04/08/2020
Chinese & Iranian vultures circling over Beirut
BARIA ALAMUDDIN August 02, 2020
The economic options are immense and going further in the Wild West is always an opportunity to ponder . Yet new East realizations are emerging , which prompted Baria Alamuddin to write :
“Chinese diplomacy is ruthless, mercantile and self-interested, with none of the West’s lip service to human rights, rule of law or cultural interchange... Within Lebanon’s DNA runs a rich heritage of freedoms, tolerance for alternative views, and renowned cultural achievements, instilled through a world-class education system. Witnessing how dissident voices have been mercilessly throttled in Hong Kong, Tibet and Xinjiang, Lebanese citizens are justifiably fearful that their freedoms and culture would be crushed under heavy-handed, authoritarian Chinese and Iranian dominance, amid the miserable, monolithic atmosphere Hezbollah seeks to impose.”
To read thd full article >>>>
For two millennia the Silk Road was a 6,500km caravan route connecting China to the West, for the export of spices, fabrics and tea. Beijing today is investing hundreds of billions of dollars reopening these routes as an immense arena of Chinese commercial hegemony, with massive investments straddli...