US set to stay in global postal union after reform deal reached

Yahoo – AFP, September 25, 2019

The US pushed for the reform of setting international postal rates as it said the
current system it was cheaper to send a package to New York from Beijing than
Los Angeles, which hurt its domestic businesses (AFP Photo/Andrew Burton)

Geneva (AFP) - The United States is set to remain in the UN postal agency after member states on Wednesday decided to reform the body to address Washington's criticism that its rules unfairly benefit China.

The Universal Postal Union's 192 members agreed by acclamation to a compromise supported by the US to reform the system used to determine the rates countries' postal services can charge for ensuring that packages from abroad reach their final destination.

Following days of intense negotiations in Geneva, the parties gathered for only the third extraordinary congress in UPU's 145-year history opted for a compromise under the looming threat of a US pull-out.

President Donald Trump's administration announced last October that it planned to withdraw from the UPU in a year unless it underwent dramatic reform.

UPU chief Bishar Hussein had warned Tuesday that if Washington did withdraw, it would cause a "total disruption" of the postal service in the country and dramatic hikes to consumer costs.

Trump's 'objectives' met

Trump's hardline trade advisor Peter Navarro insisted earlier this week that the US was well-prepared for "a possible seamless exit" if no acceptable reform agreement could be reached.

But shortly before Wednesday's decision, he told the assembly that the reform proposal, which implies that countries will be permitted as of next year to gradually set their own rates for postal deliveries, "does indeed meet the objectives that President Donald J. Trump gave me."

He vowed that if the UPU members voted for the proposal "in its entirety" the US would stay.

"Let's get this done," he said.

The standoff at the UPU, which sets international postal rates, came amid Trump's broader trade battle with China, with the US charging that the current system penalises American businesses.

The agency, based in Bern, has until now determined what rates national postal services can charge for ensuring that packages sent from abroad are delivered to their final destination.

It has long imposed lower prices for bulky letters and small parcels coming from emerging and developing countries, a group that still includes China.

Navarro has maintained that under the current system it costs more to send a package from Los Angeles to New York than from Beijing to New York, penalising US small businesses and manufacturers.

According to Washington, it costs the US $300-500 million annually under the current system.

The US had pushed for a radical and immediate reform of the UPU enabling members to "immediately self-declare rates", but that option was voted down on Tuesday.

Navarro had however said the US would be open to a "multi-speed option", that would allow a transition period for countries to transition to self-declared rates.

China hosts Silk Road summit in shadow of North Korea missile

Yahoo – AFP, Yanan WANG, Laurent THOMET, May 14, 2017

China's President Xi Jinping speaks at the opening ceremony of the Belt and
Road Forum, in Beijing, on May 14, 2017 (AFP Photo/Greg Baker)

China touted on Sunday its new Silk Road as "a project of the century" at a summit highlighting its growing leadership on globalisation, but a North Korean missile test threatened to overshadow the event.

President Xi Jinping was preparing to host leaders from 29 nations for the two-day summit in Beijing when US and South Korean military officials confirmed that Pyongyang had launched a ballistic missile.

Delegations from North Korea and the United States were expected at the forum, though not their leaders. Few Western heads of government made the trip.

The summit is showcasing Xi's cherished One Belt, One Road initiative, a revival of the Silk Road that could cement China's growing global clout on trade and geopolitics.

"This is indeed a gathering of great minds," Xi said, addressing leaders including Russian President Vladimir Putin and Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

Xi pledged to pump an extra $124 billion in funds into the initiative, calling it "a project of the century" in a "world fraught with challenges".

Map showing China's ambitious plan to revive the ancient Silk 

Road trade routes (AFP Photo)

The Chinese-bankrolled project seeks to link the country with Africa, Asia and Europe through an enormous network of ports, railways, roads and industrial parks.

The initiative spans some 65 countries representing 60 percent of the world population and around a third of global gross domestic product. The China Development Bank has earmarked $890 billion for some 900 projects.

The project is seen as a practical solution to relieve China's industrial overcapacity. But it could also serve Beijing's geopolitical ambitions as Washington retreats into "America First" policies.

While Xi did not mention North Korea during his speech to the delegates, the Chinese foreign ministry issued a statement saying it opposes such missile tests.

It urged all parties to "exercise restraint and refrain from further aggravating the tension in the region".

North Korea relies heavily on trade with China for its economic survival, and US President Donald Trump has urged Xi to use that leverage to put pressure on Pyongyang.

The White House called on all nations to impose "far stronger sanctions" following the latest test, which came days after South Korea elected a new president.

Sunday's missile launch "is absolutely an embarrassment to Beijing but it also shouldn't be overstated", Christopher Balding, economics professor at Peking University, told AFP.

"This will not overshadow (the summit) in an enormous way but it will absolutely continue to raise US frustrations with Beijing," he said, adding that Washington was "frustrated" that North Korea was also invited to the summit.

Russia's President Vladimir Putin (L) speaks with his Chinese counterpart Xi

 Jinping during a bilateral meeting at Diaoyutai State Guesthouse in Beijing, 

on May 14, 2017 (AFP Photo/WU HONG)

Respecting sovereignty

Xi focused on his initiative, boasting that it represented a "road for peace", but he cautioned "all countries should respect each others' sovereignty... and territorial integrity".

