It all seemed legitimate, she said, adding that all she wanted was to have a comfortable life in her twilight years.
But now, she wonders if she would ever see her money again.
“The company I invested in cited the pandemic as the reason for not paying dividends to investors.”
Lee was among 105 victims who lodged police reports against the company at the Sentul district police headquarters here yesterday.
Another victim, Siti, said she had invested RM300,000 in 2019 after she was promised 30% returns in one year.
She said that she felt assured when the agent cited names of VVIPs and prominent politicians.
“I did not know it was a scam because they showed me approval letters from government agencies.”By 2020, Siti still had not received any dividends.
“When I tried to follow up on this, the company did not even respond to my queries,” she added.
In view of the silence, Siti said she approached the Malaysia International Humanitarian Organisation (MHO) where she discovered others in the same situation.
Another victim, a Yemeni national, said he was approached by a “relationship manager” of a supposed bank.
“The relationship manager convinced me that it was a good and safe investment with 10% guaranteed returns,” he said, adding that he invested RM330,000 in the scheme which involved sukuk and seafood.
MHO secretary-general Datuk Hishamuddin Hashim said the victims were involved in five types of investments offered by a marketing management company.
He said they were lured into putting their money into supposed trust funds, shares, and sukuk, among others.
These investors were promised that they would get profits ranging from 15% to 24%, depending on their capital and investment period, he told reporters yesterday.
MHO advisor Tan Sri Musa Hassan suggested the government draft a law to deal with fraud including stock investments to prevent more people from becoming victims.
AN accountant, who is tasked with preparing the books of a corporate, will always be guided by accounting principles when it comes to how the financial statements of the company are presented on an annual basis to ensure they are accurate and reflective of the company’s business affairs.
An auditor, looking at the same prepared accounts, will run through the numbers and audit the key material items to ensure they are reasonable, reflective of the company’s finances, and free from material misstatements, including due to fraud or error, or application of wrong accounting treatment.
In financial statements, two of the most critical items are receivables and inventories.
In order to have proper accounting treatment, accountants and auditors used accounting theories to describe what is deemed to be current, and those that have a longer-dated ageing profile are either impaired or written off.
The reason for this is to ensure that the financial statements reflect the status of a corporation’s current assets and are in no way doubtful.
There is also an application of general provision or specific provision when it comes to how these balances ought to be treated in the financial statements.
Often, we see cases of over-inflated balances and when it came to the crunch of the matter, the management would have no choice but to write them off.
The ‘real’ overhang
At the recently concluded 15th Malaysian Property Summit 2023, the Director of the National Property Information Centre (Napic) presented a paper on the status of the Malaysian property market up to the third quarter of last year (3Q22), with some data points related to the performance of the market up to November 2022.
The full market report is only expected to be released in the middle of next month, where Napic will not only provide the usual annual update of the market’s performance but also provide more insight into some of the key data points that have been much discussed among all stakeholders, of which, one of them is the status of overhang in the market.
As we are aware, the residential overhang at the end of 3Q22 stood at 29,535 units worth some Rm19.95bil.
Napic’s website also provided the details of where these overhang properties are located and the three key states – Johor, Selangor, and Penang – are the main hotspots, accounting for some 14,956 units or just over half of the country’s total overhang.
In terms of the type of properties, the 3Q22 data showed that high-rises comprise 18,962 units or 64.2% of the total overhang.
In terms of price points, 23.8% of the total overhang was priced at RM300,000 and below, 29.5% was priced between RM300,001 and RM500,000, 31.6% was priced between RM500,001 and Rm1mil and the balance was priced above Rm1mil.
In terms of the total value, the residential overhang is skewed towards the high-end segment with properties worth more than Rm1mil accounting for 43.4% of the total overhang value, while those priced between RM500,001 and Rm1mil accounted for 31.9% of the total overhang.
Properties priced between RM301,000 and RM500,000 have a total overhang value of just Rm3.5bil, while properties priced below RM300,000 are worth some Rm1.39bil. These two represent some 24.8% of the total overhang value.
