The Advent Of Beijing Lebensraum: Chinese Tycoon Plans To Buy 0.3% Of Iceland
Over the past decade China has been stuck in an inventory stockpiling and mercantilist process tolling mode, even as it has been posturing about expanding its middle class. Well, the Chinese empire may be finally hinting at what the "next steps" may be. FT reports that Chinese real estate tycoon and former Chinese Central Propaganda Department official Huang Nubo, has struck a deal to acquire 300 square kilometers of "wilderness in north-east Iceland where he plans to build an eco-tourism resort and golf course." That, at least, is the party line. Nobody however is buying it: "Opponents have questioned why such a large amount of land – equal to about 0.3 per cent of Iceland’s total area – is needed to build a hotel. They warned that the project could provide cover for China’s geopolitical interests in the Atlantic island nation and Nato member." And after securing a landing area equidistant from Europe and the US, China will next proceed to purchase bits and pieces of Greece, Spain, Ireland, Portugal, etc. After all, the nouveau-IMF piper ultimately always demands his price for keeping the western world ponzi alive and running for a few more months.
The deal has been agreed with private landowners but must still be approved by the Icelandic government, which owns part of the land, which is known as Grímsstadir á Fjöllum.
Ögmundur Jónasson, the Icelandic interior minister, who would be responsible for the decision, signalled concern over the plan. “China has been very active in buying up land around the world so we need to be aware of the international ramifications,” he told the Financial Times.
In addition to its proximity to potential deepwater ports, the land also includes one of Iceland’s biggest glacial rivers.
Mr Huang, who previously worked at China’s Central Propaganda Department and the Ministry of Construction, has sought to reassure Icelanders over his intentions by pledging to renounce all rights to water running through the land.
People familiar with the deal said that Mr Huang had agreed to pay almost IKr1bn ($8.8m) for the land and planned to invest IKr10bn-IKr20bn in the tourism project.
More on Huang:
Mr Huang is ranked by Forbes as China’s 161st richest man, with a net worth of $890m. His company, Zhongkun Group, owns resorts and tourist facilities across China. He describes himself as a poet and adventurer, having climbed Mount Everest and reached the north and south poles.
People close to him say his interest in Iceland is motivated by his love of nature rather than geopolitics.
And on China's "close" ties with Iceland:
China last year agreed a $500m currency swap deal with Iceland which was widely viewed as a sign of Beijing’s desire to build links with Reykjavik. The two countries are already discussing co-operation on Arctic shipping as part of Beijing’s broader interest in the potential to ship goods to Europe and the US east coast across the North Pole as Arctic ice recedes.
The land that Mr Huang intends to buy is in the vicinity of a deepwater port, although the land itself does not include any coastline, according to a person familiar with the deal.
We are confident that imminent Chinese annexations of various Greek, and soon other, territorial interests in exchange for worthless pieces of paper, will also be predicated out of a love for nature.
And when that soundbite fails, there is always the trusty, and far more accurate, fallback: Lebensraum.
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Why fight a war to gain a military toe-hold in the western hemisphere, when you can simply buy one at a substantial discount?
Yup.
Hitler loved
Lebensraum!Iceland today. Detroit tomorrow.
You mean Boise...
http://www.idahostatesman.com/2010/12/31/1472023/chinese-company-eyes-bo...
"A Chinese national company is interested in developing a 10,000- to 30,000-acre technology zone for industry, retail centers and homes south of the Boise Airport.
Officials of the China National Machinery Industry Corp. have broached the idea — based on a concept popular in China today — to city and state leaders.
They are also interested in helping build and finance a fertilizer plant near American Falls, an idea company officials returned to Idaho this month to pursue."
idaho potatoes...do the chinese eat potatoes, with their noodles?
I'm sure they'll leave the GMO potatoes to those who like their "freedom fried" - I've read where the "zones" will be as self-contained cities, providing all services, including preferred foods, to their workers. . . really, they're just sending out a landing pod, y'know.
Combined with plastic, potatoes make semi edible rice, even cheaper than real rice.
They want to buy up their food and ship it home. Count on our politicians to sell us out and let them do it.
Almost like how Global pension and hedge funds buy up farmland around the world, ie Africa?
You mean Boise...
I expect local & state governments will sart selling large tracts of "public" land to the chinese government posing as entrepreneurs. They have boatlods of US currency after all.
Selling public assets to foreigners. Last gasps of a dying nation.
Isn't this what the Japanese were doing in the 80s? They must have left plenty over.
