Why is Joe Biden Resetting his China Policy?

Why is Joe Biden Resetting his China Policy?

Joe Biden’s most recent 90 minutes call with China’s Xi has created the impression of a US attempt to reset its ties with China. The White House readout says that a “broad, strategic discussion” has taken place resulting in a mutual agreement to engage 

“openly and straightforwardly” on areas where their interests converge as well as where “our interests, values and perspectives diverge.” The tone adopted by Joe Biden is completely different from the previous call between the two leaders in which Joe 

Biden vowed to protect “the American people’s security, prosperity, health, and way of life, and preserving a free and open Indo-Pacific”, underscoring America’s “fundamental concerns about Beijing’s coercive and unfair economic practices, the crackdown in Hong Kong, human rights abuses in Xinjiang, and increasingly assertive actions in the region, including toward Taiwan.” Fast forward to September 2021: Biden’s focus has dramatically shifted from opposing China to “responsibly” managing bi-lateral ties to preserve “peace, stability, and prosperity in the Indo-Pacific and the world”, ensuring that their “competition does not veer into conflict.”

Why has Joe Biden changed his China narrative? For one thing, America’s debacle in Afghanistan has seriously damaged its credibility as the sole super-power of the world. The loss of this credibility means that the US, its military might notwithstanding, 

lacks the necessary support from its allies to pursue yet another global adventure. As it stands, it is specifically the US withdrawal from Afghanistan that has put its ties with Europe/NATO on the line. There is an increasing desire in Europe to assert its strategic autonomy, a line of action that extends to the continent’s ties with China and Russia managed independently of the US influence. Similarly, the US push to revive its damaged ties with Southeast Asia, too, has failed to elicit the level of support it thought it will be able to get. For the Southeast Asian nations, it remains that the US has little more than conflict with China to offer, a lacuna that the Joe Biden administration has so far failed to address. On the other hand, Southeast Asia has been very consistent in showing an extreme lack of appetite for pursuing an aggressive policy vis-à-vis China. In short, it does not share the US's desperation to contain China.

The US failure in securing the desired, cold war level of support from the allies in Europe and Southeast Asia has left the US with no option but to redefine its overall foreign policy approach. Media reports in the US have called this foreign policy shift a “pragmatic realism” or the so-called “Biden doctrine.” The most recent readout shows that the “Biden doctrine” is looking to recast its ties with China in less ideological terms. While the Joe Biden administration still wants to “compete” with China, the fact that Biden, who actually made the recent call and initiated the contact after seven months of disconnection, emphasized “responsible” competition shows how Biden is consciously dialing down the US reliance – and insistence – on the military-backed hard competition. In other words, while Biden remains the realist that prizes hard power, he is growing conscious of the need to pursue US interests in ways that are less costly. In the absence of willing allies in Europe and Southeast Asia, the Biden administration cannot singlehandedly confront and contain China from the Oval Office in the White House.

What has also added to the necessity of reframing the US policy is the hard-line and stubborn stance taken by Beijing towards US unilateralism. China has been confronting the US through all possible means. Despite sanctions, China has made investments in Iran and continues to buy its oil. Two weeks ago, when John Kerry, Biden’s climate envoy talked to China’s foreign minister, he was clearly warned that deteriorating US-China relations could seriously undermine cooperation on climate change. Wang Yi was blunt and frank when he told Kerry that US-China cooperation on climate China cannot be separated from the broader trajectory of their overall ties.

China’s refusal to compartmentalise its ties with the US to deal with areas of cooperation and conflict separately has left the Biden administration in a quandary. In July, the US Deputy Secretary of State Wendy Sherman was handed over a long list of complaints from China which showed how the US was trying to contain, undermine and suppress China’s development and interests around the world.

China’s stark refusal to bow down to the pressure the US has been exerting ever since 2016 means that the US has not enough diplomatic or economic options to achieve success. The fact that its allies in Europe and Southeast Asia, too, have refused to offer unconditional support means that the US is unable to pursue a hard policy vis-à-vis China that relies on creating a strong ring of military alliances around China. Given the failure to win over allies, the Biden administration’s much anticipated ‘Asia Pivot 2.0’ seems to have hit a roadblock; hence, the emphasis on a new policy.

