The Great Game Changer: Belt and Road Intiative (BRI; OBOR)

[Informant]

I think this pipeline would be extended to india. What do you guys think?

 

[Audio]

Can you provide proof of your 25% claim?

Gazprom Threatens to Disrupt Gas Supplies to Europe

Gazprom Said Likely to Keep Dividend Ratio Amid Ukraine Woes - Bloomberg

 

[kalu_miah]

Indians are not that smart to pull off something like that . I only agree they are pigs, but the tiger will eat them.

You got the point of the Chinese proverb, problem is everyone can see that except for Indians themselves.

 

[kalu_miah]

Can you explain how caste system works in India? From my understanding, the caste system is inherent. So my question is, how do people know which caste people are from or part of, by appearance or registration? Can a dalit pretends to be a high class caste and how do other superior caste find out?

Off topic, so I will just provide a link:
Hinduism: A Portrait of Polytheism

I think people in local areas already know who is from which caste, in city or other places, I think they look at appearance and name. To tell the truth Indians are best able to answer these questions, I would recommend opening a thread in Central and South Asia section.

 

[ChineseTiger1986]

MAD is not an issue here, I am not talking about war and conquest. Their hope is that they can persuade and convince Russia to become a part of EU, in the very long term. After all, Russia is majority white European and Christian. There is a question about Russian orthodox religion, but there are already orthodox countries in EU, so that should not be a big stumbling block:

The biggest stumbling block is that Russia once had its own empire. They treasure their sovereignty and independence and would hate to go under EU core countries domination.

About Russia selling oil/gas to all customers is good business, but what I doubt about is Pakistan allowing Indian pipeline over its land. I would have to see it to believe. India's relation with its neighbors will not normalize for the foreseeable future, as a neighbor of India, we know and you can ask other India's neighbors as well and it has little to do with religion, but rather everything to do with Indian sense of entitlement to interfere in neighbor country internal affairs and believing that it is their god given right to meddle in their backyard.

Russia to integrate with the West means "Russia to displace the Anglo Empire and to rule over the West", not vice versa.

There is no way that Russia will allow themselves to be ruled by the West.

 

[kalu_miah]

Russia to integrate with the West means "Russia to displace the Anglo Empire and to rule over the West", not vice versa.

There is no way that Russia will allow themselves to be ruled by the West.

That is what I am saying also, since the memory of long history of Russian empire is still too strong, one incarnation of which was Soviet Union that was intact till 1991, so they would hate to be dominated by the West in the foreseeable future.

Just for arguments sake, in case they did join EU in the very far future, then they would not be able to dominate, since the West collectively have about 800 million people (North America, EU and ANZ), whereas Russia has only about 144 million people.

If North East Asia (specially China) can lead an Asian integration, then a developed Asia with 4.3 billion (minus India is about 3 billion), have a much better chance of integrating Russia with Asia, despite racial differences. The Ukraine incident will reverberate for 2-3 decades and Asia will rise a lot in these decades, which may permanently orient Russia towards East. After all the origin of Russian empire was from one of the Mongol khanate, Golden Horde:
The Effects of the Mongol Empire on Russia
"As the evidence stands, the effects of the Mongol invasion were many, spread across the political, social, and religious facets of Russia. While some of those effects, such as the growth of the Orthodox Church generally had a relatively positive effect on the lands of the Rus, other results, such as the loss of the veche system and centralization of power assisted in halting the spread of traditional democracy and self-government for the various principalities. From the influences on the language and the form of government, the very impacts of the Mongol invasion are still evident today. Perhaps given the chance to experience the Renaissance, as did other western European cultures, the political, religious, and social thought of Russia would greatly differ from that of the reality of today. The Russians, through the control of the Mongols who had adopted many ideas of government and economics from the Chinese, became perhaps a more Asiatic nation in terms of government, while the deep Christian roots of the Russians established and helped maintain a link with Europe. It was the Mongol invasion which, perhaps more than any other historical event, helped to determine the course of development that Russian culture, political geography, history, and national identity would take."

 

[ChineseTiger1986]

That is what I am saying also, since the memory of long history of Russian empire is still too strong, one incarnation of which was Soviet Union that was intact till 1991, so they would hate to be dominated by the West in the foreseeable future.

Just for arguments sake, in case they did join EU in the very far future, then they would not be able to dominate, since the West collectively have about 800 million people (North America, EU and ANZ), whereas Russia has only about 144 million people.

