@ #3 , OldHippie:
Yes. 50/50 .

Posted by: LogosApplied | Dec 22 2022 14:51 utc | 4

Interesting times.
In the year 2022. In a country where one in two voters would prefer he spends the rest of his life in jail.
What will the new year 2023 bring forth?
Truth is truly stranger than fiction.

Posted by: Bad Deal Motors On | Dec 22 2022 15:17 utc | 6

@Carl | Dec 22 2022 14:29 utc | 2
You’re correct on ROC/Taiwan and I’ve probably said the same thing, but apparently the use of Taiwan, and then Taiwan recognition, is a red line that Taipei won’t cross. So we’re stuck with the ambiguity.

Posted by: Don Bacon | Dec 22 2022 15:31 utc | 8

@Outraged | Dec 22 2022 15:57 utc | 9
The former ‘Republic of China'(KMT(Nationalists)) ceased to be five decades ago.
No it didn’t cease — that’s what we’re talking about. It still exists as name of the government based in Taipei.

Posted by: Don Bacon | Dec 22 2022 16:00 utc | 10

@ b | Dec 22 2022 14:19 utc | 1
thanks.. i think karlof1 posted these on the previous thread.. i read some of it.. here is an excerpt from the last part… it seems philosophical in nature this automatic intent on the part of the west to isolate, or destroy russia.. why is it? is it purely rape and pillage ideology? or is there something else at work?? i can’t figure it out.. i agree with putins perspective..i can’t find a logical reason for why the west takes this position.. i recall reading margaret macmillians book ‘paris 1919’ and came to the same conclusion!
“Vladimir Putin: Comrades,
In accordance with tradition, I will say a few words in conclusion of our meeting. I will speak in broad terms, but I believe that it is a matter of interest to us. At least, I think that the matter I will speak about is always of interest but especially so in the current situation.
I have pointed out many times and have written in my articles that the goal of our strategic adversaries is to weaken and divide our nation. This has been so for centuries, and there is nothing new in this now. They believe that our country is too large and poses a threat, which is why it must be diminished and divided. Wherever you look, this has been their goal over the past centuries. I will not provide any examples now; you can find them in the relevant materials. They have always nurtured this idea and such plans, hoping that they will be able to implement them, one way or another.
For our part, we have aways or nearly always pursued a completely different approach and had different goals: we have always wanted to be part of the so-called civilised world. After the Soviet Union’s dissolution, which we ourselves allowed to take place, we thought for some reason that we would become part of that so-called civilised world any day. But it turned out that nobody wanted this to happen, despite our efforts and attempts, and this concerns my efforts as well, because I made these attempts too. We tried to become closer, to become part of that world. But to no avail.”

Posted by: james | Dec 22 2022 16:20 utc | 12

@ Outraged | Dec 22 2022 16:22 utc | 13
A sovereign nation State only actually exists if the UN recognizes it.
No, the United Nations is neither a State nor a Government, and therefore does not possess any authority to recognize either a State or a Government. Currently fourteen States recognize Taiwan as the ROC.

Posted by: Don Bacon | Dec 22 2022 16:43 utc | 14

@ KlutchKargo | Dec 22 2022 16:59 utc | 15
thanks… i also read hudsons latest book and i think your theory has merit..
i was pondering this morning the juxtaposition of zelenskys visit to the usa and media focus at the same time as the speech from putin.. we know most everyone in the west will read or hear of the dribble drabble dispensed from biden-zelensky, but very few will know what putin had to say.. is it any wonder their is such a deep disconnect on the world stage today? a couple of buffoons are given the floor, while a stellar leader is completely ignored… the media is complicit in where we are today.. they play a huge out sized role here.. i suppose they always have, or perhaps it has only gotten worse the past 75 years..

Posted by: james | Dec 22 2022 17:10 utc | 16

@ Outraged | Dec 22 2022 16:22 utc | 13
A sovereign nation State only actually exists if the UN recognizes it.
No, the United Nations is neither a State nor a Government, and therefore does not possess any authority to recognize either a State or a Government. Currently fourteen States recognize Taiwan as the ROC.
Posted by: Don Bacon | Dec 22 2022 16:43 utc | 14

Don is correct. A sovereign state is defined as:

A sovereign state or sovereign country, is a political entity represented by one central government that has supreme legitimate authority over territory. International law defines sovereign states as having a permanent population, defined territory (see territorial disputes), one government, and the capacity to enter into relations with other sovereign states. It is also normally understood that a sovereign state is independent. According to the declarative theory of statehood, a sovereign state can exist without being recognised by other sovereign states. Unrecognised states will often find it difficult to exercise full treaty-making powers or engage in diplomatic relations with other sovereign states.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_sovereign_states#Taiwan

Posted by: Opport Knocks | Dec 22 2022 17:26 utc | 18

@ Opport Knocks | Dec 22 2022 17:26 utc | 18
Wrong. Yer full of it. Did you even read your quoted ref, idget. Yet more TLA Wikipedia, okay then …

A sovereign state or sovereign country, is a political entity represented by one central government that has supreme legitimate authority over territory.

