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China-Russia To Set Up a Lunar Research Station

China-Russia Sign MoU To Set Up a Lunar Research Station

March 9, 2021 (EIRNS) — Russia’s State Space Corporation Roscosmos chief Dmitry Rogozin and Director of the China National Space Administration (CNSA) Zhang Keijan this week signed a memorandum of mutual understanding on behalf of their governments on cooperation in creating an international lunar research station, Roscosmos and CNSA announced today, TASS reported.

The International Lunar Research Station (ILRS) is described as a comprehensive scientific experiment base, built on the lunar surface or in the lunar orbit, that can carry out multi-disciplinary and multi-objective scientific research activities including exploration and utilization, lunar-based observation, basic scientific experiment and technical verification, and long-term autonomous operation, Space News reported today.

China and Russia have previously signed agreements for cooperation on China’s multi-spacecraft Chang’e-7 and Russia’s Luna 27 missions and a joint data center for lunar and deep space exploration. Chang’e-7 is scheduled for around 2023-24, and Russia’s Luna 27 mission, to be preceded by Luna 25 and Luna 26 missions, is scheduled for this decade.

According to a statement by the China National Space Administration, the two sides will uphold the principle of joining consultation, construction, and sharing, to push forward cooperation concerning the building of the international research station on the Moon, the statement read. The project will also “ be open to nations that are interested in the project as well as partners of the international community.”

The international lunar scientific and research station will be a comprehensive base for long-term, autonomous experiments, providing a platform that is tasked to enable exploration and use of the Moon, and a slew of basic scientific experiments and technology verification projects either on the lunar surface or in the lunar orbit, according to the CNSA. Previously, China and Russia have signed agreements on cooperation on two planned missions, the “Chang’e-7” mission to investigate the lunar pole and a “Moon Resources-1” mission.

According to Space News, the early stage of the ILRS would consist of a number of discrete spacecraft, in contrast to a more complex, integrated program such as the International Space Station. Reportedly, China will soon begin construction of a Chinese Space Station. This will be an important ingredient in China’s planned deep space human spaceflight. In May 2020, China tested a new generation spacecraft and is reportedly developing two separate super-heavy-lift launchers for space infrastructure and crewed missions.


Russian Academic Identifies Mackinder Geopolitics as Enemy of Russia and China

Russian Academic Identifies Mackinder Geopolitics as Enemy of Russia and China

July 13, 2021 (EIRNS)—Global Times yesterday published an interview with Alexander Lukin, head of the Department of International Relations at the Higher School of Economics and director of the Center for East Asian and SCO Studies at the Moscow State Institute of International Relations. In a brief editorial note at the beginning, GT notes that China and Russia have witnessed stronger ties, especially given the US’s continued pursuit of ideological confrontation in the world. The question to be addressed is, “How will the trilateral relations among China, Russia, and the US develop and shape the world?”

The interview is extensive, covering a wide range of topics within the China-Russia relationship, but particularly notable is the matter of geopolitics, which the GT interviewers introduced by citing Zbigniew Brzezinski’s “The Grand Chessboard,” in which he warned “that potentially, the most dangerous scenario [for the United States] would be a grand coalition of China, Russia, and perhaps Iran, an ‘anti-hegemonic’ coalition united not by ideology but by complementary grievances [toward the United States].”

“This line of thought agrees that basically the main task of American policy in the new Eurasia should be avoiding the emergence of a single power or alliance of powers hostile to American interests that would control the Eurasian space,” Lukin replied. “This idea has a very long history. In the first half of the 20th century, many Western experts, beginning with the founders of geopolitics, Halford Mackinder and Nicholas John Spykman, said that control over Eurasia was very important. If an anti-Western force gains control over Eurasia, it would be very dangerous for the US and Western Europe.”

Lukin argues that after the fall of the Soviet Union, the US became “too proud” of itself and overestimated its influence in the world. “However, the collapse of the Soviet Union did not stop the general tendencies of world history, including in international relations in many countries which contributed to their becoming stronger, like China, India, Brazil, and others,” he said. “Russia also reemerged as a strong power. India and several other countries also became stronger. But American politicians did not want to see this trend. They thought that they could still control the entire world and punish those who did not conform to their position. Their policy of pressure and containment has only stimulated the coordination between Russia and China, and made their strategic partnerships stronger.”

