HEGEMON WITH NO PAID LEAVE LECTURES OTHERS

Cooperation Is Key To Advancing Critical Priority Of Women's Economic Participation

Tuesday, 28 February 2023, 
Press Release: APEC

Issued by the APEC Policy Partnership on Women and the Economy

Palm Springs, The United States, 27 February 2023

APEC members accelerate their coordinated work to tackle gender inequality in the region by diving deep into issues critical to women's full economic participation in the care economy and their role in climate mitigation.

Led by the APEC Policy Partnership on Women and the Economy (PPWE), members advance gender mainstreaming across the forum and address and remove barriers that continue to prevent women and girls from diverse backgrounds from participating in and benefiting from the economy.

Addressing the PPWE meeting in Palm Springs last week, Rachel Vogelstein, the United States’ National Security Council Special Advisor on Gender highlighted the essential role of women’s full economic participation to the prosperity, stability and security of APEC economies.

Vogelstein argued that advancing women's economic participation is not only a moral imperative, but a strategic imperative; “one that will strengthen all of our economies.”

Strengthening the care economy is one area to focus on, according to Vogelstein. “Just as roads and bridges helped facilitate labor force participation so too does the infrastructure to ensure that children and elders are healthy, safe and cared for while family members are at work.”

She also stressed that the climate crisis is inextricably linked with gender and equality, stating that left unchecked, climate change will further entrench global patterns of inequality.

“Although women and girls have been some of the most vocal advocates and supporters of environmental stewardship, they remain dramatically underrepresented in the green and blue sectors, and in leadership positions at the climate change decision making table,” Vogelstein said.

Besides climate, closing the digital gender gap exacerbated by the pandemic is deemed crucial to advance women’s economic participation. Vogelstein called for closer partnership with the private sector to address affordability and access to mobile devices and internet services, to promote digital literacy and skills training and address online safety and for freedom from technology facilitated gender-based violence and harassment.

“We simply cannot realize the full potential of our economies if women are not online,” she said. “Let us all collaborate in good faith to find common ground to help advance the critical priority of women's economic participation which will not only provide security to women and families but to entire economies.”

This year, the PPWE is looking at structural reforms to ensure women can equally access and benefit from policy efforts. APEC members discussed the economic and social outcomes for women with regard to the unequal distribution of care, including those related to workforce participation, job opportunities and the gender pay gap, as a consequence of this disparate distribution.

© Scoop Media

Taiwan's APEC envoy at the center of processor chip tension


 Singapore's Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong, left, and Taiwan's envoy Morris Chang, founder of one of the world's largest chip manufacturers TSMC, talk before an informal dialogue session at APEC Haus, Nov. 18, 2018, in Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea. Chang, 91, will once again be Taiwan’s envoy at this week's APEC held in Bangkok, Thailand, Nov. 16-19, 2022. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein, File)More

JOHNSON LAI and JOE McDONALD
Wed, November 16, 2022 

TAIPEI, Taiwan (AP) — Taiwan’s envoy to a gathering of Asia-Pacific leaders is the 91-year-old billionaire founder of a computer chip manufacturing giant that operated behind the scenes for decades before being thrust into the center of U.S.-Chinese tension over technology and security.

Morris Chang’s hybrid role highlights the clash between Taiwan's status as one of China's top tech suppliers and Beijing's threats to attack the self-ruled island democracy of 22 million people, which the mainland's ruling Communist Party says it part of its territory.

Taiwan’s decision to send Chang instead of a political leader to the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit in Thailand reflects the island's unusual status. The United States and other governments have agreed to Chinese demands not to have official relations with Taiwan or have their leaders meet its president.

Chang transformed the semiconductor industry when he founded Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Corp. in 1987 as the first foundry to produce chips only for customers without designing its own. That allowed smaller designers to compete with industry giants without spending billions of dollars to build a factory.
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TSMC has grown into the biggest chip producer, supplying Apple Inc., Qualcomm Inc. and other customers and turning Taiwan into a global tech center. TSMC-produced chips are in millions of smartphones, automobiles and high-end computers.

Despite that, TSMC ranks high on any list of the biggest companies that are unknown outside their industries.

Chang, a Texas Instruments Inc. veteran who served as TSMC chairman until 2018, represented then-President Chen Shui-bian at the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation meeting in 2006. He was re-appointed to the same job in 2018, 2019 and 2020 by President Tsai Ing-wen.

“Taiwan’s semiconductor industry, especially TSMC, plays a pivotal role in the domestic and even the world economy,” Tsai told reporters on Oct. 20. "At this important moment, Chang is an irreplaceable candidate to serve as the representative of our country’s APEC leaders.”

Britain's trade minister, Greg Hands, said London wants closer cooperation with Taiwan on semiconductors during a visit this month. Britain is home to Arm, a leading chip designer.

Taiwan is in a “very challenging environment” and APEC is the “most important international conference venue for Taiwan,” Chang said at the Oct. 20 briefing with Tsai.

“Taiwan needs to build a secure and resilient supply chain with trusted partners, especially in the electronics sector,” he said.

Last year, Chang warned support was eroding for globalization and free markets that helped TSMC prosper.

“Globalization seems to be a bad word and ‘free market economy’ is beginning to carry conditions,” Chang said while accepting an award from the Asia Society.

“Many companies in Asia and America face challenges as to how to operate in the new environment,” Chang said. “Still, I’m confident that solutions will be found.”

