Tag Archives: Asia
Ma-Ying-jeou

Taiwanese President Pledges Close Ties With China

Ralph Jennings
VOA News
May 20, 2012

TAIPEI – Taiwan President Ma Ying-jeou began his second term in office on Sunday with a forecast for deeper relations with old rival China. But he said a formal peace accord was not urgent. His comments came amid two days of street demonstrations.

The Taiwanese president, who was first elected in 2008 on pledges to ease tension with rising military power China, said he would stick to that course. President Ma Ying-jeou said he expected more deals like the 16 trade, transit and economic agreements that were signed between the two sides over the past four years.

But President Ma told a news conference he was in no hurry to sign a formal peace accord with Beijing without popular support. He was criticized after making the suggestion last year.

He says Taiwan will handle easy but pressing issues with China before tackling harder ones and consider economic issues ahead of political ones. In that spirit, he says, there is no urgency to discuss a peace accord now with China, and Taiwan’s people must first express a high level of support, including a voter referendum.

The 61-year-old president, who won re-election by a slim margin in January, also told reporters on Sunday that the public already endorses the current pace set for improving ties with China. Forty-five percent of Taiwanese people support the current pace, with smaller numbers favoring speeding up or slowing down the process. Ties were frozen, and tensions were high, before 2008.

Deals signed with the Asian economic powerhouse just 160 kilometers away are worth billions of dollars to Taiwanese companies. The pacts are also credited with improving Taiwan’s export competitiveness in Asia.

Communist China has claimed sovereignty over self-ruled Taiwan since the Chinese civil war of the 1940s, and has not ruled out the use of military force to maintain that sovereignty. Ma’s Nationalist Party, which once ruled all of China, fled to Taiwan in that decade and re-established a rival government. Beijing has welcomed the talks as it hopes they lead to political dialogue and eventual reunification.

But thousands of anti-government protesters took to the streets of Taipei on Saturday and Sunday, tying up traffic as they shouted slogans and blasted air horns. Domestic issues such as the wealth gap dominated their agenda, but some were worried that Ma’s government has already veered too close to Beijing.

Protester Chen Hsien-che, a 50-year-old cosmetics worker from northern Taiwan, says he is concerned that the president’s policies will allow Taiwan to be consumed by the Communist rival.

He says Taiwanese people are definitely worried, because they have lived on the island for so long that as a people who cherish peace and love freedom they would not survive the sudden impact of Chinese rule.

President Ma said on Sunday he had heard the public’s voice. But his government has said it expects to sign an investment protection guarantee with China this year, helping about a million of the island’s business people. Officials on the island also expect to cut thousands of import tariffs and lower barriers for Chinese investors interested in Taiwanese companies, all before Ma leaves office in 2016.

Posted from VOANews.com

About these ads

Developing World’s Market Bubble Set to Bring Global Depression

A.M. Freyed
Pressforactivism.com

In China, ghost cities are starting to pervade the landscape like some kind of cancerous growth, void of human presence … They are not abandoned towns reflecting ghosts of the past. Instead, they are large abandoned cities reflecting ghosts of times that would never come. – TopSecretWriters (5/1/2012)

China cuts reserve requirements as economy slumps … The People’s Bank of China will cut the reserve requirement ratio for banks as it moves to stabilise growth. China’s central bank said it would cut banks’ reserve requirements on Friday, after a set of disappointing trade data. Effective May 18, it will cut the reserve requirement ratio for banks by 50bp to 20%, which it hopes will free up lending and stimulate a recovery — or at least avert a hard landing. – Finance Asia (5/14/2012)

Beware Of The Massive Bubble In Emerging Markets … Amid the excitement over the rise of China, investors and economic commentators have been eagerly scouring the world for “The Next China” – or at least the next country to supply the raw materials that China needs for its boom (and construction of empty cities!) … Soaring asset prices and easy money is creating “luxury fever” as emerging market nations copy the spendthrift ways that led to the West’s downfall just a few years earlier. In its essence, the emerging markets bubble is a derivative of the commodities and China bubbles and is highly vulnerable to their inevitable popping. – Seeking Alpha (5/13/2012)

The world is facing outright depression.

The US remains mired in unemployment and price inflation. Europe, already in chaos, is on the verge of losing the euro. And most importantly, the third leg of the world’s economic stool – the BRICs – is beginning to fail.

