EDITORIAL

After U.S. Midterm Elections, Three Weeks To Shape the Buenos Aires Trump, Putin, Xi Summits

Nov. 8 (EIRNS)—President Trump’s victory in defeating the Democratic “blue wave” in the midterm elections, gives the world “a tremendous opportunity to move on and actually go towards the solution which the United States and the world urgently need,” in the estimation of Helga Zepp-LaRouche. The Schiller Institute founder and president spelled out a global action strategy in her weekly strategic webcast today:

Three weeks from now, on the sidelines of the G20 heads of state and government summit in Buenos Aires, President Donald Trump will hold separate summits with the Presidents of China and Russia. These two summits provide “the real chance to completely change the agenda and really solve the war danger, solve the danger of a financial crash and go for a completely new kind of paradigm,” Zepp-LaRouche declared.

“This is very important, because despite the fact that you have a complete escalation by the think tanks against China and all kinds of completely wrong accusations, there is actually hope that the discussions between the United States and China are coming back into motion with the orientation to solve the trade war through better means,” she elaborated.

The Schiller Institute, with the organizations it is working with internationally, and “everyone who has good intentions for humanity,” should mobilize so that this crucial opportunity in Buenos Aires “be used to address all the important issues: Like the danger of a financial crash, the various urgent development perspectives for Central and South America, for Africa, for the reconstruction of Southwest Asia. And it is my view that now that Trump has his back free, so to speak, that he can really go in the direction of a new diplomacy with Russia and China, which he emphasized many times during his rallies,” she said.

“If these three leaders, Trump, Putin, and Xi Jinping, would address the world problem, not just talk about the bilateral tensions between the United States and Russia and the United States and China, but basically say that now is the time to really move to a new paradigm and go for a development perspective so that all parts of the world can actually have a good future—what Xi Jinping always calls ‘the shared destiny for the future of humanity’—this would really change the situation. And looking at mankind not from the present status quo of geopolitical tensions, but thinking in terms of humanity from the standpoint of where do we want and where must mankind be 100 years from now.

“This will be a period where, if things go the right way, we will have a breakthrough in thermonuclear fusion. We will be able to use it commercially, and that way we will have energy security and raw materials security, because you can, through the fusion torch method, take all waste, separate it into isotopes, and create new raw materials. And by that time, we will already have the first step in the direction of villages on the Moon, international cooperation in space, and humanity growing up and becoming an adult species, based on the creativity of the nature of mankind.

“Now, if that spirit of the joint future would inspire these three Presidents, then they would have the inspiration—and backing from the whole world, because all the nations of the world need these three leaders to cooperate and provide a vision. And that way you could outflank the opposition in each country—the neo-con faction in the United States; the anti-American faction in Russia, which I think does exist; even hardliners in China.  And you could move the whole world into a completely new paradigm.

“And I would call all of you, our listeners and viewers, that you help us in this mobilization,” she stressed again. “Because this is a period where you need cooperation among the large powers, especially the Four Powers of United States, Russia, China, India; and then other countries should be joining them, to implement a New Bretton Woods system and to move away from monetarist system to a credit system, and have international cooperation based on a win-win cooperation of everybody. This is not a utopian goal at all, but this is the absolutely necessary next step of humanity if we are to avoid a catastrophe.  And that catastrophe is in a certain sense, diminished, or the potential for the catastrophe is diminished because of this election result, but the danger is by far not over.”

Zepp-LaRouche continued that she is “carefully optimistic”—provided people do not stand on the sidelines, passively watching. To spur their will to mobilize, Zepp-LaRouche urged people to read President Xi Jinping’s keynote at the opening of the China International Import Expo for themselves. The substance of the speech “reminds you of the approach my husband [Lyndon LaRouche] is taking, that the only source of wealth is the creativity of the human being leading to scientific and technological progress, which then is applied in the production process, leading to an increase in productivity, better living standards, and longer longevity,” she said.

“Read it yourself, because you will see that this is absolutely coherent spirit which is really the New Silk Road Spirit, and people in the West just don’t know it,” she urged. https://www.ciie.org/zbh/news1/20181106/7742.html

THE NEW GLOBAL ECONOMIC ORDER

Ibero-American Leaders at CIIE Find Xi Jinping Offers Crucial Strategic Orientation

Nov. 8 (EIRNS)—Many Ibero-American business and political leaders attending the Nov. 5-10 China International Import Expo (CIIE) in Shanghai have described President Xi Jinping’s keynote speech as strategically important, because, as Uruguay’s Foreign Minister Rodolfo Nin Novoa told Xinhua, it lays the groundwork for “a new international order.” Several also referenced the Belt and Road Initiative as a means to create that new order.