According to the ROCs constitution it created for Taiwan province, it claims supreme legitimate authority over ALL OF CHINA, & more, yet such claim is illegitimate, unrecognized & cannot possibly be demonstrated, therefore its claim it does, is possessive of no such actual supreme authority, does it ? Hence, invalid, not sovereign.
Secondly, such claim is contested by the recognized Sovereign nation, PRC, by 180 UN MEMBER STATES, inclusive of all permanent members of the UNSC. Yet another deathnell to any purported claim of supreme legitimate authority over territory by Taiwan, ie all of China, hence invalid claim, not recognized, no sovereignty. Hence no UNSC seat, hence no UN Member status as a Nation State. And thats just fer starters.
Furthermore, Rogue Taiwan province has not even officially asserted such since the ’90’s.
Name the 13 UN MEMBER STATES that recognize the rogue Chinese Province of Taiwan in any capacity whatsoever as a sovereign nation bilaterally outside of the UN ?
Is the USA one of ’em ?

Posted by: Outraged | Dec 22 2022 17:56 utc | 20

About what constitutes a sovereign nation
I posit that none of the Western nations are sovereign because they do not “own” their system of money/finance and just because it is not discussed does not lessen its reality

Posted by: psychohistorian | Dec 22 2022 18:14 utc | 22

Name the 13 UN MEMBER STATES that recognize the rogue Chinese Province of Taiwan in any capacity whatsoever as a sovereign nation bilaterally outside of the UN ?
Is the USA one of ’em ?
Posted by: Outraged | Dec 22 2022 17:56 utc | 19

It doesn’t matter if you or the US “officially” recognizes them or not, they de facto recognize them as the recent political escapades by Pelosi, etc. clearly demonstrated.
The “one China” policy of the US and allies has always contained the proviso that the population of Taiwan must agree. They adamantly do not agree. They have their own government, currency, passports, etc. They are not a protectorate of the mainland. Their passports are universally accepted for travel.
Taiwan only have consulates rather than embassies in major countries because “big China” has insisted that it be so in order for them to have diplomatic relations. The membership of the UN decided to sacrifice Taiwan in order to get the PRC into the club.
Taiwan – Republic of China, is a sovereign state, not a protectorate or territory of anyone else, hence its heavily footnoted appearance in the list of sovereign states that I provided.

Posted by: Opport Knocks | Dec 22 2022 18:28 utc | 24

Doctorow’s latest (link blocks the post) at doctorow dot com title: ‘reviving Russia’s military culture and the officer caste.’
Interesting. Russia is going back to Tsarist – or at least pre-bolshevik – class values, at least as regards the military. It’s a good sign.
Trying to be entirely classless is ideological puritanism never matched by reality. And trying to base new class only on money made in markets for labour and products is far too mediocre, middle class or materialist (take your pick).
I read that in order to defeat the Germans, Stalin had to switch from promoting communism to patriotism because the former elicited no support whereas the latter did. Patriotism comes from having a strong collective sense of ‘we’ which is a form of higher meaning and purpose akin to that elicited by religions and thus both contextualizes and justifies sacrificing one’s precious life which ultimately is done out of love for and service to others. Honoring such things is correct, natural, decent. In the West we are determined to destroy such tendencies.
And so it goes…

Posted by: Scorpion | Dec 22 2022 18:56 utc | 26

@Woke American, #20:

We get sound bite Biden and Blinken, MAGA Trump and Bolton, and “Mission Accomplished” Bush.

Not only are these proficient sound-biters, their soundbites are full of lies, propaganda and bullshit, designed to “woke” Americans into zombies. And by and large they succeeded.
Oh, the sound-biters you cited are representative enough. But you could just as well have said the top layers of politicians and MSM elfs. That would have given a more accurate and comprehensive picture of the status quo in America–uh no, in the West

Posted by: Oriental Voice | Dec 22 2022 19:25 utc | 28

Pepe Escobar has published his report about his visit to Brazil, “Can China help Brazil restart its global soft power?”. His initial assessment is grim:
“The return of Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva for what will be his third presidential term, starting January 1, 2023, is an extraordinary story trespassed by Sisyphean tasks. All at the same time he will have to
fight poverty;
reconnect with economic development while redistributing wealth;
re-industrialize the nation; and
tame environmental pillage.
“That will force his new government to summon unforeseen creative powers of political and financial persuasion.”
The story of the 12 years, 2010-2022, would be a major True Crime Story if properly/honestly written. Pepe finishes with the following observation:
“To recover from the previous, disastrous six years – which included a two-year no man’s land (2016-2018) after the impeachment of president Dilma – Brazil will need an unparalleled national drive of re-industrialization at virtually every level, complete with serious investment in research and development, training of specialized work forces and technology transfer.”

Posted by: karlof1 | Dec 22 2022 19:52 utc | 30

Bad news for many, good news for some.