India is in the grip of an enormous inflation. So is Brazil. China continues to slump toward the dreaded “hard landing” as its bureaucrats litter the land with enormous, empty cities. The monetary cycle has turned.

The proximate cause of the current, about-to-blossom, full-on slump is the turning of the business cycle in 2001. Gold and silver began to appreciate then. Gold was in the very low triple digits and silver was in the single digits.

Since then gold has bumped up against US$2,000 and silver has climbed toward US$50. This is entirely analogous to the 1970s when the same thing occurred. Gold finally traveled to US$800 and silver to around US$50 – as the ’80 arrived.

At that point, the cycle was controlled by Rockefeller protégé Paul Volcker who, as Chairman of the Federal Reserve, shoved short-term interest rates toward 20 percent.

This made it possible for another 20 years of paper money. But the fundamental misalignment caused by monopoly central banking still remained.

In fact, today, the world is in the grip of the greatest banking bubble ever known. Go to any big financial city and the biggest skyscrapers are usually owned by financial firms – most of which you may never have heard.

Eventually this system shall come crashing down – like unstable skyscrapers themselves. It is an unstated reality. The top men in this world are not fools.

The instability built into the system ultimately collapses it. Enter world government, or at least world money (SDRs?). Out of chaos, order …

The trick is to make it seem natural, inevitable. The EU and the US are commonly held to have slumped in 2008. This is simply a lie. The turning began in 2001. For more than a decade, the West has struggled with monopoly money malinvestment.

The top men of the world refuse to allow a recovery. They have thrown perhaps US$50 TRILLION at the world’s staggering monetary economy. They have used the financial steroids of central banking to pump up a bankrupt system.

Without government/central banking assistance, it is likely that not a single mega, Western financial entity would be around today. The system itself, with its empyrean nonsense, has spawned some US$600 TRILLION in notional derivatives.

And still the system itself limps on, printing money the way a panicked beast in the woods sprays scats. China has been collapsing for a long time, economically and the BRICs generally are in the grip of an inflationary bubble. Argentina may provide the dénouement.

Argentina’s populist leaders recently nationalized the country’s leading oil company. Almost inevitably, Argentina will face a devaluation that will destabilize the dollar economy of Uruguay – the “Switzerland of South America” and perhaps Brazil as well.

Brazil is a leading trade partner with China – and one of the ChiCom’s few, remaining partners of any size. If – or when – Brazil lowers its purchases of Chinese items, there will be literally no place for China to turn.

The paper-money sector must scream out in agony before the cycle turns. And money metals must experience a buying blow-off. But the Golden Bull of the 2000s has not yet lost traction. We know this because junior mining stocks have yet to become strongly bullish. It is the miners – cheap paper gold – that signal the end of the cycle.

The last time the cycle turned, juniors expanded in value and interest rates went to 20 percent. This time, some have suggested rates could go to 50%. And gold could go to US$5,000.

The system will likely not tolerate this.

Confiscation may be the result. Or perhaps as Chinua Achebe famously put it, “Things Fall Apart.”

The old men know this, too. The only thing they apparently didn’t account for – a grievous error – was the Internet itself. And this may finally kill the conspiracy to erect global governance.

Depression, we may have. But the full-scale erection of a global state with a global central bank and global money is by no means preordained. Chaos is possible, even probable. But as for the ultimate end game … well, perhaps the ‘Net has exposed it.

Buy gold. Buy silver. Buy farmland. Plant a garden. Dig a well. Build a power source. Stay online (at least anonymously). And good luck.

Special from AmericanFreed.com

800px-SA_Temple_of_Heaven

China Q1 gold imports up six-fold

by Lawrence Williams, MineWeb.com

 


 

China’s imports of gold through Hong Kong have risen six times in the first quarter of the year compared with a year earlier – with March 59% above February’s figures on a month on month basis..
China looks as though it could be well on the way to overtaking India as the world’s largest gold consumer this year as the import data through Hong Kong – seen as a proxy for China’s total imports, which may be far higher – have continued to surge, growing six-fold from the same quarter a year ago.
Read More @ MineWeb.com

phpbb

Join The Newly Created Forum

WRC559.com
Pressforactivism.com
 
Join Pressforactivism Forum
 

So you got something to say, Got something on your chest you want the whole world to see but you just don’t know where to post it. Well that’s where the internet comes into play and with the latest special forces at play they are trying to silence us from spreading news, being angry about something that means something to us. We all have something to say, That politician thats passing laws in your state that you completely disagree. Or you latest Bear Grylls suvival technique you just came across. Share it at the community at Pressforactivism Forum

