https://www.scmp.com/rss/324426/feed Paul Ulrich advises governments in the Asia-Pacific on mobile communications-related policy on behalf of the GSM Association. Before joining the GSMA, he was a freelance writer, researcher and policy consultant who has worked on projects or assignments in about 60 countries. He is an economist and public administrator by training, a student of all things Chinese, and a long-time resident of Hong Kong. en https://assets.i-scmp.com/static/img/icons/scmp-meta-1200x630.png https://www.scmp.com Paul Ulrich Paul Ulrich Facebook’s announced plans to launch a global digital currency, Libra coin, is reminiscent of Apple’s announcement in early 2007 that it would launch the first iPhone later that year. Both initiatives improved rather than disrupted existing products and came from an established company in a different industry. The iPhone was a better version of Nokia’s smart handset, while Facebook is offering to retail consumers cryptocurrency, which some banks are already using in wholesale settlements. As... https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/article/3018809/why-facebooks-libra-cryptocurrency-has-banks-and-regulators?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/article/3018809/why-facebooks-libra-cryptocurrency-has-banks-and-regulators?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 17 Jul 2019 04:00:19 +0000 Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies that enable transactions outside the regulated financial sector have attracted the attention of regulators worldwide and, at times, drawn the scorn of luminaries such as investor Warren Buffett and JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon. Some countries have banned cryptocurrencies and the exchanges that trade them, some have offered support, while others such as South Korea have been mercurial — first threatening to ban trading in digital currencies, then changing... https://www.scmp.com/comment/insight-opinion/united-states/article/2158804/india-leads-use-blockchain-curb-spam-calls?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/comment/insight-opinion/united-states/article/2158804/india-leads-use-blockchain-curb-spam-calls?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 11 Aug 2018 07:00:51 +0000 Our two main reservoirs of Plover Cove and High Island hold 85 per cent of our freshwater supply, three quarters of which comes from a costly source: the Dongjiang. The Hong Kong government rejected the lateral expansion of reservoirs as too damaging to surrounding country parks, but it never looked into deepening Plover Cove to enhance our water security. Deepening Plover Cove would enable us to take the Dongjiang water that we pay for but have no room to store, a waste of HK$800 million per... https://www.scmp.com/comment/insight-opinion/article/2102467/hong-kong-needs-plover-cove-reservoir-be-twice-deep-better?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/comment/insight-opinion/article/2102467/hong-kong-needs-plover-cove-reservoir-be-twice-deep-better?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 13 Jul 2017 03:47:58 +0000 Until recently, China put little pressure on its troublesome neighbour North Korea, but propped up its economy with food, fuel aid and trade. North Korea’s acceleration of long-range nuclear-missile testing is likely to change that. After years of failed six-party talks under the Bush administration and eight more years under president Barack Obama’s forlorn policy of “strategic patience”, tensions on the Korean peninsula are now approaching an inflexion point. Pressure mounts for UN action... https://www.scmp.com/comment/insight-opinion/article/2094403/china-can-make-north-koreas-kim-jong-un-offer-he-cant-refuse?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/comment/insight-opinion/article/2094403/china-can-make-north-koreas-kim-jong-un-offer-he-cant-refuse?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 15 May 2017 09:38:49 +0000