China 20
Cuba’s Place in the New Cold War
Translated by Walter Lippmann for CubaNews. If you doubt the assertion that we are facing a new cold war, by carefully reading the main international media and specialized publications you will be able to verify that -from different points of view- in a growing number of cases, the interpretation and hypothesis of a new cold war seems to dominate the most varied interpretations at present. This seems irrefutable when examining the growing tensions and conflicts from Brussels to Moscow, from the Arctic to the Black Sea, from the Caucasus to the Middle East, throughout the length and breadth of South and East Asia, bordering the land and sea borders of China and its neighbors, and in all of them the direct presence and gravitation of the US, from NATO that today touches Russia’s borders to a renewed alliance -like the defunct NATO- that seeks to confront the countries of the region to the supposed Chinese threats. Where to and how How does tiny Cuba fit into this new context? We are a long way from the Missile Crisis or the Soviet submarine base in Cienfuegos… Does the Havana government seek to engage in any of these conflicts in alliance with Russia or China? Not even remotely! Havana’s close economic relations with Moscow -in frank decline for decades- and Beijing -with a worrisome decrease in the last ten years- have nothing to do with the geostrategic spaces mentioned above. There will be areas of political-diplomatic convergence in the international agenda (the presence of China and Russia as permanent members of the Security Council is an important capital for Cuba), but nothing that would serve to imagine or fabricate “conspiracy theories” that Cuba would respond to any of these orbits in any kind of aggressive truculence. The significant reduction of these economic relations ranges from large unresolved debts up to today and consequently a significant reduction in credits and various kinds of financing, in addition to significant cuts in the sphere of bilateral trade. A considerable list of projects agreed upon with both countries and in which Cuba placed great hopes have been shelved or put in the trash bin, from railroads to mining and oil exploitation, hotels and others. Except for very specific areas -such as biotechnology in China- it is difficult to identify today the completion of major projects by Russia and China in Cuba or any significant trade increases. Recent figures indicate that barely 10 of the 60 projects agreed with Russia will be implemented, while trade with China has been cut by 40%. Therefore the search for other investments, advanced technologies and trade links must prioritize the options that can be found in Western Europe, which is also where the bulk of Cuba’s foreign debt with the Paris Club rests. To a lesser extent, some Asian markets such as Japan (which in the early 1970s became Cuba’s second-largest trading partner) and South Korea (pending diplomatic recognition) may eventually offer some important opportunities. Paradoxically, a new space of reinsertion for Cuba is already the Arab World -not in its old relations of collaboration with Algeria, Palestine or Syria in some areas- and in particular with the monarchies of the Arabian Peninsula with which cooperation relations have increased as never before. This has not been and is not the case with the countries of Latin America and the Caribbean, with the exception of the fragile and changing relationship with Venezuela or a possible political turnaround in Brazil. Cuba is not in a position today to join areas of conflict, except in the case of Venezuela. Nothing that involves major links or confrontations in latitudes distant from Cuba. Cuba will continue to seek to consolidate and expand its active participation in the multilateral agenda and practices (and the legitimacy it offers) promoted by the UN. Cuba will continue to promote the possibilities offered by the cooperation and assistance programs offered by various countries with which it has normal relations, and which have helped it a great deal up to now. A similar approach will be reinforced in two hemispheric directions (CELAC, CARICOM and the Summit of the Americas), especially with those countries where the so-called “pink wave” facilitates relatively closer ties, although not at the commercial or direct investment levels, with the exception of Caracas and Brasilia. Another geostrategic space in which Cuba will have to explore in the near future are its very controversial possibilities is that of the U.S. with Biden -something that seems more improbable with each passing day- or with the administration that emerges victorious in 2024, This will depend on a prior dismantling of the economic war design applied by Trump and so far maintained by Biden and to lessen -but not suppress, a possibility that will remain for an unpredictable future- the sustained impact of the past embargo and the current economic war that will make possible in part a discrete improvement in the links between both economies. This will include the whole spectrum of collaboration and mutual trust derived from the agreements signed at the end of the Obama administration. Let me be a bit more specific: Some three months ago it was public info: 40% less trade (makes sense, among other reasons, some 800 million was connected to the tourist industry) with China. Besides, Cuba owes them a lot a money, a lot of arrears, plus growing concerns among Chinese businesspeople from additional sanctions by the Trump administration. Then add Chinese discontent (made public on several occasions) because of Cuba’s refusal to implement overall reforms (the Shenzhen road). Concerning Russia, we have that only 10 of the 60 projects agreed with Russia during Medvedev’s last visit might be implemented, including the monumental railway in Cuba (east-west, known as the Tren Central plus of the significant oil drilling projects, just one so far). Let no one argue now that this smacks of “claudication.” In other words, surrender under the worse possible terms. Cuba is not in the vicinity of Singapore or the China Seas, nor is it in Gibraltar or the Balkans. It is an integral part of the American hemisphere and we live 90 miles from the United States, where almost one million Cubans and their descendants are settled and growing every day. The simplest example is the cost of transportation from Chinese or Russian ports to U.S. ports in the Gulf of Mexico. This scenario may seem far away, but it is actively encouraged by many of Washington’s major allies (Canada, Mexico and the EU), who can, to some extent, contribute to some level of normalization. I repeat what I have argued on other occasions: Washington may well draw some positive lessons from the EU-Cuba Political Dialogue and Cooperation. This eventual partial normalization will inevitably include the Cuban-American population factor at three different levels: a. Remittances; b. An inter-family trade that will bring about a significant relief and promote levels of informal trade (inevitable in the current conditions); c. Attracting the first direct investment projects on the part of these Cuban-Americans with the due authorization of the United States. It is within these different spaces, conditions, limits, potentials and agendas, in which Havana will be able to reinsert itself in a scenario where the dominant cold war tendencies on the world scene weigh heavily on any decision-making process for any country scarce of resources, without an economy of scale or balanced economic relations of its external sector. Time and again Cuban leaders have insisted in recent years that they must learn from the costly and disastrous experiences of concentrating the largest and most sensitive part of their economic relations with a single country and this should set an important tone for their reinsertion. Important limitations to this reintegration Four limitations stand out for their importance in making this reintegration process more viable or not. They are as follows: The integral redesign of the provenly inoperative economic model is indispensable and cannot be postponed. All the official discourse in Cuba tries to present the current legislation on foreign investment, the model symbolized by the ZEDM and the Investment Portfolio designed for potential investors, as the best credentials to attract foreign investment that the official discourse now accepts as a strategic component of its development. The reality is that –in addition to the aforementioned economic war– current legislation is still perceived as very restrictive and incomplete, ZEDM is still far from producing what was expected and must -among other aspects- articulate an export project to the region and beyond that does not exist today. If the ZEDM aspires to follow “the path of Shenzhen” and the Investment Portfolio does not meet its objectives due to the same factors, it’s will be necessary in addition to the investment proposals that the Cuban authorities have rejected over the last 25 years for clinging to monopolizing and restrictive formulas. After the successful renegotiation of its foreign debt and the satisfactory start of its payments, Havana has entered a new process of non-payments and subsequent increased interest and penalties and thus an almost total loss of its credit possibilities. This places the Cuban authorities in an extremely precarious situation from the point of view of its international finances. It is more than evident to highlight its crisis in this regard. Last but not least, Cuba persists in its obstinate rejection of any level of collaboration, association or membership with respect to the international financial system (International Monetary Fund, World Bank and, on a regional scale with the IDB). All this is tantamount to reinforcing and prolonging its singular condition of “financial pariah” in the real world. The sum of these factors places Cuba in an enormously disadvantageous and prejudicial situation, in an extreme degree of vulnerability, to face and achieve an effective international reinsertion in the complex framework of a new cold war.
