Tuesday, October 2, 2012

Chinese Banks to Pull Out of IMF Annual Meeting in Tokyo


To spite the host country because of the row over Senkaku Islands, it seems.

Both Japan and China have much serious problems to attend to, be that their economies, finance, and in case of Japan radiation contamination from the ongoing nuclear accident which no one pays attention to these days. Instead, they focus on these pieces of real estate that promise untold rich natural resources.

From Fox Business News citing Dow Jones Newswire (10/2/2012):

Japan's territorial dispute with China could finally be spilling onto the global stage.

Several big Chinese banks say they've canceled participation in the high-profile annual meeting of the World Bank and International Monetary Fund--to be held in Tokyo next week--as well as in the constellation of events taking place alongside. Some of the banks say they've also pulled out of another big financial-industry conference scheduled to take place in the western Japanese city of Osaka at the end of the month.

Most of the banks haven't given a reason for their last-minute no-shows. But the withdrawals come amid an escalating tit-for-tat between China and Japan, which recently nationalized a set of islands in the East China Sea that are also claimed by Beijing. China has shown its displeasure by canceling some diplomatic events and sending patrol boats into what Japan considers its territorial waters--with one group going through Tuesday. Some Japanese companies have reported falling demand for their goods in China and unusually strict inspections as well as processing delays at Chinese ports.

"Quite frankly, it's Japan-China relations," said an official at the Tokyo branch of the Agricultural Bank of China, explaining why the bank was pulling out of both IMF-related events and the Osaka conference, which is sponsored by Belgium-based SWIFT, a group set up by financial institutions to handle transactions. The bank is still sponsoring and participating in a meeting of the Institute of International Finance--a global association of financial institutions--that is taking place in Tokyo at the same time as the IMF meeting, another official said.

The moves by the Chinese banks are the latest sign that souring relations between Asia's two biggest economies are starting to affect the broader, economic realm, and go beyond regional squabbling. The annual meeting of the IMF and World Bank is the largest single gathering of finance and economic officials, non-governmental organizations and bankers. Organizers estimate some 20,000 delegates will be in Tokyo for a range of meetings and seminars, taking place Oct. 9-Oct. 14.

(Full article at the link)


I guess China's thinking goes like this: "China is so important for global economy, and everyone wants China to be there in the important meetings like IMF/World Bank events. By not attending the event, the member nations will put pressure on Japan to be more accommodative to China's request, for the global economy depends on China's well-being." Something like that.

The Dow Jones article has this comment from a Singapore-based author:

"The point is really about China being a global player," said Fraser Howie, a Singapore-based co-author of "Red Capitalism," a book on China's financial system. "China may rightly demand a seat at the head table, but what signal does it send when they go off in a huff over these types of issues. Such boycotts are pointless. They only harm China and make China out to be a unstable and unreliable partner."


Well, many Asians including Japanese and Chinese are myopic, physically. Maybe that also affects the way they perceive and think broadly, while enabling them to focus intensely on issues close at hand.

8 comments:

Anonymous said...

A caution to America:

If China can use falsified history to lay claim to the Senkakus, Tibet, and any of dozens of islands in the waters around asia, what is to stop them in 200 years from adopting the false hypothesis in the book "1421: The Year China Discovered America" by William Morrow?

Will China try to take control of the Americas also on the basis of a false history?

Or will they just buy it with all the money Americans have been sending their way in recent decades.

Where's Pat Buchanan when you need him?

LC Douglass said...

Yeah, more recession, just what we need. If this keeps up, the only way world leaders are going to jump start the economy is with a world war.

Anonymous said...

World leaders? Now there's an interesting term. Do you mean Lady Gaga? She has almost 30,000,000 twitter followers. Obama is supposed to have 19,000,000, but I've seen some news reports claim half of them are fake.

So honestly now. Who is leading? I've heard some of her songs. Not someone I'd depend on to jump the economy.

arevamirpal::laprimavera said...

IMF Chief Christine Lagarde just told Japanese and Chinese to be nice to each other for the sake of the world economy. She also welcomed Spain's austerity program, said it would take years for Europe to recover (to what?), warned against US fiscal cliff. As if she matters. I guess she matters to herself.

Anonymous said...

As if people give a shit about the world economy. Who seriously thinks that most people care about world matters? They don't even care about the problems in their own country. They're too busy enjoying the feeling of directing hatred against "enemies".

Anonymous said...

Actually, the Chinese and Japanese tend to plan for long-term outcomes, while Western people tend to focus more on immediate gratification (short-term profits).

For their part, Japan has decided to abandon reliance on nuclear energy, which will lead to long-term benefits.

China, in preparing for its future, is amassing precious metals gold and silver in anticipation of the eventual abandonment of the debt-based fiat paper money system.

Meanwhile, the West is trying its best to maintain the status quo.

Anonymous said...

@Anon 10:28 AM
Japan decided to abandon reliance on nuclear energy, and then dropped the idea five seconds later.

I suppose you're right in that Asians do seem to plan ahead better than Westerners, but I think humans generally focus on immediate gratification, because of our mortality.

The West focusing on short-term may be the result of over-confidence and arrogance, which probably explains how they ended up trying to maintain status quo.

Also, I'm not getting the impression that China (or any other country) considers the environment when they plan for long-term outcomes.

arevamirpal::laprimavera said...

Asians plan ahead better? I'm afraid it's a myth. Or at least it has proven a myth in Japan by the March 11 triple disaster.

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