General

July 2 – The proper way to commemorate the upcoming July 4 anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence, a document of universal importance for all nations to this day, is by carrying that same spirit forward into organizing an urgent summit of world leaders around the New Deal and Good Neighbor policies of American statesman Franklin Delano Roosevelt. In her weekly webcast yesterday, Schiller Institute founder and President Helga Zepp-LaRouche picked up on British Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s announcement of the adoption of FDR New Deal-style economic policies by his government, by stating:

“If, however, Boris Johnson would be serious about it [the New Deal approach], and he would immediately agree to participate in the summit called by Putin, and would insist that the New Deal in the tradition of Franklin D. Roosevelt is being made the subject of such a P5 summit, then it could be taken seriously and would actually be a useful contribution.”

There is little doubt that such an approach would be welcomed by Chinese President Xi Jinping, who told a Seattle business group during a visit to the U.S. in 2016: “In my younger years…I was interested in the life story and thinking of Washington, Abraham Lincoln, Franklin Roosevelt and other American statesmen.”

The same holds for Russian President Vladimir Putin, whose call for a new, global security architecture in his famous 2007 speech at the Munich Security Conference, was shaped around FDR’s approach after World War II: “It is well known that the field of international security goes well beyond issues of military and political stability. It involves the stability of the world economy, overcoming poverty, economic security, and the development of a dialogue among civilizations. This all-encompassing, indivisible character of security is expressed in its fundamental principle, that `the security of each is the security of all.’ As Franklin Roosevelt put it in the first days after the outbreak of the Second World War, `When peace has been broken anywhere, peace of all countries everywhere is in danger.’ These words remain topical today.”

Trump has also turned directly to FDR on numerous occasions, including in his victory speech the night of the 2016 election, stating: “The forgotten men and women of our country will be forgotten no longer.” President Trump’s leading participation in such an international summit would also be the perfect rejoinder to the British-led efforts to remove him from office, either now with fabricated scandals (such as the absurd Russian “bounty-gate” hoax), or by trying to defeat him in the November elections, by attempting to blame {Trump} for the economic and coronavirus pandemic crises which {the British} in fact caused by 50-plus years of their policies of economic looting.

Nor is there any doubt that the global systemic breakdown crisis makes such a summit of leaders urgently necessary, whether it be under the aegis of a Four Power meeting of the U.S., China, Russia and India, as Lyndon LaRouche long proposed, or the five permanent members of the U.N. Security Council, as Putin has called for — so long as the agenda is building a New Paradigm of world peace based on universal economic development.

While the two-day “Informal Summit” of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chinese President Xi Jinping did not issue formal, official dispatches, results have been made known, which include commitments of major importance. {The Hindu} reported these today in a summary way.

The two nations will undertake a joint economic project in Afghanistan, the first ever such collaboration.

There will be stepped up military-to-military collaboration between the two nations.

The “Closer Development Partnership” between China and India will be strengthened, involving economic cooperation and people-to-people exchanges.

In economic relations, there will be a push in bilateral trade and investment, for more balance between the nations, by taking advantage of economic complimentarities.

Each nation will appoint a Special Representative to play a role in these functions.

There will be stepped up cooperation against terrorism.

Both leaders concurred on the value of the “Informal Summit” format and will continue to hold more such dialogues. Modi has invited Xi to India for a similar occasion in 2019

Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi held a virtual meeting with the foreign ministers of Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, Kyrgyzstan andTajikistan. This follows by several days a similar conference held with these countries by Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, in an attempt to move them away from their cooperation with China. Pompeo didn’t have much to offer in the way of incentives, however, and both the geographical closeness and the friendly relations between these countries and China makes it unlikely that they would break with China. Wang Yi underlined the importance of the Belt and Road Initiative for these land-locked countries.

Wang noted that China attaches great importance to the development of strategic partnership with the Central Asian countries, firmly supports all countries to follow the path of development in line with their national conditions, supports each country in safeguarding its sovereignty, independence and territorial integrity, and supports the development of each country by itself

Wang called for establishing a traditional Chinese medicine center and cooperating in research on  vaccines, and ensuring fast access for personnel on both sides, establishing green channels for the transportation of goods to ensure the safety and stability of the supply chain, expanding the scale of cross-border e-commerce, and accelerating the construction of the “Digital Silk Road.”

The parties agreed to promote the alignment of the Belt and Road Initiative with the development strategies of Central Asian countries, build interconnected partnerships, deepen pragmatic cooperation in various fields, carry out effective investment cooperation, and jointly promote the recovery and development of the economy, and they issued a joint statement to that effect.  The countries also agreed to expand high-tech cooperation areas such as e-commerce, smart cities, artificial intelligence, and big data technology applications to jointly build a partnership in the digital economy. One of the key points was to make Central Asia a transportation hub for Eurasia. In the statement the foreign ministers also agreed that while responding to the pandemic, there should be no discrimination, stigmatization, racism and xenophobia. They also reiterated their cooperation in fighting the “three forces”, terrorism, separatism and extremism.

April 27, 2018 -On the same day as the historic Summit between North and South Korea’s leaders, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and President Xi Jinping met today in Wuhan for an “informal meeting,” which, although there will be no communique or press conference, could presage the launching of an “Asian Century,” and a new paradign for mankind. The tension between China and India, over the military confrontation on the border in Doklam and over the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (which passes through an area contested between Pakistan and India) has held Modi back from participating in the Belt and Road Initiative.

In her webcast today, Helga Zepp LaRouche threw down a challenge to all governments, and all people. In a world dominated by crises, there is a clear choice: either the ideas which resulted in the establishment of America as a constitution republic prevail, or the chaos unleashed by the British-directed Jacobins in France will plunge the world into a Dark Age.

We see the British imperial forces at work, in the unwillingness of many to face the reality of the Coronavirus pandemic; in the latest version of Russiagate, with the {New York Slimes} attack on Putin and Trump; and in the British meddling in Hong Kong, as an escalation against China. The June 27 Schiller Institute conference presented the clear alternative to these provocations, and Russia’s President Putin’s initiative for a P-5 summit is very important, as what is needed is dialogue, not geopolitics and ideology.

We have a choice today, she said, between the American Revolution, and the French Revolution. Schiller and his allies hoped the French Revolution would replicate what happened in America. Instead, the Jacobin terror took over, creating a nightmare. For the coming commemoration of the world historic event of July 4, she urged viewers to take up the best tradition, that of the American Republic, with its commitment to the Common Good. The urgent convening of a summit of the great powers would be a good step in that direction.