China and Russia : The Growing Alliance that won't be intimidated by US Global Aspirations.

China and Russia: The Growing Alliance That Won't Be Intimidated by America's Global Aspirations


The U.S. government lurches from one war to another and nothing really changes. After a succession of totally misguided wars with relatively small nations, none of which it has "won", the U.S. has now decided that China, a giant among all other nations, is to be its next target. The question is; Have those currently in charge of this government taken leave of their senses since China is the one nation on the face of the earth that, because of its economic and military power, will not be intimidated by the U.S?

The U.S. has made it known that it is proceeding with a new strategy by which to establish control of the Asia-Pacific region, including the South China Sea and the Indian Ocean. This is an area over which China has maintained a significant influence for many years; we might call it China's backyard. To think that China will allow the U.S. to move into this region and take control is delusional thinking. China will not accept such an encroachment into its territory without finding some way to oppose it and that could result in a very dangerous military confrontation.

At the same time that the U.S. is setting up this potential confrontation with China, it is also confronting Russia in several regions of the world. It continues to attempt to surround and suffocate Russia by erecting a missile defense system close to Russia's borders; it's known as the Strategic Defense Initiative, or "Star Wars", that President Reagan proposed in 1983. This system will never work because Russia has clearly warned that, if it ever nears completion, swift and powerful countermeasures will be taken to completely nullify its operational capabilities.

Anyone who thinks that Russia and China are powerless against the might of the U.S. military needs to think again. Both of these nations possess nuclear arsenals that could bring massive, unimaginable destruction to America should some ill-advised, out of control regional confrontation get completely out of hand. In reality, there are three superpowers in this world, not just one, and we better hope that it never, ever comes to such a horrific confrontation. But try to warn those bloodthirsty facilitators of war in our nation's capitol to back off and you will get absolutely nowhere.

While China and Russia can't currently be described as extremely close allies I see these two countries as allies of necessity. The more that they are threatened by U.S. militarism and expansion the more closely aligned they will become. In recent times the alliance between these two powers has been strengthening as both have significant interests in Iran, Syria and other parts of the Middle East, and they are not going to let America assume total power over this region.

Russia and China, obviously, still view the U.S. as a very formidable military power but one that is has already entered into an almost reversible state of decline. They see a nation that is literally spending itself into bankruptcy by using its dwindling wealth on perpetual war. They see a nation whose economy is tanking as the purchasing power of an increasingly unemployed workforce is being diluted. They are watching this rapid decline take place and they are well aware that all they have to do is to patiently wait and let America's military spending eventually force it into bankruptcy.

While China continues to rapidly grow its economy, America is doing exactly the opposite; it's selling out its manufacturing sector, piece by piece to China which, in turn, has been given free access to the world's largest consumer market. For every billion dollars that the corporations of America invest in Chinese labor for the manufacture and assembly of American consumer products, that's a billion that cannot be used to help revitalize the U.S. consumer-driven economy.

In this scenario it seems like the American government and the nation's business sector have completely opposite objectives. It makes no sense to be stirring up trouble and posing a threat to China, the nation that has become the prime manufacturer of U.S. consumer products. If this strategy of military aggressiveness leads to a situation that causes a massive disruption in the manufacture and distribution of products from China then the U.S. economy could take a crushing, devastating blow that would send this country into a recession of monumental proportions. That's because many thousands of America's former manufacturing facilities are non-existent and would be difficult to start up again.

China currently does not pose a direct military threat to America. It has not been engaged in wars and military confrontations across the regions of the world and it does not have a network of bases. Its actions show no indication that is has aspirations of becoming the next military empire. China is working with many nations to make agreements to acquire oil and other critical resources it needs to continue to maintain a strong economy; it invests billions in other nations to help them develop their resources; it has not used force to achieve its objectives.

