• August 5, 2024

  Holistic vs Analytical Thinking

  

  Orientation
  

  How much do left brain pathologies have to do with culture and geography?

  Recently I was interviewed by Jeff J. Brown on China Rising about an article I wrote titled “The Dark Side of Left-Brain Operations”. During the interview, I contrasted the differences between the functions the left and the right sides of the brain. As we went through this, Jeff commented on how the characteristics of the right side of the brain corresponded to Chinese culture and how the characteristics of the left side of the brain seemed to be an expression of European-Yankee culture. A big part of my article discussed how there is a power struggle between the left and the right sides of the brain. Psychiatrist Iain McGilchrist pointed out that when the left side of the brain gets out of control, the result is the dark side of cultural institutions like the Reformation, the Enlightenment and industrial capitalism.

  At the end of my interview I pointed out that McGilchrist, author of The Master and His Emissary, did not explain why the left brain running amuck was not the characteristic of Far Eastern countries like China, Japan or Korea. In other words, if when the left brain gets out of control if it was strictly a biological or psychological process, we would expect to find it happening in all cultures all over the world including South America and Africa. But we don’t. It is only Western. This new article attempts to provide a materialist explanation for these differences based on the book The Geography of Thought by Richard Nisbett for why Easterners and Westerners think differently.
  
  Some provocative questions

  Why would the ancient Chinese excel at algebra and arithmetic but not geometry (as the Greeks)? Why do modern Asians do very well at math and science but produce less in the way of revolutionary science compared to Westerners? As Nisbett says:

  Chinese civilization is remarkable because Chinese civilization far outdistanced Greek civilization technologically in ink, porcelain, magnetic compass, stirrups and wheelbarrow, pound locks on canals, sternpost rudder, quantitative cartography, immunization techniques, astronomical observations of novae, seismographs and acoustics.

  Why are East Asians able to see relationships between events better than the West but find it more difficult to disentangle an object from its surroundings? Why are Easterners more susceptible to the hindsight bias such as ‘they knew it all along’? Why do Western infants learn nouns at a much more rapid rate than verbs?Why do Easterners learn verbs at a more rapid rate? Why are Easterners so willing to entertain apparent contradictions? Why are Westerners more likely to apply formal logic when reasoning about everyday events?
  
  Where are we going?

  My purpose in this article is three-fold. First is to show the differences that Nisbett contrasts between holistic and analytical thinking. Secondly, I explore his materialist explanations for why these cultures think so differently. Lastly, I point out some weaknesses in Nisbett’s book.

  Holistic vs Analytical Thinking in nature
  

  Functional vs taxonomic classification
  

  Which of these three is least like the other two? The three items are a dog, a carrot and a rabbit. If you think holistically the dog is different. If you think analytically the carrot is different. Why? Because in holistic thinking rabbits eat carrots, the dog is different. But if you think analytically the carrots are different because dogs and rabbits are animals while a carrot is a vegetable. Holistic classification is functional, based on how objects work together in everyday life. They are grouped together because of causal, temporal or spatial functional relationships. This analytical classification is called taxonomic. This means objects are classified according to type, independent of space, time or cause. It has little to do with everyday life interactions.

  Form vs content
  

  Closely connected to these classification differences is the relationship between form and content. In holistic thinking, objects (content) are never understood as separate from their atmosphere form (or setting). In analytical thinking, objects are separated from their context and treated separately. Thus, empiricism separates objects from their context and examines them in terms of what they have in common (empiricism). So too, thinking is separated from the senses and thoughts are compared to other thoughts leading to rationalism, including formal logic.  Contrary to this holistic thinking treats thinking and sensing as going together. There is no formal logic I know of in Chinese thinking.

  Here are a couple of examples. In a research experiment with fish in the water, the Japanese made many more references to background elements. Americans focused on the fish and ignored the environment. In the United States an instruction book on how to draw was published called Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain. In it there was an exercise on drawing the negative space which surrounded the figure. The idea was to let the figure emerge growing out of the negative space rather than drawing the figure directly. The whole point of the exercise was to get Western students to stop treating the background as irrelevant. Easterners, knowing this already, would have little need for this exercise.

  Diffused vs focused attention; aggregates vs synthesis
  

  Holistic thinking and analytic thinking each have their pros and cons. In holistic thinking, we have a wide, diffused lens. We see the forest but the trees are blurry. In analytical thinking we have tunnel vision. We see the detail of the trees, but miss the majesty of the forest. This attention to detail leads analytical thinkers to imagine that the whole of the forest is nothing more than an aggregate of individual trees.  In holistic thinking the entire forest system is more than the sum of the trees.

  Organism vs mechanism; plenum vs atoms and the void
  

  In general, way beyond forests, holistic thinking imagines all of nature as an organism where all aspects are interdependent. In Chinese philosophy, nature consists of a plenum or Tao which is filled with interdependent substances like the five elements.  Wood, fire, earth, metal and water are constantly changing into each other in different proportions. This philosophy is embodied in the writings of Lao-Tze. The philosophy of nature in the West is mechanism where all the parts are interchangeable rather than interdependent. According to Democritus and Epicurus, nature is not a plenum. it is composed of atoms and the void. These atoms are discrete objects (atomism) and these objects are composed of particles or things.

  Differences in language socialization

  The differences between East Asian languages and Indo-European languages are so deep that they are embedded in how each learn language. Philosophically we can say that for East Asians generally, movement is more important than stasis. In the West, on the other hand, we start with things and then as a derivative try to explain movement. Nisbett points out that East Asian languages verbs are learned at a faster rate than nouns. It the West the opposite is true, nouns are learned faster. What do the nouns and verbs say? In East Asia, verbs are denoted by relationships. In the West nouns are denoted by categories. Lastly, there are differences even in the placements of nouns and verbs in a sentence. In East Asia, verbs come at the beginning and the end of sentence, with nouns in the middle. This indicates that first there is movement which temporarily thickens into a noun which then returns into more movement. In the West it is the opposite. First nouns, then verbs (predicate) and then objects. This follows a philosophy that says in the beginning there are things (nouns), there are verbs in the middle and then nouns (objects) at the end.
  
  Polar vs dualistic opposites

  The Tao in Chinese philosophy consists of two polar opposites, yin and yang and these opposites turn into each other creating new combinations of the five elements. These opposites depend on each other and cocreate with each other. In analytical thinking opposites are understood as being mutually exclusive, zero-sum game with choices such as “either/or”, as in Aristotle’s law of the excluded middle. When confronted with two apparently contradictory propositions Americans tended to polarize their beliefs. In the West there is typically a right and wrong and there will be a winner and loser. In holistic philosophy choice involves not choosing one or the other. Both are chosen in addition to other choices. Holistic philosophy strives for hostility reduction and compromise mediated by a third party.

  Formal logic vs informal logic

  Formal logic in the West is the study of the structure of an argument independently of its content. The basis of formal logic is to abstract qualities from context and connect these abstractions as if they had a life of their own.

  The syllogism:

  – All women are mortal
  – Sandy is a woman
  – Sandy is mortal

  It is correct from the point of view of formal logic. It doesn’t matter if we change Sandy’s name to Phyllis. It doesn’t even matter if we substitute immortal for mortal.

  So:

  – All women are immortal
  – Phyllis is a woman
  – Phyllis is immortal

  This is still logically correct. It doesn’t matter that in real life woman are mortal. Nisbett points out that for the Chinese there is a whiteness of the house and the whiteness of the snow but not whiteness as an abstract, detachable concept that can be applied to almost anything. The Chinese were distrustful of decontextualization.

  Nisbett writes that In China there were only two short-lived movements of little influence in the East that shared the spirit of logical inquiry that has always been common in the West. These are the logicians and the Mohists (Mo Tzu), both in the classical period of antiquity. Mo Tzu shared several logical concerns. They include the ideas of necessary and sufficient conditions, the principle of non-contradiction and the law of the excluded middle. Mo Tzu developed a rough version of cost-benefit analysis. However, there was never even among the logicians and Mohists a willingness to accept arguments that flew in the face of experience.

  Holistic vs Analytical Relationships in Society
  

  Cogs in the machine vs interdependent belonging
  

  Earlier I said that analytical thinking treats parts in nature as particles or things. This carries over into how workers function in relationship to capitalism. Workers are treated as things, interchangeable parts. Unskilled workers are hired and fired with no sense of continuity or membership in an organization. They are cogs in a mechanistic machine. In Japan in the 1970s and early 1980s, even though it was a capitalist society, workers were still treated as interdependent parts of an organization. Every worker had a place and worker could have one job for their whole life. In speaking about the industrial revolution, Nisbitt points out:

  Seeing the world of objects is linked to the industrial  Revolution. Assembly line—auto part atoms were put together by workers performing a repetitive set of actions over and over again (82)… {in the} late 18^th century, especially in the United States, they began to modularize the world of manufacture and commerce. From muskets to furniture they were broken down into the most standardized parts possible and the simplest replicable actions…. Time itself became a modular entity: three minutes for bolting on the carburetor; two and a half minutes for installing spark plugs…Starting around the late 19th century retail stores became modular chains. (83)

  Collectivism vs individualism
  

  One of the major divisions within cross-cultural psychology is that between collectivism vs individualism. As you might expect, holistic thinkers are collectivist. This means that the group comes first and decisions are based on the interests of the group, which is true from the micro to the macro level. Analytical thinkers are individualists. The individual is the center of attention and the group is seen as secondary or a necessary evil. This plays out when something happens to an individual. When an individualist has an unfortunate circumstance, their tendency is to imagine the personal motives of another person involved rather than the situation another person was in. This is called an “internal locus of control”. In social psychology Collectivist holists are more likely to examine the situation first. They will underestimate the power of individuals to change things. In part this is because they have an external locus of control.

  In answer to the question tell me about yourself, Japanese schoolchildren are taught how to practice self-criticism both in order to improve their relations with others and to become more skilled in solving problems. In the West individuals answer the same question by referring to their personality traits, role categories and activities statically proclaiming, “I am what I am”. The proportion of self-references was more than three times higher for American children than for Chinese children.

  In-group and out-group

  In our initial description of the differences between collectivism and individualism we said that for collectivists the group comes first and for individualists the single person comes first. But this is only for the in-group. It says nothing about relationships with the out-group or strangers. As it turns out in East Asia the gap between in-group and out-group (strangers) is greater than in the West. In the West the relationship between individuals and their in-group is weaker, but their relationship to the out-group (strangers) is less. Part of this no doubt is that under capitalism, being civil to strangers is necessary for the exchange of commodities. In East Asia, which has either outright socialism or moderate capitalism, they are less likely to give strangers the time of day.
  
  Rights vs obligations

  Nisbett tells a story that an Asian friend is perplexed to hear in households in Yankeedom members of a family are always thanking each other rather than simply carrying out obligations. The basis of thanking someone is that there is no necessary interconnection between people that makes help a constitutional part of society. Instead, we volunteer to do something with the option to not help. This is the essence of individualism.

  Nisbett says that for Westerners, once a contract has been agreed to it is binding regardless of circumstances that might make the arrangement problematic. To the Western mind, once a bargain is struck, it shouldn’t be modified.  For Easterners agreements are often regarded as tentatively agreed upon guides for the future. There is little or no conception of rights that are inherit in the individual. Furthermore, Nisbett points out:

  The combative, rhetorical form is also absent from Asian law. More typically the disputants take their case to a middleman whose goal is animosity reduction. There is no attempt to derive a resolution to a legal conflict from any universal principle. The Americans were more likely to prefer adversarial adjudication with representation by lawyers. (75)

  Holistic vs Analytical Relationships in the Sciences and the Arts
  

  The Chinese used their experience to measure things. The Greeks abstracted from their experience and fixed abstract rules which were used as the basis for predicting and explaining the motion of these objects. As might be expected those who think analytically will disentangle relationships in order to extract abstract rules from them. The Greeks understood that it was necessary to categorize objects in order to be able to apply rules to them. Nisbett says that because the Chinese see relationships first their lack of interest in the categories prevented them from discovering laws that really were capable of explaining classes of events. In the case of the Greeks, most of Aristotle’s physical propositions were false, but Aristotle had testable propositions. Though the Chinese excelled in algebra and arithmetic they made little progress in geometry because proofs rely on formal logic.  While the Greeks excelled in geometry and had formal proofs they never developed the concept of zero which was required both for algebra and for an Arabic style place number system.

  The arts

  Interestingly but not surprisingly, Chinese paintings are dominated by landscape which dwarf human figures. Studies of Western paintings show human figures as three times as large. Furthermore, the Chinese paint the horizon lines 15% higher to call attention to the depth and allows more room for the objects. Analytical tradition of the West paint the horizon lines 15% lower. This reduces the range of the scene that is visible. Nisbett says the Chinese emphasized monophonic music which reflected their concern with unity. In the analytical West, polyphonic music was present where different instruments and different voices take different parts. Please see Table I for a comparison.

