19. februar 2006 [...] ZüRICH/SINGAPUR · Die Zinssteuer, welche die Schweiz im Juli 2005 auf Druck der EU einführt, leitet einen Exodus aus der Schweiz ein: Immer mehr Reiche und Superreiche aus Europa verlagern ihr Vermögen nach Singapur. Sie ärgert nicht nur, dass die Schweiz ihnen einen Teil ihres Zinsgewinns abzieht und an ihren Heimatstaat überweist, sie fürchten auch, dass das Schweizer Bankgeheimnis immer löchriger wird.

Tatsächlich fliessen zum Beispiel auf dem Weg der informellen Amtshilfe zunehmend Informationen aus der Schweiz an ausländische Behörden, ohne dass die Betroffenen sich dagegen wehren könnten. Der Abfluss europäischer Gelder aus der Schweiz nach Singapur ist beträchtlich. So wurden in den letzten Jahren selbst von kleineren Banken wie der Julius Bär oder der Bank Sarasin Milliardenbeträge deutscher und italienischer Kunden nach Singapur verschoben.
Credit Suisse betreut im asiatischen Stadtstaat umgerechnet 6 Milliarden Franken an Vermögenswerten allein aus Europa, wie das «Wall Street Journal» dieser Tage enthüllt hat. UBS verwalte in Singapur rund 4 Milliarden Dollar Vermögen von Kunden in Europa. Die Banken wollen diese Zahlen nicht kommentieren.

Credit Suisse hat in Singapur gar einen speziellen «Eurodesk» aufgebaut, wo vielsprachige Berater Kunden in Europa bis gegen Mitternacht Lokalzeit in der jeweiligen Muttersprache bedienen.

Schweizer Banken verwalten derzeit rund 30 Prozent der weltweiten Vermögen, die sich ausserhalb ihrer Heimmärkte und damit im Bänklerjargon «offshore» befinden. Seit Singapur im Jahr 2001 ein Bankgeheimnis nach dem Muster der Schweiz und Liechtensteins geschaffen hat, gilt die Stadt als beste Alternative zur Schweiz.
Der Stadtstaat, der wie seinerzeit die Schweiz auf seine Unabhängigkeit pocht, muss weder eine Zinssteuer an die EU abliefern, noch ist er Mitglied der OECD, die ihren Druck auf den Finanzplatz Schweiz stetig erhöht hat.

[...]

http://www.sonntagszeitung.ch/dyn/account/smd/archiv_suche.html

october 22, 2005 [...] Former Taiwan President Lee Teng-hui, who knows a thing or two about replacing dictatorship with freedom and democracy, urged the West to be on alert as China grows in economic strength and not to tolerate its aggression and human rights abuses.
...As long as the capital from free countries continues to pour into China, China’s already oppressive practices will become more entrenched and the ensuing and everexpanding militarism will make the likelihood of transition to a peaceful country ever more unlikely.
...If China insists on maintaining its one-party dictatorship, if it continues to exploit and suppress its people at home and expand its military threats against its democratic neighbours, then China will retain its current status and we will continue to witness the rise of a militarist hegemony.
...Free nations must develop and strengthen their global and regional cooperation in both supporting the people of China in their struggle for freedom and democracy as well as taking measures to stop Chinese acts of oppression and aggression. [...]

http://www.pekingduck.org/archives/003042.php

october 20, 2005: Yahoo Hong Kong ratted out a Chinese dissident journalist to the Chinese government, sending the journalist to prison for ten years. Yahoo founder Jerry Yang shrugged off the public outcry over this by saying that helping to send Yahoo customers to jail was just the price of doing business in China. Now Chinese human rights activist Liu Xiaobo has responded with an open letter to Yang, and it's a scorcher:
International companies are ignoring basic human rights in return for business opportunity, while the Communist party is offering profits in return for continued control of the internet and the ability to intimidate dissidents, Mr Liu writes.
«The collusion of these two kinds of ugliness means that there is no way for western investment to promote freedom of speech in China, and that in fact it greatly increases the ability of the Communist party to blockade and control the internet.»
«You are helping the Communist party maintain an evil system of control over freedom of information and speech,» he writes.

http://www.boingboing.net/2005/10/20/chinese_activist_to_.html

october 15, 2005 [...] It's all been a bit of a disaster on the blog front - but here's the first blog entry since landing in Phuket, Thailand, two weeks ago. I have travelled here with Matthew Eaves on a project jointly supported by the British Council, Ultralab and Apple. The aim has been to work with children from Pattani on a digital creativity project with the intention of bring together communities of children as part of the Connecting Futures outreach work that has been very successful.
...Two workshops had been arranged during the two weeks we had been invited and used the well-respected SummerSchool format where the participants gained new skills with using digital video cameras and iMovie software.
...Even though we already know lots about children making movies (our research in digital creativity work using the SummerSchool format stretches back over the past 6 years) there were still several surprises.
...What was exceptional here wasn't just the comments the pupils made, but their confidence to speak in front of the camera. [...]

