Northeast Asia Geostrategic Forum

[TaiShang]

Life is much easier now

Taiwan Residents Welcome New Entry-permit Policy
2015-06-15

Delegates from Taiwan pose for photos during the 7th Straits Forum in Xiamen, southeast China's Fujian Province, June 14, 2015. The 7th Straits Forum opened in Xiamen on Sunday. [Photo: Xinhua]


Mainland authorities have revealed plans to lift entry-permit requirements for people from Taiwan travelling to the mainland, in a bid to boost exchanges across the Taiwan Straits.

As our reporter Wang Wei reports, many Taiwan residents welcome the new move.

The pronouncement has been made by lead political advisor Yu Zhengsheng during a speech to a cross-Straits forum in the city of Xiamen in Fujian.

"We are going to provide better conditions for cross-Straits exchanges. At some point we will lift the entry-permit requirements and issue a special card to allow easier access to the mainland for our Taiwan compatriots. I also hope the two sides can carry out more exchanges and communication activities, especially in grassroots areas."

Fu Chia-Hsien is a Taiwan businessman who has been commuting across the Straits for over ten years, and he speaks highly of the new policy.

"It's a very good thing, really great. Since cross-straits relations are getting better and better, we want to regard the mainland as our home in the future."

At present, Taiwan residents need to apply for a visa-like entry permit in order to visit the mainland.

Speaking of his own experience several years ago, a representative at the forum, Lu Ting-Hua, says that the card will definitely facilitate travel.

"I remember a few years ago the bullet train to Shanghai was launched and I worked in Shanghai. But I couldn't get my ticket to Shanghai issued because the railway station staff had trouble in inputting my ID number on the entry-permit to the bullet train ticket system. Now there's a specially designed solution for us. In the near future, with the official card, it will make things much easier for those who come here to study, work, tour or reside."

Cross-Straits exchanges became widely possible after 2008 when the two sides opened direct mail, transport, and trade links.

Official statistics show Taiwan residents made 5.3 million visits to the mainland in 2014, a 20 percent increase from 2008.

Mainlanders made over 4 million visits to Taiwan last year, compared with just 280-thousand in 2008.

Wang Cho-chung, editor-in-chief of Want Daily based in Taiwan, has expressed his confidence in exchanges and cooperation between the two sides.

"If we are exempted from needing travel permits to come to the mainland, it means we can come at any time we want. Actually that is a very critical step to show that the two sides across the straits are one family. Through this new policy, the two sides can embrace business and personal exchanges in the future."

Experts say the new policy is expected to attract more and more young people from Taiwan to pursue careers on the mainland.

A poll from the island earlier this year indicated about one third of Taiwan residents aged between 20 and 29 are interested in working on the mainland.

 

[TaiShang]

• China and Russia Lay Foundation for Massive Economic Cooperation
  
• JULY 10, 2015 - 2:52 PM, Foreign Policy

In the past decade, Beijing and Moscow have been more competitors than partners. But that relationship may now be changing as Russian and Chinese leaders are considering combining their two countries’ regional economic projects — the Eurasian Economic Union and the Silk Road Economic Belt, respectively.

While meeting at a two-day summit of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization in Ufa, Russia, Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese President Xi Jinping are reportedly discussing a framework that would merge China’s multi-billion dollar network of roads, railways, and pipelines through Central Asia with the Eurasian Union, the post-Soviet economic bloc that includes Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, and Russia. The two projects would be combined under the auspices of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, and if the proposal is completed, it would make the opaque organization the preeminent economic body from Shanghai to St. Petersburg.

“For the first time there is a working group on this topic and at the moment the merger of the two projects seems feasible,” Alexander Gabuev, senior associate and the chair of the Russia in the Asia-Pacific program at the Carnegie Moscow Center, told Foreign Policy. The proposal would combine the regulation of the Moscow-led bloc with the deep pockets of China, which has already invested more than $50 billion in Central Asia. Piggybacking on the Eurasian Union’s joint customs space could drastically reduce costs for shipping products from China to Europe, with goods only having to cross one unified tariff zone before entering the European Union.

“There is a strong commercial logic for this plan, it’s not just about geopolitics,”“There is a strong commercial logic for this plan, it’s not just about geopolitics,” said Gabuev.

Formed in 2001 by China, Russia, and four Central Asian countries, the SCO was originally created to settle border disputes between members. Successful in its original task, the bloc has taken many forms in the following years, from development to counterterrorism, but has struggled to play a defining role on any one issue.

