China has proposed a massive $58 billion railroad project that will link western China with Pakistan, further reducing Western trade dependence.
By Roy Francis , OAN Friday, April 28, 2023
The railroad is part of China’s Belt and Road Initiative, which is China’s global infrastructure development strategy adopted in 2013 that includes investing in more than 150 countries, and international organizations.
The state-owned China Railway First Survey and Design Institute Group Co Ltd analysts examined and approved the proposal, despite its heavy price tag. According to the proposal’s assessment board, the 1,860-mile rail line comes with the potential to “reshape trade and geopolitics across the Eurasian Continent.”
According to the report, analysts said that the PLA government and the financial institutes “should provide strong support, increase coordination and collaboration among relevant domestic departments, strive for the injection of support funds, and provide strong policy support and guarantees for the construction of this project.”
By connecting China with Pakistan, the proposed railway system will reduce reliance on the Malacca Strait, which is currently the main and quickest shipping channel between the Indian and Pacific Oceans, and the Western-dominated trade routes in general.
The railway, which will connect the Chinese city of Kashgar to the Pakistani port of Gwadar, will be the largest transportation project that China has invested in so far. The country has also contributed to the Jakarta-Bandung high-speed rail line in Indonesia, which is the first high-speed rail system in Asia and is set to open in June.
Pakistan’s economy is also expected to greatly benefit from the rail line due to the direct and easier commerce with China.
The project currently faces technical and security obstacles getting started. It would need auxiliary infrastructure and logistical capabilities which Pakistan does not currently possess. The labor laws in the two countries are also another obstacle that must be overcome, however, experts suggest that when the rail line is finished, other surrounding nations are also set to benefit from it.
Some analyst suggest that China can quickly overcome the obstacles that it is facing due to the significant advancements that it has made in several emerging technologies. Dale Aluf, Director of Research & Strategy at Sino-Israel Global Network & Academic Leadership (SIGNAL) told ZAWYA news that China is leading the world in a multitude of technological advances.
“China is already leading the world in artificial intelligence, blockchain, 5G, and quantum technology publications and patents,” he said.
According to Walter Wang, Consulting Director at research and consulting firm Frost & Sullivan, the advancement in technology that Beijing has made will allow it to more “efficiently promote the progress of BRI.”
“These advancements in technologies,” Wang said. “Will allow Beijing to more efficiently promote the progress of BRI, increase the bonding between China and BRI countries, and push BRI’s hard projects. Many countries aligned with BRI are rich in solar energy resources but lack the technologies and resources to construct renewable energy infrastructure. Through BRI, China can export advanced renewable energy technologies and earn incentives.”
According to reports, China is expected to further develop new train systems that would link China with Turkey and Iran which would open up more direct access to the regions.
@Ted Well, what she said about Chinese foreign policy is true but it’s not just about business but old-fashioned neo-colonialist domination, i.e. imperialism, in the Marxist sense. They don’t want to reform us but to destroy us. And they are politically allied with the globalists and Islamists against Israel. She under-states the human rights dimension in China with it’s 1.4 billion people. China is undergoing what Marx called the period of primitive accumulation. It’s building socialism in one country by building capitalism first. And her comment about everyone agreeing on some sort of safety net but not on how to adjust the balance is true pretty much everywhere except the United States where most Republicans want to gut the inadequate safety net that’s there and that’s why, incidentally, even without voter fraud, tens of millions of people who agree with Republicans on most other issues will even vote for a Democrat candidate who can barely form a sentence, something conservative pundits have been scratching their heads over. However, the fact, that China is so far behind not only the richest capitalist countries, but countries like Brazil, Spain. Portugal, Hungary, Israel, belies conservatives’ equation of universal health care with a slippery slope to Communism.
@SEB
I think you dismissed her too quickly.
I posted her comment. So please read it and then tell me if she is to be respected.
The comment is the one just below my comment in which I cited her degrees.
@Ted Congratulations on your daughter’s academic accomplishments but it was on account of the books by heavily credentialed professors saying that Mao’s Cultural Revolution was the most peaceful and democratic revolution in history and that China since 1949 was just peachy that my high school history teacher assigned us, that I wound up as a Marxist-Leninist for over 20 years. Obama was a Law professor at the University of Chicago. Remember Ambassador Davies? We used to promore his book, “Mission to Moscow” when I was a Stalinist. Carter was a nuclear engineer, Paul Krugman an award winning economist, Noam Chomsky, a celebrated linguist, Edward Said, an English Professor at Columbia and an authority on Bartok, Former U.S. Attorney General, Ramsey Clarke was a regular speaker at ‘ Worker’s World/All People’s Congress demonstrations. I take academic credentials with a sack of salt now. Unless I’m misreading, your daughter is involved with negotiating business paradigms with China, What’s she going to say, that it’s an aggressive totalitarian horror, especially knowing you will quote her and her words will be read in China? Former Republican mayor of New York, Michael Bloomberg, the environmentalist, who is heavily invested in China, said with a straight face that they are improving the environment and are democratic. 😀
@Ted The Soviet Union also became purely nationalist after the disbanding of the Comintern in 1943. That’s why, by the 70s, Communists/leftists were looking elsewhere for inspiration, Vietnam and Cuba, then, Nicaragua, then Venezuela, not sure what now.
