#Internal Rift in INDIA Bloc

[jasminewilson143]

Internal Rift in INDIA Bloc: Rahul Gandhi’s Mock Interview Highlights Growing Divisions

The political dynamics within the Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance (INDIA) bloc have come under scrutiny recently, highlighting differences among its member parties. A recent instance involving Congress leader Rahul Gandhi underscores the growing rift within the coalition. His controversial approach to addressing pressing issues, including a mock interview staged within the…

[delhichronicles]

INDIA Bloc Faces Turmoil Amid Delhi Elections

The Delhi Assembly election has sparked unexpected turmoil within the INDIA bloc, a coalition of opposition parties formed to counter the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). The crisis stems from differing stances of member parties, with key players openly supporting the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) over Congress, exposing deep fissures within the alliance.

AAP Garners Support Amidst Criticism

In a surprising move, the Samajwadi Party (SP) and Trinamool Congress (TMC) extended their unqualified support to the AAP. While the Shiv Sena (UBT) has not officially taken a side, its criticism of Congress’ rhetoric against Arvind Kejriwal signals a leaning toward Delhi’s ruling party. However, none of these parties hold significant electoral weight in Delhi, making their endorsements more symbolic than impactful. On Wednesday, AAP convener Arvind Kejriwal revealed that the TMC had pledged support for his party in the Delhi polls. TMC leader Derek O’Brien echoed this sentiment on X (formerly Twitter), stating, “We have your back @AamAadmiParty.” This public display of solidarity underscores a growing rift between the INDIA bloc’s constituents. The Shiv Sena (UBT) has been vocal in its critique of Congress, particularly its personal attacks on Mr. Kejriwal. Sanjay Raut, a senior party leader, commented, “We have not yet officially declared our support to AAP. Both AAP and Congress are our friends. But it is true that Arvind Kejriwal is stronger at present.” The party’s mouthpiece, Saamana, also pointed out Congress’ misplaced focus on attacking AAP rather than the BJP.

Existential Questions Within the INDIA Bloc

The unfolding drama has led to existential questions about the INDIA bloc’s purpose. Omar Abdullah, the Chief Minister of Jammu and Kashmir and leader of the National Conference, highlighted the alliance’s unclear agenda and leadership. “If the alliance is only meant for the Parliamentary election, then it should be wound up,” Mr. Abdullah stated, urging the bloc to clarify its long-term strategy. This is not the first time the INDIA bloc has faced such questions. Similar debates arose during the 2023 state elections in Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, and Chhattisgarh, where the Congress was accused of sidelining smaller alliance partners like the Samajwadi Party and Left parties. Adding to the discourse, Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) leader Tejashwi Yadav confirmed that the INDIA bloc was originally conceived for the Lok Sabha elections. “It was decided, at the very onset, that it was limited to Lok Sabha elections only,” he remarked. Meanwhile, CPI(M) Polit Bureau member Brinda Karat emphasized a pragmatic approach: “In Delhi, we support the strongest candidate against the BJP. Our slogan remains ‘Defeat BJP, save Delhi’.” Congress has found itself increasingly isolated, with allies questioning its tactics and leadership. The editorial in Saamana criticized the party for its aggressive stance against AAP instead of focusing on the BJP. This internal discord threatens to undermine the bloc’s effectiveness in presenting a united front against the ruling party. AAP's Confidence Amid Support Despite the friction within the alliance, Mr. Kejriwal remains optimistic. Thanking the INDIA bloc members for their support, he stated, “With your support, we are confident of defeating the BJP in the upcoming elections.” His statement reflects confidence but also highlights the precarious nature of the bloc’s cohesion. The Delhi Assembly election has laid bare the cracks in the INDIA bloc, raising critical questions about its future. As parties jostle for influence and strategy, the alliance must address these issues promptly to maintain credibility. Whether the bloc can transition from a parliamentary strategy to a comprehensive political force remains uncertain, but the challenges ahead are undeniable. Read the full article

[newstfionline]

Thursday, December 10, 2020

GOP may wait for January to say Biden won (AP) Americans waiting for Republicans in Congress to acknowledge Joe Biden as the president-elect may have to keep waiting until January as GOP leaders stick with President Donald Trump’s litany of legal challenges and unproven claims of fraud. Tuesday’s deadline for states to certify their elections—once viewed as a pivot point for Republicans to mark Biden’s win—came and went without much comment. Next week’s Dec. 14 Electoral College deadline may produce just a few more congratulatory GOP calls to Biden. Increasingly, GOP lawmakers say the Jan. 6 vote in Congress to accept the Electoral College outcome may be when the presidential winner becomes official. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell has signaled Jan. 20 as the certain date when the country is “going to have the swearing-in of the next president.” The result is a risky standoff like none other in U.S. history. The refusal to agree upon the facts of the election threatens to undermine voter confidence, chisel away at the legitimacy of Biden’s presidency and restack civic norms in still-unknowable ways.

