Tag Archives: Drug Shortages

Jun 20 2023

Palestine Enters the Chat


Armstrong Economics Blog/War Re-Posted Jun 20, 2023 by Martin Armstrong

Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas met with Chinese President Xi Jinping for a three-day visit. Xi called Abbas a “good friend” and said that China fully supports Palestine. “We have always firmly supported the just cause of the Palestinian people to restore their legitimate national rights,” Xi stated. China and Palestine have had good diplomatic relations for years, but this is the first time Xi fully committed to helping Palestine restore statehood.

Peace talks between Palestine and Israel ended in 2014. China may have mended tensions between Iran and Saudi Arabia, but Israel-Palestine is another issue entirely. The land dispute in this region can be traced back to biblical days. Historians believe Palestine comes from the word “Philistia” or Philistines who are cited in the Torah and Old Testament as sworn enemies of the Jews. Muslims, Christians, and Jews alike know the story of King David battling the Philistines to become king of Israel, albeit they all interpret him a bit differently.

The region has been taken over by numerous empires over the ages. More recently, after the demise of the Ottoman Empire during the Great War in 1918, the British claimed Palestine. The British then established a Jewish nation in the region in 1923. Two decades later, in 1947, the United Nations decided to split Palestine into two states – one Arab and one Jewish. Arab leaders disagreed with the ruling. Britain withdrew, Israel then became a state in May 1948, leading to the Arab-Israeli War. The war ended in 1949, with Israel claiming control of over two-thirds of the territory. The two have been at odds ever since.

That is an extremely over-simplified version of events, but the hatred runs deep. The West has fully supported Israel in maintaining its territory, and China’s intervention in Palestine will be seen as a threat. “We especially appreciate the Chinese side’s commitment to financing a number of development projects presented by Palestine. We wish the speedy dispatch of technical delegations to implement these projects,” Abbas said. China is strategic. They want to assert dominance in the Middle East, where the West has lost its footing nearly everywhere besides Israel.

Jun 7 2023

Iran and Saudi Arabia – Mutual Friends


Armstrong Economics Blog/World Trade Re-Posted Jun 7, 2023 by Martin Armstrong

Iran and Saudi Arabia are now mutual friends through China. The two countries had been sworn enemies since the beginning of time, representing conflicting Shiite and Sunni Muslim groups that have been battling since their religion was founded. They were murdering one another through a proxy war in Yemen that has left over 150,000 dead. Then the unthinkable happened – the two nations came together at the request of China and made amends.

Chinese President Xi Jinping made them an offer they couldn’t refuse – the potential to form a strong alliance through trade without Western influence. Saudi Arabia issued a shocking press release in March, given the deep hatred it had for Iran. Saudi Arabia stated it was keen on “developing good neighborly relations…in light of their brotherly ties.”

Now, Iran announced it is reopening its embassy in Saudi Arabia as the two continue to put their differences aside for the prospect of economic prosperity. The embassy closed abruptly in 2016 after Saudi Arabia executed a Shiite cleric, leading to mass protests outside the embassy in Tehran. Riyadh and Tehran have not had diplomatic relations since.

Iran and Saudi Arabia would like to join the BRICS alliance between Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa. If the two nations join, all major energy exporters will be within this alliance. BRICS currently contains 42% of the global population and over a quarter of the global economy. There would be absolutely no need for Western interference, and the threat of sanctions would hold little meaning. Saudi Arabia has already begun settling some oil transactions in the yuan instead of the dollar. Iran has been aggressively trading with the bloc; non-oil trade between BRICS and Iran reached $38.43 billion in the 2022-2023 fiscal year, marking a 14% year-on-year increase. China is Iran’s top trading partner in the BRICs alliance, with $30.32 billion of the aforementioned funds going directly to Beijing. An alliance could mean economic domination.

China seems to have done the unthinkable by brokering a peace treaty between the two nations. Opening an embassy signals that the countries are now ready to begin diplomatic relations once again. The BRICS alliance is growing stronger by the day, and there are rumors of the UAE, Egypt, Algeria, Bahrain, and even Turkey requesting to join. As our models have been warning, China is posturing itself to claim the throne of the financial capital of the world by 2032.

