Follow the Debate - Yuan Revaluation and Internationalisation News Archive January 2011
Follow the Debate
Yuan Revaluation & Internationalisation
You can scan the Articles over time and see it evolve and change
Graeme has been using ChinesePod since 2007
"I highly recommend ChinesePod, I haven't found any Online teaching programmes that come close."
The Wall Street Journal 31/1/2011
Yuan’s Value Is Hot Topic at Davos
The Chinese currency is such a hot topic at Davos this year a breakfast meeting didn’t even go without it.
At a function hosted by a Chinese financial magazine Saturday morning, with China’s 12th five-year plan as the theme, Chinese executives, academics and their Western counterparts spent a big chunk of their time talking about nothing else but the controversial renminbi, or “People’s Money” as literally translated.
China Opens a Door on Currency Swaps
SHANGHAI—China will allow banks to trade currency swaps for corporate clients starting March 1, extending the use of the financial derivative beyond the interbank market—a move that facilitates corporate foreign hedging as Chinese trade continues to expand and cross-border investments accelerate.
The announcement comes as Beijing steps up efforts to let the yuan be used more widely outside China, loosening its grip on the currency as it aims to become less dependent on the dollar for trade and investment.
Turkish Minister Says China Gaining Unfair Advantage
It doesn’t matter whether or not China and the U.S. are actively trying to keep their currencies low, the end result is pain for emerging markets, Turkish Finance Minister Mehmet Simsek said Saturday.
Kaixin OpEd – China accumulates 3 trillion in reserves because, the west argues, it has held its currency down artificially. No mention of hard work and thrift.
In terms of purchasing distressed ‘western’ assets as the GFC aftermath continues, then it would be in China’s interests to increase the value of the Yuan.
Actually, China wins either way.
Why?
Because of the hard work and thrift that accumulated such vast wealth.
Perhaps the ‘west’ should ponder on this rather than just complain.
As Kaixin is now saying rather repetitively, China is an opportunity, not a threat.
However, ‘western’ companies have to get off their butts to take advantage of that opportunity.
The Age 28/1/2011
China plays Sugar Daddy to Uncle Sam
William Pesek
It's perhaps the most tantalising question in economics: When will China's yuan replace the US dollar?
Chinese President Hu Jintao delighted yuan bulls recently by calling the US dollar-dominated world a “product of the past.” Oddly, though, his signature legacy will be solidifying the US currency's place at the center of the global financial system for many years, if not for decades, to come.
The Wall Street Journal 27/1/2011
Dallas Fed: Yuan Rise Won’t Fix China-U.S. Gap
A rise in the yuan’s exchange rate with the dollar is unlikely to do much to reduce China’s yawning financial gap with the U.S., a new report from the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas argues.
Instead, the paper, released Tuesday, argues this huge outflow of dollars to China can be largely fixed by China addressing key structural issues regarding its domestic savings rate.
The Wall Street Journal 25/1/2011
China could act on currency this year: Kissinger
WASHINGTON (AFP) – China could act on revaluing its currency over the course of the year, without admitting defeat in their battle with the international community over its value, former US secretary of state Henry Kissinger said Sunday.
Behind the Yuan Bond Boom: Dollars
A Chinese property developer's recent record-breaking bond issue highlighted soaring demand for ways to play appreciation of China's currency. It also underscores the limits of China's nascent efforts to create an international market for the yuan in Hong Kong.
Evergrande Real Estate Group Ltd.'s $1.4 billion bond issue, priced a little more than a week ago, was Asia's biggest high-yield corporate debt deal ever. But what made it especially noteworthy was its structure as a synthetic yuan bond.
The Wall Street Journal 24/1/2011
Hong Kong Booms with Dollars Wrapped in Yuan
A Chinese property developer's recent record-breaking bond issue highlighted soaring demand for ways to play appreciation of China's currency. It also underscores the limits of China's nascent efforts to create an international market for the yuan in Hong Kong.
Asia Times Online 21/1/2011
Hu's dollar frustration
By Hossein Askari and Noureddine Krichene
Chinese President Hu Jintao and French President Nicolas Sarkozy are two of the more influential critics of the international reserve currency system. Yet the same US dollar-dominated system, while acting as a tax on other countries, has also hurt the industrial structure of the United States.
