Economist, Apr 20, 2019

choi

(1) Chaguan | Joining the Resistance; China's assertiveness is encouraging new solidarity among Western envoys in Beijing.
https://www.economist.com/printedition/2019-04-20

Quote:

"It would be foolish to claim that China has united the world. But the grumbling [among Western governments] is at least more co-ordinated [British English is also coordinated, without a hyphen]. * * *

"In an unusual move spearheaded by Canada, 15 Western ambassadors last year wrote to request a meeting with Chen Quanguo, Xingiang's hardline Communist Party boss.  That led to a display of solidarity that startled China. * * *

(2) The future of cars | Charging Ahead; Big carmakers are placing vast bets on battery powers.
("In 1900 ONE in three cars on American roads ran on volts [ie, electric cars running on battery]. Then oil began gushing out of Texas. Cheaper than battery, and easier to top up, petrol [British English for gas, short for gasoline] fuelled [again British English] the rise of mass-produced automobiles. Cost and worries about limited range have kept electric vehicles (EVS [American English: EVs]) in a niche ever since. * * * For every one of the 2m or so pure EVS [such as Tesla's, which runs on battery only] and plug-in hybrids, which combine batteries and internal-combustion engine (ICES), sold in 2018, the world's carmakers shifted 50 petrol or diesel cars.  EV sales are, however, accelerating as quickly as electric motors [the engine of EVs] themselves")

Note: "oil began gushing out of Texas"
(a) Spindletop
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spindletop
(in City of Beaumont, Texas; Jan 10, 1901; United States soon became the world's leading oil producer)
(i) Henry Millard founded Beaumont in 1835 and named it after his wife's maiden name (surname).  en.wikipedia.org for Henry Millard.
(ii) Beaumont is near Gulf coast, and is 85 miles (137 km) east of Houston.  en.wikipedia.org for Beaumont.
(b) Spindletop-Gladys City Boomtown Museum
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sp ... ity_Boomtown_Museum
(section 1 The Spindletop Oil Boom: "The name 'Spindletop' dates from before the Civil War when a slight rise of the ground just south of Beaumont, Texas, became known as Spindletop Hill. One theory about the origin of its name is that the heat waves, rising from the surrounding prairie, gave a grove of trees on the hill the appearance of a spinning top" 陀螺)

(3) China's GDP | Growth in Train; As lending surge in China, an economic rebound is in sight.
https://www.economist.com/financ ... -after-a-decade-low
(paragraph 1: "JUST OVER 25 years ago Shanghai launched its metro with a single, stubby line. Since then it has added 15 lines and some 700km, making it the world’s longest metro system. It is far from done. The city recently unveiled plans for another 300km, including overland rail, within five years. Much of the work proceeds unseen as machines bore tunnels beneath the surface. But excavation holes around the city offer clues about the activity deep underground")

My comment:
(a) Often I have wondered Why Taiwan has not used boring machine to build subway or underground train system (though it has sometimes used it in tunneling of mountains).
(b) "Opening in 1993 with full-scale construction extending back to 1986, the Shanghai Metro is the third-oldest rapid transit system in mainland China, after the Beijing Subway and the Tianjin Metro."  en.wikipedia.org for Shanghai Metro 上海地铁.

(4) Japan's economy | Still Sputtering; A Planned increase in sales taxes could snuff growth out altogether.
https://www.economist.com/financ ... o-raise-sales-taxes
("That increase [from 8 to 10%] is now scheduled for October")

(5) Imports and exports | Everything to Gain by Their Chains; Is the world economy still slowbalising?
https://www.economist.com/financ ... -still-slowbalising
("it [PROTON Holdings: all uppercase per en.wikipedia.org] sold a stake [49.9%, PROTON retains 50.1%] to Geely, a Chinese carmaker, in 2017 [before that, PROTON was 'wholly owned by the government of Malaysia': en.wikipedia.org]. Neighbouring Thailand, in contrast, lacks a national car, but boasts a thriving car industry. Carmaking took off in the late 1980s after Japanese multinationals flocked to the country, importing whatever they could not make or buy within its borders. Foreign parts still account for 56% of the value of Thailand's car exports, according to the most recent data from the World Trade Organisation (WTO). But the remaining home-grown value exceeds the total worth of Malaysia's car exports several times over")