Thursday 16 February 2017

A lesson on the Chinese investments

I'm busy.

Lots of work in the office and helping out my mom.

She's still fully occupied with my grandparents.

Taking them to hospital, cooking, cleaning etc.

My mom is a really filial daughter.

I hope I can be like her.

Politics and other things simply have to take the backseat for now.

For today, I just want to cut and paste this Reuters story so that we can reflect on the huge inflow of Chinese investments into this country.

It's not that I'm against the Chinese investments but maybe we can learn a lesson from this story so that we can avoid all the problems later on.

By Shihar Aneez | COLOMBO
China will delay a planned $1.1 billion investment in a port on its modern-day "Silk Road" until Sri Lanka clears legal and political obstacles to a related project, sources familiar with the talks said, piling more pressure on the island nation.
Heavily indebted Sri Lanka needs the money, but payment for China's interests in Hambantota port could be delayed by several weeks or months, the sources added.
After signing an agreement last December, state-run China Merchants Port Holdings had been expected to buy an 80 percent stake in the southern port before an initial target date of Jan. 7.
Beijing also has a separate understanding with Colombo to develop a 15,000-acre industrial zone in the same area, a deal that Sri Lanka was hoping to finalize later.
But Colombo's plans to sell the stake and acquire land for the industrial zone have run into stiff domestic opposition, backed by trade unions and former President Mahinda Rajapaksa.
A legislator close to Rajapaksa is also challenging the government's plans in court.
Now Beijing has linked the signing of the port deal with an agreement to develop the industrial zone, saying it would hold off on both until Colombo resolved domestic issues, officials on both sides of the talks said.
"China has said that when they start the port, they want the land also," Sri Lankan Finance Minister Ravi Karunanayake said, although he added that China had not made it a precondition.
Yi Xianliang, Chinese ambassador to Sri Lanka, said the two deals were related.

"If we just have the port and no industrial zone, what is the use of the port? So you must have the port and you must have the industrial zone," he said.
A source familiar with China's thinking said it may wait until May, when Sri Lankan Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe visits Beijing, to sign both deals.
The Chinese foreign ministry did not respond to a request for comment.
The previously unreported setback for Sri Lanka suggests Beijing is digging in its heels as it negotiates its global "One Belt, One Road" initiative to open up new land and sea routes for Chinese goods.
SPEED BUMPS, MOUNTING DEBTS
President Maithripala Sirisena is struggling to contain popular opposition to land acquisition for the huge Chinese industrial zone, including from Rajapaksa, who remains an influential opposition legislator.
The deal for the port development and industrial zone has also been challenged in court, which means it is stuck at least until the next hearing on March 3.
Asked whether the agreement would be delayed until the court had ruled, Yi, the Chinese ambassador, said: "Oh yes. We will follow the rule of law. We have the patience to wait."
Rajapaksa's role, the court case and violent protests by people afraid they could be evicted from their land underlined how Beijing does not always get its own way even in countries that badly need investment. Sri Lanka wants Chinese money to help alleviate its debt burden; the government had expected to have the proceeds from the stake sale within six months of signing the agreement before Jan. 7.
Sri Lanka has been under pressure from the International Monetary Fund to cut its deficit, shore up foreign exchange reserves and increase tax revenues as part of a $1.5 billion loan agreement struck in 2016. At least part of the money from the port deal would have gone toward paying down some of the more expensive loans on the government's books, some of which are from China, a senior Sri Lankan government official said.
Hambantota port and a nearby airport were built from 2008 by the Rajapaksa government with the help of $1.7 billion in Chinese loans.
When Sirisena unseated Rajapaksa in an upset victory in 2015, he froze all Chinese investments, alleging unfair dealings by his predecessor.
Sirisena eventually negotiated a new deal with the Chinese government that involved the stake sale and further plans for the Chinese to develop an industrial zone.
The Chinese government expects to invest about $5 billion to develop the area within 3-5 years. Sirisena also agreed to give land to the Chinese on a 99-year lease. The terms did not go down well with port trade unions, which have asked the government to reduce the Chinese stake to 65 percent and lease period to 50 years.
Hundreds of protesters clashed with police in January when a demonstration against the planned industrial zone turned violent.
(Additional reporting by Ranga Sirilal; Editing by Mike Collett-White and Paritosh Bansal)
I cut and paste the story instead of just giving its link because I know that most you all are too lazy to click on the links.

Also, by putting the whole thing here, it makes my posting looks longer. Some people think the longer an article looks, the more important it seems to be :)

That's why some people write long articles and repeating themselves over and over again over the points they want to make.

But really guys, it doesn't work that way.

Well, whenever you see me cut and paste stuff like this, its actually because I'm too busy to write properly or I'm just in one of those lazy moments.

Okay, that's all.

Cheers....

Oh, almost forgot. A song for you all to brighten up the day,


9 comments:

  1. "I cut and paste the story instead of just giving its link because I know that most you all are too lazy to click on the links.

