US Hegemony and Its Perils - China's Charge Sheets - Feb 2023

BlueKiwi said:
It almost sounds like the Chinese Government made the declaration, because "If no one else will say it, we will"
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Actually, as I read it (the first paper Michael included here in full), I thought it an excellent 'write-up' of Putin's major speeches last year, when he 'gave it to the US with both barrels'. So, Vlad was on first!
 
I just finished watching a report on how out of date the US weapons arsenal is. Then there is the issue of all the service members who have become weak or disabled because of the vax. Obviously the Biden people are deliberately wreaking the country in every way for the reset and the military is apart of that destruction so how could they pull off a war with a major power? Trying to untangle the twisted minds of crazy people is difficult for me, they're delusional I suppose. It does look suicidal and it sounds like finally the world has had enough of these dangerous people.


Alejo said:
I saw that being discussed a few days ago, and I found it interesting, mostly because it goes to show you that the Chinese, as probably do many other governments in the world, see right through the US and the effect it has had on the world.

Which implies that while the US feels as the "leader" of the "free world" in reality, a lot more people see behind the facade and understand exactly what the US is, a mafia leader who pushes and intimidates others into falling in line.

To me, China and other nations continue to do business with the US because it's such a large client that it's an attractive market, and ruining it would entail collapse for everyone to a large degree, but I daresay that a lot of them see the inevitable suicidal tendencies, and see it eventually going down, potentially taking the EU with it, and everyone's kind of just waiting it out.
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It reads to me as a positional piece of work aimed at estranging the USA from it' allies & isolating it from the neutrals
i.e. it is setting out that there is a viable alternative to being bullied & coerced by the USA.
Classic 'divide & conquer'

I suspect that the main audience is Africa and the Middle-East nations.
e.g. the recent naval exercises between South Africa, Russia & China.

Sadly, it is hammering home the nails that the USA has previously put in place on the coffin.
Even worse for the USA, is that it documents & creates the rational /legitimises China & Russia's next actions
 
Michael B-C said:
Indeed Niall. A co-ordinated double broadside. Stand by for boarding...! :pirate:
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Yes, and note that the Chinese, and Russians and South Africans just launched military exercises, so there's a few more pieces moving it sounds like.

Russia, China and South Africa launch joint military drills​

“The active part of the exercise will take place from February 25 to 27. Joint artillery firing and tactical maneuvering will be carried out at sea. Sailors of the three countries will work out the actions of inspection teams to search and release a captured ship, provide assistance to a ship in distress, and repel enemy air attacks,” a statement from the Russian Defense Ministry’s press service read.
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The Chinese FM has since published a fifth paper on its website:

Rising Economic Polarization in the United States: Truth and Facts​


Contents

Introduction

I. Deterioration of Economic Polarization in the United States

II. Multiple Factors Driving U.S. Economic Polarization

III. Serious Negative Implications for American Society

Conclusion



Introduction

Being the largest economy in the world, the United States is also the most economically polarized among Western countries. It has long been stuck in the conundrum where the rich get richer and the poor become poorer. Since the onset of COVID-19, the United States has adopted massive fiscal and financial stimulus measures. However, these measures fail to address the fundamental difficulties facing the have-nots, but rather offer billionaires a chance to expand their wealth. Economic inequality has become even more prominent.

Through facts and figures, this report aims to reveal the current state of wealth disparity in the United States, the entrenched political and social causes behind it, and the implications of the problem.

I. Deterioration of Economic Polarization in the United States

Since the 1970s, income inequality and wealth disparity in the United States have continually deepened. The rich keep getting richer, the poor keep getting poorer, and the middle class is squeezed. Today, these perilous trends continue.

◆ The Gini coefficient, which measures inequality in income distribution, has kept rising in the United States. According to the World Bank, the U.S. Gini coefficient has gone up from 0.353 in 1974 to 0.415 in 2019, exceeding the alarming level at 0.4 indicating a large income gap. During the same period, other developed countries have largely kept their Gini coefficient below 0.35, or even 0.3 in some cases.

