Balancing the US anti-China perspective

Submitted by soryang on Mon, 07/15/2024 - 6:41pm

A wounded Donald Trump and protecting Secret Service officers caught by photographers in an "Iwo Jima" like posture with the American flag.

Well, the new pro-Trump T-shirts and flags are out. The flags are already up in my neighborhood. We're living now in "Trump Nation." Biden nation has been no picnic as his administration and Congress are addicted to promoting war and a Social Darwinist (fascist) foreign policy. WWIII could break out at any time. Trump's election seems all but assured, as the heroic imagery of his defiance in the face of his putative killer(s) has been openly compared to the heroic WWII scene at Iwo-Jima. This image appearing on a NY Post front page is ironic in the extreme because Trump's anti-China policies are more than likely to be in America's and even NATO's future. Yet, as James Bradley, the son of the one of the US Marines who participated in the iconic scene raising the flag at Iwo Jima, points out so well in his book, The China Image, the Hidden History of American Disaster in Asia, US perceptions of China (and Asia in general) are largely delusional.

The US anti-Chinese perspective is bi-partisan and the racist imperialism on which it is based, is second nature. The problem as many see it, is that Biden has dissipated the anti-China gestalt by becoming embroiled in a fruitless war against Russia in Ukraine.

ECONOMIC WAR: NATO Threatens to Nationalize Assets Owned by China Lena Petrova, 9 min

I watched Brian Berletic's video on the China- Philippines South China Sea dispute, a couple of days ago. The video is based on his own article at Near Eastern Outlook. This is a description of his article that he posted on his youtube channel-

"Does starting a war over a grounded WW2 ship on a submerged shoal with its largest trade partner serve the Philippines’ best interests? Or does it serve Washington’s interests at the expense of the Philippines? The SCMP article already illustrated how badly needed public infrastructure has literally been torn down in exchange for escalating tensions with the Philippines’ largest trade partner, China.

One needs not guess where this will lead the Philippines if it continues to serve US interests by escalating tensions with China because the same process is already well underway in Ukraine."

The Philippines: Why it is Choosing US Destruction Over Chinese Construction

Maritime disputes treated as minor bilateral concerns to be worked out with Beijing under President Duterte, were escalated into a growing conflict under President Marcos Jr. with US backing, meant to serve as the very pretext to cancel and literally tear down joint Chinese-Philippine projects and replace it with the expansion of the US military’s footprint across the Philippines.

Brian's related 37 minute video based on his article-

The Philippines: Why it is Choosing US Destruction Over Chinese Construction

Below- Historical and legal arguments on the South China Sea dispute from the Chinese perspective. CGTN 30 minute.

Sovereignty at Stake: A documentary on the South China Sea dispute

Elsewhere on this same Japanese politics thread, it was noted that a new right wing meme in Japanese social media says Abe told Trump to turn his head. The imagery of Biden and the Greater East Asian Co-prosperity Sphere is no joke, but reflects the reality of the US Japanese alliance. It is always assumed that Japan is the subordinate power being forced to follow the US lead. This is a convenient cover for LDP right wing national policy of rearmament and becoming "great again."

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Submitted by Pluto's Republic on Mon, 07/15/2024 - 10:55pm
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...over the past century, and more of the same is just sad to see.

An artful and informative collection of videos.

I read Brian Berletic's article, "The Philippines: Why it is Choosing US Destruction Over Chinese Construction." It is a tragedy unfolding:

Reuters, citing US officials and healthcare experts, admitted that the campaign wasn’t based on a “public health perspective,” but simply aimed to “drag China through the mud,” and endangered the lives of the Philippine public in the process.

While Washington has convinced the Philippine public through US government-funded media that China poses a threat to the Philippines, in actuality it is the US government itself demonstrably harming the Philippines and its people through what are admitted are deliberate lies.

Its campaign to poison the Philippines against China, resulting in canceled public infrastructure projects in exchange for a US-backed military build up threatening to drag the country into armed conflict to fight Washington’s adversary on its behalf and at the Philippines’ own expense is only the most recent chapter in a long, sad story of Washington’s abuse and exploitation of the Philippines.

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Terrible and ignorant leaders in the Philippines. Very bad times ahead for them.
All due to a strategically meaningless effort of a dying empire.

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Submitted by soryang on Mon, 07/15/2024 - 11:07pm
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@Pluto's Republic

I enjoyed the Sean Foo video you posted. He's very well informed. Sometimes it's hard to keep track of all the economic wrinkles and tricks that are going on.

I was struck by how sound Brian's analysis was in that video and article. Marcos is simply selling out his country.

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語必忠信 行必正直

Submitted by snoopydawg on Tue, 07/16/2024 - 12:14am
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@Pluto's Republic

If countries go along they get benefits. If not they get sanctioned and saddled with imf Loans. It’s how America has kept Egypt in line with Israel.

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The ideal subject of totalitarian rule is not the convinced Nazi or the dedicated communist, but people for whom the distinction between fact and fiction, true and false, no longer exists.
~Hannah Arendt

Submitted by soryang on Tue, 07/16/2024 - 12:59pm
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@snoopydawg

...promotes them. If they don't I think they send signals of disapproval, and possibly threats to reveal personal secrets, leak things to the media, etc. They definitely bugged Yoon's presidential office, at the same time they were lionizing him publicly. I'm sure the US has a lot of damaging information on Yoon's family which could bring him down. Han Dong-hun appears to have ties to the US, although it's not clear exactly what they are. After Yoon was elected his henchman Han immediately took a trip to the US. Han's sister works for the most powerful law firm in South Korea with big US clients. If the US establishment thinks they now have South Korea "locked in" to the new trilateral alliance with Japan and the US, and maybe even NATO, they could pull the plug on Yoon and back Han. Han maybe less vulnerable than Yoon, but he is trying to distance himself from Yoon's vulnerability. They worked together for a long time fixing cases against their "enemies." These enemies, democratic rivals of conservatives and corporate chaebol, were coincidentally people who would steer a more independent course from US policy. They would definitely not get involved in an anti-China bloc or cooperate with Japan without major reconciliation with Japan on historical issues.

