{"id":69609,"date":"2017-09-08T14:11:29","date_gmt":"2017-09-08T21:11:29","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/?p=69609"},"modified":"2017-09-08T14:11:29","modified_gmt":"2017-09-08T21:11:29","slug":"the-real-brics-bombshell","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/2017\/09\/08\/the-real-brics-bombshell\/","title":{"rendered":"The Real BRICS Bombshell"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Pepe Escobar\u00a0Courtesy\u00a0Information Clearing House<\/a>“<\/strong><\/em><\/span><\/h2>\n

Putin reveals ‘fair multipolar world’ concept in which oil contracts could bypass the US dollar and be traded with oil, yuan and gold
\nSeptember 07, 2017 “Information Clearing House<\/a>” –\u00a0The annual BRICS summit in Xiamen \u2013 where President Xi Jinping was once mayor \u2013 could not intervene in a more incandescent geopolitical context.<\/p>\n

Once again, it\u2019s essential to keep in mind that the current core of BRICS is RC\u201d; the Russia-China strategic partnership. So in the Korean peninsula chessboard, RC context \u2013 with both nations sharing borders with the DPRK \u2013 is primordial.<\/p>\n

Beijing has imposed a definitive veto on war \u2013 of which the Pentagon is very much aware.<\/p>\n

Pyongyang\u2019s sixth nuclear test, although planned way in advance, happened only three days after two nuclear-capable US B-1B strategic bombers conducted their own test\u201d alongside four F-35Bs and a few Japanese F-15s.<\/p>\n

Everyone familiar with the Korean peninsula chessboard knew there would be a DPRK response to these barely disguised decapitation\u201d tests.<\/p>\n

So it\u2019s back to the only sound proposition on the table: the RC double freeze\u201d. Freeze on US\/Japan\/South Korea military drills; freeze on North Korea\u2019s nuclear program; diplomacy takes over.<\/p>\n

The White House, instead, has evoked ominous nuclear capabilities\u201d as a conflict resolution mechanism.<\/p>\n

Gold mining in the Amazon, anyone?<\/h3>\n

On the Doklam plateau front, at least New Delhi and Beijing decided, after two tense months, on expeditious disengagement\u201d of their border troops. This decision was directly linked to the approaching BRICS summit \u2013 where both India and China were set to lose face big time.<\/p>\n

Doklam<\/em><\/strong>\u00a0or\u00a0Zhoglam<\/strong>\u00a0(in Standard Tibetan),<\/em>[1]<\/sup><\/em><\/a>\u00a0known as\u00a0Donglang<\/strong>\u00a0in China (<\/em>Chinese<\/em><\/a>:\u00a0<\/em>\u6d1e\u6717;\u00a0<\/em>pinyin<\/em><\/a>:\u00a0D\u00f2ngl\u01ceng),<\/em>[2]<\/sup><\/em><\/a>[3]<\/sup><\/em><\/a>\u00a0is an area with a plateau and a valley, lying between\u00a0<\/em>Tibet<\/em><\/a>‘s\u00a0Chumbi Valley<\/a>\u00a0to the north, Bhutan’s\u00a0<\/em>Ha Valley<\/em><\/a>\u00a0to the east and India’s\u00a0<\/em>Sikkim<\/em><\/a>\u00a0state to the west. It has been depicted as part of Bhutan in the Bhutanese maps since 1961, but it is also claimed by China. To date, the dispute has not been resolved despite several rounds of border negotiations between Bhutan and China.<\/em>[4]<\/sup><\/em><\/a>[5]<\/sup><\/em><\/a>[6]<\/sup><\/em><\/a>\u00a0The area is of strategic importance to all three countries.<\/em>[7]<\/sup><\/em><\/a><\/p>\n

In June 2017 a\u00a0<\/em>military standoff occurred between China and India<\/em><\/a>\u00a0as China attempted to extend a road on the Doklam plateau southwards near the\u00a0Doka La<\/strong>pass and Indian troops moved in to prevent the Chinese. India claimed to have acted on behalf of Bhutan, with which it has a ‘special relationship’.<\/em>[4]<\/sup><\/em><\/a>[5]<\/sup><\/em><\/a>[8]<\/sup><\/em><\/a>\u00a0Bhutan has formally objected to China’s road construction in the disputed area.<\/em>[9]<\/sup><\/em><\/a><\/p>\n

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi had already tried a similar disruption gambit prior to the BRICS Goa summit last year. Then, he was adamant that Pakistan should be declared a terrorist state\u201d. The RC duly vetoed it.<\/p>\n

Modi also ostensively boycotted the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) summit in Hangzhou last May, essentially because of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC).<\/p>\n

