EIR Daily Alert Service, MONDAY, JANUARY 29, 2018

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MONDAY, JANUARY 29, 2018

Volume 5, Number 20

EIR Daily Alert Service

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

EDITORIAL

What Did Trump Learn from Davos?

Jan. 28 (EIRNS)—With President Trump preparing his State of the Union Speech for this coming Tuesday—reportedly to focus on the domestic economy and infrastructure—what must be asked is whether he is reflecting on the theme of the Davos World Economic Forum. Trump’s speech at Davos was limited to praise for what he described as a great economic boom taking place in the U.S., but unfortunately, pointing to the massive stock market bubble as a sign of that progress, rather than as a huge warning-sign of the coming crash.

Even the Wall Street Journal recently warned the President to stop using the stock market as the measure of economic progress—the Wall Street boys know very well that the crash is imminent. More to the point, as EIR has emphasized, William White, the insightful former chief economist at the BIS, warned on Jan. 25 that the Western banking system has no way to avoid such a crash, since the “policy trap” they created for themselves through the QE money-printing binge, which papered over the 2008 crash, leaves them with no monetary solutions to the current, far bigger bubble we face today.

No monetary solution—but there is a creditary solution, which has been placed in the hands of every member of Congress and at least several people in Trump’s circle, in the form of the pamphlet “LaRouche’s Four Laws: The Physical Economic Principles for the Recovery of the U.S.—America’s Future on the New Silk Road.”

Thus the question above: Did the President take to heart that the theme of the Davos Forum this year was “Creating a Shared Future in a Fractured World,” a concept taken directly from Xi Jinping’s speech to the 2017 Davos Forum? Not only was the theme taken from China, but, as the New York Times acknowledged today in an article headlined “At Davos, the Real Star May Have Been China, Not Trump,” the keynote speech by Liu He, Xi Jinping’s leading economist, was one of the best attended, while “National leaders seemed to vie with one another in Davos in calling for closer cooperation with China.”

For Trump to make the decision to fully restore American System policies—the Hamiltonian system underlying LaRouche’s Four Laws—and fully join the New Silk Road, the treasonous coup attempt against him by British intelligence and their American lackeys must be crushed, and the perpetrators of their “Russiagate” scam brought to justice themselves.

Sen. Chuck Grassley, joined by Sen. Lindsey Graham, took another major step in that direction on Jan. 25, sending letters to several top leaders in the Obama-era Democratic Party demanding full disclosure to his Senate Judiciary Committee of all documents pertaining to Fusion GPS and to Christopher Steele’s discredited dossier—how and when it was shown to each of them, how it made its way to the DOJ and FBI, all their discussions and exchanges with those law enforcement agencies, and all their contacts with Steele himself and his fellow British operatives.

Interestingly, the name Victoria Nuland is on that list—recall that Fusion GPS also compiled reports on Ukraine for Victoria Nuland as she was running the Obama Administration’s support for the Nazi gangs who ran the 2014 coup against the elected government in Kiev.

The handwriting is on the wall for all to see. The British Empire, and its deadly geopolitical wars, have no place in the New Paradigm now coming into being around the world. Trump has committed to America’s friendship with Russia and China to achieve that noble aim, based on a shared destiny for all nations. Every citizen of the world must work to bring that intention to reality.

NEW WORLD ECONOMIC ORDER

New York Times Headline: ‘At Davos, the Real Star May Have Been China, Not Trump’

Jan. 28 (EIRNS)—Under the above headline, the New York Times journalist Keith Bradsher bemoans the fact that, like it or not, it was China’s New Silk Road that dominated the Davos World Economic Forum, not the efforts by many to demean the Belt and Road Initiative as merely China’s effort to “spread its influence” and to “bury the recipients in debt and cause considerable environmental damage.”

Under a picture of a smiling Liu He, Xi Jinping’s top economic advisor who gave China’s keynote speech at the Forum, Bradsher acknowledges that that Liu He’s presentation was “one of the best-attended speeches,” and that throughout the Forum, the Belt and Road was the leading subject of discussion.

