BERLIN—Volkswagen AG’s emissions-cheating scandal took a hefty dent out of sales of its VW brand in 2016, but strong growth in China and Eastern Europe helped offset declines in other major markets.
Shares of Volkswagen rose strongly Monday after it said VW-brand car sales increased significantly in December and after a senior executive voiced hope that the company would soon resolve a criminal investigation in the U. S.
Sales…

© Source: http://www.wsj.com/articles/volkswagen-brand-sales-increase-in-2016-despite-emissions-scandal-1483965040?mod=pls_whats_news_us_business_f
All rights are reserved and belongs to a source media.

Three alleged terror suspects were shot dead by police officers in China’s Xinjiang Province on Sunday night. The police had been in pursuit of the suspects, who resisted arrest, for their connection to a terror incident that transpired in 2015.
Like Us on Facebook
Reuters reported that the region’s governing body explained that the incident occurred in Hotan after police officials were faced with hostility from the «violent terror group. »
«We shot the thugs dead at the scene,» the government told the Tianshan Net official news site. «There were no casualties on our side. »
So far, additional information on the Sunday incident has been withheld.
A similar incident had been witnessed two weeks earlier in western Xinjiang, where members of the East Turkistan Islamic Movement (ETIM) rammed a car into the government compound in Karakax County.
The suspects launched an attack and detonated a bomb on the location. In retaliation, police officials shot and killed three of the culprits. An official and a security guard from the government side, however, lost their lives due to the incident.
Following the tragedy, the region’s governing body revamped its anti-terrorism measures and carried out an investigation to the area chief, He Jun, over failure to perform his duty as well as discipline violations.
Prior to the attack, Xinjiang enjoys a peaceful state with no major crimes being reported in the past few months. Rights groups and analysts argued that China’s harsh regulations imposed on the Uighurs religion and culture are to blame for the rising violence.

© Source: http://www.chinatopix.com/articles/109571/20170109/china-terrorism-etim-terrorist-attacks.htm
All rights are reserved and belongs to a source media.

This giant rooster sculpture outside of a mall in Taiyuan, China has gone viral. #TrumpRooster welcomes #ChineseNewYear in Taiyuan, N China’s Shanxi province https://t.co/quosHmdMgQ It was erected to usher in the Year of the Rooster on the Chinese zodiac calendar, which will begin eight days after President-elect Donald Trump is inaugurated. Bless whomever was responsible for this statue in Taiyuan, China. Year of the rooster, indeed!

Texas senator Ted Cruz and governor Greg Abbott said they met Taiwan president Tsai Ing-wen on Sunday, while she was passing through Texas on her way to diplomatic stops in Central America. Cruz said China’s consulate had asked, in “a curious letter”, that the Houston congressional delegation “uphold the ‘One-China policy’” and not meet the Taiwanese leader. In December, US president-elect Donald Trump spoke with Tsai by phone, breaking decades of US precedent in relations with China. Cruz, a Republican who endorsed Trump after losing to him in the presidential primary, had previously defended Trump’s call. “The People’s Republic of China needs to understand that in America we make decisions about meeting with visitors for ourselves,” Cruz said in a statement on Sunday. “This is not about the PRC. This is about the US relationship with Taiwan, an ally we are legally bound to defend. The Chinese do not give us veto power over those with whom they meet. We will continue to meet with anyone, including the Taiwanese, as we see fit.” Cruz added that he and Tsai discussed “arms sales, diplomatic exchanges and economic relations”, and that he hoped to increase trade between Texas and Taiwanese markets. In a separate statement , Abbott said he and Tsai discussed agriculture and gas trade, and exchanged gifts. Tsai received “a clock bearing the Texas State Seal”, Abbott said, and the governor received a vase. Abbott said the issues discussed were energy, trade relations and commercial ties between Taiwan and Texas. American lawmakers often meet Taiwanese presidents when they pass through the US, despite tensions between federal officials. Tsai incurred China’s anger over her refusal to endorse Beijing’s policy that the mainland and Taiwan constitute a single Chinese nation. Beijing lodged a complaint with the US over Trump’s call with Tsai, the first between American and Taiwanese leaders since ties were cut in 1979 at China’s request. Barack Obama’s White House reassured China, but Trump continued to threaten exacerbating tensions with Beijing. Not long after his 10-minute conversation with Tsai, the president-elect went on a tirade against China on Twitter. He wrote: “Did China ask us if it was OK to devalue their currency (making it hard for our companies to compete), heavily tax our products going into their country (the US doesn’t tax them) or to build a massive military complex in the middle of the South China Sea? I don’t think so!” He then accused China of stealing an underwater drone that it seized in contested waters, calling it an “unpresidented [sic] act”. “We should tell China that we don’t want the drone they stole back,” he wrote. “Let them keep it!”

