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Thread: Eurasia Topics

  1. #676
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    Good move.

    OhOh/Klondyke response:

    ColonialisticMonopolkapitaliticpigdogs abandon citizens of Hong Kong

    Attachment of seven Welsh people queuing up for a lottery ticket, depicting the plight of Europeans waiting in line for bread

  2. #677
    Thailand Expat harrybarracuda's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by panama hat View Post
    Good move.

    OhOh/Klondyke response:

    ColonialisticMonopolkapitaliticpigdogs abandon citizens of Hong Kong

    Attachment of seven Welsh people queuing up for a lottery ticket, depicting the plight of Europeans waiting in line for bread
    Nah they will question the veracity of the video while clinging to the belief that the shit they post from their nonsensical whackjob websites has some kind of credibility.


  3. #678
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    ^ That too . . . my example takes too much effort . . . but the highlights in yellow are nice

  4. #679
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    Quote Originally Posted by panama hat View Post
    the highlights in yellow are nice
    Which yesllow highlights are you referring to?

    Quote Originally Posted by harrybarracuda View Post
    the veracity of the video
    Where and when was the video shot?

    Video time and accusations/proof are sufficient.

  5. #680
    Thailand Expat harrybarracuda's Avatar
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    And the winner of today's "Spot the snivelling chinky grovelling" competition is:

    EVERYONE!

    Congratulations everyone!


  6. #681
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    No proof then.

    Along with insults.

  7. #682
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    Quote Originally Posted by OhOh View Post
    No proof then.

  8. #683
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  9. #684
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    Nixon's China policy 'mischaracterized'

    "Almost 50 years ago, the world welcomed the end of estrangement between China and the United States when US president Richard Nixon made his historic China visit in 1972. That visit eventually resulted in the establishment of diplomatic relations between the two countries in 1979, and more than 40 years of engagement in many fields.
    But on July 23, in a speech delivered at the Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum in Yorba Linda, California, US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo appeared to pronounce the engagement policy initiated by Nixon a dismal failure.
    "The kind of engagement we have been pursuing has not brought the kind of change inside of China that President Nixon had hoped to induce," Pompeo told his audience.

    The speech also came amid escalating diplomatic tensions between the two nations as the administration of US President Donald Trump ordered the closure of the Chinese consulate in Houston. China retaliated by shutting down the US consulate in Chengdu, Sichuan province.
    Now a central figure from Nixon's historic China trip in 1972 says he wants to get the facts straight, dismissing the speech as not one on foreign policy but rather part of the election rhetoric of domestic politics in the US.
    " (Pompeo) mischaracterized what Nixon had said in 1967," said veteran US diplomat Charles Freeman Jr, who was the main interpreter for Nixon during his 1972 China visit and has since been devoted to US-China relations.

    In an article published by Foreign Affairs in 1967, Nixon declared: "We simply cannot afford to leave China forever outside the family of nations. … The world cannot be safe until China changes. Thus, our aim should be to induce change."
    "What he meant by that, very clearly, was the international posture by China. The world had to change to react to Soviet aggression and threats against China and against the world," Freeman told China Daily in an exclusive interview via video link on Friday.
    " (Nixon) did not mean that China had to change internally, which Mr. Pompeo is now demanding. He (Pompeo) is in fact calling for regime change in China, which is something very close to a declaration of war," Freeman warned.

    In his speech, Pompeo continued to attempt to differentiate the Communist Party of China from the Chinese people, calling on the people to alter the Party's direction.
    "It totally misunderstands the relationship between the Party and the public, or the public and the Party, which is not one of antagonism," Freeman said.
    "For the most part, Chinese seem to be reasonably content to let the Party run things. Of course, there are people who are not content. Every society has that phenomenon. But to try to aggravate, it's exactly the same as interfering in the democratic elections in the US would be," he said.

    Freeman addressed some of the misperceptions about China in the current political environment.
    "People say our purpose was to democratize China, but that was never the purpose," Freeman said.
    "They said engagement failed, but they do not understand the US and China's cooperation in the Cold War helped to bring the Cold War to an end. They said we helped our great enemy China to develop. But they do not understand we benefit greatly in many ways from China's development," Freeman added.

    Freeman said he worries deeply about the hostility toward China in the US administration.
    "China is being used as the whole-purpose scapegoat. What is different this time is that the China hawks in the administration have managed to run this campaign with propaganda (and) demonize China across the whole country," he said, adding that picking a fight with China will lead to both sides losing.

