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America-China Watcher

@PandemicTruther

Aug 11

Stigmatized for decades. Who framed the 23 Chinese swimmers who tested positive in January 2021?

Chen Wei Hua warned in his recent post that an informed source told him that the US was trying to plant evidence and frame Chinese athletes in an inextricable doping scandal during the Paris Olympics. I think they have been at it for quite a while. Sun Yang was framed in 2018, sentenced to an 8-year ban (later reduced to 4 years) for "violent resistance to drug testing."

Given the all-out concerted offensive against Chinese top swimmers involving the NYT/Western MSM, USADA, US Congress, Phelps, Western athletes and coaches, FBI, it's not inconceivable that the US orchestrated the "doping scandal".

Since 1999, China's Central Sports Bureau has published laws of zero tolerance for doping. In 2000, the Chinese government spent millions of USD to have all athletes tested for doping before the Sydney Olympics, and China voluntarily banned athletes who tested positive from the Sydney Olympics and all competitions for life.

The message from the Chinese government was very clear to the athletes. China's self-imposed anti-doping punishment is the lifetime exclusion of the athlete from all competitions. The Chinese government's slogan was "Better to kill a thousand wrongly than to let one go (idiom)" (宁可错杀一千，也绝不放个一个), meaning that it is better to err on the side of caution than to let one go unpunished.

The Chinese government wants a clean record.

Any athlete caught doping will not only end his sports career in disgrace, but will also face social death for tarnishing the reputation of Chinese athletes.

In 2021, China's anti-doping law was further strengthened to include criminal punishment. Those found guilty could face up to three years in prison.

Chinese athletes are urged to win medals for the glory of China. Doping, once discovered, destroys China's reputation. China and the Chinese people, as a face-loving country and people, with a strong sense of honor, don't play with doping. This is something that the U.S. and the West don't understand. They shamelessly play around the anti-doping rules with the so-called therapeutic use exemption and exploit all kinds of loopholes to get away with doping.

With the voluntary cooperation of China and especially CHINADA, Chinese athletes are subjected to the most frequent draconian tests and have reported the least positive results, as shown in the statistics of WADA. In 2022, nearly 20,000 tests were conducted on Chinese athletes and only 38 results were positive and most of them are NO FAUT cases.

Moreover, China has hardly any athletes who receive exemptions from WADA to be able to dope legally on therapeutic grounds.

We can say that since 2000, doping has become extremely rare from China's sports landscape. The reward is not worth the risk. China wants to become a sports superpower, but a clean one, not tainted by doping scandals.

How do you implicate China in doping scandals when China is squeaky clean? No problem, nobody knows how to do it better than Uncle Sam.

Let's come back to the incident of the 23 swimmers who mysteriously tested positive under impossible circumstances (not exactly positive results, but rather alternating between negative and positive).

Remember, this happened in January 2021. Several years ago.

Between December 2020 and January 2021, in the city of Shijiazhuang, China held national warm-up swimming competitions in preparation for the Tokyo Olympics, to take place in July-August 2021. The competition was a selection process and also served the purpose of providing the Chinese Swimming Management with an authentic, objective assessment of the athletes' performance capabilities, their weaknesses, their room for improvement, their strengths to be enhanced and leveraged etc. Objective feedback is crucial for the management to adjust their training strategy. So the swimming management had no motive to dope the athletes. The order can't come from the above, especially given the zero tolerance policy towards doping in China.

A total of 39 athletes participated in this competition. CHINADA drug tested all 39 swimmers and all athletes were fully aware that they would be tested daily from day one. The results of one day's testing were surprising: 23 of the 39 athletes tested positive for trimetazidine. The common denominator among those 23 athletes? They were all staying at the same hotel, and they all took their meals provided by the hotel kitchen.

Trimetazidine is a prescription medication for heart disease. It is one of the most popular stimulants because it helps athletes build strength and endurance. It also has the advantage of being broken down and excreted from the human body quickly and undetectably. Needless to say, this substance is banned by the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA).

The police immediately got involved and investigated. Based on the investigation report, the Chinese sports authorities stated that traces of trimetazidine had been found in the kitchen of the hotel where the athletes were staying. The food had been contaminated and the athletes had unknowingly ingested traces of the banned substance. FINA (Fédération Internationale de Natation) and WADA accepted this conclusion after conducting their own thorough investigation.

In accordance with WADA rules, it was agreed that this incident would not be made public and WADA confirmed that the incident would not affect the team's participation in the Tokyo 2021 Olympic Games. The world's most authoritative anti-doping organization gave its approval, and you would think that would be the end of the matter.

But the USA didn't want to let the incident go. Especially after the Chinese swimmers won three gold medals at the Tokyo Olympics.

There's a general Anglo-Saxon/Western frenzy and panic over the alarming winning momentum of the Chinese swimming team in what has been a white, especially Anglo-Saxon, monopolized field. China's swimming team won 12 medals at the Tokyo Olympics and 10 at the Paris Olympics, including one by Pan Zhanle, who broke the world record in the men's 100-meter freestyle. China did this without doping, to the disbelief of the world.

If they let China's winning streak develop, in a few years swimming will become the new ping pong, a sport where China has dominated and monopolized all the gold medals for decades since the 1980s.

The U.S. government has apparently drawn up a plan of action, deploying an all-out offensive to nip the trend in the bud in order to prevent the swimming competition from becoming the new ping-pong for China. It was a highly coordinated all-out campaign involving law, government, media, USADA, FBI, CIA assets network in China. It's equivalent to a 360 degree no dead corner military on slaught from the air, the sea, the land code named "Project XXX".(I leave it to your imagination to come up with the code name in the comments).

