China Now 03-08: Ukranian FM visits China, willing to talks with Russia
The China Now special program informs about this country's news.
Telesur English presents a new episode of "China Now", a wave media's production that showcases the culture, technology, and politics of the Asian Giant.
China Now is a show that explores the past and future of the Asian Giant.
Telesur English presents a new episode of "China Now", a wave media's production that showcases the culture, technology, and politics of the Asian Giant.
China Now is a show that explores the past and future of the Asian Giant.
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00:00Hello, Telesur English presents a new episode of China Now, our media's production that
00:13showcases the culture, technology, and politics of the Asian giant.
00:16In this first segment, China Currents, the foreign minister of Ukraine, visits China
00:21in his willingness to start talks with Russia.
00:24Also China advocating other countries to reduce the number of nuclear warheads.
00:29Furthermore, British Army preparing for war with Russia, China, and Iran in three years.
00:35And the Arab League welcomes the signing of Beijing declarations by various Palestinian
00:39factions.
00:40Let's see.
00:41China Currents is a weekly news talk show from China to the world.
00:48We cover viral news about China every week and also give you the newest updates on China's
00:54cutting-edge technologies.
00:55Let's get started.
00:56Welcome to China Currents, your weekly news report on what's happening in China.
01:10I'm Lisa.
01:11In this episode, Ukrainian foreign minister visits China, expresses willingness to start
01:18talks with Russia, and acknowledges Taiwan as an inseparable part of China.
01:24China advocates for all countries to reduce the number of nuclear warheads.
01:29The British military prepares to go to war with China, Russia, and Iran in three years.
01:36The Arab League welcomes the signing of the Beijing declaration by various Palestinian
01:41factions.
01:42270 American business executives travel to China to seek business opportunities.
01:49Let's start with new hope for ending the war in Ukraine.
01:53From the 23rd of July to the 26th, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Khrushchev visited
01:59China and expressed Ukraine's willingness and readiness to engage in peace talks with
02:04Russia.
02:05As soon as the plane landed at Guangzhou Baiyun Airport, Dmytro Khrushchev posted a short
02:11video on social media, stating that one of the key focuses of the bilateral dialogue
02:17was how to restore a just and sustainable peace in Ukraine.
02:22He believes that China can play a significant role in this process.
02:27This visit marks the first time a high-ranking Ukrainian official has visited China since
02:32the outbreak of the Russia-Ukraine conflict in 2022.
02:36It is also the first official visit by a Ukrainian foreign minister to China since 2012.
02:43According to Ukrainian political commentator Markson Dihan, the timing of Kulibar's visit
02:49is quite interesting, coinciding with U.S. President Joe Biden's exit from the 2024
02:56election, who has been a strong supporter of Ukraine.
03:01Kulibar's visit was hosted by Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi.
03:05Wang Yi pointed out that the Ukrainian crisis has entered its third year with ongoing conflict
03:11and risk of escalation and spread to other countries.
03:15China believes that all conflicts ultimately need to return to the negotiation table and
03:20be resolved through political means.
03:23Recently, both Russia and Ukraine have shown varying degrees of willingness to negotiate.
03:29Although the conditions and timings are not yet ripe, China will support all efforts conducted
03:35to peace and will continue to play a constructive role in ceasefire and peace talks.
03:41China is also concerned about the humanitarian situation in Ukraine and will continue to
03:47provide humanitarian aid.
03:49In response, Kulibar stated that China is a great country and an important economic
03:55and trade partner for Ukraine.
03:57Ukraine supports China's position on the Taiwan question and will continue to adhere to the
04:02one-China principle.
04:03Interestingly, since the outbreak of the Russia-Ukraine conflict in 2022, Taiwan authorities have
04:10publicly claimed that they stand with Ukraine and have been providing substantial financial
04:15aid.
04:16According to public information, Taiwan has currently provided US$40.54 million in aid
04:24for 3 million Ukrainian refugees.
04:26In contrast, the healthcare for Taiwan's 23.57 million residents in 2023 is only US$114 million,
04:36which is about US$17.6 million less than before the Russia-Ukraine conflict began.