China concentrates on its domestic needs and developing its manufacturing base and economy. And you know what? That's what America used to do decades ago, before it adopted its aggressive military agenda. That's not to say that China or Russia will never pose any threat to the U.S. Without a doubt, the U.S. must be very vigilant and maintain a strong military to deter any serious imminent threat; but it seems like this government has gone completely overboard in entering into the affairs of nations across the world, quite often with military force, when there is no rational, justifiable reason to do so.

China is using its rapidly increasing wealth, thanks to the generosity of U.S. corporations, not on a military empire but, rather, on building many new cities, airports, bullet trains and vastly improving its national infrastructure. As long as China shows no evidence of aggressive intentions, the U.S. government should not continue to antagonize and threaten it lest its government reaches a point where it will have had enough and it shifts its objectives toward a substantial buildup of its military and highly sophisticated weaponry. The last thing that we and the world need is another Cold War and arms race that benefits only the profit-crazed defense industry corporations.

So, in reality, what exactly is going on here? If China does not pose a distinct immediate threat to the security of America, then why has it become the next target for Washington's hegemony? If we dig a little deeper into the mindset of those who lead this nation we will find that the threat that China poses for the U.S. is that it, in the near future, will become the world's #1 economic power; and that fact does not sit well with this government. But this is a dilemma that the government itself has allowed to develop over the past several decades as it has, basically, looked the other way as Corporate America has sold this nation's manufacturing industry to China.

Beneath the surface there is something else, something very troubling that may be fueling this hubristic agenda. Perhaps we can explain it this way; it's becoming quite evident that many of those in this government who have, for the past several decades operated the levers of war are at least borderline, if not full-blown, paranoid schizophrenics; those whose symptoms include "extreme anxiety, exaggerated suspiciousness, aggressiveness, anger, argumentativeness, and hostility, which may lead to violence." This overly aggressive, often uncontrollable demeanor, characterized by a pronounced obsession with the proliferation of war can in no way be judged as normal human behavior.

While it's rarely if ever discussed in any of the media, Washington is largely controlled by bureaucrats who have, for many years, operated at the highest levels of this government and who are dedicated to the expansion of this nation's military outreach across the world. They are an integral part of the Military-Industrial Complex. Therefore, in reality, no matter who becomes president, the direction of this nation will remain in the hands of these embedded individuals who possess the reigning, absolute power.

We the people of this nation are living in what has to be termed one of the most radicalized, dangerous times in its history. Those at the highest levels of leadership of this country, from the government to the masters of Corporatism, with very few exceptions, seem to have lost the ability to judge right from wrong;   rational thinking, and judgments based on a sense of morality have no place in the decision-making of those who worship the gods of war and profit.


The people of America must not allow this government to continue to try to dominate the nations of the world; that has not worked and will not work except to lead this nation further down the road to a financial implosion. The people of America must think deeply to somehow, some way determine the ways by which to remove these disciples of war, that are so obsessed with military power, from this government. They must no longer be allowed to continue their agenda of hubris and empire building that threatens the future of our nation.

The hand of reason and logic has been replaced by the fist of military power and, unless that condition is reversed, it will be the eventual undoing of this nation; one that will have squandered it's potential for greatness.




Michael Payne is an independent progressive activist. His articles concentrate on social, economic and political matters as well as American foreign policy. He is a U.S. Army veteran and a graduate of Northwestern University, Evanston, Illinois. His (more...)






 

Scream by Mother Nature

Darkness, this is Mother Nature's version of The Scream: ) This piece is done differently. Every stroke of paint is made by a koi fish. Look carefully and you can see the koi.

Tree of Life (reversed)

A different angle to look at the Tree of Life.

Nuclear power dream or nightmare?

Anyone remembers the report on Malaysia’s plan for nuclear power plants in the ST recently? It seems that among the gungho Asean countries, those thinking too big with their swollen heads and those who think they need to keep growing their populations to achieve economic growth at all cost, there is no other option than nuclear. Oil is going too be too expensive in times to come and the growing demand for more energy with bigger population and bigger appetite means nuclear and nothing else.