Hossein Askari is Professor of International Business and International Affairs at the George Washington University. Noureddine Krichene is an economist with a PhD from UCLA.
China Daily 20/1/2011
Renminbi not undervalued as real exchange rate increases: UN expert
GENEVA - The Chinese currency is not undervalued, if measured with Real Effective Exchange Rate (REER) based on Unit Labor Cost (ULC), a better way to grasp changes in competitiveness than looking at nominal exchange rate and REER based on Consumer Price Index (CPI), the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) said on Tuesday.
In a press conference presenting UNCTAD's recent surveys and findings, Heiner Flassbeck, Director of UNCTAD's Division on Globalization and Development Strategies, said according to his calculation based on the ULC oriented approach, the Chinese currency "is not undervalued", but rather, "it has appreciated quite significantly in the last ten years."
UNCTAD's findings showed there can be significant differences in the measurement of the real exchange rate, depending on whether it is calculated on changes in ULC, or the traditional basis of changes in CPI.
"The latter misses out important elements of the catching-up process of developing countries and may result in significant misinterpretation for some important emerging economies like China, " UNCTAD argued in its findings.
Caixin Online 20/1/2011
Between a Crutch and Walking Stick
Andy Xie
Why the dollar has got to go as the world's reserve currency – and how the euro will replace it
China and Japan are supporting the euro zone by purchasing government bonds that the market shuns today. China and Japan have US$ 4 trillion in foreign exchange reserves and are capable of bridging liquidity problems that some euro zone economies are facing.
What China and Japan can do is to stop market panic from leading some otherwise viable economies down a vicious spiral of rising interest rates, rising debt burdens and bankruptcy. Economies that are not viable in the first place shouldn't be helped.
China and Japan's actions help themselves in two ways ...
The Wall Street Journal 20/1/2011
Obama, Hu Address Currencies, Human Rights
WASHINGTON—U.S. President Barack Obama formally welcomed Chinese President Hu Jintao to the White House on Wednesday, with both leaders calling for a renewed effort of cooperation as they embarked on a summit that will help redefine the relationship between the world's longtime superpower and its rising Asian rival.
The New York Times 19/1/2011
Op-Ed Contributor
China’s Currency Isn’t Our Problem
By MARK WU
A stronger renminbi won’t save many jobs or help U.S. exports.
Mark Wu is an assistant professor at Harvard Law School.
China Daily 19/1/2011
Yuan to be convertible in capital account in 5 yrs
BEIJING - China would progressively make its currency, RMB, convertible on the capital account in the next five years amid its push for the deeper internationalization of the currency, or yuan, the country's foreign exchange chief said Tuesday.
"The overall strategy for the reform of China's foreign exchange management system is to achieve the convertibility of the yuan on the capital account progressively, as this will make trade and investment more convenient and boost the development of the foreign exchange market," said Yi Gang, head of the State Administration of Foreign Exchanges (SAFE), in a signed article published on SAFE website.
The remarks by Yi, also deputy governor of the People's Bank of China (PBOC), China's central bank, came after the PBOC announced last week that the country's qualified businesses and banks could now settle their overseas direct investment in yuan.
Yi also said the SAFE would continue to maintain a strict stance in cracking down on hot money inflows into the country during the next five years.
Trial program for offshore funding
HONG KONG - The Chinese mainland securities regulator will begin a trial program that allows local fund houses to raise money offshore for investment in the domestic financial market, two sources said.
At least 80 percent of the money raised will have to be invested in the domestic bond market, said the sources who were familiar with the matter but were not authorized to publicly disclose the details.
"The move is based on the overall financial trend of the yuan increasingly becoming more international," one of the sources said on Monday. "The banks are already moving forward in this aspect and it's time for brokerages and securities companies to follow suit."
The Wall Street Journal 18/1/2011
China’s Reservations About the Dollar
Back in 2007, a previously unknown Chinese politician sent the dollar to record lows against the euro after suggesting China should diversify some of its huge foreign-currency reserves.
That politician, Cheng Siwei, has retired from his post as the vice chairman of the National People’s Congress, but his profile has only grown.
