Here’s the Whole Transcript of That Leaked Steve Bannon Tape, Annotated

The Halloween 2020 meeting in which Steve Bannon explained that Donald Trump planned to declare victory on election night, regardless of the actual results, was not supposed to be a big deal. The gathering was intended for Bannon to help associates of his patron, exiled Chinese mogul Guo Wengui, plan election night coverage on GTV News, one of Guo’s media companies.

Here’s the Whole Transcript of That Leaked Steve Bannon Tape, Annotated

Can We Please Have an Adult Conversation about China?

A new kind of madness is seeping into global political discourse, a poisonous fog that suffocates reason. This fog, which has long marinated in old, ugly ideas of white supremacy and Western superiority, is clouding our ideas of humanity. The general malady that ensues is a deep suspicion and hatred of China, not just of its current leadership or even the Chinese political system, but hatred of the entire country and of Chinese civilisation – hatred of just about anything to do with China.

Can We Please Have an Adult Conversation about China?

H/T: Vijay Prashad—US threatens China because China threatens US hegemony

China Is Better Than The USA: Notes From The Edge Of The Narrative Matrix

China Is Better Than The USA: Notes From The Edge Of The Narrative Matrix

I always mentally translate “the CCP” to “you can stop reading here, I’m just blindly regurgitating empire propaganda.”*

The party of the Chinese government is called the Communist Party of China, the correct abbreviation for which is CPC. But there’s no need to use that when “the Chinese government”, “Beijing”, or “China” would do just as well. The only reason to say “CCP” or “Chinese Communist Party” instead of the normal words people use for other governments would be if you wanted to de-legitimize the government of China.

Exclusive: The Fugitive Who Tried to Spark a US-China War

Exclusive: The Fugitive Who Tried to Spark a US-China War

Guo’s intelligence handlers, Ma and Zhou, were allies of Ling Jihua, who was former President Hu Jintao’s chief of staff. The crucial link between Ma and Ling was provided by Sun Zhengcai, the former party secretary of Chongqing, also a Politburo member.

As we’ve seen, Zhou, Ling, and Sun all ended up in jail – targets of Xi’s anti-corruption campaign. But, remarkably, not Guo – who according to former Chinese government officials was Ma’s MSS agent in charge of special ops overseas.

Guo’s job in 2012 was to sabotage the ascension of Xi by spreading an array of fake news in China and among the Chinese diaspora. That failed.

Nonetheless, Guo remained at work as an MSS agent until at least October 2021, according to well-placed Chinese sources. Considering his recent activities and the fact he was lavishly embraced by prominent US China hawks, it appears that his assignment was to cause maximum damage to US-China relations, arguably derailing them to a point of no return.

Steve Bannon & Guo Wengui.

Links behind paywalls (all but a few that I weren’t archived):

Read More »

The Mess That Pelosi Made

In 2015, Robert Parry, the late investigative journalist and founder of Consortium News, wrote an article titled “The Mess that Nuland Made.” It summarized the aftermath of the 2014 coup in Ukraine that was engineered by Victoria Nuland, who served in Obama’s State Department and is back working for the Biden administration.

Nuland’s coup sparked widespread unrest in Ukraine, Russia taking Crimea, and the war in the eastern Donbas region. The day that Russian President Vladimir Putin launched his invasion of Ukraine, the title of Parry’s salient article wouldn’t get out of my head. Nuland’s meddling in Ukraine reflected an overarching neocon, deep state agenda, but the chaos that has ensued since will always be her legacy, and her mess.

Now, as China’s People’s Liberation Army (PLA) is lobbing missiles toward Taiwan and holding its largest-ever drills around the island, another woman that is a fixture of the establishment in Washington is to blame: House Speaker Nancy Pelosi.

The Mess That Pelosi Made

Pelosi expected to visit Taiwan, Taiwanese and US officials say and Could Get Us All Killed!

Nancy Pelosi Taiwan Visit Could Get Us All Killed

Related:

Pelosi expected to visit Taiwan, Taiwanese and US officials say

Officials also believe the Chinese leadership doesn’t completely grasp the political dynamics in the United States*, leading to a misunderstanding over the significance of Pelosi’s potential visit. The officials say China may be confusing Pelosi’s visit with an official administration visit, since she and Biden are both Democrats. Administration officials are concerned that China doesn’t separate Pelosi from Biden much, if at all.

