By Amarynth and the Here Comes China Newsletter by Godfree Roberts

What were we talking about just three or four months ago? Remember? China was going to imminently attack Taiwan. There was wall-to-wall coverage.

The jingoism did not work. Nobody attacked Taiwan.

China stated that Taiwan will be integrated with the mainland at the right time, and follow the correct procedure. China is dealing with a recalcitrant province that historically is as a result of war.

Now, there is even a bigger outcry. Russia is going to imminently invade the Ukraine. So we see an exchange in the western rhetoric from territorial flashpoint Taiwan, to territorial flashpoint the Ukraine in an attempt to contain something, anything that could create the space for the US/NATO and western puppets to maintain power and hegemony.

Will it work this time? The jury is out.

This is on the eve of the Winter Olympics that has already started with qualifying competitions and competitors entering the Olympic villages. https://www.globaltimes.cn/page/202201/1246696.shtml

A month or two ago, China gave what one could see as a request, but it can also be interpreted as stronger than that.

World expects ‘truce’ during Winter Games

A UNGA resolution, co-sponsored by 173 countries and adopted on Dec 2, asks all countries to observe the Olympic truce and stop hostile activities seven days before the Winter Olympic Games through to seven days after the end of the Winter Paralympic Games.

http://en.people.cn/n3/2022/0115/c90000-9945122.html

This is consistent with the historical values of these games all the way back to Ancient Greece in the ninth century.

Even so, the provocation beat, and false information continues on.

Russia does not rule out military provocations from US, Kiev regime – diplomat

A Bloomberg publication that Chinese President Xi Jinping allegedly asked Russian President Vladimir Putin not to invade Ukraine during the Olympic Games is an operation of US intelligence agencies, Russian Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said.

China called this a despicable trick. “The report was purely made out of thin air. It seeks not only to smear and drive a wedge in China-Russia relations, but also to deliberately disrupt and undermine the Beijing Winter Olympics. Such a despicable trick cannot fool the international community,” Zhao Lijian, spokesperson of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, said at a routine press conference.”

https://tass.com/politics/1391903

The cowardly attacks on China itself also have not really reduced. We are just not seeing those as all eyes are on Russia

Chinese military calls U.S. warship’s trespassing a “serious provocation”

http://en.people.cn/n3/2022/0121/c90000-9947625.html

Before this, we had the endless media announcements of who is going to boycott the Olympics (whether invited or not but they never said they were not invited, they just made it up), and then quietly, they asked for visas to attend anyway. It is all a show.  The Anglosphere has lost military supremacy as well as economic supremacy, and they are not elegant losers. In fact, they will continue to attempt to overturn any security balance anywhere in the world to appease their own hubris for total spectrum dominance or at least the appearance of that.

India for once spoke out and said they will not boycott the Olympic Games, as in these circumstances they will follow their policy of ‘neighbors first’. Uhm, who knew they had such a policy?

Out of 206 nations eligible to participate in the Olympics, only 14 have decided not to send their diplomats.  Of the 14, five quoted Covid as the reason, others do not have a winter olympics team.  Not because of some US led diplomatic boycott.

The backdrop to the Anglosphere being butthurt and trying to change the Russian ‘request’ for security guarantees into sole focus on Ukraine is not stopping the march towards a world order based on Law and not Rule by some flunky. China is not falling for it in their press, or in their spoken word.  This trend is inexorable and the Anglosphere has but limited time to change or to be run over.  The old games of money and guns, the warfare model based on coercion, are coming to an end.

Here are three examples of the world changing.

  • China launches Global South economic alliance to challenge US ‘unilateralism’ and ‘cold-war mentality’

China just launched a new economic alliance of Global South nations called the “Group of Friends of the Global Development Initiative”.  Beijing said it seeks to challenge (US) “unilateralism” and the “Cold-War mentality,” and promotes “win-win cooperation”.

  • The Stans are now being ‘multi polarized’ and while Russia gathered them together with the recent military adventure in Kazakhstan, China is following and cementing the trend.

