"The evidence that Covid is a biological weapon created in the US is overwhelming."
Just starting.
It’s only the beginning…
Today, I had the Godliest cheeseburger that I have ever eaten. It was at Burger King (In China, of course). And it was a special double cheeseburger. But instead of using the small 1/6 pound meat patties, it used two 1/3 meat patties. It was tasty, and delicious and good. But man oh man, was it a shit-load of hamburger.
Cheesy and tasty. Totally and completely delicious.
I had no idea that it was so HUGE. And towards the end, oh, Lordy, was it a struggle.
I can’t believe I ate the whole thing.
Why are Asian countries so against American political correctness being applied to their countries while it’s widely promoted in America?
Because they see the ridiculous banana republic of chaos that America has become and they want no part of it. They know geography and their pronouns. They know truth from propaganda. They like going out in public without being afraid of becoming a target for a shooter. Their police aren’t arresting six year olds or gunning down people. Their governments, fallible as they may be, haven’t tried burning down their capital buildings.
Asian countries like peace, stability, infrastructure, safety, wealth, progress, truth and other positive things. They really do not want to be what we’ve become. And I don’t blame them.
Jeffery Sachs | BILLIONAIRES are DESTROYING our WORLD
https://youtu.be/3fOQn8uWdxI
This Artist Draws Pictures to Show That Everything Has a Flip Side
Not many people look at events and phenomenons from different angles. This is exactly what the artist, Anton Gudim, talks about on his Instagram account.
More: Instagram h/t: brightside
What is the China competitiveness bill passed in the US Senate?
Youngsters would call it a Badass piece of Legislation meant to Compete with China
It involves investing a huge sum of money – almost $ 200 Billion into various avenues meant to disrupt Chinas dominance as a Worlds Supply Chain Depot over the next 5 years
It aims to spend $ 50 Billion to start Semi Conductor manufacture in other countries like India or Vietnam to replace the 45 – 100 nm Chips that China is churning out by the milllions.
It also gives unilateral powers to the President to Impose on any Entity or Person without the State Department or Commerce Departments or any Departments collaboration. This means Biden can sanction China directly (The Country, not the Officials)
Believe me – If Implemented well- It could be a big big win for India and could create as many as 20,000 Skilled Jobs initially and if we really were to take advantage of the US Investments – we could replace China in making 45 – 100 nm Chips by say 2026–2027 which would be a surge to our GDP.
It would also mean a lot of Stones and Balls for the Genial Old Man who has faced massive setbacks with his ambitious infrastructure spending plans becoming the equivalent of Trumps Wall.
Yet it is very ambitious because China is always 4–5 steps ahead.
Also China makes the Worlds Best 45 – 100 Nm Chips and to trust India or Vietnam to be able to harness and develop the same tech in even 6 years is super ambitious especially knowing that there is almost very little profit except in Bulk Quantity.
And there is also an added problem – China is a huge market for 60% of the Cars which use these Chips so if China says Sorry well only buy Chinese – then the chances of any big scale manufacturing would be shot to hell.
So at this stage its – Match on – Xi vs Biden
Biden has put things on Paper – We have to see if he has some way to Implement the same thing.
Chicken Rice Soup
Yield: 6 servings
Equipment
- Pressure Cooker
Ingredients
- 1/4 cup or less olive oil
- 4 to 5 small leeks, washed thoroughly and sliced
- 1/2 cup rice, uncooked*
- 6 cups fat free chicken broth (one large can College Inn)
- 1 (3 pound) whole chicken, cut up with skin removed
- 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
- 1 cup chopped celery
- 1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley
- 1 teaspoon coarse salt
- 1/4 teaspoon white pepper
- 1 bay leaf
- 1 teaspoon dried tarragon
- Chopped parsley for garnish
- 2 carrots, peeled and cut into 1-inch pieces
Instructions
- In a pressure cooker, heat oil and add leeks and sauté for about 2 minutes.
- Add rice and cook, stirring often, for about 1 minute.
- Add broth, chicken, lemon juice, celery, parsley, salt and pepper, bay leaf and tarragon. Secure lid. Over high heat, develop steam to high pressure. Reduce heat to maintain pressure and cook for 10 minutes.
- Release pressure according to manufacturer’s instructions. Remove lid.
- Remove chicken from soup. Remove chicken from bones, cut into 1 inch cubes, add to soup. Remove bay leaf. Discard bones.
- Add carrots and simmer uncovered for about 10 minutes until carrots are tender.
- Refrigerate and skim off any fat that develops.
- Serve hot with chopped parsley as a garnish.
Notes
* May substitute 2 cups of noodles, broken into pieces, for the rice.
