China agrees to invest $20bn in Venezuela to help offset effects of oil price slump

[jakeXT]

Source: Guardian

Venezuela’s president Nicolás Maduro says money will be used for housing, technology, energy and infrastructure projects

China has agreed to invest more than $20bn (£13.2bn) in Venezuela to help it overcome an economic slump exacerbated by plummeting oil prices, the Venezuelan president has announced.

Nicolás Maduro has been in Beijing since Monday to participate in a major meeting between China and the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States (CELAC) – a coalition of 33 countries that was formed in 2011. He announced the $20bn deal after meeting with the Chinese president, Xi Jinping.

“We rounded up more than $20 billion in investment,” Maduro told
Venezuela’s official AVN news agency.

The Venezuelan president did not give further details, and it remains unclear whether the sum represents a fresh arrangement or is part of pre-existing oil-for-loans deals. Beijing has not confirmed Maduro’s claim, and even if the investments are new, it is far from certain that this is money that the Venezuelan government can use for imports or debt repayments.

Read more: http://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/jan/08/china-venezuela-20bn-loans-financing-nicolas-maduro-beijing

[Fearless]

1. "Invest" = China gets cheap oil and Venezuela gets owned by China.

[COLGATE4]

2. Maduro's theme song should be

"Whatever gets you through the night"...

[jakeXT]

4. houses in Detroit cost the same as "a pair of leather shoes".

But money from China isn't just flowing into big time projects in Manhattan. It's also going to unlikely places, such as bankrupted Detroit, where financing is badly needed. Motown has become the fourth most popular US destination for Chinese real estate investors (behind New York, Los Angeles and Philadelphia). With thousands of homes foreclosed, some two-storey homes have been auctioned off for as little as $39. This attracted attention in China, with state broadcaster China Central Television reporting that houses in Detroit cost the same as "a pair of leather shoes".

Chinese investors have made bulk purchases of dozens of cheap homes in the urban rings surrounding the city center, many of them bought without even having been seen. Then Dongdu International Group of Shanghai bought two downtown icons: the Detroit Free Press building for $9.4mn and the David Stott building for $4.2mn. Yes, Chinese investors have purchased the former headquarters of the free press in Motor Town.

http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2014/jan/24/chinese-investment-growing-us-good

[bemildred]

5. China has the advantages of being much farther away and less inclined to resort to invasion,

when they don't get their way. But this would not be happening if not for the exhaustion of our resources brought about by the Bush Wars. Latin America no longer fears our reprisals, and neither does China. Meanwhile, as we are losing Latin America for good, we are busy meddling in Ukraine and the Middle East where we have no real business in the first place, and we are losing our shirt there too.

[jakeXT]

7. They used to invest without changing the regime, when some regime change happens... they lose

Could Iraq Be Another Libya for China?

The crisis in Iraq again reveals the costs of China’s low military profile in the region.

On June 13, Beijing’s Foreign Ministry spokesperson Hua Chunying declared that China is closely watching the events unfolding in Iraq and paying special attention to the protection of Chinese citizens and investments. Reading between the lines of that statement, it is possible to see Beijing’s fears that Iraq could become another Libya. Indeed, many elements make today’s Iraq dangerously similar to the situation in Libya in 2011.

First of all, there is the countries’ strategic importance for China’s energy security. According to the IEA, in 2011 around 3 percent of the oil imported by China came from Libya; Iraqi oil in 2013 accounted for some 8 percent of total Chinese crude imports. Second, Chinese companies have made significant investments in the energy and communication sectors of both countries. The Heritage Foundation’s Global China Investment Tracker shows that between 2007 and 2013, in Libya and Iraq were respectively invested $14.2 billion and $14.5 billion. Third, besides economic assets and investments, a significant number of Chinese citizens are threatened by a rapidly escalating conflict. In 2011 China successfully evacuated around 36,000 of its citizens from Libya; according to the latest China Trade And External Economic Statistical Yearbook 2013, almost 10,000 Chinese live and work in Iraq.

Despite these similarities, Chinese military presence in the region has remained extremely small and it appears that Chinese armed forces can play only a very limited role, as in 2011. Andrew Erickson and Gabe Collins have highlighted in The Diplomat the fact that with the Chinese government apparently blind to the problem, many Chinese state-owned enterprises have turned their attention to a flourishing private security sector. They hope to fill the gap between Beijing’s huge economic footprint and the almost inexistent security support it can give to its companies and citizens in the region. Indeed, Erickson and Collins presciently noted that Iraq risked being a source of trouble for China.