On December 4, 2020, just a few weeks before the incident, US President Donald Trump signed into law the Rodchenkov Anti-Doping Act. This law gives the United States global jurisdiction to prosecute any athlete anywhere in the world who participated in the same competitions as US athletes. It was the timely new US long-arm jurisdiction anti-doping law targeting Chinese athletes, and swimming athletes in particular.

Although the incident was supposed to be kept confidential, the FBI claimed to have received a report from a whistleblower (CIA asset?) and a US orchestrated smear campaign went into full swing.

Let's examine the incident. The biggest mystery in the whole incident is how trimethoprim, a heart drug, got into the kitchen. Who had the motive to bring the drug into the kitchen and contaminate the food supply chain? Or perhaps the food supply was already contaminated before it arrived at the hotel?

Let's assume that, despite China's draconian anti-doping laws, the swim team's management still wants to defy the law. But they don't have a motive. They can be ruled out because the Shijiazhuang meet is a domestic competition for selection and evaluation purposes. If collective doping is used in this last domestic competition, it will be impossible to evaluate the true swimming level of each athlete, which is contrary to the purpose of the warm-up competition. It would be impossible to select the best swimmers according to their demonstrated level of performance.

As far-fetched and unlikely as it is, let's say they wanted to test the effects of the drug with a view to using it in the Olympics.

However, even if the swimming administration wanted to conduct this experiment, it could not do so. The experiment had to go through the organizer, the Swimming Federation. However, even though the Swimming Federation has the ability to organize such a test, and suppose the Swimming Federation wanted to do it, crazy as it is, there is no need to choose the big, highly publicized warm-up competition in Shijiazhuang to do it. Because the Federation is fully aware that the drug tests and results must be reported to WADA. The Swimming Federation will not do such a thing to ask for trouble and self-condemn itself.

If you really want to test the effect of drugs, you can do it secretly during everyday training. There is no need to subject China's top 23 swimmers, who are likely to participate in the Tokyo Olympics, to a large-scale test, putting them at risk of testing positive and being banned from the Tokyo Olympics. The Chinese authorities wouldn't officially organize such a scandal that could stigmatize Chinese athletes for a hundred years.

Let's examine another scant possibility, that the athletes, knowing the risks involved, still took personal initiatives to ingest the stimulants in order to win and be selected for the Olympics.

The athletes and their teams are indeed driven by the desire to win and thus qualify for the Olympics. But the illogical thing is that, judging by the metabolism manifested by the test results, the 23 athletes seem to have taken the same dose of the drugs at about the same time. Why would they do that together? It's not child's play. Collective doping at the same time with the same dose means that everyone is equal before the drug and nobody can gain an unfair advantage by exploiting the effect of the drug. Besides, the competition schedule is not the same for the 23 swimmers. Why should they take drugs at the same time? If they're going to take risks to get selected, shouldn't they at least take useful and relevant risks that are likely to contribute to their success?

So this possibility can be ruled out.

There's only one possibility left, that the 23 athletes unknowingly ingested the same banned substance at about the same time. That can only be the meal time, when everyone ate the food prepared by the hotel kitchen.

Read 7 tweets

America-China Watcher

@PandemicTruther

Aug 2

#OlympicGames
World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA), an agency set up for the sole purpose to enable the massive doping of the US/Western athletes and to forbid Chinese/Russian athletes to compete in the name of anti- doping.

The USA Swimming Team is also known as the “USA Asthma Team”.

The Swedish Ski Team is also known as the "Swedish Asthma Team".

The USA Gymnastics team is also known as “USA ADHD Team” (ADHD=Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder)

The Australian swimming team is also known as the "Australian Insomnia Team".

I am not making this up. If you check, you will find that they are all "patients" who need to take hormone medicine at the strict order of the doctors all year round.

Yes, you have heard it right, they all legally dope themselves by doctors’ order. The World Anti-Doping Agency allows them to take drugs while winning gold medals in the Olympics and World Championships without batting an eyelid.

What does "legally dope by order" mean? The World Anti-Doping Agency has an "exemption list". Because athletes often have injuries and injuries need treatment, WADA has set up a rule: "If the medicine needed for treatment contains stimulants, you can report it to WADA. Once you get WADA's approval, you can legally use drugs containing stimulants."

In order to "protect the privacy of athletes", athletes' applications will not be made public. As a result, this has opened the door for many athletes to legally dope themselves under [doctor's] orders.

For example, salbutamol, which is used to treat asthma, has the same effect as clenbuterol. Symbicort, a drug used to treat asthma, contains steroid hormones. Methylphenidate, which is used to treat ADHD, can help people concentrate. American legendary gymnastics star Simone Biles appears to have the medical need to take methylphenidate for years to treat her ADHD.

In 2016, the Russian hacker group "Magic Bear" hacked into the WADA database and found that in 2015 alone, 653 American athletes applied for "immunity," of which 402 were granted, an approval rate of over 60%. In contrast, the number of Russian athletes is similar to that of the United States, but only 54 people applied for immunity, and the approval rate was only 37%. As for Chinese athletes, only a single digit number of them were granted immunity.

An American athlete can dope with whatever drug he fancies, he only needs to obtain a permit from WADA who usually grants to American athletes.

Russia published on its official website the correspondence between US sports officials and Dr. Matthew Fedoruk, head of the US Anti-Doping Agency (USADA), showing that USADA had helped US athletes use banned drugs with the pretext of medical exemptions. A total of more than 200 US athletes received medical exemptions through USADA. In 2015 alone, the anti-doping agency issued 583 doping permits, and many athletes used more than one drug. Among them, synthetic steroids that promote muscle growth, diuretics commonly used for rapid weight loss and to cover up traces of other drugs. The above are all drugs that are strictly prohibited on the WADA's Anti-Doping List. Cycling, athletics, triathlon, swimming and skiing are the five sports which received the most medical exemption applications. Not surprisingly, these sports are the hardest hit by doping in competitions.

According to confidential files released by Russian hackers, WADA allowed American tennis players the Williams sisters to take banned drugs for the purpose of medical treatment at multiple different times.

Former world No. 1 tennis player Serena Williams was allowed to take drugs containing oxycodone, hydromorphone, prednisone, and methylprednisolone in 2010, 2014, and 2015, while her sister Venus Williams was allowed to take drugs containing prednisolone, triamcinolone, and formoterol in 2010, 2011, 2012, and 2013. However, the documents did not reveal the medical certificates which justified their taking of the banned drugs.

American gymnast Simone Biles, though tested positive for methylphenidate in August 2016, was not suspended and won four gold medals at the Rio Olympics. She was also allowed to take amphetamines in 2012, 2013 and 2014.

The World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) was established in Switzerland in 1991. WADA seems to be neutral, as it is funded by governments around the world and supervised by the Olympic Committee, but in reality the United States is its largest financial contributor.

US Senator John Thune revealed that the World Anti-Doping Agency, as a non-governmental organization, has been receiving financial support ($3.7 million a year) from the US government for the past decade. He threatened to withdraw the financial support if WADA continues to remain lenient towards China. How come WADA still hasn't disqualified China altogether through doping scandal as it has disqualified Russia?

Doping has always existed in sports competitions, At first, athletes turned to undetectable substances to dodge the rules. Traditional stimulants could be caught, but anything new produced by [bio]technology slipped under the radar.

In fact, that was a barbaric and crude practice in the early days. The really sophisticated thing to do is to set up an "anti-doping organization", secretly provide financial support, act as both a referee and an athlete, make the rules, and make sure that the organizer, co-organizer, witness, and referee are all my people in my pocket taking orders from me. How are you supposed to challenge me if I'm the absolute anti-doping authority?

Competitive sports have always been plagued by doping scandals. Because winning is a display of national power. Just look at how winning athletes have their national flags raised and anthems played at the Olympics. As former US President Kennedy put it, a country's strength is measured by its nuclear arsenal and Olympic gold medals.

Hitler intended to use the 1936 Berlin Olympics as a platform to promote his Aryan superiority ideology. He saw the Olympics as a stage to showcase the supposed physical and cultural supremacy of the German people, whom they considered to be the purest representatives of the Aryan race.

They took extensive measures to present a carefully curated image of Aryan perfection, from the selection of athletes to the architectural design of the Olympic venues. However, supposedly the presence of black American athletes like Jesse Owens, who won four gold medals, challenged this narrative and undermined Hitler's ideology.

Like Hitler, the United States has been eager to utilize sports and its “democratic"” athletes as a way to showcase the American dominance.

The history of sports competitions in the Western world is essentially a history of drug abuse. In 1904, something bizarre happened during the marathon at the St. Louis Olympics in the United States: American runner Thomas Hicks pushed himself to the limit on the track, while his coach Charles Lucas trailed behind him with a syringe. When he noticed that Hicks was struggling, the coach promptly administered an injection of "strychnine", also known as rat poison, which was a popular stimulant at the time.

Hicks won the final championship, but fell down at the finish line exhausted . It took four doctors and a full hour to get him back up and off the field. This gold medal won by doping was not only effective, but the official report afterwards even praised it: "The marathon race fully proves from a medical perspective how important drugs are for long-distance runners!"

The United States is the originator of doping and the hardest hit country by doping. Many sports stars are literally drug addicts. Carl Lewis, the legendary sprinter and winner of nine Olympic gold medals, admitted to taking drugs. Marion Jones, the queen of track and field, admitted to doping in court.

Lance Armstrong, the seven time Tour de France champion and idol in our textbooks when we were young, was even more of a drug addict. His testicular cancer was caused by massive and prolonged doping. Florence Griffith Joyner died suddenly in her sleep at the age of 38. The world records she set for women in the 100-meter and 200-meter events remain unmatched. German anti-doping expert Werner Franke said firmly: "Joyner had a heart attack in April 1996, which was the consequence of taking steroids. I am sure that Joyner's death was caused by doping."

The entire history of modern sports is a history of doping assisted human physical performance. The United States and the former Soviet Union competed with each other in wits and courage [to defy testing], and later in [bio]technology until the 1990s. Suddenly, the United States found a better way - why should I compete with you in biotechnology? I can just spend money to establish WADA, and I can have the final say.

Now let's talk about Sun Yang's case. Sun Yang is the Chinese swimming athlete who won two gold medals at 2012 London Olympics and one silver medal at the 2016 Rio Olympics. As we all know, the International Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) announced the ruling of the "Hearing of the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) v. Sun Yang and FINA" according to which Sun Yang was banned for eight years, effective immediately, but his previous competition results are still valid.

The previous results are still valid, which means that Sun Yang had no problems with drug tests up to the ruling, so he could keep his results and gold medals, unlike other athletes who were stripped of their medals because of dopig. The eight-year ban was the punishment doled out to Sun Yang because he refused to subject himself to a test on September 4, 2018, because he doubted the qualification certificate presented by the inspector. WADA alleged this was "violent resistance to testing." Since Sun Yang was already 31 years old, an eight-year ban was equivalent to a forced retirement.

Regarding this ruling, Sun Yang questioned WADA at the court with regard to the “violent resistance”: "We have all the videos, surveillance and photos in our hands, but you refused to see them, which is a pity. I don't know if you have the courage to watch the video if it is played at the court today?"

It was not violent resistance. It was WADA at the order of the US government wanting to kill the career of the Chinese swimmer Sun Yang who is a huge threat to American/Western swimmers. To prevent him from winning further medals, they set up a trap for Sun Yang to fall in and they succeeded.

