Biden Hosts First Quad Summit At White House As 'Counter-China' Allies Cement 'Unofficial' Alliance

Amid regional concerns of China's growing power in the Indo-Pacific, President Biden will host leaders of the Quad alliance at the White House on Friday, where they are expected to discuss the fight against infrastructure and technological cooperation, and the fight against Covid-19. Looming heavy in the background is the US-Australia-UK 'Aukus' deal unveiled over a week ago which has been loudly condemned by Beijing.

Biden will first hold a bilateral meeting with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Mode, after which Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison and Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga will join them to meet as a group, and then Suga will meet with Biden one-on-one after this.

A senior administration official previewed Friday's summit by saying, "At the outset of the admin the president indicated he wanted to take this institution that’s an informal gathering of leading democracies in the Indo-Pacific and basically lift it both to the leader level, and ensure we are working together to build better lines of communication and strengthening cooperation and habits of cooperation amongst us," according to Reuters.

The official also said the Quad is part of the "larger fabric of engagement" that reflects White House priorities in the Indo-Pacific region, which has especially been focused on shoring up resistance to China's influence among allies...Heading into the first in-person leaders meeting, the survival of the current iteration of the grouping across two US administrations and changes in governments in Japan and Australia "speaks to [the Quad’s] durability and how, you could say, the quad is here to stay," Sameer Lalwani, a senior fellow for Asia strategy at the Stimson Center, told Al Jazeera.

Importantly, The Hill highlights the US need to protect and ensure its semiconductor supply amid the global shortage: Beyond vaccine production, the group will announce a supply chain initiative focused on semiconductors amid a global shortage of the key part for cars and other products. They will also detail a 5G diversification effort, as well as a fellowship sponsored by private donors that will send 100 masters or doctoral students — 25 from each country — to leading U.S. universities to study science and technology programs.

Interestingly just ahead of the Friday summit, the White House further sought to clarify the "unofficial" nature of the gathering and that the Quad is not in any way a military alliance. "I do want to underscore that The Quad is an unofficial gathering," an administration official was cited in CNN as cautioning. "Although we have a number of working groups and we are deepening cooperation on a very daily basis, it's also the case that it is not a regional security organization," the official sought to clarify.

https://www.zerohedge.com/political/biden-hosts-first-quad-summit-white-house-counter-china-allies-cement-unofficial-alliance

Not AF1 Joe vanishes to Camp David later

5:35 PM EST Not Af1 Joe departs the White House en route Camp David

https://factba.se/biden/calendar

ZEUS51 USAF RC-135 Rivet Joint done off Crimea in da Black Sea heading sw back to Souda Bay, Crete

Qatar AF LHOB248 C-17 se from Brescia Int'l Airport and back to AL Udeid-arrived on 0922 from Al Udeid AB

>>95105

>>95107

morning

>>95106

dhey like "wait wut??"

see wut fuckery dhey got planned for later..always do.

82-8000 USAF 747 north from JBA depart..prolly go to Harrisburg, PA for some go arounds...cert./maintenance flight

Still no 92-9000.....

China’s Troubled HNA Group Says Chairman, CEO Detained by Police

The chairman and CEO of the Chinese conglomerate HNA Group Co. have both been detained by police, the latest setback for a firm that is being managed by the government.

Chairman Chen Feng and CEO Tan Xiangdong were detained by police in the southern province of Hainan over suspected crimes, the company said in a statement late Friday, without providing details of what the alleged offenses were.

HNA Group’s operations are unaffected, the statement added, and its restructuring is moving forward smoothly. Once a prominent shareholder of firms like Hilton Worldwide Holdings Inc. and Deutsche Bank AG, HNA is the embodiment of a short-lived era when Chinese conglomerates expanded aggressively with global acquisitions fueled by debt. Weighed by more than $75 billion of debt even after shedding assets, the group’s core aviation business suffered during the coronavirus pandemic, triggering the government of Hainan to move in and take charge in February last year. A key Communist Party-led committee at HNA left Chen, its founder, off a list of members earlier this year, signaling he was in trouble. The party committee was taken over by Gu Gang, leader of a government-appointed working group overseeing the company’s liquidity risk.

