Monday, May 20

Communism, Dictatorship

Communist countries control their economies and their people. They employ totalitarian systems that restrict people’s personal decisions, speech and financial freedoms. Today, China, Cuba, Vietnam, Laos and North Korea are communist countries.

COVID-19, From Bats to Humans: Examining the Wuhan Connection
17Apr By Patti MohrNo Comments
Communism, Dictatorship, Globalization, Global Disintegration, Organizations, IMF, WTO, G7, Types of News: Analysis

COVID-19, From Bats to Humans: Examining the Wuhan Connection

April 17, 2020--A great and tragic mystery of 2020 is the origin of the COVID-19 virus that is sweeping the world with sickness and death. Some researchers point to a seafood market in Wuhan. Others say it could have started in a Chinese lab in Wuhan. Most certainly, it came from bats. But how did it jump to humans? From Wuhan to the World To date, the COVID-19 virus that has infected over 2 million people worldwide and killed 149,000 people. Of the first 309 confirmed cases in China, 270 cases were confirmed in Wuhan. Of the first 41 patients hospitalized in Wuhan with the virus, 27 of them, 66 percent, had a connection to a food and wild animal market. Wholesale Food Market As early as December 2019, reports from China pointed to the connection to the Huanan Seafood Whole...
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GUEST POST: Yes, Virginia, China Is Exporting Its Model
23Jan By Guest WriterNo Comments
Communism, Dictatorship, Globalization, Global Disintegration, Type of News: Guest Post

GUEST POST: Yes, Virginia, China Is Exporting Its Model

By Elizabeth C. Economy In December, I took part in a debate at CSIS on the topic of whether China seeks to export its development model.  For me, the answer to this question is self-evident: of course it does. Yet as I prepared for the debate, I quickly realized that many thoughtful colleagues have argued the opposite. So, in the interest of spurring further discussion and debate, I thought I would lay out in written form the why’s and wherefore’s of my case. (There is significant disagreement around what, precisely, constitutes the China model, but in this debate, the China model was broadly understood as a variant of authoritarian capitalism.) To begin with, China seeks to export its development model because Xi Jinping wants to do so. In numerous speeches, beginning at lea...
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Pro-Democracy Movement In The 2019 Hong Kong Elections
29Sep By Patti MohrNo Comments
Communism, Dictatorship, Democracy, Political Systems, Domestic Politics, Types of News: Bit

Pro-Democracy Movement In The 2019 Hong Kong Elections

November 25, 2019—In the first six months of increasingly violent protests in Hong Kong, the pro-democracy candidates made significant gains in the district council elections. They won 347 of the 452 seats -- nearly 77 percent -- of the city's district council. Meanwhile, pro-establishment candidates won 60 seats, leaving 45 seats to independents. (South China Morning Post. , Nov. 25, 2019) The protests started in response to an extradition bill that would have allowed mainland China to capture and try Hong Kong residents. UPDATE: Over time, however, the island nation would succumb to the Chinese Communist Party's rule.
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WTO Deals Blow to U.S. Case Against China’s State-Subsidized Pricing
18Jul By Patti MohrNo Comments
Communism, Dictatorship, Global Trade, Types of News: Brief

WTO Deals Blow to U.S. Case Against China’s State-Subsidized Pricing

July 18, 2019-- The world's litigation body for trade disputes dealt a new blow to a multiyear effort by U.S. representatives to counteract pricing impacted by state-owned enterprises. The decision impacts a wide range of products, including solar panels and aluminum. More striking, it weighs in on the mounting tension in the global economy between competing economic systems. What: This Week's Action Late Tuesday, a World Trade Organization appellate body upheld a decision by a lower panel regarding U.S. tariffs on a series of mostly industrial products imported from China that U.S. officials believe to be subsidized and under priced. Products impacted include solar panels, wind towers, steel cylinders and sinks, kitchen shelving, lawn groomers, aluminum extrusions and a seri...
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U.S. Puts Global Companies Doing Business in Cuba on Notice
4Mar By Patti MohrNo Comments
Communism, Dictatorship, Global Trade, Types of News: Brief

