AG NSW, the Liberal candidate for Cronulla has never addressed the issue of the 26% spike in Top Group share price before re-accreditation by his officers on 27 June 2019- Even more issues that go to NSW Liberal party funding, which AG NSW Mark Speakman has failed to address

by Ganesh Sahathevan 

       NSW AG Mark Speakman defending his Cronulla seat

The AG NSW, the Liberal candidate for Cronulla has never addressed the issue of the 26% spike in Top Group share price before re-accreditation on 27 June 2019. This adds to NSW Liberal party funding issues  which  concern AG NSW Mark Speakman  which he has failed to address.

Tuesday, March 23, 2021

Zhu Minshen's Top Group share price spiked 26% before re-accreditation on 27 June 2019: NSW LPAB personnel should have been the only persons with knowledge of the price sensitive information

 by Ganesh Sahathevan 

Zhu Minshen's Top Group share price spiked 26%, from a then new record low of 0.27 HKD, to a high of 0.32 HKD in the week before re-accreditation on 27 June 2019. It continued its climb to a high of 0.36 HKD, from which it has since sunk to a new record low of 0.22 HKD.

NSW LPAB personnel should have been the only persons with knowledge of that price sensitive information; with regards the results of the review, and the date of notification. 

                                                   

                                         

TO BE READ WITH 

Thursday, January 14, 2021

Zhu Minshen Top Group law school enrolments still frozen: Regulator NSW LPAB & its Chairman , the Chief Justice NSW Tom Bathurst, maintain silence, despite re-accrediting Zhu's law school in 2019 for five years

 by Ganesh Sahathevan

         Ambassador Cheng Jingye Pays an Official Visit to the State of New 
                          South Wales   (2016/08/16)

The Acting Dean of  Zhu Minshen's Top Group law school Katherine Lindsay , has confirmed in writing, that the law school is still not enrolling news students.  As reported the Top Group froze enrolments in 2019 , for the 2020 year, shortly after receiving re-accreditation from the regulator, the NSW Legal Profession Admission Board, and its chairman, the Chief Justice NSW Tom Bathurst. 

TO BE READ WITH 

Sunday, August 9, 2020

Zhu Minshen Top Group law school froze enrolments in 2019 after NSW LPAB reaccreditation: NSW LPAB & its Chairman , the Chief Justice NSW Tom Bathurst, have provided no explanation

by Ganesh Sahathevan

                          Ambassador Cheng Jingye Pays an Official Visit to the State of New 
                          South Wales   (2016/08/16)

The following statement appears at the bottom of Zhu Minhen's Top Education law school website:


* Law school is currently not accepting any new enrolments for its Bachelor of Laws course

The Acting Dean of the law school,  Katherine Lindsay , has confirmed in writing :

No new law students have been admitted  in 2020.

The decision to freeze enrolments appears to have been made after the NSW Legal Profession Admission Board reaccredited Top's license to issue law degrees on 27 June 2019. 

The NSW LPAB and its Chairman, the Chief Justice NSW Tom Bathurst, have provided no public explanation and have maintained their usual silence. 

Top is listed on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange but the HKEX has not been informed of this freezing of law school enrolments, despite Top relying on its "one and only" and "very unique" law school to sell its IPO.

TO BE READ WITH 

Friday, September 27, 2019

Zhu Minshen announces that NSW LPAB review "went smoothly": AG NSW Mark Speakman and officers unconcerned by Clive Hamilton's disclosures of threats, intimidation and defiance of AFP directives ,share price collapse

by Ganesh Sahathevan

The LPAB''s tick of approval does not seem to have reversed the downward trend in share price.Indeed it does look as if the LPAB has ignored all together the fact that Top's market capitalisation has collapsed since listing. Note that Top's shareprice has fallen 14.29% over the past month,compared to 1.13% for the overall market as measured by the Hang Seng Index

In the words of Zhu Minshen, chairman and CEO of his Top Education Group Ltd:



Bachelor of Law Re-accreditation 

The scheduled re-accreditation process of our Bachelor of Laws (‘‘LLB’’) went smoothly. On 27 June 2019, TOP received formal notification from the Legal Profession Admission Board of New South Wales (‘‘LPAB’’) to accredit TOP’s LLB for a further five-year period commencing from the notification date.
(TOP EDUCATION GROUP LTD
ANNOUNCEMENT OF ANNUAL RESULTS FOR THE YEAR ENDED 30 JUNE 2019)




All this despite the revelations of open defiance of an AFP directive, threats and intimidation disclosed in Clive Hamilton's "Silent Invasion",which have been previously reported on this blog:

In his 2018 book "Silent Invasion" Professor Clive Hamilton reports that Top Education Group's Zhu Minshen organised  students , including students from his Top Education Institute to protest  against Tibetans at the  2008 rally , which counted towards the Top students’ assessment.  Zhu’s Top Institution is “perhaps the only accredited degree program in Australia that counts agitating for a foreign power towards its qualifications.”


