China-Russia ties turn icy in a sweet way as Vladimir Putin gifts Xi Jinping his favourite treat - by Liu Zhen Liu Zhen |

Chinese President Xi Jinping celebrated his 66th birthday on Saturday with a gift of his favourite Russian ice cream from Vladimir Putin, state media reported.

The two leaders got together for the second time in just over a week in Dushanbe, the capital of Tajikistan, where they were attending the Conference on Interaction and Confidence-Building Measures in Asia.

A confessed fan of the frozen treat, Xi thanked Putin for the gift and reciprocated with some Chinese tea, China National Radio reported. The two leaders were later photographed drinking champagne together and toasting their countries’ strong ties.

Read more at: China-Russia ties turn icy in a sweet way as Vladimir Putin gifts Xi Jinping his favourite treat | South China Morning Post

Ukraine-EU relations: Ukraine applies for European Union membership - by Rachel Treisman

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has officially signed an application for Ukraine's membership in the European Union, according to a post from his verified Facebook page.

"[Zelenskyy] has just signed a historical document — Ukraine's application for European Union membership," tweeted Andrii Sybiha, the deputy head of the president's office. Ukraine's prime minister and head of parliament also signed a joint statement, he added.

Read more at: Ukraine applies for European Union membership : NPR

China: A Thorough Explanation of China’s Long-Term Strategy - War on the Rocks : by Rush Doshi

What are the Chinese Communist Party’s intentions? Does it seek to turn China into the hegemon of Asia and a global superpower? Or does it just aim to stay in power by whatever means necessary? Unfortunately, U.S. policymakers and analysts haven’t come to an agreement on how to answer these questions. That’s a problem, because China’s intentions ought to shape how the United States develops its strategy toward the Indo-Pacific.

Fortunately, Chinese Communist Party General Secretary Xi Jinping has made the answer to the first question much plainer for people inside and outside China. Xi marked the party’s centenary on July 1 with an hour-long speech about the party’s achievements and ambitions. Throughout the speech, Xi referenced the need to stay true to the party’s “original aspiration” and “founding mission” to bring about the “Great Rejuvenation of the Chinese Nation.” “To realize national rejuvenation,” Xi said, “the Party has united and led the Chinese people in pursuing a great struggle, a great project, a great cause, and a great dream.” Such language is a routine feature of leadership speeches, especially speeches Xi has given during his near decade in power. But what does it mean? What are the Chinese Communist Party’s ambitions? Should we understand Xi’s words as soaring rhetoric to mobilize the party faithful or as a plain statement of the party’s positions?

For all the talk in Washington about a new consensus on the China challenge, no consensus exists on the intentions of the Chinese Communist Party. Experienced and respected analysts still insist that the Chinese Communist Party just wants to stay in power or that its ambitions are regional rather than global. They believe Xi’s words — like those of every other party leader dating back to Mao Zedong — are formulaic tropes, signs of a moribund party trapped in its Leninist theory. The alternative view is that this formulaic language and the intellectual architecture built around national rejuvenation provides the basis for understanding the party’s ambitions. Debating the party’s ambitions may seem distant from the urgency of today’s problems in Sino-American relations. A clear answer to this question, however, is necessary to calibrate the U.S. response and to decide whether to revisit the goal of trying to preserve a liberally-biased international order or to pursue a more aggressive course, like containing or otherwise neutralizing the regime.

Read more at: A Thorough Explanation of China’s Long-Term Strategy - War on the Rocks

Russia-US relations: Intel Officers 'Terrified' Of Briefing Trump On Russia Because He Would 'Explode': Report by Sara Boboltz

“No one’s going to brief anything on Russia to the president,” Marc Polymeropoulos told GQ correspondent Julia Ioffe. “They’re terrified of doing that. I know that from the briefers. Because he’ll explode and the whole thing will get derailed, because he has this weird affinity for [Russian President Vladimir] Putin.”

