Replies to post #7238 on Foreign Correspondence

[otraque]

Herr Bono would be quite upset by this China's behavior.
Bono is the IMF mascot.
At least the Gekko for Geico is damned funny(and a fantasy creation), Bono, as IMF mascot, is damned boring, and unfortunately very real.
Bob Geldoff took a Bad Rap, for the G8 rock festival, he was in fact the sucker that Bono hammered and hammered to get to endorse the fiasco(as best we know the ONLY one's to profit from it were the "by invitation only" rock aristocrats that had a huge surge in their record sales for weeks after the 'We lick your butt, mighty G8' global rock concert.
Is there anything more boring than having Bono on the other end of a telephone, don't think so---hang up if he ever calls:)

Picture : Photo-Op picture of Bono shaking hand with GWB with each their mechanical grins in "on" mode.
And Lord 'i love myself so totally' Bono, with thought bubble placed above his head, with words "To think he is a good christian just like me, doesn't get any better than this". Max

[Amaunet]

China's growth tops 10% ahead of US talks
From Jane Macartney in Beijing

The Times April 17, 2006

CHINA’S economic growth has accelerated in the first quarter of this year, belying forecasts that the Asian nation’s breakneck boom was moderating and also pushing its economy firmly ahead of Britain into fourth place in the world.
Output in the first three months of this year is estimated to be 10.2 per cent higher than in the same period of 2005. This blistering pace, which even the Chinese authorities believe to be unsustainable, is likely to raise pressure on President Hu Jintao during his visit this week to Washington to take more decisive steps to allow China’s currency to rise faster.

Mr Hu revealed the figure in a televised meeting with a visiting politician from Taiwan. The growth marks a pick-up from last year’s fourth quarter, when GDP rose by 9.9 per cent from a year earlier. China’s GDP expanded on average by 10 per cent a year between 2003 and 2005, taking the country past the output of Italy, France and, most recently, Britain. Only the US, Japan and Germany have economies larger than China’s.

Evidence that China’s economy is accelerating, rather than moderating, as hoped, could also fuel further speculation in commodity markets. The prices of several industrial metals and materials hit new highs last week, driven in part by demand from China to meet its boom in construction, manufacturing and transport.

The robust growth figure comes before a summit with President Bush that already promised tensions over trade and exchange rates. America’s exploding bilateral trade deficit with China hit $202 billion (£115 billion) last year and is likely to be at the top of the summit agenda. Washington has become increasingly impatient with Beijing.

In spite of China’s relaxations of exchange controls and forecasts of lower growth announced ahead of the visit, some US lawmakers and economists contend that the yuan is unfairly undervalued by as much as 40 per cent, handing China an advantage that is destroying American jobs.

Mr Hu said that Beijing was not pursuing fast growth for its own sake. He said: “We are paying more attention to the transformation of the mode of growth, resource conservation, environmental protection and, more importantly, the improvement of the lives of the people.”

China’s leaders are increasingly worried about possible overheating. A meeting of its State Council, or cabinet, has concluded that money supply is growing too quickly and credit is too loose, according to a report of its discussion on Friday. The report said that China must restructure sectors having overcapacity to control any further expansion, although it cited no specific steps to curb credit or investment.

Some Chinese economists say that the case is hardening for the authorities to cool growth, perhaps by requiring banks to tie up more cash with the central bank — money that could therefore not be extended as credit.

However, China needs fast growth to create jobs. Arthur Kroeber, of China Economic Quarterly, said he expected the authorities, despite their rhetorical concern, to try to avoid tightening policy as long as possible. China’s National Bureau of Statistics will release detailed first-quarter figures on Thursday. Economists had pencilled in growth of about 10 per cent after a raft of strong partial data.

Separately, China yesterday announced new rules that should make it easier for listed companies to raise money on its stock markets — but stopped short of reversing a ten-month ban on initial public offerings. The China Securities Regulatory Commission said it would introduce more market-orientated rules for the pricing and timing of additional stock offerings by companies already listed on China’s stock exchanges.




http://business.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,13132-2137778,00.html

[Amaunet]

Intelligence Brief: Rebel Attack Threatens Deby's Government in Chad

What is at stake in Chad is the country's newly discovered oil wealth. Any faction that takes control of N'djamena will be able to benefit from the kickbacks inherent in crony governments that control energy resources. An international consortium that includes ExxonMobil, ChevronTexaco and Petronas are developing the newly-discovered oil fields. The risk to the oil consortium is small if Deby is able to regain control of the country and successfully repels the rebel movement permanently, or if a new government takes control and effectively limits violent opposition.

According to N'djamena and many observers, the F.U.C. rebels are receiving support -- at least indirectly -- from the Sudanese government.