Leaders at Ufa approved applications by India and Pakistan to join as full members of the SCO on Friday, and Russia hopes Iran will join after United Nations sanctions on Tehran are lifted. “A reinvigorated SCO fueled by a China-Russia partnership could suddenly make the organization very relevant,” said Luca Anceschi, a Central Asia expert at the University of Glasgow.

State media in both countries are already trumpeting the cooperation proposal and the SCO, with the Chinese state news agency Xinhua calling it a blueprint for “cooperation and prosperity of the whole Eurasian continent.” That marks quite a departure from Moscow and Beijing’s previous tug of war over influence in Central Asia.

As Putin has found himself isolated from the West and his economy weakened by sanctions and falling oil prices, the Kremlin has aimed to bolster its relationship with Beijing. Russia’s pivot east has come mostly in the form of energy deals, exemplified by a gas deal last year worth more than $400 billion. Moscow also joined the Beijing-led Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank this year, and is in talks at the Ufa summit to start a new development bank under the SCO.

But under these new circumstances, Russia is recalibrating its position in Central Asia and other parts of the former Soviet Union. “The Eurasian Union has not been the success Moscow hoped it would be,” said Anceschi. Since coming into effect in January, the bloc has been marred by trade disputes between Belarus, Kazakhstan, and Russia and has not delivered the economic stimulus promised to its members. “The Kremlin knows that they won’t be able to compete with Chinese investment,” said Anceschi. “Russia simply can’t catch up.”

Russia is instead aiming to retain its influence as the security guarantor in the region, keeping its sway in the region through military bases in Central Asia, arms deals, and the Collective Security Treaty Organization, a security bloc of former Soviet countries. This formula satisfies both China, which is wary of deploying troops beyond its borders, and Central Asian countries used to a Russian military presence.

“Under this arrangement, China would be the bank and Russia would be the big gun,”“Under this arrangement, China would be the bank and Russia would be the big gun,” said Gabuev.

Despite the roadmap being drawn in Ufa, the agreement still faces major obstacles before coming into effect. According to experts, the Russian leadership is divided on anchoring itself so firmly to China. On one side, pragmatic technocrats within the Russian government view cooperation with China as an economic necessity given Moscow’s falling out with the West, its inability to match Beijing’s deep pockets, and the fact that Russia needs Chinese investment. But the Russian security organs remain wary of how an unimpeded China could erode Russian influence. At least for the moment, the pragmatic camp seems to winning the argument.

 

[TaiShang]

Russia and China will have the possibility to develop their cooperation in the agricultural field to the full extent.

Crimea Presents Agricultural, Industrial Projects in Saudi Arabia

The agreement between Russia's Zabaikalsky Territory and Chinese company Huae Sinban to lease 115,000 hectares of Russian farmland to China is not only a major step in agricultural cooperation, but also a perfect example of trust between the two countries, according to an article from the Chinese newspaper Huanqiu Shibao.

The author of the article, Wang Haiyun, is senior advisor at the Chinese Institute for International Strategic Studies.

He believes that now Russia and China will have the possibility to develop to the full extent their cooperation in the agricultural field.

The fact that Russian authorities agreed to lease such an immense territory for 49 years proves that Moscow has no ideological prejudice towards Beijing, the article said.

For a long time Russian society believed in the mythical Chinese threat, including economic expansion and territorial claims, the author wrote. The recent agreement shows the high level of mutual confidence between Russia and China.

He stressed the need to "think open" and to eradicate absurd claims that for China agricultural cooperation means territorial expansion.

Expansion is contrary to Chinese cultural values and its policy towards Russia. Expansion allegations are a provocation by unfriendly forces aimed against the blooming Russian-Chinese cooperation, Haiyun concluded.

He also expresses hopes that the agricultural industry will be a perspective field for long-term cooperation between the two countries and would help find a way to resolve the global food crisis.



Read more: Chinese Media Hails Russia-China Deal on Far East Land's Lease for 50 Years / Sputnik International

 

[TaiShang]

China, Russia to Build World's Largest Ranch inHeilongjiang

China is taking steps to build a Sino-Russia joint-venture livestock farm in Mudanjiang city, northeastern China's Heilongjiang province, according to a Nandu.com report on Wednesday.

The ranch is planned to invest 1 billion yuan or 161 million US dollars and will raise 100,000 dairy cattle. Experts believe it will become the world's largest ranch after its completion. And all the milk and milk products will sell in Russia, said the report.

The news aroused concern from the European Union (EU).

The annual milk production is expected to reach 8 billion liters, said the EU Agriculture Group.

Russia has just recently extended an embargo against EU milk to the year of 2016.

