Inför Kinesernas invasion (2022)

[dr Cassandra Nojdh]

All kinesisk rymdfart och rymdteknik står under militär kontroll. Och militären står under kontroll av Kinas kommunistiska partis politbyrås ständiga utskott (ordf. Xi Jinping) och Kinas kommunistiska partis centrala militärkommission (ordf. Xi Jinping)

NASA hasn’t landed on the Moon in decades—China just sent its third in six years

This mission follows the launch and deployment of the Queqiao-2 relay satellite in March, which will serve as a bridge between communications from the far side of the Moon to operators back on Earth. China has also announced two future lunar missions, Chang'e-7 and Chang'e-8, later this decade. These robotic missions will land near the lunar South Pole, test lunar resources, and prepare the way for future crewed missions.

Nominally, China's current plan calls for the first landing of two taikonauts on the surface of the Moon in 2029 or 2030. Eventually it wants to establish a lunar outpost.

[...]

NASA is taking a different approach, working with industry to develop a fleet of commercial cargo landers—such as Intuitive Machines' largely successful Odysseus mission earlier this year—as well as larger human landers built by SpaceX and Blue Origin. This overall "architecture" is far more complex, requiring myriad launches to refuel spacecraft in orbit. It will likely take several years longer to get to the first lunar landing missions, either later this decade or earlier in the 2030s. But should NASA persist and succeed in this approach, it will open up a highway to the Moon the likes of which could only be dreamed of during the Apollo era. Imagine a flotilla of spacecraft going to and from the Moon. That's the vision.

Ja, Kina skiljer sig i detta avseende från USA. Kina har en tydlig plan medan USA präglas av inrikespolitik och rikemäns godtycke. Kan Kina bättre än Sovjet?

"I detta avseende"? "Präglas av inrikespolitik och rikemäns godtycke"? Ja, så kan man beskriva det - om man vill.

En annan beskrivning är att USA är en (numera dessvärre i stora avseenden bristfällig) demokrati. Kina är däremot en benhård kommunistdiktatur.

KInas intresse för Månen är strategiskt - man har för avsikt att hävda äganderätt till delar som man finner värdefullt där. Men det man försöker nu, och som också framhålls i artikeln, är sådant som NASA gjorde för 50 år sedan. Jag är gammal nog att ha upplevd det, se.

[dr Cassandra Nojdh]

Onkel Xi har visst kommit till Europa och börjar i Frankrike. China’s Xi Jinping is visiting Europe for the first time in five years – his goodwill tour will be an uphill struggle (CNN)

Tyskland kan tydligen inte inta en "pragmatisk" hållning, trots Scholz senaste besök.

Problemet är att Tyskland sätter ideologi framför pragmatism.

Men Onkel Xi och kommunistdiktaturen hoppas på Frankrike:
China looks to France to foster ‘positive’ and ‘pragmatic’ EU policy on Beijing (South China Morning Post)
Varför hålla på och tjafsa om Ukraina och Ryssland och sådär?!

Efter Frankrike går färden till putinisterna i Ungern och Serbien. Trevligast så.

[Enceladus]

F.ö. svajar både Tyskland och Frankrike betänkligt när det gäller kommunistdiktaturen:

Macron’s cognac — the only thing that went down smoothly with Xi

On Xi Jinping’s first day in Europe after five years away from the continent, French President Emmanuel Macron presented him with a highly symbolic gift: several bottles of France’s most exquisite cognacs.

It was not the most subtle of hints. China’s anti-dumping investigation into European wine-based liquors, largely targeting France’s cognac producers, is seen as retaliation for the European Union’s decision to open several investigations against Beijing on suspicions of unfair trade practices in sectors such as electric vehicles and medical device manufacturing.

[...]

Xi also may have managed to drive a wedge between Macron, von der Leyen and Olaf Scholz. The German Chancellor’s absence was the elephant in the room, as analysts speculated he may have not attended so as to not to risk feeding Beijing’s wrath on electric vehicles.

