#global times india china standoff

[code-of-conflict]

AI, Cybersecurity, and National Sovereignty

Introduction: The Role of AI in Cybersecurity

As artificial intelligence (AI) becomes integral to national security, cyber threats increasingly exploit AI-driven vulnerabilities. Both India and China face the challenge of securing their cyber infrastructure while mitigating espionage and offensive cyber operations. The risks include large-scale data breaches, intellectual property theft, and attacks on critical infrastructure. With AI enhancing the scope and speed of cyberattacks, national sovereignty is increasingly threatened by cyber vulnerabilities that transcend borders.

AI-Driven Cyber Threats and Espionage

China has heavily integrated AI into its cyber capabilities, using it to enhance espionage, cyber warfare, and information manipulation. AI-enabled cyber operations allow China to gather vast amounts of intelligence data through advanced hacking techniques. These tools are often deployed through state-sponsored groups, exploiting zero-day vulnerabilities and penetrating government and corporate networks worldwide​.

For example, in 2021, China was accused of orchestrating a large-scale cyber-attack targeting Microsoft Exchange servers, affecting over 30,000 organizations globally. This attack was designed to facilitate espionage, capturing sensitive information ranging from corporate intellectual property to government data​. China's cyber operations underscore the increasing use of AI in orchestrating sophisticated, large-scale intrusions that threaten national sovereignty.

India, while lagging behind China in offensive cyber capabilities, faces persistent cyber espionage threats from Chinese state-sponsored actors. The most notable incidents occurred during the 2020 India-China border standoff, where Chinese hackers targeted India's critical infrastructure, including power grids and government networks​. These attacks highlight the vulnerabilities in India's cybersecurity architecture and its need to enhance AI-driven defenses.

Vulnerabilities and National Sovereignty

AI-driven cyber threats pose significant risks to national sovereignty. For India, the challenges are magnified by the relatively underdeveloped nature of its cybersecurity infrastructure. Although the establishment of the Defence Cyber Agency in 2018 marked a step forward, India still lacks the offensive cyber capabilities and AI sophistication of China​. India's defensive posture primarily focuses on securing critical infrastructure and mitigating cyber intrusions, but it remains vulnerable to cyber espionage and attacks on its digital economy.

China's integration of AI into both military and civilian cyber systems, through its Military-Civil Fusion policy, has bolstered its ability to conduct large-scale cyber operations with deniability. This fusion allows China to leverage private sector innovations for military purposes, making it a formidable cyber power in the Indo-Pacific region​.

Case Studies: Cyber Confrontations

In 2019, a significant cyberattack targeted India's Kudankulam Nuclear Power Plant, which was traced back to North Korea, but was believed to be part of a broader effort involving Chinese actors. This incident highlighted the potential for AI-enhanced malware to target critical infrastructure, posing severe risks to national security.

Similarly, the 2020 Mumbai blackout, reportedly linked to Chinese hackers, emphasized how AI-driven cyberattacks can disrupt essential services, creating chaos in times of geopolitical tension​. These incidents illustrate how AI-driven cyber capabilities are increasingly weaponized, posing severe risks to India's sovereignty and its ability to protect critical infrastructure.

Implications for Future Conflicts

As AI continues to evolve, the cyber domain will become a primary battleground in future conflicts between India and China. AI-enhanced cyber operations provide both nations with the ability to conduct espionage, sabotage, and information warfare remotely, without direct military engagement. For China, these tools are integral to its broader geopolitical strategy, while India must develop its AI and cybersecurity capabilities to protect its national sovereignty and counteract cyber threats​.

Conclusion

The integration of AI into cybersecurity poses both opportunities and challenges for India and China. While China has aggressively developed AI-driven cyber capabilities, India faces an urgent need to enhance its defenses and develop its offensive cyber tools. As cyberattacks become more sophisticated, driven by AI, both nations will continue to grapple with the implications of these developments on national sovereignty and global security.

[kspp]

NEP 2020 : How can India become center for public policy education in next five years?

Instead of looking at public policy professionals to be anchored in just arts and humanities, India must create a new generation of nation builders trained in Public Policy and learn from diverse disciplines such as law, management, technology, economics, and humanities.

India is a desirable destination in the global higher education space. Our demographic dividend will allow us to have the highest population of young people globally over the next decade. We need to reset our higher education offerings that will be in sync with our nation’s emerging needs and our region and the world.

When we take a closer look at the arena of public policy, specifically – India’s Act East policy has far-reaching implications in entire Southeast Asia. Over the years, China’s policies ranging from greater engagement with ASEAN, the formation of the Shangai Cooperation Organisation, debt diplomacy, and the recent Belt Road Initiative, show a reordering of the regional dynamics.

The US-China standoff, changing relations between countries in the middle east, etc., will lead to the emergence of new world order.

Domestically speaking, the repealing of close to 1500 acts during the 2014 to 2019 Lok Sabha tenure is an impressive feat considering that less than 2000 acts were repealed over the previous six decades. The emphasis on “Minimum Government Maximum Governance” and attempts to increase the “Ease of Doing Business” all point to a fresh impetus to change the way governance was done in India till recently.

As the 2012 article by CommonWealth Foundation says – “Governance is too important and complex to be left to governments alone.” Good governance will be brought about only when Society, Businesses, and Government come together and explore ways of working together to usher in more citizen-centric governance mechanisms. For a long time, in India and many other countries, public policymaking has been the domain of mainly the bureaucracy. What began in the UK under John Major, the “Citizen Charter” movement, has over the last decade resulted in various states starting to deliver the “Right to Public Services.”

Innovation in different fields: Further innovation by multiple states like Delhi, Karnataka, and other states, many public services are being offered at the doorstep. Other stakeholders’ inputs and opinions are rarely sought in a welcoming manner, and even if suggestions are received, they are less likely to be incorporated. The journey of “Changing the way we govern ourselves” demands the best and the brightest to be involved in nation-building and continue to become more citizen and business-friendly.

NEP aims to increase gross enrollment ratio: The National Education Policy 2020 rightly identifies the need to double the Gross Enrollment Ration to 50 percent by 2035 from the GER of 2018, which stood at 26.3 percent. The higher educational institutions across disciplines will have to add over three crore seats.

New generation of nation-builders: Instead of looking at public policy professionals to be anchored in just arts and humanities, India must create a new generation of nation builders trained in Public Policy and learn from diverse disciplines such as law, management, technology, economics, and humanities.

In addition to the reconfiguration of geopolitics, innovation in public services delivery, rapid advances in technology, and its implications necessitate progressive regulation to protect the privacy and thwart the threat of a jobless future. All of this adds to the need for professionalizing public policy. NEP rightfully encourages holistic and multidisciplinary education.

Emphasis must be to provide lifelong learning as compared to the long-standing – “finish college” and then “start working” mindset.

