Russia, China Playing Major Role in Keeping Venezuela Afloat

Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro / Getty Images

 

The countries ‘have provided capital, goods, services, and political backing’

Russia and China have played a major role in keeping the dictatorial Maduro regime in Venezuela afloat, according to expert testimony before the House Foreign Affairs Committee Wednesday.

Evan Ellis, a senior associate at the Center for Strategic and International Studies and a professor at the U.S. Army War College, appeared before the Western Hemisphere subcommittee of the Foreign Affairs Committee for a hearing on the malicious influence of state and criminal actors in the Latin American nation’s ongoing breakdown.

China’s economy might be bigger than previously thought

If you’re looking to turn your world upside down today, try this on for size. What if China’s economy is actually bigger than everyone thinks?

Did your head just go “Boom?” Well, then maybe this will blow your mind: The Wall Street Journal is putting forth that idea. Yes, one of Western media’s biggest proponents of China’s heading for a hard landing, thinks that China’s government isn’t over reporting economic statistics, but instead, underselling them.

Bad News For World Economy That No One Wants To Hear

Reading the general run of financial headlines might lead one to believe that price declines in those commodities which are highly sensitive to economic conditions such as iron ore, copper, oil, natural gas, coal, and lumber are good on their face.

Obviously, the declines aren’t good for those who sell these commodities. But, those of us who buy these commodities in the form of cars, houses, utility bills and other products and services ought to be helping the world economy as we buy more stuff with the freed up income.

China Seeks Weaker Export Controls on Military Equipment

The Clintons helped the Chinese modernize and eventually become on par with American military might, whereas the Obamas will aid them in surpassing American military might. The USA is in grave danger but sadly most Americans are too busy worrying about how their favorite NFL team will perform next Sunday afternoon.

Rep. Frank Wolf (R., Va.) seems to have finally awakened from his sleep to the threat within this case, but is still only “surprised” — yet doesn’t know this has been going on for decades.

Additional sources on the Clinton-China connection:

Source 1

Source 2

China asks Obama administration to loosen controls on exports of high-tech military goods and lift all sanctions

China has supplied the Obama administration with a detailed list of space, military, and defense technology controls that it wants changed, and an interagency review is underway to meet some of Beijing’s demands, according to U.S. officials.

The Chinese government list of U.S. defense and dual-use civilian-military trade controls and policy changes was sent recently to the Commerce Department in preparation for an upcoming meeting of the U.S.-China Joint Commission on Commerce and Trade (JCCT).

The request includes lifting all sanctions imposed by Congress after the 1989 Tiananmen Square massacre; permitting transfers of 15 Black Hawk engines for helicopters sold in the 1980s prior to those sanctions; and the lifting of U.S. sanctions on five Chinese companies involved in past illicit arms sales to Iran, and other rogue states, according to officials familiar with internal reports.