Generational Dynamics World View

[John J. Xenakis]

** 12-Mar-2019 World View: Is China's economic boycott of South Korea thawing?

China's largest insurance company, Ping An Insurance, announced that
it will send 3,700 employees to South Korea as an incentive trip. The
employees will be arriving in groups of 50 over the next two months.

Why is this big news? It's news because such trips have been banned
by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) since March 2017, when the CCP
announced an extremely harsh boycott on Korea, in retaliation for the
Korean government's deployment of America's Terminal High Altitude
Area Defense (THAAD). The CCP boycott banned South Korean goods for
sale in China, South Korean pop stars and entertainers, and packaged
tours, cruise tours and charter flights to Korea.

So the Ping An Insurance incentive trip to South Korea is a clear
violation of the boycott, which means that the CCP must be lifting
some parts of the boycott. I'm going to guess that this is happening
because of pressure by Ping An employees who would not consider an
"incentive trip" to another Chinese city to be a particularly exciting
and motivating prospect.

In fact, the CCP has already lifted the ban on tour packages for some
cities. In October last year, 600 employees from Chinese cosmetics
brand Anya Cosmetics came to Korea on a corporate incentive tour.
Ping An's incentive trip includes stops at duty-free shops of Korea’s
second and third largest duty-free retailers, Shinsegae Duty Free and
Shilla Duty Free.

However, noticeably absent from Ping An's itinerary were visits to
retail shops for the largest, Lotte Duty Free, a subsidiary of South
Korea's multinational conglomerate Lotte Group. In 2017, Lotte agreed
to a land swap that allowed THAAD to be deployed on a piece of land
previously owned by the company. This enraged the Chinese government
so much that Lotte is not likely to be forgiven any time soon, even if
other parts of the boycott are lifted.

Historically, for many centuries, Korea was part of China's "tributary
system." Korea was not a colony of China, since it is not governed by
China. But Korea would pay a substantial tribute to China, often
consisting of gold or slaves. In return, China would guarantee not to
invade Korea, and would even promise to defend Korea from a foreign
enemy (usually Japan). Korea remained a tributary state until Japan
succeeded in colonizing Korea in 1912.

Although China did not govern or control Korea, it was required that
when China ordered Korea to do something, Korea would have to do
it, or risk being punished.

In the case of North Korea, president Kim Jong-un continued ballistic
missile and nuclear weapons tests, despite commands from China's
president Xi Jinping to stop them. As a result, China punished North
Korea by allowing the United Nations Security Council to adopt harsh
anti-North Korean sanctions.

In the case of South Korea, China ordered the government NOT to allow
the deployment of the American anti-missile system THAAD. South Korea
deployed the systems anyway, in reaction to the ballistic missile and
nuclear weapons tests by North Korea -- tests that ironically China
had tried to prevent. So the Chinese punished South Korea's
disobedience with the harsh boycott.

Now that time has passed, China has been reducing the punishments. In
the case of North Korea, China has been urging lifting the sanctions,
and has been supporting and accommodating large-scale cheating by the
North Koreans, particularly to import petroleum and export coal. In
the case of South Korea, we see limited lifting of the boycott,
presumably in response to demands by Chinese company employees, with
most of the boycott remaining in effect.

However, easing of the boycott is coming too late for many
South Korean companies.

Lotte's supermarket business Lotte Mart will soon exit North China's
Tianjin Municipality, leaving only three stores in the Chinese
mainland.

South Korean auto makers Kia Motors and its parent Hyundai Motor have
both announced that they are considering halting operations in some of
their plants in China.

Kia's sales in China fell 44% in 2017 following the CCP boycott of
South Korean products. Sales recovered only 9% in 2018.

Hyundai was once China's third-biggest auto brand. Hyundai has the
capacity to produce more than 1.6 million vehicles in China, but only
sold 820,000 in 2017.

Hyundai and Kia are being affected not only by the boycott, but also
by generally declining auto sales in China, the world's biggest car
market. Sales of new vehicles declined in 2018 for the first time in
almost 30 years, amid falling consumption and a growing second-hand
sector.

--- Sources:

-- China’s Ping An Insurance to send 3,700 employees to Korea on
incentive trip
https://pulsenews.co.kr/view.php?year=2019&no=148650
(Pulse News, Korea)

-- Korea / Hyundai Motor / Kia considers plant closures in China
https://www.just-auto.com/news/kia-consi...87626.aspx
(Just Auto)

-- KIA considering China production halt amid sales slowdown
http://www.china.org.cn/business/2019-03...557526.htm
(Xinhua, China)

-- Kia, Lotte failures reflect S.Korean firms' ignorance of Chinese
market: analyst
http://www.globaltimes.cn/content/1141723.shtml
(Global Times, China)

[Ragnarök_62]

(03-12-2019, 06:24 PM)John J. Xenakis Wrote:

(03-12-2019, 12:14 AM)Ragnarök_62 Wrote: >   However, AFAIK, I haven't seen any info on disease resurgences
>   from filth or crazy antifvaccers in China. I also know of no
>   literal Chinese shitholes ? like right here in the USA.?

Well, I'm always suspicious of comparisons of the United States to
another country where the press is tightly controlled, and where
reporting bad news can get you thrown into a pit, hung by your ankles,
and have your fingernails pulled out with pliers.

Is there anything as bad as the San Francisco shithole in China?
Nothing that's been reported, of course.  But Beijing is still choking
with smog.

Also, check out the following story:

** 26-Jan-18 World View -- In major policy shift, China will demolish thousands of migrant homes in cities

** http://www.generationaldynamics.com/pg/x...tm#e180126


Tens of thousands of migrants were evicted from their homes in just
one month.  People were given only a few hours notice before their
home were demolished.  Did the migrants go out and sit on the curb and
start pooping?  They might be allowed to do that in San Francisco, but
not in Beijing.

So, 2 peas in a pod, man.

https://shadowproof.com/2017/11/15/chica...le-hiding/

In any event, here is what I want. The US needs to STFU about "human rights", "exceptional nation", and "rules based order", etc. Also, as for the Chinese migrants, perhaps they wade into some water body and shit incognito , because as we all know, when you have to go, you have to go. So let's all accept the fact that humans are such tacky, tacky creatures no matter where they live and all of our shit stinks all the same.  Even flies know this fact is true. All I want is acceptance of this reality that the US is no worse and no better than anyone else because anything else is just like polishing a turd.

[John J. Xenakis]

(03-12-2019, 10:02 PM)Ragnarök_62 Wrote: > All I want is acceptance of this reality that the US is no worse
> and no better than anyone else because anything else is just like
> polishing a turd.

This is a pile of crap. It's like saying that a
rapist-murderer-pedophile is the same as an ordinary person because
they both have parking tickets.

