Geopolitical chaos procreating a chaotic leaderless world is sucking the literal life out of human hope. The tentacles of austerity measures and quantitative easing are the primary catalyst of all the madness. One way or another every government financier around the world is determined to cultivate the appearance that the good times are still rolling. The only problem is that the natural rate of failure refuses to participate in the economic facade. Fiat currencies’ purchasing power dwindles, the pounding drum beat of war beckons, and an open ended hegemonic polarity struggle for commodities ensues.

While serving as a member of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System in 2002, current U.S. Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke gave the world a glimpse into the past, present, and future all at once. In his speech, entitled “Deflation: Making Sure ‘It’ Doesn’t Happen Here,” Ben Bernanke stated:

“Although a policy of intervening to affect the exchange value of the dollar is nowhere on the horizon today, it’s worth noting that there have been times when exchange rate policy has been an effective weapon against deflation. A striking example from U.S. history is Franklin Roosevelt’s 40 percent devaluation of the dollar against gold in 1933-34, enforced by a program of gold purchases and domestic money creation.”

Today the infamous 40 percent strikes again, as Cyprus agreed to the terms of a European Union bailout in which banks will seize 40 percent of uninsured bank depositors’ wealth.

Moody’s Investors Service was quoted in Bloomberg as saying, “The seizure of larger deposits may spark tensions with Russia, the source of an estimated $31 billion in holdings in Cypriot banks.”

Proxy wars have gone beyond the spectrum of arming rogue militants and allied nations in dispersed pockets of the globe, graduating to the realm of state sponsored economic terrorism. As “Gerald Celente” consistently and aptly states, “Currency wars + Trade Wars = Real Wars.”

All of the economic wheeling and dealing continues on as the “Arab Spring” explodes into a caballing year round inferno engulfing the entire Middle East. Daily at the United Nations, permanent Security Council members China, Russia, France, United Kingdom, and the United States spar over regional influence with each passing veto and resolution.

This is most apparent in Syria where Russia opposes any intervention as it struggles to prop up the government of its last remaining ally in the Mediterranean region. Russian naval forces stationed at Tartus, Syria may be the last line of repellent preventing NATO intervention.

The lines of frienemy engagement get blurrier with every passing engagement.

Simultaneously as the United States prepares to implement its own austerity measure policy that has carefully been repackaged and marketed to the public under the label sequestration, it is arming rebels in Syria. All claims of being in financial dire straits gets immediately lost within the noise of controlling key choke points around the globe.

One cannot forget less than two years after watching the Al Qaeda flag being proudly raised in the Libyan city of Benghazi, that America’s new found ally the Free Syrian Army are the protégés of Al Qaeda.

The life cycle of keyboards do not possess the durability to correctly and fully analyze threats posed by the uncontrollable Kim Jong Un ruled North Korea. The isolated peninsula nation even managed to startle its longtime ally China into voting in favor of U.N. Security Council resolution 2094. Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Qin Gang was quoted as saying;

“China supports the UN Security Council’s necessary and moderate response to the nuclear test of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK).”

Barely beyond two weeks later newly appointed Chinese President Xi Jinping, warned the West not to meddle in Syria’s civil war while on his first visit to Russia.

Not even the mythical country of Chimerica can rescue the too big to fail world from the natural rate of failure. Governments around the world are taking sides now under the cloak of every global economic and geopolitical conflict, because nations know that a hegemonic storm is coming with no evacuation routes or shelter in sight. Once more, honesty of time is proving that which cannot last forever won’t.

Image courtesy: European Parliament

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Xi Jinping, the presumed heir to the current General Secretary and President Hu Jintao, has been away from the public eye for ten days now, producing various rumors about his whereabouts. It is an urgent matter for China because Beijing is expected to hold its 18th party convention for transfer of power in a month.

Xi canceled meetings with the US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and Singapore’s Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong on September 5 and another meeting with the Danish Prime Minister on September 10, without notice. Yet the Chinese government has not explained why this happened and it is an unprecedented matter for China, which puts a lot of stress on the protocol.

Xi attended a speech held at the Central Party School on September 1, and that was the last time Xi was seen in public. Hong Kong’s Apple Daily reported that Xi might have health problems or might even be resigned because of pressure from the other party members.

Meanwhile, some foreign media, including the New York Times, reported that health issues may in fact be the case, but that they are not believed to be critical or in any position to cause problems for the transfer of power to Xi. However, the Chinese government has not said anything so far regarding this matter, making people more curious about what is happening in China.

