Donald Trump Business Conflicts Further Degrade US Credibility On China | Rachel Maddow | MSNBC
"Hong Kong Protesters Apologize After Chaos at Airport China doesn’t understand Hong Kong’s protests. That’s a big mistake."
MSNBC Published on Aug 14, 2019
Rachel Maddow looks at reports that a Trump real estate project in Indonesia is intertwined with Chinese businesses, casting a pallor of corruption over Trump's flaccid response to pro-democracy protests in Hong Kong.
Maddow sees Hong Kong democracy demonstrations as a new movie. In China's present massing of military might, with Chinese troops in training shouting "fall back, fall back", in English, she sees China jumping to the end of the script. Not only a show of force, but what looks a lot like a threat.
Russia Orders Evacuation of Village Near Site of Nuclear Explosion By Andrew E. Kramer Aug. 13, 2019 MOSCOW — The Russian authorities on Tuesday announced the evacuation of the village nearest to the site of a nuclear accident in northern Russia, suggesting dangers more grave than initially reported. P - The still-mysterious episode last week killed seven people and released radiation, apparently when a small nuclear reactor malfunctioned during a test of a novel type of missile near a naval weapons testing site. https://www.nytimes.com/2019/08/13/world/europe/russia-nuclear-explosion-accident.html
So while hands-off Present Trump is wishing the best to both sides (sounds familiar, eh) of the Hong Kong conflict (with a nod, guessing likely to both sides in Russia too) his hands-on sons are working on Trump family moolah making in Indonesia, for one.
From video:
Trump Indonesia Real Estate Project Gets Chinese Government Ally
A road is being built in Indonesia from Jakarta to Lido, the planned location for a theme park linked to companies with business interests tied to President Trump. Bay Ismoyo/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images
By Alexandra Stevenson and Richard C. Paddock
May 15, 2018
[...]
Both the theme park and the Trump-branded hotel and 18-hole golf course are being developed by the billionaire Hary Tanoesoedibjo, head of the MNC Group, and packaged together as part of a splashy $500 million complex called Lido City that it has marketed as an “integrated lifestyle resort and theme park.”
Hatunggal Muda Siregar, a spokesman for MNC, said the theme park and the Trump properties are separate projects within the Lido development. The agreement with the Chinese company to build the theme park does not include any financing for the project, he said.
The company will use a different contractor to build the Trump resort at Lido and a second Trump resort and golf course on Bali, he said. The company has its own resources to finance the resort projects, he added.
There isn’t any evidence that the agreement with the construction company was intended to sway the Trump administration on any matters. Still, Mr. Trump has threatened China with tariffs on $150 billion in Chinese-made goods if it doesn’t back away from plans to use state support to finance a new generation of high-tech industries.
[...]
There is no indication that the president or the Trump Organization was involved in helping arrange the Chinese role in the Lido City project. The deal was first reported by Agence France-Presse.
[...]
Mr. Trump’s business dealings in Indonesia prompted scrutiny even before his inauguration, and he pledged not to embark on any new deals while in office. But the Trump Organization held onto the projects in Indonesia, saying the contracts with Mr. Hary were signed in 2015 and were binding.
Mr. Trump has reported receiving between $2 million and $10 million in royalties from the project. In 2016, Mr. Trump said he received $380,952 in management fees from the projects, according to his most recent financial disclosure.
Indonesian firm cancels Chinese loan for its Trump project
by The Associated Press Posted Aug 13, 2019 2:51 am PDT
JAKARTA, Indonesia — U.S. President Donald Trump’s son and his Indonesian business partner say a theme park that also features a Trump hotel and condos will no longer have Chinese financing.
Donald Trump Jr. said Tuesday at a news conference in Jakarta that his father is not involved in Trump-branded resorts in West Java and Bali.
In a move that alarmed Trump critics, MNC Land, the Indonesian company that is developing the theme park owned by billionaire Hary Tanoesoedibjo, said in May that it has hired a subsidiary of Chinese state-owned Metallurgical Corp. to build the park at its Lido City development outside Jakarta.
Tanoesoedibjo said the Trump Organization has nothing to do with the theme park and his company has cancelled a Chinese bank’s loan for the project.
Hong Kong protests: Satellite photos show scale of China's military build-up near border
Updated Thu at 12:24pm
Satellite photos show what appear to be Chinese armoured personnel carriers and other vehicles parked in a sports complex in the city of Shenzhen, bordering Hong Kong, in what some have interpreted as a threat from Beijing to use increased force against protesters.
