Monday, March 6, 2023
China Outpacing US in Military Ship Buildup: Former Intelligence Officer
Soldiers from China's People's Liberation Army march on Red Square
during a military parade, which marks the 75th anniversary of the Soviet
victory over Nazi Germany in World War II, in Moscow on June 24, 2020.
(Pavel Golovikin/POOL/AFP via Getty Images)
China is outpacing the United States in military ship buildup, according to veteran intelligence officer and author Grant Newsham.
Secretary of the Navy Carlos Del Toro said on Feb. 28 that the Chinese military is producing warships at a greater pace than the United States, jeopardizing U.S. supremacy on the seas. He noted that China currently has about 340 ships and is seeking to add 100 more by 2030.
Newsham echoed Toro’s opinion, noting that the number doesn’t even include the regime’s coast guard ships, which are built like warships, and a maritime militia that adds thousands of ships to that.
The U.S. Navy reportedly has about 295 ships to cover the entire world.
“The Chinese shipyards have been launching at about a rate of 5 to 1 over the last decade. So for every warship we put in the water, they put five, and they have a much bigger shipbuilding capacity than we do; we have allowed ours to wither. And the Chinese have built theirs up just at a breathtaking speed,” Newsham told NTD’s “China in Focus” program on March 4.
“If Chinese authorities pick their spots, and get the right circumstances, they would give us a real bloody nose, to put it mildly.
“And we’ve effectively allowed them to catch up with us and overtake us. Over the last 20 years at least, we dismissed the threat, we refused to address it, and people who did raise concern … were sidelined and silenced.”
Multipronged War
China has waged a multipronged war on the United States for several decades, according to Newsham, who is also an Epoch Times contributor.
“What I point out is that China is already attacking us,” he said. “And they’ve been at it for at least 30 years—longer, most likely, but just take 30—and it has been a multifaceted front.”
As the author of the upcoming “When China Attacks” and with decades of experience in Asia, including as a U.S. Marine and a diplomat, Newsham said that “the Chinese approach to warfare and their concept of it is very different from ours.”
“To China, the shooting part, the so-called kinetic warfare, is almost the last thing and you only do it if you have to,” he said.
Newsham pointed to the COVID-19 epidemic that allegedly stemmed from China and called it a “biological attack on the United States.”
“Look at how successful it has been in weakening us, getting us to fight each other, really destroying our economy, shutting it down,” he said.
Newsham cited the inflow of fentanyl reportedly from China, which has led to the deaths of about 70,000 Americans per year. More than 100,000 Americans died of drug overdoses in the 12 months ending in April 2021, according to a report by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
More than 64,000 of these deaths resulted from synthetic opioids such as fentanyl—the deadliest opioid in existence—the study shows.
“The Chinese got the American political class, the business class, and the financial classes to let them into the World Trade Organization (WTO). And that cost well over 3 million manufacturing jobs in the United States,” he said, calling it economic warfare.
China joined the WTO in 2000 after the regime’s Most Favored Nation/Normal Trade Relations status was made permanent by the Clinton administration in the same year.
“Additionally, they’ve gone after international organizations, the United Nations, the World Health Organization, to take control, effectively take a whole lot of influence into these organizations and often have them do what China wants them to do,” he said.
“They’ve tried to get international law reinterpreted, or just ignored it, and daring the world to do something about it.”
Beijing’s Vulnerabilities
Newsham took note of Chinese leader Xi Jinping’s call on the United States not to “abuse the concept of national security to oppress Chinese companies,” during his November 2021 virtual summit with President Joe Biden.
The statement was later reiterated repeatedly by the communist regime.
“That shows you that they are terrified of being cut off from American technology, cut off from American markets, etc., and even our allies’ markets,” he said. “The Chinese Communist Party is vulnerable to an economic slowdown, and they know it.”
Newsham also highlighted the CCP’s fear of the United States and/or other like-minded countries banding together to present a unified front against the regime.
“When the free nations of the world get together to protect themselves, it makes Beijing very, very unhappy,” he said.
China is extremely vulnerable on the financial front because its currency isn’t freely convertible, according to Newsham.
If China’s access to foreign exchange is cut, making it harder for U.S. companies to invest in China, the regime is in deep trouble, he noted.
Understanding the pressure points of the regime would give the United States a good idea of what a counter-strategy should look like, Newsham said.
EXCLUSIVE: Bolsonaro Will Return to Lead Opposition in Brazil During ‘Uncertain Times’
Brazil’s former President Jair Bolsonaro (R) speaks to Epoch Times
reporter Roman Balmakov at the Conservative Political Action Conference
in Washington, D.C., on March 4, 2023. (Oliver Trey/NTD)
Brazil’s former President Jair Bolsonaro shared his thoughts on leadership, the current political agenda in his country, and the future, in an interview with The Epoch Times at the U.S. Conservative Political Action Conference on March 4.
Discussing plans to return to his native Brazil later this month, Bolsonaro said: “I will once again be the leader of the opposition to the current government.”