“At one end of town, President Michel Temer of Brazil welcomed an unexpected offer from Beijing for Latin American nations to work closely with a Chinese initiative,” writes Bradsher. “At the other end of town…, Pakistan’s Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi used his talk to praise the rapidly expanding Chinese investments in his country, including to build power stations and a large port…. National leaders seemed to vie with one another in Davos in calling for closer cooperation with China.”

“The China One Belt, One Road is going to be the new WTO—like it or not,” Joe Kaeser, the chief executive of Siemens, told the Times.

But China’s actions were not limited to Davos, Bradsher notes. “On Friday, the Chinese government used a policy document issued in Beijing to call for a Polar Silk Road that would link China to Europe and the Atlantic via a shipping route past the melting Arctic ice cap…. At a summit meeting for Latin American and Caribbean foreign ministers in Santiago, Chile, Foreign Minister Wang Yi of China called for close cooperation and participation by the regions countries.”

Major Breakthrough in China-Japan-South Korea Relations

Jan. 28 (EIRNS)—The two-day visit to Beijing by Japan’s Foreign Minister Taro Kono has brought several major developments to the urgent task of uniting the three Asian powers around the concept of peace through development.

At the end of the visit Sunday evening, China and Japan jointly announced that the annual summits between the three nations’ leaders would be revived “as soon as possible,” after having been cancelled since 2015, supposedly over territorial issues in the East China Sea. Premier Li Keqiang will represent China at the summit.

In addition, Norio Maruyama, a spokesman for the Japanese delegation, said the summit could set the stage for reciprocal visits by Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and Chinese President Xi Jinping—a trip neither leader has made since coming to power in 2012, as Bloomberg pointed out. “What we are envisaging is a visit to China by Prime Minister Abe and after that a visit to Japan by President Xi Jinping,” Maruyama said.

Kono met with Foreign Minister Wang Yi, Premier Li Keqiang, and State Councillor Yang Jiechi. Xinhua reports that the talks were frank, with Li stating that Japan needed to “properly handle sensitive issues related to history and differences between the two sides,” while Wang Yi said: “At present, China-Japan relations are at a crucial stage. There is positive progress, but many disturbances and obstacles remain.”

Kono’s visit came on the 40th anniversary of the signing of the China-Japan Treaty of Peace and Friendship.

China’s strained relations with South Korea were lessened with China’s agreement to allow its opposition to the THAAD missile issue to be put aside in order to work together on other issues. The Japan-China relationship has been greatly improved by Prime Minister Abe’s announcement last year that Japan will co-finance projects with China in the Belt and Road Initiative.

“Kono said the government was ready to cement political trust and concrete cooperation with China, and enhance high-level exchanges and contacts among various levels to promote the full improvement of ties.” Most importantly, the press release by Kono and Wang Yi addressed the East China Sea dispute: “China and Japan should work together to build the East China Sea into the sea of peace, cooperation and friendship.”

Equally important, in light of the militarist statements coming from the U.S. institutions calling Russia and China “adversaries” and “threats,” Wang Yi asked both sides to build political trust, and urged Japan to treat China as a “partner” instead of “rival,” and view China’s development as an “opportunity rather than a threat.”

China Expands ‘Joint Maritime Research’ in South China Sea

Jan. 28 (EIRNS)—Whereas conflicts were being inflamed by the Obama administration over territorial disputes in the South China Sea, China is now conducting joint scientific research and investigations with Malaysia and the Philippines.

Voice of America—no friend of China—posted a report yesterday titled “Joint Research Projects Help China Consolidate Power, Peacefully, at Sea.” Despite their animosity towards China, it acknowledges that in Malaysia, the official news service Bernama reports that “China helped Malaysia with atmospheric studies on the high seas last year, among other marine science projects.”

VOA also writes: “This month and next, China will work with the Philippines on exploring an underwater plateau.” This refers to Benham Rise, a 13 million-hectare plateau in the Philippines continental shelf in the Pacific Ocean. VOA and other anti-China interests have played up internal opposition in the Philippines to allowing China to explore Benham Rise, but President Rodrigo Duterte has rejected the complaints. His spokesman Harry Roque said last week: “So science is science. Science knows no nationalities. So, the quest for truth is all important. All countries that would want to conduct joint research with us in this extended continental shelf are welcome to do so.”