China Blog - Hong Kong protest: What is mainland China hearing?
By Beijing bureau BBC News 16 August 2019
[...]
In early July, media published their first stories about the demonstrations after protesters broke in to the Legislative Council, Hong Kong's parliament. Xinhua, the state-run news agency, criticised "lawless acts that caused mass destruction, which was shocking, distressing and infuriating", citing the Hong Kong Liaison Office of the central government.
A second round of coverage on the protest rolled out when the Liaison Office was besieged in late July.
The official line has highlighted moments of violence, with words like clashes, mobs and riots, fanning mainland public anger.
Over the past week, coverage has focused on protesters throwing petrol bombs and causing injuries to police.
Much of the attention in Hong Kong media has been on a female protester whose eye was injured during clashes.
Eye patches have been adopted as a symbol of protests
Both sides were hurling projectiles, so it is unclear whether her injury was caused by police or demonstrators. Protesters blame police, but CCTV reported on Monday, with a firm tone, that the injury was caused by a fellow protester. It even posted a photo which showed a woman counting cash .. http://m.news.cctv.com/2019/08/12/ARTIZFDwhpv8u9PFBzzWbYhP190812.shtml , and reported suggestions that this was the same woman and a paid provocateur.
Videos of armed police assembling in the neighbouring city of Shenzhen, on the mainland, were circulating by state media as well, as well quotes from the Chinese government's Hong Kong and Macao Affairs Office warning that the movement had laid the foundations for "terrorism" .. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-china-49348462 . Some have seen this as preparing the public for a potential crackdown by Beijing, even by armed police.
The term Two Chinas refers to the current geopolitical situation of two political entities each calling themselves "China":[1]
* China People's Republic of China (PRC), commonly known as "China", established in 1949, controlling mainland China and two special administrative regions, Hong Kong and Macau.
* Taiwan Republic of China (ROC), now commonly known as "Taiwan" but originally as "China" when it controlled mainland China from its establishment in 1912 to 1949, when it retreated to the island of Taiwan. Since the end of 1949, when it lost control of mainland China in the Chinese Civil War, the ROC has controlled only Taiwan and some nearby island groups. The ROC lost its status as representing "China" in the United Nations in 1971.
[...]
Current situation
The People's Republic of China (which administers mainland China) and the Republic of China (which administers Taiwan) do not officially recognize each other's sovereignty. The official position of the governments of both the People's Republic of China and the Republic of China remains that there is only one sovereign entity of China, and that each of them represents the legitimate government of all of China—including both mainland China and Taiwan—and the other is illegitimate.
Waning of American Power? Trump Struggles With an Asia in Crisis P - "Trump has been saying all week that he’s not a racist. And then he does this speaking at a fundraiser last night. P [ Trump also made fun of US allies South Korea, Japan and the European Union — mimicking Japanese and Korean accents — and talked about his love of dictators Kim Jong Un and the current ruler of Saudi Arabia." P - The Trump administration has taken a hands-off approach to conflicts — from Kashmir to Hong Kong to the rivalry between Japan and South Korea — as Asian officials escalate the battles. https://investorshub.advfn.com/boards/read_msg.aspx?message_id=150508461
Hong Kong leader pulls extradition bill, but too little too late, say some
"Hong Kong Protesters Apologize After Chaos at Airport"
James Pomfret, Clare Jim
September 4, 2019 / 11:52 AM / Updated 18 hours ago
HONG KONG (Reuters) - Hong Kong leader Carrie Lam on Wednesday withdrew an extradition bill that triggered months of often violent protests so the Chinese-ruled city can move forward from a “highly vulnerable and dangerous” place and find solutions.
[...]
The protests began in March but snowballed in June and have evolved into a push for greater democracy for the city which returned to China in 1997. It was not clear if killing the bill would help end the unrest. The immediate reaction appeared skeptical.
“FIVE DEMANDS, NOT ONE MISSING”
[...]
The four other demands are: retraction of the word “riot” to describe rallies, release of all demonstrators, an independent inquiry into perceived police brutality and the right for Hong Kong people to choose their own leaders.
“Too little, too late,” Joshua Wong, a leader of pro-democracy protests in 2014 that were the precursor to the current unrest, said on his Facebook page.
In the United States, Republican Senator Marco Rubio, a persistent critic of what he sees as Beijing’s attempts to undermine Hong Kong’s autonomy, called Lam’s move “welcome but insufficient.”
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