For the service apartments, the total overhang in units stood at 23,688 worth some Rm20.21bil as at end of 3Q22, with Johor alone accounting for 62.4% of the total.
Most of these overhangs in the segment are properties priced between RM500,001 and Rm1mil, which accounted for two-thirds of the total unit numbers and 58.9% in value of the total overhang.
For the longest time, Napic had not shared with the stakeholders the key underlying ageing profile of this overhang, and that has led to a misleading status of the market’s overhang status. It was indeed an eye-opener to see what the real overhang has been.
For example, as seen in Table 1, the key overhang is properties (both residential and service apartments across the four key states) that have been part of the statistics for the last five years and they account for between 51% and 93% of the total overhang units.
For example, as seen in Table 1, the key overhang is properties (both residential and service apartments across the four key states) that have been part of the statistics for the last five years and they account for between 51% and 93% of the total overhang units.
In total, these properties accounted for a whopping 75.7% of the market’s overhang status while properties that have been in the market for the last three years are just over 5% from the key states.
Specific mention must also be made on service apartments located in Johor, and those that are in the five to 10 years bucket, as they account for 26% of the total market overhang.
In terms of prices, most of the overhang is seen in the same five to 10 years bucket across the board and they alone account for 71% of the total overhang properties in the market.
As seen in Table 2, properties below three years account for less than 5% of the total market overhang. Specific mention must also be made on service apartments that are in the RM500,001 to Rm1mil bracket and are in the five to 10 years bucket as they account for 25% of the total market overhang.
In the corporate world, when one is up against data that is distorting the real picture, the proper thing to do is to see whether the data is still relevant or otherwise.
Clearly, looking at the ageing profile of the property overhang, those above five years will likely remain unsold for a foreseeable future, mainly due to either being wrongly located and without the proper or good infrastructure to support community living, or untouched by property buyers for simply being too expensive, especially those beyond the RM500,000 price threshold.
Clearly, looking at the ageing profile of the property overhang, those above five years will likely remain unsold for a foreseeable future, mainly due to either being wrongly located and without the proper or good infrastructure to support community living, or untouched by property buyers for simply being too expensive, especially those beyond the RM500,000 price threshold.
Having identified the issues, regulators and property developers would need to come out with strategies to address them and to attract buyers to these properties via a rehabilitation exercise and with a significant price reduction.
The bottom line is to remove them from the overhang data.
Let’s call a spade a spade
So what is Malaysia’s real overhang? Based on the data presented by Napic, one can take comfort that overhang is not as serious as it is made out to be mainly due to a lack of data and proper analysis in terms of what is real overhang previously.
While those more than three years but less than five years are part of statistics, we should redefine them as core overhang while those beyond five years can be redefined as hardcore overhang.
As we have been able to slice and dice these numbers, the real overhang is only perhaps less than 5% of the market in terms of the number of units and value.
Napic could also help stakeholders to understand better the property market data better by breaking down the data points as an overhang that is mainly due to government housing schemes and those that are privately built.
In this way, we could also see whether the government’s intervention is needed to boost demand for these obscurely located properties.
For the private developers, most of these inventories would have been impaired as the likelihood of the assets being realised in full value or even at 50% to 60% of the market value is seen as low.
Private developers too ought to think outside of the box on how to overcome the property inventories sitting in their books as being part of the statistics only results in painting the wrong picture for the property market as a whole.
By Pankaj C. kumar is a long-time investment analyst. the views expressed here are the writer’s own.
WITH the country finally transitioning into endemicity, the Malaysian property market is expected to regain its momentum this year.
However, despite the better economic growth recovery projected for 2022, the National Property Information Centre (Napic) has cautioned that the environment still remains challenging.
“The health of the residential sector is paramount to the overall performance of the property market,” Napic says in its 2021 property market report.
