{"id":1201,"date":"2020-07-29T17:34:54","date_gmt":"2020-07-29T21:34:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/kjmaclean.com\/wordpress\/?p=1201"},"modified":"2020-08-05T08:52:07","modified_gmt":"2020-08-05T12:52:07","slug":"the-ccps-belt-and-road-initiative","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/kjmaclean.com\/wordpress\/the-ccps-belt-and-road-initiative\/","title":{"rendered":"The CCP&#8217;s Belt and Road Initiative"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The CCP (Chinese Communist Party) has a geostrategic plan to acquire resources across the globe. This includes ports, minerals, transportation projects, telecommunications, medicines, you name it. The CCP\u2019s strategy is to lend a country money, provide business to CCP owned businesses to build or facilitate the projects, and when a government has trouble making loan payments, to&nbsp; foreclose and take over the project. The CCP controls supply chains for industrial, medical, and telecommunications across the planet. Indeed, Rosemary Gibson, in China Rx, has shown that the US is dependent on CCP supply chains for fully 85% of the APIs (active pharmaceutical ingredients) necessary for making antibiotics and other important pharmaceuticals. This is one of the severe drawbacks in the \u201cglobalist\u201d economy model, where supply chains for many important products in the world economy are centered in China. Multinational corporations like China because the CCP guarantees very low wages, which can generate more profits.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">If the CCP were a fair and cooperative player in the world economy, Belt and Road &nbsp;would be no problem. If the money generated from these projects went to the Chinese people \u2013 instead of being laundered into real estate purchases and equities in Western countries such as the US and Britain \u2013 no one would complain. However, the CCP, being a totalitarian dictatorship, simply enriches itself at the expense of its own people, and other nations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Let\u2019s take a look around the world to see these developments. We will be using the fantastic site rwradvisory.com for these reports:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>China Orders Payment from Private Maldives Loan Recipient that Is Backed by State Guarantees, Applying Financial Pressure on Country<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Posted Tuesday, July 28, 2020 at 1:00pm<\/p>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\"><p>On July 27, local media reports in the Maldives indicated that the Export-Import Bank of China had ordered the country to repay $10 million of a $127 million loan issued to a private Maldivian construction company by August 6. The loan was initially issued in 2017 to Sun Siyam Resorts Pvt. Ltd. Although a private company, the loan to Sun Siyam Resorts was backed by Maldivian state guarantees. Indeed, the loan was reportedly the only major state-backed loan offered to a private enterprise in the country.<\/p><p>This unusual circumstance has led to local reports, citing \u201creliable sources,\u201d that failure to repay the loan had the potential to pose a real threat to the country\u2019s financial standing, even though the debt amount is comparably lower than other guarantees issued by the Maldivian government for Chinese loans on state-backed projects.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Here is an example (one of many) where the CCP uses its financial might to acquire resources in other countries.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Estonia Approves Hikvision\u2019s Acquisition of BK Group and Its Significant Regional Sales Network<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Posted Friday, July 24, 2020 at 12:37am<\/p>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\"><p>On July 20, Hikvision Singapore Pte. Ltd. (a unit of the Chinese surveillance equipment manufacturer) was issued permission from the Estonian Competition Authority to acquire Baltic security systems wholesaler, BK Group.\u00a0 The acquisition will include BK\u2019s global sales unit, BK Eesti AS, among other units that operate in regional markets such as Latvia, Estonia, Lithuania, and Poland.\u00a0 BK Group is reportedly among the largest vendors of security systems in the region.<\/p><p>Hikvision has noted that the primary intention of the acquisition is to improve the company\u2019s marketing activities in the Baltics.\u00a0 The acquisition of BK Group will presumably allow the Chinese manufacturer considerable access to the Baltic firm\u2019s global and regional sales networks, just as scrutiny of the company\u2019s foreign activities increases in the United States and other parts of the world.\u00a0 While the Baltic states maintain a wary eye toward Russia, Chinese investment fares differently.<\/p><p>The U.S. government is in the process of finalizing regulations banning the purchase of goods from any companies using equipment produced by Hikvision (among other Chinese technology firms), due to the company\u2019s close ties to the Chinese government and the associated data security implications.\u00a0 Despite these concerns, Hikvision products are already pervasive in the Baltic market. In February 2020, an investigative piece by the Lithuanian National Radio and Television disclosed that the equipment is particularly pervasive within Lithuania\u2019s state security agencies.