مجلس الأمن الدولي يعقد الليلة جلسة طارئة لبحث الأزمة الأوكرانية بطلب روسي
On behalf of Russia, the UN Security Council holds an extraordinary session tonight to investigate the Ukrainian crisis.
[Source: Al-Jazeera الجزيرة evening news on April 13, 2014]
The Security Council's session actually did not take long and showed, as expected, nothing but an exchange of different standpoints and standardized stances between Russia's ambassador Vitaly Churkin and his Ukrainian counterpart Yuriy Sergeyev.
Churkin's proposal to Western leaders to "get to the telephone and convince the Ukrainians to refrain from what they are doing" and his wish for a "broad political dialogue on Ukraine", was not much convincing. Compared to this, Sergeyev's arguments seemed rather more specific and elaborate when it came to an interview in the aftermath of the session ("Russian special forces infiltrated into Ukraine", "Terrorist groups are using Russian weapons").
Therefore, one might ask why Russia had requested that emergency session of the United Nations' most decisive committee when it had nothing essential to bring about but standardized stances and such left the stage to the Ukrainian adversary. A possible answer could be: Russia has already made up its mind in the Ukrainian crisis and is only acting out of "political correctness". Churkin's key argument that "things are getting out of control in Ukraine", might therefore imply the need for Russia to intervene by force as soon as possible to "restore law and order".
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News UPDATE on April 14 / 15:
Russia Test-fires ICBM RS-24 Yars amid Ukraine Unrest
Moscow's Strategic Missile Forces test-fired the ICMB (intercontinental ballistic missile) RS-24 Yars equipped with re-entry warhead from Plesetsk, 800km northeast of Moscow. The launch took place on April 14 at about 10:40am local time.
"The main task of the launch was to confirm the reliability of a batch of missiles manufactured at the Votkinsk plant, in Udmurtia," said Colonel Igor Yegorov, spokesperson for the defence ministry's Strategic Missile Force unit, reports ITAR TASS news agency.
[Source: International Business Time UK, the British edition of a global news source with main office in New York, on April 14, 2014]
America Sends Missile-Destroying Warship Toward Russian Waters. President Putin Presumably Not Pleased.
The Obama administration recently decided to send its guided missile destroyer USS Donald Cook (DDG-75) to the Black Sea. Armed with new Standard Missile-3 IB weaponry from Raytheon, the Cook boasts a robust version of Lockheed Martin's Aegis ballistic missile defense system capable of shooting down supersonic, high-trajectory missiles such as Russia uses to carry its nuclear warheads. The warship was modified for ballistic missile defense (BMD) duty as part of a $22 billion project to build shipborne and land-based missile defense stations to protect Europe from Iranian long-range missiles. But just as President Putin predicted, it appears to have use in countering Russian threats as well.
[Source: Daily Finance, a financial news service by AOL, on April 14, 2014]
[Source: International Business Time UK on April 15, 2014]
The above timeline of recent articles published on the web on the proceedings in Eastern Ukraine has been recorded only one hour ago. It shows, even better than any military facts and individual evaluations could do, what the West is now expecting from Russia. Maybe this is what Russia's strongman Putin was planning from the very beginning ...
While recent press reports are concentrating on the development in Eastern Ukraine, Russia's military capacities, either for deterrence or invasion, have already been thoroughly analyzed days ago:
NATO secretary-general Anders Fogh Rasmussen in a
speech held in the Czech Republic on April 10, 2014.
[Source: TIME on April 11, 2014]
Some recent visitor from Beijing found my blogspot on military activity in North Korea by
simply typing into the search line of Google-HongKong: " The imaginary enemy troops ".
朝鲜无人机已能搭载高爆炸弹 杀敌于无形(图)
North Korean drones can already lift highly explosive bombs. - Fighting the enemy out of nowhere. -
This is a snapshot taken on April 6 of an unmanned aircraft that crashed in South Korea. .......... It should be the third incident of that kind during a short period of time.
[Source: New China Agency 新华社 and other sources on April 11, 2014]
German minister of finance compares Putin to Hitler,
Russia's warning: This is a provocation.
朔伊布勒对“普京—希特勒”的不恰当类比，火上焦油
Schäuble by using the inappropriate "Putin - Hitler" analogy
is pouring tar on the fire of the Ukrainian crisis.
Relevant quotations from the Schäuble evaluation:
“希特勒当年就是这么对待捷克斯洛伐克的苏台德地区。”
“这是历史告诉我们的事情。”
"Hitler's way of dealing with the Sudeten region of Czechoslovakia that year."
"It's a matter history told us."
Schäuble's reminder of the Sudeten region refers to a territory in former Czechoslovakia that had been traditionally inhabited by a German minority. In 1938 that territory was annexed by Germany in order to "protect German citizens". One year later, the complete territory of Czechoslovakia was "swallowed" by the Nazi leadership.
Because of the Ukrainian crisis, the European - U.S. alliance of countries has adopted a set of sanctions against Russia. As an answer, Russia tries to provoke the status of the "Petrodollar". It has already explored Iran and China for a trade cooperation [with respect to] oil and gas in order to bypass the settling of accounts in U.S. Dollars. However, Russia's unyielding attitude might cause a quick flight of capital at home. Bad commercial credit reports, as well, [might reduce] the trade opponent's initiative.
[Source: Wallstreet Information China 花尔街见闻 on April 05, 2014]
Wenn der Schutz des russischen Bevölkerungsanteils in der Ukraine heute als Vorwand einer russischen Expansionspolitik herhalten soll, darf man nicht vergessen, dass die in Frage stehende Region stets zum russischen Kulturkreis gehörte. Besonders deutlich wird dies im Spiegel einer sowjetischen Literatur, die nicht immer nur stalinistische Propaganda war, sondern auch, vielleicht unbeabsichtigt, ein Licht auf die Dominanz der russischen Volksgruppe in diesem Teil der ehemaligen Sowjetunion warf. Im folgenden soll ein sowjetischer Schriftsteller zu Worte kommen, dessen persönliche Integrität heute und im historischen Rückblick glaubhafter in Erscheinung tritt als zu seinen Lebzeiten.
Michail Alexandrowitsch Scholochow wurde am 24. Mai 1905 in Südrussland im heutigen Oblast Rostow geboren und starb dort auch am 21. Februar 1984. Er war ein sowjetischer Schriftsteller von internationalem Rang und wurde 1965 für sein Hauptwerk „Der Stille Don“ mit dem Nobelpreis für Literatur geehrt.
Scholochows russische Heimat, deren tragische Entwicklung nach der Oktoberrevolution im Stillen Don (1925-1940) und später in „Neuland unterm Pflug“ beschrieben wird, grenzt an die heutige Ukraine und umfasst genau die Region, in der die Russische Föderation im Jahr 2014 große Truppenteile zum „Schutz der russischen Minderheit“ in der Ukraine zusammenzieht. Das benachbarte ukrainische Industrierevier im Donezbecken wurde nach dem zweiten Weltkrieg auch von ethnischen Russen wieder aufgebaut und besiedelt und bildete ein wichtiges Zentrum der russischen Wirtschaft bis zum Zerfall der Sowjetunion. Dafür gibt es auch von anderen Autoren literarischer Belege in der zeitgenössischen Literatur.
Während die Ereignisse nach der Oktoberrevolution 1917 in den Geschichtsbüchern nachzulesen sind, beschreibt Michail Scholochow diese Epoche Russlands als hautnahen Erlebnisbericht. In seinen monumentalen Werken schildert er das Leben der russischen Donkosaken. Es geht um Krieg, Liebe, Familie und Traditionen, — und um ein Russland, das seinen alten Bräuchen eine neue Idee, den Kommunismus, entgegensetzt.
Während seiner Jugendzeit hielt sich die Familie Scholochow im Chutor Pleschakow auf. Hier fanden im Frühjahr 1919 die schwersten Kämpfe zwischen aufständischen Kosaken und den Bolschewiken statt. Michael Scholochow, damals 14, konnte die blutigen Gefechte von seinem Zimmerfenster aus beobachten. Ähnlich wie seine Romanfiguren litt Michael Scholochow, zumindest in seiner Jugend, wegen seiner Kosakeschen Wurzeln unter den Kommunisten. Der junge Scholochow hatte es schwer als Außenseiter in Moskau. Die großen Verlage wollten seine Erzählungen nicht drucken. Erst als ihm der Stalinpreis verliehen wurde, setzte sich Scholochow als Schriftsteller durch.
Das aus heutiger Sicht Interessante an Scholochows Werk bleibt die unbeabsichtigte Erkenntnis, dass eben auch in Teilen der heutigen Ukraine und seiner unmittelbaren Umgebung das „Herz von Mütterchen Russland“ schlägt. Diese Erkenntnis ist vielleicht "politisch unkorrekt", aber deshalb nicht weniger realistisch.
