Tag Archives: Drug Shortages

Mar 27 2023

Peace in the Middle East – China Brokers Saudi Arabia-Iran Peace Treaty


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

China accomplished a once unthinkable feat — a peace treaty between Iran and Saudi Arabia. The two countries have been sworn enemies since the beginning of time, representing conflicting Shiite and Sunni Muslim groups that have been battling since their religion was founded. The two nations have been fighting a proxy war in Yemen that has led to over 150,000 deaths, which is another major story not covered by the mainstream media. This story has only received negative attention in the Western media because it is a major win for China who is now seen as the adult in the room on the international stage.

The press release issued by Saudi Arabia is astonishing, given the deep hatred it had for Iran. Saudi Arabia is now keen on “developing good neighborly relations…in light of their brotherly ties.”

“The three countries announce that an agreement has been reached between the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and the Islamic Republic of Iran, that includes an agreement to resume diplomatic relations between them and re-open their embassies and missions within a period not exceeding two months, and the agreement includes their affirmation of the respect for the sovereignty of states and the non-interference in internal affairs of states. They also agreed that the ministers of foreign affairs of both countries shall meet to implement this, arrange for the return of their ambassadors, and discuss means of enhancing bilateral relations. They also agreed to implement the Security Cooperation Agreement.”

Rumors are swirling about what this peace treaty could entail. Saudi Arabia and Iran could join BRICs, the alliance between Brazil, Russia, India, and China. If the two nations join, all major energy exporters will be within this alliance. Half of the world’s population would be under this alliance as well. There would be absolutely no need for Western interference in this situation.

The dollar’s dominance would be at risk. The Saudis are already discussing settling oil transactions in the yuan instead of the dollar. This will seriously damage the dollar’s ability to remain the standard reserve currency. China’s rise to becoming the financial capital of the world is happening right before our eyes.

Mar 27 2023

China – US – Claimed Territory – One China Policy


Armstrong Economics Blog/China Re-Posted Mar 26, 2023 by Martin Armstrong

QUESTION:  China’s claimed territory??? So China can claim the entire Pacific as their territory and that means we can’t enter the Pacific???

DF

ANSWER: Whatever China claims is really irrelevant. Up until recently, we did not push the limits and China did not expand its claims. We all agreed to disagree but took no action. In this case, Beijing’s claim of its territorial waters in the South China Sea near the Paracel Islands does not comply with international law.

Nevertheless, the real question is what has changed? You can support war all you want, but remember, this time it will be different. The Neocons are smart. Wrap whatever they do in the American flag and people will die for their claims as well. Wars are created by the elites, not the common people. We also need to examine who is doing what for whatever you thought you were creating for your future and that of your family will exist no more. Everything is changing.

You must understand the language of diplomacy. It may seem irrelevant but it is very critical. The point is that we seem to be deliberately provoking confrontation which is strange and we are abandoning the statement on the One China Policy which has actually protected Taiwan. Before the Neocons seized the White House, there was the agreement of a One China Policy, which tentatively accepted their territorial view of China despite appearing to be more nuanced and fiction rather than substantive.

I know international politics can be very confusing for people unaware that it is all about WORDSMITHING! Words matter and lives depend on those words. Back in January 2017, Rex Tillerson, who was Trump’s nominee for secretary of state, reaffirmed the U.S. commitment to Taiwan, based on the Taiwan Relations Act (TRA) and the Six Assurances, at his Senate confirmation hearing. He also indicated that he is not aware of “any plans to alter” the U.S. “one China” policy.

Back in 1979, that is when the United States moved to recognize the People’s Republic of China (PRC) and de-recognize the Republic of China (ROC) (Taiwan). What the United States stated at that time was that the government of the People’s Republic of China was “the sole legal Government of China.” The use of the word “sole” meant that the PRC was and is only China. In those words, there was no consideration of the ROC (Taiwan) as a separate sovereign entity.

Now, against that statement on the surface, the United States did not yield to the Chinese demand that it recognize Chinese Sovereignty over Taiwan. The word “Taiwan” became the name preferred by the United States in the aftermath of the de-recognization of the ROC. So they no longer called it the Republic of China but switched to Taiwan.

This wordsmithing satisfied China and removed the threat of invasion of the ROC. Washington thereby acknowledged the Chinese position that Taiwan was part of China. For geopolitical reasons, both the United States and the PRC were willing to go forward with diplomatic recognition despite their differences on this matter. It became the wordsmithing compromise.

