Volume 4, Number 95

EIR Daily Alert Service

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

• China’s ‘Project of the Century’ Is Launched; What’s Our Responsibility Now?
• Schiller Institute Founder Helga Zepp-LaRouche Attends Belt and Road Forum
• China Daily Also Features Helga Zepp-LaRouche in Belt and Road Coverage
• U.S. Delegation’s Pottinger Promises U.S. Firms in Belt and Road
• China and Russia To Sign Deal on Primorye-1 International Transport Corridor
• Trump Delivers Commencement Speech on the Courage To Defy Popular Opinion
• Tillerson: Trump’s Russia Policy Is Cooperation
• LaRouche PAC Interview with Sen. Black Poses that McCabe Should Be Next To Leave FBI
• Putin and Trump Organizing Direct Palestine Talks with Israel
• China Is Getting Ready for Its Manned Missions to the Moon

EDITORIAL

China’s ‘Project of the Century’ Is Launched; What’s Our Responsibility Now?

May 14 (EIRNS)—Chinese President Xi Jinping’s keynote to the Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation, in Beijing Sunday, stressed what next steps must be taken to make sure more than 100 nations benefit to the maximum extent, from what he called the “project of the century”—the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI).

The attractiveness of this great project of great infrastructure projects, has been established in four years, Xi said, quoting a proverb: “Peaches and pears do not speak, but they are so attractive that a path appears beneath the trees.” But with more than $950 billion in investments committed long-term to 900 projects—overwhelmingly, so far, by China’s development banks and new funds, which added $115 billion in new commitments at this Forum alone—Xi emphasized the difficult tasks of coordination of project design, economic development planning, and industrial mobilization among the participating countries. And, joint financing by national credits.

The urgent question, is what other major nations, particularly the United States, can and must add to the BRI in order really to join it—given 1 billion people in poverty, threats of famine and mass death in parts of Africa and the Mideast, and the spread of a culture of despair through deindustrialized regions of the United States and Europe.

American System economist Lyndon LaRouche, founder of EIR, whose wife Helga Zepp-LaRouche is being featured in Chinese press coverage of the Forum, stressed that now is the time that his movement in the United States and all of its supporters must act, to get the Trump Administration beyond its first steps of cooperation with China.

LaRouche pointed to space exploration, and all its scientific and technological benefits: That is a leading contribution the United States can and must make to this Initiative, cooperating with other space programs that once emulated, and now outdo America’s, to create a general leap in human progress.

There must be a “Silk Road in space,” monitoring and driving forward new infrastructure corridors on the Earth. President Donald Trump has just begun to look toward really reviving the “Apollo” capabilities of NASA, and the optimism of the American people who once could walk on the Moon.

Ignore “popular opinion” of what is possible, LaRouche said. Above all, get America to act now on this basis: What is the meaning of life for a human being, 50 years into the future? In fact, more than 35 years ago Lyndon and Helga LaRouche, putting forward the “Eurasian Land-Bridge” policy and international development banks, effectively foresaw the meaning of this weekend’s moment in Beijing, and set forth the germ of this moment’s Belt and Road Initiative.

President Xi’s urgency can be heard:

“Industries are the foundation of economy. We should deepen industrial cooperation so that industrial development plans of different countries will complement and reinforce each other. Focus should be put on launching major projects. We should strengthen international cooperation on production capacity and equipment manufacturing, and seize new development opportunities presented by the new industrial revolution to foster new businesses and maintain dynamic growth.

“Finance is the lifeblood of modern economy. Only when the blood circulates smoothly can one grow. We should establish a stable and sustainable financial safeguard system that keeps risks under control, create new models of investment and financing, encourage greater cooperation between government and private capital and build a diversified financing system and a multi-tiered capital market. We should also develop inclusive finance and improve financial services networks.

“Infrastructure connectivity is the foundation of development through cooperation. We should promote land, maritime, air and cyberspace connectivity, concentrate our efforts on key passageways, cities and projects and connect networks of highways, railways and sea ports. The goal of building six major economic corridors under the Belt and Road Initiative has been set, and we should endeavor to meet it.”

