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China To UK: 'Golden' Ties At Crucial Juncture Over Nuclear Delay (reuters.com)
mdsolar quotes a report from Reuters: China has cautioned Britain against closing the door to Chinese money and said relations were at a crucial juncture after Prime Minister Theresa May delayed signing off on a $24 billion nuclear power project. In China's sternest warning to date over May's surprise decision to review the building of Britain's first nuclear plant in decades, Beijing's ambassador to London said that Britain could face power shortages unless May approved the Franco-Chinese deal. "The China-UK relationship is at a crucial historical juncture. Mutual trust should be treasured even more," Liu Xiaoming wrote in the Financial Times. "I hope the UK will keep its door open to China and that the British government will continue to support Hinkley Point -- and come to a decision as soon as possible so that the project can proceed smoothly." The comments signal deep frustration in Beijing at May's move to delay, her most striking corporate intervention since winning power in the political turmoil which followed Britain's June 23 referendum to leave the European Union.
Given that the wholesale price being guaranteed by the government for each kWh was massively higher than even the price consumers are expected to be paying when it was due to open I see no reason to go ahead with it. Energy prices should be dropping not climbing as we have better renewables being developed.
If you're unaware, China has made an artificial island in the South China sea, near the Philippines. It's claiming a lot of sea off Vietnam, Malasia and Phillipines waters as its own territory. It's even build an airbase on the new island and placed ground-to-air missiles on it.
It's military has targetted US spy planes flying over the islands, despite those planes having permission from the Philippines to fly over its sea.
http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2015/07/30/world/asia/what-china-has-been-building-in-the-south-china-sea.html?_r=0
UN has already adjudicated on this, and ruled the island as fake and the Chinese claim as false.
Do you really want their nuclear power plant in a western country? They seem to want to stir up a war.
Given that the British economy is mostly based on people sitting in office chairs surrounded by imported Chinese goods and that the British are already completely dependent on China for the most basic of everyday products it is in the interest of the Chinese to further nurture this culture of dependency on China. The British are deluded to think that the Chinese will continue to shower them in iPhones and PC's while they pump out nothing but intangible financial services. The Chinese are already realising they don't need the Western business suit middleman, having already made their way into the smartphone industry with completely domestic models and taken over the drone industry almost completely. Soon the Brits will have to start selling out to the Chinese bigtime if they want to continue their office chair based lifestyle for longer. I'd be very worried about the Chinese attempts to strong arm their way in and would be trying to keep them at bay and reduce dependency on imports from that country
...Yep, the same French government that is going to be taking a lead role in the Article 50 negotiations governing Brexit, already seems to be taking a hardline stance on the potential terms and, like all other members of the EU, has the ability to veto any deal that might be negotiated over Brexit. That all bodes well for a better Brexit deal with lower trade tariffs than the WTO default, doesn't it?
Anybody who thinks the UK will get some sort of sweetheart deal on access to the common market is delusional ...the same goes for anybody who thinks that only getting access to the common market on WTO defaults won't have an impact on the UK economy because UK trade in goods and services with the EU is so minimal as to be unimportant. I'm pretty sure the negotiations about a post Brexit relationship with the EU nations will not be hallmarked by the EU doing Britain any favours. These negotiations will be long be hard and quite mercilessly focused on what's in the best interest of the EU and as the negotiations drag on the uncertainty over what future they will face will either deter companies from making investments in the UK or if they have UK based operations they will simply move those operations elsewhere in Europe where the political classes are less likely to shoot themselves in both feet.
Meanwhile, having annoyed the Chinese, Theresa May is now apparently trying to improve relations with Russia which, while it definitely needs to happen in its own right, doesn't exactly scan well in connection with alienating the Chinese the week prior.
Not to mention that fact that normalising relations with Russia as long as the Ukrainian wound continues to fester will piss off a whole string off their allies, most of whom the UK will be conducting sensitive trade and economic negotiations that will severely affect the economic future of the UK for the foreseeable future.
Liu: Well suppose some of your power plants was to get broken and power lines start getting cut, er, power outages could occur during general inspection, like.
Xi: It wouldn't be good for business would it, Ma'am?
May: Are you threatening me?
Xi: Oh, no, no, no.
Liu: Whatever made you think that, Ma'am?
Xi: The Prime Minister doesn't think we're nice people, Liu.
Liu: We're your buddies, Ma'am.
Xi: We want to look after you.
