June 30, 2022 (EIRNS)—In a pre-recorded video message, Russian President Vladimir Putin addressed the Tenth St. Petersburg International Legal Forum today, contrasting the “generally accepted principles of international law and the UN Charter,” which underlie an emerging multipolar system of international relations, with the “unjust unipolar model” based on an “order based on rules and other questionable concepts which try to control and direct global processes at their own discretion.” The U.S. is guilty of such conduct, Putin asserted, unable to accept that it is losing its supremacy on the world stage, even while advocating its own exceptionalism.
Rejecting the notion put forward by some radicals, that international law is being dismantled, Putin admits that undoubtedly “the system of international law needs to be further developed, but we should not confuse cause and effect. Crises happen not because the law is faulty, but because of attempts to replace law with dictate,” or when certain states or groups of states try to replace international standards with their own national jurisdiction. This, he stated, “is a deliberate refusal to follow essential legal principles—justice, conscientiousness, equality and humanity. These are not just legal ideals, but values that reflect the diversity of our civilization.”
The Russian President warned that the multipolar world of the 21st Century “is an irreversible process; it is happening before our eyes…this democratic, more just world order should be built on the basis of mutual respect and trust, and, of course, on the generally accepted principles of international law and the UN Charter.” In this new, multipolar world, there is no room for discrimination against states or people. Russia, therefore, “speaks for the practical realization of the pivotal international legal principle of the sovereign equality of states and the right of each state to pursue its own development model. I am confident that by consistently following international law and joining our efforts, it is possible to resolve the most difficult problems that the world is facing and to provide for the stable, sustainable and progressive development of all states.” Access to President Putin’s speech is here.
Germany: New Appeal for Ceasefire in Ukraine Published in Die Zeit —
June 30, 2022 (EIRNS)–A list of 21 prominent Germans and two international signers (Richard Falk and Jeffrey Sachs) published in today’s Die Zeit a new appeal to Western governments for an all-out and immediate effort to achieve a quick, negotiated solution to the Ukraine conflict. Among the German signers is Gen. (ret.) Erich Vad, former military advisor to Angela Merkel. An immediate reaction from Andrej Melnik, Ukrainian Ambassador to Berlin followed.
The signers call for a “diplomatic full-scale offensive” as the only way to get out of “the present dead-end,” referring to military experts, who consider victory for Ukraine—with a return of all occupied territories including Donetsk, Lugansk, and Crimea—unrealistic. They question continuing weapons deliveries and demand, “An immediate cease-fire,” the title of their call. “Continuing the war to achieve full victory of Ukraine over Russia leads to thousands of further victims of war, who die for a goal that does not seem realistic.”
In an immediate reaction to this, Ukrainian Ambassador and attack-dog in Berlin, Andrej Melnik, had a fit on twitter: “Not again, what a bunch of pseudo-intellectual losers you all Varwicks, Vads, Kluges, Prechts, Yogeshwars, Zehs & Co. [names of some signers] should finally go to hell with your defeatist ‘advise’. Bye.” Andrij Melnyk zu Augstein, Precht und Co.: Schert Euch zum Teufel! [Go to hell!]
The letter was signed by Jakob Augstein (publicist), Richard A. Falk (professor of international law), Svenja Flaßpöhler (philosopher), Thomas Glauben (professor of agricultural economics), Josef Haslinger (writer), Elisa Hoven (professor of criminal law), Alexander Kluge (filmmaker and author), Christoph Menke (professor of philosophy), Wolfgang Merkel (professor of political science), Julian Nida-Rümelin (philosopher), Robert Pfaller (philosopher), Richard D. Precht (philosopher), Jeffrey Sachs (professor of economics), Michael von der Schulenburg (former UN diplomat), Edgar Selge (actor), Ilija Trojanow (writer), Erich Vad (retired Gen, former military advisor to Angela Merkel), Johannes Varwick (professor of international politics), Harald Welzer (social psychologist), Ranga Yogeshwar (science journalist), and Juli Zeh (writer).
