Un paio di giorni fa la commissione Esteri della Camera ha deliberato all’unanimità un’indagine conoscitiva sulle tematiche relative alla proiezione dell’Italia e dei Paesi europei nell’Indo-Pacifico, proposta dal vicepresidente Paolo Formentini della Lega, che ha ottenuto sostegno bipartisan con il lavoro dell’altro vicepresidente, Lia Quartapelle del Partito Democratico. Ricordo a chi non li conoscesse che questi due personaggi, indipendentemente dalle loro affiliazioni politiche, sono uniti da una profonda sinofobia, entrambi fanno parte di coalizioni interparlamentari anti-cinesi oltre che essere membri di lobby USA. Nel 2019 si erano espressi contro l'adesione dell'Italia alla Belt & Road Initiative, la nuova Via della Seta, avevano sostenuto le violente proteste orchestrate dagli USA a Hong Kong, chiesto sanzioni contro esponenti del governo di Hong Kong, sottoscritto e amplificato tutte le falsita' che circolano su Tibet e Xinjiang. @LauraRuHK

Protesters took to the streets of Hiroshima with slogans like "Against the Hiroshima summit!", "No to the imperialist G7 summit!", "No to nuclear war!", "No to war and invasion of China!", "No to aggressive war with China!"

In places it seems there are more police than demonstrators. It seems they are heading to the Atomic Bomb Dome (the pre-1945 exhibition centre of the Hiroshima Chamber of Commerce and Industry, the only surviving building near the epicentre of the nuclear explosion).https://t.me/rian_ru/203144

Taiwan may pay an ‘unthinkable’ price for accepting free US weapons, says former defence minister - US Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin confirmed recently that the Pentagon would send “additional security assistance” free of charge to the island. “If you suddenly receive such free aid, you need to pay a certain unthinkable price,” Feng told reporters on Thursday when asked to comment on the plan.Beijing has warned the US and other countries not to provide military aid or have exchanges with Taiwan, something it views as a breach of its sovereignty. Earlier this month, the White House said it would send US$500 million worth of free military aid to Taiwan after deliveries of American weapons, including Stinger missiles and F-16V fighter jets, were delayed.
According to Republican Congresswoman Young Kim, the value of the items Taiwan is waiting for has now reached US$21 billion. The US authorised the sale of 250 Stingers to Taiwan in 2019 but the shoulder-mounted missiles have been in demand in Ukraine.
The US State Department has said that the backlog is due to the limited production capacity of the country’s defence industry.
On Tuesday, Austin told Congress the US would soon provide certain weapons to Taiwan for free under the same emergency aid programme being used for Ukraine. Taiwan’s Defence Minister Chiu Kuo-cheng said last Monday that the US had been in talks with the island for several months over the type of free weapons that would be provided.
“These extra weapons will be given to us for free and will not be deducted from the purchase list which has been delayed by the US,” Chiu said, adding they would include missiles and some logistic services to help train soldiers in how to use the weapons. https://www.scmp.com/news/china/politics/article/3221034/taiwan-may-pay-unthinkable-price-accepting-free-us-weapons-says-former-defence-minister

🎖E' arrivato il momento di soddisfare la curiosita' e complimentarmi con chi ha indovinato la risposta del quiz. Alain Elkann, Piero Fassino, Paolo Formentini, Vittorio Emanuele Parsi, Paolo Mieli, Monica Maggioni, insieme ad altri, fanno parte della Fondazione Italia-USA. Alcuni di loro sono anche membri degli altri club citati. https://www.italiausa.org/staff/

Oggi e' atterrato a Tbilisi il primo volo diretto Mosca-Tbilisi dopo 4 anni di sospensione. Sull'aereo e' stato offerto champagne per festeggiare, ma a terra qualche guastafeste con bandiere ucraine e della UE non gradisce il graduale ritorno alla normalita' nei rapporti tra Russia e Georgia. E' dovuta intervenire la polizia. https://t.me/readovkaworld/7910

Putin and Raisi bury the unipolar world
By Elena Panina
The agreement between Russian and Iranian presidents Vladimir Putin and Ibrahim Raisi to complete the 162 km railway line between the Iranian city of Resht and Azerbaijan's Astara is a unique and breakthrough event.

