Changing World

The world is changing bigly and fast. World politics and economics are like a complicated chess game with the four major players of USA, China, Russia and the European Union (EU), but mainly it is the US trying by all means to slow down the rise of China and to maintain its hegemonic position in the world. In that sense, the US is not only against China and Russia, but also the EU and the whole world. 

The Ukraine War is not only a war between Ukraine and Russia. It is rather a US' proxy war against Russia. Ukraine is a weak link being played more than being a strong player itself. Affected by the Ukraine war, Europe so far appears to be a loser and cannot afford to "obey" Uncle Sam to completely cut economic ties with China.  

While the US brought many years of wars and destruction to the Middle East, China has just brokered a peace deal between Saudi Arabia and Iran. It appears that the Middle East is leaving the US for China. No more wars and destruction. It wants peace and development. 

Africa pretty much has been won by China. Except Canada, Central and South America, and Mexico, all seem to look to China and the East.  

Asia is booming economically and doesn't want war. It wants peace and stability. Yet, the US has been playing the Taiwan card, to stir up conflicts between China and Taiwan. After Ukraine, another provocation to push the People's Republic of China (PRC) into taking military action, the un-given-up last option, to unify Taiwan, the Republic of China (ROC)? It is also a profiteering opportunity for the US to sell arms and weapons to the pro-independence Taiwanese Government. 

The weaponization of the US Dollar by Uncle Sam has scared off many countries. De-dollarization is picking up in speed. A long line-up of countries want to join the BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa). 

The declining US can no longer be the hegemon of our becoming multi-polar world. It is just too late to make America great again.

Edi Lee for Peace   ***   Fast Edi Thoughts and Comments     

Peace in Korean Peninsula

There is hope for peace in the Korean Peninsula. Moon Jae-in,President of South Korea(ROK) will meet with Kim Jong-un,Supreme Leader of North Korea (DPRK). Kim has gone to China to meet with Xi Jinping, President of the People's Republic of China. Then Donald Trump, President of the United States of America(USA) will meet with Kim Jong-un. This kind of direct meetings is of the highest level between countries. ____________________________________________________________________________ Although I am hopeful for peace, I don't think that we should expect all the problems can be resolved in one go. The Korean war is still technically not yet over. The 1953 agreement was only a truce. It was an armistice agreement, not a peace treaty. Although South Korea was not a signatory to that agreement signed by the U.S., China and North Korea, it should now sign a peace treaty with North Korea, to officially end the Korean War. ____________________________________________________________________________ Denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula is a serious matter. I don't think North Korea is willing to give up its development of nuclear weapons as the U.S. demands, unless its security can be guaranteed. To put it bluntly, Kim Jong-un just doesn't want his country to be invaded and destroyed by the U.S. like what happened to Iraq and Libya. On the other hand, it is hard to imagine that Donald Trump will agree to withdraw all 26,000 U.S. troops in South Korea. One would ask this question: now that both ROC and DPRK want peace, why is the U.S. still here? Shouldn't the U.S. troops go home? It seems clear that the problem is not so much between the two Koreas, but rather between North Korea and the U.S. ____________________________________________________________________________ I think this whole thing of denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula and working for peace cannot be achieved without the inclusion of the U.S. and China. Donald Trump has been saying that Xi Jinping has helped him a lot in dealing with North Korea. Indeed China has a peaceful foreign policy; there is no reason that President Xi would be against a peaceful Korean Peninsula. ____________________________________________________________________________ As said earlier, we should not expect all the problems can be resolved in one go. If a peace treaty is signed between the two Koreas, backed by the U.S. and China of course, then I'll consider it a success, a first step towards permanent peace. I'm sure that Donald Trump would claim merit, but let him. I would even nominate Trump, Xi, Kim and Moon for a Nobel Peace Prize. If they won, Donald Trump would be able to proudly show Obama that he won due to his competence, while Obama had been undeservedly given the peace prize even before he started to work. Yes, I think there is some kind of personal dislike and vendetta between Trump and Obama. ____________________________________________________________________________ Let's hope for Peace!

The Trump Tsai Phone Conversation

In the news, Tsai Ing-wen, the pro-independence president of Taiwan had a phone conversation with Donald Trump, the president elect of the United States of America. Needless to say, it has stirred up much controversy and debate in the world. My opinion is that president Tsai is playing a dangerous game. The chance that she'll win and make Taiwan separate from China and become truly independent is 1%. The chance that she'll lose is 99%. Nobody can change the One China reality, not Taiwan, not the U.S., not the U.N. where China has the veto power in the Security Council Permanent Membership. In any case, I'm all for peace. No violence, No killing, No war !

Taiwan Election

Taiwan (The Republic of China) has elected its first woman president, Tsai Ing-wen, who is pro-independence or pro self-sovereignty of Taiwan.

My opinion is this:
There are 3 choices for Taiwan:
(1) remain status quo,
(2) unite with China (The Peoples Republic of China) but stay highly autonomous, or
(3) become truly and fully independent.

(3) is the most unlikely outcome, as the PRC just won't allow it. The political and Chinese reality of Taiwan is just too huge for Taiwan to overcome.

(2) is workable but not easy to achieve.

(1) remain status quo, or don't rock the boat approach, is the realistic choice for now, but for how long? Forever? Only time can tell.