Showing posts with label USA. Show all posts
Showing posts with label USA. Show all posts

Friday, February 17, 2023

Washington is fueling Ukraine’s ambitions to attack Russian territory


A Russian warship arrives in the port of Sevastopol in Russia’s Crimea. © Sputnik / Russia’s Defense Ministry

Source: RT

The US has again confirmed its direct involvement in the conflict between Moscow and Kiev, the Russian Embassy in Washington has claimed. The statement came after US Deputy Secretary of State for Political Affairs Victoria Nuland said Russian military sites in Crimea were “legitimate targets” for Ukraine, and that her country was “supporting” strikes on them.

Nuland “has admitted that the [Biden] administration is fueling the ambitions of the Kiev regime to attack our country,” the Russian Embassy argued in a statement on Friday.

The words of the high-ranking American official were “clear confirmation of Russia’s position that the US is directly involved in the conflict” between Moscow and Kiev, it said.

The statement added that Washington is not just using rhetoric but is also taking “concrete actions” by supplying modern weapons and advising Ukrainian military leaders, and that “de facto, they plan operations together.”

Citing American and Ukrainian officials, the Washington Post reported last week that Kiev’s forces would not fire a single shot from artillery systems provided by the US without first confirming the coordinates of the target with the Americans.

“Inciting Kiev criminals to attack Crimea is the same as pushing them to attack Moscow or Vladivostok,” the embassy insisted, adding that Russia would defend its territory in any case.

Crimea overwhelmingly voted to reunite with Russia in 2014 after a violent coup in Kiev. Ukraine still views the peninsula as part of its territory, with the US sharing that stance.

In her interview on Thursday with American think tank the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, Nuland said the US believes that Kiev is “owed and due all of their territory within their international borders,” including Crimea. “Ukraine is not going to be safe unless Crimea is – at a minimum, at a minimum – demilitarized,” she asserted, adding that the Biden administration backed Kiev’s attempts to target the peninsula.

Washington’s support for attacks on Crimea is “an undisguised manifestation of the bellicose attitude of the US towards our country,” the Russian Embassy insisted.
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Related:

[01] Nuland outlines US goals for Ukraine conflict
[02] Top US official hails Nord Stream 2 blast
[03] How America Took Out the Nord Stream Pipeline
[04] Top Russian lawmaker labels US president a ‘terrorist’
[05] The Last Swing of a Dying Empire
[06] The Undeclared Declaration of War on Russia by Western Windbags
[07] 95 Percent of Crimean's Vote to Join Russia in Referendum


Wednesday, February 8, 2023

US behind Nord Stream sabotage - Seymour Hersh

 


FILE PHOTO. The release of gas emanating from a leak on the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline in the Baltic Sea on September 28, 2022 in At Sea. © Swedish Coast Guard via Getty Images

Source: RT

Washington “took out” the Russian gas pipelines, Seymour Hersh has claimed

The Nord Stream pipelines were destroyed last September by the US in a covert operation, Pulitzer Prize-winning investigative journalist Seymour Hersh has claimed. The legendary reporter made the bombshell revelation in an article posted to his newly launched blog on Substack on Wednesday.

The explosives were planted at the pipelines back in June 2022 by US Navy divers under the guise of the BALTOPS 22 NATO exercise, Hersh reported, citing a source with direct knowledge of the operational planning.

The journalist noted that he had reached out to the White House and CIA for comment, with both firmly rejecting the claim that the US “took out” the pipelines as “utterly false.”

The bombs were detonated three months later on September 26 with a remote signal sent by a sonar buoy. The buoy was dropped near the Nord Stream pipelines by a Norwegian Navy P8 surveillance plane, according to the report.

The operation came to fruition following months of back-and-forth between the White House, CIA, and military, with officials focusing on how to leave no trace of US involvement in the attack. The planning process began back in December 2021, when a special task force was created with the direct participation of US National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan.

“The Navy proposed using a newly commissioned submarine to assault the pipeline directly. The Air Force discussed dropping bombs with delayed fuses that could be set off remotely. The CIA argued that whatever was done, it would have to be covert. Everyone involved understood the stakes,” the report read.

The source told Hersh that everybody involved understood the operation was not some “kiddie stuff” but was actually an “an act of war.” Throughout “all of this scheming” certain officials urged the White House to drop the idea entirely. “Some working guys in the CIA and the State Department were saying, ‘Don’t do this. It’s stupid and will be a political nightmare if it comes out,’” according to the source.

Originally, the explosives were to have a 48-hour timer and were set to be planted by the end of BALTOPS22, Hersh reported, citing the same source. The two-day window, however, was ultimately deemed to be too close to the end of the exercise by the White House, which ordered the task force to come up with an on-demand method of detonating them. This ultimately turned out to be the sonar buoy.

The administration of President Joe Biden has been “focused” on jeopardizing the Nord Stream pipelines – initially through sanctions, and, ultimately, by direct sabotage – seeing it as key to swaying Europe to its cause amid the then-looming conflict in Ukraine, Hersh noted.

“As long as Europe remained dependent on the pipelines for cheap natural gas, Washington was afraid that countries like Germany would be reluctant to supply Ukraine with the money and weapons it needed to defeat Russia,” he wrote.

Moscow provided a similar take on the incident shortly after the blasts, branding them a “terrorist attack” and stating that the US was the nation that benefited most from it, by accelerating Europe’s attempts to wean itself off of Russian gas.

Throughout his career, Hersh has reported on numerous explosive stories, including war crimes by the US military and high-profile political scandals. Exposing the My Lai massacre by US troops in Vietnam scored the journalist the Pulitzer Prize in 1970. Other notable stories Hersh reported on include the Watergate scandal, the CIA illegal domestic spying, as well as the American military's torture and abuse of detainees at the Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq.
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LINK:

How America Took Out the Nord Stream Pipeline

Sunday, January 8, 2023

Brazil - Lula orders ‘federal intervention’ against rioters

 


Supporters of Brazil's former President Jair Bolsonaro clash with police as they storm the Planalto Palace in Brasilia, Brazil, January 8, 2023 © AP / Eraldo Peres

Source: RT

The newly-inaugurated Brazilian president has declared a state of emergency after former leader's supporters overran government buildings

Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva has declared a state of emergency in the Federal District of Brasilia after thousands of supporters of his right-wing predecessor, Jair Bolsonaro, overran Congress, the Supreme Court and the presidential Planalto Palace.

The leftist leader, inaugurated just last week, gave the order on Sunday, appointing justice minister Ricardo Garcia Capelli to lead the ‘federal intervention’. Lula’s order gives Capelli the power to ask both civil and military bodies for “the necessary means to achieve the object of the intervention.”

The scope of the order, which expires at the end of the month, is limited to Brasilia’s Federal District, and its stated aim is to “end the serious compromising of public order in the State in the Federal District, marked by acts of violence and invasion of public buildings.”

To achieve that goal, Capelli may call upon “the financial, technological, structural, and human resources of the Federal District” – including, but not limited to, the military and police – as needed.

By Sunday evening, after hours of clashes and hundreds of arrests, riot police managed to regain control of the government buildings using tear-gas and water cannons. The Justice Minister announced that at least 200 people were detained, and warned that the arrests could continue throughout the night, as authorities are trying to identify everyone involved in what he dubbed an act of “terrorism” and an attempted “coup.”

Promising to make those responsible for the chaos “pay with the force of the law” in a speech broadcast to his social networks, Lula pledged to get to the bottom of “who are the financiers” of the swarm of protesters – most outfitted in matching attire with the colors of the Brazilian flag – who rushed through a barricade and into the government buildings.

He denounced the demonstrators as “vandals and fascists,” blaming Bolsonaro for filling their heads with extremism. The former leader’s supporters have been staging chaotic demonstrations since he lost a close election to his leftist rival in October, blocking roads, setting vehicles on fire, and at one point even surrounding a military facility to try to convince the soldiers inside to rise up and restore Bolsonaro.

Bolsonaro left Brazil several days before the traditional handoff ceremony installing Lula in the presidency rather than appear to legitimize the leftist’s win by showing up, maintaining that his defeat had been unfair even as he condemned the violent protests that had resulted. Lula blamed what he described as the day’s “unprecedented” violence on his nemesis, declaring “this is also the responsibilities of him and of the parties that belong to him.”
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Related:

Neighbors react to ‘coup attempt’ in Brazil

1000s of Bolsonaro's supporters raid Brazil Congress, surround presidential palace in protest at Lula's inauguration


Neighbors react to ‘coup attempt’ in Brazil

 


Supporters of Brazil's former President Jair Bolsonaro storm the Planalto Palace building in Brasilia, January 8, 2023 © AP / Eraldo Peres

Source: RT

World leaders express their solidarity with President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva’s government

The newly-inaugurated Brazilian president was forced to declare a state of emergency in the Federal District of Brasilia on Sunday, after thousands of supporters of his right-wing predecessor, Jair Bolsonaro, overran Congress, the Supreme Court and the presidential Planalto Palace.

The leftist leader denounced the demonstrators as “vandals and fascists,” blaming Bolsonaro for filling their heads with extremism, and vowed to make those responsible for the chaos “pay with the force of the law,” while pledging to get to the bottom of “who are the financiers” of the unrest.

