Free Republic

The globalists who hijacked both the GOP and Democratic Party subscribe to this “free trade” ideology, and now are worried by grassroots conservative opposition to this destructive doctrine. A Pew Research Center poll for November 4-7, 2010 reported that 63% of professed Tea Party supporters thought that free trade agreements were “bad for U.S.” The Mellman Group and the Alliance for American Manufacturing reported that their poll indicated that 74 percent of self-described Tea Party supporters would support a “national manufacturing strategy to make sure that economic, tax, labor, and trade policies in this country work together to help support...

We did trade wrong. We could have had a good trade policy that increased trade and raised living standards. We could export more soybeans, airplanes and software, and protect the environment around the world. We could have low-cost goods and encourage democracy, respect for human rights and improved working conditions.

Leonardo DiCaprio praised China’s work to combat climate change on a trip to Beijing on Sunday, and said he believes the world’s largest emitter of greenhouse gases could be “the hero of the environmental movement.” The actor and environmentalist, who called for action to combat climate change during his Oscar acceptance speech last month, praised China’s shift toward renewable forms of energy to lower carbon emissions. […] “I really think that China can be the hero of the environmental movement, they can be the hero of the climate change movement,” he said. “They have an opportunity to change the world...

The Army’s top general says military forces on the ground face a high level of risk if the United States gets into a large-scale conflict against a power such as Russia or China. Testifying Wednesday on Capitol Hill, Army Chief of Staff Gen. Mark Milley ... a “great power war” against one or two of four countries – China, Russia, Iran and North Korea – .. the Army’s readiness is not at a level that is appropriate for what the American people expect to defend them.

The ROC Navy (Republic of China - Taiwan) has ordered three air defense catamaran corvettes based on the existing Tuo River-class. It is rumored the corvettes are expected to be fitted with Mk 41 VLS for a new naval variant of the Sky Bow III (Tien Kung III) surface to air missiles. It remains to be seen however if such large missiles can fit on a small platform like this catamaran corvette. Same thing goes for long range radar sensors. The "Tuo River" Catamaran Corvette sailing under its own power. Picture: Internet/Lee Chung Wei Other weapon system should include Sky...

China's state news agency has had to issue a correction after it referred to President Xi Jinping as "China's last leader", an apparent copyediting error. Xinhua later amended the copy, which had by then been widely reused, and asked outlets to change the reference to "China's top leader". In the end many outlets simply removed Sunday's article in its entirety. Such a mishap is extremely rare as references to China's president are believed to be closely scrutinised. Chinese media is heavily regulated, with government censors often removing content on websites and social media. The two phrases are just one character...

Australia’s prime minister on Wednesday dismissed public concerns revealed by a U.S. opinion poll about a Chinese company leasing a strategically important port. The Australian newspaper reported Wednesday that the U.S. State Department had polled Australians via test message about their opinions about Chinese company Landbridge securing a 99-year lease over the Port of Darwin. Almost half those surveyed said allowing a Chinese company to manage the port posed “a lot of risk” to national security and nine in 10 said it posed at least some risk, according to U.S. government research obtained by the newspaper. …

China continues to expand its territory in the South China Sea, militarizing disputed Islands. They are taking strategic control over a major trade route that effects more than $5 trillion in global trade. The Chinese have deployed weapons and placed people on various islands throughout the area to feed its need for oil and keep routes open for its own energy needs. Their hunger for oil-rich islands in this trade route is having an impact on freedom of Navigation in the South China Sea. Recently they have even expanded their reach near the Philippines. China is setting up logistics for...

Honduran environment and human rights activist Berta Cáceres, winner of the prestigious Goldman Environmental Prize for her advocacy efforts, was assassinated in her hometown on Thursday. Cáceres was shot by at least two gunmen who broke down the door of the house where she was staying in La Esperanza, Honduras, the New York Times reported. The 44-year-old mother of four is best known for her grassroots mobilization of opposition to the Agua Zarca Dam, a hydroelectric project on a river sacred to the indigenous Lenca people that would have cut off their water supply. Through a nonprofit she had co-founded...

China has vowed to clamp down on 'scalpers' selling tickets for hospital appointments at hugely inflated prices. Most hospitals in the country require patients to purchase registration tickets to see a doctor or receive treatment but the system is widely abused. Scalpers buy up tickets for around £30 and can resell them for as much as £450, with those most in need of hospital treatment the biggest victims of the scandal. They mainly operate in the largest cities, such as Beijing and Shanghai. ...

