Free Republic

In his seven-point economic plan to 'Make America Great Again', presidential candidate Donald Trump had promised to "use every lawful presidential power to remedy trade disputes if China [did] not stop its illegal activities, including its theft of American trade secrets." To this end, he enumerated an unusually detailed list of statutory and unconventional trade policy enforcement tools – Section 232 of the Trade Act of 1962; Section 201 and Section 301 of the Trade Act of 1974 – with which he would punitively sanction China. (this is a somewhat detailed article, I actually read it but especially wanted to...

SHANGHAI (Reuters) - China said it will begin applying its so-called social credit system to flights and trains and stop people who have committed misdeeds from taking such transport for up to a year. People who would be put on the restricted lists included those found to have committed acts like spreading false information about terrorism and causing trouble on flights, as well as those who used expired tickets or smoked on trains, according to two statements issued on the National Development and Reform Commission’s website on Friday. Those found to have committed financial wrongdoings, such as employers who failed...

According to Mr McMahon's claims, the wreckage of the flight is located 16km south of Round Island, which is 22.5km north of Mauritius, in an area of the ocean that has not been searched before.

US President Donald Trump “will not succeed” in dividing European nations against one another over trade, German Economy Minister Peter Altmaier warned on Sunday ahead of a visit to Washington. In the European Union “we are a customs union and act collectively. It cannot be in the interest of the US government to divide Europe, nor will it succeed,” Altmaier told German business daily Handelsblatt. […] “Companies and consumers on both sides would foot the bill if the US and Europe tumble into a trade war,” Altmaier said. Meanwhile, countries like China that stand accused of flooding global markets with...

US President Donald Trump’s “Taiwan Travel Act” continues to draw ire from Chinese authorities. Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Lu Kang said Saturday the bill “severely violates” the “one China” principle and sends “very wrong signals to the ‘pro-independence’ separatist forces in Taiwan.” “China is strongly opposed to [the bill],” Lu said in a statement. “We urge the US side to correct its mistake, stop pursuing any official ties with Taiwan or improving its current relations with Taiwan in any substantive way,” he added. In a separate statement, Chinese defense ministry spokesman Wu Qian said the act “interferes in China’s internal...

Starting in May, Chinese citizens who rank low on the country’s burgeoning “social credit” system will be in danger of being banned from buying plane or train tickets for up to a year, according to statements recently released by the country’s National Development and Reform Commission. With the social credit system, the Chinese government rates citizens based on things like criminal behavior and financial misdeeds, but also on what they buy, say, and do. Those with low “scores” have to deal with penalties and restrictions. China has been working towards rolling out a full version of the system by 2020,...

Last month Russia’s space agency, Roscosmos State Corporation, began work on a contingency plan that would reshape its future in space exploration. The country could shift its human spaceflight cooperation from the U.S. to China, sources within Roscosmos told Popular Mechanics. One possible scenario includes Roscosmos exiting the International Space Station program early. If adopted, the new strategy would mark a historic moment for the Russian space program, which has cooperated with the U.S. for nearly three decades. In 1993, not long after the breakup of the USSR.

U.S. foreign policy toward adversaries such as Russia, North Korea and Syria may turn more aggressive if CIA Director Mike Pompeo becomes secretary of state. Pompeo has lambasted Moscow's aggression toward the West and other countries: January 2018: "I continue to be concerned not only about the Russians but about others' efforts as well. We have many foes who want to undermine Western democracy. So there's this Washington-based focus on Russian interference. I want to make sure we broaden the conversation." North Korea October 2017: Pompeo said Pyongyang was would soon be able to threaten a U.S. city with nuclear...

WASHINGTON — The dust has yet to settle on President Trump’s decision to impose sweeping tariffs on steel and aluminum imports, but the White House is preparing another major trade measure, this time aimed squarely at China. Mr. Trump and his top trade advisers are readying a raft of actions to penalize China’s theft of American intellectual property, including tariffs on at least $30 billion of annual Chinese imports, people familiar with the discussions said. The measures, which could be announced as early as next week, may also include investment restrictions, caps on visas for Chinese researchers and challenges to...

More Americans overall disapprove than approve of President Donald Trump's import tariffs on steel and aluminum, but Republicans back the president, and they believe the U.S. would come out ahead if a trade war were to ensue. A majority of Democrats and a plurality of independents disapprove of the new tariff measures, while two-thirds of Republicans approve.