India and Japan are dreaming of countering BRI with a semblance of connectivity project; the\u00a0Asia-Africa Growth Corridor<\/a>\u00a0(AAGC). To believe that the AAGC \u2013 with a fraction of the reach, breath, scope and funds available to BRI \u2013 may steal its thunder, is to enter prime wishful-thinking territory.<\/p>\n

Still, Modi emitted some positive signs in Xiamen; We are in mission-mode to eradicate poverty; to ensure health, sanitation, skills, food security, gender equality, energy, education.\u201d Without this mammoth effort, India\u2019s lofty geopolitical dreams are D.O.A.<\/p>\n

Modi Display Bonhomie<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

PTI<\/em><\/a>\u00a0@PTI_News<\/em><\/a><\/p>\n

September 4, 2017, 9:12 amSeptember 4, 2017, 9:12 am<\/em><\/p>\n

The BRICS Summit began with a group photograph of leaders of the five countries, preceded by a warm handshake between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chinese President Xi Jinping. The Chinese leader also received the leaders of Brazil, Russia and South Africa ahead of the restricted meeting of the grouping.<\/em><\/p>\n

Modi was the third leader to reach the convention centre, venue of the Ninth BRICS Summit in the port city of Xiamen in China, and was followed by Russian President Vladimir Putin. Modi is also scheduled to hold a bilateral meeting with Xi on Tuesday.<\/em><\/p>\n

The Summit will be the first gathering when leaders of the five nations will meet after New Delhi and Beijing decided on expeditious disengagement\u201d of their border troops in the disputed Doklam area on August 28 after over a two-month standoff between them.<\/em><\/p>\n

Apart from the restricted meeting, the leaders will participate in the plenary during which they will explore ways to enhance cooperation within the members of the grouping in key areas.<\/em><\/p>\n

They will also deliberate on international issues of significance, including global economy and challenges.<\/em><\/p>\n

The Summit will end with the adoption of a Xiamen declaration, which will capture the essence of the deliberations and future road map<\/em><\/p>\n

Brazil, for its part, is immersed in a larger-than-life socio-political tragedy, led\u201d by a Dracula-esque, corrupt non-entity; Temer The Usurper. Brazil\u2019s President, Michel Temer, hit Xiamen eager to peddle his\u201d 57 major, ongoing privatizations to Chinese investors \u2013 complete with corporate gold mining in an Amazon nature reserve the size of Denmark. Add to it massive social spending austerity and hardcore anti-labor legislation, and one\u2019s got the picture of Brazil currently being run by Wall Street. The name of the game is to profit from the loot, fast.<\/p>\n

The BRICS\u2019 New Development Bank (NDB) \u2013 a counterpart to the World Bank \u2013 is predictably derided all across the Beltway. Xiamen showed how the NDB is only starting to finance BRICS projects. It\u2019s misguided to compare it with the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB). They will be investing in different types of projects \u2013 with the AIIB more focused on BRI. Their aim is complementary.<\/p>\n

\u2018BRICS Plus\u2019 or bust<\/h3>\n

On the global stage, the BRICS are already a major nuisance to the unipolar order. Xi politely put it in Xiamen as we five countries [should] play a more active part in global governance\u201d.<\/p>\n

And right on cue Xiamen introduced dialogues\u201d with Mexico, Egypt, Thailand, Guinea and Tajikistan; that\u2019s part of the road map for \u00a0BRICS Plus\u201d \u2013 Beijing\u2019s conceptualization, proposed last March by Foreign Minister Wang Yi, for expanding partnership\/cooperation.<\/p>\n

A further instance of BRICS Plus\u201d can be detected in the possible launch, before the end of 2017, of the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) \u2013 in the wake of the death of TPP.<\/p>\n

Contrary to a torrent of Western spin, RCEP is not led\u201d by China. Japan is part of it \u2013 and so is India and Australia alongside the 10 ASEAN members. The burning question is what kind of games New Delhi may be playing to stall RCEP in parallel to boycotting BRI.<\/p>\n

Patrick Bond in Johannesburg has developed an\u00a0important critique<\/a>, arguing that centrifugal economic forces\u201d are breaking up the BRICS, thanks to over-production, excessive debt and de-globalization. He interprets the process as the failure of Xi\u2019s desired centripetal capitalism.\u201d<\/p>\n

Meet the oil\/yuan\/gold triadIt doesn\u2019t have to be this way. Never underestimate the power of Chinese centripetal capitalism \u2013 especially when BRI hits a higher gear.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s when President Putin starts\u00a0talking<\/a>\u00a0that the BRICS reveal their true bombshell.\u00a0Geopolitically and geo-economically, Putin\u2019s emphasis is on a fair multipolar world\u201d, and against protectionism and\u00a0new barriers in\u00a0global trade.\u201d The message is straight to the point.<\/p>\n

