Hong Kong was seized by Britain to facilitate its opium trade. After a century of humiliation for China, Hong Kong was returned to China in 1997 under a complex arrangement. Foreign countries should keep out of what is a domestic issue for China. CIA, take note.

For months our media gave us wall-to-wall coverage of riots and blockades in Hong Kong. Little attempt was made to explain who the leaders were, what they really wanted except ‘democracy’, and who was backing and encouraging them.  US flags were prominent but our media did not regard that as significant.

Hong Kong was not democratic under UK colonial rule. Have the media forgotten! It is not democratic today and will not be in the future. That is a fact of real life.

More recently our media failed to tell  the full story on  the expulsion of four ‘pro democracy’ law makers from the Legislative Council in Hong Kong.

But what is the real story?

The Legislative Council had been effectively paralysed for many months through filibuster by a group of “pro-democrats”. The four were leaders of that movement.

On top of that, they had been urging the US government to impose sanctions on Hong Kong. But it is illegal for Hong Kongers to collude with foreign powers. As a result some are moving to Taiwan.

What precisely were their demands is not clear. Perhaps they were not clear themselves.  But encouraging US intervention in China’s internal affairs was provocative.

They were certainly vocal in support of the “5 demands”, one of them being the Chief Executive’s resignation (or perhaps the CE and the principal secretaries).

They were also demanding amnesty for all crimes – however heinous – committed in the
course of the disturbances and at the same time, an official enquiry into “police brutality”. Joshua Wong was asked last September  by a journalist from The Australian what precisely was his objective: He said “after the Police have been crushed then perhaps the government will come out and talk to us…”

Earlier this month, Nathan Law, Joshua Wong and Emily Lau  were interviewed on ABC Radio National: Not once were they asked what exactly was their program for Hong Kong, apart from wanting “Democracy”. Those interviews seemed more like RN providing platforms for the interviewees.

What would the Australian Government do if our Parliament was paralysed by filibuster, unable to pass laws for JobKeeper and JobSeeker, and at the same time a group of MPs was urging the Kremlin to impose sanctions on us.

How would Canberra react ?

Read more:

https://johnmenadue.com/hong-kong-is-part-of-china-so-beware-foreign-interference/

See also:

Much of America is breathing a sigh of relief that, gracefully or otherwise, Trump will soon vacate the White House. Allies of the United States – not just governments but much of the commentariat – are expecting a less turbulent and more predictable international environment. That may be wishful thinking.

There is no denying that Trumpism has been a recipe for policy incoherence, administrative chaos, and vulgar, often untruthful discourse. Biden’s team will no doubt restore a measure of civility to American diplomacy and craft a set of domestic policies designed to repair some of the damage inflicted on health, environment, and race relations.

Yet, even here the signs are less than reassuring. Yes, we can expect climate change to be given a higher priority in foreign policy. The appointment of US Secretary of State John Kerry as special presidential envoy on climate change signals a willingness to return to the international negotiating table.

Under the 2015 Paris Agreement, Obama committed the United States to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions by 26-28% by 2025, from 2005 levels. The Biden administration will renew that commitment and may even set a goal of net zero emissions by 2050.

But let’s not forget, what can be done on the international stage depends largely on what happens domestically. Soon after his inauguration Biden is expected to use executive leverage to reverse some of Trump’s most egregious decisions, which erased or loosened nearly 100 environmental rules and regulations.

He may not, however, be able to reinstate all these rules. And, even if he can, this will not be enough to meet the net zero emission target. Eventually, a comprehensive legislative network will be needed. It is not clear how Biden proposes to do this, if, as seems likely, he is faced with a hostile Senate and an obstructionist Supreme Court.

Behind and beyond these institutional roadblocks lies the bigger hurdle – fossil fuel interests. Intense lobbying by coal, gas and oil companies, and the utility and transportation sectors, coupled with large donations to political parties, has been remarkably successful. Nothing said during the election campaign suggests Biden is of a mind to neutralise the fossil fuel lobby’s formidable political muscle.

As for Washington’s future engagement with the world, we may be in for a torrid time. When formally announcing the members of his national security and foreign policy team last week, Biden chose as his opening words ‘America is back’.

Which America is this, we may ask? Is it the America that took us to Korea, Vietnam, Afghanistan, Iraq and Libya? Is it the America that has steadfastly invoked external threats to justify in peacetime the deadliest military arsenal in human history?

Much has been made of America’s commitment to a rules-based international order. Yet, US administrations have made a habit of overthrowing foreign governments, whether by force or other means. Over the last 67 years, it has attempted regime change in 58 separate instances, that is, the equivalent of one every 14 months.