  Table I

  How Asians and Westerners Think Differently

  Holistic Thinking	Category of Comparison	Analytic Thinking
  Ancient China	Region of the world	Ancient Greece
  Wide Lens See forest less trees	Scope	Narrow Lens—Tunnel Vision See trees, less forest
  Objects are never seen separate from their atmosphere	Form and content	Objects extracted from their environment and treated separately (Empiricism and rationalism)
  Functional-associative Based on how objects working together They are grouped together because of causal, temporal or spatial functional relationships	How things are classified	Taxonomic classification Objects are classified in relationship to type, not what they do together or their connection to causal, temporal or spatial relations
  Wholes are more than the sum of their parts	How wholes and parts are understood	Wholes are aggregates, no more than the sum of their parts
  Plenum Tao yin-yang principle (Lao Tzu)	What is nature?	Atoms and the void Democritus, Epicurus
  Interpenetrating substances Five elements Wood, fire, earth, metal, water	What is nature composed of?	Collection of discrete objects (atomism) Objects are composed of particles, “things”
  Organicism	Nature philosophy	Mechanism
  As organisms with interdependent parts	Application to society: How are organizations depicted?	As machines with inter-changeable parts
  Polar opposites depend on each other and co-create each other “both and more”	How are opposites understood?	Dualistic opposites Mutually exclusive and have nothing to do w/each-other “Either/Or”
  Other than Mo Tzu, the Chinese lacked even a principle of contradiction	How are contradictions held?	Aristotle’s law of non-contradiction
  Informal logic	Form of logic	Formal logic—syllogism
  Collectivism	Type of Self	Individualism
  Explain things situationally Understate disposition	Attribution of causes	Overstate disposition, understate situation
  External	Locus of control	Internal
  More conforming to in-group More hostility to out-group (strangers)	In-group/out-group	More challenging to in-group More civil to out-group (strangers)
  Learn verbs at a faster rate Verbs are about relationships Verbs come in the beginning and end of a sentence Nouns come in the middle	Linguistic socialization	Learn nouns at a faster rate Nouns are denoted by categories Nouns come at the beginning and end of a sentence Verbs are in the middle.
  Experience	What is used to measure?	Fixed abstract rules are used as the basis for predicting and explaining the behavior of these objects
  See relationships Their lack of interest in categories prevented them from discovering laws that really were capable of explaining classes of events	Science	Disentangle relationships and see rules The Greeks understood that it was necessary to categorize objects in order to be able to apply rules to them
  Excel in algebra and arithmetic They made little progress in geometry because proofs rely on formal logic	Mathematical Application	Geometry Had formal proofs, but Greeks never developed the concept of zero which is required both for algebra and for an Arabic style place number system
  Paint horizontal line of landscapes 15% higher Calls for attention to depth and allows more room for objects	The Arts Landscapes	Paint horizon lines 15% lower. Reduces the range of the scene that is visible
  Human figures are smaller	Portraiture	Human faces are three times as large
  Monophonic music reflected Chinese concern with unity	Type of music	Polyphonic music where different instruments and different voices take different parts

  Qualifications
  

  We must be careful not to overstate generalities. In the case of the Far East, there were some atomistic and empirical traditions such as Mo Tzu that shared many of same interests as Western philosophers. Conversely in the West, while the atomism of Democritus and Epicurus were surely important, Western philosophy has a deep anti-atomist tradition stretching from Plato to Leibniz, Shelling and Hegel.

  Within the Western tradition, Nisbett points out that the Southern European countries like Spain, and Italy plus Belgium and Germany are intermediate between the East Asian counties and the countries influenced by Protestant, Anglo-Saxon culture. Still more generally the European continent is more holistic and rationalist than are the empirical England or the United States. The big picture theories in politics and economics come from the continent including Marx, Weber, Durkheim and Comte. In psychology we have the big system philosophy of Freud and Piaget. It is hard to imagine behaviorism emerging in any place but the United States or England. When we turn to Western religions, we find the same split between the Anglo-American world of Protestants and the continental European tradition where Catholicism reigns.
  
  Within Eastern traditions not all roads lead to China. While both the Chinese and Japanese stress order, it is a different kind of order. For the Chinese, order comes from the macro world of state on the one hand and the micro world of family relations on the other. This comes in the form of mother-son or father-daughter relations. For the Japanese the forces of order come from the meso-world of the peer group. The same pattern holds in school. For the Chinese, obedience to the teacher is primary, but for the Japanese control is managed by what classmates may think or say.

  A huge difference between the Japanese and the Chinese is that Japan developed capitalism well over 100 years before the Chinese. But even in this case geography might have had something to do with it. Japan, like England, was an island where no large centralized system had room to develop. Even so, Japanese capitalism still retained a collective orientation. Loyalty to the corporation was much stronger among workers there than in either the United States or England. Finally, Nisbett points out that while in the macro and micro worlds the Chinese expect order, in the meso-world the Chinese have a more relaxed form of life. It is the Japanese who insist on a need for order in all parts of their lives. In that way they are similar to the Germans and Dutch.

  Materialistic Explanations for East-West Differences

  Geography and climate

  Not just in China, but in all the great agricultural civilizations of the past there is a crucial climate, geography problem. First, there is inadequate rainfall, yet the presence of large bodies of water in the valleys. The problem for them is how to get the large bodies of water to their farms. In Greece and in Europe generally there is no such rainfall problem. European countries are surrounded by mountains leading to a change in climate as Jared Diamond pointed out in Guns, Germs and Steel.
  
  Political consequences
  

  China, along with Egypt, and India have ways to solve the problem of inadequate rainfall and large bodies of water by setting up irrigation systems. But China and India are very large countries and setting up local irrigation systems is too risky and they could fail too easily. Hence the development of a centralized agricultural state could solve their problems. However, the leaders of these centralized states soon recognized their position and they begin to expect more and more in return for performing this public service. The result is a centralized political system with a ruling class.

  In Greece and generally in Europe there was no need for any centralized irrigation system because rainfall made it unnecessary. In addition, the high mountains between European states made any centralized political power over Europe next to impossible. The European continent has never completely fallen to an empire. Hence all political power was decentralized.
  
  Means of subsistence
  

  With a centralized irrigational system and rich river valleys, Chinese peasants settled down to do subsistence agriculture, including rice. The Greeks were not so fortunate. The Greek land was stony and dry which only lent itself to orchards growing olive trees. The Greeks made their living from herding, fishing and trade. They engaged in commercial agriculture producing olive oil for trade.

  The subversiveness of trading

  The activity of trading produces mutual effects in differentiating Greece from Chinese and other near Eastern civilizations. For one, it taught the merchants different languages and different systems of weights and measures opening them up to more trading. Second, living near the coast meant encountering many ethnic groups with different religions and politics. Third, trading also forced traders to haggle, going back and forth and arguing. This was a very powerful instrument in conducing not only economic affairs but political affairs. As is well known Greece developed an extraordinary decentralized political system in which debate and the teaching of rhetoric by the Sophists was a way of life. Farmers hired rhetoricians to help them win cases when their land was threatened to be taken over.

  On the other hand, trade for China was not a necessity. They traded mostly in luxury goods. Surely traders were never given free reign by the emperor. This meant that China was a more closed civilization. Nisbett says that 95% of the Chinese population belongs to the same Han ethnic group. Nearly all of the country’s more than fifty minority ethnic groups are in the western part of the country. The Chinese were less exposed to other religions and political systems and when they were Chinese rulers saw them as inferior. Because there was no reason to learn how to haggle and be argumentative in marketing situations Chinese politics was far from the tradition of Greece debate.  Chinese civilization was under a centralized political rule that was from the top down. Argumentation was disapproved of because China did not have liberal political expectations. In addition, the Chinese kin relations, like the Japanese, had built into them the expectation people should be able to save face.

  Implications for contemporary science

  Nisbett makes a very interesting point about contemporary differences between Chinese and European traditions in science that are connected to what has been said so far. He writes that the Chinese are very good at following up and expanding what Western science has produced but they are not as good at making breakthroughs. Why could this be? Nisbett points out that most scientists they hit their peak contributing innovative scientific explanations in their 20s. But Chinese scientists have a tradition of deferring to elders. Therefore, at Chinese conferences young scientists are expected to defer to elders, even if these elders have nothing new to say. Seniority is more important than innovation. Competitive debate with clear winners and losers is understandably seen as in bad taste. However, in the West competitive debate has been going on for well over 2000 years. In addition, in the West the elderly are not revered, and are considered over the hill. The revering of the young in the West goes perfectly well with young scientists presenting findings that might contradict those of the elderly. Please see Table II for a summary of the ecological, political and economic explanations for the differences between holistic and analytical thinking.

  Table II

  Materialistic Explanations for Holistic vs Analytical Thinking

  China	Original Region of the world	Greece
  Fertile plains, low mountains and navigable rivers	Ecology	Mountains descending towards the sea
  Subsistence agriculture Rice, other grains	Means of subsistence	Herding, fishing and trade Commercial agriculture
  Easy to do	Political centralization	Difficult to do
  Yes. Yellow River Valley of North China where the Shang Dynasty originated (18th -11th century BC) Chou Dynasty (11th to 256 BCE)	Centralized irrigation required?	No Adequate rainfall
  Bureaucratic Centralization	Political organization	Decentralized competing states Direct democracy
  Not essential Trade for luxuries Competitive debate not taught Rhetoric harmonious	Place of trading	Necessity for subsistence goods Competing traders and competing cities invited skills of argument and competitive debate
  95% of the Chinese population belongs to the same Han ethnic group	Cultural diversity	Living near the coast meant encountering other ethnic groups, religion and politics
  Held back by respect for elders Seniority over innovation	Contemporary science	Elders “over the hill” Glorification of young Innovation over seniority
  Absence of competitive debate and peer review	Place of contemporary debate in science	Competitive debate and peer review

  Criticisms of The Geography of Thought
  

  The Geography of Thought is a very interesting and provocative book. Most of what I have to say about it are qualifications rather than direct disagreements. First of all, the book seems ahistorical. It presents the origin of two cultures, China and Greece, too much as destiny. It really does not account for the fact that China has a history which surely has some innovations since ancient China. So too Greece, let alone Europe, must have developed new innovations over the last two thousand years. In addition the book does not provide any explanation for how these historical innovations could have emerged using the ecological, political and economic explanations.
  
  According to world-systems theory capitalism emerged in the West in the 16th century. This, of course, is a direct expression of analytical thinking. However, in the last of the 19th century Japanese capitalism developed and from the beginning of the 1980s capitalism also developed in China. We need an explanation for how this invasion of holistic thinking came about.  Lastly, the relationship between socialism in the 19th and 20th centuries needs to be made sense of in its relationship with holistic thinking in China. How is it similar and different from the values of ancient China?

  • First published in https://socialistplanningbeyondcapitalism.org/

  The post Holistic vs Analytical Thinking first appeared on Dissident Voice.

  This post was originally published on Dissident Voice.

• August 3, 2024

  Olympics selfie: North & South Korea, China

  
  This content originally appeared on Radio Free Asia and was authored by Radio Free Asia.
  

  This post was originally published on Radio Free.

• August 2, 2024

  Olympics selfie: South and North Korea, China – Ping pong diplomacy? | Radio Free Asia (RFA)

  
  This content originally appeared on Radio Free Asia and was authored by Radio Free Asia.
  

  This post was originally published on Radio Free.

• August 2, 2024

  Starbucks sees plunging China sales as middle classes trim spending

  Coffee giant Starbucks has reported a sharp fall in China sales, as consumer spending among the country’s middle classes remains sluggish despite government attempts to kick-start the post-lockdown economy.

  The global chain’s revenue fell by 1% from April-June on the back of weakening footfall in China and the United States, CEO Laxman Narasimhan told investors on Tuesday, in comments reported by the Associated Press.

  Same-store sales plummeted by 14% in China, where Starbucks’ second-largest market is under pressure from lower-priced rivals, Narasimhan said. Same-store sales refers to stores that have been open for longer than a year.

  The figures from the 6,500 Starbucks stores across China come amid a flagging economy and weak domestic consumption. Starbucks said Chinese customers are making fewer trips to the company’s stores, and spending less with each visit.

  “We are focused on what we can control in a consumer environment that can best be described as ‘complex,’” Narasimhan said in a conference call, adding that many consumers around the world are cautious about their spending and are more likely to stay home.

  

  

  Starbucks’ performance in China has been a hot topic among Chinese financial bloggers since the figures were announced, with some linking it to dwindling purchasing power among the country’s middle classes.

