Author: Spencer

For the second time in as many days, a sitting Senator has singled out Saudi perfidy on the terrorist question. Contacted Jan. 16 for his response to former Sen. Bob  Graham’s call to release the 28 pages, Sen. Bill Nelson (D-FL) told the Florida Politics blog, although he had not read them, he did not need to in order to affirm that the Saudis are “quite duplicitous” regarding the terror threat in their own country. With this, Nelson joins Senators Richard Burr (R-NC) and Chris Murphy (D-CT)—who spoke out on CNN’s “State of the Union” January 18th—in the assault on the House of Saud. Nelson said:

While this problem is widely encountered when dealing with foreign governments, Nelson said, the Saudis are notorious for playing a “two-faced game” on this account.

Additionally, the article names Walter Jones’ and Stephen Lynch’s H.Res.14, the legislation for the full release of the redacted 28 pages of the joint inquiry into 9/11

Marine Le Pen, head of the right-wing Front National, which a recent poll showed to be the leading party in France, with support from about one-third of the population, due primarily for its anti-euro stand, published an op-ed in the New York Times on June 18 directly attacking Saudi Arabia and Qatar for their funding and support for jihadist terrorists. Le Pen wrote:

The role of Saudi Arabia in promoting and financing terrorism is continuing to seep out in the major news media. A few examples:

• On CNN’s “State of the Union” show on Sunday, there was discussion of the role of Saudi funding of the Wahhabi groups that produce jihadists, and of both Saudi Arabia’s and Pakistan’s repressive practices. Sen. Richard Burr (R-NC) said the Obama Administration should be telling the Saudis and Pakistanis that this funding of terrorists has to stop, or else there will be some ramifications. Sen. Chris Murphy (D-Conn.) agreed, saying:

• The Globe & Mail of Canada runs a piece by its national affairs columnist Jeffrey Simpson, entitled, “Cozying Up to Saudi Arabia: How Can That be Principled?” in which Simpson blasts the Harper government for its arms deals and political ties to Saudi Arabia —

Simpson says that Saudi Arabia, more than any other country, “has been responsible for financing schools and teaching that promote the Saudis’ Wahhabi version of Islam, which in turn has provided a fertile breeding ground for extremism and terrorism.”

•The issue of Saudi funding of terrorism was also discussed on BBC’s “Hardtalk” program on Jan. 16, in an interview with former MI-6 counter-terrorism official Richard Barrett. Barrett pointed out that we can never kill all the terrorists, nor solve the problem with more surveillance laws. When asked about the large amounts of funds and weapons being provided to terrorists from Saudi Arabia and the Gulf states, he said that in his years of investigating Al Qaeda, he had never found evidence of a state directly supporting terrorism, but there are certainly individuals within Saudi Arabia etc. who are supporting terrorists, and he said that Western governments should lean heavily on states like Saudi Arabia to get them to crack down on terrorist financing.

On the occasion of the 60th anniversary of the initial commitment of China to develop a nuclear industry, both President Xi Jinping and Premier Li Keqiang issued statements reiterating the importance of nuclear energy for the country’s development and affirming their commitment to develop China’s own nuclear power industry. In a written statement, President Xi praised the earlier generation of China’s leaders, who in 1955 made the decision that China would develop a nuclear industry. It was a contribution both to China’s defense and to China’s economic development, President Xi underlined.

“The nuclear industry is a strategic high-technology industry and important foundation for national defense,” President Xi wrote. China will continue utilizing the peaceful uses of nuclear energy and build a competitive nuclear industry, he said. President Li Keqiang also underlined that China intended to create a  “competitive edge” for its nuclear industry which would become an integral part of its high-tech export, “going global” strategy, aiming at the export of domestically produced nuclear power plants.

It should be noted that China’s decision in 1955 to develop a nuclear industry, was primarily focused on developing a nuclear weapon, and this aspect of a nuclear industry was also indicated in President Xi’s statement. They exploded their first nuclear weapons in 1964; the first nuclear power plant to go on line was not until 1991. The recent awarding of a science prize to Yu Min, the father of the Chinese hydrogen bomb, also underlined the significance China attaches to its nuclear capability.

China is in the process of developing its own nuclear technology with the first 1,000-MW Hualong-1 reactor, of which 85% of components are domestically produced, to follow on their 300-MW reactors, which they are already building for Pakistan. Representatives in the industry, interviewed on this occasion, underlined that safety will be of the utmost importance for them. China also requires more engineers and technician in the nuclear industry, they noted, and is therefore encouraging foreigners to come to China to work in its burgeoning nuclear industry. The Hualong-1 is to come on-line in 2020.

