International Law

Reverse Discrimination Alleged -- White Executive Terminated by Japanese Company

Posted on February 07, 2009
Van Etten v. Mitsui, 09-cv-1071, brought in Federal Court in Manhattan, alleges that the Japanese company practice of installing a "glass ceiling" above which only Japanese may rise constitutes an unlawful practice of discrimination. [Once I resolve the login problems, I'll access the PACER system and upload a PDF of the complaint to this blog...

Protectionist Policies in the Third World -- India Bans Chinese Toy Imports for Six Months

Posted on February 03, 2009
India's Directorate of Foreign Trade announced last week a temporary ban of six months on Chinese toy imports. The Toys Manufacturers Association of India said it was pleasantly surprised by the decision of the Commerce Ministry to prohibit shipments of cheap toys from China...

On Again, Off Again (Repeat) -- The "Bad Bank"

Posted on January 30, 2009
The Bad Bank (see yesterday's post) has hit a snag and may not progress past the light bulb stage. Executive regulators don't seem to know how it would work in practice. Federal Deposit Insurance Corp Chairman Sheila Bair is apparently pushing for the top post of Baddest Banker: FDIC Chairman Sheila Bair is pushing to run the operation, which would buy the toxic assets clogging banks? balance sheets, one of the people said...

US to Implement Chinese-Style Toxic Asset Buy

Posted on January 28, 2009
American lawmakers appear to have shelved the frightful idea of "nationalizing" failing banks. However, they've now settled down to discuss -- from media commentary, frantically -- a plan that mimics the experience of modern Chinese banking regulators: the creation of a "bad bank" to remove toxic assets from the system...

To access this complete feed in the blog feed reader login or register for free.

Indian Migrant Workers in Dubai Drive to Airport, Leave Keys in Ignition and Fly Away

Posted on January 27, 2009
Not only are Korean expats leaving China, as we posted earlier this month, but migrant Indian workers are no longer willing to call Dubai home: It's the great escape by Indians who've hit the dead-end in Dubai. Local police have found at least 3,000 automobiles -- sedans, SUVs, regulars -- abandoned outside Dubai International Airport in the last four months...

Watch Out! The Email Scam Some Attorneys Fall For

Posted on January 26, 2009
Due diligence on potential clients purporting to hail from foreign lands means more than simply calling the bank and asking if their "Official Bank Check" is good. This article follows the latest court filing, Buckley, White, Castaneda & Howell v. Citibank, in which an eager attorney is now on the hook for $182,500...

Here We Go Again! New U.S. Treasury Secretary and Manipulation of the RMB

Posted on January 23, 2009
Paulson's Legacy: Geithner: Timothy F. Geithner, who moved closer to confirmation as Treasury secretary on Thursday, told senators that President Obama believed China was ?manipulating? its currency, Again? Since 2006, we've discussed Treasury's desire to move the RMB, but, by now, it's become a dreadful bore...

Transparency in the U.S. -- Who Can Now Say the Chinese Government is Opaque?

Posted on January 20, 2009
Federal Reserve Board Vice-Chairman Donald Kohn before Congress on the importance of keeping secret the names of the recipients of the American banking bail-out. Gasp. I don't think I can muster up even a single comment on this one.

The Trade Surplus: Will China, Like Garbo, Continue to Plead: "I Vant to Be Alone?"

Posted on January 19, 2009
An enjoyable article by Alan Wheatley: China and the "Garbo Defense." Indeed, what economic policy toward China will the Obama administration adopt? Any at all? "In bad times everybody talks more about financial cooperation, but the reality is that in bad times everyone wants to take care of himself first," said Shi Yinhong, an international security professor at Renmin University in Beijing...

A Treat -- The Markopolos Madoff Letter to the SEC

Posted on January 07, 2009
Sorry, China Hands, but this is too fascinating -- must share it with all those following the Madoff Meltdown. Harry Markopolos's 2005 letter to the SEC. Lengthy, detailed, intelligent, outrageous.

1 in 5 South Koreans Living in China Have Left

Posted on January 07, 2009
One in five of an estimated 700,000 South Koreans living in China at the start of 2007 have left [China], according to the [South Korean] consulate in Beijing. A brief article on its causes, worth reading.

Electric Power Generation No Longer a Growth Industry in China?

Posted on January 06, 2009
Growth in electric power generation "has collapsed under the weight of the global economic implosion ? at least for now," claims Andrew Revkin, author of the New York Times Dot Earth blog,. Environmental activists appear to consider this progress in the climate control wars -- the necessity for which I question...

"It's China's Fault," say American Economists

Posted on December 26, 2008
As further evidence of the negative feeling towards China, read this piece. Citing three economists (Bernanke, Rogoff and Laurence Myer), as well as a handful of non-economist political figures, its authors claim that "some" American economists now view Chinese capital inflows into the U...

Happy Holidays from Asiabizblog!

Posted on December 24, 2008
Asiabizblog wishes all of our readers the merriest of holidays and best wishes for the New Year. Hope springs eternal and Spring is just around the corner. In that spirit, I thought I'd share with you a poem a friend in Beijing sent me this morning...

Blast from the Past -- The Art of Feigning Sincerity

Posted on December 23, 2008
[I'm pleased to post an article of mine, originally seen in the October, 2001 issue of US Business Review.] The art of feigning sincerity is practiced around the globe, with some cultures better at it than others. Rich Kuslan explains why he?d rather just be honest...

