Free Republic

China is building new roads, railroads and pipelines from Central Asia to Europe in an effort to build new connections to the rest of the world. The results may be good for the Chinese — but less so for the other countries involved. […] Xi Jinping, 63, the president of China and general secretary of the Communist Party, wants to revive the myth and build a New Silk Road, in large parts along the old trade route. It would mark the return of a legend. For some time now, many of his speeches have included references to “yi dai yi...

The White House on Monday defended President Obama’s decision to enter into the Paris climate accord without Senate ratification but stopped short of confirming a Chinese report that he will do so this week during his trip to China. Still, it would surprise no one if Mr. Obama and Chinese President Xi Jinping were to announce the ratification of the sweeping climate change agreement before the Sunday opening of the Group of 20 summit in Hangzhou, Zhejiang. White House senior adviser Brian Deese said the president has the legal authority to ratify the accord without the two-thirds Senate vote required...

The state-owned Aero-Engine Group of China was created by combining a group of existing aircraft-engine companies, according to local media reports. It has about 50bn yuan ($7.5bn) in registered capital and will develop both military and commercial engines. China already makes its own planes, but has struggled for decades to develop engines that meet global requirements. 'Strategic move' China currently buys its commercial aircraft engines from General Electric and United Technologies' Pratt & Whitney. China's military jets uses Russian-made engines. President Xi Jinping called the new creation of the new company a "strategi

South China Sea disputes are turning worse. Last week, Philippines’ President Rodrigo Duterte had a loud and clear message for China: Stay away from our territory or else it could be a “bloody” confrontation. Philippines’s warning comes shortly before China hosts the G20 Leaders’ Summit in the eastern city of Hangzhou on 4-5 September, and one week after a Japan Times editorial revealed that China has set a “red line” for Japan in the South China Sea. China warned Japan “not send Self-Defense Forces to join U.S. operations that test the freedom of navigation in the disputed South China Sea....

President Barack Obama meets with Prime Minister Narendra Modi of India in June. (Photo by Dennis Brack-Pool/Getty Images) Around August 30, in Washington, India and the U.S. will sign a major war pact that makes them logistical allies against, among others, the superpower China currently making a bold power grab in the South China Sea. Specifically, Indian Defense Mister Manohar Parrikar will sign the deal during a two-day visit in Washington. The deal is the Logistics Exchange Memorandum of Agreement (LEMOA), a foundational agreement for India and the U.S.. In this instance, the agreement provides for each to use the...

Recently released emails appear to further show a direct connection between the Clinton Foundation and the State Department when Hillary Clinton was secretary of state, including efforts to get foundation donors seats to an official lunch with Chinese President Hu Jintao. In emails dated December 2010, Clinton State Department aide Huma Abedin and then-top Clinton Foundation official Doug Band discussed potential guests for the lunch with the Chinese president — including three executives from groups that had donated millions to the foundation, according to an ABC News report late Saturday. Among the possible guests discussed were Bob McCann, then-president of...

The Forbes list of the world’s richest actresses provides a heaven-sent opportunity to slaver over photos of beautiful women and very large sums of money: solemnly recorded figures that can really be no more than intelligent guesswork. In pretty much the same spirit, Forbes regularly provides an enjoyable ranking of the richest fictional people, from Jay Gatsby to Smaug, complete with estimated dollar amounts. This year, Jennifer Lawrence is top of the actress list, with a supposed pre-tax income of $46m. Melissa McCarthy comes in second with a putative $33m and Scarlett Johansson gets bronze with what could plausibly be...

INS Rajput firing a BrahMos missile. Wikimedia Commons/Indian Navy While many of us remain mesmerized by the unfolding shambles in the Middle East, the world’s two most populous countries have gotten into a tiff over missiles. And I’m not referring to the ballistic kind for once. “India deploying supersonic missiles on the border has exceeded its own needs for self-defense and poses a serious threat to China’s Tibet and Yunnan provinces,” complained the People’s Liberation Army Daily. “The deployment of BrahMos missile is bound to increase the competition and antagonism in the China–India relations and will have a negative impact...

A series of newly released State Department emails obtained by ABC News offers fresh insight on direct contact between the Clinton Foundation and Hillary Clinton's inner circle while she was Secretary of State. The emails -– released as part of a public records lawsuit by conservative group Citizens United and shared exclusively with ABC -- reveal what the group claims is new evidence Foundation allies received special treatment. In one December 2010 email chain with Clinton's closest aide Huma Abedin, then-top Clinton Foundation official Doug Band offers names for a State Department lunch with Chinese President Hu Jintao scheduled for...