Since Russia implemented full embargo against products varying from fruits, vegetable, meats, fish, milk to milk products against the EU, the US, Norwegian and Canada, its needs of Chinese agriculture products increased sharply. Official data shows in the first half of this year, a total 33,900 tons of fruits and vegetables were exported from Heilongjiang to Russia via Heihe, the busiest port along China-Russia border, worth some 17. 23 million US dollars and seeing a 40 percent increase compared to the same period of 2014.

 

[Tresbon]

China, Russia Planning 20-Ship Naval Exercise in the Sea of Japan in August
By: Sam LaGrone
July 17, 2015 12:45 PM

Russian sailors aboard a Chinese People’s Liberation Army Navy Ship.


China and Russia will conduct their largest joint Pacific exercise in August near Japan, Russian Navy planners announced on Friday.

Announced last year, Joint Sea Exercise 2015 will occur in both the Sea of Japan and off the cost of Russian region of Primorsky — about 250 miles away from Japan.

“These maneuvers will for the first time involve a joint amphibious assault drill in Russia’s Primorsky territory with the participation of carrier-based aircraft,” Russian Pacific Fleet spokesman Roman Martov said, reported the Russian TASS wire service.

“Representatives of the headquarters of the Russian Pacific Fleet and the Navy of the People’s Liberation Army of China have carried out major work for the planning of the Chinese warships’ visit to Vladivostok port, the cultural program, sports competitions and all the tactical events of the sea, land and air parts of the maneuvers.”

Since 2011, Russia and China have conducted regular joint exercises.

Russian and Chinese ships in the Pacific in 2014. China Daily Photo


Last year was the largest series of exercises, the Russian Navy and the PLAN drilled with 14 surface ships, two submarines, aviation assets and special operation forces (SOF), according to Chinese media.

The Pacific drills follow the first ever joint Chinese-Russian exercise in the Mediterranean sea earlier this year. The much smaller exercise featured three Chinese People’s Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) and six Russian.

In November, said Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu said the combined military-to-military between China and Russia partnership was growing.

“We believe that the main goal of pooling our effort is to shape a collective regional security system,” Shoigu said.
“We also expressed concern over U.S. attempts to strengthen its military and political clout in the [Asia-Pacific Region].”


China, Russia Planning 20-Ship Naval Exercise in the Sea of Japan in August - USNI News

 

[TaiShang]

Russia and China Plan Military Drills in Sea of Japan / Sputnik International

30.07.2015

In the latest sign of military cooperation between the two nations, Russia and China will conduct joint naval and air defense drills in the Sea of Japan next month.

Occurring between August 20 and 28, the exercises will take place in the Gulf of Peter the Great, off the coast of Vladivostok, and in the Sea of Japan.

According to Chinese Defence Ministry spokesman Yang Yujun, the exercises will focus on anti-submarine and anti-ship exercises. While the Russian military will supply ships, submarines and fixed-wing aircraft, China will send fighter jets, destroyers, frigates, and supply vessels.

China Says Naval Cooperation Important for Relations With Russia


Both nations will dispatch helicopters and marines.

While the exercises are meant to further collaboration between the two global partners, Yang expressed concern that the drills could be used politically by some in Japanese government. As Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s Liberal Democratic Party pushes for legislation which would send Japanese troops abroad for the first time since World War Two, Yang said certain politicians could be "hyping up" the exercises.

"We hope that certain people in Japan can calmly reflect on what they have done," Yang said during a monthly news briefing.

The drills come amid growing tensions in the Pacific. A number of nations in the region have accused Beijing – largely at the behest of the United States – of encroaching on rival territorial claims. The construction of artificial islands in the Spratly archipelago has sparked protests from Indonesia and the Philippines, both of which have conducted joint military drills with the US in an effort to intimidate China.

Beijing has repeatedly claimed that it has every right to build within its own territory and the islands will be largely used for humanitarian purposes. On Thursday, the Chinese government repeated pleas for calm.

"China is extremely concerned at the United States’ pushing of the militarization of the South China Sea region," Yang said during the news briefing.

Washington has also been encouraging Tokyo to take a more active role in countering an alleged Chinese influence. Last week, the Japanese government accused China of constructing oil-and-gas exploration platforms in disputed waters in the East China Sea.

"China and Japan have not yet delineated maritime boundaries in the East China Sea, and China does not recognize the Japanese side’s unilateral marking out of a so-called 'median line,'" China’s Foreign Ministry said in response, according to Reuters.

Earlier on Thursday, the Russian Pacific Fleet also successfully test launched a missile system in the Sea of Japan.

