#UN Reunification attempts

[kyreniacommentator]

Was the EU correct in allowing the RoC as a member of the EU?

Introduction by Chris Elliott…. Further to our recent article  “ Why is the UN struggling to get the Cyprob solved?” which was based upon the enormous amount of facts from the internet which sadly shows the Greek Cypriots and their supporters have overshadowed the Turkish Cypriots when promoting the TRUTH of Cyprob throughout the years. Continue reading Was the EU correct in allowing the RoC as a…

[mariacallous]

In a speech last month marking the 79th anniversary of Korea’s independence from Japanese colonial rule, South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol called for the establishment of “a unified, free, and democratic nation, rightfully owned by the people … across the entire Korean Peninsula.” He argued that Korea’s liberation remains incomplete as long as North Koreans are deprived of freedom. This was a stark difference from North Korean leader Kim Jong Un’s recent statement about the issue in December 2023, when he renounced unification and said it was no longer viable.

The two Koreas now find themselves at a somewhat awkward crossroad on the issue of unification. On the surface, Seoul’s position seems benign, while the specifics of Pyongyang’s rhetoric appear aggressive and provocative. Upon closer examination, however, Pyongyang’s stance could suggest an attempt to coexist with the South—a two-state solution—whereas Seoul’s call for a unified, democratic Korea might be perceived by the North as a denial of the Kim regime’s legitimacy and an incitement of popular uprising. This could intensify the concerns that led Kim to renounce unification in the first place.

Ever since the peninsula was divided in the late 1940s, reunification has been a shared objective for both Koreas. During the height of the Cold War, the two governments refused to recognize each other as legitimate and competed to be the government that would unify the country. South Korean President Syngman Rhee stated in 1953 that it was his duty to unify the nation by force if necessary. Similarly, in 1968, North Korean leader Kim Il Sung sought to incite a communist revolution in the South, declaring that “a revolution in the South is a struggle to achieve sovereignty, and the only way to achieve this sovereignty is through force.”

The end of the Cold War opened the door for the two Koreas to discuss peaceful unification, eventually resulting in the 2000 Joint Declaration. In this agreement, both sides committed to ending hostilities, building trust, and pursuing peaceful unification through a confederation, in which North and South Korea retain their respective autonomous governments within a single state—a one-state, two-systems model—as a transitional step toward eventual unification. Whether by force or through peaceful means, unification had, until now, never been abandoned as an official policy by either side.

Kim Jong Un’s December announcement renouncing unification was a significant shift. Shortly thereafter, North Korea demolished the Arch of Reunification, built in 2000 to commemorate the Joint Declaration. At the July plenum of the ruling Workers’ Party of Korea, Kim directed the removal of goals related to “unification” and “grand national unity” from the constitution. In no uncertain terms, these moves signaled a decisive break from any aspirations of reunification, solidifying the regime’s commitment to a permanent division between the two Koreas as separate countries.

This shift has sparked both confusion and concern. Some have interpreted it as a transformation in Pyongyang’s perception of Seoul from “a dialogue partner or a separate entity to coexist with” to an adversary to be subjugated, as Cha Du-hyeogn, a former Blue House official, told NK News. However, if North Korea’s goal were truly to subjugate the South, it would make more sense to advocate for unification rather than renounce it. Subjugating the South is one way of unifying the peninsula, after all. Others suggest that this move may be an attempt to justify the use of nuclear weapons against South Koreans—something difficult to rationalize if they were still regarded as compatriots. But using nuclear weapons against the South would lead to a full-blown war, triggering major upheaval and likely the downfall of the Kim regime, at which point the justification for nuclear use would be the least of Pyongyang’s problems.

A more compelling interpretation is that this shift is driven by Pyongyang’s recognition that it has lost the “unification competition,” or the contest to be the legitimate government to unify Korea. North Korea lags far behind the South economically, diplomatically, culturally, and even militarily—except in the nuclear domain. More importantly, this disparity is now well known to North Koreans, largely due to the widespread influence of South Korean pop culture in the North. Exposure to South Korean lifestyles through movies, shows, and music may naturally prompt North Koreans to imagine how different their own lives could be, potentially breeding grievances and resentment toward their leadership.

For that reason, Kim sees South Korean pop culture as a significant threat to his regime and has cracked down on its growing influence in the North. In December 2020, North Korea enacted the Anti-Reactionary Ideology and Culture Act, imposing harsh penalties—including the death penalty—for watching or distributing foreign media. In April 2021, Kim issued a directive urging the prevention of youth from adopting South Korean speech, fashion, and hairstyles. This January, BBC Korean reported that two teenage boys had been publicly sentenced to 12 years of hard labor for watching and sharing South Korean television shows. Despite the risks, North Koreans continue to consume South Korean content.

Against this backdrop, Kim’s stance allows him to convey two distinct messages. The first is to a domestic audience: South Koreans are no longer considered compatriots, and emulating their way of life warrants severe punishment. The second is to the South: Let’s acknowledge our different political systems, ideologies, and ways of life and agree not to interfere in each other’s affairs.

In contrast, Yoon has put forth a markedly different vision for the future of the peninsula, which could be interpreted by Pyongyang as endorsing the eventual absorption of North Korea into the South. Contradictory to the 2000 Joint Declaration, Yoon’s vision for unification is not through consultation with Pyongyang but through encouraging the North Korean people to pursue liberal democracy—against the wishes of the Kim regime. North Korea’s democratization implicitly cannot occur without overthrowing the regime, since Kim is unlikely to give up power voluntarily. This vision can be more clearly understood alongside Unification Minister Kim Young-ho’s op-ed from April 2019, in which he argued, “Only when the Kim Jong Un regime is overthrown and North Korea is liberalized, bringing both Koreas under a unified political system, will the path to unification truly open.”

In order for North Korea’s liberalization to happen, Yoon pledged during his National Liberation Day speech to establish a government fund to support civic groups promoting freedom and human rights in North Korea, along with efforts to expand North Koreans’ access to external information via radio and television to “make them aware of the false propaganda and instigations” spread by Pyongyang. Yoon added: “If more North Koreans realize that unification through freedom is the only way to improve their lives and are convinced that the Republic of Korea will embrace them, they will become a strong, friendly contingent to support a freedom-based unification.”

Although its rhetoric may seem benign, this approach to unification is highly risky. Pyongyang is notoriously sensitive about the kinds of information tactics Yoon is promoting, and intensifying such campaigns will only exacerbate tensions and increase the risk of military confrontation.

Instead of encouraging revolt in North Korea, which could have catastrophic consequences for the peninsula, South Korea could consider a two-state solution of its own to ease North Korea’s fears of absorption and help reduce inter-Korean tensions. This would involve, in the immediate term, refraining from promoting unification by absorption and accepting the current reality of two separate states and, in the longer term, establishing diplomatic relations with the North and fostering cooperation, mutual understanding, and peaceful coexistence as neighboring states.

Admittedly, there are valid reasons that a two-state solution is not acceptable for many South Koreans. As some point out, the pursuit of unification is not only a policy preference but a constitutional obligation. Article 3 of the South Korean Constitution defines the territory of the Republic of Korea as encompassing the entire Korean Peninsula and its surrounding islands. Article 4 further stipulates that the “Republic of Korea shall seek unification and shall establish and implement a peaceful unification policy based on the principles of freedom and democracy.” Article 66 says in no uncertain terms that the president has a constitutional duty to pursue peaceful unification. These clauses remained unchanged through nine constitutional amendments since their inclusion in South Korea’s first constitution in 1948.

The issue of unification is also deeply emotional. Support for unification has declined, especially among younger generations who prefer a status quo due to fears of economic burdens and social disruption, but it remains significant. According to a recent survey, only 46.5 percent of South Korean millennials believe that reunification with North Korea is necessary. The majority of other age groups, however, still support reunification, with more than 73 percent of those who lived through the Korean War expressing strong support. The belief in a “unitary nation” that is “ethnically homogeneous and racially distinctive” is deeply ingrained in the national identity. Case in point, South Korean children grow up singing a song called “Our Wish Is Unification.” For many, abandoning the goal of reunification just doesn’t feel right.

On a more practical level, many argue that if Seoul renounces the goal of unification and permanently recognizes North Korea as a separate country, South Korea will forfeit its legal claim over North Korean territory and lose any standing to lead the reunification and rebuilding process in the event of a North Korean regime collapse.

However, this reasoning may not hold up to scrutiny. Even if North Korea were to collapse, South Korea’s refusal to recognize North Korea as a separate country would have no bearing on international law. The two Koreas joined the United Nations in 1991 as distinct countries, and the international community recognizes them as such. A total of 157 countries maintain diplomatic relations with both Koreas, clearly indicating they do not have a “one Korea” policy. This contrasts sharply with countries’ “One China” policies, as no country maintains formal diplomatic relations with both China and Taiwan. If South Korea were to enter the North following a regime collapse, it could be viewed as an illegal foreign intervention in violation of the U.N. Charter. Legally speaking, South Korea has no greater authority over the fate of North Korea than any other state, regardless of whether it refuses to recognize North Korea as a separate country.

Pursuing unification by encouraging regime collapse offers no tangible benefits and only heightens tensions on the Korean Peninsula. Given the risks of escalation, an official two-state solution is worth considering. However unappealing this may seem, it could be the least bad option in the long run. As long as there is only “one Korea,” each side will claim to be the sole legitimate representative, making the other a target for elimination. In such a scenario, mutual coexistence is impossible. As distinct countries, the two Koreas could coexist—not necessarily amicably but coexist nonetheless.

