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In case you were busy with the inauguration, the world dodged a bullet Friday. There was a dark cloud of mystery over whether China would achieve its target of at least 6.5% GDP growth for 2016.

If growth had been announced at 6.4% or, heaven forbid, 6.3%, the consequences for global markets would have been terrible indeed. (Note: 6.2% GDP growth was impossible, as the scale started at 6.3%).

Apartment blocks are pictured on a hazy day in Wuqing district of Tianjin, China, December 10, 2016. REUTERS/Jason Lee.

Thankfully, GDP growth came in at 6.7% year-on-year in the first quarter, 6.7% in the second quarter, 6.7% in the third quarter, and a blistering 6.8% in the fourth quarter. The crushing tension of not knowing the results ahead of time (because how could we?) has been resolved. The credit for this accomplishment goes to:

In 2016, faced with complicated domestic and international environment, under the leadership of the Central Party Committee headed by General Secretary Xi Jinping as the core, the whole country has carried forward the overall plan for promoting all-round economic, political, cultural, social and ecological progress as well as the Four Pronged Comprehensive Strategy in a coordinated way, adhered to the general work guideline of making progress while maintaining stability, followed the new vision of development, insisted on supply-side structural reform as the mainline, appropriately expanded the aggregate demand, advanced reforms, properly responded to risks and challenges and shaped good social expectations.

A bonus: the secondary goal of getting 100 words into a single sentence was also met.

Investment growth plummeted by an entire tenth of a point in the fourth quarter versus the first three. Retail sales saw the same growth in the fourth quarter as the first three. Consumer inflation did, too. Rail freight showed variability, falling over 7% in the first half then recovering to end less than 1% lower for 2016. The industrial production the rails were first not carrying, then were carrying, showed 6% gains throughout 2016.

The nationwide per capita disposable income of residents grew 6.3% in real terms. The gain for urbanites was 5.6%, for rural citizens 6.2%. Since there is nothing at all odd about any of these numbers, we can embrace as accurate disposable income23,821 yuan, which is less than $3,600 at the average exchange rate for 2016. The closest American equivalent to this figure shows a result ofover $43,000. The anti-China liars who believe the Chinese governments number is understated here (due to unreported income) see the true ratio of the two as only about 1:9, instead of the plainly correct 1:12. China raises the average of global GDP growth. This is very nice for China; it has no inherent benefit to everyone else. For everyone else, China runs a trade surplus, which by definition reduces the GDP of its trade partners as a group. Those who do not understand China properly might also misperceive the money supply situation. The stock of broad money M2 was 155 trillion yuan at the end of last year, over $22.3 trillion. This is $9 trillion more than the US M2 figure, a remarkable achievement given how much poorer Chinese are than Americans. Moreover, the gap in M2 was only $4 trillion as recently as 2011, showing the amazing progress China has made in extending its lead.

Chinas role goes beyond boasting M2 now larger than the US and Japan combined. China certainly does as much to keep global growth stable as any reasonable person could expect. It is said by others to contribute the most to global GDP growth. China raises the average of global GDP growth. This is very nice for China; it has no inherent benefit to everyone else. For everyone else, China runs a trade surplus, which by definition reduces the GDP of its trade partners as a group. Since it runs the largest trade surplus, China can in fact be seen as the biggest inhibitor of the rest of the worlds GDP. President Trump, among others, may want to decline this particular contribution.

Any sarcasm detected would be partly directed at Chinas official numbers and partly at various colleagues in the China economy and finance field commenting on the numbers. While official GDP growth slowed, in perfectly orderly fashion, Chinas macroeconomic performance is in fact generally stronger than a year ago. But the country is very far from being rich, and already massively overleveraged.

Excerpt from:
China's 2016 economic data, or who says communism isn't funny ... - American Enterprise Institute

Islam Defenders Front (FPI) leader Rizieq Shihab has maintained his innocence over allegations that he had attempted to trigger public unrest with his claim that the new Indonesian rupiah banknotes were emblazoned with communist symbols.