Sun Yang subsequently released the videos of the incident and signed a declaration on Weibo, denying any "violent resistance to inspection". He asked to take back his blood sample because he questioned the inspector's qualifications, and the other party agreed, so there was no "violent resistance to inspection".

Let me reconstruct the whole incident:

On September 4, 2018, three staff members from the International Doping Test Management Company (IDTM) went to Sun Yang’s residence to conduct an out-of-competition anti-doping test on him.

At first, Sun Yang accepted the test and had his blood drawn, but later the two sides had a disagreement because Sun Yang found that the qualifications of two of the three staff members were questionable, one of them was actually a construction worker, and the latter kept taking pictures of Sun Yang even while he was urinating. It was blatant harassment.

Being convinced that the qualifications of the inspectors (including the nurses) were questionable, Sun Yang immediately contacted his coach, team doctor and others to ask for advice. The latter arrived at the scene, the two sides had an argument, but there was no physical conflict. So "violent resistance” didn't exist.

Read 7 tweets

America-China Watcher

@PandemicTruther

Jan 28

The deep tragedy of Britain's Hinkley C nuclear project. Financial Times announces the project will be delayed by several years (2031 against the initial 2017) and the cost will balloon to £46 billion against the original £18 billion.

Forget the Dr K incident and focus on the more newsworthy tragedy of UK's nuclear fiasco.

If the British really want to build top notch nuclear power stations with the most advanced technology and the best safety standards in a viable, cost-effective way, they need to turn to the Sino-French consortium EDF-CGN. It's this consortium that has successfully built and operated the third-generation EPR, the most technologically advanced nuclear reactor in the world.

Do you know why the French nuclear company EDF has formed an alliance with the Chinese nuclear company CGN? It's because the nuclear plants that China and EDF have built together have been incredibly successful. Such a level of combined commercial and operational success has never been achieved in the world, not even in France. The French taught China how to build nuclear power plants, and the Chinese quickly learned and innovated.

The first nuclear power plant built in China with French assistance was the Daya Bay nuclear power plant. Completed in the 1990s, this collaboration between China and EDF marked a significant milestone in nuclear technology transfer. The plant was completed within budget (USD 8-10 billion) and on time (8-10 years). In addition, the construction costs were recovered within 4-5 years. After that, the plant ran on pure profit. Nuclear plants like this became cash cows for China.

The success of Daya Bay paved the way for further cooperation and laid the foundation for subsequent joint nuclear projects between the two nations. Recognising the highly profitable nature of such nuclear plants, the French wanted a stake in the projects rather than just providing a vendor credit line. France now has a 30% stake in the Guangdong Taishan nuclear power plant.

The third-generation EPR (European Pressurised Reactor) power plant, built in China by the China-France joint venture, is best represented by the Taishan nuclear power plant. Taishan houses two EPR reactors and has achieved the distinction of being the only successfully operating EPR 3.0 plant in the world.

This project represents the culmination of joint efforts, with France providing the EPR technology and China demonstrating its ability to successfully implement and operate this advanced nuclear technology. The Taishan nuclear power plant became operational in 2018, marking a significant achievement in the global nuclear energy landscape and highlighting the successful synergy between Chinese innovation and French expertise.

France has not been so lucky with its two other nuclear projects using third-generation EPR technology.

The other two third-generation EPR nuclear power plant projects France’s EDF has been building is the Flamanville nuclear power plant in France and the Olkiluoto nuclear power plant in Finland.

1. The Flamanville project has faced several challenges, including construction delays and cost overruns. Originally scheduled to be operational in 2012, the completion date has been postponed several times, and the plant is not yet fully operational today. Technical issues and concerns about the reactor's safety systems added to the complexity of the project.

2. **Olkiluoto nuclear power plant (Finland):** The Olkiluoto project experienced similar challenges, with significant delays and cost overruns. Originally scheduled for completion in 2009, the construction schedule was extended due to various problems, including difficulties in ensuring the structural integrity of the reactor vessel. Delays in the project led to disputes between the parties involved and increased scrutiny of the EPR technology.

Both projects experienced longer construction times and financial setbacks, raising questions about the feasibility and efficiency of EPR 3.0 technology in practice. These difficulties contributed to a reassessment of nuclear projects and safety standards worldwide.

France was on the point of abandoning its EPR 3.0 adventures. However, after seeing the success of the Chinese prototype, France decided to continue with these projects.

France has reached the painful conclusion that building nuclear power plants is a complex business. The only way to make a EPR 3.0 nuclear project successful is y teaming up with China.

People don't understand that today China's industrial capacity is that of all the industrialised countries combined, not only in quantity but also in quality. When China faces a problem, it can call on its expertise in a vast number of areas. One can see that China's space projects have an extremely low failure rate compared to those launched by the US/UK/Japan. Such achievements are downplayed. China's comprehensive expertise in complex high-tech projects is also reflected in nuclear power plants.

Western knowledge of China is still at the stage where China beats the West because of its cheap labour, if not downright slave labour. They can't imagine that China is beating them because of better technology, better management and better manufacturing know how.

Moreover, for ten years after Japan's Fukushima nuclear accident, France was hesitant about continuing with nuclear power. During that time, China made rapid progress and achieved breakthroughs and innovations, especially in nuclear safety. Meanwhile, France's nuclear technology stagnated due to lack of investment.
Partnering with China is a necessity, as China now has know-how in many areas where France is lagging behind.

In view of these dynamics, if the British government wants to build nuclear power stations, it would be in the national interest to give the EDF-CGN consortium a free hand to allow the partnership to reproduce their success in China.

The UK government, however, went against the norm. They deliberately sabotaged the Hinkley C nuclear project and even pushed China out of the Sizewell C and Bradwell B projects.