Read more at: Intel Officers 'Terrified' Of Briefing Trump On Russia Because He Would 'Explode': Report

China-Russia Relations: Foundations for China's and Russia’s mutual trust - by MK Bhadrakumarst

Western propagandists blithely overlook that the Sino-Russian alliance is built on strong foundations. Do not forget for a moment that Xi Jinping’s first overseas visit as president was to Russia – in March 2013, a full year ahead of the Ukraine crisis that led to Western sanctions against Moscow. Yet Western analysts insist that the Russian-Chinese entente was a “pivot” by Russia, ensuing from its estrangement with Europe.

Speaking ahead of his visit to Russia, Xi said the two countries were “most important strategic partners” who spoke a “common language.” He called Russia a “friendly neighbor,” and said the fact that he was visiting so soon after assuming the presidency was “a testimony to the great importance China places on its relations with Russia. China-Russia relations have entered a new phase in which the two countries provide major development opportunities to each other.”

In an interview with Russian press on the occasion of Xi’s visit, President Vladimir Putin said Russia-China cooperation would produce “a more just world order.” Russia and China, he said, both demonstrated a “balanced and pragmatic approach” to international crises. (In an article in 2012, Putin had called for further economic cooperation with China to “catch the ‘Chinese wind’ in [its] economic sails”.)

Read more at: 
Foundations for China's and Russia’s mutual trust - Asia Times

Britain-US relations: Biden threatens UK trade deal over Brexit shambles-by Andrew Rettman

Britain's US trade deal is in jeopardy if the UK endangers Northern Ireland peace over Brexit, US Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden has said.

"We can't allow the [1998] Good Friday Agreement that brought peace to Northern Ireland to become a casualty of Brexit," Biden said on Wednesday (16 September).

Read more at: 
Biden threatens UK trade deal over Brexit shambles

Russia: Coronavirus Pandemic Offers Opportunity to Change Russia’s Relations with the West

Read more at :
Coronavirus Pandemic Offers Opportunity to Change Russia’s Relations with the West | Wilson Center

EU-British Relations after Brexit: Toward a Privileged EU-UK Partnership - by Joschka Fischer

After a great deal of pain and confusion, the Brexit decision is now effectively behind us. Looking ahead, both sides will have to find ways to cooperate more closely, particularly when it comes to shaping a joint security and foreign policy. China and Russia’s geopolitical positions have not changed because of Brexit, nor has the threat of terrorism diminished. The collective challenges posed by migration, climate change, and many other issues will remain, and it will be up to both the EU and the UK to manage them effectively.

Read more: Toward a Privileged EU-UK Partnership by Joschka Fischer - Project Syndicate

USA - Donald Trump and his relationship with Evangelicals : How Pat Robertson's Christian TV empire created a "shadow government" — and led to Donald Trump - by Chauncey DeVega

Last week Donald Trump shared a message on Twitter from a racist conspiracy theorist proclaiming that he, the president, was viewed by Jewish people as the “Second Coming of God” and the “King of Israel.”

The mytho-religious aspects of this “endorsement” likely have no meaning for Donald Trump. Such claims matter to Trump primarily because they stroke his megalomania. Trump the malignant narcissist authoritarian and fascist seeks out praise from wherever it may come. As such, Donald Trump frequently praises himself in the grandest and most absurd terms possible: for example, Trump’s looking to the sky last week as if looking for a sign from God and then telling journalists and the world that he is in fact the "chosen one."

Beyond personal grandiosity, Trump’s endorsement of his status as the “Second Coming” and the “King of Israel” were important signals to his two most loyal groups of supporters.

Christian nationalists, evangelicals, "reconstructionists" and "dominionists" support Donald Trump because they see him as a means of overturning the U.S. Constitution and its rules separating church and state, with the ultimate goal of creating a Christian theocracy. Trump’s racist supporters are buoyed and encouraged by his sharing (another) message from a member of their movement. Collectively, these Trump supporters are eager to put an end to America’s multiracial democracy.

Terry Heaton was a television news executive for the Christian Broadcasting Network during the 1980s, where he worked primarily on "The 700 Club," its signature news and talk show. Heaton also served as one of Pat Robertson's advisers during his 1988 presidential campaign.

Terry Heaton is also the author of several books including his most recent, "The Gospel of Self: How Pat Robertson Stole the Soul of the GOP."

