thegreanvillepostbiasrating--2020-05-24--How the British Empire Created and Killed George Orwell

The British Broadcasting Corporation ( BBC ) , happily amplified by the Public Broadcasting System ( PBS ) in the United States which carries its World News , continues to pump out its regular dreck about the alleged economic chaos in Russia and the imagined miserable state of the Russian people .
It is all lies of course .
Patrick Armstrong ‘ s authoritative regular updates including his reports on this website are a necessary corrective to such crude propaganda .
But amid all their countless fiascoes and failures in every other field ( including the highest per capita death @ @ @ @ @ @ @ one of the highest in the world ) the British remain world leaders at managing global Fake News .
As long as the tone remains restrained and dignified , literally any slander will be swallowed by the credulous and every foul scandal and shame can be confidently covered up .
None of this would have surprised the late , great George Orwell .
It is fashionable these days to endlessly trot him out as a zombie ( dead but alleged to be living – so that he can not set the record straight @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the other global news outlets outside the control of the New York and London plutocracies .
And it is certainly true , that Orwell , whose hatred and fear of communism was very real , served before his death as an informer to MI-5 , British domestic security .
But it was not the Soviet Union , Stalin ’ s show trials or his experiences with the Trotskyite POUM group in Barcelona and Catalonia during the Spanish Civil War that “ made Orwell Orwell ” as the Anglo-America Conventional Wisdom Narrative has it @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the British Empire – compounded during World War II by his work for the BBC which he eventually gave up in disgust .
And it was his BBC experiences that gave Orwell the model for his unforgettable Ministry of Truth in his great classic “ 1984.
” George Orwell had worked in one of the greatest of all world centers of Fake News .
And he knew it .
More profoundly , the great secret of George Orwell ’ s life has been hiding in plain sight for 70 years since he died @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the service of the British Empire during his years in Burma , modern Myanmar .
And as a fundamentally decent man , he was so disgusted by what he had done that he spent the rest of his life not just atoning but slowly and willfully committing suicide before his heartbreakingly premature death while still in his 40s .
The first important breakthrough in this fundamental reassessment of Orwell comes from one of the best books on him .
“ Finding George Orwell in Burma ” was published in 2005 and written by @ @ @ @ @ @ @ for an outstanding American journalist in Asia whose identity I have long suspected to be an old friend and deeply respected colleague , and whose continued anonymity I respect .
“ Larkin ” took the trouble to travel widely in Burma during its repressive military dictatorship and her superb research reveals crucial truths about Orwell .
According to his own writings and his deeply autobiographical novel “ Burmese Days ” Orwell loathed all his time as a British colonial policeman in Burma , modern Myanmar .
The impression he systematically gives in that @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Shooting an Elephant ” is of a bitterly lonely , alienated , deeply unhappy man , despised and even loathed by his fellow British colonialists throughout society and a ludicrous failure at his job .
This was not , however , the reality that “ Larkin ” uncovered .
All surviving witnesses agreed that Orwell – Eric Blair as he then still was – remained held in high regard during his years in the colonial police service .
He was a senior and efficient officer .
Indeed it was precisely his knowledge of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ general underside of human society during his police colonial service while still in his 20s that gave him the street smarts , experience , and moral authority to see through all the countless lies of right and left , of American capitalists and British imperialists as well as European totalitarians for the rest of his life .
The second revelation to throw light on what Orwell had to do in those years comes from one of the most famous and horrifying scenes in “ 1984.
” Indeed , almost nothing even in the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ anything like it : That is the scene where “ O ’ Brien ” , the secret police officer tortures the “ hero ” ( if he can be called that ) Winston Smith by locking his face to a cage in which a starving rat is ready to pounce and devour him if it is opened .
I remember thinking , when I was first exposed to the power of “ 1984 ” at my outstanding Northern Irish school , “ What kind of mind could invent something as horrific as that @ @ @ @ @ @ @ obvious that I like everyone else missed it entirely .
Orwell did not “ invent ” or “ come up ” with the idea as a fictional plot device : It was just a routine interrogation technique used by the British colonial police in Burma , modern Myanmar .
Orwell never “ brilliantly ” invented such a diabolical technique of torture as a literary device .
He did not have to imagine it .
It was routinely employed by himself and his colleagues .
That was how and why the British Empire worked @ @ @ @ @ @ @ knew what they were doing .
And what they did was not nice at all .
A final step in my enlightenment about Orwell , whose writings I have revered all my life – and still do – was provided by our alarmingly brilliant elder daughter about a decade ago when she too was given “ 1984 ” to read as part of her school curriculum .
Discussing it with her one day , I made some casual obvious remark that Orwell was in the novel as Winston Smith .
My American-raised teenager @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , Dad , ” she said .
“ Orwell isn ’ t Winston , or he ’ s not just Winston .
He ’ s O ’ Brien too .
O ’ Brien actually likes Winston .
He doesn ’ t want to torture him .
He even admires him .
But he does it because it ’ s his duty.
” She was right , of course .
But how could Orwell the great enemy of tyranny , lies and torture so identify with and understand so well the torturer ?
It @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
“ Emma Larkin ’ s ” great book brings out that Orwell as a senior colonial police officer in the 1920s was a leading figure in a ruthless war waged by the British imperial authorities against drug and human trafficking crime cartels every bit as vicious and ruthless as those in modern Ukraine , Columbia and Mexico today .
It was a “ war on terror ” where anything and everything was permitted to “ get the job done.
” The young Eric Blair was so disgusted by the experience that when @ @ @ @ @ @ @ middle class life style he had always enjoyed and became , not just an idealistic socialist as many in those days did , but a penniless , starving tramp .
He even abandoned his name and very identity .
He suffered a radical personality collapse : He killed Eric Blair .
He became George Orwell .
Orwell ’ s early famous book “ Down and Out in London and Paris ” is a testament to how much he literally tortured and humiliated himself in those first years back from Burma .
And for @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ate miserably badly , was skinny and ravaged by tuberculosis and other health problems , smoked heavily and denied himself any decent medical care .
His appearance was always abominable .
His friend , the writer Malcolm Muggeridge speculated that Orwell wanted to remake himself as a caricature of a tramp .
The truth clearly was that Orwell never forgave himself for what he did as a young agent of empire in Burma .
Even his literally suicidal decision to go to the most primitive , cold , wet and poverty-stricken corner of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to finish “ 1984 ” in isolation before he died was consistent with the merciless punishments he had inflicted on himself all his life since leaving Burma .
The conclusion is clear : For all the intensity of George Orwell ’ s experiences in Spain , his passion for truth and integrity , his hatred of the abuse of power did not originate from his experiences in the Spanish Civil War .
They all flowed directly from his own actions as an agent of the British Empire in Burma in the 1920s : @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of Truth flowed directly from his experience of working in the Belly of the Beast of the BBC in the early 1940s .
George Orwell spent more than 20 years slowly committing suicide because of the terrible crimes he committed as a torturer for the British Empire in Burma .
We can therefore have no doubt what his horror and disgust would be at what the CIA did under President George W. Bush in its “ Global War on Terror.
” Also , Orwell would identify at once and without hesitation the real @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , Atlanta , Washington and London today , just as he did in the 1930s and 1940s .
Let us therefore reclaim and embrace The Real George Orwell : The cause of fighting to prevent a Third World War depends on it .

The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC), happily amplified by the Public Broadcasting System (PBS) in the United States which carries its World News, continues to pump out its regular dreck about the alleged economic chaos in Russia and the imagined miserable state of the Russian people.
It is all lies of course. Patrick Armstrong‘s authoritative regular updates including his reports on this website are a necessary corrective to such crude propaganda.
But amid all their countless fiascoes and failures in every other field (including the highest per capita death rate from COVID-19 in Europe, and one of the highest in the world) the British remain world leaders at managing global Fake News. As long as the tone remains restrained and dignified, literally any slander will be swallowed by the credulous and every foul scandal and shame can be confidently covered up.