    "This is not a replication of the Cold War. It's something much more dangerous, and the outcome is much less certain. Much of what we are doing, which we think favors us, is actually going to work to the advantage of China. I don't believe this is a zero-sum game," he said.

    Freeman said the US should address its own domestic problems and work on economic competitiveness rather than try to hold China down or push it back, which he called a "very stupid and counterproductive idea".

    He views the closure of the Chinese consulate in Houston last Friday as "very unwelcome to people in Texas who have become accustomed to the consulate, valued its presence, and I think could be very sorry to see it go".

    He also said that he found the Chinese response hopeful.

    "China has not given in to public rage, it has kept a cool head," Freeman said. "It has chosen to do something that can be reversed.… So this tells me that China still hopes to revive the relationship if there's an opportunity to do so,… but it would be difficult given all the damage that has been done," said Freeman."

    Nixon's China policy 'mischaracterized' - World - Chinadaily.com.cn
    A tray full of GOLD is not worth a moment in time.

  10. #685
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    It appears the Iranians are now deploying missiles on their "Sandworms'.

    Eurasia Topics-sw-jpg


    Iran Test-Fires ‘Buried’ Ballistic Missiles in War Games


    "During its massive war drills in the south, Iran has test fired what it calls a “buried” ballistic missile.
    The Iranian military has been engaged for several days in military drills that combined the regular armed forces with the elite Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), and its air and naval forces as it practices fending off a massive naval assault by the United States.
    The final act was dubbed “Payambar-e Azam 14” (Great Prophet 14), and several ballistic missiles were fired from underground from somewhere in the desert in interior Hormozgan Province. Video footage of the drills emerged on social media on Wednesday."

    Video: Iran Test-Fires ‘Buried’ Ballistic Missiles in War Games - Sputnik International




  11. #686
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    They need to be careful or they might shoot down another airliner.

    WARSAW (Reuters) - An Iranian delegation will visit Ukraine on Wednesday and Thursday to discuss compensation for a Ukrainian jet shot down by Iran on Jan. 8, the Ukrainian foreign minister said on Monday.

    Iranian forces say they downed the Ukraine International Airlines Boeing 737 jet on Jan. 8 after mistaking it for a missile amid heightened tensions with the United States. All 176 people on board - including 57 Canadians - were killed.

    “Given the circumstance of what happened, there are all reasons to ask from Iran to pay the highest price for what it did,” Dmytro Kuleba, speaking in English, told a news conference during a visit to the Polish capital Warsaw.

    Kuleba said Ukraine would represent all countries and groups affected during the talks.

    “I cannot disclose final numbers of the compensation ... numbers will be the result of the consultations,” he said.

    The aircraft was shot down hours after Iran fired missiles at Iraqi air bases housing U.S. forces in retaliation for the U.S. drone killing of a senior Iranian commander.


    The data extraction from the recovered black boxes is being carried out with an Iranian investigator and observed by Canadian, U.S., Swedish and British experts and representatives from UIA, Boeing and engine maker Safran.
    Ukrainian FM says Iranians to discuss crash compensation in Ukraine - Reuters

  12. #687
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    Australia ‘decouples’ from US China policy

    July 29, 2020 by M. K. BHADRAKUMAR

    "The Asian chancelleries have a great deal to mull over after the extraordinary joint press conference by the US and Australia following the AUSMIN meeting of their foreign and defence ministers in Washington, DC, on July 28. It is improbable that the Ministry of External Affairs in South Block missed out on the event.

    How can a joint press conference become ‘extraordinary’? Simply put, when its timing and contents are conjoined at the hips, making them inseparable and, most importantly, when it brings out geopolitical fault lines for the benefit of the discerning eye and leads to reflection over the realms of possibility that one hadn’t suspected.

    And in this case, it also happens that the joint press conference involved two countries that they themselves and the world at large tend to describe as an “Unbreakable Alliance.” The US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo pointedly recalled the uniqueness of the situation by singling out that “not many” of his counterparts would subject themselves to a 14-day quarantine when they get back home on account of a travel to the US where a pandemic is raging, simply for having an “important conversation.”

    The setting for the AUSMIN meeting was prepared by Pompeo personally with his much-touted alliance-of-democracies speech at the Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum in California on July 23. The content of that speech was highlighted in its Churchillian title, Communist China and the Free World’s Future.
    Without doubt, Pompeo meant it as his “Iron Curtain Speech” which would survive the Trump presidency. Most certainly, the former Kansas senator intends to hark back to it if the flame of burning desire in his heart to become the 50th president of the United States of America doesn’t get extinguished by the cold wind of the realities of American politics by the time the 2024 election approaches.
    Evidently, Pompeo saw himself as a man of history uniting the world community against China. He exhorted:

    “If we bend the knee now, our children’s children may be at the mercy of the Chinese Communist Party, whose actions are the primary challenge today in the free world. General Secretary Xi is not destined to tyrannise inside and outside of China forever, unless we allow it. Now, this isn’t about containment. Don’t buy that. It’s about a complex new challenge that we’ve never faced before. The USSR was closed off from the free world. Communist China is already within our borders.”

