As Project Ukraine goes down the drain of history, Project Taiwan will go on overdrive. Forever Wars never die.
By Pepe Escobar
This is the Year of the Wooden Dragon, according to China’s classic wuxing (“five elements”) culture. The dragon, one of the 12 signs of the Chinese zodiac, is a symbol of power, nobility and intelligence. Wood adds growth, development and prosperity.
Call it a summary of where China is heading in 2024.
The second session of the 14th National Committee of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) was finalized on Sunday in Beijing.
The wider world should know that within the framework of grassroots democracy with Chinese characteristics, an extremely complex – and fascinating – phenomenon, the importance of the CPPCC is paramount.
The CPPCC channels wide-ranging expectations of the average Chinese to the decision level, and actually advises the central government on a vast range of issues – from everyday living to high-quality development strategies.
This year, most of the discussion focused on how to drive
China’s modernization even faster. This being China, concepts – like flowers – were blooming all around the spectrum, such as “new quality productive forces, “deepening reform,” “high-standard opening-up,” and a fabulous new one, “major-country diplomacy with Chinese characteristics.”
As the Global Times emphasized, “2024 is not only a critical year for achieving the goals of the ‘14th Five-Year Plan’ but also a key year for achieving the transition to high-quality development of the economy.”
Betting on strategic investment
So let’s start with Chinese Premier Li Qiang’s first “work report” delivered a week ago, which opened the annual session of the National People’s Congress. The key takeaway: Beijing will be pursuing the same economic targets as in 2023. That translates as 5% annual growth.
Of course deflationary risks, a downturn in the real estate market and somewhat shaky business confidence simply won’t vanish. Li was quite realistic, emphasizing Beijing is “keenly aware” of the challenges ahead: “Achieving this year’s targets will not be easy.” And he added: “Global economic growth lacks steam and the regional hotspot issues keep erupting. This has made China’s external environment more complex, severe and uncertain.”
Beijing’s strategy remains focused on a “proactive fiscal policy and prudent monetary policy”. In a nutshell: the song remains the same. There won’t be a “stimulus” of any kind.
Deeper answers should be found in the work report/budget released by the National Development and Reform Commission: the focus will be on structural change, via extra funds to science, technology, education, national defense, agriculture. Translation: China bets on strategic investment, the key for a high-quality economic transition.
In practice, Beijing will be heavily invested in modernizing industry and developing “new quality productive forces” such as new-energy vehicles, biomanufacturing and commercial space flight.
Science Minister Yin Hejun made it clear: there was an 8.1% increase in national investment in research and development in 2023. He wants more – and he will get it: R&D spending will grow by 10% to a total of 370.8 billion yuan.
The mantra is “self-reliance”. On all fronts – from chipmaking to AI. A no holds barred tech war is on – and China is totally focused to counter “tech containment” from the Hegemon as much as its ultimate goal is to wrest tech supremacy from its prime competitor. Beijing simply cannot allow itself to be vulnerable to U.S.-imposed tech choke points and supply chain disruptions.
So short-term economic problems will not be causing sleepless nights. The Beijing leadership is always looking ahead – focusing on long-term challenges.
Learning lessons from the Donbass battlefield
Beijing will continue to steer the economic development of Hong Kong and Macau, and invest even more in the crucial Greater Bay Area, which is the premier southern China high tech, services and finance hub.
Taiwan of course was central to the work report; Beijing fiercely opposes “external interference” – code for Hegemon tactics. That will become even trickier in May, when William Lai Ching-te, who flirts with independence, becomes president.
On defense, there will be only a 7.2% increase in 2024, which is peanuts compared to the Hegemon’s defense budget now approaching $900 billion: China’s stands as $238 billion, even as China’s nominal GDP is approaching the U.S.
A great deal of China’s defense budget will go for emerging tech – considering the immensely valuables lessons the PLA is learning out of the Donbass battlefield, as well as the deep interactions part of the Russia-China strategic partnership.
And that brings us to diplomacy. China will continue to be firmly positioned as a champion of the Global South. That was made explicit by Foreign Minister Wang Yi in a press conference on the sidelines of the National People’s Congress.
Wang Yi’s priorities: to “maintain stable relations with major powers; join hands with its neighbouring countries for progress; and strive for revitalisation with the Global South”.
Wang Yi once again stressed that Beijing favors an “equal and orderly” multipolar world and “inclusive economic globalization”.
