BRKG Confirmed: Executive order from @POTUS amending EO 13959, which went into effect today at 9:30am ET.

marsh

On TB every waking moment
This is the EO signed on the 12th Executive Order on Amending Executive Order 13959–Addressing the Threat from Securities Investments that Finance Communist Chinese Military Companies | The White House

Executive Order on Amending Executive Order 13959–Addressing the Threat from Securities Investments that Finance Communist Chinese Military Companies
NATIONAL SECURITY & DEFENSE

Issued on: January 13, 2021
ALL NEWS
By the authority vested in me as President by the Constitution and the laws of the United States of America, including the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (50 U.S.C. 1701 et seq.), the National Emergencies Act (50 U.S.C. 1601 et seq.), and section 301 of title 3, United States Code,
I, DONALD J. TRUMP, President of the United States of America, in order to take additional steps with respect to the national emergency declared in Executive Order 13959 of November 12, 2020 (Addressing the Threat from Securities Investments that Finance Communist Chinese Military Companies), to address the threat posed by the People’s Republic of China’s military-industrial complex, hereby order as follows:
Section 1. Section 1(b) and (c) of Executive Order 13959 are amended to read as follows:
“(b) Notwithstanding subsection (a)(i) of this section, any transaction entered into on or before 11:59 p.m. eastern standard time on November 11, 2021, solely to divest, in whole or in part, from securities that any United States person held as of 9:30 a.m. eastern standard time on January 11, 2021, in a Communist Chinese military company as defined in section 4(a)(i) of this order, is permitted. Effective at 11:59 p.m. eastern standard time on November 11, 2021, possession of any such securities by a United States person is prohibited.
(c) Notwithstanding subsection (a)(ii) of this section, for a person determined to be a Communist Chinese military company pursuant to section 4(a)(ii) or (iii) of this order, any transaction entered into on or before 365 days from the date of such determination, solely to divest, in whole or in part, from securities that any United States person held in such person, as of the date 60 days from the date of such determination, is permitted. Effective at 11:59 p.m. eastern standard time on the date 365 days after the date of such determination, possession of any such securities by a United States person is prohibited.”
Sec. 2. Subsections (a)(ii) and (iii) of section 4 of Executive Order 13959 are amended to read as follows:
“(ii) any person that the Secretary of Defense, in consultation with the Secretary of the Treasury, publicly lists as a Communist Chinese military company meeting the criteria in section 1237(b)(4)(B) of Public Law 105-261, as amended by section 1233 of Public Law 106-398 and section 1222 of Public Law 108‑375, and that operates directly or indirectly in the United States or any of its possessions, until such time as the Secretary of Defense removes such person from such list. This definition shall apply regardless of whether the Secretary of Defense must provide the report described in section 1237(b)(2) of Public Law 105-261, as amended by section 1233 of Public Law 106-398 and section 1222 of Public Law 108-375; or
(iii) any person that the Secretary of the Treasury publicly lists as meeting the criteria described in section (a)(ii) of this section, or publicly lists as a subsidiary of a person already determined to be a Communist Chinese military company, until the Secretary of the Treasury determines that such person no longer meets that criteria and removes such person from such list.”
Sec. 3. Section 4(e) of Executive Order 13959 is amended to read as follows:
“(e) the term “transaction” means the purchase for value, or sale, of any publicly traded security; and”.
Sec. 4. General Provisions. (a) Nothing in this order shall be construed to impair or otherwise affect:
(i) the authority granted by law to an executive department or agency, or the head thereof; or
(ii) the functions of the Director of the Office of Management and Budget relating to budgetary, administrative, or legislative proposals.
(b) This order shall be implemented consistent with applicable law and subject to the availability of appropriations.
(c) This order is not intended to, and does not, create any right or benefit, substantive or procedural, enforceable at law or in equity by any party against the United States, its departments, agencies, or entities, its officers, employees, or agents, or any other person.
DONALD J. TRUMP
THE WHITE HOUSE,
January 13, 2021.

