Russia and China Join Forces
To Derail London's War Plans
by William Jones
May 23—The summit in Shanghai between Chinese President Xi Jinping and Russian President Vladimir Putin, which concluded yesterday, is a focal point for the mobilization of the nations of Asia against the threat of war coming out of London and Washington. The increasing drumbeat against Russia and China from the British Empire and its minions, including the Queen's puppet Barack Obama, has brought the world to the brink of war. As Lyndon LaRouche has continually stressed, the London-based financial oligarchy, fearing the imminent demise of their financial hegemony with the growing economic and military strength of China and Russia, is prepared to start a war in a last-ditch attempt to maintain their power. The recent statements by the heir to the British throne, Prince Charles, comparing Russian President Vladimir Putin to Hitler, only underlined the source of the threat to Russia.
Following the British line of attack, President Obama has launched an offensive against Russia, through the destabilization of Ukraine, and against China, by building an alliance of its traditional, and disgruntled, allies—in particular, Japan—as a military counterweight to the growing influence of China in Asia. Fully conscious of the dangerous implications of these developments, Russia and China are combining their efforts to derail the British war plans.
The strategic situation was central to the agenda of the Russia-China summit. In his comments at the conclusion of his meeting with the Russian President, President Xi referred to their common fight against fascism during the Second World War and the importance of the agreements among the victorious powers in the aftermath of the war. The allusion would also be pregnant with meaning for the Russian President, who has extensively commented on the rise of the followers of the late Nazi fellow-traveler Stepan Bandera in the anti-Russian ferment in Ukraine.
China continually refers to its struggle against fascism in its territorial dispute with Japan. "In this connection," Xi said,
"President Putin and I have discussed that we should together next year [the 70th anniversary of the end of World War II] carry out, in collaboration with the UN and the SCO [Shanghai Cooperation Organization], joint celebrations and commemoratory events. We will, together with the countries of the entire world, seek to safeguard the achievements of World War II and the post-war order."
In his remarks, President Putin also referred to these celebrations and stressed Russia's increasing cooperation with China in the military arena.
At the conclusion of the summit, the two leaders issued a comprehensive joint declaration, which represents a significant upgrading of the two countries' relationship in all areas. It reiterated their commitment to continue to coordinate their positions on a large number of international issues: the North Korean nuclear issue, Syria, Iran, and Afghanistan, underlining the growing threat emanating from that country after the planned withdrawal of U.S. troops this year, in terms of both terrorism and the spread of narcotics.
"We have agreed to coordinate our foreign policy steps more closely," Putin told reporters, "including within the UN, BRICS [Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Korea], and APEC [Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation forum]."
The declaration also stressed the intent to increase the role of the SCO, the BRICS, and the Conference on Interaction and Confidence-Building Measures in Asia (CICA) in international matters.
The two pledged to increase their own influence in international organizations, such as the UN Security Council, and stressed the importance of the UN in the resolution of international crises. The declaration also called for a reform of the Security Council to better meet the increasing demands placed upon it.
Giving the lie to the Western propaganda, which has falsely claimed that Putin was preparing to invade Ukraine, the joint declaration calls for a diplomatic solution to the crisis in Ukraine and demands that all the parties there engage in a dialogue to find a solution that guarantees the rights of all the country's citizens.
A New Silk Road and New Financial Architecture
The declaration gave clear support to two initiatives for economic development in the region, President Xi's proposal for the Silk Road Economic Belt and President Putin's Eurasian Economic Union. The statement is significant in that Russia has been wary of the Chinese initiative in Central Asia, a region in which Russia (and before it, the Soviet Union) has long played the decisive role. The Joint Statement explicitly expresses Russia's appreciation for China's consideration of Russia's interests in the implementation of the Silk Road project. The statement said that both parties were committed to converge the two projects as much as possible, particularly with regard to the creation of new transportation grids in the region.
The declaration also emphasized the importance of the APEC summit in November, which will be held in Beijing. It expressed a desire that the APEC summit become a forum for creating a zone of trade among all the Asia-Pacific nations, a direct challenge to the partisan Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) pushed by the U.S. in order to bring the other Asian economies into trade agreements that effectively excluded China.
Perhaps most unnerving for the British Empire crowd, which has hitherto ruled the world through its control of the international financial system, is the clause that calls for a reform of the global financial system "in accordance with the needs of the real economy," and increasing the supervision of the governments over the administration of financial affairs. As LaRouche has so emphatically stressed, it is the crisis of the London-based financial system which is the primary impulse for the game-masters of London to push for global war rather than relinquish their financial control.
A Mutual Economic Platform
But the cement which binds the two countries most closely together is the extensive economic agreements signed at the summit. Most significant was the final resolution of the natural gas deal, which has been under negotiation for a decade, but was tied up over the question of pricing. While the international press was crowing that the agreement would again fall through, the two leaders succeeded in cutting the Gordian knot.
