misko polacek

Old enough to remember. Research. Lawyer. Alumni @FudanUniv 寻衅滋事.

[misko polacek @miskop43]

Basic lie pushed by supporters of EU in #Iceland rests on possibility of any meaningful dialogue with federalised union. Not to mention an imbecile reference to EU as superpower with some vision. After all, its fear mongering and shelter seeking again on part of so called left.

[misko polacek @miskop43]

@battleforeurope Currently a Professor of Advanced European Studies 🤣🤣🤣

[misko polacek @miskop43]

@desox13 To je sa vola cechacek? Or i m wrong?

[Nury Vittachi @NuryVittachi]

DONALD TRUMP WAS SENT BY GOD to destroy the Chinese government, a religious cult came to believe.

Believers’ role was to try to facilitate the process by quickly becoming a major player in international media – and they succeeded.

Falun Gong members launched a news media outlet that grew so fast that it speedily spread to 36 countries in less than two decades. The mysteriously wealthy Epoch Times and NDTV have become major news sources, particularly in the United States.

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GUILTY LAST WEEK
Last week, the rich media group’s chief financial officer, Bill Guan, 63, pleaded guilty to a US$67 million fraud scheme in a court in Manhattan, New York. He will be sentenced in about 90 days, facing up to ten years in jail.

But the group’s various ventures appear unharmed. They have already disowned Guan and are continuing to take their highly politicized, rightwing version of the news to further displace traditional news sources.

And, of course, to enable their belief to come true. Their ultimate aim has been known for years. The group came to believe that “Trump was sent by heaven to destroy the communist party,” former Epoch Times sub-editor Ben Hurley told NBC news in a 2019 report.

Several media outlets reported Guan’s guilty plea last week. But not one of them reported the interesting part: the multiple groups associated with The Epoch Times.

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THE HIDDEN LINKS
We are talking about links that lead to political groups, including one in the UK, and to Hong Kong protesters, and even all the way up to the US State Department itself.

As well as The Epoch Times newspaper, the group financed the Shen Yang theatre group.

It also provided major financial support for NTD, a television “news” operation.

They all present themselves as non-political outfits with legitimate aims from a charitable background.

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SOME EXAMPLES
- The Epoch Times news outlet was likely the main beneficiary of the US$67 million fraud scheme, investigators said. When Guan was first arrested, John Zhong Zhang, Epoch Times founder and CEO, resigned.

- Anti-China television channel NTD (standing for New Tang Dynasty) received US$50 million over two years from the Epoch Times Association, the court paperwork showed.

- Anti-China campaigner Benedict Rogers, founder of UK-based Hong Kong Watch, was a regular speaker at events the group organized.

- Theatre critics in the United States were long puzzled as to how the group’s Shen Yang team managed to avoid the financial struggles of other stage performers, always having massive budgets for posters, billboards and media advertising campaigns.

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U.S. GOVERNMENT CONNECTIONS
The Falun Gong group has long had a close relationship with US government or quasi-government organizations, too.

In 2001, Freedom House gave cult founder Li Hongzhi and Falun Gong an International Religious Freedom Award at a ceremony in the United States Senate—an action widely seen as a deliberate dig at China, which had warned that the group should be avoided, as it was trouble (it now looks like the Chinese got it right).

Freedom House, despite being presented in the mainstream media as if it was an independent think tank, is a de facto arm of the US State Department, which has funded it for years.

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HELPING HONG KONG LAWBREAKERS
Then there is the relationship with Radio Free Asia, a CIA-founded “propaganda asset inventory” operation, relaunched with funds from Congress.

Falun Gong adherents developed a software product called UltraSurf which they claimed could be used to disseminate information in a way that could not be accessed by local law enforcement—clearly helpful to Washington-supported anti-government protesters around the world.

UltraSurf initially received development money from the US State Department, and there were later efforts to partner the Falun Gong project with Radio Free Asia—whose Open Technology Fund (RFA-OTF) had similar aims: to provide police-proof channels for pro-US protesters in Asian countries.

RFA-OTF eventually did launch a “secure node” for anti-government protesters in Hong Kong in 2019, shielding them from law enforcement—and even boasted about it in their published reports.

(There would be outrage if China or Russia openly provided anti-law enforcement tools for anti-government protesters in Western countries, but there was none in this case: yet another example of the stunning double standards of mainstream media.)

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STARTED AS A CULT
The Epoch Times cluster of businesses was founded by members of Falun Dafa, known as Falun Gong in the west. Starting as a religious cult, it evolved into a political body focused on campaigning against the Chinese government, under the guise of news or cultural organizations.

When news broke of Guan’s arrest in June of 2024, there was a widespread speculation that the Epoch Times and its associated operations would be damaged.

