International Law

Video: Taiwan

Posted on November 12, 2009
Some lovely pictures of Taipei and a top level overview, narrated in a drab voiceover -- why don't they ask me to do these? By the way, if you've any video you'd like a China-focused audience to see, please let me know. Video attracts a substantial number of unique viewers and I'd like to carry more of it...

More on the "Overseas Client Scams Law Firm" Scam: Suits Filed

Posted on November 04, 2009
Two American law firms, unable to reach the scammer, now basking in sunny climes foreign to this great land, have taken to suing the banks which -- allegedly, I must say in self-protection -- processed the checks. What I find particularly fascinating is this: The client's instructions, two days later, to wire $128,600 to Nassco Korea Co...

ANNOUNCEMENT: Publication of China Labor and Employment Law Resource

Posted on November 02, 2009
Ron Brown, friend of this blog, has authored UNDERSTANDING LABOR AND EMPLOYMENT LAW IN CHINA, published by Cambridge U.P. Continued economic prosperity in China and its international competitive advantage have been due in large part to the labor of workers in China, who for many years toiled in under-regulated workplaces...

Apologies for the Radio Silence

Posted on October 16, 2009
I've been busy preparing to open a second location for my law practice and have not written much. But let me give you something to read in the meantime: After 11 years of trial, New Taiwan Dollar/RMB exchange, based in bank branches and open to the public, has expanded to the entire province of Fujian...

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Can China Lead a Recovery? Right...

Posted on October 06, 2009
More pie-in-the-sky dreams about a consumer economy in China. Note this paragraph, buried in the article: It remains unclear whether the Chinese have abandoned their traditional caution [to spend]. "Over the past decade or so, the growth of China's household consumption has been outpaced by fixed investment growth and exports, and consumption as a percentage of GDP is low and has been on the decline," said Morgan Stanley analysts Qing Wang and Steven Zhang in a report last month...

EVENT: U.S.-China High Technology Working Group

Posted on September 22, 2009
On September 29, 2009, the U.S.-China High Technology Working Group, sponsored by NAM, MOFCOM and the Dept of Commerce, will hold a "Public-Private Sector Dialogue," described as follows: The U.S.-China High Technology Working Group (HTWG) was established to facilitate high-technology exports to civilian end-users in China, in accordance with U...

Patent Attorney Position, Head of Patents, China

Posted on September 10, 2009
[Editor's Note: As a public service, Asiabizblog is pleased to post the folllowing opportunity.] By way of introduction, I am a principal and founder of The PeterSan Group (www.petersan.com ), a leading legal search firm based in New York. We are currently conducting a search for our client, a multi-billion dollar consumer products company, that is seeking an experienced patent attorney to serve as Head of Patents, China...

Ralph Lauren in China -- 15 Stores to Open -- Significant IP Challenge

Posted on August 31, 2009
As his employer plans to roll out 15 stores in China, George Hrdina, president of Ralph Lauren?s Asian business, said in an interview in Hong Kong. ?We do more Ralph Lauren business on the island of Manhattan, New York than we do in Hong Kong and China...

Federal Court Enforces Chinese Judgment Against American Company

Posted on August 24, 2009
The Central District of California has held that a money judgment of $6.5 million against Robinson Helicopters issued by a Chinese court is enforceable under California's Uniform Foreign Money Judgments Recognition Act. (UFMJRA) Download the decision here...

Guest Post: Vivienne Bath on Stern Hu, Rio Tinto and China

Posted on August 19, 2009
[Editor's Note: Steel is a big deal in China. The World Steel Association has noted: China became the first country ever to produce more than 500 mmt in one year. China?s crude steel production in 2008 reached 502 mmt, an increase of 2.6% on 2007. Production volume in China has more than doubled within five years, from 222 mmt in 2002...

Another Large Drop in Foreign Direct Investment in China

Posted on August 17, 2009
Not surprisingly, the Chinese Ministry of Commerce announced today that Investment declined 35.7 percent from a year earlier to $5.36 billion, the Commerce Ministry said at a briefing in Beijing today. That compared with a 6.76 percent drop in June. Creatively spinning this data -- which, as with most Chinese statistics, likely represent an optimistic representation -- Commerce Ministry spokesman and advance man for the investment roadshow, Yao Jian, said: ?China?s FDI is still healthy compared to the global slump in investments...

WTO Rules Against China -- Limits Book and Media Imports

Posted on August 12, 2009
NY Times: A World Trade Organization panel ruled on Wednesday that China had violated its international free trade rules by limiting imports of books and movies, WTO Findings and Conclusions here. (Beware: although written in what appears to be English, it is generally impervious to understanding by those with graduate school education...

Guangzhou "Chocolate City" -- African Population Stages Demonstration, Large PSB Presence

Posted on August 10, 2009
A spontaneous demonstration in Guangzhou the likes of which have not been seen in China for perhaps 75 years: all foreigners. But this time, a twist: they are all black. Trapped in a police raid on illegal immigrants that afternoon, Okoro chose to leap from the second floor of a shopping mall rather than be arrested...

Asiabizblog -- Amazing Number of Backlinks

Posted on August 07, 2009
I don't usually toot my own horn, but I recently discovered that 49,080 high quality backlinks reference this website. This makes this weblog, IMHO, one of the best-known dealing with the topic of Chinese business and law.

Martin Hutchinson at Asia Times on the Meltdown-ability of the Chinese Economy

Posted on August 06, 2009
Martin Hutchinson's piece on the Chinese economy bubble is worth your time: Savers are not permitted to take money out of China, and their huge savings prop up an overvalued stock market and a bond market that is comparable in size to the freely flowing international bond market...

Australia: Bushels of Fake Apple iPhones from China

Posted on August 05, 2009
Counterfeit sellers were asking for up to $400 for the fake units on the street, to take a margin of nearly $345 on the $55 wholesale price quoted by illegal importers. One seller said he sourced his supply from an employee within Customs. The seller, who refused to supply a name, claimed that the employee used his position to circumvent Customs' usual vetting procedures to import the contraband in shipments of 5000 and 10,000 each...

Tata Says to Its Employees, "Sue Me in India" -- Court Says Tough Toenails

Posted on August 04, 2009
As reported, this presents itself as a very curious case. Foreigners working in the United States who claim they were cheated out of their tax refunds have won the right to have their employment dispute heard in American courts, defeating efforts by India's largest conglomerate to force arbitration overseas...

More African Complaints About Chinese Business Practices

Posted on July 31, 2009
Following our 88 Queensway article comes this: At several Chinese-run projects in Windhoek, workers were not wearing safety helmets. The Namibian workers said they must pay for their own safety equipment ? for example, $3.65 for a helmet, $1.20 for gloves and $9...

Tianjin Falls to the Japanese -- July 1937

Posted on July 30, 2009
In July 1937, Tianjin (???Tietsin) and Beijing (??? fell to the Japanese. More on the event here, here and, for videos, here. Videos are in Japanese with Chinese subtitles.

Tonghua Iron & Steel Workers Kill Exec in Protest Over Layoffs

Posted on July 27, 2009
More than a thousand steel workers in China's northeast staged an at-times violent protest against the planned takeover of their state-run employer and a group of them killed a top executive at the private company that was to acquire it, Chinese state-run media reported...

Video from Hong Kong of Typhoon Molave as Eyewall Passes

Posted on July 23, 2009
This video of the southern eyewall was shot by James Reynolds in Taipo, courtesy of www.TornadoVideos.net.

China Watches the Solar Eclipse

Posted on July 22, 2009
Stunning, but, if this is any indication, how many lost vision in China looking at it through sunglasses?

The 88 Queensway Group -- A Nexus Between Chinese State Security Organs and Private Overseas Investment?

Posted on July 20, 2009
This fascinating report on the "88 Queensway Group" by the U.S.-China Economic & Security Review Commission details the "private" overseas investment projects of Chinese state-owned entities with substantial connection to the Public Security Bureau and Chinese intelligence...

Chinese Quarantine of Foreigners For Suspected Swine Flu Continues

Posted on July 20, 2009
China has quarantined 107 British students for swine flu precautions. Quarantine of foreigners for suspected swine flu has reached surprising proportions. U.S. Embassy Spokeswoman Susan Stevenson said the embassy didn't have a total number of Americans quarantined in China, but said they were "aware of several cases at the moment...

Not China: For Attorneys Whose Clients Want Your Services, But Don't Wish to Pay

Posted on July 17, 2009
How many attorneys have heard something like this from clients?

