Time to dump him then?
"China says US action on Hong Kong ‘doomed to fail’" by Ken Moritsugu Associated Press, May 30, 2020
BEIJING — The mouthpiece newspaper of China’s ruling Communist Party said Saturday that the US decision to end some trading privileges for Hong Kong “grossly interferes” in China’s internal affairs and is “doomed to fail.”
That is what we get here, too, and they already have.
The Hong Kong government called President Trump’s announcement unjustified and said it is “not unduly worried by such threats,’’ despite concerns of them driving companies away from the Asian financial and trading center.
An editorial in China’s official People’s Daily newspaper said that attempts at “forcing China to make concessions on core interests including sovereignty and security through blackmailing or coercion ... can only be wishful thinking and day-dreaming!”
Trump’s move came after China’s ceremonial parliament voted Thursday to bypass Hong Kong’s Legislature and develop and enact national security legislation on its own for the semi-autonomous territory. Democracy activists and many legal experts worry that the laws could curtail free speech and opposition political activities.
They under lockdown, too?
China had issued no official response as of late Saturday, but earlier said it would retaliate if the United States went ahead with its threat to revoke trading advantages granted to Hong Kong after its handover from British to Chinese rule in 1997.
Some say they already have by loosing the virus, or at least advancing such a narrative as to cause overreaction in the West; however, that doesn't explain every action by western leaders. Why destroy your economy before the real live shooting war?
“This hegemonic act of attempting to interfere in Hong Kong affairs and grossly interfere in China’s internal affairs will not frighten the Chinese people and is doomed to fail,’’ the People’s Daily said.
In Hong Kong, small groups of Beijing supporters marched to the US Consulate on Saturday carrying Chinese flags and signs protesting “American interference in China’s internal affair” and calling Trump “shameless and useless.”
Tensions between the United States and China over Hong Kong have increased over the past year, with the United States defending pro-democracy protesters who clashed with police last year and China vilifying them as terrorists and separatists.....
That means it's been a regime change operation.
--more--"
Related:
"Protests against the national security laws in the past week drew thousands, demonstrating that months of pandemic-induced stasis had not dampened their anger, but the turnout fell far short of the hundreds of thousands — and at times, more than 1 million — who attended some of last year’s marches. Many demonstrators have been deterred by the police’s increasingly forceful response. Last year, peaceful protesters were given wide latitude, and when clashes erupted, they raged for hours. Protesters lobbed bricks and gasoline bombs, while officers responded with tear gas and rubber bullets. Now, swarms of anti-riot officers, under the command of a new police chief appointed by Beijing, scatter even peaceful demonstrators with water cannons and pepper spray from the outset. Organizers have acknowledged that for some, the cost of protesting may be too high, but what binds many of the protesters together, more than anything, is weariness and dread....."
That's the way the New York Times sees things, while.....
"In China, where the virus outbreak began, only four new confirmed cases were reported Saturday, all brought from outside the country. More than 6 million coronavirus infections have been reported worldwide, with over 367,000 deaths and more than 2.5 million recoveries, according to the Johns Hopkins tally. The true death toll is widely believed to be significantly higher, with experts saying many victims died of the virus without ever being tested for it....."
In those cases, they were PRE$UMEDLY KILLED by COVID, so the claim above is false. The EXACT OPPOSITE is TRUE!
Also see:
Hong Kong entrance exams marked by health monitoring
That's already here at airports and in the offices, so.... ?
"China says US action on Hong Kong ‘doomed to fail’" by Ken Moritsugu Associated Press, May 30, 2020
BEIJING — The mouthpiece newspaper of China’s ruling Communist Party said Saturday that the US decision to end some trading privileges for Hong Kong “grossly interferes” in China’s internal affairs and is “doomed to fail.”
That is what we get here, too, and they already have.
The Hong Kong government called President Trump’s announcement unjustified and said it is “not unduly worried by such threats,’’ despite concerns of them driving companies away from the Asian financial and trading center.
An editorial in China’s official People’s Daily newspaper said that attempts at “forcing China to make concessions on core interests including sovereignty and security through blackmailing or coercion ... can only be wishful thinking and day-dreaming!”
Trump’s move came after China’s ceremonial parliament voted Thursday to bypass Hong Kong’s Legislature and develop and enact national security legislation on its own for the semi-autonomous territory. Democracy activists and many legal experts worry that the laws could curtail free speech and opposition political activities.
They under lockdown, too?
China had issued no official response as of late Saturday, but earlier said it would retaliate if the United States went ahead with its threat to revoke trading advantages granted to Hong Kong after its handover from British to Chinese rule in 1997.
Some say they already have by loosing the virus, or at least advancing such a narrative as to cause overreaction in the West; however, that doesn't explain every action by western leaders. Why destroy your economy before the real live shooting war?
“This hegemonic act of attempting to interfere in Hong Kong affairs and grossly interfere in China’s internal affairs will not frighten the Chinese people and is doomed to fail,’’ the People’s Daily said.
In Hong Kong, small groups of Beijing supporters marched to the US Consulate on Saturday carrying Chinese flags and signs protesting “American interference in China’s internal affair” and calling Trump “shameless and useless.”
Tensions between the United States and China over Hong Kong have increased over the past year, with the United States defending pro-democracy protesters who clashed with police last year and China vilifying them as terrorists and separatists.....
That means it's been a regime change operation.
--more--"
Related:
"Protests against the national security laws in the past week drew thousands, demonstrating that months of pandemic-induced stasis had not dampened their anger, but the turnout fell far short of the hundreds of thousands — and at times, more than 1 million — who attended some of last year’s marches. Many demonstrators have been deterred by the police’s increasingly forceful response. Last year, peaceful protesters were given wide latitude, and when clashes erupted, they raged for hours. Protesters lobbed bricks and gasoline bombs, while officers responded with tear gas and rubber bullets. Now, swarms of anti-riot officers, under the command of a new police chief appointed by Beijing, scatter even peaceful demonstrators with water cannons and pepper spray from the outset. Organizers have acknowledged that for some, the cost of protesting may be too high, but what binds many of the protesters together, more than anything, is weariness and dread....."
That's the way the New York Times sees things, while.....
"In China, where the virus outbreak began, only four new confirmed cases were reported Saturday, all brought from outside the country. More than 6 million coronavirus infections have been reported worldwide, with over 367,000 deaths and more than 2.5 million recoveries, according to the Johns Hopkins tally. The true death toll is widely believed to be significantly higher, with experts saying many victims died of the virus without ever being tested for it....."
In those cases, they were PRE$UMEDLY KILLED by COVID, so the claim above is false. The EXACT OPPOSITE is TRUE!
Also see:
Hong Kong entrance exams marked by health monitoring
That's already here at airports and in the offices, so.... ?
"China reported no new virus deaths for the ninth straight day, and just six new cases. Two of those were brought from overseas, with three domestic cases in Heilongjiang on the Russian border and one in the southern business hub of Guangdong. Hospitals are still treating 915 patients, 57 listed as serious. The country’s official death toll from the pandemic first detected in the central Chinese city of Wuhan late last year remains at 4,632 among 82,804 total cases."
How have they done that?
"In Wuhan, medical workers armed with coronavirus test swabs scoured construction sites and markets to look for itinerant workers while others made house calls to reach older residents and people with disabilities. Officials aired announcements over loudspeakers urging people to sign up for their own good. These are the front lines of an unprecedented campaign to screen all 11 million people in Wuhan, the central Chinese city where the coronavirus pandemic began. Nearly two weeks in, the government is getting close to reaching its goal, with 6.5 million tested so far. While other governments have struggled to provide testing for their populations on a broad scale, China has embarked on a citywide campaign to prevent a resurgence of infections at all costs. It has succeeded, according to residents and Chinese news reports, by mobilizing thousands of medical and other workers and spending hundreds of millions of dollars. The government, which is covering the cost of testing, sees the drive as key to restoring the public confidence that is needed to help restart the economy and return to some level of normalcy. The drive — which has reached more than 90 percent of the city after taking into account people who had been recently tested and children — has largely confirmed that Wuhan has tamed the outbreak. By Tuesday, only around 200 cases were found, mostly people who showed no symptoms, although samples were still being processed. Laboratories went from processing around 46,000 tests a day, on average, before the drive, to as many as 1.47 million tests Friday. By comparison, New York state has tested 1.7 million people since March 4, according to The Atlantic’s COVID Tracking Project."
Must have worked because German companies are flying 200 workers back to China.
"Demonstrators chanted prodemocracy slogans in a luxury mall in Hong Kong on Wednesday, the latest in a string of small but determined protests as the city’s coronavirus outbreak slows. More than 100 protesters gathered at lunchtime in the Landmark Atrium mall in Central, a prestigious business and retail district, despite social distancing rules that prohibit public gatherings of more than four. They sang a protest anthem, “Glory to Hong Kong,” and held up signs reading “Free Hong Kong, Revolution Now” and “Hong Kong Independence.” One protester hung a banner cursing Hong Kong police and their families. “The protests had calmed down previously because of the coronavirus, but now we must step up and let the world know that we have not given up,” said Mich Chan, who works in the legal industry. “We’re still fighting for what we fought for last year.” The protest followed similar ones in malls on Sunday and Tuesday in which police dispersed the crowds. They are a continuation of a movement that began last June to protest an extradition bill that would have allowed detainees in Hong Kong to be transferred to mainland China."
I $uppo$e you have to take the $our with the $weet.
Hong Kong watchdog absolves police over protest crackdown
It dims the prospects of accountability for the police, and why did Minneapolis and beyond just pop into my mind?
China moves to impose new Hong Kong security laws, tightening its control
Will the New York Times be in favor of that here?
Beijing-style repression is coming to Hong Kong
The Washington Compost asks what will Washington do?
Hong Kong police fire tear gas as protesters resist China’s grip
That was coughed up by the New York Times, and why I didn't read it.
Hong Kong braces for downtown protests on China-backed laws
Even Bloomberg is in on the act.
Pompeo says Hong Kong no longer has autonomy under China
That's what the New York Times reports as Pompeo is increasingly seeing his autonomy come into question.
