Nov. 2, 2018 -In a major address to the 22nd World Russian Peoples Council, organized under the aegis of the Russian Orthodox Church for the past 25 years, Russian President Vladimir Putin emphasized the basis for peaceful global coexistence among nations and cultures–perhaps providing a preview of topics that will also be on the table in his upcoming meeting with President Trump on Nov. 11. He said mankind must organize its affairs so that each “unique civilization supplements and enriches the others,” specifying the role to be played by Russia, “India, China, Western Europe, America and many others.”
Putin began by praising the World Russian Peoples Council: “You never set narrow ethnic or other limits and are always open for an interethnic, intercultural and interfaith dialogue. These traditions–the traditions of mutual understanding–have always strengthened our large family, the people of Russia.” He counterposed such an apporach to the fact that “efforts are being taken today to `reformat’ the world and destroy the traditional values and the cultural and historical spaces that have been forming for centuries. The goal is to create various bleak `protectorates,’ because it is easier to rule peoples who are disconnected, have no national memory and are turned into simple vassals, and to use them as bargaining chips. Crude nationalism and anti-Russian sentiments are also used.”
Putin then presented his view of the alternative: “These issues are undoubtedly very relevant today. It is now being decided how the world will look in the future, in the coming decades. Will this be a world of monologue and the rule of force, or a world of dialogue and mutual respect? How well will technology combine with ethical and moral values? There are more questions than answers so far. But there is one thing I am certain about: the voice of Russia will resound with dignity and confidence in the future world.
“It is defined by both our tradition and internal spiritual culture, our identity and finally, by the history of our country as an authentic civilization, a unique one, but one which does not assertively and aggressively claim its exceptionalism. Because it is impossible to imagine the history of humanity without such unique civilizations as India, China, Western Europe, America and many others. It is really a multifaceted complexity where each facet supplements and enriches the others.”
Aug. 21 –The ultra-high voltage (UHV) cable lines China’s State Grid company and local Brazilian companies such as Tractebel are now putting up to transmit electricity from the huge Belo Monte dam on the Brazilian-Bolivian border in the Amazon region down to power-short southeastern city of Rio de Janeiro, is a great step forward for the Belt and Road Initative in Ibero-America, the Portuguese-language edition of {People’s Daily} reported yesterday.
The transmission lines, which will provide power to Rio de Janeiro and vicinity, are the second phase of the Belo Monte project which radical environmentalists did everything in their power to stop. China’s Ambassador to Brazil Li Jinzhang told {People’s Daily} that China’s UHV technology is “a calling card of `Made in China’…. This is the first time that China applies UHV technology abroad. Its construction inaugurates a new historic stage, which marks the recognition by other countries of UHV technology and other technologies created in China. Through the Belo Monte project, Brazil’s government, businesses and local population expressed the will and interest in deepening mutually beneficial cooperation which is advantageous to all.”
Former U.S. Secretary of Energy Stephen Chu has called China’s development of UHV technology a “Sputnik moment” for the U.S., the {Financial Times} reported on June 6, 2018. “China has the best transmission lines in terms of the highest voltage and lowest loss. They can transmit electricity over 2,000km and lose only 7% of the energy. If we transmitted over 200km we would lose more than that,” Chu stated.
Aug. 21 — In a press release last week, the Italian Ministry for Economic Development (Industry, Trade, Fishery etc.), has announced the creation of a “Task Force China” under the direction of Undersecretary of State Michele Geraci. The release, which has been posted also in English, says among other things:
“Among the Task Force’s main objectives are that of strengthening the relationship between China and Italy (in the fields of trade, finance, investment, R&D and co-operation in third countries), and that of guaranteeing Italy a position of leadership in Europe vis-à-vis China’s Belt and Road and Made in China 2025 initiatives.”
In a long Appendix, the Ministry states:
“Helping Italian companies to participate to Chinese investment programs, financed by the Belt and Road Initiative both in China and along the entire route of the New Silk Road, at the same time stimulating investments and transfer of Chinese know-how to develop infrastructure, energy and transport networks in Italy. With 25,000 km of high-speed trains already built and 21,000 km more planned, to just mention one of the many possible examples, China is currently the country that more than anyone else in the world has the best knowledge in the sector of infrastructural development.”