Posted on July 14, 2009

Guest Post: Lin Bai on China?s Generation Y Consumers

Posted on July 10, 2009
[Editor's Note: Much has been made of China's potential for a consumer, rather than export, driven economy. The potential has caused marketers to salivate in expectancy for centuries. However, estimates of 40 to 50 million Chinese consumers with sufficient disposable income equate China to roughly the size of the Italian market...

North Korea TV Shows First Beer Ad

Posted on July 06, 2009
The first person to send me a bottle (can't be empty) of this brew wins this blog's Annual Champion Reader Award!

US University Researcher Sentenced to Prison for Violation of Export Control Act

Posted on July 02, 2009
Further to this September, 2008 post, a Tennessee University researcher has been sentenced to four years in prison for violation of the Export Control Act. Doug Jacobson writes about it on his excellent trade law blog, here. The court did not assess any monetary penalties...

China Law Bibliography -- 2009 -- Now Available for Free Download

Posted on July 01, 2009
Knut Pissler, researcher in law at the Max Planck Institute for Comparative and International Private Law, and his co-editors, have graciously allowed us the opportunity to make available for download their China Law Bibliography. An excellent tool for researchers both in academia and law practice...

Sony PCs and Green Dam Filtering Software

Posted on June 30, 2009
Sony seems to have shipped PCs with new filtering software, with interesting instructions to consumers.

Formaldehyde Found by Vietnamese in Clothes Made in China

Posted on June 30, 2009
Given our prior posting on dangerous imports and reader reaction, this may be of interest to readers. The Hanoi Market Control Sub-agency has affirmed that China-made clothes contain formaldehyde, a substance which is harmful to human skin, with the content ratio of less than 2 percent...

Hong Kong/Mainland China Cross Border Trade to Be Settled in Yuan By Next Month

Posted on June 30, 2009
It appears that cross-border trade between Hong Kong and mainland China may be settled in yuan as early as next month. [Thanks to Frank Caruso at the Chinatex blog.] Note the limitations: The State Council said early in April that it would allow traders in Shanghai, Guangzhou, Shenzhen, Zhuhai and Dongguan to settle their cross-border business in yuan...

Legal Trade Mission to China, Privately Sponsored

Posted on June 29, 2009
Now here is a new idea, or at least something I've not heard of before. A legal trade mission to China, organized by Brian Su, who is not himself an attorney, as far as I know. Brian tells me that a good number of law firms and companies in China have committed to meetings with any attorney who might wish to drum up business in China...

A Further Twist to the Old Attorney Email Scam

Posted on June 24, 2009
Asiabizblog is becoming something of a repository for attorney scam e-mails. Many Google searchers have come to Asiabizblog through keywords associated with scam e-mails they have received. Good for you! I receive at least one a week. Here is the latest -- and the first one to come from a Gmail address, which cannot be tracked any further than the Gmail origin itself...

Asiabizblog is Twittering

Posted on June 19, 2009
http://twitter.com/Asiabizblog

Law Firm Loses $400,000 to Scammers

Posted on June 12, 2009
$400,000 lost to overseas scammers in what should by now be a well-known modus operandi to American attorneys. Bradley Arant Boult Cummings has reportedly fallen victim to a sophisticated debt collection scam, to the tune of more than $400,000. The Nashville Post...

Audio Event: Bob Compton, Win In China Filmmaker

Posted on June 08, 2009
Bob Compton, producer of Win in China, talks about his film and the business plan competition it documents. See below for a video clip from the film: Win in China (www.wininchinamovie.com)

Video: Win In China -- A New Documentary on China Business

Posted on June 08, 2009
A clip from the documentary film, Win in China (http://www.wininchinamovie.com):

Peter Hitchens on the "Wicked Chinese Empire" in Africa

Posted on June 01, 2009
Quotes like those below make for great reading. The proclamations of friendship between China and African nations, common in the 1960s and 70s, based upon on a common penury and "revolutionary ideals," have long since vanished, replaced by mountains of cash...

Another Prediction of Chinese Currency Supremacy

Posted on May 15, 2009
A Columbia University economist known for his extraordinary conclusions -- some right -- evidently knows something everybody else does not. The Chinese yuan is preparing to overtake the US dollar as the world's reserve currency, economist Nouriel Roubini has warned...

Zhao Ziyang's Dictated Diary to Be Published in May

Posted on May 14, 2009
Prisoner of the State: The Secret Journal of Premier Zhao Ziyang With audio! If you see this book available for sale online, please let me know. Amazon does not have it up yet.

Chinese Exports Fall 22.6%

Posted on May 12, 2009
The New York Times reports: Exports from mainland China slumped 22.6 percent in April from a year earlier, official statistics showed ? a fall that was not only larger than economists had expected but also bigger than that in March, when overseas shipments declined 17...

New York Event: The Financial Crisis: The Impact on Private Equity in Emerging Markets

Posted on May 08, 2009
The Financial Crisis: The Impact on Private Equity in Emerging Markets "Join a panel of distinguished experts as they share their insights on the future of private equity in emerging markets. Hear their perspectives on how these economies are coping with the changes caused by the economic slowdown, which countries are geared for positive growth, what the key areas of concern are, as well as where the new opportunities for private equity lie as it adapts through the financial crisis...

Guest Post: Victor Shih on the Chinese Stimulus Package: "What did 5 Trillion RMB Buy?"

Posted on April 24, 2009
[Today's post comes to us, with our thanks, from Victor Shih, Assistant Professor of Politics at Northwestern University in the U.S., and blogger at Elite Chinese Politics and Political Economy. Victor is the author of the very fine, Factions and Finance in China, now available in paperback...

Another Attorney Scam -- Referral From Non-Existent US Attorney to Sweeten the Pot?

Posted on April 21, 2009
A twist! Here's another attorney scam email I just received, referred from my Chinese language law site, after a brief Skype chat conversation in Chinese with a purported potential client in (or so he/she said) Chongqing: Dear Counsel, I am sending this email as a mutual introduction (potential representation)...

EVENT: CEO of Blackstone Greater China in New York

Posted on April 16, 2009
Event: China and Hong Kong: Post Financial Tsunami, CEO Forum and Lunch Topic: Antony Leung, Chairman of Blackstone Greater China and former Financial Secretary of Hong Kong will speak on the financial and economic future of China and Hong Kong. Date: Wednesday, April 23 Time: 12 pm - 2 pm (12 - 12:30pm registration, 12:30-2 luncheon & discussion) Location: Asia Society, 725 Park Avenue, New York, NY 10021 Event URL here...

Sundry Notes on the Chinese Judiciary

Posted on April 13, 2009
Judicial independence -- that is, making the judiciary an independent decision-making body -- has been a topic for muted discussion in China for over a decade, at least in academic circles. [For more on the ways in which the Chinese judiciary is not independent, read this and this...

Counterfeit Check in Attorney E-mail Scam Looks Persuasive

Posted on April 10, 2009
Having never seen one before, and thinking readers have not as well, I was delighted when a fellow attorney showed me a counterfeit check used in an attempt to deceive a law firm in an attorney e-mail scam. Gracious thanks to Utah attorney Randy Birch -- who was not deceived...

Home Depot Buyer Convicted in International Kick Back Scheme -- and What an Old Scheme It Is!

Posted on April 02, 2009
A former divisional merchandising manager in charge of Home Depot's hard flooring products was sentenced to 63 months in prison for tax evasion and wire fraud, and ordered to pay $1.1 million in restitution to Home Depot. You can read the brief blurb about it here...

Yale Asia Tomorrow Conference: Text of Asiabizblog Editor's Comments

Posted on March 30, 2009
[The following are my remarks at this conference, held at Yale University, March 28, 2009.] Thank you for inviting me to participate on this panel. Here's the question I will address: is the average person in Asia living in a "global" environment more so now than at some point in the past? Here is my brief answer: only superficially so...

Malaysian Loan Sharks, ???? and Making an Offer the Debtor Can't Refuse

Posted on March 27, 2009
???? (literally, "underground bank") flourishes wherever Chinese borrowers need cash quickly without having to go through the process of a loan application at a formal bank. They are as easy to access as black market foreign exchange in any Chinese city, if you get an introduction...

China Proposes "Super-Sovereign Reserve Currency" to Eliminate the Middle Man

Posted on March 24, 2009
Zhou Xiaochuan (???), Governor of the People's Bank of China, has proposed a supranational currency to which national currencies shall be linked and valued according to a system of "rules." Remember China's concern (panic?) over its enormous U.S. dollar reserves and investments in U...

