Daily Archives: February 7, 2021

2021-02-07: News Headlines

Ajit Singh (2021-02-07). China Detaining Millions of Uyghurs? Serious Problems With Claims by US-Backed NGO and Researcher 'LED by God' Against Beijing. anti-empire.com Text is from December 2019. | The US House of Representatives passed the To drum up support for the sanctions bill, Western governments and media outlets have portrayed the People's Republic as a human rights violator on par with Nazi Germany. Republican Rep. Chris S…

_____ (2021-02-07). The Chinese 'Debt Trap' Is A Myth. popularresistance.org China, we are told, inveigles poorer countries into taking out loan after loan to build expensive infrastructure that they can't afford and that will yield few benefits, all with the end goal of Beijing eventually taking control of these assets from its struggling borrowers. As states around the world pile on debt to combat the coronavirus pandemic and bolster flagging economies, fears of such possible seizures have only amplified. | Seen this way, China's internationalization—as laid out in programs such as the Belt and Road Initiative—is not simply a pursuit of geopolitical influence but also, in so…

Paul Jay (2021-02-07). The Global Consequences of Jan. 6 and the Mass Base of Fascism — Gerald Horne. theanalysis.news How has the turmoil of Jan 6th and talk of coups affected American ability to control global events, especially as regards to China? The basis for fascism exists in the U.S. as a significant number of people who voted for Trump support a more racist and repressive state. Historian Gerald Horne on theAnalysis.news with Paul Jay.

WSWS (2021-02-06). Australian PM calls on New Zealand to "align more" against China. wsws.org The US and Australian governments are concerned that New Zealand's government is strengthening economic relations with Beijing while the US and its allies are preparing for war against China.

Matthew Rozsa (2021-02-06). Lancet editor says inequality and COVID-19 have converged to create a "syndemic" salon.com Dr. Richard Horton, editor of The Lancet, says we face a crisis that is biological as well as social…

CGTN (2021-02-06). Interview with Martin Jacques on BBC Coverage of China. dissidentvoice.org The Chinese Foreign Ministry has demanded an apology from the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) for its recent coverage of COVID-19, saying the BBC used a clip about an anti-terrorism exercise, claiming it was for pandemic control. The BBC responded: it will continue to uphold the "principle of justice". For more on this, CGTN talked to …

Alan MacLeod (2021-02-06). Atlantic Council pens anonymously authored expose calling for regime change in China. mronline.org The report outlines a plan for the United States to pursue a China without Xi Jinping, with a weakened Communist Party, and operating in a region dominated by the US and its allies.

Caitlin Johnstone (2021-02-06). The Empire Must Die: Notes From The Edge Of The Narrative Matrix. thealtworld.com Q: What is a liberal? | A: A liberal is a violent white supremacist extremist who supports and participates in the mass slaughter of brown-skinned human beings overseas while tweeting that white supremacist extremists are bad. | ‚ùñ | Q: What is capitalism? | A: Capitalism is a wonderful economic and political system which has given us powerful technology, a wide assortment of breakfast cereals, and near term human extinction. | ‚ùñ | Q: What is China? | A: China is a large Asiatic nation which westerners use as an emotional punching bag for their capitalism-induced rage, p…

Eds. (2021-02-06). How the Gulf War sparked China's military revolution. mronline.org With the technology and firepower on show during the conflict — precision bombing, satellite guidance, missile interception, air-to-surface strike to eliminate tanks, electronic warfare, one-way transparency on the battlefield, stealth bombers — the Gulf War was a "psychological nuclear attack" on China, observers say.

Online News Editor (2021-02-06). China approves Sinovac jab for public use. laprensalatina.com Beijing, Feb 6 (efe-epa).- The National Medical Products Administration of China has approved the Covid-19 vaccine developed by Sinovac, the company said Saturday in a statement. The vaccine is safe for people from 18 years of age and is to be applied in two doses of 0.5 milliliters each at an interval of between 14 …

_____ (2021-02-06). NY Times' Pseudo-Expert Accusing China of Genocide Worked for Far-Right Cult Falun Gong's Publicity Arm. strategic-culture.org The New York Times recycled flimsy claims by a right-wing apocalyptic extremist to accuse China of "genocide," in an op-ed by an American with 1/8th Uighur heritage who worked for Epoch Times, a far-right, pro-Trump outlet backed by cult Falun Gong. | By Ben NORTON | The New York Times published a factually challenged op-ed accusing China of committing "genocide" against its Uighur minority. The article sourced its spurious accusations to a right-wing operative who insists his research is part of a divine "mission" against Beijing that is "led by God." | The author of the New York Times op-ed, Amelia Pang, happen…

John Zarocostas (2021-02-06). [World Report] WHO team begins COVID-19 origin investigation. thelancet.com A WHO-led international mission has begun investigations in China to try to establish the origin of SARS-CoV-2. John Zarocostas reports on its activities.