Hamilton provides details of Zhu's Communist Party China antecedents and his organisation of the 30,000 strong demonstration by Chinese students at the Canberra torch relay, many of them brandishing Chinese flags.

This was clearly an open challenge to the authority , and in public defiance  of, the AFP's directive to Chinese government security that they were not to be involved in the torch relay. As Hamilton puts is "ASIO shat themselves".

Despite this open defiance of the law that they are meant to defend and uphold the Attorney General NSW Mark Speakman and the other senior judicial officers at the LPAB determined that an exception should  be made to allow Zhu to operate the "first and only" law school in Australia that is not part of a university.

END 

See Also 

Law Council Australia 's exception for Zhu Minshen despite Law Council declaring China's justice system "a joke"

"The fishy smell around Zhu Minshen's Top Education Institute": Clive Hamilton's "Silent Invasion" raises questions for NSW AG Mark Speakman & the LPAB

Posted by Ganesh Sahathevan at 5:37 AM 

Posted by Ganesh Sahathevan at 10:10 PM  

College Of Law Australia continues to make false claims about its work in Malaysia

 by Ganesh Sahathevan 

The College Of Law Australia continues to claim on its website that its CEO Neville Carter (centre above) was  once Head Professional Practice, University  of  Technology (MARA, Shah Alam, Malaysia).

Carter and the College have refused to answer questions about the above claim , and the other  claims the College and he have made about their work in Malaysia. 

UiTM-MARA law school has said in response to a written query that Carter was only a senior lecturer and consultant when he was seconded by the College Of Law to UiTM-MARA in the mid 80s.

It was a point in time when MARA was considering various options for the legal courses it offered. This included discussions with the Leo Cussens Institute In Victoria, and secondment of senior law lecturers in among other subjects Criminal Law from Monash  University, which is also in Victoria. A number of MARA lecturers undertook postgraduate studies at the Monash Law faculty during this time. 

Those who worked with Carter recall a joint effort, and not the heroic version that the College and Carter present of their contribution to Malaysia legal practise. 

Meanwhile the College has yet to provide any explanation anywhere for its sudden exodus from Malaysia in 2019.

To Be Read With 

Bar Council education ‘JV’ must be clarified

By Editor , in Scandal on July 19, 2019 . Tagged width: College of Law , Fareed Gafoor , Malaysian Bar

KUALA LUMPUR, July 19 – The Malaysian Bar Council launched its first education venture, a LLM in Malaysian Legal Practise (LLM), last year in collaboration with the College Of Law Australia.

The LLM does not seem to have the approval of Malaysia’s Legal Professional Qualifying Board (LPQB) but the website for the course, which is hosted in Australia, prominently displays the Bar Council crest.

The crest has not been used before to promote a course of study, and queries put to Bar Council President Fareed Gafoor about the use of the crest have been acknowledged but remain unanswered.

NMT has however sighted an email from Fareed dated Friday, May 24, 2019 with regards the LLM and the use of the crest where he states:

Dear Rajen,

We can’t remain silent on this.

Abdul Fareed Bin Abdul Gafoor

Sent from my iPad

It is understood that “Rajen” refers to  Rajen Devaraj, Chief Executive Officer of the Bar Council Secretariat in Kuala Lumpur.

The Bar has remained silent for nearly 2 months since.

Key person suddenly retired during extensive query

The College of Law used to be represented in Malaysia by its Director, Peter Tritt. Tritt have been queried extensively about the LLM and about the College’s business in Malaysia but has refused to provide answers. Tritt has been based in Kuala Lumpur since 2017 but announced on Friday that he had “retired” from the College on 30 June 2019.

It is understood that Tritt has forwarded queries sent him to his head office in Sydney and hence it appears that Tritt is under orders from his Chief Executive, Neville Carter, to remain silent.