Russian Coastal Troops Conduct Missile Launch Exercise in Sea of Japan


"The military missile brigade of the Pacific Fleet Coastal Troops conducted successful live firing of the Bal coastal missile complex in the Sea of Japan," Col. Alexander Gordeyev, spokesman for the Russian Defense Ministry’s Eastern Military District said on Thursday.

Speaking to Sputnik on Wednesday, a Chinese Defense Ministry spokesman stressed the importance of naval cooperation between Beijing and Moscow.

"Business cooperation in the naval sphere plays an important role in the development of trusting strategic bilateral relations."


Read more: Russia and China Plan Military Drills in Sea of Japan / Sputnik International

@cnleio , @Beidou2020 , @AndrewJin , @Keel , @Beast , @21stCentury , @sweetgrape , @dy1022 , @Chinese-Dragon et al

 

[TaiShang]

China, Russia plan joint naval drills
July 31, 2015, 5:50 am

China also conducted naval exercises with Singapore in May [Xinhua]


China’s defense ministry has announced new naval drills with Russia to be held for eight days beginning August 20.


Spokesperson Yang Yujun said the exercises will be held in Peter the Great Bay, an inlet in the Sea of Japan near the China-Russia border.

The drills, which follow a similar joint exercise in the Mediterranean in May, are designed to “to improve China and Russia’s capacity in coping with maritime security threats,” Yang said.

“Navies of the two countries will join forces to simulate anti-submarine combat, air defense and other relevant missions.”

The announcement comes amid tension between Beijing and Washington about China’s claimed jurisdiction over about 2 million square kms of the 3.55 million square kms South China Sea territory.

On Friday, Yang accused the US of double standards regarding its criticism of China’s construction projects on a series of islands in the South China sea.

He said that the Pentagon has been frequently sending aircraft and ships in a bid to carry out close-distance reconnaissance in the South China Sea.

“The US side disregards and distorts the facts and plays up China’s military threat to sow discord between China and the littoral states in the South China Sea. We firmly oppose such actions,” Yang said.

“The Chinese side expresses its serious concern over US activities to militarize the South China Sea region,” he said.

China, the Philippines, Vietnam and other nations lay contesting claims to these waters, but Beijing exercises jurisdiction.

In 2013, US ally the Philippines filed a complaint with the Arbitral Tribunal questioning the validity of China’s “nine-dash” territorial claim, a demarcation on official Chinese maps that envelops virtually the entire South China Sea.

On July 14, 2015, China reiterated its position of not participating in the South China Sea arbitration process initiated by Philippines at the Hague-based Tribunal.

 

[TaiShang]

Construction of Russian Section of Railway Bridge to China to Start in 2015

13.08.2015

Russian Deputy Prime Minister Yury Trutnev said that construction for the Russian section of the first railway bridge to cross the Amur river and connect the country with China will begin in late 2015.

China May Engage in Building Russian Section of Bridge Across Amur River

KHABAROVSK (Russia) (Sputnik) –Construction will begin in late 2015 for the Russian section of the first railway bridge to cross the Amur river and connect the country with China, Russian Deputy Prime Minister Yury Trutnev said Thursday.

"A decision was made to finance this project at the expense of the Far East Development Fund and the Russian Direct Investment Fund. A government commission session took place, the work will begin next year," Trutnev told reporters.

He added that the construction of the Russian part of the bridge may take a year and a half.

A Russia-China intergovernmental agreement for construction of the railway bridge was signed in 2008.

China expects to finish the construction of its segment of the bridge by the end of 2015.

According to Chinese estimates, the new railway bridge over the Amur River would diminish the distance for shipments through China's Heilongjiang province to Russia.

Earlier reports suggest that, as of April 2015, China invested around 952 million yuan into the project, with total investment expected to be 2.64 billion yuan ($426 million).

Read more: Construction of Russian Section of Railway Bridge to China to Start in 2015 / Sputnik International

 

[TaiShang]

Away From Dollar: Russia, China to Create Entirely Different Gold Market
18:41 16.08.2015

While key Western banks are artificially restraining gold prices to breathe life into the diluted and devalued dollar system, Russia, China and other emerging economies are involved in "the genial move" to establish an entirely different gold market, F. William Engdahl underscores.

Key central banks, particularly the Federal Reserve and Bank of England, and Western market players have long been accused of clandestine gold price manipulating aimed at preserving the dollar's role "as world reserve currency primus," American-German economic researcher and historian F. William Engdahl writes.