Orwell didn’t know jack shit about the USSR and wrote about the UK’s “liberal” imperial government. But, global anti-communism absorbed him into their movement and the rest is history. — Jeff J. Brown
None of this would have surprised the late, great George Orwell. It is fashionable these days to endlessly trot him out as a zombie (dead but alleged to be living – so that he cannot set the record straight himself) critic of Russia and all the other global news outlets outside the control of the New York and London plutocracies. And it is certainly true, that Orwell, whose hatred and fear of communism was very real, served before his death as an informer to MI-5, British domestic security.
But it was not the Soviet Union, Stalin’s show trials or his experiences with the Trotskyite POUM group in Barcelona and Catalonia during the Spanish Civil War that “made Orwell Orwell” as the Anglo-America Conventional Wisdom Narrative has it. It was his visceral loathing of the British Empire – compounded during World War II by his work for the BBC which he eventually gave up in disgust.
And it was his BBC experiences that gave Orwell the model for his unforgettable Ministry of Truth in his great classic “1984.”
George Orwell had worked in one of the greatest of all world centers of Fake News. And he knew it.
More profoundly, the great secret of George Orwell’s life has been hiding in plain sight for 70 years since he died. Orwell became a sadistic torturer in the service of the British Empire during his years in Burma, modern Myanmar. And as a fundamentally decent man, he was so disgusted by what he had done that he spent the rest of his life not just atoning but slowly and willfully committing suicide before his heartbreakingly premature death while still in his 40s.
The first important breakthrough in this fundamental reassessment of Orwell comes from one of the best books on him. “Finding George Orwell in Burma” was published in 2005 and written by “Emma Larkin”, a pseudonym for an outstanding American journalist in Asia whose identity I have long suspected to be an old friend and deeply respected colleague, and whose continued anonymity I respect.
“Larkin” took the trouble to travel widely in Burma during its repressive military dictatorship and her superb research reveals crucial truths about Orwell. According to his own writings and his deeply autobiographical novel “Burmese Days” Orwell loathed all his time as a British colonial policeman in Burma, modern Myanmar. The impression he systematically gives in that novel and in his classic essay “Shooting an Elephant” is of a bitterly lonely, alienated, deeply unhappy man, despised and even loathed by his fellow British colonialists throughout society and a ludicrous failure at his job.
This was not, however, the reality that “Larkin” uncovered. All surviving witnesses agreed that Orwell – Eric Blair as he then still was – remained held in high regard during his years in the colonial police service. He was a senior and efficient officer. Indeed it was precisely his knowledge of crime, vice, murder and the general underside of human society during his police colonial service while still in his 20s that gave him the street smarts, experience, and moral authority to see through all the countless lies of right and left, of American capitalists and British imperialists as well as European totalitarians for the rest of his life.
The second revelation to throw light on what Orwell had to do in those years comes from one of the most famous and horrifying scenes in “1984.” Indeed, almost nothing even in the memoirs of Nazi death camp survivors has anything like it: That is the scene where “O’Brien”, the secret police officer tortures the “hero” (if he can be called that) Winston Smith by locking his face to a cage in which a starving rat is ready to pounce and devour him if it is opened.
I remember thinking, when I was first exposed to the power of “1984” at my outstanding Northern Irish school, “What kind of mind could invent something as horrific as that?”) The answer was so obvious that I like everyone else missed it entirely.
Orwell did not “invent” or “come up” with the idea as a fictional plot device: It was just a routine interrogation technique used by the British colonial police in Burma, modern Myanmar. Orwell never “brilliantly” invented such a diabolical technique of torture as a literary device. He did not have to imagine it. It was routinely employed by himself and his colleagues. That was how and why the British Empire worked so well for so long. They knew what they were doing. And what they did was not nice at all.
A final step in my enlightenment about Orwell, whose writings I have revered all my life – and still do – was provided by our alarmingly brilliant elder daughter about a decade ago when she too was given “1984” to read as part of her school curriculum. Discussing it with her one day, I made some casual obvious remark that Orwell was in the novel as Winston Smith.
My American-raised teenager then naturally corrected me. “No, Dad, ” she said. “Orwell isn’t Winston, or he’s not just Winston. He’s O’Brien too. O’Brien actually likes Winston. He doesn’t want to torture him. He even admires him. But he does it because it’s his duty.”
She was right, of course.
But how could Orwell the great enemy of tyranny, lies and torture so identify with and understand so well the torturer? It was because he himself had been one.
“Emma Larkin’s” great book brings out that Orwell as a senior colonial police officer in the 1920s was a leading figure in a ruthless war waged by the British imperial authorities against drug and human trafficking crime cartels every bit as vicious and ruthless as those in modern Ukraine, Columbia and Mexico today. It was a “war on terror” where anything and everything was permitted to “get the job done.”
The young Eric Blair was so disgusted by the experience that when he returned home he abandoned the respectable middle class life style he had always enjoyed and became, not just an idealistic socialist as many in those days did, but a penniless, starving tramp. He even abandoned his name and very identity. He suffered a radical personality collapse: He killed Eric Blair. He became George Orwell.
Orwell’s early famous book “Down and Out in London and Paris” is a testament to how much he literally tortured and humiliated himself in those first years back from Burma. And for the rest of his life.
He ate miserably badly, was skinny and ravaged by tuberculosis and other health problems, smoked heavily and denied himself any decent medical care. His appearance was always abominable. His friend, the writer Malcolm Muggeridge speculated that Orwell wanted to remake himself as a caricature of a tramp.
The truth clearly was that Orwell never forgave himself for what he did as a young agent of empire in Burma. Even his literally suicidal decision to go to the most primitive, cold, wet and poverty-stricken corner of creation in a remote island off Scotland to finish “1984” in isolation before he died was consistent with the merciless punishments he had inflicted on himself all his life since leaving Burma.
The conclusion is clear: For all the intensity of George Orwell’s experiences in Spain, his passion for truth and integrity, his hatred of the abuse of power did not originate from his experiences in the Spanish Civil War. They all flowed directly from his own actions as an agent of the British Empire in Burma in the 1920s: Just as his creation of the Ministry of Truth flowed directly from his experience of working in the Belly of the Beast of the BBC in the early 1940s.
George Orwell spent more than 20 years slowly committing suicide because of the terrible crimes he committed as a torturer for the British Empire in Burma. We can therefore have no doubt what his horror and disgust would be at what the CIA did under President George W. Bush in its “Global War on Terror.” Also, Orwell would identify at once and without hesitation the real fake news flowing out of New York, Atlanta, Washington and London today, just as he did in the 1930s and 1940s.
Let us therefore reclaim and embrace The Real George Orwell: The cause of fighting to prevent a Third World War depends on it.


thegreanvillepostbiasrating--2020-05-24--China’s new Crypto-Currency: First Step to Full Dedollarization?

‘ We ’ ll cut off the whole relationship ’ –Trump threatened China in a recent Fox-Business interview , suggesting he may cut diplomatic relations with China and thereby save US $ 500 billion .
He didn ’ t say how , though .
Mr. Trump ’ s anger referred to what he calls China ’ s “ mismanagement ” ( sic ) of the corona crisis .
This is consistent with the new China bashing hard line being pushed by his administration .
“ I ’ m very disappointed in China , ” Trump said during the same Fox @ @ @ @ @ @ @ over and they said no , ” he continued , referring to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention ’ s ( CDC ) February offer of assistance to the virus-stricken city of Wuhan .
“ They didn ’ t want our help .
And I figured that was OK because they must know what they are doing .
So , it was either stupidity , incompetence or deliberate.
