‘Looks Bad’: King Charles ‘Furious’ over Prince Andrew's Chinese Spy Drama

Dec 16, 2024 | King Charles is reportedly “furious” over reports that Prince Andrew had a Chinese spy staffer, according to the Daily Mail.

BBC News reported last Thursday that as a result of the allegations, the spy has been banned from entering the United Kingdom.

According to British officials, the spy was reportedly a 50-year-old man and a member of the Chinese Communist Party. The alleged spy also reportedly secretly worked for the CCP’s United Front Work Department.

The access the Chinese spy had was reportedly a “serious breach of national security”, according to officials.

A royal insider close to the Daily Mail revealed the King has accepted he cannot “divorce or sack” his brother due to their “bond of blood”.

Prince Andrew Should 'Stay Away' for the Next Ten Years after ‘Chinese Spy’ Scandal

Dec 16, 2024 | Prince Andrew should “stay away” for the next decade because of his "embarrassing" knack of bringing shame to his family and country, say Conservative commentator Albie Amankona and The House Magazine's Sienna Rodgers.

Richard Wolff`s Warning:"It's Going To Get Worse and Worse..."

Dec 14, 2024

Alleged Chinese Spy Had 'Unusual Degree of Trust' with Prince Andrew | BBC News

Dec 13, 2024 | An alleged Chinese spy who formed an "unusual degree of trust" with the Duke of York has been banned from the UK, after a judgement by the UK's semi-secret national security court.

The man, known only as H6 and described as a "close confidant" to Prince Andrew, brought an appeal against his initial ban but the decision was upheld by the court.

Judges were told the businessman was attempting to leverage Prince Andrew's influence.

Buckingham Palace declined to comment, saying they do not act for the prince, who is not a working royal.

NZZ erklärt: Was Russland und China in der Arktis wirklich wollen

Dec 5, 2024 | Die Arktis steht im Zentrum eines neuen geopolitischen Machtkampfs, während der Klimawandel das Eis immer schneller schmelzen lässt. Russland und China investieren massiv in die Region: Russland baut seine militärische Präsenz aus, insbesondere auf der Kola-Halbinsel, wo sich wichtige Standorte wie die geschlossene Militärstadt Seweromorsk und die Basis der russischen Nordflotte befinden. Experten vermuten, dass hier Atomraketen des Typs «RSM-56 Bulawa» und modernste U-Boote wie das «Project 955A Borei-A» stationiert sind. Diese sichern Russlands strategischen Zugang zum Nordatlantik, wie der frühere NZZ-Korrespondent und Arktis-Experte Rudolf Hermann erklärt. Gleichzeitig fördern russische Projekte wie Yamal LNG arktische Öl- und Gasvorkommen – mit erheblicher Unterstützung Chinas.

China positioniert sich als «arktisnaher Staat» und verfolgt strategische Ziele in der Region. Über Investitionen wie den Einstieg bei Yamal LNG und den Ausbau der Nordostpassage will China Handelsrouten kontrollieren und Rohstoffe sichern. Gleichzeitig betreibt es Forschung mit Eisbrechern, was nicht nur für die Wissenschaft, sondern möglicherweise auch für militärische Zwecke genutzt werden könnte.

China Bans Rare Mineral Exports to the U.S.

THE NEW YORK TIMES: The move escalates supply chain warfare and comes a day after the Biden administration expanded curbs on the sale of advanced American technology to China.

China said on Tuesday that it would begin banning the export of several rare minerals to the United States, an escalation of the tech war between the world’s two biggest powers. The move comes a day after the Biden administration tightened Chinese access to advanced American technology.

The ban signals Beijing’s willingness to engage in supply chain warfare by blocking the export of important components used to make valuable products, like weaponry and semiconductors.

Sales of gallium, germanium, antimony and so-called superhard materials to the United States would be halted immediately on the grounds that they have dual military and civilian uses, China’s Ministry of Commerce said. The export of graphite would also be subject to stricter review.

