Another phenomena of mid-summer snow took place in gansu province of china, which is now being hit as well by floods and landslides
A former cia agent alexander yuk ching Ma has been arrested and charged with espionage
For allegedly conspiring to spy for the ccp
And the head of the china banking regulatory commission
Meanwhile is warning of a potential global financial crisis and that includes a looming internal crisis in china
Caused by bad loans, welcome back everyone first off some breaking news
The natural disasters in china aren't showing signs of stopping the fourth flood wave on the Yangtze river is still ongoing
Flooding towns and cities along its path on august 18th
The Yangtze river water resources commission announced that a fifth flood wave has formed at the upper reaches of the yangtze river
And flood warnings have been issued on level two
Among the areas being hit already is gansu province in the upper reaches of that river
On august 17th a large mudslide occurred in the village of wen county in that province
Debris flow rushed into the baishui river forming a landslide dam and the locals had to blast that dam to release the floods
when they blasted the water poured into nearby villages in
Shuimogou village the floods reached three stories high and many wooden houses
Collapsed. now the country is also experiencing power outages more than 1300 people have been evacuated but many people in 11 villages
Were unable to evacuate in time and were trapped on the rooftop
Meanwhile, there has been more summer snow in china mid-summer snow. It's a phenomenon considered deeply symbolic in chinese folklore
representing an injustice having taken place
in gansu province again
Which was hit again by heavy rains and mudslides over the past few days
Blizzard suddenly began overnight in two of the counties where it turned cold as winter despite the mid-summer heat
Now given the symbolic nature of this
Chinese netizens made statements including quote heaven is sending a message and quote now i'm scared
On july 30th and august 6 the rare sight of summer snow also appeared in different parts of beijing
In hong kong meanwhile top officials are now admitting that the u.s sanctions are having their effects
In an interview with the ccp mouthpiece news outlet cgtn the chief executive of hong kong Carrie Lam
Admitted for the first time that she may be restricted into using financial services and credit cards
Provided by american companies and hong kong police commissioner
Chris tong told the hong kong economic times that some banks have suspended services to him as well
Now after the sanctions took effect some countries also stopped selling supplies to the hong kong police force
And also stop some training activities with hong kong now u.s sanctions are placed on officials who are involved
In effectively ending the ccp's former agreement of autonomy for hong kong. In mainland China
meanwhile
The ccp has expelled an outspoken retired professor over her criticisms of the regime
Former central party school professor Cai Xia was stripped of her pension
After making comments deemed by the ccp as having quote serious political problems. What did she do?
She called the chinese regime a political zombie
And said the political shell of the ccp must be thrown away
now after the death of ccp virus whistleblower Li Wenliang
Cai Xia participated in a petition campaign requesting freedom of speech
She also said the ccp is forcing its national security laws onto hong kong and this is equivalent to quote raping the hong kong people
Meanwhile, a former cia agent has been arrested and charged with espionage
For allegedly conspiring to spy for the ccp
Now the former cia agent alexander yuk ching ma was arrested on august 14th and was a naturalized u.s
Citizen who was born in hong kong now in response to the arrest chinese foreign ministry spokesperson
Zhao Lijian
told reporters on august 18 that he didn't understand the situation and then accused the united states of smearing China
Now commenting on the arrest as well alan Kohler jr
the assistant director of the fbi's counterintelligence division said in the release that quote this serious act of espionage is another example
In a long string of illicit activities that the people's republic of china is conducting within and against the united states
And more on the united states within a space of about 72 hours since august 13th
52 people were shot in new york city where the nypd has recorded a 220 percent increase in shootings
since this time last year
In response to this president donald trump sent a tweet to mayor bill de blasio stating quote
Law and order if nyc mayor can't do it. We will
Now the trump administration has been sending federal marshals to major u.s cities to help quell the riots and violence
And starting this week meanwhile u.s states are set to roll out a weekly unemployment boost of 300 dollars
This will be distributed by the federal emergency management agency or fema the move was approved by trump in early august
And in seattle 18 people were arrested and riots around a march against the police union there and several officers were left injured
Now the crowd set off a large explosion then tried smashing a window of police vehicle before officers issued orders for them to disperse
The rioters responded to this by throwing rocks bottles and another explosive device at the officers
Several officers were injured in that explosion. Now the group behind the march was the youth liberation front seattle division
Which is linked to the far-left antifa network
And meanwhile jared kushner the son-in-law and senior adviser to u.s president donald trump told reporters in a call on august 17
