It’s all got to do with the US vs China-Russia ‘Cold War’ for geo-political military dominance in the SCS

It’s all got to do with the US vs China-Russia ‘Cold War’ for geo-political military dominance in the SCS

No News Is Bad News has selected three stories that has all got to do with the 21st Century Cold War that is being waged out in the South China Sea (SCS) between the US and China-Russia combo.

And Malaysia’s neighbour Singapore is caught in between, with 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB) Prime Minister Najib Razak’s Umno-led Barisan Nasional (BN) federal government obviously having no choice but to lean towards cash-cow China for investments.

Here are the three stories:

"It Will Be “Failure of the Dollar System” Not Nuclear War That Destroys the U.S.

Brandon Smith
October 20th, 2016
Alt-Market.com


This article was written by Brandon Smith and originally published at his Alt-Market.com site.

Editor’s Comment: The conflict at hand is indeed complex, and will have a huge impact on the American people. While our divorce from the parasitic and psychopathic leaders in Washington and on Wall Street is long overdue, we’ve become hostage to the mentality that we’re all in the same boat. Now, we’re being dragged into more war, and propping up terrorism and brutal, dictatorial regimes is the name of holding onto the petrodollar empire.

Though tough times are ahead, this system is not our lifeblood, it is not our duly elected government, and not our patriotic duty to support it. It is a monetary system of control, though what replaces it will not necessarily be any better. Times are troubled, and everything is sure to change. The challenge, individually, will be to hold onto what we’ve got and continue a culture of liberty and resistance.

East vs. West Division Is About The Dollar – Not Nuclear War

by Brandon Smith

The interesting thing about working in alternative economics is that inevitably you will become the designated buzzkill. You may be presenting the facts on the ground and the reality behind the numbers, but most of what you have to report will not be pleasant. Alternative economists are doomed to be labeled “doom and gloomers.” And that’s okay…

The truth is what it is, and sometimes it hurts people obsessed with undue positivism and bull market naivety. However, as bad as we seem to be when it comes to a negative outlook, we do not necessarily present the most ugly options on the table.

There is an undeniable trend by some within the liberty movement to assume a Mad Max-style end game to our ever expanding house of cards. That is to say, they see the only plausible outcome being apocalyptic in nature, and nuclear holocaust fits well within this viewpoint. In many cases, the argument is sometimes presented that WWIII is in the best interests of global elites seeking a catalyst for their so-called “new world order.”

This is not to say that I don’t think WWIII is a possibility; it certainly is. But I remain rather skeptical of the usefulness of nuclear war for the elites. Primarily because everything they openly claim they hope to accomplish can be accomplished without nukes.

The narrative of a coming conflict between the East and the West has been boiling steadily as the U.S. election nears its end. Even the mainstream media is insinuating the potential for shots fired. Some believe the results of the election will determine the odds of war. I hold a different position. It seems to me that the rhetoric of East vs. West and nuclear exchange is being exploited as a distraction away from a different but almost equally catastrophic end game — the death of the U.S. dollar as the world reserve currency.

First, let’s be clear; nuclear war does little to serve elitist interests. Consider the fact that globalists have been working diligently since 9/11 to install a vast electronic surveillance infrastructure in major cities around the world. This includes a pervasive video surveillance presence, biometric data collection, facial recognition, voice fingerprinting, etc. This is not only occurring in the U.S. and Europe, but in China and Russia. Vladimir Putin signed the Orwellian “Yarovaya Package” into law in June in Russia putting into motion an electronic surveillance apparatus directly on par with any measures exploited by the NSA. Perhaps ironically, even Edward Snowden, currently living in Russia under asylum, criticized the amendments.

The point is, an elaborate and costly digital control grid is being built all around us. It makes very little sense for the elites to achieve such a level of full spectrum awareness and then flush it down the tubes in a 1.2 megaton blink of a eye. Keep in mind that a nuclear exchange also includes the targeting of military satellites — everything surveillance worthy will most likely be thoroughly toasted.

