CHINA

STEVEN SAHIOUNIE—As much as the Caribbean is considered an “American lake”, the South China Sea is being configured as a “Chinese lake”. As a matter of national security, the South China Sea is absolutely crucial for the Maritime Silk Road. Moreover, China will never accept being encircled and/or “patrolled” by a foreign power in its maritime borders. The ultimate aim is to expel the US Navy from the South China Sea. The US Navy and the Pentagon know very well, after gaming it extensively, that a military confrontation with China – in the South China Sea or Taiwan – will never be a cakewalk and may result in a serious imperial humiliation. In a nutshell, Cold War 2.0 will remain – in different levels, way more rhetorical and heavy on propaganda than yielding military facts on the ground.     

China’s new $11bn (£8.8bn) mega airport has opened its doors, days before the country’s 70th anniversary celebrations.
The Daxing International Airport in the capital Beijing was formally opened by President Xi Jinping on Wednesday. The airport spans 700,000 square metres, or 98 football fields, says state media outlet China Daily. Beijing’s existing airport is the world’s second busiest behind Atlanta, according to the Airport Council. But officials say a new airport was needed to take the pressure off the overcrowded Beijing Capital International Airport. The Daxing airport – said to be the world’s largest terminal in a single building – is expected to receive a large amount of the 170m passengers the city expects to welcome by 2025.

This week saw yet more U.S. intelligence claims of Russian malign interference in American politics (as well as alleged interference from China and Iran). The claims are characteristically hollow and tedious. But this irrational obsession long predates the Trump era. We can go back to the Red Scare years of the Cold War in the 1950s. And even beyond that.

The world faces the challenges of unilateralism, protectionism and hegemonism, Pres. Xi said, and people from all countries should work together and defend multilateralism, peaceful development and win-win cooperation. As a responsible world power, China upholds universal values such as peace and development, equality, justice, democracy and freedom, as well as promotes global governance through the principles of consultation, contribution and shared benefits, Xi stressed.

In China, voting occurs at the local level for representatives to the local people’s congresses. Members of the local congress then elect from within that body those who will become members of the provincial congress, who then elect those to represent their province at the National People’s Congress. Thus each tier of representation becomes more selective, rigorous, and professional. While this differs from the direct suffrage practiced in the West, it promotes competence and dedication, and a government where all lives truly matter, and none are kept in ghettoes by design.