http://www.jonathansblog.net/digital_creativity_roadshow_thailand

September 29, 2005 [...] While it may be years (possibly never, although I think it'll happen) before you can purchase a legitimate copy of OS X for your regular x86 PC, pirates in Bangkok have sped up the process, selling what they call a «retail» version of OSx86. According to Hardmac: «Pirates of course took advantage of the osx86project.com community discoveries, in order to sell versions they dare to call 'Retail Edition', for 6 Euro.»... We find it appalling that someone would try to make a quick buck from someone else's (Apple's) work. And, for the record, we neither support nor endorse any of their activities, nor any illegal use of OS X for that matter. These pirates have used hackers' …cracks from elsewhere, not «discoveries» from this site. [...]

http://osx86project.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=46&Itemid=2

by ian cobain and adam luck, september 14, 2005 [...] A Chinese cosmetics company is using skin harvested from the corpses of executed convicts to develop beauty products for sale in Europe, an investigation by the Guardian has discovered.
...The agent said his company exported to the west via Hong Kong.«We are still in the early days of selling these products, and clients from abroad are quite surprised that China can manufacture the same human collagen for less than 5% of what it costs in the west.»
Peter Butler, a consultant plastic surgeon and government adviser, said there had been rumours that Chinese surgeons had performed hand transplants using hands from executed prisoners.
...Collagen can cause allergic reactions if it has not been treated correctly, and there is a theoretical risk of disease being passed on. A small amount of collagen is often injected into the skin a few weeks before treatment to test for possible allergic reactions. [...]

http://www.infowars.com/articles/ps/china_beauty_products_executed_prisoners.htm

september 12, 2005 [...] ... Thailand has become the place to go for crooks, fugitives, and terrorists looking for fake and altered passports.
According to authorities, the most common counterfeited passports are Belgian, French, Portuguese and Spanish, because passports from those countries are easiest to work with. Many of the passports being altered are stolen or even purchased from tourists, who can pick up a quick $500 by selling their passports.
One reason that Thailand is so popular among counterfeiters is its relatively light penalties for faking Thai government documents or possession of stolen property — five years in jail and a $240 fine. [...]

http://japundit.com/archives/2005/09/12/1175/

by chris buckley, august 4, 2005 [...] New regulations proposed by the Chinese government would keep additional foreign satellite broadcasters from entering the market and would strengthen restrictions on foreign television programs, books, newspapers and theater performances, all in an effort to tighten control over the country's culture.
They spell out what parts of China's government are responsible for overseeing what parts of the media and entertainment industry, and they promise to make it more difficult for foreign companies to bring in books, the Internet and video games, and performing acts at a time when many multinationals are turning to China for growth.
...Co-productions between Chinese and foreign film and television makers will face stricter censorship, and foreign publications will be able to be sold only through government-controlled agencies, with strict punishment of unregulated sales.
...In early July, China issued a ban on Chinese broadcasters and foreign investors jointly operating television channels, and earlier this year the government froze Chinese-foreign co-production of TV programs. [...]

http://www.nytimes.com/2005/08/04/business/worldbusiness/04media.html?ex=1280808000&en=b82196b7088af4a6&ei=5088&partner=rssnyt&emc=rss

von annette langer, 28. september 2005 Revolution bannt Prostitution: Mit radikalen und bisweilen grotesken Kampagnen versucht die chinesische Regierung, das Geschäft mit der Lust einzudämmen. Dem Wachstum in Sex-Industrie und Gewerbe tut das keinen Abbruch.

[...] Doch das einträchtige Leben in einem Rotlichtviertel von Luzhou in der südwestchinesischen Provinz Sichuan fand vergangene Woche ein jähes Ende: Die Behörden schlossen das Etablissement, verhafteten fünf Hauptverdächtige und brachten sie für bis zu zwölf Jahre hinter Gitter.

...Dass örtliche Beamte Liebesdienste von Prostituierten nicht nur schweigend tolerieren, sondern auch selbst in Anspruch nehmen, ist in der Volksrepublik kein Geheimnis. Doch mancher Behördenvertreter investiert auch öffentliche Gelder in sein privates Vergnügen: In China ist es Usus, dass niedere Beamte ihre Vorgesetzten mit der kostenlosen Bereitstellung von Sex-Dienstleistungen umgarnen - und das immer häufiger auf Staatskosten. [...]

http://www.spiegel.de/panorama/0,1518,376854,00.html

by david jenkins, july 10, 2005 [...] A study by Nomura Research Institute has estimated that the combined «otaku» market in Japan is now worth ¥411 billion ($3.61bn) annually. The roughly defined market includes consumables such as manga (comics), anime (animated features and shows) and video games, as well as other obsessive activities such as celebrity watching.

...Although the Japanese term «otaku» is commonly used without malice in the West to describe those interested either directly in Japanese pop culture or areas in which Japanese companies play a significant role, in Japan itself it is a more offensive term used to describe someone unreasonably obsessed with a particular hobby, subject or person. [...]

http://www.gamasutra.com/php-bin/news_index.php?story=6768