President Xi’s speech, Nin Novoa explained, “gave clear, precise and strategic orientation for the development of trade.” Uruguay shares Xi’s ideas, “including more openness toward the rest of the world, free trade and transparency, that is, a new international order,” whose purpose is “to create a climate of international concordance among nations.”

In his Nov. 5 speech to the CIIE, Dominican President Danilo Medina effusively thanked Xi Jinping for inviting him to the CIIE, describing it as “a superb venue,” not only to learn about the import needs of the Chinese economy, but to also to learn “about the dozens of countries present here, from five continents.” China today, he said, has become the reference point for “open trade, for that cooperation and connectivity among nations, which has as a visible example the process of reform and opening-up, and … the important Belt and Road Initiative.”

Panamanian President Juan Carlos Varela told the Spanish news agency EFE Nov. 7 that “we want to send a clear message of support to what Xi Jinping expressed, that there are sufficient resources for everyone to live a dignified life.” One of Panama’s two pavillions at the Expo was entitled “The Big Connection,” emphasizing, as Varela explained it, Panama’s role as “a bridge among the peoples of Asia, China and the Americas.”

At a meeting held on the sidelines of the CIIE, of the Seventh Mexico-China High-Level Business Group (GANE), Paulo Carreño, director of the government’s “ProMéxico” foreign trade agency, discussed how both nations had cooperated in such areas as infrastructure, manufacturing and finances, and assured his Chinese hosts that the Mexican government “will participate actively in building the Belt and Road,” Xinhua reported.

South Korea Proposes Three-Way Economic Cooperation with Russia and North Korea

Nov. 8 (EIRNS)—Addressing the First Russian-Korean Summit on Inter-Regional Cooperation that was held today in Pohang, South Korea, host President Moon Jae-in said “the Republic of Korea will work to create a basis for trilateral economic cooperation with Russia and North Korea,” TASS reported. “Today is the historic day when the first move in this direction was made. It will become a turning point in the development of comprehensive cooperation between the regional and central governments of Russia and Korea.”

The President stressed, “The government will lay a stable foundation for economic cooperation in the triangle South Korea-North Korea-Russia. It will help establish peace on the whole Korean Peninsula.” He also said that North Gyeongsang Province will become a key region in trade relations with South Korea’s northern partners. He also thanked Russian President Vladimir Putin for “unfailing strong support for the movement toward peace on the Korean Peninsula,” TASS wrote.

The Russian-Korean Summit on Inter-Regional Cooperation involves representatives of nine entities from Russia’s Far Eastern Federal District and 17 regions of the Republic of Korea. At the forum, representatives of regional governments, experts and businessmen are discussing prospects for the development of bilateral economic cooperation.

Despite Sanctions, Seoul Moves Ahead To Upgrade North Korea’s Rail and Road Infrastructure

Nov. 8 (EIRNS)—South Korea’s Unification Minister Cho Myoung-gyon said South Korea has earmarked 295.1 billion won ($264 million) to build new railways and roads in North Korea, AFP reported, over half given freely and the rest in loans. “We will continue efforts, including policy coordination with the U.S., to carry out the projects agreed between the two Koreas without a hitch,” he said.

Seoul plans to restore a 500-mile train route that runs from Mount Kumgang to Rajin-Sonbong on North Korea’s eastern coast, and a 270-mile railroad that connects the southern city of Kaesong to the northern city of Sinuiju, on the border with China. “Inter-Korean railway cooperation has been approached from the existing railroads, due to the need to take advantage of the existing railbed,” said Cho said, during a session of the National Assembly Foreign Affairs and Unification Committee, according to Yonhap. “The two Koreas have yet to discuss the number of lanes and the speed of trains in the cooperation project,” he also said.

New Delhi Proposes To Japan for India To Manufacture Shinkansen Coaches

Nov. 8 (EIRNS)—India has proposed to Japan that India manufacture coaches for Japan’s signature high-speed Shinkansen, known as the bullet train, PTI reported. India is building the country’s first high-speed rail corridor to run the 508 km between Mumbai and Ahmedabad, which is expected to be operational by 2022. Initially, India will buy 18 such Shinkansen trains from Japan for Rs.70 billion.