Rising Tide of Feeling Against China and Chinese Imports

Posted on December 20, 2008
The animus towards China -- specifically imported products -- has never, in my lifetime, been as acute nor as widespread than it is today. This article and the popular comments below it show the depth of contrary feeling. Chinese products are blamed for being injurious to human health, cheaply made, made with slave labor, anti-American, etc...

VIDEO EVENT: Dr. Eileen Wibbeke on Global Business Leadership

Posted on December 19, 2008
I'm pleased to present Dr. Eileen Wibbeke, author of the textbook, Global Business Leadership, who recently gave a talk to Google executives on international business leadership at Googleplex.

U.S. Commerce Dept. Waves Goodbye to the Export License VEU Program

Posted on December 18, 2008
The Validated End User (VEU) program, about which we wrote in June, will soon become but a bad memory, according the Washington Times. The program allowed the companies to obtain dual-use technologies without the formal security checks required for an export license...

Direct Ocean Cargo fShipments Between Taiwan and Mainland China Now Permitted

Posted on December 15, 2008
As of today, direct ocean cargo shipments between Taiwan and China are permitted,. ???? (Taiwan's daily business newspaper): ???????????????12?????????????????????????????????????????????????14??????????15?????????????????????????????????????? 17 carriers have applied for permits -- 12 of them mainland Chinese, five of them Taiwanese...

Steep Drop in China's Foreign Trade

Posted on December 11, 2008
I do believe last summer that Asiabizblog predicted a steep drop in trade coming shortly. Well, here it is. Beijing announced yesterday that its November exports dropped 2.2 percent after a 19.2 percent surge in October. Imports took an even steeper drop, falling 17...

Audio Event: Chinese Advertising with Kevin Swanepool

Posted on December 09, 2008
Kevin Swanepool, CEO of The One Club, discusses creativity in Chinese business and his organization's China Creative Workshops to encourage young advertisers in Greater China.

Chinese Front Companies and Export-Controlled Purchases

Posted on December 03, 2008
Cliff Burns at ExportLaw Blog recounts the tale of Chinese operatives, who'd set up a front company to buy export-controlled items, ensnared by American operatives who'd set up a front company to catch front companies doing precisely that. Front companies of foreign intelligence services are most likely a dime a dozen, but it is rare when they are discovered, no less made public and prosecuted publicly...

Video Event: Chinese MIgrants Return to Countryside

Posted on December 02, 2008
This Wall Street Journal article discusses what is a minor phenomenon at present, that of Chinese migrants to urban centers returning home, out of work, to their villages. One or two million jobless is an insignficant number, a police problem, perhaps...

ALERT: American Companies in China: US to Redouble Enforcement of Foreign Corrupt Practices Act:

Posted on November 25, 2008
The American Foreign Corrupt Practices Act seeks to criminalize bribery of foreign officials -- not of American officials -- by regulating and punishing the conduct of Americans doing business globally. In its "Report of the Committee on Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs to Accompany S...

Video Event: The Onion Speaks on the Chinese Court System

Posted on November 20, 2008
Have we ever before seen such commentary on the Chinese court system? Or on China, from Westerners? 20 years ago, China was held the object of veneration -- perhaps because few knew anything about her. But she is now the target of and criticism, which grows ever more intense, and even ridicule...

Chinese Government Tells FDA To Enjoy Its Wonderful Vacation Spots

Posted on November 20, 2008
In yesterday's post, we noted the opening of the FDA office in Beijing and the frustration that they are bound to expect. The struggle has begun. "China hopes the U.S. side accepts certificates offered by the Chinese quality inspection department on goods to be exported to the United States," Foreign Ministry spokesman Qin Gang was quoted as saying by the state-run Xinhua news agency...

Another "So What?": American Food and Drug Administration Announces the Establishment of an Office in Beijing

Posted on November 19, 2008
We?re opening up a new era, not just new offices...a permanent F.D.A. presence in China. So claims Mike Leavitt, Secretary of Health and Human Services for the Bush administration. Well, at least there will be a physical presence -- but whether or not this office will be able to inspect any of the factories it wishes remains to be seen...

Another, Yet Another Email Scam Targeting Lawyers

Posted on November 16, 2008
Another scam mail targeting lawyers. Similar content to previous scams: delinquent accounts in the U.S. requiring your legal services to recover. You'll notice, however, that, in this email, the author has inserted my name, as if to reassure me that his request is genuine...

The Chinese "Stimulus Package" -- A Few Notes from a Political Economist

Posted on November 14, 2008
Victor Shih's always engrossing Elite Chinese Politics & Political Economy blog talks about the Chinese bail-out: There is a rumor that Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, a government think-tank, came up with a plan to set up a government fund to buy up Chinese stocks if the market falters drastically...

FDA Issues Blanket Detention Order of Certain Products From Chinese Manufacturers

Posted on November 13, 2008
Below you will find the relevant text of the FDA's import detention order of Chinese-made product, as reported by the AP today. Note the breadth of products potentially affected. Physical inspection is not required under this order for detention. (For some background on melamine, read this FDA paper on melamine contamination in China) Products affected by this order include: PRODUCT Bakery Products/Doughs/Mixes/Icings Cereal Preparations Breakfast Food Ready to Eat Breakfast Food Quick Cook Snack Foods Milk/Butter/Dried Milk Products Cheese/Cheese Products Ice Cream Products Filled Milk/imitation Milk Products Soft Drink, Milk Based (Chocolate Flavored), Noncarbonated Noncarbonated Soft Drink, N...

Bloggers, promote your law blog by nominating your blog for inclusion in USLaw.com's Law Blog Directory and RSS Reader. Benefits described.