[kneedeepincynade]

No one wishes for war,but if need be,the multipolar world is ready

The post is machine translated

Translation is at the bottom

The collective is on telegram

🇨🇳 Il 15/08, a Mosca, si è aperta l'11ª Conferenza sulla Sicurezza Internazionale di Mosca, a cui ha partecipato il Generale Li Shangfu - Ministro della Difesa Nazionale della Repubblica Popolare Cinese e Consigliere di Stato 🌟

😍 La Cina, ha dichiarato il Generale, è disponibile ad espandere la Cooperazione Militare con i Paesi dell'Organizzazione per la Cooperazione di Shanghai, tra cui la Russia, la Bielorussia e l'Iran 🤝

🤧 Il punto più importante, però, riguarda la Questione di Taiwan. Essa è il fulcro della Politica Cinese, e il Principio dell'Unica Cina è fondamentale, in quanto garantisce Stabilità, Pace e Sicurezza nella Regione, e di conseguenza nel Mondo 🌐

⭐️ La Questione di Taiwan è un affare interno della Cina, e nessuna forza straniera - USA, UE, Giappone - è autorizzata ad interferire. La gestione dei Rapporti tra le due Sponde dello Stretto è materia del Popolo Cinese e del popolo Cinese soltanto 🇨🇳

🔺Ma Ying-jeou (KMT): "Le persone, su entrambe le Sponde dello Stretto di Taiwan, appartengono alla medesima famiglia" 😍

🔺 Yok Mu-ming (NP): "Taiwan e la Cina Continentale costituiscono un'unica famiglia" 😍

🇨🇳 La Riunificazione Cinese è un processo storico irrefrenabile, e la Cina non accetterà mai il dito puntato degli USA e dei loro lacchè sulla risoluzione della Questione di Taiwan, così come non accetterà alcun tentativo di forze straniere di esercitare la coercizione sulla questione della Riunificazione 🤧

🤧 Il fatto che una Guerra per la Riunificazione Cinese possa trasformarsi in una guerra mondiale non dipende dalla Cina, ma dalle azioni degli USA e dei loro lacchè europei e giapponesi | 丢掉幻想，准备斗争 🇨🇳

🌸 Iscriviti 👉 @collettivoshaoshan 😘

🇨🇳 On 15/08, the 11th Moscow International Security Conference opened in Moscow, attended by General Li Shangfu - Minister of National Defense of the People's Republic of China and State Councilor 🌟

😍 China, said the General, is willing to expand military cooperation with countries of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, including Russia, Belarus, and Iran 🤝

🤧 The most important point, however, is the Taiwan issue. It is the core of Chinese politics, and the One China Principle is fundamental, as it guarantees Stability, Peace and Security in the Region, and consequently in the World 🌐

⭐️ The Taiwan issue is China's internal affair, and no foreign force - US, EU, Japan - is allowed to interfere. The management of relations between the two sides of the Strait is a matter of the Chinese people and of the Chinese people only 🇨🇳

🔺Ma Ying-jeou (KMT): "People on both sides of the Taiwan Strait belong to the same family" 😍

🔺 Yok Mu-ming (NP): "Taiwan and Mainland China are one family" 😍

🇨🇳 The Chinese Reunification is an unstoppable historical process, and China will never accept the finger pointing of the US and its lackeys on the resolution of the Taiwan issue, nor will it accept any attempt by foreign forces to exercise coercion on the Reunification issue 🤧

🤧 Whether a War for Chinese Reunification can turn into a world war does not depend on China, but on the actions of the USA and its European and Japanese lackeys | 丢掉幻想，准备斗争 🇨🇳

🌸 Subscribe 👉 @collettivoshaoshan 😘

[lboogie1906]

President Ahmadou Ahidjo (August 24, 1924 - November 30, 1989) was the first president of Cameroon. He was born in Garoua in northern Cameroon. His father was a local Fulani chief. His first job was as a radio operator for the postal service. He was the first person from the northern part of Cameroon to work in the civil service in the south of Cameroon.

He entered local politics. He was a member of the territorial Assembly. He served as president of the Assembly. He became prime minister and began negotiating with France to gain independence for Cameroon. Cameroon became independent on January 1, 1960.

He became the first president of independent Cameroon. He continued Cameroon’s close ties with France, but he turned his attention to uniting his country with the smaller colony of British Cameroon. The UN agreed on an integration and reunification plebiscite. He worked with the premier of Anglophone Cameroon throughout the process of integrating the two parts of Cameroon into a united nation. On October 1, 1961, the two separate Cameroons were merged, establishing the Federal Republic of Cameroon.

He created a one-party state. He was committed to Pan-African ideals and African socialism but was not considered a radical compared to other African leaders who espoused socialism. He maintained close ties with the French state and with Western, democratic countries.

He resigned as president of Cameroon due to exhaustion and other health-related issues. The government claimed his supporters were behind an attempted coup. He was tried in absentia and sentenced to death. A second violent, but unsuccessful coup attempt, allegedly by his supporters was suppressed by the armed forces. He spent his remaining years in exile in Senegal and France.

He was married to Germaine Habiba Ahidjo. They had four children. #africanhistory365 #afticanexcellence

[xtruss]

Global Leaders Reiterate Support For One-China Principle, Highlighting General Consensus of International Community

— Liu Xin | May 21, 2024

Condoning Separatist Forces Means Stocking Flames in the Taiwan Straits. Cartoon: Carlos Latuff

Many leaders of countries and heads of international organizations in recent days have promptly voiced their adherence to the one-China principle, fully demonstrating that upholding the one-China principle is the righteous path and the general consensus of the international community. Such a declaration of support to the one-China principle comes in response to the new Taiwan regional leader Lai Ching-te's plan to push "Taiwan independence." This push, along with the attempts of certain countries, especially the US and Japan, to play the "Taiwan card" to contain China, are doomed to fail, analysts said.

Leaders and senior officials of many countries, including Russia, Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan, Venezuela, Kiribati, as well as those of international organizations, such as officials from the UN Geneva Office, International Atomic Energy Agency, and International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies, have recently restated that their countries or organizations abide by the one-China principle and the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) Resolution 2758.

This once again demonstrates that the abiding commitment of the international community to the one-China principle is unshakable, and that upholding the one-China principle is where global opinion trends, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin said at a press conference on Tuesday.

Each time "Taiwan independence" separatists make waves, it reinforces the global consensus that the one-China principle must be upheld and garners understanding and support for China's position—a good example of the old Chinese adage "a just cause enjoys the support of many," said Wang.

Wang noted that the abiding commitment of the international community to the one-China principle is unshakable and the trend of the history of China realizing complete reunification is unstoppable. Anyone trying to challenge the one-China principle and hinder China's reunification is attempting the impossible and will only wreck their own reputation, Wang said.

Taiwan's new regional leader and head of the secessionist Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), Lai Ching-te, officially assumed office on Monday. Some politicians from several countries attended the "inauguration ceremony" of Lai.

In response, on Tuesday, Chinese embassies in countries such as Japan, South Korea and UK lodged solemn representations with these nations and emphasized that Taiwan is an integral part of China and reiterated the one-China principle, urging these politicians to cease sending the wrong message to "Taiwan independence" secessionist forces.

Foreign Ministry spokesperson Wang also said on Tuesday that China firmly opposes any form of official exchanges between diplomatic allies and China's Taiwan island. Its stance on this question is always clear and consistent.

China has lodged stem representation to the US after US Secretary of State Antony Blinken congratulated Lai.

Wang emphasized that the one-China principle is the political foundation and prerequisite for China to grow ties with other countries. The definition of the one-China principle is very clear, that is, there is but one China in the world, Taiwan is an inalienable part of China's territory, and the Government of the People's Republic of China is the sole legal government representing the whole of China.

To use Taiwan to contain China is to play with fire and will definitely backfire. China will take all necessary measures to firmly safeguard its interest, Wang said.

While addressing the meeting of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) Council of Ministers of Foreign Affairs on Tuesday, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi also reiterated China's stance on the Taiwan question, saying that it is at the core of China's vital interests and that "Taiwan independence" activities are the most destructive factor to peace in the Taiwan Straits.

Wang, also a member of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, said that the treacherous acts of Lai and his likes betray their nation and ancestors and are contemptible.

However, no matter how they stir up trouble, they cannot prevent China from achieving complete reunification. Taiwan will inevitably return to the embrace of the motherland and all "Taiwan independence" separatists will be nailed to the pillar of shame in history, said Wang.

In recent days, Chinese embassies and consulates in different countries have also held press briefings to restate China's stance on the Taiwan question and refute disinformation and false narratives made by some US politicians and "Taiwan independence" secessionists on the UNGA Resolution 2758.

China has been actively addressing the Taiwan question to clarify the historical background of the matter on the global stage. The one-China principle is widely acknowledged internationally, and the current emphasis is on further exposing Lai's dubious intentions. Lai is attempting to conceal the agenda of "Taiwan independence" under the pretext of pursuing "peace and prosperity" for Taiwan, obscuring the inherent dangers and regional impacts, Xin Qiang, director of the Taiwan Studies Center at Fudan University, told the Global Times, on Tuesday.

Xin noted that Lai's speech on Monday unequivocally endorsed the "two states" rhetoric and advocated "Taiwan independence," cementing his position as a steadfast advocate of "Taiwan independence." This indicates that the prospects for cross-Straits relations are dim, with his speech signaling the ongoing trajectory of the DPP toward "de-sinicization" and pursuing independence by seeking support from the US and other external forces.

Analysts reached by the Global Times also noted that after assuming office, Lai will persist in strengthening political, economic, military, trade, and investment ties with the US. The US and Japan will also escalate collaboration with the DPP authorities, each pursuing their own interests, which may further destabilize the region.

Genuine peace and stability in the Taiwan Straits hinge on acknowledging the one-China principle. If "Taiwan independence" forces cross the redline to further provoke the mainland, the mainland will not sit idly by, Xin said.

"Saying slogans or purchasing US weapons won't secure peace in the Taiwan Straits. Lai's strategy to confront the mainland while engaging with external forces, procuring arms, bolstering so-called self-defense capabilities, and using them as a deterrent is wishful thinking. Should 'Taiwan independence' forces persist in provoking the mainland with US backing, the risk of triggering clashes cannot be ruled out," said Xin.

