Ahead of Chinese President Xi Jinping’s Brazil visit on November 20, Brasilia has junked China’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), becoming the second BRICS country after India to reject Beijing’s multi-billion dollar venture. Earlier in December 2023, Italy, the only G7 country to have signed for BRI...
cross-posted from: https://feddit.org/post/4768962
> Ahead of Chinese President Xi Jinping’s Brazil visit on November 20, Brasilia has junked China’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), becoming the second BRICS country after India to reject Beijing’s multi-billion dollar venture. > > Earlier in December 2023, Italy, the only G7 country to have signed for BRI, also withdrew from China’s vast infrastructure initiative. > > This move by Brazil—an influential player in the BRICS bloc—signals rising concerns about the long-term implications of China’s expanding global footprint through the BRI. > > Prioritizing Strategic Autonomy > > Under President Lula da Silva’s leadership, Brazil seeks to strengthen its ties with China while avoiding the formal commitments associated with joining the BRI. > > Brazilian officials are actively pursuing Chinese investments without formal accession to the BRI, reflecting the country’s desire to maintain strategic autonomy while exploring various infrastructure and trade projects with China. > > In an interview with the Brazilian newspaper O Globo, Celso Amorim, Brazil’s special presidential adviser for international affairs [...] clarified that Brazil does not view Chinese trade and infrastructure projects as “an insurance policy,” stating, “We are not entering into a treaty.” > > [...] >
Ahead of Chinese President Xi Jinping’s Brazil visit on November 20, Brasilia has junked China’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), becoming the second BRICS country after India to reject Beijing’s multi-billion dollar venture. Earlier in December 2023, Italy, the only G7 country to have signed for BRI...
Ahead of Chinese President Xi Jinping’s Brazil visit on November 20, Brasilia has junked China’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), becoming the second BRICS country after India to reject Beijing’s multi-billion dollar venture.
Earlier in December 2023, Italy, the only G7 country to have signed for BRI, also withdrew from China’s vast infrastructure initiative.
This move by Brazil—an influential player in the BRICS bloc—signals rising concerns about the long-term implications of China’s expanding global footprint through the BRI.
Prioritizing Strategic Autonomy
Under President Lula da Silva’s leadership, Brazil seeks to strengthen its ties with China while avoiding the formal commitments associated with joining the BRI.
Brazilian officials are actively pursuing Chinese investments without formal accession to the BRI, reflecting the country’s desire to maintain strategic autonomy while exploring various infrastructure and trade projects with China.
In an interview with the Brazilian newspaper O Globo, Celso Amorim, Brazil’s special presidential adviser for international affairs [...] clarified that Brazil does not view Chinese trade and infrastructure projects as “an insurance policy,” stating, “We are not entering into a treaty.”
[...]
A remote fishing town on the edge of Peru’s coastal desert is the site for a $1.3 billion megaport majority-owned by the Chinese shipping giant Cosco.
cross-posted from: https://feddit.org/post/4765221
> [The article is originally published by AP.] > > On the edge of Peru’s coastal desert [...] the megaport of Chancay, a $1.3 billion project majority-owned by the Chinese shipping giant Cosco, is turning this outpost of bobbing fishing boats into an important node of the global economy. China’s President Xi Jinping inaugurates the port Thursday during the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum in Peru. > > The development [...] has met a skeptical response from impoverished villagers, who say it is depriving them of fishing waters and bringing no economic benefit to locals. > > “Our fishing spots no longer exist here. They destroyed them,” said 78-year-old fisherman Julius Caesar — “like the emperor of Rome” — gesturing toward the dockside cranes. [...] > > The Peruvian government hopes the port 60 kilometers (37 miles) north of Lima will become a strategic transshipment hub for the region, opening a new line connecting South America to Asia and speeding trade across the Pacific for Peru’s blueberries, Brazil’s soybeans and Chile’s copper, among other exports. Officials cite the port’s potential to generate millions of dollars in revenues and turn coastal cities into so-called special economic zones with tax breaks to lure investment. > > “We Peruvians are focused primarily on the well-being of Peruvians,” Foreign Minister Elmer Schialer told The Associated Press. > > But many of Chancay’s 60,000 residents are unconvinced. Fishermen returning to port with smaller catches complain that they have already lost out. > > The dredging of the port — which sucked sediment from the seabed to create a shipping channel 17 meters (56 feet) deep — has ruined fish breeding grounds, locals said. > > “I’ve been out in the water all day and I’m always needing to venture farther,” said Rafael Ávila, a 28-year-old fisherman with sand in his hair, returning to shore empty-handed and exhausted. > > “This used to be enough,” he said, pointing at his painted dinghy. “Now I need a larger, more expensive boat to reach the fish.” > > [...] > > With some of the world’s largest container ships to berth at Chancay Port in January 2025, residents also fear the arrival of pollution and oil spills. In 2022, a botched tanker delivery at La Pampilla refinery nearby sent thousands of barrels of crude oil spilling into Peru’s famously biodiverse waters, killing countless fish and putting legions of fishermen out of work. > > Today a glance at the moribund town center, featuring mostly empty seafood restaurants, tells the story of diminished fishing stocks and decimated tourism even without the port being operational. > > The port’s breakwater changed the currents and destroyed good surfing conditions, locals said, affecting everyone from ice vendors to truckers to restaurant owners. “No to the megaport” is spray-painted on a wall overlooking the waterfront. > > “This port is a monster that’s come here to screw us,” said 40-year-old Rosa Collantes, cleaning and gutting slimy drum fish on the shore. “People come to the port and they say ‘Wow, tremendous!’ but they don’t see the reality.” > > [...]