"The COMEX gold futures market in New York and the Over-the-Counter (OTC) trades cleared through the London Bullion Market Association do set prices which are followed most widely in the world. They are also markets dominated by a handful of huge players, the six London Bullion Market Association gold clearing banks — the corrupt JP MorganChase bank; the scandal-ridden UBS bank of Zurich; The Bank of Nova Scotia — ScotiaMocatta, the world's oldest bullion bank which began as banker to the British East India Company, the group that ran the China Opium Wars; the scandal-ridden Deutsche Bank; the scandal-ridden Barclays Bank of London; HSBC of London, the house bank of the Mexican drug cartels; and the scandal and fraud-ridden Societe Generale of Paris," Engdahl narrated.

Furthermore, Western banks are issuing numerous paper "gold-futures" and other speculative contracts which are in fact disconnected from real physical gold.

In a word, operations with the precious metal in London and New York are in questionable hands, the economic researcher noted.

The West's ultimate goal is to preserve the dollar's monopoly in the market thus breathing life into the US-led global financial system. But no one likes monopolists.

Predictably, the current state of affairs cannot satisfy rising economies, such as China, Russia and other emerging powers.

However, "[r]ather than scream and cry 'fraud' at the owners of the COMEX/CME or the London Bullion Market Association Big Six clearing banks, these countries are involved in the genial move to create an entirely different gold market, one that not JP MorganChase or HSBC or Deutsche Bank control, but one that China, Russia and others of a like mind control," Engdahl stressed.

This new approach is connected closely with the China-led New Silk Road project and the Shanghai-based Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB).


In May 2015 Beijing announced it had established a state-run gold investment fund, aiming to bolster China's role in global gold trade. The new initiative is a part of China's ambitious One Belt and One Road plan. The "Silk Road Gold Fund" will invest in mining projects in the regions along the New Silk Road encouraging central banks of its members to increase their holdings in the precious metal.

"As China has expressed it, the aim is to enable the Eurasian countries along the Silk Road to increase the gold backing of their currencies. That sounds very much like some clear-thinking and far-sighted governments are thinking of creating a stable group of gold backed currencies that would facilitate orderly trade free from Washington currency wars," the economic researcher elaborated.


And Russia is actively cooperating with China in this field, he underscored, adding that just before the creation of China's new gold fund the countries inked a deal to explore the gold reserves in Russia's Magadan region.

Over the past several years Russia has been rapidly replenishing its vaults with golden bullions. In accordance with official data, Russian physical gold reserves currently amounted to 1250.9 tons in June 2015.

Today Russia is considered the world's third largest gold producer with 245 metric tons produced in 2014, while China produces over 450 tons a year.

"South Africa, also a member of the BRICS along with China and Russia, stands to add to the new energy surrounding a renaissance in gold as a support of solid, well-based currencies to replace the diluted and devalued dollar system," the researcher stressed.

According to Engdahl, the New Economic Silk Road, integrated with Russia's new Eurasian Economic Union, are more than just energy and railroad infrastructure: they are the central nervous system of the future largest and fastest-growing economic space on Earth.


Interestingly enough, according to the ANZ Research report "East to El Dorado: Asia and the Future of Gold" the gold price may soar as high as $2,000 a troy ounce by 2025. ANZ Research underscored that gold, despite its current slump, remains both an investment and a defensive asset. The rise of emerging economies, such as China and India will facilitate the demand for gold investments.

"While most eyes are fixed on COMEX or the London Bullion Market Association listed daily gold price fix, the real worth of gold as a currency reserve and a standard of monetary soundness is growing in worth by the day," Engdahl concluded adding that this trend is a real pain in the neck of the US Treasury, Federal Reserve and Wall Street.

 

[TaiShang]

US desperate as Russia and China collapse Bretton Woods system
18.06.2015 |

Imposing sanctions on Russia turned out to be a desperate move having nothing to do with Ukraine.

Russian and Chinese persistent supplanting of dollar as a reserve currency may reach its aim in the nearest future.

Thus, the Bretton Woods system established since 1944 will be collapsed.

On Tuesday it was announced that Russia and China are expected to use the ruble and yuan in payments for gas supplied using the western Altai pipeline. The proposed pipeline will export 30 billion cubic meters of natural gas a year from Russia's Western Siberia to North-Western China.

"As a sales contract is not signed, then, of course, the currency of payment has not yet been determined," said Gazprom Export CEO Elena Burmistrova. "However, the Chinese side and the Russian side are discussing today and are in intricate negotiations on the possibility of paying in yuan and rubles."

The announced plan followed an October 2014 deal signed between Beijing and Moscow that will strengthen the yuan and ruble and reduce dollar and euro dependency.

Prior to this, the Russian oil company Gazprom Neft agreed to export 80,000 tons of oil from the Novoportovskoye field in the Arctic via the Eastern Siberia-Pacific Ocean pipeline and will only accept payment in Chinese yuan.