That the issues between israel and palestine may be resolved quote at some point
And in world news related to this israel and the united arab emirates now have a peace deal
This will make it the third arab country to normalize relations with israel. This is following egypt in
1979 and jordan in
1994 it's also the first of the six arab gulf states to do so and others are expected to follow
Now the peace deal was allegedly done to the surprise of the uae's neighbors and palestine declared a stab in the back
In south korea. Meanwhile a new outbreak of the novel coronavirus a ccp virus has allegedly been linked to a large church in seoul
according to time initial tests of 2500 of the church's 4 000 members revealed
246 new cases of the virus on tuesday this raises the total number of viruses in the country over the last five days to
959
And in north korea citizens are being ordered to hand over dogs that represent capitalist quote decadence
Now reports say north korean leader kim jong-un banned pet ownership in july when he declared
It was a quote tainted trend by bourgeois ideology
They identified more recently homes with pet dogs and ordered them to surrender the dogs or have them taken by force
The dogs are either being sent to state-run zoos or being sold to restaurants for meat
And in Kiribati, a country in the central pacific ocean an image of the chinese ambassador has gone viral
Showing him walking over the backs of locals
Now the country's minister for environment said it was a way of showing respect and love for a visitor
But reports show there was mixed reaction from locals
some said it was a display of the country's culture others say it was an
Embarrassment now as a bit of context to this kiribati cut ties with taiwan in september and began shifting towards the chinese communist party
that was after the chinese regime made a
730 million dollar push to win over taiwan's allies in that region
And now for the broader stories for today first off the ccp is taking steps to double down on its communist system
In a recent article xi jinping the head of the chinese communist party said quote the foundation of china's political economy
Can only be a marxist political economy and not based on other economic theories and he added the quote
The dominant position of public ownership cannot be shaken and the leading role of the state-owned economy cannot be shaken
Now some western analysts appear to be backing Xi's position some refer to it as china's system of state capitalism
And others are promoting the china model for managing economies
Now Xi stated his stance that the foundation of china's economy can only be a marxist political economy
Now, what does this mean for the economic reforms under deng xiaoping?
Now a bit of history on this the chinese communist party basically controlled just about every industry in the country
Most of it was military run deng xiaoping was a few leaders back was the one who changed this
During his reform and opening up period it was right before jiang zemin
Right ahead of the tiananmen square massacre. Now what that did was he changed it
so china went from having a purely military-run business system essentially to one that had a
semi-public system so people can start businesses
if you grow to a certain extent, the chinese communist party can take it over or at the very least install different types of
liaisons within your company
now, what are they doing now? the system of public ownership as Xi called it and the state-owned economy now when Xi
Talks about this marxist political economy
Does that mean he's moving back before the days of deng xiaoping?
Or does it mean he's talking about sustaining the ccp's current model of state capitalism what lenin referred to as the word for socialism?
Now when it comes to the chinese communist party, they refer to their system as socialism with chinese characteristic
And Xi is now talking about public ownership and the state-owned economy
What does this mean? very likely it Either means he's going to be doubling down on the socialist
Communist system or he's going to be moving it back to a system prior to what we saw during deng xiaoping
meaning the ccp may be
Revitalizing some of the same deep communist systems that existed previously
Now the ccp has also banned a new list of books included among them is reflections on the french revolution by xi wang
Along with the entire series of the western conservative classics translation series
Now this was seen as a warning shot that the chinese communist party is repeating much of what was done during the french revolution
And if we understand what happened during that time, it's not far-fetched actually under the french revolution
They had for example the law of suspects where those who accused the regime were themselves
Accused if you say criticize the ruling party at that time
You could be beheaded at the guillotine under the chinese communist party
They have very similar systems where if you criticize the ccp you face arrest
they had during the french revolution the
De-christianization movement. This was a movement to destroy christianity and catholicism
And right now in china, we see the same things taking place where all religions including christianity are under assault by the chinese communist party
And we also saw during the french revolution the cult of reason which was the first state-run system of atheism
The chinese communist party is also an atheist-based system and questioning that going against it can also get you imprisoned
There are many different political prisoners in china who are imprisoned solely based on their belief
among them falun gong practitioners and muslim uighurs
And so what are we seeing here overall?
