EDITORIAL

Historic Phase Change Can Begin This Weekend

Nov. 28 (EIRNS)—The stage has been set for an historic transformation in the coming days and weeks, be it for a descent into financial chaos and war, or the exact opposite, the initiation of a new paradigm bringing the nations of the world together in a commitment to the common aims of mankind.

The British and their assets in the United States, centered in the Atlantic Council, are beating the war drums, falsely declaring that the Russians have carried out an act of war by detaining the Ukrainian warships which intentionally breached treaty agreements by entering Russian sovereign territory, secretly, and refusing to respond to demands from Russian border police. They were just a short distance from the newly constructed Kerch Bridge connecting the Russian mainland to Crimea. Several leading figures in Ukraine have called for bombing the bridge, and the British-born and -educated Tom Rogan headlined an article in the Washington Examiner last May 15: “Ukraine Should Blow Up Putin’s Crimea Bridge.” Ukraine President Petro Poroshenko has declared martial law in part of the country, allowing the government to commandeer workforces, conscript people into the military, mobilize military forces, conduct warrantless search and seizures, impose control over the media, and more.

President Vladimir Putin said of the incident: “It was organized by the President [Poroshenko] ahead of the elections” in Ukraine which are scheduled for March 31, 2019. Putin noted that Poroshenko “is in fifth place, ratings-wise, and therefore had to do something. It was used as a pretext to introduce martial law.”

The danger is that the crisis could be intentionally escalated for the purpose of provoking a war. The timing is obvious, as President Putin is scheduled to meet with President Donald Trump just three days from now in Argentina, and the British are frantic to sabotage this “danger to the Empire,” which a Trump-Putin agreement represents.

The Trump-Putin meeting has been carefully planned to fall after the midterm elections in the U.S., in which President Trump successfully mobilized the American people to place the Senate firmly in the hands of the President’s supporters, assuring the failure of any impeachment attempt by the new McCarthyites. On Tuesday, Nov. 27, a run-off election for the last open Senate seat in the country was won by the Republican candidate in Mississippi, Cindy Hyde-Smith, after Trump held two of his now-famous mass rallies in the state on Monday night.

Now, Trump is heading to Buenos Aires for the Nov. 30-Dec. 1 G20 summit, where he will hold separate meetings with President Putin, President Xi Jinping, South Korean President Moon Jae-in, Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, and others. These leaders represent the nations which can, and must, unite behind the urgent necessity of addressing the massive financial bubble now beginning to explode across the Western world. Returning to the Bretton Woods structure established by Franklin Roosevelt, ending the control over the Western banking system by the speculative vulture funds, reversing the deindustrialization being imposed by the green fanatics who have seized power in most of the Western nations, and launching global cooperation in driving ahead at the frontier of human knowledge through fusion power development and space exploration—all this is possible, and necessary, at this pregnant moment in history. The time is now for the LaRouche “Four Laws,” and for the U.S. and the European nations to take their appropriate places as leading forces in the New Silk Road, conceived by Lyndon and Helga LaRouche, and unleashed under the leadership of China’s Xi Jinping.

President Trump has repeatedly insisted that having good relations with Russia is “a good thing, not a bad thing,” while for the past two weeks he and his leading economic advisor Larry Kudlow have been insisting that a deal with China to end the trade conflict, and putting relations back on track, is a highly possible outcome of the Nov. 30 Trump-Xi meeting. Both sides are reporting that serious and productive negotiations are taking place at multiple levels, and that both sides want to reach an agreement.

The Mueller witch hunt stands exposed and nearly destroyed, although Mueller is certain to do everything in his power, in service to Britain’s Secret Intelligence Service, MI6, to destroy the President of the United States. The exposure of the “Integrity Initiative” this past week, despite the near total black out in the western press, has demonstrated the role of the British in driving for war with Russia and China, while orchestrating the fraudulent Russiagate coup attempt against Trump.

The time is ripe for a new paradigm, if the patriots of all nations can at the same time act as citizens of the world, as the Poet of Freedom Friedrich Schiller espoused.  Or, as Helga Zepp-LaRouche has often said: “Nun kommt die Schillerzeit”—“Now is the time for the Schiller epoch!”

