Bloomberg: This Was a Good Week for China and Xi Jinping

[sutton999]

This Was a Good Week for China and Xi Jinping​

Whatever else the Pentagon leaks may eventually turn up, they expose two realities about US intelligence gathering that China must be relishing.
The first is that Washington has no qualms about the targets of its spying, whether it be adversaries or allies. The second, painfully demonstrated by the dump of classified documents on a gaming site, is that the proceeds of that surveillance, even after the WikiLeaks and Edward Snowden revelations, are still incredibly badly guarded.
While neither takeaway should surprise cynical onlookers, the drip-feed of embarrassing revelations still represents a very public own-goal by the US in the eyes of the world.

Key reading:​

• Xi Hosts Brazil’s Lula in Diplomatic Push for Ukraine Cease-Fire
• France’s Macron Defends Stance on US, China After Backlash
• All We Know About the Leak of Classified US Military Documents: Q&A
• Lula to Visit Huawei Site in Shanghai, Potentially Irking US
• China Exports Unexpectedly Rise in Positive Sign for Economy

The disclosures were just the start of a strong seven days for Chinese President Xi Jinping.
The weekend brought Emmanuel Macron’s comments on the need for Europe to forge its own path independent of the US, while casting doubt on aiding Taiwan in the event of conflict with Beijing.
Even leaving aside the merits of his argument, the French president’s remarks revealed fresh European divisions over attitudes to both the US and China.
Today it’s Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva’s turn to thumb his nose at Washington, as he visits US-sanctioned Huawei Technologies before a meeting with Xi in Beijing tomorrow, when the two will discuss a proposal to achieve a cease-fire in Ukraine — an effort dismissed by the US.

Brazil-China Trade​

Commodities correspond to about 75% of Brazil's total exports to China

Source: Brazil Foreign Trade Ministry

Unlike Macron’s pretensions to speak for Europe, Lula does have a claim to represent Latin America as the leader of its biggest economy, and by extension, the Global South. He’s made clear that he won’t meekly follow the US line on Russia or China.
That’s a win for China’s president.
As he basks in new figures showing the economic outlook improving, Xi can reflect on a pretty good week in his standoff with Washington.

Xi and Macron in Beijing on April 6.
Photographer: Ludovic Marin/Getty Images
Click here to listen to our Twitter Space discussion on President Joe Biden’s trip to Ireland, what it means for the “special relationship” with the UK and for Northern Ireland’s troubled politics.
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Global Headlines​

Putin’s advantage | The decision by an empowered OPEC+ led by Saudi Arabia and Russia to cut crude output this month has the potential to cause all kinds of trouble for the US economy — and Biden’s reelection campaign. The rise in prices it sparked heightens recession risks and gives Russian President Vladimir Putin a bigger war chest to fund his attack on Ukraine.

• Putin personally approved the arrest of Evan Gershkovich, sources say, in the first detention of a US reporter on espionage charges since the Cold War.
• Get more of our rolling coverage of the war in Ukraine here.

Abortion fight | A federal appeals court partly granted the Biden administration’s request to put on hold a Texas ruling overturning FDA approval of the abortion pill — the most popular method for terminating a pregnancy in the US. It’s become a prime target for abortion opponents since the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade in June.

China-Russia Relationship Leads Among Concerns Held by Americans​

Americans see Beijing-Moscow ties as top problem for the US in Pew survey

Source: Pew Research Center
Note: Survey of about 3,500 US adults was conducted from March 20-26, 2023
Americans increasingly see China as an “enemy” of the US rather than a competitor, reflecting growing public skepticism over the ability for the world’s two largest economies to cooperate, according to a Pew Research Center survey. The report also highlighted worries about Xi’s relationship with Putin and the war in Ukraine.
Decision time | French unions are holding strikes again today against Macron’s pension reform ahead of a key decision tomorrow on the law’s constitutionality. The nine-member Constitutional Council said it will rule on the plan and an opposition-backed request to put the proposal to a referendum.

Best of Bloomberg Opinion​

• Ukraine’s Spring Offensive Just Got Harder: Andreas Kluth
• Biden’s Irish Celebration Has an Unsung Hero: Matthew Brooker
• An Epic of Incompetence — and Redemption?: Adrian Wooldridge

Missile alert | Japan’s alert today to people on the northern island of Hokkaido to evacuate because of an approaching North Korean missile touched off a social media storm, with posts trending on Twitter such as “where in Hokkaido?” and “too broad.” The warning, lifted 20 minutes after it was issued, was another embarrassment for the J-Alert system that’s been plagued by false alarms and messages delivered too late.

Explainers You Can Use​

• Macron’s ‘Startup Nation’ Becomes a Haven for Battered Crypto
• Biden Investment Pledge Is No Fix for Sunak’s N. Ireland Problem
• New Zealand Government Revamps Planned Water Reforms

Milk trouble | Milk is ubiquitous in India — from the morning glassful that most middle class school kids drink to its use in Hindu religious rituals. Now it could become a headache for Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government as prices soar. A mix of factors is at play — a jump in the cost of cereals has made cattle feed more expensive coupled with lower dairy yields as cows were inadequately fed when the pandemic ruptured demand.