  “Once upon a time, drinking coffee at Starbucks was kind of a bourgeois mood,” blogger Lao Shuai CFA wrote. “But competition has intensified in recent years.”

  He said most Chinese coffee-drinkers are reluctant to pay more than 10 yuan for a cup of coffee.

  “The price of a single cup of Starbucks coffee gets you three cups at Luckin Coffee,” the blogger wrote in a reference to a homegrown cut-price coffee chain. “So everyone’s going to pick quality coffee produced domestically.”

  Low spending power

  Economist Si Ling said that China’s coffee-drinking culture was largely driven by the influx of foreign capital to the financial and high-tech sectors, with a target demographic of well-heeled urbanites in Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou. 

  He said that Starbucks’ unsatisfactory figures highlight the lack of spending power among the middle class, and even shrinking of the higher-income classes, due to the exodus of foreign capital.

  “The coffee sector was once seen by economists as a bellwether for the development of high-tech industries in China,” Si said. “The higher [its sales], the faster the growth of high-tech and modern service industries.”

  “But the sector has lost its sheen, and indicates that employers in top-tier consumer cities like Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou and Shenzhen are rapidly laying off employees,” he said. “That also shows that the Chinese economy is continuing to shrink, and that foreign capital continues to leave China.”

  

  

  Narasimhan said Starbucks is in the early stages of exploring a strategic partnership or joint venture in China that could help it expand, while cushioning its exposure to an uncertain economy.

  “What we want to be sure of is that we are further strengthening our advantage in this market because the long-term opportunity for us is significant,” he said.

  Online writer Gongzi Shen said the ruling Chinese Communist Party’s insistence on restructuring the economy to be less export-led and less dependent on foreign technologies had made the country less attractive to foreign investors.

  “China’s emerging tech sector is finding it hard to expand globally, or to update their technology due to export bans and sanctions,” he said. “The Chinese Communist Party also says it wants to strengthen and expand the state sector.” 

  “Its pursuit of political stability has resulted in fewer resources for the private sector,” he said. “That … has led to a downward shift in consumption, as people try to reduce unnecessary expenditure as much as they can.”

  That is especially true of younger people, according to former Starbucks customers in mainland China.

  ---

  Take a moment to read more

  Glitzy Shanghai mall closes, leaving US visa office sole occupant

  China’s third plenum offers little in the way of economic help

  Chinese officials tour foreign-invested firms in bid to stem exodus

  ---

  A luxury now

  A Chinese woman studying overseas who gave only the nickname Emily for fear of reprisals said being a Starbucks customer used to mean that a young person had successfully joined the white-collar middle class.

  “I think Starbucks used to represent membership of the middle class,” she said. “If you could go to Starbucks, you would feel like you had a high-level job. But I don’t think the association is that strong now.”

  She said government-backed campaigns to consume more Chinese-made products were also  having an effect, while competition is intense in affluent urban areas.

  “Especially in Shanghai and Beijing, there are so many more choices than Starbucks,” Emily said. “With that kind of competition … who would pay several times the price?”

  

  

  Another overseas student who gave only the surname Ye for fear of reprisals said he used to go to Starbucks with his friends, but now a lot of people in his age group are struggling to find work, and can’t afford to go out for tea or coffees all the time.

  “Given the income levels in mainland China, Starbucks in particular is a luxury for a lot of people,” Ye said. “Also, young people love to drink milk tea, so if they have any spare cash, they’ll go somewhere like Mixue Bingcheng, where it only costs three, four or five yuan a cup.”

  He added: “Not a lot of my classmates have salaries, and even internships are hard to come by these days. I used to go to Starbucks sometimes, or get a cup of Mixue Bingcheng at the internet cafe late in the evening, but now I can’t afford these things.”

  

  

  Translated by Luisetta Mudie.

  
  This content originally appeared on Radio Free Asia and was authored by By Chen Zifei for RFA Mandarin.
  

  This post was originally published on Radio Free.

• August 2, 2024

  Philippines, US carry out ‘cooperative activity’ in South China Sea

  The United States and the Philippines carried out a “maritime cooperative activity” in South China Sea waters that are within Manila’s jurisdiction, officials said Thursday. 

  The two allies’ joint activity was held even as China and the Philippines say they are  moving to “deescalate” tensions in the contested sea area after they spiked mid-June when a Filipino sailor lost a thumb allegedly in an encounter with Chinese coast guard personnel.

  Meanwhile, a Vietnamese coast guard ship is on its way to the Philippines for the first joint coast guard drills between the neighbors who both have territorial disputes with China in the South China Sea, Hanoi announced.

  Philippine military chief Gen. Romeo Brawner Jr. said the partnership between Washington and Manila, bound by a 1951 Mutual Defense Treaty, “continues to be a pillar of regional stability.” 

  “These joint exercises with our ally are crucial in enhancing our naval capabilities and ensuring that we can effectively collaborate to safeguard our maritime interests,” he said, referring to the “cooperative activity.”

  It also underscored the “strong defense ties between the Philippines and the United States and their shared commitment to upholding freedom of navigation and a rules-based order” in the South China Sea, Brawner said. 

  A Philippine Navy offshore combat patrol ship and a U.S. Navy littoral combat ship participated in the drill that ended at dusk on Wednesday in the West Philippine Sea, which is what Manila calls areas in the South China Sea that are in its exclusive economic zone. 

  

  

  Philippine military public affairs office chief Col. Xerxes Trinidad did not disclose the exact location of the joint maritime activity with the U.S. He said that based on the navy’s report, “no Chinese vessel was detected in the exercise area, both by visual and radar monitoring.” 

  U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin and Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Tuesday in Manila announced a $500 million infusion to help the Philippines defend its shores amid increasing territorial threats from China. 

  Tensions and confrontations between Manila and Beijing have been on the rise over a shoal, known as Ren’ai Jiao in China and Ayungin Shoal in the Philippines.

  Manila accuses Beijing of blocking access to Filipino troops stationed at the shoal which serves a military outpost for the Philippines, which has troops stationed there. China maintains it has sovereignty over the shoal.

  U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Tuesday welcomed a “provisional agreement” reached between Beijing and Manila regarding the latter’s resupply missions to the shoal.

  He still noted that Washington and Manila continued to worry about Beijing’s actions.

  “Both of us share concerns – and many other countries in the region share concerns as well – about some of the actions that the People’s Republic of China has taken,” he said, calling them “escalatory actions” in the South China Sea as well as in the East China Sea.

  Philippine-Vietnam coast guard drills

  U.S. Defense Secretary Austin, for his part, said that the new funding sends a “clear message of support” and indicated that the allies were “operating more closely and capably than ever.” 

  China, in reaction, called on Manila not to be swayed by the U.S. which is not a party to the overlapping claims in the region. 

  On Wednesday, Lin Jian, Chinese foreign ministry spokesman, said Washington was interfering on maritime issues between Manila and Beijing. He warned the Philippines against being turned into “a chess piece” in a geopolitical game by the U.S. 

  “The Philippines needs to see that ganging up with countries outside the region to engage in confrontation in the South China Sea will only destabilize the region and create more tensions,” Lin said.

  Vietnam, another Southeast Asian nation that contests China’s sweeping claims in the South China Sea, said that a 2,400-ton vessel left central Vietnam on Wednesday and is expected to arrive in Manila on Aug. 5 for joint drills with the Philippine Coast Guard.

  The two sides will offer training in “responding to different scenarios in international waters,” the Vietnam People’s Army newspaper reported. It did not provide details.

  The Vietnamese ship is expected to remain in Philippine waters until Aug. 9 with the Vietnamese crew taking part in joint training exercises including search and rescue, fire and explosion prevention and maritime safety with the Philippine Coast Guard.

  During a state visit by President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. to Vietnam in January, the two sides signed understandings on maritime cooperation between coast guards, among other things. 

  Jeoffrey Maitem in Davao City, Philippines, contributed to this report.

  BenarNews is an RFA-affiliated online news organization.

  
  This content originally appeared on Radio Free Asia and was authored by By Jason Gutierrez for BenarNews.
  

  This post was originally published on Radio Free.

• August 1, 2024

  Nations join ranks to delay deep-sea mining approval by UN regulator

  SPECIAL REPORT: By Stephen Wright in Kingston, Jamaica
  

  The obscure UN organisation attempting to set rules for the exploitation of deep-sea metals is facing a potential shake-up as more nations call for a mining moratorium and a new candidate for its leadership vows to address perceptions of corporate bias.

  The number of countries against the imminent start of mining for metallic nodules on the seafloor has jumped to 32 during the International Seabed Authority’s annual assembly this week in Kingston, Jamaica after Austria, Guatemala, Honduras, Malta and Tuvalu joined their ranks.

  “We are running ahead of ourselves trying to go and extract minerals when we don’t know what’s down there, what impact it is going to have,” said Surangel Whipps, president of the Pacific island nation of Palau.

  • READ MORE: Vanuatu fights for marine protection at key UN deep-sea mining summit
  • Tuvalu joins growing Pacific tide of opposition to deep-sea mining
  • Other deep-sea mining reports

  As governments become more aware of the risks, “hopefully we get them motivated to say let’s have a pause, let’s have a moratorium until we understand what we are doing,” he told BenarNews.

  Tuvalu delegates Monise Laafai and Demi Afasene declared their country’s support for a precautionary pause on deep-sea mining, pictured on July 30, 2024. [IISD-ENB]

  Ten members of the 18-nation Pacific Islands Forum (PIF), including the territories of New Caledonia and French Polynesia whose foreign policies are set by France, are now opposed to any imminent start to deep-sea mining.

  Mining of the golf ball-sized nodules that litter swathes of the sea bed is touted as a source of metals and rare earths needed for green technologies, such as electric vehicles, as the world reduces reliance on fossil fuels.

  Irreparable damage
  Sceptics say such minerals are already abundant on land and warn that mining the sea bed could cause irreparable damage to an environment that is still poorly understood by science.

  

  Brazil has nominated its former oil and gas regulator Leticia Carvalho, as its candidate for ISA secretary-general, challenging the two-term incumbent Michael Lodge. He has been criticized for his closeness to The Metals Company, which is leading the charge to hoover up the metallic nodules from the seabed.

  Carvalho, a former oceanographer and currently a senior official at the UN Environment Program, said a third consecutive term for Lodge would be inconsistent with “best practices” at the UN

  

  “I would be guided by integrity as a value,” she told BenarNews. “Secondly the secretary-general function, it’s a neutral function. You are a civil servant, you are there to set the table for the decision makers, which are the state parties.”

  “I have learned in my life as a regulator that you try to find by consensus, balances – what you agree collectively to protect and what you agree to sacrifice,” Carvalho said.

  Lodge has been nominated by Kiribati, one of three Pacific Island nations that The Metals Company is working with to harvest vast quantities of nodules from their areas in the Clarion-Clipperton Zone.

  The 4.5 million square kilometer [1.7 square million mile] area in the central Pacific is regulated by the ISA and contains trillions of polymetallic nodules at depths of up to 5.5 kilometers. All up, the ISA regulates more than half of the world’s seafloor.

  Dropped out
  Carvalho said she was present at a meeting at the UN in New York last month, first reported by The New York Times, when Kiribati’s ambassador to the UN. Teburoro Tito, proposed to Brazil’s ambassador that Carvalho drop out of contention for secretary-general in exchange for another senior role at the ISA.

  Lodge has said he was not involved in that proposal and also denied the concerns of some ISA delegates that his travel this year to nations including China, Cameroon, Japan, Egypt, Italy and Antigua and Barbuda was a re-election campaign using ISA resources.

  

  “Mr Lodge has no comment on any questions concerning hearsay,” the ISA said in a statement. “Mr Lodge was not privy to the discussions referenced and is not party to the alleged [Kiribati] proposal.”

  Deep-sea mineral extraction has been particularly contentious in the Pacific, where some economically lagging island nations see it as a possible financial windfall, but many other island states are strongly opposed.

  Nauru President David Adeang told the assembly that its mining application currently being prepared in conjunction with The Metals Company would allow the ISA to make “an informed decision based on real scientific data and not emotion and conjecture”.

  Nauru in June 2021 notified the seabed authority of its intention to begin mining, which triggered  the clock for the first time on a two-year period for the authority’s member nations to finalise regulations.

  Through deep-sea mining, Nauru, home to some 10,000 people and just 21 square kilometers in area, would contribute critical metals and help combat global warming, Adeang said.

  

  ‘Necessity’ for our survival
  “The responsible development of deep sea minerals is not just an opportunity for Nauru and other small island developing states,” he said. “It is a necessity for our survival in a rapidly changing world.”