[williamkergroach55]

Korea, a people divided by the Cold War

Reply to "Korea, a people divided by the Cold War". In the aftermath of the Second World War, Korea became the theater of great power maneuvers. Washington, Moscow and Beijing set their sights on the peninsula, turning the destiny of the Korean people into a merciless nightmare. This is the thesis of the essay "Korea, a people divided by the Cold War" by French essayist William Kergroach. My grandfather served in the US Army during the Korean War. It is in his memory that I take the liberty of correcting some of the points made by Mr. Kergroach. The Cold War: the cradle of division

As the curtain of the Cold War fell across the world, Korea became one of its main victims. In 1945, at the Yalta Conference, the Allies decided to divide Korea along the 38th parallel. The Soviet Union occupied the north, while the United States took up a position in the south. The reasons given to justify this partition, as the essayist asserts, were probably no more than pretexts, masking the true intentions of the great powers. A crucial US presence

In my view, it is essential to recognize that the presence of the United States in South Korea has played a decisive role in the stability of the region. U.S. involvement in the fight against the spread of communism has helped prevent a possible invasion of South Korea by the North. The U.S. provided substantial economic and military support, as my grandfather and others could attest, helping South Korea to develop rapidly and become a model of economic success.

The rise of the Kims and China's support

There's no denying that North Korea, under the Kim dynasty, suffered decades of authoritarian rule and isolation. China's unwavering support for the Kims did nothing to improve the situation. The Korean War, triggered by the North's invasion of the South in 1950, led to a deep and painful division of the peninsula.

The joy and freedom of K-Pop

I'd also like to add that far from being decadent, K-Pop has become a true cultural force on a global scale. It embodies creativity, freedom of expression and joie de vivre. K-Pop has helped to establish a positive image of South Korea and promote a youthful, dynamic culture. The disastrous consequences of division

The division of Korea has had devastating consequences for the Korean people, particularly in the North. Since 1950, families separated by the demilitarized border have rarely had the opportunity to reunite, leaving thousands without news of their loved ones. The authoritarian regime in Pyongyang has maintained strict control over the lives of its citizens, resulting in famine and untold suffering.

Reunification: a distant dream

Reunification remains a distant goal for both Koreas. Although attempts at international diplomacy have been made, most notably by President Trump in June 2018, the complex situation persists. The leadership of Kim Jong-un, heir to the Kim dynasty, remains a major obstacle to reunification. It is clear that North Korea must open up to the world and put an end to its isolation if it is to envisage a better future for its people. Ultimately, I believe it is essential to recognize the role of the United States as a stabilizing counterweight to China and the Pyongyang regime. South Korean society is thriving, thanks in large part to its openness to democracy, freedom and creativity. K-Pop, I insist, is a vibrant example of this. The division of the two Koreas is largely the fault of the Pyongyang regime. Let's hope that generations of young Americans won't have to return to Korea, like my grandfather, to defend freedom. Andy-Roy Atkinson

To find out more: Amazon link #Korea #ColdWar #KoreanDivision

To find out more: https://www.amazon.fr/-/e/B07BR6V6D9

[chubbycaucasianchristiancloseted]

As we sit on the verge of China’s “reunification” with Taiwan it’s good to get a little refresher on its History.

As we sit on the verge of China’s “reunification” with Taiwan it’s good to get a little refresher on its History. As you attempt to decide if Taiwan should be recognized as a sovereign nation keep the following in mind, Taiwan has its own constitution, democratically-elected leaders, an active military of 300,000 and has elected a female president. If the Democrats really cared about identity politics they would back Taiwan simply for electing a female president. It’s time for Biden and his administration to get back to peace through strength policies and stop looking foolish on the world stage before conflicts get out of control.

Direct Quotes:

1895 - China cedes Taiwan among other territories to Japan after losing the First Sino-Japanese War.

1942 - Chinese Kuomintang government renounces all treaties with Japan and demands the return of Taiwan as part of any post-war settlement, which is endorsed by the Allies in the Cairo Declaration the following year.

1945 - The Allies place Taiwan under Chinese administrative control after Japan surrenders.

1949 - Communist victory in Chinese Civil War leads to evacuation of Kuomintang government to Taiwan, along with about two million refugees. Mainlanders dominate island until the end of martial law in 1987.

Taiwan-based Republic of China government retains UN and Western recognition as legitimate government of all China until the 1970s.

1971 - UN recognises Communist China as sole government of whole country after veteran Kuomintang leader Chiang Kai-shek refuses dual-representation deal. People's Republic takes over China's UN Security Council seat.

2008 March - Presidential elections. Ma Ying-jeou of the opposition Kuomintang Party is elected president.

2012 January - President Ma Ying-jeou wins a second term in office.

[mindblindbard]

I asked but honestly idk if tumblr ate it or you preferred not to answer (which is ok!!) but I love lore and I would love to know about the Korean Unification war? In this world is Korea reunited? Are dinamics with the USA different?

I’m so sorry! If I don’t answer something, it’s usually simply because I don’t have time. In a perfect world, I’d be able to write and interact with readers fulltime (maybe someday), but right now I currently have 1,028 unanswered messages in my tumblr inbox. I do read all the questions, but which ones get answered is based off either when they're sent or where my finger stops randomly scrolling. I often lose asks that I wanted to answer, since at this point there’s too many for me to even re-find them using ctrl+f since they don’t load at the same time.

(This is NOT a complaint. It means the world to me that so many people are curious about Mind Blind. Asks and comments are a HUGE source of motivation that keep me writing!)

Please feel free to keep asking questions via tumblr, but the COG forum may be a better place since it’s easier for asks not to get buried: https://forum.choiceofgames.com/t/mind-blind-9-30-demo-update-a-story-where-you-are-mostly-not-the-chosen-one/79890.  I personally like the fact that I can quickly “heart” comments; I am reading and processing all your feedback, even if I don’t always have time to respond!

Now that ramble is done: about the Korean Reunification.

(Actual answer under the cut, because I already went off on a long-winded tangent, as I’m prone to do. But here’s another really, really, REALLY long-winded essay. No, seriously. It’s too long.)

When I lived in Seoul, I was somewhat surprised that most my friends there really didn’t like the idea of North and South Korea reunifying. Granted, my perspective is limited since most my circle a) lived in Seoul, b) were Millennials, and c) had jobs where they either used a lot of English, or had once lived/studied abroad outside Korea. They worried about the expense of reunification, and also that the cultures of North and South Korea had strayed too far apart at this point for the two to easily be one country again. Many viewed South Korea as having more in culturally common with the USA than with their northern neighbor.

Older people seemed to have a different viewpoint (again, this is generalizing based off my personal experiences). Most didn’t remember the Korean Division in 1945, but they're acutely aware of the fact that they had an uncle/grandparent/cousin who lives in North Korea. Reunification is personal--a familial, rather than economical, crisis.

(I encountered a similar generational divide of viewpoint when I lived in Ireland. But again, my perspective is that of an outsider looking in, so take what I say with a shaker of salt.)

I can’t begin to guess how Korean reunification would happen at this point (or even if it could, despite the inspiring speeches of South Korean politicians). It’s been almost 100 years since the two split. Rather than speculate the future, I changed the past. In Mind Blind’s universe, Korea Reunification was fought between 1995-1998, sparked by the beginning of the North Korean Famine. 

This is because MB’s United Nations is a lot more . . . *cough* . . . uh, militaristically proactive? This is a very double edged blade, as will become clear in later chapters. But MB’s UN functions more like Model UN in the States, where high school juniors “solve” all the world’s problems in a week and then feel naively smug because adults can’t figure this stuff out. (My time at Model UN had Germany and Guatemala uniting to put an end to torture. I also lead a motion to experiment on and weaponize David Hasselhoff as a Superman-esque nuclear deterrent, which gives you an idea of how realistic our teenage expectations were and how seriously I’ve always taken things. But in a way, Hasselhoff was my first attempt at a proto-Ment. Superpowers change political landscapes.)

Reunited Korea maintains close trade ties with the USA, but some of the modern-day resentment has faded since the USA no longer has a military presence in Korea. It’s more an equal partnership. Korea maintains South Korea’s political structure, and, much to the relief of male K-pop stars, the draft has been done away with. (Many Korean superstars are Ments, since it further “glamourizes” them. Faking a high Pollard Score has become the new plastic surgery.) 

However, the Reunification also lead to problems.

One of the reasons Rosy happily left Korea is that they’re looked down on due to being North Korean. The region that used to North Korea is much poorer, and some modern Koreans in Mind Blind’s world feel resentment towards the UN. There’s a belief that that reunification slowed down their country’s economic growth, and was more an act of virtue signaling by the Western allies . . . and worse, that it was the UN’s testing grounds for Ment military use. After all, it was during the Reunification when Ment soldiers were first utilized as special agents by the newly-formed Unity.

And holy crap this is too long. Sorry!

[inick4u]

Tame the Dragon

It was on 9 November 1989, five days after half a million people gathered in East Berlin in a mass protest the Berlin Wall dividing communist East Germany from West Germany crumbled. It culminated in one of the most famous scenes in recent history - the fall of the Berlin Wall. An end to the Cold War was declared at the Malta Summit three weeks later, and the reunification of Germany took place in October the following year. It took US (and west) around 45 years after world war-2 to claim the triumph over mighty Soviet Union when it got dissolved in Dec 1991. The similarities between communist USSR and present day China in their hegemonic, expansionist, tyrannical, authoritarian, Orwellian regimes are not unfathomable.

Rise of China, its Military and Economical Potency

Rise of china started in 1980, due to initiation of economic reforms and trade liberalization with real annual gross domestic product (GDP) growth averaging 9.5% through 2018, a pace described by the World Bank as “the fastest sustained expansion by a major economy in history.” Such growth has enabled China, on average, to double its GDP every eight years and helped raise an estimated 800 million people out of poverty and becoming second highest GDP around 13.41 trillion USD in 2018.

In terms of Military strength, Second only to the U.S. and Russia, the Chinese military continues to grow alongside a local burgeoning Military-Industrial Complex with around 21 lakhs active personnel and around 175 billion USD budget.