I spoke to Heaton recently about how and why right-wing evangelical Christians have come to worship and love Donald Trump, a man who is an unapologetic sinner. Heaton also offers insights on the direct connection between evangelical-oriented media such as his former employer at CBN, Christian nationalism,  Fox News and Donald Trump’s conquest of the Republican Party and its voters. Heaton also warns about the power and influence of Robertson and his “shadow government” of right-wing  evangelicals, who have waged a decades-long campaign to overthrow secular democracy in America.

This conversation has been edited for clarity and length. You can also listen to my full conversation with Terry Heaton through the player embedded below.

How do you make sense of Donald Trump’s rise to power and why so many Christians support him, given his evident values and behavior?

One of the things that has always puzzled me about the Trump phenomenon is that he would never have been elected had he not been able to recruit people for whom his policies would be harmful. But many of these voters consider their faith first.

As I wrote in my book "The Gospel of Self," they see affluence around them and in their minds there is no reason they too can't be rich one day.

Read more at: How Pat Robertson's Christian TV empire created a "shadow government" — and led to Donald Trump | Salon.com

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CHINA - US RELATIONS: Unraveling a quarter century of US-China ties

With tariffs, Trump starts unraveling a quarter-century of U.S.-China economic ties

For complete report go to:
http://flip.it/xBzdbl

'EU Turkish Relations: Turkey needs Europe, Europe needs Turkey'

Turkey's not exactly the flavour of the month in the EU right now, but - as the two sides meet at a summit in Bulgaria - President Erdogan says it's time for the bloc to "keep to its promises."

Ankara kicked off formal membership negotiations in 2005 and, all these years on, they have effectively collapsed.

But there's a reluctance to walk away from each other.

"Europe should take its share of the refugees, so that we don't have to depend on people like Erdogan to manage the issue," said Philippe Lamberts, a Belgian Green MEP.

"That obviously requires a little bit of political courage, but at the end of the day, it's our strategic independence from Turkey."

Erdogan's alarmed the West with a massive purge following a failed coup attempt.

But Turkey remains the destination for many Syrians fleeing war - and an important ally in the NATO alliance. So is it really curtains for the membership bid?

"If Turkey cannot relaunch the reform process and is not anymore in a position to meet EU accession criteria, relations will evolve into a kind of partnership and will be shaped more and more around common interests and strategic priorities," commented political analyst Seda Gurkan.

"And Turkey is considered in Brussels actually as an important strategic neighbour or a key partner rather a candidate."

Three billion euros of fresh cash is expected to be pledged to Turkey to lengthen a deal on it taking in Syrian refugees. And for Ankara, the EU is its biggest foreign investor and trading partner.

"Turkey is not doing very well economically, it needs outlets" said Lamberts, "and it is very clear that bad relations with Europe are harmful to Turkey, so somewhere on the economic level Erdogan needs Europe and Europe in fairness needs Turkey."

With Syria, France has been one of the biggest critics of the Turkish military operation in Afrin - saying border security concerns did not justify it.

Read more: 'Turkey needs Europe, Europe needs Turkey' | Euronews

EU-Turkish Relations:Protests greet Erdogan on first France visit since crackdown

Protests over press freedom and the deteriorating state of human rights in Turkey greeted Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan as he arrived in Paris on Friday for talks with French President

Read more: EU-Turkish Relations:Protests greet Erdogan on first France visit since crackdown Emmael Macron.

EU-Russia trade bouncing back - "Russia is not the EU's enemy, despite US rhetoric to the contrary"

Russia is not an enemy of the EU, to the contrary

The EU-Observer reports that after three years in decline due to sanctions, EU-Russia trade relations have picked up 20 percent so far in 2017;

In September, the EU Parliament published a report confirming that this decline continued in 2016 and this news was also reported by EUobserver.

However, the trend has changed in 2017.

Eurostat data from the first seven months of the year shows that this decline has stopped and, in fact, the trend was reversed with an expected increase of 20 percent by the end of the year compared to 2016.

EU-Russia trade was up to €285 billion in 2014. In 2016, this number dropped to €181 billion. In only three years, EU members imported €64 billion less from Russia and exported to it €31 billion less.