"The Chinese and Russians are working together against the Americans, and there are many countries that would be happy to join them in dethroning the U.S. dollar as the world's reserve currency. This historic gas deal between Russia and China is very bad news for the petrodollar," Marin Katusa wrote for Forbes last May.

Another woe is an alternative development bank announced by BRICS, the governments of Brazil, Russia, India and China.

"It's long been obvious the BRICs are coming," Liam Halligan wrote for the Telegraph last August. "The total annual output of these four economies has spiraled in recent years, to an astonishing $29.6  trillion (£17.3 trillion) last year on a PPP-basis adjusted for living costs. That's within spitting distance of the $34.2 trillion generated by the US and European Union combined."

A move by Russia and China out of the dollar will ultimately undermine the the Treasury market in the United States and result in the collapse of the global elite's astronomical and continually spiraling $17.5  trillion of dollar-denominated debt, an imposed obligation that translates into $53,000 for every person in the United States.

The response by the global elite to the threat is playing out in sanctions and increased military aggressiveness on the periphery of Russia. The threat of war between the nuclear superpowers has not been this bad since the Cold War.

Domestically, severe measures are likely to be imposed after the dollar system collapses.

"I believe Washington will become sufficiently desperate to enforce the radical measures that governments throughout world history have always implemented when their currencies were threatened-overt capital controls, wealth confiscation, people controls, price and wage controls, pension nationalizations, etc.," writes Nick Giambruno of Casey Research.

"And there's more," Giambruno adds. "The destruction of the dollar will wipe out most people's wealth, leading to political and social consequences that will likely be worse than the financial consequences."

@Economic superpower , @Beidou2020

 

[TaiShang]

Russia-China drills aimed at safeguarding post-war international order

August 24, 8:58 UTC+3

The West’s concerns that Russia and China are using the exercises to flex their military muscles to counter the US and Japan is a misconception
BEIJING, August 24. /TASS/. The large-scale Russia-China naval drills dubbed Joint Sea 2015 are aimed at preserving the post-war international order rather than at creating a military alliance, the Global Times has reported.

The West’s concerns that Russia and China are using the exercises to "flex their military muscles to counter the US and Japan" is misconception, the authors of the report say.

"China and Russia have launched the drills to cope with maritime security threats and have no intention to target the US-Japan alliance," it stresses. "Military collaboration is one dimension of China-Russia cooperation but some countries have drawn the conclusion that the two sides are stepping up efforts to forge an alliance."

The largest joint naval drills are split into two phases, the first of which was held in May, shortly after Russia’s Red Square military parade, and the other is being held now just a few days before China’s military parade in Tiananmen Square.

"The drills have been conducted on the special dates in order to emphasize the determination of the two countries to safeguard the post-war international order. China and Russia are hoping to use the joint drills as part of the efforts to commemorate the 70th anniversary of the end of WWII," the report says.


Russia-China naval drills not directed against other states — military spokesman
Over 80 aircraft involved in military drills in south Russia
Russian air defence troops, Air Force to have large-scale exercise at end-September
Post-Soviet security bloc military drills unrelated to political developments — CSTO


The active phase of military exercises began on August 23 off the coast of Vladivostok, in Russia’s Far East. The drills feature 22 warships, 20 aircraft, more than 500 marines and 40 units of armored vehicles. A parade of vessels in Peter the Great Gulf will be held after the exercises, on August 28.

The first phase of the exercises in the Mediterranean involved around ten Russian and Chinese warships, including the guided missile cruiser The Moskva. The purpose was to practice joint operations to maintain the safety of shipping in the world ocean and enhance practical interaction between the two countries.

 

[TaiShang]

US Nightmares Come True: Russia, China 'Seriously Outplay' Washington

It is hard to say what US leadership was exactly thinking when it decided to improperly impose sanctions on Moscow, but Russia's consequent pivot to Asia and its blooming partnership with Beijing have had major negative implications for the US power globally.

"Sino-Russian relations are closer than they have been at any time in the past fifty years, giving them the chance to reshape the global order to their liking," Mathew Burrows and Robert A. Manning wrote for the National Interest.

Gone are the times when Richard Nixon and Henry Kissinger managed to drive a wedge between Russia and China. At the moment both countries appear to be natural born allies, reaping the fruits of cooperation, facing similar challenges and interested in finding mutually beneficial solutions under the framework of a multipolar world.