And of course he could not allow U.S. Secretary of State Little Blinken – always out of his depth – to get away with his latest “recipe”: “It is impermissible that those with the bigger fist have the final say, and it is definitely unacceptable that certain countries must be at the table while others can only be on the menu.”
BRI as a global accelerator
Crucially, Wang Yi re-emphasized the drive for “high-quality” cooperation within the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) framework. He defined BRI as “an engine for the common development of all countries and an accelerator for the modernisation of the whole world”. Wang Yi actually said he’s hopeful about the emergence of a “Global South moment in global governance” – in which China and BRI play an essential part.
Li Qiang’s work report, incidentally, had only one paragraph on BRI. But then we find this nugget as Li refers to the New International Land-Sea Trade Corridor – which links China’s landlocked southwest with the eastern seaboard, via Guangxi province.
Translation: BRI will be focusing on opening new economic roads for China’s less developed regions, diversifying from the previous emphasis on Xinjiang.
Dr Wei Yuansong is a member of the CPPCC and also the Chinese Peasants’ and Workers’ Democratic Party – which happens to be one of the eight non-CCP parties in Chinese politics (very few outside of China know about this).
He offered some fascinating comments on BRI to Fengmian News and also stressed the need to “tell China’s story well” to avoid “conflict and incidents” along the BRI road. For that, Wei suggests the need to use an “international language” in telling these stories; that implies using English.
As for what Wang Yi said in his press conference, in fact that was discussed in detail at the closed-door Central Conference on Foreign Affairs Work in late 2023, where it was established that China faced “strategic opportunities” to raise its “international influence, appeal and power” despite “high winds and choppy waters”.
The key takeaway: the narrative war between China and the Hegemon will be pitiless. Beijing is confident it’s capable of offering stability, investment, connectivity and sound diplomacy to the whole Global South, instead of Forever Wars.
That is reflected, for instance, by Ma Xinmin, the Chinese Foreign Ministry’s legal advisor, telling the International Court of Justice that the Palestinians have the right to armed resistance when it comes to fighting the colonialist, racist, apartheid state of Israel. Therefore, Hamas cannot be defined as a terrorist organization.
This is the overwhelming position across the lands of Islam and across the majority of the Global South – linking Beijing with fellow BRICS member Brazil and President Lula, who compared the genocide in Gaza to the Nazi genocide in WWII.
How to resist collective West sanctions
The Two Sessions did reflect Beijing’s full understanding that Hegemon containment and destabilization tactics remain the biggest challenge to China’s peaceful rise. But simultaneously it reflected Chinese confidence on its global diplomatic clout as a force for peace, stability and economic development. It’s an extremely sensitive balance that only the Middle Kingdom seems capable of pulling off.
Then there’s the Trump factor.
Economist Ding Yifan, a former deputy director of the World Development Institute, part of the State Council’s Development Research Centre, is one among those who’s aware China is learning key lessons from Russia on how to resist collective West sanctions – which will be inevitable against China especially if Trump is back at the White House.
And that brings us to the absolute key issue being currently discussed in Moscow, within the Russia-China partnership, and soon among the BRICS: alternative settlement payments to the U.S. dollar, increasing trade among “friendly nations”, and controls on capital flight.
Nearly all Russia-China trade is now in yuan and rubles. As much as Russian trade with the EU fell by 68% in 2023, trade with Asia rose by 5.6% – with new landmarks reached with China ($240 billion) and India ($65 billion) – and 84% of
Russia’s total energy exports going to “friendly countries”.
The Two Sessions did not get into detail on some extremely thorny geopolitical issues. For instance, India’s version of multipolarity – considering New Delhi’s unresolved love affair with Washington – is quite different from China’s. Everyone knows – and no one more than the Russians – that within BRICS 10 the biggest strategic issue is how to accommodate the perpetual tension between India and China.
What’s clear even behind the fog of goodwill enveloping the Two Sessions is that Beijing is fully aware of how the Hegemon is – deliberately – already crossing a key Chinese red line, officially stationing “permanent troops” in Taiwan.
Since last year U.S. Special Forces have been training Taiwanese in operating Black Hornet nano microdrones. In 2024 U.S. military advisers are deployed full time at army bases on Kinmen and Penghu islands.
Those actually driving U.S. foreign policy behind the Crash Test Dummy at the White House believe that even as they are powerless to handle the Houthi Ansarallah in the Red Sea, they are capable of poking the Dragon.