” These are strong and unsubstantiated words , since there has never been a clearly documented accusation against China in how precisely China mismanaged @ @ @ @ @ @ @ for the COVID crisis in the US where real mismanagement , corruption , conflict of interest and particularly pharma-interests , competing private vaccine company interests are written all over the wall , the walls of shame , falsifying corona statistics , by falsifying death certificates , paying hospitals for declaring any patient a COVID-patient , even if many of them aren ’ t , and for using ventilators , though it is widely known that ventilators are causing death in 60 % to 80 % of patients .
It is almost certain that @ @ @ @ @ @ @ bio-weapons lab from where it escaped deliberately or by accident and that patient zero was in the US and that the virus was brought to China in one way or another .
President Trump knows it .
He also knows about the real mismanagement of the crisis in his country , the United States .
But he has always been good at self-promoting propaganda and slandering perceived enemies , as long as he thinks it may help him get reelected .
It is obvious that the US China bashing has nothing to do @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of the corona epidemic , but rather with China ’ s bold move a step further away from the dollar-economy , by : First , using the yuan and local currencies boosting trade among the ASEAN+3 countries ( Association of Southeast Asian Nations – Brunei , Cambodia , Indonesia , Laos , Malaysia , Myanmar , the Philippines , Singapore , Thailand , and Vietnam ; plus 3 = Japan , South Korea and China ) .
Monetary transactions will use the CIPS ( Cross-Border Interbank Payment System ) , avoiding the dollar @ @ @ @ @ @ @ mostly to prevent US interference in international monetary transactions and also in response to the United States ’ threat of cutting off Chinese supply chains .
The cutting off supply chains is , of course , sheer bluff , as literally 80 percent-plus of US industries depend in one way or another on supplies from China .
This dependence is particularly significant in medical supplies , where the US depends for 80 % to 90 % on China .
But China is China , and President Xi acted fast calling the bluff and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ an empty cup , since such supply chains are not replaced overnight .
In the first quarter 2020 , ASEAN countries have become China ’ s largest trading partner with 15.1 % , outpacing the European Union ( EU ) .
Trade with South Korea and Japan amounted to another 13.7 % , bringing the total close to 30 % .
Adding China ’ s trade with Russia , another at least 15 % , is getting close to a 50 % tipping point of China ’ s closest partners abandoning commercial transactions @ @ @ @ @ @ @ a new People ’ s Bank of China ( PBC = China ’ s Central Bank ) controlled crypto-currency for international trade , thereby further circumventing the US-dollar and SWIFT controlled international money transfer system which makes all transactions vulnerable to US interference and sanctions .
China ’ s new cyber-money , e-RMB ( Ren Min Bi , meaning People ’ s Money ) , or Yuan , is currently being tested in several Chinese cities , including Shenzhen , Suzhou , Chengdu , and Xiong ’ an .
In these cities it @ @ @ @ @ @ @ for salary payments , public transportation , food and most retail shopping .
The use of digital money is nothing new in China .
Today about 90 % of all monetary transactions are electronic , for example , through WeChat and AliPay , but they do not replace the existing cash currency .
Commodity pricing today , mostly dollarized , will be priced by China in yuan and traded in crypto-yuan .
Yuan pricing for commodities , such as gold , crude oil and iron ore , has already started .
As China @ @ @ @ @ @ @ than the rest of the world , relatively high-returning yuan-denominated investments and commodity assets will become more attractive .
The non-interference factor of a Chinese Central Bank backed crypto-currency is an additional security element that will further boost the Chinese Yuan as a reserve currency .
Already now , countries around the globe are sick and tired of US meddling in their international transactions and especially with US sanctions – that may come at a whim – every time a country demonstrates her sovereignty or disobedience to US dictates .
This leads many @ @ @ @ @ @ @ for fear of sanctions to gradually and quietly divesting their dollar holdings into Chinese yuan .
A tipping point may be reached when about 50 % of world trade and world reserves are denominated in yuan .
At this point it would be likely that the worldwide dollar hegemony will be no more , as it may be displaced by the yuan .
Several leaders of countries were killed for attempting to replace the dollar for trading with other currencies .
For example , Saddam Hussein , for his intent to use the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ riches , and Libya ’ s Gadhafi , when he wanted to introduce the Gold-Dinar as a Pan-African trading currency , thereby freeing Africa from western monetary enslavement .
As we all recall , he was literally lynched by NATO on 20 October 2011 , at the initiative of Hillary Clinton with the strong support of then French President Sarkozy .
By the way , this western monetary stranglehold on Africa prevails to this day – a new-old kind of colonization , nobody in the western mainstream [ media ] reports on .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ has been successfully tested locally it will be launched internationally .
While China ’ s new PBC-backed cyber-currency ’ s internationalization will make the yuan even more attractive among trading partners , and also as a reserve currency , China may simultaneously divest its huge reserves of US Treasury bonds ( about US $ 1.2 trillion ) into purchasing assets abroad paid in US-dollars .
The Belt and Road investments may be a suitable vehicle to reduce dollar holdings at home .
In the current high corona debt-crisis around the world , especially @ @ @ @ @ @ @ consider a program of Debt Jubilee ( debt forgiveness ) to the poorest partner countries which may be already , or potentially be , future Belt and Road associates .
At present and since October 2016 , the Renminbi ( Chinese yuan ) is part of a 5-currency basket at the IMF that constitutes the Special Drawing Rights ( SDR ) , the world ’ s ultimate virtual reserve currency .
The SDR share distribution is US-dollar 41.73 % , euro 30.93 % , Chinese yuan 10.92 % , Japanese yen 8.33 % @ @ @ @ @ @ @ This currency allocation to the SDR [ privileging the Western powers ] is disproportionate with regard to the economic strength of the respective countries , especially China , the world ’ s second largest economy , rapidly moving towards first place .
China may want to vigorously renegotiate with the IMF her currency proportion in the SDR , as well as reviewing country quotas which by now are out-of-line with member countries ’ economic weight .
An IMF capital increase is overdue .
The IMF capital base today is SDR 477 billion ( @ @ @ @ @ @ @ addition , there is the temporary New Arrangement to Borrow ( NAB ) which in January 2020 has been doubled to SDR365 billion ( US $ 475 billion ) , a total resource-base of about US $ 1.15 trillion .
Yet , the IMF already today foresees US $ 1 trillion for additional corona debt lending and debt forgiveness .
Since the NAB is only a temporary arrangement , a quota increase and review ; i.e.
, a proper adjustment for China ’ s economy is more than overdue .
A quota adjustment @ @ @ @ @ @ @ adjustment of the yuan ’ s proportion in the SDR basket would further enhance China ’ s currency vis-à-vis the rest of the world .
This coupled with an incorruptible cryptocurrency controlled by China ’ s Central Bank and possibly backed by gold , would be a formidable reserve currency that most countries would like as their chief reserve asset .
This , of course , is what Washington is afraid of .
It would clearly endanger and probably crush the global US-dollar hegemony .
The world would be a better place for @ @ @ @ @ @ @ bashing and attributing guilt for spreading and mismanaging the corona virus is a sheer farce – a treachery of the world , a deviation of the real reason behind Trump ’ s attempt to demolish China ’ s reputation around the globe , namely by doing so , hoping to destroy the rise of China and the appreciation of the Chinese yuan , and thereby the yuan ’ s attractiveness as an investment currency for most of the rest of the world .
This is pretty similar to the real reason for the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ President Trump , had the objective of ruining the yuan ’ s reputation in the world arena .
To no avail .
Washington eventually quietly and unceremoniously lost the conflict over trade .
Despite Trump ’ s loud declarations to the contrary , the US needs China much more than vice-versa .
Just look at the Chinese supply chain which the west , in particular the US , can not replace overnight .
Under President Xi Jinping ’ s leadership , China has switched gears rather fast .
Preparations to orient towards Asian @ @ @ @ @ @ @ is enhancing relations with Asian markets ; i.e.
, the ASEAN countries , plus Japan and South Korea .
