The United States of America is leading the way in anticipating the NATO countries in Brussels to meet the “security challenges of 2030”, placing the “first priority on China” and then Russia as its ally. Therefore, the White House issued a statement to express the issue, affirming:
“The countries of NATO and the United States of America will jointly launch a set of “ambitious” initiatives to ensure the preservation of the security of the alliance until 2030 and beyond, with full focus on the upcoming threats from Russia and China, as they are the most important challenges facing the countries of the alliance in the coming years”
The most prominent is the unanimity of the thirty members of NATO led by the United States of America, during the “Brussels” summit of the NATO leaders’ meeting in mid-June 2021, and their agreement in the statement of the NATO summit in June 2021, on:
“The necessity of reviewing “NATO’s strategic concept”, which will “guide its approach in an evolving strategic environment”, to include: the hostile policies and behaviors of both Russia and China and the security challenges that China poses to our security and prosperity”
Perhaps what is new in the “NATO” summit meeting in June 2021” is that explicit text issued in a clear public statement by the White House on China, and it is understood from it that “NATO and its members have become a security tool in Washington’s hands in order to move a proactive initiative expected by NATO against China and Russia”, which may represent a major shift in the path of the alliance and its strategic and defense objectives towards China, and we understand this by analyzing the approach of “NATO and its thirty members” in the recent period, as follows:
The declaration of the Secretary-General of NATO, “Jens Stoltenberg”, at the “NATO summit meeting in June 2021”, and his call by the leaders of the alliance countries during their summit in “Brussels”, the need to “establish a stronger common policy to counter the growing dominance of China”.
Secretary-General of NATO, “Stoltenberg” declared publicly and without substantiating his words with evidence, in echoing the same American security agenda towards China, by saying:
Read more at:
NATO’S strategy 2030 to confront China's security challenges - Modern Diplomacy
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Showing posts with label China. Show all posts
Showing posts with label China. Show all posts
November 8, 2021
October 9, 2021
China-British-Netherlands - historical relatioms: How the British bungled relations with China during the Qing dynasty and the Dutch took advantage. Or did they?
It is a clash of empires that reads like Game of Thrones. The year is 1793. The Qianlong emperor of the Great Qing Empire grants an audience to Lord Macartney, ambassador from Britain’s King George III, at his summer resort of Rehe, now Chengde, a few days’ travel northeast from Beijing. But Macartney refuses to kowtow.
A new book on a Dutch mission in 1795 suggests that kowtowing was rewarded with the emperor’s favour, something denied to Britain’s ambassador when he refused
As a result, British requests for improvements in trade relations are denied and Macartney’s party is hurried out of China, bearing a written rebuke to the king that concludes George must, “tremblingly obey and show no negligence”.
But in 1842 and again in 1860, the British use military force to compel the Qing to surrender the same benefits Macartney had sought to negotiate. The Qing must open several Chinese ports to year-round foreign residence and allow permanent British diplomatic representation in Beijing. The British also gain possession of a certain island off the Guangdong coast with an excellent harbour.
Read more at: https://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/long-reads/article/3151540/how-british-bungled-relations-china-during-qing
A new book on a Dutch mission in 1795 suggests that kowtowing was rewarded with the emperor’s favour, something denied to Britain’s ambassador when he refused
As a result, British requests for improvements in trade relations are denied and Macartney’s party is hurried out of China, bearing a written rebuke to the king that concludes George must, “tremblingly obey and show no negligence”.
But in 1842 and again in 1860, the British use military force to compel the Qing to surrender the same benefits Macartney had sought to negotiate. The Qing must open several Chinese ports to year-round foreign residence and allow permanent British diplomatic representation in Beijing. The British also gain possession of a certain island off the Guangdong coast with an excellent harbour.
Read more at: https://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/long-reads/article/3151540/how-british-bungled-relations-china-during-qing
April 30, 2021
China-Netherlands Relations: Hi Speed Internet: Huawei denies spying accusation in the Netherlands
report accusing Huawei of having once had "unlimited access" to phone calls made using one of the Netherlands' leading operators, KPN, has been published by a Dutch newspaper.
The report was compiled by the CapGemini consultancy in 2010 but never released.
Those affected would have included former Prime Minister Jan Peter Balkenende.
Read more at: Huawei denies spying accusation in the Netherlands - BBC News
The report was compiled by the CapGemini consultancy in 2010 but never released.
Those affected would have included former Prime Minister Jan Peter Balkenende.
Read more at: Huawei denies spying accusation in the Netherlands - BBC News
February 9, 2021
'WHO - Coronavirus: Extremely unlikely' COVID originated from a laboratory leak, says WHO official - by Luke Hurst
It is "extremely unlikely" COVID-19 originated from a laboratory leak in Wuhan, China, an expert with the World Health Organization (WHO) says.
The team of experts sent by the WHO to investigate the origins of the COVID-19 pandemic in the city also said they found no evidence of an outbreak related to the virus in the city prior to 2019.
