China

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Re: China

Post by blindpig » Sat Mar 05, 2022 3:29 pm

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Explaining China’s abstention on the UN General Assembly resolution regarding Ukraine
What follows is an explanation by Zhang Jun, Permanent Representative of China to the United Nations, of China’s abstention on the UN General Assembly resolution regarding Ukraine on 1 March.

This explanation was supplemented by Wang Wenbin, at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs press conference on 3 March 2022, who noted the escalating sanctions regime being installed by the US and its allies against Russia, observing that the US also had an important hand in creating the crisis: “International media lately mentioned many times that George Kennan, former US ambassador to the Soviet Union, suggested to the US government in 1990s that expanding NATO up to Russia’s borders would be the most fateful error. Regrettably, the US government turned a deaf ear to this. Tulsi Gabbard, former member of the House of Representatives, said that the crisis could have been ended and the war easily avoided if President Biden had simply promised not to accept Ukraine’s becoming a member of NATO. But they chose not to do so. Those who created the problem should be the ones to undo it. We hope the culprits of the crisis can take real action to ease the situation and resolve the problem instead of shifting the blame to others.”
Mr. President,

There continues to be dramatic changes of the situation in Ukraine. What is now unfolding is indeed heart-wrenching. China’s basic position on the Ukraine issue is consistent and unequivocal. We always believe that all countries’ sovereignty and territorial integrity should be respected, and that international disputes should be resolved peacefully in accordance with the purposes and principles of the UN Charter. The top priority right now is to ease the situation on the ground as much as possible, and prevent the situation from escalating or even getting out of control. Russia and Ukraine have already held their first round of negotiations. Despite their differences, both sides have shown their willingness to continue the negotiations. China welcomes this. Faced with the highly complex and sensitive situation, China once again calls on the international community to stick to the overall direction of political settlement and foster an enabling atmosphere and conditions for direct dialogues and negotiations between the parties concerned.

Mr. President,

Any action by the UN and the relevant parties should give priority to regional peace and stability and the universal security of all parties, and should play a positive role for de-escalation and diplomatic solutions. Regrettably, the draft resolution submitted to this emergency special session for vote has not undergone full consultations within the whole membership. Nor does it take full consideration the history and complexity of the current crisis. It does not highlight the importance of the principle of indivisible security, or the urgency of promoting political settlement and stepping up diplomatic efforts. These are not in line with China’s consistent positions. Therefore we had no choice but to abstain in the voting.

Mr. President,

The final settlement of the Ukraine crisis requires abandoning the Cold War mentality, abandoning the logic of ensuring one’s own security at the expense of others’ security, and abandoning the approach of seeking regional security by expanding military blocs. It is important to give full attention and respect to the legitimate security concerns of all countries, and on that basis conduct negotiations to put in place a balanced, effective and sustainable European security mechanism. Blindly exerting pressure and imposing sanctions and creating division and confrontation will only further complicate the situation, and result in a rapid negative spillover of the crisis, and affect even more countries. We call on the international community to take a responsible attitude, and promote the relevant parties to immediately return to the track of political settlement, and use dialogue and consultation to seek a comprehensive solution to the Ukraine issue. China is ready to continue its constructive role in this regard.

Thank you, Mr. President.

https://socialistchina.org/2022/03/03/e ... g-ukraine/

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China clarifies neutral stance on Ukraine crisis
We are pleased to republish this important article from Global Times, which provides a detailed exposition of what it describes as China’s “neutral stance” in the conflict between Russia and Ukraine and refutes some of the key misrepresentations of the Chinese position. It also analyses the motives of the Western powers in the current crisis and the evolution of their positions as events unfold, including the changing dynamic in relations between Europe and the United States.
Although the US and some other Western countries are trying to handle the current situation in Ukraine with waves of sanctions against Russia and questioning Beijing’s neutral stance, China has once again clarified its neutrality and the reason to the EU, France, Germany and the UK as to why it opposes sanctions ahead of the UN Emergency Special Session on Sunday.

Chinese State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi had phone conversations with UK Foreign Secretary Elizabeth Truss, High Representative of the EU for Foreign Affairs Josep Borrell, French Diplomatic Advisor to the President Emmanuel Bonne and German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock from Friday to Saturday, according to the website of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Sunday.

They had in-depth exchanges of views with a focus on the situation in Ukraine, while Wang expounded China’s basic position on the Ukraine issue. Wang stressed that “China supports and encourages all diplomatic efforts conducive to a peaceful settlement of the Ukraine crisis. China welcomes the earliest possible direct dialogue and negotiation between Russia and Ukraine.”

Ukraine’s delegation is now heading to Gomel in Belarus for negotiations with Russia, Russian media Sputnik reported on Sunday. This announcement comes just minutes after the deadline previously set by the Russian delegation for the negotiations with Ukraine expired. According to a member of the Russian delegation, Leonid Slutsky, Russia will demonstrate quite a “hardline” approach at the upcoming talks with Ukraine.

Russian President Vladimir Putin and Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett had a phone call on Sunday in which Putin gave assurances that Moscow remains open to talks with Kiev, but informed Bennett that Ukraine’s leaders have shown “inconsistency” on the matter.

Chinese military experts said Russia has been restrained in using force to attack the Ukrainian army because most Russian forces are being deployed to prevent NATO intervention, but Russia does not want the conflict to last long, so it might change strategy depending on how the situation develops.

Putin ordered the military to put the nation’s nuclear deterrence forces on high alert Sunday following “aggressive statements” from NATO, Sputnik reported.

The US doesn’t want to see the conflict end quickly as it wants Russia to be mired in trouble as long as possible, so the talks won’t be easy, and what happens in the battlefield will decide the result of the negotiations, experts said.

When the conflict broke out, most Western countries were shocked, and only showed support by “praying for Ukraine” and announced sanctions, but did not dare to provide weapons to Ukraine or send reinforcements.

The situation has somehow changed over the weekend, as Ukrainian forces were not as weak as the West previously thought, and the conflict is likely to continue. Some Western countries have started supplying arms to Ukraine, because they have seen the possibility of further escalating and extending the conflict to leave Russia mired in the mud of Ukraine, said analysts.

This is actually bad for negotiations, as the longer the conflict continues, the more casualties there will be, and the West wants to maximize the losses for both Russia and Ukraine rather than minimize the damage, said Chinese experts. China’s stance of neutrality is important because if there is one country that can one day effectively mediate the conflict, that country should be one with real neutrality and which respects Ukraine’s sovereignty and also did not follow the West in sanctioning Russia and harming the livelihood of Russian people.

What’s real neutrality?
Western voices should not be allowed to dominate the voice of the international community over the Ukraine situation, as Western powers, especially the US and NATO, have actually been the key forces in instigating the crisis and contradiction between Russia and Ukraine. In other words, the West is now deliberately taking sides, said analysts.

Chinese Foreign Minister Wang said, “China maintains that the sovereignty and territorial integrity of all countries should be respected and protected and the purposes and principles of the UN Charter should be earnestly observed. This position of China is consistent and clear-cut, and applies equally to the Ukraine issue.”

But he also said, “The legitimate security concerns of all countries should be respected. Given NATO’s five consecutive rounds of eastward expansion, Russia’s legitimate security demands ought to be taken seriously and properly addressed.”

Cui Hongjian, director of the Department of European Studies at the China Institute of International Studies, told the Global Times on Sunday that the US and NATO are actually part of the cause of this conflict in Ukraine, so if the world lets them dominate public opinion across the international community, it would be unfair and the problem will not be solved.

Yang Jin, an associate research fellow at the Institute of Russian, Eastern European, and Central Asian Studies under the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, said that Russia won’t be intimidated by sanctions, and if sanctions were effective, then the conflict would have been prevented long ago.

The reason why China believes Russia does have “legitimate security concerns” is that “we have seen how NATO acted to pressure Russia and destroyed the former Yugoslavia in the past. If there hadn’t been these concrete security pressures and NATO military deployments around Russian territory, Moscow would not have needed to carry out such risky military operations to respond to NATO’s threat,” Yang said.

Wang said to senior European diplomats that “Actions taken by the UN Security Council should help ease the situation and facilitate a diplomatic resolution rather than fuelling tensions and causing further escalation. In view of this, China has always disapproved of willfully invoking UN Charter Chapter VII, which authorizes the use of force and sanctions in UNSC resolutions.”

Sanctioning or condemning Russia, just as the West has done, is actually much easier than staying neutral and responsible in order to contribute to conflict mediation while being questioned and pressured by the West, said a Beijing-based expert on international relations. He added that “China is a responsible major power with independent diplomacy and clear stance based on objective and fair judgment of the situation, rather than a country with no independent thought that just blindly follows the West on every issue.”

The 2022 Winter Paralympics will be held in Beijing from March 4 to 13, and China could use it as a chance to play a bigger role for peace mediation and make the Olympics a platform to realize peace, said some Chinese experts.

Sustainable security mechanism
“The Ukraine issue has evolved in a complex historical context. Ukraine should function as a bridge between the East and the West, not as a frontier in big power confrontation. China also supports the EU and Russia in entering into an equal-footed dialogue on European security issues and implementing the philosophy of indivisible security, so as to eventually form a balanced, effective and sustainable European security mechanism,” the Chinese foreign minister said.

Cui said that for Europe to establish a balanced, effective and sustainable security mechanism, the security concerns of all parties should be resolved in an equal way. “This is the precondition.”

Europe needs to stop engaging in a collective security mechanism that excludes Russia, and even targets Russia. “If NATO cannot accept Russia, then obviously one of NATO’s purposes is to target Russia, and then the problem of European security will never be solved,” Cui said.

Europe should also try to avoid interference from external powers, especially the US, said the experts. Key EU members such as France and Germany always have divergences with the US not only on issues related to Russia, but also on the Iran nuclear deal, ties with China and Middle East affairs. Unfortunately, however, the US and US-led NATO dominate security issues in Europe, making it hard for the continent to reach mutual trust and respect with Russia in the past, which has caused today’s tragedy, they noted.

“If the Ukraine crisis is mainly handled by Europe, rather than by the US and NATO, maybe peaceful negotiation would already have been realized long before Russia lost patience and launched military operations. At least, it wouldn’t be as bad as it is now,” Cui said.

But unfortunately, the US and the US-led NATO are unlikely to let this happen, as they need Russia to play the enemy to keep trans-Atlantic ties solid, and unfortunately, the current conflict in Ukraine has boosted this trend, so it will be hard for Europe to completely act independently to build a new security mechanism with Russia in the future, Yang said.

https://socialistchina.org/2022/02/28/c ... ne-crisis/
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Re: China

Post by blindpig » Tue Mar 08, 2022 2:23 pm

China claims it is already mediating between Ukraine and Russia

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Foreign Minister Wang Yi believed that China and Russia contribute to world peace and stability. | Photo: Xinhua
Published March 7, 2022 (2 hours 52 minutes ago)

The Chinese foreign minister added that China will send humanitarian aid to Ukraine and that his country is willing to work to end the war if necessary.

Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi said Monday that his country is already mediating in the conflict in Ukraine and will make efforts to offer humanitarian assistance, which cannot be politicized.

"Peace and dialogue must be promoted, and China has already made some efforts in this regard. There have been two rounds of negotiations and we hope there will be a third. The more divergences, the greater the need to sit down to negotiate," the official said. Chinese at a press conference in parallel to the session of the National People's Assembly that is being held this week in Beijing.

The minister added that China will send humanitarian aid to Ukraine and that his country is willing if necessary to work with the international community in mediation to end the war.

Wang Yi said that Beijing has maintained an ambiguous position regarding the tensions between Russia and Ukraine, insisting on respecting the territorial integrity of all countries and paying attention to the security demands expressed by the Kremlin. .

Regarding its relations with Russia, China, which opposes Western sanctions, will continue to maintain its strategic focus and its independence although, according to the Foreign Minister, it is not an alliance nor does it target third countries.


Wang Yi also considered that the two countries contribute to world peace and stability.

The friendship between the two countries "is an example of a dignified relationship, where the two countries help and support each other," Russian President Vladimir Putin said last month.

https://www.telesurtv.net/news/china-me ... -0007.html

Google Translator

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FM affirms importance of China-Russia friendship
By MO JINGXI | chinadaily.com.cn | Updated: 2022-03-07 16:46

State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi said on Monday no matter how precarious and challenging the international situation may be, China and Russia will maintain strategic focus and steadily advance their comprehensive strategic partnership of coordination for a new era.

Speaking at a press conference on the sidelines of the fifth session of the 13th National People's Congress, Wang said the China-Russia relationship not only benefits their peoples but also helps world peace, stability and development.

Wang said the China-Russia relationship is valued for its independence.

"It is based on non-alliance, non-confrontation and non-targeting of any third party, and it is free from interference or discord sown by third parties," he said.

"The friendship between the Chinese and Russian peoples is rock-solid and there is a bright prospect for bilateral cooperation," Wang added.

https://www.chinadaily.com.cn/a/202203/ ... 8aee9.html

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US urged to stop zero-sum acts
By MO JINGXI | CHINA DAILY | Updated: 2022-03-08 07:31

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A reporter from China Arab TV at the Media Center Hotel in Beijing puts a question on Monday via video link to State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi in the Great Hall of the People.[Photo by Kuang Linhua/China Daily]

Washington fails to honor words of not seeking new Cold War, Wang Yi says

China urged the United States on Monday to cease its zero-sum competition and geopolitical rivalry with the country, saying Washington should work with Beijing to put bilateral ties back on the right path of sound and stable development, as it has promised.

"China believes that in a globalized and interdependent world, how China and the US find the right way forward and manage to get along is both a new question for humanity and a formulation that must be worked out together by the two countries," State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi said as he took questions from the media via video link on the sidelines of the fifth session of the 13th National People's Congress in Beijing.

