FROM EIR DAILY ALERT
Glazyev To Global Times: Russia and China Must Collaborate against Speculation, Trade Aggression
July 24, 2018 (EIRNS)—China’s semi-official Global Times yesterday published a lengthy interview with leading Russian economist Sergey Glazyev, who participated in the fourth China-Russia Economy Dialogue in Beijing, held on July 15-16 by the Chongyang Institute for Financial Studies at Renmin University. Identifying Glazyev as “a counselor to President of the Russian Federation Vladimir Putin,” Global Times spoke with Glazyev “to seek his opinions on bilateral trade potential and how to deal with U.S. trade hostility.” (Note that the interview was conducted immediately prior to the Trump-Putin summit, and that subject was not raised in the discussion.)
Glazyev said that
“The trade tension is partly due to stagnation in Western economies, which are now in very bad shape. A lot of money is used for speculation and this is undermining the stability of financial sectors.”
He called for increased cooperation against such policies:
“If we can enhance cooperation within the Shanghai Cooperation Organization or the BRICS and stop relying on the dollar as an international currency, the U.S. pressure will fall away.... We have to move to a deeper partnership. We should promote cooperation between our companies, the creation of large consortiums, and the establishment of research and development institutions, especially in the aviation industry. Trade is just what you see on the surface.”
The Russian economist continued:
“The second point is development of high-tech sectors, especially the shipbuilding industry. But this requires more investors for it to be modernized. There is clear demand for new logistics centers and seaports.”
As for U.S. sanctions against Russia and China, Glazyev said:
“If U.S. aggression against Russia continues, we are ready to move away from the dollar as the world’s main currency, because sanctions make the dollar a very toxic currency. Even foreign companies are suffering threats from the U.S. administration. So if the U.S. keeps contradicting international law and the WTO’s norms, the first measure we would have to take together with China and other countries who are suffering from U.S. aggression, would be to get rid of the dollar as the key international currency.”
