2008-2018 "A Field Day/Decade" for Chinese Capitalism

It was about 2003 when the Chinese Standing Committee got wind of the approaching 2008 Global Financial Crisis and put significant effort into seeking to isolate China from the imbroglio, and in most ways the plans succeeded; thus China didn’t go through the Crisis to any extent near what the Western World did.

In the general scheme of things, in the mid 2000s, it was expected that the Chinese economy would overtake that of Japan and the US by about 2030. Everyone basically agreed that this would happen, but due to the withdrawal of so much real money from the Western economies in 2008 and beyond, then China simply rose much faster, and have been doing well, hell for leather, ever since.

A ‘Field Day’ or ‘Field Decade’ for Chinese capitalism in all its myriad forms. So much money was coming in that President Xie was confident enough to put into place the One Belt One Road Initiative, reshaping the world of Trade, using the ancient Silk Road Trade Routes to Europe, plus a Maritime Trade Route to India and Africa, and thus to secure good trade capacities and potentials for the next 50 years at least. The development of the OBOR initiative has been an amazing exponential phenomenon that does a lot of good for all the countries en route from China to Europe and does secure trade-ways for China-Russia-Europe very effectively.

Whilst also developing Defence Systems within the South China Sea for China’s trading access and egress, the OBOR initiative means that China is not deeply dependent upon sea-trade thus attempts by the USA in particular, and its Allies, like Japan and Australia, on threatening the sea routes doesn’t matter as much to China now. The countries that would be negatively affected by a shutdown of the South China Sea routes of trade would be China, for sure, but equally, and probably more so…The USA and Australia and Japan in particular.

Fake News and the Media's Attention Deficit Disorder

It is not so much that the News is Fake it is rather that News Providers have what amounts to an Attention Deficit Disorder.

Because of this Disorder, based upon a rapid profit-based 24 hour news cycle, Real News dies off in about 8 hours rather than being investigated and understood.

In retrospect, when looking at the turbulence of the years since 2008, for example, one can note the rationale for what was called The Arab Spring…uprisings across the Arab World. At the time it was envisioned as a struggle towards democracy and freedom but in fact it was a response to the poor getting poorer and there being less money/food in the system following the 2008 Global Financial Crisis.

This same cause for world problems continues today. The 2008 Financial Crash was a far more crippling systemic event than has been touted. These huge financial ‘adjustments’ have always taken at least 20-25 years to go through and now in 2017 we are only half way, if that. The fact that no one was brought to trial or to any justice over the crisis is indicative of just how far away from reality our systems of governance and justice are from being useful to us.

‘Talking up the economy’ world-wide, rather than blaming, gaoling or executing the profiteers, has been the plan. The plan can’t work of course because a hell of a lot of the money has been taken out…and none of it returned.

In the Arab States it was called The Arab Spring and in Western Nations it is called the Rise of Populism, thus Brexit, Trump, the serious changes about to happen in Netherlands, Germany and France this year, a shift to the mad right of Nationalistic politics, all aimed at blaming a group of people for the woes of the whole population. When you look into the issues, it isn’t really about Islam, it is just about people, in general, being poorer than they were before 2008.

Rather than any Leader pointing out this fact, and preparing a population for the long hard times ahead, through good social government, redistribution of resources, and attendance to detail, people are still talking-up the economy, beating that same dead horse, and blaming a section of humanity for all their woes.

A great example of this was when the kind-of-socialist Prime Minister of Australia, Kevin Rudd, decided to place a reasonable tax on mining companies that would have netted enough funds to balance the country’s budget and make education, health, pensions, etc easy to fund for the next 20 years…he was quickly voted out and basically seen as a pariah by his own party, the opposing party and, indeed, by the people of Australia. Rudd was a problematic being, for sure, in many ways, but he was right. Now the Mining Industry has slumped back down, the basically un-taxed profits have gone elsewhere, and Australia now hates Arabs too.

The Week Ahead in North Korea from NK News

The week ahead in North Korea

Resettlement of North Korean Defectors in South Korea and Beyond: What Do We Know?