While Vatican compromises with the government, crosses and statues are removed by forceYINING, China (ChurchMilitant.com) - As the Vatican is negotiating with China's Communist government, the same government has removed crosses and statues from Catholic parishes. Reports say that two Catholic churches in China have recently had their crosses, statues and domes removed at the command of governmental authorities. In Henan Province, authorities removed numerous crosses from the Cathedral of the Sacred Heart of Jesus on March 9. They removed a total of 10 crosses from three structures: the cathedral itself, a gate tower and a smaller old church. After...

Biden Bombshell - Dr. Sebastian Gorka on Hunter Biden's billion dollar deal with the Chinese: I am rarely at a loss for words, but this is potentially one of the biggest pay-for-play scandals outside of Uranium One. Peter Schweizer new book, 'Secret Empires' reveals that 10 days after Joe Biden and his son visit China in 2013, a Chinese bank completes a $1 billion deal with Biden's son who then buys Hennings, a U.S. military supplier. Like the Secretary Hillary Clinton Uranium One deal, Secretary of State John Kerry had to sign off on the deal for approval of the...

For Dan DiMicco, the former steel executive and trade adviser to Trump who reportedly nearly became United States trade representative, there’s no risk of the president’s recently announced tariffs sparking a trade war — we’ve already been in one for years. The only difference now, he said, is that we’re deciding to fight back. “Don’t tell me about starting a trade war,” he said. “The Chinese have been perpetrating a trade war on us since 1995.” (please see full article at the link)

White House trade adviser Peter Navarro said Thursday that President Donald Trump would soon consider new punitive measures against China for its alleged “theft” of intellectual property. U.S. officials, according to news accounts, are considering imposing as much as $60 billion in annual tariffs against Chinese information technology, telecommunications and consumer exports to the U.S. in an effort to trim its chronic annual trade deficit with Beijing by $100 billion. Last year, the U.S. says it imported Chinese goods worth $375 billion more than it exported to China. (please see link for full article)

Shortened title. Full title: SECRET EMPIRES: Joe Biden and John Kerry’s Sons’ Firm Struck Billion-Dollar Deal with the Chinese Government 10 Days After Biden Trip to China The private equity firm of former Vice President Joe Biden’s son Hunter Biden inked a billion-dollar deal with a subsidiary of the Chinese government’s Bank of China just 10 days after the father and son flew to China in 2013. The Biden bombshell is one of many revealed in a new investigative book Secret Empires: How the American Political Class Hides Corruption and Enriches Family and Friends by Government Accountability Institute President and...

Many plastic recyclers are probably making their best quality bales ever, but the seismic shifts in the marketplace, thanks to China's National Sword program, have people still scrambling to move the material. That's the view of Hamilton Wen, director of the plastics division at Newport CH International LLC of Orange, Calif., a broker of recycled plastics. Global market conditions for recycled plastics are evolving due to the implementation of China's National Sword, which essentially banned the import of a variety of recycled materials into that country, including plastics. "It's tough, just because you are making the best quality you ever...

The Trump administration has asked China to reduce its trade imbalance with the United States by $US100 billion even as it prepares tariffs on imports. (please see link for full article)

President Donald Trump’s new tariffs on imported steel and aluminum look like an effort that goes beyond its stated rationale of preserving national security. The tariffs could be the first of a number of initiatives by the Trump administration to retaliate against unfair foreign trade practices. “We’re going to see who’s treating us fairly, who’s not treating us fairly,” Trump said at the White House on March 8 while rolling out the new trade barriers. Trump signed orders imposing a 25 percent tariff on imported steel and a 10 percent tariff on imported aluminum. However, he has kept the doors...

March 14 (Reuters) - The Dow Jones Industrial Average shed more than 250 points on Wednesday as U.S. manufacturers continued to suffer from concerns over the impact of new tariffs on trade. (please see full article at the link)

TurkeyÂ’s ill-advised war in SyriaÂ’s Afrin enclave has further exposed how the Islamist regime of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and his nationalist partners are mobilizing ChinaÂ’s Muslims, especially the Uyghurs, for their proxy battles to advance political and religious goals. The clandestine web of networks that was set up by TurkeyÂ’s National Intelligence Organization (MÄ°T) among Uyghurs and other Muslim groups from Central Asian countries involves not only transporting and facilitating jihadist fighters from ChinaÂ’s Xinxiang region, some of the fiercest and most battle-hardened militants who can only be compared to RussianÂ’s Chechens on the field, but also mobilization of...