Scholochows Kunst besteht darin, die Menschen seines Romans selbst sprechen zu lassen. Der Schriftsteller geht nicht wertend dazwischen, um das Verhalten seiner Protagonisten zu erklären oder zu rechtfertigen. Stattdessen zeigt er dem Leser ein reelles Bild Russlands und seiner Bürger, ohne sich dabei auf die Seite der einen oder anderen Partei zu schlagen. Deshalb soll auch die leidvolle Erfahrung einer Romanfigur zitiert werden, die der neuen bolschewistischen Ordnung skeptisch gegenüberstand.
Es handelt sich bei den folgenden Zitaten um => Textabschnitte aus Scholochows Werk „Neuland unterm Pflug“ <=. Der Text weist indirekt auf die russische Besiedlung am Schwarzen Meer, und im ukrainischen Donezbecken hin, sowie auf das südrussische Oblast Rostow an der Grenze zur heutigen Ukraine.
Eine im Text angedeutete Kosaken-Revolte gegen die Bolschewiken fand tatsächlich statt und wurde schnell niedergeschlagen. Auch die geschilderten Misstände lassen sich zum Teil mit Dokumenten der ersten bolschewistischen Regierung belegen.
Es scheint, dass manchmal gerade die jahrzehntelange kollektive Erfahrung von Verzweiflung und Solidarität inmitten von Not und Willkür den patriotischen Zusammenhang einer Nation fördert.
Demgegenüber steht die Befindlichkeit einer Handvoll „Europathen“, die am liebsten alles was „links vom Ural“ liegt einer bereits unnötig aufgeblähten Europäischen Union einverleiben wollen (wenn möglich auch noch Volgograd dazu).
Um eine Zuordnung traditionell russischer Siedlungsgebiete zu erleichtern, wurden einschlägige Ortsnamen wie Rostow, Mariupol und Lugansk, ebenso wie Scholochows Heimat im südrussischen Oblast Rostow (Rostovskaya Oblast) in einer regionalen Karte markiert. Als kleine Hilfe zur geographischen Orientierung wurde schließlich auch noch die Stadt Volgograd mit ihrem alten Namen Stalingrad bezeichnet.
Unter den relevanten Textstellen in Scholochows „Neuland unterm Pflug“ ist übrigens die folgende am informativsten:
Der Gedanke liegt nahe, dass die Abwicklung der Sowjetunion seinerzeit mit der „heißen Nadel genäht“ wurde, wobei alte Distriktsgrenzen einfach beibehalten wurden. Ein solches Vorgehen konnte zunächst folgenlos bleiben, da ja auf beiden Seiten der Grenze eine vergleichbare Ausgangssituation herrschte. Erst mit der individuellen politischen Neuorientierung aneinander grenzender Folgestaaten der UDSSR, jetzt eingebunden in konkurrierende Wirtschafts- und Bündnissysteme, mussten dann auch lokale ethnische Probleme wieder akut werden, die im gleichgeschalteten System der Sowjetunion kaum eine Rolle gespielt hatten.
..............................
Kapitalistische Umtriebe im sozialistischen Paradies.
Nach dem Tod des italienischen KP-Chefs Togliatti wurde die russische Stadt Stavropol an der Wolga in Togliatti (auch: Togliattigrad) umbenannt. Seit 1969 produzierte der italienische Autohersteller FIAT in den von russischen Ingenieuren gebauten Werkhallen jährlich mehrere 100.000 Fahrzeuge. 1968/69 zählte das FIAT-Lada-Werk in Togliattigrad zu den größten Industrieprojekten der Sowjetunion.
Westeuropäische Separatisten, die sich nicht verkaufen lassen wollten.
" Mir wölle bleiwe wat mir sin " (Wir wollen bleiben, was wir sind) blieb für lange Zeit der Wahlspruch des Großherzogtums Luxemburg. Anlass dafür war die Luxemburgkrise von 1867: Frankreichs "Operettenkaiser" Napoleon III beabsichtigte zu dieser Zeit den Erwerb des Großherzogtums, dessen Staatsoberhaupt Wilhelm III der Niederlande war und das dem Deutschen Bund angehörte.
Al-Capone im Euroland
Im französischen Übersee-Territorium Saint Pierre et Miquelon unterhielt einst der Gangster Al-Capone (1895-1947) ein ex-territoriales Schnapslager. Während der Prohibitionszeit in den USA wurden von hier aus die illegalen Kneipen ("Speakeasy") in den Großstädten der amerikanischen Ostküste beliefert. Die winzige Inselgruppe Saint Pierre et Miquelon gehört heute zur Eurozone.
