Monthly Archives: April 2021

2021-04-02: News Headlines

Rob Urie (2021-04-02). China Isn't the Problem, Neoliberalism Is. counterpunch.org The ascendance of Wall Street, and of a managerial bureaucracy (PMC) more generally, largely explains the political realignments that have been playing out in the U.S. Beginning in the 1970s, the American political class made decisions at the behest of business interests and oligarchs to restructure the U.S. economy in ways intended to shift the balance of political and economic power towards capital. Finance was, and still is, the method of affecting this transfer of power. However, the current epoch of finance capitalism has run its course. Its logic has been lost. The threats to the neoliberal order are now in…

Michael T. Klare (2021-04-02). Stumbling into War? Could the U.S. and China Face an Unintended Blowup in the Western Pacific in the Biden Years? juancole.com ( Tomdispatch.com) — The leaders of China and the United States certainly don't seek a war with each another. Both the Biden administration and the regime of Chinese President Xi Jinping view economic renewal and growth as their principal objectives. Both are aware that any conflict arising between them, even if restricted to Asia and …

Michael T. Klare (2021-04-02). Are the US and China Stumbling Into War? thenation.com Are the US and China Stumbling Into War?

Betsey Piette (2021-04-02). #Philly4Solidarity rallies against anti-Asian violence. workers.org Philadelphia Over 300 people gathered for a rally and march against anti-Asian violence and hatred March 25 at Vine Street Park in Philadelphia's Chinatown. The grassroots protest galvanized people from multiple Asian American and Pacific Islander communities in the region, along with a racially diverse crowd of supporters. The crowd . . . |

Anonymous103 (2021-04-02). Taiwan's Deadliest Railway Disaster Leaves Dozens Dead (Video, Photos). southfront.org Source: japan.cna.com.tw | A truck rolled down a hill and smashed into a passing train in Taiwan, near the Toroko Gorge scenic area. At least 36 people were killed in the accident and dozens were injuring. The death toll continues to grow.Railways news officer Weng Hui-ping said that it was Taiwan's deadliest railway disaster. | According to the official claims, a truck slid onto the rail track from a work site on the hillside above. The truck was off duty at the time. | The crash occurred early on a public weekend…

Staff (2021-04-02). Headlines for April 2, 2021. democracynow.org Ex-Supervisor Says Derek Chauvin's Fatal Restraint of George Floyd Violated Use-of-Force Policies , Texas Senate Passes Republican-Led Voter Suppression Bill, Texas Rangers Baseball Stadium to Open at Full Capacity Despite Surging Coronavirus Cases, U.N. Warns Burma Headed for Civil War as Military Junta Continues Brutal Crackdown, At Least 51 Dead, Dozens More Injured in Taiwan Train Crash , Arizona ICE Jail Violated Prisoners' Rights and Failed to Prevent COVID-19 Outbreak, Biden Holds First Cabinet Meeting as Debate over Infrastructure Plan Continues, Unemployment Claims Rise as Pandemic Recovery Remains Uneve…

_____ (2021-04-01). China-Iran Deal Aims To Expand 'Common Interests In A Win-Win Manner'. popularresistance.org Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif has presented "some points" of a landmark cooperation deal that was recently concluded between Beijing and Tehran. | In a message posted on his Instagram account on Thursday, Zarif underscored that the Sino-Iranian Comprehensive Strategic Partnership focuses on a "practical promotion" of bilateral ties and provides "a roadmap and long-term horizon" toward such relations. | According to him, the accord paves the way for full-blown collaboration between the two sides in the fields of politics, economy, trade, culture, defence, and security. | The Iranian foreign ministe…

WSWS (2021-04-01). A US ambassador visits Taiwan for first time since 1979. wsws.org The trip by John Hennessey-Niland is another in a string of US provocations aimed at antagonizing and raising tensions with Beijing.