China-Russia trade up 38.7% in Q1, energy cooperation continues to be a major stabilizer for bilateral ties
A cargo truck moves on the Heihe-Blagoveshchensk highway bridge from Heihe, Northeast China’s Heilongjiang Province, to Russia’s Blagoveshchensk port on December 15, 2022. The cross-border highway bridge, which opened to traffic in June, has become a major boost for trade between China and Russia. Photo: VCG
China’s overall trade with Russia maintained its strong growth momentum in the first quarter with an increase of 38.7 percent from a year earlier, far outpacing the growth of China’s total trade.
With energy cooperation taking up more than 40 percent of bilateral commodity trade and playing a pivotal role, and the promotion of local currency settlement accelerating, it is expected that bilateral trade will cross the $200 billion threshold this year, experts said.
First-quarter bilateral trade totaled $53.85 billion. China’s shipments to Russia rose 47.1 percent year-on-year to $24.07 billion, while shipments from Russia were up 32.6 percent to $29.77 billion, data from China’s General Administration of Customs showed on Thursday.
In March alone, total bilateral trade reached $20.07 billion, up 77 percent on a yearly basis, accelerating from 36.4 percent in the first two months, Chinese customs data showed.
“The strong growth momentum is within market expectations as the top leaders of the two countries have clarified bilateral cooperation direction. Pragmatic economic cooperation has become an unstoppable trend,” Song Kui, president of the Contemporary China-Russia Regional Economy Research Institute, told the Global Times on Thursday.
Song estimated that bilateral trade will cross the $200 billion threshold this year given the robust growth.
Last year, bilateral trade hit a record of $190.27 billion. China’s exports of mechanical and electrical products, automobiles and auto parts to Russia all grew substantially.
China has been Russia’s largest trading partner for 13 consecutive years, and the two countries have continued deepening their energy cooperation and made solid progress in strategic projects.
Russia is now one of China’s leading energy suppliers. The two countries have expanded their ties in the energy sector from pure commodity trading of oil and natural gas to industrial cooperation in oil and gas exploration and refining, said Liu Qian, an executive deputy director of the Center for Russian and Central Asian Studies at the China University of Petroleum (Beijing).
China purchased more than 6.5 million tons of liquefied natural gas and 86.25 million tons of crude oil from Russia in 2022, official data showed.
“The huge capacity and trade flexibility of the Chinese market could absorb a large part of Russia’s energy and ensure the steady progress of large-scale energy cooperation projects,” said Liu.
Enterprises of the two sides are maintaining exchanges and active consultations on the new Russian-Chinese natural gas pipeline project transiting through Mongolia, and China will continue to support enterprises in carrying out research and consultations in accordance with commercial principles, an official from China’s National Energy Administration said during a press conference on Wednesday.
The construction of the Amur natural gas processing plant with the participation of Chinese-funded enterprises started in 2015. As of 2022, 87.52 percent of the construction work of the plant was completed, Russia’s state-owned energy giant Gazprom, said in December last year.
The plant will send 38 billion cubic meters (bcm) of natural gas to China every year as designed, and the full capacity of 42 bcm will be reached in 2025.
“There is still great potential for China-Russian energy cooperation,” said Liu.
On the one hand, Russia’s natural gas supply to China will continue to grow. Besides, with the global energy transformation and China’s “dual carbon” goals in place, there is also much room for cooperation in renewable, hydrogen, nuclear energy and in the clean and efficient use of energy, he explained.
As bilateral trade grows, the Chinese yuan is gaining popularity in Russia, and local currency settlement by discarding the US dollar is going from strength to strength.
According to a report from the Bank of Russia, the country’s central bank, the share of the yuan/rouble pair trading on the Russian exchange market reached a new high of 39 percent in March. During the same period, the share of the US dollar/rouble pair fell to 34 percent, the lowest in recent years.
In February, the yuan surpassed the dollar in trading volume on the Russian exchange.
Ozon Holding, one of Russia’s largest online retailers, is doubling down on the Chinese currency to fend off increasing external uncertainties.
Simon Huang, managing director of Ozon China, told the Global Times that “this year, we are actively promoting settlements in yuan for Chinese cross-border sellers on our platform. From commodity pricing to payment, the process is centered on the yuan to reduce the risk of foreign exchange fluctuations.”
Found Unused Nuclear Bunker Filled with Equipment
Beautiful and Frightening: Mako Vice’s Bizarre Drawn Girls
Mako Vice is an artist, mangaka, and member of the creative association Gainen15. On her social networks Mako posts pictures with graceful but very specific ladies suffering from various mystical afflictions. One has worm-like fingers growing through her skin, the other one rips her face off and stuff like that. It’s grim, but classy.
