Tuesday, June 22, 2021

If one man is important, what about an entire race?

One week back President Joe Biden of the US met President Vladimir Putin of Russia in Geneva for their first face-to-face talks, Reuters. Biden claims to have lectured Putin about human rights, about Ukraine and warned him about "devastating consequences" if Alexei Navalny died in prison. Biden has to appear tough because there are lingering questions about his election victory with former President Donald Trump claiming massive voter fraud, Newsweek. "More than a dozen Republican House members, led by former White House doctor Ronny Jackson, asked President Biden Thursday to undergo a cognitive test and release the results 'so the American people know the full mental and intellectual health of their President'," New York Post. Biden is protected by his aides. White House press secretary Jen Psaki "told CNN's David Axelrod that the communications shop frowns on Biden's willingness to engage with reporters who shout questions during Biden's public appearances," USA Today. Biden warned Putin about cyberattacks on critical infrastructure. "I gave them a list, if I'm not mistaken -- I don't have it front of me -- 16 specific entities; 16 defined as critical infrastructure under US policy, from the energy sector to our water systems," "The implicit red line was surprising," wrote Prof Meghan L O'Sullivan. Because "President Barack Obama's red line for Syria was a foreign affairs fiasco, with the administration talking about punitive strikes in 2012, only to back down once it was found there was no support in Congress for military action," Mint. "The United States is preparing fresh sanctions against Russia over the near-fatal poisoning of Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny, a top White House adviser warned," The Moscow Times. That is just one person, while China is trying to exterminate the entire Uyghur population in Xinjiang region. "China's persecution of the Uyghurs -- a mostly ethnic Muslim minority that Beijing paints as a separatist and terrorist threat -- is now well established," Vox. If the death of one man invites sanctions against Russia, by that logic the US should cut off all relations with China, but US multinationals like Apple are, not just bending over, but crawling to the Chinese Communist Party to continue business with China. Already in 2021 US imports from China amounted to $151 billion worth while exports amounted to a paltry $46.6 billion worth, and in 2020, US imports from China was a whopping $435 billion worth while exports were about half at $124.5 billion, The United States Census Bureau. Also, if we are talking about killing of civilians, there have been 247 incidents of mass shootings in the US in 2021, with 283 fatalities and 1,005 people injured, wikipedia. The numbers have risen steadily every month. Biden was sworn in on 20 January. What about China's cyber activities. Chinese hackers are not small time crooks, like DarkSide gang which hacked the Colonial Pipeline in the US in April for a ransom of $4.4 million, most of which was recovered by the US Justice Department anyway. The Chinese government has set up hacking operations like the PLA 61398 unit on Datong Road in Shanghai's Pudong District which is engaged in hacking into "blue chip companies in important industries such as aerospace, satellite and telecommunications, and information technology", CNN. By stealing US technology, China can advance its own weapon systems, become more powerful than the US and dominate the world. After a G7 statement on human rights in China, a Chinese spokesman said, "Stop slandering China, stop interfering in China's internal affairs, and stop harming China's interests," BBC. In other words, "We will do what we like, even if we wipe out an entire race. We don't care what anyone says." So, has Biden got the appetite to take on the real villains or is he going to concentrate on photo-ops. If Jen Psaki allows, that is. 

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