Compared to Kissinger and Brzezinski, says Lukin, American politicians today don’t really know what they are doing. “Trump wanted to improve relations with Russia, but he could not for domestic reasons,” Lukin continued. “Now you see some articles written by influential American experts, who seem to begin to understand that Russian-Chinese rapprochement is a kind of problem for the US. But they still don’t know what to do about it. They are discussing how to break the Russia-China de facto alliance without giving either Russia or China anything. So that’s also not a very smart position, I would say. They are not going to get anything for nothing. I don’t think they can.

“Contrary to what they might believe, they cannot break our strategic partnership, because it’s based on Russia and China’s national interests.” Full interview is here.


Helga Zepp-LaRouche Briefs China Plus ‘World Today’ Program—‘The New Name for Peace Is Development’

July 13 (EIRNS)—Helga Zepp-LaRouche gave the following interview to China Plus radio’s World Today broadcast today. China Plus is the official English website of China Radio International. The interview is the second news story starting at 12:55 minutes

CRI: Welcome back. The United Nations Human Rights Council has passed China’s resolution on the contribution of development to the enjoyment of all human rights, at the 47th session, which emphasizes the right to development and that the aim of development is to improve the developing of the people. For more, we are now joined on the line by Helga Zepp-LaRouche, founder of the Schiller Institute, a Germany based economic and political think tank. Thanks for joining us Dr. LaRouche.

HELGA ZEPP-LAROUCHE: Yes, hello! How are you?

CRI: I’m good, thank you. So, the resolution stresses that development and the realization of human rights and fundamental freedoms are interdependent and mutually reinforcing. How do we understand those?

ZEPP-LAROUCHE: First of all, let me express my congratulation. I think this is an excellent development, because hopefully this will inspire a very productive discussion everywhere around the world, what is the right definition of human rights. And I think the interdependence between development and human rights and freedom, you can see best if you look at the lack of development. Because then you have poverty, and you have still on the planet, 2 billion people who have no access to clean water, more than 800 million are and you have no freedom if you have all day to try to get a little bit of water and a little bit to eat, just to try to stay alive, so you have no freedom under these conditions. So therefore, I think development is very clearly the precondition for both human rights with freedom.

CRI: Yes, but that is very different from the Western explanation for human rights, which all starts with the ballot box and has everything to do with individual freedom. How did it get the different priorities when it comes to the human rights issue?

ZEPP-LAROUCHE: Well first of all, I think one has to see that the label isn’t always consistent with the content. Many things which have the label “democracy” and “human rights” have quite some different content, and in the case of the Western parliamentarian system, or unfortunately even the presidential system in some countries, is more a plutocracy, where the money of the multinationals and the big banks determine who gets a seat. Also, I think if you look at the overemphasis of individual freedom it has degenerated into a notion, everything is allowed, and the common good is regarded as a suppression of these individual freedoms.

Now, if you have a crisis, like in the case of COVID-19, you can see what the consequences of this is. China and some other Asian nations took strict measures for the common good, and it worked well, and then also the individuals profited because they were rid of the pandemic earlier; while in the West you had a back and forth, people were even protesting against having to wear masks, regarding that as an intrusion in their personal freedom, and they had to pay a much, much bigger price.

CRI: Well, representatives from countries including Venezuela, Cuba, and Pakistan also made speeches to appreciate China for delivering those draft resolutions and stressed that development should be the focus of every country, especially developing countries. But why is the resolution getting support from these countries?

ZEPP-LAROUCHE: Well, it’s very simple: Because in the entire post-World War II period, the IMF conditionalities prevented real development in the developing sector. They were told, you have to pay your debt first before you can invest in infrastructure or health, and the result was a blatant underdevelopment and incredible poverty. So, China, even before the Belt and Road, invested in railways in Africa and other infrastructure, but especially with the Belt and Road Initiative and the COVID crisis, it became very clear that these countries regarded the help from China—which was denounced as “vaccine diplomacy” by some Western media—but these developing countries regarded the attitude of China as a life-saver for them. So, it’s no surprise that they would support it.

