Developing Countries should learn from Mahathir’s foreign policy towards China.

Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad recent current visit to China has shown a stark contrast to his earlier tough stance towards Beijing.

Since his campaign for 2018 election, he has spoken harshly about Chinese investment in his country that he sees as through his predecessor and student, former PM Najib Razak as hurting Malaysia’s sovereignty by signing multibillion-dollar deals with China.

However, on his recent visit Mahathir is quoted for saying that Malaysia has no intention to oppose China. Adding that he oppose the Malaysian government particularly the Najib administration that has taken a huge number of Chinese loans in return giving up of Malaysia’s sovereignty, especially Malaysia’s claim in the South China Sea. Beijing also received Mahathir as an ‘old friend’ and praising his support for the One Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) to revive the old silk road. Najib is now awaiting trial for alleged corruption in regards to the 1 MBD scandal and is also believed to have embezzled Chinese loans.

Mahathir’s move is not of a surprise. Not long after his phenomenal victory with the Pakatan Harapan that knocked out the long incumbent Barisan Nasional-which is led by his former party UMNO-he invited Jack Ma, a famous Chinese businessman and Malaysia’s digital economy adviser, for talks in his office. The resulting talks reported by Ma to be positive.

However, in July, Mahathir suspended two China-backed projects East Coast Rail Link worth over $22 billion which was approved by Najib. It is believed to be part of Najib’s corruption scheme in the project.

In an interview with CNN, he was quoted for saying that he accepted the reality that China’s dominant economic influence in Southeast Asia and going to war with China is risky. And thinks what is best for Malaysia is to find a way to gain benefit from China’s wealth and power.

To understand the move we need to understand Mahathir’s foreign policy rhetoric. Mahathir’s foreign policy rhetoric is based on Malaysia’s sovereignty and prosperity. He has seen the encroachment of China’s soft power through its lucrative but deadly investment scheme in countries across the BRI plan.

Examples of countries that have fallen to so called “debt trap” has cast worries that Malaysia’s could be China’s next victim. It has been recorded that there are eight countries that are in danger of China’s debt trap. Srilanka has to rent a seaport to China for 99 years due to small revenues generated from the investment to pay back the interest.

Pakistan, a close ally of China and a big supporter of BRI, has tensions rising around the Chinese built Gwadar port towards Chinese nationals. Reports of Chinese nationals being killed by local militias that believe Islamabad is selling their land to foreign infidels might start an anti-China movement in Pakistan. In Southeast Asia, such violent movements are recognized by countries with a suficient number of Chinese minority, including Malaysia.

However, He understands that Malaysia needs foreign investment and a huge market to export their natural resources, especially the palm oil trade. And Malaysia’s biggest trading partner and source of foreign direct investment is China. Simply falling into the anti-China movement will no doubt bring more pain to the country instead of securing Malaysia’s economy, as it is risky to severe one of Malaysia’s biggest export destination and investment source. China’s BRI is also seen by Mahathir as a boost towards Malaysia’s economy as it geographically sits beside the Malacca Strait the busiest sea trade route on earth and historically the past kingdoms of Malaysia gain its wealth from this ancient silk route too with Chinese traders as one of the main customers.

Instead of blaming China and fully oppose them, Mahathir decided to use the same method his mentor, Tun Abdul Razak, once used against China: reason with them. Back in the 70s, in order to end Chinese support towards Malaysia’s communist rebels that had plagued the land for more than 12 years. The result of the meeting comes with an agreement that China will no longer support the rebels, in return Malaysia has to acknowledge the Beijing government as the legitimate government of China and maintain diplomatic relation. The event has taught them that the Chinese can be reasoned with.

This explains why even China’s president, Xi Jinping, allows Mahathir suspending two China’s project. It could be understood that every superpower in the world needs allies in order to help its influence in check. China is no different if it wants to be a superpower, it needs an ally to win support in order to become a new superpower to challenge the US dominance, especially in Southeast Asia. For them losing a few million dollars is worth than losing a potential friend.

Also, Beijing is aware of this debt trap that could threaten the success of the BRI. It needs a poster country to prove that the project is running and developing the recipient country. If not, more countries are getting weary of this mega project not giving any profit to their own respective country. Another Pakistan, will add more headache to Beijing and change its image as an alternative development source than western powers towards the local population.

