The US’s first overt attack on an Amazon nation last weekend is a new phase in its extractivist rivalry with China. The outcome will decide whether the vast mineral wealth of South America is directed towards a 21st-century energy transition or a buildup of military power to defend 20th-century fossil fuel interests. Although this onslaught was ostensibly aimed at one corrupt dictatorship in a miserably dysfunctional country, the ramifications are far wider. Venezuela’s oil is the obvious – but not the only – objective. When the former Guardian journalist Seumas…
Tag: Trump administration
US foes and allies denounce Trump’s ‘crime of aggression’ in Venezuela at UN meeting
The US has faced widespread condemnation for a “crime of aggression” in Venezuela at an emergency meeting of the United Nations security council. Brazil, China, Colombia, Cuba, Eritrea, Mexico, Russia, South Africa and Spain were among countries that on Monday denounced Donald Trump’s decision to launch deadly strikes on Venezuela and snatch its leader, Nicolás Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, to stand trial in the US. “The bombings on Venezuelan territory and the capture of its president cross an unacceptable line,” Sérgio França Danese, the Brazilian ambassador to the…
Trump not worried by China’s simulated attack on Taiwan, he says, as live-fire drills enter second day
Donald Trump has said he is not worried by China’s live-fire military drills surrounding Taiwan and that he has a great relationship with the Chinese leader Xi Jinping, who “hasn’t told me anything about it”. The US president made the comments one day into the surprise attack simulation launched by the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) on Monday, and which continued into Tuesday with live missile launches into the Taiwan Strait. The PLA, which is the armed wing of China’s ruling Communist party, said it had deployed destroyers, frigates, fighters, bombers,…
China imposes sanctions on US defence firms over Taiwan arms deal
China’s foreign ministry has hit US defence companies including Boeing with sanctions after Donald Trump approved a large package of arms sales to Taiwan. The ministry said on Friday that the measures – against 10 individuals and 20 US firms including Boeing’s production hub at St Louis in Missouri – would freeze any assets the companies and individuals hold in China and bar domestic organisations and individuals from doing business with them. It comes after the Trump administration last week announced a package of arms sales to Taiwan valued at…
US drops plan to deport Chinese man who helped expose abuse of Uyghurs in Xinjiang, say activists
Decision comes amid growing public support for Guan Heng – who secretly filmed detention facilities in China – after he illegally entered US by boat The Department of Homeland Security has dropped its plan to deport a Chinese national who entered the country illegally, two rights activists have said, after his plight raised public concerns that if deported the man would be punished by Beijing for helping expose human rights abuses in China’s Xinjiang region. Rayhan Asat, a human rights lawyer who assisted in the case, said Guan Heng’s lawyer…
Russia and China pledge support for Venezuela as Trump ratchets up pressure on Maduro
China and Russia have expressed support for Venezuela as it confronts a US blockade of sanctioned oil tankers, while Donald Trump continues to ramp up his pressure campaign on the South American country’s president, Nicolás Maduro. Amid reports of slowing activity at Venezuelan ports, the US president again called for Maduro to leave power, and reiterated that the US would keep or sell the oil it had seized off the coast of Venezuela in recent weeks. Asked if the goal was to force Maduro from power, Trump told reporters: “I…
TikTok signs Trump-backed deal to sell US entity to American investors
TikTok has signed a deal to sell its US business to three American investors – Oracle, Silver Lake and MGX – ensuring the popular social video platform can continue operating in the United States. The deal is expected to close on 22 January, according to an internal memo seen by he Associated Press and Reuters. The TikTok chief executive officer, Shou Zi Chew, said in the memo that ByteDance and TikTok have signed binding agreements with the three investors. The new TikTok US joint venture will be 50% held by…
Trump urges Xi Jinping to free HK pro-democracy media tycoon Jimmy Lai
Donald Trump has said he wants Chinese leader Xi Jinping to release Jimmy Lai as he voiced sadness over the Hong Kong media mogul’s conviction on national security charges. “I feel so badly. I spoke to President Xi about it, and I asked to consider his release,” Trump told reporters on Monday, without specifying when he asked Xi. “He’s an older man, and he’s not well. So I did put that request out. We’ll see what happens.” The US president had said before he returned to the White House that…
Trump clears way for Nvidia to sell powerful AI chips to China
Donald Trump has cleared the way for Nvidia to begin selling its powerful AI computer chips to China, marking a win for the chip maker and its CEO Jensen Huang, who has spent months lobbying the White House to open up sales in the country. Before Monday’s announcement, the US had prohibited sales of Nvidia’s most advanced chips to China over national security concerns. “I have informed President Xi, of China, that the United States will allow NVIDIA to ship its H200 products to approved customers in China, and other…
Trump’s new doctrine confirms it. Ready or not, Europe is on its own | Georg Riekeles and Varg Folkman
Europe is on a trajectory towards nothing less than “civilisational erasure”, the Trump administration claims in its extraordinary new National Security Strategy, a document that blames European integration and “activities of the European Union that undermine political liberty and sovereignty” for some of the continent’s deepest problems. Everybody should have seen it coming after Washington’s humiliating 28-point plan for Ukraine. JD Vance’s shocking Munich speech in February, in which he suggested that Europe’s democracies were not worth defending was an early red flag. But the new words still land as…