FRIDAY, AUGUST 19, 2016
Volume 2, Number 258
EIR Daily Alert Service

P.O. Box 17390, Washington, DC 20041-0390

Now There Are No Precedents
Duterte Plans 2,000 Kilometer Railway in Mindanao, Crucial To Countering Island’s Poverty
Myanmar’s Aung San Suu Kyi In China, Will Revive Myitsone Dam
AIIB Shows Interest in Financing Vietnamese Infrastructure
China Escalates Mobilization for Belt and Road Initiative
Central Bank Money Policy Destroys Savings
India’s New Initiative in the Southwest Asian Crisis
India Must Finally Undertake a Manned Space Program, Says Prominent Scientist
Iran Will Contribute to International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor and the Worldwide Fusion Effort
The CDU `Young Turks’ in Germany: Anti-Islam, Anti-China, Anti-RussiaEDITORIAL
Now There Are No Precedents
Aug. 18 (EIRNS)—The present period in history is totally new in its characteristics; it is not comparable with anything in past human history. For such reasons, only a very few individuals have been able to generate in their own minds, the conception of what the characteristics are of this unprecedented epoch: individuals such as Albert Einstein, Krafft Ehricke, and Lyndon and Helga LaRouche. Because it resembles nothing in their experience, and nothing they have heard or read about, the great majority of mere mortals have no criteria with which to judge or understand it; they are totally at sea. It is for this reason that groups which are as small in number as Lyndon LaRouche’s Manhattan Project, can become decisive determining influences, precisely at this moment. They alone can see their way forward, even if sometimes dimly or gropingly. The rest are totally blind, or, as Helga Zepp-LaRouche often says, completely “clueless.”
In 2018, a Chinese mission will reach the far side of the Moon,— provided that we succeed in defeating the British Empire’s forces of chaos before then. This will be part of an entire broad program of discovering and exploring the unrealized implications of Einstein’s fundamental discoveries, as Lyndon LaRouche has pointed out. And, as space genius Krafft Ehricke forecast,— with LaRouche,— the energy flux density at the disposal of mankind will lead up to fusion power, from there to matter-antimatter reactions, and from there to levels which cannot be so much as named today.
Provided we overcome the present obstacles represented by Obama and the British Empire, we are moving into what Helga Zepp-LaRouche has called “a new era where we become truly human.”
Similarly, what one might have called the “system of alliances,” which is now spanning and criss-crossing Eurasia, and spreading out from there, is not actually a “system of alliances” at all, in any sense of those words known from the past. Rather, it is in reality a projection backwards into the present, from the future universe which incorporates the future discoveries brought back from the far side of the Moon. Putin, along with China, have incorporated the principles of the Peace of Westphalia, but they have gone far, far beyond anything like it. Just start with the extraordinary relationship which has been achieved between Russia and China. Don’t you realize that these are nations which fought a seven-month undeclared war on the Ussuri River as recently as 1969? Now, not only do they have regular summits between the Presidents and regular summits between the Prime Ministers; that’s the least of it. There are no fewer than 13 intergovernmental commissions which are in continual contact all the time. All the many differences and disagreements,— and there are many,— are continually being worked out throughout all the breadth and depth of both governments.
“And we always find solutions,” Putin added in describing this.
The process of achievement of this extraordinary relationship has been a subject of in-depth study by China’s Dr. Ren Lin, who spoke at the Schiller Institute Berlin Conference in June, and by many other Chinese and Russian scholars.
This unprecedented achievement is at the heart of the BRICS process, and the development of the New Silk Road. It was the heart of the Russia-India-China Strategic Triangle concept of Putin’s predecessor, the late former Russian Prime Minister Yevgeny Primakov. The genesis goes back, not only to Lyndon and Helga LaRouche’s concept of the Productive Triangle and the Eurasian Land-Bridge, but back earlier to LaRouche’s Strategic Defense Initiative, which had a formative impact on Russia, even though Russia’s once leader Yuri Andropov had rejected it on behalf of his British masters.
This new system, nation-state relations of the future, beyond the nation-state, as LaRouche has long forecast, is striding rapidly over the entirety of the Eurasian continent and more broadly, as we approach the Vladivostok Eastern Economic Forum of Sept. 2-3, the G20 meeting in Hangzhou, China, Sept. 4-5, the United Nations General Assembly opening on Sept. 13, and the BRICS Summit in Goa, India, Oct. 15-16.