The Syria game-changer \u2013 where Beijing silently but firmly supported Moscow \u2013 had to be evoked; It was largely thanks to\u00a0the\u00a0efforts of\u00a0Russia and\u00a0other concerned countries that conditions have been created to\u00a0improve the\u00a0situation in\u00a0Syria.\u201d<\/p>\n

On the Korean peninsula, it\u2019s clear how RC think in unison; The\u00a0situation is balancing on\u00a0the\u00a0brink of\u00a0a\u00a0large-scale conflict.\u201d<\/p>\n

Putin\u2019s judgment is as scathing as the \u2013 RC-proposed \u2013 possible solution is sound; Putting pressure on\u00a0Pyongyang to\u00a0stop its nuclear missile program is misguided and\u00a0futile. The\u00a0region\u2019s problems should only be settled through a\u00a0direct dialogue of\u00a0all the\u00a0parties concerned without any preconditions.\u201d<\/p>\n

Putin\u2019s \u2013 and Xi\u2019s \u2013 concept of multilateral order is clearly visible in the wide-ranging\u00a0Xiamen Declaration<\/a>, which proposes an Afghan-led and Afghan-owned\u201d peace and national reconciliation process, including the Moscow Format of consultations\u201d and the Heart of Asia-Istanbul process\u201d.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s code for an all-Asian (and not Western) Afghan solution brokered by the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO), led by RC, and of which Afghanistan is an observer and future full member.<\/p>\n

And then, Putin delivers the clincher; Russia shares the\u00a0BRICS countries\u2019 concerns over the\u00a0unfairness of\u00a0the\u00a0global financial and\u00a0economic architecture, which does not give due regard to\u00a0the\u00a0growing weight of\u00a0the\u00a0emerging economies. We are ready to\u00a0work together with our partners to\u00a0promote international financial regulation reforms and\u00a0to\u00a0overcome the\u00a0excessive domination of\u00a0the\u00a0limited number of\u00a0reserve currencies.\u201d<\/p>\n

To overcome the excessive domination of the limited number of reserve currencies\u201d is the politest way of stating what the BRICS have been discussing for years now; how to bypass the US dollar, as well as the petrodollar.<\/p>\n

Beijing is ready to step up the game. Soon China will\u00a0launch a crude oil futures contract<\/a>\u00a0priced in yuan and convertible into gold.<\/p>\n

This means that Russia \u2013 as well as Iran, the other key node of Eurasia integration \u2013 may bypass US sanctions by trading energy in their own currencies, or in yuan. Inbuilt in the move is a true Chinese win-win; the yuan will be fully convertible into gold on both the Shanghai and Hong Kong exchanges.<\/p>\n

The new triad of oil, yuan and gold is actually a win-win-win. No problem at all if energy providers prefer to be paid in physical gold instead of yuan. The key message is the US dollar being bypassed.<\/p>\n

RC \u2013 via the Russian Central Bank and the People\u2019s Bank of China \u2013 have been developing ruble-yuan swaps for quite a while now.<\/p>\n

Once that moves beyond the BRICS to aspiring BRICS Plus\u201d members and then all across the Global South, Washington\u2019s reaction is bound to be nuclear (hopefully, not literally).<\/p>\n

Washington\u2019s strategic doctrine rules RC should not be allowed by any means to be preponderant along the Eurasian landmass. Yet what the BRICS have in store geo-economically does not concern only Eurasia \u2013 but the whole Global South.<\/p>\n

Sections of the War Party in Washington bent on instrumentalizing\u00a0 India against China \u2013 or against RC \u2013 may be in for a rude awakening. As much as the BRICS may be currently facing varied waves of economic turmoil, the daring long-term road map, way beyond the Xiamen Declaration, is very much in place.<\/p>\n

Pepe Escobar is an independent geopolitical analyst.<\/em><\/p>\n

This article was first published by<\/em>\u00a0Asia Times<\/em><\/a>\u00a0–<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Pepe Escobar\u00a0Courtesy\u00a0Information Clearing House“ Putin reveals ‘fair multipolar world’ concept in which oil contracts could bypass the US dollar and be traded with oil, yuan and gold September 07, 2017 “Information Clearing House” –\u00a0The annual BRICS summit in Xiamen \u2013 where President Xi Jinping was once mayor \u2013 could not intervene in a more […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-69609","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-world"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/69609","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=69609"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/69609\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=69609"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=69609"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=69609"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}