"China delivered its strongest statement of confidence yet that it has tamed the country’s coronavirus epidemic, announcing Wednesday it would hold a much-delayed top political gathering late next month and ease quarantine restrictions in the capital. The most important event on China’s political calendar, the annual session of the National People’s Congress will provide the Communist Party with a platform intended to inspire national pride and reassert its primacy. The Congress is largely ceremonial, with delegates gathering every year to rubber-stamp major decisions. But the decision in February to delay this year’s session came as a shock to many in China and sent a global signal of the seriousness of the epidemic. Even during the outbreak of severe acute respiratory syndrome in 2003, the annual legislative session went ahead as scheduled, but the outbreak in China has subsided in recent weeks, with most cases coming from travelers returning from abroad. On Wednesday, only one case of local transmission was reported. The announcement that the Congress was scheduled for May 22 suggests that officials feel assured that the gathering can be held without placing the central leadership and delegates at risk. The government did not say how this year’s meeting would be conducted, but in past years, it has drawn nearly 3,000 delegates from every province."
It's about time to throw dirt on the Hong Kong regime change operation:
"Police in northern China charged a man with attempted murder after he allegedly buried his mother in an abandoned grave, where she was found traumatized but alive after three days covered by loose dirt....."
I suppose it could be resurrected, but.....
How have they done that?
"In Wuhan, medical workers armed with coronavirus test swabs scoured construction sites and markets to look for itinerant workers while others made house calls to reach older residents and people with disabilities. Officials aired announcements over loudspeakers urging people to sign up for their own good. These are the front lines of an unprecedented campaign to screen all 11 million people in Wuhan, the central Chinese city where the coronavirus pandemic began. Nearly two weeks in, the government is getting close to reaching its goal, with 6.5 million tested so far. While other governments have struggled to provide testing for their populations on a broad scale, China has embarked on a citywide campaign to prevent a resurgence of infections at all costs. It has succeeded, according to residents and Chinese news reports, by mobilizing thousands of medical and other workers and spending hundreds of millions of dollars. The government, which is covering the cost of testing, sees the drive as key to restoring the public confidence that is needed to help restart the economy and return to some level of normalcy. The drive — which has reached more than 90 percent of the city after taking into account people who had been recently tested and children — has largely confirmed that Wuhan has tamed the outbreak. By Tuesday, only around 200 cases were found, mostly people who showed no symptoms, although samples were still being processed. Laboratories went from processing around 46,000 tests a day, on average, before the drive, to as many as 1.47 million tests Friday. By comparison, New York state has tested 1.7 million people since March 4, according to The Atlantic’s COVID Tracking Project."
Must have worked because German companies are flying 200 workers back to China.
"Demonstrators chanted prodemocracy slogans in a luxury mall in Hong Kong on Wednesday, the latest in a string of small but determined protests as the city’s coronavirus outbreak slows. More than 100 protesters gathered at lunchtime in the Landmark Atrium mall in Central, a prestigious business and retail district, despite social distancing rules that prohibit public gatherings of more than four. They sang a protest anthem, “Glory to Hong Kong,” and held up signs reading “Free Hong Kong, Revolution Now” and “Hong Kong Independence.” One protester hung a banner cursing Hong Kong police and their families. “The protests had calmed down previously because of the coronavirus, but now we must step up and let the world know that we have not given up,” said Mich Chan, who works in the legal industry. “We’re still fighting for what we fought for last year.” The protest followed similar ones in malls on Sunday and Tuesday in which police dispersed the crowds. They are a continuation of a movement that began last June to protest an extradition bill that would have allowed detainees in Hong Kong to be transferred to mainland China."
I $uppo$e you have to take the $our with the $weet.
Hong Kong watchdog absolves police over protest crackdown
It dims the prospects of accountability for the police, and why did Minneapolis and beyond just pop into my mind?
China moves to impose new Hong Kong security laws, tightening its control
Will the New York Times be in favor of that here?
Beijing-style repression is coming to Hong Kong
The Washington Compost asks what will Washington do?
Hong Kong police fire tear gas as protesters resist China’s grip
That was coughed up by the New York Times, and why I didn't read it.
Hong Kong braces for downtown protests on China-backed laws
Even Bloomberg is in on the act.
Pompeo says Hong Kong no longer has autonomy under China
That's what the New York Times reports as Pompeo is increasingly seeing his autonomy come into question.
"China delivered its strongest statement of confidence yet that it has tamed the country’s coronavirus epidemic, announcing Wednesday it would hold a much-delayed top political gathering late next month and ease quarantine restrictions in the capital. The most important event on China’s political calendar, the annual session of the National People’s Congress will provide the Communist Party with a platform intended to inspire national pride and reassert its primacy. The Congress is largely ceremonial, with delegates gathering every year to rubber-stamp major decisions. But the decision in February to delay this year’s session came as a shock to many in China and sent a global signal of the seriousness of the epidemic. Even during the outbreak of severe acute respiratory syndrome in 2003, the annual legislative session went ahead as scheduled, but the outbreak in China has subsided in recent weeks, with most cases coming from travelers returning from abroad. On Wednesday, only one case of local transmission was reported. The announcement that the Congress was scheduled for May 22 suggests that officials feel assured that the gathering can be held without placing the central leadership and delegates at risk. The government did not say how this year’s meeting would be conducted, but in past years, it has drawn nearly 3,000 delegates from every province."
It's about time to throw dirt on the Hong Kong regime change operation:
"Police in northern China charged a man with attempted murder after he allegedly buried his mother in an abandoned grave, where she was found traumatized but alive after three days covered by loose dirt....."
I suppose it could be resurrected, but.....
"‘I am just Hong Kong’: a city’s fate in China’s hands" by Hannah Beech New York Times, May 23, 2020
Hong Kong was born at the crossroad of empires, a hybrid of British and Chinese parentage. It may fade there, too.
This “barren rock,” as an envoy of Queen Victoria once called it, transformed into one of the world’s first truly global cities, a place where international finance has thrived as its people created a cultural identity all their own. Even the territory’s current political system is bound by a negotiated settlement, called “one country, two systems,” that, despite all odds and an inelegant moniker, seemed to work, but this past week, Hong Kong discovered the limits to the middle ground that it has carved out to nourish one of the most prosperous and dynamic cities on Earth: between East and West, between rice and bread, between a liberal and an authoritarian order.
The territory’s fate is once again being decided in faraway halls of power as Beijing moves forward with plans to strip some of the autonomy the territory was supposed to enjoy for 50 years after Britain returned it to China in 1997.
The death knell for Hong Kong has been sounded many times since that handover, but the proposed national security legislation could have crushing implications for a place so dedicated to the international language of commerce that the local form of English is stripped of embellishment: Can, no can?
Too often these days, the answer is “No can.”
The new national security laws, outlined at the annual session of China’s legislature Friday, will likely curtail some of the civil liberties that differentiate Hong Kong from the rest of the country, and they take aim at the mass protest movement that showed the world last year the extent to which people were willing to go to protect their hybrid home.
“At the end of the day, we have to accept that we answer to one country,” said Nicholas Ho, the 33-year-old scion of a Hong Kong tycoon family, “and that country is more and more powerful.”
It's the exact opposite here: the governor is the potentate.
With tensions between the United States and China growing, some have characterized the fight for Hong Kong’s future as a skirmish in a more fundamental clash of civilizations. Beijing considers its intervention in Hong Kong a necessary move for maintaining the country’s sovereignty, while Washington considers it a full-frontal attack on the city’s autonomy.
Oh, f**k, where have we heard that before certain chosen towers came crashing down?
In both worldviews, Hong Kong again is caught in the middle.
Between Democrat and Republican, and we lose either way.
Either the territory is poised for a return to protest politics — the sort of running street battles that shattered the city’s reputation as an orderly center of international finance — or the latest national security diktats from Beijing will only serve to drive away the commerce and capital Hong Kong needs to flourish, and both outcomes are possible.
Douglas Young started a home décor and fashion brand called G.O.D. that plays with Western notions of orientalism and celebrates totems of Hong Kong life: puns that mix Cantonese and English, breakfasts of macaroni soup, kung fu films that deliver a kick to Hollywood.
He is, he admits, a typical Hong Kong mishmash. Even with his posh English accent, impeccable manners, and boarding school pedigree, he is, at 54, old enough to remember what life was like under the British, when Hong Kong Chinese couldn’t easily enter certain clubs, but Young also rattles off the democratic touchstones that he says make Hong Kong special: rule of law, freedom of expression, and an independent judiciary. These are the civil liberties that some fear are at risk under Beijing’s proposed national security legislation. “I’m worried that Hong Kong people are becoming second-class citizens in our own city again,” Young said. “Is our fate to always feel colonized?”
Try being white in AmeriKa this summer, and how come the pre$$ cares more about civil liberties in China than here at home?
Since British gunships secured its rocky outcroppings nearly 180 years ago in the opium wars, Hong Kong has evolved into something unique: an enclave bound by Western ideals yet populated by Chinese people who speak a language, Cantonese, that is believed to be more ancient than the one used across mainland China.
They kind of brushed by the opium pandemic that was foisted on China over 100 years ago, all so that the colonialist powers of the west could carve up China; however, the Chinese have never forgot what was known as the Boxer Rebellion and it is why they now so jealously guard their sovereignty.
Last year, more than 90% of young people here said they considered themselves to be from Hong Kong, not China, according to a University of Hong Kong poll, the highest number since the survey began more than a decade ago. As proud as they are of their Hong Kong identity, people here don’t always know what to call themselves. In English, some say Hong Kongers, others Hong Kongese. Still others use the unwieldy, if factual, term Hong Kong people.
Whatever they are called, many share in a rejection of China that embodies Beijing’s soft-power failure, an inability to capture the hearts of a populace that should have been naturally sympathetic to it. The British had stinted on political reform in Hong Kong until the twilight of their rule. Meanwhile, the Communist Party transformed China’s backward, agrarian society into the world’s second-largest economy. Hong Kong profited.
Sounds like US failures in Iraq and Afghanistan (also places the British colonized)!
In 2008, when Beijing hosted the Summer Olympics, Hong Kong fielded its own team, as befitted a city governed under the “one country, two systems” model, but the five stars of the Chinese flag flew proudly in the city. Hong Kong residents who had fled for safe harbor in countries like Canada or Australia returned.
What I remember most from that Olympics was a drunk George W. Bush photographed in the stands.
