Understanding China

Yes, thanks heaven there are somebody who try to control the mighty Google, Facebook and others:

The Chinese Government is not a fan either:


But if you want a piece of the huge Chinese market you have to play by their rules.

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My God, China is trying to peddle Chinese culture and the Chines language through Confusius Institutes set up around the world. This has to be stopped before they subverse innocent and gullible people and teach them about China:

Of course America has and always have had similar programs operating for years, incl. in China:

Besides there is the direct propaganda that is spread to ensure American hegemony around the world:

America and China is not alone in this. France have their Institut français:

Britain have British Councils all over the world:
https://www.britishcouncil.org/

And Germany have the Goethe Institut:
https://www.goethe.de/en/index.html

Of course it is about increasing their influence abroad, as it is for all other countries.
But when the Chinese do the same it MUST be because they are up to no good.

There is a subtle difference between learning English and then adding a cultural twist to that
British Councils are for English training if needed and administering the English exam.
They also Market UK universities and other UK educational institutes.

not meeting any ships when crossing is reality, somebodies statistics are just that.
10 + years ago there was way more shipping.
Look at what happened to Singapore when Maersk and Evergreen went to Tanjung Pelapas
800 port staff got retired
The Singapore stats started counting the size of the container ships, “today, 300,000 TEU entered the port”, wow big number, they might have swapped 10 containers?

Yeah but Google has a solution for that…from the NYT:

“Google could ultimately decide to charge handset makers for using Android in Europe, a policy shift that could drive up the prices of some handsets.”

So 4.3B euros divided by the number of android phones sold in Europe over…say 5 or even 10 years…is what? A negligible increase in the per unit cost that the EU consumer will pay…yeah, really spanking Google for their bad behavior…typical globalist/socialist/NWO viewpoint.

So when the EU consumers are unhappy with the actions of their leadership, they will just vote them out…because those making the decisions are elected by those they represent…right? NO

Fking lemmings sprinting to the cliff. I just wish you’d live long enough to see the results of the policies you’re so adamantly advocating.

the fine was small compared with Googles quarter earnings
The EU just doesnt like it when they lose money to foreign companies that end up with almost monopolies. (But nor did America a 100 years ago re home grown companies)
Look what they blow on Airbus to keep it competing with Boeing.
The EU is a bit like China in some respects, run by an un elected board.
Sadly the EU view is just to keep my pension safe as the ship sails.
Its the old head in the sand as you go bankrupt mentality.
I think China thinks a bit longer term.

China has all this history to view when deciding gov policy but its more to keep the punters from revolting so the international policies are the result of that. Ignoring WTO rules.
If keeping them all fed means halving their net worth, then thats what will happen.
They have worked very hard to ensure they have enough control to do that overnight.

How’s that USCG icebreaker coming along?

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Some new islands at the South Pole?

its just a good thing that

I have also been crossing the Singapore Strait many times and for many years, but I don’t have the same experience as yours.

Are you implying that the statistics put out by MPA are all false and you observations are more reliable?? Why would they inflate the numbers anyhow??

Would a large main line container ship call a port where they only “Swapped 10 containers”?

the newspaper is not called the daily propaganda for nothing…
I dont doubt that 2008 till now has climbed, I am saying there was double the number before 2008
Singapore maintained the feeder connections, they never went to TPP so lots of boxes dropped over there came back on trucks to Singapore.
Consolidation is done in Kuantan that also tooks lots of box capacity
Singapore was and is way more efficient that all the others but expensive.
Port Klang that is now huge but is losing traffic to Singapore
My neighbour was a senior guy in Maersk, so I had a running commentary for years.

Which newspaper are you talking about?? (MPA is NOT a newspaper)

Maersk invested in and moved to TPP because they were not granted special treatment by PSA. (They like to have contril) But found out that it was not possible to cut out Singapore entirely,

Besides, customs clearance and other red tape is slow and inefficient in Malaysia. Since a lot of boxes were in transit they still had to be transported to Singapore for onward shipment by feeders, passing customs twice in the process.

Kuantan does not have main line capacity and Westport in PK suffer from the same problems as TPP, hence there are still a lot of Maersk traffic in Singapore.
(Lots of their ships are registered and/or managed from Singapore)

No, but China is VERY interested in the Arctic and the Northern Sea Route.
They are already a force to be reckoned with (in commercial terms) several places in the Arctic.

The $5 Bn. fine is “peanuts” for Google/Alphabet, but the rest of it is not. If they don’t comply with the EU rulings they may be hit harder, incl. a ban from the large EU market:

Could any Tech company come up with a competing operating system in the near future?
They already have:

Both Europeans and Chinese are getting fed up with the American dominance and arrogance in the digital market and would welcome more competition.

Yes, what I didnt say was lots of Maersk ships stops have drifted back to Singapore.
I dont know about Evergreen

Googles job is to steal your data ( to sell) but in China that the Governments job ( for control)

This is a great article for anyone seeking to “Understand China”

I think the boys in Prague understand China a lot better now than they did when they got in bed with them…a cautionary tale for sure.

A bit like COSCO’s investment in Greece, nothing more than to smuggle chinese products into Europe without paying tax.
Is there any WTO rule China actually abide d by?

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You mean Piraeus is a Freeport and goods coming in through there can transit duty free to the rest of EU?? That is news to me!!!

It would also be a bit difficult, since anything transiting from there by rail, road or sea would have to cross EU borders enroute.
But let’s not get hung up in immaterial details, like geography.

https://shippingwatch.com/secure/Ports/article10540047.ece

I dont know if you have ever been to Europe but once you are in there are no custom ports at any borders