Read more at: 'Extremely unlikely' COVID originated from a laboratory leak, says WHO official | Euronews
The team of experts sent by the WHO to investigate the origins of the COVID-19 pandemic in the city also said they found no evidence of an outbreak related to the virus in the city prior to 2019.
Read more at: 'Extremely unlikely' COVID originated from a laboratory leak, says WHO official | Euronews
February 5, 2021
EU: In Europe Union, vaccines from Russia and China are now under study - by Loveday Morris
As the European Union's vaccination program stumbles, Russia and China are poised to fill the gap — with Moscow opening talks to produce vaccines in the heart of Europe and both building political cachet as they supply those scrambling for shots on the bloc's fringes.
Vaccines produced in Russia and China are already on the program in parts of the Balkans and Eastern Europe outside the European Union.
Speaking to the Atlantic Council on Thursday, Macron called China’s vaccine efforts a “clear diplomatic success” which is “a little bit humiliating for us.” He and German Chancellor Angela Merkel have expressed their openness to using vaccines from Moscow and Beijing if E.U. regulatory approval is granted.
Read more at: In Europe Union, vaccines from Russia and China are now under study - The Washington Post
Vaccines produced in Russia and China are already on the program in parts of the Balkans and Eastern Europe outside the European Union.
Speaking to the Atlantic Council on Thursday, Macron called China’s vaccine efforts a “clear diplomatic success” which is “a little bit humiliating for us.” He and German Chancellor Angela Merkel have expressed their openness to using vaccines from Moscow and Beijing if E.U. regulatory approval is granted.
Read more at: In Europe Union, vaccines from Russia and China are now under study - The Washington Post
November 16, 2020
Canada- China Relations : Bob Rae calls on UN to investigate evidence of genocide against China's Muslim Uighur minority
Canada's ambassador to the United Nations says he's called on the organization's Human Rights Council to investigate whether China's persecution of Muslim Uighurs in Xinjiang province should be considered an act of genocide.
Beijing lashes back, calling Rae 'ignorant'
Read more at: Bob Rae calls on UN to investigate evidence of genocide against China's Uighur minority | CBC News
Beijing lashes back, calling Rae 'ignorant'
Read more at: Bob Rae calls on UN to investigate evidence of genocide against China's Uighur minority | CBC News
November 13, 2020
The Origins of the EU: How the CIA Created the EU - by Eric Zuesse
The details are supplied in an exhaustive 1,000-page biography of Jean Monnet by Éric Roussel, which was published only in France in 1996, and which seems to have been successfully suppressed. It has never been translated, and has no reviews even at Amazon. However, Ambrose Evans-Pritchard of UK’s Telegraph newspaper has provided some of the core information from it. Furthermore, Richard J. Aldrich’s 2003 The Hidden Hand also provides key details, such as by Aldrich’s saying, on page 366, about the American Committee for a United Europe: ACUE, more than any other American front organization of the Cold War, was a direct creature of the leading lights of the CIA. Indeed, it was so replete with famous CIA figures that its ‘front’ was very thin. Its early years seemed to have formed something of a laboratory for figures such as [Bill] Donovan, [Allen] Dulles, [Walter] Bedell Smith and [Tom] Braden, before they moved on to other projects in the mid-1950s. Over its first three years of operations, 1949-51, ACUE received $384,650, the majority being dispersed to Europe. This was a large sum, but from 1952 ACUE began to spend such sums annually. The total budget for the period 1949-60 amounted to approximately $4 million. As the quantity of money flowing across the Atlantic began to increase, ACUE opened a local Paris office to monitor more closely groups that had received grants. By 1956, the flood of increased funding was prompting fears among the Directors of ACUE that its work would be publicly exposed.
The emerging European Economic Community (EEC) and the growing Western intelligence community overlapped to a considerable degree. This is underlined by the creation of the Bilderberg Group, an informal and secretive transatlantic council of key decision-makers [representatives of the billionaires who controlled U.S. and U.S.-allied international corporations]. Bilderberg was founded by Joseph Retinger and Prince Bernhard of the Netherlands in 1952 in response to the rise of anti-Americanism in Europe. … Retinger secured support from Averell Harriman, David Rockefeller and Walter Bedell Smith. The formation of the American wing of Bilderberg was entrusted to Eisenhower’s psychological warfare chief, C.D. Jackson, and the funding for the first meeting, held at the Hotel de Bilderberg in Holland in 1954, was provided by the CIA.
Funds for these CIA operations came not only from the U.S. Treasury but from private sources, America’s super-rich, and, also from organized gangsters, as was revealed in the 1998 classic by Alexander Cockburn and Jeffrey St. Clair, Whiteout: The CIA, Drugs and the Press. This off-the-books funding comes from narcotics kingpins throughout the world, as protection-money, which is essential to keep them in business. So, the EU was financially fueled from all of these sources, and, basically, was a bribing-operation (to end up getting the ‘right’ people into the EU’s Parliament, etc.), in addition to be receiving funds from what might be considered idealistic philanthropic donors (because the dream of a united Europe had long preceded the grubby version of it that the CIA created for Europeans). The EU was a Cold War operation, from the very start. Though the Cold War was allegedly ideological, it was actually the result of a decision that U.S. President Harry S. Truman made on 26 July 1945, for the post-WW-II U.S. to achieve, ultimately, the world’s first all-encompassing global empire. The EU was designed to serve the political aspects of that, and NATO the military aspects, for America’s European ‘allies’ (America’s European vassal nations). The aim was for the Soviet Union (subsequently only Russia) to become surrounded by enemies, so that, in the final analysis, the U.S. and its ‘allies’ would be offering the U.S.S.R. “a deal they can’t refuse.” This deal (quite fitting to come from an international gangland operation such as America’s Deep State) would be inclusion in the U.S. empire, on terms that are set solely by the U.S. Government — either this, or else conquest. Then, the same thing would be done to China.
