US secretary of state John Kerry said on Saturday Syria’s President Bashar al-Assad has to go but the timing of his departure should be decided through negotiation. Speaking after talks with British Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond in London, Mr Kerry called on Russia and Iran to use their influence over Mr Assad to convince him to negotiate a political transition. Mr Kerry said the United States welcomed Russia’s involvement in tackling the Islamic State in Syria but a worsening refugee crisis underscored the need to find a compromise that could also lead to political change in the country.
“We need to get to the negotiation. That is what we’re looking for and we hope Russia and Iran, and any other countries with influence, will help to bring about that, because that’s what is preventing this crisis from ending,” said Mr Kerry. “We’re prepared to negotiate. Is Assad prepared to negotiate, really negotiate? Is Russia prepared to bring him to the table?”
ギリシャの次回の選挙について Tony Connelly認証済みアカウント ?@tconnellyRTE Asked Greek taxi driver if he'll vote Driver: Its like being caught by a cannibal. He asks, you want to die by knife, bullet, or be skinned? ギリシャのタクシー運転手に、誰に投票するか尋ねたところ「人喰い人種に捉えられた ようなものだね。彼らが問うには、ナイフで殺されたいか、銃弾か、皮を剥がれたいか」
>WASHINGTON (AP) ? Republican senators pressed the Pentagon on Thursday to flex U.S. > military muscle by sailing Navy ships within 12 miles of artificial islands Beijing > is building to assert its territorial claims in the South China Sea. >John McCain, R-Ariz., chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, said the U.S. > needs to go within the 12-mile limit to make it clear that the U.S. does not recognize > China's claim that the islands are its territory. 9月17日、マケイン上院軍事委員会議長は、領有権を主張するため南シナ海で中国が建造している 人工島の12マイル内で、海軍の艦船を航行させるよう、国防総省に促した。 「当該地域の島々が領土であるという中国の主張を、アメリカは認めないと明確に示すために、 12マイル内を航行する必要がある」と述べた。
>"This is a dangerous mistake that grants de facto recognition of China's man-made > sovereignty claims," McCain said at a committee hearing held ahead of the Chinese > president's visit to the U.S. on Sept. 25. マケイン議長は、9月25日の習主席訪米に先立って開催された公聴会において、 これは中国の領有主張に事実上の承認を与える危険な誤りであると述べた。
・・・ >"I agree that the South China Sea is no more China's than > the Gulf of Mexico is Mexico's," Harris said. ハリス米太平洋軍司令官は「メキシコ湾がメキシコの領有ではないのと同じで、 南シナ海は中国の領有ではないということに同意する」と述べた。
>Senators peppered Harris and Shear with questions about whether the Pentagon has asked > the White House for permission to sail within 12 miles of the manufactured islands > and what the answer has been. 議員から、ハリス司令官とシアー米国防次官補に対して、国防総省はホワイトハウスに 当該12マイル内への航行の許可を求めたか、どのような返事があったか、という質問があった。
>Asked for his military advice, Harris finally acknowledged that "I believe that we should > be allowed to exercise freedom of navigation and maritime flight in the South China Sea > against those islands." Harris said he was awaiting directions from his superiors. >Under further questioning, Shear refused to talk about the ongoing deliberations between > the Pentagon and the White House, but he said that exercising freedom of navigation > around the islands is just one option. ハリス司令官は、当該諸島に向けた南シナ海における航行の自由の実施が許可されるべきと 考えていることを認め、命令を待っているところであると語った。 国防総省とホワイトハウスのやりとりについては語られなかったが、当該諸島の周辺において 航行の自由を実施することは単なる選択肢の一つであると述べた。
“一部の人はイギリスが用心深く中国を防いでそびえ立つべきだと主張したけれども、 甚だしきに至ってはこれに対抗して、しかし私達はこれらが国家の停滞して前進しな い観点を招きを恐れるのを拒絶します。”文章は言及して、“かえって、私達はこの 千載一遇のチャンスを抱擁するべきです。英中関係を強化して10年次の黄金を作るこ とができるでしょう。簡単で、私達はイギリスが中国の欧米地区にある最優秀パート ナーになることを望みます。”(後略) ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- <ガーディアンに寄稿された論文> http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2015/sep/19/george-osborne-britain-should-bond-china-now It’s in Britain’s interest to bond with China now George Osborne and Jim O'Neill Saturday 19 September 2015 22.34 BST
This government will ensure that the benefits of our stronger relationship with China are not just felt by those in London. That is why the business delegation is not only composed of leaders from London, but businesses from the north of England, from Wales, and from the south-west will also be represented.(略
Officials familiar with details of the Kanyon program said the weapon is envisioned as an autonomous submarine strike vehicle armed with a nuclear warhead ranging in size to “tens” of megatons in yield. A blast created by a nuclear weapon that size would create massive damage over wide areas. A megaton is the equivalent of 1 million tons of TNT.
The possible yield of the warhead, in the megaton class, clearly is an attempt to inflict catastrophic damage against U.S. or European naval facilities or coastal cities. Nations vote with their resources, and the Kanyon, along with an expanding number of other military modernization programs, indicates the priority Vladimir Putin places on military preparedness against the West.(中略)
The Russian UUV, given its probable small size, would be launched from a mother ship. However, without a working prototype this is not likely to happen anytime soon. It was only back in July that the U.S. Navy launched and recovered an underwater drone from a Virginia-class nuclear-powered fast attack for the first time.(後略)
日本は世界で、中共に続いて最も非宗教的な国。 (※この点だけでも、日中は精神的同盟関係にある。) ・・・Japan is among the world's least religious countries. Sixty-two percent of respondents identified themselves as either not religious or atheist, placing the country behind only China and Hong Kong in Asia.