June 30, 2022 (EIRNS)—Chinese President Xi Jinping spent the first of a two-day visit to Hong Kong today to help its citizens celebrate the momentous 25th anniversary of July 1,1997, the date on which Great Britain returned Hong Kong to China. Imperial Britain occupied Hong Kong on July 25, 1841, during the Opium War and following China’s defeat in that war, it was forced to cede the territory to Britain in the Treaty of Nanking on August 29, 1842. The anniversary of Hong Kong’s return to China carries great political and emotional significance for the Chinese people.
Xi and his wife, Peng Liyuan, arrived by high-speed rail at Hong Kong’s West Kowloon train station in the afternoon today, where they were greeted with much fanfare by the police brass band, flag-waving citizens, and a lion dance. In a short speech after his arrival, Xi stated that he and the central government have always felt concern for Hong Kong and held its compatriots in their hearts, understanding that it has had to overcome many difficult challenges and tests. He emphasized that as long as the principle of “one country, two systems” is always upheld, Hong Kong will have a bright future and will make great contributions to China’s rejuvenation.
Prior to attending a banquet at the official residence of Carrie Lam, the outgoing chief executive of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR)—Hong Kong’s government—Xi met at the local convention center with 160 officials, including senior government officials, heads of law enforcement agencies, and members of the chief executive’s cabinet. He also visited the city’s very impressive science park, which is home to 1,000 high-tech companies. Also attending the banquet was John Lee, Carrie Lam’s successor, whose inauguration tomorrow Xi will attend. Xi spoke very highly of Carrie Lam, praising her for firmly implementing the “One country two systems” and China’s Basic Law in Hong Kong and for guiding it through a period of chaos in 2019-2020 when violent “pro-democracy” protesters sought regime change in the HKSAR, and overseeing its transition to the current period of peace and order.
Aug. 9, 2022 (EIRNS)–Americans, and others in the West, could take a lesson from African leaders, who are not taking orders from arrogant elites demanding capitulation. South African Foreign Minister Naledi Pandor told reporters on Monday, with Secretary of State Tony Blinken sitting next to her, that she objected to “patronizing bullying” coming from the West: “Because when we believe in freedom – as I’m saying, it’s freedom for everybody – you can’t say because Africa is doing this, you will then be punished by the United States…. One thing I definitely dislike is being told `either you choose this or else.’ When a minister speaks to me like that … I definitely will not be bullied in that way, nor would I expect any other African country worth its salt to agree to be [so] treated.”
Blinken is on a three-nation trip to Africa, a trip widely billed as aimed at countering Russian and Chinese influence in the area. Playing “Mr. Nice Guy” did not score Blinken points in South Africa. In the joint press conference given by Blinken and Pandor after holding the first U.S.-South Africa Strategic Dialogue in nearly eight years, Pandor made three key points, in addition to her refusal to join geopolitical blocs:
On China and Africa: “Countries are free to establish relationships with different countries. African countries that wish to relate to China, let them do so, whatever the particular form of relationships would be. We can’t be made party to conflict between China and the United States of America, and I may say, it does cause instability for all of us, because it affects the global economic system. We really hope that the United States and China will arrive at a point of rapprochement, where all of us can look to economic development and growth for all our countries, because that’s extremely important for all of us. These are two great powers, the two biggest economies in the world. They’ve got to find a way of working together to allow us to grow.”
On Blinken’s push for “democracy,” one of the four U.S. priorities in the administration’s “Sub-Saharan Africa Strategy,” Pandor recommended:
“If your tactic is to approach African countries and say that, `listen, you must be democratic either and use our model, it works,’ I think it’s bound to lead to some failure.” All countries and peoples deserve the right to exercise their civil and political rights, but how that should be approached is the issue,” she said. She noted that “there has been a lot of external interference in Africa [which] has fueled conflict in many African countries, has fueled instability and supported opposition groups against liberation fighters and so on,” much of that stemming from foreign interest in “Africa’s rich mineral wealth.”