Pritchard issued two important articles about this, the first being his 19 September 2000 “Euro-federalists financed by US spy chiefs”: DECLASSIFIED American government documents show that the US intelligence community ran a campaign in the Fifties and Sixties to build momentum for a united Europe. It funded and directed the European federalist movement. … One memorandum, dated July 26, 1950, gives instructions for a campaign to promote a fully fledged European parliament. It is signed by Gen William J Donovan, head of the American wartime Office of Strategic Services, precursor of the CIA.
The documents were found by Joshua Paul, a researcher at Georgetown University in Washington. They include files released by the US National Archives. Washington’s main tool for shaping the European agenda was the American Committee for a United Europe, created in 1948. The chairman was Donovan, ostensibly a private lawyer by then.
The vice-chairman was Allen Dulles, the CIA director in the Fifties. The board included Walter Bedell Smith, the CIA’s first director, and a roster of ex-OSS figures and officials who moved in and out of the CIA. The documents show that ACUE financed the European Movement, the most important federalist organisation in the post-war years. In 1958, for example, it provided 53.5 per cent of the movement’s funds.
The European Youth Campaign, an arm of the European Movement, was wholly funded and controlled by Washington. The Belgian director, Baron Boel, received monthly payments into a special account. When the head of the European Movement, Polish-born Joseph Retinger, bridled at this degree of American control and tried to raise money in Europe, he was quickly reprimanded.
The leaders of the European Movement — Retinger, the visionary Robert Schuman and the former Belgian prime minister Paul-Henri Spaak — were all treated as hired hands by their American sponsors. The US role was handled as a covert operation. ACUE’s funding came from the Ford and Rockefeller foundations as well as business groups with close ties to the US government.
Read the complete report at: How the CIA Created the EU - Modern Diplomacy
The emerging European Economic Community (EEC) and the growing Western intelligence community overlapped to a considerable degree. This is underlined by the creation of the Bilderberg Group, an informal and secretive transatlantic council of key decision-makers [representatives of the billionaires who controlled U.S. and U.S.-allied international corporations]. Bilderberg was founded by Joseph Retinger and Prince Bernhard of the Netherlands in 1952 in response to the rise of anti-Americanism in Europe. … Retinger secured support from Averell Harriman, David Rockefeller and Walter Bedell Smith. The formation of the American wing of Bilderberg was entrusted to Eisenhower’s psychological warfare chief, C.D. Jackson, and the funding for the first meeting, held at the Hotel de Bilderberg in Holland in 1954, was provided by the CIA.
Funds for these CIA operations came not only from the U.S. Treasury but from private sources, America’s super-rich, and, also from organized gangsters, as was revealed in the 1998 classic by Alexander Cockburn and Jeffrey St. Clair, Whiteout: The CIA, Drugs and the Press. This off-the-books funding comes from narcotics kingpins throughout the world, as protection-money, which is essential to keep them in business. So, the EU was financially fueled from all of these sources, and, basically, was a bribing-operation (to end up getting the ‘right’ people into the EU’s Parliament, etc.), in addition to be receiving funds from what might be considered idealistic philanthropic donors (because the dream of a united Europe had long preceded the grubby version of it that the CIA created for Europeans). The EU was a Cold War operation, from the very start. Though the Cold War was allegedly ideological, it was actually the result of a decision that U.S. President Harry S. Truman made on 26 July 1945, for the post-WW-II U.S. to achieve, ultimately, the world’s first all-encompassing global empire. The EU was designed to serve the political aspects of that, and NATO the military aspects, for America’s European ‘allies’ (America’s European vassal nations). The aim was for the Soviet Union (subsequently only Russia) to become surrounded by enemies, so that, in the final analysis, the U.S. and its ‘allies’ would be offering the U.S.S.R. “a deal they can’t refuse.” This deal (quite fitting to come from an international gangland operation such as America’s Deep State) would be inclusion in the U.S. empire, on terms that are set solely by the U.S. Government — either this, or else conquest. Then, the same thing would be done to China.
Pritchard issued two important articles about this, the first being his 19 September 2000 “Euro-federalists financed by US spy chiefs”: DECLASSIFIED American government documents show that the US intelligence community ran a campaign in the Fifties and Sixties to build momentum for a united Europe. It funded and directed the European federalist movement. … One memorandum, dated July 26, 1950, gives instructions for a campaign to promote a fully fledged European parliament. It is signed by Gen William J Donovan, head of the American wartime Office of Strategic Services, precursor of the CIA.