The CCP is the most paranoid government in the world, and it's leading
to the stupidest policies in the history of the world. The CCP is
committing genocide and ethnic cleansing of Muslim Uighurs in East
Turkistan (Xinjiang Province), blowing up Buddhist statues,
demolishing Christian churches, and slaughtering Buddhist Tibetans in
Tibet Province.

If San Francisco and Chicago are shitholes, it's because of lack of
action, but China is a shithole because of atrocities committed as
actual policies of the Chinese Communist Party.

By coincidence, someone posted the following this morning in the
Generational Dynamics forum:

Quote:> Middle and upper class Chinese do not buy Chinese products. No
> way. They buy foreign products from Europe, Japan, The US, or
> South Korea. South Korea produces top notch appliances,
> televisions, clothing, cars, and even pharma, especially
> pharma. The Chinese know their products are all toxic and low
> grade. Only the poor Chinese buy Chinese.

> As for vacations, the Chinese want to vacation abroad so that they
> can smuggle out money, or even escape China and never look back.

> China is a toxic and corrupt hell hole. The poor hate
> it. Pollution has already taken 7-8 years off of their lifespans,
> and they know it. Many Chinese men will never find a wife, and
> they know it. The Chinese government is controlled by two-bit
> gangsters, and the Chinese know it.

> The moneyed Chinese just want to leave and never go back.

This reminds me of what we used to say to people years ago: If you
hate America so much, why don't you leave? Some suggested
destinations: The Socialist Paradise of China, the Socialist Paradise
of North Korea, the Socialist Paradise of Cuba, or the Socialist
Paradise of Venezuela.

[John J. Xenakis]

** 13-Mar-2019 Russia-China relations run into problems again

Russia's president Vladimir Putin has been pursuing an "honor among
thieves" relationship with China's Xi Jinping for several years, as
they support each other's illegal activities with vetoes in the UN
Security Council. Furthermore, under pressure from European
sanctions, Putin is anxious to showcase his relationship with Xi as a
counterweight.

However, China does much to show its disdain for the Russians. China
is posing a threat to Russia's Far East, and Russia has been shut out
of infrastructure projects in countries that are part of China's Belt
and Road Initiative (BRI).

In the last month a new division has opened up. China's embassy in
Moscow sent a message to a Russian journalist who had written articles
analyzing the slowdown in China's economy, and its consequences for
Russia. The articles had been posted on the web site for Nezavisimaya
Gazeta (NG), and in the message, the embassy ordered the journalist to
remove the articles from the website. The embassy message rebuked the
growing discontent in Russian society, which Putin has allegedly
failed to quell. The message threatened to blacklist the journalist
and prevent him from visiting China.

Although NG is not an official Russian government publication, it's
presumably aligned with Russian policy, and its response presumably
had the permission of the Russian government.

In response, NG published an editorial:

Quote: "In Russia, many consider the current cooperation with
Beijing as a continuation of the golden period of the
Soviet-Chinese friendship of the middle of the last
century. However, in reality, not all Chinese officials today
respect Russian laws and regard Russians as equal partners. Among
Chinese officials, there are those who consider it permissible to
ponder the Russians, threaten us and openly show disrespect for
Russian laws.

Someone in the Russian Federation may consider such an attitude of
the Chinese towards us as evil slander or fiction. Until recently,
Nezavisimaya Gazeta employees also thought so. Until they
themselves were faced with the unprecedented interference of the
Chinese Embassy in the work of the NG editorial board.

Recently, Chinese embassy officials have openly demanded that
materials based on open statistical data, including state Chinese
statistics, be removed from publication. At the same time,
diplomats are very non-diplomatic about the president of the
Russian Federation, about the potential of Russia, and even openly
threaten NG employees with certain blacklists."

The editorial went on to accuse the Chinese embassy of violating
Russian laws.

This is a "small incident," and may pass quickly. But maybe not. NG
has published additional articles on China's economy, and now that
it's been threatened, it may publish more. China, on the other hand,
becomes furious when one of its tributary states does not obey orders,
so the Chinese may escalate the punishment.

Ultimately, this is not about a confrontation between a reporter and
the Chinese embassy. It's about the relationship between Putin and
Xi. Putin has been sucking up the Xi, and may do so again by ordering
NG to back off. Or may Putin would like to show that he's able to
stand up to China, and will allow the confrontation to continue.

The Russians have hated the Chinese ever since the Mongols defeated
the Chinese in 1206, and then went on to attack and conquer almost all
the Russian principalities, and made them bitter vassals of the Mongol
Empire, in a relationship called the "Mongol Yoke." This hated
period, two centuries long, has defined the relationship between the
Russian and Chinese people forever. There is no possibility that
China and Russia will remain "strategic partners" for long. In fact,
Soviet Russia and China almost went to full-scale war as recently as
the 1960s.

China and Russia developed a close relationship in the 1920s. After
Germany lost World War I, China demanded that Western nations,
especially Germany, relinquish all Chinese territories they had gained
under "unequal treaties," and in fact demanded that the unequal
treaties be annulled. Instead, under the "Versailles betrayal" at the
Paris peace conference that settled World War I, Japan received
control of some of the German territories (Shandong province) under
the "fine print" of the unequal treaties. Neither China nor the
United States signed the Versailles agreement, and the US helped China
take Shandong province back from Japan two years later.

However, what was most significant to the Chinese was that in March
1919, while negotiations were still ongoing, Soviet Russia renounced
Russian rights and privileges to all the capitulations that had been
awarded to countries from China. This created a very favorable
attitude among the Chinese people towards the new Soviet State.
Furthermore, Chinese intellectuals began to see communism as a weapon
-- a weapon to combat militarism and imperialism of the West.

The Third Communist International (The Comintern) was formed by Russia
in March 1919 in order to control all communist parties around the
world, and did so until Stalin dissolved in in May 1943, and
transferred its activities to other organizations. The Chinese
Communist Party (CCP) was formed in 1921, and became a member of the
Moscow Comintern.

In the decades that followed, tensions grew in China between the
Nationalists, led by Chiang Kai-shek, and the Communists, led by Mao
Zedong. When the Communists won the civil war and announced the
Communist People's Republic of China in 1949, it was the beginning of
a "golden age" of friendship between China and Soviet Russia.

The golden age didn't last long. The Amur River that forms part of
the border between China and Russia's Far East has been the site of
wars between the two people for centuries. On March 2, 1969, border
units of the Soviet Union and China clashed on Damansky Island, in the
middle of the Amur River. Militarily, the Damansky Incident was a
small operation, but symbolically and politically it's been extremely
important. The fighting generated worldwide concern, over fears that
China and Russia would escalate the fight into nuclear war. The
United States sided with China in the clash, causing China to have
much more favorable relations with the US. In fact, this incident is
thought to be the trigger that led to President Richard Nixon and
Henry Kissinger successfully developing diplomatic relations with
China in 1971.