Ja, Tyskland vill sälja premiumbilar och Frankrike vill sälja spritdrycker. Kineser uppskattar båda produkterna, men de är inte oersättliga. Gäller det omvända?

The green transition will not be easy. Not only because the continent will need to overhaul its energy system, but also because it will have to live with a troubling reliance on Beijing. Even if this dependence may not be as dangerous as it initially might seem, the EU must pursue a de-risking strategy. Failure to do so would undermine the EU’s goal of becoming the home of industrial innovation and the champion of clean tech.

[...]

Second, prioritise innovation. Pouring funding into established technologies like solar PVs in an already over-supplied market and playing catch-up with China is one way of mitigating this risk, but maybe there is a better way forward. After all, there is the unintended likelihood that taxpayers’ money could end up going to ‘zombie companies’ that could not survive without subsidies and compete on the global market.

An alternative approach would be to invest in emerging technologies that could reduce reliance on imports and Chinese supply chains. Sodium-ion batteries represent a potential example of such technologies. They replace lithium with sodium – salt – and do not require critical materials such as cobalt, graphite and nickel for their anodes and cathodes. While these batteries come with their drawbacks, such as lower performance, they nonetheless could play an important role in the EU’s bid for greater strategic autonomy.

Som bekant har Ryssland - av alla länder - satsat på hemmasnickrade LTO-batterier med en tiondel av konkurrenternas räckvidd. Europa kan väl bättre än så?

[dr Cassandra Nojdh]

F.ö. svajar både Tyskland och Frankrike betänkligt när det gäller kommunistdiktaturen:

Macron’s cognac — the only thing that went down smoothly with Xi

On Xi Jinping’s first day in Europe after five years away from the continent, French President Emmanuel Macron presented him with a highly symbolic gift: several bottles of France’s most exquisite cognacs.

It was not the most subtle of hints. China’s anti-dumping investigation into European wine-based liquors, largely targeting France’s cognac producers, is seen as retaliation for the European Union’s decision to open several investigations against Beijing on suspicions of unfair trade practices in sectors such as electric vehicles and medical device manufacturing.

[...]

Xi also may have managed to drive a wedge between Macron, von der Leyen and Olaf Scholz. The German Chancellor’s absence was the elephant in the room, as analysts speculated he may have not attended so as to not to risk feeding Beijing’s wrath on electric vehicles.

Ja, Tyskland vill sälja premiumbilar och Frankrike vill sälja spritdrycker. Kineser uppskattar båda produkterna, men de är inte oersättliga. Gäller det omvända?

Ja, om kommunistdiktaturen vill sälja spriddrycker är väl ovisst. De har ett eget jox, Baijiu, men det är gjort på spannmål, så det liknar mera whisky, även om lagringen förstås är annorlunda. Konjak/cognac är ju högsta tecken på välstånd bland de nyrika i Kina - de behöver inte dricka baijiu. Men kineserna späder ju ut med vatten och dricker den som grogg.

Men man ska inte -las med franska lantbrukare, det vet nog Macron: French cognac makers surge as Macron hints at cooling of China trade dispute

Och Onkel Xi också. Så den ömma tån trampar han gärna på. Tror Macron verkligen att han på allvar kan komma överens med en person som ägnat sitt liv åt att ta sig framåt och uppåt i irrgångarna i Kinas kommunistiska parti?

PS. I någon mening är konjak oersättlig. Destillerat vin har funnits längre, och många länder tillverkar numera den form som kallas brandy (bl.a. Ryssland, men den ska vi bara inte tala om), men en bra konjak är faktiskt oöverträffad. Även den näst bästa brandyn, Armagnac, är också den en fransk produkt. Numera är Kina ett vinodlande land, och Kina framställer också "riktig" brandy. Den ska vi inte heller tala om.

Långt ifrån all destillerad vinalkohol blir till drycker, en hel del hamnade åtminstone tidigare i bussarnas bränsletankar osv.