“The transition to the endemic phase of Covid-19 starting April 1, 2022, will see the lifting of restrictions of business operating hours and the reopening of country borders, which is expected to further improve domestic economic activities and entail better prospects for the leisure sector,” it adds.
Napic emphasises that the transition phase is a much-needed boost for the local property market.
“This will translate into better occupancy of hotels apart from creating employment opportunities for the locals.
“Nevertheless, the environment will remain challenging for the retail and office sector as more new supply enters the market in the near future.”
As the industry normalises and adapts to the new norms of working from home and market digitalisation, Napic says the office and retail sectors may continue to face downward pressure in 2022.
“On the development front, major ongoing infrastructure projects are expected to spur economic activities and the property market in the long run.”
As the economy is set to be on the right trajectory, Napic says the property market’s performance is expected to be on a similar track.
Accommodative policies
“The accommodative policies, continuous government support and execution of all planned measures outlined in Budget 2022 and proper implementation of strategies and initiatives under the 12th Malaysia Plan are expected to support growth in the property sector,” it says.
According to Napic, the residential sub-sector led the overall property market activity in 2021 with a 66.2% contribution in volume.
There were 198,812 transactions worth Rm76.90bil recorded in the review period, which was an increase of 3.9% in volume and 16.7% in value year-on-year.
The improvement was supported by the uptrend recorded in Kuala Lumpur (4.9%), Selangor (10.7%), Pulau Pinang (16.3%) and Perak (3.2%). Conversely, Johor recorded a decline in market activity by 2.4%.
The primary market saw fewer releases of new launches. There were nearly 44,000 units launched in 2021, against 47,178 units in 2020.
Napic says the decline was expected as developers held back on the new launches due to the softening property market and increasing numbers of unsold inventories.
Sales performance was moderate at 39.3% in 2021.
A property analyst says the property market will, as always, continue to be driven by the residential sub-sector.
“Even without the Home Ownership Campaign (HOC), there is renewed enthusiasm among purchasers and buyers – something that was lost over the last two years as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic.”
To help spur the property market, the government introduced the HOC in June 2020 under the Penjana initiative.
The campaign ended on Dec 31, 2021. Many industry observers and property players believed that the HOC was indeed a huge help to the market and urged the government to extend the campaign period into 2022.
Following the conclusion of the HOC, Hong Leong Investment Bank (HLIB) Research says the “tables have turned” in favour of the affordable housing segment.
Comparative advantage
“Prior to the introduction of the HOC, the affordable housing segment enjoyed stamp duty exemption for property value up to RM500,000.
“With the introduction of the HOC, the affordable segment lost its comparative advantage as the stamp duty exemption was extended to property value up to Rm1mil,” it says in a recent report.
HLIB Research notes that in 2021, when the HOC was still in place, the percentage of residential transactions below RM500,000 had declined, likely due to home buyers rushing to take advantage of the HOC campaign before it ended on Dec 31.
“With the ending of the HOC, the tables have once again turned in favour of the affordable housing segment, as purchases in this category will continue to enjoy stamp duty exemptions.
“Even during the HOC campaign, the affordable housing segment was still the most demanded segment, comprising more than 75% of the number of residential transactions.”
Citing the Statistics Department, HLIB Research says as much as 20% or 580,000 households from the M40 households had shifted to the income limit of the B40 group in 2020.
“The broadening base of the lower-income group, coupled with the rising living cost from inflationary pressure, especially on the food cost, will bolster demand within the affordable home segment, as home buyers will likely opt for affordable housing due to income constraints.”
Meanwhile, RHB Investment Bank says inflationary pressures and the timing of the election could swing sentiment.
“On the macroeconomic front, we are also cautious on rising inflationary pressure, which may potentially dampen household disposable income.”
Apart from the expected increase in interest rates in the second half of this year, the research house points out that food and consumer product prices are also on the rise, which is in line with commodity prices.
“Given that the market has just recovered from last year’s lockdown, demand for property may be negatively affected if inflationary pressures worsen further, as property is deemed a big-ticket item that is considered non-discretionary.”