Its simple to use, Just register find your title and start posting (Be sure to read the introductions page first to block bots)

If the title subject line your after Isn’t there send us a PM on the forum and we will add it to there within no time ;)

Its still a new forum and we are expanding on it greatly – Pressforactivism Forum

SO i invite you to come be apart of the community and chat with locals around the world just like you – Pressforactivism Forum

All the best and hope to see you there Pressforactivism Forum

WRC559.com, Pressforactivism.com

UK aid helps to fund forced sterilisation of India’s poor

Gethin Chamberlain
London Guardian
April 20, 2012

Money from the UK’s Department for International Development has helped pay for a controversial programme that has led to miscarriages and even deaths after botched operations

Tens of millions of pounds of UK aid money have been spent on a programme that has forcibly sterilised Indian women and men, the Observer has learned. Many have died as a result of botched operations, while others have been left bleeding and in agony. A number of pregnant women selected for sterilisation suffered miscarriages and lost their babies.

The UK agreed to give India £166m to fund the programme, despite allegations that the money would be used to sterilise the poor in an attempt to curb the country’s burgeoning population of 1.2 billion people.

Sterilisation has been mired in controversy for years. With officials and doctors paid a bonus for every operation, poor and little-educated men and women in rural areas are routinely rounded up and sterilised without having a chance to object. Activists say some are told they are going to health camps for operations that will improve their general wellbeing and only discover the truth after going under the knife.

Read full article

 

Mini Car, TV, $22 for Sterilization In India

 

Lois Rain
HealthFreedoms.org
July 6, 2011

In an effort to control India’s growing population, health officials west of New Delhi are offering incentives like TVs, a mini car, and food processors to the first sterilization participants. Others who get vasectomies will receive the American equivalent of $22.80 and around $4.50 for the person who referred them. That similar cash compensation plan is currently offered to poor men of Tagpur.

But this isn’t merely compensation for a permanent decision to give up parenthood. It’s really more of a sweepstakes with prizes for the lucky ones. Rules are, sterilization participants must enter between now and September 30th to be “entered into a lottery to win prizes.” -Asian Tribune

Incentives for sterilization in India are not new. In 1973, a piece called “Food Incentives For Indians: Can They Be Just?” entertained the idea of offering food for the poor to sterilize. This initiative proposed by the Indian Family Planning Council who held that such restrictions of freedom would benefit the greater good and ensure freedom, nutrition, jobs, and education. This raised the question if the initiative was similar to coercing the poor to choose between no food or no family.

Read full article

child

U.S. Marines Arrive in Australia to secure offshore natural gas and oil fields

Source: Phantom Report

This is not a military mission of peace and stability, but rather an indefinite military presence in the Asia-Pacific region to secure natural resources by force. Are natural resources becoming scarce? I have no data or energy sector connections to prove the scarcity of oil,  natural gas or rare earth minerals, however if you control the natural resources, you control the people.

-PR

FYI:

US eyes Asia from secret Australian base

U.S. to increase military presence in Australia

The US Is Placing More Troops In The Pacific Than At Any Time Since World War II

U.S. and Australia expand military ties into SE Asia

Source: BW

U.S. Marines began arriving in Australia after an agreement between President Barack Obama and Prime Minister Julia Gillard to increase cooperation and allow a greater regional presence for American forces.

The first 200 of as many as 2,500 Marines arrived in the northern city of Darwin today, Gillard said in a statement. Obama first announced that the contingent would be based in Australia during a visit in November to mark the 60th anniversary of the alliance between the two nations.

“As part of the ongoing U.S. consideration of its global force posture, this initiative will see U.S. Marine Corps personnel deploying to northern Australia on a rotational basis for around six months per year,” Gillard said.

The deployments are part of a U.S. push to increase its military footprint in the Asia-Pacific region that include plans to strengthen Philippines naval defenses. When Obama announced the plans last year he said they sent a “clear message” of U.S. commitment to the region and that the U.S. was not attempting to contain China.

