Foreign gold, assets and money are fleeing America and Europe/Switzerland

Most often than not, propaganda is just propaganda and does not reflect reality, and people must not be taken in blindly. As an example, how many countries under sanctions by the USA have collapsed? Has Cuba collapsed? Did North Korea collapse? These are poor countries with no natural resources, yet they managed to survive. So, Russia, a country with immense resources, is going to survive to the chagrin of the USA and the Europeans, no matter what the USA and the Europeans are prepared to throw at them.

As a matter of fact, the Europeans are scrapping the bottom of the barrel for more aid for Ukraine, having to eye greedily at the US$300 billion seized from Russia to fund their commitment. It is not going to work. Russia holds, as collateral, almost US$1 trillion according to estimates, of Western assets still stuck in Russia. When a push comes to a shove, Russia can nationalize those assets and Western owners of those assets in Russia will lose everything.

If the USA and the Europeans do illegally seize those Russian assets instead of keeping them hostage, that will be detrimental to their desire to attract any further foreign investments. It will be cutting the nose to spite the face.


Anonymous

China and Russia collapsing or America collapsing?

Every day we hear about China collapsing, as if the twenty years of collapsing is not enough. China has gone through centuries of turmoil, civil wars, foreign occupation and still intact and growing stronger. This must be a big disappointment for Gordon Chang and other charlatans, hoping to see their prophecy come true. China will still be around, far longer than Gordon Chang can ever hope to stay alive. He will collapse first.

Oh, Russia was also supposed to collapse at the start of the Ukraine War in 2022, but three years into the war, Russia is still able to fire scores of missiles and hundreds of drones into Ukraine, every other day. Does that indicate that Russia has collapsed? And what about the gloating that Russia has no friends and isolated. Just look at the countries taking part in the Victory Day military parade in Russia months ago. Isolated my foot! The USA and the Europeans are fooling themselves that sanctions are doing its job.

Russia has been cut off from SWIFT, yet its economy is still functioning, doing even better than the sanctioning countries, having migrated its settlement system in trade with friendly states like China, away from SWIFT and away from using the US$. That shows to the world that there are alternatives to SWIFT and countries are learning. BRICS especially is showing the way. The usage of US$ by countries and keeping it as a reserve currency is declining faster than usual. Sure, it will be slow, but steady, rather than fast and destructive for the rest of the Global South countries. China does what it always do, looking at the longer-term benefits. Russia is also not to be underestimated by its slow demolition method of dealing with adversaries. Hitler and Napolean are examples of the Russian (or Soviet Union) grinding machine, destroying its enemies' using attrition.


Anonymous

Virgo's December Morning Bread

Beg to differ. It's because the new generation successors have no foresight and just auto piloted rested on their laurels that good times same economy is forever.

Years back should have started massive industrialisation and leaned towards those countries that could invest and transferred their businesses and technologies to our peoples.

Instead of just getting immigrants in building BTOs flats for profits.

Should have industrialised thru China which they the brainwashed ang moh said are wary off and dead adamant like the Whites thought that they are unscrupulous peoples.

Die Die must leaned and joined their camps to curb and contain China!

LKY's foresight that Chinese Singaporeans mastered or at least complement enough to take the initiative to cooperate with China and at least have some of their technologies and know how to our youngsters.

Instead still lay back with colonial Whites mentalities that we are more superior than the PRCs just because we spoke better English.

Haha now PRCs spoke better English than we singlish English

Old Die hards talked to in conversations still thought that once China in 1978 came here to learn from us!

What's a joke! They came just to look see look see your state of so-called development.

Yes, they came to see how we construct our pigeon holes and most Sinkies still thought ai say man we taught them this constructions and they learnt from us.

Never know that the Chinamen told my HDB construction brigades friend that your methods are indeed slow and your so-called engineers and architects still needed so many calculations aids whereas they could just calculated by their mental trainings

That's was only in 1978 and they were still called peasants by the Whites and Overseas Chinkees.

Also the government when they have the first MRT line up should have cajoled and persuaded the young at that time to undergone internships and trainings to have now brigades of highly skilled and competent MRT construction engineers etc able to construct our own and also could even earned foreign revenue by constructing for others.

Instead die Die same obsolete economy of the seaport, the airport, the tourism and all these ad hoc Half naked Exhibition Concerts and MICE summits and Exhibitions. F1 race once a year.

The citizens studied for one quarter their lives and do all these useless platform ad hoc jobs that those countries really have no economy does.

So LKY what's to do already handed down the baton and already no more strength OK lah the Casinos and what's you intended to do!

No eyes see liao, if not M.O.T. also kaput,

So this is the state we are in inland the only way is to have the ten millions in to have an internal economy that gave the revenue to the State.

But without gainfully and real economic employments to generate revenue from abroad from the masses if they still held menial workers jobs you think the country can survive ah?

Anyway no eyes see our time is approaching towards our end and poh chong!


