NIGHTWATCH: China Shows Muscle & Gravitas — Syria Shows Staying Power — USA Losing on All Fronts Due to Ignorance and Arrogance

02 China, 08 Wild Cards, Cultural Intelligence, Ethics, Government, IO Deeds of Peace, Peace Intelligence
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China-North Korea: Update. China's Foreign Ministry declined Wednesday, 8 May, to confirm the Bank of China's closure of the account of the North Korean Foreign Trade Bank. In response to a question at Wednesday's news conference, Ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying said, “For specifics, please refer it to competent Chinese authorities.”

Sources of the Daily NK reported that since 7 May, “other Chinese state banking entities including China Construction Bank have apparently ceased business dealings with North Korean financial entities as well. The banks did so in accordance with guidance handed down by the China Banking Regulatory Commission, and as such is actually a policy of the Chinese government.”

Comment: If the Chinese are exerting economic pressure against North Korea as punishment for refusing to listen to guidance, some reaction by North Korea should become evident soon. Such action would represent a strategic change in China's relationship with North Korea. More on this later.

China-Japan: The official newspaper, the People's Daily, on Wednesday published an article advocating a review of Japanese sovereignty over the Ryuku Islands which include Okinawa.

The authors of the article, two scholars at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, said the Ryukyus were a tributary state of China before Japan annexed the islands in the 1879.

“Unresolved problems relating to the Ryukyu Islands have reached the time for reconsideration,” wrote Zhang Haipeng and Li Guoqiang, citing post-World War II declarations that required Japan to return Chinese territory. The article also repeated Chinese government arguments for China's historical claims to the Diaoyu/Senkakus.

The Chinese foreign ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying repeatedly refused to give a direct answer when asked whether Beijing considers the Ryukyu chain a part of Japan at a regular press briefing on Wednesday.

“Academics have long paid attention to the history of Okinawa and Ryukyus… but the Diaoyu islands are China's inherent territory, and have never been part of the Ryukyus or Okinawa,” she said.

Comment: China supposedly abandoned its claims to the Ryukyus after the Qing dynasty forces were defeated by the Japanese Meiji forces in the Sino-Japanese War of 1894 and 1895.

Everything published in the People's Daily has official approval by someone in authority. The Chinese government has not asserted a claim to the Ryukus as official policy. However, some people in the leadership are floating this idea, probably to gauge reaction to it for future use against Japan and the US.

Chinese leaders perceive no inconsistency in stating their support for regional stability while asserting claims of sovereignty against Japan and Southeast Asian countries. Ownership claims based on historic tributary relationships would call into question national boundaries throughout Asia.

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Syria: Syria is back on the Internet. The government blamed the rebels for the disruption, but the rebels lack the capability and motive to remove Syria from the Internet.

Status of the Free Syrian Army (FSA) Opposition fighters. In an interview with a US news service, the leader of the Free Syrian Army, defector General Salim Idriss admitted that the opposition is divided and lacks the ability to overthrow the Syrian government.

General Salim Idriss leads the Supreme Military Command. He blames his inability to create a chain of command on the predominance of untrained civilians with no military experience in the fighting groups. He also blamed the lack of Western arms.

FSA defections. The British newspaper The Guardian published an article about defections from the FSA to the al-Qaida affiliate in Syria, al-Nusra. According to The Guardian, FSA commanders say that entire units have gone over to al-Nusra while others have lost a quarter or more of their strength to them recently.

Comment: The motives for defection include religion, effectiveness, pay and steady arms supplies. A separate news outlet reported that US trainers of FSA recruits are urging them to fight al-Nusra to prevent a jihadist victory in Syria.

At this point, neither group can defeat the Asad government, but al Nusra appears stronger than the FSA and more appealing to young Arabs.

Russia-Syria: Multiple news services reported that Israel has asked Russia to cancel an imminent sale of an advanced air defense missile system to Syria. Unnamed Israeli officials reportedly said Israel shared information with the United States in hopes of persuading Russia to halt the planned deal to provide S-300 air defense missiles.

