EIR Daily Alert Service, MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 2, 2019

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MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 2, 2019

Volume 6, Number 173

EIR Daily Alert Service

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

  • The Punctum Saliens Is Upon Us-The LaRouche Time Is Now
  • Federal Government Announces Action Against Marijuana Use by Youth and Pregnant Women
  • Thunberg Joined Friday Climate Protest at UN, in Countdown to Sept. 20 Eco-Madness Week
  • Trump’s Call for Building Mental Health Facilities Spotlights Need to Expand Hospital System
  • U.S. Space Command Stands Up
  • IAEA Report on Iran’s ICPOA Compliance Shows Tehran Still Fully Cooperating With Agency
  • France’s Macron and Iran’s Rouhani Continue Intense Diplomacy
  • Extreme Violence and Subversion Returns to Hong Kong, as China Issues Warning
  • Argentina Imposes Emergency Exchange Controls, Seeks To Halt Run on Peso and Financial Chaos
  • U.S. Department of Energy Is All In on New Nuclear Energy
  • Seventh TICAD African Development Conference Brings Continent’s Leaders to Yokohama
  • ‘Ice Silk Road’ Brought First Batch of Arctic LNG to Tianjin Port in China
EDITORIALThe Punctum Saliens Is Upon Us—The LaRouche Time Is NowSept. 1 (EIRNS)—As we move into the month of September, the crises striking every part of the world, and every part of society, have created a condition like that described by Dickens in his novel on the era of the French Revolution: “It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of Light, it was the season of Darkness, it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair….”Bank of England Governor Mark Carney prepared for the inevitable financial crisis likely to explode in the fall by proposing the insane “solution” to his peers at the Jackson Hole meeting to dump the dollar and turn to the “libra” cryptocurrency being set in place by Facebook and the Lords of the dying Western financial system, while former New York Federal Reserve Bank President Bill Dudley joined the House of Lords in demanding that these same Lords do whatever necessary to stop a Trump re-election.New York, meanwhile, will be under siege in September by the UN climate quacks and their Jacobin street mobs, headed by the pathetic, abused child Greta Thunberg and the LSD-peddling Extinction Rebellion, demanding an end to human progress and the depopulation of the human race.Israel, meanwhile, is preparing for an invasion of Lebanon and possibly even Iran, while U.S./British-funded and trained Jacobins in Hong Kong are using mass violence and subversion to provoke a hoped-for military confrontation between the U.S. and China.And yet, the President of the United States openly opposes the Federal Reserve control over the U.S. economy and the WTO subversion of sovereignty; openly demands the end of British-inspired neo-colonial wars and seeks a pullout from those started by Bush and Obama; and openly rejects the fake science of the climate change fanatics. Why has he been unable to implement his intentions?Here is where the exoneration of Lyndon LaRouche is fundamental. LaRouche identified the evil and unconstitutional nature of the Federal Reserve as early as the 1950s, and denounced the WTO when it was founded in the 1990s as an attack on sovereignty and development; exposed the anti-science and anti-human Green Movement as it emerged from the eugenics movement after World War II; exposed the role of the British in using the U.S. as a “dumb giant” in fighting its colonial wars, starting with the Vietnam fiasco in Southeast Asia and continuing with the Bush-Obama wars in Southwest Asia.More importantly, LaRouche also posed the necessary solutions to these disasters—solutions which have thus far eluded President Donald Trump, either because he hasn’t fully grasped their urgency, or because he has been repeatedly and forcefully blocked in his efforts to implement them.The one area where Trump has been successful in reversing the subversion of American science and technology is in his Kennedy-esque declaration of a crash program to return to the Moon by 2024, and to prepare for colonization of the Moon and a mission to Mars. The LaRouchePAC petition (see “We Commit to the Moon-Mars Mission” on the LaRouchePAC Action Center page) calling for support for this mission, however, goes beyond Trump’s declaration, to pose the necessary measures for the mission to succeed: a crash program to develop fusion power propulsion to travel to