Another point in the Appendix says:
“China can help Italy to solve the immigration problem by helping Africa: China is the country that has invested the most in Africa (already $340 billion, many more than the just $70 billions normally estimated by analysts), with effects that are already visible in terms of impact on poverty rates and which in the long term should gradually help diminishing migration flows towards Europe. China’s involvement in Africa offers Italy a historic opportunity of international cooperation for the socio-economic of stabilization of the continent, crucial not only for a sustainable and solidarity solution of the immigration problem, but also for the economic opportunities that will arise in the continent for Italian firms.”
Oct.26, 2018 -Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe began a three-day visit to Beijing on Thursday for a summit with Chinese President Xi Jinping, the first such summit since 2011. The main
goal of the visit is to transform relations from that of competition to cooperation, especially concerning Japanese cooperation in the Belt and Road Inititive. Some 500 Japanese businessmen accompanied Abe on his visit.
Abe has held substantive meetings with Chinese Prime Minister Li Keqiang, the chair of the National People’s Congress Standing Committee Li Zhanshu, and Chinese President Xi Jinping.
Abe’s repeated message, as he emphasized in his joint press conference with Prime Minister Li, was that Japanese-Chinese relations have entered a new phase, moving “from competition to cooperation…. We want to expand our relationship significantly. We are
neighbors. We are partners cooperating with each other. We have to avoid becoming a threat to each other.”
President Xi opened his talks with Abe, noting that “as the international situation changes, China and Japan are becoming increasingly dependent on one another. Our countries also have a growing number of common interests and concerns on a multilateral level. The rapid changes in the world are providing China and Japan with opportunities for more in-depth cooperation.”
Reflecting on the historical relations between the two countries, Xi added that “China and Japan have interacted for more than 2,000 years. The people of our countries have long been
learning from each other and achieving developments. In that long history, there were deplorable times and the Chinese people suffered tremendously.”
Abe reiterated to Xi his above message, that his visit is “an opportunity to elevate the Japan-China relationship to a new phase from competition to cooperation…. [W]e want to work with China for the peace and stability of the world, and the region, and that’s what countries around the world expect of us.”
{Asahi Shimbun} reported that Li and Abe confirmed that the two countries will jointly promote infrastructure projects led by Japanese and Chinese private companies in third countries. Chinese state radio reported that Li welcomed Japan to actively take part in China’s Belt and Road infrastructure initiative, and in China’s reforms and the opening up of its economy,
Speaking on the sidelines of an economic forum of 1,400 business and government official on Friday, Abe pointed out that “Infrastructure projects in Asia are expected to be worth 1.7 trillion dollars annually by 2030. It won’t be easy for companies in one country to tackle this demand and overcome the accompanying challenges.” He stressed that projects led by
Japanese and Chinese firms in other countries must follow international standards.
All kinds of agreements were signed, between the leaders and between Chinese and Japanese businessmen. A key one is that annual high-level dialogues that have been suspended for years will be reestablished (e.g. between Foreign Ministers). Others reportedly include agreements to work together on a total of 52 joint projects, including urban development in a special economic zone in eastern Thailand and establishing a new fund with banks and securities firms; to accelerate talks on jointly developing gas fields in the East China Sea; and a decision to revive a 30 billion dollar currency swap pact dropped in 2013.
Aug. 13, 2018 –The Caspian Sea agreement signed this weekend by Presidents of the five countries on its border – Russia, Kazakhstan, Iran, Azerbaijan, and Turkmenistan – will enhance the region’s role in the Belt and Road Initiative. Along with the convention which also bans military presence of any outside power, effectively ruling out leasing a military base to a foreign power, several other documents include protocols on cooperation in the fight against terrorism and organized crime, and an agreement to avoid incidents in the Caspian Sea. The five presidents also signed agreements on trade and economic cooperation, and an agreement on cooperation in transportation.
Underscoring the need to develop transportation, Russian President Vladimir Putin said in his address, “Transport interconnection is one of the key factors for securing sustainable growth and strengthening our countries’ cooperation,” explaining that Russia is implementing a strategy for the development of seaports in the Caspian Basin till 2030, including the building of a deep-water port near Kaspiysk by 2025. The port will be capable of handling heavy-duty vessels with a payload of 15,000-25,000 tons.