More: Instagram
Why should everyone visit China at least once?
I’ve been living in China for almost 9 years now. The one thing that keeps amaze me is how little people know about China, as it is today. Almost every traveler I guided in China was amazed about how their perceptions of the country and its people were wrong, or very biased and partial. Many are truly amazed how little they actually know about China, it’s history and culture.
It is understood, of course, that any of us learns mostly about their relative history and culture; knows more about ‘their side of the world” than of other’s; and so, by traveling to China (and other Asian countries, for that matter) you are being exposed to new things, probably more than if you travel to a destination that is more “culturally-close” to yours.
So, for me, the main reason everyone should travel to China at least once, is to open up their eyes and minds to different perspectives and cultures in the world. I hope this will make all travelers start asking more questions about what they think and read of other places too.
What was the purpose of the CIA director’s visit to Saudi Arabia?
The United States always follow a SIX POINT STRATEGY to keep their Hegemony intact
First they send an official and deliver “Cooked up Intelligence reports”. For instance like saying Iran is planning to invade you or China plans to invade Arunachal Pradesh etc – playing to your fears
Today most nations openly refuse to believe any of these reports unilaterally
Once this fails,
Second they send a higher official like a Senate Delegation or a Secretary of State to openly warn you that a certain nation is committing atrocities and damaging the Global security.
They demand you make sacrifices like not buying Oil or Gas from that nation for “Democracy” And “Freedom”
Today once more, most Nations don’t get impressed by these words. They flatly refuse to change their way of life
Once this fails,
Third they use their MSM to begin saturation coverage of lies against your country related to human rights and fund NGOs in your country to start targeting the Government and use that propaganda to undermine you Globally
Uyghurs for China, Kashmir & Muslims for India, Kashoggi for Saudi Arabia, Nuclear Weapons for Iran, Atrocities for Putin, Corruption for Thailand Leaders etc
Luckily today MSM isn’t that credible as they were say 10-15 years ago
Once this fails
Fourth, they get their NGOs to organize protests and color revolutions in your country starting with small issues through massive underground funding
Simultaneously they mobilize opposition leaders and bankroll them targeting a regime change
This works with many many nations
Once this fails
Fifth, they SANCTION and COERCE your country by denying you your own dollars or western technology and bully the collective western lackeys to do the same thing
Finally
Sixth, they may directly fund a proxy civil war or support military aggression against your country
THIS Approach is followed for all countries that aren’t US Lackeys
- India is at Stage III
- China is heading to Stage V
- Russia is at Stage V
- Thailand is at Stage IV
So Saudi Arabia, a US Lackey until recently, is heading to Stage II
The CIA Director visit was Stage I and it failed
Now next, a Senator Delegation or VP or Blinken will warn Saudi of how Iran is destroying the world with Terrorism and how they stand opposed to a free world
Luckily this Six Point Strategy is becoming lesser and lesser effective.
Let’s hope Saudi can get through this.
My Comment on Quora
Q: What would happen if the United States tries to blockade China?
A: The United States would suffer.
…
You see, we already have seen what a blockade would do. Do you remember this?
A massive container ship got stuck in Egypt’s Suez Canal
on Tuesday, March 23, 2021, halting marine traffic for almost a week.
For one entire week, all maritime traffic came to a complete stop. And American shelves were bare for months. Months!
And, the lessons that came from it absolutely sent shivers in the supply-chain management circles.
- All Western-bound freight came to a complete stop.
- European and African freight was rerouted via BRI land bridge.
- United States freight was delayed by up to 6 months with bare shelves being the norm.
And who was blamed for this?
China?
Nope. Not China. Though the American news media tried their best to blame China.
The shipping company? Nope.
President Biden… You betya. He got the blame.
I wonder why?
Meanwhile, this is what happened inside of China…
- Production continued normally.
- The BRI was given a great influx of train-bound orders.
- Rerouting through the BRI is now the norm, and signals a massive decrease in the use of sea freight.
- China’s warehouses grew plump as batch shipments were reordered.
Now, somehow, the brain-dead idiots that call themselves “neocons” have this grand fantasy. They believe that…
“Ok, ok, we cannot bomb the shit out of China. But we can blockade shipping. And then China would completely collapse! What brilliance we possess!!”
I am here to tell you that we know what will happen. If you blockade China it won’t make any difference. China trades using the BRI and things can be rerouted easily.
- China will NOT starve. As it attained self-sufficiency around 2012–2013.
- China’s factories will not close down. Their orders, owing to the previous events, will increase.