Darwin is part of a growing energy hub where companies including Royal Dutch Shell Plc (RDSA) are planning to spend more than A$150 billion ($156 billion) to develop offshore natural gas fields. Australia needs to bolster the defense of its energy and mining assets on its northwest coast, according to a review commissioned by the government released in January.

The 2,500-member Marine Air Ground Task Force that will deploy to Australia will include wheeled vehicles, artillery, light-armored vehicles and aircraft, Gillard said today. They will use existing Australian facilities and no U.S. bases will be built in Australia, she said.

The arrival of the Marines “supports Australia’s long-held strategic interests in supporting U.S. engagement in our region in a manner that promotes peace and stability,” according to her statement.

Australian Defence Minister Smith speaks during a news conference at the Australia-US Ministerial Consultations at the Presidio of San Francisco

Australia open to U.S. spy flights from Indian Ocean island

CANBERRA | Tue Mar 27, 2012 10:09pm EDT
Pressforactivism.com

(Reuters) – Australia could one day allow U.S. spy flights to operate from a remote Indian Ocean island, Defense Minister Stephen Smith confirmed on Wednesday, supporting the U.S. pivot to Asia but likely upsetting Australia’s biggest trading partner, China.

Smith said the possible use of Australia’s remote Cocos Islands territory had been raised with the United States, but the proposal was not under active consideration and was not among current plans for Canberra to strengthen military ties with Washington.

“We view Cocos as being potentially a long term strategic location. But that is down the track,” Smith told reporters on Wednesday.

The Washington Post said the Pentagon was interested in using Cocos Islands, a series of atolls about 3,000 km (1,800 miles) west of Australia and south of Indonesia, as a new base for surveillance aircraft and allowing spy flights over the South China Sea.

China, the Philippines, Malaysia, Brunei, Vietnam and Taiwan all claim territory in the South China Sea.

Cocos Islands could be an alternative to a U.S. base on the British territory of Diego Garcia in the Indian Ocean, which faces an uncertain future beyond its current lease which expires in 2016, the Washington Post said.

Australia is a firm U.S. ally but counts China as its biggest trading partner and is careful not to antagonize it.

In November, U.S. President Barack Obama outlined his pivot to Asia and agreement with Canberra for a de-facto base for 2,500 marines near the northern city of Darwin.

Australia and the U.S. also agreed to allow greater U.S. air force access to northern Australian bases, and to give the U.S. navy greater access to the Indian Ocean naval base in Perth.

Smith said Australia had been open with China about its plans, and its posture review which is likely to recommend more military assets move to the country’s north to protect resource projects.

“A BIT WORRYING”

The Washington Post, quoting U.S. and Australian officials, said the Cocos Islands, within flying range of both Southeast Asia and South Asia, could be ideal for not only manned U.S. surveillance aircraft but for Global Hawks, an unarmed, high-altitude surveillance drone.

The U.S. Navy is developing a newer version of the Global Hawk, known as the Broad Area Maritime Surveillance drone, or BAMS, that is scheduled to become operational in 2015.

Smith played down chances of a U.S. base on Cocos Islands, and said while Australia hosted joint facilities and visiting U.S. forces, it had never allow the United States to operate an independent base in Australia.

He said Cocos Island was not one of the government’s priorities with its stronger military cooperation with the United States.

“We regard an enhanced presence by the U.S. in the Asia Pacific region as a force for peace, as a force for stability and a force for prosperity,” he said.

Strategic analyst Hugh White, head of defense and strategic studies at the Australian National University, said Australia risked being caught up in a dispute between its strongest military ally and its biggest trading partner.

“All of this relates to the U.S. pivot to Asia. The U.S. pivot to Asia is all about the rise of China,” White told Australian radio, adding it would be a mistake if Australia joined any U.S. push to try to contain China.

“It means that Australia is for the first time really since the end of the Vietnam war, starting to be seen by the United States as a strategic asset in its strategic competition with China.

“That is, of course, a bit worrying for Australia, because China is our biggest trading partner. Our future is going to be one where we are increasingly pulled between our old ally and in the United States and our economic future in Asia.”

Japan, Quake, Lies!

[ED NOTE: I will NOT be making any specific comment on this until Snordelhans brings forth the information required to back him up. In the mean time, Enjoy and share]

Uploaded by

The Heretic presents: Japan, Quake, Lies! A study of the Kobe/Fukushima disasters.


Follow

Get every new post delivered to your Inbox.

Join 277 other followers

%d bloggers like this: