By Amarynth for the Saker Blog and collaborating with Godfree Roberts’ Newsletter, Here Comes China
Biden / Xi Summit.
In perfect Chinese diplomatic terms, it looks like business as usual. Taken outside of the perfect diplomatic terms, it is a true spanking.
Let’s take one paragraph only and remember a few things first:
Washington, as usual, threatened and danced something like the haka and warned Xi not to support Russia in any way or the consequences would be dire for China. Washington threatened with equally applied sanctions and other dire unmentionables. Apparently, Washington can support who it wants, but China is in some form prohibited from exactly that. Hypocritically they want it both ways. That era is over.
A few hours before the ‘summit’, China had a perfectly normal sail-by through the Taiwan Straits of their aircraft carrier Shandong. Yes, this is ‘likely routine’ says their spox. Sure, it was highly likely just routine. It must have been a wonderful day for the Shandong to take a little sail through the Taiwan Straits.
A few hours before the ‘summit’ Global times had an interview with an unnamed official. (Is China playing the US game here by not naming the official?). This is the take-away: “The international community can fairly judge who is frank and open and who is up to something, who is easing the situation and who is aggravating tension, who is promoting peace talks and who is pouring fuel on the fire, and who is maintaining peace and stability and who is provoking confrontations between blocs.”
Xi Jinping made a pre-summit statement: Countries should not come to the point of meeting on the battlefield. Conflict and confrontation are not in anyone’s interest. Peace and security are what the international community should treasure the most.
So, this is the milieu that Biden walked into at the online summit. We must know by now what this is all about. None of the boring line-up of US representatives could bend China to their will to support sanctions against Russia, so, time for a Presidential Summit to yet again attempt to split China and Russia. This is how perfectly ridiculous this attempt is: Can you help me fight your friend so that I can concentrate on fighting you later?
Here is how it went:
President Biden expounded on the US position and expressed readiness for communication with China to prevent the situation from exacerbating.
Simply said: How can we make a deal so that the US/Nato alliance remains a unipolar world and all others must be subservient.
President Xi pointed out that China does not want to see the situation in Ukraine to come to this. China stands for peace and opposes war. This is embedded in China’s history and culture.
Simply said: Hey Biden, mistake number one! You do not know who you are talking to, but now I’m going to tell you
- China makes a conclusion independently based on the merits of each matter.
- China advocates upholding international law and universally recognized norms governing international relations.
- China adheres to the UN Charter and promotes the vision of common, comprehensive, cooperative and sustainable security. These are the major principles that underpin China’s approach to the Ukraine crisis.
- China has put forward a six-point initiative on the humanitarian situation in Ukraine, and is ready to provide further humanitarian assistance to Ukraine and other affected countries.
- All sides need to jointly support Russia and Ukraine in having dialogue and negotiation that will produce results and lead to peace.
Simply stated: This is the crux of the matter and seemingly you are unable to grasp it!
- The US and NATO should also have dialogue with Russia to address the crux of the Ukraine crisis and ease the security concerns of both Russia and Ukraine.
Message: Go away and take your position and money with you! You had your opportunity and you became a warmaker, coercing others to your will. Enough is enough! We have principles, law and morals and ethical standards. You hold on to ‘positions’ favorable to you only.
China is active in the EU as well and the discussion does not remain dry and diplomatically correct.
China is playing into its strengths, saying what is correct in terms of its own national interest and it happens to co-incide with that of the non-insane world. The spokespeople are highly educated, clear, exceptionally well-spoken, and smart. They also mercilessly dig in the knife when opportunity shows. In a recent press conference:
CCTV: US State Department Spokesperson Ned Price said that the US is concerned about Russian attacks on Ukrainian infrastructure which caused civilian casualties. However, China has yet to state its position explicitly. How does the foreign ministry view such criticism from other countries on China?
Zhao Lijian: Human lives are precious. Civilian casualties under all circumstances are heart-rending and lamentable. China has all along called for every effort to avoid civilian casualties. We still remember that in March 1999, the US-led NATO, without the Security Council’s mandate, flagrantly unleashed a ruthless bombing campaign against the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia for 78 days, killing at least 2,500 innocent civilians and injuring around 10,000 people, most of them civilians. Over the past two decades or so, the US conducted tens of thousands of air strikes in places like Syria, Iraq, Afghanistan and Somalia. The number of innocent civilians killed can be anywhere between 22,000 and 48,000. When professing its concern for the welfare of the Ukrainian people, shouldn’t the US first express concern over the civilian casualties caused by all these military operations?
I particularly enjoyed this vignette:
NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said that any support to Russia, military or any other type of support, would actually help Russia conduct a brutal war against an independent sovereign nation, Ukraine, and help them to continue to wage war which is causing death, suffering and an enormous amount of destruction.
This was the comment of the Chinese spokesperson:
Chinese people can fully relate to the pains and sufferings of other countries because we will never forget who bombed our embassy in the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia. China does not need a lecture on justice from the abuser of international law. As a Cold War remnant and the world’s largest military alliance, NATO continues to expand its geographical scope and range of operations. What kind of role has it played in world peace and stability? NATO needs to have a good reflection.
Currency
Against this backdrop, the news filtered out about The Eurasia Economic Union (EAEU) and China designing a new monetary and financial system bypassing the U.S. dollar, supervised by Sergei Glazyev and intended to compete with the Bretton Woods system which is now less than 50% of the currency flow in the world. While news is still very scarce on this front, it fulfilled the purpose of telling Biden once again to go away if US/NATO cannot be a serious contender to building a peaceful and prosperous world.
Godfree Roberts, in his last newsletter, did an overview of the major historical milestones. I am not sure if the concept of a special drawing rights fiat currency revaluated regularly against a basket of currencies will be the way this rolls out. Stand by! Much more incoming! We will see.
DOLLAR’S END – Farewell, Inordinate Privilege
- Credit Suisse analyst Zoltan Pozsar says Ukraine triggered a perfect storm in commodities that could weaken the Eurodollar system, contribute to inflation in Western economies, and threaten their financial stability. Pozsar said China’s central bank is uniquely placed to backstop such crisis, paving the way for a much stronger yuan. Reuters, Mar. 13, 2022.
- Saudi Arabia Considers Accepting Yuan Instead of Dollars for Chinese Oil Sales: Talks between Riyadh and Beijing have accelerated as the Saudi unhappiness grows with Washington. WSJ, Mar. 14, 2022
–o0o–
In 2009, after helping to rescue the US from the GFC, Zhou Xiaochuan, Governor of the Peoples Bank of China, said, “The world needs an international reserve currency that is disconnected from individual nations and able to remain stable in the long run, removing the inherent deficiencies caused by using credit-based national currencies.”
After helping rescue America from the GFC, PBOC Governor Zhou Xiaochuan observed, “The world needs an international reserve currency that is disconnected from individual nations and able to remain stable in the long run, removing the inherent deficiencies caused by using credit-based national currencies.”
Zhou proposed SDRs, Special Drawing Rights, a synthetic reserve currency dynamically revalued against a basket of trading currencies and commodities. Broad, deep, stable, and impossible to manipulate. Nobelists Fred Bergsten, Robert Mundell, and Joseph Stieglitz approved: “The creation of a global currency would restore a needed coherence to the international monetary system, give the IMF a function that would help it to promote stability and be a catalyst for international harmony”. Here’s what’s happened since:
2012: Beijing began valuing the yuan against a currency/commodity basket
2014: The IMF issued the first SDR loan
2016: The World Bank issued the first SDR bond
2017: Standard Chartered Bank issued the first commercial SDR notes.
2019: All central banks began stating currency reserves in SDRs
Mar. 14, 2022: “In two weeks, China and the Eurasian Economic Union – Russia, Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, and Kyrgyzstan – will reveal an independent international monetary and financial system. It will be based on a new international currency, calculated from an index of national currencies of the participating countries and international commodity prices”.
The currency resembles Keynes’ invention Special Drawing Rights.SDRs are a synthetic currency which derives its value from a global, publicly traded basket of currencies and commodities. Immense beyond imaging, and stable as the Pyramids. Everyone gets a seat at the table and a vote. It may eventually be administered by an arm of the UN.
SDRs pose a serious alternative to the US dollar, both for the EAEU, the BRI’s 145 member states, the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO), ASEAN, and the RCEP. Middle East countries, including Egypt, Iran, Iraq, Syria, Lebanon, are keenly interested.
Less well known is that the EAEU, the BRI, the SCO, ASEAN, and the RCEP were discussing a merger before the currency news hit.
It is reasonable to expect them to join this new, cooperatively managed, stable reserve currency regime in which they can settle their trades in stable, neutral, predictable SDRs.
Biological labs
China is not losing any opportunity to bring this front and center. This is their last list of questions:
- If the concerns are “disinformation”, why doesn’t the U.S. release detailed materials to prove its innocence? – Question by Chinese Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Zhao Lijian on U.S.-funded biolabs in Ukraine.
- What did the U.S. spend the $200 million on? – Question by Chinese Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Zhao Lijian on U.S.-funded biolabs in Ukraine.
- What kind of research has the U.S. conducted on which pathogens? – Question by Chinese Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Zhao Lijian on U.S.-funded biolabs in Ukraine.
- What is it trying to hide when the U.S. Embassy in Ukraine deleted all relevant documents on its website? – Question by Chinese Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Zhao Lijian on U.S.-funded biolabs in Ukraine.
- Why does the U.S. insist on being the only country in the world to oppose the establishment of a multilateral verification mechanism though it claims to abide by the Biological Weapons Convention? – Question by Chinese Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Zhao Lijian on U.S.-funded biolabs in Ukraine.
- This is quite an amazing poster detailing the biolab web, which is too large to load here. But take a look at the depiction of these US biolabs. https://www.globaltimes.cn/page/202203/1255055.shtml
Economic goals in a nutshell
What is happening with Belt and Road? About the data: On January 21, 2022, the Chinese Ministry of Commerce (MOFCOM) released its data for “China’s investments and cooperation in countries along the Belt and Road” covering the period of January to December 2021. According to these data, Chinese enterprises invested about US$20.3 billion in non-financial direct investments in countries “along the Belt and Road”. Furthermore, there were 560 newly signed projects with a contract value of over US$100 million. The MOFCOM data focus on 55 countries that are “along the Belt and Road” – meaning on a corridor from China to Europe including South Asia. For this report, the definition of BRI countries includes 142 countries that had signed a cooperation agreement with China to work under the framework of the Belt and Road Initiative by the end of 2021. To analyze investments in these countries, we base our data on the China Global Investment Tracker and our own data research at the Green Finance & Development Center affiliated with Fudan University, Shanghai. As with most data, they tend to be imperfect.