But…
- The United States will end up without the things that it needs. There will be an absence of all sorts of raw materials and manufacturing products.
- The few products that will be made locally in the United States will be very, very expensive.
And that is why a United States blockade on China will fail.
CIA director concedes US power is waning
The dominant global role of the US can no longer be guaranteed as the country is witnessing a time of change “that comes along a couple of times a century,” CIA Director Bill Burns has claimed.
Speaking at the Baker Institute earlier this week, Burns said that although Washington “still has a better hand to play than any of our rivals,” it is “no longer the only big kid on the geopolitical block and our position at the head of the table isn’t guaranteed.”
The CIA chief pointed to growing ties between China and Russia, which he argued will present a “formidable challenge” for his agency for years to come. According to Burns, Beijing is “not content to only have a seat at the table; it wants to run the table,” while Russia is seeking to “upend the table altogether.”
Burns, who served as the US ambassador to Moscow under George W. Bush, condemned Russia’s military operation in Ukraine, calling it an act of “brutish aggression.”
He claimed the CIA has provided “good intelligence” that has “helped the Ukrainians defend themselves” and cemented “a strong coalition in support of Ukraine.”
Burns added that Kiev’s long-anticipated spring offensive would feature “strong material and intelligence support from the US and our allies.”
The spy chief claimed that Russian President Vladimir Putin is “not serious about negotiations” on a peaceful resolution to the conflict, and suggested that only Ukrainian progress on the battlefield was “likely to shape prospects for diplomacy.”
Russia has repeatedly stated that it is open to peace talks and has blamed Kiev and its Western allies for blocking negotiations. Ukraine has placed a legal ban on any talks with Russia as it seeks to defeat its opponent on the battlefield.
Regarding China, Burns insisted that Beijing remains the CIA’s “biggest long-term priority.” He noted that in the last few years, the intelligence agency has doubled the resources it focuses on China, including hiring and training Mandarin speakers and stepping up efforts to compete with Beijing on the world stage.
“Managing a crucial and increasingly adversarial relationship with China will be the most significant test for American policy makers for decades to come,” the US official said, arguing that the risk of a conflict over Taiwan will continue to grow.
From HERE
Let’s talk about the news (Live)
The Duran is the best channel for Geopolitics. There is no channel even close.
This neoliberal/neocon project can’t fall away fast enough. It’s been a disaster for the people of the US and the world. It reduces all but a handful of elites to enormous struggle and endless war/death. It’s been a great evil and if a new economic system is what ends it, fine. Excellent work, as always, Alex and Alexander!
Chicken with Dumplings
Equipment
- Pressure Cooker
Ingredients
- 1 fryer chicken
- 2-3 cups water
- 2 carrots, diced
- 2 ribs celery, diced
- 1 tablespoon chicken bouillon
- Salt and pepper, to taste
- 1 1/2 to 2 cups Bisquick
- Parsley flakes
Instructions
- Cut up a fryer and brown it in a frying pan. Put the chicken in the pressure cooker with water, carrots and celery.
- Deglaze the frying pan with some of the water and put that liquid into the pressure cooker. Add about a tablespoon of chicken bouillon, cover and cook it for 20 minutes at 15 psi.
- After cooling and removing the lid, the chicken is now falling off the bones. Remove chicken, and season the liquid with salt and pepper.
- Make the dumplings. Mix Bisquick and enough water to make a sticky dough. Form into 2-inch balls. Put some parsley flakes on the outside of each dumpling and place 8 dumplings into the pressure cooker with the chicken and liquid. Put on the lid and cook for another 10 to 15 minutes.
Prehistoric Hunters Roasted and Ate Giant Snails 170,000 Years Ago
In a groundbreaking discovery, scientists have unearthed the remains of enormous snail shells at a 225,000-year-old archaeological site in southern Africa. What makes this find truly remarkable is that it appears these giant snails were not just natural inhabitants of the area, but also a significant source of sustenance for the humans who lived there.
Why and when terrestrial mollusks entered our ancestor’s diet were unanswered questions until the recent discovery of the giant land snail, known as Achatinidae, at a rock-shelter in southern Africa. A new study has demonstrated how small groups of hunter-gatherers captured, roasted and ate giant snails as early as 170,000 years ago.
Giant Snails as Big as Your Hand
When people hunted, fished and gathered to obtain food, clothing and other resources necessary for their survival, hunting techniques varied greatly across the world. In Africa, it is known that groups of ancient survivalists fashioned spears and clubs to kill large game animals such as antelopes and elephants.
Until now, the oldest evidence of Homo sapiens capturing and eating giant land snails dated to roughly 35,000 years ago in Europe, and around 50,000 years ago in Africa. However, a new study published in the Quaternary Science Reviews shows how people at a southern African rock-shelter called Border Cave roasted a species of giant snail that was, according to the researchers, “as big as an adult’s hand.”
Archaeologists in the 1970s excavating at the mouth of Border Cave in South Africa. ( Public domain )
Giant Snails Roasting on an Open Fire
The oldest archaeological layers at Border Cave date to at least 227,000 years ago. Evidence shows how ancient people living in this cave cooked starchy plant stems, ate an array of fruits and hunted small and large animals. A 2020 study published in Science even found that the ancient people living in Border’s cave made grass bedding around 200,000 years ago.
The new study was led by Marine Wojcieszak of the Royal Institute for Cultural Heritage in Brussels. An analysis of shell fragments excavated at Border Cave demonstrates how hunter-gatherers at the site roasted large African land snails on embers, “and then presumably ate them,” according to Wojcieszak. Described as “a delicacy,” eating these snails spiked in popularity between about 160,000 and 70,000 years ago.
According to the team of scientists, these new discoveries at Border Cave “challenge an influential idea that human groups did not make land snails and other small game a big part of their diet until the last Ice Age waned around 15,000 to 10,000 years ago.”
Giant Snails Allude to Early Cooperation
The team of researchers working on the study suggested that when hunter-gatherer groups in southern Africa roamed the countryside hunting large animals, some of them, perhaps with limited mobility due to age or injury, might have stayed behind “snail-gathering.” Wojcieszak added that food sharing at Border Cave demonstrates how “ cooperative social behavior was in place from the dawn of our species.” Furthermore, because snail meat is relatively easy to eat, the fatty protein of snails would have been an important source of nutrition for the elderly and smaller children.
Science News reported that previous archaeological excavations at a cave on the southern tip of South Africa revealed that humans ate mussels, limpets and other marine mollusks as early as around 164,000 years ago. However, according to archaeologist Antonieta Jerardino of the University of South Africa in Pretoria, the new evidence of giant snail consumption at Africa’s Border Cave pushes back the human consumption of mollusks by several thousand years to 170,000 years ago.
Testing Ancient Snail Cooking Methodology
The research team studied 27 snail shell fragments from various sedimentary layers at Border Cave , which were compared with shell fragments of modern large African snails. The snails were heated in a metal furnace at temperatures ranging from 200° to 550° Celsius, with heating times lasting from five minutes to 36 hours.
Most of the shell fragments discovered at the site displayed signs of extended heat exposure, which the researchers say is consistent with “having once been attached to snails that were cooked on hot embers.” It was concluded that the lower parts of large land snail shells rested against the hot embers during cooking, which accounts for the burned and unburned shell fragments discovered by the scientists.
Measuring Up the Pros and Cons of Giant Snail Consumption
A study published in the Journal of Food Science and Technology analyzed the approximate composition, minerals and vitamins of the edible part of the giant African land snail ( Archachatina marginata ). The results showed that the snail meat contains high levels of protein, iron and magnesium.
They also concluded that these giant snails contain vitamins such as vitamin A, which is essential for vision, immune system function and skin health. Furthermore, the creatures are packed with vitamin B12, which is important for the production of red blood cells and the proper functioning of the nervous system.
On the down side, large land snails carry parasites and bacteria that can cause illness in humans if not properly prepared and cooked. Nevertheless, it looks like the ancient hunters who ate these snails some 170,000 years ago knew about these drawbacks, and they therefore roasted them to kill off these toxic properties. Teresa Steele, an archaeologist at the University of California, concluded that “it’s not surprising that ancient H. sapiens recognized the nutritional value of land snails and occasionally cooked and ate them by 170,000 years ago.”
Top image: Giant snail as big as a human hand. Source: majivecka / Adobe Stock
By Ashley Cowie
China’s national security authority reveals ‘new methods’ of criminal activities by overseas anti-China hostile forces
Setting up illegal maritime surveillance to steal China’s military information, luring Chinese scientists in the aerospace field with payment, concocting “forced labor” lies about Xinjiang … The Global Times learned from the Chinese national security authority about a series of typical national security risks on the eve of the 8th National Security Education Day, which will fall on April 15. The authority has also warned Chinese companies and individuals to raise awareness of national security.
Compared to the cases disclosed around the National Security Education Day in previous years, the scope of the cases disclosed this year is wider and the methods used by overseas anti-China forces to lure and instigate those involved are more hidden and targeted. Li Wei, an expert on national security at the China Institute of Contemporary International Relations, told the Global Times that the criminal goals of foreign espionage agencies and anti-China hostile forces are highly consistent and complementary with the political goals of relevant countries toward China.
NGO concocts ‘forced labor’ lies
A man surnamed Li worked for a consulting company in Shenzhen, South China’s Guangdong Province, where he provided supply chain risk audit services for overseas companies. A few years ago, Li’s company worked with an overseas NGO and gradually Li found that the attitude of this organization changed.
Their audit standards for Chinese companies became more detailed, especially concerning the new requirements for the content related to the so-called “Xinjiang labor.” Li noticed that the overseas NGO was actively collecting information about the so-called human rights issues in Northwest China’s Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region in order to concoct “forced labor” lies and provide “endorsement” for Western anti-China forces to manipulate Xinjiang-related issues and enforce related sanctions.
However, in order to pursue economic interests, Li’s company still undertook and implemented relevant investigation projects, bringing risks and hidden dangers to China’s national security and interests.
The national security agency of Guangdong punished Li in accordance with the country’s anti-espionage law, implementation rules of the law and regulations on anti-espionage precautions, and ordered his company to implement rectification.
In recent years, some overseas NGOs with complicated backgrounds have grown stronger and gradually seized international access standards for some industries, the Global Times has learned from relevant authorities. They took advantages of their special status in those industries and exerted influence on relevant Chinese companies, causing harm to the country’s political and economic security, especially to crucial areas such as industrial and supply chains.
Meanwhile, those NGO staff approach Chinese nationals with “friendly attitude” and carry out acts endangering national security with disguises, posing a serious threat in both traditional and non-traditional security areas, experts said.
The criminal targets of foreign spy intelligence agencies and anti-China hostile forces are highly consistent with the political objectives of relevant countries toward China, said Li Wei, the expert. With the rise of China’s comprehensive strength, Western countries such as the US attempt to fully encircle, suppress and smear China, fabricating groundless stories on issues related to Xinjiang, Xizang, Hong Kong, Taiwan and others. As a result, not only have the criminal targets become more clear, but the scope of criminal activities has also expanded further, Li said.
The actions of foreign spy intelligence agencies and anti-China hostile forces that threaten the national security of our country are no longer confined to traditional security areas, he added. Those moves in non-traditional security areas also brings risks and hidden dangers to the stable development of our economic and social security.
Some organizations and individuals, under the guise of foreign NGOs, consulting companies, high-tech companies, and others, attempt to “make a fuss” in the areas of human rights, industrial and supply chains, undermining our national security, Li Wei said.
Illegal monitoring Chinese military activities
In August 2019, a sea cucumber farmer surnamed Zhang in Dalian of Liaoning Province reported to the national security authority that there were some uninvited guests showing up at his farm. A person surnamed Huang led several foreign personals to install marine hydrological monitoring equipment as well as sea and air monitoring and recording equipment in the name of “free installation of seawater quality monitoring equipment.”
Since then, Zhang gradually noticed data was being continuously transmitted overseas, and a lot of that data had nothing to do with sea cucumber farming.
Foreign staff illegally install monitoring equipment in a sea cucumber farm
Zhang dialed 12339 to report the situation to the national security authority. After verification, the equipment was found that it was illegally monitoring China’s air military operation zone, sensitive and important data such as tides and currents in the non-open sea areas, which posed a serious threat to China’s maritime rights and military security.
The local national security authority took compulsory measures against Huang and the foreigners according to the law and confiscated the monitoring equipment. Huang and the foreigners confessed to their illegal and criminal activities of stealing China’s marine hydrological data and naval and air military images.
As traditional and non-traditional security threats are at present intertwined, it puts forward higher requirements for national security work, Li noted. People need to enhance their national security awareness and be vigilant at all times as some illegal and criminal acts that endanger national security become more hidden, and companies and individuals would be taken advantage of if they do not pay attention, the expert said.
Instigate rebellion
As China has become more connected with the world, it has become more convenient for Chinese nationals to study, work and travel abroad. Some overseas spy agencies target those people who relax their vigilance after going abroad and set up traps to bring hidden risks to China’s national security, as another typical case showed.
Zhao Xuejun is a scientific researcher in the field of aerospace. When he was a visiting scholar at a foreign university, he was gradually recruited by overseas spy staff to sell the progress of scientific research, which seriously endangered China’s national security.
At first, the spy staff member invited Zhao to have dinner and to travel together and sent him gifts to build a closer relationship. As their relationship drew closer, the spy staff member asked Zhao some sensitive questions and paid him hefty “consulting fees.”
Before Zhao was about to return to China, the spy staff member revealed the true identity and recruited the Chinese researcher. Subsequently, the spy agency equipped Zhao with a special USB flash drive and a website for issuing mission instructions and enabling him to send back intelligence.