This decline affected Germany, Italy, Austria and Lithuania above all, which constitute €14.5 billion less in export towards Russia.

However, Austria, Ireland and Lithuania are the three members that suffered the most in relative terms with declines in export of 51, 50 and 40 percent respectively in two years only. Interestingly,

Luxembourg is the only country that increased its exports to Russia from 2014 to 2016.

The average decline for EU members was 34 percent in import and 29 percent in export with Russia.

The trend was reversed starting in January 2016 when trade with most of EU member states started to recover.

This is evident if we look at data for the half-year period. When we compare the first six months of 2016 with the same period of 2017, we notice that the volume of EU-Russia trade increased by €27 billion. The lion's share is for Germany with an expansion by €6 billion and the Netherlands with €4 billion. The only country that reduced its trade is Malta with a decrease of €400,000.

If we look at the exports only in the first six months of 2017 compared to last year, then the leading countries are Germany (plus €2.6 billion), Italy (plus €739 million) and the Netherlands (plus €707 million). The only countries decreasing their exports are Malta, Cyprus and the United Kingdom.

The behaviour of trading partners may be an indication that the Crimea crisis has been discounted already and that politics will, slowly, adjust.

One of the signals was the critical stand of some EU members to the recent round of secondary sanctions imposed by US Congress on Russia, which could create problems for companies involved in the construction of Nord Stream II.

While it is hard to predict the direction of trade flows in the future, we can state that the positive trend seems to lead towards a normalisation of EU-Russia trade in the coming future despite the unresolved crises in Crimea, Ukraine and US meddling in the EU-Russia relations..

EU-Digest

China-Russia Cooperation: U.S. Drives China and Russia Closer Together – by MAXIM TRUDOLYUBOV

What started as an illusory promise of rapprochement is now a bitterly acrimonious relationship. The United States and Russia are expelling each other’s diplomats by the hundreds, taking away diplomatic properties and closing down missions.

Following the U.S. Congress’s vote to upgrade anti-Russian sanctions and turn them into law, Moscow ordered a reduction of U.S. diplomatic staff in Russia by 755 people. Washington retaliated yet again by requiring Moscow to close its consulate in San Francisco.

As if that were not enough, two major international stories involving two troublesome regimes are now tightening the conflict between the United States and Russia even further.

The U.S. president Donald Trump’s strategy in dealing with North Korea does not look reconcilable with that of Moscow or Beijing. The White House recipe for dealing with a government crisis in Venezuela is also at odds with the Kremlin’s approach and its political and economic interests there.

The Korean Peninsula was “balancing on the brink of a large-scale conflict,” Russian president Vladimir Putin wrote in an article for Chinese media ahead of the BRICS Summit to be held in Xiamen, China, in early September.

Read  more: U.S. Drives China and Russia Closer Together – The Russia File

Turkey: Is US undermining its alliance with Turkey?

When it comes to the war in Syria, Turkey and the United States are allies in many ways.

They both want Syrian President Bashar al-Assad to step down and the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL, also known as ISIS) gone.

But when it comes to achieving these goals, the two do not see eye to eye - and that could lead to yet another confrontation in the region.

Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has warned that the US must cut off support to Kurdish armed groups in the area, or face the consequences.

At the same time, US troops have been increasing their presence along part of the Turkey-Syria border.

How can the two NATO allies resolve the situation?

Is US undermining its alliance with Turkey? | Turkey | Al Jazeera

German-US Relations: Donald Trump and Angela Merkel "make nice" - sort of .....

Trump : considers EU non-existent 

If the cancellation of their previously planned meeting due to severe weather in Washington could be perceived as a fitting symbol for Chancellor Merkel's and President Trump's earlier relationship - frosty, if not icy - then today's weather in the US capital - sunny, but crisp - might have served as a sign that the two are trying to move beyond past grievances.

And their public statements during the highly anticipated press conference only underscored the palpable wish to restart the personal relationship between both leaders, after Trump's vicious comments about Merkel during the election campaign and to restore the traditionally close partnership between both countries, which has been in question ever since Trump took office.