Members of the SCO ( Shanghai Cooperation Organization ) are also a trading market China is already engaged in and may further strengthen it .
The SCO , in addition to China and most of the Central Asian countries , include also Russia , India and Pakistan – and Iran is waiting for imminent admission .
thers , like Malaysia and Mongolia are in observer status and also slanted to become SCO members in @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , ASEAN-plus 3 , amounts to more than half the world population and accounts for more than a third of the world ’ s economic output .
This is a formidable global “ market share ” and will likely increase with every atrocity – military and economic – Washington is committing around the globe .
With her new crypto-currency , which eventually will be internationalized , China is well on her way to fully dedollarize , with the cyber-yuan replacing the US-dollar as the key trading and main reserve currency and to displace @ @ @ @ @ @ @ s financial and economic hegemon .
The current China bashing does not prevent China from forging ahead with her economic activities – trade – and especially the unstoppable Belt and Road Initiative ( BRI ) via maritime and land routes , already counting on 160 partners ( about 120 countries and some 40 multinational organizations ) on four continents .
This revolutionary global development scheme will require trillions of yuans and dollars for investments .
It will also be generating trillions in revenues over time , shared with BRI partners .
All towards @ @ @ @ @ @ @ world moving towards an equilibrium with justice , harmony and peace .

Peter Koenig
CROSSPOST WITH DISSIDENTVOICE.ORG
‘We’ll cut off the whole relationship’ –Trump threatened China in a recent Fox-Business interview, suggesting he may cut diplomatic relations with China and thereby save US$ 500 billion. He didn’t say how, though.
Mr. Trump’s anger referred to what he calls China’s “mismanagement” (sic) of the corona crisis. This is consistent with the new China bashing hard line being pushed by his administration. “I’m very disappointed in China,” Trump said during the same Fox interview. “We asked to go over and they said no,” he continued, referring to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC) February offer of assistance to the virus-stricken city of Wuhan. “They didn’t want our help. And I figured that was OK because they must know what they are doing. So, it was either stupidity, incompetence or deliberate.”
These are strong and unsubstantiated words, since there has never been a clearly documented accusation against China in how precisely China mismanaged the COVID-19 outbreak and is supposedly responsible for the COVID crisis in the US where real mismanagement, corruption, conflict of interest and particularly pharma-interests, competing private vaccine company interests are written all over the wall, the walls of shame, falsifying corona statistics, by falsifying death certificates, paying hospitals for declaring any patient a COVID-patient, even if many of them aren’t, and for using ventilators, though it is widely known that ventilators are causing death in 60% to 80% of patients.
It is almost certain that the virus was created in a US bio-weapons lab from where it escaped deliberately or by accident and that patient zero was in the US and that the virus was brought to China in one way or another. President Trump knows it. He also knows about the real mismanagement of the crisis in his country, the United States. But he has always been good at self-promoting propaganda and slandering perceived enemies, as long as he thinks it may help him get reelected.
It is obvious that the US China bashing has nothing to do with China’s “mismanagement” of the corona epidemic, but rather with China’s bold move a step further away from the dollar-economy, by:
First, using the yuan and local currencies boosting trade among the ASEAN+3 countries (Association of Southeast Asian Nations – Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, and Vietnam; plus 3 = Japan, South Korea and China). Monetary transactions will use the CIPS (Cross-Border Interbank Payment System), avoiding the dollar controlled SWIFT payment scheme. This is mostly to prevent US interference in international monetary transactions and also in response to the United States’ threat of cutting off Chinese supply chains.
The cutting off supply chains is, of course, sheer bluff, as literally 80 percent-plus of US industries depend in one way or another on supplies from China. This dependence is particularly significant in medical supplies, where the US depends for 80% to 90% on China. But China is China, and President Xi acted fast calling the bluff and the US may suddenly stand there with an empty cup, since such supply chains are not replaced overnight.
In the first quarter 2020, ASEAN countries have become China’s largest trading partner with 15.1 %, outpacing the European Union (EU). Trade with South Korea and Japan amounted to another 13.7%, bringing the total close to 30%. Adding China’s trade with Russia, another at least 15%, is getting close to a 50% tipping point of China’s closest partners abandoning commercial transactions in US-dollars.
Second, by launching a new People’s Bank of China (PBC = China’s Central Bank) controlled crypto-currency for international trade, thereby further circumventing the US-dollar and SWIFT controlled international money transfer system which makes all transactions vulnerable to US interference and sanctions.
China’s new cyber-money, e-RMB (Ren Min Bi, meaning People’s Money), or Yuan, is currently being tested in several Chinese cities, including Shenzhen, Suzhou, Chengdu, and Xiong’an. In these cities it has almost universal acceptance; i.e., for salary payments, public transportation, food and most retail shopping.
The use of digital money is nothing new in China. Today about 90% of all monetary transactions are electronic, for example, through WeChat and AliPay, but they do not replace the existing cash currency.
Commodity pricing today, mostly dollarized, will be priced by China in yuan and traded in crypto-yuan. Yuan pricing for commodities, such as gold, crude oil and iron ore, has already started. As China is recovering from the pandemic more quickly than the rest of the world, relatively high-returning yuan-denominated investments and commodity assets will become more attractive.
The non-interference factor of a Chinese Central Bank backed crypto-currency is an additional security element that will further boost the Chinese Yuan as a reserve currency. Already now, countries around the globe are sick and tired of US meddling in their international transactions and especially with US sanctions – that may come at a whim – every time a country demonstrates her sovereignty or disobedience to US dictates. This leads many countries that may not speak out publicly for fear of sanctions to gradually and quietly divesting their dollar holdings into Chinese yuan.
A tipping point may be reached when about 50% of world trade and world reserves are denominated in yuan. At this point it would be likely that the worldwide dollar hegemony will be no more, as it may be displaced by the yuan.
Several leaders of countries were killed for attempting to replace the dollar for trading with other currencies. For example, Saddam Hussein, for his intent to use the euro for trading Iraq’s hydrocarbon riches, and Libya’s Gadhafi, when he wanted to introduce the Gold-Dinar as a Pan-African trading currency, thereby freeing Africa from western monetary enslavement. As we all recall, he was literally lynched by NATO on 20 October 2011, at the initiative of Hillary Clinton with the strong support of then French President Sarkozy. By the way, this western monetary stranglehold on Africa prevails to this day – a new-old kind of colonization, nobody in the western mainstream [media] reports on.
Once the new e-RMB (yuan) has been successfully tested locally it will be launched internationally. While China’s new PBC-backed cyber-currency’s internationalization will make the yuan even more attractive among trading partners, and also as a reserve currency, China may simultaneously divest its huge reserves of US Treasury bonds (about US$1.2 trillion) into purchasing assets abroad paid in US-dollars. The Belt and Road investments may be a suitable vehicle to reduce dollar holdings at home.
In the current high corona debt-crisis around the world, especially the Global South, China may also consider a program of Debt Jubilee (debt forgiveness) to the poorest partner countries which may be already, or potentially be, future Belt and Road associates.
At present and since October 2016, the Renminbi (Chinese yuan) is part of a 5-currency basket at the IMF that constitutes the Special Drawing Rights (SDR), the world’s ultimate virtual reserve currency. The SDR share distribution is US-dollar 41.73%, euro 30.93%, Chinese yuan 10.92%, Japanese yen 8.33% and the British pound 8.09%. This currency allocation to the SDR [privileging the Western powers] is disproportionate with regard to the economic strength of the respective countries, especially China, the world’s second largest economy, rapidly moving towards first place.