EVENT: ABA Washington DC -- China 2009: Gazing into the Crystal Ball

Posted on March 19, 2009
China 2009: Gazing into the Crystal Ball Date: Mar 27, 2009 08:30 - 10:00 AM Site: ABA Washington Office 740 15th St NW Washington, DC, 20005-1019 United States of America "Wondering how the economic downturn is impacting legal and business developments in China? Curious as to what is happening to China's once sizzingly hot real estate sector? Bewildered as to how employee lay-offs are being handled by foreign-invested companies facing decreasing demand for their products? And, what about those unfortunate companies who may need to file for bankruptcy of their China operations - how are they likely to fare? What developments have been taking place with China's new Anti-Monopoly Law and should we expect changes in light of the global economic downturn? These and other fascinating questions will be considered in an informal monitored discussion on March 27, in person at the Section's offices in Washington, D...

Asiabizblog Editor to Speak at March 28 Yale Conference

Posted on March 18, 2009
I've been invited to speak at the ?Asia Tomorrow? conference at Yale University on March 28. For further information, click here.

Tokyo Gumshoe -- That Company Simply Doesn't Exist!

Posted on March 18, 2009
Remember this post on attorney scams? The company from which it purportedly originated was stated to be G and T trading Company Limited, Tokyo Kotsu Kaikan Bldg. 7F. 2-10-1 Yurakucho Chiyoda-ku Tokyo 100-0006 JAPAN We now have first-hand evidence that this company does not exist at that location...

EVENT: Chicagoland China Business Seminar

Posted on March 16, 2009
Seminar: "Challenges and Rewards: Doing Business with China in 2009" Time: 9:00 am - 3:00 pm, May 1, 2009 (Friday) Venue: Quality Inn Schaumburg, Illinois (Chicago west suburb) Agenda & Topics Global Recession and its Impact on China's Economy & Sino-US Trade Introduction to China's Economic Stimulus Plan New Business Opportunities in the Emerging Cities U...

Chinese Export Volume Falls Off the Proverbial Cliff

Posted on March 11, 2009
Reuters: Exports in February slid 25.7 percent from a year earlier, dwarfing forecasts of a 5.0 percent fall, while imports dropped 24.1 percent, close to projections of a 25.0 percent decline. Bloomberg's story fleshes it out a bit more. Read also Andrew Batson's article for context...

Watch LIVE Webcast of Alibaba CEO Jack Ma at Asiabizblog

Posted on March 11, 2009
The live webcast starts at 7.30 am EST, Thursday, March 12. Here's the blurb from the Asia Society. "Known as China?s Web King, Jack Ma is Chairman and CEO of Alibaba Group, the leading e-commerce company in China and one of the world?s largest online trading platforms...

And One More Attorney Scam E-mail -- The Last One, I Promise!

Posted on March 09, 2009
This one is so transparently badly done, no one should be fooled by it: Attention: We represent the management of G and T trading Company Limited, Tokyo Kotsu Kaikan Bldg. 7F. 2-10-1 Yurakucho Chiyoda-ku Tokyo 100-0006 JAPAN ,"Engaged in international marketing of Painting & Crafts Tools, Power Tools and Outdoor Equipment since 1992" G and T trading Company Limited, JAPAN have supplied Painting & Crafts Tools, Power Tools and Outdoor Equipment to many American and Canadian customers, total invoices in excess of US$3...

Tax Reform on Foreign Profits of Multinationals Coming To a Government Near You?

Posted on March 03, 2009

Fiddler on the Roof in Japanese -- Really!

Posted on March 03, 2009

Another Attorney Scam E-Mail Purportedly from China

Posted on March 02, 2009

China: A Couple of Former Billionaires, Fraud, Bribes, Prison

Posted on February 24, 2009
Recommended: this story -- Jailed Billionaires Show New Face of China as Markets Unravel -- rich in detail, like this: Greaves hasn?t seen or spoken to Huang, 39, since. One morning in November, the dapper, baby-faced tycoon failed to turn up, along with his Maybach limousine, at Gome?s Beijing headquarters, where he normally worked such long hours that he had installed a double bed in the office adjacent to his own...

van Etten v. Mitsui -- A Few Hackles Raised on First Reading

Posted on February 20, 2009
I've now had a chance to review the complaint in Van Etten v. Mitsui, 09 CV 1071, a reverse discrimination class-action suit brought by an American executive of Mitsui USA fired in 2006. While I was originally favorable toward the idea of such a claim, the complaint itself tends to move me in the other direction...

For Your Review: Reverse Discrimination Complaint, van Etten v. Mitsui, 09 cv 1071, SDNY

Posted on February 17, 2009
To download the van Etten v Mitsui complaint discussed in this post, click this link.

EVENT: ABA International Section China Committee Mixer in Shanghai

Posted on February 16, 2009
Sponsor: Shanghai Chapter of the American Bar Association International Section, China Committee Blurb: Come mix and mingle with attorneys with diverse backgrounds from our legal community here in Shanghai and learn more about the ABA and China Committee activities...

Japanese Bar Cracks Down on Foreign Attorneys

Posted on February 11, 2009
Times are tough and guilds are supposed to protect their own, as the Japanese Bar has done, here requiring all foreign attorneys operating in Japan, even, apparently, employees supervised by gaiben partners, to register as gaiben A requirement that all foreign lawyers be registered as gaiben would fundamentally change the landscape of firms operating in Japan...

Massive Fire in Rem Koolhaas Designed Mandarin Hotel Structure

Posted on February 09, 2009
Some have arrived at this blog after searching for news of the fire in Beijing. Here is a link to the most complete news report I've seen yet (in Chinese):

Attorney Scam -- Bank Checks from East Asia and

Posted on February 09, 2009
Very briefly this morning, another article on the scam affecting American attorneys, originating in "East Asia." "I've had clients from Taiwan and Hong Kong who I've never laid eyes on, and collected unclaimed property for them without any trouble," Sack said...

Reverse Discrimination Alleged -- White Executive Terminated by Japanese Company

Posted on February 07, 2009
Van Etten v. Mitsui, 09-cv-1071, brought in Federal Court in Manhattan, alleges that the Japanese company practice of installing a "glass ceiling" above which only Japanese may rise constitutes an unlawful practice of discrimination. [Once I resolve the login problems, I'll access the PACER system and upload a PDF of the complaint to this blog...

Protectionist Policies in the Third World -- India Bans Chinese Toy Imports for Six Months

Posted on February 03, 2009
India's Directorate of Foreign Trade announced last week a temporary ban of six months on Chinese toy imports. The Toys Manufacturers Association of India said it was pleasantly surprised by the decision of the Commerce Ministry to prohibit shipments of cheap toys from China...

On Again, Off Again (Repeat) -- The "Bad Bank"

Posted on January 30, 2009
The Bad Bank (see yesterday's post) has hit a snag and may not progress past the light bulb stage. Executive regulators don't seem to know how it would work in practice. Federal Deposit Insurance Corp Chairman Sheila Bair is apparently pushing for the top post of Baddest Banker: FDIC Chairman Sheila Bair is pushing to run the operation, which would buy the toxic assets clogging banks? balance sheets, one of the people said...

US to Implement Chinese-Style Toxic Asset Buy

Posted on January 28, 2009
American lawmakers appear to have shelved the frightful idea of "nationalizing" failing banks. However, they've now settled down to discuss -- from media commentary, frantically -- a plan that mimics the experience of modern Chinese banking regulators: the creation of a "bad bank" to remove toxic assets from the system...

Indian Migrant Workers in Dubai Drive to Airport, Leave Keys in Ignition and Fly Away

Posted on January 27, 2009
Not only are Korean expats leaving China, as we posted earlier this month, but migrant Indian workers are no longer willing to call Dubai home: It's the great escape by Indians who've hit the dead-end in Dubai. Local police have found at least 3,000 automobiles -- sedans, SUVs, regulars -- abandoned outside Dubai International Airport in the last four months...

Watch Out! The Email Scam Some Attorneys Fall For

Posted on January 26, 2009
Due diligence on potential clients purporting to hail from foreign lands means more than simply calling the bank and asking if their "Official Bank Check" is good. This article follows the latest court filing, Buckley, White, Castaneda & Howell v. Citibank, in which an eager attorney is now on the hook for $182,500...

Here We Go Again! New U.S. Treasury Secretary and Manipulation of the RMB

Posted on January 23, 2009
Paulson's Legacy: Geithner: Timothy F. Geithner, who moved closer to confirmation as Treasury secretary on Thursday, told senators that President Obama believed China was ?manipulating? its currency, Again? Since 2006, we've discussed Treasury's desire to move the RMB, but, by now, it's become a dreadful bore...

