8chan/8kun QResearch Posts (3)
#11972388 at 2020-12-10 18:44:41 (UTC+1)
Q Research General #15284: E-bake
Biden Names China Critic Katherine Tai As Top US Trade Official
One day after it was revealed that Joe Biden's son, Hunter, was being probed for tax fraud and Chinese influence peddling - something we first reported at the end of October in "Blockbuster Report Reveals How Biden Family Was Compromised By China", the Biden team - desperate to bury the fact that his family is beholden to Chinese dictator for life Xi Jinping - announced Katherine Tai, a trade lawyer with a history of taking on China, would replace Lighthizer as US Trade Representative; Tai is on record as saying China needs to be confronted strongly and strategically.
Born in Connecticut to Taiwanese parents, Tai speaks Mandarin fluently and is a graduate of Yale University and Harvard Law School. She taught English for two years at Zhongshan University in Guangzhou, southern China, from 1996 to 1998 as a Yale-China Fellow. She gained fame as the Democrats' leading trade counsel in negotiating stronger labor provisions with the Republicans' Lighthizer-led team in the US-Mexico-Canada trade agreement.
If confirmed by the Senate, Tai would inherit a critical position of continuing the US trade war with China, and would be tasked with enforcing America's import rules and brokering trading terms with China and other nations.
In choosing Tai, the senior trade lawyer on the House Ways and Means Committee, the Biden team likely signals an intent to return to a more multilateral trade approach to advance US trade interests and confront growing economic competition from China, according to CNBC. Biden and Vice President-elect Kamala Harris emphasized Tai's experience in a press release Thursday.
"Her deep experience will allow the Biden-Harris administration to hit the ground running on trade, and harness the power of our trading relationships to help the U.S. dig out of the COVID-induced economic crisis and pursue the President-elect's vision of a pro-American worker trade strategy," the Biden transition team wrote.
Tai would succeed current trade czar Robert Lighthizer, whose achievements during the Trump administration include a more-forceful tact in negotiations with Beijing and the imposition of hundreds of billions of dollars worth of tariffs on goods imported from China.
Though Tai may favor multilateral enforcement mechanisms more than Lighthizer, her leadership as USTR wouldn't necessarily signal a change to the tougher stance toward China. She has said that China should be addressed forcefully and strategically.
"They both also have a long history of dealing with China's unfair practices, the most pressing trade issue of our time," according to former top White House trade negotiator Clete Willems. "Where Katherine's approach is most likely to differ is on how she uses the WTO system and alliances to pressure China to change behavior."
From 2007 to 2014, Tai successfully litigated Washington's disputes against Beijing at the WTO, the global trade organization based in Geneva, Switzerland. Lighthizer and his team, frustrated with what they viewed as slow-moving bureaucracy and China's influence at the WTO and World Bank, often opted to work around the WTO and take a more direct approach through tariffs. The U.S. still has import duties on $370 billion of Chinese imports.
In August, Tai called for a different approach to China from the years-long tariff war waged by Lighthizer and said the use of import taxes are actually a defensive maneuver. Rep. Don Beyer, D-Va., said in a press release Wednesday evening that Tai would be a smart choice for USTR based on their time working together on the Ways and Means Committee.
"She is smart, deeply knowledgeable, and committed to getting trade policy right for our workers, businesses, and the environment," Beyer said.
"Katherine is widely respected and well-liked, but will also be a tough and principled negotiator," he added. "She is exactly the right kind of cooperative leader to help return rationality to our trade policy and restore the respect of our allies around the world."
https://www.zerohedge.com/markets/biden-names-china-critic-katherine-tai-top-us-trade-official
#9074527 at 2020-05-08 03:25:08 (UTC+1)
Q Research General #11616: [Michael Atkinson] Edition
US B-1B Bombers Again Fly Near Chinese Airspace Amid 'New Cold War' Threat
It goes without saying that US-China relations have reached their lowest point in decades, with a former Trump administration trade official warning the spike in tensions brought on by the coronacrisis on the heels of the trade war has marked "the start of a new Cold War".