CRI: And I think you earlier mentioned about what should be the right definition of human rights. And another question is who gets to pick what the most basic human rights should be? And have you got a feeling that this has been heavily guided by a small number of mostly Western nations which has led to a general bias in favor of the civil, political liberties over economic, social, and cultural rights?

ZEPP-LAROUCHE: Yes. You can see that right now very clearly in the case of the so-called “identity policy.” For example, between the EU Commission and countries such as Hungary, Poland, Slovenia, there is a big tension right now, whereas in the East, they have rejected the effort by the EU Commission to impose the values of the Western liberal European countries.

So, I think what needs to be put up front again, is the Five Principles of peaceful coexistence and the idea of non-interference in the different social systems, because they are, due to customs, traditions, cultural heritage and these must be respected.

CRI: In 2019 a study by the Center for New American Security—that is a Washington-based think tank—says that China’s actions in the UN were part of this effort to redefine how such institutions are run and shift away from Western concepts of democracy and human rights. What is your thought on those?

ZEPP-LAROUCHE: Well, China has been the leading nation for centuries, and only in the 18th and 19th centuries, because of the colonialist attacks and Opium Wars by the British, you know, that that was diminished. But now, China is again the second largest economy in the world. The lifting of poverty of 850 million people represents a tremendous civilizational contribution, and therefore, I think, it is absolutely correct that China should have a major role in this discussion.

CRI: OK, but do you feel the widespread back and forth surrounding human rights issues around the world currently has been highly politicized? And sometimes it has even been used as a tool for political purposes and sometimes as an excuse to put pressure on other countries or even invade other countries?

ZEPP-LAROUCHE: Yes. These notions, human rights and democracy, have become like a two by four: You can smash any argument into the ground. So, I think this double standard needs to be corrected. Those people in the West who support sanctions under conditions of the COVID-19 crisis against such countries as Syria, Yemen, Iran, Venezuela—I think altogether 30 countries—I mean, this is a violation of human rights if you ever have seen one. Or, if you look at how Assange is treated, or what happened to Snowden, all these people just did the right thing, and they have been treated in an absolutely horrible way. So, this double standard should be stopped.

CRI: What are the consequences of such double standards or politicizing such human rights issues? Is it like shifting our focus away from the real human rights problems?

ZEPP-LAROUCHE: Yes, it poisons the atmosphere, and it degenerates the idea of human rights, which is actually a beautiful idea, and makes it a victim to geopolitical reasons.

Now, the Schiller Institute is upholding this concept of the “New Name for Peace Is Development.” This comes originally from Pope Paul VI in 1967 in his Encyclical Populorum Progressio, where he coined that idea that the “new name for peace is development.”

And this is very important right now, concretely in Afghanistan. Look, for example, NATO spent there 20 years for absolutely nothing, and now the question is what’s to come out of Afghanistan? Will you continue the geopolitical war? Or, will you have an agreement among all neighbors, like Russia, China, India, Pakistan, Iran, and have real development? The real development would mean to extend the New Silk Road, the Belt and Road Initiative into Afghanistan, but also into Iraq, Syria, Yemen, the whole region. And then you can have peace. So this is not an abstract academic notion, this is an extremely actual issue, that the idea that real peace does require development, that that is a precondition without which nothing will function.

CRI: OK, thank you Dr. Helga Zepp-LaRouche, founder of the Schiller Institute, a Germany-based political and economic think tank.


China: Space Station by 2022!

China: Space Station to Be Unveiled by 2022!

Mar. 6 (EIRNS)–The China National Space Administration (CNSA), has announced that 11 launches are planned with 12 astronauts by 2023, and the inauguration of a space station by 2022.

The goals were made public on the sidelines of a conference of the National Committee of Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference on Saturday by former astronaut and current deputy chief engineer of the China Manned Space program, Yang Liwei.