China is central to many global supply chains, but it generally refrained from clamping down on its own exports during the first Trump administration, preferring instead to take more limited actions like buying soybeans from Brazil instead of the United States. But senior Chinese officials are worried that President-elect Donald J. Trump plans more stringent policies during his coming term in office. » | David Pierson, Keith Bradsher and Ana Swanson | David Pierson reported from Hong Kong, Keith Bradsher from Beijing and Ana Swanson from Washington. | Tuesday, December 3, 2024

Trump had better start reassessing his tariff policies before he re-enters the White House in January. If he doesn’t, he will surely be facing humiliation and an embarrassing stand-down. There is no way that the USA can compete with China when it comes to trade. The sheer size of the country of China, its population, its far cheaper labour, and its abundance of natural resources mean that the odds are stacked in China’s favour. Mr Trump: Be wise! Get back to the drawing board! Your policies need to be re-assessed. – © Mark Alexander

This Is What Always Happens before a Superpower Falls | Richard Wolff

Dec 2, 2024 | Richard D. Wolff is an American economist and professor emeritus at the University of Massachusetts Amherst. He is known for his critiques of economic inequality and his advocacy for worker cooperatives as a way to empower individuals and address systemic issues within the economy. Through his books, lectures, and public appearances, Wolff explores topics such as economic democracy and alternative economic models.

We 'Can Never Win' a War: Taiwan's Former President Ma on the Best Way to Deal with China | DW News

Jan 10, 2024 | As Taiwan prepares for a knife-edge election, former president Ma Ying-jeou has made a dramatic call for a rethink of Taiwan’s whole approach to the threat of Chinese invasion. In this exclusive DW interview, Ma said attempts to deter China from attacking Taiwan would not work. “No matter how much you defend yourself, you can never fight a war with the mainland. You can never win. They're too large, much stronger than us.”

Ma also cast doubt on whether the United States would come to Taiwan’s aid if China invaded – despite US President Joe Biden repeatedly saying he would do so. Ma added that he believed Taiwan could work with China’s President Xi Jinping and said that “we have to” trust Xi on relations across the Taiwan Strait. Ma called for a return to his friendly approach to China as president from 2008-16. “We should use a non-use of military means to reduce the tension,” he said. Speaking to DW’s Richard Walker and Tsou Tzung-han, Ma blamed Taiwan’s current DPP government for the intense tensions with China. He added that in the long term, “unification” of Taiwan with China might be possible – but only if achieved peacefully and democratically.

Taiwan - between Democracy and Fear of China | DW Documentary

Jan 10, 2024

China Calls for Global Unity amid Western Exodus | DW Business Special

Jan 5, 2024 | China is calling for global unity and an end to trade wars. It has warned that the whole world stands to lose out from a fragmenting global economy. Is this a sincere attempt by Beijing to mend relations with the West, or part of a strategy to boost its own economy? We put that question and more to Alicia Garcia Herrero from French investment bank Natixis.

Argentina: Milei Wants to Reverse Rapprochement with China | DW News

Dec 27, 2023 | When he was still campaigning, Argentina's new president Javier Milei threatened to cut ties with Beijing, favoring trade with the US and Europe. But after 23 years of negotiations, a European free-trade deal still seems to be a long way off. That leaves none other than China as an increasingly important trading partner for Argentina - something that is softening the hard anti-Beijing stance of the country's new president.

Naturally, I wish Argentina and the Argentinians all the luck in the world; however, I fear that Argentina is travelling down the wrong road. Javier Milei's experiment with EXTREME DEREGULATION of the economy will, in all probability, lead to no good place; on the contrary, Milei's experiment is likely to make matters ten times worse! If you think that the economy is screwed up now, wait for a few years until the effects of this reckless experiment play out! Almost always in life, the best path to stability is not the extreme path, but the middle way, the golden path – the golden middle way.

