The Running Commentary Prize for Balderdash goes to…Joseph Muscat and Times of Malta reporting from China
I quote verbatim from Times of Malta’s report on Friday:
“This joint venture will create a win-win situation for both China and Malta. Through Malta, China will be expanding its horizons in geographical markets that are highly competitive and have high barriers to entry. On the other hand, Malta will not only be gaining the intellectual knowledge on renewable technology but also become a significant player in establishing the 21st century Maritime Silk Road for a strengthened maritime economy, environment and scientific co-operation.”
Dr Muscat later also addressed the Green Silk Road sub-forum.
He underlined the importance of connectivity, saying the revival of the Silk Road to instill stability through connectivity in trade posed a momentous opportunity in a world where social, political and economic contexts have evolved dramatically over the centuries whilst the physical geography remained practically the same.
Malta was posed to assume the role as the Western most end of the Maritime Silk Road, providing a platform for trade and economic cooperation with Europe and North Africa.
He stressed that global action to combat climate change would fail in the absence of international co-operation.
“The establishment of a green, and blue, silk road requires the creation of a common vision supported by commitment by all concerned.”
Dr Muscat spoke on China-Malta collaboration. “Our co-operation goes back in time and together we are now aiming to forge a new blue dimension to the meaning of the silk road. We can secure the extension of the silk road by bridging two-cross roads: the far eastern borders of Asian with Europe and the other between Europe and Africa.”
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http://www.timesofmalta.com/articles/view/20140711/local/updated-muscat-says-malta-china-energy-venture-is-formula-for-success.527232
Green and blue silk? Are they training racehorses now?
The green and blue silk roads in Jamaica. There’s nothing eco-friendly about this project. Maybe Times of Malta could give Shiv Nair a ring to ask why he’s promoting projects that defy China’s eco-friendly policy.
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2014/04/25/1294644/-Why-Is-Jamaica-Selling-Out-Its-Environment-to-a-Blacklisted-International-Conglomerate#
Well, they don’t race their dogs.
Another piece of hopeless reporting. The new energy ventures will create “600 MW per day”. Complete rubbish as any slightly technical person will confirm.
That’s 25 Megawatts an hour. Or .4167 megawatts per minute.
Would you like it per second, I’m afraid we ran off the scale on the megameter.
Mill-budget tal-Qawsalla ghall-gvern tal-ghazel.
Jozef, naħseb tal-ħarir ridt tgħid. Issa tara kemm ġej ħarir. Nistennew u naraw. Hemm żewġ qwiel Maltin li jitkellmu dwar l-istennija : Min jistenna jithenna u min jistenna jmut bil-piena u għalina l-aktar li joqgħod dan tal-aħħar. Għax m’għandix dubju li se ndumu nistennew!
That quote has to be reversed to make sense.
Malta becomes the very low place where the Chinese get a leg up to access European technology and knowhow.
Meantime, they build us a ‘feasible’ bridge to Gozo. Imagine maintenance costs.
To think Mao swam across the Yang Tse.
He did it to distract his people from the minor fact that a Neil Armstrong was hopping around on the moon that same day.
The “free” feasibility study is a way of locking Malta in so that China Communciation Construction Company gets the contract at inflated costs and the intermediary (guess who) creams off commission and extends his political influence.
Look at this news report dated January 2014. It’s what happened here, right down to the “irridu naraw jekk huwiex vera” reaction when an MP said the company is blacklisted – Muscat’s same reaction when Nair’s blacklisting was exposed.
http://mobile.nation.co.ke/news/Shadowy-figures-pushing-rail-deal-says-Keter/-/1950946/2156652/-/format/xhtml/-/oi2cqdz/-/index.html
What a disservice the Times of Malta is giving to its loyal readers.
This would be acceptable up to a certain extent from a political party paper, but not from a newspaper that calls itself independent.
Muscat knows the game. Call it cross branding.
When post war communist Russia wanted to expand and establish itself as an imperialist power it lacked access over the seas. There was no naval base within sight from Valdivostok to South Africa and South America. Nor was there any country in sight willing to offer facilities.
The occasion arose when Nasser did not see eye to eye with the President of the United States. In goes Russia, they promise him the Aswan dam and the equipment for his army and air force. Egypt went for it.
When the proof of the pudding came the Russians played their ace and refused Egypt spare parts for their planes and tanks.
The Russians meanwhile availed themselves of naval facilities in the Mediterranean. Egypt had no other option but to revert to the States.
The Russians moved into Angola in the hope of establishing a base for their shipping and navy.
We are not being told anything about the military aspects of this agreement or the military interests China might have in Malta.
There is no country in the Med so far and to date that is tendering China the naval facilities for its fleet which is ever on the increase.
One sure way of destroying the Times of Malta, other than blowing it up, is to portray it as the mouthpiece of the Labour Party propaganda machine.