China-UK (Britain) Geopolitics and Economics: News & Discussions

[Aepsilons]

lol you had too much Turkey alright, not as sharp as what i usually expect from you. Cut down the alcohol

ha ha ha, oh i know..i'm becoming a chub...

 

[TheMatador]

Isla Malvinas will be liberated thanks to Chinese weapons!

 

[TaiShang]

China, UK to probe building materials that could help save the world
7 January 2015


Chinese and British scientists have joined forces to probe concrete that can sense itself and eat pollution, and also glass that might regulate a building’s temperature better, saving huge amounts of energy.

Some of the research looks into the future, but some revisits techniques used in the past to build the Great Wall of China (pictured), for instance.

In December the UK announced it would give $4.5m (£3m) to six research projects, each a collaboration between British and Chinese academics.

Among other things they will explore:

• intelligent coatings for windows to improve energy efficiency;
• concrete that can conduct electricity and absorb airborne pollutants;
• stronger magnesia-based cements for big infrastructure;
• using industrial waste instead of natural raw materials for cement.

Nine universities in China and nine in the UK are participating.

For the windows, University College London (UCL) and Wuhan University of Technology will experiment with vanadium dioxide films and model their effect on energy savings in real buildings. Researchers say this could be a big win, as heating and cooling buildings can gobble up 30% or more of a country’s electricity.

“Science knows no boundaries”– UK science and universities minister Greg Clark
Concrete that can conduct electricity and eat pollutants (though not necessarily at the same time) is the holy grail for researchers from Aberdeen, Dundee, Wuhan and Chongqing universities. They will look into what novel additives can be thrown into the mix to create structures that can sense or heat themselves – good for icy roads – and absorb pollution through photocatalysis.

While these are on the more futuristic side, other researchers will be dusting off a rather old idea: magnesia-based cements. Magnesium was used in concrete for centuries before Portland cement conquered the world, and such cement can be found in the Great Wall of China and between the timbers of Medieval European buildings.

Greater strength and water resistance are among its advantages, so scientists from Cambridge, UCL, Nanjing Tech University and Chongqing will investigate its use in big dams, bases for offshore wind turbines, nuclear power stations and very deep oil wells. UK contractor Laing O’Rourke is taking part in this research as well.

When he announced the funding, UK science and universities minister Greg Clark said that the world needs this research and that science “knows no boundaries”.

“High quality science and innovation is central to addressing the challenge of meeting the demand for higher living standards from an increasing global population, with limited natural resources that we need to protect,” he said.

Professor Philip Nelson, boss of the UK’s Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council, which made the research grant, said: “Developing advanced materials and improving sustainability in infrastructure will help both the UK and China address environmental, economic and resource challenges that face both countries and the rest of the world.”

 

[grand]

US accuses UK over China stance

Geoff Dyer in Washington and George Parker in London

The Obama administration accused the UK on Thursday of a “constant accommodation” of China after the British government decided to join a new China-led financial institution that could become a rival to the World Bank.
The rare rebuke of one of the US’s closest allies comes as Britain prepares to announce it will become a founding member of the $50bn Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank, making it the first G7 country to join an institution launched by China last October.

The reprimand is a rare breach in the “special relationship” that has been a backbone of western policy for decades. It also underlines US concerns over China’s efforts to establish a new generation of international development banks that could challenge Washington-based global institutions. The US has been lobbying other allies not to join the AIIB.

Relations between Washington and David Cameron’s government have been strained over recent weeks, with senior US officials criticising Britain over falling defence spending, which could soon fall below the Nato target of 2 per cent of gross domestic product.

A senior administration official told the Financial Times that the British decision was taken after “virtually no consultation with the US” and at a time when the G7 had been discussing how to approach the new bank.

“We are wary about a trend toward constant accommodation of China, which is not the best way to engage a rising power,” the US official said.
British officials were publicly restrained in criticising China over its handling of Hong Kong’s pro-democracy protests while Mr Cameron has made it clear he has no further plans to meet the Dalai Lama, Tibet’s spiritual leader — following a 2012 meeting that prompted a furious response from Beijing.

While Beijing has long been suspicious about US influence over the World Bank and IMF, China also believes that the US and Japan have too much control over the Manila-based Asian Development Bank. In addition to the AIIB, China is the driving force behind the creation last year of the Brics development bank and is promoting a $40bn Silk Road Fund to finance economic integration with Central Asia.

The Obama administration has said it is not opposed to the AIIB, but US officials fear it could become an instrument of Chinese foreign policy if Beijing ends up having veto power over the bank’s decisions.