Jun 5 2023

Tiananmen – 34 Years Ago, Tonight


Posted originally on the CTH on June 4, 2023 | Sundance 

It was 34 years ago tonight when the Chinese government sent the Mongolian Army into Tiananmen Square to crackdown on the mostly student protestors.

It is against the law in China to recognize today, memorialize the dead, or even speak publicly of this bloody anniversary. Few people know the short and long-term political ramifications to this event which extended far beyond the borders of China.

Many people are familiar with this image:

However, not as many people are as familiar with the wide shot.

That’s some serious courage right there.

The June 4th 1989 anniversary holds a great deal of personal significance for those who witnessed the events.  Many of us remember exactly where we were as the first reports started to leak out.

Few people know how most of the regular Chinese military refused orders to open fire on the protesting crowd. Hundreds of young Chinese military soldiers actually formed lines around the mostly student activists in an effort to protect them. The Chinese government eventually bypassed the regulars and instructed the Mongolian military divisions who carried out the orders.

No one really knows how many were killed, and even the families of the fallen were too scared to speak publicly.

Those who were lost live on in whispered memories of lore.

So many.

So young.

We remember.

…Then the tanks came….

Jun 1 2023

Youth Unemployment in China


Armstrong Economics Blog/China Re-Posted Jun 1, 2023 by Martin Armstrong

Chinese youth are struggling to find jobs in urban areas. Unemployment for the 16-to-24 demographic reached a new high in April at 20.4%. Youth unemployment has steadily risen this year after reaching 17.3% in January, 18.1% in February, and 19.6% in March. These young adults were born under the one-child policy that has since been repealed, adding more pressure to succeed to help support their families.

The main change here is that this generation is highly educated. Working in the countryside or in blue-collar roles became less appealing as the opportunity to attend college became widely available. Additionally, China is shifting to a consumer country, and high-paying jobs in the city are more desirable. Chinese students are encouraged to study STEM and seek out top-earning positions. There were 96.37 million people aged 16 to 24 living in urban areas as of March, and 64.18 million were unable to participate in the workforce as the majority were students. Those students are now graduating, and many will be unable to find work in their field of study, similar to most nations.

Unemployment remains low among the “main labor force” aged 25 to 59, but Chinese youth will need to compete for highly desirable jobs in the cities. The new generation is smart, highly educated, and willing to work. But competition will be fierce.

May 26 2023

Chinese Hackers Target US Infrastructure


Armstrong Economics Blog/War Re-Posted May 26, 2023 by Martin Armstrong

The US National Security Agency (NSA) issued a warning to all members of the Five Eyes organization that China has launched a cyber attack against the US. “Private sector partners have identified that this activity affects networks across U.S. critical infrastructure sectors, and the authoring agencies believe the actor could apply the same techniques against these and other sectors worldwide,” the report states. They are attributing the attack to a state group by the name of Volt Typhoon.

Microsoft first alerted the NSA that Volt Typhoon had compromised critical systems in Guam by installing surveillance malware on government devices. Guam is significant to China because it hosts the Andersen Air Force Base, which could be used in the event that China invaded Taiwan. Guam also hosts numerous ships for use in the Pacific. “Microsoft assesses with moderate confidence that this Volt Typhoon campaign is pursuing development of capabilities that could disrupt critical communications infrastructure between the United States and Asia region during future crises,” a NSA spokesperson stated.

Volt Typhoon uses “living off the land” techniques to direct a computer’s operating system, enabling them to evade tracking. “In addition, Volt Typhoon tries to blend into normal network activity by routing traffic through compromised small office and home office network equipment, including routers, firewalls and VPN hardware.”

The Pentagon now believes the spy balloons were affiliated with this operation. The US is too busy with Ukraine to worry about its own national security. The likelihood that the CCP sent bad actors disguised as migrants is more than zero. This malware has now compromised the entire US military, and no one knows how to remove the program from compromised devices and networks.