He said it is a pity that the US is not honoring its words of not seeking a new Cold War with China, not seeking to change China's system or strengthening its alliances against China, and not supporting "Taiwan independence".

The reality is that the US is going to great lengths to engage in intense, zero-sum competition with China, keeps provoking China on issues concerning its core interests, and is taking a series of actions to piece together small blocs to suppress China, he said.

"This is not how a responsible power should act, or how a credible country does things," Wang added.

He said that China has every right to do what is necessary to firmly defend its legitimate interests.

Wang said that in order to contain China's development, some forces in the US have instigated and encouraged the development of "Taiwan independence" forces, challenged the one-China principle and seriously undermined peace and stability across the Taiwan Straits.

"The scheme to use Taiwan to contain China is doomed to fail," he said, adding that Taiwan's future and hope lie in the peaceful development of cross-Straits relations and reunification with the mainland, not in counting on the empty promises of external forces.

Wang said China and the US need to reembrace the conviction that helped the two countries break the ice 50 years ago, and set out on a new journey.

We must replace the "competitive-collaborative-adversarial" trichotomy with the three principles of mutual respect, peaceful coexistence and win-win cooperation, return the China policy of the US to the right track guided by reason and pragmatism, and put China-US relations back on the right path of healthy and stable development, he said.

Speaking of the US "Indo-Pacific strategy", which he described as "an Indo-Pacific version of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization", Wang said the US is stoking geopolitical rivalry in the name of advancing regional cooperation.

He said the strategy seeks to maintain the US-led system of hegemony, undermine the regional cooperation architecture with the Association of Southeast Asian Nations as the center, and compromise the overall and long-term interests of countries in the region.

"Such actions run counter to the common aspiration of the region for peace, development, cooperation and win-win outcomes, and they are doomed to fail," he said.

Noting that the Asia-Pacific region is a promising area for cooperation and development instead of a chessboard for a geopolitical contest, Wang said that China resolutely opposes all acts that lead to confrontation and rival camps in the region.

"China wants all parties to join us in doing the right thing and staying on the right course," he added.

Li Haidong, a professor of US studies at China Foreign Affairs University, said that Beijing judges Washington's intention of developing relations with China based on what it does instead of what it says, and the US is not taking actions to implement its commitments.

"The US is using a Cold War mentality and the logic of bloc politics to deal with its relationship with China," Li said.

http://global.chinadaily.com.cn/a/20220 ... 8b070.html
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Re: China

Post by blindpig » Thu Mar 10, 2022 2:27 pm

CHINA REAFFIRMS "SOLID" FRIENDSHIP WITH RUSSIA, DEEPENS ECONOMIC INTEGRATION
Ben Norton

10 Mar 2022 , 7:33 am .

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Russia has strengthened its alliance with China, deepening the integration of their economies (Photo: File)

As the United States and the European Union (EU) isolate Moscow over the war in Ukraine, China is strengthening its alliance with Russia, calling it its "most important strategic partner." In response to Western sanctions, Russian banks are using a Chinese payment system and Eurasian economies are integrating more closely.

The United States and the European Union have used the Russian intervention in Ukraine that began on February 24 to try to isolate Moscow politically and strangle the country economically.

At the same time, Russia has strengthened its alliance with China, deepening the integration of their economies.

Washington and Brussels have created what is essentially a new iron curtain, imposing crushing sanctions aimed at devastating Russia's economy and devaluing its currency, the ruble.

The US and European countries have agreed to ban Russian oil. Several Russian banks have been removed from the SWIFT system for financial transactions. And Western sanctions have even hit Russia's central bank, freezing its foreign assets.

What this economic war has done is speed up a process of disassociating Russia from the West , which began several years ago when Moscow wanted to de-dollarize .

At the same time, the Joe Biden administration has sought China's help in trying to enforce these new sanctions and pressure Russia to de-escalate tensions – even though Washington has spent years waging a new cold war against Beijing, making baseless politicized accusations of "genocide" while imposing sanctions on the Asian giant.

The US strategy of using Ukraine as a wedge between Russia and China has not worked. Instead, the barrage of sanctions against Moscow has had the impact of reinforcing the Eurasian integration of the Russian and Chinese economies.

Meanwhile, China has stood firm with Russia. Its foreign minister, Wang Yi, referred to Moscow as Beijing's "most important strategic partner."

Wang denounced the United States for " acting irresponsibly in the international arena."

China stressed that its friendship with Russia is " rock solid ", and is "free from interference or discord sown by third parties", a clear rebuke to Washington's attempt to divide them.

RUSSIAN AND CHINESE ECONOMIES DEEPEN INTEGRATION

By making the decision to intervene militarily in Ukraine in February 2022, Russia made it clear that it is no longer worried about trying to integrate with the West. Moscow recognizes that its future lies in Eurasian integration with China, Iran and other Eastern powers.

Beijing has also helped Moscow weather the financial storm of Western sanctions and trade restrictions, and the two countries have strengthened their economic ties.

China lifted all restrictions on Russian wheat imports on February 24. Russia is the world's largest exporter of wheat, and China has gradually increased imports from its northern neighbor.

The South China Morning Post noted, " China could provide a lifeline to Russia's economy after the United States and its allies swiftly imposed economic sanctions on Moscow."

The Chinese outlet added that its ambassador to Russia, Zhang Hanhui, said that Beijing "was 'glad' to see that its currency has been widely used in Russian trade, financial investments and foreign reserves, and also looked forward to discussions." on the use of yuan to pay for bilateral energy deals.

In another report, the South China Morning Post reported that bilateral trade between China and Russia has increased during the Ukraine crisis, reaching $26.4 billion in January and February, an increase of 38.5% over the year. above, and the highest growth rate for these months since 2010. However, he added that export growth is slowing.

In response to the Russian invasion of Ukraine, Visa and Mastercard announced that they would limit operations in the country. Thus, Russia is strengthening its own national payment system, while expanding the use of a Chinese counterpart.

Moscow's state news agency, Tass , published a report on March 6 revealing that several banks in Russia are already using China's UnionPay system for financial transactions, including the Russian Agricultural Bank (Rosselkhozbank) and the state-owned Promsvyazbank. , and private banks Gazprombank and Sovcombank.

Reuters noted that more Russian banks plan to use the UnionPay system, including Sberbank, a state institution and Russia's largest bank, as well as private banks Alfa Bank and Tinkoff.


Russia has its own payment system, called the Mir, which was created by the central bank in 2017, largely due to the effects of Western "sanctions" imposed on the country in 2014.

Tass said several domestic banks are considering combining these Russian and Chinese payment services, and "possibly issue joint credential cards that will link Russia's Mir and China's UnionPay systems, which will provide the option of paying for purchases and cash withdrawals in abroad".

CHINESE FOREIGN MINISTER REAFFIRMS HIS "SOLID" FRIENDSHIP WITH RUSSIA, "FREE OF INTERFERENCE OR DISCORD SOWN BY THIRD PARTIES"

The Joe Biden administration has tried to make Ukraine a wedge between China and Russia, and Western media commentators such as Paul Krugman of the New York Times have argued that " China cannot rescue Putin's economy ".

CNN declared that " there's little China can do to help Russia's sanctions-hit economy," while Bloomberg predicted that Beijing made a " fateful choice over ties with Russia " that will reportedly hurt it.

At the same time, the US government has publicly threatened to financially punish Chinese companies if they refuse to comply with Western sanctions against Russia and help Moscow circumvent these unilateral coercive measures.

Faced with this antagonistic strategy, China has redoubled its support for Russia.

At a press conference on March 7, Beijing Foreign Minister Wang Yi declared that the Sino-Russian partnership is "free from interference or discord sown by third parties." This was a clear rejection of attempts by the United States and the European Union to create divisions between them.

Wang said China and Russia are "each other's closest neighbors and most important strategic partners," calling their relationship "one of the most crucial bilateral relations in the world."

"China and Russia jointly oppose attempts to revive the cold war mentality," Wang stressed, warning of Washington's push toward a new cold war.

The Chinese foreign minister said that Beijing and Moscow have a "shared commitment to lasting friendship and mutually beneficial cooperation," one that "is based on non-alliance, non-confrontation and the absence of attacks on third parties."

"The relationship between China and Russia is based on clear historical logic and is driven by strong internal dynamics, and the friendship between the Chinese and Russian peoples is solid as a rock," Wang added.


Beijing has also strongly condemned Western "sanctions" against Russia .

Foreign Ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian stated, "China is definitely against unilateral sanctions that are not based on international law. Wielding the stick of sanctions will not bring peace and security. It will only lead to serious problems for the economy and the quality of life in the corresponding countries".

Zhao warned: "In this situation, everyone loses. Sanctions will only intensify division and confrontation."

https://misionverdad.com/globalistan/ch ... -economica

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China warns of strong response to the US if it imposes sanctions

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The Chinese Foreign Ministry announced that it will take all necessary measures to resolutely safeguard the legitimate rights and interests of Chinese enterprises and individuals. | Photo: Twitter @cgtn_cn
Published March 10, 2022 (47 minutes ago)

Beijing responds in this way to Washington's demand to join the Western sanctions against Russia.

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian responded Wednesday to White House spokeswoman Jen Psaki's comments on the sanctions imposed by the United States and the European Union against Russia and warned that China will not join. to the same

According to the Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman, coercive measures "are not the main and effective means to solve the problem [and] China firmly opposes any form of unilateral sanctions or far-reaching jurisdiction by the United States."

Zhao Lijian said that the US side should take China's concerns seriously when dealing with Ukraine and its relations with Russia, and should not harm China's rights and interests in any way.

He also explained that China will take all necessary measures to resolutely safeguard the legitimate rights and interests of Chinese companies and individuals.

White House spokeswoman Psaki said in yesterday's statement that China has so far complied with sanctions against Russia, but if it does not comply with sanctions against Russia, it will allow the United States to take retaliatory action.

This Thursday, from Turkey and after negotiations with his Ukrainian counterpart, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said that the United States' demands that China, India and other countries implement unilateral sanctions against Russia are "disrespectful."

https://www.telesurtv.net/news/china-av ... -0010.html

All above Google Translator

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China provides humanitarian aid supplies for Ukraine
Xinhua | Updated: 2022-03-09 17:26


BEIJING - At the request of the Ukrainian side, the Red Cross Society of China will provide humanitarian aid supplies to the Ukrainian Red Cross Society, a Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson said Wednesday.

Spokesperson Zhao Lijian said at a daily press briefing that the supplies worth 5 million yuan ($791,000) include food and daily necessities.

"The first batch of supplies was shipped from Beijing on Wednesday," said Zhao, adding that the rest will be delivered to the Ukrainian Red Cross Society as soon as possible by appropriate means.

http://global.chinadaily.com.cn/a/20220 ... 8b83c.html

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China Asks the US to Disclose Information on Biolabs in Ukraine
March 9, 2022

China demands all parties involved to guarantee the security of the places where dangerous viruses are stored.

On Tuesday, March 8, China’s Foreign Ministry called on the United States to release full details of its biological laboratories in Ukraine, urging all parties involved to ensure security of the labs.

On Monday, the Russian military said that it had found documents indicating that Ukrainian authorities had been destroying pathogens studied at its laboratories. Moscow claimed that 30 US-financed Ukrainian biolabs have been actively cooperating with the US military.

Recent media reports indicate that these laboratories store large quantities of dangerous viruses.

During Tuesday’s daily press conference, Chinese Foreign Affairs Ministry spokesperson Zhao Lijian stated that, for the health and safety of the population of Ukraine, the surrounding areas and the entire world, all parties concerned must ensure the safety of such laboratories.

“In particular, the United States, as the party which knows these laboratories best, should publish the relevant details as soon as possible, including which viruses are stored and which research has been carried out,” Zhao stressed.

He added that the US biomilitary activities in Ukraine are just “a tip of an iceberg,” and that “the US Department of Defense controls 336 biological laboratories in 30 countries around the world.”

“What is the true intention of the United States?” asked Zhao. “What exactly has it done? This has always been a matter of concern on the part of the international community.”

The United States has single-handedly blocked the implementation of a Biological Weapons Convention’s verification protocol for 20 years and has refused to accept inspections of its biological facilities within and outside its borders, thus further aggravating the concerns of the international community, Zhao remarked.

“We once again urge the US to fully clarify its biological military activities both at home and abroad, as well as accepting multilateral inspections,” Zhao said.

Featured image: Image of biological laboratory work. File photo.

(Últimas Noticias)

https://orinocotribune.com/china-asks-t ... n-ukraine/
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Re: China

Post by blindpig » Fri Mar 11, 2022 2:29 pm

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Beijing Warns of Harsh Response if US Sanctions Chinese Companies
March 10, 2022

Beijing intends to retaliate with harsh measures if Washington imposes unilateral coercive measures—euphemistically called “sanctions”—on China due to the discord between Russia and the United States over the Ukraine conflict, China’s Foreign Ministry spokesperson Zhao Lijian said on Thursday, March 10.

“In the process of establishing relations with the Russian Federation, the United States does not have the right to impose so-called sanctions against Chinese companies and individuals,” the spokesperson said at a press conference. “If it does, China will give a firm and serious response.”

According to the diplomat, Washington’s sanctions against Russia will do nothing to solve Ukraine’s dilemma. “On the contrary, the United States creates more headaches this way,” he added, reported by Tass news agency.


As Zhao Lijian pointed out, Washington’s actions not only cause economic damage to all parties involved, but also “have a [negative] impact on the political settlement process.”