“We have proposed to the Japanese side that they help us with the technology to make the bullet train coaches locally. Once we do that, we can build the coaches at a much lower cost. In fact they would be the cheapest in the world,” Rajesh Agarwal, Member, Rolling Stock, Railway Board, said on the sidelines of a conference in Fukuoka, Japan. “Then we can take them across the world. Many countries would rather buy it from us rather than China. Be it countries in Southeast Asia, even Europe and the U.S.A.,” he said. Japan’s Ambassador to India Kenji Hiramatsu said discussions on the proposal are taking place:  “I believe it’s best to manufacture locally, and we are seriously thinking about it.”

The cornerstone of Indian Premier Narendra Modi’s strategic dialogue with Japan’s Premier Shinzo Abe is to persuade Japan’s technologically-advanced heavy manufacturers to set up shop in India for joint production for local and third-country use. That also includes defense-related equipment.

Hungary Wants To Become Hub for Rail Freight from Russia and China

Nov. 8 (EIRNS)—While Slovakia is gaining momentum on the New Silk Road, Hungary still has work to do before it can reap the benefits of its geographic location. The relevant infrastructure is limited to the area of greater Budapest, and the facilities are not up to date. Yet Hungary is to be connected on two international lines that will reshuffle the cards, explained Gyuri Firbás, a logistics consultant to the government. “We will be connected through the Budapest-Belgrade line, which will form an extension to the Greek ports of Piraeus and Thessaloniki, and to eastern Poland, where we will connect to the traditional route through Belarus and Russia. We are focusing on the flow of traffic moving from the southeast to the northwest, and from the southwest to the northeast.”

The Budapest-Belgrade rail line will run 336 km between the the Hungarian and Serbian capitals. It is to serve traffic flowing through the port of Piraeus, which was acquired in recent years by the Chinese company COSCO. The Chinese government plans to boost the Greek port as a maritime gateway into Europe. Although many have seen the railway line as a solely Chinese project, Firbás stressed the benefits to Hungary. “We will not only be connected to the Greek ports of Piraeus and Thessaloniki. Once Montenegro has joined the EU, the port of Bar will be added to the network of European ports accessible to Hungary. The Bar-Belgrade railway connection is already there. Thus, as a landlocked country, we will be connected to the port of Koper (Slovenia), Bar, and the Greek ports.”

A new railway line between Budapest and Malaszewicze in eastern Poland is to enable the Hungarians to tap into the growing traffic flow between China and Poland, Firbás explained. “Right now, when traffic enters Europe at the Malaszewicze-Brest [Belarus] border, it is mostly forwarded to Germany or the Netherlands. With a railway connection via Kosice in Slovakia, we want to form a transit line to the Southern European countries such as Slovenia, Croatia and Northern Italy.”

STRATEGIC WAR DANGER

Saudis and Emirates Escalate Fighting in Yemen’s Port City of Hodeidah

Nov. 8 (EIRNS)—While the situation on the ground is difficult to determine with any precision, most news reports indicate that the Saudi-led forces assaulting Hodeidah have taken control of the main road to the port, and are within a few kilometers of the port facility itself. Most reports also indicate intense fighting all along the perimeter from the southern to the eastern sides of the city, with heavy casualties on both sides. Particularly under threat is Hodeidah’s main hospital, where the patients have become trapped by the fighting, and medics are crying for help. Al Masdar News reported yesterday that the U.A.E.-backed forces broke through the Houthis’ lines in southern Hodeidah, paving the way for their troops to enter the city for the first time.

The fighting in Hodeidah escalated dramatically after last week’s calls for an immediate ceasefire coming from the U.S. and the United Nations. According to the charity “Save the Children,” there have been more than 100 airstrikes in the last few days, five times more than during the entire first week of October. Pro-government militias are evidently trying to seize as much ground as possible before fighting is supposed to stop at the end of November, when it is hoped that UN-sponsored peace talks will resume in Sweden.

Thirty-five Yemeni and international NGOs signed a statement yesterday demanding an immediate cessation of the fighting because of the risk of widespread famine. “With 14 million men, women and children on the brink of famine—half the country’s population—there has never been a more urgent time to act,” the statement said, reports AFP. It called on governments to “secure an immediate cessation of hostilities” and “suspend the supply of arms at risk of being used in Yemen.”