Rizieq fulfilled the Jakarta Polices summons on Monday for questioning regarding his recent statement that the newly released banknotes featured a hammer and sickle, the logo of the now-defunct Indonesian Communist Party (PKI), an ideology banned in the Muslim-majority country.

Speaking to journalists after the questioning, the firebrand Islamic teacher said he had brought several new rupiah banknotes, ranging from Rp 1,000 to Rp 100,000 bills, and showed investigators that all of the bills contained a hammer and sickle logo.

I was summoned for questioning on that matter. I told investigators that I did not accuse [the new rupiah banknotes of containing a hammer and sickle logo]. I proved it, giving them all the bills so they could see it for themselves.

Mass organization Jaringan Intelektual Muda Anti-Fitnah (Young Intellectuals Anti-Slander Network, or Jimaf) reported Rizieq to the police, saying that the FPI leaders claim constituted hate speech as it was baseless and could provoke public unrest.

Bank Indonesia Governor Agus Martowardojo earlier rebuffed Rizieqs claim, saying that the logo in question was actually the central banks logo, which was printed in such a way as an anti-counterfeit strategy.

Mondays questioning was overshadowed by a rally from FPI members and sympathizers in front of the police headquarters to protest Rizieqs questioning, which they claim is an attempt to criminalize ulema (Islamic scholars). (ebf)

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FPI leader denies allegations of provoking public unrest with communism symbol claim - Jakarta Post

PARIS: Geopolitics made a rare foray on the Paris catwalks on Sunday when the upstart Chinese brand Sankuanz said the world must wake up to the reversal of the old order.

Rising star Shangguan Zhes collection Destroy included clothes, often made from bio-chemical protection suits, emblazoned with charged slogans such as Immigrant, Natural Selection and most controversially of all, Communism Never Happened. The designer, whose rebel spirit has won him a growing following, said in a week when Donald Trump has become US president he was asking people to take their goggles off and look outside of political correctness and politics at the reversal of an established system. I am not a fighter... I am just telling the world as it is right now, he said.

On his slogan Communism Never Happened, which appeared on the back of two of his coats, he said: It is not really a slogan, it is just my observation. As a young Chinese person this is true for me. China is not communist now, it wasnt when I was growing up, and I dont think it ever was, Zhe added.

With tension high between Washington and Beijing over Trumps attitude to Taiwan and fears of a trade war, he said the only hope, the only opportunity to change this situation lies in rational creations by mankind like chemistry.

Raw-edged military uniforms, jumpsuits and outfits made from Dayglo and synthetic DuPont material dominated his show which he said hinted at a post-apocalyptic world.

Published in Dawn January 23rd, 2017

Continue reading here:
'Communism never happened' - DAWN.com

This year is the centenary of the Bolshevik Revolution. The man who orchestrated it died 93 years ago, on 21 January 1924. Vladimir Ilyich Lenin ushered into the world one of the most brutal dictatorship it has ever seen in the Soviet Union, writes Joachim Starbatty.

German Liberal-Conservative Reformists MEP Joachim Starbatty is affiliated with the European Conservatives and Reformists group [ECR]. Starbatty is a professor emeritus of economics at Tbingen University.

This year is the centenary of the Bolshevik Revolution. The man who orchestrated it died 93 years ago, on 21 January 1924. Vladimir Ilyich Lenin, born Vladimir Ilyich Ulyanov, ushered into the world one of the most brutal dictatorships it has ever seen, in the Soviet Union. Aided by the Soviets numerous other Communists rose to power, with similarly dire effects for their people; in North Korea and Cuba some still reign. Not just because the ideology continues to claim lives, but because many millennials hold a sympathy for communism borne of ignorance, it is vital we remember its grim reality.

One of the fundamental problems of communism came from the core of its ideology; the belief that capitalists served no meaningful task. The reality is that the investments made by capitalists, chosen with care given they have their own money on the line, serve to drive competition, innovation and progress. Without investors innovative firms like Apple or Microsoft would never get off the ground, the variety of goods and services would remain minimal, and the economy would remain stagnant. In communist societies, this is exactly what happened.

