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Thread: Eurasia Topics

  1. #1476
    Thailand Expat harrybarracuda's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by panama hat View Post
    Good Lord . . . can you even try to make sense?
    You know you're asking the impossible.

  2. #1477
    Thailand Expat OhOh's Avatar
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    Comment by the Press Service of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Belarus in connection with the statement of the US Embassy on March 25, 2021

    26 March 2021

    "In connection with the statement of the US Embassy on March 25, 2021, we express our sincere gratitude to the American side for finally showing their willingness to transfer bilateral rhetoric into a constructive channel and for congratulations on a significant date in the history of our country. We will only welcome the spread of this practice on public holidays as well. We acknowledge our mistake and avail ourselves of this opportunity to apologize for the lack of congratulations on the recent 160th anniversary of the adoption of the Constitution of the Confederate States of America, whose flag is still dear to many Americans. At the same time, the BLM movement throughout the country has tens of millions of members.

    Unfortunately, today the American society is deeply divided, as J. Biden states:

    “My whole soul is in this. Bringing America together, uniting our people, uniting our nation ... I know the forces that divide us are deep and they are real ... let's start afresh, all of us. Let's begin to listen to one another again, hear one another, see one another … "


    We also support the aspirations of the American people for a better future – on this day and every day! Therefore, we believe that only genuine inclusive dialogue will help the American nation to unite at this difficult moment in history.

    As a disinterested gesture of goodwill, Belarus, having experience as a platform for negotiations within the TCG, is ready to offer its services in organizing such a process. We will provide any assistance we can, including with the engagement of our partners from integration structures.

    Although more than two centuries have passed since independence, recent events in the United States show that the Americans’ struggle for freedom persists. Currently, hundreds of thousands of Americans of all ages are standing up for the right to determine the destiny of their country. In attempting to have their voices heard, many pay a heavy price as the administration resorts to lethal force to shoot several people to maintain its grip on power and to fix the election results.

    We admire the courage and determination of American heroes, including J.Assange, E.Snowden and Ch.Manning, who sacrificed almost everything for the sake of true freedom and harmony in American society.

    Belarus, together with the American people, is looking forward to the day when an ordinary American will be able to walk near the Capitol without let or hindrance.

    We are grateful to the appointed US Ambassador to Belarus Mrs. J.Fisher for her invaluable advice to the entire Belarusian people when and how we need to hold elections. Of course, our Belarusian primitive and scant thinking would never fulfill itself to solve this issue. As a sign of exceptional gratitude, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs is ready to accept Her Excellency's application for Belarusian citizenship out of turn in order to include her in the list of voters and give her the opportunity to vote.

    The same can be done without citizenship on any electronic platform, avowed by Mrs. J.Fisher. We cannot ignore Americas’ helping hand in conducting the elections.

    Such achievements of the American electoral system as voting by mail and the electoral college, instead of a direct expression of will, can be demanded and studied by the Belarusian side.

    Being deeply inspired by the US’ attention to the fate of Belarus, as a response, we can make a disinterested contribution to the development of agriculture in Alaska and the effective development of its lands. In this regard, we are ready to consider the possibility of joint management of this territory.

    We could deploy the Belarusian construction organizations located in the region to transfer experience and help residents of the southern states in overcoming the consequences of the natural disaster.

    We sincerely wish the American people unity, and to climb the stairs of the American Dream without stumbling.

    We hope that the positive trend in our relations will continue and we will jointly come to the moment when we can happily meet the US Sixth Fleet at the maritime borders of Belarus."


    Comment by the Press Service of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Belarus in connection with the statement of the US Embassy on March 25, 2021 - Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Belarus
    A tray full of GOLD is not worth a moment in time.

  3. #1478
    Thailand Expat harrybarracuda's Avatar
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    In attempting to have their voices heard, many pay a heavy price as the administration resorts to lethal force to shoot several people to maintain its grip on power and to fix the election results.
    I think Lukashenko might have mixed up his press release with his state intelligence memoranda.

  4. #1479
    Thailand Expat OhOh's Avatar
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    The China-Iran pact is a game changer — Part I

    March 30, 2021 by M. K. BHADRAKUMAR

    Part I : China neutralises the US campaign on Muslim Uighur issue

    "When China and Iran, two of the United States’ main adversaries in the contemporary world situation, enter into a 25-year strategic pact, it is pointless to split hairs and speculate whether the development affects American strategies. Of course, it does. The West Asian region is all about geopolitics — starting from oil and jihad to petrodollar.

    The region served as the crossroads of empires for centuries between Europe and Asia. And in modern history, foreign intruders conflated new poignant realities — failed states, humiliated peoples, crippled economies, extreme inequality and poverty, devastated environments, plundered resources, conflicted geographies, and violent radicalism.

    The historic China-Iran agreement signed on March 27 in Tehran during the visit of China’s State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi has been under negotiation since the 2016 visit by Chinese President Xi Jinping to Tehran. Numerous visits by Iranian Foreign Minister Javed Zarif to China in the recent years testified to the high importance Tehran attached to the negotiations culminating in the formal signing ceremony in Tehran Saturday, which also marked the 50th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between these two “civilisation states” of the 21st century that enjoyed vast historical continuity and cultural unity across a large geographic region through millennia.

    The text of the agreed document has not yet been put on public domain but broadly, we can glean from the joint statement issued on March 27 that the agreement reached during Xi’s visit to increase bilateral trade to $600 billion in the next decade has been acted upon. In fact, the joint statement begins by invoking Xi’s visit. Two supplementary documents signed by the two countries pertain to the “MOU on Jointly Promoting the Silk Road Economic Belt and the 21st Century Maritime Silk Road” and the “MOU on Reinforcement of Industrial and Mineral Capacities and Investment”, whereby both sides “shall expand cooperation and mutual investments in various areas including transportation, railway, ports, energy, industry, commerce and services.”

