Thread: The View, from China

The party newspaper "Global Times" published a remarkable "exclusive" report last week. It says a lot about China's handling of the corona virus. A Chinese research team has demonstrated that omicron is less dangerous than previous variants of the coronavirus, the newspaper writes in the tone of a disclosure. Of course, the rest of the world has known this for a long time.
The article shows that the Chinese leadership has now initiated a change of course in its corona policy with a considerable delay. The test regime in individual cities is also being relaxed.

A new Chinese proverb has just been added: "Better late then never"

Photo taken in March, 2019 shows the view of the Horgos Port in northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region. (Photo provided by "Forging Ahead in the New Era" Exhibition)

The 20th National Congress of the Communist Party of China is held at a very critical time, as the world is witnessing many crushing crises. Meanwhile, no observer can ignore what China has witnessed during the previous period, and how the Chinese leadership, represented by President Xi Jinping and the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee, has proven China’s ability to not only overcome its own obstacles, but also to help other countries, especially the developing ones.

The 20th National Congress of the Communist Party of China is a very important event at a very critical moment. The Chinese people and the whole world anticipate the events of the 20th CPC National Congress, which will establish China’s development strategy in the coming five years, how the CPC will manage the international issues and how the CPC will handle China’s internal issues, especially with Chinese people’s growing confidence in the political leadership and the Party thanks to the unprecedented achievements the country has achieved on all fronts in the past 10 years.

The whole world will closely monitor the results of the 20th CPC National Congress, because China is considered the driver of global economic development and the biggest manufacturer in the world. Moreover, China has become an important and essential player in regional and international economic arenas after the policies adopted by the CPC have proven, at home or abroad, very successful in all sectors through the past 10 years. The initiatives proposed by President Xi, including the “Belt and Road Initiative”, the “Global Security Initiative”, the “Global Development Initiative” and a “Community with a Shared Future for Mankind”, have been the launching platform for CPC policies. All these initiatives have turned into effective action plans, not only for China but also for the whole world.

“Belt and Road Initiative”: a “life belt” for many countries around the world

Amid successive economic crises striking many regions of the world, the “Belt and Road Initiative” Xi proposed in 2013 during his trip to Central Asia, specifically in Kazakhstan, has turned into a “life belt” for many countries around the world that have joined the initiative and participated in its gigantic infrastructure and telecommunication projects. Other ideas of Xi have been materialized into concrete realities felt by the people of the participant countries along the land and maritime corridors of the initiative. More than 100 countries have joined the initiative that includes over 2,600 projects worth more than $1.3 trillion, as well as more than 200 cooperative documents between China and the participant countries. Thus, the “Belt and Road Initiative” has turned into a gigantic economic reality lived by those participant countries that now hold to its support and promotion, while other non-participant countries closely follow the initiative and seek to join it.

I think China has accomplished many bright and successful partnerships with many countries through the “Belt and Road Initiative”. Among those is Egypt, which has effectively participated in the maritime projects of the initiative through the Suez Canal and the gigantic projects carried out by major Chinese companies in the New Administrative Capital, the New Alamein City and the Suez Economic and Trade Cooperation Zone. All these projects have witnessed big booms in recent years, charting and materializing the China–Egypt comprehensive strategic partnership and the strong ties between President Xi and his Egyptian counterpart Abel Fattah El-Sisi into a concrete reality and cementing the cooperative ties and partnership between the two countries in all sectors.

Despite attempts of many countries, especially the United States, to hurdle China’s progress and to mount pressures on China, the CPC has managed to overcome all these hardships and the prudent Chinese diplomacy has made big strides in enhancing Chinese ties with various countries and addressing all the crises and the controversial issues with excellent professionalism that has benefited the Chinese people and the Party’s vision of balancing foreign relations, in a way that promotes economic partnerships between China and other countries.