Given the conclusion of the state elections in Melaka, Sarawak and Johor over the last six months, RHB Investment Bank says some political parties are calling for the next general election to be held soon.
“Historically, the performance of most property stocks tend to be lacklustre six months prior to an election, possibly due to the uncertain outlook and potential policy changes after an election.
“As the next general election is due by July 2023, we think speculation will be rife in the coming months on the timing of the event.”
Rising building costs
HLIB Research notes that building materials costs have been rising persistently since 2021.
“From what we gathered, key raw materials such as steel and cement have risen more than 20% on a year-on-year basis.”
Under such a rising cost environment, the research house says property developers that will fare relatively better are those that outsource their construction work to third parties.
“This is as their construction cost will be locked in at a lower cost (amid the rising cost environment) when the job is outsourced.”
For new launches, HLIB Research says developers will likely be able to outsource the jobs at competitive prices.
Competitive job tenders
“This is because new job tenders among contractors will likely be very competitive (due to fewer job tenders available), as developers are more cautious in their launches due to the subdued property sentiment.”
In order to secure jobs to ensure positive cash flow, HLIB Research says contractors may be willing to sacrifice some margin to win job tenders from developers.
“Besides this, developers that enjoy high take-up rates in their launches are also those that are likely to have better pricing power, enabling them more flexibility to adjust selling prices to sustain their margins.”
RHB Investment Bank also acknowledged that major commodity prices, such as crude oil, steel bars, copper and aluminium saw significant price hikes.
“The resulting price increases in cement, sand, tiles and related products collectively added to the surge in total construction costs.”
Assuming the uptrend in commodity prices persists over the next six-to-nine months, RHB Investment Bank says developers will tend to be more prudent with their launches.
“Developers will likely resize or redesign, as well as maintain the selling prices and affordability of their products or look for alternative construction materials that are cheaper in an effort to mitigate cost pressure.”
KUALA
LUMPUR: After announcing surprisingly good 2021 dividends for
contributors – 6.1% for conventional savings and 5.65% for syariah
savings – the Employees Provident Fund (EPF) says it will not rush into
implementing a tiered dividend system.
PETALING
JAYA: While the Employees Provident Fund (EPF) provides the best savings and retirement scheme for private sector workers, economists are advising them to invest in other schemes as well to tide them over.
Economics expert Prof Dr Barjoyai Bardai of Universiti Tun Abdul Razak said people should start investing in endowment schemes, and unit and property trusts to ensure solid growth of their wealth.
Dr Tan says the forum is meant to assist the public with the best investment strategy
Guidance on investments
Experts to speak on Cryptocurrency at online forum on Nov 6
TWO experienced financial professionals will share their thoughts and analyses at the ‘Investment and Cryptocurrency’ online forum on Nov 6, 2021.
One of them is German-born Mustafa Aydemir who is a senior investment analyst at Saturna Fund Management Company.
He is one of the fund managers licensed by the Securities Commission Malaysia.
Besides being familiar with conventional financial investment, he is also good at Islamic financial investment.
Another speaker is Edgar ‘Jobe’ Gasper, the chief operating officer of SINEGY involved in digital asset trading, which is legal and approved by the Securities Commission Malaysia.
He has extensive practical experience in digital transactions, blockchain technology and cryptocurrency mining operations.
Both of them will conduct in-depth sharing of investment knowledge at the online forum organised by the Malaysian Financial Planning Council (MFPC) Penang Chapter from 9.30am to noon.
MFPC Penang Chapter chairman Dr Tan Chuan Hong said the forum was meant to assist the general public and retail investors to ride out the pandemic crisis with the best investment strategy.
Citing a report from the Malaysian Institute of Economic Research, he said the Government had been utilising large-scale borrowing to assist civilians and small medium enterprises as well as boost the economy since the country was hit by the Covid-19 pandemic almost two years ago.
