China 'made final call' in Snowden's Hong Kong flight, as US expresses disappointment

[denem]

Last edited Mon Jun 24, 2013, 12:08 AM - Edit history (1)

Source: South China Morning Post

Sources say that Beijing exercised its authority in foreign policy in allowing whistleblower to leave territory.

Beijing made the final decision in allowing fugitive intelligence leaker Edward Snowden to leave Hong Kong on Sunday, it has been reported...

Although Hong Kong has insisted that its judicial process is independent of China, the Chinese government has the final say in foreign policy and exercised its authority in allowing Snowden to leave on a flight bound for Moscow, according to sources who spoke on condition of anonymity.

Jin Canrong, the mainland's leading foreign relations scholar and associate dean of Renmin University's School of International Relations, told the South China Morning Post Snowden's departure was ideal for Beijing.




Read more: http://www.scmp.com/news/world/article/1267733/us-disappointed-hong-kongs-troubling-failure-arrest-snowden

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Anonymous Sources? LOL. But why would Ecuador get involved?

Ecuador auctions off Amazon to Chinese oil firms

... Critics say national debt may be a large part of the Ecuadorean government's calculations. Ecuador owed China more than £4.6bn ($7bn) as of last summer, more than a tenth of its GDP. China began loaning billions of dollars to Ecuador in 2009 in exchange for oil shipments. More recently China helped fund two of its biggest hydroelectric infrastructure projects. Ecuador may soon build a $12.5bn oil refinery with Chinese financing.

"My understanding is that this is more of a debt issue – it's because the Ecuadoreans are so dependent on the Chinese to finance their development that they're willing to compromise in other areas such as social and environmental regulations," said Adam Zuckerman, environmental and human rights campaigner at Amazon Watch.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2013/mar/26/ecuador-chinese-oil-bids-amazon

Whatever the ambit of China's 'foreign policy authority', no doubt Snowden will find it difficult to finance a residence in Quito.

[davidpdx]

1. There was no doubt in my mind they'd let him go

Asylum wasn't really an option. China and Russia would rather he be someone else's problem.

[denem]

3. And I never had a doubt China would call in a few favours either,

IF it advanced their national interests.

[davidpdx]

4. Yeah you are right about that

[Botany]

2. I think I have seen this movie before

[denem]

5. This may be a part of a beautiful friendship

:ROFLMAO:

[JDPriestly]

6. What does that have to do with the fact that the excessive surveillance

is completely inconsistent with our Constitution?

The best thing Obama could do is just excuse Snowden and let him come back the US without prosecuting him. The program stinks. When Americans wake up, when Congress wakes up, that program will be viewed for what it is, anti-American.

If we can't prevent the Chinese from stealing our ideas and our secrets, then we should stop trading with them.

[denem]

7. It means China judged that it was not in the national interest to have Snowden extradited to the US

That is unarguable.

The NSA is charged with foreign intelligence, and was initially established by Truman in 1949. China would be concerned with the NSA's international remit, rather than any transgressions within the US, against the US Constitution.

"We should stop trading with them" is LA LA land. Ask Ecuador. Reality has left the building.

[JDPriestly]

8. So, we are paying the price for being so blinded by the easy money

in "free" trade. There is nothing "free" about "free" trade. These events prove it.

Let's make our own stuff and sell it right here at home. We used to do a lot of that. We made quality things, and we bought them from and sold them to each other. And what was left over we sold abroad -- at a profit.

It was a nice thing. Way back then, we had a positive balance of payments, and we weren't overly obsessed with whether other countries were stealing our technology because they couldn't make anything any better than we could.

So, maybe it's time to rethink "free" trade. It isn't really "free" -- for us. People in other countries get a lot of know-how and technology for "free," but they charge us for what we buy from them.

China is just doing what comes naturally to China. We are the fools for not having protected ourselves in the first place.

[denem]

9. You say "We are the fools for not having protected ourselves in the first place"

well, that would include the NSA, unless China would suddenly loose all interest industrial, security, and military intelligence. Unless you close the internet as well, that is not going to happen.

Look I am more Free trade than Fair trade, but I think we share the same general goals. Good Paying Jobs, Job Security, the right to collective bargaining, comprehensive social welfare, and above all, a real redistribution of wealth away from the rich, powerful and web of corporate interests, that so compromise Government, let alone good Government,.

I don't care if that means more or less manufacturing in the US. Double the minimum wage over four years, and get the jobs in the Public Investment the US so desperately needs. All in all, if China can construct a high speed rail network right across the country, and the US can't even get one line together, fair trade won't cut it either. I am less caught up with how many televisions are made stateside.

You you don't even have to start with taxes; Take half the spending, and resources devoted to the military, and redeploy them productive investments, End the Forever War and get back to work.

You know, other than welfare, none of this would have been news to President Eisenhower. And it's no news to the Germans, who rather like their free trade. A Lot.