The situation in the South China Sea is on the verge of becoming a game of chicken between the U.S. and China with the Philippines in the middle. This would be very dangerous and could cause China to miscalculate. Either one blinks or they clash.
Category: World
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Mainstream media need to focus on peace
The fact that Australia is sleepwalking towards a catastrophic war against China has received very welcome and responsible coverage in Pearls and Irritations and other non-mainstream media. The head-in-the-sand stance adopted by much of the mainstream media stands in stark contrast. The most recent example of the latter was a 15-page supplement in The Canberra Times (CT) on 17 May – ‘Our Next Steps’, on the Defence Strategic Review. It was a most shameful collection of war-mongering articles and images. (more…)
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Most propaganda looks nothing like this
When most people in the English-speaking world hear the word “propaganda”, they tend to think of something that’s done by foreign nations who have governments that are so totalitarian they won’t even let people know what’s true or think for themselves. (more…)
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China and the axis of the sanctioned: how America’s divide-and-rule strategy in the Middle East backfired
A photo Beijing released on March 6th of Chinese President Xi Jinping’s foreign minister Wang Yi delivered a seismic shock in Washington. There he was, standing between Ali Shamkhani, the secretary of Iran’s National Security Council, and Saudi National Security Adviser Musaad bin Mohammed al-Aiban. They were awkwardly shaking hands on an agreement to reestablish mutual diplomatic ties. That picture should have brought to mind a 1993 photo of President Bill Clinton hosting Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin and PLO chief Yasser Arafat on the White House lawn as they agreed to the Oslo Accords. And that long-gone moment was itself an after-effect of the halo of invincibility the United States had gained in the wake of the collapse of the Soviet Union and the overwhelming American victory in the 1991 Gulf War. (more…)
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In the eye of the hurricane, can we find truth?
To survive this critical century, we need to know the truth about it. (more…)
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China panic: a wake-up call for Canadians
As Canada grapples with allegations of foreign interference by China, John Price writes that politicians would be wise to read Australian academic David Brophy’s new book: ‘China Panic: Australia’s Alternative to Paranoia and Pandering’. (more…)
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US trade restrictions may eclipse UAE’s moon plans
Recent reports indicate that the United Arab Emirates’ Rashid 2 rover planned for China’s Chang’e 7 mission to the moon in 2026 has hit an American speed bump. This ambitious mission is merely the next in the impressive Chang’e lunar series. It includes a moon orbiter, a lunar lander, a so-called “hopper” that can move from one part of the moon to another in “leaps and bounds”, the UAE rover, and an in-orbit relay satellite for effective communication with Earth. (more…)
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Why a different world order is already here
US primacy is being replaced by two orders led by Washington and Beijing. Canberra’s job is to make the US understand what has happened. (more…)
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Paths to global prosperity
Two major international conferences concluded in the past week. They demonstrated very different approaches to international relations. The China-Central Asia Summit considered new paths to genuine economic co-operation and development. The G7 reaffirmed its support for the status quo in the face of a changing global environment. (more…)
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US ‘war on terror’ leads bloody way in recent deadliest conflicts
With more than 4.5m killed and millions displaced, American revenge for 9/11 attacks puts Ukraine in the shade for 21st century slaughter. (more…)
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America’s wars and the US debt crisis
To surmount the debt crisis, America needs to stop feeding the Military-Industrial Complex, the most powerful lobby in Washington. (more…)
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The orbit of Russian cultural influence
One of the stranger aspects of the current war, at least for this observer, is the sight of Ukrainian military commanders telling BBC cameras in perfect Russian of their anti-Moscow plans. They have yet to learn to speak Ukrainian. (more…)
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The debate about ‘Independence for Taiwan’
I participated in the drafting and negotiation of the document of recognition of the People’s Republic of China (PRC) and was personally responsible for some of the practical aspects of dismantling the diplomatic representation of Republic of China (ROC – Taiwan) in Canberra. It might be helpful, therefore, if I offered some clarification regarding the One China Policy and the status of Taiwan. (more…)
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G7 resorts to China bashing to distract from economic woes
Just months before the return of Hong Kong to China in 1997, an old Hongkonger was interviewed. He was squatting next to a bundle of goods that he was hawking in the street. When asked about how he felt about the Chinese taking control again, he paused, drew on his cigarette and said, ‘maybe they will give me a pension.’ A picture, they say, is worth a thousand words. (more…)
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Can the Global South build a new world information and communication order?