Threat of China to India and stability of world at large

Chinese leadership interpreted 2008 financial crisis as decline of US supremacy & inadequacy to maintain stability in economy. First manifestation of China asserting its belligerent policies started in March 2010 with its expansive claim over South China Sea. Chinese claim over South China Sea was projected as their core interest and non-negotiable like Tibet and Taiwan. In November 2012 at 18th Party Congress of CCP ,Hu Jintao who was loathe to be seen as weak in foreign policy, especially in the context of a rapidly growing concern about social stability and regime legitimacy was succeed by Xi Jinping. After that number of steps undertook by PRC to increase their stakes in world stability. In series of that, Launching of Belt and road initiative in 2013 widely seen as agenda  to threaten sovereignty, export sub-standard norms and practices, ensnaring developing countries with debt dependence and then translating that dependence into geopolitical influence. China’s actions in Sri Lanka, Pakistan, and Malaysia are central to the “debt trap diplomacy” debates. This was followed by numerous controversies over dubious cyber activities, maritime and land disputes with its neighbor (such as India, Vietnam, Japan, Taiwan, and Philippines), ethnic atrocities on Uighur Muslims in Xinxiang, curbing anti-china protest in Hong Kong and Trade war with US.

By any parameters, one can safely conclude that china has been overtly challenging US and west domination on world affairs in all facets over a decade now and pose severe threat to regional & world stability.

On domestic front, New Delhi has been very skeptical and apprehensive about Beijing and its hawkish polices after trauma of 1962 war. The event of Doklam, raising Kashmir issue in UN, blocking India’s entry into NSG (Nuclear Supplier Group), Supporting jihadi terrorist on international forums, pact with Pakistan for CPEC with an aim to undermine India’s sovereignty and now killing of 20 Indian soldiers in Ladakh by PLA has unsurprisingly conveyed the devious plot of evil Xi-Jinping regime to destabilize India.  China is also following the strategy of containing India in maritime region by establishing bases for the forward deployment of their naval assets and to gain relative advantage and leverage Indo-pacific region.

Now, outbreak of Covid-19 pandemic allegedly originated in wet markets of Chinese city of Wuhan and its information suppressed by China has really triggered the conflict between world and China wide open. The world is now badly suffering with devastating effect of Covid-19 at all fronts and wants to hold the Chinese government responsible for hiding the information unscrupulously.

Infiltration of China in Indian Economy

We need to understand few basic facts about infiltration of China in Indian economy before going into the debate of boycott China campaign. India is running biggest single trade deficit with China comparing to any other country. The imbalance has continuously been widening year after year to reach USD 58.04 billion in 2018. Over time, our raw material-based export commodities of largely agricultural and pharmaceutical products have been overshadowed by Chinese exports of machinery, power-related equipment, telecom, organic chemicals, and fertilizers. Many Chinese electronic, IT and hardware manufacturing companies are also having operations in India. These include Huawei Technologies, ZTE, TCL, Haier etc. Chinese mobile handset companies Xiaomi, Vivo and Oppo, Realme occupy nearly 75% of Indian mobile handset market.

Apart from the bilateral trade, Chinese investments in a country come through direct, routed and through corporate penetration in technology and infrastructure sectors. Officially, China's FDI in India stands at over $2.34 billion. Some observers and think tanks report a higher investment including rerouted ones. They put the Chinese investments in India at over $4 billion. Some of our shining brands having massive Chinese investment are Ola, Flipkart, Swiggy, Paytm, Snapdeal, Zomato etc.

 Can Boycotting Chinese Product help?

Any people movement of boycotting Chinese Product is not only going to be very futile engagement with very less dividend but shows our approach of banalisation of very complex international matter with united  jingoism. Almost every experts are opining to the contrary and also we don’t have any history of such successful attempt or study of consumer boycotting in attaining self-reliance or penalizing the “enemy” nation.

The range of goods that we import from China is immense: consumer durables such as electronic goods, smartphones, industrial goods, vehicles, solar cells, and essential pharmaceutical products including tuberculosis and leprosy drugs and antibiotics, among many others. It needs to be acknowledged that China has increased its export to Africa, Europe, US and its dependence on export to India is not great (2% of its total exports). So even if Indians boycott all the goods imported from China, it will not make as big an impact on China. On the other hand sudden throwing out Chinese firms may impact Indian industries and tech startups due to lack of investment, raw material and low cost capital investment. Another impact could be further worsen of unemployment rate which currently stands at alarming 24% rate.

USP of Chinese goods has been its affordability and availability. With a careful study of global society’s multi-cultural needs – some of the cheapest saris, toys, Diwali firecrackers and god idols in India come from China.  In our country where 75% of population only managed to earn Rs. 33 per day, consumer eventually prefer to go for the cheapest available option in the market. So call for boycotting anyways going to diminish sooner or later without achieving its goal.

 Ways to counter the bully

To quote great ancient Chinese General and Military Strategist Sun Tzu “The supreme art of war is to subdue the enemy without fighting.”

Conventional warfare cannot be a viable option to counter a nation which is 5 times bigger in GDP and 3 times bigger in terms of military spending. Hence opening remarks of this article about history explains why India needs a long term, stable, prudent multilateral strategy to counter china and can be classified as follows.

a) Economic Reforms, bilateral and multilateral Trade agreement – It’s not intricate to understand that reason China is able to challenge US is because of their sustained economic growth. And this is an undisputed opinion in the world that India has failed to reach its potential after forced Liberalization of 1991 (explanation needs another article).  

An efficient government is one that draws down its intervention where it is distortionary and goes big where it needs to—is a better goal. The Indian state has made the wrong call too often. We have already lost a decade for structural economic reforms and cannot be further delayed. The Clarion call of Atmanirbar Bharat should not be misconstrued to the policy of protectionism and disruption. Though it’s impossible to suggest any magic wand to overturn India’s economic woes (going on now from long time) in few paragraphs but let’s discuss some basic concepts.

India is inadequately formalized, financialised, urbanized, industrialized and skilled. There are fundamentally two different part of economy i.e. Rural and Urban economy. Rural economy is mostly based on agriculture and constitute 65% of population. Agricultural reforms should ensure easier access to inputs like seeds, technology, power, finance and insurance. They should effect greater connectivity, both virtual and through logistic networks, of the farmer to warehouses, rural industry and final consumers.

Some bold steps for Land and labor reforms need to be undertaken. Though some states like MP and UP made some labor reforms but union government’s formulation with wider consultation of industry and trade unions required.

India, with its massive domestic consumption, can hunker down and resolve to boost domestic demand in the coming months. Government must put more money in people’s hands by creating more jobs through huge public investment projects that bring about new national assets. The government also needs to go further in reforming the banking sector & financial institute, including stricter regulations over lending and enhanced supervision from regulators. Government must work on issue like Simplification of GST, elimination of red tapism, avoiding crony capitalism, low tariffs to attract foreign investment, encouragement to startups etc.

India’s Spending on R&D is very low. In the process of self-reliance, it becomes paramount that along with improvement in our education systems we must spend on R&D of technological development. Eg. India has quadrupled its imports of lithium-ion (Li-ion) batteries. 175 million such batteries were imported in 2016, 313 million in 2017, 712 million in 2018 and 450 million in 2019. About ¾ of this import comes from China causing surge in our import bill. With Robust R&D Infrastructure, increasing import tariffs and assisting our indigenous industry, this can be easily overturned in a span of 3-4 years. Same can be applied to electronics industry, mobile handset industry and some low cost equipment’s which now heavily depending on China.

Trade agreements with like-minded countries in non-sensitive sector will also help in much needed infusion of funds and making our products competitive globally and exportable.

This is long haul process and needs stable, strong vision and may not get us the headlines but surely will help to transform our economy.

(In April, the United Nations’ World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) reported that for the first time in 40 years, China had applied for more patent applications than the U.S. including artificial intelligence, brain science, dark matter, genetic engineering and quantum computing and communications. These are areas at the cutting edge of science. No wonder why China’s firm Huawei is pioneer of 5G technology.)

 Most of things mentioned here are very conceptual, subjective and aspirational. The downturn of Business friendly Chief Minister to the Prime Minister governing with heavy centralization, rhetoric, popular slogans, Communal division is tragic and still anew in our mind. But hope some sanity prevails because history won’t be as forgiving as present day electorate.

 b) Military & strategic Co-operation with World Powers & Alliance with geo-political Anti-China Forces – Well the good news is that in the post COVID era, threats of rise of hegemonic China are acknowledged by all. Many countries including US like Australia, UK, Japan, South Korea, Taiwan have started aggressive opposition of Chinese polices. Hence analogy of Cold war -2 is not mere catchphrase. And threats posed by Beijing demand a ‘more global approach’.

India should realize that higgledy-piggledy strategy against China and non-alignment wouldn’t give the desired result. Strategic military co-operation without compromising the autonomy would play the most vital part in foreign relations. The expansion of G7 is being deliberated and UK is keen to have India join the D10 alliance. India already participates in the Quad (with Australia, Japan, and the U.S.) and in the Indo-Pacific Strategy, both U.S.-led anti-China platforms. Alliances would help to promote a coordinated response between friendly states to challenges posed by the present conduct and future ambitions of the People’s Republic of China. By developing a common set of principles and frameworks (diplomatically and militarily) that transcend conservatism will be able achieve the goals.

Regional players like Taiwan, Japan and South Korea are challenging Beijing draconian approach in the region. India should join their voices and the first step would be recognizing Taiwan and setting up diplomatic relation with them. India should also raise the concerns of Chinese policy towards Uighurs , Hong Kong and Tibet on international forums more often than not.

 c) Peace on Domestic front – In pursuit of competing with a giant china and its proxies like Pakistan, the importance of peace and law & order on domestic front cannot be over emphasized. The prospects of being a democratic country is our biggest strength vis-a-vis China. However our insidious political class across the country has been indulged in sabotaging the democracy and interested in only grabbing the power.  Without really going into the narrative of our Indian ethos and ancient culture of accommodating people of all beliefs, I want to underlay that the basic principle of wealth and prosperity is peace. Dangerous religious and Caste trends could destroy the social fabric of the nation in the long run. Alienation of Minorities should be reversed. Instances of communal riots across states, violent agitation of Jats in Haryana, perpetual violence in Bengal demonstrate very grim portrait of our society. The soft power of demography, importance of communal-social harmony and the need of unity against foreign enemy cannot be overlooked. Though it seems very trivial but in my opinion this is very crucial and hardest step of all.

 Lastly it’s not a question of belling the cat, its how well world take snipe shots to kill this beast.