_____ (2021-04-01). NATO Is Increasingly Positioning Itself In Opposition To China. popularresistance.org During the March 23-24 meeting of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) council, Anthony Blinken, the U.S. Secretary of State, encouraged NATO members to join the U.S. in viewing China as an economic and security threat to the U.S. as well as to NATO countries, thereby expanding NATO's areas of focus to include the Pacific. This is a dangerous move that must be challenged. | To gain insight into what transpired at the March NATO meeting, we can look to a roadmap for NATO's future, which was released last fall. The report, entitled "NATO 2030: United for a New Era," is intended to be a guide for the milita…

WSWS (2021-04-01). Australian government announces missile building program as US steps up war drive against China. wsws.org The plan has been welcomed by the most hawkish sections of the establishment, who have presented it as part of the preparations for an imminent war.

_____ (2021-04-01). Opposing All Governments Equally Is Supporting The Most Powerful Government. popularresistance.org The US-centralized empire is waging nonstop wars that have killed millions of human beings just since the turn of this century, and people will still say things like "We've really got to do something about Cuba." | The US-centralized empire is circling the planet with hundreds of military bases, working to destroy any nation which disobeys its dictates and brandishing armageddon weapons at its enemies like a drunken hillbilly with a shotgun, and people are still like "Something must be done about China's intellectual property theft!" | Among the violent and destructive governments in our world, one towers high ab…

Peoples Dispatch (2021-04-01). Demonstrations held across US in solidarity with Asian community. peoplesdispatch.org The protests called attention to the alarming rise in anti-Asian hate crimes over the past year, as well as the racist and imperialist campaigns that have characterized US foreign policy towards China…

Kim Petersen (2021-04-01). China and Iran: A Natural Anti-imperialist Alliance. dissidentvoice.org On 15 July 2015 — the day after the United States agreed to the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA; also called the Iran nuclear deal) along with China, France, Russia, the United Kingdom, plus Germany — then US president Barack Obama said in an interview that Iran was "a great civilization." Without listing any …

teleSUR (2021-04-01). Biden Orders Removal of Missiles, Forces Around Persian Gulf. telesurenglish.net A report issued last Thursday by the Wall Street Journal cites officials from the Pentagon indicating that President Biden has issued orders to remove Patriot anti-missile systems, miscellaneous military hardware, and troops from the area of the Persian Gulf, to deploy them elsewhere to be used against Russia and China, two countries which the Pentagon sees as its primary global competitors. | RELATED: | According to the report,…

Dave DeCamp (2021-04-01). Philippines Says Chinese Vessels Have Spread in Disputed Waters. news.antiwar.com The Philippines said Wednesday that a group of over 200 Chinese vessels it spotted sailing near a disputed reef in the South China Sea The Philippines' task force on the South China Sea said in a statement that it expressed "deep concern over the continuing unlawful presence…

Dave DeCamp (2021-04-01). US Army Seeks Long-Range Missiles in Pacific to Face China. news.antiwar.com As part of its modernization efforts, While the Army is traditionally a land-based service, it is developing fast-moving island-hopping forces that can sink ships in the western Pacific, similar to what the Marine Corps has traditionally done. | On Tuesday, US Army leaders discussed the service's future in the Indo-Pacific and said the Army is not trying to compete for funding with the Marine Corp…

Dave DeCamp (2021-04-01). Taiwan to Buy New US Air Defense Missiles. news.antiwar.com Taiwan said it has In comments to Reuters, Taiwan's Air Force said it plans to buy Patriot Advanced Capability‚Äë3 (PAC-3) Missile Segment Enhancement (MSE) missiles, which will be delivered in 2025 and deployed the following year. The Ai…

DLI (2021-04-01). 4 Stages of Disinformation(as in Uyghur "genocide" claims. indybay.org The recent crescendo of wild and sensationalized claims of "genocide" of the Uyghur minority (and of "mass rapes" and "concentration camps") in China actually reveals an aggressive disinformation campaign, initiated a the highest levels of government in both the USA and its client NATO states. Upon careful dissection, however, objective observers detect 4 stages of a sophisticated campaign intentionally promoted to support an Imperialist narrative–the "good" Western powers vs. a "bad" and "oppressive " Beijing regime bent on exterminating and/or brutally suppressing its own minorities.