Si duda de la afirmación de que nos enfrentamos a una nueva guerra fria, con proponerse un lectura cuidadosa de los principales medios internacionales y de publicaciones especializadas podrá comprobar que -desde diferentes ópticas- en un creciente número de casos, la interpretación e hipótesis de una nueva guerra fria parece dominar en la actualidad las más variadas interpretaciones. Esto parece irrefutable al examinarse las crecientes tensiones y conflictos que van desde Bruselas a Moscú, del Artico hasta el Mar Negro, desde el Cáucaso hasta el Medio Oriente, a lo largo y ancho de Asia Meridional y Oriental, bordeando las fronteras terrestres y marítimas de China y sus vecinos, y en todos ellos la presencia y gravitación directa de EEUU, desde la OTAN que hoy toca a las fronteras de Rusia hasta una renovada alianza -al estilo de la fenecida OTASO- que busca enfrentar los países de la región a las supuestas amenazas chinas. Hacia dónde y cómo ¿Cómo encaja la minúscula Cuba en todo este nuevo contexto? Muy lejos estamos de la Crisis de los Cohetes o la base de submarinos soviéticos en Cienfuegos…¿Busca acaso el gobierno de La Habana comprometerse en algunos de esos conflictos en alianza con Rusia o China? Ni remotamente! Los esquemas de estrechas relaciones económicas de La Habana con Moscú -en franca declinación desde hace décadas- y Beijing -con una preocupante disminución desde los últimos diez años- nada tienen que ver con las espacios geoestratégicos mencionados más arriba. Habrán áreas de convergencia politico-diplomática en la agenda internacional (la presencia e China y Rusia como miembros permanentes del Consejode Seguridad es un importante capital para Cuba), pero nada que sirva para imaginar o fabricar “teorías conspirativas” de que Cuba responda a ninguna de estas órbitas en ningún tipo de truculencia agresiva. La sensible reducción de esas relaciones económicas abarca desde grandes deudas no resueltas hasta hoy y consecuentemente una sensible reducción en materia de créditos y financiamientos diversos, además de notables recortes en la esfera del comercio bilateral. Una considerable lista de proyectos acordados con ambos países y en los que Cuba cifraba grandes esperanzas han ido quedando engavetados o en el cesto de basura, desde ferrocarriles hasta explotaciones mineras y petroleras, hotelería y otros. Salvo áreas muy específicas -como la biotecnología en China- es difícil identificar hoy la materialización de grandes proyectos por parte de Rusia y China en Cuba o incrementos comerciales de alguna importancia. Cifras recientes indican que apenas 10 de los 60 proyectos acordados con Rusia serán ejecutados, en tanto que el comercio con China se ha recortado en un 40%. De aquí se desprende que la búsqueda de otras inversiones, tecnologías avanzadas y nexos comerciales, tengan que priorizar las opciones que pueden encontrarse en Europa Occidental y donde descansa, además, el grueso de la deuda externa de Cuba con el Club de París. En medida menor, algunos mercados asiáticos como Japón (país que a inicios de 1970 llegó a ser el segundo socio comercial de Cuba) y Corea del Sur (pendiente de un reconcimiento diplomático) pueden ofrecer eventualmente algunas oportunidades de importancia. Paradójicamente, un novedoso espacio de reinserción para Cuba lo es ya el Mundo Arabe -no en sus Viejas relaciones de colaboración con Argelia, Palestina o Siria en algunas áreas- y en particular con las monarquías de la peninsula arábiga con las que las relaciones de cooperación se han incrementado como nunca antes. No ha sido ni es así el caso de los países de América Latina y el Caribe, a excepción de la frágil y cambiante relación con Venezuela o un posible giro político en Brasil. Cuba no está en condiciones hoy de sumarse a espacios de conflicto, si exceptuamos el caso de Venezuela. Nada que involucre vinculaciones o confrontaciones de mayor envergadura en latitudes distantes de Cuba. Cuba continuará procurando consolidar y ampliar su activa participación en la agenda y prácticas multilaterales (y la legitimidad que ésta le ofrece) que promueve la ONU; continuará fomentado las posibilidades que ofrecen los programas de cooperación y asistencia que ofrecen diversos países con los cuales tiene relaciones normales, y que bastante le ayudan hasta hoy. Una aproximación similar reforzará en dos direcciones hemisféricas (CELA, CARICOM y Cumbre de las Américas), en especial con los países donde la llamada “oleada rosada” facilita nexos relativamente más estrechos, aunque no en los planos comerciales o de inversión directa, con excepción de Caracas y Brasilia. Otro espacio geoestratégico en el que Cuba tendrá que explorar en el futuro cercano son sus muy controversiales posibilidades es el de EEUU con Biden -cosa que cada dia que pasa se presenta más improbable- o con la administración que salga vencedora en el 2024, condicionado esto a un desmantelamiento previo del diseño de guerra económica aplicado por Trump y hasta ahora mantenido por Biden y aminorar -no suprimir, posibilidad ésta que quedará para un futuro impredecible- el sostenido impacto del pasado embargo y de la actual guerra económica que posibilite en parte una discrete mejoría de los nexos entre ambas economías. Esto incluirá todo el espectro de colaboración y confianza mutua derivados de los acuerdos suscritos al final de la administración Obama. Nadie venga a argumentar ahora que esto tiene sabor a “claudicación.” Cuba no está en las proximidades de Singapur o en los mares de China, tampoco en Gibraltar o los Balcanes. Forma parte integral del hemisferio americano y habitamos a 90 millas de EEUU, donde se encuentra radicado casi un millón de cubanos, sus descendientes y aumentando cada dia más. El más simple ejemplo lo constituyen los costos de transportación desde los puertos chinos o rusos a los de EEUU en el Golfo de México. Podrá parecer bien lejos este escenario, pero el mismo se ve activamente propiciado por muchos de los principales aliados de Washington (Canadá, México y la UE), que en alguna medida, pueden contribuir a algún nivel de