Schedium

In an interview with the Lincoln Project published on January 13, political commentator David Rothkopf said: "I think, at some point, Taiwan will become part of China again" (see video clip below). Rothkopf endorsed the policy of territorial expansionism of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and misled the public by repeating some of its talking points.  For example, Rothkopf falsely stated that Taiwan has been part of China for a long time.  In fact, the People's Republic of China (PRC), which was founded in 1949, never ruled Taiwan . Claiming that Taiwan was part of the PRC is as absurd as claiming that Ukraine was part of the Russian Federation, or that South Korea was part of North Korea.  David Rothkopf echoed the CCP's ethnonationalist agenda , which denies Taiwan's statehood on the basis of the arbitrary dogma of national identity and territorial irredentism defined by the Politburo and radical nationalists. Again, it's reminiscent of Putin's denial ...

Miles Guo, a Chinese businessman and internet media personality with close ties to former Trump White House chief strategist Steve Bannon, has been arrested on various charges of wire fraud, securities fraud, bank fraud, and money laundering.  According to a statement released by the U.S. Attorney’s Office of the Southern District of New York, Miles Guo was arrested in the morning of March 15 for allegedly orchestrating an over US$1 billion fraud conspiracy. Over US$630 million of alleged fraud proceeds were seized by the U.S. Government.  Damian Williams, the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, and Michael J. Driscoll, Assistant Director in Charge of the New York Field Office of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (“FBI”), announced the unsealing of a twelve-count Indictment charging Guo as well as his financier Kin Ming Je with various wire fraud, securities fraud, bank fraud, and money laundering charges.   The defendants allegedly solic...

Jamie Dimon, the chairman and chief executive officer of JPMorgan Chase, loves Florida.  In a recent interview with Bloomberg, Dimon was asked about the political situation in Florida and its impact on business. The billionaire businessman brushed all concerns aside.  "We love Florida, we’re growing in Florida left and right," he said.  Under its far right Republican leadership, Florida's government has launched an assault on "leftist ideology" . It has stripped Disney of its self-governing district in retaliation for the company's criticism of the "Don't say gay" bill. Instead of fighting back, the mighty corporation has surrendered to the state authorities' bullying tactics.  Recently, Florida's Republican Senator Jason Brodeur introduced a bill that would require bloggers to register with the state government and file periodic reports with the state if they are paid to write posts about the state’s governor, lieutenant governor, cab...

In my previous post I wrote about far right activist Xi Van Fleet (弗里特), whose crusade against critical race theory has been covered by media outlets such as the Washington Examiner and "Fox News". Born in the People's Republic of China (PRC), she experienced Mao Zedong's Cultural Revolution and fled to the United States at the age of 26. In the summer of 2021, Fox reported on Xi Van Fleet's tirade against critical race theory at a Loudoun County School Board meeting.  "I’ve been very alarmed by what’s going on in our schools," she said.  "You are now teaching, training our children to be social justice warriors and to loathe our country and our history ... The Communist regime used the same critical theory to divide people ... The only difference is they used class instead of race ... This is indeed the American version of the Chinese Cultural Revolution ... The critical race theory has its roots in cultural Marxism. It should have no place in our...

Disclaimer: this article contains links to right-wing websites used as sources _____ A victim of Mao Zedong's Cultural Revolution has sided with the American far right in its crusade against critical race theory and attempts to "rewrite" US history.  Xi Van Fleet ( Chinese name : 弗里特, pinyin: Fú Lǐtè) is a Chinese-American who grew up in the People's Republic of China (PRC) and experienced the turbulent years of Communist dictator Mao Zedong's Cultural Revolution (1966 – 1976). At the age of 26 she moved to the United States.  "I know very, very well what happened during the Cultural Revolution," Xi Van Fleet told the Washington Examiner. "They rewrote history, and then they fed us, the young people, the fictional history, for the indoctrination for control [of] mind." On February 26, Xi Van Fleet draw renewed attention from far right circles when she sparred with 1619 Project [¹] creator Nikole Hannah-Jones on Twitter.  "In Mao's C...