In a recent article published by the Chinese newspaper Global Times, a manager from Chinese companies working in Iraq said that his colleagues and he had not received any advice from the Chinese embassy in Baghdad. Many Chinese have already started to flee areas close to where Iraqi regular forces and ISIS militants are fighting. Should Chinese workers have to be evacuated, China will once again pay the price of not having the means to do so on its own, having to ask other nations’ help and/or using Chinese civilian ships and airplanes in the region.

http://thediplomat.com/2014/06/could-iraq-be-another-libya-for-china/

South Sudan’s dwindling oil output forces China to step in to protect its investments from the ongoing rebellion

...


The new line does not mean China plans to abandon its oft stated policy of steering clear of Africa’s internal politics, but it is an indication of a gradual shift by Beijing as its stake in Africa’s stability grows with expanding investments.

With China now Africa’s biggest trading partner, Beijing could face pressure to extend its new approach to other regions of Africa where it has growing economic interests.

“The luxury of being the new guy in town is definitely on the wane now that they have pretty serious assets in these countries and need to protect them,” said Clare Allenson, Africa analyst at consultancy Eurasia Group.

“They would love to keep the non-interference stance but it doesn’t quite work that way.”

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/africa/south-sudans-dwindling-oil-output-forces-china-to-step-in-to-protect-its-investments-from-the-ongoing-rebellion-9496895.html

[bemildred]

8. You can't control everything and it's dumb to try.

The Chinese seem to understand that better than we do. You invest and sometimes it pays off big and sometimes you lose your shirt. The proof of merit is how it adds up over time.

The one size fits all military approach we are so fond of has not paid off either, unless you consider that the spending spree we went on as a win.

[jakeXT]

9. I think of it as denying them access to resources they need

With the chaos in Afghanistan/Pakistan they have a hard time to build a pipeline from Iran through Afghanistan/Pakistan to China for example, and maybe sprinkle some sanctions on it.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iran%E2%80%93Pakistan_gas_pipeline

[bemildred]

10. Well, that's quite true, and they have their own troubles, big ones.

On the other hand, once we are out, things should settle down some. Iraq has been pumping oil like mad, they are all pumping like mad. Everybody wants to sell oil to raise cash.

[DeSwiss]

15. Instead of the US.

Not bad.

[Fearless]

16. The US doesn't invest, it invades.

Well since the Truman Doctrine ended at least.

[DeSwiss]

18. And when it doesn't or can't invade (and they can't invade in this case).....

...then it destabilizes, or undermines or embargoes (for 50 fucking years for example). Now, in utter stupidity and lack of any cognitive abilities whatsoever, we hit Russia with sanctions and force European manufacturers, architectural and engineering firms and farmers to take the bullet.

Venezuela won't play ball with us, and have the audacity to think they can run their own fucking country without our input! So we've been trying since Hugo to isolate them entirely and force it to bend to our will. So far, nada.

- And this is a GIANT FU from the BRICs!!! Hahahahaha.......


HENRY DAVID THOREAU: ''Let your life be a friction to stop the machine.''

[elias49]

19. Yes!

[bemildred]

3. China Woos Latin America with Promises of Investments Print Comment Share:

January 08, 2015 7:20 AM

Chinese President Xi Jinping has pledged to increase cooperation with Latin America and the Caribbean as he opened a forum in Beijing with leaders from the region.

The meeting between Xi and leaders of some 30 Community of Latin American and Caribbean States comes as China pushes for more influence in what has traditionally been Washington's backyard.

Xi said two-way trade between China and Latin America was expected to rise to $500 billion in 10 years.

http://www.voanews.com/content/china-woos-latin-america-with-promises-of-investments/2590164.html

[dembotoz]

6. china is not dumb

[Steviehh]

11. China

is building a new canal. Cheap energy will reduce overall costs.

Nicarauga is gonna move up too.

Hello, Monroe Doctrine.

[ripcord]

12. I wonder what China will do

when Venezuela nationalizes their investment?

[christx30]

13. I refer you to the story of the Scorpion and the Frog:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Scorpion_and_the_Frog

[Sunlei]

14. "Crude oil makes up 95% of Venezuela’s exports" gasoline sells for 4 cents a gallon.

Venezuela shipped out major crude oil for decades where did all the crude revenue go?

[DeSwiss]

17. K&R

- The plan to: ''crush our enemies and have them driven before us and to hear the lamentations of their women'' has now been postponed.

Indefinitely.

So what do you think: BRICVs? or BRCIVs?