While the US could ideally compete with China on the economic front, there is no denying that a shift from military competition to the economic competition itself requires a major policy shift. Biden’s attempt to dial down the rhetoric indicates this very shift, although it is yet to develop and announce a programme to boost US economic ties with its allies in Southeast Asia. Unless the Biden administration can actually develop such a programme, the actual prospects of its success against China will remain grim. Failure to do so could actually push the US once again towards hard competition.

Salman Rafi Sheikh, research-analyst of International Relations and Pakistan’s foreign and domestic affairs, exclusively for the online magazine “New Eastern Outlook”.

French Church abuse: 216,000 children were victims of clergy - inquiry

 

Some 216,000 children - mostly boys - have been sexually abused by clergy in the French Catholic Church since 1950, a damning new inquiry has found.

The head of the inquiry said there were at least 2,900-3,200 abusers, and accused the Church of showing a "cruel indifference towards the victims".

Pope Francis "felt pain" on hearing about the inquiry's finding, a Vatican statement said.

One of those abused said it was time the Church reassessed its actions.

François Devaux, who is also the founder of the victims' association La Parole Libérée (Freed speech), said there had been a "betrayal of trust, betrayal of morale, betrayal of children".

The inquiry found the number of children abused in France could rise to 330,000, when taking into account abuses committed by lay members of the Church, such as teachers at Catholic schools.

For Mr Devaux it marked a turning point in France's history: "You have finally given institutional recognition to victims of all the Church's responsibility - something that bishops and the Pope have not yet been prepared to do."

According to the Vatican statement, the Pope learnt about the report after he met visiting French bishops in the last few days.

"His first thoughts are for the victims, with a deep sadness for their wounds and gratitude for their courage in coming forward," it read.

"His thoughts also turn to the Church in France, and that, in recognising these terrible events and united by the suffering of the Lord for his most vulnerable children, it can take the path of redemption."

The report's release follows a number of abuse claims and prosecutions against Catholic Church officials worldwide.

The independent inquiry was commissioned by the French Catholic Church in 2018. It spent more than two-and-a-half years combing through court, police and Church records and speaking to victims and witnesses.

Most cases assessed by the inquiry are thought to be too old to prosecute under French law.

'Victims were not believed'

The report, which is nearly 2,500 pages long, said the "vast majority" of victims were boys, many of them aged between 10 and 13.

It said the Church had not only failed to prevent abuse but had also failed to report it, at times knowingly putting children in contact with predators.

"There was a whole bunch of negligence, of deficiency, of silence, an institutional cover-up," the head of the inquiry, Jean-Marc Sauvé, told reporters on Tuesday.

He said that until the early 2000s, the Church had shown "deep, total and even cruel indifference" towards victims.

"The victims are not believed, are not listened to. When they are listened to, they are considered to have perhaps contributed to what they had happen to them," he explained.

He added that sexual abuse within the Catholic Church continued to be a problem.

While the commission found evidence of as many as 3,200 abusers - out of a total of 115,000 priests and other clerics - it said this was probably an underestimation.

"The Catholic Church is, after the circle of family and friends, the environment that has the highest prevalence of sexual violence," the report said.

Olivier Savignac, head of victims association Parler et Revivre (Speak out and Live again), was abused at the age of 13 by the director of a Catholic holiday camp in the south of France.

He told the Associated Press news agency that before the abuse, he had thought of the priest as "someone who was good, a caring person who would not harm me".

"We keep this, it's like a growing cyst, it's like gangrene inside the victim's body and the victim's psyche," he said.

The inquiry found that about 60% of the men and women who were abused had gone on to "encounter major problems in their emotional or sexual lives".

US, Taliban hold first talks since Afghanistan withdrawal

AJ-9 Oct 2021

The discussions in Qatar’s capital, Doha, will revisit the agreement the Taliban signed with the US last year.

The meeting on Saturday and Sunday will be the first since US forces withdrew from Afghanistan in August

Senior Taliban officials and United States representatives have discussed “opening a new page” in their countries’ relationship as they kicked off talks in Qatar, according to Afghanistan’s acting foreign minister.