When China attempted to change the Chinese text from the original acknowledge to recognize, the Deputy Secretary of State at the time was  Warren Christopher who testified before the  Senate:

“[W]e regard the English text as being the binding text. We regard the word ‘acknowledge’ as being the word that is determinative for the U.S.”

That was all followed by a U.S.-China Communique on August 17th, 1982. It was there that the United States stated that it had no intention of pursuing a policy of “two Chinas” or “one China, one Taiwan.” This is how diplomacy is carried out. I have to do the same in advising governments economically because it always hangs on a single word.

To this day, the U.S. “one China” position has stood until the Neocons have seized the Biden White House. stands: the United States recognizes the PRC as the sole legal government of China but only acknowledges the Chinese position that Taiwan is part of China. Thus, the United States maintains formal relations with the PRC and has unofficial relations with Taiwan. The “one China” policy has subsequently been reaffirmed by every new incoming U.S. administration. The existence of this understanding has enabled the preservation of stability in the Taiwan Strait, allowing both Taiwan and mainland China to pursue their extraordinary political and socioeconomic transitions in relative peace.

The Washington Post wrote:

“The one-China policy is only a symbol of the long-standing, tacit agreement between the two countries to leave the Taiwan question unresolved. It’s a policy worth saving, if possible. But it’s not an agreement the United States can uphold alone. Right now, the one-China policy looks fragile, but it’s Xi — not Biden — who will decide whether the policy and the peace it preserves will survive.”

Because we have now put Taiwan in the face of China with politicians flying there for support, we have guaranteed that China must NOW take Taiwan. The One China Policy has been tiorn up and that means lives must now be lost and the future will never be the same from here on out. The question is WHY?

Blinken is a Neocon. In diplomacy, you DO NOT threaten China publicly. You do that in private phone calls and meetings. When you do that publicly, you are effectively insuring that they then MUST take action or they will appear to be weak. What is Putin said publicly the US must stop sending weapons to Ukraine, and Biden then says, gee, we will stop sending weapons to Ukraine. The American people will call him a puppet of Putin.

The is a HUGE difference in diplomacy between public and private. The fact that Biden has done everything publicly is a slap in the face to china and ensures that they must now confront the USA. This is all being orchestrated and it will be Americans who die for these deliberate acts of the Neocons who have created every war since Vietnam. I seriously doubt that Biden is even aware of who is now running our Foreign Policy. They just want ware and will get it.

The Neocons have no problem sacrificing your children on their altar of geopolitical power. Peace – is no longer an option. Open your eyes. This is intentional – not stupidity!

Feb 28 2023

Shooting Down the Chinese Spy Balloon


Watch the spy balloon get shot down by two American Jets on February 4, 2023

Feb 18 2023

U.S. Military Completes Mission to Recover Chinese Surveillance Balloon, Optics and Electronics Now Being Tested by FBI


Posted originally on the CTH on February 17, 2023 | Sundance

The White House is trying to put the best spin on the Chinese spy balloon events by claiming the U.S. military jammed the electronics attached rendering the ability of the surveillance equipment incapable of transmission to relays (satellites) or mainland China.

Additionally, according to the White House strategic communications spokesperson John Kirby, the main structure of the electronics, optics and surveillance system has been recovered by the U.S. military and the equipment is now being studied and reverse engineered. WATCH (05:18 Prompted):

(Via Reuters) – The United States said on Friday it had successfully concluded recovery efforts off South Carolina to collect sensors and other debris from a suspected Chinese surveillance balloon shot down by a U.S. fighter jet on Feb. 4, and investigators are now analyzing its “guts.”

The last of the debris fro the Chinese balloon, which was downed by a Sidewinder missile, is heading to an FBI laboratory in Virginia for analysis, the U.S. military’s Northern Command said in a statement.

Reuters was first to report the conclusion of the recovery efforts, which were halted on Thursday.

“It’s a significant amount (of recovered material), including the payload structure as well as some of the electronics and the optics, and all that’s now at the FBI laboratory in Quantico,” said National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby.

Kirby said the United States had already learned a lot about the balloon by observing it as it flew over the United States.

“We’re going to learn even more, we believe, by getting a look at the guts inside it and seeing how it worked and what it was capable of,” he told a White House news briefing.

The U.S. military said Navy and Coast Guard vessels that had been scouring the sea for nearly two weeks have departed the area.

“Air and maritime safety perimeters have been lifted,” Northern Command said in a statement.

