MoA - U.S. Hegemony - At War With China's Global Security Initiative

February 24, 2023

U.S. Hegemony - At War With China's Global Security Initiative

Over the last week China released a flurry of papers and statements that are accusing the U.S. of hegemony while contrasting it with China's peace initiatives.

As 'western' media rarely communicate what the Chinese say I find it necessary to give the Chinese standpoint some extended space.

Larry Johnson sets the stage by musing about the deterioration of U.S. China relations:

When the United States chose to shoot down the Chinese balloon (Beijing insists it was a weather balloon, the U.S. claims it was a spy platform) without contacting the Chinese Government, the Chinese initially expressed their outrage by refusing to accept a phone call from U.S. Secretary of Defense Austin. Austin continues to ask for a telephone conversation between the defense ministers of the two countries to discuss the situation around the weather balloon, but Beijing refuses to do so.
The Chinese then vowed to retaliate, but did not initially spell out what those countermeasures would entail. Then, last Thursday, Beijing announced sanctions and fines against two key American defense companies due to their participation in arms sales to Taiwan: Lockheed Martin Corp. and a subsidiary of Raytheon Technologies Corp.

The Biden Administration had a choice — take steps to try to repair relations with China or double down on antagonizing Beijing. Joe Biden and his feckless team, who have a knack for doing the wrong thing, opted to poke the Chinese in the eye. This week, the U.S. Department of Defense and Department of State, claimed they had intelligence that China was preparing to give Russia military aid and warned China in the strongest terms not to do so.

Talk about hypocrisy. The United States is free to supply Ukraine with billions in weapons and equipment but declares itself the sole arbiter to decide who China can support with military aid. Beijing was not amused ...

The U.S. 'intelligence' claim came immediately after China's foreign policy big wig Wang Yi (Director of the Office of the Central Commission for Foreign Affairs) hinted in Munich that China would propose a peace plan for Ukraine:

On the Ukrainian issue, China believes that it is imperative to return to the Minsk II agreement, the starting point of this matter, as quickly as possible. The agreement is a binding instrument negotiated by the parties concerned and endorsed by the UN Security Council, and provides the only viable way out. State Councilor Wang noted that to his knowledge, Russia and the EU both support Minsk II, and in his recent telephone call with US Secretary of State Tony Blinken, the US side also expressed its support. In this context, shouldn’t the relevant parties sit down together for a thorough discussion to work out a roadmap and timetable for the implementation of the agreement? What all parties need to do now is to earnestly shoulder responsibilities and work for peace, instead of increasing tensions, stoking panic, or hyping up war.
As for the prospect of the issue, Wang Yi stressed that Ukraine should be a bridge for communication between the East and the West, not a frontier for confrontation between major powers. Regarding the security of Europe, all parties are free to raise their own concerns, and Russia’s reasonable security concerns should be respected and taken seriously. China hopes all parties will pursue dialogue and consultation to find a solution that is truly conducive to safeguarding the security of Europe.

China then took several actions to make its standpoint more clear.

On February 20 its foreign ministry released a paper about US Hegemony and Its Perils. It is full broadside against U.S. foreign policy behavior. Its chapter are:

Introduction

I. Political Hegemony—Throwing Its Weight Around

II. Military Hegemony—Wanton Use of Force

III. Economic Hegemony—Looting and Exploitation

IV. Technological Hegemony—Monopoly and Suppression

V. Cultural Hegemony—Spreading False Narratives

Conclusion

The introduction lays out the facts:

Since becoming the world's most powerful country after the two world wars and the Cold War, the United States has acted more boldly to interfere in the internal affairs of other countries, pursue, maintain and abuse hegemony, advance subversion and infiltration, and willfully wage wars, bringing harm to the international community.
The United States has developed a hegemonic playbook to stage "color revolutions," instigate regional disputes, and even directly launch wars under the guise of promoting democracy, freedom and human rights. Clinging to the Cold War mentality, the United States has ramped up bloc politics and stoked conflict and confrontation. It has overstretched the concept of national security, abused export controls and forced unilateral sanctions upon others. It has taken a selective approach to international law and rules, utilizing or discarding them as it sees fit, and has sought to impose rules that serve its own interests in the name of upholding a "rules-based international order."

This report, by presenting the relevant facts, seeks to expose the U.S. abuse of hegemony in the political, military, economic, financial, technological and cultural fields, and to draw greater international attention to the perils of the U.S. practices to world peace and stability and the well-being of all peoples.

I recommend to read the full paper to expandd your knowledge and amusement.

On February 21 China released a Global Security Initiative Concept Paper. It is a long paper and a bit muddled. But it talks of deep cooperation and processes designed to defuse several areas of global instability:

We are convinced that the historical trends of peace, development and win-win cooperation are unstoppable. Upholding world peace and security and promoting global development and prosperity should be the common pursuit of all countries. Chinese President Xi Jinping has proposed the Global Security Initiative (GSI), calling on countries to adapt to the profoundly changing international landscape in the spirit of solidarity, and address the complex and intertwined security challenges with a win-win mindset. The GSI aims to eliminate the root causes of international conflicts, improve global security governance, encourage joint international efforts to bring more stability and certainty to a volatile and changing era, and promote durable peace and development in the world.

The dual papers, exposing the brutality of U.S. foreign policy on one side and countering it with China's peace initiatives on the other, are China's offer to the rest of the world to build a multilateral coalition against the U.S. and its proxy 'allies'.

After leaving Munich Wang Yi traveled to Moscow to start a discussion about a peace proposal for the conflict in Ukraine. A potential visit by the Chinese president Xi Jinping to Moscow was announced. It will probably happen within the next two or three weeks.

The U.S. expressed concern about it:

The United States is concerned by greater alignment between China and Russia, the U.S. State Department said on Wednesday after Russian President Vladimir Putin hailed "new frontiers" in ties with Beijing and signalled China's Xi Jinping would visit his country.
...
U.S. State Department spokesperson Ned Price said Wang's visit to Russia on the eve of the war's one-year anniversary was further evidence of Beijing's alignment with Moscow.
"We are concerned because these two countries share a vision," Price told a press briefing. "It is a vision ... of an era in which big countries could bully small countries, borders could be redrawn by force, an era in which might could make right," he said.

"We have not yet seen the PRC provide Russia with lethal aid, but we don't believe they've taken it off the table either," Price added.

The former Indian ambassador MK Bhadrakumar thinks that the Chinese initiative put renewed Russian fireworks over Ukraine, originally set to go off today, into suspension:

Putin confirmed that Moscow is expecting a visit by the Chinese President Xi Jinping after the sessions of the highest deliberative and legislative bodies of China — the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference and the National People’s Congress — which will begin in Beijing on March 4 and 5. Conceivably, the launch of any large scale Russian offensive will remain in suspended animation until then.

Yesterday China's foreign ministry Spokesperson Wang Wenbin referred to the policy papers in his press confernece. Asked about Wang Yi's visit to Moscow he said that Russia is fully on board with China's initiative:

China and Russia advocate and practice true multilateralism, oppose all forms of unilateralism and bullying, firmly safeguard our respective sovereignty, security and development interests, actively explore development paths suited to our respective national conditions, and tap the cooperation potential in various fields. No matter how the international landscape may change, China will maintain a sound momentum in growing a new type of major-country relations with Russia. China is willing to work with Russia to maintain strategic resolve, deepen political trust, strengthen strategic coordination, expand practical cooperation, safeguard the legitimate interests of both countries and play both countries’ constructive role in promoting world peace and development.

When asked about the State Department Ned Price's response Wang Wenbin fired another salvo against the U.S.:

CCTV: The US is concerned because China and Russia share a vision, the Spokesperson for the US Department of State Ned Price said. What’s your comment?
Wang Wenbin: The China-Russia relationship is built on the basis of non-alignment, non-confrontation and non-targeting at any third party. It is a factor conducive to world peace and stability, which is no cause for concern. What is truly concerning is the destructive role the US has played to peace and stability in the world.

The US is the No.1 warmonger in the world. The US was not at war for only 16 years throughout its 240-plus years of history. The US accounted for about 80 percent of all post-WWII armed conflicts.

The US is also the No.1 violator of sovereignty and interferer in the internal affairs of other countries. According to reports, since the end of WWII, the US has sought to subvert more than 50 foreign governments, grossly interfered in elections in at least 30 countries and attempted assassination on over 50 foreign leaders.

The US is also the No.1 source of antagonism and bloc confrontation. The US-led NATO is responsible for wars on Afghanistan, Iraq and Syria that killed more than 900,000 and created 37 million refugees. It has also made the Eurasia continent a less stable place. The impact of US-initiated Quad and AUKUS on Asia-Pacific security and stability also calls for vigilance.

As long as US hegemonism and belligerence still exists, the rest of world will hardly get the peace it deserves.

The last question of the press conference allowed for another shot:

Reuters: The Wall Street Journal reported that the Biden administration may release intelligence that shows that China is considering whether to supply weapons to support Russia’s war in Ukraine. What’s China’s comment on this?
Wang Wenbin: ...

Speaking of releasing valuable intelligence, the US could release intelligence on the truth behind the Nord Stream blast. We hope the US will provide a serious and responsible response to the revelations as soon as possible, rather than being evasive about it.

Today the foreign ministry released China’s Position on the Political Settlement of the Ukraine Crisis. It has twelve points:

Respecting the sovereignty of all countries.

Abandoning the Cold War mentality.

Ceasing hostilities.

Resuming peace talks.

Resolving the humanitarian crisis.

Protecting civilians and prisoners of war (POWs).

Keeping nuclear power plants safe.

Reducing strategic risks.

Facilitating grain exports.

Stopping unilateral sanctions.

Keeping industrial and supply chains stable.

Promoting post-conflict reconstruction.

Point two is the essential one:

2. Abandoning the Cold War mentality. The security of a country should not be pursued at the expense of others. The security of a region should not be achieved by strengthening or expanding military blocs. The legitimate security interests and concerns of all countries must be taken seriously and addressed properly. There is no simple solution to a complex issue. All parties should, following the vision of common, comprehensive, cooperative and sustainable security and bearing in mind the long-term peace and stability of the world, help forge a balanced, effective and sustainable European security architecture. All parties should oppose the pursuit of one’s own security at the cost of others’ security, prevent bloc confrontation, and work together for peace and stability on the Eurasian Continent.