Video: Intepreting Hu Comments on Currency, Clout
Caution on Offshore-Yuan Market Is Urged
HONG KONG—Executives, bankers and government officials raised questions over the emerging offshore market for China's currency during a conference Monday, underscoring the debate over the future of the yuan in the global economy.
The rising use of yuan, also known as the renminbi, outside mainland China dominated much of the discussions at the government-backed financial conference in Hong Kong.
China has taken steps toward greater use of the yuan, long one of the world's most tightly controlled major currencies, for international trade and some types of finance. This has increased expectations that the yuan eventually will become an international reserve ...
The Wall Street Journal 17/1/2011
Hu Highlights Need for U.S.-China Cooperation, Questions Dollar 
BEIJING—Chinese President Hu Jintao emphasized the need for cooperation with the U.S. in areas from new energy to space ahead of his visit to Washington this week, but he called the present U.S. dollar-dominated currency system a "product of the past" and highlighted moves to turn the yuan into a global currency.
China Daily 15/1/2011
China unveils new moves to push for yuan's global reach
BEIJING -- China announced on Thursday that the nation's qualified businesses and banks could settle their overseas direct investment in yuan, a move that could expand the Chinese currency's global reach and ease excessive liquidity domestically.
The People's Bank of China (PBOC), or the central bank, said in a notice on its website that banks and businesses which were allowed to settle cross-border trade in yuan would also be permitted to conduct direct investments overseas using yuan, or Renminbi.
Further, domestic banks could offer those businesses loans for their overseas investment, and investment profits could be sent back to China in yuan. Related procedures would be more expedient, according to the new rules that took effect on January 6.
The Australian 14/1/2011
China launches trial to free yuan for overseas investment
CHINA has launched a pilot program to let domestic companies take Chinese currency overseas to make investments.
The move, part of its effort to make the yuan a global currency, came as the central bank set the currency's reference rate at a new high against the US dollar.
The Wall Street Journal 14/1/2011
China Loosens Yuan's Overseas Limits
SHANGHAI—China launched a pilot program to let domestic companies take Chinese currency overseas to make investments, a part of its effort to make the yuan a global currency that came as the central bank set the currency's reference rate at a new high against the dollar.
China Daily 14/1/2011
China unveils new moves to push for yuan's global reach
BEIJING -- China announced on Thursday that the nation's qualified businesses and banks could settle their overseas direct investment in yuan, a move that could expand the Chinese currency's global reach and ease excessive liquidity domestically.
The People's Bank of China (PBOC), or the central bank, said in a notice on its website that banks and businesses which were allowed to settle cross-border trade in yuan would also be permitted to conduct direct investments overseas using yuan, or Renminbi.
Further, domestic banks could offer those businesses loans for their overseas investment, and investment profits could be sent back to China in yuan. Related procedures would be more expedient, according to the new rules that took effect on January 6.
To carry out the pilot project in an active and steady way could further push for Renminbi's use for cross-border trade and investment, and better support Chinese enterprises working overseas, read the notice.
The New York Times 13/1/2011
Geithner Lists Concerns Ahead of Chinese Leader’s Visit
In a speech, Mr. Geithner said that changes by Beijing in its exchange rate and in its handling of intellectual property were “fundamentally in China’s interest.”
The Wall Street Journal 13/1/2011
New Move to Make Yuan a Global Currency
China has launched trading in its currency in the U.S. for the first time, an explicit endorsement by Beijing of the fast-growing market in the yuan and a significant step in the country's plan to foster global trading in its currency.
Caixin Online 13/1/2011
Value of Yuan Rises to New High
Analysts say a rise in the value of the yuan would be beneficial to tamping down China's inflationary pressures
(Beijing) -- The value of China's currency went up to 6.6128 yuan to one U.S. dollar, a new high since June 2010, ahead of Chinese president Hu Jintao's visit to Washington in late February.
The U.S. government has continually called on China to let its currency appreciate.
How to Fight Inflation in China
Running a balance of payments surplus with an exchange rate peg has sent the economy skidding into an untenable situation marked by rising inflation
Inflation in China exceeded five percent in November 2010 for the first time since the early summer of 2008. The People's Bank of China (PBC), China's central bank, raised interest rates twice and have taken other steps to restrain inflation. In early January, Prime Minister Wen Jiabao vowed to bring down inflation through price increases.