Chinese joke
On a somewhat of a lighter note: The Chinese Netizens are in the majority siding with Russia so completely and so enthusiastically, that China’s WeChat and Douyin had to crack down on vulgar jokes and netizens were told in no uncertain terms that they cannot make fun of international news events. The very high support for Russia is becoming a clear talking point despite the somewhat muted and correct Chinese diplomatic statements.
So, here is a joke for you.
Bear and Dragon take a walk in the gardens. Bear is a little overcome with his serious responsibilities in the world and presents emotionally somewhat tired and despondent. As the walk proceeds, Dragon says to Bear .. Out with it! What has you so despondent? Bear thinks a moment and says: We’ve been friends for a long time. So, if I need a very large amount of money very quickly, will you give it to me?
Dragon, known for taking time to ponder the imponderables, walks on for a while and then comes to a firm stop. NO, says Dragon, I will not give it to you!
Bear’s shoulders fall .. but Dragon continues: I will lend it to you. 1.5 trillion the moment you ask for it, no interest, no repayment terms, pay me back when you can.
Love the joke!
Not the reset that the Atlantic Kakistocracy expected, lol!
Great summary ! Thank you.
30 years of Washington’s lawlessness are coming to an end
30?
Make that 72
72?
In 1835 Americans that were invited and let free to settle in Texas declared independence from Mexico with US backing, and then the US annexed Texas
In Fist diplomatic mission of the US was The Perry expedition in 1853
i believe the 72 is the years from current but maybe commentator can help us … mod
All the piece lacked was a little Xi ‘thought’.
Via Pepe;
“Xi Jinping, on his phone call with Crash Test Dummy’s earpiece:
“Let he who tied the bell on the tiger’s neck take it off.”
Pass the torch and follow the parade, its a long one.
Don’t get the joke. can anyone explain pls?
The “joke” is the Chinese cannot be open about their assistance and must engage in machination like the West.
That of course is not the intent or meaning at all.
I would call it rather “symbolic description” (fable style) of some (chinese?) people´s will how bear and dragon (nations) should go on. Not much joke in it for me too. But I also am not Chinese nor Russian nor English so it is hard to assess these nations sense of humour.
The joke’s on the West.
Humor is very hard to translate, but I took it like this. Bear walks into Dragon’s fabulous temple of goods. Bear is overwhelmed, and asks, timidly, “I need some of you wonderful items. All I have is rubles. Can you sell me some?” Rubles!” cries Dragon. “Your rubles are no good here! And I will turn my back on you for asking such an absurd thing and NOT turn around until you have left the temple. Shopping carts are over there.”
your joke is better than the original!
Your joke is a cracker!
Mr. Kerwas,
I don’t interpret it as a “joke” but instead, an allegory or parable.
“And if thy brother who is with thee become poor, and he fail in resources with thee, thou shalt help him as a stranger and a sojourner, and thy brother shall live with thee. Thou shalt not receive from him interest, nor increase: and thou shalt fear thy God: I am the Lord: and thy brother shall live with thee. 37 Thou shalt not lend thy money to him at interest, and thou shalt not lend thy meat to him to be returned with increase.” (Leviticus 25:35-37 Septuagint)
We can infer from this biblical passage that China considers Russia a brother and will offer help without imposing the profit motive of interest on debt or rigid terms of repayment.
Would you not do the same for a sibling or loved friend?
What China would be doing would be as much for its own benefit as that of Russia. Of course, nothing wrong with that.
You know, Ezra Pound’s deeply flawed translations of Chinese works were based on his completely misunderstanding the pictographs. Sadly, for decades they were hailed as THE word on Chinese writing. The I Ching itself is over 5000 years old, I don’t think the good book has anything to add to it. You know what they say, ‘To err is human, to persevere is theological.”
Its similar to Christian authors saying,
“You can have this book absolutely free, with a suggested donation of $19.95”
Kerwas: Are you serious? You seriously need this explained?
It is pretty simple!
It is not a “ha ha” joke. It is an “aha” joke.
The “joke” is that “1.5 trillion the moment you ask for it, no interest, no repayment terms, pay me back when you can” is almost an outright gift.
Hi Kerwas, without complaint or criticism of you, I will attempt at an interpretation of the ‘joke’; and that’s because while others have answered, none have thus far provided the most obvious omission, to suggest who the two animals symbolically represent, and maybe that’s where your confusion arose.
The two symbols are both animals representing something else, and not actually a Bear or a Dragon. Of the two symbols one is earthly and the other is heavenly. The one real: the Bear is The Russian Federation led by President Vladimir Putin, and the other one, the heavenly or hyperreal: obtuse & cunning is the Dragon, which symbolically refers to The People Republic of China led by President Xi.
Which means Kerwas, the ‘joke’ concerns an insight into the present relationship of Russia and China. The joke is attempting to explain the amount of concern, the depth of security for and care and concern that the Dragon (China) has for the Bear (Russia), depicted as two friends walking in a park, think of this park as The Ideal Park of Recreation & Amusement, The Garden of Eden, where all ends well (in contrast to most biblical scholarship) and the Bear and the Dragon, our first couple, A’dam and Hav’a, strolling as friends together in an afternoon park. The joke is about an ideal relationship in an ideal world.
Kerwas, it would further help to ‘understand’ the joke to explain the joke as a ‘universal aspiration’ that each of as humanly possible would seek with our more financially stable neighbors, brothers, sisters, and or Western Partners.
