Professional Wrestling Match Aside, Israel Resuming Genocide With U.S. Backing

When my husband was growing up, his Slovak immigrant grandparents watched professional wrestling matches on television while cheering and stomping their feet as if they believed the matches were real rather than staged. This annoyed his mother, their daughter-in-law, who was living downstairs. She was embarrassed by their naïveté, and the noisy spectacle aggravated her Anglo sensibilities. At least that's the way her son remembers it.

I woke up this morning intending to write about the professional wrestling-themed meeting between President Zelensky, 47, and VP Vance but, as is often the case, Australian Caitlin Johnstone got there first. In "Trump Sends Netanyahu Weapons While Talking Tough to Zelensky" she writes:

Democrats are rending their garments over the public humiliation of Saint Zelensky and crying about the “bullying” behavior of Trump and Vance, while Republicans are applauding the whole ordeal as a sign that Trump is a strong and heroic peacemaker who doesn’t take any guff from Washington’s warmongering proxies. But the most immediate and glaring point about Zelensky’s public castigation is that this same administration doesn’t appear to be taking that same energy to Benjamin Netanyahu as he prepares to resume a genocide.

Two of the dumbest takes I've seen on last Friday's Oval Office match are from politicians using the opportunity to put on their own performances -- likely to ingratiate themselves with the real empire managers behind the scenes.

Senator Bernie Sanders weighed in on the elongated muskrat's platform to say:

Trump berates Zelensky, the leader of a democratic country courageously fighting Russian imperialism, while he allies himself with Putin, a dictator who started the bloodiest European war in 80 years.

Sorry, President Trump. We believe in democracy, not authoritarianism.

Let's unpack those claims. Zelensky declared martial law and suspended elections in Ukraine, so "democratic" in this sentence strains credulity. Russian "imperialism" is just blatant propaganda from an elected official in the belly of the only global empire that exists in our day. "Dictator" Putin was re-elected in 2024 and that's an indication that 88% of people in Russia know who actually started "the bloodiest European war in 80 years" i.e. Victoria Nuland et al.

The phrase "we believe in democracy" is especially rich coming from perennial fraud Sanders who allowed his own party to put the imperial thumb on the scale in 2016 and again in 2020 to deny him the nomination for president. Most who lived through these years witnessed the overwhelming popular support for Sanders, and believe he would have prevailed where lackluster candidates like Hillary Clinton and no-primary Kamala Harris failed. Put another way, Sanders colluded in handing those elections to the very candidate that Democrats love to hate and also fundraise off of.

Not to mention the Russiagate hoax which Sanders and his party enthusiastically pushed in order to -- gasp -- control the outcome of an election.

Then there's the so-called independent senator from Maine, Angus King, who caucuses and votes with Democrats but isn't one because ?? (My theory: he's wealthy enough in a small population state to own his own data and declines to pay the DNC vast sums to use theirs.)

the point that Zelensky was trying make is that, based on history, Russia cannot be trusted to honor its commitments and therefore any deal must include some form of security guarantee to insure the territorial integrity of Ukraine. Unfortunately, our president insisted on talking over this point and refused to acknowledge it.

I hope this unfortunate meeting will not detract from the pursuit of an agreement that ends the bloodshed, recognizes and protects the sovereignty of Ukraine without appeasing the territorial ambitions of a murderous dictator.

It would be hard to come up with a more fraudulent claim than "Russia cannot be trusted to honor its commitments" given that both Minsk I and II were negotiated in bad faith by King's team and the Europeans, some of whom have admitted those agreements were simply stalling for time by Ukraine's sponsors. 

As for protecting the "sovereignty of Ukraine," I suspect that King wants those rare earth minerals ever bit as much as 47 does and deliberately obfuscates the plain fact that Ukraine is one of the least sovereign nations on the planet at this point in time.

Zelensky visits Congress, 2022 -- good times

Lest my post leaves you with the mistaken impression that I am a fan of 47 and his administration, I am not. I don't watch much professional wrestling and I'm not confused about how political power is actually waged i.e. by force and blackmail, not by means of theatrics. All U.S. presidents are servants of empire in the role of hired talking heads, not "deciders." 