The biggest shock to China-Russia relations occurred in 1991, when the
Soviet Union collapsed, along with the Russian Communist Party. Since
the CCP had modeled itself after the Russian party, this was a blow
that sent the CCP officials into total panic, and has led to the
paranoia and the destructive and self-destructive policies of the CCP
being practiced today.

This is the context in which the clash between Nezavisimaya Gazeta
(NG) and China's Moscow embassy is occurring. Whether this clash
escalates depends on how much Putin and Xi wish to continue pretending
that they like each other.

Generational Dynamics predicts that, in the approaching Clash of
Civilizations world war, the US, Japan, India, Russia, Iran and the
West will be pitted against China, Pakistan, and the Sunni Muslim
countries.

--- Sources:

-- 'Serious' rivalry still drives China-Russia relations despite
improving ties
https://www.cnbc.com/2018/09/14/china-ru...aince.html
(CNBC, 14-Sep-2018)


-- Hidden Animus in the Russia-China Friendship
https://jamestown.org/program/hidden-ani...riendship/
(Jamestown)

-- Russia / Chinese diplomat threatens NG journalist with blacklisting
http://www.ng.ru/world/2019-03-04/2_7523_china.html
https://translate.google.com/translate?s...china.html
(Nezavisimaya Gazeta (NG), and translation)


-- China is preparing for hard times
http://www.ng.ru/economics/2019-03-05/1_7524_china.html
https://translate.google.com/translate?s...china.html
(Nezavisimaya Gazeta (NG), and translation)


--- Related:

** 23-Oct-18 World View -- Trump targets China by cancelling arms control treaty with Russia
** http://www.generationaldynamics.com/pg/x...tm#e181023



** 21-Jul-18 World View -- The Trump-Putin private meeting was almost certainly about China
** http://www.generationaldynamics.com/pg/x...tm#e180721



** 31-Mar-18 World View -- Russia's Far East, Siberia and Vladivostok under threat from China
** http://www.generationaldynamics.com/pg/x...tm#e180331



** 27-Jan-17 World View -- China places missiles on Russia's border -- to gain respect and attack America
** http://www.generationaldynamics.com/pg/x...tm#e170127

[John J. Xenakis]

** 15-Mar-2019 North Korea threatens to end denuclearization talks

North Korea's foreign minister Choe Son Hui threatened to suspend
denuclearization talks. According to Choe, as quoted by Tass and AP:

Quote:> We have no intention to yield to the U.S. demands (at
> the Hanoi summit) in any form, nor are we willing to engage in
> negotiations of this kind. ...

> I want to make it clear that the gangster-like stand of the
> U.S. will eventually put the situation in danger. We have neither
> the intention to compromise with the U.S. in any form nor much
> less the desire or plan to conduct this kind of negotiation. ...

> [But] personal relations between the two supreme leaders are still
> good and the chemistry is mysteriously wonderful."

Talk about a mixed message! Choe added that Kim would make an
official announcement soon, and that he might announce the resumption
oftests of ballistic missiles and nuclear weapons.

This is all theatre. North Korea never had any intention of ending
its nuclear missile program. The North's only reason for the
negotiations was to apply diplomatic pressure to force America to
agree to remove the sanctions, without the North having to make any
concessions whatsoever. That strategy collapsed when Donald Trump
walked out of the Hanoi summit.

Kim Jong-un tried to replay the same fraudulent script that his father
Kim Jong-il followed in 2008. At that time, the North demolished a
60-foot-tall cooling tower to prove that it was ending its nuclear
development programs. In reaction, the Bush administration agreed to
remove all sanctions. As soon as they were removed, North Korea
immediately and openly resumed its nuclear and ballistic missile
development. They had completely defrauded and humiliated the United
States and the world.

So now that Kim has failed to repeat his father's success, it's
the child dictator who is humiliated. He may feel that he has to
strike back to regain stature, and that might mean resumption of
testing.

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo responded to Choe's statements:

Quote:> "It’s not the first time. I have a vague recollection
> of being called gangster-like from a visit I took one time
> previously. Following that, we continued to have very professional
> conversations where we tried our best to work together to
> represent our respective sides. I have every expectation that we
> will be able to continue to do that."

One thing that's become increasingly clear in the last year is that
China does not want North Korea to resume these tests. Thanks to the
North Korea tests, South Korea has deployed a THAAD missile defense
system that China absolutely hates. What China wants is for America
to withdraw forces from the region, but North Korea's tests cause the
opposite. They also provide support to Japan's hawks to implement its
own nuclear weapons.


--- Sources:

-- North Korea may suspend nuclear talks with 'gangster-like' U.S.:
diplomat
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-north...SKCN1QW0C9
(Reuters)



-- Pompeo shoots down North Korea claim he created distrust, hostility
at summit
https://thehill.com/policy/national-secu...-hostility
(The Hill)


--- Related:

*** 9-Mar-2019 South Korea's 3-layer missile defense system
http://gdxforum.com/forum/viewtopic.php?...574#p44574



*** 12-Mar-2019 World View: Is China's economic boycott of South Korea thawing?
http://gdxforum.com/forum/viewtopic.php?...501#p44501

[John J. Xenakis]

** 22-Mar-2019 Finland investigates data breach in Nokia-7 phones

josa0512 Wrote:> Here's evidence that supports your theory of Chinese electronics
> companies implanting backdoor espionage programming into their
> devices.

> https://www.zerohedge.com/news/2019-03-2...data-china

Thanks for posting this. If it's confirmed that this is a legtimate
case of data theft by China, it will be significant.

However, I can't figure out from the articles what's going on. It
says that Finland is investigating a data breach where Nokia-7 phones
are sending user data back to China, but it doesn't really explain
how. It might be a software bug, or it might be an illegal
"backdoor." It will be interesting to see what further investigation
reveals.

[John J. Xenakis]

** 22-Mar-2019 Italy joining China's Belt and Road Initiative (BRI)

• Xi Jinping and his wife, Peng Liyua, arrive in Italy
  on Thursday

Alarms are being raised in the US and other Western countries over a
visit to Italy on Thursday by China's president Xi Jinping, and an
agreement to a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) about a deal to make
Italy the first major democracy to join China’s Belt and Road
infrastructure initiative.

The MoU is not an agreement, but is just a compendium of reassuring
phrases like "friendship" and "mutual economic benefit." Full details
of the planned infrastructure project have not been released, but it
reportedly includes collaboration and investments in the northern
Italian ports of Genoa and Trieste as well as roads, railways,
airports and telecommunications.

Italy is desperate for money, so this seems like the perfect
solution. But concerns are being raised for two reasons.

First, China could set a debt trap and gain ownership of Italy's
ports. The Chinese already own Greece's port of Piraeus, which the
China shipping company Cosco acquired in 2016.

