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“If couples do not show enthusiasm for two children when allowed, there is little point in offering them the chance to have three or more. Indeed as we wrote recently, there has been a revolution within the birth figures where over half are couples having a second child and the number of first children has collapsed. Unfortunately, even so, the total birth numbers are still not impressive.”

“The financial system seems to be creaking with tales of woe from all directions. The common threads running through all these narratives are those of weak regulation, disregard of rules, ambition and greed. What is particularly evident is weak and low capacity regulation over large and fast-growing markets.”

“Thus there are two contrasting tendencies. The first is for couples who were married before the recent two-child policy was put into operation in January 2016 to consider having a second child. The woman is likely to be 30 or more. The policy was announced in October 2015. Couples have had the whole of 2016 and 2017 to fulfil their supposed deepest wishes to have a further child. Those who have not yet done so must have not heard the policy change, been on a long voyage or have too busy a life to be at home conceiving a child.”

“Kim’s wish list may not only be the end of sanctions, in which the latest round was estimated to have closed down a third of his trade, and the start of foreign investment to invigorate his economy but also immunity from prosecution, a free pass on future human rights issues and the stationing of US troops up to the Yalu River border with China.”

“Given the similarities to a Ponzi scheme, Anbang and Wu deserve a place in China’s history of fraud. No other country’s frauds come close, not even 1MDB in Malaysia or Madoff in the United States. Anbang at over $12 billion of fraud and $115 billion of illegal selling dwarfs even Qianbao, hitherto China’s largest fraud at $5-11+ billion. China is indeed a country setting spectacular records.”

“Thus we have the US Senate exercising its right to opine on religious matters preferring decisions legitimately based on reincarnation to invalid interference by the Communist Party, the atheistic Communist Party demanding reincarnation and ruling on life after death and the Dalai Lama saying he may return as a woman or not return at all.”

While the world in general may be breathing a little easier with the apparent progress of the talks involving North Korea, South Korea and the United States, there are some parties who feel distinctly unhappy. Clearly, we do not know what will be the final outcome of the current round of talks or whether any […]

“The Mercedes Benz-built vehicle is mounted with 15 high-pressure water cannon. The most active cannon will shoot 260 gallons of water a minute across a distance of over 160 feet. The specifications permit the water to be mixed with dye to identify those present later or tear gas to increase pain. The three vehicles will cost a total of just over US$2 million.”

“Currently there is little that is going well in Afghanistan or for the region or the Western forces engaged there. We should look out for the possibility of China getting dragged in to the country theoretically for its own national interest reasons. It was a graveyard for the British, Russians and Americans. Perhaps China’s day is coming.”

“Although crime overall has been falling, crime by the elderly has been rising. In the four years from 2010, crimes fell by 6 per cent, but those committed by the elderly grew by 35 per cent. The Korean Herald notes that “the increase in the rate of elderly criminals surpassed that of the increase in the elderly population from 2010 to 2014. While the number of crimes committed by senior citizens rose by 35 percent, the elderly population increased by 25.4 percent in the same period”.”