That point emphasizes the "equal and indivisible security" Putin had spoken of on February 23 2022. China is thereby fully supportive of Russia's core position.

Yesterday the United Nations General Assembly voted on a resolution that demands that Russia leave Ukraine. While the majority of countries voted in favor of the resolution those who voted against or abstained (including China, India, Pakistan, Iran, South Africa) represent nearly half of the global population.

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Posted by b on February 24, 2023 at 11:47 UTC | Permalink

Comments

Don’t always agree with Mr. Lira, but in this case I believe he was s framing things correctly. Much like in 2021 with Russia, China is (as directly as they will) is saying they know the West is coming for them so they are preparing for it.

Then only thing that remains to be seen at this point
Is when, not how. For the West this means more of the same - high inflation & cost, worsening currency value & standard of living.

Posted by: drsmith | Feb 24 2023 12:13 utc | 1

Yesterday, the United Nations General Assembly voted on a resolution that demands that Russia leave Ukraine.

Not much to leave then, since it is as likely that Russia leaves its own territories (i.e. the four oblasts and Crimea) as it is likely that the US leave annexed Hawaii.

Posted by: CM of Berlin | Feb 24 2023 12:25 utc | 2

The US is playing the game with different rules out of different interests.
Interests:
While EurAsia would benefit from peace, the US only benefits from war and hostility. Why?
They (the US) have indeed a rational - not moral - point as far as their geologic position on the planet is concerned. As a simple matter of fact, they are simply too far away from the economic and cultural centre of the World, which was, is and always will be EurAsia.
If they “let” EurAsia develop (meaning: energy from Russia and OPEC feeding technological potential of Europe and China) they will simply be left behind and lose their hegemony.
Hence, their strategic interest to prevent that from happening.
Rules:
Therefore, they will do everything – and everything means ANY THING – to prevent that from happen. They will manipulate, the will fight, they will let Europe starve and they will kill masses if necessary. They don’t care about moral and the don’t care that history will judge them with abundance harshness, as the Romans, the British and the Third Reich didn’t care about that.

Therefore, I disagree with Mearsheimer (who I intellectually admire) saying that only Russia is threatened existentially. USA felt threatened this way since the beginning of the 20th century.

Posted by: HansWurst | Feb 24 2023 12:28 utc | 3

The problem will be that the Chinese proposal presupposes that the "West" would also participate positively in something like "Minsk 2" and not just see it as a time-saving diversion.

NATO has never had a problem with oppression and war (against weak opponents), unfortunately it probably needs a clear reference to the "defeat on the battlefield" before it can think of notions like humanity, cooperation and peace as the primary pattern of action for its military.

Translated with www.DeepL.com/Translator (free version)

Posted by: theresamarquesa | Feb 24 2023 12:36 utc | 4

China certainly has the ability to supply purely defensive EW capability into Ukraine.

Blinding C4ISR would turn the battlespace clock back several decades.

Posted by: too scents | Feb 24 2023 12:44 utc | 5

Got one thing to say to China: Good luck with that peace proposal.

'Cuz you're gonna need it. It's in no one's interest to pursue it - not Russia's, not the Ukraine regime, and not the West.

Speaking of Western hegemony, William Schryver - Imetatronink - just released a new Substack on this topic, emphasizing the master-vassal relationship of the US to Ukraine :

The Ontological Incoherence of American Imperial Exceptionalism
Jingoism by any other name still smells the same
https://imetatronink.substack.com/p/the-ontological-incoherence-of-american

The Calculated Façade of American Exceptionalism

Of course, all of these expressions are variations on the more ancient western theme of “the white man’s burden”. And all are fundamentally jingoistic at their root. More meaningfully, all are illusory qualities of the empire, whose unbridled imperial avarice and moral hypocrisy have always been insuperable stumbling blocks to its holier-than-thou pretensions.

In any case, as it relates to imperial foreign policy, I adamantly assert that these ontological pretensions have never been more than a calculated façade. The imperial masters do not hold genuine aspirations to spread righteousness and prosperity around the world. As with all declining empires that preceded this one, the imperial elite aspire to dominion as an end per se. It is the self-satisfaction of unquestioned primacy that is the ultimate wellspring of all their actions – at least insofar as the apparatus of tribute and plunder remains adequately intact.

Therefore, in the context of a “collective security architecture” in Europe, it is not the alleged threat of despotic Russian expansionism that has motivated imperial actions, but rather the thought that the Europeans themselves would agree to a mutually satisfactory multilateral security arrangement, and then firmly request that the Americans finally take all their military toys and go home.

Concerningly, it has become increasingly evident that the empire would rather rule over the ashes and rubble of Europe than permit its constituent nations to reclaim their sovereignty on their own terms, and by their own volition.

Posted by: Richard Steven Hack | Feb 24 2023 12:51 utc | 6

Part II.

With my post (see No. 3) on this page I didn’t mean to defend US-Politics. As this page tries to deliver Information as neutral as b can (its hard to not be emotional on this subjects, I know), also the US-behaviour needs to be described as neutral as possible in order to understand what is happening and why the US behaves the way they behave.
There should be no doubt that they follow a pure destructive politics that harms humans all over the world (even their own citizens).
However, in order to change things, one must understand the situation.
In order to understand the situation, one must be able to think rationally.
In order to do that, one cannot stay emotional.
In order to master one’s emotions, one must work hard … (I will stop here ;)

In short: neutrality is the key to understanding and to inner and outer harmony (=peace).

However, I neither want to be misunderstood on this point. So, to be perfectly clear:
As all Martial Arts Masters know:
neutrality and fighting to defend yourself are not mutually exclusive
(and President Putin knows that)

Posted by: HansWurst | Feb 24 2023 12:54 utc | 7

Point #2 of the Chinese Proposals leapt out at me as well. It reads almost like it could have been a speech given by President Putin; as I was reading it I kept expecting to see the word ‘indivisible’.

Minsk II though, I fear that ship has sailed, if it hasn’t been holed below the waterline by Hollande and Merkel. Could China conceivably be a guarantor signatory to some kind of ’Minsk 2.1’? Seems unlikely.

Re: the UN vote: Pakistan’s abstention surprised me after the Hegemon had already changed regimes there.

Posted by: West of England Andy | Feb 24 2023 12:56 utc | 8

I think China is pursuing a constructive role by offering a somewhat clear path towards a more peaceful world. The problem is that the Empire is the Empire and wants to completely dominate the entire world. Only a dramatic change in the US ruling class can bring peace. We need to understand that there are no consequences for failure in Washington as long as the current factions within the National Security State control Washington and, since they appear to control the mainstream Narrative and, worse, only have to deal with a dispirited, anxious, and increasingly fatalistic citizenry there is and will not be any push-back on the fantastic and unlimited sums of money that has been and will continue to be allocated to war.

It's possible that some combination of finance oligarchs and foreign policy realists in Washington could moderate the drift towards escalation in this war but there are major structural problems in Washington that are unfavorable for this. First is that, at all levels, bellicosity within the National Security State (I include here the mainstream media which is simply another agency within this State) is always rewarded while, at the same time, any movement towards peace is always penalized. This is sort of a codicil to the saying those of us who have worked in Washington have, that is "no good deed goes unpunished." Thus both at senior and mid-level in the National Security State there is no career path for those who want to do "good" deeds. In addition to that there has been, since the 90s a dramatic growth in the most obvious forms of corruption. We can see this in dramatic ways: most obvious is that despite spending 11 times more than Russia on war the US is running out of ammo--the obvious question should be asked, i.e., where does all that money go? The media no longer is allowed to cover (now that it is part of government) corruption in the Pentagon whereas even twenty years ago you could find stories about corruption but that ended when the media was purged after the Iraq War of people like Hedges and Donahue just to name two of the most obvious instances.

The other problem is Europe. The ruling class and most of the populace want an authoritarian system like the Roman Empire to keep its power. While ruling elites throughout Europe are motivated to give up their sovereignty to Washington due to some combination of bribes and threats the fact is the people of Europe want some sort of more authoritarian order. Unlike the US, their elites have a track-record of producing benefits for the public and are trusted more than in the USA. I see no evidence that this will change or Europeans will offer any pressure towards peace. They have no agency because they want no agency.

Whatever change happens must come from US oligarchs and the National Security State that the oligarchs may not be able to control--we'll see what happens this year.

Posted by: Chris Cosmos | Feb 24 2023 13:05 utc | 9

Therefore, they will do everything – and everything means ANY THING – to prevent that from happen. They will manipulate, the will fight, they will let Europe starve and they will kill masses if necessary.
Posted by: HansWurst | Feb 24 2023 12:28 utc | 3

You forgot to “…and American, too” to the part ‘…they will let Europeans starve’. USA is hurting, too, much more than people realize. We just don’t here about it just we don’t hear about like we don’t hear the Chinese government’s position on many things. All the numbers the US officially published about inflation, joblessness, homelessness, crime…..anything you can think of bad are all horribly inaccurate and understated.

Posted by: drsmith | Feb 24 2023 13:06 utc | 10

"The United States is concerned by greater alignment between China and Russia, the U.S. State Department said....." well no shit! I wonder what caused that? Could it be the constant US warmongering???

Posted by: Dave Pollard | Feb 24 2023 13:20 utc | 11

as it is likely that the US leave annexed Hawaii.

Posted by: CM of Berlin | Feb 24 2023 12:25 utc | 2

or indeed -- Guantanamo. - sovereign Cuban territory blighted by US criminal activity

Posted by: Paul Greenwood | Feb 24 2023 13:23 utc | 12

If and when, if&when the Chinese Yi reported peace plan to war contemplating a comeback to the Minsk agreements is put into practice...
FIRST Putin will demand guarantees, including from Beijing of a solid Ukraine neutrality. Second if the boost for peace really takes momentum bad Vlad -or mad Vlad, depending your choice - can simply add one pre-condition:
----> Only if Russia builds up withing Donetsk oblast a big, complete Russian base... Yes, exactly the like of the one (Camp Bondsteel) the USA has built in Kossovo, just a few weeks after declaring
KOSSOVO's independence.
That is the Russian best not only precondition.