Foreign media has suggested several scenarios of what could have happened to Xi. They range from recovering from an injury while playing soccer or swimming, to involvement in a car accident at the hand of supporters of Bo Xilai, Xi’s competitor, or having suffered a heart attack. Among these possibilities, many have emphasized the first one.

On September 13, Hong Kong’s Information Center for Human Rights and Democracy (ICHRD) said in a press release that Xi had surgery last month because of liver cancer at the People’s Liberation Army 301 Hospital in Beijing, and is currently recovering but otherwise has no problem with his health. However, there is no way of confirming this because the Chinese government is continuing its silence about Xi.

Xi Jinping, born on June 1, 1953, is a high-ranking politician of the People’s Republic of China. He studied at Tsinghua University, one of the most prestigious schools in China, and started his early career serving mostly in the Fujian province. He currently serves as the country’s Vice President. He is supported by both right wings and left wings and considered as China’s future leader.

Image Courtesy of   Antonio Villaraigosa

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Xi Jinping, Vice President of China, started his trip to the United Stated recently at the invitation of Joe Biden, Vice President of the US. This visit is expected to strengthen the cooperation between the two countries and boost confidence. On Feb 17th in Los Angeles, China and the US signed a number of economic and trade contracts at the China-US Economic and Trade Cooperation Forum.

This is the second large-scale economic and trade pact between the two countries, the first of which saw $45 billion worth of contracts agreed to when President Hu Jintao visited the US last year. Among these contracts, some are of the traditional mode of purchase and import, including Sanhe Hope-full Grain & Oil Group, which purchased $1 billion in soy beans from an American company and Yingli Energy, which purchased $1.634 billion in silicon material.

There are also some contracts for a new mode of cooperation, such as ENN’s investment to build a clean energy ecological center in Nevada. As well, there is Jiaxing Stone Wheel and Zhejiang Hengzheng Valve’s joint-purchase of American tire making enterprises. This kind of cooperation embodies a diverse investment mode and displays a new trend of Sino-US economic and trade cooperation based on the foundation of frequent mutual visits between the two countries.

According to the “Letter of Intent for Cooperation of the Clean Energy Ecological Center Project” between ENN and Nevada’s Clark County government, ENN will invest $5 billion in Nevada to build a clean energy ecological center, which includes a solar energy photovoltaic generation base, a solar module manufacturing base and a future energy eco-town.

This investment of capital plus technologies will not only provide green energy to local residents, but also provide them with more than 4,000 jobs. At the China-US Economic and Trade Cooperation Forum on Feb 17th, Wang Yusuo, ENN’s Chairman of the board, made a speech on behalf of Chinese private-owned enterprises and expressed his confidence and good wishes for the investment and cooperation in new industries.

Meanwhile, he said that ENN would carry forward its spirit of innovation and begin a second start-up with the support of the Chinese and American governments. Experts said the investment and cooperation pattern of “capital plus technologies” will hopefully boost cooperation between China and the US, which confirms Vice President Xi Jinping’s prediction and opinion that “Sino-US cooperation has undergone a fundamental change in pattern.”

For a long time, “Investing and making profits” has been the main method of American enterprises in their global development. The status quo of “trade surplus in China and profit in the US” has lasted for decades.

Regarding this economic and trade mode, Xi Jinping pointed out when Biden visited China in August 2011, “With the further development of China’s reforms and opening to the outside world and modernization, the traditional Sino-US cooperation pattern that the US provides capital and technologies while China provides labor, resources and markets, has undergone a fundamental change.”

As to the reasons for this change, experts believe it has a lot to do with the fast improvement of Chinese enterprises’ “new power in technological innovations.” In some fields Chinese technology is now a leader. ENN’s clean energy investment project in Nevada is a typical case.

This is not the first time that ENN has participated in project cooperation in the clean energy field in the US. Starting in 2009, ENN group began cooperation in the photovoltaic field with Duke Energy, one of American’s biggest energy companies. Analysts consider ENN’s “capital plus technologies” project at the clean energy eco center in Nevada a ground-breaking event which will be a milestone in starting a new pattern in the China-US economic and trade dynamic.

Behind this new pattern is the rise of China’s comprehensive strength and technological innovation and America’s confidence and open mind towards its cooperation with China. During his visit to China last year, Biden expressed that the US is willing to step up cooperation with China on market access and mutual investment and welcomes and encourages direct investment in the US from Chinese businesses and entities.

Apparently, both the US and China have realized that with the acceleration of globalization, competition and cooperation has become an inevitable trend. To pursue cooperation in competition and form new cooperative patterns is the key to a win-win result, and will be the catalyst for developing future economic and trade cooperation between the two countries.

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