On Wednesday, after learning of the US oil embargo on Russia, the Chinese diplomat said that unilateral sanctions do not bring “peace or security,” but rather economic difficulties for the countries on which they are applied.

Lijian noted that Beijing and Moscow have always maintained “solid cooperation in the energy field” and “will continue to carry out commercial cooperation that includes gas and oil,” news agencies reported.

Motivated by Russia’s military operation in Ukraine, countries such as the US, Japan, the United Kingdom, Canada, and the European Union (EU) have frozen assets and imposed severe sanctions on Moscow in the fields of energy, transport, exports, and travel visas, among others.

These sanctions have produced a serious disruption in supply chains all over the world, causing a boomerang effect for the economies of the very nations that launched the coercive measures, in particular the United States and the countries of the European Union.



Featured image: Chinese Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Zhao Lijian. Photo: Tass.

(Últimas Noticias), with Orinoco Tribune content

Translation: Orinoco Tribune


https://orinocotribune.com/beijing-warn ... companies/
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Re: China

Post by blindpig » Sat Mar 12, 2022 2:13 pm

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Political structures in socialist China
This month sees the annual sessions of China’s leading advisory and legislative bodies – the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) and the National People’s Congress (NPC). They are a key event in the country’s political calendar where the programme for government is debated and agreed. In this article, Charles McKelvey provides valuable insights into China’s socialist democracy and how it differs from bourgeois democracy.
In the Wikipedia entry on China, there is a section on “Politics of China,” and a subsection on “National People’s Congress.” As is evident from the extensive citations, this subsection on the “National People’s Congress” was written on the basis of the archives and documents of the government of China, including those of the National People’s Congress. It is a straightforward description, revealing the structures through which the Chinese political process favors the power of the people and limits the possibility for control of the decision-making process by the bureaucracy of the Chinese state, a Chinese capitalist class, or foreign capitalist or imperialist interests. At the same, these structures permit the Communist Party of China to control the political process only insofar as the Party has support of a strong majority of the people.

One does not find in the Wikipedia entry on China any correction of supposed misstatements of fact or alleged distorted understandings found in the above-mentioned subsection on the “National People’s Congress.” This is curious, given that the Western intellectuals who disseminate their claim of authoritarianism in China certainly have the means and resources to rectify any errors that appear in the English-language entry on China in Wikipedia. The reason for this curiosity is that Western intellectuals who disseminate the claim of authoritarianism in China (and other states constructing socialism) use a strategy of ignoring the structures of people’s power. They pretend that structures of people’s power do not exist, with the realistic expectation that their audience will not be informed about such structures, thus permitting Western “anti-authoritarian” intellectuals to get away with claims that are contradicted by reality. Rather than refuting particular explanations offered in defense of the structures of people’s power, the strategy of the Western intellectuals is to depend on the deep-seeded and wide tendency to not pay attention to such explanations. They therefore have no response to a fact-based description of the structures and processes of the National People’s Congress in China.

The National People’s Congress of the People’s Republic of China

The National People’s Congress of the People’s Republic of China, established by the Constitution of 1954, is the highest organ of state power in China. All four constitutions of the People’s Republic have vested great legislative powers in the National People’s Congress (NPC). Moreover, only the NPC has the power to amend the Constitution, with proposals for amendments requiring approval by 2/3 of the NPC deputies.

The primary duty of the National People’s Congress is to enact and amend laws, in accordance with the Constitution and previous laws with respect to legislative activities. These laws include matters that are of primary importance, such as laws that related to proposed plans for national economic and social development.

The National People’s Congress also has the constitutional authority to elect the President and the Vice-President of the People’s Republic of China, and to appoint several governmental executives, reserving the power to impeach by majority vote. And the NPC elects the Chairman, Vice-Chairman, Secretary-General and other members of the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress. Whereas the NPC holds annual ten-to-fourteen-day sessions, its Standing Committee, consisting of approximately 150 to 170 deputies of the NPC, meets in continuous session. In addition to the Standing Committee, there are nine special committees dedicated to such issues as legislative affairs; financial and economic affairs; education, health, science and culture; foreign affairs; environmental protection; and agriculture and rural affairs. These special committees study, consult, and debate with respect to legislative proposals put forth by the executive branch or by deputies of the National People’s Congress, which often includes proposals that originated in the Communist Party of China or its Central Committee.

The deputies of the National People’s Congress are elected, directly and indirectly, by the people, in a tiered structure of people’s congresses, with a foundation in the local village or urban neighborhood. At the lowest level, local People’s Congresses are directly elected. At this lowest level, there is no limit on the number of candidates for each seat; candidates can be nominated by the Communist Party of China, various other political parties, mass organizations, and any voter seconded by at least ten other voters. The list of candidates is finalized by an election committee that is appointed by the Standing Committee of the local People’s Congress. Some districts elect one person, while others elect two or three, with the voter allowed as many votes as there are seats to be filled. Voting is done by secret ballot. There are provisions for runoff elections.

Local voting districts are generally from 200 to 1000 voters, but larger counties can have as many as 4,000 voters. Local People’s Congresses also elect the executive branches of local government, including governors, mayors, and heads of cities, city districts, counties, townships, and towns.

Thus, the deputies of the National People’s Congress are elected by the People’s Congresses of the level immediately below, which in turn have been elected by the levels immediately below them. The number of seats is proportionate to the population. Deputies are elected to five-year terms.

Elected in 2018, the current National People’s Congress consists of 2,980 deputies. Twenty-five percent of the deputies are women; fifteen percent are ethnic minorities.

The Communist Party of China enjoys a strong majority in the National People’s Congress, attained through the electoral process. By convention, approximately one-third of the seats of the NPC are reserved for non-Party members, which can include technical experts and members of smaller, allied political parties. These non-Party deputies provide a greater diversity of views, but they do not function as a political opposition.

New legislation is developed through consultation seeking consensus, different from the give-and-take compromising to attain narrow majorities that occurs in the USA. Legislative proposals are initially drafted by a group of legislators or agencies of the executive branch. A work-plan is formulated by the Legislative Affairs Committee, which includes consultation with experts and with the Communist Party as well as public consultations. Inasmuch as consensus is sought in each step, the proposed legislation is modified as it proceeds through consultations. On those occasions when there is not consensus, the National People’s Congress often has functioned as a forum for debating ideas and obtaining consensus. The final approval occurs in a plenary session of the National People’s Congress.

Consensus can be difficult to attain. Sometimes a vote will not be put before a plenary session when there is significant opposition. Several times in the 1990s, proposals were supported by less than 70% of the deputies. The 2007 Property Law was withdrawn from the 2006 legislative session due to objections that the law did not do enough to protect state property. The debate over the Property Law spanned nine years, and it was reviewed seven times by the Standing Committee. It was finally approved by the National People’s Congress on March 16, 2007, by a margin 2,799 votes for, 52 against, 37 abstentions, and one not voting.

Often there is a high affirmative vote in the People’s National Congress, which is a result of the modifications that have been made during the legislative consultations. We who are accustomed to the conflictive character of representative democracy should not assume that near unanimity implies the absence of democracy. Quite the opposite is the case. Near unanimity results from taking into account all views in the quest for consensus. In some cases, a deputy may vote for a legislative proposal not because he or she is in agreement with all of its elements, but out of respect for the democratic character of the process.

In evaluating the legislative process in China, we should keep in mind that the Party’s strong majority in the National People’s Congress enables the legislative process to move forward through consultations seeking consensus, rather than on the basis of conflicts between competing parties with opposed agendas. And of course, its strong majority is established by the vote of the people in an electoral system of tiered direct and indirect elections. The high prestige in which the Party is held among the people should not be a surprise, given its historic role in leading the nation in coalition with allied parties to the attainment of sovereignty, and its capacity in recent decades to overcome its divisions and lead the nation to its current position as a major non-imperialist world power that seeks cooperation and mutually beneficial trade with the nations of the world.

The Communist Party of China

The Communist Party of China is guaranteed a leadership role by the Constitution; it is defined in the Constitution as the vanguard of the working class, the people, and the nation. However, the Party is subordinate to the National People’s Congress, which is elected directly and indirectly by the people.

Party committees permeate every state organ, mass organization, and state and private company. The Party thus plays a key role in policy and in the selection of leaders at all levels. But the Party does not have the constitutional authority to elect members of important committees on the People’s Congresses, which are elected by the people’s congresses at the corresponding level. The Party can maintain de facto political power only with the support of the people. To this end, the Party has developed structures for the education of Party members and the people.

People must apply for membership to the Communist Party, and the Party can select as little as 10% of the applicants in a given year. Those selected are probational members for one year, who have all the rights of full members, except the right to vote in Party elections. Such rights included attending Party meetings, reading Party documents, receiving education in Party-run schools, participating in discussions in the Party’s newspapers and journals, and expressing well-grounded criticism of Party policies, proposals, and leaders.

The Party has approximately 89 million members, which constitutes approximately 6% of China’s population of 1.4 billion. Party members include farmers, herdsman, and fisherman (26 million); industrial workers (7 million); professionals and management (22 million); Party and government officials (8 million); retirees (17 million); college students (2 million); and other occupations (7 million). Party members are organized in 4.5 million local party committees with an average of twenty members. In addition, the Communist Youth League, which has 89 million members between the ages of 14 and 28, prepares young people for membership in the CPC.

In 1937, Mao expressed a vision of Party cadres as persons with high levels of understanding and commitment, capable of linking the Party with the masses in workplaces:

Our Party organizations must be extended all over the country and we must purposefully train tens of thousands of cadres and hundreds of first-rate mass leaders. They must be cadres and leaders versed in Marxism-Leninism, politically far-sighted, competent in work, full of the spirit of self-sacrifice, capable of tackling problems on their own, steadfast in the midst of difficulties and loyal and devoted in serving the nation, the class and the Party. It is on these cadres and leaders that the Party relies for its links with the membership and the masses, and it is by relying on their firm leadership of the masses that the Party can succeed in defeating the enemy. Such cadres and leaders must be free from selfishness, from individualistic heroism, ostentation, sloth, passivity, and arrogant sectarianism, and they must be selfless national and class heroes; such are the qualities and the style of work demanded of the members, cadres and leaders of our Party.

Critical reflection on electoral processes

There is a nearly universal prejudice against indirect elections as somehow not really democratic. But let’s think this through. At all levels higher than the local, the voters do not directly know the candidates. If there were direct elections at the higher levels, the voters would be voting on the basis of information that they had attained through the print or audio-visual media, so that the most successful candidates would be those capable of inventing and disseminating literature and images that cast them in a favorable light. In the United States, campaign advertising is an industry, requiring candidates for the federal congress to raise considerable sums of money, which places them in debt to their largest contributors, thereby enabling the elite to control the political process.

A system of tiered direct and indirect elections is a much more democratic system, in that said structure favors the control of the state by the people, rather than control of the state by the wealthy. If the lowest electoral level is a small voting district, not too large, the people have some level of direct knowledge of the candidates, and informal knowledge among the people can supplemented by the display in public places of basic information about each candidate, funded by the electoral commission. In such an electoral structure, there are not election campaigns, and thus there is no need for campaign financing. Freed from the continuous need to raise campaign funds, elected delegates and deputies are more likely to be focused on the desires of the majority of voters in his or her district as they carry out their duties, including the election of delegates to the next higher level of people’s congresses or assemblies. This structure favors the lifting up of deputies to the national legislative body who do not have obligations to any privileged or powerful economic sector. They may have a debt to a political party, if a party leader had played a supportive role in their election; if so, the fulfillment of such a debt would not violate their constitutional and moral obligations to the people who elected them, if that party were widely supported by the people.

I have observed people’s democracy in Cuba. It seems to me the development of structures that favor control of the state by the people is the most important dimension of the construction of socialism, because many things follow from control of the state by the people. Yet it is the least discussed aspect of the ongoing socialist projects. In contrast to this prevailing inattention, my view is that the development of a structure of people’s power, in accordance with the particular characteristics of each nation, ought to proposed by all of us who proclaim adherence to socialism.

The problem of the rich having control of the political process is a problem that must be addressed, because the rich, having more money, have more influence in almost everything. In the United States, there are periodic efforts at campaign-financing reform, reflecting the inquietudes of the people with respect to the role of money in elections. By and large, such efforts are window dressing, at most. However, the 2016 platform of the Green Party put forth proposals designed to ensure the independence of officeholders from the demands and expectations of the corporate elite. The platform proposed the enactment of proportional representation voting systems, full public funding for election campaigns, equal television and radio time for candidates, and the prohibition of corporate contributions to election campaigns. But the Green Party proposal leaves intact a system of direct elections at the state and national levels.

Electoral systems with a combination of direct and indirect elections have an important history in the United States. They were common in the constitutions of the thirteen colonies, which generally had direct elections in small voting districts to unicameral legislators authorized to make appointments to the executive branch and/or an upper chamber. In addition, indirect elections were common in the early years of the American Republic. Popular movements pushing for direct elections did not foresee the negative consequences, and they certainly could not possibly foresee today’s electoral farce.

It seems to me that socialist parties and organizations in the United States, alongside support for the 2016 Green Party proposal, ought to call for one or more states to experiment with a system of direct and indirect elections in their particular states. Such a proposal could involve direct elections at the base, with candidates disseminating digitally and on social media their positions on the issues, with debates among the candidates on public media, financed by state electoral commission or by the public media. Self-promotion would be permitted, but not paid advertising. The candidates that win elections for local assemblies would, among other duties, elect delegates and deputies to the state assembly, which in turn would elect the governor and lieutenant governor as well as the state’s congressional representatives and senators in the federal congress.