The in-person meetings that began in Doha on Saturday are the first since US forces withdrew from Afghanistan in August – ending a 20-year military presence – and the Taliban’s rise to power.

Mullah Amir Khan Muttaqi, Afghanistan’s acting foreign minister, said the focus of the Afghan delegation was humanitarian aid, as well the implementation of the agreement the Taliban signed with Washington last year which paved the way for the final US withdrawal.

The minister said the Afghan delegation had asked the US to lift its ban on the reserves of Afghanistan’s central bank. He added that the US would offer Afghan people vaccines against COVID-19.

The Taliban delegation will later meet representatives from the European Union.

A spokesperson of the US State Department said on Friday evening that the talks were not about recognising or legitimising the Taliban as Afghanistan’s leaders, but are a continuation of pragmatic talks on issues of national interest for the US.

He said the priority was the continued safe departure of Afghans, US citizens and other foreign nationals from Afghanistan, adding that another goal was to urge the Taliban to respect the rights of all Afghans, including women and girls, and form an inclusive government with broad support.

The State Department did not disclose who would travel to the Qatari capital from the US side.

Since the Taliban took power, the Islamic State in Khorasan Province, ISKP (ISIS-K), has ramped up attacks on the group, as well as ethnic and religious minorities.

On Friday, an ISKP suicide bomber killed at least 46 minority Shia Muslims and wounded dozens in the deadliest attack since the US departure.

Al Jazeera’s Natasha Ghoneim, reporting from Doha, said expectations of a breakthrough at the talks should be “tempered” because there is still quite a “chasm” between what the US wants and what the transitional government in Afghanistan wants.

“The Taliban is describing its delegation as high level and is being led by its acting foreign minister,” she said. “On the US side, there will be diplomats from the state department, members of USAID and of the intelligence department.”

Notably absent, Ghoneim added, is Zalmay Khalilzad, who has been the US’s point person in talks with the Taliban for years.

Terrorist threat

The US-Taliban agreement of 2020, which was negotiated by the Trump administration, demanded the Taliban break ties with “terrorist” groups and guarantee Afghanistan would not again harbour terrorists who could attack the US and its allies.

The Taliban has said it does not want US anti-terrorism assistance and warned Washington against any so-called “over-the-horizon” attacks on Afghan territory from outside the country’s borders.

The Biden administration has fielded questions and complaints about the slow pace of US-facilitated evacuations from Taliban-ruled Afghanistan since the US withdrawal.

SOURCE: AL JAZEERA AND NEWS AGENCIES

Xi stresses peaceful reunification Taiwan

 

By Yang Sheng and Chen Qingqing Oct 09, 2021 Global Times

Xi stresses peaceful reunification, Calls Taiwan secessionists 'serious threat' to national rejuvenation

At a gathering marking the 110th anniversary of the 1911 Revolution held at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing on Saturday, Chinese President Xi Jinping said the Taiwan question will be resolved along with national rejuvenation and warned that secessionists are a serious threat to that mission, and that those who betray the country will face the trial of history.

Analysts from both the Chinese mainland and Taiwan told the Global Times that Xi's remarks sent a clear and strong signal to the secessionist group within the island and foreign forces who are supporting or encouraging Taiwan secessionism - the national reunification of China will and must be realized and no one can stop the process, the Chinese mainland has both strength and unshakeable determination to realize this common hope for the whole Chinese nation. 

The Communist Party of China (CPC), who inherited the 1911 Revolution leader Sun Yat-sen's idea and unfulfilled mission in national rejuvenation and reunification, wants to address Taiwan question by peaceful means, but whether the question to be solved peacefully or not, the secessionists who betray and try to separate the country, will eventually be punished, commentators noted. 

The Revolution of 1911, which was initiated by revolutionists represented by Sun Yat-sen, ended the 2,000 years of imperial rule in China and paved the way for profound social changes and ideological emancipation. Sun is hailed as a great national hero, patriot and a great pioneer of China's democratic revolution, according to Xi's speech. 