    The joint statement says that given their relative economic advantages, both sides shall enhance their cooperation in the field of energy. Iran will supply oil and gas to China while the Chinese side “shall consider financing and investing in the up-and-downstream projects of the energy industries” in Iran. Again, wide-ranging economic cooperation is envisaged covering investment and trade exchanges, banking, financing, mining, transportation, communications, space, manufacturing industries, development of ports, upgrade and expansion of Iran’s railway networks, introduction of express railway systems in Iran, agriculture, water resources, protection of environment, food security, fighting desertification, water desalination, use of nuclear energy, etc. A bilateral “MOU on Strengthening of Investment Cooperation” is devoted to this aspect and the exchange of knowhow and technology.


    Yet, the scope of the pact by far transcends trade and investment. A commentator in the Chinese state media noted, “As it stands, this deal will totally upend the prevailing geopolitical landscape in the West Asian region that has for so long been subject to US hegemony.” The joint statement states that the Comprehensive Strategic Partnership signifies “a major agreement in all areas of bilateral relations and regional and international issues.” It adds, “Currently the regional and international situation is experiencing deep and complex developments. Under such circumstances, the two sides emphasise the importance of cooperation between the developing countries on international affairs and are committed to joint efforts towards realisation of peace, stability and development in the region and the world at large.”


    Interestingly, the joint statement highlights that “China attaches importance to Iran’s effective role as the regional power and evaluates positively Iran’s role in activities under the framework of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization and supports Iran’s application for full membership of the Organization.” Of course, it is a way of telling the world that China does not accept the isolation of Iran from the world community. Conceivably, China and Russia are on the same page here.

    The US has contributed significantly in providing a raison d’être for such a pact. Neither China nor Iran is expecting any goodwill from the US. They perceive that the adversarial mindset in America is only hardening under President Joe Biden’s watch. As for Tehran, it no longer pins hope that Biden will revive the JCPOA or lift sanctions anytime soon. Thus, without doubt, pushing back against the US unilateralism and sanctions is a leitmotif of the China-Iran strategic partnership.

    China’s interest lies in “broad-basing” this leitmotif to embrace its relationships with the regional states as a whole. Wang’s regional tour covered Saudi Arabia, Turkey, Iran, UAE and Oman. The fact that he travelled to Iran via Saudi Arabia is both symbolic and of substantive importance. At his meeting in Riyadh on March 24 with the Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, Wang said China supports Saudi Arabia in safeguarding its sovereignty, national dignity, security and stability, and opposes interference in Saudi Arabia’s internal affairs under any pretext. Prince Mohammed affirmed in response that the rise of China is conducive to global peace, stability and prosperity, as well as a more balanced global development.


    The Crown Prince expressed the hope that the two countries will boost anti-terrorism and security cooperation to uplift the bilateral ties to a higher level. Importantly, the Crown Prince said Saudi Arabia ‘firmly supports China’s legitimate position on the issues related to Xinjiang and Hong Kong, opposes interfering in China’s internal affairs under any pretext, and rejects the attempt by certain parties to sow dissension between China and the Islamic world.’


    Plainly put, Saudi Arabia has undercut the current US campaign against China regarding Xinjiang. It is a snub to the Biden administration. In fact, Wang’s regional tour testifies to the ground reality that there are no takers for the US’ diatribes against China. The regional states sense that the US is being driven by seething rivalry over a rising China poised to overtake it in a near future as the world’s number one superpower. They refuse to take sides in the rivalry.

    The salience lies here: China has introduced, after careful assessment of the power dynamic in West Asia, certain common principles that are equally applicable across the region to provide the basis for its relationships with the regional countries. The unspoken objective is to encourage the regional states to shift to independent foreign policies, shaking off the western yoke, especially US hegemony. But China’s method of doing this is radically different from the coercive and often violent tactics that western powers traditionally adopted in the region.

    China has absolutely no interest in using coercion as an instrument of “persuasion” even with Turkey which has a vocal Uighur diaspora (who held a demonstration during Wang’s visit.) At the meeting with Wang, President Recep Erdogan underscored Turkey’s deep interest in “boosting mutual trust, promoting the synergy between China’s Belt and Road Initiative and Turkey’s “Middle Corridor” plan, enhancing cooperation in the fields including interconnection and intercommunication, infrastructure construction and investment, seeking more balanced development of bilateral trade, and encouraging local currency settlement China instead is offering equal relationships.”

    Erdogan also voiced Turkey’s appreciation for China’s five-point initiative for achieving the security and stability in the Middle East and its willingness to deepen communication and coordination with China on regional affairs. Fundamentally, China’s projection of a constructive agenda to develop “win-win” engagement with the regional states is gaining traction.
    "

    https://www.indianpunchline.com/the-...hanger-part-i/
    Last edited by OhOh; 31-03-2021 at 04:18 PM.

  5. #1480
    Thailand Expat harrybarracuda's Avatar
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    Hoohoo's favourite wobbly is such a dreamer...

  6. #1481
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    Quote Originally Posted by OhOh View Post
    China neutralises the US campaign on Muslim Uighur issue
    By signing a 'pact' with Iran?

  7. #1482
    Thailand Expat harrybarracuda's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by panama hat View Post
    By signing a 'pact' with Iran?
    I think the chinkies are going to start wondering if their backhanders to this witless Indian are actually worth it.

  8. #1483
    Thailand Expat OhOh's Avatar
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    Why Putin's Pipeline Is Welcome in Germany

    Pat Buchanan
    • March 26, 202

    "During a joint interview with Jens Stoltenberg, the Norwegian secretary-general of NATO, Secretary of State Antony Blinken, fresh from his bout with the Chinese in Anchorage, took on Angela Merkel and the Germans.

    Issue: Nord Stream 2, the Baltic Sea pipeline Vladimir Putin is building to complement his Nord Stream 1 and carry more natural gas from Russia to Germany, and from there to other NATO nations.

    The original Nord Stream pipeline, also consisting of two strands of pipe along the Baltic Sea floor, was completed in 2011.