On the route of the North-South Transport Corridor from St. Petersburg to the Indian port of Mumbai, this missing piece of railway track had been obstructing freight traffic for 20 years, creating a bottleneck. There was double transhipment: from wagons to vehicles and then back to wagons. Flow rates were falling, transport volumes were not growing, but costs were rising.

Geopolitics prevented this bottleneck from being resolved. It has now helped: Western sanctions have made it urgent to solve the problem, and it has been solved. Commodity flows, the lifeblood of the economy, will take a different route.

▪️ There are three aspects here: economics, geopolitics and military. Economically, Russia and Iran have shown not only a unique rapprochement, but also an attitude towards a long-term partnership in Eurasia. The road is being built in Iran by the partners for a long-term perspective: 162 km of it cost $2 billion, of which Azerbaijan gives $0.5 billion and Russia gives $1.5 billion.

In addition to the railway, the Garmsar-Inche-Burun line, another 495 km, is also being electrified. The growth of turnover from the commissioning of Resht-Astara section will be 16%, the total volume of transportations via "North-South" route will reach the figure of 15 mln tons per year. It will be completed by 2030, by the time when China plans to achieve naval supremacy over the USA. Coincidence?

▪️ A separate touch is, in fact, the final decision by Azerbaijan, Turkey and Russia to unblock the Nakhijevan corridor as a supplement to transports between Russia, Turkey and Iran via Armenia and Azerbaijan. After all, Turkey will also be used as a transport hub by China, shipping goods there via the Mediterranean Sea. This way it will connect to the North-South corridor, where it is interested not only in India, but also in access to Europe via St. Petersburg.

It is unlikely that the US will be able to permanently block this route. Once the Ukrainian issue is resolved, communications will resume. The current situation in Karabakh, despite the discontent of pro-American circles in Armenia, opens up the benefits of participation in a global transport corridor for this Transcaucasian country.

▪️ Here the economy turns into geopolitics. Before us is born what is called the macro-region in the centre of Eurasia - without the participation of the United States and the West. With all the consequences for the hegemon. We see an alliance of Russia, Iran, Azerbaijan, Turkey, India and China.

This entails the weakening of such U.S. stronghold regions as Georgia and Armenia. They will have to reconsider their pro-American and anti-Russian policies. They will no longer be able to do without it without the risk of being left behind by the new centre of power. Those who will seek to prevent this will surely strengthen there.

Geopolitically, such unification would require strengthening the SCO and BRICS. Up to and including the creation of their own military, monetary and monetary alliances. Mutual coordination and rapprochement would increase manifold. Integration processes of a long-term nature will be launched, which the West will not be able to destroy. As a matter of fact, they understand it there, and that is why they are speeding up the creation of their macro-region within the framework of NATO and AUKUS.

▪️ Before our eyes, a powerful consortium of countries distancing themselves from the US, the US dollar zone, with full resource self-sufficiency and the potential for full technological sovereignty, is taking shape. (1/2)

(2/2) Washington is stuck in Ukraine, preparing for a second front in Taiwan and a third in Central Asia. In none of them are things going the way the U.S. plans, signs of a serious financial and political crisis are evident. Things will only get more complicated from here. In this respect, the Putin-Raisi agreement has very far-reaching implications. https://t.me/EvPanina/9561

🖋NEW ARTICLE: US Proxies Win Thai Elections – US-Chinese Tensions Set to Grow

"Only time will tell whether or not Southeast Asia is as incapable of protecting its sovereignty as Europe has proven to be. In the meantime, Thailand faces a turbulent near-future as Thais who are aware of their best interests will be pitted against those convinced to work against them."

https://journal-neo.org/2023/05/17/us-proxies-win-thai-elections-us-chinese-tensions-set-to-grow/

Sembra che nell'agenda del Bilderberg manchi cambiamento climatico, pandemie, teoria gender, immigrazione, e tutte quelle altre distrazioni che quotidianamente i media propongono ai peones. @LauraRuHK

Ursula von der Leyen opposed an equal dialogue between Russia and Ukraine at the G7 summit

According to her, “peace negotiations that equalize the aggressor and the victim must be rejected,” and Zelensky’s “peace formula” must be supported.