More than a decade on, the disappointments have accumulated. Just as under colonial rule, the people of Hong Kong can neither choose their own leader nor fully shape how their government is run. Promised political reforms never materialized. Booksellers critical of Chinese leadership were snatched from the streets of Hong Kong and ended up in China. The catalyst for last year’s mass protests, a now-revoked extradition bill, underlined Beijing’s ability to at any moment threaten Hong Kong’s freedoms.
I know how they feel.
Starting last June, an acute sense of anxiety about the future brought millions of peaceful marchers to the streets. Fury at the police — for deploying rubber bullets and tear gas against holiday shoppers and students alike — fueled each subsequent rally, even as unease grew over front-line agitators unleashing Molotov cocktails.
We are not seeing that in America these days. It's Antifa, who “believe violence is actually a pretty good tool to use against people who don’t agree with their worldview,” or agent provocateurs trying to help Joe Biden.
Cathy Yau was raised by a single mother in one of those tiny flats that, Tetris-like, form the cramped architecture of Hong Kong. She attended a school with a pro-China curriculum and worked for 11 years as a police officer. Last summer, as the protests blazed, she quit the force. “I could not face a job where we were ordered to use tear gas on normal people like they were criminals,” she said. “That’s against the core values of Hong Kong.”
Or knee on their neck?
In November, Yau, 36, ran for district council and beat the pro-establishment incumbent. While the position holds little power, the electorate’s overwhelming support for pro-democratic candidates reflected the angry mood in Hong Kong.
The pressure has continued to intensify. In January, China replaced its top representative in the city with a senior official known for his harsh stance on security. Some of Hong Kong’s most august pro-democracy figures were arrested last month. The latest salvo, the national security legislation, does not surprise Yau.
“This is the Communist Party,” she said. “This is what will happen eventually. The only question is when. I grew up raising the Chinese flag in school every day, but I feel nothing,” she added. “I don’t know what I am. I don’t know where I’m going. I’m just Hong Kong.”
I pledge allegiance to the Flag of the United States of America and to the Republic for which it stands, one nation, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.
Now I gotta get running.
The generation that built Hong Kong from the middle of the last century, powering its workshops and raising its skyscrapers, was never rooted in the territory. Many residents came here fleeing unrest in China, most notably after the 1949 Communist revolution. The inflow continued even after 1997, when the Union Jack was lowered for the last time. Since the handover to Chinese rule, more than 1 million Chinese from the mainland have moved to Hong Kong to enjoy its commitment to commerce, rule of law, and education.
Even if fortunes were made in the city, a refugee mentality still defined the city’s elite. Most anyone who’s anyone in Hong Kong has a foreign passport, just in case, but many of their children, especially those who have come of age since Hong Kong returned to Chinese rule, feel differently. This is home — not Canada, not Australia, and certainly not China.
Besides, for the 1 in 5 people in Hong Kong who live below the poverty line, there is no escape hatch to another country. They cannot purchase foreign citizenship. For them, protecting Hong Kong is a matter of defending the only future they have, a future that is looking increasingly bleak.
--more--"
Here is a trip down memory lane:
"Harrods will reopen its flagship London store in June, with social distancing measures in place, and open an outlet shop to sell stock left over from the spring season. The luxury retailer plans to use footfall monitoring technology to limit capacity at its main Knightsbridge store and ensure social distancing can be maintained when it opens on June 15. Specific doors will be designated for entering and exiting the store, which was closed in March as the coronavirus outbreak started to spread in Britain. The new outlet, based in West London’s Westfield mall, has been designed to allow more space for customers, the company said."
Boris Johnson faces calls to fire chief aide after lockdown breach
Cambridge University scraps in-person lectures for now
UK’s walking hero awarded knighthood by the queen
He was practically begging for it:
"Oxfam International, one of the world’s leading aid agencies, will severely curtail its work because of the financial strain caused by the coronavirus pandemic, including the closure of operations in 18 countries at the potential cost of 1,450 jobs. The organization, which currently operates in 66 countries and whose global work is coordinated via 20 affiliate offices around the world, said in a statement late Wednesday that it has had to accelerate changes as a result of the pandemic. Countries it will be exiting include Afghanistan, Egypt, Rwanda, Sudan, and Tanzania. It said the changes will affect around 1,450 out of nearly 5,000 program staff."
They need a $hot in the arm:
"British researchers testing an experimental vaccine against the new coronavirus are moving into advanced studies and aim to immunize more than 10,000 people to determine if the shot works. Friday’s announcement came as Chinese scientists who are developing a similar vaccine reported promising results from their own first-step testing, seeing hoped-for immune reactions and no serious side effects in 108 vaccinated people. Last month, Oxford University researchers began vaccinating more than 1,000 volunteers in a preliminary study designed to test the shot’s safety. Those results aren’t in yet but the Oxford team announced they’re expanding to 10,260 people across Britain, including older people and children."
Once you get the shot:
"People arriving in the UK next month will have to quarantine themselves for 14 days and could face an unlimited fine if they fail to comply, the British government announced Friday. The quarantine plan has sparked confusion and criticism from airlines, airports, and lockdown-weary Britons."
At least you will be able to go to the football game:
"Elite sporting events will be allowed to resume in England starting Monday, but without spectators, paving the way for the planned June 17 return of the Premier League, the world’s richest soccer competition."
Let the matches begin!
Time to stiffen your resolve:
"As the US lashes out at China, Beijing hardens its resolve" by Keith Bradsherand Steven Lee Myers New York Times, May 28, 2020
BEIJING — Step by step, the United States under President Trump has sought to intensify pressure on Beijing in hopes of making China change its ways. Each move has instead hardened the resolve of China’s leadership to resist, plunging relations to their current nadir.
On Wednesday, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo declared that Washington would no longer consider Hong Kong to have significant autonomy, clearing the way for Trump to end the special trade and economic relations the territory now enjoys. On Thursday, China’s top legislative body voted to strip another layer of autonomy anyway, with prominent Chinese commentators taunting the United States for interfering.
On Wednesday, the United States won an initial victory in a Canadian court in its long effort to bring criminal charges against a senior executive of Huawei, the Chinese telecommunications giant. On Thursday, China vowed to retaliate against both countries, having already blocked some Canadian exports and held two Canadian citizens for more than 500 days.
From Beijing’s perspective, the punitive measures have simply revealed the core of US hostility toward China.
“When China was rising as an economic power, the United States tolerated it,” Shen Dingli, a specialist on relations with the United States at Fudan University in Shanghai, said in a telephone interview. “Now that China is strong, it cannot tolerate it anymore.”
China does not want to incinerate the relationship with the United States, given the economic benefits. Nor is it willing to back down, creating a constant push and pull in Beijing between the hawks and the more moderating forces.
China’s premier, Li Keqiang, struck a conciliatory tone Thursday at the close of the legislative session, the National People’s Congress. He called for close trade relations without offering any concessions. He said the two countries “could and should cooperate in many ways in facing both conventional and unconventional challenges,” while pointedly refraining from accusing the United States of any interference in Hong Kong.
Yet even as Li was speaking, the Hong Kong office of China’s foreign ministry issued a strong denunciation. “It is utterly imperious, unreasonable, and shameless for American politicians to obstruct the national security legislation for Hong Kong with threats of sanctions based on United States domestic law,” the ministry declared.
Yeah, it's the Chinese who talk out of both sides of their mouth.
With both countries blaming each other, the result has been a downward spiral of tit-for-tat actions that may not let up before Trump’s reelection campaign ends in November.
Let's hope it doesn't turn into a new Pacific War.
When the Trump administration announced new restrictions to block companies around the world from using American-made machinery and software to help Huawei, Beijing promised to target American tech companies operating in China. When the administration capped the number of Chinese journalists in the United States, China kicked out most of the American correspondents from three major US news organizations, including The New York Times.
The pre$$ didn't raise a fuss on the capping of journalists.
Both leaders, Trump and Xi Jinping, feel compelled to appear strong. The American president views blaming China for the coronavirus crisis in the United States as a path to reelection. The Chinese leader faces enormous economic and diplomatic challenges that could stir domestic opposition to his grip on power.
Is that why the race riots have been suddenly unleashed?
“Anything the US says or does or will do, China will refuse,” Shi Yinhong, a professor of international relations at Renmin University in Beijing, said in a telephone interview.
What the American moves have not done is chasten Xi’s government, which appears to feel simultaneously embattled and defiant.
A wounded animal that is cornered is something to fear if not treated properly.
Hu Xijin, the outspoken editor of The Global Times, a nationalistic tabloid controlled by the Communist Party, all but dared the Trump administration to carry out its threat to end Hong Kong’s favored trade status. He noted that there were 85,000 Americans there and scores of companies that would reap “the bitter fruits” of the American decision.
“Washington is too narcissistic,” he wrote in Chinese on Weibo on Thursday. “American politicians like Pompeo arrogantly think that the fate of Hong Kong is in their hands.”
They are.
The National People’s Congress, the top legislative body, on Thursday dutifully adopted the government’s proposals to impose new laws on Hong Kong to suppress subversion, secession, terrorism, and other acts that might threaten China’s national security — as authorities in Beijing define it. The vote was nearly unanimous, with only one delegate voting against and six abstaining.
Lau Siu-kai, a former senior Hong Kong government official who advises Beijing, said that US pressure had failed to prompt a reconsideration in the Hong Kong issue in part because China’s leadership has anticipated American opposition on many fronts.
“Beijing will stick with its new policy toward Hong Kong regardless of US reactions and is prepared to take countermeasures in a tit-for-tat manner,” he said.
--more--"
Related:
"Wall Street’s rally ran out of fuel in the last hour of trading on Thursday, and the market fell to its first loss in four days amid worries about rising US-China tensions. The S&P 500 had been climbing for much of the day and was up as much as 1.1 percent at one point, but it all disappeared after President Trump said he’ll hold a news conference about China on Friday....."
The New York Times says that at that news conference Trump stripped Hong Kong of its special US relationship, while the Senate passes a bill to delist certain Chinese companies from the exchange (that they had time to do) in what can only be considered an act of war.
Tit:
"President Trump extended his effort to curb Huawei Technologies Co.’s access to the US market and American suppliers. The president on Wednesday renewed for a year a national emergency order that restricts Huawei and a second Chinese telecommunications company, ZTE Corp., from selling their equipment in the United States. The move continues a battle with China over dominance of 5G technology networks."
