NW China’s Xinjiang to inoculate booster shots to adults by Global Times Oct 13 2021
Residents in the Wuqia County in the Kizilsu Kirgiz Autonomous Prefecture, Northwest China’s Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, receive COVID-19 vaccine on June 5, 2021.
Northwest China’s Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region has become the latest region in the country to launch a booster shot of COVID-19 vaccines for its residents. Instead of focusing on key groups, the region said it will provide the shot to all local adults who completed vaccination six months prior.
Local media ts.cn reported on Wednesday that the region plans to provide booster shots from October to December to vaccine receivers aged 18 and above who have been inoculated with two shots of inactivated vaccines or one shot of adenovirus vector vaccine for more than six months.
The level of antibodies in vaccine recipients decline, even disappear, after a certain period following the inoculation. One more shot at this time would not only boost the antibody level, but also expand the antibody repertoire, ts.cn reported, citing experts from Xinjiang regional disease control and prevention center.
So far, at least 13 provinces and regions in China, such as East China’s Anhui and Fujian provinces and Central China’s Hubei Province, have initiated programs to enhance residents’ immunity against COVID-19.
“Studies prove that the level of neutralizing antibodies would decline after six months following inoculation, a booster shot at this time would enhance antibodies and prolong protection, as well as largely increase efficacy to prevent infection and hospitalization,” Jin Hui, a public health expert from Southeast University, told people.cn on Wednesday.
But Jin noted that every person should receive one booster shot, but it does not mean that recipients should receive one shot every six months.
Video: Australian Puppets of American Empire Expose Themselves. In this video we dig into a revealing little slip up that helped solidify how artificial the anti-China rhetoric in Australia really is and how the pro-war rhetoric has created an environment where the anti-china sentiment is being used as a weapon against other Australian citizens. https://youtu.be/IeLoZnWsAl8
Video: US Sanctions Cambodia for Cutting Strings to US-backed Puppets. The US is targeting individuals in the Cambodian government with sanctions for allegedly “suppressing democracy.” In reality Cambodia is defending against US-funded interference.
Cambodia’s main opposition party, the Cambodia National Rescue Party (CNRP) is literally based in Washington D.C. with exiled politicians fleeing to the US and conspiring with the US government in their bid to return home and seize power.
This is yet another example of the US using economic coercion to punish nations for not submitting to Washington-sponsored interference in their internal political affairs – interference prohibited under the UN Charter.
Professor John Wash, MD, San Francisco: French Finance Minister Issues Declaration Of Independence – From The US 法國財政部長發布獨立宣言 – 和美國切割
“Clear Differences Remain Between France and the U.S, French Minister Says,” is the headline to a remarkable piece appearing in the New York Times today. The Minister, Bruno Le Maire, is brutally frank on the nature of the differences as the quotations below Illustrate. (Emphases in the quotations are jvw’s.) In fact, they amount to a Declaration of Independence of France and EU from the US.
It is not surprising that the differences relate to China after the brouhaha over the sale of US nuclear submarines to Australia and the surprising (to the French) cancellation of contracts with France for submarines. Mr. LeMaire, sounding very much like a reproving parent, characterized this as “misbehavior from the US administration.”
Mr. LeMaire made it crystal clear that the disagreement over submarines is symptomatic of deeper differences in world view that have emerged not only in France but in the EU as a consequence of China’s rise. The article states:
“‘The United States wants to confront China. The European Union wants to engage China,’ Mr. Le Maire, a close ally of President Emmanuel Macron of France, said in a wide-ranging interview ahead of the (IMF) meetings. This was natural, he added, because the United States is the world’s leading power and does not ‘want China to become in a few years or in a few decades the first superpower in the world.
“Europe’s strategic priority, by contrast, is independence, ‘which means to be able to build more capacities on defense, to defend its own view on the fight against climate change, to defend its own economic interest, to have access to key technologies and not be too dependent on American technologies,’ he said.”
The article continued, quoting the Finance Minister:
“The key question now for the European Union, he said, is to become ‘independent from the United States, able to defend its own interests, whether economic or strategic interests.’”
LeMaire might have pre-ambled that statement with: “When in the course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bonds which have connected them with another, and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature’s God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation.”
Still, seasoned diplomat that Mr. LeMaire is, he provided some cold comfort to the naughty US administration, saying, the United States remains “our closest partner” in terms of values, economic model, respect for the rule of law, and embrace of freedom. But with China, he said, “we do not share the same values or economic model.”
