Re <<Meng>>
To the folks who insist rare earths not rare, plentiful everywhere including on the moon and in deep ocean, like cardiac event medication, available at pharmacies nearest incident, perhaps several miles away
the Meng kidnapping case is taking some sort of a turn
Am going to guess that Ms Meng shall tell her Canadian and US kidnappers to go pound sand, and return to China China China a heroine. Hilarious that pole climbers believe Team China was willing to test weaponisation of rare earth for the sake of a fishing boat captain, and not formally deploy REE protocol to reset 2026 / 2032 to earlier date.
A guess, if Meng not released without preconditions, prepare for reset of Nasdaq.
Below highlight in green so reminds me of the language of the Chinese fishing g boat captain once kidnapped by the Japanese
I suppose it is good that the Boyz are duking out the middle game of TeoTwawKi / Darkest Interregnum Gambit without resorting to a hot war.
Obsolescence of an entire and expensive navy makes peace more likely, albeit have yet to be explained to the tax payers eurasiantimes.com
Given so, the highlighted passages make sense for all concerned. A guess.
Let's watch if the first 100 days of the Biden presidency shall bring on a cardiac event for Nasdaq.
Given that Team China all 2020 has been reducing export of processed REE and increasing import REE concentrate / ore, the planet's inventory must be lower than usual, CoVid notwithstanding, and given the doubtlessly coincidental promulgation of National Security Export Control regime by China China China, and the already promised sanctioning of Lockheed and Boeing (the military wing, whatever that can possibly mean), and the concurrent teeing of of digital RMB, the almost for sure transaction currency eventually meant for the REE trade, interesting times ahead.
Recommendation, bitcoins and gold.
If you recall, circa 2010 reuters.com
A prosecutor from Naha city on Japan’s southern Okinawa island said Friday that the decision to release the Chinese captain, whose trawler collided this month with two Japanese patrol boats in waters near islands both sides claim, took into account the importance of Sino-Japanese ties. Prime Minister Naoto Kan said the decision to release Zhan was made by authorities after “considering the nature of this incident from all angles” and based on Japanese law. “China and Japan are important neighbors with important responsibilities in the international community,” he said in New York, where he attended the U.N. General Assembly. “In order to further grow our mutually beneficial relationship based on strategic interests, I believe it is necessary for Japan and China to handle matters calmly,” Kan told reporters. The release follows the detention of four Japanese nationals on suspicion of violating Chinese law regarding the protection of military facilities, though Japanese Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshito Sengoku has denied a link between the two matters. ... The United States welcomed Japan’s decision to release the Chinese captain, saying it had defused a potentially dangerous situation. “This was a Japanese decision to make and we’re just hopeful that with the release of the ship captain, tensions will recede and the countries in the region will get back to normal business,” U.S. State Department spokesman P.J. Crowley said. There had been concern that a prolonged dispute could hurt ties between the world’s second and third largest economies, now in the process of swapping places as China overtakes Japan in the No. 2 spot. ... There has also been concern that Beijing was holding back shipments of rare earth minerals vital for electronics and auto parts to put added pressure on Japan.
The language is sooooooo similar in the trial balloon floated now to Team Huawei as described below
Meng has resisted the proposed deal, "believing she did nothing wrong. "David Laufman, a former Justice Department national-security official, told the WSJ that the case was a flagship prosecution and while prosecutors may be weighing geopolitical interests, he doesn’t expect a Biden Justice Department to drop the case. "It would be exceptional for the Justice Department to forgo a criminal conviction. But there are times when law-enforcement interests reasonably give way to overarching foreign-policy interests of the United States," said Laufman, who now works at law firm Wiggin and Dana LLP. "Given the impact of the Meng prosecution on Canada as well as on U. S-Chinese relations, this may be one of those cases."
zerohedge.com
US In Talks With Arrested Huawei CFO To Resolve Criminal Charges: Report
Is this the beginning of the end of the cold war between the US and China?
The WSJ reports that two years after she was arrested, Huawei's CFO Meng Wanzhou is discussing a deal with the DOJ that could allow her to return home to China from Canada, in exchange for admitting wrongdoing in a criminal case that has strained Beijing’s relations with the U.S. and Canada. According to the report, lawyers for Meng, who has been under house arrest in Canada since 2018 and is pending extradition for wire and bank fraud charges related to alleged violations of sanctions on Iran on Huawei’s behalf, have spoken to Justice Department officials in recent weeks about the possibility of reaching a deferred prosecution agreement.