[dr Cassandra Nojdh]

Onkel Xi har visst kommit till Europa och börjar i Frankrike. China’s Xi Jinping is visiting Europe for the first time in five years – his goodwill tour will be an uphill struggle (CNN)

Efter Frankrike går färden till putinisterna i Ungern och Serbien. Trevligast så.

Och hos putinisterna i Belgrad var hela staden indränkt i kommunistdiktaturens röda flaggor: China's Xi gets red-carpet welcome in Serbia

The red flags start at Belgrade’s Nikola Tesla Airport and run all the way along the motorway into the centre of Serbia’s capital.

This is Serbia’s way of showing that it is proud of its “ironclad friendship” with China – and welcoming Xi Jinping to Belgrade.

Obegripligt att man ens överväger medlemskap för det landet i EU och/eller Nato. Räcker det inte med Orban?

[Enceladus]

Skribenten behöver inte oroa sig. Huawei skyddar Bundeswehrs integritet, precis som Kina gör i Ungern.

What’s happening in Budapest? Chinese volunteer gendarmes won’t let any flags be displayed except the Chinese – VIDEO

Márton Tompos, the vice-president of opposition party Momentum, wanted to put up an EU flag in Budapest but was prevented by Chinese volunteers in red caps.

[...]

“Budapest is full of Chinese volunteer gendarmes in red caps to protect Xi Jinping, aka Winnie the Pooh, from the “unfriendly” Tibetan and Taiwanese flags”, the politician wrote in a comment to the video. “Of course, when the camera came out, they forgot Hungarian immediately, as they spoke the language perfectly well,” he added.

Som sagt, Kina vet hur ett lands integritet skyddas! Yttrandefriheten då? Inga problem:

Hungary is also hosting several Chinese EV battery plants and hopes to become a global hub of lithium ion battery manufacturing, and has undertaken a railway project — part of Xi’s Belt and Road Initiative — to connect the country with the Chinese-controlled port of Piraeus in Greece as an entry point for Chinese goods to Central and Eastern Europe.

[...]

One activist, Tenzin Yangzom, a campaign coordinator for the International Tibet Network, criticized Hungary’s government for “allowing the Chinese police to be operating on Hungarian streets.”

“This is not China, is it? This is Hungary, it’s a free country, you have freedom of speech,” she said.

Den ovan nämnda järnvägen passerar väl Serbien och Nordmakedonien?

Obegripligt att man ens överväger medlemskap för det landet i EU och/eller Nato. Räcker det inte med Orban?

Serbien har emellertid inte gått lika långt som Ungern: Xi and Chinese Electric Cars Drive Into Hungary

Hungary is important to China. Chinese President Xi Jinping is coming to Budapest this month after visiting France and Serbia. Budapest takes over the rotating presidency of the European Union Council in July.

[...]

Hungary was the first EU leader to sign a contract as part of China’s Belt and Road infrastructure initiative. In 2023, China became the country’s single biggest investor with €10.7 billion. Hungary hosts Huawei’s largest supply center outside China, despite US pressure to ban the tech company.

[...]

Chinese investments don’t come free, either. For the CATL plant, the Hungarian government is spending almost €2 billion on infrastructure. For BYD in Szeged, the government has pledged €122-125 million on infrastructure and millions more in state aid. Although the details remain confidential, Prime Minister Orbán has stated that they would be for “road networks, public utility networks, and community services.”

Men Serbien vill kanske stå näst i tur: China’s BYD will consider second Europe plant in 2025, executive says

Speaking at the FT's Future of the Car conference, Shu said that BYD will bring a low-cost electric vehicle based on its Chinese Seagull model to Europe.

The European version of the Seagull, which retails in China for less than US$10,000, should cost less than 20,000 euros (S$29,160.42) in Europe, Shu said.

[...]

BYD's Shu spoke as Chinese President Xi Jinping visited Hungary on the third and final stop on his first European tour in five years.

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