In conclusion, Mahathir’s rhetoric is something developing countries should learn in order to gain benefits from China’s investments. Najib’s alleged corruption is also a lesson that corruption doesn’t sees nationality or even race. A full understanding of the situation is needed to know what went wrong, instead of blaming on someone else.

Why Trump’s dare to move US embassy to Jerusalem

 

US President Donald Trump has announced that Jerusalem is Israel’s capital city. A decision that sparks anger in the Muslim World. Many critics consider Trump has lost his mind, but some argue that the reaction from the Muslim world won’t be that serious.

Some argue that it’s because of Trump trying to praise his Evangelical and Jewish base supporters who are pro-Israel. However, such things have been going on in the past, which any past president should, especially from the Republican, were capable of acknowledging Jerusalem. So why now?

To understand, we need to look at the other factors that supported the decision. For over 20 years, the US has close to no understanding of the Muslim world. Only after the war against terror that Americans and, the world to the extent started to study seriously about Islam and their world. The last few years has created a new understanding to non-Muslim viewers, that the Muslim world is not a monolithic entity. It is now divided into many political factions with Saudi Arabia, the champion of the Sunni branch Islam, and Iran, the champion of the Shia branch Islam. The conflict between the two has been going since the Iranian revolution that calls the Islamic World to revolt against foreign influence, especially that of the US. Both side claim to be the leader of the Muslim World.

Saudi Arabia is one of US key allies in the region. This comfortable relation has become the kingdom’s economic source since its founding. With the US the world’s largest oil importer, and Saudi Arabia the world’s largest exporter, the kingdom enjoys the benefit from oil export. This gave birth to the idea of oil diplomacy. The Middle East knows that well when they decided to embargo oil exports to the US through OPEC in response to the Yom Kippur War or Third Arab-Israeli War in 1973. Any Americans who live in that period remembers the day where they have to queue for hours at the petrol station to feed their cars.

But now the situation has changed. The US is no longer relying on Middle Eastern oil exporters. New oil exporters, like Canada, Norway, and Russia, has risen. Also, there is the rise of alternative energies such as solar and wind power. Saudi Arabia itself is preparing to substitute its oil-based industry. But Prince Mohamed bin Salman seems to just realize that no other substitute could give the same diplomatic power as oil. The situation has ended the Middle Eastern oil diplomacy.

Without it, the US is confident to return their foreign policy back to the time before the Yom Kippur War. The only possible thing for Saudi Arabia and their Sunni allies is to launch another war against Israel, but again this is no easy task, there is Iran waiting for their move. There is no way the Sunnis will bow to the Ayatollahs. Doing such thing is the same as destroying their Sunni Islam branch. Then, again waging war could legitimize the notion that Islam is a terrorist religion. Iran has no problem with this as they’re already labelled terrorist supporting nation, but how about the other Muslim state in the region??

The US knows that the kingdom is paranoid with Iran and their Shia allies rather than Israel, that they’re willing for a closer relationship with the US, especially in acquiring US military equipment. Washington makes the assumption that it is Saudi Arabia who is over dependant to the US not to the Saudis anymore. So, why the hell Washington have to listen to Riyadh’s request? It should be the opposite now.

Changing sides to the Russian or Chinese won’t do much. Russia will only be willing to sell weapons but not to the level of sending nuke bombs to Israel. This has been proven in the Yom Kippur War when the US sent a carrier, Moscow quickly withdraws from the war. Russia’s interest in the Middle East is Iran and keeping its arms client on its side not helping someones holy war. China will also prefer Iran, as their future OBOR will definitely go through Iran. Both superpower also agrees that a united Muslim Middle East is a threat to them as they also have Islamic insurgents in their own territories. So it’s best to keep up like that.

Thus, with all those factors Donald Trump is confident to make the decision.

Catalan arrest warrant withdraw to bring Catalan separatist home

A Spanish judge has withdrawn European arrest warrants for ousted Catalan President Carles Puigdemont and four ex-ministers. The move may seem to be an attempt by Spain to create the image that Spain respected Puigdemont.  As the same judge said that he still has a possibility to face charges of sedition and rebellion. In Spain, Rebellion is considered one of the most serious crimes with a jail term of up to 30 years.

