By Gerry Shih
...But this week, (click here) that tidy narrative has overwhelmed China’s state newspapers, dominated the airwaves and even filled box offices as the Communist Party rolled out an unprecedented week of commemorative events and coverage to mark 70 years since Chairman Mao Zedong sent Chinese forces across the Yalu River and ground the Americans to a stalemate....
China was humiliated by the USA jet that flew the understood boundary between China and Taiwan. China does not like to be humiliated. China has established manmade islands to define its' borders into the Yellow Sea, it has invaded Hong Kong, and now fully expect this confrontation by the West with China's jets will take an even more aggressive stance.
October 26, 2020
By Ben Winck
By Ben Winck
Industrial stocks dragged major indexes lower (click here) on Monday after China announced it will sanction US defense firms over planned weapons sales to Taiwan.
The country will impose sanctions on Boeing, Raytheon, and Lockheed Martin, as well as individuals involved in the proposed $1.8 billion deal, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian said in a statement. The move comes in retaliation to the US State Department's approval of the arms sales.
The announcement drove a sharp sell-off of the involved companies' stocks that broadly pulled industrials into a hefty intraday loss. The corresponding S&P 500 sector sat 2.9% lower as of 12:50 p.m. ET, trailing only energy stocks in what's poised to be the worst day for stocks in a month. Within the industrials sector, aerospace and defense stocks fell more than 3%....
Donald Trump has been playing a very foolish game with American national security. In anticipation of peace treaties which he claims should win him a Nobel Peace Prize, he has withdrawn from global conflict to let Russia inflict enough oppression to force countries into dialogue. What he is going to do now that Taiwan is on the line?
Don't believe me?
Trump calls it normalization. Sound familiar? Recently in the Middle East there was a big splash of media about normalizing diplomatic talks. Yes? Want to know what Trump's normalization looks like?
September 15, 2020
By Jeff Mason, Andrea Shalai and Jonathan Landa
Washington - An agreement between Serbia and Kosovo (click here) to work on economic ties, hailed by U.S. President Donald Trump on Friday as a “major breakthrough,” reaffirmed pledges to establish highway and railway links but left movement on political normalization on hold....
My, my, money not only buys happiness, it buys peace too.
October 22, 2020
Russia (click here) is moving toward opening a Defense Ministry office in Serbia to deepen military ties with its longtime ally, a move that risks straining relations with the West, Reuters reported Tuesday.
Serbia, which claims military neutrality, is an EU candidate country that also maintains close ties with Moscow. Belgrade suspended its military drills with all partners for six months last month, pointing to pressure from the EU to drop out of joint military drills in Belarus with Russia....
The better translation of normalization under Trump is surrender. NATO is a much higher profile ally and the American people oppose breaking off the alliance. But, Kosovo? Serbia? Americans only know them from the Olympics. Most Americans don't think of them as USA allies.
So, the normalization is about developing markets for Trump, but, for Putin, it is about conquered territory, fulfilled plans, and Russian advances on The West.
This is what Trump's normalization looks like, disengage the USA and allow Russia more territory] and human beings the USA considered good friends. Ukraine lucked out, it had a man of conscience listening in on a phone call.
Grennell is Trump's appointment.
June 20, 2020
By Patrick Kingsley and Kenneth P. Vogel
Berlin — Last October, with the Balkans unsettled (click here) and the old tethers of American diplomacy coming apart, the Trump administration dispatched a new envoy to try to solve one of Europe’s longest-running territorial disputes: the two-decade standoff between Serbia and Kosovo.
The move was unconventional. The State Department already had a special envoy to the region, and President Trump’s new emissary, Richard Grenell, was also ambassador to Germany, where his brash style and embrace of right-wing figures broke with diplomatic norms.
Before long, Mr. Grenell offended and alienated European diplomats who had worked hard on Kosovo for years. They accused him of ignoring their own, more evolved peace initiatives, of undermining democracy in Kosovo and of turning a blind eye to budding authoritarianism in Serbia, a Russian ally.
“I’m doubtful that in this way you can really resolve a situation like Kosovo, the way it’s being tried by Grenell,” said Wolfgang Petritsch, a former European Union envoy to Kosovo....