Throughout my frequent visits to China’s northwestern Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, specifically Kashgar Prefecture, I could see myself how China has translated its distinguishable strategic relations with Pakistan into a concrete reality of a gigantic economic project that is worth billions of US dollars, including a huge economic corridor connecting China with Pakistan and the whole world under “Belt and Road” cooperation. The “Belt and Road Initiative" takes the huge economic corridor as a launching platform to reach much wider prospects, which let the corridor achieve a lot of economic benefits for both China and Pakistan, making it an important artery for the initiative. That way, the corridor reflects how the CPC cares a lot for implementing Xi’s philosophy implied in the initiative, and proves that this philosophy is for the common good of humanity, not only for China as some claim.

Poverty alleviation led by CPC: a breakthrough the world has never seen

No doubt the huge achievements China has made in all fields during the past 10 years let the Chinese people feel that the CPC carries out effective economic and social policies in all fields, including infrastructure and the unprecedented progress in all the services needed by the Chinese people all over the Chinese provinces. The huge achievements are clearly seen in the services related to the citizens’ daily mobility and transfers that have been greatly facilitated by the huge transportation system and the massive network of roads, the gigantic industrial projects, the great development of telecommunication and information technology industry and the agricultural achievements in various provinces. In Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region, which I visited two times at a lengthy interval, I could see these agricultural achievements myself. In my latest visit, I saw the great progress the agricultural sector in Ningxia has witnessed and how Ningxia has turned into a region of an important economic attraction for many countries, especially the Arab and Muslim ones. Thus, the very simple life of people in rural Xinjiang has turned into a productive, developed one. Citizens there are now proud of the achievements made in just a few years and the great work carried out by the central government in cooperation and coordination with the provincial officials and Party committees that keep real and effective contact with people.

The outstanding experience of the Communist Party of China in addressing and eradicating poverty in all provinces and regions of the country will definitely be an example inspiring many countries all over the world. They will get inspired by the soul of the Chinese model in eradicating poverty, draw on the mechanisms utilized by the Chinese government that applied President Xi’s vision that the Chinese people should think of themselves as the key to tackling the shortage in funds and raw materials, which acted as a fundamental turning point in addressing the poverty issue, as Chinese citizens have shouldered responsibility towards their country and become real participants in tackling problems. Thus, the joint work of Chinese people and provincial Party officials has led to fulfilling what Xi has promised in 2015 concerning eradicating poverty in 2020, a year before the 100th anniversary of founding the CPC in 2021, as the people’s livelihoods have radically improved in China. The per capita income in Chinese rural areas has risen from 6,079 yuan (1 US dollar is equal to 7.12 yuan) in 2013 to 12,588 yuan in 2020, a breakthrough the world has never seen.

No fair observer would speak of the meetings of the 20th CPC National Congress without referring to the unprecedented progress that Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region has witnessed concerning the improved services and raised standards of living in all its counties. I have visited the beautiful Xinjiang three times and I have seen the achievements in infrastructure, health, education, agriculture and industry, in all parts of the region, including Urumqi, Kashgar, Aksu and others. I have interacted with ordinary local residents on Xinjiang streets, visited the Islamic Center and some mosques and cultural centers in Urumqi, and I could feel the harmony among different ethnic groups in Xinjiang, where the Uygur, Han, Ozbek, Tatar, Tajik and other ethnic groups live together without any discrimination, to the extent that you can never distinguish them in various work places.

The great progress Xinjiang has witnessed in living standards, placing the region on the right path of development during the past 10 years and even making Xinjiang the main starting point for the “Belt and Road Initiative” to the whole world , all confirm that the development of human rights in Xinjiang ranks on top of the CPC’s priorities ,and that the ordinary people are fully aware of the efforts made in that context and the complete coordination between the CPC Central Committee and the provincial Party committee to promote and enhance human rights in their correct and sound concept.

I deeply believe that the meetings of the 20th CPC National Congress will have great positive effects on both China’s internal development and global governance, and I am sure China will continue its opening-up policy and establishing win-win partnerships.