China may not be globalist but it is imperialist and a deadly rival of the West, which includes Israel. Russia could have been an ally but the West refused and now it’s embedded with our enemies via trade and mutual defence pacts of the sort that triggered both World Wars.
Lenin: “The Capitalists will sell us the rope with which we will hang them.”
Xi: The rest of the world will buy and borrow from us the rope with which we will hang them.
Xi and Kruschev: “We will bury you.”
All that’s missing is the banging of the shoe.
My friend Mordechai wrote:
With which I totally agree.
William F. Buckley showed contempt for the elite by writing:
I am going to interview my daughter on her expertise, namely: political systems and economic systems.
She has
1. a Masters in Business from Boston U
2. a Masters in International Relations from Cambridge U and
3. a Doctorate in Public Administration and International Development from George Washington U
@LINDA
My daughter also commented on your comment.
@ GALINA @LINDA
Galina sent me a comment.
I asked my daughter and she clarified. She was contracted by UNICEF and works only with their staff.
I simply think that a little bit of humility in regard to what we think we know about Chinese or Russian or anyone else’s mind would serve us all well, erudite commentary notwithstanding, I continue to hear today, for example, from many public intellectuals what really goes on in Putins mind, Taking our opinions too seriously.
@SEB
This happens when the comment is too long. Also if you have to many comments in succession.
I will find out how many words are acceptable.
@SEB,LINDA, SEYMOUR
Compared to you all, I am a novice when it comes to China. I am just getting educated and thank you all for your erudite comments.
Seymour wrote.
I think you are way to harsh. Speak for yourself only.
Linda, you are brilliant as always. I have to read your comments over and over again so that they will sink in to my consciousness.
I am suffering from cognitive dissonance. I am predisposed to think positively about China and Russia notwithstanding what I am learning from you all. Part of my problem is that I am very disappointed in what is happening in the US and Canada and in America’s role in bringing about the Ukraine War and advancing the NWO.
Left and right mean something completely different in Israel, traditionally.
https://www.timesofisrael.com/shas-secures-billions-for-welfare-healthcare-religious-benefits-in-coalition-deal/
“Healthcare in Israel is universal and participation in a medical insurance plan is compulsory. All Israeli residents are entitled to basic health care as a fundamental right. The Israeli healthcare system is based on the National Health Insurance Law of 1995,[1] which mandates all citizens resident in the country to join one of four official health insurance organizations, known as Kupat Holim (???? ????? – “Sick Funds”) which are run as not-for-profit organizations and are prohibited by law from denying any Israeli resident membership. Israelis can increase their medical coverage and improve their options by purchasing private health insurance.[2] In a survey of 48 countries in 2013, Israel’s health system was ranked fourth in the world in terms of efficiency, and in 2014 it ranked seventh out of 51.[3] In 2020, Israel’s health system was ranked third most efficient in the world.[4] In 2015, Israel was ranked sixth-healthiest country in the world by Bloomberg rankings[5] and ranked eighth in terms of life expectancy.”
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Healthcare_in_Israel
While theoretically universal since 2011,
https://www.nytimes.com/2023/02/23/business/china-health-insurance-explained.html
@Seymour
https://www.modernhealthcare.com/medicaid/how-medicaid-redeterminations-are-changing-health-system-strategies?fbclid=IwAR15C4kqcD4s7__GpjmTz9ScqNMLUpifC_Co-zYNlzcngAf6GxGWoiUbUQA
by contrast and in no way unusual:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Healthcare_in_Portugal
There has never been theoretically pure communism or socialism or free market. Indeed the last mentioned is probably the farthest away from the theoretical model and getting farther away all the time. Government certainly doesn’t require ownership to dictate resource allocation. Western economies, riding “climate change” are moving much more quickly toward a Chinese model than the converse. Used to be called industrial policy. Those words are not often heard any longer. Finally despite all the bs I’m reading here nobody here has a clue what’s going on in China. Or in US for that matter.
Actually, I googled it country by country and possibly every developed bourgeois democracy in the world except for the U.S. and, ironically, the capital of the EU, Belgium, has universal health care as a right not a privilege. Just as ironic is the fact that Cuba is the only Communist country that can make such a claim, though its a two tier system with quality health care only for the elite and medical tourists.
