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Independent researcher/writer based in Hong Kong since 1997. Reformed academic. My long-form, analytical articles are collected here https://laura-ruggeri.medium.com/ email: lauraru852@yandex.ru
Fiji on the frontline: How America’s Pacific strategy seeks to squeeze China
Lloyd Austin became the first-ever secretary of defense to visit the South Pacific Ocean Island nation of Fiji this week.
The US and Fiji are working on a new “status of forces” agreement which would allow American troops to dramatically ramp up their presence in the island nation, Austin said, adding that the treaty will facilitate “military-to-military engagements,” including joint drills, training of Fijian troops and the deployment and redeployment of American forces. He assured, however, that the US would not be setting up a permanent base.
Fiji is the latest square in a strategic chessboard Washington is working to set up against China in America’s century-plus-year-old quest to dominate the Pacific, and its post-WWII “Island chain strategy,” which envisions the militarization of a network of islands in the region to stop China’s navy from freely maneuvering through the Pacific, and prevent commercial traffic from reaching the Asian nation in a crisis.
Besides Fiji, the Biden administration has ramped up US ‘containment’-related activities in a host of regional nations, including:
🔸 Approving a $400 million project to rebuild an airfield on Tinian Island in the Northern Mariana Islands, used in the final days of WWII to launch the bombers which dropped atomic bombs on Japan,
🔸 facilitating and overseeing a major military buildup by Taiwan, which China considers its inalienable territory, as well as Japan, Australia, Singapore and the Philippines (including through joint drills and missile deployments)
🔸 launching a new military command with Japan and South Korea, citing the “danger” emanating from China, Russia and the DPRK,
🔸 moving to upgrade a key air base in Guam that often hosts strategic nuclear bombers capable of targeting China,
🔸 mulling the permanent deployment of US nuclear weapons in allied Pacific nations,
🔸 planning to more than triple the budget of US Indo-Pacific Command from $3.5 bln this year to $11 bln in 2025 for infrastructure spending, naval ops, classified space programs and $1 bln for the Pentagon’s Maritime Strike program,
🔸 passing $4.83 bln in new spending to “deter China” in the Indo-Pacific in the spring,
🔸 inviting fellow NATO countries’ warships into Pacific waters for power projection and joint training,
🔸 inking a controversial defense pact with Papua New Guinea, which sparked protests last year over its secrecy,
🔸 and moving politically and diplomatically to try to sow chaos and undermine China’s political, economic and security outreach in the region, up to and including attempts to institute regime change in China-friendly nations, most recently in the Solomon Islands.
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Donald Trump on Friday said he will nominate Scott Bessent as U.S. Treasury secretary. Bessent, a hedge fund manager married to a man, and a member of the Council on Foreign Relations, has spent his career in finance, working for short seller Jim Chanos and George Soros. Actually he was chief investment officer (CIO) of Soros Fund Management and the head of its London office when his team, betting against the British pound, garnered over $1 billion for the firm. His bet against the Japanese yen in 2013 brought additional profit. Bessent runs his own hedge fund, Key Square Group, that uses geopolitics and economics to make macro investments. Key Square received a $2 billion anchor investment from George Soros. From 2014 until 2020, Bessent was listed as a council member of International Crisis Group (ICG), an NGO/think tank linked to the CIA and all the usual "philanthropists", first and foremost Soros. ICG is part of the "billionaire complex" driving regime change wars. ▪️Bessent has advocated for deregulation, particularly to spur more bank lending and energy production, as noted in a recent opinion piece he wrote for The Wall Street Journal.
Wall Street will be pleased if Bessent is confirmed as Treasury secretary, as he has been on the side of less aggressive tariffs, which means he provides a counterweight to Trump's campaign promise to raise import duties. @LauraRuHK
Air defence systems currently available cannot intercept Russian hypersonic missiles such as the one that hit the Yuzhmash military complex in Dnepropetrovsk, Ukraine. These missiles can carry nuclear heads. Moscow sent a warning. Will US-NATO take note or continue to deny reality? @LauraRuHK
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👔 Фицо заявил, что они с Вучичем планируют вместе поехать на парад Победы в Москве 9 мая.
