The US Department of Defense released its annual report on Chinese military preparedness, and the report emphasized the pace of Chinese military expenditures and the dangers of its activities in the South China Sea. The Chinese response to the report was sharp. It asserted that the report was a “deliberate distortion” and that it had severely damaged mutual trust. The exchange is an index of the extent to which US-Chinese relations have soured recently.
The high-stakes standoff between Turkey and Germany over the movement of Syrian refugees is moving close to a break-off point. Turkey insists that it will not honor the agreement to take in one refugee for every one that enters an EU country unless its citizens are given vise-free access to the EU. The EU insists that Turkish citizens will not be granted that status unless Turkey dismantles many of its draconian terrorist laws that severely restrict human rights in Turkey. Turkey believes that the EU has to break down because the political ramifications of unrestricted refugee access to the EU is unmanageable for European countries. The EU believes that Turkish citizens care more about visa-free access than they do about the restrictive laws. At some point, one side has to capitulate.
US President Obama gave the commencement speech at Rutgers University today and his message was highly political, although he did not mention any of the candidates by name. But his message to the supporters of Donald Trump was clear:
“In politics and in life, ignorance is not a virtue….It’s not cool to not know what you’re talking about. That’s not keeping it real or telling it like it is. That’s not challenging political correctness. That’s just not knowing what you’re talking about.”
Truer words have never been spoken.
World Politics News 
Leave a comment