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Transcript

00:00Hello, Telesur English presents a new episode of China Now, a webmedia production that showcases

00:13the culture, technology and politics of the Asian giant.

00:16In this first segment, Corinne dives into the top stories of the week, including a lawsuit

00:20lost by the Pentagon to a Chinese company and the increased investment of German auto

00:25marketing in China, among other topics, let's see.

00:43Welcome to China Current, your weekly news report on what's happening in China.

00:48I'm Lisa.

00:49In this episode, the Pentagon lost a lawsuit to a Chinese company.

00:54The US Navy encountered Chinese vessels on Pacific patrol.

00:59Chinese warship exercised their right to freedom of navigation in the English Channel.

01:03A Japanese veteran from Unit 731 came to China to offer an apology.

01:09German automakers are increasing their investment in China, despite opposition from the government.

01:15First, let's focus on a lawsuit.

01:18On the 12th of August, the Pentagon backed down in the face of legal action from a Chinese

01:23company, Hesai Technology, which specialized in producing LiDAR, a crucial component for

01:30self-driving cars.

01:32It is headquartered in Shanghai and listed on NASDAQ.

01:37In January of this year, the US Department of Defense added Hesai Technology, along with

01:4345 other Chinese companies, to its blacklist, labeling them as Chinese military companies,

01:50which means Hesai was accused by the US government for being owned or cooperating with the Chinese

01:57military, restricting American investors from buying its shares.

02:02In response, Hesai Technology filed a lawsuit against the Pentagon in May.

02:08The company argued that there was no evidence linking it to China's military, and called

02:13the Pentagon's decision to be arbitrary and capricious.

02:17Hesai has requested a federal court in Washington to issue a summary judgment, with a hearing

02:24scheduled in September.

02:26According to a report from the Financial Times, the US government lawyers were concerned that

02:32the justification for blacklisting Hesai wouldn't withstand legal scrutiny under 2021 legislation.

02:40Simply saying Hesai was affiliated and engaged in research partnership with the Chinese Ministry

02:46of Industry and Information Technology wasn't enough to meet the legal requirements.

02:53Hesai responded that the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology was akin to a US

02:58regulatory agency.

03:00In fact, the department is mainly responsible for implementing policies in the fields such

03:06as postal service, internet, wireless, broadcasting, etc.

03:11If the Pentagon identified this department as a military office, they will need to similarly

03:16classify the Department of Commerce to be consistent.

03:20In the light of these concerns, the Pentagon has now decided to remove Hesai from its blacklist,

03:26acknowledging that it does not meet the legal criteria for inclusion.

03:31The Biden administration has consistently scrutinized the data security of Chinese high-tech

03:36products.

03:37However, Hesai has maintained that its products are strictly for commercial and civilian use.

03:44A claim supported by its partnership with US technology giants, notably ZooX, an autonomous

03:51robot taxi company acquired by Amazon for over US$1 billion, has a publicly known partnership

03:59with Hesai.

04:00A new Forbes legal survey revealed that 93% of Americans have concerns about self-driving

04:07cars, particularly with regards to safety.

04:11LIDARs, which use laser beams to measure the distance of objects around vehicles, can significantly

04:17provide more safety protection for pedestrians and drivers than pure vision sensor solutions.

04:24It was dismissed by Elon Musk in 2019 because of the high cost of production.

04:29But now, with the considerable needs generated by Chinese EV makers, the rapid expansion

04:35of the LIDAR industry has greatly spread the research and development cost.

04:40The price of LIDAR sensors have dropped from thousands of dollars over the past few years

04:45to several hundred dollars.

04:47According to industry research firm Euler Group, more than 70% of the world's automakers

04:53are now choosing to collaborate with Hesai in developing self-driving cars.

04:58Among the world's eight major robot taxi companies, four are from the United States,

05:04including Tesla, GM, Ford, and Auto X, all of which have partnered with Hesai in manufacturing

05:10all R&D.

05:11The global robot taxi market is projected to reach $45 billion by 2030, offering significant

05:19opportunities for American investors.

05:21However, the Pentagon's previous blacklisting of Hesai created risk for companies and its

05:26partners, even threatening to deter American investments.

05:31The Financial Times pointed out it is an embarrassing setback for the U.S. government.

05:36But in fact, it is not the first time that the U.S. government has faced such a situation.