“This has resulted in a rising debt ratio.
“Up to June this year, the debt ratio exceeded the statutory 60%, reaching 61.1%.
“This has created a lot of concern on whether Malaysia can rapidly recover from this economic crisis.
“Can our stock market this year perform like it did last year when it soared by more than 10% again in just two months? Or is it the end of the bear market?
“To make wise investment decisions, investors need time to collect and analyse the information cautiously,” he said.
Dr Tan said that many still needed more proper education about cryptocurrency investment.
He said many Malaysians had been scammed and lost their money due to inaccurate information obtained online.
“Cryptocurrency investment is originally a high-risk and high-return investment tool.
“Therefore, investors who are blinded by greed for high returns often suffered huge losses,” he said.
On the same day, MFPC executive director Chung Kar Yin, Universiti Sains Malaysia School of Management dean Prof Dr Noor Hazlina Ahmad and Tunku Abdul Rahman College Penang Branch Campus head Assoc Prof Dr Toh Guat Guan will also hold a brief sharing session.
Participants have to fill in the online evaluation form after the session to obtain a certificate of participation and 3CPDs.
KUALA LUMPUR: Despite market uncertainties following the Covid-19 pandemic, about RM16bil worth of digital assets and cryptocurrencies have been traded in Malaysia between October 2019 and September 2021.
Securities Commission (SC) chairman Datuk Syed Zaid Albar said digital asset exchanges in the country would continue to thrive this year, with about 300,000 new accounts created to date.
“Investor participation in alternative and digital platforms continues to be robust. New digital investment management (DIM) entrants have contributed to the segment’s assets under management growth.
“In fact, compared to last year, our eight licensed DIM holders have opened 90% more DIM accounts from January to July this year,” he said at the SCxSC Fintech Conference 2021.
In addition, Syed Zaid said the increased demand for online brokerage services resulted in close to 35% increase in new accounts opened as of July 2021.
Given the positive developments, he expects the industry to maintain the encouraging growth performance this year.
Meanwhile, Syed Zaid disclosed that equity crowdfunding (ECF) and peer-to-peer (P2P) financing platforms have raised about RM1.3bil since April last year, given the funding needs of micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs).
Citing data, he said about RM625mil funds were raised through ECF and P2P in the first half of this year, an increase of 151% and 220%, respectively, from a year ago.
Both platforms attracted young investors, with 60% of participants aged below 35.
Since their inception, 21 ECF and P2P financing platforms have raised about RM2.2bil for nearly 4,000 MSMEs.
Moving forward, the SC said fintech could be the crucial enabler in helping the country to recover as the pandemic had an adverse impact on businesses.
“The SC would seek to drive greater adoption of digital capability to enhance capital formation efficiencies and increase investor participation in the capital market,” added the regulator.
Self-made millionaire Ng will teach you how to generate safe returns
PETALING JAYA: Money games, GameStop frenzy, the constant rise and fall of crypto, to the untrained eye, these seem like the way to “invest”.
Adrenaline-pumping with a false promise of insane returns by the very next day as well as the constant monitoring of charts and graphs, it’s not for the faint-hearted and certainly not for everyone.
Amid all these fleeting trends, investment scams and market noise, millennial investor, Alex Ng, goes about his daily life calmly, collecting passive income and watching his investment double or triple in value.
But he wasn’t always like this.
He started dabbling in the stock market at 19. He got sucked into trends, chased short-term profits and bought whatever stocks his broker recommended.
And by 21, he had lost two-thirds of his parents’ retirement fund from investing haphazardly.
“It was a huge wake up call for me. It made me realise that what I was doing wasn’t investing. I was gambling in the stock market. Higher stakes and worse damages than if I would have gambled in the casino,” he said.
However, his saving grace was his fortitude.
He knew the importance of investing, if done properly. Growing up in a middle-class household, that was his ticket to afford himself and his family a good life.
“With just RM3,000 of my own savings, I found some mentors and learned the proper way to invest,” said Ng, who was a self-made millionaire by the age of 29.