04:43Even though the Taiwanese authorities have provided a medical budget for Ukrainian refugees
04:48that is much more than twice as much as that of Taiwanese residents, it is evident that
04:53such dollar diplomacy has not swayed the professionalism of Ukrainian foreign ministers.
04:59Taipei should realise that although the US$40.54 million is the lifeline for more than a quarter
05:05of Taiwanese patients, it is not enough to buy an F-16 fighter jet, which is insufficient
05:11to influence the relation between Beijing and Kyiv.
05:15As a former part of the Soviet Union, Ukraine recognised the People's Republic of China
05:20as early as October 1949 and established formal diplomatic relations with China as an internationally
05:28recognised independent state the year after the Soviet Union collapsed.
05:33On 24 November 1966, during the 21st session of the UN General Assembly, meeting No. 2159,
05:41the Taiwan authorities cited the dual representation of Belarus, Ukraine and the Soviet Union as
05:48justification for a similar arrangement regarding China.
05:52However, the Ukraine representative argued against Taiwan's arrangement.
05:56Instead, they supported expelling the representative of the Taiwan authorities, referred to as
06:02the Republic of China, and transferring their seats in the UN to the People's Republic of China.
06:08On the other hand, although Taiwan is not a member of the United Nations, it has condemned
06:13Russia's decision to recognise the Donetsk and Luhansk People's Republics in eastern
06:19Ukraine as a sovereign and independent state because it has violated Article 2 of the United
06:26Nations Charter on the use of force against territorial integrity or political independence
06:32of any state.
06:34As a part of China, if the Taiwan authorities truly want to uphold the dignity of the United
06:39Nations Charter, then why are they increasing the military budget to $13.8 billion for 2024?
06:48If that money were invested in healthcare, Taiwan's patients could receive the same level
06:53of care as the Ukrainian refugees.
06:56While Taiwan is determined to expand its legal armed forces, Beijing is working hard
07:01to persuade the nuclear powers to reduce the number of nuclear weapons and set an example
07:07itself.
07:08On the 23rd of July, the Perpetuary Committee of the 2026 Review Conference of the Treaty
07:15of the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons, or NPT, held its second meeting aimed at increasing
07:22severe global nuclear threat.
07:25On the committee, China's Director-General of the Department of Arms Control of MFA Sun
07:30Xiaobo stated that China supports strengthening dialogue and communication among the member
07:36countries of the treaty on the non-proliferation of nuclear weapons on the basis of mutual
07:42respect and equal consultation.
07:45Although China publicly called for a substantial progress to promote nuclear disarmament, nuclear
07:51non-proliferation and peaceful use of nuclear energy, the Japanese government-funded media
07:57NHK World Broadcasting still claim that China is apparently expanding its nuclear capabilities.
08:04In contrast, Sun Xiaobo commented that China adhered to a self-defense nuclear strategy
08:10and has consistently maintained a no-first-use policy for nuclear weapons.
08:16China's nuclear policy remains highly stable, continuous and predictable, representing the
08:21most meaningful form of transparency.
08:25Attempts by certain countries to distort and smear it are futile.
08:29It is worth noting that as a defeated country in World War II and the only country that
08:35has actually suffered a nuclear attack so far, Japan is nevertheless helping the US
08:40to spread its nuclear weapons in Asia.
08:43On 18 April 2023, the US Navy Ohio-class ballistic missile nuclear submarine sailed into East
08:52Asia for the first time.
08:54The commander of the Japanese Maritime Self-Defense Force boarded the ship in a high-profile manner
09:00and took photos with the US and South Korean officers.
09:04On 26 July, Chinese Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Mao Ning pointed out that the deployment of
09:10nuclear weapons by the United States on the territory of non-nuclear NATO member states
09:16are allowing these countries' fighter jets to carry and deliver nuclear weapons clearly
09:21violates the provision of the treaty.