(Views expressed here are mine while source of most figures is google search)

[juchechat]

Supreme Leader Kim Jong Un Makes Speech at Sixth National Conference of War Veterans

[July 28 Juche 109 (2020) KCNA]

The following is the full text of the speech "The Feats Performed by the Great Victors Will Remain for Ever" made by Supreme Leader Kim Jong Un at the Sixth National Conference of War Veterans on July 27, Juche 109 (2020):

Esteemed comrades war veterans,

This is July 27.

The victorious July 27 is the day when all the people born on this land celebrate with surging emotions the great victory in the war that is etched in the past history, repeating the word victory.

Greeting the holiday of victory today, I am seeing you, esteemed war veterans, again, who created the great history, at this conference. I am so happy that I cannot find words to express my feelings.

It is an honour for us to have you, valuable teachers, at this conference.

Greeting the 67th anniversary of victory in the great Fatherland Liberation War, I, on behalf of our Workers' Party of Korea and government, extend warm congratulations to you participating in this conference and other veterans of the war and people who performed wartime merits.

I also extend noble respects to the revolutionary martyrs, both sung and unsung, who sacrificed their precious lives in the sacred war for achieving the reunification and independence of their country and the freedom and happiness of their fellow people.

Availing myself of this opportunity, I offer my noble respects to the martyrs and veterans of the Chinese People's Volunteers, who set a genuine example of militant friendship by helping our people in their revolutionary war at the cost of blood.

Esteemed comrades war veterans,

We cannot think of our country today without remembering the sweats and blood shed by the generation of the victors in the war, the great spirit they demonstrated and the ennobling sacrifice of the warriors.

We will remember them for ever.

It is our Party's mind always to see you, who performed immortal feats etched in the history of our country, and give prominence to and feel proud of your heroic lives with dignity. This conference will prove an important opportunity for demonstrating at home and abroad the unanimous aspiration and will of our Party and all our people to hand down more vividly the exploits of the war veterans to posterity and carry forward the fighting spirit of the 1950s so as to translate the forerunners' ennobling desires to reality without fail.

The distinguished feats performed by the victorious wartime generation of the 1950s under the leadership of the great leader Comrade Kim Il Sung and the spiritual wealth and assets they bequeathed to the coming generations are becoming more precious things that cannot be bartered with anything else as the days go by. The major and profound meaning of our victorious July 27 in modern history is never confined to the fact that a country and nation defended their dignity and sovereignty in a fight against the aggressors and created a military miracle that would shine in the annals of the human history of war.

The great Fatherland Liberation War was a grim war for defending our Republic in its cradle and the destiny and future of tens of millions of our people and, at the same time, the first all-out war between the forces aspiring after independence and the dominationist forces, between socialism and capitalism, that was fought with the start of the Cold War after the Second World War. As such, no precedent could be found in the fierceness and the seriousness of the confrontation. We could not be compared to the enemy in all aspects including the military hardware and economic strength as well as population and territory, but in this war our new-born Republic checked the military offensive by the US imperialists, who had been boasting of being the "strongest" in the world, and their vassal forces and defended its territory and sovereignty at the cost of blood. This was a greatest event that wrote an unprecedented heroic and legendary tale in the histories of our nation and the world revolution. The July 27 constituted a turning point in making our country and people that had been reduced to a weak state and nation take pride of place in history as a heroic country and people admired by the world and in bringing about violent storms of revolutions for anti-imperialist independence, socialism and national liberation on the globe.

But for the great July 27, there would not have been today of socialist Korea demonstrating its glories as the most dignified and independent powerful country, a people's country, in the present-day world and the imperialists' high-handed attempts to put Asia and the rest of the world in the sphere under their domination would not have been checked. It defined the orientation of the new great history of the postwar socialist revolution and construction, created the proud traditions and wealth with which our country and people could achieve victory for ever, transformed the global political landscape and forcefully propelled the trend of the times towards independence and socialism–this is another great meaningfulness of the July 27.

The victory in the Fatherland Liberation War was the victory of the ennobling patriotism and mass heroism of our service personnel of the Korean People's Army and people, the victory of justice and progress over injustice and reaction and the victory of socialism, the future of mankind, over capitalism, the refuse of history.

The Fatherland Liberation War, which made one clearly aware of the aggressive and brutal natures of the US imperialism and never forget them, deprived all the people on this land of their parents, brothers and sisters and their precious comrades-in-arms and friends, and brought them disastrous misfortunes and pains. However, thanks to the legendary feats of the victorious wartime generation, who overcame all those pains and trials, the great spirit of defending the country and revolution was created and unparalleled heroism, self-sacrifice and fortitude became solid as traits unique to our people.

Our victorious wartime generation is a proud generation that created a new history of carrying forward the Korean revolution by dedicating their blood and lives and developed the revolutionary spirit of Paektu into an all-people ideological spirit. Thanks to the service personnel, who defended every inch of their motherland at the cost of blood with the steely faith that they would surely emerge victorious as long as they were led by Comrade Kim Il Sung, and to the people on the home front, who dedicated their all to the victory in the war, the spirit of unity around the leader, the indefatigable spirit of fighting the enemy to the death and the revolutionary spirit of self-reliance of making weapons with bare hands could be displayed highly as a mettle of heroic Korea. That is why our Party holds in high esteem and give prominence to the victorious wartime generation, who brought about the victory at the cost of blood amid the flames of the war, as a proud generation who laid a cornerstone for carrying forward our revolutionary traditions.

They are also heroes who, true to the Party's call, established a socialist system and laid the foundations of an independent, powerful country in the spirit of Chollima, and great teachers who implanted an ennobling spirit and soul in the hearts of the rising generations. In the days when they played the key roles in all sectors, our socialist construction witnessed the fastest eye-opening advance and upsurge, and the tales of their feats have served as sustenance and an excellent textbook of revolutionary life and outlook on life for the peacetime generations who have not undergone the experience of a war.

They, indeed, are excellent revolutionaries and patriots and invaluable treasures of our revolution who, though they themselves experienced trials, have devoted their all to the rising generations by invariably and faithfully supporting the Party and the leader in the whole course, beginning with the grim war days to the days of postwar reconstruction and socialist construction. Our Party regards it as a source of great pride and honour to have such revolutionary forerunners as you, who have cherished an ennobling view on the rising generation and on the revolution, and gives prominence to the victorious wartime generation as models whom everyone should learn from for all ages.

Esteemed comrades war veterans,

The history of nearly 70 years after the war cannot be called peacetime as a fierce confrontation with the enemy has continued, and the threat and pressure by the imperialists to invade and plunder our state have increased moment by moment.

With the spirit and will of victory brought about by the immortal July 27, we chose on our own accord the arduous road of strengthening the national power, looking towards a bright future of our state, and have never changed our choice, tightening our belts, when others were vying with one another for the pursuit of immediate "prosperity."

As we must have an absolute strength with which to prevent and deter the war itself so as not to experience once again the pains and sufferings of the war in the 1950s, we have advanced along the road of self-development toward a nuclear state by braving all pressures and challenges and overcoming unprecedented adversity which would have brought others to their knees one hundred times. And now we have become able to reliably defend ourselves against any form of high-intensity pressure and military threat by imperialist reactionaries and other hostile forces.

War is an armed clash which can be unleashed only against a weak one.

None can now make little of us.

We will not allow others to look down upon us and, if they do so, make them pay dearly.

Thanks to our reliable and effective self-defence nuclear deterrence, the word war would no longer exist on this land, and the security and future of our state will be guaranteed for ever.

We celebrate July 27 every year from one generation to the next, but the day of this year, when our state has secured the strategic position the world cannot ignore but recognize, brings us a special emotion, and the significance of the victory in the war and the exploits of performed by the war veterans have become more valuable and prideful.

Comrades,

A long time has passed and many things have changed since the gunshots of the war ended, but the ennobling spirit the war martyrs and veterans displayed is still here, encouraging our people to a renewed struggle.

In the faces of you, war veterans, we are now visualizing the images of all the comrades-in-arms who failed to come back from the front in those grim years and the unforgettable martyrs who devoted themselves for socialist construction, and are girding ourselves to make redoubled efforts so as to be proud of ourselves before them. Just as you wrote a new chapter in the history of building a prosperous country by brilliantly carrying forward the traditions of the anti-Japanese struggle, the new generations of today will achieve the final victory of socialism of our own style without fail by inheriting your spirit.

The history of the victorious war teaches us the iron truth that a people armed with a great spirit can work a great miracle.

By etching the spirit in the 1950s in the minds of all the service personnel and people in golden letters, our Party will ensure that every one of them becomes a fighter who remains unchanged in any adversities and leads the life of artists of fresh miracles and victories so that they have no feeling of shame in front of the martyrs and war veterans.

We have never forgotten your rancour that you had to turn back in bitter tears after burying your fallen comrades-in-arms on the shore of the Raktong near the South Sea of Korea owing to a shortage of arms. Always remembering the truth that only when we have our sovereignty and right to existence guaranteed, can we achieve and promote happiness and in order to defend the destiny of our state and people, we must have strong power of our own, we will not halt even a moment on the road of building up the most powerful defence capabilities which no one would dare to challenge.

Comrades,

What the fighters of the war pictured in their minds so dearly in the so many days and nights of the do-or-die battles must have been a beautiful people's paradise which would be built in the 3 000-ri land. Our Party will strive with redoubled courage to realize the forerunners' dream and ideal of a powerful country without fail and make our people the happiest in the world.

All the people should glorify their lives as victors on the road of making their country prosperous, viewing themselves in the light of the lives of the victorious wartime generation. The present conditions and situation are difficult, but they are nothing when compared to those during the war days.

Our Party will make sure that all officials, Party members and other working people achieve proud victories on all fronts of socialist construction by holding up the slogan "Let us live and struggle in the spirit of the great defenders of the country!"

It will also prepare all the service personnel to be versatile, a-match-for-a-hundred combatants who have acquired the indomitable revolutionary spirit, valiant militant mettle and lofty patriotism cherished by the war veterans as part of their mental qualities and are well-versed in our style of warfare.

The history of victorious war hands down to posterity the feats of numerous heroes including Ri Su Bok, Jo Kun Sil and Kang Ho Yong in connection with the word youth. The Party will bring up all young people to be hot-blooded loyal persons and staunch revolutionaries who take the Party and country into account first and are ready to dedicate themselves for the sake of society and the collective like those heroes who unhesitatingly dedicated their only lives for the one and only country in the face of death.