RT (2021-04-01). China's CanSinoBIO says its vaccine may be less effective over time, but 'booster shot' improves its efficacy to over 90%. rt.com A single-shot Covid-19 vaccine by CanSino Biologics has shown a decrease in efficacy over time, the manufacturer has said. Getting a "booster shot" six months after the first jab, however, propels its efficacy to over 90%. | The Chinese vaccine manufacturer CanSinoBIO provided an update on its vaccine during an online presentation late on Wednesday. Its chief scientific officer, Zhu Tao, said receiving a second jab of the vaccine six months after being inoculated with the single-shot solution had shown promising results during tests. | "A booster shot six months later led to a seven-times to 10-times increase…

Editor2 (2021-04-01). Palestine Receives 100 Thousand COVID-19 Vaccines from China. orinocotribune.com The Palestinian Authority has received 100,000 doses of COVID-19 vaccine donated by China to accelerate its inoculation drive, which has been lagging due to Israeli inhibitions. | China handed over the batch of Sinopharm COVID-19 vaccines to Palestine on Monday. | Palestinian Health Minister Mai al-Kaila described the shipment as the single largest donation of COVID-19 vaccines her country has received so far, and thanked China for its move "to provide coronavirus vaccines as a global public good and its selfless assistance to Palestine." | Speaking at a joint press conference with China's Ambassador to Palestine…

àÅngel Guerra Cabrera (2021-04-01). øNueva guerra fría? globalizacion.ca Notables enfrentamientos retóricos a muy alto nivel, ocurridos recientemente entre Estados Unidos, de un lado y, Rusia y China, de otro, han hecho que analistas se pregunten si estamos en el inicio de una nueva guerra fría. | Las alarmas saltaron…

MEE staff (2021-04-01). Turkey exporters re-routing products to avoid Saudi boycott, say traders. middleeasteye.net Turkey exporters re-routing products to avoid Saudi boycott, say traders | Turkish officials have told MEE that Riyadh declared an unofficial blockade on Turkish goods in response to 'hostility' from Ankara | Thu, 04/01/2021 – 14: 42 | The Cosco Shipping Danube, a container ship of the China Ocean Shipping Company (COSCO), sails in the Bosphorus, on its way to the Mediterranean Sea, in Istanbul (Reuters) | Tur…

Michael T. Klare (2021-04-01). Chinese and American Leaders Are Playing a Game of Chicken That Couldn't Be More Dangerous. commondreams.org Could the U.S. and China face an unintended blowup in the western Pacific in the Biden years? | www.commondreams.org/sites/default/files/styles/cd_special_coverage/public/views-article/thumbs/china_1.jpg

Updated: 2021-04-02 17:55 | 13:55 EST | 23 | 0 | 18 | 6 | 0

2021-04-01: News Headlines

_____ (2021-04-01). China-Iran Deal Aims To Expand 'Common Interests In A Win-Win Manner'. popularresistance.org Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif has presented "some points" of a landmark cooperation deal that was recently concluded between Beijing and Tehran. | In a message posted on his Instagram account on Thursday, Zarif underscored that the Sino-Iranian Comprehensive Strategic Partnership focuses on a "practical promotion" of bilateral ties and provides "a roadmap and long-term horizon" toward such relations. | According to him, the accord paves the way for full-blown collaboration between the two sides in the fields of politics, economy, trade, culture, defence, and security. | The Iranian foreign ministe…

WSWS (2021-04-01). A US ambassador visits Taiwan for first time since 1979. wsws.org The trip by John Hennessey-Niland is another in a string of US provocations aimed at antagonizing and raising tensions with Beijing.

_____ (2021-04-01). NATO Is Increasingly Positioning Itself In Opposition To China. popularresistance.org During the March 23-24 meeting of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) council, Anthony Blinken, the U.S. Secretary of State, encouraged NATO members to join the U.S. in viewing China as an economic and security threat to the U.S. as well as to NATO countries, thereby expanding NATO's areas of focus to include the Pacific. This is a dangerous move that must be challenged. | To gain insight into what transpired at the March NATO meeting, we can look to a roadmap for NATO's future, which was released last fall. The report, entitled "NATO 2030: United for a New Era," is intended to be a guide for the milita…

WSWS (2021-04-01). Australian government announces missile building program as US steps up war drive against China. wsws.org The plan has been welcomed by the most hawkish sections of the establishment, who have presented it as part of the preparations for an imminent war.