Contributed by Tarek Elsonoty, Deputy Editor-in-Chief, Egyptian Al–Ahram Daily

China on right path of development over past decade, no fair observer can ignore
_Guangming Online

Originally Posted by sabang

China will continue its opening-up policy and establishing win-win partnerships.

I think over next few years the tensions between the US and China will ease. What we have now is a lose/lose for both nations so some give n take will happen soon.

No fair observer would speak of the meetings of the 20th CPC National Congress without referring to the unprecedented progress that Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region has witnessed concerning the improved services and raised standards of living in all its counties.

Yes, I'm sure those million or so Uighurs in concentration camps often refer to the "improved services and raised standards of living".

Originally Posted by sabang

^ I agree Herman. While China can be praised for for many aspects of it's handling of the CV crisis- specifically it's measures have saved many lives statistically compared to other countries, it's measures of late are ridiculously over the top considering the Omicron variant isn't so bad, and are clearly chafing with the population. They appear to be relaxing now, and about time too. "better late than never".

I agree Sabang. China had only two options. Bring out the army and shoot everyone (like always) or lock them up.
Statistics don't exist in China! Only facts like "Shitping to remain in power for life".




"A single spark will light up China like a prairie fire"
by Comrade HtG

Over the last week or so I’ve watched the news in Australia and followed the approach to the Victorian State elections. I’ve noticed Murdoch press outlets seem to denigrate Dan Andrews, the incumbent State Premier, at any opportunity and, for weeks leading up to the election, media has been suggesting Andrews would lose in a landslide because of his stance on Covid zero which led to an upswell in unpopularity.

Except he won and he won well.

Now, media begrudgingly accept that, their narrative was not the reality; what a surprise! Look carefully at these words, the media narrative was that Labor, Andrews, party, would lose and lose badly, the narrative was that Andrews was unpopular and his term as Labor leader as well as Premier of the State would be over. But it isn’t.

How is this possible, how did all the media outlets get it so very wrong?

The answer is simple, they didn’t get it wrong, they weren’t reporting facts to the public, they were attempting to sway public opinion to their point of view and, there’s a valuable lesson for Australians coming out of this.

In Victoria, they failed for one reason only, because they were reporting about Victoria to Victorians.

But Victorians know better, they live there; they know Dan Andrews had told them the truth and, despite media reports to the contrary, they couldn’t find a lie. Andrews told them that lockdowns for Covid were absolutely necessary and, while most people didn’t like it, they knew he was right. They didn’t need media to tell them what they thought, they needed media to give them the news and when they knew they weren’t getting any, they ignored media.

Media weren’t reporting facts, they were reporting stories. Victorians knew this but people outside of Victoria believed the stories. This all helped sell newspapers and gain clicks but can’t possibly help their credibility when they get it so wrong.

ABC, News Corp Ltd and others are now suggesting the problem wasn’t their analysis or reporting, nor was it the success of the Labor campaign, it was the failure of the opposition to capitalise on the misery of the lockdowns which, they say, was caused by Dan Andrews’ policies.

So, Australians can learn from this: when you live in a region and you know how your own life is, then you know what you’re reading is misinformation, you may not know why, but you certainly know it is.

Which begs the question: Why does anyone believe anything they read in the news? And the answer to this is one of modern day’s most interesting dichotomies. We don’t; almost every person you ask will tell you they don’t believe what’s in the papers, unless of course, it’s something we want to believe; or it’s something we know nothing about and can’t verify.

I live in China. I know Press write negative stories every day about the country. Before I came to live here, I was fully aware that the Chinese government were authoritarian and the place was a police state, I knew there were predatory practices going on and people in China were unhappy with their government: I knew all this because I’d read it in news and seen it on the TV and internet so, it must have been true — except, like Victoria, it wasn’t. And today, people in Sydney, Brisbane and all-around Australia, people who don’t live in Victoria, are wondering how the information was so wrong.