Posted by: augusto | Feb 24 2023 13:30 utc | 13

The SMO is a humanitarian mission, undertaken under Russia’s R2P on behalf of the Russian-ethnic Ukranians who wrre being ethnically cleansed by the Banderastani government installed in a coup d’etat by the USA.

Of course China should support the Russians.

BTW, Western governments telling us they are supporting Ukraine to defend freedom and democracy should be a telling indicator of where they themselves are taking “freedom” and “democracy” in their own countries.

Posted by: Cato the Uncensored | Feb 24 2023 13:30 utc | 14

The UN general assembly vote shows how many smaller countries outside NATO grouping are stuck with the US-dollar so much that are afraid to vote freely even for their own sake.

Posted by: maskazer | Feb 24 2023 13:33 utc | 15

A few months ago there was a washington wargame simulating a war over democratic china (taiwan). It depicted PRC all alnoe fighting against the US and it's allies. In reality an invasion of democratic china would also involve a parallel ground campaign in south korea by north korea and china, and the russian pacific fleet would also be involved.

Posted by: A200 | Feb 24 2023 13:33 utc | 16

These flurry of official statements from Peking‘s MFA represent a full break with Washington. B. Is correct that Barflies should read the original documents.

Washington and it’s vassals ( aka the 12%) are fully isolated by the 87%. Someone in Washington needs to start talking sense and banging war party heads.

Posted by: Exile | Feb 24 2023 13:41 utc | 17

theresamarquesa | Feb 24 2023 12:36 utc | 4

"The problem will be that the Chinese proposal presupposes that the "West" would also participate positively in something like "Minsk 2" and not just see it as a time-saving diversion."

Good observation. However, China harbors no illusions about US' treachery and depravity. That is proven beyond any doubt by the PRC Ministry of Foreign Affairs' recent report, US Hegemony and Its Perils, linked by b above, which documents US' long, sordid legacy of perfidy --- in painstaking, vivid detail. Its implicit presupposition of good faith, then, serves purely>/i> as a vital marker, a critical moral foundation for its clear-eyed peace proposal. That the Zionist-occupied USG will do its utmost to undermine that foundation is fully anticipated, and China-Russia is not about to play the frog's role negotiating with the US scorpion to cross the river. And Russia is clearly done playing Charlie Brown for the US Lucy.

Posted by: Doug Hillman | Feb 24 2023 13:51 utc | 18

Posted by: drsmith | Feb 24 2023 12:13 utc | 1
China knows "the West is coming for them"

If you mean the West to be the Taiwanese West.
There will be no storming of the beaches.

Posted by: Elmagnostic | Feb 24 2023 13:56 utc | 19

as always, the Chinese are Chinese, i.e. ambiguous and unreliable, the more Russia keeps them at a distance the more the Russians gain,
The Chinese look at the immensity and wealth of Russia as a cat looks at a large piece of lard.

Posted by: A.cagliostro | Feb 24 2023 13:59 utc | 20

Excellent! I feel like I'm watching a slow motion train wreck. Mt take away from China's proposal is they would be down wind from a radio-active Russia and cannot leave to somewhere safe like a radio active USA. They need this to stop before it is too late.
It will take generations to die and new ones born with critical thinking skills as a core asset for the American ship to change course. I'm not optimistic.
The USA, NATO, Merkel et'al have painted the west into a corner with it's treachery. No one in their right mind would find them capable of keeping any agreement so there will not be one offered.
These are supposedly bright people and they really are not. China's offer of Minsk ll is naive, they are talking to arrogantly insane people.

Posted by: David MC2 | Feb 24 2023 14:00 utc | 21

China is naive to think that any change in Washington can come about short of revolution and the political destruction of the American state and capitalist class.

China and Russia are models for the future because the bourgeoisie does not rule in those countries. In the US it does. And so, this is an existential, systemic conflict between antagonistic class forces and their associated geopolitics.

China's peace proposals look good to the world. China looks reasonable and responsible. All good. That is wise.

But Russia has to defeat the Ukrainian proxy army of NATO or there will be no security for anyone. China would then be in crosshairs of US imperialism.

It is imperative that "Ukraine" be defeated comprehensively.

Posted by: Ringo | Feb 24 2023 14:13 utc | 22

CNN
China is helping to prop up the Russian economy. Here’s how
1. Buying its energy
Western sanctions against Moscow include an embargo on oil sales and a price cap on its crude, denial of access to SWIFT — the international messaging system that enables bank transactions — and the freezing of central bank assets held overseas.
2. Replacing Western suppliers
Other than energy, Russia has also been spending billions on buying machinery, electronics, base metals, vehicles, ships and aircraft from China, as detailed in a US Congressional Research Service report from last May.
3. Providing an alternative to the US dollar
After some Russian banks were cut off from SWIFT, Moscow has been dropping the dollar for the Chinese yuan. Russian companies have been using more yuan to facilitate the increased trade with China. Russian banks have also conducted more transactions in yuan to protect them from sanction risks, according to Kireeva. . . .here

Posted by: Don Bacon | Feb 24 2023 14:17 utc | 23

The Chinese look at the immensity and wealth of Russia as a cat looks at a large piece of lard.
Posted by: A.cagliostro | Feb 24 2023 13:59 utc | 21

---

As a curative to ignorance of Chinese-Russian relations consider watching this "IN-DEPTH: Chinese-Russian History with Mark Sleboda & Carl Zha" ==> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hpNzv4zwzes

Posted by: too scents | Feb 24 2023 14:18 utc | 24

It seemed that the West(tm) was becoming dismayed with the direction of their hedgemoronic schemes.
Now they have come to terms with prospect of world war, everything is on-track again.
When in doubt, escalate.

Where are those carrier groups now?

Posted by: jared | Feb 24 2023 14:33 utc | 25

USA/West is ensuring Russia is busy in Ukraine (west of Eurasia) whilst they move over to engage China in the east. The real flare up between China and USA/NATO will likely happen in 2025 (as the USA General said) after the TSMC's microchip plants under construction in Arizona is commissioned and goes into full scale production mode. The Taiwanese flare up will ensure TSMC's plants in Taiwan are obliterated before China attempts to take control of the island.
Taiwan is probably getting ready to detonate a fissile material - that's the only guarantee it has if it harbors intention to become independent from China. This will force Japan to go nuclear, followed by South Korea.
China has been busy stealing and adopting USA's military technology that it is really surprised at the advancement of Russia's military industrial technologies that are presently on display in the Ukraine conflict. Russia is far ahead of both the West and China in military capabilities now that, if it prevails in Ukraine, it will dictate a new security architenture in Europe and dominate the Eurasian land mass. China is probably not prepared to accept this reality as it also harbors a lead role in Eurasia.
Russia will ultimately prevail over Ukraine which will lead to the demise of NATO and EU. We expect bifurcation of Europe between the core Euroland (France, Germany and others towards Eastern Europe) and the peripheral Europe (UK, Ireland, Portugal, Spain, Italy, and others). The latter will join a supranational North Atlantic alliance with USA and Canada (and possibly Mexico) whilst the former joins the Eurasian Economic Union. The vitality is shifting to the EurAsian land mass and it will become the new center of geopolitical power base. Interesting times ahead.

Posted by: Clement Waine | Feb 24 2023 14:34 utc | 26

us positions ukrastan and beyond:

the evil of local self determination does not matter, the donbas/crimea elections to join russia are as valid as the elections the us prevented for s. vietnam to join the north in 1954. us is taking position of north korea and north vietnam wrt ukraine forcibly conquering and ethnic cleansing russian territory. breaking up serbia for local self determination was okay bc it cowed moscow!

maidan style coups are the rule, no local input allowed.

hard to see how this will work since us supply lines are 5000 miles long and if they are filled are loaded with old stuff produced for profit not war.

chinese or prnk inputs to the smo will speed the realization of us decline.

Posted by: paddy | Feb 24 2023 14:42 utc | 27

China presents these peace proposals knowing full well the USA will ignore them or dispute them. They'll just confirm what Russia has said all along. The USA is non-agreememt capable. Every country in the world is watching this closely. Of course the west is trying to keep its population distracted as usual or just doesn't report it. China will help Russia militarily of course. They know the west needs to be stopped now or they're next. Proposing a peace initiative is a waste of time but they have to show the world they tried and AGAIN the west rejected it. The USA and collective west don't give a shit a out their populations. It's always been about world dominance and nothing else. The world is moving on. The west can get on board or be left behind. It's possible they'll destroy the planet trying to hang on to their diminishing power. You don't have to defeat them militarily. Keep weakening the US dollar and everything will collapse on its own. Let them scream and yell and have tantrums. It looks good one them. Thanks again b for all you do. This is a great place to get the truth on so many subjects.

Posted by: Watzov | Feb 24 2023 14:45 utc | 28

@ Chris Cosmos 9

They have no agency because they want no agency. ( Europeans ).

The right wing Conservative Party appointed on of its longest-standing Thatcherite 1979 M.P.s to manage a privatised electoral system which could counter-attack the very strong sense of positive agency and wish to object to reprehensible and immoral Government policy. At the clear behest of the US, a clear majority for Peace campaigner Jeremy Corbyn was deliberately destroyed . The sanctity of democracy , which was do hard won by the European Left, prevents any investigation into the US reversal of Voters wishes.

The truth is that Europeans have no agency because the US and its parasitic political succubi do not want us Europeans to have agency. They wany us to be slaves

Posted by: Giyane | Feb 24 2023 14:52 utc | 29

SCMP reports:

China aims to launch nearly 13,000 satellites to ‘suppress’ Elon Musk’s Starlink, researchers say

. The satellite constellation is likely to be launched quickly to prevent SpaceX from hogging ‘low-orbit resources’, according to PLA space scientists
. The project, code-named ‘GW’, would provide internet services and could be used to spy on rival networks and carry out anti-Starlink missions, paper says

...

Xu’s team said the GW satellite constellation was likely to be deployed quickly, “before the completion of Starlink”. This would “ensure that our country has a place in low orbit and prevent the Starlink constellation from excessively pre-empting low-orbit resources”, they wrote.

