….Since 2020, ASEAN has been China’s largest trading partner. China has been ASEAN’s top trading partner since 2009. Total China-ASEAN trade reached $878 billion in 2021, up from $686 billion in 2020. It had been $9 billion in 1991. China-ASEAN investment was more than US$340 billion by last July, according to the Ministry of Commerce in Beijing.
Interests particularly converge on deepening RCEP – the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership, the largest trade deal on the planet. That translates in practice as closer integration of supply chains, infrastructure connectivity and the building of a new international land-sea trade corridor.
China will focus on preparing for war with the country’s security ‘increasingly unstable and uncertain’, President Xi Jinping has declared.
Beijing will now comprehensively strengthen its military training and preparation for any war, Xi said today, according to state broadcaster CCTV.
His warning comes after Xi last month called for faster military development, ‘self-reliance and strength’ in technology and defence of China’s interests abroad, raising the likelihood of further conflict.
Xi’s announcement that China will focus on preparing for a war will raise fears that the nation may invade the self-governing island of Taiwan, which Beijing claims as its own.
China, which has the second-largest economy and military in the world, has repeatedly threatened to annex Taiwan by force if necessary.
American troops are now on the ground in Ukraine performing “inspections” of US weapon caches in an effort to track billions of dollars worth of arms and ammo that have been given to Ukrainian forces since the beginning of the Russian invasion.
The State Department and Pentagon unveiled a plan last week to track US-supplied weaponry to keep it off the black market. It is intended to institute accountability for the billions of dollars in arms and ammunition that have been given to Ukrainian forces over the last eight months.
“A small number of US military forces inside Ukraine have recently begun doing onsite inspections to ensure that Ukrainian troops are properly accounting for the Western-provided weapons they receive, a senior US defense official told Pentagon reporters Monday,” the media outlets reported.
Xi is driven by KOBK game theory rules as he understands and lives them. He has “killed,” or disempowered, all of his rivals but new rivals and new alliances will surely form against him. The population is well-cowed but a bad economy and continued restrictions will erode Xi’s hold over them. War will marshal a kind of unity for a time but for how long? As China’ economy declines, war with Taiwan becomes more likely because there will be increasingly less for Xi to lose and more for him to gain by it. ABN
New, highly detailed images of the artificial islands China has built in the South China Sea have emerged. They show the intricacies of the radar installations, airfields, and naval gun emplacements, among buildings and other structures, located there.
Captured by photographer Ezra Acayan flying in an aircraft near the man-made fortresses in the Spratly Islands, the images are some of the most detailed yet available of what China is up to there and they give a totally new perspective compared to the daily satellite images we see of these locations.
Close-ups of one island in Cuarteron Reef show naval gun emplacements on a series of towers of increasing height, backed by a radar gunnery director. Atop the battlement-like setup is a large radome. The radar’s elevated position would give it a better line of sight over the horizon.
BAKU, Oct 27 (Reuters) – One of Russian President Vladimir Putin’s closest allies, oil chief Igor Sechin, on Thursday heaped praise on China’s leaders, saying that Taiwan would return to its “native harbour” on time.
The deepening “no limits” partnership between the rising superpower of China and the natural resources titan of Russia is one of the most intriguing geopolitical developments of recent years – and one the West is watching with anxiety.
Inevitable result of the West failing to form a solid alliance with Russia, or even just good relations. This huge mistake dates back to the fall of the Soviet Union. Rather than help Russia, USA encouraged “Russian” oligarchs to parasitize every industry they could get their hands on. For thirty years, the West–USA in particular–has antagonized Russia and now there is no going back. Biden’s handlers are themselves parasitizing USA in direct alignment with those who enabled the parasitic “Russian” oligarchs of the 90s. ABN
The United States has accelerated the program for new B61-12 nuclear bombs for Europe. The upgraded and more accurate version of its nuclear air-dropped gravity bomb is expected to arrive in NATO bases in Europe in December, according to a U.S. diplomatic cable, the Belgian media Politico reported on Thursday.
The move, which involves replacing older weapons with the newer version at various storage facilities in Europe for potential use by U.S. and allied bombers and fighter jets, comes amid heightened tensions over Russia’s threats to use a nuclear weapon in Ukraine.
The upgrades of B61-12 involve removing a parachute and installing a new tail kit for significantly greater accuracy. Source: Federation of American Scientists.
Bao ‘provided Hunter insight into purchasing US LNG reserves to sell to China, had access to Biden family’s financials, and liaised with CCP on Bidens’ behalf’
Comer cited concerns that Bao’s alleged liaising between the CCP and the Biden family threatened national security
He said the committee was worried the FBI ‘ignored information’ about Bao’s role in the Biden family business
Comer pointed to DailyMail.com’s May 2021 report demonstrating Bao and Biden’s relationship went ‘beyond professional obligations’
As the committee letter notes, Bao received a degree from Tsinghua University – a recruiting hub for China’s intel service and then worked for a PRC organization
Xi Jinping gave Hu Jintao a list of the new Standing Committee members that did not match the list of people who were supposed to be on it. All of them had been replaced by Xi’s army! ! Hu Jintao was kidnapped by “deception” and escorted from the 20th National Congress of the Communist Party of China, and then taken directly to the Jingxi Hotel to be imprisoned. At the same time, more than 70 members of Hu’s family were ordered to be arrested and detained. Now all voices are blocked on the entire [Chinese] internet!
[This is a translation from the original Chinese, which can be found at the link below. The video is also translated and contains more information. ABN]
Straight up KOBK move by Xi. Nothing left to chance. Zero-sum. Done in public for the world to see. In China, this is an extremely strong signal. Outside of China, it remains to be seen how Xi will act and how the world will react. ABN
President Xi Jinping has tightened his grip on power in China after being given a historic third term as head of its ruling Communist Party.
The 69-year-old will lead the world’s most populous nation for another five years after he was confirmed as General Secretary once more at today’s televised Communist Party Congress.
In the process he promoted allies who support his vision of tighter control over society and the struggling economy, as he discarded party custom that has seen previous leaders leave after 10 years in power.
Mr Xi, who took power in 2012, is now expected by some to try and stay in power for life as he becomes the most powerful ruler since Mao Zedong.
It comes a day after remarkable scenes which saw his immediate predecessor Hu Jintao apparently forcibly removed from his seat by guards and his name removed from social media.
American Buddhist Net 