Another issue to consider is the psychological underpinnings of elitism. Elites generally exhibit psychopathy, but it is a psychopathy driven by narcissism rather than nihilism. Narcissists tend to shy away from self destruction and the destruction of the treasures they believe they are entitled to. The elites want total centralization of power and influence, and they want the masses to accept or even demand a system in which globalism becomes sacrosanct. They want the Earth, and they want it nice and pristine for themselves. They might be willing to sacrifice certain appendages of the system, but they are not intent on vaporizing the entire prize.

Given, psychopaths also do not like to lose. They do have a propensity for attempting to take others down with them if they are on the verge of failure. That said, I think the recent reports of the demise of globalism are greatly exaggerated.

Here Is Why The Days of The Dollar As World Reserve Currency
Are Numbered – Mike Maloney

The narrative of coming world war revolves around certain assumptions. For example, some liberty proponents argue that the success of the Brexit referendum, the Trump campaign and the rise of sovereignty movements are an existential threat to the globalist empire. In their minds, a nuclear war triggered by the elites at this stage makes sense because globalism does appear to be “losing.”

As I outlined in my last article Global Elites Are Getting Ready To Blame You For The Coming Financial Crash, this is simply not the case. In fact, the rise of conservative and sovereignty movements in the West sets the stage perfectly for the elites to initiate the final act of a world changing fiscal crisis. With these conservative movements in “power,” the ongoing economic collapse can then be blamed on “dangerous populists” rather than the international bankers that created the problem to begin with.

The globalists are not on the run, they are playing the Hegelian dialectic game as they always have; problem, reaction, solution.

And, as I have evidenced and outlined in great detail in numerous articles, the “conflict” between East and West is an engineered sham. At the top of the political and financial pyramids of every major nation, including Russia and China, the elites promote globalism and a one world currency under the control of the International Monetary Fund. Putin has openly supported IMF dominance of the global financial structure and the implementation of the SDR as a bridge to a global currency system. Chinese officials have done the same, and as of October, China is a major liquidity amplifier for the SDR. The BRICS bank, which was supposed to be a counterweight to the IMF and World Bank, actually works in collusion with the IMF and World Bank. The bottom line? There is no East versus West, at least not where the elites are concerned.

The Russians and the Chinese are NOT on our side. They are not even on their own side. The only legitimate opposition to the globalists is in the form of grassroots movements with very little concrete political influence. Whatever political influence we do gain tends to be quickly co-opted by deceitful measures and false leaders that ultimately serve the elites. Even the Brexit and a Trump presidency are not a real threat because they are functions of a system that the elites control in the absolute, and they would never be allowed to gain traction unless the elites needed scapegoats for a greater economic crisis.

Our fight has so far been one of disseminating information and countering propaganda; political battles have been rather fruitless. So, again, nuclear war hardly serves the interests of elites under these favorable conditions.

Nuclear war is also a very poor way of managing the darker goals of globalists. Their desire for substantial population reduction, for example, could be attained far more efficiently through economic collapse and mass starvation rather than the use of missiles and bombs. Food is a better weapon than smashed atoms ever will be. But if the false East/West paradigm is not setting the stage for nuclear war, then what is it being used for?

As I have examined in the past, the division between East and West far better serves the elites in their effort to slowly but surely unseat the U.S. dollar as the world reserve currency and replace it with the SDR basket — the next major step towards a single global currency system and a single global monetary authority.

Let’s be clear, the globalists are NOT pro-dollar or pro-America. They never have been. In fact the Federal Reserve has been destroying the dollar’s purchasing power since the central bank’s inception. And, by asserting the dollar as the world reserve currency, the Fed has actually placed America in a position of severe financial weakness rather than strength. Our dependency on the dollar’s world reserve status to sustain our living standards is so complete that the loss of that status will indeed crush our country. Our system cannot function without reserve status.

I’ll break it down even further; through the death of the dollar, the elites not only set in motion the chaos needed to justify total centralization and a world currency alternative, but in the process they also could remove the greatest threat to their control — those millions of American citizens still holding to conservative ideals of sovereignty and personal liberty.

The East vs. West paradigm creates a perfect rational for the end of the dollar’s reserve status. Just look at the geopolitical trends in motion.