May 26 2023

Chinese Illegals Entering America Surge over 900%


Armstrong Economics Blog/War Re-Posted May 26, 2023 by Martin Armstrong

The US government is responsible for opening the border and allowing a full-scale invasion. They announced the end of Title 42, unlike other measures they keep hidden, and gave outsiders the information they needed to plan their invasion. There were numerous stories about Chinese spies infiltrating America.  Companies were prohibited from conducting business with certain Chinese countries due to security concerns. But, after Title 42 ended, countless Chinese military-aged men entered our country never to be seen again.

All reports and video state that the majority of invaders are military-aged males. This is an important point to reiterate because most of these people are not simply seeking a better life. China is nowhere near America. It logistically does not make sense. Someone flew these men near the US-Mexico border and likely instructed them to enter the US. NewsNation stated that there has been a 900% influx in Chinese migrants crossing into the US through the southern border. This was BEFORE Title 42 ended. Some reports state that some Chinese migrants are willing to pay tens of thousands to cartels in Southern America to enter America.

There was a report from Miami that the media conveniently covered up. A boat of Chinese men came on shore and scattered. The police only caught a few men, and they all had the same story. They are simply trying to escape poor economic conditions and future COVID lockdowns. If they were poor, they would not have had the funds to fly across the world. Again, these are MEN traveling ALONE. The media is spinning this invasion to make it seem as if everyone is simply seeking a better life where the streets are paved with gold. Yet they are entering in a manner that completely disrespects our legal system and leaves Americans completely vulnerable.

No one knows exactly how many “migrants” (invaders would be a more accurate term) have entered the US. At a minimum, tens of thousands of undocumented, unknown people are roaming across the mainland. Beijing and Washington are not on good terms. Army Secretary Christine Wormuth warned earlier this year that China would attack on US grounds if a war began. “[T]he United States homeland would be at risk as well, with both kinetic attacks and non-kinetic attacks—whether it’s cyberattacks on the power grid or on pipelines.” We do not have to worry about a foreign military invading from the sky or sea because they are already here, possibly stationed, and no one knows of their whereabouts.

Apr 29 2023

China – High Tech Learning


Armstrong Economics Blog/China Re-Posted Apr 29, 2023 by Martin Armstrong

Mar 30 2023

China wants Apple Back – China’s Davos


Armstrong Economics Blog/China Re-Posted Mar 30, 2023 by Martin Armstrong

China’s zero COVID policy isolated the nation for nearly three years and caused businesses to flee. One of the steepest losses occurred when Apple halted the production of the iPhone 14 in China. If you recall, Foxconn, once the largest iPhone producer in the world, underwent a lengthy lockdown in November 2022. In response, Apple moved a portion of its manufacturing to India and Vietnam.

In October, before the lockdown, Foxconn produced 85% of iPhone Pros. Apple experienced its steepest quarterly revenue decline in half a decade, and the company blamed China for causing production delays. Anti-China sentiment was also a factor, as cheap labor could be found elsewhere without the false label of being a “Chinese company.” However, departing from China cannot happen overnight.

China Premier Li Qiang is now attempting to stop Apple from gradually exiting China. Beijing plans to host the China Development Forum, often called “China’s Davos,” and has extended an invitation to Apple CEO Tim Cook. Aljazeera reported that attendees of this year’s event include US Secretary of State Henry Kissinger, Procter & Gamble Chief Executive Jon Moeller, PwC Global Chairperson Bob Moritz, and HSBC Chief Executive Noel Quinn.

China’s growth target for 2023 sits at 5%, which is unusually low for the second-largest economy. Cook has already made a visit to China ahead of the summit and expressed optimism that the supply chain issues could be repaired. Losing Apple completely would be detrimental to China’s economy and image. Time will tell how China can navigate US sanctions and retain the business it lost under the zero COVID policy.

Mar 30 2023

Meanwhile, The Petrodollar Just Got Smaller Today as The First LNG Shipment Between UAE and France Is Traded in Yuan


Posted originally on the CTH on March 29, 2023 | Sundance 

Two major energy trade developments today highlight how the Western Alliance is quickly losing a grip on the world energy market, as an alliance between China, Russia, Iran and the Middle East Gulf Cooperation Council starts to take shape with actual trade exchanges that are not in dollars.