______________________

This is his communications letter
Text of a Letter to the Speaker of the House of Representatives and the President of the Senate
NATIONAL SECURITY & DEFENSE

Issued on: January 13, 2021
https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefings-statements/text-letter-speaker-house-representatives-president-senate-011321/

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Dear Madam Speaker: (Dear Mr. President:)
Pursuant to the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (50 U.S.C. 1701 et seq.) (IEEPA), the National Emergencies Act (50 U.S.C. 1601 et seq.), and section 301 of title 3, United States Code, I hereby report that I have issued an Executive Order taking further steps to deal with the threat posed by the People’s Republic of China’s (PRC) increasing exploitation of United States capital to resource and to enable the development and modernization of its military, intelligence, and other security apparatuses which continue to allow the PRC to directly threaten the United States homeland and United States forces overseas, including by developing and deploying weapons of mass destruction, advanced conventional weapons, and malicious cyber-enabled actions against the United States and its people.
Through the national strategy of Military-Civil Fusion, the PRC increases the size of the country’s military-industrial complex by compelling civilian Chinese companies to support its military and intelligence activities. Those companies, though remaining ostensibly private and civilian, directly support the PRC’s military, intelligence, and security apparatuses and aid in their development and modernization. At the same time, they raise capital by selling securities to United States investors that trade on public exchanges both here and abroad, lobbying United States index providers and funds to include these securities in market offerings, and engaging in other acts to ensure access to United States capital. In that way, the PRC exploits United States investors to finance the development and modernization of its military.
To deal with that threat, I signed Executive Order 13959 on November 12, 2020. Executive Order 13959 prohibits certain purchases involving publicly traded securities, or any securities that are derivative of, or are designed to provide investment exposure to such securities, of any Communist Chinese military company. Those companies are ones the Department of Defense has listed, or will list, pursuant to section 1237 of Public Law 105-261, as amended, or are identified as Communist Chinese military companies or their subsidiaries by the Secretary of the Treasury using similar criteria.
Today, I signed an Executive Order amending Executive Order 13959. The amendments prohibit certain sales as well as purchases of publicly traded securities, or any securities that are derivative of, or are designed to provide investment exposure to such securities, of any Communist Chinese military company. They also prohibit possession of such securities by United States persons 1 year after a company is determined to be a Communist Chinese military company. And, finally, they allow the Secretary of Defense publicly to list whether a company is a Communist Chinese military company using the criteria in section 1237(b)(4)(B) of Public Law 105-261, as amended by section 1233 of Public Law 106-398 and section 1222 of Public Law 108‑375, regardless of whether the Secretary must report that determination under section 1237(b)(2).
I am enclosing a copy of the Executive Order I have issued.
Sincerely,
DONALD J. TRUMP
 

marsh

On TB every waking moment
The big news was the release of the strategy


Trump Declassifies Sensitive Document On Strategy To 'Defend, Dominate, Deny' Indo-Pacific From China

WEDNESDAY, JAN 13, 2021 - 17:45
Given everything else going on in a news cycle dominated by last week's Capitol Hill mayhem and Pelosi's push to impeach, there's been little notice given to the perhaps unexpected Trump administration declassification of a highly sensitive national security document that lays out the White House's strategy for countering China.

It was made public late in the day Tuesday, already generating headlines in Japan, Australia and other regional publications, even while major US media is relatively silent. Previously classified SECRET and not for release to foreign nationals, it details the Trump administration’s strategy for the Indo-Pacific region, including to defend, dominate, and deny Chinese military expansion.

In releasing the full text, minus a few minimal redactions, the document has been made public a full thirty years early (according to standard declassification and public records procedures). National security adviser Robert O’Brien said in a statement announcing its public release that it provides "overarching strategic guidance" for US forces in the region and "demonstrates, with transparency, America’s strategic commitments to the Indo-Pacific and to our allies and partners."


The ten page document identifies the following as a top national security challenge: "How to maintain U.S. strategic primacy in the Indo-Pacific region and promote a liberal economic order while preventing China from establishing new, illiberal spheres of influence."

A central means in achieving this is to "devise and implement a defense strategy capable of, but not limited to":
  1. denying China sustained air and sea dominance inside the ‘first island chain’ in a conflict;
  2. defending the first island chain nations, including Taiwan; and
  3. dominating all domains outside the first island chain.
These are among the most blunt strategic actions spelled out in the document that are sure to provoke the ire of Beijing and PLA military leadership.
The #US has declassified a report outlining its strategy in the Indo-Pacific region, focusing on countering #Chinese dominance, including providing support to the #Taiwanese government. For background on #China-#Taiwan tensions (and the US role), read: China-Taiwan Tensions: The Delicate Status Quo is Fraying pic.twitter.com/rxB2ZNZ0zF
— TRT World Research Centre (@TRTWorldRC) January 13, 2021
Here's what Rabobank had to say of the newly released Trump strategy:
To say that this will not go down well with China, or that China will not be happy that Australia and Japan helped drive this, is an understatement.
Of course, we now have the Biden administration: will there be a reversal of the parting of the ways? Consider the following Axios story, which certainly shows just how near the two have been up until now: “President-elect Joe Biden’s inaugural committee will refund a donation from former Senator Barbara Boxer after the California Democrat registered as a foreign agent for a Chinese surveillance firm accused of abetting the country’s mass internment of Uighur Muslims.”
Concerning key US regional partners the document calls for the US to "accelerate India's rise and capacity to serve as a net provider of security", implement "a quadrilateral security framework with India, Japan, Australia, and the United States" and further deepen "trilateral co-operation with Japan and Australia".