Second, any servers or networks installed by the Chinese are going to
be subject to Chinese law which requires Huawei and other Chinese
companies to cooperate with the military in stealing intelligence from
other countries, even when doing so would be illegal. Furthermore,
it's widely understood that Huawei has almost certainly installed
undetectable "backdoors" in all its devices, from smartphones to
routers, since it's very easy to do so, and China's military can use
those backdoors to steal data or control the devices from Beijing.
China has been subsidizing Huawei in order to gain international
market share, and any Huawei device or network with backdoors can be
shut down or controlled at a time of the Chinese military's choosing.

So if Italy's infrastructure deal with China included a 5G network,
then that network would be under the control of China's military, and
could affect the security of interconnected networks throughout Europe.


Article 7 of China's National Intelligence Law says:

Quote:> "All organizations and citizens shall, in accordance with the law,
> support, cooperate with, and collaborate in national intelligence
> work, and guard the secrecy of national intelligence work they are
> aware of. The state will protect individuals and organizations
> that support, cooperate with, and collaborate in national
> intelligence work."

It was revealed last year that, from January 2012 to January 2017,
China was continually hacking African Union servers in Addis Ababa
that Huawei had deployed. Every night, from midnight to 2 am for five
years, servers in Shanghai were hacking the African Union servers and
stealing data.

It went further -- after the data theft was discovered, a sweep for
bugs revealed microphones hidden in desks and walls.

The visit by Xi Jinping has split Italy's ruling coalition. The
far-right Deputy Prime Minister Matteo Salvini is opposed, while
coalition partner Luigi Di Maio is a supporter.

In 2012, eleven EU member states and five Balkan countries signed an
MoU with China on investment, transport, finance, science, education,
and culture. In 2018, Greece and Portugal signed similar MoUs, as
China had already made major investments in both countries.

But Italy is considered a far greater risk because Italy is a member
of the G7 group of countries, and because Italy’s economy is larger
than that of all the other EU countries combined that signed the MoU
with China. The potential impact on trade and investment to and from
China is, therefore, much more significant.


----- Sources:

-- China's new Silk Road gets bumpy as Xi visits Italy
https://www.channelnewsasia.com/news/bus...y-11368812
(AFP, 22-Mar-2019)

-- Italy-China Memorandum of understanding
https://www.corriere.it/economia/19_marz...2643.shtml
(Corriere.it, 19-Mar-2019)


-- China’s Xi visits Italy with infrastructure deal as prize
https://www.pressherald.com/2019/03/21/c...-as-prize/
(AP)

-- Italy’s Embrace of China’s Belt and Road Initiative Comes With
Risks and Opportunity
https://www.atlanticcouncil.org/blogs/ne...pportunity
(Atlantic Council, 20-Mar-2019)


-- The African Union headquarters hack and Australia’s 5G network
https://www.aspistrategist.org.au/the-af...g-network/
(ASPI, Australian Strategic Policy Institute, 13-Jul-2018)


-- Belt and Road Initiative / G7 / Italy’s Risky China Gamble
https://thediplomat.com/2019/03/italys-r...na-gamble/
(Diplomat, 14-Mar-2019)


-- Interview: Xi's upcoming visit to boost China-Italy cooperation
under BRI, says Italian PM
http://www.xinhuanet.com/english/2019-03...913695.htm
(Xinhua, 22-Mar-2019)

[John J. Xenakis]

** 22-Mar-2019 North Korea withdraws from liaison office with South Korea

North Korea has withdrawn its personnel from the inter-Korean joint
liaison office at the Kaesong Industrial Complex (KIC), a joint
manufacturing facility that was already closed. The office was set up
last year during the charm offensive so that officials from North and
South Korea could meet to discuss possible reunification.

The announcement comes weeks after the failed Hanoi summit, and a day
after the US imposed sanctions on two Chinese shipping companies
helping North Korea to evade sanctions.

The North said it will not care about whether South Korean officials
remain or withdraw from the office. If you're good at reading tea
leaves, then you can make of that as you want.

--- Sources:


-- North Korea withdraws staff from inter-Korean liaison office in
Kaesong: MOU No reason given for the move, vice unification
minister says
https://www.nknews.org/2019/03/north-kor...esong-mou/
(North Korea News)


-- N. Korea withdraws from inter-Korean liaison office
https://en.yna.co.kr/view/AEN20190322010...ction=news
(Yonhap, South Korea)

-- US imposes sanctions on Chinese companies for helping North Korea
https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2019/03/i...17493.html
(Al-Jazeera, 21-Mar-2019)

[John J. Xenakis]

** 22-Mar-2019 Trump cancels new North Korea sanctions

President Donald Trump startled everyone again this afternoon with a
new tweet:

Quote:> @realDonaldTrump It was announced today by the U.S. Treasury that
> additional large scale Sanctions would be added to those already
> existing Sanctions on North Korea. I have today ordered the
> withdrawal of those additional Sanctions! 1:22 PM - 22 Mar
> 2019

The BBC says that everyone in Washington was caught completely by
surprise.

Sarah Sanders explained it as follows: "President Trump likes Chairman
Kim and he doesn't think these sanctions will be necessary."


--- Sources:


-- Trump will remove new North Korea-related sanctions because he
'likes' Kim Jong Un
https://www.cnbc.com/2019/03/22/trump-sa...tions.html
(CNBC)

[John J. Xenakis]

** 24-Mar-2019 Mao Zedong's Great Leap Forward, 1958-60

As I continue working on my book on China and Japan, which
is now "very close" to completion, and will be done "soon, very
soon," I though it would be interesting to post this material
on Mao Zedong's Great Leap Forward, which is almost forgotten
in the West, but which is highly relevant to China today.

Mao Zedong was a very charismatic figure who apparently was able to
exert almost total control of the population in the 1950s. However,
Mao's time as leader cannot be described as anything short of a
disaster for China and its people. Xi Jinping can whine and moan
about unequal treaties, but no unequal treaties did any harm compared
to the massive destruction wrought by Mao's policies.

Millions of people died from execution even in the "good times" of
Mao's leadership, but no period was worse than the Great Leap Forward,
during which some 20 to 30 million people died of starvation in a
man-made famine.

It's really very hard to explain what happened in the Great Leap
Forward in any rational way, because the plan was insane, as was Mao
himself. Mao was crazed with determination to prove that Communism
work, and the "Great Leap Forward" was devised to leap China forward
ahead of the capitalist countries.

Mao's plan to implement "true" communism in China began in 1958 with
the Great Leap Forward. Here's a summary of how the program
worked:

• 500,000,000 peasants were taken out of their individual homes
  and put into communes, creating a massive human work force. The
  workers were organized along military lines of companies, battalions,
  and brigades. Each person's activities were rigidly supervised.
  
  
  
• The family unit was dismantled. Communes were completely
  segregated, with children, wives and husbands all living in separate
  barracks and working in separate battalions. Communal living was
  emphasized by eating, sleeping, and working in teams. Husbands and
  wives were allowed to be alone only at certain times of the month and
  only for brief periods. (This was also a birth control
  technique.)
  
  
  
• All workers took part in ideological training sessions, to provide
  for ideological training of the Chinese masses.