What is so beautiful about the Malaysian nuclear plan is the location of their nuclear power plants, one near Penang and one near Sinkieland. Obviously these have nothing to do with the concentration of Chinese population in Penang, Sinkieland and Southern Johore. The main reason for the choice of locations is simply to get them as far away from KL as possible. A nuclear mishap is going to neutralise a sizable area for a long time as can be seen in Fukushima , Chernobyl and Three Mile Island in the US. And the heroes who are brave enough to resettle in the radioactive zone must be praying to have godzilla or ultraman as their offsprings.

Sinkieland is equally deadset on the nuclear option I think. What to do when population growth is a must or cannot be slowed down without affecting economic growth? They must be planning for 10m or 20m population in the future and are seriously investing in research and development of nuclear plants here. And the snake oil sellers would never tell you the whole truth about the risk involved. Even a 0.0001% risk is too high a risk in the context of Sinkieland. We can never think of locating our nuclear plants in KL or Penang for sure. So how far and how safe would it be in Tuas, Changi or Tekong?

If the nuclear madness becomes a reality, one can safely predict that sometime in 2050, 2150 or 2250 Sinkieland could be a declared nuclear hazard zone with no inhabitants. Mathematically the numbers generated must still look good and safe and the snake oil sellers must still be mesmerising their listeners on how safe nuclear plants are in this piece of rock. Technology is so advanced that nuclear power stations are absolutely safe. Have no fear. So lucky that we would not be around to say I told you so or to face the consequences.

Early Autumn

A piece of rar art painted by Mother Nature.

Imposing West's will on China goes against global norms

Updated: 2012-09-01 07:59

By Guo Jiping ( China Daily)

China's continuous gains in strength have fanned the flames of envy, misgiving and even horror among certain Westerners, leading some to slander Beijing's development, squeeze its strategic space and challenge its main interests.
China's fast economic development over the past 30-odd years has not prevented the spread of empty talk about subjects such as "China's collapse", "China's responsibility" and "China's expansion". The country's rapid gain in international influence has been accompanied by a so-called alliance of values, the "return to the Asia-Pacific" strategy and similar Western initiatives.
Certain Westerners are always trying to contend that China's achievements are the "products of a distorted political system". Even Chinese athletes who excelled in the just-concluded London Olympics have seen their praiseworthy performances come under the harsh light of such criticism.
China has consistently walked the road of peaceful development and held high the banner of cooperation. As early as in the 1970s, the late leader Deng Xiaoping, the architect of China's reform and opening-up, solemnly vowed at a United Nations assembly that China will never seek hegemony. The ideals of peace and harmony are upheld in China's millennium-old traditional culture and are rooted deeply in the hearts and minds of the Chinese people.
A country can forge a suitable path for development only by conducting explorations in accordance with its national conditions, instead of by simply following other countries' methods. The Chinese people find no fault in the road Western countries have taken and only ask that the road they have chosen be accorded the same sort of respect. Common sense dictates that the only fit judges of a country's path of development are the people of that country themselves.
The Chinese are satisfied with the direction development has taken them. According to a poll conducted by the Pew Research Center, they are now more satisfied with their prevailing path of development and government than many other peoples in the world are with theirs.
Western countries, in one moment, accuse China of hampering the entry of foreign companies into its market and then, in the next, conjure up various pretexts to sabotage plans to liberalize trade and investment.
The Chinese government places a priority on protecting intellectual property rights, knowing well that they pertain to the openness of the country's economy. In the decades since China's reform and opening-up, the country has never slackened its efforts to safeguard such rights and has continuously worked to perfect its legal system.
China has also taken measures to coordinate global work related to energy conservation and climate change. China is committed to being able to say by 2020 that it is emitting 40 percent to 45 percent less carbon dioxide for each unit of its gross domestic product than it was in 2005, and to having 15 percent of its primary energy come from renewable, nuclear and other non-fossil sources of energy.
Despite all of this, some Westerners seem to be willfully ignoring China's unremitting work to meet international accords. Disregarding China's low amount of energy use per capita and low emissions of carbon dioxide per capita, and its efforts to conserve energy and reduce emissions, they try to place the entire blame for global warming on China.
Yet they cannot ignore that China's remarkable achievements over the past 30 years have shaken the "moral code" Western countries have attempted to use to rule the world. China's success once again proves that there is no one-size-fits-all method for ensuring a country's development.
China will unwaveringly travel a development road that merely suits its national conditions and is in no way intended to promote "ideological competition". At the same time, China will not tolerate attempts to squeeze its development space and disturb its development process.
With the quickening pace of globalization, China and Western countries should cooperate more with each other in complementary ways. This will not only bring strength to their development, but also improve international relations and make bigger contributions to world peace and prosperity.
To this end, China and Western countries should try to resolve their disputes in a prudent manner as part of efforts to strengthen mutual trust and reduce misunderstanding and misgivings.
At the moment, China's priorities are in finding better ways to handle the country's domestic affairs, achieve development and make further progress along a socialist road with Chinese characteristics.
The author is a commentator at People's Daily and this article was first carried in that newspaper.

