The Great Game Changer: Belt and Road Intiative (BRI; OBOR)

[Aepsilons]

I wasn't talking about military actions, to bring America to his knees one has to look at the possible options on the table without destroying the whole planet by the 3 mightiest countries pen pal

Still, it will be impossible to bring her on wounded knee , my friend. Their lifeline is on the global merchant fleet....

Eurasian link will be China's and Russia's testament, but even that alone cannot disrupt American economic clout.

It requires more than that, to be honest.

 

[terranMarine]

Still, it will be impossible to bring her on wounded knee , my friend. Their lifeline is on the global merchant fleet....

Eurasian link will be China's and Russia's testament, but even that alone cannot disrupt American economic clout.

It requires more than that, to be honest.

It's not just the Eurasian link, it's also not just China eclipsing US as the world's biggest economy in the near future. There are many factors involved in the grand plan. Patience my friend, piece by piece the visualization will emerge as long you know where to look for it.

 

[Aepsilons]

It's not just the Eurasian link, it's also not just China eclipsing US as the world's biggest economy in the near future. There are many factors involved in the grand plan. Patience my friend, piece by piece the visualization will emerge as long you know where to look for it.

I welcome the rise of China, it is inevitable, however I believe that the interests of China not necessarily be antithetical to that of America's. Both have mutually inclusive interests and both prove to be guarantors of development especially in the developing world.

I appreciate China in that she has largely stayed away from crisis regions in the world, unlike the Russians who have a direct interest in Syria now and are openly taking part in conflict.

China, on the other hand, provides economic support on all parties. I think that is a much more productive stance, less interventionalistic and enables any sovereign nation to settle and sort out their internal affairs independently.

Intervention only becomes necessary when interests are attacked directly. I think Japan shares that same position.

 

[ahojunk]

I think the Americans are worried about the silk road , it's the key to economic development and trade for China, Central Asia, Iran, Russia all the way to Europe. We know the game the Americans are trying to play here with that kind of article, Yankees must think Russians are idiots. Sanctions didn't work on Russia so now they want to use propaganda to separate our growing ties.

Agree. The OBOR is also about security.

Well tough luck, nobody is falling for such a cheap trick. The Sino-Russo ultimate tag team will bring that warmonger to his knees.

Disagree. I don't like war mongering stuff.

I wasn't talking about military actions, to bring America to his knees one has to look at the possible options on the table without destroying the whole planet by the 3 mightiest countries

I am glad you clarified your position.

 

[CAPRICORN-88]

China’s assiduous courting of former Soviet Central Asian nations is stirring apprehension among Russia’s leaders
PUBLISHED: 28 December, 2015
Source: South China Morning Post / The Washington Post

If I did not viewed a documentary aired by Channel News, Singapore recently I may actually believe all these negative tall tales invented by Western journalists are true.

In fact, Washington has every reason to be alarmed as the new infra-structure as well growth along the Silk Route is unprecedented and is getting more and more vibrant by the day.

Historically the people in these nations have strong cultural ties and bond with both Russia and China. Most importantly is they are getting richer and they are independent. So for Western journalist to allege that they are mere puppets of Russia and China is a load of nonsense.

I think this is precisely why Alibaba took over SCMP.

“Some have suggested that ownership by Alibaba will compromise the SCMP’s editorial independence,” said Alibaba’s Executive Vice Chairman Joseph C. Tsai said in a letter to SCMP readers. “This CRITICISM reflects a BIAS of its own, as if to say newspaper owners must espouse certain views, while those that hold opposing views are ‘UNFIT,'” he said.

“We think the world needs a PLURALITY of views when it comes to China coverage. China’s rise as an economic power and its importance to world stability is too important for there to be a singular thesis.”

 

[Kaniska]

Russia will strike back.

I doubt..One good thing about China is that it does not intervene in your political affair...That is the strength of China....And China offers lot of value additional in terms of economy to its friends...Unlike Russia which does not have the strength of China in terms of economics..

