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2023-07-18 21:10:20

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2023-07-18 23:14:36

Concordance of times: while the pre-trial conference for the trial of Donald Trump for illegal storage of secret documents in his Mar-a-Lago residence began on Tuesday in Florida, the former American president indicated that he had received from the special prosecutor Jack Smith a letter confirming that he is indeed the target of a judicial investigation for his participation in the attack on the Capitol, January 6, 2021.

On his Truth Social network, the Republican complained of having received this letter “on a Sunday evening”, through his lawyers, while saying, in passing, the victim of a new “witch hunt “, piloted by Joe Biden and aimed at harming his political career. The document offers him the opportunity to testify before a grand jury in Washington, which is scheduled to meet later this week. What he should refuse to do.

This type of letter usually precedes an indictment and might indicate that Jack Smith is regarding to sue the ex-president for his contribution to the riot that targeted the dome of American democracy. Harangued by Donald Trump, the crowd then violently stormed the building in the hope of overturning the result of the 2020 presidential election according to which the victory went to Democrat Joe Biden and thus to illegally keep the populist in power.

Last week, a group of American legal experts established that there was enough evidence to prosecute the former American president in court for this failed coup attempt. On Tuesday, on his social network, Donald Trump defended himself by claiming to have done nothing more than to protest once morest elections which, he always repeats without foundation, were fraudulent. What the Constitution of the United States gives him the right to do, he specified. This electoral fraud has never been confirmed by facts.

In the wake of his announcement, Donald Trump sent an email on Tuesday to his followers to be indignant at the letter received and especially to call on them to contribute financially to his electoral campaign. “Nothing like this has ever happened in our country,” he wrote.

On Tuesday, the usual voices came together in defense of the ex-president. “It’s the only way the Democrats can defeat [Donald] Trump: arrest him, smear him and bring ridiculous charges once morest him,” Georgia Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, a conspiratorial Trumpist, tweeted. Kevin McCarthy, Republican Majority Speaker in the House of Representatives, also accused Democrats of “instrumentalizing justice” to “pursue an opponent” as the latter “climbs in the polls” and “surpasses Biden in the campaign at his re-election,” he said.

A recent YouGov poll unveiled last week by The Economist rather gives the two candidates neck and neck, with 42% of the voting intentions each.

Rare discordant statement in the Republican camp, the ex-governor of Arkansas and candidate in the race for the Republican nomination for the presidential election of 2024 Asa Hutchinson called on the ex-president to withdraw from the race, believing that this new prospect of an accusation for insurrection should “disqualify” him in his quest for a new presidential mandate.

“Donald Trump would like the American people to believe they are the victim in this case, but the truth is that the real victim of January 6 was our democracy. [et] our rule of law […], he said in a statement. Anyone who truly loves this country and is willing to put it above their personal interests would immediately suspend their campaign for president. It is disappointing that Donald Trump refuses to do so,” he added.

The governor of Florida, Ron DeSantis, the billionaire’s closest rival for the nomination, for his part was a little more complacent towards the ex-president by admitting that he should have been “heard a bit louder” to prevent the attack on the Capitol. “But trying to criminalize that is a whole different matter,” he said, quoted by the Washington Post.

For several weeks, the judicial noose has tightened around the former American president, arrested and brought to justice twice. In New York, he will have to face charges of falsification of documents in a case of payment of a bribe aimed at silencing a witness in a history of morals. In Florida, he was charged with unlawfully keeping secret documents at his private residence in Mar-a-Lago and refusing to cooperate in their return. Many of these documents have the potential to put the country’s security at risk.

The man is also in the crosshairs of justice in Georgia and Arizona for trying to change the polling results in his favor following his 2020 loss.

So far, Donald Trump has pleaded not guilty to all of the charges once morest him. The Republican seeks for the third time to obtain his entry ticket to the White House for the presidential election of 2024. In the race for the nomination of his party, the many candidates who face him are all behind, and him in front.

To see in video

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2023-07-18 21:31:08
2023-07-19 05:31 United Daily News Editorial Director of the Foreign Affairs Office of the CPC Central Committee Wang Yi (seventh from right) attended the ASEAN Plus Three (10+3) Foreign Ministers’ Meeting in Jakarta, Indonesia on the 13th…

Wang Yi, director of the Foreign Affairs Office of the Communist Party of China, recently expressed his support for Hong Kong’s accession to RCEP (Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement) at the ASEAN Foreign Ministers’ Meeting. After RCEP came into effect for the Philippines in June, all 15 member states have come into effect; Hong Kong, which applied to join last year, is expected to become the first new member. On the other hand, the United Kingdom officially became the twelfth member state of the CPTPP (Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership) yesterday at the New Zealand meeting. The admission of the mainland and Taiwan was also discussed at the meeting, but there was no result. China’s Vice Foreign Minister Li Chun said that Taiwan fully meets the criteria for joining the CPTPP, but there are “political problems”.

