China news roundup / Nachrichten 2023-06-01/02
Why Biden’s China Reset Is a Bad Idea
"The problem is that Biden’s logic is all too transparent for Beijing. For more than two years this same U.S. administration has emphasized China as the top threat to U.S. national security. By suddenly shifting to diplomatic engagement a year from an election, the administration is signaling that it needs a diplomatic deal, even if it means chasing after China to get it.
If this all sounds familiar, it’s because we’ve seen it before. When Barack Obama entered office in 2009, his opening move was to try to reset relations with Russia in order to support the U.S. focus on Afghanistan. To pay the Kremlin for the courtesy, he canceled plans to install missile defense in Poland and the Czech Republic. When Russia responded by invading Crimea, Obama ramped up engagement with China instead. On the White House lawn, Xi pledged not to militarize the islands of the South China Sea—and then did precisely that."
--- The really bad thing is that even among Republicans you have loud voices calling for a "reset" with China. Just today I heard a Rep lawmaker call for Biden to actively seek a meeting with emperor Xi. Too many moronic appeasers out there.
"None of this is to say that Washington should spurn dialogue, if it’s on offer. But it’s not the U.S. side that recently sent spy balloons over the other’s territory or tacitly (and possibly actively) supports the aggressor in the largest European land war since 1945. When China is ready to change its behavior, the United States should be willing to reengage at the highest levels. Until then, the Biden administration should keep the channels open but focus on helping the Ukrainians, bolstering U.S. defenses in the Pacific, and pushing European allies to stand firm on China. In any event, Biden should not be begging Xi to pick up the phone."
--- Yep.
CIA director visited China last month as US seeks to reset relations
"US officials – including Burns – have been warning for months that US intelligence indicated Chinese leadership was considering provide lethal support to Ukraine, but so far Beijing has not moved ahead with that support. [sic!]"
--- China supporting Ukraine? Someone drank too much before writing.
Chinese censors remove protest site Sitong Bridge from online maps
"As the 34th anniversary of the 1989 massacre approaches, anyone searching in Chinese for Sitong Bridge on Baidu maps will draw a blank.
On 13 October 2022 white banners with large red characters criticising the Chinese Communist party (CCP) were hung over the bridge near Beijing’s university district in advance of a major CCP congress.
According to pictures posted on social media, the road sign for Sitong Bridge has been removed. Searches on Baidu for Sitong Bridge return the message: “No related places were found.”"
--- No protest sites ever existed in China. No protests ever happened against emperor Xi's policies. All is well under emperor Xi's heaven.
China’s young netizens share how they learned about 1989 Tiananmen Massacre
"Several students said instructors put themselves at risk by teaching about the crackdown in class or that they managed to access censored educational materials during their studies. “In a university elective course many years ago, the teacher secretly played a video [about the massacre] for us with the door closed, without saying a word,” said a student who gave their name as “Y.” “Nowadays it's impossible that such a thing could happen.”
Another respondent who gave his name as Guan Fu said that while in eighth grade, his modern Chinese history teacher “dedicated a whole class to explain everything about the Tiananmen Square incident.”
“That day, the beliefs that had been instilled in me since childhood collapsed,” he said. “I went back home and asked my elders about it. It turns out they all knew, but in the face of that bloody purge at the time, they chose silence.”
A respondent who identified themselves as “Student A” said a teacher had mentioned that university students in the square had been “suppressed by the government,” and that the reference was enough to make them want to dig further."
--- Interesting that some teachers dared to talk about the massacre. Must have been before emperor Xi came to power, though. Hard to see how that could happen today.
s.a.: No walls are impermeable, not even a firewall
China swelters through record temperatures, putting pressure on power grids
"Over the next three days, most of southern China is expected to be hit by temperatures of more than 35C, with temperatures in some areas exceeding 40C, according to national forecasters on Friday.
Power grids are preparing to be put under strain as demand for airconditioning soars in mega-cities such as Shanghai.
Demand for electricity in southern manufacturing hubs, including Guangdong, has surged in recent days, with China Southern Power Grid, one of the country’s two grid operators, seeing peak power load exceeding 200m kilowatts – weeks earlier than normal and close to historical highs."
--- Looks like this year we'll have another record in coal consumption. & problems with harvests.