A remote fishing town on the edge of Peru’s coastal desert is the site for a $1.3 billion megaport majority-owned by the Chinese shipping giant Cosco.
cross-posted from: https://feddit.org/post/4765221
> [The article is originally published by AP.] > > On the edge of Peru’s coastal desert [...] the megaport of Chancay, a $1.3 billion project majority-owned by the Chinese shipping giant Cosco, is turning this outpost of bobbing fishing boats into an important node of the global economy. China’s President Xi Jinping inaugurates the port Thursday during the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum in Peru. > > The development [...] has met a skeptical response from impoverished villagers, who say it is depriving them of fishing waters and bringing no economic benefit to locals. > > “Our fishing spots no longer exist here. They destroyed them,” said 78-year-old fisherman Julius Caesar — “like the emperor of Rome” — gesturing toward the dockside cranes. [...] > > The Peruvian government hopes the port 60 kilometers (37 miles) north of Lima will become a strategic transshipment hub for the region, opening a new line connecting South America to Asia and speeding trade across the Pacific for Peru’s blueberries, Brazil’s soybeans and Chile’s copper, among other exports. Officials cite the port’s potential to generate millions of dollars in revenues and turn coastal cities into so-called special economic zones with tax breaks to lure investment. > > “We Peruvians are focused primarily on the well-being of Peruvians,” Foreign Minister Elmer Schialer told The Associated Press. > > But many of Chancay’s 60,000 residents are unconvinced. Fishermen returning to port with smaller catches complain that they have already lost out. > > The dredging of the port — which sucked sediment from the seabed to create a shipping channel 17 meters (56 feet) deep — has ruined fish breeding grounds, locals said. > > “I’ve been out in the water all day and I’m always needing to venture farther,” said Rafael Ávila, a 28-year-old fisherman with sand in his hair, returning to shore empty-handed and exhausted. > > “This used to be enough,” he said, pointing at his painted dinghy. “Now I need a larger, more expensive boat to reach the fish.” > > [...] > > With some of the world’s largest container ships to berth at Chancay Port in January 2025, residents also fear the arrival of pollution and oil spills. In 2022, a botched tanker delivery at La Pampilla refinery nearby sent thousands of barrels of crude oil spilling into Peru’s famously biodiverse waters, killing countless fish and putting legions of fishermen out of work. > > Today a glance at the moribund town center, featuring mostly empty seafood restaurants, tells the story of diminished fishing stocks and decimated tourism even without the port being operational. > > The port’s breakwater changed the currents and destroyed good surfing conditions, locals said, affecting everyone from ice vendors to truckers to restaurant owners. “No to the megaport” is spray-painted on a wall overlooking the waterfront. > > “This port is a monster that’s come here to screw us,” said 40-year-old Rosa Collantes, cleaning and gutting slimy drum fish on the shore. “People come to the port and they say ‘Wow, tremendous!’ but they don’t see the reality.” > > [...]
Ein Megahafen soll die peruanische Stadt Chancay zum Singapur Lateinamerikas machen. Eigentümer ist die chinesische Firma Cosco. Peru bleibt außen vor.
Der Tiefwasserport, der bis 2032 insgesamt fünfzehn Containerbrücken erhalten soll, ist nicht nur für Peru, sondern auch für China ein Megaprojekt. Er gilt als wichtiges Teil der neuen chinesischen Seidenstraße. Und deshalb nutzt Chinas Präsident Xi Jining auch seine Visite beim Gipfel der Asiatisch-Pazifischen Wirtschaftsgemeinschaft (Apec) in Lima, um die extrem moderne Anlage an diesem Donnerstag gemeinsam mit der peruanischen Interims-Präsidentin Dina Boluarte einzuweihen.
[...]
Diesen Plan hat auch Raúl Pérez Reyes betont: „Unser Ziel ist es, das Singapur Lateinamerikas zu werden“, wirbt der [Raúl Pérez Reyes] Verkehrsminister von Peru. Chancay solle den gesamten Handel mit Asien abwickeln. Dabei geht es nicht nur um die Verschiffung von peruanischen Waren, sondern auch um Produkte aus Nachbarländern wie Brasilien, Bolivien, Paraguay oder Venezuela und Argentinien.
[...]
„Deshalb ist der Bau neuer Autobahnen, von Hightech-Industrieparks und die Ansiedlung von Dienstleistungsgewerbe geplant. Jobs sollen rund um Chancay en Gros entstehen und damit werben nicht nur die peruanischen Verantwortlichen, sondern auch Cosco Shipping“, fasst der Soziologe das Gesamtvorhaben zusammen. Begeistert ist er davon nicht.