Tat:
"China suspended punitive tariffs on more US goods including radar equipment for aviation Tuesday amid pressure from President Trump to buy more imports as part of a truce in their trade war. The Ministry of Finance said tariff increases on 79 types of goods including radar sets, disinfectant, and rare earths minerals would be suspended for one year starting May 19. Washington agreed in January to cancel additional tariff hikes and Beijing committed to buy more American farm exports. US officials said China agreed to address complaints about its technology policies."
Tit:
"An anti-China message could be politically potent if Trump and his allies do rally around it. Stirring fears of migrant caravans didn’t work for Trump in the 2018 congressional midterm elections, when Republicans lost the House majority, but a Gallup poll conducted in February found Americans’ favorable rating of China had dropped to a record-tying low. There also are valid reasons to criticize China over withholding information and bungling the response at the beginning of the crisis, specialists said. “This isn’t about xenophobia," said Cecilia Muñoz, who was the Obama administration’s point person on immigration as White House domestic policy director....."
Trump is just continuing Obama's pivot to Asia as the US delivers another blow to Huawei with new tech restrictions.
Tat:
"China has committed $30 million to the World Health Organization one week after President Trump halted US funding to the United Nations agency that has emerged as a battleground for influence between the two powers. Trump last week announced his intention to freeze US contributions after slamming the global body as having ‘‘failed in its basic duty’’ to respond quickly to the coronavirus outbreak because of deference to Beijing. In announcing the donation Thursday, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Geng Shuang defended the WHO and said the agency under the leadership of Director General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus has been ‘‘actively fulfilling its duties and upholding an objective, scientific, and impartial stance.’’ With the gift, Geng said, China was ‘‘defending the ideals and principle of multilateralism and upholding the status and authority of the United Nations.’’ UN officials, including Tedros, have asked Trump to reconsider last week’s decision, which could be reversed after 60 to 90 days, for the sake of global public health in the middle of an unprecedented pandemic and ‘‘to save lives,’’ but a reversal appears distant after administration officials doubled down on their public criticism of the organization this week. National security adviser Robert O’Brien called the WHO ‘‘a bit of a propaganda tool’’ for Beijing, and Secretary of State Mike Pompeo declined in a Fox News interview to rule out the possibility of the United States seeking Tedros’s removal as a condition for resuming funding."
Trump not only halted funding, he $topped it completely.
Tit:
"The FBI and Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency are warning of attempts by hackers affiliated with the Chinese government to steal US research on COVID-19....."
That came after pressure from Trump, and why would they? The contagion has already peaked over there, and why wouldn't we $hare the di$covery with the entire world?
Of course, Trump’s China bashing could alienate the all-important Asian-American voters over the summer, a grim reminders of the pandemic’s social costs as communication strategies are outlined to help reduce potential stigma, “especially against individuals of Asian descent and those who have traveled recently.”
Tat:
"Beijing is accelerating its bid for global leadership in key technologies, planning to pump more than a trillion dollars into the economy through the rollout of everything from wireless networks to artificial intelligence. In the master plan backed by President Xi Jinping, China will invest an estimated $1.4 trillion over six years, calling on urban governments and private tech giants such as Huawei Technologies Co. to lay 5G wireless networks, install cameras and sensors, and develop AI software. The new infrastructure initiative is expected to drive mainly local giants from Alibaba and Huawei to SenseTime Group Ltd. at the expense of US companies. As tech nationalism mounts, the investment drive will reduce China’s dependence on foreign technology, echoing objectives set forth previously in the Made in China 2025 program. Such initiatives have already drawn fierce criticism from the Trump administration, resulting in moves to block the rise of Chinese tech companies such as Huawei."
Tit:
"Speaker Nancy Pelosi said the House will review legislation that would impose restrictions on Chinese companies listed on US stock exchanges. The California Democrat said the legislation approved by the Senate that could lead to some Chinese companies being barred from US stock exchanges passed with no debate so the House would have to give it careful consideration. The Senate bill, introduced by John Kennedy, a Republican from Louisiana, and Chris Van Hollen, a Democrat from Maryland, was approved Wednesday by unanimous consent and would require companies such as Alibaba Group to certify that they are not under the control of a foreign government. Democratic Representative Brad Sherman of California introduced companion legislation in the House the same day, an indication that there’s likely to be bipartisan support there. Amid increasingly tense relations between the world’s two largest economies, lawmakers are focusing on ways to put pressure on China from multiple angles, including its treatment of ethnic and religious minorities, censorship, and its handling of the initial coronavirus outbreak in Wuhan. Under the Senate legislation, if a company can’t show that it is not under control of a foreign government, or the US Public Company Accounting Oversight Board isn’t able to audit the company for three consecutive years to determine that is the case, the company’s securities would be banned from the exchanges."
Tit:
"A Manhattan man was charged by federal prosecutors with fraudulently trying to obtain more than $20 million in government loans intended to aid small businesses affected by the coronavirus pandemic. Muge Ma, also known as Hummer Mars, 36, is accused of applying for both Small Business Administration emergency loans and Paycheck Protection Program assistance for two companies he claimed had hundreds of workers on payrolls totaling millions of dollars. He was actually the only employee for both companies, prosecutors said in announcing the charges Thursday. In one of his loan applications, Ma allegedly said his company would “help the country reduce the high unemployment rate caused by the pandemic by helping unemployed American workers and unemployed American fresh graduates find jobs as quickly as possible.” His two companies were approved for more than $1.45 million in loans before the fraud was discovered, according to prosecutors. “Ma’s alleged attempts to secure funds earmarked for legitimate small businesses in dire financial straits are as audacious as they are callous, and now he now faces federal prosecution,” Manhattan US Attorney Geoffrey Berman said in a statement. “Small businesses are facing uncertainty and unprecedented challenges, the least of which should be opportunists attempting to loot the federal funds meant to assist them.” Ma, a US permanent resident from China, was arrested Thursday and is charged with defrauding both the US government and the banks from which he sought PPP loans and faces more than 30 years in prison if convicted. Apart from lying about his companies, Ma also falsely claimed that his companies were involved in procuring personal protective equipment and COVID-19 test kits for the state of New York, prosecutors said."
He will be sharing a cell with Baruch Feldheim.
Tit:
US charges North Koreans, Chinese in $2.5b sanctions-busting scheme
I $uppo$e it is better than doing nothing or starting a shooting war:
The amphibious assault ship USS America entered waters off Malaysia that are contested by China. (ROYAL THAI NAVY/AFP via Getty Images/AFP via Getty Im).
"US warships have sailed into disputed waters in the South China Sea, according to military analysts, heightening a standoff in the waterway and sharpening the rivalry between the United States and China, even as much of the world is in lockdown because of the coronavirus. The USS America, an amphibious assault ship, and the USS Bunker Hill, a guided missile cruiser, entered contested waters off Malaysia. At the same time, a Chinese government ship in the area has for days been tailing a Malaysian state oil company ship carrying out exploratory drilling. Despite working to control a pandemic that spread from China earlier this year, Beijing has not reduced its activities in the South China Sea, a strategic waterway through which one-third of global shipping flows. Instead, the Chinese government’s years-long pattern of assertiveness has only intensified, military analysts said....."
That has the potential to draw in Taiwan and send the war into outer space:
"The inauguration of Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen’s second term was overshadowed Wednesday by a war of words between Beijing and Washington, underscoring how the US-aligned island has become a growing focus of the rivalry between the world powers. China issued angry warnings after senior US officials, including Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and deputy national security adviser Matt Pottinger, sent rare, high-level messages to congratulate Tsai on the day of her swearing-in ceremony. China claims Taiwan as part of its territory and has threatened to absorb the island by force, if necessary. Its Defense Ministry said Wednesday that Pompeo’s message ‘‘seriously endangered relations between the two countries and two militaries and seriously damaged peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait.’’
President Donald Trump stands in the Oval Office during the presentation of the United States Space Force Flag in the White House, Friday, May 15, 2020, in Washington (Alex Brandon/AP)
Not only did they usurp the beloved Star Trek logo, but look at the grinning jackass on the far right.
Of course, if you criticize the US government or Trump administration foreign policy in any way, shape, or form, you must be a Chinese (or Russian or Iranian or Korean or whatever) agent or dupe:
Hong Kong was born at the crossroad of empires, a hybrid of British and Chinese parentage. It may fade there, too.
This “barren rock,” as an envoy of Queen Victoria once called it, transformed into one of the world’s first truly global cities, a place where international finance has thrived as its people created a cultural identity all their own. Even the territory’s current political system is bound by a negotiated settlement, called “one country, two systems,” that, despite all odds and an inelegant moniker, seemed to work, but this past week, Hong Kong discovered the limits to the middle ground that it has carved out to nourish one of the most prosperous and dynamic cities on Earth: between East and West, between rice and bread, between a liberal and an authoritarian order.
The territory’s fate is once again being decided in faraway halls of power as Beijing moves forward with plans to strip some of the autonomy the territory was supposed to enjoy for 50 years after Britain returned it to China in 1997.
The death knell for Hong Kong has been sounded many times since that handover, but the proposed national security legislation could have crushing implications for a place so dedicated to the international language of commerce that the local form of English is stripped of embellishment: Can, no can?
Too often these days, the answer is “No can.”
The new national security laws, outlined at the annual session of China’s legislature Friday, will likely curtail some of the civil liberties that differentiate Hong Kong from the rest of the country, and they take aim at the mass protest movement that showed the world last year the extent to which people were willing to go to protect their hybrid home.
“At the end of the day, we have to accept that we answer to one country,” said Nicholas Ho, the 33-year-old scion of a Hong Kong tycoon family, “and that country is more and more powerful.”
It's the exact opposite here: the governor is the potentate.
With tensions between the United States and China growing, some have characterized the fight for Hong Kong’s future as a skirmish in a more fundamental clash of civilizations. Beijing considers its intervention in Hong Kong a necessary move for maintaining the country’s sovereignty, while Washington considers it a full-frontal attack on the city’s autonomy.
Oh, f**k, where have we heard that before certain chosen towers came crashing down?
In both worldviews, Hong Kong again is caught in the middle.
Between Democrat and Republican, and we lose either way.
Either the territory is poised for a return to protest politics — the sort of running street battles that shattered the city’s reputation as an orderly center of international finance — or the latest national security diktats from Beijing will only serve to drive away the commerce and capital Hong Kong needs to flourish, and both outcomes are possible.
