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Chinese Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Mao Ning’s Regular Press Conference on February 27, 2024

China Daily: The 55th Session of the United Nations Human Rights Council commenced yesterday. Under the current circumstances, how does China view the role of the UNHRC? What is the consideration for China’s participation this time? We noticed that Foreign Minister Wang Yi made remarks at the high-level segment of the session. Can you give us more details?

Mao Ning: The United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) is a core platform for discussing human rights issues. At the moment, the world is becoming more turbulent, crises and conflicts keep flaring up, and deficit in global human rights governance is widening. There is an urgent need for all parties to build consensus and enhance solidarity and cooperation. China always attaches great importance to the work of the UNHRC and will take an active part in the discussions of all agenda items at this session, encourage all parties to have constructive dialogue and cooperation on human rights issues, and work for fairer and more equitable, reasonable and inclusive global governance on human rights.

Foreign Minister Wang Yi attended the high-level segment of the session and made remarks via video link. He pointed out that protecting and promoting human rights is a common cause for all humanity. It falls upon the entire international community to protect the human rights of all ethnic groups and all people in a fair, equal and effective way. We must put people first. Safeguarding people’s interests must be the basis and goal of the human rights cause. People’s right to survival and development should be protected as a priority and pursued with a greater sense of urgency. We must stand against the attempts to use human rights as a pretext to interfere with other countries’ internal affairs or curb others’ development. We must stay open and inclusive, respect the diversity of world civilizations, and respect all countries’ right to independently choose their paths to human rights development. Countries should not impose their own values or development models on others. We must pursue cooperation that benefits all. Consensus should be built through dialogue, and mutual learning enhanced through exchanges. Human rights must be protected and promoted by ensuring security, advancing development and enhancing cooperation. Emerging issues, such as the relationship between artificial intelligence and human rights, must be properly handled. UN human rights bodies need to be fair and objective and serve as platforms for constructive engagement and cooperation for all sides, rather than a battleground for group politics or bloc confrontation.

Foreign Minister Wang Yi stressed that China is now working to deliver the fruits of modernization to its population in a more substantive and equitable way, and raising the level of human rights protection. As our future is closely tied to that of people around the world, we will actively champion the common values of humanity, and work with all sides to build a community with a shared future for mankind, and make new contributions to the healthy development of the global human rights cause.

Swedish Television: Sweden is about to join NATO. How will this impact China-Sweden relations?

Mao Ning: On European security, China hopes that all parties will work for common, comprehensive, cooperative and sustainable security, follow the principle of indivisible security, and build a balanced, effective and sustainable security architecture through dialogue and consultation and on the basis of respecting each other’s legitimate security concerns, so as to realize peace and lasting security in the region.

On China-Sweden relations, our position is consistent. We value our friendly cooperation with Sweden.

AFP: According to media reports, the Serbian President said yesterday that Chinese leader will visit Serbia this year. Can the Foreign Ministry confirm the visit and provide more details?

Mao Ning: China and Serbia are iron-clad friends. Our relations have been highly robust with solid political mutual trust and fruitful cooperation in various fields. China greatly values its relations with Serbia. We stand ready to work with Serbia to strengthen exchanges at various levels and across the board to elevate the China-Serbia comprehensive strategic partnership to a new level, deliver more benefits to the two peoples and contribute to the efforts to build a community with a shared future for mankind. On the specific visit that you mentioned, I have no information to offer.

The Paper: It’s reported that in its recent report to the US Securities and Exchange Commission, Nvidia included Huawei in its current competitors in AI, chips and various areas for the first time, and said that its competitive position may be further harmed if there’re further changes in the US government’s export controls. What’s your comment?

Mao Ning: What has happened shows that “small yard and high fence” will not stop China’s innovation-driven development, nor will it do any good to US companies or the entire semiconductor industry. Open cooperation is the core driving force for the growth of the semiconductor industry. China is one of the major semiconductor markets in the world. To fragment the market, destabilize global industrial and supply chains, and stymie efficiency and innovation serves no one’s interests. The US needs to follow the principles of market economy and fair competition, and support companies around the world in advancing science and technology through healthy competition.

Reuters: The US-China Science and Technology Agreement was set to expire today after the US extended the pact originally expiring in August 2023 by six months for re-negotiations with China. Please could you tell us whether the pact has been renewed now while the expiration date has passed?

Mao Ning: China-US exchange and cooperation in science and technology is mutually beneficial in nature. What I know is that the two sides have been in communication on the renewal of the agreement. For the specifics, I’d refer you to competent Chinese authorities.

Bloomberg: The Department of Homeland Security is expanding its scrutiny of solar companies in the US. It’s asking for more information about their supply chains. This would appear to be an indication that the Biden Administration is poised to toughen its enforcement of a ban on products linked to Chinese “forced labor.” How does the Ministry respond to this?