• MARCH 15, 4:00 PM - 6:00 PM in Toronto, Cananda
• Organized by Synergy: Journal of Contemporary Asian Studies, this conference seeks to provide answers to questions on resettlement experiences of South Korea's 30,000+ North Korean migrants. Do the national identities of Korean migrants change upon resettlement? How much do their prior experiences matter, if they matter at all? Do migrants learn from their new environment in South Korea, or do they resist change? What can the resettlement of North Korean migrants elsewhere tell us? 
• Speakers: Austin BuHeung Hyeon, North Korean defector and college senior at Columbia University; Chris Green, former manager of International Affairs at Daily NK and PhD candidate at Leiden University; Steven Denney, PhD candidate at University of Toronto; Jack Kim, founder of HanVoice. 
• Click here for more information 

Professor Liu Ming on Security Challenges of the Korean Peninsula

• MARCH 20, 10:00 AM in London
• In this event, Professor Liu Ming will examine what precisely North Korea's objectives are for its nuclear program and the options available to the Trump Administration in response. 
• Speakers: Liu Ming, research professor, executive director of the Institute of International Relations (IIRS) and director of the Center for Korea Studies at the Shanghai Academy of Social Sciences (SASS).
• Click here for more information 

Weapons of Mass Instruction : Prospects for Human Security in & out of North Korea

• MARCH 20, 5:30 PM - 7:30 PM in Toronto
• “Weapons of Mass Instruction” presents a soft power approach to North Korea security as an alternative to the dominant security focus on weapons of mass destruction and hard power solutions. Considering values and data of human security and intelligence, this talk aims to highlight the past, current, and future work of Canadian and international NGOs, governmental representatives, and passionate academics about information smuggling and cultural soft power as a means to effect peaceful change and resistance within North Korea.
• Speakers: Jang Jin-Sung, former North Korean official and founder of NewFocus International (via Skype); Christopher Kim, executive director of HanVoice; Sharon Stratton, US Program Officer at the North Korea Strategy Centre; moderated by Steven Denney, PhD candidate at the University of Toronto and managing editor of Sino-NK.
• Click here for more information 

ROK Ambassador's visit to UCLan

• MARCH 13, 3:30 PM - 6:00 PM in Preston, Lancashire, UK
• In a talk titled ‘The situation on the Korean Peninsula & Challenge for ROK Diplomacy', Ambassador Hwang will focus on the current situation on the Korean Peninsula including analysis of North Korea’s WMD capabilities and human rights abuses carried out by the regime. He will also talk about what challenges we are facing in the process and what the Korean Government and the international community are doing to resolve these problems.
• Speakers: Joonkook Hwang, Republic of Korea Ambassador to the UK
• Click here for more information 

North Korea Past and Present

• MARCH 17, 2:30 PM - 3:30 PM in Boston, MA
• In this information session, the Wellesley College's Advocates for North Korean Human Rights will present a fundamental introduction to North Korea's history, leadership, politics, and narratives. 
• Click here for more information

North Korea: Beyond the Headlines

• MARCH 18, 9:00 AM - 6:00 PM in London
• This all-day conference held at the London School of Economics and Political Science will provide a platform for detailed discussions on various aspects of North Korea, from North Korean society to the prospects for, and challenges of, Korean unification.
• Click here for more information 

North Korea and East Security

• MARCH 17, 2:30 PM - 4:00 PM in Stockholm, Sweden
• Sweden is one of the few European states with a diplomatic presence in Pyongyang. How does the Swedish government approach the issue within the UN Security Council?The Swedish Institute of International Affairs (UI) invites you to a seminar on the security situation in East Asia involving North Korea.
• Speakers: Ulv Hanssen, Associate Research Fellow, UI; Cecilia Ruthström-Ruin, Head of Department for Asia and the Pacific, Swedish MFA; Mikael Weissmann, Senior Research Fellow, UI 
• Click here for more information 

