Heated Tensions In The Year Of The Fire Monkey?

In the Chinese zodiac, we find a cycle of twelve animals that codes for twelve years, and a "generating cycle" of five elements attributable to these years. On February 8th 2016, for the first time since 1956, 1.3 billion Chinese will be celebrating the dawn of the Year of the Fire Monkey.

According to zodiacal lore, the Fire Monkey is dynamic and creative but actively aggressive and controlling to the point of overbearingness. Expect the People’s Republic of China (PRC) to stoke further confrontation in the disputed and gas-rich South China Sea, and Chinese companies to engage in forceful forays into the mergers and acquisitions market.

The last Year of the Fire Monkey saw the beginning of the Hundred Flowers Campaign, in which Mao Zedong encouraged citizens to openly express their opinions of the then seven year-old communist regime.

This purported exposition of free speech led to a crackdown on those critical of the status quo, resulting in their internment in labour camps. Mao would later boast that he had "enticed the snakes out of their caves".

Could 2016 see a continuation of a clampdown on both civilian activists and party representatives that rumbled throughout 2015?

[eventpdf]

READ MORE: Oil Price: The Top 25 Events That Rocked The Cost Of Crude Oil

LEARN MORE: The Biggest Companies In Oil & Gas Companies

RELATED: Oil & Gas Industry: An Introduction