Policy-makers in China face a dilemma: they want to reduce the pressures in the economy to reduce inflation, but are not willing to cut employment, especially in export industries. Yet the major source of inflation is the large export surplus.
China Daily 13/1/2011
Sino-US economic ties benefit both sides: Geithner
WASHINGTON - The economic relationship between the United States and China "provides tremendous benefits" to both nations, US Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner said here on Wednesday."China presents enormous economic opportunities for the United States and for the world," said Geithner at the Johns Hopkins University in Washington ahead of Chinese President Hu Jintao's state visit to the United States next week.
"This state visit takes place at a time of important transition for the world economy, for the Chinese economy and, of course, for the American economy," Geithner said.
China to sell 30b yuan of book-entry T-bonds
BEIJING - China's Ministry of Finance (MOF) said Wednesday it will sell 30 billion yuan ($4.53 billion) of book-entry Treasury bonds this week.
The one-year bonds have a fixed annual interest rate of 2.81 percent, the ministry said in a statement on its web-site.
The bonds will be sold from Thursday to next Monday and become tradable on the exchange markets from next Wednesday.
Interest on the bonds will be paid when the bonds mature on January 13, 2012.
Yuan hits new record high at 6.6128 per USD
BEIJING -- The Chinese yuan strengthened to a record high against the US dollar on Wednesday to reach 6.6128 per dollar.
The central parity rate of the Chinese currency, also known as the renminbi (RMB), was set 88 basis points lower than Tuesday's 6.6216, according to the China Foreign Exchange Trading System.
China's central bank announced on June 19, 2010, it would further reform the yuan exchange rate formation mechanism to improve its flexibility.
Required reserves ratio may rise: Experts
Banking experts said the central bank may raise Chinese commercial banks' required reserve ratio to tame surging domestic liquidity and inflation, China Securities Journal reported Wednesday.
The New York Times 12/1/2011
Chinese Foreign Currency Reserves Swell by Record Amount
The Chinese government has been printing renminbi at a furious pace to buy the dollars and euros pouring into the country through trade surpluses and foreign investment.
The Wall Street Journal 12/1/2011
Bank of China Brings Yuan Trading to the U.S.
Bank of China Ltd., one of the country's four major state-owned banks, has opened trading in the Chinese currency to customers in the U.S., representing a symbolic endorsement by Beijing of foreign trading in the yuan.
The decision is the latest move by China to allow the yuan, whose value is still tightly controlled by the government, to become an international currency that can be used for trade and investment ...
Hong Kong Plans for Yuan-Denominated Stocks
HONG KONG—Hong Kong's stock exchange is working on a way to help investors buy stocks listed in yuan, even if they don't own any of the Chinese money, and will toughen measures to reduce market-wide risks.
Hong Kong Exchanges & Clearing Ltd., the fifth-biggest exchange in the world by market capitalization, is laying the groundwork for companies to issue stock denominated in yuan instead of the Hong Kong dollar, a potentially huge new source of business for HKEx.
China has loosened some restrictions on its tightly controlled currency as part of efforts to internationalize the yuan, also known ...
China Daily 12/1/2011
China's forex reserves reach $2.85 trillion
BEIJING - New yuan-denominated lending in China reached 7.95 trillion yuan ($1.2 trillion) last year, the People's Bank of China (PBOC), the central bank, said Tuesday.
The figure was 1.65 trillion yuan less than the 2009 level of 9.6 trillion yuan, said the bank in a statement on its website. But it has overshot the government's full-year target of 7.5 trillion yuan.
The Wall Street Journal 11/1/2011
Chinse City Allows Direct Foreign Investment
SHANGHAI—The eastern Chinese city of Wenzhou has launched a pilot program that allows residents to invest directly overseas, a small step toward greater liberalization that is part of a broader easing of currency controls that could help ease pressure on the yuan to appreciate.
The Age 11/1/2011
China gains in currency clash
Li Yanping, Beijing
CHINA reported a below forecast $US13.1 billion trade surplus for December, strengthening its bargaining position before a January 19 meeting in which US President Barack Obama may press for more gains in the yuan.