U.S. POLITICAL AND ECONOMIC

Kremlin Presents Trump-Putin Agenda in Buenos Aires

Nov. 28 (EIRNS)—Kremlin aide Yuri Ushakov today presented media the agenda for the planned meeting between Presidents Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin in Buenos Aires on Dec. 1. He said that despite some negative signals from Washington, “this meeting is equally important for both sides. It is certainly vital from the viewpoint of further developments in the world.”

As TASS reported, Ushakov said:

“On December 1, Saturday, this day will begin with a morning breakfast with Merkel and then bilateral [meetings], including talks with Trump. I cannot confirm now that the sides have agreed on the place and time of holding this meeting.”

He said that the meeting has been prepared with “the use of ordinary communications channels between the two administrations. That’s why if any additional considerations in this context emerge, we think that we will be informed about these considerations through the above-mentioned channels, rather than mass media.”

On the format, he said that this will be a one-on-one meeting, and then key members of both delegations will join the dialogue. “The talks, its content and duration fully depend on the leaders, they will choose the key issues for discussion. As for us, we consider that the talks in Buenos Aires will be a follow-up to the Helsinki talks.”

Regarding the agenda, Ushakov told reporters: “First, this is certainly, the issues of ensuring strategic stability and disarmament dossier,” stressing that this aspect is vital given the U.S. plans to withdraw from the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces (INF) Treaty. According to Ushakov, “It’s of vital importance not to allow disturbing the balance of international security and the uncontrolled and senseless arms race. We believe that in a situation when the Americans have withdrawn from the Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty, and signals that they will stop their participation in the INF Treaty, certainly, it is very important to discuss together the options of a renewed system of ensuring international security.”

The Russian and U.S. leaders may also discuss regional governance and anti-terrorism, he said. “We are sure that the Presidents will hash over the Syrian conflict, the Iranian nuclear program, the Korean issue,” he said, not ruling out that the Kerch Strait incident may be also discussed.

The third issue on the agenda will be the bilateral relationship, and “what both sides need to do to lead these relations out of the deadlock and start looking for ways to normalize them…. But the Presidents will use the time as they like and the duration of the talks depends on its nature.”

Britain’s Guardian ‘Corrects’ Its Lying on Alleged London Meetings between Manafort and Assange

Nov. 28 (EIRNS)—After publishing a “confirmed” story yesterday that former Trump campaign manager Paul Manafort and some unnamed “Russians” had met with WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange three times at Ecuador’s London Embassy, the Guardian had to briefly pull the article and then repost it with corrections. As journalist Max Blumenthal put it, the Guardian has become “a bulletin board for fabricated national security state propaganda.” The article’s co-author, Luke Harding, whose book is titled Collusion: How Russia Helped Trump Win the White House, is a known asset of British intelligence.

Initially, the Guardian story cited “two sources” plus a document from Ecuador’s National Intelligence Secretariat, Senain, as proof that the alleged meetings took place. A bit later, after fierce denials from both Manafort and Assange, and threats to file a libel suit against the daily, the Guardian amended the story to remove the “two sources” claim, and otherwise water down the language referring to the alleged meetings, RT reported.

There is significant skepticism about the Guardian’s story in any case. Investigative reporter Glenn Greenwald tweeted that while he hopes the original story turns out to be true, because the Guardian is such “an important” paper, the “skepticism over this story is very widespread, including among Assange’s most devoted haters, because it’s so sketchy. If Manafort were there, there’s video. Let’s see it.”

Blumenthal asked why Guardian reporter Luke Harding didn’t provide evidence from the Embassy’s visitor log? Or, “why not show CCTV? London is the most heavily surveilled place on Earth. Why not show that?” Blumenthal argues that the whole thing is simply an attempt to lay the basis for arrest and extradition of Assange. Former British diplomat and whistleblower Craig Murray points out that Harding is a mouthpiece for MI6. He also states that security at the Ecuadorean Embassy in London is very tight, and that no one is admitted without signing the visitor log, handing over passports, etc. There is absolutely no indication in the visitor logs, which Quito handed over to Special Counsel Robert Mueller, of any visits by Manafort or the “Russians.”

U.S. and Mexico To Debate Solutions to Immigration Crisis

Nov. 28 (EIRNS)—There is a flurry of diplomatic activity taking place around the issue of how to resolve the terrible crisis of Central American migration, which has created an untenable situation for Mexico, and a crisis on the U.S.-Mexican border.

On Dec. 2, one day after Andrés Manuel López Obrador, or AMLO, is sworn in as Mexico’s President, U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo will be in Mexico City to meet with the new Mexican Foreign Minister Marcelo Ebrard to discuss the matter.