Mao Ning: We’ve stated on multiple occasions that the so-called “forced labor” in Xinjiang is nothing but an egregious lie. The US uses the made-up story of “forced labor” to enforce the malicious legislation on Xinjiang and create “forced unemployment” in the region. Such moves seriously violate people’s basic human rights in Xinjiang and the international trade rules. They have also disrupted global industrial and supply chains. The US needs to immediately stop smearing China, stop meddling in China’s internal affairs under the pretext of human rights and stop politicizing and weaponizing economic and trade issues.

US/NATO/EU does not want their citizens to know why Russia must invade Ukraine to survive! / Asian Time: Putin explains why Russia doesn’t pose a threat to Europe. Consider the ‘potentials,’ as Bismarck advised, says Putin in Tucker Carlson interview 美國/北約/歐盟不希望其公民知道為什麼俄羅斯必須入侵烏克蘭才能生存！ /普丁解釋為什麼俄羅斯不對歐洲構成威脅。 普丁在塔克卡爾森採訪中表示，正如俾斯麥建議的那樣，考慮“潛力” By Professor John Walsh, MD, in San Francisco on Feb 28 2024

Tucker Carlson interviewing Russian President Vladimir Putin in February 2024.

Tucker Carlson began his interview of President Vladimir Putin with the words, “On February 24, 2022, you addressed your country in your nationwide address when the conflict in Ukraine started….”

Clearly the war in Ukraine was the motivation and central topic for the interview. But precisely what Putin had to say about the Ukraine war and its bearing on the future has been lost amid frantic cries that Carlson is a “traitor” or “useful idiot” for so much as speaking with the Russian president.

Putin declares Russia not a threat to EU

The interview comes at a time when near-apocalyptic warnings are being issued by the US foreign-policy establishment. Should Putin prevail in Ukraine, Americans are warned, he will next occupy nearby nations such as Poland and the Baltics.

Then, the story goes, he will march across the European continent in a frenzy of conquest, requiring the US to send troops to fight in Europe. The message is, “Be very afraid – and pony up the tax money for a mission Ukraine.”

Is this all-too-familiar call to fund a war in a faraway place with no clear importance for the US reasonable? Tucker Carlson raised this crucial question in a simple and pointed way, and Putin’s reply was unambiguous and unequivocal. Here is the relevant exchange from the transcript:

“Vladimir Putin: They [NATO] are trying to fuel the Russian threat.

“Tucker Carlson: The threat I think you were referring to is Russian invasion of Poland, Latvia – expansionist behavior. Can you imagine a scenario where you send Russian troops to Poland?

“Putin: Only in one case: if Poland attacks Russia. Why? Because we have no interest in Poland, Latvia or anywhere else. Why would we do that? We simply don’t have any interest. It’s just threat-mongering.

“Carlson: Well, the argument, I know you know this, is that, well, he invaded Ukraine – he has territorial aims across the continent. And you are saying unequivocally, you don’t?

“Putin: It is absolutely out of the question. You just don’t have to be any kind of analyst, it goes against common sense to get involved in some kind of global war. And a global war will bring all of humanity to the brink of destruction. It’s obvious.”

Putin cites Bismarck on ‘potentials’ of a nation

Are we to believe what Putin says? There are many reasons we should. But perhaps the most powerful of them comes in another segment of the interview that at first glance is unrelated to Ukraine.

In that segment Putin cites Otto von Bismarck in reply to an assertion of Carlson’s about China. This reply provides us a look into how Putin thinks about international relations. Here it is:

“Carlson: And many in America thought that relations between Russia and the United States would be fine after the collapse of the Soviet Union, at the core. But the opposite happened. But you have never explained why you think that happened, except to say that the West fears a strong Russia. But we have a strong China that the West doesn’t seem to be very afraid of. What about Russia, what do you think convinced the policymakers to take it down?

“Putin: The West is afraid of a strong China more than it fears a strong Russia because Russia has 150 million people, and China has a 1.5 billion population, and its economy is growing by leaps and bounds – over 5% a year, it used to be even more. But that’s enough for China.

“As Bismarck once put it, potentials are most important. China’s potential is enormous – it is the biggest economy in the world today in terms of purchasing power parity and the size of the economy. It has already overtaken the United States, quite a long time ago, and it is growing at a fast clip.”

(In 2023 the US economy grew at a rate of 2.5%; China’s grew at 5.2% of an already larger economy.)

Putin cites Bismarck approvingly for identifying the “potentials” of nations as the “most important” factor. And Putin uses two parameters to assess “potential”: the size of the economy and the size of the population. These are the two pillars on which a country’s military might rests.

What are the potentials of EU or NATO vs Russia?