EGADS! 0.3%! ZERO POINT THREE PERCENT!!! That's like, um, a fraction of the country. Less than one third of one percent, I think (my calculator is broken). Where will all the Icelanders live?
- Chumblez.
J.C.!!! there are several ranches out here in the west bigger than 300 Klicks. Milestones
T-Shirt idea:
"Der Fuhrer dreamed of Lebensraum, and all I got was this lousy living room."
Ice Station Panda???
[ couldn't resist :) ]
... after all, their new carriers need a place to cruise to and refuel.
They want some of that "arctic" oil...........
And why a shockwave on Virginia quake seismograph, instead of typical earthquake pattern. Who felt it?
http://www.activistpost.com/2011/08/6-strange-anomalies-with-virginia.ht...
thanks for the link Newsboy, that's a great resource site - too many "anomalies" surrounding that "quake" as we move towards key "number" dates those quirky conspirators favour. . .
I don't know how credible that is. It is intriguing, but how do you fact-check it? Somebody putup a shock wave graph. I'm trying to find anybody who has felt a few quakes, who felt this one, to comment on if it built up and faded off like a normal quake, or just hit like a shock wave. No luck yet.
That author is delusional. His first two points are so insanely off-base that you can't take the rest of his post seriously.
Did you feel the quake?
That's what I'm looking for.
They seek a strategic foward base and this will make an excellent location!
Those Chinese firmly believe another era of ultra-cheap oil is coming to gas stations near you. I was planning to relocate to Iceland but I am not sure about my plan now.
Siberia next :)
Iceland being saved. Finland drops demand for collatoral. Merkel has majority for the July 21 deal; besides, her coalition partners will not quit government, bacause they would be wiped out in the following elections. ECB will save banks. Greek banks merge and get funding from Qatar; Greek stock market skyrockets. More consumer spending and higher wages in the US. Gold and silver drop. All non-armageddon news and developments. Anyone plans for Christmas? I have. Let's look forward, all ends well. Boring world we live in.
Your comments defy the look of mind boggling, wide eyed emotion one expects from your avatar!
Boring does NOT rhyme with Amazement...Just saying. Your xmas pudding better be well spiced.
I'm amazed about all the doomprophets, while the news and develeopments day after day are totally non-armageddon. How many collapses have been predicted last few years? WW3 should have been broken out long time. We are still alive! And kicking as well!
bird flu mofo
http://www.latimes.com/health/boostershots/la-heb-avian-flu-pandemic-who...
Finally, armageddon around the corner.
I hope you remember to share your boundless optimism with all of the families that have had children sent home in body bags from Iraq and Afghanistan.
Every day is a blessing from God and a new opportunity for TEOTWAWKI.
Every day the world changes a bit, it's always TEOTWAWKI.
How many of those "children" voluntarily joined the military knowing we're in Iraq & Afghanistan?
You won't find much sympathy here on that subject.
ahhh, 'tis that time again, get your micro-chip'd vaccine twofer!!
http://realneo.us/content/microchip-implants-ready-use-swine-flu-vaccine
I hope that you don't listen to all this doom nonsense, and are long treasuries, financials, and Netflix.
Next year we will still be kicking (and screaming) when we run out of can or road or both.
See you at Wal-Mart in 2012!
So Wal-Mart will still exist in 2012. Sounds good. Why run for food then?
Fuck that. We will be meeting at Dollar General.
Dollar General apparently survived armageddon then.
It ain't just China feeding off the carcass of the Western world:
ATHENS, Greece -- Greece's second and third largest lenders, Eurobankand Alpha Bank (ALBKY.PK), on Monday announced plans to merge in order to better withstand the country's acute financial crisis.
The widely anticipated move would create Greece's biggest bank, and will see a euro500 million ($720 million) investment from a Qatari investment fund, Paramount Services Holding Ltd., officials from the two banks said.Paramount, the Qatari fund, has held a 4 percent stake in Alpha since 2008.
Little is known about the fund, although an Alpha statement Monday described it as "a company representing the business interests of the most prominent family in Qatar."
http://finance.yahoo.com/news/Greek-banks-to-merge-form-apf-3860825446.h...
Merely ensures that the resulting mega-zombie bank will be far TBTF...
They bought the stake for the debt slaves' collateral: land, businesses...
< FT reports that Chinese real estate tycoon and former Chinese Central Propaganda Department official Huang Nubo, has struck a deal to acquire 300 square kilometers of "wilderness in north-east Iceland where he plans to build an eco-tourism resort and golf course." >
Yup, would be the PERFECT size for a resort, housing a few hundred thousand troops, and military installations.
