SNS: Asia Letter, Q2 2019: From Asteroids to Borneo

In This Issue
Week of 3/25/2019
Vol. 24 Issue 10

Asia Letter, Q2 2019: From Asteroids to Borneo

• Asteroid Mining
• Quotes: Belt & Road
• Indian & Chinese Steel
• e-Commerce in Southeast Asia
• What Worries East Asians
• Quotes: China Trade & Investment
• Chinese Infrastructure Projects
• Chinese Batteries for European Cars
• … And Tesla
• Koreans in Borneo
• Throwing Away Soft Power
• About Scott Foster

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Quotes: Belt & Road

“China’s support will be very important in boosting our country’s economy and future development…. In Latin America and the Caribbean, China continues to promote trade within the framework of the ‘Belt and Road Initiative’. This initiative gives China a natural space to foster development across the region…. China is a crucial global player and we want to establish a productive and mutually beneficial relationship.”

– Juan Guaido, self-declared interim president of Venezuela (South China Morning Post, 2/2/19)

“China has learned an important lesson from this. We have to do things on a commercial basis, looking at market conditions, rather than for the sake of appearance and government-to-government agreements.”

– Unnamed Chinese government adviser commenting on the crisis in Venezuela (The Wall Street Journal, 2/1/19)

“I’ve already said I support the [Belt and Road]…. We find that China is now the biggest trading partner for Malaysia. It is also a big investor in Malaysia. Our policy is of course to retain and improve the relationship between Malaysia and China.”

– Malaysia Prime Minister Mahathir Mohammed, “the first world leader to confirm his attendance at China’s second Belt and Road Initiative summit this April” (South China Morning Post, 2/15/19)