Tolerance of killing civilians shows US military’s cruel, ruthless image by Global Times Dec 14 2021

https://enapp.globaltimes.cn/article/1241497

When it comes to innocent people being killed during battle, US troops are often ruthless and merciless with no bottom line especially in overseas operations. A fresh decision by the US Department of Defense reinforces such an impression.

The New York Times cited the Pentagon on Monday that none of the military personnel involved in a botched drone strike in Kabul, Afghanistan in August, that killed 10 civilians, will face punishment. The report said over two decades, the US military has killed “hundreds, if not thousands, of civilians by accident in war zones like Iraq, Afghanistan, Syria and Somalia. And while the military from time to time accepts responsibility for an errant airstrike or a ground raid that harms civilians, rarely does it hold specific people accountable.”

“The US military’s tolerance toward killing innocent civilians will deal a blow to its credibility and reputation in the international community,” Song Zhongping, a Chinese military expert and TV commentator, told the Global Times.

This is a form of US-style hegemony. On the international stage, when blaming other countries for practices which run counter to humanitarianism, the US will not relent. Worse still, in a bid to effectively attack its rivals, the US has even fabricated various lies on human rights or humanitarianism. But when encountering its own issues in this regard, it tries to play it down. This shows that its image of upholding global morality and justice which the US has propagated is trumped up, going against its true colors.

The US military’s attempts to downplay its overseas crime by its troops also demonstrate its contempt for the lives of other countries. Civilians have been killed by US forces in almost all wars waged by the US, ranging from the Vietnam War to battles against the Islamic State in Syria. The US’ tolerance in dealing with such crimes can partly explain why such practices have repeatedly happened.

Furthermore, even though the US military has been creating its image as well-trained, it has been witnessed that the US military has lax discipline and poor management. Another report by NYT cited military officials who said that a top secret American strike on a cell killed civilians in their operations against the Islamic State in Syria. The report quoted sources as saying that in 2017 the operators showed few signs that there were military. They used first names and no rank or uniforms, and many had bushy beards and went to work in shorts.

This may be an important factor contributing to US troops’ arbitrarily killing overseas civilians in battles or wars abroad, which deserves the Pentagon’s reflection to improve the management of the armed forces and constrain the irresponsible practices of US troops. But the Pentagon’s decision not to punish the involved personnel reveals there is no introspection within the US military. Worse, it would leave an impression to related personnel that if they commit similar crimes once again, they will escape punishment as well. This will produce a very negative chain reaction.

Similar tragedies done by US troops in other countries are expected to be repeated.

Just as many netizens said, the US is the deadliest terrorist in peacetime. “The US exploits its state power and forcibly intervenes in other countries, including attempting to overturn their governments and shake their social stability, waging wars, and threatening the safety of unarmed civilians. All of these can be considered state terrorism,” Zhang Tengjun, deputy director of the department for Asia-Pacific Studies at the China Institute of International Studies, told the Global Times. This calls for the full attention and vigilance of the international community.

Betrayal: when you have a friend like US, who need an enemy! Blinken in futile attempt to drive wedge in SE Asia 背叛：當你有像美國這樣的朋友，誰需要敵人！ Blinken 試圖在東南亞楔入是徒勞的 by Leng Shumei and Wan Hengyi Dec 14 2021

https://enapp.globaltimes.cn/article/1241506

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken could not wait to sabotage China’s relations with Southeast Asia in his speech on Tuesday in Jakarta, Indonesia, by hyping disputes over the South China Sea and China’s “threats” to the regional economy, as he promised to enhance economic and security cooperation with the region.

China’s “aggression” in the South China Sea threatened more than $3 trillion in annual trade and is a cause of growing concern. “That’s why there is so much concern – from Northeast Asia to Southeast Asia, and from the Mekong River to the Pacific Islands – about Beijing’s aggressive actions,” Blinken claimed in a speech at the University of Indonesia.