    In his meeting with Stoltenberg in Brussels, Blinken warned that Western companies participating in building Nord Stream 2, which is 90% complete, would face sanctions mandated by Congress:

    “President Biden has been very clear in saying that he believes the pipeline is a bad idea; it’s bad for Europe, bad for the United States,” said Blinken, adding, U.S. law “requires us to sanction companies participating in the efforts to complete the pipeline.”

    What is behind American opposition to Russian natural gas going to Germany, and from there to NATO Europe?


    First, the pipelines bypass Ukraine and Poland, cutting those countries out of the transit revenue.

    Second, we want NATO Germany to buy our own shale-produced natural gas.


    Third, we object to a pivotal NATO ally increasing its present dependency for energy on the very nation against which the United States has defended that ally for 70 years.


    Why are you Germans buying Russian gas when we are protecting you from Russian aggression, the Americans ask. It’s a fair question.


    Last summer, an exasperated President Donald Trump announced plans to withdraw 12,000 troops from Germany in what was described as a “strategic” repositioning of U.S. forces in Europe.

    Trump said the move was in response to Germany’s failure to meet national NATO targets on defense spending of at least 2% of GDP.

    “We don’t want to be the suckers anymore,” said Trump “We’re reducing the force because they’re not paying their bills; it’s very simple.”


    Merkel ignored Trump’s threat. The U.S. troops are still there.


    This week, Blinken met with German foreign minister Heiko Maas to restate the U.S. concern over Nord Stream 2, while hastily adding that Germany is a vital NATO ally and the pipeline is “an irritant in a rock-solid alliance.”


    One gets the impression that Merkel and the Germans will prevail, the pipeline will be completed, and the gas will begin to flow to Germany.


    And that the Americans will accept it, rather than exacerbate the issue.


    Yet, what does Germany’s willing and deepening dependence on Russian gas for its energy, as it moves off coal and nuclear power, tell us?


    And what does Germany’s chronic refusal to meet the standard of NATO nations to contribute 2% of GDP to the common defense tell us?


    Quite obviously, the Germans do not see Putin’s Russia as the military threat it was in the Cold War. And Berlin has come to believe that, even if it falls short of its commitments to spend more on defense, the Americans are bluffing. They are not going to leave Europe or NATO.

    Why are the Germans not wrong to conclude this?


    Because being the “last superpower,” “the leader of the free world,” the “indispensable nation,” the architect of the “rules-based international order” created by the World War II generation of Harry Truman, Dean Acheson, George Marshall and the rest, is how we define ourselves and our mission to mankind.


    We can’t let go, because this is who we are and what we do.


    Without this mission, what could justify the mammoth amounts we invest annually on NATO, national defense, foreign aid, the Indo-Pacific, the CIA and the Armed Forces of the United States?

    Consider. Between 1989 and 1991, the Soviet Empire collapsed and disintegrated. The Berlin Wall came down. All the Red Army divisions went home from Europe. Communism ceased to be the ideology of the Soviet Union, which itself split apart into 15 separate nations.

    Russia was no longer the largest captive nation of communism but a nation reaching out in friendship to the United States.


    And what did we do in response?


    We doubled the number of nations in NATO we are sworn to defend, moved the alliance deep into Eastern Europe and adopted a policy of containment of a shrunken Russia.


    Having won the Cold War, and unable to find a new mission, we started a second Cold War to contain the new Russia — this time at the borders of Belarus, Ukraine and Georgia, as we had once contained the old USSR at the River Elbe.


    Why does Angela Merkel not take seriously U.S. threats to pull our troops out of Germany, if the Germans won’t cancel Nord Stream 2 or pony up more for defense?


    Because Merkel thinks the Americans are bluffing about going home from Europe, and thinks the Russia of Vladimir Putin is not the Russia she knew in the days of the GDR.


    Is she wrong?"


    Why Putin's Pipeline Is Welcome in Germany, by Pat Buchanan - The Unz Review

  9. #1484
    Thailand Expat harrybarracuda's Avatar
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    Yes hoohoo, we know right wing republicans are big fans of Putin's particular form of dictatorship.

    Got anything new?

  10. #1485
    Thailand Expat Backspin's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by harrybarracuda View Post
    Yes hoohoo, we know right wing republicans are big fans of Putin's particular form of dictatorship.

    Got anything new?
    Russia has the same government as Singapore. If Singapore is a dictatorship then Russia is.

  11. #1486
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    Quote Originally Posted by harrybarracuda View Post
    Putin's particular form of dictatorship.
    Got anything new?
    A good question 'arry... Got anything new?

  12. #1487
    Thailand Expat OhOh's Avatar
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    The China-Iran pact is a game changer – III

    April 1, 2021 by M. K. BHADRAKUMAR
    Part III: There is no timetable for an official launch

    Eurasia Topics-china-iran-jpg


    "The China-Iran joint statement of last Saturday has made waves in the international media and among regional analysts from Israel to India. Israel is anxious that there is going to be security cooperation between China and Iran. Indians are brooding over the fate of their Chabahar port project in eastern Iran, integral to its “regional connectivity”.

    The devil lies in the details. And the point is, the final document negotiated by Beijing and Tehran still remains under wraps. Both sides are noticeably coy. Surely, all attention in Tehran is still on reading President Joe Biden’s lips — how he frames the JCPOA in the few remaining crucial weeks remaining before the IAEA inspectors are booted out of Iran next month.
    The media statement by Wang Yi, State Councilor and Foreign Minister, on Tuesday surveying the outcome of his regional tour does not even mention the pact with Iran. Wang said “the expected goals have been achieved” and underscored that the most important gain, from Beijing’s perspective, is the projection of China’s five-point initiative on achieving peace and security in West Asia by building up the capacity by the regional states “to stay impervious to external pressure and interference, to independently develop paths suited to regional realities” and most important, “break free from the shadows of big-power rivalry and resolve regional conflicts and differences as masters of the region.”

    Wang urged the countries he visited — Saudi Arabia, Turkey, Iran, UAE and Bahrain (plus a “working visit to Oman) — to accommodate each other’s core interests.