Meanwhile, the U.S. continues shipping weapons to Israel and giving Zionists the green light to break the Gaza ceasefire -- after failing to honor many of the commitments it made in that agreement. The primary reason for the war in Ukraine that the U.S. and other NATO countries started in 2014 is what Johnstone said: they believed it would weaken Russia and allow the Zios to move on Syria. Which indeed turned out to be the case. Syria not only has oil fields but its strategic location made it a conduit for the Palestinian resistance to receive arms and other logistical support.

But few are talking about that. Because Zelensky's attire and comportment are far more important, right?

Ukraine War Continues As Divisive As Ever

Original collage by James Fangboner (left image), modified by me (right image)

All U.S. presidents campaign on promises of ending whichever quagmire(s) the nation is floundering in. It plays well with voters.

Walking the walk is a lot harder than talking the talk, though.

For one thing, Ukraine represents a propaganda effort by Western corporate media that was so sudden and so comprehensive that I'll admit it smacked me upside of the head in 2022. (Full report here.) It completely split the "peace" or antiwar groups I was part of, with the Democrats of the former vilifying the anti-imperialists of the latter. Among the things I was called: a mouthpiece for Putin, and a parrot of Tucker Carlson (who I literally never watch). Veterans for Peace members locally turned their backs on me for carrying signs like "NO WAR WITH RUSSIA". A statewide coalition that holds monthly protests attracted a diverse list of co-sponsors that included the Libertarian Party of Maine, the Maine Communist Party, and the Party for Socialism & Liberation. But no Democratic Party.

Topsham, Maine February 5, 2023

How many times did President Zelensky travel to the U.S. to be valorized by Biden's crew and Congress? Now Z is in the dog house, and he and 47 are engaged in a flame war on social media. In Riyadh this week, it appears Russia and the U.S. made considerable progress toward a comprehensive agreement that would include a negotiated end to the war in Ukraine. 

This would never have happened under a Harris administration because Biden et al. owned the Ukraine war. Hunter Biden and "the big guy" made millions from its money laundering services, and it's no secret that dad shielded himself while extending a pardon for Hunter that stretches infinitely into the future.

Now 47 threatens to audit Ukraine to see where all the money went. That's got to be making some people nervous.

Among the lies we were told by corporate press throughout the war:

• It wasn't a proxy war with the West that aimed at weakening Russia using Ukraine as a cat's paw. 
• Russia blew up the Nord Stream pipeline carrying gas to Germany.
• Russia tried to blow up the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant, in an area under its control. And, more recently, fired a missile into the Chernobyl nuclear power plant entombed in concrete.
• Russia was losing, barely had any troops or equipment, and would be forced to surrender any day now.
• Ukraine's government and military were not full of Nazis
• Ukraine was winning. 

On the eve of the third anniversary of Russia's special military operation, Ukraine has lost much of its eastern flank after referenda in Donetsk, Luhansk, Zaporizhzhia and Kherson regions indicated the residents overwhelmingly preferred to be Russian.

Elections Zelensky should have held a year ago would have been a referendum on his conduct of the war with Russia, and he would be expected to lose mightily.

So now the sticking point in negotiations appears to be: should elections be held before or after an agreement is reached? Russia has pointed out that once Zelensky declared martial law which precludes elections, and once March 2024 -- his term's end date -- had passed, they cannot negotiate with him. He's no longer a legitimate president.

47 appears to be holding out for a negotiated end to the war with elections to be held afterwards.

Who will blink first?

I often get feedback from readers who point out mistakes or suggest other interpretations, and I often get warm feedback as well. One I cherish is that after posting about how the vilification of Putin was deliberately morphed into the Russiagate nonsense by Democrats, former CIA analyst Ray McGovern sent me an email that simply said: Good, Lisa.

Whenever and however the Ukraine war ends, it's safe to say that the U.S. will never claw back any of the $119.2 BILLION that went into Zelensky's coffers. Because isn't that the real point of wars these days -- big profits for the weapons industry?