Last-ditch dinner (Foreign Policy) British Prime Minister Boris Johnson has called the likelihood of reaching a deal between his government and the European Union “very, very difficult” ahead of a make-or-break dinner meeting in Brussels with European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen today. The prime minister’s trip comes as EU chief negotiator Michel Barnier told a closed-door meeting of the bloc’s ministers that it was now more likely that the United Kingdom would exit the Brexit transition without a trade deal. The British government has shown signs of a desire for compromise after it dropped controversial clauses in legislation that would have breached the initial Brexit terms. “Hopefully this is a signal that the British government is in deal-making mood,” Irish Foreign Minister Simon Coveney said.

Bionic soldiers (Times of London) The French army has been given the go-ahead to develop bionic soldiers resistant to pain and stress and endowed with extra brain power thanks to microchip implants. The approval came from the ethical committee of the armed forces ministry, which said in a report that France needed to keep up with countries that were already working to produce super-soldiers. The committee gave details of some lines of research, including pills to keep troops awake for long periods and surgery to improve hearing. Other areas in the “field of study” involve implants which release anti-stress substances or “improve cerebral capacity.”

France to press on with law on “unrepublican” behaviour (Reuters) France’s government decided on Wednesday to press ahead with a law it says will crack down on practices that go against the values of the French Republic. Prime Minister Jean Castex told reporters the law would give authorities tools to “combat political and ideological undertakings which go against our values ... and sovereignty and sometimes go as far as criminal acts.” The debate around the law has become more charged since the Oct. 16 beheading of schoolteacher Samuel Paty by a man who said he wanted to punish the teacher for showing cartoons of the Prophet Mohammad in a civics class. French officials say it is no longer enough to police acts of violence and that there is a need also to sanction behaviour which they say is not explicitly criminal but is out of step with the values of the French state. The proposed law includes tougher measures against online apologists for acts of violence, the risk of expulsion for foreign nationals with multiple wives, and checks on anyone who educates their child outside mainstream schools.

Europe’s ‘rule of law’ standoff with Poland and Hungary becomes test over defining values (Washington Post) Hungary and Poland appeared close to a deal with E.U. partners Wednesday to end an impasse that has blocked $2.2 trillion in funding and deepened a crisis in the 27-member bloc over the fundamental liberal democratic values it is supposed to represent. The contention for Poland and Hungary is a clause that links the money to upholding the “rule of law”—judicial and political norms that underpin democracies—at a time when Brussels is censuring both for letting it slide. The deadlock has come at a critical time when European economies sorely need the aid after months of lockdowns and closures. But more is at stake than delays to the $900 billion in emergency funding and a $1.3 trillion seven-year budget. The spat has struck at the heart of a rift in the European Union, engineered as a border-busting alliance of democracies that has struggled to deal with the question of what to do when member states stray from the shared values required to join. “It’s a fight for the soul of the E.U.,” said Heather Grabbe, director of the Open Society European Policy Institute. The confrontation between Hungary and Poland and the rest of the European Union has been brewing for years. Both governments have taken step after step to weaken the independence of the judiciary, undermine political opponents and entrench their own power and views, which include laws aimed at blocking refugees and erosion of press freedoms. E.U. money has helped fuel the takeover of the systems in both countries—with Poland the biggest net recipient of E.U. funding in recent years and Hungary not far behind.

Some perspective on immigrants (Internazionale/Italy) They carry disease. They live in overcrowded neighborhoods. They spend evenings listening to the sweet sounds of their music, but in filthy courtyards with rotting air. Their houses are small and rundown, where dozens of people share no more than two or three rooms. They come in waves, irritating people and attracting far too much attention. Sure we know they may have escaped bad governments, bloody wars, poverty. But they’ve arrived with strange superstitions and we’ve seen how they exploit their children, sending them on the streets to beg and forcing them to hand over whatever they make at the end of the day. And yet it’s true that when they do their agricultural work, they’re quite good. They are lean and muscular, capable of withstanding prolonged physical effort. They have a certain dexterity and a developed artistic sense. Their women are valued for their domestic virtues. Thanks to their sense of family, they are very generous with relatives who have stayed back in the home country. Still, their presence ultimately compromises our living standards and undermines the very quality of the nation. They share so little with a country that must seem to them the paradise of well-being. (The words you’ve just read were used in the international press between the 19th century and today to describe millions of those who had emigrated abroad from Italy.)

India’s Police Detain Opposition Leaders As Farmers’ Agitation Grows (NYT) Aligning themselves squarely with India’s angry farmers, opposition leaders on Tuesday accused the government of cracking down on dissent, saying they had been detained while seeking to join broadening protests against the country’s new pro-market agricultural policies. The growing agitation of India’s farmers, which is galvanizing support from nearly all sections of the heavily agricultural country, has increasingly rattled the government of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. For the last couple of weeks, hundreds of thousands of farmers from all over the country have been camping outside New Delhi to protest Mr. Modi’s new farm policies, which they see as his government’s effort to hand farmers’ land over to big business. The protests, which have gradually spread throughout the country and increasingly mirror the protests over a contentious new citizenship law, have become a test of Mr. Modi’s grip on power in the world’s largest democracy.

