The USA destroys, China builds/rebuilds.

That has become a truism in world affairs.

It will be further substantiated when President Assad of Syria visits China today, his first such trip in 12 years. He will be hosted by President Xi.

Talks will likely focus on reconstruction of Assad’s war-ravaged country as well as sanctions relief -- all the result of depredations by the US and its proxies.

Assad’s trip is all the more timely as Washington’s forces prepare to ignite more mayhem in Syria. (Thomas Hon Wing Polin @thonwingp on X/Twitter)

As DPP Sinophobes collude with US partners to separate Taiwan from China and prepare for war, mainland authorities are working on the opposite: peaceful reunification.

Beijing recently released its most ambitious initiative yet. It was issued jointly by the CPC Central Committee and the State Council, respectively the top entities in the party and the government.

The plan is a comprehensive blueprint for incremental integration between Taiwan and Fujian across the Strait. The two provinces share a common speech and cultural characteristics, as Fujian is the ancestral home of most of the island’s people.

Unsurprisingly, Western and other Sinophobe media have ignored this landmark development. But even Hong Kong’s neocolonial SCMP has taken note, in an Editorial.

“Just four months ahead of Taiwan’s election for a new president, Beijing has unveiled guidelines for turning Fujian province into a model zone for 'integration' with the island’s residents, in an attempt to advance peaceful reunification. According to the plan... the coastal province will be a gateway to the mainland for Taiwanese residents and companies, smoothing people exchanges, trade and investment.

“The intention is to create interconnected day-to-day living between the mainland port city of Xiamen and the Taiwan-controlled island of Quemoy, also called Kinmen. Visitors from Taiwan would no longer need to register for temporary residence in Fujian and be encouraged to settle, buy houses and engage with the social-welfare system.” https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/article/3235218/proposed-fujian-zone-offers-peaceful-path-taiwan-integration (Thomas Hon Wing Polin, X/Twitter @thonwingp)

Quando la classe politica al governo della Germania, locomotiva in panne dell'UE, dimostra la stessa ottusita' e servilismo dei chihuahua baltici, non c'e' da stupirsi che perda peso e credibilita' a livello internazionale. ▪️ All'ONU Olaf Scholz ha parlato ad un'aula praticamente vuota. Nessuno e' interessato ad ascoltare la narrazione yankee in versione tedesca dopo aver ascoltato l'originale. @LauraRuHK

After the ruling class of Germany, the EU's broken-down locomotive, demonstrated the same level of obtuseness and servility as the Baltic chihuahuas, it is hardly surprising that it lost credibility and relevance on the international stage. ▪️ At the UN Olaf Scholz spoke to an empty assembly hall. Who would be interested in listening to the Yankee narrative in German after hearing the not-so-original from Biden? @LauraRuHK

L'intervento di Lavrov al Consiglio di Sicurezza dell'ONU tradotto magistralmente da Mark Bernardini. Assolutamente imperdibile. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rAh3Gxk6JLc

Keir Giles, an analyst who works for the influential UK think tank Russophobes' den, Chatham House, usually very gung-ho about war, wrote an opinion piece for CNN. Between the lines one can get a glimpse of the West's creeping realization that after embarking on a proxy war in Ukraine, it has no exit strategy and any promise of a wonder weapon that would give Ukraine the upper hand is illusory. 📝"Anything that draws out the conflict — such as decisions on support for Ukraine that were driven by caution on what to supply — play to many of Russia’s advantages and the West’s weaknesses.

And as the fighting drags on into 2024 and potentially beyond, Western backers will find it ever harder to provide what Ukraine needs. The US’s generous support for Ukraine is under threat from political trends there even before a potential change of presidency.

So with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in the US this week to appeal for international support once again, it’s not only wavering members of the UN he is addressing. He knows there’s a risk that the window may eventually start to close on backing from Washington itself.

And even without considering the tolerance of voters for the economic cost, failure to restart European defence industries in earnest means searching ever harder and wider around the world for the munitions and weapons that are essential for Ukraine to survive. For Russia, this is a ‘forever war’ that taps into fundamental ideas of Russian identity and for which President Vladimir Putin is willing to inflict vast economic and human losses on his country.

Even evicting every last Russian soldier from occupied eastern Ukraine and Crimea won’t end the war while Russia still has artillery, missiles and drones to launch destructive attacks while rebuilding its land forces for the next offensive.

As the US becomes increasingly focused on China, the defence of Europe will increasingly rely on those front-line states that understand the threat and are willing to take it seriously." Well, good luck with finding more sacrificial lambs now that even Poland got cold feet. @LauraRuHK https://edition.cnn.com/2023/09/20/opinions/us-weapons-ukraine-atacms-giles/index.html

L'intelligence statunitense ha riconosciuto la vittoria della Russia nel conflitto in Ucraina - Seymour Hersh

✔️La Russia ha vinto il conflitto in Ucraina, ma la Casa Bianca e i media statunitensi mentono su questo, ha dichiarato il giornalista americano premio Pulitzer Seymour Hersh sulla sua pagina della piattaforma Substack.

