This article appears in the May 28, 2021 issue of Executive Intelligence Review.
China, Russia in Nuclear-Power Rebuke to Green New Dealers
[Print version of this article]
May 21—The presidents of Russia and China, Vladimir Putin and Xi Jinping, announced an agreement May 20 which showed forcefully that the “Great Reset” and “Green New Deal” do not impress these two powers. They plan to continue pursuing high-technology development of their economies and militaries, sharing strengths in both rapid nuclear power development and space exploration. Having already planned to collaborate in creating a scientific research base on the Moon and in building out China’s new space station, their cooperation has now gone nuclear, a field in which the nations of Asia are dominating the world. Both presidents participated in a videoconference hookup May 20 to launch the beginning of construction of four new nuclear plants in China, based on Russian technology. These are two units each, two at the Tianwan nuclear power plant in the city of Lianyungang, and two at the Xudapu nuclear plant in Huludao district in northeastern China.
The importance of this development, on the eve of the May 21 Rome meeting of the G-20 Global Health Summit, is that it represents the only pathway forward to solve the current existential breakdown crises facing mankind. Small wonder that nations across the developing sector—from Africa to Central America to Asia—which have been written off by the Malthusians running the trans-Atlantic sector, are increasingly turning to China and Russia
Schiller Institute President Helga Zepp-LaRouche commented May 21:
I think this is extremely important. Because if these two countries, Russia being one of the two largest nuclear powers and China being the world’s second largest economy and also becoming a sizable military force; if these two countries decide they will go on a course of advanced technology, higher energy flux densities—and given the fact that their attitude is to share a lot of projects, a lot of technology with developing countries—this becomes a very attractive model, and it really breaks this Green New Deal.
‘Global Development of Nuclear Energy’
The two presidents chose to make this a major policy-shaping occasion for their two countries, as well as one globally focused on the role of innovation and scientific and technological cooperation in achieving development. “It is necessary to strive for innovation-based development and to strengthen scientific and technical cooperation in the nuclear sphere,” Xi Jinping stated, reiterating that the two countries had agreed “to make a sizable intellectual contribution to the innovation-driven development of the global nuclear sphere…. Through their joint work, Russia and China will “make a sizable contribution to the global development of nuclear energy.”
Putin responded by effusively greeting “President Xi Jinping, my dear friend,” emphasizing that “Russian and Chinese specialists are working on this flagship joint project which is truly a milestone. They are building powerful, modern Russian-designed nuclear reactors that meet all safety and environmental standards. It is planned that they will start operating as soon as in 2026-2028, which, as President Xi just said, “will be a solid contribution to China’s energy security.”
Putin emphasized “Russia’s unique high technology capabilities in industrial production,” adding that “President Xi and I determined the main areas of our genuinely close partnership, the cooperation between Russia and China on nuclear technology, during my state visit to China in 2018…. It can be said that Russia-China relations have reached their highest level in history.”
The Russian President then stated:
Returning to the topic of nuclear energy cooperation, I would like to note, with great satisfaction, that all the agreements reached at the highest level are being consistently and unfailingly fulfilled. In addition to the construction of new power units at the Tianwan and Xudapu nuclear power plants, there are many other large Russian-Chinese initiatives that have been and are being implemented. These initiatives include an experimental fast neutron reactor built in China with Russia’s participation… Russia also supplied China with radionuclide heating blocks for the spacecraft that was the first in history to land on the far side of the Moon in 2019. We were extremely happy about your success, dear Chinese friends.
I am convinced that Russia and China will have many more ambitious and successful projects together. We are ready to develop our cooperation in the construction of nuclear power plants, and innovative partnership in the development and implementation of low-carbon and other technologies.
Bankruptcy of ‘Green Deal’
Germany is the leading industrial nation going full speed with the Green New Deal, and one of its best-known economists warned where that’s heading. Hans-Werner Sinn, former director of the Munich-based Ifo Institute econometric think-tank, posted a commentary, titled “Germany’s Ineffective Green Unilateralism,” May 20 on Project Syndicate’s website. Sinn said:
Today, Germany has the Western world’s highest electricity prices, because “green” electricity from wind and solar power is very volatile and needs the entire conventional generating network, though possibly one converted to natural gas, to compensate for the fluctuations, in particular for the frequent dark calms.… With its strategy of relying almost entirely on fluctuating green energy while shutting down nuclear power stations, Germany is in danger of ruining its industry. The chemical sector alone would consume as much electricity as Germany currently produces if it were to rely on electricity instead of fossil fuel. And automotive traffic—which is to become completely electric, directly or indirectly via hydrogen—also would require as much or even more.