Questionable advertising claims?

In advertising on the College’s website Carter has claimed that he had established a Professional Legal Training course for Malaysian Law students seeking admission to practise in Malaysia. There seems to be no evidence of such a course, or of any national level training course for the existing Certificate of Legal Practise.

Carter has also claimed to have produced the “inaugural” Handbook in Legal Practise for Malaysia, in the late 80s. A search of the main law libraries in Malaysia directed by the Chief Registrar, Federal Court Malaysia, has not found any such handbook.

He has also claimed to have, during that time to have identified and addressed “gaps” in Malaysian legal practise, but not even those in practice during that period and since have ever heard of him. Nor are senior practitioners aware of  “gaps” that needed that to be addressed by external consultants.

As CEO of the College Carter  has ultimate responsibility for the College’s Malaysian operation headed by Tritt and variously named the “College Of Law Asia Pacific” and the “College Of Law Asia”. A search by NMT has not revealed any entities registered under those names in Malaysia or in Australia, not even a foreign entities registered to conduct business in Malaysia.

Meanwhile the College, in collaboration with the Bar Council continues to sell its LLM and other courses in Malaysia, deriving a fee income from Malaysian courses.

-NMT

HK listed Top Group's IPO was a classic case of license trading, and questions remain about any contributions to the NSW Liberals political fund - NSW AG Mark Speakman who issued the license remains silent

 by Ganesh Sahathevan 

Mark Speakman

As First Law Officer of the state, Mark oversees 
the administration of almost 200 Acts of Parliament, 
the most of any minister in the NSW Government

The Top Group IPO was a classic pump and dump, and it was based on the license to award law degrees granted by NSW Attorney General Meak Speakman and his NSW Legal Profession Admission Board. Much has transpired to complicate matters since the IPO and the collapse in share price and market capitalisation, but the Speakman remains silent.

In Hong Kong and other Asian markets there will be questions raised and an investigation intot he pump and dump and political funding,  but in Australia there has been nothing of that sort. Of course, Speakman is also the minister in charge of the state corruption agency, and is part of the panel that determines who heads it. 

TO BE READ WITH 

Sunday, September 15, 2019

Top Group IPO a classic case of license trading: Post IPO spike & collapse in market cap raises obvious questions about any political party beneficiaries ,but Peter Hall & ICAC not interested

by Ganesh Sahathevan

The graph above shows the movements in Zhu Minshen's Top Group's share price since its IPO and listing on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange.

It is easy to see that there was an initial spike after which share price and market capitalisation collapsed.

Anyone familiar with Asian markets will see that the Top Group listing and movement in share price follows the well trodden path of companies that list as soon as hard to get approvals are obtained and then sold via an IPO. In the case of Top Group the relevant approval was the "first and only" license to grant Australian law degrees granted a private company, granted by the NSW Legal Profession Admission Board,after consultation with the Law Council Australia.




It has already been shown on this blog that the granting of that license coincided with donations from Top and Zhu to the NSW Liberal Party. Consequently a inquiry into who the beneficiaries of the IPO were seems a logical step for an inquiry into political donations in NSW, but not it seems for Peter Hall QC and ICAC.




See
Peter Hall QC and ICAC have been provided information about Top Group by Dr Amen Lee, but ICAC will still not call Zhu Minshen




AND



TOP Education Institute's Bachelor of Laws : Political donations,HK Stock Exchange IPO seem to have left regulators confounded, speechless

END 

Keating said the South China Sea is to China what Cuba was to the US during the Cuban missile crisis- The recalcitrant ignored the sovereign states who also claim the South China Sea,all of whom are Australia's allies, two are FPDA partners

 by Ganesh Sahathevan 

Paul Keating in 2016, interviewed by Kerry O'Brien:


Keating: So the Chinese are all about pushing American naval power away from their coast. But the Americans still operate surveillance across the Chinese coast. If the Chinese blue water navy sailed down the coast of San Diego, I mean, the Americans would be horrified. And you saw what happened with Jack Kennedy and Cuba – when the Soviet Union tried to put missiles on Cuba, Kennedy and the Americans made clear that the Caribbean was their area of very exclusive domain,. And this is underpinning, in a messy kind of way, what’s happening in the South China Sea.




The former Australian prime minister ignored completely the claims of Vietnam, the Philippines, Malaysia, Indonesia over the South China Sea.