UN Special Envoy Martin Griffiths is preparing for a new round of talks. “We remain committed to bringing the Yemeni parties to the negotiations table within a month. Dialogue remains the only path to reach an inclusive agreement,” he said yesterday.  Griffiths stressed in an interview with U.S.-financed Alhurra TV that he is working to overcome all obstacles to be able to call for a new round of consultations before the end of this year, and that the content of the next round of negotiations will include two key issues: discussing confidence-building measures and setting a framework for a possible solution to the conflict in Yemen. He also stressed support for the economy of Yemen, to include stabilizing the central bank of Yemen, as a fundamental contribution to improve the living conditions in Yemen, and to alleviate the humanitarian situation there.

The Schiller Institute has been circulating a detailed economic reconstruction program, prepared jointly with the Yemeni General Investment Authority (YGIA) and Swedhydro Consulting (Sweden), as a proposed basis for such peace negotiations. A summary review of the 86-page Arabic-language report, “Operation Felix: The Miracle of Yemen’s Reconstruction and Connection to the New Silk Road,” was published by EIR online in its June 29, 2018 issue.

U.S. POLITICAL AND ECONOMIC

CPC Foreign Affairs Leader Yang Jiechi in Washington Seeks an End to U.S.-China Friction

Nov. 8 (EIRNS)—Following his meeting with U.S. National Security Advisor John Bolton at the White House on Nov. 7, Yang Jiechi, director of the Office of Foreign Affairs of the Communist Party of China and a Politburo member, said China and the United States must work for a solution to end their trade frictions and to ensure the expected meeting between their Presidents late this month yields results, South China Morning Post reported. Yang is in the U.S. for Second U.S.-China Security and Diplomatic talks that start on Nov. 9, and will also be attended by U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, U.S. Defense Secretary James Mattis and Chinese Defense Minister Wei Fenghe.

In his meeting with Bolton, Yang said “The nature of the China-U.S. trade relationship is mutually beneficial. Both sides have to work out an acceptable solution through negotiations on an equal and mutually beneficial basis,” SCMP quoted him as saying.

“China and the United States should also step up military communications and cooperation against terrorism,” he said. Yang described Taiwan as the most important and sensitive issue of China-U.S. relations, and stated that Washington should abide by the one-China principle.

U.S. Sanctions To Hit Iranian Shipping

Nov. 8 (EIRNS)—Brian Hook, State Department Special Representative for Iran and head of the Iran Action Group, appeared in the State Department briefing room yesterday to stress to reporters that the U.S. was acting to prevent Iranian tankers and other commercial vessels from being able to get insurance. “Now that our sanctions on the Iranian regime have been reimposed, we want to alert nations of the risk of doing business with Iran’s shipping sector,” he said. Hook said that sanctions are being imposed on the provision of underwriting services, insurance and re-insurance on Iranian shipping, with particular attention to Iranian oil tankers. “Knowingly providing these services to sanctioned Iranian shipping companies will result in the imposition of U.S. sanctions,” Hook said. He declared that now all Iranian oil tankers are a floating liability, even if the Iranians, as expected, resort to self-insurance. “Countries, ports, and canal operators, and private firms should know they will be likely responsible for the costs of an accident involving a self-insured Iranian tanker.”

No one, judging from the State Department transcript, asked Hook what right does the U.S. have to take measures to strangle the lifeblood of another sovereign nation, even if it disagrees with their policies, and to threaten third parties with sanctions if they try to act contrary to U.S. intentions.

Just before Hook spoke, President Donald Trump had explained, during his post-election press conference, that the reason his administration was allowing some waivers of the sanctions on Iranian oil imports was to keep the price of oil from skyrocketing up over $100 per barrel, but he vowed that the sanctions will get tougher as time goes on.

Kesha Rogers Tells Campaign Supporters, ‘On to Our Greater Campaign, and Into Space!’

Nov. 8 (EIRNS)—LaRouche PAC-endorsed Independent candidate for Congress in Houston, Texas 9th CD Kesha Rogers, who ran against the “Impeacho-crat” Rep. Al “Greedy” Green, sent out the following inspiring call to arms to her supporters today:

“First, I want to thank all of you who supported me in this election.  As you probably know, $110 million was poured into the [Senate] race between Beto [Democrat Rep. O’Rourke] and Ted Cruz, and turning people away from that spectacle to a campaign built on actual ideas proved difficult. But, those of you who did that and voted for me, already have qualified yourselves as very special people and I am ready to build a movement with you, based on the ideas we put forward in my campaign. I will continue to partner and work with the people and organizations I encountered during the campaign, who know that the ideas I was presenting are real, and were not some typical political gimmick timed for one election. Unlike most candidates, I believe that real history is made by those who create and champion profound ideas—pioneers for the future—not the money changers who want to trap us in their mundane present.

