerson was consistently calling for dialogue, Trump responded to North Korea missile tests with insults on Twitter ... He called Kim Jong "Little rocket man" and "Sick puppy".

 

New markets

It is a wide perception among Europeans that Western countries  can only lose from East Asia's success in terms of growth and employment. Development in one part of the world may require lower growth in another and Europeans are worried about competition from developing countries, such as China, India and Brazil. But what are they worried about? Since 2007 German, British and Dutch export to China and India has risen steadly. German car makers and chemical companies are focused on what is going on in East Asia economies. The expansion of educational products and services has become a good opportunity for UK.
At the same time, other developing countries, such as Indonesia, Mexico and Turkey, may soon show an extraordinary growth in demand for consumer products because people, who live in those parts ot the world, may desire the same consumer goods that we all desire in Western countries. Of course, a change is always demanding, especially for those workers with narrow or manual skill. That's why most experts estimate that 2 billion people are going to be brought into the global middle class as some of the most challenging parts of East Asia and South America economies develop. Consequently, 4.9 billion people are predicted to be middle class in the world by 2030. As Jim O'Neal wrote in 2012, since a couple of years we have been seeing  Indians paying prices to go up in ski lifts in Switzerland in the summer, Chinese traders offering rewards to native Parisians to buy them Louis Vuitton bags and Tibetan street traders walking across high mountain ranges in the Himalayas using mobile telephones. 

On the other hand, some European peripheral countries situated on the edge of Mediterranean sea have been seeing their unemployment rate rising sharply since 2008. For instance, Italy's unemployment rate has risen at 12.5 % and this obviously means that Italian policy-makers have made something wrong from a political point of view. They are still predicting disaster, quite routinely, in order to justify the distruction of social security and other popular programs. At the same time, companies investing in Italy, Greece and Spain have been becoming entangled in bureaucracy, poorly drafted regulation and corruption cases. Ambiguous tax laws for investors exacerbate the challenge.
Morevover, as it is known, the current economic crisis has led many South European companies to lay off some of their employees. This explains partly why direct investments in South Europe countries have been weaker than in those parts of the world above mentioned. If South Europe coutries had a friendlier environment for investors, employment (and investment) would grow gradually.
It's much better to be open-minded and think more globally. 

(photos used with cc permission from Stefano, http://cavnero.blogspot.it/ )

Fast food companies still continue to use palm oil

While travelling abroad maybe we have seen some of the world's most popular fast food restaurants with slogans at the entrance. In recent years there have been serious accusations against these multinational companies that get a monopoly in some strategic points of the world and dominate the market by excluding others.  It is known, they serve unhealthy food, considering that palm oil is a key ingredient in many fast food dishes such as deep-fried potatoes.

For instance, the world's leading baked goods chains, "Dunkin' Domuts", provide a kind of dessert which are usually deep-fried from a flour dough. Those cakes are fried in palm oil which contains an unhealthy composition of  saturated fat. As a deduction, too much saturated fats can increase the amount of cholesterol in the blood, which can increase the risk of coronary heart desease. Actually, "Dunkin' Domuts" decision makers know that frying with palm oil is cheaper but unhealthy. But they don't care!

The most important pizza restaurant in the world, which is called "Pizza Hut" and has over 34,000 restaurants in 100 countries, also uses that unhealthy oil above mentioned for their pizzas. And the same goes for "KFC", the world's most popular chicken fast food restaurants, which serve deep-fried food and still use palm oil. In 2002, Pizza Hut, KFC and Taco Bell formed "Tricon", which later become "Yum": it is the largest food company in the world.

In addition, using palm oil is also unethical and in this perspective these multinationals companies are adding a gruesome side of  "forest destruction" with every meal: sucking out palm oil for these fast food monsters slays tropical rain forest and gives a wide contribution to the extinction of some animal species, such as sumatran tiger, asian rinoceros and pygmy elephant. Please, take a few minutes of your time to see the following website that reveals the truth about the palm industry and it's effect on the wildlife, environment and people of East Asia:  http://www.saynotopalmoil.com/ .
It is encouraging to hear that, since the second decade of the twentyfirst century, awareness among people about the unhealthy meals served by these restaurants chain has been increasing sharply. I really hope palm oil usage in food industry products will face change soon.

Who own the world?

Most people have triggered a lot of thoughts about a global shift of power and the main question is: who is going to become the new great power? Americans believe China to be more economically powerful, whereas the Chinese think America is.

As seen by many economists, since 2000 the rise of the Asian economies has shown that family-owned conglomerates are adequately equipped to advance capitalism's geographical frontier. Actually, China has seen its share of world GDP rise sharply from just 1.8% in 1991 and, at the moment, its economy is growing at a pace of about 8%. The reason is that the more advanced countries of the Eastern Asia production system, such as Singapore, Japan, South Korea and Taiwan, send their advanced technology to China, where the labor force to assemble goods is cheap. And U.S. corporations do the same. Consequently, Chinese factories assemble and send their final products out of the country.

In this perspective, transnational institutions can shift their outsorcing from China to some other low-wage countries whenever they want. For instance, Malaysia, Indonesia and Thailand are other Eastern Asia low-wage countries. As mentioned by Noan Chomsky, Emeritus professor at the MIT, in Cambridge, Massachusetts, that's why "China's economic growth is a bit of a mith", although since 2005 the Asia's giant has been holding two third of U.S. national debt (a few year ago Japan held most of the U.S. debt, now surpassed by China). As long as the CEOs who manage transnational capital are happy to have very cheap labor in China, the economic growth of the Asian giant will continue.

It's easy to see that the global power is in the hands of financial institution and multinationals.