China Daily 8/1/2011
Chinese economist sees 5-6% yuan rise in 2011
BEIJING - The yuan is expected to rise between 5 and 6 percent this year against the US dollar, Li Daokui, an adviser to China's central bank, was quoted as saying in a local newspaper.
"My personal view is that the yuan will rise by 5 to 6 percent this year in a controlled and gradual manner," said Li, one of three academics on the central bank's monetary policy advisory committee.
Li's comments were reported by the Xiaoxiang Morning News on Thursday. He had made the remarks in a speech on Wednesday at an event sponsored by the newspaper in Changsha, the capital city of China's central Hunan province.
Li said China will steer its monetary policy in a modest and gradual way, and that investors should not rule out the chance of more interest rate rises in 2011.
He added that China's economy will grow at least 9.5 percent this year, and that inflation will hit 4 percent. This means economic growth will largely be on par with last year's pace, while inflation picks up from 2010's 3.3 percent.
China Daily 7/1/2011
China's central bank reaffirms to tame inflation
BEIJING - The People's Bank of China (PBOC), or the central bank, reiterated Thursday that it would give higher priority to stabilizing prices this year.
The central bank plans to make its micro-control policies more targeted and effectively manage liquidity to bring the monetary conditions for price hikes under control, said the PBOC in a statement posted on its website.
The Age 6/1/2010
China likely to use yuan on inflation
A stronger exchange rate is likely to be one of the tools China uses to curb inflation in the first quarter, a government economist said on Wednesday, as Beijing tries to stem a flood of liquidity.
The Wall Street Journal 6/1/2010
Setting a Direction for China's Capital Markets
The next step in the development of China's capital markets, says the chairman of the China Securities Regulatory Commission, must focus on fostering market mechanisms that promote institutional reform.
Shang Fulin spoke with Qiao Xiaohui and Li Delin, reporters for Caijing magazine, a business and finance publication based in Beijing.
Caijing: China's securities market has introduced margin trading, stock-index futures and other risk-management tools in recent years. After the international financial crisis, how will the commission consider and promote innovation and development in capital markets?
Shang Fulin: Innovation is the power source of financial-market development, but excessive financial innovation and ...
Tricky Dick's Lesson for China
Richard Nixon was full of surprises, not least when he shook hands with Mao Zedong in Beijing in 1972. The previous year, Nixon imposed price controls at home to stamp out inflation, another surprising move from a Republican president. The president's visit transformed Sino-American relations, but it is those price controls Beijing should be recalling right now.
It is worth remembering Nixon's decrees proved unsuccessful.
World Bank Endorsement for Yuan Bonds
The offshore yuan market is starting off the year with some high-powered endorsement.
The World Bank, which is triple-A-rated, becomes the first body to issue yuan-denominated debt offshore in 2011, raising 500 million yuan, or US$75.9 million. The two-year bond matures in January 2013 and pays a yield of 0.95%. The issue was arranged by HSBC Holdings PLC.
China Daily 6/1/2010
World Bank issues its first-ever yuan bonds
HONG KONG - The World Bank said it is issuing its first-ever bond denominated in China's currency, the yuan, in Hong Kong, as the country promotes international use of its currency, also known as the renminbi.
The Wall Street Journal 5/1/2011
World Bank Issues Its First Yuan Bond
NEW YORK—The World Bank issued its first bond denominated in the Chinese yuan, borrowing 500 million yuan ($75.9 million) over two years.
The triple-A-rated World Bank said in a statement that the decision to borrow in the Chinese currency signals its strong interest in supporting the growth of the yuan market. The bond, which matures on Jan. 14, 2013, has a ...
Rules Could Slow Growth in Hong Kong's Yuan Trade
HONG KONG—New regulations here on trade in China's currency could slow expansion in one of the foreign-exchange industry's most closely watched growth markets.
Under guidelines announced late last month, banks in Hong Kong face new restrictions on their ability to access yuan through China's foreign-exchange market.
Caixin Online 5/1/2011
China Allows Exporters to Keep Foreign Earnings Overseas
The new measure signals loosening controls on foreign exchange
(Beijing) – China said December 31 that exporters will be allowed to keep their foreign revenues overseas from January 1, in a move to expand a trial program effective since October 1.