No posturing will alter the Dragon’s roadmap. The CPPCC’s political resolution on Taiwan calls for uniting “all patriotic forces”, “deepen integration and development in various fields across the Taiwan Straits”, and go all out on “peaceful reunification”. That will translate in practice into increased economic/trade cooperation, more direct flights, more cargo ports and logistics bases.
As Project Ukraine goes down the drain of history, Project Taiwan will go on overdrive. Forever Wars never die. Bring it on. The Dragon is ready.
Comments
26 responses to “Confident Dragon Lays Out Modernization Roadmap”
Pepe missed the whole paradigm, is way off mark. Xi is part of the cabal, as is every nation’s ruler. Notice that China participated in the covid hoax as well. China has the most advanced facial recognition and credit system, a totalitarian agenda, are certainly not communist. Of course they are surrounded by the military bully of the world, as the US is readying itself as the instigator of world war. That is part of the cabal’s plan=world war for global depopulation. It is in process in every nation, the Vatican and globalists have bought and put puppet rulers in power or have bought or cowered them all. No ruler has his nations’ benefit in mind, their citizen’s well being is none of their concern, they all have selfish motives. Pepe is either a fool or afraid to speak the truth. Just think a little. Every nation followed the same fraudulent endeavor, using PCR test kits, clearly said that they are not reliable for diagnosing illness by its inventor= by cycling them enough times 35-40 times, you can find any illness in anybody, sick or not.
https://greatmountainpublishing.com/2020/11/15/covid-19-is-a-smokescreen-for-5g-radiation-poisoning/
https://truthforce.work/f/5g-is-the-death-weapon
Revolution in every nation is the only alternative to the planned mass depopulation and world war. There is no major power whose ruler has any intention of abandoning the depopulation agenda and defying the powers they have submitted to. Some from the global south show hesitancy, but none will blatantly defy the enemy. We the people, citizens of every nation, need to gather the courage to take down the powers. Our rulers do not have the testicular fortitude to stand against the evil ones.
Even with your reservations that I share, China and Russia’s agendas are of benefit to humanity in total opposition and contrast with the genocidal plans and policies of the US Evil Empire.
One of the so called Founding Fathers Thomas Jefferson, openly declared that America should undergo a revolution every twenty years to insure the legitimacy and honesty of the government. The French and Soviet revolutionary drums, need to be called into action once more.
The US is playing the bad guy, and BRICS the good guy, but all are in it together. The founding fathers were phony rich slave-owning (life, liberty, pursuit,= penned by Jefferson who had 180 slaves) Freemasonic lawyers who gave us freedom of religion to allow for satan worship and free speech to allow for deception. The constitution did not address or impede oppression, exploitation, slavery and other malevolent actions that they were aware were ruler’s traits. This was intentional. My book ANGRY LOUD AND CLEAR TRUTH shows that the Vatican received control of the US in the peace treaty with Britain, which put America deep in debt to Britain (Rothschild) by loans through France to finance the revolution. I I agree with you otherwise. But I pay no heed to the “wisdom” of the founding fathers.
I know and agree with all the events and facts that you mention, however from a true revolutionary perspective, an incremental advance is positive. I’m using the “Founding Fathers” to enter the public’s conscience that generally is adverse to radical notions due to limited or non existent political education and brainwashing policies by the capitalist regime. Particularly Americans, people corrupted by foolish religious dogma that distorts and negate rational thought. One step at the time my friend, and remember the masses never thirsted after truth, whoever provides them with illusions is their master. Whoever attempts to destroy their illusions is destroyed by them.
My opinions are based on ideologic concepts as a final objective, so I adapt my comments to existing conditions to reach a wider audience. Today’s masses are not the ones that took the Bastille or brought Soviet Russia to power. Read Lenin’s essay of 1903 on the subject “What’s to be done”, he was crystal clear on the subject.
They are using the “global warming” card to destroy agriculture and are destroying the atmosphere (terraforming) with chemtrails (not contrails) which spew out magnesium, aluminum, barium, and other toxic metals into the sky, making the atmosphere, water, and soil barren and within a few years no life will be sustainable.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G_NYNt1I6-Q&t=9s
There are hundreds of deep underground military bases in America, and hundreds more in other nations.
https://swisscows.com/en/video?query=deep+underground+military+bases
Look up the Georgia Guidestones. Authored by “RC Christian” they laid out the Vatican’s plans to limit world population to five hundred million. Gotta go, will give more later
Mr. Kahn is, quite evidently, a lunatic, blending bits of accurate information with wild-eyed bullshit. Of course money controls the Capitalist world; most of the rest of his comically goofball conspiracy rants are silly and baseless.