Mars; bring all of the space-faring nations together to achieve both the space mission and the fusion effort; and “reform or eliminate the speculative and predatory aspects of the international financial system,” so as to have the necessary credit mechanisms needed for these projects.Cooperation among these space-faring nations is the seed-crystal for the LaRouche solution to the global crisis—together, the U.S., Russia, China, India, Japan, and those European layers still dedicated to scientific progress, cannot only achieve the “extraterrestrial imperative” of human development of the Solar System and beyond, but also represents the needed political force to end the tyranny of the British financial system and its Empire, bringing about a New Bretton Woods creditary system to build the world, as the Chinese Belt and Road has shown the way, while also saving the advanced sector nations from the depression and decay facing it today from the bankrupt City of London and Wall Street gambling dens.Trump has the capacity to put this entire program before the American people by declaring the exoneration of Lyndon LaRouche, who, of course, was falsely accused and prosecuted by exactly the same persons and institutions that have now been exposed for their treasonous efforts to depose the President himself, through “Russiagate” and other illegal means. All of this is both urgent, and imminently possible. While it is seen by pessimists as “the worst of times,” it is up to us, as “patriots of our nation and citizens of the world,” to make it the best of all possible worlds.U.S. POLITICAL AND ECONOMICFederal Government Announces Action against Marijuana Use by Youth and Pregnant WomenAug. 31 (EIRNS)—A new Federal initiative against the use of marijuana by youth and pregnant women was announced Aug. 29 in Washington by Surgeon General Jerome M. Adams and Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar. They spoke out strongly against the harm from marijuana, in contrast to the arguments made in favor of various uses of marijuana, which 33 states have now legalized in some form.Azar said, “We need to be clear: Some states’ laws on marijuana may have changed. But the science has not. And Federal law has not.”The two officials said that a program would soon be launched through social media to convey the harm marijuana can cause to the development of the brain. For example, a baby is likely to have a lower birth weight and develop brain problems in utero if its mother used marijuana during pregnancy.President Donald Trump has personally contributed his second-quarter salary of $100,000 to the new program, the officials announced, saying that he wants to underscore how important the administration regards the problem of addiction and substance abuse is in America.Thunberg Joined Friday Climate Protest at UN, in Countdown to Sept. 20 Eco-Madness WeekAug. 31 (EIRNS)—Yesterday, newly arrived from her Grimaldi-owned racing yacht voyage across the Atlantic, Greta Thunberg joined her U.S. counterpart, green-teen Alexandria Villasenor, at a demonstration outside the United Nations to stop climate change. They were joined by a phalanx of high-profile, well-funded action groups, including Sunrise Movement, Extinction Rebellion, FridaysForFuture, amounting to little over a hundred people, which green yellow journalists in the media played internationally as a big deal. Villasenor started her weekly Friday protests outside the UN last December.Thunberg and Villasenor were invited inside the UN yesterday by Secretary General Antonio Guterres, who will host a UN climate summit on Sept. 23, timed with the opening of the General Assembly debate Sept. 24. He has Thunberg on the agenda for Sept. 23.In France on Aug. 26, Guterres repeated to reporters the mad green script, “We absolutely need to keep the rise of temperature to 1.5° Celsius to the end of the century, and to be carbon neutral in 2050, and to have a 45% reduction of emissions by 2030.” He asked for nations to come prepared to present their plans at the General Assembly.Thunberg intends to attend the 25th UN Climate Change Conference, COP25, in Santiago, Chile in December, planning to get there without air travel, perhaps booking another expensive yacht for a Pacific coastal voyage.Trump’s Call for Building Mental Health Facilities Spotlights Need To Expand Hospital SystemAug. 