Pakistan Prime Minister Abbasi Views Belt and Road as More Than Just Infrastructure

Jan. 26 (EIRNS)—Pakistani Prime Minster Shahid Khaqan Abbasi, speaking at the Davos World Economic Forum (WEF) Jan. 24, praised the quality and scope of the Belt and Road Initiative, launched by China’s Xi Jinping.

“We strongly recognize the vision of China and President Xi Jinping…. We believe the Belt and Road Initiative is perfectly in sync with the WEF theme of creating ‘shared future in a fractured world.’ It is much more than just a partnership on infrastructure, and it will cause significant improvement in lives of people from different countries.”

He said half of humanity lives in the region of the Belt and Road, also known as New Silk Road. Further, he said, the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) has started to show results in Pakistan with a major increase in manufacturing and exports. “The key principles are financial stability and lessening of environmental impact and Pakistan being a more responsible global citizen,” he said.

Abe and Putin To Inaugurate ‘The Year of Japan in Russia’

Jan. 26 (EIRNS)—Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said today that he intends to expand cooperation with Russia over this year. “We plan to expand cooperation with Russia in various sectors, first of all regarding the North Korean issue and bilateral exchanges, for example, (as part of the cross) Year (of Culture) between Russia and Japan,” he said, reported TASS.

He stated that his government will continue consultations with Moscow regarding joint economic activities on the Kuril Islands and simplified trips for their former inhabitants. “We will continue vigorous talks with Russia for solving the issue of the four islands and reaching a peace treaty,” Abe stressed.

Abe was referring to the countries’ designating 2018 as the “Russia-Japan Year of Culture,” which will be inaugurated on May 26 in a ceremony at Moscow’s Bolshoi Theater, which both Abe and Russian President Vladimir Putin will attend.  Toshio Yamamoto, of the Communication Department in Japan’s Embassy in Moscow, told TASS: “Numerous events in different sectors will be held across Russia throughout this year and even longer through efforts of the governments and with the participation of countries’ private organizations. The opening ceremony that will be held on May 26, and a major exhibition of Edo Period art, whose objects rarely leave Japan, will follow.

Yamamoto elaborated: “Cultural exchanges are gaining pace, but it is important to bolster exchanges among a maximally wide range of people, in order to better utilize the potential of cultivating bilateral relations.”

EIR’s friend Daisuke Kotegawa said that the May 26 Bolshoi event will be surrounded by other international events, including:

  • May 22-24: A Conference organized by the Far East Institute at the State University of St. Petersburg, headed by Kotegawa, with guest speakers from across Asia;
  • May 24-26: The annual St. Petersburg International Economic Forum (SPIEF) with guests from around the world;
  • May 25: An annual concert at the SPIEF conducted by Valery Gergiev;
  • May 26: The ceremony at the Bolshoi Theater.

COLLAPSING WORLD FINANCIAL SYSTEM

U.S. Stock Market Bubble Accelerates to $30 Trillion

Jan. 28 (EIRNS)—The U.S. stock market has been blown up into the biggest stock bubble ever. On Jan. 18, CNBC reported: “The U.S. stock market has added nearly $6.9 trillion in market cap since President Trump was elected.” Market capitalization simply represents the sum of the value of each company’s stock times the number of shares of that stock, summed up for all stocks.

The market capitalization of all U.S. stocks stood at $23.7 trillion when President Trump was elected, and it has grown to $30.6 trillion as of the third week of January, a growth of 29%.

The growth in stock market valuation is based largely on companies purchasing back their own stock, and by individuals buying stock on margin; i.e., borrowing money to purchase stocks (U.S. margin debt rose to a record $580 billion in November 2017). The stock market’s present valuation today is more than 1,000 times greater than 1929.

This $6.9 trillion increase in market capitalization is what Lyndon LaRouche characterizes as pure fictitious speculation, backed up by nothing physical; it is dangerous. When a spark is lit in one of the markets, the new stock capitalization will turn to ashes.

LaRouche has called for surgically lancing such a bubble and drying it out. LaRouche’s Four Laws are the necessary scalpel.