05:41In 2021, the Pentagon similarly removed Chinese smartphone maker Xiaomi from its blacklist

05:47after Xiaomi sued, arguing the blacklisting was unconstitutional.

05:53In other related developments, the Biden administration recently decided to delay the increased tariff

05:59on Chinese imports, originally set for August 1st, has further underscored concern about

06:05the impact on American businesses.

06:07The delay had been met with positive reaction from China, with the Chinese embassy in Washington

06:12stating they are pleased to see U.S. correcting discriminatory practice and providing a fair,

06:18just, and non-discriminatory business environment for Chinese companies.

06:23The news outlet Global Times said the delay indicated the irreplaceability of Chinese

06:29technologies.

06:31However, American intelligence expert James Mullivan cautioned that Congress may soon

06:37update the 2021 law, potentially allowing the Pentagon to re-blacklist He Sai.

06:43While in Germany, when a government has taken a less-than-friendly stance towards China,

06:49companies have consistently made more rational business decisions.

06:53According to Financial Times' report on 13 August, despite calls for caution from

06:59the German government regarding investment in China, German capital had been flowing

07:05into the country at a record-breaking pace.

07:08This year, investment has surged beyond all expectations, exceeding the total of previous

07:14years in just the first half alone.

07:17Data from the German Central Bank paints a stark picture of this economic trend.

07:23German direct investment in China skyrocketed to US$2.71 billion in the first quarter of

07:30the year.

07:31The figure nearly doubled to a remarkable US$5.25 billion in the second quarter.

07:38This staggering growth resulted in a cumulative investment of approximately US$8.96 billion

07:45for the first half of this year, significantly exceeding the total investment for the entire

07:51previous year.

07:52Just a year ago, the Shores Administration urged caution in trading relations with China,

07:59emphasising the need to mitigate risk by diversifying supply chains.

08:04Despite these governmental concerns about geopolitical uncertainties, German automotive

08:09giants remain undeterred, leading in the charge in investing in China.

08:14Analysts like Daniel Rose from Rhodium Group predict this fervent investment trend will

08:20continue throughout the year.

08:22Moving on, in a story reported by Newsweek on 12 August, it has come to light that a

08:29US Navy destroyer, USS Rafale Peralta, had a close encounter with Chinese naval ships

08:35while on patrol in the Western Pacific last month.

08:39What's interesting is that the Peralta's official page on Facebook said it protected

08:43Guam during Chinese and Russian deployments in the area, but later the reference was quietly

08:50deleted.

08:51The USS Rafale Peralta, one of the nine Ali-Rouge-class destroyer based in Japan, is part of the 7th

08:59Fleet, principal service force in Western Pacific and Indian Oceans.

09:04This encounter followed a significant two-week joint naval patrol by China and Russia.

09:10While neither nation disclosed a precise route, they hinted that it covered parts of the Western

09:15and Northern Pacific Ocean, stretching over 4,800 nautical miles, suggesting that their

09:22fleet may have ventured close to Guam, a US territory with high strategic importance.

09:29Commander Megan Green, a spokesperson for the US 7th Fleet, has previously emphasised

09:35Guam's crucial role in maintaining American influence in the Western Pacific.

09:40The island houses three major military bases, air forces, navy and marine corps, and sits

09:47just 1,500 to 1,700 miles from Taiwan Island.

09:53Guam's strategic significance has been evident throughout history, particularly during the

09:58first Taiwan Strait crisis in the 1950s.

10:02President Dwight Eisenhower deployed the 7th Fleet to the region, intervening in China's

10:07internal affairs.

10:09Since then, to interfere with the reunification of mainland China and Taiwan, the 7th Fleet's

10:15aircraft carriers have twice sailed through the Taiwan Strait.

10:19Washington refers to these actions as routine freedom of navigation operations, demonstrating

10:25American power in the region.

10:27But regarding the encounter between the Chinese and US Navy last month, Megan Green said China

10:32and Russia are authorised in accordance with customary international law and conduct operations

10:39in international airspace and international waters.

10:43She also stated the encounter was safe and professional.

10:48On a similar note, let's turn to the British Royal Navy.

10:51On the 10th of August, two Chinese warships traversed the English Channel for the second

10:57time in just three weeks.

10:59UK Armed Forces Minister Luke Pollard emphasised that the Royal Navy closely monitored the

11:05situation, ensuring the US remained, in his words, secure at home and strong aboard.