THE NEW GLOBAL ECONOMIC ORDER
Duterte Plans 2,000 Kilometer Railway in Mindanao, Crucial To Countering Island’s Poverty
Aug. 18 (EIRNS)—Lyndon LaRouche has for many years insisted that a rail network in the southern Philippine island of Mindanao was essential for the nation’s development and to counter the poverty—and resulting insurgency—in the region. President Rodrigo Duterte has wasted no time, since his inauguration, in getting this crucial program going.
Officials of the state planning agency National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) said Aug. 18 that a feasibility study is already underway, while China, Japan and South Korea have all expressed interest in both the construction and the financing of the project. Putting that together with Duterte’s total commitment to wipe out the drug and terror networks in the country, and especially in Mindanao, this plan provides the necessary hope to the people for a positive future.
Socioeconomic Planning Secretary Ernesto M. Pernia told reporters that China was very eager to finance the project, but that the Japanese and South Korean governments were also expressing support, the Philippine Daily Inquirer reported today. Pernia, who is also the Director-General of NEDA, said at least four local companies are interested in the project, including Ayala Corp., Megawide Construction Corp., Metro Pacific Investments Corp., and San Miguel Corp.
He said that the Duterte administration plans to start work on the project next year, with completion expected beyond 2022. The initial route will connect Davao to Cagayan de Oro, with later projects connecting the other major cities of Mindanao. Other infrastructure plans include upgrading the ports in Mindanao.
Myanmar’s Aung San Suu Kyi In China, Will Revive Myitsone Dam
Aug. 18 (EIRNS)—The de facto head of the Myanmar government, Aung San Suu Kyi, is in China, her first major diplomatic venture since assuming her unique role this year. (The Constitution prevented her from running for President, but she is openly running the government from her position as Foreign Minister and head of her National Leadership for Democracy (NLD) party, which swept the election last November.) After Suu Kyi’s meeting with Chinese Premier Li Keqiang, Chinese Vice Foreign Minister Liu Zhenmin told reporters: “Aung San Suu Kyi said that the Myanmar government has already set up an investigation committee to look for an appropriate resolution to the Myitsone Dam issue. She also said that she is willing to look for a resolution that suits both sides’ interests via both sides’ energy administrations’ cooperation.”
The Chinese-funded dam was stopped in the middle of construction in 2011 by then-President Thein Sein under massive pressure from the British green-genocide lobby, and in part to appease Washington, which was moving to improve relations with Myanmar. At the time, Suu Kyi also opposed the dam. However, on this and many other issues, Suu Kyi has successfully transformed herself in recent years from a hit-man for the British-American color revolution, to a representative of the nation’s real needs and interests.
The $3.6 billion Myitsone Dam project will provide much-needed power to both Myanmar and China, with about 90% going to China. The Myanmar government commission which is reviewing this and other dam projects is expected to report by Nov. 11.
Suu Kyi also signed a deal for China to build a bridge near their border in an area with insurgency problems, and two hospitals in Yangon and Mandalay.
AIIB Shows Interest in Financing Vietnamese Infrastructure
Aug. 18 (EIRNS)—The Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) Director of Constituency for Australia, New Zealand, Singapore, and Vietnam, Christopher Legg, met with the Deputy Governor Dao Minh Tu of the State Bank of Vietnam (SBV) in Hanoi to discuss cooperation, Xinhua reported today, citing the SBV website. The Xinhua report also wrote that Dao Minh Tu told Legg that Vietnam and AIIB “will soon select appropriate projects which have economic effectiveness,” and urged the AIIB representative to provide financial support to Vietnam’s infrastructure requirements.
Although no mention has been made of the exact nature of the projects that Vietnam would like AIIB to finance, on June 13, online publication Vietnam Briefing had reported that the Vietnam government “is currently working to increase the efficiency and scope of infrastructure projects through foreign and private investment via public-private partnerships and equitization.”
The objective of Hanoi is to become “a manufacturing hub,” the website wrote, and earlier this year, the Vietnamese leadership had released a list of projects that have been opened for foreign investments. “Those projects include upgrading and construction of roads, bridges, and railways; expanding capacity and reliability of power grids in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City; construction and development of industrial parks and complexes and expansion of existing port capacity,” wrote Vietnam Briefing, published by a foreign direct investment consultancy based in Hong Kong.