The Wall Street Journal 4/1/2011
Rules Could Slow Growth in Hong Kong's Yuan Trade
HONG KONG—New regulations here on trade in China's currency could slow expansion in one of the foreign-exchange industry's most closely watched growth markets.
Under guidelines announced late last month, banks in Hong Kong face new restrictions on their ability to access yuan through China's foreign-exchange market.
They also have to limit their so-called net open positions in China's currency—that is, bets on the yuan's future movement—to 10% of their assets or liabilities denominated in the currency. Bankers and traders say the new rules will increase funding costs for local banks, and limit their ability to offer currency futures or other ...
Caixin Online 3/1/2011
A Post-Mortem of the Euro Crisis
Looking back at the year that transformed the topography of the euro area
On a global level, the past year will be recalled as the year when the world economy began to recover from the crisis. Output and trade bounced back, unemployment stopped deteriorating and capital flows to the emerging economies resumed. Inflation also made a come-back, not least in China.
But 2010 will also be remembered as the year when the European crisis erupted.
China Themes
Yuan Revaluation & Internationalisation
Graeme has been using ChinesePod since 2007
"I highly recommend ChinesePod, I haven't found any Online teaching programmes that come close."
Set in Zanzibar in 1910, it is the story of two people from different worlds falling in love. Susan immerses herself in Zanzibar. Asim falls in love with this woman from the nation that killed his wife. Susan is a spy. Asim is the chief advisor to the Sultan of Zanzibar. Germany and France are holding secret negotiations to form a Pan European alliance, which would isolate Britain and destroy her power. Susan and Asim are caught up in all this and their love is finally dashed on the cold, hard reality of international high politics.
Available on Amazon's Kindle $4.99 - Over 400 Pages
Chapter One
Zanzibar
'A maharaja’s ruby cast on a Persian carpet by the blackest of hands'
Their souls danced, honouring his promise.
The ancient dhow stirred in the soft morning breeze. Like a sleepy lion, it began to move through the water, snuffling about the other boats on the harbour; some scurrying, some at anchor, some darting before a brief gust of wind. The lateen sails a bustling panorama of blood-red and sun-bleached white.
Aft, the woman's eyes searched the skyline, drinking in the architecture of Stone Town, the heart of Zanzibar; its jagged, cluttered silhouette so familiar, so much a part of her soul.
Abruptly, her eyes ceased their restless searching, jagged by an invisible hook, transfixed by the grand buildings on the northern shore, Beit-al-Ajaib, the House of Wonders, Palace to the great Sultan of Zanzibar. The distinctive architecture captured in the tropical light: coconut white outlined by contrasting shadow plays of pepper black.
A smile, ever so slight, started to play on the edge of her mouth then disappeared. A memory that should have been fond instantly turned to sharp unbearable pain. Her eyes hardened and moved on.
Without warning the captain threw the rudder over. Stumbling, the woman barked her shin on a wooden box, a rough-hewn coffin. She recoiled, knocking over an untidy stack of cane baskets. Imprisoned in the baskets, rusty cockerels, their scruffy heads straining through the latticework, snapped at her, cried out to her; their raucous din overwhelming her, drowning her.
Dimly, through the fog of noise, the strident swearing of the sailors in Kiswahili seeped into her conscious. Understanding, she smiled mirthlessly.
The coffin had been carelessly stowed, a chore, rather than a labour of respect or love.
London 1910
“Hello, who are you? I am Oliver, is Edward at home?”
The words were spoken by a tall, impeccably dressed young man as he rushed into Edward’s flat shaking off surplus water and calling for whisky while shoving his umbrella into a stand. It was a blustery, grey, bitterly cold February afternoon in the heart of London. He brushed a curl of soft auburn hair from his forehead and smiled charmingly.
Susan laughed, her hazel eyes dancing with the exhilaration of the new. “Yes, he is having a bath. I think he is trying to get warm. I’m Susan, Susan Carey, his sister.”
“Ahhh yes, from Australia. How do you do?” said Sir Oliver, smiling broadly and offering his hand. He noticed the laughter in her eyes, and the depth, particularly the depth, intensified by jade flecks that made them striking and alluring. “So, you have arrived, good trip I trust.”