The documents were found by Joshua Paul, a researcher at Georgetown University in Washington. They include files released by the US National Archives. Washington’s main tool for shaping the European agenda was the American Committee for a United Europe, created in 1948. The chairman was Donovan, ostensibly a private lawyer by then.
The vice-chairman was Allen Dulles, the CIA director in the Fifties. The board included Walter Bedell Smith, the CIA’s first director, and a roster of ex-OSS figures and officials who moved in and out of the CIA. The documents show that ACUE financed the European Movement, the most important federalist organisation in the post-war years. In 1958, for example, it provided 53.5 per cent of the movement’s funds.
The European Youth Campaign, an arm of the European Movement, was wholly funded and controlled by Washington. The Belgian director, Baron Boel, received monthly payments into a special account. When the head of the European Movement, Polish-born Joseph Retinger, bridled at this degree of American control and tried to raise money in Europe, he was quickly reprimanded.
The leaders of the European Movement — Retinger, the visionary Robert Schuman and the former Belgian prime minister Paul-Henri Spaak — were all treated as hired hands by their American sponsors. The US role was handled as a covert operation. ACUE’s funding came from the Ford and Rockefeller foundations as well as business groups with close ties to the US government.
Read the complete report at: How the CIA Created the EU - Modern Diplomacy
November 8, 2020
US Elections: Trump's Turkish Ally Erdogan and other populists/authoritarian leaders around the world Stay Mum on Biden Victory
Erdogan, along with the leaders of Russia, Israel, Iran, Hungary, Saudi Arabia and China, offered no initial congratulations to the president-elect.
Read more at: Trump's Turkish Ally Erdogan Stays Mum on Biden Victory | Greek Reporter Europe
Read more at: Trump's Turkish Ally Erdogan Stays Mum on Biden Victory | Greek Reporter Europe
November 3, 2020
EU-US Relations: EU ‘troublemakers’ back Trump over Biden in US election
ivergences on the managing of the rise of China or Europe’s need to do more for its own security are likely to remain, whoever is the next man in the White House. What would change is the tone as Biden, a convinced transatlanticist, believes the US can only play this role in dialogue with its partners.
Under Trump, Washington and Europe clashed on a number of issues, ranging from foreign policy or trade to environment, digital, and agriculture. Washington and Brussels even disagreed over how to handle the COVID-19 pandemic.
The EU is waiting for the results of the elections to impose $4 billion in compensatory tariffs on US exports, in response to Washington subsidies to Boeing. Brussels wants to try to find a negotiated solution and cancel US tariffs on $7.5 billion worth of European products, an option that could be on the cards if Biden is the winner.
Tensions, however, are expected to continue if Trump remains in the White House. The new EU Trade commissioner, Valdis Dombrovskis, expressed his willingness to find a fresh start with his administration when he took over in October. But he also warned that there is no room for more piecemeal agreements like the lobster deal to facilitate the bilateral trade.
Read more at: EU ‘troublemakers’ back Trump over Biden in US election – EURACTIV.com
Under Trump, Washington and Europe clashed on a number of issues, ranging from foreign policy or trade to environment, digital, and agriculture. Washington and Brussels even disagreed over how to handle the COVID-19 pandemic.
The EU is waiting for the results of the elections to impose $4 billion in compensatory tariffs on US exports, in response to Washington subsidies to Boeing. Brussels wants to try to find a negotiated solution and cancel US tariffs on $7.5 billion worth of European products, an option that could be on the cards if Biden is the winner.
Tensions, however, are expected to continue if Trump remains in the White House. The new EU Trade commissioner, Valdis Dombrovskis, expressed his willingness to find a fresh start with his administration when he took over in October. But he also warned that there is no room for more piecemeal agreements like the lobster deal to facilitate the bilateral trade.
Read more at: EU ‘troublemakers’ back Trump over Biden in US election – EURACTIV.com
September 14, 2020
China-Netherlands Relations:: How China Made the Netherlands Question the Free Market - by Diederik Baazil
When the Dutch government invested in home-grown chipmaker Smart Photonics this summer, it was a departure for a country with a hands-off approach to business.
A small company with big plans, Smart Photonics was struggling to attract financing to scale up production of its next-generation chips, whose applications include self-driving cars and datacenters.
Smart’s chief technology officer, said in an interview at the company’s offices outside Eindhoven, in the southern Netherlands. “The most serious interest came from Asia,” specifically Japan, Singapore, Taiwan and from China, he said.
In late June, just as it looked like Smart Photonics was about to be lured to Asia, the Dutch government stepped in with 20 million euros ($23.7 million). A similar sum came from a consortium including a government-backed agency, PhotonDelta, whose chief executive, Ewit Roos, raised the alarm at the Ministry of Economic Affairs as soon as he learned of the company’s predicament. “The government acted swiftly and decisively,” Roos said by phone.
he Dutch government says that its decision was taken to retain key technology and wasn’t driven by concerns over China. Even so, its investment was just the latest example of a more defensive economic stance that has accompanied a hardening of the country’s attitude to Beijing.
