All posts by LLD - 37. page

According to Masatsugu Asakawa, head of the Asian Development Bank (ADB), the organization will take up the issue of new loans to China as early as next year and discuss discontinuing future loans to China.

Analysts claim that because China, now the second-largest economy in the world, has a higher income level and offers financial aid to other Asian countries, it is no longer dependent on outside aid.

Following $9 billion between 2016 and 2020, the ADB intends to lend China up to $7.5 billion between 2021 and 2025. Next year, the bank will decide whether to stop extending new financing to China beyond 2025.

ADB offers loans to nations that meet specific requirements, such as having a gross national income of $7,455 or less per person, having trouble raising funds on the global market, and having economic development indicators that fall below a specified threshold. With a per capita GNI already above $7,455, China has no trouble obtaining financing on the global market.

China was the second-largest borrower after India at the end of 2021, with a balance of ADB loans totaling about $19.6 billion, or 14 percent of the bank’s total outstanding loans.

The ADB has 68 members, including Japan and the U.S., who each have 15.6 percent of the organization’s shares, followed by China coming in with 6.4 percent. To aid in the financing of infrastructure projects in the region, China also established the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank.

Some nations contend that China shouldn’t keep getting loans as its influence in Asia’s infrastructure development grows. Singapore and South Korea are no longer recipients of the loans.

Source: Central News Agency (Taiwan), August 19, 2022
https://www.cna.com.tw/news/acn/202208190358.aspx percent

On Sunday, August 21, The German newspaper Munchner Merkur (Munich Mercury) published an interview with Kaldemorgen  who saw great danger because of the dependence of German companies on China and called for a realignment.

The dependence of the German economy on China has “reached levels that lead to major dependencies,” warned Kaldemorgen. “The mystification of globalization must come to an end now. … In the future, Germany will have to do a lot of things itself again.”

Kaldemorgen is considered the best-known German fund manager. With a volume of around 13.5 billion euros, the fund he manages, DWS Concept Kaldemorgen, is one of the largest investors in Germany.

Kaldemorgen told Munchner Merkur, “Anyone reading the latest signs correctly should recognize that we need to reduce  our dependence on China significantly, both for exports and imports.”

“The Russian attack on Ukraine has raised many questions, including how we intend to deal with the authoritarian regime in China in the future.”

“Volkswagen makes about 40 percent of its sales in China. BASF is planning a plant there for 10 billion euros. Isn’t there a much greater danger for the German economy here?”

“The German economy must therefore start changing its business model.”

“The USA and Europe are already moving closer together again. This is mutually beneficial. For example, Germany obtains LNG gas from the USA, and Intel is building a semiconductor plant near Magdeburg for 17 billion euros.”

Source: Radio Free Asia, August 22, 2022
https://www.rfa.org/cantonese/news/de-warn-08222022111914.html

an analysis by the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, a German newspaper, said, “Japan and the United States are becoming more closely linked than ever before.” “By October at the latest, Germany could also receive a diplomatic blow from Beijing, as the Committee on Human Rights of Bundestag (the German federal parliament) is planning a trip to several Asian countries. The crisis is also a good opportunity to reflect on Germany and Europe’s future relations with China. Instead of closing any existing channels of dialogue, Europe should persevere in defending its interests. However, we must also be clear that we can no longer rely on China in all cases. We should refocus and reduce too much dependence. There is still time to avoid making the same mistakes in relations with China as in relations with Russia.”

Source: Radio France International, August 7, 2022
https://rfi.my/8dqn

After the departure of U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, the Chinese government started live-fire military exercises against Taiwan. Robert Tsao, founder and honorary chairman of United Microelectronics Corporation (UMC), a major Taiwanese semiconductor company, announced on August 5 that he will donate $100 million to assist Taiwan in its national defense.

On the second day after the Chinese military fired off 11 missiles, Tsao held a press conference to criticize the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) for its reckless behavior. “Today I am announcing a donation of NT$3 billion (about US$100 million) to help strengthen our national defense. I hope to awaken the people of Taiwan not to  be greedy for money or afraid of death, and to rise up and fight to defend freedom, democracy and human rights.”

“Some people in Taiwan have an ostrich mentality, thinking that if they bury their heads in the sand and don’t mess with them, the other side won’t make a move. Others are capitulationists, who think, “Since I can’t win anyway, I might as well surrender and survive.” Tsao added, “The worst are those in favor of reunification, thinking they can realize the xenophobic so-called China dream,”

As for those people in Taiwan who are still unwilling to “resist China and defend Taiwan,” Robert Tsao said that these people, perhaps because of ignorance, timidity, cowardice, or being bought, are unwilling to see or admit that the Chinese Communist Party is essentially a group of gangsters. “The People’s Republic of China is a triad organization masquerading as a national state. A normal civilized country promotes the rule of law, democracy, and freedom, but a fakery state like the Chinese regime worships totalitarianism, deception, hatred, and violence.”

UMC established an 8-inch wafer fab in Suzhou, China, through its subsidiary back in 2001. Tsao lamented, “If we could have done it all over again, I wish we hadn’t gone to China to help set up the fab.”

Tsao proposed that the $100 million be used to fund individuals and groups to promote national defense education and boost public morale. The money will fund research and publications to counter the CCP’s cognitive warfare against Taiwan, handle activities related to the CCP’s deterrence and infiltration of Taiwan, develop or trace sources, counter the dissemination of controversial messages by hostile forces outside Taiwan; and develop countermeasures against the CCP’s cyberattack and hacking activities against Taiwan.

Source: Radio Free Asia, August 5, 2022
https://www.rfa.org/mandarin/yataibaodao/gangtai/hcm2-08052022052903.html