Who like GREEN STUFF,and Golf courses......................Hahahahahahahahahhahhahahahahahahahahahahahahahahhaha
Yep, we're IDIOTS.( Nice try Long Duc Dong)
One of the perks are that some of the tourists can come by submarines.
"globalisation" continues apace, as nationstates "consolidate" in plain view. . .
Ponzi, loves company.
instead of work and save, the new motto is print and buy shit at a discount.
Wonder if US fed land is up for bids.
the old series "here comes the brides"
"No, you can't sell china, my mountain."
You don't need to look real far. Chuppies have hit Manhattan. Big:
WEALTHY buyers from mainland China, a rapidly expanding economy of 1.3 billion people, are increasingly turning to Manhattan for their luxury real estate purchases, brokers say.
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/08/14/realestate/wealthy-chinese-turn-to-new...
They will have to throw out all the Deadbeats who have not paid thier mortgage for over two years first. Good luck with that!
With a fistfull of dollars that's not very hard
And "a few dollars more."
Oh god, I will have to listen to more, "we're saved" bullshit. I have to get out of this fucking area. Soon enough.
how , how! can you quote real estate advertising as a news source?
that's what the times real estate section is, i'm not just being a cynic. all it ever says is buy buy buy in manhattan , and if not there, somewhere close.
although i hadn't thought of iceland.......i told you so. what better way for china to get influence than deploying it's three trillion dollars to buy it by back dooring bailouts with asset purchases. russia will step in next with similar strategies in the former union tied to energy....perhaps a gas pipeline extending from iran.
re-post (partial).
we should be supporting the military industrial complex!
because of wall street the poor ole' military has had to cut $500(ish) billion from their budget this year.. meanwhile wall street gets trillions more.
I am hopeful.. mostly because the masses of sheepish consumers here in America are completely in-capable of effecting any real change on their own.. that the military will wipe wall street out.. because after robbing the old people and the poor.. and privatizing all the public interests... the only person left for wall street to rob will be the military..
Oops! Blackwater (or whatever the name(s) are now) has already privatized the military..
Never mind the military is stupid like the sheep they pull from.
so much for elite west point commanders standing up from themselves.
wall street wins.. it is over! quit yer' bitchin!
Greedy idiots over lazy morons any day.
but the military is essentially the muscle for the same people who control wall street. it would take a rebellion for the mid ranks of the officer corps.
you are missing the point..
$500 billion less in toys for the millitary.. lets call the millitary a purist group.. thusly they would want to have more, be better and not suffer any kind of set backs.. NOT! while wall street banksters are spending 10 times more than the millitary on lies. Bullets out rank lies!
looks like they'll have to get busy farmin' - those opium poppy fields will need expanding!
Since the U. S. invaded Afghanistan poppy seed production in that country has increased by 90%. Just coincidental I am sure. The U. S. and the banks would never get involved in a $500,000,000,000 per year boondoggle.
No never, they also wouldn't demonize the taliban for burning poppy fields... I love the idea of US military troops guarding drug farms. The irony of it is just too much. Espeically after having to take a urinalysis after every holiday weekend (>2days off in a row) during the 9 years of my service.
Thank you for your service.
now go clean your guns (carry) so that when we start cleaning up wall street you dont miss out on the fun!
China is flexing its muscles like the America of the Great Gatsby and wants to dance the Charleston, while the West recovers from its self inflicted financial Armageddon. Awaiting the inexorable second round as aftermath just like Europe got its own come-uppance dished out. Maybe the Chinese will launch a Marshall Plan to rebuild our economies after the second collapse. In exchange they will ask us to wear their chinese made blue jeans and drink chinese made king Cola! Now you can't get more cut n paste american than that, along with chinese made Ipads!
....and learn mandarin if you want to make any money.....
Just wait until they do a cut n paste on WS and create their own GS, Rubin, Paulson, Summers et al. all cloned to a T.
Maybe if Greenspan emigrates to China he could teach them Zirp and irrational exuberance squared with the Abacus shuffle thrown in as special sweetner, making them follow big Apple's golden ponzi triangle route faster than you can say Hu flung dung. The financial Bermuda triangle repeated!... Oh holy Mandarin boss, oh great healsman, my economy's disappeared!... while I was learning to dance like Ginger n Fred.
I don't think they need Greenspan. They invented paper money in the 7th century, followed by Europe in the 14th century.