The UK Treasury denied that Britain had acted out of the blue, saying there had been “at least a month of extensive consultation” at a G7 level, including with Jack Lew, US Treasury secretary.
George Osborne, chancellor of the exchequer, was unrepentant, arguing that Britain should be in at the start of the new bank, ensuring that it operates in a transparent way. He believes it fills an important gap in providing finance for infrastructure for Asia.

“Joining the AIIB at the founding stage will create an unrivalled opportunity for the UK and Asia to invest and grow together,” Mr Osborne said. He expects other western countries, which have been making positive noises privately about the new bank, to become involved.

Beijing launched the AIIB in October with the backing of 20 other countries, but Japan, South Korea and Australia — America’s main allies in the region — did not become founding members. There has been a strong debate with the Australian cabinet about whether to join, after US pressure to stay on the sidelines.

A decision by the major economies to join now would give up leverage they might have over the AIIB as it was being set up, the US official said: “Large economies can have more influence by staying on the outside and trying to shape the standards it adopts than by getting on the inside at a time when they can have no confidence that China will not retain veto powers.”

Mr Osborne’s decision reflects London’s desire to pursue commercial relations with China aggressively, even at the expense of antagonising Washington.
When Mr Osborne visited Beijing in 2013 he said he wanted to “change Britain’s attitude to China”; last October the chancellor hailed the British government’s sovereign renminbi bond issue, the first by a western government. It has been keen to establish the City of London as a platform for overseas business in the Chinese currency as it starts to play a bigger role in the global economy.

Last week, the House of Commons foreign affairs committee said the British government should press China harder to introduce political reforms in Hong Kong. The committee also said it was “profoundly disappointed” at the “mild” response of the government when its members were prevented from visiting Hong Kong in November during the protests.

Q&A: The Asia Infrastructure Investment Bank
The AIIB — what is it?
The Asia Infrastructure Investment Bank is one of four institutions created or proposed by Beijing in what some see as an attempt to create a Sino-centric financial system to rival western dominated institutions set up after the second world war. The other institutions are the New Development Bank (better known as the Brics bank) and a contingent reserve arrangement, seen as alternatives to the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund; and a proposed Development Bank of the Shanghai Co-operation Organisation, a six-country Eurasian political, economic and military grouping dominated by China and Russia.

What is it for?
The AIIB offers an alternative to the Asian Development Bank, which focuses on poverty relief and lacks the firepower to undertake the large-scale infrastructure projects that are the remit of the AIIB.

What’s wrong with that?
In principle, nothing. But the ADB and the AIIB are seen as rival rather than complementary organisations. The ADB was established in 1966 and now has 67 members including 48 from Asia and the Pacific. But it is seen by many in the region as overly dominated by Japan and the US, which are by far its biggest shareholders with 15.7 per cent and 15.6 per cent respectively (compared with China’s 5.5 per cent). The AIIB was founded last year with 21 members. Notably absent were the US, Japan, Australia and South Korea. The US, it is said, lobbied countries not to join, while China worked hard to get them in.

Does that matter?
Both sides clearly think it does. Proponents of the AIIB criticise the ADB for being overly bureaucratic. The AIIB’s critics say the new lender will play fast and loose with conditionality and other restrictions on the behaviour of borrowers, allowing corruption to flourish. More significant, however, are strategic considerations. The US and China are increasingly engaged in a struggle for regional influence, played out through institutions such as these.

 

[Place Of Space]

American is busy with everything always.

 

[Beast]

British are smart people. They will go with the place where better wind goes. US is a declining nation. Smart people stick with rising star. Sooner or later. British will stick with the Chinese more. They will soon return all their war loot from museum to China and sell EJ200 engine to China.

Then they will called us Big brother and apologies whatever grieviences they did to China in the past. And they will acknowledge China is a leader to them.

 

[Hasbara Buster]

America has never been so desperate, good times are awaiting the world.

 

[fallstuff]

World Bank and IMF provides enormous leverage to West.

Britain is a key ally, this is where I think Obama has failed in leadership.

 

[Beast]

World Bank and IMF provides enormous leverage to West.

Britain is a key ally, this is where I think Obama has failed in leadership.

Obama never fail. It just the rising tide of China is unstoppable.

 

[Genesis]

First Americans accuse China of destabilizing and lowing the rules by establishing this bank, then asks its allies to not join, thus taking away the chance of keeping the bank and China honest.

What we see here is America at it's finest, it's not even hypocrisy anymore, leaves us at least one option dude.