On the concept of a vanguard political party

There is nearly universal lack of understanding and appreciation of the important role of a vanguard political party in the construction of socialism. In the first place, it is not understood that a national assembly decides, not the party. If there is a similar perspective and broad agreement between the deputies of a national assembly and the leadership of the party, this is because the people, in a system of direct and indirect elections, have elected a solid majority of party members to the national assembly. Deputies who are party members have consciousness of their different roles. That is, when they speak or vote in the national assembly, they are acting as a deputy of the people, and not as a party member; in meetings of the party, they are speaking as a party member.

The fundamental role of a vanguard party is to educate. It develops schools for the education of party members and of non-party members who are leaders of workers’, peasants’, and women’s organizations. Armed with well-developed historical, global, and scientific understanding, party members educate the people in the practical fulfillment of their roles in all the institutions and organizations of the nation. Journalists and educators especially play an important role. When a non-party citizen seeks to understand an issue, he or she often will talk to party members in their neighborhood, mass organization, or workplace.

Because of the educational role of the party, citizens in nations constructing socialism have a well-developed understanding of national and international issues. There is not the confusion and division that is found in capitalist societies with competing political parties in a system representative democracy. The political parties of representative democracies do not educate the people. In fact, they miseducate the people. They put forth superficial and often misleading slogans and soundbites in order to gain electoral advantage over a political rival; and they enlist the support of contacts in the press to disseminate information that discredits a rivel. A good percentage of the people are so disheartened by the political spectacle that they disengage. The fifty percent who are engaged are divided into two bands with opposed assumptions and beliefs, hurling insults at one another, with the support of the news media. Educators, whose own education has been limited by the bureaucratization of elite-endowed universities, are not intellectually prepared to effectively respond to the prevailing confusion and division. The spectacle includes superficial discourses with respect to the nations constructing socialism, discourses that ignore the role of the people’s assemblies and that distort the role of a vanguard political party.

Perhaps political parties in the representative democracies ought to give thought to how they could develop structures designed to educate the people. Perhaps journalists and educators ought to critically evaluate their structures and habits. Perhaps all would have something to learn from the vanguard political parties in the nations constructing socialism.

We intellectuals of the West ought to give more careful observation to the alternative world under construction in the Third World plus China.

https://socialistchina.org/2022/03/04/p ... ist-china/

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China’s Political System Promotes Development for the World

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Xi Jinping discusses with overseas experts at the two sessions. March. 10, 2022. | Photo: Twitter/@relevantorgans

Published 10 March 2022 (13 hours 49 minutes ago)

During the ongoing two sessions, Chinese President Xi Jinping discussed China's economic and social development for this year with lawmakers and political advisors.

Foreign experts recognized the vital role played by the institutional strengths of Chinese socialism, which has allowed the country to face major challenges and boost development to assure more significant benefits for the world.

At the annual gathering of the National People's Congress (NPC) and the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC), the president pointed out that China's response to the COVID-19 pandemic and its fight against poverty demonstrate the effectiveness of the country's political and governance systems.

In this respect, Yuri Tavrovsky, a professor with the People's Friendship University of Russia, noted the advantages of the socialism with Chinese characteristics, acknowledging the significant progress China has made regarding the containment of the pandemic and the eradication of poverty. He praised the nation's efforts to improve people's quality of life and promote the social development of the Chinese community.

For its part, Azza Radwan Sedky, a columnist for the Egyptian newspaper Ahram, remarked that the policy of the Chinese government is widely accepted by its people. She also spotlighted that the country has quickly managed to keep the COVID-19 pandemic at bay while some countries from the West are still struggling with it. The political analyst said that people's living standards in China are steadily improving.


At the meeting, Xi Jinping also stated that the public's well-being is the first-order task, stressing that it is necessary to pay greater attention to those in a difficult situation to help them resolve problems.

Charles Onunaiju, director of the Center for China Studies in Nigeria, said China's whole-process people's democracy addresses substantive issues of life in an inclusive and participatory manner, which is the essence of democracy, he highlighted.

Natee Taweesrifuengfung, president of the Thailand-based Siam Think Tank, said that Chinese democracy is a true people's democracy, stating that a country's leading national and public interests must be to fight against poverty and to guarantee a productive life for its population.


Greek academic Pelagia Karpathiotaki stated that the role of China in the global economic recovery is essential. She remarked that China's financial stability and its initiatives to further international economic cooperation are crucial in the world's current scenario.

https://www.telesurenglish.net/news/Chi ... -0019.html

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Interview: China’s democracy represents people while Western-style democracy serves the interests of monopoly capitalism
This interview with Friends of Socialist China co-editor Danny Haiphong was published in Global Times on 7 March 2022. Global Times reporter Yu Jincui asks Danny’s opinion regarding the 2022 ‘Two Sessions’, the evolution of China’s whole-process people’s democracy, the comparison between Chinese and Western democracy, and the motivation for setting up Friends of Socialist China.
GT: What’s your expectation for the Two Sessions this year and how do you view its significance concerning China’s future development?

Haiphong: China is holding the two sessions in a moment of unprecedented global crisis. The resurgence of COVID-19 due to the Omicron variant has dampened the economic forecast in China and the ongoing Russia-Ukraine conflict has certainly raised questions about the future of international stability and China’s role in helping secure it.

Despite the gravity of these developments, China will use the two sessions to begin discussions on a number of policies that embody the spirit and mission of the 14th Five-Year plan. At the top of the agenda is the dual management of COVID-19 and economic growth targets. Issues and policies relating to China’s goal of achieving “common prosperity” on the road to fully building a modern socialist country by 2050 will undoubtedly be the subject of deliberations at the two sessions.

My expectation is that the two sessions will reaffirm China’s capacity to lead by example through whole-process democracy. China is the only world power at the moment in a position to chart a development plan that meets the interests of the people for a better life. Through direct consultation and participation of grassroots deputies representing all levels of society, China possesses a mechanism in the two sessions which can chart a clear path toward meeting concrete development goals.

GT: How do you understand whole-process people’s democracy? Compared with Western-style democracy, what do you think is the biggest difference?

Haiphong: Whole-process people’s democracy is a governance system congruent with socialism with Chinese characteristics. Whole-process people’s democracy establishes a system of consultation and grassroots mobilization which takes into account China’s specific conditions of development. Direct elections are held at the village level and corresponding deputies at higher levels are subsequently elected by lower levels of the governance system based upon a record of service to the people. Whole-process democracy is bidirectional, meaning that regular consultation occurs between higher levels of the governance system such as the NPC and provincial and local authorities to ensure policies properly balance national priorities and local considerations.Whole-process people’s democracy is different from Western-style democracy in several areas. The biggest difference is that whole-process people’s democracy is structured to meet the goals and plans set forth by the system of socialism with Chinese characteristics while Western-style democracy is structured to serve the interests of monopoly capitalism. Unlike Western-style democracy, whole-process people’s democracy does not view procedure as an achievement in and of itself. A major measure of success is how well deputies and governance structures serve the desire of the people for a better life. Western-style democracy, on the other hand, views the election of representatives itself as the highest achievement. The question of whether this system serves the needs of the broad masses of people is generally ignored in order to obscure the fact that powerful corporate interests set the policy agenda well before votes are cast.

GT: Over 5,000 deputies of the National People’s Congress (NPC) and members of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference are gathering in Beijing. They come from all walks of life across the country. How do you see the difference between Chinese lawmakers and American lawmakers? A view holds that US lawmakers are more adept at playing electoral politics rather than solving real problems facing the country. How do you view this?

Haiphong: US lawmakers are generally selected by wealthy elites first and elected by the people second. The majority of representatives in the US Congress are millionaires who accumulated their wealth through satisfying the interests of monopoly corporations and private financial institutions.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, for example, has achieved a net worth of about $100 million during her more than 30-year career in Congress. US lawmakers and their staff often move from government positions to the corporate boardrooms of their donors and lobbyists. Several former aides to Democratic Party Senator Joe Manchin currently work for energy lobbies that played a key role in stymying increased investment in infrastructure and renewable energy development.

The immense influence of private wealth over the political careers and policies of US lawmakers incentivizes procedure over solving real problems that impact the lives of the impoverished and oppressed. Unlike China, where the government is structured to enact people-centered development plans, the US governance system is designed to reproduce policies that reinforce the status quo. This explains why despite rhetorical differences on certain issues, Democrats and Republicans from Joe Biden and Donald Trump to members of Congress often carry out a similar policy framework of increased war spending, subsidies for the wealthiest corporations, and austerity measures that negatively impact the livelihoods of ordinary people.

Another stark difference between lawmakers in the US and China is their social character. Poor workers in the US generally do not have the means or wealth to compete in elections that require massive financial expenditures to run successful campaigns. Furthermore, the interests of ethnic and racial minorities are only given attention when social conditions, such as the Black Lives Matter protests, demand it. It’s clear, however, that Joe Biden’s key role in writing legislation that led to an enormous rise in the African-American prison population and his support of militarizing police departments that exacerbate racial tensions indicate that the interests of racial minorities are treated as an afterthought.

In China, ethnic minorities are not only provided representation at the highest levels of governance but their economic, cultural, and political interests also find expression in policy discussion and implementation. Furthermore, wealth is not a determinant of political participation. Lawmakers come from all walks of life and are judged by their service to the village, municipality, province, and the nation at large.

GT: China insists that countries with different political systems can coexist, and it emphasizes win-win results in the development process. However, the US and some Western countries want to divide the world into democracy vs autocracy. What risks and consequences will this bring to the world?

Haiphong: Viewing the world from the prism of “democracy” and “autocracy” is indicative of a new Cold War mentality. The US describes China, Russia, and a select number of countries as “autocratic” to justify its policy of unipolar aggression. The label “autocracy” comes with an equally aggressive propaganda campaign that influences public opinion to support war. Furthermore, Americans and citizens of the West are taught to blame their problems on a foreign “adversary.” Major threats to humanity such as war, climate change, and poverty become increasingly difficult to address when so-called “democracies” in the West pursue narrow self-interests and divide the world instead of win-win cooperation. This is the true character of Western-style “democracy:” endless militarism and domestic policies that favor a small, wealthy minority of the population.

GT: Friends of Socialist China is aimed at spreading an understanding of Chinese socialism. Why do you choose to engage in such a work? Being an editor of Friends of Socialist China, What are the difficulties in promoting the understanding of Chinese socialism in the Western world?

Haiphong: Friends of Socialist China was conceived by myself and colleagues of mine amid great dissatisfaction with the low level of solidarity with China that exists even among the most progressive-minded journalists and activists in the West.

It is important to us that the New Cold War being led by the US is challenged not just on the basis of its irrationality and negative consequences for humanity, but also from the standpoint of an endless stream of misinformation about China.

Much of the propaganda spread by Western media is based on a Cold War understanding of China that negates the important achievements of socialism with Chinese characteristics in the modern era. This is a great disservice to people in the West. People in the West are denied the right to learn from China’s successes in poverty alleviation, renewable energy, high-technology, COVID-19 containment, infrastructure development and more. We hope to change that in the interest of peace. People in the West need to know the real China if they are to develop the empathy and solidarity required in the development of world peace.

The biggest impediment to this work is the highly concentrated private media in the West and how it acts as a lever of misinformation for US-led cold war policies. Public opinion on China has declined significantly, and anti-China propaganda has led to a spike in racist incidents toward Chinese and people of Asian descent in the US and the West. All of this creates inevitable hostilities to our work, but we have also seen an increasing number of people take interest in China and want to do their part to reverse these troubling trends.

GT: Under the crisis of capitalism and democracy in the US, what changes have occurred in the attitudes of young Americans toward socialism? Is socialism becoming more attractive?

Haiphong: Rampant inequality and dim prospects for the future have indeed increased interest in socialism in the US, especially for young Americans under the age of 35.

This is a massive shift in the post-Cold War status quo in the US which argued that the world had entered the “end of history”, meaning capitalism would forever remain hegemonic. The collapse of the Soviet Union paved the way for an unprecedented expansion of US aggression and wars on Yugoslavia, Afghanistan, Iraq, and several others. Finance capital also found ample room to expand to the point where it became “too big to fail” after causing the biggest global economic crisis since the Great Depression in 2007-08.

Amid increased spending for war and decreased spending on social needs, young Americans have become frustrated with low wages, diminished job prospects, high costs of living, blatant racial injustices, and the hypocrisy of political officials spending enormous resources on massive defense budgets, fossil fuel subsidies, and stimulus packages for the wealthiest financial institutions responsible for their problems. Young Americans desire a kind of “common prosperity” that takes their interests into account. They believe that socialism is worth exploring as a possible way forward. However, the debate over what socialism would look like in the US remains unresolved. We at Friends of Socialist China understand that while China’s model of socialism cannot be exported to the US, its commitment to improving the lives of the people certainly deserves more attention.

https://socialistchina.org/2022/03/09/i ... apitalism/
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China: Solution to Ukraine’s Conflict Is in NATO and US’ Hands

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Chinese FM spokesman noted that the solution to the Ukraine crisis is in NATO and U.S. hands. Mar. 17, 2022. | Photo: Twitter/@globaltimesnews

Published 17 March 2022 (13 hours 45 minutes ago)

According to the Chinese FM spokesperson, the solution to the Ukrainian military conflict is up to NATO and the U.S.

On Thursday, the Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson, Zhao Lijian remarked that the U.S. and NATO are essential parties in the solution for the ongoing military conflict in Ukraine.

The spokesperson exposed China's hope on the U.S. to stand on the side of peace and justice with most developing countries in the world, for reaching a peaceful solution in the European crisis.

Zhao underlined China's role in promoting peace talks and making efforts to give solutions to the crisis peacefully. He said that the Asian country will continue to stand with a constructive position in the matter.

