China Lite

Following in China's footsteps, the Iranian government is cracking down on their people's ability to communicate on the internet. The government has drastically throttled the internet, slowing it to a crawl, and it has blocked e-mail service from Google and Yahoo.

This internet slowdown comes in anticipation of the 31st anniversary of the Iranian revolution. The government of Iran is looking to avoid a PR nightmare like the one they had during last June's election, when citizens used services such as Twitter and YouTube to transmit their protest globally.

Some communications experts believe that the authorities’ efforts to block Gmail could be related to Google encryption, which prevents the government from reading e-mail. Yahoo and Hotmail have not been similarly affected, one monitor said.

Whatever its motivation, the government described its e-mail disruptions as well intentioned. Saeed Mahdyun, a telecommunications official, told the semiofficial ILNA news agency that Gmail would be blocked to encourage users to switch to local e-mail services.

The government announced last week that it was starting a national e-mail service to replace foreign ones, as a way to build “trust” with the people. But the opposition says most people use Gmail and Yahoo precisely because they are suspicious of local e-mail services, which they strongly suspect are monitored by the government.

Iran is maintaining 6.5% GDP growth, but suffers from 15% inflation and 12.5% unemployment. Iran echos China's authoritarian internet policy, but without China's strong economic growth.

The situation in Iran is deteriorating. Many of the people seem resolved to change their government, but the government shows no signs of backing down. More blood will be shed before this is over.

[NYTimes via HuffPo via Kevin]

China: Bow Down To Your Lender

China is now using its role as our lender to influence the terms of our health care reform:

In a July meeting, Chinese officials asked their American counterparts detailed questions about the health care legislation making its way through Congress. The president’s budget director, Peter R. Orszag, answered most of their questions. But the Chinese were not particularly interested in the public option or universal care for all Americans.

“They wanted to know, in painstaking detail, how the health care plan would affect the deficit,” one participant in the conversation recalled. Chinese officials expect that they will help finance whatever Congress and the White House settle on, mostly through buying Treasury debt, and like any banker, they wanted evidence that the United States had a plan to pay them back.

Who would have thought health care reform could become a national security issue?

The Chinese are getting skeptical about our ability to pay them back. Perhaps they will need to teach us a lesson in capitalism, which would be ironic to the max.

US Still the World's Largest Manufacturer

Reports of US manufacturing's death have been greatly exaggerated. Despite China doubling its market share in the last 10 years, from around 4% of global manufacturing (1995) to 8% (2005), the US has held steady at a little over 22% of the global market.

Total manufacturing output has been increasing steadily over the last 20 years, yet we never stop hearing complaints about jobs moving to China. While this is true in some cases, in many places automation and production technology are reducing the need for employees. In 1987, 16.5% of American workers worked in manufacturing. Now that figure is around 11%.

Look out though, as American manufacturing could be experiencing a renaissance as the falling dollar increases our global competitiveness. Companies who have offshored their production to save money many times find hidden costs through lower quality facilities and suppliers. These companies may see our current economic climate as an opportunity to bring those jobs back home.

Holy Chinese Weather Control

Chinese scientists are devising a plan to ensure a rain free celebration of the People's Republic's 60th birthday.

While meteorologists in much of the world are simply charged with forecasting rain or shine, Mr. Guo and his colleagues at the Beijing Municipal Meteorological Station were also responsible for making sure the weather is of the crowd-pleasing variety. “If we make a mistake with our work, the impact will be huge,” Mr. Guo, a soft spoken scientist, told a news conference this week. “We are under a lot of pressure.”

Meteorologists said their efforts to prevent foul weather on Oct. 1 involved satellites, 400 scientists, cloud-probing lasers and a squadron of transport planes capable of sprinkling liquid nitrogen into pregnant clouds. “It is the first time in Chinese history that artificial weather modification on such a large scale has been attempted,” Cui Lianqing, an air force meteorologist, told Global Times newspaper last week.

Damn, China, stop being so terrifying.