6 Aug, 2022 14:38

Pelosi ‘was China’s dream’ – Trump

The former president said “Crazy Nancy Pelosi” gave Beijing an excuse to escalate over Taiwan

Former President Donald Trump has condemned House Speaker Nancy Pelosi for visiting Taiwan, calling her trip “China’s dream.” Trump previously argued that Pelosi’s visit, which led to large-scale Chinese military drills and a severing of some diplomatic links with the US, would “cause great friction and hatred.”

“Crazy Nancy Pelosi, what the hell? What was she doing in Taiwan?” Trump said during a campaign-style rally in Wisconsin on Friday. “She was China’s dream. She gave them an excuse. They’ve been looking for that excuse, she gave it. Everything she touches turns to you-know-what.”

Pelosi visited Taiwan on Tuesday, after repeated warnings from Beijing that doing so would have diplomatic and military consequences. Although Taiwan has governed itself since 1949, China still claims sovereignty over the island and considers high-level visits like Pelosi’s to be tacit endorsements of Taiwanese independence. The US has officially recognized Beijing’s claim over Taiwan since the 1970s under the One-China policy.

Following Pelosi’s visit, China launched large-scale military exercises, imposed trade restrictions on Taiwan, sanctioned Pelosi and her family, and cut communications with Washington on key issues like maritime security, transnational law enforcement, and climate change. As China’s military drills continued into the weekend, Chinese military officials are reportedly refusing to answer calls from their American counterparts.

While in office, Trump oversaw a pivoting of US foreign policy from the Middle East to China, with the Pentagon’s 2018 National Defense Strategy naming China as the top “strategic competitor,” and waged a trade war against Beijing for much of his term. When Covid-19 emerged from the Chinese city of Wuhan in 2020, Trump immediately branded it “the China virus,” and later accused China of “destroy[ing] the world” with the pathogen.

However, while more than half of the US Senate’s 50 Republicans praised Pelosi for following through with her visit, Trump argued beforehand that it was a bad idea.

“Why is Nancy Pelosi getting involved with China and Taiwan other than to make trouble and more money, possibly involving insider trading and information for her cheatin’ husband?” he asked in the run-up to the trip, referring to her husband’s purchase of semiconductor stocks ahead of a successful vote by Congress on a bill to subsidize the industry in the US.

However, Paul Pelosi sold this stock at a loss before the vote, with a spokesman saying the decision to sell was made to combat “misinformation” linking the purchase to the vote. Pelosi has denied ever sharing insider information with her husband.

Pelosi also met with the chairman of the world’s largest semiconductor manufacturer while in Taiwan, as the company’s planned Arizona factory looks set to benefit from the US subsidies, once President Joe Biden signs the bill into law.

“Everything she touches turns to Chaos, Disruption, and ‘crap,’” Trump continued. “The China mess is the last thing she should be involved in… Crazy Nancy just inserts herself and causes great friction and hatred. She is such a mess!!!

https://www.rt.com/news/560369-trump-pelosi-china-taiwan/

6 Aug, 2022 12:02

Europe’s aerospace industry fears Russia sanctions – WSJ

A disruption of titanium exports could spell trouble for plane manufacturers

Europe’s aerospace industry would be in danger if sanctions disrupt the supply of Russian titanium, the Wall Street Journal reported on Friday, citing the top management of Airbus.

Russia’s VSMPO-Avisma is the world’s largest supplier of the metal and was the main trading partner for the US-based Boeing and Europe’s Airbus.

While Boeing halted purchases of Russian titanium from VSMPO, Airbus has continued buying it through unsanctioned entities and has lobbied to keep the firm off the sanctions list.

“The ones we would sanction would be ourselves. If they [VSMPO] stop delivering to worldwide global aerospace, it’s the end of the story. So it’s a typical lose-lose,” the WSJ quoted Airbus CEO Guillaume Faury as saying.

VSMPO meets about half of Airbus’ titanium needs. The metal is widely used in plane making because it is light, strong, and resistant to corrosion.

Before the sanctions, Boeing received about a third of its titanium from Russia. Apart from Japan, US allies don’t produce aircraft-quality metal. The Department of Commerce has repeatedly described the current situation as a threat to national security.

After the start of Moscow’s military operation in Ukraine, plane manufacturers said they were looking for alternative sources of titanium, but according to the WSJ, this diversification did not happen.

https://www.rt.com/business/560324-russia-eu-aviation-titanium/

I wonder if these EU countries are pissed they listened to Bidan, that they and Ukraine could win in a war against Russia? Fools leading fools

6 Aug, 2022 03:55

US readies billion dollar weapons package for Ukraine – Reuters

The White House is set for a massive shipment of heavy and long-range arms to Kiev, Reuters reports

The US government is reportedly preparing its largest weapons transfer to Ukraine to date, with officials ready to authorize another $1 billion in military aid, including advanced rocket and missile platforms and additional ammunition.

The new aid package could be announced as soon as next week, Reuters reported on Friday, citing three unnamed officials. It would bring the total US security assistance to Kiev to nearly $10 billion since Russia sent troops into Ukraine on February 24.

While the officials said President Joe Biden has yet to formally sign off on the transfer, the current proposal would see $1 billion in arms shipped to Kiev, including additional munitions for the HIMARS rocket system, NASAMS surface-to-air missiles, and up to 50 M113 armored personnel carriers, allegedly the ‘medical’ variant.

A separate military aid package to Ukraine was announced on Monday, worth around $550 million, and also featured HIMARS rockets.

Washington has so far sent a total of 16 HIMARS systems to Ukraine, longer-range platforms capable of striking targets inside Russian territory. Though Moscow has claimed to have eliminated some of the weapons from the battlefield, US military officials have disputed the Russian account, insisting Kiev’s HIMARS remain intact.

The new massive arms transfer also comes after a Pentagon decision to allow US military personnel to treat wounded Ukrainian troops at a large US-run hospital in western Germany, though the logistics for that arrangement remain unclear, as the facility is more than 1,000 miles away from Ukraine’s capital and even further from active battle zones in the Donbass region.

https://www.rt.com/news/560341-us-ukraine-weapons-package/

I really wonder if they overestimate the value of what they are sending for their money laundering operations.