China Watch

Why Chinese App ‘Red Note’ Is Just As Bad As TikTok– thefederalist.com
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TikTok experienced downtime for a few hours on Sunday following a U.S. Supreme Court decision that upheld a federal law requiring its Chinese parent company, ByteDance, to divest ownership or face an outright ban in the U.S. by Jan. 19, 2025. President Trump intervened, however, announcing on Sunday that he would issue an executive order the next day to “extend the period before the law’s prohibitions take effect,” allowing time for a possible deal. As a result, TikTok quickly declared it was back in operation in the U.S.

Now America faces an even more dangerous data security landscape because, anticipating a looming TikTok ban, many American users had begun searching for alternatives. One app that has emerged as a popular choice for these so-called TikTok “refugees” is “Red Note,” a Chinese app that has rapidly gained traction in the U.S. Taylor Lorenz, a former tech writer for The New York Times and The Washington Post, has taken to X to encourage her followers to join her on Red Note, labeling it “the hottest new social app in America!!”

Red Note is owned by Xingin Information Technology, a company based in Shanghai. The app’s Chinese name is Xiaohongshu, which translates to “Little Red Book.” This name pays tribute to the small book containing quotes from the speeches and writings of Chinese Communist dictator Chairman Mao. During China’s Cultural Revolution, millions of Chinese citizens were required to carry these little books with bright red covers to study and memorize Mao’s words anytime and anywhere. The book was also a popular wedding gift during that era, as it was one of the few items readily available amid widespread shortages of other goods.

China executes two men over deadly attacks in same week– www.bbc.com
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China has executed two men responsible for two deadly attacks within a week in November last year.

Fan Weiqiu, 62, killed at least 35 people and injured dozens more after he drove his car into people exercising outside a stadium in Zhuhai, in what is thought to be the deadliest attack on Chinese soil for a decade.

Days later, Xu Jiajin, 21, killed eight people and wounded 17 others in a stabbing spree at his university in the eastern city of Wuxi.

Authorities said Fan was driven by “dissatisfaction” over how his property had been divided following his divorce, while Xu carried out his attack after “failing to obtain his diploma due to poor exam results”.

Fan was detained at the scene on 11 November, where he was found with self-inflicted wounds.

In December, he was found guilty of “endangering public safety”, with the court describing his motive as “extremely vile” and “the methods” used “particularly cruel”.

Taiwan demonstrates sea defenses against potential Chinese attack as tensions rise with Beijing– abcnews.go.com
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KAOHSIUNG, Taiwan — Taiwan on Thursday demonstrated its sea defenses against a potential Chinese attack as tensions rise with Beijing, part of a multitiered strategy to deter an invasion from the mainland.

The island’s navy highlighted its Kuang Hua VI fast attack missile boats and Tuo Chiang-class corvettes in waters near Taiwan’s largest port of Kaohsiung, a major hub for international trade considered key to resupplying Chinese forces should they establish a beachhead on the island.

The Kuang Hua VI boats, with a crew of 19, carry indigenously developed Hsiung Feng II anti-ship missiles and displayed their ability to take to the sea in an emergency to intercept enemy ships about to cross the 44-kilometer (24-nautical mile) limit of Taiwan’s contiguous zone, within which governments are permitted to take defensive action.

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Taiwan accuses China of damaging submarine cable off its coast – FT – RBC-Ukraine
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Taiwan said a Chinese vessel had damaged an underwater internet cable off the island’s northern coast. This led to a temporary disruption of communication, the Financial Times reports.

According to the agency, the cable was damaged on January 3 near the port of Keelung. There, the cargo ship Shunxing39, registered under the flag of Cameroon, probably damaged the submarine cable, which is part of the Trans-Pacific Express Cable System.

Despite the fact that the vessel belongs to Jie Yang Trading Limited, a Hong Kong-registered company, its director is Guo Wenjie, a Chinese citizen. Taiwan believes that this incident may be part of China’s strategy to sever the island’s external communications.

How Trump Can Deter Red China From Ransacking Taiwan– thefederalist.com
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It’s no secret by now that Joe Biden’s presidency has ushered in a more unstable geopolitical environment. From Eastern Europe to the Middle East, the lack of effective and competent U.S. leadership has given America’s worst adversaries the confidence to act upon their destabilizing agendas — chief among them being Red China.

Throughout the past four years, the Middle Kingdom has significantly upped its aggressive behavior toward the U.S. and its allies in the Indo-Pacific. This has notably included deploying hostile military exercises and other “gray zone” tactics against Taiwan, which Beijing views as Chinese territory and has threatened to take by force, if necessary.

On Friday, Taiwanese authorities reported that a Chinese vessel cut an undersea internet cable connected to the island, a maneuver used by the communist nation in the Baltic Sea in November. According to The Wall Street Journal, the apparent act of sabotage caused “only minimal disruption of service but [sent] a message about the vulnerability of the island and its internet.”