Transparency in the U.S. -- Who Can Now Say the Chinese Government is Opaque?

Posted on January 20, 2009
Federal Reserve Board Vice-Chairman Donald Kohn before Congress on the importance of keeping secret the names of the recipients of the American banking bail-out. Gasp. I don't think I can muster up even a single comment on this one.

The Trade Surplus: Will China, Like Garbo, Continue to Plead: "I Vant to Be Alone?"

Posted on January 19, 2009
An enjoyable article by Alan Wheatley: China and the "Garbo Defense." Indeed, what economic policy toward China will the Obama administration adopt? Any at all? "In bad times everybody talks more about financial cooperation, but the reality is that in bad times everyone wants to take care of himself first," said Shi Yinhong, an international security professor at Renmin University in Beijing...

A Treat -- The Markopolos Madoff Letter to the SEC

Posted on January 07, 2009
Sorry, China Hands, but this is too fascinating -- must share it with all those following the Madoff Meltdown. Harry Markopolos's 2005 letter to the SEC. Lengthy, detailed, intelligent, outrageous.

1 in 5 South Koreans Living in China Have Left

Posted on January 07, 2009
One in five of an estimated 700,000 South Koreans living in China at the start of 2007 have left [China], according to the [South Korean] consulate in Beijing. A brief article on its causes, worth reading.

Electric Power Generation No Longer a Growth Industry in China?

Posted on January 06, 2009
Growth in electric power generation "has collapsed under the weight of the global economic implosion ? at least for now," claims Andrew Revkin, author of the New York Times Dot Earth blog,. Environmental activists appear to consider this progress in the climate control wars -- the necessity for which I question...

"It's China's Fault," say American Economists

Posted on December 26, 2008
As further evidence of the negative feeling towards China, read this piece. Citing three economists (Bernanke, Rogoff and Laurence Myer), as well as a handful of non-economist political figures, its authors claim that "some" American economists now view Chinese capital inflows into the U...

Happy Holidays from Asiabizblog!

Posted on December 24, 2008
Asiabizblog wishes all of our readers the merriest of holidays and best wishes for the New Year. Hope springs eternal and Spring is just around the corner. In that spirit, I thought I'd share with you a poem a friend in Beijing sent me this morning...

Blast from the Past -- The Art of Feigning Sincerity

Posted on December 23, 2008
[I'm pleased to post an article of mine, originally seen in the October, 2001 issue of US Business Review.] The art of feigning sincerity is practiced around the globe, with some cultures better at it than others. Rich Kuslan explains why he?d rather just be honest...

Rising Tide of Feeling Against China and Chinese Imports

Posted on December 20, 2008
The animus towards China -- specifically imported products -- has never, in my lifetime, been as acute nor as widespread than it is today. This article and the popular comments below it show the depth of contrary feeling. Chinese products are blamed for being injurious to human health, cheaply made, made with slave labor, anti-American, etc...

VIDEO EVENT: Dr. Eileen Wibbeke on Global Business Leadership

Posted on December 19, 2008
I'm pleased to present Dr. Eileen Wibbeke, author of the textbook, Global Business Leadership, who recently gave a talk to Google executives on international business leadership at Googleplex.

U.S. Commerce Dept. Waves Goodbye to the Export License VEU Program

Posted on December 18, 2008
The Validated End User (VEU) program, about which we wrote in June, will soon become but a bad memory, according the Washington Times. The program allowed the companies to obtain dual-use technologies without the formal security checks required for an export license...

Direct Ocean Cargo fShipments Between Taiwan and Mainland China Now Permitted

Posted on December 15, 2008
As of today, direct ocean cargo shipments between Taiwan and China are permitted,. ???? (Taiwan's daily business newspaper): ???????????????12?????????????????????????????????????????????????14??????????15?????????????????????????????????????? 17 carriers have applied for permits -- 12 of them mainland Chinese, five of them Taiwanese...

Steep Drop in China's Foreign Trade

Posted on December 11, 2008
I do believe last summer that Asiabizblog predicted a steep drop in trade coming shortly. Well, here it is. Beijing announced yesterday that its November exports dropped 2.2 percent after a 19.2 percent surge in October. Imports took an even steeper drop, falling 17...

Audio Event: Chinese Advertising with Kevin Swanepool

Posted on December 09, 2008
Kevin Swanepool, CEO of The One Club, discusses creativity in Chinese business and his organization's China Creative Workshops to encourage young advertisers in Greater China.

Chinese Front Companies and Export-Controlled Purchases

Posted on December 03, 2008
Cliff Burns at ExportLaw Blog recounts the tale of Chinese operatives, who'd set up a front company to buy export-controlled items, ensnared by American operatives who'd set up a front company to catch front companies doing precisely that. Front companies of foreign intelligence services are most likely a dime a dozen, but it is rare when they are discovered, no less made public and prosecuted publicly...

Video Event: Chinese MIgrants Return to Countryside

Posted on December 02, 2008
This Wall Street Journal article discusses what is a minor phenomenon at present, that of Chinese migrants to urban centers returning home, out of work, to their villages. One or two million jobless is an insignficant number, a police problem, perhaps...

ALERT: American Companies in China: US to Redouble Enforcement of Foreign Corrupt Practices Act:

Posted on November 25, 2008
The American Foreign Corrupt Practices Act seeks to criminalize bribery of foreign officials -- not of American officials -- by regulating and punishing the conduct of Americans doing business globally. In its "Report of the Committee on Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs to Accompany S...

Video Event: The Onion Speaks on the Chinese Court System

Posted on November 20, 2008
Have we ever before seen such commentary on the Chinese court system? Or on China, from Westerners? 20 years ago, China was held the object of veneration -- perhaps because few knew anything about her. But she is now the target of and criticism, which grows ever more intense, and even ridicule...

Chinese Government Tells FDA To Enjoy Its Wonderful Vacation Spots

Posted on November 20, 2008
In yesterday's post, we noted the opening of the FDA office in Beijing and the frustration that they are bound to expect. The struggle has begun. "China hopes the U.S. side accepts certificates offered by the Chinese quality inspection department on goods to be exported to the United States," Foreign Ministry spokesman Qin Gang was quoted as saying by the state-run Xinhua news agency...

Another "So What?": American Food and Drug Administration Announces the Establishment of an Office in Beijing

Posted on November 19, 2008
We?re opening up a new era, not just new offices...a permanent F.D.A. presence in China. So claims Mike Leavitt, Secretary of Health and Human Services for the Bush administration. Well, at least there will be a physical presence -- but whether or not this office will be able to inspect any of the factories it wishes remains to be seen...

Another, Yet Another Email Scam Targeting Lawyers

Posted on November 16, 2008
Another scam mail targeting lawyers. Similar content to previous scams: delinquent accounts in the U.S. requiring your legal services to recover. You'll notice, however, that, in this email, the author has inserted my name, as if to reassure me that his request is genuine...

The Chinese "Stimulus Package" -- A Few Notes from a Political Economist

Posted on November 14, 2008
Victor Shih's always engrossing Elite Chinese Politics & Political Economy blog talks about the Chinese bail-out: There is a rumor that Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, a government think-tank, came up with a plan to set up a government fund to buy up Chinese stocks if the market falters drastically...

FDA Issues Blanket Detention Order of Certain Products From Chinese Manufacturers

Posted on November 13, 2008
Below you will find the relevant text of the FDA's import detention order of Chinese-made product, as reported by the AP today. Note the breadth of products potentially affected. Physical inspection is not required under this order for detention. (For some background on melamine, read this FDA paper on melamine contamination in China) Products affected by this order include: PRODUCT Bakery Products/Doughs/Mixes/Icings Cereal Preparations Breakfast Food Ready to Eat Breakfast Food Quick Cook Snack Foods Milk/Butter/Dried Milk Products Cheese/Cheese Products Ice Cream Products Filled Milk/imitation Milk Products Soft Drink, Milk Based (Chocolate Flavored), Noncarbonated Noncarbonated Soft Drink, N...

Auto Bailout, Financial Bailout, What Next?

Posted on November 10, 2008
Massive non-performing loans that force major financial institutions into insolvency. Significant state investment in manufacturing industries. National governmental leadership in product planning. Taxpayers "profiting" from equity investments in quasi-private enterprises...

World Bank Chief Asserts World Trade Has Fallen

Posted on November 09, 2008
An update to our earlier post on the contraction of credit used for international trade: According to Mr. Zoellick, the onset of the [credit] crisis caused a "stunning" decline in global trade. "And we believe that you could find in 2009 that you could have an actual decline in world trade, which would be the first time since 1982," Mr...