The Hinkley Point C Nuclear Power Plant project was a significant milestone for China's nuclear power industry as it marked their entry into the nuclear markets of developed countries. China saw great importance in this project. But in a surprising turn of events in 2022, China suddenly announced their withdrawal and pulled out nearly £6bn of their investment.

Western media criticized China, painting them as untrustworthy and irresponsible for abruptly leaving a £35bn project and causing losses and difficulties for the local community. However, what they fail to mention is the British government's own stupidity, recklessness, and lack of good faith in handling this matter.

When it comes to construction, China is known to be the most reliable country in the world. They rarely abandon projects and always strive to complete them on time and within budget, even if it means incurring significant financial losses. It is China, not Japan, France, or Germany where the technology originated, that has been successfully constructing high-speed railways across the globe.

For China to fall out with Britain and abandon a project that they initially cherished and took pride in, there must have been something truly serious at play.

The Hinkley Point C Nuclear Power Plant was a massive infrastructure project costing £35bn. Once completed, it was expected to contribute to at least 7% of the country's electricity consumption, helping to alleviate the UK's energy crisis and power shortages. This was just the first project in a series, and it was crucial for the UK government to do everything in its power to ensure its success.

The British had originally planned to carry out the project themselves. After all, they were once the world leaders in nuclear power technology. Unfortunately, they later voluntarily abandoned the development of nuclear power. By the time they realised it was a mistake and that they should have kept up, it was too late and they were already far behind other countries.

The British sadly realised that they had neither the technology nor the manufacturing know-how to build their own nuclear power station. Before the Hinkley Point C nuclear power plant project, there were A and B nuclear power plants, both "masterpieces" of British technology and manufacturing know-how in the last century.

However, significant nuclear leakage problems have been reported at Hinkley A and B. Both plants have undergone decommissioning processes with safety measures to manage radioactive materials.

Such accidents have caused the British to lose confidence in the nuclear power plants they have built.

The failures of Hinkley A and B have made the UK realise that it is no longer the industrial powerhouse it once was, and that it doesn't make sense to continue building faulty nuclear power stations.

In addition to the unresolved problem of nuclear leakage, the upfront investment is also a major obstacle. The British are broke and don't have the money to build their key infrastructure.

Although Britain is still considered a developed country, the economy has been in decline for years. The British people are not prepared to fund these nuclear mega-projects with their tax money.

Then the British government opts for a financial mechanism to solve the funding problem, called project finance.

It's a mechanism that allows a country to get something for nothing. The investors are responsible for the construction of the project and the cash flow generated by the income from the project is used to repay the debt and provide a return to the equity investors. The UK government doesn't have to contribute a penny.

Read 7 tweets

America-China Watcher

@PandemicTruther

Jan 12

Understanding America's irrational [fatal] love affair with Israel

Israel now is more of a burden than an asset to the US. But the US can't get rid of it.

A most peculiar scenario has unfolded in geopolitics. The ongoing conflict in the Middle East, involving Israel and the US, has diverted the US from its strategic focus on China and Russia. A ceasefire would be to the utmost advantage of the US, but the US remains steadfastly opposed to it.

A prolonged war in the Middle East involving the US would greatly benefit Russia and China, yet these two nations are adamantly advocating for a ceasefire.

The US has lost control over Israel. Israel just does what it likes, no longer adhering to US directives.

The question arises: why does Israel continue to display such aggressive behavior when the whole world has stood up against it? From Israel's perspective, their actions can be understood. Israel seeks to exploit Hamas attacks as a justification to permanently eliminate the threat (resistance) in Gaza and annex Gaza to gain control over its valuable territory, as well as its oil and gas resources.

If Netanyahu succeeds in achieving these goals, he will be hailed as a national hero in Israel, rather than someone who botched up the security promise to the Jewish people on October 7th. Throughout history, Israeli prime ministers who are renowned terrorists have been revered as national heroes by the Israeli population.

It is worth noting that the founding fathers of America were also involved in the massacre of Native Americans and slavery. Nevertheless, these figures go down history as national heroes.

Furthermore, Zionists control the global MSM media. Through relentless propaganda, public memory and mainstream narratives can be manipulated. In a few decades, Israel's atrocities against the Palestinians in Gaza may be forgotten or remembered as war on terrorism.

To borrow a Chinese proverb, "commit a sin today, but receive merit for eternity." Western countries have often employed this tactic of “killing and looting now and apologizing in the future”, to make peace with their infamous colonial past.

Israel's actions can be understood from their unique perspective as a criminal syndicate. However, the behavior of the United States is perplexing. Why would they engage in a self-destructive deal that seems destined to fail?

The United States desires peace in the Middle East to free up its hands to deal fatal blows to China and Russia. Israel's reckless actions disrupt the stability in the region and derail the US from the course of its global strategy to preserve its hegemony. Currently, China and Russia are the main adversaries of the United States. The US has already exerted maximum pressure on Russia in Ukraine and squeezed China's economy. By applying further pressure, the US may hope to achieve desired results. Unfortunately, just when things seem to be progressing in a desired direction for the US, an unwanted crisis erupts in the Middle East.

Who benefits from this situation? Zelensky is desperate, while Russia and China can breathe a sigh of relief. This scenario seems almost too good to be true for China and Russia. The US appears helpless in preventing developments that favor China and Russia. They lack control over Israel.

For years the US has tried to provoke China into a war with a US proxy be it India, Philippines. Taiwan, South Korea or Japan… Nobody has taken the bait. It seems like whatever the fate US tries to foist upon China is visited upon the US itself, be it the Covid-19 pandemic, global isolation, or proxy wars.

In summary, the ongoing Israel-Palestine conflict is not what the United States desires. However, due to Israel's unique status, the US cannot make the most rational decision. What would be a more rational choice?