Eurasian Counter Gambit: Sino-Russian Alliance 'Acting as Magnet for Rest of the World'

Russia's "long-term energy future lies in Asia, and nearly half a trillion dollars in gas and oil deals with China will bolster a sagging Russian economy. China gains a valuable partner – instead of a rival – for stabilizing and modernizing Eurasia, which China increasingly sees not as a backwater, but its economic future. China's new 'One Road, One Belt' pivot west to Eurasia seeks to turn its vulnerability – a border with fourteen nations – into a strategic asset," the analysts noted.

The successful partnership between Russia and China is bound to attract attention of other Eurasian countries, as well as in Africa and Latin America.

"Yes, there's a new Great Game afoot, but we're being seriously outplayed," Burrows and Manning observed in an article titled "America's Worst Nightmare: Russia and China Are Getting Closer."

@vostok , @senheiser , @Beidou2020 , @opruh

 

[TaiShang]

Sino-Russian Alliance to Counterbalance US-Japan Military Buildup

Russo-Japanese relations may go into a nosedive if Moscow chooses to form a security coalition with China in the light of the US' BMD deployments in Japan, Indian expert M. K. Bhadrakumar suggests, adding that Vladimir Putin's upcoming visit to China signals a future significant reconfiguration in the Far Eastern region.

'Great Drama' for US and Japan: China's Rise Threatens Unipolar World Order

A cooling in relations between Moscow and Tokyo are linked to the release of the new Guidelines for US-Japan Defense Cooperation on April 27, 2015 that envisages the deployment of the US ballistic missile defense systems (BMD) in Japan, former Indian Ambassador and expert in foreign affairs Melkulangara K. Bhadrakumar underscores.


The document originated from the 1979 Cold War era doctrine of the military cooperation between Washington and Tokyo aimed against Soviet Russia. The Guidelines were updated in 1997, after the collapse of the USSR. Remarkably, the doctrine has got a second wind after being revised this April.

"The backdrop of the latest revision of the document, under way since 2013, is no doubt provided by 'assertive' China. But there are profound implications for Russia, too. To be sure, Japan is now going to play a more active role in supporting the US-led operations globally," Bhadrakumar elaborated in his article for Asia Times.

"Specifically, the Guidelines emphasize the importance of US-Japan cooperation in the field of ballistic missile defense or the BMD. The US, in fact, has begun deploying the BMD system in Japan," the Indian expert stressed.

According to the expert, Russia no longer considers the US-Japan alliance as a "stabilizing factor" or a "balancer" in the region. Furthermore, the US-sponsored project of Japan's BMD is regarded as a substantial threat to Russia's Far East. It should be noted that Article 12 of Russia's military doctrine specifically refers to the threat posed by the country's neighbors equipped with BDM hardware.


"Japan foots the bill. Washington and Tokyo may take the line that they do not envision Russia as a threat to Japan and that the US-Japan alliance does not target Russia as such, but in the present climate of Russian-American relations, Moscow is not going to be lulled into complacency," Bhadrakumar remarked.

To complicate matters further Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has pushed ahead new legislation that would allow Japanese troops to fight overseas, for the first time since the Second World War.

In light of this the Kremlin has carried out a series of steps aimed at ensuring Russia's security.

Particularly, Moscow accelerates rapprochement with Beijing. China's President Xi Jinping was Putin's "guest of honor" on Victory Day on May 9, the expert noted. At the same time Putin is preparing to attend China's celebrations in Beijing on September 3.

The leaders agreed to form a common economic space on the continent through linking the Russian-led Eurasian Economic Union with the China-led New Silk Road project.

The expert pointed to the fact that the two powers also agreed to hold joint military drills in the Asia-Pacific.

These are the signs of substantial reconfiguration in the region, according to the Indian experts.

In addition, regardless of Japan's vocal displeasure, Russia has sped up modernization of military and civilian infrastructure on the Kurile Islands.

"Today, the Russian build-up around the Kurile Islands has a much bigger calculus insofar as it is in anticipation of the full-scale opening of the so-called Northern Sea Route… Russia's Arctic policy demanded that the Kurile Islands get elevated to the frontlines of the country's defense and national security. Russia can be expected to steadily strengthen its military presence around the Kurile Islands and develop its infrastructure and port facilities, no matter what it takes," Bhadrakumar elaborated.

The expert remarked that Russia's strong strategic presence in the Arctic provides the country with an unbeatable advantage: access to all the oceans of the world.

Russo-Japanese relations are obviously getting cooler, he noted, while Sino-Russian cooperation is on the rise.

"Putin's forthcoming visit to Beijing next week becomes an important signpost of the emergent strategic realignment in the Far East," Bhadrakumar concluded.

