The US 7th Fleet Commander, Vice Admiral Karl Thomas, warned US leadership China can soon surround and blockade the island of Taiwan.  “They have a very large navy, and if they want to bully and put ships around Taiwan, they very much can do that,” he said.

NEWSWATCH BLURB:

U.S. Pacific fleet commander warns expanding Chinese military could now blockade Taiwan – www.washingtontimes.com
Excerpt:

China now boasts a large navy with enough surface warships to blockade rival Taiwan, according to the commander of the U.S. Navy’s frontline fleet.

“They have a very large navy, and if they want to bully and put ships around Taiwan, they very much can do that,” Vice Adm. Karl Thomas, commander of the U.S. Seventh Fleet, said in an interview with the Wall Street Journal.

Read Full Article

The internet exploded with rumors Chairman Xi was under arrest after he had been absent from the public since mid-September.  Meanwhile the 20^th CPC National Congress elected its members, all solidly Xi people.  On September 26, 2022, Xi made a public appearance in Beijing.

Go Deeper

NEWSWATCH BLURB:

All delegates to 20th CPC National Congress elected – eng.chinamil.com.cn
Excerpt:

BEIJING, Sept. 25 (Xinhua) — A total of 2,296 delegates were elected to attend the upcoming 20th National Congress of the Communist Party of China (CPC), according to an official statement released Sunday.

Read Full Article

China’s Xi Jinping Makes First Public Appearance Since Trip To Central Asia

A bus that was headed to a Covid quarantine center in China crashed, killing 27 people who had been coerced into quarantine by Chairman Xi.  The incident has gone viral even on the Chinese net, adding to the already volatile situation around Xi’s extremist Zero-Covid policies.

The tensions in China are becoming more and more apparent as the Chinese people, who have endured lockdown after lockdown, missing funeral after funeral. seem to be near having enough with the whole government.  The policy seems mostly to have served two purposes, to keep Xi’s Covid record “clean” leading up to the 20th People’s Congress where he hopes to secure his third term, and to eliminate dissenters, from top to bottom, using Covid as the pretext for the action.

NEWSWATCH BLURB:

China quarantine bus crash prompts outcry over ‘zero Covid’ – timesofindia.indiatimes.com
Excerpt:

A nighttime bus crash that killed 27 people in southwest China this week has set off a storm of anger online over the harshness of the country’s strict Covid-19 policies.
The initial police report did not say who the passengers were and where they were going, but it later emerged they were headed to a quarantine location outside their city of Guiyang, the capital of Guizhou province.
The bus with 47 people on board crashed about 2:40 a.m. Sunday. City officials announced many hours later that the passengers were under “medical observation,” confirming reports they were being taken to quarantine.
Following public anger, Guiyang fired three officials in charge of Yunyan district, where the residents had been picked up, the provincial government said Monday. Guiyang’s deputy mayor apologized at a news conference, bowing and observing a moment of silence.
Online, many wondered at the logic behind transporting people outside of Guiyang, accusing the government of moving them…

Read Full Article

GO DEEPER

MORE ON China Xi Zero-Covid

The much-disputed border between Kyrgystan-Tajikstan is heating up again after conflicts erupted this past week.  So far, the death toll has passed 100 officially, but the exact number of dead are unknown.  Both sides claim the other side started using drones, artillery, small arms fire to molest settlements.

NEWSWATCH BLURB:

Kyrgystan-Tajikstan border conflict: Putin calls for de-escalation as death toll nears 100 – www.cnn.com
Excerpt:

The former Soviet republics clashed over a border dispute from September 14 to 16, accusing each other of using tanks, mortars, rocket artillery and assault drones to attack outposts and nearby settlements.

Both countries border China, while Tajikistan also has a long frontier with Afghanistan.

Long stretches of the border separating the two ex-Soviet states are contested. Clashes in April 2021 left more than 50 dead and raised the prospect of broader conflict.

Read Full Article

GO DEEPER

More on Kyrgystan-Tajikstan Conflict

China’s Copper Tycoon is facing the consequences of being under the rulership of an increasingly authoritarian leader such as Chairman Xi.  The once darling of the Chinese economic miracle, He Jinbi, faces a cash flow problem that could bankrupt the massive copper trading Empire he created through Maike Metals International LTD

NEWSWATCH BLURB:

Tycoon Running a Quarter of China’s Copper Trade Is on the Ropes – Bloomberg – www.bloomberg.com
Excerpt:

….this year, Beijing’s restrictive Covid Zero policies have hit both the property market and the copper price hard. After months of rumors, He admitted publicly last month that Maike had asked for help to resolve liquidity issues.

He said the problems are temporary and affected only a small part of his business, but his trading counterparties and creditors are being cautious. Some Chinese domestic traders have suspended new deals, while one of the company’s longest-standing lenders, ICBC Standard Bank Plc, was concerned enough that it moved some copper out of China that had been backing its lending to Maike.

Read Full Article

GO DEEPER

More on China-Copper-Corporate Crackdown

China’s tech crackdown fuels another crisis: Out-of-work youth

China Copper Giant Wins Banks’ Backing Amid Liquidity Woes

Bloomberg L.P.

Maike Metals International Ltd., one of China’s top copper traders, said it has secured backing from domestic banks as it seeks to weather liquidity issues. Lenders have agreed to provide credit …

China Begins a New Crackdown Against Mongolian Identity

Albawaba.com English

China witnessed a rare public protest against a new policy to teach Mandarin-only courses in Inner Mongolia. According to the U.S.-based Southern Mongolian Human Rights Information Center …