Douglas Young started a home décor and fashion brand called G.O.D. that plays with Western notions of orientalism and celebrates totems of Hong Kong life: puns that mix Cantonese and English, breakfasts of macaroni soup, kung fu films that deliver a kick to Hollywood.
He is, he admits, a typical Hong Kong mishmash. Even with his posh English accent, impeccable manners, and boarding school pedigree, he is, at 54, old enough to remember what life was like under the British, when Hong Kong Chinese couldn’t easily enter certain clubs, but Young also rattles off the democratic touchstones that he says make Hong Kong special: rule of law, freedom of expression, and an independent judiciary. These are the civil liberties that some fear are at risk under Beijing’s proposed national security legislation. “I’m worried that Hong Kong people are becoming second-class citizens in our own city again,” Young said. “Is our fate to always feel colonized?”
Try being white in AmeriKa this summer, and how come the pre$$ cares more about civil liberties in China than here at home?
Since British gunships secured its rocky outcroppings nearly 180 years ago in the opium wars, Hong Kong has evolved into something unique: an enclave bound by Western ideals yet populated by Chinese people who speak a language, Cantonese, that is believed to be more ancient than the one used across mainland China.
They kind of brushed by the opium pandemic that was foisted on China over 100 years ago, all so that the colonialist powers of the west could carve up China; however, the Chinese have never forgot what was known as the Boxer Rebellion and it is why they now so jealously guard their sovereignty.
Last year, more than 90% of young people here said they considered themselves to be from Hong Kong, not China, according to a University of Hong Kong poll, the highest number since the survey began more than a decade ago. As proud as they are of their Hong Kong identity, people here don’t always know what to call themselves. In English, some say Hong Kongers, others Hong Kongese. Still others use the unwieldy, if factual, term Hong Kong people.
Whatever they are called, many share in a rejection of China that embodies Beijing’s soft-power failure, an inability to capture the hearts of a populace that should have been naturally sympathetic to it. The British had stinted on political reform in Hong Kong until the twilight of their rule. Meanwhile, the Communist Party transformed China’s backward, agrarian society into the world’s second-largest economy. Hong Kong profited.
Sounds like US failures in Iraq and Afghanistan (also places the British colonized)!
In 2008, when Beijing hosted the Summer Olympics, Hong Kong fielded its own team, as befitted a city governed under the “one country, two systems” model, but the five stars of the Chinese flag flew proudly in the city. Hong Kong residents who had fled for safe harbor in countries like Canada or Australia returned.
What I remember most from that Olympics was a drunk George W. Bush photographed in the stands.
More than a decade on, the disappointments have accumulated. Just as under colonial rule, the people of Hong Kong can neither choose their own leader nor fully shape how their government is run. Promised political reforms never materialized. Booksellers critical of Chinese leadership were snatched from the streets of Hong Kong and ended up in China. The catalyst for last year’s mass protests, a now-revoked extradition bill, underlined Beijing’s ability to at any moment threaten Hong Kong’s freedoms.
I know how they feel.
Starting last June, an acute sense of anxiety about the future brought millions of peaceful marchers to the streets. Fury at the police — for deploying rubber bullets and tear gas against holiday shoppers and students alike — fueled each subsequent rally, even as unease grew over front-line agitators unleashing Molotov cocktails.
We are not seeing that in America these days. It's Antifa, who “believe violence is actually a pretty good tool to use against people who don’t agree with their worldview,” or agent provocateurs trying to help Joe Biden.
Cathy Yau was raised by a single mother in one of those tiny flats that, Tetris-like, form the cramped architecture of Hong Kong. She attended a school with a pro-China curriculum and worked for 11 years as a police officer. Last summer, as the protests blazed, she quit the force. “I could not face a job where we were ordered to use tear gas on normal people like they were criminals,” she said. “That’s against the core values of Hong Kong.”
Or knee on their neck?
In November, Yau, 36, ran for district council and beat the pro-establishment incumbent. While the position holds little power, the electorate’s overwhelming support for pro-democratic candidates reflected the angry mood in Hong Kong.
The pressure has continued to intensify. In January, China replaced its top representative in the city with a senior official known for his harsh stance on security. Some of Hong Kong’s most august pro-democracy figures were arrested last month. The latest salvo, the national security legislation, does not surprise Yau.
“This is the Communist Party,” she said. “This is what will happen eventually. The only question is when. I grew up raising the Chinese flag in school every day, but I feel nothing,” she added. “I don’t know what I am. I don’t know where I’m going. I’m just Hong Kong.”
I pledge allegiance to the Flag of the United States of America and to the Republic for which it stands, one nation, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.
Now I gotta get running.
The generation that built Hong Kong from the middle of the last century, powering its workshops and raising its skyscrapers, was never rooted in the territory. Many residents came here fleeing unrest in China, most notably after the 1949 Communist revolution. The inflow continued even after 1997, when the Union Jack was lowered for the last time. Since the handover to Chinese rule, more than 1 million Chinese from the mainland have moved to Hong Kong to enjoy its commitment to commerce, rule of law, and education.
Even if fortunes were made in the city, a refugee mentality still defined the city’s elite. Most anyone who’s anyone in Hong Kong has a foreign passport, just in case, but many of their children, especially those who have come of age since Hong Kong returned to Chinese rule, feel differently. This is home — not Canada, not Australia, and certainly not China.
Besides, for the 1 in 5 people in Hong Kong who live below the poverty line, there is no escape hatch to another country. They cannot purchase foreign citizenship. For them, protecting Hong Kong is a matter of defending the only future they have, a future that is looking increasingly bleak.
--more--"
Here is a trip down memory lane:
"Harrods will reopen its flagship London store in June, with social distancing measures in place, and open an outlet shop to sell stock left over from the spring season. The luxury retailer plans to use footfall monitoring technology to limit capacity at its main Knightsbridge store and ensure social distancing can be maintained when it opens on June 15. Specific doors will be designated for entering and exiting the store, which was closed in March as the coronavirus outbreak started to spread in Britain. The new outlet, based in West London’s Westfield mall, has been designed to allow more space for customers, the company said."
Boris Johnson faces calls to fire chief aide after lockdown breach
Cambridge University scraps in-person lectures for now
UK’s walking hero awarded knighthood by the queen
He was practically begging for it:
"Oxfam International, one of the world’s leading aid agencies, will severely curtail its work because of the financial strain caused by the coronavirus pandemic, including the closure of operations in 18 countries at the potential cost of 1,450 jobs. The organization, which currently operates in 66 countries and whose global work is coordinated via 20 affiliate offices around the world, said in a statement late Wednesday that it has had to accelerate changes as a result of the pandemic. Countries it will be exiting include Afghanistan, Egypt, Rwanda, Sudan, and Tanzania. It said the changes will affect around 1,450 out of nearly 5,000 program staff."
They need a $hot in the arm:
"British researchers testing an experimental vaccine against the new coronavirus are moving into advanced studies and aim to immunize more than 10,000 people to determine if the shot works. Friday’s announcement came as Chinese scientists who are developing a similar vaccine reported promising results from their own first-step testing, seeing hoped-for immune reactions and no serious side effects in 108 vaccinated people. Last month, Oxford University researchers began vaccinating more than 1,000 volunteers in a preliminary study designed to test the shot’s safety. Those results aren’t in yet but the Oxford team announced they’re expanding to 10,260 people across Britain, including older people and children."
Once you get the shot:
"People arriving in the UK next month will have to quarantine themselves for 14 days and could face an unlimited fine if they fail to comply, the British government announced Friday. The quarantine plan has sparked confusion and criticism from airlines, airports, and lockdown-weary Britons."
At least you will be able to go to the football game:
"Elite sporting events will be allowed to resume in England starting Monday, but without spectators, paving the way for the planned June 17 return of the Premier League, the world’s richest soccer competition."
Let the matches begin!
Time to stiffen your resolve:
"As the US lashes out at China, Beijing hardens its resolve" by Keith Bradsherand Steven Lee Myers New York Times, May 28, 2020
BEIJING — Step by step, the United States under President Trump has sought to intensify pressure on Beijing in hopes of making China change its ways. Each move has instead hardened the resolve of China’s leadership to resist, plunging relations to their current nadir.
On Wednesday, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo declared that Washington would no longer consider Hong Kong to have significant autonomy, clearing the way for Trump to end the special trade and economic relations the territory now enjoys. On Thursday, China’s top legislative body voted to strip another layer of autonomy anyway, with prominent Chinese commentators taunting the United States for interfering.
On Wednesday, the United States won an initial victory in a Canadian court in its long effort to bring criminal charges against a senior executive of Huawei, the Chinese telecommunications giant. On Thursday, China vowed to retaliate against both countries, having already blocked some Canadian exports and held two Canadian citizens for more than 500 days.
Well, then, we can certainly count on help from Canadian allies, right?
"Chevron is planning a 10- to 15-percent reduction in its global workforce this year, the biggest cut to head count yet among global oil majors following the COVID-19 pandemic. The cuts equate to about 6,000 of its 45,000 non-gas station employees and may be a precursor to staffing reductions at Big Oil rivals such as BP and Royal Dutch Shell. Until now, layoffs had primarily been felt in the oil-field services sector and among North American independent producers."
"A Canadian company has built the first piece of the disputed Keystone XL oil sands pipeline across the US border and started work on labor camps in Montana and South Dakota, but it has not resolved a courtroom setback that would make it hard to finish the $8 billion project. Environmentalists and Native American tribes are bitterly opposed to the line because of worries over oil spills and that burning the fuel would make climate change worse. The company’s three-year construction timeline was put into doubt following a May 15 ruling from a federal judge that cancelled a key permit needed to build the line across hundreds of streams, wetlands, and other water bodies. The work in South Dakota began amid high tensions between South Dakota Governor Kristi Noem and two Native American tribes that have been outspoken opponents of the pipeline. The governor is trying to force two tribes — the Cheyenne River Sioux Tribes and the Oglala Sioux Tribe — to remove checkpoints they have set up on highways leading to several potential construction sites in an attempt to keep infections away from their reservations."
Looks like war is brewing along the border.