Let's consider the example of Taiwan. The United States handles the Taiwan issue with rationality. If Taiwanese politicians make any moves towards independence without US permission, the United States can easily intervene. On the other hand, whenever the US needs to inflame the Taiwan issue, they can send a congressman or a house speaker, and Taiwan cannot refuse.

The US has absolute control over Taiwan to make the latter serve the US interests. Geopolitically, Taiwan is strategically more important than Israel. So why is the United States mindlessly supporting Israel even against It's own interest?

Understanding this topic may help us comprehend why Israel acts so recklessly in the Middle East.

Before delving into the reasons, let's first examine the extent of support the United States provides to Israel.

Let's begin with political support. The United States has utilized its veto power in the United Nations on behalf of Israel more than any other country. Out of the 81 times the United States has exercised its veto power, 46 of those instances were in favor of Israel. In comparison, China has only exercised its veto power 18 times since joining the United Nations.

Furthermore, the United States has exerted pressure on nations to sign the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons, but Israel remains exempt from this agreement. Consequently, Israel is one of the nine countries in possession of nuclear weapons. Additionally, the United States has not compelled Israel to sign the Chemical and Biological Weapons Convention, which raises questions about the double standards applied.

To illustrate the magnitude of this issue, let's consider the case of Iraq in 2003. The United States launched a war against Iraq based on suspicions of possessing weapons of mass destruction (WMD), ultimately destroying the entire country. However, Israel, which actually possesses WMD, has not faced similar consequences.

Now, let's shift our focus to the economic aspect. Israel receives the highest amount of aid from the United States compared to any other country worldwide.

Economically, Israel is the largest recipient of U.S. aid globally, with a staggering $160 billion in official aid provided, despite Israel's own wealth. Israel boasts a relatively high per capita GDP of $52,000 for a developed country. To put this into perspective, South Korea, which received significant aid from the U.S. during the Korean War and beyond, had a per capita GDP of only $32,000 last year. However, the overall aid received by South Korea was merely 10% of the amount given to Israel.

Additionally, Israel benefits from substantial private donations from the U.S.

In the United States, donating money to Zionist organizations in Israel is considered a charitable act and is eligible for tax deductions. Further, the U.S. does not impose any restrictions on how Israel utilizes these funds, whether it is for charitable purposes or for demolishing Palestinian homes in order to set up Jewish settlements.

When it comes to providing financial aid to other nations, the U.S. typically has stringent requirements. For instance, when aid is given to China, it is primarily focused on improving education and promoting democracy, and in particular in the LGBTQ sex education domain and minority rights promotion with a view to incite sedition. However, when it comes to providing financial assistance to Israel, there are hardly any restrictions. It’s a no-strings-attached arrangement, where Israel receives free cash without any obligations.

In 1982, Israel was granted a special privilege by the U.S. Normally, countries receiving U.S. aid have to visit the U.S. four times a year to “collect the funds” (be given lessons). During these visits, they are expected to demonstrate humility and listen to the U.S. preaching about human rights, democracy and LGBTQ. However, Israel was exempted from this requirement and received the entire year's aid in one go on January 1st. Imagine the interest Israel can accumulate from such a lump sum payment.

Apart from direct monetary payments, there are also economic guarantees, such as the Memorandum of Understanding signed by Kissinger. In 1975, the U.S. provided Israel with a portion of its strategic oil reserves to ensure that Israel wouldn't suffer from possible energy sanctions from oil-exporting nations in the Middle East. Additionally, the U.S. allocates funds to other countries for the sake of Israel's security. For example, while Egypt typically receives only 1 to 2 billion dollars in aid, in 1979, it suddenly received 5.9 billion dollars. The reason behind this substantial increase was the signing of a peace treaty between Egypt and Israel. Jordan received money from the US too. This shows you the extent to which a hegemonic power like the U.S. can do for Israel.

The U.S. can print money to buy peace for Israel from its neighboring countries, preventing them from attacking Israel. It wouldn't be surprising if the U.S. provides financial assistance to countries like Congo or any other nation willing to accept Palestinian refugees. If Egypt were to agree to welcome Palestinian refugees, Israel might even request the U.S. to forgive its debts.

What's even more impressive than financial aid is military aid. The U.S. recently provided 350 million dollars’ worth of military aid to Taiwan, and Taiwanese are overwhelmed with gratitude. But these are just second-hand junk.

However, Israel receives top-notch military equipment from the U.S., like the highly advanced F-35 the moment they are produced. The U.S. is not only proud to give it to Israel, but they even customize it to suit Israel's aerospace industry, incorporating modules developed by Israel into the plane.

But that's not all. Israel has another special privilege when it comes to military aid. They can use a quarter of the U.S. aid to purchase their own weapons and sometimes even collaborate with the U.S. in developing new ones which the US has no use of. This has greatly boosted Israel's military industry, funding projects like the Ravi multirole fighter and the Merkava tank, all thanks to the U.S. Department of Defense.

Now, let's address the question of why the U.S. has been so generous to Israel. People think it must be justified, considering the U.S.'s pragmatic and profit-seeking nature. It's true for other countries, but this logic doesn't always apply when it comes to Israel.

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America-China Watcher

@PandemicTruther

Jan 7

Hezbollah shares many similarities with the Maoist-Leninist People's Liberation Army.

Consider these two photos.

On one side, you see the complex tunnel system of the Lebanese group, Hezbollah. On the other side, you see the tunnels of North Korea.

The world was taken aback when it was discovered that these two military installations, located thousands of miles apart, shared a striking resemblance in terms of design, construction techniques, choice of materials, and technical aspects. Israeli military experts later concluded that the tunnels of Hezbollah in southern Lebanon and the 30-odd tunnels built by Hamas in the Gaza Strip were nearly identical to those built by North Korea. This similarity is attributed to the military guidance provided by North Korea to Hezbollah.

