The new international media for a changing world – The new international media for a changing world
XULIO RIOS
Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez is traveling to China again to meet with President Xi Jinping. This is his third visit in the last three years, a truly unusual development and a true reflection of the importance that the Spanish government places on its relationship with China, as an expression of a significant rebalancing of Spanish foreign policy based on the strategic interest of strengthening economic and diplomatic relations with Beijing.
XULIO RIOS
China will continue to focus on managing its economy and strengthening its capabilities in all areas to achieve the desired high-quality development, taking a long-term view of this endeavour, with a view to 2035. At the international level, the commitment to multilateralism will strengthen the rapprochement not only with the Global South, but also opens up expectations of the involvement of other actors interested in a greater balance of power in interstate relations, capable of facing the profound global challenges that the current Trump administration addresses with total disdain.
JAYRO SANCHEZ
Aníbal Garzón is a political analyst specializing in international relations. He has worked as a volunteer in several African and Latin American countries for more than 5 years. He has just published BRICS. The transition towards an alternative world order (Akal, 2024), where he analyzes the importance of emerging countries in this changing world.
PASCUAL SERRANO
BRICS Pay will be a digital platform that would allow consumers and businesses in partner countries to make payments and transfer funds across borders with ease – precisely what we do now with SWIFT, except that they would not do so under Western domination. More than 50 countries have already expressed interest in joining this initiative ahead of the 2024 BRICS summit.
XULIO RIOS
There is a virtually unanimous perception of a worsening of the major international dilemmas, whether we are referring to issues of peace or development, manifesting itself in open discontent with the different yardsticks applied to certain conflicts and the persistence in preserving an exclusive hegemony that does not take into sufficient consideration the changes that have occurred in recent decades in the international economy and society.
XULIO RIOS
The visit of Spanish President Pedro Sánchez to China has enabled two important observations. First, that the harmony between both parties persists and that it is revealed as a political capital of great relevance to face common challenges. And second, that both governments are working together to promote dialogue as the main mechanism to find negotiated solutions to tariff tensions with the EU.
PASCUAL SERRANO
On August 7, the Reuters agency uncovered a serious complaint that has gone largely unnoticed in the Western media. The US Anti-Doping Agency (Usada) allowed several athletes it had discovered between 2011 and 2014 violating anti-doping rules to continue competing then without being sanctioned.
The excuse given by the US authorities is that it was part of a plan for them to act covertly and continue competing without being prosecuted in exchange for information about other offenders. USADA maintains that the tactic is necessary and permitted, and wants to continue using it.
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JAYRO SANCHEZ
The World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) said this week in a statement that its American counterpart, USADA, has allowed doping among the athletes it supervises for years. Its management team has also admitted that it was aware of these events since 2021.
The North American organization justified its actions before WADA by assuring that it was going to use the cheating athletes to obtain incriminating evidence against the rest of the people involved in these acts.
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XULIO RIOS
The third plenary session of the CPC Central Committee has come to an end. The final statement suggests a sketch for the comprehensive reform and a layout of its perimeter. There are aspects that are notable: from the widening of the market to the commitment to innovation as a talisman, the intensification of social issues and structural reforms in the most diverse fields.
XULIO RIOS
Today, leaving aside Taiwan, the deterioration of the relationship between Beijing and Manila represents the main focus of tension in the South China Sea.
During former President Rodrigo Duterte's six-year term, the situation remained relatively stable and no major disputes occurred. However, since Marcos Jr. came to power in June 2022, disputes have frequently arisen, from Ren'ai Jiao to Huangyan Dao.
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XULIO RIOS
Lai Ching-te will assume the presidency of Taiwan on May 20. The change in leadership shows a double sign of continuity: from his party, the sovereigntist Minjindang or Democratic Progressive Party, at the head of the State, and also from the policy applied in the last eight years, during the mandate of Tsai Ing-wen. . However, there is one notable change: Lai will not be guaranteed the automatic referendum in Parliament after losing the absolute majority in the January 13 elections.
XULIO RIOS
Probably the West's biggest misunderstanding of China is its strategic intentions. There are two ideas that sneak into any debate with hardly any discussion. The first is that China's success necessarily equals our ruin. The second is that this success leads to an exacerbation of conflicts.