Kein Wunder, denn mit dem Arbeitsplatz-Argument wird gern von den Versäumnissen abgelenkt: Im Hafen von Chancay haben peruanische Offizielle nichts zu melden. Cosco Shipping, das chinesische Staatsunternehmen, hält 60 Prozent der Anteile und gibt bei allem den Ton an.
[...]
Chancay sei ein „Dual-Use-Port, der eben auch militärisch genutzt“ werden könne, ärgern sich US-Militärs. Die USA verlieren seit rund zwei Jahrzehnten auf ökonomischer, politischer und militärischer Ebene an Einfluss in Mittel- wie Südamerika. Chancay ist ein Symbol dafür. Allerdings auch für das Versagen der peruanischen Institutionen, denn nicht die Nationale Hafenbehörde (APN) entscheidet, wer an den Terminals ablegen, arbeiten und mit Waren handeln darf, sondern allein Cosco.
[...]
Umwelt, Artenschutz? Egal
Dadurch kontrolliert das Staatsunternehmen die kostspieligen Schiffsrouten, diktiert Preise, kann Güter billiger handeln. Als das bekannt wurde, sorgte es in Peru für Proteste. Der Verdacht der Korruption machte die Runde. Doch statt die Vorwürfe zu untersuchen, sorgten der Kongress, das Parlament, per Gesetz dafür, dass alles nachträglich legalisiert wurde, kritisiert Alejandro Chirinos.
[...]
Ein Umweltgutachten, das der deutsche Biologe Stefan Austermühle im Auftrag von CooperAcción und der peruanischen Menschenrechtskoordination durchgeführt hat, weist auf offene Fragen und Defizite in der offiziellen Bewertung von Cosco hin. „Aber letztlich wurde alles durchgewunken“, kritisiert Chirinos. Im Ergebnis seien die Brutgebiete [von in der Region heimischen Vogelarten] existenziell gefährdet.
[...]
Auch die lokalen Fischer klagen schon jetzt, vor der Nutzung des Megahafens, über sinkende Fangquoten und weniger Vielfalt im Netz. Zudem müssen sich tausende Familien in der 60.000-Einwohner-Stadt darauf einstellen, im Rahmen der nächsten Bauetappen des Hafens enteignet zu werden. „Alles wurde über die Köpfe der lokalen Bevölkerung entschieden. Partizipation Fehlanzeige“, kritisiert der Soziologe von CooperAcción. Das ist recht typisch in Peru. Allerdings habe sich das unter Interims-Präsidentin Dina Boluarte verschärft, die nur über fünf Prozent Zustimmung der Bevölkerung verfügt und gegen die wegen Korruption ermitteln wird.
A remote fishing town on the edge of Peru’s coastal desert is the site for a $1.3 billion megaport majority-owned by the Chinese shipping giant Cosco.
[The article is originally published by AP.]
On the edge of Peru’s coastal desert [...] the megaport of Chancay, a $1.3 billion project majority-owned by the Chinese shipping giant Cosco, is turning this outpost of bobbing fishing boats into an important node of the global economy. China’s President Xi Jinping inaugurates the port Thursday during the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum in Peru.
The development [...] has met a skeptical response from impoverished villagers, who say it is depriving them of fishing waters and bringing no economic benefit to locals.
“Our fishing spots no longer exist here. They destroyed them,” said 78-year-old fisherman Julius Caesar — “like the emperor of Rome” — gesturing toward the dockside cranes. [...]
The Peruvian government hopes the port 60 kilometers (37 miles) north of Lima will become a strategic transshipment hub for the region, opening a new line connecting South America to Asia and speeding trade across the Pacific for Peru’s blueberries, Brazil’s soybeans and Chile’s copper, among other exports. Officials cite the port’s potential to generate millions of dollars in revenues and turn coastal cities into so-called special economic zones with tax breaks to lure investment.
“We Peruvians are focused primarily on the well-being of Peruvians,” Foreign Minister Elmer Schialer told The Associated Press.
But many of Chancay’s 60,000 residents are unconvinced. Fishermen returning to port with smaller catches complain that they have already lost out.
The dredging of the port — which sucked sediment from the seabed to create a shipping channel 17 meters (56 feet) deep — has ruined fish breeding grounds, locals said.
“I’ve been out in the water all day and I’m always needing to venture farther,” said Rafael Ávila, a 28-year-old fisherman with sand in his hair, returning to shore empty-handed and exhausted.
“This used to be enough,” he said, pointing at his painted dinghy. “Now I need a larger, more expensive boat to reach the fish.”
[...]
With some of the world’s largest container ships to berth at Chancay Port in January 2025, residents also fear the arrival of pollution and oil spills. In 2022, a botched tanker delivery at La Pampilla refinery nearby sent thousands of barrels of crude oil spilling into Peru’s famously biodiverse waters, killing countless fish and putting legions of fishermen out of work.
Today a glance at the moribund town center, featuring mostly empty seafood restaurants, tells the story of diminished fishing stocks and decimated tourism even without the port being operational.