Marcos I'm sure has assets in the US, from the family estate derived from massive looting and corruption during the Marcos, Sr., dictatorship. I vaguely remember some discussion of a judgement that could be levied on his family's property. I can't open this article but the title alone is revealing:

Marcos Jr. continues to evade $353-million contempt judgment of US court

I don't think there is really any reluctance by the ruling LDP party in Japan to go along with US anti-Chinese policy in terms of military and geo-politics. Japan on its own can't pull their condescending attitude with China. The historical issues between them pose a threat to Japan and are potentially explosive. Particularly with Taiwan, the former Japanese colony. While the Japanese people may not like it, just as South Koreans don't like Yoon's foreign and domestic policies, the ruling conservative parties in both countries have no objection at all to US policy or the anti-China orientation. They are all in. The Philippines are governed by gangs or corrupt networks that extend into politics, military and police as I understand it. The people themselves don't really have a say. I'm pretty sure they are just interested in getting by. So Marcos is all in, as well. It seems ironic that he is going along with both former colonial masters.

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語必忠信 行必正直

Submitted by QMS on Tue, 07/16/2024 - 12:59am
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-
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Encouraging Japan, South Korea and Philippines (plus AUS and NZ) to bulk-up
their militaries to fight China and North Korea seems to be the battle plan. Those
small nations are minuscule in comparison to China. And Taiwan is not much of a
heavyweight either. Western powers are only going to lose influence in the
Asian-Pacific region with their economic sanctions and military expeditions.
Dying empire indeed. Going for broke.

Thanks for the links and perspectives.

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question everything

Submitted by Cassiodorus on Tue, 07/16/2024 - 12:17pm
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I guess you had the Filipino Genocide, which it seems has been left unremembered, but otherwise yeah.

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“The loyal Left cannot act decisively. Their devotion to the system is a built-in kill switch limiting dissent.” - Richard Moser

Submitted by soryang on Tue, 07/16/2024 - 8:06pm
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First new member of United Nations Command since 1950. This is a computer translation.

Germany, rejected during the Moon administration, counts down to join the UNC... Green light for expansion of deterrence against North Korea

文정부 때 퇴짜 독일, 유엔사 합류 초읽기… 대북 억지력 확장에 청신호

Germany's accession to the United Nations Command (UNC) is imminent. If the accession is completed, it will be the first case of a new member state since the UNC was established in 1950 during the Korean War. It is the result of the US's global strategy to strengthen the network of security cooperation between Europe and the Indo-Pacific and the strategic consideration of the military closeness between North Korea and Russia, which is intertwined with the war in Ukraine, and the Yoon Seok-yeol government's North Korea policy keynote. If Germany, a representative economic and military power in Europe, joins, it could be a green light for expanding deterrence against North Korea.

President Yoon Seok-yeol held his first summit with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz in Washington, D.C., on the 10th (local time), where he was visiting for the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) summit. During the meeting, President Yoon welcomed Germany’s application to join the UNC, saying, “I hope that Germany will play the necessary role as a member state of the UNC as soon as the relevant procedures are completed.”

Germany notified South Korea and the United States of its intention to join the UNC early this year. The UNC has reviewed the matter and is currently undergoing the final review process by the US Department of Defense.

Former CIA analyst charged with working as foreign agent for South Korea

The U.S. Southern District of New York announced an indictment against Sue Mi Terry, a former CIA analyst and foreign policy specialist, for working as an unregistered agent for the South Korean government.

According to the indictment, Terry received more than $37,000 in covert funding for a public policy program focusing on Korean affairs and also received high-priced dinners and other luxury goods, including a $2,845 Dolce and Gabbana coat and a $3,450 Louis Vuitton handbag.

Tone deaf, I'm afraid I agree with her lawyer. I almost never agree with Sue Mi Terry, Frankly I thought she's always promoting the US position.

Terry is a naturalized U.S. citizen who was born in Seoul. She received a PhD from Tufts University and is currently a senior fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations.

Her lawyer, Lee Wolosky, told Reuters that “these allegations are unfounded and distort the work of a scholar and news analyst known for her independence and years of service to the United States.”

Tufts is notorious for producing ultra conservative exponents of US militarist views concerning all things Asian. Especially concerning Korea and China. Hard to believe.

Senior North Korean diplomat defects to South

South Korean media reports say that the defector was a counsellor responsible for political affairs at the North Korean embassy in Cuba. The NIS has not confirmed this to the BBC.
The Chosun Ilbo newspaper said it was able to interview the diplomat, whom it identified as 52-year-old Ri Il Kyu.

It added that he defected because of "disillusionment with the North Korean regime and a bleak future".

His work reportedly involved stopping Havana from forging official diplomatic ties with Seoul. However, in February, the two governments did establish official relations, in what was seen as a setback for Pyongyang.

The BBC gives a couple of sentences about hardliner Yoon, talking about how he's going to develop technology to carry out a preemptive strike on North Korea blah, blah, blah. Bad idea.

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語必忠信 行必正直

Submitted by QMS on Tue, 07/16/2024 - 8:48pm
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.
but military solutions are not the correct response.
When the US bombed the hell out of North Korea
it only guaranteed an enemy for life. But Japan?

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question everything