Xi to chair virtual summit commemorating 30th anniversary of China-Central Asia ties  http://www.xinhuanet.com/english/20220124/cdb72b8e378647a192152361a299c216/c.html

So, this meeting happened yesterday and the leaders of Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan, will be attending the Winter Olympics opening ceremony in Beijing.

  • Pakistan is sailing Chinese Frigates and contracted the construction of eight Hangor-class submarines, four Type 054A/P ships and medium-altitude long-endurance unmanned combat aerial vehicles from China.  https://www.globaltimes.cn/page/202201/1246789.shtml

On the big picture, Chas Freeman has this to say.

The question is whether China will choose to accept an active role in stabilizing the region.  “Great power rivalry” or a putative Manichean struggle between China and democracy will not drive this decision.  On the evidence to date, it will instead reflect the broadly overlapping national interests of China, Europe, India, Japan, and Korea, the fractious states of West Asia and North Africa, and the United States.  All share a compelling interest in a stable Middle East whose quarrels do not export radicalism or endanger access to crucial energy supplies.

It would be in America’s interest for China and other countries that rely on Middle Eastern energy exports to share the burden of preserving global prosperity by coming together to safeguard the world’s energy trade.  If China faces a choice in this regard, so does America.  The United States can cooperate to mutual advantage with China, other rising powers, and the oil producing countries of the region, or it can overwrite obvious interests it shares with China and others with irrational antagonism and pursue a pointless game that no one can hope to win. Chas W. Freeman

In terms of economics and trade, what I personally expect to see as a result of Putin and Xi’s talks while Putin attends the Olympic games, is a much revealed new economic system, which, on a transaction level, will start to be closely integrated across the non-Anglo world. The level of the reveal may be muted, and we may have to read the tea leaves to understand the size and scope of this change.

The driver of that will be the E-CNY, China’s digital currency, which will be massively rolled out for use at the Winter Olympics.  https://govt.chinadaily.com.cn/s/202101/27/WS601137c9498eaba5051c195e/e-cny-chinas-digital-currency.html

We also note financial integration in other spheres as the Russian Standard Bank clients are now able to transfer money to the cards of the Chinese UnionPay payment system. This is not a SWIFT transaction.

Overall, the anti-China rhetoric remains at top decibels. As you will see from the extra reading below, while we were watching Russia, the war propaganda against China did not reduce one bit.

How does one raid airspace?

China Launches Biggest Raid On Taiwanese Airspace Since October As CCP’s Pacific Perimeter Expands

https://www.zerohedge.com/geopolitical/china-launches-biggest-raid-taiwanese-airspace-october-ccps-pacific-perimeter-expands

Moon of Alabama did an exposé on how the ‘China Threat’ media cycle works: https://www.moonofalabama.org/2021/10/how-the-china-is-a-threat-fake-news-cycle-works.html#more

And before that, he teased apart the Taiwan Airspace or Air Defense Zone:  https://www.moonofalabama.org/2021/10/how-ap-reuters-and-scmp-propagandize-their-readers-against-china.html#more

Godfree Roberts created a comprehensive list of current propaganda at the end.

China data points:  What are they up to?

Space

Common prosperity is the main driver of China’s values today.

“Common prosperity is not egalitarianism. To use an analogy, we will first make the pie bigger and then divide it properly through reasonable institutional arrangements. As a rising tide lifts all boats everyone will get a fair share from development and development gains will benefit all our people in a more substantial and equitable way”. Xi Jinping.

As part of the Common Prosperity drive, 6.5 million low-cost homes for leasing will be built across 40 major cities in the five years through 2025, Pan Wei, an official with the Ministry of Housing and Urban-Rural Development, told reporters at a press conference.

On Tuesday, Xi told the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection (CCDI) to maintain “zero tolerance” for corruption (SCMP):

  • “There is still a long way to go to effectively tackle the more invisible, deep-rooted corruption and we still have a long way to go to eradicate it completely.”