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>After Confirming $400B Deal with China, Iran Bumps India from Strategic Chabahar Rail Project<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Posted Thursday, July 16, 2020 at 2:01pm<\/p>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\"><p>On July 14, it was reported that Iran had bumped India from its involvement in the Chabahar-Zahedan railway project, a critical component of the joint effort to develop strategically significant Chabahar port in southeastern Iran.\u00a0 India\u2019s involvement in Chabahar port (despite the threat of U.S. sanctions), including the railway, has been seen as a means of countering China\u2019s growing maritime ambitions in the Indian Ocean, marked by significant Chinese investments at Gwadar Port, Pakistan as well as in Sri Lanka, the Maldives and elsewhere.<\/p><p>While Iran is challenging the notion that India ever had a binding role in the railway project to begin with (and the Indian government is likewise challenging the media\u2019s interpretation that it has been unexpectedly removed from the project), there is still a broadly held view that Iran\u2019s decision to move on with the project without India is linked to the new 25-year, $400 billion cooperation agreement recently announced between Iran and China.\u00a0 Although India continues to have a significant stake in other aspects of the Chabahar port project, there is a perception that this recent decision was either motivated by an Iranian desire to appease Chinese wishes in the aftermath of recent border clashes with India or by a newfound confidence in its ability to finance and execute projects of this magnitude with the help of Chinese companies and banks.<\/p><p>Either way, the overarching concern for India is that its removal from the rail project may be as an early indicator of greater Chinese influence over Chabahar port, undermining its utility to New Delhi as a source of competing strength in the region.\u00a0\u00a0 Prior to these recent developments, Iran had, indeed, already invited China\u2019s participation in the port\u2019s development in a non-binding capacity, with the intention of increasing Chabahar\u2019s connectivity with the Chinese-operated, Gwadar Port. \u201c<\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Here, the CCP has essentially bought and paid for another repressive government in Iran with their $400 billion investment. This money will allow the mullahs to continue to suppress the desires of the Iranian people for freedom and democracy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The next example shows how the CCP has in its pocket another repressive regime in Pakistan, and is using the Pakistani\u2019s against the world\u2019s most populist democracy in India:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>China, Pakistan Finalize Third Major Hydropower Project in Disputed Kashmir within Span of Three Months<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Posted Monday, July 13, 2020 at 5:13pm<\/p>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\"><p>On July 6, Pakistani officials announced the signing of a $1.5 billion Azad Pattan hydropower construction project with Chinese state-owned contractor, China Gezhouba Corporation, that is to be situated in Pakistan-administered Kashmir (PoK). This is the third such hydropower plant to be finalized with a Chinese state-owned company in a span of less than 90 days, notably, in a region claimed by both Pakistan and India.<\/p><p>Some experts believe that these projects, which have been under discussion for months have been expedited by Beijing and Islamabad against the backdrop of separate escalating border tensions between China and India, which have prompted both sides to take punitive economic and political measures against the other since May 2020.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Indian Firm Scraps Security Camera Procurement Tender Due to Bias Toward China\u2019s Hikvision<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Posted Tuesday, July 7, 2020 at 12:17pm<\/p>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\"><p>On July 2, the state-owned Railtel Corporation of India (RCIL) scrapped a tender issued in June 2020 to procure thermal surveillance cameras intended to detect COVID-19 symptoms, due the tender being designed for award to Chinese state-owned manufacturer, Hikvision. Competing vendors identified the biases in the tender language that clearly favored DeepInMind \u2013 Hikvision\u2019s proprietary artificial intelligence technology.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Here\u2019s what\u2019s happening in Greece:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Thessaloniki Port to Integrate Operating System of China Merchants Port Holdings; Company Agrees to Promote Port as \u201cGateway\u201d to Europe<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Posted Wednesday, July 15, 2020 at 3:49pm<\/p>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\"><p>On July 10, the Thessaloniki Port Authority in Greece signed two agreements for strategic cooperation with China\u2019s state-owned China Merchants Port Holdings (CMPH) and subsidiary China Merchants Holdings International Information Technology (CMHIT).\u00a0 Both agreements pertained to the integration of CMPH\u2019s container terminal operating system by the operators of Thessaloniki port, making it the first European port to install the CMPH software.