The incident occurred days before Taiwan’s National Security Bureau revealed the island received double the number of cyberattacks from last year, averaging 2.4 million attacks per day. Most of these attacks, the bureau noted, came from China.

Michigan to Chop Down over 400 Acres of Trees to Fight ‘Global Warming’ with Chinese Solar Panels– slaynews.com
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Officials in Democrat-controlled Michigan are planning to chop down over 400 acres of trees in the state’s forestland to supposedly fight “global warming.”

A 420-acre swath of state forestland will be cleared to make way for a Chinese solar farm near Gaylord, a top state official confirmed to MLive.

The deal is under a lease agreement with the Michigan Department of Natural Resources (DNR).

Officials with the DNR recently assessed 1,200 acres of public trust land in Otsego County near a major power transmission line to decide whether it was suitable for solar arrays.

Agency leaders ultimately decided to lease 35% of that land to accompany other adjacent solar projects already in the works.

This comes as the DNR faces dwindling revenues from hunting and fishing licenses.

China’s Hospitals Report Surge in HMVP Respiratory Virus that Causes Cold-Like Symptoms in Most People– legalinsurrection.com
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China is currently experiencing a significant outbreak of human metapneumovirus (HMPV), a respiratory virus that was first identified in 2001 and which causes cold-like symptoms in most people.

However, the very young and elderly can be hit hard, as well as those with weakened immune systems. So, China’s hospitals are reporting a significant uptick in cases of HMVP infections as people seek relief from severe symptoms.

China is experiencing a surge in cases of human metapneumovirus (HMPV), leading to overcrowded hospitals and raising public concern about a potential epidemic. The outbreak coincides with the winter season, which typically sees an increase in respiratory illnesses due to colder weather and more indoor activities facilitating the spread of viruses.

El Financiero, BBC News, The Independent, Marca, ABP News, and Newsweek reported on the surge in HMPV patients in China, among other news outlets.

In response to the rising cases, the Chinese government announced measures to curb the increase of respiratory diseases. These measures include constant monitoring of cases, the adoption of masks, social distancing, and disinfection of public spaces.

“It is safe to travel to China,” said Mao Ning, spokesperson for the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs during a press conference, reassuring that both locals and tourists can feel safe traveling in China. Mao emphasized that the current situation is a normal seasonal rise in respiratory infections and not a cause for alarm.

China plans to limit global access to its EV battery technologies · TechNode– technode.com
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Beijing is planning to revise its rules controlling global access to battery manufacturing technologies in a tit-for-tat move after major Western economies including the European Union and the United States decided to impose punitive tariffs on China-made electric vehicles. Chinese companies would have to obtain a government permit to export technologies used to produce lithium-phosphate-iron (LFP) cathode materials, a key component in iron-based, affordable lithium-ion batteries, according to an annual export control catalogue updated by the Ministry of Commcerce on Jan. 2. The Chinese government is also looking to place new constraints on local companies’ ability to sell technologies used in extracting lithium from hard rock spodumene ore. The proposed measures are open to public review until Feb. 1. [South China Morning Post]

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President-elect Donald Trump has petitioned the Supreme Court, asking them to delay a hearing on the potential TikTok ban from America should it not be sold to an American company. The President submitted an amicus curae, or “friend of the court” brief. He only requested a delay in the hearing, nothing more.

Trump asks Supreme Court to delay hearing on TikTok injunction – The Desk
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President-elect Donald Trump has weighed in on a forthcoming U.S. Supreme Court hearing that could decide the fate of short-form social video service TikTok in the coming weeks.

Last Friday, Trump invoked a legal doctrine known as “amicus curae” to file a so-called “friend of the court” brief, during which he took no position on the case at hand but encouraged the Supreme Court to delay its hearing on whether to approve an injunction that prevents TikTok from being banned in U.S. app stores.

The banishment is rooted in a law passed earlier this summer that forces TikTok’s China-based parent company ByteDance to divest its U.S.-based business to a stateside entity. The law was rolled into a federal appropriations bill that was mainly intended to green-light financial funding for the wars in Ukraine and Israel. President Joe Biden signed the measure into law in April, and ByteDance filed its legal challenge soon after.

The law requires ByteDance to divest its U.S.-based business by January 19; if it doesn’t, the measure requires U.S. app stores run by Google, Apple, Samsung, Amazon, Microsoft and others to pull the TikTok app, making it unavailable for download to computers, phones, tablets and smart TVs.

