The Day in Politics

SOUTH CHINA SEA China target of Western capitalist aggression is in the spotlight Philippines re:  South China Sea Permanent Court of Arbitration (at The Hague) set to hand down decision joke decision probably more about PR & building public consent to war with China than anything else: Permanent Court of Arbitration (PCA) "body, based in the neo-Gothic extravagance of the Peace Palace in The Hague, has no enforcement powers" "Winning parties typically pursue their claims in domestic courts - often a fruitless exercise." LOL ... so the ENTIRE EXERCISE is bullsh*t, Philippines. Australia's SBS notes it is the first legal challenge re South China Sea territorial dispute. This is key regional dispute:  WORLD DICTATOR, USA versus China, rising power POLITICAL & MILITARY rivalry intensified, according to SBS   But, really:  it is AMERICAN CAPITALIST & ALLIED CAPITALIST rivalry with rising power China that is at issue http://www.sbs.com.au/news/article/2016/07/12/why-philippines-south-china-sea-legal-case-matters IRON LADY Being prime minister must be a puppet position. Looks like it doesn't matter who is the head puppet: Theresa May to become Britain's new PM on Wednesday after Andrea Leadsom ends campaign ABC Australia: Theresa May will become Britain's new prime minister on Wednesday, with the task of steering its withdrawal from the European Union, after her last rival in the bid to succeed David Cameron abruptly abandoned her short-lived campaign. Ms May became the only contender when Andrea Leadsom — who had stirred a storm for suggesting she was more qualified to be the leader because she had children — quit the race on Monday. "I am honoured and humbled to have been chosen by the Conservative Party to become its leader," Ms May told reporters outside Parliament. "Brexit means Brexit and we are going to make a success of it. "We need a strong, new positive vision for the future of our country. A vision of a country that works not for the privileged few, but that works for every one of us."  [comment:  May's lying already.  She's there to secure the interests of the privileged ... LOL ] http://www.abc.net.au/news/2016-07-11/andrea-leadsom-withdraws-from-tory-leadership-contest/7588006 I'm with the 'right-wingers' on women in politics:  they shouldn't even get the vote.  LOL (Half) kidding aside, I get the feeling this is some symbolic PR appointment by the Conservatives, whose last woman PM, Margaret Thatcher, is probably one of the most detested women in British, if not world, politics. Uh-oh, this is no empty symbolic appointment.  The Conservatives are set to give the working class a kick in the nuts, using Brexit and a woman PM as cover for their nasty agenda head.  That's my best guess. 11th February 1975 Tories appoint Margaret Thatcher as leader of Conservatives - BBC: "Mrs Thatcher - a mother of twins married to Denis, an oil executive - put in a brief appearance at a party in Pimlico  ..." BBC Sh*t, that doesn't bode well. LOL  ... they always put a woman in, as a cover for their nasty agenda. Why the hate on Maggie? List below sounds like it's drawn by a Culturally Marxist liberal leftie. LOL ... I've gone to have a proper read of below list, and it's one of those Yeah-NAH-list moves. So ignore fascist Thatcherite that wrote that list. LOL  [ummmm ... I don't know that he actually is; I just said that for effect.] But, yeah, I can see how the Maggie Thatcher led Conservatives were crap when you take a look at the overall charges. Thatcherism the conservative policies, political philosophy, and leadership style of former British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, characterized especially by monetarism, privatization, and labor union reform. EXTRACT 10 Reasons why Margaret Thatcher is Britain's most hated politician 2013-07-19 destroyed Britain’s manufacturing industry and her policies led to mass unemployment presided over interest rates of 15% [raising VAT from 8% to 15%] voted against the relaxation of divorce laws abolished free milk for School Children precipitated a Social Housing crisis still being felt today Poll Tax [head tax, ancient to 1800s, not on income based] sowed the seeds of NHS Privatisation Section 28 – Thatchers quiet homophobia? The Irish Hunger Strikes SOURCE | more http://josharcher.uk/blog/why-margaret-thatcher-is-hated/ Good Old Days Under Conservative WOMAN PM  [CLICK IMAGE TO ENLARGE]   [CLICK IMAGE TO ENLARGE]  [CLICK IMAGE TO ENLARGE]   [CLICK IMAGE TO ENLARGE]   [CLICK IMAGE TO ENLARGE]  [CLICK IMAGE TO ENLARGE] Conservative Government Scumbags Under-fund Essex Police LINK | post