The Chinese satellites could also be placed in “orbits where the Starlink constellation has not yet reached”, the researchers said, adding that they would “gain opportunities and advantages at other orbital altitudes, and even suppress Starlink”.

The Chinese satellites could be equipped with an anti-Starlink payload to carry out various missions, such as conducting “close-range, long-term surveillance of Starlink satellites”, they said.

...

https://www.scmp.com/news/china/article/3211438/china-aims-launch-nearly-13000-satellites-suppress-elon-musks-starlink-researchers-say

Posted by: too scents | Feb 24 2023 14:56 utc | 30

"Today the foreign ministry released China’s Position on the Political Settlement of the Ukraine Crisis. It has twelve points:..."

May be by throwing out the 12 points Position, knowing fully well that the hegemonic US will ignore them because they are contrary to the US interests, China can cooperate with Russia freely.

More China/Russia fireworks to come, mind you.

Posted by: KitaySupporter | Feb 24 2023 15:01 utc | 31

Thanks b for the deep dive.

However, Russian media looks at the plan as including Zelensky's 10 point peace plan that was deemed unacceptable.

China will now be occupied with putting out fires. USA is sending more troops to Taiwan tasked with training Taiwanese for the invasion from mainland. Isn't that how it all starts?

World War 111 trumpets are polished and tuned up:

Russia warns US, NATO, and Ukraine over Transnistria
Moscow says it will respond to any “provocation” by Kiev against Russian peacekeepers in the Moldovan breakaway region

RT
Any action by Ukraine or the West that poses a threat to Russian peacekeepers or nationals in the Moldovan breakaway region of Transnistria will be seen as an attack on Russia, the country’s Foreign Ministry has stated. It warned Kiev and its Western backers against carrying out “provocations” there.

In a statement released on Friday, Russian diplomats cited data from the country’s Defense Ministry, according to which Ukraine has amassed considerable numbers of military personnel, as well as hardware and artillery on its border with Transnistria. In light of this, Moscow warned the “US, NATO member states and their Ukrainian underlings against any further adventurous steps.”

While Russia favors “political-diplomatic”n armed forces will react appropriately to any provocation by the Kiev regime,” the statement reads.[.]

Any actions posing a threat to their security will be viewed, according to international law, as an attack against the Russian Federation.[original emphasis]

In plain language as can be stated leaving no room whatsoever for misunderstandings.
Insanity abounds. It's becoming a gut feel and, I hope we will not be asking our bar manager to serve us one last round of drinks.

Posted by: Likklemore | Feb 24 2023 15:06 utc | 32

West of England [email protected]
I disagree. A federal Ukraine, in which the cultural and civil rights of all groups are respected and there is a delegation of government powers, relating to language and education, to the regions is a viable, obvious and well tested alternative to the Bandera vision of government. It is ,of course close to the systems designed by the Constitution makers in both the United States and, more importantly, Canada.
Add to that a prohibition on all foreign bases and troops in the country and a ban on militias and death squads in the service of political bosses and foreign powers and a new Minsk is very easy to envisage.

Paul Greenwood @13
My own thoughts entirely. It really is incredible that the basis of the lease of Guantanamo-the Platt Amendment, one of the worst ever examples of gunboat diplomacy and racist diplomacy- has not been repealed with deep apologies to the people of Cuba and the world in general.
The retention of Gibraltar and the Malvinas islands, the fruit of similar bullying, have at least a colour of justification in the nature of their demographies.
Those crowing about UN General Assembly votes against Russia are being very selective about the respect they give to UN votes.

Posted by: bevin | Feb 24 2023 15:07 utc | 33

Apologies for the typos . An incoming call interrupted me half way. I very strongly object to the suggestion that Europe doesn't want any agency against USUKIS Ciminals. We have an absolute traitor to any form of agency against USUKIS criminality in the form of succubus in chief Sucker Starmer. The only way I can express my disgust at his cavedwelling in the rectum of the zioNazi neocons is not to vote for him in the next election.

Those NeoNazi ZioCons have destroyed our only lever of agency absolutely against our rights and absolutely against our will.
But the occupiers of Shit City with Sucker Starmer are quite happy with their new home.

Posted by: Giyane | Feb 24 2023 15:08 utc | 34

Great piece, important topic; thanks.

There is one overall dynamic right now resembling a scale or see-saw. As one side rises another falls. The West is falling, the RoW is rising. So these proposals are also talking in two directions, ie to both sides, and have more to do with presenting an overall View than a plan of action. As others have remarked, Minsk has sailed. But the principles and View espoused in Minsk are still relevant reference points - at least in terms of principles still in play if nothing else.

The Yijing hexagram #20 can be translated as View. It depicts two lines at the top of four broken lines below, symbolizing a high tower upon whose parapets a King is surveying his territory and population. But whilst he surveys them, because of his prominent position, they also can view him. So the meaning is that of 'seeing and being seen.' That is what is going on here. And also note how this also involves the Russia-China axis taking the high ground (the two higher lines) with the West increasingly being seen as significantly lower. This is the essence of the tectonic geopolitical shifts we are now going through.

In a way, this might be Phase III of the operation as the entire world now uses the Ukraine situation as a way of re-viewing the world order both in terms of their roles in it and also that of the post-war hegemon whose negative habits are increasingly subject to scrutiny.

The current postures adopted by Russia and China project consistency, morality, sanity and humanity. By contrast, the West is increasingly being both seen and described as erratic, selfish, manic and inhumane. In this way the balance of power in world affairs is shifting on the perceptual level. The mind leads the body so this is all high-level diplomacy countering the unending manipulative media-assisted psy-ops on which the West has depended for far too long. It's a slow, patient approach which seems to be working. Of course we should all always be wary of overly simplistic 'good guys versus bad guys' scenarios since they are nearly always BS.

Meanwhile, the longer it continues in this way the weaker the West will become to the point that hopefully by the time she awakens to existential doom and starts thrashing around in her death throes, she will be unable to cause too much damage given how much her polities will have weakened both internally, externally, materially and spiritually.

The Great Game indeed...

Posted by: Scorpion | Feb 24 2023 15:09 utc | 35

Consequences of de-dollarization... Many finance pundits have pointed out that the return of excess foreign held dollars to their country of origin must be inflationary unless the Fed removes them from circulation. But they are doing just the opposite.

So why does the USD continue to strengthen against most currencies? Why is US inflation not higher?

Posted by: Opport Knocks | Feb 24 2023 15:15 utc | 36

Biden&Abrams for Ukraine:

Why video of burning Abrams, that's no way to raise sales. We need footage of burning Leopards to fill their place in EU armies with Abrams...

Smart :)

Posted by: Oberbayer | Feb 24 2023 15:17 utc | 37

[email protected]
The US will not find it easy to cobble together a majority of Taiwanese preferring war to peaceful development and re-unification. In fact the US plan is for Taiwan to revert to its role as a third rate colony of Japan.
The Ukrainian nationalist appeal was deeply racist and had considerable success despite the obviously bogus idea that there is any ethnic divide between Ukrainians the people of Russia. It owed its success to the economic attraction, for an impoverished people living in a country run by kleptocrats, of joining the EU and becoming 'white' europeans, members of the master race. And prosperous with it!
No such appeal can be made to the Taiwanese, who are quite content to be Chinese, are already on the road to prosperity and have no desire to become another Ukraine or Syria.
The Peoples Republic can counter US military initiatives- in a very weak strategic position- with peaceful cultural political campaigning wrapped in an attractive economic prospect.

Posted by: bevin | Feb 24 2023 15:17 utc | 38

The west is incapable of agreement,
Russia knows it, China knows it, America knows it.
How can any sane person trust America.
Someone defently trod on the west's foot this week here in UK the news and politicians are squealing like a stuck pig.
These bulletins from China are pivotal.
I would like to see more countrys grow a pair and step up to the plate aganst America and the UK.
India. South America, Middle East.

Posted by: Mark2 | Feb 24 2023 15:18 utc | 39

"as always, the Chinese are Chinese, i.e. ambiguous and unreliable, the more Russia keeps them at a distance the more the Russians gain,
The Chinese look at the immensity and wealth of Russia as a cat looks at a large piece of lard.

Posted by: A.cagliostro | Feb 24 2023 13:59 utc | 21"

Funny. I dont see Chinese politicians or media openly talking about dismembering Russia into various vassal states. I also dont see them openly making racist comments about all Russians.

At some point it comes a time to make a choice between 2 options. Russias choice is a nobrainer.

Posted by: Comandante | Feb 24 2023 15:21 utc | 40

So why does the USD continue to strengthen against most currencies? Why is US inflation not higher?
Posted by: Opport Knocks | Feb 24 2023 15:15 utc | 37

Look at the 141 supporters of the UN-Resolution-and your question has the right answer.

Posted by: Oberbayer | Feb 24 2023 15:21 utc | 41

"Conceivably, the launch of any large scale Russian offensive will remain in suspended animation until then."

I certainly hope this is not the case, although it is possible as the Russians would consider it a nod of respect to Xi, the kind of thing the Chinese would no doubt notice and appreciate, and strengthened Chinese support may become more and more important if this drags out or seriously escalates.

Unfortunately, because of the weather likely turning decidedly against offensives in mid-March, for at least a month, delaying through the first week of March would as a practical matter likely mean delaying until April or May, which gives the Nazis a lot of time for mischief. Of course, it's looking like Ukraine/NATO will try some stunt with Transnistria quite soon, which will likely force Russia's hand sooner and I suppose relieve them of any blame for mild disrespect to Xi.

Posted by: J Swift | Feb 24 2023 15:24 utc | 42

What we have in Europe now is the de-constructive alienation of the Chinese and Russian peoples being wrongfully exercised by an amorphous mass of people, natives and emigrants, living in a out-of-control non-UN so-called “European Union” backed and driven by the NATO warmonger US which is happy with the vastly increased military sales and expanded hegemony, never mind the displacements and casualties.

Posted by: Don Bacon | Feb 24 2023 15:24 utc | 43

So why does the USD continue to strengthen against most currencies? Why is US inflation not higher?

Posted by: Opport Knocks | Feb 24 2023 15:15 utc | 37

1) Interest Rate arbitrage
3 month Treasuries are paying 4.8% (annualized)
Yen and Euro are paying a relative pittance

2) The 87% have (currently) relatively little excess capital compared to NATOland+. That is changing PDQ.