In the next photo, you see Hassan Nasrallah, the leader of Hezbollah. When you combine this image with the symbols of the Hizb ut-Tahrir and the western label of "terrorist organization," one might assume he's a spiritual leader, a chief, a caliph, or even an ayatollah.

However, he is not. He calls himself the General Secretary of the Party like President Xi Jinping and has admitted to being deeply influenced by Maoist works.

Hezbollah is not just a military force but also an organization with a structure reminiscent of a distinctly Leninist party, peaking with the Shura Council, which includes seven permanent members, including the General Secretary, like China's Politburo. Their salute is a red army salute.

Hezbollah is one of the ruling parties in Lebanon, with 13 seats in Parliament and a role in the Cabinet.

Like the Chinese PLA, they have been diligently focused on ideological indoctrination, placing instructors and political commissars in guerrilla units, integrating imams into the battallion and placing the recruiting branch in the mosques; they have also insisted on following the mass line, opening orphanages, schools, cultural centers, clinics, and construction firms; they have helped the poor during the construction of their base areas, providing farmers with seeds and fertilizers at low prices or even free of charge, and providing financial assistance to families affected by economic difficulties.

Their ultimate goal is to eliminate imperialism and colonialism, and in particular the removal of the Zionist regime and the US presence in the Middle East.

Despite being a religious military group in the Middle East, they have adopted a unique approach to war, obviously inspired by Mao Zedong's guerilla art of war.

In addition, they have mastered Mao Zedong's "integration of Marxism with the local circumstances", not by strictly adhering to it, but by blending it with their own realities to wage a "people's war with the unique characteristics of Lebanon".

Many people might be unaware that, unlike many resistance groups in the region, Hezbollah rarely targets non-military units, refrains from suicide attacks, and doesn't engage in civilian abductions. They stand out as one of the most sophisticated and civilized resistance forces in this part of the Middle East.

The transformation of Hezbollah's fighting force is a direct result of their advanced party building and military management concepts.

Today, Hezbollah is Israel's most feared armed force and the first local militia to reclaim significant territory back from Israel through war since the onset of the first Middle East conflict.

Furthermore, Hezbollah has seldom surrendered in any of his conflicts, thus maintaining a high level of morale.

In biology, there's a concept known as convergent evolution, which suggests similar ecological species in different regions will produce similar evolutionary choices. Hezbollah's path to success is reminiscent of this, mirroring the approach Mao took. The paths are similar and they will all lead to the same outcome: eventual victory.

The Lebanese Jihad's approach now appears to be quite politically mature, a methodology that could be considered the liberation theology of the Middle East region.

Many people, when they hear the name of this organization, think that it is a low-level guerrilla force, a group of rough men who shout Allahu Akbar and start to act recklessly. In reality, they are highly politically conscious, grass-roots oriented, disciplined and obedient, and thoroughly coordinated and united in their actions.

Hezbollah adhering to the teachings of Khamenei is almost a disguise, beneath this religious exterior, it is a highly advanced, modernized, and mature political organization.

It has a clear and progressive political platform, a strict organizational and political structure, and it recognizes that power comes from the people's support.

Hezbollah maintains a "red and black book" on the pro-Israel pseudo-army in southern Lebanon, and those who haven't harmed civilians will be exonerated when the day of reckoning comes.

The daily operations of the Party are focused on three main areas: the coalition front, armed struggle, and the development of the Party.

The level of sophistication of Hamas is akin to a Middle Eastern version of the Boxer Rebellion. But the level of sophistication of Hezbollah is equivalent to Mao Zedong's Red army.

One of the most notable aspects of Hezbollah's corporate culture is their understanding of their political roots, not in terms of being tough and brotherly, but in terms of taking the mass line and empowering the people in the areas they control.

Hezbollah receives substantial financial and material aid each year from its supporters, Iran and Syria. Instead of channeling all these resources into the military, they invest most of them in infrastructure and livelihoods, such as building a power station, a healthcare system, schools, and aiding the disabled.

Currently, Hezbollah operates at least four hospitals, 12 clinics, 12 schools, and several agricultural centers.

Hezbollah provides technical assistance and training to farmers, and also operates an environmental department and a social assistance agency. Their efforts are reminiscent of Mao Zedong's in-depth analysis of the Chinese population in the last century. They meticulously study the Lebanese population at all levels to understand their needs and aspirations. This allows them to effectively tailor their resources to address societal pain points.

Their unique governance style is uncommon in the Middle East. Areas under Hezbollah's control in Lebanon are recognized for their superior infrastructure, excellent education and healthcare systems, efficient government, and minimal corruption. In short, it's the Middle Easten version of Red Army bases established by Mao Zedong in China before 1949.

Hezbollah would only need a five-pointed red star to blend in with the Red Army of Mao Zedong.

In their pursuit of the mass line, they also maintain a keen focus on the elitism within their organization. Unlike other Middle Eastern militant groups, Hezbollah does not seek to increase its membership to expand its influence or gain wider support. They have adopted a Leninist political model, with their affiliates acting as vanguards with Islamic undertones. This structure has resulted in exceptional organization and a high degree of combat readiness.

To illustrate the strength of a communist cell, consider an incident from the past where a Beijing train was trapped in a flood. A temporary party cell was established, comprising a dozen veterans, engineers, and car service party members. Despite being stuck for 67 hours, tens of thousands of passenger received adequate supplies of water, food, and medical care in an orderly manner. Panic and chaos were avoided. The party cell demonstrated exceptional leadership, pooled resources together effectively, and ensured the collective well-being of the passengers.

In times of crisis, those with the ability must rise to the occasion accordingly to a play book. These are the pioneers of society. Hezbollah is fulfilling this leadership role.