The Pakistan Navy will receive the first of eight conventional attack submarines on order from China in 2022, with the initial batch of four expected to be delivered by the end of 2023. The remaining four, which will be produced in Pakistan by Karachi Shipyard & Engineering Works (KSEW), will be in the hands of the Pakistan Navy by 2028. The information was conveyed to the National Assembly’s Standing Committee on Defence by the Chief Project Director of Pakistan’s next-generation submarine program (The News International). Comment and Analysis This briefing to the National Assembly provides official confirmation that the Pakistan...

China and the United States are set to jointly announce their ratification of a landmark climate change pact before the G20 summit early next month, the South China Morning Post has learned. Senior climate officials from both countries worked late into the night in Beijing on Tuesday to finalise details, and a bilateral announcement is likely to be made on September 2, according to sources familiar with the issue.... ...“There are still some uncertainties from the US side due to the complicated US system in ratifying such a treaty, but the announcement is still quite likely to be ready by...

You are my Rose garden that I nurture in my love and water with my spirit and it is now time for you to become my messenger of love to all my children for I have hand picked you to go with my message of love and obedience to my Word and Spirit and I have signed you as a gift to them from The Father of Lights for you shimmer with My Testimony "Bought by The Blood of The Lamb of God". Now share the testimonies of me in your life for it is time to take the garden...

In a speech in Tampa Wednesday afternoon, Donald Trump outlined a seven-point plan to bring millions of jobs to the U.S. He proposed renegotiating trade agreements like the Trans-Pacific Partnership and NAFTA and also challenging China for "illegal activities." "I am going to instruct my Treasury Secretary to label China a currency manipulator," he said. "Any country that devalues their currency in order to take unfair advantage of the United States will face tariffs to stop the cheating." "I am going to instruct the U.S. Trade Representative to bring trade cases against China, both in this country and at the...

Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte warned Wednesday of a "reckoning" with China if there was no resolution to a tense dispute over rival claims to the South China Sea. An international tribunal ruled last month that China's claims to most of the strategically vital waters had no legal basis, in what was seen as a sweeping victory for the Philippines, which filed the case. Duterte repeatedly had said he did not want to anger China with an aggressive response, and sent an envoy to ease tensions, but on Wednesday signalled he was prepared to adopt a more confrontational approach. "We will...

There is no compromise in My Kingdom for I AM THE WORD ETERNAL therefore I AM both Provider and the lover of your soul. I know the plans I have for you and there is no need for you to compromise with the evil one for he has already been judged by me as un-righteous therefore remain in My will and in My WORD for it is your rudder and key to open each door I have set before you and it is My Spirit that moves these doors as you declare My will in your life. So come and...

The arched bow, known as a ski jump deck, is a feature of China's second aircraft carrier based on a former Soviet design. TOKYO -- China's first domestically built aircraft carrier will likely be set afloat by the end of the year, according to multiple Chinese military sources. The country already has an aircraft carrier named the Liaoning, but that vessel is a refurbished former Soviet carrier. Beijing purchased the ship, then known as the Varyag, from Ukraine more than a decade ago. The new vessel is believed to share its basic design with the Liaoning. The two ships are...

China has its sights set firmly on Mars and is aiming to launch its own rover to the red planet by 2020. New images have today provided the first glimpse of what this rover might look like when it launches at the end of the decade. As part of the announcement, China also launched a competition for members of the public to come up with a name and logo for the rover. China, which is pouring billions into its space programme and working to catch up with the US and Europe, announced in April it aims to send a spacecraft...

Adding to the latest in a series of military drills, Beijing has said a branch of its coast guard is holding live-fire exercises from Monday to Wednesday (22 - 24 August). The drill is being staged at the Gulf of Tonkin, the northern arm of the South China Sea, home to several territorial disputes among Asian countries. Despite fresh tensions in the disputed waters, China's Maritime Safety Administration said it was banning vessels from entering the area between China's southern island province of Hainan and the northern coast of Vietnam. The Tonkin Gulf has historical significance over the Vietnam War...

...All of this is little comfort to McGrath, who chafes at the thought of the Postal Service helping Chinese merchants poach his customers. “All of us sellers are selling a lot of Chinese goods in America but at least we’re creating jobs, making money, and adding to the economy,” he said. “But when people buy direct from China that’s adding nothing to the American economy.”

Tim Cook will mark his five-year anniversary as the CEO of Apple by doing something that his predecessor Steve Jobs typically avoided: hosting a fundraiser for a presidential candidate. On Wednesday, Cook and Lisa Jackson, Apple's (AAPL, Tech30) head of environmental initiatives, will host an event in California to raise money for Hillary Clinton's presidential campaign. Those invited have reportedly been asked to contribute as much as $50,000. Cook is just the latest in a growing list of tech executives and venture capitalists working to raise big money to help Clinton beat Donald Trump, who has repeatedly attacked tech companies...