Breaking News: The House passed a $1 trillion infrastructure bill in a win for President Biden, but the real winners is the 1% insiders, not 99% of the Americans. 突發新聞：眾議院通過了一項 1 萬億美元的基礎設施法案，拜登總統獲勝，但真正的贏家是 1% 的內部人士和企業而不是 99% 的美國人.
Beijing’s Taiwan Affairs Office says separatists will face criminal charges and they and their families will be banned from mainland, Hong Kong and Macau for life. 北京國台辦表示，分裂分子將面臨刑事指控，他們及其家人將被終身禁止進入大陸、香港和澳門.
Beijing did not name anyone on the list at the time, but on Friday the office said that Taiwanese Premier Su Tseng-chang, Legislative Yuan president Yu Shyi-kun and Foreign Minister Joseph Wu had been “vigorously inciting cross-strait confrontation and malicious attacks against the mainland”.
“They are colluding with external forces to split the country and severely undermine cross-strait relations,” she said. “We are warning such Taiwan independence diehards that those who forget their ancestors, betray their motherland, or split the country will never end up well.”
US issues warnings over China plan for military bases in Kenya! Overseas military bases: USA has 750. China has 2. 美國就中國在肯尼亞建軍事基地的計劃發出警告！ 海外軍事基地：美國有750個，中國有2個 by By BRIAN NGUGI, November 5 2021
Summary
China opened its first military base in Djibouti in 2017, with the latter’s location on the northwestern edge of the Indian Ocean.
Chinese Navy marines are deployed at the Djibouti base, along with armoured vehicles and artillery support.
The warning shot comes amid an arms race between China and the US hinged on nuclear stockpiles with big implications for the military power balance.
The US has raised the alarm over alleged plans by China to establish a military base in Kenya and extend its grip beyond economic and investment ties.
It claimed that the planned base in Kenya is part of China’s pursuit of a global military logistics network to counter the existing interests of superpower nations, including the US.
China opened its first military base in Djibouti in 2017, with the latter’s location on the northwestern edge of the Indian Ocean fuelling concerns in India that it would become another of Beijing’s “string of pearls” military alliances and assets, including Bangladesh, Myanmar, and Sri Lanka, ringing India.
It is China’s first overseas naval base, though Beijing officially describes it as a logistics facility.
Chinese Navy marines are deployed at the Djibouti base, along with armoured vehicles and artillery support.
“The PRC [People’s Republic of China] has likely considered a number of countries, including…Kenya as locations for PLA [The People’s Liberation Army] facilities,” said the Pentagon (US Department of Defence) in its annual report to the US Congress seen by the Business Daily.
“A global PLA military logistics network and PLA military facilities could both interfere with US military operations and support offensive operations against the United States as the PRC’s global military objectives evolve.”
The warning shot comes amid an arms race between China and the US hinged on nuclear stockpiles with big implications for the military power balance.
US military planners say China is expanding its nuclear forces and bases to limit America’s options in case of conflict.
By setting up a base in Kenya, Washington warned that Beijing wants to boost its military and economic influence over Kenya and other countries in Africa.
“The PRC is seeking to establish a more robust overseas logistics and basing infrastructure to allow the PLA to project and sustain military power at greater distances,” said Pentagon.
China invests huge amounts of resources in its efforts to project power.
This mainly happens through investments or direct control of key ports, airports or other infrastructure as well as promoting stronger political and diplomatic relations.
Nairobi and Washington, alongside its former colonial master Britain, have strong military engagements.
The US, for instance, has a military base in Manda Bay, Lamu while the UK has a similar base in Nanyuki.
In July, the UK renewed its multi-billion shilling defence pact that allows its troops to continue training at Nanyuki.
The new Joe Biden administration early this year also announced the deployment of American special troops to Kenya to help in counter-terrorism efforts.
China’s reported military ambitions come amid its plans to implement the One Belt, One Road (OBOR) initiative that aims to further trade with African countries.
China has been funding billions of shillings worth of infrastructure in Kenya via debt under the initiative, including the standard gauge railway between Nairobi and Mombasa.
The initiative was first announced in 2013 and is a signature foreign and economic policy launched by Chinese President Xi Jinping.
The US has, however, been increasingly vocal in urging Kenya to be wary of heavy borrowing for the projects, warning that the East African nation could be saddled with unpayable debts to Beijing for the projects built largely with Chinese labour.
The Kenyan military has remained mum over the alleged Beijing plans to set up an outpost which the US first made last year. The Kenyan military did not respond by press time Thursday to a request by the Business Daily for comment about the latest report.
But China has dismissed the claims as false.
“The information mentioned…is totally false,” Xueqing Huang, the Chief of Information and Public Affairs Section for the Embassy of China in Kenya, told the Business Daily earlier in an e-mailed response.
“Their (Pentagon) latest report is just the same as the previous fact-neglecting and bias-brimming.”
Beijing’s goal, the US report said, is eventually to leverage its new military might to achieve its foreign policy objectives and to assert itself globally.