Genocidal Intentions Lead To Genocidal Acts & Possibly Nuking Lebanon

Photo shared by Mike Hastie via the childrens' father who asked that we share widely.

It's hard to keep up with events unfolding these days, much less my reaction to them. If I take a day to travel in order to reach a large audience for anti-genocide messaging and to enjoy the comfort of being with like-minded friends, I get behind on the news.

Standout in Unity, Maine Sep 21, 2024 along the route to the Common Ground Fair

If I take time to sleep, I get even more behind.

But when I wake up in the morning I can tell what's stuck in my craw from the day before, and I know that is what I probably need to write about in order to process and move on. This video, "History will never forget," which I downloaded from reddit, doesn't cite a creator. Rest assured it wasn't me, because I don't have this level of video editing skills. I'm a writer so I might have rewritten the title to something like "Genocidal Intentions Lead To Genocidal Acts" because the history title is so generic it's impossible to find via online search. 

https://www.reddit.com/r/internationalpolitics/comments/1fm6x2u/history_will_never_forget/

Another disturbing development from overnight news is that the Israeli military raided Aljazeera's offices in Ramallah, a sign that the West Bank will soon be subjected to the horrors of Gaza. And that Israel doesn't want the world to see that. 

The IOF has already killed many Aljazeera journalists, including U.S. citizen Shireen Abu Akleh via sniper while she was present in a press vest at a raid on the West Bank's Jenin refugee camp in 2022. Reports say Zionist storm troopers removed Abu Akleh's picture before shutting down the office for the "45 days."

Also in my news feed this morning was speculation that the rapidly escalating hot war between Israel and Lebanon may have seen the Zionists use a "tactical" i.e. relatively "small" nuclear bomb. Watch the short video on Twitter and see what you think.

https://x.com/DougAMacgregor/status/1837565966500483216

Sometimes on zoom calls people laugh at me for the number of tabs I have open in my  internet browser. If something stays there for days it's probably because I was horrified by it but haven't finished -- or even started -- processing the information. Here's one that's been an open tab for over a week now:

Description: The US Army Corps of Engineers, Engineer Research and Development Center (ERDC) intends to issue an award on a sole source basis (IAW FAR 13.106-1(b)(1)) with Terra Analytics, Inc., 966 10th Street, Boulder, Colorado 80302-7474, for the research and development of active research programs that focus on modeling impacts on the environment and the impacts of nuclear weapons on farm systems..

https://sam.gov/opp/505b2b2cb4c140239c054f39ef333f81/view

The U.S. and its proxies would rather kick off nuclear war than face up to the reality that full spectrum dominance was always a pipe dream, and the age of multipolar power sharing is upon us. Our friends and allies in locations like New Zealand, the Philippines, and Japan report on the rapid expansion of U.S. military activity there in preparation for war against China. And NATO continues goading Russia via Ukraine to see if they can get Russians to be the first to use a tactical nuke.

If we don't wake up tomorrow, it's been nice knowing you.

In Way Over Its Head, U.S. Empire Doubles Down

I've written before about suspecting that the decision to brand U.S. imperial wars as Democrat (Ukraine, genocide in Gaza) or Republican (Iraq, Afghanistan) was a strategic error. Case in point: the wrestling match in Congress to pass yet another $95.3 billion for "D" wars, including ramping up a long term military presence to turn Taiwan into the next Ukraine.

Unrelated issues like militarization of the U.S.-Mexico border, a vote and donation magnet for Republicans, are a stumbling block under this strategy. The Punch and Judy show of the two parties battling it out despite having the very same corporate sponsors is now impinging on keeping the debt-ridden empire and its proxy warriors solvent.

What to do?

Simon Ateba, White House correspondent for Today News Africa, summed up the plan succinctly:

Possibly Congress can beat that. Here's what they spent valuable time and effort on yesterday -- condemning evidence-free allegations of rape being used to portray Israelis as victims rather than genociders.

The U.S. empire is on the skids. Broke, ideologically deranged, and clutching at straws to justify its continued aggressive actions around the globe. (For a peek into U.S. ambitions to put nukes in space -- and the resistance -- check out the Global Network Against Weapons & Nuclear Power in Space.)