31 (EIRNS)—Health specialists are responding to President Donald Trump’s repeated urging for expanding mental health treatment facilities, by publicizing the big gap that exists in the number of hospital beds required, and otherwise discussing implementation. At the Aug. 15 Trump campaign rally in New Hampshire, the President said, “We don’t have those institutions anymore and people can’t get proper care.” He has been making this point, when speaking of the deranged people committing mass murders. He has spoken of his own experience living in New York, many state psychiatric hospitals were shut in the 1960s and ’70s, putting mentally ill people were put out on the streets in the 1960s and ’70s. He stressed his thought at the time, that “Even as a young guy, ‘how does that work?’ That’s not a good thing.”As an immediate measure, reported AP Aug. 30, the Trump Administration is considering lifting Medicaid limits on covering state expenses for mental health hospitalization. The Medicaid funding limitation, which allows facilities to have no more than 16 beds for mental health inpatients, was ostensibly aimed to prevent states from “warehousing” mental patients, but it just contributed to lack of facilities and treatment.There is an acute shortage of licensed beds and facilities. Data from the Treatment Advocacy Center show that the number of state hospital beds available for seriously mentally ill people plunged from 550,000 in the 1950s to fewer than 40,000 by 2016. AP quotes the Center’s Director John Snook, that in the 1950s, there were 337 beds per 100,000 people, in state hospitals for this mental health inpatient care. But states went too far in shutting them down. In 2016, the ratio was down to 11.7 beds per 100,000 people.STRATEGIC WAR DANGERU.S. Space Command Stands UpAug. 30 (EIRNS)—U.S. Space Command was officially inaugurated Aug. 29 at a White House ceremony with President Donald Trump, Vice President Mike Pence, Secretary of Defense Mark Esper, and Air Force Gen. John “Jay” Raymond, its commander, among other dignitaries. The new command, the U.S. military’s 11th unified command, doesn’t yet have a permanent headquarters, but will operate out of what was the headquarters of the functional space component of U.S. Strategic Command in Colorado Springs, Colorado.Trump, in his remarks, clearly reflected his administration’s national security documents which declare China and Russia to be “near peer” adversaries of the United States, while also referencing an SDI component for the new agency: “Our adversaries are weaponizing Earth’s orbits with new technology targeting American satellites that are critical to both battlefield operations and our way of life at home. Our freedom to operate in space is also essential to detecting and destroying any missile launched against the United States,” Trump said. “So, just as we have recognized land, air, sea, and cyber as vital warfighting domains, we will now treat space as an independent region overseen by a new unified geographic combatant command. The establishment of the 11th Combatant Command is a landmark moment. This is a landmark day—one that recognizes the centrality of space to America’s national security and defense.”General Raymond told reporters afterward, that U.S. Space Command was created to defend U.S. space-enabled capabilities in this new “warfighting domain.” “Although space is a warfighting domain, our goal is actually to deter a conflict from extending into space; the best way I know how to do that is to be prepared to fight and win if deterrence were to fail,” Raymond said. “The scope, scale and complexity of the threat to our space capabilities is real, and it’s concerning. We no longer have the luxury of operating in a peaceful and benign domain.”The creation of Space Command is part of the Trump Administration’s drive to create a Space Force as a sixth branch of the U.S. military. The idea, Raymond said, is to build a fighting force capable of conducting defensive and offensive operations against potential adversaries seeking to deny America’s access to space. “Primarily, the countries that have the more significant threats are China and Russia,” he said. “Our adversaries have had a front row seat to our many successes of integrating space, and they don’t like what they see because it provides us with such great advantage. And they are developing capabilities to negate our access to space.”There was an earlier U.S. Space Command, from 1985-2002, but then-Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld disbanded it and folded its functions into Stratcom in the environment of the so-called war on terrorism.Dmitry Rogozin, director of Russia’s space agency Roscosmos, said of all this that the militarization of space is inevitable. “It is moving in this direction slowly but surely. No one in Roscosmos has any illusions about this,” he posted on Twitter this morning, reports TASS.IAEA Report on Iran’s JCPOA Compliance Shows Tehran Still Fully Cooperating with AgencyAug. 