The article continued:
“Asked if differences over China meant inevitable divergence between the United States and Europe, Mr. Le Maire said, ‘It could be if we are not cautious.’ But every effort should be made to avoid this, which means ‘recognizing Europe as one of the three superpowers in the world for the 21st century,’ alongside the United States and China.”
The piece concluded;
“One of the biggest lingering points of contention is over metal tariffs that former President Donald J. Trump imposed globally in 2018. Officials face difficult negotiations in coming weeks. Europeans plan to impose retaliatory tariffs on a range of US products as of Dec. 1, unless Mr. Biden pulls back a 25 percent duty on European steel and a 10 percent tax on aluminum.
“‘If we want to improve the bilateral economic relationship between the continents, the first step must be for the United States to lift the sanctions in the steel and aluminum case,’ Mr. Le Maire said. ‘We are fed up with the trade wars,’ he added.”
Shared values are nice, but shared profits are clearly better.
John V. Walsh, until recently a Professor at the University of Massachusetts Medical School and now residing in the Bay Area, has written on issues of peace and health care for Asia Times, EastBayTimes/Mercury News, Antiwar.com, CounterPunch, and others.
EU want to engage China, US want to confront China, they are not on the same page. Clear Differences Remain Between France and U.S., French Minister Says. 歐盟想與中國接觸合作, 美國想對抗中國，他們不在同一頁上。法國部長說，法國和美國之間仍然存在明顯差異.
Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire says the two countries remain at odds over China and various security issues, even if they had effectively cooperated on overhauling the international tax system. By Liz Alderman and Roger Cohen Oct. 11, 2021
PARIS — As global finance leaders gather this week in Washington for the annual meetings of the International Monetary Fund, Bruno Le Maire, the finance minister of France, made clear that effective French-American cooperation on an overhaul of the international tax system could not mask stark differences on China and other issues.
“The United States wants to confront China. The European Union wants to engage China,” Mr. Le Maire, a close ally of President Emmanuel Macron of France, said in a wide-ranging interview ahead of the meetings. This was natural, he added, because the United States is the world’s leading power and does not “want China to become in a few years or in a few decades the first superpower in the world.”
Europe’s strategic priority, by contrast, is independence, “which means to be able to build more capacities on defense, to defend its own view on the fight against climate change, to defend its own economic interest, to have access to key technologies and not be too dependent on American technologies,” he said.
His remarks reflected unresolved tensions that came to the surface last month in a furious disagreement between France and the United States over President Biden’s decision to provide nuclear-powered submarines to Australia. The deal replaced an earlier French contract to sell Australia conventional submarines. Mr. Macron was not informed of Australia’s plans until the last minute.
“Clearly there has been at least an important misunderstanding between France and the United States, and there has also been, I would say, misbehavior from the U.S. administration,” Mr. Le Maire said.
The key question now for the European Union, he said, is to become “independent from the United States, able to defend its own interests, whether economic or strategic interests.” Still, he added, the United States remains “our closest partner” in terms of values, economic model, respect for the rule of law, and embrace of freedom.
But with China, he said, “we do not share the same values or economic model.”
Shanghai’s financial district. Mr. Le Maire says France and the United States disagree over confronting or engaging with China, and its surging economy.
Shanghai’s financial district. Mr. Le Maire says France and the United States disagree over confronting or engaging with China, and its surging economy. Credit…Hector Retamal/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images France and the United States are striving to repair the damage from the submarine deal, and the French ambassador, who was recalled to Paris in protest, has returned to Washington. Mr. Macron, who will meet Mr. Biden this month, wants to see a greater American commitment to independent European defense ambitions that he says would be complementary to NATO, as well as evidence of American respect for European strategic ambitions in the Indo-Pacific region. Asked if differences over China meant inevitable divergence between the United States and Europe, Mr. Le Maire said, “It could be if we are not cautious.” But every effort should be made to avoid this, which means “recognizing Europe as one of the three superpowers in the world for the 21st century,” alongside the United States and China.
An area where Europe and the United States have been working in lock step is on financial reform. Efforts to press the most sweeping overhaul of the international tax system in a century are nearing a breakthrough.
