RUTHFULLY YOURS

https://www.nationalreview.com/2020/06/coronavirus-pandemic-china-beijing-becoming-authentically-belligerent/#slide-1

No more nice-guy façade.

George Floyd was killed in Minneapolis last week when a police officer used brutally excessive force to arrest him. It was the latest in a string of high-profile cases nationwide in which citizens, most of them African Americans, died from reckless police force. Once again, protests over police brutality turned violent and rioting ensued.

The U.S. is torn apart over the national mass quarantine. Liberal blue states accused red opened-up states of recklessly endangering national health by allowing their populations to go back to work before the virus has left.

Red states countered that blue states were hypocritical in wanting federal money to subsidize their locked-down residents while expecting other states to generate needed federal revenue. They also contended that there was no longer scientific evidence to justify the lockdown.

The nationwide protests and rioting have inadvertently adjudicated the issue: States cannot jail the law-abiding barber who wears a mask at work but allow the arsonist without a mask to roam the streets, burning with impunity.

There is mounting evidence that an array of federal officials had plotted to disrupt Donald Trump’s 2016 campaign and his presidential transition, leaving Trump supporters furious.

Meanwhile, likely Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden is sequestered in his basement. He often appears confused. Yet Biden seems content that the more people do not see or hear him, the more they like the idea of him as president. Indeed, the more inert Biden has become, the higher his poll numbers have risen against Trump and his tweeting.

https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/16085/iran-venezuela-terrorism

The recent upsurge in Iranian activity in Venezuela certainly needs to be taken seriously by the Trump administration if Tehran is to be prevented from strengthening its terrorist activities on America’s southern flank.

To date Mr Trump, having last year threatened to launch military action in support of Juan Guaido, the country’s charismatic opposition leader, now appears to have backed away from any further entanglement with Caracas, a move that might explain Washington’s disinclination to act over Iran’s recent oil shipments.

But that could change if, as now seems likely, the White House comes to realise that Iran’s real intention is to expand its terrorist network in Latin America rather than simply offering economic help to another rogue regime.

The arrival in Venezuela this week of the last of five Iranian tankers carrying gasoline to the oil-starved socialist state is not just about Iran seeking to help a fellow nation stricken by the effects of U.S. sanctions.

It is all about strengthening Tehran’s long-standing terrorist infrastructure in Latin America so that it can be used to expand Iran’s terror operations throughout the globe.

https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/16061/india-world-health-organization

Fortunately, India’s Health Minister Harsh Vardhan, a physician, is the new chairman of the 34-member World Health Organization Executive Board. He and his colleagues on the board could prevail upon the WHO Director General to take steps aimed at implementing the resolution of the World Health Assembly.

One, however, is not sure if and when [WHO Director General] Tedros will pay attention to implementing this resolution. He does not seem enthusiastic about the probe. He would, he said in his opening remarks at the WHA, “initiate an independent evaluation at the earliest appropriate moment.”

Chinese President Xi Jinping said at the WHA any inquiry should wait until the virus was contained — an outcome that could, of course, take years, if ever. Xi also pledged $2 billion over two years to the WHO, to control the spread of Covid-19, presumably including control of the WHO along with it.

Vardhan and others in the WHO executive board cannot procrastinate. All serious allegations against China and the WHO must be investigated and made transparent to the world without delay.

It is heartening to note the 73rd session of the World Health Assembly (May 18-19, 2020) approved a resolution calling for an independent inquiry into the current pandemic outbreak and the World Health Organization’s role in responding to it.

The resolution — brought forward by the European Union, moved by Australia and supported by more than 116 nations — including India and Japan — demands that WHO’s Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus “identify the zoonotic source of the virus and the route of introduction to the human population…” The resolution also calls for an impartial, independent and comprehensive evaluation into the WHO-coordinated international health response to the pandemic.

https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2020/jun/04/australia-will-continue-to-welcome-hong-kong-residents-as-calls-mount-to-match-uks-offer-of-safe-haven

The Australian government has declared it will “continue to welcome” Hong Kong residents, but it won’t be drawn on calls for it to match the UK’s offer of safe haven for people fearing China’s planned security laws.

Australian parliamentarians from across the political spectrum are urging the government to help the people of Hong Kong, amid growing international concern about the impact of Beijing’s decision on the city’s rights and freedoms and on the stability of the international finance hub.

The British foreign secretary, Dominic Raab, revealed he had asked Australia and other partners to consider “burden-sharing if we see a mass exodus from Hong Kong”.

The UK is holding open the prospect of offering residency and work rights to as many as 3 million people, while the US is considering letting people who no longer “feel comfortable” in Hong Kong to move there. The US secretary of state, Mike Pompeo, indicated he was also talking to allies, including Australia, about further responses.

On Wednesday Beijing lodged “stern representations” in response to the UK’s offer, warning it to “pull back before it’s too late, abandon its Cold War and colonialist mentality”.

https://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2020/06/04/woke_capitalists_sell_out_us_to_china_behind_a_mask_of_virtue.html

Imagine thinking that the appropriate response to the Chinese coronavirus is to wed ourselves still closer to Communist China. For most, such a notion would defy all logic. Yet if woke capital gets its way, this is the future we can expect, with attendant consequences like the ones we are currently suffering—and far worse.

As the Chinese coronavirus crisis unfolded, Americans grew overwhelmingly outraged at the People’s Republic of China (PRC) for its primary culpability in the spread of a disease inflicting incalculable damage on the country. Main Street began to reckon with the reality that ever-closer economic relations with China had left us dependent on it for the most basic of necessities, and Main Street seemed to wish to extricate itself from the toxic relationship. But Wall Street was not interested in such a divorce. Rather, it sought to deepen relations further.