Trade record (Foreign Policy) Trump’s trade war with China has finally produced … a record high for the Chinese trade surplus, which hit $75.43 billion last month. China has failed to meet most of the goals set during the part one of the trade deal at the start of 2020, while tourism and education—which normally help the U.S. side of the balance sheet—have been shut down by the pandemic. Meanwhile, as Americans hunker down for the winter, they’re buying electronics and other Chinese goods in record numbers.

No stamps for you (Foreign Policy) Sometimes the affairs of state between great nations are weighty—but sometimes they are extremely petty. Amid the diplomatic crisis caused by the border killings earlier this year, China has canceled a set of stamps to commemorate the 70th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations with India. The move is another signal that Beijing has no desire to mend the many fences it’s trampled this year

Hong Kong democracy fighters face a dire choice: Go abroad or go to jail (Washington Post) Facing charges related to his activism, Ted Hui, a former Hong Kong pro-democracy lawmaker, flew to Denmark last week ostensibly to discuss climate and sustainability issues—topics innocuous enough for a court to release his passport and allow his departure. The climate talks were a ruse. Last Thursday, three days after landing in Copenhagen, Hui announced he would not return and would instead go into exile. Coming alongside daily arrests of democracy campaigners in Hong Kong, Hui’s flight demonstrated the stark choice now confronting those who have fought for freedoms here: Go abroad or go to jail. As China targets those who resist its crackdown on the city, stalwarts who have dedicated their lives to Hong Kong’s democracy struggle are increasingly opting to leave, along with numerous others. Even overseas, continued harassment and persecution are a testament to the reach of China’s new national security law for Hong Kong, which criminalizes vague acts such as “collusion with foreign forces” and which Beijing asserts applies to everyone, everywhere. “It is a grave situation, with what seems to be only two ways out: Either leave Hong Kong or stay here and wait to be arrested,” said Sam Yip, vice convener of the Civil Human Rights Front, a group that has organized massive pro-democracy marches. Its convener, Figo Chan, was among eight people arrested Tuesday.

U.S. Leaves Behind Afghan Bases—and a Legacy of Land Disputes (NYT) At harvest time, as neighbors and relatives reap their crops, 80-year-old Jamal Khan can only look in despair on the plot of land that was the source of his family’s livelihood—until the American forces arrived over a decade ago. Just before sunset one day, armored vehicles drove into fields of knee-high corn stalks, claimed about 30 acres that were co-owned by about as many families and quickly cordoned off the area with barbed wire. This was now Combat Outpost Honaker-Miracle, one of the roughly 1,000 military installations the United States and its coalition partners would prop up across Afghanistan. “In the whole vastness of the lord’s world, I had this plot of land and this house that I am living in and nothing else,” said Mr. Khan, who lives the Watapur District of Kunar Province, in eastern Afghanistan. “We told them this is our private land, how do you suddenly put up here? They said nothing.” Mr. Khan is one of countless Afghans whose land became a casualty of the U.S.-led war and the sprawling military infrastructure born from it. Despite the drawdown of American forces in Afghanistan from more than 100,000 in 2011 to fewer than 5,000, some of the property they occupied has not been returned. Instead, the bases and the land have been transferred to Afghan security forces. The Americans have left Watapur but Mr. Khan does not have his land back, and similar conflicts linger across wide swaths of the country.

Iraqis slowly rebuild Mosul, with little aid from government (AP) Anan Yasoun rebuilt her home with yellow cement slabs amid the rubble of Mosul, a brightly colored manifestation of resilience in a city that for many remains synonymous with the Islamic State group’s reign of terror. In the three years since Iraqi forces, backed by a U.S.-led coalition, liberated Mosul from the militants, Yasoun painstakingly saved money that her husband earned from carting vegetables in the city. They had just enough to restore the walls of their destroyed home; money for the floors was a gift from her dying father, the roof a loan that is still outstanding. Yasoun didn’t even mind the bright yellow exterior—paint donated by a relative. “I just wanted a house,” said the 40-year-old mother of two. The mounds of debris around her bear witness to the violence Iraq’s second-largest city has endured. From Mosul, IS had proclaimed its caliphate in 2014. Three years later, Iraqi forces backed by a U.S.-led coalition liberated the city in a grueling battle that killed thousands and left Mosul in ruins. Such resilience is apparent elsewhere in the city. Life is slowly coming back to Mosul these days: merchants are busy in their shops, local musicians again serenade small, enthralled crowds. At night, the city lights gleam as restaurant patrons spill out onto the streets.

[itsfinancethings]

China on Friday ordered the U.S. consulate in the southwestern city of Chengdu to close in response to Washington’s “unjustified” order for the Chinese consulate in Houston to cease operations.

In announcing the latest tit-for-tat salvo between the world’s two biggest powers, the Chinese Foreign Ministry warned of “gravely harmed U.S.-China relations,” while adding that the “U.S. is responsible for all this.” Chengdu is the westernmost of the five U.S. consulates in mainland China, and its closure deprives the Trump administration of an invaluable outpost for gathering information on the restive regions of Tibet and Xinjiang.

On Wednesday, Washington ordered China’s Houston consulate to close within 72 hours amid accusations that it had been used to orchestrate rampant intellectual property theft. TV news broadcasts showed local firefighters called to the scene after consular staff apparently began burning documents in the wake of the closure order.