  Still, a sign of how little is understood about deep sea environments came earlier this month when scientists published research that showed the metallic nodules generate oxygen, likely through electrolysis.

  It was an own-goal for The Metals Company, which partly funded the research in Nauru’s area of the Clarion-Clipperton Zone. It quickly attacked the results as based on flawed methodology.

  “Firstly it’s great that through our funding this research was possible. However we do see some concerns with the early conclusion and will be preparing a rebuttal that will be out soon,” chief executive Gerard Barron told BenarNews.

  Among the other 32 nations at the 169-member ISA supporting a stay on deep-sea mining are Brazil, Canada, Chile, Federated States of Micronesia, Fiji, France, Germany, Mexico, New Zealand, Palau, Samoa, United Kingdom, and Vanuatu.

  Copyright ©2015-2024, BenarNews. Republished with the permission of BenarNews.

  This post was originally published on Asia Pacific Report.

• August 1, 2024

  GFIC: 4 Key Measures to Propel China’s Alternative Protein Market Forward

  

  4 Mins Read

  As the world’s largest protein consumer and highest greenhouse gas emitter, alternative protein needs to succeed in China – here are four ways to do just that.

  China houses a sixth of the world’s population, and consumes 28% of its protein supply – but a majority of this is plant-based. That said, meat consumption is set to continue rising over the next decade.

  Meanwhile, nations like Japan, South Korea and India are all advancing their regulatory support for novel foods like cultivated meat, which can drastically cut the food system’s emissions. China has expressed interest in the industry too, outlining the importance of advancing novel proteins in its latest five-year plan for bioeconomy development.

  President Xi Jinping has also called for a Greater Food Approach that includes plant-based and microorganism-derived protein sources. Plus, research has shown that if Chinese citizens are told about the benefits of a vegan diet, 98% would eat more plant-based foods.

  But the industry still faces several challenges, according to Doris Lee, the CEO of GFI Consultancy, the China-based strategic partner of alternative protein think tank the Good Food Institute.

  The scalability and costs of cultivated meat and the production efficiency and conversion rates of fermentation-derived proteins are considerable hurdles. There’s also a lack of specialised talent (despite the advancement of agtech in China), and knowledge-sharing platforms. And finally, regulations on industry safety standards, labelling, market supervision, etc. aren’t fully developed yet.

  Writing in the monthly Enterprise Reform and Development magazine by the Chinese government’s National Development and Reform Commission, the authors highlight four policy proposals that can solve these bottlenecks and pave the way for the widespread commercialisation of alternative proteins in China.

  1) Build a more robust alternative protein ecosystem

  

  The authors write that developing a built-for-purpose ecosystem is crucial for the industry’s progress. This new ecosystem should be enterprise-centric, bringing together stakeholders from the government, scientific research institutions, investors and regulatory agencies.

  These bodies can join forces through resource sharing and complementary strengths to achieve mutual benefits for the industry, and together drive the development of novel proteins.

  2) More industry-academia collaborations on research

  

  Partnerships between industry members, academic bodies and research organisations are key to the success of alternative proteins in China. GFIC estimates that China has nearly 100 Indigenous novel protein sources that entail promising agricultural byproducts and microbial resources.

  The R&D and commercialisation of novel proteins can be sped up via collaborative efforts between industry, academia and researchers, which would enhance the sector’s overall competitiveness. Additionally, the authors believe investor education needs to be bolstered to attract more venture capital into alternative proteins.

  3) Strengthen the regulatory framework for novel foods

  

  Government support is essential for this industry’s success. The authors call on China’s policymakers to speed up the establishment of a regulatory approval process for novel foods.

  So far, Singapore, the US, Israel and the UK have cleared cultivated meat for sale. Switzerland, Australia and New Zealand are all assessing applications too, while South Korea expects to receive a dossier soon.

  The Chinese government should draw on experiences overseas and integrate those learnings into the country’s existing regulatory environment. Additionally, it should support intellectual property protection, enrich talent training schemes, and champion international recruitment. This would ensure that technological breakthroughs can be turned into actual products.

  Such government supervision would help integrate the alternative protein sector with existing industries to form a more complete food supply chain.

  4) Focus on sustainable development

  

  Environmental protection and sustainable resource use should be considered when promoting alternative proteins, the authors write. To ensure this, China’s technological advantages in biomanufacturing productivity and production scale-up can be leveraged and applied to food innovation, helping provide consumers with safer, healthier and higher-quality protein choices.

  Finally, exploring local agricultural resources and upgrading and transforming the domestic processing industry can help lower the industry’s climate impact even further, striking a balance between economic and environmental benefits.

  The post GFIC: 4 Key Measures to Propel China’s Alternative Protein Market Forward appeared first on Green Queen.

  This post was originally published on Green Queen.

• July 31, 2024

  China sanctions US lawmaker for criticizing Beijing’s human rights record

  China on Wednesday sanctioned U.S. Rep. Jim McGovern, accusing him of “interfering in China’s internal affairs,” though the congressman said it would not deter him from continuing to speak out against the Chinese government’s poor human rights record in Tibet.

  The sanctions against McGovern, a Massachusetts Democrat, prohibit him from engaging in any transactions or other activities with organizations and individuals in China. They also bar him and his family from entering the country, China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a statement. 

  The sanctions took effect on Wednesday as a “countermeasure” against McGovern’s actions and statements that “interfere in China’s internal affairs and undermine China’s sovereignty, security and development interests,” the ministry said. 

  McGovern told Radio Free Asia that the sanctions’ timing suggests they are a reaction to a U.S. bill on Tibet that President Joe Biden signed into law earlier this month and to McGovern’s meeting with the Tibetan spiritual leader, the Dalai Lama, at his home in Dharamsala, India, in June. 

  “If PRC [People’s Republic of China] leaders don’t like it when people speak out against their horrific human rights record, maybe they should improve their horrific human rights record,” he said. “They can start by ending their oppression of Tibetans, ending their genocide in Xinjiang, and ending their crackdown on democracy in Hong Kong.”  

  ---

  RELATED STORIES

  Biden signs bill urging China to resume talks over Tibet    

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  ---

  McGovern introduced and was among the key sponsors of the Promoting a Resolution to the Tibet-China Dispute Act, also known as the Resolve Tibet Act, that supports Tibetan self-determination and urges China to resume dialogue with the Dalai Lama or his representatives to reach a peaceful resolution to the dispute between Tibet and China. 

  It also empowers the U.S. State Department to counter China’s disinformation about Tibet and encourages the Chinese government to “address the aspirations of the Tibetan people regarding their distinct historical, cultural, religious and linguistic identity.”

  A vocal critic

  McGovern has been a vocal critic of China’s human rights record and a firm Tibet supporter, having spoken out openly in the past on several humanitarian issues, particularly on China’s human rights violations in Tibet and Xinjiang and the impact of Beijing’s assimilation policies on Tibetan cultural, religious and linguistic identity. 

  Asked whether Beijing’s latest move will result in any change in his stance on Tibet, McGovern responded, “Absolutely not.”

  

  

  McGovern was also the author of the Reciprocal Access to Tibet Act which former U.S. President Donald Trump signed into law in December 2018. The law denies Chinese government officials access to the United States if they are responsible for creating or implementing restrictions on American government officials, journalists, independent observers and tourists seeking access to Tibet.

  China has also imposed sanctions and other restrictions on prominent U.S. citizens.

  In 2022, Beijing sanctioned U.S. historian Miles Yu and Todd Stein, a deputy staff director of the U.S. Congressional-Executive Commission on China who previously worked as a lobbyist for the International Campaign for Tibet. They were banned from traveling to China or contacting anyone there. 

  Last year, China also imposed sanctions against Rep. Michael McCaul, a Texas Republican, one of the key sponsors of the Resolve Tibet Act who led a U.S. bipartisan congressional delegation to Dharamasala to meet with the Dalai Lama in June. 

  Prior to the visit, China warned the delegation against making the trip. Later, Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson Lin Jian criticized the trip and said the U.S. must not sign the bill into law. 

  At the time, Lin said China would take steps to “firmly defend its sovereignty, security and development interests.” 

  Edited by Tenzin Pema for RFA Tibetan and by Roseanne Gerin and Matt Reed.

  
  This content originally appeared on Radio Free Asia and was authored by By Tashi Wangchuk and Lhuboom for RFA Tibetan.
  

  This post was originally published on Radio Free.

• July 31, 2024

  NGOs say that Chinese Government manipulates human rights (UPR) review

  4 July 202: China’s government accepted – wholly or partially – 298 of the 428 (70%) recommendations the country received from UN member states during its fourth UPR on 23 January 2024. This represents a 12% drop in the proportion of recommendations the government accepted compared to the previous UPR in 2018.

  In a worrying sign of the government’s outright refusal to heed the mounting international concern over key human rights issues, of the 130 recommendations Beijing did not accept, an unprecedented number – 98 – were categorised as “rejected” and 32 were “noted.

  China’s government used the United Nations (UN)-backed review of its human rights record to rebuff international concern over serious abuses, issue blanket denials, and make blatantly false statements, the International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH), Human Rights in China (HRIC), the International Campaign for Tibet (ICT), the Taiwan Association for Human Rights (TAHR), and the Database Center for North Korean Human Rights (NKDB) said after the adoption of the outcome of China’s Universal Periodic Review (UPR) in Geneva, Switzerland.

  Despite well-documented evidence to the contrary, the government claimed that many of the recommendations it accepted were being implemented or had already been implemented. Such was the case regarding the accepted recommendations related to human rights in Hong Kong, Tibet, and Xinjiang, and the situation of human rights defenders, lawyers, civil society, media, and journalists. The government also made the false claim that it protected “freedom of speech, association and assembly” and “the lawful rights of all citizens as equals“.

  FIDH, HRIC, ICT, TAHR, and NKDB urge China’s government to reverse course and use the fourth UPR to address the concerns voiced by numerous UN member states without delay by implementing all the recommendations that are consistent with its obligations under international human rights law.

  Below is an analysis of the government’s response to the UPR recommendations on selected human rights issues.

  Human rights situation in Hong Kong, Tibet, and Xinjiang

  The government received 57 recommendations on human right issues in Hong Kong, Tibet, and Xinjiang and accepted only 19 (33%) of them. With regard to Hong Kong, the rejected recommendations were overwhelmingly related to the National Security Law and its negative impacts. Rejected recommendations concerning the situation of the Uyghurs in Xinjiang included those that called for the implementation of the 2022 UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) assessment on Xinjiang which China’s government called “illegal“. China rejected 70% of the unprecedented number of Tibet-specific recommendations it received – notably the ones calling for an end of the boarding school system for Tibetan children – often claiming they were based on “false information” despite many verified reports, including by UN experts. Other recommendations concerning the respect of cultural and religious rights in Tibet were listed as “accepted and already implemented” in a blunt misrepresentation of the reality on the ground. Many of the recommendations received by China’s government concerning the situation in Tibet echoed those contained in the joint submission made by FIDH and the International Campaign for Tibet (ICT) for China’s fourth UPR.

  Human rights defenders, lawyers, and civil society

  The government accepted only 10 of the 25 recommendations it received on human rights defenders, lawyers, and civil society. It rejected recommendations that called on China’s authorities to end the harassment and arbitrary detention of human rights defenders and lawyers and to cease the restrictions on civil society. A submission by HRIC highlights how online rights and internet freedoms in Hong Kong have significantly deteriorated in the post-COVID era, especially after the promulgation of the National Security Law, and that women have been disproportionately affected, as evidenced by the online gender-based violence they experienced.

  Media and journalists

  The government rejected 10 of the 14 recommendations it received concerning the protection of media and journalists, claiming the authorities protect the right to freedom of speech.

  Death penalty

  The government rejected all 20 recommendations it received concerning the death penalty. It stated that the death penalty “should be retained with its application strictly and prudently limited” – a statement that clashes with the reality of a country that has consistently ranked as the world’s most prolific executioner.

  https://www.fidh.org/en/region/asia/china/china-government-manipulates-human-rights-review

  https://www.msn.com/en-xl/news/other/ngos-slam-china-for-rejecting-upr-recommendations-at-unhrc-s-56th-session/ar-BB1pu4Wz

  This post was originally published on Hans Thoolen on Human Rights Defenders and their awards.

• July 31, 2024

  China is Eating More Protein Than the US Now, With Focus on Health & Plant-Based Foods

  

  4 Mins Read

  UN figures show that Chinese people are eating more protein than Americans, a majority of which comes from plant-based sources.

  China now consumes more protein per capita than people in the US, according to the latest data from the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO). But while this is dominated by plant-based sources, meat consumption is set to rise, highlighting why the government is batting for alternative proteins.