09:24These moves of the United States are blatant acts of nuclear proliferation that could encourage
09:30more countries to follow suit, hinder nuclear arms control efforts, increase the risk of
09:36nuclear conflict and undermine global strategic stability.
09:40Unfortunately, United States is not the only threat to world peace, but also the United Kingdom.
09:45According to a BBC report on 24 July, the UK must be ready to fight a war against Russia,
09:53Iran and China in three years, the new head of the British Army Ronald Walker said.
09:59Ronald Walker has warned against a range of threats in what he called an increasingly
10:04volatile world.
10:06He stated that the UK must double the army's fighting power by 2027 and triple it by the end of the decade.
10:13His ambition is for the British Army to be able to destroy an enemy three times its own size.
10:19Ronald Walker comments comes at a time when the British regular armed force with over
10:2475,000 members is at its smallest size in 300 years.
10:30So then which era had the largest British military forces over the past 300 years?
10:35According to the British National Army Museum, the largest British army in history was during
10:41World War One.
10:42By the end of the war in 1980, the British army has expanded to over 4 million men, relying
10:49on conscription across the entire colonial empire.
10:52However, a significant portion of these troops came from India, Australia, New Zealand and Canada.
11:00But these are now independent democratic nations and their citizens have the right to decide
11:05who they want to fight for.
11:07The days when someone could simply put up a notice and have others sent off to Europe
11:12to fight and die are probably long gone.
11:16Although the British colonial empire has collapsed, its negative impact continues to lead to conflict.
11:21The tragedy of the Palestinians is one of such examples.
11:25Fortunately, the consensus reached in Beijing gave the world hope that this tragedy would end.
11:31After the Beijing Declaration on Ending Divisions and Strengthening Palestinian National Unity,
11:37jointly signed by 14 Palestinian factions, including Hamas and Fatah, many countries
11:43and international organizations have expressed their approval and welcome.
11:47On the 23rd of July, the Secretary General of the United Nations, Antonio Guterres, said
11:54He very much welcomed the signing of Beijing declarations by the Palestinian factions,
11:59adding that it was an important step towards furthering Palestinian unity.
12:04On the 24th of July, the Arab League welcomed the Beijing Declaration, which aims to end division,
12:11achieve reconciliation and promote Palestinian national unity.
12:15In a statement, the Arab League Assistant Secretary General for Palestine and Occupied Arab Territory,
12:22Saeed Abu Ali, expressed appreciation for China's stance supporting the Palestinian cause through various forms.
12:30He also commended the efforts and initiatives of the Chinese leadership
12:35and its ongoing commitment to supporting the rights of the Palestinian people,
12:40their unity and their just and legitimate struggle to end the Israeli occupation
12:45and establish an independent Palestinian state.
12:48Not only in diplomacy, China's economy is also attracting more and more international attention.
12:54On the 23rd of July, the U.S.-China Business Council, a private, non-profit organization
13:00of more than 270 U.S. companies that do business in China, concluded a three-day trip to Beijing.
13:09The purpose of the visit was to gain insights into China's future development plans
13:14following the third plenary session.
13:17The delegation included executives from the USCBC's board and was led by USCBC President Craig Allen
13:25and FedEx CEO Rod Sabramanian expressed his gratitude for the opportunity to engage with Chinese leaders
13:32to promote commercial relations.
13:35During the visit, the USCBC delegation met with the Vice Premier He Lifeng and other senior Chinese officials.
13:42While American entrepreneurs are flocking to the Chinese market to look for business opportunities,
13:48on the 25th of July, US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen still claimed that she would press China
13:55to address the country's macroeconomic model that has led to overcapacity
14:01during a press conference at the G20 Finance Minister and Central Bank Governors' Meeting.
14:08Following months of misleading overcapacity claims, the U.S. in May announced a sharp increase
14:13in its Section 301 tariff on Chinese electric vehicles from 25% to 100%.
14:20The U.S. politicians hope the global markets believe that China EV is an overcapacity industry.
14:27However, according to a study by the International Energy Agency, global sales of new energy vehicles
14:33will reach $45 million in 2030 and close to $65 million in 2035, up from around $14 million in 2023.