_____ (2021-04-01). Opposing All Governments Equally Is Supporting The Most Powerful Government. popularresistance.org The US-centralized empire is waging nonstop wars that have killed millions of human beings just since the turn of this century, and people will still say things like "We've really got to do something about Cuba." | The US-centralized empire is circling the planet with hundreds of military bases, working to destroy any nation which disobeys its dictates and brandishing armageddon weapons at its enemies like a drunken hillbilly with a shotgun, and people are still like "Something must be done about China's intellectual property theft!" | Among the violent and destructive governments in our world, one towers high ab…

Peoples Dispatch (2021-04-01). Demonstrations held across US in solidarity with Asian community. peoplesdispatch.org The protests called attention to the alarming rise in anti-Asian hate crimes over the past year, as well as the racist and imperialist campaigns that have characterized US foreign policy towards China…

Moderator (2021-04-01). Biden Is Playing an Apocalyptic Game of Chicken With China. scheerpost.com By Michael Klare / TomDispatch The leaders of China and the United States certainly don't seek a war with each another. Both the Biden administration and the regime of Chinese President Xi Jinping view economic renewal and growth as their principal objectives. Both are aware that any conflict arising between them, even if restricted to Asia and conducted with non-nuclear weapons — no sure bet… |

Michael T. Klare (2021-04-01). Chinese and American Leaders Are Playing a Game of Chicken That Couldn't Be More Dangerous. commondreams.org Could the U.S. and China face an unintended blowup in the western Pacific in the Biden years? | www.commondreams.org/sites/default/files/styles/cd_special_coverage/public/views-article/thumbs/china_1.jpg

àÅngel Guerra Cabrera (2021-04-01). øNueva guerra fría? globalizacion.ca Notables enfrentamientos retóricos a muy alto nivel, ocurridos recientemente entre Estados Unidos, de un lado y, Rusia y China, de otro, han hecho que analistas se pregunten si estamos en el inicio de una nueva guerra fría. | Las alarmas saltaron…

RT (2021-04-01). China's CanSinoBIO says its vaccine may be less effective over time, but 'booster shot' improves its efficacy to over 90%. rt.com A single-shot Covid-19 vaccine by CanSino Biologics has shown a decrease in efficacy over time, the manufacturer has said. Getting a "booster shot" six months after the first jab, however, propels its efficacy to over 90%. | The Chinese vaccine manufacturer CanSinoBIO provided an update on its vaccine during an online presentation late on Wednesday. Its chief scientific officer, Zhu Tao, said receiving a second jab of the vaccine six months after being inoculated with the single-shot solution had shown promising results during tests. | "A booster shot six months later led to a seven-times to 10-times increase…

Kim Petersen (2021-04-01). China and Iran: A Natural Anti-imperialist Alliance. dissidentvoice.org On 15 July 2015 — the day after the United States agreed to the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA; also called the Iran nuclear deal) along with China, France, Russia, the United Kingdom, plus Germany — then US president Barack Obama said in an interview that Iran was "a great civilization." Without listing any …

teleSUR (2021-04-01). Biden Orders Removal of Missiles, Forces Around Persian Gulf. telesurenglish.net A report issued last Thursday by the Wall Street Journal cites officials from the Pentagon indicating that President Biden has issued orders to remove Patriot anti-missile systems, miscellaneous military hardware, and troops from the area of the Persian Gulf, to deploy them elsewhere to be used against Russia and China, two countries which the Pentagon sees as its primary global competitors. | RELATED: | According to the report,…

Editor2 (2021-04-01). Palestine Receives 100 Thousand COVID-19 Vaccines from China. orinocotribune.com The Palestinian Authority has received 100,000 doses of COVID-19 vaccine donated by China to accelerate its inoculation drive, which has been lagging due to Israeli inhibitions. | China handed over the batch of Sinopharm COVID-19 vaccines to Palestine on Monday. | Palestinian Health Minister Mai al-Kaila described the shipment as the single largest donation of COVID-19 vaccines her country has received so far, and thanked China for its move "to provide coronavirus vaccines as a global public good and its selfless assistance to Palestine." | Speaking at a joint press conference with China's Ambassador to Palestine…