And, Pandor spoke eloquently against the war and “apartheid” in which Palestinians are forced to live, as an example of the double-standard often played by those who say they are defending the principles of the UN charter: “Just as much as the people of Ukraine deserve their territory and freedom, the people of Palestine deserve their territory and freedom. And we should be equally concerned at what is happening to the people of Palestine as we are with what is happening to the people of Ukraine.”
Aug. 9, 2022 (EIRNS)—The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) released a study, “Syrian Arab Republic: Access to Electricity and Humanitarian Needs,” in March 2022, documenting meticulously, respecting Syria, what Helga Zepp-LaRouche contends in her July 12, 2022 statement, “Lift Sanctions Against Russia Immediately!”: that sanctions are a “brutal form of warfare” that kill, and must be lifted everywhere they are currently enforced.
In 2011, the European Union enforced sanctions against Syria with the intent to overthrow the country’s President, Bashar al-Assad, following the Bernard Lewis Plan overthrow and eventual killing of the leaders of Iraq and Libya. Britain, the U.S., and other nations joined the sanctions regime, and the range of sectors of the Syrian economy against which they were applied was expanded. The U.S. and other nations carried out military intervention in Syria in 2011, first using proxy terrorist groups, then directly.
Syria’s electricity sector was brutally targeted. The OCHA study reports, “Two of the country’s 13 major power plants were fully destroyed: the Zeyzoun Power Plant in Idlib governate (487 MW installed capacity) and the Aleppo Thermal Power Station (1,065 MW installed capacity).” The World Bank reported that six other power plants were partially destroyed.
“As a result of this damage, the country’s electricity generation capacity fell from 5,800 MW in 2010… to 4,000 MW in 2018.” The further tightening of sanctions caused Syria’s installed electricity generation capacity to fall to 2,000 MW in 2021, a collapse of 63%! Obtaining replacement parts and maintaining the surviving plants, due to sanctions, has become even more acute. Whereas, in 2010, “93% of the country had access to electricity,” that is sharply down today. Compared to 2010 standards, today’s Syrian population consumes 85% less electricity per capita, twelve years later. Thirty percent of Syria’s population has access to electricity for only 2 hours per day. That slashes electricity to industry, and households, and all the equipment that goes with that.
But electricity is the source for powering all other features of society. Around 2010, “access to safe drinking water in Syria was estimated at 92% in rural communities and 98% in urban centers. Seven major water systems serve the country’s eight largest cities…. However,” the study emphasizes, “by 2019 annual public water production in Syria had fallen by 40% relative to pre-crisis levels (from 1,700 Mn cubic meters in 2010 to 1,020 Mn cubic meters in 2019.” But to use water from groundwater and springs, or most rivers, requires continuous electricity to pump water and distribute it, a commodity Syria now lacks as the study highlights.
The lack of electricity (and water) also means there is sometimes insufficient power to run medical facilities and health clinics. Because of damage to infrastructure, Syria runs its schools on two shifts. In the second shift, in particular, often there is no clean water in the bathrooms, and not enough electricity to heat the schools. Some students study at home by candlelight.
The OCHA’s ReliefWeb website reported March 12, 2022, “this year, 90 percent of Syrians live below the poverty line, and more than 80 percent are food insecure. Families say they are eating less, cutting meals, and going into debt to meet their basic needs.” {Emphasis added.}
As Zepp-LaRouche says in her July 12 statement, sanctions “are a brutal form of warfare against the respective populations of the sanctioned states with the aim of making their living conditions so intolerable that they rise up against their respective leaderships, and overthrow them. But the victims are always the people.” It is past time to lift them in Russia, Syria, and everywhere.