He noted that the parties initiators of the confrontation between Russia and Ukraine, should reflect on their position about it, assume their responsibility on the matter, and take measures that de-escalate tension on the problem.


According to Zhao, NATO's expansion eastward is directly connected to the ongoing conflict between both European countries, exposing that the key to solving the Ukraine conflict lies in the hands of the U.S. and NATO.

The spokesperson reiterated China's fair and objective position on the Ukraine problematic situation, adding that the countries that should really "feel uncomfortable" are those that think they have won the Cold War and can dominate the world, without any consideration of others' concerns.

https://www.telesurenglish.net/news/Chi ... -0019.html

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Experts: Deal to ease Russia-Ukraine conflict difficult
China Daily Global | Updated: 2022-03-18 10:00

Russia and Ukraine might have a chance to make a deal to ease the conflict in Ukraine, but negotiations will be difficult, experts warned.

Ukraine's position in the fourth round of talks remained unchanged as Kyiv continued to demand a cease-fire and the withdrawal of Russian troops, Russian newspaper Vedomosti reported. It will be difficult for the parties to take the talks to another level, Russian International Affairs Council Director General Andrey Kortunov said. Both sides are capable of making agreements on humanitarian corridors but claims that cloud issues emerge from both sides even when these matters are discussed.

Alexander Gushchin, a senior researcher at the Institute of Post-Soviet and Interregional Studies at the Russian State University for the Humanities, said it's difficult to talk about serious changes in Kyiv's position at the moment, particularly as Ukraine needs to save face amid the tough emotional state of society, namely its far-right nationalist members.

Ukraine's position is also a result of the influence of its US partners. Gushchin said he expects Kyiv to focus on attempts to delay a decision on recognizing the independence of Donetsk and Lugansk as well as Crimea's status, dilute the concept of demilitarization and take on as little obligation as possible in terms of neutrality, replacing the idea with talk of security guarantees.

Russian President Vladimir Putin said a special military operation was launched in Ukraine after authorities of Donetsk and Lugansk requested assistance in "repelling Kyiv's military aggression", and added that Moscow would seek the "demilitarization and denazification" of Ukraine.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky is not interested in substantive negotiations, said Mikhail Barabanov, from the Center for Analysis of Strategies and Technologies.

The West, which believes that Russia is in trouble, thinks the only thing it needs to do is continue to support Ukraine. It's too early to say if a Russian military success will push Ukraine toward real negotiations, Barabanov said.

Even if agreements are made, there are no guarantees that Ukraine will implement them, he added.

This week, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmitry Kuleba met in Antalya, Turkey, for the first time since the start of Russia's special military operation in Ukraine. Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu acted as a mediator.

The talks failed to bring any meaningful progress in resolving the crisis, Vedomosti newspaper reported.

Russian newspaper Izvestia wrote that Moscow and Kyiv still have the chance to reach compromises during the talks. However, "much will depend on the Ukrainian authorities' ability to develop a common position".

Political analysts have already taken note of some diplomatic progress, but it's too early to talk about positive outcomes, Izvestia said.

Mykhailo Podolyak, an adviser to Zelensky's office, said video talks with Russia's delegation are ongoing. Leonid Slutsky, a member of the Russian delegation and head of the State Duma's Committee on International Affairs, also said dialogue between Moscow and Kyiv was continuing.

Deputy Chairman of the Russia's Federation Council Committee on Foreign Affairs Andrei Klimov believes that Russia and Ukraine could reach an agreement if Kyiv is capable of making independent decisions.

"I can't help feeling that some other forces, particularly those from Washington and the United Kingdom, are also involved in the conversation," he said.

https://www.chinadaily.com.cn/a/202203/ ... 51c2b.html

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Third humanitarian package from China reaches Ukraine
By Wang Xiaoyu | chinadaily.com.cn | Updated: 2022-03-18 15:18

The third batch of humanitarian aid donated by the Red Cross Society of China to Ukraine arrived in the Lviv Oblast in western Ukraine on Thursday.

The consignment, including milk powder for children and quilts, has been delivered to help people displaced by recent fighting, especially children and other vulnerable groups.

https://www.chinadaily.com.cn/a/202203/ ... 51c9b.html

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Accusations leveled by US are not based on reality
By Tom Fowdy | China Daily Global | Updated: 2022-03-18 08:59

Photo taken on Feb 27, 2022 shows smoke rising in the sky in Kyiv, Ukraine. [Photo/Xinhua]
A report that appeared in the Financial Times on Monday and soon spread to the rest of the Western mainstream media claimed that Russia had requested "military equipment and other assistance" from China in the Ukraine crisis.

The claims-denied by both Moscow and China's Foreign Ministry, which branded it as "disinformation"-were attributed to unnamed United States officials.

On Monday, United States National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan discussed bilateral ties, among other issues, with senior Chinese diplomat Yang Jiechi in Rome. During the meeting, Sullivan said there would be "significant consequences" should Beijing offer support to Moscow.

The accusations are not based on reality. The US is attempting to use the situation in Ukraine and smear China while attempting to force it to take a side in line with its preferences.

China's Foreign Ministry and media have made it clear that Beijing supports a peaceful resolution and negotiations and continues to have a policy on the situation in Ukraine premised on attaining stability, while affirming its long-standing principles of noninterference in the internal affairs of other countries and respect for national sovereignty and territorial integrity.

When the US government makes a claim or statement, the Western media have a habit of reporting whatever it says as a fact, as opposed to assessing the political agenda that may be behind it, or the evidence to back up such a claim.

While claims by countries such as China are subject to frequent attacks and scrutiny, or are dismissed as "propaganda" or "misinformation", everything the US says is reported as fact. This allows Western media to repeat the US narrative as it pleases without questioning it, which the Western public subsequently believes.

Recognizing this issue, US government officials have developed a pattern of propaganda whereby they provide "anonymous leaks" to certain Western newspapers, which then publish such unverified claims under the tag of an "exclusive story".

It benefits these newspapers in terms of readership, while allowing the US to establish a narrative rapidly with plausible deniability.

This phenomenon functions through "patron-client" relationships between members of the administration and specific reporters, who then "carry water" for the official while boosting their own journalistic credentials by gaining "insider" stories.

For example, Financial Times reporter Demetri Sevastopulo, who reported the claims that Russia requested military assistance from China, has also reported many other stories from government insider sources, including unverified claims of "hypersonic missile" tests.

While this advances his career, it also makes him an effective medium for the agenda of US officials.

Similarly, the previous US administration also had its associated reporters who were used to push government propaganda on issues such as Xinjiang, as well as the lab leak conspiracy theory about COVID-19.

The greatest benefit of this attack is that it makes false stories appear legitimate and credible, when these are otherwise false and politically motivated.

Given this situation, claims that Russia asked China for military assistance is a politically motivated story, and its primary objective is to try to isolate Moscow while pressuring Beijing to align with Western preferences in the war by branding it as complicit.

The secondary objective is to attempt to further smear China's reputation among its own allies by tying it to the conflict, framing it as worthy of distrust and unreliable, and this manufactures greater consent for strategic confrontation, decoupling and Cold War politics.

The US has already used the Ukraine situation to influence Germany's foreign policy, dismantle former chancellor Angela Merkel's legacy and further extend its influence in Europe. It has a long-running ambition to forge greater unity against China, both in Europe and beyond.

Given this, China must be robust in combating US-led disinformation against it, while remaining diplomatically proactive in defending its own interests.

In practice, China's long-standing goal has been to improve ties with Europe and forge a stable, positive and cooperative relationship.

The public should be extremely skeptical of all claims by anonymous US officials to the mainstream media that seek to misrepresent China's positions, views and interests. An official source does not equate to an honest, fair or impartial source, and herein is the media angle of deception.

http://global.chinadaily.com.cn/a/20220 ... 51a60.html

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China Calls for Efforts to Avoid Larger Scale Crisis In Ukraine

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People evacuate in Irpin, Ukraine, March 11, 2022. | Photo: Xinhua

Published 18 March 2022

"China remains committed to promoting peace through negotiations. We support the United Nations and the parties concerned in vigorously carrying out good offices," Zhang said.

On Thursday, Zhang Jun, China's permanent representative to the United Nations, called on all parties to the Ukraine conflict to exercise restraint so as to prevent a humanitarian crisis of an even larger scale.

China is deeply worried about the worsening humanitarian situation in Ukraine, and saddened by the reported increase in civilian casualties and refugees. The pressing task now is to call for maximum restraint from all parties so as to prevent the occurrence of a larger scale humanitarian crisis, said Zhang.

China supports the work by the relevant parties in maintaining communication, ensuring safe and unimpeded humanitarian corridors, and further facilitating personnel evacuation and humanitarian assistance, he told a Security Council meeting on the Ukraine refugee issue.

The number of refugees and displaced persons caused by the conflict is still on the rise, bringing a huge impact on Ukraine and the surrounding countries. China supports relevant UN agencies in actively conducting operations and mobilizing the international community to assist all those in need.


China pays high attention to the humanitarian situation in Ukraine and has put forward a six-point proposal. The Red Cross Society of China has provided Ukraine with three batches of humanitarian supplies, with the third batch containing milk powder and quilts for children.

"We welcome any initiative or measure from any party that contributes to alleviating and resolving the humanitarian crisis in Ukraine. The Security Council bears the primary responsibility for maintaining international peace and security, and should therefore play a positive role in easing the humanitarian situation in Ukraine. China hopes that the Security Council can stay united on the humanitarian issue and demonstrate a constructive attitude."

To date, Russia and Ukraine have held four rounds of negotiations. Keeping the negotiations going means there is a chance for cease-fire. "China remains committed to promoting peace through negotiations. We support the United Nations and the parties concerned in vigorously carrying out good offices. We also hope that all parties will do more to facilitate peace talks, and not to add fuel to fire," Zhang said.

Facts have proved that the wanton use of sanctions will not solve any problem, but will instead create new problems. Given the sluggish recovery in the global economy, ever-escalating sanctions are undermining the stability of the international industrial chain and supply chain, thus exacerbating food and energy crises, damaging people's livelihood in all countries, developing countries in particular, and triggering new humanitarian consequences.

https://www.telesurenglish.net/news/Chi ... -0005.html

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Xi calls for swift control of outbreaks
By CAO DESHENG | CHINA DAILY | Updated: 2022-03-18 06:48

General secretary stresses importance of perseverance in tackling pandemic

Xi Jinping, general secretary of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, has underlined the need to put the people's lives first and stick to the dynamic zero-COVID strategy with scientific and targeted measures, in order to speedily curb the spread of the virus nationwide.

Xi made the remark on Thursday while presiding over a meeting of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee. During the meeting, the top CPC leadership analyzed the current COVID-19 situation in the country and urged stringent measures to respond to the virus.

While addressing the meeting, Xi highlighted the measures the nation has taken to effectively control the virus since it started implementing the regular epidemic prevention and control policy, saying that the nation's COVID-19 response strategy has, to a maximum extent, protected people's lives, safety and health.

The fact that the country takes the lead in the world in economic development and pandemic response fully demonstrates the nation's strength and capability in the prevention and control of the disease as well as the marked advantages of the CPC's leadership and the socialist system, Xi said.

He stressed the importance of perseverance in fighting the pandemic, and urged all-out efforts to take substantial and targeted steps in response to COVID-19.

Xi called for raising the level of virus prevention and control through scientific and precise approaches, constantly optimizing COVID response measures, and stepping up scientific and technological progress in vaccines, rapid testing kits and medicine research and development.

He urged coordinated efforts to promote socioeconomic development and respond to the pandemic, saying effective measures must be taken to strive for the best results in virus prevention and control at the lowest cost in order to reduce the impact of the pandemic on socioeconomic development with maximum efforts.

The meeting came amid an increase in locally transmitted cases around the country in the past week. As of Wednesday, there were 1,317 confirmed cases on the Chinese mainland, including 1,226 locally transmitted cases.

The participants at the meeting emphasized the importance of implementing "early detection, early reporting, early isolation and early treatment" measures, and called for stringent measures in the prevention and control of the virus, according to the statement released after the meeting.

While strengthening guidance in reporting cases in key areas, they urged speedy measures to control local clusters of cases, the statement said.

The meeting's participants stressed the importance of ensuring the production and supply of the people's daily necessities as well as meeting their needs for medical services to enable them to have normal and orderly lives.

They underlined the need to speed up reform of disease control systems and called for comprehensively raising the capacity of epidemic monitoring, early warning and emergency response, the statement said.

Efforts should be strengthened in border areas, schools and universities in epidemic prevention and control, they added.

The meeting's participants also underscored the importance of vaccinations and urged raising the vaccination rate by expanding publicity work.

Efforts should be made to guide public opinion about the overall situation of the pandemic's development by publicizing related information in a timely manner as well as the progress of the government's measures in COVID-19 response, and actively addressing the public's concerns, they said.

The meeting's participants also urged Party and government officials at various levels to fulfill their responsibilities in pandemic control and give priority to virus prevention in their work. Those who neglect their duty in pandemic control should be held accountable, they added.

http://global.chinadaily.com.cn/a/20220 ... 519a3.html

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'Victories of Anti-Fascist War Should Be Respected': China

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WWII anti-Nazi resistance fighters in Crimea. | Photo: Twitter/ @VeroKosa

Published 17 March 2022 (21 hours 16 minutes ago)

"Some political forces in Japan have been using the Ukraine issue recently as a pretext to deliberately play up external threats and fish for stronger military forces," Zhao warned.

On Thursday, Chinese Foreign Affairs Ministry spokesperson Zhao Lijian said that the victorious outcomes of the World Anti-Fascist War should be earnestly respected and upheld, and urged Japan to remain committed to peaceful development.