Kaspiysk is the port directly across the sea from Kuryk port in Kazakhstan. Its development as a deep-sea port implies the development of an east-west corridor in the contexts of the Belt and Road Initiative. Furthermore, developing a port for ships of 15,000 to 25,000 tons is also significant because the largest ships are no more than 10,000 tons and conform to the river-sea class capable of entering the Volga River and the broader Russian river and canal network.
The Chairwoman of the international Schiller Institute Helga Zepp-LaRouche presented an overview of the current strategic situation and the perspectives for the future in a speech given in Moscow on Oct. 24 at the 23rd International Academic Conference: “China, Chinese Civilization and the World: Past, Present, and Future”. The event was organized by the Institute of Far Eastern Studies of the Russian Academy of Sciences.
Posing the question as to whether human society is capable of an efficient of self-government, Helga Zepp-LaRouche listed the “multiple crises” plaguing the world today: the imminent crash of the trans-Atlantic financial system, unprecedented polarization inside the United States, false flag operations in Syria, drug epidemics, the global migration crisis, terrorism and Nazism, and the increasing disunity in the EU.
While these challenges may seem unrelated, Zepp-LaRouche said, they must be understood as products of the “old paradigm” of thinking. To solve them, one must be aware of the principles defining the new epoch taking form.
She went to identify two “game changing” topics which create “totally opposite pathways for the future”. First, is the “monumental battle” in the United States to determine whether the coup attempt against President Trump will succeed and he will be driven out of office, or whether the perpetrators of that coup, which aims to prevent him from establishing good relations between the U.S. and Russia, will instead be prosecuted. “If Trump can consolidate his position, despite the many hawkish tones coming from the U.S. now, there does exist the potential that he will be able in the second half of his first term to improve relations with Russia and return to his initial positive attitude towards China.”
The second related issue, Helga Zepp-LaRouche went on, is the need to overcome the “Thucydides Trap,” i.e., the apparent conflict “between the power dominating the world up to now, the U.S., and the rising power, China,” by defining a solution over and beyond the specifics of either of them to address the fundamental interests of all nations and “thus shift the level of thinking to a higher plateau.” To avoid such a “Thucydides trap”, she stressed, the U.S. needs to be integrated into the organization of the new world order.
Such a higher plateau of thinking was defined by Zepp-LaRouche’s husband, Lyndon LaRouche, several years ago, when he proposed that the U.S., Russia, China and India, with the support of others, set up a New Bretton Woods system, that is, an international credit system to finance economic development, emphatically including that of developing nations. “The basic conception for such a new credit and economic system already exists in principle in the Belt and Road policy of President Xi Jinping,” Helga Zepp-LaRouche said. Today, it must be expanded and consolidated to respond to the needs of all mankind as a species, such as becomes evident in the field of space exploration.
On Oct. 13, the Schiller Institute and INSAN for Human Rights and Peace organized a joint seminar in Berlin on “A Future for Yemen: Instead of Geopolitical Destruction — A New Paradigm for Reconstruction and Development with the New Silk Road for Southwest Asia and Africa.” Sixty people attended the half-day event, both German contacts and members, and Yemeni INSAN activists, among them many youth. It was a truly moving event, as the horror and humanitarian disaster was contrasted with the beautiful vision of reconstruction as worked out in Operation Felix by Hussein Askary, who attended as a speaker. His remarks gave people a true spark of the sublime — that it is possible to save humanity in the current breakdown of the old, dying global system and to take the future into one’s own hands.
After a short greeting by Elke Fimmen, a Schiller Institute chorus of Berlin and Dresden members sang {Dona Nobis Pacem}, to great effect on the audience. Elke then read Helga Zepp-LaRouche’s special greeting to the conference; followed by Aiman Al Mansour, who introduced the aim of his organization INSAN — INSAN means human being — and appealed to everybody to open their heart and soul, and consider mankind as a whole, giving the victims of the present genocide in Yemen a voice.