Saudi Arabia with its vast influence over many OPEC nations is shifting away from the U.S. and building closer ties with Russia and China. The distancing of relations between the U.S. and the Saudis is even being encouraged in the U.S. through the passage of the 9/11 Saudi lawsuit bill. This will inevitably lead to the end of the dollar’s petro-status and, by extension, aid in the end of its world reserve status.

Turkey is now gravitating towards Russia and away from NATO after the very odd and most likely staged “coup” that has given Erdogan unprecedented room for dictatorship. This new relationship may even include military support from Russia.

Foreign central banks around the world, including Saudi Arabia and China, are currentlyliquidating their U.S. treasury holdings at record pace. The program for “de-dollarization” is already well underway.

The U.S. overall has also lost considerable goodwill among the peoples of the world (or what little goodwill it had left) in the wake of revelations that it along with allies has essentially instigated the breakdown in Syria and funded militant groups that make up the skeleton of ISIS. The continued function of our involvement in destabilizing Syria has no other benefit to the U.S. except to undermine the image of America. It does not give us increased oil dominance. It does not give us increased regional dominance. In fact, our presence in Syria only continues to harm us and bring us into dangerous proximity with Eastern interests.

There are people who do benefit from this dynamic — the globalists.

The U.S. is painted as the bumbling villain of our little story, greedy and blinded by visions of empire. The East is set up as the more rational party, the mediator trying to reason with Western madmen. For the globalists, the death of the dollar, which has been an ongoing project of theirs for decades, can now be completed, and they will receive NO blame whatsoever. History, if it is written by anyone other than liberty champions, will say that the East, not the central bankers, destroyed the dollar’s reserve status because it had to. History will say that we had it coming.

In the aftermath, the elites hope to come to the rescue as global economic instability erupts with the failure of the dollar system. As they openly admit in The Economist in 1988, the dollar must be replaced by the IMF’s Special Drawing Rights; the new world order needs a great financial reset before it can take root. But, this is a much different methodology from widespread nuclear war.

Questions arise as to November’s election and how this might affect East vs. West relations. I see no indication that it makes a difference who ends up in the White House as far as the economic result is concerned. As I have stated before, I believe Trump is the most likely candidate. Relations with the East are already in irreversible and engineered decline and even if Trump has good intentions, the globalists will pull the plug on financial support to markets not long after he enters the Oval Office. Eastern nations have been preparing for a break from the dollar for years. They work closely with the IMF. If anything, Trump’s presence will accelerate the reset.

I think the notions of nuclear war and East vs. West conflagration endure for many reasons. An extreme distaste for Barack Obama has led many liberty proponents to assume that the man will never give up his seat of power. These people do not understand that Obama is nothing more than a Muppet, a middleman with no true influence. The elites do not need him in office to continue their program.

Others assume that the mere chance of a Trump presidency is so dangerous to the elites that they would rather push the nuclear button than risk it. I think this is a bit naive. As stated in past articles, conservative movements are gaining control of a ship that is already sinking. They are being set up. A Trump win might help the elites. If the U.S. economy and currency collapses under Trump, conservative movements can be blamed. If they collapse under Clinton, the banking cabal will be blamed. It seems clear to me which option better serves elitists.

A nuclear war is also perhaps subconsciously enticing to some people. The idea that the slate could be wiped clean leaving only the prepared to come out of the smoke and ash to rebuild could in some ways be considered a preferable outcome. Compare that to liberty movements taking the blame for an economic calamity while battling against an encroaching globalist machine, sacrificing for years or possibly decades on the mere chance that we can, through force of will and ingenuity, defeat a well organized empire with an established mass surveillance network and millions of duped citizens on its side.Hell, I’m actually an optimist when it comes to our ability to overthrow globalism, but I see no easy way out of this situation. I find it saddening that the coming fight is so frightening to people that they would rather assume a nuclear nightmare is on the way. The slower agony of economic decay and a rebellion against Big Brother may be less appetizing, but in my view, it is unavoidable."

"China and Singapore: Looking back to understand the future

Wang Gungwu For The Straits Times

PUBLISHED

OCT 22, 2016, 5:00 AM SGT
Singaporeans must understand Chinese nationals' view of what China is, just as China must understand Singapore's self-image as a multicultural nation with a global outlook.