While pushing to keep US "diplomatic, economic, and military preeminence" in the region, it calls for the US to "align our Indo-Pacific strategy with those of Australia, India and Japan" as well as "a strengthened Association of Southeast Asian Nations" to counter Chinese influence.
US has declassified 2018 vintage of Indo-Pacific strategy
• Narrative was already (to an almost obsessive point) centred around China (and to a lesser extent Korean peninsula)
• Lot of emphasis on need for partnership with India, much less with Japan and South Korea pic.twitter.com/Td63mPm9bq
— Agathe Demarais (@AgatheDemarais) January 13, 2021
It's being met with mixed reactions among China watchers and geopolitical analysts. One critic who cites the good and bad for America's regional allies - particularly Australia - is Rory Medcalf, the head of the National Security College at the Australian National University:
"This means steady support for allies and partners, rather than the pursuit of some shaky all-round U.S. primacy," he said.
Some, however, said they saw little new in the document or how it would reassure American allies. Skeptics said that the decision to declassify now is an obvious push for policy continuity amid concerns that a Biden administration may not yet be committed to challenging China’s bid for dominance as strongly as Trump.
"It would be one thing if there was a secret unified field theory that explained the caprice of Trump’s Asia policy, but this is just a bunch of banal, bureaucratic buzzwords," said Van Jackson, a senior lecturer in international relations at Victoria University of Wellington. "The generous interpretation is that the administration is trying to tie Biden’s hands by releasing this now, but it seems like a poor strategy because there’s nothing in it that would constrain Biden."
But Medcalf said the declassified framework would have enduring value as the beginning of a whole-of-government blueprint for handling the U.S. strategic rivalry with China.
Medcalf noted further that "It’s surely no bad thing to salvage the few achievements of an otherwise grim era in American foreign policy, while laying down some markers for the incoming administration," according to The Japan Times.

Meanwhile, Joe Biden has previously vowed that his administration would "get tough" on China, likely also through shoring up regional alliances akin to what's emphasized in the document. Trump has up to now tried to box the new administration in on China. No doubt the release of this strategy document is in part another significant step in piling on the pressure both in regards Biden's foreign policy team and Beijing.
 

Samuel Adams

Has No Life - Lives on TB
Well, how I am supposed to reply to that? Am I allowed to give proof/examples? Or, if I did, would I get in trouble?

I am not stating this for no reasons.

Here is one:

View attachment 246007

Not sure how I’d reply to that, but if I had said the same to you or any other poster in response to their message.....

Three guesses as to which mod would be the first to come a bustin’ through the brush, snortin’ and a squealin’, to tear me a new one.

:chg:


Yeah, gotta say that I was a bit surprised to see that even our most aggressive mod (in my experience) has given in to the stresses of the day.

:eek:
 

Sammy55

Veteran Member
Well, how I am supposed to reply to that? Am I allowed to give proof/examples? Or, if I did, would I get in trouble?

I am not stating this for no reasons.

Here is one:

View attachment 246007
I have shaken the hands of people that I would gladly go to court against. A handshake is nothing but a courtesy gesture.

If you want proof, here's some....

The fact that the Dems and Deep State HATE DJT so bad and want him gone ASAP...

The fact that they tried to dig everything and anything they could up on DJT and hit nothing they could use...

The fact that even though DJT had some contact of some form with Epstein, the Dems couldn't find anything that they could present to the public as truth that would make everyone revolt against DJT...

The fact that DJT did SO MUCH GOOD for our country during his four years...

The fact that DJT told the U.S. people every chance he got that he loved us and was fighting for us and our country, and his actions followed his words. Never saw that with any other politician, especially Dems....

Now, I'm waiting to see what you dig up for proof that he's part of the Deep State....

(ETA: I agree with Summerthyme....)
 

rob0126

Veteran Member
In defense of Tammy, I must admit that I too have had a suspicion that Trump may be playing a masterful role in the plan to divide and conquer this once great Nation

Ive pondered this myself for a long time.

Only time will tell.

And I hope not.
 
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