 

[LowPost]

Russia-China relations at ‘historic peak’ despite ‘illegitimate Western restrictions’ - Putin
Published time: 1 Sep, 2015 13:53

With all the differences between Russia and China, the countries face common development targets, such as changing the structure of the economy to favor high-technology sectors, Vladimir Putin said in an interview to Chinese and Russian media.

The Russian president spoke to TASS and Xinhua agencies as he prepared for a visit to China that kicks off on September 2.

A key point in Putin's Chinese visit is taking part in the celebration of the 70th anniversary of the end of World War II.

“Our two countries were allies in the fight against Nazism and Japanese militarism and bore the brunt of the aggression, and they not only withstood this battle, but won it, liberating enslaved peoples and bringing peace to the planet,” Putin said.

He paid special notice to attempts to falsify the history of World War II.

“Efforts by certain countries to glorify and exonerate war criminals and their henchmen are an outrageous flouting of the Nuremberg and Tokyo trials,” he said, stressing that Russia and China maintain similar views on such causes.

It is a common goal for the two countries to prevent the revival and spread of Nazism and militarism, Putin said.

The president noted that the international situation is “growing increasingly unpredictable.”

“The creation of a new polycentric model is accompanied by growing regional and global instability,” Putin said, adding that the main reason for that is the “deficit of attempts to reach compromise,” with the “persistent desire” of certain states to “retain their dominance in global affairs at any cost,” actually “denouncing the principle of sovereign equality” of all states laid down in the UN Charter.

In this regard Russian-Chinese relations are developing rapidly and have probably “reached a peak in their entire history,” said Putin, mentioning “deep respect” and “consideration for each other’s key interests” among the key factors of this sincere friendship.

Moscow and Beijing work together in all international organizations, be it G20, BRICS or SCO, Putin stressed.

“Expansion of the Russian-Chinese partnership meets the interests and strategic goals of our two countries,” he said, specifically pointing to the Joint Declaration on cooperation in coordinating development of the Eurasian Economic Union and the Silk Road Economic Belt.

With trade turnover already reaching about $88.4 billion, China is Russia’s key economic partner and the “illegitimate restrictions imposed by certain Western countries against Russia” have no negative impact on Russian-Chinese economic cooperation, Putin insists.

“Our countries are consistently moving towards the creation of a strategic energy alliance,” he said. Russia-China deals in gas supply and nuclear power generation make energy the key to closer cooperation between the two countries.

Russia and China also have stable contacts in developing high-speed railway transport, aerospace and space rocket industries.

“Both Moscow and Beijing are set to intensify our financial partnership, including mutual settlements in national currencies,” Putin said.

Putin, who has visited China 13 times since he first was elected president in 2000, acknowledged that he was lucky to watch China ‘on the move’ over a number of years, as the country has been “growing more economically powerful, achieving new targets in building a modern infrastructure and in social development.”

“The development road China has covered over these years is a path of successful economic reform and wise social policy. This experience is of great value for us,” said Putin, adding that Russia and China have very similar industrial priorities and are sharing common development targets.

“There is a lot we can achieve on this basis. And I am sure we will.”

Russia-China relations at ‘historic peak’ despite ‘illegitimate Western restrictions’ - Putin — RT News

@vostok

 

[TaiShang]

Putin says dump dollar
Published time: 1 Sep, 2015 09:06

Russian President Vladimir Putin has drafted a bill that aims to eliminate the US dollar and the euro from trade between CIS countries.

This means the creation of a single financial market between Russia, Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and other countries of the former Soviet Union.

“This would help expand the use of national currencies in foreign trade payments and financial services and thus create preconditions for greater liquidity of domestic currency markets”, said a statement from Kremlin.

The bill would also help to facilitate trade in the region and help to achieve macro-economic stability.


Within the framework of the Eurasian Economic Union (EEU) the countries have also discussed the possibility of switching to national currencies. According to the agreement between Russia, Belarus, Armenia and Kazakhstan, an obligatory transition to settlements in the national currencies (Russian ruble, Belarusian ruble, dram and tenge respectively) must occur in 2025-2030.

Today, some 50 percent of turnover in the EEU is in dollars and euro, which increases the dependence of the union on countries issuing those currencies.

Outside the CIS and EEU, Russia and China have been trying to curtail the dollar’s dominance as well.

READ MORE: China approves usage of ruble instead of US dollar for border city

In August, China's central bank put the Russian ruble into circulation in Suifenhe City, Heilongjiang Province, launching a pilot two-currency (ruble and yuan) program. The ruble was introduced in place of the US dollar.

In 2014, the Russian Central Bank and the People’s Bank of China signed a three-year currency swap agreement, worth 150 billion yuan (around $23.5 billion), thus boosting financial cooperation between the two countries.