It’s the same with China. Most Australians don’t live in China but a few of us do, most never even visit China but, when they do, they find, as I did that the media reports on China are not true. Just as Dan Andrews was not at all unpopular, China is not at all authoritarian or oppressive and predatory practices aren’t part of Chinese culture but, most importantly, as proven by Harvard University and others, most people like, respect and appreciate their government.

So, next time you’re reading a media report telling you what’s wrong with China, just remember, those same media reporters and their editors and the publishers have been lying to you about pretty much everything you do know about, why would they tell you the truth about anything you don’t know about.

If they lie about this, they’ll lie about everything | by Jerry Grey | Nov, 2022 | Medium

Aussie retiree trashes claims of Uighur repression in Chinese propaganda | news.com.au — Australia’s leading news site

Apart from having lived in China several years, Jerry- a keen cyclist- has actually visited Xinjiang many times, and bicycled through it. So just another Murdoch hit piece (yes, the above is a Murdoch web site)- an utter fabrication. Actually Xinjiang is booming. Why? BRI, plus it is a major tourism destination. It gets +300mm visitors every year.

Originally Posted by sabang

The answer is simple, they didn’t get it wrong, they weren’t reporting facts to the public

My take on media is slightly different. All have bias but the vast majority report facts. It is what they don't report that identifies their bias.

Lying by omission? Of course there has always been editorial bias, even between quality press- eg the Torygraph vs The Grauniad. I would argue that the dirty digger takes it to an entirely different level though. Also, that our media standards in general have been dropping.

Media Watch should be required weekly viewing for any informed aussie. Anyway, here is their take on it-

Originally Posted by misskit

Aussie retiree trashes claims of Uighur repression in Chinese propaganda | news.com.au — Australia’s leading news site

Yes the bloke is a well known chinky brown noser who does his best to point his camera away from the concentration camps.

His party of three slept right next to what was supposed to be one (according to that boy wonder from ASPI) one night, without even knowing- because it wasn't.

Originally Posted by sabang

His party of three slept right next to what was supposed to be one (according to that boy wonder from ASPI) one night, without even knowing- because it wasn't.

Of course they did.

In an interview with the Global Times in June, Mr Grey said while he encountered heavy security and police checkpoints in Xinjiang, he saw no evidence of camps.

The Global Times, the wanketeers favourite chinky propaganda site.

Just fancy that.

U.S. logistic managers are bracing for delays in the delivery of goods from China in early January as a result of canceled sailings of container ships and rollovers of exports by ocean carriers.

Carriers have been executing on an active capacity management strategy by announcing more blank sailings and suspending services to balance supply with demand. "The unrelenting decline in container freight rates from Asia, caused by a collapse in demand, is compelling ocean carriers to blank more sailings than ever before as vessel utilization hits new lows," said Joe Monaghan, CEO of Worldwide Logistics Group.

U.S. manufacturing orders in China are down 40 percent, according to the latest CNBC Supply Chain Heat Map data. As a result of the decrease in orders, Worldwide Logistics tells CNBC it is expecting Chinese factories to shut down two weeks earlier than usual for the Chinese Lunar New Year — Chinese New Year's Eve falls on Jan. 21 next year. The seven days after the holiday are considered a national holiday.

"Many of the manufacturers will be closed in early January for the holiday, which is much earlier than last year," Monaghan said.

Supply chain research firm Project44 tells CNBC that after reaching record-breaking levels of trade during the pandemic lockdowns, vessel TEU (twenty-foot equivalent unit) volume from China to the U.S. has significantly pulled back since the end of summer 2022 — including a decline of 21% in total vessel container volume between August and November.

Asia-based global shipping firm HLS warned clients in a recent communication about the ocean transport business climate.
"It seems to be a very bad time for the shipping industry. We have the combination of declining demands and overcapacity as new tonnage enters the market," it wrote.

HLS analysts are predicting a further 2.5% decline in container volumes and a nearly 5-6% increase in capacity in 2023, which will continue to negatively impact freight rates in 2023.