Posted by: Exile | Feb 24 2023 15:24 utc | 44

reply to 38

Yes, absolutely. Amazing how Germany got suckered into this but they're just obseqious vassals anyway. The US is dragging its feet on planes and tanks for good reasons - avoiding bad optics. Germans should have said, 'we'll match you with tanks delivered on Ukr. soil".

Posted by: Eighthman | Feb 24 2023 15:25 utc | 45

Yesterday, the United Nations General Assembly voted on a resolution that demands that Russia leave Ukraine.

Posted by: CM of Berlin | Feb 24 2023 12:25 utc | 2

They can't even get the US to leave Syria, which they haven't even annexed officially.

Posted by: Vikichka | Feb 24 2023 15:25 utc | 46

Inserito da: troppo profumi | 24 febbraio 2023 14:18 utc | 25

Posted by: A.cagliostro | Feb 24 2023 15:27 utc | 47

between two litigants, usa/rf, the third enjoys.
China owns 30% of the most important US companies, is constantly hungry for raw materials, in fact buys energy at discounted prices but limits itself to supporting RF only formally and not always,
do you trust a snake? I do not.

Posted by: A.cagliostro | Feb 24 2023 15:27 utc | 48

First they sent all their hardened criminals and those they kidnapped and forced to fight. They are all dead or dying. Now they're sending their soft college students...

Posted by: noNazis_noCommunists | Feb 24 2023 15:30 utc | 49

current headlines--
Biden ignores the ‘Deplorables’ in East Palestine at his own risk. . .US gives Ukraine another $2 billion in military aid

Posted by: Don Bacon | Feb 24 2023 15:39 utc | 50

Army Times:
WASHINGTON — The U.S. Army is weighing how to get M1 Abrams tanks to Ukraine, but they may not even arrive until next year, the service’s secretary said Thursday.
U.S. President Joe Biden announced in January he would send 31 General Dynamics Land Systems-made tanks to Ukraine, reversing course after Germany cleared the way for Europe to send its own main battle tanks. . .here

Posted by: Don Bacon | Feb 24 2023 15:43 utc | 51

Posted by: Don Bacon | Feb 24 2023 15:43 utc | 52

Bottom line is, if China wants to wear big boy pants it'll have to beat America and re establish the greater east Asian prosperity sphere(ww2 Japan's big idea) under Chinese leadership.

It didn't work for Japan, and the US has a history of nuking east Asia so....well see if China decides to go back to counting their money and knuckles under or stands tall.

I'm dubious they have the martial spirit necessary to do so, frankly maybe it's for the best.

The US will eventually die and north America's power centers will go their separate ways. After all why do new Yorkers need to defend hawaii?

So China can use its legendary patience and carry on. It's not the worst idea, getting nuked is not very good.

Posted by: Neofeudalfuture | Feb 24 2023 15:46 utc | 53

In 2006, after Osama bin Laden(or someone using his name) publicly recommended that all Americans read William Blum's, Rogue State: A Guide to the World's Only Superpower, his(Blum's) speaking career pretty much tanked(though I guess book sales increased). So I'm thrilled to tears that no less than the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the People's Republic of China has issued a condensed, but similar, indictment.

The red, white, and blue bunting is all that's left.

Oh yeah, and the nukes.

Posted by: john | Feb 24 2023 15:54 utc | 54

So why does the USD continue to strengthen against most currencies? Why is US inflation not higher?

Posted by: Opport Knocks | Feb 24 2023 15:15 utc | 37

Because in relation to other currencies relying on the $USD, the $USD prevails as the currency of last resort.

Posted by: Cond Zero | Feb 24 2023 15:55 utc | 55

Why doesn't Russia bring a resolution to the GA to demand that the US leave Syria and quit stealing their oil?
How many countries would vote for that?

Why is China talking about Minsk? Donetsk and Lugansk are now part of Russia. Under Minsk they were part of Ukraine.

Surely Russia would not throw them under the bus, again.

Posted by: wagelaborer | Feb 24 2023 15:56 utc | 56

Jeremiah 50:24 speaks of a snare that Babylon finds itself in.

Today, the only country that can meet the Bible definition of the last day's Babylon is the USA.

Babylon USA is now in a snare. Part of that snare is the need for Babylon USA to protect its world wide hegemony.

If Russia is not taken down, the United States Dollar will quickly lose its status as the world reserve currency. This is the cause of snare that is now around the leg of Uncle Sam. And he can't get out.

Posted by: young | Feb 24 2023 15:57 utc | 57

I disagree. A federal Ukraine, in which the cultural and civil rights of all groups are respected and there is a delegation of government powers, relating to language and education, to the regions is a viable, obvious and well tested alternative to the Bandera vision of government. It is ,of course close to the systems designed by the Constitution makers in both the United States and, more importantly, Canada.
Add to that a prohibition on all foreign bases and troops in the country and a ban on militias and death squads in the service of political bosses and foreign powers and a new Minsk is very easy to envisage.

Posted by: bevin | Feb 24 2023 15:07 utc | 34

I probably should have elaborated on my point a bit more. I was surprised at the Chinese mention of Minsk II, I understood this to be referring to the actual document, rather than the principles, which you rightly point out are an admirable basis for agreement.

My concern was that Russia would view the Minsk II document as sullied beyond redemption by the subsequent revelations from France and Germany that it (the document) was a ruse; therefore Russia would be right to be suspicious of an attempt to resurrect it, as it currently stands, with its current signatories.

Anyway, as we all now know, that agreement was not acceptable to the Empire, and I believe they will pull out all the stops to try and sabotage any kind of agreement.

Posted by: West of England Andy | Feb 24 2023 15:58 utc | 58

The Collective Waste and its vassals being whipped to stay in line and totally ignoring that the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) exists!

It is fast approaching its 30th birthday and may only currently be half the worlds population but is about two thirds of the EurAsian land mass.

As soon as the MENA and many African states are emboldened enough to throw off the hegemonic chains of centuries of colonialism, inferiority born from that and the elites who are the House Slaves, voting in the UN and ripping off at home, whilst having jet set lives, then the majority of the humans and unanimity of the liveable land mass of the planet will be happy parties to this real brave new multipolar world.

We in the Collective Waste will have walled ourselves away as some self deluded superiors. Most of us will return to being the servile, under educated, poor for the few elites in their estates and mansions. Just like the good old days before emancipation. Mere toys of the rich. A Dickensian back to the future.

The SCO has been growing with many treaties and trading sub-blocks , many directly agreeing mutual energy, food , economic AND military security.

The statement by China is Dirty Harry cocking the magnum 45 and asking the despot hegemony - ‘do you feel lucky, punk?’

Well, do we? Do we think we can get away with it for another century? Is our self deluded ‘freedom’ so strong, that we have solved all our easy problems? Do we not see the wheels daily falling off our certitudes of the post WW2 Trente glorious? Our welfare , education and health sold off, our return to being mere ragged trousered philanthropists to ever more rent seekers in every part of our lives including water and air even.

Me? I am weekly divesting to cash from my remaining western funds and looking for newer emerging markets that will finally generate and keep their own wealth.

Posted by: DunGroanin | Feb 24 2023 16:01 utc | 59

I think that we are taking the Bush Clinton Party System as the US as a whole, they rule in the last decades, and bring under their population, they control the mass media, and the election authorities and are focused on control the world, after the Trump election they didn't make money, they haven't any war, dnd they are trying to make it faster.

Posted by: Carmen L | Feb 24 2023 16:04 utc | 60

Don Bacon | Feb 24 2023 14:17 utc | 24 "...prop up the Russian economy...

I want to add that China...

4. ...takes over sanctioned Western stakes, delivers technology
Prominent example is the Moskvich plant, abandomned by Renault, now operated by China's JAC and producing cars based on a Chinese platform.

P.S. JAC's majority shareholder is, by the way, Volkswagen. The bottom line is that VW circumvents sanctions (read in the linked article that even ABS systems were sanctioned) and delivers complete designs and know-how. VW's banks should do what my son's bank did with his Russian stock in May last year: Forced sale "at unknown price", announced to happen "within the next two weeks".

Posted by: OttoE | Feb 24 2023 16:06 utc | 61

b states at the last paragraph of this exealent post.
The majority members of the UN voted for demanding Russia leave Ukraine.
So let's unpack that statement!
What choice did they have ?
Would they be on the list of regeme chainge if they'd voted the other way.
Are they obligated to tow the US line for economic reasons.
We could go on.
So put simply were those free and fair votes ? No
Is the UN any more than a hollowed out curupt organisation whos sole purpose is to do as the US tells it.
We got so used to this the truth nearly just slipped by US again.

Posted by: Mark2 | Feb 24 2023 16:08 utc | 62

@ Scorpion 36

A weak Europe is what the US wants. I am outraged by certain comments by our current government in Britain that the rest of the world only gets €1 an hour so we should be grateful for our €10 an hour, as if that is enough to live on. I am outraged that USUKIS has brought Europe to war. I am outraged that public debate has been shut down and every little person in the street feels it his or her right or duty to vilify Russia gratuitously.

When they asked small children in Iraq who was causing the problems of market place and mosque explosions, they all replied America. The children here have electronic dummies so they neither think nor absorb reality from others. So the truth is now that the psyops we see in Ukraine is already here in Britain. And when a Scottish politician mentions the brainwashing, her voice is opposed.

Posted by: Giyane | Feb 24 2023 16:09 utc | 63

Interesting that it is postulated that the much heralded and as yet little seen Russian "Winter Offensive" has been postponed in order to ensure China has its day in the diplomatic spotlight. That makes sense to a point. However a bigger factor might be the weather over there is pretty crummy just now - snow, sleet, rain, freeze, thaw. Not at all suitable for big armoured movements.
https://www.timeanddate.com/weather/ukraine/kharkiv/ext

Now given this it would make sense for Russia to postpone anything big and risky. It would also make sense for them to be diplomatic towards China's "peace plan".

However the peace plan is anything but it seems to me. Looks like a few statements of broad principles rather than concreate proposals.

Predictably Z and the USA et al have spurned this offer - whatever it was meant to mean.