Ted my comment was simply erased when I checked after posting it. And it also refused to let me make even one edit as I was writing it.
Too long to rewrite but the main gist was, that it has more explanatory power to use the “bourgeois” definition of Socialism which everybody but Marxists did until recently than the Marxist one.
Socialist countries are institutionally structured democratic and capitalist welfare states like the Scandinavian countries and like Israel was or is despite Bibi’s market reforms,
Communist countries are one party dictatorships run by Communists.
Ted, every business in China is a partner of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). Socialism is the stepping stone to communism, and both are collectivist ideologies. Ayn Rand’s famous quote says it all: “There is no difference between communism and socialism, except in the means of achieving the same ultimate end: communism proposes to enslave men by force, socialism – by vote. It is merely the difference between murder and suicide.”
China’s “New Economic Plan” is a tactical plan in service of its strategic ideological agenda to politically dominate the world by 2049, the 100th anniversary of the communist revolution. It doesn’t matter that Zhao Ziyang invoked the words socialism, and people’s democracy. Communism is a socio-economic system of centralized totalitarian government control, supported by an ethos that prioritizes the collective over the individual. There are no “individual” rights in communism.
What is omitted in Zhao Ziyang’s sales pitch, is that the communist elite decide what is and what is not in the best interest of society, and the elite ALWAYS ALWAYS take care of the elite at the expense of the public. That is why people risk their lives fleeing FROM communist countries!
The CCP’s “New Economic Plan” advances the long-range communist agenda to achieve world domination. Ted, the plan is the equivalent of taqiyya – lying in the service of Islam. The CCP lies in the service of Chinese communist world domination.
You mentioned your daughter just got a contract from China to study the abuse of children in China. Are you suggesting this means China is concerned about the well-being of its children? Which organization provided the contract?
@tANNA
Thanks for the additional information. My guess is that Linda and I are not in disagreement regarding whether China is communist or capitalist. It depends on the definition of these terms. Once defined we are probably in agreement.
But the bigger issue is whether China and Russia are globalists or Nationalists.. I think the latter.
The two-opposing position of Ms. Goudsmit and Mr. Ted will be interesting to watch as they play out. I do think the war will be economic and not kinetic, but who knows. War makes money and they want money.
To Michael’s point. In China their economic engine is ran from the top down. Example: There are 10 different companies that produce widgets in China. They all share information. Even if they are heavily invested in by foreign companies. No changes, corrections nor improvements can be made till the CCP officially approve the changes. Managers and engineer’s hands are tied until changes are o.k. from the top. The CCP place’s a person in each plant and they are the eyes of the CCP. No one makes a move without approval. One phone call from that person can bring police, military or have the manufacturing brought to a halt. One would not want to be the reason for that phone call.
If a process change is approved. Every business producing that product makes the same change in their process. So, in my opinion, because China cannot think and act for themselves as we in the west do. They are very limited into how far they can go in trying to lead the world.
Although, I do agree there is a battle between the east and the west for dominance or hegemony. I’m not convinced China is it. I see Russia and India more likely to be in the driver’s seat in 20 years or so.
@Michael
Does that make it communist? What is your definition of their system? Does China allow ownership of private property or business enterprises.
According to Wikipedia, China has a Socialist Market Economy.
So it is a market driven economy rather than a planned economy.
So the key question is , what is it in reality regardless of how the CCP defines it?
90% of of the public own their homes but what does “own” mean?
I’m with you on this, Linda. Ted is wrong about China. If anyone ought to know about what kind of economy China has, it is I (My family lives there). It is not capitalist: It is a “Pay to Play’ kleptocracy, directed by the leader of the Chinese Communist Party.
Take the example of Jack Ma, perhaps the most “successful” Chinese capitalist, and one of the richest people in the world:
Xi decides who will get rich, and how rich he will get; and he also decides how poor the masses will be. That is not called “capitalism”.
@SEB
My last comment raises the question of the definition of “socialism”.
Plus I might ask, what is the definition of “communism”?
One more thing is that I believe that China is less concerned about the individual and more concerned with the collective.
My daughter just got a contract from China to study the abuse of children in China and to make a report and recommendations.
China’s New Economic Plan: Whatever Works : Party Congress Told That Anything Contributing to Growth Is Permitted Under Socialist Theory
BY DAVID HOLLEY
OCT. 26, 1987 12 AM PT
BEIJING — The 13th National Congress of China’s Communist Party opened Sunday with the presentation of a new theory ideologically justifying anything that contributes to economic growth.
In a report to nearly 2,000 delegates in the Great Hall of the People, acting General Secretary Zhao Ziyang declared:
@Ted Do you believe the Soviet Union was capitalist under the NEP in the 20’s?
We will agree to disagree on these issues, Ted.
