Putin & Xi Chat Plus Tik-Tok Pushback
Hard to resist not posting this excellent cartoon.
It’s been 24 hours since Trump became POTUS and no call to Putin yet. It’s unclear who initiated the videochat, Xi of Putin, but since Xi speaks first, let’s assume it was him who sought to discuss recent events and review those of the past year. We can be certain their talk went well beyond the initial eight-minute exchange of greetings. After reading their exchange, I’ll provide the Global Times article showcasing China’s Foreign Ministry’s pushback to Trump’s offer of arranging joint ownership of Tic-Tok, which we can say is the opening salvo of the renewed Trade War by the Outlaw US Empire with China. But first, Xi and Putin:
Xi Jinping (retranslated): Dear President Putin, My dear friend,
I am very happy to see you online on the eve of the Chinese New Year.
On the threshold of the year, it is time to sum up the results and make plans for the future. In 2024, we met three times – in Beijing, Astana and Kazan – and we reached a number of important agreements.
We solemnly celebrated the 75th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between China and Russia. China-Russia relations, which are based on eternal good-neighborliness and friendship, comprehensive strategic cooperation, mutually beneficial cooperation and win-win cooperation, are gaining new vitality.
The Year of Culture between China and Russia is not without bright moments, bilateral practical cooperation is progressively expanding, there is a steady upward trend in mutual trade, and the eastern route of the China-Russia gas pipeline has been commissioned at full capacity ahead of schedule.
The parties closely interact within the framework of the UN, SCO, BRICS and other international platforms, which brings more positive energy to the reform and improvement of the system of global governance.
This year is marked by the 80th anniversary of the victory of the Chinese people in the War of Resistance to the Japanese Invaders, the victory of the Soviet Union in the Great Patriotic War and the victory in the World Anti-Fascist War, as well as the 80th anniversary of the UN.
In this context, together with our Russian colleagues, we will support the UN-centric international system, defend the victory in World War II, which was won with the blood and lives of millions of people, and defend the rights of China and Russia as founding countries of the UN and permanent members of the Security Council.
In the new year, I am ready to together with you to bring Chinese-Russian relations to a new height, to resist external uncertainty on the basis of maintaining stability and resilience of Chinese-Russian relations in the name of the development and prosperity of the two countries, international justice and equality.
Thank you.
President of Russia Vladimir Putin: President Xi Jinping, Dear friend,
I am sincerely glad to welcome you and have the opportunity to talk according to the established good tradition at the beginning of the year in order to sum up the results of the work over the past period and outline new plans for the development of the Russian-Chinese comprehensive partnership and strategic cooperation.
I agree with you that cooperation between Moscow and Beijing is based on a broad commonality of national interests and a convergence of views on what relations between major powers should be. We are building our ties on the basis of friendship, mutual trust and support, equality and mutual benefit. These ties are self-sufficient, independent of domestic political factors and the current global situation. Their comprehensive strengthening fully meets the tasks of comprehensive development of Russia and China, improving the well-being of the peoples of both countries.
I believe that for us the past year was very fruitful. We widely celebrated the 75th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations. During our visit to China in May, together with you, we launched a large-scale project of reciprocal Years of Culture. Useful talks took place in July on the sidelines of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation summit in Astana, as you have just said. And, of course, I was glad to meet with you in October in Kazan. I would like to take this opportunity to thank you once again for your support of the Russian presidency of theBRICS.
We coordinate our steps at other multilateral venues, such as the United Nations and its Security Council, SCO in G20 in APEC. Together, we stand for building a more just multipolar world order, and we are working in the interests of ensuring indivisible security in Eurasia and in the world as a whole. We can say with confidence that foreign policy ties, the joint work of Russia and China objectively plays an important stabilising role in international affairs.
At the end of the year, despite the negative impact from the outside, we managed to reach new good indicators in mutual trade. Although we have calculated the data so far for only 11 months, the trade turnover showed an increase of more than seven percent and reached more than $220 billion. According to Chinese statistics, for the whole year it amounted to almost 245 billion. The People's Republic of China is our main trading partner, and Russia confidently ranks fifth in the list of countries that are China's trade counterparties.
China is the largest consumer of Russian energy resources. We hold first place in terms of oil exports to China. Five years ago, together with you, we launched the operation of the Power of Siberia gas pipeline, and today Russia has come out on top in terms of natural gas supplies to China. In December 2024, a roadmap was signed on the implementation of a comprehensive cooperation programme on fast neutron reactors and the closure of the nuclear fuel cycle, and these are the technologies of the future of nuclear energy.
Successful joint projects are being implemented in industry, transport, agriculture and other Areas. The practice of holding fairs in the provinces of the PRC goods "Made in Russia" has proven itself well.
Expand humanitarian ties. Within the framework of the Cross Years of Culture, only in accordance with the Russian plan, more than 130 events have already been held in both countries. Grow counter tourist flows, sports and educational exchanges.
Mr. President, this year we are preparing to celebrate the 80th anniversary of the Great Victory with dignity. Memory sacred to the peoples of our countries, who waged a bloody struggle against the aggressors and defeated the enemy at the cost of innumerable sacrifices. We must not allow the ideology of fascism, Nazism and militarism to raise its head again. It is important, together with our other like-minded people, to carefully preserve and defend the historical Truth.
Dear friend, I would like to congratulate you and the friendly Chinese people on the occasion of the New Year 2025 and the upcoming Spring Festival. Let me wish you good health and as they say in China, good luck in ten thousand things, and peace and prosperity to your people. [My Emphasis]
Nothing unusual, just the normal salutations. The nuclear power news is bolstered by this recent announcement on the fusion front:
The Experimental Advanced Superconducting Tokamak (EAST), dubbed China's "artificial sun," maintained a steady-state high-confinement plasma operation for a remarkable 1,066 seconds on Monday, setting a new world record and marking a breakthrough in the quest for fusion power generation.
