Helga Zepp-LaRouche

But make no mistake, they are acting out of desperation. Their attack dog, Special Counsel Robert Mueller, who is running the fraudulent “Russiagate” prosecution to remove Trump, is under heavy fire, as the Executive Intelligence Review’s dossier on his criminal history — including his role in the persecution of Lyndon LaRouche — is being circulated widely. This week, nineteen Congressmen called for public hearings on Mueller’s activities. And there is growing awareness of an inevitable blowout of the debt bubble-dominated financial system, unless there is a rapid implementation of Lyndon LaRouche’s Four Basic Laws.

The moment has arrived when this degenerate empire can be defeated.

Helga LaRouche was again prominently featured in the Chinese press this week, in a People’s Daily video interview on how China’s Belt and Road Initiative is changing history.

Join Mrs. LaRouche on Thursday, as she presents the full global strategic picture, in her weekly webcast.

TRANSCRIPT

HARLEY SCHLANGER:  Hello, I’m Harley Schlanger from the Schiller Institute, and I’d like to welcome you again to our webcast with Helga Zepp-LaRouche.

There’s an absolutely extraordinary event underway in China right now; the 19th Congress of the Chinese Communist Party.  And in an address yesterday, President Xi Jinping laid out a bold strategy for the next 35-40 years on how to expand the developments of the Belt and Road Initiative, which has already lifted the majority of the people of China out of poverty.  This is being treated in the Western media as an opportunity to attack China, to deride the economic model, to talk about how it won’t work, to even characterize Xi Jinping as a new Stalin.  But while that’s the nonsense coming out in the Western media, the Chinese press has been featuring Helga Zepp-LaRouche for her analysis of what’s occurring.  So, we have the great benefit of being able to hear directly from Helga.  So, Helga, let me turn over to you.

HELGA ZEPP-LAROUCHE:  Yes.  I made a comment to China Daily where I emphasized one aspect of the speech by President Xi Jinping, and that is that he mentioned about 14 times in the context of his three-and-a-half hour long speech, where he emphasized that the aim of politics and of the efforts of the CPC [Communist Party of China] is to create a better and happier life for the people.  Now that is a thought which when I look at the various politicians in the West, I haven’t heard them talking about that.  But if you really think about it, that is what politics should be all about, and it’s no accident that this idea was actually in the American Declaration of Independence; where one of the inalienable rights mentioned there is the pursuit of happiness.

So, I have been in China several times in the recent period, and I have seen that the people are happy; that they are optimistic about the future.  I think if I look at the speech of Xi Jinping, he has an incredible perspective which makes total sense that it is realistic given the fact that China has already uplifted 700 million people out of poverty.  If you take that success story, then you have all the reasons to believe that the Chinese government will be able to fulfill what Xi Jinping laid out as a vision until the year 2050.

Since this has been very little reported in the Western media, let me just repeat what he said.  He said the goal of China is to eliminate all poverty until 2020.  That is a remaining I think 42 million people; which is not much, if you think that China is a country of 1.4 billion people.  But they want to uplift all the people so that nobody is left in poverty by 2020.  Then, the next goal is until 2035, where China is supposed to become a moderately prosperous, modern, functioning socialist country.  Then, until the year 2050, China is supposed to become a strong, democratic, civilized, harmonious, and beautiful country; fully modernized.  I think this is an incredible, beautiful goal.  Xi Jinping in his speech emphasized that following the century of humiliation for China, which was characterized by the Opium Wars and similar events, that China decided not to take any foreign model, but to develop its own model of socialism with Chinese characteristics.

Now, I think that the West would be well advised to actually look into what these Chinese characteristics are, because the secret of the success of the Chinese economic miracle I think has to be found and can be found in the 5,000 years of Chinese history.  Xi Jinping emphasized that in these 5,000 years, China has contributed many things to the development of mankind, and it intends to continue to do so.  One of the big contributions of China for sure was not only that Confucius was born and developed to be one of the great teachers of all times, but that was actually the state philosophy of China for the better part of 2,500 years with the short exception of the Cultural Revolution — the ten years from 1966 to ’76.  But therefore, Confucian thinking and the ideas of Confucius are very deeply ingrained in the Chinese model; and I have stated many times that I personally, from studying the speeches of Xi Jinping, have come to the conclusion that Xi Jinping himself is a Confucian thinking man.