🇫🇲 NATO Secretary General Stoltenberg is the leading candidate to become the new head of the International Monetary Fund (IMF)
Stoltenberg is tipped to lead the Washington-based organization once his position as head of the alliance expires in October 2023.
https://t.me/IntelRepublic/10796

I was afraid the Quisling would end up as head of Norges Bank, but it seems he don’t dare to come home. Good news for us.

Posted by: Norwegian | Dec 22 2022 19:56 utc | 32

@ Melaleuca | Dec 22 2022 19:56 utc | 30
The International-Rules-Based-Order(IRBO) so as to fully facilitate global rapine, indentured servitude & multi-spectrum genocide.
Taiwan is still waiting on MIC arms/materiel it already paid $billions for going back to 2015. They squeaked recently so Empire said, you’ll have to wait even longer, ‘The Borderlands’ come first. Ha !
What is remarkable is the convoluted lengths some will go to, to try to justify or defend the IRBO.
@ Norwegian | Dec 22 2022 19:56 utc | 31
Yeah saw that the other day. Sadly, found it entirely unsurprising. 🙁

Posted by: Outraged | Dec 22 2022 20:10 utc | 34

@ Posted by: Outraged | Dec 22 2022 18:55 utc | 24
Entertaining, but incorrect interpretation. Whatever weasel words that the US used in their 1971 attempt to normalize relations with the PRC are not relevant to the facts on the ground.
Severing official diplomatic relations happens all the time in geopolitics for a variety of reasons. It does not mean the country is not a sovereign state, just ask Cuba.
If mainland China issued the Taiwanese currency, vetoed laws, ran the military/police/judiciary, dictated foreign policy, etc., I would grant your case. But they do none of those things.
That may change at some point, but not because you are outraged by it.

Posted by: Opport Knocks | Dec 22 2022 20:17 utc | 36

Posted by: Norwegian | Dec 22 2022 19:56 utc | 31
More proof that NATO is just the mafioso enforcer military wing of transnational capital, which manifests in the IMF and World Bank (if it still exists under that name).

Posted by: Tom_Q_Collins | Dec 22 2022 20:22 utc | 38

NATO Secretary General Stoltenberg is the leading candidate to become the new head of the International Monetary Fund (IMF)
I was afraid the Quisling would end up as head of Norges Bank, but it seems he don’t dare to come home. Good news for us.
Posted by: Norwegian | Dec 22 2022 19:56 utc | 31

Kristalina Georgieva’s term is not up until 2024, so still lots of time. Hopefully your wish to keep him out of Norway is fulfilled.
By the same logic, I want Chrystia Freeland to become the Head Russophobe of NATO, to get her out of Canadian politics.

Posted by: Opport Knocks | Dec 22 2022 20:32 utc | 40

the book ‘debt’ that a few posters had mentioned a few months back – i got a copy from the library and started reading it last night… it slams into the imf right out of the gate…. looks like a good read…

Posted by: james | Dec 22 2022 20:42 utc | 42

@migueljose #38
Thank you. Very informative.

Posted by: S | Dec 22 2022 21:14 utc | 44

Ahead of the Ukraine President’s arrival in Washington, CNN published an “analysis” which outlined the designated talking points and media spin for the visit.
“Why Zelensky’s Surprise US Visit is so hugely significant.”
https://www.cnn.com/2022/12/21/politics/us-visit-zelensky-analysis/index.html
Returning to WW2 analogies, the article insisted that:
“Zelensky’s arrival will draw poignant echoes of British Prime Minister Winston Churchill’s arrival in Washington, 81 years ago on Thursday, days after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor. That Christmas visit cemented the alliance that would win World War II and built the post-war democratic world.”
Leaving aside the massive unspoken contemporary reversal i.e. that this “poignant echo” involves an alliance with nationalist interests which fought alongside the WW2 Axis powers, an alliance which is directed against a major WW2 ally – the article features a curious detail about Churchill:
“Over days of brainstorming and meetings – fueled by Churchill’s regime of sherry with breakfast, Scotch and sodas for lunch, champagne in the evening and a tipple of 90-year-old brandy before bed – the two leaders plotted the defeat of Nazi Germany…”
Perhaps the editor removed the “echoing” paragraph – “fuelled by Zelensky’s regime of two lines of crank at breakfast, ketamine injections for lunch, pharmaceutical cocaine in the evening…” etc
The woeful use of lame analogies and empty rhetorical flatulence currently in favour by American speechwriters and CNN analysts alike – it’s all Peggy Noonan’s fault. I long for the alternate 1980s history where President Paul Krassner appointed poet Charles Bukowski as official speech writer. That would’ve kept things “real”.

