20

Jun

10:14pm
Jerry Grey China
All paths lead to China

All paths lead to China

Jerry Grey China//10:14pm, Jun 20th '23

To coin a sporting phrase, “it’s all happening here”; here, of course is China. And there’s little doubt that things are happening on a global scale. Perhaps more than a casual observer might notice, so here’s a rundown on some of the things which are happening, have happened or are about to happen.

Probably the one the world is taking notice of is the Blinken visit, it is finally happening and, at the time of writing this, it’s not known how he will be treated. In Vietnam and Saudi, he was disrespected by both countries showing their own flag but not showing the US flag. It didn’t go unnoticed in Chinese media, but it might not have been commented on so much in Western mainstream media.

On a lighter note, the Argentinian football team were confined to their hotel for a while as Chinese fans besieged the hotel in the hope of just catching a glimpse of their idol Messi, who almost didn’t make it into China as he thought, having visited Taiwan without a visa a while ago, the same would be true of Mainland China. That is a reasonable mistake to make if one knows about the One-China Policy. Fortunately, China did the right thing and issued him a visa at the airport.

Putting that aside, until recently Honduras was not a friend of China, but President Xiomara Castro arrived here to open an embassy and was treated like the friend she has proven to be. Relations between Honduras and China are set to move into the future on a very strong foundation of mutual respect, with the two countries signing up to partake in the Belt and Road Initiative and more from there.

Just a few weeks ago, the leaders of five Central Asian countries arrived in Xi’an, the Chinese end of the Silk Road for a meeting where mutual benefits for all were discussed, agreements signed, and a positive future assured for China’s Western, and Russia’s Southern, neighbours.

This week, China confirmed its support for Palestine by hosting President Abbas of Palestine and making a commitment to work towards recognition of a Two-State solution to the Palestine Question. After the success of the Saudi-Iran talks just a few months ago, this is a welcome inclusion into what is almost certainly the most difficult political situation in the Middle East.

There are also unconfirmed rumours that President Macron of France would like an invitation to the next BRICS summit and this follows his recent visit and discussions with China.

If you read our blogs then why not our magazine!!!
Image
Click here to subscribe our monthly magazine

On the political front, there is no doubt, it’s all happening here.

But it gets better. Elon Musk was recently here, he did have some criticisms of the way Chinese workers spend a little too much time in meetings, which anyone who has ever visited Chinese workplaces can attest to, but his overall opinion is that Americans are more likely to avoid work while Chinese employees, in his words, won’t need to burn midnight oil; “they’ll be burning the 3am oil”.

Tim Cook of Apple went one step further and praised China’s innovation – what a shock this must be to the “they steal IP and copy others” crowd who have not quite realised what the world’s leading CEOs have noticed. China is one step ahead of everything they are alleged to have stolen. The rest of the world is now playing catch-up to China’s innovation. So much so that in the very recently released World Rankings of Quality Research, China has steamed ahead of Oxford, Cambridge and even CalTech, with not just a little more, but 22% more contributions to global research.

Now Bill Gates has arrived in China and will be the first leading businessperson to meet with Xi Jinping since before the onset of the Covid Pandemic. Xi and Gates do have a history: they met in 2015 and have corresponded with each other, one known letter from Xi was in thanks to the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation in the early days of the initial Covid-19 lockdowns.

Like them or loathe them, leaders and influencers of the world’s foremost organisations and institutions are beating a path to China’s door. Their reasons are not to criticise China for imagined human rights abuses, they aren’t complaining about imaginary military expansions, and they aren’t suggesting that China is engaging in debt trap diplomacy. They’re here for a different reason.

Some suggest that China has invited them here to revive foreign business interests but that’s not the case. If it were, China would be visiting them. They’re here because they know this is where the future lies and they know they need to engage with a rising China. The consequences of not being engaged with China are worse than any imagined consequences of China’s rise.

Editor's Note:

The views and informations expressed in the article are solely those of the author and may or may not reflect the views of The International. We believe in providing a platform for a range of viewpoints from the left.

The 20th anniversary of the Iraq War
Luis Lazaro Tijerina USA//6:43pm, Mar 20th '23

The 20th anniversary of the Iraq War

American imperialist wars have always been wars of murdering invasions which inevitably bring about social and political chaos once their troops have forced their adversaries to submit to a political alliance....

Read More
NATO Expansion and the War in Ukraine
Sunil Freeman USA//9:38pm, Mar 23rd '22

NATO Expansion and the War in Ukraine

The tragic conflict between Russia and Ukraine has been a major news story for several weeks, with coverage having started well before Russian troops crossed the border. As is usually the case, the U.S.....

Read More
Nature, Violence and War
Luis Lazaro Tijerina USA//1:15pm, May 22nd '24

Nature, Violence and War

I.Once, like many intellectuals, I made the mistake of distancing myself from Nature, believing what mattered most was only ideas, books, and meeting up with others of like mind. I was certain I had the....

Read More
A question of Racism and National Identity of the Argentine National Mens Football Team
Luis Lazaro Tijerina USA//1:25am, Dec 15th '22

A question of Racism and National Identity of the Argentine National Mens Football Team

Argentine Football is an art. However, the art of Argentine Football has its flaws as if it was a great unfinished painting.The complexity of Argentine nationalism, colonialism and racism is a question....

Read More
A Poem by Yanis Iqbal
Yanis Iqbal India//8:27pm, Jan 9th '22

A Poem by Yanis Iqbal

Building On the streets of luxury - beyond the gardens of graves - lies a building,Tall, sturdy, hard.Engraved with glasses of wealth,Splattered with corpses of commodities,A nauseating stench permeates....

Read More
The capitalist resistance over environmental protection
Nuwan Bopege Sri Lanka//10:55am, Jun 5th '21

The capitalist resistance over environmental protection

The scientists forecast that the global average temperature would rise of between 3 and 5 degrees by the end of this century. In other words, vast areas of the planet, including many densely populated....

Read More