Let’s apply this thinking to the outcome of a conflict between Russia and the other European nations, using the same criteria Putin does. It is quite simple. Russia has a population of about 150 million, as Putin says; that of the EU+UK is more than 500 million. The PPP-GDP of Russia is about US$5 trillion; that of the EU+UK is about $30 trillion. These numbers put Russia in a most unenviable position.

A comparison with the whole of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization leaves Russia in an even worse position. The population of NATO is 960 million, more than six times as large as Russia’s. NATO’s PPP-GDP is a bit over $50 trillion, 10 times that of Russia. Moreover, NATO has a total of 3.4 million military personnel; Russia has 1.15 million, with a plan to expand to 1.5 million by 2026.

Based on these numbers Russia would be insane to get into a war with the EU nations or with NATO. And whatever one may think of Putin, he is not insane. Watch the interview and you will see a very intelligent man, quite measured in his responses. (Unless you are a history buff, you might want to skip Putin’s history lesson at the outset and begin at the 25-minute mark.)

These numbers defining the military “potential” not only show that Russia is no threat to the rest of Europe; quite the contrary. The EU countries alone or in concert with the US as NATO are grave threats to Russia.

And the record shows that the threat is real. The US has pushed NATO eastward; the fake Russian “threat” has been hyped endlessly in the Western press and by most Western politicians.

From the Balkans to Afghanistan to Libya and beyond, NATO has shown that, far from being a defensive organization, it is an aggressor. And now as in the days of the old colonialism, NATO also has cast its eye on East Asia and an “Indo-Pacific NATO.”

Far from being a “threat,” Russia has every reason to feel threatened. Backed into a corner with NATO on its doorstep, it is no surprise that Russia acted to prevent Ukraine from becoming a platform for invasion from the West as it was twice in the 20th century and as it could be again as a member of NATO.

JOHN WALSH

John V Walsh, formerly a professor of physiology at the University of Massachusetts Chan Medical School, writes on international relations and health care. Follow him on X @JohnWal97469920

Video: Lara Logan, journalist for 35 years, former foreign affairs correspondent for 60 minutes. She was gang raped in Egypt and almost died while working for 60 minutes doing her job as journalist. Today journalism is completely bankrupt. Journalists doing their jobs were sent to jails. Journalists are not allowed to tell the truth. Journalists like Tucker Carlson is labeled as traitor for interviewing Putin and want to charge him with treasons. Today all Mass Medias are controlled by a handful of people and companies such as Facebook, Google, New York Times, Wall Street Journal, British Broadcasting Corporation, Washington Post, Cable News Network and etc. They do not allowed their journalists to report real news and things really happening around the world except for the power elites. It has become a propaganda machine. Lara Logan，當了35年記者，前60分鐘外交事務記者。她在埃及替60分鐘工作時被輪姦，差點喪命。 今天的新聞業已經完全破產了。 履行職責的記者被送進監獄。 記者不被允許說實話。 像塔克·卡爾森這樣的記者因採訪普丁而被貼上叛徒的標籤，並想指控他犯有叛國罪。 今天所有的大眾媒體都被面書、谷歌、紐約時報、華爾街日報、英國廣播公司、華盛頓郵報、有線電視新聞網等少數人和公司控制。他們不允許他們的記者報道真實的新聞，不能得罪權力精英和金主，世界各地發生了事情也不能如實報導，美國全部媒體已成為宣傳機器。
https://rumble.com/v4g963l-lara-logan-journalist-for-35-years-former-foreign-affairs-correspondent-for.html
https://www.tiktok.com/t/ZTLJda7XJ/

Biden campaign joining TikTok proves ‘US national security threat’ rhetoric nonsense

Inciting tensions

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Same position, different perceptions. US past & present: genocide on Native Americans & Native Hawaiian, 1882 Chinese Exclusion Act & Asia hates. Chinese practice and promote common prosperity for human race seems to be in conflict with US’s zero sum game.

Regional conflicts contribute to US arms sales, jobs, flight of capital from allies & friends. Ukraine conflicts: US$2 trillions left Europe came to US to pop up our stock market. Biggest winner is US. Biggest loser is Europe especially Germany when we blow up the Russian gas pipeline

Ukraine war stretches into its 3rd year, China’s efforts as a mediator, offering its services to help bring about a cessation to the fighting, have yet to win much success when the military industrial complex controlled US/NETO says no.

Video: Russian troops in Donbas counterattack across the board, fierce fighting breaks out in Rabotino 俄軍頓巴斯全線反擊 拉博蒂諾爆發激戰
https://rumble.com/v4g70q9-russian-troops-in-donbas-counterattack-across-the-board-fierce-fighting-bre.html
https://www.tiktok.com/t/ZTL1KXYtK/