It is true that communist nations generally industrialised, but many had begun their industrialisation before communist parties took power; Russia was the 4th greatest industrial power in 1914. Moreover, communist nations were copying an achievement already made; where the West had to invent the tools of industry, the communists merely had to plagiarise them. The greatest caveat is in how industrialisation was achieved. Where the Soviet system paid for its centrally planned industrialisation with blood, famine and poverty that consumed millions of lives, the western liberal model based in property rights, free enterprise and the rule of law had seen industrialisation paired immense reductions in poverty and child mortality with previously unimaginable prosperity.

So, then, communism brought with it oppression, suffering and poverty, without exception. That some celebrate it despite the impoverishment it has brought entire peoples, the ruin it has wrought on nations, and the millions slaughtered, is a testament to a stunning lack of knowledge. If the West is to remain prosperous, free and democratic, the horrors of communism must be remembered.

This year, the centenary of the Bolshevik Revolution, the Alliance of Conservatives and Reformists in Europe will focus on the dark legacy of the communist system, and the divergent developments of post-communist states.

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Lenin: Father of the Bolshevik Revolution - EurActiv

JAKARTA Indonesian police on Monday questioned a hardline Muslim cleric over a hate speech complaint by a civil group following a lecture in which he said new banknotes carried the communist hammer-and-sickle symbol.

Communism remains a highly sensitive issue in Indonesia after bloody anti-communist purges in the country in 1965 and symbols and some literature remain outlawed.

Habib Rizieq, head of the Islamic Defenders Front (FPI), is being investigated over two separate complaints, as authorities take a tougher stance against fundamentalist groups in the world's largest Muslim-majority nation.

Rizieq made the comments about the banknotes in a videotaped lecture last month.

"This is already a formal investigation," said Jakarta police spokesman Argo Yuwono. "We are looking looking further into his comments on whether the money has the hammer-and-sickle symbol."

The central bank has denied the new banknotes carry any communist symbols.

"What's being seen by some people as a hammer and sickle symbol is actually the Bank Indonesia logo...and it is part of the security elements in the notes to prevent counterfeiting," Bank Indonesia said in a statement this month.

Last week, Rizieq was questioned by police over claims that he made defamatory comments in 2014 about one of Indonesia's founding fathers, Sukarno, and had questioned the legitimacy of the state ideology, Pancasila.

If found guilty, he could face up to four years in prison.

The cleric has denied wrongdoing in both cases.

Rizieq's supporters condemned the investigation of the complaints as indicating the "criminalization" of their leader.

"This is systematic tyranny against Habib Rizieq, which destroys the pillars of justice," said the FPI's Jakarta chief, Novel Bamukmin. "It's a form of criminalizing the clerics."

Rizieq and the FPI were key drivers behind recent rallies against the Christian governor of Jakarta, whom they accused of insulting the Muslim holy book, the Koran. The rallies were the biggest Indonesia has seen in nearly 20 years.

Jakarta governor Basuki Tjahaja Purnama is in on trial for blasphemy, but remains one of the frontrunners in next month's governor election.

Purnama has denied blasphemy. There are concerns he has been unfairly targeted and that the government has not done enough to protect the rights of religious and ethnic minorities.

(Reporting by Agustinus Beo Da Costa; Writing by Kanupriya Kapoor; Editing by Ed Davies and Clarence Fernandez)

LONDON British Prime Minister Theresa May will learn on Tuesday whether parliament must agree to the triggering of Britain's exit from the European Union, potentially giving lawmakers who oppose her plans a chance to amend or hinder her Brexit vision.

BEIRUT Syrian refugee children in Lebanon are struggling to get an education and many are being pushed into work or early marriage instead, the United Nations children's agency UNICEF said on Monday.

PARIS Benoit Hamon, a former Socialist government rebel, won the first round of a primary on Sunday and will meet ex-prime minister Manuel Valls in a runoff to decide who will be the candidate of the beleaguered left in a presidential election in spring.

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Indonesia police question cleric over lecture on communist symbols - Reuters