The aspiration of national revitalization that was deeply held by Sun, longing for a bright future for the Chinese nation that was cherished by the pioneers of the Revolution, and the great dream that the Chinese people have aspired and striven toward in modern times have all become or are becoming a reality, Xi said.

He noted that the 1911 Revolution commemoration will inspire national rejuvenation endeavor. 

Chinese communists were the most steadfast supporters, loyal partners and faithful successors of Sun, Xi said, noting that the complete reunification will be realized along with the country's national rejuvenation. 

Huang Chih-hsien, an attendee from Taiwan who witnessed Xi's speech at the Great Hall of the People and an expert on Taiwan affairs, told the Global Times on Saturday that "it was truly touching when I saw the mainland is sincerely commemorating Sun and the 1911 Revolution, while the Taiwan authorities are trying to forget or stay away from Sun and his political ideals, some of them even trying to cut off ties with the Chinese mainland and Chinese nation." 

Sun is the founding father of the Kuomintang (KMT) and the Republic of China (1912-1949), and after Sun's death, his successor Chiang Kai-shek betrayed the revolution and Sun's policy to work with the CPC, and launched massacres and a civil war against the Communist Party of China (CPC). Eventually the KMT was defeated by the CPC and escaped to Taiwan in 1949. 

Warning to secessionists

National reunification by peaceful means best serves the interests of the Chinese nation as a whole, including compatriots in Taiwan, Xi remarked at the gathering.

"Compatriots on both sides of the Taiwan Straits should stand on the right side of history and join hands to achieve China's complete reunification and the rejuvenation of the Chinese nation," Xi said. 

It has become a common practice for the Chinese mainland to solemnly commemorate the Revolution of 1911 at its decadal anniversaries such as the 100th and the 110th anniversaries, but this time, Xi delivered very strong and sharp remarks with a clear message to "Taiwan independence" secessionists, Yok Mu-ming, former president of the pro-reunification New Party of Taiwan, told the Global Times on Saturday. 

"If those secessionists don't stop, the mainland will take relevant measures," Yok said. Yok even predicted that the Taiwan question "will be resolved within two years." 

He also mentioned on his personal social media accounts earlier that the deadline for solving the Taiwan question will be 2024. "Hopefully, we'll embrace the reunification and the national rejuvenation together."

A Beijing-based expert on Taiwan affairs who asked for anonymity said the CPC and the Chinese mainland have repeatedly shown great patience and sincerity in solving the Taiwan question peacefully, and that Xi's latest remark is also signaling to compatriots in Taiwan, as well as the international community, that the mainland's sincerity and policy remains unchanged so far.

But unfortunately, the current situation is like an old saying in China, "the trees prefer stillness but the wind will not cease," he said.

"There are some forces, especially the separatist ruling Democratic Progressive Party on the island and the US that are encouraging the DPP to seek secession, are trying to challenge the mainland's sincerity and patience by increasing the degree of provocation, including strengthening military cooperation and diplomatic interactions," said Li Fei, a professor with the Taiwan Research Institute at Xiamen University.

"All of these dangerous acts have challenged the bottom-line of the mainland and seriously offended the Chinese people, the US and the Taiwan secessionists are trying to hijack the people on the island to seek their own interests under the risk of war," Li said.      

Xi sent severe warning to the secessionists at his speech that, "Taiwan independence" secessionism is the biggest obstacle for the national reunification, and also a serious threat to national rejuvenation. "Anyone who intends to betray and separate the country will be distained by the people and judged by the history," he said, receiving rapturous applause from the audience. 

Three long rounds of applause sounded through the Great Hall of the People when Xi mentioned Taiwan question and sent warning to the secessionists. 

The anonymous expert in Beijing said this is a strong signal and warning to agitators on the island and leaders of the DPP and other secessionists - whether the Taiwan question to be resolved by peaceful mean or non-peaceful mean, secessionists will be judged and punished eventually.

"Maybe there is no need to wait that long, some of them might get punished during the process of the national reunification. We, the mainland, have enough strength and determination to make them pay for their crime of secessionism," he said.

Huang who hails from Taiwan said the political parties on the island today should also be loyal to Sun's idea, but unfortunately, they have failed to inherit the mission, and some of them even try to forget Sun, to betray his dream of national rejuvenation and reunification and to serve US hegemony to contain mainland and seek secessionism.

The DPP and the authorities under its control even "try to stop and threaten the people from Taiwan from attending the gathering for commemorating the 1911 Revolution," Huang said, stressing that "this is truly laughable," urging people in Taiwan to "wake up" and see "who is walking on the path started by Sun and who has betrayed Sun's ideals."

Destined to be reunified 

The ceremony was held amid rising tensions across the Taiwan Straits after US media reported that there were two dozen US troops secretly deployed on the island of Taiwan, helping to train local troops while the secessionist DPP has been colluding with external forces in escalating the confrontation by engaging in salami-slicing tactics. 

Xi emphasized that the Taiwan question is a Chinese internal matter, which can't be interfered by any external forces. Nobody should underestimate Chinese people's determination, will and capability in safeguarding sovereignty and territorial integrity. 

The Taiwan question arose out of the weakness and chaos of the Chinese nation and will be resolved as national rejuvenation becomes a reality, Xi said, noting that the historical mission of achieving complete reunification will be realized and must be realized. 

Li said with the increasing of China's national strength, the difficulties in realizing national reunification or resolving Taiwan question will be reduced day by day, whether for peaceful solution or the non-peaceful ones.

"Although the US is still being vague on its policy on the matter and trying to use Taiwan question as a card to contain China, one day, when the mainland decides to solve the question once and for all, Washington will abandon the Taiwan secessionists and run away, just like abandoning the former Afghan government and Hong Kong rioters and separatists," said the anonymous Beijing-based expert.

Root cause of tensions 

Mainland's high-profile commemoration of the 110th anniversary of 1911 Revolution sparked slanderous comments from DPP authorities, which called the commemoration "distortion of history."

In response to such comments, Ma Xiaoguang, spokesperson of Taiwan Affairs Office of the State Council, said on Saturday that the DPP's provocation in seeking secession is the root cause of current tensions across the Taiwan Straits, and biggest threat to regional peace and stability.

"Taiwan independence" secessionism is a dead end, and has nothing to do with so-called "democracy and freedom."

"DPP authorities insist on their secessionist stance and gang up with foreign forces to betray the interests of the Chinese nation. These behaviors are completely against the spirit, moral integrity and unfulfilled wishes of Sun Yat-sen. What qualification do they think they have to make comment on Sun and 1911 Revolution?" Ma said.

உ.பி.யில் விவசாயிகள் மீது ஜீப் ஏற்றிப் படுகொலை! கழகம் கண்டனம்!!

உ.பி.யில் வேளாண் சட்டங்களுக்கு எதிராகப் போராடிய விவசாயிகள் மீது ஜீப் ஏற்றிப் படுகொலை செய்த பாசிச பாஜக கும்பலை கண்டிக்கிறோம்!

மோடி கும்பலே!

விவசாயிகளைப் படுகொலை செய்த மத்திய அமைச்சர் மிஷ்ரா, அவரது மகன் மற்றும் சகோதரனை கொலை வழக்கில் உடனடியாக கைது செய்!

விவசாயிகள் மீது கொலை வெறி தாக்குதல் நடத்த தூண்டிய ஹரியானா முதல் அமைச்சரை கைது செய்!

கைது செய்யப்பட்டுள்ள விவசாயிகள், பிரியங்கா காந்தி உள்ளிட்ட அனைவரையும் விடுதலை செய்!

நாடு முழுதும் விவாசயிகளுக்கு எதிராக தொடுக்கப்பட்டு வரும் தாக்குதல்கள், பொய் வழக்குகள் மீது நீதி விசாரனை நடத்து!

உச்ச நீதிமன்றமே! விவசாயிகளின் போராட்ட உரிமையை பறிக்காதே, மோடியின் பாசிச ஆட்சிக்கு சேவை செய்யாதே!

உ.பி.யை ஆளும் பாசிச பாஜக யோகி கும்பலை பதவி விலகக் கோரி போராடுவோம்!

வேளாண் சட்டங்களை திரும்பப் பெறக் கோரி பாஜக அமைச்சர்கள் எம்.பி.க்களை முற்றுகையிடும் விவசாயிகளின் போராட்டங்களை ஆதரித்து களமிறங்குவோம்!

மக்கள் ஜனநாயக இளைஞர் கழகம், தமிழ்நாடு

Russia extends friendly hand to ‘Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan’,

Times Now Digital Oct 07, 2021 

Invites Taliban to Moscow for talks on October 20

Russian President Vladimir Putin’s special representative to Afghanistan, Zamir Kabulov, did not reveal details of the talks.

The Taliban delegation that engaged in Afghan peace talks in Qatar two months ago.The Taliban delegation that engaged in Afghan peace talks in Qatar two months ago.  |  Photo Credit: APKEY HIGHLIGHTSRussia is worried about the ripple effects of the Afghan fallout that could have a far wider impact in the regionMoscow is concerned about the possibility of Islamist militants infiltrating former Soviet strongholds, which Russia sees as its defensive buffer down south

Moscow: In what appears to be a concern not only for the United States of America, but also for countries in Asia, the Taliban has been extended a friendly hand by Russia amid a global outcry over the insurgent group’s return to power in Afghanistan.

Russian President Vladimir Putin’s special representative to Afghanistan informed on Thursday that the country will invite representatives of the Taliban for international-level talks in Moscow on October 20.

However, representative Zamir Kabulov did not reveal further details of the talks, according to news agency Reuters.

Moscow had in March hosted an international conference on Afghanistan, which was attended by Russia, the United States, China and Pakistan. They had then issued a joint statement calling for the warring Afghan sides – government and insurgents – to arrive at a peace deal and check violence.

It had also urged on the Taliban to not launch any offensives anytime soon.

However, with the United States and its allies later withdrawing their troops after 20 years of intervention in the Central Asian country, the Taliban seized the opportunity to take down the Ashraf Ghani government in a lightning advance, bring down Kabul in a blitzkrieg.

Russia, meanwhile, is concerned about the ripple effects of this fallout that could have a far wider impact in the region and the possibility of Islamist militants infiltrating former Soviet strongholds, which Moscow sees as its defensive buffer down south.

With the brisk Taliban takeover, Moscow rushed in with military exercises in Tajikistan and augmented its ammunition at the military base there.

Lakhimpur Kheri violence: Union minister's son Ashish Mishra expected to appear before cops today

Oct 09, 2021 Written by Joydeep Bose | Edited by Meenakshi Ray, Hindustan Times, New Delhi

Ashish Mishra was named in a first information report (FIR) following allegations that he was in one of the vehicles that mowed down farmers protesting against UP deputy chief minister Keshav Prasad Maurya's visit on Sunday.

In photos posted by the ANI news agency, it was seen that the UP police has already started making preparations to tighten the security in Lakhimpur Kheri police lines, ahead of Ashish Mishra's expected appearance before the cops today.

Ashish Mishra, the son of Union minister of state (MoS) of home affairs Ajay Mishra ‘Teni’, is expected to appear before the Uttar Pradesh police at 11am on Saturday for questioning in connection with the incident where eight people lost their lives. 

Ashish Mishra was previously summoned as a witness, not an accused, by the police on Friday but he failed to appear before them. MoS Teni later said his son was unable to report to the police due to ‘health reasons’. After this, the UP police pasted 

a fresh notice outside the minister's residence asking his son Ashish Mishra to appear before them for questioning on October 9.

இந்திய மீனவர்களின் அத்துமீறலை எதிர்த்து யாழில் போராட்டம்!!

 

பதிவு சாதனா Friday, October 08, 2021 

இந்திய மீனவர்களின் அத்துமீறலைக் கண்டித்து யாழ்ப்பாணத்திலுள்ள கடற்தொழில் நீரியல் வளத் திணைக்களத்திற்கு முன்பாக இன்று வெள்ளிக்கிழமை  காலை மீனவர்கள் ஆர்ப்பாட்டம் ஒன்றை நடத்தியுள்ளனர்.

கடந்த 5ம் திகதி இலங்கை கடற்பரப்புக்குள் அத்துமீறி நுழைந்த இந்திய இழுவை படகு, குருநகர் பகுதி மீனவர்களின் படகினை நேராக மோதி சேதப்படுத்தியதோடு படகில் இருந்த குருநகர் மீனவர்களை தாக்க இந்திய மீனவர்கள் முயன்ற நிலையில், இன்று அதற்கு எதிர்ப்பு தெரிவிக்கப்பட்டே மீனவர் சங்கங்களின் ஏற்பாட்டில் போராட்டம் இடம்பெற்றது.

எமது கடல் வளங்களை அழிக்காதே, இலங்கை அரசே இந்திய இழுவைப் படகுகளை தடுத்து நிறுத்து, எமது கடல் எல்லைக்குள் அத்துமீறி வெளிநாட்டு மீனவர்களை அனுமதிக்காதே, இலங்கை அரசே உரிய சட்டங்களை நடைமுறைப்படுத்து, கடல் வளத்தை சுரண்டி எமது வாழ்வாதாரத்தை அழிக்காதே போன்ற பல்வேறு கோசங்கள் எழுப்பப்பட்டன.

போராட்டத்திற்கு பின்னர் கடற்றொழில் நீரியல்வளத்துறை திணைக்களத்தின் யாழ் மாவட்ட பணிப்பாளரிடம்  போராட்டத்தில் ஈடுபட்டிருந்தவர்களால் கொடுக்கப்பட்டது.

அதேவேளை கடற்றொழில் அமைச்சருக்கும்,யாழ் மாவட்ட செயலகத்திற்கும், யாழில் உள்ள இந்திய துணைத்தூதரகத்திற்கும் இதன் மகஜர் கையளிக்கப்பட்டது.

U.S. Senate approves temporary lift of debt ceiling, averts default

 WASHINGTON, Oct 7 (Reuters) - By Richard Cowan and Makini Brice

The U.S. Senate approved legislation on Thursday to temporarily raise the federal government's $28.4trillion debt limit and avoid the risk of a historic default this month, but put off until early December a decision on a longer-lasting remedy.

The Senate voted 50-48 to pass the bill following weeks of partisan fighting. Earlier, 11 Republicans voted in favor of a procedural vote allowing the bill to proceed.

The Senate-passed bill now goes to the House of Representatives, which needs to approve it before President Joe Biden can sign it into law. The House will hold a vote on the bill on Tuesday, according to the office of the No. 2 House Democrat, Steny Hoyer.

"President Biden looks forward to signing this bill as soon as it passes the House and reaches his desk," White House press secretary Jen Psaki said in statement on Thursday.

"As we approach the coming months, we hope that even more Republicans will join Democrats in responsibly addressing the debt limit instead of choosing default or obstruction."

The $480 billion increase, which would lift the debt limit to $28.9 trillion, is expected to be exhausted by Dec. 3, the same day that funding for most federal programs expires under a stop-gap measure passed earlier this month following another partisan standoff.

That means that over the next eight weeks, the bitterly divided Congress will have the twin challenges of finding a middle ground on agency spending through September 2022 -- ranging from education and foreign aid programs to immigration enforcement and airport security -- and avoiding yet another debt limit meltdown.

The vote followed a months-long standoff that brought the nation close to the Oct. 18 date that the Treasury Department forecast as when it would no longer be able to meet its obligations.

"Republicans played a dangerous and risky partisan game and I am glad that their brinksmanship did not work," Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer said after the vote.

The plan emerged on Wednesday after top Senate Republican Mitch McConnell said Republicans were open to a temporary hike after twice blocking Democrats' attempts to raise the cap. That offer came after Biden raised the possibility of bypassing the Senate's filibuster rule requiring 60 of the 100 members to agree on most legislation.

Not all Republicans were happy with McConnell's move, and it took long negotiations behind closed doors to secure enough Republican votes to advance the measure.

"This is a complete capitulation," said Republican Lindsey Graham.

Earlier in the day, news of the negotiations drove Wall Street's main stock indexes to end sharply higher in a broad-based rally. In a sign of bond market relief, the yield on one-month Treasury bills fell to the lowest point since Sept. 8 as investors deemed that the risk of default had eased. read more

RECONCILIATION

Washington's debt limit troubles are unlikely to be resolved with passage of the short-term increase.

McConnell is still expected to insist that the next increase in December be achieved through the time-consuming "budget reconciliation" process, which would allow for passage without any votes from his party.

Doing so could bolster Republican candidates in the 2022 congressional elections as they try to burnish their credentials as fiscal conservatives - even though most of them previously supported an array of measures passed during Republican Donald Trump's administration that jacked up U.S. budget deficits.

Democrats have adamantly rejected using the reconciliation process, although they have used it to pass some of Biden's other priorities, saying that in this case it is too unwieldy and would establish a bad precedent.

Referring to the deal providing a debt limit reprieve until December, McConnell said in a Senate speech: "Now there will be no question. They'll (Democrats) have plenty of time" to pass the next increase using reconciliation.

Democrats had been trying to pass legislation that would have raised the debt limit through the end of 2022, which Republicans blocked.

While the deal relieves debt ceiling pressures for now, it adds to the high-stakes, partisan battles Congress will wage through the end of the year.

Democrats want to pass two massive spending bills that make up much of Biden's domestic agenda in the coming weeks, including a multi-trillion-dollar social policy package to be passed by reconciliation and a $1 trillion bipartisan infrastructure bill.

But by late November, their attention will have to return to funding the government and again avoiding the debt ceiling.

Reporting by Richard Cowan, Makini Brice, Susan Cornwell and David Morgan; Additional reporting by Aishwarya Nair in Bengaluru; Editing by Scott Malone, Rosalba O'Brien, Leslie Adler and Michael Perry

Sri Lanka’s central government debt had climbed to 104 percent of gross domestic product by June 2021

 

ECONOMYNEXT – Sri Lanka’s central government debt had climbed to 104 percent of gross domestic product by June 2021 from 101 percent in December 2020, based on the latest national income estimates and debt data.

Sri Lanka’s nominal GDP for the 12 months ending June was 15.9 trillion rupees, while total debt had grown to 16.56 trillion rupees.

Foreign debt in rupee terms went up to 6.63 trillion rupees, from 6.0 trillion rupees, despite a net pay back of rupees as the rupee fell.

A falling rupee tends to make foreign debt rise, though the GDP can also inflate later as the currency falls.

The increase in central government debt does not take into account the fall in foreign reserves which makes net debt go up. 

Sri Lanka’s central bank has also been entering into swaps taking on additional debt.

When central government loans are repaid with central bank swaps, debt is effectively transformed from the Treasury to the central bank balance sheet.

Sri Lanka has seen net foreign debt rise whenever money was printed to keep down rates, triggering forex shortages and the country loses the ability to settle loans using current external receipts.

The phenomenon was seen in 2015/2016, 2018 and 2020, analysts have shown.

Sri Lanka got the ability to print money after a domestic operations department was set up in the newly created Latin America style central bank in 1950.

Sri Lanka’s national debt has grown steadily under so-called revenue based fiscal consolidation where cost-cutting (state-austerity) was discouraged, spending to GDP was ratcheted up and the burden of higher spending was passed on to productive sectors.

Classical economists call the attempt achieve budget balance by raising taxes the ‘statistical’ methods.

“This alternative is beset with pitfall,” classical economist B R Shenoy said in 1966 when Sri Lanka’s revenue to GDP was 20 percent and money was printed to cover what he called the ‘net cash deficit’.

“Past experience in Ceylon, which is in line with experience in virtually all parts of the world, is that in a democratic set up political and other pressures are heavily on the side of more and more spending by the government,” he said in great wisdom.

“When revenues increase, under the weight of these pressures, expenditures too increase to meet, or even exceed, revenue collections.

“There is a real danger that any program for increased revenue collections may be attended by a corresponding increase in the consumption expenditures of the government, and little may be left of the additional revenues to cover budget deficits.

“Increased revenue collections under these conditions would militate against the paramount need to step up national savings.”

Predictably under the revenue based fiscal consolidation debacle, spending to GDP was ratcheted up from 17 percent of GDP to close to 20 percent as taxes were collected from productive sectors and channeled to as higher state salaries to an expanding state worker cadre and subsidies. (Colombo/Sept26/2021)