China may want to vigorously renegotiate with the IMF her currency proportion in the SDR, as well as reviewing country quotas which by now are out-of-line with member countries’ economic weight. An IMF capital increase is overdue. The IMF capital base today is SDR 477 billion (US$ 677 billion). In addition, there is the temporary New Arrangement to Borrow (NAB) which in January 2020 has been doubled to SDR365 billion (US$ 475 billion), a total resource-base of about US$ 1.15 trillion. Yet, the IMF already today foresees US$ 1 trillion for additional corona debt lending and debt forgiveness. Since the NAB is only a temporary arrangement, a quota increase and review; i.e., a proper adjustment for China’s economy is more than overdue.
A quota adjustment in favor of China and the corresponding adjustment of the yuan’s proportion in the SDR basket would further enhance China’s currency vis-à-vis the rest of the world. This coupled with an incorruptible cryptocurrency controlled by China’s Central Bank and possibly backed by gold, would be a formidable reserve currency that most countries would like as their chief reserve asset. This, of course, is what Washington is afraid of. It would clearly endanger and probably crush the global US-dollar hegemony.
The world would be a better place for it.
Therefore, the current China bashing and attributing guilt for spreading and mismanaging the corona virus is a sheer farce – a treachery of the world, a deviation of the real reason behind Trump’s attempt to demolish China’s reputation around the globe, namely by doing so, hoping to destroy the rise of China and the appreciation of the Chinese yuan, and thereby the yuan’s attractiveness as an investment currency for most of the rest of the world.
This is pretty similar to the real reason for the 2018-2019 US-China trade war, initiated by President Trump, had the objective of ruining the yuan’s reputation in the world arena. To no avail. Washington eventually quietly and unceremoniously lost the conflict over trade. Despite Trump’s loud declarations to the contrary, the US needs China much more than vice-versa. Just look at the Chinese supply chain which the west, in particular the US, cannot replace overnight.
Under President Xi Jinping’s leadership, China has switched gears rather fast. Preparations to orient towards Asian markets are in full swing. China is enhancing relations with Asian markets; i.e., the ASEAN countries, plus Japan and South Korea.
Members of the SCO (Shanghai Cooperation Organization) are also a trading market China is already engaged in and may further strengthen it. The SCO, in addition to China and most of the Central Asian countries, include also Russia, India and Pakistan – and Iran is waiting for imminent admission. thers, like Malaysia and Mongolia are in observer status and also slanted to become SCO members in due course.
The combination of SCO, ASEAN-plus 3, amounts to more than half the world population and accounts for more than a third of the world’s economic output. This is a formidable global “market share” and will likely increase with every atrocity – military and economic – Washington is committing around the globe.
With her new crypto-currency, which eventually will be internationalized, China is well on her way to fully dedollarize, with the cyber-yuan replacing the US-dollar as the key trading and main reserve currency and to displace the United States as the world’s financial and economic hegemon.
The current China bashing does not prevent China from forging ahead with her economic activities – trade – and especially the unstoppable Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) via maritime and land routes, already counting on 160 partners (about 120 countries and some 40 multinational organizations) on four continents. This revolutionary global development scheme will require trillions of yuans and dollars for investments. It will also be generating trillions in revenues over time, shared with BRI partners. All towards a common future for mankind – a world moving towards an equilibrium with justice, harmony and peace.


thegreanvillepostbiasrating--2020-05-24--U.S. Threatens New Nuclear Tests To Push China Into A Treaty It Does Not Want

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DISPATCHES FROM MOON OF ALABAMA , BY `` B '' This article is part of an ongoing series of dispatches from Moon of Alabama The Trump administration is hostile to any agreement that restricts its abilities to build , test and deploy nuclear weapons .
It left the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces ( INF ) agreement which limited nuclear missile deployments in Europe .
It did so after accusing Russia of deploying missiles that exceed @ @ @ @ @ @ @ It has never shown evidence that the assertion was true .
Recently the administration announced that it will leave the Treaty on Open Skies which allowed for mutual reconnaissance flights for its 34 country members .
It accused Russia of having limited U.S. requests for such flights over certain Russian areas .
The Russian government rejected those claims .
The Trump administration is intentionally running out of time to renew the New START Treaty which limits the strategic nuclear platforms deployed by the U.S. and Russia .
The treaty will expire on February @ @ @ @ @ @ @ renew it for five years without any conditions .
The U.S. rejected that .
It says that China must be integrated into the treaty even as that makes no sense at all .
On top of all that Trump is now thinking about breaking the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty which the U.S. has signed but not ratified : The claims that Russia and China conducted low yield testing is almost certainly false and only an excuse to avoid the ratification of the test ban treaty .
The big joke though is that the the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ again test nuclear devices to helpwith the renewing of the New START Treaty : There will be no 'trilateral deal ' .
The U.S. claims it wants to renew the New START Treaty by including China .
But China has absolutely no reason to enter such an agreement .
This graphic by the Arms Control Association explains why : Russia and the U.S. both have some 6,000+ nuclear warheads .
The New START Treaty between the U.S. and Russia limits the numbers of platforms - missiles , bombers and submarines - that each @ @ @ @ @ @ @ weapons to some 1,400 .
China has less than 300 nuclear warheads and even fewer platforms from which those could be launched .
The U.S. claims that China will double the number of its warheads and platforms during the next ten years but there is again zero evidence to support that claim .
It is obvious that the Trump administration is simply using the China card as an excuse to let the New START Treaty run out .
The administrations real hope may be to restart a nuclear arms race .
That is @ @ @ @ @ @ @ The 'threat ' of a new nuclear arms race is made to press Russia to bring China on board of a renewed New Start Treaty : Russia would never `` bring China to the table '' even if it could .
The U.S. and Russia are first class superpowers .
China is n't there yet .
Billingslea 's threat of a new arms race is not credible .
Russia has already preempted such a race by introducing a generation of completely new weapons which the U.S. can not counter at all .
Trump @ @ @ @ @ @ @ will not change that .
Russia will not take part in a new arms race as it already has everything it needs to respond to a U.S. first strike with a counterstrike that is guaranteed to destroy the United States .
This capability is independent from the number of nuclear warheads and launchers the U.S. deploys .
China did not take part in the Cold War arms race .
It always believed that it had sufficient capabilities to threaten the U.S. with a counterstrike no matter what .
That attitude can be discerned @ @ @ @ @ @ @ sign that China 's thinking has changed .
`` Spending the adversary into oblivion '' , as Billingslea 's threatened , is also rumored to have a certain cost .
It is quite doubtful that the U.S. is capable or willing to finance that .
Billingslea is by the way a dangerous nutter .
During the Bush administration he was Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Special Operations and Low Intensity Conflict and the civilian responsible for the war on terror and torture regime conducted by U.S. special operation forces .
If @ @ @ @ @ @ @ fight terrorism , or that nuclear tests can further arms control negotiations , he might also believe that unrealistic threats of an arms race can push China into a treaty it does not want .
In reality neither will work .
But that may well fit Trump 's plans of pushing all arms control regimes into oblivion .
Retreating from arms control regimes has already a high a price even when no new weapons are bought .
With each step the administration has taken in this regard it has won no new capabilities @ @ @ @ @ @ @ its presumed enemies .
The INF , New Start , Test Ban and the Open Skies Treaty all had verification instruments and inspection regimes that allowed all sides to gain insight into the others capabilities and thinking .
In a few years the U.S. will have lost a lot of insight into Russia 's weapons and thinking .
The insecurity created by that may well come back to haunt it .
Posted by b on May 23 , 2020 at 18:00 UTC | Permalink '' b '' is Moon of Alabama 's founding @ @ @ @ @ @ @ site 's purpose is to discuss politics , economics , philosophy and blogger Billmon 's Whiskey Bar writings .
Moon Of Alabama was opened as an independent , open forum for members of the Whiskey Bar community .
Bernhard ) '' b '' ) started and still runs the site .
Once in a while you will also find posts and art from regular commentators .
You can reach the current administrator of this site by emailing Bernhard at MoonofA @ aol.com .
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 @ @ @

Please make sure these dispatches reach as many readers as possible. Share with kin, friends and workmates and ask them to do likewise.
