Financial Times (FT)

choi

My comment: There is no need to read the rest of (1) or (2).

(1) Geoff Dyer, A Less Pacific Ocean. The naval build-up by Beijing and a Pentagon shift in seaborne firepower towards Asia are creating an arena for rivalries that it will require ever more efforts to defuse. FT, Feb 13, 2012.

Excerpt in the window of print: 'The US wants to deny China the ability to control even its own maritime approaches. That sets a high bar.'

Quote:

"For much of the past two decades, American officials say, the strategy towards China has been a mixture of hedging and engagement--the alliance with Japan being the main form of hedging and China's entry to the World Trade Organisation an example of engagement. But in the past two years there has been a lot more hedging. It started when Hillary Clinton, secretary of state, infuriated Beijing in 2010 by saying the US could act as a mediator in the territorial disputes between China and some of its neighbours in the South China Sea.

"'If the [US] objective is just toprevent territorial expansion [by China], then the US strategy could work,' syas Raoul Heinrichs at Australia's Lowy Institution. 'But what the US is saying is that it wants to deny China the ability to control even its own maritime approaches, which is much more expensive. They have set themselves a very high bar.'

(2) Jamil Anderli, Enigmatic Xi Faces Balancing Act in US; Chin'a likely next leader in spotlight; Outspokenness poses a challenge. FT, Feb 11, 2012
("His [Xi's] first wife was the daughter of a Chinese ambassador to London and she eventually returned to the UK, leaving him in China to pursue his ambition of becoming a party leader. His elder sister left China for Canada, while his younger brother moved to Hong Kong. Today, Mr Xi's only child, a daughter, is enrolled at Harvard under a pseudonym")

My comment: I have a acquaintance from People's Republic of China. Many times, he, though poor and middle-aged, shows romantic interest on the daughter and broaches the idea to see her. Thinking his only advantage is living in Boston, I discourage him every time, saying that she must have a pseudonym and/or be protected by bodyguards, pointing out that Qiao Shi's daughter, a Harvrad undergraduate more than a decade ago while her father was among Chna's top leader, registered under a pseudonym as reported. The FT report is the first to indicate this is also the case for Xi's daughter.

(3) Lenovo. FT, Feb 10, 2012 (in the Lex Column)
http://m.theglobeandmail.com/rep ... ick/article2333646/
("losses on these segments [both computers in emerging markets and smartphones] tripled in the third quarter from a year earlierWhile today's performance deserves credit, investors should be careful of how long Mr Yang is willing to tolerate losses in his quest to expand.