“Communist Victory in Beijing, China “ (photo by Andre Vltchek) In this review article, we remember Andre Vltchek who passed away last year Sep 22, was a friend of all oppressed peoples, who travelled far and wide to scores of countries. And reflect on his views about China that recently (Oct 1) celebrated its revolution, significant in the context of[Read More…]
Regardless of whether it is in democracies or otherwise, decisions on foreign policies including those that concern wars against other countries are almost always made exclusively by governments, with limited or no consultations with the citizens and often at the behest of vested interest who operate mostly within and at times, from abroad. Once decisions on wars are made, public[Read More…]
Introduction The most significant component of Chinese Communist Party’s (CPC) Centenary Celebration held on July 1 2021 was the hour-long speech of Xi Jinping, the “core leader”, delivered to the crowd of thousands assembled in Tiananmen Square in a celebratory atmosphere. In his address Xi, as General Secretary of CPC standing ahead of its 25-member Politburo, President of China (the[Read More…]
The CPC’s centennial marks a historic breakthrough for China by far exceeding the predictions of most foreign observers. In a nutshell, the CPC has achieved the twin collective goals of getting rid of poverty and standing up to bullying by foreigners. The CPC is omnipotent in China and has become synonymous with the nation, the society and its politics. ***[Read More…]
On July 1, 2021, Chinese President and Communist Party General Secretary Xi Jinping delivered a speech marking the centenary of the Communist Party of China (CPC). “Any attempt to divide the party from the Chinese people or to set the people against the party is bound to fail,” he said during the ceremony in the capital, Beijing. Xi said “the strengths[Read More…]
In the eastern Asia region, Taiwan has become a sensitive topic, especially as Japan, the U.S. and some other U.S. allies move closer to Taipei. Relations with Taiwan is unofficial Japan’s Chief Cabinet Secretary Katsunobu Kato told a regular news conference Friday that “Japan’s position is to maintain relations with Taiwan as those of practical and non-governmental” as stated in[Read More…]
We are supposedly natural allies: the Biggest (Indian) and greatest (US) “democracies”, sharing the same values, it is claimed. People know and see how US has been fighting for democracy around the world, at great expense of US dollars waging wars and killing millions. It “sacrificed” thousands of American men too in those expeditions, still going on. India too[Read More…]
Photo taken on May 9, 2021 shows the books of students who were killed in a car bomb attack in Kabul, capital of Afghanistan. (Photo by Rahmatullah Alizadah/Xinhua). Over 80 people were killed in successive explosions outside a girls’ high school in Kabul, the capital of Afghanistan, most of the victims were girl students. US withdrawal from Afghanistan must be[Read More…]
The future isn’t what it used to be. As a teenager in the 1970s, I watched a lot of TV science fiction shows, notably Space: 1999 and UFO, that imagined a near future of major moon bases and alien attacks on Earth. Movies of that era like Stanley Kubrick’s 2001: A Space Odyssey envisioned colossal spaceships and space stations featuring international crews on mind-blowing missions[Read More…]
During about 8 to 9 months of 1971, the Pakistani Army and its local collaborators killed nearly 2.5 million people , raped over 3 lakh women and uprooted nearly 10 million from their homes in Bangladesh ( then known to the world as East Pakistan) in a genocidal crackdown. This was not hidden from the world at all. There was[Read More…]
Two initiatives send the clearest signal, yet, that China may be gearing up to play a greater political role in the Middle East. Touring the region this week, Foreign Minister Wang Yi laid out five principles Middle Eastern nations would need to adopt to achieve a measure of regional stability. He called on the region’s rivals “to respect each other, uphold equity and[Read More…]
Human survival on this planet has now become a battle between two systems of thought and governance; one the American based on vestiges of Western Neo-Liberalism and the other the Chinese under President Xi Jinping based on a restating of Marxist Socialism. The implications for the future of human civilization are profound. In competition with the American are 1.388 billion[Read More…]
China has been the hot topic of discussion in the foreign policy corridors of most of the countries. Some have termed its policies as expansionist some are critical of its trade policies and human rights. At the same time, to some, it is an all-weather ally. China recently thrashed nearly all countries that have criticized its handling of Covid19, sending[Read More…]
A projected sharp reduction in trade between the United States and China in the next two years coupled with moves to diversify supply chains potentially position Turkey alongside Vietnam, Mexico, Taiwan and Poland as competitors in efforts to reduce dependency on the People’s Republic, according to a just published study. The study, conducted by the Boston Consulting Group on behalf[Read More…]
Co-Written by James M. Dorsey and Alessandro Arduino Public debates about China’s Middle East policy are as much internal Chinese discussions as they are indications of where Beijing’s thinking is going and efforts to nudge countries like Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates to accommodate potential policy changes. Relying on scholars rather than officials, China is signalling to Gulf[Read More…]