Security forces already detained at least 170 people for storming the government buildings and other crimes allegedly committed during the riot, according to police. The Governor of the Federal District Ibaneis Rocha claimed that “more than 400 people” have been detained.

The president of Colombia, Gustavo Petro, was among the first regional leaders to address the crisis he dubbed an attempted coup.

“Fascism decides to carry out a coup. The right wing has not been able to maintain the non-violence pact,” he tweeted on Sunday, calling on the Organization of American States to prove its relevance and hold an urgent meeting.

President Alberto Fernandez of Argentina meanwhile declared that his nation stands “together with the Brazilian people to defend democracy and never again allow the return of the coup ghosts promoted by the right.”

“I put the member countries on alert so that we unite in this unacceptable anti-democratic reaction that is trying to be imposed in Brazil,” he added as a rotating president of two other regional organizations, the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States and the Southern Common Market.

Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador also described the chaos as a “reprehensible and anti-democratic coup attempt,” accusing the “leaders of oligarchic power, its spokespersons and fanatics” of inciting the unrest.

Chilean president Gabriel Boric slammed the incident as a “cowardly and vile attack on democracy,” also expressing full support for the government of Brazil.

Venezuelan leader Nicolas Maduro expressed confidence that Brazilian people “will surely mobilize in defense of peace and their president,” blaming the violence on “Bolsonaro's neo-fascist groups.”

Havana also expressed solidarity with its “sister nation,” with Cuban President Miguel Díaz-Canel condemning the “violent and undemocratic acts that occur in Brazil, with the aim of generating chaos and disrespecting the popular will.”

Ecuador’s Foreign Ministry condemned the violence as an attack “against the institutional framework in Brazil” and reaffirmed the country's “unrestricted support for democracy and the legitimately elected government.”

The US also issued a brief comment on the events unfolding in the South American neighbor, with Secretary of State Antony Blinken saying that “using violence to attack democratic institutions is always unacceptable.” White House National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan added that President Joe Biden “is following the situation closely and our support for Brazil’s democratic institutions is unwavering.”

Bolsonaro responds to Brazil riot charges

Former president said that “peaceful demonstrations” are “part of democracy”

Former Brazilian leader Jair Bolsonaro has denied any responsibility for the unrest that unfolded in the capital Brasilia on Sunday, after President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva accused his right-wing predecessor of filling the heads of his supporters with extremism.

“Peaceful demonstrations, in the form of the law, are part of democracy. However, depredations and invasions of public buildings as occurred today, as well as those practiced by the left in 2013 and 2017, escape the rule,” Bolsonaro tweeted on Sunday evening, after authorities regained control of the government buildings seized by rioters earlier in the day.

“I repudiate the accusations, without evidence, attributed to me by the current head of the executive of Brazil,” Bolsonaro added, without mentioning Lula by name. The former leader left Brazil several days before the traditional swearing-in ceremony on January 1 rather than appear to legitimize the leftist’s win by showing up.

“This genocidist... is encouraging this via social media from Miami,” Lula claimed in a televised address earlier on Sunday, blaming what he described as the day’s “unprecedented” violence on his nemesis. He vowed to make those responsible for the chaos “pay with the force of the law,” while pledging to get to the bottom of “who are the financiers” of the riot.

On Sunday, a massive crowd of Bolsonaro's supporters marched through the capital in yet another protest, reiterating claims that Brazil’s electronic voting system was open to fraud and other llegations of voting irregularities. After reaching the Three Powers Plaza, where all three branches of the government are located, swarms of protesters rushed through barricades and overran the Congress, the Supreme Court and the presidential Planalto Palace.

As the crowds wreaked havoc inside, authorities struggled to contain the unrest. The president, who was in Sao Paulo at the time, was forced to declare a state of emergency in the Federal District of Brasilia, appointing justice minister Ricardo Garcia Capelli to lead the “federal intervention.”

By Sunday evening, after hours of clashes and hundreds of arrests, riot police managed to regain control of the government buildings using tear-gas and water cannons. The Justice Minister announced that at least 200 people were detained, and warned that the arrests could continue throughout the night, as authorities are trying to identify everyone involved in what he dubbed an act of “terrorism” and an attempted “coup.”


Friday, January 6, 2023

Ukraine on ‘NATO mission’ – Defense Minister

 


File photo: Ukrainian Defense Minister Alexey Reznikov © AP Photo/Efrem Lukatsky

Source: RT

Aleksey Reznikov has argued that Kiev is shedding blood for the military bloc and expects weapons in return

Kiev is shedding blood to carry out the mission NATO set for itself and expects the “civilized West” to provide weapons and ammunition in return, Ukrainian Defense Minister Aleksey Reznikov has said in an interview for a domestic TV channel.

Appearing on the 1+1 network’s TSN channel on Thursday evening, Reznikov pointed out [01] that at the Madrid summit last summer, NATO declared [02] Russia the greatest threat to the US-led bloc.

“Today, Ukraine is addressing that threat. We’re carrying out NATO’s mission today, without shedding their blood. We shed our blood, so we expect them to provide weapons,” he said.

Reznikov also claimed that his NATO colleagues have told him, both in conversations and via text messages, that Ukraine is the “shield of civilization” and “defending the entire civilized world, the entire West.”

Ukrainian officials, from President Vladimir Zelensky on down, routinely make public appeals for tanks, missiles, artillery and ammunition. Russian Defense Minister Sergey Shoigu [03] told the General Staff in December that Moscow was de facto fighting the collective West. By his estimates, the government in Kiev has received almost $100 billion worth of weapons, ammunition and other supplies in 2022 alone.

Reznikov has led that effort, boasting [04] to the US outlet Politico in October that he had figured out the Pentagon’s political process. His goal, he said, was to keep raising the bar until Ukraine received main battle tanks.

While that particular threshold has yet to be crossed, on Friday Washington announced the delivery of 50 Bradley infantry fighting vehicles, the most modern armor sent to Kiev so far, as part of a $3 billion weapons package. Earlier this week, France pledged a number of wheeled ‘light tanks’ [05] as well.

These shipments are intended to replace Ukraine’s battlefield losses. Last month, Kiev’s top general Valery Zaluzhny told The Economist he would need 300 more tanks, up to 700 infantry fighting vehicles, and 500 howitzers to conduct offensive operations. This is more than the number of such vehicles in British or German inventory.

Moscow insists that Western weapon deliveries only serve to prolong the conflict, and has repeatedly warned Ukraine’s backers that this could result in an all-out military confrontation between Russia and NATO.
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LINKS:

[01] Oleksiy Reznikov: They are stupid and did not understand that we cannot be defeated!
[02] NATO's Madrid Summit Declaration - June 29th, 2022
[03] Russia is fighting West in Ukraine – Shoigu
[04] Ukraine's defense minister ‘optimistic’ about new tanks, fighter jets from allies
[05] France promises old ‘light tanks’ for Ukraine

RELATED LINKS:

[06] US to Arm Kiev with Sea Sparrows
[07] Ukraine conflict at 'critical point' – Biden
[08] Putin announces Christmas truce
[09] Zelensky finds excuse to reject Christmas ceasefire
[10] Donetsk shelled in first minute of Christmas truce – authorities


Sunday, December 25, 2022

Russia has no choice but to defend its interests and people – Putin

 


Russian President Vladimir Putin © Sputnik / Russian Presidential Press Office

Source: RT

The country's opponents keep relying on the ‘divide and conquer’ principle, the president says

Russia's actions regarding the conflict in Ukraine are aimed at defending the country's interests and its people, President Vladimir Putin has stated.

“I’m convinced that we’re moving in the right direction. We’re protecting our national interests, the interests of our citizens, our people. We simply have no other choice but to protect our citizens,” he told the Rossyia 1 channel on Sunday.

The Russian leader recalled that since 2014 Moscow has sought a diplomatic solution to the crisis in Ukraine. Kiev, however, directed by the West, has shown no willingness to negotiate.

“The policy of our geopolitical opponents lies at the core of it all, aimed at pulling Russia – historical Russia – apart. ‘Divide and conquer’ – that’s what they have always tried to do, and they are trying to do it now,” he said.

Meanwhile, Moscow has a different priority, as its goal is “uniting the Russian people,” Putin stressed. Russia remains eager to discuss “acceptable solutions” with all parties involved in the conflict in Ukraine, the president said. “It’s not us who reject negotiations, but them,” he added.

Putin was also asked about the planned delivery by Washington of a Patriot air defense battery to Ukraine. “Of course, we’ll wipe them out, 100%,” he responded. The US government pledged to supply Ukraine with one battery of the advanced MIM-104 Patriot long-range anti-missile system, which requires dozens of trained personnel to operate. The course usually takes months to complete.

Moscow has long decried deliveries of Western arms to Kiev, saying that they only prolong the conflict and increase the risk of a direct confrontation between Russia and the US-led NATO bloc.


Putin sets out key political goal

Moscow wants to unite the Russian people, the president said

Moscow is seeking to bring together the Russian people, as opposed to the West, which has always been trying to dismantle the country, President Vladimir Putin said on Sunday.

Speaking to TV channel Rossiya 1, the Russian leader pointed out that, despite Moscow’s attempts to settle all emerging disputes with the West peacefully, some of its counterparts on the global stage have always had other plans.