Imports and Exports Hit $6 trillion for the first time in 2021. The total import and export volume of China’s merchandise trade was 39.1 trillion yuan ($6.15 trillion), a year-on-year increase of 21.4%. Compared with 2019, China’s 2020 foreign trade volume, exports and imports had increased by 23.9%, 26.1% and 21.2%, respectively.

China-Africa trade rose 32%, or $67 billion, to $254 billion in 2020, according to China Customs.

19 out of 33 countries in Latin America and the Caribbean had signed up for the Belt and Road, but some of China’s biggest Latin American investment partners – Brazil, Argentina and Mexico – have not formally signed up to the Belt and Road. Nevertheless, China is now the largest trading partner of Brazil, Argentina and most of the rest of South America.

Renewables will meet over 70% of China’s additional electricity demand in the next three years as coal’s role in powering the world’s second-largest economy continues to decline. Wind and solar farm installations will lift their combined generating capacity 75% to 930 Gw by 2024 from 600GW now.

At the January 20th Foreign Ministry Press Conference, a reporter from MASTV asked: “The 2022 Edelman Trust Barometer [above], from the top global public relations firm, Edelman, finds trust among Chinese citizens in their Government in 2021 hit a record 91%, up 9% from last year, and the top globally. Overall, China’s Trust Index is 83%, up 11%, the highest in the survey. Do you have any comment?”

FM Spokesperson Zhao Lijian: “I noted relevant reports. The 2017 and 2018 Edelman Trust Barometer reports, as I recall, showed that the trust among Chinese citizens in their government was the highest in all the countries surveyed. The figure in this year’s report hits a record high in a decade. We have shared with you a 10-year survey by the Harvard University’s John F. Kennedy School of Government on China. It finds out that the Chinese people’s satisfaction with their government’s performance has been over 90 percent for years in a row, which is consistent with the findings of the Edelman Trust Barometer.  As a Chinese citizen and civil servant, I’m not surprised at all. “

Extra reading

Background on the Hong Kong color revolution: https://www.fridayeveryday.com/under-the-surface-a-very-different-hong-kong-story/

A legal forensic take-down of the Xinjiang accusation of genocide and forced labor:  the Australian Strategic Policy Institute (ASPI) substantially misrepresented and exaggerated allegations of forced labor in Xinjiang, having insufficient evidence to prove their claims.

http://www.cowestpro.co/uploads/1/9/9/7/19974045/cowestpro_working_paper_jan_2022_v2.pdf

Sinopec discovered yet more new oil and gas reservoirs in Xinjiang totaling 88m tons of condensate oil and 290bn cubic meters of natural gas.  So, do you get why the US wanted to destabilize Xinjiang via terrorist attacks in this region?

How a simple blogger exposed the supposed China experts in the West:  https://www.globaltimes.cn/page/202201/1246795.shtml

Weaponized Freedom of navigation is ongoing

The US Congress passed a $7 billion anti-China propaganda bill to villainize China and to exclude Chinese news from America. To put this in perspective, the 2020 budget of NASA is $20 billion dollars.

Ideological attacks…

Economic attacks…

Health attacks…

This is one more example. We see big news headlines that a ‘China Spy’ was arrested. But when the man is quietly let go because of no evidence, they don’t bother to report that.

https://www.globaltimes.cn/page/202201/1246590.shtml

Tom Fowdy at RT reports as follows:

The US is now doing to China what it’s done in the build-up to every war

https://www.rt.com/op-ed/547290-chinas-global-image-worse/

Thank you to Godfree Roberts who does a yeoman’s job to pull together the 50 most important data points emerging from China in one newsletter week after week.  It is getting very difficult to remain a generalist China watcher as the place is just so big and the pace of development is astounding.   I use but a fraction of the newsletter information.  This week’s long reads contain work by: Ambassador Chas W. Freeman, Jr., Ning Nanshan, Helen De Cruz & Pauline Lee,  and Wang Wenbin.  If you have an interest in China, go get the Here Comes China newsletter here: https://www.herecomeschina.com/#subscribe