Blinken said that the US “will advance a free and open Indo-Pacific” in which “problems will be dealt with openly, rules will be reached transparently and applied fairly, goods and ideas and people will flow freely. ”

If the US really wants to play a constructive role in promoting peace and development in the Asia-Pacific region as it claimed, it should earnestly respect the ASEAN-centered regional cooperation architecture, instead of drawing ideological lines, creating small cliques and inciting bloc confrontation, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin said Tuesday in response to Blinken’s speech.

It should respect the efforts made by China and ASEAN members to maintain peace and stability in the South China Sea, instead of frequently sending vessels and aircraft to the South China Sea to flex muscle and provoke trouble. It should be a promoter of dialogue and cooperation in the region, instead of a saboteur that drives wedges between regional countries and undermines regional solidarity and cooperation, Wang said.

While trumpeting the so-called “China threat,” the US said it does not want conflict with China. Such a self-contradictory approach is not in line with the spirit of the meeting between Chinese and US heads of state and will hardly be recognized by countries in the region, Wang noted.

No matter what rhetoric he uses, experts noted that the region would maintain rationality in handling relations with China and the US in terms of regional interests as they are clear that the US intends to use them as strategic tools to contain China.

Those beautiful slogans of “democracy,” “rules” and “freedom” are just a disguise of the US’ ill-intentioned strategy to amplify and provoke regional disputes to allow it to engage in deeper interference in the region and make regional countries rely more on the US, observers said.

The US thinks Indonesia is the most powerful country with disputes with China over the South China Sea, but it miscalculates as Indonesia would not want to become a “battlefield” for China-US competition, Zhuang Guotu, head of Xiamen University’s Southeast Asian Studies Center, told the Global Times on Tuesday.

Zhuang said that Blinken’s speech is “nothing new” from what he said during his trip to Japan and South Korea.

The South China Sea card would be played even more severely after Blinken moves from Indonesia to Malaysia, Chen predicted, noting that these countries, however, would stay reasonable facing the US’ provocation.

Some foreign media hyped a “standoff” between a Chinese government research ship and an exploration vessel operated by Malaysia’s state oil company Petronas in the South China Sea in April 2020, while two US warships were operating in the South China Sea and claiming that China was “bullying” others in the region.

However, China and Malaysia denied any “standoff” between the two sides. Malaysian officials also told media that the appearance of US warships in the region would lead to misjudgments and affect regional peace and stability.

Media and observers also poured cold water on Blinken’s visit before his arrival.

A report by Reuters on Monday also exposed the US’ lip service on economic cooperation with Southeast Asia, pointing out that the US had shown its desire to step up engagement with Southeast Asia through a series of senior-level visits this year, but they don’t have a response to China on the economy.

And even as Blinken is expected to woo countries by dangling the prospect of hosting US firms relocating from China as part of efforts to secure sensitive supply chains, there was no sign of a willingness to offer an increased access to the US market the region craves, the article said.

China is the most important country around Indonesia and the two countries’ economic cooperation has progressed smoothly such as the construction of the 21st Century Maritime Silk Road. Many previous US administrations and officials, like the Trump administration and Obama administration had drawn big pies for Indonesia, but which were not real after all. Indonesia knows that cooperation with China is more pragmatic and fruitful than relying on the US, Zhuang said.

It is practically impossible for the US to cooperate with Southeast Asian countries without China as the region has to import many items like cotton and electronic products from China, Chen Xiangmiao, assistant research fellow at the National Institute for South China Sea Studies said.

Besides economic cooperation, China and ASEAN are also enhancing exchanges on security issues in recent years to deal with mutual concerns and regional disputes, which experts said would further help enhance mutual trust between China and ASEAN and solve regional disputes through negotiations, leaving little space for the US to provoke.