According to Putin, the Ukraine crisis is a result of the policies of Moscow’s “geopolitical opponents” who have sought to split Russia.

“‘Divide and rule’ - they have always tried to do this, they are trying to do it now. But our goal is something else. It is to unite the Russian people,” he said.

At the same time, the president indicated that he does not believe that, amid the conflict with Kiev and a stand-off with the West, Moscow has found itself close to a red line.

“I don't think it's that dangerous. I believe that we are moving in the right direction, we are protecting our national interests, the interests of our citizens, our people,” he noted, signaling that Russia is still ready to talk about acceptable solutions “with all the participants in this process.” However, he added, “it’s they who refuse negotiations, not us.”

Earlier this week, Putin said that Moscow is facing almost all of NATO's military potential in the ongoing conflict in Ukraine, adding that Russia’s “strategic opponents” have for many centuries tried to “cut down” and “break up” Russia, because they believe the country is “too big” and poses a threat.

Despite the ongoing fighting between Moscow and Kiev, he described Ukrainians as “a brotherly people.” “Everything that is happening is a tragedy. Our common tragedy. But it is not the result of our policies,” the president pointed out.


Saturday, December 10, 2022

NATO chief warns Ukraine conflict could escalate

 


News Source: RT

A direct confrontation between Russia and the West in Europe could happen, Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg says

The Ukraine conflict could erupt into a full-fledged war between Russia and NATO, the military alliance’s Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg has said. He also claimed that NATO has been focused on avoiding a new global conflict.

“I fear that the war in Ukraine will spiral out of control and become a major war between NATO and Russia,” Stoltenberg told Norwegian broadcaster NRK on Friday, adding that “if things go wrong, they can go horribly wrong.”

“NATO’s most important task is to prevent a full-scale war in Europe, and that is something we work on every single day.”

The head of the US-led bloc however warned Russian President Vladimir Putin that NATO would defend its members. According to Article 5 of its founding treaty, an armed attack on one member state “shall be considered an attack against them all.” Stoltenberg said that Putin “knows that it’s one for all and all for one.”

After Russia launched its military operation in Ukraine in late February, NATO deployed 40,000 troops to its eastern flank, nearly ten times more than a year before. Moscow, meanwhile, considers NATO military sites close to its border as a national security threat and has warned that sending heavy weapons from the West to Kiev risks a direct confrontation between Russia and NATO.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said this month that the US and NATO were already “directly involved” in the conflict by supplying Ukraine with arms and training its soldiers.

US greenlights Ukrainian attacks inside Russia – The Times

Washington now reportedly believes such strikes are less likely to trigger a direct clash between Moscow and NATO

The US has quietly given Ukraine the go-ahead to launch long-range strikes against targets inside Russian territory, The Times reported on Friday, citing sources. The Pentagon has apparently changed its stance on the matter as it has become less concerned that such attacks could escalate the conflict.

According to a US defense source interviewed by the outlet, the Pentagon is now “not saying to Kiev, ‘Don’t strike the Russians [in Russia or Crimea].’

“We can’t tell them what to do. It’s up to them how they use their weapons,” he said, adding that Washington only demands that Kiev conforms to international law and the Geneva conventions when using US-supplied weapons.

However, the Pentagon has revised the evaluation of threats linked to the Ukraine conflict, particularly on whether providing Kiev with arms might trigger a direct clash between NATO and Russia, the report says.

“We’re still using the same escalatory calculations but the fear of escalation has changed since the beginning,” a US official told the outlet, arguing that the calculus had changed due to “brutality the Ukrainians are being subjected to by the Russians.”

Against this backdrop, Pentagon officials are now reportedly “seriously” considering Ukraine’s requests for long-range weapons that could be used for strikes deep inside Russia. “Nothing is off the table,” a senior US defense official told The Times.

Earlier this month, Ukraine launched an attack on two Russian air bases in Ryazan and Saratov regions, both several hundred kilometers from Kiev-controlled territory, using a number of “Soviet-made” drones, according to Russia’s Defense Ministry. The raid “fatally injured” three service members, with another four being taken to hospital.

On Tuesday, following the attack, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken claimed that Washington had “neither encouraged nor enabled the Ukrainians to strike inside of Russia.”

The report comes as Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmitry Kuleba claimed on Thursday that, while Washington and Kiev agree that Ukrainian forces will not use US-supplied weapons to attack most Russian territory, this does not apply to Crimea.

In September, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova warned the US that, should it provide Kiev with long-range weapons, this would cross a “red line” and make America “a direct party to the conflict.”

Russia warns West about ‘consequences’ of arming Ukraine

Foreign-supplied rockets and shells are being used to strike schools and homes, Russia’s UN envoy Vassily Nebenzia says.

Western countries whose weapons are being used by Ukrainian troops to kill civilians in Donbass will face legal consequences, Russia’s envoy to the United Nations has warned.

Speaking at the UN Security Council on Friday, Vassily Nebenzia said HIMARS multiple rocket launchers and M982 Excalibur guided artillery shells were being used to indiscriminately fire on Donetsk and other cities.

“For example, the Druzhba sports arena [in Donetsk], where drinking water was being distributed to civilians, was attacked on December 4 with an Excalibur shell. The Ukrainian forces, emboldened by Western countries, are literally trying to level the city,” the Russian diplomat said.

According to Nebenzia, 22 civilians have been killed and more than 80 wounded in Donbass since November 27, and numerous homes and schools have been damaged. He added that HIMARS rockets have hit civilian sites, such as kindergartens and hotels.

“We are carefully recording all such criminal activities by the US and their allies. They will lead to concrete legal repercussions for all who are involved,” Nebenzia said.

The Pentagon announced an additional $275 million in security and military aid to Ukraine on Friday, including HIMARS rockets and 80,000 155mm artillery rounds.

Moscow has previously described deliveries of long-range and heavy weapons to Ukraine as “red lines,” warning it could lead to a direct conflict between Russia and the West. Washington and its allies insist they are not a party to the hostilities, but continue sending arms shipments to Kiev.


Friday, December 9, 2022

Putin Talks Ukraine, Merkel and Nuclear War

 


Russian President Vladimir Putin answers questions from reporters after the Eurasian Economic Union's (EAEU) summit in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan. © Sputnik / Pavel Bednyakov


Source: RT

Russian President Vladimir Putin spoke with reporters after the Eurasian Economic Union summit in the Kyrgyz capital of Bishkek on Friday. Among the topics he addressed were the latest revelations from former German chancellor Angela Merkel, the military operation in Ukraine, the threat of nuclear war, the high-profile prisoner swap with the US, and Russian relations with the EU and Africa.

[01] Merkel’s comments vindicate Ukraine operation

Putin found German chancellor Angela Merkel’s confession – that the purpose of the Minsk agreements was to “buy time” for Ukraine – surprising and disappointing, but said it only means the decision to launch the special military operation was correct. “Their point was only to load up Ukraine with weapons and prepare it for hostilities. We see that. Honestly, we may have realized that too late, and maybe should have started all this sooner,” Putin said.

While he knew that Ukraine did not intend to implement the deal, “I thought other participants in that process were honest. Turns out they too were deceiving us,” said the Russian president.

[02] How to negotiate with “trust at zero”

The deception about Minsk now raises a “question of trust,” said Putin, noting that it is currently “almost at zero.” The real question now is whether negotiations about anything with anyone are even possible, and what would guarantee any eventual deal, he added. “In the end, there will have to be talks. We are ready for them, I have said that many times. But it does make us think, who we’re dealing with.”

[03] What he meant by Ukraine “taking a long time”

Asked about his earlier statement that the military operation might be a “long process,” Putin explained that he was actually referring to the resolution of the conflict in Ukraine. “The special military operation is proceeding apace, everything is stable, there are no questions or problems with it today,” he said. Resolving the whole situation will “probably not be easy and will take some time, but one way or another, all participants in this process will have to agree with the realities that are taking shape on the ground.”

[04] On launching a nuclear first strike

The US has long had a doctrine of a “disarming” attack against command and control systems, for which they developed cruise missiles the Soviet Union lacked, Putin said. Now Russia has hypersonic missiles that are “more modern and even more effective,” so “perhaps we should think about adopting the developments and ideas of our American partners when it comes to ensuring security.”

While the US doctrine envisions a pre-emptive nuclear strike, Russia’s doctrine is about retaliation, Putin explained. If the Russian early warning system detects a missile attack, “hundreds of our missiles will fly and it will be impossible to stop them.” While some attacking missiles will strike Russia, “nothing will remain of the enemy,” and that is how nuclear deterrence works, he explained.

[05] More swaps like Bout-Griner are possible

Russia does not consider the success of talks to trade Brittney Griner for Viktor Bout as an opening to discuss other subjects with the US. While the negotiations “created a certain atmosphere,” no other issues were brought up within their framework, Putin said.

He added that contacts between Russian and US security services “continue, and in fact never stopped,” but that this specific trade was initiated by US President Joe Biden.

“Are other exchanges possible? Yes, everything is possible. This is the result of negotiations and the search for compromise. In this case, a compromise was found,” the Russian president said.