normalización. Repito lo que he argumentado en otras ocasiones: Bien pudiera Washington extraer algunas experiencias positivas del Diálogo Político y de Cooperación entre la Unión Europea y Cuba. Esta eventual normalización parcial incluirá, inevitablemente, el factor de la población cubano-americana en tres planos diferentes: a. Remesas; b. Un comercio interfamiliar que propicie un alivio signficativo y promueva niveles de comercio informal (inevitable en las acondiciones actuales); c. Atraer los primeros proyectos de inversión directa de parte de esos cubano-americanos con la debida autorización de EEUU. Es en estos espacios, condiciones, límites, potencialidades y agendas diferentes, en los cuales podrá el Gobierno de La Habana reinsertarse ante un escenario donde las tendencias dominantes de guerra fria en la escena mundial gravitan considerablemente en cualquier proceso de toma de decisiones para cualquier país escaso de recursos, sin una economía de escala ni relaciones económicas balanceadas de su sector externo. Una y otra vez los dirigentes cubanos han insistido en años recientes que han de aprender de las costosas y desastrosas experiencias de concentrar la mayor y más sensible parte de sus relaciones económicas con un solo país y esto deberá trazar una pauta importante en su reinserción. Limitantes importantes en esta resinserción Cuatro limitantes sobresalen por su importancia en hacer más viable o no este proceso de reinserción. Son ellas: La suma de estos factores colocan a Cuba en una situación enormemente desventajosa y prejudicial, en un grado extremo de vulnerabilidad, para hacer frente y alacanzar una efectiva reinserción internacional en el complejo marco de una nueva guerra fria.
Cuba’s Place in the New Cold War
By Domingo Amuchastegui (4/27/2021)REINSERCION INTERNACIONAL DE CUBA ANTE UNA NUEVA GUERRA FRIA
Por Domingo Amuchastegui (4/27/2021)
United States declines, China progresses
United States declines, China progresses
By Hedelberto López Blanch
October 14, 2020
Translated and edited by Walter Lippmann for CubaNews.
After the economic-social debacle represented by the expansion of the Covid-19 pandemic through almost all the nations of the world, the People’s Republic of China, where the virus was detected for the first time, has managed to raise its economy while that of the United States continues to fall.
The specialists assure that this great difference between the two main economic powers of the world is due to the fact that China, from the first moments, took the pertinent measures to control the disease, in contrast to the United States whose President Donald Trump dismissed the seriousness of the virus.
The North American retreat has been occurring since the last decade and it increased with the appearance of the coronavirus, fundamentally due to the laziness of its officials to face it.
Several data point out the weaknesses of the American giant because despite being a power with very important resources and capabilities for the welfare of most of its inhabitants, their real wage today is lower than 40 years ago.
Under that premise, the average employee must work twice as many years as three decades ago to pay the price of a small apartment.
The level of inequality has progressively worsened among the population with stagnation of real wages compared to the cost of living. Almost 50 million people are below the poverty line and 36% of Americans lack the health insurance that gives them access to specialized health care.
In the last decade, suicides increased 24% and at the same time life expectancy decreased to only 76.10 years. In Cuba, a developing country economically and financially blockaded by Washington, that rate is 78.2 years.
Recently the Department of Commerce reported that the country’s economy contracted in the second quarter of 2020 at the fastest rate in its history and represents the biggest debacle since World War II.
According to the Department’s Bureau of Economic Analysis, real Gross Domestic Product (GDP) declined at a rate of 32.9 percent in the second quarter of 2020 due to the disastrous effects of the pandemic. In the first quarter, it was minus 5 percent.
The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) estimated a 7.3% drop in US GDP for 2020, a figure that could be altered if the coronavirus wave is sustained or increased.
Meanwhile, China emerges as the powerhouse that will end the year of the pandemic with positive economic growth. If in the first quarter its GDP was at minus 6.8%, in the second quarter it grew by 3.2%, exceeding all analysts’ forecasts.
The National Statistics Office of the Asian giant indicated that “in the second quarter growth went from negative to positive”, in a context of economic recovery after the stagnation caused by the coronavirus and that “the market outlook is generally good”.
In nominal terms, China’s total wealth in the first half of the year stood at 45.66 trillion yuan ($6.53 billion).
For the Beijing government, the health policy adopted throughout the nation has been fundamental, through which it has been able to control covid-19, even in asymptomatic people.
Since August 16, no local infections have been recorded and only imported cases have been detected, people who immediately go into a 14-day quarantine.
Of course, this way of stopping the proliferation of the disease contrasts with those applied in the United States and other Western nations. A free health-care policy has been essential to achieving this.
The IHS Markit agency reported that exports represented 20% of the global total between April and June, seven percentage points more than in the same period in 2019, and also applied the alternative of increasing domestic consumption among its large population.
The Asian giant’s recovery has been influenced by the rapid digital transformation of its economy, which was growing strongly before the pandemic, and which accelerated with it.
In 2018 it already represented 34.8% of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP), a percentage that grew year after year above the growth of the Product.