Xi-Putin meeting expected to draw up 2022 plan for bilateral ties, break rumors sowing discord 習近平普京會晤擬擬訂2022年雙邊關係計劃 破除不和的謠言by Xu Keyue and Wan Hengyi Dec 13 2021

https://enapp.globaltimes.cn/article/1241398

Chinese President Xi Jinping will have a virtual meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin on Wednesday, during which the two leaders will review bilateral relations and cooperation achievements over the year, draw up top-level design for the development of bilateral ties for next year and exchange views on major international and regional issues of common concern, the Chinese Foreign Ministry announced on Monday.

Analysts and officials believe that the meeting is significant and timely as it will not only solidify the mutual political trust of the two countries, chart the course for already close communication and cooperation in politics, economy, military and people-to-people exchanges for next year amid reckless US crackdowns and smears.

It is also seen as a response to doubts in the West over China-Russia relations as the US seeks to align its allies to confront both and even attempt to drive a wedge to split their ties following Putin’s recent talks with US President Joe Biden, analysts said.

Speaking at Monday’s press conference, Wang Wenbin, a spokesperson of the Chinese Foreign Ministry said the meeting between the top leaders of China and Russia is expected to further enhance high-level mutual trust, vigorously promote close strategic coordination and the robust development of all-round practical cooperation between China and Russia, and inject more stability and positive energy into the turbulent and intertwined international situation.

After Russia held leadership meetings with the US and India and is likely to have another with the US, the meeting with China will break rumors aimed at sowing discord between the two countries, said Yang Jin, an associate research fellow at the Eastern European and Central Asian Studies Center of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences.

CNN on Sunday reported that Putin told US President Joe Biden he would “really like” to meet for more talks, citing a video clip released by Russian state TV on Sunday from the leaders’ virtual call last week.

Putin and Biden spoke in a video call on December 7 as tensions between the US and Russia escalate. Ukraine tensions were one of the focuses during the call.

Given that Russia is in a critical period of making power arrangements as Putin’s presidency is scheduled to expire in 2024, a stable internal and external environment is of urgent need, Cui Heng, a post-doctorate researcher from the Center for Russian Studies of East China Normal University, told the Global Times on Monday.

China and Russia can support each other in sticking to their own paths of development, serve as the backbone for each other’s political legitimacy, and jointly oppose the West’s incitement of “color revolutions” and stigmatization against the two countries, Cui said.

It is also hoped that the situation in Ukraine remains peaceful and stable, and disputes and conflicts should be resolved within the framework of dialogue and consultations, Yang said.

During the upcoming Xi-Putin meeting, the two will not only discuss the anti-pandemic and energy cooperation, but also Russia’s support for China’s hosting of the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympic Games, more cooperation in the Shanghai Cooperation Organization under the Belt and Road Initiative, and Central Asia issues, Yang predicted.

The meeting could also cover the situation in Afghanistan and other regional issues, he said.

The meeting is of great significance for global stability, economic recovery and reconstruction in the post-pandemic era and the further consolidation of the strategic partnership between the two countries, Yang told the Global Times on Monday.

In recent years, Beijing and Moscow have stepped up cooperation on many fronts, be they military, trade or people-to-people exchanges. The frequent interactions between the top leaders of the two countries also help cement bilateral ties and lend stability and positive energy to the international situation.

The two sent congratulatory letters to the closing ceremony of the China-Russia Year of Scientific and Technological Innovation in late November. Putin has “gladly accepted China’s invitation” to attend the opening ceremony of the Beijing 2022 Olympic Winter Games in February and the two countries are in close communication on Putin’s trip.

The two top leaders also talked over phone in August, during which they stressed strengthening coordination on Afghanistan, which analysts said showed that the two major powers are acting as responsible countries in helping address the chaos in Afghanistan and maintain the international order.

They also jointly announced the extension of the China-Russia Treaty of Good-Neighborliness and Friendly Cooperation in June via video link, three days ahead of the centennial of the Communist Party of China (CPC), while Putin congratulated Xi on the CPC’s centenary and expressed hopes for enhanced China-Russia inter-party exchanges.