  As reported by the South China Morning Post, Chinese nationals ate 124.61g of protein per capita in 2021, surpassing Americans’ daily supply of 124.33g. This is according to the FAO’s food balance sheets, which measure national protein supply based on the amount produced as well as imported, estimating how much is potentially available for consumption.

  Protein consumption is an indicator of food security and quality of life, and China’s efforts to gain ground with the US have been long in the making. But given the size of its population, scholars and leaders (including Barack Obama) have previously been apprehensive about what such consumption levels would mean for the environment.

  China’s increasing protein supply isn’t just thanks to imports – the country has ramped up intensive animal agriculture, and is now the world’s largest aquaculture producer. However, its citizens have also upped their plant protein intake (unlike their counterparts in the US), and climate concerns have pushed its government to encourage plant-based consumption and alternative protein production.

  Plant-based foods dominate China’s protein supply

  

  In the US, 69% of the protein supply in 2021 came from animal sources, such as meat, fish, eggs and dairy. But China’s supply of animal proteins was around half of America’s, instead being dominated by plant-based foods.

  Vegetables, fruits, beans, nuts and seeds – as well as wheat, oats, rice, barley, maize and their products – made up 60.5% of China’s protein. Its per capita consumption increased by 15.81g between 2010 and 2021, around two-thirds of which came from plant-based sources. In contrast, nearly all of the corresponding 5.31g increase in the US was derived from animal products.

  The FAO food balance sheets showed that China’s top 10 protein providers were wheat and rice and their products, followed by vegetables, pork, poultry, eggs, freshwater fish, soybeans, groundnuts, and milk (excluding butter).

  Overall, with 145.62g per capita, Iceland topped the world’s protein supply, while the Democratic Republic of Congo had the lowest at 28.59g. Daily per capita protein consumption hit 91.99g in Japan, 108.31g in South Korea, 113.63g in the UAE, and 119.55g in Australia.

  The report also highlighted the protein deficiency in India – which last year overtook China as the most populous nation – with only 70.52g of per capita supply in 2021. Meanwhile, among the other top five populous countries, Indonesia reached 79.75g, Pakistan had 70.77g, and Nigeria 59.08g.

  Consumers embracing plant-based for health

  

  Despite sourcing a majority of its protein from plants, China is still the world’s largest meat consumer, accounting for 28% of global intake in 2023 (nearly twice as high as the next on the list, the US), as per data by the FAO and the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development. By the end of the decade, China’s meat consumption could be up by 21% from 2010 levels.

  Its population is four times higher than that of the US, but while the latter’s share of global meat intake is set to increase in the next decade, China’s percentage will decline. This is thanks to growing awareness around the impact of meat production among consumers – 1kg of soybeans provides 56% more protein and generates 48% fewer emissions than the same amount of beef.

  While a February 2024 study found that preference for plant-based foods is low in countries like Japan, Vietnam and China, a more recent survey suggests that when Chinese consumers are informed of the benefits of a vegan diet, 98% say they’ll eat more of these foods. This is driven by the country’s large flexitarian population, making up a third of the total.

  The major factor behind these intentions is health. Seven of the top 10 statements about plant-based benefits that Chinese consumers agreed with were related to health and nutrition, including that vegan diets lower BMI and obesity rates (56%), are high in calcium and bioavailability (52% agreement), provide adequate protein (49%), and are iron-rich (51%).

  China’s government has also been encouraging people to eat fewer animal products and more plant proteins, and recommends including vegetables in every meal and having daily servings of soy and grain products. In 2016, it introduced the Healthy China 2030 policy, which outlined that public health should be a precondition for all future socioeconomic development.

  Meanwhile, in December 2021, the country’s 14th five-year plan for agricultural and rural tech development called for research in cultivated meat, synthetic egg and dairy, and recombinant proteins. And in May 2022, the five-year plan for bioeconomy development highlighted an advancement of man-made protein and novel foods – two months after President Xi Jinping called for a Grand Food Vision that included plant-based and microorganism-derived protein sources.

  This is crucial for China’s climate goals. As part of its 30-60 policy, the nation aims to hit peak emissions by 2030 and become carbon-neutral by 2060. But by this year, half of all proteins consumed in the country must come from alternative sources if it is to meet the 1.5° goal, one study has found.

  The post China is Eating More Protein Than the US Now, With Focus on Health & Plant-Based Foods appeared first on Green Queen.

• July 30, 2024

  China tops US in women’s volleyball at Paris Olympics | Radio Free Asia (RFA)

  
  This content originally appeared on Radio Free Asia and was authored by Radio Free Asia.
  

  This post was originally published on Radio Free.

• July 30, 2024

  China tops US in women’s volleyball at Paris Olympics | Radio Free Asia (RFA)

  
  This content originally appeared on Radio Free Asia and was authored by Radio Free Asia.
  

  This post was originally published on Radio Free.

• July 29, 2024

  Audiences bring cats to Egyptian exhibition in China | Radio Free Asia (RFA)

  
  This content originally appeared on Radio Free Asia and was authored by Radio Free Asia.
  

  This post was originally published on Radio Free.

• July 29, 2024

  New Caledonia’s mothballed nickel plant starts mass sackings process

  By Patrick Decloitre, RNZ Pacific correspondent French Pacific desk

  New Caledonia’s mothballed nickel plant in Koniambo (north of the main island of Grande Terre) has announced it has started mass sackings of some 1200 staff, despite efforts to identify a potential buyer.

  Koniambo (KNS-Koniambo Nickel SAS) operations had already been mothballed after the announcement, in February, from its major financier, Anglo-Swiss giant Glencore, that it wanted out.

  KNS is jointly owned by Glencore (49 percent) and New Caledonia’s Northern province (51 percent).

  • READ MORE: Other nickel mine industry reports

  While making the announcement, Glencore signalled a 6-month delay in the implementation of its decision, including payment of salaries.

  The same timeframe was also supposed to be used to find potential buyers for the shares owned by Glencore.

  Glencore said in February that keeping its stake in KNS was no longer sustainable.

  It also recalled that the plant, in more than 10 years of existence and operation, had never made a profit.

  Staggering debt
  Over the past decade, KNS had accumulated a staggering 13.5 billion euros (NZ$25 billion) in debt.

  As the August 31 deadline looms at the end of the six-month respite, what had been the symbol of New Caledonia’s Northern province empowerment and wealth “re-balancing” of the French Pacific archipelago’s provinces is now faced with a bleak reality.

  Koniambo’s wealth relies on the Tiébaghi nickel massif, believed to hold about one quarter of New Caledonia’s nickel reserves.

  

  Koniambo: a highly political symbol
  KNS was born from a political and financial deal, including France — the “Bercy Accord” signed in December 1997, just months before the political Nouméa autonomy Accord was signed in 1998.

  The deal was de facto enacting the transfer of the Tiébaghi massif to New Caledonia’s Northern province and its financial arm, the Société Minière du Sud Pacifique (SMSP).

  It was the financial translation of the will to restore some balance between the affluent Southern Province and the less favoured Northern Province of New Caledonia, mostly populated by the indigenous Kanak community.

  Since the Koniambo project and its construction started, the new activity has had a stimulating effect on the whole region, especially in the small towns of Voh, Koné and Pouembout.

  The number of local companies increased, as well as the population.

  In announcing the official lay-offs on Friday, KNS still wanted to appear optimistic: “Even though we are pursuing the search process for a potential buyer, and that three groups continue to display an interest for our company, we do not have at this stage a finalised offer”, the company admitted.

  “We are therefore compelled to go ahead with the collective lay-off process on economic grounds”.

  ‘Cold’ sleep process
  Beyond August 31, only a group of about 50 workers will remain employed in maintenance work on what will then be described as “cold” sleep process.

  “But the fact that three world-class groups are still in discussions show that Koniambo Nickel still represents a strong interest for potential takeovers”, an optimistic KNS vice-president Alexandre Rousseau, told public broadcaster NC la 1ère on Saturday.

  On top of the wave of sackings announced by KNS, some 600 contractors relying on the plant’s activities have also lost their jobs since February.

  

  Local unrest – world nickel crisis
  The announcement comes as New Caledonia’s economy is in a critical situation.

  It has suffered a major blow, on top of an already grave financial situation.

  Since May 13, violent unrest has been ongoing in New Caledonia, with a backdrop of protests against French-proposed modifications of voters’ eligibility for provincial elections, regarded by pro-independence movements as a bid to reduce the political voice of the indigenous Kanak community.

  Since the riots, destruction, looting and arson began, more than 700 businesses have been destroyed, 10 people killed (eight civilians and two French gendarmes), and the overall cost of the unrest has topped 2.2 billion euros (NZ$4 billion).

  During the riots and unrest, nickel mining sites have been specifically targeted several times.

  Entire nickel sector in crisis
  New Caledonia’s nickel industry has also been in profound turmoil over past years.

  Its other two plants — in the Southern province (Prony Resources) and historic operator Société le Nickel (SLN) in Doniambo near Nouméa — owned by French mining giant Eramet — are also on the verge of collapse.

  The situation comes from a world nickel market now dominated by Indonesian units, which have started to produce nickel in mass quantities and at a much lower price.

  The result was a collapse of the world nickel price — it slumped by 48 per cent in 2023.

  New Caledonia’s production, in this context, was also regarded as too expensive, prompting efforts for a deep reform, especially on the cost structure such as electricity.

  A French assistance plan proposed in 2023 by French Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire, including a 200 million euro (NZ$367 million) package, was declined by local authorities, who said too much was being asked by France in terms of strings attached to the massive funding loan.

  The French-proposed reform also intended to diversify New Caledonia’s nickel buyers from an almost-entire reliance on Asian clients and instead turn to more European buyers, mostly car manufacturers for the purposes of production of batteries for electric cars.

  Other plants on the verge of collapse
  As a result of the combined effects of the current situation (the ongoing riots and the pre-existing nickel crisis), Prony Resources’ operations are at a standstill.

  Eramet, which in recent months had made no secret of its desire to disengage from SLN, earlier reported a net loss of some 72 million euros (NZ$133 million) for the first half of the financial year.

  New Caledonia’s nickel industry is believed to employ about 25 percent of the French Pacific archipelago’s workforce.

  This article is republished under a community partnership agreement with RNZ.

  This post was originally published on Asia Pacific Report.

• July 29, 2024

  Chinese Regime’s Environmental Deception in Tibet

  

  Image: researched/sourced @tibettruth

  The Chinese Academy of Lies (oops a typo there) ‘Sciences’ has today issued a report claiming, thanks to ‘environmental security’ interventions of the Chinese Regime, Tibet’s ecology is now flourishing. Clearly it required the invasion and military occupation of Tibet to enable this supposed improvement. Meanwhile, on the ground, far from the cynical lies of China’s disinformation the lands of Tibet are being denuded, its soils and waters polluted, while the once lush forested valleys of Eastern Tibet, destroyed leaving a lunar-like landscape.

  This post was originally published on Digital Activism In Support Of Tibetan Independence.

• July 26, 2024

  Historic Tibetan Buddhist monastery demolished for Chinese hydropower plant #china #tibet #rfanews

  
  This content originally appeared on Radio Free Asia and was authored by Radio Free Asia.
  

  This post was originally published on Radio Free.

• July 26, 2024

  Podcast: Master of Deceit, Episode 2 – The US, China and spies versus spies | RFA Stories

  
  This content originally appeared on Radio Free Asia and was authored by Radio Free Asia.
  

  This post was originally published on Radio Free.

• July 26, 2024

  Did US and China engage in electronic warfare in the South China Sea?

  A claim emerged in Chinese-language media that American and Chinese ships recently engaged in intense electronic warfare for more than 12 hours in the South China Sea, causing internet outages and GPS disruption in the north of the Philippines.

  However, the claim lacks evidence. There are no official or credible reports to back it up. Experts told AFCL that the details cited by Chinese-language media do not match real electronic warfare scenarios.

  The claim was shared in a report published by Hong Kong-based Oriental Daily News on July 8, 2024.

  “Recently, the media in Taiwan and the Philippines have been reporting a news story that the U.S. and China have been engaged in a 12-hour electronic confrontation in the South China Sea, and that the US forces have lost the battle,” the claim reads in part.

  “During this period, GPS in the northern part of the Philippines was completely cut off, and all communications, including telephone and television signals, were seriously affected,” it reads further. 

  

  Similar claims have been shared on other Chinese-language media reports here, here and here.

  But the claim lacks evidence.

  Origin of the claim

  Many Chinese media outlets, which circulated the claim, cited either “online users” or” Taiwanese media outlets”.

  However, keyword searches show that some Taiwanese media outlets cited “media reports from the Philippines” to back the claim.

  Keyword searches found no official or credible reports to back the claim. 