The shuttering of the Houston consulate was among many subjects broached by Secretary of State Mike Pompeo during a stinging speech Thursday evening at the Richard Nixon Presidential Library in Yorba Linda, Calif.

In a wide-ranging attack on the Chinese state, Pompeo said the Houston consulate was a “hub of spying and IP theft.” He accused China of having “ripped off our prized intellectual property and trade secrets costing millions of jobs across America.”

On Friday, Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying condemned Pompeo for “launching a new crusade against China in a globalized world.” She tweeted: “What he is doing is as futile as an ant trying to shake a tree.”

Prof. Wang Yiwei, director of the Institute of International Affairs at Renmin University in Beijing, says that the closure of the Houston consulate is intended to signify a permanent break in bilateral ties.

He notes that Houston was one of the first Chinese consulates in the U.S., with the city holding positive associations for Chinese as the place where Yao Ming made his name as an NBA great. The most enduring image of Deng Xiaoping’s state visit to the U.S.—the first by any Chinese paramount leader—in 1979 was of the reformist wearing a Texan cowboy hat at the Simonton Rodeo, less than 40 miles from the Houston consulate.

“So this is a symbol that the U.S. wants to escalate the confrontation with China, not just regarding the current administration, but from the very beginning of engagement with China,” Wang tells TIME.

Read More: Inside the Global Quest to Trace the Origins of COVID-19

The shift in tenor was apparent throughout Pompeo’s speech, which took aim at China’s alleged repression of its Uighur ethnic minority in the far western province of Xinjiang, the erosion of freedoms in semi-autonomous Hong Kong, Beijing’s military expansion in the disputed South China Sea and China being the place where the novel coronavirus first came to light.

“President Nixon once said he feared he had created a ‘Frankenstein’ by opening the world to the CCP (Chinese Communist Party),” Pompeo said. “And here we are.”

“The free world must triumph over this new tyranny,” he added. “The old paradigm of blind engagement with China simply won’t get it done. We must not continue it. We must not return to it.”

Meanwhile on Thursday, the U.S. Justice Department charged four Chinese researchers with visa fraud, alleging that they had lied about ties to the People’s Liberation Army. Three have been arrested and one has taken refuge in China’s consulate in San Francisco. Beijing steadfastly denies its diplomats and academics engage in state-sponsored espionage and denounced the charges as “naked political persecution.”

The Trump administration “has continually monitored, harassed and even arbitrarily detained Chinese students and scholars in the U.S.,” said Foreign Ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin. “China will take necessary measures to safeguard Chinese citizens’ safety and legitimate rights.”

Eric Thayer/Bloomberg via Getty ImagesMichael Pompeo, U.S. secretary of state, speaks at the Richard Nixon Presidential Library & Museum in Yorba Linda, California, U.S., on Thursday, July 23, 2020.

Redefining the Relationship

Scott W. Harold, an East Asia expert at RAND Corp., says that while Pompeo’s speech hit on tangible rifts with the bilateral relationship, Trump’s previous effusive praise of Xi means that “some observers regard [this] as deliberately politicizing a critical foreign policy for the benefit of the president’s reelection campaign.”

That said, “I think the president’s team, many of whom are passionate defenders of principles and human rights, believe that they have an opening to redefine the relationship, and some of them are doing that now.”

In his speech, Pompeo suggested the creation of “a new grouping of like-minded nations — a new alliance of democracies,” to counter China’s rise. Although he did not specify which nations would participate, the Trump administration has previously sought to coalesce the Asia-Pacific’s preeminent democracies — the U.S., Australia, Japan and India — into a bloc charged with maintaining a “free and open Indo-Pacific.”

“If the free world doesn’t change, Communist China will surely change us,” Pompeo said.

The speech was a clear departure from the America First rhetoric of Trump’s inaugural campaign, indicating that Washington was now seeking to preserve and strengthen historic alliances. Earlier this month, the State Department approved the sale of $620 million of U.S. weaponry to the self-governing island of Taiwan, which Beijing regards as its sovereign territory to be reunited with the mainland by force if necessary. China announced sanctions on Lockheed Martin as a consequence.

Read more: How China Could Emerge Even Stronger After COVID-19

“Taiwan is the canary in the coal mine,” says Walter Lohman, the Asian Studies Center director of conservative think-tank the Heritage Foundation, in a briefing note. “China has intensified its security, diplomatic, and economic threats to the island over the past several years. If the U.S. is not dependable as a friend of Taiwan, few states in the region will trust Washington for their own security needs.”

It’s unclear where the next escalation will manifest. The Trump administration has already taken aim at Chinese journalists in the U.S., prompting retaliatory measures against U.S. media organizations based in China (including TIME, which was listed by the Chinese as an entity of the U.S. government after Washington declared several Chinese media organizations to be arms of Beijing). A proposal to ban all 90 million CCP members and their families from the U.S. has gathered momentum despite stern pushback from analysts and U.S. diplomats.

Remin University’s Wang sees the constant escalations as a sign of weakness. “There’s no hope for Trump to be reelected because over a hundred thousand Americans lost their lives during peacetime [from the pandemic],” he says. “This is unacceptable to American voters, so all he can do is bash China.”