しかし日本では、宗教的諸信条と諸儀典が、世俗的な日常生活の一部となっている。 Yet religious beliefs and rituals have long been a part of everyday life in Japan; the sacred is often inseparable from the secular. And even though Japanese typically don’t call themselves religious, many still feel a certain spiritual itch・・・
寺院や神社を訪れるのはますます盛んになっている。 ・・・while the role of religion in daily life continues to diminish, more and more Japanese seem to be seeking some sort of spiritual experience by visiting sacred sites, both Buddhist and Shinto. ・・・
米国でのレーガン人気は衰えない。 ・・・Some 90% of Republicans and 60% of Americans have a positive view of Reagan,・・・
(ストを決行した)連邦管制官11,000人のクビを切り、軍事力を増強し、 ベルリンで壁を崩せと叫んだ。 ・・・the president who fired 11,000 striking air traffic controllers, gutted mental health funding, slashed taxes and regulations, built up the armed forces and went to Berlin to challenge the Soviet Union to “tear down this wall”.・・・
だけど、彼は環境保護論者でもあった。 Reagan the environmentalist ? as governor he protected California’s wilderness from dams and highways and created an air resources board, as president he launched the Montreal Protocol to protect the ozone layer・・・
小さな政府を標榜しつつ、増税を何度もやり、連邦公務員を大増強し、 連邦債務を3倍近くに増やした。(※こりゃ失政以外の何ものでもないよ。) Reagan the spender who raised taxes (four to 11 times, depending how you count) and increased the federal workforce by 324,000 people, raised the debt ceiling 18 times and almost tripled the federal debt.・・・
だけど、テロで海兵隊員248名を失いつつレバノンから撤退、「悪の帝国」ソ連と握手、 銃規制、地方公務員に団体交渉権付与、不法移民300万人近くに恩赦。 Reagan the retreater who withdrew from Lebanon after terrorists killed 248 US marines, leaving the country to civil war, or Reagan the negotiator who reached out to the “evil empire”, or the Reagan who signed California’s liberal abortion law, the Brady gun law, collective bargaining for local government workers and amnesty for almost 3 million undocumented people.・・・ http://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2015/sep/19/political-myth-ronald-reagan-republican-moderate-conservative
Kyle Bass, Hayman Capital Management founder and managing partner, told CNBC's "Squawk on the Street" on Tuesday that Chinese banks will likely experience losses that may affect the country as a whole. CNBCの番組で中国の銀行セクターの損失が中国経済の全体に影響を与え得ると述べた
"Those that are watching whether Chinese stocks go up or down aren't paying attention, in my opinion, to what the real problem is," Bass said. "And the real problem is the loans in this banking sector." 「株式市場の変動ではなく、真の問題は銀行セクターの不良債権である」 The hedge fund manager said that Chinese bank assets rose about 400 percent since 2007, and are now about $31 trillion against an economy with a gross domestic product of $10 trillion. "When you run a bank expansion that aggressively, that quickly, you're going to have some losses," he said, adding that "the scary thing about that" is a "likely" 10 percent asset loss in that banking sector would amount to $3 trillion. 彼によれば中国の銀行の資産は2007年以降に400%増大して$31兆になったがGDPは$10 兆である。「このような勢いで急速に資産が拡大するときには損失を生みやすい。 銀行セクターの資産の損失が10%、3兆ドルになる可能性がある」 Such losses would force China to use much of its foreign exchange reserves (which stand at about $3.6 trillion) and sell bonds to recapitalize the banking system, he said. この規模の損失が発生すれば中国は$3.6兆の外貨準備の取崩し、債券の売却で銀行セ クターをリキャピタライズすることになろう、と述べた(後略)
スイスで実現したのは、実に1971年。 ・・・There was nothing inevitable about women getting the vote when they did. It took Switzerland until 1971 to pass universal suffrage, and Saudi Arabia still hasn’t done so・・・
できたばかりの労働党は、30歳超の財産所有女性に限って参政権を与えるという姿勢だった。 (※イギリスは反民主主義だもんね。) The suffragettes themselves were bitterly divided on several fronts. They fell out over whether all women should get the vote, or just those over 30 who owned property; the debate prompted the Women’s Social and Political Union to split from the nascent Labour party, which wanted truly universal suffrage,・・・
●Can the Horrors Be Stopped? ●The Assad Question If there is any solution for Syria anymore, it would have to be similar to the tentative plans suggested in 2013, which called for exiling Assad, his clan, key generals and their families.
●Different Countries, Different Goals The only way Syria can survive as a nation is if the two large camps, consisting of the moderate rebels and the Syrian army, band together against IS to preserve the country. This could easily work without Assad, but not with him.
●Failure to Act ●No Way Back The gradual dissolution of Syria makes it extremely difficult to find a solution for the entire country.
It is clear that a workable political track in Syria can only ultimately emerge as a compromise between the road maps offered by Saudi Arabia and Iran. Given the West’s military fatigue and precedent of failed intervention in Iraq, the most realistic option is for Western powers to commit to intensified diplomacy that pushes Tehran and Riyadh closer to a settlement, rather than becoming bystanders to escalating tensions in Syria.
*どういうチートであったかの解説記事 When emissions are being measured, the defeat device tells the car to operate at "dyno calibration," or full emission control levels, to meet the standards. At all other times, however, the software sets the engine to run on "road calibration," allowing the excessive emissions. How can the program tell the difference? By noting the position of the steering wheel, variations in speed and other data that suggest no one is driving the car, and thus it is likely being tested.
The 41-year-old former prime minister’s Coalition of the Radical Left was leading with as much as 34 percent of the vote compared with as much as 32.5 percent for New Democracy,
Many Europeans ? and I suspect this includes a fair number of Germans too, beneath their holier-than-thou exteriors ? feel they ought to be consulted before their political leaders change the fundamental nature of their cultures by allowing a wave of mass immigration. 多くの欧州人は、その中に多くのドイツ人も含まれると私は思うのだが、その聖人 ぶった外見の下で、多量の難民流入を許すことで、政治指導者がカルチャーを基本 的に変える前に、国民の意見を聞いてしかるべきだと感じている。(略
・・・・But where the EU is failing, in the first instance, is to differentiate very publicly between genuine refugees and everyone else. Recent figures show just one in five migrants are Syrians fleeing civil war. “Everyone else” includes not just those from Africa or Asia who are simply looking for a welfare state to settle down in, but those from the Middle East posing as refugees who are returning to Europe to engage in acts of terrorist murder. Our security services are, we are told, on that particular case, but their task is hardly made easier by the enormous flood of which the potential terrorists are a part, and which the EU’s flaccidity (and refusal to end the open borders of the outdated Schengen agreement) encourages. しかし、EUは戦争難民と、それ以外の者を区別できていない。最近のデータの示すとこ ろでは、五人に一人の移民がシリアから国内の戦争を逃れてきた難民である。それ以外 の者には、アフリカやアジアからの経済難民が有るばかりではなく、中東から欧州に向 かうテロリストや犯罪者も含まれる。我が国の安全保障関係は、この点に関心を寄せて いるが、膨大な欧州に向かう難民の中に、それらを区別することは困難である。時代遅 れのSchengen条約が国境開放の政策を止めることを拒否して、潜在的なテロリストの移 動を可能にしている。
今日のチャート Patrick Chovanec ?@prchovanec 3時間前 Patrick Chovanecさんがリツイートしました Ninja Economics What do Asians think of each other? Patrick Chovanecさんが追加 アジア人が互いに、どう思っているかといえば Ninja Economics @NinjaEconomics (アジア諸国の、中国の領土問題に対する、関心の高さ低さ)
http://in.reuters.com/article/2015/09/20/usa-volkswagen-ceo-idINL5N11Q0DO20150920 Mon Sep 21, 2015 4:21am IST Related: REGULATORY NEWS UPDATE 3-Volkswagen to halt U.S. sales of some 2015 diesel cars * Says group has launched external investigation * CEO says company is fully cooperating with authorities * EPA says violation could result in fines of up to $18 bln (Adds Volkswagen to halt U.S. sales of some 2015 diesel cars) By Christoph Steitz and Jan Schwartz
Volkswagen did not disclose how many vehicles are affected, though the EPA previously estimated 482,000 cars are equipped with the software. The 4-cylinder turbo diesel engine is most commonly found in Volkswagen's Golf, Jetta, Passat, Beetle and the Audi A3 luxury compact.