14:42Yu Xiang, a senior fellow at Tsinghua University, asked that China buys large amounts of soybeans,
14:50oil, aircraft and other commodities from the U.S. every year. Has it ever labelled the U.S. as having overcapacity?
14:58Obviously, Yellen did not respond to this question.
15:00And that is all for today. Thank you for watching this episode of China Current.
15:05If you have any thoughts or comments about our show, please reach us at the email address below.
15:10We look forward to hearing from you and see you next time.
15:31Welcome back to China Now. In this second segment, we have Thinkers Forum with the
15:38writer Andy Ward and an imperialism activist denied explaining how the U.S. is willing to
15:44recruit young people on a false basis to go to war with China. Also, Richard Wall, founder of
15:50Democracy at Work, talking of economy between China, U.S. and Japan, the BRICS and G7. Enjoy.
15:57We need to remember that these young people who all were recruited into the U.S. military machine
16:07on a false basis are sitting ducks. It's crystal clear that the U.S. military leadership is
16:15prepared to sacrifice these people in the tens of thousands for a war effort against China.
16:24I want to talk about the inflection point that we find ourselves in on a global basis. It's all based
16:34on a totally discredited and outmoded desire by the U.S. leadership to dominate the world
16:44and it's increasing desperate fear that it can't do it anymore. The United States
16:51position in the world has eroded very badly. Michael Hudson very often talks about the fact
16:59that the decline of Rome is actually reflected and mirrored in the decline of the U.S. empire
17:06that has been going on now for several decades, most notably evidenced by the 2008 financial
17:16collapse. Some people have forgotten it. It's about 15 years ago, but in fact, the U.S. economy has yet
17:28to recover from that collapse and its share of world trade has continued to fall and fall
17:36drastically and now with de-dollarization and the rise of BRICS, the United States can no longer
17:45impose its economic dominance of the world and it's been essentially reduced to depending only
17:53on terrorism, on its own terrorism of military threats and bludgeoning force while using
18:00mafia-style tactics against countries of the global majority to get them to go along with
18:08the U.S. aggressive policies against Russia, against the Palestinians and against China.
18:14Now the vast majority of countries in the world are saying no to that and that's helping people
18:22in the United States to recognize that what the government says is pretty much the opposite
18:30of what we need to be thinking and doing and this of course has been largely thanks to
18:36China, which has surpassed the U.S. economy and is the world's largest manufacturer and is dedicated
18:47to common prosperity and a shared future on a global basis. This is a very big deal for
18:56the peoples of the world, but there's a missing ingredient that is really my focus and that is
19:04a movement in my country, the United States, that's strong enough to put a screeching halt
19:11to the ever-increasing militarist frenzy of the United States leadership and it is focused
19:22really on taking inspiration and energy from the surge of solidarity with the Palestinians
19:31fighting against genocide by Israel supported by the United States and merging that with a global
19:40anti-war movement to stop the insanity of the U.S. war efforts. Notably next month in July
19:49there is a very large NATO summit and our movements in the United States are meeting it
19:56with a very intensive united anti-NATO summit that will gather opponents of NATO to highlight
20:05that NATO shouldn't even exist. It was founded approximately 70 years ago for the purpose of
20:14defending Europe against the Soviet Union. The Soviet Union collapsed in 1990. Instead of
20:22withering away, NATO has evolved from 12 member countries to I believe 30, maybe 31 now, and most
20:32recently they are expanding both membership and military presence in the Far East, obviously
20:44aimed against China. Also in July there's a RIMPAC war games of NATO navies in the Pacific
20:54that is going to involve I believe more than two dozen countries. Many of these countries,
20:59especially in Latin America, are themselves long-term victims of U.S. domination and
21:06interference of every possible kind. Now there are about 400,000 U.S. sailors and soldiers
21:15deployed in the Pacific theater. Most of them are with the U.S. allies in the Far East, South Korea
21:25and Japan, especially in its colony Okinawa, but they also have significant base presence
21:33in the Philippines and their coordinating center in Hawaii, as well as deployment nodes in San
21:41Diego, in Southern California, San Francisco Bay Area, as well as in the Seattle area, the Puget
21:49Sound. These are all areas that have a tradition of active duty resistance. The training programs
21:59that all of the military branches in the United States use are anti-human, not only physically
22:07against the recruits, but also they inculcate a deeply racist culture and brutality in these
22:15soldiers that many, many have fought against. There is a GI resistance hotline based on the
22:24West Coast that has seen an increase from about 10,000 inquiries a year to about 30,000 inquiries
22:33in the most recent period. If we can bring this united front against fascism and militarism
22:42as a strengthening force to support these GIs, we will be able to provide the missing ingredient
22:50that has made it frustrating, often difficult, if not impossible for soldiers and sailors to have
23:00the courage to say no. They need a strong civilian movement behind it, but when they do have it, as
23:08they did, for example, during the Vietnam War period, they can be the critical force that actually
23:15disarms the U.S. military machine. I remember very well back in 1969, there was a sanctuary
23:24movement in which dozens of U.S. GIs, soldiers and sailors, refused to be deployed to Vietnam.
