Alibaba’s Jack Ma has warned that the ongoing US-China trade war could last at least 20 years. As we’ll see, it’s actually more like 30 – up to 2049, the 100th anniversary of the foundation of the People’s Republic of China (PRC). Steve Bannon always boasted that President Trump was bound to conduct a “sophisticated …
Continue reading Here Comes the 30-Year Trade War
China will soon operate the Israeli port of Haifa if everything goes according to plan. Haaretz reported on a conference late last month in Israel where the former navy chief of staff and chairman of the Atomic Energy Commission Shaul Horev warned about China’s forthcoming management of the strategic port of Haifa. The deal was agreed …
Continue reading The Brouhaha Over China’s Haifa Deal Highlights Israel’s “Deep State” Divisions
The “Taiwan Allies International Protection and Enhancement Initiative” jointly proposed by Senators Marco Rubio and three others threatens the US’ partners with the downgrading of bilateral relations and possible suspension of aid if they dare to recognize Beijing as the legitimate government of China and join its One Belt One Road (OBOR) global vision of …
Continue reading The TAIPEI Act Shows Just How Scared the US Is of OBOR
The Mainstream Media has been propagating the narrative that China’s only interest in “Global South” countries is to deviously ensnare them in so-called “debt traps” so that it can squeeze territorial concessions out of them afterwards such as was the case with Sri Lanka, but the fact that China is curtailing its investment in Ethiopia …
Continue reading The Anti-OBOR Narrative Just Hit Peak Cognitive Dissonance Over Ethiopia
The dogs of war – cold, hot, trade, tariffs – bark while the Chinese caravan plies the New Silk Roads. Call it a leitmotif of the young 21st century. At the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC) in Beijing, President Xi Jinping has just announced a hefty US$60 billion package to complement another US$60 billion pledged …
Continue reading It’s Africa’s Choice: AFRICOM or the New Silk Roads
The New Silk Roads, formerly One Belt One Road, then Belt and Road Initiative, were launched almost five years ago by President Xi Jinping, first in Astana (the Silk Road Economic Belt) and then in Jakarta (the Maritime Silk Road). Way beyond the acronym purgatory – and the “lost in translation” factor that neither name …
Continue reading The New Silk Roads Are Just Pieces in a Giant Puzzle
Imagine the Chinese leadership out of the public eye for nearly two weeks – virtually holed up, immersed in a secret debate. That is exactly what just happened at Beidaihe, the beach resort in eastern Hebei province. While there might be James Bond-ish conspiracy theories out there for this annual ritual, there are no doubts …
Continue reading Sun Tzu and the Art of Fighting a Trade War
It has been described as China’s ‘Private Army.’ Fueled by growing demand from domestic companies involved in the multi-trillion-dollar Belt and Road Initiative, independent security groups are expanding in the country. In 2013, there were 4,000-registered firms, employing more than 4.3 million personnel. By 2017, the figure had jumped to 5,000 with staff numbers hovering …
Continue reading China’s ‘Private Army’ Prowls the ‘New Silk Road’
The creeping revival of last year’s Donglang/Doklam Drama proves that China did in fact make a dummy out of India at the time, but that India had in turn made a dummy out of the rest of the world by keeping up the charade that it got China to back down, the narrative of which …
Continue reading Donglang/Doklam 2.0: Did China Make a Dummy Out of India?