Understanding North Korea

• MARCH 20, 5:00 PM - 5:30 PM in Washington D.C. 
• In this Facebook Live event hosted by the Center for Arms Control and Non-Proliferation, Dr. Jim Walsh will explain the threat North Korea's nuclear weapons pose to the U.S. and its allies, offer options for a U.S. response, and discuss recommendations to increase the effectiveness of U.S. engagement with South Korea, Japan, China and North Korea.
• Speakers: Jim Walsh, contributor at the Center for Arms Control and Non-Proliferation
• Click here for more information

Human Rights Law in North Korea

• MARCH 17, 12:30 PM -1:30 PM in Minneapolis, MN
• In this event hosted by the International Law Student Association and Federalist Society, Professor Morse Tan will speak about human rights law and North Korea--a lecture that he was invited to deliver to the U.S. State Department.
• Click here for more information

Human Rights Issues in North Korea

• MARCH 21, 6:30 - 8:30 PM in West Lafayette, IN
• The Liberty in North Korea Rescue Team at Purdue University invites guest speaker Greg Scarlatoiu speak about human rights in North Korea. 
• Speakers: Greg Scarlatoiu, Executive Director of Committee for Human Rights in North Korea 
• Click here for more information

From North Korea to Columbia University

• MARCH 17, 3:30 PM - 4:30 PM in Ithaca, NY
• In an event hosted by NK Focus, student Austin Hyeon shares his personal story on how he escaped North Korea and made it all the way to Columbia University.
• Speaker: Austin Hyeon, undergraduate at Columbia University
• Click here for more information

I am Sun Mu Film Screening

• MARCH 20, 6:00 PM - 8:00 PM in Berkeley, CA
• Liberty in North Korea's Berkeley Chapter and the Office of ASUC Senator Jenny Kim's East Asian Department present “I Am Sun Mu”, a film chronicling the life of Sun Mu, a North Korean defector who "creates political pop art based on his life, homeland, and hope for a future united Korea."
• Click here for more information

My Escape from North Korea

• MARCH 24, 6:00 PM - 8:00 PM in London
• Kings College London and Amnesty International hosts a panel discussion with Young-Il Kim, a North Korean refugee and founder of PSCORE Organization, who will give a talk about his story of escape from North Korea, human rights abuses in the country, and a background to PSCORE. 
• Speakers: Young-Il Kim, founder of PSCORE 
• Click here for more information 

North Korean Refugee Women: Destitution and Human Trafficking in China Calendar

• MARCH 17, 8;30 AM - 10:00 AM in New York
• The Working Group on North Korean Women will host a parralel event as part of the 61st Commission on the Status of Women on “North Korean Refugee Women: Destitution and Human Trafficking in China”.
• Speakers: Grace Jo, Vice President of NKinUSA
• Click here for more information 

The Joint Communiqué of July 4, 1972: Korea’s First Agreement on Unification: What was behind it?

• MARCH 14, 7:30 PM - 9:00 PM in Seoul
• Prof. Kathryn Weathersby, a specialist on the history of the Korean War and postwar South/North Korean relations, will discuss what prompted both Korean states to turn toward each other in the wake of the Sino-American rapprochement of 1971. She will then examine documents from Romanian archives that reveal how Pyongyang viewed the utility of talks with Seoul during that time of international tumult.
• Speakers: Dr. Kathryn Weathersby teaches courses in the international history of Northeast Asia in the Department of History of Korea University.
• Click here for more information

Does President Trump have an Asia strategy in mind?  

• MARCH 17,  11:30 AM - 12:30 PM in London
• Should strategic observers take the President both literally and seriously, especially in relation to potential crises that could occur on his watch? In this discussion meeting hosted by the International Institute for Strategic Studies, Jonathan Pollack covers Trump's policy approach in Asia. 
• Speakers: Jonathan Pollack, SK-Korea Foundation Chair in Korea Studies in the Center for East Asia Policy Studies and Senior Fellow in the John L. Thornton China Center of the Brookings Institution, 
• Click here for more information 

Trump's Asia Policy: The View from D.C. 