It was, of course, up to Trump try to reset the relationship with Merkel and to reaffirm the commitments to transatlantic ties, and at first glance, he did.

But below the surface, things were not as smooth as it seemed. That is because on some crucial issues, including trade and the EU, Merkel and Trump took a very different tack. But that is not entirely accurate since Trump - in a noteworthy and unusual move for a US president - did not even mention the European Union once in his remarks.

"Trump made no reference whatsoever to the European Union, either in general terms or, more pointedly, on the specific issue of trade relations," said Anderson. "The closest he came to acknowledging the EU was when he stated that the US would respect 'historic institutions,' but then added that there needed to be balance and fairness in the relationship to the US." 

Merkel, meanwhile, "spoke from an entirely different - and actually much more grounded and accurate - perspective, answering in effect that the EU negotiates trade deals with member state input and that the principle of mutual benefit in EU trade deals is well established," said Jeffry Anderson, who directs Georgetown University's Center for German and European Studies.

"So on trade, which had not been discussed at that point in the visit, the two leaders seemed to be speaking past one another, which will not be a reassuring message for Germany or for Europe," Anderson added.

That impression was shared by presidential rhetoric scholar Farnsworth.

"The news conference suggested that these two leaders have little in common, other than a desire to avoid exchanging harsh words in public," he said. "Mainly they talked past each other." 

Having made some boilerplate statements about the importance of German-American ties, but really having spoken past one another on a substantial level may sound like a harsh verdict for a meeting between a German Chancellor and an American president.

But given Merkel and Trump's past and their very different political and personal backgrounds as well as the fact that this was their first ever face-to-face encounter it may have been all that could have been reasonably expected at this point.

Read more: Donald Trump and Angela Merkel make nice - sort of | Americas | DW.COM | 17.03.2017

EU-Canada relations: In counter to Trump, Trudeau says EU and Canada must lead the world economy - by Dan Alexe

Canadian prime minister Justin Trudeau addressed the European Parliament in Strasbourg, marking the adoption by MEPs of the Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA) between Canada and the European Union.

“Make no mistake about it, this is an important moment,” he said.

Trudeau said the whole world benefited from a strong European Union and that the bloc and his country needed to lead the international economy in challenging times.

With the passage of their trade deal, Canada and the European Union offer a counter to Trump, who has withdrawn from the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) and wants to rework the North American Free Trade Agreement.

Trudeau told the European Parliament that the Union was an unprecedented model for peaceful cooperation in a speech that marked his distance from both the United States under new President Donald Trump, who has questioned the value and future of the bloc, and from Britain, which has voted to leave it.

On Wednesday the European Parliament approved CETA, with 58 % of members voting to adopt the deal.

The final vote saw most of the members representing Europe’s centrist parties voting in favour, with opposition from members representing left-leaning socialist and Green as well as right-wing, nationalist parties.

Of the 695 members present in the 751-seat legislature, 408 voted in favor, 254 against and 33 abstained.

For Canada the Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA) is important to reduce its reliance on the neighboring United States as an export market.

For the EU, it is a first trade pact with a G7 country and a success to hail after months of protests at a time when the bloc’s credibility has taken a beating from Britain’s vote last June to leave.

Trudeau will next travel to Berlin, where he will meet with German President Joachim Gauck and Chancellor Angela Merkel. 

Read more: In counter to Trump, Trudeau says EU and Canada must lead the world economy

EU-USA Relations: Is this tiny snail the reason Donald Trump hates the EU?

IDonald Trump has made no secret of his dislike for the European Union. He has praised the UK’s decision to leave the bloc repeatedly, characteristically describing it as a “wonderful thing”.

The man widely tipped to be the new US ambassador to Europe, Ted Malloch, put it this way in an interview with Buzzfeed : “He doesn’t like an organisation that is supranational, that is unelected, where the bureaucrats run amok, and is not frankly a proper democracy.”

But Trump himself, who avowedly relies on his personal experiences to shape his decision-making, offered this insight during an press conference with UK Prime Minister Theresa May:
“I had a very bad experience, I have — I had something when I was in my other world, I have something in another country and getting the approvals from Europe was very, very tough. Getting the approvals from the country was fast, easy and efficient. Getting the approvals from the group — I call them the consortium — was very, very tough.”