U.S. POLITICAL AND ECONOMIC

Grassley Tightens Noose Around Steele and the British Putschists

Jan. 28 (EIRNS)—Senators Chuck Grassley (R-IA) and Lindsey Graham (R-SC) sent a letter Jan. 25 to four former high-ranking officials in the Clinton campaign and Democratic National Committee, and at least one current DNC leader. The letter asks 12 sharply framed questions centering on the individuals’ knowledge of or collaboration with Christopher Steele, and on their and others’ communication or distribution of Steele’s dossier. The four are John Podesta, former chair of the Hillary Clinton campaign; Joel Benenson, who worked with the Obama 2008 and 2012 campaigns, and was chief strategist for the Clinton campaign in 2016; former DNC Chairwomen Donna Brazile and Debbie Wasserman Schultz; and current DNC Chairman Tom Perez. A deadline of Feb. 8 was set for the individuals to respond.

Grassley and Graham state in their letter, that they are seeking to find out “the extent to which the FBI may have relied on information relayed by Mr. Steele in seeking judicial authorization [from the FISA court] for surveillance of individuals associated with Mr. Trump.”

Grassley and Graham’s questions include:

“Prior to the Washington Post’s article in October of 2017, were you or anyone else at Hillary for America aware of Mr. Steele’s efforts on behalf of the Clinton campaign to compile and distribute allegations about Mr. Trump and the Russian government?… Did you or anyone else at Hillary for America receive copies of any memoranda comprising Mr. Steele’s dossier prior to its publication by BuzzFeed in January of 2017?  Did you or anyone else at Hillary for America receive other memoranda written or forwarded by Mr. Steele regarding Mr. Trump and his associates that were not published as part of the BuzzFeed dossier? Did you or anyone else at Hillary for America distribute outside of the organization any of the dossier memoranda, information contained therein, or other information obtained by Mr. Steele?  Were you or anyone else at Hillary for America aware of Mr. Steele’s contacts with the FBI or other government agencies prior to the 2016 election?…”  The letter demands specifics.

The final question demands all communications to or from any in a group of 40 named individuals, including John Brennan, Andrew McCabe, Peter Strzok, Bruce Ohr, Fusion GPS, and James Baker, and includes former Assistant Secretary of State Victoria Nuland, who had used Steele’s memos in the coup against the Ukraine government in 2014 which brought pro-Nazi Bandera elements to power.

On Jan. 6, Grassley referred Steele to the U.S. Justice Department for possible criminal prosecution.

Trump Writes Letter to Africa; Tillerson To Visit

Jan. 28 (EIRNS)—In a letter that President Donald Trump sent to African heads of state and government dated Jan. 25, on the occasion of the summit of the African Union which begins today in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, Trump announced that Secretary of State Rex Tillerson will make an “extended visit” to Africa in March, according to NBC News.

The letter states, according to NBC, that the President extended his “best wishes for a successful summit” and that he “deeply respects” the people of Africa.

While at the Davos World Economic Forum, President Trump met with President Paul Kagame of Rwanda. The White House’s Jan. 27 readout of the meeting reported, “President Trump congratulated President Kagame on his chairmanship of the African Union. The two Presidents discussed the partnership between the United States and Africa on economic growth and improved security…. President Trump underscored the need to work together to fight terrorism and increase trade between the United States and Africa.”

After their meeting, Trump told reporters “It’s a great honor to be with President Kagame.” Kagame tweeted, “Had very good bilateral meeting with @realDonaldTrump!”

Alaska Set for Arctic Development with China; Governor Exclaims, ‘Stars Are Aligned on This’

Jan. 27 (EIRNS)—Alaska was second to West Virginia in size of its 2017 Memorandum of Understanding with China, for energy infrastructure and gas sales development—$43 billion over the coming years. On Jan. 24, Gov. Bill Walker met in Fairbanks with his cabinet and local mayors, and spoke optimistically about what’s ahead, with plans for an 800-mile gas pipeline from the North Slope to Kennai Peninsula, and pledged sales of 75% of the gas to go to China. Walker was the only governor in the Trump delegation to go to Beijing in November, and Walker hosted President Xi Jinping in Anchorage last May.