China Escalates Mobilization for Belt and Road Initiative
Aug. 18 (EIRNS)—A series of conferences in Asia this week indicates an escalation by the Chinese government on the Silk Road Economic Belt and the 21st Century Maritime Silk Road—the “One Belt, One Road” components—on the eve of the Hangzhou G20 Summit at the beginning of September. A major symposium was held in Beijing on Aug. 17, attended by President Xi Jinping, Vice Premier Zhang Gaoli, National Development and Reform Commission head Xu Shaoshi, Foreign Minister Wang Yi, the Communist Party chiefs of Fujian, Xinjiang, Guangdong and Shaanxi Provinces, and experts from thinktanks.
In his speech at the symposium, President Xi noted that more than 100 countries and international organizations have participated in the Belt and Road Initiative. China has signed agreements with more than 30 countries along the routes to jointly build the Belt and Road, and more than 20 countries have teamed up with China in industrial cooperation. “The progress and results of the Belt and Road Initiative have been greater than expected,” Xi said. “The establishment of the Belt and Road represents a turning point aimed at developing transnational interconnection, improving trade and investment cooperation, and advancing cooperation in international capacity and equipment manufacturing in order to rebalance and stabilize the world economy. And against the backdrop of a sluggish global economy, the initiative will help stabilize the world economy through industrial capacity cooperation between China and countries along the routes, to advance their industrialization and modernization, as well as improve their infrastructure,” Xi said.
Xi also addressed the financial implications of the New Silk Road, saying that he wanted to “promote new thinking in finance” and “set up a long-term, stable, sustainable, and crisis-free financial system working on behalf of the Belt and Road.” Cornell University Prof. Liu Peng commented, “Developing the Belt and Road requires a major source of long-term infrastructural investment, which reaps a return only at a gradual pace. Therefore we have to develop new ideas regarding finance, and broaden the stream of Belt and Road funding, leveraging more funding to the Belt and Road.”
Hong Pingfan, the director of the Development Policy and Analysis Division in the UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs, told Xinhua, “Now, even eight years after the outbreak of the global economic and financial crisis, the world economy has still not been able to reduce the growth problems, but China’s Belt and Road Initiative is conducive to efforts to revive the global economy.”
“The Belt and Road runs through the continents of Asia, Europe and Africa,” Hong said, “connecting the vibrant East Asia economic circle at one end and developed European economic circle at the other, and encompassing countries with huge potential for economic development. There are some 60 countries along the Belt and Road, accounting for 60% of the world population, 30% of the world gross product, 40% of world trade, and more than 50% of the population which are under the extreme poverty line. This represents a big challenge, but also a huge potential for development. The Chinese initiative can not only increase trade and investment in the countries along the Belt and Road, which is conducive to economic growth in these nations, but also help these countries expand their trade with other countries far away from the Belt and Road.”
In addition to this major Beijing symposium, Li Zhaoxing, the former Chinese Foreign Minister, addressed a Silk Road conference in Singapore, and People’s Daily held a major conference on the topic with representatives of the international media. Xinhua has also begun a caravan of 10 buses of journalists who will take a 12-nation tour through the Belt and Road countries, covering Central Asia, the Middle East, and Europe.
COLLAPSING WESTERN FINANCIAL SYSTEM
Central Bank Money Policy Destroys Savings
Aug. 18 (EIRNS)—Last week, the Financial Times reported that the volume of bonds with negative yields has now reached $13.4 trillions. This morning, yields on 10-year German, French and Dutch bonds fell again on expectations of continuation of low fed rates. Currently the yield on German 10-year bonds is –0.08%. Swiss bonds are –0.60%. The U.K., Canada and the United States are still in a positive region.
Capital is fleeing out of bonds into high-risk investments: stock markets and emerging markets.
Some banks in Germany are already implementing “strafzins,” punitive negative rates on deposits. The Sparkasse in Gmund am Tegernsee in Bavaria is charging a 0.4% rate on deposits over €100,000. This is the same rate the bank is paying for overnight deposits at the ECB, and it involves a few more than 100 depositors for a total of €40 million. It is a minor amount and a small bank, but it sets a precedent.
STRATEGIC WAR DANGER
India’s New Initiative in the Southwest Asian Crisis
Aug. 18 (EIRNS)—India’s Modi administration is seemingly getting ready to make its presence felt in the trouble-torn areas of Southwest Asia. According to Scroll.in, an Indian news website, India’s recently-appointed Minister of State for External Affairs M.J. Akbar, will be visiting Damascus, Baghdad, and Beirut. He is also scheduled to have a meeting with Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.
Syria’s Foreign Minister and Deputy Prime Minister Walid al-Muallem, had visited New Delhi in January, met with Minister for External Affairs Sushma Swaraj to discuss a host of security, bilateral and economic issues, and invited her to Syria.
