A View from Afar – Selwyn Manning and Paul Buchanan debate: how in the last two weeks, China and the United States have been advancing distinct and separate defence alliances – positioning that is akin to the old Cold War.
On one hand, the US has been building up a coalition of allies that is designed to contain China’s presence in the South China Sea.
On the other hand, China has been cementing its defence and trade ties with adversaries of the United States. The pacts include formal cooperative agreements with Iran, and the Russian Federation.
So what makes the last two weeks different from the last four years?
Are we witnessing an emergence of a Cold War II styled stand-off in a post-Trump world?
If so, where does that leave small powers like New Zealand, and a host of other nations that make up the economies of the Asia Pacific region?
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The US doesn’t have any allies. It just has vassal states that are bullied into supporting its destructive, and ultimately self-destructive, agendas, and a few traitors within those states.
The US is the modern-day Rome at the end of empire, keeping up the pretence whilst floundering in an ocean of corruption, lies and ineptitude.
This is well worth reading if you are looking for something that makes sense:
‘China and Russia Launch a ‘Global Resistance Economy’
https://www.strategic-culture.org/news/2021/04/05/china-russia-launch-global-resistance-economy/
Meanwhile, the fascists the Americans sponsored into power in Ukraine (some of whose forebears fought alongside Nazi units in WW2) are about to strike a blow for fascism (and probably blow themselves up) in an attempt to restart the loot-the-Donesk-region war in the Russian-speaking region, probably with a view to pressing on to Moscow.
You can be sure Putin won’t allow any of that.
‘Kiev’s Forces Are Primed For Attack If They Can Overcome Their Own Minefields’
https://www.zerohedge.com/geopolitical/kievs-forces-are-primed-attack-if-they-can-overcome-their-own-minefields
Once you recognise that most of the people involved in politics and the military in the western world are nuts or self-serving liars and/or self-deceivers, it become a lot easier to understand the idiotic decisions they make.
I agree most of the superpowers seem extremely corrupt and their political process no longer work for the people, but shouldn’t we then we hunkering more down on our social democrat ideals that we and places like Scandinavia try to work by.
Instead I see NZ government mimicking and helping the nations and individuals and corporations that are more corrupt. In our history we used to say stop if we wanted to (NZ free Pacific, Free Tibet, Telling off Israel for stealing our passports, no whaling).
Something has gone horribly wrong in NZ, and its starting with psychological brain washing, including our politicians and the so called lefties now hating ourselves as a country and our nationals and not wanting to help or support them and instead pushing resources and time into helping other countries and other countries individuals and other countries businesses who have a lot more money and resources, to destroy social democracy and our environment here.
The video lacks balance and comment on Uighurs shows ignorance whether it be deliberate or not.
One Kiwi and one yank talking while not overtly pushing propaganda the omissions say a lot.
It is rather strange that the USAs aggression is not mentioned. Its like that the US bombing of Iraq, Afghanistan, Libya, Syria, support of genocide in Yemen and aggression in Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia is all OK and not worth taking into account.
Get off the grass, these guys are dangerous and are setting out to deceive or have been deceived themselves.
What is to be afraid of if a Chinese viewpoint by a Chinese was also offered.
That was totally unnecessary. They, both Selwyn and Buchanan said they’d covered all that already in there own separate vlog.
Appreciated Sam. Thanks.
John, before you go off half-cocked again, perhaps you could check first. Here’s a link to a recent episode we did on how China is oppressing the Uyghur people: https://eveningreport.nz/2021/03/18/podcast-buchanan-manning-ethical-trade-and-china-myanmars-descent-into-military-rule/
And just in case you are interested in other issues also covered, here’s the link to the archive: https://eveningreport.nz/er-podcasts/
Selwyn my reply to you has not been allowed but the setting of your opening certainly was far from neutral.
NZ need to hold a neutral position on the impending war being ramped up by the USA.
I respect those who don’t support war nor use bias in influencing other to side with the open propaganda being distributed to Kiwis in news an now journalism here.
It is an advantage to all in being given a wider view than that of US now western uptake of false information.
It is to NZ credit we did not join the US led attack on China using Covid19. Just look at which of the two nations has acted to protect its people.
Well then what are you arguing that New Zealand should cut all trade to half the world’s GDP and run even larger deficit budgets? That’s what happens when we have no friends and no military we end up being controlled by professional militaries
Hi John, the intro to the webcast wasn’t biased at all. It simply stated the situation as it is. That’s the benefit of positioning from an independent viewpoint. The webcast is an episode in a series. It has also applied the same independent editorial values to other powers, including the USA. So, I’m sorry, but your view, while it is yours to express in any way you choose, has no basis in reality when it comes to how I applied consideration to the elements of last week’s episode.
You may not like how China’s decisions were placed in scope. But that’s independence for you, it can challenge the biases inside us all.
All I can say is, it isn’t a good guys V bad guys issue. China, like all states and economies, is a cumulative of many parts. In so many respects it is a wonderful and robust culture. But like the USA too, it has its contradictions which are serious, dangerous, and deadly.
I almost do agree with you though on that aspect of New Zealand independence. You use the word ‘neutral’. I’m uncomfortable with the neutrality position. It suggests to me a foreign policy akin to Switzerland’s where it fosters indifference to what occurs outside our borders. I don’t agree with that at all.
But rather, I see huge value in the independent Pacific island state ideal – that New Zealand should position as an independent small power and speak against the folly of the USA’s military moves, which are designed to constrain China within its mainland borders. Likewise we should be speaking against China’s use of super-economy status as a weapon, and its military threats against independent economies such as Taiwan, and its human rights abuses on its mainland.
The complexities of supply-chain interests around the South China Sea impact all nations in the region, especially those that rely on it to sustain economic and social progress. China’s actions in the SCS obviously stimulate conflict rather than diplomacy, as does the US sending military hardware into the region. That’s what the episode was about.
It would be wrong to ignore analysing the cause and effect of polarising elements of geopolitics, especially through the avoidance of upsetting those hell-bent on partisanship.
That said, thanks for the opportunity to discuss this. Go well.
Who needs nuclear weapons and trillions in arms for security when you can weaken the West pretty easily just through drugs and emptying their workforce and social systems (pre cursor drug supply chains are mostly from China that drug traffickers rely on for the chemicals to make profitable drugs as methamphetamine and fentanyl) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yuancheng_Group https://apnews.com/article/4f0a4ca93cc2fee94d386efb13db31a0)
You can also shift all supply chains to your own country so when Covid hit, the so-called-knowledge based countries couldn’t even produce a protective mask easily and had to use shit that didn’t work https://www.theguardian.com/society/2020/apr/19/hospital-leaders-hit-out-government-ppe-shortage-row-escalates-nhs https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/national/415623/beggars-belief-that-ppe-would-fail-waitemata-dhb-nurse
PRC buy up asses all around the world (with PRC members on the boards) and control nuclear facilities in the middle of key strategic areas. https://www.bbc.com/news/av/uk-34590205
Maybe the advisors should have watched Chernobyl https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s9APLXM9Ei8
Because nuclear disasters are not exactly contained… and solar power is what China is investing in https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solar_power_in_China
The prime difference between nuclear and solar being that nuclear is a fast track to disaster whereas solar is a somewhat slower track to disaster.
We need to harvest and use less energy and consume much less resource.
A “Free” energy mythical source would would only make it worse and collapse happen sooner.
But there is no free energy apart from the sun rays being converted to plant matter and marine life building blocks.
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