VW自身は対象車種や数量を公表していないがEPAの推測で 482,000車、問題になった 4シリンダー・ターボ・ディーゼル・エンジンはGolf, Jetta, Passat, Beetle Audi A3などに搭載されている
Victor Kislyi氏:これはとても重要なことなのですが、私たちは歴史シミュレーションを提供しているわけではなく、あくまでもエンターテイメントを提供しています。 ごく普通の人達のためのe-Sports的なゲームです。 「Counter-Strike」などと同様に、「WoT」も「WoWS」も非常に国際的なものです。 そして日本に限らず、中国、韓国、台湾といったアジアの国や、欧州の各国にしても、第二次世界大戦の出来事にまつわる繊細な問題、それぞれに異なる事情を持っています。
Amber Rudd, energy secretary, said she wanted Beijing to take the lead in developing new nuclear plants in Britain. She said China was expected to lead the construction of a Beijing-designed nuclear power plant in Essex, in eastern England, its first in the west, under a proposed joint deal with EDF, the French energy group, to build a new generation of UK reactors.
The pact between Britain, France and China would see Beijing help pay for Hinkley and a second nuclear plant at Sizewell, in Suffolk, in return for taking a controlling stake in Bradwell, in Essex, which would be the first Chinese-built and operated reactor in the west.
Hinkley is one of only a handful of new reactors being built in Europe. It will supply 7 per cent of the UK’s electricity once online but a 2023 completion date has been dropped.(後略)
影響のある四十八万台のVW車所有者のなかから集団訴訟が起こると予想される Now you've got 482,000 customers on a class action lawsuit.
問題が有るとして販売停止となったTDIのディーゼル車の販売はVWの米国での販売の 四分の一を占める There's no easy way out of this, but they'd better figure something out, and pronto. Right now dealers are banned from selling 2.0-liter TDIs, which make up about a quarter of VW's U.S. sales. News of the scandal caused VW to lose about a quarter of its market value, indicating that investors understand how bad this is. There's no cheap fix nor easy settlement here.
通常、自動車のリコール問題は不注意のコストカットなどから発生する事が多いが、 このスキャンダルは質的に異なるレベル。企業が意図的に法的規制を回避しようと いう目的でやったのであれば問題は大きい。 The intentionality behind the deceit makes this situation different from even a huge-scale recall. This isn't a story about a part that was made one cent cheaper than it should've been, where a car company cut a corner to save a little cash. It's about a huge corporation eying the rulebook and deciding there's a competitive advantage in violating the Clean Air Act. Incompetence is one thing, but calculated mendacity is quite another.
ゴルフのディーゼル車のスポーツワゴンは燃費がよくトルクがあって安価で楽しい車 であったが、話がうますぎたのかもすれない It's too bad. That Golf SportWagen TDI is a punchy, fun car. It's got great fuel economy, tons of torque and a bargain price. But when something seems a little too good to be true, maybe that's because it is.
The EPA and California regulators began asking questions in May 2014 after West Virginia University researchers published a study that found lab results did not match up with road tests. For more than a year, VW told regulators that the difference owed to “various technical issues and unexpected in-use conditions,” the EPA said in a letter sent to the automaker Friday. But company officials did not acknowledge the practice until earlier this month when regulators threatened not to approve its 2016 line of diesel cars. http://www.washingtonpost.com/business/economy/vw-shares-plunge-as-epa-accuses-automaker-of-cheating/2015/09/21/3c7b2f2e-607b-11e5-8e9e-dce8a2a2a679_story.html
For this select group of four ? Mexico, Indonesia, Nigeria and Turkey ? it was clearly a blessing to be marketed as the next big thing. でもしかし
The past 18 months, however, have been disillusioning for fans of both the Brics and the Mints. Brazil, South Africa and Russia are in the middle of economic crises and China is growing at its slowest pace for a generation.
The Mints also seem troubled. The problems in each of the four countries involved are quite specific. However, in broad terms, they tend to include political instability and slowing economic growth. Investors who were once all too happy to ignore the structural problems of these emerging markets can now see little else.
The mystery in all this, given Mr Osborne’s apparent confidence in nuclear technology, is why he is asking for Chinese money at all. EDF, it seems, will not itself invest more than half the necessary money in its own project at Hinkley Point, despite the high price and extensive guarantees it has been offered. All the parties seem to want someone else to take the risk.
If Mr Osborne is really happy with the plans for the power plant, why does he not invest directly using the UK’s government’s ability to borrow long-term money at very low rates? This would reduce the costs and bring down the bills facing British consumers over the next 35 years. It is, however, also possible that his confidence about the Hinkley project is just a performance.
Whatever the truth behind the government’s public nuclear policy, its grovelling behaviour towards China on this and other issues is extraordinary. China is the world’s second-largest economy and a great power in every sense. Its leaders are among the world’s most effective negotiators, and should be respected, not patronised. To engage them in a failing project is not the way to build a strategic long-term relationship. The writer is a visiting professor at King’s College London. He writes an FT.com blog
http://www.ft.com/intl/cms/s/0/5a82376e-604f-11e5-9846-de406ccb37f2.html?ftcamp=published_links%2Frss%2Fhome_asia%2Ffeed%2F%2Fproduct#axzz3mQCZRllA Stuart Pearson, analyst at Exane BNP Paribas, says the affair is only the “latest setback for diesel”, which is coming under growing pressure from regulators concerned about harmful emissions of nitrogen oxides. Diesel is a marginal fuel technology in the US, but accounts for more than 50 per cent of sales by all carmakers in western Europe. “Were similar accusations to be proven in Europe, the implications would be much greater, both in reputational terms but also in volume terms,” says Kristina Church, an analyst at Barclays.
A Mazda6 2.2-litre turbo SkyActiv-D tested for The Sunday Times produced four times the Euro 6 maximum of 0.08 grams of NOx per kilometre overall. That rose to 12.6 times the limit when it was going uphill in residential areas with speed bumps.
