Blocking
the USA out of World Trade
The global
economy is being reoriented—away from the United States. [Our ongoing series that exposes the true
intentions of China-to dominate the world while dumping the United States]
Acolossal Eurasian
supercontinent is forming. From Tokyo to Lisbon, groups of Asian and European
nations are hammering out history-altering trade deals and building billions of
dollars’ worth of infrastructure to better bind themselves together.
With
the ideological lines that divided East and West during the Cold War fading
away, the links between Asia and Europe are solidifying at hypersonic speed.
Latin America, too, is being drawn deeper into the Eurasian orbit.
All
of these trends, deals and projects have one common denominator: The United
States is excluded.
And
this is all happening in fulfillment of specific end-time biblical prophecies.
Rebuilding the
Ancient Silk Road
China
has taken the lead in working to integrate Eurasia. It is accomplishing this
largely with the Belt and Road Initiative (bri),
the brainchild and foremost national priority of Chinese President Xi Jinping.
The project was enshrined into the Chinese Constitution in 2017 as part of Xi’s
“Chinese Dream.” It aims to rebuild the ancient “Silk Road” network of routes
that facilitated the flow of goods and ideas across Asia, the Middle East,
Africa and Europe.
Xi
has been working to convince nations in those regions to cooperate with China
to build roads, rail networks, bridges, ports, pipelines and Internet systems
to rebuild and greatly expand those ancient routes. If the Belt and Road
Initiative comes together as planned, its infrastructure will connect more than
60 percent of the global population and about 36 percent of total global gross
domestic product—to China. And it is all for the purpose of reshaping the
international system to place China at the center.
Many
countries, especially in poorer parts of Asia, Africa and the Middle East,
immediately signed on. They calculated that accepting Chinese loans and
granting China the right to build road, rail and port infrastructure might be
risky, but the benefits to their economies would be worth it.
But
in Europe, most nations were skeptical. They worried about China’s human rights
abuses and deceitful trade practices, including its tendency to steal the
intellectual property of foreign investors. Europeans also feared China’s debt
trap diplomacy, by which it uses loans to gain leverage over borrowing
countries and force them to make concessions they would never make otherwise.
They worried about how the expansion of Chinese interests globally sometimes
precedes the expansion of Chinese military assets and deployments.
On
top of all that, Europe’s historical postwar alignment has been toward the United
States. And American leaders view the bri as
a dangerous drive for Chinese global hegemony, and often encourage nations in
Europe and elsewhere to shun it. These factors combined to darken EU countries’
view of the initiative, and to initially dissuade them from integrating more
deeply with China.
But
over the years, especially as Europe’s anti-American sentiments grew stronger,
some of the less powerful, mostly southern European nations rejected U.S.
warnings and joined the Chinese project. And in March a major European
power made the extremely significant decision to follow suit.
When in Rome
Italy
normally reserves its most lavish welcomes only for close allies. But on March
21, it hosted Xi for a state visit in Rome, including an elaborate, red-carpet
reception, state dinner and private concert by an opera megastar. But the
highlight of the visit for Xi was Italy’s signing up to the Belt and Road
Initiative.
“Xi
Jinping’s dream,” Business Insider wrote after
the signing, “just claimed one of its biggest victories yet.”
The
victory was enormous, not just because Chinese ships will be able to easily
unload cargo at Italy’s choicest ports, but also because Italy is a member of
the G-7. This group of democratically governed, advanced economies also
includes Canada, France, Germany, Japan, the U.S. and the United Kingdom. The
G-7 are powerful nations that help shape global policy. Now that one is on the
list of Belt and Road participants, other European nations are seriously
considering joining.
Quartz noted that Italy’s move was partly motivated
by its desire to break with traditional partners, including the U.S., which has
been its ally since the founding of nato 70 years ago. “[An] endorsement for bri … can signal the likelihood of a country
breaking ranks with traditional allies to side with China over politically
charged themes,” it wrote (March 19).
Italy’s
“signal” of anti-Americanism is sobering. And European, Asian and African
countries are not the only ones demonstrating that they are eager to side with
China. Alarmingly, it is also happening with more and more countries in the
U.S.’s periphery.
Crashing
America’s Neighborhood
The
Belt and Road infrastructure development initially concentrated on Asia, the
Middle East, Africa and Europe, the same regions that were linked by the
ancient Silk Road. But in 2017, Xi said he views Latin America as a “natural
extension” of the project and invited nations there to join. Antigua and
Barbuda, Bolivia, Panama, Suriname and Trinidad and Tobago have already signed on.
More Latin American and Caribbean nations are preparing to follow.
Chinese
money has already built a port in Trinidad and Tobago, railways in Argentina,
and roads in Costa Rica and Jamaica. As China persuades more Latin American and
Caribbean nations to join the project, this region, which is vital to U.S.
security, will become increasingly aligned with Beijing and its partners.
And
the Belt and Road Initiative is just one of many ways that China and its
anti-American partners are deepening their influence in Latin America.
In
the case of China’s closest comrade, Russia, the influence is becoming overtly
militaristic. In recent months, Russia has modernized Nicaragua’s military,
loaned Cuba $43 million for military gear, and said it may build a base there.
In Venezuela, Russia has sent soldiers and military gear to prop up the regime
of failed dictator Nicolás Maduro, and Russia’s Nezavisimaya Gazeta has reported that Moscow may build a permanent
military base there.
Given
the proximity of these Latin American nations to the U.S. and to the Caribbean
shipping lanes that the U.S. economy depends on, the deepening influence of
Russia and China there should be red flags to U.S. policymakers.