The logical fallout from NEP should lead well-functioning higher educational Institutions to dream big and move away from centrally controlled by cumbersome and lengthy Government regulations. NEP implementation should encourage them to become board-administered autonomous institutions that will respond to the country’s diverse needs and beyond.

The present-day, low-trust, high-touch regulatory approach needs to be replaced with a trust-but-verify mode, giving the better performing institutions greater autonomy to develop long-term roadmaps for emerging areas like public policy.

Different public policy courses: Public policy courses designed to keep Indian ethos with the western public policy frameworks will be essential ingredients to move towards a better-governed nation given the above set of conditions. Our students and faculty must blend ancient wisdom from texts like Kautilya’s Arthashastra, Bhartrihari’s Niti Shatakam, and others that capture the local realities and cultural context.

These texts cover various aspects of governance, ranging from ethics, economics, law, politics, military, spies, intelligence to logistics when combined with proven western governance mechanisms that have given excellent results.

With every crisis comes an opportunity to leapfrog to a new normal. Many lessons from India are relevant to the Commonwealth countries, South and Southeast Asian countries that share similar governance mechanisms.

As cooperative federalism is taking more center stage, many more opportunities will open up at the state level along with the national level for bringing in these reforms in the government sector. Many new areas are getting deregulated and opened up.

Many businesses will look out for public policy specialists who can advise them during this transitionary phase. India’s CSR spends from BSE 100 companies itself crossed 10,000 crores in FY19-20. Also, many not-for-profits raise large grants nationally and internationally will benefit from professionals with a good grounding in public policy education.

All the above aspects augur well for India powered by the National Education Policy to become a hotbed for public policy education. India will become a powerhouse for innovations that will usher in a citizen-centric and inclusive future for all.

[mariacallous]

The election of Lai Ching-te as Taiwan’s president will reawaken old debates about “strategic ambiguity.” The Biden administration has stuck with its approach of keeping vague any scenarios for intervention in a conflict with China over the island. Advocates say this enigmatic ploy keeps Beijing and Taipei on their toes, deterring the former while ensuring the latter does not act rashly. Critics suggest that “strategic clarity,” meaning spelling out when the United States might act, would do more to deter Beijing. President Joe Biden himself has spread confusion, promising in public that the U.S would intervene to support Taiwan and leaving his officials scrambling to explain that official policy has not changed.

This question of ambiguity then brings into focus a wider challenge over the nature of U.S. security guarantees in an era of rising geopolitical friction. Washington’s alliance network—it has more than 50 formal such relationships—is a formidable asset in its tussle with China. It has a number of quasi-allies, too, such as Taiwan, as well as close partners, like India, Singapore, and Vietnam. All of these come with commitments, either explicit or implied.

Yet Washington’s credibility to deliver on them is under growing pressure in the eyes of adversaries and allies alike. It is likely to have to demonstrate its capabilities more often—in effect making its guarantees less ambiguous—putting further strain on an already overstretched U.S. military.

The fact that the United States risks overstretch should be clear from recent developments. Biden brims with confidence about Washington’s ability to meet its global obligations. But the combination of Russia’s war in Ukraine and the ongoing crisis in the Middle East raises obvious questions about distraction and stretched resources. Recent attempts to calm relations with China speak to a strong desire to ensure Asian calm, especially in a U.S. election year.

Examples of anxious Asian allies are not hard to find. The Philippines is one. Manila has tangled of late with China in the South China Sea. Beijing has tried to block missions to resupply a rusting World War II-era ship in Second Thomas Shoal, which Manila grounded to mark its territory in 1999. Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. has asked the United States to give guarantees that attempts by China to retake the shoal would trigger U.S. alliance commitments, which Washington has duly done. In recent weeks, the United States deployed a Nimitz-class aircraft carrier, the USS Carl Vinson, to sail with the Philippine Navy.

South Korea is another case, given fretting in Seoul about threats from the north. Not long ago, South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol mused that Seoul might need to develop a nuclear deterrent, a signal of unhappiness about Washington’s nuclear umbrella. Last April, the United States and South Korea signed the Washington Declaration, a pact that, among other things, promised to strengthen and make more explicit U.S. extended deterrence commitments. The deal involves the United States sending a nuclear-armed submarine to South Korea for the first time in a generation, along with nuclear-capable bombers.

The fact that the United States often has to demonstrate capabilities—and thus reassure allies by actions, not promises—is not exactly new. Under President Barack Obama, the United States grappled with how to respond to China’s campaign of artificial island-building in the South China Sea. This followed a tense standoff between China and the Philippines after Beijing seized Scarborough Shoal in 2012. Sensing that its credibility was under threat, Obama’s administration began freedom of navigation operations, sailing military vessels close to disputed maritime features, simply to prove that it could. These maneuvers are now a core part of U.S. strategy to reassure the region. Two were conducted by the U.S. Navy’s 7th Fleet last November, for example, in the South China Sea and the Taiwan Strait, respectively.

Yet three factors suggest the United States will now need to demonstrate similar capabilities more often, the first being a deteriorating global and regional military balance. In the decades after the Cold War, Washington enjoyed undeniable military superiority, and thus rarely had to show it off. Now in Asia, it must contend with China’s vast military buildup. This is especially so in the maritime domain, where China now boasts a substantially larger navy as measured by number of vessels.

The second factor reflects a change in U.S. strategy. Biden’s team talks a lot about “allies and partners.” This often means asking close allies, such as Australia and Japan, to do more to contribute to collective deterrence and security. U.S. National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan recently wrote about developing a “self-reinforcing latticework of cooperation,” in which U.S. friends cooperate more with one another, as well as with Washington.

The nature of U.S. security ties in the Indo-Pacific is therefore changing. Rather than following a NATO-like approach, U.S. links in Asia were set up with a “hub and spoke” model. These narrow bilateral agreements were originally designed in part to constrain pro-Western but potentially trigger-happy autocrats in countries like the Philippines, South Korea, and Taiwan. Today, to cope with China, the United States is being forced to create a more collective model of security, interspersed with new mini-laterial groupings, such as AUKUS and the Quadrilateral Security Dialogue. The more important all of these relationships become, the more incentive China also has to test what the United States is willing to do to support those within them, in addition to its formal alliances.

The third factor is perhaps the most obvious: Donald Trump. This year will be one of rising anxiety in Asia about U.S. credibility, given the prospect of the former president’s return. Many in Asia were supportive of Trump’s tough approach to China. But they also remember his combative approach to allies, too. Viewed from Manila, Seoul, and Tokyo, the year ahead will raise all kinds of doubts about whether existing U.S. commitments will still stand if he retakes office. They will want less ambiguity, and more clarity, as a result.