It's understandable that empire managers are panicking. Their worst nightmare has come true. As their decades of global dominance wind down before they even got a chance to dominate outer space, targeted nations are making common cause with one another. 

https://twitter.com/Sprinter99800/status/1754837851756188009

Who could have foreseen this development? Just about everybody who can perceive that the emperor has no clothes.

Maybe Branding U.S. Wars D or R Wasn't Such A Good Idea

There is considerable anti-war sentiment among voters worldwide -- which explains why candidates run on peace promises (Obama, Zelensky, Trump). There is also considerable pro-war sentiment among corporations who build weapons of mass destruction, and the think-tanks they fund to support them.

This push-pull has nudged warmakers into branding wars as "D for Democrat" or "R for Republican" in order to whip up support and manage dissent. Thus Democrats support President Biden's proxy war on Russia via Ukraine while Republicans and third parties (Greens, Libertarians, Communists) don't.

But based on the congressional circus this week, maybe that is not such a good strategy?

Those of us opposed to ALL wars our government wages have experienced the partisan split in who will stand with us. When a Republican is in the White House, Democrats come out in droves. Then when an Obama or a Biden is elected, they go home.

Original collage by James Fangboner (left image), modified by me

Then, the parties wage information wars to support their team. These have ramped up considerably to insist that Putin = Hitler (just silly), that there are no Nazis in Ukraine (maybe they all went to Canada?), and that funding Ukraine's government is a higher priority than funding our own. Even though as far back as July a CNN poll found a majority in the U.S. opposed sending any more money to Ukraine.

In order to avert a federal government shutdown over what to fund, we heard from Democrats that it was the bad Republicans' fault. From The Guardian: 

The US president said on Sunday he was “sick and tired” of the political brinkmanship, and that US support for Ukraine could not be interrupted “under any circumstances”.  

Even though Democrats never move left and always move right -- or maybe because of that? -- the Punch and Judy show where the two corporate parties bash each other constantly is having a long run.

Then we heard that the bad Republicans would only vote for averting a shutdown if it stripped out "aid" to Ukraine (currently at $180 billion and counting). And it worked! Worked, that is, after a fire drill shut Congress down when Democratic Congressman Jamaal Bowman pulled a fire alarm and delayed the vote a bit.

He swears this was an honest mistake. But I suspect the delay was so that some more back room deals on terms of the funding could be hammered out.

Received wisdom has it that Democrats want WW3 with Russia while Republicans want WW3 with China. But Greens like me see the corporate parties supporting all the wars and I think they're all nuts.

 I can see where the U.S. once believed it could beat Russia as it used the NATO alliance and CIA color revolutions to foment trouble like civil war for Ukraine. Looking at the situation today, it's clear that few aside from delusional thinkers allied with the Biden administration believes this is still the case. Russia has objectively kicked Ukraine/NATO's butt while the response in the West is best epitomized by the Canadian Parliament's standing ovation for a literal Nazi "who fought the Russians in WW2."

"Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau recognize Yaroslav Hunka, who fought with the First Ukrainian Division in World War II, in the House of Commons in Ottawa on Sept. 22, 2023." | Patrick Doyle/The Canadian Press

(If you're unclear on WW2's major players and alliances, the late Howard Zinn's overview can be found here.)

Next up, preparations are already well underway for using Taiwan to create a situation where China feels it must respond to safeguard its own borders and sovereignty. What would lead to the delusion that AUKUS or NATO or U.S.-Japan-South Korea could defeat China in a hot war? Hot warriors falsely claim China is authoritarian, has lost the support of its people, and committed genocide against the Uyghurs.

Word to the U.S.: your government is increasingly authoritarian, has lost the confidence of its people, and has committed genocide in so many places it's hard to list them all. Maybe just note the ongoing attempted genocide of the indigenous people of North America and leave it at that.

