News of the World

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German Chancellor Visits Beijing Amid Lingering Questions of Rivalry

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz met with the head of the Chinese communist regime in Beijing during his Nov. 4 visit that focused on business ties, drawing criticism at home and also from the international community.

Scholtz, who was leading a group of CEOs from German companies on the trip, was the first foreign leader to meet with Xi Jinping since he secured a third term as head of the ruling Chinese Communist Party (CCP) last month.

While other Western government leaders have pledged to take a tougher stance against the regime in China, a delegation of 12 German-based business executives accompanied Scholz. Most of these companies, such as Volkswagen, BMW, and Siemens, have been in the Chinese market for a long time.

Scholz told Xi during their meeting that China is an important trading partner for Germany and for Europe as a whole, according to the CCP’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

The UK’s Financial Times reported on Oct. 30 that critics believe that “instead of deepening economic ties with authoritarian regimes, Germany and the [European Union] should decouple from them.”

Germany firmly opposes decoupling, the ministry said, showing how the CCP interpreted the visit. Germany stands ready for closer trade and economic cooperation with China and supports more mutual investment between Chinese and German businesses.

In return, Xi specifically approved the vaccines produced by Germany’s BioNTech and Pfizer to be used in China. On the same day, China Aviation Supplies Corp. announced that it has signed a bulk purchase agreement with Airbus for 140 aircraft, with a total value of about $17 billion.

Soros Tops List of Biggest Donors This Midterm Season, Gave $128 Million to Help Elect Democrats

Wealthy citizens who have donated heavily to political campaigns in the current year include supporters of both the major U.S. political parties, though none of the others comes close to billionaire philanthropist George Soros, who has given more than $128 million to help elect Democrats, according to a new tally released by OpenSecrets, a Washington-based research organization.

The recipients of donations are not limited solely to individual candidates but also include parties, political action committees (PACs), the hybrid PACs known as Carey committees, and tax-exempt 527 organizations.
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The next three slots on OpenSecrets’s list are occupied by individuals who have spent lavishly to support Republicans. They are Richard Uihlein, chief executive officer of shipping firm Uline, who donated $80.7 million; Kenneth C. Griffin, chief executive officer of the Citadel hedge fund, who gave $68.6 million; and Jeffrey S. and Janine Yass, the co-founder of technology firm Susquehanna International Group and his spouse, who gave almost $47.3 million.

Some of the names on the list, such as entrepreneur Timothy Mellon, who occupies the fifth slot, donated to both Democrat and Republican candidates and causes. Of Mellon’s total of about $40 million, the vast majority went to Republicans, with $10,700 going to Democrats.

‘My Son Will Not Live in a Communist Country’—Inside the Brazil Election Protests

Henrique’s family is not an isolated case. Hundreds of families have set up tents around the Pinheirinho fortress, in the city of Curitiba. More are protesting around army headquarters throughout the country. Most there call for aid, or intervention, from the military, many cast doubt on whether the elections were free and fair, and some just say they’re hoping for a last chance not to have Brazil go the way of neighboring socialist governments in Venezuela, Argentina, and beyond.
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He explained: “We’re here 24 hours, every day, since this movement started on Monday. We have been taking turns, me and my relatives. Some of us have businesses to run, some have day jobs. Some stay in the morning, some in the afternoon. We [right now] are on the night shift. We coordinate among our family. … At least our family… we’re playing our part, like most Brazilians are.”
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Da Silva has befriended, and eventually supported, a number of Latin American socialist dictators. Among them are Venezuela’s Nicolás Maduro, and Nicaragua’s Daniel Ortega, whose persecution of Christianity and the press was a talking point of the presidential debates in the run-up to the October elections. Da Silva was elected in an alliance with the Communist Party of Brazil, and the possibility of him leaning into authoritarianism or stifling free enterprise has been a cause for concern.

Kremlin, White House Tight-Lipped Following Report of ‘Secret Talks’

The Kremlin declined to comment on a recent Wall Street Journal report that a top U.S. security official has held a number of secret phone conversations with high-ranking Russian officials.
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A day earlier, the WSJ reported that U.S. national security adviser Jake Sullivan has held a series of undisclosed talks in recent months with his Russian counterparts. According to the report, the discussions were held with the aim of preventing the war in Ukraine from escalating into a nuclear conflict, amid steadily escalating rhetoric by Moscow and Washington.

The White House also declined to comment on the report; a spokeswoman for the U.S. National Security Council said, “People claim a lot of things.”

Washington’s official stance on the issue is that any talks aimed at ending the conflict should be held directly between Kyiv and Moscow.
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His comments reflect widespread speculation that U.S. financial and military support for Ukraine might be drastically reduced if Republicans capture a majority in Congress in the elections.
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Speaking to reporters on Nov. 7, Peskov also declined to comment on a recent report in The Washington Post that claimed U.S. officials were privately urging Kyiv to show a willingness to hold talks with Moscow.

“We don’t know if that’s the case,” the Kremlin spokesman said.

On Nov. 5, the paper reported that Washington was quietly asking the Ukrainian leadership to drop its stated refusal to hold peace talks with Moscow as long as Russian President Vladimir Putin remains in power.