"The container shipping market will be further complicated by economic uncertainty, geopolitical concerns, and also the increasingly heated market competition," HLS wrote.

OL USA CEO Alan Baer tells CNBC that there are some early signs of an inventory correction. Overall business volume and order flow out of Asia continue to be muted as carriers cancel more vessels, and there is little upside momentum leading into Chinese New Year. But Baer said, "Space has already tightened, so while demand is soft, space may be at a premium in January and throughout Q1. On the plus side, inventory depletion and the need to restart the order and delivery cycle appears to be inching upward."

U.S. West Coast ports take biggest hit

HLS cited trade data showing that U.S. imports from Asia plunged in October to their lowest level in 20 months. The spot rate for a container from Asia to the U.S. West Coast has crossed the breakeven point, "with little room for further reductions," it wrote.

The large West Coast ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach have experienced the largest drop in trade, according to Josh Brazil, vice president of supply chain insights at Project44, as shippers also rerouted some of their shipments to the East Coast to avoid the risk of a major union strike at West Coast ports.

HLS expects most carriers to extend their West Coast rates until December 14, holding at $1,300-$1,400 per forty-foot equivalent containers (FEU). However, U.S. East Coast rates are expected to drop by $200 or $300 to average $3,200-3,300 per FEU in the first half of December.

The recent rise in Covid lockdowns in China continues to impact manufacturing operations and delay cargo outputs. There are also local access obstacles for cross-province and cross-city transportation, mostly related to truck driver testing requirements, with trucking capacity to be largely affected.

The fight for vessel space, the rollovers of cargo, and the slow trucking is tracked by the CNBC Supply Chain Heat Map.

Blank (canceled) sailings data shows the cut in vessel capacity on the transpacific route (China to the U.S.) continues at a significant pace. The 2M Alliance of Maersk and MSC has suspended almost half of its U.S. West Coast services for December. The Ocean Alliance (CMA CGM, Cosco Shipping, OOCL and Evergreen) and THE Alliance (Ocean Network Express, Hapag-Lloyd, HMM and Yang Ming Line) have cut overall vessel capacity by 40-50% up to Chinese New Year.

As a result, space for shippers is considered tight for cargo bound for the Pacific Southwest route and service reliability has declined, with carriers including MSC and Hapag-Lloyd rolling (not accepting) cargo on sailings in an effort to make up time. According to logistics managers, this is creating two weeks of delay. MSC said in its latest notice to clients, "ETAs are indicative and subject to change without prior notice."

The drop in manufacturing orders from the U.S. and the E.U. is also impacting Vietnam, which has been booming as a manufacturing hub as more trade moved away from China.

Since early this year, 12,500 companies were closed per month, a 24.8% increase year over year, according to the Vietnam General Statistics Office report. The combination of the lack of manufacturing orders and loan interest rates increasing from 6.5% to 13.2% in Vietnam led many companies to close factories instead of signing new order contracts, according to HLS.

Canceled ocean sailings bound for Vietnam are up 50% for December.

Surprise European manufacturing increase

Unlike the decrease in orders out of China, trade data analyzed by Project44 indicates that the Europe-to-U.S. route is "one of the possibly most surprising and certainly most significant developments since early 2020," Brazil said.

"This sharp rise cannot be explained by the pandemic alone. But a strategic shift from over-dependency on trade with China and geopolitical tensions over Russia are the main drivers of the EU-U.S. trade boom," he said.

The global trading map is being rapidly redrawn, with EU-U.S. trade and investment in U.S. rising sharply as economic ties between the West and China are subjected to critical scrutiny. This year, the U.S. has imported more goods from Europe than China – a big shift from the 2010s, according to Project 44.

"For their part, Europe's manufacturers battling sky-high energy prices and inflation are increasingly exporting to and investing in the U.S.," Brazil said.

Germany's exports to the U.S. were almost 50% higher in September year over year. Germany's mechanical engineering sector has boosted its exports to the U.S. by almost 20% in a year over year comparison of the first nine months of 2022, according to Project 44.

