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Why China’s Economy Is on Borrowed Time

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maxresdefault (93)On Friday China announced its economy had expanded at a 6.7 percent rate in the first quarter of 2016. While this is the slowest growth since the depths of the great recession, it conveniently remains within the government’s official target of 6.5-7.0 percent. Unlike all developed countries, there will be no revisions to this figure in the coming months or quarters.

There were two factors that kept Beijing’s growth within its target range: Easy money and the property market. The level of “total social financing,” or borrowing, rose 16 percent in March from a year ago.

This was fueled by the bond issuance by local governments as part of its bailout program and investment in ‘fixed asset investment’ which is largely composed of infrastructure and factories.

With total debt approaching 300 percent of GDP and massive overcapacity in many industries such as coal, cement, chemicals and refining, this development only exacerbates China’s serious structural problems.

The property market witnessed a strong recovery in China’s largest cities, causing property investment to rise at its fastest pace in a year. Outside the largest four cities, however, where 95 percent of home sales occurred, the housing sector remains sluggish. With an estimated 70 million inventory of unsold homes, China’s housing construction rebound does nothing to begin resolving this problem.

If this pattern sounds eerily familiar, it should. Debt issuance, investment in factories and the property market have been consistently the engines for growth since the economic crisis and beyond. China’s economic plan to move toward a more market-oriented policy, such as improving property rights, financial sector liberalization and Hukou reform (giving the massive migrant work force basic rights in urban areas) have been slow in development or nonexistent.

How long can this trend last? As the well-known economist Herb Stein once said, “If something cannot go on forever, it will stop.” (For more from the author of “Why China’s Economy Is on Borrowed Time” please click HERE)

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Chinese Scientists Genetically Modify Human Embryos—Again

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Just one year after scientists in China made history by modifying the DNA of human embryos, a second team of Chinese researchers has done it again. Using CRISPR/Cas9, the researchers introduced HIV-resistance into the embryos, showcasing the tremendous potential for gene-editing.

In that earlier work, the Chinese scientists modified a gene responsible for a fatal blood disorder, but the embryos were quickly destroyed after the experiment. It was a watershed moment in biotechnology, showcasing the tremendous potential of CRISPR—a powerful gene editing tool—to alter our offspring at the genetic level. Should this technology ever reach the clinical stage, it could be used to eliminate all sorts of genetic diseases, but it could also be used to introduce entirely new capacities.

Now, as reported in Nature News, a research team led by Yong Fan at Guangzhou Medical University has used CRISPR to introduce a beneficial mutation that cripples an immune-cell gene called CCR5. Some humans naturally have this built-in immunity to HIV, making it impossible for the virus to infiltrate human immune cells.

For the study, the researchers collected 213 fertilized human eggs, donated by 87 patients. All of the embryos were unsuitable for in vitro fertilization because they contained an extra set of chromosomes. The researchers destroyed the embryos after three days. (Read more from “Chinese Scientists Genetically Modify Human Embryos—Again” HERE)

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China Acquiring U.S.A. One Company at a Time

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What’s the best way for a country like China to exert its influence over the U.S. economy? Acquire American-owned companies like Chinese-owned Haier just did when they purchased General Electric’s (GE) appliance business for $5.4 billion . . .

America can no longer claim to be an independent nation when our manufacturing base is under foreign ownership or foreign control. After all, ownership equals control, and control equals sovereignty. We lose our sovereignty as a nation when foreign companies buy our land, factories, and companies.

How so? Because the more Chinese and other foreign companies establish ownership of American assets, plants and factories, the more they have the right to demand how our U.S economy is run, because how it is run affects them, too.

So since GE’s appliance business (not the entire company) is now under foreign ownership and therefore foreign control, what options are left for patriotic American consumers who want to keep profits, jobs, and tax revenue within the borders of the United States?

Whirlpool just happens to be the only remaining major American-owned appliance company in the United States, and we need to support them with our consumer dollars when we shop for appliances. Whirlpool owns such popular brands as Maytag, Amana, KitchenAid, and Jenn-Air. (Read more from “China Acquiring U.S.A. One Company at a Time” HERE)

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China, Russia Planning Space Attacks on U.S. Satellites

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China and Russia are preparing to attack and disrupt critical U.S. military and intelligence satellites in a future conflict with crippling space missile, maneuvering satellite, and laser attacks, senior Pentagon and intelligence officials told Congress on Tuesday.

Air Force Gen. John Hyten, commander of the Air Force Space Command, said the threat to U.S. space systems has reached a new tipping point, and after years of post-Cold War stagnation foreign states are focused on curbing U.S. space systems.