The challenge of this was appreciated by Czech President Milos Zeman at the Belt and Road Forum (BRF): “In all of history, except for the Marshall Plan, there was practically no long-term project, which needs enormous courage. Let me express my gratitude for the People’s Republic of China for this courage, and especially, let me appreciate China’s President for the courage which is so rare.”

Helga Zepp-LaRouche, interviewed by China’s Xinhua News Agency, forecast that other countries will be able to “replicate the Chinese economic miracle of the last 20 years. … It will lead to scientific and technological breakthroughs, with international cooperation in thermonuclear fusion technology, providing us with energy and raw material security….

“I am sure it (the initiative) will continue to grow and become a true world land bridge, in a modification of an old slogan: no country will be left behind.”

Let’s make sure the United States takes a lead, and save its own future.

NEW WORLD ECONOMIC ORDER

Schiller Institute Founder Helga Zepp-LaRouche Attends Belt and Road Forum

May 14 (EIRNS)—Helga Zepp-LaRouche attended the Belt and Road Forum summit in Beijing today, as the head of the Schiller Institute. The Schiller Institute, one of the key think-tanks involved in the Belt and Road Initiative, had been invited to participate in the conference discussions.

The Chinese press agency Xinhua interviewed Zepp-LaRouche, well-known in China as the “Silk Road Lady” for her conceptual advocacy over 35 years of what is now the Belt and Road. The interview is datelined Berlin, May 14. A week earlier, China Daily interviewed Zepp-LaRouche May 5 on her organization’s mobilization for U.S. participation in the May 14-15 summit, and titled its interview “Trump Encouraged To Attend Belt-Road Forum.”

Now, Xinhua’s Belt and Road page marked “In-Depth,” featured the interview with Zepp-LaRouche interview as EIR Alert goes to bed late Sunday night, Eastern time.

The text of Xinhua’s interview reads as follows: “Interview: Belt and Road Initiative To Become ‘A True World Land Bridge’ ”

“BERLIN, May 14 (Xinhua)—China’s Belt and Road Initiative will continue to grow and become a true world land bridge, Helga Zepp-LaRouche, president of the Schiller Institute think tank, has told Xinhua.

“ ‘The Belt and Road Initiative is the most important strategic initiative on the planet,’ she said. ‘It not only brings economic prosperity to all participating countries, but also serves as a true basis for a peace order for the 21st century.’

“At first some countries thought the initiative would bring advantages to China only, then they realized it was about win-win cooperation among all participating countries, she said.

“For Africa and other developing countries, it is the first time they have been given access to advanced technologies in the framework of the initiative to fight poverty and boost development, said the expert.

“The initiative also allows other countries to ‘replicate the Chinese economic miracle of the last 20 years,’ she added.

“She also expressed the belief that the Belt and Road Initiative plays an important role in promoting the development of human civilization.

“ ‘It will lead to scientific and technological breakthroughs, with international cooperation in thermonuclear fusion technology, providing us with energy and raw material security.’

“Through the initiative, all participating countries will also have a chance to learn about each other’s cultures and traditions, she said.

“ ‘I am sure it (the initiative) will continue to grow and become a true world land bridge, in a modification of an old slogan: no country will be left behind,’ LaRouche said.”

China Daily Also Features Helga Zepp-LaRouche in Belt and Road Coverage

May 14 (EIRNS)—In “Initiative Is Gaining Incredible Momentum,” China Daily’s English-language edition also featured the assessments of Schiller Institute founder and chair Helga Zepp-LaRouche at the Belt and Road Forum (BRF).

Zepp-LaRouche called the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) “a new dynamic that is gaining incredible momentum. The people who said the Belt and Road Initiative would collapse have been proven wrong, because the statistics now show it has become the new engine of growth for the world economy—in fact, the only one.”