The port’s breakwater changed the currents and destroyed good surfing conditions, locals said, affecting everyone from ice vendors to truckers to restaurant owners. “No to the megaport” is spray-painted on a wall overlooking the waterfront.
“This port is a monster that’s come here to screw us,” said 40-year-old Rosa Collantes, cleaning and gutting slimy drum fish on the shore. “People come to the port and they say ‘Wow, tremendous!’ but they don’t see the reality.”
[...]
And Biden has mere weeks to give the Ukrainians the resources they need to fight.
cross-posted from: https://feddit.org/post/4764066
> Archived link > > The choices, and the stakes, would remain very similar to what they were in February 2022, says Historian Anne Applebaum, senior fellow at the SNF Agora Institute at Johns Hopkins University and the School of Advanced International Studies. > > "Either we [the Western democracies] inflict enough economic pressure and military pain to convince Russia that the war can never be won, or we deal with the far more ominous, and far more expensive, consequences of Ukraine’s loss." > > >“Land for peace” sounds nice, but the president of Russia isn’t fighting for land. Putin is fighting not to conquer Pokrovsk but to destroy Ukraine as a nation. He wants to show his own people that Ukraine’s democratic aspirations are hopeless. He wants to prove that a whole host of international laws and norms, including the United Nations Charter and the Geneva conventions, no longer matter. His goal is not to have peace but to build concentration camps, torture civilians, kidnap 20,000 Ukrainian children, and get away with it—which, so far, he has. > > >Putin will truly stop fighting only if he loses the war, loses power, or loses control of his economy. And there is plenty of evidence that he fears all three, despite his troops’ slow movement forward. He would not have imported thousands of North Korean soldiers if he had an infinite number of Russians to replace the more than 600,000 soldiers whom he has lost to injury or death. He would not have paid American YouTubers to promote anti-Ukrainian propaganda if he wasn’t worried by the American public’s continued support for Ukraine. His economy is in trouble: Russian inflation is rising fast; Russian interest rates are now at 21 percent; Russian industries particularly vulnerable to sanctions, such as liquefied natural gas, are suffering. The Russian navy was humiliated in the Black Sea. The Russian military has still not recaptured territory lost in Russia’s Kursk province, conquered by the Ukrainians last summer.
And Biden has mere weeks to give the Ukrainians the resources they need to fight.
The choices, and the stakes, would remain very similar to what they were in February 2022, says Historian Anne Applebaum, senior fellow at the SNF Agora Institute at Johns Hopkins University and the School of Advanced International Studies.
"Either we [the Western democracies] inflict enough economic pressure and military pain to convince Russia that the war can never be won, or we deal with the far more ominous, and far more expensive, consequences of Ukraine’s loss."
>“Land for peace” sounds nice, but the president of Russia isn’t fighting for land. Putin is fighting not to conquer Pokrovsk but to destroy Ukraine as a nation. He wants to show his own people that Ukraine’s democratic aspirations are hopeless. He wants to prove that a whole host of international laws and norms, including the United Nations Charter and the Geneva conventions, no longer matter. His goal is not to have peace but to build concentration camps, torture civilians, kidnap 20,000 Ukrainian children, and get away with it—which, so far, he has.
>Putin will truly stop fighting only if he loses the war, loses power, or loses control of his economy. And there is plenty of evidence that he fears all three, despite his troops’ slow movement forward. He would not have imported thousands of North Korean soldiers if he had an infinite number of Russians to replace the more than 600,000 soldiers whom he has lost to injury or death. He would not have paid American YouTubers to promote anti-Ukrainian propaganda if he wasn’t worried by the American public’s continued support for Ukraine. His economy is in trouble: Russian inflation is rising fast; Russian interest rates are now at 21 percent; Russian industries particularly vulnerable to sanctions, such as liquefied natural gas, are suffering. The Russian navy was humiliated in the Black Sea. The Russian military has still not recaptured territory lost in Russia’s Kursk province, conquered by the Ukrainians last summer.
The EU Parliament passed with 371 votes in favour, 240 against it, and 30 abstentions the proposed one-year postponement of the EU deforestation regulation. The EPP withdraws some of the amendments but, along with the far right, approves the inclusion of a category of "non-risk" countries from which...
cross-posted from: https://feddit.org/post/4757140
> The EU executive’s proposal to postpone the implementation of the regulation on imported deforestation for one year was approved by the Brussels hemicycle with 371 votes in favour, 240 against, and 30 abstentions. On the final vote, socialists, greens and leftists opposed it, with the same compactness with which the popular and far-right supported the text, while the liberals split. > > The EPP, which had tabled 15 controversial amendments to the Commission’s new text, announced before the vote that it was withdrawing some of the most significant ones: the proposal for a two-year delay and several exemptions for traders on supply chain control charges. According to a statement on the sidelines of the vote by Christine Schneider, a People’s Party MEP who signed all of the amendments, the EPP withdrew the amendments because it got reassurances from the European Commission in return, particularly the commitment to review the guidelines for companies and make sure to avoid an overlap of bureaucratic burdens between companies.
We believe that lies, fraud, and media toxicity threaten our way of life. We think new mechanisms are needed to preserve confidence. How else can people know what to trust?