The People’s Daily, official mouthpiece of the Chinese Communist party, has slammed Asia’s richest man for divesting some of his assets in China, describing his actions as immoral, ungrateful and ultimately self-defeating. ・・・ Many on the Chinese internet have interpreted his business moves as a sign of pessimism as the country’s economic growth has slowed to its weakest pace in 25 years and is struggling under a mountain of debt.
Greg Archer, a former government adviser and head of clean vehicles at the respected Transport & Environment thinktank, said: “I am not surprised. There has been a lot of anecdotal evidence about carmakers using these defeat devices. All credit to the EPA for investigating and finding the truth.”
FRANKFURT--Volkswagen AG on Tuesday warned that it will revise its earnings targets for this year and set aside a 6.5 billion euro provision ($6.6 billion) in the current quarter to cover measures related to the car maker's emissions scandal. Acknowledging that the emissions-cheating issue related to 11 million vehicles worldwide, the company said internal investigations have shown that the software alleged to have allowed the company to cheat in emissions tests is present in other diesel-powered vehicles in the Volkswagen group.
"Volkswagen is working with full speed to clarify irregularities concerning a particular software used in diesel enginges," the company said Tuesday.
要撃戦闘機に加えて戦闘爆撃機。 ・・・Over the weekend, Russia deployed a dozen Su-24 Fencer and a dozen Su-25 Frogfoot ground-attack planes, bringing to 28 the number of warplanes at the base, ・・・ Until the weekend, the only combat planes there had been four Flanker air-to-air fighters.
対空ミサイル、監視用ドローン。 ・・・The planes are protected by at least two or possibly three SA-22 surface-to-air, antiaircraft systems, and unarmed Predator-like surveillance drones are being used to fly reconnaissance missions.・・・
輸送ヘリ、攻撃ヘリ、戦車、500人の海兵隊員。 In addition, a total of 15 Russian Hip transport and Hind attack helicopters are also now stationed at the base, doubling the number of those aircraft from last week・・・. For use in possible ground attacks, the Russians now also have nine T-90 tanks and more than 500 marines, up from more than 200 last week.・・・ http://www.nytimes.com/2015/09/22/world/middleeast/russia-deploys-ground-attack-aircraft-to-syrian-base.html
VWはディーゼル車がエコだというので、米政府から5100万ドルも補助金を受けてきた。 (※犯罪の上塗りだあ。) The federal government paid out as much as $51 million in green car subsidies for Volkswagen diesel vehicles based on falsified pollution test results・・・
VWには1974年に米国でのグレーゾーンで「決着」した前科あり。 In 1974, the automaker paid a $120,000 fine to settle EPA charges that it gamed pollution control systems in four models by changing carburetor settings and shutting off an emissions-control system at low temperatures. VW didn't admit guilt but pledged management changes to ensure future compliance with EPA regulations.・・・ http://www.latimes.com/business/autos/la-fi-vw-subsidies-20150922-story.html
Volkswagen itself sank 19% on Tuesday after warning it will revise its earnings targets for 2015 and set aside a 6.5 billion euro provision ($7.3 billion) to cover the costs related to the scandal. That slump comes on top of a 19% drop on Monday, when the company lost more than ?14 billion in market capitalization. With the drop on Tuesday, Volkswagen is set to have shaved off almost ?30 billion of value in just two days, almost the market cap of French rivals Renault RNO, -6.73% and Peugeot UG, -7.87% combined. フォルクスワーゲン株は今日も下げて月曜に19%、火曜日に19%下落、ルノーは-6.73% プジョーは-7.87%、この他に
Company Ticker Relation to VW Stock move Faurecia EO, -7.50% Supplier and strategic partner -7.6% Continental CON, -4.31% Tire supplier -4% ThyssenKrupp TKA, -3.44% Steel suppler -3% BMW BMW, -4.93% Rival -5% Daimler DAI, -5.79% Rival -5.8% Peugeot UG, -7.80% Rival -7.7% Renault RNO, -6.77% Rival
Volkswagen CEO Martin Winterkorn has been ousted. His last day is Friday, according to reports in the German newspaper Der Tagesspiegel, and he will be replaced by Porsche CEO Matthias Muller. ドイツ紙のDer Tagesspiegelに依れば社長のMartin Winterkornが解任され 後任はポルシェ社長のMatthias Mullerである
Winterkorn lost the support of the supervisory board, which meets on Wednesday. The reports cite sources close to the car company's 20-person supervisory board. 水曜日の監査重役会で社長の解任を決定という
A spokeswoman for VW told Business Insider: "In this moment, we cannot say anything. For the moment we have to wait." 然し問い合わせに対してVWの広報はコメントしていない(後略)
米国の一流大学で、女子学生の5分の1超が強姦されている、という調査結果が出た。 (ハーヴァードでの率は高い方。スタンフォードは調査に参加していない。) Survey: More than 1 in 5 female undergrads at top schools suffer sexual attacks・・・
落ち目の韓流れ、という台詞が2ちゃんには有るようだけれど、欧州その他では落ち目 の中華餡掛けとでもいうべき風潮が。それを先導しているのが韓国とロシアで有るけれ ど。 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- http://www.ft.com/intl/cms/s/0/b18ae09c-611c-11e5-9846-de406ccb37f2.html#axzz3mQCZRllA September 22, 2015 6:22 pm UK’s unbalanced relationship with China Trade dominated by Chinese investment and carries risks for Britain [FT社説]英国政府の中国に対するバランスを欠いた関係 中国の投資に傾き過ぎの通商政策というのは、英国にリスクをもたらす
*英国の原子力インフラに中国の進出を許すというのは安全保障上の問題 One concern is that allowing Chinese companies to operate at the heart of Britain’s nuclear industry may threaten UK national security. The Chinese enterprises likely to be involved at Hinkley Point and Bradwell are state-owned. The British government should tread carefully before giving any other country such an important stake in critical national infrastructure.
*英国と中国の通商関係が相互互恵的ではないことが次の関心事 The second concern regards the lack of reciprocity in London’s relationship with Beijing. Britain seems prepared to throw open its doors to any Chinese company for investment in almost any sector. China, by contrast, maintains a strict code that closes off many industrial sectors to foreign investors and imposes limits on ownership in many more. I
*習近平の来月のロンドン訪問を前に英国は対中関係強化を狙うが首相は安全保障や通商関係 のバランスを無視して、それを進めるべきではない ・・・ the visit of President Xi to London next month will be an opportunity to elevate bilateral ties to a higher level. But the chancellor should press for guarantees on national security and trade that make the relationship more balanced.