In the boldest statement, Zepp-LaRouche characterized the shape of the initiative: “China has had an unbelievable economic development in the past 30 years, and in a certain sense, what the Belt and Road Initiative does, is allow China to export that miracle.” And, she said, “the Initiative has changed the dynamic around many of the world’s crisis spots already.”

Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan shared that insight in his keynote address, when he stated that “This [BRI] is going to be the kind of initiative that will put an end to terrorism.”

Helga Zepp-LaRouche emphasized to China Daily the demonstrated Chinese world leadership in high-speed rail systems, of which it will have 40,000 km by 2025 from a standing start in 2006. She noted the poor condition of U.S. transport infrastructure, and that Chinese expertise could help the United States emulate such a high-speed rail network. She noted “positive signs” at the Trump-Xi summit in Mar-a-Lago, Florida, “and while Mr. Trump may not be at the Forum, an early trip is planned to China,” she said.

U.S. Delegation’s Pottinger Promises U.S. Firms in Belt and Road

May 14 (EIRNS)—The National Security Council senior director for East Asia Matthew Pottinger, named by President Trump to represent the United States at the Belt and Road Forum, spoke at one of the events at the summit on Sunday afternoon. According to Agence France Presse, Pottinger said that American companies are ready to get involved in China’s “project of the century.” This came, said AFP, “as Washington strikes an increasingly cooperative tone with its biggest trade rival.”

According to Hong Kong’s South China Morning Post, Pottinger said U.S. companies and the U.S. Embassy to China had formed an “American Belt and Road Working Group,”

Head of delegation Pottinger said American companies had much to offer the project. “U.S. firms can offer the best-value goods and services required over the life of a project. [They] have a long and successful track record in global infrastructure development, and are ready to participate in Belt and Road projects.”

Chinese firms and heads of funds have, of course, said the same thing about projects of new infrastructure in the United States, and their track record on high-speed rail, port development, nuclear power, bridge-building, and other areas has set a world example in this century. China has taken the global lead in the design and funding of such projects on behalf of the growth and progress of now over 100 nations. Pottinger did not address joint credit for infrastructure with China, the Trump Administration’s weakness so far. He said only that the Belt and Road projects would require “high-quality financing.”

China and Russia To Sign Deal on Primorye-1 International Transport Corridor

May 12 (EIRNS)—The Belt and Road Forum will be the scene of not only high-level bilateral meetings among the heads of state and government, ministers and officials who will attend, but also where new agreements are being signed. A case in point is Russia’s and China’s an agreement on the Primorye-1 international transport corridor. “During the ‘One Belt, One Road’ forum, the relevant governmental departments of China and Russia will sign an agreement on cooperation on the Primorye-1 international transport corridor,” Li Haitao, Vice-Governor of the northeastern Chinese province of Heilongjiang told a press conference ahead of the forum.

The international transport corridors called Primorye-1 and Primorye-2 connect production centers in Northeast China, where the borders of North Korea, China, and Russia converge, to the Russian Far East ports where the cargo, mostly containerized, is shipped throughout the Asia-Pacific, especially to North America. For Chinese shippers in the country’s Northeast, the corridors are 500 km shorter than if they shipped through the Chinese port of Dalian, which is to the south. The corridor is expected to encourage trade and investment in the Russian Far East, as the improved transportation infrastructure will significantly increase cargo transit from China to the Russian port city of Vladivostok.

U.S. POLITICAL AND ECONOMIC

Trump Delivers Commencement Speech on the Courage To Defy Popular Opinion

May 14 (EIRNS)—President Donald Trump’s commencement speech to graduates of Liberty University May 13 was striking, not only for the audience of more than 50,000 who gathered to hear it, but for its call on the graduates to live their lives in defiance of the tyranny of popular opinion.

“Nothing worth doing ever, ever, ever came easy,” the President said. “Following your convictions means you must be willing to face criticism from those who lack the same courage to do what is right—and they know what is right—but they don’t have the courage … and the stamina to take it, and to do it. It’s called the road less travelled.”

“What will future Americans say we did in our brief time right here on Earth? Did we take risks? Did we dare to defy expectations? Did we challenge accepted wisdom? And take on established systems?”

