The United States is ready for arms control dialogue with Russia and China without preliminary conditions, US National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan said on Friday.

"We have stated our willingness to engage in bilateral arms control discussions with Russia and with China without preconditions," he said at an annual meeting of the Arms Control Association.

The Chinese Communist government is ramping up online censorship ahead of the anniversary of the June 4, 1989, massacre of student demonstrators in Tiananmen Square – an event that is illegal to commemorate or discuss in China.

Nathan Hitchen and Robert Patterson have kicked up some dust in conservative circles by revealing that things are even worse than you thought:  “The Post-Industrial Economy Has Failed.”  The authors also offer potential New Right notions for digging out of the ditch. 

Pentagon chief Lloyd Austin has lamented a breakdown in US-Chinese defense relations, warning that the absence of communication between leaders of the two countries inncreases the risk of an incident escalating into a more dangerous geopolitical conflict.

The Office of the US Trade Representative (USTR) announced Thursday that the US and Taiwan signed the first trade agreement under a new economic initiative that was launched last year.

As the global economic intelligentsia debates how to “decouple” or “de-risk” from China, Elon Musk clearly didn’t get the memo.

The Tesla founder was feted like a returning king in Beijing this week. From the moment his private jet arrived on Tuesday, Musk is reportedly being called “Brother Ma,” putting him in rarified league with Alibaba billionaire Jack Ma.

As the sun sets over Taiwan’s Kinmen islands, the neon lights of mainland China dazzle in the distance just 2.5 miles away.

Yet as striking as the lights on the horizon are the reminders, everywhere, of war. Kinmen’s beaches are lined with anti-invasion spikes, its islands dotted with aging military posts, its streets home to countless bomb shelters – defenses prepared long ago for an invasion that never came. Or, at least, one that hasn’t come yet.

China’s special envoy for Eurasian affairs Li Hui wrapped up a 12-day European tour that took him to Ukraine, Poland, France, Germany, Brussels and Russia on a mission to make clear Beijing’s position on the Ukraine war.

Sanctions!

Officially, it is ”acknowledged” by the US and the EU that it is “not possible” to decouple China.

Neocons don’t think so.