◆ In the United States, the wealthy population have enjoyed much faster income growth than the low-income group. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, between 1970 and 2020, the average income of the top fifth of families increased by 182 percent to 253,000 U.S. dollars, while the middle-income households and the bottom fifth saw their average incomes grow by just 133 percent to 72,000 dollars and 113 percent to 15,000 dollars respectively. In 1975, the average income of the top fifth was 10.3 times that of the bottom fifth. The gap widened to 17.4 times by 2020.

◆ The share of national income held by upper-income households has risen markedly. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the income shares of the top fifth and top 5 percent have both been climbing. Standing at 43.3 percent and 16.6 percent respectively in 1970, their shares rose to 52.2 percent and 23.0 percent in 2020. In the meantime, the shares held by middle- and low-income households have both declined. The share of the middle-income group dropped from 52.7 percent in 1970 to 44.7 percent in 2020, and that of the low-income group in the bottom fifth fell from 4.1 percent to 3 percent. Since 1993, the income share of middle-income families, who make up 60 percent of total households, has remained lower than that of the top fifth, and is becoming increasingly disproportionate.

◆ The income share of the ultra-rich has reached its highest level since World War II. According to the World Wealth and Income Database, after an initial fall in the early 20th century, the income share of the ultra-rich, or the top 1 percent, in the United States had kept rising, and hit 22.3 percent in 1928. After World War II, a prevailing call for equal opportunity and economic equality, along with the introduction of economic systems such as progressive tax, inheritance tax, strong trade unions and financial regulation, helped restrain the concentration of wealth. By 1970, the income share of the top 1 percent had fallen to 10.7 percent. But it has since risen gradually, and reached 19.1 percent by 2021, almost doubled in 50 years.

◆ A main cause for the widening income disparity is the huge pay gap. According to Equilar, the median income of CEOs of listed companies in 2021 was 20 million dollars, up 31 percent from 2020, while that of average employees increased from around 69,000 dollars to some 72,000 dollars, up about 4 percent. According to a study by the Economic Policy Institute, CEO pay had skyrocketed by 1,322 percent between 1978 and 2020, while typical worker compensation had risen just 18 percent.

◆The economic divide is also reflected in wealth inequality. According to Federal Reserve statistics, the richest 1 percent of U.S. households hold more than 20 percent of national household wealth, a share that has continued to grow sharply in recent years. According to Fed statistics in 2021, the top 1 percent held a record 32.3 percent of the country's wealth, up from only 23.6 percent in 1989, while the bottom 50 percent (about 63 million households) held only 2.6 percent, down from 3.7 percent in 1989.

◆ The middle class is shrinking. A "middle-class America" was formed in some 20 years from the end of World War II to 1970. Afterward, however, despite the continued growth of the U.S. economy, the middle class has not expanded, but shrunk significantly. The share of American adults who live in middle-income households fell from 61 percent in 1971 to 51 percent in 2019. The share in the upper-income tier rose from 14 percent to 20 percent over the same period. Meanwhile, the share in the lower-income tier increased from 25 percent to 29 percent. The size of middle-income families has continued to shrink.

◆ Social stratification is severely rigid. According to a paper by Raj Chetty and other American economists, the percentage of Americans earning more than their parents fell from more than 90 percent in the 1940s to about 50 percent in the 1980s, with the largest declines for families in the middle class. The opportunities for young people to increase their incomes are fading. Most of the decline is driven by the more unequal distribution of wealth rather than the slowdown in aggregate growth rates. Alan Krueger, chairman of the White House Council of Economic Advisers in the Obama administration, believes that high inequality in American society has resulted in a low level of inter-generational mobility and formed a "Great Gatsby Curve" where one's economic standing is more dependent on the wealth of the parents.