German Farmers Will Take to the Streets Again—
Aug. 8, 2022 (EIRNS)–Farmers in Germany are expected to take to the streets again, protesting against their own government’s and EU’s policies. A big national rally will be staged in Berlin on August 26. Organizers regard it as a “365 day” demonstration, if nothing is done. Among farmers’ key issues, is the one pointing to the lethal mix of green policies, and the EU and government’s inaction against the ongoing fertilizer/diesel price inflation, a main cause for the drop of grain harvest by 60 (!) percent in Germany this Summer. A lot of shelves in the supermarkets right in the middle of Europe will be empty this coming Winter season.
Aug. 8, 2022 (EIRNS)–Greek Ambassador Ad Hon., and member of the Schiller Institute, Leonidas Chrysanthopoulos presented the blacklisting of the Schiller Institute by the Center for Combating Disinformation (CCD) of Ukraine, in an interview this week on RT television. While being interviewed on the recent Amnesty International Report denouncing the Ukrainian military’s use of human shields, the Ambassador went into a full briefing on the blacklisting, referring directly to the Schiller Institute. He declared that conducting this blacklist operation exposes the fascist nature of the Ukrainian regime. The Ambassador is also a signatory to the Schiller Institute petition denouncing the blacklisting. The entire interview can be seen here.
EIRNS, June 23–Pakistan’s PTV World program Views on News, hosted by Faisal Rehman who spoke with Helga Zepp-LaRouche and other guests concerning security and development issues facing the new Pakistani government. Zepp-LaRouche’s theme was that there must be peace and development for Afghanistan. She asked, “How long do you want to keep fighting? The grievances of the past are not the starting point for defining the future.” Mrs. LaRouche called for the integration of Afghanistan with the Belt and Road initiative. The full program can be viewed here.
Aug. 8, 2022 (EIRNS)–The widely-read German website NachdenkSeiten posted an article on Aug. 8 by Dr. Wolfgang Bittner, a well-known jurist and author who spoke at a Schiller Institute conference on June 18 (his presentation is here) and who was put on the Ukraine CCD hit list. The article, under the title: “Ukraine’s Blacklist – the Federal Chancellor must act,” notes, that in addition to himself and Helga Zepp-LaRouche, the list includes Rolf Mützenlich, the Chairman of the Social Democratic Party caucus in the Bundestag. (It must be noted that Chancellor Olaf Schulz is a member of the SPD.)
Dr. Bittner writes, from a machine translation: “The political situation is appalling and the persecution of dissenters in connection with the Ukraine war is taking the form of unbridled fascism. It is unacceptable that state terrorism is being carried out here under the eyes of the world public. The persecution of critics and opposition figures by Ukrainian government organizations must be stopped immediately. The federal government is called upon to lodge a protest with the Zelensky government against the discrimination against German nationals… and to stop all aid for Ukraine. The list of the CCD must be deleted immediately.”
Modi Declares India Will Be a Developed Nation In Next 25 Years—
Aug. 15, 2022 (EIRNS)–Speaking on the occasion of India’s 75th Independence Day, Prime Minister Narendra Modi made a strong push for the development of his nation. “By the 100th year of Independence, we have to work with the vision of accomplishing what our freedom fighters dreamt of,” Modi declared. He called on youth in particular to devote themselves to this goal, saying “We must resolve to work towards a ‘Viksit Bharat’ (Developed India) and remove any vestiges of colonialism from any corner or in our hearts.”
“In the coming years, we have to focus on ‘Panchpran’ (5 pledges). First: to move forward with bigger resolutions and resolve of developed India; second: to erase all traces of servitude; third: be proud of our legacy; fourth: the strength of unity; and fifth: the duties of citizens that also includes the PM and CMs,” Modi noted, referring to the Prime Minister and Chief Ministers. “We will work towards the development of the entire humanity. That is the strength of India,” he added.
The Prime Minister also referenced the freedom fighters of India’s past, including Gandhi, Bose, Ambedkar, Savarkar, and others. “When the dreams are big, hard work is important. It needs to be inspired by the pledge and the determination of freedom fighters who dreamt of a free India,” Modi said.