[06] On the need for another mobilization

There are “no considerations” of another call-up, Putin said when asked if more Russians will need to take up arms in 2023. Of the 300,000 that were called up, some 150,000 have been deployed, but only 77,000 in the fighting units, while others are engaged in other duties at the moment. The remaining 150,000 troops are not yet deployed, but undergoing additional training, he explained.

“Half of those called up are a battle reserve, so why would anyone talk of an additional call-up?” Putin concluded.

[07] Answering Borrell’s Africa comment

Responding to the claim by EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell that many Africans perhaps don’t know where Donbass is or who Putin may be, the Russian president said that the continent knows all too well who helped their liberation from European colonialism.

EU politicians should “stop talking about their love for the African peoples and start helping these countries,” Putin said. “If the people you spoke about knew where Africa was and what condition the peoples of Africa were in, they would not interfere with the supply of Russian food and fertilizers to the African continent, on which the harvest in African countries ultimately depends and the salvation of hundreds of thousands of people in Africa from starvation.”


Monday, September 13, 2021

US A Step Closer to Economic Collapse

 


By: Stewart Brennan

While totalitarian measures are being implemented on populations around the world for a virus no worse than the annual flu, the US treasury secretary “Janet Yellen”, sounded the alarm about raising the US debt ceiling again [01] and warned that if not done soon, the United States might be unable to meet its obligations for the first time in its history, adding that all available “cash on hand” and “extraordinary measures” previously employed, will soon be exhausted. This announcement comes on the heals of an additional 3.5 Trillion dollars [02] that the US government is pushing for in its 2021 national spending.

To date in 2021, the US government debt is approximately 29 Trillion dollars, that’s 7 Trillion dollars more debt than they had in January 2020 and it’s predicted, should the debt ceiling continue to be raised, that by 2025 the US government debt will be upwards of 50 Trillion dollars!!...with no way for the American people to pay it back.

The 2020 US Debt in Perspective [03]



Not to worry America, your corrupt multi millionaire politicians will raise the debt ceiling once again as they have in the past when it was needed, but not before they stick a few more pay-offs and bribes into the deal.

At what point does this insanity end, because as it stands now, the USA is bankrupt, inflation is soaring, millions are homeless, the infrastructure is in terminal decay and US treasuries are being bought up by its money creator, the privately owned federal reserve. There’s a huge money leak in the USA and no one is willing to stop it.

Where did the money go?

The US government obviously did not spend the money in America because if they did, the entire country would be very well off, the infrastructure would be state of the art and America would be leading the world in technology instead of China. You know, the place where the North American industrial capacity disappeared to. So, what happened? Where did the money go?

The enormous debt that the US has accumulated is now doubling faster than any other time in its history due to the endless spending and debt creation by the US government which has mostly come over the last twenty years in the aftermath of 911 and their so called “war on terror”. The 800+ military bases around the world doesn’t help either.

Funding wars and terrorist escapades with the likes of Britain, France, Israel and Saudi Arabia, etcetera, do not pay dividends. That money only flows out the door away from the people of the United States, into the private pockets of the share holders, lobby groups and millionaire politicians through the weapons companies that take part through the economic cartel’s private bank machine.


There’s corruption at every level of government, so when hundreds of, “thousand-dollar screwdrivers” are requisitioned with a list of thousands of other over pricey things that are signed off on, well you know somebody made a killing and others got a cut, while the American tax payer got screwed.

Twenty Years on in the Aftermath of 911

Ground zero of the current economic disaster began twenty years ago on Sept 11th, 2001 when the World Trade Center was destroyed.

September 11th 2001 was a wake-up call for most of us, so if you were not awake by then, this event surely put you on the road to discovering what was really going on in the world which has never been the same since.

911 was a preconceived and calculated event but not in the way they are reporting it, and if you are not aware of that fact then you surely have a long road ahead of you to search for the truth.

However, for those not aware, I can save you some time and ask you to listen to William Rodriguez (See Here [04] and Here [05]) who was the last man out of the 2nd building as it collapsed. Willie is a real hero and an onsite witness to what really happened that day. Also, listen to the firemen [06] who were in the buildings or other onsite witnesses [07] for a better understanding and then investigate World Trade Center Building 7 [08] which is the real smoking gun to what happened that day.

If you are concerned about what happened that day, and you should be, but haven’t looked into the details already, then it is imperative that you begin your investigations there, with the people who were actually in the building and then start examining the evidence from the Architects, engineers, demolition, and forensic experts [09] to get a real picture of what happened that day. STOP WATCHING MAINSTREAM MEDIA or listening to corporate RADIO, or reading the mainstream newspapers. All of them are owned by economic interests that had a direct hand in the events that day…this becomes evident when you understand who owns the majority shares in the consolidated media corporations, and why there was zero energy put into an investigation of the biggest crime in American history after the fact. The real issues and evidence were completely ignored by a consolidated media that obsesses over political spin and unimportant trivial things to keep you distracted.

Those that investigated 911 for themselves, rather than believe the contrived official story, know that the World Trade center was destroyed in a controlled demolition and that 911 was actually a means for the American government and economic cartel to seize upon the declining oil resources globally, but especially in the Middle East, Eurasia and Africa. All of it was to maintain their global economic dominance because, as everyone should know by now, our global consumer debt, fractional reserve economic system, is powered by oil. No oil, no economy.

Energy Dry Europe

In Europe, where they have little to no oil or gas for themselves, they have to steal most of it from other countries via Shell, BP and Total with a little help from…well, a lot of help from their US military guard dog, which comes to their rescue when their interests require one…say, like in Libya in 2011[10a] when Muammar Gaddafi awarded offshore drilling contracts to China [10b] instead of Britain’s BP who had just lost a huge oil pocket in the Gulf of Mexico after the BP Horizon Disaster [11] who then needed to replace a lost contract with a guaranteed future oil flow.

The fact is, if you look at any conflict in the Middle East, Eurasia or Africa today, that Europe and America are involved in, there’s always oil and gas resources at the heart of it. These entire regions are battlefields of greed by US & European design and it is because of their belligerent attitude why they are losing.

So America, your money is being put into an endless military hole in ground for the sake of economics, which are in large part, controlled by old European banking families with hooks in your Federal Reserve. These same families are behind the destruction and division of the Ottoman Empire where the colonial powers of old (France and Britain) carved it up into little statelets for themselves putting into place and propping up puppet regimes that were more or less vassals to their economic ambitions. Sixty-three percent of the worlds oil reserves were under Ottoman lands at a time when military technology had evolved into diesel and gasoline powered machines…ie: if you want to maintain your position of power (military) you need oil.

In order to maintain control of the Ottoman empire and its vast riches the Europeans (France and Britain) had to keep it fragmented and at odds with itself. They did this by propping up vassal states via dictatorships and kingdoms. The idea was to never allow the Arabs to unite in opposition to British allied economic ambitions and interests.

Without going into detail, because it would require that I write a book, World War I, was in itself, a battle of competing Monarchies and kingdoms [12], and all of it was for the trade routes, riches and resources of the Ottoman Empire and China. All the world powers at the time, most of whom were monarchy’s (England, Germany, Austria-Hungary, The Ottomans, Russia, Japan, Spain, Belgium, Bulgaria, Greece, Italy, Montenegro, Romania, and Serbia) with the emerging democratic republic of the United States, were all economic rivals and had their eyes on China, who’s 5,000 year Imperial empire had been destroyed by the very same powers by 1912. But as I said, that’s a story for a different post. (See here for a brief look at modern China’s Rise [13])

What evolved out of the Ottoman’s destruction and by Britain’s direct construction were the oppressive regimes of Israel, Saudi-Arabia, Qatar, the UAE, Bahrain and others with direct ties to the emerging consolidated European economic cartel. After World War II, the United States became a very big player within that economic cartel and supplied the military force for it.

So, when someone asks who did 911, it becomes a confusing tail chase if one tries to pin it on a few Arabs, or a few Israelis and / or duel criminal citizens in the US deep state. In reality, one only needs to look at it in economic terms, “Who benefitted by it and how?”.

It becomes very easy to see when you look at history through the lens of power economics. The conclusion is that it was all of the above through the long economic consolidation of powerfully rich families around the world, including those in Israel, Saudi Arabia, Britain, the British Commonwealth, Europe and the USA. These families are the bulk of the economic cartel by their vast holdings in real estate, private banks, corporate and resource stocks. The economic cartel are the head of the deep state in every nation they control which is why countries like Israel get away with mass murder of the Palestinian people and why no member nation has been taken to the Hague for war crimes and crimes against humanity…and why we will never see a real investigation into 911.

What comes next after the pending crash of the US global reserve currency is a more global totalitarian world with or without China as a major partner. However, regardless of China’s partnership, one fact remains and it is this, China is now a super power and the future leader of the world.

Operation COVID-19 is the 911 of today that makes all of it possible, thanks to the collusion of the economic cartel.

The American people, including those in the military, have a choice to either unite and remove the economic cartel from your government or do nothing, remain divided and watch your country slip into a dystopian future under their control. Can it be any more plain than that?

-----------------------
About the Author: Stewart Brennan is a published Canadian author, activist and blogger who writes geo-political and geo-economic commentary on World United News. He published his first book “The Activist Poet – Vol 1” in May 2021 and is working on the second volume due for release in the late October 2021.