◆ The poverty issue in the United States has never been effectively addressed. The overall poverty rate in the country dropped by more than 10 percentage points from 1959 to 1969, but has lingered around 12.5 percent ever since. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, 46.2 million American people were living in poverty in 2010, and the poverty rate reached up to 15.1 percent, the highest in 52 years. In 2020, the poverty rate climbed by 0.9 percentage points to 11.4 percent from 10.5 percent in 2019. Currently, 37 million American people are still living below the poverty line.

◆ The COVID-19 pandemic has intensified economic inequality in the United States. The economic recession triggered by the pandemic has led to massive job losses and further deterioration in the economic situation of low-income earners. At the same time, excessive money supply and large-scale fiscal spending drove up stock and housing prices, bringing enormous benefits to wealthier asset owners. According to a Fed report on household wealth, the total wealth of the richest 1 percent reached a record 45.9 trillion dollars at the end of the fourth quarter of 2021, and their fortunes increased by more than 12 trillion dollars, or more than a third, during the course of the pandemic.

II. Multiple Factors Driving U.S. Economic Polarization

The polarization between the rich and the poor in the United States is caused by multiple factors, including monopoly, electoral politics, government policies, weakened labor unions, and racial discrimination.

◆ Polarization and unequal distribution of wealth are a chronic malaise and an inevitable result of capitalism, giving rise to both wealth accumulation and poverty in the United States. Since the 1970s, conservatism and liberalism have thrived in the country, and marketization and internationalization have been prioritized over equality. The shift in the U.S. economic system toward promoting privatization, repealing progressive taxation, weakening labor unions and loosening financial regulation has made addressing wealth inequality even more hopeless.

◆ The 2011 Occupy Wall Street movement epitomized the American people's grievances about unfair capital accumulation and the disparity of wealth. The core message of the movement was to oppose embezzlement and corruption in the financial sector, economic inequality and social injustice. Slogans such as "the rich get richer and the poor get poorer" reflected people's profound frustration with the ever-widening wealth gap in the United States. The movement was portrayed by Wall Street as a "mob", and dispersed violently by the U.S. government. But 12 years on, the economic disparity is only getting worse.

◆ Partisan conflict and government alternation have led to flip-flops in U.S. policies. Tax policy plays an important role in narrowing the wealth gap. But the rivalry between Democrats and Republicans on taxation has resulted in a failure to effectively tax the rich who have tried every possible means to "legally" avoid taxes. According to a report by the news outlet ProPublica, the true tax rate of the richest Americans is only 3.4 percent, far lower than that of ordinary wage earners.

◆ The weakening of trade unions has aggravated such polarization. In the 1950s, about a third of American workers belonged to unions, and the union membership rate was 23.8 percent in 1978. But the number fell to 11.3 percent in 2011 and further to 10.3 percent in 2021. Since Black workers are more likely than workers of other races to be unionized, the decline in unionization has particularly affected them and exacerbated poverty among the Black community.

◆ The wealth gap is closely related to race. Black, Hispanic or Latino households in the United States earn about half the average income of white households, and own only 15 percent to 20 percent of the latter's net wealth. The divide has widened significantly over the past few decades according to Fed statistics. Since 1989, the median wealth of white households has tripled, while the wealth of Black, Hispanic and Latino households has barely increased. According to a Fed survey in 2019, the median white household has a net worth 10 times that of the median Black household, and the 400 richest American billionaires have more total wealth than all 10 million Black households combined.

◆ Racial discrimination is entrenched in the job market. The unemployment rate of Black workers has long been about twice that of whites. Before the outbreak of COVID-19, the unemployment rate in the United States hit a record low of 3.5 percent, but the number was far higher for Black and Hispanic workers. Black professionals are poorly represented in high-paying corporate jobs. In 2020, there were only four Black CEOs among Fortune 500 companies.

III. Serious Negative Implications for American Society

The widening wealth gap is one of the main causes for the deepening social crisis in the United States. Problems including growing ethnic conflicts, increasing homelessness, urban riots and violent crimes are all closely related to it.