Hu Xijin, editor of the CCP mouthpiece Global Times, suggested that China drew strength from Washington’s fumbling. “I strongly urge American people to reelect Trump because his team has many crazy members like Pompeo,” he posted on Twitter. “They help China strengthen solidarity and cohesion in a special way. It’s crucial to China’s rise. As a [CCP] member, I thank them.”

[technologyinfosec]

Trade and economy in focus as G7 leaders get down to work

Leaders of the Group of Seven wealthy nations discussed global trade woes at their annual summit on Sunday. The G7 gathering is taking place against a backdrop of growing worries about a global economic downturn and coincides with an era of international disunity across an array of issues that have strained decades-old allegiances. Trump joined the leaders from France, Britain, Japan, Germany, Italy and Canada in the French coastal resort of Biarritz for three days of talks that kicked off on Saturday with an ambitious agenda that includes the defence of democracy, gender equality, education and climate change. The G7 gathering is taking place against a backdrop of worries about a global economic downturn and coincides with an era of international disunity across an array of matters. Trump said that he had second thoughts about escalating the trade war with China, he meant that he wished he had raised tariffs on Beijing even higher, the White House said. Trump, who announced higher tariffs on Chinese goods last week, raised eyebrows during a meeting with British Prime Minister Boris Johnson at the G7 when he responded in the affirmative to questions from reporters on whether he had any second thoughts about the tariff move. White House spokeswoman Stephanie Grisham sought to explain the remark. "His answer has been greatly misinterpreted. President Trump responded in the affirmative - because he regrets not raising the tariffs higher," she said in a statement. Niche issues The delegations had barely arrived before divergences were exposed, with senior US officials accusing the host, French President Emmanuel Macron, of looking "to fracture the G7" by focusing on "niche issues" rather than major global concerns. France denied this, pointing to Sunday's initial session covering the economy, trade and security - areas that used to draw easy consensus but are now sources of great friction. Trump arrived in France just hours after escalating his trade war with China in a tit-for-tat battle between the world's two largest economies that has spooked financial markets. "I am very worried about the way it's going, the growth of protectionism, of tariffs that we're seeing," British Prime Minister Boris Johnson said on Saturday. "Those who support the tariffs are at risk of incurring the blame for the downturn in the global economy, irrespective of whether or not that is true." Underlining the discord, Trump also threatened his host on the eve of the summit, saying the United States would tax French wine "like they've never seen before" unless Paris dropped a digital tax on US technology companies. Leaping into the fray, European Council President Donald Tusk, who takes part in the G7 discussions, warned the EU would respond "in kind" if Trump acted on his threat. "This may be the last moment to restore our political community," Tusk told reporters on Saturday, giving a bleak assessment of Western relations. Looking to broaden the scope of the debate, Macron has invited several African leaders to discuss the problems facing their continent, while leaders from India, Australia, Chile and Spain were due to attend a dinner later on Sunday where the focus will be on the environment among other issues. Japan trade deal On the sidelines of the summit, President Donald Trump on Sunday said he and Japan's Prime Minister Shinzo Abe had agreed on the principles of a trade deal that would probably be signed next month in New York. Trump's Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer said the deal would open up markets to over $7 billion worth of goods and covered agriculture, industrial tariffs and digital trade. The US president said Abe agreed that Japan would buy excess US corn. Abe said of the "potential" purchase of US corn that such purchases would be carried out by the private sector. Brexit Squabbles Trump up-ended last year's G7 summit in Canada, walking out of the meeting early and disassociating himself from the final communique having initially endorsed the document. France has got around that problem by doing away with the time-honoured communique, deciding it was not worth even trying to find common language. While the transatlantic rift is the most stark, there are also deep divisions within the European camp, with Johnson making his G7 debut at a time when he is struggling to persuade EU capitals to renegotiate Britain's divorce from the bloc. Johnson and Tusk, who are due to talk on Sunday on the sidelines of the summit, sparred ahead of the meeting over who would take the blame if Britain leaves the EU on Oct. 31 without a Brexit agreement acceptable to both sides. "I still hope that PM Johnson will not like to go down in history as Mr No Deal," said Tusk, who leads the political direction of the 28-nation European Union. Johnson later retorted that it would be Tusk himself who would carry the mantle if Britain could not secure a new withdrawal agreement. Macron added to the internal EU strains by unexpectedly threatening on Friday to block an EU trade deal with a group of South American states over Brazil's handling of fires that are ravaging the Amazon rainforest. Germany and Britain both voiced deep concern about the blazes, but disagreed with Macron on how to respond, saying shooting down the ambitious Mercosur trade accord would not help save the Amazon. Read the full article

[global-news-station]

BIARRITZ: Leaders of the Group of Seven wealthy nations will discuss global trade woes at their annual summit on Sunday, likely laying bare a yawning divide between U.S. President Donald Trump and his Western allies.

The G7 gathering is taking place against a backdrop of growing worries about a global economic downturn and coincides with an era of international disunity across an array of issues that have strained decades-old allegiances.