\u00a0<\/p><p>CMPH\u2019s subsidiary, China Merchants Holdings (International) Information Technology Co., has touted these agreements as significant to their overall efforts to be competitive in the information and technology industry as it relates to the European ports and logistics market.\u00a0 As part of the agreement, CMPH has reportedly agreed to promote Thessaloniki \u2013 Greece\u2019s second largest port \u2013 as a \u201cgateway\u201d for Chinese freight traffic to Europe.<\/p><p>China already controls Greece\u2019s largest port, the Port of Piraeus.\u00a0 In 2016, state-owned COSCO Shipping acquired a majority stake in the port and has since invested significantly in the development of the trade terminal.\u00a0 Piraeus is a critical node in Beijing\u2019s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI).\u00a0 The combined access of Piraeus and Thessaloniki would offer Chinese interests even greater access to European trade networks.\u00a0 The ports permit efficient access to Serbian and Hungarian railway systems (which have also received significant technical and financial support from Chinese companies) to fulfill a vision for improved transport capacity into Europe.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">OK, you get the idea. These are just a few of many reports like this. Belt and Road has been an ongoing project of the CCP since 2013. Why is it so important? Let\u2019s let Wikipedia explain:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\"><p>The Belt and Road Initiative (BRI, or B&amp;R[1]), formerly known as One Belt One Road (OBOR) is a global infrastructure development strategy adopted by the Chinese government in 2013 to invest in nearly 70 countries and international organizations. It is considered a centerpiece of Chinese Communist Party general secretary Xi Jinping&#8217;s foreign policy.<\/p><p>Xi Jinping originally announced the strategy during official visits to Indonesia and Kazakhstan in 2013. &#8220;Belt&#8221; refers to the overland routes for road and rail transportation, called &#8220;the Silk Road Economic Belt&#8221;; whereas &#8220;road&#8221; refers to the sea routes, or the 21st Century Maritime Silk Road. It was incorporated into the Constitution of the People&#8217;s Republic of China in 2017.<\/p><p>The Chinese government [controlled by the CCP] calls the initiative \u2018a bid to enhance regional connectivity and embrace a brighter future.\u2019 Some observers see it as a plan for Chinese world domination through a China-centered global trading network. The project has a target completion date of 2049, which coincides with the 100th anniversary of the People&#8217;s Republic of China.<\/p><p>According to George Soros, \u2018At the beginning of 2018, [the CCP] and Pakistan announced grandiose plans in military cooperation. By the end of the year, Pakistan was in a deep financial crisis. But one thing became evident: [the CCP] intends to use the Belt and Road Initiative for military purposes as well.\u2019\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">When you have a million Uyghers in concentration camps (slave labor camps) in Xinjiang province, when you engage in live organ harvesting, when you disappear and imprison political dissidents, Tibetan Buddhists, Falun Gong, Catholics, Christians, and political dissidents, the world has good reason to suspect the motivations of the CCP\u2019s Belt and Road initiative. The CCP euphemistically calls these concentration camps \u201cVocational Education and Training Centers.\u201d Right.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">To the governments of the world: Be careful what you ask for. You might get it.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The CCP (Chinese Communist Party) has a geostrategic plan to acquire resources across the globe. This includes ports, minerals, transportation projects, telecommunications, medicines, you name it. The CCP\u2019s strategy is to lend a country money, provide business to CCP owned &hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/kjmaclean.com\/wordpress\/the-ccps-belt-and-road-initiative\/\">Continue reading <span class=\"meta-nav\">&rarr;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1201","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news-and-politics"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/kjmaclean.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1201","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/kjmaclean.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/kjmaclean.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kjmaclean.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kjmaclean.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1201"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/kjmaclean.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1201\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1202,"href":"https:\/\/kjmaclean.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1201\/revisions\/1202"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/kjmaclean.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1201"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kjmaclean.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1201"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kjmaclean.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1201"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}