“You aren’t going to let other people tell you what to believe, especially when you know that you are right.

“No one has ever achieved anything significant without a chorus of critics standing on the sidelines explaining why it can’t be done. Nothing is easier—or more pathetic—that being a critic, because they’re people that can’t get the job done.”

Trump even told the graduates, “don’t choose the path in life that your parents select for you.”

While making one reference to cliques of “people in Washington who think they know everything,” the President did not dwell on current events and decisions in and around his government—but on general principles of action which clearly apply to those events in his view.

Tillerson: Trump’s Russia Policy Is Cooperation

May 14 (EIRNS)—NBC News anchor Chuck Todd interviewed U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson on “Meet the Press” this morning, where Tillerson offered a rare, truthful explanation of diplomacy—in this case, regarding alleged “Russian influence” on the U.S. election, over which the major U.S. media have bombarded Trump with since his inauguration.

Todd asked Tillerson whether he agreed with the President that the Russia story is fake news and a witchhunt. Tillerson responded that President Trump “feels it’s important” that America re-engage with Russia. Tillerson said that it would be in the interest of the world, the U.S., and Russia that “we do something to see if we cannot improve the relationship between the two greatest nuclear powers in the world.”

Todd pointed to accusations of Russian interference in recent elections in Europe, asking Tillerson, “What message does it send” that Europe’s number-one ally, the U.S. President, fired the man who was looking into Russian interference in their elections?

Tillerson said that he hears from “all the other nations [that they] want the U.S. and Russia to work towards improving our relationship as well for all the reasons that I just mentioned,” because it’s otherwise viewed as not good for the world.

When Todd complained that Tillerson had not brought up the issue of Russian election interference when Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov in their meetings, Tillerson responded that there is a broad range of issues to address, and “I think we have to look at this relationship in its broadest contours, and there are many important areas which require our attention if we are to bring it back to a relationship … necessary for the security of the U.S….”

Tillerson referred a May 3 message he delivered to State Department employees, telling Todd, “The point I that I was making, Chuck … that America’s values of freedom, treatment of people, human dignity, freedom of expression throughout the world, those are our values … and they serve as the boundaries as we develop our foreign policy approaches and our diplomatic efforts. But I make a distinction between values and policy. A policy has to be tailored to the individual situation…. Our values can never be put in a position of having to be compromised. And so the values guide our policy, but if we put our values in the front of our policies and say, ‘This is our policy,’ we have no room to adapt to changing circumstances to achieve our ultimate objective. And I think if we are successful in achieving our ultimate diplomatic and national security objectives, we will create the conditions for the advancement of freedom in countries all over the world.”

LaRouche PAC Interview with Sen. Black Poses that McCabe Should Be Next To Leave FBI

May 12 (EIRNS)—The U.S. media’s frenzy over President Trump’s overdue firing of FBI Director James Comey, focussed May 11 on FBI Acting Director Andrew McCabe and his supposed “declaration of war” on the White House in his Senate Intelligence Committee testimony. McCabe said that the FBI investigation of Trump team alleged ties to “Russia” is “probably the most important thing I’ve done in public life” (although in doing so, he made clear that that investigation is not affected by Comey’s firing, contrary to Democrats’ hysterical claims).

But a LaRouche PAC interview with Virginia State Sen. Richard Black shows that McCabe has done other things in his “public life” very recently, which may turn out more important than he would like to think, since they were violations of Federal law. McCabe could be the next to go if President Trump continues to “drain the swamp” of the U.S. intelligence agencies (see “FBI’s McCabe Attacks Anti-ISIS Senator”).

McCabe’s wife, Jill McCabe, was recruited and heavily funded by Virginia Gov. Terry McAuliffe (D) for an ultimately unsuccessful campaign to unseat Sen. Richard Black (R) in Virginia in the 2015 state election. McAuliffe was acting on behalf of the Hillary Clinton leadership faction of the Democratic Party, and was specially targetting Senator Black—the Democratic spending in race was “on the level of a Congressional, not a state Senate campaign,” Black said, and the funds were all raised through Governor McAuliffe’s out-of-state sources.