It's completely beyond me how anyone could ever believe that something
like this could ever work, and many people in the West during the 60s
and 70s idolized Mao and considered China to be a "people's paradise."
It shows how ideology can turn ordinary, educated people into complete
idiots. What this experience shows is what a fanatical and desperate
maniac Mao was to do something so disastrous.

Mao's stipulated purpose was to mobilize the entire population to
transform China into a socialist powerhouse -- producing both food and
industrial goods -- much faster than might otherwise be possible.
This would be both a national triumph and an ideological triumph,
proving to the world that socialism could triumph over capitalism.

First, Mao dismantled the Central Statistical Bureau, the organization
responsible for keeping track of all the economic activity going on in
the country. As a result, China's leadership had no real idea whether
the Great Leap Forward was meeting its objectives or not. This gives
the sense that Mao was playing the part of a desperate gambler who had
no idea what he was doing, but closed his eyes and rolled the dice.


Early in 1959, and again in July 1959, officials in Mao's government
had begun to see that the program was failing. Their objections were
rewarded with punishment. Mao was determined to follow his
ideological course, no matter what else happened. The result
was disaster.

The individual peasants and managers were required to report the size
of the crop harvests up the line to the central government, but there
was no way to guarantee that the reports were accurate.

On the one hand, there was no economic incentive for the farmers and
managers to provide accurate reports, since everyone in a socialist
society is paid the same ("according to his need").

On the other hand, there was no independent check of the crop harvest
estimates. If the population had been much smaller, then the central
government might have been able to send out enough bureaucrats to
check the reports, or at least do spot checks. But with over a
billion peasants, no such meaningful checks were possible.

For the farmers and managers themselves, there was plenty of
political incentive to overreport the crop harvest results.

As a result, even though actual crop yield in 1959 was a little
smaller than it had been in 1958, the crop reports added up to an
enormous increase in production, more than a doubling of output.

By the time that Chairman Mao was finally ready to accept the
situation, it was too late. There was too little food to feed
everyone, and tens of millions died of starvation.

*** Mao's justifications for the Great Leap Forward

Mao pursued the insane Great Leap Forward with the fervor of a
religious maniac, even dismantling the Central Statistical Bureau,
and then ignoring bad news reports for months (and probably
executing anyone who was responsible for the bad news reports).

We don't know all of Mao's justifications, except for the obvious one
to try to prove the superiority of Communism. But he could have tried
to prove the superiority of Communism in many other ways, without this
insane, disastrous plan.

So even though we can't be sure what justifications Mao gave for his
fanaticism, it's worthwhile to speculate on them, because it's pretty
clear that Xi Jinping and today's CCP leaders are equally fanatical,
and the same justifications are being used today.

Mao certainly would have been aware of the Boxer rebellion 68 years
earlier, which failed but had the goal of ejecting foreign traders.
Now, in the 1950s, China was still dependent on foreign trade.

Furthermore, China had to be saved by Woodrow Wilson and America after
the Versailles betrayal, following World War I.

Then China had to be saved by American-led forces to eject Japanese
conquerors in China during World War II.

So China was repeatedly dependent on other nations, especially Western
nations, for its own physical and economic survival. This must have
infuriated a fanatic like Mao, especially after he had committed mass
murder and atrocities during China's civil war, and would not hesitate
to do so again.

We can't discuss Mao's motivations without mentioning the racist
belief that Chinese were racially superior to any other race on the
planet. Mao of course would have been aware of Adolf Hitler's view
that German Aryans were the Master Race, and racially superior to any
other race on the planet.

But in comparing Hitler's racist views to the racist views of Chinese,
we have to mention that Hitler's Master Race view were not very old,
and were only part of the German culture for a few years or decades,
and so could be forgotten easily after the war. But China's racist
views go back three millennia -- to the Xia and Zhang dynasties, and
to Confucius and to Sun Tzu's Art of War. So Mao, like all Chinese,
was imbued with this Chinese Master Race philosophy, and with all the
various stuff that goes with it, like the Yellow Emperor and the
Mandate from Heaven.

Next, Mao had, of course, fresh memories of the atrocities committed
by the Japanese, and undoubtedly was planning China's revenge even at
that time. He may even have believed that he would lose the Mandate
from Heaven if he didn't quickly attack the Japanese and get revenge.

And so, putting all this together, Mao's fanaticism in pursuing the
Great Leap Forward was a desperate attempt to instantaneously create
a huge economic windfall that he could use to create a military and
attack Japan, and get revenge, and thereby keep the Mandate from
Heaven.

As I said, this is all somewhat speculative, but we do know that all
of these motivations are quite real, and remain real today, and we
also know that Mao pursued a desperate, disastrous and fanatical
policy in the Great Leap Forward, and so it's reasonable to connect
the dots between the two.

What's remarkable is that things have not changed a bit
today:

• Xi Jinping has amended China's constitution so that he's
  Dictator for Life, just like Mao.
  
  
  
• Xi Jinping is publishing the "Thoughts of Xi," just like
  the Little Red Book and the "Thoughts of Mao."
  
  
  
• Xi Jinping is pursuing a fanatical and maniacal policy in East
  Turkistan (Xinjiang province) by building huge concentration camps and
  crematoria and sending millions of Uighurs into them, for as minor a
  "crime" as growing a beard.
  
  
  
• Xi Jinping is pursuing racially violent policies against
  the Tibetans who, like the Uighurs, are considered barbarians
  and racially inferior to the Chinese Master Race -- black
  hair, brown eyes, yellow skin.
  
  
  
• Xi Jinping is pursuing a fanatical cult of personality,
  like Mao's, by violently crushing any religious beliefs,
  including Buddhism, Christianity, and Islam, that involve
  praying to some other god besides Xi himself.
  
  
  
• The vitriolic hatred of the Japanese, and desire for revenge
  for Japanese WW II atrocities are as strong as ever.
  
  
  
• Xi Jinping is preparing to succeed where Mao failed -- by
  getting revenge against the Japanese.

Many people believe that the Chinese want to take over the world -- to
gain "hegemonic dominance" over America and the West. But that's
delusional, and the Chinese know it. In fact, the Chinese may even
want people to believe that, as a smokescreen, just as everything else
the Chinese say is a smokescreen to mislead people.

Saying that the Chinese "want hegemonic dominance" is like saying that
someone "wants" to sleep with Beyoncé. We all want things in our
dreams, but we know that they're just dreams.

You can't look at the Chinese character in any obvious, rational
manner. First of all, "hegemonic dominance" is not in the Chinese
character, and not something they would even want. The Chinese can't
even govern themselves, let alone govern colonies. Even Korea, which
has been dominated by China for centuries, was never a colony, but
only a vassal.

