Sepia
@Sepia@mander.xyz
- Comment on Canadians say U.S. no longer an ally, is bigger threat than Russia: poll 15 hours ago:
What is the difference between Russia and the US?
Just this week, Kirill Dmitriev, Putin’s “economic envoy” who also serves as CEO of Russia’s Direct Investment Fund, claims that joint US-Russia projects of 14 trillion USD, contingent on a peace agreement in Ukraine and the lifting of Western sanctions.
Also this week we heard that Gentry Beach, a US investor with close ties to the Trump family, signed an agreement with Russia’s energy giant Novatek already last autumn to develop natural gas in Alaska amid Western sanctions against Russia.
Truump’s negotiators for peace in Ukraine are Steven Witkoff and and Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner, two real estate developers and investor. What do they negotiate?
If such polls are useful at all then only to distract from reality. That helps autocratic regimes as they make autocratic regimes like Russia and China look as the lesser evil. It’s not true, though.
- Comment on Chinese warships came within 10km of Australian waters: Defence 3 days ago:
As an addition:
China Achieved Record Military Presence in the Indo-Pacific in 2025, according to the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) China Power Project.
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Taiwan: In 2025, the PLA conducted a record-breaking level of air and maritime activity around Taiwan, sustaining the higher operational tempo of PLA activities that began following William Lai’s inauguration as Taiwan’s president in May 2024. This led to a marked increase in both average monthly PLA activities as well as a higher baseline of PLA activity. However, there was a minor year-over-year decrease in PLA activities in the latter portions of 2025, likely reflecting a temporary, tactical adjustment on China’s end. In 2025, China also conducted two large-scale military exercises around Taiwan, named Strait Thunder-2025A and Justice Mission 2025.
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South China Sea: The PLA conducted a record 163 recorded operations in the South China Sea in 2025, including a record number of live-fire drills. China continued to harass its neighbors, especially the Philippines, but shifted its most aggressive actions away from Second Thomas Shoal toward Scarborough Shoal. The China Coast Guard (CCG) more than doubled its presence around Scarbough Shoal in 2025 compared to 2024.
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Japan and Its Surroundings: China continued to maintain pressure on Japan, and there was a spike of notable PLA escalatory moves in November and December. Throughout the year, there was a slight increase in the number of PLA naval vessels reported operating in the waters around Japan, though the average duration of each PLAN vessel’s trip was shorter than in 2024. Similarly, there was an increase in the number of Chinese official ships within the contiguous zone of the disputed Senkaku/Diaoyu Islands, but a decrease in Chinese activity within the territorial seas there.
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Beyond the First Island Chain: The PLA ramped up its far-seas training and operations in 2025. China’s navy conducted several unprecedented activities beyond the First Island Chain, including extensive voyages and live-fire drills around Australia and New Zealand, and simultaneous aircraft carrier operations in the Pacific for the first time. China’s two operational aircraft carriers, Liaoning and Shandong, engaged in nearly twice as many days of operation beyond the first island chain in 2025 compared to 2024. China’s coast guard also operated far into the Pacific.
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China-Russia Joint Military Exercises: China conducted six joint exercises with Russia in 2025—the lowest count since 2020 and down significantly from the all-time high of 14 in 2024. However, there were novel developments, most notably their first joint submarine patrol.
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- Submitted 4 days ago to australia@aussie.zone | 4 comments
- Russia gave two Nigerian recruits no training, then sent them into a “meat assault” in Ukraineeuromaidanpress.com ↗Submitted 1 week ago to globalnews@lemmy.zip | 10 comments
- Submitted 1 week ago to globalnews@lemmy.zip | 0 comments
- Comment on Russia's war relies on aid from one particular country 1 week ago:
I agree, just didn’t want to edit the original version (and it’s not allowed here anyway if I community rules). But I also find such titles very annoying.
- Comment on China to provide Ukraine with humanitarian energy aid package - Sybiha 1 week ago:
We don’t need another Neville Chamberlain experience. Appeasement does not work with dictators.
- Comment on Russia's war relies on aid from one particular country 1 week ago:
In a letter to the Financial Times entitled “The scenario that economic warfare experts fear the most” was enlightening, Eric Golson, Associate Professor of Economics, University of Surrey int the UK, provides valuable insights about why China support Russia, and possible consequences as well as necessary reactions by the UK and West:
… Despite the public displays of unity between Xi and Putin, China has a vested interest in a prolonged conflict. Like the US, it benefits from a weakened Russia, allowing Beijing to expand its geopolitical influence while Moscow remains distracted and depleted.