Zhang Jun, dean of Fudan University’s School of Economics and director of China’s Center for Economic Studies, explained that families, unable to leave their homes, adopted applications such as JD.com, Meituan, Eleme and Pinduoduo for daily product purchases.
The companies took advantage of digital tools, from communication platforms such as Enterprise WeChat and DingTalk to electronic contracts, to keep their businesses running.
The end result has been that China is on its way to an economic revival, while in the United States there is still no light at the end of the tunnel.
In China, the Battle Continues
In China, the Battle Continues
By Carlos Miguel Pereira Hernández
March 22, 2020
Translated and edited by Walter Lippmann for CubaNews.
Image: Cuba’s Blog in China.
As you know, there has been encouraging news of the last few days in China indicating substantial progress towards controlling the spread of the virus at the mainland level. Together with the strengthening of quarantine measures in major cities to stop the upsurge of new cases “imported” from abroad, are reflected important changes in the scenario we have experienced in recent weeks.
While cities such as Wuhan and others, considered epicenters or areas most affected by the epidemic could move towards a gradual relaxation of the quarantine measures imposed, others such as Beijing and Shanghai will have to remain under strict mandatory quarantine measures for those arriving by air from abroad. This will involve adjustments to air routes, with previous stops in other cities and even changes in the planned destinations of international flights, as part of the measures taken to control the upsurge of new cases arriving from abroad. Only six new cases were reported in Beijing in this way.
The situation in Hong Kong, Taiwan, and Macao still remains complicated, although the trend of increasing new cases is also showing an encouraging slowdown.
As it is known, the situation of all our colleagues and relatives in China has remained unchanged and uneventful. This is largely thanks to the joint efforts of all and the discipline maintained in complying with the measures indicated. However, while the situation here is improving after two very critical months, in the rest of the world, including our country, it is tending to worsen and become more critical. That is why we must redouble our efforts so as not to compromise what has been achieved, to avoid complacency and, at the same time, to prepare for a gradual return to normality.
These have been intense days. In addition to taking care of ourselves and preserving the health of our collective to the maximum, it has been necessary to deploy an intense battle for the truth in our networks. [We want] to close the way to the lies and manipulation that have proven to be more contaminating and lethal viruses than COVID-19 itself. From our pages in different platforms, we responded to incredulous and manipulative people about the successful use of nebulized applications of Cuban interferon manufactured in the Changheber plant, both from the preventive point of view by the Chinese medical staff before attending the patients and in the treatment itself of the patients infected with the virus.
Just a few days ago, when we were in the midst of that other battle, in an inexplicable way, Facebook, based again on its questionable algorithms, surprisingly deleted the official page of our embassy, from which we had been informing the world in an objective and systematic way about what had happened in these long months of the epidemic, the situation of our compatriots and the work of the diplomatic mission and the consulates in the People’s Republic of China.
However, Cuba’s commitment to the truth can never be erased, not even with all the clicks in the world. Barely 24 hours later, a new page was created from which we have followed and will continue to disseminate to the world our bilateral work, as well as reiterating our support and recognition to the Chinese people and government. [In addition, there are such] humanist acts as the decision to receive the British cruise ship infected with COVID-19 in Cuban territory to enable its passengers to return to their countries of origin, or the decision by China and Cuba to send medical brigades and to strengthen international cooperation as the only effective way to win this battle for life.
Taking into account the evolution of the situation in China, the embassy, the consulates general of Shanghai and Guangzhou, the Cuban representative offices and the Antillean personnel on official missions will continue to implement planned measures, which take into account the persistence of the danger and the call for strict compliance with measures to avoid contagion, in the midst of a gradual return to normality.
The medical post will remain in operation at the embassy headquarters, with the services of the medical team that is among us. It will continue to support us in the important task of providing medical guidance and advice, and also in complying with the medical protocol established since the beginning of the epidemic. Given the current epidemiological conditions of our country, this acquires even greater importance in order to ensure that nationals traveling to our country strictly comply with it. The impeccable implementation of that protocol has enabled dozens of our compatriots to return to the country in good health and no cases of contagion from China have been reported so far.
As it has been reported through different channels, all Cubans who plan to return to the country in the next few days must also strictly comply with the indicated medical protocol, for which they must contact the corresponding consular office and the medical post.
On the other hand, taking into account the evolution of the situation and the gradual reestablishment of face-to-face work by the Chinese institutions, starting tomorrow, Monday, March 23, the Cuban embassy and consulates in China will begin to resume their work in person, which will be done in a flexible manner according to the situation in each locality and in coordination with the respective heads of offices and consulates according to the priorities to be undertaken.
In the case of the Embassy, the following measures will be mandatory:
The mandatory use of masks. Once you arrive at the parking lot and before entering the offices, have your temperature taken at the medical post.
Hands and shoes will be disinfected at the entrance of the Embassy.
No inter-office visits will be allowed and only those meetings duly authorized and coordinated by the embassy management and with the measures duly taken.
Do not use common glasses, cups or spoons. Each colleague must have and use his or her own.
Meetings with external personnel will be analyzed on a case-by-case basis and with due authorisation and will be carried out in strict compliance with the measures indicated.
It is necessary that the offices are kept clean and aired at least twice a day for 30 minutes each time.
The Consular Office in Beijing and the Consulates General in Shanghai and Guangzhou will continue to provide services as before. Secretaries may be incorporated as long as services are provided for which they are required and with strict compliance with all measures, including the use of nasobuco on a permanent basis. The consulates must permanently have all the resources to ensure prevention and timely disinfection.
In the case of the group of students studying at different Chinese higher education institutions, general compliance with these measures will continue to be observed, and they will have to be adapted to the characteristics of each university and the decisions that will be announced by the corresponding authorities for the current school year. For the time being, the Chinese authorities recommend that students abroad do not return to China until otherwise indicated.
To the resident Cuban community, we reiterate that the embassy and its consulates will remain as they have been up to now, open and in permanent communication with you, to assist and support you in whatever may be necessary. As soon as the situation allows it, we will meet to take stock of what has happened during these days, in which the unity and cohesion of all becomes the main possible and necessary path towards the future.