"Я надеюсь, что могу сказать, что в мае мы договорились, что поедем в Москву вместе, потому что мы разделяем одно и то же мнение о том, как бороться с фашизмом и уважать страны, которые присутствовали при освобождении наших государств в конце Второй мировой войны", — сказал он в ходе визита в Белград, слова премьера приводит издание "Вечерне новости".Читать полностью…
Neoliberalism is so toxic that even its main beneficiaries pretend to distance themselves from it. @LauraRuHK
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Donald Trump picked lawyer Matthew Whitaker to be U.S. ambassador to NATO, selecting a loyalist with little foreign policy experience. Whitaker's perception of NATO reflects Trump's - European members of the alliance are not contributing enough and must increase defense spending. Most likely they will be forced to cough up more than the 2% of GDP agreed in the early 2000s. Keep in mind that even meeting that minimum threshold placed a huge burden on the budget and proved impossible for several member countries. @LauraRuHK
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The second international forum "Dialogue on Fakes 2.0" was held in Moscow on November 20. More than 1,000 participants from 65 countries joined the forum.
The program included 7 sessions with participants discussing how to counter fakes, as well as exchanging best practices and approaches to address this problem. Within the framework of the forum, a memorandum on the establishment of an International Association for Fact-checking was signed. ▪️This is crucial given that the West is using the cover of "fact-checking" to censor and remove content that doesn't align with its narrative. The West, which produces fake news on an industrial scale, can't be the arbiter of truth for the rest of the world. ▪️Here is a video of the plenary session https://rutube.ru/video/eed6d68bd2a661f68e2e0785146a7ac9/ and a useful research paper.
https://fakes2024.dialog.info/static/files/Research_2024.pdf
Till Lindemann (lead singer of German band Rammstein) singing "Beloved City", from the 1939 Soviet film "The Fighters". In 2021 he performed on Red Square. https://rutube.ru/video/78dd56cdc88573864e4382d3d0f29901/
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A third of the residents of Mariupol who had left for Ukraine in 2022 have since returned. Russia's Permanent Representative to the UN, Vasily Nebenzya, also noted the mass relocation of Ukrainian citizens to Russia. "Zelensky is infuriated that Ukrainians who left for the West, faced with everyday problems, humiliation and discrimination on the basis of language, not only move to Russia, but also move to the regions that became part of our country after the referendum."
Mariupol has become one of the most vivid examples of how life is changing in the liberated territories. Today, almost all apartment buildings in the city have been restored.
Schools, sports and public infrastructure facilities continue to be rebuilt.
As a result, Mariupol has become an object of envy both for Ukraine and for Western countries, because Russia has shown in practice its ability to rebuild cities that have survived the war. (Source: vz.ru) @LauraRuHK
Russian gas is expected to power households in Shanghai by the end of the year after Chinese workers finished building the final section of the east-route natural gas pipeline between the two countries, China’s state television said on Monday.
The pipeline, which links the northeastern Heilongjiang province that borders Russia and the eastern metropolis, would soon be fully operational after the southernmost section linking Jiangsu and Shanghai was officially completed, CCTV reported.
The 5,111km-long gas route, a signature project underscoring tightening economic ties between China and Russia, would provide stable natural gas supply for a combined 130 million households each year, it added. (Source: SCMP) @LauraRuHK
China's MoF chose Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, for its second offshore issuance.
The orderbook across both tranches was 39.7 billion US dollars, representing 19.85 times covered, the highest oversubscription among all USD issuances in Asia’s bond market in 2024. The issuance of US dollar bonds in Saudi Arabia is a “practical” move by Beijing to establish fundraising channels offshore, strengthen bilateral ties with a strategic partner and provide a regular supply of dollars without weakening the yuan. It is expected that China will invest this dollar supply in the Belt and Road Initiative, exchange dollars for raw materials and purchase foreign assets.
The last time the Ministry of Finance issued US dollar-denominated sovereign bonds was in 2021, when it issued US$4 billion worth in Hong Kong. @LauraRuHK
❗️The only submarine cable connecting Finland and Germany has allegedly been deliberately cut and its communications broken
Finnish state-owned company Cinia announced a fall offshore cable cut Monday afternoon. So far, the cause has not been determined.