Manufacturing orders from China down 40% in demand collapse

Type 071E landing platform dock China built for Thailand completes sea trial


By Liu Xuanzun


Published: Dec 07, 2022 07:39 PM Updated: Dec 07, 2022 07:33 PM

The amphibious dock landing ships Wuzhishan (Hull 987), Kunlunshan (Hull 998) and Changbaishan (Hull 989) attached to a landing ship flotilla with the navy under the PLA Southern Theater Command steam alongside in waters of the South China Sea during a maritime training exercise on November 18, 2020. The exercise lasted four days, focusing on 10 subjects including comprehensive defense, Landing Craft Air Cushion’s (LCAC) transfer, visit, board, search and seizure (VBSS) operation, and live-fire operations. (eng.chinamil.com.cn/Photo by Liu Jian)

"The Type 071E landing platform dock China built for Thailand recently completed its sea trial, with experts saying on Wednesday that the large warship's construction is going smoothly and the vessel is expected to be delivered soon.

Developed by the No.708 Research Institute under the China State Shipbuilding Corporation Limited (CSSC) and built by the Hudong-Zhonghua Shipyard in Shanghai, the Type 071E landing platform dock successfully completed its sea trial recently, CSSC announced in a statement released on social media on Tuesday.

The test results show that all performance parameters of the ship are up to or superior to requirements stated in the contract, and received high approval by the client, the statement reads.

The agreement for China to build the landing platform dock for Thailand's navy was signed in Beijing in 2019, marking the first time China has exported a landing platform dock, as well as a major achievement of China-Thailand comprehensive strategic cooperation, the company said.

The sea trial demonstrated that the Type 071E is generally a reliable ship, and it is expected to be delivered to the Royal Thai Navy soon, Wei Dongxu, a Beijing-based military expert, told the Global Times on Wednesday.

It took a short period of just about three years from the contract signing to completing the sea trial, which reflects China's high shipbuilding capabilities, Wei said.

In the same time period, the Hudong-Zhonghua Shipyard also built Type 075 amphibious assault ships, Type 054A frigates and several civilian vessels, according to media reports.

As a 20,000 ton-class landing platform dock that is competitive on the global arms market, the Type 071E's transport capability and far sea maneuvering capability are among the best in the world, and its speed and endurance are considered superior to its foreign counterparts, reaching a world-leading level, CSSC said.

The Type 071E is an export version of the Type 071 amphibious landing ship in service with the Chinese People's Liberation Army (PLA) Navy with adjustments and customizations based on the needs of the Royal Thai Navy, Wei said.

Its large vehicle deck can host military vehicles including tanks, armored vehicles as well as mechanized and air-cushioned landing craft; its flight deck and hangar can host several helicopters for vertical landing missions, Wei said.

With the Type 071E, the Royal Thai Navy will not only get enhanced troop transport capability in far sea, but also improved disaster relief capability, the expert said.

From January to February 2022, the PLA Navy sent the Type 071 amphibious dock landing ship Wuzhishan carrying more than 1,400 tons of supplies to Tonga, sailing more than 5,200 nautical miles to help the South Pacific country in disaster relief after a volcanic eruption triggered a tsunami."

Type 071E landing platform dock China built for Thailand completes sea trial - Global Times

Originally Posted by OhOh

SINOVAC releases key real-world data for COVID vaccine efficacy for seniors as China seeks to boost vaccination rates

Which anyone involved in healthcare knows is a crock of shit.

China 08:26, 08-Dec-2022

President Xi Jinping arrives in Saudi Arabia

In an important speech on economic strategy, delivered at a recent forum organised by the newspaper Süddeutsche Zeitung, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz called for Germany to orient itself toward the reality of an “increasingly multipolar world” that is arranging itself right now.

