AVZ Discussion 2022
- Thread starter GazDix
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cruiser51
Top 20
Maybe Xi is only allowed to talk with Trump and go on jolly trips, to stop China losing face internationally, or maybe it is just feel good, fake news.....
June 5, 2025, 9:05 PM GMT+8 / Updated June 6, 2025, 1:25 AM GMT+8
By Rob Wile and Evelyn Cheng, CNBC
President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping held a phone call Thursday amid ongoing tensions between the two superpowers — with a new in-person meeting planned soon.
Chinese state media and the Chinese foreign ministry said the call happened at the White House's request.
The Chinese foreign ministry said Thursday morning that the call was ongoing as of 9 a.m. ET.
In a Truth Social post just before 11 a.m., Trump said the call lasted about 90 minutes, but provided few details about it other than that it focused on trade.
He said a meeting will now be held "shortly" between representatives from the two nations at a location to be determined.
It’s the first known call between the two leaders in Trump’s second term, though the two spoke in January before Trump’s inauguration.
Trump had posted to social media early Wednesday to air his frustrations with how the conversations between the U.S. and China have been going.
“I like President XI of China, always have, and always will, but he is VERY TOUGH, AND EXTREMELY HARD TO MAKE A DEAL WITH!!!” Trump wrote at 2:17 a.m.
The U.S. and China have been locked in a heated trade war since the early days of Trump's second administration, with volleys of tariffs and retaliatory tariffs ratcheting up duties on billions of dollars’ worth of goods.
The current tariff level on Chinese imports brought into the U.S. is at least 30%.
That's down from the 145% punitive level Trump had imposed until a handshake agreement in Geneva last month led to a mutual stand-down that also saw China reduce its duties on U.S. imports down to 10% from 125%.
But tensions heated up again Friday after Trump accused China of violating the Geneva understanding, though without adding many specifics.
That prompted China to level a similar accusation against Trump on Monday.
A China spokesperson said Xi emphasized on the call that his nation has “ earnestly implemented” the Geneva agreement and that the U.S. should “revoke its negative measures against China.”
Trump remains fixated on closing America's trade deficit with China, which is the difference between how much the U.S. imports from China versus how much it exports.
On Thursday, fresh data showed the gap dropped sharply in April — with the deficit with China declining to $19.7 billion, the lowest level since March 2020.
"The sharp narrowing in the April U.S. international trade deficit tells us the temporary first-quarter splurge by businesses pulling-forward demand to get ahead of tariffs has run its course," Wells Fargo economists wrote in a note after the data was released.
Meanwhile use of low-cost e-commerce giants Temu and Shein has plunged in America following the closure of the so-called “de minimis” loophole that kept low-cost goods tariff-free.
Trump has pledged that his unprecedented tariffs gambit will lead to trade deals — but despite a flurry of promises and pronouncements that they are near, no firm deals have materialized.
Even the agreement with the U.K. announced last month from the Oval Office has been described as merely a "political pact" rather than a formalized, mutually beneficial trade agreement.
It's led to growing critiques that Trump's tariffs strategy has little to show so far besides scrambling the investment and hiring plans of businesses the world over.
Trump faces a particularly complex set of issues with China.
Alongside trade, he is also attempting to wrestle TikTok away from Chinese ownership, while seeking to stem the flow of illicit fentanyl that authorities say largely originates from Chinese manufacturers.
While there are signs of slowing fentanyl seizures at the U.S. -Mexico border, there has been no sign of progress on the TikTok talks.
A deadline that would force TikTok’s Chinese parent company ByteDance to sell the popular social media app or face a U.S. ban is set to expire June 19.
Trump now faces the prospect of having to extend the deadline for a third time.
cruiser51
Top 20
The only way to un-spot a leopard:
Shoot it and process the body in a sausage machine and the skin into ladies' handbags.
Xerof
Flaming 1967
Imo, the partial claim settlement mentioned in that original statement might relate to the partial award of €39m that AVZ was awarded by ICSID ??
Fusion power may never happen if we don't fix the lithium bottleneck
Story by Jeremy Hsu•
Nuclear fusion has the potential to deliver nearly limitless power – but before it can even get started, the world must build a massive supply of enriched lithium fuel from scratch.
“One of the biggest missing pieces of technology is the enrichment stage, where a specific type of lithium is concentrated,” says Samuel Ward at Woodruff Scientific LTD, a UK consultancy focused on nuclear fusion. “We don’t have a solution that can be scaled to produce the required quantities of fuel for a future fleet of fusion power plants.”