To all of you, no matter the task or mission that has brought you to China or the migratory status you have today, I reiterate, on behalf of the leadership of our Embassy, that it has been a true honor to have shared these difficult days with you. We have made real the permanent call of President Miguel Díaz-Canel Bermúdez to “think as a country”. At the same time, I congratulate you for the exemplary attitude that has been maintained, which is allowing us to arrive little by little at the goal and to contribute our share in the battle that is being fought. I am not exaggerating if I say that you have been up to the task of our always hardened people and also of the brotherly and stoic Chinese people.
Reciprocal solidarity between Chinese and Cubans has always been present in the common history of our peoples. There are many and countless pages written throughout these years, in which each party has spared no time or effort in supporting and reaching out to the other, in the midst of situations of disasters, epidemics, media campaigns, and unprecedented manifestations of hatred and economic warfare.
These have also been days of deep solidarity and mutual support. Cuba has not only been among the leading countries in supporting and recognizing the epic battle waged by China, which has also been a crusader for the world. But China has also provided its concrete contribution in solidarity in many ways. These include the joint work of experts who have joined forces in the development of new medicines or therapies to confront a disease that, beyond announcements and predictions, remains dangerously unknown. Likewise, Chinese and Cuban doctors are working side by side today to confront COVID-19 in the region of Lombardy, Italy, one of the most affected regions in that country.
More recently, after the appearance of the first cases of the new coronavirus in the country, we have felt the human and supportive accompaniment of the Chinese government and authorities. They were among the first again, as well as their people, their companies, institutions and friends in general, to whom we extend our deepest gratitude. Increasingly, they contact us from all parts of China to send us their encouragement and support and their confidence in the capacity of our country and its health system to face the COVID-19.
As has already been announced by the Chinese authorities, an important government donation is ready, which will be joined by others that will generously send Chinese companies with a long history of links with the Island, including equipment, inputs, and others of great practical value that will reinforce the proven capacity of the Cuban health system to act, always focused on preserving the life of the people. In addition, a modest donation is being prepared by the community of Cuban residents through the Association of Cuban Residents in China “Ernesto Che Guevara”.
The battle continues, there is still much to be done. COVID-19 constitutes a global threat that must be faced with the cooperation and responsibility of all. In its prevention and containment, solidarity and international cooperation is the only possible way.
Beijing, 22 March 2020
Huawei Wants to Replace Google Search
Huawei Wants to Replace Google Search With Its Own Search Engine
March 4, 2020
Translated and edited by Walter Lippmann for CubaNews.
Huawei’s billboard at PT Expo, Beijing, China, October 31, 2019. Photo: Mark Schiefelbein/AP.
Replace Google Search. That is the purpose of Huawei, which is developing an Internet search engine for its mobile devices, according to the media XDA, which participated in the testing of the beta version of that application which the Chinese technology began to develop last week.
Huawei Search works as a basic search engine that helps to find websites, news, videos or images on the Internet, while offering shortcuts to consult information about the weather or currency exchange.
However, this solution is not connected to other programs, while Alphabet’s company search engine does have links to utilities such as “podcasts” or Google Assistant.
This service is operated by Aspiegel Limited -Huawei’s subsidiary in Ireland- and could work on the Chinese technology’s own search engine, without the need to incorporate external search programs.
Although at first the company invited anyone to participate in this initiative, as of February 29th it stopped the beta testing of Huawei Search because of its “concerns” related to the “misuse” of the app in social media.
The Chinese technology company has promoted this project because it cannot use certain US technology services since 2019.
It also happens that some Huawei mobiles cannot use certain Google services since last year, when the US government blacklisted the Chinese firm, preventing it from acquiring components from US companies without Washington’s approval.
Cuban Medical Collaborators in Chinese Hospitals
Cuban Medical Collaborators Resume Activities in Hospitals in China
March 1, 2020
Translated and edited by Walter Lippmann for CubaNews.
Cuban health workers in China. Photo: Cuban Medical Cooperation in China/Facebook.
Ophthalmologists from Cuba’s Medical Brigade in China have been continuing their assistance activities in three hospitals in the country since Tuesday, with responsibility and the necessary protection in the midst of the emergency caused by the outbreak of the Covid-19 coronavirus.
The mission, led by Dr. Yamira Palacios, confirmed that work was resumed after the suspensions adopted for security reasons, and as part of the national contingency plan implemented since late January.
She said in the social networks that the Cuban collaborators together with the Chinese health professionals are still linked despite the complex epidemiological situation in the country, with responsibility for their health care and protection to avoid exposure to the greatest risk.
The Brigade added that the priority is to prevent, maintain control and comply with the measures to confront the coronavirus.
This gesture is another sign of love, unity, solidarity and commitment,” she concluded.
The Cuban collaboration is developing with good results in ophthalmological centers installed in mixed hospitals in the provinces of Qinghai, Shanxi and Henan.
Official figures show that between 2012 and 2019 alone, more than 225,627 consultations and 13,546 surgeries were performed.
A couple of days ago, the Brigade reiterated its support and confidence in the efforts of the Chinese government to stop the Covid-19 in the shortest time possible. In addition, the Brigade to highlighted the discipline and compliance with the actions carried out by the health authorities of the Asian giant and those of the Cuban embassy here.
“To this day no Cuban in China has fallen ill. The result of hard teamwork. Counting on truthful and timely information without issuing a single opinion that was not supported by science, nor additional measures, without alarmism or collective panic,” he said.
She highlighted the reinforcement of the team with pediatric infectious disease doctor Ileana Alvarez and clinical infectious disease doctor Rafael Arocha. Both are recognized physicians of the Henry Reeve Contingent and whose incorporation was considered another sign of kindness and solidarity of the Cuban health system.
“We will continue on the path that will lead us to control this contagious and still unknown disease (…) that has filled the Chinese people with pain, sadness, and uncertainty,” he said.
Dr. Palacios, along with Alvarez and Arocha, are in charge of the medical post established in the Caribbean island’s embassy to reinforce health care for compatriots in China in the midst of the emergency due to the outbreak.
The team provides assistance and consultations, follows up on the current epidemiological situation, and also supports the preventive work that the diplomatic mission implemented in order to be more effective in guiding and protecting its fellow countrymen.
Cuban health workers in China. Photo: Cuban Medical Cooperation in China/Facebook.