May: Look after me?
https://youtu.be/pm5mtpPtW1Q?t...
Signature deleted by lameness filter.
I totally agree; there's never going to be a sweetheart deal, nor was there ever any chance of one. The EU has to look out for the EU at this point. Basically, I think it's going to come down a choice between an EEA access agreement similar to Norway's with all the strings that entails, or a full exit and having to pay trade tariffs to the EU with all the strings that entails. There will be a little give and take on the details, but pretty much everything else comes down to window dressing on the EEA terms & conditions. Obviously any EEA access agreement that includes the almost inevitable free travel precondition is going to be considered completely unacceptable to most of those who voted Brexit, so I'm really looking forwards to see how Theresa May tries to salvage this and get another term - and who she's going to throw under the bus to try and pull it off (other than David Davis and Boris Johnson, obviously).
UNIX? They're not even circumcised! Savages!
Was a propaganda piece.
Remember, culturally, China takes the long view, and that includes fucking you over until you are their vassal.
The Chinese government's reaction to the delay could be construed as rather hypocritical, in view of its present action in claiming territorial rights over almost the whole of the South China Sea - in flagrant disregard of international law.
The British government is, in my opinion, quite right to pause and consider the full ramifications of the Hinkley Point project, including the reliance on Chinese investment on such a massive scale. Britain must not make itself a hostage to fortune.
I really wonder if May is trying to sabotage the whole thing. She put the worst of the Brexiters in charge of our negotiations and forging new deals with the rest of the world, making what was always going to be a difficult task doomed to utter failure. They all have unrealistic goals, a severe lack of talent and in Boris' case a well earned reputation for lying and xenophobia.
May probably thinks that the situation is hopeless and that the only way she can survive is by making sure others take the blame.
Oh, and don't forget that Scotland and maybe Gibraltar are very likely to leave the union soon, taking with them the last of our oil/gas and our best wind resources. If they are forced/decide to adopt the Euro too they could well walk away from much of the Sterling debt we amassed too.
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SJW, n: "Someone I don't like, and by the way I'm a fuckwit" - AC
The nuclear business in China is state owned and supported by goverment sponsered industrial espionage. It is unsurprising that it would get diplomatic assistance as well. The forcefulness of that aid may only confirm the UKs concern over their involvement.
The EEA option would be the best we can hope for from this disaster, but I'd say the chances are remote. It will be a hard sell politically, because people want and end to freedom of movement and EU rules. Also, Norway might block us because it would create headaches for them, and potentially cause them political problems when we inevitably start trying to negotiate opt-outs and special treatment.
I think the only way it could happen if a vote is somehow forced on Brexit. One of the legal challenges, or an early election, something like that which makes parliament have to approve the deal. And then there would need to be enough of a Tory meltdown/rebellion to reject the "full Brexit" route. Never go full Brexit.
I think May is just hoping she can blame enough of her ministers for the inevitable disaster, and that Labour don't get their act together.
const int one = 65536; (Silvermoon, Texture.cs)
SJW, n: "Someone I don't like, and by the way I'm a fuckwit" - AC
Scotland will leave. Gibraltar will join them, either as part of Scotland or as an independent micronation. Otherwise they will have to accept joint Spanish sovereignty because once outside the EU, Spain will no longer be obliged to make passing through the border they depend on easy.
If Scotland leaves Sterling, it will only have to retain its own debts. It's bizarre to think it could be any other way. You are correct that the UK national debt is not tied to the currency, it's tied to the UK government. If Soctland retains Sterling it will be obliged to contribute to reducing that debt, because the value of Sterling is partially dependent on the ability for it to be serviced and because any agreement would likely mandate that they do. If they adopt the Euro, only debts belonging to the Scottish government and secured on Scottish assets will be carried with them, and the rest will be left to the rUK.
That's why the rUK will likely agree to let them keep Sterling, assuming they still want it. Post Brexit, they may feel that the Euro is a better bet, especially if Gibraltar joins them.
const int one = 65536; (Silvermoon, Texture.cs)
SJW, n: "Someone I don't like, and by the way I'm a fuckwit" - AC
...to see that a nuclear plant built in your country by a state which has shown: ...might be a colossally bad idea, strategically.
- complete disregard for international norms,
- a callous disregard for its own citizens lives (to say nothing of others)
- a cheerful disregard of international commitments
- policy goals inimical to the general goals of Western powers
-Styopa
"But Nick Timothy, May's influential joint chief of staff, also said last year that security experts were worried the state-owned Chinese group would have access to computer systems that could allow it to shut down Britain's energy production.