(China Daily 09/01/2012 page5)

Assault on the dull Sinkie mind

Unknowingly, unthinkingly, the Sinkies have been under constant and repetitive attacks on their ability and confidence. Today, many Sinkies did not have a sense of well being and self worth. They lack confidence and cower in the presence of foreign talents, even those from the third world countries and working under some with dubious or maybe even fake credentials. This sickness has transcended the country and if not arrested, Sinkies will turn themselves into third world people in their first world home. The half baked foreigners are acting smug and holding the Sinkies in contempt behind their backs.

The Sinkies have been told that they are daft, lazy, uninspiring, lack creativity, no drive, unproductive. They are even told that they are irresponsible with their money and would gamble them away. But it is alright for others to gamble with their money and lose them in the billions.

And a simple thing like building homes for the people, with all the money and resources they could not do it well. By not building, they created a big shortage to impose all kinds of silly rules to tell the daft Sinkies why they have to wait for years to get their flats. And many were excluded from buying on the excuse that they would deprive those who needed more from getting their flats. Of course daft Sinkies believe in the stories and started attacking one another for depriving others the chance of getting their flats.

On the other hand, foreigners were praised as the talents that are here to help the daft Sinkies. Without the foreign talents the daft Sinkies would not be able to have a better life. While we are a top financial centre, we claimed that we have no finance talents and have to go to small towns that have medieval little banking systems to recruit their finance talents to run our world class banks. We are one of the most highly wired and computerised city but our IT talents are all kaput, or no talent. Again we go to small little towns to hire their IT talents with many haven’t even hold a laptop or an android phone in their hands.

Maybe it is true. Sinlieland is what it is today because of the smart foreigners. Sinkies are only good as taxi drivers and cleaners. Sinkies were sleeping when the city developed into a world class city with the help of foreigners who could not help their own countries to progress. More reasons to thank them for contributing their talents to help Sinkieland than their own home countries. Big sacrifice really. Sinkieland is what it is today without the contribution of daft Sinkies.

The latest barrage against the Sinkies is that they are anti foreigners. And the message is being drummed in, with the media reinforcing the accusation. Sinkies are xenophobic. How many foreigners were attacked or beaten by Sinkies or the reverse? Is there a coordinated campaign to undermine the confidence of Sinkies?

Who is leading the attack on Sinkies to make them dull and daft and to feel inferior and inadequate to the foreigners from third world countries that came from third grade schools and universities while we boast of world class universities? Or our universities were built to train foreigners instead. That may be the reason why Sinkies are so untalented, and sooo lack of talent and needed to be replaced and helped by foreign talents.

Sinkies must look at the mirror and ask themselves, are they really that daft and easily branded by any tag. If they are not, what are they going to do about it? What do you think?