What is interesting is China has stepped up its arms sales to Sudan in line with its increased involvement in the country's oil sector, and the Financial Times believes that the "manufacture in Sudan of Chinese weapons and ammunition complicates the enforcement of a UN embargo on supplies to militias in Darfur." A Sudanese government official is quoted saying that China's presence is important "not only on an economic level but also on a political level."
#msg-10677340

-Am




20 April 2006
On April 13, some 600 rebels stormed the capital of Chad, threatening the unstable government of President Idriss Deby. Deby's government in N'djamena managed to repel the coalition of rebel forces -- now united in the United Front for Change (F.U.C.) -- although there is concern that N'djamena may not be able to withstand future attacks. As PINR analyst Dr. Michael A. Weinstein observed in January 2006, Chad's "cycle of instability is gaining momentum for another rise toward a peak" and that a likely outcome will be "a repeat of past instances of regime change." [See: "Chad's Cycle of Instability Gains Momentum"]

The latest rebel attack comes just weeks before the upcoming May 3 presidential election, in which Deby is hoping to be reelected as president. Deby has been in power for 16 years; in 1990 he took power after deposing his former ally President Hissene Habre, and then won elections in 1996 and 2001, the latter of which was marred by irregularities. Despite the threat of a new rebel attack, N'djamena has announced that the elections will not be delayed and will take place on May 3; after the announcement, the F.U.C. released its own statement to AFP, warning that the rebels will "do everything in our power to stop the elections."

According to N'djamena and many observers, the F.U.C. rebels are receiving support -- at least indirectly -- from the Sudanese government. For instance, in the April 13 attack, the rebels rode into N'djamena on dozens of brand new Toyotas -- the vehicles were allegedly supplied to the rebels by Khartoum in December 2005. In addition to the possible materiel support, the rebels have been able to maintain rear bases over the border in Sudan.

The Sudanese government's support of the F.U.C. is tied to the ongoing conflict in Darfur. In the Darfur region of Sudan, Janjaweed militias, supported by the government in Khartoum, are engaged in a war with rebels who are intent on achieving greater autonomy for Darfur. A large section of the rebels hail from the Zagawa tribe, the same ethnic group of Deby's ruling class in Chad; indeed, Deby has supported the rebels against Khartoum. The F.U.C. rebels, however, are primarily from the Tawa ethnic group. Even if Khartoum is not directly supporting the F.U.C. rebels, it is likely that the support it gives to the Janjaweed has been redirected at the ground level to the campaign against N'djamena.

The April 13 rebel attacks displayed the instability inherent in Deby's regime. Additionally, some ten military members recently defected to the rebel forces, and Deby continues to face defections within his own ranks. Conditions in Chad remain fragile, and the country could soon face increased instability if Deby is overthrown. This instability would rise from the lack of cohesion in the F.U.C. rebel coalition; while a handful of rebel groups have united together to form the F.U.C., their cooperation does not extend much further than the common goal of removing Deby from power. Upon Deby's fall, it is possible that the F.U.C. would break apart into different factions, turning Chad into a failed state where no one faction is able to exercise control over the entire country. It is also entirely possible, however, that upon Deby's removal from power, the rebel coalition -- at least temporarily -- will remain united and share the spoils of power.

The F.U.C. currently claims that they are encircling the capital in order to demonstrate to the French -- who support Deby's regime and maintain a military base near the N'djamena airport, stationed with over 1,000 French soldiers -- that Deby's regime must be replaced. The French, for instance, provided "logistics and intelligence support" to Deby's government during the April 13 rebel attack, but apparently did not engage the rebels despite warning shots fired by French aircraft. Nevertheless, the presence of French troops is an added variable that the rebels must take into account.

What is at stake in Chad is the country's newly discovered oil wealth. Any faction that takes control of N'djamena will be able to benefit from the kickbacks inherent in crony governments that control energy resources. An international consortium that includes ExxonMobil, ChevronTexaco and Petronas are developing the newly-discovered oil fields. The risk to the oil consortium is small if Deby is able to regain control of the country and successfully repels the rebel movement permanently, or if a new government takes control and effectively limits violent opposition.

However, as long as Deby's government is insecure, he will remain prone to aggressive actions such as following through on his threat to suspend oil production. If Deby is overthrown, on the other hand, and the empowered rebels turn on each other, the country could move down the path of instability, possibly threatening the interests of the oil consortium. Furthermore, such instability would also threaten to spill over into Chad's neighbors, such as Cameroon and the Central African Republic. The coming weeks are critical and it is not clear which scenario will play out in Chad. [See: "Chad's Cycle of Instability Gains Momentum"]






http://www.pinr.com/report.php?ac=view_report&report_id=476&language_id=1