[Qin Peng Live]The United States bans energy imports from Russia and intends to sanction the CCP | Russia | Rosneft | Xi Jinping

[Epoch Times March 09, 2022]Hello everyone, everyone, today is March 7th Eastern Time, March 8th Beijing Hong Kong and Taiwan Time, I am Qin Peng, welcome to watch “Qin Peng Political and Economic Observation” current affairs Chat every day.

Today’s focus: Biden ordered a ban on the import of oil and natural gas from Russia; a heavy weapon that the United States has not used; Xi Jinping spoke with French and German leaders, saying that “sanctions are not good for all parties”; the White House and Congress plan to sanction the CCP.

U.S. President Joe Biden on Tuesday finally ordered a ban on imports of crude oil, natural gas and coal from Russia. The United States has a super weapon that can quickly defeat Russia, killing 1,000 enemies and profiting 800 by itself, but why hasn’t it been put into use?

In his first phone call with international leaders since Russia invaded Ukraine on Tuesday (March 8), Xi called for peace and said “sanctions are not good for all parties.” At the same time, the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs and party media continue to do the exact opposite of peace. At present, both the White House and Congress of the United States have proposed to sanction the CCP.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oxBlBwl8LPE

The Ukraine war stalemate Biden made the most powerful move?

The Ukrainian war has been going on for nearly two weeks, not only causing serious casualties and property damage, but also bringing about the worst refugee crisis in Europe since World War II. According to the United Nations, more than 2 million refugees have fled Ukraine. There are more than 6,000 Chinese in Ukrainian, and many people are still trapped in the warring area.

But at the same time, the progress of the war has greatly exceeded almost everyone’s expectations, and the Russian army suffered huge losses. Yesterday, British media even obtained an internal report purportedly by analysts of Russia’s intelligence service, the Federal Security Service (FSB), saying that Putin’s war against Ukraine would be a “complete failure”.

The report said Ukraine’s stubborn resistance had alarmed Russian officials, including President Vladimir Putin. The death toll of the Russian army may have exceeded 10,000, which is close to the official Ukrainian report and far exceeds the 498 officially recognized by Russia. Although Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky is Putin’s number one target, he believes that even if Russia succeeds in assassinating the Ukrainian president, Moscow will still be unable to occupy Ukraine.

The report also stated that “even if the Ukrainians maintain minimal resistance, we[the Russian side]need more than 500,000 soldiers, and this does not include supply and logistics personnel.” To “dig up stains” on Ukraine, use the claim that Ukraine has produced nuclear weapons as an excuse to strike.

These news seem optimistic, but we must be clear that Russia’s military strength is still far greater than Ukraine’s. Although it has not obtained absolute air supremacy, Ukraine also does not have decent aircraft. The United States has coordinated plans to replace Eastern European fighter jets for Ukraine. No news. While nearly 200,000 organized Russian troops entered Ukrainian territory, they were comparable to hundreds of thousands of volunteers and international volunteers who did not have enough training.

At present, the Russian army has surrounded the capital Kyiv on three sides, which will make it more and more difficult for Ukraine to obtain aid. The Ukrainian side can currently defend, but it does not have the strength to launch a large-scale counterattack. Therefore, at present, we see that near Kyiv, Ukraine is mainly focusing on attacking Russia’s logistical supply lines, so that the Russian army loses fuel, supplies, and ammunition, shakes its military heart, collapses without a fight, and at the same time conducts small-scale attacks.

Will this strategy continue to work? Will the Russian army finally take Kyiv or part of it? We need to continue to observe.

We can see that the Ukrainian government is not blindly optimistic. While negotiating with Russia, it is actively seeking international assistance. Today, Zelensky delivered a video speech to the British House of Commons and received a standing ovation from MPs. Let’s take a look.

In his speech, Zelensky said: “The question we face, is it to live or to die? The Shakespearean question. This question has been asked for the past 15 days. I can give you a clear answer, and that is to survive.”