    Also, by putting the whole thing here, it makes my posting looks longer. Some people think the longer an article looks, the more important it seems to be :)"

    You're really awesome & funny. That's why I'm never bored reading what you wrote... since LOA's inception.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Annie,

    Today in JB there's this big annual event called Chingay. The Chinese nons would make offerings to their deities and they believe that the coming year's prosperity would be greatly enhanced due to the offerings they make during Chingay.

    Well, the Melayu Islam of course don't believe the way the Chinese nons believe, but they, too, have their own way to berbakti kepada tuhan such as the RUU 355 gathering.

    At the end of the day, rezeki tuhan yang kasi. Such as Kelantan, during the day anywhere in KB town one can hear broadcasting of religious talks, what a serambee mekah! In return, Kelantan is the most prosperous state in the entire South East Asia region, no wonder that Pengkalan Chepa Airport has the highest touchdown rate amongst all other airports in Asia (counting the daily touching down of the sparrows, of course, and their droppings). Oghe KB hidup senang, makan cukup, bini ramai, paradise on earth indeed.

    In fact, orang Kelantan tak sabar sabar waiting for heavy rains, whence the sight of big flood would remind them of qiamat, tambah beriman tambah pahala!

    So Annie you are right. Someone else will pay for the bills, all you need to do is to eat eat and eat, lepas pangsai eat lagi, then belanja. All that one needs to do is to hulurkan dua tapak tangan ke arah langit dan berdoa.

    Chinese investment, what Chinese investment? Rezeki tuhan yang bagi.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I have lived in Kelantan for the past 30 years.In fact I have spent more time of my life in Kelantan than in Johor, my place of birth.
      Kelantanese are very proud people but as the Malay saying says ' Pandai tak boleh nak diikut,bodoh tak boleh nak diajar'
      Let the Kelantanese live the way they choose.

      Prof Kangkung

      Delete
    2. Agree. I'm kelantanese, spent the last 25 years in KL, when balik kampong, always heard shouting in their balassoh and masjid, but they call it ceramah...

      Delete
    3. Yea, diorang have been held captive by the politics of "kaum-muda" (aka wahhabi islamism) - fire and brimstone Takfiris.
      And also their bloody anthropomorphic akidah - Allah got space-time dimensions and body parts!
      Audzubillahi minash shaitanir rajim

      Delete
  3. Annie,

    //Lots of work in the office and helping out my mom.//

    Oh, busy, busy, busy, eh?

    Hope you are making lots of money for your company and will be paid a big fat bonus for your efforts.

    If I recall correctly, you have an excellent relationship with your employer who can be quite generous to you.

    Maybe, he will pay for that all-expenses trip to Japan that you have been thinking of for a while :)

    //I hope I can be like her.//

    A good hearted person like you will surely know her obligations in life.

    Onto the matter of the port in Sri Lanka.

    //If we just have the port and no industrial zone, what is the use of the port? So you must have the port and you must have the industrial zone//

    I am curious as to what that industrial zone will used for.

    It is not as though China is short of manufacturing capacity, so my guess is that storage is the next possibile use for that industrial zone.

    But if we are talking storage, 15,000-acres seems like a lot of storage, though I hasten to add that I know nuts about transport logistics.

    I do know that the Port Klang Free Zone is "merely" 1,000-acres, although I don't know if that includes Northport and Westport.

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Port_Klang_Free_Zone.

    If Xi Jinping does pull off his "One Belt, One Road" vision, we can expect China to be the indisputable Number One economic superpower on this planet.

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/One_Belt,_One_Road

    Time for me to brush up on my pǔtōnghuà just in case :)

    Gladiator

    ReplyDelete

  4. Semua bangsa mau terrbaik untuk Negala dan bangsa maa aa.

    Bulayu ?, alas hilup susah tatak apa lea aa , demi pemimpin Negala tergalai tatak apa maa aa .

    Sejalah ada manyak tunjuk maa aa.

    ReplyDelete
  5. "Also, by putting the whole thing here, it makes my posting looks longer. Some people think the longer an article looks, the more important it seems to be :)

    That's why some people write long articles and repeating themselves over and over again over the points they want to make."

    Not any more.

    Fat Soh's dedak supply cut off kut?

    ReplyDelete
  6. Have been away and now only got time to checkup on my fav local blog.

    China's overture to Sri Lanka. Same reason why the West used Suu Kyi issue to try overthrow the junta. Years ago, I spoke to an "intelligence" guy who explained the strategic locations of Sri Lanka snd Myanmar.

    They are the entryway into the Straits of Malacca, key shipping route and shortest distance between East and West. Get a friendly power to build military bases or suchlike in these two countries and you control monitoring the sealane.

    Suu Kyi allied with junta so US failed. But notice that western countries especially US weren't so harsh on Colombo's war against the Tamils.

    China now busy occupying Sth China Sea and with Sri Lanka in its pocket, it controls this vital sealane. Remember, US nuclear subs use the straits as part of Pacific command.

    ReplyDelete