CHINA'S FIRST AIRCRAFT CARRIER

China's aircraft carrier puts naval ambitions on show Published: 25 Jul 2014 at 10.48 | Online news: Asia Writer: AFP DALIAN (CHINA) - At a northern quayside China's first aircraft carrier dwarfs nearby vessels, its take-off ramp rising higher than the top deck of the cruise ship at the next berth, symbolising the country's naval ambitions. ... Beijing proclaims that China's rise is entirely peaceful and it has no interest in hegemony [imperialism], but analysts say its goal is to surpass the naval capability of Japan's Self-Defense Forces and ultimately rival the US Navy, masters of the Pacific. ... The 300-metre (1,000-foot) Liaoning -- a Soviet-era vessel Beijing bought from Ukraine -- was commissioned in September 2012, and officers have acknowledged that it is not yet ready for combat, with naval fighter pilots taking years to train. But it is only the first Chinese vessel of its type. Analysts say future carriers will be entirely Chinese-made and ultimately nuclear-powered, vastly extending their range. The People's Liberation Army (PLA) is already the world's largest standing military, and when Chinese President Xi Jinping went on board the Liaoning last year he spoke of building "a powerful people's navy". Xi has made a point of visiting several military bases since taking office and has said that "being able to fight and win battles is the essence of strengthening the military". ... [British military publisher Jane's] In the medium to long term, they said, China will need "an expanding presence around the world" to secure its interests in resources, markets and shipping routes. "A widespread naval presence thus will be required." Earlier this year reports in state-run media ... saying a second vessel was already under construction in Dalian and two more were in the pipeline. The PLA clouds its activities in secrecy, and the military zones at the tip of the Lushunkou peninsula ... are forbidden to outsiders. ... China has long proclaimed itself as rising peacefully and insists that its military expansion is purely to defend itself. Washington has 10 aircraft carriers at its disposal, soon to rise to 11 when the USS Gerald R Ford enters service.

For its part Tokyo ... will soon have a helicopter carrier of its own, which could potentially be adapted to carry vertical take-off fighter jets. But in recent months Beijing has asserted itself ever more aggressively in maritime territorial disputes with Japan in the East China Sea and several southeast Asian nations in the South China Sea, raising fears of clashes. It has four ships taking part in the US-led Rim of the Pacific (RIMPAC) joint exercises off Hawaii, which analysts have touted as a step towards improving military ties, and visiting US Admiral Jonathan Greenert was given a tour of the Liaoning earlier this month.  But Beijing also sent a surveillance ship to spy on the RIMPAC drills, according to US reports citing the US Navy. China's "behaviour in its near seas and its territorial claims suggest that it is going to robustly defend its 'core interests'", said the Jane's specialists. "... you can say that China is closing the gap on Japan in most areas and outpacing it in others," they added. "The PLA has substantial offensive capabilities in the form of ballistic and cruise missiles, fast jets, bombers, amphibious forces, heavy armour, destroyers, frigates and so on, so the idea that it is armed just for self-defence doesn't really wash."  By 2030 China could have four or possibly five aircraft carriers in service, including the Liaoning, says Fisher, and could ultimately decide to build as many as 10. It will be the culmination of decades of ambition, he said, describing Mao Zedong and other Chinese leaders' denunciations of the US and Soviet Union for their "imperialist" military capabilities in the 1950s and 60s as "a reflection of their intense envy". "Mao always wanted to have a superpower level of global influence but was also quite happy to condemn those who had it, when he did not," he said. "All of Mao's successors have worked to fulfil a dream of future Chinese strategic dominance." Source - Bangkok Post - here.

China has its first aircraft carrier.

US is about to launch its 11th.

Japan (who may now enter into conflicts abroad) will soon have a helicopter carrier.

