we need to link stopping fentanyl to stopping cartels and stopping China. Mexico is the front line in ending the influx of fentanyl from China.
Tracking fentanyl’s deadly path from China to Mexico to ODs in America Like the opium trade of the past, fentanyl is manufactured in China and then trafficked through Mexico. It’s enriched China, empowered the cartels and destabilized Mexico. It’s also killed thousands of Mexicans and Americans for far too long.
Addressing it means disrupting the supply chain and the support network. The US-Colombia agreements offer a template that incentivizes Mexico as a full and equal partner in reversing fentanyl transmission while also justifying the use of American assets to reverse the fentanyl influx. We need to stop accepting failure and those who profit from it.
Both nations have the talent and interests to fix a set of problems that are solvable, self-evident and self-inflicted by both sides.
have imposed sanctions on Russia and sent military aid to Ukraine: the UK, US, Canada, Britain, Australia, South Korea, Japan and the EU — in other words, those countries that are directly under the US sphere of influence, which in many cases involves a significant US military presence.
Since the invasion, China has hugely increased its purchases of Russian oil, gas and coal, while exporting far more machinery, manufactured products and high-end electronics in the other direction; they have boosted their bilateral trade by more than 30%. The two countries have also committed to significant investment and infrastructure projects through the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, the world’s largest regional grouping in terms of geographic scope and population, which also includes India, Pakistan, Iran and all the major Central Asian republics.
Today, as Xi and Putin sit down to discuss the future of Ukraine, the implication of this is clear. China and Russia are not decoupling from the West; rather, the West is decoupling from the rest of the world.
The interruptions occurred at the Council’s interactive dialogue with Alexandra Xanthaki, the U.N.’s special rapporteur in the field of cultural rights, on her report on migration and cultural rights. The report identified gaps that exist in the protection of the cultural rights of no less than 280 million around the world.
Qantas told pilots aircraft had experienced GPS jamming suspected to originate from warships (pictured) operating off the north west shelf of Australia https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-11870693/Qantas-warns-crews-Chinese-military-interfering-planes.html
Qantas has warned its pilots of radio interference from people claiming to be Chinese military, and GPS jamming from Chinese warships.
The airline updated its flight standing orders manual on Thursday to include policies on what to do if crews encounter this.
The policy update informed pilots that flights had encountered both hostile actions, sometimes very close to Australia, but safety was not compromised.
As companies all over the world race to develop their own versions of generative artificial intelligence chatbots, developers in China have a particular hurdle to overcome, Beijing’s censorship rules. WSJ reporter Shen Lu joins host Zoe Thomas to discuss how Chinese developers are working to ensure their chatbots avoid subjects like politics.
The Chinese-language Mingpao newspaper reported that the publications were sent from Britain to Hong Kong and were several copies of illustrated children’s books in a series that portrayed Hongkongers during the 2019 unrest as sheep trying to defend their village from wolves, an apparent reference to the mainland Chinese authorities.
The pair have been released on bail but must report to police next month, Mingpao quoted police as saying on Wednesday.
The books were ruled by a court as seditious in a high-profile trial in 2022, in which five speech therapists were jailed for 19 months for “conspiring to publish, distribute and display three books with seditious intent”.
Police warned parents at the time to destroy the books because they were “too radical and instilled in children the ideas to confront and oppose the government”.
“Russia’s illegal invasion of Ukraine, weaponisation of energy and food supplies and irresponsible nuclear rhetoric, combined with China’s more aggressive stance in the South China Sea and the Taiwan Strait, are threatening to create a world defined by danger, disorder and division,” UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak wrote in the foreword to the review.
即将上任的总理是习近平的亲密盟友，在后者担任中国东部浙江省省委书记期间担任了三年的幕僚长。 虽然人们预计他会担任这一职务，但几个月前，在他处理上海封锁导致居民无法获得足够的食物和药品后，他的晋升似乎受到质疑。The incoming premier is a close ally of Xi, serving as his chief of staff for three years when the latter was the provincial party secretary of eastern China’s Zhejiang province. While he has been expected to come into this role, Li’s ascension seemed in doubt a few months ago after his handling of the Shanghai lockdown which left residents without adequate access to food and medicines.
Mao Zedong (reigned 1893–1976) took China from a semi-colony to the world’s leading power.
However, Mao’s policies caused an enormous number of deaths through famine, prison labor, and mass executions.
In the 1950s, Mao launched the Great Leap Forward, which backfired and resulted in the deadliest famine in history. Over 55 million people died of hunger during 1959–61.
Mao’s Cultural Revolution (1966–1976) resulted in the deaths of up to 7 million people.
“When there is not enough to eat, people starve to death. It is better to let half of the people die so that the other half can eat their fill.”
The Great Chinese Famine — The Deadliest Famine In The Human History
The Great Chinese Famine of 1959-61 resulted in 55 million deaths
To survive, people resorted to cannibalism. Families ate their own children, remote travellers were murdered for food.