The C-Lion1 cable was activated in 2016. The cable is 1 to 200 kilometres long and buried at a depth of about a meter below the ocean's surface. The cable runs near the Nord Stream gas pipeline.
According to Cinia CEO Ari-Jussi Knaapila, the cable cut took place in Sweden's special economic zone about the halfway point of the cable's length.
There is currently no specific information on whether the C-Lion1 submarine cable was subject to deliberate sabotage, according to Henri Kronlund, Cinian communications director.
Knaapila said the broken submarine cable was located in a more remote area for maritime traffic. He estimates that the cable breakdown was not due to seismic activity, such as land avalanche.
“Yes, some other external force has contributed to the cable breaking,” Knaapila said.
According to the New York Times, Joe Biden has authorized US proxy, Ukraine, to use US-supplied ATACMS, long-range ballistic missiles, to strike deep inside Russia. The NYT points out that at this stage we are talking about strikes on the Kursk region, but later they can be inflicted on other Russian regions. The US authorities have not yet officially confirmed this information, but they have not denied it either. Reuters, citing its sources, reported that Ukraine could launch the first strike with American long-range missiles on Russian territory "in the coming days."
The decision to escalate the conflict was made two months before Biden vacates the White House and is unlikely to alter its outcome. Kiev has lost the war and if the West keeps flogging a dead horse, it will pay the price. Make no mistake, there will be consequences.
NATO troops have long been directly and indirectly involved in the Ukrainian conflict. As the use of ATACMS requires US or NATO assistance and intelligence from NATO satellites, it necessarily brings in NATO's participation in the war against Russia, and not only in her flanks, which is exactly what deranged Atlanticists want. Donald Trump will inherit a war in which the stakes have become significantly higher thus reducing his room for manoeuvre. @LauraRuHK
Convened under the direction of the British Ministry of Defense in February 2022, the cell referred to itself as Project Alchemy. As British leadership sabotaged peace talks between Kiev and Moscow, the cell put forward an array of plans “to keep Ukraine fighting” by imposing “strategic dilemmas, costs and frictions upon Russia.”
The leaks obtained by The Grayzone expose a hidden hand behind Britain’s policy in Ukraine, showing in unusually granular detail how it aimed to engineer a long, grinding war through covert operations.
Project Alchemy’s proposed schemes spanned every conceivable field of warfare, from cyber attacks to “discreet operations” to outright terrorism. The secret cell even put forward a plan to “aggressively pursue” and “dismantle” independent media outlets through an aggressive campaign of legal harassment and online censorship, so they “would be forced to close.” The incendiary blueprints were fed to the highest levels of the British state and national security structure, where they were apparently well-received. ▪️Very interesting name choice, "Project Alchemy". In my latest article I mentioned Soros' ambition to apply his "alchemy of finance" to the social sphere - he actually used the definition "social alchemy" to describe his influence operations. Obviously Soros foundations are not the only game in town. In the neo-feudal West oligarchs have their semi-private armies of activists and mercenaries. @LauraRuHK https://thegrayzone.com/2024/11/16/uk-plot-keep-ukraine-fighting/
The 1973 publication of Gene Sharp’s first work, aptly described as a Hybrid War field manual, coincided with the end of Bretton Woods, a turning point that gave new impetus to the financialization of the American economy. Finance was ‘liberated’ from any functional connection to the real economy, becoming a source of great wealth from speculation but also the grand destabilizer of both the domestic and global economy.
The destabilization of the monetary order, and the destabilization of the post-1945 world order through colour revolutions laid the ground for the US 'unipolar moment'. Those who had a vested interest in the ‘liberation of the economy’ invested millions of dollars in the ‘liberation from Communism’ and the grooming of new elites that would put an end to the controlled economies and politics of the Eastern Bloc and the welfare state in the West.
The distribution of wealth and the distribution of power changed dramatically. While large multinational companies and financial capital organized a takeover of political power, labour and middle-class interests were pushed to the sidelines. Dollar dominance in the global financial system led to an era of hyper-globalization characterized by the primacy of shareholder capitalism, with deregulation and privatization acting as its handmaidens. Read more here 👉 https://medium.com/p/d258e451900e
Russian troops are advancing in Chasov Yar in the Donetsk People’s Republic in fierce fighting, with 30% of the town being under Russia’s control now. They have gained a foothold in its industrial zone, military expert Andrey Marochko told TASS. @LauraRuHK
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The Bundeswehr (Germany’s armed forces) prepared a secret plan in case of a military conflict with Russia, the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung reported.