On the occasion of the 60th anniversary of the initial commitment of China to develop a nuclear industry, both President Xi Jinping and Premier Li Keqiang issued statements reiterating the importance of nuclear energy for the country’s development and affirming their commitment to develop China’s own nuclear power industry. In a written statement, President Xi praised the earlier generation of China’s leaders, who in 1955 made the decision that China would develop a nuclear industry. It was a contribution both to China’s defense and to China’s economic development, President Xi underlined.

“The nuclear industry is a strategic high-technology industry and important foundation for national defense,” President Xi wrote. China will continue utilizing the peaceful uses of nuclear energy and build a competitive nuclear industry, he said. President Li Keqiang also underlined that China intended to create a  “competitive edge” for its nuclear industry which would become an integral part of its high-tech export, “going global” strategy, aiming at the export of domestically produced nuclear power plants.

It should be noted that China’s decision in 1955 to develop a nuclear industry, was primarily focused on developing a nuclear weapon, and this aspect of a nuclear industry was also indicated in President Xi’s statement. They exploded their first nuclear weapons in 1964; the first nuclear power plant to go on line was not until 1991. The recent awarding of a science prize to Yu Min, the father of the Chinese hydrogen bomb, also underlined the significance China attaches to its nuclear capability.

China is in the process of developing its own nuclear technology with the first 1,000-MW Hualong-1 reactor, of which 85% of components are domestically produced, to follow on their 300-MW reactors, which they are already building for Pakistan. Representatives in the industry, interviewed on this occasion, underlined that safety will be of the utmost importance for them. China also requires more engineers and technician in the nuclear industry, they noted, and is therefore encouraging foreigners to come to China to work in its burgeoning nuclear industry. The Hualong-1 is to come on-line in 2020.

On the occasion of the 60th anniversary of the initial commitment of China to develop a nuclear industry, both President Xi Jinping and Premier Li Keqiang issued statements reiterating the importance of nuclear energy for the country’s development and affirming their commitment to develop China’s own nuclear power industry. In a written statement, President Xi praised the earlier generation of China’s leaders, who in 1955 made the decision that China would develop a nuclear industry. It was a contribution both to China’s defense and to China’s economic development, President Xi underlined.

“The nuclear industry is a strategic high-technology industry and important foundation for national defense,” President Xi wrote. China will continue utilizing the peaceful uses of nuclear energy and build a competitive nuclear industry, he said. President Li Keqiang also underlined that China intended to create a  “competitive edge” for its nuclear industry which would become an integral part of its high-tech export, “going global” strategy, aiming at the export of domestically produced nuclear power plants.

It should be noted that China’s decision in 1955 to develop a nuclear industry, was primarily focused on developing a nuclear weapon, and this aspect of a nuclear industry was also indicated in President Xi’s statement. They exploded their first nuclear weapons in 1964; the first nuclear power plant to go on line was not until 1991. The recent awarding of a science prize to Yu Min, the father of the Chinese hydrogen bomb, also underlined the significance China attaches to its nuclear capability.

China is in the process of developing its own nuclear technology with the first 1,000-MW Hualong-1 reactor, of which 85% of components are domestically produced, to follow on their 300-MW reactors, which they are already building for Pakistan. Representatives in the industry, interviewed on this occasion, underlined that safety will be of the utmost importance for them. China also requires more engineers and technician in the nuclear industry, they noted, and is therefore encouraging foreigners to come to China to work in its burgeoning nuclear industry. The Hualong-1 is to come on-line in 2020.

As the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) is gearing up to make its first loan for an infrastructure project in Asia, power industry experts are recommending the funding of a Pan-Asian Gas Pipeline, saying it would be extremely efficient and would benefit a number of Southeast Asian countries, Utility Products website reported. Although a number of such Pan-Asian Gas Pipeline proposals have emerged over the years, one that the experts consider the “smartest” connects Joint Development Areas in the South China Sea. The Asian Infrastructure Development Bank is expected to go into operation before the end of 2015, according to China’s Ministry of Finance.

In making his argument, one such expert, Stewart Taggart, says Asia is now the world’s largest economic bloc. A gas pipeline increases economic growth through expanded trade — a massive double win, Taggart says. Experts point out that in coming years, Asia will need trillions of dollars of new infrastructure investment, and half of that need will be for energy.