Meanwhile, Thailand and Philippines have "jointly called for peaceful resolution of disputes in the South China Sea" (here):

"Tensions spiked anew in the troubled waters when China placed an oil rig in waters it jointly claims with Vietnam, sparking a maritime standoff between the two neighbors and Vietnamese raids on Chinese-ran factories in Vietnam.

China’s expanding law enforcement jurisdiction and patrols encompassing nearly the whole of South China Sea have also alarmed the Philippines as it covers sections of its territorial waters, known locally as West Philippine Sea.

Adding to the tensions is China’s reclamation of at least two South China Sea reefs being claimed by the Philippines that were transformed into artificial islands."

"The Thai minister said his government is hoping for an early conclusion of the code of conduct as well as the full and effective implementation of a non-binding non-aggression document, called Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the South China Sea or DOC.

The DOC was signed by China and the 10-member ASEAN in 2002. It calls on all claimants to exercise restraint and stop new occupation of territories in the South China Sea. However, the document lacks the power to sanction states that violate its provisions.

Sihasak [Acting Thai Foreign Minister] said ASEAN will hold a meeting with China in Thailand in October to try to move forward with the full and effective implementation of the DOC and push for the swift conclusion of a code of conduct in the South China Sea."

Sounds like everyone's nervous of China.

It's early days with the aircraft carrier, but I suppose if you were a small nation in the Pacific having "the world's largest standing military (China's People's Liberation Army) nearby, being a tad nervous or intimidated is understandable.

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NEWS SOURCE # 1 - AFP

Agence France-Presse (AFP) is an international news agency  headquartered in Paris. It is the oldest  news agency in the world and one of the largest. Currently, its CEO is Emmanuel Hoog and its news director Philippe Massonnet. AFP headquarters is in Paris ...

Japan - UN HRC - 'Hate Speech' Legislation

Japanese officials order removal of war memorial for Korean labourers Petitions complained that monument erected by a friendship society in a public park in Gunma prefecture was anti-Japanese Justin McCurry in Tokyo theguardian.com, Wednesday 23 July 2014 20.22 AEST [PHOTO -  Toru Yamanaka/AFP] Comfort women protest Japanese women hold portraits of South Korean, Chinese, Philippine and Taiwanese former comfort women who were sex slaves for Japanese soldiers during the second world war, in a protest in Tokyo in 2007. Local authorities in Japan have demanded the removal of a monument in memory of the tens of thousands of labourers forcibly recruited from the Korean peninsula during the second world war. [...] Many of the 600,000 ethnic Koreans living in Japan are the descendants of labourers who remained in the country after its defeat in 1945.

Commemorating the use of forced labour is causing similar controversy in other parts of Japan. In Nagasaki, a row has erupted over a proposed monument to Korean victims of the atomic bombing ... The controversies are being played out against a rise in anti-Korean sentiment in Japan, fuelled by disputes between Tokyo and Seoul over territory and Japan's conduct during its 1910-1945 occupation of the Korean peninsula. The UN human rights committee has called on Japan to do more to clamp down on hate speech directed at Koreans during demonstrations in Tokyo and other cities. The committee, which noted that there were more than 360 such demonstrations and speeches last year, mainly in Korean neighbourhoods in Tokyo, is expected to make recommendations to Japan on Wednesday, possibly including the introduction of legislation against hate speech. ... officials from both countries met in Seoul to discuss Japan's use of as many as 200,000 mainly Korean and Chinese women as sex slaves before and during the war. Japan recently ruled out a revision to a 1993 official apology... The prime minister, Shinzo Abe, is one of several prominent conservative politicians who have questioned claims that the imperial Japanese army coerced the women – euphemistically referred to as comfort women – into working in frontline brothels. Source - The Guardian - here.

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COMMENT

It's supposed to be commemorative but it's not merely commemorative; it's a political statement also -- even if that's not the intention.

Political or commemorative, it shouldn't matter.

But it's obviously rocking the boat over in Japan.

Even so, the anti 'hate speech' legislation proposed by the UN is legislation to silence disapproval.

But isn't that kind of like trying to legislate to produce an altered perception of reality?