It is remarkable how the media in a select few countries is able to set the record on matters around the world. The European and North American countries enjoy a near-global monopoly over information, their media houses vested with a credibility and authority inherited from their status during colonial times (BBC, for instance) as well as their command of the neocolonial structure of our times (CNN, for instance). (more…)
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China should not be blamed for decay of ‘liberal international order’
In recent years, to contain and isolate China, the United States has repeatedly accused China of continuously ignoring, abusing, distorting, undermining, or violating the rules and institutions of the “rules-based” “liberal international order” (LIO). (more…)
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The crooked timber of an unhappy, dangerous American Empire
Sealed inside its bubble, America today is steadfastly walking the unhappy, steady and confident gait of the Soviet Union. (more…)
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As Arab states seek peace, US insists that Syrians suffer
After the Arab League re-admits Syria, Washington threatens new sanctions to prevent reconstruction. (more…)
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Nuclear weapons may not be in Seoul’s best interest
Going nuclear would likely hurt rather than enhance South Korea’s global prestige. (more…)
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Nuremberg trials for imperiling mass extinction of species
While “leaders” fail to protect the people from global warming and nuclear war, they have succeeded splendidly in hiding the truth through the denial of climate change, accounting tricks and claims of reduction in domestic emissions, while in fact opening new coal mines, oil wells and fracked coal seams, exporting hydrocarbons through the entire global atmosphere. (more…)
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‘Nearly a third of the world economy is now subject to sanctions’
The Center for Economic and Policy Research (CEPR) just published a study about: (more…)
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Souls for sale – The Times interviews Noam Chomsky
In a society built on lies, the search for truth is a game. (more…)
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Hong Kong’s recovery: Greatest threat is parochialism
In January, the Finance Secretary Paul Chan went to Davos as part of an effort to encourage the world to join the government in its “embrace of a new start” for Hong Kong and to sell its numerous inherent strengths. Combined with efforts that coincided with the full opening-up of Hong Kong and recent visits to the Philippines, Vietnam, the UAE and Saudi Arabia by the Chief Executive, it was a much needed and timely reaffirmation of the government’s acute awareness of Hong Kong’s current optics problem and the need to forge new relationships. (more…)
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The militarisation of space – can Australia avoid following America?
America’s space policy reveals its hegemonic obsession and the future quandaries for Australian policy. Even America’s approach to exploration and colonisation of the Moon is only comprehensible in terms of terrestrial geopolitics. It now expects the world to bow to its power in outer space. (more…)
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Demonisation and the US encirclement of China
“It’s quite clear from recent policies that the US aims to curb China’s economic development and encircle the country with military bases in unfriendly (from China’s viewpoint) countries. Such demonisation only reinforces repressive trends in China and benefits security-obsessed hardliners in China’s political system. That’s why “de-demonisation” can help those in China who favour a more open and humane social and political system. I have yet to meet a single academic, for example, who favours more rather than less censorship and “de-demonisation” can help to strengthen such forces”, says Daniel Bell in a recent interview with Alex Lo. (more…)
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A mind held captive
Edward Said’s “Orientalism” encapsulates the essence of why the West resists the rise of China as a major economic and military power. (more…)
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In international politics, how the worm has turned for the United States
The historian of American foreign policy Gabriel Kolko would often say that those who seek to determine the destiny of humankind were in for surprises and, ultimately, disappointment. (more…)
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Are Pacific nations setting themselves up as US ‘pawn sacrifices’?
Being led by the nose by warmed-over former colonies like the US, Australia and India to fight a country thousands of miles away is neither smart diplomacy nor smart foreign policy. (more…)
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Money makes the world go round – and development succeed
The key to economic development and ending poverty is investment. Nations achieve prosperity by investing in four priorities. Most important is investing in people, through quality education and health care. The next is infrastructure, such as electricity, safe water, digital networks, and public transport. The third is natural capital, protecting nature. The fourth is business investment. The key is finance: mobilising the funds to invest at the scale and speed required. (more…)