The shift has “been very noticeable, because the Netherlands has always been that kind of small, open, free-market economy that wanted nothing to be touched and everything to be open,” said Agatha Kratz, an associate director at Rhodium Group in Paris.
Beijing still regards the Netherlands as an important trade partner and investment destination, even though the Netherlands is getting “harsher” toward China, said a researcher with the government-affiliated Chinese Academy of Social Sciences who asked not to be identified due to rules for speaking with media. One reason for that change is China is becoming more competitive economically with Europe, the researcher said.
On the political front, the Netherlands angered Beijing this year by changing the name of its representation in Taiwan, which China regards as a renegade province. That prompted the Chinese embassy in The Hague to request clarification from the government. Taiwan’s president pointedly tweeted her gratitude to the representation’s outgoing head.
Read more at:
How China Made the Netherlands Question the Free Market - Bloomberg
A small company with big plans, Smart Photonics was struggling to attract financing to scale up production of its next-generation chips, whose applications include self-driving cars and datacenters.
Smart’s chief technology officer, said in an interview at the company’s offices outside Eindhoven, in the southern Netherlands. “The most serious interest came from Asia,” specifically Japan, Singapore, Taiwan and from China, he said.
In late June, just as it looked like Smart Photonics was about to be lured to Asia, the Dutch government stepped in with 20 million euros ($23.7 million). A similar sum came from a consortium including a government-backed agency, PhotonDelta, whose chief executive, Ewit Roos, raised the alarm at the Ministry of Economic Affairs as soon as he learned of the company’s predicament. “The government acted swiftly and decisively,” Roos said by phone.
he Dutch government says that its decision was taken to retain key technology and wasn’t driven by concerns over China. Even so, its investment was just the latest example of a more defensive economic stance that has accompanied a hardening of the country’s attitude to Beijing.
The shift has “been very noticeable, because the Netherlands has always been that kind of small, open, free-market economy that wanted nothing to be touched and everything to be open,” said Agatha Kratz, an associate director at Rhodium Group in Paris.
Beijing still regards the Netherlands as an important trade partner and investment destination, even though the Netherlands is getting “harsher” toward China, said a researcher with the government-affiliated Chinese Academy of Social Sciences who asked not to be identified due to rules for speaking with media. One reason for that change is China is becoming more competitive economically with Europe, the researcher said.
On the political front, the Netherlands angered Beijing this year by changing the name of its representation in Taiwan, which China regards as a renegade province. That prompted the Chinese embassy in The Hague to request clarification from the government. Taiwan’s president pointedly tweeted her gratitude to the representation’s outgoing head.
Read more at:
How China Made the Netherlands Question the Free Market - Bloomberg
August 29, 2020
China - Netherlands Relations: Free trade and cooperation top Chinese FM Wang Yi's Netherlands visit
Chinese State Council and Foreign Minister Wang Yi on Tuesday called
on the Netherlands to jointly defend multilateralism and free trade.Wang
made the remarks during a meeting with Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte
in The Hague.
Wang said China and the Netherlands enjoy a mutual bilateral relationship on the basis of mutual respect, mutual understanding, openness and mutual trust.
As the coronavirus pandemic is normalized in both countries, China is willing to work with the Dutch government to resume the flow of goods and people so as to make their contribution to global economic recovery.
Faced with the rising challenge of unilateralism, China would like to work the Dutch side to defend multilateralism and free trade and build a community with a shared future for mankind, he added.
Rutte said the Netherlands values the ties with China and is willing to expand cooperation in different areas.
He praised China's efforts in fighting against COVID-19, saying the Dutch side is willing to work with China in respective areas.
Read more at:
Free trade and cooperation top Chinese FM Wang Yi's Netherlands visit - CGTN
Wang said China and the Netherlands enjoy a mutual bilateral relationship on the basis of mutual respect, mutual understanding, openness and mutual trust.
As the coronavirus pandemic is normalized in both countries, China is willing to work with the Dutch government to resume the flow of goods and people so as to make their contribution to global economic recovery.
Faced with the rising challenge of unilateralism, China would like to work the Dutch side to defend multilateralism and free trade and build a community with a shared future for mankind, he added.
Rutte said the Netherlands values the ties with China and is willing to expand cooperation in different areas.
He praised China's efforts in fighting against COVID-19, saying the Dutch side is willing to work with China in respective areas.
Read more at:
Free trade and cooperation top Chinese FM Wang Yi's Netherlands visit - CGTN
May 6, 2020
Netherlands lands in crossfire in US-China trade war
A Dutch semiconductor company has become the focus of international attention after the United States put pressure on The Hague to halt exports of machines to China. Like many European countries, the…
Read more at:
http://www.rfi.fr/en/science-and-technology/20200504-the-netherlands-lands-in-crossfire-in-us-china-trade-war-coronavirus-asml-superconductor
Read more at:
http://www.rfi.fr/en/science-and-technology/20200504-the-netherlands-lands-in-crossfire-in-us-china-trade-war-coronavirus-asml-superconductor
March 30, 2020
The Netherlands - Coroanvirus: Holland recalls 600,000 masks imported from China
The Dutch Ministry of Health said on Saturday that it asked hospitals to return 600,000 face masks after they failed to meet safety requirements.