Citing the recent democracy summit initiated by the US, Cui said it exposed Biden’s wishful thinking to build a camp with the Cold War mentality against China, Russia and other countries by ideological divisions. Only by joining hands can China and Russia counter the attack from the US-led clique and avoid falling into passivity, Cui stressed.

As the epidemic has been at its peak since mid-September in Russia, cooperation in the fight against the COVID-19 outbreaks is imperative, Cui said, noting that helping Russia can also consolidate China’s achievements in preventing and controlling imported infections, Cui said.

During the reconstruction of the value chain, the two countries should further deepen industrial cooperation, Cui said. In addition to large-scale trade, there is still broad space for bilateral cooperation in the formation of industrial chains in agriculture, biomedicine, machinery, shipbuilding, and other fields, Cui said.

Video: Chinese Inactivated COVID-19 Vaccines Still Work. COVID19 exposed US & Canada Human Rights to Global South. 中國滅活的新冠病毒疫苗仍然有效。 新冠病毒將美國和加拿大的人權真面目暴露給全球南方人看得清楚.

https://vimeo.com/656562704
https://youtu.be/ehc4mXaXXzY
https://www.facebook.com/100036400039778/posts/621055325784463/?d=n

Sinopharm’s inactivated vaccines are widely recognized across the world. China will reach its herd immunity by the end of 2021. 國藥的滅活疫苗在世界範圍內得到廣泛認可。 中國將在2021年底實現群體免疫.

China’s democracy is not what is narrowly defined as one-man-one-vote, but an ideal and whole system of political structures to ensure the people’s status as the true masters of the country rather than “voting puppets.”

Why Indians left their country refused or cannot return home? This is one of the reasons / Women’s status in China and India: Who has human rights and democracy? 為什麼印度人離開他們的國家後不想也不能回家？ 這就是原因之一/中國和印度的女性地位：誰擁有人權和民主？ by John Ross

Editor’s note: John Ross is a senior fellow at the Chongyang Institute for Financial Studies, Renmin University of China. The article reflects the author’s opinions and not necessarily the views of CGTN.

U.S. President Joe Biden has called a “Summit for Democracy” for December 9-10. There have been few events that have been more misnamed.

“Democracy” in European languages is derived from two Greek words, “demos (people)” and “kratos (rule).” So, “democracy” literally means “the people rule.” Democracy is presented as integrally linked to human rights, that is, “people’s rights.” This is correct and will be used here.

To clearly illustrate the falsity of the U.S. position on this issue, let us consider the real situation and outcome of democracy and human rights using a prominent example affecting the position of almost one-fifth of humanity – women in India and China.

An Indian woman’s life expectancy is 71. In China, it is 79.2.

In China, female literacy is above 95 percent, while it is around 70 percent in India.

The risk of a woman dying in childbirth is eight times higher in India than in China.

Regarding the position of women in China compared to India, take the conclusion of the British medical journal The Lancet, one of the world’s most prestigious medical publications. Its study on 70 years of women’s health in China noted that “statements such as ‘Women hold up half the sky’ and ‘Children are the future and hope of the motherland’ have not only been rhetoric but have been consistently practiced.” The study gives the example of China’s enormous fall in deaths in childbirth, which dropped from over 1,500 to 17.8 cases per 100,000 births from 1949 to 2019. In Brazil, deaths in childbirth dropped from 370 to 60 per 100,000 births and in India from 1,000 to 145 over the same period.

As the study “Women Hold Up Half The Sky: How China Eradicated Extreme Poverty” by Tings Chak concluded, “Starting at much higher rates of maternal mortality, China managed to reach less than a third of Brazil’s and an eighth of India’s in seven decades. For the impressive achievements across women’s reproductive, maternal, newborn, child and adolescent health, the Lancet also cites ‘strong political will’ and ‘improvements in gender equality’ as the key factors behind the successes.”