Spain said that the European-wide warrant would complicate the Spanish legal probe, and with the removal allows Spain to gain full control over the investigation. This means that Spain would prefer the Catalan issue as an internal problem, sending a message that Puigdemont has brought the conflict to regional scale.

The ousted ministers had turned themselves into Belgian authorities after the warrant was issued last month but were freed after being questioned. A Belgian judge was previously expected to extradite the ministers. However, it was opposed by the ministers saying that if they return to Spain they may face an unfair trial. Mr. Puigdemont has also said that he would return if his security and rights are guaranteed. On Monday, six Catalan ex-ministers being held in a prison near Madrid were released from prison on bail. But two others, including former Catalan Vice President Orial Junqueras, were still in custody. The action might not convince Puigdemont to return to Spain but will inflict a media blow on him.

If Puigdemont is still in Belgium while the Catalan election is going on, it will give a bad image that Puigdemont is coward hiding behind EU’s skirt. Spain is literally challenging Puigdemont if he is willing to return by dropping the warrant issued to him.

Meanwhile, the Catalan Parliament itself is divided about declaring independence or not. A new opinion poll shows that pro-independence parties will fall narrowly short of an absolute majority in the December election. A divide has surfaced as both Puidgemont and Junqueras are campaigning separately in the new vote.

Now, the question is will Puigdemont and his cabinets are willing to courageously return to Catalonia for the election.

Introducing: the World’s most expensive chicken

The Bresse Chicken is the world’s most expensive chicken in the world. It’s expensive chicken because it’s served in a world-class restaurant. French.

Bresse Chicken is the favorite of Michelin chefs. Even the president Emmanuel Macron is said to be a fan of the chicken. These chickens are raised in the region of Bresse, eastern France. France only exported 5% of these chickens, so it’s advised for anyone who wants to taste this chicken have to travel there.

The chicken is considered the pride of the Bresse region. Marie-Paule Meunier, from the Committee of Promotion of the Bresse Poultry, mentioned that the chicken shaped the history of the region. “Unlike many foods and recipes that are lost in the mists of time, the history of the Bresse chicken can be traced easily through an abundance of documents detailing how the farmers paid their rent in chickens and how they gifted them to invading armies,” she says.

Its first record in history is when two dozen birds were given as a gift by the citizens of Bourg-en-Bresse to Marquis de Treffort for having routed the troops of Savoy in 1591. Then in the 19^th century, it portrays the symbol of the French Revolution as the chicken has blue legs, white body and red comb ─ similar to the French flag. Its ultimate record came 60 years ago when it became the first live foodstuff to obtain a protected designation of origin certification (AOC) now valid across the European Union, which gains its status similar to other luxurious foods.

Raising the chicken requires a traditional touch. Chickens must be fed with food grown in the region. The chickens were only fed with a mix of corns, wheat, topped by desiccated milk. It is intentionally poor in protein so that the chicken must forage for insects, worms, or snails as well as grass. By law, each farm must have 10 meters of foraging area each.

The muscle must be turned into fat before they are served, so they’re rested in wooden cages called “épinettes” in rooms with low diffuse light while they eat, and sleep. The chicks can only be bought from a centralized selection center that guarantees the purity of the breed.

Chicks arrive when they are just a day old and cost $2.40 each, unlike other breeds you can buy for just 35 cents apiece. Most are slaughtered when they reach their fourth month, while females with eggs are allowed to live a month longer.

The biggest and most precious of them all is the capon, a castrated rooster that must “go through all seasons.” Chicks raised as capons arrive in February, castrated in April, and slaughtered in time for Christmas.

When it was slaughtered, it is also served in a traditional way called “roulege”. The fresh killed Chicken is wrapped in Linen Cloth around it. The cloth is stitched and the air is pulled out of the bag until it looks like a legless chicken. It is meant to preserve the chicken as the dead bird has no direct contact with air, it can keep up for to two or three weeks in cold storage. The tight wrap also helps distribute the fat evenly.

