[ARW readers could probably guess that I’m not a fan of George Soros–a man who for reasons of his own has financed most of the anti-artist front groups around the world. But when he’s right, he’s right and in this op-ed from the Financial Times, he’s definitely right and Blackrock is definitely wrong.]
The crackdown by the Chinese government is real. Unnoticed by the financial markets, the Chinese government quietly took a stake and a board seat in TikTok owner ByteDance in April. The move gives Beijing one seat on a three-person board of directors and first-hand access to the inner workings of a company that has one of the world’s largest troves of personal data.
The market is more aware that the Chinese government is taking influential stakes in Alibaba and its subsidiaries. Xi does not understand how markets operate. As a consequence, the sell-off was allowed to go too far. It began to hurt China’s objectives in the world.
Recognising this, Chinese financial authorities have gone out of their way to reassure foreign investors and markets have responded with a powerful rally. But that is a deception. Xi regards all Chinese companies as instruments of a one-party state. Investors buying into the rally are facing a rude awakening. That includes not only those investors who are conscious of what they are doing, but also a much larger number of people who have exposure via pension funds and other retirement savings.
Artist Rights Watch--News for the Artist Rights Advocacy Community 