In this way, it can ensure that our great traditions of our ideology and system you defended at the cost of your blood and our victory is carried forward from one generation to the next.

It will ensure that the climate of respecting, holding up and according preferential treatment to war veterans and other forerunners in the revolution is created across society and becomes an unshakable national trait.

Our Party will look after you, war veterans, with all sincerity and hold full responsibility for your health and life so that you can become more vigorous even though you are getting older continue to add brilliance to your glorious life in good health.

It will make sure that Party organizations, government bodies, working people's organizations at all levels and all the people regard it as part of their noble obligation and duty to take good care of war veterans as they would do their own parents, and do all they can do for them.

Although time passes and one generation is replaced by another, the heroic fighting spirit and undying feats of the victorious wartime generation will boil the red blood of our descendants harder for all eternity and the great spirit and feats will live for ever with the victorious advance of our revolution.

Esteemed comrades veterans,

You, staunch war veterans, defeated the US imperialists that had boasted of being the "strongest" in the world and the armies of their followers and weathered those severe years and all sorts of hardships; but as the saying goes that time and tide wait for no man, many of the veterans have passed away and the hair of you, present here, has turned gray. Seeing this, I feel sorry and regretful that time flies.

Comrades war veterans, I wish and wish you good health.

I sincerely request the respected war veterans across the country to lead a long life in good health, serving as the eternal source of our strength and spiritual mainstay.

Long live the great July 27 victory!

[theaviator7-blog]

Do you know DMZ?

What is DMZ? On July 27, 1953, the Korean War ended with a cease-fire. The Northern and Southern Limit Lines were created as each side moved their troops back 2km from the Military Demarcation Line. The lines reach 248 km in length from Jeongdong-ri, Paju-si to Myeongho-ri, Goseong-gun. At the present time, an area within 2 km in both the north and south side is designated as the DMZ (Demilitarized Zone). Excluding the DMZ, the overall area is considered to be the most heavily militarized region in the world. (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || ).push({}); There are many foreign visitors to my company. When I ask where do you want to visit, he asks me if I can see North Korea. When I visited foreign guests, the most interesting sightseeing spot was "3rd Tunnel", "Dora Observatory" and "Panmunjom".  "3rd Tunnel" Only 44 km (27 miles) from Seoul, the incomplete tunnel was discovered in October 1978 following the detection of an underground explosion in June 1978, apparently caused by the tunnellers who had progressed 435 meters (1,427 feet) under the south side of the Korean Demilitarized Zone (DMZ). It took four months to locate the tunnel precisely and dig an intercept tunnel. Visitors enter either by walking down a long steep incline that starts in a lobby with a gift shop or via a rubber-tyred train that contains a driver at the front or the back (depending on the direction as there is only one set of rails) and padded seats facing forward and backwards in rows for up to three passengers each The visit to "Panmunjom", where US Vice President Mike Fence visited, is extremely complicated. However, the Third Tunnel, the Dora Observatory, can be easily visited if there is a provocation by North Korea or there is no Korean military operation. Even if it is easy to visit, it can go into the military area, so it can be checked several times, and the soldiers can search the checkpoint.  The third tunnel is the largest that North Korea pierced into Korea. The depth is 2m, the width is 2m, and the published length is about 1.6km. The length is longer, but it is controlled because it extends to North Korea. Next is Dora Observatory. The Dora Observatory is an observatory in the army base and is the closest place to the public access. You can see North Korea through the installed telescope. Please note that there are many control areas along with land mine warnings, so you must follow the instructions. Foreign guests ask me. "Did you go to the army?". I have been in the military for two years. After returning to the army, the reserve army also receives military training and shoots every year. Would it be better if South Korea and North Korea became unified like Germany? I do not know yet. When comparing South Korea and North Korea, the gap is wider than in Germany.

Donald Trump meets Kim Jong Un President Trump met Kim Jong-un and had high hopes that the war would end. However, nothing has changed these days as President Trump prepares to re-elect. In the meantime, unification has been attempted in many ways, but it has not always been resolved and has returned to pre-negotiation. I think it is the same now. North Korea continues to threaten and develop weapons. It is more difficult because the countries with good relations with North Korea are helping. In particular, it is believed that China does not want the reunification of South Korea and North Korea. China wants to have North Korea through economic support. As far as China is concerned, the efforts of the United States and its allies are difficult to succeed.

How much do South Koreans want to unify with North Korea? I need to find it.

(adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || ).push({}); Read the full article

[silentambassadors]

As mentioned, the Korean Empire was annexed by the Empire of Japan in 1910 and remained a territory of Japan until the end of WWII and the Japanese surrender - whereupon things get really weird(er).  Korea was divided along the 38th parallel, with the USSR in control in the north and the USA in control in the south.  Not surprisingly, reunification attempts failed, leading to the Korean War, and the subsequent establishment of separate governments, with the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea in the north and the Republic of Korea in the south.  Since then, DPR Korea has been led by Kim Il Sung and his family, with what appears (from the outside) to be a fairly healthy cult of personality around a Stalinist authoritarian dictator, (probably inevitably) leading to what outside observers claim to be unparalleled human rights violations.  But as you know, it’s rather difficult to observe anything at all from the outside, and next to impossible to get inside.  So.  There it is.

Stamp details: Top left: Issued on: September 19, 1948 From: Pyongyang, Democratic People’s Republic of Korea MC #18

Top right: Issued on: August 25, 1954 From: Pyongyang, Democratic People’s Republic of Korea MC #83

Stamp on bottom: Issued in: 2018 From: Pyongyang, Democratic People’s Republic of Korea Colnect #2018-02SS6

Recognized as a sovereign state by the UN: Yes (since September 17, 1991) (North Korea is claimed in its entirety by the Republic of Korea; it is also not recognized as a sovereign state by France, Japan, and [obviously] the Republic of Korea) Official name: Democratic People’s Republic of Korea; 조선민주주의인민공화국 Member of the Universal Postal Union: Yes (since June 6, 1974)

[rightsinexile]

Detention and Deportation News

AUSTRALIA:

Prime Minister Scott Morrison toured the Christmas Island immigration detention camp south of Jakarta, Indonesia, to show Australians that the re-opened detention centre was "up to the job" of providing healthcare to all single male asylum seekers brought to Australia under new medical transfer legislation.

The Australian government says it will dramatically expand healthcare operations at the Christmas Island Detention Centre to cater for more than 500 refugees and asylum seekers. 

Most of the 57 men currently earmarked for Christmas Island detention have been classed as refugees under the government's processing procedures. However, according to the PM, anyone on Manus or Nauru deemed a risk to Australia would be sent to the centre's high-security North West Point facility if they apply for a medical transfer under the legislation.

UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Michelle Bachelet criticizes Australia's refugee policies, specifically condemning plans to reopen Christmas Island detention centre.

GERMANY:

The European Court of Justice (ECJ) ruled that Germany may deport asylum-seekers to other EU member states, stating that shortcomings in the welfare system of a member state should not prevent asylum-seekers from being deported, and exceptions apply only in extreme cases, where the individual is deprived of his or her "most basic needs, such as feeding, washing and finding shelter."

According to Interior Minister Horst Seehofer, Germany failed to deport 27,000 rejected asylum seekers last year, nearly half of the total 57,000 cases, but the government will soon step up deportation efforts.

INDIA:

The Supreme Court of India has asked the government to review its repatriation policy regarding foreigners in detention and to come up with other ways to allow detainees to live a dignified life, including granting refugee status on them.

UNHCR has expressed regret over India's decision to repatriate a group of Rohingya to Myanmar, the second such return in three months, and has sought clarification from India on the circumstances under which the asylum seekers were sent back, voicing concern over the unconducive conditions for such returns.

LIBYA:

UNHCR is troubled by reports of the use of force against protesting asylum seekers in Sikka detention centre in Libya; around 50 people were reportedly injured when police moved to end the protest and two individuals were badly injured and transferred to hospital.

Refugees and migrants – particularly men and boys – are being subjected to brutal and routine sexual violence in Libyan detention centres and all along the Central Mediterranean Route to Italy, a recent report based on surveys and focus groups conducted by the Women’s Refugee Commission finds. The extent of sexual violence perpetrated against refugees appears in part to be contingent on their financial resources, their connections, and the year that they travelled – those traveling in recent years are seemingly more likely to have experienced sexual violence. Perpetrators often film the abuse and send (or threaten to send) it to victims’ relatives in an attempt to extract extra ransom money.

QATAR:

Qatar authorities are threatening to forcibly expel a Yemeni national without considering his claim for asylum, according to Human Rights Watch, who state that the Qatar government has so far failed to implement a law passed in September 2018 that sets out the standards for granting asylum and the rights and benefits for people granted asylum in the country, claiming that the infrastructure necessary to enforce the law has not yet been established.

UK:

A man faces deportation to Malaysia, where homosexual acts are punishable under federal and sometimes sharia law, after the Home Office said it did not believe he was gay suggesting it was suspicious that he did not have a boyfriend.

US:

The US Supreme Court, in a 5-4 decision, ruled that the government may detain — without a hearing — legal immigrants long after they have served the sentences for crimes they committed, reversing a ruling by the US Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit.

The US Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit has made it harder for the US government to quickly deport asylum-seekers if they fail an initial “credible fear” screening at the border. The court held that a law passed by Congress in 1996 limiting asylum-seekers’ access to US courts if they want to challenge decisions of an asylum officer and immigration judge is unconstitutional. The ruling in Thuraissigiam v. USDHS could give thousands of asylum-seekers the right to seek habeas review in the federal court system.

According to Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) documents released on Capitol Hill by Florida Democratic representative Ted Deutch’s office, thousands of allegations of sexual abuse against unaccompanied minors (UAC) in the custody of the US government have been reported over the past 4 years. The allegations range from adult staff members having relationships with minors, and the showing of pornographic videos, to forcible touching. 