So China - having done its "best" to broker peace - can now forge its own path - either with the Russia and perhaps elsewhere.

The clever move by the USA might have been to welcome the initiative and start some meaningless talks, with the aim of compromising China's relationship with Russia and delaying Russian action. But NOOOOO. We get the spoilt teenage bully act, with the USA and hangers on throwing their weight around again in the playground.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6DkDGCI9fkc

I'm really glad the "adults are back in charge". It has been a real joy to watch the USA since 2021.

As someone who has historically been very pro-USA and Americans, it breaks my heart to see what little political capital they have left after the sand box wars, being so wantonly wasted in such a futile cause. But then again, Russia must be resisted here else they will conquer all of Europe with an Army that cannot seem to tie its own shoelaces. Or am I missing something?

Posted by: marcjf | Feb 24 2023 16:12 utc | 64

drsmith @ 10

In the precincts and preserves of the well-off middle class, professional-managerial class, most would claim that absolutely nothing has happened. Here in Evanston, Illinois most think it is still the 1960s and America reigns supreme and serene. The lawns are well tended.

Travel a few miles in any direction and the country is going to hell in a rush. There is no mental framework and certainly no information that helps the deplorables cope. Alex Jones and suchlike get an audience because there is nothing else. Back in the quiet suburban enclaves The Narrative reigns and no one notices how deeply they are wed to that thin facade.

Russia has been The Enemy my entire life. Even in the Clinton/Yeltsin 90s Russia never stopped being The Enemy. I can't even imagine how the populace will manage defeat. Of course there are still many who have never conceded defeat in Vietnam so maybe the result will be psychotic delusion on a grand scale.

Posted by: oldhippie | Feb 24 2023 16:14 utc | 65

Here we go - Eurovassal and US politicians and other bureaucrats and think tanks coming left, right and center all rejecting Chinese peace proposals outright.
"If there is no security for China, there can be no security for the world" as someone put it.

Posted by: unimperator | Feb 24 2023 16:22 utc | 66

I have a cast iron 1860 Imperial Gold Blocking Press in my front room and I also have a machine gold-blocked Qur'an.
I am in awe of the achievements of both technologies, Victorian and modern.

Compare an Abrams Tank, a gigantic steel hissing and shitting dinosaur to the Peace Formula for Ukraine set out by China, its clear where the future lies. The future is the adherence to already commonly agreed rules. How this simple template for humanity can be compared to a snake is mind-boggling. The rules are 70 years old

Posted by: Giyane | Feb 24 2023 16:27 utc | 67

Whither India now?

Posted by: Don Firineach | Feb 24 2023 16:35 utc | 68

If that UN vote had been anonomous i bet it would havee been a hell of a lot less than unanimous.
Perhaps perminante anonomous voting would help fix the UN.
Never going to happen.

Posted by: Mark2 | Feb 24 2023 16:37 utc | 69

NATO and the EU get their 'marching orders' from a source not mentioned much, if at all -- the Atlantic Council, Headquarters at 1030 15th Street, NW, 12th floor, Washington, D.C.

Here are some titles of reactions to current events from the AC 'experts.'--

Expert reactions on the new US sanctions:
>Brian O’Toole and Daniel Fried: New sanctions will damage Moscow’s financial networks and military tech—and send a message to other capitals

>Expert reactions on China’s peace proposal:
>Niva Yau: China’s continued support for Russia means losing Eurasia

>Expert reactions on Tuesday’s dueling speeches:
>Matthew Kroenig: The beginning of the end of legally binding US-Russia arms control
>Robert Soofer: Expect Russia to comply with New START after all—but arms control doesn’t mean security
>Brian Whitmore: Like a washed-up rock band, Putin plays the old hits . . .more info here

Posted by: Don Bacon | Feb 24 2023 16:38 utc | 70

@ Scorpion 36

A weak Europe is what the US wants.
Posted by: Giyane | Feb 24 2023 16:09 utc | 63

It appears from their actions that a weak America is what the US elites want too. We are back in classic class war mode, seemingly, in that there are upper classes who dwell in remote far-different-from-ordinary-reality-that-you-and-I-live-in zones who are the opposite of aristocrats ('rule by the best') and more like the opposite, rule by the worst.

Whoever or whatever is running America and creating havoc and murder in the world does not have the interest of the American people in mind. Furthermore, we see the same thing happening all over Europe - though never as crassly and blatantly as in the States, but that's stylistically par for the course. I therefore don't believe it accurate to keep projecting things like 'the US Empire' and suchlike because although they use the US as a power base, the elites running the show there have little to do with actual US citizens and their lives and indeed most of them no doubt have dual citizenships. In any case, the notion that America is a fully functional representative republic or 'democracy' is a huge psy-op in itself at this point and any Empire it has is generally without the knowledge or consent of its citizens (so what else is new?!).

The bottom line though is that as polities the Western nation states have lost their way. When the leadership and the citizenry are so disconnected, it is a symptom of how underlying life in that society is disconnected from reality, from sanity, from artfulness, from grace - and from God if you will. No good can come of it other than at some point some sort of collapse and a chance to rebuild from the ashes - with of course no guarantee that they will do a better job next time.

All major cultures have a checkered past with far too much 'blood on the walls' - Russia, China, Europe, Iran-Persia-Islam, India, the Americas. They each have had better and worse periods. The West is clearly in a bad period though only a minority right now seem to perceive it even though the number of Evanstons in existence is dwindling rapidly. Russia seems to be rebuilding after a truly horrendous twentieth century and succeeding in both charting a new 'modern' republican course whilst also returning to her many of her cultural and spiritual roots. China is returning to its norms after floundering a little since the mid 1700's (albeit they have a history of 500 year expansion periods followed by 250 year recessive periods so they are still within normal cyclical parameters) though of late far more materialistic than they used to be as is the entire world since the dramatic changes effected by the industrial revolution with all its stunning material successes.

I think the geopolitical principles Russia and China keep pushing are not philosophically earth-shattering but admirably sober, reasonable, appropriate and achievable. As such they are worthy of being pushed, moreover because of their inherent virtues, those who resist them will increasingly reveal themselves as being unvirtuous. This is already happening and it's a very good thing.

But it's going to take a very long time for the psy-op-bewildered western populations to wake up sufficiently to throw their elite bums out. That said, you can't just throw them out without first having something better to replace them with which involves long, slow cultural processes. There is no such thing in play right now. Right now we are still in moral and material decline....

Lost, we are lost!

Posted by: Scorpion | Feb 24 2023 16:40 utc | 71

@ Mark2 69

There's no such thing as an anonymous vote, especially in a US controlled institution.
The vote shows who is and who isn't blackmailed. Which in itself makes China and Russia's case for immediate and urgent change.

Posted by: Giyane | Feb 24 2023 16:45 utc | 72

The Minsk 2 document calling for Donbass autonomous zone was nothing radical. By one count, the world includes 121 autonomous regions in 40 countries. That includes five areas in Italy and five in Spain. This subject is well-covered by wikipedias.

Posted by: Don Bacon | Feb 24 2023 16:45 utc | 73

Many finance pundits have pointed out that the return of excess foreign held dollars to their country of origin must be inflationary unless the Fed removes them from circulation. But they are doing just the opposite.
So why does the USD continue to strengthen against most currencies? Why is US inflation not higher?

Posted by: Opport Knocks | Feb 24 2023 15:15 utc | 37

Good to see you Opport Knocks. Stay well.

Financial pundits describe the strengthening USD as the cleanest of the dirty fiats. And the guys and gals at Fed’s trading desk are hard at work; sweating. They show up for work with paint brushes every 3:30 PM for Perception Management - to paint the Stock Forex charts green.

Ok, why is US inflation not higher?
Easy, need only two fingers to tabulate.

The BLS (Bureau of Lying Stats) has that covered. BLS changed the method of tabulating inflation. It is: 1 + 5 = 0.
We don’t eat, drive, can’t afford to take a plane; we go without a roof over our heads because we sleep in the park or under a bridge for free until evicted; and we go without healthcare….

Get the real stats here: it’s 15%

go to shadowstats.com .. Menu ->Alternate Data -> Inflation
[NB: SGS web pages are under maintenance]

Last week, according to reports, Costco US was out of eggs, nationwide. Eggs, if available the average US$4.82/doz up from $1.93 in January 2022. Some places $7.00/doz - more expensive than hamburger minced beef.

Posted by: Likklemore | Feb 24 2023 16:47 utc | 74

https://dailycaller.com/2023/02/23/patel-how-to-end-ukraine-war-russia-settlement-united-states/

Another crack in the official narrative. Tack on the China proposal and at least there's some glacial progress.

Posted by: Eighthman | Feb 24 2023 16:51 utc | 75

Neofeudal @54

From the tenor of your statement it would appear that you consider China to be toothless. Big news for you, maybe, but China has nukes too and Guam, Okinawa, Philippines and Australia are within handy range. Their stealth submarines have already tacitly reminded the U$N to not get its highly vulnerable carriers to get in too close. Anyway, by semi-secret codicils Russia logically has their back.

So what's the sweat?

Posted by: aristodemos | Feb 24 2023 16:55 utc | 76

thanks b! fascinating! i hope it works out... china is stepping up!

Posted by: james | Feb 24 2023 16:57 utc | 77

In the precincts and preserves of the well-off middle class, professional-managerial class, most would claim that absolutely nothing has happened

Indeed OldHippie - the top 5%, maybe including the top 10%, live extraordinarily isolated lives in the US. They hardly see the middle classes, much less the lower classes.

Regarding Inflation - ShadowStats is THE Website for honest economic statistics

Posted by: Exile | Feb 24 2023 17:01 utc | 78

The National Interest Feb 20, 2023
Biden’s Kyiv Visit Shows He’s a War President
In visiting Kyiv on the eve of the anniversary of the Russian invasion, Biden is showing that America isn’t going AWOL. Instead, it’s staying on the field of fight.

Politico Jan 6, 2023
Money problems hit right-leaning foreign policy magazine
The National Interest is shutting down its print edition after running into severe financial problems.

Posted by: Don Bacon | Feb 24 2023 17:04 utc | 79

@ Scorpion 72

Thanks for your reply. I have found that Islam coincides exactly with my own personal conscience. It's also an invaluable guide to the faults of the Muslims, for instance in their habit of betrothing their offspring to their first cousins, which is a strange form of self- destructive and other-destructive tyranny.