We here in the UK have plenty of experience of deregulation under Thatcher and her misguided policies. Look at the mess that the UK is in today as a result of them! But Argentina will be in an even worse situation, because its starting position is so much worse than even the UK's was.

I wish Argentina and the Argentinians well. Of course I do. They are going to need everyone's good wishes. But more than good wishes, Argentina needs a path forward paved with sound economic policies. Javier Milei's anarcho-capitalistic ideas are highly unlikely to deliver the needed goods. – © Mark Alexander

Geschichte des Drogenhandels - Der große Rausch (1/3) | Doku HD Reupload | ARTE

Dec 27, 2023 | Heroin und Kokain haben in der Weltwirtschaft genauso viel Gewicht wie Erdöl und Textilien. Die dreiteilige Dokumentation zeichnet die Geschichte des globalen Drogenhandels nach. In dieser Folge: Von den Anfängen im 19. Jahrhundert bis hin zu den neuen synthetischen Drogen

Heroin und Kokain haben in der Weltwirtschaft genauso viel Gewicht wie Erdöl und Textilien. Für die Entstehung der mächtigen Drogenkartelle sind die Kolonialmächte ebenso verantwortlich wie Pharmaunternehmen, Bankensysteme und Geheimdienste der ganzen Welt. In drei Folgen zeichnet ARTE die Geschichte des globalen Drogenhandels nach. Im 19. Jahrhundert breitete sich Opium auf Betreiben der Kolonialmächte in ganz Asien aus. Zur gleichen Zeit entdeckte die pharmazeutische Industrie des Westens mit Morphium, Kokain und Heroin neue Wundermittel. Während sich die Rauschgiftabhängigkeit zum weltweiten Problem entwickelte, wurden Drogen nach und nach verboten. Infolge der Prohibition entstanden die ersten Drogenkartelle, die immer wieder den Schutz der Staaten suchen sollten. Einen beispiellosen Boom erlebten diese kriminellen Netzwerke während des Kalten Krieges, als Geheimdienste Drogen politisch instrumentalisierten. Die USA mussten das teuer bezahlen: Ein Drittel ihrer Soldaten in Vietnam waren 1970 heroinabhängig. Im Jahr darauf rief US-Präsident Richard Nixon in einer historischen Rede den „Krieg gegen die Drogen“ aus.

Dokureihe, Regie: Christophe Bouquet (F 2020, 52 Min)
Video auf YouTube verfügbar bis zum 23/01/2024

Gansu Earthquake: More Than 120 Killed in China's Deadliest Quake in Years | BBC News

Dec 19, 2023 | More than 120 people have been killed in north-west China in the country's deadliest earthquake in years.

The 6.2 magnitude quake hit mountainous Gansu province around midnight on Monday (16:00 GMT), also shaking neighbouring Qinghai.

Fatalities may rise with more than 700 reported injured in icy conditions.

Chinese President Xi Jinping has ordered thousands of rescue crews to the region, which is among the poorest and most diverse in China.

Are Chinese Factories Poisoning Southern Europeans? | Focus on Europe

Dec 16, 2023 | For China, the Balkans are the entry point to Europe, meaning that China is active in many industrial projects in this region. Chinese-owned companies run local factories, and are involved in coal power stations. But some of these endeavors seem to leave the environment and people’s health worse off. Our reporters want to find out more about China’s footprint in the Balkans.

US and China Agree to Resume Military Communications - BBC News

Nov 16, 2023 | The US and China have agreed to resume military-to-military communications in an effort to ease rising tensions, the US president said. Joe Biden met with China's President Xi Jinping in California on Wednesday. It was the first time the pair had spoken in person in more than a year. As well as resuming military communications, the two sides announced several other agreements in areas that have become sources of tension in recent times.

In a Worldwide War of Words, Russia, China and Iran Back Hamas

THE NEW YORK TIMES: Officials and researchers say the deluge of online propaganda and disinformation is larger than anything seen before.

A recently erected billboard in Tehran depicts Muslims walking toward the Dome of the Rock in Jerusalem while carrying their national flags. | Atta Kenare/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images
The conflict between Israel and Hamas is fast becoming a world war online.