Recent developments in the relations between China and Singapore have raised questions about how China sees Singapore and also how Singapore should see China.

The questions stem from several issues concerning Singapore as a small new state in a region still riven by division, amid growing rivalry between China and the United States. At the base are complex layers of understanding what is China and who are Singaporeans.

Despite the fact that both of them have had different borders over time, China has been in existence for thousands of years while Singapore is only 51 years old as a sovereign state. But it is also true that people of Chinese descent in Singapore have looked with respect to China for nearly 200 years while most people of China have noticed the achievements of the Chinese in Singapore only during recent decades.

WHAT IS CHINA?
During my recent visits to China, I noticed that many people are keenly interested in the question of just what China is.

Behind this interest is the idea that China was a great country and the time has come to restore China to greatness. Given the many calls during the US presidential election campaign for America to be great again, it is perhaps not surprising that a rising China should also be thinking of being great again. Both calls seem to reflect some anxiety that other people may not recognise that greatness.

For China, its public outlets reveal a paradox. On the one hand, the country has inherited a great civilisation-state and its people everywhere must stand up to ensure that it remains so. On the other hand, Chinese people understand that change is something they must always expect and prepare for. The world is in a state of flux and China must meet present and future challenges by adapting to every change it faces.

ST ILLUSTRATION : MIEL

How to integrate a China that is unchanging with forces that are rearing to change is a perplexing task for Chinese leaders. When China was confident, its peoples saw it as a strong state that other strong states should treat with respect.

When it encountered the system of nation-states and national empires that spread out of Europe to the rest of the world, China's traditional strategy of controlling tributary relations with foreign rulers had to be abandoned.

Today it deals with scores of smaller nations that are trying their utmost not to be dominated by larger ones. These smaller nations are dependent on an international system of sovereign states where rules can be made to protect them.

China supports that system but is also aware that large states behave differently from small ones. It is not convinced that the system is ideal and believes that there is room for improvement.

Furthermore, in this world of sovereign nations, there are millions of people of Chinese descent who left China over the centuries and are now settled in other nations. Some segments of China's society - and indeed many among the overseas Chinese themselves - think that these overseas Chinese should identify with their ancestral values while they remain loyal to their respective adopted nations.

The China they look to has been changing. Its last dynastic rulers had accepted "international law" that acknowledged it as one of the empires of the 19th century. The Republic that followed in 1912 pronounced itself the Zhonghua-Chinese nation that consisted of multiple ethnic groups. It rejected the imperial system but inherited its extended borders.

When the Nanjing government moved to Taiwan and the People's Republic of China unified the rest of the country on the mainland, doubts were raised as to whether this was a nation-state, or an empire that had not been fully de-colonised.

What made Singapore unique is that, although three-quarters of its population are Chinese, its leaders understood the exceptional position they inherited and did not stress the supremacy of its majority population. On the contrary, the Republic affirmed its plural-society base and the legal equality of its citizens, no matter what their ethnic origins.

China sees these terms as inappropriate in describing what it is, a multinational centralised state that is actively renewing itself through economic growth and socialist redistribution.

At the same time, the numbers of people of Chinese descent who have settled abroad have further increased. Large numbers from territories like Taiwan, Hong Kong and Macau have greatly augmented those numbers during the past three decades.

China now has expectations that those among them who care for their cultural roots should return to the "motherland" to help the country advance further. Or they could remain in their host countries to help build bridges between China and their adopted countries.

It is in that context that Singapore with its majority population of Chinese descent attracts special attention.

WHAT IS BEING CHINESE IN SINGAPORE?
For thousands of years, the tiny island now called Singapore, at the foot of the Malay peninsula, was but one of many islands in a watery Malay world.

In succession, the empires of Sri Vijaya and Majapahit, the Malacca and Johor empires, then the Portuguese and Dutch merchant fleets, all knew it as a useful port.

It was, however, the British in 1819 who chose Singapore to service their growing India-China trade and made it into a link in their global maritime empire. Later, the Japanese invaders appreciated its location and also used it as their forward naval base.