Volkswagen sets aside ?6.5 billion to win back trust Company's US boss admits they 'totally screwed up' Shares dive ?15bn after the revelations Car emissions figures could be fiddled in Europe Volkswagen Q&A: what is the emissions scandal and how should drivers react?
http://www.wsj.com/articles/volkswagen-scandal-pressures-ceo-1442967027 Now Chief Executive Martin Winterkorn is fighting for his job. The CEO, who survived a palace coup five months ago, faces customer and official questions about his knowledge of the emissions scandal at the same time as longstanding sales problems in the U.S. and a recent slump in once-booming sales in China hurt profit.
マザー・テレサ風にアレンジされた聖メルケル、巻頭記事は http://www.spiegel.de/international/germany/refugee-policy-of-chancellor-merkel-divides-europe-a-1053603.html Mother Angela: Merkel's Refugee Policy Divides Europe Germans long knew their chancellor as a rational, deliberate decision maker. But in the refugee crisis, a new Merkel has emerged, driven by empathy. Increasingly, it is looking like the emotion-driven Merkel is prone to error. By SPIEGEL Staff September 21, 2015 ? 05:21 PM マザー・アンゲラ:メルケルの難民政策は欧州を分裂させる
Volkswagen AG’s emissions-cheating scandal has implications that extend well beyond the German automaker and its 11 million affected vehicles. The admission that Europe’s largest automaker cheated on pollution tests for its diesel vehicles could mean trouble for the already struggling technology in the United States. 欧州最大の自動車メーカーが環境基準対応のために不正な手段を使ったことはVW一社 の問題を超えて、米国市場でのディーゼル車への打撃になりかねない
Analysts say customers may be turned off on diesels after the revelation that VW’s engines pumped out 40 times the allowable smog-forming pollution. And that could lead to a rise in hybrid and electric vehicle production as automakers work to reach strict federal fuel regulations by the middle of next decade. アナリストは問題のディーゼル車が、許容値の40倍の排気ガスを出すという報道で、 米国消費者にディーゼル車を避ける動きがでるのでは、と疑っている。そうなれば 次の十年間の半ばには厳しくなる連邦政府の規制によってハイブリッド車や電気自 動車に道を開くことになるかもしれないという。
Volkswagen AG may face a loss of trust among consumers in China after the German automaker admitted to cheating on U.S air pollution tests, adding another hurdle to its attempts to revive sales in its largest market and hurting its global race with Toyota Motor Corp. 中国市場でフォルクスワーゲンは消費者の信頼を失う危険があり、すでに勢いを 失った中国市場での販売において、ライバルのトヨタなどに対抗する上で新たな ハードルを得たようだ
“If you have a leaky roof, the last thing you want is to meet a storm,” said Yale Zhang, a managing director at Autoforesight Shanghai Co. “Any damage to VW’s reputation and brand image could be a game-changer for its competition with Toyota both in and outside the Chinese market. It’s anyone’s guess how bad things can get.” 上海のAutoforesightの取締役であるYale Zhangは「もし雨漏りのする屋根があれ ば、嵐は避けたいだろう」という「フォルクスワーゲンは(以前のリコールで評判 を落としたあとなので)更なるダメージは、他社との競合の上でゲームチェンジャー になりかねない」
フォルクスワーゲンは昨年中国で六十万台のリコールがあって The company recalled almost 600,000 New Sagitar and Beetle vehicles last year after initially resisting consumer demands to fix broken rear suspension axles. Volkswagen only called back the vehicles after China’s quality inspector started an investigation into mounting complaints from owners.
“In China, Volkswagen is already slowing down, so with this news, it’s certainly not going to help,” said John Zeng, Shanghai-based managing director at LMC Automotive. “Volkswagen already had the problem with the Sagitar recall in China and at this stage, it’s come out with this scandal in the U.S., there’s going to be an impact on their brand image.” 上海のLMC Automotiveの取締役であるJohn Zengは「中国市場でフォルクスワーゲン は既に評判を落とす事件があったので、今回の事件は、それに加える打撃になって 彼らのブランド・イメージにインパクトがあるだろう」という(後略)
英国内でディーゼル車の90%が規制値超で走っているとの調査結果があるらしい。 ・・・The UK campaign group Transport & Environment (T&E) warned that millions of cars could be recalled. T&E’s diesel expert, Jos Dings, said: “Our latest report demonstrated that almost 90% of diesel vehicles didn’t meet emission limits when they drive on the road. We are talking millions of vehicles.” http://www.theguardian.com/business/2015/sep/22/vw-scandal-escalates-volkswagen-11m-vehicles-involved
先般の、乱立するクレーンのうちの1基の倒壊による大惨事に象徴されているのは、 メッカ等におけるサウジアラビアの遺跡破壊の歴史だとするコラム。 ・・・This demolition impulse can be found in Saudi Arabia’s origins: The Saudis leveled the long-standing mausoleums of the Prophet’s family and companions soon after they took control of Mecca and Medina in the 1920s, and their targeting of tombs and relics has scarcely abated since. Echoes of this iconoclastic compulsion reverberate in the Taliban’s demolition of the Bamiyan Buddhas and, perhaps even more perniciously, the recent destruction of Palmyra and Assyrian antiquities by the Islamic State.
スキャンダルについては知らなかったという Volkswagen chief executive Martin Winterkorn resigned Wednesday as a growing scandal over falsified emissions tests rocked the world's biggest carmaker. "I am doing this in the interests of the company even though I am not aware of any wrongdoing on my part," Winterkorn said in a statement after an emergency meeting with Volkswagen directors.
不祥事の規模の大きさと信頼回復のためVWはフレッシュスタートが必要と述べる He said he was stunned by the scale of the misconduct and was accepting responsibility to clear the way for a "fresh start" for the company. "The process of clarification and transparency must continue. This is the only way to win back trust. I am convinced that the Volkswagen Group and its team will overcome this grave crisis."
http://www.ft.com/intl/cms/s/0/d2288862-61d1-11e5-97e9-7f0bf5e7177b.html?ftcamp=published_links%2Frss%2Fhome_asia%2Ffeed%2F%2Fproduct#axzz3mQCZRllA Meanwhile, the German government admitted it had been aware in July of the type of software used by Volkswagen to cheat in diesel vehicles’ emissions tests. In addition, German prosecutors said they were considering launching a preliminary investigation into certain unnamed employees at the company. It said it was acting after receiving complaints from citizens. Volkswagen has been reeling from revelations first made last Friday by the US Environmental Protection Agency that its diesel cars were equipped with software known as “defeat devices” that could be used to manipulate emissions tests. The agency called for the recall of nearly 500,000 VW cars and warned the company could face billions of dollars in penalties.