11:12However, Indian media outlet the Eurasian Times highlighted a significant disparity,

11:18noting that while Chinese warships flexed their muscles in the English Channels, the

11:23UK could only deploy a ship on the verge of retirement.

11:27The ship was in fact the HMS Richmond, a 4,000-ton frigate that has been in service

11:33for nearly 30 years.

11:35In contrast, the two Chinese warships, exceeding 30,000 tons totally, had been in service for

11:41less than a decade.

11:43This raised questions about the UK's military capability.

11:47It is not the first time the HMS Richmond has encountered the Chinese Navy.

11:52Back in 2021, the same vessel navigated in the Taiwan Strait, a move profoundly displayed

11:58by the British Navy on social media.

12:00Now, just three years later, the ships met once again in the English Channel.

12:06Next up, a Japanese veteran has found the courage to stand up and acknowledge the war

12:11crimes committed by Unit 731.

12:14On the 13th of August, Shimizu Hideo, a former member of Japanese Biological Warfare Unit

12:20731, went to China to express his apology.

12:24He was conscripted in the Unit 731 at the age of 14 in 1945, and remained there until

12:32Japan's unconditional surrender a few months later.

12:36Upon his return to Japan, Shimizu was instructed to keep his involvement with the Unit 731

12:43a secret.

12:43During his recent visit, Shimizu visited the former site of Unit 731 in Harbin.

12:50It is now an expedition hall displaying evidence of the war crimes committed by the unit.

12:55He recalled witnessing various specimens, such as pregnant women and babies, soaked

13:00in formalin.

13:01Shimizu bowed multiple times in front of a monument, expressing his deepest condolences

13:07to the victims.

13:09At the site, he offered a sincere apology and repentance to the Chinese people.

13:14According to Nanjing Daily, Unit 731 was responsible for the murders of over 200,000 Chinese

13:21civilians.

13:22According to Hackerton International, an American journal of medical, at least 300,000 people

13:29died of infectious disease resulting from the work of Unit 731 and its associated laboratories.

13:37Apart from China, the victims were from countries including Russia, Korea, the Philippines,

13:41and Indonesia.

13:43While individuals like Shimizu are actively seeking to apologize for Japanese war crime

13:48atrocities, the nation's leader continues to face criticism for his reluctance to fully

13:54acknowledge the past.

13:56On 15 August, Japan's Prime Minister Fumio Kishida included a symbolic donation to the

14:02Yasukuni Shrine, reigniting debates about Japan's accountability for its war crime

14:08actions.

14:09This shrine honours numerous Japanese war criminals from World War II, including figures

14:14like Izuroku Yamamoto, the Japanese officer who commanded the attack on Pearl Harbor,

14:19and Masaharu Homma, responsible for the massacre of 30,000 American prisoners of war in the

14:25Philippines.

14:27And that is all for today.

14:28Thank you for watching this episode of China Current.

14:30If you have any thoughts or comments about our show, please reach us at the email address

14:35below.

14:35We look forward to hearing from you and see you next time.

14:39We have a short break, but we'll be right back.

14:48Stay with us.

14:59Welcome back to China Now.

15:01This week, the Thinkers Forum welcomes Cambodian Professor Keith-Ray Dechem and Buljana Vankoska

15:08from North Macedonia to discuss the challenges of the present world.

15:12Let's see.

15:16First, I'd like to thank China Academy for giving me the chance to talk at your studio

15:23today.

15:24My name is Chem Kiat-Wetri.

15:27I'm a professor of technology and humanity from Camtec University from Cambodia.

15:38That's a very good question about the Belt and Road Initiative because, personally,

15:41I was involved also as a policy researcher for the last 10 years.

15:46First, Cambodia being a developing country, we need to develop our infrastructures, road,

15:52highway, bridge, port, airport, etc.

15:55So, with the support, with the funding from the loan from the Belt and Road Initiative,

16:01Cambodia was able, for example, to build a road from the capital, Phnom Penh, to the

16:08port, Sihanoukville, and then that reduced the time of transportation from five to six

16:14hours to only less than two hours.

16:16So, this is a very big logistic achievement for the Cambodian government.

16:24On the other hand, also, there's a lot of other collaborations.

16:27Particularly, I'd like to probably share an example about people-to-people connectivity

16:34because this year is a special year of the Belt and Road Initiative that focuses on people-to-people.