It can be seen that the will of the Ukrainians is still quite strong. But at the same time, people from all walks of life hope that Europe and the United States can impose more severe economic sanctions on Russia. The key is to crack down on Russia’s economic lifeline – the energy industry, so as to cut off the operation of the Russian military machine.

U.S. bans imports of Russian crude oil

Today, the scene finally opened. On the morning of March 8, U.S. President Biden announced at the White House that he would ban the import of Russian crude oil and natural gas in order to strengthen the lethality to the Russian economy.

“This means that American ports will no longer accept Russian oil, and the American people will deliver another powerful blow to Putin’s war machine,” Biden said.

Shortly before Biden’s speech, Britain announced it would phase out imports of Russian oil and petroleum products by the end of 2022.

I saw that when the Voice of America reported this news, the title used such a word, saying that “the most powerful blow has finally come out”, isn’t that so? My answer: no. But the U.S. actually has a more powerful weapon that has yet to be shot.

Why is it not the most powerful trick for the United States and Britain to stop importing Russian oil?

The first reason is that U.S. imports are limited and will not deal a heavy blow to Russia. How much Russian oil does the U.S. import each year? About 600,000 barrels. Russia is one of the world‘s largest oil producers, exporting about 7.5 million barrels of crude oil per day. Of these, most were sold to Europe.

Clearly, U.S. restrictions on imports alone are not enough. Europe relies heavily on energy imported from Russia, and about 40% needs to be imported from Russia. Therefore, it is unrealistic for Europe to cancel all at once.

The second reason is to restrict imports, which will result in the United States having to import from Iran and Venezuela. In this way, it is equivalent to supporting the two regimes again.

White House press secretary Jen Psaki said a group of Biden administration officials were in Venezuela over the weekend to discuss energy and other issues.

The third reason is that the sanctions on oil imports will also lead to higher oil prices. For the United States, it means that oil prices will continue to rise sharply, as well as continued high inflation. This will further squeeze consumers, businesses, financial markets and the global economy.

The fourth reason is that Russia will also take countermeasures.

Today, the consequences of the latter two aspects are already apparent: Putin signed a decree restricting the entry and exit of products and raw materials into and out of Russia, banning the export of products and raw materials to areas outside the Russian Federation until December 31. Although we still see a specific list, it is estimated that Russia will not completely stop exporting oil, which is now almost its only source of foreign exchange.

Oil prices rose sharply today. Among them, Brent crude futures rose 3.9% to settle at $127.98 a barrel, while U.S. crude futures rose 3.60% to settle at $123.70 a barrel.

Global energy prices continue to climb, making Russian exports more profitable. The inflation rate in the United States reached 7.5% in January this year, the highest in 40 years.

Therefore, the U.S. and the U.K. simply stop importing Russian oil, which is a typical plan to kill one thousand enemies and self-destruct eight hundred. Although this is a price that has to be paid in order to stop the war. Judging from the current polls, the vast majority of people in Europe and the United States are also willing to bear this price, but it is a considerable self-inflicted injury after all. High inflation will also be politically lethal to a Biden administration ahead of this year’s U.S. midterm elections.

A better strategy for U.S. liberalization on shale oil production

So, does the United States have a better strategy? The answer is: yes. That is, the United States will open up the production of shale oil and shale gas and export it to Europe at the same time, so that it can kill three birds with one stone: first, while vigorously developing the American economy, and second, helping Europe to greatly reduce its dependence on Russian energy , while strengthening relations with allies such as the European Union, the United Kingdom, and Japan; third, sharply reducing oil prices, reducing inflation in the United States, and greatly reducing Russia’s profit margins internationally, it will hit the Russian economy heavily and cancel its war machine. power.

Why didn’t Biden use such a heavy-handed weapon with great benefits and no harm? This has something to do with the extreme environmentalism of the extreme left. As we mentioned before, the U.S. Rep. AOC and others advocated the “Green New Deal” that could cost as much as $40 trillion. In order to cater to this group, the Biden administration quickly canceled it after taking office. Canadian oil pipeline KeyStone, and limited access to federal lands.