    However, the world at large would know Pompeo is no Churchill. His California speech has already generated much embarrassment within America — including among Nixon’s admirers — and quite visibly so among the US’ close allies, including, as it appears, Australia.
    Thus, in the presence of Pompeo, Australian FM Marise Payne chose to set the record straight. From all appearance, it was a premeditated move on her part, as Payne was reading out a written statement. When asked about Pompeo’s Iron Curtain speech at California, Payne responded:

    “Secretary’s speeches [on China] are his own; Australia’s positions are our own. And we operate, as you would expect, on the basis of our shared values, actually, which are reflected in both the approach of the United States and the approach of Australia.


    “But most importantly from our perspective, we make our own decisions, our own judgments in the Australian national interest and about upholding our security, our prosperity, and our values.


    “So we deal with China in the same way. We have a strong economic engagement, other engagement, and it works in the interests of both countries.


    “That said, of course, we don’t agree on everything. We are very different countries. We are very different systems, and it’s the points on which we disagree that we should be able to articulate in a mature and sensible way and advance, as I said, our interests and our values.

    “As my prime minister put it recently, the relationship that we have with China is important, and we have no intention of injuring it, but nor do we intend to do things that are contrary to our interests, and that is the premise from which we begin.”

    This bordered on public admonition at the level of a seasoned politician and diplomat but it was timely and even overdue. In his Iron Speech Pompeo needlessly pushed the envelope and refused to pay heed to the gently warning from the US’ closest ally, the United Kingdom, just 3 days earlier that as America’s top diplomat he is perilously close to making the Trump administration’s foreign policy look surreal by caricaturing the planet as a flat place like the Kansas prairies.

    In a statement at the House of Commons on July 20, this was how Foreign Secretary Dominic Rabb framed the UK’s outlook on the relations with China as such, even as his government crosses swords with Beijing’s approach to the situation in Hong Kong, which of course used to be a British colony:


    “Thank you Mr Speaker. With your permission, Mr Speaker, I would like to make a statement updating the House on the latest developments with respect to China and in particular Hong Kong.


    “As I told the House on the 1st of July, the UK wants a positive relationship with China. China has undergone an extraordinary transformation in recent decades. Grounded in one of the world’s ancient cultures, not only is China the world’s second largest economy, it has a huge base in tech and science.

    “The UK government recognises China’s remarkable success in raising millions of its own people out of poverty. China is also the world’s biggest investor in renewable technology, so it will be an essential global partner when it comes to tackling global climate change, and the Chinese people travel, study and work all over the world, making an extraordinary contribution.

    “So, Mr Speaker, let me be really clear about this. We want to work with China. There is enormous scope for positive, constructive, engagement. There are wide-ranging opportunities, from increasing trade, to cooperation in tackling climate change as I’ve said, in particular with a view to the COP 26 summit next year which the UK will of course be hosting.”


    Pompeo’s legacy on the diplomatic stage as the Trump administration’s foreign policies enter the lame duck period is dismal as it is. Indeed, the Trump presidency has cut the US adrift as a long ranger in the wilderness with whom friends and partners are increasingly chary of associating.

    True, the international community has disagreements with some of Beijing’s domestic and foreign policies. But here too, it is a mixed picture. For, no one in his senses would say China is undermining the world order. On the contrary, it fault lies in being a stakeholder who did phenomenally well to optimally perform. Traders are status quoists, and a great trading nation such as China cannot be otherwise.

    What China has achieved under the leadership of the Communist Party has no parallels in human history — lifting hundreds of millions of people above poverty level in a timeline of a couple of decades. As of 2018, the number of people living below China’s national poverty line of 2,300 yuan per year (in 2010 constant prices) was 16.6 million in a population exceeding 1400000 million, which translates to 1.7% of the population — which also the CCP is pledged to totally eradicate by 2020.