Yawn! Another Attorney Scam-mail with Webpage for Effect

Posted on November 07, 2008
Here's yet another example of a scam-the-attorney email. I guess you can call me a collector. Crudely conceived email. Its properties: from Rising Sun reply-to WLung@aggies.com to sunr35@yahoo.com date Wed, Nov 5, 2008 at 11:54 PM subject Your Service Needed (Attorney at Law) mailed-by yahoo...

More on Closing Chinese Factories

Posted on November 05, 2008
Chinese banks, despite State prodding to the contrary, refuse to lend to struggling factories. At least, that is what Bloomberg writes. ``It's wishful thinking for the government to try to talk banks into lending to stimulate the economy,'' says Li Qing, a Shanghai-based analyst at CSC Securities HK Ltd...

Off-topic: Electronic Voting Machine Our Next President

Posted on November 04, 2008
I know it has nothing to do with China, but it's just too funny to pass up. Voting Machines Elect One Of Their Own As President

Audio Event: Retail in Vietnam with Giles Cooper

Posted on November 03, 2008
While China occupies center stage for most Western investors, Vietnam's nascent retail sector may provide opportunities, which our guest attorney Giles Cooper, resident in Hanoi, expounds upon, with comments on the legal system as well. Giles Cooper is Special Counsel to Duane Morris...

Melamine and the Chinese Academy of Sciences?

Posted on November 01, 2008
One of my fav blogs suggests that the Chinese Academy of Sciences (?????) was the prime mover in the introduction of melamine into the Chinese food production industries. The Academy has issued a denial.

Video Event: Robert Adanto's "The Rising Tide" -- Chinese Video Artists

Posted on October 29, 2008
     We take a detour today with a clip from Robert Adanto's, "The Rising Tide, a New Documentary on Chinese Contemporary Art." Many thanks to Robert for his kind permission, enabling us to post this clip on Asiabizblog. Get the Flash Player to see this player...

More Reports of Chinese Factories Shutting Their Doors

Posted on October 27, 2008
As we've noted in the past, sporadic reports of factory closings in China seem to be tied to a downturn in orders from Western nations, as summed up in this USA Today article. More than half of all China's toy exporters ? 3,631 firms ? shut their doors the first half of the year, the official Xinhua news agency reported...

Audio Event: an Interview with China Law Scholar and Practitioner, Stanley Lubman

Posted on October 24, 2008
Asiabizblog kicks off a new season of podcasts with an interview of Stanley Lubman, China law scholar and practitioner. Mr. Lubman has, over 40 years, been witness to and participant in China's veritable earthquake of changes. Whether as student of Chinese law at Columbia University School of Law in the 1960s, as delegate to the earliest Guangzhou trade fairs in the 1970s, as attorney for energy deals in the 70s and 80s, as scholar/practitioner at Harvard, SOAS or Allen & Overy in the 80s and 90s, Stanley Lubman always seems to be one step ahead of the pack...

CITIC Pacific's Great Big Bet (Bath) -- Who Else Is Next? China Railway!

Posted on October 23, 2008
Details have emerged in the CITIC Pacific forex scandal: Citic Pacific Ltd.'s attempt to manage currency risk means the Chinese steelmaker and property developer has four times more money riding on the Australian dollar than it earned last year. The unit of China's largest state-owned investment company has contracts committing it to buy as much as A$9...

China's Economic Growth 9% in Third Quarter And Dropping

Posted on October 21, 2008
Statistics compiled by the Chinese state are unverifiable and unreliable, but Western company representatives seem to agree that the bloom is still there, but wilting somewhat. Indeed, the Chinese economy has slowed drastically, even before the American melt-down...

CITIC Pacific Loses $1.89 Billion in Bad Betting on Currency

Posted on October 20, 2008
CITIC Pacific, whose parent company recently offered to raise its equity stake in Morgan Stanley to 49% from 10%, has announced the loss of US$1.89 billion (and possibly $2 billion) in currency trading. Trading of the shares was suspended for one day (October 20) on the Hong Kong exchange...

Impact of the Credit Freeze on International Shipments -- Where's the L/C?

Posted on October 15, 2008
Bloomberg reports that the credit freeze is expected to reduce the number of international shipments banks commonly guarantee: ``Letters of credit and the credit lines for trade currently are frozen,'' Khalid Hashim, managing director of Precious Shipping, Thailand's second-largest shipping company, said in Singapore yesterday...

Alabama Company Cuts Production in China, Brings Work Back Home

Posted on October 14, 2008
In the past six months, production in China has, for some foreign manufacturers, become too expensive. At present, I don't hear this as any more than a minor rumbling, but it could be, possibly, a precursor to a trend. A drop in the dollar, rising transportation and labor costs, and the added difficulties inherent in overseas production have convinced some to pull production out of China and bring it back home...

Another Attorney Scam -- India, China, Japan, This One's Got It All

Posted on October 10, 2008
As we in the U.S. find ourselves inching ever closer to the nationalization of private banks -- despite Treasury denials -- let's take a break in the turmoil for some humor and at least an instance of successful self-preservation. Here is another example of the attorney scam with an Asian, about which I've written many times...

More Chinese-Style Financial Steps Planned for American Banking System?

Posted on October 09, 2008
The Fed has discussed a plan to take ownership stakes in American banks, even healthy ones "It is the policy of the federal government to use all resources at its disposal to make our financial system stronger,'' Paulson said. ``We will use all of the tools we've been given to maximum effectiveness, including strengthening the capitalization of financial institutions of every size...

ABA Hiring for the Rule of Law Initiative, China Program

Posted on October 08, 2008
The American Bar Association Rule of Law Initiative China Program is currently hiring for the following positions (click each link for a job spec): - Deputy Country Director - Program Officer - Staff Translator/Interpreter These positions are available immediately...

Fed to Set Up Special Purpose Vehicle to Purchase Bad Debt

Posted on October 07, 2008
Just over the wire: the Fed will set up an SPV (special-purpose vehicle) to purchase bad commercial paper directly from banks and non-banks. Echoes of the Chinese experience... An extraordinary step, which appears to be authorized by the Federal Reserve Act, Section 13: 3...

IRS Allows Multinationals to Borrow Larger Sums of Cash from Overseas Subsidiaries

Posted on October 07, 2008
As a further response to the credit crisis (crash?), the American Internal Revenue Service issued a temporary guidance last Friday allowing multinationals to borrow cash from overseas subsidiaries for as long as 60 days, three times a year, without incurring corporate tax...

North Korea on Google Earth

Posted on October 03, 2008
These brilliant Google Earth maps of North Korea [download here] are unsurpassed by anything I've seen made available to the public. You can't bring one in with you on a laptop, but you can surely prepare for your trip to the DPRK with it. Once again, thanks go to the

Onion Video: China Launches First Willing Manned Space Mission

Posted on October 02, 2008
I'm not sure why this gave me an attack of chortles and belly-laughs. Perhaps it was simply that I wrote this morning on a serious subject? But as to this video, the juxtaposition of...well, you take a look. China Launches First Willing Manned Mission Into Space

US Requirement of Cervical Cancer Vaccination for Immigrants Stirs Up Backlash

Posted on October 02, 2008
Part of my law practice includes immigration, primarily for Chinese. The incidence of cervical cancer among Chinese women, according to a recent study, is relatively low in comparison to world statistics, but is, nevertheless, the fifth most prevalent cancer among women in China...

UPDATE: Chinese Regulators Give Green Light to Borrow from Foreign Banks

Posted on September 29, 2008
Further to this Asiabizblog post, WSJ reports: Chinese regulators said the finances of foreign banks in the country are sound, a message that appeared aimed at reassuring local banks that have been reluctant to lend to their foreign counterparts because of concerns about the U...

Yet Another Email Scam Targeting Lawyers: A Different China Twist

Posted on September 29, 2008
The so-called Nigerian scam turned its attention to attorneys, as we reported in prior posts, at that time purportedly emanating from Hong Kong. Already, in the past year, several attorneys, in California and Georgia, are on the hook for six-figure debts...

AIG Turns to Asia-interest Blogs In Media Relations Program

Posted on September 26, 2008
I wasn't quite sure how to handle this one. Incredulous that a friendly AIG media relations exec would even send it my way. (If they haven't gotten this out in Chinese, Malay, Thai, etc., they are not getting through to their customers directly.) The text clearly shows that AIG is seriously concerned about counter-reaction in Asia to its recent, most fortunate bail-out...