Coronavirus…Biological Terrorism?
Coronavirus, Another Act of Biological Terrorism?
“Isn’t it highly suspicious that the coronavirus has appeared in China and that Washington has introduced it to weaken what many already consider the world’s leading economic power over the hitherto evil empire led by Trump?”
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Author: Orfilio Peláez | orfilio@granma.cu
February 7, 2020 23:02:34
Translated and edited by Walter Lippmann for CubaNews.
China faces the coronavirus responsibly and with its people., In the image the first hospital to care for the sick, built in just ten days, and the second hospital is already delivered for the same purpose. Photo: XINHUA
An article published in his personal blog by Spanish journalist Patricio Montesinos deals with the theory that the coronavirus could be a germ created in U.S. laboratories, as a bacteriological weapon of the commercial war unleashed by Washington against China.
According to the text reproduced in Rebelión, several recent statements by senior White House officials and an increasingly intense international media campaign against China, feed the hypothesis that the administration of President Donald Trump could be responsible for the epidemic that appeared in late December 2019, in the city of Wuhan.
Montesinos alludes to the January 31 statement by Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross, who said, “The coronavirus outbreak that has infected thousands of people could boost the U.S. economy. But the senior official went further, saying that it “will help speed the return of jobs to America.
Ross’s statements followed those of Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, who in the midst of the world’s emergency for the disease identified China as a threat to international democratic principles.
In addition, the silence of the major media omits to mention the enormous efforts made by the Asian country’s authorities to control the spread of the epidemic. These include the construction, in record time, of two major hospitals to provide top-quality medical care to the sick and the search for effective drugs that can cure the disease.
In his article, the journalist states that although there have been attempts to hide it, the world knows well how successive U.S. administrations have resorted to biological warfare to overthrow governments considered to be adverse, and to unleash conflicts between nations and exterminate populations.
Fidel, one of the first targets
A look at what has happened in the world during the last 60 years allows us to say that few nations have suffered such varied forms of biological attacks as Cuba.
Perhaps one of the first alleged victims of that dark form of aggression was Commander-in-Chief Fidel Castro at the beginning of the Revolution. The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) designed a plan to contaminate a diving suit that was supposed to be used by the Cuban leader.
Carefully infected with tuberculosis bacilli, the CIA wanted to use Fidel’s hospitality with James Donovan, a lawyer who was negotiating with the Cuban government to free the mercenaries captured in the invasion of Playa Giron, to deliver the suit to the Chief of the Revolution through him.
The macabre gift was not given by Donovan to his host and the versions that have come down to us suggest that he refused or sought a pretext to avoid becoming involved in the infamous act.
There were also attempts to inoculate microorganisms in tobacco that Fidel would smoke, in order to cause his emblematic beard to fall out.
After the failure of the invasion of Playa Girón, in 1962 the CIA, with the approval of the U.S. government, implemented the so-called Operation Mongoose. Included among its actions was the use of biological and chemical agents capable of destroying Cuban crops and incapacitating agricultural workers.
It was not by chance then that shortly afterward the pathogenic New Castle virus appeared in the fields of the largest of the Antilles and caused severe damage to the national poultry population by having to slaughter tens of thousands of birds.
According to what William Turner, former FBI agent, and the journalist Warren Hinckle, as stated in the book Lethal Secrets: The War of the CIA and the American Mafia against Fidel Castro and the assassination of John Fitzgerald Kennedy, the United States used bacteriological warfare in Cuba during the administration of Richard Nixon (1969-1974) and the CIA engaged the northern government in an undeclared and illegal secret war against Cuba. An example of this was the sudden emergence and rapid spread in 1971 of the first epidemic of African swine fever, whose control and eradication led to the elimination of more than half a million pigs.
On January 7, 1977, a cable from the U.S. agency UPI, dated in Washington, reported that an unidentified CIA source revealed that it had received a container containing the virus in early 1971 at Fort Guglick, a U.S. Army base in the Panama Canal zone. It was to be transferred in a fishing boat to agents in charge of operating clandestinely in Cuba.
Following the investigations made by a group of scientists of the National Center of Agricultural Health (Censa), directed by Dr. Rosa Elena Simeón Negrín, it was concluded that this specific germ of the pigs had been artificially adapted to be transported by means of birds. The specialists warned that this could only be achieved intentionally and with refined techniques of genetic engineering and biotechnology.
It was the first time that the aggressive disease had spread in the Western Hemisphere.
African swine fever reappeared in Cuba in 1979. On that occasion, it became known that the reinfection originated in the surroundings of the town of Caimanera, very close to the Naval Base, which illegally occupies Cuban territory in Guantánamo.
Other acts of bacteriological warfare suffered by the Cuban people between the 1970s and the 1990s. These included the deliberate introduction of the Blue Mould of tobacco (1971), which severely affected the production of such an important exportable product, Cane Rust (1978), whose devastating effect forced the dismantling of almost all the fields planted with the Barbados 4326 cane variety, which has high agricultural and industrial yields. Finally, the painful epidemic of dengue hemorrhagic fever (1981), which caused 158 deaths, 101 of them children, and the insect infestation Thrips palmer which devastated several crops.
During a trial held in New York City in 1984, the Cuban-born agent of the CIA Eduardo Arocena, declared in no uncertain terms that the mission of the group under his command was to obtain certain pathogenic germs and introduce them into Cuba.
The confession is recorded in the minutes on page 2189, file 2-fbi-ny 185-1009, but the prosecutor in charge of the process never ordered an investigation.
There is no evidence at this time that the coronavirus is part of a biological terrorist action by the United States, but the practice of that country and the statements of some of its highest officials leads journalist Patricio Montesinos in his thoughtful article to ask himself: “Isn’t it very suspicious that the coronavirus has appeared in China and that Washington has introduced it to weaken what many already consider the first economic power in the world, over and above the until now evil empire led by Trump?
In context
More than 31,400 cases of coronavirus infection exist worldwide, according to a report yesterday from the World Health Organization (WHO), and of those more than 31,200 in China.
The outbreak is now in 25 countries and 638 people have died, of which only one was recorded outside the Asian giant.
No Latin American country is yet on the map of coronavirus distribution drawn up by the WHO, although an Argentine citizen traveling on a cruise ship held in Japan was found to be infected.