To whom it may concern.
cross-posted from: https://feddit.org/post/4757760
> Ireland: Cork City Council first to pass motion committing to "using factual and accurate information in council discussion and debate" > > The motion commits all local representatives to using factual information in their contributions to the Council and in debates. > > It was brought forward by Councillor Pádraig Rice, following an election pledge as part of the CheckTheFacts campaign by Belong To', a non-profit dedicated to the LGBTQ+ Youth Ireland, which the organisation had developed in response to the increase in misinformation and disinformation both in Ireland and internationally. > > **Increase in Hate Crimes in Ireland ** > > In May 2024, Ireland's An Garda Síochána published its annual figures on hate crimes in Ireland showing a 12% increase in the number of reported hate crimes and hate-related incidents, while the European Digital Media Observatory reported in 2023 that the LGBTQ+ community is one of the most consistent victims of mis- and disinformation in the European Union. > > Commenting on the motion, Cllr Rice said: “We are in an age of misinformation, and Cork City Council is not immune to that. For my part, I intend to call out misinformation, and I have called on my Council colleagues to do the same.” > > Also commenting was Moninne Griffith, CEO of Belong To, who said: “I wish to express my gratitude to Cllr Rice for bringing forward this motion as he committed to doing in the local election campaign. We know that misinformation impacts heavily on marginalised communities in particular and the circulation of misinformation has real-life consequences. > > “The Being LGBTQI+ in Ireland research from Trinity College Dublin, published this year found that 1 in 4 members of Ireland’s LGBTQI+ community have been punched, hit or physically attacked due to being LGBTQI+, and 72% experienced verbal abuse due to being LGBTQI+. These incidents do not happen in isolation. They are fostered in an environment of misinformation and disinformation. So we thank Cllr Rice and all counsellors who voted to pass this motion for their commitment to facts.”
– Motion put forward as part of the #CheckTheFacts campaign to address misinformation in public life – On Monday, 11 November, Cork City Council passed a motion by Councillor Pádraig Rice, a general election candidate in Cork South Central: ‘That this council commits to using factual and accurate ...
Ireland: Cork City Council first to pass motion committing to "using factual and accurate information in council discussion and debate"
The motion commits all local representatives to using factual information in their contributions to the Council and in debates.
It was brought forward by Councillor Pádraig Rice, following an election pledge as part of the CheckTheFacts campaign by Belong To', a non-profit dedicated to the LGBTQ+ Youth Ireland, which the organisation had developed in response to the increase in misinformation and disinformation both in Ireland and internationally.
**Increase in Hate Crimes in Ireland **
In May 2024, Ireland's An Garda Síochána published its annual figures on hate crimes in Ireland showing a 12% increase in the number of reported hate crimes and hate-related incidents, while the European Digital Media Observatory reported in 2023 that the LGBTQ+ community is one of the most consistent victims of mis- and disinformation in the European Union.
Commenting on the motion, Cllr Rice said: “We are in an age of misinformation, and Cork City Council is not immune to that. For my part, I intend to call out misinformation, and I have called on my Council colleagues to do the same.”
Also commenting was Moninne Griffith, CEO of Belong To, who said: “I wish to express my gratitude to Cllr Rice for bringing forward this motion as he committed to doing in the local election campaign. We know that misinformation impacts heavily on marginalised communities in particular and the circulation of misinformation has real-life consequences.
“The Being LGBTQI+ in Ireland research from Trinity College Dublin, published this year found that 1 in 4 members of Ireland’s LGBTQI+ community have been punched, hit or physically attacked due to being LGBTQI+, and 72% experienced verbal abuse due to being LGBTQI+. These incidents do not happen in isolation. They are fostered in an environment of misinformation and disinformation. So we thank Cllr Rice and all counsellors who voted to pass this motion for their commitment to facts.”
The EU Parliament passed with 371 votes in favour, 240 against it, and 30 abstentions the proposed one-year postponement of the EU deforestation regulation. The EPP withdraws some of the amendments but, along with the far right, approves the inclusion of a category of "non-risk" countries from which...
The EU executive’s proposal to postpone the implementation of the regulation on imported deforestation for one year was approved by the Brussels hemicycle with 371 votes in favour, 240 against, and 30 abstentions. On the final vote, socialists, greens and leftists opposed it, with the same compactness with which the popular and far-right supported the text, while the liberals split.
The EPP, which had tabled 15 controversial amendments to the Commission’s new text, announced before the vote that it was withdrawing some of the most significant ones: the proposal for a two-year delay and several exemptions for traders on supply chain control charges. According to a statement on the sidelines of the vote by Christine Schneider, a People’s Party MEP who signed all of the amendments, the EPP withdrew the amendments because it got reassurances from the European Commission in return, particularly the commitment to review the guidelines for companies and make sure to avoid an overlap of bureaucratic burdens between companies.
cross-posted from: https://feddit.org/post/4755903
> Archived link > > European leaders should have started preparing for another Trump presidency long ago. They had been warned. > > Now, leaders should envisage a world where NATO no longer exists—or where the United States is no longer the leading force in the alliance, writes Phillips Payson O’Brien, Professor of strategic studies at the University of St Andrews, in Scotland. He is the author of The Strategists: Churchill, Stalin, Roosevelt, Mussolini, and Hitler—How War Made Them, and How They Made War. > > > >"In some ways, this is more scary psychologically than in practice. Europe—which is to say, the democratic countries enmeshed in institutions such as NATO and the European Union—has the economic and technological resources to underwrite a serious defense effort. It has a large and educated enough population to staff modern armed forces. It also has some strong and growing military capabilities. For instance, European states either have received or will receive in the coming years as many as 600 F-35 fighters—the most advanced and capable aircraft in the world. Such a force could dominate the skies against a clearly inferior Russian opponent."