23:31The result was electrifying. It's true that it faced significant military repression, but it also
23:38spread like wildfire among the troops. This happened also in San Diego, where the Navy base
23:46is very deeply involved in essentially recruiting and staffing the aircraft carriers that they send
23:54into the Pacific theater. The same is true in Seattle. We need to remember that these young
24:01people, who all were recruited into the U.S. military machine on a false basis, are sitting
24:08ducks. It's crystal clear that the U.S. military leadership is prepared to sacrifice these people
24:17in the tens of thousands for a war effort against China that is absolutely crazy. There is no basis
24:27a war against China by the United States. Look at the history. The U.S. was only able to fight
24:34to a draw against the Korean Liberation Forces and the volunteer Chinese forces during the U.S.-Korea
24:42War back in the early 1950s. In Vietnam, they lost completely. They were forced to evacuate the U.S.
24:49embassy by helicopter as their troops and their puppet troops were totally defeated on the
24:56battlefield. And they have lost again and again since then in Iraq and Afghanistan, even in Syria,
25:04where they tried to topple the government there. And now they've already lost against Russia fighting
25:11against NATO expansion in Ukraine, and they're rapidly losing in their support for Israeli genocide
25:19against the Palestinians. It's notable that among the most significant solidarity actions
25:27with Palestine resistance has been from active duty G.I.s. One G.I. burned himself in front of
25:33the White House while saying, free Palestine, an act of crazy solidarity, but one that genuinely
25:43inspired and electrified the anti-war veterans and active duty soldiers.
25:49So there is a kind of what you could call dry kindling of a prairie fire that can happen in
25:57the United States in opposition to the obvious blunders of the U.S. government in supporting
26:07fascism in Ukraine and fascist genocide in Israel. But what we see is the movement
26:18against their militarism and imperialism, which has been weak over the last several decades,
26:24is suddenly surging and becoming both stronger and more united. And that's what we need
26:31to stop the U.S. war machine and to prevent war against China.
26:40Now, China is a lender to the United States government. China and Japan are the number one
26:48and two lenders to the U.S. government. China has been reducing demanding repayment in dollars.
26:56It has been reducing its holdings of U.S. debt by hundreds of billions of dollars to the whole
27:04world. Economic growth is faster in the east than it is in the west. The G7 and the BRICS had the
27:13same total GDP in the year 2020. Now the BRICS have about three or four percent more than the G7.
27:31Capitalism has always had financial problems. The way the system works produces financial problems.
27:39Here in the United States, we have a governmental system that works as follows. On the one hand,
27:46you have corporations and the rich. They are a minority, but they provide the money for political
27:52parties. The political party, Republican and Democrat, spend an enormous amount of money.
27:57They buy time on television. Everything is done by mass media, by social media, and so forth.
