• US de facto occupies part of Syria, hinders humanitarian aid
• Pompeo, de Mistura discuss need for unhindered aid access in Syria - after months of US refusing aid deliveries
• Refugees fleeing US controlled Rukban camp seek safety, food and shelter from Syrian government
• FM Safadi: Russia, Jordan, US seek return of Rukban Camp refugees
• UN refugee agency finally agrees with Russia: Terrorists in Rukban camp are using civilians as human shields

The December 1 arrest of Meng Wanzhou and a number of other incidents on that day gave raise to a number of interesting conspiracy theories in the Chinese web sphere (via Peter Lee, links added):

Red @OmeletteRed - 19:09 utc- 6 Dec 2018

A great explanation of the Huawei Kidnapping, written by a comrade in the Deng Gang Central discord. There may be a lot more than meets the eye in Canada's shock arrest, at US behest, of Huawei's CFO and heir apparent Meng Wanzhou (link below).

Chinese sources have assembled the following facts:

• April 2017: A director of Chinese tech giant Huawei personally escorted famed Shanghai-born physicist Zhang Shoucheng from the latter's hotel in Shenzhen. Jackson & Wood Professor of Physics at Stanford University, Zhang was in town to attend an IT summit.
• Sept. 2018: Prof. Zhang receives a European physics award, one of his many honors. His work in quantum physics is expected to revolutionize the global semiconductor industry. Yang Zhenning, the first Chinese scientist to receive the Nobel Physics Prize (1957), had predicted that Zhang would be the next one.
• Dec. 1, 2018: Prof. Zhang and Meng Wanzhou are expected to attend a dinner in Argentina, where the G20 summit is being held.
• Dec. 1, 2018: On her way there, Meng is arrested in transit by the Canadian government.
• Dec. 1, 2018: Prof. Zhang falls to his death from a building in the US, allegedly a suicide. Said to be suffering from depression, he was 55.
• Dec. 1, 2018: A nighttime fire breaks out at a factory of Holland's ASML, the world's leading manufacturer of extreme ultraviolet (EUV) lithography technology. EUV is crucial to the production of the next generation of semi-conductors, which US and Chinese tech firms as well as Korea's Samsung are competing to be first to bring to market. Leading Chinese semiconductor producer SMIC is known to have ordered EUV technology worth US$120 million from ASML, for scheduled delivery early in 2019. After the fire, ASML announced that it expected delays in shipments of its products, notably early 2019.

Prof. Zhang was also a venture capitalist. He was a founding partner of a Silicon Valley-based fund investing primarily in early-stage technologies. Danhua Capital, also known as Digital Horizon Capital, holds shares in Silicon's Valley's start-ups who work on artificial intelligence, cybersecurity, and drones. Danhua is backed by Zhongguancun Development Group, a state-owned entity funded by the Beijing municipal government. The company has come under scrutiny of the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS) which suspects (pdf) that its purpose is to pilfer critical U.S. know how and to transfer it to China.

Zhang's family says that his death had nothing to do with U.S.-China tensions.

...U.S. allegations of sanction violations can always be made up from hot air. They are certainly not the real reason why Meng Wanzhou has come under fire. The White House even admitted such.

Meng Wanzhou was taken hostage to be used as leverage in China trade talks. The 'leverage' could also be used to push Huawei into providing the NSA with back doors to its equipment. This is the policy style of Somali pirates or Saudi clown princes. The ruthlessness of this blackmail operation is breath taking. It is typical of neo-conservative behavior to use such extreme measures. Trump's foreign policy is run by neo-conservatives and they are again, like when they faked intelligence to lay the grounds to invade Iraq, creating huge damage:

Melania was right when she told an interviewer in Africa that her husband is surrounded by enemies within his administration. These are people who either opposed him during the 2016 campaign season or who signed up early in the campaign with an expectation that they could get jobs in a Trump Administration and in both cases understood that a president not accustomed to thinking seriously about other than business hustle could be manipulated or deceived in pursuit of their own agenda rather than his or that of the "deplorables."