All of this requires a tricky balancing act. Making ambiguous commitments more explicit is no panacea. On Taiwan, Biden’s team shows no signs of being persuaded that “strategic clarity” is wise. Both ambiguity and clarity can create perverse incentives. An ambiguous policy can push China to test to see what the red lines underneath really are. More explicit guarantees might even reduce deterrence, as former White House official Ivan Kanapathy has noted, as such guarantees can give China something to aim at, too. The “conditionalities in such a declaration, by circumscribing geographic and political limits, would invite China to exploit those very seams, challenging U.S. credibility,” he wrote in Foreign Policy in 2022.

Either way, a world in which allies want the United States to show, not tell, implies greater demands on an already stretched military. This suggests two broad options for Washington. One is to focus resources, in effect offering fewer guarantees to fewer people, and thus bolstering the credibility of those that remain. Historian Paul Kennedy recently predicted this path in an essay reflecting on the 35th anniversary of the publication of his book The Rise and Fall of the Great Powers. “The American security blanket will be tighter, smaller, limited to those well-known places such as NATO-Europe, Japan, Australia, Israel, Korea, maybe Taiwan, and not much else,” he wrote in the New Statesman.

Perhaps. But so far Biden, at least, shows few signs of dialing back commitments. Quite the opposite, in fact. This leaves a second path, namely spending more on defense and demonstrating the results of that investment more often. Biden recently signed a new $886 billion military budget. Yet even this seemingly massive figure is much lower as a proportion of national income than during the last period of geopolitical rivalry during the Cold War. “The way in which the United States has conceived itself in terms of national security is no longer viable,” former U.S. Treasury Secretary Larry Summers told Bloomberg TV recently. “We are going to have to invest substantially more in all aspects of national security.”

The obvious risk is that the United States ducks this hard choice, neither paring back its commitments nor spending enough to meet them. That might work for a while. But Washington will still find itself under pressure to do more to reassure anxious allies concerned about overstretch, waning collective security, and political instability at home. Self-evidently, the United States cannot meet its obligations to 50 allies at once, much in the same way that a bank cannot return all its deposits in one go. Its ability to do so depends crucially on ensuring sufficient confidence to avoid the geopolitical equivalent of a bank run. That prospect is remote for now. But it would be still better to avoid even a hint of ambiguity about Washington’s determination to avoid it in the future.

[yessadirichards]

Biden off to Japan for Group of Seven summit, says there's 'work to do' on global stage

WASHINGTON

President Joe Biden declared there’s “work to do” on the global stage as he headed to Japan on Wednesday to consult with allies on Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and China’s assertiveness in the Pacific at the same time that a debt limit standoff looms at home.

With high-stakes talks to head off a federal default are underway in Washington, Biden pledged to remain in “constant contact” with negotiators in the Capitol while he conducts international diplomacy.

The president departed Washington aboard Air Force One a day after scrapping plans for a historic stop in Papua New Guinea and a key visit to Australia amid the showdown with House Republicans over raising the federal debt limit. The three-nation trip had been meant as a triumphant global leadership showcase, and instead threatened to become a truncated reminder of how partisan disagreements have undercut U.S. standing on the global stage.

“I've cut my trip short in order to be here for the final negotiations and sign the deal with the majority leader,” Biden said in remarks before departing the White House. “I've made clear America is not a deadbeat nation, we pay our bills.”

For Biden, the intertwined dynamics of the debt standoff and his foray abroad put a spotlight on two key aspects of his presidency — his efforts to assert U.S. prowess on the international stage and to address economic concerns at home. They also are playing out as Biden is in the early weeks of his candidacy for reelection, adding political overtones to the situation.

The president is still set to attend the annual Group of Seven summit of advanced democracies in Hiroshima, where sustaining support for Ukraine’s expected counteroffensive against Russia is set to take center stage, alongside economic, climate and global development issues. More than a year after Moscow’s invasion, Biden and allies have armed Kyiv with ever-more-advanced weaponry and maintained deep sanctions on Russia’s economy, though maintaining resolve has grown more challenging in Washington and other global capitals.

While in Hiroshima, Biden also plans to sit down with the so-called Quad leaders of Japan, Australia and India, a partnership meant to serve as a counterweight to China in the Indo-Pacific, a region that he bills as a top priority in U.S. national security strategy. That meeting had originally been scheduled to occur next week on what would have been his inaugural visit to Canberra and Sydney as president.

Off the agenda entirely is a stop in Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea, where Pacific Island leaders were to gather for a first-of-its-kind meeting with a U.S. president. It was meant to be a rejoinder to China’s increasing military and economic pressures in the region. The U.S. has recently opened embassies in the Solomon Islands and Tonga and has expressed a desire to reverse a decades-long pullback in the region.

No U.S. president has ever visited the island nation, and high hopes for the visit were dashed by Biden’s announcement that he wouldn’t make the stop.

When asked whether he thought his shortened trip was a win for China, he said: “No.”

“Because we still work with allies,” he said.

During a roughly hour-long meeting in the Oval Office on Tuesday, Biden and House Speaker Kevin McCarthy designated chief negotiators to try to draft an agreement to allow more government borrowing in conjunction with GOP-demanded spending cuts. The Treasury Department has warned that action is likely needed by June 1 to assure the U.S. can continue to meet its financial obligations.

U.S. officials have warned in increasingly urgent tones that a default would not only spark a deep recession, but also weaken its standing on the world stage.

“Countries like Russia and China that would love nothing more than for us to default so they could point the finger and say, ‘You see, the United States is not a stable, reliable partner,’” National Security Council spokesman John Kirby said Tuesday. “So, that is a high priority, as it should be, for the president.”

For weeks, White House officials have said Biden could manage both the Capitol Hill negotiations and foreign commitments while on the trip. But in recent days aides have fretted as McCarthy has repeatedly called for Biden to scrap his trip, worried that while abroad, the president would appear to the public as disengaged from the swelling crisis.

The instability of the cancellation could have the opposite effect of the initial purpose of Biden’s trip — reinforcing American commitments to the region, warned Charles Edel, a senior adviser and the Australia chair at the Center for Strategic and International Studies.

“It would underscore for partners that despite welcome U.S. focus on the region and the focus on allies and partners at the heart of U.S. foreign policy, domestic politics is still a constraint on U.S. engagement and perhaps on budgetary commitments as well,” he said last week. “And I think that’s something that will be talked about widely.”

[newstfionline]

Monday, May 1, 2023

Guam, where America’s next war may begin (Economist) “Where America’s day begins”, as Guam likes to sell itself, is also where a future American war with China may begin. This westernmost speck of America, just 30 miles (48km) long and with a population of about 170,000, helps it project power across the vast Pacific. As tension over Taiwan worsens, war games often predict early and sustained Chinese missile strikes on Guam. Startlingly, for such a vital military complex, Guam is only thinly defended. Its thaad missile-defence battery is not always switched on. It is in any case intended to parry only a limited attack from North Korea, not an onslaught from China. China makes no secret that Guam is in its cross-hairs. The df-26 missile, with a range of 4,000km, is commonly called the “Guam killer”. In 2020 a Chinese propaganda video depicted an h-6k bomber attacking an undisclosed air base: the satellite image was unmistakably of Andersen Air Force Base in Guam. The vulnerability of Guam is belatedly getting attention in Washington, not least because successive heads of Indo-Pacific Command in Hawaii, in charge of any future war with China, keep pleading for better protection.