The joke describes an ideal relationship between, one poorer and in need and one richer and able to provide, yet the richer partner seeks not to burden the poorer with more obligations. So, ultimately, it speaks to who China is today, but even more than that. The joke speaks about respect, admiration, and is an example of The Ideal Character trait of modesty and friendliness. It speaks to each of us to excel in compassion without indulgence.
“The Russian bear became a symbol of Russia through a strange set of circumstances, and the whole story goes to show that fake news has been around for hundreds of years.
To begin with, the bear is not a symbol of Russia and has never been one, at least officially. The official symbol of Russia today is a double-headed eagle (the one depicted on the Russian national emblem). But imagine that for at least five centuries someone outside Russia has been persistently trying to persuade you otherwise. At some point, the number of people all over the world who believed in this idea exceeded the critical threshold, and eventually Russians just kind of got tired of trying to resist it. At some point it just became easier to accept this misunderstanding than trying to constantly explain why it isn’t true.” (https://www.rbth.com/history/330484-russian-bear-became-symbol (2) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Russian_Bear).
*https://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=Animalistically
“The Origin of Chinese Dragon
Chinese dragon is a virtual creature and first created in legendary stories, mythology, and tales. Chinese dragon can be divided into several dozens of kinds, such as Qinglong, Yinglong, Jiaolong, Panlong, Yunlong, Wanglong, Xinglong. The dragon has nine sons : Qiuniu, Yazi, Chaofeng, Pulao, Suanni Bixi, Bi’an Fuxi, Chiwen.
In terms of the origin of Chinese dragons, there are many explanations and book records. One of the explanations is widely recognized : Chinese dragons are created through totem. The origin is clearly stated in the Records of the Grand Historian(Shi Ji): they are the integrated creature of several animals which are the totems of tribes involving in the tribe wars, where the Yellow Emperor(Huangdi) defeated other tribes and united the country. As such, Chinese dragon becomes a totem of the whole nation, and heads forward with the nation’s entering into a new chapter- unification, and the Yellow Emperor(Huangdi) is considered as the emblem of a dragon, while Chinese people are the descendents of this nation and of dragons. In the thereafter several thousand of years, dragon is the symble of China, and an intangible wire uniting Chinese people. To Chinese, dragon brings them luck, wellbeing and all good things.
The second explanation is put forward by the Chinese Etymology Dictionary(Ciyuan), stating that dragon is a supernatural animal appearing from the ancient times, and it is good at making clouds and rains and does everything favorable to other creatures. The third is that dragon comes from people’s fear and worship to dinosaur. More sayings are held, but strong proofs lack…Dragon is one member of the 12 Chinese zodiac animals, which are rat, ox, tiger, rabbit, dragon, snake, horse, sheep, monkey, rooster, dog and pig. https://www.topchinatravel.com/china-guide/chinese-dragons-history.htm
It means how formal are Chinese people.
Although dragon agree to give the money, without interest, and no repayment terms but still calls it a “Loan”.
Thank you for this wonderful article. Most members of the South African parliament, when asked to support NATO agaist Russia, responded by saying that they have never forgiven NATO for the bombing of Libya and killing President Ghadafi. They also pointed out that during Africa’s independence liberation struggle to get rid of NATO colonisers, it was the USSR (Russia) that gave African freedom fighters, unwavering support. Samora Macheal led a Russian supported revolt against the Portuguese in Mozambique, Robert Mugabe and Joshua Nkomo, led the Zimbabwe liberation war against the British supported by Russia, Sam Nujoma in Namibia fought against the British, Germans and USA supported by Russia and Cuba, Edwardos Do Santos fought a brutal war against Portugal supported by Russia and Cuba, Patrice Lumumba against, America, Beligian and the French supported by Russia and so did Kwame Nkuruma, Thomas Sankara, and many other examples. Africa cannot forsake Russia what so ever. I must point out that RT News which is broadcast by some government channels in Africa does not give a detailed coverage of Russia’s Special Operation. It gives scanty stories and does not counter western media propaganda. There is a massive support for Russia in Africa, African leaders are scrapping around to find positive news about Russia’s progress. How can Russia not have its own communication satelite to carry its own television channels around the world?
Very interesting points plus your last question is fitting. The Russians are good in many Theoretical and practical things such as Ballet, Literature, Visual arts, cinema and Education. In the majority of cases, they have works that are as good or better than anything done in western Europe. A Russian international art, education, and culture and sports programs beamed from Satellite TV to present the best work would be ideal.
Russians always were a very quiet and mysterious people. They hide their PR in plain sight. It’s on their flag. It’s on their passport and other official documents. They are telling you they are the White Knights. They are telling you they are the White Hats. But they don’t broadcast it. They just don’t like loud and brassy. It is the ultimate inside joke and that’s the way they like it, apparently. Mystic, mysterious Russia. Don’t ever change!
esse fenômeno é característico de uma cultura civilizatória que está mais preocupada com o bem estar social
a propaganda é fruto da necessidade de manipulação,portanto,um fenômeno capitalista na evolução orgânica da sociedade ocidental
os governos progressistas que aconteceramno Brasil entre 2003 e 2016 não tomaram conta da propaganda midiãtica e foram derrubados pela propaganda da mídia comprometida com o capital financeiro
Ruramira Bitongo, it is always a pleasure to read your comments.
The greatest strength the Ruling Caste have in the West is their ability to manipulate their population into believing whatever nonsense the MSM tells them.
The greatest weakness of the Western public is that they have become so badly educated that they believe the nonsense that the Media tells them.
