Putin showing his middle finger to the Americans, so is South Africa

Russia is going to checkmate the USA's warmongering agenda. Russia just announced that it is going to spread nukes to countries joining the Russia/Belarus union. Not a second too soon for that. What the USA can do, Russia has every right and motivation to do it. If Putin said that he is going to spread nukes, you can be sure he will do it. Russia already deployed nukes in Belarus, the first country being given the honour, and that tells us Putin is not joking.
The USA already had nukes in many European states deployed slyly to confront Russia (who else), now going to give Australia nuclear submarines, also slyly just being claimed to be nuclear powered, but will become nuclear enabled in time. Those submarines have been gloatingly touted as a counter to China's influence in East Asia. I suppose China must have been declaring war on those Pacific Islanders day and night, that they needed the USA's protection. On the contrary, I think there will indeed be wars galore with the devil in their midst.

Russia could now do the same by deploying nukes in Cuba, Nicaragua, Syria, Venzuela and Iran (not that it needed help) for a start. China, Iran and South Africa no longer needs to be concerned about USA threats and sanctions over accusations that they are helping Russia in Ukraine. They 'may' be doing it covertly, but now they can do it overtly without restraint, since the USA is adamant in dragging them into the fray by hook or by crook.

The USA even demanded that South Africa produce documents to show them what is being shipped on a vessel, Lady R, a vessel sanctioned by the West, when it docked in a port in South Africa's Simon Town Naval Base, where it loaded some cargoes.

Things are getting ugly in relations between South Africa and the USA, particularly over the BRICS coming meeting in August, over the call by the ICC to South Africa, as a member of ICC, to arrest Putin for war crimes in Ukraine, when he is expected to be there to attend the summit, a call which has been brushed aside by South African leaders.

South Africa also ignored previously the ICC's call to arrest the former wanted Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir in 2015. South African leaders are asking why did not anyone arrest George W. Bush, Dick Cheney, Donalds Rumsfeld and Tony Blair for war crimes in Iraq, using 'fabricated' evidence that eventually killed more than a million innocent women and children. What about arresting Obama whose forever wars killed even more innocent victims.

Anonymous

The dollar is your currency and your problem

"The dollar is our currency, but your problem," then-U.S. Treasury Secretary John Connally told European finance ministers in 1971.

His comment has proved prophetic. The monetary policy of the administration of U.S. President Joe Biden is driving the International Monetary Fund into a volatile corner while current Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen is seeking to hold China responsible.

Due to U.S.-China tensions, financial flows are increasingly being channeled to countries deemed "geopolitically close" to one side or the other. Decoupling also threatens to strip the IMF of meaning, though the agency is already losing significance.

China has spurned repeated requests from Yellen to visit the country while drifting further away from the U.S. and IMF in terms of policy.

Beijing is clearly seeking to break the dollar's stranglehold and has been trimming its holdings of U.S. Treasury bonds. While the size of its portfolio ticked higher in March, according to the latest data from Yellen's department, this marked only a slight rebound from the 13-year low of $848.8 billion seen with its holdings in February.

The U.S. too wants China's cooperation, but at this point, Beijing's reply is: "The dollar is your currency and your problem."

The way things are moving though, the new line may be: "The yuan is our currency, but your problem."

Anonymous

American defence pact or alliance - What do they mean?

 The white men screamed and yelled at China for wanting to sign a defence pact with the Solomon Island. Last week the Americans signed a defence pact with Papua New Guinea and all was silence. China did not protest. But why did the white men, especially Australia and New Zealand were so furious when it was China that want to sign a defence pact? Only white men can sign defence and military pacts?

To the white men, the Pacific Islands are their backyard. They are in charge and in control of the region and the islanders. They decide their security, their protection, their way of life. China is an outsider and has no right to be there. Only white men, led by the Americans, have the right to sign defence pact with the Pacific Islands and islands in the region. The white men own the region and are the masters of the region.

What does a defence pact or alliance mean to the Americans and the countries that signed on the dotted lines? The Americans go everywhere to sell the line that every country in the world is threatened by China, Russia, North Korea and Iran, that these countries are going attack and take over their countries. Even though these countries have been very peaceful and have not invaded any country, just engaging in trade and economic developments. Somehow, some silly leaders would believe that they are being threatened, that their security is at stake as told by the Americans and would need to be protected by the Americans. Or is it because they were threatened by the Americans, the real threat, or they were bribed to sign such pacts?

When a country signs a defence pact or alliance with the Americans, it means a lot of things. It means that they are with the Americans, not against the Americans, as the latter means that the Americans would treat them as enemies, would threaten them, sanction them and isolate them from the American world order. They are with the Americans or against the Americans.

A defence pact or alliance also means that the Americans have the right to send its soldiers into the country in the name of defending or protecting the country, and in worse cases, to build military bases in the country. In other words, these countries become American protectorates or semi colonies, a new form of colonialism.

The Americans would then decide what kind of military hardware they should use, ie, they can only buy weapons from the Americans and American approved countries. The cannot buy weapons from countries that the Americans did not approve, ie China, Russia, North Korea, Iran etc etc.

As a reward, they would be invited to participate in American war games, to simulate attacking China, Russia, North Korea or Iran, as members of the warring gang or international gangsters.

And when the Americans are fighting any country, invading any country using lies and fabricated intelligence, these countries must also contribute soldiers or material to be part of the invading force, even against the principles of international order and law. The Americans would make their allies as guilty as the Americans, bloodied their hands, as accomplices to their crimes against nation states and humanity. The so called allies and pact partners would end up protecting the American interests, members of a wolf pact instead of the Americans protecting them. If the Americans starts a war with China, all of them must contribute to the American fighting force, just like the Europeans being coerced to fight Russia in Europe.