◆ Social unrest is intensifying. Due to the widening polarization between the rich and the poor, the United States has witnessed frequent demonstrations in recent years. From the Occupy Wall Street movement in 2011 to the Black Lives Matter protests against police violence in the United States in 2020, some demonstrations have even turned violent. Through these large-scale demonstrations, the underprivileged American people have tried to combat racial discrimination, rigid class stratification and economic polarization. During the COVID-19 pandemic, although the multiple rounds of economic stimulus policies and vast subsidies rolled out by the U.S. government temporarily eased social tensions, such measures have made the debt crisis more entrenched and inflation pressure more difficult to deal with.

◆ The human rights situation is worrying. The wealth inequality has further worsened the human rights situation in the United States. First, average life expectancy has declined. According to the U.S. National Center for Health Statistics, the average life expectancy in the country has dropped 2.7 years from 2019 to 2021, with 3.1 years shorter for men and 2.3 years shorter for women. Second, access to higher education is disproportionately skewed toward the rich, while the low-income group has no equal access to education. As a result, public dissatisfaction with higher education is increasing. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, 82 percent of 18- to 24-year-olds from high-income families participated in college, compared with just 45 percent of those from low-income families. Third, the homeless are living in a dire situation. The growing wealth disparity, especially extreme poverty, is the main reason for homelessness. A report by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development showed that more than 580,000 people were homeless in 2020, with 226,000 sleeping outside, in cars or in abandoned buildings.

◆ The COVID-19 pandemic has hit the poor the hardest. After collecting data from more than 3,200 counties in the United States, and comparing the poorest 10 percent of the counties with the richest 10 percent, the Poor People's Campaign found that the poorer counties reported coronavirus death rates nearly double those in the wealthier ones. Within the 300 counties with the highest death rates, 45 percent of the population live below the poverty line. Galax County, Virginia, had the highest death rate, which reached 1,134 deaths per 100,000 people during the pandemic. With 538 deaths per 100,000 people during the pandemic, Bronx, New York, was also among the 10 percent of counties with the highest coronavirus mortality rates. More than half of the borough's population, 56 percent of them Hispanic and 29 percent Black, live below the poverty line. The fact that COVID-19 took a heavy toll on poorer communities has further highlighted the systemic failure of the United States to address poverty.

◆ COVID-associated orphanhood has aggravated the poverty problem. More than 200,000 children in the United States have been orphaned by the pandemic. One in every 12 orphans under the age of 18 has lost a guardian due to COVID-19. More than twice as many Hispanic and Latino children in American public schools have lost their guardians as white children. Most COVID-19 orphans have been living at the bottom of the social ladder since they were born. Losing their parents in the pandemic has made their lives even more hopeless. Since the outbreak of COVID-19, the US federal government has handed out trillions of dollars in bailouts, but no legislation or executive order has been rolled out to provide help to these COVID-19 orphans.

Conclusion

Ending poverty in all its forms everywhere is an important sustainable development goal of the United Nations. Development is fundamentally for the common prosperity of the people, which should become a consensus and common action of all countries.

In the United States, the world's number one capitalist country, polarization between the rich and the poor is crying out for attention. The yawning wealth gap has become a chronic malaise of American society, leaving an indelible stain on the country's democracy and human rights record. The United States should face up to the grim reality of the ever-widening wealth gap at home, reach out to the people at the bottom, and take earnest measures to solve the problem.
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Niall said:
The Chinese FM has since published a fifth paper on its website:
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We can add to this a 6th paper with ostensible regard to the Ukraine War but it also stands as positioning paper to cover how conflicts between states which break out into military action should be diplomatically mediated in a future multi-polar world. I think we can take it for granted this was agreed between the Chinese and Russians ahead of publication.

Full text: China's Position on the Political Settlement of the Ukraine Crisis​

February 24, 2023

China released a paper stating its position on the political settlement of the Ukraine crisis on Friday. The following is the full text.
China's Position on the Political Settlement of the Ukraine Crisis

1. Respecting the sovereignty of all countries. Universally recognized international law, including the purposes and principles of the United Nations Charter, must be strictly observed. The sovereignty, independence and territorial integrity of all countries must be effectively upheld. All countries, big or small, strong or weak, rich or poor, are equal members of the international community. All parties should jointly uphold the basic norms governing international relations and defend international fairness and justice. Equal and uniform application of international law should be promoted, while double standards must be rejected.