28:04So for a candidate or a party to win, they need to get a lot of money. And that money comes
28:11overwhelmingly from corporations and the rich. And they don't want to be taxed. So what corporations
28:17and the rich want from the government is lots of service. They want 800 military bases so that
28:26nobody will interfere with exports, or imports, or all of that. They want the government to help
28:33them, to educate workers so that they are productive. To all of that, your prisons. We
28:39have an enormous prison population, all of that. Then there are the massive people, the working
28:44class, the employees. They too want services from the government. They want schools. They want
28:53hospitals. They want roads to be working, and so forth. And they don't want to pay taxes either.
28:59But they're not so powerful. They don't have any money to give the politicians,
29:03but they give them votes. And the politicians, once a year, need some votes. So we have the
29:08following capitalist system. Politicians faced with the need to raise money from corporations
29:18and the rich, but without the power really to tax them. Because if you tax them, they won't
29:25give you the money. They'll give the money to somebody else who's running against you. You'll
29:30be out of there within the next year or two, and in will come somebody who plays the game.
29:37And likewise, you can't keep putting the taxes on the mass of people because they don't have enough.
29:45And they're going to rise up again. That's dangerous.
29:49Okay, so you have to provide services, but you can't tax. How do you handle that problem?
29:58And the way that capitalists have handled that problem in the West is by borrowing.
30:07Okay, if the government has to do all these things, but we dare not raise taxes on corporations and
30:13the rich or the mass of people, then we will borrow the money because that way we can spend
30:19it on what people need, but without taxing them. And they will vote for us, and they will give us
30:25money. And that's how it works. But the problem is you accumulate an enormous national debt,
30:34adding up each year's deficits between what the government spends and what it raises in tax.
30:40The important thing to understand about this, though, which many people don't, is that this
30:47is very good for corporations and the rich for as long as it lasts. Why? Because when the government
30:57borrows, who does it borrow from? It borrows from corporations and the rich. Nobody else has money
31:05to lend to the government. So here's what we have. The government lets corporations and the rich
31:13not pay taxes, and then comes back to them and says, lend the government the money that you did
31:21for corporations and the rich. This is, of course, wonderful. Instead of paying taxes,
31:27say goodbye to your money. They get to give the government a loan, which the government will pay
31:33back, plus interest on the loan. So for corporations and the rich, going ever deeper into debt is
31:42perfectly acceptable, which is why corporations and the rich are now permitting here in the United
31:48States. We run deficits in the trillions of U.S. dollars every year, like this year. And
31:58corporations and the rich worry only because at a certain point, when you borrow more and more,
32:08you run the risk that some of the lenders, the very corporations and the rich,
32:16will decide it is too risky. You are so in debt that there may be an uprising from the people
32:24which will say you cannot repay the debt. You have to take care of us first.
32:31Now, China is a lender to the United States government. China and Japan are the number one
32:39and two lenders to the U.S. government. China has been reducing, demanding repayment in dollars.
32:47It has been reducing its holdings of U.S. debt by hundreds of billions of dollars
32:55over the last few years. This is an important sign that in China, too, there's the beginning
33:02of the worry that the debts are going up so fast that you're getting closer to a crisis
33:09when the mass of people say we will not continue to pay the taxes, you need to repay the debt
33:18which you only got because you weren't willing to tax corporations and the rich.
