Reuters Item, 22 March 2023
The Solomon Islands has awarded a multi-million-dollar contract to a Chinese state company to upgrade an international port in Honiara in a project funded by the Asian Development Bank, an official of the island nation said on Wednesday.
The United States and its allies, including Australia, New Zealand and Japan, have held concerns that China has ambitions to build a naval base in the region since the Solomon Islands struck a security pact with Beijing last year.
A good friend of Malaysia and Indonesia currently on the Black Sea … with a title and highlighting imposed by The Editor, Thuppahi
A: Paul Keating released this statement today saying the AUKUS arrangements represent “the worst international decision by a Labor government” since Billy Hughes introduced conscription. Very strong words here, highly critical of his own party – a betrayal in fact.
Filed under accountability, american imperialism, Australian culture, australian media, centre-periphery relations, China and Chinese influences, doctoring evidence, economic processes, foreign policy, governance, historical interpretation, life stories, military strategy, nationalism, Pacific Ocean issues, Pacific Ocean politics, patriotism, politIcal discourse, power politics, sea warfare, security, self-reflexivity, taking the piss, truth as casualty of war, unusual people, world events & processes
Former prime minister Paul Keating examines the merits of the AUKUS submarine deal and its implications for China-Australia relations and regional stability.
Filed under accountability, american imperialism, Australian culture, australian media, centre-periphery relations, China and Chinese influences, disparagement, governance, historical interpretation, life stories, patriotism, politIcal discourse, power politics, sea warfare, security, self-reflexivity, truth as casualty of war, unusual people, world events & processes, World War Three?
“X” commenting on a Telling Interview served up by SERGEY LAVROV in India, ……. with the highlights being impositions by Thuppahi
FILE PHOTO: Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov attends a joint news conference with British Foreign Secretary Liz Truss in Moscow, Russia February 10, 2022. Russian Foreign Ministry/Handout via REUTERS/File Photo
This is a very good interview in English with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov at the G20 in India on 4 March 2023, though the Indian interviewee was annoying in the way he kept cutting Lavrov off before he could finish answering a question.
Lavrov sets out the context and history of Russia security concerns that led to the war in Ukraine, how the US does business with countries in the Global South by bullying these countries to vote in support of the US in the UN. He also raises the big challenge for the Asia-Pacific, which is not China, but the US, QUAD and AUKUS.
Filed under accountability, american imperialism, authoritarian regimes, China and Chinese influences, ethnicity, governance, historical interpretation, landscape wondrous, Pacific Ocean issues, Pacific Ocean politics, politIcal discourse, power politics, Russian history, security, self-reflexivity, slanted reportage, truth as casualty of war, unusual people, world events & processes
One “Mr Z” has sent me the news items below and added his thoughts at the end
A = Ruan Zongze: “China seeks peace in Ukraine crisis,” The Weekend Australian, 1 March 2023
On February 24, as the full escalation of the Ukraine crisis reached its one-year mark, were leased China’s Position on the Political Settlement of the Ukraine Crisis. Overall, the response of the international community toward the document is positive.
Many countries welcome and support the document, acknowledging China’s constructive role. Stephane Dujarric, spokesman for the UN Secretary-General, says: “The plan put forward by the Chinese government is an important contribution.” However, some Western countries suspect China’s position and purpose, claiming China can’t be an “honest co-ordinator” due to its close relations with Russia.
Filed under accountability, american imperialism, australian media, authoritarian regimes, centre-periphery relations, China and Chinese influences, foreign policy, historical interpretation, Pacific Ocean politics, politIcal discourse, power politics, the imaginary and the real, truth as casualty of war, Ukraine & Its Ramifications, war reportage, world events & processes
X … [who, alas, has to protect himself from potential ‘hits’ from American and Aussie agencies] …. NB: the highlighting emphasis is my imposition
The Western template for stories on so-called predatory practices by China was crafted some years ago by former US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and US, UK and Australian think tanks. Sarvanandan is simply rehashing the same thing.
His claim to be offering a “factual cum reality check” is another misleading fact-reality check.
Tom Toles Editorial Cartoon
Filed under accountability, american imperialism, australian media, centre-periphery relations, China and Chinese influences, conspiracies, debt restructuring, disparagement, economic processes, foreign policy, governance, historical interpretation, IMF as monster, island economy, legal issues, life stories, performance, politIcal discourse, power politics, propaganda, security, self-reflexivity, sri lankan society, the imaginary and the real, truth as casualty of war, Ukraine & Its Ramifications, world events & processes
Muttukrishna Sarvanandan,** whose preferred title reads thus: “Chinese Lending to Sri Lanka: A Factual cum “Reality” Check. A Rejoinder to Umesh Moramudali and Thilina Panduwawala”
Abstract: This is a response to the Briefing Paper entitled Evolution of Chinese Lending to Sri Lanka since the mid-2000s – Separating Myth from Reality, written by Umesh Moramudali and Thilina Panduwawala published by the China-Africa Research Initiative of the School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS) at the John Hopkins University, USA. This response identifies a few factual errors (both quantitative and qualitative) and provides alternative data, and contests the interpretations of the data and conclusion drawn therefrom by Moramudali and Panduwawala by providing concrete examples to the contrary. We characterise Chinese lending to Sri Lanka between 2007 and 2022 as quasi-predatory lending, having defined the characteristics of predatory lending………….Keywords – China, Hambantota Port, Predatory Lending, Sovereign Default, Sri Lanka
Introduction: This is a response to a Briefing Paper (No.8 dated November 2022) written by Umesh Moramudali and Thilina Panduwawala entitled Evolution of Chinese Lending to Sri Lanka since the mid-2000s – Separating Myth from Reality published by the China-Africa Research Initiative (CARI) of the School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS) at the John Hopkins University (JHU) in the United States of America (USA).
Filed under accountability, authoritarian regimes, China and Chinese influences, debt restructuring, economic processes, foreign policy, governance, historical interpretation, island economy, modernity & modernization, politIcal discourse, power politics, self-reflexivity, social justice, sri lankan society, transport and communications, trauma, welfare & philanthophy, world affairs
Item in Newsfirst: “Experts say only debt cancellation offers Sri Lanka a chance of recovery”
DEBT JUSTICE speaks out …….
Filed under accountability, american imperialism, centre-periphery relations, China and Chinese influences, debt restructuring, disparagement, economic processes, foreign policy, governance, historical interpretation, IMF as monster, island economy, meditations, performance, politIcal discourse, power politics, security, self-reflexivity, sri lankan society, trauma, welfare & philanthophy, world events & processes
News Item in Sri Lanka Mirror, early January 2023:
Arrangements have been made to distribute 6.98 million liters of diesel donated by the Chinese Government for agricultural activities in Sri Lanka to paddy farmers from today (09).
China’s President Xi Jinping, left, waves as he walks with then Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa upon arrival at the airport in Colombo, Sri Lanka, Sept. 16, 2014 ….. Credit: AP Photo/Eranga JayawardenaFiled under accountability, authoritarian regimes, centre-periphery relations, China and Chinese influences, debt restructuring, economic processes, foreign policy, governance, historical interpretation, Indian Ocean politics, legal issues, life stories, modernity & modernization, politIcal discourse, power politics, security, self-reflexivity, sri lankan society, transport and communications, world events & processes
thuppahi