2. Abandoning the Cold War mentality. The security of a country should not be pursued at the expense of others. The security of a region should not be achieved by strengthening or expanding military blocs. The legitimate security interests and concerns of all countries must be taken seriously and addressed properly. There is no simple solution to a complex issue. All parties should, following the vision of common, comprehensive, cooperative and sustainable security and bearing in mind the long-term peace and stability of the world, help forge a balanced, effective and sustainable European security architecture. All parties should oppose the pursuit of one's own security at the cost of others' security, prevent bloc confrontation, and work together for peace and stability on the Eurasian Continent.

3. Ceasing hostilities. Conflict and war benefit no one. All parties must stay rational and exercise restraint, avoid fanning the flames and aggravating tensions, and prevent the crisis from deteriorating further or even spiraling out of control. All parties should support Russia and Ukraine in working in the same direction and resuming direct dialogue as quickly as possible, so as to gradually deescalate the situation and ultimately reach a comprehensive ceasefire.

4. Resuming peace talks. Dialogue and negotiation are the only viable solution to the Ukraine crisis. All efforts conducive to the peaceful settlement of the crisis must be encouraged and supported. The international community should stay committed to the right approach of promoting talks for peace, help parties to the conflict open the door to a political settlement as soon as possible, and create conditions and platforms for the resumption of negotiation. China will continue to play a constructive role in this regard.

5. Resolving the humanitarian crisis. All measures conducive to easing the humanitarian crisis must be encouraged and supported. Humanitarian operations should follow the principles of neutrality and impartiality, and humanitarian issues should not be politicized. The safety of civilians must be effectively protected, and humanitarian corridors should be set up for the evacuation of civilians from conflict zones. Efforts are needed to increase humanitarian assistance to relevant areas, improve humanitarian conditions, and provide rapid, safe and unimpeded humanitarian access, with a view to preventing a humanitarian crisis on a larger scale. The UN should be supported in playing a coordinating role in channeling humanitarian aid to conflict zones.

6. Protecting civilians and prisoners of war (POWs). Parties to the conflict should strictly abide by international humanitarian law, avoid attacking civilians or civilian facilities, protect women, children and other victims of the conflict, and respect the basic rights of POWs. China supports the exchange of POWs between Russia and Ukraine, and calls on all parties to create more favorable conditions for this purpose.

7. Keeping nuclear power plants safe. China opposes armed attacks against nuclear power plants or other peaceful nuclear facilities, and calls on all parties to comply with international law including the Convention on Nuclear Safety (CNS) and resolutely avoid man-made nuclear accidents. China supports the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) in playing a constructive role in promoting the safety and security of peaceful nuclear facilities.

8. Reducing strategic risks. Nuclear weapons must not be used and nuclear wars must not be fought. The threat or use of nuclear weapons should be opposed. Nuclear proliferation must be prevented and nuclear crisis avoided. China opposes the research, development and use of chemical and biological weapons by any country under any circumstances.

9. Facilitating grain exports. All parties need to implement the Black Sea Grain Initiative signed by Russia, Türkiye, Ukraine and the UN fully and effectively in a balanced manner, and support the UN in playing an important role in this regard. The cooperation initiative on global food security proposed by China provides a feasible solution to the global food crisis.

10. Stopping unilateral sanctions. Unilateral sanctions and maximum pressure cannot solve the issue; they only create new problems. China opposes unilateral sanctions unauthorized by the UN Security Council. Relevant countries should stop abusing unilateral sanctions and "long-arm jurisdiction" against other countries, so as to do their share in deescalating the Ukraine crisis and create conditions for developing countries to grow their economies and better the lives of their people.