The U.S. military has said it believes it has collected all of the Chinese balloon’s priority sensors and electronics as well as large sections of its structure, elements that could help counterintelligence officials determine how Beijing may have been collecting and transmitting surveillance information. (read more)

Feb 16 2023

America’s biggest threat – China


Newsmax TV Posted originally on Rumble on February 15, 2023

Feb 14 2023

China Raises Draft Age up to 60 Years Old


Armstrong Economics Blog/War Re-Posted Feb 14, 2023 by Martin Armstrong

Of course, China knows that the Biden Administration wants war. They are increasing their age limits for military service to up to 60 years old. Don’t get upset and think you will be too old for the United States and Europe. You can never be too old to die for your local politician.

We will see the draft age rise dramatically in the West all because our fearless world leaders, who will never go to war themselves, all need World War III desperately. Just as we can no longer define what a woman actually is, we can no longer discriminate against women for the draft and it is also a matter of being fair to end age discrimination for the draft. It was Franklin Roosevelt who made the remark after going to great lengths to get the US involved in World War II. He said:

“War is young men dying and old men talking.”

While governments play with the numbers, during World War I, the Great War, they asserted that the average age of dead soldiers was twenty-seven years old. However, more nineteen-year-olds died than any other age group.

The U.S., Military raised the limit for enlistment in June 2014 precisely when our War Model turned up with the Air Force raising the maximum age for enlistment from 27 to 39 years of age. The enlistment age restrictions for the Army, Navy, and Marines are 35, 34, and 28 respectively. The U.S. Army announced that they were increasing the maximum enlistment age to forty-two years old, and then the second time in six months after previously raising it to 40 years old.

The UK Ministry of Defence raised the enlistment age limit for its Army Reserve in November 2014 to 52 from 43, and for those individuals with specific qualifications or experience the age limit was raised to 45 up to 50.

For World War III, combat forces will most likely be drafted up to the age of 40 or perhaps 42. After all, they claim that 40 is the new 20. So start with those pushups. Get used to it. You are expected to die for the Ukrainian Nazis and Taiwan neither of which would actually alter the future of the United States.

And by the way, women you will NOT be discriminated against anymore. They have already been talking about drafting women as well to satisfy Hillary who argued women can do anything a man does – from being president to dying on the battlefield. You better start having kids real fast. But you too will die for Ukrainian Nazis – what an honor.

Feb 5 2023

China’s Balloon is all Posturing


Armstrong Economics Blog/China Re-Posted Feb 4, 2023 by Martin Armstrong

The Chinese Balloon is a surveillance balloon. It is meant more for intimidation. It is unlikely that it really poses a national security threat. There is also one flying over Latin America. Joe Biden’s response was immediately to shoot it down. He was warned that it is too big and would possibly create a debris field that would harm civilians for no reason. The Chinese did the same when Trump came to power. He knew it was just intimidation and gave no order to try to shoot it down.

It flew over Montana which is the #1 target to eliminate our major intercontinental missiles that would point to China. So from that perspective, it had targeted sensitive areas but everyone in the world knows where those missiles are at.

Biden has shot it down once it made it to the Atlantic. Any information would have been transmitted back already. So this too was a measure of Bravado for the PR value. As one client wrote in:

Message: Martin, I live in Myrtle Beach, SC. Today was a clear sky day, the balloon and 5 military jets flying around were clearly visible. Many neighbors were calling each other to inform them of what was happening outside, we and many neighbors were out in the street watching this. Then all of a sudden there was a boom and the balloon disappeared, so much for the balloon. It was interesting. End of story.

WES

This is just intimidation. It seems to have worked for Secretary of State Antony Blinken abruptly canceled a high-stakes Beijing trip aimed at supposedly easing U.S.-China tensions after the US has done everything it can to make matters worse. Pelosi’s trip to Taiwan was stupid. By the US making such a grand stand against China over Taiwan, they have absolutely now guaranteed that China will take Taiwan. Pelosi went just before the Chinese election which only guaranteed Xi’s reelection.

I do not know if there is something in the water in California that seems to make the politicians there lose all understanding of war and intimidation. Now the Republican McCarthy is showing that he too is just acting irrationally and poking China to ensure it MUST now take Taiwan. He announced a Taiwan trip simply because Pelosi did it, and it will do nothing but ensure a war that the USA would lose. Because China warned McCarthy, then he has to certainly go,

McCarthy has now come out and said that China cannot tell him where to go. So he now must go to Taiwan as a matter of gamesmanship, but that works both ways. Pelosi’s trip and now McCarthy’s trip are both doing the same to China. The US pretending it will defend Taiwan when we cannot is absurd and it then forces China to invade for the very same reason McCarthy is saying they cannot tell him where to go. McCarthy is part of the uni-party where Democrats and Republicans will act ONLY in the self-interest of the government.

