The #Israel Mahjong league is planning a fundraiser to help the #Alzheimer’s Association and help those suffering from the disease. https://t.co/oE2FoKPTbv
— The Jerusalem Post (@Jerusalem_Post) June 1, 2021
JAMES M. DORSEY: Chinese access to the Syrian Mediterranean Sea ports of Tartus and Latakia is an attractive prospect for China’s multi~billion~dollar infrastructure, telecommunications, and energy~driven initiative, which seeks to link Eurasia to the People’s Republic. It would complement Beijing’s footholds in Greece’s Piraeus and the Israeli harbors of Haifa and Ashdod, and would anchor Syria as a key point on the ancient Silk Road.
PAUL GOBLE: In mid~July, China dispatched its Snow Dragon~2 icebreaker to the Northern Sea Route (NSR). This action marks yet another step toward realizing Beijing’s longstanding plans to displace Moscow as the dominant power in the Arctic as well as to establish Chinese preeminence on that west~east maritime corridor, which hugs Russia’s northern coast (see EDM, June 12, 2019 and September 3, 2019).
All earlier visits were made by the Snow Dragon~1.
China “respects the sovereignty of Arctic nations” but wants to expand its presence and cooperation with them on what Beijing’s leaders call the “Polar Silk Road” (The Barents Observer, May 14, 2019).
NENGYE LIU: China began its first Antarctic expedition in 1983, then gradually expanded its presence in the continent and adjacent waters. So far, China has four Antarctic stations (Great Wall, Zhongshan, Taishan Summer Camp, and Kunlun/Dome A), with a fifth station being built on the Ross Sea Ice Shelf, to be completed in 2022.
