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Hotznplotzn

@ Hotznplotzn @lemmy.sdf.org

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1 yr. ago

  • China's exports likely opened new year at an even faster pace after record 2025: Reuters poll

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  • They have to. China's economy (and likely the government?) would be facing even more severe trouble without extensive export growth. Foreign markets are the country's only lifeline after a decade of so of failed economic policy. The world is waking up only slowly, but at least supply chain diversification is underway.

  • Ukraine’s Interceptor Drones Could Shield the Middle East From Iranian Shaheds at a Fraction of the Cost

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  • It all depends what Ukraine gets in return I would say.

  • Ukraine’s Interceptor Drones Could Shield the Middle East From Iranian Shaheds at a Fraction of the Cost

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  • That was my first thought, too. But as the article also says,

    Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has also said that Ukraine is ready to help protect Gulf countries from the Iranian regime, but is asking them to help Ukraine in return.

    If all sides are willing, they will find a way I hope.

  • China’s new language law to criminalise advocacy of ethnic minority rights

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  • It is a really racist and dictatorial policy:

    The new law was needed to provide better legal safeguards for the party’s “ethnic work” in order to “maintain the security and stability of China’s border regions and ethnic regions [...]

    and

    [there is] “no way” that non-Han people would be able to safely express “any type of discontent without being accused of being essentially separatists or terrorists."

  • China's economic ambitions hit limits to growth as its national congress meets

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  • but I would be surprised if China doesn’t come out stronger, some how.

    How so?

  • China's economic ambitions hit limits to growth as its national congress meets

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  • I wouldn't say it is a different argument. China is using this for its propaganda, portraying itself as a 'democracy' and stable government valuing the rule of law. But this is not reality. Beijing just uses Trump's actions for vindication, although China has long been a dictatorship long before Trump.

  • China's economic ambitions hit limits to growth as its national congress meets

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  • I don't know what Trump exactly wants in Venezuela and Iran, of course, but the wars here and there hit China massively.

    Both Venezuela, the country with the largest known oil reserves, and Iran are (were?) ideal partners for China's global business model built on commodity-based lending. It works quite simple: a Chinese bank close to its government loans the money, the borrower required to sell commodities to a buyer in China, and the commodities proceeds will then be redirected to the bank service the loan. As these trades often occur at predefined prices, China benefits not only by gaining political influence in the selling country - often politically isolated and whose primary source of income is the commodity - but also by making itself a bit independent form fluctuating oil prices.

    China has similar deals with a wide range of countries to whom it provides loans for commodities: in Zimbabwe China purchases platinum with such agreements, in Zambia cobalt and copper, in Ghana bauxite.

    In Venezuela, the China Development Bank financed the loans for the government in Caracas. The commodity purchase contract involved Venezuela's state-owned oil company Petróleos de Venezuela SA and a Chinese state-owned oil purchaser. The loan is then being repaid by the proceeds from Petróleos de Venezuela SA’s revenue stream from oil sales.

    Venezuela is the largest borrower of this Chinese state-backed lending scheme in South America and the fourth largest globally. Between 2000 and 2023, China granted loans totaling USD 95 billion to Venezuela via this scheme, which is roughly 90% of China's total loan volume to Venezuela, according to AidData.

    Amidst the current turmoils, however, the supposed convenience has a hefty price as China's credit risk is highly concentrated in a single commodity - in Venezuela's case, oil. Any fundamental change in Venezuela's oil industry would inevitably effect repayment terms (and enforcement conditions) of Caracas's debt to Beijing.

    The situation in Iran is similar. China has been buying cheap oil form sanction-hit Iran for a long time. China accounts for more than 80% of Iran’s maritime crude oil exports, and Iranian oil accounts for 13% of China's oil imports. If Iran is forced to shut the Strait of Hormuz, it has a much wider impact as 45% of China's (and 20% of the world's) oil and gas supply is shipped through this small lane in the gulf.

    For a short period of time, China may be able to even benefit from a possible oil scarcity. It has bought a huge stockpile and could be able to sell its refined oil to others at a reasonable price. But Beijing has no reason to celebrate as this will be short-term. In the long run, the situation will cause a lot of troubles for China.

