One belt--one road

China is furious at India for moving troops into a disputed territory in the Himalayas at the triangular intersection of the borders between China, India and Bhutan.
The current stand-off is the most serious since the 1962 border war fought between China and India in which China scored a decisive victory.
China has recently conducted live-fire military drills in the region in a move that is clearly intended to demonstrate China’s seriousness over the issue.

Russia and China continue to forge ever closer bonds across many fields of interaction.
Here are some important recent developments that underlie what has become the world’s most important multifaceted bilateral partnership.
1. Gold 
During Chinese President Xi Jingping’s recent visit to Moscow where he brought with him scores of representatives from the business and government sector, Russia and China agreed to increase bilateral trade in local currency.

NATO’s recent land and sea exercises in eastern and southern Europe as well as the Black Sea frontiers of Eurasia are at face value, provocations designed to anger and intimidate Russia. Likewise, America’s presence in Iraq and Syria are at face value, provocations designed to angry and intimidate Iran. But they are also something else: they are provocations designed to anger and intimidate China.
The key element here lies in understanding the geography of China’s massive trade/commerce project, One Belt–One Road, also referred to as the New Silk Road.

With many in Damascus increasingly confident that Syria will win the war against the terrorists who have invaded their country, focus is starting to gradually shift to re-building Syria’s damaged infrastructure. China is set to be the key player in this respect and preparations to increase China’s business ties to Syria are already in the works.

Russian President Vladimir Putin is in Astana along with the leaders of China, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan in a ceremony and conference welcoming India and Pakistan to the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO).
Putin spoke of the need for further cooperation on all matters of mutual interest ranging from trade to anti-terrorism measures. Putin’s speech which emphasised the need for unity between Asia and Eurasia and spoke of using the SCO as a means to help and better coordinate China’s One Belt–One Road trade project.

Vladimir Putin’s lengthy Q and A session at the St. Petersburg Economic Forum was filled with Putin’s typically thorough responses to major contemporary issues. However, while most people focused on his remarks pertaining to the situation in Syria and Libya, as well as the infamous non-relationship with Donald Trump, Putin’s most important remarks were largely ignored.

When western commentators speak of an economic ‘third way’ they often mean the globalist neo-liberalism of Bill Clinton and Tony Blair, a system which imposes the worst of socialism with its regulations and heavy tax burdens on small business and individuals, while simultaneously unleashing the worst of capitalism on the world: globalist corporate giants who control entire countries more than democratically elected governments and they do so with little taxation, regulation and accountability to anyone.

As President Trump continues his tour of Saudi Arabia and Israel, neither Trump nor the Western media seem aware of the growing anger in Turkey at the shabby treatment Turkish President Erdogan received from his hands during his visit to Washington last week.

With the increasingly illogical, contradictory and downright insane Russiagate stories dominating the headlines, here are some important stories you may have missed.
1. Saudi Arabia’s War On Yemen
Saudi Arabia has confirmed that missiles fired from the Houthi backed Yemeni government have hit Saudi Arabia near the capital Riyadh. The strike comes as Donald Trump visits the Wahhabi Kingdom on a trip that includes a visit to Israel.

Alibaba founder Jack Ma has spoken about how China’s ‘One Belt–One Road’ trade initiative differs than the world trade organisations set up in the 1990s and early 2000s which have largely been seen as failures for the many while benefiting the few.
Ma stated,