The chinese communist party appears to be doubling down on the communist system
And it's even banning books that can raise awareness that give historical insight into the things
It's currently doing it's showing signs right now closing to the outside world and also starting programs again
To try and reinvigorate its communist system. Now we talked previously about some of the proposals from the hardliners within the ccp
One of the big proposals right now is they say china is facing too much pressure externally and internally
They believe the only hope of saving the ccp of sustaining the communist system is to close off china from the outside world
And basically restart the whole cultural revolution all over again to reinvigorate the ccp's control over the country
And this does appear to be the pattern of these changes and where they do appear to be heading
Now in other news on the chinese communist party's use of subversion to undermine open systems
A former professor at oxford university is receiving attention right now
for awarding a special title to a hong kong businessman
Chan King-Wai who was an adviser to the ccp's national people's congress among other titles
Now according to the guardian this professor alan hudson said the reason for his granting this award
Was to get a possible donation to the university
Or to his department and the action is now being called out for opening up the university
to influence from the chinese communist party
Now hudson also received awards from china. It's common for the ccp to win over academics
using methods like this
Now this ties into the broader picture of how the chinese communist party recruits people to its system
This does not necessarily mean it's recruited them as spies but winning them over on various tiers
This is how they do it. now in the west when they talk about the motivations for engaging in espionage
They use the acronym mice that's money ideology creed and ego
The chinese communist party the recruitment system is different
They look at moral weaknesses and how to exploit those moral weaknesses. The main ones being lust power
Greed or fame when it comes to how they oftentimes will exploit academics
They often use fame. now imagine for example, you're an academic you've written all these in-depth research papers
You've dedicated your life to researching a topic and nobody reads your papers
Nobody gives you any credit for what you've done
And then suddenly you get an invite in the mail chinese communist party or say one of its universities
Maybe not the ccp itself wants to invite you to china and they say your research is fantastic
It's amazing and chinese students want to hear everything you have to say
You go there and they literally roll out a red carpet for you
You go in there you get five-star treatment
You get asked very intelligent questions by these students then they start asking you questions like this. You're so smart. You're so great
Why is it that people like you are in america and they criticize the communist party
Why is it that america fears the rise of the chinese communist party?
Why is it that more academics are not as smart as you when it comes to understanding china?
This will feed the individual's ego and at the same time begin subverting them making them side with the ccp
In terms of their views on china and in terms of international views on how the ccp is interpreted
This is one of the methods the chinese communist party uses when it comes to subverting the academic community
You'll find a lot of individuals a lot of academics who are more favorable to the ccp
Have gone to china and done these speaking events or received awards of different types. This is one of the main methods they use
And now the broader issue with this as well is how the chinese communist party is subverting
Universities not just in the us but other countries as well. The chinese communist party right now has many different programs dedicated to this
Among these programs is the thousand talents program
Which we've been hearing a lot about others are the torch program the 973 program the 211 program
The chinese communist party basically uses these different titles these different programs
To go abroad and to recruit individuals to serve the interests of the chinese communist party
It does not necessarily mean individuals recruited through these systems are aware of what they're doing
it could be something as simple for example of them shifting their views on china for the chinese communist party when it comes to
Ideological subversion that is a win
Because it means in their analysis or if they do interviews with media
These academics are promoting the interests of the chinese communist party knowingly or not
If they can subvert them on a deeper level
It means very likely to get intellectual property
Closer ties to the universities and so on the department of education in the united states is currently investigating issues like this
Now meanwhile australia's spy agency the australian security intelligence organization
Has submitted a parliamentary inquiry on issues that affect the country's multicultural communities
And have found some governments are looking to interfere in these communities in australia and to crush dissent
As they see it as a threat now notes that many people have reported being threatened or have family members who have been threatened
by their former
Governments, now this report coming out from australia does not mention china directly, but in context what's been happening in australia
This is a big topic because the chinese communist party is being accused right now of using threats and different types of pressure to silence
Chinese students studying in australia chinese communist party's influence on australian campuses is one of the big topics there
And now this broader study into how foreign governments are using methods just like this in ethnic communities in australia is coming out
And also in australia its defense department is warning of an extreme threat to its shipbuilding plans
This is part of its push to build a stronger
Navy again with a squad alliance against china
And it's saying these spies are highly active to steal the country's military secrets
Now this report again does not mention china by name but local reports identified the ccp
As the main culprit in operations like this
Now what is a deeper picture of this?