The defining feature of America’s presence in the world since 1945 has been the growth of its ‘national security state’. Though presidents come and go, the security apparatus has developed a mind of its own, and tentacles that reach into virtually every area of policy, every institution of government, and a great many foreign governments.

It is entirely possible that Biden has other ideas about future US security policy. He may favour a gentler, wiser, less interventionist America, less intent on reviving its ambition for hegemony. If so, he has yet to spell them out.

All we have at the moment are a few broad-brush sentences. The words he used to introduce his security team are nevertheless cause for concern, and merit restating:

‘It’s a team that reflects the fact that America is back. Ready to lead the world, not retreat from it. Once again, sit at the head of the table. Ready to confront our adversaries, and not reject our allies, ready to stand up for our values.’

We can only assume that the primary adversaries he has in mind are Russia and China. If so, the idea of confronting them raises troubling questions: confront them in response to what, by what means, and with what objectives?

There is, it seems, little appreciation that we are witnessing a shift in the centre of economic and geopolitical gravity from West to East, in part the result of East Asia’s renewed economic dynamism.

More importantly, the West-centric world in which first Europe and then the United Stated held sway, is slowly but steadily giving way to a new world in which other civilisational centres are emerging or re-re-emerging. This calls for new forms of dialogue and accommodation both across and within major civilisations.

Sadly, there is no indication that the incoming administration is aware of, not to say favourably disposed to, these possibilities.

In many ways, Biden’s choice of cabinet members is itself instructive. Antony Blinken (secretary of state), Avril Haines (director of national intelligence), and Jake Sullivan (national security adviser) all went to Ivy League schools, and were closely associated with the Obama administration. They are all quintessential products of the security and foreign policy establishment.

They all speak of an America that can resume global leadership as if they know what leadership entails at this historical moment. They assume the world is yearning to be led and to have the United States as its leader. This can be hardly true of Russia or China, and it is difficult to see either Germany or France meekly complying with US preferences and priorities.

Put simply, there is no evidence that the Biden administration is alive to the immense challenges posed by a rapidly transforming world. Significantly, neither the president-elect nor his appointees have referred to the existential threat posed by nuclear weapons. Nor have they indicated much interest in reaching out to other countries with a view to breathing new life into existing international institutions, in particular the United Nations.

Insofar as Biden and his entourage have referred to multilateralism, it has been primarily in the context of international military alliances and regional formations closely aligned to US interests and priorities.

They have been conspicuously silent on the institutions, decision making processes and resourcing needed to manage, or better still prevent, the financial, environmental and humanitarian crises that have become a regular feature of the international landscape.

They have waxed lyrical about their commitment to US values and human rights, implying that they will respond loudly and forcefully when these standards are violated by adversaries. But they have said little about how they propose to handle gross human rights violations by friends and allies, as is presently the case with the likes of Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Thailand and the Philippines .

It is fair to say that the Obama administration assumed office in January 2009 with a much grander vision and loftier rhetoric, but managed to deliver little in the ensuing eight years. It is conceivable that the Biden administration will assume office in January 2021 with a humbler agenda and still end up achieving more. Australia would be unwise to base its future on the strength of that assumption.

Read more:

https://johnmenadue.com/joseph-camilleri-why-the-biden-victory-is-not-the-answer-to-our-prayers/

Read from top. See also: a win for the nazis...

World » Americas

Mr. Biden, Who asked America to lead the world?

By Timothy Bancroft-Hinchey

Another example of pig-headed arrogance, sheer, unadulterated insolence by  out-of-touch President-elect Joseph Biden

Wilmington, Delaware, Tuesday November 24th 2020. The setting for the most nauseating piece of pig-headed arrogance, shit-headed jingoism and wanton insolence delivered by that ridiculous figure cut by Joseph Biden, pretending he is young and fit by running onto stages like some kind of an idiot. What does he think he is, an athlete?

The point is, the jurisdiction of the US President and his team starts and ends at the internationally recognised frontiers of the United States of America. This does not include Bolivia or Venezuela or the Amazon, it does not include South-East Asia, or Libya, or Syria or the Ukraine.