Greener pastures? 2,500 hopeful sheep cross Idaho highway (AP) Why did 2,500 sheep cross the road? Because the grass was greener on the other side. In Idaho, it’s not unusual to see ranchers moving a bleating herd of sheep up to higher elevation at this time of year. But the sight of 2,500 wooly beasts trotting across a highway earlier this week brought a crowd about 300 people. Curious onlookers lined the road as the animals sheepishly entered the highway, guided by ranchers and steered by sheepdogs. They traveled up the road a little ways, the fluffy white herd obscuring the yellow-painted centerline amid a chorus of “baas” and the lead ewe’s jangling bell. Leaving the open road behind, they will journey through the sagebrush-dotted foothills for a few weeks to their summer home in the Boise National Forest. This trip up to higher elevations is a tradition dating back around 100 years, the Boise-area TV station reported, and having the sheep graze in the forest helps prevent fires and invigorates plant growth.

Key nations sit out U.S. standoff with Russia, China, leaks show (Washington Post) President Biden’s global agenda faces significant challenges as major developing nations seek to evade the intensifying standoff between the United States, Russia and China and, in some cases, exploit that rivalry for their own gain, classified American intelligence assessments show. The documents, among a trove of U.S. secrets leaked online through the Discord messaging platform, provide a rare glimpse into the private calculations by key emerging powers, including India, Brazil, Pakistan and Egypt, as they attempt to straddle allegiances in an era when America is no longer the world’s unchallenged superpower. Matias Spektor, a scholar at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, said developing nations are recalibrating at a moment when America faces potent new competition, as China projects new economic and military clout and Russia, though weakened by President Vladimir Putin’s war in Ukraine, demonstrates its ability to deflect Western pressure. “It’s unclear who will end up in a pole position in 10 years’ time, so they need to diversify their risk and hedge their bets,” Spektor said. The Biden administration has told those countries that it is not asking them to pick sides between the United States on one hand and China and Russia on the other, a message that Secretary of State Antony Blinken has stressed in his travels. But nations including South Africa and Colombia bridle at what they see as an implicit choice.

Details revealed about King Charles III’s coronation service (AP) It will be a coronation of many faiths and many languages. King Charles III, keen to show that he can be a unifying figure for everyone in the United Kingdom, will be crowned in a ceremony that will for the first time include the active participation of faiths other than the Church of England. Buddhist, Hindu, Jewish, Muslim and Sikh leaders will take part in various aspects of the coronation, the Archbishop of Canterbury’s office said Saturday, as it revealed details of a service it described as an act of Christian worship that will reflect contemporary society. The ceremony also will include female bishops for the first time, as well as hymns and prayers sung in Welsh, Scottish Gaelic and Irish Gaelic, as well as English.

Spain, Portugal swelter as April temperature records broken (Reuters) Mainland Spain and Portugal have broken temperature records for April, as the Iberian neighbours swelter in an early-season heatwave that has exacerbated a long drought in some regions. Spain’s southern city of Cordoba registered 38.8 Celsius (101.8 Fahrenheit) at its airport on Thursday. In neighbouring Portugal, the temperature in the central town of Mora reached 36.9 C, breaking the record of 36.0 C set in April 1945, its weather agency said. Temperatures started dropping on Friday in Portugal but the heatwave persisted in parts of Spain.

They Refused to Fight for Russia. The Law Did Not Treat Them Kindly. (NYT) An officer in the Federal Guard Service, which is responsible for protecting Russian President Vladimir Putin, decided last fall to avoid fighting in Ukraine by sneaking across the southern border into Kazakhstan. The officer, Maj. Mikhail Zhilin, disguised himself as a mushroom picker, wearing camouflage and carrying a couple of small bottles of cognac so that he could douse himself and then act drunk and disoriented if he encountered the Russian border patrol. In the dark, the lean, fit major navigated across the forested frontier without incident, but he was arrested on the other side. “He had these romantic notions when he first began his military-academic studies,” his wife said, "but everything soured when the war started.” Zhilin is among the hundreds of Russian men who faced criminal charges for becoming war refuseniks since Moscow’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine last year. In 2022, 1,121 people were convicted of evading mandatory military conscription, according to statistics from Russia’s Supreme Court, compared with an average of around 600 in more recent years. In addition, criminal cases have been initiated against more than 1,000 soldiers, mostly for abandoning their units. In theory, Russian law allows for conscientious objectors performing alternative service, but it is rarely granted.

Tense face-off: Philippines confronts China over sea claims (AP) A Chinese coast guard ship blocked a Philippine patrol vessel steaming into a disputed shoal in the South China Sea, causing a frightening near-collision in the latest act of Beijing’s aggression in the strategic waterway. The high seas face-off April 23 between the larger Chinese ship and the Philippine coast guard’s BRP Malapascua near Second Thomas Shoal was among the tense moments it and another Philippine vessel encountered in a weeklong sovereignty patrol in one of the world’s most hotly contested waterways. The disputed shoal is about 194 kilometers (121 miles) west of the Philippine island province of Palawan.

Sudan crisis risks becoming a nightmare for the world—former PM Hamdok (BBC) Sudan’s former Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok has warned that the conflict in his country could become worse than those in Syria and Libya. The fighting between the regular army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) would be a “nightmare for the world” if it continued, he said. “This is a huge country, very diverse ... I think it will be a nightmare for the world,” he said. “This is not a war between an army and small rebellion. It is almost like two armies—well trained and well armed.” Mr Hamdok—who served as prime minister twice between 2019 and 2022—added that the insecurity could become worse than the civil wars in Syria and Libya. Those wars have led to hundreds of thousands of deaths, created millions of refugees and caused instability in the wider regions. Both factions fear losing power in Sudan, partly because on both sides there are men who could end up at the International Criminal Court for war crimes committed in the Darfur region almost 20 years ago.

A listener’s openness reveals a culture of giving (CSM) There’s a prevailing narrative in Western media about much of the African continent. It’s one of instability and perpetual want, of resources awaiting plunder by outsiders, of self-determination only in pockets. That misses a lot. For the Monitor, contributor Nick Roll delivered a counternarrative: a story of generosity and agency. Through an international aid organization, he learned of an effort in the village of Chadakori, Niger, to integrate refugees fleeing political violence in neighboring Nigeria. It isn’t a perfect arrangement, says Nick. “But then at the same time, everyone I talked to, they didn’t regret opening their doors, opening their villages to these refugees,” Nick says. “You know, if you go out looking for stories of death and destruction, you’re going to find them,” he says. “If you go looking for these stories of resilience or generosity amid really harsh conditions, people will recognize what you’re doing. People are aware of how they’ve been portrayed [before] ... and they trust somebody who is looking to do something differently.”

