Yes, the whole China thing is horrible, a way to build negative attitudes
toward China in Americans so our authoritarian corporate state can continue to
attempt to overwhelm its competition. America is shameless in its negative
propaganda and foreign relations. I heard some deetailed history on our
relationship with Afghanistan today on The Socialist Program. Back when the US
was supporting Bin Ladin as a leader of Al Qaeda to halt any Russian influence
in Afghanistan, an ABC TV reporter described him as a figure akin to Teddy
Roosevelt in his actions in Afghanistan.
Miriam
-----Original Message-----
From: blind-democracy-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
<blind-democracy-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> On Behalf Of Carl Jarvis
Sent: Sunday, April 11, 2021 11:47 AM
To: blind-democracy@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: [blind-democracy] Re: SENATE UNVEILS SWEEPING LEGISLATION TO CONFRONT
CHINA
"...The bill calls for sanctions on Chinese officials over alleged human rights
violations in Xinjiang, which would be in addition to the ones already imposed
by the Trump administration and the Biden administration. The legislation
would allocate $10 million "to promote democracy in Hong Kong."
Looking around my own nation, I can't see as how negative punishment is making
life any better or safer. If it doesn't work at home, how will it create more
positive relations with other nations? Sanctions are pure negative punishment.
As for spending millions of dollars to promote human rights in Hong Kong? What
about spending more of our tax dollars at home, promoting human rights,
educating our youth, providing quality health care for all Americans,
rebuilding our inner cities, guaranteeing First Class Citizenship to All
Americans, encouraging every citizen involve themselves in our government, etc.?
Carl Jarvis
On 4/10/21, Miriam Vieni <miriamvieni@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
SENATE UNVEILS SWEEPING LEGISLATION TO CONFRONT CHINA By Dave DeCamp,
Antiwar.com.
April 9, 2021 | EDUCATE!
Above photo: Sen. Jim Risch, right, speaks to Sen. Menendez, left,
during a confirmation hearing on March 23. Photo: Greg Nash/The
Hill/Bloomberg via Getty Images.
The Strategic Competition Act Of 2021 Will Be Voted On By The Senate
Foreign Relations Committee Next Week.
The Senate Foreign Relations Committee announced a new piece of
bipartisan legislation to confront China through prioritized military
spending and more arms sales in the Indo-Pacific, sanctions, money for
"democracy promotion"
in Hong Kong, and other areas where the US seeks to counter Beijing.
The legislation still needs to go through the Committee before being
introduced in the Senate, but a draft of the bill, titled the
Strategic Competition Act of 2021, was released by Senator Bob
Menendez (D-NJ), the Committee chairman. Menendez negotiated the bill
with Committee Ranking Member Jim Risch (R-ID).
In a release on the Committee's website, the 281-page bill was
described as the "first major proposal to bring Democrats and
Republicans together in laying out a strategic approach towards
Beijing - and assuring that the United States is positioned to compete
with China across all dimensions of national and international power
for decades to come." Menendez is convening a Committee meeting on
April 14th for a vote on the legislation.
The bill calls for the US to strengthen military ties in the
Indo-Pacific through arms sales. The bill reads: "The United States
should design for export to Indo-Pacific allies and partners
capabilities critical to maintaining a favorable military balance in
the region, including long-range precision fires, air and missile
defense systems, anti-ship cruise missiles, land attack cruise
missiles, conventional hypersonic systems, intelligence, surveillance,
and reconnaissance capabilities, and command and control systems."
To increase arms exports to the region, the bill says the secretary of
state and the secretary of defense should "urge allies and partners to
invest in sufficient quantities of munitions to meet contingency
requirements and avoid the need for accessing United States stocks in
wartime."
The bill recommends a total of $655 million in Foreign Military
Financing
(FMF) funding for the region from the fiscal year 2022 to 2026. The
FMF program gives grants and loans to US allies to buy weapons with.
The legislation also calls for $450 million in funding for the
Indo-Pacific Maritime Security Initiative, an effort by the Pentagon
to get more money to confront China.
The bill calls for sanctions on Chinese officials over alleged human
rights violations in Xinjiang, which would be in addition to the ones
already imposed by the Trump administration and the Biden
administration. The legislation would allocate $10 million "to promote
democracy in Hong Kong."
The sprawling legislation also calls for stronger ties with Taiwan and
involvement in a global infrastructure project to counter China's Belt
and Road Initiative. Considering there is a bipartisan consensus in
Washington that China poses a threat to the US, the bill will likely
make it through the Committee and through both chambers of Congress and be
signed into law.
President Biden has made it clear that he is prioritizing confronting
Beijing, framing the US-China relationship as a global ideological
competition.