Iran, Russia and, to a lesser degree, China have used state media and the world’s major social networking platforms to support Hamas and undercut Israel, while denigrating Israel’s principal ally, the United States.

Iran’s proxies in Lebanon, Syria and Iraq have also joined the fight online, along with extremist groups, like Al Qaeda and the Islamic State, that were previously at odds with Hamas.

The deluge of online propaganda and disinformation is larger than anything seen before, according to government officials and independent researchers — a reflection of the world’s geopolitical division.

“It is being seen by millions, hundreds of millions of people around the world,” said Rafi Mendelsohn, vice president at Cyabra, a social media intelligence company in Tel Aviv, “and it’s impacting the war in a way that is probably just as effective as any other tactic on the ground.” Cyabra has documented at least 40,000 bots or inauthentic accounts online since Hamas attacked Israel from Gaza on Oct. 7.

The content — visceral, emotionally charged, politically slanted and often false — has stoked anger and even violence far beyond Gaza, raising fears that it could inflame a wider conflict. Iran, though it has denied any involvement in the attack by Hamas, has threatened as much, with its foreign minister, Hossein Amir Abdollahian, warning of retaliation on “multiple fronts” if Israeli forces persisted in Gaza. » | Steven Lee Myers and Sheera Frenkel | Friday, November 3, 2023

In China, If You Are a Woman, Single and Over 30, …

… you are called ??? The Chinese have a great sense of humour!

China’s Male Leaders Signal to Women That Their Place Is in the Home

THE NEW YORK TIMES: The Communist Party’s solution to the country’s demographic crisis and a slowing economy is to push women back into traditional roles.

At China’s top political gathering for women, it was mostly a man who was seen and heard.

Xi Jinping, the country’s leader, sat center stage at the opening of the National Women’s Congress. A close-up of him at the Congress was splashed on the front page of the Chinese Communist Party’s newspaper the next day. From the head of a large round table, Mr. Xi lectured female delegates at the closing meeting on Monday.

“We should actively foster a new type of marriage and childbearing culture,” he said in a speech, adding that it was the role of party officials to influence young people’s views on “love and marriage, fertility and family.”

The Women’s Congress, held every five years, has long been a forum for the ruling Communist Party to demonstrate its commitment to women. The gesture, while mostly symbolic, has taken on more significance than ever this year, the first time in two decades that there are no women in the party’s executive policymaking body.

What was notable was how officials downplayed gender equality. They focused instead on using the gathering to press Mr. Xi’s goal for Chinese women: get married and have babies. In the past, officials had touched on the role women play at home as well as in the work force. But in this year’s address, Mr. Xi made no mention of women at work. » | Alexandra Stevenson | Thursday, November 2, 2023

I should like to draw your attention to the fact that I have been saying this for a very long time. In fact, I recently stated something similar on this very blog. Allow me to restate it here:

“Western women need to start giving birth again. They need to start making babies instead of making careers. Feminism lies at the root of so many of our problems in Western societies. – © Mark Alexander” – Mark Alexander, October 28, 2023

Clearly, Xi Jinping and the Chinese Communist Party have similar ideas and solutions for their own demographic problems. Fact is, far too few babies are being born in the West and in the East too. This was bound to manifest itself as a huge problem in time. Women cannot be both career girls and procreating, fertile mothers. It is either one or the other.

It is an economic fact of life that industry and commerce require sufficient labour. Regardless of technological advancement, this will always be so.

Politicians, especially on those on the right of the political spectrum, talk incessantly about the need for economic growth. This is quite understandable. However, what is not easy to understand is that they talk about economic growth as though it were simply a consequence of a reduction in taxation for the CEOs at the top. But it is not. What these politicians fail to understand is that without sufficient labour, CEOs, however clever and however entrepreneurial, cannot turn a profit at all!