Posted by: jayc | Dec 22 2022 21:34 utc | 46

@ Opport Knocks | Dec 22 2022 20:17 utc | 35
OFFICIAL unequivocal full & formal recognition of PRC & alternately revocation of all such re extinct ROC, by 180 UN Member States, the UNSC, including the US of A, is NOT clever weasel words. Fail. Oh my, whatever happened to fulfilling all requirements of your Wikipedia ‘Sovereign State definition’ ?
Here are the names of the mighty impressive 13 nations (+ Holy See) that you & Done Bakin studiously avoid mentioning, that ‘recognize’ the ROC ? Sad.
Belize, Guatemala, Haiti, Honduras, Marshall Islands, Nauru, Palau, Paraguay, St Lucia, St Kitts & Nevis, St Vincent and the Grenadines, Swaziland & Tuvalu. Hm, a common denominator ?
@ Don Bacon | Dec 22 2022 21:12 utc | 42
Four hours later … you again fail re comprehension, missing the critical word OFFICIALLY ?
Empty vague verbiage with the press, BBC, does not qualify as OFFICIAL acts/actions of a government, nation or State. Yawn.
Real life calls. Out.

Posted by: Outraged | Dec 22 2022 22:22 utc | 48

Empty vague verbiage with the press, BBC, does not qualify as OFFICIAL acts/actions of a government, nation or State. Yawn.
Real life calls. Out.
Posted by: Outraged | Dec 22 2022 22:22 utc | 47

If
a) Selective reading of parts of the definition of Sovereign State
b) Use of Bolding & All Caps
c) Exaggerated outrage
were sufficient to win the debate, I would concede.
In “Real Life” if no other country subordinates or oversees your; government, elections, legislation, policies, citizenship, currency, military, police, judiciary, etc…, you are de facto an independent sovereign state.
“Officially” (bolded or not) means nothing except at the level of official diplomatic relations. Which still happen at the Consular level, not the Embassy level in the case of Taiwan – Republic of China.
It matters not what you think, they are a sovereign state.

Posted by: Opport Knocks | Dec 22 2022 23:13 utc | 50

Thanks, migueljose | Dec 22 2022 20:29 utc | 38 – I just read Pepe’s article that karlof1 posted above (he gets thanked by me all the time, so from now on that has to be understood). I’ll tackle your links first thing tomorrow – they do look interesting!

Posted by: juliania | Dec 22 2022 23:45 utc | 52

Interesting times.
We live in times where Western Media is stuck in the rut of supplying a mere 2% of the facts. Since August 1945. Along with a small number of individuals trolling the public with the same limited small picture. So the poor general public thus ignores the true “Bigger Picture”.
For example, a UK-based Dr. John Campbell. A retired teacher of nurses only. He has no degree in medicine(NO PUBLICATIONS FOUND)/viral research(NO PUBLICATIONS FOUND)/statistical mathematics(NO PUBLICATIONS FOUND). Preaching pure nonsense by plucking and then repackaging 2% of the data. So one cannot look beyond his mere 2% myopic vieW on SARS-COVID-19 VACCINES. As made by Pfitzer only. Which is also merely one of twenty now in use worldwide.
Does he mention the WORLD HEALTH ORGANIZATION COVID Vaccine just the facts list? Found here:- https://www.who.int/emergencies/diseases/novel-coronavirus-2019/covid-19-vaccines
Does he mention the lives saved in the 50 to 80-plus age group?
Does he mention the preventable deaths of those who by self-choice chose to avoid all medical recommendations?
Does he mention that many of the deceased unvaxxed victims died before their time?
Does he mention the massive dip in the median life expectancy from a high in 2018 to a new low in 2022?
Does he mention the odds of dying from being unvaxxed have been increased by one order of magnitude?
Does he mention the abnormal percentage of unvaxxed recoverers? Become victims of the extended Long-COVID?
Does he mention the monetary cost of ignoring basic sound medical advice and common sense?
Does he mention on YT one person routinely debunks his latest videos after August 2022?
On a side note, “sorryantivaxxer” provides insight into the tragic and YET preventable end for the anti-vaxxer. Along with the cost-burdened victims at a minimum of USD$10K per day stay in a USSA general hospital ICU. A broken dying third-world standard health care in a not open-for-free public health care cost-free to use. Operating only for profit first and the patient always last.

Posted by: Bad Deal Motors On | Dec 23 2022 0:43 utc | 54

Posted by: karlof1 | Dec 22 2022 19:52 utc | 29
Good article by Pepe Escobar on his native Brazil and Lula.
Thank you

Posted by: migueljose | Dec 23 2022 1:15 utc | 56

About the ROC / Taiwan:
All these old extra territorial claims were from the original KMT government (like the CPC!); their present president Tsai is from the opposite party called Democratic Progressive Party, a woman (!): tw/Page/40″>https://english.president.gov.tw/Page/40
The DPP rejects the “one-China principle” which after the CPC cheat on HongKong makes even more sense. What regional autonomy? Are all US or German states ruled from one central capital? They want to be an independent country as they defacto are: best to drop old ridiculous extra territorial claims to get recognized by the neighborhood.
Here is Lei on the recent local elections: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aLw6rBDKo2M

Posted by: Antonym | Dec 23 2022 1:38 utc | 58

One reason not to totally ignore CounterPunch is that they regularly publish pieces by Richard Falk. His current article focuses attention on the current and historic mistreatment of Kashmiris by the Indian government. Worth a read.
https://www.counterpunch.org/2022/12/16/on-justice-for-kashmir/

Posted by: farm ecologist | Dec 23 2022 3:49 utc | 60

The Chinese province of Taiwan will remain part of China for the next few decades if not the next century. The more the USA pushes, the stronger the push back and all to Taiwan’s disadvantage.
The USA is just stealing Taiwan’s key industries as it is in Europe.