[baitdragon]

India rejects China’s renaming of 11 locations in Arunachal Pradesh

The external affairs ministry said such steps will not alter the reality that the northeastern state is an integral part of the country

India on Tuesday rejected China’s move to rename 11 location in Arunavhal Pradesh, which Beijing claims as South Tibet, with the external affairs ministry saying such steps will not alter the reality that the northeastern state is an integral part of the country.

The renaming of the 11 places in Arunachal Pradesh by China’s civil affairs ministry came at a time when the two countries are witnessing the worst bilateral in their relations in six decades because of the military standoff in Ladakh sector of the Line of Actual Control (LAC).

This was the third time China has unilaterally renamed places in Arunachal Pradesh, after changing the names of six locations in April 2017 and 15 more locations in December 2021.

Responding to the latest renaming of places in Arunachal Pradesh, external affairs ministry spokesperson Arindam Bagchi said: “We have seen such reports. This is not the first time China has made such an attempt. We reject this outright.”

He added, “Arunachal Pradesh is, has been, and will always be an integral and inalienable part of India. Attempts to assign invented names will not alter this reality.”

In the past too, India had promptly rejected such renaming of places in Arunachal Pradesh and reiterated that the northeastern state is an integral and inseparable part of the country.

A brief statement issued on Sunday by China’s civil affairs ministry said: “According to the relevant regulations of the State Council (China’s cabinet) on the management of geographical names, our ministry, together with relevant departments, has standardised some geographical names in southern Tibet.”

State-run tabloid Global Times reported on Monday that the civil affairs ministry gave coordinates of the places that were renamed, including two land areas, two residential areas, five mountain peaks and two rivers. “It listed the category of places’ names and their subordinate administrative districts,” the report said.

China’s state media quoted Zhang Yongpan, from the Institute of Chinese Borderland Studies under the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, as saying that the move to standardise names “falls within China’s sovereignty”.

[digimakacademy]

चीनी मीडिया का बड़ा दावा, लद्दाख में पैंगोंग झील के दक्षिणी किनारे से भारत पहले हटाएगा सेना

चीनी मीडिया का बड़ा दावा, लद्दाख में पैंगोंग झील के दक्षिणी किनारे से भारत पहले हटाएगा सेना

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हाइलाइट्स:

ग्‍लोबल टाइम्‍स ने दावा क‍िया है कि चीन-भारत के बीच सेना को पीछे हटाने पर सहमति बनी

उसने कहा कि दोनों ही देश जल्‍द ही सेनाओं को बारी-बारी से हटाने की योजना का लागू कर देंगे

ग्‍लोबल टाइम्‍स ने दावा किया कि भारत पैंगोंग के दक्षिणी किनारे से अपनी सेना को पहले हटानाएगा

पेइचिंग चीन के सरकारी भोंपू ग्‍लोबल टाइम्‍स ने दावा क‍िया है कि चीन और भारत के बीच सेना और हथियारों को पीछे हटाने…

[vilaspatelvlogs]

भारत के पीएम ने चीन पर आरोप लगाने का आधार ही खत्म किया, राष्ट्रवादियों की संतुष्टि के लिए शब्दों से खेल रहे: ग्लोबल टाइम्स

भारत के पीएम ने चीन पर आरोप लगाने का आधार ही खत्म किया, राष्ट्रवादियों की संतुष्टि क��� लिए शब्दों से खेल रहे: ग्लोबल टाइम्स

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सर्वदलीय बैठक में प्रधानमंत्री नरेंद्र मोदी ने कहा था- न तो कोई हमारी सीमा में आया और न ही किसी ने हमारी पोस्ट पर कब्जा किया

ग्लोबल टाइम्स ने लिखा- अगर संघर्ष हुआ तो 1962 की तुलना में भारत को पांच गुना ज्यादा अपमानित होना पड़ेगा

दैनिक भास्कर

Jun 22, 2020, 05:02 PM IST

बीजिंग. लद्दाख की गलवान वैली में हुई हिंसक झड़प के बाद चीन का सरकारी मीडिया भारत को ही दोषी बनाने पर आमादा है। इस बार…

[anuragsinghs-blog]

India-China standoff: core commander-level talks to be held in Chinese on Monday: sources

India-China standoff: core commander-level talks to be held in Chinese on Monday: sources

[ad_1]

India-China Standoff: China admitted to the Galvan Valley that Chinese soldiers were also killed. India-China Border tension: The talks are expected to focus on the implementation of the agreement between the foreign ministers of India and China in…

[collapsedsquid]

The latest border confrontation between China and India has brought under spotlight an Indian force unit, composed of the exiled Tibetans who some Indian media believe formed an "elite unit" and played an "important role" in the latest standoff triggered by India's provocative actions. However, according to Chinese analysts, this so-called Special Frontier Force (SFF), numbered at most 1,000, was far from being "elite" and was only used by Indian army as cannon fodder in the border clash.

After the battle Chinese officials say the Tibetans “totally didn’t fight fair“ and used “cheap shots“ when they “weren’t ready“

[brajeshupadhyay]