This is an international problem when it comes to the ccp's programs for stealing trade secrets
This is not something limited to australia, but the fact that it's now being called out and publicly exposed in australia
Shows the trajectory of these issues
It is no longer taboo for different officials there to call out the chinese communist party and its influences
In the politics and the defense community in australia
This has actually been an ongoing thing some of the media been very active on this and now the intelligence community in australia
Is calling us out more directly
And now what's the big picture here as well? The chinese communist party has different campaigns for influence operations and for subversion
And it typically uses the same basic pattern for these operations in just about every country
It's involved in the same methods
It uses in australia are pretty much the same methods that we use in canada and in the united states
These operations being exposed in one place shine a light on the same operations being carried out by the ccp in other places
And again, we see the chinese communist party being called out for its subversion of college campuses and for its theft of trade secrets
Meanwhile, china's economy is facing crisis from several directions several stories point to looming economic troubles for the ccp
Which again goes against all the claims of chinese state media that it was now safe to go and invest in china
Now the chairman of the china bank regulatory commission Guo Shuqing is warning of a potential global financial crisis
and he's blaming the united states for this saying the us undermined the dollar through its stimulus checks through the federal reserve and for
blacklisting chinese companies and entities
And he also warned that even after the current economic troubles in china caused by numerous black swan events around the same time
The economy is about to be hit even further by bad loans and it notes that the ccp told lenders to give up to
211 billion dollars in profits to help alleviate pressure on the system
Now the chinese communist party is attacking the dominance of the us dollar and it's doing this
While looking to create its own new digital currency that it can control fully
The chinese communist party is also warning of a new financial crisis in china
And it's trying to shift blame on this from china to the united states
This is also happening as experts in china are warning that sanctions against chinese financial institutions
Could cut them off from global financial systems. They saw this happen to russia. They think china might be next
This could be the next step in sanctions against the ccp
Extending again from party officials and businesses to chinese banks and financial institutions
Now the chinese communist party does appear to be preparing for an incident like this
When it when it allows for example news articles to get published in state-run media when it allows for its different commentators to all align
Around the same basic narrative. It usually means something bigger is at play
The chinese communist party does appear to be doing this right now when warning about the possibility of u.s sanctions
That would block its banks and financial institutions
from accessing the u.s dollar
And this is also in addition to new bans on chinese companies in the supply chain of tech products sold to the u.s government
Government agencies now going forward are not able to buy electronic equipment if they have chinese companies in their supply chains
This is raising problems for the ccp on many different fronts. Now facing this crisis the ccp is trying to turn to countries elsewhere
China's telecom company huawei is allegedly making a new push into africa, for example
And the ccp is increasing its push to develop ties with governments throughout latin America as well now
What's the bigger picture here? now when it comes to the ccp trying to push abroad there's already a backlash in some of these countries
Against the ccp. They might have gotten bad loans already
They might have had some of their infrastructure seized by the ccp when they defaulted on those loans
And a lot of them are facing pressure with the ccp in other regards now when it comes to huawei, for example
The big question will be can they still sell devices using sub-par chips?
They got sanctioned by the us and they can no longer develop current generation technologies
At least when it comes to their smartphones
And the big thing with the ccp's markets is they need expansion
But they've already been exploiting different countries as much as they possibly can
If you've been exploiting everything and your growth model is based on that exploitation, whether it's economic theft whether it's debt traps
Whether it's different say underhanded means to steal technology and so on and suddenly all those capabilities are taken away
Then what you're left with is the shell of the system you once had the chinese communist party is being forced right now
to compete on fairground with other countries
And now that they're being forced to do so it means they've lost all that buffer space
It means that all the weight all of you say programs for global expansion. All of that is contracting not expanding
And on top of all of this trump has ordered tik tok's parent company bytedance to sell its u.s assets
And is authorized now a full audit. now the audit of bytedance is a looming black swan event
Not just for tiktok but for chinese companies overall if the us comes out and exposes serious wrongdoing of some kind
It won't just hit tiktok it won't just reflect on bytedance
It will reflect on every chinese tech company because the picture will be not just on the companies
But on the hand the chinese communist party plays in them
And so what's the bigger picture here? The ccp's economy is being hit from all directions
internally and externally
One problem with exploitation and economic theft again
Is that the ccp's growth model was based on this and if this growth model is now pulled out from under the ccp
And it's forced to play by the rules. It means this bubble risks bursting
Now that said folks for broadcasting five days a week monday through friday
And also if you want to support us, please join us on patreon
You can find the link to that in the description below if you haven't already
Please also don't forget to like and subscribe. It really helps this channel grow
If you want to go the extra mile again, please tell a friend or family member about crossroads again. It really helps us
Now with that said, please take care of yourselves. Stay healthy and stay free