33:25That's why in the United States an enormous amount of time and energy is spent by leading
33:34economists to explain deficits and national debts in every conceivable way other than what
33:45I've just told you. Because they don't want the mass of people to realize that a debt
33:54is simply postponing the burden of taxation on the employees in order to benefit the employers
34:04who get out of paying a tax and have a government loan instead. If the mass of people understood
34:12what I just told you then they would not allow this kind of deficit spending and they would demand
34:20that taxes be raised on corporations and the rich because they have evaded their share of taxes
34:29for many years and because they are the richest and therefore most able to pay to get out. But my
34:37guess is we're not going to solve this problem until it blows up. And if you ask me when will
34:44it blow up, I can't answer that question because that's a question really of when does capitalism
34:52run out of its mechanisms to stay in power. I think that capitalism is declining
35:01everywhere in the world with the exceptions perhaps of Asia. The best way to understand
35:07these issues is to be historical in your approach. And the history of capitalism
35:15should be understood as the history of movement, of change, of relocation of capitalist industry
35:25because that has been the reality from the beginning. If we date the origin of modern
35:32capitalism in England in the 17th and 18th century then obviously we know the story of relocation
35:42because England is now empty of most capitalist industry. It has left England
35:50and moved elsewhere. Initially it moved from England to Western Europe. From Western Europe
35:59it moved to the United States, to North America. It moved to Japan and eventually it moved
36:06everywhere in the sense of colonialism and imperialism. The last four or five centuries
36:16have been basically the story of capitalism spreading, relocating. And I particularly want
36:25to focus on the center, the dynamic center of capitalism. Because for example even though
36:34capitalism relocated its center out of Britain, it still left capitalism in Britain. But it wasn't
36:44the dynamic growth center of capitalism. That has not been British for over a century at this point.
36:53We know where the center of capitalism went because we know that the British empire declined
37:02in the 19th and 20th century and the American empire rose particularly in the 20th century.
37:10And it became the dominant explosive growth center. And by that I mean where GDP grows quickly,
37:20where huge numbers of people leave agriculture and move from rural to urban, move from farm work to
37:30industrial work. We can see where the dynamic center of capitalism has relocated. And now comes
37:38my important point I think. Over the last 30-40 years we have seen the latest relocation of the
37:50dynamic center of capitalist industry and growth. It has left Western Europe, it has left North
38:00America, and it has left Japan. And it has gone above all to the People's Republic of China,
38:08but also to places like India and Brazil and other parts of Vietnam and other parts of the world.
38:16But it has left the old part and that is how capitalism has always worked. It has always
38:24relocated following where profits were the greatest. And so for example here in the United States
38:34many companies, many of our largest corporations over the last 40 years
38:42grew their enterprises in China or in India or in Brazil or in Vietnam. Wages were lower,
38:51India, China, and Brazil, and the economic market was growing faster than in Europe,
38:59North America, and Japan. And we are seeing the consequences for those that are able to
39:07to see it, who are able to admit it, who are not blinded by their own ideology. And I have to tell
39:16you that in much of Europe and in much of North America the major response to the relocation of
39:25capitalism to the East, mostly to the South and the East, has been what psychologists call denial.
39:35They haven't admitted it. Politicians have felt that what they must say to the people
39:41is that we are strong and we are powerful and we are what we were.
39:49This has happened before in history. It takes some time before the people living through
39:57the relocation of capitalism will finally be able to face it, to admit it,
40:05and to begin to deal with it. We're not there yet. And whether you look at the war in Ukraine
40:12or you look at foreign policy of the West or you look for example at the conflict around Taiwan
40:20in the South China Sea, you see a West that still thinks it has the dominant power. It doesn't.
40:30And the statistic I use to drive this point home to people is that if you look at the GDP,
40:38the gross domestic product, which measures the total output of goods and services in one year,
40:46if you look at the total GDP of the United States and its major allies, the G7, United States,
40:55Canada, Japan, Britain, France, Germany, and Italy, it is significantly less right now than the GDP
41:06of China and its allies in the BRICS, that other new alliance. So that tells the whole world
41:17economic growth is faster in the East than it is in the West. The G7 and the BRICS had the same
41:25total GDP in the year 2020. Now the BRICS have about three or four percent more than the G7.
41:36And that shows you that the gap between them is getting larger. This is reshaping global capitalism
41:46and all world affairs. We are living through that. But I think the important thing is to realize that
41:54this is what's going on, to understand that every country in the world, your country, my country,
42:03all are now rethinking their foreign policies, their place in the world, the future of their
42:12industries, because the economic situation of the world economy is changing so dramatically.
42:27And this was another episode of China Now, a show that opens a window to the
42:31present and the future of the ASEAN. I hope you enjoyed it. See you next time.