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China Hit by Worst Power Crisis in a Decade

China Hit by Worst Power Crisis in a Decade

Beijing orders state-run companied to secure fuel in the global market “at all costs.”

China is facing its biggest power crisis in recent years, with factories halting production and cities across the country seeing blackouts. The Hong Kong-based newspaper South China Morning Post reported that the “world’s second-largest economy is suffering its worst power blackouts in a decade.”

Coal and hydro power supply shortage reportedly caused the power crisis. “China needs to bolster its coal supply to avoid an economic slowdown this quarter,” CNBC reported on Monday.

The energy crunch has forced Beijing to buy coal from Australia despite a ban imposed to bully the country. “China unloads Australian coal despite import ban amid power shortage,” the British business daily Financial Times reported on Tuesday.

China, the world’s biggest polluter, relies on coal for half of its energy needs.

Last week, Fortune magazine reported the extent of the nationwide energy crisis:

Blackouts across several of China’s northern provinces switched traffic and street lights off last weekend, causing miles-long traffic jams in several cities. Residents of high-rise apartment buildings were forced to take the stairs in some cities where building management suspended elevator services to conserve electricity. On Sunday, the provincial energy administration in China’s southern Guangdong province called for residents to stop using air conditioning and rely on natural light instead of electric bulbs.

Ordinarily, Chinese authorities spare household consumers from the shock of power outages, preferring to force industrial users to scale back their energy usage first—which they have. On Sunday, several Apple and Tesla suppliers announced days-long factory closures to comply with orders from local authorities to ration electricity.

Besides impacting industrial production, ordinary Chinese are also suffering as winter approaches. “Millions of households in the north-east of the country have … lost power and found that they cannot use electricity to heat or light their homes,” the British newspaper Guardian noted.

The Chinese energy crisis is expected to drive the global fuel prices as Beijing orders state-run companies to secure fuel in the global market “at all costs.”

“The natural gas crunch hitting the UK and Europe is likely to intensify after China ordered state-backed companies to secure energy supplies no matter the cost,” UK’s Financial Times reported on Thursday.

It’s not just a blow to China’s export-oriented economy. The energy crisis exposes Beijing’s empty pro-climate change stance. Last month, China announced divesting from coal power projects as part of its global Belt and Road initiative. The Communist regime also pledged to go “carbon-neutral” by 2060.

Faced with the power crisis, Beijing is now boosting its coal consumption. “China is paying the most on record for the dirtiest type of coal,” Bloomberg reported last week.

China’s vague pledges have thrilled media commentators and ‘climate’ activists. Al Gore hopes that Beijing will make even grander promises at the next month’s global climate summit in Glasgow, Scotland. “China could surprise the world at Glasgow,” Gore declared on Monday.

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Comments

Lucifer Morningstar | October 5, 2021 at 3:16 pm

Beijing orders state-run companied (sic) to secure fuel in the global market “at all costs.”

And if the rest of the world had any fucking sense they’d tell the CCP to go to hell and let the whole cursed country collapse into well deserved chaos.

(Oh, and the chinese financial system is on the verge of collapse too from trillions in high risk building loans. Go figure.)

LibraryGryffon | October 5, 2021 at 3:20 pm

That should read Glasgow, Scotland?

Lucifer Morningstar | October 5, 2021 at 3:21 pm

And along with that they’ve got the Evergrande financial crisis as the chinese real estate bubble pops and leaves the CCP on the hook for trillions in unpayable investments.

https://www.visiontimes.com/2021/10/05/the-evergrande-crisis-will-create-a-domino-effect-in-chinas-real-estate-industry.html

I would have no issue with giving Wuhan a few megatons of nuclear fission about 5000 feet high, so that all may partake.

Probably a good thing I am no one.

    Lucifer Morningstar in reply to donewiththis. | October 5, 2021 at 3:47 pm

    I would have no issue with giving the CCP and the whole cursed country a few megatons of nuclear fission/fusion and be done with it. Probably even a better thing I’m a no one.

      I would have no issue with giving the CCP and the whole cursed country a few megatons of nuclear fission/fusion and be done with it.

      Good thing my name isn’t “Joe Biden” but rather “Joe Blow from down below”

The Friendly Grizzly | October 5, 2021 at 3:28 pm

Bless their hearts….