By this agreement, Russia will ultimately provide China, over a 30-year period, with 38 billion cubic meters of natural gas annually. While Russia may have reduced its price somewhat, China has committed to building the portion of the pipeline required within its own borders, and will provide loans to Russia for the development of the fields and pipeline construction within Russian territory. The agreement was signed on May 20 in the presence of the two Presidents.
But the economic agreements go far beyond the gas and oil arrangements, as 46 major accords were signed during the summit. These will expand mutual investment in transportation infrastructure, mining development, and housing projects in Russia, and "increase the effectiveness of cooperation in areas of high technology, developing collaboration in the realization of priority projects such as the international use of nuclear energy, civil aviation, and in the program of cooperation on fundamental space research, satellite monitoring of the Earth, satellite navigation, and the study of deep space and human astronautics." Three new bridges will be built over the Amur River, which marks the border between the two countries, and Russia will facilitate China's shipment of goods using its railway networks and ports as well as the Northern Sea route.
"Our countries have accomplished an enormous amount of joint work to reach this new historic landmark—a comprehensive partnership and strategic cooperation," Putin said. "China has gained a firm foothold as our main partner." He noted that the present relationship between the two partners is the best it has ever been historically.
The joint statement noted the increasing cooperation between the two countries at all levels: governmental, regional, and local. Not of least importance is the significant upgrading of the military cooperation between the two nations. Just prior to the Shanghai summit, the two leaders witnessed the start of a joint naval maneuver in the East China Sea. And while they have conducted many such joint maneuvers in the past, this one was unusual in two respects. While previously each country had command over its own military units, this time there was joint command, with both Russian and Chinese officers. The choice of the East China Sea, the location of a major territorial dispute between China and Japan over the Diaoyu Islands, sends a clear message to Japan. While Russia is thus supportive of China's concerns in this respect, it also has its own message for the Japanese leadership, which is under great pressure from Washington to cooperate in imposing sanctions on Russia.
A New Security Architecture
The Shanghai summit segued nicely into a larger event, embracing most of the Asian nations, the summit of the Conference on Interaction and Confidence-Building Measures in Asia (CICA). President Putin's visit to Shanghai was scheduled so as to coincide with his participation in this important gathering.
The CICA was formed at the suggestion of Kazakhstan President Nursultan Nazarbayev in 1992, at the UN General Assembly; it comprises 26 Asian nations. Up until now it has played a rather modest role in international affairs, with only three summit meetings since its formation. But now that China will chair the organization, President Xi is moving to transform the CICA into a key instrument in preventing war in Asia.
At the dinner welcoming the other delegates, Xi and Putin were shoulder-to-shoulder, as if to underline the importance of their bilateral relations for the region as a whole. Present at the summit were representatives of 47 nations and international organizations, including President Houssain Rouhani of Iran, UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon, and a host of other heads of state from Asia and the Middle East. In his initial statement, President Xi offered a proposal for creating a security architecture in Asia which took consideration of all the countries in the region.
Rejecting the "Cold War model," where countries create security alliances in opposition to an envisioned foe, Xi said the new conditions in the world required a new mode of thinking. "A military alliance which is targeted at a third party is not conducive to common regional security," Xi said, with a clear aim at the Obama "pivot" which is beefing up its traditional alliances in the region. "No country should seek absolute security for itself at the expense of others.... We cannot just have security for one or a few countries while leaving the rest insecure." Quoting an old Kazakh saying, Xi warned, "One who tries to blow out another's lamp will set his beard on fire."
Xi said that China would use the next two years of its chairmanship of CICA to make it into a security dialogue and cooperation platform covering the whole of Asia. He called for efforts to enhance the capacity and institution building of the CICA, improving the functions of the secretariat, and establishing a mechanism for defense consultations among member states. He also suggested that summits be held more often. "China will fulfill the responsibilities of CICA chairman and work with other sides to improve the status and role of CICA to take Asian security cooperation to a higher level," Xi said.
"Asian countries must collaborate with each other and work together," he told his colleagues. "Asian nations have the capacity to realize security in Asia by cooperating among themselves." His reasoning was obviously persuasive. The joint declaration issued at the end of the summit stated clearly:
"We maintain that no State will strengthen its security at the expense of security of other States. Bearing in mind the UN Security Council's primary responsibility under the UN Charter for maintenance of international peace and security, we emphasize that no State, group of States, or organization can have pre-eminent responsibility for maintaining peace and stability."
Truly, Russia and China have struck a blow at the war plans of the British satraps in the White House. But the recent terrorist attack in Urumqi, China, coming in the wake of this important summit, indicates that the British Empire is well aware of the implications of the events in Shanghai and is prepared to use all means to disrupt and destroy them, in order to maintain its financial hegemony.