    Looking ahead, Wang listed out the following areas of “practical cooperation”:


    • alignment of the Belt and Road Initiative with the national development plans of the regional states;
    • export and distribution of China’s Covid-19 vaccines regionally and creation of an international mechanism for “mutual health code recognition”;
    • achieving a two-state solution to the Palestine question;
    • political settlement of regional disputes;
    • creating “a road map and timetable” for resuming the JCPOA and resolution of the Iranian nuclear issue;
    • promotion of the China-Arab Reform and Development Forum as well as the Middle East Security Forum;
    • high- and new-technology cooperation, such as 5G, big data and artificial intelligence; and,
    • development of a China-Arab states “community with shared future in the new era” opposing the politicisation of human rights issues.


    To be sure, Beijing is positioning itself as a troubleshooter to break the stalemate over JCPOA. On the eve of Wang’s arrival in Tehran, the US special envoy Robert Malley had a call with the Chinese Deputy Foreign Minister Ma Zhaoxu during which the latter affirmed that Beijing “will continue to play a constructive role” in bringing the JCPOA back on track.
    Suffice to say, the China-Iran pact deeply is embedded within a new matrix Beijing hopes to create with the Arab states of the Persian Gulf and Iran. The pact forms part of a new narrative on regional security and stability.

    Nothing is known about the nature of the payment mechanism for such massive economic transactions running into hundreds of billions of dollars that the China-Iran pact envisages. China cannot be comfortable with the risk in the use of American dollar as the currency for such transactions.

    Indeed, Chinese experts have noted in recent times that Beijing realises the huge risk of over-reliance on the US dollar and Western-controlled payment system since the financial crisis in 2008, and that the latest massive quantitative easing done by the US for boosting its own economy also increases such concern.

    Besides, a top Chinese expert, Dong Dengxin, director of the Finance and Securities Institute at the Wuhan University of Science and Technology, told the Global Times newspaper recently, “Washington has been abusing SWIFT to arbitrarily sanction any country at will, which has sparked global dissatisfaction. If China and Russia could work together to challenge the dollar hegemony, a laundry list of countries would echo the call and join the new system.”

    As the payment system is linked to the trading system, Dong suggested that the new payment system use the yuan as the clearing currency. “At first, the system could push forward a trial run in Central Asian countries and countries and regions along the routes of the Belt and Road Initiative. As its influence grows, the system is poised to draw in other countries in Europe and the ASEAN,” Dong said.

    Other reports in the recent months have also spoken of a non-dollar payment mechanism between China and Iran under discussion. It remains to be seen how far the US can stomach such an affront. China does not seek confrontation with the US — at least, not yet. For Iran too, export of oil and gas, a strategic asset, with payment in local currencies requires a leap of faith. In the most recent years, China has been urging Saudi Arabia too to move out of the dollar’s orbit for the oil trade.

    Having said that, China is testing the waters in West Asia. Last January, according to reports, the Digital Currency Institute of the People’s Bank of China and the Central Bank of the United Arab Emirates joined the so-called Multiple CBDC (m-CBDC) Bridge, a cross-border payments project to facilitate fund transfers, international trade settlement and capital market transactions in their own jurisdictions.

    No doubt, the digital yuan, domestically branded in China as the Digital Currency/Electronic Payment (DCEP) project could also challenge the supremacy of the US dollar. As of now, China’s cross-border payment system CIPS both partners and competes with SWIFT amid growing Sino-U.S. tensions. Greater use of the CIPS instead of the Belgium-based SWIFT system would reduce exposure of China’s global payments data to the United States. Some US analysts have criticised this as a step “advancing China’s digital authoritarianism domestically and globally.”

    With China’s meteoric rise on the global stage, Beijing has long been hoping that its physical currency, the renminbi (yuan), would ride on the back of its economic success and force a shift away from the dollar-dominated financial system. China is steadily moving into a challenging yet opportunistic position.

    China’s Belt and Road initiative becomes a ripe entry point for the digital yuan’s internationalisation. China could ask BRI participating countries to start accepting the digital yuan, make loan payments and pay to install infrastructures such as point-of-sale terminals and lower transaction fees. According to China’s State Administration of Foreign Exchange, a decision has been taken to “actively cooperate with the national belt and road development strategy.”

    Apart from being a cheaper and faster payment system, it also creates a firewall against US sanctions. In a hypothetical scenario, Iran can build a compatible digital currency system so that trade and investment and cross-border transfers, international trade settlement and foreign exchange transactions between the two countries are no longer trackable by the US anymore.

    Effectively, this can neutralise the US sanctions bypassing the all-mighty greenback. A report in the New York Times says that “If put into effect as detailed, the (China-Iran) partnership would create new and potentially dangerous flash points in the deteriorating relationship between China and the United States… Renewed American sanctions, including the threat to cut off access to the international banking system for any company that does business in Iran, have succeeded in suffocating the Iranian economy by scaring away badly needed foreign trade and investment.”

    How could Washington possibly accept such strategic defiance at a time when “America is back”, according to the Joe Biden administration? The US state department has vowed “to impose costs on Chinese companies that aid Iran.” Under the circumstances, it is entirely conceivable that there is no timetable for an official launch of the China-Iran pact. Being “civilisation states”, China and Iran would have their own concepts of time and space. "


    https://www.indianpunchline.com/the-china-iran-pact-is-a-game-changer-iii/


    Allegedly a SWIFT payment costs:

    it has been estimated that the processing of a single post-payment claim amounts to about EUR12 including messaging, processing, reconciliation, and inquiry expense;

    the costs associated with the use of field 71G and prepayment
    of fees is estimated to be significantly less than EUR12"

    https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=...n6zXwxfQZNDlFb
    Last edited by OhOh; 02-04-2021 at 12:39 PM.

  13. #1488
    Thailand Expat harrybarracuda's Avatar
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    For some reason hoohoo thinks this some sort of "game changer". That's if he believes the nonsense he posts.

  14. #1489
    Excommunicated baldrick's Avatar
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    maybe it is some sort of april fools joke - like this

    AP
    On Sunday March 28, the website of the Chinese state television broadcaster CGTN, formerly known as CCTV-News, published an article signed by a French journalist.to Laurène Beaumond.

