The US Treasury did not brand China a "currency manipulator" in its latest report. For now, the American government will hold off on its campaign to revalue the yuan. But expect the issue to rear its ugly head again as the weather and the congressional campaigns turn hot this summer.

President Ahmadinejad of Iran has written a letter directly to President Bush, presumably over the issue of nuclear weapons. Although the White House played it down, oil traders saw it as a possible easing of tensions, and the price of a barrel of crude dropped below $70. The foreign ministers of the UN Security Council countries are meeting in New York to talk about what to do about Iran, and I would like to propose an idea for them: why not set up direct talks between the US and Iran here in Shanghai? This city is a great place for talks not only because China is the best possible broker between Iran and the US, but also because it showcases what might be the closest point of diplomatic contact between those two countries since they severed relations in 1979: the Iranian and American consulates are across the street from one another on Huai Hai Road.

China’s May holiday this year basically involves a shut-down on business for nine days, plus a couple more for staff to get back into the mood at the end of the process. Ridiculous. A long Chinese New Year holiday is inevitable and justified by tradition immemorial. But the May and October breaks? They should be cut back down to one day each. The original aim was to encourage Chinese consumers to grasp the joys of consuming. They have now got it. No need to labor the point, pardon the pun.

An old friend of mine from Kunming is involved in a project that is recreating the old Southern Silk Route in Yunnan province. The project involves a caravan of yaks, horsemen, and many ethnic minorities following the old trail from Xishuangbanna up through Zhongdian and into Tibet, promoting their various brands of teas. But it is more than a mere marketing ploy. The caravan has raised over US$100,000 to build schools in the very poor regions through which they have traveled, mostly through auctions of the tea, some of which is rare and treasured. And they throw huge parties along the way. For more information about the caravan and some great pictures, visit my friend’s blog here.

The ongoing intellectual property rights dilemma has taken a bizarre twist. With Hu Jintao’s promise to tighten up IPR protection still hanging in the air and his buddying-up with Bill Gates – a serial victim of Chinese piracy – still fresh in the mind, BlackBerry manufacturer RIM has become the latest scalp in this legal jungle.

BlackBerries – the e-mailing device that makes a corporate executive stand out from the crowd – are set to make their mainstream arrival in China in a few months through a partnership with China Mobile. However, RIM didn’t expect to be beaten to the market by a similar service offered by the other state mobile operator, China Unicom. The name of this rival device? RedBerry. Oh yes.

RedBerry developer Facio Software Inc. doesn’t seem in the least bit bothered by this flagrant exploitation of another company’s brand – in fact it is quite boastful. Proclaiming on its website that “We are the Redberry!”, Facio Software emphasises that its service is available “before RIM’s BlackBerry”. A further comment reads: “The Redberry is not afraid, neither did David fear Goliath!”

Poor RIM – it’s a wealthy mulitnational but it still has rights – appears to have been caught up in a turf war between China Mobile and China Unicom. [Note to foreign investors: try and avoid becoming a bargaining chip in a battle between two hugely influential SOEs.] Speaking to AP, RIM CEO Jim Balsillie said as much:”It’s a strange marketing plan. It’s kind of brazen, this kind of poke in the eye by China Unicom at China Mobile.”

And what can RIM do about this? Nothing. “China has its own gestation cycle and you work with it and you respect it,” Balsillie said. What has it to gain from kicking up a fuss and threatening to withdraw from the China Mobile deal? A move to take the higher moral ground will simply result in lower commercial profits. Like countless companies before it, RIM must bite the bullet, stay standing in the market and hope that IPR protection improves – or the RedBerry bursts – sooner rather than later.