Scholz stated, countering a narrative that Europe and North America can simply return to reliable economic growth following the disruptions of COVID-19 and the crisis in Ukraine, that the growing strength of Asia had fundamentally changed the international landscape. There will be no going back to the good old days in which North America and Western Europe enjoyed stable economic growth and high employment rates.

Inter alia, this is a tacit admission that the West’s wealth has been built to a significant degree on the basis of extraction from the developing world. The “good old days” were when Europe and North America were rich and Asia, Africa, the Middle East, Latin America and the Caribbean were poor and subordinate

What was the material foundation of these good old days? It was colonialism, the transatlantic slave trade, the genocide of the indigenous peoples of the Americas, the brutal underdevelopment of Africa, the Opium Wars, and more. The expansionism and systematic pillage during the 16th, 17th, 18th and 19th centuries created a profoundly lopsided world, dominated by a handful of Western capitalist powers.

This cosy arrangement was disrupted by the October Revolution, which marked the beginning of a new era of world history. The construction of socialism in the Soviet Union, China, Korea, Vietnam, Eastern Europe and Cuba – and the mighty wave of anti-colonial liberation in the post-WWII period – brought about a profound transformation in global politics.

But the US and its allies have worked ceaselessly to undermine the socialist world and to impose neocolonial domination in those places where colonial rule had been dismantled. This is the context for the Cold War; for the Korean War, the Vietnam War; the overthrow of progressive governments from Indonesia to Grenada to Chile; the support for apartheid regimes in South Africa, Zimbabwe and elsewhere.

Wars in Yugoslavia, Iraq, Afghanistan and Libya, along with several rounds of NATO expansion, were early episodes in the Project for a New American Century – the US proposal for consolidating and expanding its hegemony in the post-Soviet era. But China and other countries, particularly in the Global South, have been moving along a different trajectory, in pursuit of a multipolar, multilateral project, based on the principles of the UN Charter.

This strategy is directed toward lasting peace and worldwide sovereign development. Its manifestation in reality is clear enough: while the US is by far the world leader in military spending, military bases, wars of aggression, regime change operations, unilateral sanctions and economic coercion, China is the world leader in mutually-beneficial trade, infrastructure development, and renewable energy.

The Biden administration’s response to the rise of multipolarity has been to escalate the US-led new Cold War and to promote decoupling, dividing the world into two competing and exclusive blocs. While Biden has presented this division as being between democracies and autocracies, in reality the group he is trying to establish is based on the George W Bush doctrine: you are either with us or against us.

The US created AUKUS last year – a group of countries united by shared whiteness and commitment to imperialism – in order to bolster the military encirclement of China. Meanwhile Washington has taken advantage of the crisis in Ukraine to recruit new members to NATO and attempt to weaken Russia by prolonging the conflict (a strategy that has certain parallels with the US’ role in Afghanistan in the 1980s).

European powers in particular are being subjected to tremendous pressure to “decouple” from China and Russia, but such a decoupling doesn’t serve the interests of the people of Europe. It was therefore an assertion of political independence for Scholz to travel to Beijing in early November – the first visit to China by a Western head of state since the start of the pandemic, and just days after the close of the 20th National Congress of the CPC.

The trip took place in spite of the bitter criticism of certain Cold Warriors among the German political class, not to mention the rumblings of disapproval from Washington. But Scholz appears to have realised – as did his predecessor, Angela Merkel – that the days of unipolarity and hegemony are over.

Before leaving for Beijing, he stated bluntly that “China remains an important business and trading partner for Germany and Europe — we don’t want to decouple from it.”

Such a rupture in the transatlantic alliance is to be very much welcomed. The people of Europe and the world will only lose from any New Cold War or decoupling. The world’s future is multipolar and peaceful.

Multipolarity to prevail despite US’ ‘decoupling’ push - New Cold War: Know Better

Originally Posted by OhOh

China 08:26, 08-Dec-2022

President Xi Jinping arrives in Saudi Arabia

Cool, bet they're sharing tips on bone saws and concentration camps.