11. Keeping industrial and supply chains stable. All parties should earnestly maintain the existing world economic system and oppose using the world economy as a tool or weapon for political purposes. Joint efforts are needed to mitigate the spillovers of the crisis and prevent it from disrupting international cooperation in energy, finance, food trade and transportation and undermining the global economic recovery.

12. Promoting post-conflict reconstruction. The international community needs to take measures to support post-conflict reconstruction in conflict zones. China stands ready to provide assistance and play a constructive role in this endeavor.
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So many subtle and not so subtle critiques of the US/West/Ukraine.
  • Sovereignty of all countries includes Russia.
  • Adversarial use of military blocks must end.
  • Equality not a matter of size and bullying power.
  • Use of war as the principle form of politics a dead end.
  • Impartiality in issues that do not impact directly upon your local security.
  • Strict adherence to international law - not when it suits you.
  • Nuclear threats or attacks on facilities as blackmail unacceptable as is the use of Countries like Ukraine for chemical and biological warfare development
  • End to pressurizing poorer countries through food chain.
  • Unilateral sanctions are illegal and destructive.
  • Attacks on supply chains are acts of terrorism (including Nord Stream).
  • Keeping countries like Syria in post war poverty by blocking funds for reconstruction must end.
 
I came across this article today, and it's behind a paywall but RT in Spanish wrote about it, I will paste it below.

But there's something that I find interesting, the lack of creativity in the west will make its next endeavors to harm someone economically, a lot less effective. What I mean is, they have been attacking Russia with sanctions since 2014, and the sanctions hurt them to the point of becoming stronger and more independent.

China has been looking at this, and it seems that they have been considering the posibilites from well before they actually take place, if it ever got to that point, something the author doesn't think it will, not with the severity that it has been implemented against Russia, it will actually be a lot less efficient, China has had years to prepare.

Here's the translation:

Can anti-Russian sanctions lead to China's decoupling from the dollar?

According to Chinese analysts, the U.S. uses its currency as a weapon and in this context Beijing has to reduce the risks to its economy.

The anti-Russian sanctions and the global use of the US dollar as a weapon to influence the economies of other countries generate risks for China, according to economists from the Asian giant quoted by South China Morning Post on Saturday. However, there are experts who think Beijing runs risks if it exits the dollar-centered monetary system because of close ties with the U.S. economy.

For the yuan, against dollar hegemony.

"The use of the dollar as a weapon of the U.S. has further damaged its credibility, making the currency an increasingly risky asset," said Zhang Monan, an analyst with the Beijing-based China Center for International Economic Exchanges (CCIEE). "Also, the uncertainty created by secondary financial sanctions creates a chilling effect. It will force many countries to think about how to avoid such risks," he added.

Another economist, Ding Yifan, stressed that the use of the dollar as a weapon violates norms of international law and warns that China may become a victim of the U.S. currency. According to Ding, Beijing should react to this situation, for example, by divesting from U.S. Treasury bonds. Meanwhile, at the end of 2022, the level of Beijing's investment in U.S. bonds recorded its lowest figure in 12 years.

On the other hand, the conflict in Ukraine and anti-Russian restrictions caused the rise of de-dollarization, in which the Chinese yuan plays an important role. According to Swift data, the percentage of yuan usage in international payments increased from 2.05 % in December 2020 to 3.91 % two years later. However, the Chinese currency is underrepresented compared to Beijing's share of global GDP, Zhang believes. "It's not a question of whether the yuan can challenge the dollar but how long the hegemony" of the U.S. currency can last, he said.

"What China is doing serves to avoid the risks of the U.S. dollar and enhance its capabilities to protect itself," Zhang concluded.

Beijing-Washington decoupling: benefits vs. threats

Meanwhile, the economies of China and the US are closely linked, which is why some experts believe that it will not be beneficial for Beijing to decouple from Washington.

"Russia was forced out of the U.S. dollar system [...] It is a reality that we somehow live in the U.S. dollar system, and that will not change in the short term," said a prominent economist on condition of anonymity. "In general, China gets more benefits from the U.S. dollar system than losses," he added.