Beijing: Chinese President Xi Jinping on Tuesday ordered the military to scale up the battle preparedness, visualising the worst-case scenarios, and asked them to resolutely defend the country's sovereignty. Xi, 66, who is also the General Secretary of the ruling Communist Party of China (CPC) and head of the two-million-strong military with prospects of lifelong tenure in power, made the remarks while attending a plenary meeting of the delegation of the People's Liberation Army (PLA) and People's Armed Police Force during the current parliament session being held here. Xi ordered the military to think about worst-case scenarios, scale up training and battle preparedness, promptly and effectively deal with all sorts of complex situations and resolutely safeguard national sovereignty, security and development interests, state-run Xinhua news agency reported, without mentioning any specific issues that posed a threat to the country. His comments came in the backdrop of the continuing standoff between the militaries of India and China at the Line of Actual Control (LAC). Several areas along the LAC in Ladakh and North Sikkim have witnessed major military build-up by both the Indian and Chinese armies recently, in a clear signal of escalating tension and hardening of respective positions by the two sides even two weeks after they were engaged in two separate face-offs. The nearly 3,500-km-long LAC is the de-facto border between the two countries. The US-China military frictions were also on the rise with the US navy stepping its patrols in the disputed South China Sea as well as the Taiwan Straits. Washington and Beijing are also engaged in a war of words over the origin of the coronavirus pandemic. On Sunday, Chinese State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi criticised the attempts of some US politicians to blame China for the pandemic. The US, he said, was pushing ties with China to "the brink of a new Cold War". On May 22, China, the second-largest military spender after the US, hiked its defence budget by 6.6 per cent to USD 179 billion, nearly three times that of India, the lowest increment in recent years amidst the massive disruption caused to the communist giant's economy by the COVID-19 pandemic. In his meeting with a PLA delegation on Tuesday, he stressed on achieving the targets and missions of strengthening the national defence and armed forces for 2020, while maintaining effective epidemic control on a regular basis. He listened to speeches by the military deputies on fulfilling epidemic control tasks, strengthening training amid the epidemic, and accelerating capacity building on biosecurity defence, among others. Commending their role in battling the COVID-19, Xi said the people's armed forces have once again proven themselves to be heroic forces that can be fully trusted by the Communist Party and the people. Xi said the epidemic has brought a profound impact on the global landscape and on China's security and development as well. Xi demanded reform and innovation to address new situations and problems exposed in the epidemic and ordered accelerating the research and development on COVID-19 drugs and vaccines by tapping the advantages of military medical research. Noting that this year marks the end of the 13th five-year plan for military development, Xi said extraordinary measures must be taken to overcome the impact of the epidemic to ensure major tasks on the military building are achieved. On defence expenditure, Xi said every penny must be well spent to produce maximum results . Xi has been stressing on the troops battle preparedness ever since he came to power in 2012 insisting on real time exercises to win wars. He has also revamped defence forces, cutting the PLA's strength by three lakh troops and enhanced its naval and air power as Beijing expanded its influence abroad. Meanwhile, a Chinese expert commented that unlike the previous standoffs between the Chinese and Indian armies, the latest border friction was not caused by accident, but was a planned move of New Delhi. "India has been crossing the boundary line into the Galwan Valley region and entering Chinese territory. Indian soldiers have also deliberately instigated conflicts with their Chinese counterparts. If India failed to stop such provocations as soon as possible, it will impact on Beijing-New Delhi ties - and may even exceed the sort of intensity of the Doklam standoff, an article in the state-run Global Times written by Long Xingchun, president of Chengdu Institute of World Affairs, said. India has said the Chinese military was hindering normal patrolling by its troops along the LAC in Ladakh and Sikkim and strongly refuted Beijing's contention that the escalating tension between the two armies was triggered by trespassing of Indian forces across the Chinese side. The Ministry of External Affairs said all Indian activities were carried out on its side of the border, asserting that India has always taken a very responsible approach towards border management. At the same time, it said, India was deeply committed to protect its sovereignty and security. "Any suggestion that Indian troops had undertaken activity across the LAC in the Western sector or the Sikkim sector is not accurate. Indian troops are fully familiar with the alignment of the Line of Actual Control in the India-China border areas and abide by it scrupulously," MEA Spokesperson Anurag Srivastava said at an online media briefing last week.

http://sansaartimes.blogspot.com/2020/05/xi-jinping-orders-chinese-military-to.html

[reviewsground]

India China Border News | Global Times India China Standoff Update | Ladakh Galwan Valley/Clash face-off Latest News; Chinese Global Times, India knows it can’t have a war with China | भारत के पीएम ने चीन पर आरोप लगाने का आधार ही खत्म किया, राष्ट्रवादियों की संतुष्टि के लिए शब्दों से खेल रहे: ग्लोबल टाइम्स

India China Border News | Global Times India China Standoff Update | Ladakh Galwan Valley/Clash face-off Latest News; Chinese Global Times, India knows it can’t have a war with China | भारत के पीएम ने चीन पर आरोप लगाने का आधार ही खत्म किया, राष्ट्रवादियों की संतुष्टि के लिए शब्दों से खेल रहे: ग्लोबल टाइम्स

सर्वदलीय बैठक में प्रधानमंत्री नरेंद्र मोदी ने कहा था- न तो कोई हमारी सीमा में आया और न ही किसी ने हमारी पोस्ट पर कब्जा किया

ग्लोबल टाइम्स ने लिखा- अगर संघर्ष हुआ तो 1962 की तुलना में भारत को पांच गुना ज्यादा अपमानित होना पड़ेगा

दैनिक भास्कर

Jun 22, 2020, 06:53 PM IST

बीजिंग. लद्दाख की गलवान वैली में हुई हिंसक झड़प के बाद चीन का सरकारी मीडिया भारत को ही दोषी बनाने पर आमादा है। इस बार ग्लोबल…

[im24news]

External Affairs Minister Jaishankar Dragon suggested that China needs India's support on Taiwan.

Let us inform that India opposes any unilateral action to change the status quo in Taiwan following the tension that arose after the visit of US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi. China hopes that India will intensify its efforts to put bilateral ties on the right track after the standoff at the Line of Actual Control. Meanwhile, Taiwan will support a "one China" policy regarding the latest developments in the Middle East. The remarks came a day after Chinese Ambassador Sun Weidong discussed India's "one China" policy in a statement to reporters. Let us inform that India opposes any unilateral action to change the status quo in Taiwan following the tension that arose after the visit of US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi. At the same time, Sun reiterated that only the US and Pelosi are responsible for the tension.

While Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi talks about improving bilateral ties after the standoff between India and China in Latin America and the Caribbean region, his Indian counterpart S Jaishankar said that till now the ties between the two countries will not return to normal. Until the limit is relaxed. Responding to a question from News Reporter, Sun said he hoped India would support China's efforts to get things back on track. "We will attach importance to Sino-Indian relations and will work hard to put them on the right track. We hope that such efforts will be supported by the other side (India). We will do so. This goal is achievable. Is." Certainly not only us, but the region and the whole world will benefit.

The standoff between India and China has been going on since May 2020. Both sides have deployed around 50,000 troops in the Ladakh sector. In June 2020, 20 Indian soldiers were killed in violent clashes in the Jalwan Valley. Meanwhile, at least four Chinese soldiers were killed. Despite 10 rounds of diplomacy and 16 rounds of military talks between the two sides, only the border forces at Pangong Lake and Kogra were withdrawn. In other places, the lockdown continues even today.

"China is making every effort to strengthen the dialogue between the two countries and deepen our understanding to avoid any misunderstandings," Sun said. We expect similar support from India." He said it is important for both sides to coordinate globally on challenges such as food, energy security and climate change. "Differences between our two big neighbors are normal. What is important is how we deal with them. Both sides must manage differences and prevent new ones from forming.

In Taiwan, Sun reiterated his position that China would not stop using force to reconnect the island with the mainland. He stressed the importance of understanding China's efforts for the country's sovereignty and territorial defense.