"Rational concerns about national security are being swept to one side because of the desperate desire for Chinese trade and investment," Timothy wrote in October 2015 in a column for a conservative news and comment website. " http://www.reuters.com/article...
Sorry China not everyone's your bitch....
You'd have to be pretty insane to prefer the second one. Given those choices, I doubt that leave would win. By negotiating the worst possible deal, she's in a good position to hold a second referendum without the leave side being able to promise unrealistic things.
I am TheRaven on Soylent News
"Meanwhile, having annoyed the Chinese, Theresa May is now apparently trying to improve relations with Russia which, while it definitely needs to happen in its own right, doesn't exactly scan well in connection with alienating the Chinese the week prior."
Are you surprised? As leaders, both Putin and May are basically unelected dictators whatever shame of a democracy they profess to be legitamised by. No one voted in a democratic election of the populace for May to be PM. If she wants legitimacy she'll have to call elections, otherwise anything she does should frankly be deemed illegitimate if we wish to continue to profess to be a democracy. It's bad enough that FPTP allows parties to obtain 100% of power with only 38% of popular support, but the fact that internal party politics can lead to a completely different PM, with completely different political goals, ideas, and priorities than that which was elected is unacceptable.
Don't disagree with the rest of what you say, but the link you're making between sterling and debt is complete drivel. It was something Salmond plastered together when he started getting desperate and is as incorrect as Farage and co's £350mill claims. It was broadly debunked at the time, so I'm amazed anyone would still parrot it.
The fact is that debt and currency are two separate things, a debt is expressed in a currency, but is not in any way linked to that currency. The international norm for national splits is that each departing element of a nation gets a population based proportion of both a nations assets and it's debts. It doesn't matter what Scotland would choose as it's new currency, it still has to take a population share of the UK's debt. This can change but it's based on mutual agreement, and typically involves one country giving up some assets to the other in return for an equivalent reduction in debt burden, so for example, Scotland might decide it doesn't need 24 Eurofighters or whatever, and so decides to let rUK keep 12 of them in return for an equivalent reduction in debt equal to the cost of those 12 Eurofighters. There isn't however enough assets that Scotland could realistically give up to even remotely approach a complete mitigation of it's proportional debt allocation as you're suggesting.
The problem with your argument is this line:
"If Scotland leaves Sterling, it will only have to retain its own debts."
It doesn't actually make any sense, Scotland doesn't have any independent debts because it's not an independent country. Whilst it has devolution, that's ultimately just giving it control of a proportion of the UK's pot, but it's still ultimately the same pot as the UK as a whole. Scotland's debts ARE the UK's debts because Scotland is part of the UK, hence, why, if there was a split, Scotland's share would need to be calculated, and that would be done on the international norm of population proportion.
It would make absolutely no sense if a country could say, get a parent country to blow billions on defence of it, getting into debt in the process, and then declare independence, but refusing to accept that it benefitted from that debt. No international court would ever back that viewpoint because it just doesn't make any kind of sense for a splitting country to completely offload it's costs onto the other half. Scotland cannot for example argue that it did not benefit from the bank bailouts which contributed to national debt when one of the biggest bailouts at £202bn was RBS (Royal Bank of Scotland).
I actually think it would make sense for Scotland to become independent at this point and as someone that was against it in 2014, I'm wholly for it now. Scotland is too different to the rest of the UK and I can fully understand why it wouldn't want to be associated with the ignorant, bigoted, isolationist, little Englander view that has now consumed England, but that doesn't change the fact that if they do get independence that they'd have to accept their fair share of debt, no amount of nonsense talk like pretending Scottish debt is somehow separate to British debt (it isn't) or economically illiterately suggesting there is some kind of link between currency and debt (there isn't).
If nothing else, were Scotland to refuse to service their share of British debt upon independence then the rUK would refuse to acknowledge it also (as it would not be assigned to them anyway), such that the credit ratings firms would class Scotland to have defaulted. That's really not a good position to be in as a newly independent nation that needs to borrow to build up the necessary state institutions to thrive independently.
No matter what wishful thinking Salmond peddled when he got desperate, it does not change the reality of international economics. I agree though, I don't think it would matter, who would want Sterling no anyway? The Euro will far and away be a better bet over the next few decades now as Europe sorts it's problems out whilst the UK hasn't even begun with it's self-inflicted harm.