“I am very well thank you, and yes, it was a good trip,” replied Susan.
He laughed and glanced at the sitting room, “whisky?”
“Oh, I’m sorry, please come in…….. that was silly of me, after all, it is your flat.”
Oliver smiled and gestured for Susan to lead the way. He followed her into the room, and after helping himself to a generous portion of whisky, walked over to the fire.
Shortly after, Edward, wrapped in a huge ruby-coloured dressing gown and wiping soap from his ear strode into the room. He was of similar age to Oliver, late twenties, well built, if slightly podgy, with dark auburn hair and a full moustache. Susan looked up and smiled to herself, she could see now where he had picked up some of his new mannerisms.
“Thought I could hear voices. I see you two have met, no need for introductions then.”
As he was speaking, Edward walked to the side table and grabbed a whisky decanter by the neck. He glanced at Oliver who nodded. A long finger snaked into one of the tumblers followed by the distinctive clink of crystal. He swept the decanter off the table and carried it to where Oliver was sitting. After pouring the whisky, he sank into a lounge chair and sipped from his glass, enjoying the warm glow as it spread through his body.
Suddenly he sat up exclaiming, “Sorry sis, would you like something to drink?”
“Kind of you to remember, but no thank you, and yes, Oliver has already inquired.”
Edward nodded and sank back into his lounge chair.
They chatted, tentatively at first, getting to know one another. Edward had not seen Susan for two years and was unsure how his sister would take his new relationship. Oliver was intrigued by Susan. An attractive, self-assured young lady of high intelligence with a degree was a rare find. And, as fate would have it, she was also a trained and experienced teacher. He suggested a picnic at Oxford, which was met with ready acquiescence. Arrangements were made for the following Sunday.
“I’ll see if the Rolls is available,” mused Oliver. “Must ring father, haven’t spoken to him in ages.”
Oliver, Sir Oliver Marchmaine, was an unaffected young man of intense intelligence who saw life as a great adventure to be lived to the full. He was also unyieldingly loyal to his country, England, which is why he had joined Military Intelligence on leaving Oxford.
It was 1910 and Europe was stirring. It was a time full of interest, intrigue and danger. The European chessboard was becoming increasingly complex, the moves more subtle. A time when an unexpected move or feint could have profound consequences.
Regaining her balance, the woman’s eyes were drawn, hesitantly at first, resisting back to Beit-al-Ajaib. She wondered if it was still the same. Still the same centre of power and intrigue that had been so much a part of her life all those years before; that had defined her life.
She remembered those first few moments, remembered standing in the foyer of the palace, .………… remembered the breathtakingly beautiful Persian tapestry ........
The sea breeze stirred her clothes. She smiled a little sadly, and in her mind the tapestry gently swayed. Two small apparitions ran giggling up the stairs: two small exquisitely rich burkas disappearing along the first floor landing. Childish squeals of mischief and joy left in the air.......
“Move to seaward, you accused of Allah! Move!”
Her thoughts were clawed back to the dhow, the captain crashing the tiller over to avoid another boat on the crowded harbour. The woman instinctively ducked her head to avoid the heavy boom as it swung over her, the rusty cockerels squawked their raucous indignation, their heads straining through the latticework, relentless.
The collision avoided, the dhow continued on its way. The cacophony dying down to the occasional command by the captain or the cry of a seagull.
The woman's thoughts returned to Beit-al-Ajaib
…………. laughing and giggling, girls of seven or eight. A door on the first floor slammed and all sounds of them disappeared. Silence. The woman smiled. She could see herself, a young woman, dressed plainly, unselfconsciously, her sexuality tantalisingly just out of reach, hidden beneath the thin veil of her clothing. She remembered standing alone in the foyer, looking around, perplexed. Asim came through a door to the left of the tapestry.
“Salaam.”
The woman started and looked around. Then, realising, was cold again. Alone again. Alone, rocking to and fro to the rythm of the sea. Alone, beside a rough-hewn coffin.
Now Available on Amazon's Kindle $4.99 - Over 400 Pages
Graeme has been using ChinesePod since 2007
"I highly recommend ChinesePod, I haven't found any Online teaching programmes that come close."