Finance ministers of the Group of 20 largest economies are expected to back an accord at the I.M.F. meetings as early as Wednesday, following a landmark deal last week by nearly 140 countries to create a 15 percent global minimum corporate tax and new rules that would force corporate and technology giants like Amazon and Facebook to pay an appropriate share of tax wherever they operate. The pact, intended to crack down on tax havens that have drained countries of much-needed revenue, follows months of negotiations that have included intense behind-the-scenes lobbying by Mr. Le Maire and the U.S. Treasury secretary, Janet Yellen.
Mr. Le Maire said that he had worked “very well with Janet Yellen on many key issues,” and was determined to improve the relationship between the two countries. “But it is also up to the United States to take some decisions in the right direction to restore confidence between the two continents and between the two countries.”
Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen and Mr. Le Maire at a meeting of Group of 7 finance ministers in London in June. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen and Mr. Le Maire at a meeting of Group of 7 finance ministers in London in June.
One of the biggest lingering points of contention is over metal tariffs that former President Donald J. Trump imposed globally in 2018. Officials face difficult negotiations in coming weeks. Europeans plan to impose retaliatory tariffs on a range of U.S. products as of Dec. 1, unless Mr. Biden pulls back a 25 percent duty on European steel and a 10 percent tax on aluminum. “If we want to improve the bilateral economic relationship between the continents, the first step must be for the United States to lift the sanctions in the steel and aluminum case,” Mr. Le Maire said. “We are fed up with the trade wars,” he added. “It is clearly not in the interest of the United States and not in the interest of the E.U.”
Improving economic stability in the wake of the pandemic is crucial. Mr. Le Maire has overseen a massive aid program to steer France out of a historic recession that included generous state funding to prevent mass layoffs by subsidizing wages and relief for businesses struggling to pay their bills.
The support is now being wound down as the economy stabilizes amid widespread vaccinations. The economy is expected to grow 6.25 percent this year, while unemployment, a political lightning rod six months from a presidential election, is projected to fall to 7.6 percent by year-end, the lowest in over a decade.
The rebound is crucial as France gears up for its election in April. Mr. Le Maire said he is starting a political movement to back the re-election of President Macron.
The far right is presenting a strong challenge as Éric Zemmour, a writer and TV celebrity known for his anti-immigrant nationalism, gains ground in political polls by tapping into insecurity over immigration and fears of rising economic inequality from globalization.
“You have extremist parties rising everywhere in Europe and everywhere in the Western countries because many people are afraid of what is happening due to climate change, due to the technological revolution, due to the important moves of migration,” Mr. Le Maire said. “The best way to fight against extremist parties is to get results,” he said.
But in the country where the anti-elite Yellow Vest protest movement raged for many months, starting in 2018, Mr. Le Maire acknowledged that the frustrations that fueled the mass protests could flare again in France and spread to other European countries if inequality worsens as governments try to tackle climate change by shifting away from cheap fuel to renewable energy sources.
With the price of energy needed to bridge that transition hitting record highs, “climate transition remains a risk for all of us, for all democracies, because it will be very costly — far more costly than expected,” Mr. Le Maire said.
“I really think that a new Yellow Vest movement remains possible everywhere within Europe,” he added. Securing a global tax deal will be crucial to help avoid that by bringing governments a vital source of new revenue to reduce inequality divides, he said.
The Diplomat: Understanding China’s Aerial Incursions Into Taiwan’s ADIZ – China’s incursions are meant more as a signal to the United States than a military threat to Taiwan. 外交雜誌: 了解中國對台灣防空識別區的空中入侵 – 中國的入侵更多是向美國發出信號，而不是對台灣的軍事威脅。By Adrian Ang U-Jin and Olli Pekka Suorsa June 02, 2021
In this Feb. 10, 2020, file photo and released by the Republic of China (ROC) Ministry of National Defense, a Taiwanese Air Force F-16 in foreground flies on the flank of a Chinese People’s Liberation Army Air Force (PLAAF) H-6 bomber as it passes near Taiwan.
Tensions across the Taiwan Strait have risen sufficiently for The Economist to declare on the cover of its May 1, 2021 edition that Taiwan is now “the most dangerous place on Earth.” According to this narrative, Beijing has invested heavily in military capabilities that it can now bring to bear in a confrontation over Taiwan, which it regards as a renegade province. The Chinese Communist Party has never forsworn the use of force to achieve Taiwan’s unification with the mainland. To that end, China has only merely ramped up economic and diplomatic pressure on Taiwan, but dispatched aircraft across the previously-mutually respected median line, intruded into the island’s Air Defense Identification Zone (ADIZ) with ever-increasing numbers of incursions and sorties, deployed its naval forces to conduct “combat drills” off the coast, and increased fiery rhetoric.
