BEIJING, Feb. 28 (Xinhua) — Chinese Vice President Li Yuanchao met with Rafael Ramirez, Venezuela’s vice president for economic affairs on Friday and they pledged to cement the strategic partnership between the two countries.

Hailing the development of the bilateral relationship in recent years, Li said he hopes the two sides will consolidate political trust in each other, and boost practical cooperation in energy, mining and finance.

China, Venezuela pledge to cement partnership – Xinhua | English.news.cn – 2/28/2014.

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China stepped up its purchases of U.S. government debt late last year, increasing its holdings of Treasurys to an all-time record of $1.317 trillion in November, government data released this week revealed.

China Now Owns a Record $1.317T of U.S. Government Debt | Fox Business – 1/16/2014.

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Ukraine mobilizes troops after Russia’s ‘declaration of war’ – CNN.com

Despite its problems, Ukraine is a prize for Russia, Europe – The Washington Post

Russia tells Western critics to put Ukrainian people first – CNN.com

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Via Facebook:

(1) Dmitry Medvedev; (1) Virtual Maidan: 1 Million Supporters for Ukraine’s Euromaidan; (5) Barack Obama; (5) Putin Vladimir

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The political art that is “Putin-Assad-Khamenei” has been well remarked on this blog as it has worked its way around the Islamic Small War.  However, unrest in Venezuela and Ukraine have signaled the need to glance, at least, at the character of their conflicts and their drivers.

Primary dimension and theme: autocracies, autocrats, and their God-given inherent right to destroy the freedom and humanity of others if they can figure out how to do it and keep getting away with it.

So far, so good!

The dictators are doing just fine.

North Korea may consider itself secure.

No Russian oligarch needs to pack it up on the Ring and light out for the brighter horizon of southern Spain.

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Russia And China ‘In Agreement’ Over Ukraine

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