If North East Asia (specially China) can lead an Asian integration, then a developed Asia with 4.3 billion (minus India is about 3 billion), have a much better chance of integrating Russia with Asia, despite racial differences. The Ukraine incident will reverberate for 2-3 decades and Asia will rise a lot in these decades, which may permanently orient Russia towards East. After all the origin of Russian empire was from one of the Mongol khanate, Golden Horde:
The Effects of the Mongol Empire on Russia
"As the evidence stands, the effects of the Mongol invasion were many, spread across the political, social, and religious facets of Russia. While some of those effects, such as the growth of the Orthodox Church generally had a relatively positive effect on the lands of the Rus, other results, such as the loss of the veche system and centralization of power assisted in halting the spread of traditional democracy and self-government for the various principalities. From the influences on the language and the form of government, the very impacts of the Mongol invasion are still evident today. Perhaps given the chance to experience the Renaissance, as did other western European cultures, the political, religious, and social thought of Russia would greatly differ from that of the reality of today. The Russians, through the control of the Mongols who had adopted many ideas of government and economics from the Chinese, became perhaps a more Asiatic nation in terms of government, while the deep Christian roots of the Russians established and helped maintain a link with Europe. It was the Mongol invasion which, perhaps more than any other historical event, helped to determine the course of development that Russian culture, political geography, history, and national identity would take."

Russia's rebellious mindset against the West can be dated back the era of the Roman Empire.

The Roman Empire has tried many times, but never successfully conquered the Scythian tribes who lived in the Eastern Europe.

I don't think it is just the Christianity, but in the Russian gene, they always don't like to be dominated by anyone else. From the ancient Scythia to the modern Russia, this mindset has never been changed.

 

[Nan Yang]

The specter of the China-Russia partnership is haunting the United States, which has committed a cardinal diplomatic sin of simultaneously taking on both great powers.


Ancient Chinese proverb.....If you chase two rabbits, both will escape.

 

[Mao1949]

Beijing, Moscow Align Over Common Desire to Create 'Multipolar' World

BEIJING—The year after President Richard Nixon's historic 1972 "opening to China," the Philadelphia Orchestra arrived in Beijing in his footsteps.

Nixon had played the China card, shifting the balance against the Soviet Union in the Cold War. The first American orchestra to visit Communist-ruled China, along with "ping-pong diplomacy"—exchanges of table tennis players—began the people-to-people contacts that underpinned the strategic goals of the new U.S.-China relationship.

The Philadelphia Orchestra is back. This week it is visiting Changsha and Shenzhen after playing to packed houses in Beijing, a symbol of the flourishing ties between two countries whose destinies are now deeply entwined through music and sport as well as massive volumes of trade and investment, and educational exchanges.

Yet, at the same time, the geopolitical foundations of the relationship forged during the Nixon era are crumbling.

This turn of history was dramatically illustrated last Wednesday when, as the Philadelphia Orchestra was preparing for its opening night at the National Center for the Performing Arts in Beijing, Chinese President Xi Jinping and his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin, were sealing a $400 billion contract in Shanghai to supply Russian gas.

It was one of the largest commercial agreements of all time. But as they threw back thimble-sized glasses of white liquor to celebrate their outsized deal, it was clear that the two leaders were playing a strategic card against America, too.

Both leaders are powerful and charismatic. Both bridle at the U.S.-dominated global order, and profess a desire to create a "multipolar" world. Mr. Putin, having been spurned by the West, is looking east to China. Mr. Xi is only too happy to receive his advances.

To be sure, their collaboration has limits. Behind displays of Sino-Russian solidarity lurks a deep mutual suspicion.

Yet the scene in Shanghai underscored a profound shift in China's foreign policy as it challenges the legacy of the Cold War-era.

The China that Nixon visited under Mao Zedong was content for America to dominate in Asia, a region it had lorded over for several millenniums. It had little choice. Back then, China was poor and weak. And it was desperate for the benefits that America had to offer, from capital and technology to management know-how.

Now China is rich—by some measures it has already overtaken America as the world's largest economy. And, at long last, it's strong enough to dispute America's primacy in Asia.

That's the background to a recent string of assertive Chinese moves in Asia, from setting up an Air Defense Identification Zone in November last year over the East China Sea, including islands it disputes with Japan, to parking an oil rig in disputed waters off Vietnam last month.

China is bent on challenging the Cold War architecture that America built in Asia to assure its hegemony—one that Mao's China reluctantly accepted in return for Nixon's visit that led to diplomatic relations.

It is doing this in several ways: By investing in a powerful military that's now capable of thwarting U.S. armed forces in Asia to some extent; by seeking to undermine the network of U.S. alliances in the region, most crucially the one with Japan, through aggressive tactics that sow doubts about whether America really is ready to risk war to stand up for its friends; and by forging new alignments of its own, including one with Mr. Putin's Russia.

But the big question is this: now that the strategic basis of the U.S.-China relationship has altered so fundamentally, what will happen to the rest of it? In other words, how safe are the people-to-people ties?

The historian Niall Ferguson coined the term "Chimerica" to express the symbiotic relationship between the two powers. China is now reckoned to be a $300 billion market for U.S. companies, measured by U.S. exports and sales in the country, according to a report this year by the U.S. Congressional Research Service. China is the largest foreign holder of U.S. debt. By far the biggest group of foreign students in the U.S. is from China—235,597 last year, more than a quarter of the total.

China's desire for U.S. technology is undiminished. Nor can it continue its global rise without America's open markets.

