September 03, 2009
USA CHINA War Games
The head of the US Pacific Command (USPACOM), Admiral Timothy Keating, said in Australia that he would like to engage China in joint war games with the US Navy and the Australian military. According to Reuters both nations have agreed to invite the Chinese Ministry of National Defense to naval and possibly land exercises.....
Labels: australia, defense, navy, pentagon
February 18, 2009
NATIONALISM: Aussie Greens Say NO to China
Chinese metal giant Minmetals is offering $1.7 billion (US dollars) for Australian zinc miner OZ Minerals. OZ's shares are up 17 percent today. The news comes just after Chinese conglomerate Chinalco offered near $20 billion to iron ore producer/supplier Rio Tinto. All this activity is too much for the Australian Green Party which is objecting to the deals...
Labels: australia, free trade
October 14, 2008
China Steel Sector Collapsing
Steel prices in China have fallen 12% over the past week and all major steel producers are scaling back production around 20% possibly through the end of the year. Steel makers are facing a dramatic decline in orders and their supply chain is affected down to the iron ore mines. Australian mines' orders are being cancelled and many older steel manufacturing areas in China such as in Henan Province are shutting down. In the US, scrap dealers are seeing exports dwindle and demand from China dry up.
If the global economy doesn't pick up and boom again, China's steel industry may become the first great victim of the Panic of '08. If so, I expect many of the older steel centers of China will not reopen and further consolidation in the industry through mergers and acquisitions.
Labels: australia, foreign trade, panic of 2008, steel
March 01, 2007
Talisman Sabre v Peace Mission
Battlefield Asia heats up this year with rival war games planned in Russia and Australia. In June "Talisman Sabre 2007" will bombard Australia's Northern Territory including ecologically sensitive areas around the famed Great Barrior Reef. The joint exercises will involve up to 14,000 USA troops and 12,000 Aussies and test all sorts of new weapons in a massive training of land, sea, and air forces in various simulations of an attack on China. The air component will fly B1 and B2 bombers from Guam on a round trip to rain bombs on the land below. The games are a result of permissions granted the USA in 2004 by the government of Australian Prime Minister Howard. There is some popular opposition building in Australia and the games could impact Howard's chances in this year's elections.
Not to be outdone, Shanghai Cooperation Organization leaders Russia and China will kick off "Peace Mission 2007" in July a joint excercise in the Chelyabinsk region of Russia's southern Urals. Chelyabinsk is an industrial powerhouse and home to Russia's biggest iron and steel complex. Both Presidents Putin and Hu are rumoured to be attending. The games will take place in a region close to the Kazakhstan border around 1,000 miles from the borders of Iran and Iraq. It is believed Russia is pressuring China for a direct military alliance perhaps by joining the Collective Security Treaty Organization. But Beijing appears in no hurry to forge an alliance although a change in Iran could change that quickly.
Not to be outdone, Shanghai Cooperation Organization leaders Russia and China will kick off "Peace Mission 2007" in July a joint excercise in the Chelyabinsk region of Russia's southern Urals. Chelyabinsk is an industrial powerhouse and home to Russia's biggest iron and steel complex. Both Presidents Putin and Hu are rumoured to be attending. The games will take place in a region close to the Kazakhstan border around 1,000 miles from the borders of Iran and Iraq. It is believed Russia is pressuring China for a direct military alliance perhaps by joining the Collective Security Treaty Organization. But Beijing appears in no hurry to forge an alliance although a change in Iran could change that quickly.
Labels: australia, china, games, peace mission 2007, russia, talisman sabre, usa, war
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