Communist Tax Lawyer

The Kazakhstani State Office of Public Prosecutors (SOPP) and The Ministry of Economic Development and Trade (MEDT) declared, that by 2011 the business community of the country will be divided into two types: those who are counted by the state as law-abiding, and those who are not. The second type of businesses need to be ever ready to be inspected any time, while the first kind has been promised to be left in relative peace.

Addressing the issue at a public event titled “Legality and Transparency of the State Control as a Basis of Consumer Rights Protection,” the authorities didn’t point out what criteria they are going to use to judge businesses and “to die-cast them as wolves or innocent sheep.” Read the rest of this entry »

Beginning this year, Russia is altering a prison system that dates back of 70 years to the time of Stalin, separating for the first time career criminals from the general prison population.

As the New York Times reports, currently, “the inmates are divided into barracks housing a hundred or so men without regard to the severity of their crimes. At night, a guard locks the door and walks away, leaving first-time offenders and people convicted of nonviolent crimes to fend for themselves in a crowd of gang members, hit men and other career criminals.” Read the rest of this entry »

SEOUL (Reuters) – A senior Chinese envoy was in North Korea to prod the reclusive state back to stalled nuclear talks while the South sent a team across the border on Monday for talks to restart tourism projects halted due to political wrangling.

The North will also host the U.N.’s top political envoy later this week, with analysts saying this engagement may bode well for the dormant six-way disarmament-for-aid talks and could lead to Pyongyang reducing the security threat it poses to the region.

The destitute North is feeling pressure to return to the nuclear talks, where it can win aid to prop up its broken economy, due to U.N. sanctions imposed after its nuclear test in May 2009 and a botched currency revaluation that sparked inflation and rare civil unrest. Read the rest of this entry »

Demanding tax cuts and job creation, protests against Russia’s current administration were once again staged across the country over the weekend.

In Moscow yesterday, police detained as many as 100 protesters at an unauthorized anti-Kremlin demonstration in downtown Triumfalnaya Square.

Among those arrested were several prominent opposition leaders, including Eduard Limonov, leader of The Other Russia; Boris Newtsov, former Russian deputy prime minister; and Oleg Orlov, head of the Memorial human rights group. Read the rest of this entry »

European Commission responds to updated budget cut proposals from ailing Eastern European economies Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, and Malta:

BRUSSELS (Dow Jones)–The European Commission on Wednesday said Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania and Malta are taking “effective action” to cut their budget deficits, but warned Hungary that its public finances face “considerable risks” this year.

Hungary likely hit its deficit target last year, with a shortfall worth 3.9% of gross domestic product, according to the commission, the European Union’s executive arm. But state revenue and spending are at risk this year and planned tax cuts next year could further hurt the country’s bid to bring its budget gap back below 3% of GDP by a 2011 deadline, the commission said. Read the rest of this entry »

Chinese cinemas have confirmed that they are being told to stop showing the international blockbuster ‘Avatar’ in standard format starting as early as Thursday, a move that the media claims is an effort to give domestic films a fair chance at the profits.

‘Avatar’ will retain about one-third of its showings in the popular 3D format while the 2D version is likely to be replaced with the Chinese film, ‘Confucius,’ starring Chow Yun-Fat and Zhou Xun.

Despite being featured in approximately 2,500 theaters across China since its debut on January 4th, patrons are still waiting in line for hours to buy tickets to the international blockbuster, the New York Times reports. Read the rest of this entry »

Recent cyber attacks threatening user security, corporate data, and critical software source codes, as well as expanding censorship restrictions demanded from the Chinese government, have led Google execs to question whether remaining in China is in the company’s best interest and, furthermore, whether a decision to stay would adhere to the company’s official motto, “Don’t be evil.”

Although blocked in China, here is the link to Google’s official statement issued yesterday for our readers abroad.

Here is also the CNBC interview with David Drummond, chief legal officer at Google, who discusses the Internet giant’s reaction.

Google has disclosed that its computer systems experienced sophisticated cyber attacks last month that it suspects originated in China and that targeted Gmail user accounts of Chinese human rights activists.

Taking into consideration the technology, brains, and power behind the Google machine, as well as the severity of the implications, it is pretty safe to say that this isn’t a baseless claim.

Google’s decision to stand up to the Chinese government has earned them praise around the world from human rights advocates, but has undoubtedly irked the powers that be in the Chinese government and has received mixed reactions within China.

China’s largely government influenced media outlets have been trying to downplay the news online and during television broadcasts.
Xinhua: China seeks clarity on Google’s intentions

China Daily: Google pullout threat ‘a pressure tactic’

Shanghai Daily: Mixed bag of reaction to Google quit threat

Since its entrance into the Chinese market in 2006, Google has come under criticism from human rights activists for agreeing to censor a portion of their search results, resulting in some calling Google.cn the ‘neutered Google’ or ‘communist Google’.

Google, however, has defended its decision to enter the Chinese market with a modified version, claiming that it is still a more open option for Chinese Internet users than domestic search engines like Baidu, which controls approximately 61 percent of the market (to Google’s approx. 31 percent) and maintains a close relationship with the government.

While this is largely true, entering sensitive words like ‘freedom,’ ‘freedom of speech,’ ‘freedom of religion,’ and ‘dalai lama’ into Google search within China will not only lead you to a blocked page, but will shut down the Google search function on your computer for 90 seconds, even today.
Regardless of whether or not Google indeed leaves China, the fallout from this will be very interesting to watch.

Here are some more interesting articles on the subject:
Google Gets on the Right Side of History

Google is not alone in calling China’s bluff

Clash on the Great Firewall

What do Chinese people think about all this? China Geeks has compiled and translated excerpts from all over the web. To find out what Chinese people have to say on the topic, click here!

Last Friday, a Miami-Dade Circuit judge awarded more than US$1 billion in damages against the Cuban government for the lawsuit filed by a Cuban-American man blaming them for the suicide of his father.

Gustavo Villoldo, 76, claimed that Ernesto “Che” Guevara, Fidel Castro and others were guilty for his father’s 1959 suicide in Cuba. Villoldo would later join the U.S. military and be involved with the CIA-led capture of revolutionary Che Guevara. Even though the damage award would be almost impossible to collect, Miami-Dade Circuit Judge Peter Adrien said he wanted to send a signal to Cuba’s government.

Judge Adrien awarded almost US$1.2 billion; US$393 million for economic damages suffered by the family; US$393 million for pain and suffering; and US$393 million in punitive damages.

Villoldo’s attorney said the law firm search for global Cuban assets to fulfill the judgment. The Cuban government has not offered a defense to the lawsuit. In February 1959, Villoldo’s killed himself by overdosing on sleeping pills after being held by the government and tortured for days and threatened to be executed on supposed grounds that he was a U.S. agent.

Cuba’s central bank will put restrictions on the banking transactions of foreign companies operating inside the communist country starting on May 7th, according to Reuters.

The Nuevo Tribune newspaper has speculated that this surprise move has come as an attempt to cut down on illegal financial activities, such as money laundering, which have become a problem in the country.

Other sources believe that the move is in response to liquidity problems in the economy following a disappointing 2008.

The news regarding the changing banking policy was sent out via mail by state-owned Banco Metropolitano to foreign establishments and associations.

In the future, withdrawals will be restricted to those required to pay salaries to Cuban employees and special authorization from bank officials will be required for other bank transactions.