Trump is closer to Putin than to any of the continent’s democratic leaders.
European leaders should have started preparing for another Trump presidency long ago. They had been warned.
Now, leaders should envisage a world where NATO no longer exists—or where the United States is no longer the leading force in the alliance, writes Phillips Payson O’Brien, Professor of strategic studies at the University of St Andrews, in Scotland. He is the author of The Strategists: Churchill, Stalin, Roosevelt, Mussolini, and Hitler—How War Made Them, and How They Made War.
>"In some ways, this is more scary psychologically than in practice. Europe—which is to say, the democratic countries enmeshed in institutions such as NATO and the European Union—has the economic and technological resources to underwrite a serious defense effort. It has a large and educated enough population to staff modern armed forces. It also has some strong and growing military capabilities. For instance, European states either have received or will receive in the coming years as many as 600 F-35 fighters—the most advanced and capable aircraft in the world. Such a force could dominate the skies against a clearly inferior Russian opponent."
[Edit to include the link.]
Many online are raising questions about a recent spate of public violence, as officials continue to censor discussion.
cross-posted from: https://feddit.org/post/4755500
> A car attack that killed 35 people in China has sparked questions about a recent spate of public violence, as officials continue to censor discussion on the incident. > > On social media, many are discussing the social phenomenon of "taking revenge on society", where individuals act on personal grievances by attacking strangers. > > Police said the driver who ploughed into crowds at a stadium in the southern city of Zhuhai on Monday night acted out of unhappiness over a divorce settlement. > > While it is believed to be China's deadliest known act of violence in decades, it follows a string of attacks in recent months, including a stabbing spree at a Shanghai supermarket and a knife attack at a Beijing school. > > Amid a national outcry over the Zhuhai incident, President Xi Jinping has vowed "severe punishment" for the perpetrator. Police said the 62-year-old driver, who has been arrested, is in a coma due to self-inflicted wounds. > > On Chinese social media platforms, many expressed shock at his actions and asked if it was a symptom of deeper societal problems. > > One comment that went viral on Weibo read: "How can you take revenge on society because your family life is not going well? You've taken the lives of so many innocent people, will you ever have peace of mind." > > “If there is a widespread lack of job security and huge pressure to survive... then society is bound to be full of problems, hostility and terror,” a user said on WeChat. > > Another person wrote in a widely-shared post: "We should be examining the deep-rooted, social [factors] that have fostered so many indiscriminate [attacks on] the weak." > > A number of violent attacks in China have been reported this year, including a mass stabbing and firearms attack in Shandong in February which killed at least 21 people. > > In October, a knife attack at a top school in Beijing injured five people, while in September, a man went on a stabbing spree at a supermarket in Shanghai, killing three people and injuring several others.
Many online are raising questions about a recent spate of public violence, as officials continue to censor discussion.
A car attack that killed 35 people in China has sparked questions about a recent spate of public violence, as officials continue to censor discussion on the incident.
On social media, many are discussing the social phenomenon of "taking revenge on society", where individuals act on personal grievances by attacking strangers.
Police said the driver who ploughed into crowds at a stadium in the southern city of Zhuhai on Monday night acted out of unhappiness over a divorce settlement.
While it is believed to be China's deadliest known act of violence in decades, it follows a string of attacks in recent months, including a stabbing spree at a Shanghai supermarket and a knife attack at a Beijing school.
Amid a national outcry over the Zhuhai incident, President Xi Jinping has vowed "severe punishment" for the perpetrator. Police said the 62-year-old driver, who has been arrested, is in a coma due to self-inflicted wounds.
On Chinese social media platforms, many expressed shock at his actions and asked if it was a symptom of deeper societal problems.
One comment that went viral on Weibo read: "How can you take revenge on society because your family life is not going well? You've taken the lives of so many innocent people, will you ever have peace of mind."
“If there is a widespread lack of job security and huge pressure to survive... then society is bound to be full of problems, hostility and terror,” a user said on WeChat.
Another person wrote in a widely-shared post: "We should be examining the deep-rooted, social [factors] that have fostered so many indiscriminate [attacks on] the weak."
A number of violent attacks in China have been reported this year, including a mass stabbing and firearms attack in Shandong in February which killed at least 21 people.
In October, a knife attack at a top school in Beijing injured five people, while in September, a man went on a stabbing spree at a supermarket in Shanghai, killing three people and injuring several others.