Then also, then he emphasized that intending to become an innovation-based society; that the spirit of science should have a very important role.  I have seen this many times that that is actually what China is doing, by always trying to leapfrog to the newest state of the art technologies.  That way, China has already become a world leader in several categories.  Therefore, all these slanders against China that it’s just stealing Western patents and Western technologies — that may have been the case at the beginning of the opening up to the West.  By the way, everybody else is also taking any advantage they can find in terms of foreign technologies.  I know of many European business leaders who are convinced that the NSA is not outside of that domain at all.  Anyway, so that was just a parenthesis.  But, in any case, China is planning to become a science-based economy by the year 2025; and I think that is very beneficial for all the countries in the Belt and Road Initiative, in the New Silk Road; because China has offered in particular to share its scientific and technological advances with developing countries.  I think this is of great benefit for mankind.

I think this 19th National Congress of the CPC is not just relevant for China.  But I think it will radiate throughout the rest of the world, because naturally everybody looks at this model and says why is it so successful; and maybe there is something we can learn from it.  So we should make sure people really pay attention to the substance of what is going on, and not just to the media accounts which are mostly negative.  I always use the example of Hegel, the German philosopher, in his Phenomenology of the Mind, wrote that the servant who helps the world-historical individual to dress up only can see the underwear, and doesn’t understand the vision of the mind of the world-historical individual.  That’s the image I have of the journalists who are writing these ridiculous articles; they are just valets, the servant who helps the man to dress up.

SCHLANGER:  It’s clear that the Western media is much more interested in underwear than in these physical processes of development.  You describe this as a dynamic, global process; and the Western media keeps saying it’s going to fail.  In particular, they’re saying that China is creating a great credit bubble that will collapse.  What’s the reality there?  Why are they wrong, Helga?

ZEPP-LAROUCHE:  Well, I think it’s ridiculous, because naturally China has taken credit and has debt; but all of this debt is backed up with physical essence, because China has this debt because it finances infrastructure projects, industrial parks, hydropower, all kinds of physical investments, which, if there would be ever a crisis, these physical investments would be still be there.  They are real wealth, which is in complete contradiction and opposite of the trans-Atlantic financial system, which is entirely speculative, which is a complete bubble.  It’s just funny, because today is the 30th anniversary of that Monday of 1987.  My husband Lyndon LaRouche had predicted that bubble at the time; and we have seen a worsening of the situation ever since because nothing was done to correct it.  But instead you had Alan Greenspan undermining the Glass-Steagall and then finally Larry Summers in 1999 eliminating Glass-Steagall. Ever since, you’ve had the incredible deregulation of the financial markets, which then eventually led to the Crash of 2007, which again was predicted by my husband a week before it happened; then finally, the Lehman Brothers-AIG crash of 2008. Many commentators are actually making the point on this anniversary, that this crisis which started in earnest in 2007-2008, is far from being over.  All the parameters are worse than in 2008; and there are some commentators — one from the London School of Economics even — who says the bullish character of the assets is actually showing characteristics exactly like before the crash of 1987; and that it could even come to big financial explosion in October or November of this year, which could happen at any moment.

So, we are sitting on this powder keg, and it’s ridiculous that people are blaming China, which is the only country which is investing in real goods, for the crash when they themselves are sitting on this powder keg.  I think is something we urgently should address with the campaign for Glass-Steagall and our program to go back to Hamiltonian economics.

But one final word:  The attacks on Xi Jinping are coming from people like this Mr. Pomfret from the Washington Post, who compared Xi Jinping to Stalin.  These are people who are just projecting their own evil thoughts onto China; but they will not prevail because what do they have to offer other than words, which mean very little, while China is making a new financial and economic model which brings benefit to all countries which participate.  Therefore, it will prevail.

SCHLANGER:  It’s clear that the irony here is that it’s a sign of the bankruptcy of Western thinking that while we have the biggest bubble in world history in commercial debt, in financial debt, student debt, car debt; every category of debt is at record levels.  Leverage is over the roof.  That they’re looking at China, and talking about the China debt.  One element of this is that, as you said, it’s not just China.  But there’s now growing interest around the world, because the Chinese have been doing something.  It’s not just something they’re talking about doing in the future.  We’re seeing a great deal of interest worldwide. Can you just fill us in a little bit on what’s happening around the world with the Belt and Road?