Taggart says the Trans-ASEAN Gas Pipeline proposed by the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), which aims at bringing South China Sea natural gas to Chinese markets, cannot only carry natural gas initially, but at a later stage can also carry methane hydrates, bio-energy, and hydrogen over the long term. He also claims that pathways laid down by natural gas pipelines enable other infrastructure (such as fiber optic cables and High-Voltage Direct Current power lines) to be added later. Power lines, for instance, will enable offshore wind, wave energy and ocean thermal energy to be developed and delivered.

As the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) is gearing up to make its first loan for an infrastructure project in Asia, power industry experts are recommending the funding of a Pan-Asian Gas Pipeline, saying it would be extremely efficient and would benefit a number of Southeast Asian countries, Utility Products website reported. Although a number of such Pan-Asian Gas Pipeline proposals have emerged over the years, one that the experts consider the “smartest” connects Joint Development Areas in the South China Sea. The Asian Infrastructure Development Bank is expected to go into operation before the end of 2015, according to China’s Ministry of Finance.

In making his argument, one such expert, Stewart Taggart, says Asia is now the world’s largest economic bloc. A gas pipeline increases economic growth through expanded trade — a massive double win, Taggart says. Experts point out that in coming years, Asia will need trillions of dollars of new infrastructure investment, and half of that need will be for energy.

Taggart says the Trans-ASEAN Gas Pipeline proposed by the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), which aims at bringing South China Sea natural gas to Chinese markets, cannot only carry natural gas initially, but at a later stage can also carry methane hydrates, bio-energy, and hydrogen over the long term. He also claims that pathways laid down by natural gas pipelines enable other infrastructure (such as fiber optic cables and High-Voltage Direct Current power lines) to be added later. Power lines, for instance, will enable offshore wind, wave energy and ocean thermal energy to be developed and delivered.

As the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) is gearing up to make its first loan for an infrastructure project in Asia, power industry experts are recommending the funding of a Pan-Asian Gas Pipeline, saying it would be extremely efficient and would benefit a number of Southeast Asian countries, Utility Products website reported. Although a number of such Pan-Asian Gas Pipeline proposals have emerged over the years, one that the experts consider the “smartest” connects Joint Development Areas in the South China Sea. The Asian Infrastructure Development Bank is expected to go into operation before the end of 2015, according to China’s Ministry of Finance.

In making his argument, one such expert, Stewart Taggart, says Asia is now the world’s largest economic bloc. A gas pipeline increases economic growth through expanded trade — a massive double win, Taggart says. Experts point out that in coming years, Asia will need trillions of dollars of new infrastructure investment, and half of that need will be for energy.

Taggart says the Trans-ASEAN Gas Pipeline proposed by the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), which aims at bringing South China Sea natural gas to Chinese markets, cannot only carry natural gas initially, but at a later stage can also carry methane hydrates, bio-energy, and hydrogen over the long term. He also claims that pathways laid down by natural gas pipelines enable other infrastructure (such as fiber optic cables and High-Voltage Direct Current power lines) to be added later. Power lines, for instance, will enable offshore wind, wave energy and ocean thermal energy to be developed and delivered.

Leading Chinese economists presented China’s revised economic policy to an unusual all-day meeting of the National Committee on U.S.-China Relations in New York City on Jan. 7. EIR correspondent William Jones reported from the meeting that despite frankly discussing the problems facing China confronting economic collapse in some important parts of the world, the economists were quite confident. China has continued to grow its economy at 8-9% annual rates for six years while the entire trans-Atlantic world was wallowing in collapse.  “China will maintain a 7-8% growth,” former World Bank vice president Justin Lin said.

China has confronted, first, the descent of some of its leading export markets into long-term economic recession. And secondly, the need to control credit bubbles in China’s real estate and commodities sectors which have blown up during the extraordinary growth of the past decade.

How have they blown up? Within days after the economists spoke, a major real estate bankruptcy took place Jan. 12, of the Shenzhen-based Kaisa Group, defaulting on $500 million in debt. The debtors were a dozen Wall Street-London financial firms — featuring Black Rock Financial, Standard and Chartered Bank, Fidelity Investments, and Lion Global Investors, as the Wall Street Journal reported in “Kaisa Group Defaults on Offshore Debt” earlier this week. This “offshore debt” is endemic in the real estate and commodities bubbles.

Overcoming these problems, Lin said,

“We have to improve labor productivity. And this will require continued investment.”

He also indicated that there is a continued transition relocating labor-intensive industries to other Asian countries and replacing them with higher value production.