So far, Chinese doctors have saved 1,540 people, according to a report by the People’s Daily.
The People’s Daily reported that Chinese President Xi Jinping spoke by phone Friday with his U.S. counterpart, Donald Trump, asking for sanity in the international media atmosphere. Figures and data are deliberately presented there without contrast, which convey an image that the Asian nation is not doing enough to counteract the epidemic.
During the 146th session of the WHO Executive Board on February 4, Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus praised China for its strong action and speed in the fight.
CCP Heads Battle Against Coronavirus
Chinese Communist Party leading the battle against the coronavirus
According to Radio China International, the meeting, chaired by the General Secretary of the Central Committee of the CCP, Xi Jinping, was aimed at studying the next steps in the fight against the disease, with the conviction of winning that battle
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Author: International Editor | internacionales@granma.cu
February 4, 2020 23:02:42
Translated and edited by Walter Lippmann for CubaNews.
The 2019-nCoV outbreak has claimed more lives in China than the severe acute respiratory syndrome that affected the country in 2002-2003. Photo: Reuters
The 2019-nCOV outbreak has claimed more lives in China than the severe acute respiratory syndrome that affected the country in 2002-2003. Photo: Reuters
The Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China held a meeting on Monday to hear the report of the Central Steering Group on the coronavirus and related departments on prevention and control of the epidemic.
According to Radio China International, the meeting, chaired by the Secretary-General of the Central Committee of the CCPR, Xi Jinping, was aimed at studying the next steps for the confrontation of the disease, with the conviction of winning that battle.
With the death toll from the new coronavirus outbreak rising to 426, the World Health Organization (WHO) called for global solidarity, with special emphasis on collective surveillance.
According to Prensa Latina, so far there are 20,471 confirmed cases in the Asian giant, including 425 deaths; while 176 cases were recorded in 24 other countries and one death in the Philippines.
Drug in the test phase
Russian Deputy Health Minister Sergei Kraevói said Chinese specialists are testing a Russian-made drug known as Triazavirin to see if it can fight the coronavirus.
The news, published by Sputnik, assures that the Triazavirin is an antiviral drug from this Eurasian country of direct action of the azoloazine family. According to its creators, it is effective against 15 types of flu.
Cuba remains on alert although no cases of coronavirus have been reported so far.
Cuba’s Ministry of Public Health (Minsap) informed the people that, as part of the protective measures established at the national level to prevent the spread of the coronavirus in the nation, some people who in the last 14 days were in China and other countries with the presence of the virus have been isolated.
According to Dr. Francisco Duran, national director of MINSAP Epidemiology, these people presented symptoms similar to those of the coronavirus, and therefore were admitted to the Pedro Khouri Institute (IPK)and “other hospitals” on the island. However, it has not been confirmed that any of them suffer from the disease, he told Cuban television.
Hong Kong Demos Turn Violent
Demonstrations turn violent in two cities in Hong Kong
Hong Kong police fired tear gas on Saturday to disperse protests after groups favorable to Beijing destroyed some of the “Lennon Walls” of anti-government messages in the city ruled by China after more than three months of unrest
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By Digital News Staff
A CubaNews translation. Edited by Walter Lippmann.
Riot police remove a barricade in Tuen Mun, Hong Kong, China on September 21, 2019. Photo: Reuters
Hong Kong police fired tear gas Saturday to disperse protests after pro-Beijing groups destroyed some of the “Lennon Walls” of anti-government messages in the city ruled by China after more than three months of unrest.
The gases were fired when protesters threw Molotov cocktails into a police cordon in the new city of Tuen Mun in the western New Territories and near Yuen Long during the night.
Some demonstrators in Tuen Mun set fire to a Chinese flag while others knocked down wooden and metal fences and traffic bollards to block roads, at least one was set on fire.
Some destroyed equipment at the tram station, unearthed bricks and collected stones from the margins of the tracks. Others used police fire extinguishers.
“Radical demonstrators damaged the Tuen Mun Center tram station facilities with metal sticks, threw objects against the tracks and placed barricades nearby, causing traffic obstruction,” police said in a statement.
“Radical protesters also threw Molotov cocktails, posing a serious threat to the safety of police and others.
Hundreds of protesters strayed from the police cordon when tear gas was fired, many of them running down the highway to regroup.
Dozens of Beijing sympathizers had already knocked down some of the large colorful mosaics made with Post-it notes calling for democracy and denouncing the perception of Chinese interference in the former British colony, which returned to Chinese domination in 1997.
The “Lennon Walls” have flourished through the Asian financial center, in bus stops and shopping centers, under walkways, along pedestrian walkways and in universities.
Protests in Hong Kong intensified in June over legislation, now withdrawn, that would have allowed people to be sent to mainland China for trial. Since then, the demands have been extended to demands for universal suffrage.
Sino-Russian Strategic Alliance
China and Russia in Strategic Alliance
By Manuel E. Yepe
http://manuelyepe.wordpress.com/
Exclusive for the daily POR ESTO! of Merida, Mexico.
Translated and edited by Walter Lippmann.
The Russian magazine of the Strategic Culture Foundation (FCE) published on 7th June an important editorial dedicated to highlighting the strong contrast between the strategic alliance for the 21st century that is being consolidated between China and Russia and the situation of enmity and confrontation that can be seen among Western leaders.
Russian President Vladimir Putin received his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping in Moscow this week for a three-day state visit.
The meeting not only enhanced the personal affection cultivated among them in nearly 30 meetings over the past six years. President Xi referred to Putin as a close friend and a great international ally.
Even more important is the fact that the two nations are solidifying a strategic alliance that could define the geopolitics of the 21st century, the FCE editorialist considers.
Putin and Xi – who also recently attended the International Economic Forum in St. Petersburg – signed a series of bilateral trade agreements there that will boost Eurasian development and, indeed, global development.
Of particular importance is the continued drive by Moscow and Beijing to conduct international trade in national currencies, thus avoiding the use of the US dollar as a means of payment in international transactions. This is a crucial step in countering Washington’s purported hegemonic control of the global financial system.
Washington today abuses its privileged position of printing or retaining dollars to impose its imperial domination before the eyes of the world. This abuse must stop, and it will stop when Russia and China pave the way for a new, fairer mechanism of international finance and trade.