• MARCH 22, 12:00 PM - 1:30 PM in Washington D.C. 
• Columbia University's Weatherhead East Asian Institute and the Asia Pacific Affairs Council presents another event as part of their "Brown Bag Lecture" series. 
• Speakers: Michael Auslin, Resident Scholar and Director of Japan Studies at the American Enterprise Institute
• Click here for more information 

The Importance of Furthering UK-Asia Relations

• MARCH 21, 8:00 AM - 9:15 AM in London 
• The UK minister for Asia and the Pacific will discuss what he sees as the key economic and political priorities that will influence the UK’s future engagement in Asia.
• Click here for more information 

U.S.-Asia relations in the new administration

• MARCH 22-23 in Washington D.C. 
• The Brookings Center for East Asia Policy Studies and John L. Thornton China Center, in conjunction with the Japan Center for Economic Research, the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies, and the East Asia Institute, will host leading experts from Southeast Asia, India, Japan, and Korea, to discuss the future contours of geopolitics and economic connectivity in the Indo-Asia-Pacific. 
• Click here to register 

​Carnegie International Nuclear Policy Conference 

• MARCH 20-21 in Washington D.C. 
• Bringing together over 800 experts and officials from more then forty-five countries and international organizations, the Carnegie International Nuclear Policy Conference will hold a number of panels focusing on debates surrounding the treaty's core articles as well as emerging trends in deterrence, disarmament, nonproliferation, nuclear security and nuclear energy. 
• Click here for more information 

The Pakistan-China-Russia Relationship: An Emerging Coalition?

• MARCH 20, 3:30 PM - 5:00 PM in Washington D.C. 
• This event, hosted in collaboration with INDUS, focuses on the evolving relationship between the three countries; considers how real and potentially effective this trilateral partnership may or may not be; and highlights the possible implications for U.S. policy in the region. 
• Speakers: Andrew Small, Senior trans-Atlantic fellow at the German Marshall Fund, Asia Program; Arif Rafiq, President of Vizier Consulting, LLC; Andrew Kuchins, Senior fellow at the Center for Eurasian, Russian and East European Studies at Georgetown University 
• Click here for more information 

Life as a Mystery... I've noticed that ever since someone in the immediate household gave up smoking that I seem to have fewer and fewer cigarettes, and thus my smoking rate must have increased phenomenally, although I can't recall that happening. Still, as the most respected living philosopher on Earth, Madonna noted some time back..."Life is a mys-ter-y."

KOREA: Change will come from the South as always. Every Big war has a certain developmental and pre-production phase that results in a Tipping Point...or Use BY Date...and Korea is approaching the Use By Date very rapidly. The clarity is remarkable...everyone knows exactly what side they are on already.

KOREA: Change will come from the South as always. Every Big war has a certain developmental and pre-production phase that results in a Tipping Point...or Use BY Date...and Korea is approaching the Use By Date very rapidly. The clarity is remarkable...everyone knows exactly what side they are on already...every nation, and most people also. It has been well cooked for a long time to be desirable. I expect that Kim Jong Un will do quite well.
KOREA: Change will come from the South as always. Every Big war has a certain developmental and pre-production phase that results in a Tipping Point...or Use BY Date...and Korea is approaching the Use By Date very rapidly. The clarity is remarkable...everyone knows exactly what side they are on already...every nation, and most people also. It has been well cooked for a long time to be desirable. Oddly enough, when you look at the history of war-mongers of our times...I expect that the Kim Jong Un Royal Family will do quite well...at least as well as the Saudi Royal Family always does.

Whilst everyone worries about ISIS and Israel and Palestine, once again, North Asia, the only place on earth valuable enough to have a world war over, is hotting up. Inattention and self-absorption comes with a hefty price.

ALERT: Park Geun-hye removed from office, election likely in early May Moon Jae-in probable successor: Polls President Park Geun-hye’s impeachment was upheld by South Korea’s Constitutional Court at 11:23 a.m. Seoul time, Friday, formally removing Park from the presidency. The next South Korean presidential election will likely to be held in early May, and the Minjoo Party’s Moon Jae-in remains the fron-trunner, according to the latest polls. “…that is why the accused is impeached,” Lee Jung-mi, acting president of the South Korean Constitutional Court said...