TSMC was thrust into geopolitics in 2020 when then U.S. President Donald Trump blocked the company and other vendors from using U.S. technology to make chips for Chinese tech giant Huawei Technologies Ltd., which produces smartphones and network gear for phone and internet carriers. American officials say Huawei is a security threat and might enable Chinese spying, an accusation the company denies.

Most of the world’s smartphones and other consumer electronics are assembled in Chinese factories. But they need components and technology from the United States, Europe and Asian suppliers — especially Taiwan, the biggest chip exporter.

Huawei, China’s first global tech brand, designs chips but needs TSMC and other contractors to make them. Their foundries need American manufacturing technology, which gives Washington leverage to disrupt Chinese high-tech industry.

Processor chips are China’s biggest import at $300 billion a year, ahead of oil. The ruling Communist Party sees that as a strategic weakness and is spending heavily to create its own chip producers, but they are generations behind TSMC and other global leaders.

Trump’s successor, Joe Biden, left Trump's curbs in place and imposed more restrictions that extend to other Chinese companies.

TSMC, headquartered in Hsinchu, adjacent to the Taiwan capital, Taipei, says it made 12,302 different products last year for 535 customers. The company reported an $18.7 billion profit last year on $49.8 billion in revenue.

Chang was born in Ningbo, south of Shanghai, and moved to Hong Kong after a civil war on the mainland ended with the Communist Party taking power in 1949.

The mainland's former ruling Nationalist Party fled to Taiwan. The two sides have been ruled separately since then. They have no official relations but are linked by billions of dollars of trade and investment.

Chang studied at Harvard University and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology before receiving a Ph.D. in electrical engineering from Stanford University in 1964.

Chang spent a quarter-century at Texas Instruments, rising to become a vice president in charge of its semiconductor business, before being invited to Taiwan in the 1980s to lead a technology research institute.

In 1988, TSMC became Taiwan's first company traded on the New York Stock Exchange. Chang's stake in the company is worth $1.6 billion.

___

McDonald reported from Beijing.

Taiwan president decries 'rumours' about the island's chip investment risk

 Semiconductor chips on a circuit board

Tsai Ing-wen
President of Taiwan (R.O.C. authorities) and Chairperson of the Democratic Progressive Party

Tue, November 15, 2022 
By Ben Blanchard and Sarah Wu

TAIPEI (Reuters) -Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen has decried what she called "rumours" about the risk of investing in the island's semiconductor industry and said the government was working hard to ensure investments continued.

Taiwan, home to the world's largest contract chipmaker TSMC as well as several other chip manufacturers, plays an outsized role in providing chips used in everything from cars and smartphones to fighter jets.

But the Chinese military's menacing of the island to assert Beijing's sovereignty claims, especially after U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi visited Taipei in August, is causing the chip industry to rethink the risk surrounding Taiwan.

Rick Tsai, the chief executive of Taiwan's largest chip designer MediaTek Inc, also told Reuters this month that U.S.-China tensions are pushing some manufacturers to talk about expanding part of their supply chain beyond Taiwan, but also said it's "incremental."

Tsai, who met with ASML Holding's chief operations officer Frederic Schneider-Maunoury on Tuesday, praised the European manufacturer of chip-making equipment for its commitment to investing in Taiwan.

A presidential office statement quoted him as telling Tsai that the company will continue to increase its investments in Taiwan and noting that ASML has five factories and employs more than 4,500 people on the island.

"At this moment when the world is paying attention to and is concerned about Taiwan, I am very grateful to ASML for investing in Taiwan with concrete actions," Tsai said in the statement late on Tuesday.

"I believe this has also dispelled the rumours over-hyping Taiwan's risks," she added.

Tsai also said she looks forward to "Taiwan's continued deepening of cooperation with democratic allies to build a safer and more resilient global supply chain."

ASML did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the meeting.

Taiwan's Economy Minister Wang Mei-hua told reporters on Wednesday that the recent purchase of more than $4.1 billion of TSMC's stock by Warren Buffet's Berkshire Hathaway Inc would "give everyone a lot of confidence".

"I think the worries that have been around recently will pass," she added.

(Reporting by Ben Blanchard and Sarah Wu; Editing by Christian Schmollinger and Edwina Gibbs)

Sustainable development on the menu as APEC finance chiefs meet

AFP
Mon, 13 November 2023 

US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen says APEC needs to look at sustainable economic development that takes account of environmental demands (Loren Elliott)

Economic development and environmental action need to march hand in hand if the world is to successfully combat global warming, US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said Monday at the start of major global meeting.

The transition to sustainable energy needed to prevent catastrophic temperature rises must form part of the effort to secure jobs and growth, she told fellow finance ministers of the 21-member Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) forum.

"We need to further improve our long-term economic outlook by boosting labor supply, innovation, and infrastructure investment, in ways that are also sustainable and reduce inequality," Yellen said at the start of a global gathering in San Francisco.

"We need to put ourselves on a sustainable growth path, one where we safeguard our planet while providing our economies with the clean energy they need to grow."

After several years focused on post-pandemic recovery, 2023 was a "pivotal year" for APEC, said Yellen, a time in which governments could refocus on "advancing fiscal reforms to build our economies over the long run."

But economic development cannot be separated from the immediate need to wean humanity off planet-warming energy sources, she said, noting that less wealthy countries needed help to make the leap.

"We've discussed how to finance efficient and effective energy transitions while supporting the individuals and communities who are most vulnerable," she said, referencing as an example the Just Energy Transition Partnerships (JETP) in Vietnam and Indonesia.