She also noted the key role China’s central government and the All-China Women’s Federation (ACWF) played in achieving these huge advances for women. The ACWF was not only a part of China’s leading governmental bodies overseeing the country’s targeted poverty alleviation programs, but it also garnered massive support from women at the grassroots level in parallel with these government programs. The ACWF organized base-building work with 900,000 WeChat “sisters” groups and 641,291 village-level grassroots organizations across China.

In short, there was nothing accidental about such enormous steps forward for Chinese women. They were achieved by a combination of government programs and extensive grassroots participation by women themselves.

In the thinking of any rational human being, it is clear from these results that the human rights of a Chinese woman are far superior to those of an Indian woman. This is said with no pleasure; I would prefer the human rights of an Indian woman to improve to become equal to those of a Chinese woman.

Yet, according to the U.S. concept of “democracy” and “human rights,” the ridiculous claim is made that the rights of an Indian woman are superior to those of a Chinese woman because an Indian woman lives in a “Parliamentary Republic.” Therefore, India is invited to the “Summit for Democracy,” and China is not, despite all the facts and data mentioned above.

If the U.S. concept of “democracy” and “human rights” are correct, then the only conclusion one could arrive at from these facts is that from the point of view of women, democracy is thoroughly undesirable.

But in fact, the U.S. has a totally false concept of “democracy.” It defines democracy not in terms of the “people rule” and the well-being of real people, but in terms of a few formal processes such as “Parliamentary Democracy” or “Division of Powers.” Unless one believes that women in India wish to have short lives, be illiterate and die in childbirth, the only conclusion one can draw is that “rule by the people,” in this case by women, is being carried out far more by China’s system of government policies and mass organizations than the “Parliamentary Republic” of India.

Biden’s summit may try to argue that India’s system embodies democracy and human rights, and China’s does not. But that purely verbal claim will not alter the fact that the life and real rights of a Chinese woman are far superior to those of an Indian woman.

The real test of a system is not adherence to some specific procedures. It is what it delivers that shows whether “the people rule.” It is only necessary to look at the contrast in the lives of one-fifth of humanity, Chinese and Indian women, to see that China has delivered “the people rule” on a gigantic scale and infinitely more than the entirely unreal criteria chosen by Biden.

Video: Chinese democracy, Asian democracy, it works! But most racist Chinese haters never set foot in HK, Singapore or Shanghai to experience it. 中國民主，亞洲民主，行得通！ 但大多數仇視中國的種族主義者從未踏足香港、新加坡或上海去體驗它.

https://vimeo.com/656412912
https://youtu.be/OYNFYuGSpSE
https://www.facebook.com/100036400039778/posts/620851112471551/?d=n

Scores of articles are discussing the shrinkage of Western liberal democracy around the world—and contrasting it with its alternative, authoritarianism, portrayed as a terrible system creating dystopian societies.

The trouble is that anyone who has travelled even a little bit quickly sees the dichotomy is completely fake. Singapore, Shanghai, Hong Kong – they may not count as Western liberal democracies, but its clearly ridiculous to portray them as dystopias.
The fact is, some of the foundational texts of Western liberal democracy actually recommend a different option for places in Asia.

In his book On Liberty, published in 1869, John Stuart Mill says that liberal democracy is a good thing for everyone except for developing countries. For those, “Despotism” was “legitimate… provided the end be their improvement”.

In the 1940s, British colonial official Lord Malcolm Hailey said his country exercised power over Asia and Africa “as part of the movement for the betterment of the backward peoples of the world”.

Asia’s alternative system is sometimes defined in just two words. The classic Western formulation is “benign dictatorship”. Benign means kind. That was what British colonial leaders of Hong Kong liked to call their period of governance, in which a handful of foreigners made the decisions but held regular democratic consultations. Some political scientists prefer “illiberal democracy” or “consultative authoritarianism”. In China they like “full-process democracy”.

Spanish speakers use dictablanda and the Portuguese talk of ditabranda. These terms indicate leaders who are labelled dictators by outsiders but who are actually widely appreciated by their citizens. Xi Jinping’s China is clearly a ditabranda society.