The law doesn’t ban Americans from using the service, and the TikTok app currently installed on devices will continue to work as long as ByteDance and the manufacturers of those devices support it. But it makes TikTok much harder to access when users buy new devices or switch from one platform to another, or if they delete the app and decide they want to reinstall it at a later time, because it won’t be available in app stores. (Android and Microsoft users will still be able to download the app beyond app stores, but Apple device users cannot download apps that aren’t available whiten the Apple App Store).

The People’s Republic of China (PRC) appears to be accelerating its military build-up and investing in weapons and munitions that make it clear it is preparing to engage in a major world war with major world powers like the United States of America. The 2024 Department of Defense’s Report on Chinese Military Power raises even more alarms.

Some of the noted expansions include 50 new ICBM, 300 medium-range ballistic missiles, 600+ operational nuclear warheads, and 370 new ships and submarines, expanding the world’s largest navy. The report suggests China is planning on conquering Taiwan, the first necessary step in world conquest, before becoming the dominant power by 2035.

China Is Rapidly Building Up Weapons And Warfare Operations– thefederalist.com
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The People’s Republic of China (PRC) is undertaking an unprecedented military buildup aimed at challenging America and its allies, particularly in the Indo-Pacific. And, like Nazi Germany’s buildup in the 1930s, the militarization program ordered by the Chinese Communist Party isn’t simply a great power buildup — it’s a weapon in service of a deadly ideology.

The 2024 Department of Defense China Military Power Report and recent analysis by Bill Gertz in the Washington Times reveal this buildup as part of a broader strategy by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) to position itself as a global superpower. Meanwhile, the U.S., having spent $5.4 trillion on the global war on terror and attendant, futile nation-building, has left itself strategically vulnerable by diverting critical resources while underestimating the threat from China.

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Rosa DeLauro, the top Democrat on the House Appropriations Committee, is accusing Elon Musk of attempting to push the Republicans to take a softer approach on China and the Chinese Communist Party, especially when it comes to restricting American investment in the anti-American company.

Musk has deep ties to China, specifically through his electric vehicle company, Tesla, who hopes to make billions selling to a Chinese market. While Democrats have far more ties to the CCP than Republicans, it is worth noting that whatever benefits Musk may give the Republicans, he is sure to also bring with him protection for the Chinese Communist Party, for the good of Tesla alone.

Elon Musk Accused Of Bullying Republicans To Scrap US-China Investment Safeguards To Protect Tesla’s Interests – Yahoo Finance
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CEO Elon Musk has been accused by Rosa DeLauro of pressuring Republicans to abandon key U.S.-China investment restrictions to safeguard the EV giant’s business interests in China.

What Happened: In a letter on Friday, DeLauro, the top Democrat on the House Appropriations Committee, stated that Musk used his influence to have Republicans scrap provisions aimed at regulating U.S. investments in China, reported Reuters.

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Chinese national Chen Jinping, 60, of New York City, pled guilty to running a “clandestine police station” in the city. He was arrested in April of this same year.

DOJ and FBI representatives said of the plea, “The Department of Justice will continue to pursue anyone who attempts to aid the PRC’s efforts to extend their repressive reach into the United States… These blatant violations will not be tolerated on U.S. soil. The FBI remains committed to preserving the rights and freedoms of all people in our country and will defend against transnational repression at every front.”

New York man pleads guilty to running secret police station for communist China above noodle restaurant in Manhattan– www.theblaze.com
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The Department of Justice said in a press release that a man pleaded guilty to running a secret police station for communist China above a noodle restaurant in New York City.

The secret police stations have been reported to be hidden across the world in order to further the aims of the communist government of China. Their agents harass, threaten, and spy on “wanted” Chinese nationals residing in the U.S. and identified as a threat to China.

‘A human rights organization report found that there were likely as many as 100 secret police stations operated by the Chinese Community Part across the world.’

60-year-old Chen Jinping of New York City was arrested in April 2023 and accused of running a “clandestine police station” on U.S. soil, according to the DOJ. The secret police station “occupied an entire floor in an office building in Manhattan’s Chinatown” and was shut down in the fall of 2022.

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While President-Elect Donald Trump has expressed interest in saving TikTok from the pending ban should it fail to be sold to an American interest, a Federal Appeals Court has denied TikTok’s latest attempt to appeal the ban. The case is sure to reach the Supreme Court unless Trump can save TikTok.

It should be noted that TikTok exploded in America AFTER the CCP-controlled company was allowed to purchase an American app, music.ly, a fact that in and of itself warrants investigation into possible acts of treason and sedition being committed by whoever approved such sale in the first place.

Federal appeals court upholds law requiring sale or ban of TikTok in the US- AP News
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A federal appeals court panel on Friday unanimously upheld a law that could lead to a ban on TikTok as soon as next month, handing a resounding defeat to the popular social media platform as it fights for its survival in the U.S.