Yes there is a deep reluctance to reform culture, but the instructions are clear, as with the international law to which China refers forests peace plan.

It's irrelevant that an individual country regards itself as exceptional from obeying these post-war international rules. The rules overrule the exceptions. In the case of Ukraine it is illegal for the US to sponsor or support Nazism. So that knocks them out in the first round.

Posted by: Giyane | Feb 24 2023 17:05 utc | 80

Re: the UN vote: Pakistan’s abstention surprised me after the Hegemon had already changed regimes there.
Posted by: West of England Andy | Feb 24 2023 12:56 utc | 8

On the opposite side, the Brazilian vote for the UN resolution is also somewhat surprising to me with Lula as the new president. Still, the small number of nays and abstentions represent the majority of the world population.

Posted by: Konrad | Feb 24 2023 17:05 utc | 81

Blinken today, in an interview, shows that he hasn't been keeping up. . .
"But fundamentally, what’s going on is this: After two World Wars, the world came together and started the United Nations. And the objective was to prevent another world war. And countries around the world agreed on some basic rules, some basic principles like one country just can’t attack its neighbor, it can’t try to seize its land by force, can’t try to erase it from the map, can’t bully it. That’s exactly what Russia is doing. So, its aggression against Ukraine isn’t just an aggression against the people of Ukraine; it’s an aggression against those very principles that are at the heart of maintaining peace and stability. So, if you let that go unchecked, Pandora’s box open, aggressors everywhere come out; we’re living in a world of conflict.". . .here

Posted by: Don Bacon | Feb 24 2023 17:11 utc | 82

Thanks b for roping together China's four Foreign Policy Propositions into one article. As they were made public, I wrote my critiques and analysis of them which generated short discourses here and at my VK. As I wrote yesterday, the Peace Plan was made to be rejected by the Outlaw US Empire, but the Empire wasn't the intended audience. All China's proposals are aimed at RoW as part of its new international role as Good Cop with Russia as the Bad Cop part of the tandem, while the Outlaw US Empire is clearly cast into its proper role as criminal/villain. I've stated why this is being done--to get RoW to gather together into a bloc adhering to the GSI and thus counterpose it with the Outlaw US Empire and its vassals bloc. Yes, I realize this perpetuates Cold War Bloc Geopolitics, but I don't see any other way of eventually ridding the world of the Empire's hegemony without first containing it then reducing those that provide succor, all without a major global military confrontation.

IMO, there's more similarity to the problems shared by Russia and China than many realize. Taiwan is part of China but is being used as a pawn to generate a conflict between China and the Outlaw US Empire, while Ukraine is an artificial entity that consists of Great Russian lands populated by ethnic Russians that the Empire has mostly occupied and has turned into an Anti-Russia to provoke the current conflict between the Empire and Russia using coopted Ukies and traditional Russophobes as cannon fodder--a strategy it's likely to employ with Taiwan. Sun Yat Sen's the father of both the KMT and CPC and in the 1911 revolution that both parties revere stated China's Rejuvenation must be the overall political goal, and that meant reunification of all its lands, most of which is now done. In his speech to the Federal Assembly, Putin hinted that Novorossiya would join with Donbas as an area that would need to be revitalized once peace is arrived at, and a border from which NATO's weapons must be pushed away from, which IMO means making what remains of Ukraine neutral. IMO, that's an essential component of Russia's Rejuvenation after the USSR's demise and the brutal rape of Russia and the former USSR conducted by the Outlaw US Empire from which Russia's still recovering.

Did China's proposals cause Russia to halt what many felt was a coming offensive? Only Russia's General Staff knows that answer. What we can see is Russia's creating a pocket within which are most of the Ukie combat formations that's becoming vulnerable to an envelopment that would liberate most of Donbas and fulfill the current political imperative that the shelling of Donbas cities be halted. The closing of that pocket to attain the political goal is the offensive move I expect to see.

Posted by: karlof1 | Feb 24 2023 17:16 utc | 83

The US will not find it easy[.]
@ Posted by: bevin | Feb 24 2023 15:17 utc | 39

Thanks for your reply.

Neocons do not do consequences.
The collective west, having sourced their manufacturing facilities to China, now depend on China for every day essentials and critical parts – from garlic, cheesecake, clothing, garbage bags, auto parts, light bulbs, pharmaceuticals, airplane parts, tools, engines. etc.

US Neocons and underlings have declared China Enemy No: 1. China has taken note and are unloading USTs and are de-dollarizing.

We should prepare ourselves. Without firing one shot, all China needs to say:
“With immediate effect, all exports of manufactured goods, rare minerals, unrefined or refined ore destined to the unfriendlies are prohibited. The prohibition includes transit through third parties."

Btw, considering Taiwan is a province, the island will be under blockade. The one China policy, eh! bwaaaaah.

Posted by: Likklemore | Feb 24 2023 17:17 utc | 84

The UN General Assembly vote doesn't mean diddly.
from UN Watch:
In 2022 there were 28 UNGA Resolutions, 15 of them on Israel. From 2015 through 2022, including the above, the UN General Assembly has adopted 140 resolutions on Israel and 68 on other countries. The UN Watch Database also documents that from 2006 through 2022, the UN Human Rights Council has adopted 99 resolutions against Israel, 41 against Syria, 13 against Iran, 4 against Russia, and 3 against Venezuela. . .here . .and none on the US, of course, in a dollar world, who's going to be real.

Posted by: Don Bacon | Feb 24 2023 17:24 utc | 85

Posted by: Don Bacon | Feb 24 2023 17:11 utc | 83Blinken today, in an interview, shows that he hasn't been keeping up. .
"...... And countries around the world agreed on some basic rules, some basic principles like one country just can’t attack its neighbor, it can’t try to seize its land by force, .....". .

.. not attack its neighbors, but countries far away .... like Cuba, Vietnam, Afganistan, Libya, Syria, Irak,...

Posted by: Konrad | Feb 24 2023 17:26 utc | 86

@ Konrad | Feb 24 2023 17:26 utc | 87
Right, Blinken is suggesting one rule for neighbors and another for non-neighbors, a distinction without a difference. That's a 'no-sale' to everyone. Lyin' Blinken should do better than that, but he can't, so he's good for chuckles is about it, from the US chief diplomat.

Posted by: Don Bacon | Feb 24 2023 17:33 utc | 87

Global Times informs us that "Distrust grows toward Washington amid revelation of US’ ‘destruction of Taiwan’ plan", which is a plan I hadn't heard termed in that manner before:

Along with reports of enhanced interactions between the US and the island of Taiwan, the US was also reported to have been considering plans to destroy the island in the event of a military conflict between the island and the Chinese mainland. Related reports have seriously damaged the belief that the US can "defend the island," and demonstrated that the US is just using it as a pawn.
US radio talk show host Garland Nixon last week wrote on Twitter that White House insiders said that US President Joe Biden had warned about the "destruction of Taiwan," when asked if there could be any greater disaster than the Ukraine crisis.

When asked for comments on the so-called "destruction of Taiwan" plan at a press conference on Friday, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin said, "I also want to know what the 'destruction of Taiwan' plan is. The US should give a definitive explanation."

He noted that Taiwan is China's Taiwan and China will firmly safeguard its national sovereignty and territorial integrity.

Similar plans have been revealed before. In late 2022, Taiwan authorities said that they had rejected a proposal to destroy its flagship semiconductor industry in the event of a military conflict with the mainland.

Part of the recent surge in KMT's popularity and the decline of the DDP's is related to this issue's circulation in Taiwan. This additional excerpt adds more:

The US has made the Taiwan question, which is entirely China's internal affair, a strategic point for its competition with China. However, it has no confidence in defeating China and is making multiple plans to impede China's reunification, Zhu Songling, a professor at the Institute of Taiwan Studies of Beijing Union University, told the Global Times.
This revelation of so-called "destruction of Taiwan" plan has sparked heated discussions on the island, with the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) on Wednesday labeling related reports as "false."

The plan and previous US media reports on "blowing up the TSMC" have frustrated Taiwan secessionists and some pro-US politicians, said Zhu.

What the US has done to other countries and regions, especially those it called "allies" in the past decades, clearly shows how fragile US promises and commitments are. The US' continuous fanning of flames in the Russia-Ukraine conflict has also turned away more people on the island of Taiwan, analysts said.

Taiwanese would prefer to unify with the mainland over becoming destroyed like Ukraine. So, we should also see China's four moves as also targeting Taiwanese. Many dollars will flow to DPP in an attempt to keep it in power when elections are held, but it now seems Taiwanese are wising up to their being used as pawns.

Posted by: karlof1 | Feb 24 2023 17:45 utc | 88

@ karlof1 | Feb 24 2023 17:16 utc | 84
. . .more similarity to the problems shared by Russia and China than many realize. Taiwan is part of China but is being used as a pawn to generate a conflict between China and the Outlaw US Empire

It's up to China of course, but Taiwan might be a no-contest for China given that Taiwan is an island, able to be isolated, and there are a multitude of ways that China could enter the "gray zone,' including digital attacks, rather than partake in a military attack. For one reason, the stormy Taiwan Strait is not amenable to amphibious boat use most of the year. Currently China is trying to work the political angles via the Taiwan KMT, and Chinese people are patient people.

Posted by: Don Bacon | Feb 24 2023 17:48 utc | 89

Related given China and Russia are seen as the enemies:

Yesterday it was Gaetz (R-FL) tabling a Resolution under the War Powers Act 1973 to curb Biden's hand in promoting war - "Get out of Syria to avoid an accident with Russia."

Fellow colleague, Paul Gosar joins him. And he is very blunt in fingering:

Biden team has ‘deeply rooted hatred for Russia’ – US congressman
Senior State Department officials Victoria Nuland and Antony Blinken are “dangerous fools,” Paul Gosar declared.

RT: Senior officials at the US State Department are attempting to get the country “involved in another world war” with Russia, Arizona Congressman Paul Gosar tweeted on Friday. Gosar, Twitter CEO Elon Musk, and former president Donald Trump, have all named Victoria Nuland as the most dangerous among this group in recent days.[.]

