Meanwhile, somewhere in Delaware...

 

These guys are still in charge, somehow.

Biden snaps at world leaders, forgets to introduce PM Modi 

None dare call it geopolitics

I assumed RT had been blocked? The Putinista news outfit has some fun with Australia´s supposed "invasion threats" against the Solomon Islands, which recently signed a security pact with China. The idea of Chinese military bases close to Australian territory is intolerable to Canberra. A bit like Ukraine joining NATO is intolerable to Russia, perhaps? At least, that seems to be RT´s implication. 

Always a bit awkward when two great power alliances poke a finger at each other. See also: Donbass versus Kosovo. Or Donbass versus Chechnya. 

But sure, maybe Oz really should invade the Solomon Islands... 

Australia reacts to "invasion" threat claim

Australia accused of double standards

India according to Modi

"Le monde selon Modi: La nouvelle puissance indienne" is a 2021 French TV documentary about Narendra Modi, the current Prime Minister of India. I´ve seen it in a version with Swedish narration, French not being my strongest suit! (Neither is Hindi nor Gujarati, btw.) 

The documentary doesn´t explain Modi or the BJP (the Hindu nationalist party currently governing India) in any depth, and most people interviewed are sharply critical of the PM. Notably absent is any mention of the COVID pandemic and the protests against the farm laws. This is strange, since obviously a critic could use *this* against the BJP administration with some effect! Indeed, there is very little about Modi´s neo-liberal economic politics overall. Perhaps the makers of the docu are themselves neo-liberals, but of a more "Western" and "democratic" variety? 

Still, "Le monde selon Mondi" (which I assume means "The world according to Modi") works quite well as a kind of teaser trailer. It turns out that Modi is a long-term cadre of the BJP, who joined the paramilitary Hindu nationalist organization RSS already as a child. Modi is depicted as very ideological, and the ideology of the RSS is painted as obviously fascist and inspired by Mussolini. The goal of both the RSS and the much larger BJP is to "make India great again", to restore the greatness of Indian civilization - identified with Hinduism - after 1000 years of Muslim and (later) British domination. Indeed, Indian Muslims are a main target for the BJP. The documentary accuses Modi of fomenting communal violence against Muslims in his home state of Gujarat, where he served as Chief Minister before becoming Prime Minister. As PM, Modi took a hard line against Muslim separatists in Kashmir, and also symbolically dedicated the first stone of a new Hindu temple in Ayodhya at a location where Hindu nationalists famously or infamously demolished a mosque in 1992. 

Despite the above, the West has embraced Modi as an ally, due to the recent confrontation between the United States and China, with India offering her services as an anti-Chinese power due to fears of being effectively encircled by the Chinese "new Silk Road" (or rather its Chinese-controlled ports at strategic locations around India). The United States, India, Australia and Japan have formed an alliance against the perceived Chinese threat. The documentary also takes us to the Himalayas, and the constant stand offs between Chinese and Indian troops in that highly volatile border region. As part of his alliance-building, Modi has visited Israel, apparently the first Indian PM to do so (despite Israel´s long-standing support to India against Muslim Pakistan). 

We also get some insights into Modi´s campaign strategy. He is often depicted as a "populist", and this seems to be correct. Modi portrays himself as a "man of the people", a semi-ascetic spiritual person, but also as a kind of superman on a mission to save India. His election campaigns bypass the "official" media by concentrating heavily on social media instead, and includes cartoons and memes. That Modi is a self-made man of low caste is an important part of the mythology surrounding the BJP leader, and so is his life with ascetic sadhus in the mountains. The most exotic part of his messaging (in my opinion, at any rate) was an international day of  "peace and yoga", led by himself, which seems to have lured many Western yoga practitioners to participate! 

"Le monde selon Modi" ends with a critic opining that we now know how a Hindu state looks like in practice, with a collapsing economy and soaring unemployment. Although I´m not a big fan of PM Modi, I must say that this is somehow unserious, since the real reason for this crisis is surely the COVID pandemic...

As already stated, perhaps a good trailer for those who want to continue their studies of these issues. 

 

Halvledare

Upptrappning mellan Kina och Taiwan? Det där med halvledarna har jag bloggat om tidigare. Kina bygger medvetet upp sin kapacitet för högkvalitativa halvledare, men det sägs att fabrikerna inte kan vara i ordentlig drift förrän om tio år eller så. 