Yet nationalism is a powerful force. And it can't be taken for granted that people-to-people ties are strong enough, on their own, to hold the relationship together.

China's furious reaction last week to the indictment by the U.S. Justice Department of five Chinese military officers, alleging they hacked U.S. companies' computers to steal trade secrets, is an example of how quickly the commercial relationship can go awry now that the strategic relationship has become so unmoored and mutual trust is failing.

Already, friction over cybersecurity has hurt sales for companies like Cisco Systems Inc. and International Business Machines Corp.

Nixon sent the Philadelphia Orchestra to Beijing for a good reason. Despite the strains of Tchaikovsky's Symphony No. 6, drifting into the Beijing night air last Thursday, people-to-people ties now rest on a fragile foundation.

 

[ChineseTiger1986]

Russia and China have reached an agreement to create a joint credit rating agency and are working on a series of measures to make trade easier, Russia's finance minister said Tuesday, in a sign of growing ties between the neighbors.

Speaking during a trip to China, Anton Siluanov told journalists that the new rating agency would be modeled on existing rating agencies.

"We would like [the agency's] ratings to be apolitical," Siluanov said in comments sent by the ministry's press service.

The plan to create an agency in conjunction with China comes at time when Russia has shown signs of dissatisfaction with the three western agencies — Standard & Poor's, Moody's and Fitch, which dominate the ratings market.

S&P cut Russia's sovereign rating to a notch above junk in late April, weeks after Moscow annexed Ukraine's Crimea peninsula.

Russian officials criticized what they regarded as a "politically motivated" downgrade — a claim that S&P denied.

Russia's desire for an alternative has led to discussion about creating a national rating agency, but some analysts have questioned whether such a body would have credibility.

The plan to create a new agency in conjunction with China appears aimed at gradually building a credible alternative to the big three ratings agencies, which came under fire for failing to anticipate the financial crisis that began in 2007.

Beijing-based rating firm Dagong said last year it hoped to cash in on that criticism and take 5 to 10 percent of the European ratings market by 2017.

"In its first phase, the agency will evaluate Russian-Chinese investment projects with the goal to attract a series of Asian countries, and gradually, based on progress and reputation, we believe that it could reach a level when its opinions will attract other countries," Siluanov said.

No details were given on when the agency would begin work.

After being shunned by the West for its involvement in the Ukrainian crisis, Russia has moved swiftly to improve business relations with China and other countries from the BRICS block that also includes India, Brazil and South Africa.

Late last month, Russia's state-run Gazprom signed a landmark 30-year deal, worth more than $400 billion, to supply gas to China.

While most Western countries condemned President Vladimir Putin for using Ukraine's vulnerable political situation and taking away the Crimean Black Sea peninsula, BRICS countries have broadly refrained from criticism.

Without providing details, Siluanov also said that his talks with Chinese officials included the possibility of preferential taxes for Chinese companies investing in Russia, currency swaps and trade settlement in national currencies.

Answering a question about possible joint management of gold and foreign currency reserves with China, Siluanov said "the issue of lending and monetary policy" will be a part of his talks with China's Central Bank officials.

Russia, China to Create Rating Agency Providing 'Apolitical' Ratings | Business | The Moscow Times

 

[Götterdämmerung]

This is a great move. Right after the start of the Financial Crisis in 2008 there were many voices in the EU t create our own rating agency as well. These robber US rating agencies have caused the loss of trillions € of savings of ordinary EU citizens and our spineless politicians have been mute about our own rating agency shortly after it was mentioned.

 

[ChineseTiger1986]

This is a great move. Right after the start of the Financial Crisis in 2008 there were many voices in the EU t create our own rating agency as well. These robber US rating agencies have caused the loss of trillions € of savings of ordinary EU citizens and our spineless politicians have been mute about our own rating agency shortly after it was mentioned.

Russia will serve as a bridge for the Eurasia's economic integration, and we can surely trade our currencies with each other.

 

[Jlaw]

This is a great move. Right after the start of the Financial Crisis in 2008 there were many voices in the EU t create our own rating agency as well. These robber US rating agencies have caused the loss of trillions € of savings of ordinary EU citizens and our spineless politicians have been mute about our own rating agency shortly after it was mentioned.

If you invest in the stock market, you are just gambling and 90% of regular folks lose in the market.

 

[UKBengali]

Russia will serve as a bridge for the Eurasia's economic integration, and we can surely trade our currencies with each other.

China and Russia are natural partners to trade currencies. China has the consumer goods and Russia has natural resources.

Brazil is also suitable for currency swap with China for same reason.

 

[Götterdämmerung]

If you invest in the stock market, you are just gambling and 90% of regular folks lose in the market.

It's our politicians that are gambling away our economy, sovereignty and our health. Right now they are negotiating the TTIP behind closed doors, not even the MoEP get any substantial information about the ongoing negotiations, much less the ordinary citizens of the EU. So much for our great democracy.