Latest Development (March 16, 03:30 GMT):
According to different German news sources, some secondary NATO websites should have been disabled by hacker activity. All sources are mentioning a possible relationship with the Crimean referendum which is to begin only some hours later. [Main Source: German N-TV news] => Related NATO paper: NATO and Cyber Defence.
The New York Times (March 16, European edition):
Russia Seizes Gas Plant Near Crimea Border, Ukraine Says => illustrated article
Crimean News Agency QHA (March 17):
- Turnout of votes 64% by 15:00 on day of referendum (i.e. March 16). - 93% of Crimeans voted for Russia.
- 90% of Crimean Tatars didn't take part in referendum.
- Dead body of a Crimean Tatar with signs of torture found in Crimea.
- Ukrainian soldier to swear an oath to Crimea or leave.
- Referendum results to be adopted on March 17.
- Crimean authorities to introduce Russian ruble in April.
- Russia's Putin tells Germany's Merkel referendum in Crimea is legal.
The Muslimic and Turkish speaking minority of Tatars in the
[Autonomous] Republic of Crimea [picture from archives].
زعيم مسلمي القرم: تدخلوا قبل وقوع المجازر
Crimea's Muslimic leader: [Intervention] prior to the occurrence of massacres.
طالب زعيم التتار المسلمين في القرم مصطفى جميليف اليوم الخميس حلف شمال الاطلسي الناتو بالتدخل "قبل وقوع مجزرة"، داعيا أبناء الأقلية لمقاطعة الاستفتاء المقرر الأحد القادم في شبه الجزيرة الأوكرانية حول انضمامها إلى روسيا.ـ
Today, Thursday [i.e. March 13], the leader of Crimea's Muslimic Tatars, Musdafa Djamilif, called for the North Atlantic Pact NATO to intervene "prior to the occurrence of massacres" [while inviting] the descendants of [that] minority to boycott the referendum [which is] to be held next Sunday on the Ukrainian peninsula on the issue of its affiliation to Russia.
وقال جميليف في اتصال هاتفي مع وكالة فرانس برس من بروكسل "ندعو تتار القرم لمقاطعة الاستفتاء"، مضيفا "طالما ان الامم المتحدة لن توافق أبدا، بسبب الفيتو الروسي في مجلس الأمن الدولي، على إرسال قوات حفظ سلام دولية إلى القرم، فإن حلف شمال الأطلسي عليه أن يتدخل كما فعل في كوسوفو (...) قبل وقوع مجزرة في القرم".ـ
In a telephone call with the [news] agency France-Press in Brussels, Djamilif said: " We are calling the Crimean Tatars to boycott the referendum ", [and he added:] " Since the United Nations will never agree to a deployment of international peace-keeping forces in Crimea because of Russia's veto in the international Security Council, [what] if the North Atlantic Pact therefore intervenes like it did in Kosovo (...) before it comes to a massacre in Crimea. "
And Djamilif added being decided to meet with the secretary general of the North Atlantic Pact, Anders Fogh Rasmussen.
[Source: Network of Al-Arabiya TV العربية نت on March 14, 2014]
Editor's Note: The Tatar minority comprises about 12-15% of the Crimean peninsula's population.
..............................
The following excerpt belongs to an article on the problem of self-rule in Crimea, Kosovo and other countries and was published by Peter Baker, staff-writer for The New York Times, on March 8, 2014. I consider this to be a " must have read ".
" The Kosovars’ secession from Serbia in 1999 drove a deep wedge between the United States and Russia that soured relations for years. Washington supported Kosovo’s bid for independence, culminating in 2008, while Moscow saw it as an infringement of Serbia’s sovereignty.
Now 15 years later, the former Cold War rivals again find themselves at odds, but this time they have effectively switched sides: Russia loudly proclaims Crimea’s right to break off from Ukraine while the United States calls it illegitimate. The showdown in Ukraine has revived a centuries-old debate over the right of self-determination versus the territorial integrity of nation-states. "
..............................
" No Right to Finance Bandits "
[quoting Ukraine's ousted
president V. Yanukóvich]
The above article from the Spanish website of Russia's state-run TV Russia Today RT was published on March 13 and deals with Russia's interest to avoid any disturbances of its gas deliveries to the Ukraine and other countries.
