In a color dream where the Grant Street entrance to Chinatown marketplace became the Bund. Paid extra to my waiter for the tip. After screaming at my accent and wretched Cantonese acquired in my China Advocates period year 2000 working to get alumni to tour China. Draws me in. California can do this now and then. Just cut away to another instant in the Golden State in the Time of Gold.
https://247wallst.com/special-report/2022/07/22/foreign-countries-that-own-the-most-u-s-land
The debate now is whether, and to what extent, US institutional investors should be barred from holding Chinese financial assets. In the financial industry, there are those strongly in favor of deepening US-Chinese capital market integration. The asset manager Blackrock has called for a further tripling of Western capital flows into China. Similarly, Bridgewater’s Ray Dalio argued that China is on a path forward and highly investable, notwithstanding unavoidable risks. Voices in favor of expanding US-Chinese financial integration seem less concerned with the geopolitical consequences of their investments in China.
On the other hand, several influential voices opine that portfolio investments in China are bad for US national security. In late 2021, the US-Chinese Economic and Security Review Commission (USCC) pointed out that Western portfolio inflows into China’s stock and bond markets undermine US national security in several ways. First, Western money is used to directly fund Chinese military and national security companies. Second, outside investments can flow into Chinese conglomerates which encompass both military and civilian parts. Third, apparently civilian companies still contribute to Chinese military and security technology through China’s military-civil fusion programs, as well as through business ecosystems which facilitate financial and technological know-how, as well as other transfers between civilian and military business. Fourth, Western investments in China’s stock and bond markets make China richer overall and thus allow the CCP to expand its military budget.
It is likely that geopolitical motives will trump business instincts. The overall US relationship with China is dominated by strategic considerations, and finance is increasing seen as an integral part of the equation.
One can only speculate about the consequences as the US moves to further separate American and Chinese capital markets. The structure of international capital markets may become bifurcated, with one centered on China, and one centered on the US dollar. A partial financial decoupling with the effect of trillions being sucked out of, or locked up in, China at once, may cause global contagion and financial instability. How China will react or whether it will seek to deter any US financial decoupling remain relevant questions.
To prevent Western institutional investors from entering the Chinese market, the US will also have to ensure that portfolio investors from Europe will end their exposure to China. This could cause a Transatlantic imbroglio, which will be discussed in a subsequent piece.
As the official US stance on portfolio investments in China is still evolving, international policy makers, market participants, and observers should correspondingly adjust. The most important thing all three groups can do now is to carefully observe the US debate on geopolitical competition with China and be aware that this debate is likely to affect the future of both China’s capital markets and the structure of global finance. Most important of all, this era of financial geopolitics requires that international financial institutions learn to take national security into account at every turn.
Dr. Elmar Hellendoorn is a nonresident senior fellow with the GeoEconomics Center and the Europe Center.
Nearly 55% of all foreign-owned land parcels in the U.S. are owned by interests from just six countries, all of which are close U.S. allies like the Netherlands, Italy, and the United Kingdom.
Canadian investors lead this pack, by a long shot, with nearly 9.4 million acres of U.S. land — more acreage than 44 of the top 50 foreign landowners combined, according to the report. (These people own the most land in America.)
Investors from countries with less friendly relations also hold agricultural land in the U.S. These include China, with 194,179 acres, Venezuela with 28,058 acres, and Saudi Arabia with 18,586 acres. Compare that to U.S. land ownership from investors in Germany (1.2 million acres), France (643,710 acres), and Switzerland (313,122 acres).
Still, in some cases, investors who own the largest amount of U.S. land could use companies incorporated in third party countries like the Netherlands or the Cayman Islands to mask their country of origin. !!!!
https://www.quodlibet.it/giorgio-agamben-la-terza-guerra-mondiale-non-ncora-finita