The World Is
Banking on China
On
Jan. 16, 2016, while inaugurating China’s new Asian Infrastructure Investment
Bank, Xi told the assembled dignitaries they were witnessing “a historical
moment.”
The
bank was established mainly to support Belt and Road projects and to advance
China’s broader goal of asserting leadership on the world stage. The bank
offers nations an alternative to the post-World War ii U.S.-dominated institutions, such as the World
Bank and the International Monetary Fund. It is another economic weapon for
China to openly challenge American leadership.
Despite
U.S. pressure, several of America’s Asian allies and partners joined China’s
Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank, including the Philippines, South Korea,
Thailand, Vietnam and Singapore. Several of America’s closest allies outside of
Asia—Britain, Germany, Italy, Australia, New Zealand and France—also joined.
Former
U.S. Treasury Secretary Larry Summers wrote in the lead-up to the Bank’s
inauguration: “[T]his … may be remembered as the moment the United States lost
its role as the underwriter of the global economic system.” Summers also stated
that America’s failure to persuade allies to stay out of the Chinese initiative
is a “wake-up call.”
Luxembourg’s
finance minister said in 2016 that the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank is
“further proof of the rebalancing of the world economy.”
Trade Blocs
Blocking Out the U.S.
“[G]overnments
have proven eager to move forward with trade negotiations as a way to counter
some of the uncertainty in the global trading system today,” John Murphy,
senior vice president for international policy at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce,
told usa Todaylast November.
As
a result of this push, major new trade blocs are emerging around the globe.
The
European Union has been especially aggressive. In recent years, it has signed new
agreements with Canada, Mexico, Chile, Peru, Colombia, Panama, Costa Rica,
Honduras, Nicaragua, Ukraine and South Korea. In December, Europe announced two
deals with Japan: the EU-Japan Strategic Partnership Agreement and EU-Japan
Economic Partnership Agreement. The latter integrates 635 million people and
one third of the world’s gdp,
making it the largest trade bloc on the planet. European
Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker said the deal brings EU-Japan trade
and political ties “to a whole new level.”
On
April 9, the EU hailed a “breakthrough” in its push for a trade agreement with
China. The two sides agreed to dramatically boost their trade volumes, broaden
market access, work together on World Trade Organization reform, and for China
not to force EU companies operating there into divulging sensitive knowledge.
“It is a breakthrough,” said European Council President Donald Tusk. “For the
first time, China has agreed to engage with Europe on this key priority
for wto reform.”
Chinese
Premier Li Keqiang said of the deals: “Not only will this be conducive to
China’s reform and opening up, but also Europe’s unity and prosperity.”
China
also recently signed a free-trade agreement with the Russia-led Eurasian
Economic Union. This group includes Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan and
Kyrgyzstan. Russian President Vladimir Putin said in April that the bloc’s
goal—facilitating the free movement of goods, labor and capital in the
region—perfectly aligns with the aims of the Belt and Road Initiative. Putin
said the Eurasian Economic Union member countries “unanimously supported the
idea of linking the construction of the Eurasian Economic Community” and the
Belt and Road.
Meanwhile,
in December, the Japan-led Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership
came into effect. This deal includes Australia, Canada, Mexico, New Zealand,
Singapore, Vietnam, Brunei, Chile, Peru and Malaysia. The 500 million people
living in these nations, constituting 13.4 percent of the global economy, can
now trade nearly tariff-free.
And
all the while, the EU has been frantically working toward a landmark free-trade
deal with the Latin American trade bloc mercosur, which includes Brazil, Argentina, Uruguay and
Paraguay. “This trade agreement will impact the whole world!” Trumpet editor in chief Gerald Flurry wrote of the EU-mercosur deal in our March issue.
These
agreements are fundamentally altering the world economy. And they all have one
thing in common: They exclude the U.S.
In
the case of some of the agreements, America chose not to participate.
Nevertheless, the trend is undeniable: More and more nations are forging
massive economic alliances—and America is out.
Many
of these history-altering trade deals have been under negotiation for years.
And now they are suddenly becoming reality. “Analysts attribute that to the
Trump administration’s policies,” (usa Today, op cit). In
reality, the anti-American sentiments that helped shape these trade deals
predate the Trump administration, but his leadership has intensified such
feelings and made more world leaders feel urgent about acting on them.
The
Belt and Road Initiative, the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank and the
multiplying number of U.S.-excluding trade blocs are reorienting the world
economy—to the detriment of the United States.
China’s rising power and the increasing number of trade blocs
that exclude the U.S. are shifting global power away from “Israel” and toward
these non-Israelite nations. Prophecy shows that as this shift continues,
cooperation between China, Europe and several other Gentile nations will be
consolidated and take a sharply anti-American
turn.
The situation will morph into a European subjugation of Latin
America, “The Latin American countries will become vassal states to Europe!”
With this level of control in Latin America, the European and
Asian powers will be geographically situated to lay siege to the United States.
“With a German-led Europe … possessing great maritime power, North America will
be surrounded on the east by Europe and the south by Latin America” (ibid).
At first
I had no idea why President Trump talked so much about sovereignty. I’ve
changed my mind. To be more precise, Xi Jinping changed it. Mr. Trump is the
only thing that stands between us and a world dominated by China. –Sen.
M Rubio/WSJ
Freedom
Self-Reliance Action
Yours for
smarter living,
Bruce ‘the
Poor Man’
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