    What is the corresponding picture in the US? Millions of people are moving in the opposite direction, turning to food banks, turning up for work due to a lack of sick pay and dying because of health inequalities. Joseph Stiglitz said recently with despair, “It is like a third world country.” He estimated that 14% of the American population is dependent on food stamps and the country is on course for a second Great Depression. Yet, Stiglitz added, “If we (US) had the right policy structure in place we could avoid it easily.” What is this “free-world” business Pompeo is talking about?

    In the entire press conference in Washington yesterday, Australian FM Payne did not once mention the “Wuhan virus” or the Chinese Communist Party, leave lone call “General Secretary Xi” by name. (Nor did Australian defence minister Linda Reynolds who spoke after Payne.)

    Now, Australia’s differences with China are galore and need no iteration. But it has gingerly retraced its steps from the initial abrasive posturing by PM Scott Morrison, a great friend of President Trump, when he took centre stage over the “Wuhan virus.”

    A combination of circumstances is at work today, thanks to the belated realisation in Canberra that Morrison stepped out of line to please his friend, whereas, Australia which owes its prosperity significantly to China should not bind the hand that feeds it; Australia’s loss by annoying China will be other countries’ gain and never China’s net loss; the US global leadership no longer appeals to the world community, including America’s traditional allies.

    Australia cannot be unaware that Pompeo’s tirade against the CCP or “General Secretary Xi” may not even be representing Trump’s thinking — and, more importantly, its shelf life is even less if there is going to be a transfer of power in the White House on coming January 21. Payne carefully measured the quintessence of the US-Australia partnership:

    “Australia and the United States’ strong and enduring relationship is built on our shared values. It’s built on our resolute belief in the rule of law, a respect for human rights, our promotion of gender equality, our protection of freedoms of religion and belief. It’s built on the fact that we are both strong, liberal democracies that cherish freedom of expression and diversity of opinion. And it’s built on our confidence in making decisions in our interests.”

    From the above, conceivably, Australia would have far more in common with a Joe Biden administration than with Trump. Payne’s statement was almost entirely devoted to the Covid-19 pandemic in the Asia-Pacific, which she called a “crisis” in terms of its health, economic and security challenges. Payne reminded the Trump administration, “The role of multilateral institutions is more important now than ever in supporting our values and our strategic objectives as the world responds to the health and economic challenges of COVID-19.”

    The highlight of the press conference came toward the end when an Australian correspondent, Amelia Adams with Nine Network went on to ask:

    “Secretary Pompeo, if I could start with you, there’s a lot of concern in Australia about the growing rift between your administration and China. As you know, Australia is very dependent on China. Should Australians be concerned about the long-term consequences of the breakdown in relations between your two countries for our regional security? And perhaps, Minister Payne, if you could talk to the same question after the Secretary.”


    The plucky journalist put the bombastic US state secretary in a tight corner. He waffled. Nonetheless, Payne didn’t let the opportunity pass.

    She responded in Pompeo’s hearing:


    “Amelia, I think in part I answered the question in response to the question from our first representative this afternoon, but from Australia’s perspective, let me reiterate that we make our own decisions. We do that based on our values — many of which are shared values, overwhelmingly — but most importantly, in Australia’s national interest. We do often hold common positions with the United States because we do share so many of those fundamental values, and we both want the same kind of region: We want it to be secure, we want it to be stable, we want it to be free, we want it to be prosperous.”


    Payne went on to describe the AUSMIN platform as about “the alignment of the broad perspectives of Australia and the United States on global and regional issues,” which of course “includes our discussions in relation to China. It includes our discussions in relation to COVID-19 response and recovery.”

    Having said that, Payne repeated, “We have, I think, a demonstrable track record of making decisions based on our own interests… We don’t agree on everything, though, and that’s part of a respectful relationship.”

    Why did the two brave Australian stateswomen decide to circumnavigate the world and journey to the US where deaths from Covid-19 rose for a third week in a row to more than 6,300 people in the seven days ended July 26, and the virus even entered the White House to infect Trump’s National Security Advisor — and, when even Payne and Reynold’s male counterparts don’t dare to travel to Washington, DC?


    Couldn’t the AUSMIN meeting have been deferred? The answer is simple: Canberra wanted to convey to the world community that Australian policies should not be confused with Pompeo’s evangelical mission.


    Australia is watching in disbelief that despite the discord over Hong Kong, Britain still welcomes Chinese students to go its universities for higher studies, and that Britain’s stance on 5G remains highly ambivalent still, and the US’ European allies are manifestly marking distance from Washington.

    Above all, Canberra wants Beijing to sense that it intends to pursue a China policy that is far from an American clone, and that it is interested in chartering an independent trajectory toward crafting a mutually beneficial relationship despite all differences."

    https://indianpunchline.com/australi...-china-policy/
    Last edited by OhOh; 31-07-2020 at 02:21 PM.