  The earliest media report that contains this claim is from China’s Netease, which was published on June 30.

  The Neteast report cited “media reports from the Philippines” and “foreign media outlets” as evidence for the claim, without identifying the outlets. 

  Power outages

  Gao Zhirong, an assistant researcher at the Taipei-based Institute for National Defense and Security Studies, said that the details cited by Chinese-language media do not match real electronic warfare scenarios. Such operations typically target enemy telecommunications equipment and radar, not civilian internet.

  “There’s no way to mess with the internet, other than to send some people to cut the undersea cables,” he said. 

  Gao added that the reported location of the clash is too far from northern Philippines for the jamming effects to have likely caused any disruption there.

  “You’d need a whole lot of power for that, which was unlikely to be reached,” he says.

  Unlikely scenario

  Chinese-language media reports claimed that after a Chinese vessel recovered a sonar buoy dropped by a U.S. P8A anti-submarine aircraft in the South China Sea, both sides dispatched several electronic warfare aircraft to the area. 

  They further claimed that the U.S. military sent Boeing EA-18G Growler electronic warfare aircraft and Boeing RC-135 strategic reconnaissance planes, while China dispatched Shaanxi Y-9 warplanes and Type 815 surveillance ships.

  But Richard Fisher, a senior researcher at the International Assessment and Strategy Center told AFCL that it was unlikely the U.S. military would engage in a large-scale electronic war to protect sonar buoys. 

  The primary purpose of the EA-18G Growler is to attack and disrupt electronic combat systems, such as radar and missile guidance, said Fisher, adding that jamming GPS signals is only a secondary function of the aircraft.

  Translated by Shen Ke. Edited by Shen Ke and Taejun Kang.

  Asia Fact Check Lab (AFCL) was established to counter disinformation in today’s complex media environment. We publish fact-checks, media-watches and in-depth reports that aim to sharpen and deepen our readers’ understanding of current affairs and public issues. If you like our content, you can also follow us on Facebook, Instagram and X.

  
  This content originally appeared on Radio Free Asia and was authored by By Zhuang Jing for Asia Fact Check Lab.
  

  This post was originally published on Radio Free.

• July 24, 2024

  Thinking Outside the Water

  Question: What do China, the Baltic and Russia have in common? Answer: seabed warfare. There may not be any agreed definition – yet – of ‘seabed warfare’, but examples of what it might entail are increasingly making the headlines. From Baltic gas pipeline explosions and cutting of undersea communications cables to the revival of Cold […]

  The post Thinking Outside the Water appeared first on Asian Military Review.

  This post was originally published on Asian Military Review.

• July 24, 2024

  Eugene Doyle: It’s bigger than NATO and it’s heading our way

  COMMENTARY: By Eugene Doyle

  Australia and New Zealand’s populations must now wake up to the fact that our countries have been drawn into what ForeignPolicy.com called the knitting together of “the United States’ patchwork of different regional security systems into a global security architecture of networked alliances and partnerships”.

  Hit pause right there.

  Very few people have tuned into the fact that what is happening isn’t “NATO” moving into our region – it’s actually far bigger than that.  America is creating a super-bloc, a super-alliance of client states that includes both the EU and NATO, the AP4 (its key Asia Pacific partners Australia, New Zealand, South Korea and Japan) and other partners like the Philippines (now the Marcos dynasty is back at the helm).

  • READ MORE: Other NZ-China and Luxon reports

  It explains why, in the midst of committing genocide in Palestine, Israel still managed to send defence personnel to participate in RIMPAC 2024 naval exercises: they’re part of our team.  It is taking the Military Industrial Complex to a global level. Where do you think it will lead us to?

  New Zealand is about to sacrifice what it cannot afford to lose for something it doesn’t need: gambling we can keep the strength and security of our trading relationship with China while leaping into the US anti-China military alliance.

  The Chinese have noticed. Writing in the South China Morning Post last week, Alex Lo gave an unvarnished Chinese perspective on this. In a piece titled “NATO barbarians are expanding and gathering at the gates of Asia,” he says: “Most regional countries want none of it, but four Trojan horses – South Korea, Japan, Australia and New Zealand – are ready to let them in”.

  “Has it crossed Blinken’s mind that most of Asia, including the Indian subcontinent, don’t want NATO militarism to infect their parts of the world like the plague?”

  While in Washington for the recent NATO summit, Prime Minister Christopher Luxon told The Financial Times that he viewed China as a strategic competitor in the Indo-Pacific.  In the next breath he said he wanted New Zealand to continue to develop trade with China and double the country’s overall exports over the next 10 years.

  Good luck with that if we join a hostile alliance. And since when has New Zealand declared that China was a strategic competitor?  That’s an American position, surely not ours?

  New Zealand could “add value” to its security relationships and be a “force multiplier for Australia and the US and other partners”, Luxon said while being hosted in Washington.  New Zealand was also “very open” to participating in the second pillar of AUKUS.

  Firmly placing New Zealand in the anti-China camp in this way was immediately lambasted by former PM Helen Clark and ex National Party leader Don Brash. What has been abandoned, they argue, without any public consultation, is our relatively independent foreign policy.   They sounded a warning about where real danger lies:

  “China not only poses no military threat to New Zealand, but it is also by a very substantial margin our biggest export market – more than twice as important as an export market for New Zealand as the US is.

  “New Zealand has a huge stake in maintaining a cordial relationship with China.  It will be difficult, if not impossible, to maintain such a relationship if the Government continues to align its positioning with that of the United States.”

  Prudent players, like most of the ASEAN countries, continue to play a more canny game.  Former President of the United Nations Security Council, Kishore Mahbubani, a Singapore statesman with immense experience, offers a study in contrast to Luxon. He says the Pacific has no need of the destructive militaristic culture of the Atlantic alliance.

  In a recent article in The Straits Times, Mahbubani said East Asia has developed, with the assistance of ASEAN, a very cautious and pragmatic geopolitical culture.

  “In the 30 years since the end of the Cold War, NATO has dropped several thousand bombs on many countries. By contrast, in the same period, no bombs have been dropped anywhere in East Asia.

  “The biggest danger we face in NATO expanding its tentacles from the Atlantic to the Pacific: It could end up exporting its disastrous militaristic culture to the relatively peaceful environment we have developed in East Asia,” Mahbubani says.

  Clark and Brash are right to sound the alarm: “These statements orient New Zealand towards being a full-fledged military ally of the United States, with the implication that New Zealand will increasingly be dragged into US-China competition, including militarily in the South China Sea.“

  The National-led government is also ignoring calls by Pacific leaders to keep the Pacific peaceful. The danger is that a small group of officials in New Zealand’s increasingly militaristic and Americanised foreign affairs establishment are, along with a few politicians, sending the country into dangerous waters.

  Glove puppet for Americans
  Luxon’s comments are really so close to Pentagon positions and talking points that he is reducing himself to little more than a glove puppet for the Americans.

  New Zealand needs to be a beacon of diplomacy, moderation, cooperation and de-escalation or one day we may find out what it’s like to lose both our security and our biggest trading partner.

  Kiwis, like the Australians last year, may suddenly discover our paternalistic leaders have put us into AUKUS or some American Anglosophere-plus military alliance designed to maintain US global hegemony.

  Eugene Doyle is a community organiser and activist in Wellington, New Zealand. He received an Absolutely Positively Wellingtonian award in 2023 for community service. His first demonstration was at the age of 12 against the Vietnam War. This article was first published at his public policy website Solidarity and is republished here with permission.

  This post was originally published on Asia Pacific Report.

• July 22, 2024

  Did the BBC report that China abused aliens on the moon?

  Several Chinese social media users have shared what appears to be a BBC news report alongside a claim that the BBC reported China’s spaceship “abused aliens” on the moon. 

  But the claim is false. The screenshot shared on social media has been digitally altered. Keyword searches found no credible reports to back the claim.

  The claim was shared on China’s Weibo social media platform on June 30. 

  “BBC said the Chinese spaceship abused aliens on the moon,” reads the claim. 

  The claim was shared alongside a screenshot of what appears to be a BBC report. 

  “BBC report: Chinese Spaceship Abusing Aliens on the Moon,” text in English superimposed on the screenshot reads. 

  The claim started spreading online after China’s robotic lunar mission, Chang’e 6, returned to Earth on June 25. It became the first lunar mission to collect samples from the far side of the moon.

  The same screenshot with similar claims were shared on Weibo here and here as well as on X, formerly known as Twitter, here and here. 

  

  But the claim is false. 

  The BBC report

  A reverse image search of the screenshot found the matching scene included in this BBC report on June 25, titled “China space probe returns to Earth with rare Moon rocks.” 

  A close look at the four-minute and 22-second report found no parts that back the claim.

  

  Keyword searches also found no credible reports that show the BBC reported China’s spaceship “abusing aliens” on the moon. 

  Translated by Shen Ke. Edited by Shen Ke and Taejun Kang.

  Asia Fact Check Lab (AFCL) was established to counter disinformation in today’s complex media environment. We publish fact-checks, media-watches and in-depth reports that aim to sharpen and deepen our readers’ understanding of current affairs and public issues. If you like our content, you can also follow us on Facebook, Instagram and X.

  
  This content originally appeared on Radio Free Asia and was authored by By Dong Zhe for Asia Fact Check Lab.
  

  This post was originally published on Radio Free.

• July 18, 2024

  J.D. Vance Criticizes Biden’s Support for Iraq War in 2003 But Pushes Hawkish Policy on China & Iran

  
  This content originally appeared on Democracy Now! and was authored by Democracy Now!.
  

  This post was originally published on Radio Free.

• July 18, 2024

  What US Seeks is to Maximize Its Exploitation of Taiwan’s Interests

  

  Illustration: Liu Rui/GT

  The Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) authorities of Taiwan should be trembling now. Former US president Donald Trump, who is the Republican Party’s official 2024 presidential nominee, accused Taiwan of stealing US chip business and claimed that Taiwan “should pay” for US protection, according to Bloomberg on Tuesday.

  Trump’s words reflect the strong intention of many US politicians who attempt to replenish the US economy by exploiting the Taiwan island. We wonder how the DPP authorities, who rely on the US to seek “independence,” feel when they heard Trump’s comment. They must be feeling on edge, terrified.

  In fact, Taiwan has been paying “protection fees” to the US, a large portion of which is spent on purchasing expensive American weapons that Taiwan can’t bargain for. The US has sold arms to Taiwan over 100 times in the past more than four decades. Statistics indicate that the total arms sales from the US to the Taiwan island have surpassed $70 billion up to now. This $70 billion could have been utilized to improve the livelihoods of the people on the island and boost the economy, but instead it was used to procure American weapons and pay “pro-tection fees” to the US. “US-Taiwan collusion” not only seriously impedes Taiwan’s economic development and harms the interests of people on the island, but also creates instability in the Taiwan Straits and escalates tensions.

  Even so, US politicians, like Trump, are far from being satisfied. Trump mentioned in his in-terview with Bloomberg that the US is no different from “an insurance company” and Taiwan doesn’t give the US anything.

  Trump and his likes want to exploit Taiwan for more “protection fees,” but once a conflict occurs across the Taiwan Straits, will the US really defend Taiwan because of the “protection fees” paid by Taiwan?

  The US has maintained strategic ambiguity when it comes to defending Taiwan. There is currently no formal agreement requiring the US to send troops to defend Taiwan once there is a conflict in the Taiwan Straits. It would be a strategic gamble by the US to break through this framework and engage in war with another major power. The so-called US’ commitment to Taiwan is not even an insurance policy.

  Xin Qiang, director of the Taiwan Studies Center at Fudan University, told the Global Times that “an ‘insurance company’ must be responsible for repayment as long as the conditions are met. But the so-called protection of Taiwan by the US has no legal binding force, and it is entirely based on the interests of the US, not for the benefit of Taiwan.” The “protection” the DPP authorities are seeking from the US with enormous money is an utterly expensive joke, and no matter how much money Taiwan spends, it will be a waste.

  As those secessionists try to seek ‘Taiwan independence’ backed by the US, the island will have to pay further “protection fees” to satisfy the desire of the US if requests, Yuan Zheng, deputy director and a senior fellow of the Institute of American Studies at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, told the Global Times. Taiwan has either the room nor the ability for bargaining if it continues to rely on the US to seek “independence.”

  Trump’s remarks reflect the shameless but true thoughts of many US politicians. The US wants to maximize its exploitation of the Taiwan island’s interests, use it to contain the mainland geopolitically, and gain economic benefits as much as possible. With the ambiguous “pro-tection” promises, the US tightly controls the DPP authorities and exploits endlessly.