For many observers, these actions constitute ipso facto “proof” that the Chinese military threat to Taiwan is at its highest point since the 1995-96 Taiwan Strait missile crisis. However, we maintain that Chinese incursions into Taiwan’s ADIZ serve multiple purposes beyond saber-rattling toward Taiwan: signaling Beijing’s displeasure at Washington’s diplomatic engagement with Taipei; surveillance of sea and air traffic in the strategically important Bashi channel; as a countervailing show of force against U.S. Navy operations near Chinese waters and the northern South China Sea; and a demonstration of a “new normal” as the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) expands its training and exercise routines farther from its coast and over open sea. We argue that Chinese air incursions into Taiwan’s ADIZ have had the U.S. in their crosshairs more often than Taipei.
Media attention has focused primarily on the PLA’s large-scale incursions, like the one that occurred on April 12, which saw the single largest incursion into Taiwan’s ADIZ thus far – 14 J-16 fighters, four J-10 fighters, four H-6K bombers, and two Y-8 ASW planes. Empirically, however, these high-profile, large-scale incursions are rare occurrences. Since Taiwan’s Ministry of National Defense (MND) started making the data publicly available in mid-September 2020, only six incursions out of a total of 173 or 3.5 percent (as of June 1, 2021) have involved 15 or more sorties. Ninety percent of incursions involve no more than four sorties, 3.5 percent involve five to nine sorties, and fewer than 3 percent involve 10-14 aircraft.
Furthermore, a plausible argument can be made that with each of the large-scale incursions, Beijing was reacting to provocations from Washington regarding some form of diplomatic or political overture to Taipei. For instance, the incursion on April 12, 2021 was triggered by U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken’s warning to Beijing that it would be a “serious mistake” to try to change the Taiwan status quo by force. The 20-sortie incursion on March 26 was in response to the United States and Taiwan signing an agreement establishing a Coast Guard Working Group to coordinate policy. Earlier, the large-scale Chinese incursions on September 18 and 19, 2020 that saw PLA aircraft cross the median line were in response to the visit by U.S. Undersecretary of State Keith Krach, the most senior State Department representative to visit the island since 1979. It is notable that since the September 2020 high-profile and high-risk incidents, no major median line violations have occurred. Since then, all publicly announced incursions have taken place around the southwestern portion of Taiwan’s ADIZ.
The Taiwan MND data indicate that nearly 80 percent of Chinese intrusions involve no more than two sorties, and that of these 134 small-scale incursions, approximately 70 percent involve the dispatch of at least one KQ-200 maritime patrol and anti-submarine warfare (MPA-ASW) aircraft. These almost-daily MPA-ASW aircraft sorties near the Bashi Channel are linked to China’s interest in monitoring foreign warship movements in and out of the South China Sea, and practicing the difficult skill of searching and tracking, or “prosecuting,” of foreign submarines entering China’s “near seas.”
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Detecting foreign underwater activity in and near the shallow Bashi Channel offers arguably the best and first line of defense against any foreign submarine intrusions, before they are able to reach the PLA’s South China Sea “bastion.” As part of China’s anti-access strategy, the control of the entrance points – straits and channels – is of critical importance. In the big picture, therefore, it is not surprising that Chinese aircraft patrol frequently near the Bashi Channel in the south and Miyako Strait in the north. For these reasons, China is likely to continue or, even, increase its maritime surveillance activities within the southwestern part of Taiwan’s ADIZ, near the Bashi Channel, and other critical sea lines of communications along the first island chain in the future, regardless of the geopolitical status of Taiwan.
By combining the MND-published data with other OSINT information, especially data published by SCSPI on the U.S. Navy’s ship and aircraft movements, we can infer that China has also intruded into Taiwan’s ADIZ in a countervailing show of force in response to a U.S. carrier strike group’s high intensity and high visibility operations in the northern part of the South China Sea. We argue this has been the case on January 23-24, 2021, February 19-20, and April 20, coinciding with the USS Theodore Roosevelt CSG’s presence missions in and around the South China Sea. The January 23 incident was also the first time the PLA Air Force scrambled its H-6K bombers to greet the carrier strike group. Since then, the H-6K bombers and other maritime strike capable combat aircraft have become a frequent sight in such high visibility incidents (for example, February 20 and April 12). Noticeably, during earlier U.S. Navy carrier strike group movements in the South China Sea, like in October 2020, China sent only MPA and ISR aircraft to monitor the U.S. activities. On April 20, 2021, another large-scale formation, including nine combat aircraft, confronted the USS Theodore Roosevelt CSG again, but with no known bomber presence.