So we do not want the USA to lead the world. Thank you, but from what we have seen, no thanks. The USA leads the world in unwanted military bases strewn across the globe, like blights on a tree or horrendous carbunkles spread out on the face of the Earth like a hideous melanoma; the USA leads the world in unwanted wars, sticking its stinking nose into the internal affairs of sovereign states; the USA leads the world in crime, stealing the assets of its victims, stealing Syrian oil, receiving stolen products from its allies, such as thousands of litres of olive oil taken from Syrians by Turkey; the USA leads the world in breaching international law, breaching the terms of UNSC Resolutions or else side-stepping the United Nations Organization when it fails to rubber-stamp Washington's evil ventures.

So we do not want that kind of leadership and anyway nobody asked Mr. Biden to lead the world, and especially him. Look at his own record, in the Obomber-Biden presidency. What a scam that was, promising change then bombing Libya, staging a Fascist coup in Ukraine, taking sides in the Syrian civil war.

Who was the Vice President when the Libyan electricity grid was strafed "to break their backs"? "Their" includes babies in incubators, screaming and gasping for breath, reddening, going blue and dying, asfixiated because some bastard in an airplane had bombed the electricity supply. Does Mr. Biden find that funny? Thanks Mr. Biden but we don't want your leadership.

Who was Vice President when the democratically elected President of Ukraine was ousted in a fascist coup, carried out by thugs who chanted Death to Russians and Jews and murdered Russian-speaking Ukrainians in Fascist massacres, in which cleaning ladies were strangled with telephone wires, people's sons and daughters were murdered by these hordes of demons. Does Mr. Biden find that funny? Whose son then took up a position in an energy institution in Ukraine? Thanks Mr. Biden but we don't want your leadership.

Who was Vice President when UNSC Resolutions 1970 and 1973 (2011) were breached by NATO forces which placed boots on the ground, interfered in the internal affairs of a sovereign nation and sided with terrorists on their own lists of proscribed groups? Who aided and abetted scores of terrorists as they stole and raped and committed arson and murder? Does Mr. Biden find that funny? Thanks Mr. Biden but we don't want your leadership.

Who was Vice President when the Syrian Civil War started and who sided again with terrorists, as they raped nuns, gang-raped little girls before and after they were beheaded and after they had been forced to watch their parents being tortured to death? Does Mr. Biden find that funny? Thanks Mr. Biden but we don't want your leadership.

You personally are an example of the worst sort of politician to have inflicted himself on the USA, so don't you dare inflict yourself on the world. We do not want you, we did not ask for you or your leadership. Sort your own country out first, disband that disgrace which is Guantanamo Bay, a torture and concentration camp, get rid of your unwanted camps of rapists = your military bases, nobody wants them, everybody hates them and stop interfering where you are not called.

We want a world in which everyone lives together as brothers and sisters around a common lake, which is our seas. We want a world in which everyone has a say, a multilateral world built on multiculturalism, not one country proclaiming to be the world policeman and claiming it wants to lead the rest, like how arrogant is that?

We want a world based around cleaning up the oceans, cleaning up the land, cleaning up space, a world in which habitats are protected and not destroyed, in which the focus is on development and not deployment, where money is spent on education and creating jobs, not bombing people, invading countries and cavorting with terrorists.

In that world, it is patently clear, the United States of America does not belong because it is incapable of cohabiting with others as an equal. It is not a country, it is a sort of country which is ruled by an elite Establishment with whom Biden rubs shoulders, a collection of first- and third-world regions with a bloated military composed of reasonable equipment, bad soldiers and massive numbers, which acts like a spoilt brat and a bully. The bully bullies until someone smashes his face down the other side of his neck.

Probably in the White House the Presidents are molly-coddled by sycophantic aides who tell them the world is dying to be invaded by the USA, everyone loves America and they all place their hands on their hearts and sing God Bless America whenever a bomb blasts the face off a child or blows a family away. What they don't hear in the White House is the seething hatred felt by everyone around the world, appalled at the countless invasions and wars perpetrated by Washington and revolted at the sheer arrogance and insolence which Washington calls Diplomacy.

So no, Mr. Biden we don't want your leadership.

Finally, Mr. Biden, do not insult Ireland by claiming to be proud of your Irish roots. You are as much Irish as I am Mongolian. Irish people are fun-loving and peace-loving. They do not invade people or drop bombs on schools or change governments in color revolutions. You are not Irish, you do not act like an Irishman. You are American and act like one.

So ladies and gentlemen we start off well, with this disgusting piece of pig-faced arrogance and shit-headed insolence from this soldier of Baal, a disgrace to his Catholic faith, to Christianity and to the world. Watch this one, do not believe a word he says. A hypocrite is a hypocrite, what Catholic would stand by while mass murder was committed by his country, several times over?

Читайте больше на https://english.pravda.ru/world/145319-biden_arrogance/