China has come out and declared that its people should be ready to invade Taiwan by 2027. The Air Force general told everyone to be prepared for war with China by 2025. Even just looking at the ECM from the start of Taiwan, this is the second wave of 51.6 years and the third wave peaked on January 13th, 2023 (2023.036). That was the week when China staged a massive drill against Taiwan which was three days after a US Navy destroyer transited the Taiwan Strait in a “freedom of navigation” operation which prompted the reaction from China.

All of this poking China only forces war. Just as McCarthy now views he must go since China told him not to, China will respond by invading or they will appear weak. This is like kids pretending to be tough in a schoolyard. The emotions are the same and it becomes a matter of pride.

Feb 5 2023

Video Footage of Military Shooting Down Chinese Surveillance Balloon


Posted originally on the CTH on February 5, 2023 | Sundance

Interesting video capture appears to show the moment the U.S. military hit the Chinese surveillance balloon with some type of detonation.

3:15 P.M. EST – THE PRESIDENT:  On Wednesday, when I was briefed on the balloon, I ordered the Pentagon to shoot it down, on Wednesday, as soon as possible.  They decided — without doing damage to anyone on — on the ground.  They decided that the best time to do that was as it got over water, outside — within our — within the 12-mile limit.

They successfully took it down.  And I want to compliment our aviators who did it.  And we’ll have more to report on this a little later. 

Thank you.

Q    Mr. President, what does this say about China?  What’s your message to China?

Q    You were saying the recommendation from your — was from your national security —

THE PRESIDENT:  I told them to shoot it down.

Q    On Wednesday?

THE PRESIDENT:  On Wednesday.

Q    But the recommendation from them —

THE PRESIDENT:  They said to me, “Let’s wait till the safest place to do it.”

3:16 P.M. EST

Feb 5 2023

Biden Confirms U.S. Military Have Taken Down Chinese Surveillance Balloon – Details Forthcoming


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

Apparently, the Chinese surveillance airship has been taken out of commission inside the 12-mile range of U.S. territorial waters on the South Carolina Atlantic coast.

Delivering remarks to the press pool, Joe Biden confirmed the Chinese dirigible was taken down.   According to his statement, Biden ordered the airship to be shot down last Wednesday (lol sure), but the military advised him to wait until it crossed the U.S. and could be taken down over water.

Several U.S. jet fighters were seen circling the coastline, and the FAA had shut down the airspace above the Atlantic near Myrtle Beach prior to the operation to remove or destroy the surveillance airship.

Feb 5 2023

Biden Planning to Bring Down Chinese ‘Surveillance’ Balloon Over Atlantic, Possibly Today


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

According to the Associated Press, Joe Biden is planning to shoot down the Chinese ‘surveillance’ balloon possibly later today when it reaches the eastern shore of the Atlantic Ocean.

The mumbling mumbler who mumbles said, “We’re going to take care of it”, when asked about the ongoing issue earlier today.  WATCH:

(Via Associated Press) – WASHINGTON (AP) — The Biden administration is considering a plan to shoot down a large Chinese balloon suspected of conducting surveillance on the U.S. military, by bringing it down once it is above the Atlantic Ocean where the remnants could potentially be recovered, according to four U.S. officials.

Two of the officials, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss the sensitive operation, said President Joe Biden had given the go-ahead. In a brief remark Saturday in response to a reporter’s question about the balloon, Biden said: “We’re going to take care of it.”

The balloon was spotted Saturday morning over the Carolinas as it approached the Atlantic coast. In preparation for the operation, the Federal Aviation Administration temporarily closed airspace over the Carolina coastline, including the airports in Charleston and Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, and Wilmington, North Carolina, until at least 2:45 p.m. EST Saturday. The FAA was rerouting air traffic from the area and warned of delays as a result of the flight restrictions.

Officials were aiming to time the operation so they could recover as much of the debris as possible before it sinks into the ocean. The Pentagon had previously estimated that the balloon, flying at about 60,000 feet in the air, was about the size of three school buses and that any debris field would be substantial. (read more)

(AP) In this photo below provided by Brian Branch, a large balloon drifts above the Kingston, N.C. area, with an airplane and its contrail seen below it. The United States says it is a Chinese spy balloon moving east over America at an altitude of about 60,000 feet (18,600 meters), but China insists the balloon is just an errant civilian airship used mainly for meteorological research that went off course due to winds and has only limited “self-steering” capabilities.

Google Disclaimer: Image Above – Not the real balloon