“I learned a lot from campaigning in this District about real poverty and the loss of hope and pessimism about change which accompanies it.  I chose this District, in part because of the corrupt grandstanding of Al Green, but also because of my passionate commitment to ending poverty rather than managing it. I believe that accomplishing this great task requires a level of political and cultural education and discussion like that created by those who made the American Revolution. I intend to take this challenge and create and pursue this type of discussion now in meetings, forums, and communications directed toward the 9th District.

“Reflecting on the midterms, President Trump yesterday, presented the Democratic control of the House as an opportunity for solving the very real problems which haunt most in our population now—the problems we know are primarily economic. In this changed national environment, which we must insist upon, we can actually shift this nation to the exciting future of space exploration, great development projects here and nationally, and educating genius—the bread and butter issues of my campaign. I hope you will join me in this greater campaign. To borrow a thought from Neil Armstrong when he first stepped on the Moon, I hope you will see your support of me in this election as one small step in our nation’s history but a giant leap for mankind.

“…Now, let’s continue and expand this fight,” she urged.

COLLAPSING WESTERN POLITICAL SYSTEM

Frankfurt Chamber of Industry Entering Post-Merkel Era, Sees Need for Substantial Change

Nov. 8 (EIRNS)—At the “Mittelstand Day” of the Frankfurt Chamber of Industry and Commerce (IHK) yesterday, Vice President Karen Hoyndorf said that October’s state parliament elections in Bavaria and Hesse sent the message that German voters do not want “more of the same” government policies, but want to see substantial changes. Voters are discontented with the inaction of the established political parties. Politicians still have a lot to deliver to meet longstanding demands from the Mittelstand—Germany’s high-productivity small and medium enterprises—the IHK official said.

In private discussions at the event, which drew some 600 people, including many consultants, EIR also met a lot of frustration with the private banks, which reject making loans to most new projects by Mittelstand companies, on grounds that the concept “may look interesting but will not pay.” At a workshop on new options for Mittelstand financing, two speakers voiced heavy criticism of the banks’ restrictive attitude, which they practice with the backing of Germany’s financial market regulator BaFin, whose rules make bank financing for Mittelstand  firms virtually impossible. The collateral requirements are such that most companies cannot qualify for any bank loans!

Particularly short-term loans to pre-finance the fulfillment of signed contracts, to buy materials for production and the like, are not available from the private banking sector. The top bankers are a big problem, more than bankers in the lower echelons, but political decisions to change things are indispensable, too. Numerous of those whom EIR spoke to at the event, including two top active bankers and a former banker who worked at Deutsche Bank under its industrialist chairman, Alfred Herrhausen who was assassinated in November 1989, showed interest in the Glass-Steagall bank separation principle.

SCIENCE AND INFRASTRUCTURE

Nuclear Power Is Growing Only Because of China and India’s Programs

Nov. 8 (EIRNS)—According to the World Nuclear Industry Status Report 2018, China and India are leading the world’s nuclear power production growth, as the two developing nations, among the top consumers of energy in the world, pursue their respective national nuclear energy programs, CNBC reported today. According to the International Energy Agency, world nuclear power production will grow by about 46% by 2040, and more than 90% of the net increase will come from China and India. (In its upcoming Nov. 16 issue,  EIR will show that nuclear production must grow much more than that to achieve the power required for global economic development.)

The survival of nuclear power is now in the hands of China, India, and Russia, while the developed nations, including Japan and South Korea, have slowed down generation of nuclear power significantly. The United States, by far the leading nation in implementing this front-line power technology in the 1960s through 1980s, last licensed a plant in 1979, and is no longer capable of manufacturing the third generation light water reactors that are being built elsewhere.

Even in China and India, their nuclear power plants are not the mainstay of power generation. Nuclear’s contribution to their overall power generation capacity is very small. In essence, it supplements the power sector, and, in the case of China, is also intended to replace many of their polluting coal-fired power plants over the coming decades.