According to Reuters, Pompeo is confident he is close to getting an agreement from the AMLO government, whereby Mexico would set up processing centers in the country, and Central American immigrants would wait there while their asylum requests for the U.S. were processed. There is not universal agreement inside Mexico on this proposal, however.

Another proposal that has been raised is the idea of a Marshall Plan to ensure the development of Mexico—especially its southern region—and the three “Northern Triangle” countries of Central America, El Salvador, Honduras, and Guatemala. According to several media outlets, Ebrard wants to enlist Canada and the U.S. in a Marshall Plan which would require a $20 billion investment in southern Mexico, and another $20 billion for the three Central American nations. Reuters reports that members of AMLO’s transition team, led by Ebrard, have been discussing this with U.S. officials and it will be addressed further at the Dec. 2 meeting with Pompeo. Ebrard has said that while a regional development program may not be exactly like the Marshall Plan, it will be similar in terms of the magnitude of the effort required to address the region’s problems.

Also on Dec. 1 in Mexico City, the heads of state of the three Northern Triangle nations, together with López Obrador, will officially sign a Plan for the Comprehensive Development of Central America, elaborated at a Nov. 23 meeting of these nations’ foreign ministers in Guatemala, to address the causes of and solutions to the wrenching poverty and violence that afflicts the region and compels people to emigrate.

According to El Diario de Coahuila, this document will also be presented on Dec. 10-11 at the Intergovernmental Conference on the Global Compact for Migration in Marrakesh, Morocco, held under the auspices of the UN General Assembly. The plan is officially backed by the UN’s Economic Commission on Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC), whose director Alicia Barcena attended the Nov. 23 meeting in Guatemala.

STRATEGIC WAR DANGER

FSB Reports on Weapons and Documents Seized from Ukrainian Warships in Russian Waters

Nov. 28 (EIRNS)—The FSB, the Russian security service, made public the list of weapons it had seized from the three Ukrainian Naval vessels that were taken into custody following the Nov. 25 incident in the Kerch Strait. These included small arms, and weapons up to 30 mm caliber, along with grenades and munitions.

“Despite the measures taken by the Russian side, the Ukrainian Navy ships were put on combat alert, with covers removed from the artillery systems and barrels being raised to an angle of 45° and pointed at the Russian ships and boats (violation of article 19 of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea of 1982, part 2 of article 11 of Russia’s federal law on internal waters, territorial sea and adjacent areas of July 31, 1998),” the FSB said, TASS reported yesterday. “The Russia side warned the Ukrainian ships that a threat of the use of weapons in the Russian territorial waters will be considered as violation of norms of international law and Russia’s legislation.”

The FSB investigators also found a document that sets the task for the senior officer of the ships’ group to sail from Odessa to Berdyansk “secretly,” with “key attention focused on ensuring the secrecy during approaching and passing through the Kerch Strait,” the FSB said. Apart from that, a handwritten memo of Russia’s rules of navigation via the Kerch Strait was found onboard the same ship. “It means that the Ukrainian seamen were fully aware of the strait passage procedures,” it stressed.

As for the Ukrainian sailors, the Russian authorities appear determined to go ahead with prosecution. The court in Simferopol, Crimea, has imposed two-month pre-trial detention on all 24 of them. Three of the sailors were shown on Russian TV yesterday reportedly confessing they were under orders to provoke the naval fracas with Russian warships off the coast of Crimea on Nov. 25.

The Kiev regime has taken the position that the Russian authorities have put the sailors under psychological duress and is demanding that Russia stop using “psychological and physical pressure” on them.

Ambassador to U.S. Cui: China Is ‘Reeducating’ Uighur Terrorists, Not Killing Them with Drones

Nov. 28 (EIRNS)—In an interview with Reuters published today, China’s Ambassador to the U.S. Cui Tiankai warned that should the United States attempt to impose Magnitsky Act sanctions on Chinese officials in Xinjiang province, for allegedly violating the human rights of the Uighurs, China will “have to retaliate.”

Cui pointed to a “double standard” in the West’s treatment of this issue, and equated China’s efforts to combat international terrorism, with the U.S.’s battle against the ISIS in Syria or Iraq. “Can you imagine,” he asked, “if some American officials in charge of the fight against ISIS would be sanctioned?”