LINKS:

[01] US Treasury could default, Janet Yellen warns, calls on Congress to raise debt ceiling AGAIN
[02] Massive US stimulus spending to blame for global wave of inflation, Putin aide says, as Washington warns it could default on debts
[03] The 2020 US Debt in Perspective
[04] William Rodriguez – Last Man Out (Part 1 of 2)
[05] William Rodriguez – Last Man Out (Part 2 of 2)
[06] 9/11 Fire Fighters - THREE Explosions After Plane Hit WTC
[07] Witness compilation of Bombs going off in the WTC
[08] WTC 7 – Controlled Demolition
[09] Architects and Engineers for 911 Truth
[10a] News – Libya 2011 to 2012
[10b] Libyan Oil Contracts Reconstructed (Aug 2011)
[11] Deepwater Horizon: Timeline of a Tragedy
[12] WWI - Shattered Crowns

Saturday, January 23, 2021

China’s Rise - (Part 1) Internal Struggle

 


By: Stewart Brennan

“It is said that if you know your enemies and know yourself, you will not be imperiled in a hundred battles. If you do not know your enemies but do know yourself, you will win one and lose one. If you do not know your enemies nor yourself, you will be imperiled in every single battle.” ~ Sun Tzu [01]

Understanding a Difficult Period in China’s History 

Behind the wall of western hubris and propaganda on China, there remains 5,000 years of experience in war, politics and economics. These disciplines, embedded within Chinese culture, have never disappeared from thought in those that have led China for thousands of years, regardless of politic that led the country in the past or present; be it a Republican Democracy, Communist State, National Socialist State or Royal Imperial State.

It is my view that the many years of Chinese political and cultural history did not suddenly disappear overnight when China’s governing structure changed to communism. The last Royal Chinese Imperial Dynasty [02] (Qing) had only just ended (1912) with the Xinhai Revolution [03] and so thousands of years of Chinese evolution doesn’t just suddenly disappear in a generation.

In reality, routines become a way of life after long periods of time and then become culture that the people of the society identify with as a normal way of doing things. Over time, everything becomes refined, pleasantries, planning, transactions, understanding, economics, politics, war; and so, Mao Zedong’s [04] China must be viewed and perceived with the retention of a large part of their culture intact with set ways of doing things where a supreme ruler would wield his political power much the same way as a past Chinese emperor, while the political courts and people surrounding him would also be conditioned in the disciplines and ways of doing things from the past.

What many people in the west are not aware of during China’s communist rule is that there were actually many factions within the Chinese governing structure with differing thoughts and plans for China’s economic future who were fighting with each other for power. The two main rivals that survived were the hardline Soviet style communists and a Nationalist Socialist group that leaned towards a more capitalist approach in their political economic vision of the country.

It’s difficult to understand what took place during that time in China (1949 to 1979) if we do not read history and only view it from a minimalist western perspective. It can be better understood if we equate the two surviving Chinese factions within the Communist party to the two super powers that emerged at the end of World War II in complete opposition to one another. (Capitalist USA and Soviet Russia) However, it is more realistic to understand this period of history if we compare it hypothetically, to a more traditional Chinese period by likening Chairman Mao to an emperor of their past who had competing heirs to the throne that engaged in a fierce political battle with one another to prove their ideas, worth and devotion to the father; a father who must ultimately choose which son’s plan would make his Imperial rule a favorable and lasting one for the country.

The Fall of Imperial China: What Went Before 1894 to 1949 

Before Chinese communist rule took hold as the governing entity in 1949, China went from a 5,000-year old Imperial Monarchy, which had its own periods of domestic wars and internal violence, to a country that was broken by wars of foreign intervention beginning with the First Sino Japanese war in 1894-1895 [05], which led to the Boxer Rebellion 1899-1901 [06] and ultimately to the Xinhai Revolution in 1911. The result of those two foreign wars shattered the country and turned it into a Western style Republican Democracy [07] by 1912.

The fall of China began with their loss to Japan in the first Sino-Japanese war from July 25th, 1894 to April 17th, 1895. The Chinese ruling Qing dynasty under Empress Dowager Cixi [08] was ill prepared against the more advanced Imperial Japanese military. The loss showed weakness and signaled the end of the Qing empires domination of Asia, while the humiliation of losing Korea as a tributary state to Japan as a consequence, sparked an unprecedented public outcry that became a catalyst for a series of political upheavals led by Sun Yat-sen [09] and Kang Youwei, [10] culminating in the 1911 Xinhai Revolution.

The growth of foreign spheres of influence in China after the Sino-Japanese War of 1895 led directly to the "Boxer Rebellion" (1899 to 1901) between the Qing Empire of China and an Eight-Nation Alliance that included Austria-Hungary, France, Germany, United Kingdom, Italy, Japan, Russia, and the United States which also included Belgium, Spain, and the Netherlands. China's defeat was another humiliating blow [11] to the Qing Dynasty and to the people of China.

In China’s past, if weakness was shown by the ruling family, it created internal division and a challenge by wealthy groups against those who ruled the Chinese empire; and so, those two major losses broke China and caused division in the decision on how to strengthen the country and move forward. During this period of time, China was ruled by the iron fist of Empress dowager Cixi from 1861 until her death in 1908.



Empress Dowager Cixi (1903) 

Empress Dowager Cixi (1835 – 1908)

Selected as a concubine of the Xianfeng Emperor in her adolescence, she gave birth to a son, Zaichun, in 1856. After the Xianfeng Emperor's death in 1861, the five-year old boy who was the only surviving son of the Emperor, became the Tongzhi Emperor, while his mother became the Empress Dowager. Cixi immediately ousted a group of regents appointed by the late emperor and assumed the regency, which she shared with Empress Dowager Ci'an who was the consort wife of the late Emperor.

However, with the sudden death of her heirless 19 year old son from small pox in 1875, Cixi consolidated control over the dynasty by installing her three year old nephew as the Guangxu Emperor, contrary to the Qing dynasty rules that had been in place since 1644. In essence, Cixi ruled China and did what ever she needed to retain power which had been declining due to foreign economic interference.

Cixi supervised a series of moderate reforms that helped the regime survive until 1911. Although Cixi refused to adopt Western models of government, she supported technological and military reforms with a Self-Strengthening Movement as a means of limiting Westernization to preserve her own power and the dynasty.

China made substantial progress toward modernizing its heavy industry and military through the 1880’s and 1890’s but the majority of the ruling elite still subscribed to a conservative Confucian worldview, and the "self-strengtheners" were by and large uninterested in social reform beyond the scope of economic and military modernization. The Self-Strengthening Movement (1861 to 1895) under Cixi succeeded in securing the revival of the dynasty from the brink of eradication, sustaining it for a half-century, however the considerable successes of the movement came to an abrupt end with China's defeat in the First Sino-Japanese War in 1895.

The purge of China’s cultural history began by the loss of “Korea” as a tributary state in the First Sino Japanese war and the outrageous indemnities China had to pay the eight victorious foreign nations from the “Boxer Rebellion” war. China’s history and independence began falling faster to foreign economic influence.

The “Xinhai revolution” which followed, consisted of many revolts and uprisings, however, the turning point was the Wuchang Uprising [12] on 10 October 1911, when people rose up in opposition against the Qing governments decree to nationalize local railway development and transfer control to foreign banks. The movement, expressed mass discontent with Qing rule and galvanized the revolution against them. The revolution ended with the abdication of the last Chinese emperor, the six-year-old Puyi [13], on February 12th, 1912, and marked the end of 5,000 years of imperial rule and the beginning of China's early republican era.

Republic of China (1912 - 1949) 

The Republic of China was declared on January 1st, 1912. Shortly after, the country descended into a melee of power grabs and coup attempts.

Sun Yat-sen, the founder and president of the new Republic served briefly before handing over his position to Yuan Shikai,[14] the leader of the Beiyang Army [15]. Sun Tar-sen's party, the Kuomintang [16] (KMT), then led by Song Jiaoren, won the parliamentary election held in December 1912. However, Yuan Shikai, the Beiyang Army leader seized control of the government, and assassinated Song Jiaoren. In 1915, Yuan Shikai proclaimed himself Emperor of China but abdicated shortly afterwards due to popular unrest.

After Yuan's death in 1916, the authority of the Beiyang government was further weakened by a brief restoration of the Qing dynasty. Cliques in the Beiyang Army claimed individual autonomy and clashed with each other during the ensuing Warlord Era [17] (1916 to 1928).



By 1921, the KMT established the national government in Guangzhou, supported by the fledgling Communist Party of China (CPC). The economy of Northern China, which was overtaxed to support warlord adventurism, collapsed between 1927 and 1928. General Chiang Kai-shek [18], who became the Chairman of the Kuomintang after Sun Yat-sen's death in 1925, started a Northern Expedition in 1926 to overthrow the Beiyang government, which was accomplished two years later in 1928. However, in April 1927, Chiang Kai-shek established a nationalist government in Nanjing and massacred Communists in Shanghai. The latter event forced the Communist Party of China into armed rebellion, marking the beginning of the Chinese Civil War [19].