    The French newspaper, however The world denounced that after an investigation, The journalist mentioned does not exist.

    According to the CGTN, the alleged Laurène is Beaumond Double degree in art history and archeology from the historical university of Paris, the Sorbonne, one of the oldest in the world. He also completed a Masters in Journalism to later work in various Paris newsrooms before moving to Beijing.

    In France, a large part (but not all) of the journalists’ corps is registered with a specialized commission which annually issues an official press card with a personal registration number. According to The world There is no one named Laurène Beaumond in the Commission’s database.

    What is more nobody seems to know a professional by that name, despite the fact that CGTN claims he worked in various media outlets before traveling to China.

    The opinion text published by Beaumonds CGTN tries to refute allegations against China of “genocide of the Muslim-majority Uyghurs” in the Chinese region of Xinjiang
    .
    Unusual: Official Chinese television has invented a fake French journalist defending the regime against allegations of genocide against the Uyghurs

  15. #1490
    Thailand Expat harrybarracuda's Avatar
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    Oh Hoohoo posts factory-produced chinky shit all the time. He probably doesn't even know it. He would have posted that if you hadn't found it first.

  16. #1491
    Thailand Expat OhOh's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by harrybarracuda View Post
    posts factory-produced chinky shit all the time
    Steadfast leadership, well armoured horses and the Sun behind you to blind the heathen hordes.



    Courtesy J. R. R. Tolkien.

    Russia and China are sending Biden a message: don’t judge us or try to change us. Those days are over


    March 25, 2021 3.08pm AEDT

    "The past week has marked a watershed moment in Russia’s relations with the West — and the US in particular. In two dramatic, televised moments, US President Joe Biden and Russian President Vladimir Putin have changed the dynamics between their countries perhaps irrevocably.

    Most commentators in the West have focused on Putin’s “trolling” of Biden by dryly — though, according to Putin, unironically — wishing his American counterpart “good health”. This, of course, came after Biden called Putin a “killer”.

    But a more careful and complete reading of Putin’s message to the US is necessary to understand how a Russian leader is, finally, ready to tell the US: do not judge us by your claimed standards, and do not try to tell us what to do.

    Putin has never asserted these propositions so bluntly.

    And it matters when he does.


    Putin’s message to the new US president

    The tense test of strength began when Biden was asked about Putin in an interview with ABC News’ George Stephanopoulos and agreed he was “a killer” and didn’t have a soul. He also said Putin will “pay a price” for his actions.Putin then took the unusual step of going on the state broadcaster VGTRK with a response to Biden.

    In an unusually pointed manner, Putin recalled the US history of genocide of its Indigenous people, the cruel experience of slavery, the continuing repression of Black Americans today and the unprovoked US nuclear bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki in the second world war.
    He suggested states should not judge others by their own standards:

    Whatever you say about others is what you are yourself.

    Some American journalists and observers have reacted to this as “trolling”. It was not.

    It was the preamble to Putin’s most important message in years to what he called the American “establishment, the ruling class”. He said the US leadership is determined to have relations with Russia, but only “on its own terms”.

    Although they think that we are the same as they are, we are different people. We have a different genetic, cultural and moral code. But we know how to defend our own interests.

    And we will work with them, but in those areas in which we ourselves are interested, and on those conditions that we consider beneficial for ourselves. And they will have to reckon with it. They will have to reckon with this, despite all attempts to stop our development. Despite the sanctions, insults, they will have to reckon with this.

    This is new for Putin. He has for years made the point, always politely, that Western powers need to deal with Russia on a basis of correct diplomatic protocols and mutual respect for national sovereignty, if they want to ease tensions.

    But never before has he been as blunt as this, saying in effect: do not dare try to judge us or punish us for not meeting what you say are universal standards, because we are different from you.

    Those days are now over.


    China pushing back against the US, too

    Putin’s forceful statement is remarkably similar to the equally firm public statements made by senior Chinese diplomats to US Secretary of State Antony Blinken in Alaska last week.
    Blinken opened the meeting by lambasting China’s increasing authoritarianism and aggressiveness at home and abroad - in Tibet, Xinjiang, Hong Kong and the South China Sea. He claimed such conduct was threatening “the rules-based order that maintains global stability”.

    Yang Jiechi, Chinese Communist Party foreign affairs chief, responded by denouncing American hypocrisy. He said

    The US does not have the qualification to say that it wants to speak to China from a position of strength. The US uses its military force and financial hegemony to carry out long-arm jurisdiction and suppress other countries. It abuses so-called notions of national security to obstruct normal trade exchanges, and to incite some countries to attack China.

    He said the US had no right to push its own version of democracy when it was dealing with so much discontent and human rights problems at home.


    Russia and China drawing closer together

    Putin’s statement was given added weight by two diplomatic actions: Russia’s recalling of its ambassador in the US, and Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov’s meeting in China with his counterpart, Wang Yi.

    Beijing and Moscow agreed at the summit to stand firm against Western sanctions and boost ties between their countries to reduce their dependence on the US dollar in international trade and settlements. Lavrov also said,

    We both believe the US has a destabilising role. It relies on Cold War military alliances and is trying to set up new alliances to undermine the world order.

    Though Biden’s undiplomatic comments about Putin may have been unscripted, the impact has nonetheless been profound. Together with the harsh tone of the US-China foreign ministers meeting in Alaska — also provoked by the US side — it is clear there has been a major change in the atmosphere of US-China-Russia relations.

    What will this mean in practice? Both Russia and China are signalling they will only deal with the West where and when it suits them. Sanctions no longer worry them.

    The two powers are also showing they are increasingly comfortable working together as close partners, if not yet military allies. They will step up their cooperation in areas where they have mutual interests and the development of alternatives to the Western-dominated trade and payments systems.

    Countries in Asia and further afield are closely watching the development of this alternative international order, led by Moscow and Beijing. And they can also recognise the signs of increasing US economic and political decline.