He made the remarks in response to recent comments by Japanese rime minister regarding the Russia-Ukraine conflict, including remarks about revising its National Security Strategy to comprehensively strengthen Japan's defense capability.

On the Ukraine issue, Zhao said that China has been making positive efforts to de-escalate the situation, and is committed to promoting peace talks and proposing its initiative to resolve the current crisis.

"Our position is objective, fair, constructive and beyond reproach," the Chinese spokesperson said, adding that due to the militarist aggression in Japan's modern history, its moves in the military and security fields have always been followed closely by its Asian neighbors and the international community.

"We have noted that some political forces in Japan have been using the Ukraine issue recently as a pretext to deliberately play up external threats and fish for stronger military forces and capability," Zhao said.

The victorious outcomes of the World Anti-Fascist War should be earnestly respected and upheld, Zhao said, adding that the Japanese Japanese should remember their past.

"The Japanese side should deeply reflect on history, draw lessons from the past, respect the security concerns of its Asian neighbors, stay committed to peaceful development, and do more things that benefit regional peace and stability instead of the opposite," he stressed.

https://www.telesurenglish.net/news/Vic ... -0012.html
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Re: China

Post by blindpig » Tue Mar 22, 2022 2:31 pm

China: No Room for Legal Discussion about Russian Special Operation
Posted by INTERNATIONALIST 360° on MARCH 21, 2022
Lucas Leiroz

The western media is trying to turn the conflict in Ukraine into a legal discussion, putting “violators of international law” on one side and “defenders of justice and legality” on the other. Obviously, this type of narrative is extremely problematic, considering that the very “illegality” of the Russian intervention in the conflict is questionable, but this is not the main point of the matter. From the moment the West claims that Russia is acting illegally, it automatically implies that the entire international society must necessarily take a stand in favor of the Ukrainian side, which has generated great controversy.

As expected, the country most affected by this pro-Ukraine position requirement is China. As the second richest country in the world, equipped with enormous political, military, and diplomatic potential and maintaining friendly relations with Russia, China is a key point in the conflict, as its stance, if placed in favor of Kiev, could make Moscow diplomatically weak. This type of conduct is not typical of Chinese foreign policy, however, which is strongly marked by the defense of neutrality and the principle of non-intervention, which has led Beijing to avoid pronouncements on which side is right or wrong in the conflict, limiting its participation to mediation of diplomatic dialogue and increased economic cooperation with Russia, which is being sanctioned by the West.

Western leaders, however, insist on not respecting the Chinese diplomatic tradition and demand a stance totally in favor of the Ukrainian government, rejecting any form of neutrality. Recently, during a press conference NATO boss Jens Stoltenberg commented on the Chinese position stating that “China should join the rest of the world in strongly condemning the brutal invasion of Ukraine by Russia (…) China has an obligation as a member of the UN Security Council to actually support and uphold international law and the Russian invasion of Ukraine is a blatant violation of the international law so we call on [China] to clearly condemn the invasion and not support Russia”.

Stoltenberg’s unkind words – which literally demanded a violation of every ideological and strategic principle of Beijing’s foreign policy – did not go unnoticed by Chinese diplomats. A spokesperson for the Chinese mission to the EU spoke about the case saying: Chinese people can fully relate to the pains and sufferings of other countries because we will never forget who had bombed our embassy in the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia. We need no 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 good reflection”.

The spokesperson’s words were very incisive, remembering that NATO is an organization with a vast history of violations of international law. The invasion of Yugoslavia, during which the Chinese embassy in the country was bombed, is a sad and important mark in the history of international relations, which will not be so easily forgotten. At that time, the Western military alliance was trying to demonstrate its power and assert its role as “global police” in the then newly born unipolar world order. The western attack on Yugoslavia ignored all the norms of international law and human rights, creating one of the biggest humanitarian crises ever seen on European soil – just in the name of asserting the alliance’s global power. Shortly thereafter, the same scenario was repeated in Iraq, creating a real illegal “custom” in international society according to which invasions could occur with impunity, provided they were carried out by NATO.

Since then, many jurists have tried to “theorize” this supposed “right” on the part of NATO to attack other countries, as seen in ideas such as the “anticipatory self-defense”, which literally legitimized Western military action against target countries in order to “prevent” future attacks by these countries on Western states – even if there was no material evidence that such threats were real. Now, if the Ukrainian case is analyzed according to the very principles of Western legal theories, there is, therefore, no illegitimacy in the Russian Operation, considering that there was vast evidence that Kiev planned to invade the Donbass and massacre the local population. Moscow acted preemptively in defense of third parties – the only “problem” for Western jurists is that this right is apparently unique to NATO.

In other words, NATO has vastly disturbed international law structures in recent decades, creating a state of chaos in global society. In the same way, international jurists came to consider “legal” everything that is done by the Western alliance, while seeing as “illegal” even the legitimate maneuvers of non-aligned countries. This is why there is no room for this kind of discussion in the Ukrainian issue. The case cannot be understood or resolved consulting legal experts because the current trend is to see everything done by non-NATO countries as “illegal”. In addition, it is necessary to remember that international law has failed to prevent the escalation of the conflict. If the international courts had punished Kiev for its crimes in the Donbass, Moscow would not have started the Operation.

So, there is no problem in the Chinese stance in abdicating any discussions on legality or illegality of the Russian actions. Beijing understands that even if there were illegality in the Operation (which does not seem to be the case), there would be no legitimacy for NATO to accuse this, considering the organization’s crimes. In fact, this type of neutral position is the most lucid to be taken by the parties not involved in the conflict, as it is the most consistent with the universal principle of non-intervention.

https://libya360.wordpress.com/2022/03/ ... operation/

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Unreasonable and Sinister: NATO Pushes China to Condemn Russia
March 20, 2022

The Ukraine crisis was largely triggered by NATO’s aggressive eastward expansion. The bloc is the culprit. Instead of reflecting on itself, NATO piles pressure on other countries to stand with it against Russia. This is unreasonable and quite sinister.

“China should join the rest of the world in condemning strongly the brutal invasion of Ukraine by Russia,” NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said on Tuesday, “The Russian invasion of Ukraine is a blatant violation of international law so we call on [China] to clearly condemn the invasion and of course not support Russia. And we are closely monitoring any signs of support from China to Russia.”

NATO is a puppet of the US, a Cold War military bloc manipulated by the US. The obsolete military organization has launched many ruthless military aggression’s and triggered corresponding disasters in which local people underwent great suffering. NATO’s aerial bombing campaign against the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia in 1999 during the Kosovo War is one example.

NATO’s hands are stained with blood and the bloc itself has been a major threat to global and local security. Is NATO qualified to criticize other countries? This organization should have been dismantled long ago.

“NATO is the most serious war machine that violates international law and endangers the sovereignty and territorial integrity of other countries since the end of the Cold War. Since when has the group become a defender of international law? If it is a defender of international law, could you please first apologize for their bombing of Yugoslavia? Could you first compensate for bombing the Chinese Embassy in Yugoslavia in 1999, which left three journalists dead, and more than 20 people injured? Stoltenberg is not qualified and has no right or moral basis to make such remarks,” Shen Yi, a professor at the School of International Relations and Public Affairs of Fudan University, told the Global Times.

The West has fallen into extreme insanity, and this is quite sick. This is also a symptom of the growing abnormality of the international community under the coercion of the US and its allies. Stoltenberg’s rhetoric sounds like he attempted to label China as Russia’s “accomplice.” In terms of tensions between Russia and Ukraine, there is no absolute right and wrong, as the geopolitics, history and culture between them are too complicated. Their tensions are a difficult problem to solve. In this context, portraying their military conflict as good versus evil is not rational and detrimental to address it.

The Chinese ambassador to US Qin Gang said in an opinion piece in The Washington Post that rumors like “Russia was seeking military assistance from China” are “purely disinformation.” All this is information war initiated by the US. NATO is trying to use this kind of information war to intimidate China, and to coordinate Washington, in an attempt to occupy the moral high ground over the Ukraine crisis.

“By making such statements, NATO is trying to distort the focus of the international community from criticizing its eastward expansion to China’s so-called coordination with Russia,” Zhang Tengjun, Deputy Director of the Department for Asia-Pacific Studies at the China Institute of International Studies, said. “NATO is deliberately circumventing its role and responsibility. It is trying to shift the blame and confuse the public. This is very sinister.”

https://orinocotribune.com/unreasonable ... mn-russia/
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Re: China

Post by blindpig » Wed Mar 23, 2022 3:37 pm

GT Voice: EU needs caution in attempting to pressure China over Ukraine
By Global Times
Published: Mar 21, 2022 10:43 PM

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Photo:VCG

As China and the EU prepare for a scheduled summit early next month, which is expected to focus on bilateral cooperation in a wide range of areas, there have been some hostile and irrational voices that appear to be aimed at using the Russia-Ukraine conflict to undermine or even derail the meeting.

Bloomberg reported on Monday that the EU was coordinating with the US and was set to line up with Biden to "warn China against helping Putin," threatening "serious consequences."

Even more absurd was a suggestion from Lithuanian Vice Foreign Minister Mantas Adomenas last week that the EU should cancel or at least postpone the summit because it was "not the time for normalization" of China-EU ties, according to Reuters.

Such suggestions from Lithuanian officials, who have become increasingly unhinged in their anti-China stances and have little global influence, do not deserve much attention. As it is reeling from its mistake on the Taiwan question, Lithuania is clearly just trying to seize any opportunity to take the China-EU relationship hostage.

However, there are similar voices growing within the EU in the wake of the escalating conflict between Russia and Ukraine. The EU, despite serious damages to its own interests, still chose to follow the US to impose unprecedented sanctions and exert pressure on Russia, while some are also criticizing China's stance on the Ukraine situation.

First and foremost, China's position over the Ukraine situation is impartial and objective, which, in fact, is consistent with the position of the vast majority of countries around the world. China does not want to see war in Europe and will do everything it can to promote a peaceful resolution of the conflict.

Those forces who are trying to use the China-EU summit to force China into taking sides in the Russian-Ukraine situation should understand one thing very clearly: Such ill-advised attempt won't work on China, not even with threats of "serious consequences." The US has been pulling the same trick on China to no avail.

The China-EU economic and trade relationship is a mutually beneficial one. No one side is taking advantage of the other. The planned summit is an important platform for both sides to discuss issues of mutual concern and enhance win-win cooperation. Therefore, the EU should not think that it has some kind of leverage over China that it can use to force China into changing its own diplomatic stances on the Ukraine situation, or anything for that matter.

In fact, at a time when the European economy is facing the severe test brought by the Russia-Ukraine conflict, the upcoming summit is even more important for the EU to discuss ways to further increase economic and trade cooperation with one of its most important trading partners.

The Ukraine situation and the Western sanctions against Russia have undermined Europe's economic interests. Energy crisis, food shortage, refugee flows and other problems have become more and more difficult for Europe.

IMF officials warned last week that unprecedented sanctions imposed against Moscow over the Ukraine crisis will weaken financial intermediation and trade, which will surely lead to a recession in Europe. As the conflict continues, Eastern European economies, including Lithuania, will be hit hard by skyrocketing energy costs, supply-chain disruptions and refugee influx. Against such a backdrop, a wise move for the EU should be enhancing cooperation with China, not undermining it.

As a major economic powerhouse in the world, the Chinese economy has maintained steady growth over the past two years, and the country has unswerving resolve in pushing forward with its opening-up agenda. Moreover, China-EU economic and trade cooperation has remained highly resilient despite rising hurdles. China is the biggest trading partner of the EU.

If anything, the EU needs cooperation with China more than ever when it comes to stabilizing supply chains and curbing inflation. So the most pressing issue for the EU is how to advance talks to ease tensions and strengthen cooperation. The mutual interests at stake are so high that no force within the EU or beyond should be allowed to derail China-EU ties with meaningless threats and rhetoric.

https://www.globaltimes.cn/page/202203/1256448.shtml

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US Condemns Chinese Military Build-Up the US Itself Provoked
Posted by INTERNATIONALIST 360° on MARCH 22, 2022
Brian Berletic

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US Indo-Pacific commander Admiral John Aquilino has recently complained about China’s militarization of the South China Sea. He has accused China of placing anti-aircraft and anti-ship systems along with other military facilities on islands scattered throughout the South China Sea.

The Guardian in an article titled, “China has fully militarized three islands in South China Sea, US admiral says,” would claim:

“Over the past 20 years we’ve witnessed the largest military buildup since world war two by the PRC,” Aquilino told the Associated Press in an interview, using the initials of China’s formal name. “They have advanced all their capabilities and that buildup of weaponization is destabilizing to the region.”

The article would go on to explain how the US has positioned its own military in the region, challenging Chinese territorial claims despite having no claims over the South China Sea itself. The Guardian would note that nations like the Philippines, Vietnam, Malaysia, and Brunei have overlapping claims with China, along with the current break-away administration of Taiwan.

The Guardian notes that approximately $5 trillion in trade passes through the South China Sea but fails to note which nation above all others would benefit least from disrupting trade in the region – and which nation would benefit most.

The US, Not China Threatens Trade in the South China Sea

The Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) – a policy think-tank funded by the US government, its allies, as well as large corporations including weapons manufacturers – maintains the China Power project. In an article published on the project’s website titled, “How Much Trade Transits the South China Sea?,” it would be revealed that China above all other nations depends on the safety and stability of the South China Sea regarding trade, noting that $874 billion in Chinese exports transit the region accounting for over a quarter of all trade through it.

Nations including South Korea, Singapore, Thailand, and Vietnam also account for significant trade through these waters and it must also be kept in mind that each of these nations count China as their main trade partner.