This strategy has been successfully implemented in the rapid development of China’s high-speed rail systems, on which investment is huge: Five such new inter-city lines have opened within the past month.

 The second method stressed was what the world now knows as the two Silk Roads and the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank — also called in China “going abroad,” with high-speed railroads also quickly becoming the hallmark of Chinese high-tech export. Qin Xiao, chairman of the Boyuan Foundation, said China’s plan is investing $350 billion outside China in the next decade in manufacturing and infrastructure alone.

The article, “One Belt, One Road at the Center of China’s Reform Program” will give a full report in this week’s EIR.

Leading Chinese economists presented China’s revised economic policy to an unusual all-day meeting of the National Committee on U.S.-China Relations in New York City on Jan. 7. EIR correspondent William Jones reported from the meeting that despite frankly discussing the problems facing China confronting economic collapse in some important parts of the world, the economists were quite confident. China has continued to grow its economy at 8-9% annual rates for six years while the entire trans-Atlantic world was wallowing in collapse.  “China will maintain a 7-8% growth,” former World Bank vice president Justin Lin said.

China has confronted, first, the descent of some of its leading export markets into long-term economic recession. And secondly, the need to control credit bubbles in China’s real estate and commodities sectors which have blown up during the extraordinary growth of the past decade.

How have they blown up? Within days after the economists spoke, a major real estate bankruptcy took place Jan. 12, of the Shenzhen-based Kaisa Group, defaulting on $500 million in debt. The debtors were a dozen Wall Street-London financial firms — featuring Black Rock Financial, Standard and Chartered Bank, Fidelity Investments, and Lion Global Investors, as the Wall Street Journal reported in “Kaisa Group Defaults on Offshore Debt” earlier this week. This “offshore debt” is endemic in the real estate and commodities bubbles.

Overcoming these problems, Lin said,

“We have to improve labor productivity. And this will require continued investment.”

He also indicated that there is a continued transition relocating labor-intensive industries to other Asian countries and replacing them with higher value production.

This strategy has been successfully implemented in the rapid development of China’s high-speed rail systems, on which investment is huge: Five such new inter-city lines have opened within the past month.

 The second method stressed was what the world now knows as the two Silk Roads and the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank — also called in China “going abroad,” with high-speed railroads also quickly becoming the hallmark of Chinese high-tech export. Qin Xiao, chairman of the Boyuan Foundation, said China’s plan is investing $350 billion outside China in the next decade in manufacturing and infrastructure alone.

The article, “One Belt, One Road at the Center of China’s Reform Program” will give a full report in this week’s EIR.

Leading Chinese economists presented China’s revised economic policy to an unusual all-day meeting of the National Committee on U.S.-China Relations in New York City on Jan. 7. EIR correspondent William Jones reported from the meeting that despite frankly discussing the problems facing China confronting economic collapse in some important parts of the world, the economists were quite confident. China has continued to grow its economy at 8-9% annual rates for six years while the entire trans-Atlantic world was wallowing in collapse.  “China will maintain a 7-8% growth,” former World Bank vice president Justin Lin said.

China has confronted, first, the descent of some of its leading export markets into long-term economic recession. And secondly, the need to control credit bubbles in China’s real estate and commodities sectors which have blown up during the extraordinary growth of the past decade.

How have they blown up? Within days after the economists spoke, a major real estate bankruptcy took place Jan. 12, of the Shenzhen-based Kaisa Group, defaulting on $500 million in debt. The debtors were a dozen Wall Street-London financial firms — featuring Black Rock Financial, Standard and Chartered Bank, Fidelity Investments, and Lion Global Investors, as the Wall Street Journal reported in “Kaisa Group Defaults on Offshore Debt” earlier this week. This “offshore debt” is endemic in the real estate and commodities bubbles.

Overcoming these problems, Lin said,

“We have to improve labor productivity. And this will require continued investment.”

He also indicated that there is a continued transition relocating labor-intensive industries to other Asian countries and replacing them with higher value production.

This strategy has been successfully implemented in the rapid development of China’s high-speed rail systems, on which investment is huge: Five such new inter-city lines have opened within the past month.

 The second method stressed was what the world now knows as the two Silk Roads and the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank — also called in China “going abroad,” with high-speed railroads also quickly becoming the hallmark of Chinese high-tech export. Qin Xiao, chairman of the Boyuan Foundation, said China’s plan is investing $350 billion outside China in the next decade in manufacturing and infrastructure alone.

The article, “One Belt, One Road at the Center of China’s Reform Program” will give a full report in this week’s EIR.