Former top White House trade negotiator Clete Willems told CNBC's Squawk Box Asia on Tuesday: "The reality is that tensions between the United States and China are rising considerably at the moment."
"I know people get uncomfortable with the terminology, but I do think we have to be honest and call this what it is and this is the start of a new Cold War and if we're not careful, things could get much, much worse," Willems added.
Which is what makes the uptick in American long-range bomber activity over the East China Sea - right on the Communist country's doorstep - all the more dangerous.
In what appears at least an indirect warning reasserting US defense readiness in the wake of the military being severely impacted by the coronavirus pandemic, the US Air Force on Thursday published a series of photos showing a B-1B strategic bomber mission over the East China Sea this week, involving aerial refueling as well.
#NKAWTG@AFGlobalStrike @US_Stratcom @PACAF @121ARW @AirMobilityCmd pic.twitter.com/7ca05NH91W
- USTRANSCOM (@US_TRANSCOM) May 7, 2020
Aviation monitoring sites tracked two US B-1B supersonic bombers which took off from Guam toward the East China Sea, nearing Taiwan's northeastern maritime border along the way.
Crucially, it's the 15th such US military flight approaching Taiwan's contested borders since the beginning of April, and the third bomber approach since the start of this month.
#BTF Bones conduct a training mission in the East China Sea in support of the National Defense Strategy objectives of being strategically predictable and operationally unpredictable. #FreeAndOpen @usairforce @DeptofDefense @INDOPACOM pic.twitter.com/uCAiRH6a7x
- PACAF (@PACAF) May 4, 2020
Marking the 15th U.S. military flight to approach Taiwan's borders since the start of April, according to Taiwan's CNA news, the flight path showed that the two bombers departed from Anderson Air Force Base in Guam toward the East China Sea and near Taiwan. Prior flights over or near Taiwan-claimed waters have included reconnaissance flights as well, said to be carefully monitoring developments in China amid the pandemic.
USAF B-1Bs LANDO01 & 02 departed Andersen AFB, Guam and conducted a mission over the East China Sea.
USAF KC-135R LIVID11 provided tanker support. pic.twitter.com/QT09YDCd6A
- Aircraft Spots (@AircraftSpots) May 4, 2020
China's Ministry of Foreign Affairs meanwhile warned that while it respects international airspace rights, it condemns any violations of its territorial integrity.
And as a reminder, Beijing of course views Taiwan and the waters around it as precisely this.
https://www.zerohedge.com/geopolitical/us-b-1b-bombers-again-fly-near-chinese-airspace-amid-new-cold-war-threat
#5847039 at 2019-03-23 16:56:03 (UTC+1)
Q Research General #7480: West Coast Wake and Bake, East Coast High Noon. The Brunch Edition
Top trade adviser leaving White House
Clete Willems, a top White House trade adviser, will leave his post in the coming weeks, the administration announced Friday.
Officials said Willems was taking a job in the private sector in order to spend more time with his young family; he is the father to a new baby girl. He served as deputy director on the White House's National Economic Council.
"It has been a great honor to serve the president in this White House for the last two years," Willems said in a statement. "President Trump's leadership on trade has entirely changed the global conversation and will lead to an international system that is more free, fair, and reciprocal."
Willems was a lead trade negotiator at the Group of Seven and Group of 20 summits and was closely involved in efforts to broker a trade agreement with China, sometimes sitting in for National Economic Council Director Larry Kudlow during negotiating sessions in Beijing.
"As my top international deputy, Clete has helped the president change the global conversation on trade and make exceptional progress in negotiations with China, the EU, Korea, and reform of the international trading system," Kudlow said in a statement. "We will miss him and wish him all the best."
Willems's departure comes at a precarious time, as the prospects for a deal with China have grown uncertain. A summit between President Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping scheduled for late March has been pushed back to April.
Willems, a former Capitol Hill staffer, was seen as a counterweight to trade hawks like Peter Navarro.
Kelly Ann Shaw, who currently serves as special assistant to the president for international trade, investment and development, will replace Willems.
https://thehill.com/homenews/administration/435331-top-trade-adviser-leaving-white-house