Read more at:
https://www.businessinsider.com/coroanvirus-holland-recalls-over-half-a-million-masks-imported-from-china-2020-3
Read more at:
https://www.businessinsider.com/coroanvirus-holland-recalls-over-half-a-million-masks-imported-from-china-2020-3
January 19, 2020
Switzerland-Davos 2020: American politics is the biggest risk facing the world right now, say experts
American politics is the biggest threat facing the world in 2020 and
the looming presidential election will stress the country's
institutions, influence economic and foreign policy and further divide
an already polarized electorate, with potentially huge consequences for
the climate, business and investors.
That's the view of experts at consultancies Eurasia Group and Control Risks.
The World Economic Forum, which is preparing to hold its annual meeting of political leaders and CEOs next week in Davos, is also warning of increased turbulence this year from trade conflicts and political polarization that makes it harder to tackle global challenges.
Read more: Davos 2020: American politics is the biggest risk facing the world right now, say experts
That's the view of experts at consultancies Eurasia Group and Control Risks.
The World Economic Forum, which is preparing to hold its annual meeting of political leaders and CEOs next week in Davos, is also warning of increased turbulence this year from trade conflicts and political polarization that makes it harder to tackle global challenges.
Read more: Davos 2020: American politics is the biggest risk facing the world right now, say experts
January 10, 2020
China - EU - Iran - Russia -Turkey -- a new Dawn? : Donald Trump′s risky short-sightedness - by Frank Sieren
 |
| New World Order? China,-EU Russia |
For now, the situation seems to be, if not de-escalated, at least not re-escalated. But the stakes in the Middle East are also high for China now. As the country with the second-highest oil consumption in the world, it sources a good 50% of its imports from the region. Although Iran is ranked only seventh in the list of oil exporters to China, it has become a close economic and diplomatic partner of Beijing's in recent years.
China is also Iran's largest trading partner. China's investments in Iran are also rising steadily, amounting to over $27 billion (€24.3 billion) between 2005 and 2018. Last summer, the two governments agreed that China would invest $280 billion in Iran's energy sector and $120 billion in its infrastructure and manufacturing sector over the next 25 years. In return, Beijing would receive cheaper oil as well as other benefits. The idea is also that the transactions be conducted in Chinese yuan or Russian rubles, as Russian companies will also be involved.
Iran is playing an increasingly important role for China's "New Silk Road." One of the most important axes of the geostrategic project of the century leads from China to Turkey, via Pakistan and Iran, and then from Istanbul to the Greek port of Piraeus.
Not far from the Pakistan-Iranian border and the Strait of Hormuz, through which 40% of the world's oil transports pass, lies the deep-sea port of Gwadar. In future, the idea is that this be used to transport oil and goods directly to China via an economic corridor in Pakistan. Pakistan shares a common border with both Iran and China, while goods still have to cross three Central Asian countries to get to China via the northern route.
Note EU-Digest: China, the EU and Russia for some time now are starting to cooperate on trade and technology much closer and in the process are by-passing the US at an ever increasing rate, specially following the election of Donald Trump.
Read more: Sieren’s China: Donald Trump′s risky short-sightedness | Asia| An in-depth look at news from across the continent | DW | 09.01.2020
January 3, 2020
EU in Defense mode on Trade: In Trade War, EU Is Force to Be Reckoned With-Netherlands Warns
The European Union
will act as one if the U.S hits France with tariffs and must stop being
naive with powers like China, the Dutch Finance Minister warned.
Adding to growing calls for the bloc to do more to boost its economic sovereignty, Wopke Hoekstra said in an interview that the EU shouldn’t sit idly as countries like China subsidize their companies, or Donald Trump’s administration turns against its member states.
Faced with a global stage that’s increasingly dominated by the U.S. and China, the EU has come under pressure from some members to ensure a level playing field for its companies so that they can better compete with rivals that receive a helping hand from their governments.
“It is simply unacceptable that we are playing by the rules and some others just do whatever they like and by state support have the ability to outcompete some of our companies,” Hoekstra said recently.
“If we lookat the airline industry it’s bizarre that a great company like Air France-KLM is competing in a completely unlevel playing field with some of the carriers from outside the EU.”
His comments follow a recent initiative by the Netherlands calling on the EU to overhaul its competition framework by granting the European Commission powers to perform checks on companies that could potentially distort markets.
The Dutch push comes as a new executive has just taken the EU’s helm in Brussels and as the issue of protecting the region’s industry is gaining more prominence amid the rise of economic nationalism across the world, including with Trump’s America first policies in the U.S.
Read more at: In Trade War, EU Is Force to Be Reckoned With, Netherlands Warns - Bloomberg
Adding to growing calls for the bloc to do more to boost its economic sovereignty, Wopke Hoekstra said in an interview that the EU shouldn’t sit idly as countries like China subsidize their companies, or Donald Trump’s administration turns against its member states.