Full Story -
Frank
Top 20
To seal the mining agreement, US elected officials demand guarantees of transparency
Negotiations around a strategic partnership with the United States in the mining sector are generating growing debate.
Kinshasa hopes to conclude this agreement quickly in the hope that it will allow for greater Washington's involvement in the search for peace in the eastern part of the country.
Three days ago, RFI revealed that President Félix Tshisekedi had established a strategic unit tasked with monitoring the discussions and preparing for the agreement's implementation.
But in Washington, five members of Congress are demanding clarification.
Even in the United States, doubts are beginning to appear.
Five members of Congress have just written to Massad Boulos, the White House Special Advisor for Africa.
In their letter, they ask a simple question : -
What exactly do the discussions between the United States and the DRC on minerals contain?
These elected officials are concerned, they say, about the lack of transparency regarding the conditions of access to Congolese resources, but also about how these riches will be managed.
They warn: without clear guarantees, this partnership could exacerbate conflicts and corruption, instead of bringing peace and development.
In the DRC, too, questions are multiplying.
Who is negotiating on behalf of the country?
What are the offers being made to the Americans?
And under what conditions?
"We need to understand the government's expectations in terms of the offer.
What are the main components of this offer made to the Americans regarding the exploitation of natural resources?" asks Jean-Pierre Okenda, a researcher on mining governance.
For him, it is above all important to avoid repeating the mistakes of the past.
He is thinking in particular of the famous Chinese contract of 2008, signed under the presidency of Joseph Kabila: minerals in exchange for infrastructure.
"Ultimately, Congo lost with the Chinese. We don't have the infrastructure today.
The second thing we lost is that the agreement was extremely unbalanced," he observes.
Finally, the American elected officials are requesting an official briefing on the ongoing negotiations.
They want clarification on the Declaration of Principles signed in April between Kinshasa and Kigali under American mediation, but also on how humanitarian issues will be addressed.
Negotiations around a strategic partnership with the United States in the mining sector are generating growing debate.
Kinshasa hopes to conclude this agreement quickly in the hope that it will allow for greater Washington's involvement in the search for peace in the eastern part of the country.
Three days ago, RFI revealed that President Félix Tshisekedi had established a strategic unit tasked with monitoring the discussions and preparing for the agreement's implementation.
But in Washington, five members of Congress are demanding clarification.
Even in the United States, doubts are beginning to appear.
Five members of Congress have just written to Massad Boulos, the White House Special Advisor for Africa.
In their letter, they ask a simple question : -
What exactly do the discussions between the United States and the DRC on minerals contain?
These elected officials are concerned, they say, about the lack of transparency regarding the conditions of access to Congolese resources, but also about how these riches will be managed.
They warn: without clear guarantees, this partnership could exacerbate conflicts and corruption, instead of bringing peace and development.
In the DRC, too, questions are multiplying.
Who is negotiating on behalf of the country?
What are the offers being made to the Americans?
And under what conditions?
"We need to understand the government's expectations in terms of the offer.
What are the main components of this offer made to the Americans regarding the exploitation of natural resources?" asks Jean-Pierre Okenda, a researcher on mining governance.
For him, it is above all important to avoid repeating the mistakes of the past.
He is thinking in particular of the famous Chinese contract of 2008, signed under the presidency of Joseph Kabila: minerals in exchange for infrastructure.
"Ultimately, Congo lost with the Chinese. We don't have the infrastructure today.
The second thing we lost is that the agreement was extremely unbalanced," he observes.
Finally, the American elected officials are requesting an official briefing on the ongoing negotiations.
They want clarification on the Declaration of Principles signed in April between Kinshasa and Kigali under American mediation, but also on how humanitarian issues will be addressed.
Last edited:
Frank
Top 20
Government urged to require mining companies to effectively remit royalties to the provinces
The government is urged to strictly enforce the provisions of the Mining Code, requiring mining companies to remit royalties to the provinces and decentralized territorial entities.
This call was made on Wednesday, June 4, in Kinshasa, during the closing of the workshop organized by the Congo Peace Center (CPC), dedicated to reconciling mining and sustainable local development in the provinces of Maniema and Tanganyika.
For Blaise Bayise Bolamba, Permanent Secretary of the CPC, political and administrative authorities must intensify the fight against armed groups, while establishing viable alternatives for young people working in the mining sector.
"These two days were devoted to reporting on the work carried out in the field.