  The DPP authorities are obsessed with the “protection” of the US. If the DPP authorities regard the wealth that Taiwan has accumulated for decades as a tribute to the US, and totally believe the US’ empty promises, it is tantamount to drinking poison to quench its thirst.

  We must remind the DPP authorities not to dream of achieving “Taiwan independence” by relying on the US. When the time comes for a showdown, the US will not take huge risks to “defend Taiwan.” Just as Trump said in the interview: Why are we [the US] doing this?

  The post What US Seeks is to Maximize Its Exploitation of Taiwan’s Interests first appeared on Dissident Voice.

  This post was originally published on Dissident Voice.

• July 18, 2024

  Uyghurs protest 15th anniversary of Urumqi riots in northwestern China | Radio Free Asia (RFA)

  
  This content originally appeared on Radio Free Asia and was authored by Radio Free Asia.
  

  This post was originally published on Radio Free.

• July 18, 2024

  J.D. Vance Criticizes Biden’s Support for Iraq War in 2003 But Pushes Hawkish Policy on China & Iran

  

  We continue to look at the record of Donald Trump’s vice-presidential running mate, Senator J.D. Vance, with a focus on his foreign policy actions, with Matt Duss of the Center for International Policy, former adviser to Senator Bernie Sanders. Vance is “very aligned with Trump,” says Duss, such as in his support of the Abraham Accords, the Arab-Israeli normalization deal signed under the Trump administration that sought to increase Israel’s power in the region at the expense of Palestinian rights.

  
  This content originally appeared on Democracy Now! and was authored by Democracy Now!.
  

  This post was originally published on Radio Free.

• July 18, 2024

  Philippines reports fewer Chinese ships in South China Sea

  The number of Chinese ships in Philippines-claimed areas in the South China Sea has dropped, but the military on Tuesday said it was too early to tell whether this was because of an agreement to de-escalate tensions in the waterway. 

  The military reported 104 Chinese ships in Manila’s waters from July 9 to 15 compared with 153 before both countries convened the Bilateral Consultative Mechanism, or BCM, on July 2, said Rear Adm. Roy Vincent Trinidad, navy spokesman for the West Philippine Sea.

  Manila refers to territories in the South China Sea within its exclusive economic zone as the West Philippine Sea.

  “There was a decrease. Whether this is because of the BCM, it still remains to be seen,” Trinidad told reporters.

  The latest BCM has established a South China Sea “hotline” to quickly address issues in the region as they arise – authorities have yet to provide details on this mechanism. However, similar agreements in the past were not effective in resolving disputes.

  Manila and Beijing agreed to de-escalate tensions in the South China Sea following a tense standoff between Filipino troops and China Coast Guard personnel at Second Thomas (Ayungin) Shoal on June 17, during which a Philippine sailor lost a finger.

  Filipino military officials claimed China Coast Guard personnel, armed with pikes and machetes, punctured Philippine boats and seized firearms during the incident.

  The Philippine military has not launched another mission to Ayungin Shoal since then and Trinidad said it was too early to tell if the alleged Chinese harassment in the South Sea would be stopped because of the BCM. 

  “We will know about this when we conduct the next RoRe [rotation and reprovisioning]. But for now, our basis for our assessment is the number of [Chinese] ships that we have monitored,” Trinidad said. 

  “We will continue ensuring the integrity of the national territories, especially the West Philippine Sea, against the actions by the agents of aggression of the Chinese communist party,” he said.

  Beijing has defended its actions, insisting on its sovereignty over nearly the entire South China Sea.

  Military chiefs meet

  Also on Tuesday, Philippine military chief Gen. Romeo Brawner Jr. met with Gen. Charles Brown Jr., chairman of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff, to discuss ways to enhance cooperation between the two allies and boost their joint annual war games. Specific details of the closed-door talks were not made available.

  “Our alliance with the United States remains a cornerstone of our national security,” Brawner said, adding that both countries were working to “fortify our defense capabilities and ensure stability of the region.”

  The United States and the Philippines are bound by a 1951 Mutual Defense Treaty, which calls on each to come to the other’s aid in times of war or third-party aggression.  

  BenarNews is an RFA-affiliated online news organization.

  
  This content originally appeared on Radio Free Asia and was authored by By Jason Gutierrez for BenarNews.
  

  This post was originally published on Radio Free.

• July 17, 2024

  USSOCOM Pursues New Insertion Techniques

  Moving onto the objective for SOF often takes methods that are ‘out of the ordinary’. USSOCOM has been discussing new alternatives. At the inaugural Special Operations Forces (SOF) Week conference in Tampa, Florida in May, service leaders from across the US Special Operations Command (USSOCOM) highlighted the so-called ‘tyranny of distance’ across the Indo-Pacific area […]

  The post USSOCOM Pursues New Insertion Techniques appeared first on Asian Military Review.

  This post was originally published on Asian Military Review.

• July 16, 2024

  China shuts renowned Tibetan private school, sparking outcry

  The Chinese government has shut down a prominent vocational high school in a Tibetan-populated prefecture in Qinghai province, making it the latest in a slew of Tibetan private schools that have been forcibly closed in recent years.

  The Gangjong Sherig Norling school in Golog county, or Guoluo in Chinese, is in the historical Amdo region of Tibet. It was founded in 1994 by Ragya Jigme Gyaltsen, the principal, and is renowned for its modern and traditional education on Tibetan culture, philosophy and religion. 

  In an announcement in both Tibetan and Mandarin dated July 14, Gyaltsen said the school was closing because it was not in compliance with standards set by the Qinghai Provincial Party Committee for vocational schools. However, no specifics were provided.

  The 30-year-old school is the latest in a series of private schools forcibly closed in recent years, sparking concern among Tibetans over efforts by Chinese authorities to eradicate Tibetan language and culture.

  Tenzin Lekshey, spokesperson for the Central Tibetan Administration — the Tibetan government-in-exile — expressed disappointment over the school’s closure and condemned the Chinese government’s actions, stating that the move highlights Beijing’s disregard for the wishes of the Tibetan people. 

  “The forced closure of Tibetan schools underscores the Chinese government’s escalating policy to eradicate and undermine Tibetan language and culture,” he said.

  Gyaltsen also announced the closure of the school at a graduation ceremony for 110 students on July 12. 

  In tears

  Videos of the graduation showed students in tears upon hearing news of the closure. The students, dressed in traditional Tibetan attire, were seen carrying the traditional Tibetan white ceremonial scarves as a mark of respect and gratitude for the school.

  During the past three decades, the school has served as a vital hub of learning for Tibetan cultural and linguistic studies, drawing youth from across Tibet, Mongolia and Inner Mongolia.

  The school’s rigorous curriculum also includes English, computer science, engineering, medicine, filmmaking and physical education.

  ---

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  ---

  In all, nearly 2,300 students have graduated from the institution where distinguished Tibetan scholars such as Berza Tsultrim, Dong Younten Gyatso and Mangri Gyadol have served as professors.

  Graduates have gone on to become researchers, doctors, civil servants, teachers, monastery leaders and administrators.

  At the time of its closure, the school is reported to have had 1,400 students and 58 faculty and staff. 

  Hub for Tibetan studies

  The school’s closure has sparked concern both inside and outside Tibet, with many former students and Tibetan language activists expressing disappointment and outrage on social media. 

  A former student posted a short video on social media in which he said the shutdown of a “homeland school fully engaged in preserving the language and culture of the Tibetan race makes me feel very sad.”

  “Today, a black snowfall has fallen on Tibet and the light of Tibet has gone out,” wrote one Tibetan netizen on Chinese social media. 

  

  

  Another wrote: “The school is regarded as the pride and shining beacon of the Tibetan people, a great star in our society. Without it, we would not be aware of the state of our language. In a way, our people are truly unfortunate.” 

  However, a former school employee now living in the United States said she wasn’t surprised about the school’s closure because rumors about it had circulated for some time.  

  “The local government has been trying to shut down schools that are not under their control, especially independent Tibetan language private schools,” said the woman who requested anonymity for fear of backlash. 

  “Many students and teachers I know are heartbroken and in despair,” she added.

  Restrictions

  Penpa Tsering, the Sikyong, or political leader of the Central Tibetan Administration, told RFA that the Kashag, or Cabinet of the government-in-exile, is concerned about the school’s closure, which has helped Tibetans preserve their identity. 

  “It is clear that the Chinese government instead of improving the conditions in Tibet, rather they are worsening the situation day by day,” he said, adding that the Kashag fears Beijing will take similar action in other parts of Tibet. 

  According to the Central Tibetan Administration, repeated attempts had been made in the past by Chinese authorities to shut down the school, including levying lawsuits against Gyaltsen by falsely accusing him of accepting bribes while serving as chairman of the Snow Land Pastoral Association and the Qinghai-Tibet Trade Association. 

  

  

  After a trial, the charges against the school were dismissed, and Gyaltsen was acquitted of any wrongdoing. However, he was temporarily suspended from his role as a member of the Tibetan Nationalities Council.

  Since 2020, the Chinese government has imposed stricter restrictions on language rights in Tibet, resulting in the closure of private Tibetan schools and a heightened emphasis on Chinese-language education in the name of standardizing textbooks and instructional materials.

  In 2021, authorities also began banning Tibetan children from attending informal language classes or workshops during winter breaks. 

  Activists warn that these measures could threaten the survival of the Tibetan language in the region and undermine its viability nationwide.

  Nyima Woser, a researcher at the India-based Tibetan Centre for Human Rights and Democracy, told RFA that the forceful closure of the school violates China’s own constitution, autonomous regulations and international laws. 

  The school’s shutdown coincided with the signing into law U.S. legislation on Tibet that urges the Chinese government to address the aspirations of the Tibetan people concerning their unique historical, cultural, religious and linguistic identity.

  Additional reporting by Tashi Wangchuk, Lhuboom, Sonam Lhamo, Rigdhen Dolma and Lobsang Gelek for RFA Tibetan. Translated by Dawa Dolma and edited by Tenzin Pema for RFA Tibetan. Edited by Roseanne Gerin and Malcolm Foster.

  
  This content originally appeared on Radio Free Asia and was authored by By Lobe Socktsang, Tenzin Dickyi and Dickey Kundol for RFA Tibetan.
  

  This post was originally published on Radio Free.

• July 15, 2024

  Oatly Partners with Haidilao & KFC for New Ice Creams in China

  

  5 Mins Read

  Oatly has launched three ice creams via partnerships with Haidilao and KFC in China, where it has initiated a strategic reset this year.

  Swedish oat milk giant Oatly has partnered with hotpot giant Haidilao and fast-casual chain KFC to introduce new vegan popsicles to the restaurants’ menus in China.

  At Haidilao, the world’s largest hotpot chain, Oatly has introduced two fruit popsicles in guava and grape flavours. The eatery is one of the five most valuable brands internationally. Among the only companies surpassing it is KFC, which has extended an ongoing partnership with Oatly to offer a limited-edition citrus-flavoured ice lolly.

  It follows the rollout of a range of zero-sugar oat milk ice creams in the market to cater to an increasingly health-conscious population.

  Oatly hones in on health amid China reset

  

  At Haidilao, the oat-based fruit popsicles were specifically designed to complement hot pots, providing a cooling sensation to the often spicy and always piping-hot dish. The treats blend Oatly’s milk with fresh fruits, resulting in a creamy, sweet and sour offering that counterbalances the meal.

  Meanwhile, Oatly’s KFC popsicle is called Bursting Citrus Trio, and features a blend of three different kinds of lemons, whose tanginess is offset by malt paste and maltose syrup. The zesty treats also contain crunchy bits of frozen candied lemon peel.

  This comes months after Oatly rolled out zero-sugar treats in latte, cocoa and hazelnut variants, speaking to a growing demand for healthier plant-based foods in China. A 2023 report by Asymmetrics Research outlined how plant-based milk brands are highlighting attributes like ‘no sugar/cholesterol/trans fat’, ‘good for brains/eyes’, and ‘high protein/calcium’ on product packaging, alongside cleaner labels.

  

  “China is promoting healthier and more nutritious food options in response to the Healthy China policy,” said David J Ettinger, chief representative officer at law firm Keller and Heckman Shanghai. “Therefore, foods offering health benefits and high nutritional value are going to likely lead the way.”

  Health is the main driver of plant-based food consumption in China, with 46% of consumers saying so in a poll published last month. This was followed by nutrition (39%). Freshness of ingredients, meanwhile, is the biggest barrier, cited by 36% of respondents, so this focus by Oatly will likely be popular with shoppers.

  The partnerships with Haidilao and KFC will help Oatly, which first introduced ice cream in China in 2022, turn its fortunes around in the country. Sales have been on the decline for a while now, with the oat milk maker blaming a “slower-than-expected post-Covid-19 recovery”.