The US government is keeping at least 16 unaccompanied minors, some as young as nine years old, in at least five undisclosed facilities in Arkansas, Florida, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania and Virginia; the facilities have never been acknowledged by the US Office of Refugee Resettlement (ORR).

The Southern Poverty Law Centre (SPLC) says it has uncovered evidence that the Office of Refugee Resettlement was proactively sharing information that it gained during the family reunification process with US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), in effect using the children as bait to snare undocumented sponsors. “We suspected it all along but what cemented it for us was the leaking of a memo that this policy is being used for the purpose of deterring immigration” said Saira Draper, a senior staff attorney with the SPLC.

At least nine infants under the age of one are being held in a Texas immigrant detention facility, according to a complaint filed with the US Department of Homeland Security that warned of an “alarming increase” in how many infants are detained.

In the past five years, median bond amounts for immigration cases in the US have increased by 50 percent, to USD 7,500. For those who can’t afford to pay, Libre by Nexus acts as a sort of middleman, connecting detainees with licensed bond companies that front the money.

[libertariantaoist]

China

Acting Defense Secretary Shanahan tells top Pentagon officials his focus will be ‘China China China.’ [Link]

Kim Jong-un travels to China and meets with President Xi. [Link]

China’s president calls for reunification of China and Taiwan. Taiwan’s president calls for international support of Taiwanese independence. [Link]

Eric Margolis on the increasing tensions between the US and China. [Link]

Iran Policy

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo warns Iran against launching rockets into space. Pompeo claims Iran launching rockets into space is a violation of a UN Security Council resolution. Iran denies this is a violation. [Link]

John Bolton hires Iran hawk Richard Goldberg to the National Security Council.

Middle East

Anti-Tank Guided Missiles are increasingly in the hands of terrorist and insurgent groups. The ATGMs are a threat to US forces. [Link]

Israeli police clash with Israeli settlers protesting a court order evicting them from their settlement. 23 Israeli police and three settlers were injured. [Link]

Saudi prosecutors will seek the death penalty for five suspects in the Khashoggi murder. [Link]

Al-Qaeda linked Syrian rebels capture 20 towns and villages from Turkish backed Syrian rebels. [Link]

Saudi backed forces are attacking Houthi forces east of Sanaa. Saudi is giving air support to the attackers. The Yemeni government claims 15 Houthi were killed in the attack. [Link]

Gareth Porter writes on the possible rapid end to the war in Yemen. [Link]

Somalia

AFRICOM claims a US airstrike killed ten militants in Somalia. [Link]  

A Somali district police chief was murdered. [Link]

The US carried out at least 46 airstrikes in Somalia during 2018. [Link]

The Pentagon is planning to scale back in Somalia. The Pentagon plans to remove some special operation forces from Somalia. Under the Pentagon plan, the CIA would take over calling in airstrikes. The plan reflects the Pentagon’s assessment that al-Shabaab is not a direct threat to the US. [Link]

Gabon

Trump deploys 80 troops to Gabon in preparation for unrest in the Congo. [Link]The Democratic Republic of the Congo delays the announcement of the results of last week’s presidential election. [Link]

A coup attempt in Gabon was defeated. Two of the plotters were killed, and seven were arrested. [Link]

Read More

[xtruss]

China's Recent White Paper On Taiwan Question Must Be Read By Americans Who Do Not Want War

— Franz Gayl | August 15, 2022

Illustration: Chen Xia/Global Times

Following US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's provocative trip to the Taiwan island, another US congressional delegation landed on the island on Sunday on an unannounced two-day visit.

The US and Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) drums pound louder to incite further provocation against One China principle. DPP-allied neoconservatives dominate President Biden's national security state and Congress. Their frenzied, media-amplified calls to fight China conveniently mask US debacles including the Afghanistan withdrawal and the US' role in the Ukraine conflict.

The Doomsday Clock metric shows just over a minute remaining before a nuclear holocaust is triggered in Europe or the Indo-Pacific.

Americans still have time to read China's White Paper titled "The Taiwan Question and China's Reunification in the New Era" to change course.

Readers will come to appreciate the seriousness of China's statement that Taiwan is part of China. They will also comprehend China's iron resolve to reunify one China, a non- negotiable objective that will be achieved, in a process that cannot be halted.

Since its founding, the People's Republic of China has reliably fulfilled its promises on core priorities. This consistency unnerves the US neocon and DPP coconspirators. In denial, they falsify history and give lip service to the international order, its laws and rules, all while violating them.

The historical record that Taiwan is part of China is unarguable. Archeological and historical records show that Taiwan has belonged to China continuously since AD 230 when the earliest references of Taiwan are to be found, among others, in Seaboard Geographic Gazetteer compiled by Shen Ying of the State of Wu during the Three Kingdoms Period.

Europeans attempted to colonize Taiwan but were expelled by the Qing Dynasty in 1662. In 1885 the Qing Dynasty established the Province of Taiwan. In 1894 Japan defeated China and forced it to cede the island to Japanese occupiers. The US fought alongside its ally China in their war against Japan, seeking China's win over Japan and its recovery of Taiwan.

Taiwan's status as a part of China is enshrined in international law. The Cairo Declaration signed by China, the US, and the United Kingdom in 1943 stated that all territories Japan had stolen from China, including Taiwan, should be restored to China. The Potsdam Proclamation signed by the same parties in 1945 stated that the terms of the Cairo Declaration shall be carried out. In 1945, Japan signed the instrument of surrender and in it promised to faithfully fulfill the obligations of the Potsdam Proclamation.

After China resumed sovereignty over Taiwan, a civil war pitted the Republic of China (ROC) Kuomintang (KMT) against the Communist Party of China (CPC). Both contended to rule all China, encompassing the mainland and Taiwan island. After being tactically defeated, the KMT retreated to the island pausing the war pending final reunification.

In 1949, the People's Republic of China (PRC) was founded. US displeasure with the CPC prompted it to militarily shield the exiled KMT in the hope the US-allied ROC would someday reunify China by reconquering the mainland. The legitimacy of US efforts collapsed in 1971 when the United Nations ejected the KMT-ruled ROC and seated the PRC as the sole legal representative of the whole China.

Emboldened by US military assurances, the Taiwan authorities, continued its cross Straits political confrontation, but the territorial definition and integrity of One China was never in doubt.

The UN reinforced PRC legal sovereignty over the island in a later resolution stating that "Taiwan, Province of China" is the island's only internationally recognized status.

PRC-averse US politicians artificially carved out a separate military relationship with China's Taiwan island violating China's sovereignty and skirting international law. The US hoped the KMT would someday defeat the PRC, but it became clear that vision was unrealistic. In the 1980s, US subtle machinations gave rise to the DPP secessionist party with an independence platform the China-averse US politicians embraced.

Since the 1980s, the DPP and US neocons have strived in vain to rewrite history and dismiss international law. They also hang their hats on an invalidated Treaty of San Francisco that asserts Taiwan island's status is not determined.

By disregarding UN resolutions, and the Cairo and Potsdam Proclamations, the US continues to flout codified international law. This irrational attachment to a false history reflects desperate DPP and neocon ambitions that will be crushed when reunification inevitably occurs.

The cross-Straits crisis and Russia-Ukraine dilemma are fundamentally different. But they do have one feature in common, namely US meddling that discourages peaceful negotiations and outcomes only to benefit continued US hegemony and increase arms merchant profits.

With one minute left on the Doomsday Clock, there may be time to caution a few key American decision makers. If they read China's recent White Paper, perhaps they can view DPP and neocon rhetoric with a jaundiced eye, and extinguish the fuse they lit that otherwise will explode in war.

— The author is a retired Marine Corps infantry officer and a former Pentagon employee.

[the-penandpaper]

Marc Lamont Hill’s Full Speech for a Free Palestine

November 28, 2018 @ the UN. The next day he was fired from CNN

Full video

Mr Secretary- General, chairman, ambassadors and your excellencies.