We should trade them coal for the military aircraft they keep flying over Taiwan with

China’s economy is very fragile. Some of their largest companies face bankruptcy, they are beginning to demolish the crumbling empty cities they built as “stimulus”. Now power outages.

No wonder they are rattling the sword, they kind of need a war to mollify their own population (including the military and Politburo)

    MattMusson in reply to geronl. | October 6, 2021 at 10:27 am

    In 10 years the average age of the Chinese will be older than Japan. They will grow old before they grow rich. In the last 20 years wages have grown by a factor of 12 so Mexico is a cheaper place to manufacture. 4 million jobs have reshored over the last 5 years. That trend will only increase as companies realize they can no longer include China as a dependable parts supplier.

    China achieves phenomenal growth, moving from an agricultural society to an urban society in 40 years rather than 200. But, you can only do that once.

The Friendly Grizzly | October 5, 2021 at 5:38 pm

Headline: China Economy Totally Collapses

Subheading: Walmart, target, Macy’s, Sam’s Club, Sears, Macy’s, Apple, General Electric Combe and virtually all other “American”. companies most adversely affected.

JusticeDelivered | October 5, 2021 at 7:07 pm

“forced Beijing to buy coal from Australia”

Everyone should agree on a special price for coal, maybe 4 fold?

    donewiththis in reply to JusticeDelivered. | October 6, 2021 at 4:17 pm

    Australia should tell China to go fuck themselves, and the rest of the free West should buy that coal to keep our Australian friends whole.

Much of this power shortage is permanent. This year’s floods have exposed the shoddy construction of all of their new hydroelectric dams. Several have collapsed and most others are being taken down. Shoddy construction has plagued China everywhere and nowhere more visible than in their new cities where skyscrapers are reportedly swaying dangerously and being taken down. There is a reason why China could build cities and their infrastructure so fast: no regulations, corrupt business practices and no oversight. A libertarian paradise.

BTW, the newest additions to their navy may be shiny but not very effective. They have four aircraft carriers but only one is truly functional. The newest one they’ve been showing off boasts features that are not even there. The fighter jets have yet to be acquired. The runways are too short for them anyway and the hydraulic boosters to help them take-0ff are under-powered.

They have plenty of military equipment but none of it is a match for what we have, particularly all of the nuclear-powered modern ships and subs. In fact, our entire submarine fleet is nuclear and most don’t have to refuel for 30-35 years. That is why China is so upset about Australia deal with the US and UK. It may be only 8 subs delivered over the next 15-15 years, but that is more than China has and the new Aussie subs will be vastly superior.

They are completely out of the 5G cell phone game since we have effectively blocked them from acquiring the core chips that make it 5G. Their computer technology industry is at least 6 years behind the US and we are probably innovating faster than they are. They can’t steal enough of our obsolete technology to even hope to catch up.

The China century is over already. They just can’t do anything right. Just like our government these days. It really is up to us to not blow it. We need Trump to finish what he started!

    “They have plenty of military equipment but none of it is a match for what we have…”

    ….The Taliban say otherwise.

      Kepha H in reply to Andy. | October 5, 2021 at 10:02 pm

      We have spent the Obama years trying to make our military woke rather than combat ready. In such a situation, whose equipment is better is moot.

      We don’t have any plans for invading mainland China nor for them to invade us. By the time the Chinese reverse engineer any of that new technology, we will have come out with something better and more of it. And keep in mind that the UK, France, Israel and other free countries develop awesome weapons too.

      It is my firm belief that we mostly produce weapons in quantity that we hope to sell to our allies. The biggest advantage we have militarily is that we can quickly ramp up production the best weapons to fight the war WE choose rather than be stuck with weapons to fight the wrong war. China is stuck with their military of choice. They don’t know else we have and even if they did, they couldn’t produce it as fast as we can.

      If you believe the UFOs are space aliens,….

        henrybowman in reply to Pasadena Phil. | October 7, 2021 at 5:25 am

        “By the time the Chinese reverse engineer any of that new technology”

        Are you kidding?
        That’s all 5% of their workforce does NOW!
        And they own the world electronics market!

      MattMusson in reply to Andy. | October 6, 2021 at 10:30 am

      The Chinese have many ships. But, only a handful can sail more than 1000 miles. The Japanese Navy could swallow them in a blue water fight.