https://short-history.com/great-chinese-famine-1e156d0910bA Chinese man eating bark from a tree (Image: Reddit) https://short-history.com/great-chinese-famine-1e156d0910bhttps://short-history.com/great-chinese-famine-1e156d0910b
Mao Zedong believed each sparrow ate 4.5 kilograms (9.9 pounds) of grain per year. Consequently, the government proclaimed sparrows as the enemies of communism and systematically exterminated them.The lack of sparrows allowed locusts and other insects to over-multiply and destroy crops. 毛泽东相信每只麻雀每年吃4.5公斤（9.9磅）的谷物。 因此，政府宣布麻雀为共产主义的敌人，并系统地消灭它们。麻雀的缺乏使蝗虫和其他昆虫过度繁殖并毁坏庄稼。
Forcing farmers to switch to the steel industry 迫使农民转向钢铁工业
Blast furnaces made of earth spread across the Chinese countryside. The task of farmers was to increase the manufacturing of iron and steel (Image: Wikimedia Commons)American cartoon showing the result of the Great Leap Forward initiative (Image:petruskyaus.net)
Totalitarianism in China brutally suppressed any criticism. Mao Zedong was considered infallible. There was no manoeuvering room for fixing mistakes. 中国的极权主义残酷地压制了任何批评。 毛泽东被认为是万无一失的。 没有改正错误的回旋余地。
The cannibalism during the Great Chinese Famine occurred on a scale unprecedented in history. 中国大饥荒期间发生的食人事件规模空前。
“She sliced up the girl’s flesh and spiced it with chilli peppers before steaming and eating it.”
— Zhou Xun, a historian retelling the story of the old lady’s cannibalism
“她把姑娘的肉切成薄片,用辣椒调味,然后蒸着吃.”— 历史学家周迅重述老太太吃人的故事
The peasants were tortured, killed, or buried alive for reporting realistic harvest results, refusing to hand over the remaining bits of food, or for stealing food.
“Liu Desheng, guilty of poaching a sweet potato, was covered in urine… He, his wife, and his son were also forced into a heap of excrement. Then tongs were used to prise his mouth open after he refused to swallow excrement. He died three weeks later.”
The three were arrested in 2021 during a crackdown on the city’s pro-democracy movement following massive protests more than three years ago. They were leaders of the Hong Kong Alliance in Support of Patriotic Democratic Movements of China and were found guilty last week. The alliance was best known for organising candlelight vigils in Hong Kong on the anniversary of the Chinese military’s crushing of Tiananmen Square pro-democracy protests in 1989, but it voted to disband in 2021 under the shadow of the Beijing-imposed national security law. Supporters say its closure has shown freedoms and autonomy that were promised when Hong Kong returned to China from the UK in 1997 are diminishing.Before its disbandment, police sought details about its operations and finances in connection with alleged links to democracy groups overseas, accusing it of being a foreign agent. 这三人是在3年前大规模示威后,在2021年镇压城市民主化运动时被逮捕的。 他们是香港支持中国爱国民主运动联盟的领导人，上周被判有罪。1989年中国军队镇压天安门民主抗议活动周年纪念日，该联盟在香港组织烛光集会最为著名，但在2021年北京颁布的国家安全法的阴影下投票解散。支持者说，关闭该机场表明，1997年香港从英国返回中国时所承诺的自由和自治正在减少。在解散前，警方要求提供与据称与海外民主团体有联系的有关其业务和财政方面的细节，指控它是一个外国特工。
Among the 56 countries listed as “Not Free” around the world, North Korea, China and Myanmar were listed as among “the worst of the worst.” Additionally, out of 39 countries in the Asia-Pacific region, nine were listed as “not free” and 13 were deemed only “partly free.”
“In China, one of the world’s most restrictive media environments, journalists faced heightened scrutiny and rigorous political indoctrination when attempting to renew their press licenses, and even individuals who engaged in solitary forms of protest were punished with prison sentences,” it said.
Thousands have signed anonline petitionto remove Hong Kong actor Donnie Yen as a presenter at this year’sOscarsdue to his support of the Chinese government.
As reported by theBBC, the petition was set up by Hong Kong activist Tong Wai-hung, who claims the decision “shows contempt for the people of Hong Kong” and that Yen’s presence will “damage the image and reputation of the film industry”.
China reserves the right to use force to bring Taiwan under its control but will strive to achieve peaceful “reunification” with the self-ruled island, President Xi Jinping said on Wednesday. 中国国家主席习近平星期三说，中国保留使用武力控制台湾的权利，但将努力与台湾实现和平”统一”。
A naval exhibition drill in Kaohsiung City, Taiwan, in 2017.RITCHIE B. TONGO / EPA, filehttps://encrypted-tbn0.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcTR-fNdScQD6wLTBH7VEaXtlYaGmGGBxVwDag&usqp=CAU
The Taiwanese government on Thursday said it had agreed to resume more direct flights to China that were stopped after the coronavirus pandemic. It said this was part of a bid to foster “healthy and orderly exchanges” with Beijing amid continued tension in the region. Taiwan currently allows air access to only four cities in China, namely Beijing, Chengdu, Shanghai, and Xiamen. Prior to the pandemic, however, there were more direct flights to multiple Chinese cities from Taiwan. 台湾政府周四表示,同意恢复新冠肺炎疫情后中断的飞往中国的直航。 声明说，这是在该地区持续紧张的情况下，为促进与北京”健康有序的交流”而做出的努力的一部分。台湾目前只允许飞往中国四个城市，即北京、成都、上海和厦门。然而，在大流行之前，台湾有更多的直飞中国多个城市的航班。
The new United Nations human rights chief has said his office has opened “channels of communication” to help follow up on concerns about the rights of minorities in the western Xinjiang region of China, including Uighur Muslims and Tibetans. 新任联合国人权事务负责人表示，他的办公室已经开通了“沟通渠道”，以帮助跟进对中国西部新疆地区少数民族权利的担忧，包括维吾尔族穆斯林和藏族人。
Insecure leaders in control of illegitimate governments and parties make for a dangerous time in international politics. Nazi Germany was one; China under the leadership of Xi Jinping and the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) is another. 控制非法政府和政党的缺乏安全感的领导人在国际政治中造成了危险的时刻。 纳粹德国就是其中之一； 习近平和中国共产党领导下的中国是另一个。