    This is not to say that the US is deliberately aiming at China. I don't understand what the current administration is doing as Trump appears to contradict himself perpetually. But the impact on China is tremendous imho, at least this is how I interpret the data.

    I apologize for the long comment.

    [Edit typo.]

  • Ukraine Open to Sharing Anti-Drone Expertise With Allies, Zelenskyy Says

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  • Ukraine could also demand Taurus in exchange for their expertise.

  • Whistleblower reveals how China spies on citizens at home – and in the US

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  • Whistleblower reveals how China spies on citizens at home – and in the US

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  • Yes, according the the NGO Freedom House, a quarter of the world’s governments (48 states) are using tactics of transnational repression, but 10 are responsible for nearly 80 percent of all physical, direct incidents between 2014 and 2024.

    The Chinese government remains the most prolific perpetrator, committing 272 incidents, or 22 percent, of recorded cases. The governments of Russia, Turkey, and Egypt are also leading offenders. Authorities in Tajikistan and Cambodia have received less attention despite being major perpetrators of transnational repression against targets in Europe and Asia.

  • Whistleblower reveals how China spies on citizens at home – and in the US

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  • Chinese Communist Party: Knows it's far ahead.

  • Modi: India stands with Israel 'with full conviction'

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  • Modi is hugging also Putin, another war criminal, not sure if this has anything to do specifically with Israel's popularity in the country.

  • Security threat prompting PM evacuation linked to intimidation of Chinese dancers

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  • Just stumbled upon this article by a scholar, "What is Shen Yun, the Chinese dance troupe connected to the bomb threat at the Lodge?", of someone is interested.

    TL;DR: Shen Yun has been highly criticised by officials from China and has critics also abroad, but "the Chinese government’s sensitivity to Shen Yun reflects a broader strategic concern" as the article says:

    Shen Yun is not simply performing culture. It is contesting China’s cultural authority. In Shen Yun’s performances, cultural authenticity is not created by the state. Instead, cultural authenticity is created by the diaspora and the people [...] Western cultural venues – and today, the Lodge – have become key battlegrounds in this contest.

  • PM Modi Israel Visit Live Updates: Netanyahu hails ‘deep, long-standing friendship’ with PM, Modi accorded ceremonial welcome

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  • Modi has been hugging also Putin when they met in the last two years. Seems he should rethink his friendships ...

  • PM Modi Israel Visit Live Updates: Netanyahu hails ‘deep, long-standing friendship’ with PM, Modi accorded ceremonial welcome

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  • Modi has been hugging also Putin when they met in the last two years. Seems he should rethink his friendships ...

  • Members of Iran’s elite accused of hypocrisy over children’s lives in west

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  • It's not only about the elite's children in the West. Not long ago, a leaked wedding video lays bare luxurious lives of Iran’s political elite and highlights hypocrisy of Islamic Republic:

    A short video of a private wedding went viral in Iran recently, tearing away the country’s veil of piety and exposing hypocrisy and a seeming disregard for the rules by which the theocratic regime requires that most Iranians live their lives.

    The wedding in question was that of Fatemeh Shamkhani, in mid-2024. She is the daughter of Ali Shamkhani, a close adviser to Iran’s supreme leader, Ali Khamenei, at the luxurious Espinas Palace Hotel in Tehran.

    She wore a low-cut strapless dress with a western-style bridal veil rather than the full head-covering mandated for Iranian women. Many wedding guests also wore modern western styles and a lot of the women went without head coverings [...]

  • Security threat prompting PM evacuation linked to intimidation of Chinese dancers

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  • I didn't mean it that way, all good.

  • Security threat prompting PM evacuation linked to intimidation of Chinese dancers

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  • I am absolutely not a fan of any religious group, let alone of such 'cults' like Falun Gong or Scientology. But I think a bomb threat or similar criminal tactics are unlawful, no matter what.

    We must also clearly say that the only reason why China frequently intimidates these groups is not their cult-like status but because they don't pledge loyalty to the Chinese Communist Party. The CCP has apparently no problem to collaborate, for example, with the Chinese mafias overseas as they protect each others interests, and the Chinese party-state heavily engages with criminal groups abroad to achieve its strategic objectives.

    Weird alien stuff or not, there is no justification for a bomb threat in Australia or any other country.

  • Your car is spying on you – and Israeli firms are leading the surveillance race

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