Asia

China: The Largest Cheap Labor Factory in the World

China’s system is one of despotic capitalism, under a “Communist” label. Wages are exceedingly low, productivity is high. These are the social realities of commodities “Made in China”, marketed Worldwide. China is an advanced capitalist economy integrated into the World market. Wages for non-skilled labor in Chinese factories are as low as 100$ a month, a small fraction of the minimum wage in Western countries. The factory price ...Read full article...

China and Russia make Military Cooperation a Priority

The second and third most powerful armies in the world increased their military relations during the last APEC meeting in Beijing. The visit of Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu to the Chinese capital has highlighted the desire of both countries to deepen military exchanges. Shoigu and his Chinese counterpart, Chang Wanquan, stated that cooperation in this field is “a priority“. “Our military cooperation has great potential, and Russia is ...Read full article...

China and Russia grow stronger while the US decays

The family photo of the Asia–Pacific (APEC) summit in Beijing this week said it all. BEIJING – Chinese President Xi Jinping, as host, in the center. To his right, the man representing his best ally, Vladimir Putin from Russia.Both were almost inseparable at every public appearance. The Russian head of state even offered his coat to China’s first lady, Peng Liyuan, during the welcoming ceremony, in a move that ...Read full article...

Chinese Empire rising in the East hosts APEC Meeting

BEIJING – China begins to host Monday the APEC Summit, the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation group that brings together 21 economies representing more than half of the world’s GDP. Having become the second largest economy in the world, Beijing wants to leave no doubt in the meeting that it knows its place in world commerce and politics, especially because the meeting is attended by, among others, US President Barack Obama, ...Read full article...

Chinese-Russian Alliance Challenges West

In his book titled “The Sino-Russian Challenge to World Order,” Gilbert Rozman says both countries have much closer ties than commonly thought. They’re deepening. United they challenge US hegemony. Leonid Bershidsky is founding editor of Russia’s leading business daily, Vedomosti. He expects ties between both nations to strengthen and endure. Russia needs to pivot East. China needs access to its enormous resources. According to Bershidsky, both countries “are made ...Read full article...

Japanese government recommends the evacuation of 2 million people

Japanese authorities recommended on Monday the evacuation of more than two million people in several provinces because of the risk of flooding and landslides as the country faces the potential destruction of typhoon Phanfone, which until now has caused has left one dead and five missing. After touching down for a few hours, the front moved northeastward back into the Pacific with winds of up to 220 kilometers per ...Read full article...

China attempts to Crush Hong Kong’s Independence Dream

The biggest challenge for democracy that China has experienced in 25 years reached its peak today. Hong Kong Police in assault uniforms, fired tear gas, pepper spray and rubber bullets at thousands of protesters who paralyzed the center of the Chinese autonomous territory to demand free elections. Concentrations began a campaign of civil disobedience, culminating a week of protests initiated by the student movement, on strike since last Monday. The ...Read full article...

Fine print of the food wars

Creating ‘ownership’ of seed through patents and intellectual property rights and imposing it globally through the WTO, the biotech industry has established a monopoly empire over seed and food. by Vandana Shiva The Asian Times July 25, 2014 Monsanto and friends, the biotech industry, its lobbyists and its paid media representation continue to push for monopoly control over the world’s food through its seed supply. This “empire” is being ...Read full article...

De-dollarization, check. Military security, check. Energy security, check!

While the United States is busy isolating itself from the rest of the world, China and Russia have taken the opportunity to secure an important set of goals that have been coming for a long time. Both Asian giants have not only managed to negotiate the de-dollarization of their economies, but now, they have also secured their energy resources and trade while demonstrating that together or even perhaps separately, ...Read full article...

Obama bribes Eastern nations in search for support of U.S. war policies

United States and the Philippines have signed a military pact Monday, allowing greater presence of U.S. troops in the Asian country. The agreement, signed just hours before the arrival of U.S. President Barack Obama to Manila is part of the strategy of political, economic and military U.S. shift towards Asia. Philippines, the oldest ally of Washington in the region, is the last leg of Obama’s Asian tour, which began ...Read full article...

Russia Cancels Military Agreements with Kiev

Russia’s Lower House has overturned four bilateral agreements with Ukraine regulating the stay of the Russian Black Sea Fleet in Crimea. The law in effect, supported by 443 deputies, was sent to parliament by President Vladimir Putin as a consequence of the annexation of that Ukrainian territory by Moscow. A majority of the Crimean expressed their desire to become part of Russia through a referendum last 16 March, after ...Read full article...

An Attack on Iran is Still on the Pentagon’s Drawing Board

Israel Prepares to Launch “The First Strike” Under the title “Netanyahu orders IDF to prepare for possible strike on Iran during 2014?, Haaretz confirms that a war on Iran is still contemplated and that Israel is actively preparing to launch a first strike, despite talks between the West and Iran concerning Iran’s nuclear weapons program. The IDF has received orders “to continue readying for a possible independent strike” on ...Read full article...

Putin heightens combat readiness in West and Center of Russia

Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered the Russian military today be alert in the west and center of the country and to verify their combat readiness, said Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu. “According to a provision of the president of Russia, today we have been put on alert,” Shoigu told a meeting of the Staff of the Ministry of Defence. Putin has ordered several of drills by surprise in various ...Read full article...

Is Ukraine the Bait for a New Cold War?

The prolonged political, social and economic crisis in Ukraine tests the nerves, diplomatic skills and the capacity for international leadership in the United States, the European Union and Russia. The political balance is up in the air while the most powerful players look for solutions before the destabilization of the country deepens even more. The U.S. European allies were angered by the outburst of the Secretary of State for ...Read full article...

The Sochi Olympic Games: Who is Behind the Caucasus Terrorists?

n the weeks leading up to the Sochi Winter Olympics, the Western Media has released a dribble of “trustworthy reports” examining “the likelihood” of a terrorist attack at the height of the Olympic games. In late January, the British government warned “that more terrorist attacks in Russia (following the Volgograd attack in December) are “very likely to occur before or during the Winter Olympics in Sochi”. (BBC, January 27, ...Read full article...