Previously, other analysts have pointed to China’s military base in Djibouti as signalling Beijing’s geopolitical ambitions overseas.
bnjoroge@ke.nationmedia.com
Video: After shaking hands with South Korean president Moon, US vice president Harris rubs her palm on her jacket and pants…與韓國總統文在寅握手後，美國副總統哈里斯用手掌摩擦她的夾克和褲子…
https://vimeo.com/642890415
https://youtu.be/81WfSLHjzCE
https://www.facebook.com/100036400039778/posts/598593261364003/?d=n
Horace Lim: Australia is much closer to Pakistan than we think but Pakistan can call itself China’s #1 export partner, something that Australia deliberately gave up thanks to Turnbull, Abbott, Morrison etc…
Put simply, Australia is rich and dumb, and getting dumber. Australia sells the world almost nothing, relative to total exports, that requires a degree to make. Australian economy: the 8th-richest nation in the study has the export profile of Angola. About 70% of products sold to foreign buyers, on a net basis, are minerals and energy. Add in food, alcohol, wool, tourism and metal products, and the figure rises to around 99%. https://www.afr.com/policy/economy/australia-is-rich-dumb-and-getting-dumber-20191007-p52y8i?fbclid=IwAR2AISUXQZK1sU68_ZlqW4Lqcb5gysGIVmnxxdxNNMAv7IIb73DsI5lxh-o Australia is #93 on export complexity
Come celebrate the return of live music-making with Stanford Philharmonia this Sunday, November 7, at 2:30pm in Bing Concert Hall! The concert will feature violin soloists Roger Xia ’24 and Richard Cheung ’24 performing Symphonie Concertante in G Major by the Chevalier de Saint-Georges, Joshua Chang ’21 conducting the rarely heard Septet for Wind Instruments by Charles Koechlin, and works by Mozart, Haydn, and Britten. Please join us if you can.
PROGRAM:
W. A. MOZART Symphony No. 26 in E-flat Major
CHEVALIER DE SAINT-GEORGES Symphonie Concertante in G Major, Op. 13 – with violin soloists Roger Xia ’24 and Richard Cheung ’24
JOSEPH HAYDN Symphony No. 97 in C Major
CHARLES KOECHLIN Septet for Wind Instruments – conducted by Joshua Chang ’21
BENJAMIN BRITTEN Simple Symphony
Paul Phillips
Gretchen B. Kimball Director of Orchestral Studies
Associate Professor of Music
Stanford University
Huffpost San Francisco: Why billionaires received pandemic stimulus checks? DID BILLIONAIRES REALLY NEED STIMULUS CHECKS?
Ira Rennert, worth $3.7 billion according to Forbes, did not appear to need the stimulus check offered by Congress as emergency assistance to Americans during the coronavirus pandemic. But because the eligibility was based on income on tax returns, some billionaires and ultra-wealthy people received the taxpayer-funded assistance — just because of the way the tax system is set up.
US should ‘stay very far away’ from physically confronting China over Taiwan: Singapore Defence Minister – Ng Eng Hen 新加坡國防部長: 美國應該“遠離”在台灣問題上與中國進行對抗
Defence Minister Ng Eng Hen (right) speaking with moderator Professor Joseph Samuel Nye Jr at the 12th Aspen Security Forum in Washington DC on Nov 4, 2021.
SINGAPORE: The United States should “stay very far away” from engaging in physical confrontation with China over Taiwan, Defence Minister Ng Eng Hen said, adding that “miscalculations can occur”.
Dr Ng made those comments following his keynote speech on Singapore’s perspectives on US and China at the 12th Aspen Security Forum in Washington DC on Thursday (Nov 4).
The forum is an annual security and foreign policy conference involving leaders and key players in the defence community.
The session with Dr Ng was moderated by Aspen Strategy Group co-chair Professor Joseph Samuel Nye Jr, who had asked if the minister was concerned about how the US was “handling the Taiwan question”.
“Taiwan goes to the heart of the political legitimacy of the leader, of the party and it’s a deep red line. I can think of no scenario (in) which there are winners if there is actual physical confrontation over Taiwan,” Dr Ng said.
“So, I would advise us to stay very far away from that.”
“ALL SIDES LOSE”
Speaking to reporters after his speech on Thursday, Dr Ng reiterated that “all sides lose” if there is physical confrontation over Taiwan.
“Not only US and China. Southeast Asia will be in turmoil, I think the rest of the world too,” he said.
Beyond the issue of Taiwan, Dr Ng said the US’ current “preoccupation with China is at a heightened level” not seen in his decade as defence minister.
The US sees China’s progress as a rising power and feels the need to reinvigorate its economy, Dr Ng said.
“I think that’s that’s wonderful, how America needs to compete in science and technology, in infrastructure, in economic leadership,” he said.
Dr Ng said in his keynote speech that Singapore and other Southeast Asian nations have benefited from the influence of both the US and China, highlighting how the US has provided a stabilising security presence while China has powered Asia’s economic growth.
“So to Singapore and the ASEAN countries, my Prime Minister has said none of the countries want to choose (between US and China),” he said.
“Why should I choose? Both have benefitted me and there is a strategic rivalry. Can this strategic rivalry continue with me continuing to still benefit from both countries?”
https://www.channelnewsasia.com/singapore/taiwan-china-us-tension-ng-eng-hen-2290256
The Decline and Decline of the American Empire. Richard Ooi: If China wins, humanity might be saved! Therefore China must be stopped! 美利堅帝國的衰落。 Richard Ooi：如果中國贏了，人類可能會被拯救！ 所以中國必須停止！
Video: China: promises made promises kept 中國：信守承諾
https://vimeo.com/642431435
https://youtu.be/fY-yIImUprs
https://www.facebook.com/100036400039778/posts/597898884766774/?d=n
Johnson Choi Biz