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit denied TikTok’s petition to overturn the law — which requires TikTok to break ties with its China-based parent company ByteDance or be banned by mid-January — and rebuffed the company’s challenge of the statute, which it argued had ran afoul of the First Amendment.

“The First Amendment exists to protect free speech in the United States,” said the court’s opinion, which was written by Judge Douglas Ginsburg. “Here the Government acted solely to protect that freedom from a foreign adversary nation and to limit that adversary’s ability to gather data on people in the United States.”

Argentina seeks its first wheat shipments to China in decades – batimes.com
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Argentina wheat traders are seeking to close their first significant sales to China since the 1990s, according to the head of the country’s top crop-exporting group.

China is making overtures for wheat purchases after it authorised Argentine shipments earlier this year, said Gustavo Idigoras, president of CIARA-CEC, whose members include the major agricultural trading houses. China also recently authorised purchases of Argentine corn, though no cargoes have yet sailed.

The Pentagon has acknowledged officially that U.S. troops are serving alongside Philippine troops, engaging in mutual maritime operations in the South China Sea. The operation is called “Task Force Ayungin,” named after the Ayungin Shoel that the task force is patrolling.

Anti-American Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin posted on X “I visited the Command and Control Fusion Center in Palawan today. I also met with some American service members deployed to U.S. Task Force Ayungin, and I thanked them for their hard work on behalf of the American people and our alliances and partnerships in this region.”

US Reveals New South China Sea ‘Task Force’ – newsweek
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The Pentagon has confirmed that American troops are quietly assisting Philippine maritime operations in the South China Sea, in a sign of the United States’ growing support for its ally amid flaring tensions with China.

Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin referenced the collaboration in a post on X (formerly Twitter) on Tuesday, highlighting “Task Force Ayungin,” which involves U.S. military personnel working alongside the Philippines military’s Western Command.

“I visited the Command and Control Fusion Center in Palawan today,” Austin wrote. “I also met with some American service members deployed to U.S. Task Force Ayungin, and I thanked them for their hard work on behalf of the American people and our alliances and partnerships in this region.”

Pentagon spokesperson Pete Nguyen told the Philippine news outlet Inquirer that the task force focuses on planning, training, and systems provided through U.S. security assistance. “This support includes unmanned surface vessels that Secretary Austin observed during his stop in Palawan,” he said.

U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin, center, visits the Command and Control Fusion Center on the Philippine island of Palawan along with Philippines’ defense chief Gilberto Teodoro. During his visit, he signed a bilateral intelligence-sharing agreement….

Newsweek reached out to the Chinese Foreign Ministry and U.S. Department of Defense with written requests for comment.

Nguyen stressed that the task force reflects a continuation of decades of close U.S.-Philippine cooperation. Philippine National Security Adviser Eduardo Ano told the news agency that U.S. involvement is limited to “intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance, [and] maritime domain awareness,” with no “direct participation” in Philippine operations.

Washington and Manila share a Mutual Defense Treaty, which Austin and President Joe Biden have stressed is “ironclad.” The treaty has sparked discussions in light of clashes between Philippine maritime forces and their Chinese counterparts.

During Austin’s two days in the Philippines, he met with President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., visited the unified command center in Palawan, and inked an intelligence-sharing agreement.

“No military agreement, or defense and security cooperation, in whatever form, should target any third party or harm the interests of any third party,” Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Lin Jian said during Monday’s regular press conference.

“Nor should it undermine regional peace or exacerbate regional tensions,” he went on, adding that the only way to maintain regional piece is to “uphold good-neighborliness and friendship and maintain strategic independence.”

The deployment of U.S. personnel to Task Force Ayungin comes amid increased tensions in the South China Sea, where Philippine and Chinese forces have repeatedly clashed over contested waters.

China claims nearly the entire sea, using its controversial “dashed line” to assert control over resource-rich areas despite international rejection of those claims.

An independent tribunal at The Hague ruled in 2016 that China’s territorial claims, represented by the nine-dash line, were incompatible with the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS). Beijing, however, has dismissed the decision as invalid.

An anonymous UK official told Eurasia Times that British war games pitting their carrier task force groups against China’s long-range ballistic missiles called “aircraft killers” show “the carriers get sunk” most of the time. The key to their threat lies both in their new class of long-range ballistic missiles and its use of Over the Horizon (OTHR) sites, a cold-war technology that gives it the ability to locate and target carriers well off their shores.

China’s Anti-Ship Missiles ‘Sink’ British $7.8B Aircraft Carriers In Wargames; Are Flattops Getting Obsolete? – Eurasiatimes.com
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Wargames have shown that the constant technological evolution has made aircraft carriers vulnerable to modern missiles.

An official familiar with the wargames has been quoted in the media that “the carriers get sunk” in most of the iterations.