 

[CAPRICORN-88]

China and Russia never really liked each other.
If the US wouldnt exists they would kill each other in no time.

That is an Indian troll's fantasy and dream.

Who knows, If USA did not existed, Russia and China may be the greatest among friends? You do not agree. Hahaha

But you can't dwell on askew hypothesis, can you?

The reality is USA, Russia and China are all military superpowers today. One can just as easily says that it was in fact shit-stirrer Obama's USA that pushed Russia closer to China and China closer to China e.g. Ukraine, Asia pivotal. Why complain? That is why there is video that suggested that Pentagon is revolting against Obama administration.

Today China and Russia do not have any territorial border dispute as they are all water under the bridge and settled. They have a lot more in common, they discovered. They are in fact strategic military partners.

EXAMPLE:
Russia, China Sign Satellite Navigation Agreement
February 10, 2015

Russia and China have signed a cooperation agreement on satellite navigation, a Russian Space Agency spokesperson told RIA Novosti on Tuesday.

Roscosmos chief Igor Komarov met with Xu Dazhe, the leader of China’s National Space Administration, on an official visit in Beijing.

“The first provision to set up a committee and a protocol were signed during the first working session. Igor Komarov and Xu Dazhe discussed issues of bilateral cooperation in the field of electronic components for rocket construction and building rocket engines,” the spokesperson said.

A Russian-Chinese committee on satellite navigation was established in October 2014 at the meeting between Russia’s Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Rogozin and his Chinese counterpart, Wang Yang.

In November, China North Industries Corporation (NORINCO) and the Russian GLONASS nonprofit partnership agreed to establish a joint venture to promote worldwide services based on GLONASS and BeiDou.

Russia and China also recently completed joint reconnaissance for the placement of GLONASS differential correction and monitoring stations in the Chinese cities of Urumqi and Changchun. Each country is expected to accommodate three such facilities.

USA and NATO sanction against Russia did not work because of China.

In event of a conflict, USA's embargo or cut-off of energy resources to China thru' SCS will also not work because of secured energy oil-pipe supplies from Russia and Central Asia to China.

 

[TaiShang]

Upon realising their grave misjudgement Western MSM tries hard to denigrate the partnership between China and Russia by bringing up the 'A Chinese annexation of Siberia is immiment' myth, for instance. The same media outlets also love to pick on China's territorial disputes and 'rising nationalism' without uttering a word about the fact that the historical differences between Beijing and the Kremlin have been solved long before, a milestone in China's and Russia's foreign policy and the US had nothing to do with it.

The problem with this attitude is, their regime propaganda machine is not that almighty anymore. There are alternatives where people learn the unbiased and non-manipulated truth.

Like, @Chinese-Dragon said, there were minor border dispute as well as, prior to that, some ideological differences (sort of in-camp disagreement), but those small roadblocks have already been overcome. Also remember, even the ideological struggle between the two was within the same ideological umbrella. So, that was, by nature, no different from the in-fighting between Italian Communist Party and Moscow in the 1920s/30s.

This is the progressive Marxian nature; it is different from that of reactionary and ahistorical right-wing ideologies that are always more unified and act as a bloc.

China and Russia have overcome this Marxian/leftist tendency by fully embracing geopolitical realism and critical thinking.

Why should Russia care about trade of the CA countries? They have the right to trade with anyone they want. Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan - are Russian military allies in the CSTO. Russian military bases located there. China is not intended to drive out the Russian militaries and replace them with Chinese ones - so we have no reason for conflict.

Exactly, in fact，China is very comfortable to interact within the framework of the SCO and has no interest in replacing Russian military presence with its own.

I think the Americans are worried about the silk road , it's the key to economic development and trade for China, Central Asia, Iran, Russia all the way to Europe. We know the game the Americans are trying to play here with that kind of article, Yankees must think Russians are idiots. Sanctions didn't work on Russia so now they want to use propaganda to separate our growing ties. Well tough luck, nobody is falling for such a cheap trick. The Sino-Russo ultimate tag team will bring that warmonger to his knees.