Please waste a minute of your time and read my comment to Khan above. He’s not inventing anything or believing in little green men from Mars.
Are you familiar with the term Eugenics? is a philosophy that calls for population control by allowing to reproduce the best and more capable humans and preventing the reproduction of Third World population with high demographic rates. In fact in antiquity, we have examples of such policies in some communities like ancient Sparta, where defective newborn babies were discarded. The Greek philosopher Plato in his “The Republic” proposes such policy. In modern times Nazi Germany followed strict birth control, and also marriage of couples in perfect mental and physical health (never mind the pure race nonsense theory). As a matter of fact, I fully agree with Eugenics since it makes a lot of sense in a world with finite resources at all levels. Of course I don’t approve like some barbarians the elimination of one single human being. But strict birth control should be implemented, but maybe is already too late to do anything about it. Before you answer, I recommend that you take your time and study the subject with peace of mind and objectivity. Don’t rush to judgement and remember that the world contrary to what most Americans believe, is not composed of good and bad, white and black and any other simplistic notion. Before I finish and just in case, I’m not a Nazi sympathizer.
I agree that very strange and ominous signs are showing up everywhere. Nothing takes place by “coincidence”, however do not discount the power of the mayor opposing forces of the genocidal globalists, Russia and China. They have the economic and military means to stop all of the evil forces that you mention, (WEF, Zionism Globalists, et.al) which are not conspiracy theory but reality. Even assuming (which is not the case) that China and Russia would act to defend their own survival, they would also save the day for all of us. Humans have a mental defense mechanism, that makes them reject bad news and impending doom since acceptance makes their life unbearable.
PLease wake up. I am constantly watching Russia, reading Russian independent journalists. Putin in his youth was collaborating with Klaus, Russia also had similar vaxes, he is just as much with the globalists. China has an advanced surveillance and credit system, the beast system with facial recognition and credit system. NO nation’s ruler is defying the powers. NONE> The only hope is with the people, and possibly military. The world war is designed for depopulation, and that purpose only. There will be no winners or losers, but the US will suffer greatest losses. The powers are destroying the planet to make it incapable of sustaining life. We do not have time to spare, to wait for “evolution” is to invite extinction. The satan worshiping Vatican rules the world. For evidence scroll down
https://truthforce.work/f/politics-power-jesuits-and-god
Macron the Rothschild boy mediocrity is seriously talking about sending French soldiers to Ukraine.
If he does so, Russia will quickly show this uppity and stupid Frenchman what the real world outside of high finance is all about.
It’s not being unrealistic or anti-anything to say that Macron is brain dead and fits in well with the rest of the EU with the possible exception of Hungary.
Not so amazing that my congressmen are totally under the supervision of AIPAC and other Zionist bureaucracy of the US government. They don’t have a clue about what’s happening except what they are told by the people who control the US government “and it ain’t us”. Writing, calling, emailing them is a waste of effort.
That you put any trust or even any attention to politics shows ignorance. The Council On Foreign Relations creates legislation, which is rubber-stamped by politicians. Rockefeller created the CFR, and 100 of its 300 members are media moguls. Thus fake news, also the news media is dominated by the CIA, per the Fairness and Accuracy In Reporting and Rolling Stone magazine and the NY Times articles in 1977, still goes on today. “politics is the entertainment division of the government” Frank Zappa. As I related in my first major book EXPOSING THE MONEY MACHINE, first published in May 2016, the Bush family owns the ballot machines which are operated by the CIA. And no, I am not and never was a Trump fan. We don’t know who we voted for in many decades, and the votes mean absolutely nothing, voting is an illusion to make us think that we have choice and power. Politicians are chosen for their acting and lying abilities.
That all Capitalist governments are owned and controlled by malefactors of great wealth, to use FDR’s phrase, is fact. That they, and all other world governments, including Russia and China, are cooperating in league to “depopulate” the world is nonsense. What purpose might the “evil ones” have if they were in such a league. And to call for the world’s wildly diverse peoples to rise together in Revolution is sheer foolishness, and totally unachievable.