Trump joined the leaders from France, Britain, Japan, Germany, Italy and Canada in the French coastal resort of Biarritz for three days of talks that kicked off on Saturday with an ambitious agenda that includes the defence of democracy, gender equality, education and climate change.

The delegations had barely arrived before divergences were exposed, with senior U.S. officials accusing the host, French President Emmanuel Macron, of looking “to fracture the G7” by focusing on “niche issues” rather than major global concerns.

France denied this, pointing to Sunday’s initial session covering the economy, trade and security – areas that used to draw easy consensus but are now sources of great friction.

Trump arrived in France just hours after escalating his trade war with China in a tit-for-tat battle between the world’s two largest economies that has spooked financial markets.

“I am very worried about the way it’s going, the growth of protectionism, of tariffs that we’re seeing,” British Prime Minister Boris Johnson said on Saturday.

“Those who support the tariffs are at risk of incurring the blame for the downturn in the global economy, irrespective of whether or not that is true.”

Underlining the discord, Trump also threatened his host on the eve of the summit, saying the United States would tax French wine “like they’ve never seen before” unless Paris dropped a digital tax on U.S. technology companies.

Leaping into the fray, European Council President Donald Tusk, who takes part in the G7 discussions, warned the EU would respond “in kind” if Trump acted on his threat.

“This may be the last moment to restore our political community,” Tusk told reporters on Saturday, giving a bleak assessment of Western relations.

Looking to broaden the scope of the debate, Macron has invited several African leaders to discuss the problems facing their continent, while leaders from India, Australia, Chile and Spain are due to attend a dinner on Sunday where the focus will be on the environment among other issues.

BREXIT SQUABBLES

Trump up-ended last year’s G7 summit in Canada, walking out of the meeting early and disassociating himself from the final communique having initially endorsed the document.

France has got around that problem by doing away with the time-honoured communique, deciding it was not worth even trying to find common language.

While the transatlantic rift is the most stark, there are also deep divisions within the European camp, with Johnson making his G7 debut at a time when he is struggling to persuade EU capitals to renegotiate Britain’s divorce from the bloc.

Johnson and Tusk, who are due to talk on Sunday on the sidelines of the summit, sparred ahead of the meeting over who would take the blame if Britain leaves the EU on Oct. 31 without a Brexit agreement acceptable to both sides.

“I still hope that PM Johnson will not like to go down in history as Mr No Deal,” said Tusk, who leads the political direction of the 28-nation European Union.

Johnson later retorted that it would be Tusk himself who would carry the mantle if Britain could not secure a new withdrawal agreement.

Macron added to the internal EU strains by unexpectedly threatening on Friday to block an EU trade deal with a group of South American states over Brazil’s handling of fires that are ravaging the Amazon rainforest.

Germany and Britain both voiced deep concern about the blazes, but disagreed with Macron on how to respond, saying shooting down the ambitious Mercosur trade accord would not help save the Amazon.

The post Trade and economy in focus as G7 leaders get down to work appeared first on ARYNEWS.

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[politicalfilth-blog]

Turkey Is Getting Closer And Closer To Divorcing NATO

We Are Change

Article via Strategic Culture

Turkey has been a NATO ally since 1952, and US aircraft have used Incirlik Air Base in the south during the operations in Afghanistan and Iraq.

The base is home to a stockpile of US tactical nuclear weapons.

A perusal of media reports leads to the conclusion that Turkey and NATO are heading for a major rift or even a breakup – a problem the North Atlantic alliance hasn’t experienced in its nearly seven decades of existence.

Germany and the Netherlands have blocked Turkish ministers from staging rallies to court the vote of expatriate Turks in the April 16 referendum on giving President Erdogan greater powers. Denmark is siding with its north European neighbors. Turkey faces deep differences with the USA, accusing it of being behind the failed plot in 2016. Both countries have opposing views on the role of Kurds in Syria. Former State Secretary John Kerry came close to threatening Turkey with the loss of its NATO membership.

Add to this the perennial tension between Turkey and Greece and the problem of Cyprus to get the whole picture. According to Bloomberg, «All in all, Turkey appears to have more disputes than friendships with its NATO allies. And its engagement with the alliance itself, which it joined in 1952, isn’t particularly strong».

The NATO annual report for 2016 says Turkey only took part in four of the 18 key NATO exercises held last year. Despite having the fourth-strongest military in the bloc (after the US, France and the UK but ahead of Germany) and the second-highest number of military personnel (after the US), its involvement in NATO’s deployments is small, amounting to just 4 percent of the personnel in the mission to train the Afghan security forces, and 7 percent of the Kosovo force.

Ankara has recently blocked some rolling programs with NATO, including political events, civilian projects and military training, in an escalation of a diplomatic dispute with a number of European states.

Turkey is unable to block cooperation with full-fledged NATO members. The move to block the activities is apparently aimed at Austria, which is not a member of NATO but is a partner country. It has banned Turkish referendum rallies on its territory. Austria has called for the EU to end accession talks with Turkey over alleged human rights violations after the aborted coup.

As a result, a very important NATO project to threaten Russia is in jeopardy. This month, Brigadier General Vladimir Chachibaia, new Chief of General Staff of Georgian Armed Forces, proposed to turn the port of Poti into a NATO military base. This, he argued, would help the alliance get around the provisions of Montreux Convention, which limit non-Black Sea powers access to the Black Sea.

