Chinese Tycoon Wants to Buy The New York Times

cnsnews.com ^ | Jan. 2, 2014 | Patrick Goodenough

[PROCON]

(CNSNews.com) – The New York Times Company says it’s not for sale, but a high-profile Chinese businessman and philanthropist eager to buy what he views as the world’s most influential newspaper plans to fly to New York City this week to push ahead with his bid.

Chen Guangbiao on Wednesday told the Global Times, a Chinese Communist Party-affiliated paper, that he has a meeting scheduled Friday with a city firm specializing in mergers and acquisitions, followed by dinner on Sunday with “a middle-level leader” from the Times.

[SpaceBar]

Fascism is the unholy marriage between big business and big government, plain and simple. Not outright ownership, but control. Let the captains of industry make their profits, but with political strings attached.

[freebilly]

I don’t know about you, but I’m all for NEW YOLK CHINAMAN TIMES!

I'll have what you're drinking....

[Revolting cat!]

Seriously, the claim that government is controlling everything is blatantly false.

I never claimed that government owned everything. I claim that government controls much, and I can testify to that as an employee of a private company which had to spend significant resource to satisfy government requirements. Heard of the Sarbanes-Oxley legislation? And I claim that differences between the Chinese government owning some pork producer and the US government owning "shares" of GM and loaning money to Solyndra, are insignificant, in that they only reflect different conditions, which exist not only between the US and China in similar things, but between the US and Great Britain and other countries as well, but they amount to pretty much the same thing, from the point of view that Milton Friedman might have taken.

I had many long conversations in the past couple of years with a Chinese economist visiting a US university, and he was surprised many times to learn how and to what extent the US government controlled American companies and mandated their behaviour, while I was surprised how the Chinese government was not as advanced in its mechanisms of control.

[freebilly]

Imagine all the Rs becoming Ls and vice velsa in the new New Yolk Times, what’s not to rike?

Maybe you need to keep your lame attempts at humor to yourself. As an American with an Asian background I've ahead to listen to racist punks all my life tell the same tired jackass jokes about Asian accents, slanted eyes, etc....

[SpaceBar]

the claim that government is controlling everything is blatantly false...

The world economy, if you can even call it that, is controlled by factions. The United States, the People's Republic of China, and the Federation of Russia are the biggest players. There are also extremely powerful drug, oil, ivory, diamond, human trafficking, nuclear material cartels running inside the network. Toss in fundamental islam, and you got a real mess.

[Revolting cat!]

American with an Asian background

Asian, huh? OH sorry, are you from Israel, Turkey, East of the Urals Russia?

[hosepipe]

Is commie capitalist an oxymoron.?...

[dalereed]

“The Grey Lady morphs into the Lady in Red. Delicious!”

A red dress is a lot sexier than a grey burka!

[LastDanceWithMaryJane]

Wait, why would the Chinese buy the Times? Thomas Friedman already works for the for free.

[harpu]

I read somewhere that this ‘tycoon’ made his fortune on ‘bird cages’, which makes the NYSlime a sound investment to compliment his bird cage business.

[clearcarbon]

Costa fortune-cookie.

[a fool in paradise]

The New York Times crossword puzzle would become a LOT harder. I guarantee it.

[shove_it]

freebilly (Creepy and the Ass Crackers....)

You must be the "American with an Asian background" who lives in the glass house and throws stones. Righten up.

Cheers,

Otter (proud "Cracker")

[cloudmountain]

What does filth have to do with Communism? In fact, neither China nor Korea are Communist states any more. Maybe in the name only, but they definitily don’t follow the Marxist ideology of the past or of the present. (There is a great Youtube video by a North Korea researcher living in South Korea, who explains North Korea, its state, and tells that they are not Communist in any shape of form.) It is unfortunate and ignorant that on this forum ‘Communist’ is anything that the poster dislikes. Examples from above - the Pope is supposedly ‘pure Marxism’, according to a radio blabbermouth. Obama can be said to follow the Marxist ideology, as it exists now in the Western academia.

Note one of today's headlines: North Korean leader fed uncle to starving dogs, report says. They may not be the model communist country but they still have the BARBARISM of a country with NO values or morals. Leaders are mirrors of the country.

I do agree with you about the absence of true Marxist ideology. Russia doesn't follow it either.
May husband and I were in St. Petersburg (I refused to see Moscow.) in 2008 and there didn't seem to be a VESTIGE of communism left.

I went to eastern Europe this past spring (2012) and loved it. I got sick in Serbia and must report that they were wonderful to me...and inculcated immediate trust in me with their medical industry.

Truth be known TRUE communism doesn't exist anywhere as it's totally useless. Incentive and motivation are hallmarks of the human race at its best. Socialism has to be put in place where governments and people feel that the gap between rich and poor is too huge. If not, then gubbin ends up wiping butts for the laziest of people.

It's the difference between a hand-UP and a hand-OUT.