After Zhao returned to China, he met relevant spy staff from this country in multiple places in China, providing them with a large amount of classified information through in-person conversation or through relevant website. He also received spy funds in the form of cash. His activities attracted the attention of the national security authority.
In June 2019, the Beijing Municipal State Security Agency took compulsory measures against Zhao in accordance with the law. In August 2022, he was sentenced to seven years in prison for espionage, and was deprived of political rights for three years. The court also ordered to confiscate 200,000 yuan ($29,091) of his personal property.
Zhao became a target of a foreign spy agency because of his identity as an expert in the aerospace field. However, in recent years, the national security authority noticed that some overseas organizations have taken advantage of certain Chinese nationals’ longing for foreign life to lure them to go abroad and force them to engage in activities that seriously damage the image of the country, endangering national security and personal safety.
Zheng Fuxing and Wang Peiyue were key employees of a so-called “overseas immigration service company” in China. Under the guise of “immigration through normal ways,” the company recruited customers and claimed that only 100,000 yuan was needed as a “certification fee” for immigration procedures.
The group sent “clients” abroad by applying for tourist visas and other methods. But it was not until those “clients” successfully arrived abroad that this group revealed its true intention. Through coercion and inducement, they asked the “clients” to fabricate various “documents” such as household registration, arrest certificates, or forced abortion certificates and to publicly declare that they were “persecuted in the country,” and used fabricated criminal evidence to slander and smear China.
Afterward, the group continued to ask for money from those “clients” under various names such as “political asylum agency fees.” Many of those “clients” were eventually abandoned by the group because they could not afford those fees and struggled to return to China with the help of their families.
In October 2021, the national security authority of North China’s Hebei Province took compulsory measures against Zheng and Wang in accordance with the law. In May 2022, the court sentenced them to three years and nine months, and three years and six months in prison, respectively.
Whether it is gradually falling into the trap because of small profits, or using the “immigrant dream” to lure and take advantage of individuals, these acts of harming national interests and endangering national security for personal interests eventually cost them a heavy price, said Li, the expert.
The overseas countries and regions are not lawless places, and safeguarding the national security is the duty and responsibility of every Chinese national wherever they are, he said.
Using ‘internet identity’ for criminal activities
Among the typical cases, the use of social networks to disguise identity and collect intelligence and information has also caught up in the attention. The national security revealed that Han Xiao, a civil servant in Xinjiang, met a netizen through a mobile dating app and became a tool for overseas spy agency.
In December 2016, Han met the netizen through a dating app during a travel and after returned home, Han often shared his life with this netizen on internet, complaining that he had a very low salary. The netizen introduced his “cousin” Chen Yi to Han, claiming Chen could provide some extra job for Han to earn money. Chen then asked Han to provide some sensitive local information and promised to pay Han some money.
After Han agreed, Chen further instructed Han to collect classified documents from local Party and government institutions. The spy agency highly valued those documents and trained Han as a spy, teaching him the specific methods of communication and information transmission, and sent special agents to provide Han with funds, mobile phones, SIM cards and other communication tools.
Despite that Han knew those people were overseas spy staff, Han continued to collect and provide classified documents for high rewards. The local people’s court later found out that Han provided 19 documents and materials to the overseas spy agency. In return, he was given more than 120,000 yuan.
In March, 2019, Han was sentenced to 11 years and six months in prison for espionage, deprived of political rights for four years, and the government confiscated 50,000 yuan of his personal asset.
Internet not an ‘enclave’
With the wide use of the internet, there have been more internet celebrities, however, some gained attention by fabricating and spreading lies, smearing the country and government, which also broke through the legal bottom line, according to another typical case.
Since June 2020, a person surnamed Zhang, who impersonated eight Myanmar nationals, opened several accounts on overseas social media platform to introduce foreign daily life and customs, posting over 20,000 posts and attracting tens of thousands of fans, according to the national security authority in East China’s Jiangsu Province.
In order to maintain such fake identity online, Zhang maliciously fabricated a large number of sensational false information and rumors, causing panic among netizens and created a negative impact. After attracting a large amount of fans, Zhang frequently used rumors and slandered the image of China, attacking the Party and the government and even instigated others to engage in coup d’etat. In February 2022, the national security authority took compulsory measures against Zhang.
“No matter how much they try to disguise themselves, they can’t cover up the nature of illegal and criminal acts that endanger national security,” Li said, noting that the internet is not an “enclave” for escaping legal responsibility.
Anyone that uses the internet to steal state secrets, create and spread rumors, or endanger national security will be severely punished by law. A clean cyberspace needs to be governed by law, and more importantly, requires the joint efforts of each of us, the expert said.