"Canada’s worst mass shooting erupted from an argument between the gunman and his girlfriend, who survived the attack, police confirmed Friday. Royal Canadian Mounted Police Superintendent Darren Campbell said the weekend shooting rampage started with an assault by the suspect on his girlfriend and ended with 22 people dead in communities across central and northern Nova Scotia. ‘‘She did manage to escape. That could well have been the catalyst of events,’’ Campbell said. Authorities are also not discounting the suspect planned some of the murders. Campbell said the girlfriend hid overnight in the woods from the suspect, who has been identified as 51-year-old Gabriel Wortman. Police have said Wortman acted alone in the shooting spree that killed 22 people in more than 16 crime scenes in several rural communities. Campbell said they found 13 deceased victims in the rural community of Portapique, a quiet community of 100 residents where the suspect lived part time. There were several homes on fire, including the suspect’s, when police arrived in the community. Campbell said the suspect had a pistol that was acquired in Canada and several long-barreled guns that were obtained in the United States. Wortman’s girlfriend called 911 and gave police information about the suspect."
{@@##$$%%^^&&}
"Chevron is planning a 10- to 15-percent reduction in its global workforce this year, the biggest cut to head count yet among global oil majors following the COVID-19 pandemic. The cuts equate to about 6,000 of its 45,000 non-gas station employees and may be a precursor to staffing reductions at Big Oil rivals such as BP and Royal Dutch Shell. Until now, layoffs had primarily been felt in the oil-field services sector and among North American independent producers."
"A Canadian company has built the first piece of the disputed Keystone XL oil sands pipeline across the US border and started work on labor camps in Montana and South Dakota, but it has not resolved a courtroom setback that would make it hard to finish the $8 billion project. Environmentalists and Native American tribes are bitterly opposed to the line because of worries over oil spills and that burning the fuel would make climate change worse. The company’s three-year construction timeline was put into doubt following a May 15 ruling from a federal judge that cancelled a key permit needed to build the line across hundreds of streams, wetlands, and other water bodies. The work in South Dakota began amid high tensions between South Dakota Governor Kristi Noem and two Native American tribes that have been outspoken opponents of the pipeline. The governor is trying to force two tribes — the Cheyenne River Sioux Tribes and the Oglala Sioux Tribe — to remove checkpoints they have set up on highways leading to several potential construction sites in an attempt to keep infections away from their reservations."
Looks like war is brewing along the border.
"Canada’s worst mass shooting erupted from an argument between the gunman and his girlfriend, who survived the attack, police confirmed Friday. Royal Canadian Mounted Police Superintendent Darren Campbell said the weekend shooting rampage started with an assault by the suspect on his girlfriend and ended with 22 people dead in communities across central and northern Nova Scotia. ‘‘She did manage to escape. That could well have been the catalyst of events,’’ Campbell said. Authorities are also not discounting the suspect planned some of the murders. Campbell said the girlfriend hid overnight in the woods from the suspect, who has been identified as 51-year-old Gabriel Wortman. Police have said Wortman acted alone in the shooting spree that killed 22 people in more than 16 crime scenes in several rural communities. Campbell said they found 13 deceased victims in the rural community of Portapique, a quiet community of 100 residents where the suspect lived part time. There were several homes on fire, including the suspect’s, when police arrived in the community. Campbell said the suspect had a pistol that was acquired in Canada and several long-barreled guns that were obtained in the United States. Wortman’s girlfriend called 911 and gave police information about the suspect."
That bizarre event was taken apart rather early, but the official story did allow this:
"Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced an immediate ban Friday on the sale and use of assault-style weapons in Canada, two weeks after a gunman killed 22 people in Nova Scotia. He cited numerous mass shootings in the country, including the rampage that killed 22 in Nova Scotia April 18 and 19. He announced the ban of over 1,500 models and variants of assault-style firearms, including two guns used by the gunman as well as the AR-15 and other weapons that have been used in a number of mass shootings in the United States “You do not need an AR-15 to take down a deer,” Trudeau said. “So, effective immediately, it is no longer permitted to buy, sell, transport, import, or use military-grade, assault weapons in this country.” There is a two-year amnesty period while the government creates a program that will allow current owners to receive compensation for turning in the designated firearms or keep them through a grandfathering process yet to be worked out. Under the amnesty, the newly prohibited firearms can only be transferred or transported within Canada for specific purposes. Owners must keep the guns securely stored until there is more information on the buyback program."
At least the gun-grab made COVID go away, as Canada and the US worked on extending the border closure so they both can keep it closed to nonessential travel:
"Canada’s transport minister says large cruises will still be prohibited from operating in Canadian waters until at least Oct. 31 because of the coronavirus pandemic. Transport Minister Marc Garneau says that applies to cruises with overnight accommodations and more than 100 passengers and crew. The government previously restricted large cruise ships until July 1."
Migrants can still cross if they have a visa or green card, and they are deporting the pandas:
"The Calgary Zoo will be returning two giant pandas on loan from China because a scarcity of flights due to COVID-19 has caused problems with getting enough bamboo to feed them....."
They would have flown them back, but a Canadian acrobatic jet crashed in BC amid pandemic show, a crash left debris scattered across the neighborhood (how could that be after what we saw on the ground in Shanksville, PA, on 9/11/2001?).
"Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced an immediate ban Friday on the sale and use of assault-style weapons in Canada, two weeks after a gunman killed 22 people in Nova Scotia. He cited numerous mass shootings in the country, including the rampage that killed 22 in Nova Scotia April 18 and 19. He announced the ban of over 1,500 models and variants of assault-style firearms, including two guns used by the gunman as well as the AR-15 and other weapons that have been used in a number of mass shootings in the United States “You do not need an AR-15 to take down a deer,” Trudeau said. “So, effective immediately, it is no longer permitted to buy, sell, transport, import, or use military-grade, assault weapons in this country.” There is a two-year amnesty period while the government creates a program that will allow current owners to receive compensation for turning in the designated firearms or keep them through a grandfathering process yet to be worked out. Under the amnesty, the newly prohibited firearms can only be transferred or transported within Canada for specific purposes. Owners must keep the guns securely stored until there is more information on the buyback program."
At least the gun-grab made COVID go away, as Canada and the US worked on extending the border closure so they both can keep it closed to nonessential travel:
"Canada’s transport minister says large cruises will still be prohibited from operating in Canadian waters until at least Oct. 31 because of the coronavirus pandemic. Transport Minister Marc Garneau says that applies to cruises with overnight accommodations and more than 100 passengers and crew. The government previously restricted large cruise ships until July 1."
Migrants can still cross if they have a visa or green card, and they are deporting the pandas:
"The Calgary Zoo will be returning two giant pandas on loan from China because a scarcity of flights due to COVID-19 has caused problems with getting enough bamboo to feed them....."
They would have flown them back, but a Canadian acrobatic jet crashed in BC amid pandemic show, a crash left debris scattered across the neighborhood (how could that be after what we saw on the ground in Shanksville, PA, on 9/11/2001?).
{@@##$$%%^^&&}
Trump administration officials argue that they have brought China to the table on trade by imposing tariffs, but they have failed so far to achieve their goal of fundamentally shifting China’s behavior — on trade or any other issue.
From Beijing’s perspective, the punitive measures have simply revealed the core of US hostility toward China.
“When China was rising as an economic power, the United States tolerated it,” Shen Dingli, a specialist on relations with the United States at Fudan University in Shanghai, said in a telephone interview. “Now that China is strong, it cannot tolerate it anymore.”
China does not want to incinerate the relationship with the United States, given the economic benefits. Nor is it willing to back down, creating a constant push and pull in Beijing between the hawks and the more moderating forces.
China’s premier, Li Keqiang, struck a conciliatory tone Thursday at the close of the legislative session, the National People’s Congress. He called for close trade relations without offering any concessions. He said the two countries “could and should cooperate in many ways in facing both conventional and unconventional challenges,” while pointedly refraining from accusing the United States of any interference in Hong Kong.
Yet even as Li was speaking, the Hong Kong office of China’s foreign ministry issued a strong denunciation. “It is utterly imperious, unreasonable, and shameless for American politicians to obstruct the national security legislation for Hong Kong with threats of sanctions based on United States domestic law,” the ministry declared.
Yeah, it's the Chinese who talk out of both sides of their mouth.
With both countries blaming each other, the result has been a downward spiral of tit-for-tat actions that may not let up before Trump’s reelection campaign ends in November.
Let's hope it doesn't turn into a new Pacific War.
When the Trump administration announced new restrictions to block companies around the world from using American-made machinery and software to help Huawei, Beijing promised to target American tech companies operating in China. When the administration capped the number of Chinese journalists in the United States, China kicked out most of the American correspondents from three major US news organizations, including The New York Times.
The pre$$ didn't raise a fuss on the capping of journalists.
Both leaders, Trump and Xi Jinping, feel compelled to appear strong. The American president views blaming China for the coronavirus crisis in the United States as a path to reelection. The Chinese leader faces enormous economic and diplomatic challenges that could stir domestic opposition to his grip on power.
Is that why the race riots have been suddenly unleashed?
“Anything the US says or does or will do, China will refuse,” Shi Yinhong, a professor of international relations at Renmin University in Beijing, said in a telephone interview.
What the American moves have not done is chasten Xi’s government, which appears to feel simultaneously embattled and defiant.
A wounded animal that is cornered is something to fear if not treated properly.
Hu Xijin, the outspoken editor of The Global Times, a nationalistic tabloid controlled by the Communist Party, all but dared the Trump administration to carry out its threat to end Hong Kong’s favored trade status. He noted that there were 85,000 Americans there and scores of companies that would reap “the bitter fruits” of the American decision.
“Washington is too narcissistic,” he wrote in Chinese on Weibo on Thursday. “American politicians like Pompeo arrogantly think that the fate of Hong Kong is in their hands.”
They are.
The National People’s Congress, the top legislative body, on Thursday dutifully adopted the government’s proposals to impose new laws on Hong Kong to suppress subversion, secession, terrorism, and other acts that might threaten China’s national security — as authorities in Beijing define it. The vote was nearly unanimous, with only one delegate voting against and six abstaining.
Lau Siu-kai, a former senior Hong Kong government official who advises Beijing, said that US pressure had failed to prompt a reconsideration in the Hong Kong issue in part because China’s leadership has anticipated American opposition on many fronts.
“Beijing will stick with its new policy toward Hong Kong regardless of US reactions and is prepared to take countermeasures in a tit-for-tat manner,” he said.