Paradigmatic were the words of Larry Fink, chief executive officer of the world’s largest asset manager, BlackRock. Fink, writing in a March 29, 2020, letter to shareholders, stated:

I continue to firmly believe China will be one of the biggest opportunities for BlackRock over the long term, both for asset managers and investors…. We continue to invest in our presence in China and our local investment expertise, so we can help clients navigate this large and growing opportunity as they seek to increase exposure to China’s onshore assets. We are also focused on building our presence as a manager for Chinese clients…. [A]s the Chinese market opens to foreign asset managers, our global reach and whole-portfolio approach will help us become the leading foreign asset manager in China.

That is, BlackRock remained all-in on Beijing.

The positioning of this portion of Fink’s letter was quite telling. He had opened by recognizing that the implications of the coronavirus were far-reaching. Yet somehow, they did not extend to the Middle Kingdom.

https://quadrant.org.au/magazine/2020/06/the-red-elephant-in-the-room/

While COVID-19 has wrought havoc across the world, one of the things we can be thankful for is that it has exposed the true character of the dangerous red elephant in the room: the Chinese communist regime.

Before we go any further, let’s clarify that by “China”, I am referring to the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), not the Chinese people. There is a clear difference, and this is critical.

At the time I am writing this, there are 785,712 cases of COVID-19 worldwide. Countless Chinese citizens who have spoken out about China’s negligence in dealing with the virus have been imprisoned, and some probably killed. Stephen Lee Myers from the New York Times writes: “The central health authorities first learned about the outbreak not from the reporting system but after unknown whistle-blowers leaked two internal documents online.”

While it is clear that Wuhan is home to a CCP-owned virology lab, it’s not clear whether this is where the virus originated, and whether it was indeed manufactured as a biological weapon. Regardless, China is exploiting the current state of international instability and insecurity to expand and advance its objectives and power. This ought to be no surprise, since China’s international ambitions are simply an extension of its domestic policy—authoritarian control.

https://www.nationalreview.com/2020/06/venezuela-economic-mismanagement-oil-rich-nation-without-fuel/

Years of economic mismanagement and corruption have combined with a poorly designed and inefficient system to create an unprecedented crisis.

 T here are just a handful of countries as blessed as Venezuela. It has the largest oil reserves of any country on Earth. It has abundant reserves of natural gas, coal, timber, and gold. And as if this weren’t enough, it also has miles of fertile land and an ideal geographical location to export all of its blessings. Yet, there is a popular joke around here that says: “Why was God so generous to us? He gave us everything, even perfect weather, and beautiful beaches. Well, because he also gave us our politicians and a society that has not been capable of taking care of its nation.”

Personally, I have always found this “joke” dangerously misleading, because it implies that Venezuela is a rich country in the first place. Countries are not rich because of their natural resources. Developed nations are rich because they have dynamic economies, with innovative private sectors, an impressive stock of human capital, and institutions that incentivize people to become responsible and productive citizens — plus governments willing to complement the market by providing infrastructure, collective security, a well-functioning educational system, and other public goods that are essential for economic development. In Venezuela, unfortunately, we have neither markets nor a well-designed and efficient public sector. This, rather than the gross mismanagement of our natural resources, is the reason we are undeveloped.

One need not look far for the proof. This year, Venezuela officially became the first resource-rich nation without fuel, in a crisis that has paralyzed the country like never before. Currently, fuel can only be procured on the black market, at a staggering price of nine dollars a gallon. This would be a worrisome situation for any country. But Venezuela’s minimum wage is less than five dollars a month, meaning virtually no Venezuelans can afford fuel. It’s the latest indignity in a years-long political crisis that has seen the country grow accustomed to daily power blackouts, an unreliable water supply, and chronic shortages of food and medicine.

https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/16066/erdogan-turkey-libya-campaign

Erdoğan knows that every political adventure outside Turkish borders increases his popularity, especially at a time when economic hardships could prune his approval at home.

Further escalation may turn Libya into a second proxy for Turkey’s war theater, after Syria. There, Turkish and Russian interests remain deeply conflicting. Turkey wants to overthrow President Assad and to replace his regime with Sunni jihadists; Russia wants Assad in power and is fighting Sunni jihadists.

Libya is fast becoming another challenge for a man who loves military challenges — but tends to lose most of them.

A military confrontation between Turkey and Russia in Libya would be too risky a venture even for a ruler who does not want to miss a single opportunity to revive his country’s once glorious imperial past — especially at a time when Russian President Vladimir Putin apparently wishes to seal his country’s imperial dream of having a permanent presence in the Mediterranean — in Syria and Libya.

For Turkey, the Libya campaign is part of a sectarian (pro-Sunni) war. Erdoğan wants a loyal, Turkey-friendly regime in Libya, one that could be useful for restoring to power in Egypt the Muslim Brotherhood, another Islamist Erdoğan ally, like Hamas

Russia’s Putin also appears keen to have his second permanent military presence in the Mediterranean after Syria.

Ironically, even during the Ottoman era (from early 16th century to 1912) Libya was divided into two parts: one linked to Tripoli in the west and the other linked to Benghazi in the east. Even then, the country largely resembled today’s division between an internationally-recognized government in Tripoli and its adversaries in the east.

More than a century after the last Ottoman soldiers left Libya following an Italian invasion in 1911, Turkey’s neo-Ottoman leader, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, who has apparently long harbored dreams of reviving the Ottoman Empire, at least revived the Libyan war theater with Turkish soldiers fighting a proxy war in the desert.