For this reason, it doubts that the disengagement scenario is possible in the near future. "Why do we have to become hostile against the U.S. What will China get out of it? There are many things, such as financial sanctions, that will not take place if the two countries reconcile," the expert stressed.

Randall Germain, a professor at Carleton University in Ottawa, Canada, stressed that the character of economic relations between the US and Russia, on the one hand, and between Washington and Beijing, on the other, is "totally different." According to Germain, it is unlikely that the US will decide to impose restrictions against China similar to those imposed on Moscow.

Moreover, the economist doubts that the Chinese currency can compete on an equal footing with the dollar, stressing that the yuan is "a kind of regional currency" used mainly in Asia.

Translated with www.DeepL.com/Translator (free version)
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I ran across this article tonight, and I feel it fits in this thread. Just like with the balloons, they're going.. "well, we're not saying that it definitely came from China.. but it came from China" As part of this entire operation to demonize them.

I wonder if they will sacrifice Fauci in the process.

U.S. has no evidence to claim that China used COVID-19 as a bioweapon

WASHINGTON (Sputnik) - The new coronavirus may have originated in a Chinese laboratory, but there is no evidence to prove that it was used by that country as a biological weapon or that the virus was intentionally leaked, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said.
"Esto está separado de la cuestión sobre si eso tiene algo que ver con armas biológicas o acciones intencionales de parte de un país para desarrollarlo [el virus], usarlo y liberarlo", añadió.

"This is separate from the question of whether that has anything to do with biological weapons or intentional actions on the part of a country to develop it [the virus], use it and release it," he added.

On February 28, Federal Bureau of Investigation Director Christopher Wray said the agency believes it is "very likely" that the new coronavirus originated in a laboratory in the Chinese city of Wuhan. In turn, Homeland Security advisor Jake Sullivan said that "there is no definitive answer" about the origins of the virus.
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The new Iron Curtain is dropping fast over Europe and this time its is openly being created by the West. So the East is retaliating and preparing at accelerating speed.

From the Duran conversation concerning the scale and importance of Lukashenko's state greeting by Xi Jinping.



11:49

The world that we knew, the world of globalization as we remember it, the world that spawned globalization is ending.
  • That’s why I think you're seeing such a rush from the US and from the European Union to consolidate its control - at least over Europe.
  • That’s why you have Sweden/ Finland joining NATO
  • That’s why you're seeing a push to settle the situation in Serbia - I mean they're putting a lot of pressure on Aleksandar Vučić to settle the situation in Serbia
  • That’s why you saw the Sunak, Ursula, King Charles arrangement for Brexit to be rolled back
  • That's why you're seeing a lot of pressure on Hungary with Samantha Power turning up to Hungary and I'm getting reports of a lot of activity and money being poured into Hungarian anti- Orbán journalists and NGOs
I really am getting the sense that that this Cold War border is being drawn at Belarus and whatever it's going to be left with Ukraine and then Europe, and you can see the US and the EU really working hard to try and make sure they consolidate and control all of Europe that they can so as to bring it under One Umbrella.

As I said the Chinese didn't want to go there but they're being pushed to do it. The Russians obviously already fully understand that's where it must go.

I mean Chinese relations with the West are deteriorating so fast. Huawei as you said is going to be brushed out of the way – and by the way on the subject of Huawei I was reading an article in the Daily Telegraph saying that 5G in Europe is now almost dead because it's apparently been killed by higher energy costs, that the amount of energy required it being so very energy intensive to operate and there isn't that much consumer demand for it so essentially it's burning itself out. It's going. So all of that fuss over Huawei was over nothing as it turns out.

But anyway the lines are being drawn and hardened. The collective West are telling Serbia / Hungary look you're on our side of the fence and we’re not going to tolerate any more deviation or dissent from you; you've got to fall into line. So we're going to see pressure on Serbia, you'll see pressure on Hungary and in the meantime the other side is coming together and if you like you can actually make that comparison.