Increasing the number of port calls is a way to boost the bloc’s naval presence, but the passage of naval ships not belonging to Black Sea states is restricted by the Convention. Strengthening the naval forces of Georgia and Ukraine and building a bloc’s «coast guard» base in Georgia would boost NATO’s sea power in the region. Poti could become a home port for the ships of Black Sea NATO members. Georgian military expert Irakli Aladashvili told Russian Kommersant daily that the facility would be protected by ground based weapons systems and land forces.

Ukraine’s plans to buy old ships from NATO members could also be suspended.

Turkey’s action encompasses many more areas of NATO’s activities. The programs cover most of Europe, plus many countries in the Middle East and Asia. Kosovo, Georgia, Ukraine and Afghanistan are affected. Austria is one of the biggest providers of troops in Kosovo. «It is a very unfortunate situation and it means some cooperation programs can’t be launched», said NATO’s Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg during a visit to Copenhagen.

Last November, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said Turkey could become part of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO). The idea had been discussed with Russian President Vladimir Putin and his Kazakh counterpart Nursultan Nazarbayev.

Established in 1996, the SCO is a political, military and economic organization comprising Russia, China, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan. Iran, Mongolia, Belarus and Afghanistan are granted observer status. India and Pakistan are set to join this year to make the SCO a powerful group with global influence. Turkey’s accession would be a milestone bringing together the Shanghai Pact and the Cooperation Council of Turkic-Speaking States (CCTS) – an international organization of Turkic countries, comprising Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Turkey. The General Secretariat is in ?stanbul, Turkey. Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan are possible future members of the council.

Turkey is developing military cooperation with Russia. This January, Russian and Turkish air forces launched a joint operation against Islamic State (IS) militants holding the town of al-Bab northeast of Aleppo. The parties have agreed to form a joint military and intelligence mechanism to coordinate their activities in the Middle East. If peace efforts to stop hostilities in Syria succeed, Russia and Turley lead the crisis management process. It could be a start on the way to forming a broader alliance against global terrorism.

Russia and Turkey have been getting increasingly close recently, especially after the two countries brokered a Syria truce in late December to join together in the Astana process. Turkey is in talks with Russia on purchasing the advanced long-range S-400 air defense systems to protect its skies. This issue was on the agenda during the President Erdogan’s visit to Moscow on March 9-10, 2017. Ankara also seeks procurement deals in electronic systems, ammunitions and missile technology.

Both nations are parties to the ambitious Turkish Stream natural gas pipeline project. It should be noted that Russia, not the US or any other NATO member, was the first country to be visited by the Turkish president after the failed coup last year.

Ankara is also getting closer to Beijing. The two countries are closely cooperating to implement China’s the One Belt One Road project. Turkey is again taking the position as a key investment and cooperation partner that will help bridge the East and the West.

Turkey is distancing itself from the West while getting closer with the partners outside NATO and the EU. The abovementioned events conform to the trend. NATO stands to lose its second largest military power as well as one of its key airbases, while Russia, China and other countries are developing the relationship of alliance with the country, which enjoys a unique geographic location between Europe, the Middle East and Asia.

It gives it easy access to strategically important areas and major energy resources. Turkey is a founding member of the OECD (1961) and the G-20 major economies (1999), it has the world’s 15thlargest GDP-PPP and 15th largest Nominal GDP.

The development is a major loss for the West and a major win for those who strive for a multipolar world.

This article first appeared on Strategic-Culture.org and was authored by Peter Korzun.

The post Turkey Is Getting Closer And Closer To Divorcing NATO appeared first on We Are Change.

from We Are Change https://wearechange.org/turkey-getting-closer-closer-divorcing-nato/

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New world news from Time: Beijing Orders the Closure of the U.S. Consulate in Chengdu as Pompeo Takes Aim at China’s ‘New Tyranny’

China on Friday ordered the U.S. consulate in the southwestern city of Chengdu to close in response to Washington’s “unjustified” order for the Chinese consulate in Houston to cease operations.

In announcing the latest tit-for-tat salvo between the world’s two biggest powers, the Chinese Foreign Ministry warned of “gravely harmed U.S.-China relations,” while adding that the “U.S. is responsible for all this.” Chengdu is the westernmost of the five U.S. consulates in mainland China, and its closure deprives the Trump administration of an invaluable outpost for gathering information on the restive regions of Tibet and Xinjiang.

On Wednesday, Washington ordered China’s Houston consulate to close within 72 hours amid accusations that it had been used to orchestrate rampant intellectual property theft. TV news broadcasts showed local firefighters called to the scene after consular staff apparently began burning documents in the wake of the closure order.

The shuttering of the Houston consulate was among many subjects broached by Secretary of State Mike Pompeo during a stinging speech Thursday evening at the Richard Nixon Presidential Library in Yorba Linda, Calif.

In a wide-ranging attack on the Chinese state, Pompeo said the Houston consulate was a “hub of spying and IP theft.” He accused China of having “ripped off our prized intellectual property and trade secrets costing millions of jobs across America.”