The Chinese Civil War 


1945 Jan 01 - Chiang Kai-shek of the KMT allied with Communist Mao Zedong of the CPC 

The Chinese Civil War was fought between the Kuomintang (KMT)-led government of the Republic of China (ROC) and the Communist Party of China [20] (CPC) lasting intermittently between 1927 and 1949. The war is generally divided into two phases with an interlude: from August 1927 to 1937, the KMT-CPC Alliance collapsed during the Northern Expedition, while the Nationalists controlled most of China. However, from 1937 to 1945, hostilities were put on hold, and the Second United Front between the two groups joined forces and fought the Japanese invasion of China with eventual help from the Allied forces of World War II. The civil war resumed after the Japanese defeat, where the CPC gained the upper hand in the final phase of the war from 1945 to 1949, generally referred to as the Chinese Communist Revolution.



Civil War 1947 

The Communists gained control of mainland China and established the People's Republic of China [21] (PRC) in 1949, forcing the leadership of the Republic of China to retreat to the island of Taiwan. A lasting political and military standoff between the two sides of the Taiwan Strait ensued, with the ROC in Taiwan and the PRC in mainland China both officially claiming to be the legitimate government of all China. No armistice or peace treaty has ever been signed, which has raised the question of whether this war itself has legally ended, or temporarily halted.

During this very turbulent time, (1894 to 1949) the people of China found themselves caught in the middle of an economic war between the upper classes of China, Japan, Europe and the United States.

For years the common people of China were brutalized by European and Japanese occupation but also by groups within China some of whom collaborated with the foreigners. Anger, resistance and determination against the occupation forces culminated into a popular revolution to cast off the shackles of foreign Imperialism and push forward to regain their national, cultural and economic independence.

China had emerged at the end of the second world war in 1945 economically weak and on the verge of all-out civil war. Large swathes of the prime farming areas had been ravaged and there was starvation. Many towns and cities were destroyed, while millions were rendered homeless by floods. The problems of rebuilding China after a long-protracted war were staggering, which left the Nationalists severely weakened.

Meanwhile, the war strengthened the Communists both in popularity and as a viable fighting force. In the communist controlled areas, Mao Zedong the leader of the communist forces was able to adapt Marxism–Leninism to Chinese conditions.

Mao also began to execute his plan to establish a new China by rapidly moving his forces from across the country to Manchuria. The Soviet occupation of Manchuria, although short, was long enough to allow the Communist forces to move in and take all the military hardware surrendered by the Imperial Japanese Army, which allowed them to quickly establish control in the countryside and move into position to encircle the Nationalist government armies in the major cities of northeast China. Following that, the Chinese Civil War broke out between the Nationalists and Communists, which concluded with the Communist victory in mainland China and the retreat of the Nationalists to Taiwan in 1949.


1949 - Mao Zedong PRC Founding

The years leading up to China’s re-established independence through a communist victory in 1949 put an end to foreign domination and domestic infighting that had torn the country apart for 55 years.

Puyi the last official Emperor of China 


Emperor PuYi - (1930's -1940's) 

With the fall of Japan in 1945, and thus Manchukuo where the Japanese installed Puyi as their puppet Emperor of China, Puyi fled the capital and was eventually captured by the USSR. The War Crimes Trials of the Far East in 1946 [22] saw Puyi imprisoned for ten years as a war criminal. He was extradited to the People's Republic of China in 1949 after Communist Rule had been established. However, in China, he was not executed, as Mao Zedong reasoned that Puyi was more valuable as a reformed commoner than a murdered emperor. After his reform, Puyi became a member of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference [23] and the National People's Congress [24] a political body which advised the hierarchy of the Communist government. Puyi died in 1967 during the Cultural Revolution, and was ultimately buried near the Western Qing tombs in a commercial cemetery.

Infighting and Emerging Power 1958 to 1979 


1956 – 8th National Party Congress 

As mentioned at the beginning of this post, to understand China, one must understand it’s historical past. There has always been differing political and economic opinions on how to move the country forward. These opinions are expressed from a power base, and that power base has a dedicated and loyal following even if all rivals are focused within one party as in China’s past Imperial empires or the newly emerged Communist Party.

So, looking at this period of history (1958 to 1979) we must compare it with the Imperial China of the past where fierce political battles were waged between would be heirs to the throne for the right to lead the nation unopposed, where the Imperial court is dragged into a vicious political battle by all sides.

The battle of China’s rival sons within the Communist party came to a head during the, “Cultural Revolution” [25] (1966 to 1976), where the ideas of Mao and the first son (hardline communism) were put into action, which was to reimpose order from the chaos and aftermath of the Mao Nationalist Socialist project called the “Great Leap Forward” [26] (1958 to 1962).

The Cultural Revolution marked China’s return to a more rigid position of power after a five-year period of economic failure from the “The Great Leap Forward”. The official reasons of the program’s failure were attributed to 30% natural disasters and 70% manmade errors.

It is important to point out during the five-year Great Leap Forward plan, that there was also a three-year political purge across China from 1959 to 1961 by hardline communist elements through their “Anti-Rightist Campaign” [27] that saw the end of all political / economic opposition while turning the country into a hardline one-party system. The disruptive nature of the “Anti-Rightist Campaign” greatly impeded the economic flow within China and was one of the major factors in contributing to the failure of “The Great Leap Forward” and one of the worst famines in recorded human history [28] where between 30 to 55 million people died of starvation. Exact numbers are not known.


1956 to 1963 - Liu Shaoqi, Zhou Enlai, Deng Xiaoping, Mao Zedong

Also, interesting to note, is that after the 1959 “Lushan Conference” [29], Chairman Mao stepped down as the State Chairman of the PRC (Peoples Republic of China) due to the ongoing failures of “The Great Leap Forward” but remained Chairman of the CCP and appointed “Liu Shaoqi” [30] (the new PRC Chairman) and reformist Deng Xiaoping [31] (CCP General Secretary) both National Socialists in charge to change policy and bring economic recovery. Also, of note is the purge of Defence Minister, Marshal “Peng Dehuai” [32], whose criticism of some aspects of the Great Leap Forward was seen as an attack on the political line of Chairman Mao. He was replaced by military hardliner, "Lin Biao" [33] who led the three-year political purge across China.


The Cultural Revolution 


 1966 Lin Biao & Mao Zedong

After the disaster of the Great Leap Forward, Mao felt China needed solutions to counter the turmoil, chaos and division raging across a country that could potentially rise up against the government and Mao himself. China was moving in a very dangerous direction, and so Chairman Mao made the decision to try a more hardline approach and returned to lead the country through, “The Cultural Revolution” in 1966.

In essence, Mao called on the nation's youth to clean up the "impure" elements of Chinese society and revive the revolutionary spirit that had led to victory in China’s civil war two decades earlier that led to the formation of the People's Republic of China. The hardliners embraced it and called it” Mao Zedong Thought” or “Maoism”,[34] and pushed it as the dominant ideology in the “Communist Party of China” (CPC).

Historical Inflection

What is missing in history books here is the consultation Mao had with the different groups within the party including his fourth wife Jiang Qing, so I’ll use the historical parallel of China’s previous dynasties as an example to clarify the decision process.

The decisions of an emperor are always made with great planning and thought when finally presented to the people. It comes to the public as an emperor’s decision, but in reality, the plan is usually partly owned by the emperor and the rest by those who are close to him or influence him towards his decision.

Before coming to a conclusion, there is harsh political dialog behind the scenes by competing rivals (heirs to the throne) which often included the influence of the different mothers of those heirs. (“Mothers” meaning, the different wives of the emperor.) In these fierce, sometimes violent drawn-out contests, there were plots and sabotages made on each other to undermine the rival’s political appearance to the emperor, while promoting the points of their political positions, ideologies and economic interests and why their plan was good for the country. The side that does not prove its point to the emperor, must humble themselves in complete submission and face its demise or humiliation. Sometimes, if allowed to live, they slowly find their way back from obscurity and calculate a different angle to make their plan work.

If a group fails in its tasks of carrying out their Emperors plan, which was made public as the Emperors plan, they are severely reprimanded, imprisoned or executed, while their subordinates in general are either purged or demoted; most of whom would quietly continue to pledge their honor and loyalty to those they served. The victorious group is given permission by the Emperor to carry out a new detailed plan in the emperor’s name including a public announcement.

Since the failure of the “Great leap Forward” (1958-1962) was a disaster under the national socialist tenure, Mao severely disciplined the group and made them responsible for his failure, including President Liu Shaoqi and General Secretary Deng Xiaoping.

So, Mao moved forward with the hardline communists for the chance to restore his honor by endorsing the “Proletarian Cultural Revolution” to go ahead under his leadership which included Lin Biao, and Mao’s fourth wife, Jiang Qing [35] both of whom had great influence in putting it together. (In hind sight, one could draw parallels of Jiang Qing to the dowager empress Cixi of the Qing Dynasty, but perhaps a little more sinister.)


1966 - Lin Biao & Jiang Qing

Mao launched “The Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution” in August 1966, at a Central Committee Plenary Meeting. He closed public schools, calling for the mobilization of young people to take party leadership and to face the bondage of bourgeois values and those with a lack of revolutionary zeal.

In the following months, the movement increased rapidly as students formed a paramilitary group called the Red Guards [36a] and attacked and harassed Chinese intellectual groups.