Very well said!

I believe that the interests of China not necessarily be antithetical to that of America's.

Better think deeply about Japan and further improving China-Japan relations, my friend. US is an old story to us all in this region.

We just need to manage them.

Both have mutually inclusive interests and both prove to be guarantors of development especially in the developing world.

Economically, no. Militarily, no. So, no mutual interests in the developing world. We have mutual interests, say, with Japan or Korea in the developing world. And we cooperate. With US? No. They are mostly a militarized country with very little diplomatic flexibility. We cannot work with them in the developing world. We have never worked, in fact. Yours is just sugar-coating the bitter reality, my friend. Let's not mistake someone else's own interests for ours.

I appreciate China in that she has largely stayed away from crisis regions in the world, unlike the Russians who have a direct interest in Syria now and are openly taking part in conflict.

Russia is ending the conflict, in my view. Not taking part in it. This is also a favor to China, because it is pounding certain elements that China would love to see annihilated.

 

[Red Wolf]

If I did not viewed a documentary aired by Channel News, Singapore recently I may actually believe all these negative tall tales invented by Western journalists are true.

In fact, Washington has every reason to be alarmed as the new infra-structure as well growth along the Silk Route is unprecedented and is getting more and more vibrant by the day.

Historically the people in these nations have strong cultural ties and bond with both Russia and China. Most importantly is they are getting richer and they are independent. So for Western journalist to allege that they are mere puppets of Russia and China is a load of nonsense.

I think this is precisely why Alibaba took over SCMP.

“Some have suggested that ownership by Alibaba will compromise the SCMP’s editorial independence,” said Alibaba’s Executive Vice Chairman Joseph C. Tsai said in a letter to SCMP readers. “This CRITICISM reflects a BIAS of its own, as if to say newspaper owners must espouse certain views, while those that hold opposing views are ‘UNFIT,'” he said.

“We think the world needs a PLURALITY of views when it comes to China coverage. China’s rise as an economic power and its importance to world stability is too important for there to be a singular thesis.”

Central Asian nations are free to pick their allies. However, a few facts remain:

1. China and Russia are interested in Central Asia for the long term.
2. China is flushed with cash while Russia is running on fumes.
3. If China is to fulfill its potential, it will need to secure a lot of natural resources. We're talking 1 billion people here.
4. China is not exclusively betting on Central Asia. Its doing big business in Africa, America, etc.

All news sources have some bias and its reflected in their editorial. SCMP is no different.

 

[TaiShang]

I would like to pool information on the connectivity and cooperation projects related to China One Belt One Road strategy on this thread.

I also wish not only to dedicate time to material developments, but also to conceptual developments (Eurasianism as opposed to Atlanticism) that arises from this material basis in a true Marxian sense.

Welcome to share and opine.

***

China-Europe fast rail brings mutual benefit
Xinhua, January 2, 2016


Trains made nearly 180 round trips between Chengdu, capital of southwest China's Sichuan Province and Lodz, Poland, in the last two and a half years.

Since 2013, three trains a week have made the 9,826 kilometer trip on the Chengdu-Europe fast rail, reaching Poland via Kazakhstan, Russia and Belarus.

"Commodities are transported to Europe within 15 days," said Xu Pingfu, vice director of the Chengdu logistics office. "It is the fastest freight railway between China and Europe."

Around 300 trains will ply the route in 2016, which will extend to Hamburg in Germany and Tilburg in the Netherlands. Commodities from coastal cities like Shanghai, Shenzhen and Xiamen are transported to Chengdu and from there to Europe because of the line's low cost and high reliability.

"The price of transporting commodities on the Chengdu-Europe line is one fifth of the air freight cost, and it is three times faster than shipping," said Xu.

Chengdu will spend a total of 1.9 billion yuan (300 million US dollars) in the next three years building China's largest international railway port, said Chen Zhongwei, director of Chengdu logistics office.