According to reports in Tass and Sputnik press, Yang encouraged youth to join the space exploration efforts. The CNSA concluded its third recruitment campaign of astronauts last October, which includes 17 men and one woman. Previous campaigns focused only on military personnel, but because their ambitious plan to inaugurate a space station by 2022 will include a variety of disciplines, such as engineering and construction, the recruitment has been opened to civilians.


COVID-19: Vaccine Access for All

China Announces Plans To Produce 3.5 Billion Vaccine Doses in 2021

March 4, 2021 (EIRNS)–A major expansion of COVID-19 vaccine production is underway in China, now surpassing 3.5 billion doses in 2021. Further, China has decided to vaccinate 560 million of its citizens by June 30, an average of about five million/day. The U.S. is just now arriving at the capacity for 2.5 million/day, on its way to a 3-4 million/day level.

At a major meeting of the Chinese Center for Disease Control on Tuesday, decisions were made to escalate vaccinations on a vast scale. Up to now, China has targeted 52.5 million vaccinations, concentrating upon those who are most exposed to people and products coming into the country at airports, train stations, and harbors, and upon those exposed internally, such as health workers. Their testing and tracking methods have pre-empted a need to rapidly vaccinate. However, they have decided that it would undermine the efforts of neighbors, such as India, who are going for herd immunity levels of vaccination, if China were unvaccinated when their neighbors had achieved their goal. Social responsibility dictates that China should not be the weak link at that point. Health authorities were sent around the country after the Tuesday meeting, to organize the vaccinations of 560 million people by June 30 and another 330 million by the end of the year.

The 3.5 billion vaccine doses will come from Sinovac Biotech, which, according to CEO Yin Weidong, is expanding to a two-billion-dose/year capacity; CansinoBIO, which is building a new factory in Shanghai and plans on 500 million doses in 2021; and Sinopharm, which guarantees at least one billion doses in 2021. Previously, India has led the world, with a production schedule of 2.25 billion COVID-19 vaccines in 2021.


U.S.-China: A Shared Humanity

U.S.-China State Legislators Meet for 5th Forum; Amb. Cui Lauds Cooperation

March 4, 2021 (EIRNS)–The 5th China-U.S. Sub-national Legislatures Cooperation Forum met online on March 2. Attending were state legislators from the states of Alabama, Hawaii, California, Delaware, Iowa, Michigan, and Tennessee. On the Chinese side were leaders of the standing committees of provincial or municipal people’s congresses of Beijing, Hebei, Shanxi, Jiangsu, Hubei, Guangdong and Yunnan. The forum was the outcome of President Xi’s state visit to the United States in 2015. 

During the course of the Forum, the two sides had extensive discussions on the theme of “Win-win Cooperation for a New Chapter.” The U.S. legislators’ organization participating in the meeting is the State Legislative Leaders Foundation, whose president is Stephen Lakis.

China’s Ambassador to the U.S. Cui Tiankai addressed the group. He  underlined that this was the first such event since the change of administrations, and he emphasized the importance of U.S.-China cooperation, particularly in a year in which the world is still in a major fight against COVID-19. Cui referred to the call that the two presidents had made in February as the possible beginning of an improved relationship between the two countries.
            “A China-U.S. relationship based on coordination, cooperation, and stability is both in the fundamental interests of the two peoples, and meets the shared aspiration of the international community,” he said. “The two countries need to work together under the principle of no conflict, no confrontation, mutual respect, and win-win cooperation, focusing on cooperation and managing differences, to promote the healthy and stable development of China-U.S. relations, to bring more tangible benefits to the two peoples, and contribute to peace and development of humanity.”


U.S.-China Diplomacy: Needs to Aim for Unity

China to Biden Team: It Is ‘Evil’ To Try and Prevent Any
People’s Right To Pursue a Better Life.

March 3 (EIRNS)—China’s Global Times responded strongly to a report issued March 1 by the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative, which accused China of undermining U.S. national interests through coercive and unfair trade practices and promised to use all available tools to pursue “strengthened enforcement” of China’s existing trade obligations. In other words, as the Global Times yesterday took due note, “the Biden administration has repeatedly said it is reviewing the previous administration’s China policy, but recent messages emanating from Washington suggest that the new administration is keeping the hardline stance against China. The Trump administration’s strategic goal of containing China will be inherited, and only the means of dealing with China may be adjusted.”

