Five reasons why China’s economy is in trouble

Official growth figures for the July to September quarter are expected next week – if the world’s second-largest economy contracts, that increases chances of a global recession. Beijing’s goal – an annual growth rate of 5.5% – is now out of reach although officials have downplayed the need to meet the target. China narrowly avoided contraction in the April to June quarter. This year, some economists do not expect any growth. BBC

How academies for cadres shape China’s ruling class

Communist party congresses are rubber-stamp affairs. The 2,300 delegates who will attend the five-yearly jamboree that begins in Beijing on October 16th will have almost no chance of scuppering the decisions—already made in secret by the party’s leader, Xi Jinping—that will be unveiled at the event. To ensure they stay in line, many of them must undergo training. Delivering it is often the job of a vast system of schools that the party uses to transmit skills and ideology to bureaucrats. In recent days, several provinces have reported on lessons…

Taiwan’s military recruitment pool shrinking due to low birthrate

The declining birthrate in Taiwan could cause “major challenges” to the island’s military recruitment capabilities, at a time when Taiwan is building its defences to ward off potential Chinese invasion, its government has been told. Like much of east Asia, Taiwan is facing a demographic crisis, with fewer people having children each year as the population ages. The issue has social and economic effects on countries but in Taiwan there is also concern over its impact on military personnel levels. In a report to Taiwan’s legislative yuan this week, the…

Businesses Brace for Currency Chaos in Asia

Tigun Wibisana and Sandra Kok, who own the SiTigun cafe on Penang Island in Malaysia, are facing an excruciating decision that could make or break their business of 14 years: Can they increase prices to cover rising expenses without driving customers into the arms of their bigger rivals? The cost of the coffee beans that the couple, who are married, buy is spiraling because they are traded globally in U.S. dollars, and the Malaysian ringgit has fallen to a 24-year low. Compound that with an inflationary spike in prices for…