China’s military build-up in the South China Sea isn’t just in reaction to America’s unwarranted and significant military presence in the region, thousands of kilometers from American shores, but also in reaction to the specific threat America’s military presence poses to maritime trade for China and the rest of Asia (who primarily trades with China).

The threat the US poses to Chinese maritime trade is not a figment of Beijing’s imagination but a threat articulated explicitly in US policy papers regarding potential war with China within a closing window of opportunity the US has to use its remaining advantage in military might to fight and win a conventional war with China and thus prevent it from surpassing the US economically, militarily, and diplomatically.

The 2016 RAND Corporation paper, “War with China,” specifically mentions deliberately transforming waters through which China’s trade flows into a war zone. The paper notes that amid a US-Chinese conflict:

…much of the Western Pacific, from the Yellow Sea to the South China Sea, could become hazardous for commercial sea and air transport. Sharply reduced trade, including energy supplies, could harm China’s economy disproportionately and badly.

The disruption of China’s economy, in fact, is seen as the only realistic way for the US to “win” in a conflict with China. The RAND Corporation paper would note:

The prospect of a military standoff means that war could eventually be decided by nonmilitary factors. These should favor the United States now and in the future. Although war would harm both economies, damage to China’s could be catastrophic and lasting: on the order of a 25–35 percent reduction in Chinese gross domestic product (GDP) in a yearlong war, compared with a reduction in US GDP on the order of 5–10 percent. Even a mild conflict, unless ended promptly, could weaken China’s economy. A long and severe war could ravage China’s economy, stall its hard-earned development, and cause widespread hardship and dislocation.

The paper also notes that the US need not even specifically blockade various straits Chinese shipping depends on. The paper points out:

This suggests very hazardous airspace and sea space, perhaps ranging from the Yellow Sea to the South China Sea. Assuming that non-Chinese commercial enterprises would rather lose revenue than ships or planes, the United States would not need to use force to stop trade to and from China. China would lose a substantial amount of trade that would be required to transit the war zone.

Since this paper was written in 2016, the US has incrementally implemented policies to prepare for the conflict described by the RAND Corporation.

By 2021, US State Department-funded media Radio Free Asia in an article titled, “US Indo-Pacific Command Proposes New Missile Capabilities to Deter China,” would note (emphasis added):

The assessment calls for “the fielding of an Integrated Joint Force with precision-strike networks” along the so-called first island chain — referring to missile strike capabilities — and integrated air missile defense in the second island chain, USNI News reported. The document also calls for “a distributed force posture that provides the ability to preserve stability, and if needed, dispense and sustain combat operations for extended periods.”

Extended military operations is precisely what the RAND Corporation called for in its 2016 paper. Additionally, the US has transformed its Marine Corps into a “ship-killing” force equipped to deny China naval access to various territories across the Indo-Pacific region including straits vital for trade.

Defense News in its 2020 article, “Here’s the US Marine Corps’ plan for sinking Chinese ships with drone missile launchers,” would report:

The US Marine Corps is getting into the ship-killing business, and a new project in development is aimed at making their dreams of harrying the People’s Liberation Army Navy a reality.

The article also cited Lieutenant General Eric Smith, chief of the US Marine Corps’ requirements and development, noting:

“They are mobile and small, they are not looking to grab a piece of ground and sit on it,” Smith said of his Marine units. “I’m not looking to block a strait permanently. I’m looking to maneuver. The German concept is ‘Schwerpunkt,’ which is applying the appropriate amount of pressure and force at the time and place of your choosing to get maximum effect.”

What the US has prepared to do across the Indo-Pacific is implement the RAND Corporation’s “War with China” policy recommendations, implementations aimed at crippling Chinese maritime shipping, strangle its economy, and eventually collapse its government. In other words, the US is creating in the Indo-Pacific region, an existential threat to China’s continued existence as a nation-state.

US Marines are also currently present on Taiwan, according to Voice of America – Taiwan being territory considered by Beijing to be part of China – a fact even the US itself recognizes through the “One China Policy.” Thus, the positioning of US missiles across the region, the navigating of US naval vessels near territory claimed by China, and the placing US military personnel on Taiwan, are all meant to incrementally encircle and encroach upon China – pushing ever closer to, or even crossing over red lines established by China in the interest of basic self-preservation.

Just as the US has done to Russia through Ukraine it is now doing to China through the South China Sea and Taiwan. When conflict eventually breaks out between China and either the US itself or one of its proxies in the region – most likely the administration of Taiwan – it will be a conflict provoked entirely by the United States on the other side of yet another ocean, yet again thousands of kilometers away from American shores, and again endangering the lives of hundreds of millions of people toward the preservation of American hegemony and at the expense of another region’s sovereignty and perhaps even self-preservation.

US Indo-Pacific commander Admiral John Aquilino left all of this very important context out of his observations that China is overseeing a major military build-up – ignoring entirely the major military threat the US has placed at China’s doorstep.

https://libya360.wordpress.com/2022/03/ ... -provoked/
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Re: China

Post by blindpig » Fri Mar 25, 2022 2:11 pm

China opposes sanctions for good reasons
By ZHANG YUNBI | China Daily | Updated: 2022-03-25 07:20

Editor's Note: China Daily presents a series of analyses to help readers around the world better understand the how and why behind China's views and decisions on the Ukraine situation. This is the first installment of the series.

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People seek shelter in a metro station in northern Kharkiv where they live to shelter from shelling in their neighbourhood as Russia's attack on Ukraine continues, Ukraine, March 24, 2022. REUTERS/Thomas Peter

Xi: Expanding penalties would put global economy, order, public well-being at risk

One month after the Ukraine crisis broke out, China and an increasing number of like-minded nations, particularly developing countries, have voiced objection to unilateral sanctions by United States-led Western countries.

The reasons are clear: Such sanctions will only make the crisis last even longer, break international rules and order, worsen people's livelihoods and aggravate the humanitarian tragedy, officials and analysts said.

One of the clear messages against these sanctions is from President Xi Jinping. He told US President Joe Biden on March 18 that sweeping and indiscriminate sanctions would only make the people suffer.

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The empty shelves are shown in this photo taken on March 23, 2022, at a supermarket in Cáceres, Spain. Grocery stores across several European countries are experiencing shortage of fuels and fresh products due to supply chain disruptions caused by US-led sanctions against Russia. [Photo/Xinhua]

If further escalated, the sanctions could trigger serious crises in global economy and trade, finance, energy, food, and industrial and supply chains, crippling the already languishing world economy and causing irrevocable losses, Xi said.

"China has all along opposed unilateral sanctions that have neither basis in international law nor mandate of the (United Nations) Security Council," and "imposing sanctions is like 'putting out fire with firewood' and will only make things worse", Vice-Foreign Minister Le Yucheng said at a forum on Saturday.

Zhu Jiejin, a professor of global governance studies at Fudan University's School of International Relations and Public Affairs, said, "The recently imposed sanctions are shaking the existing international financial order while dealing heavy blows to the already shaky recovery of the global economy amid the COVID-19 pandemic."

The decision to partly ban Russia from SWIFT, the global messaging system for financial transactions, is "actually turning globalization into a 'weapon' and dampening the world's faith in globalization's future", Zhu said.

"Also, maximizing sanctions to the extreme will only lead to more extreme consequences," he said.

A joint statement issued on Sunday by the foreign ministries of China and Algeria responded to the Ukraine crisis and said both countries oppose indiscriminate application of unilateral sanctions without the support of international law.

Both countries urged avoiding the sabotaging of international rules and harming the livelihoods of people of various countries.

None of the other BRICS members-Brazil, India, China and South Africa-has joined in the sanctions against fellow member Russia. G20 members such as Mexico also declined to do so.

Walter Russell Mead, a distinguished fellow at the US Hudson Institute think tank, said China's basic approach-not endorsing Moscow's moves and resisting Western efforts to punish Russia-"has garnered global support".

In an article published in The Wall Street Journal on Monday, Mead said, "The West has never been more closely aligned," and "It has also rarely been more alone".

The latest episode in the punitive pushes from the West is that the European Union is mulling its fifth package of sanctions against Russia.

The ongoing drive for more sanctions is unlikely to achieve what the Western countries want, but could possibly worsen global inflation, said Ding Yifan, a research fellow at the Development Research Center of the State Council's Institute of World Development.

The Ukraine crisis is developing in a way that goes beyond itself with spillovers affecting the whole world, and "the momentum of world economic recovery should not be disrupted", said Foreign Ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin on Monday.

Wang spoke of the widely shared view that when addressing regional and international hot-spot issues, war and sanctions are not the only options, and dialogue and negotiation are the fundamental way out. "The people should by no means be made to bear the brunt of geopolitical conflicts and major-country rivalry," he said.

"Unlike the sanctions leveled in recent years, this time more countries, international companies, civic groups and even international organizations joined the ranks of those imposing sanctions. By taking a side, they attempt to avoid also being sanctioned," said Li Wei, a professor at the School of International Studies of Renmin University of China.

While China is also falling prey to the sanctions on Russia in areas such as regular bilateral trade, Washington has threatened potential "consequences" over China's future role in the sanctions, experts noted.

When asked on Wednesday about China's role in sanctions against Russia, US National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan warned that the G7 sanctions enforcement initiative "will apply to every significant economy and the decisions that any of those economies take to try in an intentional and active way to undermine or weaken the sanctions".

Chinese Ambassador to the US Qin Gang said earlier this month that "threats against Chinese entities and businesses, as uttered by some US officials, are unacceptable".

"Neither war nor sanctions can deliver peace. Wielding the baton of sanctions at Chinese companies while seeking China's support and cooperation simply won't work," Qin wrote in a signed opinion piece in The Washington Post on March 15.

Wang Peng, a research fellow at Huazhong University of Science and Technology's Institute of State Governance, said, "The US prefers abusing sanctioning when dealing with other countries, but China will not buy it."

Washington has not generally loosened restrictions it has placed on China since 2018, and its policy of containing China has seen no major changes except going deeper into topics such as Asia-Pacific security and the Taiwan question, Wang noted.

"It won't be a problem if Washington would sit at the table with China to discuss a topic based on mutual respect and an equal footing. And China will not be intimidated by any threats or menaces that expose the US' hypocrisy and lack of confidence," Wang said.

Over the past few years, China has also been a major victim of Washington's unilateral sanctions, and Chinese enterprises, particularly in the high-tech industry, have suffered major losses.

"The facts show that imposing such sanctions will do harm to both sides, and the US has not obtained any major benefit from them," said Tao Wenzhao, a researcher at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences' Institute of American Studies.

http://global.chinadaily.com.cn/a/20220 ... 5327b.html
"There is great chaos under heaven; the situation is excellent."

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Re: China

Post by blindpig » Sat Mar 26, 2022 1:21 pm

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Covid-19: Why can’t we learn from China instead of lecturing it?
In this timely article, which we reproduce from CGTN, Keith Lamb asks why the major capitalist countries refuse to learn from China’s tackling of Covid-19, “when China’s methods have proven to be among the most successful”. The answers, Lamb observes, highlight “precisely why capitalists should not be given the key to the state apparatus”.
Why are we unable to grasp even the basic lessons from recent history? Overall, looking at COVID-19 responses, China’s methods have proven to be among the most successful. When COVID-19 broke out, swift lockdowns saved millions of lives; grassroots resident groups instantly manned checkpoints in and out of large residential areas, checking temperatures, and apps tracking COVID-19 swiftly followed.

Residents were not cowered into their homes and it wasn’t the humanitarian “hell-scape” made out in the Western press. Even before official restrictions came into place, residents voluntarily isolated en masse. I can say this with confidence because I was in China, not just in one province but three.

When it comes to COVID-19 deaths per million, China’s loss is three, compared to the U.S. at 2,989 and the UK at 2,393. Thus, when it comes to protecting life, the words “horror” hardly applies to China yet, not learning from even recent history, as China now battles new outbreaks of COVID-19, using its “dynamic zero-COVID-19” strategy, this is precisely the sort of language the Western corporate press is using. Even in more measured reporting where language describing China’s strategy as “brutal” and “extreme” is not being used, China’s COVID-19 strategy is predicted to bring economic woes.

What on Earth is going on? Where does the moral authority judging China’s response as “brutal” come from when the death rate for the most “developed” state is nearly 1,000 times greater than China? Then, considering China’s economy continues to make good progress, why predict that China’s previous successful measures to contain COVID-19, which are now implemented again but in a more dynamic manner, will somehow lead to China falling flat?

As a previous share-holder of a small business in Xiamen in Fujian Province, from my personal experience, it is true that when COVID-19 first hit, many businesses came to a halt. However, as China’s efforts proved successful, businesses also bounced back quickly.

No doubt had one simply just put the decision with business owners regarding China’s COVID-19 strategy they, putting profits above the whole of society, might well have opted for similar strategies to the U.S. and the UK who are opting now to “live with COVID-19.”

This point highlights precisely why capitalists should not be given the keys to the state apparatus. Not only are they unable to consider the long-term interests of society in general, where profits override deaths, they are also unable to plan for their long-term future too and end up cannibalizing the host. For example, China bounced back quicker because its long-term measures worked. Thus, the market was revived and capital thrived too, relative to its Western counterparts.

In addition, had China just “lived with COVID-19” and had a similar death rate to the U.S. then up to three million of its citizens would have perished. This would have led to a catastrophe in China; supply lines would have been devastated, and the global market, including Western markets, would have been in a sorry state.

Coming back to the question of this article: Why can’t we learn from China instead of lecturing it? If “we” refers to the general Western populace, then the simple answer is we are highly propagandized by the corporate press who peddle nonsense about China’s “horror quarantine camps.” As such, “we” the people are generally unaware that China has anything to teach “us” about COVID-19 strategies, even when the facts, such as the death rate, are manifestly obvious.