[newstfionline]

Headlines

1 killed in shooting in Seattle’s protest zone (AP) A 16-year-old boy was killed and a younger teenager was wounded early Monday in Seattle’s “occupied” protest zone--the second deadly shooting in the area that local officials have vowed to change after business complaints and criticism from President Donald Trump. The violence that came just over a week after another shooting in the zone left one person dead and another wounded was “dangerous and unacceptable” police Chief Carmen Best said. Demonstrators have occupied several blocks around the Seattle Police Department’s East Precinct and a park for about two weeks after police abandoned the precinct following standoffs and clashes with protesters calling for racial justice and an end to police brutality. Best said the shootings are obscuring the message of racial justice that protesters say they are promoting. “Two African American men are dead, at a place where they claim to be working for Black Lives Matter. But they’re gone, they’re dead now,” the police chief said.

Two Friends in Texas Were Tested for Coronavirus. One Bill Was $199. The Other? $6,408. (NYT) Before a camping and kayaking trip along the Texas Coast, Pam LeBlanc and Jimmy Harvey decided to get coronavirus tests. Both tests came back negative. Then their bills came. And that’s where the similarities stopped. The emergency room charged Mr. Harvey $199 in cash. Ms. LeBlanc, who paid with insurance, was charged $6,408. Ms. LeBlanc’s health insurer negotiated the total bill down to $1,128. The plan said she was responsible for $928 of that. During the pandemic, there has been wide variation between what providers bill for the same basic diagnostic test, with some charging $27, others $2,315. It turns out there is also significant variation in how much a test can cost two patients at the same location.

Three Words. 70 Cases. The Tragic History of ‘I Can’t Breathe.’ (NYT) “I can’t breathe,” George Floyd pleaded in May, appealing to the Minneapolis police officer who responded to reports of a phony $20 bill and planted a knee in the back of his neck until his life had slipped away. Mr. Floyd’s dying words have prompted a national outcry over law enforcement’s deadly toll on African-American people, and they have united much of the country in a sense of outrage that a police officer would not heed a man’s appeal for something as basic as air. But dozens of other incidents with a remarkable common denominator have gone widely unacknowledged. Over the past decade, The New York Times found, at least 70 people have died in law enforcement custody after saying the same words--“I can’t breathe.” The dead ranged in age from 19 to 65. The majority of them had been stopped or held over nonviolent infractions, 911 calls about suspicious behavior, or concerns about their mental health. More than half were black. Many of the cases suggest a widespread belief that persists in departments across the country that a person being detained who says “I can’t breathe” is lying or exaggerating, even if multiple officers are using pressure to restrain the person.

Mexican president to fly commercial to the US (Washington Post) When Mexico’s president travels to the White House next week, he’ll have to reckon with the same questions travelers everywhere are asking. How early do you need to arrive at an airport these days? Will the middle seat be left empty? During the layover, will the food court be open? Next week, Andrés Manuel López Obrador will be the rare foreign head of state to fly commercial to meet the U.S. president. The populist leader promised to sell Mexico’s presidential jet when he began his term in 2018--part of a larger effort to throw off the luxe trappings of the country’s highest office. He has also opened the presidential palace to the public, and is ferried around the capital in his own Volkswagen Jetta. While the jet is still unsold, López Obrador has stood by his pledge to fly only on commercial airlines.

This is the moment to address decades-old problems, UK PM Johnson says (Reuters) Prime Minister Boris Johnson said on Tuesday that Britain must seize the moment in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic to fix decades-old problems and narrow the productivity gap with its competitors. “We must work fast because we’ve already seen the vertiginous drop in GDP, we are waiting as if between the flash of lightning and the thunderclap,” he said. “We must use this moment now, this interval to plan our response and to fix of course the problems that were most brutally illuminated in that COVID lightning flash: the problems in our social cares system, the parts of government that seemed to respond so sluggishly.” He said Britain was not as productive as many of its competitors, and while London was the “capital of the world”, much of the country felt left behind and “unloved”.

EU reopens its borders to 14 nations but not to US tourists (AP) The European Union announced Tuesday that it will reopen its borders to travelers from 14 countries, and possibly China soon, but most Americans have been refused entry for at least another two weeks due to soaring coronavirus infections in the U.S. Travelers from other big countries like Russia, Brazil and India will also miss out. Citizens from the following countries will be allowed into the EU’s 27 members and four other nations in Europe’s visa-free Schengen travel zone: Algeria, Australia, Canada, Georgia, Japan, Montenegro, Morocco, New Zealand, Rwanda, Serbia, South Korea, Thailand, Tunisia and Uruguay.

Europe sours on global powers (Foreign Policy) A new poll from the European Council of Foreign Relations shows the extent of the damage the coronavirus pandemic has wrought on attitudes toward the United States. The decline was most dramatic in Germany, Denmark, and Portugal where at least 65 percent of respondents said that their view of the United States had worsened during the pandemic. It’s not just bad news for U.S.-Europe relations; Russia and China also suffered reputational damage, according to the poll.

China passes sweeping HK security law, heralding authoritarian era (Reuters) Beijing on Tuesday unveiled new national security laws for Hong Kong that will punish crimes of secession, subversion, terrorism and collusion with foreign forces with up to life in prison, heralding a more authoritarian era for China’s freest city. China’s parliament passed the detailed legislation earlier on Tuesday, giving Beijing sweeping powers and setting the stage for radical changes to the global financial hub’s way of life. “The punitive elements of the law are stupefying,” Simon Young, a law professor at the University of Hong Kong’s law school and a barrister, told Reuters. Britain and some two dozen Western countries urged China to reconsider the law, saying Beijing must preserve the right to assembly and free press. Washington, already in dispute with China over trade, the South China Sea and the coronavirus, began eliminating Hong Kong’s special status under U.S. law on Monday, halting defence exports and restricting technology access. China, which has rejected criticism of the law by Britain, the European Union, Japan, Taiwan and others, said it would retaliate.

Christian television station in Israel loses license (Foreign Policy) Israeli regulators have revoked the broadcasting license of an evangelical Christian television station for misrepresenting its mission. Ward Simpson, the CEO of God TV and the station’s owner, had attracted the scrutiny of regulators after appearing in a fundraising video after the license was granted saying “God has supernaturally opened the door for us to take the gospel of Jesus into the homes and lives and hearts of his Jewish people.” He later clarified that he was not trying to convert Jews; he was simply seeking to get them to accept Jesus as their messiah. Regulators said God TV is welcome to reapply for a license if it vows to describe the nature of its broadcasts more honestly.

Syria faces mass starvation or mass exodus without more aid, WFP says (BBC) Syria faces the risk of mass starvation or another mass exodus unless more aid money is made available, the head of the UN World Food Programme has said. Ahead of a donor conference in Brussels on Tuesday, David Beasley told the BBC a million Syrians were severely food insecure and some were already dying. More than 380,000 people have been killed and 13.2 million others—half the pre-war population—have been displaced inside and outside Syria since an uprising against President Bashar al-Assad began in 2011. "The whole world's facing crisis unlike anything we've seen probably in everyone's lifetime. But, quite frankly, what's happening in Syria is unprecedented. It's the worst of all storms coming together," Mr Beasley said in an interview. "If we don't have the money, here's the bottom line: you're going to either have mass migration, [or] starvation, and exploitation by extremist groups," he warned. "I think the people will leave, just like they did five or six years ago."