China’s long-range ballistic missiles, which have earned the sobriquet “aircraft carrier killers,” have challenged the naval power projection of Western countries, and the UK is no exception.

Royal Navy strategists are seized with the huge progress in the Chinese anti-ship missile arsenal. The missile technology has made it capable of locating and tracking Britain’s naval fleet.

China has also been reviving Cold War-era technology by building large Over the Horizon Radar (OTHR) sites, which can be used to locate the sites of its adversary’s fleet from a great distance. Two types of OTHR can be deployed: a skywave and a surface wave. Both systems were used during the Cold War era but lost their importance to modern-day radars.

The OTHR is set to make a comeback as it can address the range limitations of current radars. OTHRs’ range can extend into thousands of miles as they consist of an extensive array of antennae spread out over an area, with the transmission and receiving equipment placed geographically away from each other.

China’s latest missile in the arsenal is the DF-17, which is equipped with a hypersonic glide vehicle. The missile is fast and long-range, with a high-precision strike capability, leaving enemies with little time to react. The hypersonic glide vehicles have higher maneuverability and lower altitudes, making them harder to track and predict their flight path.

During the wargames, the Royal Navy’s ‘ability to survive’ is ‘stretched to the limit,’ with a scenario eventually arising whereby a carrier would be sunk.

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China has upgraded a number of its submarines to be able to do something they couldn’t before, track American carriers because now they are no longer detectable by American sonar surveillance. U.S. Defense “experts” claim that even if the subs can track the carriers, they couldn’t execute an effective attack on them. However, the subs can provide intel to assets that CAN strike the carriers.

China’s Submarines Can Track (And Sink) Navy Aircraft Carriers – The National Interest Online
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While China’s naval capabilities do not yet match the U.S., its ability to track American carriers, as seen in incidents near Japan in 2015, is a growing concern.

-In the past, Chinese submarines were noisy and easy to detect, but recent investments have modernized its fleet, potentially making it more capable of tracking U.S. vessels.

-Despite this, U.S. carriers are highly protected by multiple defensive layers, including advanced Virginia-class submarines and anti-submarine sensors. Even if a Chinese submarine were to shadow a carrier, executing an attack remains unlikely due to the carrier’s robust defensive architecture…

Back in 2015, a Chinese submarine closely tracked an American aircraft carrier near the coast of Japan. The Chinese Kilo-class fast attack sub shadowed USS Ronald Reagan for more than 12 hours in what was considered to be “more than a brief encounter,” according to officials.

Beijing claimed that the American vessel was sailing in Chinese waters. The incident was reminiscent of an encounter in 2006, when a Song-class submarine surfaced undetected within torpedo range of the Kitty Hawk carrier.

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The U.S. Department of Commerce has sent Taiwanese chip maker TSMC a letter informing it that the United States will begin imposing export restrictions on complex chips that use a process technology of 7 nanometers or more. This is in response to a self-report from the company after one of their chips was found in a CCP-connected (and banned) company Huawei.

US orders Taiwanese company to stop selling AI chips to China – Reuters
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According to the source, the US Department of Commerce sent a letter to TSMC. The letter states that it will impose export restrictions on certain complex chips with a process technology of 7 nanometers or more destined for China, which are used in artificial intelligence (AI) accelerators and graphics processing units (GPUs).

The US order, which is reported for the first time, comes just weeks after TSMC notified the Department of Commerce that one of its chips was found in a Huawei AI processor. The research firm Tech Insight reportedly took apart the product, found the TSMC chip and an apparent export control violation.

Reuters writes that Huawei is on the US list of trade restrictions, which requires suppliers to obtain licenses to supply any goods or technologies of the company. In this regard, any license that could help Huawei’s AI efforts is likely to be rejected.

According to a Reuters source, as a result of receiving the letter, TSMC informed affected customers that it would stop supplying chips starting Monday. The US Department of Commerce declined to comment.

IS THE BRICS SUMMIT A HERALD OF THE BEGINNING OF THE MULTIPOLAR WORLD ORDER? – The 16th BRICS Summit completed on Thursday, October 25. It was conducted this year in Kazan, Russia. At the meeting, the prevailing theme was “this is the end American hegemony and the beginning of a multipolar world order.” It was highlighted by the Kazan Declaration, which included 13 provisions that will allegedly create “a more just and democratic world order.”

This summit, more than any other since, garnished worldwide MSM and alternative media attention, and it serves as an “alterative” to anyone currently in the American orbit to consider a more “lucrative” (allegedly) option.

Brazil Blocks Caracas’ Bid to Join BRICS  – Folha De S. Paulo

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Brazil informally vetoed the admission of the Venezuelan dictatorship as a partner country in BRICS, the new category of association that is the key novelty of the 16th meeting of the group, which began this Tuesday (22) in Kazan.