🖊"La guerra è finita. La Russia ha vinto. Non c'è più alcuna offensiva ucraina, ma la Casa Bianca e i media americani devono mantenere la menzogna", ha dichiarato il giornalista citando un funzionario dell'intelligence statunitense che ha chiesto di mantenere l’anonimato.

✖️Hersh ha anche aggiunto che la comunità dei servizi segreti statunitensi ritiene che Kiev sia demoralizzata, e che non crede che sia possibile uno sfondamento della difesa russa.

🔙L'esercito ucraino ha di fatto annullato l'offensiva dopo settimane di pesanti perdite e se all'esercito ucraino venisse ordinato di continuare l'offensiva, ci sarebbe un ammutinamento, aggiunge il giornalista.

@tutti_i_fatti

Western media are fast losing whatever credibility and prestige they once may have had not only at home, where their audience keeps shrinking, but also in the Global South, where their mendacious and frankly ridiculous coverage of China and Russia is met with disbelief. If propaganda works on the assumption that a lie told a thousand times eventually becomes the truth, when it's exposed as a lie the liars hope that it will soon be forgotten. That's often the case, but those who have been lied to multiple times tend to develop a defence mechanism to cope with the stress and anxiety that accompanies the abuse of their trust: they tune out these serial liars. Thanks to people-to-people exchanges, travel and trade between Russia/China and the Global South, narratives spun by Western media clash with first-hand experience which is then related to one's social circle at home. In Asia, Africa and Latin America social and family relations remain stronger than in Western atomized societies, which might explain why it's harder for Western media to smear China and Russia in the Global South. Just take the fake news about "empty" streets and shops in Shanghai supported by a few photos taken from certain angles at a certain time of the day. A few US media outlets absurdly stated that Shanghai - a metropolis of 25 million people and China's financial hub - is a "ghost town" and claimed that "China is in trouble". Clearly this was a clumsy attempt to defame the Chinese financial market and the country's international image. But any business visitor to Shanghai knows that the city is a bustling place and will simply tune out Western media because they have proven yet again their lack of credibility. @LauraRuHK

🎉🎉🎉 Urrah!!! Aeroflot has announced the resumption of regular direct flights between Moscow and Hong Kong starting on December 23, in time for the holiday season. Flights were suspended during the pandemic and then Western sanctions dealt a blow to Aeroflot operations abroad. Next on my wish list is resumption of the Vladivostok-Hong Kong route @LauraRuHK
.

La Commissione Europea e' lieta di informare il gentile pubblico che oggi ha versato altri 1,5 miliardi all'Ucraina. Quest'anno l'Ucraina ha ricevuto 13,5 miliardi di euro dall'UE. So che questa notizia vi riempira' di gioia. L'Ucraina prima di tutto! Ukraine über alles! 🤣 @LauraRuHK

La UE spinge la bicicletta e il monopattino come mezzi di trasporto non perche' e' piu' virtuosa degli altri, ma perche' milioni di cittadini europei impoveriti dalle sue folli decisioni politiche non possono piu' permettersi l'auto. E soldi da investire nel trasporto pubblico non ce ne sono. Ma ammettere questa verita' scomoda danneggerebbe l'immagine internazionale dell'Europa, quindi si preferisce puntare su una supposta superiorita' morale degli europei che, "per salvare il pianeta e combattere il cambiamento climatico", pedalerebbero felici verso un futuro radioso. Roba che neanche il minculpop avrebbe potuto partorire. A Bruxelles sono esperti nel fare di necessita' virtu'. Non avete soldi per mettere su famiglia? Single e' bello, LGBTQ anche meglio. La carne costa troppo? La dieta vegana e' trendy e fa meglio alla salute. E cosi' via. Manca solo il video in cui in sella alle nostre biciclette, cantiamo tutti in coro "Ukraine, Ukraine, Ukraine über alles!" @LauraRuHK

Visto che qualcuno mi ha scritto per difendere l'uso virtuoso della bicicletta, vorrei precisare che non ho nulla contro chi va in bici o mangia tofu. Non possiedo una macchina, a Hong Kong mi muovo in traghetto e metropolitana, quando sono a Milano praticamente solo in bicicletta. Quanto al tofu, in Cina lo mangiamo in tutte le salse. Ma non ho mai pensato di essere piu' virtuosa di chi guida e mangia una fiorentina con l'osso, ne' tanto meno credo che il mio comportamento abbia qualsivoglia impatto sul clima.