When the British returned after World War II, they reduced Singapore to a standalone colony, ready to let it become part of a federation of states that united all former British lands in South-east Asia. That plan failed and three states were established instead: Malaysia, Singapore and Brunei.

What made Singapore unique is that, although three-quarters of its population are Chinese, its leaders understood the exceptional position they inherited and did not stress the supremacy of its majority population. On the contrary, the Republic affirmed its plural-society base and the legal equality of its citizens, no matter what their ethnic origins.

That position has nurtured three main ethnic identities, Chinese, Malay and Indian, and grouped the rest as Others. For five decades, the state introduced numerous community schemes to optimise social harmony. It remained vigilant towards those affiliated to external organisations who are prepared to exploit ethnic and religious differences.

The Singapore state has also given priority attention to national education. Generations of students are encouraged to be science-literate and progressive, and master the skills essential in the global economy to which Singapore seeks to belong. At the same time, the Government has been sensitive to the cultural integrity that each ethnic group demands. It is in this context that the Chinese majority in Singapore seeks to balance economic and cultural ties with China and Chinese communities worldwide, with growing consciousness of what China's rise means for Singapore.

Its various groups have reflected on some of the labels that have been used for them and who these labels applied to. They considered what that meant, not only to themselves and their neighbours both within and without, but also to interested powers like China and the US.

NATION-STATE IN TRANSITION
The three labels that attract attention are Singapore Chinese, Chinese Singaporean, and Singaporean.

The first has long been in use. It is inclusive in that it identifies all Chinese who are living in Singapore. It is ambivalent in that it could refer to Chinese who are Singapore citizens and also those merely residing in the country. However, the label implies an affirmation of being Chinese.

Chinese Singaporean is not a term in popular use although, for many, it is an accurate description of someone who feels Singaporean but acknowledges Chinese ancestry. Some also consider it as only a step towards full national consciousness.

The young today are ready to say they are Singaporean. Those of Chinese descent take for granted they belong to the majority in a plural society. For them, it is enough that the Singaporean label contains the Chinese connection.

By most accounts, Singapore has come a long way towards nationhood. Compared to China's wish to be seen as a multinational state with a deep and distinctive civilisation, Singapore seeks to be a multicultural city-state with modern values and a global outlook.

If China accepts Singapore as a multicultural nation with modern values and a global outlook, and understands that being multicultural and global are critically important to Singapore's very existence, it will make Singapore's task of nation building easier. After all, being Singaporean includes being Chinese, or Malay, or Indian, or belonging to other racial groups.

China will then see that the sentiments that lead Singapore to collaborate closely with it are natural and sincere, and not merely for profit, and that the state's efforts to speak and act so that this strategically located island never has to take sides are invaluable to the region's hopes for peace and prosperity.

Singapore's relations with China are now complicated by the growing rivalry between China and the US. China feels that its vital maritime interests are vulnerable to US pressures while the US sees China as a threat to its hegemony.

For Singapore, the US was part of the Anglophone alliance at the state's creation and expects its strategic connections with the city- nation to continue. Singapore hopes that China will understand why it still sees its security as dependent on that framework.

Where China is concerned, Singapore was grateful when Deng Xiaoping moved away from Mao Zedong's ideological hostility, and the city-state has responded by being actively involved in China's economic development. It would not be in Singapore's interest for China to doubt its friendship.

To counter that possibility, the Government cannot do it alone but must involve its citizens, especially those of Chinese descent, to prevent misunderstanding from growing into distrust.

Wang Gungwu is University Professor, National University of Singapore and Chairman of the East Asian Institute and the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy. He is Chairman of the Institute of Southeast Asian Studies, and also Emeritus Professor of Australian National University.

A version of this article appeared in the print edition of The Straits Times on October 22, 2016, with the headline 'China and S'pore: Looking back to understand the future'. Print Edition"

"Outlook dims for Singapore Inc as economy moonwalks



PUBLISHED: 7:25 AM, OCTOBER 24, 2016

UPDATED: 11:38 AM, OCTOBER 24, 2016

SINGAPORE — During Singapore’s full moon festival last month, employer John Kong was focused more on cost-cutting than celebrating.