What seemed like a consensus solution, however, was shaken by the surprise arrival of Venezuela’s dictator, Nicolás Maduro. The signal of pressure is obvious, given the fact that the Chavista regime is militarily supported by Russia.

Caracas had been left out of the list of 12 countries to be invited. According to Folha’s findings, they are, by region of the world: Cuba and Bolivia, Indonesia and Malaysia, Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan, Thailand and Vietnam, Nigeria and Uganda, and Turkey and Belarus.

The list, which is being put together by the Russian presidency of the bloc, is not yet final, and there may be surprises at the meeting of heads of state and government.

Ukraine war: ‘A just peace’ needed to end conflict, UN chief tells Putin at ‘new global order’ BRICS summit | World News– news.sky.com
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The UN secretary general has told Vladimir Putin that “a just peace” is needed to end the Ukraine war.

Appearing alongside Mr Putin at a BRICS summit in the Russian city of Kazan, Antonio Guterres called on the Russian leader to agree a peace deal “in line with the UN Charter, international law and UN General Assembly resolutions”.

He said summit attendees: “Across the board, we need peace. We need peace in Ukraine.”

It comes after President Xi Jinping claimed on Wednesday that China and fellow BRICS member Brazil have put forward a peace plan for the war in Ukraine.

He told Mr Putin and other leaders at the three-day summit that they intend to rally further international support in the hope of bringing fighting there to an end.

Mr Xi said: “We must uphold the three key principles: no expansion of the battlefields, no escalation of hostilities, and no fanning flames and strive for swift de-escalation of the situation.”

The BRICS coalition of nations, which started out as a 5-nation coalition, expanded to include 4 new countries (Egypt, Ethiopia, Iran, UAE), and now includes a couple dozen more countries wanting in to the club, met again this year, with the prevailing theme being the urgency of creating a world financial alternative to the western-dominated one. Russia is leading the charge, with China right beside, and both are now pushing for a gold-backed BRICS currency.

Russia’s Finance Minister Anton Siluanov declared,” The IMF and the World Bank are not performing their roles. They are not working in the interests of BRICS countries. It is necessary to form new conditions or even new institutions, similar to the Bretton Woods institutions, but within the framework of our community, within the framework of BRICS.”

The BRICS Coalition, with some exceptions, seems to be forming a Global South Coalition rather than an Eastern one, meaning the polarity of world power is starting to form around northern and southern powers (with some notable exceptions, such as Russia) rather than Eastern and Western ones (which also includes exceptions).

Anti-West BRICS Summit Unites Biggest U.S. Enemies – PJ Media– pjmedia.com
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The BRICS coalition of nations, which last year touted its expansion and determination to undermine U.S. currency’s global status, is once again bringing together powerful dictatorships to challenge the West, especially America.

As the world’s greatest mass murderer, the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), dictatorial Russia, jihad-sponsoring Iran, and the other regime leaders of the BRICS nations gather in Russia for the BRICS Summit, the CCP has made it clear that the nations’ coalition is a rival to the West. “Unlike the ideological offensive and defensive alliances formed by some Western countries, the BRICS cooperation mechanism embraces diverse political systems and economic development models,” CCP outlet Global Times babbled. It’s propaganda but still worth noting, especially in light of last year‘s BRICS goal of de-dollarization — a move away from the U.S. dollar as world reserve currency. That’s a goal the CCP highlighted again this year.

This comes as an unknown number of Chinese spies infiltrate through our southern border as illegal aliens. Indeed, The Federalist covered a Congressional report last week that Chinese Communist spying has increased across 20 states since pro-China Joe Biden and Kamala Harris took office. The CCP wants to prevent a Trump presidency, undermine the U.S. dollar, and keep the U.S. weak — which is exactly what Russia and Iran want, too. These countries are spying on the U.S. and funding our politicians. Yes, BRICS is a threat, but that is why we need new leadership in America from the White House on down.

In the article I cited above, CCP’s Global Times used a lot of nonsense words to emphasize its ambitious goals for BRICS.

From the Middle East to Africa, from Asia to Latin America, the expansion of BRICS is an inevitable result of aligning with globalization trends to promote win-win cooperation. The expanded “Greater BRICS” now accounts for nearly half of the world’s population, with greater strength and broader representation…the economic output of the “Greater BRICS,” calculated by purchasing power parity, has already surpassed that of the G7…joining BRICS helps promote economic development, improve trade levels, attract more investment, reduce reliance on the US dollar, and enhance their country’s international standing…

Additionally, the charm of the “Greater BRICS” lies in that in an increasingly fragmented world, it allows the Global South, which lags behind the West in economic development, to see the power of unity and collaboration, as well as the hope of catching up

In another article, Global Times pontificated, “While organizations such as the United Nations and the World Bank remain crucial, BRICS brings new energy and perspectives by prioritizing the needs and aspirations of the Global South.” The CCP outlet added:

A key contribution of BRICS lies in its efforts to advance inclusive economic globalization. For decades, the benefits of global economic growth have disproportionately flowed to the West, leaving much of the developing world on the margins. Closer and enlarged BRICS cooperation promises to rebalance this dynamic by promoting investment, infrastructure development, and trade that align with the specific priorities of the Global South.