Andrew McCabe not only participated actively with McAuliffe in recruiting his wife to run; he also openly campaigned for her, and was photographed doing so, wearing her campaign insignia on his clothing. These are violations of Federal law governing the conduct of senior Federal government appointed officials, particularly those in the intelligence agencies.

The unsuccessful targetting of Senator Black for electoral defeat was directly related to Black’s advocacy of U.S.-Russian cooperation against terrorism in the Middle East and in ending the Syrian civil war. Thus, it is directly related as well, to the British intelligence and the U.S. intelligence community’s targetting of President Trump.

The transcript of the interview with EIR Editorial Board member Will Wertz will also appear in the May 19 issue of EIR.

STRATEGIC WAR DANGER

Putin and Trump Organizing Direct Palestine Talks with Israel

May 13 (EIRNS)—Palestine welcomes any cooperation between Russia and the United States aimed at restoring the Middle East peace process and facilitating direct talks between Israel and Palestine, Palestinian Deputy Prime Minister Ziad Abu Amr told Sputnik.

The comment follows Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas’ meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Sochi on May 11, and his meeting with U.S. President Donald Trump in Washington on May 3, in which both Russian and U.S. Presidents expressed their commitment to help Palestinians and Israelis achieve a lasting peace settlement.

“The coordination between Russia and the United States in arranging the meeting between Palestine and Israel is likely and we welcome it as long as it is coordinated in the interest of achieving progress in the peace process and we say it publicly. Russia is very important as well as the United States. Any peace efforts between the Palestinians and the Israelis have to be endorsed and supported by both superpowers,” Ziad Abu Amr told Sputnik.

Putin had suggested a meeting of Israel and Palestine in Moscow as early as in 2016, with both sides stating that they supported the idea. The meeting has not taken place yet.

Following their Thursday meeting, Abbas told a joint press conference with the Russian President that Palestine welcomes the invitation to hold a trilateral meeting in Moscow with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. On May 9, the Palestinian President said that his country was equally ready to meet the Israeli side in the United States.

Commenting on Trump’s upcoming visit to meet with Abbas, Ziad Abu Amr said: “We expect that during Trump’s visit to Bethlehem we will pursue what we have started in the White House with regard to American efforts to revive the peace process in the Middle East.”

SCIENCE & INFRASTRUCTURE

China Is Getting Ready for Its Manned Missions to the Moon

May 13 (EIRNS)—Although the leadership of the Chinese space program has not been willing yet to confirm that it has a plan to send astronauts to the Moon, Chinese technologists are getting ready. Since 2014, volunteers have spent time in the “Lunar Palace,” at Beihang University, which is a closed facility with laboratories, living quarters, and food-growing areas. Its purpose is to simulate the self-sufficiency needed to live in deep space, on the Moon, and later on Mars. In 2014, a “crew” successfully completed a 105-day trial in the Lunar Palace, or Yuegong-1.

Four postgraduate students—two male and two female—entered the module on May 11, to initially spend 60 days there. They will be relieved by another group of four, who will stay for 200 days, and then the first group will return for an additional 105 days. They will grow their own food and recycle waste in closed-loop system that simulates living in space with minimal access to supplies from Earth. The mission is dubbed “Yuegong-365.”

The lab has been described by Chinese media as “the world’s most advanced closed-loop life-support technology so far.” Rather than continuously supplying food, water, oxygen, and other consumables from Earth, the goal is to have a self-contained facility where the crew grow their own food, and recycle consumables. Similar space simulation facilities have been in operation extensively in Russia and also in the U.S., but the Lunar Palace has a room for raising animals, which is unique. Chief designer Liu Hong told CGTN that it is “the first of its kind,” hosting animals and microorganisms, as well as plants and people.

At this point, although there has been no firm date given for the first Chinese manned mission to the Moon, the technology development is well underway.