The U.S. Army's legendary 101st Airborne division has arrived in Afghanistan. They are the final wave of the 30,000 troop surge. The U.S. hopes that the surge will help to turn the tide against the Taliban.
U.S. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner is in Beijing for a two-day visit to meet with top Chinese government officials including President Hu Jintao and Premier Wen Jiabao. He is there to reassure his Chinese hosts they they need not worry about the $770 billion they've invested in U.S. treasuries. China being the biggest single purchaser of U.S. treasuries. The Takeaway is joined by BBC's Quentin Somerville who is in Beijing and following this closely.
For more on Geithner's visit to China, watch the video below.
In China, the number 8 means luck. And the Chinese government has been insisting that the economy will grow no less than 8% this year, but the impact of the global economic slowdown is starting to effect China. Now the World Bank estimates China's growth figure for this year will be closer to 6.5%, which isn't lucky at all. Particularly since many analysts say 8% is the threshold growth China needs in order to stave off political unrest. For more, The Takeaway talks to Quentin Somerville, the BBC's correspondent in Beijing.
For another look at the importance of the number 8, watch the classic Schoolhouse Rock song "Figure Eight."
On Friday, Hillary Clinton arrives in Beijing for talks with China’s leaders. This is the first visit to China by a senior member of the Obama administration. Everything from the economy, climate change, trade and human rights is on the table. To talk us through the issues facing China-U.S. relations, we’re joined by Cheng Li who is research director and senior fellow at the China Centre at the Brookings Institution in Washington, D.C. For the view from China, we turn to the BBC's Quentin Somerville in Beijing.
China's family planning commission has released a survey saying that 70% of Chinese women wish they could have two babies or more partially because they worry that an only child is likely to become lonely or spoiled. The commission just announced the survey, but there is a twist, it was conducted in 2006, but is only being released now. For more on the survey and what it might mean for China's one-child policy, we're joined by Quentin Sommerville, the BBC's Beijing Correspondent.
Quentin Somerville of the BBC speaks with John Hockenberry about the situation in Bangkok, Thailand, where anti-government protesters have taken the international airport.
There's bad economic news out of China this morning, showing signs the financial crisis is affecting the Asian nation with the world's fastest growing economy. China's economy grew at a rate of 9 percent in the most recent quarter. That may not sound all that bad by Western standards, but ...