I wrote yesterday (https://t.me/kornilov1968/19437) about The Economist's special issue on the need to "rethink" the strategy of the Ukrainian war.
In the issue's announcement, the editors admit: "Ukraine's counter-offensive is not working as expected. A change of course is needed. Its supporters should pray for a quick victory but plan for a long struggle"!
In other words, Ukraine's main lobbyists in Europe, who for so long convinced everyone that Russia would be defeated as a result of the Ukrainian counteroffensive, have now decided to "rethink" the strategy and have given birth to a single recommendation to Kiev: "PRAY!"
These strategists, who pushed the Ukrainians to the slaughterhouse, have thought of nothing else! The editors admit that Ukraine's counteroffensive has failed (modestly omitting the fact that the magazine itself invested a lot of effort to convince both Ukraine and Western audiences that this meat grinder must succeed).
As a result, the magazine writes: "Both Ukraine and its Western supporters are beginning to realize that this will be a grueling war of attrition. President Volodymyr Zelensky visited Washington this week for talks. "I should be prepared for a long war," he said in an interview with The Economist. But unfortunately, Ukraine is not yet ready; and neither are his Western partners. They remain focused on a counter-offensive. They need to rethink Ukraine's military strategy and how its economy is managed. Rather than aiming to 'win' and then recover, the goal should be to ensure that Ukraine has the endurance to fight a long war."
Well, the magazine goes on to discuss how to rebuild the Ukrainian economy now, without waiting for the war to end. True, the authors describe how the West should allocate money for this, but do not explain where to get people for all this!
A year later, the same magazine will write: "This strategy is not working. We need to rethink it too".
"Rebbe, the chickens are all dead. What a pity. I still have so many ideas." https://t.me/kornilov1968/19467

La Russia ha introdotto un divieto temporaneo di esportazione di benzina e gasolio verso tutti i Paesi, ad eccezione di quattro Stati ex-sovietici, per garantire stabilita' al mercato interno. La domanda di carburante nel mondo si mantiene robusta, e i prezzi sono destinati a salire ulteriormente dopo l'annuncio della Russia...possiamo solo immaginare quale impatto avranno sull'inflazione, che e' gia' oltre livelli accettabili. JP Morgan dichiara che la crisi energetica in arrivo potrebbe essere peggiore di quella che l'Europa ha attraversato in precedenza. Piu' biciclette per tutti e... Slava Ukraini! @LauraRuHK

"When fascism comes to America, it will not be in brown and black shirts. It will not be with jackboots. It will be Nike sneakers and smiley shirts" George Carlin warned in 2005. ▪️Fascism is the merger of state and corporations to enforce a dominant ideology that is instrumental in managing capitalism crises. Today the corporations that hold the power to enforce that ideology on a global level are predominantly American. They work in sync with the intelligence agencies of a handful of Western countries to decide what people can or cannot read and watch, which content creators should be censored, banned, demonetized. ▪️What happened to Russell Brand shows that anyone, even a privileged content creator with millions of followers (a gold mine for YouTube) can be targeted on the basis of unproven allegations regarding his offline behaviour. Russell Brand hasn't been convicted of any crime, is innocent until proven guilty, but following a concerted media campaign aimed at destroying his reputation, the pre-crime unit at YouTube proceeded to deprive him of his source of income. ▪️In the dystopic world created by digital platforms that are pre-installed in most digital devices you buy, the only right you have still got is the right to boycott them and look for alternatives. @LauraRuHK

⚡️Truppe tedesche in Ucraina? I ricognitori delle forze armate russe hanno distrutto un carro armato Leopard consegnato all'Ucraina con un equipaggio interamente tedesco di soldati della Bundeswehr, ha dichiarato il comandante del gruppo di ricognizione a RIA Novosti.
https://t.me/rian_ru/216288

⚡️German troops in Ukraine? A Russian reconnaissance team has destroyed a Leopard tank handed over to Ukraine with an all-German crew of Bundeswehr servicemen, the commander of the reconnaissance team told RIA Novosti.
https://t.me/rian_ru/216288

https://medium.com/@zmey.osvald/faina-savenkova-hello-wonderful-new-world-7b59189c9dc8 Faina Savenkova: Hello, wonderful new world.
Faina Savenkova

Faina Savenkova
2 min read
·
Just now

In my 14 years I often hear about democracy. In the movies we are shown a wonderful Western way of life, designed to convince us that, unlike us, every American and European is free. But what is the reality? The times of the 70s, when there were protests against the war, when people could say what they thought, are sadly gone. I once wrote an article about the blocking of the YouTube channel of my friend, British journalist and blogger Mike Jones. YouTube blocked his interview with me.

Today, Italian journalist Vincenzo LoRusso had his channel deleted for a video of me addressing the mayor of Milan. What was it that I said in that address that was so scary? Perhaps the fact that I called Azov Battalion fascists and murderers? Yet they themselves do not hide their views, openly speaking about them and confirming that they are fascists, and court cases eloquently confirm that they are murderers. Maybe they didn’t like that I asked for an exhibition showing the consequences of Azov’s “heroism”? Shouldn’t the public know their “heroes” on sight? I feel bad for LoRusso, and let this remain an indelible stain of shame on the conscience of YouTube. But what surprises me the most is that people in power who talk about democracy are more and more imposing restrictions and forcing us to walk in formation and think alike. I don’t know how the French, Italians or Americans should react to this, but everything that is being done now is gradually leading to dictatorship and the blossoming of fascism. Today they will close your channel, tomorrow they will put you on the Myrotvorets site as an undesirable person, and what will happen the day after tomorrow? Hello, wonderful new world.