DISPATCHES FROM MOON OF ALABAMA, BY "B"
This article is part of an ongoing series of dispatches from Moon of Alabama
The Trump administration is hostile to any agreement that restricts its abilities to build, test and deploy nuclear weapons.
It left the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces (INF) agreement which limited nuclear missile deployments in Europe. It did so after accusing Russia of deploying missiles that exceed the range the INF treaty allowed. It has never shown evidence that the assertion was true.
Recently the administration announced that it will leave the Treaty on Open Skies which allowed for mutual reconnaissance flights for its 34 country members. It accused Russia of having limited U.S. requests for such flights over certain Russian areas. The Russian government rejected those claims.
The Trump administration is intentionally running out of time to renew the New START Treaty which limits the strategic nuclear platforms deployed by the U.S. and Russia. The treaty will expire on February 5 2021. Russia has offered to renew it for five years without any conditions. The U.S. rejected that. It says that China must be integrated into the treaty even as that makes no sense at all.
On top of all that Trump is now thinking about breaking the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty which the U.S. has signed but not ratified:
The Trump administration has discussed whether to conduct the first U.S. nuclear test explosion since 1992 in a move that would have far-reaching consequences for relations with other nuclear powers and reverse a decades-long moratorium on such actions, said a senior administration official and two former officials familiar with the deliberations. The matter came up at a meeting of senior officials representing the top national security agencies May 15, following accusations from administration officials that Russia and China are conducting low-yield nuclear tests — an assertion that has not been substantiated by publicly available evidence and that both countries have denied.
The claims that Russia and China conducted low yield testing is almost certainly false and only an excuse to avoid the ratification of the test ban treaty.
The big joke though is that the the administration claims that it may need to again test nuclear devices to helpwith the renewing of the New START Treaty:
A senior administration official, who like others spoke on the condition of anonymity to describe the sensitive nuclear discussions, said that demonstrating to Moscow and Beijing that the United States could “rapid test” could prove useful from a negotiating standpoint as Washington seeks a trilateral deal to regulate the arsenals of the biggest nuclear powers.
There will be no 'trilateral deal'. The U.S. claims it wants to renew the New START Treaty by including China. But China has absolutely no reason to enter such an agreement. This graphic by the Arms Control Association explains why:
Russia and the U.S. both have some 6,000+ nuclear warheads. The New START Treaty between the U.S. and Russia limits the numbers of platforms - missiles, bombers and submarines - that each side can use to launch strategic nuclear weapons to some 1,400. China has less than 300 nuclear warheads and even fewer platforms from which those could be launched. The U.S. claims that China will double the number of its warheads and platforms during the next ten years but there is again zero evidence to support that claim.
Why should China, with less nuclear capabilities than France and Britain, join a treaty that would limit its meager capabilities when the U.S. and Russia both have more than twenty times its numbers. That makes no sense at all.
It is obvious that the Trump administration is simply using the China card as an excuse to let the New START Treaty run out.
The administrations real hope may be to restart a nuclear arms race. That is how I interpret this circular argument:
U.S. President Donald Trump’s arms control negotiator on Thursday said the United States is prepared to spend Russia and China “into oblivion” in order to win a new nuclear arms race. “The president has made clear that we have a tried and true practice here. We know how to win these races and we know how to spend the adversary into oblivion. If we have to, we will, but we sure would like to avoid it,” Special Presidential Envoy Marshall Billingslea said in an online presentation to a Washington think tank.
The 'threat' of a new nuclear arms race is made to press Russia to bring China on board of a renewed New Start Treaty:
Marshall Billingslea, who was appointed last month as the president’s special envoy for arms control, said Thursday that he had his first secure phone call with his counterpart in Moscow, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov. Billingslea said they agreed to meet, talk about their objectives and find a way to begin negotiations. “Suffice to say, this won’t be easy. It is new,” Billingslea said, adding that the U.S. fully expects Russia to help bring China to the table.
...
A spokesman for the Chinese Foreign Ministry, Geng Shuang, said in January that China has “no intention to participate” in trilateral arms control negotiations. Billingslea, however, is optimistic that Beijing will want to joint in and be seen as a world power.
Russia would never "bring China to the table" even if it could. The U.S. and Russia are first class superpowers. China isn't there yet.
Billingslea's threat of a new arms race is not credible. Russia has already preempted such a race by introducing a generation of completely new weapons which the U.S. can not counter at all. Trump's relaunch of Reagan's Star Wars will not change that.
Russia will not take part in a new arms race as it already has everything it needs to respond to a U.S. first strike with a counterstrike that is guaranteed to destroy the United States. This capability is independent from the number of nuclear warheads and launchers the U.S. deploys.
China did not take part in the Cold War arms race. It always believed that it had sufficient capabilities to threaten the U.S. with a counterstrike no matter what. That attitude can be discerned from this vignette:
Slightly over a decade ago at a U.S.-Chinese “Track II” meeting in Beijing, American participants were reported to have pressed their Chinese counterparts about the limits of China’s nuclear no-first-use (NFU) commitment. One of them raised the possibility of U.S. conventional strikes against Chinese nuclear forces: what would happen then? Would China adhere to NFU in the strictest sense, or would it use its remaining nuclear weapons to retaliate against a conventional counterforce attack? One of the Chinese participants, a retired senior military official, is said to have responded, “Try it and see.”
There is no sign that China's thinking has changed.
"Spending the adversary into oblivion", as Billingslea's threatened, is also rumored to have a certain cost. It is quite doubtful that the U.S. is capable or willing to finance that.
Billingslea is by the way a dangerous nutter. During the Bush administration he was Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Special Operations and Low Intensity Conflict and the civilian responsible for the war on terror and torture regime conducted by U.S. special operation forces.
If he believes that torture can help to fight terrorism, or that nuclear tests can further arms control negotiations, he might also believe that unrealistic threats of an arms race can push China into a treaty it does not want. In reality neither will work.
But that may well fit Trump's plans of pushing all arms control regimes into oblivion.
Retreating from arms control regimes has already a high a price even when no new weapons are bought. With each step the administration has taken in this regard it has won no new capabilities but lost insight into the capabilities of its presumed enemies. The INF, New Start, Test Ban and the Open Skies Treaty all had verification instruments and inspection regimes that allowed all sides to gain insight into the others capabilities and thinking.
In a few years the U.S. will have lost a lot of insight into Russia's weapons and thinking. The insecurity created by that may well come back to haunt it.
Posted by b on May 23, 2020 at 18:00 UTC | Permalink
Comments Sampler
NOTE ^1000Careerist lackeys serving the elites control the American press. Ever pushing for war and inequality, covering up the oligarchy's crimes... They are in reality shameless disinformers. No wonder the world is in such terrible disarray.
About the author(s) "b" is Moon of Alabama's founding (and chief) editor. This site's purpose is to discuss politics, economics, philosophy and blogger Billmon's Whiskey Bar writings. Moon Of Alabama was opened as an independent, open forum for members of the Whiskey Bar community. Bernhard )"b") started and still runs the site. Once in a while you will also find posts and art from regular commentators. You can reach the current administrator of this site by emailing Bernhard at MoonofA@aol.com.
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.


thegreanvillepostbiasrating--2020-05-24--China’s Move In Hong Kong Illustrates The End Of U.S. Superiority

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DISPATCHES FROM MOON OF ALABAMA , BY `` B '' This article is part of an ongoing series of dispatches from Moon of Alabama ( With some select comments , some downright esoteric . )
Blaming China for the Covid-19 pandemic is false .
But the U.S. will continue to do so as a part of its larger anti-China strategy .
As the U.S. is busy countering the epidemic at home China has already @ @ @ @ @ @ @ now uses the moment to remove an issue the U.S. has long used to harass it .
Hong Kong will finally be liberated from its U.S. supported racists disguised as liberals .