LG
@LINDA
Yes the ruling party is the CCP but its economic policies are based on capitalism and meritocracy. In that sense, China is not a communist country.
I didn’t comment on what China does internally. As for its foreign relations, they don’t interfere is how other countries do thigs. They are strictly business. The US always interferes everywhere they are.
So its not a constitutional republic.
On this we disagree. Both sides have a veto power so I don’t think that the UN will be used to either’s disadvantage.
I maintain
Why must you insist that China and Russia are no different in this regard than the US. We have differed on this issue for some time now.
I do not believe that either side will go to war against the other. The competition will be entirely economically. And the US will lose. Too bad.
BRICS ALREADY HAS MORE SUPPORTERS THAN DOES THE US/EU. PARTICULARLY POPULATION WISE.
China is a Marxist/Leninist one-party state. The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) is the sole ruling party of China since 1949, and you don’t consider China a communist country??? China does not interfere in what you do internally??? You can’t be serious, Ted. China intereferes in every aspect of Chinese life. The stated goal of the CCP is to dominate the world by the 100th anniversary of the communist revolution – 2049.
The CCP has the same goal as the Muslim Brotherhood’s stated goal of making the world Muslim, and the same goal of the western globalists who intend to impose their planetary managerial state. They are all megalomaniacal replacement ideologies. Do you think if any actually succeed they will not interfere with what you do???
The United States is a constitutional republic, not a democracy and never was.
Yes, the political corruption in the United States has yielded a ruinous Uniparty of globalists, currently represented by the Biden regime, who fully intend to surrender our constitutional republic to the lethally corrupt United Nations.
The CCP in China is equally determined to establish Chinese hegemony through the lethally corrupt United Nations. That is precisely why, in my opinion, the final battle for world domination will be fought between the alliance of western globalists, and the alliance of eastern globalists. Both sides intending to facilitate their own version of one-world government through the existing United Nations institutions.
So, my answer your question is that today’s globalist one-world government goes far beyond what was understood to be hegemony in the 20th-century. Globalism in the 21st-century is a return to feudalism on a planetary scale, regardless of who sits at the tip of the planetary pyramid. I reject all forms of globalist one-world government. I embrace freedom, national sovereignty, and individual sovereignty in a constitutional republic.
@Linda
In your mind, what is the difference in US hegemony and Chinese hegemony?
Many claim that the latter is better for everyone as it doesn’t interfere with what you do internally whereas US is known for that.
Why do you still refer to China as “communist China? Its a one party state but not a communist one.
The US today is also a one party state. I call it the war party or the NWO party. It believes in international institutions rather than in US institutions.
I don’t expect China to return to its communist ideology but I am hoping that after the 2024 election, the US will return to being that shining City on the Hill.
Did you notice this:
A Study; US is an Oligarchy, not a Democracy, by two Princeton professors after reviewing answers to 1,779 survey questions asked between 1981 and 2002 on public policy issues.
“When a majority of citizens disagrees with economic elites and/or with organised interests, they generally lose. Moreover, because of the strong status quo bias built into the US political system, even when fairly large majorities of Americans favour policy change, they generally do not get it.”
In the following 9 years the situation got demonstrably worse. In other words, the US is a democracy in name only.
The importance of this article is not the engineering challenges that China faces in its proposed railway connecting Pakistan to China. The significance of this article is in its reporting of China’s spreading influence worldwide, and the shifting geo-political alliances that are tilting in China’s favor. China amassed enormous wealth and power since 1971, when Kissingher/Nixon opened trade with China. Chinese strategists allowed greedy western globalist to exploit cheap Chinese labor for 50 years, because China plays the long game. Every country that communist China manufactured for is now dependent upon China, including the United States and Israel.
Today, China is investing its manufacturing wealth in the infrastructures of countries all over the world. China is asserting itself and positioning itself to dominate the countries it manufactured for and/or is investing in. The communist Chinese are playing chess, and western globalists in Europe, Israel, and America are playing checkers. Ultimately the battle for world domination will be fought between Eastern and Western globalists. Current alliances in the middle east, South America, and Africa are temporary alliances of convenience designed to collapse big Satan (America) and little Satan (Israel).
Communist China is certain it will prevail, and so are the Anglo-American globalists. As the infamous British globalist, Bertrand Russell, explained in his 1952 classic, The Impact of Scvience on Society – the one with the science will prevail. Time will tell.
Of this I am certain, globalism is a totalitarian replacement ideology and return to feudal slavery, regardless of who prevails. The war being fought today is between globalism and the nation state. Globalism is the enemy of freedom, national sovereignty, and individual sovereignty.
The British barely got a railway into the Khyber Pass. To cross the Himalyas will be an engineering, “wonder of the World.” As the tunnelers of the railways into Switzerland found: it is what is inside the mountain that can floood you out.