16:40For example, yesterday, here, I organized a dinner for three Cambodian students who got

16:48a scholarship from the government of China.

16:50I have been told, and I was very pleased to hear, that just in Beijing, there are more

16:55than 300 Cambodian students doing a Master or PhD in China.

17:00And overall, in other provinces, many other places in China, I believe that there are

17:06more than 1,000 Cambodians who studied in China.

17:09Today's students will become leaders in the future, 10 to 20 years.

17:14They become leaders in the government, in the private sector, in academia.

17:19They have studied in China.

17:21So, during their study here, they learn about China, better knowledge of China.

17:26They have professors.

17:27They have friends.

17:28So, I believe that in the future, the relationship between China and Cambodia will be even stronger

17:35because they have built a bonding during their stay here in Beijing and anywhere else in

17:41China for two, three, four, five years.

17:44I believe that in the current situation, Western media misunderstand China.

17:51Worse, most of them, they don't know about China.

17:54They heard, they write about China without visiting China.

17:58So, I think the one way to educate the public, particularly in the Western world, to know

18:04about China's civilization is to promote the image of China through different media.

18:10Like you did today, and also open up the visa system to allow people to come.

18:15You understand the fear of the people of the media.

18:19They don't know about China.

18:20But China has 4,000 years of history, 1.4 billion.

18:24When China rise, I think a lot of people are afraid of that.

18:29So, it also, I fall in the responsibility of China to promote that image of China.

18:38To promote that image as a pacific rise of China.

18:42So, better communication, more effective communication and engagement.

18:48Engagement with people who have no knowledge about China but tend to judge without much

18:55evidence.

18:56So, overall, it's a matter of branding China as a bit of positive image.

19:01But, you know, I travel with China over the last 15 years.

19:03I see so much progress.

19:05Your infrastructure is amazing.

19:07There's no country that can do this kind of progress in such a short time.

19:11Socially, China economy rise.

19:14Your government lifted 800 million people out of poverty.

19:18That's quite an achievement for humankind.

19:20It never happened in history.

19:22So, you have a beautiful story to tell the rest of the world.

19:26It's about telling a good story and engagement the rest of the world.

19:30To me, China has such a beautiful civilization.

19:33Technology is advancing.

19:35To make sure that people are not worried about the rights of China is to communicate in the

19:42most effective way.

19:43I come to China the last 15 years.

19:46I come like at least 20, 25 times.

19:48So, I know what is China.

19:49But most people, they don't know.

19:51And also, they believe all the bad images that are fabricated by Western media.

19:57I believe that it's up to China to try to find a way to promote more visitors to China.

20:04And I wish you all the success.

20:11So, if you look at the interaction between Cambodia and China, Cambodian people and Chinese

20:19people, it's a very long story.

20:22So, about 1,500 years ago, the king of ancient Cambodia sent Buddhist monks to China to translate

20:31Buddhist sutras from Sanskrit to Chinese.

20:35Also, on the other way around, the emperor of China sent monks or doctors to learn herbal

20:42medicine in Cambodia.

20:44Also in Cambodia, there are many, many Chinese who migrated to Cambodia for a thousand years.

20:52And in Cambodia, many Cambodians are descended from Chinese ancestors.

20:58Myself, my current name is Cambodian.

21:01But actually, my initial name is Lee.

21:05My great-grandfather came from Fujian province.

21:08So, with all this connection, if you go to Cambodia, you will meet a lot of Chinese overseas

21:13who decide to settle there.

21:15So, there's a mixture of values that we use in our daily life.

21:23Buddhism and Confucianism all mix together.

21:26That would guide our life, try to be prosperous, try to cultivate a society that is harmonious

21:34and prosperous.

21:35So, the talk I delivered this morning at the Aristotle Confucius Symposium was about compassionate

21:43AI.

21:44So, it's how to design artificial intelligence systems that have some compassion.

21:50It's very challenging.

21:52How far can we go with that?

21:54The future will tell us.

21:56But most definitely, if you look at current AI, it's very challenging.

22:02Most definitely, if you look at current AI systems, they have no consciousness, no emotion,

22:11no even morality.

22:14So, how can we prevent a kind of wild development of technology of AI in the future that breaks

22:22all the rules of morality?

22:24Designers of AI systems, engineers, scientists, philosophers, we have a role.