Russia is trying to populate their enormous country! Did Kahn really say they want to depopulate the world? (I confess I avoid long comments because I have learned that these are people who never learned to express themselves succinctly.)
I write for adults who have an attention span more than a five year old, and am an author read internationally by over a hundred million. I said that the powers (those pulling the strings, the Vatican and globalists) are in the process of depopulating the planet. Every world ruler is under their thumb and will cooperate in the genocide of well over seven billion people. You can sign up for my free enewsletter here, with ebooks attached. When people are ignorant, I try to provide sufficient evidence of what I say. The rulers of every government have absolutely no concern for their citizens and are participating.
https://truthforce.work
https://store88417028.company.site/
He did. There seem to be swarms of fact-free hysterics about.
A hundred million people read my newsletter daily internationally. There are more and more courageous protests going on. It is not going to be coordinated. It will be spontaneous, and people will just feel like they had enough, and will rise and hang the motherfuckers. In some nations, their military will perform coups. This has to be done from below, all those in high positions count on their significant wealth to come from the real powers, who are the illuminati, the black nobility, and the Vatican. I can name every one of the thirteen illuminati families, and the black nobility, and can tell you that the Jesuits are the secretive section of the Vatican calling the shots- the Jesuit general is Sosa Abascal.
I see. The world public will find magical unanimity to act in concert–a thing never done–and with purpose, against a diabolical, magical unified cabal–“the Illuminati, the black nobility, and the Vatican”–to overthrow them and then all will be well. Pure, baseless fantasy…
Let us see. I recovered completely from schizophrenia, never done before. I survived being fucked and being indoctrinated by the bible as a devout Christian, and remain in the natural realm, very rare. I debunked the bible thoroughly and have won every debate with believers foolish enough to contest me. FIrst one done successfully. I have debunked historical accounts, evolution, the medical system, the schooling system, and more…. I am experienced in doing what was never done before.
People do rise up together once they see that others have. IT is called groupthink, and I have motivated other journalists globally to have the courage to defy conformity and the safety of conventional thinking and reporting and writing, and we work towards a common goal. ONce the US initiates this, we can count on the people of many nations to do likewise. A snowball effect.
https://truthforce.work/f/program-to-save-humanity-and-to-set-up-a-new-civilization
All right. I’ll be waiting, Michael.
Michael, much of the “foreign policy” of the US is created in think tanks such as the new American century and others then handed to agencies like the state department. Along the way MSM is given this garbage to feed to the tax payers as the gospel.
In 1921, Morgan, with his colleagues Warburg and Rockefeller, formed an organization to further their policies, by the name of “the Council of Foreign Relations.” Today they tell us that their goal is to “increase America’s understanding of the world.”
In the 1960s Georgetown University professor Carroll Quigley was given permission to peruse their records for two years. His statement about its function was a little different. He said:
“Their purpose was to create a world system of financial control in private hands, able to dominate the political system of each country, and the economy of the world as a whole.”
In short, they seek total and quiet control of the entire world. Their membership, tightly controlled, and secretly governed, consists of government officials, leaders of academic institutions, tax exempt foundation leaders, tycoons, and media moguls.
The members are all handpicked by David Rockefeller, and all have full knowledge of their actions and motivations. As I described the formation of the CFR, I want to tell you that I did a little research as to what media is controlled by them. I found a reliable source which revealed that the great majority of the news and events that are reported are filtered by their controlling policies and administrations.
I found that every recognizable newspaper, magazine, television station, radio transmission, and the vast majority of media are controlled by CFR
Kahn, Michael Lewis. EXPOSING THE MONEY MACHINE: TYRANNY THROUGH GOVERNMENT, RELIGIOUS INSTITUTIONS, AND MEDIA DECEPTION (pp. 19-20). Kindle Edition.
https://yandex.com/video/preview/2983091546414115428
Revolution, as anyone with basic geometry has noticed, take you 360 degrees, and back to $quare#1 with a fresh troop of simian thesbians.
When it is advocated by those invoking the roya£ ‘we’ I’m inclined to scratch the cranium.
I’ll stick with the long slow haul of evolution, thanks.
The author is to be commended for not mentiong communism or socialism!
Insatiable greed of Vampires is creating new and new and still new wars. However that ball is about to stop.
https://philosophyofgoodnews.wordpress.com/2024/03/15/vampires-steeped-in-corruption/