Keating also ignores the ongoing court, UN and on sea  conflicts between China and the other claimants, which have become a regular feature of that area. Truly a recalcitrant in this ongoing problem that threatens the region, and as the map above demonstrates, the Australian economy. 

All these states are Australian allies or at least friendly nations, Singapore and Malaysia are Five Power Defence Agreement partners. 

To Be Read With

Thursday, March 16, 2023

Former Australian PM Paul Keating''s desperate attempts to scuttle AUKUS and defend China likely a reflection of growing bad loans at China Development Bank' - Keating was once chairman of CDB and seems fearful that AUKUS will disrupt China's plans to "tidy up the east" and complete "obvious economic colonisation of the 50-odd states between the western border of China up to at least western Europe.

 by Ganesh Sahathevan 

Like a desperate Chinese businessman former Australian PM Paul Keating has become even more farcical in his attacks on his country's decision to join the US and UK in the AUKUS nuclear submarine program. 

In his latest attack he claimed that US Virginia class submarines are so big that they are visible to satellites (see video above). 

It does appear, given his links to Chin Development Bank (he was once its chairman) is that  AUKUS will disrupt China's plans to , in his words, "tidy up the east" and then move on to the "reasonably obvious economic colonisation of the 50-odd states between the western border of China up to at least western Europe.”

Keating was a director of Chinese Development Bank when he uttered the following in 2016:
“The Chinese want to tidy up the east - but their real future is in the west," he said. "They want to rebuild the old silk road, the railways and highways up through the ‘Stan countries', through Istanbul, up to the Baltic coast of Poland," he said.

“What we’re going to see is a reasonably obvious economic colonisation of the 50-odd states between the western border of China up to at least western Europe.”

The CDB has lead the way in making loans to Belt And Road initiatives, and it is no secret that many of those loans have gone or are going bad. Any delay in implementing China's projects that are tied to those loans would probably have negative consequences for the CDB are other Chinese banks.

Keating's expectation that Japan and ASEAN would be "tidied up" by this point of time in accordance with China's plans has not happened. AUKUS is seen by China as a disruption to its "tidying up", and Keating understands that that will mean deteriorating loans books at the CDB and other Chinese banks. 

Oscar winner Michelle Yeoh praised Najib shortly after US Attorney General Jeff Simons declared 1MDB "kleptocracy at its worst”

 by Ganesh Sahathevan 

                                                                        

            Yeoh and Todt after her Oscar win. Photo by Amy Sussman/Getty Image

Reuters reported on 5 December 2017:

The U.S. attorney-general described a multi-billion dollar corruption scandal involving a Malaysian state fund as the worst form of kleptocracy, and said the U.S. Department of Justice (DoJ) was working to provide justice to the victims.
“This is kleptocracy at its worst,” Sessions said at a global forum on asset recovery in Washington according to a transcript of his speech posted on the DoJ website, referring to the Malaysian case.


On 28 January 2018 NST and others quoting Oscar winner Michelle Yeoh reported: 


“We are very proud to recognise the fact that (Najib)  was the one who championed this in the first place as a good neighbour and doing the right thing as a human being. Our PM has shown great leadership together with the Bangladeshi government with our partners in Saudi (Arabia) and UAE (United Arab Emirates),” she said during her visit to the Rohingya refugees’ area here Saturday.

Yeoh was part of the Malaysian special delegation to Cox’s Bazar led by Armed Forces chief General Tan Sri Raja Mohamed Affandi Raja Mohammed Noor. The delegation visited the Malaysian Field Hospital that started its operation on Nov 31 and also the Balukhali refugee camp, located about 10 minutes from the field hospital        

Michelle Yeoh's Oscar win should serve to refocus efforts to recover 1MDB money . It is hard to not recall Yeoh's defiant " I hope from the bottom of my heart that (Najib) will remain as the prime minister " in 2013.

TO BE READ WITH 

Wednesday, March 15, 2023

Michelle Yeoh came out in support of Najib Razak in January 2018, well after the DOJ began seizing 1MDB related assets worldwide - Malaysians, adoring fans worldwide, have a right to information about the funding for her Najib promotion

 by Ganesh Sahathevan 

Michelle Yeoh came out in support of Najib Razak in January 2018, well after the DOJ began seizing 1MDB related assets worldwide, and well after Najib and wife Rosmah Mansor began publicly , and falsely, denying having anything to do with the theft.   Her words:   

“We are very proud to recognise the fact that he was the one who championed this in the first place as a good neighbour and doing the right thing as a human being. Our PM has shown great leadership together with the Bangladeshi government with our partners in Saudi (Arabia) and UAE (United Arab Emirates),” she said during her visit to the Rohingya refugees’ area here Saturday.