China aims to lay off 5 to 6 million state workers over the next two to three years as part of efforts to curb industrial overcapacity and pollution. The move is being seen as Beijing's boldest retrenchment program in almost two decades. China's leadership, obsessed with maintaining stability and making sure redundancies do not lead to unrest, will spend nearly 150 billion yuan ($23 billion) to cover layoffs in just the coal and steel sectors in the next 2-3 years. [...] The hugely inefficient state sector employed around 37 million people in 2013, and accounts for about 40 percent of...

MANILA, Philippines – The Chinese have taken over another traditional Filipino fishing ground near Palawan where they have stationed up to five ships to keep local fishermen at bay, sources said. Now effectively under Chinese control is Quirino or Jackson Atoll, which has been a rich source of catch for a long time for fishermen from Palawan, Southern Luzon, Western Visayas and even Manila. Gray and white Chinese vessels have not left the atoll, which Filipino fishermen also call Jackson Five, because of the existence of five lagoons in the area. The Chinese are claiming almost the entire South China...

Future talks will determine what defense equipment could be supplied, although Gazmin told reporters without elaborating that Japan has initially offered a surveillance aircraft. “This agreement would really substantiate the Philippines and Japan being strategic partners,” Gazmin said in remarks during the signing ceremony at the Department of Defense in metropolitan Manila which was not opened to the press. “Let me stress that what underpins this agreement is not only our desire to enhance our respective defense capabilities but also to contribute to regional peace and stability.” Neither side mentioned China’s increasingly assertive behavior in disputed areas but that has...

President Barack Obama signed legislation Wednesday that would extend some U.S. privacy protections to citizens of allied countries and let foreigners sue the U.S. government if their personal data is unlawfully disclosed.In a separate ceremony just a few minutes later, Obama signed into law a bill that beefs up trade enforcement and includes a ban on Internet access taxes. Obama said both bills had bipartisan support. The bill extending certain privacy protections was aimed at shoring up trust among European allies following leaks by former National Security Agency contractor Edward Snowden. Obama said the new law makes sure data is...

The first train to connect China and Iran arrived in Tehran on Monday loaded with Chinese goods, reviving the ancient Silk Road, the Iranian railway company said. The train, carrying 32 containers of commercial products from eastern Zhejiang province, took 14 days to make the 9,500-kilometer (5,900-mile) journey through Kazakhstan and Turkmenistan. [...] According to Iranian media, more than a third of Iran's foreign trade is with China, which is Tehran's top customer for oil exports. Chinese President Xi Jinping and Iranian President Hassan Rouhani agreed last month to build economic ties worth up to $600 billion within the next...

Steel company managers joined thousands of their employees from across the European Union to protest Monday against the import of cheap Chinese products and to warn the 28-nation bloc not to open the doors further to Beijing. The European steel industry is accusing China of illegal export subsidies and selling products below production cost, all of which contributes to the crisis in the European steel sector. With whistles and firecrackers, the workers ringed some of the EU institutions to push their demands to keep Chinese steel at bay. The industry argued that if the EU recognizes China as a market...

There seems to be no end to President Xi Jinping's lust for power. Just three years after he assumed office, Xi is now basically in complete control of the Communist Party, the government, the military, the judiciary, the law enforcement apparatus, the economy and the diplomacy of his country. Since the beginning of this year, chief officials of a dozen key provinces and autonomous regions - such as Anhui, Sichuan, Hubei, Shaanxi, Guangxi, Inner Mongolia and Tianjin - have openly pledged allegiance to Xi one after another and hailed him as the 'core' of the Communist Party. Since China's economic...

President Barack Obama will visit Vietnam in May when he'll be in Asia attending an international summit. The White House says Obama told Vietnamese Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung he had accepted an invitation to visit the former U.S. adversary. Obama and Dung spoke Monday on the sidelines of a U.S. summit with Southeast Asian leaders taking place in Southern California. ...

Last October, two members of a small exile Chinese opposition political party -- Jiang Yefei and Dong Guangping -- were arrested by Thai police. Several weeks later, despite protests from the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, the two men were extradited to China and promptly thrown in prison. Since the extradition of Dong, his wife, Gu Shuhua, and daughter fled Thailand for Canada. Speaking from Toronto, she says Dong's capture has devastated her small family. "The Chinese government put pressure on my husband for so long that he ran away [from China]. Why did they still need to chase...

China FM voices 'serious concern' over possible deployment of U.S. shield in Korea Published : 2016-02-12 16:13 Updated : 2016-02-12 16:15 Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi expressed "serious concern" over a decision by South Korea to begin formal talks with the United States to adopt an advanced U.S. missile defense system, according to China's foreign ministry on Friday. Wang conveyed the concern to South Korean Foreign Minister Yun Byung-se during their meeting in Munich on the sidelines of international talks on Syria on Thursday, the Chinese ministry said in a statement. "Minister Wang Yi expresses serious concern," the statement said....