Posted by: uncle tungsten | Dec 23 2022 3:57 utc | 62

@ Posted by: Laurence | Dec 23 2022 4:13 utc | 61
Nice Try. From the Wiki article on “Alberta Sovereignty Within a United Canada Act”

The Act seeks to protect Alberta from federal laws and policies that the Alberta legislature deems to be unconstitutional or harmful to Albertans or the province’s economic prosperity, in areas such as natural resources, gun control, COVID-19 public health, education, and agriculture.

Someone should tell your Premier that the Province of Alberta already has those powers under the current division of powers in the Canadian Constitution. What would really get people’s attention is if Alberta used the notwithstanding clause to opt out of making equalization payments.
Back to China/Taiwan. The mainland government has no constitutional authority either legislated or implied over the islands. Zero, Zip, Nada. They only have a stated intention.

Posted by: Opport Knocks | Dec 23 2022 4:27 utc | 64

Posted by: migueljose | Dec 22 2022 20:29 utc | 38
“Prashad … describes the caste society as one of the most extreme in Latin America, sharply delineated lines
between the huge indigenous majority and the whites who rule according to feudal/fascist traditions.”
They bigger they are…
Hoping and cheering for a reversal there.
Those Monroe Doc. folk need to be chased – and chastened!
5-star report, migueljose! Thanks for that & the links.

Posted by: waynorinorway | Dec 23 2022 5:14 utc | 66

@ Don Bacon
@ Opport Knocks
TL&DR Taiwan/’ROC’ status & the US ‘International-Rules-Based-Order’ …
Using your preferred rubbish TLA twisted wikipedia references, the unrecognized, non extant, ‘Republic of China’ has fully equal non-recognition as a sovereign nation State as:
Abkhazia – Republic of Abkhazia
Artsakh – Republic of Artsakh[ai]
Cook Islands
Kosovo – Republic of Kosovo
Niue
Northern Cyprus – Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus
Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic
Somaliland – Republic of Somaliland
South Ossetia – Republic of South Ossetia–the State of Alania
Well, that does it then, profoundly overwhelmed, I’m utterly convinced then, not! Especially since shit TLA Wikipedia declares in the company of above, ‘ROC’ is only ‘partly unrecognized’! WTF ?
Taiwans unofficial representative offices & institutions are actual openly recognized diplomatic Embassies & Consulates of a sovereign nation State, the ‘Republic of China’, are they ? No.
Officially declare themselves as such, do they ? No.
An olympic team under ‘ROC’ perhaps ? No.
Hell, even just observer status at the UN ? The long suffering, persecuted, militarily occupied open-air prisoners of Palestine are recognized as a State by 138 UN Nations, & they have it, ‘ROC’ ? No.
The civil war defeated, self-exiled/fled to Taiwan province ‘ROC’ remnants since ’49, yet especially since its non extant ’71 ‘ROC’ status, in its constructed constitution claims laughably hollow, patently fictitious sovereignty, & therefore control of & governance of the province of Taiwan, ALL of mainland China, the sovereign nation of Mongolia (?!), in fact territories of ten nations, including Myanmar, Bhutan, India, Japan, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Russia & Tajikistan ! LOL.
The map of the ‘claimed’ sovereign territory of Taiwan/’ROC’ is an absolute hoot. 🙂
And since they patently cannot ever demonstrate such, NO sovereign nation State status for non extant ‘ROC’, the rogue PRC province of Taiwan, ever.
Hence, effectively ultimately why Taiwan since ’71 (actually ’49 TBH) is a non sovereign, non nation State. Untenably ludicrous Empire driven political only ‘Rules-Based-Order’ farce.
Right then.
A simple, very straightforward question for you that you will no doubt be able to succinctly enunciate after all yer bluff & bluster, evasions, prevarications, sovereign citizen & ‘Rules-Based-Order’ verbiage …
Please provide the official name, date & format of when & under what circumstance the rogue Chinese province of Taiwan ‘ROC’ officially declared itself an actual Independent Sovereign Nation State amongst the community of nations ?
Contrary to being the actual long unrecognized indisputably defunct remnant predecessor of the Peoples Republic of China … ever dancing on the head of a pin as a pretend nation state, facilitated & sponsored by Empire.
The question is quite explicit & definitive re your highly politicized, propagandized & unsupported assertions. Aaaaand ? Waiting ? Waiting …

Posted by: Outraged | Dec 23 2022 8:15 utc | 68

I hesitate to enter the ring at this point but I can’t see any conclusion to this legalistic argument about Taiwan’s status. Surely, effectively Taiwan meets most criteria regarding political independence. But with economic dependence, as Brian Berletic showed in a brilliant exposition recently, it is firmly and irreversibly wedded to China. Sooner or later the majority of its people – who are, after all, Chinese – will come to see where their bread is buttered and reject the alternative of submitting to a rogue state across the ocean whose only wish is to turn it into another Ukraine.
Now, how many angels can dance on the head of a pin?