The ambassador declared that while the U.S. uses missiles and drones to kill terrorists, in Xinjiang “we are trying to reeducate most of them, trying to turn them into normal persons [who] can go back to a normal life.” If the U.S. tries to apply the Magnitsky Act, targetting companies and officials in Xinjiang, including Xinjiang Party Secretary Chen Quanguo, Cui said, China will retaliate, although “we will do everything in proportion.”

London-Owned Atlantic Council Demands War on Russia for Ukraine Provocation in Kerch Strait

Nov. 28 (EIRNS)—In the aftermath of the incident in the Kerch Strait, leading associates of the Atlantic Council, the U.S. appendage of British intelligence’s Integrity Initiative and a rabid proponent of showdown with Russia, began to foam at the mouth, demanding immediate escalation of confrontation with Russia, cut off its imports and exports, deployment of NATO troops, additional sanctions—everything short of actual war, although certainly they don’t rule that out either.

On Nov. 26, the Atlantic Council (AC) posted the response to a questionnaire by Melinda Haring, editor of the UkraineAlert blog at the AC and a fellow at the Foreign Policy Research Institute, under the headline, “Russia Attacks Ukraine Again. How Should Ukraine, NATO, and the West Respond?” Proposals from the AC’s stable of experts included the following:

Anders Aslund, AC senior fellow: “NATO and the United States should send Naval ships into the Black Sea into the neighborhood of the Sea of Azov to guarantee that it stays open to international shipping.”

Taras Berezovets, Ukrainian Institute of the Future, Founder and CEO of Free Crimea: The West should shut down Russian access to the interbank clearing system SWIFT, “slap on oil embargoes against the Russian Federation, and enlarge military assistance to Ukraine.”

Peter Dickinson, AC non-resident fellow; publisher Business Ukraine magazine: Send a “multinational naval task force to pass through the Kerch Strait without delay and dock at Mariupol,” Ukraine. “This would test Moscow’s resolve and expose the limitations of Russian bullying.”

Adrian Karatnycky, AC senior fellow and original Lebed Kindergarten member from the Allen Dulles period: “NATO, the United States, and the West should respond with a ratcheting up of sanctions, creating a much larger naval presence in the Black Sea, and increasing lethal military assistance to Ukraine. Increased sanctions are also called for.”

In contrast to such war-mongering, the military analyst Lyle Goldstein of the U.S. Naval War College wrote last month in The National Interest that responsible leaders had better beware of a “showdown in the Sea of Azov,” because “this Russia conflict scenario would make operations in Syria look like a round of croquet.” He suggested that the growing tension around the Sea of Azov was related to “Trump’s myriad hawkish advisors, [who] have … thwarted the President’s attempt to improve relations with the Kremlin.” Goldstein warned, that “conducting major NATO military drills along Russia’s sensitive borders and in highly unstable areas of the former Soviet Union is the opposite of wise restraint.”

Putin Charges Poroshenko Created Crimea Provocation To Boost His Chances in March Ukraine Election

Nov. 28 (EIRNS)—Russian President Vladimir Putin charged that Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko launched the Naval provocation in the Kerch Strait to boost his bid for reelection in March 2019, which is otherwise in trouble.  “As for the Black Sea incident, certainly, this is a provocation. The provocation carried out by the current authorities, and I think by the incumbent President ahead of the Presidential election in Ukraine in March next year. The incumbent President’s rating is somewhere at the fifth place, and he is running the risk of not making it into the second round, that’s why something needs to be done to exacerbate this situation and create invincible obstacles for his rivals, namely from the opposition,” Putin said. The President was speaking today at the “Russia Calling! Investment Forum” hosted by VTB Capital, reported TASS.

On Nov. 26 the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) urged Russia and Ukraine to refrain from “any further provocations” and engage in dialogue to reduce tensions after the Nov. 25 standoff near Crimea.  OSCE Secretary General Thomas Greminger urged Moscow and Kiev “to exercise restraint, step back from any further provocations and immediately engage in dialogue to reduce the risk of further tensions in the region.”

German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas said Berlin has “called on Russia and Ukraine to show the greatest possible restraint, and offered to work on a solution in the Normandy Format,” comprised of Russia, Ukraine, France and Germany.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan urged Russia and Ukraine to resolve their dispute through dialogue, saying Turkey wants the Black Sea, which it also borders, to become a “sea of peace.”