There is only one motive driving the Chinese that will never disappear
-- a vitriolic all-consuming uncontrollable hatred for the Japanese
and an overwhelming and uncontrollable desire for revenge. That
all-consuming hatred will not be quenched until they've gotten that
revenge. Nothing else will matter, until the very last day of the
war, and I suspect that the Japanese know it as well as the Chinese
know it, even though they don't want to talk about it.

And Xi Jinping knows that unless he achieves that revenge, he will
lose the Mandate from Heaven, and he's willing to pursue any
fanatical, desperate policy to achieve it.

[John J. Xenakis]

** 25-Mar-2019 Ebola in eastern DRC surges, spreads to new large city

After several weeks of declining numbers of new cases, new Ebola cases
surged last week, as new cases are now being reported in another large
city in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). The number of
confirmed and probable cases has now passed 1,000 with over 620
deaths. This makes it the second-worst outbreak in history.

A case of Ebola has been found in Bunia, the second-largest city in
DRC, with a population of around one million. Ebola has already been
spreading in two other large cities, Butembo and Beni, each with about
one million people, as well as throughout rural areas in North Kivu
and Ituri provinces.

The disease is "not under control," but it still remains confined to
just the two DRC provinces, and particularly has not spread across the
porous border to Uganda, Rwanda or South Sudan.

The Ebola outbreak is occurring in the midst of an ethnic civil war.
Doctors without Borders (MSF) has been forced to suspend
its activities in some areas because of the violence, including
attacks by gunmen on Ebola treatment centers. The US State Dept.
has banned American federal employees from working in the region,
because of the violence.

The World Health Organization (WHO) is asking the international
community for more humanitarian aid for DRC and Ebola. However, DRC
is competing for humanitarian aid in a growing number of crises in
numerous other countries, including Yemen, Venezuela, Central African
Republic, Niger, Chad, Haiti, Ethiopia, Madagascar, and the
Philippines.

---- Sources:

-- WHO reaffirms commitment to Democratic Republic of the Congo as
Ebola outbreak nears 1000 cases amid increased violence
https://www.who.int/news-room/detail/23-...d-violence
(World Health Organization, WHO, 23-Mar-2019)



-- Bunia - Butembo - Beni / Ebola in DRC Spreads to Urban Areas Amid
Conflict
https://www.cfr.org/blog/ebola-drc-sprea...d-conflict
(Council on Foreign Relations, 21-Mar-2019)


-- Bunia / Ebola outbreak spreads to new city in conflict-hit Congo
https://www.dw.com/en/ebola-outbreak-spr...a-48002118
(Deutsche-Welle, 21-Mar-2019)


-- From Haiti to Madagascar: The world's forgotten crises / Haiti,
Ethiopia, Madagascar, DRC, Philippines
https://www.dw.com/en/from-haiti-to-mada...a-47591231
(Deutsche-Welle, 21-Feb-2019)

• The World's Forgotten Crises

[John J. Xenakis]

** 25-Mar-2019 The Generational Dynamics Diagonal Flow Diagram

Alosito79 Wrote:> This thread describes Hero Generations in the world. Not just in
> the US, but China, Russia, Britiain. They are many strong example
> of Hero Archetypes in many parts of rhe world. Describing their
> crisis’s abd if they folded well or badly. Any thoughts?

When the Regeneracy occurs to launch a generational crisis war,
all generations unite behind the leader. The "Hero generation"
is like America's "Greatest Generation" -- they're the generation
who are the right age to be soldiers who go off to war
without complaining, in order to save the country and
its way of life, which are facing an existential crisis.

Once the crisis war starts, all generations are the same, in that they
all put politics aside and unite behind the leader. The
differentiation between archetypes occurs again after the war ends.
The following diagram shows are all the generations are united during
the crisis, but within two generations (by the Awakening era), all
four generational archetypes can be identified.

• The Generational Dynamics Diagonal Flow Diagram

[John J. Xenakis]

** 31-Mar-2019 World View: Secret letter from Trump to Kim shows why Hanoi summit collapsed

It has emerged that on the morning of February 28, at the Hanoi summit
between Donald Trump and Kim Jong-un, Trump gave Kim a letter (two
versions, one in English, one in Korean) explicitly describing what
Trump meant by "final, fully verifiable, denuclearization."

The letter demanded the following of North Korea:

• "fully dismantling North Korea's nuclear infrastructure, chemical
  and biological warfare program and related dual-use capabilities; and
  ballistic missiles, launchers, and associated facilities."
  
  
• Transfer nuclear weapons and bomb fuel to the United States
  
  
• Provide a comprehensive declaration of its
  nuclear program
  
  
• Provide full access to U.S. and international inspectors;
  
  
• Halt all related activities and construction of any new facilities
  
  
• Eliminate all nuclear infrastructure
  
  
• transition all nuclear program scientists and technicians to
  commercial activities.

Kim and Trump had been exchanging what the media have been calling
"love letters," and Kim came to the Hanoi summit expecting to charm
Trump into agreeing to remove the sanctions without North Korea having
to take any serious steps to denuclearization, even the simple step of
providing a list of weapons and missiles sites.

Kim Jong-un was trying to defraud Trump in the same way that his
father Kim Jong-il had defrauded President Bush. In 2008, the North
demolished a 60-foot-tall cooling tower to prove that it was ending
its nuclear development programs. In reaction, the Bush
administration agreed to remove all sanctions. As soon as they were
removed, North Korea immediately and openly resumed its nuclear and
ballistic missile development. They had completely defrauded and
humiliated the United States and the world.

There was no way that Trump would ever allow himself to be
defrauded in the same way. Since Trump is the expert in
the "Art of the Deal," we can only speculate what his strategy
was in presenting that letter to Kim. Trump had gone along
with Kim's "charm initiative" for over a year, which was characterized
by ambiguities in the meaning of the term "denuclearization."
Through these ambiguities, Trump had allowed Kim to become
hopeful that he could defraud Trump. Trump must have decided
that, at the Hanoi summit, Kim was thoroughly emotionally
committed to believing he could default Trump, and that the
time was right to apply the ultimate pressure to Kim.

Perhaps this strategy of applying maximum pressure at exactly the
right time will work, and Kim will feel he has no choice but to take
some real denuclearization step. As I've written many time,
I don't expect that, and there is nothing that will convince
Kim to end the program of developing nuclear weapons and
intercontinental ballistic missiles.

Trump's strategy will not work, but as I've said in the past,
I'm not going to criticize Trump for taking steps to try
to prevent World War III, even if World War III is 100% certain.

--- Sources:

-- The day North Korea talks collapsed, Trump passed Kim a note
demanding he turn over his nukes
https://www.cnbc.com/2019/03/30/with-a-p...apons.html
(CNBC/Reuters)

[John J. Xenakis]

** 31-Mar-2019 World View: Ebola cases continue to sure in DRC

There were 15 new confirmed cases of Ebola in eastern Democratic
Republic of Congo (DRC) on Friday, following 14 new confirmed cases
on Thursday. The number of new cases is surging, two weeks after
health officials said that the outbreak was largely contained. At the
same time, five Ebola medical centers have been attacked since last
month, sometimes by armed assailants, forcing health workers to
suspend activities.

