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Saturday, July 19, 2014

Be willing to embrace change


Trade and open markets power China ahead. By embracing openness, China has transformed itself and perhaps even the world.

Change is the essence of life. Be willing to surrender what you are for what you could become

MY first impression of China when I first visited in 1985 was one of backwardness. There were bicycles and Mao suits everywhere.

I was fortunate because my second visit was 22 years later, in 2007. Frankly, I was astounded by what I saw. People went about in the latest fashions and cars had replaced the bicycles.

Fast forward to 2014 – when I again visited in conjunction with the 40th anniversary of Malaysia and China’s bilateral ties, accompanying Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak – and we found that the pace of development was just as frenetic.

Incidentally, this was my second visit to China this year and I still have a couple more trips planned.

China is now the second biggest economy in the world and in Purchasing Power Parity (PPP) terms, the largest.

The World Bank estimates that the number of Chinese living under the international poverty line (US$1.25 a day) fell from 43% of the world’s total poor population in 1981 to 13% in 2010.

China’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) per capita doubled to 38,354 yuan (RM19,672) from 2009 to 2012 alone.

Change, it seems, is the only constant in China. But how did this come about?

I would argue that it’s because they embraced reform and openness.

Under Deng Xiaoping, China sought “socialism with Chinese characteristics”: in effect, opening itself and its markets to the wider world.

One significant initiative which China embarked upon was joining the World Trade Organisation (WTO) in 2001.

This was a watershed and was not an easy decision for China.

Accession, especially in China’s case, is a lengthy and thorough pro­cess. Negotiations for China to join WTO took 15 years.

Countries often had to make significant concessions to the entire WTO membership and no exceptions were made for China.

However, the Chinese government proved willing to dismantle much of its restrictive institutional regime.

But WTO membership for China was not just to get better access to international markets.

It was also a defensive measure: to prevent unilateral actions from being taken against their goods by trading partners.

For instance, as a member of the WTO, China is protected from unilateral tariff hikes.

Other countries with grievances against it will have to bring their case to WTO’s tribunals.

Among the requirements for WTO entry, China also had to reduce its bound tariffs on industrial goods to an average of about 9% by 2005. Agricultural tariffs were cut to 15% while most quotas and licence requirements were eliminated.

All in all, China had to relax over 7,000 tariffs, quotas and other trade barriers.

Furthermore, it had to open up its markets to foreign firms and end state-controlled distribution of products.

China, significantly, made more market-opening commitments for services than most WTO members had.

From a centrally planned economy, China has now embraced capitalistic economic principles.

At the same time, China moved to strengthen its own capacities. It moved away from agro-based exports to manufacturing.

Also, the first of many Special Economic Zones were established in 1980, including today’s iconic Shenzen.

All of these were bold and unprecedented moves, all the more so given China’s strong nationalism and its traditional aversion to foreign entanglements. But open up it did and the results are clear for all to see.

In 2013, the WTO reported that China had overtaken the United States as the largest trading nation in the world, with total trade valued at US$4.16 trillion (RM13.23 trillion).

In that year, China’s total exports value was US$2.21 trillion (RM7.03 trillion) compared to US$1.58 trillion (RM5.02 trillion) for the US.

China, in fact, is now the largest trading partner for more than 120 countries, including Malaysia.

China is also the biggest market for automobiles, with 20 million cars sold in 2013. In comparison, the US sold only 14 million cars.

Indeed, from 2002 (after it joined the WTO) to 2013, the growth of its total trade rocketed to an annual average of more than 21%.

Its GDP for the corresponding period grew from US$1.3 trillion (RM4.13 trillion) to over US$9 trillion (RM28.6 trillion) in 2013.

Of course, China’s leaders had no way of knowing that all of these reforms would bear such remarkable fruit.

It was a risk they had to take, but it was one that paid off handsomely.

By embracing openness, China has transformed itself and perhaps even the world.

The lessons from China for Malaysia and other countries are clear: we have to be willing to embrace change.

Otherwise, the only other option is stagnation and decline.