* CEO quits to give VW a fresh start, denies wrongdoing フォルクスワーゲン社長が辞任、フレッシュスタートが必要、不正は知らなかったという * Successor expected to be decided by Friday's board meeting 後任社長は金曜日の取締役会で決める * Porsche chief Mueller seen as leading choice-two sources ポルシェ社長が後任の本命との報道が2つのソースにある * Company says more heads to role over diesel scandal 同社は、この事件でさらに責任を取る人材が出るだろうと言っている
EUコミッションや閣僚会議、EU議会は排出ガス規制を 2020にむけ厳格化することで合意 The EU’s three lawmaking bodies ? the commission, the council of ministers and the parliament ? had all agreed on tougher rules on carbon dioxide emissions, to take effect from 2020. 然しドイツ政府は国内の自動車産業保護、とくにベンツやBMWなどの反対から、EUの動き に抵抗してきた But Germany’s car industry ? particularly premium makers such as Mercedes-Benz and BMW ? had been fighting for more time and Ms Merkel invested huge political capital to win it for them. On the eve of the Brussels summit, she rang Enda Kenny, the Irish Taoiseach and acting EU president, and asked him to drop the matter from the agenda.
自動車の環境規制厳格化を求めるキャンペーン団体のGreg Archerによれば、ドイツ政府は ブラッセルのEUコミンションを抑制することに成功した。「八年間の議論があって、依然 として自動車の環境試験のNOxに関するロードテストが実施されていない。自動車メーカー がそれを遅らせてきたのだ」 Greg Archer, of the Transport and Environment campaign group, said the car industry, led by the Germans, had successfully beaten back Brussels. “After eight years, they still have not finalised a real world test procedure [for NOx],” said Mr Archer. “It’s been delayed and delayed. The manufacturers have drawn it out.” しかし、将来に向けてEUの規制の厳格化は避けられないと見る向きが Although he is a motor enthusiast, Miguel Arias Canete, the EU climate commissioner, has signalled that the carmakers will not be able to avoid new targets. “I don’t think, personally, inclusion in the EU ETS can replace emission standards. It can be a complement but not a substitute,” he said recently.
ブルームバーグ社説から SEPT 23, 2015 3:50 PM EDT By Editorial Board
http://www.bloombergview.com/articles/2015-09-23/volkswagen-and-the-epa-s-dirty-little-secret Europe, where automakers also test their own vehicles, has its own issues. Just before the VW scandal broke, a European environmental advocacy group released test results showing major discrepancies between lab and real-world emissions in cars made by BMW, Mercedes and Opel. The European Commission has announced that all passenger cars will be undergo "real world" emissions testing starting in 2017.
フォルクスワーゲンの環境試験のチートが問題になる前に、欧州の環境問題グループは ラボの試験と、実際のロードテストの試験の結果に差異があるという報告を出している (*1)それは、 BMW, Mercedes and Opelの車についてである。EUコミッションはラボ のテストだけではなく、実際の走行試験を2017年から実施すると発表していた。 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- *1:この報告についての記事 http://www.autonews.com/article/20150922/OEM06/150929954/diesel-test-report-cites-emissions-gaps-at-other-automakers Diesel test report cites emissions gaps at other automakers The engine for a BMW X5 advanced diesel SUV is prepped for installation at an assembly plant in Jakarta, Indonesia, in April. A new report from European Federation for Transport and Environment raises doubts about the integrity of Europe's emissions testing and suggests that other automakers may have used similar methods to improve readings in diesel emissions tests. Neal E. Boudette Automotive News September 22, 2015 - 12:00 pm ET
Transport & Environment says ICCT tests show clear discrepancies between laboratory emissions and real-world performance for several automakers including BMW, Mercedes-Benz and General Motors’ Opel unit. It argued that these manufacturers might also employ similar kinds of software in Europe that VW has allegedly admitted to using in the U.S. ICCTのテストではBMW, Mercedes-Benz and General Motors’ Opel unitの車には ラボのテストとロードテストに差が見られるという(後略)
Francis noted that he will be attending the World Meeting of Families in Philadelphia, "to celebrate and support the institutions of marriage and the family at this, a critical moment in the history of our civilization." Francis has in the past called the rise of gay equality a “new sin against God.”
>>516 Angela Merkel became embroiled in the Volkswagen scandal yesterday as opposition politicians in Germany said her government knew in advance about the firm fiddling its emissions results.
The German Green Party said ministers knew in summer about Volkswagen rigging emissions tests but that ‘tricks and deceits’ were ‘accepted with a wink’.
The scandal claimed its first major scalp yesterday as the car-maker’s chief executive Professor Martin Winterkorn resigned to allow a ‘fresh start’ ? but denied any ‘wrongdoing’ or culpability.
http://news.investors.com/investing-international-leaders/092315-772419-vw-emissions-scandal-widens.htm "In France, we have long favored the diesel engine. This was a mistake, and we will progressively undo that, intelligently and pragmatically." That was French Prime Minister Manuel Valls, in November last year ? long before the rapidly developing Volkswagen (OTCPK:VLKAY) emissions-fraud scandal. Valls was announcing a program aimed at dismantling the tax and other advantages long afforded diesel-powered vehicles. Diesel cars then accounted for 80% of the passenger cars on French roads, estimates said at the time.
BMW AG fell as much as 9.3 percent in Frankfurt after a German magazine reported that the X3 xDrive 20d sport utility vehicle emitted as much as 11 times the European limit for air pollution in a road test, adding to concern that the investigation weighing on Volkswagen AG may spread to other manufacturers. ドイツの雑誌が、BMWのX3 xDrive 20d SUVが、ロードテストで欧州環境基準の11倍の 排気ガスを出すと報じたので、株価が9.3%下落した
The SUV was road-tested by the International Council on Clean Transportation, the same group whose tipoff led U.S. regulators to investigate a gap between Volkswagen AG diesels’ emissions in tests and on the road, Germany’s Autobild reported. BMW said that there’s no system in its cars that responds to tests differently than it would operate on the road. テストを行ったのはVW事件の時と同じICCT。BMWは不正はないと言っている(後略)
英国では科学者達が2003年来同国の大気汚染状態に改善が見られないことに 首をひねってきていたところ、伊の消費者保護団体がVWに加えて(VW社のと 同等の悪いテスト結果が出た)同国のFIATも集団訴訟の対象にすることを決めた。 ・・・For years, UK air pollution measurements have failed to show improvements in air quality, even as standards have tightened. “Since 2003 scientists have been saying things are not right. It’s not just the VW story, this is part of something much bigger,” said Dr Gary Fuller, also of King’s College. “It has a serious public health impact.”