31 (EIRNS)—The International Atomic Energy Agency yesterday filed its 16th report on Iran’s compliance with the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), the 2015 nuclear deal by which Iran agreed to restrictions on its nuclear program in return for the lifting of UN economic sanctions. According to AP, which says it saw a copy of the report, it confirms Iran’s announced reductions in its commitments, but at the same time reports that Iran is otherwise fully cooperative with the agency. The IAEA reported that Iran’s stockpile of enriched uranium exceeds the amount allowed by the agreement, and that Iran is enriching uranium up to 4.5%, above the 3.67% allowed.Iran’s ambassador to the IAEA Kazem Gharib-Abadi reiterated yesterday that Iran’s full compliance with the deal “is based on full compliance by all parties to the deal.” According to Mehr News, he also described the IAEA report as indicating Iran’s good will for preserving multilateralism in international relations, and as verifying its compliance.The IAEA report comes as the back-and-forth continues over whether there will be U.S.-Iran talks. German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas, speaking following a brief meeting among Germany, France and the U.K. on Aug. 30 in Helsinki, said he wanted to ensure a pledge by U.S. President Donald Trump to defuse tensions with Iran bears fruit. He said a return to dialogue between Washington and Tehran now has “priority” over other EU initiatives such as a mission to protect oil shipping in the Strait of Hormuz. “After the G7 summit in Biarritz we are all of the opinion that themomentum that perhaps exists, the readiness for dialogue on both sides … must now be used,” Maas said.From Tehran comes further rejection of negotiating with the U.S. at all. Tehran’s Provisional Friday Prayers Leader Ayatollah Ahmad Khatami, in his Friday address to worshippers Aug. 30, said any talks would be madness. “As Leader of the Islamic Revolution [Ayatollah Seyed Ali Khamenei] has declared, no negotiation with the U.S. would take place and the [Iranian] officials and people have announced this in unison,” he was quoted by Tasnim news. “It would be folly to negotiate with the ‘promise-breakers,’ ” he said. “As our President [Hassan Rouhani] has said, we are not crazy to negotiate with the Americans.“Negotiation would be meaningful when it happens on an equal footing, otherwise, it cannot be called negotiation; it would be domination, and our nation has not accepted domination for 40 years,” the cleric declared.France’s Macron and Iran’s Rouhani Continue Intense DiplomacySept. 1 (EIRNS)—French President Emmanuel Macron spoke to Iran President Hassan Rouhani again yesterday, despite the fact that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had called Macron, to tell him “it is precisely the wrong time to talk to Iran.” Israel is threatening to invade Lebanon to stop what it calls Iranian threats acting through Hezbollah.The Elysée said Aug. 31 that Macron had asked Iran to “take necessary measures” to encourage negotiations in Yemen’s war, and urged Iran to show “the greatest restraint in Lebanon so that nothing compromises stability in this moment of great tension.”Rouhani told Macron that “Complete fulfillment of the commitments of the parties [to the 2015 JCPOA agreement] and providing maritime navigation security in all waterways, including the Persian Gulf and the Strait of Hormuz, are Iran’s two main objectives in these talks.” Rouhani stressed that Iran will move on to roll out the third phase of reduction of its nuclear commitments in case the EU fails to execute their commitments regarding the JCPOA. “However, this phase will be reversible like the others,” he said. “JCPOA terms are not changeable and all the parties need be committed to its content.”Iran’s Deputy Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi will travel to Paris on Sept. 2 with an economic delegation to discuss French proposals for preserving the JCPOA. Presidential Chief of Staff Mahmoud Vaezi reportedly said that Rouhani and Macron had spent five hours on the phone in recent weeks trying to find possible solutions to the standoff between Europe and Iran on implementation of the deal.Extreme Violence and Subversion Returns to Hong Kong, as China Issues WarningSept. 