You forgot pubs are closed by the Stasi you back.
China and Russia ditch dollar in move towards ‘financial alliance’
https://www.ft.com/content/8421b6a2-1dc6-4747-b2e9-1bbfb7277747
Maybe this belongs in the thread of things that didn’t age well
I’d be nervous the money wouldn’t arrive
As expected, the companies have complied with China and fallen in line with their own countries rules which recognize the “great” Chinese empire. And of course with the noble aspirations of their shareholders.
“ H&M China in a statement on Wednesday night said it “does not represent any political position” and remains committed to long-term investment in China.”
Again, proves the point that individual entities neither have the power nor responsibility to involve themselves in political disputes. Nothing happens with such stunts anyways. It’s always the same story - some statement, backlash, clarification, remove statements from website. Life goes on as usual.
Ofcourse they use materials from xinjiang. Why not? Their own countries have not put any trade related sanctions on China. It’s completely legal.
I guess I need to speak to Nike through my wallet. I already have regular discussions with H&M with the wallet.
Hugo Boss back to its roots.
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China is not thinking this through. Do they really want the entire west and free world to get together and work against China?
No freedom loving country in their right mind would see this and not be alarmed.
They’ve gotten away with a lot, for a long time. At this point, the developing world is their oyster and the industrialized west is on last legs. At least, I could understand how they might see it that way…
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China has grown more powerful economically and militarily than I could have ever imagined a decade ago. And they will continue to grow.
But they are surrounded by countries they don’t like them now, mostly their own doing. Even Russia isn’t on great terms with them and they would be their only legitimate ally. And when the west gets together, it’s bad news for them.
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I think -and hope- that Xi has already overplayed his hand
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I hope so.
Otherwise, some kind of war is coming. Not necessarily a traditional warfare one but certainly possible if China flexes that more. The rest of the world should now understand the importance of Taiwan for their own interests as well.
The situation reminds me a lot of the beginning of WW2.
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Yes. Though no historical analogy is perfect. Here’s another one (Peloponnesian War)
I’ve thought of CCP’s technological advances, most specifically missiles that the US has not been able to develop because of arms treaties with Russia, and wondered if they are far enough ahead with area denial to make a difference, or if Xi would be better to wait and push the technological advantage further before a hot war. I think Hitler made a mistake here (lucky us!), and if he had waited a little longer the technological advantage would have made a bigger difference…
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Have to disagree with that last bit.
What made war inevitable was the growth of Athenian power and the fear which this caused in Sparta.
What caused both WWI and WWII was the growing power of Russia. The Imperial General Staff, like Hitler, thought if they waited any longer the menace from the east would grow too great, and they would be caught in a two-front war. In both cases they thought they could knock out France quickly while keeping Britain neutral, and turn to face Russia. Neither thing happened in the First World War, and though they knocked France out in the Second (beyond their wildest dreams) they didn’t neutralize Britain, and the USSR was too strong for them. IMHO, anyway.
One question I’ve never seen answered is where does the US plan to site those missiles it is free to develop after withdrawing from the INF- Japan? S. Korea? Taiwan? the Philippines?Australia, even?
Does the U.S. have the financial, humanitarian or political will to occupy Taiwan for the long run? They’d have to maintain force projection on the island(s) in order to keep China from trying to save face in a loss.
Does the fact that many if not all top leadership in the CPC and PLA having family and graft proceeds in foreign banks/investments play into their steadfastness in attacking Taiwan? And, I’d hate to stereotype but, money talks.
Does China’s current dependency on imports necessary for daily life, which currently is on container ships, hinder their ability to have a compliant populace?
I don’t know, really. There’s Guam, @jdsmith shared an article about a base at Pulao in the past week (There must be other Pacific islands, I’d have to google it). I’m not sure on the details, but Japan and Australia seem totally possible if China keeps up the aggression. South Korea might be touchy, and of course Taiwan also too sensitive (think, Cuban missile crisis). The Phils I doubt for a few reasons, but I’ve been wrong before.
Occupying Taiwan isn’t like occupying Afghanistan. They’d just need one base, would the locals be very unhappy about that if it meant the CCP weren’t here?
And exports. This cargo ship stuff is really interesting. Could just be a coincidence, could be something more. Probably just a coincidence…
Yep. Testing a rocket over Japan or blocking the main artery for trade. Which instance tells the other side you mean it more?
I think I’d say the rocket is a pretty clear shot off the bow (if you’ll pardon the double-pun), and aggressive to boot. The thing about the boat is that there is so much plausible deniability. We don’t know if it was just an accident (the official narrative, probably true but remarkably coincidental with the timing and ownership/operation), or if this is some warning from the west to the east (or vice versa!?). So, the one that means more, to me, is the one with the obvious meaning which is the rocket…
Good, long, Quad piece here
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I wonder what dirty stuff the Chinese have on the WHO top brass.?
lab leak is “extremely unlikely,”
- even though.they never investigated it!!
The team proposed further research in every area except the lab leak hypothesis
I sense some of them must be highly compromised. They aren’t even being subtle about it.
One of the WHO guys who visited China and signed the report was a collaborator with the Wuhan virus lab (getting bat blood samples from Yunnan) and also visited China frequently previously.
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Watch this for all your information on the guy. It’s really interesting that in the course of this he suggests they can’t find a vaccine for the thing. I think starting at 15:10, or there about, is good if you can’t get through his self-pats on the back. (edit: The interview was from a Dec. 9 - 10, 2019 conference)
(edit,edit: here’s an article I found that discusses it (our K-man is the author)
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