The outdated notion that China ‘just wants to do business’ should be completely erased from our understanding of the rising global power’s political outlook. Simply put, Beijing has long realized that, in order for it to sustain its economic growth unhindered, it has to develop the necessary tools to protect itself, its allies and their combined interests. The need for[Read More…]
Wherever we lift one soul from a life of poverty, we are defending human rights. And whenever we fail in this mission, we are failing human rights. — Kofi Annan, former United Nations Secretary-General Among other items “proclaimed as the highest aspiration of the common people,” the preamble to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights states that “… human beings[Read More…]
These are proving testy times for Australian-Chinese relations. Last week, Chinese authorities announced that an investigation would be conducted into claims that Australia has been using unfair dumping practices for its wine on the Chinese market. This was not what Australian wine makers wanted to hear, given that exports of Australian wine to China grew from AU$268 million in 2015/16[Read More…]
Chinese President Xi Jinping, right, with Saudi King Salman during a signing ceremony at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, China, March 16, 2017. (Lintao Zhang Pool Photo via AP) Unfettered Chinese support for Saudi Arabia’s so far peaceful nuclear energy program risks fueling a burgeoning Middle East arms race amid concerns that the 2015 Iranian nuclear agreement[Read More…]
The rise of China is not only a hope for the Asian people but also inspires working class people all over the world. It instils hopes that there is an alternative to predatory capitalism of the west. The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) played a major role in transforming China as a major world power while uplifting many Chinese from poverty,[Read More…]
Text and photos: Andre Vltchek Snow is falling on the wide sidewalks of the historic city of Xi’an, but people don’t seem to be troubled by the bitter cold. One of the oldest cities in China, Xi’an, is now vibrant, optimistic and stunningly beautiful. Sidewalks are paved with expensive stones and have more than enough space for pedestrians, electric bicycles,[Read More…]
Is China a new imperial power threatening some of the developing economies in Asia and Africa? This is a perception that is being promoted through the media by certain China watchers in universities and think-tanks mainly in the West, various politicians and by a segment of the global[Read More…]
Lifting of presidential term limits plunges China and its autocratic regime into unchartered territory The news from Beijing is historic – nothing less than a political earthquake with repercussions around the world. At its upcoming “parliamentary session” (the National People’s Congress, NPC, which starts next week), China will remove the two-term limit for the presidency and vice presidency. This confirms what[Read More…]
Cities are the monsters of civilization, the accrual of various factors of organisation that stress development and advancement. The latter two terms are often impossible to gauge except by comparison with other cities or States. We are left with the consequences of these thanatic drives, where life will itself suffer because the better variant of it is supposedly around the[Read More…]
The willingness of humanity to continue to accept the white world’s profitable investments in genocide will end in 25 years when world economic power shifts from Europeans, and their descendant nations, to the six sevenths of humanity they plundered. Realizing this, leaders of 1/10th of 1% who rule America have Trump demanding investment in the US instead of in the low wage[Read More…]
The decision of the Permanent Court of Arbitration in the Hague on the China- Philippines territorial dispute announced on the 12th of July 2016 may well emerge as a turning-point in the long-standing wrangles over islands in the South China Sea. China expectedly has rejected the decision. It has reaffirmed its claim of territorial sovereignty and maritime rights over almost[Read More…]
The unanimous award of Hague International Tribunal on the South China Sea arbitration is historical, overpowering and decisive in the sense that Chinese claim on the disputed sea area has been rejected by the International Tribunal while giving decision on the petition filed by The Republic of the Philippines against The People Republic of China. As was expected the Chinese[Read More…]
China’s Foreign Minister Wang Yi is here in Colombo on a two day official visit. It has been very interesting and a pinking diplomatic relationship that Sri Lanka as a sovereign nation has developed since the ancient times with the Republic. Whatever may the recorded history placed before us be, one thing is certain and that is that China[Read More…]
The world’s coal resources are clearly huge. How could China, or the world in total, reach peak coal in a timeframe that makes a difference? If we look at China’s coal production and consumption in BP’s 2016 Statistical Review of World Energy (SRWE), this is what we see: Figure 1. China’s production and consumption of coal based on BP 2016 SRWE. Figure 2[Read More…]
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This year there was international outrage when a frail 84-year-old Jesuit priest with Parkinson’s disease, Stan Swamy, died after being held in an Indian jail in inhumane conditions, on flimsy charges. When he was eventually moved to hospital, he tested positive for Covid and went on to suffer a cardiac arrest. He had devotedly served the poor and defended their[Read More…]