Posted by: Walt | Dec 23 2022 9:01 utc | 70

Please provide the official name, date & format of when & under what circumstance the rogue Chinese province of Taiwan ‘ROC’ officially declared itself an actual Independent Sovereign Nation State amongst the community of nations ?
Contrary to being the actual long unrecognized indisputably defunct remnant predecessor of the Peoples Republic of China … ever dancing on the head of a pin as a pretend nation state, facilitated & sponsored by Empire.
The question is quite explicit & definitive re your highly politicized, propagandized & unsupported assertions. Aaaaand ? Waiting ? Waiting …
Posted by: Outraged | Dec 23 2022 8:15 utc | 66

Someone of your obviously elevated geopolitical stature must be aware that Taiwan/Formosa was part of Japan from 1895 up until the end of WW2 in 1945.
Since that time it has been 100% self-governed and not administered by any other country including the PRC. AKA, it is sovereign, the PRC’s aspirational goals aside.
Your question is just another rhetorical trick, since we both know the answer. The position of the current President (quoted in post above) is that the Republic of China – Taiwan does not need to declare independence, since it is de facto independent.
This “debate” hinges on one thing, the definition of a Sovereign State.
Your definition contends that only a majority of diplomatic recognition matters.
My definition contends that the totality of everything else that a government does trumps diplomatic relations.
Should be obvious, but apparently not.

Posted by: Opport Knocks | Dec 23 2022 9:11 utc | 72

@ Opport Knocks | Dec 23 2022 9:11 utc | 70
You again ignored all that which you steadfastly refuse to acknowledge, including the legalities of the various treaties revocations & annulments & have again diverged to irrelevancies (1895). Deliberately evading the crucial critical question put to you.

Posted by: Outraged | Dec 23 2022 9:42 utc | 74

It’s refreshing to see that the troll bits of the 77th appear to have been given an early Xmas break! It’s a mighty peaceful bar last day or so.
Financial Times wringing their hands of the poor Syrian peoples plight and fuel shortage without mentioning that oil is daily stolen by US troops illegally occupying that country. Not a single objection in the Collective W
https://twitter.com/colonelhomsi/status/1606212994240692226?s=20&t=0ST8Tt4LGiojHLv5CvnN3A

Posted by: DunGroanin | Dec 23 2022 10:03 utc | 76

And your answer to the crucial critical core question @ Dec 23 2022 8:15 utc | 66 ?
Posted by: Outraged | Dec 23 2022 10:04 utc | 75

I did answer your question, the one you only asked because you think it supports your case. When did Great Britain declare Independence? Or France? A Declaration of Independence is only required when you are separating from another country, like say Madagascar from France. Before 1945 Taiwan was part of Japan and gained de facto independence from it at the end of the war.
Please read the Constitution of the Republic of China. Does it say anywhere that they are subordinate to or a protectorate of any other nation? No. It says the President conducts foreign policy, and

Article 2
The sovereignty of the Republic of China shall reside in the whole body of citizens.

So until the “body of citizens” decides otherwise, they remain an sovereign country.

Posted by: Opport Knocks | Dec 23 2022 10:40 utc | 78

IntelSlava (Open TG link)(7 satellite images)
Satellite images from Maxar – new Russian military bases, radar stations and airfields in the Arctic. CNN is very worried about the growing presence of Russia there, because America has practically lost the battle for the Arctic and can only stir up trifles through its proxy in this race – Norway
&
Russians collaborating with the SBU detained in the Perm Territory, the Jewish Autonomous Region and the Rostov Region, cases of treason and espionage were initiated – FSB