We consulted with communities affected by mining in the provinces of Tanganyika and Maniema.
These are regions rich in minerals, but there is a lack of industrial companies and the non-payment of royalties by the few companies present.
As a result, the populations live in extreme poverty,” he denounced.
He also highlighted the serious infrastructure deficits in these provinces.
“There are no roads connecting the territories to the capitals, no water, no electricity, and no enough schools, maternity wards, or health centers.
This is explained by the fact that the mineral wealth extracted from these lands is not redistributed to local communities.
We therefore proposed the creation of mining companies and the diversification of economic activities, particularly through agriculture,” he added.
Delegates from the Ministries of Mines and the Interior, as well as the High Representative of the Head of State in the Luanda and Nairobi processes, and representatives of the populations of Maniema and Tanganyika, participated in these two-day meetings, organized in partnership with the International Organization for Migration (IOM).
mediacongo
The government is urged to strictly enforce the provisions of the Mining Code, requiring mining companies to remit royalties to the provinces and decentralized territorial entities.
This call was made on Wednesday, June 4, in Kinshasa, during the closing of the workshop organized by the Congo Peace Center (CPC), dedicated to reconciling mining and sustainable local development in the provinces of Maniema and Tanganyika.
For Blaise Bayise Bolamba, Permanent Secretary of the CPC, political and administrative authorities must intensify the fight against armed groups, while establishing viable alternatives for young people working in the mining sector.
"These two days were devoted to reporting on the work carried out in the field.
We consulted with communities affected by mining in the provinces of Tanganyika and Maniema.
These are regions rich in minerals, but there is a lack of industrial companies and the non-payment of royalties by the few companies present.
As a result, the populations live in extreme poverty,” he denounced.
He also highlighted the serious infrastructure deficits in these provinces.
“There are no roads connecting the territories to the capitals, no water, no electricity, and no enough schools, maternity wards, or health centers.
This is explained by the fact that the mineral wealth extracted from these lands is not redistributed to local communities.
We therefore proposed the creation of mining companies and the diversification of economic activities, particularly through agriculture,” he added.
Delegates from the Ministries of Mines and the Interior, as well as the High Representative of the Head of State in the Luanda and Nairobi processes, and representatives of the populations of Maniema and Tanganyika, participated in these two-day meetings, organized in partnership with the International Organization for Migration (IOM).
mediacongo
Probably getting a bit off topic for this thread, but I think there's something in what you say @cruiser51.
From what I've read, Chinese state media featured little about the call with Trump; indeed, initial reports apparently neglected to refer to Xi as 'president' (this was later corrected).
Lukashenko also just visited Xi, but he was hosted at Xi's home (house arrest?) and it was not a formal, working visit. Maybe Putin sent Lukashenko in to sniff around, or send a message of support to Xi (or a threat to the CCP)?
Anyway I'll stop here. Off topic as I said, and with all these conspiracy theories I'm peddling, people might start calling me S....
You had to, didn't you?.hane?
Xerof
Flaming 1967
@j.l
I’m watching him have a complete meltdown in his posts on X over the past few weeks.
We’re all "classless bogans" according to the messiah, who continually repeats what he sees as his moment of glory, after getting completely fucked over by Santa Klaus.
AND, he’s now back as tendoji on the crapper, whispering to the classless bogans on there too.
Thank fuck he’s no longer here, unless he’s the prick deleting all our posts.
Lets see what happens to this one
I’m watching him have a complete meltdown in his posts on X over the past few weeks.
We’re all "classless bogans" according to the messiah, who continually repeats what he sees as his moment of glory, after getting completely fucked over by Santa Klaus.
AND, he’s now back as tendoji on the crapper, whispering to the classless bogans on there too.
Thank fuck he’s no longer here, unless he’s the prick deleting all our posts.
Lets see what happens to this one
Roger that, @Xerof.
I'm on both HC and X as well, and have been since around my time of entry into AVZ, albeit in 'read only' mode these days.
It's quite astonishing to see the poor creature spinning around and around in its own echo chamber. One might (might!) wonder what will become of it, if and when our situation reaches a resolution.
Anyway, as others wisely say, best not to give it air.
Skar
Regular
Nope, I am Aussie and only post on this account.
Slipperysucker
Emerged
Whats going on with all the deleting here? Can anysone explain whats happening?
I'm new here & keep seeing posts dissappeared. Is the moderators hear very strict?
I'm new here & keep seeing posts dissappeared. Is the moderators hear very strict?
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