Many leading exporters are considering moving to Chengdu for these reasons, according to Chen.

"We aim to be the pivot between Europe and Pan-Asia by building international railways and establishing a European commodity distribution center in the next three years," Chen said.

***

@Chinese-Dragon , @vostok , @Shotgunner51, @Beast , @TianyaTaiwan , @bobsom , @Economic superpower , @AndrewJin , @senheiser , @russiarussia , @xunzi , @ahojunk , @cirr , @Hu Songshan , @waz , @Horus , @Edison Chen , @powastick , @Daniel808 , @cnleio , @tranquilium , @dy1023 , @Yizhi @Arryn , @CAPRICORN-88 , @Nihonjin1051 , @Gotterdammerung, et al.

 

[TaiShang]

China's Central Economic Work Conference, Pax Sinica and the global order
January 2, 2016

Another gamesmanship[By Zhai Haijun/China.org.cn]



A curious little essay appeared in the New York Times. It was entitled "Cracks in the Liberal Order" by Ross Douthat, and it talked about how the post-Cold war order had been shaken during 2015, and how Pax Americana was a dying concept.

According to Douthat, the liberal order had survived some brutal attacks and various setbacks in the last quarter of a century, including, most importantly, the rise of China, the "dot com bust," the 9/11 terrorist incident and the rise of Islamism as an ideology drawing mindless and disillusioned youth from the West, while, funnily enough, their Middle East counterparts are flocking West in search of a liberal life free from societal constraints they'd been experiencing.

Douthat argues that no ideology had been able to shake the foundations of the world order until now. So, what is the reason?

The writer believes it is the rise of Populist parties, both economical tra-left and ultra-right, in Europe, and the rise of nativist economically jingoistic ultra-nationalism in West, combined with the Islamic jihad, and the rise of "Putinism."

Ironically, Ross chose to write this article in the same week China's Central Economic Work Conference was held in Beijing, which he totally failed to mention. From a statement, it appears China will focus on five tasks in 2016: cutting industrial capacity, reducing the housing stock, cutting official debt, lowering corporate costs and improving various weak system links.

A CNTV analysis mentioned the government will focus on the biggest poverty reduction endeavor, improve technological advancement and foster emerging sectors. It also stated that to stimulate growth, an overhaul will be undertaken to prevent the supply glut, and resolve industrial overcapacity.

Like supply side reforms across the world in the 1980s, Chinese administrators vowed to cut down and streamline factors causing sluggish growth, which will please foreign investors.

The Douthat analysis, meanwhile, also ignores the start of the AIIB and that the RMB was recognized as a global currency. The China-backed Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank was formally established and is expected to be operational early in 2016 as the bank's 17 founding members ratified an agreement. The bank is about to hold its opening ceremony in January and elect its president.

The mainstreaming of the Chinese currency, and the recognition of the Yuan as a global currency signifies, more than anything, the economic health of China on which world hopes are pinned. These economic factors, more than anything, should signify the liberal fundamental economic order is healthy and is actually much more inclusive that it was decade earlier.

If one glosses over the economic argument, one will realize, the Douthat analysis is not as much a lament of the world order passing, as a lament over the loss of Pax Americana. However, these have never been the same, and it was a mistake to even think they were. The order itself is not dying, and world is not descending into total disorder, just mutating.

The threats to the order are not suicidal. The populist parties in Europe and U.S. are all rallying against loss of sovereignty and micromanagement in the EU, and it's really economic sovereignty that has a direct correlation with job losses in Europe. All the anti-migrant rage is really over this, more than societal.

If one looks at the other side of the ocean, both the Republicans and Democrats are running on a Nativist anti-trade agreement, as the chief argument is, again, related to Asian giants stealing American jobs.

In the Middle East and Africa, masses are fleeing towards an imagined better future, leaving a dark, stagnated continent where the economic future is bleak. The generational jihadis in the West are a bunch of depressed lost boys and girls who never saw proper jobs and have never taken responsibility for their lives.