--more--"
Related:
"Wall Street’s rally ran out of fuel in the last hour of trading on Thursday, and the market fell to its first loss in four days amid worries about rising US-China tensions. The S&P 500 had been climbing for much of the day and was up as much as 1.1 percent at one point, but it all disappeared after President Trump said he’ll hold a news conference about China on Friday....."
The New York Times says that at that news conference Trump stripped Hong Kong of its special US relationship, while the Senate passes a bill to delist certain Chinese companies from the exchange (that they had time to do) in what can only be considered an act of war.
Tit:
"President Trump extended his effort to curb Huawei Technologies Co.’s access to the US market and American suppliers. The president on Wednesday renewed for a year a national emergency order that restricts Huawei and a second Chinese telecommunications company, ZTE Corp., from selling their equipment in the United States. The move continues a battle with China over dominance of 5G technology networks."
Tat:
"China suspended punitive tariffs on more US goods including radar equipment for aviation Tuesday amid pressure from President Trump to buy more imports as part of a truce in their trade war. The Ministry of Finance said tariff increases on 79 types of goods including radar sets, disinfectant, and rare earths minerals would be suspended for one year starting May 19. Washington agreed in January to cancel additional tariff hikes and Beijing committed to buy more American farm exports. US officials said China agreed to address complaints about its technology policies."
Tit:
"An anti-China message could be politically potent if Trump and his allies do rally around it. Stirring fears of migrant caravans didn’t work for Trump in the 2018 congressional midterm elections, when Republicans lost the House majority, but a Gallup poll conducted in February found Americans’ favorable rating of China had dropped to a record-tying low. There also are valid reasons to criticize China over withholding information and bungling the response at the beginning of the crisis, specialists said. “This isn’t about xenophobia," said Cecilia Muñoz, who was the Obama administration’s point person on immigration as White House domestic policy director....."
Trump is just continuing Obama's pivot to Asia as the US delivers another blow to Huawei with new tech restrictions.
Tat:
"China has committed $30 million to the World Health Organization one week after President Trump halted US funding to the United Nations agency that has emerged as a battleground for influence between the two powers. Trump last week announced his intention to freeze US contributions after slamming the global body as having ‘‘failed in its basic duty’’ to respond quickly to the coronavirus outbreak because of deference to Beijing. In announcing the donation Thursday, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Geng Shuang defended the WHO and said the agency under the leadership of Director General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus has been ‘‘actively fulfilling its duties and upholding an objective, scientific, and impartial stance.’’ With the gift, Geng said, China was ‘‘defending the ideals and principle of multilateralism and upholding the status and authority of the United Nations.’’ UN officials, including Tedros, have asked Trump to reconsider last week’s decision, which could be reversed after 60 to 90 days, for the sake of global public health in the middle of an unprecedented pandemic and ‘‘to save lives,’’ but a reversal appears distant after administration officials doubled down on their public criticism of the organization this week. National security adviser Robert O’Brien called the WHO ‘‘a bit of a propaganda tool’’ for Beijing, and Secretary of State Mike Pompeo declined in a Fox News interview to rule out the possibility of the United States seeking Tedros’s removal as a condition for resuming funding."
Trump not only halted funding, he $topped it completely.
Tit:
"The FBI and Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency are warning of attempts by hackers affiliated with the Chinese government to steal US research on COVID-19....."
That came after pressure from Trump, and why would they? The contagion has already peaked over there, and why wouldn't we $hare the di$covery with the entire world?
Of course, Trump’s China bashing could alienate the all-important Asian-American voters over the summer, a grim reminders of the pandemic’s social costs as communication strategies are outlined to help reduce potential stigma, “especially against individuals of Asian descent and those who have traveled recently.”
Tat:
"Beijing is accelerating its bid for global leadership in key technologies, planning to pump more than a trillion dollars into the economy through the rollout of everything from wireless networks to artificial intelligence. In the master plan backed by President Xi Jinping, China will invest an estimated $1.4 trillion over six years, calling on urban governments and private tech giants such as Huawei Technologies Co. to lay 5G wireless networks, install cameras and sensors, and develop AI software. The new infrastructure initiative is expected to drive mainly local giants from Alibaba and Huawei to SenseTime Group Ltd. at the expense of US companies. As tech nationalism mounts, the investment drive will reduce China’s dependence on foreign technology, echoing objectives set forth previously in the Made in China 2025 program. Such initiatives have already drawn fierce criticism from the Trump administration, resulting in moves to block the rise of Chinese tech companies such as Huawei."
Tit:
"Speaker Nancy Pelosi said the House will review legislation that would impose restrictions on Chinese companies listed on US stock exchanges. The California Democrat said the legislation approved by the Senate that could lead to some Chinese companies being barred from US stock exchanges passed with no debate so the House would have to give it careful consideration. The Senate bill, introduced by John Kennedy, a Republican from Louisiana, and Chris Van Hollen, a Democrat from Maryland, was approved Wednesday by unanimous consent and would require companies such as Alibaba Group to certify that they are not under the control of a foreign government. Democratic Representative Brad Sherman of California introduced companion legislation in the House the same day, an indication that there’s likely to be bipartisan support there. Amid increasingly tense relations between the world’s two largest economies, lawmakers are focusing on ways to put pressure on China from multiple angles, including its treatment of ethnic and religious minorities, censorship, and its handling of the initial coronavirus outbreak in Wuhan. Under the Senate legislation, if a company can’t show that it is not under control of a foreign government, or the US Public Company Accounting Oversight Board isn’t able to audit the company for three consecutive years to determine that is the case, the company’s securities would be banned from the exchanges."
Tit:
"A Manhattan man was charged by federal prosecutors with fraudulently trying to obtain more than $20 million in government loans intended to aid small businesses affected by the coronavirus pandemic. Muge Ma, also known as Hummer Mars, 36, is accused of applying for both Small Business Administration emergency loans and Paycheck Protection Program assistance for two companies he claimed had hundreds of workers on payrolls totaling millions of dollars. He was actually the only employee for both companies, prosecutors said in announcing the charges Thursday. In one of his loan applications, Ma allegedly said his company would “help the country reduce the high unemployment rate caused by the pandemic by helping unemployed American workers and unemployed American fresh graduates find jobs as quickly as possible.” His two companies were approved for more than $1.45 million in loans before the fraud was discovered, according to prosecutors. “Ma’s alleged attempts to secure funds earmarked for legitimate small businesses in dire financial straits are as audacious as they are callous, and now he now faces federal prosecution,” Manhattan US Attorney Geoffrey Berman said in a statement. “Small businesses are facing uncertainty and unprecedented challenges, the least of which should be opportunists attempting to loot the federal funds meant to assist them.” Ma, a US permanent resident from China, was arrested Thursday and is charged with defrauding both the US government and the banks from which he sought PPP loans and faces more than 30 years in prison if convicted. Apart from lying about his companies, Ma also falsely claimed that his companies were involved in procuring personal protective equipment and COVID-19 test kits for the state of New York, prosecutors said."
He will be sharing a cell with Baruch Feldheim.
Tit:
US charges North Koreans, Chinese in $2.5b sanctions-busting scheme
I $uppo$e it is better than doing nothing or starting a shooting war:
The amphibious assault ship USS America entered waters off Malaysia that are contested by China. (ROYAL THAI NAVY/AFP via Getty Images/AFP via Getty Im).
"US warships have sailed into disputed waters in the South China Sea, according to military analysts, heightening a standoff in the waterway and sharpening the rivalry between the United States and China, even as much of the world is in lockdown because of the coronavirus. The USS America, an amphibious assault ship, and the USS Bunker Hill, a guided missile cruiser, entered contested waters off Malaysia. At the same time, a Chinese government ship in the area has for days been tailing a Malaysian state oil company ship carrying out exploratory drilling. Despite working to control a pandemic that spread from China earlier this year, Beijing has not reduced its activities in the South China Sea, a strategic waterway through which one-third of global shipping flows. Instead, the Chinese government’s years-long pattern of assertiveness has only intensified, military analysts said....."
That has the potential to draw in Taiwan and send the war into outer space:
"The inauguration of Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen’s second term was overshadowed Wednesday by a war of words between Beijing and Washington, underscoring how the US-aligned island has become a growing focus of the rivalry between the world powers. China issued angry warnings after senior US officials, including Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and deputy national security adviser Matt Pottinger, sent rare, high-level messages to congratulate Tsai on the day of her swearing-in ceremony. China claims Taiwan as part of its territory and has threatened to absorb the island by force, if necessary. Its Defense Ministry said Wednesday that Pompeo’s message ‘‘seriously endangered relations between the two countries and two militaries and seriously damaged peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait.’’
President Donald Trump stands in the Oval Office during the presentation of the United States Space Force Flag in the White House, Friday, May 15, 2020, in Washington (Alex Brandon/AP)
Not only did they usurp the beloved Star Trek logo, but look at the grinning jackass on the far right.
Of course, if you criticize the US government or Trump administration foreign policy in any way, shape, or form, you must be a Chinese (or Russian or Iranian or Korean or whatever) agent or dupe:
"Chinese agents spread messages that sowed virus panic in US, officials say" by Edward Wong, Matthew Rosenberg and Julian E. Barnes New York Times, April 22, 2020
WASHINGTON — The alarming messages came fast and furious in mid-March, popping up on the cellphone screens and social media feeds of millions of Americans grappling with the onset of the coronavirus pandemic.
Spread the word, the messages said: The Trump administration was about to lock down the entire country.
“They will announce this as soon as they have troops in place to help prevent looters and rioters,” warned one message, which cited a source in the Department of Homeland Security. “He said he got the call last night and was told to pack and be prepared for the call today with his dispatch orders.”
The messages became so widespread over 48 hours that the White House’s National Security Council issued an announcement via Twitter that they were “FAKE.”
See: Trump to Declare National Quarantine and Issue Shelter in Place Order
I'm so embarrassed that I fell for it, and it turned out to be dictatorial governors that would order it instead!
Of course, we now have rioters and looters in almost all major American cities.
See: Trump to Declare National Quarantine and Issue Shelter in Place Order
I'm so embarrassed that I fell for it, and it turned out to be dictatorial governors that would order it instead!
Of course, we now have rioters and looters in almost all major American cities.
Since that wave of panic, US intelligence agencies have assessed that Chinese operatives helped push the messages across platforms, according to six US officials, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to publicly discuss intelligence matters. The amplification techniques are alarming because the disinformation showed up as texts on many Americans’ cellphones, a tactic that several of the officials said they hadn’t seen before.