The policy of cooperation and partnership between equals described by Putin and Xi is based on mutual respect and peaceful prosperity. This vision is not only for those two nations, but for all the others because this policy implies a multi-lateral world without any kind of subjection. In the context of these principles, the consolidation of the alliance between Russia and China represents hope for a peaceful future for the planet, the Russian magazine of the FCE writes.
This positive view is especially welcome at a time when the United States, under President Donald Trump, has unleashed great tension and multiple conflicts in its attempt to shore up its deteriorating global dominance.
The United States is exerting sanctions and threats on numerous nations, including Russia and China, and is doing so even to its supposed allies in Europe, all in a desperate attempt to assert its hegemonic and uni-polar power.
This Imperial policy is the negation of the policies of solidarity and partnership outlined by the Russian and Chinese leaderships. The American style is not only useless, but above all it leads to destruction and war. A path by which, in short, nobody wins, says the FCE editorialist.
History has shown where a policy like the American one leads. In the 20th century, two horrendous world wars were fought – with nearly 100 million dead – largely due to imperialist rivalry.
Russia and China were the two nations that suffered the most in these conflagrations. Both know the horrible cost of conflict, but also how precious peace is. That is why it is encouraging to see those two countries forging a new paradigm of international cooperation based on solidarity and commitment to the development of the common good of all nations.
While Putin and Xi contribute to a solid project for the future, those of the United States and some other Western countries publicly show their disagreements. The false camaraderie of Western leaders is disproved by their ongoing disputes and rivalries. Trump and other European leaders have just celebrated the 75th anniversary of the Normandy landing in June 1944, a military event that announced the opening of the Western front in Nazi-occupied Europe. It contributed to the defeat of the Third Reich, but it was by far not the most important battle. The so-called D-Day was not a definitive milestone in the course of the war.
The historical truth is different. It is indisputable that it was the Soviet Red Army and the colossal sacrifices of Soviet citizens that constituted the fundamental force to defeat Nazi Germany and achieve the liberation of Europe from fascism. The momentous Battle of Stalingrad, which destroyed the Nazi war machine, ended in February 1943, some 16 months before the Western Allies launched their “D” day.
Western leaders enjoy smugly speculating about alleged past glories. This vanity fair does not change the historical record or objective truth. Those who do not learn from history repeat their mistakes and fall back into a dead end. They are leaders who are afraid of the future, says the FCE.
*This article can be reproduced by citing the newspaper POR ESTO! as a source.
Behind the US-China Tension
Reasons for Tension Between Washington and China
By Manuel E. Yepe
http://manuelyepe.wordpress.com/
Exclusive for the daily POR ESTO! of Merida, Mexico.
Translated and edited by Walter Lippmann.
Philippe Waechter, Chief Economist with French Company Ostrum Asset Management, published on May 17 last year an interesting analysis of the current tensions between China and the United States.
The French expert explains that Donald Trump’s tweets of May 5 increased tension between Washington and Beijing and re-launched new discussions on the terms of a trade agreement between the two powers.
Chinese retaliation against US imports in response to the new U.S. tariffs calls into question the lengthy period of calm begun after the G20 meeting on December 1st last year.
Trump’s desire to impose new restrictions on China reflects his desire to repatriate jobs, especially in the manufacturing sector, and also to reduce US dependence on China.
In 2018, the U.S. external trade balance with China showed a more than $400 billion deficit.
The counterpart of this Chinese surplus with the United States reflected Chinese financing of the U.S. economy through the purchase of U.S. federal bonds. The logic was that the Chinese products in the U.S. market financed the U.S. economy to compensate for the lack of savings there.
The functioning of the Chinese-American trade was on the basis of complement, but this balance is now changing in nature because China’s weight in financing the US economy has been declining.
In March 2019, the weight of U.S. financial assets in the hands of China as part of the total U.S. foreign funding had fallen to the low level observed in June 2006.
The balance of the relationship between the two countries is changing and the United States no longer has the capacity to influence China as it did in the past. China now has more autonomy, says Waechter.
The White House is impatient over Chinese unwillingness to respond to its requests. By taxing Chinese imports, Washington wants to influence Beijing’s economy by creating strong social tension there that would force the hand of the Chinese authorities who do not wish to take this social risk.
The slow pace of Chinese activity indicators since the beginning of the year could validate Washington’s analysis and encourage it to further harden its commercial tone.
At the beginning of 2019, the weight of the United States in Chinese exports slowed significantly. China’s dependence on the United States is being reversed and, at the same time, the Chinese are re-launching the New Silk Road initiative, whose objective is, among others, to further diversify Chinese markets.
China is now expanding market opportunities and effectively limiting the influence of the U.S. on its internal economic situation.
The other major point of disagreement between Washington and Beijing concerns technology. “It seems to me that this is the main point of the differences between the two countries,” says Waechter.
The Chinese have updated technologically very quickly in the last twenty years. This has been the case both in technology transfers as in resources to facilitate it. And this has worked so well that the Chinese are now considerably ahead of the U.S. in 5G and Artificial Intelligence, among other significant developments.
In this question of technological supremacy, there is a radical change because the Chinese have the means to develop these technologies without American support.
This situation could have arisen with Japan a few years ago, but the Japanese always opted for remaining in the US fold, which is not the case in Beijing –says Waechter– because China has a very large internal market and this them to create conditions for autonomous technological dynamics.
The stakes are simple:
Whoever sets the standards for these new technologies will have a considerable comparative advantage. It will be easier to develop innovations using these technologies. That’s why this is where the negotiations get stuck.
The Chinese have devoted significant resources to achieving this technological advantage and will not fall naively under U.S. control.
This technological stagnation will not be resolved spontaneously, and the possibility of an agreement between the two countries seems unlikely.
“The dynamics of the world economy are changing. This is the first time in modern history that a situation occurs that makes it likely that the world economy moves to a new region due to criteria related to technological innovation.”
When the core of the world economy moved from the United Kingdom to the United States, there was a continuity that does not exist in the current situation. This will alter the dynamics of the world economy and will inevitably redistribute the cards among the regions of the world,” concludes Philippe Waechter.
May 22, 2019.
This article may be reproduced by quoting the newspaper POR ESTO as the source.
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