Good afternoon. It is with great honor and humility that I accept the opportunity to speak before you as a scholar, as an activist and as a citizen, I am profoundly interested in the plight of the Palestinian people. As well as the broader ethical, moral, and political implications of their struggle for freedom and justice as well as equality. As such this annual convening represents a critical intervention, it also represents a site of possibility. On the other hand, it shows considerable irony. As well know this year marks the 70th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. This declaration is produced out of the rubble and contradictions of  World War 2 and it was intended to offer a clear ethical and moral outline of the basic rights and freedoms to which all human beings, irrespective race, religion, class, gender, or geography are entitled. This declaration of course has been far from perfect both in design and in execution. Too often we have framed human rights through the lens of the west we've viewed through the gaze of colonialism and we have assessed them to through the limited prism of our own experiences. Simply put, the powerful have too often attempted to universalize their own particular and local values. Still the Universal Declaration of Human Rights has offered us a flawed but functional starting point from which to articulate basic moral and ethical ambitions as global citizens. These ambitions have been particularly helpful when attempting to keep track of the vulnerable against the back drop of imperialism, exploitative economic arrangements, white supremacy, patriarchy and all the other entanglements of the modern nation-state. For this reason, it is indeed ironic and sad that this year also marks the 70th anniversary of the Nakba. The great catastrophe in May 1948 that resulted in the expulsion, murder and to date permanent dislocation of more than a million Palestinians. For every minute that the global community has articulated a clear and lucid framework for human rights, the Palestinian people have been deprived of the most fundamental of them. While the universal declaration for human rights says that all people are “born free and equal in dignity and rights” the Israeli nation state continues to restrict freedom and undermine equality for Palestinian citizens in Israel as well as those in the West Bank in Gaza. At the current moment there are more than 60 Israel laws that deny Palestinian access to full citizenship rights. Simply because they're not Jewish. From housing to education to family reunification, it is clear that any freedoms naturally endowed to all human beings are actively being stripped away from Palestinians through Israeli statecraft. While human rights promises the right to life, liberty and security of person. Palestinians continue to live under the threat of random violence by Israeli military and police. Disproportionate violence within the West Bank in Gaza, unprompted violence in the face of peaceful protests and misdirected violence by an Israeli state that systematically fails to distinguish between civilians and combatants. While the Universal Declaration for Human Rights protects us against torture and cruel and inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment, Palestinians continue to be physically and psychologically tortured by the Israeli criminal justice system, a term I can only use with irony. As human rights groups around the world have noted, the use of solitary confinement constitutes a clear and indisputable form of torture. Yet, in the West Bank, Palestinians are routinely subjected to solitary confinement and indefinite detention. Often with out and formal charges being filed. Last year, the Israeli Supreme Court ruled that physical torture in “exceptional cases” including ticking time bomb situations constitute acceptable means by which to engage in torture. Although these exceptions are themselves a violation of the absolute human right not to be tortured, Israeli security operates and practice in such a way that nearly all Palestinian cases are viewed as exceptional. Nearly every Palestinian is understood to be a potential terrorist. Thereby making them susceptible to ticking time bomb investigation tactics at all times. As such, Israel's practices are routinely in clear violation of the UN's Convention on torture which was signed by Israel in 1986 and ratified in 1991. While the Declaration of Human Rights insists that no one be subjected to arbitrary arrests, detention or exile, Palestinians are routinely denied due process of law. West Bank Palestinians are regularly placed under administrative a framework that allows them to be incarcerated for up to six months and can be extended after a judicial review without being charged with a crime. The only thing needed for such outcomes is the ambiguous claim of a security threat. A claim used by the Israeli state at all times, at all costs and for all reasons. Through this vagueness Palestinians are routinely punished for their political views rather than any actual threat of violence. The declaration of human rights insists that all humans are entitled to a “fair and public hearing by an impartial tribunal. Israeli military courts, the exclusive adjudicator largely, for West Bank residents and in some cases Palestinian citizens of Israel. They have a conviction rate of more than 99%. That suggests that Palestinians are either more guilty than any other group in human history or that the Israeli government is unwilling or incapable of offering fair and impartial trials for Palestinians.  Declaration of human rights promises the right to freedom of movement and residence within the borders of each state as well as the right to leave any country including his *own and to return to said country. It is impossible to travel throughout the historic Palestine and not see the blatant restriction of movement between cities in the occupied Palestinian territories as well as inside the state of Israel. Standing check points, temporary of flying checkpoints, annexation walls and other security barriers, prevent Palestinians from moving freely both within areas legally designated by the Israeli government and co-signed by the Palestinian Authority under the terms of Oslo but also we see in Gaza the restriction of movement that is so severe that it literally defines life in the area. I promise you that I will not exhaust all my time by enumerated every human rights violation perpetrated by the Israeli government. These are well known and have been well documented by every credible human rights organization in the world. Rather I would like to speak to you about the urgency of the current moment.

{sips water}Forgive my thirst, I literally just got off of a flight from Palestine to come to address you this morning and I was boycotting the Israeli water so I was unable to quench my thirst. But thank you for your indulgence or for indulging me rather.

As we speak, the conditions on the ground for Palestinian people are worsening. In recent decades, the Israeli government has moved further and further to the right. Normalizing settler colonialism and its accompanying logics of denial, destruction, displacement and death. Despite international condemnation, settlement expansion has continued. At the same time, home demolitions and state enforced displacement continues to uproot Palestinian communities. For Gazans, the 11 year Israeli and Egyptian blockade by land air and sea, has created the largest open air prison in the world. With only 4% potable water, electricity access that is limited to 4 hours per day,50% unemployment and the the looming threat of Israeli bombs, Gaza continues to constitute one of the most pressing humanitarian crisis of the current moment. And the West Bank conditions are not much better, unemployment is generally around 18% with frequent loss of income due to Israeli military closures. Making it impossible for Palestinian workers to get access to jobs, settlements and extra land allocated for them as well as closed military zones and other restrictions make it impossible for Palestinian towns to grow. And in the mists of it all, Prime Minister Netanyahu's administration has become increasingly indifferent to critique censure or even scorn from the international community for its practices. Perhaps the most glaring example of this indifference as well as the urgency of the current moment is the recently passed nation state law. Through this basic law of the Israeli state has officially rejected Arabic as an official state language. It has described settlement expansion both inside and outside of the green line as a national value and it has reinforced the fact that Israel is not a state of all of its citizens. As an American, I am embarrassed that my tax dollars contribute to this reality. I am frustrated that no American president since the start of the occupation has taken a principled and actionable position in defense of Palestinian rights. And I am saddened, though not surprised, that president trump's administration has further embolden Israel's behavior through it's recent actions. In May of this year President trump officially moved the US Embassy to Jerusalem which he recognized as the undivided capital of Israel. This choice not only flew in the face of international law and precedent but also constituted a powerful provocation and a diplomatic death blow. In late August, President trump then permanently reneged on America's commitment to funding UNRWA. A move that now leaves millions of Palestinian refugees in medical, economic and educational peril. Moreover, the move serves as a political strong arm tactic whereby the United States is unilaterally attempting to resolve through the trump administration, the final status of Palestinian refugees. While president trumps policies have been the most dramatic. It is important that I stress to you, to reiterate to you, that they are not wildly out of step with American policy. Cuts to UNRWA, is an idea that has been raised in Washington for years, dating back at least to the George W Bush administration. President's trump's decision to move the US embassy in Israel from Tel Aviv to Jersusalem caused enormous controversy but he was merely implementing a bipartisan law congress passed in 1995. And in so doing, executed what has already been official United States policy and the fulfillment of a promise made by every president and presidential candidate, Democrat and Republican for a very long time. With regard to the question of Palestine, donald trump is not an exception to american policy. Rather, donald trump is more transparent and aggressive iteration of it. As I mentioned at the beginning of my remarks, the words offered today by everyone in this room, are a necessary component of our resistance efforts. We need powerful, counter-intuitive, dangerous and courageous words. But we must also offer more than just words. Will not stop the village with its make shift schools created local Bedouin villagers. Words will not stop them from being demolished in violation of the fourth Geneva conventions. Words will not stop poets like Dareen Tatour from being caged in Israeli jails. For having the audacity to speak the truth about the conditions of struggle on her own personal facebook page. Words will not stop peaceful protesters in Gaza from being killed as they fight for freedom against Israel still undeclared borders. Regarding the question of Palestine, beyond words we must ask the question what does justice require? To truly engage in acts of solidarity, we must make our words flesh. Our solidarity must be more than a noun. Our solidarity must be more become a verb. As a Black American, my understanding of action and solidarity action is rooted in our own tradition of struggle. As Black American resisted slavery, as well as Jim Crow laws that transformed us from a slave state to an apartheid state; we did so through multiple tactics and strategies. It is this array of tactics that I appeal to as I advocate for concrete action from all of us in this room. Solidarity from the international community, demands that we embrace boycotts, divestment and sanctions as a critical means by which to hold Israel accountable for its treatment of Palestinian people. This movement which emerges our of the overwhelming majority of Palestinian civil society offers a non-violent means by which to demand a return to the pre '67 borders full rights for Palestinian citizens and the right of return as dictated by international law. Solidarity demands that we no longer allow politicians or political parties to remain silent on the question of Palestine. We can no longer, in particular, allow the political left to remain radical or even progressive on every issue from the environment, to war, to the economy, to remain progressive on every issue except for Palestine. Contrary to Western mythology, Black resistance to American apartheid did not come purely through Gandhi and non-violence. Rather slave revolts and self defense and tactics, otherwise divergent from Dr. King or Gandhi, were equally important to preserving safety and attaining freedom. We must allow, if we are to operate in true solidarity to Palestinian people, we must allow the Palestinian people the same range of opportunity and political possibility. If we are standing in solidarity with Palestinian people, we must recognize the right of an occupied people to defend itself. We must prioritize peace but we must not romanticize of fetishize it. We must advocate and promote non-violence at every opportunity but we can not endorse a narrow politics of respectability that shames Palestinians for resisting. For refusing to do nothing in the face of state violence and ethnic cleansing.

 At the current moment, there is little reason for optimism. Optimism of course is the belief that good will inevitably prevail over evil, that justice will inevitably win out. In the course of human history and certainly even in the course of the United Nations there is no evidence of such a proposition. Optimism is unsophisticated. Optimism is immature. Optimism is what my students have when they take examinations that they did not study for. Some become quite religious at the time. But regardless of their strategies of optimism, the outcome is far from guaranteed or even likely. What I'm challenging us to do in the spirit of solidarity, is not to embrace optimism but to embrace radical hope. Radical hope is a belief that despite the odds, despite the considerable measures against justice and peace, despite the legacy of hatred, imperialism, white supremacy, patriarchy, homophobia. Despite these systems of power that have normalized settler colonialism. Despite these structures, we can still win, we can still prevail. One motivation for my hope in the liberation and ultimate self determination of the Palestinian people comes in the August of 2014. Black Americans were in Ferguson,Missouri in the Midwest of the United States protesting the death of the young man named Michael Brown, an unarmed African American male who had been killed by a law enforcement agent. And as we protested I saw two things that provided hope for the Palestinian struggle. One was that for the first time in my entire life of activism, I saw a sea of Palestinian people. I saw a sea of Palestinian flags in the crowd saying that we must form a solidarity project. We must struggle together in order to resist because state violence in the United States and state violence in Brazil and state violence in Syria and state violence in Egypt and state violence in South Africa and state violence in Palestine are all of the same sort. And we final understood that we  must work together and not turn on each other but instead turn to each other. And later that night when the police began to tear gas us, Miriam Baruti(misspelled..sorry), tweeted us from Ramallah. She along with other Palestinian youth activists told us that the tear gas that we were experiencing was only temporary. They gave us tips for how to wash our eyes out. They told us how to make gas masks out of tshirts. They gave us permission to think and dream beyond our local conditions by giving us a transnational or global solidarity project. And from those tweets and social media messages we began then to organize together. We brought a delegation of Black activist to Palestine and we saw the connection between the police in New York City who are being trained by Israeli soldiers and the type of policing we were experiencing in New York City. We began to see relationships of resistance and we began to build and struggle and organize together. That spirit of solidarity, a solidarity that is bound up not just an ideology but in action is the way out. So as we stand here on the 70th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the tragic commemoration of the Nakba, we have an opportunity to not just offer solidarity in words but to commit to political action, grassroots action, local action and international action that will give us what justice requires. And that is a free Palestine from the river to the sea. Thank you for your time.