ZEPP-LAROUCHE:  I think the most interesting thing is what’s going on in the United States.  We are now about two weeks away from when President Trump goes to Asia.  He will visit five or six countries, but the most important one will be the state visit to China.  I have the feeling that this will lead to some major forms of cooperation between the United States and China; maybe even an official statement that the United States will join the Belt and Road, and that they will work vice versa to support the projects both of the Belt and Road, but also in the United States.  Because the mood in the United States — and we had a couple of conferences in the last weeks, where we either organized them or we participated in them.  And there were many business leaders who said it doesn’t matter what the government will say, because the Belt and Road Initiative is the only way to go.  Either we jump on the train of the Belt and Road Initiative, or we will see the lights of the last wagon from behind and we will be left behind.  That is exactly the mood which we find in Germany, where despite the fact that the German government is still putting the brakes on in line with the EU and Brussels, but that doesn’t mean that, for example, all the other countries of Eastern Europe, of Central Europe, of the Balkans, of Italy, Spain, Portugal, Switzerland, Austria; they are all in the direction of becoming a hub of the New Silk Road.  They see the benefits.

The best example, just to give one of many, is what happens with Greece.  Greece, which was tortured by the Troika — the IMF, the ECB, and the EU Commission — who imposed the most brutal austerity; which was even characterized by the UN Human Rights Commission as a violation of human rights.  These policies of the Troika have reduced the Greek economy by one-third, shortened the life expectancy, increased the death rate, led to an incredible emigration of young, skilled labor.  So, this was the policy of the EU.  Now comes China with the Belt and Road policy.  China has built up the port of Piraeus, they are now building a railway from the Greek ports to Belgrade to Budapest — again opposed by the EU for no good reason.  It has changed the self confidence of the Greek people.  So, Prime Minister Tsipras was just in Washington, and he met with Trump together with a whole large delegation of cabinet members and others. Trump, contrary to the EU, promised a reasonable debt relief, real investment in the real economy, and strong cooperation between Greece and the United States.  This is just a completely different attitude, so therefore the United States will be a featured guest at the next big fair next year in Thessaloniki. It has changed the self confidence of the Greek people; who now say that we are no longer at the rim of the EU, but we are now in the center of the Eurasian development.

So, the spirit of the New Silk Road, which we have talked about last time, this is a new thinking that mankind can work together for the common good.  And that it doesn’t have to be the geopolitical interests of one group against the geopolitical interests of another group, but that “win-win” cooperation, where each country benefits, is actually the spirit of this new era. So, this is going on, and I think if you take that together with the developments in Africa, in Ibero-America, this spirit is marching forward.  I am absolutely confident that it will characterize a completely new era of civilization.

SCHLANGER:  You mentioned the Tsipras meeting with Trump, where Trump spoke about responsible debt relief.  This is the second time in a couple of weeks that he’s brought up dealing with the debt problem.  He talked about doing away with, or cancelling, or writing off Puerto Rico’s debt.  Now he’s talking about this question of the Greek debt needing to be written down; which is obvious except to the bankers who are holding the debt. Obviously this is a big part of the reason, along with his strategic initiative towards China and Russia, why there’s still a Russia-gate attack against him.  But there are some developments in the last week against that.  I wonder if you have some thoughts on that.

ZEPP-LAROUCHE:  I think there is now a very important letter by 19 Congressmen to the head of the Judiciary Committee, Senator Grassley, demanding that the role of Special Counsel Robert Mueller should be investigated for being biased and having a conflict of interest.  I think that is very interesting, and in a certain sense the tide can change very quickly.  This was also mentioned by Russian Foreign Minister Lavrov, who at the beginning of the Valdai Forum, which is just taking place in Sochi, basically said that the nine months of investigation of the phony Russia-gate have resulted in absolutely no evidence that there would be any collusion of the Trump team with Russia. And he noted very positively that this has not deterred President Trump from his election promise that he would improve the relationship with Russia.  I think this is very interesting, because I have said this already in the past, but let me restate it, because it’s not self-evident for many people.  If the three large countries — the United States, China, and Russia — find an agreement among each other and stop to think that you have to have a nuclear build-up and nuclear deterrence and geopolitical maneuvers to outdo the other one; that is the precondition for world peace.  I think that the whole question of how do you deal with the rise of China, will there be a “Thucydides trap”; will it lead to World War III?  Some journalists are repeating that line and saying that this is the only way.  But I think if you look at the strategic partnership between Xi Jinping and Putin, if President Trump deters these attempts of Russia-gate and continues to seek cooperation with Russia, and at the same time, maybe it comes to a big breakthrough in the context of his state visit in two weeks from now, the world will enter a new era; a new stage of development, and the whole world will benefit off it.

So, I think for the people in the United States, it’s very important not to be caught in the small issues defined by yellow journalism of the Washington Post and the New York Timesand CNN, who are competing with each other to spread fake news.  But they should actually really think that there is a way where if the United States and China would work together on the New Silk Road, and if President Trump continues to seek a positive relationship with Russia, that is in the interest of everybody.