Having read the thread and all the numbers which are very interesting, I can't help thinking that whatever the economic output is in whatever country or bloc, China must face higher cost for backing Russia in Ukraine.
Palau's president has accused China of flouting the Pacific nation's maritime borders, raising concerns about research vessels lurking "uninvited" within its waters.
cross-posted from: https://feddit.org/post/4731180
> "We keep on raising flags and complaining about it, but they keep on sending them," said President Surangel Whipps Jr, the pro-US leader re-elected this week. > > "They continually don't respect our sovereignty and our boundaries and just continue to do these activities," he told AFP from Palau's commercial centre Koror. > > The most recent foray was detected earlier this week, one day after claiming victory in presidential elections. > > "Once again, Chinese vessels are in our exclusive economic zone uninvited." > > In what appeared to be another deliberate prod, Chinese officials earlier this year bestowed new names on two underwater mountains already claimed by Palau, Whipps added. > > "They're now naming some of our seamounts Chinese names. Why? Why would you do that?" > > A nation of some 20,000 people, Palau is one of the few countries to recognise Taiwan's claim to statehood. > > It is a stance that has angered China, which in recent years has persuaded a clutch of new Pacific friends to walk away from Taiwan in favour of Beijing. > > [...]
Palau's president has accused China of flouting the Pacific nation's maritime borders, raising concerns about research vessels lurking "uninvited" within its waters.
cross-posted from: https://feddit.org/post/4731180
> "We keep on raising flags and complaining about it, but they keep on sending them," said President Surangel Whipps Jr, the pro-US leader re-elected this week. > > "They continually don't respect our sovereignty and our boundaries and just continue to do these activities," he told AFP from Palau's commercial centre Koror. > > The most recent foray was detected earlier this week, one day after claiming victory in presidential elections. > > "Once again, Chinese vessels are in our exclusive economic zone uninvited." > > In what appeared to be another deliberate prod, Chinese officials earlier this year bestowed new names on two underwater mountains already claimed by Palau, Whipps added. > > "They're now naming some of our seamounts Chinese names. Why? Why would you do that?" > > A nation of some 20,000 people, Palau is one of the few countries to recognise Taiwan's claim to statehood. > > It is a stance that has angered China, which in recent years has persuaded a clutch of new Pacific friends to walk away from Taiwan in favour of Beijing. > > [...]
Palau's president has accused China of flouting the Pacific nation's maritime borders, raising concerns about research vessels lurking "uninvited" within its waters.
"We keep on raising flags and complaining about it, but they keep on sending them," said President Surangel Whipps Jr, the pro-US leader re-elected this week.
"They continually don't respect our sovereignty and our boundaries and just continue to do these activities," he told AFP from Palau's commercial centre Koror.
The most recent foray was detected earlier this week, one day after claiming victory in presidential elections.
"Once again, Chinese vessels are in our exclusive economic zone uninvited."
In what appeared to be another deliberate prod, Chinese officials earlier this year bestowed new names on two underwater mountains already claimed by Palau, Whipps added.
"They're now naming some of our seamounts Chinese names. Why? Why would you do that?"
A nation of some 20,000 people, Palau is one of the few countries to recognise Taiwan's claim to statehood.
It is a stance that has angered China, which in recent years has persuaded a clutch of new Pacific friends to walk away from Taiwan in favour of Beijing.
[...]
In related news, search engine Google just announced to roll out a test that gets rid of results from news publishers based in the EU.
This test will affect 1% of users in Belgium, Croatia, Denmark, France, Greece, Italy, the Netherlands, Poland and Spain. We will continue to show results from other websites, including news publishers based outside the EU. We intend to use this test to assess how results from EU news publishers impact the search experience for our users and traffic to publishers.
G does not say when the test will end.
As we know, Google has threatened to pull news links in Canada in response to the Online News Act of 2023 which forced all tech companies to come out with compensation related to linked content with any online news publisher. After months of negotiations, Google agreed to pay $100M each year to Canadian news organizations afaik.
A similar incident happened in California in the U.S. where Google briefly removed links to California news outlets in response to the proposed California Journalism Preservation Act (CJPA). The new law would force Google to pay publishers in return for using links to their pages. For now, the bill is yet to be confirmed but Google managed to strike a deal with lawmakers this summer.
Maybe that provided some additional context.
I am wondering whether the recent incident has also something to do with ii:
‘Go to hell’: how Project 2025 chief kicked the Guardian out of book event
Heritage Foundation staff member, introducing Kevin Roberts to the reporter, says: ‘You’ve got two minutes with our best friend Adam from the Guardian’
There are multiple examples of Chinese subsidiaries and/or takeovers of European companies in Europe, but there are no examples of European companies doing the same in China. In no sector. The rules are nowhere the same, not even remotely.
The only Chinese province where completely foreign-owned companies were possible was Xiamen, but that lasted until the 2000s or so (I don't remember the exact date). Your statements are outright false.
In all what constitutes fair competition, China lacks behind. China is a totally closed shop by any comparable standards with -in addition to that- grave human rights issues in the country, and the situation has been worsening in recent years.
