EDITORIAL

ZEPP-LAROUCHE WEBCAST

The New Silk Road Is Reshaping the World

This is the edited transcript of the Schiller Institute’s April 28, 2019 New Paradigm interview with the founder of the Schiller Institutes, Helga Zepp-LaRouche, by Harley Schlanger. A video of the webcast is available.

Harley Schlanger: Hello, I’m Harley Schlanger with the Schiller Institute. Welcome to our webcast with our founder and Chairwoman Helga Zepp-LaRouche. It’s April 28, 2019.

This has been a week of very significant events. I want to start by calling our viewers’ attention to a new class series that was begun yesterday by Helga Zepp-LaRouche, taking up the question of how an individual can change history, which is an in-depth look at the life and work of Lyndon LaRouche. I encourage people to go watch that class, because everything we’re going to discuss in this webcast has been affected and shaped by the lifelong work of Lyndon LaRouche.

With that said, one of the important developments of the week was the Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation, held April 25-27 in Beijing. This was a very large event, extremely significant: Don’t be fooled by the lack of coverage, other than to demean it, generally in the Western press. It included many nations. Helga, what’s your assessment on how this event went, the Second Belt and Road Forum?

Helga Zepp-LaRouche: Oh, I think it was a great success. The Belt and Road Initiative is completely consolidated. This is a new dimension to the world economy, which exists even if the Western media pretend it doesn’t exist or attacks it for no good reason. Thirty-seven heads of state or government participated, 600 ministers from 150 countries; 5,000 participants, delegates, 100 heads of international organizations, and many, many side arrangements, bilateral summits, altogether $64 billion worth of new economic agreements of one kind or another. So I think this was quite a big, big success.

Xi Jinping, in his keynote speech, went into great detail through the great progress which has been made in the last two years, since the first Belt and Road Forum in May 2017, and then he listed a long, long list of corridors and projects, which I can’t even try to replicate here—about 20, 30 large, large corridors. And he named as the first one, which naturally made me very happy, the New Eurasian Land-Bridge. As people may know, this is something we have been campaigning for, for almost 30 years, since the collapse of the Soviet Union.

This is the next, very big phase in the New Silk Road becoming the World Land-Bridge. It is quite significant in the context of this Belt and Road Forum—to which the United States sent some diplomatic representation, but not a high-ranking government person—that there were several renewed offers by the Chinese Ambassador to the United States, Cui Tiankai—and the Global Times newspaper echoed that—inviting the United States to join, saying the U.S. should not sit by, that the U.S. economic, industrial potential is urgently needed for these kinds of global development projects. So China clearly has offered an outstretched hand; one can only hope there will be a rethinking on the side of the United States.

Schlanger: I was very struck by the open appeal of Cui Tiankai, who said: Imagine, if the United States and China, the two most dynamic economies in the world, were to work together? It was an open appeal, and hopefully there are people in Washington who are thinking it through.

I was also struck by the participation from Europe, from Switzerland, from Greece, from Italy, from Serbia. I understand even Germany sent Economy Minister Peter Altmaier.. This is really beginning to blossom inside Europe, and obviously this is going to be a problem for the European Union bureaucrats who are trying to shut it down.

Zepp-LaRouche: Before I get into the European situation, I should just mention, that at the beginning of my presentation in this class you mentioned, I showed a beautiful video of my husband from 1997, where he talks about the need for the United States to engage in the Eurasian Land-Bridge, and he says the two most important countries are the United States and China—to work together. And when you look at that video, you could think it had been for the occasion of the Belt and Road Forum—that’s how absolutely current it is. So, please take a look at the incredible video of Mr. LaRouche from May 10, 1997 that I showed in my class yesterday.

Europeans Flock to Beijing

The European participation was very interesting. There were several heads of state or government, for example Tsipras from Greece: He emphasized in his speech that with the development of the port of Piraeus, Greece is now becoming the hub and the gateway for the trade from Asia through the Suez Canal into the Balkans, into Europe, and he said, Greece is not the border between the South and the North, but the bridge.

Even more enthusiastic was Prime Minister Conte from Italy, who also met with Xi Jinping and Premier Li Keqiang. Xi Jinping emphasized that he is very happy with the memorandum of understanding which was signed between Italy and China during his recent visit to Italy, and both emphasized that this can be a model for all of Europe. That is exactly the case.

The President of Switzerland Ueli Maurer also made a very strong statement, saying the New Silk Road initiative demonstrates what is now quite rare—long-term, strategic planning that is bringing incredible benefits to the world. A spokesman from his office responded to a criticism from the EU Commission, saying: First of all, Switzerland is not in the EU, and secondly, we are an independent, sovereign country and can make our own decisions. Conte also responded to such criticism, saying that because of the memorandum of understanding between Italy and China, Italy now has a much better head for these kinds of policies, than if they were only acting as part of the European Union.