The scenario which concerns economic warfare specialists most is a Russian failure in Ukraine followed by internal Russian fragmentation, continuing the imperial disintegration that began in 1991. In that event, China could expand north and east, extending influence into oil and gas-rich regions such as Kamchatka, Sakhalin and parts of the Sakha region. These are territories China once held under the Qing dynasty. Control of this energy would strengthen China’s global position and reduce its vulnerability to pressure over Taiwan and the South China Sea. This is a plausible outcome if the Ukraine war drags on, yet there is little evidence of serious contingency planning in Whitehall or Washington … [Archived]
- Submitted 1 week ago to globalnews@lemmy.zip | 4 comments
- Comment on China to provide Ukraine with humanitarian energy aid package - Sybiha 1 week ago:
China should stop supporting Russia.
- Submitted 1 week ago to science@mander.xyz | 16 comments
- European investments in sovereign cloud infrastructure set to triple amid rising geopolitical tensions, new report sayswww.gartner.com ↗Submitted 1 week ago to technology@lemmy.world | 1 comment
- Submitted 1 week ago to unitedkingdom@feddit.uk | 0 comments
- Comment on South Africa's trade minister heads to China, seeking duty-free export access 2 weeks ago:
That’s a big issue in South Africa at the moment. A letter by a South African reader to one of the media outlets there summaries it quiet good:
TL;DR: Cheap Chinese goods like EVs or consumer products from Temu are floodin South African markets at the cost of domestic manufacturing and the loss of local jobs, but the government says this should be addressed by the industries concerned, not the government.
It is noteworthy that South Africa has been trading with China at a huge deficit. While bilateral trade has increased substantially from 2022 to 2024, Chinese imports into South Africa were around 22b billion US dollars annually while South African exports to China made up just around 12 billion US dollars annually (according to the Comtrade database).
South Africa’s trade deficit with China has also increased in the long term.
- Submitted 2 weeks ago to globalnews@lemmy.zip | 0 comments
- Submitted 2 weeks ago to unitedkingdom@feddit.uk | 2 comments
- Comment on Iran says if attacked militarily, its response will not be “limited” : Peoples Dispatch 2 weeks ago:
The People Dispatch is a radical political media outlet promoting extremist views, and it frequently conveys anti-democratic narratives promoted by China, Russia, and other dictatorships.
It has a close relationship to the Tricontinental Information Center (TIC) founded in 1967 after a worldwide Soviet/Communist conference in Cuba whose executive director is a fellow at Renmin University of China.
- Submitted 2 weeks ago to globalnews@lemmy.zip | 0 comments
- Submitted 2 weeks ago to globalnews@lemmy.zip | 0 comments
- Submitted 2 weeks ago to unitedkingdom@feddit.uk | 0 comments
- Submitted 3 weeks ago to unitedkingdom@feddit.uk | 0 comments
- Submitted 3 weeks ago to unitedkingdom@feddit.uk | 6 comments
- Submitted 3 weeks ago to unitedkingdom@feddit.uk | 18 comments
- Submitted 3 weeks ago to unitedkingdom@feddit.uk | 1 comment
- Russian Africa Corps mercenaries incorporate Madagascar into their expansion across the continentenglish.elpais.com ↗Submitted 3 weeks ago to globalnews@lemmy.zip | 0 comments
- “It’s best to avoid traveling by train”: Women in Russia’s Belgorod Region face violence from soldierstheins.press ↗Submitted 3 weeks ago to globalnews@lemmy.zip | 0 comments
- Africa’s Trade Gap With China Hits Record $102B Even as Beijing Expands Duty-Free Access [stalling Africa’s industrialisation]www.ecofinagency.com ↗Submitted 3 weeks ago to globalnews@lemmy.zip | 0 comments
- Submitted 3 weeks ago to globalnews@lemmy.zip | 0 comments
- Submitted 3 weeks ago to globalnews@lemmy.zip | 0 comments
- Russia is filling its ranks with foreign fighters and treating them as ‘disposable soldiers’meduza.io ↗Submitted 4 weeks ago to globalnews@lemmy.zip | 0 comments