    It is a new kind of Cold War, but not one based on ideology like the first incarnation. It is a war for international legitimacy, a struggle for hearts and minds and money in the very large part of the world not aligned to the US or NATO.

    The US and its allies will continue to operate under their narrative, while Russia and China will push their competing narrative. This was made crystal clear over these past few dramatic days of major power diplomacy.

    The global balance of power is shifting, and for many nations, the smart money might be on Russia and China now."

    https://theconversation.com/russia-a...re-over-157771

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    https://theconversation.com/au/who-we-are
    Last edited by OhOh; 03-04-2021 at 12:34 AM.

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    "America Is Back" Collides With A Multipolar Reality

    April 01, 2021

    "The World Health Organization recently published its report on the origin of the SARS-CoV-2 virus which has caused the Covid-19 pandemic. Most scientist agree that the virus is of zoonotic origin and not a human construct or an accidental laboratory escape. But the U.S. wants to put pressure on China and advised the Director General of the WHO, Tedros Adhanom, to keep the focus on China potential culpability. He acted accordingly when he remarked on his agency's report:

    Although the team has concluded that a laboratory leak is the least likely hypothesis, this requires further investigation, potentially with additional missions involving specialist experts, which I am ready to deploy.

    The U.S. State Department fetched the pass and ran with it. It asked its allies to sign on to its Joint Statement on the WHO-Convened COVID-19 Origins Study which requests more unhindered access in China:

    The Governments of Australia, Canada, Czechia, Denmark, Estonia, Israel, Japan, Latvia, Lithuania, Norway, the Republic of Korea, Slovenia, the United Kingdom, and the United States of America remain steadfast in our commitment to working with the World Health Organization (WHO), international experts who have a vital mission, and the global community to understand the origins of this pandemic in order to improve our collective global health security and response. Together, we support a transparent and independent analysis and evaluation, free from interference and undue influence, of the origins of the COVID-19 pandemic. In this regard, we join in expressing shared concerns regarding the recent WHO-convened study in China, while at the same time reinforcing the importance of working together toward the development and use of a swift, effective, transparent, science-based, and independent process for international evaluations of such outbreaks of unknown origin in the future.

    The most interesting with the above statement is the list of U.S. allied countries which declined to support it,


    Most core EU countries, especially France, Spain, Italy and Germany, are missing from it. As is the Five-Eyes member New Zealand. India, a U.S. ally in the anti-Chinese Quad initiative, also did not sign. This list of signatories of the Joint Statement is an astonishingly meager result for a U.S. 'joint' initiative. It is unprecedented. It is a sign that something has cracked and that the world will never be the same.


    The first months of he Biden administration saw a rupture in the global system. First Russia admonished the EU for its hypocritical criticism of internal Russian issues. Biden followed up by calling Putin a 'killer'. Then the Chinese foreign minister told the Biden administration to shut the fuck up about internal Chinese issues. Soon thereafter Russia's and China's foreign ministers met and agreed to deepen their alliance and to shun the U.S. dollar. Then China's foreign minister went on a wider Middle East tour. There he reminded U.S. allies of their sovereignty:

    Wang said that expected goals had been achieved with regard to a five-point initiative on achieving security and stability in the Middle East, which was proposed during the visit. "China supports countries in the region to stay impervious to external pressure and interference, to independently explore development paths suited to its regional realities," Wang said, adding that the countries should "break free from the shadows of big-power geopolitical rivalry and resolve regional conflicts and differences as masters of the region."

    Wang's tour was topped off with the signing of a game changing agreement with Iran:

    Suffice to say, the China-Iran pact deeply is embedded within a new matrix Beijing hopes to create with the Arab states of the Persian Gulf and Iran. The pact forms part of a new narrative on regional security and stability.

    The "U.S. led rules based international order" is finally finished. Russia and China buried it:

    Countries in Asia and further afield are closely watching the development of this alternative international order, led by Moscow and Beijing. And they can also recognise the signs of increasing US economic and political decline.
    It is a new kind of Cold War, but not one based on ideology like the first incarnation. It is a war for international legitimacy, a struggle for hearts and minds and money in the very large part of the world not aligned to the US or NATO.

    The US and its allies will continue to operate under their narrative, while Russia and China will push their competing narrative. This was made crystal clear over these past few dramatic days of major power diplomacy.

    The global balance of power is shifting, and for many nations, the smart money might be on Russia and China now.

    The obvious U.S. countermove to the Russian-Chinese initiative is to unite its allies in a new Cold War against Russia and China. But as the Joint Statement above shows most of those allies do not want to follow that path. China is a too good customer to be shunned. Talk of human rights in other countries might play well with the local electorate but what counts in the end is the business.


    Even some U.S. companies can see that the hostile path the Biden administration has followed will only be to their detriment. Some are asking the Biden gang to tone it down:

    [Boeing] Chief Executive Dave Calhoun told an online business forum he believed a major aircraft subsidy dispute with Europe could be resolved after 16 years of wrangling at the World Trade Organization, but contrasted this with the outlook on China.
    “I think politically (China) is more difficult for this administration and it was for the last administration. But we still have to trade with our largest partner in the world: China,” he told the U.S. Chamber of Commerce Aviation Summit.

    Noting multiple disputes, he added: “I am hoping we can sort of separate intellectual property, human rights and other things from trade and continue to encourage a free trade environment between these two economic juggernauts. ...

    We cannot afford to be locked out of that market.
    Our competitor will jump right in.”

    Before its 737 MAX debacle Boeing was the biggest U.S. exporter and China was its biggest customer. The MAX has yet to be re-certified in China. If Washington keeps the hostile tone against China Boeing will lose out and Europe's Airbus will make a killing.

    Biden announced that "America is back” only to be told that it is no longer needed in the oversized role that it played before. Should Washington not be able to accept that it can no play 'unilateral' but will have to follow the real rules of international law we might be in for some interesting times:

    Question: Finally, are you concerned that deteriorating international tensions could lead to war?
    Glenn Diesen: Yes, we should all be concerned. Tensions keep escalating and there are increasing conflicts that could spark a major war. A war could break out over Syria, Ukraine, the Black Sea, the Arctic, the South China Sea and other regions.

