Another red alert comes from the Hong Kong Government’s finances. The authorities said lately that Hong Kong’s recovery after the pandemic is far from expected, and the fiscal deficit may exceed HK$100 billion (US$13 billion). That scenario makes many financial industry insiders worry that if Hong Kong’s fiscal reserves decline further, it will wobble the once stable linked exchange rate mechanism that has been in force for the last 40 years. In the latest “Policy Address,” the Hong Kong government proposed to reduce the stamp duty on share transactions and adjust the “harsh measures” previously implemented on the property market. Coupled with the reduction in income from land sales and stamp duty expected this fiscal year, as well as the expenditure the treasury needs to cope with the new measures proposed by the policy address, it is likely to have more than HK$100 billion (US$13 billion) deficit. Including this one, there are four years out of the last six that the government has seen deficits, and this year is likely to become the third year of recording over HK$100 billion in negative incomes....Read more https://www.theepochtimes.com/china/hks-linked-exchange-rate-mechanism-likely-to-wobble-with-budget-deficit-forecast-to-exceed-hk100-billion-5519875
Bipartisan members of the U.S. Senate agreed on Oct. 31 that federal funding for military construction and the departments of Veterans Affairs (VA), Transportation, Agriculture, and Housing and Urban Development should not benefit China. In a 61-36 vote, members approved an amendment to the Senate’s spending package for those agencies that would prohibit the use of appropriated funds to provide “grants, funding, or any financial benefit” to China-based entities or their subsidiaries. “Whatever other disagreements we may have about the spending in these bills, surely we can agree that this money ought to go to Americans and American companies and our allies,” said Sen. Josh Hawley (R-Mo.), the amendment’s sponsor, on the Senate floor.... 
The sudden death of former Chinese Premier Li Keqiang made headlines around the world while mainland Chinese have eagerly discussed it online, attempting to find out the real cause of his death and whether there are any dark secrets behind it. This comes as there is a general feeling among the Chinese public that Mr. Li was a repressed, powerless, and disgruntled politician during his tenure because he was under the shadow of current Chinese leader Xi Jinping. Death in Shanghai The Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) official media announced that Mr. Li was “in Shanghai recently to relax” and passed away “at 12:10 a.m. on Oct. 27 due to a sudden heart attack that occurred on Oct. 26, despite all-out efforts to revive him.”...
Commentary The United States needs to pivot its defence from Europe to the Indo-Pacific to deal with China, its number one strategic competitor, according to eminent U.S. political scientist John Mearsheimer, but will have trouble doing that because of its entanglement in Ukraine and the Middle East. Mr. Mearsheimer, who was a guest of the Centre for Independent Studies, was talking in Brisbane, Australia. He is from the “realist” school of international relations, which means that he thinks great powers should, and do, act only in their own interests. It’s a pity Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese was not able to hear him and was already en route to Washington to lobby for AUKUS at the time....