According to it, the 1,000-page "Operation Deutschland" plan lists all infrastructure facilities that deserve special protection, and also contains a procedure for defense or "measures to deter Russia on NATO’s eastern flank." The plan says that in such a case, Germany would become "the center of concentration for tens of thousands and possibly hundreds of thousands of troops" that would be transferred to the east, as well as military equipment, food and medical supplies.
A first meeting has even taken place in the Hamburg Chamber of Commerce where specific companies were addressed directly after the report revealed the vulnerable professions in the face of war.
Attendees were advised on striving for self-sufficiency through installing their own diesel generator or even a wind turbine.
Guidance regarding truck driving was given by Lieutenant Colonel Jörn Plischke, who said that "for every 100 employees", at least five additional truck drivers should be trained "that you don't need".
He chillingly explained: "70 per cent of all trucks on Germany's roads are driven by Eastern Europeans.
"If there is a war there, where will these people be?"
Plans have been built in Germany across the year, with its Defense Ministry confirming in July that emergency plans to move "hundreds of thousands" of Nato troops in the event of a war with Russia.
At the time, Bundeswehr Homeland Defence Command in Berlin confirmed that the secret Operation Deutschland continues to be worked at. ▪️So, why is the existence of this "secret plan" being publicized right now? I believe it's part of a psychological operation aimed at laying the ground for more austerity measures and repression of dissent. By hyping up the "Russian threat" German authorities will try to justify the unpopular increase in military spending that the hegemon demands. But rule by fear can easily backfire. When those in positions of power resort to fear to shift the blame of their disastrous domestic and foreign policies, it can lead to widespread anxiety, paranoia, and mistrust. German institutions are already caught in a downward spiral of distrust. According to all surveys conducted in the last 2 years, over a third of Germans are convinced that leaders in business, the media and government are deliberately lying to people and misleading them. @LauraRuHK
⚡️ Statement by the President of the Russian Federation Vladimir Putin
💬 Vladimir Putin: I would like to inform the military personnel of the Russian Federation Armed Forces, citizens of our country, our friends across the globe, and those who persist in the illusion that a strategic defeat can be inflicted upon Russia, about the events taking place today in the zone of the special military operation, specifically following the attacks by Western long-range weapons against our territory.
The escalation of the conflict in Ukraine, instigated by the West, continues with the United States and its NATO allies previously announcing that they authorise the use of their long-range high-precision weapons for strikes inside the Russian Federation. <...>
On November 19, six ATACMS tactical ballistic missiles produced by the United States, and on November 21, during a combined missile assault involving British Storm Shadow systems and HIMARS systems produced by the US, attacked military facilities inside the Russian Federation in the Bryansk and Kursk regions. From that point onward, as we have repeatedly emphasised in prior communications, the regional conflict in Ukraine provoked by the West has assumed elements of a global nature. <...>
I wish to underscore once again that the use by the enemy of such weapons cannot affect the course of combat operations in the special military operation zone. <...>
❗️ In response to the deployment of American and British long-range weapons, on November 21, the Russian Armed Forces delivered a combined strike on a facility within Ukraine’s defence industrial complex. In field conditions, we also carried out tests of one of Russia’s latest medium-range missile systems – in this case, carrying a non-nuclear hypersonic ballistic missile that our engineers named #Oreshnik.
The tests were successful, achieving the intended objective of the launch.
In the city of Dnepropetrovsk, Ukraine, one of the largest and most famous industrial complexes from the Soviet Union era, which continues to produce missiles and other armaments, was hit. <...>
As a reminder, Russia has voluntarily and unilaterally committed not to deploy intermediate-range and shorter-range missiles until US weapons of this kind appear in any region of the world.
⚠️ To reiterate, we are conducting combat tests of the Oreshnik missile system in response to NATO’s aggressive actions against Russia.
Our decision on further deployment of intermediate-range and shorter-range missiles will depend on the actions of the United States and its satellites.