But they have survived and appear undamaged. How come? It’s good to have friends in high places—and we don’t mean God; we mean western organizations.

Given Bill Guan’s lack of morality, I’m sure any deity looking down on his criminal activity would not be a fan.

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[misko polacek @miskop43]

@SweetSummerSN Philippines seem to have enough problems with islands they have already 😊 i m genuinely surprised being here for a first time, so desolate

[misko polacek @miskop43]

@einasig @evaateva They should finally build up this airport, they are talking about it for years. Otherwise is fine in East, like it a lot, but prefer to leave for summer, tourists are everywhere. In Seydis like 10x the population, all this ships, pollution from hell

[misko polacek @miskop43]

@kokosbolla Its time to separate church from state, current ideology adapted by church is not national nor Lutheran

[misko polacek @miskop43]

@Tianxiashunv I did bet on Spain two weeks ago😁

[misko polacek @miskop43]

Cry me a river

[Robin Brooks @robin_j_brooks]

China's car exports have gone vertical in the past 6 months. That's mostly EVs and I hear a lot of people cheering this, but there's nothing good about this. We've seen this movie before. The result has been devastation of Western industry and job losses.
https://t.co/D5yGvHEnEm

[misko polacek @miskop43]

@PetrNov95968147 Takze beton nic moc😂

[misko polacek @miskop43]

@Sverrirhelga95 In that regard there is little difference with so called left here. its just one big progressive feminist center

[Glenn @GlennLuk]

I see the "China's economy relies heavily on net exports" narrative is making rounds again, often relying on selected snippets over relatively short periods e.g. "net exports contributed a third of incremental GDP growth last quarter!"

The more robust, intellectually honest approach is of course observing time series over longer periods of time. For example, over the last quarter-century, net exports accounted for 3.6% of cumulative GDP growth. Meanwhile, household expenditures and gross capital formation accounted for ~40% each.

From 2000-2025 China's GDP grew by ~8.0% per annum in real terms. If you zero out contribution from net exports, this figure declines to ~7.9%.

The narrative around the Chinese economy's heavy reliance on global demand is a myth.

[misko polacek @miskop43]

@USA_BaoziLover Shared bathrooms do exist even today in Shanghai

[Laurent Michelon Officiel @LAURENTMICHEL0N]

No, Denise.
The majority of the people of Taiwan want exactly the opposite of what you claim, of which you have no proof.

The latest “October national policy public opinion poll” by My Formosa 美麗島民調 (a Taiwanese poll) has been published, featuring a survey on the issue of cross-strait relations.

Respondents were asked whether they agreed with the following statement: “Everyone should be prepared to pay the price, even sacrificing their lives if necessary, to protect Taiwan's sovereignty and prevent reunification by the Chinese Communist Party.” 40.8% agreed, while 53.2% disagreed.

In addition, when asked “what approach is most effective in ensuring Taiwan's security,” 58.3% responded “resuming negotiations between the governments on both sides of the strait and easing civil exchanges,” while 28.2% favored “increasing the annual defense budget to purchase weapons and strengthen national defense.”

72% of the Taiwanese do NOT believe that increasing defense budget is the way to manage the relationship with China.

You deceive your audience with your erroneous and warmongering claims.

[misko polacek @miskop43]

@Tianxiashunv @PWarrior_EN Thats not specifically Chinese problem, look at us, being white european (man) is worst thing that can ever happen to you being one in Europe

[Kyle Chan @kyleichan]

The new IEA report on critical minerals is out. A thread of key charts related to China.

China continues to dominate many refined materials.

[Björn Jón Bragason @BjBragason]

Kýrskýrt allt saman þó svo að Steingrímur J. kallaði það til heimabrúks að „kíkja í pakkann“ svo halda mætti stjórninni saman. Nú virðast allir aðildarsinnar orðnir að Steingrími J.

[misko polacek @miskop43]

@HeRulong They are completely obsessed with low consumption growth, real wages grow 4% but retail sales only 1% kind of argument supports claim on structural imbalances😂😂

[Javier Blas @JavierBlas]

Excluding any US-Iran talks about Hormuz, China remains the most important factor for oil prices for the next 60 days or so. All eyes on Beijing.

Ex-China Asian oil imports have recovered to normal levels (see 📈⤵️), within the 2023-2025 range. What China does next is crucial.

[misko polacek @miskop43]

@gbarbay @D162Michele Absurd is system that distributes legislative powers by appointment. Why can’t they have elections like in democratic countries?

[misko polacek @miskop43]

@tillingfolk @D162Michele More likely he got heart attack from erection on cocaine during orgy with male prostitutes he is known to attend