LettersLetters to the editor

King and country

The concerns voiced about Donald Trump in “Is he above the law?” (August 25th) have dogged the constitution since America’s founding era. The possibility of a president becoming an elective monarch caused considerable alarm among those in 1787-88 who debated the pros and cons of the proposed constitution. In a series of articles, “An Old Whig” worried that the president might in reality become a king “of the worst kind—an elective king.” Protecting the presidency from “venality and corruption” was paramount for the vast majority of Americans, including Benjamin Gale of Connecticut, who warned that, “an elective king…will eternally embroil the state by schemers for the outs and ins and by the foundation of clamours, broils, and contentions that will end in blood.”

The Founders’ reliance on Congress to act honourably seems disingenuously naive these days. And saying that it is up to the voters, who must wait until the next presidential election to set things right, also begs the question. When balancing the scales of justice between the law and convention, the law must prevail.

KATHLEEN BARTOLONI-TUAZON
Vienna, Virginia

Religion in China

The comment about China’s ethnic and religion policies in “And hell is just a sauna” (August 18th) is inconsistent with the facts. China has many ethnic groups and religions; harmony and inclusiveness are deeply rooted in the Chinese culture. We oppose ethnic discrimination of all forms against any group, and fully respect and protect all citizens’ freedom of religious belief in accordance with the law.

The number of Chinese Christians has risen from 700,000 in 1949 to more than 23m today. There are more mosques per person in Xinjiang and Ningxia than in many other parts of the world. China practises the rule of law and protects normal religious activities. But China will also defend itself against religious extremism and terrorism, from which Xinjiang and some other Chinese regions have suffered deeply.

Religious extremism is the breeding ground for terrorism; it incites hatred towards believers of other faiths, or pagans. The education and training measures taken by the local government of Xinjiang have not only prevented the infiltration of religious extremism and helped those lost in extremist ideas to find their way back, but also provided them with employment training in order to build a better life. Thanks to such policies, Xinjiang, Ningxia and other ethnic-minority areas in China have achieved rapid development in recent years and local people of all ethnic groups are living and working in harmony and enjoying stability. The growth rate of Xinjiang’s economic output ranked the fourth among all Chinese provinces in 2014. Southern Xinjiang is the first region to roll out a 14-year free education scheme. Ningxia became the first province in China to reverse desertification. The incidence of poverty there fell from 26% in 2011 to 6% in 2017. These notable achievements are clear evidence of the success of China’s ethnic and religion policies.

ZENG RONG
Spokesperson of the Chinese embassy
London

Smart-beta investments

It is not ignorance that limits the rate of adoption of fixed-income factor investing (“Fama and fortune”, August 11th). Rather it is concerns about the reliability of the evidence and implementation. Only a very brave investor would depend on five years of returns to build an investment strategy that may have to endure multiple economic cycles. With more than 13,000 individual bonds in some indices it is unfeasible for a fund to own all the constituents in the appropriate weights. Fixed-income smart-beta providers are faced with a choice: reduce the sample size to the most liquid bonds and suffer the criticism that the product is not representative, or use all the bonds in the index and suffer the criticism that the product is not investible. Smart beta offers a route to better risk management and lower cost than traditional investment approaches, but until fixed-income providers address these criticisms, early adopters may find that striving for fame and fortune results in a diet of French toast.

JOHN ST HILL
Deputy chief investment officer
National Employment Savings Trust
London

A view from the islands

You casually described Bermuda, the British Virgin Islands and the Cayman Islands as “notoriously shady tax havens” (“Beaches and borders”, August 11th). We in such places are weary from defending our reputations. We have been pressured by the international community into leading the world in financial transparency, a fact that few care to acknowledge. More important, the culture of our islands does not approve of hiding dirty money with a wink and a nudge while we take a large cut.

We constantly endure twin admonishments from those onshore. One is that we are money-launderers or facilitators of tax evasion, which is not true. The second is that capital flows here, as it is permitted to, when it ought rightfully to be sitting in a larger country’s treasury. We are well within our rights to set tax policy as we see fit. Undercutting the competition provides much-needed economic activity to tiny islands, with few natural resources. Would you have us return to whaling?

JOHN GIBBONS
Hamilton, Bermuda

Britain’s overseas territories are in a race against time to defend their interests against a hard Brexit. Presently the EU provides significant direct support, including aid to territories that are not in receipt of British development assistance, for instance the British Virgin Islands, but which remain extremely vulnerable to natural disasters and economic shocks. EU help is also important in encouraging regional co-operation between the British territories and their neighbours on issues such as mitigating climate change.

The territories have a strong voice in Brussels, which has brought real benefits. Unfortunately, the Brexiteers, who have stood four-square behind the territories, are now casting them adrift.

PETER CLEGG
Associate professor of politics
University of the West of England, Bristol

If I were a wealthy man

The Russian phrase, “if you are so smart, why are you poor?” is really another way of saying “why aren’t you rich?” (Letters, August 18th). More relevant to life today are these lines from “If I Were a Rich Man”, which may explain the rise of fake news and alternative truths:

“The most important men in town will come to fawn on me…Posing problems that would cross a rabbi’s eyesAnd it won’t make any difference if I answer right or wrong. When you’re rich they think you really know.”

BERTRAND HORWITZ
Asheville, North Carolina