We consider ourselves entitled to use our weapons against military facilities of those countries that allow to use their weapons against our facilities, and in case of an escalation of aggressive actions, we will respond decisively and in mirror-like manner.
I recommend that the ruling elites of the countries that are hatching plans to use their military contingents against Russia seriously consider this.
It goes without saying that when choosing, if necessary and as a retaliatory measure, targets to be hit by systems such as Oreshnik on Ukrainian territory, we will in advance suggest that civilians and citizens of friendly countries residing in those areas leave danger zones.
We will do so for humanitarian reasons, openly and publicly, without fear of counter-moves coming from the enemy, who will also be receiving this information. <...>
Air defence systems currently available in the world and missile defence systems being created by the Americans in Europe cannot intercept such missiles. It is impossible.
☝️ I would like to emphasise once again that it was not Russia, but the United States that destroyed the international security system and, by continuing to fight, cling to its hegemony, they are pushing the whole world into a global conflict.
We have always preferred and are ready now to resolve all disputes by peaceful means. But we are also ready for any turn of events.
If anyone still doubts this, make no mistake: there will always be a response.
Robert Fico and Aleksandar Vučić have expressed their intention to attend the Victory parade in Moscow on May 9, when the 80th anniversary will be celebrated. During his visit to Belgrade the prime minister of Slovakia said "I hope we will go to Moscow together, because we share the same opinion on how to fight fascism and respect the countries that took part in the liberation of our states at the end of World War II."(Source: TASS) @LauraRuHK
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At long last the International Criminal Court (ICC) issued arrest warrants for Benjamin Netanyahu and Yoav Galant for war crimes carried out in Palestinian territories.
It means that all 124 state parties to the ICC are legally obliged to arrest Netanyahu and Gallant if they set foot on their territory. These include Israel’s allies such as UK, Canada, Australia, Germany, France and Italy, but not the US, which withdrew from Rome Statute.
These arrest warrants will pose significant diplomatic and political challenges for those members of the ICC that are actively supporting Israel. @LauraRuHK
A Chinese tech company has signed a deal in Brazil that positions it as a potential challenger to Elon Musk’s Starlink satellite internet constellation in the region.
Shanghai-based SpaceSail on Tuesday signed a memorandum of understanding with Brazil’s state-owned telecoms firm Telecomunicacoes Brasileiras (Telebras) coinciding with Chinese President Xi Jinping’s state visit to the Latin American country. The agreement will provide broadband internet services in Brazil in 2026.
SpaceSail plans to bring satellite-based internet access to areas with limited connectivity by deploying its Qianfan, or “Thousand Sails”, constellation, a low-Earth orbit satellite network currently under construction. (Source: SCMP)
@LauraRuHK
Washington has vowed to impose visa restrictions on Hong Kong officials responsible for implementation of the national security law after a Hong Kong court sentenced 45 people for subversion. After orchestrating and funding subversive activities that plunged Hong Kong into chaos, the US is imposing another round of sanctions on officials upholding the law that restored peace and order. /channel/LauraRuHK/9361
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The official logo for the celebration of the 80th anniversary of the Victory in the Great Patriotic War was presented at the Victory Museum in Moscow.
The logo depicts the monument "The Motherland Calls!", dedicated to the heroes of the Battle of Stalingrad, the St. George ribbon, as well as the word "Victory" and the number "80". @LauraRuHK
▪️Aggression against Russia and its allies by non-nuclear states backed by a nuclear power will be viewed as a joint attack.
▪️Russia is ready and determined to use nuclear weapons to ensure nuclear deterrence.
▪️Moscow may use nuclear weapons in case of a critical threat to sovereignty and territorial integrity of Russia and Belarus.
▪️Launch of ballistic missiles into Russia will be one of conditions for using nuclear weapons.
▪️Russia will use nuclear deterrence against the countries that provide their territory, sea and air space, as well as resources for aggression against the country. (Source: TASS) @LauraRuHK
Justice has been served. Benny Tai Yiu-ting was jailed for 10 years over mastermind role in plot to bring down the Hong Kong government four years ago.