Media commentators today can point their fingers at a system which combines strong leadership with consultative democracy and call it whatever they like. I just call them “Asian democracy”. It works.

Video: What has US done in the name of freedom democracy human rights and rules of laws in the Middle East? 美國以自由、民主、人權和法治的名義在中東做了什麼？
https://vimeo.com/656385199
https://youtu.be/CQiCpv2rLOo
https://www.facebook.com/100036400039778/posts/620795692477093/?d=n

Video: US & her vassal states full scale China containment to stop China rise by all means and all cost – China is fighting back with friends! 美國及其附庸國全面遏制中國，不惜一切代價阻止中國崛起 – 要把中國向死裡推, 中國正在與朋友們進行反擊.
https://vimeo.com/656380794
https://youtu.be/1kFeHQ4dZ0U
https://www.facebook.com/100036400039778/posts/620793649143964/?d=n

Damaged Submarine USS Connecticut Appears In San Diego After Secret Journey From Guam. The covert journey across the Pacific must have been an arduous and complex affair. BY TYLER ROGOWAY Dec 12 2021

https://www.rt.com/usa/543084-navy-nuclear-sub-mountain-collision-repairs/
https://www.thedrive.com/the-war-zone/43479/damaged-submarine-uss-connecticut-appears-in-san-diego-after-secret-journey-from-guam

The badly damaged Seawolf class nuclear fast-attack submarine USS Connecticut (SSN-22) has just appeared in San Diego after making a covert transit from Guam, all but certainly sailing the entire way on the surface. It had been staged on that island for around two months following its collision with an underwater seamount in the South China Sea on October 2nd, 2021. Thanks to our friends at @Warshipcam who spotted and identified the submarine entering San Diego Bay on the local San Diego Webcam, we also get a far clearer look at the damage done to the prized submarine—its entire bow sonar dome is indeed missing.

We have more or less known that Connecticut had left Guam for many days now as the sub had not appeared in satellite imagery at its previous berth in Guam. We reached out to the Navy for information as to its whereabouts, but we did not receive a response, which further pointed to it being on a secretive surface transit across the Pacific.

We had thought Connecticut’s most likely destination would have been its home in Bremerton, Washington. That is where the three Seawolf class submarines are based. Navy statements also supported that assumption. But now we know San Diego was where it was headed, at least first. Washington state is 5,600 miles from Guam direct. San Diego is farther at 6,200 miles, but the course to San Diego takes it close to islands where it could abort its voyage to safely, namely Hawaii. One of the Navy’s master submarine bases is in San Diego at Point Loma. It’s possible, if not probable, that it could still travel to Washington after this stop.

The reason it didn’t stay in Guam is that there is no drydock there to make any sort of significant repairs to the vessel. Pearl Harbor is the closest location with such capabilities, but considering there are only three boats in the Seawolf class, it may have been a challenge for it to take on such a unique repair job. Its drydock facilities are also extremely heavily tasked and are a strategic asset in the Pacific that would have had their capacity decreased, possibly for years, if Connecticut called on it to repair its damage.

A 6,200 mile surface transit in a submarine that is damaged and doesn’t even have a bow sonar dome must have been extremely unpleasant. We also don’t know what sort of escorts Connecticut must have had for her trans-Pacific transit. We have reached out to the Navy for comment and will update this post as soon as we hear back.

UPDATE:

This is all the Navy was willing to convey to us in response to our questions about Connecticut’s journey:

USS Connecticut (SSN 22) is in port in San Diego. The submarine remains in a safe and stable condition.

Thank you,
Cindy

CDR Cindy Fields
Force Public Affairs Officer
Commander, Submarine Force U.S. Pacific Fleet

It’s also worth mentioning that the destroyer USS Mustin arrived in San Diego not long after USS Connecticut. It’s possible that she provided security for the stricken submarine on at least part of its voyage.

Mustin left San Diego on November 26th and was in Pearl Harbor on December 1st, so the dates seem to line up. Still, U.S. warships can make this transit for a number of reasons.