Maybe the Chinese will launch a Marshall Plan to rebuild our economies
Haven't you been reading? They've already had that underway in Europe on a grand scale since 2008, and even bigger in 2010 and 11. The only reason Hungary hasn't been bailed out a dozen times and descended into chaos. They saved the Euro.
Think the US has been immune? Try Googling "China buying spree"
hahaha, yes with devalued USD they earned from outsourcing. What goes down Marco Polo route must come round!
They may cut n paste but they ain't dumb, keeping the west on artificial respiratory gear is part of the deal....They need export markets.
Iceland has the cheapest energy resources on the planet. Maybe the Chinese want to start an aluminum smelter there too. Titanium takes a lot of energy to process too. Maybe they think that new golf course will generate lots of interest in new titanium clubs? /sarc
More likely the Chinese think that with the opening up of the Arctic seaways in the summer and a new, much cheaper route to Europe that Iceland would be a good place to inventory their merchandise for ultimate shipment elsewhere when the Arctic is frozen.
If he would just wait a bit longer, he could pick up the Grand Canyon at a bargain basement price when the national parks go up for sale.
I'm learning Mandarin (Beijing style) JUST in case. Also I'm ninja with the chopsticks.
waaaaaaaaay ahead of you there... i will gleefully fulfill my new position as "slave wrangler" when the time comes.
It's all about the water folks; no military installations will ever be built there. China will run out of potable water within a decade.
Wrong, it's about the
artic sea route, they have
alread secured some of
the largest water resouces
in Tibet, better start reading
abit more kiddo
Was supposed to type madarin bitches in simplified chinese but the characters are substituted and shown as god damn question marks. FUCK.
300 sq. kms for a golf course resort? What's the par on that SOB?????? Maybe they've replaced titanium drivers with plutonium ones............
Forging strong ties with Nations that have been punked by the ECB Banksters is not a bad idea. They (the Icelanders) have a moral purpose in it that way...a revenge sort of.
Who knows, they may just like lots of Chinese Take-E-Out-E food.
fools, fools, fools,
China has been building an
Icebreaker bigger than most
in Greenland, ICELAND SAY NO,
STOP THIS AT ALL COSTS, they
want arctic sea route, the Chinese
have made serious investments in rare earths
business in Greenland last
few years, I know people that
have sounded many alarms,
China has surrounded INDIA
with 7 ports - they call it
the Pearl Of India and the
Military in India are forced to
ramp up massively to counter
these moves, India is not
half as afraid of Pakistan
as China. Janes Defense
covers alot of good articles
on this subject matter. Get
worried america, coming
your way
your
posting style
makes it u n be a ra ble to
read and fo ll ow ea si ly
Is whale meat a delicacy in Chineeland?
"The world is my oyster... and it's not enough we'll invade Mars, whether you like it or not, you Western long-nosed bastards!"
Chinese motto (best before year 2030).
Hm. Must have looked at his Patek Phillipe watch and decided: 'meh' he needed to buy Iceland. Of course, if its no real use to buy a volcanic island for exporting Chinese mainlanders' inscrutable culture, then you can always park your submarines in the vicinity.
ahh yes, the love of nature and golf courses always coincide so nicely
Kito, you earn a Fore!
Cheap thermal energy, great place for a listening post (NATO), port options will be next. China is very patient and will slowly make moves to aquire what they need.
Distinction - The Chinese are not patient they are focused and determined.
Hey, maybe nature boy wants a little log cabin should he need to bail out. The sum to buy his little jewel is chump change for these "little princes".
I agree they are focused and determined...this comes from being patient. This is part of their culture. I agree the cost is cheap...opportunity has presented itself. The ecotour/resort theme is merely a surface appearence. Classic Sun Tzu.
Now the Indians discover there's a Chinese threat... that's what being vegetarian does to you
That would be a good location for a Chinese submarine base and maybe an airfield. Fuck China. You don't get to take-over a country because you gave them some pieces of paper. Take the Chinese money and then charge them 100 billion in property taxes per year. They still might go for it. I wish vancouver was so smart.
Yeah when Iceland, who couldn't beat one Chinese regiment, (wait I'm not sure we could either) takes the money and tries some tax action like that the only 100 billion will be the laughter of the Chinese who will laugh for 100 billion years.
Pretty fishy...where have I heard this one before?
Sounds like the Ukranian aircraft carrier they bought---Ukraine said they would not sell it if it was going to be used for military purposes. China's method---a Chinese businessman bought it to turn into casino parlor. Upon arrival, it was immediately handed to the government. And now they have a militarized aircraft carrier.
Well, the USA has over 100 bases overseas. I guess it's okay for China to have some?