1 (EIRNS)—The demonstrations in Hong Kong Aug. 31—one of the first major rallies which had been denied a permit—were extremely violent, with fires set in multiple locations, molotov cocktails and bricks thrown directly at police, surveillance cameras destroyed, and a subway station shut down and partially destroyed. Xinhua reports that the anarchists also stormed government and legislative offices and set fire to police headquarters.Violence continued today, including an effort to re-occupy the airport, which forced the shutdown of trains to the airport.The official Chinese state news agency Xinhua published an editorial today titled: “Violence in Hong Kong Must End Now.” It identifies the mass destruction, the blocking of the majority of Hong Kong citizens from schools and businesses, and the public targetting of policemen and their children for harassment.“Behind the violence and chaos in Hong Kong is an elaborate scheme of the rioters and their patrons whose real intent is clearly exposed now,” the editorial states. “They tried to stir up unrest in Hong Kong and compromise the ‘one country, two systems’ principle, before spreading the ‘color revolution’ into the Chinese mainland.”Government media, including CGTN television, have documented who the rioters’ ”patrons” are, focused on the National Endowment for Democracy and public meetings of Vice President Mike Pence and Secretary of State Mike Pompeo with so-called “democracy leaders” and those demanding Hong Kong independence from China: See “Who Controls Hong Kong Protests?” on CGTN’s YouTube channel.Xinhua poses: “There are three bottom lines which must not be crossed: no one should harm the national sovereignty and security; no one should challenge the power of the central authorities and the authority of the Basic Law of the HKSAR; no one should use Hong Kong to infiltrate and undermine the mainland. Anyone who dares to infringe upon these bottom lines and interfere in or damage the ‘one country, two systems’ principle will face nothing but failure and will be held accountable by the country’s Constitution and the HKSAR’s Basic Law.“The Hong Kong police recently detained nearly 900 people suspected of taking part in violent crimes, including Joshua Wong Chi-fung and Andy Chan Ho-tin, leaders of political groups advocating ‘Hong Kong’s independence.’ Faced with the central government’s resolute support for the HKSAR government and the Hong Kong police, faced with the HKSAR government’s firm and just law enforcement, faced with strong [condemnation] from Chinese people, the end is coming for those attempting to disrupt Hong Kong and antagonize China. They should never misjudge the determination and ability of the central government, the HKSAR government and Chinese people to safeguard the nation’s sovereignty, security and core interests.”On Aug. 30, the armed police carried out a second exercise in riot control in neighboring Shenzhen, and again issued a one-minute video, sending a message that the central government will act if the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region is not able to stop the subversion (“Armed Police Hold Anti-Riot Drills in Shenzhen, China,” posted on Xinhua’s YouTube channel).ECONOMYArgentina Imposes Emergency Exchange Controls, Seeks To Halt Run on Peso and Financial ChaosSept. 1 (EIRNS)—Argentina’s desperate President Mauricio Macri issued an emergency decree today imposing exchange controls, in an attempt to halt the run on the national currency, the peso, and hemorrhaging of dollar reserves which have been out of control since the Aug. 11 primary in which Front For All candidate Alberto Fernández trounced Macri.Having spent the last several years denouncing former President Cristina Fernández de Kirchner for maintaining “anti-market” exchange controls throughout her presidency, the visibly depressed Macri has been forced to adopt the same measure to address the financial disaster his IMF-dictated economic policies have wrought. By the end of last week, the peso had plunged to the record low of 62 to the dollar (from 15 at the beginning of 2017), while the Central Bank (BCRA) spent $3 billion just between Aug. 28-30 trying to stop the peso run.Reserves have dropped $10 billion in the last month. Net reserves now stand at $15 billion.To stave off more financial chaos when markets open Monday, Sept. 2, the decree stated that “given various factors that impacted the evolution of the Argentine economy and the uncertainty in the financial markets, the executive