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Spotify looking to diversify and protect your hard earned assets? Well, schedule a free consultation with the Birch Cold Group. They're the precious metals specialists. Just text PDB to the number 989898 and you'll receive a free no obligation information kit. And you'll learn how to convert an existing IRA or a 401k into a gold IRA. Again, text PDB to 989898. Foreign. The 29th of December we are almost to the very end of 2025. Well, I hope all had a very happy and peaceful and relaxing Christmas. And of course, Boxing Day. Don't forget Boxing Day. Welcome to the President's Daily Brief. I'm Mike Baker, your eyes and ears on the world stage. All right, let's get briefed. First up, China and Russia. Well, they look closer than ever, but what's being sold as partnership is really a story about leverage, independence, and who's quietly calling the shots. I'll explain how Beijing is exploiting Russian weakness later in the show. Christmas Day airstrikes in Nigeria. That doesn't sound very festive. The US Hits ISIS hard and President Trump makes it clear there's a limit to how long the killing of Christians in Nigeria will be tolerated. Plus, Israel announces it has killed an Iranian Quds Force member involved in planning attacks across the region. And finally, in today's Back of the Brief, Israel becomes the first country to formally recognize Somaliland as an independent state. And that's a move that is drawing sharp condemnation from the international community. But first, today's PDB Spotlight. Today we're starting off with a topic that's worth looking at as we wrap up our final week of the PDB for 2025. Now, over the past 12 months, we've heard a lot about the growing ties between Russia and China. It's a blossoming bromance that is supposedly built on shared interests and respect. The two countries appear closer than ever before. But appearances, of course, as usual, are in fact, deceiving. And that brings us to a handy rule of thumb that I like to use when trying to understand Beijing's moves. When China makes a move, when they take some decision, it's doing what's best for China. Always. If you strip away the rhetoric about strategic partnerships and multipolar worlds and no limits, friendships, you'll almost always find Beijing pursuing its own interests, economic leverage, strategic advantage and long term influence. And nowhere is that dynamic clearer than in China's relationship with Russia ever since Putin launched his full scale invasion of Ukraine back in 2022. Now, on the surface, it can look like China has thrown Russia a lifeline, and they have, in a sense, buying its energy, expanding trade, providing diplomatic cover and refusing to join Western sanctions. But if you look closer, you'll quickly realize that every way that China is helping Russia is in reality an act of exploitation, one that strengthens Beijing while locking Moscow into a position of dependency. It's not an alliance of equals, in other words, it's a relationship where one side has options and. And the other, well, really doesn't. One of the clearest examples, of course, is energy. When Europe cut back sharply on Russian oil and gas after the invasion, Moscow lost its most lucrative customers almost overnight. China stepped in, but of course on its own terms. China now buys vast quantities of Russian oil and gas at steep discounts. Those purchases, of course, help fuel Russia's war machine, but they also permanently reset the balance of power. In that relationship, Russia doesn't get to name its price anymore. It takes what it can get. China knows Russia has limited alternatives, and it negotiates accordingly. Projects like the Power of Siberia pipeline, that's a massive natural gas link carrying Russian fuel directly into northern China, well, often framed as symbols of partnership. In reality, that sort of project binds Russia's energy infrastructure eastward at a time when it's lost access to premium European markets. Even proposed expansions like a second pipeline are being slow walked by Beijing, which has no urgency and every incentive to extract better terms. For China, this means cheaper energy, longer term supply, security, and increased leverage over a major producer. For Russia, it means reduced revenue, fewer options, and a growing dependence on a single dominant buyer. And energy is just the starting point. That same dynamic carries over into trade more broadly. Since 2022, trade between China and Russia has surged, often held up as evidence that sanctions didn't work. But what they're trading and who benefits tells a different story. China exports far more to Russia than Russia exports to China. And the gap is widening. Russia increasingly relies on Chinese machinery, electronics, vehicles and consumer goods to replace what it once imported from Europe. Meanwhile, China imports mostly raw materials, oil and gas Coal, timber and metals. It's a lopsided trade relationship. Russia is mostly selling raw materials while China is selling finished products and locking in Russia as a long term customer. Even the shift to settling trade in yuan rather than dollars, often portrayed as a blow to Western financial dominance, primarily benefits China. It internationalizes the Chinese currency and pulls Russia deeper into China's financial ecosystem. Beijing, not Moscow, sets the rules again. Russia gains survival, but China gains control. And the economic side of this partnership is only part of the story. On the diplomatic front, China presents itself as a neutral actor, calling for peace while echoing Russia's talking points about NATO expansion and security concerns. It is a posture that costs China very little in reality and yields major benefits. By refusing to condemn Moscow outright, Beijing keeps Russia aligned with its broader vision of a world less dominated by the US at the same time, China positions itself as a potential mediator, enhancing its global stature without committing troops, money or political capital. For Russia, this support is largely symbolic. It doesn't translate into security guarantees or military alliances or binding commitments. But it does reinforce Russia's reliance on China as one of the few major powers willing to stand beside it diplomatically. Again, China gains influence. Russia gains what maybe talking points. Perhaps the most revealing exploitation is happening not in Ukraine, but in Central Asia. Historically, Russia has viewed that region as its backyard. But since 2022, Moscow's attention, of course, and resources have been consumed by its invasion into Ukraine. China has taken advantage, expanding investment, infrastructure projects and political influence through trade corridors and security cooperation. It's not confrontation, it's replacement. China is slowly supplanting Russia as the dominant external power in parts of Central Asia, leveraging economic tools rather than tanks. Moscow, weakened and overstretched, can do little to stop it. When Xi Jinping and Vladimir Putin declared a no limits partnership in early 2022, it sounded like the foundation of a new authoritarian bloc. In practice, the limits have been obvious and consistently enforced by Beijing. China has not provided Russia with direct military assistance. It has not jeopardized its access to Western markets. It has not tied its own economic fate to Moscow's war. Instead, China has allowed Russia to bleed economically and diplomatically and militarily while quietly positioning itself as the senior partner in the relationship. Russia may survive this war with China's help, but it will emerge weaker, more isolated and more beholden to Beijing than ever before. And that outcome, as usual, is all about what's in China's own self interest. All right, coming up next, the U. S Launches Christmas Day airstrikes against ISIS in Nigeria And Israel says they killed an Iranian Quds Force operative tied to regional attack planning. I'll be right back. Hey, Mike Baker here. Now, as we move into the new year, that's right, 2026, just around the corner, many of us are looking to build more intentional lives to live deliberately, better aligned with our purpose and values. That's why I want to tell you about Glorify, the number one Christian daily devotional app. Right? Glorify can help you lead a more intentional life. 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