The Ruling Caste are doing a far more effective job of destroying America and the Collective West than Russia or China could ever do in their wildest dreams.
Why would Russia or China want to stop the Ruling Caste in the West from destroying their so called Democracies? The more badly educated Western people become the weaker they become.
I see it all around me every day. The Ruling Caste, the Elite, have led us into this quagmire and have no idea how to lead us back out. All they know is how to enrich and empower themselves at our expense.
My only hope is that Russia and China will treat us as gently as the Russians have treated the citizens of Ukraine. When they come to rescue us.
Demilitarization, denazification and de oligarchs!
Deoligarchization?. Cheers!!
Let’s hope they take the top oligarch out too
Rottenchild
Otherwise nothing ever will change
A few Kinzhals please Mr Putin 🙏
Very nice synopsis! May I supplement some of the points that Amarynth touched upon to further the discussions on them?
1) On differences in attitudes towards the current war, China made the point at one of the press briefings that so far, the Empire and NATO have continuously supplied weapons while China (and others including Russia) have supplied humanitarian aids. Let the world be informed of the real cheerleaders of this war.
2) While China and others have urgently expressed wishes that the peace talks bear fruits for the physical fighting to stop, the Empire and NATO have doggedly pressed Ukraine/mercenaries to fight on. To fight on to the last Ukrainian, they said. We are behind you, they said. LOL!!!
3) On the currency issue, SDR is a good idea, but we need to examine the details too. Right now, the USD carries too high a percentage of the SDR constituencies. Even the Euro is bloated in comparison to the inherent value of its worth. As the relative productivities of America and EU further decline, their constituencies in SDR should also mitigate over time. A better idea is to refine the definition of PPP and adopt PPP of G20 as the basis of weights in the SDR.
4) The Bio-weapon issue should be one that will persist LONG AFTER this present war is over with. The world should press, and press, and press on the Empire to explain, to reveal, and to compensate what have been done, for the next few decades. Bioweaponry is PURE evil! It should have the same kind of protocol as nuclear non-proliferation treaty. The world should start by demanding $6 Trillion from the Empire as compensation (and to add on later as penalties) since that figure is what Trump said was the COVID damage done in the USA alone as of 2020.
Chinese netizens have bought basically everthing (chocolate candies, vodka, Russian sausages and bread, etc.) out from the Russia’s official online shop on one of China’s biggest e-coomerce platforms. The Russian manager of the online shop has to tell the enthusiastic Chinese customers to “shop rationally”. ^_^
Point number 4 is crucial, this should be discussed in Chinas and Russias MSM weekly at least with a lot of hysteria and emotional pressure. It should also be brought in every meeting of the UNSC, every single meeting.
“…Dragon continues: I will lend it to you. 1.5 trillion the moment you ask for it, no interest, no repayment terms, pay me back when you can.”
Bear: “Thank you, friend. I can give you Ukraine as collateral, to do with it whatever you wish.”
Thank-you! Blackring understands the joke.
Haha, the MSM will be appreciably angry, not least because of the line added by Blackring:
— China has no sympathy for Russia. China will only give support if Russia returns Siberia.
This irredentist hogwash is being peddled on a regular basis to keep Western dolts less unhappy.
Thanks Amarynth for an interesting (as well as entertaining) update on China’s global influence.
Yes, Reiner Fuellmich is doing an amazing job despite the lack of visibility for his efforts. Although I am sure there are some nations that are watching his presentations very, very closely.
Amarynth,
Thanks so much for posting this.
I still believe China and Russia should work out a deal where Russia provides expertise for nuclear powered aircraft carriers and China builds two of these for Russia – one for its Atlantic Fleet and one for its Pacific fleet. Furthermore, Russia could come to some agreement on energy that would permit Chinese shipbuilders to build a substantial number of ships to bolster its Pacific Fleet. These seem like no brainer moves to me.
Another no brainer move – China could announce that it plans to help Russia rebuild Ukraine once the dust settles.
A last no brainer move – China and Russia come to terms to expand high speed rail service between Russia and China that will move both freight and passengers. The high speed rail on the Russian side has been subordinated to other interests primarily because Russia does not believe that it is economically feasible given the demand. China could underwrite this expense for the purpose of creating a low cost method of moving freight and raw materials from Russia to China and of moving finished goods from China to Russia. China could also set up Russia as a key distribution node for its goods into Europe.
One final note – it appears that the phone conversation between Xi and Biden yesterday revealed once more that Biden’s subordinates are either not following through on previous promises made by Biden to Xi or that Biden is a liar. I leave it to the reader to decide which view is right, though I suspect it may be a combination. Add to this the issue of Biden’s mental acuity…..
Just my two cents…
Those Aircraft-Carriers are dinosaurs, only good for quick-bombing defenseless,little countries.
The carriers are now in a state, the common battleship was, since the battle of Midway,at least.
The future of naval warfare,or better the present already, are submarines and smaller,faster surface-vessels as missile-carriers.
The main problem with naval fleets in the current age is, that missile ranges keep increasing – both air-ground as well as ground-to-ground. So any semblence of “perimeter defense” stops existing: In the near-future ships will be always within enemy missile range!
There’s three ways for a ship to defend against missiles (in order of effectivenes):
1. Crashdive.
2. Use many smaller ships instead of few large ones, to increase enemy effort and limit losses
3. Anti-missile defense systems
Number three is the least effective, and it’s the only thing a big fat aircraft carrier has to defend itself. If a war between modern militaries breaks out, supercarriers will be the first ships touching the seafloor.