  13. #688
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    That's a whole lot of waffle to point out that a number of countries can see the thieving chinkies for what they are.

  14. #689
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    So what are they ?

    Apart from Miners of the ocean's rapidly-diminishing marine life, polluters of their own farmland with industrial outpour and pesticides, one of the major amphetmanine producers and exporters / smugglers in the world, and screwers-up of entire ethnic groups (Tibetan, Uighur) and their entire countries / environments, belligerent creators of mid-ocean islands and so on....

  15. #690
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    Quote Originally Posted by Latindancer View Post
    So what are they ?
    Scum?

  16. #691
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    Quote Originally Posted by Latindancer View Post
    So what are they ?

    Apart from Miners of the ocean's rapidly-diminishing marine life, polluters of their own farmland with industrial outpour and pesticides, one of the major amphetmanine producers and exporters / smugglers in the world, and screwers-up of entire ethnic groups (Tibetan, Uighur) and their entire countries / environments, belligerent creators of mid-ocean islands and so on....
    You forget they are polluting loads of other countries with their "Belt and Owed" criminal exploitation.

  17. #692
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    China’s Silk Road of Health appears in South Asia


    Posted on July 28, 2020 by M. K. BHADRAKUMAR

    "A virtual meeting of the foreign ministers of China, Afghanistan, Pakistan and Nepal on July 27 becomes the third vector of Beijing’s ‘Silk Road of Health’ diplomacy in Asia.

    A Xinhua report on the event said China proposed that the four countries should “consolidate consensus of solidarity against COVID-19, carry out joint cooperation mechanism on COVID-19 response in the region, enhance cooperation in the fight against the pandemic and in vaccine, and accelerate economic recovery and development after the pandemic.”


    The foreign ministers of Pakistan, Afghanistan and Nepal conveyed their willingness “to deepen cooperation with China to fight COVID-19, ensure the flow of trade and transport corridors, facilitate people-to-people and trade connection, build a “silk road of health” and community of a shared future for humanity.”


    The Silk Road of Health was first publicly mentioned by Chinese President Xi Jinping during a 2016 speech in Uzbekistan. Its first stepping stones are coming into view with the articulation of China’s Covid-19 response under the BRI’s expansive umbrella.

    The process began in the Asian region in February with the Special ASEAN-China Foreign Ministers’ Meeting on the Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) in Vientiane, Laos. The outcome was encouraging, as the joint statement issued at Vientiane testifies.

    Notably, China and the ASEAN found themselves on the same page and agreed on the imperatives of cooperation between the two sides in “preventing and controlling emerging and reemerging infectious and communicable diseases” and to jointly tackle the challenges to protect public health, safety and stimulate the “socio-economic development.”

    The ASEAN reposed “full confidence in China’s abilities to succeed in overcoming the epidemic”, while China appreciated the “sympathy, support and assistance offered by ASEAN Member States to its response efforts.”


    The Vientiane meeting outlined an action plan, which was fleshed out at another meeting in May at the level of the Economic Ministers. The ASEAN-China Economic Ministers’ Joint Statement underscored an agreement to “further strengthen collaboration at all levels across the region and countries on the prevention and control of COVID-19… (and) facilitating production and access to medicines and vaccines used for the treatment of COVID-19.”

    Six weeks later, another Chinese initiative appeared, billed as the China-Central Asia Foreign Ministers Meeting — ‘China+Central Asia’ or ‘C+C5’ with focus on the BRI and emphasising a “joint response” to COVID-19. In comparison with the southeast Asian and Central Asian vectors, the meeting of China and the three South Asian countries on July 27 has been a low-key affair.
    China’s priorities in the southeast Asian, Central Asian and South Asian regions vary. Southeast Asia has edged over the other two regions to enter the post-pandemic trajectory.

    While the pandemic forced governments across the world to close borders and shut down economic activity, the ASEAN surged as China’s largest trading partner. The increase in trade bears testimony to the region’s unbreakable supply chain with China and the robustness of the linkages binding the Southeast Asian economies with China’s.


    This marks a departure from the commonly understood calculus on globalisation. The ASEAN countries do not figure in the world of grand geopolitical narratives. But in the new milieu of the redrafting of the interdependence narratives taking place today, characterised by calls by the US for ending reliance on China-dominated global supply chains and talk of “self-reliance”, etc. — the ASEAN countries have been quick to collaborate with China from the very start of the COVID-19 crisis.