These agreements define conditions for rich countries to commit to financially assisting the energy transition of developing countries.

The JETP for Indonesia, the largest economy in Southeast Asia, was unveiled last year. It provides public and private funding of up to $20 billion in exchange for capping emissions from the electricity sector by 2030 and reaching zero emissions in 2050.

Not all financing systems are equal, Yellen said, noting that the markets for carbon credits need to be examined for ways to improve their integrity.

Carbon credits, which allow companies to offset their CO2 emissions, effectively permitting them to claim a heavily-polluting product is "carbon neutral", are increasingly coming under the microscope, amid claims by critics that they amount to greenwashing.

Finance ministers are meeting in San Francisco until Tuesday, with heads of government of the bloc gathering later in the week.

juj/hg/st

CONFRONTING THE HEGEMON

Chinese envoy uses rough language to describe US relations amid suspicion over Beijing's intentions

South China Morning Post
Wed, October 18, 2023

A senior Chinese government envoy to the US on Tuesday dismissed Washington's suspicions of Beijing's intentions with a barnyard epithet, a sharp barb delivered even as the two sides work to arrange a summit between their top leaders next month.

During a discussion at a conference of the Institute for China-America Studies, Xu Xueyan, a deputy chief of mission and a minister at Beijing's embassy in Washington, challenged the concept that "win-win" in the bilateral relationship has meant more gains for China.

"When I came here for my second posting in the United States, I've heard many people inside of the beltway telling me that you have to stop talking about 'win-win'," Xu recounted.

Do you have questions about the biggest topics and trends from around the world? Get the answers with SCMP Knowledge, our new platform of curated content with explainers, FAQs, analyses and infographics brought to you by our award-winning team.

"'Win-win is bulls**t' are the exact words used by a very senior official in the US government," she said.

The envoy, who did not identify the official or provide any further details about the conversation, then doubled down.

"And people say that 'When you Chinese talk about win-win, for us it's China winning twice, win two times,' I think that is bulls**t," Xu added.

The rancorous remarks underscore the difficulty the two sides have had in managing high-level engagements while Washington rolls out laws and executive orders meant to reduce national security vulnerabilities.

The latest of these moves - new rules to reinforce the export controls on semiconductor technology that the administration unveiled a year ago - was announced just before Xu spoke at the conference.

Her remarks also came amid uncertainty over whether and how Chinese President Xi Jinping and his US counterpart Joe Biden will meet at the Apec leaders summit, scheduled for next month in San Francisco.

The two have not spoken in person since November when they held talks on the sidelines of the Group of 20 meetings in Bali, Indonesia.

Biden has dispatched some of his top cabinet officials, including Secretary of State Antony Blinken, to Beijing in recent months to lay the groundwork for a discussion at Apec.

In their meetings, Xu said, Xi has stressed the importance of "mutual respect" in negotiations.

"What President Xi told President Biden many times is the concept of mutual respect, the importance of China feeling respected by the United States. This is the basis, this is the foundation of our bilateral relationship," she said.

Xu also said the US elections next year - including Biden's bid for a second term - would challenge the bilateral relationship.

"Personally I'm not just not quite confident or quite optimistic on how much longer, how big a window of opportunity we are talking about, in stabilising this relationship," she said.

"It is very likely that next year will become very, very nasty in the United States," she added.

"Lots of Republicans or Democrats will want to use China as a scapegoat to score political points."

Xu was probably speaking out of concern that more announcements about sanctions or export restrictions against China would emerge after Apec summit arrangements are finalised, said Dennis Wilder, a senior fellow at the Initiative for US-China Dialogue on Global Issues at Georgetown University.

"It's been very personal for [Xu] if you think about her assignment here, where it's difficult for her embassy to get meetings with the White House and State Department," Wilder said.

"This is very much about efforts to get Xi to Apec, and it reflects concern about how such a meeting will look."

"They don't trust the Americans because of the many measures that we've seen, such as export restrictions and sanctions, and they don't know what's coming next from Washington," he added.

Copyright (c) 2023. South China Morning Post Publishers Ltd. All rights reserved.

 

Advancing Indigenous Economic and Trade Priorities

BY CHUCK HOSKIN JR 

 

NOVEMBER 19, 2023

Guest Opinion. As the largest Indigenous nation in the United States with more than 460,000 citizens, Cherokees can be found all across the globe. Cherokee Nation Businesses has global reach, too, with trading partners and business operations on six continents. At the recent Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Summit held in California, I spoke about the unique role that Cherokee Nation and other Indigenous peoples play in the global economy.

I was honored to speak at this international gathering with a specific focus on Indigenous communities. At the summit, I was able to meet with world leaders and advocate for improving Indigenous participation in global economic growth. It also provided an opportunity to engage with Indigenous leaders from APEC member countries like Australia, New Zealand and Canada for cultural exchange and learning best practices from one another.

Together, we are dispelling myths, such as the perception that Indigenous communities are stewards of the environment and nothing more. While conservation is crucial and Native peoples have a wealth of knowledge on sustainability, the world must recognize our capacity to advance wealth-building for our citizens, health care access, educational options, expanded connectivity, cultural preservation, and more.

Cherokees have always creatively pursued economic partnerships, from our first trade treaties signed with Europeans in the 1600s to our modern international business operations with an economic impact topping $3 billion. We do all this while maintaining a steadfast commitment to our sovereignty, self-determination, and cultural traditions.