An man pours milk while making tea at a restaurant in Tamil Nadu.
Photographer: Dhiraj Singh/Bloomberg
Tune in to Bloomberg TV’s Balance of Power at 5pm to 6pm ET weekdays with Washington correspondents Annmarie Hordern and Joe Mathieu. You can watch and listen on Bloomberg channels and online here.

News to Note​

• Sudan’s army accused the country’s most powerful militia of threatening national security by deploying troops in the capital, Khartoum, and other cities, ratcheting up fears of all-out conflict between the rivals.
• California’s Dianne Feinstein is the longest-serving woman in US Senate history. Now, as the 89-year-old battles health troubles some of her colleagues want her gone.
• Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni extended her revamp of Italy’s economic and business elite as her government replaced leaders at some of its biggest state-controlled enterprises.
• The World Bank arm that helps the poorest countries plans more concessional loans and grants to nations facing higher risks of debt distress, a move that could end the impasse hindering the restructure of debt held by low-income nations.
• Ecuador is in talks with the International Monetary Fund for a credit line of as much as $1 billion after the nation was hit by an earthquake, flooding and a landslide in recent weeks.

And finally ... Argentina’s record drought is worsening inflation, undermining economic growth and sending the peso to new lows ahead of October presidential elections that could portend a dramatic swing in the country’s political direction. The dry spell is worsening an economic situation that has spurred inflation past 100%, while failed crops are likely to trigger economic effects across the globe.

A farmer holds a dried soybean plant in San Jose de la Esquina, Argentina, on April 6.
Photographer: Natalia Favre/Bloomberg

— With assistance by Karl Maier

 

[beijingwalker]

World leaders are lining up to meet Xi Jinping. Should the US be worried?​

by Simone McCarthy, CNN
Updated 4:46 AM EDT, Fri April 14, 2023

Chinese leader Xi Jinping, his French counterpart Emmanuel Macron and European Commission President Ursula von de Leyen meet in Beijing on April 6, 2023.
Ludovic Marin/Pool/AFP/Getty Images

Hong KongCNN —
Xi Jinping has had a busy couple of weeks.

Since late last month the Chinese leader has hosted heads of state and government chiefs from Spain, Singapore, Malaysia, France and the European Union – an unusual pace of diplomatic activity that comes as countries look to Beijing as the global economy sputters in the wake of the pandemic and war in Ukraine.

On Friday, that list grew to include Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, who is expected to sign a host of bilateral deals with Xi – and, like several of the leaders before him, arrives with hopes of making progress toward ending Russia’s war in Ukraine.

But for Xi, this revolving door of visiting leaders – making the trip even as China has refused to condemn the Russian invasion – is also an opportunity to assert his vision for a global order not dictated by American rules – and push back against perceived threats.

That’s especially urgent for the Chinese leader now, observers say.

Three years of scaled-back diplomacy due to China’s strict Covid-19 controls coupled with economic challenges, entrenched competition with the United States and rising European concerns about Beijing’s foreign policy have left Xi under pressure to act.

“(Chinese leaders) believe it’s time now for China to make its strategic plans,” said Li Mingjiang, an associate professor of international relations at Singapore’s Nanyang Technological University.

“A potentially good outcome is to weaken American alliances … so that’s why we’re seeing quite strenuous efforts made by Beijing to try to stabilize and improve relations with European countries, and also to try to improve and strengthen cooperation with emerging economies,” he said.

Driving a wedge​

As world leaders return to Beijing despite international concerns over the growing China-Russia relationship and Beijing’s intimidation of Taiwan, Xi has used the opportunity to thread his conversations with veiled criticism of the US and keywords that signal Xi’s own view for how to reshape global power.

Speaking to Singapore’s Lee Hsien Loong late last month, Xi stressed that Asian countries together should “firmly oppose bullying, decoupling or severing industrial and supply chains,” while he urged Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim to “resolutely resist the Cold War mentality and bloc confrontation.”

To Spain’s Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez that same day, he warned that the “sound development of China-EU relations requires the EU to uphold strategic independence,” according to readouts from the Chinese side.

Beijing has watched uneasily as the war in Ukraine has driven the US and its European allies closer. Now, analysts say playing up its economic partnerships and exploiting differences between countries on the two sides of the Atlantic is key.

When French President Emmanuel Macron arrived in Beijing last week, Xi drew comparisons between China and France: both “major countries with a tradition of independence,” Xi said, and “firm advocates for a multi-polar world” – or a world without a dominant superpower.

After a day of meetings in Beijing, Xi met Macron in the southern commercial hub of Guangzhou to continue an “informal” conversation – sipping tea and listening to the plucked melodies of traditional Chinese music before a state dinner.

Macron, who has long advocated for Europe to develop an independent geopolitical policy and defense capabilities that needn’t rely on Washington, appeared receptive.