    What makes all of these conflicts dangerous is that they are informed by a winner-takes-all logic.
    Wishful thinking or active push towards a collapse of Russia, China, the EU or the U.S. is also an indication of the winner-takes-all mentality. Under these conditions, the large powers are more prepared to accept greater risks at a time when the international system is transforming. The rhetoric of upholding liberal democratic values also has clear zero-sum undertones as it implies that Russia and China must accept the moral authority of the West and commit to unilateral concessions.

    The rapidly shifting international distribution of power creates problems that can only be resolved with real diplomacy. The great powers must recognize competing national interests, followed by efforts to reach compromises and find common solutions.

    Russia's president Vladimir Putin has repeatedly asked for a summit of leaders of the five permanent members of the UN Security Council:

    Putin argued that the countries that created a new global order after World War II should cooperate to solve today's problems.
    "The founder countries of the United Nations, the five states that hold special responsibility to save civilisation, can and must be an example," he said at the sombre memorial ceremony.

    The meeting would "play a great role in searching for collective answers to modern challenges and threats," Putin said, adding that Russia was "ready for such a serious conversation."

    Such a summit would be a chance to work on a new global system that avoids unilateralism and block mentality. As the U.S. is now learning that its allies are not willing to follow its anti-China and anti-Russia policies it might be willing to negotiate over a new international system.

    But as long as Washington is unable to recognize its own decline a violent attempt to solve the issue once and for all will become more likely."

    https://www.moonofalabama.org/2021/0...lity.html#more
    Last edited by OhOh; 03-04-2021 at 12:50 AM.

  18. #1493
    Thailand Expat harrybarracuda's Avatar
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    QED.

    Two posts of utter shite.

  19. #1494
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    Strategic partnership with China is a warning to Washington, Qalibaf says

    April 4, 2021 - 20:44

    "The signing of 25-year comprehensive strategic partnership between Iran China was an “important warning” to the U.S., Parliament Speaker Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf told an open session of parliament on Sunday, reminding Washington that the course of developments at the international scene are not in line with the interest of the White House.Qalibaf also said the U.S. is no longer in a position to unilaterally impose a “model”, “plan” or an “agreement” to independent states.

    The comprehensive strategic partnership, which sets the roadmap for cooperation in different areas, was signed in Tehran on March 27 between Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif and Chinese State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi.


    Speaking in favor of the partnership, the speaker said the document shows that the world is not just limited to the West.
    “We clarify that we welcome this move. If the signing of the document is based on this belief that the world is not just the West and that the future century (21st century) is Asia’s century it would be considered a strategic step,” the pragmatic senior lawmaker pointed out.

    The parliament speaker went on to say that the document could have been inked earlier because “we believe that a lot of time for shaping real economic and political cooperation and also effective resistance against the oppressive U.S. pressure has been wasted.”
    “However,” he added, “the moment should be seized and turn this document, by considering national interests, to projects, plans and economic and political cooperation.” He also suggested that ties with other countries, especially neighbors, should be upgraded to “strategic level” and be implemented immediately.

    Mojtaba Zonour, chairman of the Parliament National Security and Foreign Policy Committee, has said Iran is seeking such a long term and strategic partnership with Russia.
    Calling the strategic partnership a “general roadmap”, Qalibaf said certainly when the times arrives for implementing the document by the two governments, the Majlis will supervise “treaties and agreements” and will act to its duty to precisely study approve them in accordance with national interests and will brief the public about its details.

    Hossein Hosseinzadeh, the chairman of the Majlis Oil and Energy Committee, told IRNA on Sunday that after the signing of the partnership with China a number of European countries and big European companies have expressed readiness to do business with Iran.
    The MP also said uneasiness of certain countries, including the United States, about the partnership shows the importance of the document.
    He said Iran has signed the document, which contains valuable contents, with “open eyes” and with a “strategic outlook” Pointing to China’s One Belt, One Road Initiative (BRI), which is the reactivation of the 2000-year-old Silk Road, Hosseinzadeh said now the world’s economic look has changed from the West to the East with the centrality of China.

    The head of the Majlis Oil and Energy Committee said through implementation of the BRI project and according to expert views more than 70 countries in different parts of the world will join the economic and commercial projects with China and the geographical status of Iran, as the Chinese themselves acknowledge, is very effective in the BRI.
    It should be acknowledged that China will turn into a giant economic power in the world in the future years, he added.

    Saeed Leilaz, a professor of economics at Shahid Beheshti University, says the cooperation document with China should be viewed in tandem with Iran’s independence and keeping the country powerful.
    Writing in the Iran newspaper on Saturday, Leilaz said the partnership is a document in the post-Trump world which Iran can once again create a balance between the East and the West through it. He suggested even the proponents of relations with the West should be happy about the document because it can prompt the West to return to the negotiating table and show them that Iran’s hands are not tied in finding ways for an “independent life” and that “it is not alone”.

    Andrew Korybko, an American geopolitical analyst, has told the Tehran Times that “China is arguably the best partner that Iran could ever have.” Korybko says, “The reportedly promised Chinese investments will enable the Islamic Republic to modernize its economy and emerge as a regional production powerhouse with time.”

    Strategic partnership with China is a warning to Washington, Qalibaf says - Tehran Times
    Last edited by OhOh; 05-04-2021 at 09:44 AM.

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    Chinese FM urges U.S. to truly respect China's core interests


    By Xinhua Published: Apr 05, 2021 08:55 AM

    "Chinese State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi on Sunday urged the United States to truly respect China's core interests and take a correct view of China's development.

    Wang made the remarks in response to media query about China-U.S. relations after meetings with his counterparts of Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia, the Philippines and the Republic of Korea in China's Fujian Province.

    Citing that the foreign ministers have regarded China's development and growth as a historical necessity, Wang said it is believed that China's development conforms to the common expectations and long-term interests of all countries in the region, which should not be blocked.