Virgo49

Taiwan - When you know you are Chinese 台湾 - 当你认识你是中国人

 Taiwan is in a confused mess. It is not a country but want to be a country, want to be independent but unable to be independent. It is a breakaway part of China after a civil war. Even their biggest supporter, the world's number one superpower, betrayed them to recognise China as the legitimate China and Taiwan is a part of China. This still did not wake up the Taiwanese to think that the US is still dependable and a trusted friend...when the US betrayed them in the UN, kicked them out of the UN.

The US is using Taiwan as a pawn, a bargaining chip against China in its geopolitical contest for world dominance. The Taiwanese know this, but die, die want to be the pawn and to be exploited by the Americans, cheated by the Americans, blackmailed by the Americans, extorted by the Americans, to live a pariah existence as a non state, a non entity in the community of nation states.

The Taiwanese even choose to be the doggies of the Japanese, the people that massacred and colonised Taiwan for 50 years, treating the Taiwanese as second or third class citizens, forcing them to become Japanese, NOT Chinese, NOT Taiwanese. And they are grudgingly trying to live with such a pathetic existence, with no pride and no dignity.

And to put up a farcical existence, they bribed a few little islands in the Pacific Ocean just to pretend they have friends. These island states happily squeezed whatever free money they could get from a hapless and desperate Taiwan, the money that Taiwan needs not waste, that they can use for their own people and country.

China's term for reunification is simple. Just acknowledge that Taiwan is a part of China, and everything can be discussed under the sky, including self rule, or nothing changes other than in name. But the separatists would not budge, insisted to want to be independent from the Motherland, an option that cannot be realised, especially when China is getting more powerful and prosperous by the day, and when reunification is a forgone conclusion, only how, by force or peacefully.

For now, the Taiwanese can only live in fear, in anxiety, uncertainties, with limited access to the world, limited opportunities and like frogs in a well.

The new KMT leader, Zheng Liwen, 郑丽文， has bravely defied all critics and threats and called herself a Chinese，我是中国人， and wanted to pursue talks with China on reunification.

When the Taiwanese recognised that they are Chinese, called themselves Chinese, the door is flung wide open, and a bright future lies ahead. They do not need to be seek protection and solace in a country that betrayed them, the USA, no need to be extorted and robbed of all their national reserves, no need to send their only treasure, the TSMC, to America. They need not bow and be treated with disgust by the Americans, like beggars or hapless orphans.

When the Taiwanese called themselves Chinese, they do not have to become running dogs of the Japanese, do not have to become traitors to their Motherland, do not have to disown their ancestors. Do not have to be held at ransom by the Americans, the Japanese and the little Pacific Islanders, laughing at how silly they are and parting with their money when demanded.

When the Taiwanese called themselves Chinese, all the contradictions, problems and distrust, obstacles, would disappear immediately. Reunification with China is returning home, a glorious thing to be proud of. Returning to the Motherland will ensure a bright, prosperous and secure future, no more uncertainties, no more fear of war. The young people can move freely in a bigger China to develop their fullest potential, businesses would flourish with no restraint. The Taiwanese can proudly call themselves as Chinese, the people from a proud and prosperous China, a superpower, and a rich tradition and Civilisation of several thousand years. They can walk and travel freely around the world with respect and dignity. The future of being Chinese is full of hope and aspirations, bright and clear. The world is an oyster with unlimited opportunities.

To be a Chinese is a glorious and envious thing. Many people would want to be a Chinese. No one would want to be a Taiwanese, be traitors to their Motherland and a shame to their ancestors.

当台湾人认同自己是中国人，并称自己为中国人时，大门就会大开，光明的未来就在前方。他们不需要在背叛自己的国家——美国——寻找保护和安慰，不需要被勒索并夺走所有国家储备，不需要把他们唯一的宝贝——台积电——送到美国。他们也不需要像乞丐或可怜的孤儿一样向美国人卑躬屈膝，被厌恶地对待。

当台湾人称自己为中国人时，他们不必成为日本的走狗，不必成为祖国的叛徒，不必否认祖先。不必被美国人、日本人以及太平洋的小岛国家进行人质式的操控，被嘲笑愚蠢，被迫交出金钱。

当台湾人称自己为中国人时，所有的矛盾和不信任、障碍都会立即消失。与中国的统一就是回家，是值得骄傲的光荣事情。回到祖国将确保一个光明、繁荣和安全的未来，不再有不确定性，不再恐惧战争。年轻人可以在更大的中国自由发展，充分发挥他们的潜力，商业将无限繁荣。台湾人可以自豪地称自己为中国人，来自一个自豪和繁荣的中国，一个超级大国，拥有数千年的丰富传统和文明。他们可以自信而有尊严地在世界各地行走和旅行。作为中国人的未来充满希望和理想，光明而清晰。世界是一个充满无限机会的舞台。

成为中国人是一件光荣和值得羡慕的事情。许多人都想成为中国人。没有人会想成为台湾人，成为祖国的叛徒，成为祖先的耻辱。

America's beautiful containment of China military Plan...now obsolescence

 The beautiful island chain containment strategy to lock China from the Pacific Ocean was a great plan conceived and executed by the American Empire for decades. It started with the first island chain stretching from Japan in the north, through Taiwan and the Philippines, keeping Chinese naval ships to move only along the Chinese coastal waters. Subsequently a second island chain and a third island chain were also added with the latter centred around the Hawaii islands, past the half way line of the Pacific Ocean. These two chains were the fall back positions to anticipate a growing Chinese naval strength.