The ‘eccentric, bigoted’ Pelosi does not care about others’ thoughts, but Biden is the key in the 82-year-old’s planned Taiwan trip

Pelosi is in the presidential line of succession, thus the administration takes extra care of her security when she travels overseas, the White House said on Tuesday, according to CNN.

They’re well aware that Pelosi is the second in line of Presidential succession!

US Congressional Republicans preparing ‘lend-lease’ law to transfer arms to Taiwan

US Congressional Republicans preparing ‘lend-lease’ law to transfer arms to Taiwan

The bill would authorize the president to lend or lease weapons and military equipment to the Taiwan. In exchange, the country’s government is required to repay the cost of “restoring or replacing” the borrowed weapons over a 12-year time frame.

The bill does stipulate that the White House can opt to renegotiate the repayment sum if it deems the money would take away from the national security of both Taiwan and the U.S.

Previously:

Japanese Lawmakers Make Rare Taiwan Visit to Discuss Potential Conflict + Taiwan not included on Pelosi’s travel list. Crimea drone attack.

Senate Passes $280 Billion Industrial Policy Bill Meant to Counter China

Senate Passes $280 Billion Industrial Policy Bill Meant to Counter China

The CHIPS and Science Act of 2022 passed in a vote of 63-33, with 17 Republicans voting in favor. The over 1,000-page legislation includes $52.7 billion for direct funding for the construction and expansion of semiconductor manufacturing and $24 billion for tax incentives and other purposes.

The bill will authorize roughly $200 billion in science and technology research funding that will be spread across several government agencies over the next five years. The largest recipient of the research funds will be the National Science Foundation, which will receive $81 billion.

Related:

CHIPS Won’t Help China

Third, the CHIPS Act actually has provisions designed specifically to restrict investments in China. These so-called “guardrails” require that companies taking federal dollars for American projects must also agree not to invest in state-of-the-art technology in China—not just with the federal dollars, with any dollars. Good-faith critics have raised fair concerns that these guardrails should be broader, tougher, and firmer. But any guardrails at all represent unprecedented restrictions on what U.S. companies can do in the People’s Republic. It’s one thing to say an ideal bill would hurt China even more; it’s quite another to try and claim that less-than-perfect restrictions count as “help.”

Pelosi’s Husband Dumped Up to $5M of Tech Stock Right Before Senate Passed CHIPS

America’s Failed Fascist Coup…Steve Bannon’s High Treason With Chinese Patron and Why the U.S. Authorities Ignore

America’s Failed Fascist Coup… Steve Bannon’s High Treason With Chinese Patron and Why the U.S. Authorities Ignore

As for Bannon’s financial patron, Guo Wengui, he is now officially declared bankrupt but still living in the United States. Given his role in sponsoring a failed coup in the U.S., one would think that the authorities might be considering extraditing him to China where he is wanted on serious corruption charges. That doesn’t appear to be a likely outcome. Why not? It seems that Guo’s anti-China views and broadcasts to the Chinese-American diaspora are too useful for the U.S. establishment in pursuing its hostile policy towards Beijing.

Washington’s hostile agenda against China (dressed up as a purported security threat) is evidently a much bigger priority than defending its own democratic institutions.

Wrong GTV, I believe.

Related:

A Fugitive Chinese Mogul Spent Big to Overturn the 2020 Election

The new information shows that Guo played a previously unreported role in financing the promotion of false election fraud claims in the immediate aftermath of Trump’s defeat. Guo’s spending on these efforts was not against the law. But Guo—a divisive figure with extensive legal problems—had ample reason to seek Trump’s favor. Guo is pursuing political asylum in the United States. If denied, he could face deportation and probable imprisonment in China. He was then, and remains, under investigation by US federal prosecutors for possible fraud and other malfeasance. Since 2020, the US Security and Exchange Commission has also been investigating his role in what it has said was an illegal public offering by a Guo media company. The SEC forced three companies linked to Guo to pay a $539 million settlement last year. According to two sources with knowledge of the probe, the commission is continuing to investigate Guo personally.

Guo has also been accused in lawsuits filed by former business partners and Chinese dissidents of working as a Chinese agent while posing as a CCP critic. No court has ruled on the legitimacy of those allegations, and Guo denies them. He denies all allegations of fraud and other wrongdoing, as well.

Who is Guo Wengui?