Coronavirus Is Battering Africa’s Growing Middle Class (NYT) James Gichina started out 15 years ago as a driver shuttling travelers from the airport, worked his way up to safari guide, and with the help of some bank loans, bought two minivans of his own to ferry vacationers around. But when the coronavirus pandemic cratered the tourist industry and the economy, Mr. Gichina removed the seats from his minibus and started using it to hawk eggs and vegetables. With what he now earns, he said, he can barely afford to pay rent, buy food or send his 9-year-old son to school. “We have been working hard to build better lives,” Mr. Gichina, 35, said of his colleagues in the tourist sector. Now, he said, “We have nothing.” As the coronavirus surges in many countries in Africa, it is threatening to push as many as 58 million people in the region into extreme poverty, experts at the World Bank say. But beyond the devastating consequences for the continent’s most vulnerable people, the pandemic is also whittling away at one of Africa’s signature achievements: the growth of its middle class. About 170 million out of Africa’s 1.3 billion people are now classified as middle class. But about eight million of them could be thrust into poverty because of the coronavirus and its economic fallout, according to World Data Lab, a research organization.

[xtruss]

Former Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi attends the RAI 1 television programme "Porta a Porta" on April 24, 2014 in Rome.

Italy’s Berlusconi Dismisses Russia’s ‘Isolation’, Calls Liberal World Order ‘Optical Illusion’

— Ilya Tsukanov | June 04, 2022 | Sputnik

The former Italian prime minister spent much of his premiership seeking to take relations between Rome and Moscow to a new level, and even expressed aspirations for Russia to eventually be incorporated into the European Union.

Silvio Berlusconi has expressed regret that his attempts to bring Russia into the camp of Western powers were “boycotted” by some European leaders in his own time, and suggested that the question of who has been “isolated” as a result of the Ukraine crisis, Russia or the West, is a matter of perspective.

“…Faced with a clear violation of international law and rules that are in force even in times of war, Europe and the West have reacted in a balanced, firm and above all united way. From This point of view, Russia has already lost its game: if it considers the West an opponent, today it faces an opponent much more united and more determined than in recent years. However, things change if we consider the scenario on the global level,” Berlusconi wrote in an op-ed I il Giornale.

The former prime minister suggested that from the latter point of view, “the Ukrainian crisis has made evident a very bitter reality” – that apart from the United States and its allies in Europe, Japan and Australia, few other nations joined the West in its standoff with Moscow, with even Turkey refusing to join its NATO allies in sanctioning Russia.

“Once again I regret that my attempts to bring Russia into the Western camp have been boycotted by some European leaders. If we had succeeded, the European scenario today would be very different,” Berlusconi lamented. “Instead, what the Ukrainian crisis has shown us is an alarming sign for the present and above all the future: Russia is isolated from the West, but the West is isolated from the rest of the world,” he wrote.

The veteran Italian politician, business and media tycoon suggested it was worth remembering that the Western concept of “liberal democracy” applies less that a quarter of the planet’s population, with “the largest countries in the world – China, India, Russia and dozens of Asian, African and Latin American nations not with the West at the moment.”

“After the end of the Cold War, someone carelessly spoke about the ‘end of history’, meaning by this the definitive affirmation, after the fall of Nazism and fascism in 1945 and Communism in 1989, of a liberal world order. This was a grave optical illusion, worsened by the spread, in the West itself, of ideologies and cultural trends that deny the value of our model of civilization,” Berlusconi suggested.

While praising the West’s economic, political and social successes, the former prime minister nevertheless urged leaders to recognize that the Western world, due to an absence of authoritative leadership and a lack of self-confidence, has failed to create a system of alliances or an attractive political or economic model comparable to those proposed by China –like the Silk Road, for other countries to join or follow. “On the contrary, the West has registered some disastrous setbacks, for example in Afghanistan, which have further undermined its credibility in the eyes of the ruling classes and public opinion of the entire plant,” he wrote.

Berlusconi warned that Europe will face great risks in the decades to come, having neither the military strength nor the geographic isolation that provides North America with a measure of protection.

“One can be ‘economic giants and political dwarves’ only as long as someone else is willing to take charge of our security and freedom…But the signs of the inevitable downsizing of Washington’s role of collective security are increasingly evident as it grows increasingly concerned by the challenge of China in the Pacific,” he wrote.

The politician stressed that the political and military unity of Europe so often talked about is becoming not “just a desirable choice but an unavoidable necessity” in the face of threats from China, Islamist fundamentalism, and waves of uncontrolled migration. Europe needs a common foreign and defence policy, a common energy union, etc., he said.

Berlusconi served as Italy’s prime minister between 1994-1995, 2001-2006, and from 2008-2011. During his terms in office, he successfully balanced warm relations with both Russia and the United States, and one of the strongest proponents of Russia’s association with, and even eventual integration into, the European Union. Berlusconi struck up a warn personal relationship with Russian presidents Vladimir Putin and Dmitry Medvedev. These ties cooled dramatically after Moscow began its demilitarization and denazification special operation in Ukraine, with Berlusconi saying he was “deeply disappointed and saddened” by the “behaviour” of Putin, whom he said “seemed a man of democracy and peace” over the 20 years that he’d known him.

Russia began its military operation in February after weeks of escalating shelling and sabotage attacks on the Donbass by Ukrainian forces and fears of a new all-out offensive against the breakaways, and after months of deteriorating ties with NATO over the alliance’s push to incorporate Ukraine into the bloc.

[digimakacademy]

Ladakh Standoff: ग्‍लोबल टाइम्‍स का उल्‍टा राग, लद्दाख में पैंगोंग झील को बर्बाद कर रहा है भारत

Ladakh Standoff: ग्‍लोबल टाइम्‍स का उल्‍टा राग, लद्दाख में पैंगोंग झील को बर्बाद कर रहा है भारत

हाइलाइट्स: चीन ने अपने सरकारी भोंपू के जरिए भारत पर पैंगोंग झील को बर्बाद करने का आरोप लगाया है चीनी अखबार ने आरोप लगाया कहा कि भारत पैंगोंग झील के इको सिस्‍टम को बर्बाद कर रहा है पैंगोंग पर चीनी अखबार का यह दावा ‘उल्‍टा चोर, कोतवाल को डाटे’ की कहावत को साबित कर रहा पेइचिंगलद्दाख में 50 हजार से ज्‍यादा सैनिक तैनात करने वाले चीनी ड्रैगन ने अब अपने सरकारी भोंपू ग्‍लोबल टाइम्‍स के जरिए भारत पर…