Walker made a point of praising the support he is getting from the White House. “I could go on for hours about … how things are so different now…. I have a call … directly with the White House about this project…. It’s astounding, absolutely astounding, to have that kind of relationship with the White House on this project. And then with the market, the producers—the stars are absolutely aligned on this,” said Walker, reported Fairbanks’ NBC News affiliate.

Alaska, working with China, is set to figure prominently in Arctic gas development, as well as the newly opened LNG operations in Yamal, Russia. China covers the principles involved, in in its new “China’s Arctic Policy,” which states explicitly that this is part of its Belt and Road Initiative: China wishes to “advance Arctic-related cooperation under the Belt and Road Initiative in accordance with the basic principles of respect, cooperation, win-win results and sustainability.” The document, released Jan. 26, also states specifically under its section “IV. China’s Policies and Positions on Participating in Arctic Affairs,” that, “China respects the sovereign rights of Arctic States over oil, gas and mineral resources” in the region, and “encourages them to participate in the exploitation of oil, gas and mineral resources in the Arctic, through cooperation in various forms, on the condition of properly protecting the eco-environment of the Arctic.”

In West Virginia this week, there were also optimistic statements about what’s to come from China’s commitment to work with the state on gas infrastructure and industry development in Appalachia. At the Jan. 22-23 Economic Development Council Legislative Conference in Charleston, representatives of the major economic associations spoke out on this. West Virginia will receive an $83.7 billion investment from China for energy development over 20 years. Announcements are awaited from the governor and Commerce Department on what the first projects regarding a site for a gas hub, for one or more cracker plants, for pipelines, and other components, will be.

Privatization of Puerto Rico’s PREPA Augurs Disaster

Jan. 28 (EIRNS)—On Jan. 22, Puerto Rican Governor Ricardo Rosselló announced his plan to privatize the bankrupt state-run Puerto Rican Electric Power Authority, or PREPA, in three phases over the next 18 months. The plan must be authorized by New York bankruptcy Judge Laura Swain and by the Puerto Rican Legislature. Creditors and all manner of financial vultures holding some of PREPA’s $9 billion in debt are already screaming that any privatization must guarantee debt repayment and their “property rights.”

Absent a programmatic focus that would incorporate Puerto Rico into the Belt and Road Initiative, writing off its unpayable debt and embarking on high-technology development, including nuclear energy, the proposed privatization will make the island’s desperate situation worse and subject it to greater looting by “disaster capitalists” who are expected to swoop in to make a quick buck. The proposed “environmentally friendly” plan makes no mention of nuclear, and states that renewables will make up 30% of energy generation.

Currently, close to 40% of the island’s population still has no electricity. The dire financial crisis of the past 10-15 years has made PREPA incapable of maintaining the electric grid while issuing ever-larger quantities of debt to offset dwindling revenue. Its $9 billion debt cannot be paid.

The announced privatization is included in a revamped fiscal plan prepared by Rosselló, which calls for no debt service to be paid over the next five years, but which must adhere to the monetarist “structural reform” demands from the Financial Oversight and Management Board (FOMB) set up by Congress in 2016 to oversee the island’s finances.

PREPA was founded in 1941 under Franklin Roosevelt’s New Deal, which has a rich history of promoting real economic development on the island. The Atlantic warned Jan. 24 that privatization means “the functional end of a public sector that has defined life in Puerto Rico for the majority of the island’s history as a United States territory.”

STRATEGIC WAR DANGER

Russians Amazed at How Crazed HRM’s Defense Secretaries Can Get

Jan. 26 (EIRNS)—“ ‘Russia Is Ready To Kill Us by the Thousands’; Defense Secretary Warns that Moscow Could Cause Mass Casualties by Crippling Crucial Energy Supplies,” screams the headline on the Daily Telegraph’s interview with U.K. Defense Secretary Gavin Williamson published today.

According to today’s Guardian, Williamson, a Commander of the British Empire, keeps a pet tarantula in a tank in his office “signifying a ruthless approach to his enemies.” Judging by Williamson’s Telegraph interview, Her Royal Majesty’s government has just plain “lost it,” in its desperation to uphold the dying geopolitical world order.