Rumor: China Banking Regulators Tell Local Banks Not to Lend to U.S. Banks

Posted on September 25, 2008
The China Banking Regulatory Commission (CBRC) has denied a report that it instructed local banks to halt interbank lending to U.S. banks. "The CBRC has never, through any channel, issued a statement or told domestic commercial banks not to lend to or borrow from U...

Doing Business with North Korea Seminar To Be Held in Beijing

Posted on September 22, 2008
Event: Doing Business with North Korea Where: Capital Club, Beijing When, Sept., 29, 18:30 (6.30pm) For further information, click this.

U.S. to Employ Chinese-style Financial Regulatory Techniques

Posted on September 19, 2008
It wasn't too long ago when American officials excoriated PRC banking authorities for establishing asset management companies to take the nonperforming loans off of the books of technically insolvent banks and to recapitablize them. A ruse, it was shouted to the rooftops, to clean up the books of banks desperately in need of a listing on worldwide stock exchanges, but prevented by numerous "technical" deficiencies...

US University Researcher Convicted of Export Violations -- with a China Connection

Posted on September 19, 2008
[Editor's note: Doug Jacobson has graciously provided the text of today's post. I recommend readers visit his International Trade Law News blog, well-written, informative and worth your time. Doug Jacobson is a partner in the Washington, DC office of the law firm of Strasburger & Price (www...

China Investment Corp. Offers to Raise Stake in Morgan Stanley to 49%

Posted on September 18, 2008
Bloomberg TV has just announced Morgan Stanley refused CIC's offer to raise its stake in the bank to 49% from 10%, preferring to remain "independent." More on this as the day goes by. [Update: 10.14am EST -- Bloomberg. This article maintains that talks continue, in contradiction to the report on Bloomberg TV...

3 Chinese Banks Hold US$297.4M in Lehman Debt

Posted on September 17, 2008
Following up to yesterday's post, the International Herald Tribune reports: Three Chinese banks hold a total of US$297.4 million in Lehman Brothers bonds, two of the banks and a state news agency said Wednesday, but analysts said China's total exposure to the failed U...

Lehman Brothers -- Many Asian Banks Among the Top 30 Creditors

Posted on September 16, 2008
A respectable showing of Chinese and Japanese creditors, along with the amount claimed, now vying for the assets of bankrupt Lehman Brothers. Totals (in US million) by institutional location: Japanese 1,521 Hong Kong 275 Taiwan 110 Singapore 93 China 59 Korea 46 Here's the original bankruptcy filing.

Prestigious Sponsorships and Exhibition Opportunities at the ABA Section of International Law Conference, Spring 2009

Posted on September 16, 2008
[Editor?s Note: I?m pleased to be a member of this year?s ABA Planning Subcommittee for this event .] One of the most prestigious legal sponsorship and exhibition opportunities awaits your law firm or corporation: the ABA Section of International Law Spring Meeting...

Thank you, Ladies and Gentlemen, I'll be here until Doomsday -- Jokes from Pyongyang

Posted on September 14, 2008
For a good laugh, read these jokes collected in the DPRK, courtesy of Radio Free Asia and North Korean Economy Watch. I've added two in the comment area.

Making Money in Pyongyang -- This is No Hallucination

Posted on September 10, 2008
On the subject of North Korea, it isn't widely known that some Westerners are actually in residence in Pyongyang doing business there -- profitably. Well, not many. Nick Bonner, whom I met in Shanghai several years ago, may be in the black by now...

Is Kim Jong-il Dead?

Posted on September 08, 2008
No one is surprised by the use of look-alikes in tyrannies (Saddam Hussein, Mao, Stalin, et al). But would a look-alike continue to operate five years after the death of the tyrant? Such is the claim of Toshimitsu Shigemura (????), veteran Korea-watcher at Waseda University...

Event: Chinese Investment in Europe

Posted on September 06, 2008
EU Magnets for Chinese Companies: Refuting the Myths, A Research Workshop Wednesday 17 September 2008, 10.00 ? 16.00 Chatham House, 10 St James's Square, London SW1Y 4LE Programme 09.30-10.00 Registration 10.00-10.05 Welcome and introduction Paola Subacchi, Chatham House 10...

Rich Kuslan Available for Speaking Engagements: China Speakers Bureau

Posted on September 04, 2008
I'm pleased to announce my availability for speaking engagements and my inclusion in the China Speakers Bureau, run by Fons Tuinstra, editor of the China Herald. Speakers Fons currently represents include Bill Overholt, Howard French, Shaun Rein, Tom Doctoroff and others...

??????????? -- An Article in Chinese for the World Weekly

Posted on September 03, 2008
[Editor's Note: I continue to write for Chinese Americans about legal issues relevant to their communities. The article below -- on how desperate things can become when a business partnership dissolves -- was published in the August 31, 2008 print issue of World Weekly (??????] ???? ???? (Richard Kuslan, Esq...

Ambassador's IPR Roundtable, Beijing -- Date Announced

Posted on September 02, 2008
From the Embassy circular comes the following announcement: SAVE THE DATE: November 6 and 7, 2008 The Ambassador's IPR Roundtable, Beijing, China. Ambassador Clark Randt?s seventh and final annual IPR Roundtable will be held in Beijing on Thursday and Friday, November 6 and 7...

American Bar Association Gives Go-ahead to Legal Outsourcing

Posted on August 27, 2008
The ABA has issued an ethics opinion dated August 5 and apparently unpublished, but procured by the New York Law Journal. Asiabizblog will post on this shortly.

Scam on Attorneys Claims U.S. Victim

Posted on August 26, 2008
The scam I wrote about here has found success with at least three attorneys, one of whom may now be in the hole for $200,000: Atlanta securities lawyer Gregory Bartko said he is the victim of an Internet fraud scheme that is apparently targeting law firms throughout the country and the banks where lawyers have their escrow accounts...

Technology Heads-up -- An Interview with Wayne Turmel

Posted on August 25, 2008
What's a webmeeting? I've been corporate and know just how tough it is to hold worthwhile meetings with participants on two or more continents. Wayne Turmel, President of greatwebmeetings.com, offers a service that makes things a lot easier...

Famous Chinese Film Director: Western Workers are Lazy -- Podcast

Posted on August 21, 2008
Chinese Film Director Zhang Yi-mou teaches Westerners a thing or two about the laziness of Western workers. A lesson about opinions commonly held by Chinese in business.

Famous Chinese Film Director Expresses Commonly Held Opinion of Western Workers: Lazy! Therein Lies a Lesson for Business Managers

Posted on August 21, 2008
Chinese, as we well know well, are supremely capable of putting in long hours. Indeed, suffering quietly is a badge of honor. Hong Kong Chinese work even while asleep (or so it seems). Well, they do often pass the evening in the office or factory...

Work in China Job Sites -- Podcast

Posted on August 18, 2008
Looking to work in China? Listen to a brief introduction to a China job site.

Work in China Job Site -- NewChina Career

Posted on August 18, 2008
Several years ago, I was surprised to hear from a number of friends at the midpoint of their careers who expressed the desire to work in China. A number of them were, as we say, "on the beach," but the suntan lotion had dried up. A few had significant international experience, some had none...

Asiabizblog Announces Podcasts to Return in Fall

Posted on August 14, 2008
Asiabizblog announces that its informative and popular podcasts will return to the Web this fall, in English and Mandarin.

Reach Out and Touch Someone -- China's Metals Traders Touched by U.S. Agency Fine

Posted on August 13, 2008
China's international reach for precious commodities extends as far as Cuba, lately earning the Minxia Non-Ferrous Metals Company a substantial Office of Foreign Assets Control (?OFAC?) fine. (Not this far more delightful Minxia.) How is it that a Chinese metals dealer has been ordered to pay $1...

The China Downturn Bandwagon

Posted on August 07, 2008
Hmmm... Now everyone is jumping on the China downturn bandwagon. Textile exports fell 4.2 percent in June from the same month last year, a serious blow to an industry that employs millions of people. Overall export growth in June was 18.2 percent, down from May's 28 percent rate...

German Companies Planning to Pull Production Out Of China

Posted on August 06, 2008
Der Spiegel reports that one out of five German companies has ceased or is planning to cease production in China due to rising costs. "The big story here is that globalization is for real -- and China is no longer what it was," says Ronald Haddock, a vice-president at consultant Booz Allen Hamilton...

Event Reminder: Chinese Income Tax Online Seminar

Posted on August 05, 2008
While it may be true that tax collector is one of the two oldest professions, no pejorative comment affects the fact that tax collection, wherever it may occur, will put its hand in one's pocket and scrounge around for even loose change. The multinational, whose pockets are considered fertile territory for treasure hunting, feels the touch of many-fingered hands of all nationalities...