22:29We make sure that when we design a system, when we write programs, we write algorithms,

22:35all the elements of good morality, benevolence is embedded in the system.

22:42But this has been said, sometimes still, we need to monitor to make sure that algorithm

22:49programs that we have written for the AI system follow the rules that we have included to

22:55make sure that whatever they do in terms of action in the future, the system is benevolent

23:02and will not cause any harm to the users of AI.

23:07I use compassionate AI as a provocative title, but we cannot expect AI, a system, a technological

23:17system that can be compassionate.

23:20Can AI be morally responsible?

23:24Definitely not, at least for now.

23:26So, who is responsible then?

23:29The human agent.

23:30So, the person who designed AI program, the person who deployed AI system, and the users

23:39have to be aware that when they use AI, they use it wisely.

23:44And you're talking about competition between the US and China.

23:50This is a geopolitical question.

23:52US has been dominant for a long time, but China is on the rise.

23:57And if you compare the US to China, the US is 200 years old.

24:03China has 4,000 years of civilization.

24:07So, if China survived 4,000 years already, they will be here for the next 4,000 years.

24:15So, what we expect is that both China and US should recognize each mutual strength and

24:25weaknesses and work together for the benefit of the other people who live on this planet.

24:30This rivalry is very negative.

24:33It carries a risk of a major conflict, and we should avoid that.

24:38And building peace means understanding each other.

24:42And this symposium, Aristotle, Confucius, and also Buddha, is a wonderful platform,

24:52an opportunity for sign diplomacy.

24:56How, for example, in particular, AI can be developed together for global common goods.

25:04Intelligent technology, particularly AI, is a dual technology,

25:09meaning that it can do good, but it can do bad also.

25:14Similar to nuclear technology in the 20th century,

25:20you can use nuclear technology to kill cancer cells to cure cancer.

25:25Or, like some countries, they build atomic bombs to drop and to kill civilians.

25:32So, there is a strong need for a global governance of AI in the near future,

25:41and all countries should discuss together.

25:43I heard also that China, the government of China,

25:47has launched a diplomatic initiative called Global Data Security Initiative.

25:54And this is one big step to look at how we can monitor,

26:00control the use of data for pacific use.

26:04And in order for this kind of diplomatic initiative to be successful,

26:09there will be needed a strong commitment from all countries,

26:14and particularly to come around the table

26:16to negotiate for the best interests of the people living on our planet.

26:24The Ukraine-Russian war is actually something that many peace researchers,

26:30and even people out of academia, could easily predict

26:34and warned about the future developments.

26:39But, sadly, few people in power centers listen to scholars or intellectuals or peace activists.

26:48The power centers actually already had the idea to escalate the situation,

26:55and they were not working for peace.

26:58And the whole story, narrative, about NATO enlargement being a process of spreading

27:07Western democracy values, peace, etc., was false, of course.

27:14Because on the background, we can find many indications that this situation had been prepared.

27:25So, in 2014, when Euromaidan took place, that was a colored revolution, of course.

27:34But few observers or analysts would notice that

27:40right after the Ukrainian colored revolution, the next one was Macedonia.

27:46My country is a part of former Yugoslavia,

27:50but the way to NATO and EU integrations was obstructed by our southern neighbor,

27:58Greece, who objected the name of the country, Macedonia.

28:02So, due to this problem, which is very emotional and very important for the people,

28:09because we have no other reserved identity but being what we are,

28:14and we consider ourselves Macedonians,

28:17many governments didn't even try to really change the name

28:21or do something radical in this sense.

28:26So, the colored revolution actually helped remove the previous government that was stubborn,

28:33that didn't want to follow the guidelines from the West.

28:38And the West got nervous, actually,

28:42and didn't want this small, tiny, little country to spoil their grand strategy.

28:49Macedonia is not important per se.

28:52It's a very small territory, just two million people,

28:57but it makes a problem in the entire Balkan puzzle.

29:02So, let me remind us that in 2005, almost two decades ago,

29:08it was the former US State Secretary, John Kerry,

29:13who said that Macedonia, Serbia,

29:15and these countries in the so-called Western Balkans are on the front line,

29:21meaning front line of a future conflict,

29:24which means that they had it in the cards.

29:27Everything is interlinked.

29:28What happened in Ukraine is followed in Macedonia.