    He said the foreign ministers believed that facing the challenges of globalization and the post-epidemic era, China and the U.S. should have more dialogue and cooperation in this region, instead of game and confrontation, fulfill the obligations of major powers, and demonstrate the responsibility of major powers.

    "China is willing to respond to the expectations of all parties and continue to make its own efforts to this end," Wang said.

    Regarding the arguments of competition, cooperation and confrontation repeatedly put forward by the U.S. on its relations with China, Wang said China's position is consistent and clear.

    China welcomes dialogue on the basis of equality and mutual respect, Wang said, adding that China does not approve of one-upmanship in the world, and does not accept that one country has the final say in world affairs.

    "China welcomes cooperation if there is the need, but cooperation needs to take into account each other's concerns and mutual benefit. It cannot goes in the fashion of one side unilaterally raising conditions and making lists," Wang said.

    China will not evade competition if it is needed, but competition should be fair and just and abide by market rules, and refrain from setting obstacles, abusing power, and depriving others of their legitimate right to development, Wang said, adding that if there is still confrontation, China will deal with it calmly and face it fearlessly.

    "We resolutely resist gross interference in China's internal affairs, and more resolutely oppose unlawful unilateral sanctions imposed on the basis of lies and false information," Wang said.

    He said China will not compromise or retreat, as it sticks to the basic norms of international relations and stands for the interests of many developing, small and medium-sized countries. China definitely has the right to fight back since it must defend national sovereignty and national dignity.

    "Dialogue is better than confrontation, and cooperation is better than confrontation," Wang said, urging the U.S. to actively respond to the expectations of regional countries and the international community, work with China to show what a major power should be like, and jointly maintain regional and world peace, stability and development. "

    Chinese FM urges U.S. to truly respect China's core interests - Global Times

  21. #1496
    Thailand Expat OhOh's Avatar
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    Cold War mentality won’t restore US’ declining soft power


    By Xu Yelu Published: Apr 04, 2021 04:47 PM

    "Will the Cold War come back?

    Elites and politicians in the strategic domain are getting more serious about this question after US President Joe Biden declared to forge an "alliance of democracies". After the China-US Alaska talks on March 19, Chinese State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi's visit to the Middle East and his meeting with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov was described by the New York Times as an attempt to forge an "alliance of autocracies." "The world is increasingly dividing into distinct if not purely ideological camps, with both China and the US hoping to lure supporters," it read.

    The US always had the Cold War mentality during and after the Cold War. Biden made that clear in his first presidential news conference on March 25 when he called the challenge from China and Russia "a battle between the utility of democracies in the 21st century and autocracies." Biden's alliance strategy strengthened both the Cold War mentality and actions at the same time, trying to make the world believe that the Cold War was inevitable.

    "But it's almost impossible to divide the world into two separate camps, because the world is not just the US and China. There are many countries in the world and many international organizations, and they have different voices about where the international order is moving toward." Li Haidong, a professor at the Institute of International Relations of the China Foreign Affairs University, told the Global Times on Sunday.

    The objective reality of the declining soft power of the US proves that the Cold War order that the US desires ̶ an autocracy camp against a democracy camp ̶̶ will not become the mainstream value of the world. The poverty, racial discrimination, collapse of democracy and economic recession that the US faces at home will not be solved by dividing the world into two camps. Moreover, none of the US allies will be willing to follow the US on every issue or take sides against China. US has its strength, absolutely, but it should not overestimate its omnipotence.

    Behind the Cold War mentality was the idea of trying to resolve internal divisions in Western society by means of instigating external challenges. The result is a Washington that is unable to focus on solving its domestic issues, and a climate that makes it difficult to work with other nations on global issues. "The most effective way to deal with US' desire to divide the world is to establish a multilevel equilibrium in different directions." Li noted.

    Robert Kagan described the US as a "dangerous nation" in his book Dangerous Nation: America's Place in the World, from its Earliest Days to the Dawn of the 20th Century. Exactly. The diplomatic policy of the US has become more and more irrational, thus making the country a dangerous one. It looks at China whenever making a policy. Will all countries need to take sides between the US and China in their policymaking and economic development?

    US and Western politicians with political amnesia seem to have forgotten what the ideological opposition in 1947 has brought to the world. It has caused long-term confrontation between the East and the West, impeded the integrated development of the world, caused the division of Germany, Korea and other countries, and triggered local wars. When security and survival become the overwhelming priority, how can we talk about development?

    In the Cold War era, the two camps were isolated from each other and formed two parallel markets, which brought incalculable negative impact on the development of the world economy. The development of the world economy evolved from the "two camps" and "three worlds" model to the current huge and unified division of labor system that spans regions and political systems and covers almost all countries is one of the biggest achievements of economic globalization. As countries become increasingly dependent on each other on market supply, manufacturing, and division of labor, a new cold war will inevitably lead to the collapse of the industrial chain and losses for both sides.

    Cold War mentality and forcing other countries to take sides is not a demonstration of US' power. However, as Bloomberg mentioned in an article entitled "US-China Cold War Will Have More Than Two Sides", that "such cold war ideologies can never truly replace [US'] messy reality." In short, Cold War mentality won't restore US' declining soft power."


    Cold War mentality won’t restore US’ declining soft power - Global Times

  22. #1497
    Thailand Expat harrybarracuda's Avatar
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    Chinese FM urges U.S. to truly respect China's core interests

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    Quote Originally Posted by harrybarracuda View Post
    Chinese FM urges U.S. to truly respect China's core interests
    As in Alaska meeting the relation between the two superpower was not really very friendly, it was quite surprising that the one superpower was asking the other one for a help with North Korea. So wasn't it a certain respect in interests of the other?

  24. #1499
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    Yelp! Yelp!

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    Quote Originally Posted by harrybarracuda View Post
    These reactions really blow my fucking mind as to how stupid some people can be. China is a nuclear fucking power. Nuclear powers have core interests and red lines. The fucking US of A has them too. And if anyone crosses these red lines, there will be a serious international crisis and war.

    Give your fucking head a shake.

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