In late 1984 Britain and China signed a formal agreement which approved the 1997 release of Britain 's colony Hong Kong to China .
Britain had to agree to the pact because it had lost the capability to defend the colony .
The Sino British Joint Declaration stipulated that China would create a formal law that would allow Hong Kong to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People 's Republic of China ' is the de facto constitution of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region .
But it is a national law of China adopted by the Chinese National People 's Congress in 1990 and introduced in Hong Kong in 1997 after the British rule ran out .
If necessary the law can be changed .
Chapter II of the Basic Law regulates the relationship between the Central Authorities and the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region .
Article 23 of the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ have to implement certain measures for internal security : Hong Kong has failed to create any of the laws demanded by Article 23 .
Each time its government tried to even partially implement such laws , in 2003 , 2014 and 2019 , protests and large scale riots in the streets of Hong Kong prevented it .
China was always concerned about the foreign directed unrest in Hong Kong but it did not press the issue while it was still depending on Hong Kong for access to money and markets .
In the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ at $ 171 billion while China 's was just 7 times larger at $ 1.200 billion .
Last year Hong Kong 's GDP had nearly doubled to $ 365 billion .
But China 's GDP had grown more than tenfold to $ 14,200 billion , nearly 40 times larger than Hong Kong 's .
Expressed in purchase power parity the divergence is even bigger .
As an economic outlet for China Hong Kong has lost its importance .
Another factor that held China back from deeper meddling in Hong Kong was its concern @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Britain .
But under the Trump administration the U.S. has introduced more and more measures to shackle China 's development .
The Hong Kong Human Rights and Democracy Act passed last year by the U.S. Congress demands that the U.S. government reports on Hong Kong and punishes those who it deems to be human right violators .
The sanctions against Chinese companies and especially Huawei , recently expanded to a total economic blockade of 5G chip deliveries to that company , demonstrate that the U.S. will do anything it can to hinder China @ @ @ @ @ @ @ always been fascinating to me is the irony of the mindset HK protestors .
They have legit grievances about economic injustices but due to their media ( which is just an extension of British tabloid conspiracy sites like the Mirror and Sun or neocon Brit rags like the Economist ) , they wrongly attribute blame to Beijing when they ought to [ blame ] their former British masters .
When they left , they forced China to guarantee that the oligarchs in HK would continue to have full control over land and banking @ @ @ @ @ @ @ British have continued to jack up housing prices and made it nearly impossible for many to live a comfortable life ... '' ( Reader comment ) The Obama administration 's 'pivot to Asia ' was already a somewhat disguised move against China .
The Trump administration 's National Defense Strategy openly declared China a `` strategic competitor using predatory economics to intimidate its neighbors while militarizing features in the South China Sea '' .
The U.S. Marine Corps is being reconfigured into specialized units designed to blockade China 's access to the sea @ @ @ @ @ @ @ U.S. launched against China will now see significant counter moves .
Last year 's violent riots in Hong Kong , cheered on by the borg in Washington DC , have demonstrated that the development in Hong Kong is on a bad trajectory that may endanger China .
There is no longer a reason for China to hold back on countering the nonsense .
Hong Kong 's economy is no longer relevant .
U.S. sanctions are coming independent of what China does or does not do in Hong Kong .
The U.S. military designs @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the laws that Hong Kong was supposed to implement are not forthcoming , China will now create and implement them itself : On May 28 the NPC will vote on a resolution asking its Standing Committee to write the relevant law for Hong Kong .
It is likely to be enacted by promulgation at the end of June .
The law will become part of Annex III of the Basic Law which lists `` National Laws to be Applied in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region '' .
Under the new law the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of student organization , anti-government unions and media in Hong Kong .
The opposition parties will no longer be allowed to have relations with U.S. influence operations .
The U.S. State Department promptly condemned the step : It is not ( yet ? )
The Coming War On China ( video ) but some hapless huffing and puffing that is strong on rhetoric but has little effect .
No U.S. action can prevent China 's government from securing its realm .
Hong Kong is a Chinese city where China 's laws , not @ @ @ @ @ @ @ U.S. seems to believe it can win a cold war with China .
But that understanding is wrong .
On the economic front it is not the U.S. that is winning by decoupling from China but Asia that is decoupling from the U.S. : When the U.S. prohibits companies , which use U.S. software or machines to design and make chips , from selling them to China then those companies will seek to buy such software and machines elsewhere .
When the U.S. tries to hinder China 's access to computer chips , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
Ten years from now it will be the U.S. which will have lost access to the then most modern ones as all of those will come from China .
Already today it is China that dominates global trade .
The chaotic way in which the U.S. handles its Covid crisis is widely observed abroad .
Those who see clearly recognize that it is now China , not the U.S. , that is the responsible superpower .
The U.S. is overwhelmed and will continue to be so for a long time : This @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the talk about a possible “ Cold War 2.0 ” as meaningful or relevant .
If there were to be any sort of “ cold war ” between the United States and China , then U.S. policymakers would still be able credibly to start planning how to manage this complex relationship with China .
But in reality , the options for “ managing ” the core of this relationship are pitifully few , since the central task of whatever U.S. leadership emerges from this Covid nightmare will be to manage the precipitous collapse @ @ @ @ @ @ @ has sat atop of since 1945 .
...
So here in Washington in Spring of 2020 , I say , Let ’ em huff and puff with their new flatulations of childish Sinophobia .
Let them threaten this or that version of a new “ Cold War ” .
Let them compete in elections– if these are to be held– on versions of “ Who can be tougher on China.
” But the cold reality shows that , as Banquo said , “ It is a tale , told by an idiot , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ nothing.
” In his 2003 book After the Empire Emmanuel Todd described why the U.S. was moving towards the loss of its superpower status : The Covid-19 crisis has laid all this bare for everyone to see .
Will the U.S. , as Todd predicted , now have to give up its superpower status ?
Or will it start a big war against China to divert the attention elsewhere and to prove its presumed superiority ?
Posted by b on May 22 , 2020 at 17:41 UTC | Permalink '' b '' is @ @ @ @ @ @ @ chief ) editor .
This site 's purpose is to discuss politics , economics , philosophy and blogger Billmon 's Whiskey Bar writings .
Moon Of Alabama was opened as an independent , open forum for members of the Whiskey Bar community .
Bernhard ) '' b '' ) started and still runs the site .
Once in a while you will also find posts and art from regular commentators .
You can reach the current administrator of this site by emailing Bernhard at MoonofA @ aol.com .
This work is licensed under @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .

Please make sure these dispatches reach as many readers as possible. Share with kin, friends and workmates and ask them to do likewise.
DISPATCHES FROM MOON OF ALABAMA, BY "B"
This article is part of an ongoing series of dispatches from Moon of Alabama
(With some select comments, some downright esoteric.)
Blaming China for the Covid-19 pandemic is false. But the U.S. will continue to do so as a part of its larger anti-China strategy.
As the U.S. is busy countering the epidemic at home China has already defeated it within its borders. It now uses the moment to remove an issue the U.S. has long used to harass it. Hong Kong will finally be liberated from its U.S. supported racists disguised as liberals.
In late 1984 Britain and China signed a formal agreement which approved the 1997 release of Britain's colony Hong Kong to China. Britain had to agree to the pact because it had lost the capability to defend the colony. The Sino British Joint Declaration stipulated that China would create a formal law that would allow Hong Kong to largely govern itself.
The 'Basic Law of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China' is the de facto constitution of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region. But it is a national law of China adopted by the Chinese National People's Congress in 1990 and introduced in Hong Kong in 1997 after the British rule ran out. If necessary the law can be changed.