When the first island chain was first put in place, all the American military assets and hardware were stationed in South Korea and Japan, with a sprinkling number of smaller presence in Taiwan and the Philippines. The Philippines were once a major American base with Clark Airbase and Subic Naval Base, two of the largest American overseas establishment until they were told to vacate by the nationalistic Pinoys. Now the pro American Marcos govt has reinvited the Americans to set up 10 bases again in the Philippines.

For the most part of the 20th Century, these American bases and assets served their roles very well and very safe. The Americans could use them to launch military operations against China, North Korea or the Soviet Union from a safe distance. They could actually go to war with China but partying in the bases of the first island chain with complete safety and not to be disturbed or attacked. Such were the predominance power of the American Empire and the relative weaknesses of the PLA. Yes, they were very effective and successful in containing China and the PLAN to play only at their doorstep, unable to sail into the Pacific Ocean. The Japanese warship used to rule the seas off China, threatening and harassing Chinese fishing boats and small warships. The Pinoy's coastguards and naval ships also acted like pirates, arresting Chinese fishing boats and demanding ransoms for their release.

The whole of western Pacific Ocean, including the Taiwan Strait and the South China Sea were as good as an America lake. They could sail anywhere they want, fly anywhere they want, even flying U2s deep over China mainland for reconnaisance mission. American recce warplanes flying up and down the Chinese coast was a daily affair, a daily routine. And China could not do anything about it, until the incident in Hainan Island in 2001. Then the arrogant and provocative Americans were doing their usual recce run along the Chinese coast when a Chinese J8 collided with an American EP3 spy plane. The EP had to make and emergency landing in Hainan Island. The Chinese pilot was killed in the accident.

China kept the EP3 on the ground in Hainan for 10 days before cutting it up into pieces, put into boxes to be sent back to the US, not before stripping every instrument to dissect the American hardware and software. This incident was the turning point in stopping the Americans from strutting freely into Chinese airspace. China was prepared to confront them and take them down. 

For the last few decades, China was furiously rushing through a military modernisation programme to stop the Americans from treating the western Pacific Ocean as their playground with no respect for China, threatening and humiliating the PLA everyday. China has since successfully developed an Anti Access and Area Denial Strategy to safeguard its territorial integrity, airspace and territorial seas. With its advanced and highly sophisticated missile force comprising of the DF 17, 21 and 26, and also the J11,15,16 and now the J20, and a fleet of modern submarines, destroyers, frigates and aircraft carriers, China is now fully competent in defending its rights over the air and sea of the western Pacific Ocean.

What do these mean for the American's first island chain? All the military bases in Japan, South Korea, Taiwan and the Philippines are now withing striking distance of Chinese missiles, drones, warplanes and warships. They are no longer the safe havens that they used to be, to conduct wars against China and out of reach from Chinese attacks. The PLA does not need to sweat the small stuff to hit all the bases any time it so wishes in the comfort of air conditioned bunkers deep inside China. The operators need only to press a few buttons to blow up everything up within minutes. It is like playing computer games. 

Yes, all the American military bases and assets in the first island chain, and also the second island chain, are no longer untouchable. They are easy targets to be taken out in the first few minutes of a war. They are precarious military assets now at the mercy of the PLA. The third island chain is just as vulnerable. 

All the three island chains are obsolete, redundant, just like American aircraft carriers. If the aircraft carriers are sitting ducks, or slow moving targets that can be easily taken out, the stationary military bases are even easier targets for the PLA. They are all sacrificial lambs the Americans have offered to the PLA in today's tech warfare involving hypersonic missiles, drones in place of long range artillery guns. 

The Washington clowns are still oblivious to the danger facing these bases. They have yet to scratch their heads because they are still on fentanyl and living in the past. They are even trying to put more of such assets in islands in the Philippines and Japan. Shhhhhh, let them do it happily and think of them as assets to threaten China in a war. The PLA has all these bases and assets in their cross hair and only need to push a few buttons to vaporise them at the first notice, the first casualty of war. It only takes an hour or less, without having to risk a soldier, a pilot or a sailor. These were assets during a time when they could not be hit. They are now liabilities, hostages that could be taken out at China's pleasure, just like the whole of Japan.

The Washington clowns are still believing that the American forces and their bases are the best in the world, untouchable, cannot be taken out, can project power to all corners of the world. The Chinese weapons are fakes, plastic toys, that would break apart with a slight knock ... like the French world best Rafale fighter aircraft. Happy dreaming and planning with the chief clown military strategist in Trump in charge.  Oops, oops, Trump is not that stupid. He is going to withdraw all the aircraft carriers and warships to fight drug traffickers in the Caribbean, a safer option than fighting the PLA.

Just watch when the Americans suddenly woke up to their obsolete doctrine and hurriedly pull out all their bases and American boys and girls in the western Pacific or be lame sitting ducks for target practice by China. They do not stand a chance against swarms of hypersonic missiles and drones! Instantly cooked, like instant noodles.