The Legend behind Bali’s Mount Agung

Mount Agung’s eruption has been in the headlines. The mountain that’s located in one of the best tourism destination has attracted a lot of people as its eruption disturbs the tourism activity going on. Ngurah Rai International Airport has shut down its activity due to its dangerous volcanic ash with thousands of tourists now stranded in the airport. Not many know the legend that makes this mountain famous.

Long before Hinduism reached the island, the locals have already worshiped the mountains of Bali. The locals revered volcanoes as the house of gods, similar to how ancient Greeks revers volcanoes as Vulcan. Mount Agung is the best of them. The mountain is the highest point in the Hindu majority island of Indonesia. It is believed to be home to Mahadewa, the supreme manifestation of Lord Shiva, considered to be the most superior of all Hindu gods. Europeans can compare it to Mount Olympus where Zeus makes his home.

Legend has it that Mount Agung is a replica of Mount Meru. Mount Meru is a sacred cosmological mountain that bears heaven on its summit, considered to be the center of all universes; physical, metaphysical, and spiritual.

Other Legends said that Mount Agung is the pillar of Bali Island. Legend says that the gods were sympathetic to the Island after they realize that the island is floating on the ocean, causing it to easily tumble, shake, and drifted by waves. The gods put the mountain as a stake to stabilize the island’s position.

Balinese have proven the might of the mountain’s legend when it erupted in 1963. Every hundred years, at the mother temple, Balinese run a great ceremony of purification, called Eka Dasa Rudra. It was to take place in March 1963, but priests quarreled on the calculation of the exact date and many wanted to postpone it. The eruption caused a lava flows down the northern slope of the mountain, killing an estimated 1,000 to 1,500 people as it devastated nearby villages. However, it missed the Holy Pura Besakih only a few yards. Balinese regards the event as a miracle by the gods and also a sign of the gods for not to forget to appease them. Pura Besakih is Bali’s most important temple.

Although it’s a myth, it may hold some truth in it. The volcano does rule the geography, climate, and rainfall patterns of the island. It is obvious that the faith of the island depends on the volcanoes’ activity, especially Mount Agung. So it’s obvious that Balinese prayed for the life of the Volcano itself.

Porgs might have give a hint about Star Wars: the Last Jedi

 

A Porg and Chewie

 

Star Wars is coming to the cinema in just a few weeks, a lot are wondering what this movie is about this time. The trailer has already made us question why it’s called The Last Jedi, why Luke Skywalker said its time for the Jedi to end. And what is the truth behind the Jedi-Sith relation?

Well, it seems the answer is actually in our fluffy sad looking penguin called ‘Porgs.’ The creature has become one of the most remembered mascots in the Star Wars saga even before the movie is released. Memes have been created to show how funny this fluffy sad looking bird can be. But none has anyone wonder what the sad or worried face it shows means.

By all means, this episode is probably going to blow fan’s minds. The revelation about the Force is no doubt will be told in this episode, and as current culture likes to depict shocking truth, the truth in the Star Wars saga could be ugly. In my opinion, every Star Wars movie mascot means something about the movie, Porgs are no different. The Porg face resembles a shock of disbelief. Expect some shocking truth like in The Empire Strikes Back.

In episode seven, fans were shocked that the story is the opposite of what has been written from the fan-made saga. Luke Skywalker has failed in restoring the Jedi order because of his nephew, Ben Solo a.k.a Kylo Ren betrayed him to join the dark side. This, of course, made him wonder, what has he missed from all his studies about the Force and the Jedi-Sith conflict that have gone through for millennias. What starts the conflict between the two Force-users?

The Porgs are native to the planet Ahch-To. It’s the planet where the first jedi temple was built, and where Luke made his exile after the fall of his Jedi order. In the previous episode, Luke’s expression is like Master Yoda looks like when he found him years ago. Although the situation of both Jedi Master was similar, Yoda shows a glad expression when he was visited by Luke while Luke in the trailer shows a feeling of a bad thing is coming up. The Porgs, who happens to live there since the dawn of the planet seems to holds the ugly truth about the history of the Jedi and Sith. The truth shouldn’t be revealed as it will absolutely spoil the show, so it’s a better way to show it through a mascot’s expression. Nevertheless, this sad looking bird did touch a lot of people’s heart even though it gives a glimpse of a dark truth.