Germany’s Die Welt daily reported that Germany and France do not consider it necessary to tighten EU sanctions against Russia over the incident.

ECONOMY

President Trump Excoriates Interest Rate Policy of Federal Reserve Chairman Powell

Nov. 28 (EIRNS)—In his Nov. 27 interview with the Washington Post, President Donald Trump had nothing good to say about Federal Reserve System Chairman Jerome Powell, expressing regret that he chose him for the post, even claiming that the Fed is “a much bigger problem than China.”

“I’m not at all happy with my choice” of Powell, Trump said. “I’m not being accommodated by the Fed … they’re making a mistake.” He blamed the Fed’s interest rate increases for declines in the stock market and slower growth.

In a speech today before the New York Economic Club, which apparently pleased “the markets”—the Dow shot up by 600 points—Powell claimed that interest rates were still low “by historical standards, and they remain just below the broad range of estimates of the level that would be neutral for the economy—that is neither speeding up nor slowing down growth.”

Many analysts pointed out that this remark was quite different from Powell’s statement in October, in which he said that interest rates were “a long way from neutral,” a remark some economists charged had triggered a stock selloff.

All of this discussion misses the fundamental point of what is happening with the physical economy of the United States, not the stock market gyrations which mean absolutely nothing. Trump is unfortunately still convinced that an increasing stock market is a sign of economic health.

Russian President Warns, Washington’s Sanctions Policy Is Undermining the U.S. Dollar

Nov. 28 (EIRNS)—Speaking at the “Russia Calling! Investment Forum” today, Russian President Vladimir Putin warned the U.S. that it is undermining the role of the U.S. dollar in the world through the misguided sanctions policy. Putin said, “We are not aiming to abandon the dollar, it’s the dollar that is abandoning us, and those who take these respective [sanctions] decisions are shooting themselves—not even in the foot, but a bit higher—because such instability in dollar calculations fuels the desire of many global economies to find alternative reserve currencies and create settlement systems independent of the dollar.”

He further declared that assets in dollars even held by the biggest holders are shrinking. “What advice can be offered here?” he asked. “To abandon this policy and seek common ground. We are ready for that, we want that. I said this more than once. I hope that, if we can talk with the U.S. President in Argentina, we will discuss that too.”

THE NEW GLOBAL ECONOMIC ORDER

Spain Steps Up Participation in Belt and Road with Xi Jinping’s Visit

Nov. 28 (EIRNS)—Despite the dictates of Brussels and London, the great, planet-transforming Belt and Road Initiative shaped the overall advance in Spanish-Chinese relations achieved with President Xi Jinping’s Nov. 27-29 visit to Spain. Spain decided to not sign a bilateral Memorandum of Understanding with China for cooperation in the Belt and Road Initiative, out of fear of acting aside of the European Union; however, the opening section of the Joint Communiqué signed today by President Xi Jinping and Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez on strengthening the Comprehensive Strategic Partnership between the two countries includes that statement, in Point Four, that:

“Both parties believe that the Belt and Road Initiative is an important proposal in the framework of global cooperation, and recognize the potential of this connectivity platform to strengthen trade and cooperation in third-party markets.”

Eighteen individual agreements and memoranda of understanding were also signed, after Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez and Xi Jinping met midday. Eight were between government agencies of the two countries; ten between Chinese and Spanish multinational companies. Besides agreements opening up trade in specific products and expanding important cultural exchanges, the focus was on fostering the participation of Spanish companies in the Belt and Road. An agreement was signed between the governments to develop a framework for cooperation in third-party markets in Africa, Ibero-America, and Asia. A new Chinese-Spanish Business Council, made up of 15 companies of each country, co-chaired by Chinese and Spanish businessmen, has been established, holding its first meeting today, with Sánchez and Xi presiding.  Spain’s Minister of Industry María Reyes Maroto emphasized that since China is “a priority country” for Spanish trade policy, the government will extend a hand to Spanish companies, “to reinforce and energize trade ties between both countries.”

One key accord signed today was a Memorandum of Understanding between the Port Authority of Algeciras, Spain’s closest port to Africa on the Strait of Gibraltar, and China’s Ningbo Zhoushan Port Group, to build up their role as related global logistics hubs. Of equal significance was the agreement, signed two weeks earlier, between Spain’s state rail companies, Adif and Renfe, and China Railway Corp. Instead of acting as competitors, the companies agreed to share their information and experience in rail development and management, especially in high-speed rail. The idea is “to strengthen bilateral collaboration … and explore alliances of mutual interest in third-party markets, such as Latin America and Asia,” a press release from Spain’s Development Ministry explained.