But at the same time, it imports oil from countries such as Russia. This has led to a gradual rise in oil prices, which have now reached an average national gasoline price of more than $4.

The United States has the best shale oil and shale gas resources in the world, as well as the best shale oil production technology. Since 2014, when I arrived in the United States, the price of gasoline in the United States has gradually dropped from $4 per gallon to Trump (special Trump), this is the benefit of relying on shale oil production. By early 2020, under Trump, the United States had become a net exporter of oil. At the time, it was a huge victory.

But now that has changed. The United States became a net oil importer.

Therefore, for the United States to take out this super weapon, it needs to change the status quo energy policy, and this requires political games within the United States.

Today, I saw Senator Rubio in his speech also talk about encouraging the United States to produce its own oil instead of importing it from dictatorial countries like Venezuela.

Whether it can be done or not, we will continue to observe.

Xi’s phone call with Germany and France wants to be “peaceful”?White House and Congress to sanction China

After the war in Ukraine, we saw Xi Jinping finally show up today.

On the afternoon of March 8, local time in Beijing, Xi Jinping held a video summit with French President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Schultz in Beijing to exchange views on the current situation in Ukraine.

Xi Jinping said that the situation in Ukraine is worrying, and “China deeply deplores the rekindling of war in the European continent.”

Like the previous attitude of the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Xi Jinping did not condemn Putin this time, nor did he accuse Russia of “aggression”. But at the same time, there have been changes, as he blamed the U.S. and NATO for less rhetoric.

“The sovereignty and territorial integrity of all countries should be respected, the purposes and principles of the UN Charter should be abided by, the legitimate security concerns of all countries should be taken seriously, and all efforts conducive to the peaceful resolution of crises should be supported,” Xi said.

Xi also reiterated his opposition to the economic sanctions imposed on Russia by the United States and Western countries. “Relevant sanctions will have an impact on the stability of global finance, energy, transportation, and supply chains, and will drag down the world economy, which is under the heavy burden of the epidemic, and will be detrimental to all parties.”

Xi Jinping also told the leaders of Germany and France that China supports France and Germany to “adhere to strategic independence” from Europe’s own interests. This seems to be interpreted as the CCP is continuing to divide the relationship between the United States and Europe, and I hope France and Germany will not follow the baton of the United States. At present, Germany and France are insisting on importing Russian energy, and they have not actually done their best to stop the war between the two sides.

We all know that in this Ukraine war, the position of the CCP has attracted worldwide attention. Ukraine is the only country that the CCP has promised to provide a nuclear umbrella to the outside world. It has helped the CCP to significantly increase its military power, and some experts even claim that it has been increased for at least 20 years. But it is clear that the CCP betrayed Ukraine this time.

Just one day before Xi Jinping launched a video chat with Germany and France (March 7), Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi said that China is willing to carry out “necessary” mediation on the Ukraine war and will provide Ukraine with a batch of emergency humanitarian supplies as soon as possible. assistance. Has the attitude of the CCP changed now?

CCP chooses side to support Russian aggression in Ukraine-Russia war

of course not. Today, the CCP has two major moves that have attracted attention from the outside world. The first is that the CCP-controlled Phoenix Satellite TV communicated with the Russian army when reporting the war in Ukraine, and specifically interviewed separatist militants in eastern Ukraine. Let’s take a look at this interview clip.

Undoubtedly, this is one of the latest evidences that the CCP chose a side in the Ukrainian-Russian war and supported Russian aggression.

Another piece of evidence is that Zhao Lijian, a spokesman for the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs, said today that 26 of the 360 ​​bioweapon laboratories in the world controlled by the United States are located in Ukraine. Let’s take a look too.

