This is a quality post, learn from him cv

Coronovirus second wave hits China

Reuters on the goose / golden-egg problem, particularly acute given the economic harm caused by the outbreak:-



Interestingly, the US Senate is introducing a bill to place financial sanctions on Chinese government officials and entities, and the banks that serve them, if Hong Kong's legal freedoms are overruled.

Good to see it's about time the CCP were stood up to.
https://www.dw.com/en/us-sanctions-c...ons/a-53542199

A lot of people in China do want to kill Hong Kong as the golden goose because they want Shanghai/Shenzhen to take over Hong Kong’s role as China’s financial center and to stem capital outflows.

to be fair, hong kong was worthless swampland that only rose to prominence as the designated entry and exit point to China for both Qing & Mao era CCP as they both had closed economies then and preferred using HK as the gateway

since China opened up, it's special political status that led to the wealth disapeared and it's since pivoted mightily not to be the gateway to China but rather compete with Singapore and Singapore is winning by a mile

there's good reason why one of the most populated places on earth had that area totally devoid of people until the British took it

hong kong was always living on borrowed time as it only works if conventional access to the mainland is unavailable

toss in that mainlanders buying real estate on spec propping up the housing market along with ever declining economic importance and the current young generation is facing tough times

they've been attempting to rebrand as a business friendly competitor to singapore but most people agree Singapore is better unless you're specifically looking to be closer to China so it hasn't really been succeeding

i predict in the next few generations they'll either need to reinvent themselves over completely or face a massive exodus to the mainland for better opportunity, you're alrerady seeing it as most offices in Beijing have at least a few Honkeys working in them

China about to call Trump's bluff. Bad news for people in HK.

I don't think China cares if Trump is bluffing. I think the CCP decided now is the best time to bring HK into the fold while the world is too busy with Covid-19 and the US is led by a narcissist that's easy to work around.

I pointed out numerous times already that a lot of people in China don't even think it's a real cost. There are a lot of people in China that would love to see HK's importance diminished. By the commoners, it is seen as the playground of the rich and powerful and where dirty money goes to flee the country. By the people in power, it is seen as a competitor for capital (Shanghai and Shenzhen both are fighting to develop their own financial sectors) and a source of political instability.

To the extent they care about whether Trump is bluffing, they can look at the trade deal negotiations and realize Trump is easy to appease with symbolic wins that mean nothing substantial. That they likely think Trump as a weak negotiator quite likely contributes to the rush with which CCP is moving on China. They think they have an opening now before someone more competent comes along.

There are also indications that China doesn't really care if Trump is bluffing. I do not believe they think Trump is bluffing. Trump has shown a total disregard for anyone that's not part of his political base. That's why he calls it a win when China promises to buy agricultural products (which they were going to buy anyway.) And that's why Trump thought nothing of going nuclear on Huawei (this is pretty recent news, the restrictions on Huawei were recently ratcheted up such that TSMC decided to stop taking Huawei orders and the entire global IT, especially 5G, supply chain is being reshuffled to 1. get rid of Huawei, 2. to hedge against incoming Chinese retaliation). They threatened to sanction US law makers. They said Trump is bluffing (one of the best ways to make sure Trump is not bluffing.) They allowed Wang Yi to dial up anti-American rhetoric.

There is just no indication that Trump is bluffing. To costs of trade war mean nothing to him unless it hits his political base. The CCP is smart enough to understand that. You can see that with the recent trade "deals" where they gave Trump political sweeteners meant to appease Trump's base while giving up nothing substantial.

With Hong Kong, China is testing the waters vis-a-vis Taiwan.

https://www.cnbc.com/2020/05/27/pomp...rom-china.html

"Pompeo declares that Hong Kong is no longer autonomous from China, threatening special status"

They went straight nuclear.

President Xi not gonna be happy as here in Canada the BC supreme court ruled in favor of the arrest of the Huwai owners daughter.

I sometimes wonder if Trump is as much as scared of Xi as Trudeau is

^^+1

Cops are everywhere and resorting to force (tear gas and rubber pellets) to disperse pretty much every protest on sight.

This reminds me so much of British suppression of Northern Ireland it's actually disturbing. China isn't going to be held back by democratic norms though.

I don't even know if I want Hong Kongers to rise up and resist. I think that's a dead end with nothing but heartaches and probably blood. But at the same time, I think it may be the only hope that China gets pushed into liberal/democratic reforms within our life time without a Soviet style collapse.

Does Taiwan, UK, USA open the door for asylum seekers?

Good post.

But beyond that other nations know that they can get Trump to sell out any and all US interests that could mean Billions upon Billions to the US economy if they just offer the Trump family a personal deal behind the scenes.

It just took a minor threat to Trump Tower Istanbul Turkey, for Trump to completely abandon the Kurds and tell Turkey they could take them all out.

An ally, became an enemy with one rant and threat from Erdogan to Trump personal interests in the region.

Link?

https://www.economist.com/leaders/20...r-in-hong-kong

China called Trump's bluff. People of Hong Kong are screwed. Taiwan needs to buckle up.

Lol America is worst, I’m just waiting for god to comeback at this point. China is bad also. Long Love live Enki

I won't post a screenshot, but if you really want to confirm, I can send in PMs.

This is the WeChat conversation I woke up to in one of the chat groups:
A: We can admit black people run faster, are stronger, but admitting black people's brains aren't great is hard?
B: Black people's brains aren't great. That's why they need social support even more. Then the society we live in can get better.
C: You go help. What if they only want hobo like "free" (in the sense of freedom) work? You force them to learn how to work? Help should be for those that want to be helped.
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A: link to a video showing an American scholar talking about how East Asians have high average IQ and black people have low IQ.

I scrolled up then down to see more of the convo.

The context doesn't really help. There was worse stuff above and below the portion I translated.

Candace Owen's rant now making rounds on my WeChat feeds.

<sighs>

That chick is poison I remember her "LOL" tweet slagging off leftists right after the NZ Mosque shooting

My stepmom who has lived in HK for 30 years or so as a previous govt lawyer sent me this today
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/artic...g-security-law

Also said that since bending the knee to China, HSBC has now warned the UK Govt to keep their hands off Huawei or there will be consequences.
Looks like game over for HK as we knew it.