The Cultural Revolution, was overtly pro-Maoist, and gave Mao and the hardliners the power and influence to purge the Party of his political enemies at the highest levels of government. Along with closing China's schools and universities, it encouraged Chinese youth to destroy old buildings, temples, and art, while attacking their "revisionist" teachers, school administrators, party leaders, and parents. (See Here [36b])


Chairman Mao & the Gang of Four, the Cultural Revolution

Many of the most senior members of the CCP who had shared Zhou's hesitation in following Mao's direction, including President Liu Shaoqi and Deng Xiaoping, were removed from their posts almost immediately. They, along with their families, were subjected to mass criticism and humiliation.

Deng Xioping and his family were targeted by Red Guards, who imprisoned Deng's eldest son, Deng Pufang who was tortured and was thrown out of a four-story building window in 1968, becoming a paraplegic. In October 1969 Deng Xiaoping was sent to the Xinjian County Tractor Factory in rural Jiangxi province to work as a regular worker. He was purged nationally, but to a lesser scale than President Liu Shaoqi.

Liu Shaoqi disappeared from public life in 1968 and was labelled by the hardliners as the "commander of China's bourgeoisie headquarters", China's foremost "capitalist-roader", and a traitor to the revolution. He died under harsh treatment while in prison in 1969.

Although Zhou escaped being directly persecuted, he was not able to save many of those closest to him from having their lives destroyed by the Cultural Revolution. Sun Weishi, Zhou's adopted daughter, died in 1968 after seven months of torture, imprisonment and rape by Maoist Red Guards. In 1968, Jiang Qing also had Zhou‘s adopted son (Sun Yang) tortured and murdered by Red Guards.

With different factions of the Red Guard movement fighting against perceived threats, many cities in China reached the brink of unrest in September 1967, when Lin Biao sent the army to restore order. Amid the turmoil, the Chinese economy plummeted, with a loss of industrial production in 1968 by 12 percent below the 1966 level. The army immediately forced many members of the urban Red Guard into rural areas to learn farming, where the movement then declined.

In 1969, Lin Biao managed to take power officially as Mao's successor. He immediately used an excuse of clashes with Soviet troops at the border to form a state of martial law. Disturbed by the destructive force of Lin Biao, Mao turned to his trusted friend Zhou Enlai [37], the Premier of the Peoples Republic of China, for solutions.

China not only needed to pull itself out of economic disaster and internal conflict, Mao now had to find a way to dismantle the challenge to his position by the hardliners who had continued to divide the country through their fist of violence, imprisonment, torture and executions. Everything the revolution had achieved was in jeopardy, so Mao turned to his closest friends with Nationalist Socialist leanings and put them into action. Internal economic success would require an outside ally, and so a reply to US inquiries to seek a meeting with the Chinese government were answered by Zhou Enlai in December 1970 and relayed back through foreign diplomatic channels in Pakistan to the USA that China was indeed interested in the US request for diplomatic communication. The Chinese communication stated that “the US initiative had the support of Chairman Mao and Vice Chairman Lin Biao”.

On July 08th, 1971, after several secretive diplomatic communications, Henri Kissinger visits China in Secret. (see here[38a] and here [38b])


1971 Henri Kissinger & Zhou Enlai

In his meeting with Zhou Enlai at the “Great Hall of the People” on July 10th, many topics were discussed including commitments on Taiwan by Henri Kissinger [39] including the withdrawal of two-third of the US forces present on the Island, a huge point of contention for Chairman Mao which would serve as a positive reason while eliminating suspicion from the hardliners for the sudden meeting with the leader of the Capitalist world.

Important to note is that Zhou Enlai let Kissinger know, in answer to questions previously submitted by the US for discussion, that China was looking to indeed develop their economy, although it would take a while, but they would try to go all out, aim high, and develop their “socialist construction” in a better, faster, and in a more economical way. Zhou continued, saying the second part of their answer was that once their economy was developed, they would still not consider themselves a superpower and would not join the ranks of the superpowers.

The meeting between Vice Chairman Zhou Enlai and Henri Kissinger came at a very critical time in China’s internal struggle which then set off a series of events that would strengthen the Socialists position within China. It was a stroke of political mastery by Chairman Mao and Zhou Enlai over the hardliners who had sowed chaos throughout the country and the subsequent loss of support by the people.

Strange and significant events in the USA and China seemed almost coordinated at times, yet cautious in a Yin Yang trust building partnership leading up to the historic meeting of US President Richard Nixon and Chairman Mao Zedong of China in February 1972.

Important Events in the US & China after Kissinger’s meeting with Zhou Enlai

On August 15th, 1971, after meeting with “Federal Reserve Chairman” Paul Volker, in a major economic shift from world war II, Nixon cancelled Bretton Woods by announcing actions to suspend, with certain exceptions, the convertibility of the US dollar into gold or other reserve assets, and ordered the gold window to be closed such that foreign governments could no longer exchange their dollars for gold.

On Sept 13th, 1971, Lin Biao leader of the hardline communist faction in China, died in a mysterious plane crash in Mongolia, apparently while trying to flee to the Soviet Union. But before the crash, Mao Zedong had taken measures to distance himself from Lin Biao in August 1971 after personally inspecting troops in central and southern China while stating publicly his differences with Lin Biao.

After the plane crash, members of Lin Biao’s military high command were then cleansed. The four military cadres in the Politburo, Huang Yongsheng, Wu Faxian, Li Zuopeng, and Qiu Huizuo were arrested and not released until the late 1980’s.

Zhou Enlai then took control of the government.

Around the time of the death of Lin Biao in 1971, the Cultural Revolution began to lose momentum. The new commanders of the People's Liberation Army demanded that order be restored in light of the dangerous situation along the border with the Soviet Union.

On Oct 25th, 1971, China became one of the five Permanent members of the UN Security Council [40] with full veto powers, replacing Taiwan.


Oct 25th, 1971, China became one of the five Permanent members of the UN Security Council


1972 Feb 17 – Nixon Goes to China [41]


Nixon Goes to China - Feb 17, 1972

As Mao's health began to decline in 1971 and 1972 and following the death of disgraced Lin Biao, Zhou Enlai was elected to the vacant position of First Vice Chairman of the Communist Party by the 10th Central Committee in August, 1973 and thereby designated as Mao's successor (the third person to be so designated after Liu Shaoqi and Lin Biao) Premier Zhou Enlai, who had accepted the Cultural Revolution, but never fully supported it, regained his authority, and used it to bring National Socialist Deng Xiaoping [42] back into the Party leadership at the 10th Party Congress. Deng Xiaoping, who had been purged early on in the Cultural Revolution, took effective control of the government as Zhou became more ill.


Deng Xiaoping and Zhou Enlai

Deng focused on reconstructing the country's economy and stressed unity as the first step by raising production. He remained careful, however, to avoid contradicting hardline ideology on paper, but his internal struggle with the hardliners, led by “The Gang of Four” [43], continued over the leadership of China.

“The Gang of Four” were Jiang Qing (Mao Zedong's last wife), Zhang Chunqiao, Yao Wenyuan, and Wang Hongwen.

Important to note that at the end of 1973, Mao Zedong began to rely on Deng Xiaoping to handle US-China relations, he also turned to Deng Xiaoping to help him strengthen his control of the army.

1973 (July) was also the year that the Trilateral Commission [44] was Created by the Western Economic cartel (Bankers from the USA, the Western Europe nations and Japan). The Trilateral Commission was formed to bring about substantive political and economic partnerships across the world while focusing on the developing nations with a greater improvement of East-West relations. ie: China. Many of these same nations had participated in the destruction of Imperial China with sights on its economics 70 years earlier. Later that year in October 1973, Henri Kissinger met Chinese officials in Beijing [45].

Deng Xiaoping (who had been political commissar of the 2nd Field Army during the civil war) became the most influential of the remaining army leaders. When Premier Zhou Enlai fell ill with cancer, Deng became Zhou's choice as successor, meaning that he could have, in theory, also have succeeded Mao.

During the next several years, a protracted factional struggle took place between the hardline Gang of Four and the National Socialists led by Zhou and Deng.

Zhou Enlai’s last major public appearance was at the first meeting of the 4th National People's Congress on 13 January 1975, where he presented the government work report.

The hardline Communist Gang of Four saw Nationalist Socialist Deng Xiaoping as their greatest challenge to power. In order to keep internal peace, Chairman Mao asked Deng to draw up a series of self-criticisms. Although Deng admitted to having taken an "inappropriate ideological perspective" while dealing with state and party affairs, he was reluctant to admit that his policies were wrong in essence. His antagonism with the Gang of Four became increasingly clear, and Mao seemed to sway in the Gang's favour. Mao refused to accept Deng's self-criticisms and asked the party's Central Committee to "discuss Deng's mistakes thoroughly".

Zhou Enlai had fallen out of the public eye after the National Peoples Congress meeting in January 1975 for medical treatment and died of bladder cancer a year later in January 1976.


Zhou Enlai - March 5th, 1898 - January 8th 1976

Zhou was a very important figure in Deng Xiaoping's political life, and so his death left Deng alone within the Party's Central Committee. After Deng delivered Zhou Enlai's official eulogy at the state funeral, the Gang of Four, with Mao's permission, began to criticize Deng.