Yeoh was part of the Malaysian special delegation to Cox’s Bazar led by Armed Forces chief General Tan Sri Raja Mohamed Affandi Raja Mohammed Noor. The delegation visited the Malaysian Field Hospital that started its operation on Nov 31 and also the Balukhali refugee camp, located about 10 minutes from the field hospital                                                      

Malaysians in particular and Yeoh's adoring fans worldwide have a right to information about the funding for her Najib promotion.      

Former Australian PM Paul Keating''s desperate attempts to scuttle AUKUS and defend China likely a reflection of growing bad loans at China Development Bank' - Keating was once chairman of CDB and seems fearful that AUKUS will disrupt China's plans to "tidy up the east" and complete "obvious economic colonisation of the 50-odd states between the western border of China up to at least western Europe.

 by Ganesh Sahathevan 

Like a desperate Chinese businessman former Australian PM Paul Keating has become even more farcical in his attacks on his country's decision to join the US and UK in the AUKUS nuclear submarine program. 

In his latest attack he claimed that US Virginia class submarines are so big that they are visible to satellites (see video above). 

It does appear, given his links to Chin Development Bank (he was once its chairman) is that  AUKUS will disrupt China's plans to , in his words, "tidy up the east" and then move on to the "reasonably obvious economic colonisation of the 50-odd states between the western border of China up to at least western Europe.”

Keating was a director of Chinese Development Bank when he uttered the following in 2016:
“The Chinese want to tidy up the east - but their real future is in the west," he said. "They want to rebuild the old silk road, the railways and highways up through the ‘Stan countries', through Istanbul, up to the Baltic coast of Poland," he said.

“What we’re going to see is a reasonably obvious economic colonisation of the 50-odd states between the western border of China up to at least western Europe.”

The CDB has lead the way in making loans to Belt And Road initiatives, and it is no secret that many of those loans have gone or are going bad. Any delay in implementing China's projects that are tied to those loans would probably have negative consequences for the CDB are other Chinese banks.

Keating's expectation that Japan and ASEAN would be "tidied up" by this point of time in accordance with China's plans has not happened. AUKUS is seen by China as a disruption to its "tidying up", and Keating understands that that will mean deteriorating loans books at the CDB and other Chinese banks. 

TO EB READ WITH 

CHINA
China Reins In Its Belt and Road Program, $1 Trillion Later
After loans have gone sour and projects have stalled, Beijing is revamping its troubled initiative
A construction site in Sihanoukville, Cambodia, part of China’s Belt and Road initiative, in 2019. BRENT LEWIN/BLOOMBERG NEWS


By Lingling Wei
Follow
Sept. 26, 2022 10:10 am ET
SHARE
TEXT
273 RESPONSES

Listen to article
Length(12 minutes)


China has spent a trillion dollars to expand its influence across Asia, Africa and Latin America through its Belt and Road infrastructure program. Now, Beijing is working on an overhaul of the troubled initiative, according to people involved in policy-making.

A slowing global economy, combined with rising interest rates and higher inflation, have left countries struggling to repay their debts to China. Tens of billions of dollars of loans have gone sour, and numerous development projects have stalled. Western leaders have criticized China’s lending practices, which some have labeled “debt-trap diplomacy,” embarrassing Beijing. Many economists and investors have said the country’s lending practices have contributed to debt crises in places like Sri Lanka and Zambia.



After nearly a decade of pressing Chinese banks to be generous with loans, Chinese policy makers are discussing a more conservative program, dubbed Belt and Road 2.0 in internal discussions, that would more rigorously evaluate new projects for financing, the people involved said. They have also become open to accepting some losses on loans and renegotiating debt, something they had been previously unwilling to do.

Chinese President Xi Jinping once called the initiative “a project of the century,” but the overhaul exposes limits to his vision to reshape the global order. At a November meeting with senior officials, Mr. Xi noted that the international environment for Belt and Road was becoming “increasingly complex,” and stressed the need to strengthen risk controls and expand cooperation, according to state-media reports of the meeting.