When asked whether he fears retaliation from the current administration, Bolsonaro said his country is enduring “uncertain times,” adding he might face action from the judicial branch of the government: “I have not been indicted. There’s nothing against me when it comes to corruption. But, unfortunately, there might be some forceful measure taken against me, which would be completely unfair.”
However, Bolsonaro says many congressmen support him and are against the “communism” and “corruption” of the new administration.
Complaints of government overreach from Brazil’s supreme court have persisted since last year’s presidential election. Residents have reported incidents like canceled social media accounts and threats of arrest for questioning the official results.
Bolsonaro lost a tight election race in 2022 against current President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, known locally as “Lula.”
The former president’s supporters fiercely contest the election results, which drove Jan. 8 demonstrations at Brazil’s federal buildings in the capital.
Though, according to Bolsonaro, Lula’s win represents more than just a victory for the left. It’s an opportunity for regimes in countries like Venezuela and Iran to expand their reach in the Americas.
White House officials sounded the alarm when two Iranian warships were allowed to dock in Rio de Janeiro on Feb. 26 and were given clearance to stay until March 4. The event occurred despite pressure from the United States to turn the ships away.
A spokesperson for the U.S. State Department, Ned Price, said the White House was discussing the situation with its Brazilian partners so Iran can’t “acquire a foothold” in the Americas and “is not able to take advantage of others in our hemisphere.”
But Iranian warships showing up on Brazilian shores didn’t surprise Bolsonaro. He always expected Lula’s government to become “close” to countries with entrenched authoritarian regimes.
Lula began reestablishing ties with Venezuela’s Nicolas Maduro before he was even sworn into office. In December 2022, Lula announced Brazil would once again have diplomatic ties with Caracas, which Bolsonaro suspended in 2020.
During his former turn at the helm as president, Lula also maintained a close relationship with Nicaragua’s President Daniel Ortega.
Regarding the arrival of Iran’s navy, Bolsonaro said: “If I were president, these warships would not be there.”
He also maintains that if Brazil doesn’t change its political course by 2026, it will end up in the same downward spiral as Venezuela.
Bolsonaro thinks there’s a chance Lula may not see the end of his term as inflation continues to impact Brazilians and the nation teeters at the edge of a recession. Bolsonaro says people will eventually turn against Lula, noting “there is great unemployment and a lack of investments by private companies.”
Brazil’s unemployment rate surpassed 11 percent between March and December last year. A recent economic report said the South American giant is heading for a slowdown in 2023, with a 2 percent drop in GDP growth due to elevated interest rates and a cooling export market.
Bolsonaro believes this will eventually snowball into overwhelming public anger at Lula’s government. He points to the current economic struggles of other socialist regimes in Latin America like Argentina, Chile, and Peru, as proof.
Despite the cautionary examples, socialist ideals have still gained traction in the younger crowds in places like Canada and the United States. Bolsonaro says it can be “very difficult” to change young minds because years of schooling paint pictures of socialism that don’t match reality.
“Unfortunately, the majority of youth cannot really see what is really obvious,” he said.
But one man alone can’t save Brazil from its current economic and political woes, according to Bolsonaro. He also thinks it’s time to move past the election loss and focus on the future: “Right now, we must think forward. We must bring the people to our side.”
Peruvian communities to resume blockade of crucial “mining corridor”
(Reference image by the Peruvian Ministry of Energy and Mines, Twitter).
https://www.mining.com/web/peruvian-communities-to-resume-blockade-of-crucial-mining-corridor/
Andean communities in Peru will resume a blockade of a crucial highway used by major copper producers next week, two local leaders said on Saturday, following a truce that had allowed mining companies to restart production.
Peru, the world’s second largest copper producer, has been facing protests since the dismissal of former President Pedro Castillo on December 7, including blockades of roads through which the mining companies obtain supplies for their operations.
The communities surrounding mining operations in the interior of Peru have been in conflict with the companies for years, demanding greater share of the profits from resource exploitation. But now they are also demanding the resignation of President Dina Boluarte following protests that left dozens dead.
Residents of Espinar and Chumbivilcas provinces agreed to the strike in the Cusco region on Monday and from Tuesday will resume the blockade of the “mining corridor”, used by Chinese MMG Ltd’s Las Bambas, Glencore’s Antapaccay and Hubbay Minerals’s Constancia mines.
“We are supporting the protest against the government,” said the coordinator of the communities in the Antapaccay area of influence in the province of Espinar, Flavio Huanque.
According to the Espinar agreement document, seen by Reuters, the communities also agreed to demand the stoppage from Monday of operations at Antapaccay, Las Bambas and Constancia.
“That is the agreement, from Monday we start the regional strike and we are going to block the highway,” Carlos Quispe, one of the leaders of the defense front of the province of Chumbivilcas, told Reuters.
Reuters reported this week that large mining companies in the Peruvian Andes were seeking to resume their production gradually after the corridor was unblocked, despite the climate of uncertainty and social upheaval.
Las Bambas, which produces 2% of the world’s copper and began operating in 2016, has largely withstood the constant stoppages, while the Antapaccay deposit suffered in January the burning of part of its camp after an attack by protesters and is still in the process of reopening.
(By Marco Aquino; Editing by Drazen Jorgic and Diane Craft)