6. March 2023
While the German media have filed the Nord Stream spread, the topic is still present outside the Western media bubble.
The explosion of the Nord Stream pipelines by the USA is still a big topic internationally, even if the German and other Western media prefer to keep the topic silent. The reason is that with this unprecedented act of terrorism (from the point of view of international law, even war, the USA has reached a new level against the alleged Germany, among other things, which was recently considered impossible. The USA has shown the world that it no longer adheres to any rules and that basically every state, whether formally an ally of the USA or not, must be concerned about its security of supply.
In addition, the terrorist act not only affects Russia and Germany (and other EU countries), but has also broadcast shock waves to the international energy markets and thus affected almost every country in the world. Therefore, the topic of the Nord Stream spread outside the Western media bubble continues to be followed with great attention.
On Sunday, Russian television showed this in its weekly news report using the example of a report from China, which also dealt with the rapid deterioration of American-Chinese relations. I translated the Russian report.
Start of the translation:
No matter how much the Americans try to suppress the issue, the Europe they humiliate cannot forget the demolition of the two transcontinental Nord Stream pipelines. At the opening of the spring session of Parliament, the Hungarian Prime Minister Orban explicitly described the crime as an act of terrorism.
"The explosion of Nord Stream, which, as you know, took place, was simply an act of terrorism, whoever committed it was an act of terrorism. If this was done in the north just to keep Russian gas out of Europe, it could also happen in the south. Together with Serbia, we have made it clear that it will not be as easy to get away with it and sweep it under the carpet as it is now done in the explosion of Nord Stream," said Orban.
Orban does not call the USA by its name, but for him it is clear who carried out the terrorist attack on the pipelines. And the concern is understandable, because Viktor Orban describes Russian gas as the "impact power" of the Hungarian economy. In the past, it was also the driving force of the German economy, but this is now a thing of the past. For this, southern Europe continues to protect its privilege. Hungary, for example, receives 4.5 billion cubic meters of Russian gas annually via Turkish Stream under the new contract for 15 years. It does not want to lose that.
With the demolition of the gas pipelines in Europe, the Americans have also alarmed the whole world. The Chinese state broadcaster CGTN broadcast a clip this week that leaves no doubt about who committed the attack. China clearly sympathizes with the version of the American investigative journalist Seymour Hersh, who convincingly explains the guilt of the USA.
The clip broadcast by CGTN was preceded by a television interview that the station conducted with Seymour Hersh, the author of the American disclosure report (note d. About: The clip is shown in the Russian post before the excerpt of the interview with Hersh and in the Chinese post it is explained exactly what happens on which day, the post is a kind of countdown before the blasting of the pipelines):
CGTN: "So you had a suspicion long before you started your research. Can you tell us exactly how the article about this particular process came about?"
Seymour Hersh: "The pipelines were completed at the end of September, on the 26th. September, blown up. And I don't know why the president decided to do so, but I have dealt with this topic a lot. I think it was obvious at this time that he sponsored the conflict in Ukraine at best. At that time, we had invested 113 billion dollars in Ukraine - and these are only the calculations of the government, without taking into account the funds of Germany, NATO and other Western countries. The only suspect was the USA to say the obvious if you knew as much about the history of pipelines or the oil business as I did. And I didn't know and still don't know much about it, but enough. I meet different people and report, without giving sources, on different stories for the New York Times, New York Magazine, the London Review of Books. When I worked for the New York Times, I probably wrote several dozen articles about the CIA, its coup in Chile, spying on its own citizens and its violations of the law."
Seymour Hersh's half-century of professional life is proof that this publication is also true. For the USA, it is a disgrace. Washington, however, relies on open lies as a line of defense and refuses to investigate the events, although that would be quite simple. It is enough to invite only two people to Congress: Biden's National Security Advisor Sullivan and CIA Director Burns, and you would only have to ask them a few questions under oath to solve the crime. They don't do that, which is proof in itself. China has already joined the demands for clarification of the crime of the century. Beijing obviously does not like the impunity that the USA is abusing.
"The Chinese side believes that an objective, fair and professional investigation of the case and criminal prosecution of the perpetrators is necessary and advocates speeding up the investigation process to find out the truth as quickly as possible," said Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Wang Wenbing.
Relations between China and the USA have been blatantly heated up recently. A report from our China correspondent.
Beijing's residents already know that the new political season in China begins with increased patrols and barriers on the streets - there are even police officers at every intersection. The season opens with the meeting of the National People's Congress. It is a kind of parliament that meets once a year, and it is the most important event in China's political life. Hence the increased security measures.
The closer you get to the House of People's Assemblies, the more police and military there are. Everything in the meeting room is in red.
It is a well-practiced ritual that does not change from session to session. But this time the three thousand delegates have a special task: they should elect the head of the People's Republic of China. It is clear that it will again be Xi, for whom the new term of office will be the third. At the same time, there will be new faces in China's leadership. All this is on the agenda of the week. The report on China's achievements and plans will be read out by the still acting Prime Minister Li Keqiang.
"Despite great difficulties and challenges, we have succeeded in achieving overall stable economic indicators. In a challenging and volatile environment, we were able to achieve our most important goals for the year as a whole. These successes testify to the enormous resilience of the Chinese economy," said Prime Minister Li Keqiang.