29:33Macedonia got into NATO,

29:35and that is presented as some kind of achievement,

29:37some kind of contribution of the government

29:40that finally made this dream strategic goal achieved for the people.

29:48Sadly, Ukraine paid a much higher price than Macedonia.

29:52We paid without losing our sovereignty,

29:55our constitutional identity, our history.

30:00So, this identity package is what we sacrificed on the altar of NATO membership,

30:07while Ukrainians are suffering, really,

30:10in terms of human loss, destruction, and all that.

30:14Everything could have been avoided, of course.

30:16I oppose NATO not only in my country, Macedonia,

30:21but also in the entire region of former Yugoslavia.

30:25It is because of an obvious reason.

30:28If you have a region that suffered from terrible turmoil,

30:33bloody conflicts, and the consequences are still here,

30:39we still remember that it is still so fresh and painful for the societies.

30:44There is still no reconciliation.

30:47Young people are leaving.

30:49Brain drain is massive, and people want to live a decent life.

30:55Why UNHRD military alliance?

30:59The problem with NATO is that NATO is unable,

31:02and actually never promised,

31:04to resolve the existential social, economic, political,

31:09interethnic, or societal problems of these societies.

31:13So, getting in alliance was promised here as some kind of miracle,

31:23some magic, that once we are in NATO, we are safe,

31:27we are going to be rich, everything will be perfect.

31:30So, it was a fairy tale story for little children, not for adults.

31:36Now, when we are part of NATO,

31:38the irony is that we are a warring party in a proxy war.

31:43Macedonia is a poor country, and sadly,

31:47it belongs to 18 countries that are members of NATO,

31:51who invest more than 2% of their GDP for military budget,

31:57not only for the membership fee to NATO,

32:01but also modernization of the army,

32:04and now military support for Ukraine.

32:07So, we are investing from our poverty,

32:10supporting war, not peace.

32:13We, the people who know what war really means,

32:16are now joining a military crusade,

32:20and actually, we are on the wrong side of history.

32:24We are in a worse situation than before.

32:27We are currently on the list of non-friendly countries of Russia.

32:32Why?

32:33Why should Macedonia, a small country,

32:36or even a bigger country, make enemies?

32:40Instead of making friendships, we are making enemies.

32:44And in a case of a nuclear holocaust or whatever,

32:49we are really on this front line.

32:52Due to the part that Yugoslavia fell apart,

32:55Macedonia is a poor, tiny country with no statehood experience,

33:01and traditions really found itself in a very hard situation.

33:07There was a narrative against our own historical traditions and identities,

33:14saying that we need to be part of the West,

33:18that we are the West.

33:20But somehow, during the communist times,

33:23we were not allowed,

33:24or we were part of a different interest sphere or whatever.

33:29The problem is that the Balkans is on a geographic position

33:34where civilizations have been meeting each other,

33:38crossing each other, influencing each other.

33:41So we cannot be just the West.

33:44We are also the East,

33:46or we have something of our own to offer the world.

33:51Nevertheless, the NATO and EU, as strategic goals,

33:56have been highest on the top agenda of the political elites.

34:01Elites who were incapable, corrupted,

34:05were unable to provide for the people,

34:08to cover the basic human needs,

34:12to establish the normal, decent state and everything else.

34:16So this is like a religion.

34:19Let's believe this, not question it.

34:23This is the TINA principle.

34:25There is no alternative to NATO, to EU, to capitalism,

34:31open market, political liberalism.

34:35But then it was easy to adopt a new constitution

34:40and to make it copy-paste from the Western constitutions

34:43and to adopt some kind of parliamentary democracy.

34:47But it could not work in reality

34:51because the elections are a farce,

34:54the political elites are making love with the people,

34:58but they are always loyal to the international community,

35:01meaning the West.

35:03So in a region devastated by wars and conflicts,

35:09the Western powers came under the cloak

35:14of international community.

35:17They took over that name, not rightly so, of course,

35:22because they never represented the entire world.

35:25And they promoted themselves into peace builders

35:28and state builders.

35:30We practically, with the end of history,

35:34you know, the Fukuyama's famous phrase,

35:38we did not only lose our traditions and our past,

35:43but we also lost our agency, our right,

35:47our right for political self-determination.

35:52Or any other type of deciding of our own future.

35:56We were treated as infantile societies

36:00that should be taught some elementary things.