During an interview at this year's Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) , far right Congressman Scott Perry spread conspiracy theories about a "Marxist" takeover of the United States, denounced "globalization", and issued threats to the left.  A retired Pennsylvania Army National Guard Brigadier General, Perry was elected in November 2021 as chairman of the far right House Freedom Caucus. He is also a member of the Congressional Veterans Caucus and the Second Amendment Caucus.  "Their [the Democrats'] goal is actually the globalization of the United States of America, destruction of our sovereignty and so this is all intentional ... This is all by design ... We're not only in a philosophical battle, but we're also in a spiritual battle for the soul of our country, and to save this Republic," Perry said.  Scott Perry at CPAC, via NowThis News YouTube channel  _____ He then ranted about a supposed takeover of the US by "Marxis...

Hong Kong's Sports Federation has urged the Hong Kong government to pressure Google to stop showing the pro-democracy song "Glory to Hong Kong" high up in search results.  The Federation's statement comes after the song was played by mistake at a sporting event in Bosnia and Herzegovina on February 28 instead of the "March of the Volunteers", the official anthem of the People's Republic of China (PRC), which also serves as Hong Kong's anthem.  " Crowd singing Glory to Hong Kong at New Town Plaza shopping mall in September 2019 " by Studio Incendo is licensed under  CC BY 2.0 . _____ Pui Kwan-kay, honorary vice-president of the Sports Federation and Olympic Committee of Hong Kong, China, said on Thursday (March 2) that the solution to the problem is to ensure that the wrong song is no longer placed high up in search engine results.  " Glory to Hong Kong " (願榮光歸香港) was written by a local musician in his mid-20s who identified hims...

A Taiwanese association has asked the administration of President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) to change street names honouring former dictator Chiang Kai-shek in the southern Taiwanese city of Tainan .  " Zhongzheng Road, Tainan City 20070408 " by  Ikaridon ,  licensed under  CC BY-SA 2.5 .

On February 11, I read an interview by Financial Times' Europe-China correspondent Yuan Yang with Yale University Professor Jing Tsu on the role of cultural understanding in the midst of the power conflict between the United States and the People's Republic of China (PRC).  "I think it’s very important to understand China from the inside," professor Tsu said. Recalling her reporting from the Beijing winter Olympics in February 2022 as NBC's cultural commentator, she remarked:  "Everyone wants to see China as totalitarian. I saw Chinese people: girls in hazmat suits posing for selfies. They see the machine; I see the cogs in the machine." I find these comments quite interesting, because they highlight a fundamental issue: how to talk about present-day China? From what perspective can we study and understand it? ___ " Old vs new, Shanghai Pudong " by  Lawrence Wang 王治钧  is licensed under  CC BY-NC-ND 2.0 . _____ First of all, let me point out th...

" Apple Store@IFC Mall " by  SoQ錫濛譙  is licensed under  CC BY-NC-ND 2.0 . _____ In 1983, Apple launched the now iconic "1984" TV commercial for the Apple Macintosh personal computer. The ad shows two lines of people marching through a grey underground corridor. They are wearing uniforms and act like automata, as if they had no will of their own. They enter a large hall, at the end of which is a giant screen. A speech by a dictator-like figure is being broadcast. "Today, we celebrate the first glorious anniversary of the Information Purification Directives," the man says. "We have created, for the first time in all history, a garden of pure ideology - where each worker may bloom, secure from the pests purveying contradictory thoughts. Our Unification of Thoughts is more powerful a weapon than any fleet or army on earth. We are one people, with one will, one resolve, one cause ... We shall prevail!" A lone female runner disrupts the scene of op...

One of the biggest issues with social media today is the ease with which disinformation and propaganda can be disseminated effectively. It is also a very secretive way, because it can be difficult to find out the extent to which accounts spread their message organically or through advertising. 

Taiwan 's national security authorities have recently uncovered a cognitive cyberwarfare campaign conducted by the People's Republic of China (PRC) to flood the Facebook accounts of President Tsai Ing-wen and former premier Su Tseng-chang with derogatory comments. "The government found 825 Facebook accounts run by China’s cyberarmy that posted large numbers of anti-government comments on Tsai’s and Su’s Facebook pages," the Taipei Times reported on February 6.  The PRC claims Taiwan as part of its territory and has vowed to use force to achieve its goal . Disinformation, cognitive warfare and propaganda are part of Beijing's strategy to undermine Taiwan from within by manipulating public opinion and deriding Taiwan's close ties with the United States.   Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen visiting troops, via official Facebook profile   _____ According to the report, Beijing's cyberarmy follows several steps:  - creating fake accounts to post disinformation; ...