On Friday, Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying condemned Pompeo for “launching a new crusade against China in a globalized world.” She tweeted: “What he is doing is as futile as an ant trying to shake a tree.”

Prof. Wang Yiwei, director of the Institute of International Affairs at Renmin University in Beijing, says that the closure of the Houston consulate is intended to signify a permanent break in bilateral ties.

He notes that Houston was one of the first Chinese consulates in the U.S., with the city holding positive associations for Chinese as the place where Yao Ming made his name as an NBA great. The most enduring image of Deng Xiaoping’s state visit to the U.S.—the first by any Chinese paramount leader—in 1979 was of the reformist wearing a Texan cowboy hat at the Simonton Rodeo, less than 40 miles from the Houston consulate.

“So this is a symbol that the U.S. wants to escalate the confrontation with China, not just regarding the current administration, but from the very beginning of engagement with China,” Wang tells TIME.

Read More: Inside the Global Quest to Trace the Origins of COVID-19

The shift in tenor was apparent throughout Pompeo’s speech, which took aim at China’s alleged repression of its Uighur ethnic minority in the far western province of Xinjiang, the erosion of freedoms in semi-autonomous Hong Kong, Beijing’s military expansion in the disputed South China Sea and China being the place where the novel coronavirus first came to light.

“President Nixon once said he feared he had created a ‘Frankenstein’ by opening the world to the CCP (Chinese Communist Party),” Pompeo said. “And here we are.”

“The free world must triumph over this new tyranny,” he added. “The old paradigm of blind engagement with China simply won’t get it done. We must not continue it. We must not return to it.”

Meanwhile on Thursday, the U.S. Justice Department charged four Chinese researchers with visa fraud, alleging that they had lied about ties to the People’s Liberation Army. Three have been arrested and one has taken refuge in China’s consulate in San Francisco. Beijing steadfastly denies its diplomats and academics engage in state-sponsored espionage and denounced the charges as “naked political persecution.”

The Trump administration “has continually monitored, harassed and even arbitrarily detained Chinese students and scholars in the U.S.,” said Foreign Ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin. “China will take necessary measures to safeguard Chinese citizens’ safety and legitimate rights.”

Eric Thayer/Bloomberg via Getty ImagesMichael Pompeo, U.S. secretary of state, speaks at the Richard Nixon Presidential Library & Museum in Yorba Linda, California, U.S., on Thursday, July 23, 2020.

Redefining the Relationship

Scott W. Harold, an East Asia expert at RAND Corp., says that while Pompeo’s speech hit on tangible rifts with the bilateral relationship, Trump’s previous effusive praise of Xi means that “some observers regard [this] as deliberately politicizing a critical foreign policy for the benefit of the president’s reelection campaign.”

That said, “I think the president’s team, many of whom are passionate defenders of principles and human rights, believe that they have an opening to redefine the relationship, and some of them are doing that now.”

In his speech, Pompeo suggested the creation of “a new grouping of like-minded nations — a new alliance of democracies,” to counter China’s rise. Although he did not specify which nations would participate, the Trump administration has previously sought to coalesce the Asia-Pacific’s preeminent democracies — the U.S., Australia, Japan and India — into a bloc charged with maintaining a “free and open Indo-Pacific.”

“If the free world doesn’t change, Communist China will surely change us,” Pompeo said.

The speech was a clear departure from the America First rhetoric of Trump’s inaugural campaign, indicating that Washington was now seeking to preserve and strengthen historic alliances. Earlier this month, the State Department approved the sale of $620 million of U.S. weaponry to the self-governing island of Taiwan, which Beijing regards as its sovereign territory to be reunited with the mainland by force if necessary. China announced sanctions on Lockheed Martin as a consequence.

Read more: How China Could Emerge Even Stronger After COVID-19

“Taiwan is the canary in the coal mine,” says Walter Lohman, the Asian Studies Center director of conservative think-tank the Heritage Foundation, in a briefing note. “China has intensified its security, diplomatic, and economic threats to the island over the past several years. If the U.S. is not dependable as a friend of Taiwan, few states in the region will trust Washington for their own security needs.”

It’s unclear where the next escalation will manifest. The Trump administration has already taken aim at Chinese journalists in the U.S., prompting retaliatory measures against U.S. media organizations based in China (including TIME, which was listed by the Chinese as an entity of the U.S. government after Washington declared several Chinese media organizations to be arms of Beijing). A proposal to ban all 90 million CCP members and their families from the U.S. has gathered momentum despite stern pushback from analysts and U.S. diplomats.

Remin University’s Wang sees the constant escalations as a sign of weakness. “There’s no hope for Trump to be reelected because over a hundred thousand Americans lost their lives during peacetime [from the pandemic],” he says. “This is unacceptable to American voters, so all he can do is bash China.”

Hu Xijin, editor of the CCP mouthpiece Global Times, suggested that China drew strength from Washington’s fumbling. “I strongly urge American people to reelect Trump because his team has many crazy members like Pompeo,” he posted on Twitter. “They help China strengthen solidarity and cohesion in a special way. It’s crucial to China’s rise. As a [CCP] member, I thank them.”

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