We have great potential to do even more and to invest those profits back into our reservation in northeast Oklahoma. Within the Cherokee Nation Reservation are important free trade zones (FTZs) tied to the Port of Catoosa and Port of Muskogee, where our region exchanges goods with the entire world.

Cherokee Nation Principal Chief Chuck Hoskin, Jr.

However, navigating international trade is made more difficult by uncertainty around what rights are reserved for Indigenous peoples. Native communities, including the Cherokee Nation, have struggled with a legacy of underinvestment and a lack of clarity for how we fit within international legal frameworks. Too often, Indigenous voices are left out of the intricate negotiations of international trade agreements. At the APEC Summit, we made recommendations for more inclusive trade policies that integrate Indigenous perspectives and needs.

The summit was a great opportunity to make progress on these issues. As we continue to strengthen our government-to-government relationship with the United States and call on the federal government to meet its trust and treaty obligations, Cherokee Nation is stepping into a greater role on the international stage.

Inspired by the Cherokee historical journey from simple bartering to modern international commerce, we are lifting up the economic hopes of Indigenous peoples everywhere.

Chuck Hoskin, Jr. is the principal chief of the Cherokee Nation.

(Photo/Courtesy of the Cherokee Nation)

 

Looking at ASEAN only in context of US-China relations a mistake

Several ASEAN countries will be growing faster than China for the first time in over three decades, according to the Asian Development Bank.

Reported By:| Edited By: DNA Web Team |Source: DNA webdesk |Updated: Nov 28, 2022, 06:03 AM IST

File Photo

Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) member states have, in recent years, repeatedly expressed their concern regarding the insular economic policies of the US, as well as the downward slope in China-US ties ever since the ‘trade war’ between both countries began in 2018.  

The US withdrawal from the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) in 2017, and the deterioration in ties between Beijing and Washington after the imposition of tariffs by former US President Donald Trump were viewed with great concern by the ASEAN region. Several ASEAN countries have underscored the point that they have close economic ties with China and good relations with the US, and thus, would not want to take sides in case of a conflict between the two. 

Indonesia, which also recently hosted the G20 Summit 2022 in Bali, reiterated the same point. “ASEAN must become a peaceful region, and an anchor for global stability, consistently uphold international law and not be a proxy to any powers,” Indonesian President Joko Widodo said while addressing the ASEAN Summit.

While Indonesia has been critical of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, it has refused to provide arms to Ukraine. Joko Widodo had visited both Russia and Ukraine in June 2022 and offered to mediate, saying that Indonesia was prepared to bridge ‘Russia-Ukraine communications’. 

Over the past few years ASEAN was viewed from the prism of China-US relations by many commentators. But in recent days, it has been witness to three important events; ASEAN Summit (Phnom Penh), G20 Summit (Bali, Indonesia) and Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Summit (Bangkok).  

While the G20 Summit was witness to a meeting on the side lines between the US President, Joe Biden and Chinese President, Xi Jinping, the APEC Summit witnessed an exchange between Chinese President, Xi Jinping and US Vice President, Kamala Harris. There is no doubt that differences between both countries persist on crucial issues – such as Taiwan -- both sides agreed that they needed to resume engagement and work on crucial issues – such as climate change. 

“I noted a key message that President Biden emphasised in his November 14 meeting with President Xi: we must maintain open lines of communication to responsibly manage the competition between our countries,” Kamala Harris had stated in a tweet.

Apart from the above, the US reiterated the importance of ASEAN especially in the context of its Indo-Pacific strategy. Both Biden and Kamala Harris also referred to the importance of ASEAN in the Indo-Pacific strategy. Biden said that ASEAN is at the heart of his ‘..administration’s Indo-Pacific strategy’. The US emphasis on ASEAN’s geopolitical importance was relevant because apart from US’ withdrawal from TPP, there has been a perception that the US has not been paying much attention to the ASEAN region --- even though the Biden administration has tried to dispel this notion (apart from visiting Thailand for the APEC Summit, US Vice President Kamala Harris also visited Philippines). 

In spite of internal problems and differences and excessive bureaucracy within ASEAN grouping which according to many analysts has hampered decision making, recent events have reiterated its geopolitical importance. Interestingly, for the first time in over three decades, several ASEAN countries will be growing faster than China, according to the Asian Development Bank (ADB).   

In conclusion, while ASEAN has been afflicted by numerous problems, recent events are important not just in terms of symbolism, but highlight the geopolitical and economic significance of the region. It would thus be a mistake to look at ASEAN only in the context of US-China relations. 

The author, Tridivesh Singh Maini, is a New Delhi-based policy analyst associated with the OP Jindal Global University, Sonipat

Scientists identify how harmless gut bacteria "turn bad"

UNIVERSITY OF BATH

Research News

 

IMAGE: PROFESSOR SAM SHEPPARD FROM THE MILNER CENTRE FOR EVOLUTION AT THE UNIVERSITY OF BATH LED THE STUDY. view more 

CREDIT: UNIVERSITY OF BATH

An international team of scientists has determined how harmless E. coli gut bacteria in chickens can easily pick up the genes required to evolve to cause a life-threatening infection. Their study, published in Nature Communications, warns that such infections not only affect the poultry industry but could also potentially cross over to infect humans.

E. coli is a common bacterium that lives in the intestines of most animals, including humans. It is usually harmless when it stays in the gut, however it can become very dangerous if it invades the bloodstream, causing a systemic infection that can even lead to death.