© Source: http://www.scmp.com/news/world/united-states-canada/article/2060450/us-senator-ted-cruz-meets-taiwans-tsai-texas-and
All rights are reserved and belongs to a source media.

Citic, a massive Chinese financial firm, is taking the majority stake in McDonald’s ( MCD ) operations in mainland China and Hong Kong.
U. S. private equity giant The Carlyle Group, is also buying into the investment combo, taking a 28% stake. McDonald’s will hold the remaining 20% of the business.
McDonald’s CEO Steve Easterbrook said the fast food company’s new partners would bring a better understanding of the Chinese market.
Related: More touch screens and table service just the beginning of McDonald’s change
The deal is the latest move in Easterbrook’s efforts to overhaul the global burger chain. In the U. S., it has launched more customized sandwiches with fancier ingredients, introduced all-day breakfast to the menu and brought in touch screens and table service.
Customers in China could also see changes soon. McDonald’s says «menu innovation» and using digital technology are priorities for the new Chinese business.
Bringing in Citic and Carlyle doesn’t mean the McDonald’s brand is pulling back in China, where the economy is slowing down after decades of rapid growth.
The partners say they’re aiming to open more than 1,500 new restaurants in China and Hong Kong over the next five years, with a focus on bringing the golden arches to smaller Chinese cities.
Related: KFC China owner has a finger lickin’ good debut
McDonald’s aim is to drastically reduce the number of stores it owns in favor of franchises. The China deal will enable it to slash its company-owned stores by 1,750.
McDonald’s announcement follows Yum Brands’ spinoff of its China division late last year. The decision by the KFC parent came after pressure from activist shareholders.
Both big U. S. fast food companies had suffered in China in recent years after food safety scandals. McDonald’s and Yum ( YUM ) reported improving results at their Chinese businesses last year until they were hit by anti-U. S. protests in July.

© Source: http://rss.cnn.com/~r/rss/edition_us/~3/c_iqM_G8Izk/index.html
All rights are reserved and belongs to a source media.

China’s popular nationalistic tabloid on Sunday warned US President-elect Donald Trump that Beijing would set on a «revenge» mode if he renounces the «One China» policy. The warning comes barely hours after Taiwanese president Tsai Ing-wen made a controversial stopover at America’s Houston city before flying to South America.   
Like Us on Facebook
The Global Times editorial categorically stated that the «One China» principle holds paramount importance in the Sino-US relationship and any compromise on it is simply unacceptable.
«Sticking to (the one China) principle is not a capricious request by China upon US presidents, but an obligation of US presidents to maintain China-US relations and respect the existing order of the Asia-Pacific,» it said.
The editorial claimed that if the  Trump administration attempts to abandon  the one China principle, then «Chinese people will demand the government to take revenge. There is no room for bargaining. »
The use of word «bargaining» seems to deliberate on the part of Global Times editorial, since Trump had categorically stated that US ought to use the «One China» policy as a bargaining chip against the Chinese government.
Meanwhile, several senior US Republican lawmakers met Taiwan’s president Tsai during her brief stopover at Houston on Sunday. The meeting seen as an open challenge to China included prominent members like Texas Senator Ted Cruz and Governor Greg Abbott.
Shortly after the meeting, Cruz issued a stern statement against China saying that Beijing needs to understand that Americans are free to make decisions about meeting the visiting leaders.
China apparently had warned the US not to allow the Taiwanese leader to make a transit stopover in the country while on a enroute to Central America.
However, Chinese leadership can breathe a sigh of relief that Trump did not held any meeting with Tsai on Sunday. The US president-elect cited «diplomatic protocol» for his inability to meet the Taiwanese leader during her US stopover.  
However, Trump last week indicated media reporters that he is open to meet Tsai after his official coronation on Jan. 20.