Dave DeCamp (2021-04-01). Philippines Says Chinese Vessels Have Spread in Disputed Waters. news.antiwar.com The Philippines said Wednesday that a group of over 200 Chinese vessels it spotted sailing near a disputed reef in the South China Sea The Philippines' task force on the South China Sea said in a statement that it expressed "deep concern over the continuing unlawful presence…

Dave DeCamp (2021-04-01). US Army Seeks Long-Range Missiles in Pacific to Face China. news.antiwar.com As part of its modernization efforts, While the Army is traditionally a land-based service, it is developing fast-moving island-hopping forces that can sink ships in the western Pacific, similar to what the Marine Corps has traditionally done. | On Tuesday, US Army leaders discussed the service's future in the Indo-Pacific and said the Army is not trying to compete for funding with the Marine Corp…

Dave DeCamp (2021-04-01). Taiwan to Buy New US Air Defense Missiles. news.antiwar.com Taiwan said it has In comments to Reuters, Taiwan's Air Force said it plans to buy Patriot Advanced Capability‚Äë3 (PAC-3) Missile Segment Enhancement (MSE) missiles, which will be delivered in 2025 and deployed the following year. The Ai…

MEE staff (2021-04-01). Turkey exporters re-routing products to avoid Saudi boycott, say traders. middleeasteye.net Turkey exporters re-routing products to avoid Saudi boycott, say traders | Turkish officials have told MEE that Riyadh declared an unofficial blockade on Turkish goods in response to 'hostility' from Ankara | Thu, 04/01/2021 – 14: 42 | The Cosco Shipping Danube, a container ship of the China Ocean Shipping Company (COSCO), sails in the Bosphorus, on its way to the Mediterranean Sea, in Istanbul (Reuters) | Tur…

DLI (2021-04-01). 4 Stages of Disinformation(as in Uyghur "genocide" claims. indybay.org The recent crescendo of wild and sensationalized claims of "genocide" of the Uyghur minority (and of "mass rapes" and "concentration camps") in China actually reveals an aggressive disinformation campaign, initiated a the highest levels of government in both the USA and its client NATO states. Upon careful dissection, however, objective observers detect 4 stages of a sophisticated campaign intentionally promoted to support an Imperialist narrative–the "good" Western powers vs. a "bad" and "oppressive " Beijing regime bent on exterminating and/or brutally suppressing its own minorities.

_____ (2021-03-31). Need A Quote From An Official Enemy Denouncing Democracy? popularresistance.org You know you're in for a hard sell when the New York Times (3/29/21) publishes an article under the headline "An Alliance of Autocracies? China Wants to Lead a New World Order." | And Times Beijing bureau chief Steven Lee Myers doesn't disappoint. He asserts: | China hopes to position itself as the main challenger to an international order, led by the United States, that is generally guided by principles of democracy, respect for human rights and adherence to rule of law. | "Generally" is doing a lot of work in that sentence. I don't think I have to spend too much time reminding you that the United States is a ma…

teleSUR (2021-03-31). China Rejects in a Joint Statement a WHO Report. telesurenglish.net China on Wednesday rejected a joint statement by the United States and 13 other countries that expressed "concerns" over the World Health Organization's (WHO) report on the origins of Covid-19. | RELATED: | Hua Chunying, a Foreign Ministry spokesperson, said politicizing the issue of tracing the origin was immoral and unpopular and will only hinder global cooperation in studying the origins of the coronavirus. "These countries should…

teleSUR (2021-03-31). UN: Iran, China Adopt Common Stand on Behalf of Syria. telesurenglish.net China and the Islamic Republic of Iran have jointly expressed at the United Nations Security Council their support for Syria in its efforts to protect its sovereignty, territorial integrity, and independence, stressing the need to eradicate terrorism and end all foreign occupation as elements necessary to resolve the humanitarian crisis facing the Arab Republic. | RELATED: | Zhang Jun, China's perma…

