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There is not a lot happening that is world changing.  Its almost same old same old but lots of little things are in between.   There is a little time to breathe and make some progress, for example, this Rich Burnt Basque cheesecake https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qJiET8Fw7ks

On Thursday, Bloomberg reported that the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT) held a series of emergency meetings with Chinese chipmakers to assess the damage from the latest US export controls. 

Some context: Last week, several US equipment suppliers critical to the chipmaking process abruptly halted their entire customer support to Chinese chipmakers.

This is major news and can change the state of the world materially.  I have not had time to study this in dept and this report comes from a lukewarm China watcher.  So, we have to wait for more.   In addition, it is Bloomberg, so it is grain of salt time.  A reminder that Andrei Martyanov said that Russia is self-sufficient in chip manufacturing  and chip technology for military purposes only, and not commercially or for general commerce.

During MIIT’s closed-door meetings, China’s best NAND memory chipmaker, YMTC, targeted by the latest US rules, warned MIIT that “its future may be in jeopardy.”

Bloomberg reports that MIIT officials seemed clueless about what to do next:

• “MIIT officials appeared uncertain about the way forward and at times appeared to have as many questions as answers for the chipmakers.”
• “While they refrained from hinting about counter-measures, officials stressed the domestic IT market would provide sufficient demand for affected companies to keep operating.”

Our take: MIIT doesn’t know any magic tricks.

• What Chinese chipmakers desperately need is domestic alternatives to advanced semiconductor equipment banned by the export controls – and they need them right now.

The bottom line: There’s no quick fix here.

More bad news for NATO. Rising powers in the Global South are no longer intimidated by western sanctions. US & EU brutal policies against innocent citizens have created a strong incentive among these countries to decrease dependance on western currencies. https://t.co/7wRXJS9Yh6

— Seyed Mohammad Marandi (@s_m_marandi) October 20, 2022

We seem to have some truth slipping out here and there.

There is nothing constructive about the pot calling the kettle black. If the EU is going to start naming “state sponsors of terrorism,” let’s do it… Let’s recognise West-sponsored terrorism too, and make sure 🇺🇲🇬🇧🇫🇷🇪🇺 and their pals 🇮🇱🇹🇷🇸🇦 & the rest are all on the list. pic.twitter.com/KKXS2z12k1

— Clare Daly (@ClareDalyMEP) October 20, 2022

US Navy should prepare for an invasion of Taiwan as soon as this year, fleet chief says

US needs to plan for ‘a 2022 window or potentially a 2023 window’ in which Beijing might force unification, Admiral Michael Gilday, chief of US naval operations, says
Threats from China and Russia have created the need for a ‘fight tonight’ posture, Gilday adds

This may seem completely impossible, but if you take a look at what else is happening, one has to become really concerned.

Tokyo in Arms Race Not Seen Since WWII

Between now and 2027 Japan will increase spending to Second World War levels – in order to protect regional interests.

🇯🇵 sees 🇨🇳 as enemy #1 as concerns grow over aspects such as major oil supply routes.

In July, Prime Minister Fumio Kishida won elections promising to double military spending to $68 billion by 2027, when the next CCP congress takes place.

“We will need to give priority to things that we can deploy within five years,” a govt official stated.

https://t.me/RT_India_official/5445

It was the lettuce that won! Truss has just resigned after only six weeks.

The new chip rules from the US are completely bonkers.  China will take the whole chip market.  That is how they work.

I’m working on a summary of the 20th Party Congress in China.

The presented document in itself for the next 5 years of Chinese planning is much longer than the summaries and even Xi Jingping’s speech.  It is a massive structural policy document, the way they should be done.  It slots in with historical progress, and paints the road forward.   A nutshell that I remember, is: “We must develop our country and our nation with our own strength.”

When in doubt, ask General Armageddon:

“I don’t want to sacrifice the lives of Russian soldiers in a partisan war of hoards of fanatics armed by NATO.”

“We’ve got enough power and technical means to lead Ukraine to total capitulation.”

Strikes are continuing in Ukraine.  The latest that I saw is that over 580 Ukrainian cities, towns and villages are now left without electricity after Russian strikes (https://t.me/IntelRepublic/7042) earlier today on key infrastructure facilities – Ukrainian Deputy Internal Affairs Minister.

This though I found both funny and sad as well .. that us, the normal people are considered to be so absolutely stupid, that we will buy this story.

It means it wasn’t Russia, and it’s too dangerous for the German government to call out the perpetrator (the US). Democracy in the West…

Sahra Wagenknecht, opposition politician in the German parliament, asked the German government for information on the attack on the Northstream pipelines, and got this reply:

«”For reasons of the state’s well-being” no further information will be provided

“After careful consideration, the federal Government has come to the conclusion that further information cannot be provided – not even in classified form – for reasons of the state’s well-being.” The reason for this is the “third-party rule” for international cooperation of the intelligence services. According to this, the international exchange of knowledge is subject to particularly strict secrecy requirements. “The information requested thus affects confidentiality interests that are so in need of protection that the state’s well-being outweighs the parliamentary right to information and the right of members of Parliament to ask questions must exceptionally take precedence over the confidentiality interest of the federal government.“ In plain language: there are probably findings that the members of the Bundestag are not allowed to learn.
For this reason, the German government does not answer Wagenknecht’s question “which NATO ships and troops” have been in the areas where the damage occurred since the suspension of gas supplies by Nord Stream 1, and which Russian ships and troops were sighted during that period. This answer, too, “would involve the disclosure of information that would have a particular impact on the welfare of the state,” writes the Federal Foreign Office. Therefore, a classification and deposit of the requested information is also out of the question, “since even the low risk of becoming known cannot be accepted”.»

And this is my joke for the day.  Go Lettuce Go!  Will Lizz Truss lose her post before a specific head of lettuce wilts.  There is a competition out there and everyone in parts of the twitter-sphere is rooting for the lettuce.  Go Lettuce Go!    It’s day two of Liz vs the lettuce and I can confirm it’s already gone limp and soggy as it rapidly loses its integrity. The lettuce is still perfectly fresh though