[cloudmountain]

Not sure if I completely agree with that characterization, it could be you ended up in a dirty area.
On China’s behalf, I would say the country is very crowded, and very ancient. Thousands of years, of a huge number of people all packed together, look different than a relatively young country with a rich background.
What I am most concerned about is, that businesses in China don’t build or support America. All the businesses which go to China become minority players there. Everything gets taken over, by China. All of it. We need to bring back businesses, and compete from here. IMO.

See my response to cringing cat.

My husband and I went to China in 1981. It was a great tour and I enjoyed it. Our guide was a "Mr. Chu." He had a few too many on one of the days of the tour and danced...so, NATURALLY, we called him "Cha-cha-CHU" fron that day on.

Anyway, we got to Shanghai, the "best" city in China at the time. We got to the YELLOW RIVER, its name at the time, and I asked the guide, quite innocently: What is that smell?
He answered: "Madame, that is the smell of 12.5 million people going to the bathroom twice a day."

So, I know about China's problem with cleanliness. The problem is that cleanliness COSTS. The Chinese will spend OODLES of money on education, real estate and cars. Maintaining "face" is VERY important to them.
CLEANILESS gives them NOTHING tangible. "Cleanliness is next to Godliness" is a Judeo-Christian ethic, not a Chinese one.

[Simplified Chinese: 黄浦江; traditional Chinese: 黃浦江; pinyin: Huángpǔ Jiāng, formerly Whampoa and Whangpoo,[citation needed] lit "Yellow Bank River") is a 113 kilometres (70 mi)-long river in China flowing through Shanghai.]

China IS changing but I SERIOUSLY doubt that it will change its attitude about cleanliness. As per what the Chinese say about themselves, they believe in TWO things and TWO things only: LUCK and MONEY.

Finally, a good way to measure a country is how it treats its women. Lol. For the Chinese baby-girl infanticide is NORMAL. Girls are worthless; boys are keepers. THAT is why the 2-baby doctrine may become a reality.
Does the Chinese government REALLY believe that a family would KEEP TWO baby girls? Hah.

[Cringing Negativism Network]

Thanks for your informative post.

I have also spent some time in China.

America doesn’t even think about China, yet China is now the largest exporter on the planet, and rapidly growing.

I agree with your post 100%. Even if I take some issue with how clean it is there.

I believe there is some uncleanliness there, but there is some uncleanliness here as well.

I completely agree with your broader point however.

China is becoming the most important country on earth, to America, yet nobody really knows anything about the place.

We now buy a huge portion of everything we use every day from there.

America has in my opinion, become a huge sell-out.

We need to compete. Not sell out.

Bring back American businesses, to America.

[cloudmountain]

Not sure if I completely agree with that characterization, it could be you ended up in a dirty area.
On China’s behalf, I would say the country is very crowded, and very ancient. Thousands of years, of a huge number of people all packed together, look different than a relatively young country with a rich background.
What I am most concerned about is, that businesses in China don’t build or support America. All the businesses which go to China become minority players there.
Everything gets taken over, by China. All of it.
We need to bring back businesses, and compete from here.
IMO.

My husband and I had five years of travel all over the world. He worked for ARAMCO and their pay was obscene.
I came to a conclusion.

I lived in Mexico City for two years (1971-73), following my "roots." See Alex Haley. After living there two years I came home, NOT being able to tolerate Mexcio's FOUR root problems, the four "p's": politics, police, poverty, pollution. I thought Mexico was the filthiest country in the world.

THEN my husband and I went to live in Saudi Arabia ((1980). THEN I thought that Saudi Arabia and the middle east, where we traveled on our copious vacation time, were the FILTIEST places on the planet.

THEN, husband and I traveled to India. We KNEW we would NEVER, EVER get back to those places again. After a three-week tour of India, I thought that INDIA was the filthiest place in the world.

THEN we went to China. We both thought that CHINA was the filthiest place in the world. To this day CHINA wins the award of the filthiest country on the planet.

THEN I read about all the naysayers who say that China has changed!!! It's wonderful!!! They never, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever say: WHAT a clean country.

You want pristine? Go to Switzerland. In China you will still discover what is most important to China: luck and money. When CLEAN is free, you will see CLEAN in China...and not a day sooner.

[cloudmountain]

Thanks for your informative post.
I have also spent some time in China.
America doesn’t even think about China, yet China is now the largest exporter on the planet, and rapidly growing.
I agree with your post 100%. Even if I take some issue with how clean it is there.
I believe there is some uncleanliness there, but there is some uncleanliness here as well.
I completely agree with your broader point however.
China is becoming the most important country on earth, to America, yet nobody really knows anything about the place. BR>We now buy a huge portion of everything we use every day from there.
America has in my opinion, become a huge sell-out.
We need to compete. Not sell out.
Bring back American businesses, to America.

I think you're correct, we don't know much about them. So why don't more people travel there???? I think that the would-be travelers know what they would find there: filth.

I do have to add that China isn't as obscure as you think it is. THINK of the beautiful things they make and export:
silk
porcelain/ceramics
art work
gems
furskins
nickel
feathers
gum/resin
pharmecuticals ships rubber sugar furniture
medical/technical/electronic equipment
Knitted/crochet clothing
machines AND engines (Machines require electricity and engines require fuel)
iron/steel products
plastic
vehicles
footwear

We used to consider it a joke. NOTHING seemed to read: "MADE IN THE USA." It always read: "MADE IN CHINA."