BRICS aims to rival and eventually usurp the power of corrupt globalist organizations like the UN. Of course, the Islamic jihadis backed by Iran and the CCP already seem to dominate the UN. Yes, this is what it looks like when genocidal dictatorships try to take over the world. That’s not Sci-fi or comic book exaggeration; it’s reality.

For Our VIPs: IDF Affirms Hamas-Issued Gaza Casualties Are Exaggerated as Westerners Bewail Gaza

The CCP is extremely open about its goal of being the “Middle Kingdom,” by which it means the center of the world, the sun around which all other nations revolve. The Iranian regime has affirmed that “Death to America” is one of its main slogans, and it has threatened to assassinate Donald Trump and other U.S. politicians. Russia hates the Biden-Harris administration for funding Ukrainian oligarchs. The other BRICS nations, including Brazil, also resent U.S. influence.

All of which is to say that when you vote this year, don’t just vote for Republicans who will take on domestic problems, but for leaders like Donald Trump who will challenge and contain the dictators desperate to destroy us.

Russia urges BRICS to create global financial alternative to Western-controlled IMF – Firstpost
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Excerpt:

…. Russia as the current chair of the BRICS group has urged the member countries to form an alternative to the International Monetary Fund (IMF) in a bid to counterbalance the political influence exerted by Western nations ahead of the upcoming BRICS summit this month.,,

Russian Finance Minister Anton Siluanov, who is hosting the meeting, said the global financial system is controlled by Western countries and that the group, which represents 37% of the global economy, needs to create an alternative.

”The IMF and the World Bank are not performing their roles. They are not working in the interests of BRICS countries,” Siluanov said at an event on the first day of the meeting.

”It is necessary to form new conditions or even new institutions, similar to the Bretton Woods institutions, but within the framework of our community, within the framework of BRICS,” Siluanov added.

BRICS Summit Kicks Off With Welcome To “Record Gold Prices”– wltreport.com
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Excerpt:

An expanding group of nations are backing a new form of money aimed at disrupting the Western status quo and dethroning the U.S. dollar as the world’s reserve currency.

At a meeting this week, representatives from these BRICS nations met to discuss their strategy at a summit that coincided with an all-time record-high price for gold.

 

That “new world order” involves a gold-back currency that could become an existential threat to the U.S. dollar and, as nations around the world invest in gold as a hedge, the precious metal’s price continues to soar.

Russia hosts BRICS summit, pushes new world order agenda to rival West – cnbc
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Excerpt:

Russia is rolling out the red carpet to its geopolitical allies as it hosts the latest BRICS summit on Tuesday, pushing its agenda to create a “new world order” that challenges the West.

The group was initially comprised of Brazil, Russia, India and China before South Africa joined in 2010, giving the organization of rapidly economically-developing nations its current name. It has since morphed into a geopolitical forum for the world’s most powerful nations outside of the West.

The BRICS now have additional clout after Egypt, Ethiopia, Iran and the United Arab Emirates joined the group in January, with membership to the bloc becoming an attractive prospect for countries looking to boost trade, investment and economic development.

Russia has been trying to woo what’s collectively known as the “Global South” — or economically-developing countries in Asia, Africa, the Middle East and Latin America — and contrast to the “Global North” of industrialized nations, traditionally led by the U.S.

Russian President Vladimir Putin frequently comments on his ambition to establish what he calls a “new world order” to rival and usurp the geopolitical and economic pre-eminence enjoyed by the U.S.-led West.

Russia, holder of the rotating BRICS presidency and economically isolated and heavily sanctioned by the West, can also turn to this year’s summit to demonstrate that it still commands respect on the global stage and has powerful allies willing to turn a blind eye to its ongoing war in Ukraine.

Putin has described the beefed-up BRICS group as a “strong indication of the growing authority of the association and its role in international affairs” and signaled on Friday that he intends for the so-called “BRICS +” format to challenge the West on both a geopolitical and economic front.

“The countries in our association are essentially the drivers of global economic growth. In the foreseeable future, BRICS will generate the main increase in global GDP,” Putin told officials and businessmen last Friday at the BRICS business forum in Moscow, which precedes the group’s summit, in comments translated by Reuters.

“The economic growth of BRICS members will increasingly depend less on external influence or interference. This is essentially economic sovereignty,” Putin added.