Even greater cooperation can develop. In his address to the Spanish Senate, President Xi reiterated his offer to Spain to fully join Belt and Road Initiative.

‘China Meets Europe’ Summit in Hamburg: Peace through Development

HAMBURG, Nov. 28 (EIRNS)—The “China Meets Europe” summit has just concluded in Hamburg, Germany, reports EIR’s correspondent here. The two-day deliberations on the cooperation between Europe and China featured keynote speeches by Chinese Vice Premier Liu He; German Minister of Transport Andreas Scheuer; First Eastern Investment Group CEO Victor Chu; Chairman of the Munich Security Conference Wolfgang Ischinger, and many others.

At the center of attention was always the astonishing rise of China during 40 years of reform and opening up, and the Belt and Road Initiative.

There were two outstanding presentations, one by Vice Premier Liu He, who addressed the closing dinner, and one by Hongkong-based businessman Victor Chu. Mr. Chu, who praised the Hongkong-Zhuhai-Macao Bridge-Tunnel which links nine major cities in the Pearl River Bay Delta as an economic miracle, said he would depart from his written text in order to convey the true meaning of the Belt and Road Initiative. The BRI’s potential is unimaginable, he said, in that it means peace through shared prosperity and cooperation. “We have a responsibility to respond to the needs of the next generation,” said Chu, born in Guangzhou on the Pearl River, and raised in Hongkong. The New Silk Road also has an enormous importance in philosophy, Chu explained. It is about mobility, connectivity between regions, enabling infrastructure, shared prosperity, stability and peace. China takes the lead, he said, but welcomes everybody to cooperate. Chu had just organized a BRI Forum in Hongkong, with 5,000 participants, mostly from the area’s small and medium-size enterprises (SMEs).

Vice Premier Liu He, a longtime economic advisor to President Xi Jinping, started his remarks by saying that during the Cultural Revolution he was hiding in a room in a traditional Hutong building in Beijing. During that time, he listened to Felix Mendelssohn’s Violin Concerto in E-minor and fell in love with the passion of Classical music. After that personal introduction, he laid out the successes of the reform policies of the recent 40 years, describing that there were well-educated, energetic young people now forming the engine of future growth, reform, and opening-up of China. Liu said the BRI-EU cooperation was mutually beneficial. He had just met with German Chancellor Angela Merkel, with Finance Minister Olaf Scholz, and Economics Minister Peter Altmaier, to implement a deepening of cooperation in manufacturing and in the BRI. Differences in socio-economic systems are not a problem if mutual respect persists, he stressed. He compared it to the fact there are as many as 2,000 genetic distinctions between any two individuals. There are no two equal human beings, he said, and the same is even more true for countries. There are 200 countries with 2,500 ethnic groups. Erasing differences will not work, because everyone has different paths of development suitable to their conditions. We should treat each other as equals, without ideological confrontation, and foster peace, Liu stated.

SCIENCE AND INFRASTRUCTURE

Japan Starting Construction of Fastest Maglev To Run between Tokyo and Nagoya

Nov. 28 (EIRNS)—Japan has launched the construction of what will be the world’s fastest maglev train, mostly underground, from Tokyo to Nagoya, aimed at completion in 2027.

Asahi Shimbun reports today as follows:

“Thirty-six meters wide, 83 meters deep. These are the dimensions of a vast vertical shaft created to start work on a tunnel for a train line from Tokyo to Nagoya—and running through it, the fastest Shinkansen in the world. Central Japan Railway Co. (JR Tokai), unveiled the deep shaft for the ambitious Linear Chuo Shinkansen project on Nov. 28, with plans to open the new line in 2027.

“High-speed trains using the magnetic levitation system will run at depths of more than 40 meters in certain urban areas and at blazing speeds of 500 kph.

“The vertical shaft has a 6-meter-thick concrete floor at the bottom and is about 1.5 kilometers from the starting station of Shinagawa in Tokyo’s Shinagawa Ward. A disassembled boring machine will be transported to the site and lowered down the shaft. Once assembled, it will be used to dig the main line’s tunnel toward Nagoya Station. After the start of train operations, the vertical shaft will allow for ventilation and provide emergency exits.”