Not sending his clients traditional mooncake gift packages saved him S$14,000, and his 60 workers at building materials supplier M Metal Pte Ltd didn’t get a pay rise either.

Having grown at a break-neck pace that transformed what half a century ago was a seedy colonial port into an Asian Manhattan, Singapore is now bracing for a prolonged period of low growth, darkening the outlook for the city-state’s deeply indebted firms.

“When you talk to building infrastructure groups, it sounds depressing,” said Mr Kong, who faces a 10-15 per cent sales drop this year, the firm’s first in its five-year history.

“Everyone seems to be asking ‘what’s going to happen to me in three months?’ Companies are not getting the orders, there are fixed overheads, so the first thing they do is slash marketing budgets and the next thing is they cut the number of people.”

As a regional centre for trade, oil services and wealth management, Singapore’s US$300 billion (S$418 billion) economy punches above its weight and serves as a barometer for Asia’s other export dependent economies.

China’s slowdown has hit the city-state’s manufacturers and shippers, the slump in commodity markets is weighing on its oil and gas sector, while a rise in bad debts and a regulatory crackdown has hurt its financial services industry.

The result: Earnings forecasts for Singapore-listed companies are falling at among the fastest rates in the world.

Projections for next year’s net income have come off by 4 per cent on average over the past three months versus a 0.2 per cent fall for the rest of Asia Pacific, according to data from Thomson Reuters.

Companies are also struggling with debt burdens that have ballooned since the financial crisis, even as bottom lines have shrunk.

While net incomes are down almost 40 per cent since June 2008, net debt has more than doubled, according to Thomson Reuters data, as commodity markets boomed and companies took advantage of cheap credit.

STIMULUS NEEDED?

Analysts have cut earnings projections for the likes of commodity firms Wilmar International and Noble, and offshore marine heavyweights Sembcorp Marine and Ezion Holdings.

The profitability and asset quality of banks such as top lenders DBS Group Holdings and Oversea Chinese Banking Corp have also come under pressure because of their loans to those troubled sectors.

In addition, the spillover from a money laundering scandal involving Malaysia’s state fund 1MDB has weighed on the financial industry, with banks forced to spend hefty sums on compliance, which is not generating revenue. And a tax amnesty in neighbouring Indonesia has triggered large outflows from the wealth management industry.

The problems extend beyond larger listed companies.

The head of the Association of Small and Medium Enterprises, which represents 12,000 companies, says firms are not expecting a swift recovery like that which followed the financial crisis.

“This is not ‘08-’09, it’s not a V-shape. It’s a sustained, deep-end plateau,” said president Kurt Wee. “Industrial support industries or building contractors and oil and gas are very badly affected and that has a broad based effect on everything else on the ground.”

Economists say the deteriorating earnings outlook raises the prospect that Singapore’s economy performs worse than policymakers expect, requiring further fiscal or monetary stimulus.

The central bank has prepared investors for a protracted period of subdued growth, unexpectedly introducing forward guidance in its latest policy statement.

The government is “prepared to consider introducing a range of contingency measures, which could include broad-based as well as sector-specific measures”, Mr Lim Hng Kiang, Singapore’s minister for trade and industry told parliament.

Data earlier this month showed a shock 4.1 per cent contraction in the third quarter.

DEPRESSED CONSUMERS

To be sure, Singapore is better placed than many to weather a slowdown. It is one of the most politically stable countries in the world, with hefty reserves and a top ranking in the World Bank’s ease of doing business index.

Even so, Singapore is showing signs its first recession in seven years is likely.

Entire floors at central shopping malls are empty, tourists are cutting spending and some property developers are taking on projects at a loss to keep business going.

A Mastercard survey showed Singapore posted one of the biggest drops in consumer confidence among 17 Asia-Pacific nations in the first half of 2016, notching up its lowest reading since June 2009.

Key factors dragging it down were perceptions about the quality of life, regular income and employment.

Ms Jessica, a 39-year-old who only gave her first name and recently lost her job as an audit supervisor, can relate.

“I’ve definitely cut down on spending,” she said as she left a job fair.

“I explain to my kids that we can’t buy things as often as before because of the poor economy and thankfully they understand.” REUTERS"