I would be curious to learn more about their revenue model, the article doesn't say about it. The good thing is that there are no financial investors involved as far as we can learn from the read, it will be interesting to see how this develops imho.
We want the Chinese to open up their markets ...
They simply don't. One necessity of international trade and competition is reciprocity, but in China, foreign companies can't even establish a subsidiary. They need a Chinese partner who would then own the majority of the joint venture, while the foreigner own a minority stake in the company. And that's just one issue among many.
In addition, Europe should not replace its dependence on Russian fossil fuels with dependence on Chinese renewable energy technology. That doesn't make sense.
Falls jemand Nachrichten lieber als Doku haben will:
Chinas Machtansprüche im Südchinesischen Meer --- (video, 3 Minuten, abrufbar bis 6. Januar 2025)
Seit fast vier Monaten prangern die Philippinen die Angriffe der chinesischen Patrouillen im Südchinesischen Meer an: Blockierung philippinischer Versorgungsschiffe, Gefährdung von Fischern, Kollisionen auf See, illegal errichtete Barrieren ... Peking unternimmt immer mehr Versuche, die Kontrolle über das Südchinesische Meer zu erlangen.
I assume the way how the numbers are presented in the article is a bit misleading. A World Bank statement from March 2024 (pdf) says:
Disruptions to economic flows and production, as well as additional costs associated with war (such as debris management), are collectively measured as loss amounting to over US$499 billion. Reconstruction and recovery needs, as of December 31, 2023, are estimated to be over US$486 billion over the span of ten years.
So I would say the number 486bn is the sum needed for reconstruction over the next 10 years as per the assessment made at end of 2023, while in 2024 Ukraine needs additional money to keep the economy running, manage transport, debris, etc. You'll see a diagram on the linked pdf.
But this is what I interpret from this World Bank paper, I am not sure.
Your option 1 would mean that Russia is going to attack the next country.
Addition: Russia must be defeated and pay for Ukraine's reconstruction, Putin and possibly other war criminals face prosecution, Ukraine's future is in Nato and EU.
An Orban-linked group acquired Euronews back in the spring, reportedly by using public funds provided by the Hungarian state. I was surprised that until now, there appeared to be no visible changes in the editorial policy (the outlet has been very critical of Russia, China, Hungary, etc.). But now things appear to change.
No one talks about Ukraine losing. Any peace deal can only be reached according to Ukraine's terms, this includes that Russia will have to leave the whole of Ukraine.
Here is the same link without amp: https://edition.cnn.com/2024/11/07/europe/israel-soccer-fans-attacked-amsterdam-intl-hnk/index.html
https://feddit.org/u/benjhm@sopuli.xyz
But the article says, the core factors are economic.
The article says the factor are economic and cultural. For example, it reads that "online, young people openly discuss their frustrations with societal expectations [...] Hashtags related to singlehood, career focus, and discussions around marriage trends regularly go viral, amplifying the voices of those who feel pressured to conform to traditional life paths."
Even so, as they have built so many surplus apartments, the [real] prices must drop
The 'surplus apartments' are the result of a real estate crisis that, among others, has cost a lot of money. Many Chinese has lost their live savings. In the meantime, many experts (inside and outside China) are afraid that the problems in the property sector could severely hurt the financial and banking system and the whole economy in the long run.
I wonder how many years before they are trying to sell the Chinese dream to migrants from Africa or elsewhere.
Regarding migrant, especially from Africa, I suggest your read a release by a rights group (2023), or a very informative expert video (19 min, here is the archived link for this video). The video is from 2022.
Just a reminder that World News on Lemmyworld is not the only community packed with whataboutism.
Yeah, I didn't want to change the original title, but it is right. In the EU the public debt remains quite stable.
A related article on what is known regarding Russian sabotage activities in Europe:
How and why Russia is conducting sabotage and hybrid-war offensive -- (Archived link)
Across Europe, we’re seeing more confirmed or suspected instances of Russian sabotage. It is part of a broader hybrid war campaign against NATO countries, aimed at eroding support for Ukraine and damaging Western cohesion [...]
Russia has conducted arson attacks in Poland, Germany, Lithuania, Latvia and Czechia. Other reported sabotage attempts include flying drones over Stockholm airport, jamming of Baltic countries’ civil aviation GPS systems and disruption of French railways on the first day of the Paris Olympics. Facilities linked to supplying Ukraine have also been targeted: a BAE Systems munitions facility in Wales, an air-defence company’s factory in Berlin and a Ukrainian-owned logistics firm in London.
Authorities have arrested suspects for plots to bomb or sabotage a military base in Bavaria and a French facility supporting Ukraine’s war efforts. Agencies disrupted a plot to assassinate the CEO of German arms maker Rheinmetall, a supplier of artillery shells to Ukraine. Latvian authorities tracked down saboteurs dispatched to several countries on paid missions. Norway’s domestic intelligence service warns of the threat of sabotage to train lines and to gas facilities supplying much of Europe.
[...]
The West is running out of non-military options for response, since it is already imposing extensive economic and diplomatic sanctions against Moscow and has limited capacity or opportunity to retaliate in kind inside Russia. Still, a more strenuous response by Western governments is needed.
[Edit typo.]