Avian pathogenic E.coli (APEC) is most common infection in chickens reared for meat or eggs. It can lead to death in up to 20 per cent of cases and causes multi-million pound losses in the poultry industry. The problem is made worse by increasing antibiotic resistance and infections also pose a risk of causing disease in humans.

The team of scientists, led by the Milner Centre for Evolution at the University of Bath, sequenced and analysed the whole genomes of E. coli bacteria found in healthy and infected chickens bred at commercial poultry farms to better understand why and how these normally innocuous bugs can turn deadly.

They found there was no single gene responsible for switching a harmless bacterium into a pathogenic one, but rather that it could be caused by several combinations of a diverse group of genes.

Their results indicate that all bacteria in chicken intestines have the potential to pick up the genes they need to turn into a dangerous infection, through a process called horizontal gene transfer.

Horizontal gene transfer enables bacteria to acquire new genetic material from other bacteria nearby. This can happen by scavenging DNA molecules from dead bacteria; by exchanging strands of DNA by having 'bacterial sex' or by getting infected by viruses which transfer DNA from one bacterium to another.

Professor Sam Sheppard, from the Milner Centre for Evolution at the University of Bath, led the study. He said: "Previously we thought that E. coli became pathogenic by acquiring specific genes from other bugs, often packaged in mobile elements called plasmids.

"But our study compared the genomes of disease-causing and harmless E. coli in chickens and found that they can 'turn bad' simply by picking up genes from their environment.

"Bacteria do this all the time inside the guts of chicken, but most of the time the scavenged genes are detrimental to the bacteria so it becomes an evolutionary dead end.

"However, there are 26 billion chickens worldwide, representing around 70 per cent of all bird biomass on earth.

"That increases the likelihood of bacteria picking up genes that could help the bacteria survive and turn infectious, or even jump species to infect humans."

The study authors stress the need to monitor strains that are most likely to become pathogenic so can treat them before they become dangerous.

Professor Sheppard said: "We were surprised to find that it's not just a single strain that causes APEC, but any strain can potentially acquire the 'monster combination' of genes needed to turn bad."

Strains with the potential to turn pathogenic could be identified using a similar method to that used to detect variant strains of Covid19. After whole genome sequencing, rapid PCR tests can be used to probe for specific genes that could lead to an APEC infection.

Professor Sheppard said: "We identified around 20 genes that are common in pathogenic bugs and if we can look out for these key genes in a flock of birds, that would help farmers target those carriers before they cause a problem."

###

North American Union (SPP) Protests In Alberta

The Three Amigos are in Montreal this coming week-end to discuss their secret corporate pact to create a single EU style market place on the North American Continent.

Teach Ins are planned across Canada including in Alberta. Home of Petro Powers That Be. Organizers are to be congratulated for focusing on making these protests Teach Ins rather than the usual street protests that follow the G8, WTO, etc.

Since most folks have no clue as to the nature of these binding yet secret corporatist-state agreements, the point is to inform them.

We did a Teach In in Edmonton during the APEC Energy Conference. Since few people knew anything about APEC or this corporatist state model for global governance.

The annual APEC meeting was held in Vancouver which resulted in the first RCMP Attack on protesters, which was to become national and international state security policy in dealing with anti-globalization protests.

August 19

Edmonton, Alberta
Protesting the SPP in Edmonton! Help preserve Canada’s sovereignty, join the protest.
Host: Protest The S.P.P.
Time: 10:00am - 2:00pm GMT
Where: Legislative Assembly of Alberta Street: 10800 - 97 Ave. Edmonton, AB

Calgary, Alberta
Protesting the North American Union
Host: Lindsay Ross and other concerned citizens!.
Time: 12:00 p.m. – 3 p.m. GMT
Where: Calgary City Hall, 800 Macleod Trail SE, Calgary, AB, then marching to the U.S. Consulate at 615 Macleod Trail for more speeches

For cross Canada protests see Verbena-19

See:

Free Labour = Free Of Unions

Derek Burney Voice of America

Deep Integration

Origins of the Captialist State In Canada

Time For A Canadian Steel Workers Union

Will Canadian Labour Accept Free Trade?

Cold Gold

Mittal Plays Monopoly

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How cities around the world are tackling dangerous air quality

Story by Uday Rana • Yesterday 

In a very short span of time, Chinese authorities put into place emergency measures to improve air quality in Beijing for the 2014 APEC conference.© Provided by Global News

Last week, large swaths of North America were choking under wildfire smoke.

Cities in both the U.S. and Canada saw a haze descend on them, spurring warnings to stay indoors and to mask up for those who had to be outdoors. And as wildfires are expected to keep wreaking havoc on air quality, the response of cities across the world to emergency levels of air pollution may offer some solutions.

Canada is not the first country to face weeks of poor air quality, and in many parts of the world residents in cities like Beijing, China; New Delhi, India; Bogota, Colombia; and Paris, France have had to innovate and adapt.

Here's how they do it.

In November 2014, Beijing played host to the 21st Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) conference. The city, notorious for some of the world’s worst air quality, had to clean up its air before the summit began.

In a very short span of time, the Chinese authorities put into place emergency measures to improve air quality ahead of the summit.

Production in factories around the capital city was either stopped or halted, along with slowing down construction work. Vehicular traffic was heavily curtailed, with traffic rules put in place alternating which vehicles could drive on which days.

The rule, when in place, means only vehicles with odd-numbered licence plates are allowed to drive on one day and only even-numbered ones the day after -- a move introduced in 2008 to help ease congestion and reduce pollution during the Olympics and Paralympics, according to Reuters.