Consider a colony of bees! There is the queen bee and then there are the worker bees. And so it is for humans, too. Where would companies be without the workers? And where do the workers come from when all women are out working?

To solve that, there is but ONE solution. We have to bring them in from abroad. And that is precisely what we have been doing for decades. But we should all know by now that bringing in foreigners by the drove can cause friction in societies, simply because immigration brings with it people entering the country with different religious backgrounds. When people have different religious backgrounds, they naturally have different values. Their aims, goals and ideas of how to live vary, often considerably, from those of the indigenous population's. Fact is, immigration should be allowed in proportion to the size of the country and the size of the indigenous population. If these principles are not adhered to, thre will be trouble ahead.

A German polician for whom I had the greatest respect and admiration was the late German Chancellor, Helmut Schmidt. He spoke clearly about the dangers of immigration. In fact, it was only yesterday that I placed a #short up of his words on this very blog. For those who speak German, please click here. One of the things I so admired about Helmut Schmidt was that he was unafraid to uttter uncomfortable truths.

So, in summary, Xi Jinping and his Communist Party are absolutely right about this: society should start re-thinking the role of women in society. It is more important that a woman be productive giving birth than it is for her to be productive in the workplace. Men can run offices and businesses; but men cannot give birth to babies. – © Mark Alexander

As China Looks to Broker Gaza Peace, Antisemitism Surges Online

THE NEW YORK TIMES: China’s state-run media has blamed the United States for deepening the crisis, while perpetuating tropes of Jewish control of American politics.

As the Israel-Hamas conflict intensifies, raising the prospect of a wider war, China has stepped up efforts to pitch itself as a neutral broker for Mideast peace.

Beijing’s top diplomat called his Israeli and Palestinian counterparts on Monday, urging restraint. A Chinese envoy is traveling in the Middle East, pledging to help avert a wider war. At the United Nations on Wednesday, China vetoed a resolution on the war that did not call for a cease-fire.

But even as China seeks to turn down the temperature diplomatically, a surge of antisemitism and anti-Israeli sentiment is proliferating across the Chinese internet and state media, undermining Beijing’s efforts to convey impartiality. China has already come under pressure from the United States and Israel for its refusal to condemn Hamas for its Oct. 7 attack that started the war.

On China’s heavily censored internet, inflammatory speech critical of Israel is rampant, with commenters seemingly emboldened by that refusal. And China’s state-run media is seizing on the conflict to accuse the United States of turning a blind eye to Israeli aggression, while perpetuating tropes of Jewish control of American politics.

China Daily, a state-run newspaper, ran an editorial on Monday declaring that the United States was on the “wrong side of history in Gaza.” It said Washington was exacerbating the conflict by “blindly backing Israel.” » | Daisuke Wakabayashi, Tiffany May and Claire Fu | Saturday, October 28, 2023

Israel ist für China nicht mehr wichtig genug

China und der Nahe Osten
ZEIT ONLINE: China lässt antisemitische Hetze im heimischen Internet zu und bezieht eine eher diffuse Position zum Hamas-Terror. Die Volksrepublik wendet sich damit von Israel ab.

Mit der Einschätzung des chinesischen Nahost-Gesandten Zhai Jun zum Gaza-Krieg können sicher weltweit politische Beobachterinnen und Beobachter mitgehen: Es bestehe die Gefahr eines großflächigen Bodenkonflikts und einer Ausweitung der bewaffneten Auseinandersetzungen entlang der Nachbargrenzen, wird er Montag von Staatsmedien zitiert. Auch damit, dass China bereit sei, "alles zu tun", um den Dialog zu fördern, einen Waffenstillstand zu erreichen und den Frieden wiederherzustellen sowie die Zweistaatenlösung und eine gerechte und dauerhafte Lösung des Konflikts zu unterstützen, wird er keinen grundlegenden Widerspruch hervorrufen. Zhai präsentiert China als regionalen Friedensstifter. » | Eine Analyse von Steffen Richter | Dienstag, 24. Oktober 2023