Tag: China
Is China Helping Russia Hide Money?
$80 billion
Foreign Affairs: “Our research suggests that Russia may have stashed tens of billions of dollars in reserve assets in opaque offshore accounts, where it holds dollar-denominated securities beyond the reach of international sanctions and asset freezes. We see indications, in fact, that across two different periods—one in mid-2018 and the other late last year, as Russia built up troops on the Ukrainian border—Russia may have secluded up to $80 billion in Treasury securities offshore. … Russia’s total offshore dollar holdings, of course, could be higher still. And there are signs, too, that Russia may have moved some of its dollars with help from a foreign government.”
Xi’s Economic Plans Spell Disaster for China’s Economy
“Last year, President Xi Jinping seemed all but invincible. Now, his push to steer China away from capitalism and the West has thrown the Chinese economy into uncertainty and exposed faint cracks in his hold on power. … Chinese policy makers became alarmed at the end of last year by how sharply growth had slowed after Mr. Xi tightened controls on private businesses, from tech giants to property developers. Meanwhile, China’s stringent Covid lockdowns, part of Mr. Xi’s approach to handling the crisis, have ramped up again as Covid cases surge, hurting both consumer spending and factory output.”
— Wall Street Journal
There’s a Lesson in Ukraine for China
“Chinese leaders should be made to understand that this is a defining moment for their country and its relationship with the US… In short, the US should make clear that the strategic costs for China of its alignment with Russia will far outweigh any benefits.”
— Richard Haass
China Hops on Putin’s Ukraine Propaganda Train
“The Chinese government is scrubbing the country’s internet of sympathetic or accurate coverage of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, and systematically amplifying pro-Putin talking points. … China’s wide use of its propaganda and censorship muscle helps insulate Beijing from a domestic backlash against its support for Putin— and leaves its citizens with an airbrushed, false version of events, similar to what’s seen in Putin’s state-controlled Russia.”
— Axios
Trump Slashed Staff at U.S. CDC Office in China
2/3
“The Trump administration cut staff by more than two-thirds at a key U.S. public health agency operating inside China, as part of a larger rollback of U.S.-funded health and science experts on the ground there leading up to the coronavirus outbreak,” Reuters reports. “Most of the reductions were made at the Beijing office of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and occurred over the past two years.”
Shout Out to Mao
It’s sad when you question your president’s patriotism,
And alarming when you consider his nascent despotism.
But when it comes to Trump,
The shark he jumped —
When he congratulated the Chinese on 70 years of Communism.