Chinese banks have already sharply reduced lending for new projects in low-income countries as they focus on cleaning up their existing loan portfolios.


Nearly 60% of China’s overseas loans are now held by countries considered to be in financial distress, compared with 5% in 2010, according to economists Sebastian Horn, Carmen Reinhart and Christoph Trebesch, who have written about international debt.


China has begun working with other creditors to resolve current debt quagmires. To do so, Beijing has had to abandon its longstanding resistance to working with international institutions like the Paris Club, an association of large sovereign creditors including the U.S., Japan and France. It’s coordinating with members of the Group of 20 advanced and developing economies to negotiate debt relief in some countries.

The process could force Chinese banks to accept losses, something they’ve long opposed. For years, Beijing preferred to extend the maturity of troubled loans, a practice known in the finance industry as “extend and pretend.” That strategy risks prolonging countries’ debt woes rather than fixing them.

Beijing has also dialed down its rhetoric in state media. While it used to tout the economic benefits of Chinese lending for recipient countries, it now emphasizes managing risks and improving international cooperation, said Weifeng Zhong, a senior research fellow who tracks Chinese government propaganda at the free-market think tank Mercatus Center at George Mason University. “China is attempting a course correction,” Mr. Zhong said.
ADVERTISEMENT

Xi Jinping addresses a symposium on the Belt and Road initiative in Beijing in November 2021.PHOTO: SHEN HONG/XINHUA/ZUMA PRESS

The State Council, which serves as China’s cabinet, as well as the country’s top economic planning agency and the Ministry of Finance, didn’t respond to requests for comment, nor did China’s central bank or several banks involved in China’s lending effort. In a written statement, China’s Foreign Ministry said that “we will work with the international community to promote high-quality development of Belt and Road cooperation.”

The program’s roots date back a little over a decade, when China saw an opportunity for its state-owned financial institutions to extend their reach and earn better returns on their cash holdings through investments overseas.

Authorities encouraged lenders to finance projects like mines and railways to enable developing countries with natural resources to better supply China’s market, and to create jobs for Chinese contractors.

After taking power in 2012, Mr. Xi expanded those efforts and promoted the initiative as part of his plan to expand China’s influence and build markets for Chinese goods.

In 2015, when a stock-market collapse in China damped domestic demand, Beijing used the initiative to export products in oversupply at home, like steel and textiles. The Export-Import Bank of China and China Development Bank often required countries that benefited from their financing to source from Chinese suppliers.
Banners line the street ahead of a Belt and Road forum in Beijing in 2017.PHOTO: WANG ZHAO/AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE/GETTY IMAGES

In just a decade, according to the Foreign Ministry, China handed out about $1 trillion in loans and other funds for development projects in almost 150 countries, such as Ecuador and Angola. China, for the first time, became the world’s largest official creditor.

The U.S. government and government-owned institutions now provide less than half of what China does in grants and loans to less wealthy nations, according to AidData, a research lab at the university William & Mary in Williamsburg, Va. Both countries were roughly on par in the decade before 2013.


While the U.S. finances nearly all its overseas development projects with aid, China acts more like a banker, said Bradley Parks, executive director of AidData and co-author of “Banking on Beijing.” AidData’s analysis shows that for every dollar of aid to low-income and middle-income countries, China has provided $9 of debt. The opposite is true of the U.S.: For every dollar of debt that it provides to low-income and middle-income countries, it provides at least $9 of aid.

The lending fueled objections in Washington and elsewhere that China was overloading countries with costly debt, a charge Beijing regularly denied.

By 2017, Chinese banking executives were complaining to Beijing that they were being asked to finance projects that had little prospect of returns, according to executives involved in the discussions. Some lenders threatened to stop supporting certain projects unless regulators let them clarify that those loans were “policy-instructed,” the executives said, so the banks wouldn’t be held accountable for defaults.
ADVERTISEMENT


Prodded by Beijing’s enthusiasm, Chinese banks had given loans to countries with limited capacity to repay them. In Sri Lanka, a port project backed by Chinese money failed to generate enough traffic to service the debt. Pakistan fell behind on payments for electricity from new Chinese power projects, which led to a power crunch.
The construction site of the Colombo Port City in Sri Lanka in 2020.PHOTO: TANG LU/XINHUA/ZUMA PRESS

Many borrowing countries also built up debt from private market creditors, who had similarly ramped up lending to the developing world.