Pigs, rabbits and fish are dying from searing temperatures in China
"Pigs, rabbits and fish have been dying from the searing temperatures, and wheat fields in central China have been flooded by the heaviest rainfall in a decade. Meanwhile, officials are worried that drought could hit the Yangtze River basin, China’s main rice-growing region, in the coming months"
--- All is well under emperor Xi's heaven.
"At a farm in eastern Jiangsu province, hundreds of pigs died this week after a sudden power outage caused fans to stop working at night, according to several state media reports.
The pigs suffocated to death amid extreme heat and poor air circulation"
--- Imagine that happening in one of the new pig breeding towers...
K-pop group BLACKPINK gets blasted for calling fans as ‘Macanese,’ not ‘Chinese’
"After going unnoticed for about a week, the post eventually drew the ire of China's “Little Pinks” – named for their support for the "red" Communist Party – who took issue with the use of the word "Macanese."
"Macanese? ? ? Can't you spell 'Chinese'? We'll teach you," commented @Taro_paste_needs_added_sugar_, while @naphthalene_tea added: "If you lack education, get someone more educated to write your Weibo posts."
"It would be more appropriate and accurate just to say 'Chinese'," wrote @Linus'_furball."
--- Goes to show how moronic nationalists are. Don't even know that you can identify people by the city they are living in, not only by country.
"By May 29, the band had edited the post to read "Macau fans,""
--- Suckers.
HSBC terminates bank accounts of Hong Kong opposition party League of Social Democrats without giving reason (Another good reason to avoid doing business with HSBC.)
Ukraine war hasn’t changed China’s thinking around possible attack on Taiwan, report says
What Are German Fighter Pilots Doing in China?
--- China Uncensored features the usual weekend news variety:
--- DW News: "Relations between US and China increasingly strained"
Deutsche Ex-Kampfpiloten offenbar als Ausbilder in China
"Seit Jahren sollen ehemalige Kampfpiloten aus Deutschland laut den Recherchen in China Militärflieger ausbilden. Demnach sei mindestens eine Handvoll früherer deutscher Luftwaffen-Offiziere als Trainer in China beschäftigt"
--- Seit Jahren. & daß westliche Piloten derartig tätig waren, ist jetzt auch schon eine Weile öffentlich bekannt. Aber deutsche Mühlen mahlen nunmal extrem langsam.
"Die ehemaligen Bundeswehrsoldaten, die mutmaßlich in China ausbilden, erhielten ihre Bezahlung laut den Berichten "offenbar in mehreren Fällen über Briefkastenfirmen auf den Seychellen". Das gehe aus dem "PanamaPapers"-Datenleak aus einer Anwaltskanzlei hervor, berichtet das ZDF.
Über diese Beratungsfirmen der Piloten im Steuerparadies flossen wohl die offenbar äußerst großzügigen Gehälter. Der "Spiegel" berichtet von einem Jahresgehalt von mehreren Hunderttausend Euro, das einer der Männer erhalten haben soll. Es handle sich um Gehälter, "die sonst nur im Profisport oder in Führungspositionen von Konzernen bezahlt werden"."
--- Offensichtlich alles astrein. Überhaupt nicht ungewöhnlich, extrem hohe Gehälter & Briefkastenfirmen...
CIA-Chef reiste heimlich nach China
"Gegenwärtig versucht die Regierung Biden, die bilateralen Beziehungen zwischen beiden Ländern wiederherzustellen. Sie war [sic!] unter anderem wegen des Streits um die Unabhängigkeit von Taiwan und des angeblichen chinesischen Spionageballons, der im Februar von einem US-Luftwaffenflugzeug abgeschossen wurde, in die Brüche gegangen."
--- Eine Beziehung ist immer noch eine Beziehung, auch wenn sie schlecht ist.
Die versuchte Anbiederung Bidens wird aber wohl kaum funktionieren, da die KPCh mit ziemlicher Sicherheit erst dann einer Verbesserung zustimmt, wenn die USA alle Maßnahmen zurücknehmen.
China droht mit gewaltsamer Eroberung Taiwans (& deutsche Medien kriegen sich mal wieder nicht ein.)
Rekordhitze in China setzt Stromnetze unter Druck
Europawahl 2024: EU-Parlament drängt auf TikTok-Verbot für Regierungen