Toni Arenstein (2021-03-31). New York City: 'Keep Jin Fong restaurant open!'. workers.org A demonstration was held in New York City's Chinatown March 25 to protest the mass firings of 180 restaurant workers when the Jin Fong restaurant closed. The workers are members of the 318 Restaurant Workers Union. The owners of the restaurant are the Chu family, bankers and landlords in Chinatown . . . |

Eds. (2021-03-31). The complex legacy of China's cinematic pirates. mronline.org Film and TV piracy are under increasing pressure in China. The void they're leaving behind will be hard to fill. | March 31, 2021 | Newswire…

Tom Clifford (2021-03-31). One of the Great Ironies: As China Grows Richer, It Is Growing Further Apart from the US. globalresearch.ca In calmer times, when there is less talk of trade disputes, …

teleSUR (2021-03-31). China's FAST Telescope Opens To Scientists Around the World. telesurenglish.net China's Five-hundred-meter Aperture Spherical Radio Telescope (FAST), the world's largest filled-aperture and most sensitive radio telescope, has officially opened to the world starting on Wednesday. | RELATED: | Experts expect the gigantic telescope to bolster global astronomical research and find answers to some of the biggest unknowns in modern astrophysics and cosmology. | The National Astronomical Observatories (NAO) announced that astro…

teleSUR (2021-03-31). Brazilian Lawmakers Push For Impeachment Against Bolsonaro. telesurenglish.net The initiative is promoted by senators Randolfe Rodrigues and Jean Paul Prates and deputies Alessandro Molon, Marcelo Freixo, and Arlindo Chinaglia. | The legislators consider that the president is trying to "misappropriate the military forces in Brazil, with personal interests, posing an evident threat to democracy." | RELATED: | The request will be accepted during this day in the Chamber of Deputies and joins other similar nature pet…

Mike Walter (2021-03-31). The Heat: China's role in the Middle East. america.cgtn.com Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi wraps up a six-country tour of the Middle East. We'll discuss China's economic and political role in the region.

Staff (2021-03-31). Headlines for March 31, 2021. democracynow.org Eyewitnesses Give Chilling Testimony of Police Killing of George Floyd, Brazil in Crisis as COVID Deaths Soar & Military Chiefs Quit in Protest, U.S. COVID Deaths Top 550,000; Florida Undercounted Thousands of Deaths, Bloomberg Employees Got Special Access to Vaccines at NYU Hospitals, China Delivers 100,000 COVID Vaccines to Palestine, White House Unveils $2 Trillion Jobs & Infrastructure Plan, Two Police Deputies Indicted in Texas for Killing Javier Ambler After Traffic Stop, Capitol Police Officers Sue Trump as GOP Welcomes Oath Keepers Founder in Texas, Man Arrested for Viciously Attacking Filipino Woman in N…

Ramzy Baroud (2021-03-31). Nuclear Weapons Blazing: Britain Enters the US-China Fray. counterpunch.org Boris Johnson's March 16 speech before the British Parliament was reminiscent, at least in tone, to that of Chinese President Xi Jinping in October 2019, on the 70th anniversary of the founding of the Republic of China. The comparison is quite apt if we remember the long-anticipated shift in Britain's foreign policy and Johnson's conservative

Guest Contributor (2021-03-31). The Chinese State attacks the Bar: A Call to Arms — Lord Sandhurst QC. ukhumanrightsblog.com On 26 March, the Government of the People's Republic of China announced sanctions against a number of British individuals and entities. Most publicity has been attracted by the inclusion of well-known politicians on the list. But the most sinister inclusion may be "Essex Court Chambers". Whereas the sanctioning of a politician, who is unlikely to …

Dave DeCamp (2021-03-31). Biden Administration Slams China in Annual Human Rights Report. news.antiwar.com Continuing the hostile rhetoric against Beijing,

Dave DeCamp (2021-03-31). With Eyes on China, Indonesia and Japan Boost Military Ties. news.antiwar.com On Tuesday, Japan and Indonesia While Japan has no claims to the South China Sea, T…

Updated: 2021-04-02 03:54 | 23:54 EST | 32 | 0 | 14 | 19 | 0