Having been through that harrowing experience and turning his life around, he wants to make sure that no one makes the same mistakes he did.
He’s now a master trainer and speaker at VI College, the region’s leading financial education provider, helping aspiring and uninformed investors to develop the proper skills, knowledge and strategy.
The safe and consistent way of investing gets easily drowned out and might seem boring in contrast to the stock bros’ mantra of “high risk, high return” or the excitement and overinflated egos in the likes of The Wolf of Wall Street.
“Investing safely and consistently doesn’t mean you can’t get handsome returns. It just means that even if you start small, with consistent effort, your returns will multiply and compound,” he said.
In VI College, Ng and his peers have designed the programmes with beginners in mind. After VI College’s five-day bootcamp, even those who come in with zero knowledge can venture into their investment journey with confidence.
“In fact, many of my students with prior investing experience also saw the programme as a total eye-opening experience,” said Ng.
Students are added into the VI Community after the programme with support and guidance from trainers, coaches and peers.
VI College has also developed its own stock analysis tool, VI App, to make investing smarter, faster and easier.
“With VI App, you can easily check the risk rating, the overall health and performance of the company in just a few seconds,” he explained.
8BIT, the FinTech entity behind VI App, is licensed and regulated by the Monetary Authority of Singapore, Singapore’s central bank.
Check out VI App at www.vi.app.
“At the end of the day, we want to empower as many people as possible with financial literacy.
“That’s why our programme and tools like VI App are all designed to make it simple for everyone to start investing,” he said.
Join Ng to discover the right and safe way to invest in the “Discover Secret Stock Investing Techniques Webinar” on June 19.
Organised by Star Media Group together with VI College as the Education Partner, this free two-hour masterclass is designed to teach individuals across all age groups to generate safe and consistent returns from local and the US stock market.
Many investors suffered huge losses when they sold off their stock holdings at low prices at the height of the Covid-19 pandemic last year. Alex Ng, master trainer and speaker at VI College, shares how he weathered the market turmoil.
The key to surviving and even thriving during an unprecedented crisis is simple, he says:
"Stay invested, but do not be fully invested at all times."
Alaska summit spat: What's China's take on the US? | DW News
US-China talks in Alaska: Beijing threatens "firm actions" against "US interference"
美中高層阿拉斯加會談 觸及香港貿易問題？(原音呈現)｜20210319｜TVBS新聞｜LIVE
Unsurprisingly and without any greetings, the world closely watched the China-US Alaska talks turn into an intense back-and-forth within minutes of opening, but the two sides' hardline stances were still beyond the expectations of observers.
Two days of difficult talks were expected to be the best opportunity for the Chinese and US administrations to get to know each other; so far, the US’ aggressiveness and disregard for diplomatic protocol, and rapid and sharp counterattacks by the Chinese delegation, have made the world take notice. Chinese observers said continuing talks despite the intense argument is why this dialogue is so significant.
The US delegation attending the China-US Alaska high-level meeting unjustifiably attacked and accused China's domestic and foreign policies and seriously prolonged its opening remarks, the Chinese delegation said after the meeting's first session.
"This is neither hospitable nor good diplomatic etiquette. China has made a stern response to this," the Chinese delegation said.
The Chinese delegation was invited to Anchorage to have a strategic dialogue with the US side with sincerity and was ready to conduct the dialogue in accordance with the procedures and arrangements agreed upon by the two sides.
The Chinese delegation made the remarks after the first session of China-US talks in Alaska concluded on Thursday local time.
Yang Jiechi, a member of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee and director of the Office of the Central Leading Group for Foreign Affairs, stated China's position at his opening remarks, saying China hopes this dialogue is sincere and honest.
We thought too well of the US; we thought the US would follow the necessary diplomatic protocol… In front of the Chinese side, the US side is not qualified to speak to China from a position of strength, Yang said.