Faced with a global stage that’s increasingly dominated by the U.S. and China, the EU has come under pressure from some members to ensure a level playing field for its companies so that they can better compete with rivals that receive a helping hand from their governments.
“It is simply unacceptable that we are playing by the rules and some others just do whatever they like and by state support have the ability to outcompete some of our companies,” Hoekstra said recently.
“If we lookat the airline industry it’s bizarre that a great company like Air France-KLM is competing in a completely unlevel playing field with some of the carriers from outside the EU.”
His comments follow a recent initiative by the Netherlands calling on the EU to overhaul its competition framework by granting the European Commission powers to perform checks on companies that could potentially distort markets.
The Dutch push comes as a new executive has just taken the EU’s helm in Brussels and as the issue of protecting the region’s industry is gaining more prominence amid the rise of economic nationalism across the world, including with Trump’s America first policies in the U.S.
Read more at: In Trade War, EU Is Force to Be Reckoned With, Netherlands Warns - Bloomberg
October 10, 2019
EU-Digest editorial: Turkey - Northern Syria - Incursion: Turkey's military operation has made one thing more clear - the world has become a far more dangerous place than it already was
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres
said any military operation must fully respect the UN Charter and
international humanitarian law (LOL) - unfortunately nobody listens to
them anymore.
EU chief Jean-Claude Juncker demanded Turkey to halt its military operation, telling Ankara the bloc would not pay for any so-called "safe zone" that might be created. Sure, he probably does not believe that statement himself !!! (LOL).
The EU's top foreign policy official, Federica Mogherini warned that "unilateral action on Turkey's part threatens concerted action by the West and Turkey and other countries to defeat ISIL".
Turkish military action, she said, risked "protracted instability in northeast Syria, providing fertile ground for the resurgence of Daesh".
Obviously this EU response had no "bite" to it, since the EU does not have its own military force, or the backing among its members to support such actions, and, unfortunately, because they still closely follow US directives, when it comes to their foreign affairs policies.
Erdogan also threatened that he would be sending back all the + 3 million refugees who were in Turkey, to the EU, if the EU continued to condemn Turkey's incursion into Syria. That obviously is the last thing the EU wants, not even having a comprehensive policy on Migration in their "back-pocket".
Chief Jens Stoltenberg of NATO (another unneeded US military relic from the past in Europe), urged Turkey to show "restraint", while acknowledging that Ankara had "legitimate security concerns".( LOL ) - as he was obviously told to say that by the US, which controls NATO.
As to the US Trump Administration- the US President, who has been rightly accused of double-crossing the Kurdish fighters, crucial in the war on ISIS, by pulling US troops out of the war-torn country,made another one of his brilliant statements and said: "the Kurds didn't help us in the Second World War; they didn't help us with Normandy”. He added the Kurds were only willing to help with “their land”, and concluded "With all of that being said, we like the Kurds.”
At least this drama is giving the President of the US a moment of relief from the ever louder cries in his country for his impeachment. Hopefully the country does not forget to get rid of him a.s.a.p.
China voiced concern over the Turkish incursion in Syria, urging Ankara to exercise restraint and calling on all parties to respect Syria's sovereignty. However deep down, "China must be laughing all the way to the bank, looking at the lunatic actions of the US Trump Administration".
Russian reactions to the incursion were more complicated: What’s already clear is that deeper divisions are likely to emerge among Russia, Iran, and Turkey, three actors that previously had mostly been united in their opposition to U.S. interests in the region. Though in recent months leaders from Moscow, Tehran, and Ankara—as the so-called Astana Group—have been working toward conflict resolution in Syria through the framework of the Russia-led Syrian constitutional committee, disagreements among them have prevented serious progress. As Turkey stages its incursion into territory previously held by U.S.-allied Kurdish forces, Russia’s reaction has been rooted in a mix of implicit apprehension and explicit platitudes about integrity and restraint. The Kremlin’s frustrations will grow as Turkey expands its attacks in a way that further risks the constitutional committee’s progress and jeopardizes Bashar al-Assad’s consolidation of power.
And so, the sad result of the U.S. decision to withdraw its troops from Syria abruptly, without prior consultation with its allies, is a guarantee that the eight-year conflict in Syria will rumble on with no end in sight.
EU chief Jean-Claude Juncker demanded Turkey to halt its military operation, telling Ankara the bloc would not pay for any so-called "safe zone" that might be created. Sure, he probably does not believe that statement himself !!! (LOL).
The EU's top foreign policy official, Federica Mogherini warned that "unilateral action on Turkey's part threatens concerted action by the West and Turkey and other countries to defeat ISIL".
Turkish military action, she said, risked "protracted instability in northeast Syria, providing fertile ground for the resurgence of Daesh".
Obviously this EU response had no "bite" to it, since the EU does not have its own military force, or the backing among its members to support such actions, and, unfortunately, because they still closely follow US directives, when it comes to their foreign affairs policies.