Geography Quiz: Black Sea Edition

Map of Black Sea (and some other bodies of water -- can you name them?) by Dino Spain on Deviant Art

After reading through the hubristic and misguided Black Sea Strategy paper issued by neo-con think tank The Heritage Foundation, a group of us decided the Pentagon should not send the Coast Guard there until U.S. citizens can find it on a map.

Since this could take a while, we'd better get started.

Map A - This nation, unlike the U.S., actually has an extensive border with the Black Sea.

Map B -  This Black Sea bordering nation is referred to in the quote below from Jim W. Dean and Gordon Duff's March 4, 2022 article "Blackwater Mercenaries: NATO's Secret Weapon in Ukraine War":

The Machiavellian plan of NATO’s military strategists is to establish refugee settlements with the “humanitarian assistance” in the border regions of Ukraine’s neighboring countries.. and then provide guerrilla warfare training and lethal arms to all able-bodied men of military age in order to “bleed Russia’s security forces" in the protracted irregular warfare.

Map C - Like Ukraine, this Black Sea bordering nation has regions where Russia stepped in during 2008 to protect the lives of Russophone citizens under bombardment from their own government. 

Bonus question: What U.S. senator was the first to come to this nation after the events of 2008 to pledge U.S. undying support against Russia?

Map D -  In January 2023, this country's national gas company made a deal with a Turkish energy company to transit 1.5 billion cubic meters of gas each year, about half of the country's annual consumption. The country had become unable or unwilling to continue buying Russian gas because of a requirement to pay in roubles.

Map E - Making a return appearance to my geography quiz series, this NATO nation is so strategically located in controlling maritime access to the Black Sea that it often risks U.S. wrath to cooperate with Russia, and vice versa.

Map F - This country's borders have changed significantly over the course of its civil war, and its short border with the Black Sea continues to grow shorter as it wages war against its Russophone citizens and former citizens.

Maps sourced from Free Country Map except this one, modified from SouthFront

Answer Key

Map A - Russia

Map B - Romania

Map C - Georgia

Map D - Bulgaria

Map E - Turkiye

Map F - Ukraine

Title map - Other bodies of water include the Sea of Azov (upper right of Black Sea), the Sea of Marmara (below the Black Sea), and the Mediterranean Sea (eastern tip at far left under the Black Sea)

Bonus question: Senator Joe Biden of Delaware

BRICS Summit vs. Camp David

In sharp contrast to the BRICS summit in South Africa ushering in a "multilateral organization that will shape the contours of a new system of international relations," (Pepe Escobar), the U.S. hosted Japan and South Korea at Camp David to hammer out a three-way military alliance between grossly unequal partners.

From Sara Flounders writing in Workers World:

The military pact of South Korea and Japan with the U.S. intentionally damages both the South Korean and Japanese economies, as China has been the major trading partner of both countries. However, right-wing militarists in office in each country seem willing to act against their own people’s interests.

The U.S. government has long maintained separate defense pacts with both countries. Based on Japan’s brutal 35-year colonial occupation of the Korean peninsula, from 1910 to 1945, there remains deep hostility among the Korean people toward Japan. Nevertheless, based on U.S. pressure, the regimes have now become “partners” against China.

Excerpt from the White House statement:

Pre­sident Biden commended President Yoon and Prime Minister Kishida for their courageous leadership in transforming relations between Japan and the ROK. With the renewed bonds of friendship—and girded by the ironclad U.S.-Japan and U.S.-ROK alliances—each of our bilateral relationships is now stronger than ever. So too is our trilateral relationship.

My translation: the deeply unpopular President Yoon making nice with colonial exploiter Japan was a prerequisite for the new war pact against China.

In an interesting parallel, it now appears that China and Russia's brokering of an historic rapprochement between Saudi Arabia and Iran earlier this year paved the way for both nations to join BRICS. 

 

Now being termed BRICS 11 because six nations have joined the original five of the acronym (the other new members are the United Arab Emirates, Argentina, Egypt, and Ethiopia).