Chinese lenders began rolling over old loans and handing out new ones to keep troubled borrowers afloat. They lengthened payment timetables and extended grace periods to further ease payment difficulties, though it often wasn’t enough.

Pakistan received around $23 billion in fresh loans from Chinese sources between 2017 and last year, according to AidData—financing that was intended to shore up the country’s foreign-exchange reserves and credit ratings so its debt-servicing costs didn’t rise. Pakistan eventually had to seek a bailout from the International Monetary Fund anyway.

In November 2020, with the effects of the pandemic adding more pressure on borrowers, Beijing agreed to sign up to the Common Framework, an international debt-relief effort endorsed by the G-20 that helps coordinate debt negotiations among creditors.

The Common Framework is built on principles like those used by the Paris Club, an informal grouping of large creditor nations that looks for solutions when countries have trouble paying off debt. Despite repeated invitations to join the Paris Club, China has resisted.
ADVERTISEMENT


Chinese banks had often insisted that borrowers promise to exclude Chinese loans from Paris Club-style restructurings with other creditors, a tactic that could potentially help ensure China would be paid first in any default. Dr. Parks of AidData has found close to three-quarters of Chinese loan contracts contain “No Paris Club” clauses.

It took six weeks of night-and-day negotiations in the summer of 2020 among the G-20, the Paris Club and China to get Beijing to reach a technical agreement to join the Common Framework, according to people with knowledge of the talks. It took a few more weeks for Mr. Xi to sign off.

What got China on board was the belief that Chinese lenders would be better off defending their interests if they were coordinating with other creditors, said the people. For some in Beijing, the Common Framework provided a face-saving way out of its longtime resistance to joining the Paris Club.
The headquarters of the People's Bank of China.PHOTO: TINGSHU WANG/REUTERS

China’s Finance Ministry, which owns stakes in major Chinese lenders like China Development Bank, has remained wary of letting banks take losses on their loans, people involved in the deliberations said, especially at a time when banks are under scrutiny because of China’s deep real-estate downturn.

The central bank has argued China needs to be more flexible in debt-restructuring talks to help fend off an emerging-market financial crisis, according to the people.

Some officials at the People’s Bank of China have pointed to the Federal Reserve’s rapid-fire rate increases as a reason for China to act. U.S. rate increases are causing the value of the dollar to rise and making it costlier for developing countries to service foreign debts.
ADVERTISEMENT


China is moving ahead with negotiations involving creditors in Chad, Ethiopia and Zambia, which some Chinese officials see as a test case for the new approach.

Chinese creditors initially refused to participate in talks to restructure Zambia’s debts after it defaulted in late 2020 on $3 billion of international bonds. That changed a few months ago, when China became a co-chair of Zambia’s creditors committee with France.

The committee swiftly reached an agreement this summer to unlock $1.4 billion in emergency IMF funding. Now, negotiations are under way to secure a deal to restructure $17 billion in Zambian external debt, a third of which is owed to 18 Chinese lenders.
A Bank of China billboard outside the arrivals area at Kenneth Kaunda International Airport in Lusaka, Zambia, in 2018.PHOTO: WALDO SWIEGERS/BLOOMBERG NEWS

A full retreat on Belt and Road is unlikely. Mr. Xi, who is seeking to extend his rule for a third term at a Communist Party conclave next month, continues to believe it has an important role to play in promoting China’s role on the world stage, according to the people involved in policy-making and readouts of recent speeches he has made.

For all its troubles, the initiative has succeeded in drawing more countries into Beijing’s orbit over the past decade, with many recipient countries voting alongside China at the United Nations. More prudent lending by Beijing could make Chinese financing less appealing to some countries, making it tougher to win over governments.

“If Belt and Road is going to retain its importance in expanding Chinese influence, China may need to find a new way,” such as moving away from lending in favor of giving grants and other aid, said Brad Setser, a senior fellow and sovereign-debt expert at the think tank Council on Foreign Relations.

Chinese officials are exploring other ways to make Belt and Road more sustainable, such as forming public-private partnerships to reduce risks, and shifting toward more lending with below-market interest rates, people familiar with the discussions say. Beijing is also signaling it’s more open to working with multilateral institutions like the African Development Bank in financing new projects, the people said.

Gabriele Steinhauser contributed to this article.