branch needed to adopt a series of extraordinary measures aimed at ensuring the normal functioning of the economy, sustaining the level of activity and employment, and protecting consumers.”On Friday, Aug. 30, the BCRA imposed restrictions on banks, requiring them to seek its authorization before sending profits abroad. Today’s decree restricts individuals’ purchase of dollars to $10,000 monthly, and anything above that requires BCRA authorization. Individuals may withdraw any amount of dollars from personal bank accounts, but require BCRA authorization to send them out of the country.Large companies may carry out import transactions and debt payment in foreign currency without authorization, but their purchase of dollars for savings or other purposes requires authorization. Foreign companies will require BCRA authorization to remit profits to their headquarters abroad.Of particular interest is the requirement that exporters must liquidate their foreign currency in the local market within no more than five days of a sale, or 180 days after receiving shipment permission. Macri had lifted all regulations establishing timeframes in which exporters had to liquidate their foreign currency, which led many large agro producers and conglomerates to hold onto their foreign currency, to speculate on a more favorable exchange rate.U.S. Department of Energy Is All In on New Nuclear EnergySept. 1 (EIRNS)—According to an Aug. 28 statement from the Department of Energy Office of Nuclear Energy, “the Trump Administration is committed to reviving and revitalizing the nuclear industry, and it is leading by action not just words” (emphasis in original). It cited 11 substantial accomplishments by this administration “to support the development of advanced reactors that will position the United States as the global leader in nuclear innovation.” These included:• Dr. Rita Baranwal, an Indian-American engineer, was named as Assistant Secretary for Nuclear Energy. Dr. Baranwal, whom the Senate confirmed in June 2019, takes over a $1.3 billion portfolio to promote the research and development of current and advanced nuclear technologies.• The successful completion of Vogtle Units 3 and 4, the first new nuclear reactors to begin construction in the United States in more than three decades, will set the tone for what could be a U.S. nuclear resurgence. Plant Vogtle is one of the nation’s largest infrastructure projects and will support up to 9,000 jobs at peak construction.• The nation’s first small modular reactor, or SMR, is on track to be operating at Idaho National Laboratory (INL) by 2026, where DOE is supporting the siting of a 12-module SMR plant. Since 2013, under a public-private partnership, DOE has supported the design and licensing of NuScale’s SMR, which recently cleared phases 2 and 3 of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) design certification process.• The newly established National Reactor Innovation Center could speed up the licensing and commercialization of advanced reactors. Led by the Idaho National Lab, NRIC provides a platform for private sector technology developers to assess the performance of their reactor concepts through testing and demonstration.• DOE has invested more than $170 million over the last two years to accelerate the development of advanced nuclear reactor technologies. This includes supporting industry efforts to design and submit an NRC license application for a new fuel fabrication facility.• DOE recently launched the Molten Salts in Extreme Environments center. This is one of 42 Energy Frontier Research Centers that DOE supports to accelerate scientific breakthroughs aiming to “strengthen our U.S. economic leadership and energy security.”• Restarting the Transient Reactor Test Facility (TREAT): After spending more than two decades in standby mode, the administration brought the Transient Reactor Test Facility at INL back online in 2017. TREAT allows scientists to examine fuel performance under simulated accident conditions. The facility is preparing to test accident tolerant fuels for industry that will increase performance in today’s reactors and those of the future. The facility will also perform important tests for NASA as it develops nuclear fuel for space exploration, including next-generation nuclear thermal propulsion.• Providing Pathways to high assay low-enriched uranium (HALEU): More than 20 U.S. companies are developing advanced reactors and most of them will require a higher enriched fuel that’s currently not commercially available.  