Altmaier, the German Economics Minister, couldn’t help himself—he gave a speech emphasizing the usual kind of litany, transparency, rules, and so forth, completely oblivious to the New Silk Road spirit that was clearly present for most of the other participants. He completely failed to take note of the fact that President Xi Jinping had announced major, major measures for a continued opening-up, more access to the Chinese market, more protection of intellectual property, more imports, more macro-management coordination—a lot of things by which China is taking steps to respond to these demands.

But, this is slowly but steadily sinking in. Yesterday, there was quite an interesting article in the German economic daily Handelsblatt, which had been very critical and even hostile to the Belt and Road Initiative in the past. It had an article saying it’s completely wrong to demonize China, because the recent negotiations between China and Malaysia, and also with Sri Lanka, have shown there is complete flexibility, there is no such thing as a “debt trap,” and if countries which are partners with China in these projects want to renegotiate a treaty, that’s absolutely no problem, and it was successful in both cases.

And then it says at the end, that the IMF has noted that there are 17 countries in Africa that may not be able to pay their debts, but that China is engaged with only three of them, while the rest of them are all indebted to the Paris Club and such big banks as Crédit Suisse and so forth. So, totally debunking this lie about the so-called “debt trap.”

I think overall, this is going in a very, very good direction. And also Putin praised the Belt and Road Forum to the highest heaven, saying it will have a bright future, and he emphasized the extreme importance of the Chinese-Russian cooperation, and that there was absolutely no contradiction between the Belt and Road Initiative and the Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU), that they were completely integrating.

So, I think this is really an important development, because this creates stability in the world economic situation, which is very important for the storms that for sure will come soon.

Is ‘Russiagate’ Being Turned Into ‘Chinagate’?

Schlanger: I think we should see if we can get a translation of that Handelsblatt article out in Washington, because the Washington think tanks—the same networks by the way, that pushed the Russiagate scandal against Trump, engaged in the coup against Trump—are now turning this into “Chinagate” by attacking China as having imperial ambitions, and so on.

Now, there were some very important developments on the Mueller report, the Russiagate coup overall. President Trump came very close to what you had called for, Helga, going after the British and demanding an apology for U.K. instigation in coup effort against him. What can you say about his tweet and the story as it is emerging, about turning the tables against the coup-plotters?

Zepp-LaRouche: Well, Trump gave an interview to Fox News, to Sean Hannity, and in that interview, he said, several times, that the whole thrust of the Russiagate, was a coup attempt, that it was an attempt to oust him from office, that something like that normally would only happen in a third world country, and that the worst thing about the Mueller report was that it did not mention one word about all of this.

He talked about releasing all the documents related to the Christopher Steele report, to the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) Court, to the relevant persons in the FBI and the Department of Justice: So this is now hanging in the air. I just listened to an American commentator who said this will change absolutely nothing—I certainly must say he is totally wrong. The implications of this are really incredible.

The mainstream media have completely blocked out Trump’s interview! Here you have the situation where the American President says that there was an attempted “coup” involving the British government—and there is no discussion about that? This is an unbelievable reflection of the complete control of the mainstream media on both sides of the Atlantic. The only article I saw about this—maybe I missed some—was in Politico, a short, relatively objective story, but there was to my knowledge no coverage in Europe at all.

Now that is unbelievable, but I don’t think this will hold. On the LaRouche PAC website, there was a blockbuster show featuring Barbara Boyd, Larry Johnson and Bill Binney, discussing the Mueller report and making it absolutely clear that the Mueller report provides absolutely no proof of Russia meddling in the election or anything else; that these are just assertions. And that, on the other side, the role of the GCHQ and British intelligence is what is really the most important aspect of any collusion. [That discussion appears in this issue of EIR.]

If Trump goes ahead and releases these documents, and I think this will happen, because also in the Congress there are motions in this direction, then the role of the British will become known. And this will not just have ramifications inside the United States, but just think what it will do in Russia—the Russians really have been targetted by the British, with many operations! Russiagate was the most important one, but there were all these false flag operations in Syria which were blamed on Russia; then you had the so-called “Skripal affair,” which was also blamed on Russia, which in all likelihood was the same kind of operation. So, in Russia, this will have a big effect.

Remember, the Opium Wars are not forgotten in China. In India, the role of British imperialism and colonialism has been raised repeatedly in the recent period by the parliamentarian Shashi Tharoor, who has written a book about it. And then, in Africa, naturally, people have living memories of British colonialism.

So this will have a big, big effect, and I think it’s really important that the truth be straightened out and imperialism stops.