These people are the neocon incubi and succubi who seek an even more dominant hegemonic role in the world for the US. They are out and out imperialists of a kind not seen since the time of McKinley and the US-Filipino War.
...
Bolton, Pompeo, his new helpmate Mary Kissel, dozens and dozens of Obama globalist holdovers, and people who find Trump's boorish ways repulsive, they all are undermining the administration from within and Trump does nothing about it.
...
Is Trump competent in such matters as tax policy, regulatory reform and trade negotiations? I think he is, but he is allowing the neocons to destroy the possibility of rational political relations in Europe and the Middle East.

... and with China.

Additionally, within his 'interview' Comey confirmed our previous hunch on a very specific redaction within the Nunes memo:

• Comey clueless about the FISA warrant Hillary bought
• Comey admits FBI failed to verify Steele Dossier it used to obtain a spy warrant on Carter Page, Trump says Comey told 245 lies
• Grilled for six hours, Comey to be called back for more questioning in closed-door House hearing

• Pro-Trump author detained by FBI, subpoenaed to testify in Mueller special counsel
• Conservative 'conspiracy writer' Jerome Corsi negotiating plea deal with Mueller
• Conservative writer Corsi files criminal complaint against Mueller for pressuring him to give 'false testimony'
• New book 'Partners in Crime': Clinton Foundation is 'a vast, criminal conspiracy' and 'a slush fund for grifters'

• May pulls vote on Brexit deal following threats of revolt, last minute changes and Article 50
• Gollum actor Andy Serkis trolls Theresa May in hilarious Brexit video: "We's in a nasty mess my precioussss"
• Twitter outraged after British MP suggests threatening Ireland with food shortages over Brexit

Trump's Chief of Staff post in the air after his top pick refuses to replace Kelly

[...]

Ayer's refusal adds to uncertainty at the White House, as the 36-year-old prepares to leave the administration leaving it unclear who will take over John Kelly. With the Democrats prepared to take control of the House next month, Trump is pressed for time in selecting competent staff.

[...]

Trump announced Saturday that his former secretary of Homeland Security and White House chief of staff John Kelly would be leaving at the end of the year. Although Trump's relationship with Kelly remains cordial on the surface, some sources suggest it had been steadily deteriorating. Trump said he would name a replacement "over the next day or two."

Kelly's ouster is just the latest in a presidency plagued with firings and resignations, often made more bitter by the ex-staffers personal feuds with Trump. On Friday, Trump published a tweet calling his former Secretary of State Rex Tillerson "dumb as a rock". While several State Department positions remain unfilled, Trump has made some questionable picks for high-level positions, including the selection of Heather Nauert, a former Fox News anchor, as ambassador to the UN.

• MSM is getting weirder, more frantic, and more desperate by the day
• Just like big pharma, there is no penalty for malpractice when the MSM lies
• Study finds MSM's Trump coverage just hit 92% negative ahead of midterms
• How an American anthropologist tied to US regime-change proxies became the MSM's guy in Nicaragua
• MSM twists quote about Democrats mocking Bill Clinton abuse victim to apply to Kavanaugh defenders
• WikiLeaks skewers Guardian writer for zany theory that RT is, wait for it... reporting news
• Venezuela hatchet job show how far The Guardian has fallen
• Fake News outlet The Guardian ups its vilification of Julian Assange
• Actual Fake News: The Guardian/Politico Psy-op Against Wikileaks

Theresa May to address Parliament on Brexit amid reports key vote will be postponed

Theresa May has reportedly canceled the parliamentary vote on her EU Withdrawal Deal, a day before it was scheduled to take place. The PM is set to address Parliament later this afternoon.

Earlier on Monday, a spokesperson for May claimed that the vote would be going ahead as planned. Minutes later, Bloomberg and the Telegraph claimed that sources had revealed that the vote would now be delayed.

Unnamed sources referenced by Sky News and the BBC's political editor, among others, said that the vote had been called off.

Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn has slammed May for canceling the crucial vote, claiming the PM has had to delay her own government's vote because her Brexit deal is "disastrous."

While SNP leader, Nicola Sturgeon, tweeted: "if rumours of a delay are correct, it will be pathetic cowardice..."

The alleged U-turn has led to accusations that the government is in 'chaos'.

[...]

May is set to address the Commons at 3:30pm, after which MPs will hear a statement from Leader of House Andrea Leadsom, who may formally pull the vote.

The PM was facing near certain defeat on the historic bill. More than 100 Tory backbenchers signaled they would vote against her, along with her Northern Irish allies, the DUP and Labour.

If May lost the vote she could have been ousted as leader, with her multiple cabinet ministers refusing to rule out a leadership challenge over the weekend.

In the wake of reports that the Brexit vote had been called off, sterling fell 0.4 percent against the US dollar to $1.26, the Press Association reports. Against the euro, the pound was down 0.6 percent at €1.10.

Javid circling May, ready to launch leadership bid if PM's 's*** Brexit deal' is defeated

British Home Secretary Sajid Javid is apparently preparing to launch a leadership challenge this week, in case Theresa May's Brexit deal is defeated in the House of Commons and she is axed as PM, with Tory rivals ready to pounce.

Javid is building a team of ministers in a bid to ready himself for the top job ahead of Tuesday's crucial Brexit vote in Parliament which could potentially seal the fate of the beleaguered prime minister, the Daily Mail reports.

If successful, Javid would become the first non-white prime minister in UK history. One Cabinet minister told The Sun: "Sajid is tapping us up. He is very direct, but he's not offering jobs yet, which wouldn't be a good look."

Another senior Tory claims Javid thinks May's "Brexit deal is s***," and that "she'll be forced out when it falls, and he is then going to declare immediately," according to the paper.

The revelation comes as a string of Tory contenders are reportedly jostling for May's crown with the PM facing a week that could see the end of her reign.

Javid and Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt are both said to be testing the water with Tory colleagues on whether they would support any potential leadership bid, it is alleged.

Boris Johnson, meanwhile, fueled speculation that he is positioning himself to be the next PM, after refusing to rule out challenging May on the BBC's Andrew Marr show on Sunday. The former foreign secretary added to the rumors, by doing away with his idiosyncratic messy hair look, in favour of a new haircut dubbed by TV presenter Piers Morgan as "a smart prime ministerial crop."

Brexiteers, former Brexit Secretary Dominic Raab and former Work and Pensions Sec Esther McVey have also not ruled out running for leadership of the Conservatives in interviews on Sky News' Sophie Ridge on Sunday show. McVey insisted: "If people asked me, then of course you'd give it serious consideration."

It comes after reports that May has been considering whether to delay the Brexit vote in a desperate attempt to renegotiate a deal with Brussels which could command the support of Parliament, after fears she could be heading for a heavy defeat in the House of Commons on Tuesday.

• Brexit: A Political Farce Based on a Public Lie
• May refuses to delay vote on Brexit deal despite near-certain defeat, so why is she doing it?

Canada's treatment of Meng Wanzhou in violation of human rights

© ReutersMeng Wanzhou

Meng Wanzhou, chief financial officer of Huawei Technologies, had her bail hearing Friday in the British Columbia Supreme Court in Vancouver, Canada. The hearing was adjourned with no decision made on bail, and will resume at 1 pm on Monday.

Court reporters said she was not handcuffed for the hearing and was wearing a green sweatsuit. She seems to be getting humane treatment, but these are only illusions on the surface.

A source familiar with the case told Global Times that since Meng was detained by Canadian police on December 1, she has been subjected to rude and degrading treatment. She was immediately handcuffed at the airport and taken to a detention facility. She was also cuffed on her way to and from hospital from the facility. It is worth noting that Meng was wearing ankle braces when she was taken to the correction center after her first bail hearing.

In the absence of a conviction by trial, Meng was put into restraining devices used on felons. Treating her as a prisoner is not only degrading, but is also a violation of her basic human rights.

