China Increases Defense Budget, Premier Orders the Military to Prepare for War

China will increase its military budget to 1.35 trillion yuan (about $207.8 billion) in 2021, which is 6.8 percent higher than 2020, Chinese state-run media reported on Mar. 6. One expert told The Epoch Times that the Chinese Communist Party (CCP)’s top priority is to strengthen its military.

During the ruling party’s most important annual meeting, known as the “two sessions,” on Mar. 5, Premier Li Keqiang said, “[We should] comprehensively strengthen the military exercises and fully prepare for war.”

“Building a strong military is one of [Chinese leader] Xi Jinping’s top tasks. His slogan is building a ‘strong China,’” U.S.-based China affairs commentator Tang Jingyuan told The Epoch Times on Mar. 7. “I think Xi will take aggressive actions after he can take another tenure [in 2022].”

Ambition

Li Keqiang said in his “two sessions” report that China planned to strengthen its military in 2021 by enforcing five aspects: politics, reform, technologies, talents, and managing by laws.

Li also asked local governments at different levels to support the development of the military.

In the drafted document, titled, “The Fourteenth Five-Year Plan for the National Economic and Social Development of China and the Outline of Long-Term Goals for 2035,” which was first released at the “two sessions” on Mar. 5, the regime emphasized that the military must be loyal to the CCP. The document also said that developing technologies in the following fields is crucial: ocean, space, cyberspace, biology, new energy, artificial intelligence (AI), and quantum technology.

The plan said that technological developments must be performed through cooperation between the military and civilians, which the Chinese regime called “civil-military fusion.”

The document explained: “The military and civilians should plan the technology’s development as a whole, share the resources and facilities with one other, transfer the technologies to both uses, and co-develop the key businesses.”

The plan mentioned human resources: “Strengthen the joint training of military and civilian personnel, complete the system that supports the personnel to work for either military or civilian, set up common qualification certifications [that both military and civilians accept].”

The plan reiterated several times about modernizing and developing advanced weaponries, and equipping the military with intelligent weaponries.

Target

Chinese authorities continue to say that developing the military is for defense purposes.

On Feb. 28, the Chinese Ministry of National Defense posted a question on its official WeChat account: “China keeps on strengthening its military force and showing its muscles to the world [in recent years]. China becomes more and more aggressive when having disputes with neighboring countries. Does this mean China has changed its defensive defense policy?”

The defense ministry then claimed that China wouldn’t pursue hegemony nor expansion and believes in defensive defense.

However, the Chinese military has grown more aggressive in the Taiwan Strait and South China Sea, such as performing military drills, sailing an aircraft carrier, and sending warplanes to enter Taiwan’s airspace. In August 2020, Beijing launched ballistic missiles to the South China Sea to target imaginary foreign aircraft carriers.

“It’s well known that the Chinese regime eagerly wants to unify Taiwan [with the mainland],” U.S.-based China affairs commentator Tang Jingyuan said. “It’s just a question of timing.”

Tang believes that Xi Jinping wants China to compete with the United States, which is the reason that he set his administration’s political slogan as “strong China.” Xi’s slogan is different from former Chinese leader Mao Zedong’s “stand up” and Deng Xiaoping’s “rich China.”

“The Chinese government calls Taiwan a treasure island. It wants to occupy Taiwan, which can make the Beijing regime stronger,” Tang added.

Based on his observation, Tang believes that Xi plans to unify Taiwan with the mainland during U.S. President Joe Biden’s term.

https://www.theepochtimes.com/china-increases-defense-budget-premier-orders-the-military-to-prepare-for-war_3725377.html

https://archive.is/m3fxS#selection-1307.0-1319.127

New York Lawmakers Announce Cuomo Impeachment Resolution Amid Twin Scandals

A group of New York legislators on Monday said they’re submitting an impeachment petition because of Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s handling of the COVID-19 pandemic and his alleged sexual harassment.

“We’re going to introduce this resolution because we believe the time has come. In order to lead this great state as governor, you need to have credibility and trust. And unfortunately, we feel the governor has lost that, and now has an inability to lead,” Assembly Minority Leader Will Barclay, a Republican, told a press conference in Albany.

Five women have accused Cuomo, a Democrat, of sexually harassing them, including four former aides. Two came forward over the weekend.

The new accusers prompted the state’s top Democrat, New York Senate Majority Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins, to join the dozens of legislators who have called on Cuomo to resign.

“Every day there is another account that is drawing away from the business of government. We have allegations about sexual harassment, a toxic work environment, the loss of credibility surrounding the COVID-19 nursing home data and questions about the construction of a major infrastructure project,” Stewart-Cousins said in a statement, joining approximately 29 other Democrats who want Cuomo to resign.

Republicans won’t be able to force a vote on the resolution but they hope Democrats will back them on the proposal.

At the same time the sexual harassment scandal unfolds, the governor is facing questions about his administration’s handling of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The questions center on his administration’s March 2020 memorandum ordering nursing home operators to take back residents, or accept new residents, even if they tested positive for COVID-19. Critics say the order led to a higher number of nursing home resident deaths from COVID-19, the disease caused by the CCP (Chinese Communist Party) virus. But administration officials have defended the move, claiming workers in the homes were the primary cause of the virus spread.

New York officials have acknowledged withholding some nursing home death data from the public. Officials said they didn’t publish the figures because they couldn’t be verified, after a report that they altered the data under pressure from Cuomo’s administration.