Is Trump $250bn dollar deal with China will just promise??

Trump has been promoting his success in making a deal with China that’s worth $250 billion. Nearly half of the total values from energy agreements, which makes analysts skeptical whether the deal will be realized. Since many of the deals are non-binding with some had been previously announced.

Among the agreements, the highest value was China Energy Investment Corporation’s plan to invest $83.7bn over two decades in shale gas and chemical manufacturing projects in the states of West Virginia. Followed by a $43bn deal to develop liquefied natural gas in Alaska by Sinopec, Bank of China and China Investment Corp, and Alaska Gasoline Development Corp. Also included, Cheniere Energy signed a memorandum of understanding with China National Petroleum Corp for LNG sales.

China is in need of energy. Its energy demand has exceeded what the country can offer to its largest population on earth. China has been going around the world investing in energy to fulfill that demand. The United States has not yet, however, China has been dreaming of taping into the US energy business.

The US has one technology that nearly every country are dreaming to get their hands on, fracking technology. The US has a huge shale oil reserve and since 2010 has used fracking to extract large reserves of oil from within hard rock. The technology has revolutionized US energy business by achieving energy independence and bringing down gas prices. The US is nearly to no more dependent on Middle Eastern oil.

This revolution has triggered China to do the same thing. China is reported to be sitting on massive shale deposits in its northwest territories. Dr. Jeffrey Wilson has argued that investing in the US means getting access to the technology. Knowing the technology could give China new techniques for the oil industry that in later years could be applied at home. Or even more, China could use the technology as the highest bidder for countries that wants the technology, like Russia, Iran, and Saudi Arabia.

However, an international agreement requires ratification in their respective states to start to realize the deal. China has once rejected to invest in US energy sector back in 2005 when CNOOC made a bid for US energy company Unocal, fearing that the investment could threaten US national security. A similar situation might happen again in the US Congress later on.

Dr. Wilson said that the agreements were merely trying to make a good impression that president Trump is ‘doing deals’ as he is trying to show his “Art of the Deal”, a notion that comes from his book with the same title. But it might give him an internal political conflict if the Congress still rejects the deal.

Trump could blame the Congress for not supporting his deal, but at the cost of another scandal in Washington, after many events that involved the White House fighting against the Congress in making laws. Remember, the Unocal deal was mostly rejected by Republicans. This could start a conflict between Trump and his base supporters. Or Trump could just altogether abandon it but will reduce his already low approval ratings since he keeps promising that the deal could create thousands of job for Americans and severing ties with China as the country is currently playing a crucial role in managing the North Korea issue.

While China won’t get any negative effect if the deal is abandoned or not since no financial agreement has been made so far. It’s the US that will be in trouble not China from the failed deal.

Robert Mugabe resigns… but it’s just Mugabe.

The president of Zimbabwe, Robert Mugabe, has resigned. Ending his 37 years rule. Everyone in the world was so happy that the Mugabe is gone that they forget one thing: Mnangagwa will be president.

The ruling Zanu-PF party, the party that Mugabe built, says that the former vice-president will succeed Mr Mugabe. Zanu-PF have been the party that supports Mugabe’s rule for 37 years and that party was not ousted for supporting a dictator before. Yet, the party was given the chance to support another person from within their rank.

The story is simple, Mugabe has forgotten that the ones that make him president are the member of Zanu-PF and the military. Despite his failure in trying to build the Zimbabwe’s failing economy, at least his supporters still feels okay with it. It was when he has taken an egoist move to put his wife, Grace Mugabe, as vice-president by replacing Mnangagwa. Grace was believed to be Robert’s successor which some speculate that he is building a ruling dynasty. She was not liked by the Zanu-PF for hedonist habits and also her sharp tongue attitude. So everybody supports Mnangagwa, an able general, and friendly to all stakeholders.

Problem is, Mnangagwa is no saint. He was reported to be involved in the 1980s Matabeleland massacre where the North-Korean trained Zimbabwean 5^th Brigade killed around 10,000 civilian. He has close links to General Constantion Chiwenga, leader of last week four day coup. And he has strong links with China, since he studied there before. Chiwenga’s visit to Beijing showed that the regime change in Zimbabwe won’t ruin their good relationship with China. For China at least they don’t need to worry their investment will be gone after Mugabe’s downfall.