    When the US and a clutch of quasi-allies like India and Australia spewed anti-Chinese sentiments in the early days of the infection, the ASEAN countries responded to the distressing news from Wuhan with compassion, solidarity, and unwavering support for Beijing.
    The multiple levels of coordinated China-ASEAN response showcases both the necessity and benefits of interdependence and cooperation in times of crisis. Thus, to quote from Marina Kaneti, Assistant Professor at the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy, National University of Singapore, and a specialist on topics of global development,

    With geopolitical and economic pressures exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic, countries in Southeast Asia now have the unique opportunity to actively shape a new type of relationship with China: one that is not based on dependence, but instead leverages China’s proposed language of interdependence. Certainly, it is never an easy task to engage China on equal terms. Nevertheless, as Beijing strives to become the leading proponent of multilateralism in the post-COVID world, the parameters and rules of interdependence need not be shaped by China alone. Here, Beijing’s ability to engage with its regional partners can serve as a litmus test to the possibilities and limits of the much-touted vision to “build a community with a shared future.”

    In comparison, what the Central Asian countries are seeking is a return of the Chinese economic juggernaut to the steppes. They are reeling under the combined pressures of a slump in commodity prices, a sharp decline in remittances from migrant labourers (usually in Russia which is also suffering the double whack of a major Covid-19 outbreak and a slump in oil prices) and an overall economic slowdown in China.
    The economic future of the Central Asian countries is tied to China, thanks to the tyranny of geography. Thus, a fertile ground is available for the return of the BRI to the steppes. Arguably, China’s impressive economic recovery makes this possible.

    As a leading expert on Central Asia Raffaello Pantucci noted recently, “China’s infrastructure projects have bound the region together both in Beijing’s considerations and local economic fortunes. This means more BRI is the answer to the downturn.”

    On the other hand, it has not escaped Beijing’s attention that the US diplomacy has shifted gear lately in the Central Asian region in the context of the endgame in Afghanistan, which is creating a new security matrix — the 2-decade old Afghan war is coming to an end but a reduced American military presence with strong intelligence capabilities will appear right on Xinjiang’s doorstep for a foreseeable future.
    Thus, in his speech at the C+C5 meeting on July 16, Chinese State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi exhorted his Central Asian colleagues to “step up international cooperation against COVID-19, resolutely oppose the attempts of certain countries to stigmatise and put labels on the virus out of selfish interests, and support WHO in playing its due role in global COVID-19 response.”

    Elsewhere, Wang called on the Central Asian countries to “strengthen multilateral coordination and champion fairness and justice.” He added:
    “It is important to uphold multilateralism, defend the purposes and principles of the UN Charter, safeguard the UN-centred international system and oppose unilateralism and bullying. Cooperation within multilateral frameworks should be strengthened to promote fairness and justice on the global stage and make international relations more democratic. China and Central Asian countries should render each other firm support regarding sovereignty and security and other core concerns, and jointly uphold basic norms governing international relations and defend the legitimate rights of the six countries.”

    According to a Chinese press release, “Wang noted that enhanced cooperation between China and Central Asian countries is a form of mutual assistance between neighbours. It answers the call of the times and benefits both sides and the world beyond.”
    “The foreign ministers of Central Asian countries commended China as a close and friendly neighbor, and spoke highly of their strong political trust and ever expanding mutually-beneficial cooperation with China… They praised China’s decisive, effective and successful COVID-19 response… appreciated China’s assistance and expressed the readiness to work with China to promote international cooperation against COVID-19, support WHO’s crucial role and oppose politicisation of the issue.”

    The South Asian vector — China plus Afghanistan, Pakistan and Nepal — is relatively subdued in comparison. While Pakistan is Beijing’s traditional ally, Afghanistan and Nepal are newcomers to the Chinese orbit. Pakistan is a flag carrier of the BRI, whereas Afghanistan and Nepal are yet to wet their toes.

    While Afghan-Pakistan relations remain extremely fraught, Nepal is a distant neighbour. Clearly, Pakistan, Afghanistan and Nepal do not even make a cohesive sub-region. Beijing could have included Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and Maldives in an initiative over Silk Road of Health but chose not to.

    Perhaps, Beijing anticipated that Indians would get excited. Beijing’s interests are three-fold: one, ensure that the US doesn’t spur rumours and create local tensions; two, minimise the impact of Covid-19 on BRI and limit the loss of momentum; and, three, strengthen and re-energise BRI to open up new possibilities in these three South Asian countries where China is universally popular, and medical diplomacy holds the potential to create much goodwill.


