fei
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Post by fei on Dec 15, 2020 12:11:33 GMT 10
What's the word on the street in China at the moment about whats going on with the China/Australia relationship? Not good, but people can't work out why Australia is so against China --- the info the govt is putting out is that Australia has been causing all sorts of problems for China for no reason. The fact that China has been unduly tariffing Australian products is not mentioned. Just that the Australian government is acting in bad faith. To be fair, the comments I've seen in some of the main WeChat accounts followed by Chinese in Australia have become fairly muted though. A lot of Chinese in Aus are involved in export to China, so have now seen first hand that the Chinese government bans things for no reason and have realised that maybe what the CCP are telling the populace is not the full story (they do all blame PM Morrison though, who they see as "causing trouble for ordinary Australians by being America's lapdog").
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fei
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Post by fei on Dec 15, 2020 11:33:33 GMT 10
A list has been revealed of 1.95million CCP members from around the world who have "infiltrated" universities, big business, governments, embassies, defence contractors, education systems, biotech companies, etc etc The list was taken from a government system and leaked to the west and shared between various intelligence agencies and shows how USA, England and Australia have been targeted mostly. Practically everyone who has been a student in a top-tier Chinese university + most people who have been in second-tier universities, plus anyone who went to any university before the early 2000s is pretty much guaranteed to be a party member. If I remember correctly, most civil servant positions also require party membership too. Reality is that most people become party members because it was always seen as a guaranteed way to improve their status in society, get good jobs in state-owned companies etc. Equating party membership with espionage activities is a pretty low bow to draw. Having said that, its practically impossible to leave the party once membership is gained, so any Chinese-born and -university educated politicians in Australia should be assumed to hold party membership, even if they say they have left.
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fei
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Post by fei on Dec 11, 2020 19:26:57 GMT 10
This guy is one of the originals who did all filming himself. Have seen his shows slagged off online about being too boring, but I guess if its a survival situation, then much better to do it his way then the Bear Grylls break-your-neck-through-foolhardiness way.
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fei
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Post by fei on Dec 11, 2020 19:13:40 GMT 10
The reality is again that many of the people hurt by the new 200% import tax aren't the Australian brands, but rather the Chinese-owned companies both in China and Australia that source from them. +++ Sooo... Can I take it from this bit of info and other small bits, that China (government) is hitting at China companies that do business outside of China (and likely make a gob of money doing so) to get them to come back to China to do business where they can be more closely regulated, taxed, controlled and such ?? ?? Nah, the Chinese government doesn't care about the small Chinese owned businesses that lose out. All they want to do is hurt as many Australian industries as possible in the hope that the big companies that run them will pressure the Australian government to toe China's line.
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fei
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Post by fei on Dec 11, 2020 19:11:03 GMT 10
I think I have the bound copy of this somewhere at home. Did a version of their survival course over a number of months with a tough old Vietnam veteran WAPOL instructor in the early nineties.
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fei
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Post by fei on Nov 29, 2020 13:03:51 GMT 10
Should get all countries whose products have been unfairly had tariffs imposed by China to go to the WTO. China entered the WTO around twenty years ago, and is still yet to meet most of the requirements made for entry, but on the other hand, will readily impose tariffs and complain to the WTO about countries who they are unhappy with. The supposed dumping of Australian wine in China for sale at below-cost price is complete BS. I bought a half dozen bottles of red and white in Aus for just under $30 total a few years back, then found a similar brand (ie. no-name from the same area) for close to $30 a bottle back in China. Of course there is shipping, import tax, retail markup etc to take into account, but there is no way those bottles were sold to China for less than they cost in Australia or less than production costs as the Chinese government now claims.
The reality is again that many of the people hurt by the new 200% import tax aren't the Australian brands, but rather the Chinese-owned companies both in China and Australia that source from them. My mate's wife has built up her import business over about five years, and was finally doing well this year. COVID caused problems with importing and logistics, but they were able to clear all their outstanding stock fairly quickly. They had just got one delivery a few weeks back when their logistics provider told them they had been warned that Australian wine would be banned. They've been diversifying to kiwi wines and foods, but one of their shipments is still at sea, now with no way of knowing when they will receive it or what happens to their payments etc if its impounded.
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fei
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Post by fei on Nov 25, 2020 1:13:32 GMT 10
Buy you grandkids a nerf rpg launcher. Paint it black and green and have a backyard battle next flyover. I saw a pretty realistic replica M49 that shot nerf balls for sale on our main local e-commerce site recently. Figured I would buy one as well as a replica AK47 gel blaster for a Halloween costume I was building up. I was too damn slow off the mark though, as the government banned gel blasters in the meantime and they're now hard to find (I hear blasters are pretty much illegal in Aus too now).