WARNING: We Will See “50 YEARS OF CHANGE in The Next 6 MONTHS”
Now that Jack Ma has reappeared, is there any explanation for his long absence?
Jack Ma committed a mistake – He began acting like a US Billionaire or an Indian Billionaire or a UK Billionaire.
His IPO was demolished because bankers who are valued heavily in China – simply felt his valuation was inflated and believed that for such numbers as he showed – he had to plan on being a monopoly in various businesses.
In China, unlike India, the bankers don’t issue loans but instead have the billionaire borrow directly from the Public and underwrite the sebt (Meaning, debt which has been unsold will be purchased by the banks). This way, China can seize upto 51% of Ma’s assets in 10 minutes instead of 10 years after 1000 Court cases.
Ma was literally given a highly conservative valuation for his IPO and was given terms and conditions he did not like. The bankers said “You want your Valuation to be adhered to? Fine. Put up collateral for the same”. It’s unusual in most countries for new IPOs to put up collateral. But in China, this is the law.
Jack Ma did not like this.
So, he began his criticism of China’s Banking Regulations. He called them pawn-brokers rather than bankers for their demand of collateral or for their conservatism and for their aversion to loans the way the Capitalists did.
Had it been Hu Jiantao, he would have ignored Ma. They had a strong strong system so Ma’s ranting would not help in any way. China did not have a Republic TV or Arnab Goswami to raise the tempers. However Xi Jingping was a different leader and felt the affront personally.
So he ordered to look into Jack Ma
Suddenly, you had a thousand requests for various routine things for Ma’s companies. Revaluing things. Examining currency related things. Even deciding to introduce a Shenzi law to acquire 51% of non compliant Chinese entities (Basically drafted and created just for Ma).
Now upto this point is actual fact. Information for this comes from the Asian Wall Street Journal and the Economist and a variety of reputable non Globaltimes articles.
However, beyond this is Speculation and Theory
My personal Belief – is that Jack Ma got rattled. He did not expect such a backlash. Somehow Ma had started to believe he was living in New York and not Shanghai. Suddenly when so much scrutiny was being done, Ma knew he could lose his company (Every single company has regulatory issues. This is taken for granted)
So he must have appealed to the bosses and they must have told him Lie Low and shut the hell up.
His disappearance and his sombre reappearance to talk to teachers indicates that he has been broken. The rest of the Billionaires will see what happened to Ma and will understand that the System will remain in force and cannot be criticized.
The message is – Nobody is above the System (Except Xi Jinping maybe). Even Billionaires must follow the System and prosper within it.
Crock Pot Brown Sugar Pineapple Ham
This slow cooker method not only saves your oven space, but it also results in the most fall-apart tender and flavorful ham EVER.
Once you try it this way, you will never want it any other way!
Teaching Story
An old man meets a young man who asks:
“Do you remember me?”
And the old man says no. Then the young man tells him he was his student, And the teacher asks:
“What do you do, what do you do in life?”
The young man answers:
“Well, I became a teacher.”
“ah, how good, like me?” Asks the old man.
“Well, yes. In fact, I became a teacher because you inspired me to be like you.”
The old man, curious, asks the young man at what time he decided to become a teacher. And the young man tells him the following story:
“One day, a friend of mine, also a student, came in with a nice new watch, and I decided I wanted it.
I stole it, I took it out of his pocket.
Shortly after, my friend noticed the his watch was missing and immediately complained to our teacher, who was you.
Then you addressed the class saying, ‘This student’s watch was stolen during classes today. Whoever stole it, please return it.’
I didn’t give it back because I didn’t want to.
You closed the door and told us all to stand up and form a circle.
You were going to search our pockets one by one until the watch was found.
However, you told us to close our eyes, because you would only look for his watch if we all had our eyes closed.
We did as instructed.
You went from pocket to pocket, and when you went through my pocket, you found the watch and took it. You kept searching everyone’s pockets, and when you were done you said ‘open your eyes. We have the watch.’
You didn’t tell on me and you never mentioned the episode. You never said who stole the watch either. That day you saved my dignity forever. It was the most shameful day of my life.
But this is also the day I decided not to become a thief, a bad person, etc. You never said anything, nor did you even scold me or take me aside to give me a moral lesson.
I received your message clearly.
Thanks to you, I understood what a real educator needs to do.
Do you remember this episode, professor?
The old professor answered, ‘Yes, I remember the situation with the stolen watch, which I was looking for in everyone’s pocket. I didn’t remember you, because I also closed my eyes while looking.’
This is the essence of teaching:
If to correct you must humiliate; you don’t know how to teach “