He released a 51-point joint statement with China outlining cooperation on areas from nuclear energy to food security and told reporters traveling with him that when it comes to the US-China rivalry Europe must not be “caught up in crises that are not ours, which prevents it from building its strategic autonomy,” according to a Politico interview.

Macron’s comments have sparked backlash in Europe and the US, but analysts say they were likely seen as a triumph in Beijing.

“Everything that can weaken the US, divide the West and move countries closer to China is good for Xi,” said Jean-Pierre Cabestan, a professor of political science at Hong Kong Baptist University. “Hence, Macron’s trip is seen in Beijing as a major victory.”

Lula’s back​

Xi may be preparing for another potential diplomatic win when he meets Lula on Friday.

The leftist Brazilian leader, who ushered in a boom in China-Brazil trade ties during his first stint in power some two decades ago, is traveling with a delegation of business leaders, state governors, congressmen and ministers, and expected to close a raft of bilateral deals from agriculture and livestock to technology.

Lula’s return to power already shifts the dynamics of the China-Brazil relationship, which saw tense moments under former leader Jair Bolsonaro, who embraced anti-China rhetoric.

Lula has already started out his state visit in Shanghai with a nod to Brazil and China cooperation, attending the former Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff’s inauguration as head of the New Development Bank of BRICS, the bloc of emerging economies of Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa that offers an alternative power grouping to the Western-centric G7.

“Xi will find in Lula a BRICS enthusiast, openness to reforms in the global governance system and the desire to avoid automatic alignment with the US,” said Luiza Duarte, a research fellow at American University’s Center for Latin American and Latino Studies in Washington.

Meanwhile, Lula’s expected warm welcome in Beijing “raises comparison with his frustrating less than 24-hour visit to Washington,” she said, referring to the Brazilian leader’s February 10 visit to the White House.

The meeting was seen at the time as a key outreach from the newly inaugurated Lula to the US.

But Beijing may use the “lack of deliverables” from that meeting “to position itself as a more appealing alternative for bilateral cooperation,” said Duarte.

Brazil's President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva gestures at the inauguration of the President of the New Development Bank, Dilma Rousseff in Shanghai, China, April 13, 2023.
Ricardo Stuckert/Handout via Reuters

Ukraine question​

Looming over diplomacy in Beijing is the Russian assault in Ukraine.

Some leaders – like Macron – have viewed Xi, a close friend and diplomatic partner of Russian President Vladimir Putin, as a potential ally that could help push Putin toward peace.

But their relationship has also raised concern, with US officials earlier this year warning that China was considering providing the Kremlin with lethal aid – a claim Beijing has denied.

While France and China agreed to several points related to the war in their meeting – including opposition to attacks on nuclear power plants and the protection of women and children – Macron did not ultimately push Xi to commit on paper to any position China has not already publicly said.

Brazil, in advance of Lula’s trip, has offered another view: creating – as the country’s foreign minister put it – “a group of mediator countries” including China.

But how Beijing navigates these initiatives, observers say, comes down to a bottom line that’s integrally related to Xi’s global ambitions and world view.

“It will be difficult for China to respond positively to some of the requests made by either the Americans or Europeans, because doing this would produce the risk of making the Russians upset,” said Li in Singapore.

“Russia is the only major power that shares a lot of (China’s) views on how the world and the global system should look and how various political issues should be handled. Russia is irreplaceable for China,” he said.

That point was highlighted in another moment on Xi’s recent diplomatic agenda: his travel to Moscow in March for his own state visit – the first since he stepped into a third presidential term that same month.

And while China’s diplomacy – and deals – in the past week may not have been heavily impacted by the optics of that relationship, analysts say how Beijing handles the conflict will continue to affect views on China globally.

Perceptions about Xi’s potential influence over Putin have provided “leverage that allows (Xi) to get a lot of attention, and perhaps get mileage and support that he would otherwise not have,” said Chong Ja Ian, an associate professor at the National University of Singapore.

“Ultimately, the test will come down to whether Xi is actually able to exert any real influence on Putin, especially in terms of ceasing the war,” he said.

World leaders are lining up to meet Xi Jinping. Should the US be worried? | CNN

Xi Jinping has had a busy couple of weeks. Since late last month the Chinese leader has hosted heads of state and government chiefs from Spain, Singapore, Malaysia, France and the European Union -- an unusual pace of diplomatic activity that comes as countries look to Beijing.

www.cnn.com

 

[tower9]

The neoliberal media is desperately trying to find a way to explain to the American people the massive global shift that is happening. The reality is that China is just getting started. It has decided that it will no longer cooperate with the US or consider the interests of the US, it will just bulldoze its way to the top.

It's not going to just be a "week", it's going to be a century. The world has changed. Only Americans don't realize it because they've been pumped full of propaganda for decades.

 

[sutton999]

and Italy is on

https://twitter.com/x/status/1645831069579476999

 

[The SC]

https://twitter.com/x/status/1647360017094307840