‘Whatever You Need’: How Hunter Biden Helped the CCP’s Premier Influence Group Gain a US Foothold
Biden’s emails, which have not been previously reported, show how the younger Biden helped a Chinese Communist Party influence outfit that his father’s administration now views as a national security threat. The Office of the Director of National Intelligence said last month that the Chinese People’s Association for Friendship with Foreign Countries seeks “to directly and malignly influence state and local leaders to promote the PRC’s global agenda.”
https://freebeacon.com/biden-administration/whatever-you-need-how-hunter-biden-helped-the-ccps-premier-influence-group-gain-a-us-foothold/
Breaking the Blockade
The Fourth Taiwan Strait Crisis will not vanish like the previous three. While the PLA has not demonstrated its military strategy to take Taiwan, it has eroded a key cross-strait norm: from now until the Politburo takes its next step, the PLA will threaten to bracket and blockade Taiwan. The United States and its allies cannot assume that Taiwan will be continuously accessible. Plans must be made accordingly. The U.S. should ensure that Taiwan has not only the stocks, but also the economic and agricultural reserves, to survive Chinese military pressure.
https://www.realcleardefense.com/articles/2022/08/22/breaking_the_blockade_849307.html
Indiana Governor Leads Third US Delegation to Taiwan This Month
On Monday, Holcomb met with Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen, who said the US and Taiwan should work together on semiconductors, which she called “democracy chips.” “Economic security is an important pillar of national and regional security,” Tsai told Holcomb. “Taiwan is willing and able to strengthen cooperation with democratic partners in building sustainable supply chains for democracy chips.”
https://news.antiwar.com/2022/08/22/indiana-governor-leads-third-us-delegation-to-taiwan-this-month/
The U.S. made a breakthrough battery discovery — then gave the technology to China
The Chinese company didn’t steal this technology. It was given to them — by the U.S. Department of Energy. First in 2017, as part of a sublicense, and later, in 2021, as part of a license transfer. An investigation by NPR and the Northwest News Network found the federal agency allowed the technology and jobs to move overseas, violating its own licensing rules while failing to intervene on behalf of U.S. workers in multiple instances.
https://www.npr.org/2022/08/03/1114964240/new-battery-technology-china-vanadium
German dependence on China growing ‘at tremendous pace’, research shows
The German economy became more dependent on China in the first half of 2022, with direct investment and its trade deficit reaching new heights, despite political pressure on Berlin to pivot away from Beijing, according to research seen by Reuters.
https://www.reuters.com/world/german-dependence-china-growing-at-tremendous-pace-research-shows-2022-08-19/
Economists Warn of U-Turn in China’s Recovery
Property investment, especially by private developers, continues to shrink on the back of mortgage payment boycotts. Homebuyers in more than 100 cities have reportedly refused to fork out mortgage payments for unfinished apartments.
https://www.marketsgroup.org/news/china-recovery-stalls
Geopolitics: The World Is Splitting In Two
If Beijing follows up on its threats to annex Taiwan — if only to detract from domestic economic failures — a train of events is likely to be set in motion which could escalate tensions with America and its defense allies to the detriment of everyone. But despite the headlines from China’s property crisis, it is too early to assume China is descending into much deeper trouble. It must abandon macroeconomic policies driven purely by statistics and ensure its citizens and their business have a stable currency. Whether this is understood in Beijing is not clear.
https://www.zerohedge.com/geopolitical/geopolitics-world-splitting-two
People Have Stopped Paying Their Mortgages—China’s Real Estate Crisis
China’s facing a real estate crisis that’s only getting worse, and there’s very little the CCP can do to stop it. In this episode of China Uncensored, we look at why people have stopped paying their mortgages, why the real estate sector is so important to China’s economy, and what happened to Chinese citizens who invested in housing that never got built.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dAC16SWDGto
Mortgage Boycotts & Housing Crisis Pulls Down Chinese Economy | National Drought Warning | Rate Cuts
China Update is about China economic and political news and analysis, today we discuss the Chinese economy, China housing crisis, heatwave and other China news.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WkhuJQwYBkk
Power Crunch Threatens Growth, Reinforces Weak Yuan
Electricity shortages amid a severe drought have replaced Covid lockdowns as the latest and potentially biggest threat to economic growth, at least in the month of August. Sichuan, a southwestern province with more than 83 million people, had to cut its hydropower generation by more than half as of Friday, state broadcaster CCTV reports. Dazhou, a city of more than 5 million, has implemented rolling blackouts on non-household users and is making plans for residential power cuts if the situation doesn’t improve.
https://www.zerohedge.com/markets/power-crunch-threatens-growth-reinforces-weak-yuan
China’s Economic Crisis Is About To Get Much Worse – Peter Zeihan Causes Of A Reduced Birth Rate
Expect to learn why China will lose half of it’s population by 2050, why globalisation is coming to an end even though we’re more connected than ever, why population demographics are one of the most important factors in determining the future, whether automation will help or hinder us, whether food shortages are actually something to panic about and much more…
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HfEChpHysgU
Security Threat: China’s Interest in US Agriculture
“While China’s main interest in obtaining GM seeds from the United States is in improving its crop yields, the potential weaponization of agricultural IP is possible,” the USSC warned. “… Similar to hacking a computer code, Beijing could easily hack the code or DNA of U.S. GM seeds and conduct biowarfare by creating some type of blight that could destroy U.S. crops… a virus or fungus engineered to kill a GM plant could wipe out an entire crop…” — U.S.-China Economic and Security Review Commission, Staff Research Report, May 26, 2022.
https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/18790/us-agriculture-china
New US Marine regiment shows off capabilities at RIMPAC ahead of fall experimentation blitz
The 3rd Marine Littoral Regiment was redesignated in March to serve as a first-of-its-kind stand-in force in the Pacific. Whereas other traditional formations — Marines operating from U.S. Navy ships, or units on rotational deployments in theater — could fight their way into contested areas, the idea is that 3rd MLR as the stand-in force would already be inside that space. Rather than the joint force having to kick the door down to get in, 3rd MLR could hold the door open, the thinking goes.
https://www.defensenews.com/naval/2022/08/10/new-us-marine-regiment-shows-off-capabilities-at-rimpac-ahead-of-fall-experimentation-blitz/