The massive public outpouring of grief which Zhou Enlai’s death provoked in Beijing turned to anger at the Gang of Four, leading to the 1976 Tiananmen Incident.[46]


Tiananmen Incident 1976

The Tiananmen Incident was a mass gathering and protest on 5 April 1976 Tiananmen Square in Beijing held on the traditional holiday and day of mourning called the Qingming Festival. [47] The Gang of Four branded the event as counter-revolutionary and threatening to their power and blamed Deng Xiaoping as the mastermind behind the incident.

During the Tiananmen Incident, thousands of people protested the militia's removal of wreaths honoring Zhou Enlai in front of the Monument to the People's Heroes. Vehicles were burned, offices ransacked and there were reports of many injuries.

Mao himself wrote that "the nature of things has changed". This prompted Mao to remove Deng from all leadership positions, although he retained his party membership, which indicates that Deng was still under Mao’s protection.

In the aftermath on April 06th, 1976 Premier Hua Guofeng [48] was appointed to Deng's position as Vice Chairman and the vacant position of “First Vice Chairman”, which Zhou Enlai had once held. The appointment of First Vice Chair made “Hua Guofeng”, Chairman Mao's fourth official successor.

The Gang of Four's attempts to suppress public displays of grief resulted in demonstrations against the Gang of Four and Mao himself. However, five months later, chairman Mao, China's leader for 27 years, died on September 09th, 1976. The entire country entered an extended period of mourning.


Mao Zedong - December 26th, 1893 - September 09th, 1976

Mao was revered by the people of China much the same way a great Chinese Emperor’s had been in the past. For all the major problems that China experienced under Mao’s tenure, he was still revered and held blameless. The hardships that the people faced were blamed instead on those that advised him. Mao was 82 when he died.


Mao Zedong - Funeral Service Sept 18th, 1976

Communist Rule Ends in China 

Hua Guofeng who now held the three most powerful positions in the Chinese government, arrested the Gang of Four and denounced them as “counter-revolutionary”. Of special note, Hua Guofeng also served on Zhou Enlai’s committee to investigate, Lin Biao in 1971.

The Gang of Four, together with general Lin Biao who had died in 1971, were labeled the two major "counter-revolutionary forces" of the “Cultural Revolution” and officially blamed by the Chinese government for the worst excesses of the societal chaos that ensued during the ten years of turmoil it brought. Their downfall on October 6, 1976, a mere month after Mao's death, brought about major celebrations on the streets of Beijing and marked the end of a turbulent political era in China. The hardline Communists had been defeated.

Although Hua Guofeng was the First Vice Chairman and designated successor to chairman Mao, it must be noted that Hua Guofeng was one of the survivors of the "Long March" [49] along with Mao Zedong, Zhou Enlai, Lin Shaoqi, and Deng Xioping. All of whom became very close with unending loyalty and support for each other due to their shared experience in battle with life and death, they may not have agreed on everything, but their vision for China’s future was clear.

Disgraced “Lin Biao” was also a survivor of the long March and was for a long time, part of this unending loyalty bond between brothers, however, when Mao Zedong appointed Lin Biao as Defence Minister in 1959, Lin’s sights on power grew and later became evident to Mao during the Cultural Revolution that Lin Biao was very ambitious and a danger to his rule. Lin broke his loyalty to Mao and thus broke a sacred bond to a brother in arms and the revolution.

“Keep a Low Profile and Never Take the Lead.” ~ Deng Xiaoping


Deng Xiaoping 1978

On 22 July 1977, Deng was restored to the posts of Vice-Chairman of the Central Committee, Vice-Chairman of the Military Commission and Chief of the General Staff of the People's Liberation Army.

Deng discredited and condemned the Cultural Revolution, and in 1977 launched the "Beijing Spring", which allowed open criticism of the violent excesses and suffering that had occurred during that period. Meanwhile, he was the force behind the abolition of the class background system. Under new direction, the CPC removed employment barriers to those deemed to be associated with the former landlord class. Its removal allowed a faction favoring the restoration of the private market to enter the Communist Party.

By carefully mobilizing his supporters within the party, Deng outmaneuvered Hua Guofeng, who had pardoned him, then ousted Hua from his top leadership positions by 1980. In contrast to previous leadership changes, Deng allowed Hua to retain membership in the Central Committee and quietly retire, helping to set the precedent that losing a high-level leadership struggle would not result in physical harm.

Deng led China through a series of far-reaching “market-economy reforms”, which earned him the reputation as the "Architect of Modern China".

The term, “Market-Economy Reforms”, known in the West as the Opening of China, refers to the program of economic reforms called "Socialism with Chinese Characteristics" and "Socialist Market Economy"[50] in the People's Republic of China (PRC). The reforms were started by Deng Xiaoping and reformists within the Communist Party of China on December 18, 1978.

In early 1979, Deng made an official visit to the United States [51], meeting President Jimmy Carter in Washington as well as Zbigniew Brzezinski [52]. The next day, after his meeting with Brzezinski, Deng went on a tour of corporate facilities including the Johnson Space Center in Houston, Coca-Cola and Boeing in Atlanta and Seattle, respectively. The corporate visits made it clear that the new Chinese priorities were moving towards economic and technological development.

Sino-Japanese relations also improved significantly. Deng used Japan as an example of a rapidly progressing power that set a good example for China economically.

Deng quoted an old proverb, "it doesn't matter whether a cat is black or white, if it catches mice it is a good cat." His point was in reference to east / west politics and economics and well understood by those in the west that were about to go into business with China in the near future.

Deng’s economic reforms accelerated the market model in 1979, while the leaders maintained old Communist-style rhetoric. The commune system was gradually dismantled and the peasants began to have more freedom to manage the land they cultivated while selling their excess products on the market. At the same time, China's economy opened up to foreign trade, mostly by high level political connections through Zbigniew Brzezinski and the Trilateral commission. Business between China and the West, was once again, back on line.

Conclusion: (Part 1)

In the years since (1912 to 1979) the fall of the Qing Dynasty and Confucian China [53], infighting by Chinese wealthy families, warlords and political idealists demonstrated a fierce determination to win at any cost while forcing their plans on the Chinese nation. In the case of Communism, Mao was very much like an Emperor of the old world and wielded power much the same way. The National Socialists that prevailed after Mao’s death, can also boast of benefitting from singular rule as demonstrated by Deng Xiaoping and his National Socialist construct. Even though Deng is considered a reformer, his constructs of power are based in a totalitarian mindset.

China moved from totalitarian rule by an Emperor, to the totalitarian rule by a communist leader, to the totalitarian governance by the leader of a national socialist state. “National Socialism” is what emerged in China after Mao’s death. Communism perished with Mao and the Cultural Revolution.

The difference between China post-communist state and those two disgraced regimes of the 20th century that embraced National Socialism is that China, has not invaded anyone…yet.

China’s partnership with western economic interests goes deeper than one might think, but China also has a long memory as the most gifted of their leaders are masters of strategic planning and have great patience when waiting for the right moment to launch their final thrust in achieving their goals.
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LINKS:

[01] The Art of War – Sun Tzu
[02] Royal Chinese Imperial Dynasties
[03] Xinhai Revolution
[04] Mao Zedong
[05] The First Sino Japanese War
[06] The Boxer Rebellion
[07] The Republic of China (1912 to 1949)
[08] Empress Dowager Cixi
[09] Sun Yat-sen
[10] Kang Youwei
[11] Boxer Protocol
[12] Wuchang Uprising
[13] Last Chinese Emperor - Puyi
[14] Yuan Shikai
[15] Beiyang Army
[16] Kuomintang
[17] Warlord Era
[18] Chiang Kai-shek
[19] Chinese Civil War
[20] Communist Party of China
[21] People's Republic of China
[22] Tokyo Trials
[23] Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference
[24] National People's Congress
[25] The Cultural Revolution
[26] The Great Leap Forward
[27] Anti-Rightist Campaign
[28] The Great Chinese Famine
[29] Lushan Conference
[30] Liu Shaoqi
[31] Deng Xiaoping
[32] Peng Dehuai
[33] Lin Biao
[34] Maoism
[35] Jiang Qing
[36a] Red Guards
[36b] Chairman Mao & the Gang of Four, the Cultural Revolution
[37] Zhou Enlai
[38a] Henri Kissinger visits China in secret
[38b] Henri Kissinger visits China (Video) 
[39] Henri Kissinger
[40] China becomes a permanent member of the UN Security Council
[41] Nixon Goes to China
[42] Deng Xiaoping
[43] The Gang of Four
[44] Trilateral Commission
[45] 1973 Oct - Kissinger Meets Chinese Officials in Beijing
[46] 1976 Tiananmen Incident
[47] Qingming Festival
[48] Hua Guofeng
[49] The Long March
[50] Socialist Market Economy
[51] Deng Xiaoping Visits America 1979
[52] 2016 Zbignieu Brzezinski in Reflection to Deng Xiaoping
[53] Confucianism

RELATED LINKS:

[A] The Opium Wars
[B] 1971 - June 30, Conversation Between President Nixon and the Ambassador to the Republic of China (McConaughy) (UN Security Council Seat) Washington,
[C] Sino-Soviet split

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