Write to Lingling Wei at lingling.wei@wsj.com

Bellingcat Radar Interference Tracker confirms realpolitikasia finding of radar interference in and around St John's Island, Singapore

 by Ganesh Sahathevan

Bellingcat Radar Interference Tracker is an online tool  that allows anyone to monitor the presence of military radar of the type that was identified by this writer in and around St John's Island, Singapore.

Using that tool the presence of radar signals have again been detected in that location. 

To Be Read WIth

Friday, December 7, 2018

Singapore's mobile Giraffe radar system a potential intrusion into Malaysian airspace

by Ganesh Sahathevan

  Saab's Giraffe AMB radar

The current debate about the intrusion of Singapore's aircraft navigational systems into Malaysia ignores the complications that can arise from Singapore''s use of its Ericsson Giraffe 100 radar station.

Being mobile platforms there is the potential that these units may cause something called "ghost noise" that can interfere with Malaysian civilian and military radar systems when deployed in areas close to the Causeway and border.

"Ghost noise" occurs due to interference with radar signals from ground based radar transmitters.

For example ghost noise,, which corrupts radar images, has been observed in radar images of the area around St John's Island, south of Singapore, where there has been a radar installation since at least 1997.

The latest version of the Giraffe system has a range of 75 km.It is more likely than not to interfere with Malaysian radar systems when deployed.

END

Saab’s Giraffe 1X Radar Offers a Man-Portable 75km Detection Range

NEWS

11 April 2018

Saab’s Giraffe 1X ground-based radar is the ultimate gap filler, providing airspace commanders with the capabilities needed to maintain continuous and accurate air situational awareness.

With a surveillance-on-the-move capability, the awareness stretches even further. Forces will stay safer even when on the move and a situational awareness can be achieved at all times without any deployment time or any person having to be exposed to outside threats during deployment.

For mobile forces out in the battlefield, air situational awareness is critical. The threat can consist of rockets, mortar, unmanned aerial systems, missiles or asymmetric attacks from terrorist groups. Saab’s lightweight, compact Giraffe 1X can be handled by one single operator.

“Our new radar solutions, including Giraffe 1X, use digital technology with flexible software. Software-based solutions are instantly upgradeable and require fewer components, which means the radars can be built smaller and lighter”, says Daniel Forsberg, marketing director India within Saab’s market area Asia Pacific.

Providing reliable protection for the forces and assets is even more important in high-risk situations. This requires a flexible and agile radar which can be located close to the combat area. Saab’s Giraffe 1X is lightweight and designed for easy integration on any type of platform. This means that the complete radar can be transported for example on a pickup truck or a helicopter, or it can be towed on a trailer. Its flexibility and compactness mean Giraffe 1X can be easily relocated even by means of manpower only. For example from a vehicle to the rooftop of a building, making it ideally suited to the rapidly changing needs of mobile forces.

Giraffe 1X can be operated both remotely and locally, and it can either be installed on a building or mast or integrated into a suitable vehicle. Giraffe 1X is a 3D Active Electronically Scanned Array (AESA) radar, featuring the latest in radar technology, including Gallium Nitride (GaN) circuits.

Giraffe 1X forms part of Saab's Mobile Short-Range Air Defence (MSHORAD) solution – comprising the Giraffe 1X, C2 and RBS 70 NG Remote Weapon System (RWS) it enables moving units to identify and counter air threats quickly and effectively.

The MSHORAD solution is designed to complement existing defence by filling the gaps in long-range radar coverage created by terrain obstacles. It acts as a protective shield, scanning the battlefield to find and identify a threat, then coordinating the necessary action to remove the target. As an entire package, MSHORAD provides a solution that increases survivability and supports domain sovereignty in conflict zones.

Saab offers a full range of high-performance radar systems for a multitude of applications and mission types within the naval domain and for weapon locating, air surveillance, and ground-based air defence.

Giraffe 1X is on display at Saab’s stand at Defexpo in Chennai, India 11-14 April 2018. Please visit us in Hall 3, Stand 2.1A.

For further information, please contact:Saab Press Centre, 
+46 (0)734 180 018
presscentre@saabgroup.com

www.saabgroup.com
www.saabgroup.com/YouTube
Follow us on twitter: @saab

Saab serves the global market with world-leading products, services and solutions within military defence and civil security. Saab has operations and employees on all continents around the world. Through innovative, collaborative and pragmatic thinking, Saab develops, adopts and improves new technology to meet customers’ changing needs.