When improvements in 2014 did not meet expectations, the government doubled down.

Enhanced emissions reduction measures were put into place. Iron and steel, glass and coking industries were stopped. The curbs lasted all of 11 days but appeared to yield something Beijing residents hadn’t seen in quite some time – a blue sky.

The term 'APEC Blue' caught on in China as meaning something beautiful, but fleeting.

A study in the Journal of Traffic and Transport Engineering in 2016 looked at the "odd-even" traffic measures and determined when used in 2008, it did lead to improvements -- but that they also come with a heavy impact on residents.

"Short-term traffic demand management measures can provide support for mega-events. However, based on the analysis in this paper, the degree of traffic reduction is not proportional to the number of vehicles restricted."

Even as Beijing’s air quality showed signs of improvement amid the 2014 measures, in another Asian city officials were acknowledging air quality was just as bad.

According to The Guardian newspaper, Indian authorities admitted in May 2014 that air pollution in New Delhi was comparable to that in Beijing -- a challenge that continues to hang heavy.

Every fall, the smoke from agricultural fires in the north makes its way toward New Delhi. The city’s air quality plummets around this time, mixing with its already-high base levels of pollution.

In response to rising concerns in 2016, Indian authorities rolled out a Graded Response Action Plan (GRAP) to try to tackle air quality.

The plan consists of four emergency stages, each of which corresponds to a threshold of air pollution, and the idea is simple – the worse the air quality gets, the more stringent the controls get.

The scale measures levels of what is known as particulate matter (pm) 2.5. That refers to particulate matter in the air that's either two and a half microns wide, or less.

Video: Toxic smog blankets India’s capital, forcing closure of schools

The first stage, where the levels of particulate matter (pm) 2.5 levels are between 61 and 120, the air quality is labelled “poor." In this first stage, the government imposes heavy fines on garbage burning. Authorities also sprinkle water on the streets with heavy vehicular traffic, to keep the particulate matter from dispersing up into the air as vehicles roll by.

The second stage is called the “very poor” stage, where pm 2.5 levels are between 121 and 250.

In this stage, the government cracks down on the usage of diesel-powered electricity generators. To keep cars off the streets, municipal parking fees are hiked significantly, and the frequency of buses and Delhi Metro trains increases. Children, the elderly and people with respiratory problems are advised to stay indoors.

In the “severe” category (251-250), hot mix plants, brick kilns and stone crushers are banned from operating. And when the levels of pm 2.5 cross 350 on the Air Quality Index (AQI) and the city enters the “severe plus” or “hazardous” level, all construction activity is stopped.

Heavy vehicles like trucks and tankers are banned from entering the city. Even schools are shut down, though there remain questions about the impacts of such plans.

“While these graded response systems are a necessary intervention, their impacts are questionable. They may not necessarily have the kind of impact that that we need,” said Siddharth Singh, an energy, mobility and climate policy expert and the author of the book The Great Smog of India.

The city of Bogota, Colombia also has a graded response plan, and while not facing air quality as poor as Beijing or New Delhi, the city has laid out numerous proposals over recent years to tackle air quality and pollution.

Rather than short-term proposals, many of Bogota's plans look longer-term.

In 2020, it became the first Latin American city to declare a climate emergency. An important part of Bogota’s climate plan is to replace the use of fossil fuels to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 50 per cent by 2030.

The city pledged to stop buying any public transportation vehicles that use fossil fuels. Bogota also made commitments regarding changes in land use policy, to make communities more sustainable.

Video: Canada wildfires: Air quality a major risk for those living outside

The perspective is similar in ways to approaches taken by Paris, where Singh lives.

He says Paris has transformed its cityscape radically in a very short span of time, with markedly improved air quality in the French capital.

“Paris has actually seen quite a bit of transformation. If you see the air quality levels from 10 years ago, you will see a significant drop (in pollution levels),” he said.

“There is much-improved air quality on average and Parisians have benefited since several roads are now pedestrianized. Cars and trucks are no longer welcome on the streets, and those streets have been reclaimed by people.”

Paris’s dedicated bicycle lanes have also reduced vehicular traffic in the city, Singh said. In 2015, Paris also banned old cars to combat its infamously poor air quality.

Cities in North America, however, are more sprawled out than Delhi, Beijing or Paris and far more car-reliant, making access to public transit difficult. But they too will need to decide how to tackle air quality in the longer term.

“As North American cities grow, they must think about how they design new neighbourhoods, how they're able to ensure that there's greater public transport access, that there's more integration of renewables in urban settings," Singh said.

This year, Canada could be on track to having a record level of land burnt due to wildfires. In 2023, 2,293 wildfires have torched 3.8 million hectares of land. These fires forced more than 20,000 Canadians out of their homes.

Environmentalists say climate change has made this year’s wildfires worse.

China flags readiness to work with US 'at all levels' ahead of APEC summit

South China Morning Post
Wed, November 8, 2023 

China is ready to strengthen dialogue with the United States "at all levels" to mend their relations and work together on global challenges, Chinese Vice-President Han Zheng said on Wednesday.

Han was speaking just a few days before the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation leaders' forum in San Francisco, where US President Joe Biden and his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping are expected to meet for the first time since Bali a year ago.

Beijing has not yet confirmed Xi's attendance at Apec, but recent months have seen an increase in reciprocal high-level visits between Washington and Beijing - widely seen as laying the groundwork for a bilateral summit.