Chinese State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi said that China-US relations have encountered unprecedented difficulties as China's legitimate rights and interests have been unreasonably suppressed. It harms the interests of the peoples of the two countries as well as world stability and development, Wang said, adding that the situation "should not be continued."
"The old habit of the US hegemonic behavior of willfully interfering in China's internal affairs must be changed," Wang said.
The US launching new sanctions against China just a day before the Chinese delegation's departure to Alaska was not hospitality and only proved its weakness and inability, Wang said, noting that "it will in no way affect China's legitimate position or shake the will of the Chinese people."
At the invitation of the US, top Chinese diplomats and other delegates led by Yang and Wang, the first foreign delegation to visit the US since the inauguration of US President Joe Biden, started "high-level strategic dialogue" with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan on Thursday in Anchorage, Alaska, one of the coldest places on US soil with a freezing temperature of minus 19 degrees Celsius.
As agreed by both sides, the officials will hold three meetings from Thursday to Friday, local time, media reported.
The opening remarks of the two sides were described by American media as "combative," as China stated firmly its core interests while the US continued to make unwarranted accusations about China's human rights situation and internal affairs about Hong Kong, Xinjiang and Taiwan.
Chinese analysts said that both the Chinese and US delegations were under huge pressure, and China's firm stance was setting the tone for the high-level dialogue.
Lü Xiang, a research fellow on US studies at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences in Beijing, told the Global Times on Friday that Chinese delegates' opening remarks clearly expressed China's resolute position on its core interests, which was telling the US and the world that no matter how long the dialogue will last, China's position will not change.
After the Chinese delegates' opening remarks, Blinken, who had finished his opening remarks before Yang, held journalists in the room for his further remarks, according to Reuters.
According to the agreed protocol, the opening remarks of the two sides were to be eight minutes altogether, but afterward, Blinken held journalists to give further US remarks and then immediately requested them to leave.
Chinese delegates asked journalists to stay to witness China's further response, according to a reporter with Phoenix TV. Opening remarks ended up lasting about 90 minutes.
Yang Xiyu, a former Chinese diplomat and senior research fellow at the China Institute of International Studies in Beijing, told the Global Times that Blinken made extra remarks out of concerns that he would be lashed out fiercely by his domestic audiences if he did not.
Whether he made a further response or not will not affect the dialogue, but he needed it considering domestic pressure and domestic political interest, Yang Xiyu said.
The "combative" opening remarks, which took place amid the increasingly complicated conflicts of two countries, were rather as expected, but the dialogue in the following sessions will not only discuss what the two sides argued about but will also explore the areas that the two sides could cooperate in to stabilize bilateral relations, Yang Xiyu said.
In his extended remarks, Blinken said US allies also raised concerns about China, with Chinese analysts saying this did not show the US' sincerity, as the issues between China and the US should be dealt with by the two parties, instead of forming cliques or pressuring allies.
Yang Xiyu said that China and the US made their opening remarks based on different standards and international rules, and China's were based on peaceful coexistence and noninterference in internal affairs, while the US' were based on putting human rights over sovereignty.
Thus, the two countries should set up a new rule-based communication means rather than the rules established during the colonial period to make future talks effective, He said.
For example, Blinken accused China of espionage, but the US failed to offer any solid evidence. The two sides should also set up rules on cybersecurity issues, including actions and criteria recognized by both on investigating evidence, Yang Xiyu said.
China and the US are two major world powers. No matter how many
disputes they have, the two countries should not impulsively break their
relations. Coexistence and cooperation are the only options for China
and the US. Whether we like it or not, the two countries should learn to
patiently explore mutual compromises and purse strategic win-win
cooperation.
The China-US high-level strategic dialogue in Anchorage, Alaska
started intensely due to the US behavior without hospitality and
diplomatic etiquette, ...
Representations of cryptocurrencies Bitcoin, Ethereum, DogeCoin, Ripple,
Litecoin are placed on PC motherboard in this illustration taken, June
29, 2021. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration
