Xi Jinping speech at the 19th National Congress of the Communist Party of China

Xi Jinping speech at the 19thNational Congress of the Communist Party of China

by Xi Jinping

VOLTAIRE NETWORK | BEIJING (CHINA) | 18 OCTOBER 2017 

FRANÇAIS  ESPAÑOL  عربي  РУССКИЙ 

Comrades,

On behalf of the 18th Central Committee of the Communist Party of China, I will now deliver a report to the 19th National Congress.

The 19th National Congress of the Communist Party of China is a meeting of great importance taking place during the decisive stage in building a moderately prosperous society in all respects and at a critical moment as socialism with Chinese characteristics has entered a new era.

The theme of the Congress is : Remain true to our original aspiration and keep our mission firmly in mind, hold high the banner of socialism with Chinese characteristics, secure a decisive victory in building a moderately prosperous society in all respects, strive for the great success of socialism with Chinese characteristics for a new era, and work tirelessly to realize the Chinese Dream of national rejuvenation.

Never forget why you started, and you can accomplish your mission. The original aspiration and the mission of Chinese Communists is to seek happiness for the Chinese people and rejuvenation for the Chinese nation. This original aspiration, this mission, is what inspires Chinese Communists to advance. In our Party, each and every one of us must always breathe the same breath as the people, share the same future, and stay truly connected to them. The aspirations of the people to live a better life must always be the focus of our efforts. We must keep on striving with endless energy toward the great goal of national rejuvenation.

Both China and the world are in the midst of profound and complex changes. China is still in an important period of strategic opportunity for development ; the prospects are bright but the challenges are severe. All comrades must aim high and look far, be alert to dangers even in times of calm, have the courage to pursue reform and break new ground, and never become hardened to change or inactive.

We will unite the Chinese people of all ethnic groups and lead them to a decisive victory in building a moderately prosperous society in all respects and in the drive to secure the success of socialism with Chinese characteristics for a new era.

I. The Past Five Years : Our Work and Historic Change

Putin and Trump to meet at APEC summit in Vietnam

Published time: 9 Nov, 2017 07:08Edited time: 9 Nov, 2017 07:57

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US President Donald Trump with Russia’s President Vladimir Putin © Carlos Barria / Reuters

Russian President Vladimir Putin and his US counterpart Donald Trump are scheduled to meet on Friday, the Russian presidential aide for international affairs Yury Ushakov has told media.

Ushakov has confirmed previous reports about the meeting adding that “currently, [the time of] is being agreed on.”

Earlier, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said that both the Russian and US leaders’ offices are engaged in the organization of the bilateral meeting.

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Putin and Trump shake hands ahead of first face-to-face meeting at G20 (VIDEO)

“Both Putin and Trump have extensive plans for bilateral meetings, which have been agreed upon long beforehand. There is also the APEC summit program, so the relevant offices are trying to choose an appropriate timing and format,” he said on Wednesday.

The US president had suggested last week that he may meet Putin, saying the Russian leader is “very important” as Russia can help with the crisis on the Korean peninsula and Syrian settlement.

“Putin is very important because they [Russia] can help us with North Korea. They can help us with Syria. We have to talk about Ukraine,”Trump told Fox News on November 3.

Both leaders will take part in the 25th Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) international summit, to be hosted by Vietnam on November 10-11.

Trump and Putin held their first-ever meeting at the G20 summit in Hamburg in July. During their long-anticipated meeting, which lasted for over two hours, the leaders discussed Ukraine and Syria, as well as cybersecurity. Both Moscow and Washington positively characterized the encounter, after which a “breakthrough” ceasefire deal negotiated by Russia, the US, and Jordan took effect.

David Swanson -- A New Armistice Day

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A New Armistice Day

By David Swanson

http://davidswanson.org/a-new-armistice-day/

Exactly at the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month, 99 years ago, people across Europe suddenly stopped shooting guns at each other. Up until that moment, they were killing and taking bullets, falling and screaming, moaning and dying. Then they stopped, on schedule. It wasn’t that they’d gotten tired or come to their senses. Both before and after 11 o’clock they were simply following orders. The Armistice agreement that ended World War I had set 11 o’clock as quitting time.

And then the world had a party, the likes of which we have not seen or dreamed of — a party now in bad need of a sequel.

Each year, for a lot of years, there was a remembrance on November 11th. The U.S. Congress called Armistice Day a holiday to “perpetuate peace through good will and mutual understanding between nations,” a day “dedicated to the cause of world peace.” When churches rang their bells at 11:00, that’s what they meant. And they meant it right up until the war on Korea, the one the North Koreans all still remember with shudders of horror. And then Congress turned Armistice Day into Veterans Day, and veterans into props for marketing more wars and a permanent state of war preparations.

What we need now is a brand new armistice. Pick a day and a time, I don’t care when. Pick 11-11-11 again — why not? — and plan a party like it’s Armistice 99.

I’m serious. What would happen if, at that hour, the United States and Saudi Arabia ceased bombing Yemen? What if the ports opened and the food and the doctors and the journalists rushed into that hell to begin undoing the damage? What would be the harm in that?

What if, at that very hour, guns ceased to fire, drones ceased to buzz, bombs and white phosphorus ceased to fall across the world, in Afghanistan, Syria, Iraq, Libya, Somalia, Pakistan, the Philippines, Niger, Congo, Sudan, Mexico, Kenya, Turkey? What would be the harm? Who would miss the carnage? Who would object to the biggest force for death and disease and famine and environmental destruction taking a pause? Who would protest an end to the central justification for secretive and authoritarian government?

Armistice Day 99 would mean a miraculous transformation in the lives of many millions of people through the ending of wars we hardly hear about, plus the end of all the threats of new wars that we do hear about. New wars cannot be threatened in the Armistice Era. Instead, the bases and troops and weapons and provocations that risk the new wars have to be shut down, brought home, and converted into beneficial and sustainable enterprises.

Instead of Veterans For Peace groups hiring lawyers to argue for their right to participate in Veterans Day parades — part of the annual tradition for many years now — they could hire musicians for the celebration!

Kurt Vonnegut, a U.S. World War II veteran, wrote in 1973: “Armistice Day has become Veterans’ Day. Armistice Day was sacred. Veterans’ Day is not. So I will throw Veterans’ Day over my shoulder. Armistice Day I will keep. I don’t want to throw away any sacred things.”

Let’s create such things anew.

LIVE: Russian FM spokesperson Zakharova holds weekly briefing -- VIDEO

THIERRY MEYSSAN -- Palace Coup in Riyadh

Palace Coup in Riyadh

by Thierry Meyssan

While the war against Daesh is drawing to a close in Iraq and Syria, and the war against the pseudo-Kurdistan seems to have been avoided, several States of the Greater Middle East are regaining the initiative. Profiting from the fluidity of the moment, the Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia has brutally eliminated the members of the royal family who may be in a position to contest his Power. So not only has the regional balance of power been modified by war, but one of the region’s main actors has just changed its objectives.

VOLTAIRE NETWORK | DAMASCUS (SYRIA) | 7 NOVEMBER 2017 

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After seven years of war, entire cities have been razed to the ground in Afghanistan, Saudi Arabia, Iraq, Libya, Syria, Turkey and Yemen, but no frontiers have been modified.

A new period in the Middle East

It is said that Nature abhors a vacuum. The defeat of the « Islamic Emirate in Iraq and Syria » (or « Daesh », according to its Arab acronym) – which, in quick succession, has just lost Mosul, under the onslaught of the Iraqi army, Rakka, taken by the US army, and Deir ez-Zor, liberated by the Syrian army – ends a war and opens a new period. The failure of Massoud Barzani to force recognition for the annexation of Kirkuk by the Kurds of the PDK cancels the project for a new colonial State, a pseudo-Kurdistan, an advance base for the Israëli army against Iran.

Although the Greater Middle East is devastated, particularly Libya, Syria, Iraq, Yemen and Afghanistan, there still remain four States capable of advancing their interests - Israël, Saudi Arabia, Turkey and Iran. In order to do so, each of them will have to adopt an initiative before the meeting between Presidents Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin, which is scheduled to take place during the APEC summit in Danang (8 to 10 November).

Briefing by Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Maria Zakharova, Moscow, November 2, 2017

2 November 201719:11

Briefing by Foreign MinistrySpokesperson Maria Zakharova, Moscow, November 2, 2017

2103-02-11-2017

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Sergey Lavrov’s upcoming meeting with OSCE Secretary General Thomas Greminger

On November 3, Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov is set to have a meeting with OSCE Secretary General Thomas Greminger who will be in Moscow on his first working visit since assuming the post in July. Mr Greminger will also attend a meeting of the CSTO Permanent Council.

During the meeting, the officials will exchange views on the state of affairs in the OSCE and discuss the Secretary General’s plans during his term in office, as well as preparations for the OSCE Ministerial Council meeting in Vienna on December 7-8.

Russia remains interested in the OSCE – the world’s largest regional organisation that brings together 57 nations – playing a more active role in global and European affairs and enhancing its efficiency as a tool of building an undivided security community.

We hope that the OSCE’s contribution to reducing military-political tensions on the European continent and restoring trust – an issue that is being so much talked about today – will be addressed in depth. Special attention will be given to the organisation’s efforts in countering transnational challenges, including terrorism, drug trafficking and cyber security threats. We stand ready to discuss prospects for joint Russian-OSCE projects to train drug police officers from Afghanistan and Serbia in Russia.

Another important topic at the upcoming talks will be the OSCE’s assistance in resolving regional conflicts – in eastern Ukraine, Transnistria and Nagorno-Karabakh, as well as co-chairmanship at Geneva discussions on stability in Transcaucasia and the organisation’s activity in the Balkans.

We are ready for a substantive conversation on enhancing the efficiency of OSCE institutions – the ODIHR, as well as other institutions, in particular the OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media, who we greatly respect, as well as its field missions, which, in our opinion, are going through a systemic crisis.

We will highlight the need to resume the OSCE reform aimed at rectifying the geographical imbalance in the organisation, including the personnel sphere, as well as enhancing transparency, in particular for projects financed by the private sector. We intend to draw the Secretary General’s attention to the importance of developing an OSCE Charter, procedural rules for its executive agencies, consolidating its administrative agencies and consensus rules. That will make it possible to increase its efficiency in dealing with topical security and cooperation challenges in Europe.

I would also like to welcome OSCE Head of Communication and Media Relations Ina Parvanova as a guest at our briefing, who is accompanying the Secretary General during his visit to Moscow and with whom we will have a separate meeting. 

Ceremony to present the Pushkin Medal, a state decoration of the Russian Federation, to foreign nationals

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