Under such an agreement, which is usually offered to companies but rarely to people, Meng - who is the daughter of Ren Zhengfei, the founder of Huawei, China’s leading telecom companys which the U.S. has alleged engages in technology theft and may abet espionage by Beijing - would be required to admit to some of the allegations against her but prosecutors would agree to potentially defer and later drop the charges if she cooperated although so far, Meng has resisted the proposed deal, "believing she did nothing wrong."
David Laufman, a former Justice Department national-security official, told the WSJ that the case was a flagship prosecution and while prosecutors may be weighing geopolitical interests, he doesn’t expect a Biden Justice Department to drop the case.
"It would be exceptional for the Justice Department to forgo a criminal conviction. But there are times when law-enforcement interests reasonably give way to overarching foreign-policy interests of the United States," said Laufman, who now works at law firm Wiggin and Dana LLP. "Given the impact of the Meng prosecution on Canada as well as on U. S-Chinese relations, this may be one of those cases."
Meng was arrested in late 2018 while transferring planes in Vancouver, and has been confined to the city where she has a home. She has since fought extradition to the U. S. — a process allowing multiple appeals that can take years to resolve — and her situation has personified for many in China attempts by Washington to hinder "the country’s global ascent."
In addition to allowing her to return to China, a deal would also remove an issue that has caused Beijing’s relations with Ottawa to deteriorate and added to a downward spiral in ties with Washington. A deal could also pave the way for China to return two Canadian men who were detained there soon after Meng’s arrest, a factor that is in part motivating the discussions.
Yet while such a move would be expected by a Biden administration, it is surprising that it is Trump's DOJ that has taken initiative on this attempt to renormalize ties with Beijing. The report is even more perplexing since the Trump administration sees Huawei as a national security threat which has been hit with numerous sanctions in recent years, and says that Meng’s activities on behalf of Huawei’s work in Iran are part of a pattern of corporate wrongdoing. The U.S. actions have infuriated Beijing, which has accused Washington of discriminating against Huawei and has called on Canada to release Meng.
According to the WSJ, negotiators for Meng and the Justice Department are speaking again this week in hopes of reaching agreement before the end of the Trump administration, although it is certain that a resolution of this impasse would be far easier to achieve under a Biden admin. Indeed, as the Journal notes, "Huawei officials are also holding out hope that a Biden administration might be more lenient."
For now, Meng has argued that she has been wrongly accused and that the extradition request is improperly based on political motivations at a time when the U.S. was seeking the upper hand in prolonged trade and technology tensions with China.
Last May, a British Columbia judge ruled the U.S. had met a key test to extradite her, but additional hearings are expected to continue later this month and through next year. She is currently on bail and must wear an ankle monitor.
Her arrest touched off a major diplomatic standoff, during which two Canadians, including a diplomat on leave from his post, were detained and charged earlier this year with espionage. Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said in June that the detentions of Michael Kovrig and Michael Spavor are unacceptable and “deeply concerning not just to Canadians but to people around the world who see China using arbitrary detentions as a means to political ends."
* * *
Perhaps not coincidentally, the news comes just hours after the Director of National Intelligence, John Ratclife wrote a stark op-ed in the WSJ, in which he said that "if I could communicate one thing to the American people from this unique vantage point, it is that the People’s Republic of China poses the greatest threat to America today, and the greatest threat to democracy and freedom world-wide since World War II."
He also discussed Huawei:
China is also developing world-class capabilities in emerging technologies. Its intelligence services use their access to tech firms such as Huawei to enable malicious activities, including the introduction of vulnerabilities into software and equipment. Huawei and other Chinese firms deny this, but China’s efforts to dominate 5G telecommunications will only increase Beijing’s opportunities to collect intelligence, disrupt communications and threaten user privacy world-wide. I have personally told U.S. allies that using such Chinese-owned technology will severely limit America’s ability to share vital intelligence with them.
His conclusion couldn't be more stark: "This is our once-in-a-generation challenge. Americans have always risen to the moment, from defeating the scourge of fascism to bringing down the Iron Curtain. This generation will be judged by its response to China’s effort to reshape the world in its own image and replace America as the dominant superpower."
Which is why it would be very surprising - and disturbing - if the Trump which escalated the conflict with China more than any previous US admin is now taking proactive steps to de-escalate. For one, it would certainly prompt the question: why now? |