U.S. Puts Global Companies Doing Business in Cuba on Notice

March 4, 2019-In an effort to increase pressure on the Cuban government to stop its support for embattled Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro and end human rights abuses within its own country, the U.S. State Department announced plans to allow U.S. lawsuits against Cuban entities accused of confiscating private property following the 1959 Cuban revolution. "We should remember that after Fidel Castro seized power, he confiscated private property of thousands of private individuals and companies without any compensation," a senior State Department official said. "And to date, there’s really been no justice for this theft." The list of restricted Cuban entities of restricted entities in Cuba at risk of lawsuits includes government ministries, hotels, stores, holding companies, marinas ...
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Reactions from Around the World to the Kim-Trump Meeting
13Jun By Patti MohrNo Comments
Communism, Dictatorship, Diplomacy, Sanctions, Types of News: Analysis

Reactions from Around the World to the Kim-Trump Meeting

NEWS ANALYSIS June 12, 2018--People say the devil is in the details. And with the joint statement signed by U.S. President Donald Trump and North Korean Chairman Kim Jong-Un, the world has very little details with which to judge the outcome. In essence, the statement speaks to the leaders' intentions to establish relations between the two countries and to denuclearize the Korean Peninsula. It is non-binding, and it probably carries less wait in the world of global politics than any one of Trump's tweets. Still, it made for a good photo opportunity for both leaders. Promises Pledged Trump said he would guarantee security to the North Korean (DPRK) government regime and end joint U.S.-South Korean military exercises. Kim said he would work toward denuclearization of the Korean Pen...
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A Tale of Two Koreas: Part I
6Feb By Patti MohrNo Comments
Communism, Dictatorship, Diplomacy, Global Economics, Global Trade, Types of News: Infographic

A Tale of Two Koreas: Part I

February 18, 2018--In a symbol of historic and familial ties, athletes from both North Korea and South Korea will march together in the Winter Olympics Opening Ceremonies in Pyeongchang, South Korea. The show of unity masks the extreme differences between the two countries. The two Koreas could not be more different in their national priorities, economies and quality of life. On the one side of the border, in South Korea, the quality of life is quite strong. The vast majority of the population has access to the best technologies and mobile communications. The economy is the 11th largest in the world, and trade with the rest of the world approaches $1 trillion. In contrast, in North Korea, the economy is one of the weakest and most isolated in the world. Trade in goods with the rest of ...
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Xi Asserts China’s Authority to Lead
18Oct By Patti MohrNo Comments
Communism, Dictatorship, Diplomacy, Globalization, Global Disintegration

Xi Asserts China’s Authority to Lead

China is set to be “a global leader in terms of comprehensive national strength and international influence” by 2050, Chinese President Xi Jinping announced on Oct. 17 as he addressed the country's Communist Party congress in Beijing. Mr. Xi outlined his vision for providing global leadership using the Chinese Socialist Democracy model of growth. International observers are calling the marathon three-and-a-half-hour speech to the party's 2,300 delegates and the world at large a "sweeping," "ambitious" and "epic" agenda. President Xi's address is significant not only for its embrace of global economic integration at a time when many in the West are turning inward, but also because China is seen as adopting an increasingly more authoritarian approach to governing. Since taking of...
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An American in Cuba: History & People
4Nov By Patti MohrNo Comments
Communism, Dictatorship, Type of Post: Essays & Travel Writing

An American in Cuba: History & People

It was the first full day of the trip. I awoke early, ate breakfast and met my tour guide Rose and travel companions in the hotel lobby. It would be a full day touring by foot and bus. We were eight adventurers--George and Barbara, a couple who ran a family furniture business in Florida, Mike and Ana, a couple living in the Pacific Northwest who were just months away from expecting their first baby, Joel, a man in his 30s or 40s from California, two women from Alaska, and me. Clouds over head kept the air cool as we walked around Havana. Back at the Plaza de Armas, the story of Cuba unfolded. Christopher Columbus had landed there in 1492, declaring the island to be "the most beautiful land human have ever seen." Twenty years later, the Spanish took it as their own, using mostly un...
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Cuba: Hello Havana
22Oct By Patti Mohr1 Comment
Communism, Dictatorship, Type of Post: Essays & Travel Writing

Cuba: Hello Havana

It takes less than an hour to reach Cuba from Tampa, Florida by airplane. Simple, really. And yet it is still hard to see that Cuba is just 90 miles from the United States. The island has been forbidden land for most law-abiding Americans for so long. For the most part, it is still not legal to travel there unless you book, like I did, an educational tour through one of the roughly 100 organizations certified by the State Department to run people-to-people cultural tours. The U.S. government allows travel to Cuba for up to 12 different reasons. Tourism isn't one of them. So while the Canadians head straight for the beaches and stay there, Americans visit senior-center projects, organic farms, child care centers, artistic sites and museums. For most, it's a pretty packed schedule. Get...
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