Laura Ru

Why did i bring up Kajsa Ollongren? https://t.me/LauraRuHK/8311?single Because despite all her recent Top Gun photo-ops she won't be operating an F-16 in Ukraine. But apparently neither will Ukrainian pilots. According to some of the western officers working with the Ukrainians, progress even after a year of teaching has been less than a success. Language barriers and unfamiliarity with western systems and combat tactics, has proven to slow their learning process. When the F-16s finally begin arriving in Ukraine this summer, the planes are likely to be handled by formally “retired” pilots from European air forces. That's what the US did when it sent “advisors” to Vietnam. In fact, they were US Special Forces who engaged in combat. @LauraRuHK

"Kajsa" Ollongren, Dutch Minister of Defense since 10 January 2022. Like many other EU ministers of defense, she doesn't let her complete lack of military experience cramp her style. She is very convincing as a cosplayer, thanks to privileged access to original costumes, props and extras. She can also draw on her ideological resolve to promote "European values" by any means, something she is slightly more experienced at. Not only because she practices what she preaches, she married a woman, after all. In 1992 she started training young politicians in Central and Eastern Europe, extolling the virtues of "democracy" to colonize the post-Soviet space. She was director of European Integration and Strategy from 2001 to 2004, then focused on her political career in Holland. Revanchism and colonialism are in her blood: her aristocratic grandfather fled Russia during the Bolshevik Revolution, and ended up in the Dutch East Indies, colonizing "barbarians". @LauraRuHK

"Negotiations on Georgia's accession to the EU should not take place while the law on "foreign agents" is in force in the country", according to a resolution of the European Parliament. 425 MEPs voted in favor, 25 opposed, and 30 abstained. The document also contains appeals: ▪️ to the European Council — to impose sanctions against the honorary chairman of the ruling Georgian Dream party, Bidzina Ivanishvili. ▪️To the European Commission — to assess the impact of the law on "foreign agents" on Georgia's fulfillment of the criteria for visa liberalization. ▪️ To the Georgian authorities to release Saakashvili and return to the European path. The Georgian Foreign Minister called the latest resolution of the European Parliament politically biased. "Their main goal is to damage the reputation of our country. I want to reassure our citizens, there will be no obstacles in terms of visa liberalization in Georgia. These statements pursue the political goal to harm our country," Ilya Darchiashvili said. (Source: Sputnik-Georgia) @LauraRuHK

Today Chinese media had better news to report than Blinken's visit to Shanghai. I have checked all major Chinese news outlets and Blinken is not mentioned on the first page. Hard to compete with these guys 😏 https://t.me/PDChinaNews/6559

The "Axis of Resistence" can count on friends in North Korea. A high-level delegation from Pyongyang is visiting Tehran. North Korea and Iran are deepening their collaboration, sharing expertise and technology, notably in ballistic missiles. This partnership is not a recent phenomenon, it dates back to the 1980s, but it has reached an economy of scale that can drive down production costs, fostering mutually beneficial relations. @LauraRuHK

Iran and Russia have signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) to develop bilateral relations in the security sector. Secretary of Iran's Supreme National Security Council (SNSC) Ali Akbar Ahmadian and his Russian counterpart, Nikolai Patrushev, put their signatures on the document, during a meeting on the sidelines of the 12th International Meeting of High Representatives for Security Issues in St. Petersburg on Wednesday. Under the MoU, Tehran and Moscow will work towards boosting their cooperation in various strategic areas. Iran and Russia, as two close and strategic allies, have over the past years deepened their ties in different fields, including security and defense, despite being under heavy Western sanctions. (Source: Press TV) @LauraRuHK