Family Ties and the Chen Liang-yu Scandal

Posted on August 04, 2008
Chen Liang-yu (???) was Shanghai Party Secretary (??????) until removed in 2006 following an alleged scandal involving Social Security. [In Chinese.] Was the Social Security scandal the fundamental reason for his removal?. His swift rise to the Politburo in 2001 as a protégé of Jiang Zemin and the Shanghai faction preceded an even swifter fall following the presidency of Hu Jin-Tao in 2003...

Event: China's Corporate Income Tax -- Online Seminar

Posted on July 21, 2008
Last year, Chinese legislators enacted a new corporate income tax, effective January 1, 2008. Just before the close of 2007, the state Council approved regulations regarding its implementation. A number of circulars, attempting to further clarify the law and regulations, have issued since the law has become effective...

Private Equity Funds in China -- Boom or Bust or Just Beginning?

Posted on July 21, 2008
One has heard of the promise of private equity investment in China at various times since the early 90s. What is really going on? BusinessWeek, which curiously seems to mistitle its articles often, implies a boom. Shaun Rein's article implies great potential, but no boom yet...

Recent China-related Enforcement Activities of the Bureau of Industry and Security

Posted on July 16, 2008
Many small and mid-sized manufacturers in the United States are unaware that their exports may be subject to Export Administration Regulations (EAR). The implementation of those regulations is overseen by the Commerce Department?s Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS), and enforced through that bureau's Office of Export Enforcement (OEE)...

Library of Congress Includes Asiabizblog in its Historic Internet Collections

Posted on July 08, 2008
Asiabizblog is honored to have been selected by the United States Library of Congress for inclusion in its historic collections of Internet materials related to Legal Blawgs.

RMB Freely Bought and Sold on Taiwan as of Today

Posted on June 30, 2008
"????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????" [Editor's Translation: Today, the RMB is freely convertible throughout Taiwan, and it is estimated that banks have prepared 500 million RMB for that purpose...

Fright of the Day: Justice Breyer Argues Value of American Judges Consulting Foreign Law

Posted on June 25, 2008
It is a scary day in June when a justice of the United States Supreme Court insists upon the value of looking to foreign law and practice as an aid in the interpretation of American law. Curiously, Justice Breyer, in yesterday's brief defense of this argument at Brookings, adapts the shabby and insubstantial construct of "displacement," offered in explanation by his wife, a psychologist, to dismiss out of hand the purportedly few critics of this world-consultative approach...

EU Grant Opportunity for Training and Research in China

Posted on June 20, 2008
Editor's Note: This grant appears to be a superb opportunity for "cultural immersion," followed by hosted research. Click the link below to go to the EuropeAid page. On the left frame, select "By Country" from the drop down box. Then click the "Open" and "Grants" check boxes...

Chinese Pirates in Spanish Waters

Posted on June 19, 2008
Spanish Police Crack Down on CD/DVD Piracy Operation Involving Chinese Labor Spanish police have disrupted an organized criminal syndicate based in Madrid that was producing counterfeit CDs and DVDs on an industrial scale. The group operated burners that could produce 150,000 CDs and DVDs each day, worth an estimated ?600,000 daily (US$ 920,577) or ?219 million annually (US$ 336 million)...

Chinese Corruption and School Construction -- No Longer A Suitable Media Topic

Posted on June 17, 2008
Here is Caijing magazine's attempt to explain in English the causes of the collapse of school buildings during the Sichuan earthquake. Yes, construction standards existed, goes the article, but weren't implemented. That English language translation -- intended to be the magazine's face to the world -- appears to be a compilation of several articles, including this, originally in Chinese, but the thrust of the pieces is consistent: ??????????????????????????6?2??????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????? [Editor's note: Subscription required...

Direct Flights from Taiwan to Mainland China

Posted on June 13, 2008
In the mid-1980s, Taiwanese businessmen, at least those of a cautious nature, were too frightened to participate in the triangle trade ??????. That business moved product under the radar from Taiwan into China, when direct trade was prohibited with major consequences for Taiwanese (imprisonment and fines) and Chinese (who knows? execution, probably)...

Football Really Means Something in Texas

Posted on June 05, 2008
Now, here is a court order worth reading. Texarkana? [Many thanks to James Tyre and Peter Shafran, attorneys, for this file.]

First-hand Account from Chengdu

Posted on May 26, 2008
Editor's Note: Tony (Yixing) Zeng, a Canadian student, has graciously allowed us to reprint his email below, originally sent to a friend from an internet cafe in Chengdu just after the first earthquake. Major foreign media have covered this story upside and down, with the American National Public Radio's Robert Siegel and Melissa Block -- who by sheer happenstance had been posted to Chengdu at the time of the quake -- providing some of the most extraordinary coverage...

???????? -- Photos of Sichuan Before the Earthquake

Posted on May 23, 2008
I spent much of 2005 traveling throughout China on a consulting contract, taking in the sights when I could. Let us not forget what Sichuan offers, once rebuilt. As a reminder to those focused on destruction, here are a few photos I took at ??? (Mount Emei) and the ???? (the great Le Shan Buddha, carved into the rock of a riverbed...

Gray Market Imports -- Recent U.S. Court Ruling

Posted on May 22, 2008
In law, are gray market imports equivalent to pirated works? [Read this journal article on the implications for American libraries of imported pirated works from China.] Gray market imports are lawfully produced with the permission of the copyright holder, sold to a customer in a foreign country and then imported into another, often the country of origin, at far lower prices than new product on the shelves...

Teach English in North Korea!

Posted on May 21, 2008
If I were in my 20s, I'd jump on this opportunity. Visit this webpage of the British Council for more information. English Teacher Trainers, DPRK-based Pyongyang, reference OA08007 Senior English Teacher Trainer - £29,361 a year English Teacher Trainer (three posts) - £25,772 a year Contract from 1 September 2008 to 31 August 2009 (with the possibility of extension) Benefits including free accommodation, pension provision, medical insurance and regular flights to Beijing and the UK JOB SUMMARY The British Council/Foreign and Commonwealth Office English language project in the DPRK aims to deliver high-quality programmes in teacher/trainer training and to develop the curriculum and related materials as well as assessment systems at three leading institution in Pyongyang...

New York Times At It Again: This Time, The Sichuan Earthquake

Posted on May 15, 2008
DONATIONS If you can afford something, donations may be made by following the links in this page. [Thanks to China Law Blog for the tip.] Your prayers for the living and the dead are also a valuable contribution. TODAY'S POST This op-ed piece in the New York Times -- printed just days after the almost unfathomable suffering in Sichuan -- is more than just shocking...

Martin Luther King Statue Built in China Must Be Reworked

Posted on May 09, 2008
It is shocking enough that a Chinese national, rather than an American, won the commission to sculpt the body of Martin Luther King. Even more outrageous that the model of the sculpture is fashioned in Changsha. But look at it! An aggressive, unsympathetic posture -- arms crossed! Not representative of the inspirational Reverend leader, but of a Communist war-hero...

Bus Explosion on Shanghai Street

Posted on May 05, 2008
Amid concerns for terrorism during the Olympics, the cause of this explosion is as yet uncertain. A woman on the bus is quoted as having said, "??????????????????????????????????" [ Editor's translation: The door of the bus had just opened and suddenly I smelled a strange odor, and then a seat in the center of the bus burst into flame...

An Old Scam, But with a Twist -- China

Posted on April 30, 2008
Keep your eyes peeled for what looks to be an old scam decked out in sexier apparel. What appears to be a persuasive e-mail, purportedly from the Shanghai Representative of a Hong Kong machine-tool company, is making the rounds of some American attorneys...

Sensitive University Research and Export Control Laws

Posted on April 17, 2008
You learn something everyday. Throughout the United States, university science departments perform sensitive research with military applications. The first case of spying I'd become aware of involving Chinese graduate students occurred at Cornell University in the early 1980s, evidently involving satellite imaging technology...

Shipping Container Shortage in the United States -- What Gives?

Posted on April 10, 2008
Just a few years ago, container ships returned to China with much of their capacity unfilled. This situation has apparently changed. Does a shortage of containers used to export product from the US imply a notable change in the balance of trade, as this article posits? or, is it simply that, as the article states: Many shipping lines, including Maersk, have shifted container capacity away from the U...