Comment: In 2010 Syria signed a contract with Russia to buy the S-300 system, but the status of that contract is unclear. An Israeli newspaper in 2011 claimed the system had already been delivered to Syria by Russian ship. However, a Russian media report in June 2012 said the Russians canceled the deal.

One analysis speculated that the Israeli air attacks prompted reports of imminent delivery of the system. Another view is that discussion of creating a NATO no-fly zone over Syria prompted the new reports. The consistent theme is that Russia continues to stand with Syria against NATO intervention.

Hezbollah-Syria: Hezbollah leader Sheikh Hassan Nasrallah said in a televised speech on 9 May that Syria would supply Hezbollah with more advanced weapons in response to Israel's recent airstrikes near Damascus.

Nasrallah said the weapons are more sophisticated than any Hezbollah has ever obtained, and that Hezbollah was prepared to use the weapons against Israel. He also said Hezbollah was prepared to help any armed group seeking to take over the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights.

Comment: Allies of Syria have made strong stands this week to shift Arab attention to Israel and to warn the West against greater involvement in Syria. The thinly veiled warning is that the Syrian rebellion will lead to a regional war.

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Phi Beta Iota:  The “seven sins” of those ostensibly representing the Republic but in fact representing only themselves and those who bribe them, remain ever present.  Between exporting males, soft power, a long-term perspective, and the application of coherent analytics, China is poised to sweep the table by 2025.  What the USA should be doing is restoring democracy at home (Electoral Reform Act); restoring intelligence with integrity to government and creating a Smart Nation able to innovate and prosper again (Open Source Agency); and pulling back all of its military forces for a period of down-sizing, redirection (kill the Air Force, make the Army air-mobile, create the 450-ship Navy, close all the overseas bases); and develop an ethical strategy focused primarily on the Western Hemisphere (Hourglass Strategy) while also creating the fouindation for an Autonomous Internet, World Brian, and Global Game that empowers all individuals everywhere.  Right now the USG is out of control; it is not representing the 99% of its public where poverty has doubled in the past ten years and more middle class people are committing suicide than ever before in history; and it is on track to spark a violent revolution by 2016 if Occupy, the six small parties blocked from ballot access, and the Independents, do not get their collective heads out of their ass and create a non-violent combination of general strike, tax revolt, and non-negotiable demand for electoral reform in time for 2014.  THERE IS NOTHING WRONG WITH AMERICA THE BEAUTIFUL THAT CANNOT BE FIXED–QUICKLY AND NOIN-VIOLENTLY–VIA COMPREHENSIVE ELECTORAL REFORM.  Above and beyond America, NATO, the UN, and other aspirants to playing a global role must least that the only affordable sustainable means of harmonizing behavior across all boundaries is through OSC/M4IS2.  This is not rocket science — all it demands is intelligence with integrity, openly shared….distributed decisions at all levels harmonized by shared intelligence and consensual sense-making.

See (in order of reference above):

Reference: The Seven Sins of American Foreign Policy

Electoral Reform Act of 2012 (Outline, 11 Points)

2011 Open Source Agency: Executive Access Point

Reference: Smart Nation Act Draft (Full Text Online for Google Translate)

Search: smart nation intelligence reform electoral reform national security reform

2013 Robert Steele Foreword to NATO Book on Public Intelligence for Public Health

2013 Robert Steele: Reflections on Reform 2.2 Numbers for 30% DoD Cut over 2-4 Years

2012 Robert Steele: Reflections on the US Military — Redirection Essential — and a Prerequisite to Creating a 450-Ship Navy, a Long-Haul Air Force, and an Air-Liftable Army

2012 Robert Steele: Addressing the Seven Sins of Foreign Policy — Why Defense, Not State, Is the Linch Pin for Global Engagement

2012 Robert Steele: Reflections on Inspectors General

2012 Integrity, Reflexivity, & Open Everything

NATO OSE/M4IS2

Learn more:

Game Plan & Logo

Manifesto Extracts

Public Intelligence 3.2

Way of the Truth

Who Is Robert D. Steele?

 

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