Life takes us in many strange directions and wonderful discoveries. It never turns out the way we thought it would.
Friday, July 11, 2025
Thursday, July 10, 2025
The Beautiful City Of Kaliningrad, Russia
https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/beautiful-city-kaliningrad-russia-jack-waldbewohner-haprc/
Wednesday, July 9, 2025
Tuesday, July 8, 2025
Monday, July 7, 2025
China Cracks Down On Southeast Asia Scam Industry
Scam, Inc.: China Cracks Down on Booming Industry In Southeast Asia
Cambodia / China / Myanmar / Thailand
Lisa, an 18-year-old from Thailand, was hunting for a job during a school break when she was recruited for an administrative job promising a high salary.
Instead of finding an office job, however, she was smuggled across a river at night into Cambodia, where she spent 11 months held against her will, forced to scam people in other countries and on other continents. When she tried to escape, she was severely beaten.
“There were four men… three of them held me down while the boss hit me on the soles of my feet with a metal pole…,” she recounted in interviews with Amnesty International. “They told me that if I don’t stop screaming, they’re going to keep hitting (me) until I stop.”
Lisa is one of hundreds of thousands of young Asians and Africans trafficked or lured to Cambodia and Myanmar by the promise of high-paying jobs, only to end up working in an online scam industry bilking billions of dollars from Americans, Chinese, and others in schemes run by Chinese criminal gangs that operate throughout Southeast Asia.
A study last year found that these so-called “pig-butchering” schemes stole more than $75 billion from victims around the world between 2020 and 2024.
The industry, which has exploded over the past five years in the region, centers on Cambodia and Myanmar but also includes Laos, Thailand, and the Philippines, and is estimated to have involved as many as 1.5 million workers, the United States Institute of Peace says.
It is “a growing threat to global peace and security,” it wrote.
Often, those who are recruited – from China, Thailand, Malaysia, Bangladesh, Vietnam, Indonesia, as well as India, Kenya, Nepal, the Philippines, and Ethiopia – are held in prison-like compounds surrounded by barbed-wire fences, high walls, and armed guards.
In Cambodia alone, investigators from Amnesty International identified 53 prison-like compounds that house online scamming operations, as well as 45 “suspicious locations,” it wrote in a new report.
There, those recruited contact foreigners and pose as potential romantic partners, offer fake investment opportunities or sell goods on marketplaces such as eBay or Facebook that will never appear.
Nearly all the victims Amnesty International interviewed after they were freed in raids by local police, described conditions it called “slavery,” where poor-performing workers were even sold to other gangs and from which “escape was impossible.”
“Human trafficking, forced labor, child labor, torture and other ill-treatment, deprivation of liberty and slavery are being carried out on a mass scale in scamming compounds located across the country,” it wrote.
It added that the government supports the industry.
“The Cambodian authorities know what is going on inside scamming compounds, yet they allow it to continue…,” it said. “(It) could put a stop to these abuses, but it has chosen not to. The police interventions documented appear to be merely ‘for show.’”
However, that began to change earlier this year after China got involved – again.
A new crackdown by the country – it tried before in 2023 – was sparked by the January abduction of Wang Xing, a Chinese actor, who flew to Bangkok for a supposed casting call and disappeared. He was trafficked to Myawaddy, Myanmar, to work at a scam center. After his girlfriend pleaded for help on social media in a post viewed by hundreds of millions of people and reported by state newspapers, the outrage prompted the Chinese government to act, initiating his rescue, CNN reported.
China began putting pressure on Thailand and Myanmar to shut down the scam centers. As a result, Thai officials have made it more difficult to get to Cambodia via Thailand and cut off electricity, Internet, and gas supplies to several areas in Myanmar near the Thai border that host these scam centers.
In February, more than 1,000 Chinese nationals who had worked at online scam centers in eastern Myanmar were freed and repatriated. It’s estimated that 45,000 Chinese nationals have been rescued over the past two years from the scam centers across the region.
Meanwhile, the plea also set off petitions from more than 1,200 Chinese families with missing loved ones to the government to intervene and return their family members.
In spite of the rescue of thousands, many of whom face large hurdles in trying to return home, thousands more remain enslaved, wrote Radio Free Asia.