Deputy Chairman of the Security Council, and former president of Russia, Dmitry Medvedev, commenting on her words, noted that no negotiations are needed now:

“What equal negotiations can there be with a Nazi state that is in the process of half-life under external control? You can only talk to the owners. Or rather, only with Washington. There are simply no other interlocutors“

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CINA E RUSSIA, PARTNER IMPRESCINDIBILI PER LO SVILUPPO E LA SICUREZZA GLOBALI - In questi giorni i leader di 85 paesi islamici sono arrivati a Kazan, in Russia, per partecipare al ‘Russia-Islamic World’ forum, e contemporaneamente i presidenti dei 5 "stan", i paesi dell'Asia Centrale, si sono recati a Xi'an in Cina per un importante Summit con il presidente Xi Jinping. Questi eventi sono una chiara dimostrazione che, fuori dall'universo parallelo creato dai media occidentali, Cina e Russia sono considerati partner cruciali per la stabilita', lo sviluppo e la sicurezza globale. In queste due citta', Kazan e Xi'an, gli ospiti stranieri avranno potuto constatare con i propri occhi che i musulmani cinesi e russi non solo hanno totale liberta' di culto e magnifiche moschee, ma che stabilita' politica, sviluppo economico e sicurezza personale non sono solo slogan, ma una realta' tangibile. Io ho camminato da sola la sera in queste citta' senza mai temere di essere derubata e tanto meno aggredita, ho notato enormi investimenti nelle infrastrutture, dinamismo economico, ho percepito ottimismo e fiducia nel futuro tra le persone con cui ho parlato, non ho visto senzatetto e persone disperate. L'unica difficolta' che ho incontrato a Kazan e' stata quella di trovare una camera libera perche' ad agosto ostelli, pensioni e alberghi erano al completo. Ma anche quel problema e' stato risolto con un po' di fortuna: dei turisti malesi che erano arrivati in moto fino al Tatarstan mi hanno indicato l'affittacamere musulmana da cui dormivano e mi hanno risparmiato una notte sulla panchina. @LauraRuHK

THE US MIGHT BE FORCED TO TONE DOWN ITS COERCIVE "DIPLOMACY" AT THE G7 - Wang Wenbin, a spokesperson for the Chinese Foreign Ministry said "We urge the G7 to conform to the general trend of an open and inclusive era, and refrain from coercive diplomacy and closed and exclusive small circles". In pointed remarks, he noted that the US invented and owns the exclusive rights to coercive diplomacy. "Today, coercive diplomacy is a standard feature in the US' foreign policy toolbox. In order to realize its own interests, the US deploys containment and suppression in various fields such as politics, economy, military, and culture to engage in coercive diplomacy around the world," Wang said, noting that countries around the world, particularly developing countries, have borne the brunt of the harm.

The Chinese Foreign Ministry on Thursday also reposted a lengthy report in the Xinhua News Agency about the US' coercive diplomacy and the harm it has done, pointing out that it is also ruthless toward its allies. Companies such as Japan's Toshiba, Germany's Siemens, and France's Alstom have all been victims of US coercive diplomacy, Wang said. @LauraRuHK https://www.globaltimes.cn/page/202305/1291028.shtml

Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan has said that Riyadh and other Arab states are taking an impartial stance in the Ukraine-Russia conflict and want to maintain ties with both parties. He made the statement after the conclusion of the Arab League summit in Jeddah on Friday, which was attended by Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky.

“Since the beginning of the crisis, the Arab countries have taken a position of positive neutrality, opening dialogue with the Russian and Ukrainian parties, while ensuring Arab relations with the two sides,” the diplomat said, adding, “we welcome hearing the viewpoints of both sides of [the] Russia-Ukrainian conflict.”

Saudi Arabia has declined to take part in the Western sanctions on Moscow, which include efforts to curtail its energy exports. Riyadh’s continued cooperation with Russia through OPEC+, a cartel of oil exporters, has drawn criticism from the US.

Riyadh has also expressed hope that it could broker a resolution to the conflict, pledging to maintain trade and diplomatic ties with both Russia and Ukraine. (Source: RT) @LauraRuHK

Anti-War Demonstrators Clash With Police In Hiroshima Ahead Of G7 Summit

A group of anti-war activists, unhappy with the 49th G7 summit taking place in their city, clashed with police in Hiroshima.

👉@RTnews_unc3 **RT**