In yesterday’s episode, we have already said that such rumors are a public opinion war in which Russia smeared the United States and others before 2018. Similarly, during the pandemic from 2020 to the present, the CCP has been spreading rumors that the virus came from other countries, and the tricks and inconsistencies of the blame are so varied that even Little Pink can’t bear to look directly at it. One moment from pangolins, one moment from Norway, another moment from outer space meteorites…

So, today, many netizens are asking, Zhao Lijian, do you need to explain where the virus from the Wuhan Institute of Virology came from, is that place also a biochemical weapons laboratory controlled by the United States?

Netizen @LT Vision also said: “This is part of the CCP’s public opinion war in cooperation with Russia to spread rumors that Ukraine may release the virus, and it also lays the groundwork for the possible use of biological and chemical weapons by the Russian army. When investigating Russia’s war crimes, we must not forget the CCP.”

Of course, the world will not forget the CCP’s performance after the war. For example, when the war just started, anti-war remarks were deleted and attacked, while remarks insulting Ukrainian women could prevail, but such remarks were later translated into The world caused a public outcry, and the CCP deleted the post only a few days after the war started after the Ukrainian people protested endangering the lives of some Chinese in Ukraine.

Chinese police harass Ukrainian diaspora

In addition, the world will not forget that the CCP police actually interviewed a large number of Ukrainian diaspora in mainland China, forcing them to express their attitude towards the war and harassing those who opposed the war.

However, after the Canadian Embassy in China supported Ukraine, after the “We Support Ukraine” sign was hung on the wall of the embassy, ​​such a place where the Chinese Communist Party was densely guarded by 360-degree cameras, was actually graffitied and wrote Fxxk NATO’s curse words.

Of course, what is more serious is that the CCP knew about the Russian invasion before, but not only failed to persuade and stop it, but also provided Russia with a large order of up to 15 major agreements of up to 1,400-2,000 US dollars to finance the Russian invasion. support and political support.

However, the CCP requested Putin to postpone the war until after the Beijing Winter Olympics in order to save the face of all countries in the Winter Olympics. Putin agreed. We saw that after the news was published by the New York Times and the Hong Kong-based English-language South China Morning Post on March 2, the Chinese Foreign Ministry denied it. The media “Global Times” also revealed that after they identified, the person who leaked to the “New York Times” that the United States had discussed Russia’s plan to invade Ukraine six times with the CCP was from the National Security Council. This actually proves once again in disguise that the CCP has indeed discussed with Russia the issue of supporting Putin’s invasion.

Of course, the CCP thinks it’s smart, and secretly brought the heat to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, which has diverted the attention from China’s domestic attention to the Chained Women and Iron Cage events, as well as international attention to the CCP’s containment. However, we note that the world actually sees it all.

White House hints at US sanctions against China

Yesterday, when White House spokeswoman Jen Psaki was asked at a press conference if she was worried that sanctions would deepen the Sino-Russian alliance, she suggested that the United States would impose sanctions on the CCP.

If they don’t comply with sanctions, Psaki said, we always have — you know, we obviously have the means to do something about it.

Also, a reporter asked: So, it doesn’t sound like the White House is concerned that some of these withdrawals will backfire and create a permanent link between Russia and China.

Psaki replied that China and Russia were “closer long before the invasion,” but that “in terms of economic ties, based solely on their position in the economic market, China has no way of fully compensating the G7 and others — and the impact of the rest of the world and financial sanctions (on Russia).”

Coincidentally, U.S. heavyweight Senator Rubio also proposed similar sanctions against the CCP yesterday and turned it into a U.S. bill.

“I’m working on legislation that could impose sanctions on China if we find out they are trying to use their Cross Border International Payments System (CIPS) to help Russia bypass SWIFT sanctions,” Rubio tweeted.

That is to say, although the CCP has now lowered its tone after Russia’s aggression against Ukraine and the world‘s most severe sanctions, it does not dare to speak harshly, including the Taiwan issue during the two sessions this year. However, The CCP’s practice of betraying Ukraine and supporting Russia’s invasion will not change. It will certainly continue to spread all kinds of disinformation that hates the United States and the West, and at the same time strengthens the suppression of the anti-war and peaceful people’s speech in China.

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Responsible editor: Li Hao#