By Datuk Seri Mustapa Mohamed

Datuk Seri Mustapa Mohamed is Minister of International Trade and Industry. The views expressed here are entirely the writer’s own. Fair and reasonable comments are most ­welcome at mustapa@miti.gov.my

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Friday, July 18, 2014

China to lead as superpower

 China will surpass US to become leading superpower - global survey finds it will or already has surpassed the US


People the world over tend to believe that China will surpass the US to become the world's leading superpower, China News Service said, citing a global survey.
Conducted by the Pew Research Center, the survey of 48,643 respondents older than 18 in 44 countries found that 49 percent agree that China will eventually replace or has replaced the US as the world's leading superpower, while 34 percent disagree.

This view is shared across all regions surveyed, especially among European countries. Across the seven European Union nations polled, 60 percent think China will or already has replaced the US.

In general, global views of China are positive. China's growing economy is considered a good thing by most countries, though China's increasing prosperity is considered a threat in some, one of which is the US.

China's image in the US has deteriorated, with 35 percent expressing a positive view, down from half in 2011, the report said.

Meanwhile, the rising power of China is generating anxiety among its neighbors. More than half of respondents in 11 Asian countries surveyed worry that territorial disputes will lead to conflict with China, including 93 percent of Filipinos, 85 percent of Japanese, 84 percent of Vietnamese and 83 percent of South Koreans.

Two-thirds of Americans and 62 percent of Chinese also say they are concerned.

Respondents in Japan, the Philippines and Vietnam see China as their top security threat, while the US is seen as the top security threat in three Asian nations: China, Pakistan and Malaysia.

Across the globe, young people tend to have more positive attitudes toward China than older respondents. In 23 countries, people aged 18 to 29 give China higher ratings than those 50 and older. In the UK, Mexico, the US and France, the gap between older and younger respondents is 20 percentage points.

World Sees China as Eventual Top Power, U.S. as Current Leading Economy

Source: Asia News Network

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Another Malaysian plane crash shrouded with mystery in Ukraine killing all 298 people!

Photo taken on July 17, 2014 shows the debris at the crash site of a passenger plane near the village of Grabovo, Ukraine. A Malaysian flight crashed Thursday in eastern Ukraine near the Russian border, with all the 280 passengers and 15 crew members on board reportedly having been killed. (Xinhua/RIA Novosti)

MOSCOW, July 17 (Xinhua) -- A Malaysian flight crashed Thursday in eastern Ukraine near the Russian border, with all the 283 passengers and 15 crew members on board reportedly having been killed.

A Malaysia Airlines Boeing 777, which was flying from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur, started descending 50 kilometers before entering Russian airspace, and was subsequently found burning on the ground on Ukrainian territory," Interfax news agency quoted an aviation source as saying.

The plane disappeared from radar at an altitude of 10,000 meters and then crashed near the city of Shakhtarsk in Ukraine's Donetsk region, it said, citing Ukrainian law enforcement authorities.

An advisor to Ukrainian Interior Minister Anton Herashchenko wrote on his Facebook that "280 passengers and 15 crew members have been killed."

A Xinhua reporter was stopped by local militias some 5 km from the crash site, and was asked to wait for permission to move closer. Witnesses said they heard loud explosions and saw human remains and identity documents scattering around.

The Chinese Embassy authorities in Kiev maintained close contact with Ukrainian partners, and were verifying information on any potential Chinese casualties, an official told Xinhua.

Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko said the plane could have been shot down, but the Ukrainian Armed Forces had nothing to do with it. Prime Minister Arseny Yatsenyuk said the government has formed a special investigative commission for the incident.

The Ukrainian Prosecutor General's Office said law enforcement authorities could not access the crash site for investigation, as it is controlled by the self-proclaimed Donetsk People's Republic (DPR).

Russian President Vladimir Putin Thursday informed U.S. President Barack Obama via telephone of the plane crash, and "had a detailed discussion on the acute crisis in Ukraine," the Kremlin press service said in a statement.

Putin said both of the conflicting sides have to cease fire immediately, and Russia had taken measures to resume consultations of the contact group "with participation of representatives of southeastern Ukraine."

The president has also offered his "deep condolences" to Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak over the deadly incident.

The cause of the crash was yet to be determined, but Kiev and eastern separatists have traded accusations over the responsibility. Kiev authorities said the militias shot down the plane with a Buk air defense system.