財政問題ではギリシャに、難民問題では東欧諸国に対して、偉っそうに講釈を 垂れてきたドイツが、一転、世界の恥さらしに。 As Germany has emerged as the dominant actor in Europe, it has lectured Greece and other debtor nations on the virtues of thrift and lately wagged its finger at countries that balk at receiving a share of refugees from the killing fields of Syria. Its right to lead, based on a narrative of self-sacrifice and obedience to rules, was generally acknowledged. That is one reason the Volkswagen scandal has shaken the country’s very core. ・・・
政府にも責任あり。なんとなれば、ニーダーザクセン州がVWの株式を20%所有。 the state of Lower Saxony, where Volkswagen is headquartered in Wolfsburg, owns about 20 percent of the company. ・・・
ルフトハンザの子会社のイカレ操縦士が墜落事件を起こしたことに引き続く、 今年のダブルパンチ。 ・・・for all Germany’s pride in efficiency and rectitude, that nation’s vulnerability was exposed this year when the co-pilot of a Germanwings jet crashed into a French mountainside, deliberately killing himself and the other 149 people on board.・・・ http://www.nytimes.com/2015/09/24/world/a-car-scandal-shoves-berlin-off-high-ground.html
VW以外のドイツの車メーカー・・BMWと(現在じゃGMの100%子会社だが)オペル・・ が取り分け同じようなことをやってるクサイ。 ・・・testing found that the average diesel car was producing emissions five times as high as what was permitted. Some vehicles from BMW and Opel emitted 10 times as much pollution on the road as in the lab.
September 24, 2015 (Wall Street News.Today) We just argued yesterday that VW is gong to pay for the cheating for sure. We estimate that the future cost is potentially far more than originally expected. We said that the Exhaust Gas Recirculation (EGR) strategy used in the TDI engine can't work anymore. EPA emission limits kill this technology. Only SCR technology has left.
排気ガス再循環方式(Exhaust Gas Recirculation (EGR))では結局のところNOx の問題を解決できず、尿素点滴方式(Selective Catalytic Reduction (SCR)) のみが残された解決策である (以下に技術的な説明があるけれど省略)
Now that Volkswagen (FRA:VW) got caught and is forced to take the cheating feature off, those TDI engines will produce less NOx but will also produce more CO2 and lose torque at the same time. Additionally, the EGI cooler will have to work beyond planned capacity since they were never optimized to run without the cheating mechanism. This will result in clogging and fracture, shooting up warranty costs.
All told, the current 2.0L TDI diesel engine along with VW are brought to their knees. こうしたわけで現行の2.0L TDIディーゼルエンジンは排気の問題をうまく解決できず 失敗が明らかになった
ガーディアン(英国)に掲載されたフォルクスワーゲンのディーゼル・ゲートについて の評論。チート・ソフトで環境対応をオン・オフする今回のフォルクスワーゲンの手口 は明確に有罪である。他のメーカーは、そこまで明確にえげつないやり方はしていない かもしれないが、怪しげなことはやっている。欧州の環境基準テストはザルなので、 あの手この手で見かけ上の数値を嵩上げする事が横行している。このため公称値にくら べ燃費が三割悪いとか、NOx排出が三〜五倍になるといったことは普通に起こる、という。 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2015/sep/24/volkswagen-vw-carmakers-emissions-tests Volkswagen is guilty ? but it's not the only offender John Vidal
But it would be a grave mistake to focus on Volkswagen in isolation. The reality is that European carmakers deliberately exploit lax emissions tests. It’s good business, but bad ethics. VW’s so-called defeat device in the car’s computer to identify when a diesel vehicle is being tested is just the most hi-tech and surprising way yet uncovered to allow governments to not take air pollution seriously.
*どのくらいザルかといえば、Euro 6対応の「ウルトラ・クリーン」といえども・・ Together, these tricks of the auto trade should increase a car’s fuel economy and lower its carbon dioxide (CO2), soot or toxic nitrogen dioxide (NO2) gas pollution levels by about 10-20%. They might use special lubricants and minimise the weight of the car. It’s quite legal and no European government will stop them. But have no doubt, it’s cheating and it directly affects the air we breathe. We are fools if we rely on the statistics and assurances which count for nothing. When independent testers, research groups such as Brussels-based Transport and Environment, and motoring websites ask drivers to monitor their own fuel use and mileage, they find disparities in fuel economy of up to 30% and NO2 emissions three to five times higher than official test results. Even the newest, toughest Euro 6 standard diesel cars which have been hyped as “ultra clean” by the industry, have been found to be much less efficient on the road than official figures suggest.
Here is the question. Can a state that counts itself America’s most reliable military ally also be China’s special friend in the west? Ask George Osborne, Britain’s chancellor, and the answer is an unequivocal “yes”. Others ? in Whitehall as well as the White House ? take a different view.
今日のNYT紙面(写真) George Chen ?@george_chen 3時間前 Hmm... @nytimes today didn't have one word mention of Chinese President Xi's visit to the US in A1. Ignored. Period. 今日のNYTの一面には習近平の訪米の記事が全く無い。無視されている。
Moscow does have an interest in crushing radical Islamist groups that might spread to the heavily Muslim regions of southern Russia. Either way, the uptick in military supplies to Syria (on top of the billions of dollars in arms sales and aid over many years) marks not an expansion of Russia’s influence in the Middle East but rather a last-ditch effort to preserve its one last bastion?an extremely shaky bastion, at that. これは中東に於けるロシアの影響力拡大というより、自己の影響力の砦を守るためで
In the past decade, Russia has lost erstwhile footholds in Libya and Iraq, failed in its attempt to regain Egypt as an ally after the fall of Hosni Mubarak, and would have lost Syria as well except for its supply of arms and advisers to Assad?whom it still may lose, despite its desperate measures. ロシアは過去十年間でリビア、イラクへの影響力を失い、ムバラク失脚でエジプトの 同盟者を失い、今やシリアを失いかねない。
The portrayal of Vladimir Putin as a grand chess master, shrewdly rebuilding the Russian empire through strength and wiles, is laughable. Syria is just one of two countries outside the former Soviet Union where Russia has a military base (the other being Vietnam, and its naval facility there, at Cam Ranh Bay, has shrunk considerably). His annexation of Crimea has proved a financial drain. His incursion into eastern Ukraine (where many ethnic Russians would welcome re-absorption into the Motherland) has stalled after a thin slice was taken at the cost of 3,000 soldiers. His plan for a Eurasian
Economic Union, to counter the influence of the west’s European Union, has failed to materialize. His energy deal with China, designed to counter the west’s sanctions against Russian companies, has collapsed. プーチンをグランド・チェス・マスターのように見うる向きがあるけれど、それはお笑 い草である。シリアは旧ソヴィエト圏外のわずか2つの軍事基地のあるところで、他の 一つは縮小中のベトナムのカムラン湾にある海軍基地である。彼のクリミア併合は経済 制裁による金融的困難を招き、 3,000の兵力を投入して僅かな領域を得たに過ぎない。 彼のユーラシア経済統合計画は実現に程遠く、欧州との交易の代替として結んだ中国と のエネルギー取引は崩壊している。
ロシアのシリア介入で懸念される事項が三つあって There are, however, three genuinely worrisome things about Putin’s latest move, even assuming less-than-hostile intentions. First, after the first reports last week of Russian troops and weapons moving into Syria, a senior administration official told me that he would be concerned if those weapons included anti- aircraft missiles, since neither ISIS nor the other rebel groups have airplanes. Two days later, it turned out that the weapons did include such weapons. So who are the Russians’ intended targets? If they mean to assure Assad that they will shoot down American, Turkish, Israeli, or Gulf State airplanes that try to bomb the Syrian government’s assets (or Hezbollah targets), it’s worthwhile to spell out, to Putin or his generals, the consequences.