It’s possible that Trump was alluding to an attempt to build a sea wall around a golf course he owned in Ireland. Environmentalists opposed the move on the grounds that it threatened coastal dunes and the habitat of the narrow-mouthed whorl snail. Both are protected by EU legislation and Trump’s company ultimately backed down on the ground approval was taking too long..

In addition to a well-known passion for walls , the US president has proven sceptical towards environmental protections

However, his animosity towards the EU clearly goes much deeper: he has predicted that other countries will follow the UK in dropping their membership; threatened European businesses with import tariffs; and strongly criticised the bloc’s immigration policy .

Read more: Is this tiny snail the reason Donald Trump hates the EU? | Euronews

Vatican: Where could President Trump and Pope Francis do business?

Defying every last scrap of conventional political wisdom, Donald Trump stunned the world Tuesday night by capturing the American presidency.

Given the role the United States plays on the global stage, actors all over the world right now are scrambling to figure out what Trump’s victory means about the direction America is taking, and how best to react.

One of those actors, of course, will be the Vatican.

To use the categories made famous by Joseph Nye, the Vatican is the world’s most important “soft power,” the only major world religion which has at its core a sovereign state with its own diplomatic corps; the United States, with military expenditures exceeding all other nations combined, is the planet’s most important “hard power.”

Inevitably, therefore, the relationship between these two players is important, and this morning, personnel in the Vatican’s Secretariat of State, which has primary responsibility for foreign policy, are undoubtedly trying like mad to get a read on where things stand.

To be honest, at first blush the stars don’t seem aligned for an auspicious relationship between the current administration in Rome and the incoming one in Washington.

Never before in American history, for instance, has a President-elect been directly criticized by a sitting pontiff during the primary campaign. Back in February, of course, as Pope Francis was returning from his trip to Mexico, featuring a stop at the US/Mexico border, he was asked by a reporter aboard the papal plane what he made of a politician who wanted to build a wall along that border.

“A person who thinks only about building walls, wherever they may be, and not building bridges, is not Christian,” Francis said. “This is not the gospel.”

Granted, Francis nuanced his response by saying he was taking the reporter’s description of Trump’s position at face value. Granted, too, Trump’s initially irascible response quickly softened as he insisted the pope had been taken out of context.

Read more: Where could President Trump and Pope Francis do business?

Turkey- Russia Relationship: What’s behind Turkey’s rapprochement with Russia?

With its tense relations with US and the EU, and the bad economic situation following Russian sanctions, Ankara had to mend its relationship with Moscow, says Hay Eytan Cohen Yanarocak from Tel Aviv University.

Russia’s President Vladimir Putin and Turkey’s Recep Tayyip Erdogan met in St. Petersburg and pledged to restore relations following months of tension after Turkey downed a Russian jet.

As Erdogan wrapped up his one-day visit, the two leaders were effusive in their praise for each other, promising to lift the sanctions imposed after Turkey shot down a Russian plane over Syria in November last year, and to reanimate joint energy projects.

Putin did not attempt to gloss over the disagreements over the Syria crisis, where Turkey has insisted that President Bashar Assad, whom Russia supports, must be deposed. But the two leaders agreed to stage a separate meeting to hammer out a new Syria policy.

“Our views on resolving the Syrian situation have often been at odds,” said Putin. “But I believe that finding a common approach is possible, at least because we both want the crisis to end. We will use this as the basis for finding common solutions.”

Note EU-Digest:  Whatever one might think about Vladimir Putin and Recep Tayip Erdogan's personal political style, the recent meeting in St.Petersburg between the two showed once again that Putin and Ergogan are strong and also pragmatic leaders. Each unique statesmen in their own right. If only the EU would be able to understand that it also needs to be more pragmatic when it concerns its overall foreign relations objectives, specially in its relationship with oither European countries, like Russia and Turkey, instead of always blindly following the US  in all their disastrous diplomatic endeavours and military adventures.
 
Read more; What’s behind Turkey’s rapprochement with Russia? — RT Op-Edge