Meanwhile, Andrei Purgin, first deputy prime minister of the DPR, said they "simply do not have such air defense systems, our MANPADs have a firing range of only 3,000 to 4,000 meters," Interfax reported. Purgin said they will give the plane's flight recorders to Moscow for testing.

"Of course, we most likely will give them to the Interstate Aviation Committee (IAC), to Moscow. High-level experts, who will be able to determine exactly the reason of the catastrophe, work there," he said.

The crash came on the same day the DPR separatists claimed they had shot down two Ukrainian warplanes, an An-26 transport jet and a SU-25 fighter, which Kiev laid the blame on Russia.

Malaysia Airlines said in a statement it had received notification from the Ukrainian air traffic control that it had lost contact with flight MH17 at 1415 GMT, some 30 km from the Tamak waypoint, approximately 50 km from the Russia-Ukraine border. The Boeing 777 had left Amsterdam at 12:15 p.m. local time and was expected to arrive in Kuala Lumpur at 6:10 a.m. (2210 GMT) on Friday, the airline said.

Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak said Friday on his twitter account that he was "shocked by reports that a Malaysian Airline plane crashed," adding that they have launched an immediate investigation.

Meanwhile, Malaysian Deputy Foreign Minister Hamzah Zainuddin said that his ministry was working closely with the Russian and Ukraine governments on the tragic incident.

"We are working closely with both governments to get information," he said, adding, "currently we have some of the information, only waiting to be verified." - Xinhua

 蘋果日報:

‘Plane may have been shot down’

PETALING JAYA: A Malaysia Airlines plane flying from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur has crashed in the Ukraine-Russia border, and Ukraine’s president said the jet may have been shot down.

Reports said the Boeing 777-200ER carrying 280 passengers and 15 crew is believed to have been shot down near the village of Grabovo in the rebellion-wracked region of Donetsk.

MAS said it lost contact with the aircraft at 1415GMT (10.15pm Malaysian time).

Flight MH17 left Amsterdam’s Schipol Airport at 12.15pm local time (6.15pm, Malaysian time) and had been scheduled to arrive in Kuala Lumpur at 6.10am today.

Interfax-Ukraine news agency quoting unnamed security sources said teams from the emergency services were trying to reach the scene. However, it has not been determined who is responsible for the act and whether it was intentional or accidental.


Crash site: Smoke rising at the site where MH17 is said to have crashed in the donetsk region in ukraine.

The fate of the passengers and crew has yet to be verified, but reports have quoted the Ukraine Interior Ministry as saying there were no survivors.

Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko said in a statement in his website that the Ukraine armed forces did not fire at any targets in the sky.

The country’s Prime Minister Areseny Yatseniuk has ordered an investigation into what he said was an "airplane catastrophe".

However, Anton Gerashenko, an adviser to the Ukraine interior minister, said on his Facebook page the plane was flying at an altitude of 10,000m when it was hit by a missile fired from a Buk launcher. The Buk missile system can fire missiles up to an altitude of 22,000m.

Rebel leaders have also denied involvement, telling Russian news agencies that they were not responsible for shooting down the plane and pledged to allow "international experts" access to the crash site.

The pro-Russian rebels, who are fighting central Kiev authorities, claimed the plane had been shot down by a Ukrainian jet.

"Witnesses saw the plane being attacked by a battle plane of the Ukrainian forces," the government of the self-proclaimed Lugansk People’s Republic said in a statement. "After that, the passenger plane split into two in the air."

MAS said on its Twitter feed that it "has lost contact of MH17 from Amsterdam. The last known position was over Ukrainian airspace. More details to follow."

The region where the plane went down has seen severe fighting between Ukrainian forces and pro-Russia separatist rebels in recent days.

On Wednesday evening, a Ukrainian fighter jet was shot down by an air-to-air missile from a Russian plane, Ukrainian authorities said yesterday.

Earlier this week, Ukraine said a military transport plane was shot down on Monday by a missile fired from Russian territory.

This is the second tragedy involving MAS in four months, when a Beijing-bound airliner – also a Boeing 777-200ER – with 239 people on board went missing an hour after it took off from Kuala Lumpur International Airport on March 8. The search for Flight MH370 – in the southern Indian Ocean – is still ongoing. - The Star/Asia News Network

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