Williamson raved about Russia: “What they are looking at doing—is, they are going to be thinking: How can we just cause so much pain to Britain? Damage its economy, rip its infrastructure apart, actually cause thousands and thousands and thousands of deaths, but actually have an element of creating total chaos within the country.”

Which provoked the Russian media agency RT to comment:

“Firstly, congratulations on your ongoing efforts to speak English, Mr. Williamson—you’re getting very close to fluency, keep it up. Secondly, if Russia really wanted to cause chaos in Britain, it wouldn’t worry about damaging some power lines, it would simply donate to the Tory party’s reelection fund.”

Maj. Gen. Igor Konashenkov, spokesman of the Russian Defense Ministry, responded officially for the Russian government today, that “the head of the U.K. Defense Ministry has lost his grip on reason in his fiery fight for the defense budget increase.”

SCIENCE & INFRASTRUCTURE

Siemens Interested in Contributing to Tanzania-Rwanda Railroad

Jan. 27 (EIRNS)—Germany’s Siemens company has expressed interest in investing in mobility technology during the construction of the proposed Isaka-Kigali railway, between Tanzania and Rwanda. “We have the right technology for the rail infrastructure and we are also aware that the rail project is looking for funding. This is one area we are looking at for possible investment,” said André Bouffioux, the Chief Executive Office of Siemens Belgium-Luxembourg, Northwest & Central Africa.

Rwanda and Tanzania recently signed an agreement on construction and co-financing of the 400km Isaka-Kigali Standard Gauge Railway (SGR) phase, to be launched in October 2018.

A team of five Siemens officials is currently in Rwanda to scout opportunities, after several years of working with local dealers to supply high tech equipment such as air conditioners. The railway project drew their attention and they say, they have what it takes: rail services, Automation, Electrification, complete rail solutions, components and systems.

According to Bouffioux, by March 2018 Siemens intends to start negotiations with the government of Rwanda. “Our plan is to work with the private sector first; we have already received several deals from the local companies but we would like to work with government in a long term which requires a structural plan,” Bouffioux said during a press briefing in Kigali on Jan. 25. This is one of the very rare cases so far, where Germany is involved in an important infrastructure project in Africa.

China Is Preparing for Manned Missions to the Moon

Jan. 27 (EIRNS)—In 1971, the Apollo 15 crew left a retro-reflector on the Moon. It is a passive instrument, which just reflects laser pulses from Earth back to Earth. The time—very precisely measured—of the return pulse, indicates the distance between Earth and its nearest neighbor. In all, three reflectors were left on the lunar surface during the Apollo missions, and one by the Soviet Lunokhod 2 rover. They are still used by scientists for research in astrodynamics, Earth-Moon system dynamics (the Moon is slowly moving away from the Earth), and lunar physics. The technique is called Lunar Laser Ranging (LLR), and now Chinese scientists are using the Apollo 15 reflector for LLR experiments, in preparation for their future missions to land astronauts on the Moon.

On Jan. 22, Xinhua reported yesterday, an applied astronomy group at the Yunnan Observatories in Kunming carried out China’s first Lunar Laser Ranging experiment, to obtain precise measurements of the distance between the Earth and the Moon.

Landing an unmanned vehicle on the Moon requires using detailed orbital photographs to define a safe and interesting general landing region, where the engineers aim the lander. For a robotic spacecraft, the landing ellipse can be a relatively wide area to aim for. But for a manned mission, a more precise targetting is preferable. China can now use the laser ranging technique for its manned lunar program.

Until now, only the U.S., France, and Italy have successfully deployed laser ranging technology. It is reported that on a future mission, China will place its own retro-reflector on the Moon.

Chinese scientists are also studying the human factor itself, and technology to support crew on the Moon. Chinese student volunteers have just completed 200 days in Beihang University’s “Lunar Palace.” The two men and two women are biomedicine students and are the second group to work in the simulated space lab. A main capability needed to live off Earth is regenerative life-support systems, where waste is recycled, and in the advanced phase, virtually no materials have to be supplied from the outside. The “mission” also entailed study of the social interactions and psychological condition of the crew.
 

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