Vad händer om Kina anfaller Taiwan innan dess *och taiwaneserna spränger skiten i luften*? Då kommer världsekonomin att få stora problem, även om alla snällt köper halvledare från Kina istället (d.v.s. den mindre kvalitativa versionen). Alldeles bortsett från alla andra negativa följdverkningar, regionala och globala. 

Såvida inte Japan och Indien helt enkelt kapitulerar för Kina, vilket verkar betydligt mindre troligt...   

Taiwan kan bli nästa slagfält mellan Kina och USA

"The Devil´s Children Fear Xi"

Alt Right dark lord on China. Interesting. Note the section on Deng Xiaoping. Of course, I utterly, truly and finally disavow this site and everything it stands for!!! 

"The Devil´s Children Fear Xi"

Maybe Milley should call China again? LOL

Maybe General Milley should call his good friend Xi again? And oh, France just recalled its ambassador from the United States because of the submarine deal. Now, imagine if Trump had done all these things...

United States forms Indo-Pacific alliance with UK, Australia

France recalls its ambassador from the US

One, two, three, many Chinas?

 

Interesting article on the Pacific geopolitical theater from WSWS. 

Australian senator calls to end "One China policy"

Two Chinas, One Japan?

Am I reading this right? It seems Japan now openly declares that it will intervene militarily if China attempts to invade Taiwan (which Beijing regards as an illegitimate breakaway territory). Taiwan was controlled by Japan from 1895 to 1945, and obviously has a significant strategic position. 

Japan is an US ally, so at this point in time the land of the rising sun doesn´t need nukes. But what if the US collapses? It could happen. Then, Japan´s next logical step would be to get the bomb... 

Note how the Japanese (correctly) see the continuity between the Trump and Biden admins over China!

Japanese Defense White Paper stokes tensions with Beijing over Taiwan

The short form

 

"What the China-India Border Dispute Is Really About" is a short introduction (about 20 minutes) to the geopolitical clashes between these giants. 

The short form is that India is worried about Chinese domination over Asia, and for that reason has cultivated close relations with the United States. India is a member of the so-called Quad, which also regroups the US, Japan and Australia. China´s "Belt and Road Initiative" includes closer cooperation with Pakistan, India´s traditional rival in the sub-continent. India has therefore decided to boycott the Initiative, lessen its economic ties with China, and instead pursue economic growth through its US alliance. 

No real surprises here, to be honest, except maybe that Bloomberg News sound so objective - but I suppose these globalists want to make lucrative bizniz with both Asian great powers!  

Also mentions Bhutan and Ladakh. 

Beijing Biden or Taipei Joe?

Here we go again...

"Beijing Biden" sure has a weird way of showing subservience to his supposed puppet masters in the Forbidden City, it´s almost as if the LOL-bertarians and the few remaining Trumpites have the rhetoric wrong somehow. Also mentions the semiconductor issue. 

Taiwan, semiconductor manufacture and the US conflict with China

Vicory in War, Victory in Peace

In what sense is this a bad thing?  

"Australian unions back war preparations at Labor Party conference"

Quad: The secret plan for countering China

Some analysts associated with the Trump Administration has leaked a document outlining the US strategy to counter China. Or perhaps what should have been the US strategy, since neither Trump nor Pompeo really followed it. 

The "Indo-Pacific" or "Quad" strategy was perhaps leaked in order to lobby the incoming Biden administration to adopt it. It calls for stronger US ties with Australia, India and Japan to push back China's increased hegemonic ambitions in the region and beyond. Military encirclement seems to be part of the equation. 

The article argues that although Trump was (of course) anti-Chinese, his nativist impulses and generally erratic course made the strategy difficult to implement. At one point, Trump even threatened to withdraw US forces from Japan! Pompeo, by contrast, wanted complete US hegemony in the Indo-Pacific, rather than the "multi-polar" approach of the Quad. 

It will indeed be interesting to see if Biden will break up the globalist-Chinese alliance, and if so, to what end... 

The secret plan for countering China

Is "Beijing Biden" one of ours?

Is Beijing Biden actually one of our "assets"?

"Ours" as in Social Democrats CIA.

The article linked below argues that Biden wants to continue Trump's confrontationist line against China. "Exhibit number one" are the recent anti-Chinese actions of the Australian center-right government. Also mentions the Biden transition team's complaints about a recent trade deal between China and the EU.

Australia (and Biden) confronts China