United States President Donald Trump stepped up a trade conflict with China on June 19 by asking his administration to identify $200 billion worth of China goods to be penalized with tariffs at a rate of 10 percent. Trump’s move was a response to China announcing retaliatory duties to an earlier list of U.S. tariffs …
Read moreGeopolitics Watch: Sino-US Trade Conflict a Catalyst for Big Change in China
According to state media reports on June 15, China has started to collect information in a unified nationwide property database. China’s Ministry of Natural Resources said that there are 3,001 property registration stations in 335 cities and 2,853 counties serving over 300,000 enterprises and individuals on average per day. The backdrop: In 2007, a unified …
On June 15, United States President Donald Trump announced tariffs on Chinese imports. Details from the White House and the Office of the United States Trade Representative (USTR) include: The U.S. would impose a 25 percent tariff on $50 billion of Chinese goods that contain “industrially significant technologies,” including those related to China’s “Made in …
Read moreGeopolitics Watch: The Potentially Dire Implications of US Tariffs on China
On June 14, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo met with Chinese leader Xi Jinping in Beijing as part of an effort to secure international support for the United States on the denuclearization of North Korea. A day earlier, Pompeo had met with the foreign ministers of South Korea and Japan in Seoul to update them …
Read moreGeopolitics Watch: Pompeo Meeting with Xi Forebodes Trade War Truce
The government of Leiyang, a city in Hunan Province, was unable to pay wages to its civil servants in May, according to mainland media reports on June 8. The backdrop: 1. Civil servants in Leiyang were supposed to receive their wages on May 15. However, their pay was only released on June 8. On June …
Read morePolitics Watch: Civil Servant Wages Delayed as Local Gov’t Revenue Falls
United States President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un signed a joint statement at the end of their summit in Singapore on June 12. After signing the statement, Trump said that they would “take care of a very big and very dangerous problem for the world” while Kim said that they would …
Read moreGeopolitics Watch: Trump-Kim Summit Affirms Our Peace and Denuclearization Prediction
According to a June 10 article from Duowei News, Guangdong mayor Ma Xingrui was recently in Hainan Province making preparations to take over the post of Party secretary from incumbent Liu Cigui. Liu would be transferred to the Central Policy Research Office to serve as a deputy director. Duowei has its headquarters in Beijing, and …
Read morePolitics Watch: Rumor of Leadership Change in Hainan Hints at Hastening of Opening Up
Truck drivers in several provinces across China started going on strike starting from June 8. The drivers also encouraged others in trucker WeChat groups to carry out a nation-wide strike on June 10. 大陆的卡车司机已经喊出口号:打倒共产党!大家加油啊，支持大陆的卡友。 pic.twitter.com/NfHqmT21wE — Henry Bai (@henrybai8) June 10, 2018 The trucker strikes are the latest instance of mass social unrest that has …
Read moreSociety Watch: Truck Drivers Go on Strike as Social Tensions Mount in China
Famous Chinese actress Fan Bingbing’s tax evasion scandal continues to throw up more dirt about double-contracting, or “yin-yang contracts,” and tax fraud in China’s entertainment industry. The scandal arose as a result of an escalating public spat between Fan, film director Feng Xiaogang, and television presenter Cui Yongyuan. Meanwhile, Chinese state media has been steering …
Read moreRisk Watch: Tax Probe of China’s Entertainment Industry Could See Shakeup of Film Stars
On June 7, United States Commerce Department Secretary Wilbur Ross announced a deal to allow Chinese telecommunications company ZTE to resume business. Under the deal, ZTE would have to: Pay a $1 billion fine and put $400 million in escrow; Change its board and management within 30 days; Retain a new U.S.-selected compliance team selected …
Read moreGeopolitics Watch: US Deal Puts ZTE on ‘Probation,’ Benefits US National Security