© Source: http://www.chinatopix.com/articles/109565/20170109/donald-trump-beijing-china-one-china-policy-us-china-ties-trump-china.htm
All rights are reserved and belongs to a source media.

Advertisement — story continues below
Chinese sensibilities collided with Texas-style diplomacy Sunday as Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, told China to mind its own business after receiving objections to his Houston meeting with Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen.
Tsai, who stopped in Texas to visit with Cruz and Gov. Greg Abbott, was en route to Central America when she met with the two Texas leaders. Prior to the meeting, Cruz said in a statement, China had objected to the visit.
Advertisement — story continues below
Under the so-called one China policy, the U. S. maintains diplomatic relations with China but not Taiwan, even though it maintains commercial ties with the island, which China claims is a breakaway province and not a separate nation. Taiwan, off the coast of China, became the refuge for China’s Nationalist government after Mao Zedong took power in 1949.
On Sunday, Cruz said he would meet with whomever he wanted to, no matter what China had to say.
“The People’s Republic of China needs to understand that in America we make decisions about meeting with visitors for ourselves,” Cruz said in a statement.
Advertisement — story continues below
“This is about the U. S. relationship with Taiwan, an ally we are legally bound to defend. The Chinese do not give us veto power over those with whom they meet. We will continue to meet with anyone, including the Taiwanese, as we see fit,” he said.
“The US-Taiwan relationship is not on the negotiating table. It is bound in statute and founded on common interests. I look forward to working with President Tsai to strengthen our partnership,” Cruz added.
Tsai talked about trade as well as arms sales, Cruz said. Abbott said he and Tsai discussed energy and trade.
Advertisement — story continues below
China, however, objected no matter what issues were on the table.
“We are firmly opposed to the Taiwan leader’s engagement with U. S. officials under the pretext of transit, and her attempt to undermine China-U. S. relations,” said foreign ministry spokesman Lu Kang.
Relations between China and the U. S. have been frosty ever since President-elect Donald Trump took a phone call from Tsai after the election, a move China said violated diplomatic protocols.
The Global Times newspaper, which is controlled by China’s government, said Beijing was “ fully prepared ” to break ties with the U. S. if Trump establishes relations with Taiwan.
“If Trump reneges on the One China policy after taking office, the Chinese people will demand the government to take revenge. There is no room for bargaining,” said the paper.
One expert noted that Tsai is keeping her options open.
“Taiwan has maintained relations with China hawks in the Republican Party over the past several administrations,” said Ian Rowen , a postdoctoral fellow at Academia Sinica in Taipei, Taiwan. “Cruz is influential above and beyond many senators, given his performance in the last election campaign. It makes sense to add Cruz, whatever his relationship is going to be with the Trump administration.”
“In general, it raises Tsai’s national and international stature to be going on trips like this,” Rowen said. “There is, however, the potential for a shift in U. S.-Taiwan relations, so of course she’s going to seize the opportunity to meet with as many officials as possible.”

© Source: http://www.westernjournalism.com/cruz-meets-with-taiwans-leader-rebuffs-chinas-objections/
All rights are reserved and belongs to a source media.

McDonald’s Corp. said it will sell 80 per cent of its fast-food restaurant business in Hong Kong and mainland China in a deal valued at HK$16.14 billion (US$2.08 billion) to the largest Chinese international trust company and US private equity firm Carlyle Group. After the cash-and-shares transaction, CITIC and CITIC Capital will own a 51 per cent controlling stake, while Carlyle will own 28 per cent. McDonald’s, based in Illinois state, will keep 20 per cent interests in the company, according to press release by the three companies. The formation of the partnership will act as the master franchisee responsible for McDonald’s businesses in mainland China and Hong Kong for 20 years, the press release said.

© Source: http://www.scmp.com/business/companies/article/2060484/citic-carlyle-buy-mcdonalds-franchise-hong-kong-and-china-us208
All rights are reserved and belongs to a source media.