The number of nursing home resident deaths shot up to 12,743 in a January disclosure that followed an investigative report by New York Attorney General Letitia James.

James, a Democrat, is due to appoint a special prosecutor to investigate the sexual harassment claims.The Department of Justice, meanwhile, is conducting a probe of Cuomo’s COVID-19 order.

Cuomo has repeatedly refused to resign, telling reporters on Sunday that voters elected him.

“There is no way I resign,” he said.

Cuomo has offered apologies in a press conference and a written statement to the women who have accused him, but urged New Yorkers to withhold judgement until the probe into the claims is finished.

Republicans on Monday said the impeachment resolution is needed because of Cuomo’s refusal to step down.

“Each further day the governor spends in office threatens increased harm to our great state. He must be held accountable,” Assemblyman Jake Ashby, a Republican, told the press conference.

https://www.theepochtimes.com/new-york-lawmakers-announce-cuomo-impeachment-resolution-amid-twin-scandals_3725384.html

https://archive.is/dxvJI#selection-1153.0-1189.187

>>13172779

use archive link

BGI Genomics—the Chinese Communist Party-linked genomics firm flagged by U.S. officials as “mining” the DNA of Americans—has collaborated extensively with the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, The National Pulse can reveal.

The company has recently come under fire following a 60 Minutes exposé on the company’s use of COVID-19 tests to “collect, store and exploit biometric information” on American citizens, according to former U.S. intelligence officials. What’s more, a recent Reuters article linked the firm to the Chinese Communist Party’s military.

In addition to the Obama administration enabling the firm to gain a foothold in the U.S., the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation played a critical role in BGI’s American expansion.

In September of 2012, the Microsoft founder’s foundation signed a “Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) to form a collaboration on global health and agricultural development with the goal of achieving common objectives in health and agricultural development.”

The co-founder of BGI praised the agreement, celebrating the forthcoming “scientific breakthroughs in the areas of human, plant and animal genomics.” He also revealed that the collaborative efforts focused on sequencing genomes—the precise activity flagged for national security threats in the 60 Minutes segment:

“Having contributed to the Human Genome Project as well as sequencing the genomes of many critical plant and animal species and human diseases, including the initial sequencing of the rice genome as well as our involvement in the Rice 10,000 Genome Project, the 1,000 Plants and Animals Genome Project, the International 1,000 genomes project, the 1,000 Rare Diseases Project, the International Cancer Genome Project, Autism Genome 10K, among others, BGI looks forward to partnering with the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation in this significant collaboration to apply genomics research to benefit global human health.”

The memorandum predates Gates’s 2010 visit to BGI’s China-based headquarters, where he witnessed the company’s genetic sequencing operation as described by the Financial Times:

In 2010, Bill Gates visited an unremarkable building in an industrial estate on the outskirts of Shenzhen, China. With row after row of high-tech machinery humming inside, the place could easily be mistaken for an anonymous data warehouse. But Mr Gates and Ray Yip, head of the Gates Foundation’s China operation, saw something else that day. As they toured the BGI headquarters, the two men were stunned by the ambition of the scientists working at the biotech company. Inside, more than 150 state of the art genetic sequencing machines were analysing the equivalent of thousands of human genomes a day. The company is working towards a goal of building a huge library based on the DNA of many millions of people. BGI executives see this not as the end-game, but as the springboard for new drug discoveries, advanced genetic research and a transformation of public health policy.

Yip praised the endeavor as “out-of-the-box,” “open,” and “liberal”:

“We were taken aback. We never thought we would find such an out-of-the-box approach. They are in their own league — open and liberal. Most people only see them as a service provider for DNA analysis. It is the database they are building that will make them formidable.”

The Gates Foundation has also funded BGI projects relating to genome sequencing alongside Chinese Communist Party bodies such as the Ministry of Science and Technology and Academy of Agricultural Sciences.

Similarly, Dr. Tadataka Yamada, the former president of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation’s global health program, serves as the Chairman of BGI’s Scientific Advisory Board.

And in 2016, BGI launched a U.S.-based office in Washington—the home state of Microsoft and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.

BGI’s ties to Washington also appear to have influenced the firm’s decision to target the state with its COVID-19 test kits, part of the company’s plot to “mine” the data of Americans.

“Early last March, the state of Washington was the site of the first major coronavirus outbreak in the U.S. As COVID rates and the need for tests were spiking, BGI Group, the world’s largest biotech firm—a global giant based in China—approached the state of Washington with an enticing offer. In a strikingly personal letter to the governor, BGI proposed to build and help run state-of-the-art COVID testing labs,” 60 Minutes summarized.

But officials ultimately turned down the offer at the request of the Office of the Director of National Intelligence over BGI’s ties to the Chinese government.

https://thenationalpulse.com/exclusive/bgi-genomics-gates-foundation-collab/

>>13172602

This officer is a Patriot. They slow walked his request for back-up for 3 hours. The people whose actions deserve a closer look in this are:

Army Secretary

Chris Miller

House Sargeant at Arms – Paul Irving

Robert G. Salesses, a senior DOD official performing the duties of the assistant secretary - in Senate Testimony, couldn't explain delay, but received a promotion from Biden on Inaug Day.

Plus usual suspects: Wray, Pelosi, McConnell

>>13172858

Interesting she got a nice plucky job at FOX when all other loyalists are being cancelled.

Book Deal Next?