“What is extraordinary about Wang’s case is not the fake job ad, the kidnapping or the cross-border smuggling into a compound filled with thousands of victims from around the world,” it said. “Rather, it is his rescue…”
Sunday, July 6, 2025
Saturday, July 5, 2025
Friday, July 4, 2025
Thursday, July 3, 2025
Is China Planning To Invade Siberia?
This morning, I want to discuss a subject I have been researching-China and Siberia. Here is some fascinating history:
Chinese name for Vladivostok and the percentage of Vladivostok population that is Chinese
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The Chinese name for Vladivostok is Hǎishēnwǎi (海參崴), meaning "sea cucumber bay," historically used during the Qing dynasty. It was also called Yongmingcheng (永明城), meaning "City of Eternal Light," in Chinese maps from the Yuan dynasty (1271–1368). Officially, China now uses the transliteration Fúlādíwòsītuōkè (符拉迪沃斯托克), though Hǎishēnwǎi remains common in informal contexts.
Regarding the percentage of Vladivostok's population that is Chinese, recent data is limited and contested. The 2002 Russian census reported 39,483 ethnic Chinese in Russia, with a small fraction in Vladivostok, estimating about 2,000 Chinese residents, or roughly 0.3% of the city's population of approximately 600,000 at the time. However, unofficial estimates suggest higher numbers due to temporary migrants and undocumented workers, potentially ranging from 20,000 to 40,000 in the Russian Far East, though not all reside in Vladivostok. Exact current figures are unavailable due to lack of recent official data and the transient nature of Chinese workers in the region.
Here is another fascinating part of China/Siberia history:
Did Russia take part of Siberia from China?
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Yes, Russia acquired parts of Siberia from China through historical treaties in the 19th century. The Treaty of Aigun (1858) and the Treaty of Peking (1860) ceded territories in the Amur River region and parts of Outer Manchuria, including areas now known as the Russian Far East, to the Russian Empire. These treaties followed conflicts and negotiations between the Qing Dynasty and Russia, with China under pressure from internal instability and foreign powers. The territories involved included regions like Primorsky Krai and parts of modern-day Amur Oblast, significantly expanding Russian control in Siberia and along the Pacific coast. Some in China still view these as "unequal treaties" due to the circumstances under which they were signed.
I discovered a fascinating article about China taking over parts of Siberia again:
China’s threats against Taiwan get a lot of attention. But a far more audacious plan is unfolding in Beijing. Emerging evidence — drawn from internal Chinese deliberations and a leaked Russian intelligence document — suggests that China’s ambitions are pivoting north, to Siberia.
This shift — driven by Chinese resource hunger, geopolitical opportunism, and Russia’s weakening grip — could reshape the global order in ways the West has yet to fully grasp. Moreover, the staggering costs of invading Taiwan and Siberia’s role in fueling China’s economic growth make the northern pivot increasingly likely by 2027.
China’s fixation on Taiwan, fueled by national pride and Xi Jinping’s vision, remains a rhetorical cornerstone. However, a full-scale amphibious invasion would be a logistical and economic nightmare.
Hitler was stopped by the 22-mile gap ocean between France and the U.K. The Taiwan Strait is five-times wider, and the 100-mile-wide chokepoint is heavily defended by Taiwan’s modernized military and backed by explicit and implicit U.S. and allied support.
A comprehensive 2023 war game conducted by the Center for Strategic and International Studies concluded that a Chinese invasion would likely fail and come at a staggering cost to all parties. The study projects that in a three-week conflict, China would suffer devastating losses, including an estimated 10,000 troops killed and the loss of 155 combat aircraft and 138 major ships.
Up Next - The Hill's Headlines | PM- July 2, 2025
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The economic fallout would be catastrophic. A 2024 analysis by Bloomberg Economics estimated that a war over Taiwan would cost the world approximately $10 trillion, equivalent to 10 percent of global GDP. Taiwan’s dominance in semiconductor production means any disruption would cripple global supply chains, including China’s own tech sector. These prohibitive costs, coupled with the high risk of a broader, protracted conflict with America and its allies, make a near-term invasion of Taiwan increasingly improbable.
In contrast, Siberia offers a tantalizing prize with fewer immediate risks. Its vast reserves of oil, gas, gold, diamonds, rare earth minerals, and fresh water are critical to sustaining China’s resource-strapped economy.