From BRICS fan Escobar writing in The Cradle:

Here is the Johannesburg II Declaration of the 15^th BRICS summit. BRICS 11 is just the start. There’s a long line eager to join; without referring to the dozens of nations (and counting) that have already “expressed their interest”, according to the South Africans, the official list, so far, includes Algeria, Bangladesh, Bahrain, Belarus, Bolivia, Venezuela, Vietnam, Guinea, Greece, Honduras, Indonesia, Cuba, Kuwait, Morocco, Mexico, Nigeria, Tajikistan, Thailand, Tunisia, Turkiye and Syria.

So while the bigger, wealthier group forges ahead with a comprehensive agreement to reign in predatory debt mechanisms of the West against the Global South and, incidentally, to reject new members if they sanction existing BRICS nations, the U.S. continues looking for a nation to play the role of Ukraine in its planned war against China.

As blogger Andrew Korybko observed:

the recent Sino-Filipino incident that was sparked by Manila’s failed attempt to smuggle construction materials to a disputed reef could have been timed to precede the latest trilateral talks and this week’s joint drills, thus enabling them to be spun as defense measures instead of provocations..

All of this leads to “pacifist” Japan saber-rattling against China in its South Sea on the Philippines’ behalf in support of their shared US patrons’ “rules-based order”, which solidifies their nascent trilateral alliance.. and consequently advances the AUKUS+ agenda of “containing” China.

Meanwhile, the usual suspects have been busy on the information war front.

An investigation by Alan MacLeod of MintPress News found that the FBI and the government of Taiwan have been working together to spread hate against China in the U.S.

Official documents reviewed by “MintPress News” show that the Taiwanese government is attempting to drum up anti-China hostility, influence and intimidate American politicians and is even working with the FBI and other agencies to spy on and prosecute Chinese American citizens.

Key points of this investigation
• Taiwanese officials are monitoring Chinese Americans and passing intelligence to the FBI in attempts to have them prosecuted.
• Taiwan is working with “friends” in media and politics to create a culture of fear towards China and Chinese people in the US
• Taiwanese officials claim they are “directing” and “guiding” certain US politicians.
• Taiwan is monitoring and helping to intimidate U.S. politicians they deem to be too pro-China.
• The island is spending millions funding US think tanks that inject pro-Taiwan and anti-China talking points into American politics.

Why do nations like Japan, South Korea, Australia, and the Philippines, for whom China is a huge trading partner, submit to U.S. demands that run counter to their own economic interests?

Because if you don't submit, they do this to you: "The Outcome Of American Interference In Pakistan."

But much of the world is banding together to say Enough! Note that BRICS came out strongly against war in space, and in favor of arms control treaties in what the U.S. predictably rejects in its key "warfighting domain." Indeed, satellite communications have been integral to the U.S./NATO waging their proxy war against Russia in Ukraine.

Full disclosure: I work for the Global Network Against Weapons & Nuclear Power in Space which is prominently featured in Jeremy Kuzmarov's article.

It appears that war has hastened ongoing cooperation with Russia by many nations -- in direct opposition to its stated goal of isolating Putin and his government. For example, check out this speech by Eritrean President Isaias Afwerki at the BRICS summit denouncing "U.S. exceptionalism" on the grounds that "it has gravely impaired global progress for over a century now."

I think we can all agree that century is behind us, and history is now remaking itself.

NATO Summit Turns Its Back On Zelensky And Pivots To China

As the collective West turned its back on a bad actor, Russia turned its back on a grain deal that was supposed to feed the Global South.

Many have commented on -- and photoshopped -- what is by now an iconic photo from last week's NATO summit in Vilnius. For example:

This rendition plays on the fact that Ukrainian President Zelensky's image seems to demand he dress in pseudo Army fatigues at all times, even formal dinners in a European capitol. So, he looks more like the janitor than a power broker. The yellow bucket plays nicely next to Mrs. Zelensky's blue dress to invoke the ubiquitous flag adopted by liberals in support of the Democratic Party's signature proxy war. (Said flags are looking rather tattered and faded these days as Ukraine's spring-no-wait-more-like-summer offensive sputters out with little accomplished.)

President Zelensky was possibly the only person in Vilnius who expected Ukraine to be invited to join NATO. Instead he was rebuffed but told that his real soldiers can keep fighting and dying while the West dials back its financial support and supplies of military equipment. 