This is just like that Space Station article, China aiming to control spacing by going in with its own station, and not partaking in the ISS. The Americans banned Chinese participation to ISS.

We can't win.


Unless we do nothing, which is not winning. But I guess we should stick to not doing anything, of course, America's wish is our command.


wait......I'm getting a phone call.......wait......We are NOT the Philippines!?!?!

 

[jmacmac]

A senior administration official told the Financial Times that the British decision was taken after “virtually no consultation with the US”

what are Americans administrators smoking?

 

[FairAndUnbiased]

British are smart people. They will go with the place where better wind goes. US is a declining nation. Smart people stick with rising star. Sooner or later. British will stick with the Chinese more. They will soon return all their war loot from museum to China and sell EJ200 engine to China.

Then they will called us Big brother and apologies whatever grieviences they did to China in the past. And they will acknowledge China is a leader to them.

Britain was the first Western European country and second European country (after Russia) to recognize PRC as the sole government of China. Britain is very, very clever.

 

[hans]

Only because US often sacrifice other allies` interests in the name of ally..
So it is common that some countries will pursuit his own interests while not considering the so called ally..

Britain was the first Western European country and second European country (after Russia) to recognize PRC as the sole government of China. Britain is very, very clever.

 

[TaiShang]

Well, looks like the UK has a plan. No wonder during HK protests they remained silent and led the extreme minority British dogs in the city turn toward the Victoria Harbor and start barking in deep agony caused by their master's betrayal.

I do not care about Australia. But, let's see if Korea (and less likely) Japan, will hop in. This will be a real deal to test their ability to decide outside the US approval.


UK snubs US to join China-led Asian bank | The BRICS Post

Overlooking US censure, the UK has announced its decision to join China’s Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank, becoming the first “major western country” to apply for membership.

“I am delighted to announce today that the UK will be the first major Western country to become a prospective founder member of the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank, which has already received significant support in the region,” said UK Finance Minister George Osborne on Thursday.

“Joining the AIIB at the founding stage will create an unrivalled opportunity for the UK and Asia to invest and grow together,” he added.

In a landmark achievement, 21 Asian nations including China and India in October last year signed on the creation of a new infrastructure investment bank which would rival the World Bank. The new Bank has a capital target of more than $100 billion.

The governments of Bangladesh, Brunei Darussalam, Cambodia, China, India, Kazakhstan, Kuwait, Lao PDR, Malaysia, Mongolia, Myanmar, Nepal, Oman, Pakistan, Philippines, Uzbekistan, Qatar, Singapore, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Uzbekistan, Vietnam signed on as founding members of the new Asia Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) in Beijing.

“The UK will join discussions later this month with other founding members,” said a UK government statement on Thursday.

Washington reacted to UK’s announcement by saying it is circumspect about whether the AIIB would have sufficiently high standards on governance and environmental and social safeguards.

“We hope and expect that the U.K. will use its voice to push for adoption of high standards,” said Patrick Ventrell, spokesman for President Barack Obama’s National Security Council

The authorized capital of AIIB is $100 billion and the initial subscribed capital is expected to be around $50 billion. The paid-in ratio will be 20 per cent.

AIIB will be an inter-governmental regional development institution in Asia and Beijing will be the host city for AIIB’s headquarters.

The AIIB will extend China’s financial reach and compete not only with the World Bank, but also with the Asian Development Bank, which is heavily dominated by Japan.

China and other emerging economies, including BRICS, have long protested against their limited voice at other multilateral development banks, including the World Bank, International Monetary Fund and Asian Development Bank (ADB).

China is grouped in the ‘Category II’ voting bloc at the World Bank while at the Asian Development Bank, China with a 5.5 per cent share is far outdone by America’s 15.7 per cent and Japan’s 15.6 per cent share.

The ADB has estimated that in the next decade Asian countries will need $8 trillion in infrastructure investments to maintain the current economic growth rate.

China scholar Asit Biswas at the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy, Singapore, says Washington’s criticism towards the China-led Bank is “childish”.

“Some critics argue that the AIIB will reduce the environmental, social and procurement standards in a race to the bottom. This is a childish criticism, especially because China has invited other governments to help with funding and governance,” he says.

“Reports indicate that the US is pressuring Australia and South Korea not to join the AIIB. But as Hedley Bull, eminent late Oxford professor, once said, “people have friends but countries have only interests”, he adds.

 

[Hasbara Buster]

what are Americans administrators smoking?

They are smoking the Wolfowitz doctrine of 1992, but the impact is counterproductive; instead of making them more powerful and happy it's destroying them faster.