Schlanger: And Helga, I’d like you to go into another aspect of this, because there’s still confusion in many circles about what Trump is doing, what’s being done in his name: Clearly you have a gang of neo-cons who have taken advantage of Russiagate and Chinagate, to insert themselves and to push policies which go against what Trump is stating he’s for. For example, he’s against regime change, and yet, you have Pence, and Pompeo, and others, out front, insisting on regime change in Venezuela.

The Difference Between Trump and His Advisors

Given the potential to blow up this story around the British role and why they’re doing it, namely to prevent a U.S. cooperative relationship with Russia and China, how can this get to people around the world, so they can differentiate between what Trump says he wants to do, and what’s being done in his name?

Zepp-LaRouche: We have published quite a bit about that. Trump has repeatedly said he wants to have a good relationship with Russia; he wants to invite Xi Jinping through to the White House, hopefully to sign a trade agreement. And there are more and more people in the world right now who recognize there is a big different between Trump and many members of his cabinet. The most recent example was an interview which was given by the Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif to CBS News’ “Face the Nation,” where he answered the accusations of National Security Advisor John Bolton and such people, that Iran is the sponsor of terrorism in the region, and he said: Absolutely not. Trump should talk to his allies, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, they are sponsoring terrorist organizations.

And then he suggested that Trump should look at the ideology of ISIS and al-Qaeda. And he said, do they have Iranian ideology? Absolutely not. And then he said, there is a big difference between Trump and what he calls the “B Team,” meaning Bolton, Bibi Netanyahu, Saudi Crown Prince bin Salman, Abu Dhabi Crown Prince bin Zayed. So this B team basically is on a completely different course. And Zarif then warned that the U.S. is putting forces into place which could lead to an accident, and therefore the highest vigilance is required so that these confrontational things don’t happen in an accidental way.

So I think this distinction is very important. And one can only assume that the more this coup attempt becomes a factor in the public conscience, and Trump’s base demands that the investigators be investigated—I understand that Trump was at a big rally in Wisconsin yesterday; I do not yet know exactly what he said, but apparently he did mention the coup attempt. So the more the people know it, and the more people demand that these coup plotters be cleaned out, the more important it is for world peace.

Schlanger: And I think it’s also important that people like Bill Binney, Larry Johnson and others, who also spoke on our Fireside Chat on Thursday night, are continuing their offensive to expose the fraud in the Mueller report that said that Russia intervened and meddled in the U.S. election.

Danger of a New Financial Crisis

Now, Helga, there are a few other things we need to get to: You mentioned the danger looming of a financial crisis. There are new signs of this coming from emerging markets: What can you tell us about that?

Zepp-LaRouche: Well, in Argentina, there is a complete panic. The currency collapsed on Friday; they have now an annual inflation rate of 55%. But people on the ground told us that nobody knows what will happen, the situation is completely out of control. And the likelihood that Cristina Fernández de Kirchner may run again for President, and has a good chance of winning, is absolutely there, because the people really have had it with the present government.

There are other reports in the financial media that also Turkey and South Korea are in trouble, so we have to be very vigilant. And it just makes the point that we have to have the new credit system which Lyndon LaRouche has been demanding for years: We need the full package of his Four Laws—Glass-Steagall, the national bank in the tradition of Alexander Hamilton, a new credit system, a New Bretton Woods system, and the crash program for fusion energy and space cooperation to get a massive increase in the productivity of the economy.

This is urgently still on the table, and the best way to get this going, and get the kind of Four Powers agreement that Mr. LaRouche had also demanded for many years, is that the United States would respond positively to the offer of China to cooperate with the Belt and Road Initiative; because that would also then give the ability to invest in the kinds of development programs that will be the only way to stabilize many situations around the world.

One of the most urgent ones, the situation in Mexico and Central America, because there is now a new caravan has arrived in Mexico City of anywhere between 10,000 and 20,000 people; the Mexican government tried to not let them in the country, but here they are. This kind of phenomenon will continue until you have real economic development to solve the problem of why so many human beings are fleeing from hunger, epidemics, and war.

I think it makes all the more urgent the need to go into a new paradigm of international cooperation to solve these problems.

Cooperation in Space, Cooperation on Earth

Schlanger: Part of that idea of a new paradigm was very visible in the scientific report last week about the the black hole candidate at the heart of galaxy M87, the photographing of the black hole environment. I think it’s crucial for going back to this theme about the work of your husband, that one of his most important points was scientific cooperation on a global basis, is absolutely essential. He put this forward with the idea of a Strategic Defense of Earth.

You’ve been talking quite a bit about the importance of this photographing of the black hole environment: How do you see this fit in, in the context of this idea of international cooperation?