Earlier in October, Putin said Moscow was open to using the summit for discussions with its allies on the “the parameters of interaction in the emerging multipolar world, and is open to discussing the issues of building a new world order with all our friends, partners and like-minded people,” he said, according to Russian state-owned news agency Tass.

Putin added that “it is in this spirit that we are preparing the BRICS and Outreach/BRICS Plus summit,” referring to the last day of the three-day summit when officials from almost 40 Asian, African, Middle Eastern and Latin American countries are attending as part of the group’s bid to expand ties with the “Global South.”

PM’s Modi Full Speech At 16th BRICS Summit In Russia– www.ndtv.com
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Excerpt:

Prime Minister Narendra Modi today strongly pitched for “single-minded” focus and “firm support” of all in combating terrorism, asserting that there is no place for “double standards” to deal with the challenge. In an address at the 16th BRICS Summit, PM Modi also underlined the need to take “active steps” to stop the radicalisation of young people.

Here’s PM Modi’s full speech at the BRICS Summit.

Your Highness,

Excellencies,

Ladies and Gentlemen,

Congratulations to President Putin for the excellent organisation of the 16th BRICS Summit.

And, once again, a warm welcome to all the new friends who have joined BRICS. In its new avatar, BRICS accounts for 40 per cent of the world’s humanity and about 30 per cent of the global economy.

In the last nearly two decades, BRICS has achieved many milestones.I am confident that in the times to come, this organisation will emerge as a more effective medium to face global challenges.

I would also like to convey warm greetings to Her Excellency Dilma Rousseff, President of the New Development Bank.

Friends,

In the last 10 years, this bank has emerged as an important option for the development needs of the countries of the Global South. The opening of GIFT or Gujarat International Finance Tech City in India as well as regional centres in Africa and Russia has boosted the activities of this bank. And, development projects worth about $35 billion have been sanctioned. NDB should continue to work on the basis of the demand driven principle. And, while expanding the bank, ensuring long-term financial sustainability, healthy credit rating and market access should remain a priority.

Friends,

In its new expanded avatar, BRICS has emerged as an economy of more than $30 trillion. The BRICS Business Council and the BRICS Women Business Alliance have played a special role in increasing our economic cooperation.

This year, the consensus reached within BRICS on WTO reforms, trade facilitation in agriculture, resilient supply chains, e-commerce and Special Economic Zones will strengthen our economic cooperation. Amidst all these initiatives, we should also focus on the interests of small and medium scale industries.

I am pleased that the BRICS Startup Forum proposed during India’s presidency in 2021 will be launched this year. The Railway Research Network initiative taken by India is also playing an important role in increasing logistics and supply chain connectivity among BRICS countries. This year, the consensus reached by BRICS countries, in collaboration with UNIDO, to prepare a skilled workforce for Industry 4.0 is quite significant.

The BRICS Vaccine R&D Centre launched in 2022 is helping increase health security in all the countries. We would be happy to share India’s successful experience in Digital Health with BRICS partners.

Friends,

Climate change has been a subject of our common priority. The consensus reached for the BRICS Open Carbon Market Partnership under Russia’s presidency is welcome. In India too, special emphasis is being laid on green growth, climate resilient infrastructure and green transition. Indeed, India has taken up several initiatives like the International Solar Alliance, Coalition for Disaster Resilient Infrastructure, Mission LiFE i.e. Lifestyle for Environment, Ek Ped Maa Ke Naam.

Last year, during COP-28, we started an important initiative called Green Credit. I invite BRICS partners to join these initiatives.

Special emphasis is being laid on the construction of infrastructure in all BRICS countries. We have established a digital platform called the Gati-Shakti portal to rapidly expand multi-modal connectivity in India. This has helped in integrated infrastructure development planning and implementation and has reduced logistics costs.

We will be happy to share our experiences with all of you.

Friends,

We welcome efforts to increase financial integration among BRICS countries.

Trade in local currencies and smooth cross-border payments will strengthen our economic cooperation. The Unified Payments Interface (UPI) developed by India is a huge success story and has been adopted in many countries.

Last year, together with His Highness Sheikh Mohamed, it was launched in the UAE as well. We can also cooperate with other BRICS countries in this area.

Friends,

India is fully committed to increasing cooperation under BRICS. Our strong belief in our diversity and multipolarity is our strength. This strength of ours, and our shared belief in humanity, will help in giving a meaningful shape to a prosperous and a bright future for the generations to come.

I thank everyone for today’s very important and valuable discussions. As the next President of BRICS, I extend my heartfelt best wishes to President Lula. India will give its full support for the success of your BRICS presidency.

Once again, many thanks to President Putin and all the leaders.

(This is the approximate translation of the Prime Minister’s remarks. Original remarks were delivered in Hindi.)