China’s arid northern provinces face chronic water scarcity. The North China Plain, an agricultural and industrial heartland, supports 20 percent of China’s population with only 5 percent of its freshwater. Siberia’s Lake Baikal alone holds 20 percent of the world’s unfrozen freshwater, a resource that could be diverted to transform China’s north.
This strategic calculus is underpinned by a growing sentiment within some Chinese circles that Russia is a power in decline, unable to effectively manage or defend its resource wealth. Siberia’s resources could fuel China’s projected GDP growth targets, addressing soaring energy demands — China is the world’s largest crude oil importer — and securing critical rare earths essential for its dominance in green technology and advanced military industries. In 2023, China’s rare earth mining quota surged to 240,000 tons, yet its demand continues to outstrip domestic supply.
Russia’s weakening grip enhances Siberia’s allure. A leaked document, purportedly from Russia’s Federal Security Service, has detailed Moscow’s deep-seated fears of Chinese demographic and economic encroachment in the Far East.
Russia’s military, severely depleted by the protracted war in Ukraine, has reportedly diverted a significant portion of its eastern forces westward. This has left the vast, 6-million-square-mile territory of Siberia — home to 30 million people — dangerously under-defended.
The report, as described by The New York Times, notes an alleged increase in Chinese intelligence activity, including efforts to recruit Russian scientists, target military technology, and subtly assert historical territorial claims, such as the use of the name “Haishenwai” for Vladivostok on official maps. These actions tap into historical grievances over the “Unequal Treaties” of the 19th century, through which Russia annexed vast territory from China during the Qing Dynasty.
Russia’s eastern defenses are in a precarious state. A recent analysis by the Institute for the Study of War underscores the unsustainability of Russia’s equipment and personnel losses. The report explains that the high rate of attrition and the finite nature of Soviet-era stockpiles will likely lead to a point of diminishing availability of crucial military hardware by late 2025 or 2026. This systemic weakness affects the entire Russian military, including forces stationed in Siberia, which have been drawn upon to support operations in Ukraine. Reports from the region describe garrisons stripped of experienced personnel, reliant on outdated equipment, and undertrained conscripts.
In stark contrast, China’s People’s Liberation Army is a modern and technologically advanced force. It boasts hypersonic missiles, fifth-generation fighter jets, and sophisticated cyber warfare capabilities that could quickly overwhelm Russia’s depleted eastern defenses. Furthermore, Russia’s economy, battered by Western sanctions and increasingly dependent on Chinese energy, lacks the capacity to meaningfully reinforce its eastern flank.
With Moscow’s political, military, and economic focus almost entirely consumed by Ukraine, it remains dangerously exposed to the strategic ambitions of its powerful neighbor.
The Chinese Communist Party has invested massively in military modernization with the stated goal of being ready for a major conflict by 2027. If Beijing concludes that a direct assault on Taiwan is too risky, the formidable army it has built will likely not sit idle. It will be a tool available to advance long-term Chinese strategic objectives elsewhere, and Siberia presents the most obvious opportunity.
Taiwan remains a long-term Chinese goal, but its conquest risks global isolation and economic collapse. Siberia, in contrast, is a stealthier, more pragmatic target. The West, distracted by the conflict in Ukraine and the persistent threat to Taiwan, is unlikely to intervene decisively in a region it has long deemed peripheral to its core interests. Russia, economically tethered to Beijing and militarily weakened, might be forced to limit its retaliation to avoid losing its most crucial trade partner.
China could frame an incursion as a “limited special military operation” to secure vital resources and protect its economic interests, ironically mirroring Russia’s own playbook in Ukraine. The dire warnings from within the Russian intelligence, reportedly dismissed by a Kremlin desperate to project an image of strength and unwavering partnership with China, suggest Moscow is dangerously unprepared for Beijing’s audacity.
John Lonergan is a Harvard MBA with substantial international business experience and the author of two books about Russian biowarfare activities, “Containment” and “Outbreak.” The third in the series, “Contagion,” will be released this summer and describes a possible invasion of Siberia by Chinese forces.
Tags China Hitler Russia Siberia Taiwan Xi Jinping
I saw another fascinating study in The Economist Magazine concerning the effects of global warming on the agricultural production of maize (corn), soy beans, wheat, and sorghum from today to 2089. With global warming, Siberia will become a vibrant agricultural area. I'm sure that those in power in China have seen this study.
Wednesday, July 2, 2025
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