China's "Ordinary" Billionaire Behind Nicaragua Canal Plan
Wang Jing, the enigmatic businessman behind Nicaragua's $50 billion Interoceanic Grand Canal, shrugs off scepticism about how a little-known entrepreneur can be driving a huge transcontinental project, insisting he's not an agent of the Beijing government. "I know you don't believe me," said Wang, who reckons that he's forked-out about $100 million in canal preparation work, and is burning as much as $10 million a month on the project. "You believe there are people from the Chinese government in the background providing support. High-ranking Chinese officials including President Xi Jinping, Premier Li Keqiang and former leaders Jiang Zemin and Wen Jiabao have all visited the state-connected wireless communication technologies company Wang took control of four years ago.
China Joins CSI
The U.S. Department of Homeland Security today announced that the People's Republic of China formally joined the Container Security Initiative (CSI). U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) Commissioner Robert C. Bonner and Mu Xinsheng, Commissioner of the General Administration of Customs of the People's Republic of China, today signed a declaration of principles in Beijing, formally initiating joint efforts to target and pre-screen cargo containers shipped from the ports of Shanghai and Shenzhen destined for U.S. ports. "CSI is an essential element of the layered security strategy of the United States," said Homeland Security Secretary Tom Ridge.