Last year, in response to big panda’s own interest and seeking to exploit two western alliance self-created weaknesses; (1) sanctions against Russia and (2) weakened investment in LNG production; China spearheaded the Shanghai Petroleum and Natural Gas Exchange.

The exchange was aimed at group purchasing services for liquefied natural gas (LNG) though the use of the yuan to replace the dollar.  Essentially, team Gray operating without the global trading system of team Yellow (map).  The Shanghai exchange allows purchases of LNG portions by small and medium-sized buyers in yuan.

Today, CHINESE national oil company CNOOC and France’s TotalEnergies have completed China’s first yuan-settled liquefied natural gas (LNG) trade through the Shanghai Petroleum and Natural Gas Exchange, the exchange said on Tuesday (Mar 28).

Approximately 65,000 tonnes of LNG imported from the UAE changed hands in the trade, it said in a statement. TotalEnergies confirmed to Reuters that the transaction involved LNG imported from the UAE but did not comment further. (read more)

This exchange between the UAE and France is taking place without dollars. If the process continues the dollar weakens.  In the geopolitical world of currency valuations and trade, this might be considered the Archduke Ferdinand moment for the end of the petrodollar.  The question will become, can they grow this process with OPEC+ support and begin eventually trading oil in yuan?

A second energy targeted development comes from a shipment of Russian diesel fuel into Mexico.  The raw material was: (A) sold at an originating discount; and (B) presumably refined in Spain, making it exempt from the current energy embargo against Russia.

(READ ARTICLE) 

Mar 27 2023

Why The Sudden Move to Ban TikTok? Congress Wages War on Free Speech


Armstrong Economics Blog/Censorship Re-Posted Mar 27, 2023 by Martin Armstrong

TikTok is more than dance videos. It has become a community where people can share their uncensored ideas on various topics—including ones that go against the government’s agenda. The House Energy and Commerce Committee grilled TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew for hours on Thursday and made it very apparent that our Congress is completely oblivious to how technology works. Facebook, Meta, Instagram, Snapchat, Reddit, and nearly all other social media platforms have been infiltrated by the government and are HEAVILY CENSORED. We may soon see the day when Americans are forced to use a VPN.

Why is Joe Biden acting fast to ban TikTok? Inflation is running rampant and he only passes legislation to worsen the problem. It took him 72 hours to even respond to the bank failures. Biden barely flinched over the train derailment and contamination of drinking water across the nation. He has done absolutely nothing to protect our borders, which is contributing to human trafficking, high taxes, and the fentanyl crisis. Suddenly Biden is acting fast to ban an application that he likely has never used.

It is not about privacy from the Chinese government. TikTok is not even available in mainland China as their version is heavily censored. TikTok is a subsidiary of ByteDance, a private company that is not owned by the Chinese government. About 60% of the company is owned by institutional investors, 20% is owned by the founder, and the other 20% is owned by employees. ByteDance has five board members and three of them are American. Their headquarters are in Singapore and Los Angeles, and they have 7,000 employees in the US.

Data has become more valuable than gold. TikTok is already planning to move all of its servers to Texas to appease lawmakers who fear security threats. The US government already has access to all of our data and controls what information we are able to learn. Congress DOES NOT represent the people and we desperately need term limits. North Carolina Representative Richard Hudson asked Shou Zi Chew if TikTok could access his home WiFi. One Congressman did not understand the facial filters that the kids use for fun. The people making our laws are likely cannot operate their own phones.

The 150 million Americans using TikTok are not going to flock to government-sponsored apps produced by Zuckerberg. People have sent me videos on TikTok revealing news that cannot be found elsewhere, such as on-the-ground protests, footage from the ongoing war, declassified documents, and much more. Taking away this platform is a direct violation of our First Amendment rights. They are attempting to silence the people, and more importantly, they do not want us to know the truth. If we relinquish an inch of our freedom, they will continually fight for more.