So, don’t expect freedom and democracy. It will be just a regime changing his hat. But expect an improvement in Zimbabwean economy after years of Mugabe’s poor economic policies. And possibly more Chinese investment.

Why U.S. Warships keep Crashing This Year?

The collision left major damage to the port side of the USS John S. McCain, seen here in Singapore

 

From Antietam to Benfold, a series of US naval warships involved in accidents in Western Pacific waters. Added with US sailors becoming victims of the accidents has raised concern over the Navy’s capability to operate properly.

Various reports has come to explain why the world’s strongest navy could get into such situation many times. Conspiracy states that hacking on naval radar on US ships is going on in Western Pacific citing there has been at least one report of potential GPS position spoofing affecting ships in the Black Sea in recent months and given that rival naval power in this waters is China with their “Blue Army” of hackers.

Factual reports also shows the increase of ship cargo around the world as trade increases. It is obvious since the Western Pacific has the largest sea traffic in the world. However, it couldn’t justify that this is just a normal issue. The other naval power like China and Japan share this waters too and they haven’t been in any incidents like the US. Even China can dodge other ships at dark and if there is any damage, is done on purpose by their sailors when trying to ram at ships they consider “violating their sovereignity.”This might lead to the facts that there is a mistake that costs the US Navy combat capability.

I once make a joke: if want to join the military and see the world but don’t want to die, then join the Navy. Why? Because Naval battle rarely happens over these past decades.

The Last time I know the US Navy got involved in huge naval operation was in the Second World War. Since then, most of the time the navy are only involved in naval patrol, and naval bombardment on enemy shore defences. The unchallenged US Naval supremacy means there is a small chance a foreign navy dares to challenge the US navy. In turn US sailors almost never see naval battle in their entire career which affect their alertness during missions.

It is not surprising when USS Cole was able to be damaged by a speed boat, while a more thrilling situation did occur in the Tonkin Gulf incident (if it ever happened) didn’t cause any damage on the ships.

This is attributed to the government budget cuts towards the Navy. The Congress were concerned that the cut in maintenance and training have been affecting the basic skills required for the Navy. The quality of the ships were also questioned as how a commercial ship could cause a big hole on a warship. Despite, the US navy have smaller number of ships and better technology in order to make up quality over quantity and saving budgets, it seems to overlook the human aspects in operating ships.

Although technology have contributed to help sailors to operate easily, it makes sailors over-dependant on technology. In case of a naval battle where machines could broke down, naval skills are playing an important role in trying to keep the ship afloat. Historian argued that the success in the battle of Midway against the Japanese Navy was contributed to US sailor’s skills in organizing sailors in order to keep the ship afloat even after various attacks by Japanese planes and ships.

The Western Pacific is currently being contested between the US Navy and the PLA Navy. As China grows its naval presence in East China Sea and South China Sea, and the looming threat of North Korean nuclear attacks, it is obvious that the US Navy have to be constantly to be combat ready. If incidents like this keeps occurring the US naval capability will weaken and its credibility as the naval security in the region will be questioned both by allies and enemies.

US warship and Japanese ship collided again

A US warship has sustained minor damage after a collision with a Japanese tug off central Japan. The commercial tug happens to lost propulsion and drifted into USS Benfold, a guided-missile destroyer, while on a towing exercise in Sagami Bay.

None was injured during the incident. Benfold is still operational under her own power with only scratches on her side. While the Japanese tug has to be towed by another vessel to a port in Yokosuka. However it raised concern over US Naval assets capability to operate since the incident had occurred a few times before.

In January a cruiser ran aground near the fleet base in Yokosuka. In May, a guided-missile cruiser collided with a Korean fishing vessel. In June, USS Fitzgerald hit a container ship in Japanese waters near Yokosuka killing seven US sailors. Two months later, USS John S McCain collided with an oil tanker east of Singapore, killing 10 US sailors.

The US has recently announced a series of reforms in the Navy to fix its naval skills and alertness at sea in hopes that such awful incident will never happen again.