Ursula meats King Charles and Sunak. Xi Jinping meets Lukashenko and Putin is to meet Xi Jinping. Then we have Blinken going to Eurasia – Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan - meeting with them to try and maybe make one final attempt at trying to win them over. The whole thing seemed pathetic in a way where Blinken is guaranteeing them safety from Russian aggression and Kazakhstan’s says ‘what are you talking about?’ I mean the fact is all of these countries in the recent UN General Assembly they all abstained on the on the U.S resolution. They’re not going to spoil their relations with China and Russia. That’s simply not happening. Blinken is on a hiding to nothing there.

if you remember back in late 2021 early 2022 this attempt to create some kind of a colour Revolution in Kazakhstan and that failed so maybe he's going there to reconnoiter the land see whether you can achieve anything in that part of the world now. Pathetic.

The big difference with the previous Cold War is in the previous Cold War the collective West was much stronger economically. That isn't the case this time and that changes everything. that changes the entire geopolitical geometry of this contest. But if what the Neocons wanted at the initiation of the Ukraine conflict was to divide China and Russia it hasn't worked - it's done the opposite. As we see it's consolidating what is increasingly looking like a Chinese-led block.
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The extraordinary speed of these changes now does make one think that something else is driving this underneath it all. Globalisation is in trouble yes but such is the increasingly desperate need for a massively increased war footing and lines being drawn suggests its really about getting total control of the home front just in time ... because something wicked this way comes...
 
Michael B-C said:
The extraordinary speed of these changes now does make one think that something else is driving this underneath it all. Globalisation is in trouble yes but such is the increasingly desperate need for a massively increased war footing and lines being drawn suggests its really about getting total control of the home front just in time ... because something wicked this way comes...
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Yes, it could also be them freaking about the fact that their brilliant plans did not work against Russia, and instead of seeing the error of their ways, they could've come up with the explanation that "ohhh... of course, it's because of China... let's get rid of China and watch our plans come to fruition".

Wishful thinking and all.
 
www.wsj.com

China’s Xi Jinping Takes Rare Direct Aim at U.S. in Speech

Chinese leader Xi Jinping blamed what he termed a U.S.-led campaign to contain China for worsening the troubles and global uncertainties that his country has faced over the past five years.
www.wsj.com www.wsj.com

Chinese leader Xi Jinping issued an unusually blunt rebuke of U.S. policy on Monday, blaming what he termed a Washington-led campaign to suppress China for recent challenges facing his country.

“Western countries—led by the U.S.—have implemented all-round containment, encirclement and suppression against us, bringing unprecedentedly severe challenges to our country’s development,” Mr. Xi was quoted by state media as saying on Monday.
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Xi mentions the US directly, instead of alluding to it. China slowly peeling off the gloves.

asia.nikkei.com

Ukraine latest: China must advance relations with Russia, foreign minister says

Zelenskyy vows no retreat from Bakhmut; Russia's Wagner chief warns of ammunition shortage
asia.nikkei.com asia.nikkei.com

China must advance its relations with Russia as the world becomes more turbulent, Foreign Minister Qin Gang said on Tuesday. Speaking to reporters at an annual parliamentary session in Beijing, Qin said the close interactions between both leaders -- President Xi Jinping and President Vladimir Putin -- provided the anchor for China-Russia relations. Asked whether it is possible that China and Russia would abandon the dollar and euro for bilateral trade, Qin said that countries should use whatever currency is efficient, safe and credible. "Currencies should not be the trump card for unilateral sanctions, still less a disguise for bullying or coercion," he said.
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We all knew it already, but making statements like these sends a message to anyone who still doesn't understand where things are heading.
 
That statement about a currency being credible is probably the biggest jab they take at the US and yet another show that they see right through the facade of the US, the dollar is not a credible currency... not for international trade when it is so unsafe in the long terms, as it provides the US the ability to sanction you and your business partners.

It wouldn't be long after Russia and China start trading in their currencies, that others would follow their example, dismantling one of the US' largest and most efficient weapons thus far, without it they have no military might as they couldn't afford it.
 
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