“Both Nuland and Blinken have a deeply rooted irrational hatred of Russia, and they seek to get the US involved in another world war,” he continued. “These are dangerous fools who can get us all killed.”[.]

In a follow-up tweet, Gosar wrote that “as a non-soldier, Nuland is quite willing to endorse violence and war.” The Republican lawmaker then quoted the article, which stated that Nuland had “endorsed regime change in Russia, celebrated the US’ destruction of the Nord Stream pipelines, and called for the indefinite flow of arms into Ukraine.”[.]

Is there a boulder large enough under which Nuland may seek refuge?

Posted by: Likklemore | Feb 24 2023 17:51 utc | 90

I don't follow all the details, but I think that Russia is not officially at war with Ukraine, but is just implementing the SMO, which refers to the provinces that were in conflict with the central government in Kiev. The objectives of the SMO should be achieved indirectly by the armed conflict itself in the limited territory where the conflicts are currently being fought. The initial campaign towards Kiev was not even intended for the conquest of Kiev. Russia may not conduct war operations outside the theater of war of provinces attached to Russia. Russian missile excursions in Ukraine are directly related to the Ukrainian logistics of the current theater of war. Transnistria does not belong to the problem of associated provinces, and I think that the activation of the conflict in Transnistria is a bait that would lead to the transformation of the SMO into a declaration of war against Ukraine. Only then (by declaring war) could Russia attack Odessa and close Ukraine's access to the Black Sea. Declaring war on Kiev would change the status of NATO aid to Ukraine to that of a participant in the war. To access Transnistria, the Russians would have to "turn off" GPS, Glonass and switch to inertial navigation for their war machines. Just my layman's thinking..

Posted by: Sanjin | Feb 24 2023 17:55 utc | 91

@ Don Bacon | Feb 24 2023 17:24 utc | 86

---

Imagine a nation existing for the purpose of spoiling diplomacy.

Posted by: too scents | Feb 24 2023 17:57 utc | 92

Don Bacon @90--

Thanks for your reply. As the GT item I posted shows, Taiwan is far from completely in the Empire's pocket like Ukraine was after 2014. Today's GT editorial shows the vast chasm between China's and the Empire's thinking:

There is an old Chinese saying: Sickness comes like a landslide, sickness goes like a thread being drawn. It is important to emphasize that we should not expect anyone to come up with a magic solution that will immediately solve the Ukraine crisis. No person, country, or international organization can achieve this. As stated in the position paper, complex problems do not have simple solutions. However, no matter how complex the problem is, we should not give up on dialogue and negotiation; no matter how sharp the dispute is, we should persist in seeking a political solution; and no matter how difficult the situation is, we should give peace a chance. The position paper released by China reflects the efforts to resolve disputes through dialogue and negotiation and build a regional security structure to achieve peace. This is not only possible but also feasible.
Of course, people also see that some in the US and the West do not seem to want the conflicting parties to return to the negotiating table, but are trying to further muddy the waters and pursue their own interests. Just before the first anniversary of the Russia-Ukraine conflict, the so-called "China responsibility" theory has emerged in various guises. For example, the US and NATO, which were the initiators of the conflict, have repeatedly and groundlessly claimed that China "may provide weapons to Russia" in order to pressure China. However, it is clear to everyone which side is constantly delivering heavy weapons to the battlefield, and there are even tragic incidents such as the Nord Stream pipeline being bombed to prevent both sides from returning to the negotiating table.

Currently, the US and the West are questioning and attacking China's friendly relations with Russia on the one hand, while on the other, they are asking China to use this relationship to play the role they expect in the Ukraine crisis. This is contradictory. Now that China has released its position paper, they cannot find a point of attack, so they start nitpicking and changing the topic. In the eyes of the US and the West, any solution that does not put pressure on Russia is not a good one. When they exert extreme pressure on Russia, normal contacts between other countries and Russia appear glaringly obvious. In fact, they cannot tolerate a neutral stance. In contrast, Russia and Ukraine, as the parties concerned, have a generally positive attitude toward China's position. This is very thought-provoking. [My Emphasis]

The contrast between today's editorial and yesterday's is quite clear, IMO. China's Good Cop role is becoming quite clear as it easily parries the West's verbal attacks.

Posted by: karlof1 | Feb 24 2023 18:04 utc | 93

The stupidity of this current US administration is beyond belief.

I guess Ol'Joe is still bragging about taking care of the bully Corn Pop, back in the day.

Posted by: BroncoBilly | Feb 24 2023 18:06 utc | 94

Is there a boulder large enough under which Nuland may seek refuge? Posted by: Likklemore | Feb 24 2023 17:51 utc | 91

Perhaps not Boulder, but no doubt she along with the rest of the Biden regime has a spot reserved at Cheyenne Mountain ;-)

But since she is past breeding age, they might use her as a source of protein.

https://youtu.be/Y8icpnrLqx0

Posted by: Opport Knocks | Feb 24 2023 18:09 utc | 95

@Ringo #23

"China and Russia are models for the future because the bourgeoisie does not rule in those countries. In the US it does. And so, this is an existential, systemic conflict between antagonistic class forces and their associated geopolitics."

I would have differ with you, here. Neither are models for states of the future and both have an active (exploitative) bourgeoise class. The model for the future, until communism is achieved, is socialism, still. That's why I find it difficult to be cheering for Putin. I don't like seeing working class young men from Ukraine fighting working class young men from Russia. Despite the view of many here, I hold little or no hope in some magical enlightenment of the ruling class of the US. Yes, there's a crisis in the US but the crisis is a lack of working class consciousness. Any real change that comes will come from us, not the bourgeoisie. The Soviet Union is no more, but that does not prove that communism is dead. As an ideology that was born with capitalist preconditions, it makes no sense unless capitalism were dead. As long as there are workers who are exploited, that is as long as there is capitalism, there will be communism. The Soviets may have failed socialism, but there is plenty of economic evidence that socialism did not fail the Soviets. The war in Ukraine is a capitalist war over markets. The Donbass is rich in raw materials. The US eyes it and the Crimea as a military base. The Banderite fascists are a sideshow. The real prize is redivision of Europe and Asia.

Posted by: zeke2u | Feb 24 2023 18:11 utc | 96

@ karlof1 | Feb 24 2023 18:04 utc | 94 who sees what China is doing in relation to Russia as the Good Cop/Bad Cop duo

I agree and have written as much myself. I also agree that much of what China is doing is focused on the RoW as you write. The UN vote just shows how much clout that empire still has over the small countries in our world.

But the winds of change are blowing strong these days.....the shit show continues until it doesn't

Posted by: psychohistorian | Feb 24 2023 18:15 utc | 97

Directly related to this post.

Yesterday, Nuland went begging. Today it's Blinken's turn and he is attempting to get ahead of China while giving a spanking. In essence China's peace plan is unacceptable because they are friends with Russia. U.S. will dictate the peace process:

US Ready to Engage in Negotiations on Ukraine But 'Nature of Peace' Matters Most: Blinken

UNITED NATIONS (Sputnik) - The United States is ready to engage in diplomatic efforts to end the conflict in Ukraine but what matters is the nature of peace that would ensue, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said on Friday.

"The United States has long made it clear even before this war that we’re prepared to engage in any meaningful diplomatic effort to stop Russia’s aggression against Ukraine. But history teaches us that it’s the nature of peace that matters," Blinken told the UN Security Council.

Any peace that legitimizes Russia’s "aggression" will weaken the United Nations Charter, Blinken added.

Blinken also said that the UNSC should reject calls for peace in Ukraine from countries that support Russia's military operation. (emphasis here)

Earlier in the day, China released a 12-point document titled "China’s Position on the Political Settlement of the Ukraine Crisis," promoting, among other things, respect of the sovereignty of all countries, the cessation of hostilities and the resumption of peace talks between Moscow and Kiev.[.]

German Federal Government Deputy Spokesman Wolfgang Buechner in turn said that China's initiative on the peaceful resolution of the conflict in Ukraine contains valuable suggestions and should be discussed between Beijing and Kiev directly.

"It is good that Beijing comes up with its own ideas. The plan contains a number of important points, such as a clear rejection of the use of nuclear weapons. At the same time, it lacks important elements, from our point of view," Buechner told a briefing.[.]

Indeed. Quoting Congressman Paul Gosar, " Blinken is a dangerous fool." Add: a certified lying dangerous fool.

The collective west is defeated in UKR and now seeking negotiations on their terms !!!!. The 3-strikes you are out rule.

1. Lest we forget, Minsk was a ruse and the guarantors knew and stayed silent.
2. US-led NATO stole $300 billion of RF's foreign reserves and continue with sanctions with more announced today.
3. US blew up NordStream and left citizens to freeze. Germany remains silent.

Btw, 49% of NordStream is owned by France, Italy and Germany.

What is there to negotiate when there is no credibility? I recall it was the U.S. government policy that proffered: "we do not negotiate with terrorists, we bomb them."

Posted by: Likklemore | Feb 24 2023 18:24 utc | 98

the world came together and started the United Nations
Posted by: Don Bacon | Feb 24 2023 17:11 utc | 83

No. "The world" didn't descend on San Francisco, USA in 1945. The founding members did not include their colonies in Asia, Africa, South America, Caribbean, and Pacific isles and atolls. Notice that many of these "countries" did not capture independence and sovereignty until well after 1970, when the 229th plenary meeting of the UNGA adopted the Declaration on the Establishment of a New International Economic Order, 1 May 1974. Take a wild guess who drafted that.

Posted by: sln2002 | Feb 24 2023 18:29 utc | 99

Likklemore @98--

I saw Gosar's remarks on Sputnik last night before retiring and said to myself the POTUS campaign narrative battle has commenced with the Rs being very Trump-like with their opening broadsides that attack not just Biden and crew but Corporate Media too as its carried water for the Biden crew. Lurking in the background is the politicization of the FBI, falsity of Russiagate, and injustice at the Justice Department all for starters. Then there's domestic neglect centered on Ohio while Biden trips his way to Ukraine and Poland. I await the House laptop hearings and related Ukrainian corruption. We'll need to see how this begins to breakdown the Narrative within the Empire.

Posted by: karlof1 | Feb 24 2023 18:42 utc | 100

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