Consolation prize: cluster bombs for Ukraine! These are on the shelf in the U.S. arsenal, mostly because when used they are extremely destructive of both children and public approval.

(Note that Politico's National Security Daily is brought to you by one of the big dogs of the U.S. military industrial complex, the true winners of the proxy war on Russia via Ukraine.)

President Zelensky lashed out at being snubbed and a UK government official admonished him to show more gratitude for what he's already received. (President Zelensky has reportedly become immensely wealthy skimming off foreign aid and can easily afford a business suit to wear to these sort of gatherings. His public relations staff no doubt advised against it.)

What was most significant about the NATO summit lay to the east. This surprised no one who has recognized that weakening Russia is merely the prelude to taking on the West's major competitor, China. Why? "The deepening strategic partnership between the PRC and Russia and their mutually reinforcing attempts to undercut the rules-based international order run counter to our values and interests."

Since when is Japan in NATO? Or Australia, New Zealand, and South Korea for that matter? ODD ANDERSEN/AFP VIA GETTY IMAGES

From NATO's Vilnius Summit Communique:

The People’s Republic of China’s (PRC) stated ambitions and coercive policies challenge our interests, security and values. We remain open to constructive engagement with the PRC, including to build reciprocal transparency, with a view to safeguarding the Alliance’s security interests.

As reported by Shannon Tiezzi in The Diplomat,

NATO leaders called out China for “malicious hybrid and cyber operations and its confrontational rhetoric and disinformation” and accused Beijing of striving “to subvert the rules-based international order, including in the space, cyber and maritime domains.” The statement also expressed concern over China’s attempts to “ to control key technological and industrial sectors, critical infrastructure, and strategic materials and supply chains” and “create strategic dependencies.” 

Note: the U.S. has relied heavily in recent years on its made-up concept "rules-based international order" which translates to "f**k international law and the UN, the powerful do as they will and the weak submit as they must."

China was not slow to respond. The Chinese mission to the EU had its spokesperson issue a statement that included the following:

the Communiqué arbitrarily distorts China’s stance and policies, and deliberately smears China. We firmly oppose and reject this accusation..

The trend of the world is surging forward. We urge NATO to go with the trend of the times, listen to the just call of the international community for peace, development and cooperation, correct its misperceptions and policies, and play a constructive role in world peace and stability. 

We would like to make it clear to NATO that the Chinese side is firm in its resolve to safeguard its sovereignty, security and development interests. We firmly oppose NATO’s eastward movement into the Asia-Pacific region and any action that jeopardizes China’s legitimate rights and interests will be met with a resolute response.

Meanwhile, Russia announced it was withdrawing from the cooperative agreement to allow grain shipping through the Black Sea. Intended as a way to mute the effects of the Ukraine war on food supplies in the Global South, instead the deal resulted in Ukraine re-selling the grain to Europe. Russia had warned several times that if the other part of the deal, that of lifting restrictions on their export of food and fertilizer, they would let the agreement expire.

The West can now claim that Russia has abandoned the humanitarian goals of the grain shipping deal. And the heavily propagandized public in NATO nations will eat this analysis up, much like they still cling to the absurd notion that Russia's entry into Ukraine's civil war in February 2022 was "unprovoked."

Some are suggesting that the straw that broke the grain deal's back was the use of a civilian ship carrying grain to launch drones that blew up the Kerch Strait bridge, injuring a teenager and killing her parents. But actually the cancellation announcement preceded the attack. (Ukraine recently took belated credit for the October 2022 attack on the bridge that links Russia and Crimea, an attack that used a suicide truck bomber rather than underwater drones.)

Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova pointed out that NATO players are likely involved, too. 

Decisions are made by Ukrainian officials and the military with the direct participation of American and British intelligence agencies and politicians. The U.S. and Britain are in charge of a terrorist state structure.

Meanwhile you may be wondering, who will be the proxy assigned to fight China on behalf of NATO? Taiwan, Japan, and Australia are all in the running. Maybe Hong Kong and New Zealand too? Stay tuned.