Helga Zepp-LaRouche called the events in Yemen a crime against humanity, with the Western governments and media being accomplices in it. When people said, after the Nazi Holocaust, that they did not know about it, today nobody can claim he or she did not know what is going on, even with the scarce reports. With 18 million of Yemen’s 29 million people threatened by famine, among them millions of children, Western governments continue to deliver weapons to Saudi Arabia. Now, with the likely murder of Saudi opposition journalist Jamal Khashoggi, U.S. senators talk about the Magnitsky Act. “But for each child dying of hunger in Yemen the Magnitsky Act must be applied!” Nevertheless, there is reason for optimism, because China’s Belt and Road policy has changed the strategic situation already, and this means also a concrete perspective for the reconstruction of Yemen in the near future, as can be seen in Syria and the Horn of Africa. She ended by saying, “Let us be warrior-angels in Friedrich Schiller’s sense and fight for a better order for all of humanity, which is in cohesion with our true identity as one mankind. Nobody in this world is secure, unless the people of Yemen are not secure and cannot realize their potential for happiness.”
After this introduction, in the first xsession, presentations were given by representatives of INSAN:
On the consequences of the catastrophic humanitarian situation in Yemen (Abdullatif ElWashali); a very dramatic picture by psychiatrist Dr. Hussein Al-Warith on the psychology of war trauma among children in Yemen and the difficulties to deal with it. How can these children contribute to rebuild their country in the future? Finally, Mohammad Abo Taleb spoke on the consequences of the blockade. Engeline Kramer, a long-time peace activist with a personal connection to Yemeni students, blasted the German government’s non-position on this horrible war.
The first part of the seminar was ended with a discussion and a short video on the school bus massacre of 40 school children on Aug. 9, by a missile built by Lockheed Martin and launched by the Saudi “coalition.”
After the break, Elke Fimmen spoke on the strategic situation and the need to replace the bankrupt old order with a new paradigm, asking the question “Is mankind morally fit to survive?” She attacked today’s culture of death, from which we have to free ourselves and build a beautiful future.
After an overview video on the damage done in Yemen, Hussein Askary then presented Operation Felix, the reconstruction plan for Yemen in the context of the New Silk Road. He first described (as in his June 30-July 1 Schiller Institute conference speech in Bad Soden) the history of why Yemen was the poorest country in the region all along, and said that, before the war, nothing had been invested into the real economy and agriculture in decades, due to the IMF/World Bank policy, and the idea that earning money from oil exports would be enough.
So, when the war started, the country was basically lost.
Askary then presented Yemen’s position on the crossroads of the Belt and Road and showed the plans for the main development corridor projects for Yemen, especially the North-South railroad from Saa’da to Aden, which, concerning the very mountainous territory, is comparable to the one in Ethiopia, which China is building and plans to complete within four years. He stressed that it will be mostly up to the intellectuals and to the youth — who make up 50% of the present Yemeni population — half of them under 18 years old! –to build the country’s future and learn from the lessons of the past.
Askary’s appeal to have a clear vision for the future, so you can fight for it, clearly struck a response with those attending. One of the points made in the discussion was the need to make this project known to a broader population in Yemen, to give people a vision in this horrible situation, which can remoralize them; there was also discussion on how to sustain such a program in the longer run, so that one is not dependent on the outside. All of this led to an extremely fruitful and frank discussion. People expressed afterwards their gratitude for the seminar. Especially some of the young people were visibly excited about the perspective that Askary presented.
Oct. 23-Chinese President Xi Jinping officially opened the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macao Bridge (HZMB), the world’s longest sea-crossing today, nine years after its construction began, with the leaders of Macao, Zhuhai and Hong Kong present.
Including its access roads, the bridge spans 55km (34 miles)connecting Macao and the mainland Chinese city of Zhuhai to Hong Kong across the Pearl River Delta, BBC reported today.
The bridge was built to withstand earthquakes and typhoons, with 400,000 tons of steel used — enough to build 60 Eiffel Towers.
About 30km of its total length crosses the sea of the Pearl River delta. To allow ships through, a 6.7 km section in the middle of the bridge dips into an undersea tunnel that runs between two artificial islands built for this purpose. The remaining sections are link roads, viaducts, and land tunnels connecting Zhuhai and Hong Kong to the main bridge. It cuts travel time between Macao and Zhuhai on the west side of the delta to Hong Kong to less than an hour, from what used to be four hours; travel time between Zhuhai and Hong Kong International airport will now take 45 minutes.