https://www.bnnbloomberg.ca/china-s-troubled-hna-group-says-chairman-ceo-detained-by-police-1.1656885

>>95058

China Steps In To Ensure Evergrande Funds Used To Complete Housing Project, Not Pay Creditors

With Evergrande's foreign bondholders saying they have yet to receive a closely watched $83.5 million interest payment that was due at midnight in New York on Thursday, or noon on Friday in Hong Kong, in effect starting a 30 day grace period before a hard default is triggered, Bloomberg reports that China’s housing regulator has "stepped up oversight of China Evergrande Group’s bank accounts to ensure funds are used to complete housing projects and not diverted to pay creditors."

In other words, China is now not only deciding how the insolvent developer distributes its cash flow and, but is also forcing it to prioritize operational outlays over payments to creditors, a step which companies traditionally take after they have filed for bankruptcy. The move is a confirmation that homeowners come first on Beijing’s priority list for managing the Evergrande crisis - in hopes of preventing a major hit to China's property sector - even as bondholders, banks and other creditors seek repayments on more than $300 billion in liabilities from the world’s most indebted developer.

According to the report, the Ministry of Housing and Urban-Rural Development instructed local subsidiaries across China last month to supervise funds for Evergrande’s property projects in special escrow accounts. Under the heightened oversight, the developer’s funds must first be used for construction to ensure project delivery. Furthermore, cash payments from these government-supervised accounts, such as paying suppliers, will be subject to state approval; local bureaus in some cities have already started to implement the measures.

Meanwhile, the cash-strapped firm has not only not made the payment on offshore bonds, but Asia’s largest issuer of junk-rated dollar bonds has also kept a complete radiosilence failing to make a stock exchange filing or public comment about the coupon. Three holders of the note told Bloomberg they haven’t received payment. While few will dub this creeping takeover of Evergrande for the nationalization it is, Bloomberg does note that "the bank account restrictions underscore that policymakers are taking a more active role in the turmoil as missed payments by Evergrande on investment products spark protests across the country." In July, a Chinese city halted sales at two Evergrande projects alleging the troubled developer misappropriated funds by only depositing a portion of the proceeds from housing sales into the escrow accounts, according to a local government statement. To ensure Evergrande doesn’t divert these funds, the housing bureau in Nansha district created an escrow account under its own name this month to take in proceeds from Evergrande homebuyers, cutting off the developer’s direct access to the money.

A lack of funds has already led to a construction halt on some unfinished housing properties, sparking social unrest among buyers. In Guangzhou, buyers surrounded a local housing bureau earlier this month to demand Evergrande restart construction. Separately, in an attempt to preserve continuity of Evergrande operations, including maintaining construction and project delivery, a focal point to resolve Evergrande’s liquidity crisis in an effort to steer retail investors away from cash repayment on its wealth products, the company has pushed them to accept deeply discounted properties, both to individuals and to companies. However, many of the projects aren’t finished. As previously reported, Evergrande owes about $147 billion in trade and other payables to suppliers as part of its attempt to mask its indebtedness; the company received down payments on yet-to-be-completed properties from about 1.6 million homebuyers as of December. Evergrande founding Chairman, and formerly China's second richest man, Hui Ka Yan has emphasized the importance of completing housing projects, telling staff on Wednesday that only by fully resuming construction and sales can Evergrande ensure homebuyers’ rights.

Meanwhile, the biggest priority for Beijing is simpler: preserving social order. Disgruntled retail investors gathered at the company’s Shenzhen headquarters for at least three straight days this month, and unconfirmed videos of protests against the developer in other parts of China have been shared widely online.

https://www.zerohedge.com/markets/china-steps-ensure-evergrande-funds-used-complete-housing-project-not-pay-creditors

>>95124

can ya add dis?

>>95097

>>95132

morning frb

>>95133

ty w

not putting in da other china stuff..crypto shitz

you'z all seen it by nao.

>>95138

rarely eat like dat in da morning.

Moar hongry later when I do.