Xi Jinping himself, who has again been described several times today as the heart of the party and the country, does not speak, that's how the rules are. But the text of the report, which the delegates leafed through synchronously with it, has been checked for every character and number.
The world press has already stated: China has drawn up the plan taking into account the global confrontation with the USA. There is a nightmare for Washington in every line. From a growth forecast of over five percent, compared to three percent for the world according to the World Bank, to the independence of the semiconductor industry to high subsidies to promote chip production. The increase of the defense budget to 225 billion dollars also makes her nervous.
"The increase in defense spending is not only due to the need to overcome complex security challenges, but also to our responsibility and commitment as a great power. The modernization of China's military does not pose a threat to any country, but is rather a positive force for maintaining regional stability and world peace," assured Wang Chao, spokesman for the first session of the 14th National People's Congress.
China's peace initiatives have not left Washington alone for two weeks. Even the neutrality that Beijing shows in the Ukraine conflict is being questioned.
"China has already given Russia important support. It has supported Russia diplomatically, politically, economically and rhetorically," says Ned Price, the spokesman for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, dissatisfied.
Now it is claimed that Beijing is preparing to deliver weapons to Moscow. Intelligence information is cited. But there is no evidence. Only pressure is being exerted.
"We are sure that the Chinese leadership is considering the supply of military equipment. At the same time, we note that no final decision has yet been made, and we see no evidence that the delivery of military equipment has actually taken place. The US leadership therefore considered it important to make it clear to the leadership of the People's Republic of China what consequences this would have," threatened CIA Director William Burns.
It's like the "Highly Likely", except that this time it's not about Moscow, but about Beijing.
Just a few days ago, the USA announced a new military aid package of two billion dollars for Ukraine. Thus, the conflict in the region continues and peace is not in sight. At the same time, the US is spreading false information about China's arms deliveries to Russia and is using this as a pretext to impose unjustified sanctions on Chinese companies. This is blatant harassment and double standards," said Mao Ning, a spokesman for the Chinese Foreign Ministry.
The Chinese also keep a record of the US arms deliveries to Taiwan. As soon as the US announced the new tranche of more than 600 million dollars for the next missiles for Taipei, the Chinese Air Force immediately organized a demonstration flight around the island.
The parliament finally declared again: China will again fight a decisive fight against the independence of Taiwan this year, which is only being prepared by the USA for an armed confrontation with Beijing. Taiwanese soldiers are already being trained in the USA, American instructors are in Taiwan. The island is preparing to carry out exercises to defend against warships. The population is already being urged to resort to assault rifles and go to training grounds.
Mike Gallagher, chairman of the Congress Committee against China, which was specially founded for the fight against the Red Danger, is pleased to rub his hands: "Our friends in Taiwan do a lot of real things. They increase defense spending, they extend military service from four months to a year, but we have to set heaven and hell in motion to provide them with the weapons they have bought but which we have not yet delivered."
Right at the first meeting of his congressional committee, Gallagher called on his colleagues to immediately support legislation to support Taiwan and contain the People's Republic of China. The documents were passed, but it did not go without scandal. Behind the backs of the speakers, the activists unrolled a banner with the inscription "China is not our enemy."
Meanwhile, the American falcons hack around on their own people because they say they don't put too much pressure on them. McCaul, a Sinophobe, even distributed against the Asia representative of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the entire Ministry of Commerce. They have promised to put every company from China on the sanctions list if it has connections to Moscow, and they have already put 13 on the list. Even TikTok, which was declared a spy program in the service of the Communist Party, got something: all federal authorities of the USA must remove it within a month. The Americans are doing everything that Trump once failed to do. Now they are taking action against Covid with new vigour. They assure that the virus is Chinese after all.
"The FBI has been assuming for some time that the source of the pandemic was most likely a possible laboratory incident in Wuhan. But the government of the People's Republic of China is trying to hinder efforts to investigate the cause of the pandemic," said FBI Director Christopher Wray.
However, the White House stated that it could not give any details of the investigation, which are still in progress. Beijing pointed out that Fort Detrick should also be dealt with on this occasion:
"It is the task of the USA to answer the world's questions and concerns about Fort Detrick and its military and biological laboratories around the world," demanded diplomat Mao Ning.
Chinese diplomats also called for the virus to be stopped politically. Finally, Beijing sees the backdrop that Washington is building around China. Even the meeting with Lukashenko was presented as Chinese interference in the Ukraine conflict, because when Xi Jinping hits an ally of Russia, it means that it is also on his side. Especially because they also talked to the Belarusian head of state about Ukraine.
"The meeting takes place at a difficult time that requires unconventional approaches and responsible political decisions. Belarus has actively campaigned for peace proposals and fully supported the international security initiative you proposed," said Lukashenko.
After all, Lukashenko is the second leader of a country in less than a month preparing to become a full member of the Shanghai Organization for Cooperation. Previously, Xi had the Iranian president as a guest. And the voice of the organization on the international stage is getting louder and louder, no matter how much some people may dislike it.
"If they try to alienate partners from the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, it means that the Shanghai Cooperation Organization is something that worries those who try to do so. This means that this organization, with two permanent members of the UN Security Council, is a serious structure whose opinion is heard," says Bachtijor Khakimov, the special representative of the Russian President for the Shanghai Organization for Cooperation.
So far, Beijing has also offered the USA to listen. It reminds us that China, in the event of a case, has leverage.
End of translation
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