On the occasion of his meeting with German vice-chancellor and minister for economy and energy, Sigmar Gabriel, the president of Russia's energy giant Gazprom, Alexéi Miller, is quoted with the following words:
" Even though we have all rights from the valid contract to request prepayment, we refrain from doing so because we don't want to promote an economic collapse of Ukraine. Neither do we want the appearance of risks for Russian gas delivery to Europe. "
As there are many sides involved in the Ukrainian drama, so there are many voices to be heard. This, however, doesn't make it easier to receive a complete picture of the situation. To add some further pieces to the puzzle, here are selected news I collected while searching the web and watching satellite TV during the last days.
نحو ألف من المسلحين يحاصرون وحدات من حرس الحدود الأوكرانيين في شبه جزيرة القرم
About 1,000 troops besiege units of the Ukrainian border guard on the Crimean peninsula.
موسكو: قرار الرئيس بوتين بالتدخل العسكري في اوكرانيا يحظى بتأييد شعبي روسي على أنه حماية للروس هناك
Moscow: As to the military intervention of the Ukraine, president Putin is enjoying the support of the Russian people [under the aspect of] a protection of the Russians there.
[Al-Jazeera Arabic TV on March 2]
..............................
Analista: Las sanciones se podrían tomar como declaración de guerra.
An analyst is saying the sanctions [considered by U.S. and EU] could be taken as a declaration of war.
The above headline is referring to a live interview with some expert from Madrid. The running text below is implying that Ukrainian military units should have decided to surrender "in masses" to Russian intervention troops. This, however, has been denied by different independent observers.
[RT-TV (Russia Today) on March 2]
From Moscow with Love ..............
Limpia Noticias - News Cleaner
To help you clean your TV-screen.
A new product provided by RT-TV
(Russia Today, Spanish program).
[ Editor's WARNING: Keep it away from immature persons ! ]
Above: Spanish website of Russia Today RT on March 4, 2014.
Now, here is an article chosen from today's English website of Russia's RT-TV and which is titled: Russia is allowed to have 25,000 troops in Crimea...and other facts you didn’t know. I'm sure this has the truth, even though, it might be only half of the truth as foreign military out of its local base could easily be considered as an invasion.
Yesterday evening, the town of Kunming in Yunnan province experienced a terrorist attack targeting the town's railway station. According to Chinese reports at least 100 people should have been affected. However, reliable information about casualties was not available even one day later.
As separatists from Xinjiang province are suspected to be behind the incident, general secretary Xi JinPing has already interfered, and a furious comment was published on People's Network. That comment reflected the semi-official intention to "smash the nation's public enemy".
Today's main headline on People's Network is saying:
"Xi JinPing gave important instructions in the case of a
violent terrorist incident at Kunming railway station."
Headline, related picture and comment are marked red.
................................
UPDATE for March 3:
Today's CNN news report is quoting XINHUA agency with further details. According to them eight terrorists armed with knives should have attacked people at Kunming railway station on Saturday evening (i.e. February 1), killing at least 28 people and wounding 113. Four terrorists should have been shot on the spot, the others have been arrested.
Editor's Comment:
That bloody attack obviously surprised Chinese authorities and media. I remember a first Chinese report, mentioning more than 100 wounded victims, and which suddenly disappeared from the web before I could extract more information. Another website taking over included a link to China's national TV channel CCTV1, however, the TV news report covered everything else but that terrorist incident. As my time is limited, I could not follow the news any longer that day.
By the way, the appearance of a fire brigade, shown on the official photo, suggested the use of a bomb rather than a mass slaughtering using knives. Even the remark of a Chinese journalist, saying he accidentally passed the railway station that evening and found it closed by police forces, shows how much confusion must have been on the Chinese side.
In their evening news on March 1, 2014, Russia's state-run TV "Russia Today" broadcast an interview with Konstantin Dolgov, the special commissioner for human rights from Russia's ministry of foreign affairs. Dolgov denounced Ukrainian terrorists as the real danger to Ukrainian democracy and which made Russia's intervention on the Crimean peninsula inevitable to saveguard the Russian population there.
On this occasion, the U.S. concentration camp of Guantánamo was mentioned as a proof that Western nations are turning a blind eye at undemocratic behaviour when it is serving their purpose. The broadcast of Russia Today was recorded from its Spanish language service.
