Following up on last week's show where we discussed the quickly-changing dynamics of U.S.-European relationships under Donald Trump, we look at the “peace deal” Trump has penned with Ukraine that reportedly includes significant mineral rights for the U.S...
In the summer of 2024, this author participated in a media tour of China’s Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region (XUAR), at the invitation of the State Information Council Office of the People’s Republic of China (PRC). And what was found? That despite the Western narrative of genocide, cultural repression and forced labor,...
The corporate media has been non-stop talking about the “dystopian” lockdown in Shanghai claiming people are starving in mass. The question “at what cost” pops up in articles across the news cycle questioning China’s lockdown policies. The logistical challenges for Shanghai’s local government to manage a lockdown in response to a mass omicron spread have been significant, but is that the full story?
West projecting its own image onto China when labeling it imperialist According to many Western commentators—from the center-left to the far-right—China is the major threat to democracy, climate, peace and sovereignty in the 21st century. It is an issue where Donald Trump and Joe Biden are completely aligned. On the...
In the last decade xenophobic tropes intended to stoke fear and loathing of Chinese have accelerated ominously in the American mainstream media as many public officials of both parties label China as our “adversary” or even our “enemy.” This last formulation is deep cause for growing alarm, especially because many...
In 1989, the American public was flooded with iconic images of brave Chinese students standing up to Chinese Communist tanks in Tiananmen Square—students who were then brutally slaughtered by the Chinese military. Or so we were led to believe. But a startling new book reveals that the American public may...
On Tuesday, Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi landed in Taiwan, marking a major escalation of U.S. aggression towards China. While this may not on it’s face seem alarming, the reality is that the U.S. is playing with fire. 1979 was the last time that a U.S. head of state or member of the ruling party visited Taiwan. Since the 70’s the official policy of the U.S. has been the One China policy, and this visit undermines this very policy. China’s statement by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs stated, “These moves, like playing with fire, are extremely dangerous. Those who play with fire will perish by it.”
Allegations and accusations that China is trapping Africa into unsustainable debt agreements have dominated the conversation around Africa-China relations in Western media, but what does the data tell us? The reality is that China is canceling 23 loans to African countries amid this 'Debt Trap' debate. We look at the international implications of this claim, what debt trap diplomacy is, and who owns most of Africa's external debts. Featuring Sri Lanka, the African Development Bank, and the “secret” lenders they don’t tell us about, with Mikaela Nhondo Erskog researcher at TriContinental Institute for Social Research and one of the hosts of the new podcast The Crane, an African China podcast by the Dongsheng Collective. Plus: We discuss Mikhail Gorbachev’s legacy, what to make of Biden’s student loan debt moves, Lindsey Graham’s threats of “riots in the streets” if Trump is prosecuted, and more...
If U.S. leaders were really interested in Americans security, they would upgrade public health and housing rather than upgrading the military and thereby encouraging a dangerous arms race with China. Everyone who abhors war, detests imperialism, and favors cooperation between nations on global warming, poverty reduction, protection of biodiversity,...
Already threatening war with Russia, the White House this month has unveiled a new imperial grand strategy for the Indo-Pacific that raises the prospects of war with China. The new strategy starts by repeating familiar clichés about America’s supposed humanitarian intentions in Southeast Asia and role in providing the security...