In the sea of civilization, the eventual tide changed from Pax Britannica to Pax Americana quite smoothly after WWII. In Asia, perhaps we'll see a Pax Sinica in the future, only time will tell. However, what one can welcome is there's no great power, and certainly not China and/or India is rising up with a declared goal of destabilizing the established order.

China's recent Central Economic Work Conference is a testimony of that mainstreaming and burden sharing of global economy. American analysts in the 1990s constantly asked China to be a part of responsible global citizenry, with shared economic prosperity, and they should now welcome the prospect when it is actually approaching reality, rather than lamenting a loss of alleged global hegemony.

 

[54ptu]

China‘s influence will naturally grow, Russia knows best it cannot just keep China out of this region by simply asking politely. We are talking about one of the best geopolitical players here, not some amateur like India who has the habit of running around making unreasonable demands.

Besides，China and Russia have much bigger common interest in CA like cleanse the region of pan-turkism.

 

[Force Awakens]

I doubt..One good thing about China is that it does not intervene in your political affair...That is the strength of China....And China offers lot of value additional in terms of economy to its friends...Unlike Russia which does not have the strength of China in terms of economics..

Agree with you.

 

[TaiShang]

Excerpts from the first rescript the first Ming emperor Hongwu (r. 1368–98) sent to Japan in 1369:

“In the past, when the emperors ruled the tianxia, all who were lit by the sun and moon, whether
near or far, were treated with impartiality. Thus with Zhongguo stable and peaceful, [the countries
in] all four directions were in their proper places and there was no intention to make them submit
(to Zhongguo).… We are bringing mutual peace and calm to all countries far and near so that
the good fortunes of peace may be enjoyed by all.”

 

[CAPRICORN-88]

Central Asian nations are free to pick their allies. However, a few facts remain:

1. China and Russia are interested in Central Asia for the long term.
2. China is flushed with cash while Russia is running on fumes.
3. If China is to fulfill its potential, it will need to secure a lot of natural resources. We're talking 1 billion people here.
4. China is not exclusively betting on Central Asia. Its doing big business in Africa, America, etc.

All news sources have some bias and its reflected in their editorial. SCMP is no different.

As a matter of facts, the hinterland nations in Central Asia can’t escape the influence of both Russia and China whether they like it or not.

1. Yes. You are right Russia and China are interested in these nations today. That is because of the USA. USA uses their intelligence services to stir shits in these nations thru’ the NGO, dissidents.

USA pays lots and lots of money to Kyrgyzstan to secure the right to build a military base there on the pretext of supplying the forces in Afghanistan. All of the sudden, protests and demonstrations in this generally peaceful state started to appear. Both Russia and China felt threatened as it is in their backyards e.g. China intelligence has solid evidences that USA use Central Asia to infiltrate Xinjiang. Let us not forget who started the AL QAEDA, ISIS or even armed them.

That is why the Shanghai Cooperation Organization was formed to counter the influence of USA. It WORKS. In 2014 USA was forced to vacate the military base.

2. Whether China or Russia is flushed with cash or fumes has nothing to do with the geopolitical equation. The economies of Central Asia did not contributing much to both the economies of China or Russia anyway. But by securing the contract on the natural resources it is killing two birds with one stone.

3. Both China and Russia are blessed with natural resources. Look at the import numbers of China recently, they are falling. That is because both Russia and China are beginning to tap on their own resources at home. They are not alone. USA is exporting OIL for the first time. So countries like Australia, etc better watch out or mind their language, their words or their foreign policies e.g. FON in S.C.S, ADIZ in the Far East, (which has nothing to do with them except to support USA)etc

4. One thing for sure, the OBOR initiative will bring about prosperity to these nations and peace can be ensured in that way.

Yes. You are right most news sources especially in the West produced biased news articles against what is perceived as their enemies by their master. So what is wrong with Chinese acquiring these news media to counter the propaganda of the West? Why are they so alarm?