The new cases are all still in DRC. There have been no cases reported
across the porous borders into Uganda, Rwanda or South Sudan.

---- Sources:


-- DRC records 15 new Ebola cases in one day
https://www.africanews.com/2019/03/30/dr...n-one-day/
(Africa News/Reuters)

[John J. Xenakis]

** 31-Mar-2019 Communist ideology and the Great Leap Forward

Navigator Wrote:> Sorry to have not explained myself better. I am not blaming wars
> on religion, but rather I think that these super committed
> communists (or socialists, or national socialists) believe in
> their ideology as if it were a religion. I believe it is their
> misplaced blind faith in these systems that causes them to do
> things like put everyone on a collective farm and think its going
> to work out well. And then to start shooting people when it
> doesn't (because they are "sabotaging" what they feel should
> obviously be working).

> I certainly believe that Revenge plays a greater role in a war
> actually starting than some philosophy or even religion. That and
> ideas of ethnic superiority. Europe's history is one of two
> thousand years of moving homogeneous people together (an ethnicity
> into a nation) and securing some kind of defensible frontier. And
> then trying to expand those frontiers by attacking those who are
> "ethnically inferior".

John Wrote:> I'm not aware of any war or major policy launched by any country
> at any time in history simply because of religion or ideology. I
> know of plenty of wars and policies that were launched for other
> reasons, and the leaders then used religion or ideology as a
> justification.

> It doesn't even make sense to say so. Why would I launch a war
> against you just because you have a different religion or
> politics? What do I care what religion you have? But I might
> launch a war against you to get your land or because I hate you or
> want revenge, and then I would blame the war on religion or
> ideology or "religious fervor," since it's not "politically
> correct" to simply want to steal someone's land or get revenge,
> particularly for domestic consumption.

> China had been thoroughly brutalized by Japan, and had lost
> Taiwan. Mao and the Chinese were full of fury, and were not
> interested in some theoretical exercise. They did not put
> everyone on a collective farm as a social experiment. They were
> bloodthirsty, looking for revenge. Mao was looking for a quick
> solution to his desire for revenge and launched the Great Leap
> Forward out of total desperation, and used "Communist theory" as a
> justification for the media.

> Xi Jinping keeps talking about the China Dream, the "dream of
> realizing great national rejuvenation for over 170 years,"
> referring to China since the Opium Wars. China has abandoned
> Communist theory, and "Socialism with Chinese Characteristics"
> changes every decade. If you look at Chinese history since WW II,
> Communist ideology has not survived except as a media talking
> point. What has stayed the same is the "dream" of getting revenge
> against the West, and especially Japan.

> I would add that there's nothing in Marxist theory that calls for
> the genocide and ethnic cleansing of the Uighurs. That's pure
> racism.

I'm going to have to partially revise my answer to this message
to be in closer agreement with you.

I still believe that revenge was Mao's primary motivation for
the Great Leap Forward, but it seems that ideology played a
much larger role than I had assumed.

Here's what Mao wrote in 1939:

Quote:> "The socialist revolution aims at liberating the
> productive forces. The change-over from individual to socialist,
> collective ownership in agriculture and handicrafts and from
> capitalist to socialist ownership in private industry and commerce
> is bound to bring about a tremendous liberation of the productive
> forces. Thus the social conditions are being created for a
> tremendous expansion of industrial and agricultural
> production."

This stuff is so completely delusional, so completely out of touch
with reality that it's amazing that anyone could believe it, and yet
Mao not only believed it but killed tens of millions of Chinese in the
pursuit of those beliefs.

On April 15, 1958, Mao wrote "Introducing a Co-operative," saying the
following:

Quote:> "Apart from their other characteristics, the
> outstanding thing about China's 600 million people is that they
> are "poor and blank". This may seem a bad thing, but in reality it
> is a good thing. Poverty gives rise to the desire for change, the
> desire for action and the desire for revolution. On a blank sheet
> of paper free from any mark, the freshest and most beautiful
> characters can be written, the freshest and most beautiful
> pictures can be painted."

This is the cruelest part of Mao's delusion. China's people were flat
on their backs from the Sino-Japanese war and the civil war, and they
wanted to put their lives back together. Mao took advantage of these
poor, credulous people by inflicting on them one of the greatest
horrors of any nation in history, an even greater horror than the
Holocaust that the Nazis had just inflicted in the previous decade.

So obviously this insane ideology was a major driving force behind the
Great Leap Forward, but the desire for revenge must have also driven
him.


There's a comic aspect to all this. Mao completely destroyed any
credibility that communist ideology might have had. He had
tried pure Communism in the Great Leap Forward, but instead of
producing a Socialist Paradise, it killed tens of millions of
people and was a total disaster.

Mao's death in 1977 was a turning point for China. Mao had devastated
the country with the Great Leap Forward and the Great Cultural
Revolution, and the economy was in shambles. China was still as much
flat on its back as it had been after WW II, while "economic miracles"
had been occurring in Japan, Taiwan, South Korea and Hong Kong. They
were all turning into economic superpowers, while China was still a
backwater land of peasants that could barely feed itself. This was
thoroughly humiliating to China in every possible way.

So out of desperation, Deng Xiaoping introduced the 'Reform and
Opening Up' of China in 1978.

The Chinese people believe themselves the superior race, and everyone
else being barbarians and vassals. It was completely a violation of
Chinese culture to turn to the lessons of other nations, and apply
them to themselves. So it must have been an act of total desperation
when Deng Xiaoping demanded that China "open up" to other nations,
trying to catch up to Japan, which had opened up a century earlier.

The elements of Deng's reform including the de-collectivization of the
countryside, followed with industrial reforms aimed at decentralizing
government controls in the industrial sector and a much wider range of
personal rights and freedoms for average Chinese.

What's really laughable about this is that it was a complete
repudiation of Marxism, Socialism and Communism. China was no longer
a "socialist" country.

This, however, was a major public relations problem for the
government, which was still the Chinese Communist Party. This was
when various phrases started being used, like "socialist
modernization" and "socialism with Chinese characteristics." What
these phrases mean is "socialism with capitalism and free markets and
private property, but we're going to call it socialism anyway for
public relations purposes."

The phrase "Socialism with Chinese Characteristics" is used all the
time by Xi Jinping. Insofar as this phrase means anything at all,
it's the same as Hitler's "National Socialism." Basically, China is a
Fascist country, very close to launching a war against Japan.

[John J. Xenakis]

** 04-Apr-2019 World View: Breaking news on China-Japan Book



The moment has come.

During the last week, I've been pushing very hard to keep working
on my book. Yesterday, I finished writing one section, and looked
to see what I had to do next, and I discovered, amazingly, that
there was nothing left. The book was finished.