This is the price of being an ally or a partner in a defence pact with the evil American Empire. They will be under the control and dictate of the evil American Empire. They will become semi colonies of American Neo Colonialism, willingly signed on the dotted lines to be semi colonies of the evil American Empire without knowing it.

Wonderful Benefits of De-dollarization

 
-- Sovereignty. Countries, especially developing ones, no longer have to let the US dictate their domestic and foreign policies. No more fear of sanctions that bully countries, corporations, politicians and individuals.

-- An America with diminished ability to print dollars. No more trillions of dollars out of thin air, while the USD stays strong. When dedollarization reaches a certain threshold, the US will be forced to play by the same rule as others. This means fewer US military bases around the world, fewer US-funded NGOs that start color revolutions, fewer politicians being bribed around the world and so on.

Basically, a fairer, less corrupt world. More “free market” and “free elections.”

-- Free to trade! Anyone can trade anything with anyone without Uncle Sam’s permission or threats. Same for investments. True freedom. While the US markets itself as a proponent of free trade, nothing can be farther from truth. This won’t just help countries like Cuba, Venezuela and North Korea, but everyone. For example, if India wants to build a seaport in Iran, it can be done without begging the US for permission.

The world’s GDP will literally go up due to dedollarization!

-- Cost savings: No middleman (US banks) taking commissions. For example, when China wants to buy oil from Saudi Arabia, both countries must use US banks to do the trade, and the banks take a commission for their “work.” It is estimated that the commission US banks earn in a year is almost equal to the GDP of a country like Portugal.

-- Privacy: Using US banks and SWIFT mean that the US gets to spy on everyone. By circumventing this system countries gain more privacy and freedom.

-- Save time: Faster transactions in local currencies. No American banks needed.

-- Less Exploitation of Developing Nations: The US dollar hegemony means that every country needs US dollar to survive. This artificial demand gives the US enormous power and makes the dollar strong. Thus, people in Mexico, China, Vietnam, India, Bangladesh, Africa etc. are forced to work for $1 or few pennies per hour to make products that are sold for hundreds or thousands of dollars by American/European corporations.

The US dollar is also used to destroy currencies of other countries for political and economic reasons, as we are seeing in Turkey, where the Lira has lost more 50% of its value in the last two years, as the US tried to carry out a regime change by disrupting the economy and getting rid of Erdogan.

-- Boost in global e-commerce and tourism: Way more options than under the current dollar regime.

-- Debt Trap Gone: Far less debt trap and exploitation by Western countries and institutions like IMF and World Bank. External debts in US dollar are one of the primary tools used to impose austerity and privatization on developing countries. Look what’s happening right now in Sri Lanka, Pakistan, Argentina, Egypt etc. This has been going on for decades.

-- FOREX? The entire concept of foreign exchange reserves will become less relevant since more trade will be done in local currencies.

Dollar, Euro and Yuan will likely be the three leading but equal choices as reserve currencies. There might also be a BRICS currency, if they manage to implement it wisely. No one country of region — USA, Europe or China — can bully others.

-- True Democracy: Multicurrency, multi-lenders, multi-partners… all these choices mean democratization of global finance.

No more monopoly, no more hegemony.

A multipolar and more just world will arise out of de-dollarization.

 Anonymous

George Yeo - Lunch time talk with Foreign Correspondent's Club, Hong Kong

A one hour clip on a lunch talk George Yeo had with the Hong Kong Foreign Correspondent's Club on 9 Mar 23 where George talked about Hong Kong and China relationship and also covered the Ukraine War and Singapore's domestic political issues.

At the end of the talk the moderator, an Afro American, Keith Richburg, commented that it would be in the Straits Times headline that George confirmed that he would not run for the President of Singapore. George also confirmed that he would not re enter politics when asked by an audience.  I did not recall the ST reporting on this, or maybe I missed it as I don't subscribe to ST anymore. George was also asked about the Lee siblings dispute but he declined to comment on grounds that he was friend to both parties.

Another aspect of Singapore that he disclosed was LKY's position that should there be a war with China, Singapore would not be involved, would not be on the side of the Americans. And this position has not changed. Singapore would not allowed any country to use its facilities to fight a war with China or any country. He then went on to caution the US, 'the US does not want China to fight back or talk back when scolded, but this will not happen! If the US does not step on the brakes of the car but continues to hurtle down the wrong road, further restraint would not prevent the car from overturning and going off course, and inevitably fall into conflict.'

George covered quite a lot of grounds from his personal experience and understanding of China and hope that there could be a win win conclusion in the competing claims over the South China Seas. He reiterated that China could be generous and able to be magnanimous to settle border issues with its neighbours, quoting examples with Myanmar, Vietnam and North Korea.

On the issues of Overseas Chinese and their relationship with China, George commented on the important contributions of Overseas Chinese in investing capitals into China after Tian An men. And he mentioned that Robert Kuok saying 'he is a patriotic Overseas Chinese who loves his Motherland.'  As for himself, he said he is Singaporean but also said, 'I am Chinese.' This is perhaps the first time that a Singaporean Chinese political leader, present or ex, ever said in public that he is a Chinese, a Chinese of the Chinese Civilisation, different from a Chinese citizen.

Quite an informative discussion with many interesting historical facts being brought into proper perspective.