“Adversaries are developing kinetic, directed-energy, and cyber tools to deny, degrade, and destroy our space capabilities,” Hyten said in a prepared statement for a hearing of the House Armed Service strategic forces subcommittee.

“They understand our reliance on space, and they understand the competitive advantage we derive from space. The need for vigilance has never been greater,” the four-star general said.

Hyten said U.S. Global Positioning System satellites remain vulnerable to attack or jamming. The satellites’ extremely accurate time-keeping feature is even more critical to U.S. guided weapons than their ability to provide navigation guidance, he said. (Read more from “China, Russia Planning Space Attacks on U.S. Satellites” HERE)

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The U.S. Is Heading Toward a Dangerous Showdown With China

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The Obama administration is moving toward what could be a dangerous showdown with China over the South China Sea.

The confrontation has been building for the past three years, as China has constructed artificial islands off its southern coast and installed missiles and radar in disputed waters, despite U.S. warnings. It could come to a head this spring, when an arbitration panel in The Hague is expected to rule that China is making “excessive” claims about its maritime sovereignty.

What makes this dispute so explosive is that it pits an American president who needs to affirm his credibility as a strong leader against a risk-taking Chinese president who has shown disregard for U.S. military power and who faces potent political enemies at home.

“This isn’t Pearl Harbor, but if people on all sides aren’t careful, it could be ‘The Guns of August,’” says Kurt Campbell, former assistant secretary of state for Asia, referring to the chain of miscalculations that led to World War I. The administration, he says, is facing “another red line moment where it has to figure out how to carry through on past warnings.” (Read more from “The U.S. Is Heading Toward a Dangerous Showdown With China” HERE)

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Unease Over Chinese Investors Buying Farms Down Under

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With Chinese buyers eyeing farm land in Australia and New Zealand, authorities are coming under growing pressure to balance the need for foreign investment against accusations of “selling out.”

Currently up for sale is the S. Kidman and Co. Limited cattle empire — a vast Outback estate which covers 1.3 percent of Australia’s land mass and has an average herd of 185,000 cattle.

Treasurer Scott Morrison blocked its sale to all foreign investors in November, including from China, saying it was contrary to the national interest given part of the holding overlaps with a military testing range.

But Morrison recently approved the sale of Australia’s largest dairy farming business to a Chinese buyer, despite criticism that businessman Lu Xianfeng’s Aus$280 million (US$210 million) purchase of Tasmania’s Van Diemen’s Land Company could impact food security.

In a statement headed “Sell Out”, independent Senator Nick Xenophon labelled the decision “wrong, wrong, wrong” saying Morrison failed to give sufficient weight to an alternative Australian bid. (Read more from “Unease Over Chinese Investors Buying Farms Down Under” HERE)

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Inside China’s Plan for a Military That Can Counter U.S. Muscle

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With a series of edicts, speeches and martial ceremonies, President Xi Jinping has over the past six months unveiled China’s biggest military overhaul since the aftermath of the Korean War.

The plan seeks to transform the 2.3-million-member People’s Liberation Army, which features 21st-century hardware but an outdated, Soviet-inspired command structure, into a fighting force capable of winning a modern war. China is shifting from a “large country to a large and powerful one,” Xi explained in November. The restructuring will be a major focus of the country’s new defense budget, which will be announced Saturday as the annual National People’s Congress gets under way in Beijing . . .

Here are the key elements of Xi’s plan:

The first piece of the overhaul — announced by Xi during a grand military parade through Tiananmen Square on Sept. 3 — calls for eliminating 300,000 PLA personnel by 2017. While Xi presented the cutbacks as proof of China’s commitment to peace, they’ll largely target non-combat personnel and should make the country’s forces more focused and efficient . . .

Advanced military actions such as intercepting rival aircraft, carrying out drone strikes and using special forces to extract hostages, demand the sort of close collaboration China’s army-centric military has lacked. Xi intends to fix that by reorganizing the armed forces into five branches under a joint-command structure modeled after that of the U.S. (Read more from “Inside China’s Plan for a Military That Can Counter U.S. Muscle” HERE)

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China Warns U.S. After Trump Wins Nevada Caucus

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China warned the United States on Wednesday not to adopt punitive currency policies that could disrupt U.S.-China relations after Donald Trump’s win in the Nevada caucus.

Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying told reporters in Beijing that “we are following with interest the U.S. presidential election.”

Hua was asked about China’s response to a possible Trump presidency and his announced plan to punish China for currency manipulation with a tax on Chinese goods.

“Since it belongs to the domestic affair of the U.S., I am not going to make comments on specific remarks by the relevant candidate,” she said.