During President Pranab Mukherjee’s visit to Jordan, Israel, and Palestine last year, “India’s then Secretary (East) at the Ministry of External Affairs said that while India supported the Geneva round of talks for a peaceful resolution to the Syrian crisis, its stance on Russian military intervention in Syria was acknowledgment that Moscow was doing so to halt the advances of the Islamic State (ISIS).”
SCIENCE AND INFRASTRUCTURE
India Must Finally Undertake a Manned Space Program, Says Prominent Scientist
Aug. 18 (EIRNS)—The former chairman of the India Space Research Organization (ISRO) and eminent space scientist Madhavan Nair, said, that a human space mission would “give a new life and vigor to the entire research activities in ISRO,” reported Indian TV network News Nation. While he agreed that new launch vehicles and satellites should be undertaken, Nair observed that those were things “even industries can do.” But in terms of the role of the government, “our R&D needs to be strengthened,” he said.
Nair reported that as far back as 2006, at a meeting convened by ISRO, 80 senior scientists favored the initiation of a manned mission, but a decade later, the government has still not approved such a program. Only some aspects of the technology needed are under development.
Countering the argument that India cannot afford the program, Nair described the money involved as “peanuts,” spread over the next five or six years, and said it is completely affordable for India. He described the government’s lack of formal approval as “very unfortunate.”
Nair further said that, more broadly, in the last two years, there has been no new initiative from ISRO. “In any R&D sector, unless you set the goals higher and work towards something which is challenging, you lose the whole culture of the organization,” he counseled.
Iran Will Contribute to International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor and the Worldwide Fusion Effort
Aug. 18 (EIRNS)—“Politicians have programs just for less than four years, but great people have programs for their grandchildren,” Dr. Mahmood Ghoranneviss, head of Iran’s fusion program told EIR in a just-conducted interview, in which Dr. Ghoranneviss discussed the recent developments in bringing Iran in to contribute to the research work planned for the International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor. Through meetings in Europe with ITER’s director general and staff, a visit to the ITER site in France, and follow-up meetings in Iran, steps have been agreed on to integrate Iran’s fusion research with the international effort, and to bring Iran in as an interim associate member of ITER.
In a previous interview with EIR published on Sept. 18, 2015 Dr. Ghoranneviss described Iran’s impressive fusion program, and provided photographs of its research tokamak.
Next steps include Iranian participation in ongoing fusion experiments in Europe, upgrading its science education programs, and the design and construction of new test facilities in its own program, preparatory to its contributions directly to ITER.
OTHER
The CDU `Young Turks’ in Germany: Anti-Islam, Anti-China, Anti-Russia
Aug. 18 (EIRNS)—One of the big problems of the German Christian Democrats is the fact that there is no reasonable candidate (not yet, at least…) among their leaders to replace Chancellor Angela Merkel or Finance Minister Wolfgang Schäuble. The removal of potential alternatives by intrigues and the like tricks has been a key source of the power of the Merkel-Schäuble team, but at the same time created a vacuum, which the younger generation of CDU politicians—if anything even more British than Merkel-Schäuble, are planning to fill.
One of the “Young Turks” is Jens Spahn, a Catholic homosexual and trained banker, whom certain circles already see as a coming Chancellor of Germany (after Merkel). An assistant minister of finance, he is in charge of the bail-in implementation, a robbery of depositors comparable to the robbery Spahn oversaw before as health policy spokesman for the CDU, when he was pushing streamlining of the hospital and medical system.
Spahn is also a leading propagandist of the issue that “Islam does not belong to Germany,” which he reiterated in an op-ed in the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung daily today, declaring that burka, burkini and hijab are alien to German culture and society and should be banned. On that and the other issues, Spahn is joined by Julia Klöckner, CDU chairwoman in the state of Rhineland-Palatinate.
Spahn and Klöckner both were leading figures of a nationwide campaign after the New Year’s Eve incident in Cologne, involving an organized mass molesting, harassment and theft presumably committed by a mob of “Moroccans”—the campaign claiming that by nature and education, all Muslim men are a threat to German women and to the public security. Granted, burka and hijab are a challenge to many Germans, as are the long beards of Muslims. The idea that banning burkas will contribute to better security inside Germany, however populist, does not work in France where there is such a ban, and it may just escalate frictions between nominally Christian Germans and Muslims in Germany.
Both Spahn and Klöckner are also anti-Russian (Spahn on the issue of gays) and anti-Chinese.

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