  Last year, its Asian revenue decreased by 19% – China made up 93% of the market. “The consumer environment in Greater China remains challenging. However, we are identifying opportunities to rebuild our business in a disciplined manner,” COO Daniel Ordonez said in May.

  “While it is clear we have not yet gained the traction needed for this business to capture the full opportunity that region provides, you can see we’re starting to make progress on the second stage of this segment’s turnaround plan,” he added.

  Spotlighting culture and functionality for Chinese consumers

  

  As part of its strategic reset in China, Oatly rejigged its operating segments this year, with Greater China (including Hong Kong and Taiwan) now managed separately from Asia-Pacific, which has joined Latin America, Europe, Middle East and Africa in a new Europe & International section.

  Ordonez’s statements came during the company’s Q1 earnings call this year. The Greater China region made up 11% of the business’s sales in the quarter, and year-on-year revenue was down by 27%. Oatly had already begun eliminating low-margin SKUs from retail and e-commerce, and now, the foodservice focus has been amped up.

  The latter channel accounted for 70% of the brand’s Q1 revenue in Greater China, while e-commerce contributed to 13% – it represents the need for a different strategy in this region, given that retail dominated revenue in its other markets.

  “Sensitive to the economic context prevailing in China and the new consumer behaviour, it was clear we needed to complement our portfolio with SKUs that could hit certain price points,” Ordonez said. “This helps us to build a stronger service package for our customers, drive volume growth to sustain necessary levels of capacity absorption, and hence, solidify our margins.”

  

  Reflecting on Oatly’s journey in China and its future strategy, its Greater China president David Zhang told Campaign Asia last month that “categories serve as forests, brands act as trees, and business represents the fruit”. “Initially, there’s a forest, followed by trees, and ultimately, fruit. Without a forest, the trees would be swept away by the wind. Only when a category is established can a brand genuinely exist,” he explained.

  Zhang highlighted the importance of understanding cultural differences and values in the CPG sector. “We’ve discovered that numerous Nordic concepts are compatible with fundamental human logic, such as ‘less is more’, ‘lagom’ (Swedish for ‘just right’), and ‘sustainable development’. These concepts are also relevant in China,” he said.

  “In China, Oatly not only highlights the functionality of its products but also chooses to use them to represent a lifestyle. We discuss the Nordic way of life and position environmental protection and sustainability as our distinctive attributes, together with the importance of design and creativity as our primary focus, to showcase our unique strengths and qualities.”

  Zhang added that the demand for oat milk has been constantly on the rise in China. “The challenge of shifting from a ‘niche’ to ‘daily’ means increasing the consumer base and its diverse needs,” he stated. “At the same time, it is an opportunity for Oatly to maintain keen market insights and create R&D capabilities to meet the diversified needs of the general public for oat-based products.”

  The post Oatly Partners with Haidilao & KFC for New Ice Creams in China appeared first on Green Queen.

  This post was originally published on Green Queen.

• July 14, 2024

  Multipolarity and BRICS Once More

  
  The debates over “multipolarity” and the significance of an allegedly multipolar BRICS grouping continue. In an opinion piece in People’s Voice (“Multipolarity, BRICS+ and the struggle for peace, cooperation, and socialism today,” June 16-30, 2024) writer Garrett Halas mounts an earnest defense of multipolarity and the BRICS+ “as a positive step towards socialism.”

  Halas joins many others in envisioning all twenty-first-century resistance to US imperialism and the imperialism of its (largely ex-Cold War) partners as the same as resistance to imperialism in general. They divide the world into the US and its friends and those who, to some extent or another, oppose the US. Sometimes they characterize this as a conflict between the global North and the global South. Sometimes they refer to the imperialist antagonists collectively as “the West.”

  From the perspective of the multipolarity proponents, if the countries resisting the US should neutralize US domination and that of its allies, then the world will become peaceful and harmonious. In their view, it is not capitalism that obstructs enduring peace, but US imperial aspirations alone. Accordingly, in the idealized future, multiple friendly, cooperative states (poles) will engage in peaceful, equitable economic transactions that all agree will be mutually advantageous — what Chinese leaders call “win-win.” If this isn’t achieved immediately, it will soon follow. Is not socialism down the road?

  The reality is that as important as resisting US domination and aggression surely is, its decline or defeat will not put an end to imperialism, as long as monopoly capitalism continues to exist.

  In the history of modern-era imperialism, the decline of every dominating great capitalist power has spawned the rise of another. As one power recedes, others step up and contest for global dominance — that is the fundamental logic of imperialism. And, all too often, war ensues.

  • CLASS: Glaringly absent from the theory of multipolarity is the concept of class. Advocates of a multipolar world fail to explain how class relations– specifically the interests of the working class– are advanced with the existence of multiple capitalist poles. Halas tells us that the “BRICS+ is a coalition with a concrete class character rooted in the global South” but he doesn’t tell us what that “concrete class character” is. This is a critical question and a significant problem, given that Halas concedes that “most BRICS+ nations are capitalist”! Of the original BRICS members, capitalism is unquestionably the dominant economic system in Russia, India, South Africa, and Brazil. Of the candidate members scheduled for entry in 2024– Argentina (likely a withdrawal), Egypt, Ethiopia, Iran, Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates– all are capitalist. The idea that working class interests will be served, and socialism advanced by this group seems far-fetched.

• CLASS CONFLICT: Class struggle — the motor of the struggle for workers’ advances, workers’ power, and socialism — has been stifled by the governments of nearly all the BRICS and BRICS+ countries. In Iran, for example, Communism is illegal and Communists have been executed in large numbers. Communism is likewise illegal in Saudi Arabia. Modi has conducted class war against India’s farmers. South Africa’s working class has seen unemployment and poverty rise under the disappointing government. Egyptian workers labor under a brutal military government. How does their entry into BRICS promise socialism?

• GLOBAL NORTH/GLOBAL SOUTH: Halas and the “multipolaristas” would have it that the “contradiction” informing multipolarity is the clash between the “global north” and the “global south” or, paradoxically, the “West” and the rest of the world. Apart from the fact that the geographical division captures little—other than the imagination of social-media leftists– it gives the impression that Australia and New Zealand have something in common with impoverished Burundi. Or that Serbia and Germany are Western partners in exploiting small African countries. There is, of course, a division between wealthy countries and poor countries, between exploiters and exploited. Historically, the sharpest fault lines have been defined by colonialism and its successor, neo-colonialism. But the imperialist cards are shuffled from time to time due to resource inequities, uneven development, or other gained advantages. For example, the Arabian Peninsula was once a dominated colony of the Ottoman empire. That empire’s dissolution and subsequent developments led to an emergent Saudi Arabia infused with resource wealth and high up on the imperialist hierarchy. Today, India has three of the top 20 corporations in Asia by market value, larger than all Japanese corporations except for Toyota. India’s Tata Group has a market capitalization of over $380 billion, with its tentacles spread to 100 countries. The June 28 UK Morning Star editorial informs us: “Tata Steel’s threat to shut the blast furnaces at Port Talbot three months earlier if Unite goes ahead with strike action is blackmail. The India-based multinational does not believe steelworkers should have a say in the plant’s future… It’s outrageous that the future of British steelmaking should be at the whim of a billionaire on a different continent.”

• DECOUPLING: Halas suggests that BRICS+ offers an opportunity for countries to break out of the capitalist international financial structures imposed after World War II and the dominance of the dollar in global transactions. Such an option may exist in the future, but clearly it is intended as an option and not a substitute for existing structures and exchange instruments. As recently as late June of this year, PRC Premier Li Qiang said that “We should broadly open our minds, work closely together, abandon camp formations, (and) oppose decoupling…” [my emphasis] It is clear that the picture of global country-to-country relations– as envisioned by Peoples’ China’s second most prominent leader, Li, at the “Summer” Davos– offers no challenge to existing financial arrangements or to the dominance of the dollar. The antagonistic conflict between the old order and the new multipolar order is more a fantasy in the minds of some on the left than a real policy goal of the leading country in BRICS.

• ANTI-IMPERIALISM: Halas would like us to believe that twentieth-century anti-imperialism is multipolarity embodied in BRICS. He cites the UN votes on Palestinian status and oppression (predictably vetoed by the US) as an example of “global south” anti-imperialism. While symbolic and not without significance, it is hardly the principled anti-imperialist action we came to know in earlier times. It is worth reminding that Saudi Arabia was on the verge of abandoning Palestine for better relations with Israel before October 7. Egypt has long sold out the cause of Palestine, as has much of the Arab world. According to Al Jazeera, India is currently selling military supplies to Israel. Virtue-signaling at UN forums is not a substitute for concrete, material solidarity.

• CHINA: This is not the place for debating whether the Peoples’ Republic of China is a socialist country, a favorite parlor game of the Euro-US left. However, it is worth stating that — as the only self-acclaimed socialist country currently in BRICS — the PRC does not claim to be advocating, encouraging, or materially aiding the struggle for socialism outside of China. Unlike the former Soviet Union, the PRC does not prioritize or privilege investment or material support for countries embarking on the socialist path. The word “socialism” is largely absent from its foreign policy statements. While the Chinese leadership defends its outlook as “socialism with Chinese characters,” it does not demonstrably support “socialism with anybody else’s national characters.” Yet, some on the left see multipolarity and a largely capitalist BRICS as a road to socialism for the rest of us?

• WE HAVE SEEN THIS BEFORE: In the 1960s, it was common for the left in Europe and the US to lose hope in the revolutionary potential of the working classes. Where working-class movements in Europe aligned with Communist Parties, they fully committed to a gradualist, parliamentary road to socialism. An anti-Communist New Left proposed a different vehicle of revolutionary change: The Third World. In the common parlance of the time, the Third World was the newly emergent, former colonies that were neither in the US camp nor the Soviet camp. Per this view, revolutionary change (and ultimately) socialism would grow from the independent road chosen by the leaders of these emergent nations. But instead, they were overwhelmed by the neo-colonialism of the great capitalist powers and absorbed by the global capitalist market, with few exceptions.

• AND EVEN EARLIER: Karl Kautsky, the major theoretician of the Socialist International, anticipated multipolarity in 1914, introducing a concept that he called “ultra-imperialism.” Kautsky believed that great power imperialism and war had no future. The imperialist system would, of necessity, stabilize and, due to declining capital exports, “Imperialism is thus digging its own grave… [T]he policy of imperialism therefore cannot be continued much longer.” For Kautsky, a stage of “concentration” of capitalist states, comparable to cartelization of corporations, will lead to inter-imperialist harmony. Lenin rejected this theory out of hand. For a discussion, go here.

Imperialism is not a stable system. Capitalist participants are always seeking a competitive advantage against their rivals. Sometimes they find it useful or necessary to form (often temporary) coalitions or alliances with others in order to protect or advance their interests. One such alliance was forged by the US after the Second World War in opposition to the socialist bloc and the national liberation movements.

After the fall of the Soviet Union, the US sought to keep existing coalitions intact by selecting or devising new enemies– the war on drugs, the war against terrorism, and wars of humanitarian intervention. Beneath these political ties existed a US established and dominated global economic structure privileging the US, but deemed necessary to protect the capitalist system.

This politico-economic framework served capitalism well, until the great economic crash of 2007-2009 and the ensuing cracks and fractures in the framework. The turmoil unleashed by the crisis dampened the pace of growth in international trade and accelerated the competition for markets. Further challenging the US-centered framework was the ability of People’s China to navigate the crisis rather painlessly. Where the US ruling class formerly saw the PRC as an opportunity, it began to see China as a rival in the imperialist system.

The post-Soviet global market — cemented by the so-called “globalization” process — began to unravel in the wake of twentieth-century economic instability, especially the 2007-2009 crash. Rather than defend existing free-trade dogma, capitalist countries were drawn to protectionism and economic nationalism. Beginning in the Trump Administration and accelerating during the Biden Administration, the US waged a tariff-and-sanctions war against economic competitors. US dominance of international financial institutions and the nearly universal dependence upon the US dollar gave US leaders even more weapons in this competition.

The US “pivot” to China in its defense posture and its growing hostility to Russia were reflections of its losing ground to the PRC’s growing economic might and Russia’s dominance of Eurasian energy markets.

Understandably, in this new era of economic nationalism, Russia, China, the leading power on the subcontinent, India, Africa’s top economic power, South Africa, and the largest economy in Latin America, Brazil, would look to counter aggressive US and EU competition. The era of mutual cooperation was ending, and the era of intense rivalry and national self-interest was emerging. It was in this environment that BRICS was born.

It was a capitalist response to a capitalist problem, not a path to socialism.

The main task for Communists and progressives is not to take sides, but to fight to ensure that these fractures and frictions do not explode into war.

This post was originally published on Dissident Voice.