The other 44 politicians and activists receive prison terms ranging from four years and two months to seven years and nine months. Tai, a former law professor was a key architect of the 2014 Occupy Central/umbrella movement, and of the unofficial primary election that trial judges deemed a conspiracy to subvert state power. Many of the defendants had also colluded with foreign forces to destabilize Hong Kong in 2014 and 2019-20. They incited and justified the riots, destruction and wanton violence that turned the city into a war zone. @LauraRuHK
🌊 Another Baltic Sea cable damaged
Telia Lietuva AB, Lithuania’s largest communications provider, reports an undersea data cable between Lithuania and Sweden was cut. The cable was within 10 meters of the Finnish cable, which was previously reported damaged.
“The cable was cut on Sunday morning, at around 10:00. The systems immediately reported that we had lost the connection,” the company's CTO told local media.
Xi Jinping on Monday delivered an important speech at the G20 Summit that emphasized the need to improve global economic governance and build a world economy characterized by cooperation. Beijing values stability and is concerned about attempts to bolster US hegemony at the expense of other countries. Xi stressed that China is committed to strengthening global economic partnerships, reinforcing macro policy coordination in fiscal, financial, monetary and structural reform policies, cultivating new quality productive forces. As main creditors, international financial institutions and commercial creditors need to take part in debt reduction and suspension for developing countries.
To increase the voice and representation of developing countries, the World Bank should carry out shareholding review and the International Monetary Fund should carry out quota share realignment in line with the agreed timeframe and roadmap. Joint efforts are needed to keep the international financial market stable and prevent negative spillover of domestic monetary policy adjustments. Developed countries should fulfill their responsibilities in this regard. It is important to enhance the systems for financial risks monitoring, early warning and handling, reinforce cooperation.
To improve global trade governance and build a world economy characterized by openness, development should be at the center of the international economic and trade agenda. The World Trade Organization (WTO) should be reformed to oppose unilateralism and protectionism, politicization of economic issues, fragmentation of the global market.
Xi called on the G20 to improve global digital governance and step up international governance and cooperation on artificial intelligence (AI), to make sure that AI is for good and for all, not a game of the rich countries and the wealthy.
As to global ecological governance for the sake of man's harmonious coexistence with nature, Xi said developed countries should provide developing countries with the necessary funding, technology and capacity-building support. Energy transition and energy security is a major issue but we should follow the approach of "establishing the new before abolishing the old," and replace traditional energy with clean energy in a stable and well-ordered way. @LauraRuHK Full speech here 👉https://www.globaltimes.cn/page/202411/1323352.shtml?utm_source=substack&utm_medium=email
As part of the China-Russia Years of Culture 2024-25, the Russian film Вызов (The Challenge) was screened in Hong Kong after its release on Mainland China last Spring. Вызов has broken many records, including first feature-length film shot in space. Russian actress Yulia Peresild and director Klim Shipenko are the only two movie crew members in the world to make it onto the International Space Station (ISS), as they boarded the Soyuz MS-19 spacecraft Oct. 5, 2021 for 11 days to shoot scenes in zero gravity.
Russians are ahead of Hollywood - Tom Cruise and SpaceX in 2020 announced the intention to film in space, but the Russians beat them to it. Yulia Peresild and Klim Shipenko underwent rigorous training for three and a half months at Yuri Gagarin Cosmonaut Training Center. The film screening was organized by the Russian Consulate in Hong Kong in collaboration with Roskino. More details about the event here.👉 /channel/rusconshk/653
“We shall help the United States become a normal power...."
Intrigued? Watch Sergey Karaganov debate Ian Bremmer. Kudos to Vuk Jeremić for organizing this discussion. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1mjPrtxRSro
Cooperation between Russia and China in the military-technical sphere is of particular importance for strengthening and developing bilateral relations. The military-technical cooperation between the two countries is of strategic nature, relying on the solid and time-tested principles of equality, mutual benefit and trust with due regard for the interest of the parties and is not directed against third states.
At the biennial "Airshow China" in Zhuhai, Guangdong Province, Russia showcased the Su-57, Russia's most advanced military aircraft and one of the world's few fifth-generation stealth fighter jets of the world. Its impressive flight performance attracted wide attention and orders. @LauraRuHK https://www.globaltimes.cn/page/202411/1323075.shtml