Selected articles (August 14, 2022)

Selected articles (August 14, 2022)

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China-US decoupling gushes out

By M. K. Bhadrakumar

August 13, 2022

China-US decoupling gushes out

„In a flurry of statements on Friday against the backdrop of escalating US-China tensions, five of China’s biggest state-owned companies announced their intent to delist from the New York Stock Exchange — PetroChina Co Ltd, China Life Insurance Co, China Petroleum & Chemical Corp, Aluminium Corp of China and Sinopec Shanghai Petrochemical Co. which represent over 300 billion dollars in market cap.   […] As of August 2022, the market cap of these Chinese giants are as follows: PetroChina ($132.11 billion); China Life Insurance ($94.88 billion); China Petroleum & Chemical Corp ($70.23 billion).  Aluminium Corp of China ($10.29 billion) is also the world’s second-largest alumina producer and third-largest primary aluminium producer; and, Sinopec Shanghai Petrochemical Co.($3.77 billion) is a subsidiary of Sinopec (market cap: $68.45 billion), and is one of the largest petrochemical enterprises in China.. […] One unattributed commentary in Global Times threatened  on August 4 that “With the start of major military drills around the Taiwan island, the mainland has actually started or accelerated the process of reunification, which the US cannot stop. That means China is, in effect, prepared for US intervention. One can only imagine what China will do to eliminate potential risks, including its massive holdings of US treasuries. “China is the second-largest foreign holder of US treasuries, only after Japan. China’s holdings of US treasury securities dropped to $980.8 billion in May, falling below $1 trillion for the first time in 12 years… further deterioration of China-US relations will likely have a direct impact on China’s risk appetite for holding US treasuries, and reducing holding of US treasuries could become a precautionary option. That could deal another blow to the global standing of the US dollar— the real backbone of the US economy. […]“

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How Britain fueled Ukraine’s war machine and invited direct conflict with Russia

By T.J. Coles

August 12, 2022

https://thegrayzone.com/2022/08/12/britains-military-russia-ukraine/

„Britain has played a key role in NATO forward troop deployments and training exercises on Russia’s borders. With war underway, the UK sends billions in arms, special forces, and volunteers to ensure escalation. […]  From 2015 to this year, the UK has trained over 22,000 Ukrainian military personnel as part of the Maritime Training Initiative and Operation Orbital. […]“

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Colossal Financial Pyramid: BlackRock and The WEF “Great Reset”

By F. William Engdahl

August 13, 2022

https://www.globalresearch.ca/more-blackrock-than-you-might-imagine/5748159

„A virtually unregulated investment firm today exercises more political and financial influence than the Federal Reserve and most governments on this planet. The firm, BlackRock Inc., the world’s largest asset manager, invests a staggering $9 trillion in client funds worldwide, a sum more than double the annual GDP of the Federal Republic of Germany. This colossus sits atop the pyramid of world corporate ownership, including in China most recently. Since 1988 the company has put itself in a position to de facto control the Federal Reserve, most Wall Street mega-banks, including Goldman Sachs, the Davos World Economic Forum Great Reset, the Biden Administration and, if left unchecked, the economic future of our world. BlackRock is the epitome of what Mussolini called Corporatism, where an unelected corporate elite dictates top down to the population. […]“

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Iran Confirms Drone Sale To Russia – But What Will It Buy In Exchange?

By Moon of Alabama

August 13, 2022

https://www.moonofalabama.org/2022/08/iran-confirms-drone-sale-to-russia-but-what-will-it-buy-in-exchange.html#more

„[…] Iran and Russia had expanded the level of their strategic cooperation in various fields, most recently in space when a Russian rocket launched an Iranian satellite into orbit from the Russian launch facility in Kazakhstan. Iran will undoubtedly benefit from renewing its bank of objectives and identifying more targets related to its enemies based in the Middle East, mainly the US military bases and Israel. Moreover, Russia has signed a contract with Iran to buy 1,000 drones after Iran delivered a few planes and a simulator on which Russian officers trained: they successfully used the first drones in Ukraine. This move is considered unprecedented for a superpower to buy its drones from Iran. Tehran considers this to be recognition of its advanced and effective military industry, achieved despite 43 years of US sanctions on the “Islamic Republic”. […]“

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