NI 498 - December, 2016

The coming war on China

A note from the editor

I am delighted to be back in the New Internationalist as guest editor. This issue’s keynote and supporting articles are the result of two years’ work on a documentary film about the shift of the world’s economic power east, to China, and the US reaction to this challenge to its dominance. Losing its economic prowess, Washington has turned almost obsessively to its military might; and the prospect of nuclear war is no longer unthinkable. What I found in Asia, the Pacific and the US, was not only evidence of great risk and folly, but extraordinary resistance to a coming war among island people on the frontline: the Marshalls, Okinawa, Jeju: faraway places of which we may know little but which offer an inspiring example as they face the most powerful military machine. This NI is both a tribute to them and a warning, and will, I hope, raise an issue we all need to understand and act upon.

Also in this issue is a special feature on Tax avoidance by Richard Swift and Josh Eisen. They write:

One of the great privileges involved in writing for NI is the chance to vent over an issue that has been getting under one’s skin. The obsession from almost all political quarters that we should be ‘tightening our belts’ is an excellent example of this. It’s usually people who can barely afford said belts who are asked to do the tightening – refugees, the unemployed, those facing health challenges – in short, the vulnerable. So with a topic like tax avoidance we get to turn the tables and ask why the vaunted rich and powerful – who make much of government ‘waste’ yet live lives of frivolous expense – can’t at least pony up their fair share. Very satisfying.

John Pilger for the New Internationalist co-operative.
www.newint.org

The big story

Preparing for conflict: guided-missile destroyer USS McCampbell patrolling in the South China Sea earlier this year.

Photo: US Navy

NI 498 - December, 2016

The coming war on China

A note from the editor

The big story

A major US military build-up – including nuclear weapons – is under way in Asia and the Pacific with the purpose of confronting China. John Pilger raises the alarm on an under-reported and dangerous provocation.

Features

John Pilger visits the Marshall Islands and its bomb survivors, still blighted by US nuclear weapons.

Josh Eisen and Richard Swift tour the offshore world to find out why governments are drowning in debt.

Tax avoidance has its most pernicious effects in the Global South. Stephanie Boyd reports from Peru.

Tax avoidance is a worldwide system involving many destinations and layers of financial manipulation. We chart a few of the strands to show who wins and who loses.

Dan Hind explodes the self-righteous excuses of tax cheats.

Alain Deneault explains how states legalize tax fraud.

New Internationalist dissects the language of high finance with low motives.

There are ways to change the irresponsible system of tax avoidance, as Niko Block demonstrates.

Blogs

Vanessa Baird reports on activist reaction to the passing of the world's great internationalist.

It’s not elves, but underpaid Chinese workers working around the clock that will enable you to unwrap your presents, writes Amoge Ukaegbu.

Opinion

Mark Engler reflects on how one man's protest made waves around the US.

There's accidental sexism, and then there's persistent misogyny, writes Kate Smurthwaite.

Agenda

Mass mobilizations in support of a referendum have grown in West Papu, writes Jess Worth.

Thousands of families whose loved ones died or disappeared during Peru’s two-decades-long war with Maoist Shining Path guerrillas are one step closer to finding closure and compensation. Roxana Olivera reports.

An Heirloom Seed Library is rescuing ancient agricultural knowledge in Palestine’s West Bank, Giedre Steikunaite writes.

The ‘re-election’ of Ali Bongo to a second Presidential term in Gabon is an all too familiar story for an African continent, writes Richard Swift.

Parents have boycotted a school census to protect against administrators being ‘turned into border guards’ by the government, Amy Hall writes.

But in this increasingly jingoistic climate there is a growing number of citizens who dare to call for a peaceful solution. Nimisha Jaiswal reports.

The Burmese government has begun discussions with Thailand about repatriating refugees from camps across the border. Melanie Hargreaves reports.

An estimated 20,000 Roma migrants in France have fled poverty and discrimination in Eastern Europe. Morgan Meaker reports.

Black Americans are turning to economic empowerment in response to a spate of highly publicized police killings, writes Tom Lawson

Regulars

Feedback from our readers.

With guest cartoonist Tjeerd Royaards from the Netherlands.

Amy Booth finds her feet – and friends – in Bolivia.

Eleanor Hobhouse considers the state of Africa's newest nation, five years after independence.

The latest offering from cartoonist Polyp.

A sole story by Sucheta Das.

Cartoon by Marc Roberts.

The singer and musician talks to Graeme Green about fame, frustration and failing systems.

Film, Book & Music Reviews

Malcolm Lewis reviews Chi-Raq and The Unknown Girl.

Louise Gray reviews releases from Louise Bichan and Sun Ra.

Latest releases, including fiction by Vamba Sherif.

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