Tings Chak (2021-02-06). The enduring legacy of China's Red Detachment of Women. peoplesdispatch.org On the eve of the Communist Party of China's centenary in July 2021, the story of the country's first women's military brigade in the 1930s continues to find life in popular culture and the imagination of the Chinese people…

Dean Baker (2021-02-05). Should People Who Want to Save the World from the Pandemic Be Demanding We Pay China to Produce Billions of Vaccine Doses? cepr.net I have written repeatedly on how we should have been looking for a collective solution to the pandemic, where countries open-source their research and allow anyone with manufacturing capacity to produce any treatment, test, or vaccine. (We pay upfront, like with Moderna, for those wondering why anyone would do the work.) Anyhow, we obviously did …

RT (2021-02-05). Climate change 'key' in Covid-19 spreading to humans — study. rt.com A study by researchers at the University of Cambridge has found that climate change played a key role in Covid-19 spreading from animals to humans, as the two groups were forced closer together as populations grow. | Scientists examined changes to temperature and rainfall over the last 100 years, specifically modelling bat populations against their habitat needs. They found that climate change had resulted in 40 species relocating during that time to areas in China, Laos and Myanmar. "Bats are the likely zoonotic origin of SARS-CoV-1 and SARS-CoV-2," the study noted. | The university researchers outlined how t…

Ralph Nader (2021-02-05). The Struggle Inside Senator Mitch McConnell's Brain. counterpunch.org Since 2015, Senate Majority leader Mitch McConnell has ruled the Senate with an iron hand, describing himself as "the Guardian of Gridlock." He was Senator "NO," except for confirming over 200 mostly corporatist federal judges. Now comes a new challenge for Mitch McConnell as he leads 49 other Republican Senators, twenty of whom are up

Alan Macleod (2021-02-05). Head of Strategic Command: US Must Prepare for "Very Real Possibility" of Nuclear War With China. mintpressnews.com In an era when international cooperation in the face of pandemics and climate change is essential, the world appears to be racing towards a new Cold War, and unfortunately, few except the military top brass are talking about it.

RT (2021-02-05). Biden Vows to Confront Russia, Enemy of Democracy, and China, Enemy of 'Global Governance'. anti-empire.com In his first major foreign policy address, President Joe Biden vowed to confront the enemies of 'democracy' globally, while seeking to reclaim America's 'moral credibility' and leadership in LGBT and climate change issues. | Speaking at the State Department headquarters in the nation's capital on Thursday, Biden outlined his foreign policy vision in a 20-minute address, laying out a sprawling list of priorities for his administration, among them countering supposed US "adversaries." | "American leadership must meet this new moment of advancing authoritarianism, including the growing ambitions of China to rival th…

RT (2021-02-05). China's Tianwen-1 probe beams back 1st PHOTO of Mars during historic mission. rt.com The space race is heating up once again after China's Tianwen-1 Mars probe beamed back its first image of Mars amid the country's historic first trip to the Red Planet. | The image arrived some six months after the craft blasted off from China's southern Hainan island in July 2020. | Also on rt.com | | The black-and-white picture was taken around 2.2 million kilometers (1.4 million miles) from Mars or around 184 million kilometers from Earth some…

The Canary (2021-02-05). Study suggests climate change may have played a role in the coronavirus pandemic. thecanary.co Climate change may have played a direct role in the emergence of Sars-CoV-2 — the virus responsible for the coronavirus (Covid-19) pandemic, a study has suggested. | "Urgent wake-up call": | Global greenhouse gas emissions over the last century have made southern China a "hotspot" for many bat species that host coronaviruses, according to scientists from the University of Cambridge. The researchers said their findings, published in the journal Science of the Total Environment, should be "an urgent wake-up call to reduce global emissions". | Dr Robert Beyer, a researcher in the University of Cambridg…