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Addressing the Bloomberg New Economy Forum in Singapore, Han said the recent official interactions had sent out "positive signals" and raised the world's expectations of an "improvement" in China-US relations.

"A stable and sound China-US relationship is the common expectation of people from all sectors in other countries and the international community as a whole," he said.

"We're ready to strengthen communication and dialogue with the United States at all levels to promote mutually beneficial cooperation, properly manage differences and jointly address global challenges."

China's Vice-President Han Zheng addresses the Bloomberg New Economy Forum in Singapore on Wednesday. 

Han added that Beijing always views and handles its relations with Washington in accordance with the principles of mutual respect, peaceful coexistence and win-win cooperation.

Han's comments also coincided with Chinese Vice-Premier He Lifeng's visit to the US, which has also been seen as part of the effort to set the stage for Biden-Xi summit at the Apec meeting, which begins on Saturday.

He, China's top economic and financial policy official, will meet US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen during his five-day trip, amid disagreements over tech curbs and subsidies between the world's two largest economies.

In his speech, Han said unilateralism and protectionism "lead nowhere" and that the issue of security "cannot be overstretched".

"Decoupling, severing industrial and supply chains and the so-called 'de-risking' will all only divide the global economy into many isolated islands," he said, adding that China has always been a supporter of economic globalisation.

Han said the country is committed to advancing institutional opening-up and providing more market and investment opportunities for companies from all over the world. "China's economy has been rebounding and improving on the whole," he added.

According to Han, geopolitical tensions are compounded with the evolving economic landscape and emerging crises of food, energy and debt.

At the same time, the deepening of the new round of technological and industrial transformation has brought new opportunities for sustainable economic growth, he said.

Han affirmed China's commitment to innovations in big data, AI and new energy technologies to upgrade its industrial structure for smarter and greener development.

Han's speech was also made at a time of escalating conflict in the Middle East and Russia's protracted war in Ukraine - another layer in the complicated backdrop to a Xi-Biden summit in California.

"We need to be more determined to resolve conflicts through dialogue and consultation and create a stable international environment that is conducive to development," Han said.

"China is ready to work with the rest of the world to uphold world peace and security."

Saudi Arabia's investment minister Khalid Al-Falih spoke after Han at the forum and said he sees positive signs in the US-China relationship as engagement between the two economic powerhouses increases.

"Pragmatism is surfacing," Al-Falih said, noting that his nation has strong relationships with both countries. "We call for collaboration and coexistence between the world's two economic superpowers and geopolitical powers."

Al-Falih said he believed the two powers will reduce their rhetoric about a natural strategic competition and ultimately achieve peaceful coexistence.


Copyright (c) 2023. South China Morning Post Publishers Ltd. All rights reserved.

CIIE:China, Afghanistan cultivate deeper ties with agriculture deals

South China Morning Post
Tue, November 7, 2023 

China is expanding its agricultural trade with Afghanistan, deepening relations with the war-torn country as it attempts a return to normal economic activity, tangles with sanctions from the West and rebuilds after a devastating earthquake in October.

The world's second-largest economy may start importing Afghan pomegranates next month with an initial shipment of 1,000 tonnes via an "agricultural cooperation" deal, a trader at the China International Import Expo told the Post on Monday.

Those shipments would start after more than two years of approval and certification work, said exhibitor Shams Ullah Shams, general manager of the Afghanistan export firm Biraro. His company took 200 tonnes to the show as samples this month.

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Afghanistan export firm Biraro displays pomegranates at the China International Import Expo on November 6, 2023. Photo: Mandy Zuo alt=Afghanistan export firm Biraro displays pomegranates at the China International Import Expo on November 6, 2023. 

<Photo: Mandy Zuo>

"We can't sell them, just give them to our Chinese friends to try, and after five days they'll be gone," Shams said with a hopeful laugh.

Afghanistan's once nearly US$20 billion economy crashed to US$14.58 billion in 2021 as the country of 40.1 million people experienced a food shortage. One in every two Afghans is poor, according to the World Bank.

The Islamic fundamentalist Taliban regained power the same year, after a long military struggle ended with the withdrawal of US troops.

It now faces post-war sanctions from the West, purportedly imposed over the legitimacy of its leadership and women's access to education.

China is happy to build relations, starting with trade, to fill a void left by the West and seize opportunities for longer-term gain, analysts said.

"There was a huge vacuum after America withdrew, so I think the Chinese see this as an opportunity," said James Chin, a professor of Asian studies at the University of Tasmania.

Two-way trade has been "growing fast" and China may become Afghanistan's second-largest trading partner this year after Pakistan, business advisory Dezan Shira & Associates said in a February research note.

China appointed Zhao Xing as the new ambassador to Kabul in September, and Afghan officials attended the Belt and Road Forum in Beijing in mid-October.

Afghanistan sent US$40.02 million in goods to China in all of 2022, with US$23.08 million of that tallied in the final two months, per the data. China exported US$550.13 million of goods to its Central Asian neighbour last year.

In the first nine months of this year, Afghanistan exported US$33.93 million worth of goods to China, which shipped US$959.69 million of its own wares the other way, according to Chinese customs data.

Afghanistan's chief exports to China at the end of 2022 were nuts, animal hair, semi-precious stones, dried fruits and vegetable products, Dezan Shira said.

There may also be other motivations at play.

A boost in trade might eventually facilitate Chinese infrastructure projects such as pipelines for oil and natural gas, said Naubahar Sharif, head of the public policy division at the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology.