    Everything adds up for China against the backdrop of the rising US hostility. As Xi framed it last year while addressing a a gathering in Beijing of world leaders who had signed up to BRI, “The ceaseless inflow of rivers makes the ocean deep.” The BRI cooperation is entering a stage of high-quality development and China is determined to make the Silk Road of Health a catalyst for global economic recovery.
    "

    https://indianpunchline.com/chinas-s...in-south-asia/

  18. #693
    Thailand Expat harrybarracuda's Avatar
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    Well that's three countries whose leaders are trousering a load of chinky cash then.

  19. #694
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    Shutting the door to China is self-defeating

    Posted on August 1, 2020 by M. K. BHADRAKUMAR

    "The world economic news through last week must have sent shockwaves across North and South Block where India’s ministries of finance, defence and external affairs — and the Prime Minister’s Office — are located. The post-pandemic world order is knocking on the doors.

    On Friday, the European Union released the preliminary estimates of the Eurozone economies’ performance in the second quarter of 2020. The 19-member bloc’s GDP contracted by 12.1%. This followed Germany’s announcement Thursday of its largest drop in GDP (10.1%) since it began keeping quarterly records half a century ago.

    Germany is Europe’s powerhouse and alone generates almost a quarter of the EU’s GDP. This is how a German commentator at Deutsche Welle surveys the gathering storms:

    “Neither the stock market crash nor the oil price shock could achieve what a tiny virus has done. The fruits of 10 years of growth were wiped out within weeks.


    “The German economy collapsed in March but the Federal Statistics Office has said that the full force of the crisis is only now being reflected in the numbers. A 10 percent decline in the second quarter. There has never been anything like it.


    “Everything has suffered — exports, imports, services, investment. It is only thanks to massive investment by the state that unemployment hasn’t gone through the roof. Around 7 million Germans are currently on so-called ‘short-time work’ — they work less and the state pays part of their wages.

    “Economic advisors are divided. Some say German economy is already on a recovery course, others are bracing for a tsunami of bankruptcies.”

    The impression was that the US has fared marginally better than Germany with a 10 percent drop. But US Commerce Department announced Thursday that the country’s GDP fell 32.9 percent in the second quarter at an annual pace, official scorecard of American economy. This marks the worst quarterly fall since US Bureau of Economic Analysis started keeping quarterly records in 1947.

    The surge in coronavirus cases in recent weeks in about half of US states, especially large ones such as Texas, Florida and California, has dealt a blow to a fragile economic recovery. On Wednesday, the US surpassed 150,000 recorded COVID-19 deaths. This has devastating effect on the services sector — services — travel, tourism, medical care, eating out and so on. Spending on services nosedived at a 43.5% annual pace and consumer spending on the whole declined. Companies cut back on production as sales slumped and exports tumbled. The US exports dwindled by 64% in the second quarter, topping a 53% drop in imports.

    There is unprecedented chaos. President Trump is at fault. Instead of bracing for the pandemic in the early part of the year, he resorted to blame game to cover up mismanagement. Two, he went horribly wrong in assuming that it was possible to restart the economy without controlling the virus. With an eye on the November election, he threw his political capital into restarting the economy and has ended up with one of the worst-performing economies in the western world.

    Even as the epidemic gradually rebounds, there will not be much improvement in the US’ economic performance. Just forget all those dreams about a V-shaped recovery in the US GDP in the third quarter (before the November election). The strong likelihood is that as long as the US remains hostage to the virus, it won’t have real economic recovery.


    Again, Japan, world’s third-largest economy, is expected to contract by an annualised 21.7 percent in the second quarter, which will be its worst quarter since World War II, according to Nikkei Asian Review. Among the major economies, China is the first to record a GDP growth in the second quarter at 3.2 percent year-on-year, following a record decline of 6.8 percent in the first quarter. In another stark comparison, China’s second quarter GDP grew by 11.5 percent from the first quarter.


    Eurasia Topics-corona-2-622x1024-jpg



    The bottom line is that the US is still far away from even beginning to recover from the pandemic, while the other major economies are moving ahead in their recovery trajectories despite lingering risks and challenges from the virus. The US Federal Reserve said in a statement Wednesday, “The path of the economy will depend significantly on the course of the virus.” On Wednesday alone, the US saw more than 63,000 new infection cases, bringing total cases to over 4.5 million.

    The record decline in the second quarter and the extraordinarily pessimistic outlook for the third quarter and beyond for the US economy threatens to damage Trump’s reelection bid. The skyrocketing unemployment and expected business closures have a snowballing effect, given a confluence of social issues such as racial discrimination and the unrest over the police treatment of African Americans.