Erdogan also threatened that he would be sending back all the + 3 million refugees who were in Turkey, to the EU, if the EU continued to condemn Turkey's incursion into Syria. That obviously is the last thing the EU wants, not even having a comprehensive policy on Migration in their "back-pocket".
Chief Jens Stoltenberg of NATO (another unneeded US military relic from the past in Europe), urged Turkey to show "restraint", while acknowledging that Ankara had "legitimate security concerns".( LOL ) - as he was obviously told to say that by the US, which controls NATO.
As to the US Trump Administration- the US President, who has been rightly accused of double-crossing the Kurdish fighters, crucial in the war on ISIS, by pulling US troops out of the war-torn country,made another one of his brilliant statements and said: "the Kurds didn't help us in the Second World War; they didn't help us with Normandy”. He added the Kurds were only willing to help with “their land”, and concluded "With all of that being said, we like the Kurds.”
At least this drama is giving the President of the US a moment of relief from the ever louder cries in his country for his impeachment. Hopefully the country does not forget to get rid of him a.s.a.p.
China voiced concern over the Turkish incursion in Syria, urging Ankara to exercise restraint and calling on all parties to respect Syria's sovereignty. However deep down, "China must be laughing all the way to the bank, looking at the lunatic actions of the US Trump Administration".
Russian reactions to the incursion were more complicated: What’s already clear is that deeper divisions are likely to emerge among Russia, Iran, and Turkey, three actors that previously had mostly been united in their opposition to U.S. interests in the region. Though in recent months leaders from Moscow, Tehran, and Ankara—as the so-called Astana Group—have been working toward conflict resolution in Syria through the framework of the Russia-led Syrian constitutional committee, disagreements among them have prevented serious progress. As Turkey stages its incursion into territory previously held by U.S.-allied Kurdish forces, Russia’s reaction has been rooted in a mix of implicit apprehension and explicit platitudes about integrity and restraint. The Kremlin’s frustrations will grow as Turkey expands its attacks in a way that further risks the constitutional committee’s progress and jeopardizes Bashar al-Assad’s consolidation of power.
And so, the sad result of the U.S. decision to withdraw its troops from Syria abruptly, without prior consultation with its allies, is a guarantee that the eight-year conflict in Syria will rumble on with no end in sight.
August 1, 2019
USA - Economy: 10 alarming things about the economy that politicians wont tell you
10 alarming things about the US economy that politicians won’t tell you -
Reed more at :
https://on.mktw.net/2YEgoZk
https://on.mktw.net/2YEgoZk
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July 20, 2019
Middle East Crises - Consequences of the Trump Administration dysfunctional Middle East policy: U.S. military has begun reoccupying Prince Sultan air base in Saudi Arabia - by Courtney Kube
"In June the U.S. military began moving equipment and hundreds of troops back to a military base in Saudi Arabia that the U.S. deserted more than 15 years ago, according to two U.S. officials familiar with the deployment.
Over the coming weeks the deployment to Prince Sultan Air Base,
intended to counter the threat from Iran, will grow to include fighter
jets and Patriot long-range missile defense systems, the officials said.
The Patriots have already arrived at the base and should be operational
in mid-July, while the aircraft are expected to arrive in August.
Several hundred U.S. service members are already on site preparing the facility south of Riyadh, which is controlled by the Royal Saudi Air Force, a number that will grown to more than 500 after the arrival of an air squadron.
The US officials said the deployment focuses on defensive capabilities, with Patriot batteries for missile defense and the fighter jets intended to defend U.S. forces on the ground. But they acknowledged the aircraft could be used offensively as well."
Note EU-Digest: It seems that the wheels are coming off the Trump's Administration dysfunctional Middle East foreign policy, which, unfortunately, is getting very little in-depth scrutiny, by either the Press, or government sources, specially those in Europe.
The fact is that the US, by unilaterally getting out of the Iran Nuclear Agreement, signed by the United States, the United Kingdom, Russia, France, Germany, and the EU, back in 2015, is the direct cause of the present crisis in the Middle East.
Read more: U.S. military has begun reoccupying Prince Sultan air base in Saudi Arabia
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Several hundred U.S. service members are already on site preparing the facility south of Riyadh, which is controlled by the Royal Saudi Air Force, a number that will grown to more than 500 after the arrival of an air squadron.
The US officials said the deployment focuses on defensive capabilities, with Patriot batteries for missile defense and the fighter jets intended to defend U.S. forces on the ground. But they acknowledged the aircraft could be used offensively as well."
Note EU-Digest: It seems that the wheels are coming off the Trump's Administration dysfunctional Middle East foreign policy, which, unfortunately, is getting very little in-depth scrutiny, by either the Press, or government sources, specially those in Europe.
The fact is that the US, by unilaterally getting out of the Iran Nuclear Agreement, signed by the United States, the United Kingdom, Russia, France, Germany, and the EU, back in 2015, is the direct cause of the present crisis in the Middle East.
Read more: U.S. military has begun reoccupying Prince Sultan air base in Saudi Arabia
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June 30, 2019
CHINA-US relations; G20 summit: XI and Trump agree to restart China-US trade talks
G20 summit: Trump and Xi agree to restart US-China trade talks
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