“But I want to stress that China and the U.S., as world’s largest developing and developed countries, shoulder major responsibilities in safeguarding world peace, stability and security and driving world development,” the spokeswoman added. (Read more from “China Warns U.S. After Trump Wins Nevada Caucus” HERE)

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In Provocative Move, China Places Advanced Surface to Air Missiles on Disputed Island During Middle of Obama’s Asian Conference

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By Lucas Tomlinson and Yonat Friling. The Chinese military has deployed an advanced surface-to-air missile system to one of its contested islands in the South China Sea according to civilian satellite imagery exclusively obtained by Fox News, more evidence that China is increasingly “militarizing” its islands in the South China Sea and ramping up tensions in the region.

The imagery from ImageSat International (ISI) shows two batteries of eight surface-to-air missile launchers as well as a radar system on Woody Island, part of the Paracel Island chain in the South China Sea.

It is the same island chain where a U.S. Navy destroyer sailed close to another contested island a few weeks ago. China at the time vowed “consequences” for the action . . .

The missiles arrived over the past week. According to the images, a beach on the island was empty on Feb. 3, but the missiles were visible by Feb. 14.

A U.S. official confirmed the accuracy of the photos. The official said the imagery viewed appears to show the HQ-9 air defense system, which closely resembles Russia’s S-300 missile system. The HQ-9 has a range of 125 miles, which would pose a threat to any airplanes, civilians or military, flying close by. (Read more from “In Provocative Move, China Places Advanced Surface to Air Missiles on Artificial Island During Middle of Obama’s Asian Conference” HERE)

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China Has Raised the Stakes in South China Sea With Surface-To-Air Missile Batteries

By Dean Cheng. The U.S. government has reported that China has deployed several batteries of surface-to-air missiles (HQ-9) to Woody Island, Paracels, in the South China Sea. This is a significant military move, and it makes clear that China is prepared to employ military forces to support its expansive claims to the South China Sea.

The People’s Liberation Army (PLA) has previously deployed some of its advanced fighters (J-11 fighters, the domestic version of the Su-27) to Woody island but did not apparently make this permanent. This surface-to-air missiles deployment appears to be for the longer term.

The HQ-9 is the Chinese equivalent of the Russian S-300/SA-10 SAM, a very advanced, very capable system comparable to the American Patriot SAM. Its deployment creates a 125-mile danger zone around the Paracels and marks a major increase in the scale and capabilities of forces deployed to the region.

While the Paracels are not the Spratlys (where China has built a number of artificial islands), they are part of the larger dispute underway about the future of the South China Sea.

Seized from South Vietnam in 1974, the Paracels remain a source of contention between China and Vietnam, which has not acceded to the Chinese seizure. In 1988, China sank three Vietnamese ships in nearby waters, to underscore its commitment to retaining those islands.

The Chinese have laid claim to a vast area of the South China Sea encompassed by what is known as the “Nine Dash Line” (recently revised to 10 dashes). The area includes not only the Paracels and Spratlys, but also Macclesfield Bank and Mischief Reef, as well as the Pratas island group (currently held by Taiwan). To administer these dispersed territories, the Chinese promoted the city of Sansha, on Woody Island, in 2012 to a prefecture level and vested it with authority over all of these islands. The Chinese have also sought to treat the region, which includes vital shipping lanes over which $5.3 trillion’s worth of trade transits, as virtually their territorial waters.

Chinese vessels have repeatedly sought to enforce these expansive claims. In 2009, for example, Chinese forces interfered with the operations of the USNS Impeccable and several other ships. Earlier this year, the USS Curtis Wilbur, in a recent freedom of navigation operation, sailed near Woody Island to underscore the American commitment to freedom of the seas. (For more from the author of “China Has Raised the Stakes in South China Sea With Surface-To-Air Missile Batteries” please click HERE)

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Watch: Radical Revival Falls on China’s State-Controlled Churches

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You’re about to hear first-hand testimony and see video of an unprecedented Christian revival happening in parts of China. What is unique about this story is how God is moving among communist-controlled government churches.

CBN News traveled to southern China and obtained exclusive, never-before-seen images, from inside these churches . . .

Pastor Duan says what is happening today in Beijing and in other parts of China as it relates to the powerful move of God amongst the Three-Self Churches is quite remarkable considering where the church has been in the last 30 years.

“Every sermon that the pastor preached back then had to be vetted by the government authorities. Young people were never allowed to attend these churches so you’d only see old people, mostly women,” Duan said. “Preaching about the power of the Holy Spirit was forbidden. You couldn’t talk about end times or preach repentance.” (Read more from “Radical Revival Falls on China’s State-Controlled Churches” HERE)

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