      They are a Maritime Dependent Empire with a brown water navy. That is not sustainable.

    A country can have the best weapons and the best soldiers in the world but if the powers to be impose such restrictive rules of engagement that might as well be fighting with straws and spitballs.

      MattMusson in reply to buck61. | October 6, 2021 at 10:32 am

      The difference between a good military and a bad military is how quickly incompetent officers are replaced in time of war. The USA no longer removes incompetent military leaders. So, we can no longer be great.

      True but that will change once the shooting starts. I really doubt generals believe they can win a war with officers who mostly studied “equity” and “social justice”. Especially those who can’t even figure out their gender.

      A couple of weeks ago, the US, UK, India and Japan formed “the Quad” to take on China. I seriously doubt “Beijing Biden” had anything to do with it otherwise this would big news. We are not getting the stories here in the US. All we get is partisan politics. But these things ARE being reported if you explore the media of other countries, especially those who are most in the line of fire…. and that is NOT us for now.

      Even propaganda reveals important information if you compare propaganda from opposing sides. For instance, TFI Global has been very good for outing China’s disasters. TFI stands for “The Frustrated Indian” and India is at war with China so you have to assume it is propaganda. But their claims are easily collaborated by other sources like Sky News Australia and others. You don’t have to believe all of it but you can piece together the pieces from various sources and form reasonable conclusions.

    The Friendly Grizzly in reply to Pasadena Phil. | October 5, 2021 at 8:46 pm

    I’m not asking my question to be nasty but really do want to know. Where are you getting your information regarding their military equipment? We heard a lot of similar types of things about the Japanese military Anahuac of capability. That was prove wrong December 7, 1941 and for quite a while afterwards. That is why I ask.

    Another thing: I’m willing to bet that is inferior as the Chinese military gear may be, their manufacturing it out of things that they make themselves. Go onto an American military base. You’re surrounded with Samsung, LG, Sony, and Hyundai. How much stuff do we make for ourselves? Can we do a rapid build up if it becomes necessary? I for one, have my doubts.

      Most of it is readily available from various sources and it is good to cross check the sources. The hard part is figuring out whether the weapons presented exist now or are just prototypes or even just propaganda or disinformation. Even the CIA puts out a fact page. What we have is no secret. Aircraft carriers, jets, battleships,…..

      I don’t have “a” source of information. You really have to dig and do your best to verify. It’s a very big target since we spend trillions on something and you have to put it somewhere if you build it. So the Pentagon focuses on development rather than production. But you can bet there are many, many prototypes of advanced equipment available if needed. We certainly don’t build our best stuff in quantity. But we are shown flashes of technology that we can assume is being incorporated into something.

      I wrote a paper in grad school on predicting technological development from a management point of view and it boiled down to this: the fastest way to develop technology is to spend the most money on the best minds working the most hours on well-defined goals. Who fits into that description? Keep in mind that the political side of our government only knows what the Pentagon tells them. There has never been an accounting of where or even how much the Pentagon spends.

      So there is a lot of assuming involved in my opinions and the key assumption is that we are not stupid. And we sure spend a lot of money on something. Most of the technology that spills into the consumer sector began in defense. That is the way it has been since the beginning of mankind. Da Vinci himself created more military inventions than anything else. It was his main occupation.

      I am sure I am wrong on some of my conclusions but I am very confident about the big ones. If you can work around that framework, a lot of the pieces just fall in place.

      Forget about the fool politicians. Militarily, we are still bad ass. No one can touch us. We just have to focus on what war WE want to fight and stop entertaining the foolish politicians and their dreams of having an air base or battleship named after them.

Something is not right. For ever so long, experts said that China’s Shanxi (山西) and Shaanxi (陝西)provinces had greater coal reserves than almost anywhere else on earth. Surely that resource has not been depleted or wasted, has it?

Easy solution! China needs to order/pay Biden to un-strangle US oil production.

surfcitylawyer | October 6, 2021 at 2:38 pm

With the Chinese military, there is also the problem caused by the one child rule. Only children tend to be coddled and may have problems with military discipline. Also, if a bunch of parents get notice that their only son has died, the CCP may have problems.

All American slander!
Utility pole transformer in Hunan short out from bat taking up residence!
Repaired now, China fully powered and complete again!
Stop American slander now, or Large Occurrence of head knocks!