36:03We are just fooling ourselves

36:06that we are living in democracy,

36:09that we are deciding on something.

36:11This is a region, sadly,

36:12where all the countries allegedly independent

36:17are actually colonies.

36:20There is a neocolonialism at place here.

36:25They would never take responsibility

36:27for the consequences.

36:29And we are the ones, the locals,

36:31who live with their consequences,

36:33with the consequences of their medicines.

36:36Western medicines give,

36:39produce the atrogenetic effects,

36:43which means they make the patient more sick than before.

36:49We spoke about the foreign policy.

36:51I just cannot imagine that Macedonian elites

36:56simply deleted from their memory

36:59the fact that Yugoslavia was

37:02one of the major respected foreign policy players

37:06in a very critical period of time during the Cold War.

37:11So it was possible.

37:13There was a high quality diplomacy,

37:16knowledge about the world in its totality.

37:20I remember the time when I was proud of my country.

37:25That is something, you know,

37:27to be proud of being Yugoslav or Macedonian,

37:31and these two were not in contradiction.

37:33You could be both, you know, at the same time.

37:36You know, it took me a while to understand that

37:40when we talk about resolving the problems in our societies

37:44or wider in the region, let alone globally,

37:49we face a very powerful complex,

37:53and that is the military-industrial-media-academia complex.

37:59Some colleagues mentioned even entertainment industry

38:06as something that made people distracted from reality,

38:09indulging some other games or whatever,

38:14not to face what is really happening.

38:18The real diagnosis and the root problem here

38:23is that for the last more than three decades,

38:26as we are allegedly independent states,

38:30the Western power centers actually designed the minds of the elites,

38:37who are, as I said, loyal.

38:39They taught them, you know, to talk with their language,

38:43their rhetoric, to behave in that way,

38:47and then that spread into the media,

38:50who are not professional or objective.

38:53They're financed by the Western funds.

38:56We never heard here anything about China,

38:59about development, technological, cultural.

39:04Now we are seeing on Olympic Games

39:07how far has China's sport gone with a lot of successes and all that,

39:13and not only China, of course,

39:15but there is a world around, not only the West.

39:18But these political elites joined with the media elites,

39:24and unfortunately, my colleagues from the academia,

39:28they are all together, they are brown sahibs.

39:33They are, you know, part of this colonial history

39:38where the colonial power would need local people to manage things,

39:44to administer territories.

39:47So these brown sahibs actually want to be Westerners,

39:51even if they are not.

39:54So this goes generation by generation.

39:58A country that is not allowed to have its internal sovereign home policy,

40:04it doesn't have foreign policy at all.

40:06I argue and I can prove that a country like mine,

40:13and Montenegro, and Bosnia-Herzegovina,

40:16or even Croatia that is part of NATO and EU,

40:21they even think that they don't need a foreign policy

40:24because somebody else decides on the main roads

40:29of where we are going, where to invest,

40:31where to fight, whom to fight,

40:33who is the enemy, who is the friend.

40:36So the foreign policy is something that is a luxury,

40:40unfortunately, that we don't have.

40:42That is a brutal truth.

40:45The decline of the West is nothing new.

40:48It is a long-term process.

40:51It was maybe 20 years ago.

40:53We were talking about that as a prediction

40:57that something is going to happen with this society

41:01because it is not sustainable.

41:03It is based on violent culture.

41:05We can see that now in the elections.

41:09I mean, this looks like anything but democratic elections.

41:14Not to talk about growing social inequalities,

41:19poverty, homeless people on the streets,

41:23decadence in political and cultural sphere.

41:28So now they are going downhills.

41:31Not now, but for a long time.

41:33My only concern is that when empires in the past

41:38would come to an end,

41:40it would cost a lot of human lives.

41:43And that is what I'm not concerned about

41:46the future of the United States.

41:48It is a concern of their citizens.

41:50But I'm concerned because of my safety

41:54and my security and of my people

41:56depends on the president of the United States

41:59more than of the president of my country.

42:02Because the impact of the American policy,

42:06as I mentioned,

42:07NATO is just a facade for American imperialist marching.

42:12NATO is growing into global NATO.

42:15They want to swallow the United Nations system.

42:19This is a madness.

42:21And of course, the price will be paid by ordinary people,

42:25by simple people,

42:26by small country or bigger countries.

42:29Nevertheless, we will be all collateral damage

42:33of the fall of the empire.

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