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fei
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Post by fei on Nov 25, 2020 1:08:20 GMT 10
I saw a thing this morning on china getting cranky abut the new Australia/Japan defence pact and the professor they chose to interview about it was talking about a possible war in the near future between Aust and China. So with the new defence pact signed, I can expect that maybe we might see china clamp down on even more Aussie exports and eve eventually try something ballsy such as shipping channel blockade inside their so-called 9 dash line. I had a premonition last year that if the Chinese decide to get nasty with the yanks and their allies, they will do it by "accidentally on purpose" harming an RAN vessel in the South China Sea. ie. Accidentally ramming with a fishing vessel or one of their coastguard ships that appear in seas all over Asia. There have already been incidents in other parts of the world with these vessels, and I guess they provide plausible deniability for the government, but meanwhile sending a clear message to butt out and stay out of what China regards as their own internal affairs.
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fei
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Post by fei on Nov 20, 2020 11:14:22 GMT 10
Might be different where you are. The latest example here in Vic involves dozens of houses and an industrial estate (800-1000 workers there, all small businesses). Government here will tell you what you are getting and if you contest it they give nothing until you agree to their demands. It's worse than in China. No 'nail houses' allowed here in Vic. The land owners in the city I'm in in China are always overjoyed when compulsory acquisition comes in, as they get massive amounts of compensation. The irony is that 20+ years ago these people living on the edge of the city were looked down on by city people as peasants, whereas nowadays women fight to marry guys from the villages, as they know they'll be mega rich once the government wants their land. Was trying to explain to my wife that its different in Australia. She couldn't understand why people near my folks' place were protesting about their houses being acquired by the government to widen a road. I her mind they would get millions, whereas they were actually being compensated "market rates" at a time when the market was way down.
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fei
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Post by fei on Oct 30, 2020 21:12:10 GMT 10
Chinese government is now admitting that locally sourced grains may be in short supply over winter...a complete 180 degree turnaround from boasting that there was a bumper harvest a few months ago. One of the provincial agricultural ministers is on the record saying that they lost 30% of their harvest due to flooding, although the area I'm in is selling fruit and nuts cheap because they did actually have bumper crops, which pushed the prices to the lowest they've been for years. Our neighbour who told us he had a tonne of rice in storage now apparently has two tonnes, although I'm wondering how he intends on keeping it safe from pilfering / confiscation if things do get bad in a couple of months.
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fei
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Post by fei on Oct 29, 2020 14:20:21 GMT 10
Most Cayenne owners are rich female Chinese migrants with not a clue about the car. You can hardly blame mechanics from absolutely rorting owners of this model. Most Chinese know nothing about their cars, hence the repair shops here make an absolute killing doing basic maintenance, with the owner none the wiser. Its not just the cars though. The idea that manual labour of any kind is only for peasants means that for any middle-class home owner, all maintenance is signed over to a tradie, who comes in, takes their time doing basic stuff and then charges several times the price for what could be done by the home owner for next to nothing. Oh well, I guess it keeps the economy ticking over though.
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fei
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Post by fei on Oct 28, 2020 23:45:17 GMT 10
Makes me remember the APC that was "borrowed" from a Perth Reserves base sometime in the early nineties. The bloke jumped the fence to get in, but couldn't get the gate open to get out, so just went straight through the chain link fence instead. The XII LH got a rather unfortunate nickname from that. The 'Ten Little Ponies'. It used to be twelve but one got stolen and another sunk. Ha, yeah I had forgotten about the one that sunk. I happened to be over at the barracks a few days later, when they had all the kit laid out to dry all around the shed / hangar whatever they were housed in. Was quickly told not to ask what happened as soon as we walked in though.
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fei
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Post by fei on Oct 28, 2020 23:42:43 GMT 10
The Cayenne is very popular with the young Chinese "soccer mum", whose husband will happily pay for it, because then the wife won't complain about his days spent at the office with his secretary or out with his mistress.
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fei
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Post by fei on Oct 28, 2020 0:03:35 GMT 10
I see no real change. Trade between the countries isn't much. My only concern with internal unrest in any country is it can lead to 'jingoistic' events like Kuwait and the Falklands. 'Uh oh, things are bad here... I know, let's invade China to distract everyone!' God forbid, but you can't rely on the sense of politicians. This is why China / Taiwan has been heating up this year. Even before COVID, the Chinese economy had been slowing for over two years, and people were starting to grumble. Now, we seem to have anyone who had a government job or who is involved in producing COVID related gear is doing OK, but unemployment apparently now sits at about 7% of the population (whole population, not the working population). If things keep going south, then attacking Taiwan or others becomes more imminent due to the need for a distraction for the populace.