RT (2021-02-05). 'America is back!' Biden talks 'tough' on Russia and China, vows to reclaim 'moral leadership & defend democracy'. rt.com In his first major foreign policy address, President Joe Biden vowed to confront the enemies of 'democracy' globally, while seeking to reclaim America's 'moral credibility' and leadership in LGBT and climate change issues. | Speaking at the State Department headquarters in the nation's capital on Thursday, Biden outlined his foreign policy vision in a 20-minute address, laying out a sprawling list of priorities for his administration, among them countering supposed US "adversaries." | "American leadership must meet this new moment of advancing authoritarianism, including the growing ambitions of China to rival…

_____ (2021-02-05). Washington's Reckless Attitude Toward Nuclear War A Threat To World Peace. popularresistance.org Fox News reported that the head of US Strategic Command Charles Richard is calling on the US military and federal leaders to reimagine methods of deterring aggressive action from rivals such as China and Russia. He wrote in the February issue of Proceedings, the US Naval Institute's monthly magazine, that, "There is a real possibility that a regional crisis with Russia or China could escalate quickly to a conflict involving nuclear weapons." | It's not uncommon to hear the noise preaching so-called threats of China and Russia. Yet it's still shocking to see a US senior military official publicly urging leaders of…

_____ (2021-02-05). On The Critical Predation Of China. popularresistance.org Amidst the feverish critiques of China made by a growing cadre of "China scholars," "media watchers," and "think tank freelancers" across the Western world (the "free world," they might tell you), a virulent distaste toward China for supposedly ethical reasons has become the norm. We've woken up to find ourselves in a Twilight Zone where the precondition for engaging with Sinophobia is the performance of a different kind of Sinophobic antipathy—one that disavows the possibility of Chinese political legitimacy while it virtue signals the Western critic's own commitment to "justice." | Western critiques of Ch…

Conn M. Hallinan (2021-02-05). Biden's Top Foreign Policy Challenge: Avoiding a Cold War with China. juancole.com Taiwan and the South China Sea are the likeliest points of conflict — but conflict is not an option. ( Foreign Policy in Focus) — President Joe Biden's administration faces a host of difficult problems, but in foreign policy its thorniest will be its relations with the People's Republic of China. How the new administration …

Dave DeCamp (2021-02-04). NATO Supreme Allied Commander Says West Is Concerned With China-Russia Ties. anti-empire.com On Wednesday, the top general of NATO Gen. Tod Wolters, who currently serves as the head of US European Command and as NATO's Supreme Allied Commander in Europe, told reporters that the increased ties between Beijing and Moscow "really does suggest an emergence of a partnership of convenience." | Welters said the partnership seeks to advance the mutual…

teleSUR (2021-02-04). EU Open To Use of Approved COVID-19 Vaccines. telesurenglish.net European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen on Tuesday said that COVID-19 vaccines from Russia and China could be approved for use in the European Union (EU) if their full information is submitted. | RELATED: | If Chinese producers "show all the data… then they could get… a conditional market authorization like the other ones," von der Leyen said. | One of the criteria for the EU contracts for vaccines…

The Socialist Program (2021-02-04). The Real Story: Biden Targets China. liberationnews.org Will the U.S. continue under Biden to push towards confrontation with China?>

RT (2021-02-04). China readies Asia's largest reflector antenna to receive data from its first Mars mission. rt.com China's 70-meter-wide steerable reflector antenna has completed its operational checks and is ready to receive signals from the country's Tianwen-1 mission, which is expected to enter the orbit of Mars next week. | The construction of the massive radio telescope to service the maiden voyage of China's mission to Mars began in 2018 in the country's northern region of Tianjin. It was finished just in time for the spacecraft's approach to the Red Planet. | The new dish antenna, which was put in service on Thursday, is composed of 1,328 high-precision panels covering an area equal to ten basketball courts, accordi…

Eds. (2021-02-04). How does Washington rob the entire world? mronline.org Against the backdrop of the recent change in the White House administration, and the absence of clear harbingers of the United States' desire to reduce the number of armed conflicts around the world, it is worth noting that in many respects the present conflicts owe their existence to how they are pumped with American weaponry.

China Dialogue (2021-02-04). China's National Carbon Market has Just Launched: How it Could be a Climate Game Changer. juancole.com By Huw Slater, Wang Shu and Dimitri De Boer | — ( China Dialogue) — With the new market having opened on 1 February, experts offer a take on how it may impact China's industries and emissions trajectory China's national carbon market started operating on 1 February, as mandated by a key regulatory document. Although …