Chapter II of the Basic Law regulates the relationship between the Central Authorities and the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region. Article 23 of the Basic Law stipulated that Hong Kong will have to implement certain measures for internal security:
The Hong Kong Special Administrative Region shall enact laws on its own to prohibit any act of treason, secession, sedition, subversion against the Central People's Government, or theft of state secrets, to prohibit foreign political organizations or bodies from conducting political activities in the Region, and to prohibit political organizations or bodies of the Region from establishing ties with foreign political organizations or bodies.
Hong Kong has failed to create any of the laws demanded by Article 23. Each time its government tried to even partially implement such laws, in 2003, 2014 and 2019, protests and large scale riots in the streets of Hong Kong prevented it.
China was always concerned about the foreign directed unrest in Hong Kong but it did not press the issue while it was still depending on Hong Kong for access to money and markets.
In the year 2000 Hong Kong's GDP stood at $171 billion while China's was just 7 times larger at $1.200 billion. Last year Hong Kong's GDP had nearly doubled to $365 billion. But China's GDP had grown more than tenfold to $14,200 billion, nearly 40 times larger than Hong Kong's. Expressed in purchase power parity the divergence is even bigger. As an economic outlet for China Hong Kong has lost its importance.
Another factor that held China back from deeper meddling in Hong Kong was its concern about negative consequences from the U.S. and Britain. But under the Trump administration the U.S. has introduced more and more measures to shackle China's development. The Hong Kong Human Rights and Democracy Act passed last year by the U.S. Congress demands that the U.S. government reports on Hong Kong and punishes those who it deems to be human right violators. The sanctions against Chinese companies and especially Huawei, recently expanded to a total economic blockade of 5G chip deliveries to that company, demonstrate that the U.S. will do anything it can to hinder China's economic success.
"What has always been fascinating to me is the irony of the mindset HK protestors. They have legit grievances about economic injustices but due to their media (which is just an extension of British tabloid conspiracy sites like the Mirror and Sun or neocon Brit rags like the Economist), they wrongly attribute blame to Beijing when they ought to [blame] their former British masters. When they left, they forced China to guarantee that the oligarchs in HK would continue to have full control over land and banking interests. These corrupt servants of the British have continued to jack up housing prices and made it nearly impossible for many to live a comfortable life..." (Reader comment)
The Obama administration's 'pivot to Asia' was already a somewhat disguised move against China. The Trump administration's National Defense Strategy openly declared China a "strategic competitor using predatory economics to intimidate its neighbors while militarizing features in the South China Sea".
The U.S. Marine Corps is being reconfigured into specialized units designed to blockade China's access to the sea:
Thus, small Marine forces would deploy around the islands of the first island chain and the South China Sea, each element having the ability to contest the surrounding air and naval space using anti-air and antiship missiles. Collectively, these forces would attrite Chinese forces, inhibit them from moving outward, and ultimately, as part of a joint campaign, squeeze them back to the Chinese homeland.
The 'Cold War 2.0' the U.S. launched against China will now see significant counter moves.
Last year's violent riots in Hong Kong, cheered on by the borg in Washington DC, have demonstrated that the development in Hong Kong is on a bad trajectory that may endanger China.
There is no longer a reason for China to hold back on countering the nonsense. Hong Kong's economy is no longer relevant. U.S. sanctions are coming independent of what China does or does not do in Hong Kong. The U.S. military designs are now an obvious threat.
As the laws that Hong Kong was supposed to implement are not forthcoming, China will now create and implement them itself:
The central government is to table a resolution on Friday to enable the apex of its top legislative body, the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress (NPC), to craft and pass a new national security law tailor-made for Hong Kong, it announced late on Thursday. Sources earlier told the Post the new law would proscribe secessionist and subversive activity as well as foreign interference and terrorism in the city – all developments that had been troubling Beijing for some time, but most pressingly over the past year of increasingly violent anti-government protests.
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According to a mainland source familiar with Hong Kong affairs, Beijing had come to the conclusion that it was impossible for the city’s Legislative Council to pass a national security law to enact Article 23 of the city’s Basic Law given the political climate. This was why it was turning to the NPC to take on the responsibility.
On May 28 the NPC will vote on a resolution asking its Standing Committee to write the relevant law for Hong Kong. It is likely to be enacted by promulgation at the end of June. The law will become part of Annex III of the Basic Law which lists "National Laws to be Applied in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region".
Under the new law the U.S. will have to stop its financing of student organization, anti-government unions and media in Hong Kong. The opposition parties will no longer be allowed to have relations with U.S. influence operations.
The U.S. State Department promptly condemned the step:
Hong Kong has flourished as a bastion of liberty. The United States strongly urges Beijing to reconsider its disastrous proposal, abide by its international obligations, and respect Hong Kong’s high degree of autonomy, democratic institutions, and civil liberties, which are key to preserving its special status under U.S. law. Any decision impinging on Hong Kong’s autonomy and freedoms as guaranteed under the Sino-British Joint Declaration and the Basic Law would inevitably impact our assessment of One Country, Two Systems and the status of the territory. We stand with the people of Hong Kong.
It is not (yet?) The Coming War On China (video) but some hapless huffing and puffing that is strong on rhetoric but has little effect. No U.S. action can prevent China's government from securing its realm. Hong Kong is a Chinese city where China's laws, not U.S. dollars, are supreme.
The U.S. seems to believe it can win a cold war with China. But that understanding is wrong.
On the economic front it is not the U.S. that is winning by decoupling from China but Asia that is decoupling from the U.S.:
Since the US-China tech war began in April 2018 with Washington’s ban on chip exports to China’s ZTE Corporation, “de-Americanization of supply chains” has been the buzzword in the semiconductor industry. Taiwan, Vietnam, Thailand and Indonesia purchased about 50% more Chinese products in April 2020 than they did in the year-earlier month. Japan and Korea showed 20% gains. Exports to the US rose year-on-year, but from a very low 2019 base. China’s imports from Asia also rose sharply.
When the U.S. prohibits companies, which use U.S. software or machines to design and make chips, from selling them to China then those companies will seek to buy such software and machines elsewhere. When the U.S. tries to hinder China's access to computer chips, China will build its own chip industry. Ten years from now it will be the U.S. which will have lost access to the then most modern ones as all of those will come from China. Already today it is China that dominates global trade.
The chaotic way in which the U.S. handles its Covid crisis is widely observed abroad. Those who see clearly recognize that it is now China, not the U.S., that is the responsible superpower. The U.S. is overwhelmed and will continue to be so for a long time:
This is why I don’t see the talk about a possible “Cold War 2.0” as meaningful or relevant. If there were to be any sort of “cold war” between the United States and China, then U.S. policymakers would still be able credibly to start planning how to manage this complex relationship with China. But in reality, the options for “managing” the core of this relationship are pitifully few, since the central task of whatever U.S. leadership emerges from this Covid nightmare will be to manage the precipitous collapse of the globe-circling empire the United States has sat atop of since 1945.
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So here in Washington in Spring of 2020, I say, Let ’em huff and puff with their new flatulations of childish Sinophobia. Let them threaten this or that version of a new “Cold War”. Let them compete in elections– if these are to be held– on versions of “Who can be tougher on China.” But the cold reality shows that, as Banquo said, “It is a tale, told by an idiot, full of sound and fury, signifying nothing.”
In his 2003 book After the Empire Emmanuel Todd described why the U.S. was moving towards the loss of its superpower status:
Todd calmly and straightforwardly takes stock of many negative trends, including America's weakened commitment to the socio-economic integration of African Americans, a bulimic economy that increasingly relies on smoke and mirrors and the goodwill of foreign investors, and a foreign policy that squanders the country's reserves of "soft power" while its militaristic arsonist-fireman behavior is met with increasing resistance.
The Covid-19 crisis has laid all this bare for everyone to see.
Will the U.S., as Todd predicted, now have to give up its superpower status? Or will it start a big war against China to divert the attention elsewhere and to prove its presumed superiority?
Posted by b on May 22, 2020 at 17:41 UTC | Permalink
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