(Blog editor starts shaking with laughter)
(Blog editor starts shaking with laughter)
That has spurred agencies to look at new ways in which China, Russia, and other nations are using a range of platforms to spread disinformation during the pandemic, they said.
The origin of the messages remains murky. US officials declined to reveal details of the intelligence linking Chinese agents to the dissemination of the disinformation, citing the need to protect their sources and methods for monitoring Beijing’s activities.
Here we go again!
Like with Iraq, it is trust our lying a$$es!
Like with Iraq, it is trust our lying a$$es!
The officials interviewed for this article work in six different agencies. They included both career civil servants and political appointees, and some have spent many years analyzing China. Their broader warnings about China’s spread of disinformation are supported by recent findings from outside bipartisan research groups, including the Alliance for Securing Democracy and the Center for a New American Security, which is expected to release a report on the topic next month.
Hey, I get the same thing reading a Globe every morning, and just what exactly are the Alliance for Securing Democracy and the Center for a New American Security?
If nothing else, the Globe makes you think!
If nothing else, the Globe makes you think!
Two US officials stressed they did not believe Chinese operatives created the lockdown messages but rather amplified existing ones. Those efforts enabled the messages to catch the attention of enough people that they then spread on their own, with little need for further work by foreign agents. The messages appeared to gain traction on Facebook as they were also proliferating through texts.
Don't walk it back and imply I a simple dupe!
Don't walk it back and imply I a simple dupe!
US officials said the operatives had adopted some of the techniques mastered by Russia-backed trolls, such as creating fake social media accounts to push messages to sympathetic Americans, who in turn unwittingly help spread them.
It's a standard tactic: accuse the others of conduct that you are in fact guilty of.
Other rival powers might have been involved in the dissemination, too, and Americans with prominent online or news media platforms unknowingly helped amplify the messages.
Oh, they were fooled, too!
Misinformation has proliferated during the pandemic — in recent weeks, some pro-Trump news outlets have promoted anti-American conspiracy theories, including one that suggests the virus was created in a lab in the United States.
US officials said China, borrowing from Russia’s strategies, has been trying to widen political divisions in the United States. As public dissent simmers over lockdown policies in several states, officials worry it will be easy for China and Russia to amplify the partisan disagreements.
Our pre$$ doesn't need the help!
It's a standard tactic: accuse the others of conduct that you are in fact guilty of.
Other rival powers might have been involved in the dissemination, too, and Americans with prominent online or news media platforms unknowingly helped amplify the messages.
Oh, they were fooled, too!
Misinformation has proliferated during the pandemic — in recent weeks, some pro-Trump news outlets have promoted anti-American conspiracy theories, including one that suggests the virus was created in a lab in the United States.
US officials said China, borrowing from Russia’s strategies, has been trying to widen political divisions in the United States. As public dissent simmers over lockdown policies in several states, officials worry it will be easy for China and Russia to amplify the partisan disagreements.
Our pre$$ doesn't need the help!
“It is part of the playbook of spreading division,” said Senator Angus King, an independent from Maine, adding that private individuals have identified some social media bots that helped promote the recent lockdown protests that some fringe conservative groups have nurtured.
(Blog editor is left shaking his head and speechless)
The propaganda efforts go beyond text messages and social media posts directed at Americans. In China, top officials have issued directives to agencies to engage in a global disinformation campaign around the virus, the US officials said.
Some US intelligence officers are especially concerned about disinformation aimed at Europeans that pro-China actors appear to have helped spread, which promote China’s “donation diplomacy” and stress the idea of disunity among European nations.
HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA!
They are concerned when it is not their own!
HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA!
They are concerned when it is not their own!
President Trump has shown little concern about China’s actions. He has praised the handling of the pandemic by Chinese leaders — “Much respect!” he wrote on Twitter on March 27. Three days later, he dismissed worries over China’s use of disinformation when asked about it on Fox News.
--more--"
What a great piece of government garbage and New York Times disinfo
NEXT DAY UPDATES:
"Secretary of State Michael Pompeo said Sunday that the United States now has no basis to treat Hong Kong more favorably than mainland China, as Beijing moved to pass a bill to curb the region’s freedom. The comment highlighted the growing tension between the world’s two largest economies. Pompeo, on Fox News’s “Sunday Morning Futures,” said China’s leaders have broken a promise to preserve Hong Kong’s autonomy. China’s legislature has approved a proposal for laws designed to quell unrest in Hong Kong by punishing what it defines as subversion, secession, terrorism, and foreign interference. “It is a different Chinese Communist Party today than it was 10 years ago,” Pompeo said. The party is “intent upon the destruction of Western ideas, Western democracies, Western values.” Pompeo last week decertified the former British colony as being autonomous in the eyes of the United States, which may result in serious trade consequences. On Sunday, he said President Trump will work to eliminate preferential treatment for Hong Kong. The People’s Daily, the mouthpiece of China’s Communist Party, called the US plans are “gross interference” in Beijing’s affairs. Pompeo also reiterated that Europe should stop doing business with Huawei Technologies. The United States has repeatedly punished it and other Chinese companies for breaking US sanctions, blacklisted them, and accused them of being a security threat."
"Oil slipped in Asia following a weekend of civil unrest in the United States and as President Trump escalated his war of words with China, raising fresh doubts about the prospects for a recovery in demand for petroleum. Futures in New York fell as much as 2.1 percent, handing back some of Friday’s 5.3 percent gain. Investors are weighing how violent demonstrations in US cities will affect the reopening of the world’s biggest economy as coronavirus restrictions are eased. The market may find some support from a report that OPEC and its allies are considering extending output cuts for one to three months. As the situation in the oil market is moving fast, the preference is to take short-term measures and not disrupt the rebalancing of the market, according to a delegate. The bloc is close to a decision to move up its next meeting by a few days to this week, according to people familiar with the situation. Crude surged 88 percent in May, with US futures on Friday rising above $35 a barrel for the first time since March, driven by massive supply curbs by producers around the world. Still, prices are well below levels at the start of the year, and demand that was crushed by the coronavirus crisis may need to show a sustained improvement for the rally to extend further. As Chinese oil demand rises to near pre-coronavirus levels, more and more tankers are hauling crude to the Asian nation."
If so, why did gas price rise 8 cents over the last 2 weeks?
Could there soon be a war for Hong Kong because our economy is reeling as the Fed pours out billions of dollars in a futile effort to avert disaster?
"In China, the protests are being viewed through the prism of US criticism of China’s crackdown on antigovernment protests in Hong Kong. Hu Xijin, editor of the state-owned Global Times, tweeted that US officials can now see protests out their own windows: “I want to ask Speaker Pelosi and Secretary Pompeo: Should Beijing support protests in the U.S., like you glorified rioters in Hong Kong?”
Are they?
"Thousands gathered in central London on Sunday to offer support for American demonstrators. Chanting ‘‘No justice! No peace!’’ and waving placards at Trafalgar Square, the protesters ignored government rules banning crowds because of the pandemic. Police didn’t stop them. Demonstrators then marched to the US Embassy, where a long line of officers surrounded the building."
What a great piece of government garbage and New York Times disinfo
{@@##$$%%^^&&}
NEXT DAY UPDATES:
"Secretary of State Michael Pompeo said Sunday that the United States now has no basis to treat Hong Kong more favorably than mainland China, as Beijing moved to pass a bill to curb the region’s freedom. The comment highlighted the growing tension between the world’s two largest economies. Pompeo, on Fox News’s “Sunday Morning Futures,” said China’s leaders have broken a promise to preserve Hong Kong’s autonomy. China’s legislature has approved a proposal for laws designed to quell unrest in Hong Kong by punishing what it defines as subversion, secession, terrorism, and foreign interference. “It is a different Chinese Communist Party today than it was 10 years ago,” Pompeo said. The party is “intent upon the destruction of Western ideas, Western democracies, Western values.” Pompeo last week decertified the former British colony as being autonomous in the eyes of the United States, which may result in serious trade consequences. On Sunday, he said President Trump will work to eliminate preferential treatment for Hong Kong. The People’s Daily, the mouthpiece of China’s Communist Party, called the US plans are “gross interference” in Beijing’s affairs. Pompeo also reiterated that Europe should stop doing business with Huawei Technologies. The United States has repeatedly punished it and other Chinese companies for breaking US sanctions, blacklisted them, and accused them of being a security threat."
"Oil slipped in Asia following a weekend of civil unrest in the United States and as President Trump escalated his war of words with China, raising fresh doubts about the prospects for a recovery in demand for petroleum. Futures in New York fell as much as 2.1 percent, handing back some of Friday’s 5.3 percent gain. Investors are weighing how violent demonstrations in US cities will affect the reopening of the world’s biggest economy as coronavirus restrictions are eased. The market may find some support from a report that OPEC and its allies are considering extending output cuts for one to three months. As the situation in the oil market is moving fast, the preference is to take short-term measures and not disrupt the rebalancing of the market, according to a delegate. The bloc is close to a decision to move up its next meeting by a few days to this week, according to people familiar with the situation. Crude surged 88 percent in May, with US futures on Friday rising above $35 a barrel for the first time since March, driven by massive supply curbs by producers around the world. Still, prices are well below levels at the start of the year, and demand that was crushed by the coronavirus crisis may need to show a sustained improvement for the rally to extend further. As Chinese oil demand rises to near pre-coronavirus levels, more and more tankers are hauling crude to the Asian nation."
If so, why did gas price rise 8 cents over the last 2 weeks?
Could there soon be a war for Hong Kong because our economy is reeling as the Fed pours out billions of dollars in a futile effort to avert disaster?
"In China, the protests are being viewed through the prism of US criticism of China’s crackdown on antigovernment protests in Hong Kong. Hu Xijin, editor of the state-owned Global Times, tweeted that US officials can now see protests out their own windows: “I want to ask Speaker Pelosi and Secretary Pompeo: Should Beijing support protests in the U.S., like you glorified rioters in Hong Kong?”
Are they?
"Thousands gathered in central London on Sunday to offer support for American demonstrators. Chanting ‘‘No justice! No peace!’’ and waving placards at Trafalgar Square, the protesters ignored government rules banning crowds because of the pandemic. Police didn’t stop them. Demonstrators then marched to the US Embassy, where a long line of officers surrounded the building."