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fei
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Post by fei on Oct 27, 2020 23:56:59 GMT 10
This is what happens when factories keep shuttering due to covid lockdowns. Supply chains falter. Its time to stop with lockdowns. We've had time to better prepare health facilities and workers ... now its time to get on with life. An annoyed colleague told me today the expensive imported car (Porsche Cayenne) she has been wanting to buy all year is unavailable due to low stock. It seems the German factory has been continually opening and then shuttering all year, so output and exports are way down. Consequently, the usual two month wait has now blown out to over six months, and buyers need to put down substantial deposit to even get on the list. I asked why she doesn't just buy a locally made car to save time and money, but got the usual contemptuous stare and reply along the lines of "if you have money, you should spend it".
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fei
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Post by fei on Oct 27, 2020 23:51:16 GMT 10
What a load of crap. 1) That's not a tank. 2) A BMP can't go 88km/h. It's not uncommon for armoured vehicles to flatten fences during training though. Just a bit of bad luck that this one was for an airport and got filmed... Makes me remember the APC that was "borrowed" from a Perth Reserves base sometime in the early nineties. The bloke jumped the fence to get in, but couldn't get the gate open to get out, so just went straight through the chain link fence instead.
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Post by fei on Oct 22, 2020 14:14:42 GMT 10
www.zerohedge.com/geopolitical/food-shortages-hit-china-there-notenough-fresh-food-go-aroundChina is publicly acknowledging a coming food shortage.
But while many have dismissed my claims, I’d like to draw your attention to the fact that China is now publicly acknowledging a coming food shortage. (And as noted in this article, when they admit there’s a problem, it’s a BIG problem. ) In fact, China even has an anti-food-wasting campaign going on across the country right this minute encouraging people to eat half portions or at least make sure to finish their plates. In an October 5, article for the New York Times entitled “China’s mealtime appeal amid food supply worries: Don’t take more than you can eat,” Eva Dou writes, On the surface, China’s campaign to encourage mealtime thrift has been a cheerful affair, with soldiers, factory workers and schoolchildren shown polishing their plates clean of food. But behind the drive is a harsh reality. China does not have enough fresh food to go around — and neither does much of the world. The pandemic and extreme weather have disrupted agricultural supply chains, leaving food prices sharply higher in countries as diverse as Yemen, Sudan, Mexico and South Korea. The United Nations warned in June that the world is on the brink of its worst food crisis in 50 years. “It’s scary and it’s overwhelming,” Arif Husain, chief economist of the United Nations World Food Program, said in an interview. “I don’t think we have seen anything like this ever.” China is notorious for food wastage. The way to 'impress' business clients over there is to order expensive food and too much of it. I found it awkward seeing them do that 'for' us. Yep, rule of thumb even among friends (ie. not banquets), is to order Pax+1 (so, if 5 people, then 5 + 1 dishes). The government is now saying Pax-1 is better, but food is relatively cheap, so I don't think it will catch on anytime soon. At banquets, the idea is to impress, so order huge amounts of dishes, preferably the most expensive ones (like protected animal such as seahorses).
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fei
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Post by fei on Oct 16, 2020 11:09:09 GMT 10
Australia made a massive mistake signing on to the Antarctic treaty. We allowed other nations to ignore our territorial claim. When it expires, the CCP will no doubt make their own claim and start mining. CCP is also making claims to the Arctic, despite having no territory in the area. No doubt they will start "finding" old maps that prove that both poles were Chinese territory for time immemorial.
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fei
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Post by fei on Oct 15, 2020 23:44:03 GMT 10
In a recent speech Joe Biden said... "It is not true I have to use a teleprompter for every word I say, caution, low battery" Well, even with the words right in front of him, Biden still reads it wrong. I liked that howler the other day where he said he would set minimum hourly wage as 15 millions dollars, realised he got it wrong and restated as 150,000 dollars, then said he was dreaming, and finally got it right at $15.
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fei
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Post by fei on Oct 15, 2020 23:40:42 GMT 10
I read this over a number of weeks on my daily commute. I'm stuck in a bus for over an hour, so may as well read something useful rather than sleep or play mindless games like everyone else does.
Just downloaded some permaculture and 1970's era back-to-the-land hippie handbooks for future perusal.
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