It has been noticeable that each Chinese aircraft formation has involved at least one maritime patrol aircraft and other “enablers” like airborne early-warning and control aircraft or intelligence gathering and electronic warfare platforms, demonstrating high levels of sophistication. The presence of the maritime patrol aircraft further suggest that the target of these large-scale incursions has indeed been the U.S. Navy, not Taiwan. What the formations have also demonstrated is impressive maturation in coordination between theatre commands (Southern and Eastern); between the PLAAF and PLA Naval Air Force; and among different air brigades and air bases—a lesson that should not be taken lightly.
Based on our analysis of publicly available data, we can see that since mid-September 2020, when the MND began publishing its data, Chinese air incursions have grown both in quantity and intensity, with the bulk of the intrusions demonstrating the “new normal” or the more capable and confident PLA maintaining near-daily training and patrol sorties near critical choke points, including the Bashi Channel. We have also shown that the recorded incursions between September 2020 and May 2021 were predominantly directed at exigencies other than Taiwan and more directly about challenging and monitoring of the U.S. naval and air presence in the region and reacting to Washington’s diplomatic and political overtures to Taipei.
AUTHORS/GUEST AUTHOR Adrian Ang U-Jin Dr. Adrian Ang U-Jin is a research fellow at the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies (RSIS), Nanyang Technological University (NTU), in Singapore. GUEST AUTHOR Olli Pekka Suorsa Dr. Olli Pekka Suorsa is a research fellow at the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies (RSIS), Nanyang Technological University (NTU), in Singapore.
Law enforcement agencies explore legal punishment for crypto activities by GT staff reporters Oct 12 2021
China’s top law enforcement agencies are investigating crypto trading exchanges and mining activities, and exploring specific ways to convict and sentence those involved in illegal activities, according to media reports on Tuesday, following the country’s broad and strict ban on crypto transactions in September.
Caijing Magazine quoted sources close to the matter as saying in a report that after the investigation is completed, further legal explanations will be issued by the Supreme People’s Court and the Supreme People’s Procuratorate at a “proper time.”
Several industry insiders told the Global Times that the ban issued by the People’s Bank of China (PBC), the country’s central bank, is guidance-oriented, but when it comes to how to investigate and prosecute relevant cases, the law enforcement agencies need specific rules and laws.
“While crypto mining by its very nature violates the law, all crypto-related platforms and their employees are subject to criminal penalties, and may be sentenced to jail, if they continue to provide services to Chinese mainland users. This is a deadly blow to the crypto industry,” an industry insider, who spoke on condition of anonymity, told the Global Times on Tuesday.
The insider said that some senior executives and employees of major crypto exchanges have fled abroad in recent days, and others may follow.
Another industry insider, who also prefers not to be identified, told the Global Times on Tuesday that some crypto exchanges have terminated contracts with many Chinese employees since last year to minimize the potential impact of Chinese regulators’ stepped-up crackdown on the industry.
Also, some exchanges spun off their businesses not related to crypto exchanges, such as blockchain gaming, in an effort to draw a clear line between business that is compliant with the law and illegal crypto trading.
Almost all Chinese crypto exchanges have moved their bases overseas in recent years, after regulators banned Bitcoin exchanges after regulatory actions in September 2017.
The Global Times reported earlier that more than 20 major firms involving cryptocurrency businesses, including trading exchanges, crypto mining and crypto information platforms such as Huobi and Ethereum mining pool Sparkpool, have suspended services to Chinese mainland users and announced plans to exit the market.
Their exits mean that more than 90 percent of crypto-related businesses have shut down in China, industry observers said.
Nury Vittachi recalls that Richard Cullen recently wrote that the violent attempted “revolution” in Hong Kong in 2019 was being airbrushed out of existence by the media. Today’s New York Times shows how right he was. Here’s the link to Richard’s article: https://www.fridayeveryday.com/2021/10/04/how-to-make-an-insurrection-disappear/