Americans would rather have cheap imports than work more. We COULD work more and produce many of these things but they wouldn't be so cheap. MONEY is what Americans SEEM to care about. Maybe I'm wrong but this import/export business doesn't belie that.

I GREATLY admire China's ability to made BEAUTIFUL things. Any country that produces so many beautiful things is worthy of much admiration.

Saudi Arabia produces NO beautiful things. I was there five years and I SEARCHED. I thought that the BLACK wedding dresses that women wore were UGLY, poorly made and, to me, not worth even one riyal.
here's the google search for the most stable currencies:
1. The Swiss Franc
2. The Singapore Dollar
3. The New Zealand Dollar
4. The US Dollar

I rate the Saudi riyal as the most stable currency on the planet. It's been 3.1-3.3 riyals to the dollar for eons, though today it's now 3.7. It will return to its normal rate.
The country has some beautiful rose stones. Many deserts have them and, since Saudi Arabia is a GIGANTIC desert, they DO have them and they are beautiful...produced by God, not the Saudis. They didn't mine them either.

We are STUCK with middle east petroleum because we WILL NOT leave our cars. If you travel to southern California you will STILL see OCEANS of bumper-to-bumper traffic on ALL its MANY, MANY freeways, ALL hours of the day AND NIGHT.
L.A. and environs cannot build enough freeways fast enough to cope with the traffic. They tried to add public transportation and it was a COLOSSAL failure. They won't leave their cars.

Here are the top ten MOST polluted cities in the world:
1. Ahwaz, Iran
2. Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia
3. Sanandaj, Iran
4. Ludhiana, India
5. Quetta, Pakistan
6. Kermanshah, Iran
7. Peshawar, Pakistan
8. Gaborone, Botswana
9. Yasouj, Iran
10. Kanpur, India

The top ten polluters in the USA:
1. Detroit
2. St, Louis
3. Reno
4. Cleveland
5. Chicago
6. Camden
7. Memphis
8. New Haven
9. Stockton, California (18% unemployment)
10. Oakland, California (The national crime rate in Oakland is a whopping 469-percent higher than the U.S. national average with gun-related crime at the top of the list.)

Sorry for being so verbose. I'm ON A ROLL!

[cloudmountain]

Had a friend that went over there for a month. Was really excited to go. Came back completely grossed out because of hygiene issues. He said he saw restaurants take bowls used by customers dump the contents and reuse the bowls for new customers without washing them.

SOP for the Chinese. Cleanliness COSTS. As I've already said the Chinese WILL spend for education, real estate and cars...TANGIBLE, show-off-able, saving-face things but CLEANLINESS? Not a chance.

LUCK and MONEY are China's gods. They had a myriad of gods in their past: kitchen gods, garden gods, money gods, you name it, they had it. Their gods were capricious and so the Chinese had NO faith in them, understandably, so they put their faith in MONEY, not tangible...and LUCK, always a chance!

A one-time mayor of San Francisco, Willie Brown, put forth a plan to make Alcatraz a gambling casino. It wasn't such a bad idea, after all. However, it came to nothing because the local CHINESE community shut him down citing that the Chinese has SUCH a horrific gambling problem that such a CLOSE-TO-HOME place to gamble would be a disaster for the community. They had to travel to Las Vegas or Reno to gamble and that was preferable to having the casinos in the SAME city.

[cloudmountain]

Last post on this! :o)

I taught MANY Chinese students and one time I asked them how to tell the difference between Chinese and other Oriental Asians.

The answer:
Han Chinese(92% of all Chinese) have perfectly ROUND nostrils. The rest of the PLANET EARTH has oblong-shaped nostrils. It's true. There is a minority race of Chinese in far Western China who are NOT Han Chinese.

Lol. I would say to some student sometimes: "Oh look up there, it's a ... whatever." They would lift their heads and I could see the nostrils. It's true. Try it.
ROUND nostrils = Han Chinese
Oblong nostrils = the rest of the human race.

.

From Google: The Han Chinese are the largest ethnic group, where some 91.59% of the population was classified as Han Chinese (~1.2 billion). Besides the majority Han Chinese, 55 other ethnic groups are recognized in mainland China by the PRC government, numbering approximately 105 million people, mostly concentrated in the northwest, north, northeast, south, and southwest but with some in central interior areas.
The major minority ethnic groups are
Zhuang (16.9 million),
Hui (10.5 million),
Manchu (10.3 million),
Uyghur (10 million),
Miao (9.4 million),
Yi (8.7 million),
Tujia (8.3 million),
Tibetan (6.2 million),
Mongol (5.9 million),
Dong (2.8 million),
Buyei (2.8 million),
Yao (2.7 million),
Bai (1.9 million),
Korean (1.8 million),
Hani (1.6 million),
Li (1.4 million),
Kazakh (1.4 million), and
Dai (1.2 million).

WHODA thunk?