Posted by: Outraged | Dec 23 2022 12:01 utc | 80

The election fraud hearing in Arizona, USA, was worth watching. Despite severe restrictions on what fraud tactics could be argued, the enormity of the fraud was clear. Ballots were scaled to 9 inches but printed on 10″ paper. These misread because the printing was not at the expected locations. When ballots couldn’t be read, they went into box #3 where they were either discarded, or mixed with counted ballots, or reprinted for a different candidate with no chain of custody. This mis printing was intentional. It was also admitted that this happened in previous elections.
There were many more aspects to this such as mismatched signatures. They weren’t talking sporadic problems, but problems of an industrial scale involving hundreds of thousands of anomalies, all favoring a single party.
In a normal country, there would be paper ballots, a voting registry and you’d have to show ID at the voting station. They votes would be counted with observers, that night. Cheating is still possible, but not on massive scales.
Instead there are printers, various ballot transformations, transport of ballots to private offsite facilities, tabulators that work with fractional votes (e.g. for vote scaling) with internet access and all sorts of complexity to ensure zero accountability and zero traceability.
The person running for governor was also responsible for certifying her own election, and her 2nd in command, Kori, was a former FBI agent. Counties that refused to certify were threatened with jail time. Now those who dared file law suits are being threatened with lawfare.
This has world wide significance because of the USA’s status as most dangerous terrorist state. The general population of the USA has no control over the corrupt state and federal governments, nor any recourse because all its institutions are corrupted all the way up to the supreme court.
To figure out what the USA will do next you have to figure out the will of the various oligarchs, intelligence agencies, banking and Military Pharmaceutical Industrial Complex.
Certainly giving away all their obsolete arms to Ukraine makes sense because they will get replacement orders. They also expect repayment e.g. lend/lease, which will probably be agricultural land in Ukraine. The oligarchs probably want the great reset. The financial institutions probably want high interest rates to bankrupt everyone so that they can take possession of most private property, especially housing. Maybe they all want to exterminate the middle class as it represents a threat to evil.

Posted by: PP | Dec 23 2022 14:48 utc | 82

Imperious Proclamation of 2022
… ❝A Declaration of Independence is only required when you are separating from another country, like say Madagascar from France.❞ …
Or say, Taiwan from China. … 🤣`

Posted by: Laurence | Dec 23 2022 21:04 utc | 84

RT has a short item about Algeria’s further declaration of its desire to join BRICS. In a much longer article, the very capable journalist Ekaterina Blinova tells us how South Africa is using BRICS as it navigates t6he self-imposed decline of the West that’s harming globalization’s beneficial aspects. Her recapping of BRICS’s history is excellent for those not knowing it or having forgotten. In 2006, there was BRIC, and only in 2010 did the S get added. And that’s how the story starts; do take the time to read it as:
“South Africa will chair BRICS from January 1, 2023. The nation’s International Relations and Cooperation Minister Naledi Pandor has vowed to expand the grouping’s geographic reach, strengthen intra-BRICS relations and enhance South Africa’s growth.”
How many new letters or just a + will be added is unknown. But knowing what it will be added to is essential, IMO.

Posted by: karlof1 | Dec 23 2022 22:13 utc | 86

Sorry I erred on my penultimate line at 85 – should have removed that, as I had previously posted in error at the ukraine only thread.

Posted by: juliania | Dec 23 2022 22:34 utc | 88

@Opport Knocks and @Outraged
The entire issue of whether Taiwan is an ‘independent’ country is just an irrelevant pseudo-issue, due to confusions about language/terminology. In the only functioning literal sense, Taiwan is in a ‘middle state’: it is de facto independent in domestic policy, but there is no such thing as a ‘de facto independent country’ since this entire definition is falsified by specific classes of counter-examples that are easily constructed. E.g., it applies to every separatist region whatsoever (e.g., imagine if the Confederacy lasted for a slightly longer time), or even regions inside of China proper (which is highly decentralized). Or: country can consist of multiple different systems, that are ‘de facto’ independent. In particular: the Chinese political system has a high degree of decentralization, so for much of its history most regions within it were de facto independent: and yet they are not separate countries. Etc.
So there’s no such thing as a functioning notion of de facto independence: the general quality is falsified by the non-existince of a functioning empirical distinction. “Independence” of countries is simply independence of formal recognition: and there are different degrees of this. (Again: every general verbal definition has to based on specific *conditions* about whether the entire empirical distinction exists or not. E.g., there is no distinction between ‘stability’ and ‘instability’ in empirical reality.)
The root of the fallacy is that East Asian notions of legality are different from Western notions, so the two are using the word ‘independent’ in two different senses. In the East Asian context, leaders are often *called* absolute, but the de facto ‘reality’ is that exceptions can be made to every decision (that is, decentralization). That is, there is a public/private distinction to East Asian notions of law/legality. In the East Asian context, the ‘de facto’ reality is always much further than official reality than in the Western contexts.
The principle is that one does not impose one’s standard of legality in other settings. In the East Asian setting, they call things by their own terminology since this is part of the cultural/legal system. Issues in the Western setting simply don’t carry over, and vice versa.
Again, the entire issue is almost entirely irrelevant: the *real question* is whether a country can have a de facto independent *foreign policy*: e.g., Cuba which is ‘fully independent’ politically and legally is not permitted to be fully independent from the US, there are embargoes and other restrictions against it. Client states like Germany, etc., are de facto just puppet states and don’t have any sovereignty. The real issues are about specific issues: whether Taiwan can host American weapons on its soil. And the analogy again is with Cuba: there has to be a symmetry between the two situations.