Chinese ambassador to Afghanistan Zhao Xing, left, shakes hands with Mohammad Abas Akhund, acting minister for Afghanistan's National Disaster Management Authority, during a handover ceremony for earthquake relief materials. Photo: Xinhua alt=Chinese ambassador to Afghanistan Zhao Xing, left, shakes hands with Mohammad Abas Akhund, acting minister for Afghanistan's National Disaster Management Authority, during a handover ceremony for earthquake relief materials. 

<Photo: Xinhua>

The country could fit well into China's Belt and Road Initiative, a 10-year effort to build infrastructure abroad to smooth trade, Sharif added.

Whatever factors may be under consideration, Peking University international studies Professor Zha Daojiong said, relations will persist as China sees Afghanistan as a "neighbour that won't go away".

The countries share a 92-kilometre (57-mile) land border. With that in mind, he said, China "simply does not have the luxury of pretending that whoever is in charge there is irrelevant".

Copyright (c) 2023. South China Morning Post Publishers Ltd. All rights reserved.

Bullish Standard Chartered to continue investing in China amid strengthening economic recovery

South China Morning Post
Wed, November 8, 2023 

Standard Chartered, one of Hong Kong's three currency-issuing banks, said China's economy is on a solid footing, bolstering its confidence to invest more in the country.

Jerry Zhang, CEO of the emerging-markets focused lender's China business, said third-quarter economic data added to evidence that business and commercial activities in the world's second-largest economy were strengthening.

"We maintain our long-term bullish forecast on China," Zhang said at a media briefing on the sidelines of the China International Import Expo (CIIE) in Shanghai on Wednesday. "Standard Chartered remains committed to investing in China."

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The International Monetary Fund (IMF) on Tuesday revised upwards its forecast for mainland China's gross domestic product (GDP), saying it would expand 5.4 per cent year on year in 2023, up from its earlier estimate of 5 per cent.

The revision follows Beijing's decision to issue 1 trillion yuan (US$137.3 billion) of sovereign bonds while allowing local governments to front-load part of their 2024 bond quotas.

For the quarter ending September, China's GDP grew 4.9 per cent year on year and 1.3 per cent quarter on quarter, which Zhang described as encouraging signs of the economy's resilience.

"You can see that even when China's economy was stuck in a difficult situation, Standard Chartered showed an upbeat mood about its mid- and long-term outlook," Zhang said, adding that the bank's investments in its mainland operations were proceeding smoothly.

In February 2022, Standard Chartered said it would spend an additional US$300 million by 2024 to reinforce its mainland businesses, including expanding its retail banking outlets and digitalising its operations.

Standard Chartered late last month reported worse-than-expected earnings for the third quarter because of high impairment charges related to exposure to mainland China's property sector.

The company, which generates much of its revenue in Asia, reported US$633 million in pre-tax profit, a decline of 54 per cent from US$1.39 billion last year, missing analysts' estimates of US$1.49 billion polled by Bloomberg.

Standard Chartered took credit impairment charges of US$294 million during the quarter, an increase of 37 per cent from a year earlier. This included a further US$186 million related to its mainland commercial property portfolio as a debt crisis in the real estate sector shows no signs of abating and economic growth remains sluggish.

The bank has provided US$1.1 billion in loans to the mainland's property sector over the last two years.

The China International Import Expo, the world's largest import trade fair, runs until Friday in Shanghai. Photo: EPA-EFE 

"Domestic and foreign banks will have to cut their reliance on the troubled property sector in the coming years while increasing loan exposure to new-energy and consumer businesses," said Ding Haifeng, a consultant at Shanghai financial advisory firm Integrity.

"Overall, China's economy, based on its scale and diversity, will still attract foreign investment, although the growth momentum will slow down."

The CIIE, the world's largest import trade fair, started on Sunday and will run until Friday.

Chinese Premier Li Qiang said at the CIIE's opening ceremony that consumer vigour and further opening up of mainland China could give a much-needed boost to the slowing global economy.

Copyright (c) 2023. South China Morning Post Publishers Ltd. All rights reserved.

CPC Opens Up To Canadian Media

The Communist Party of China not the Conservative Party of Canada. In order to get any information about our Prime Ministers discussions at the APEC meetings the Canadian Press corps had to rely on the Chinese Foreign Ministery and other countries to find out what was going on. They were denied access to Stephen Harper by Sandra Buckler. This from the guy who lectures other countries about freedom of the press. Do as I say not as I do seems a fitting epithat for our PM.

Harper was also asked about his accessibility at the APEC conference. And the news of his discussion with the Chinese president came by e-mail to reporters travelling with him 14 hours after the fact. It was the Chinese foreign ministry official who gave the Canadian media the first substantive description of the meeting.It was the Korean government that told Canadian reporters about the visit of a Canadian diplomat to North Korea. Harper's staff also blocked Canadian journalists from attending all but the first of Harper's public activities, even while foreign media were present or invited.

CTV's Roger Smith, travelling with the prime minister told CTV Newsnet Harper has kept an extraordinarily low media profile during the summit. In fact, on several occasions, reporters learned key details from media briefings held by other countries.

In fact, Harper's office didn't confirm that the meeting with Hu had taken place until 14 hours after it took place -- long after the Chinese had announced it had happened.

"We all found it very ironic we were getting more information, and faster, from the communist government of China than we were from the Conservative government of Canada," Smith said.

See:

PMO Spies On Cabinet Ministers

Harper Is No Statesman

Harpercrsy

Gong Show Redux

Harper




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