The bottom line is that corporations are finding it much more difficult and costly to make a buck in China. Others may follow Google’s lead and leave the country entirely. Or, they may complain to their governments to apply diplomatic pressure. The end result could be an ugly trade war, which would hurt all parties [...]

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Recent developments in Iran confirm that China is providing Tehran with critical defense technologies and weapons systems, including some that violate stated Chinese policies aimed at preventing nuclear proliferation.
Iran’s link to China includes nukes, missiles – Washington Times

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Declinists have always projected America’s imminent demise. For a change, they’re onto something.
Call it America’s Age of Angst. The buzz of negativity seems to be everywhere. DECLINE AND FALL: WHEN THE AMERICAN EMPIRE GOES, IT IS LIKELY TO GO QUICKLY reads the cover headline for British historian Niall Ferguson’s article in the current issue of [...]

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The economy grew 5.9 percent in the fourth quarter of 2009, but the number is not as strong as it looks. Most of it is based on temporary factors, notably a spurt of inventory replenishment and the now-waning fiscal stimulus. An overhang of debt and low property values continues to weigh down banks’ and consumers’ [...]

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Many experts say the decline began with the end of the Soviet Union. When Russia became capitalist, they say, so did its military industry. Like much of Russian industry, it was privatized haphazardly. For example, factories and the engineering departments that designed what these factories made were sold separately.
Over time, this had a deleterious effect [...]

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“China’s dependence on export-led growth … is unsustainable over time,” Robert Zoellick, president of the World Bank, argues in a forthcoming article in the journal the International Economy. He cites a recent IMF analysis saying that for China to maintain its trend of 8% growth annually with the current pattern of trade, it would have [...]

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But now the party’s over. The United States, Pentagon strategists say, is quickly losing its ability to barge in without permission. Potential target countries and even some lukewarm allies are figuring out ingenious ways to blunt American power without trying to meet it head-on, using a combination of high-tech and low-tech jujitsu.
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As Defense Secretary Robert [...]

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The picture that comes through as you listen to Han looks something like this: Today’s Chinese workplace is a mess, as one might expect. Safety conditions are terrible. Work-related illnesses are rife. Employs often hire workers without issuing formal contracts, making it near-impossible for wronged employees to fight back. Confronted with these problems, government agencies [...]

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There is one country responding to China’s military build-up and aggressiveness with some muscle of its own. No, it is not the United States, the superpower ostensibly responsible for maintaining peace and security in Asia. Rather, it is India, whose military is currently refining a “two-front war” doctrine to fend off Pakistan and China simultaneously. [...]

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China should build the world’s strongest military and move swiftly to topple the United States as the global “champion,” a senior Chinese PLA officer says in a new book reflecting swelling nationalist ambitions.
China PLA officer urges challenging U.S. dominance | Reuters

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