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Anonymous ID: ac1927 Sept. 27, 2020, 12:54 p.m. No.10812187   🗄️.is 🔗kun   >>2323 >>2567 >>2610

China to gauge Suga's stance with Wang Yi visit to Japan

 

Beijing looks to have an early assessment of the new Japanese leader's China policy by sending its foreign minister next month. The two governments are in talks for Wang Yi, a fluent Japanese speaker and former ambassador to Tokyo, to visit Japan and meet his counterpart, Toshimitsu Motegi. Wang is likely to meet Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga during the trip as well, making it the first face-to-face interaction between senior officials of the neighboring countries since the Suga administration entered office this month.

 

It would be the first exchange since China's top foreign policy official Yang Jiechi, a member of the Communist Party Politburo, visited Japan in February as the two sides were preparing for President Xi Jinping's first official visit to the country. That trip was postponed due to the coronavirus pandemic. Motegi and Wang are expected to reaffirm the importance of maintaining a stable bilateral relationship and discuss topics of concern such as the Senkaku Islands and Beijing's new national security law for Hong Kong. The Chinese side looks to establish a good relationship with Suga amid rising U.S.-China tensions that risk dividing the region into two camps. Though Suga positions the Japan-U.S. alliance as the linchpin of his country's foreign policy, the new prime minister has said he wants to continue dialogue with China to resolve the issues between them.

 

U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, who plans a visit to Japan in early October, is likely to be the first foreign official Suga meets. Wang's visit would follow. During Pompeo's visit, Japan will host a foreign ministers meeting of the Quadrilateral Security Dialogue, or "Quad," an informal strategic forum among the U.S., Japan, Australia and India. China will feature prominently in those talks, including the militarization of the South China Sea, the political situation in Hong Kong and issues regarding economic security. The calendar suggests the Suga government intends to meet first with its main ally, the U.S., as well as semi-allies Australia and India, to form a united front, and then balance its diplomatic position by meeting with China. Suga's phone call with Xi on Friday, likewise, came after calls with the leaders of the three Quad partners.

 

The top issue for Japan and China will be Xi's postponed state visit. With headwinds growing in the ruling Liberal Democratic Party against inviting the Chinese leader at this stage, the government has been unable to press ahead on preparations with the Chinese side. There was no reference to the state visit in Friday's Xi-Suga call. In the call, however, Suga suggested that the two countries coordinate closely through senior-level dialogue. "Going forward, I want to thoroughly discuss issues that are of high interest to the region and the international community," he told Xi. Aides said Suga was referring to issues such as Hong Kong and the tensions in the East China Sea – mainly over the Japanese-administered Senkakus, which China claims as the Diaoyu Islands.

https://asia.nikkei.com/Politics/Japan-after-Abe/China-to-gauge-Suga-s-stance-with-Wang-Yi-visit-to-Japan

Anonymous ID: ac1927 Sept. 27, 2020, 1:12 p.m. No.10812339   🗄️.is 🔗kun

>>10812268

The Federal Reserve does not own gold.

 

The Gold Reserve Act of 1934 required the Federal Reserve System to transfer ownership of all of its gold to the Department of the Treasury. In exchange, the Secretary of the Treasury issued gold certificates to the Federal Reserve for the amount of gold transferred at the then-applicable statutory price for gold held by the Treasury.

 

Gold certificates are denominated in U.S. dollars. Their value is based on the statutory price for gold at the time the certificates are issued. Gold certificates do not give the Federal Reserve any right to redeem the certificates for gold.

 

The statutory price of gold is set by law. It does not fluctuate with the market price of gold and has been constant at $42 2/9, or $42.2222, per fine troy ounce since 1973. The book value of the gold held by the Treasury is determined using the statutory price.

 

Although the Federal Reserve does not own any gold, the Federal Reserve Bank of New York acts as the custodian of gold owned by account holders such as the U.S. government, foreign governments, other central banks, and official international organizations. No individuals or private sector entities are permitted to store gold in the vault of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York or at any Federal Reserve Bank.

 

A small portion of the gold held by the U.S. Treasury (roughly $600 million in book value)about five percentis held in custody for the Treasury by the Federal Reserve Banks, as fiscal agents of the United States. The vast majority of this gold is located in the vault at the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, and a very small portion is on display in several Federal Reserve Banks. The remaining 95 percent of U.S. Treasury gold ($10.4 billion in book value) is held in custody for the Treasury by the U.S. Mint.

https://www.federalreserve.gov/faqs/does-the-federal-reserve-own-or-hold-gold.htm