Industry estimates it will need nearly 600 metric tons of this HALEU fuel by 2030 to develop their innovative designs. HALEU allows for smaller plant sizes, longer core life, and a higher burn-up of nuclear fuel.THE NEW GLOBAL ECONOMIC ORDERSeventh TICAD African Development Conference Brings Continent’s Leaders to YokohamaAug. 30 (EIRNS)—The seventh Tokyo International Conference on African Development (TICAD), which over Aug. 28-30 drew high representatives from 53 countries, all but Sudan, including at least 26 heads of state, concluded today in Yokohama. In addition to the government of Japan, the conference is co-hosted by the United Nations, UN Development Program, World Bank, and the African Union Commission (AUC). Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi, who is 2019 African Union Chairman, was TICAD’s co-chair this year. The conference theme was “Advancing Africa’s Development through People, Technology and Innovation,” with Prime Minister Abe Shinzo committing to at least $20 billion in investment in the continent in the next three years, and to train 3,000 Africans over six years. “I make this pledge to you. The government of Japan will put forth every possible effort so that the power of Japanese private investment of $20 billion in three years should, in the years to come, be surpassed anew from one day to the next,” Abe said in his opening address on Aug. 28.Beyond that, not only did the African Presidents leaders meet with Abe individually, they also met with Emperor Naruhito, and the conference was designed to allow significant side meetings with industry representatives. Zimbabwe President Emmerson Mnangagwa, for example, was able to conclude a fresh “financial package” with the African Export-Import Bank at the conference. In addition, Mnangagwa also reportedly held closed-door meetings with Rwandan President Paul Kagame, and appeared at the Japan-Africa Business Forum, with TICAD co-chairs, Abe Shinzo and Africa Union Chairperson Abdel Fattah el-Sisi of Egypt.Although Transatlantic coverage all claims Japan is trying to counter China’s Belt and Road, that is far from Japan’s primary concern—in fact, Japan is co-investing with China in Thailand, and potentially also in Africa. China’s investment and trade in Africa swamps that of Japan, but the Japanese investment is significant and very welcome across the continent.African Development Bank President Akinwumi Adesina responded to accusations that China’s BRI was a “debt trap,” urging Japan and China to not compete, but to complement in filling a massive funding gap for African infrastructure, according to South China Morning Post. “I don’t think there is a deliberate plan by China to indebt any country at all,” Adesina insisted. “I think China is fulfilling a very important role, which is in terms of infrastructure support. Africa is not in a debt crisis.“The interest and engagement of China in Africa is welcome. Will I say there were no mistakes made in the beginning? No, I wouldn’t say so,” Adesina said. “There are issues of sensitivity to local communities, there are issues of making sure you don’t displace people in the labor market, but these are a learning curve for China.”‘Ice Silk Road’ Brought First Batch of Arctic LNG to Tianjin Port in ChinaSept. 1 (EIRNS)— Russian liquefied natural gas (LNG) carrier Vladimir Rusanov has shipped about 70,000 tons of LNG to the LNG terminal of China National Offshore Oil Corporation in north China’s Tianjin. This is the first time Tianjin Port received an LNG carrier that had sailed from the Arctic Circle via the “Ice Silk Road,” which means citizens in areas including the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region are likely to use LNG from the Arctic Circle this winter, People’s Daily Online reported Aug. 30. Vladimir Rusanov is one of the fruits of the Yamal LNG project, the first China-Russia large-scale energy cooperation project implemented in Russia since the proposal of China’s Belt and Road Initiative.Meanwhile, Russia’s Minister of Energy Alexander Novak told TASS, following his Aug. 29 meeting in Moscow with India’s Minister of Petroleum and Natural Gas Dharmendra Pradhan, some Indian companies intend to increase the supply of Russian LNG. In particular, they are interested in buying gas from future Novatek projects—Arctic LNG-2 and Arctic LNG-3. The first LNG shipments from Russia to India were delivered last year from the Yamal LNG plant. 
Reach us at eirdailyalert@larouchepub.com or call 1-571-293-0935

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