The bridge is part of China’s plan to create a Greater Bay Area, including Hong Kong, Macao, and nine other cities in southern China, BBC reports.
The bridge, which cost $20 billion, will open to traffic a 9 a.m. on Wednesday, Oct.24.
Chinese Vice-Premier Han Zheng, who is in charge of China’s affairs with the Special Administrative Regions of Hong Kong and Macao, said, “As the first massive infrastructure project cooperation between the three cities, the opening of the bridge helps with the interaction between residents in the area, has economic benefits, helps push the Greater Bay Area vision forward and is beneficial to the combined competitiveness of Zhuhai, Hong Kong and Macao.”
Hong Kong Chief Executive Carrie Lam said the bridge will create an ideal living environment, where the three cities are within one hour’s reach from each other. The bridge structure features a dual three-lane main bridge 30 km long, two artificial islands, and link roads totalling 25 km. The Hong Kong part of the bridge starts with the Hong Kong Port east of the city’s international airport and north of Lantau Island. It connects with a link road, followed by a 6.7 km sub-sea tunnel on one of the world’s busiest waterways, a main bridge, and a link road to Zhuhai.
Oct. 22, 2018 –Portugal and China are finishing details a Memorandum of Understanding on Portugal’s participation in the Belt and Road Initiative initiated by China, focused on investment in infrastructure, Portugal’s Foreign Affairs Minister Augusto Santos Silva announced Oct. 20 from Macau, China. He did not give details, but he emphasized the role which Portugal’s deepwater port on the Atlantic, Sines, can play in the Belt and Road, because of its strategic location for connecting with the continents of Africa, the Americas, and Eurasia. Sines is Europe’s closest port to the now-expanded Panama Canal, he pointed out in making the announcement.
At the same time, Santos Silva announced that President Xi Jinping’s long-planned state visit to Portugal is now set for Dec. 4-5. He did not say whether the MOU will signed during that visit, but Portugal is eager to get to work on the project. Today, in meeting with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi in Beijing, Silva Santos emhasized that Portugal “is willing to work with China, ready to further implement China’s Belt and Road Initiative, and become a hub linking Europe and Asia through land and sea,” CGTN reported.
Portugal’s Foreign Minister is visiting China from Oct. 19-23, accompanied by the Secretary of State for Internationalization, and other top officials. Their trip has taken them from Guangdong, to Macau, and now Beijing, where they will meet with Wang Yi, senior diplomat Yang Jiechi from the Office of the Foreign Affairs Commission of the CPC’s Central Committee, and Commerce Minister Zhong Shan, and take part in the tenth Joint China-Portugal Economic and Trade Committee Meeting.
Interest is also growing in Portugal’s neighbor, Spain. President Xi Jinping will visit Spain for talks with government officials Nov. 27-28, Spain’s Foreign Ministry announced in September.
Oct. 21 –The Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) has been building up its loans to fundamental infrastructure investment throughout Asia, during the past 20 weeks.On Sept. 28, the AIIB approved new loans totalling nearly $1 billion to finance projects in Egypt, India, and Turkey. The three loans include the AIIB’s first to the Egyptian government, which consists of a $300 million investment to improve rural sanitation services in the country, co-financed by the World Bank, the bank said on Oct. 19. The Beijing-based bank board of directors also approved a $455 million loan to improve all-weather rural roads in Andhra Pradesh in southeast India; and a loan of up to $200 million to the Industrial Development Bank of Turkey (TSKB) to finance energy projects.
In September, the AIIB said it was considering $541 million in loans for three propposed infrastructure and power projects in Bangladesh, according to BSS news agency. This includes the Mymensingh Kewatkhali Bridge project, which is part of the Dhaka-Mymensingh-India border corridor; the Sylhet to Tamabil Road Upgradation Project; and a power system upgrade and expansion project for the Chittagong region.
In June, the AIIB approved $1.2 billion in loans for infrastructure construction in India.
The AIIB has made about $5.8 billion in loans since its formation in December 2015. The World Bank has about $61 billion in loans outstanding. But the AIIB’s loans have no conditionalities, and are for real development. The AIIB’s development thrust, and buildup in the speed of its lending from a low level represents the direction of a transformation in the world.