He warned that "isolation results in backwardness".

The new financing that he promised on Sunday includes 100 billion yuan ($14.5 billion) for the Silk Road Fund and lending schemes worth 380 billion yuan. He also urged financial institutions to contribute 100 billion yuan.

Praising Xi's initiative, Putin warned that "protectionism is becoming the norm".

"The ideas of openness, trade freedom are rejected more and more, very often by those who were their supporters not so long ago," Putin said.

For his part, Erdogan said Belt and Road was "going to be the kind of initiative that will put an end to terrorism".

India, whose Prime Minister narendra Modi is seen on May 12, 2017, has voiced 

displeasure at the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor, a Belt and Road project aimed 

at linking northwestern China to the Arabian Sea (AFP Photo/Ishara S. Kodikara)

Indian concerns

Some Belt and Road projects are raising concerns in certain countries.

India has voiced displeasure at the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor, a Belt and Road project aimed at linking northwestern China to the Arabian Sea.

The route cuts through Gilgit and Baltistan in Pakistan-administered Kashmir, disputed territory that India claims is illegally occupied.

Human Rights Watch raised fears on Saturday about the treatment of people along the new Silk Road route in Central Asian nations with poor track records in infrastructure projects.

The US-based organisation said Chinese authorities have "heightened surveillance and repression to prevent potential unrest that could impede" Belt and Road plans in the western Xinjiang region.

The train, carrying whisky, soft drinks, baby products and pharmaceuticals,
will take 18 days to make the 12,000-km (7,500-mile) journey

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"The Timing of the Great Shift" – Mar 21, 2009 (Kryon channelled by Lee Carroll) - (Text version)

“… Here is another one. A change in what Human nature will allow for government. "Careful, Kryon, don't talk about politics. You'll get in trouble." I won't get in trouble. I'm going to tell you to watch for leadership that cares about you. "You mean politics is going to change?" It already has. It's beginning. Watch for it. You're going to see a total phase-out of old energy dictatorships eventually. The potential is that you're going to see that before 2013. They're going to fall over, you know, because the energy of the population will not sustain an old energy leader. Remember where you heard it... in a strange, esoteric meeting with a guy in a chair pretending to channel. [Kryon being factious... Kryon humor] Then when you hear it, you'll know better, won't you? "Maybe there was something really there," you'll say. "Maybe it was real," you'll say. Perhaps you can skip all the drama of the years to come and consider that now? [Kryon humor again]

These leaders are going to fall over. You'll have a slow developing leadership coming to you all over the earth where there is a new energy of caring about the public. "That's just too much to ask for in politics, Kryon." Watch for it. That's just the beginning of this last phase. So many things are coming. The next one is related to this, for a country in survival with sickness cannot sustain a leadership of high consciousness. There is just too much opportunity for power and greed. But when a continent is healed, everything changes. .."

".. Many years ago, the prevailing thought was that nobody should consider China as a viable player on the economic stage. They were backward, filled with a system that would never be westernized, and had no wish to become joined with the rest of the world's economic systems. Look what has happened in only 30 years. Now, look at Africa differently …”

India counters Xi's 'belt and road' with competing project

Want China Times, Staff Reporter 2015-03-01

Xi Jinping and Narendra Modi meet in New Delhi on Sept. 18,
2014. (Photo/Xinhua)

Chinese president Xi Jinping's "belt and road" initiative to link China with with Europe through Central and Western Asia and to connect with Southeast Asian countries will be met with staunch challenges from India's own competing proposal, reports our Chinese-language sister paper Want Daily.

Xi's ambitious strategic plan, announced last year, comprises the Silk Road Economic Belt, a land-based belt from China via Central Asia and Russia to Europe, and the 21st Century Maritime Silk Road, a maritime route through the Strait of Malacca to India, the Middle East and East Africa.

Pang Zhongying, an international relations professor at the Renmin University of China in Beijing, says while Xi has personally invited Indian prime minister Narendra Modi to join the belt and road initiative, New Delhi has never expressed a clear indication of support.

Instead, India will soon be launching its own Project Mausam, a transnational initiative meant to revive its ancient maritime routes and cultural linkages with countries in the region.

Mausam is a "threatening and competing" initiative will pose a major challenge for China's belt and road plans, Pang said, noting that the project intends to stretch from East Africa, the Arabian peninsula, the Indian subcontinent and Sri Lanka to the Southeast Asian archipelago — all the regions forming the extent of India's cultural influence.

As the primary "organizer" of security and trade in the Indian Ocean, New Delhi has a central and unique role in the region, Pang said, adding that the competing initiatives could turn into a major tussle between the world's two biggest rising powers.

India's economic influence has also been growing, with reports that its national GDP for the upcoming financial year will outdo China and soar to a four-year high of 8.5%.

The Economist even described the competitive dynamics between China and India as akin to the tale of the hare and the tortoise, adding that India's economic prowess could very well eclipse that of China's in the near future.

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