It’s also worth reevaluating “What’s the purpose of an aircraft carrier?”. Launching warplanes. Okay, so what’s the purpose of a warplane? Basically they’re flying missile launchers. Okay, but if missile ranges keep increasing, the launcher no longer needs to be close to the target. And plain surveilance is best done by sats and drones.
There is only one role which only a warplane with human pilots can perform effectively: Close air support and defense. A10/SU25 stuff is what will keep warplanes relevant in the future. Every other role will be more effectively served by something else than a warplane.
Expansionist countries require large landing ships, Russia and China are not expansionists. They do not need to invade in order to destroy their enemies, stand off weapons and long range aviation is all that is needed.
The US needs aircraft carriers, and landing ships in order to move their forces and short range aviation. Against countries like Russia and China these are useless.
For defense you do not need an aircraft carrier, just good long range aviation and stand off sea weapons that can target ships and enough ships that can carry these weapons. It is better to develop and build better missiles, longer range, faster, better guidance, sensors, tracking and AI on board. One missile can equal one sunk ship now, it also costs much less. To counter this you need better ABM and AA technology which is much better than having the very best and biggest aircraft or drone carrier.
Sure, aircraft carriers are majestic to look at, but still they all have problems specially in the deployment of their air wings, it takes a long time to deploy aircrafts even with newer catapults and VTOL aircraft. It is better to build larger and better logistic support ships.
It makes for a majestic signal – which is what I think it was.
Remember the Great White Fleet https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_White_Fleet it certainly affected thoughts in Australia and probably led to our subservience to the US after WWII.
The US needs to F off.
There’s no reasoning with a psychopath, only a nail-gun, or similar, to the head will do. NATO have been on a bombing spree for every day of my life and just currently/recently there appears to be a lull. Russia’s Special Military Operation is the beginning of a Crusade of the Righteous against the Satanic Forces of Evil & Genocide. Every sane individual, group, organisation, state on this planet should be asking, how can we support Russia in her battle to save herself from these US-NATO aggressions/hostilities so that we can all live in peace on earth.
Thankfully the bleeding hearts, suckers for a good press yarn, are beginning to switch off. The 24/7 bombardment of fake news has overreached saturation point and the grasshopper mind proletariat are back to their tiktok dance routines, botox injections and Kim Kardashian’s latest ass lift.
The British government are offering Britons £350 for each Ukrainian refugee they can house. You can bet that the 100k total refugees are the best and brightest of a mediocre to hopeless crop and Big Business will soon have them on zero-hour contracts picking fruit in polytunnels and other such attractive benefits that they’ll soon wish they were back home under a friendly government, improving their Russian.
I have 2 spare rooms and I’ll insist only 2 brave Azov lads can have them, for free. I’ll drug them up, cut them up, make Ukrainian sausages and feed them at a get together of Ukrainian nationals gay parade. When the authorities come knocking I’ll tell them the lads were restless and returned home to fight the evil Russians but to send 2 more.
You really can’t help but notice that Russia, China, Iran . . . . . allies, are always on the defensive, always reacting, rarely proactive, or on the offensive. This Special Military Operation I believe has changed all that.
Those Mafia Bosses you mention above are involved in genocide, human exploitation, organ harvesting, trafficking and psychological terror on a grand scale. If we could get these before a criminal tribunal then that would be huge progress to defeating western Fascism.
Amarynth,
You wrote:
That really sums it up.
It actually takes a lot of gall for the United States to expect support from China against Russia. Does the United States think that the Chinese are stupid? Does the United States think that China does not understand that China is “next on the list?”
When I heard that the US was seeking Chinese support on sanctions against Russia I thought, “the State Departments seems to be disconnected from reality.”
Its real, a Chinese leader in like 72 took a cia head to the top of mtn overlooking Mongolia to show him where the Russians ran to and hid.
The guy was a bit stunned at the ordeal he was convinced to do.
He came back and did some consulting, (they), obviously registered knucklers, sent a freshman congressman from de to go back to the Chinese and formalize an agreement to go after the Russians.
Something was done, the freshman came back and started his campaign against the Russians, and it has yet to be resolved.
This guy and his hogs have been bad news from day 1.
The US thinks that it’s hydra way of foreign policy and blame assigning actually works outside their sphere, they are all so used to parroting the same BS, that they think the rest of the world will be like: well that was Bush policy but not Obamas so it is different duhh, or it was such senator but not the White House duhh, when they actually form a single body and they harvest as a single body not independent heads. So for a Russia when Graham idiot calls for Putins assassination, it is the US calling for Putins assassination, not just an “independent” senator.
Yes it was Trumps/Bidens fault the US economy is in shamble’s, not Clinton’s, or Bushes, Reagan’s or xx Legislature, or xx number of FEDs governors etc…
The rest of the world know US policy only changes in order to exceed more dominance on the world and the people in charge who follow will only make changes for the same reason.
Once again: “The Bretton woods system” (US west Europe use of gold backed currency exchange rates agreed upon during WW2) Ended in the early 1970’s…
Nixon killed Bretton Woods in 1971, heralding the Petrodollar, after London deep-sixed the gold reserve. Now to be superseded with the Petroyuan.
We need a New Bretton Woods, with Glass-Steagall bank separation (which China already has). Both from President FDR, Franklin Delaney Roosevelt. Trump does refer to this now and then, and look what they did to him!
Never forget the legendary artist doing Dragon murals in Beijing!