It is “understandable” and even “reasonable” that Washington would seek to maintain its leading position in technologies, and to protect its intellectual property rights, the editors of this official daily correctly assert. China does not protest U.S. policies towards China which aim at promoting U.S. development and increasing U.S. strength, but containment smacks of the “barbaric geopolitical games” of the 19th and early 20th century.

“We are in the 21st century…. Be they Americans, Chinese, Latin Americans or Africans, all people have the right to pursue a better life…. [P]olicies targeted at preventing China’s continuous development and even pushing China’s economy backward are evil. They pose a direct harm to the interests of the 1.4 billion Chinese people, depriving the natural right of the Chinese people to seek a better life….

“Restricting China from the perspective of intellectual property rights protection is different from jeopardizing China’s scientific and technological research and development capabilities. The former is part of the intellectual property rights protection regime, while the latter is an evil result of the geopolitical mentality.

“China has 1.4 billion people, more than the West combined, and much more than the population of the major Western countries combined. China’s development is the grandest project of the global human rights cause, and China’s development needs a relatively friendly international environment, including fair conditions for trade and technology exchanges…. It is malicious to take tough measures to suppress the ability of developing countries, and to tell large countries like China that ‘you deserve to be poor’….

“This kind of malicious policy cannot be followed up in a broad and lasting way in the 21st century. We hope the U.S. ruling team can see clearly the general trend, stop talking about human rights when it is trying to deprive the sacred rights of 1.4 billion Chinese people…. At last, we have to say that such evil is doomed to failure in the 21st century.”

{Source: “Policies Containing China’s Development Malicious: Global Times Editorial” https://www.globaltimes.cn/page/202103/1217096.shtml }


China Brings Its Space Vision to Hong Kong

China Brings Its Space Vision to Hong Kong

June 24, 2021 (EIRNS)–A half-dozen leaders of the Chinese space program, including 88-year- old Qi Faren, the father of the Shenzhou program, descended on Hong Kong on June 23 to spend several days visiting Hong Kong universities and secondary schools to present the opportunities space has to offer to young Hong Kongers. This is the first major visit of a Chinese delegation to Hong Kong since the outbreak of COVID, and the effect was very powerful. Everywhere there were packed rooms. Most moving was the two-hour presentation by Qi Faren, who entered the Chinese defense establishment in 1957. Speaking without notes or a PowerPoint for two hours, and with times and dates engraved in his brain, he outlined China’s vision for space, from the historical experience of space in Chinese astronomy and poetry to the present period with the building of a Chinese space station. Qi talked about the spirit of the “two bombs and one star” program, the early attempt in incredibly difficult economic circumstances, for China to begin to again become a world power by building an atomic bomb in 1964, a hydrogen bomb in 1967, and launching China’s first satellite in 1970.

Qi, together with many of the elders in the space community, like Sun Jiadong, Ouyang Ziyuan, and others, had come out of this early program. And what was it that motivated them? Qi asked. It was “love of the motherland.” Qi explained that he was born in Dalian in 1933 and Dalian, like Taiwan and Korea, were all occupied by Japan at that time. “When I was young, I was bullied by Japanese kids, I gathered in the playground every day when I was in elementary school, bowed to Tokyo three times, and then practiced the bayonet. “If the War of Resistance Against Japan does not win,” he told himself, ” I will have to be in the Imperial Army, and China will be lost. But with the victory of liberation, I can now ‘Glimpse the Great Aerospace Era’,” Qi said. [the name of the Hong Kong foray].

       He said the younger generation has no experience of this history, so patriotism must be promoted through education. He said that the noblest love, the greatest love, is patriotism. This provides the energy for overcoming difficulties for reaching your greatest potential. “In peacetime, everyone is patriotic as long as they do their job well. Everyone can do this, and the country can be strong. The dream of being a powerful country needs to be implemented in our business and our jobs,” he said. Qi’s lecture was met with applause that lasted a long time in the huge venue. The talk was also live-streamed on several sites, including a WeChat site which had 5,000 viewers.