    The biggest lesson for Indian decision makers is what the US Fed Chair Jerome Powell said — the economic outlook depends significantly on the course of the virus. Most economists and long-term investors agree here. The future looks dim for countries like Australia, India, Spain, and Brazil where infections are on the rise.


    Simply put, there is no magic wand. India cannot afford to ignore the economic reality of the virus. A recent survey by Reuters among economists predicted that it would take two or more years for India’s GDP to reach pre-COVID-19 levels.


    Moving on, Trump may step up attacks on China to deflect attention away from his failed domestic and foreign policies. China’s success in handling the virus and its quick catch-up to the US in total GDP has become an eyesore for Americans. India should be extremely wary of getting entangled in the US-China tensions.

    Then, there are bigger issues, too. The US economic slump will also severely drag the world economy down. The Fed pledged endless stimulus, but the US economy, growth engine for the global economy, now risks being the biggest drag, sending the dollar to a two-year low. Significantly, China, amongst others, seems reluctant to buying over-issued US Treasuries.

    It means that the US is unable to transfer its debts to others. According to official data, holdings of US Treasuries by international investors fell from $7.07 trillion in February to $6.86 trillion in May. In effect, the US may have to take responsibility for its own massive debt.

    A Chinese commentary disclosed that one of Trump’s grouses against Beijing is that the latter refused to listen to his entreaties to buy more more US Treasuries. At any rate, the dollar index has fallen sharply from a high of 103 points in March to below 94 points on Thursday. The dollar’s global dominance will be seriously threatened if the index drops to 80 points. A criticality is arising by the yearend. India should expect American pressure to force it to buy more US debt.

    Meanwhile, we should anticipate that the global economy may never be the same again due to the pandemic, which holds consequences from trade and public health to geopolitics. Given China’s economic strength, the Trump administration’s attempts to form an international alliance against that country has been a non-starter.

    India is sailing in the same boat as Australia or Japan (or even the UK) whose interests lie in maintaining strong economic and trade relations with China. It is injudicious — even illogical — for India to spurn China’s outstretched hand for mutually beneficial economic cooperation as the main template of its relationship. Some middle level American functionary in Washington may compliment the government for ‘standing up to China’. But the pandemic has not only undermined the the US’ ability to be more aggressive against China but also to compensate for the losses that third countries such as India will suffer if they follow the Trump administration’s footfalls to decouple from China.

    Today’s papers have reported that output of Indian industry’s eight core sectors has shrunk by 15% on a year-on-year in the second quarter; the pandemic is raging with 40,000 new confirmed cases a day for several consecutive days; the total number of fatalities exceeds 35,000; India is now the third most infected country in the world."

    https://indianpunchline.com/shutting...elf-defeating/

  20. #695
    Thailand Expat harrybarracuda's Avatar
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    Instead of snivelling away like the chinky sycophants this blog attracts, it should be worrying about who it is going to sell all that cheap chinese crap to.

    You know, thanks to the global economic recession that the chinkystan bat munchers caused.

  21. #696
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    Quote Originally Posted by harrybarracuda View Post
    Instead of snivelling away like the chinky sycophants this blog attracts, it should be worrying about who it is going to sell all that cheap chinese crap to.

    You know, thanks to the global economic recession that the chinkystan bat munchers caused.
    Wondering where was the majority of the mask delivered from?

    The U.S. Needs China’s Masks, as Acrimony Grows
    Beijing has signaled a willingness to supply the U.S. as its outbreak spreads. Increasingly harsh language and logistical issues could make it difficult to reach deals.


    Masks on a production line at a factory in Shanghai. China has ramped up production, and the United States badly needs more.

    https://www.nytimes.com/2020/03/23/business/coronavirus-china-masks.html

    Credit...


  22. #697
    I'm in Jail

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    Screw em.
    Let Mainland China take another Great Leap Forward * ...all by itself.

    * Read : Giant Leap Backward.

  23. #698
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    Quote Originally Posted by Klondyke View Post
    Wondering where was the majority of the mask delivered from?
    The same place the virus originated. This one. And the one before etc... ad infinitum. China should supply them FoC to the world

  24. #699
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    ^Wondering why the richest country that exports democracy to the whole world (beside many commodities) cannot help itself with such a primitive item, having to beg other countries - even the ones not very friendly to...

  25. #700
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    Oh, you mean the same place the virus originated. This one. And the one before etc... ad infinitum. China should supply them FoC to the world

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