Viewers passing by asked the great artist – “But your Dragons have no eyes!?” Reply : paint in the eyes and the Dragon flies, so the mural is gone!
https://www.shenyunperformingarts.org/blog/view/article/e/TZLV7QI2Nd0/chinese-idiom-paint-the-dragon-dot-the-eyes-blog
Put eyes on the Belt and Road Initiative!
My concern. Thucydides Trap, also referred to as Thucydides’s Trap, is a term popularized by American political scientist Graham T. Allison to describe an apparent tendency towards war when an emerging power threatens to displace an existing great power as a regional or international hegemon.
Are we not at this moment in history?
Under “globalized” power dynamics, over time multiple powers “emerge” here and there, which is not a one-on-one power situation. If UK-US is treated as one “Anglo-Zio empire”, then the “tendency towards war” which Allison refers to has been an actuality, a reality, since WWI. So we are already at least a hundred years into that era of modern history. Multi-polarity seems the natural likely outcome.
It goes further than a hundred years. I would start at the advent of the British East India Company.
The East India Company model of global economic organisation is what is coming to an end. It is why India is still sitting on the fence and has difficulties which side it should be on.The Company influence on India is deep and broad.
The Thucydides Trap is just part of the narrative buildup to justify an attack on China as and when the US decides to do so.
Go Russia, we are on your side from Nigeria. I pray and hope that by the grace of God, Russia should just destroy and demolish this satanic NATO infrastructure, built for oppression and subjugation of nations.
Dear Ernest,
If I may, it is really good to hear African voices on this site. As opposed to the racist West, Russia and USSR have helped and supported Africa in achieving its independence and most Africans are aware of that. With some luck and help from Russia and China, this century could be Africa’s century. May you have prosperity and progress.
@Ken
Amen! Many of us in Nigeria and Africa in general, know the countries that are threat to world peace. But our corrupt govt that have stashed huge pile of cash in the US, UK, Switzerland etc are afraid to say and stand by the truth. They’ve all been bought by the West.
“The righteous are as bold as a Lion” says the holy writ. They are scared to stand by Russia but I’m happy the South African president said NATO’s unbridled expansion is to blame for this conflict.
Nigeria is with Russia! Africa is with Russia!
50 years from now In heaven Bill Clinton and Xi and VVP decide to visit New York for beers…presto!
They enter bar, waiter brings beers.
My treat, says VVP..”How much?”
“That’ll be three rubles”.
Is old joke…
I guess people don’t understand that one as well!
Strange.
The “strange” part comes from Russian humor vs American humor. Only in the past decade have the two elements of Russian humor entered US humor: awkward, and cringe. To me they are not the least bit funny, those facets of a tale. If something is called a joke, it should be funny. Otherwise it might best be called a metaphor or parable.
Perhaps it is the millennia of desperation on the Asiatic continent that makes Russian humor so devoid of comedy.
I like the Bear & Dragon story as a metaphor. As a joke, it is less than useful. I’ve heard better jokes from wee children telling childish japes.
I’m more interested in why American humor, controlled through Holllywood, has taken this 10 year old turn toward awkward and cringe. I suspect it is projection, given who runs Hollywood. They knew the people would wake up to their shenanigans and if the awkward, cringeful nature of Hollywood’s ruling class (physically ugly people with repulsive interpersonal behavior and noxious grooming/presentation) was seen as “funny,” the people may be less angry.
Thus, awkward and cringe can NEVER be funny. Not in America, at least. And not while anyone older than 25 years old today remains alive. Perhaps this is why the yookyflu targeted elders.
It’s the bio-labs. There is a new multipolar world order emerging, and now it looks like a new international currency is also emerging. This is good, but both developments face the same danger from the truly evil bio-labs.
This must not be swept under the carpet. And if the U.S. ends up with egg on her face (if not much, much worse), so be it.
Well, if the climate issue plays out as forecast, they can pay it back in land in the north.
Liu Xin, China’s famous news anchor, commented on yesterday’s Sino-US talks in one sentence,”Can you help me defeat your friends so I can focus on beating you in the future?”. The “Friends”, meaning Russia.
https://t.me/boris_rozhin/34210
Amarynth: Lots of great information there! Thanks for sharing it.
As an American — with potentially much to lose from the financial comeuppance that will be visited upon the US — I still welcome this de-dollarized new world order. I’ve witnessed for far too long my government’s supreme arrogance and belligerence when dealing with any country that doesn’t kowtow to its demands. The “evil empire” has long been us, and as the man said in “Platoon”, ‘We’ve been kicking ass for a long time; I suppose it’s time we got our ass kicked.’ [paraphrased]
Bravo, Russia! And bravo, China!
Wang Yi, the Chinese foreign minister is due to visit India, Nepal, Bhutan (plus maybe more) in a week or so.
Expect some surprises then.
I have to say this has been one of the most uplifting articles and comment section I’ve read in at least a little while. It’s really good to know there’s positive change happening in the world and also really good knowing theres like minded people in this beautiful world. And it’s also good. Speaking for myself, to finally understand more than ever the world is more than America and western Europe.
I’ve said this before and will again becuase it’s imporatant to me in that God truly has opened my eyes to see not only the evil of my own country, better the evil of American governmemt, but has God has also open my eyes to see the people and other countries the good in them. I too especially enjoyed reading the comments by people from Africa. Good to hear many are grateful for Russia support and are grateful. It’s really sickening American news media always refer to the world is against Putin and Russia. Like no one else matters than America and western Europe. God I hate and actually ashamed to think my own government and so much of my country is so filthy wicked and disgusting.