Despite the fierce trade confrontation between the United States and China, countries are still active in joining regional trade agreements, eliminating tariff barriers, and promising to open up the service industry. The U.S. withdrew from the CPTPP under former President Trump and replaced it with Japan as the leader. There are also countries such as Uruguay and Ukraine queuing up to apply. For Taiwan, joining the CPTPP is an important goal of the government, but if the mainland factor cannot be overcome, our country will always be excluded from the regional trade organization.

In the era of the Malaysian government, it adopted a roundregarding strategy. After the two sides signed the ECFA, they promoted the “Taiwan-Singapore Economic Partnership Agreement” and the “Taiwan-New Zealand Economic Cooperation Agreement.” This is the only free trade agreement between Taiwan and a country that has no diplomatic relations with it. Although the U.S. emphasizes its support for Taiwan, the two sides have so far only had the “Taiwan-U.S. Trade Initiative,” which does not even cover tariff concessions and commodity access in traditional FTAs. We have high expectations for the FTA, but the United States treats it coldly.

The cross-Strait ECFA is only a structural agreement, which requires further implementation of agreements on trade in services and trade in goods; however, the wave of “anti-service trade” has frustrated the agreement, and other agreements cannot be carried out. Back then, the DPP described ECFA as a sugar-coated poison and declared that it would launch a referendum to abolish ECFA. However, the Tsai administration has been in power for more than seven years and has never put it into action. It continues to enjoy the fruits of ECFA. Now that the general election is approaching, Lai Qingde is eager to wash away his self-proclaimed label of “pragmatic Taiwan independence worker”, but he refuses to lower the banner of anti-service trade, trying to use Sunflower experience to keep the DPP in power.

After Ke Wenzhe raised the topic of “restarting negotiations on trade in services”, trade in services has once once more received heated discussions. The Democratic Progressive Party immediately mobilized non-government groups to oppose it, creating an atmosphere of “representatives from various industries anti-service trade”, and repeated the argument of “bringing Qing soldiers into the customs” in an attempt to rekindle the anti-China atmosphere. In fact, neither the text nor the appendix of the service trade agreement mentions “the establishment of capital”, nor does it involve the issue of immigration or permanent residency; however, the DPP and its wings continue to spread that “mainland laborers coming to Taiwan will take away Taiwanese job opportunities.” ” to mislead the public. In fact, the real problem that the whole people must face is: when regional free trade agreements continue to move toward full tariff-free status, Taiwan cannot enter the door, and our industry will face severe competitive pressure. The current impact may not be obvious, but ten years later, the impact will be considerable; especially RCEP, how will Taiwanese manufacturers compete with South Korea and Japan in ASEAN?

The high-tech electronics industry is not affected by the tariff-free protection of the “Information Technology Agreement” (ITA); but the exports of other more traditional manufacturing industries are bound to be pressured by tariff competition. What is more pressing is the service industry, which cannot go out because of its small scale, or it is difficult to raise wages, or there is insufficient investment, and its competitiveness is weak. In short, the Tsai government has blindly taken a defensive position, leaving many industries trapped on the island, or weakening their competitiveness, or failing to go out at all. Due to the low wages in the service industry, there is a serious shortage of workers. The Tsai government recently wants to open up the service industry to introduce migrant workers. In this way, a vicious circle will inevitably form, more migrant workers will take away the low-level jobs of the labor force, the lower wages in the service industry will become harder to save, and these industries will be more trapped in a crisis of hollowing out.

The rules of the game of free trade are equal and mutual benefits for both parties, and there is no possibility of unilaterally benefiting without paying. In April of this year, when the Ministry of Commerce of the Mainland announced that it would conduct an investigation into “trade barriers” to Taiwan on more than 2,000 products, we were obviously not prepared; once the investigation is completed and action is taken in October, many manufacturers will inevitably get hit. This is actually the fundamental problem of the Tsai administration: it is unable to strive to join the regional free trade organization, but it is contemptuous and rude to the existing cross-strait economic and trade. A government that refuses to face the reality honestly, on the one hand closes itself to the outside world, and on the other hand cuts off its own way of life. How can Taiwan find real opportunities and a way out?

service trade DPP

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#Lianhe #Daily #editorial #Yingjin #CPTPP #Hong #Kong #RCEP #Taiwans #continued #antiservice #trade #Editorial #Comments

2023-07-18 20:51:24

On the front, the Russian army reported on Tuesday a rare advance of 1.5 km near Kupiansk, in northeastern Ukraine, an area where Kiev has seen a concentration of Russian troops and speaks fierce fighting for several days.

The commander of the Ukrainian ground forces, Oleksandre Syrsky, spoke on Tuesday on Telegram of a “difficult” but “under control” situation in the east.

For the American Chief of Staff, General Mark Milley, Ukraine has “significant combat power which has not yet been committed” and which kyiv is currently preserving.

Later in the day on Tuesday, on Telegram, Ukrainian Deputy Defense Minister Hanna Maliar assured that the Russian offensive in the Kupyansk sector was “currently unsuccessful”. “The fighting continues, but the initiative is already on our side,” she added.

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