Miscellaneous News

xypher said:

Macron: "hurr-durr, Russia China bad, rules based order, human rights, freedom, democracy, USA-USA, deal?"
Xi: No
*meeting ends*

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siegecrossbow said:

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canonicalsadhu said:

I don't get the hate for Macron. He is by far the most pro-China EU leader (besides Orban maybe). I watched the press conference of Xi and Macron and Macron was very positive and sincere. He hailed China's role in the Iran-Saudi peace deal, he welcomed the Silk road initiative, he hailed the many economic agreements signed, he stressed the necessity to elevate bilateral relations, he talked about the need for European autonomy, etc.
Of course he brought the Ukraine issue and human rights but not in a condescending tone. I think the meeting went really well.

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supercat said:

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I spent 33 years in the Marine Corps. I served in all commissioned ranks from a second lieutenant to Major-General. And during that period I spent most of my time being a high-class muscle man for Big Business, for Wall Street and for the bankers. In short, I was a racketeer for capitalism. I helped make Mexico safe for American oil interests in 1914. I helped make Haiti and Cuba a decent place for the National City Bank boys to collect revenues in. I helped purify Nicaragua for the international banking house of Brown Brothers in 1909-12. I brought light to the Dominican Republic for American sugar interests in 1916. Looking back on it, I feel I might have given Al Capone a few hints. The best he could do was to operate his racket in three city districts. We Marines operated on three continents.

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Temstar said:

https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1643913198775554049

Is this big news? Seems big but I worry if it will affect Comac negatively.

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Witchhunter12 said:

Surprised people are being so nonchalant about Finland joining NATO. Just an observation that if China made a geopolitical move that was so egregious that it forced non-aligned, to even borderline friendly countries like Indonesia and Malaysia, to rush to the US, Japan, and Aus for security guarantees, (I don't count Philippines since Duterte was the exception rather than the rule) there would be no talk about how its these country's losses that they've antagonized China and are now in its crosshairs. There'd instead be numerous threads dedicated to how much the CPC sucks at PR and diplomacy, and that its time for new blood to run China's foreign policy.

Finland joining NATO from a geopolitical perspective is a loss for Russia and a logical security move for the Finns. You may disagree, but its just interesting so many on here are willing to spin Finland ascension to the alliance as an "elaborate Russian trap" to ruin the country and bolster its own geopolitical standing in the Baltics, when China would never get the luxury of bullish assessments.

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Temstar said:

https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1643913198775554049

Is this big news? Seems big but I worry if it will affect Comac negatively.

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tamsen_ikard said:

Restraint becomes kind of a weakness when it's so beneficial for to be restrained. Then it becomes a handcuff that prevents you from taking action against provocation because you keep thinking, not yet, I need to hold on until I am stronger and my position is more favorable. China's biggest advantage is that it is so intelligent, restrained and thinks long term. But it is also its biggest weakness because everyone thinks they are too afraid to take costly actions.

If China was as unhinged as US for example, they would have banned all rare earth export to any country that bans Chip exports. That would have crippled Chip industry of US and Taiwan. It would have been such a huge action that whole world would have taken notice. It also would have deterred US to pursue more Chip sanctions.

What has China banned in response to all the Huawei bans in Europe and Australia? Did they ban Apple and German cars for example? For being a potential spy tool?

They have been extremely restrained because they cannot take these actions without huge costs to its own economy. and there is a fundamental difference between what US and the west wants and what China wants.

China's goal is to get richer and stronger, not to bring US down. But for US, they are already rich, they are already on top. They just want to bring China down. So, they can take actions that is costly for their economy, hoping that it will cost China more and maybe cause a collapse.

This is the fundamental difference between China and the USSR. China wants its own rise, USSR wanted to bring US down.

This is all very good and intelligent from China. But it is also a weakness in the Taiwan scenario. Because Taiwan and US can keep on Salami slicing all they want and China cannot take strong action without causing problems to their long term goal.



There is a difference between what is called a success for DPP vs what is a success for China. The Taiwan independence battle is battle of recognition. Taiwan is already de-facto separate from the mainland. But what Taiwan independence crowd really hated was that the west didn't interact with Taiwan on a political level. They wanted recognition from US and the west as a country.

Now they are kind of getting it. Not overtly, but bit by bit. slowly. Now politicians and ministers from western countries are visiting Taiwan as if it is a country. These ministers and official meet Tsai as if She is a president of a country. That is the recognition they seek.

When Tsai gets to visit the US or talk to US leaders, that's a win for them. When Lithuania opens a "Taiwan Representative Office", that'a huge win for them. Cause what is the difference between a "Taiwan representative office" vs a "taiwan embassy"? Very little.

Slowly but surely Taiwan is moving towards de-facto recognition of Taiwan Independence. They will not declare independence but they dont need to if presidents and leaders from US and the west openly visits Taiwan, Taiwan gets to open these representative offices and gets to openly participate in sports as "Taiwan".

They want to become independent without declaring independence. And currently they are succeeding towards moving to that goal step by step.

But China's goal is much harder. They have to actually takeover Taiwan physically. That's a much harder goal than the simple recognition game. So, China hasn't made any progress in their goal while Taiwan has been making a lot of progress in their goal.

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