Kazakhstan
Friday 1 December 2023
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"Funded by the United States Defense Threat Reduction Agency (DTRA), the Central Reference Laboratory near Almaty, Kazakhstan's most populous metropolis, is researching lethal pathogens that could be used in bio-terrorist attacks like plague and cholera, according to media reports."
The lab, funded by the U.S., is researching lethal pathogens that could have dual-use purposes. The goal, however, is exactly the opposite: to study these dangerous pathogens and prevent them from being misused or becoming the next epidemic. -
“We remind you that Russia, throughout all of its history, has never attacked anyone.”
Russia has engaged in numerous offensive military operations against its neighbors and others. Now, it’s rolling troops into Ukraine. -
“In a verbal message to Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev, Xi said China strongly rejects any attempt by external forces to provoke unrest and instigate ’color revolutions‘ in Kazakhstan…”
There is no evidence the protests, sparked by fuel prices, were “provoked” by external forces. Kazakhstan has good relations with the West. -
Kazakhstan has a “multiparty democratic system and open civil society.”
Kazakhstan had the same president from 1991 until 2019 and has been credibly accused of electoral and civil rights failings. -
“The city administration’s office reported that no one welded the front door [shut]. They only welded a latch to it from the outside.”
The city of Aktau, Kazakhstan, dismissed as incorrect social media posts showing that the doors of apartment buildings where people with COVID-19 live had been sealed from the outside. To prove it, the city posted its own Instagram video – confirming that it’s been locking people inside. -
“Probably, the level of integration in the CIS format is not the same as in the Eurasian Union... But this is a common story. These are, as we say, variable-speed tracks of integration.”
Looking at all of Russia’s main trading partners, only one has seen the share of trade dramatically increase over the past decade. -
"I understand that some countries would like to forget as soon as possible about the role that they played in the years of prior to World War II. However, I deem those attempts to accuse us of militarizing public opinion as offensive."
Many countries distort or omit inconvenient facts from their pre-World War II history, but Russia has all but eliminated the most difficult discussions from its state education system. One man was even fined for posting factual information. -
"The decision is clearly political in its nature and, as a matter of fact, is practically censorship — seven [Facebook] pages belonging to our news hubs in neighboring countries have been blocked.”
Sputnik cried “censorship” after Facebook removed 364 Facebook pages and accounts for engaging in “coordinated inauthentic behavior.” But while Sputnik charged the pages were removed for their politically-motivated content, Facebook says it was a matter of “misrepresentations of their identities.” -
“I note that we’ve never, even in the days of tsarist Russia, killed people for dissent. This, by the way, is the great strength of our people.”
Tsarist Russia and the Soviet Union have persecuted dissidents, sometimes using capital punishment. Modern Russia has abolished the death penalty, although a number of dissidents and journalists have been murdered, their cases remaining unsolved. -
“We love and are proud of President Vladimir Putin, because he is a friend of Palestine and not only Palestine, but all the people who are seeking freedom. President Putin succeeded in restoring Russia’s authority in the international arena and forced all to respect Russia.”
Independent polls show trust and respect for Russia and its president has significantly decreased globally. Under Vladimir Putin’s leadership, Russia has suppressed insurgencies in Chechnya and in Syria. Moscow has lost its membership or voting privileges in multiple international organizations. -
“…the proportion of people who want friendship between Russia and Ukraine remained the same over the past 10 years. This is despite a campaign of anti-Russian propaganda in Ukraine and numerous infringements of Russian speakers’ rights which have been taking place since the 2014 replacement of the lawfully-elected Ukrainian government with a pro-Western regime in the course of violent protests known as ‘Maidan’.”
Attitudes: Russians actually hold a more negative view of Ukrainians than the reverse. Pollsters from both countries know why. The "negative tint of propaganda" directed at Ukraine, they say. -
“Legal religious activities are not only allowed in any region of China, but also well protected. However in an attempt to divide China's national unity, many Western forces have repeatedly made an issue of the country's religious freedom, making groundless claims that religious groups are suppressed in China.”
A human rights organization and the media cite evidence from inside China and eyewitnesses that members of Muslim minorities are subject to surveillance, arrest, and “reeducation camps” due to their religious affiliation.