SCHLANGER:  Helga, there’s one other area where Americans really have no clue of what’s going on, largely due to the media; and that’s what’s happening in Europe.  You had the Catalonia separatist vote and the continued flak over that; you just had an election in Austria where the ruling parties took another big hit, just as they had in Germany.  Can you give a sense of what’s happening in Europe and how this is part of the same dynamic? Obviously, the Brexit issue is not resolved.  So, what’s happening in Europe?

ZEPP-LAROUCHE:  It is exactly the same dynamic which led to the election victory of President Trump.  There are many people in European nations who have the feeling that the politicians don’t care about the well-being of the people; quite contrary to what Xi Jinping emphasized in his speech, and what is practiced in China.  For example, if you look at the present negotiations in Germany to form a so-called Jamaica coalition — Jamaica because the colors of these parties are the same as in the flag of Jamaica; it’s basically the conservative CSU/CDU, the liberals the FDP, and the Greens.  I have not heard any substantial grand design or vision for the future in these discussions; it’s all about posts and minimal agreements.  People just have the feeling that the political class, which has condoned the fact that the poor become poorer, the middle class becomes more threatened, the rich become more rich; and the well-being of the people is left behind.  There are many people who don’t make things match, and don’t make ends match.  People feel really that the political class has moved entirely away from them; and that is reflected in the Brexit, in the rise of the AfD, the right populist extremist party in Germany.  It’s expressed in the right-wing election victory in Austria.  And it is expressed in the Catalonia separatist movement, which right now today is really moving in a very dangerous direction.

Why is it happening?  The separatists of Catalonia, which is the richest province of Spain, nevertheless feel that they get poorer under the present EU regime; and therefore, they want to have a certain independence — a northern autonomy.  Naturally, this is against the Constitution of Spain; the Spanish government of Prime Minister Rojoy has taken a hard line.  This is actually a very dangerous thing, and it’s being steered by outside forces. There are Spanish papers who accuse George Soros of having financed the separatists.  There was coverage in the Russian media pointing to the fact that there is a video being circulated by the separatists in Catalonia, which has exactly the same script as a similar video which was used in the Maidan coup against the Ukrainian government of Yanukovych.  Namely, you have woman standing in the street saying thousands and thousands of people are taking to the streets; then they show pictures of police violence; then they basically demand that people should support them and spread the word and so on.  Exactly word by word the same video.  I would say that it points in the direction that it’s the same apparatus which was behind the Maidan, the Maidan against  President Trump, and now in Catalonia.  It’s really an oligarchical conception, because we have reported since a very long time about the oligarchy preferring a Europe of the regions, and not a Europe of strong nation-states which would work together like in the tradition of DeGaulle; an alliance of the fatherlands.  But destroying the nation-state, and having only regions of maybe 3 million each, naturally gives their supranational structures a much greater power, and the people are basically without power.  So, this is a very dangerous development; and that is really the last rearguard battle of the oligarchy.

Because I think that the other dynamic which I described earlier, the New Silk Road dynamic becoming stronger in all of Europe, is the one which is advancing more quickly.  But it’s a turbulent time, and again, I would like all our listeners and viewers to contact us.  The Schiller Institute is providing knowledge about the New Silk Road; we are continuously researching it more.  We are putting out more reports about it. We will make more literature available, because people need to be educated that there is an alternative.

It is my experience, and I think of you Harley, you can confirm it, that once people know about the New Silk Road, they get completely excited.  They get optimistic; they say “I have a future. It is worth it for me to study if I’m a young person.  I can become a scientist, I can become an astronaut, I can become a teacher.  I have a future.”  That is so important, especially in the United States for example, where you have this terrible opioid epidemic, where people are full of despair.  Or in Europe, you have many unemployed youth in Italy or in Spain who neither have a job, nor are in education.  A youth which has neither of those naturally is prone to become either a terrorist or a criminal or violent or drug addicted or some other terrible thing.  So therefore, the knowledge that there is a way how we can, together, form a better future is so important.  So, please help us to spread the news.

SCHLANGER:  And this is the whole point of these webcasts: To bring to you a picture of the spirit of the Silk Road, and to give you the capability to ask the right questions and to get the right answers.  Again, come to us and engage in a dialogue in an organizing process with us.

Helga, there are going to be a number of events over the next days with the 19th Party Congress continuing; and we’ll look forward to hearing from you again on this next week.

ZEPP-LAROUCHE:  OK.  Bye-bye.