       Hu Hao, the designer of the third stage of China’s space program, gave a thorough presentation of the technology of the space program, noting that many people were needed to further develop China’s work in space. He was peppered with questions, including, how does one become an astronaut, what will we find in space, what kind of science experiments will be undertaken, etc. Hu also talked about mining on the Moon and the importance of Helium-3 for a future fusion energy program.

       At the end of the week there will be a major exhibition at the Hong Kong Convention Center with space paraphernalia and Moon rocks.


Wang Yi Chairs Meet of Belt & Road Countries in the Asia Pacific Region

Wang Yi Chairs Meeting of Belt and Road Countries in the Asia Pacific Region

June 24, 2021 (EIRNS)–On June 23, State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi hosted a high-level video conference on international cooperation in the Belt and Road Asia-Pacific region. The theme of the conference was “Strengthening Anti-epidemic Cooperation and Promoting Economic Recovery.” The participants included Colombian President Duque and deputy prime ministers, foreign ministers, and other political leaders from 29 other countries, as well as the UN Deputy Secretary-General and UN ESCAP Secretary-General Ali Shahba.

President Xi sent a letter to the participants, in which he underlined the successes of the BRI and the importance of its work in dealing with the COVID epidemic. He said that China was creating a new development paradigm which, through the interconnectivity of the BRI, would help create more market opportunities, investment opportunities, and growth opportunities for BRI partners.

Minister Wang underlined the many successes of the Belt and Road in bringing development to the Asia-Pacific region. He noted that 140 partners have signed BRI cooperation documents with China. Cumulative trade between China and its BRI partners has exceeded 9.2 trillion U.S. dollars, and the cumulative direct investment of Chinese companies in countries along the route has exceeded 130 billion U.S. dollars. “The ‘Belt and Road’ has truly become the world’s widest and largest international cooperation platform,” Wang said. He also noted that there were no political conditions or ideological bias attached to Belt and Road membership, making a clear distinction between BRI and the Biden/G7 “Build Back Better World” boondoggle.

The meeting reached agreement on a 6-point program. The Members positively praised the progress of BRI cooperation; called on the international community to work together to overcome the problems engendered by the pandemic; called for greater cooperation in the development of vaccines and making them available to the world as a whole; placed “green development” in a prominent position in BRI infrastructure development; supported greater cross-border movement of goods and people and the promotion of trade and investment liberalization; accelerated the implementation of the UN Sustainable Development Goals.


President Xi Talks With China Space Station Crew From Beijing Aerospace Center

President Xi Talks With the Space Station Crew From the Beijing Aerospace Center

June 22 – President Xi Jinping went to the Beijing Aerospace Control Center to speak with the three astronauts on the Tianhe module of the Chinese Space Station. “How are you doing?” he asked. “And is everybody healthy?” Major General Nie Haisheng, the 57-year old commander of the mission, replied that they were all doing well. “This is my third space mission. I work and live in Tianhe, and the conditions are getting better and better. Now we have a permanent home operating in orbit, and we are proud of our great Party and motherland,” said Nie.

Nie came from a poor family in the then drought-ridden portion of Hubei province. He had eight siblings and sometimes had to wear some of his sister’s flowery clothes to school, and took a terrible ribbing from his classmates for that. He was known, however, as the “king of mathematics” and although he almost had to leave middle school to go to work when his father died, one of his teachers saw to it that he could stay in school and that the tuition would be waived. Tang Hongbo, the youngest of the three was on his first venture in space, said that he was happy that he could have a video talk with his parents while at the station. “Our home in space is very cozy and comfortable, and we have full confidence in completing the upcoming tasks,” said Tang.

Xi said he was delighted to learn that the astronauts were in good condition and that their work was progressing smoothly. “The construction of the space station is a milestone in China’s space industry, which will make pioneering contributions to the peaceful use of space by humanity,” said Xi. You are the first astronauts stationed in the core module Tianhe and will stay in space for three months,” Xi said during the video call. “We all care about you very much.”


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