The duration of 1,000 seconds is considered a key step in fusion research. The breakthrough, achieved by the Institute of Plasma Physics under the Chinese Academy of Sciences (ASIPP), greatly improved the original world record of 403 seconds, which was also set by EAST in 2023.
The increase in plasma operation is very significant as is China’s further construction of new facilities. The Congressionally mandated divorce between US and Chinese science is harming the formers research and commercial abilities, which brings us to:
Chinese FM responds to Trump's reported proposal of 50% US ownership in TikTok
Responding to TikTok resuming service in the US as well as the proposed deal by President-elect Donald Trump that would give the US a 50 percent stake in a joint venture of the company, China's Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesperson Mao Ning said on Monday that China hopes the US will seriously listen to rational voices and provide an open, fair, just, and non-discriminatory business environment for market participants from various countries in the US.
TikTok has been operating in the US for many years and is very popular among American users, adding that the app has played a positive role in boosting employment and consumption in the US.
As for business operations and acquisitions, Mao said: "We have always believed that such decisions should be made according to market principles and be determined by the companies themselves."
If Chinese companies are involved, they should comply with Chinese laws and regulations, Mao added.
In a separate response to a foreign media question on the remarks made by Elon Musk on Sunday on X claiming that "the current situation where TikTok is allowed to operate in America, but X is not allowed to operate in China is 'unbalanced,' and something needs to change," Mao said on Monday that the Chinese government manages the internet in accordance with the law, and we welcome internet enterprises from all countries to develop in China as long as they comply with Chinese laws and regulations and provide safe and reliable products and services.
Also when asked by another foreign media reporter about China's response to Elon Musk's remarks questioning whether the US should allow platforms like TikTok to operate, claiming it has the potential to collect data on Americans and control the content broadcast to millions of people in the US, the foreign ministry spokesperson responded that China has always believed that internet companies should comply with local laws and regulations.
As for the Chinese government, we attach great importance to protecting data privacy and security in accordance with the law, and we have never and will never require companies or individuals to collect or provide data located abroad against local laws, Mao said. [My Emphasis]
Law versus Rules. Here’s a listing of why Meta/Facebook and Twitter were banned by China:
To prevent riots
Facebook was banned in China in 2009 to prevent riots after a violent riot took place in Xinjiang. Months later, Twitter was also banned. Some people believe that Twitter was banned for the same reason.
To prevent spreading of rumors
After Facebook was banned, the Chinese government said that such websites, referring to social networks, are used to spread rumors. Twitter could have been banned for the same reason. (See Why Facebook is banned in China?)
User data stored outside China
According to Chinese regulations, user data cannot be stored on servers outside China. Because many social networks store data in their own countries, the Chinese government banned them.
As we know from insider revelations and from Musk himself, both Facebook and Twitter were involved in color revolutions and the propagandizing of the world, especially domestic US users, which actually broke numerous US and other national and international laws. All of which reinforces my description: The Outlaw US Empire.
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A quick word on China's 1000-second success with the EAST fusion reactor. It's likely that many in the West are aware of China's economic rise to the top. But I suspect that most westerners still think China's remarkable leap is just about making cheap goods that everyone wants. While that certainly is an important underpinning, China's rise as an intellectual- and technologically- advanced country is equally dramatic. There is virtually nothing the West can do that China can't, or soon will be. Those capabilities extend to space exploration (China built it's own space station!), artificial intelligence and virtually every science and engineering field. Currently, more research papers and patents are filed from China BY FAR than any other country in the world. Moreover, as we see with the EAST reactor, there are areas where China is leading.
China's incredible economic leap forward is paired with an equally impressive advance in all forms of technology. China's advance is multi-dimensional and hence, just that much harder if not impossible to impede.
Another quick word, but this time concerning social media like Tik Tok. Much as those of us who hoped for a "Free Internet" and an open market of ideas may wish otherwise, no country in the world can afford to allow truly free social media. Their reach is just too vast and potentially destabilizing. In every country, social media will be controlled by government. This will be done overtly, with new laws and regulations as in the EU. Or it will be done covertly as in the USA, where no social media company boardroom will defy what the government tells them to do. (After all, let's remember that communications, other than private means, is heavily regulated everywhere.)
If you communicate through social media, such as the place where we are now, you are communicating *publicly* and because of its digital form, you can safely assume that every word and image is scrutinized by government.
If you ever read the Pentagon's Full Spectrum Dominance doctrine, it calls for American domination not only over land, air, sea, and outerspace but also cyberspace and the "electromagnetic spectrum" so as to achieve US "information superiority."
This latter ambition is what America's obsession to takeover Tik-Tok--using the threat of a US ban or propaganda about "Chinese spying" as pretexts--is really about:
American control over all major social media platforms--and the neutralization of all rival platforms--so as to possess the power to manufacture reality itself on a planetary level.
The Ukraine Proxy War, Gaza Genocide, and fraudulent War on Terror--as well as the propaganda narratives pushed by the USA and Free World (sic) about these issues--are just a few examples of this Orwellian power.
Or, as a former Bush Regime official once infamously stated to the reporter Ron Suskind:
"We're an empire now, and when we act, we create our own reality. And while you're studying that reality — judiciously, as you will — we'll act again, creating other new realities, which you can study too, and that's how things will sort out. We're history's actors ... and you, all of you, will be left to just study what we do."
That statement wasn't an empty boast.
It represents the totalitarian values of the American "Land of the Free" and its so-called Free World allies.