Posted by: Neutral | Dec 23 2022 23:12 utc | 90

I was tempted to make this comment on the Z/Biden/Congress thread; but since its looks at the Big Picture that includes those protagonists as insignificant, I’ll post it here. I linked to this article about BRICS upthread, and cite these two major closing assessments made by “Richard D. Wolff, professor of economics emeritus at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst, and a visiting professor in the graduate program in international affairs of the New School University in New York”:

“The US response to these conditions includes two major developments,” Wolff told Sputnik. “One is the abandonment of the neoliberal, globalist strategic focus for US capital. It has turned to economic nationalism instead in the hope of thereby salvaging as much of the declining empire as possible. The other is the US targeting of China as an enemy to be hobbled in its own economic and military development in every way short of nuclear war. China’s allies – such as Russia – are to be hobbled as well.”…
“BRICS will likely grow as many nations need to decouple from the problems of historical subordinations to the US and its empire now declining,” Wolff assumed. “China will likely support that process and thereby strengthen its competitive position vis-a-vis the US. In short, recent history suggests greater stresses imposed upon the US. Its reactions thereto will also likely continue unless social changes inside the US generate new political movements with radically different notions of how to respond to the US decline at home and abroad.”

Not factored in are the added affects of the SCO, BRI and EAEU on the overall situation. Clearly, the RoW is becoming more closely organized daily resulting in greater strength and resiliency. The key for all involved is to use a mixed economy to facilitate greater aggregate demand from all that raises all. Commerce between all but NATO and 5-Eyes nations is more than enough to sustain all those economies while driving development centered growth. This is the message made by Putin and Xi but said differently. The RoW must realize that it doesn’t need those other supposedly indispensable nations to attain their development goals. And that presents a big problem for those other nations who plundered so much of the world and continue to try. This can already be seen in the destruction of most European nation’s sovereignty via NATO/EU and it becoming a colony of the Outlaw US Empire that will surely be plundered for that’s what the Empire does. Wolff sees more nationalism than neoliberalism in Empire policy, but I disagree with that as the “nationalism” is a manifestation of neoliberalism’s requirements–that it gets as much as it can regardless the victim–they’re parasites afterall.
The major near-term goal of the emerging blocs is to wean themselves from use of ultimately worthless dollars, which is to say not to hold them as any sort of reserve. Unfortunately, the safest use of dollars is using them as a medium of exchange which forces you to have reserves for that use. The result is there’s only one way out of that trap–cease the use of dollars. Until a newly agreed upon international commercial currency can be agreed upon, nations must trade in their own currencies with each other, which initially isn’t as convenient as the use of dollars. And this one example serves to illustrate the initial complexity of moving to a Multipolar Paradigm.
The only way to kill a parasite is to deprive it of hosts. The dollar is THE parasite. The best the world can do is drive it back to its lair and restrict it to its colonial domains. The RoW must be wary of anything emanating from the Outlaw US Empire regarding your nation. Help should never be accepted as it allows penetration. Remember, the organism is a parasite, a virus, and it appears to corrupt the soul of those with too many dollars or access to dollars that aren’t theirs (congress). The Ukraine crisis will end in Russia’s favor. How will that affect the Empire’s behavior is a question for Europe and Russia. The RoW already wants peace, so the task is to continue developing and dedollarizing.

Posted by: karlof1 | Dec 24 2022 2:07 utc | 92

re: Wang — Blinken phone call Dec 22
al Jazeera
China’s foreign minister warns US not to cross its ‘red line’

Wang Yi accuses the US of ‘salami slicing’ tactics and ‘bullying’ in a call with Secretary of State Antony Blinken.
The United States must stop its “old routine of unilateral bullying”, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi has told US Secretary of State Antony Blinken in a telephone call.
Wang on Friday accused the US of trying to suppress China’s development. Washington must pay attention to Beijing’s legitimate concerns, he said, warning the US against trying to challenge China’s red lines using “salami slicing” tactics. . .here

US State Dept
Secretary Blinken’s Call with People’s Republic of China (PRC) State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi

The following is attributable to Spokesperson Ned Price:
Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken spoke today with PRC State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi. The Secretary discussed the need to maintain open lines of communication and responsibly manage the U.S.-PRC relationship. The Secretary also raised concerns about Russia’s war against Ukraine and the threats it poses to global security and economic stability. They further discussed the current COVID-19 situation, and the Secretary underscored the importance of transparency for the international community. . .here

Posted by: Don Bacon | Dec 24 2022 3:01 utc | 94

@ migueljose | Dec 24 2022 3:38 utc | 95
that is good news.. so now where does the gold go? was it given to guaido, or how did that work out?? i know the usa and friends canada and etc, will continue to try to do its bullshit number on venezuala, guaido, or no guaido… what’s next? thanks for the numerous updates on latin america as well migueljose.. much appreciated!

Posted by: james | Dec 24 2022 3:52 utc | 96

@ glupi | Dec 24 2022 4:07 utc | 97
thanks glupi! that was an entertaining read and the comments are just as much fun… merry christmas to you!

Posted by: james | Dec 24 2022 4:18 utc | 98

@ psychohistorian | Dec 24 2022 4:50 utc | 99
hey james.. i hope you stay well! merry christmas to you and a happy new year 2023 as well! i got it last christmas too, but seem to avoided it so far this year.. cheers james

Posted by: james | Dec 24 2022 5:29 utc | 100