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Suspension of pork imports from Canadian plant

The suspension of imported pork from Canadian pork supplier Maple Leaf Foods will result in very limited impacts on the Chinese market as pork imports from Canada only represent a small proportion of the country’s meat supply, said one industry insider.

The insider’s remarks come after Maple Leaf Foods announced they will suspend pork exports to China following a recent coronavirus outbreak there, according to the company’s statement on August 18.

“Maple Leaf Foods has temporarily suspended pork exports to China on a voluntary basis due to recent protocols adopted by the Chinese government for Canadian processors,” said the statement.

The protocol requires any plant reporting a COVID-19 positive case suspend exports to China temporarily.

“We respect China’s new import protocols for Canadian products and are working cooperatively with Canadian and Chinese authorities to resume exports quickly,” said Michael McCain, president and CEO, in the statement.

China purchased around C$609 million ($462.7 million) of pork in 2019, making it Canada’s third-largest pork market in terms of both value and volume, according to a Reuters report Wednesday, citing industry data.

“Reducing Canadian imports will have little impact on China’s meat market and prices,” Gao Guan, deputy director of the China Meat Association (CMA), told the Global Times on Thursday, noting that Canada ranks below the top five pork importers in China, with Brazil, the US and Germany among the top five.

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Story of a lost Siberian crane

一部由生態工程專家邱銘源先生所拍的「西伯利亞迷失小白鶴與老農夫的故事」影片，獲得網友的共鳴，邱銘源先生把這則真實的故事，由一隻鳥改變了一個農夫，也稍稍的改變了一塊濕地的未來，讓生態保育延續，啟發了現代人生活在「富裕」的環境中，應有的覺醒，也喚回台灣最美麗的風景。 影片講述:西伯利亞白鶴，在過去1、2百年從沒有在台灣落腳，它第一次出現，它是全世界十幾種鶴裡面，最危急、最危險頻臨滅絕的物種，全世界大槪只有4、5千隻而已。 2014年底，一隻西伯利亞小白鶴迷途到金山，兩個老農夫無私的提供農地做為白鶴的家，因為白鶴來到，老人開始放水復耕，讓小白鶴有夠的食物，甚至為了它的安全開始不用農藥，金山也開始推動友善的農業，新北市政府甚至還派了保全來保護小白鶴的安全. 一隻鳥改變了一個農夫，也稍稍的改變了一塊濕地的未來，老農夫與白鶴情同祖孫，每天相依為命，人與鳥的畫面，成為蓮花田裡面最美麗的風景，颱風侵襲台灣時，老農夫不斷叮嚀小鶴要注意安全. 小白鶴蹺家弗到松山車站，老農夫更是擔心得三天睡不著覺，(後來被台北市動保處抓回去)，老農很想帶著魚蝦去望它，擔心它一被終身監禁一關就是90年，最後在動物園及大家的努力下，小白鶴終於回到了金山. 漸漸的它長大了，也開始懷念家鄉，懷念它的爸爸媽媽，經了521天等待，它終於鼓起勇氣高飛，踏上歸鄉的路，老農在小鶴離開後，決定擴大友善耕作面積，到2018年，在大家的努力下，金山已增加了20倍的友善耕作面積，所有人都希望白鶴能帶著它的家人，回到這片充滿思念的土地，這是一隻鳥、一群人奮力改變台灣美麗的故事。」
永久網址: https://www.travelnews.tw/news/?p=112502

https://www.facebook.com/amemorableLine/videos/772889363510580/?t=14
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Former CIA Officer Arrested, Charged With Spying for China – US Justice Department

Former CIA Officer Alexander Yuk Ching Ma was arrested by federal authorities on August 14 and charged with “conspiracy to communicate national defense information to aid a foreign government,” according to a Monday release from the US Department of Justice.
Authorities say the two relatives met with Chinese officials over the course of three days in 2001 and provided them with information on CIA “personnel, operations, and methods of concealing communications.” The release alleges that part of one engagement was recorded, showing Ma accepting and counting $50,000 in cash.
Ma, who was born in Hong Kong and became a naturalized US citizen, began his career with the civilian foreign intelligence service in 1982 and maintained a Top Secret clearance until he left the service in 1989.

Looks like there will be an exchange for Ma and the US agents (Jimmy Lai? or someone not as significant) caught in Hong Kong.

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China revealed a domestically developed airborne munitions dispenser

China has revealed a type of domestically developed airborne munitions dispenser, a hybrid weapon that lies between an air-to-ground missile and a guided bomb droppable by an aircraft from a safe distance, that can release hundreds of submunitions that cover a large area.

https://www.facebook.com/john.roughlife.3/videos/585545408790700/?t=1

Formally classified as a guided glide dispenser bomb, this highly accurate, modularized weapon weighs 500 kilograms. While it looks like a missile, it has a square cross-section to hold more submunitions. This design can also reduce the weapon’s radar cross-section, enhancing the weapon’s stealth capability, making it more difficult to intercept.

When dropped, the dispenser can open its wings, which can provide extra lift force and controllability and allow it to have a range of more than 60 kilometers, this means the aircraft carrying it can safely drop the weapon without entering the enemy’s air defense zone.

Each dispenser can carry six types of 240 submunitions, which when released will cover more than 6,000 square meters.

When attacking groups of tanks and armored vehicles, the dispenser can use anti-tank submunitions that can penetrate tanks’ armor from the top, or it can equip regional lockdown submunitions when attacking large facilities like airfields.

A typical munitions dispenser like this can disable an airfield for an extended period with only one shot, because the sheer number of submunitions means the whole runway will be destroyed. It is also possible that some of the submunitions will be mines, which will make attempts to repair the runway very risky.

This will provide crucial battle opportunities, because it means the enemy would not be able to make any warplane sorties, and the user of the dispenser can seize air superiority and gain tactical and even strategic advantages.

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Trudeau, Morneau clashing over green initiatives and coronavirus spending

Morneau’s resistance to expensive environmental initiatives reflects his roots in Bay Street, and a view held among right-leaning Liberals that deficits are out of control.

“The idea of greening the economy just by spending money on every project you have in front of you is not really serious,” said a source sympathetic to Morneau’s position.

Possible budget measures range from investments to help provinces reduce their carbon footprint, boosting research into clean technology and encouraging the construction of efficient buildings.

Morneau, who has been embroiled in a recent scandal over the “We” charity that paid for him and his family’s expenses during a trip abroad, paid the $41,000 fee on the same day he was questioned by the Parliamentary Finance Committee recently. Since then, he has been under pressure to resign.

Morneau is stepping down from his post as Canada’s finance minister and as Member of Parliament for Toronto Centre. Morneau made the announcement during a press conference on Parliament Hill Monday evening.

Morneau replaced by this, Canada is going downhill fast.

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A Project Over 474 billion yuans announced

The Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area will implement 13 intercity railway projects with a total mileage of about 775 kilometers, as well as five integrated transport hub projects, with a planned total investment of 474.1 billion yuan. The newly approved railway construction plan will build a multi-level railway network with high-speed railways, general-speed railways and suburban railways in the Greater Bay Area, to form a transportation circle with one-hour access between major cities in the Greater Bay Area, two-hour access between major cities and inland cities in Guangdong Province, and three-hour access between major cities and neighboring provincial capitals, thus creating a “Greater Bay Area on a track”.