Second, if the Russians do join the fight against ISIS, they are likely to fight against other anti-Assad rebels too?including rebels (among them Syrian Kurds) that the United States is supporting. If Russia really does want some form of partnership in this, it must agree not to cross certain lines in the sand; even if Putin really doesn’t want to be partners, it’s worth letting him know what lines not to cross, if he doesn’t want to provoke a larger conflict, with us or other countries.
Third, it’s possible that Russia’s entry could set back the war on ISIS by galvanizing new waves of jihadists?especially from the area around Chechnya and the heavily Muslim states on Russia’s southern border whose hatred of Moscow dates back to their decades of subjugation under the Soviet Union. In other words, under the best possible scenario, Putin’s urge to help could, on balance, hurt. Aimen Dean, a Saudi-born security analyst with deep background in the region’s conflicts, goes so far as to predict that, for these reasons, “Russia’s mission creep in Syria will only produce catastrophic results across the region and beyond.”
DETROIT -- The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency plans sweeping changes to the way it tests for diesel emissions after getting duped by clandestine software in Volkswagen vehicles for seven years. フォルクスワーゲンの環境試験をチートするソフトウェアが七年間も発見されなかった ことを受けてEPA(米国環境庁)は自動車の環境基準のテスト法を、抜本的に改正する 事を検討
Chris Grundler, head of the EPA's office of transportation and air quality, indicated the agency would add on-road testing to its regimen. VW's sophisticated software enabled its cars to pass tests in the lab, but they then spewed pollution into the atmosphere while on the highway. The revelations let to unwanted scrutiny for the EPA. Its testing procedures have been criticized for being predictable and outdated, making it relatively easy for VW to cheat. What's more, the EPA did not initially uncover the problem; researchers at West Virginia University did, using on-road testing. 今後の環境基準対応の試験に実地のロードテストでの測定を加える事を検討中、これは 今回、ウエストバージニア大学の研究者が不正を発見するきっかけとなった手法
Grundler, who has been with the EPA for more than three decades, says the lack of on-road testing for diesels "might change in the future." An announcement of the changes could come on Friday.
習近平はアメリカのビジネスに対してサイバー安全保障について語って “The Chinese government will not, in whatever form, engage in commercial theft or encourage or support such attempts by anyone,” he said Tuesday at a dinner in Seattle with executives from companies like Boeing, Microsoft and Starbucks. “Both commercial cybertheft and hacking against government networks are crimes that must be punished in accordance with the law and relevant international treaties.” 中国政府はサイバー攻撃を、それがいかなるものであれ犯罪として許さず、 サイバー攻撃やハッキングを国際的に認められる法に従って処罰する、と述べた
Those words sound encouraging, but there’s plenty of reason for skepticism. China has a long way to go in protecting the rights of foreign businesses, and Mr. Xi seemed dismissive of the legitimate complaints about unfair, coercive treatment of foreign companies. The government has used its power to favor state-owned and domestic private firms. There is little transparency in how it makes decisions and few rights of appeal. And of immediate concern is the continuous threat posed by hackers based in China. 然し現状に中国のハッカーによる攻撃の絶えない中で、この言葉を聞かされても(略
China is clearly in economic trouble. But how worried should we be about spillovers from China’s woes to the rest of the world economy? I have in general been telling people “not very”, although it’s a bigger issue for Japan and Korea. But Citi’s Willem Buiter suggests that it could be a quite big deal, leading to a global recession. And Willem is a very smart guy; read his “Alice in Euroland“, from 1998 (!), warning of the dangers of EMU’s “lender of last resort vacuum.” So could he be right?
特定家族、州政府、授業員ががっちりスクラム組んでる。 ・・・The company, founded by the Nazis before World War II, is governed through an unusual hybrid of family control, government ownership and labor influence. Even by German standards, “Volkswagen stands apart,” ・・・
専制的経営以外の何物でもない。 ・・・its・・・autocratic leadership style has long been out of date. ・・・a functioning corporate governance is missing.・・・
この春辞任させられるまでポルシェの孫が会長・・世界一になるという目標を設定した・・ をしていたが、彼は、今回辞任した社長と対立していた。 Until a forced resignation this spring, the company was dominated by Ferdinand Piech, 78, the grandson of Ferdinand Porsche and the father of 12 children. He reigned over Volkswagen’s supervisory board and directed a successful turnaround at the luxury brand Audi before taking the reins at its parent, Volkswagen, in 1993. Mr. Piech set the goal of Volkswagen’s becoming the world’s largest automaker by sales, a goal the company achieved this past year. He stepped down as chairman in April after unsuccessfully trying to oust the company’s chief executive, Martin Winterkorn, who himself was forced out this week.・・・
上述の前会長は、2012年に、幼稚園の先生だった再婚相手を取締役にして顰蹙を買った。 One measure of Mr. Piech’s influence: In 2012, shareholders elected his fourth wife, Ursula, a former kindergarten teacher who had been the Piech family’s governess before her marriage to Ferdinand, to the company’s supervisory board. Although many shareholders protested her lack of qualifications and independence, they have little or no influence. Porsche and Piech family members own over half the voting shares and vote them as a bloc under a family agreement. Labor representatives hold three of the five seats on the powerful executive committee, and half the board seats are held by union officials and labor.・・・
なお、カタールのソブリン・ファンドもVWの経営陣の一角を占めている。 Of the remaining seats, two are appointed by the government of Lower Saxony, the northwestern German state that owns 20 percent of the voting shares. Two are representatives of Qatar Holding, Qatar’s sovereign wealth fund, which owns 17 percent of Volkswagen’s voting shares. Members of the Piech and Porsche families hold three more seats, and a management representative holds another.・・・
経営陣と従業員の雇用を守るのがVWの最大の目的。 だから、せっせと従業員数を増やしてきた。 Moreover, “there’s no other company where the owners and the unions are working so closely together as Volkswagen,”・・・Volkswagen “guarantees jobs for over half the supervisory board. What management, the government and the unions all want is full employment, and the more jobs, the better. Volkswagen is seen as having a national mission to provide employment to the German people.・・・