• 
  World View: War Between China and Japan
  Why America and the West must be prepared
  

Well, there are a few small sub-sections that need to be filled
in, and the whole book needs to be reviewed and edited, but
basically the book is finished.

The current draft can be read here:

http://generationaldynamics.com/pg/ww201....gx113.htm

If you want a .doc file, then copy the entire web page and
paste it into Microsoft Word. It's not beautiful, but it's
quite readable.

This book is monumental. It's the best book available today
for anyone who wants to understand China. Unfortunately, that
makes little difference, as it probably won't sell more than a
few dozen copies, like the Iran book. For me, it will just
be another dead end. That's the realistic assessment, based
on 15+ years of bitter experience.

I now have 2-3 weeks of work to do to resolve some formatting issues,
do a complete edit, and then get the book into Amazon. The changes
will be reflected online as I make them. There are about 103,000
words, and in printed form it will be 300+ pages.

If there's anyone willing to take a few hours and review the entire
book errors and typos, that would be greatly appreciated. If that's
too much, then just review one part of the book that interests you.

Thanks.

[John J. Xenakis]

** 04-Apr-2019 World View: Libya close to war, as Haftar's army moves west

• Map: Libya oil and gas infrastructure

After the fall of long-time dictator Muammar Gaddafi, Libya evolved
into a country with two governments.

In the West, including the capital city Tripoli, Prime Minister Fayez
al-Serraj leads the Government of National Accord (GNA),
internationally recognized by America, Europe and the United Nations.
In the east is Khalifa Haftar (Hiftar), a military strongman and
former Gaddafi ally, who is considered an international "renegade."

Haftar has been taking control of more and more of Libya, and some
reports say that Haftar's army controls 80% of Libya and, more
important, 80% of the oil production.

On Thursday, Haftar ordered his forces to move west and march on
Tripoli. It's not entirely clear what his intentions are, but it's
possible that Libya is on the brink of war between Haftar's forces and
the UN-recognized government of Fayez al-Serraj.


--- Sources:

-- Hafter / Hifter / Key OPEC oil producer Libya is on the brink of
war as general orders forces into Tripoli
https://www.cnbc.com/2019/04/04/libyan-f...o-war.html
(CNBC)

-- Libya: renegade leader Haftar orders forces to march to Tripoli
https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2019/04/c...17912.html
(Al-Jazeera)

-- UN chief urges restraint as Haftar forces draw closer to Libya's
Tripoli
https://www.france24.com/en/20190404-gut...i-fighting
(France24/Reuters)

--- Related:

** 14-Nov-18 World View -- Italy's Libya peace talk conference ends in drama but no resolution
** http://www.generationaldynamics.com/pg/x...tm#e181114


** 3-Sep-18 World View -- Libya declares state of emergency, closes Tripoli airport
** http://www.generationaldynamics.com/pg/x...tm#e180903

[John J. Xenakis]

** 04-Apr-2019 World View: MIT cuts ties with China's Huawei

The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) has severed ties with
Huawei Technologies and ZTE Corp. However, the reason given is not
security or espionage, but to avoid sanctions violations.

According to the announcement by Maria T. Zuber, Vice President for
Research:

Quote: "MIT faculty naturally and enthusiastically seek out
international projects and collaborators. Because these
relationships can present a distinctive set of risks and
questions, MIT has long had processes for identifying such issues
for any given project. Given the increase in quantity and scope of
global collaborations, in fall 2017 we launched an effort to
strengthen our internal process for evaluating and structuring
proposed international engagements. Most recently we have
determined that engagements with certain countries – currently
China, Russia and Saudi Arabia – merit additional faculty and
administrative review beyond the usual evaluations that all
international projects receive.

NOTE: At this time, based on this enhanced review, MIT is not
accepting new engagements or renewing existing ones with Huawei
and ZTE or their respective subsidiaries due to federal
investigations regarding violations of sanction restrictions. The
Institute will revisit collaborations with these entities as
circumstances dictate.

This story interests me because I used to be an MIT student, and
because my apartment building is next door to MIT.

--- Sources:

-- Elite U.S. school MIT cuts ties with Chinese tech firms Huawei, ZTE
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-h...SKCN1RG0FS
(Reuters)


-- Maria T. Zuber / Huawei / MIT / New review process for
'elevated-risk' international proposals
http://orgchart.mit.edu/node/27/letters_...-proposals
(MIT)

[John J. Xenakis]

** 07-Apr-2019 World View: US withdraws troops from Libya as fighting continues in Tripoli

Three days ago, I described how Libya is close to war:

*** 04-Apr-2019 World View: Libya close to war, as Haftar's army moves west

http://gdxforum.com/forum/viewtopic.php?...951#p44951

Since then, the army of Khalifa Haftar (Hiftar) has entered Tripoli
from three sides, and has been met with militias from Misrata who are
loyal to the existing Tripoli government. According to reports, 21
people have been killed, and 27 wounded.

Reports I've heard are mixed about how this is likely to turn out. Some
analysts say that Haftar will probably not succeed in Tripoli, and
his army will be driven back.

Another report claims that Haftar's intention is to become a dictator,
using Muammar Gaddafi as a model. Haftar was once a general
under Gaddafi.

Africom, the US Africa Command, has announced:

Quote:> "Due to increased unrest in Libya, a contingent of
> U.S. forces supporting U.S. Africa Command temporarily relocated
> from the country in response to security conditions on the ground.

> U.S. Africa Command’s mission in Libya involves military support
> to diplomatic missions, counter-terrorism activities, enhancing
> partnerships, and improving security across the region.

> U.S. Africa Command remains committed to a secure and stable
> Libya, which contributes to regional security. U.S. Africa Command
> is conducting prudent military planning while continuing to assess
> the security situation. The command is making the personnel
> adjustments in response to the evolving security
> situation. U.S. Africa Command will continue to monitor conditions
> on the ground in Libya, and assess the feasibility for renewed
> U.S. military presence, as appropriate.

> “The security realities on the ground in Libya are growing
> increasingly complex and unpredictable,” said U.S. Marine Corps
> Gen. Thomas Waldhauser, commander, U.S. Africa Command. “Even with
> an adjustment of the force, we will continue to remain agile in
> support of existing U.S. strategy.”"

Fighting is continuing. Calls by the United Nations for a
temporary truce were ignored.

---- Sources:

-- Libya crisis: Fighting near Tripoli leaves 21 dead
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-47844513
(BBC)

-- Declining security in Libya results in personnel relocation,
agility emphasis
http://www.africom.mil/media-room/pressr...y-emphasis
(Africom)

[John J. Xenakis]

** 07-Apr-2019 World View: Libya addendum

Some additional notes to the above story on Libya.

Egypt and the UAE are backing Hafter, while Italy, France, Britain and
the United States are backing the existing government.

There's a fear that if the chaos in Tripoli worsens, then there
will be a new flood of refugees crossing the Mediterranean
Sea to reach Europe.