Consequently, those more enlightened need to stop banging their heads pondering why obvious facts aren’t getting through, and start recognizing it for what it is – naked propagandized lies being dressed up as news. Large conglomerates own the Western press; it is not a free media but one monopolized by the oligarchical class. As such, it is their “right,” the short-term interests of monopoly capital over the long-term health interests of society and even the long-term interests of a competitive functioning market that is put forth as “objective” news. It is through this media, as well as the funding of political parties and their close relations with politicians, that they wield control over society.

With this in mind, the corporate press criticism of China has a dual function. Firstly, it disguises their own “failures” when dealing with COVID-19 and it discourages Westerners from seeing anything positive in an alternative system. Of course, considering the ideology of capitalism is that humans are subordinated to capital, whether they consider a high death rate a failure or a successful Darwinian cleansing of those unable to add value to capital is debatable.

Secondly, looking at China’s successful response and its flourishing economy, vis-a-vis Western ones, perhaps the corporate press hope to persuade China to follow a similar “live with COVID-19” strategy, to level out the playing field.

I don’t think China will take the bait. China has proven more than capable of steering its economy through COVID-19 while adjusting its strategy to its needs. It has proven that the economy and the long-term outlook of capital can flourish if they remain subservient to a healthy society.

https://socialistchina.org/2022/03/25/c ... turing-it/

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Brazil’s ex-president Dilma Rousseff: US-China conflict is neoliberalism vs socialism
We’re pleased to republish this very useful article by Ben Norton in Multipolarista, introducing and summarizing Dilma Rousseff’s keynote speech at our recent webinar, 21st Century Socialism: China and Latin America on the Frontline (at which Ben also spoke).
Brazil’s former president Dilma Rousseff has condemned US meddling and “hybrid war” in Latin America, while simultaneously praising China for creating a new model of economic development that challenges US-led neoliberal capitalism and the “Washington Consensus” imposed on the world.

“We want, basically, to be able to break with the Monroe Doctrine,” Rousseff said, referring to the nearly 200-year-old colonial doctrine in which the US government claims Latin America as its geopolitical “backyard.”

“We want Latin America to be for the Latin Americans, and not as the US wants it, in the Monroe Doctrine, which means Latin America for the North Americans, precisely the opposite,” the former Brazilian head of state added.

“The so-called hybrid war unleashed by the US through second-generation coups, lawfare processes, and sanctions against Cuba and Venezuela led to a great setback, returning to the continent the inequality, misery, and hunger that had been overcome, or that it was about to get over,” she lamented.

A leader of the left-wing Workers’ Party, Rousseff served as president of Brazil from 2011 until August 2016, when she was overthrown in a soft coup backed by the US government and her country’s powerful right-wing corporate oligarchy.

Rousseff spoke about the increasing conflict between the United States and China not as a mere interstate dispute, but rather the result of “a rivalry of two systems”: US-led neoliberal capitalism versus socialism with Chinese characteristics.

“The so-called Washington Consensus, a concept adopted by conservative Latin American governments, imposed the deregulation of the economy, the drastic reduction of the role of the state, and the abandonment of social and development policies,” she said.

These neoliberal capitalists “condemned Latin America to be the most unequal continent in the world, with reduced economic growth, concentration of wealth and income, and specialization in the production of raw materials,” Rousseff commented.

The former Brazilian president praised China for creating a “new development paradigm” based on “shared development” and “common prosperity.”

China and Russia are also leading the development of a “new geopolitical pole,” she said, and this offers opportunities for Latin America to be more independent.

Rousseff made these comments in a panel event on March 19, a virtual conference titled “21st Century Socialism: China and Latin America on the Frontline,” organized by the group Friends of Socialist China.

Multipolarista also obtained a copy of Rousseff’s Portuguese-language prepared speech, and has translated her key points into English below.



Dilma Rousseff: Latin America needs independence

“Brazil always had a position of absolute independence with regard to international relations, with all countries in the world,” Dilma Rousseff emphasized at the beginning of her talk.

“Latin America wants to have an autonomous and independent position,” she said. “It is not possible to continue reproducing the inferiority complex of the conservative elites and oligarchies that have done nothing but submit to the United States in a shameful way.”

Rousseff argued that China has played an important role in balancing Latin America’s political and economic relationships, so the region is not so dominated by Washington. In this sense, Beijing has helped the region maintain independence and strategic autonomy.

China is Brazil’s largest trade partner, and the largest trade partner for many other countries in the region, she noted.

“Latin America’s position is not with the United States,” she stressed. “Latin America’s position affirms sovereignty, our position is independence, at the side of China. And this independence is not just for individual countries; it’s for the region.”

Rousseff emphasized the importance of institutions like the BRICS, the framework integrating Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa.

The BRICS “sought to reduce this unfair asymmetry” represented by institutions like the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and World Bank, which are dominated by the United States and Global North countries, she noted.

“Compared to the US, China has more respect for the role played by international organizations,” Rousseff added. Beijing defends multilateralism while Washington has attacked the United Nations and withdrew unilaterally from the Paris Agreement, she recalled.

Unlike the United States, Rousseff argued, China has been a more equitable partner. And leaders in the Global South are increasingly looking to Beijing for lessons on how to develop their own countries.

US elites seek to ‘contain’ China and its model of ‘extraordinary development’
Dilma Rousseff applauded China for its “extraordinary development,” and for lifting more than 800 million people out of absolute poverty.

She noted how China was an exemplary model for managing the Covid-19 pandemic, juxtaposing it against the public health disaster in the United States, where nearly 1 million people have died.

China’s success in the pandemic, and its leading role in sending vaccines and protective equipment around the world, reflects its relative rise, whereas Washington’s failure shows its comparative decline, Rousseff argued.

The former Brazilian president traced the beginning of Washington’s new cold war on Beijing back to the 2008 financial crisis. While the West was suffering, the crash did not significantly affect China, Rousseff noted. This led US elites to decide that China had to be contained; its economy had to stop growing so rapidly.

The Barack Obama administration’s attempt to create a Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) was aimed at economically isolating China, she stated.

Rousseff called this part of a larger US “containment policy,” and argued it is “extremely flawed and harmful to everyone.”

US policy toward China subsequently “became very aggressive” under Donald Trump, and while the Joe Biden administration has tried to portray itself as more “diplomatic,” she noted, Washington has still pushed a needlessly hard line against China.

US-China conflict is between two distinct economic systems: neoliberalism vs. socialism
Speaking of the US “prejudice” toward China, Dilma Rousseff noted that Western politicians have espoused chauvinistic views that China, or any other nation, could not develop without adopting their own model based on the free market and liberal democracy.

Although she refrained from referring to the conflict as a new cold war, the former Brazilian leader stipulated that the crisis in US-China relations is a result of their two contrasting economic systems.

“China has become a kind of factory for the world, while the US has de-industrialized, losing economic muscle and transforming itself into a kingdom of finance, with a fantastic concentration of income and wealth.”

Neoliberalism is specifically what “laid the foundations for the decline of the US,” Rousseff said.

There are three serious problems caused by neoliberalism, she argued: “the financialization of the economy, the increase in income and wealth inequality, and the erosion of democracy.” And these ills “are prevalent in all capitalist countries.”

“The biggest problem with this system is the widening gap between rich and poor,” Rousseff cautioned. She cited Nobel Prize-winning economist Joseph Stiglitz, who “admitted that 40 years of neoliberal practices have severely weakened the role of the state and public health policies, rendering the West helpless in the face of the pandemic.”

“China is accelerating its policy toward a society where equity prevails,” she said, “while in capitalist countries, including the US, per capita income has concentrated and jobs have stagnated or shrunk. Social wealth is rapidly concentrated and the richest 1% is getting even richer.”

“The financialization of the economy as a result of neoliberalism is the culprit that kills the dynamism of the capitalist system itself. Credit and finance gradually become obstacles rather than driving forces of production.”

“The pursuit of limited government, uncontrolled labor market liberalization and the pursuit of profits lead to a rapid accumulation of financial wealth for those at the top of the social pyramid and de-industrializes the economy.”

Rousseff contrasted these systemic problems of neoliberal capitalism with the alternative proposed by Beijing.

“China’s strength lies in its pursuit of the path of socialism with Chinese characteristics,” she argued. “This path follows the law of the market, but attaches strategic importance to the role of the state.”

“The market mechanism and macro-regulation complement each other in China. Open to domestic and foreign private investment, it has increasingly controlled the distortions of oligopoly and speculation.”

Chinese “regulation of economic activity acts to preserve competition and avoid financial bubbles and market distortions,” while the state ensures stability with “tighter control over real estate and tutorial services.”

Rousseff praised China for creating a “new development paradigm” based on “shared development,” and commended Beijing for its idea of common prosperity.

Neoliberalism undermined US education and technology
The United States has historically had excellent systems of education, science, and technological development, but this intellectual infrastructure has been in decline since the emergence of neoliberalism in the 1980s, and is at threat because the ultra-capitalist model has led to a massive disinvestment, Dilma Rousseff argued.

On the other hand, China has become the world’s new leader in science and technology, thanks to its heavy public investment and state leadership, she said.

China’s progress led Washington to launch a “technological lockdown” on Beijing, she noted, pointing to the ongoing “chip war” over control of semiconductors.

The world knows that the Chinese company Huawei has the best 5G technology, and it is also cheaper than its US competitors, Rousseff stated. But “the US tries to prevent other countries from using Chinese 5G technology, even if they don’t have alternatives of their own to offer.”

Meanwhile, neoliberalism has led to technological stagnation, the former Brazilian leader stated, because “companies only want and can only make money quickly, bringing limits to R&D activities.”

Dilma Rousseff condemns US sanctions and ‘dollar hegemony’
China’s historic development, economic growth, and scientific and technological advancement have created opportunities to challenge “US dollar hegemony,” Dilma Rousseff argued.

“In the financial sector, US dollar hegemony faces new challenges. As a global currency, the US dollar holds an irreplaceable position in international trade and payments. This has made the dollar a weapon of retaliation and a tool of extortion against other countries.”

“Here in Latin America, we have two terrible examples: 60 years of blockade against Cuba, and now more recently the blockade on Venezuela, at a time of pandemic.”

“The US government has been imposing far-reaching sanctions on foreign banks and companies that do business against the US’s wishes with countries like Iran, Venezuela, Cuba and now Russia. They use their national jurisdiction as an international weapon. Given this, it is unlikely that the dollar will remain irreplaceable forever.”

Dollar hegemony is also based on the SWIFT inter-bank messaging system, Rousseff said, which Washington has turned into a financial weapon.

China began testing its own alternative to SWIFT as far back as 2015, she noted, and it is still being developed, but this process has been accelerated by the war in Ukraine.

The People’s Bank of China has been testing digital currencies, including its own sovereign digital renminbi, Rousseff added.

She criticized the US strategy of “decoupling” from China, calling it “absurd,” because Beijing is thoroughly integrated into the world economy, in complex webs that involve many nations.

“In 2019, around 100 countries around the world traded and invested more with China than the US, and that number is still growing,” Rousseff said.

China signed the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) in 2020, she noted. This free trade agreement in the Asia-Pacific region involves nearly one-third of the global population and 30% of the global economy, making it larger than the European Union.

A ‘new geopolitical pole’ is being created, led by China and Russia
The global political and economic system is in a process of fundamental change, Dilma Rousseff said. And “there is no more significant geopolitical consequence today than the growing strategic partnership between China and Russia.”

“Ironically, it is precisely the maximum US pressure on Russia and the containment of China that played a key role in bringing the two countries closer together,” she added.

“The economic sanctions stemming from Russia’s annexation of Crimea and now the war in Ukraine are strengthening a new geopolitical pole, and accelerating changes that would only come slowly.”

In regard to the war in Ukraine, Rousseff complimented China for maintaining a neutral policy. The former Brazilian president called for peace while emphasizing how NATO helped to create the conflict in the first place.

She emphasized that Latin America must unite and maintain an independent foreign policy, while seeking opportunities with this new geopolitical pole.

Latin America needs to adapt to the changing economic order, she argued, to reduce its dependency on export of commodities, and “seek re-industrialization with new characteristics,” to partake in the new “technological revolution.”

“Whoever remains as a mere importer of this technology,” she said, “will remain on the periphery, submitted and subordinated to foreign interests and policies.”

“The transformation of the productive model is the main challenge for Latin Americans, to recover a path that allows them to achieve considerable economic growth with social justice.”

“Producing and exporting mineral or agricultural commodities alone does not support equitable growth. Another model is needed for our region to reach high levels of industrialization and have a great capacity to add value to production based on the quality of education and work and scientific-technological innovation with the generation of better jobs.”

Regional integration is a key part of this process, Rousseff stressed.

“A true integration of Latin America is essential,” she said, noting the region has nearly 1 billion people, with “fantastic natural resources,” including oil, minerals, agricultural products, and water reserves.

“The creation of UNASUR and CELAC was the political-institutional framework needed to ensure our autonomy and independence and enable an integration that would not only be commercial, but also productive, industrial, and educational, in order to reduce asymmetries and inequalities between countries and regions.”

Progressive governments in Latin America need to increase the “presence of the state in the economy, the defense of the sovereignty of nations and democracy, and an open geopolitical relationship,” she added.

China’s economic partnership and its Belt and Road Initiative offer many possibilities for the region, presenting an opportunity to be more independent, Rousseff argued.

What “is wanted is Latin America for Latin Americans,” she said, “to be able to break with the Monroe Doctrine.”

https://socialistchina.org/2022/03/24/b ... socialism/
"There is great chaos under heaven; the situation is excellent."

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