Again, I just want to say I am grateful not only for this peice of positive reading on this Saturday night, but all of the blog. I’ve learned much since finding this site. And Ben encouraged knowing theres follow human beings that God has opened our eyes to truth and righteousness. Well hope what I wrote makes sense. I should read over before submitting for posting but never do.
God bless everyone and may peace, hope, and righteousness prevail.
Oh the joke. I took it meaning Russia and China are good friends and good friends are there for each other and help each other. They don’t look at it as a way to profit.
Stay safe and God bless.
Further coverage from World Socialist Web Site:
“In talks with Chinese president, Biden bullies China over Ukraine”
Peter Symonds
https://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2022/03/19/nszj-m19.html
“I will lend it to you. 1.5 trillion the moment you ask for it, no interest, no repayment terms, pay me back when you can.”
Very much liked that and the philosophy which it represents.
I have always said, that the best way to hurt the west is to hit its pockets. Then, they will be willing to talk.
Just what we need. Another bank of lies.
“The creation of a global currency would restore a needed coherence to the international monetary system, give the IMF a function that would help it to promote stability and be a catalyst for international harmony”.
I bet they said the same thing at Brenton Woods.
The question here is: Are we talking about SDR, the USD, the Yuan? Currency is not money. Currency is Total World Domination by the strongest power. That’s what rule by fiat is. Today, all of these countries operate on wanton and open criminality. Today is the world of the thug.
That’s what needs to be fixed. Otherwise, it’s “Here’s the new boss. Same as the old boss.”
US President Eisenhower’s warning about the perils of the military industrial complex, and the endless war-mongering came true. You cannot keep a country, and now a whole world, on an endless war-footing. They go insane.
Our “heroes” in the Ukraine declared Martial Law. Ukrainian President Zelinsky is arming his citizens, but placing them under military law? Ukrainians can only defend their country during normal daylight hours. [sarcasm]
“. . . [C]iting the importance of a “unified information policy” our heroes of democracy in the Ukraine have just placed all of their MSM under one government-controlled channel.
How’s that democratic principle of “free speech” working out for you?
What we need are SDRs in the form of anti-psychotic drugs, freely administered to all the major world governments.
The CCP is nobodies friend. Xi will use Putin as a stepping stone to gain global control. But on the other hand, the Chinese economy could not exist without the American market, at least for now. But they might pounce on Taiwan sooner than later just the same. All is such a dirty game and the various populations get to hold the bag.
Don’t bother to comment here. Education by bad alt media and bad msm is to blame.
What the heck? I don’t know about you, but I like to read varying points of view, juxtaposed.
jonboinAR – every sentence is from the more low level but strong anti-China BS nonsense. Because we don’t read so much about China, we cannot forget that the war against Russia is raging now, but the war against China is equally in play.
Let me take a few moments and take it sentence by sentence:
“The CCP is nobodies friend.” – Actually you know, I think old Mike Pompeo is spreading that and has been since Trump called for a Trade War. You know, the guy that boasts “We Lie, We Stole, We Cheat”, saying that they had whole courses learning how to do just that.
Anyway, if you want the opinions, go and read here: A little dated now, but in essence still correct.
/russia-china-sitrep-double-helix-strategic-coordinationrussia/
The CCP (people continually want to make out this is the Chinese Government – it is not – most of China is made up of members here – just under a billion people. So people that start out like this, are either highly uneducated in these matters, or they are pushing propaganda and at this moment, it is war propaganda. I’ve been talking about this for about two and a half years. If you want to educate, go and search for China and all the Here Comes China columns on the blog. There is more and I’ve written reams on this matter. We’ve had quite an amount of coverage already.
“Xi will use Putin as a stepping stone to gain global control.”
This is the scare story being told in western climes to try and break the very special relationship between China and Russia. And this is just propaganda. It is just mindless fearmongering. And of course insults Putin and Russia equally.
“But on the other hand, the Chinese economy could not exist without the American market, at least for now.” OK, Russia is decoupling from the western sphere. So is China. It is the opposite of what this poster states. The American market cannot exist without China at this moment. China? You can place a bet that it can exist without that measly little bit of trade. It is reducing as we speak as the usage of the petrodollar is reducing fast.
” But they might pounce on Taiwan sooner than later just the same.”
Pounce on Taiwan? What does this actually mean? Why would they pounce on their very own province? Again the issue of Taiwan is being propagandized from western climes to look like the Ukraine. It is very different.
” All is such a dirty game and the various populations get to hold the bag.”
Yeah yeah, I can make such statements as well. It is meaningless.
So you tell me, western propaganda or education?
The US is quite efficenti with the propaganda its spews..I’m so pissed that my favorite news outlet RT International has been blocked!
I’m certain thst CGTN is next!
Where is a person to live that is beyond the reach of the evil US Goverment?
It dosent seem that our alies have the desire to resist the US will,although,they are a closer target and taking a greater risk.
I guess that the current USA goal is to do a “color revolution” in Russia and then “ukrainize” it, and once they have installed a “sponsored” government the USA’s real strategic goal is to be “invited” to setup a ring of bases on China’s western and norther borders (plus of course a number of biolabs) , as they did in Ukraine.
From those norther/western border bases they will fund.train and arm many “freedom fighter” groups inside China and “sponsored” local elites with the aim of “color revolutions” in various chinese regions and “ukrainize” and split China.