Global Times has learnt that Meng had surgery in May to remove her thyroid gland. She also has high blood pressure which requires daily medication. It seems that the Canadian detention facility is not offering her the necessary health care.

Canadian police have treated Meng in such an inhumane way by putting her in handcuffs and ankle braces without conviction. The Chinese public, who are very concerned about this matter, find it hard to believe that Meng was treated in such way, especially in Canada. Canada is a country well-known for emphasizing human rights and the rule of law. How can they do such things that are only done in an uncivilized and barbaric country?

There is no doubt that Canada is on the wrong side in this case. To describe with an old Chinese saying, such behaviors are like holding a candle for the devil. Meng did not violate any Canadian law. US authorities are accusing her of violating US domestic laws, but it is still unknown if the US side can provide sufficient evidence to prove their accusations are valid.

The Canadian prosecution accused Meng of being a director in a subsidiary that was decoupled from Huawei, and that the company has sold computer equipment to Iran in violation of US sanctions on Iran. There is huge controversy over the facts as stated by the prosecution. In any case, even if the US found some so-called evidence, the nature of such a case still leaves a lot of room for legal debate.

As of now, most of the cases concerning foreign companies violating US bans on Iran have been dealt with by fines and sanctions. And it is not just one or two companies - many European companies have been involved. The EU still encourages European companies not to withdraw from Iran. Does that mean executives from these companies should all be arrested and put into detention in Canada when they transit through the country, and should they all be handcuffed?

It is time for Canadian authorities to figure out the reasons why Ms Meng is the only wanted member of the board of Skycom, a company based in Hong Kong, accused by the US of violating sanctions.

Canada is an independent sovereign nation. Although its relationship with the US is quite special, it should remain neutral in dealing with Meng's case, and not simply do whatever the US has told it to do. It is important for Canada to respect the fundamental spirit of justice and law while providing judicial assistance to the US. It should resolutely reject the possible impact of the long-term bias of the US on Huawei and Huawei's founder Ren Zhengfei in this case.

It does not serve Canada's national interest if it intends to fawn over the US by treating Ms Meng unjustly. If Meng is refused bail and extradited to the US, Canada will get minimal gratitude from the US, but maximum opposition from China. Chinese people will take the issue seriously, and will ask the Chinese government to impose severe sanctions on Canada. Canadian public interest will definitely be impaired if Sino-Canadian relations are put at a risk of major retrogression.

We hope that Canadian authorities handle the case seriously and properly. We also hope that Ms Meng will be treated humanely and will be bailed out. We would like to see Meng's case being handled properly, so that she can regain her freedom as soon as possible.

Chinese society has always respected Canada, and it is sincerely hoped that the way how Canadian authorities handle this matter will live up to Chinese people's expectation and impressions regarding the country.

China Summons U.S. Ambassador As Huawei Defends Iran Operations

China has summoned the U.S. ambassador to Beijing to protest the detention by Canada of a senior Chinese electronics executive at the request of the United States.

Vice Foreign Minister Le Yucheng on December 9 "lodged solemn representations and strong protests" with Ambassador Terry Branstad in regard to the detention of Meng Wanzhou, the chief financial officer of electronics giant Huawei.

According to the official Xinhua news agency, Le called Meng's detention "extremely egregious" and demanded that the United States cancel her arrest warrant or face further steps by Beijing.

Chinese authorities had summoned the Canadian ambassador a day earlier and issued similar warnings.

[...]

In a sworn affidavit released in Canada, Meng insisted she is innocent of the allegations and that she will fight them in a U.S. court if she is extradited there.

In court documents, Huawei asserted that its operations in Iran were "in strict compliance with applicable laws, regulations, and sanctions" of the United States, European Union, and the UN.

• 'Arrogant jingoist policy': Lavrov blasts Washington's 'revolting' request to arrest Huawei CFO
• China summons Canadian ambassador over detention of Huawei exec Meng Wanzhou