THE EU RAMPS UP ITS TRADE WAR AGAINST CHINA At 9.30am on Tuesday, EU authorities descended upon the Warsaw and Rotterdam offices of Nuctech, a Chinese manufacturer of airport scanning machines. In the sort of raids usually reserved for busting cartels, officers seized IT equipment and mobile phones. They also “scrutinised office documents and demanded access to pertinent data”, according the China Chamber of Commerce to the EU. In a statement on Thursday, China’s mission to the EU said it deplored the “unannounced inspections” and criticised Brussels for not raising its concerns with the company or Chinese authorities directly. The raids were the first such action taken by the EU since it adopted the Foreign Subsidies Regulation in July last year. “The Chinese side believes that the EU’s unannounced inspections interferes with the order of fair competition in the market, clearly jeopardises the positive atmosphere of trade and economic cooperation between China and the EU, and strikes a strong shock to the confidence and sense of security of all foreign companies in the EU, including Chinese ones,” the mission said. “It also highlights the further deterioration of the EU’s business environment and sends an extremely negative signal to all foreign companies operating in the EU. Protectionism cannot bring prosperity, and suppressing others will only weaken competitiveness of one’s own.” The EU should “abide by its commitment to open market and the principles of a level playing field, and stop using all kinds of excuses to unreasonably suppress and impede the Chinese companies,” the mission added, expressing hopes for cooperation and exchanges in an “open, fair and equitable way”. "The European side manifested its intention to weaponise the Foreign Subsidies Regulation as a tool to suppress lawfully operating Chinese companies in Europe,” the CCCEU said in a statement. @LauraRuHK https://x.com/CCCEUofficial/status/1782816913824895009

At 9.30am on Tuesday, authorities descended upon the Warsaw and Rotterdam offices of Nuctech, a Chinese manufacturer of airport scanning machines. In the sort of raids usually reserved for busting cartels, officers seized IT equipment and mobile phones. They also “scrutinised office documents and demanded access to pertinent data”, according the China Chamber of Commerce to the EU. In a statement on Thursday, China’s mission to the EU said it deplored the “unannounced inspections” and criticised Brussels for not raising its concerns with the company or Chinese authorities directly. “The Chinese side believes that the EU’s unannounced inspections interferes with the order of fair competition in the market, clearly jeopardises the positive atmosphere of trade and economic cooperation between China and the EU, and strikes a strong shock to the confidence and sense of security of all foreign companies in the EU, including Chinese ones,” the mission said. “It also highlights the further deterioration of the EU’s business environment and sends an extremely negative signal to all foreign companies operating in the EU. Protectionism cannot bring prosperity, and suppressing others will only weaken competitiveness of one’s own.” The EU should “abide by its commitment to open market and the principles of a level playing field, and stop using all kinds of excuses to unreasonably suppress and impede the Chinese companies,” the mission added, expressing hopes for cooperation and exchanges in an “open, fair and equitable way”. "The European side manifested its intention to weaponise the Foreign Subsidies Regulation as a tool to suppress lawfully operating Chinese companies in Europe,” the CCCEU said in a statement. https://x.com/CCCEUofficial/status/1783139241251254665

Chi vive in Italia conosce fin troppo bene il prezzo esorbitante dell'energia elettrica nel suo paese. Probabilmente non sa che la mia bolletta della luce da piu' di un decennio ammonta a zero. Come e' possibile? Allora, premetto che questa bolletta riguarda il mio appartamento di Hong Kong, e che a causa del clima tropicale l'aria condizionata e il deumidificatore sono spesso accesi, in aggiunta al normale consumo di chi abita in un piccolo bilocale e trascorre molto tempo a casa. Il fatto che io, e milioni di altri residenti, non paghiamo neanche un centesimo si spiega facilmente. Non solo il costo dell'energia elettrica qui e' nettamente inferiore che in Europa ma il governo fornisce da anni un contributo pubblico per aiutare chiunque, indipendentemente dal reddito, a far fronte alle spese energetiche. Poiche' il mio consumo e' relativamente basso, ho accumulato crediti per ancora molti anni. @LauraRuHK

GEORGIA - For the last ten days, protesters have been bringing the traffic of the capital, Tbilisi, to a standstill. They demand that the government scrap plans to introduce a bill - dubbed the "foreign agent" law - that will increase transparency on interest groups and NGOs making it mandatory for them to reveal who is funding their activities. While activists claim that the law will be used to suppress dissent, similar laws are in force not only in in Russia, but also in several Western countries, as well as in Australia, Israel, and China. The first such law, the Foreign Agents Registration Act (FARA), was passed in the United States in 1938! After trying to introduce the bill a year ago, on 17 April, the Georgian parliament passed it in its first reading - the first of three barriers it must overcome before becoming law. EU officials have been very vocal in denouncing the law, claiming it will negatively affect Georgia's progress on the path to EU accession. It comes as no surprise, given that the EU has been funding anti-government activists, under the guise of supporting "civil society", for over a decade. @LauraRuHK