The revolutionary process spearheaded by Mao Zedong in the last century, which lasted 28 years, has always been a beacon of hope for oppressed peoples worldwide. It has provided a blueprint for conducting asymmetric warfare that can be replicated and won everywhere in the world.

Looking at the current Palestinian-Israeli conflict, shared national experiences has led to Chinese public's intense empathy for the Palestinian people and a natural association of Israeli atrocities with the crimes of the Japanese army. Seeing the presence of a strong Maoist army has reignited Chinese people's hope for the liberation and freedom of the Palestinian people.

If the Israelis have adopted "Mein Kamnf," then Hezbollah has adopted Mao Zedong's "The Long War."

The screenshot below shows 13 principles of Hezbollah's combat strategy disclosed by Israeli media outlets.

Familiar? They are almost the word by word reproduction of basic principles of Mao Zedong's military strategy.

To summarize: "When the enemy advances, we retreat; when the enemy fortifies, we disrupt; when the enemy tires, we strike; when the enemy retreats, we pursue."

In their struggle against Israeli aggression, Hezbollah, despite being at a significant technological and equipment disadvantage, managed to compel Israel to retreat on numerous occasions, just like when China repelled the Japanese. Between 1982 and 2000, Hezbollah drove the Israeli army to utter exhaustion. Israeli Brigadier General Erez Goldstein, the highest-ranking Israeli military officer, was ambushed and killed by Hezbollah. Consequently, Israel was compelled to withdraw its forces in 2000.

This marks the first instance since 1948 where an Islamic force has reclaimed territories occupied by Israel through military means.

Although Israel voluntarily withdrew it's troops only in 2000, the wheels of destiny had already begun to turn.

In the 21st century, Israel's foreign wars have been devoid of moral integrity and have yielded no significant military victories. The patriotic sentiments expressed by Israelis on the internet, lauding the invincibility of the Jewish people, are merely echoes of the previous century.

Six years later, it was this same Hezbollah that debunked the myth of the invincibility of the Israeli army.

In 2006, the Lebanese-Israeli conflict lasted for 34 days. Israel endured its first systematic military defeat, with Hezbollah inflicting significant casualties through their rocket and tunnel warfare.

Ultimately, the Hezbollah achieved a 1:1 casualty ratio, in the circumstances where Hezbollah didn't have the air control and no advantage in numbers of combat forces.

Under the suspected guidance of KPA (North Korea) instructors, a line of defense was established, reminiscent of the renowned
38th parallel of the Korean war. Despite the involvement of 6000 IDF ground troops for a span of two months, they were unable to breach the defense of 150 Hezbollah guerrillas, resulting in a ground casualty ratio of nearly 1:8. One casualty of Hezbollah against 8 casualties of the IDF.

Moreover, Hezbollah's combat strategy was not limited to guerrilla warfare; they also effectively utilized other valuable lessons learned from their communist predecessors in the 20th century. One of them being deploying volunteer units into neighboring countries to train and organize the local resistance to deter the enemy.

In the battlegrounds of Syria, Hezbollah is formidable force that has emerged victorious, moving from one triumph to the next, defeating Syrian adversaries.

It was only in 2019, when the conflict had stabilized, that Hezbollah withdrew its forces.

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America-China Watcher

@PandemicTruther

Dec 22, 2023

Chinese ships unperturbed on the Red Sea

Even though the Chinese shipping company COSCO has suspended its Red Sea route, on December 19th, the container ship Milky Way belonging to COSCO was seen sailing through the Red Sea towards the Suez Canal in safety. The Houthi official has stated that China not being part of the western allies of Israel providing the latter with moral and material support, abetting Israel's genocide of Palestinians, Chinese ships will not be affected.

So COSCO's Red Sea maritime trade route is most probably resumed.

Btw, this news caused a huge sensation in China because in history this commercial cargo ship Yinhe (its Chinese name) was sequestered by the US in 1993 for 24 days on the sea. US accused the ship of delivering chemical weapons materials to Iran. Of course the US inspection didn't find anything.

Later the US refused to apologize but blamed China for spreading false intelligence in order to make the US look bad. So US turned itself into the victim!! For more details, see the Wikipedia entry of the incident.

Rumor goes that COSCO is charging the same price as other shipping companies, ie, with a huge surge taking account of the detour.

You bet COSCO will have more business, same price with no detour but with delivery time shortened by two weeks.

The US pro-genocide pro-Israel coalition forces can play the anti-pirate game by themselves. China is not joining.

Three China Russia related alternative trade routes are benefitting from the Red Sea Obstruction:

1/China-Europe railway. More and more cities in China are opening up railway stations directly connected to the China-Europe rail network, so cargo can be uploaded from anywhere in China destined for Europe.

2/ North Arctic route via the coast of Russia. With the global warming, Arctic ice is melting and soon this route will become navigatable throughout the year. That's an excellent route to reach Europe, navigation distance is greatly shortened, and this route will catapult China and Russia to maritime super powers.

3/China promoted Pan-Asian high speed railway network, connecting South East Asia to China. Goods from these countries can then be uploaded to cargo trains destined for Europe/Russia/Central Asia.

Seeing the Red Sea Route unsecure, South East Asia will be more enthusiastic about building and connecting HSR to China's existing rail network. Greater Asia prosperity ring (minus India) will be fully integrated with China as the economic centre and the locomotive (not Japan).

So go ahead Houthi brothers. Whatever weakens Israel and the US is strengthening China and Russia. What's bad for Israel is bad for the US. What's bad for the US is good for China and Russia and their allies.

US is asking China to help strike back at the Houthis. China says the US must involve all countries of power and influence to provide a long-term constructive solution meaning don't count on us alone, maybe bring in Russia and make Israel cease fire and open up Gaza for humanitarian aid to go in.

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