A Little Black Humor Never Hurts

Posted on April 02, 2008
China Celebrates Its Status As World's Number One Air Polluter

Guest Post: Security, Chinese Imports and American Ports: the Current Status of the American C-TPAT Initiative

Posted on March 21, 2008
[Editor's note: The safety of consumer products imported from China now makes national news. But what of national security? Directly after 9/11, news reports on poor security oversight of major American ports flooded the media. Many federal programs, it seemed, were proposed to combat the gaping hole in American armor...

Avoid Easter Eggs -- Lead Paint Contamination Likely

Posted on March 18, 2008
Plastic Easter eggs from China have been found to be contaminated with lead paint. Why not make your own with non-toxic dye? Fun and educational for both you and the children.

?????????????? (Part 2): ???

Posted on March 11, 2008
[Editor's Note: I'm pleased to post the second of a two-part article I wrote for ???? (World Weekly), the Sunday magazine section of the widely circulated ???? (World Journal). It was originally published on page 80 of the Sunday, February 12, 2008 edition...

Currency Redux, Again

Posted on March 06, 2008
Once again. Hope springs eternal. But by this time -- after years of negotiations, promises and punditry -- no one should be surprised and none should claim that it will happen soon.

Two New (Free) Publications from FLJS

Posted on February 26, 2008
Phil Dines has graciously sent me a copy of two publications on China, issued by the Foundation for Law, Justice and Society at Oxford. They are free of charge and available to the general public, but it is not solely for that reason that I recommend them to readers...

?????????????? (Part I)

Posted on February 20, 2008
[Editor's Note: I'm pleased to post the first of a two-part article I wrote for ???? (World Weekly), the Sunday magazine section of the widely circulated ???? (World Journal). It was originally published on page 80 of the Sunday, February 12, 2008 edition...

WTO Rules against China in Auto Parts Dispute

Posted on February 13, 2008
Someone has leaked this supposedly confidential WTO decision.

It's Not Outsourcing!

Posted on February 12, 2008
Just as we see in television commercials, Robert Ruyak insists that margarine is butter: "It's not outsourcing," insists Robert Ruyak, managing partner and CEO of Howrey, describing his firm's new office in India. Of course, it's not lawyering, either, since an American firm practicing in India would violate Indian law...

Federal Indictments in the "Melamine in the Pet Food" Scandal

Posted on February 07, 2008
An update on this story from 2007. Claiming thousands of pet deaths on Chinese imported gluten, adulterated with melamine, the U.S. Attorney's Office in Kansas City has indicted three companies on a variety of counts. Two are Chinese; one is a Nevada company located in Las Vegas...

Legal Outsourcing -- Several Ethical Dilemmas

Posted on January 25, 2008
Where is the American Bar Association to nip legal outsourcing to India, such as this, in the bud? As of May, 2007, an ABA spokesman told LAW.com that no statement would be issued on the topic. [See that article's penultimate paragraph.] Certainly, the ethics opinions issued by the Bars of several major markets are an indication that this is a hot-potato topic which the ABA may not wish to touch...

Legal Outsourcing to India and Its

Posted on January 23, 2008
More on the nascent outsourcing of legal work to India. One shudders to see it, if only for reasons of professional ethics. Gregg Kirchhoefer, an outsourcing lawyer with Kirkland & Ellis who spoke at last week's LPO summit, said there were still no industry standards for how a mishap or mistake would be handled...

Job Posting

Posted on January 14, 2008
The Eurasia Group is looking for a China Analyst to be based in New York or DC. More on this page.

Illegal Securities Activities Targeted in New Year's Regulatory Action

Posted on January 09, 2008
Investors should note the following article, detailing "illegal securities activities," this past week made the target of apparently concerted regulatory enforcement. Specifically, activities include the issuance of stock as well as the offering of brokerage and investment research services without prior government approval, 90% of which are allegedly carried on with criminal intent to deceive...

Editor Profiled By World Journal ??????

Posted on January 04, 2008
I am honored to have been profiled by World Journal ??????, a newspaper with the largest circulation among Chinese readers in North America, in their Sunday magazine section article on the teaching of Chinese in the U.S ???????????????? written by Jeff Han ?? ?...

Not China, But a Marketing Technique Worth Reading About

Posted on January 03, 2008
Pay close attention to this marketing technique, used brilliantly and shamelessly by Rep. Patrick Kennedy, a Democrat from Rhode Island: Ironically, Kennedy said that the day before Bhutto was killed, he found himself chatting with Pakistanis about the assassination of his uncle...

The Seductive Strains of the China Bandwagon

Posted on December 26, 2007
Jim Rogers, megamillionaire, has given up on the United States: China is the promised land. (He's flogging a book.) Who can fault the investing expertise of one who has made more money than we ever will? Martin Howell of Reuters, for one, in an article succinctly entitled, Jumping on the China Bandwagon with Jim Rogers...

Recommended Blog: China's Scientific and Academic Integrity Watch

Posted on December 21, 2007
Those of you in China having several years of experience hiring top research talent from the top universities are, I suspect, aware that Chinese students, even from these schools, must be vetted with care. It is not that Chinese are more likely to cheat than another nationality -- academic dishonesty is rife everywhere there is an intent to cut corners (and cheap and easy internet access to sources ripe for plagiarism)...

Treasury Secretary Paulson: China is Not a Currency Manipulator

Posted on December 19, 2007
Riddle me this, Caped Crusader: What American official puts pressure on the yuan by not putting pressure on the yuan? This just in: "What we've said before in the report ... is if we were to designate China as a manipulator, the remedy would be to negotiate with China directly and through multilateral bodies including the IMF, which is exactly what we've been doing for some time," Paulson said...

Avoid Chinese Farmed Seafood Products

Posted on December 15, 2007
Having observed several fish farms in China -- shockingly unclean conditions -- I have always avoided the purchase of farmed fish and fish products originating anywhere in Asia, except for Japan. David Barboza's article strongly suggests that you do, too: ?Our waters here are filthy,? said Ye Chao, an eel and shrimp farmer who has 20 giant ponds in western Fuqing...

FDA Inspectors Embedded in Chinese Food Production System?

Posted on December 12, 2007
From the New York Times: China Agrees to Post U.S. Safety Officials in Its Food Factories. Embedded, like Judith Miller in Iraq? Michael O. Leavitt, secretary of health and human services, said he expected that Food and Drug Administration officials would eventually be embedded in China?s food safety bureaucracy to help train Chinese officials and keep records on their inspections...

And Wahaha Laughs...

Posted on December 10, 2007
We briefly posted on the Danone-Wahaha scandal in June. Now comes the sound of the other shoe dropping. From the Wall Street Journal: A Chinese beverage maker won a trademark arbitration ruling against joint-venture partner Groupe Danone SA, the latest legal twist in a closely watched case and one that is unlikely to end the dispute...

Fairclough Visits Chery Factory

Posted on December 04, 2007
Gordon Fairclough of the Wall Street Journal visited Chery's main auto plant in Wuhu City in Anhui Province. As you may recall, Chery was -- remains? -- a focus of intellectual property disputes and safety concerns (crash test pix here; video, here)...

Law and Religion: A Western Perspective on China

Posted on November 28, 2007
Southern Weekly ??????interviewed Harold Berman, author of " Law and Revolution," found here and here. That Berman, whose expertise extended to the religious foundations of Western law, should be the focus of a two-hour interview with an iconoclastic and popular Chinese language Sunday Magazine is in itself a wonder -- not solely for its political commentary...

Demands for Currency Revaluation Ad Infinitum

Posted on November 16, 2007
Once again the helpless cry in the Western wilderness. Won't China allow the Yuan to "strengthen at a faster rate?" No, indeed. How is doing so in China's interest? The movers and shakers of the so-called great economic powers, who have, it is said, the power over the purses that pay for imported product -- are powerless to affect any change either at home or abroad, despite ostensible regulatory control and direct market influence...

Guest Analysis: Yunnan Province and the Hukou Registration System

Posted on November 09, 2007
[Editor's Note: I'm grateful to Carl Minzner, author of the China Law and Politics blog, for permitting the reposting of his analysis below. His post represents a scarce example in modern Chinese Studies of a laudable skepticism towards a claim, the import of which, if unquestioned, would have lead to an unfounded assumption regarding Chinese life, law and government...

Diamonds for the Chinese Masses

Posted on November 03, 2007
Baseball for the Chinese masses? The State Department sending Cal Ripken to Shanghai? Yes, yes, I know something of the hallowed traditions of Japanese baseball and more recently the Taiwanese leagues. Those were begun on sandlots by boys imitating the American soldiers stationed on military bases, and they grew organically...