Zepp-LaRouche: Well, this is one of the most exciting developments, because, you know, the Event Horizon Telescope organization, they worked together with eight radio telescopes, which span practically the entire sphere of the Earth—in Chile, in Spain, in Arizona, in the Antarctic, and various other places, and it required integration of the data of these eight telescopes, with the help of the rotation of the Earth, to create an image, de facto created by a virtual telescope of the size of the sphere of the Earth. And that magnitude was necessary in order to be able to make this image.

You could not have done that with only one country working on it, but we needed practically the span of the planet Earth to do it, which shows that if we want to get more deeply into the secrets of the universe, then that is an absolute requirement to work together internationally in this way.

And what they discovered is a complete game-changer: because, for the first time, they could confirm what Einstein had predicted a long time ago, namely, that there would be such phenomena like black holes in the galaxies, where large masses contract so densely that basically they turn into black holes. And these black holes are cosmic objects where the gravity is so gigantic that it starts to very much bend space-time, and that basically everything disappears in these black holes, including light, including everything. So it’s like this is a place where the laws of the universe no longer function.

That has incredible implications: First of all, this black hole in the galaxy M87, which is relatively nearby,—and when I say “relatively,” it’s only 55 million light-years away—and given the fact that we have 2 trillion galaxies, this is all very mind-boggling. But this particular black hole has a mass of 6.5 billion times that of our Sun! Now we are taking about gigantic, almost unimaginable phenomena, and the effect of this was that all the astrophysicists and scientists were taken completely aback, because this is where all the laws of physics end, and completely new questions are opening up. One scientist from the Max Planck Institute in Bonn said: In the future we will talk about the time until the imaging of this black hole, and the time after. This is a complete watershed.

Now, I think this is a beautiful thing, not only because it again proves Einstein’s Theory of General Relativity to be confirmed; this happened the first time, a short time ago with gravitational waves, now it is the imaging of the existence of the black hole. And basically, scientists now assume that such a black hole is at the center of each galaxy—and as I said, 2 trillion galaxies.

So, this opens up a whole new realm of physics and it just shows you, all the assumptions of the ridiculous people like the Club of Rome, or uninformed people like Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and her New Green Deal—all of these things are bunk! Obviously, our universe is anti-entropic, it is expanding, and human creativity is a material force in that universe.

So, all of these things I find completely exciting, and they’re a challenge to the imagination of all the young people to really become serious about science again, which is an art that has been lost very much in the recent period, at least in the West; fortunately not in other places. But I find this, very, very exciting, and we will talk more about it.

Exoneration of Lyndon LaRouche

Schlanger: Helga, I think this would bring a big smile to your husband’s face, as he was probably the biggest axiom-buster on the planet during his lifetime. And that brings us to the importance of people coming to recognize who he was, what he did, what his method was, and why it’s applicable today. And we should encourage people again, to go to the Schiller Institute website where you can find the exoneration petition : We’re in the middle of global mobilization for LaRouche’s exoneration, for many, many reasons, but including the importance of defeating the coup in the United States, permanently—not just exposing it, but defeating it. But also to open these beautiful ideas up, so they’re no longer ridiculed by a mainstream media which have no credibility. So, if you’d like to say something more on this, I think this would be the right time.

Zepp-LaRouche: Well, I’m deeply convinced the salvation of the United States, and by implication that of the world, and the exoneration of my husband, are identical questions. One reason, you mentioned that the networks which went after him in unbelievable campaigns—former Attorney General Ramsey Clark once called it the worst obstruction of justice and violation of law in the history of the United States, so that’s one very big reason: That these networks must be unmasked and justice must be restored.

But as an immediate result or effect of this, that if people don’t look at the ideas of my husband, which really represent the next level of human science and human knowledge about the laws of the universe, you know, I made in some other discussion recently, the comparison to the effect Plato had on the Italian Renaissance.

The Italian Renaissance was prepared by Dante, by Petrarca, by the beautiful sculptures and cathedrals, there was a fertile ground; but it was really when Nicholas of Cusa brought the delegation of the Greek Orthodox Church to the Council of Ferrara and then the Council of Florence, and these Greeks brought the entire life’s work of Plato with them: That was the spark which caused the Italian Renaissance to completely create a new paradigm. And fortunately, you had the Medicis—this was a wealthy banking family in Florence, which financed a crash program of translation of these works—and it was really a completely new period which started.

And I’m saying that that is the same in respect to the ideas of Lyndon LaRouche. I think there are many good things happening in the world right now, but I’m absolutely convinced that his important life’s work will be the spark which will trigger a new Renaissance, at least in the West, but I think also beyond. So that is why I really urge you to read his works, and sign the petition for his exoneration and help us to spread it!

Schlanger: OK, that’s a good assignment for everyone. Helga, thanks for joining us this week, and we’ll see you again next week.

Zepp-LaRouche: Till next week.