Here are some headlines and stances published by Russia's national TV in Spanish. They were accompanied by scenes of violence from Kiev, showing assaults on public buildings and security personnel during earlier demonstrations that were targeting the pro-Russian government of president Yanucovich and who was ousted only some days ago. A cruel beating up of what seems to be a Yanukovich supporter was shown as well as insurgents using molotow cocktails against Ukrainian security forces.
Analista: EEUU y países de la UE son responsables de la crisis ucraniana.
An analyst says the U.S. and countries of the European Union are responsible for the Ukrainian crisis.
Rusia estudia retirar a su embajador en EE. UU.
Russia is considering to call back its ambassador to the United States.
Analista: La situación en Ucrania puede evolucionar en guerra civil.
According to an analyst the Ukrainian situation might develop into a civil war.
Razing reminders of the Russian dominated Soviet Union.
En la Ucrania de hoy hay una verdadera orgía de grupos extremistas y un atropello a los DD.HH.
In Ukraine today, extremist groups are having a veritable orgy and a clash on human rights.
Ukrainian opposition invading government buildings in Kiev.
Los radicales ucranianos al frente de las protestas seguían un guion preparado con apoyo del exterior.
Ukrainian radicals in the front line of protests are following a script prepared with foreign help.
El jefe de un grupo ultranacionalista ucraniano se dirigió al terrorista checheno Doku Umárov piniéndole su apoyo, según refleja una página de una red social rusa.
Some website belonging to a social network in Russia refers to [an alleged] request for support by the leader of an ultranationalist group in Ukraine and who addressed Chechen terrorist Doku Umarov .
To defend one's interest by force, as the Ukrainian
opposition did, is not at all democratic [behaviour].
It is oddly enough for the West not to speak about illegal and
racist activity in Ukraine while caring so much for democracy.
Las decisiones de la oposición pueden aumentar la tensión interétnica en Ucrania.
The decisions taken by the opposition might increase interethnic tensions in Ukraine.
This was the adage of an evening broadcast by Russia Today RT on March 2, 2014. The program dealt with parallels and differences between the Ukrainian revolution and similar developments in Arabic states which became known as the Arabic Spring.
Analizamos similitudes de primavera árabe con crisis que vive Ucrania.
We are analyzing similarities between the Arabic Spring and the current crisis of Ukraine.
Particularities of all national revolutions analyzed here included the economic development where Ukraine could be compared to Egypt and Libya. In all of these countries former leaders had either been ousted or killed. The economy of Ukraine, Egypt and Libya had therefore drastically suffered from political turmoil while Syria's economy seems still somehow stable. Libya, where internal chaos has replaced the strong grip of Muammar al-Ghadafi, suffers most from a loss of governmental control, while Egypt seems to be stabilized by the unbroken influence of the military. One Spanish expert on national economy was quoted as follows:
Inestabilidad golpea a países que sufren estas revueltas. Oferta de asociación de la UE a Ucrania no tiene sentido.
Countries suffering from such rebellions are hitten by instability. An offer of association with the European Union doesn't make sense.
One of the biggest Bitcoin exchanges, MtGox, has gone offline. Its CEO Mark Karpelès is not available any longer, his whereabouts being unknown.
Holders of Bitcoin accounts on MtGox are gathering in front of the company's Tokyo main office in protest of the MtGox closure of all transactions for the time being.
The exchange has been hit by technical issues and recently halted all customer withdrawals of the digital currency after it spotted what it called "unusual activity". It seems that hackers succeeded in draining 744.408 Bitcoin token worth between 220 and 370 million Euro (depending on the reference value applied).
The move is a setback for backers of Bitcoin, who have been pushing for greater adoption of the currency. Meanwhile, six other major Bitcoin exchanges issued a joint statement distancing themselves from MtGox.
The move by MtGox to halt withdrawals had resulted in a sharp decline in the value of Bitcoin. Having reached its maximum value of 1000 Euro in November 2013, the rate of exchange for one Bitcoin unit remained stable at 600 Euro in January 2014. In February it dropped to 400 Euro as was reported by other trading platforms for Bitcoin tokens like btc-e.com and bitcoin.de. The exchange rate reported by MtGox at that time was even slightly lower. After alleged hacker activity, that rate finally dropped to yesterday's actual value of 100 Euro.
Above: Strategy timeline for MtGox found on the internet, and some
cryptic statement posted on the MtGox website yesterday afternoon.
The closure of the site did not "reflect the resilience or value of Bitcoin", said a statement from representatives of several other Bitcoin exchanges, including Coinbase and BTC China.
"This tragic violation of the trust of users of MtGox was the result of one company's actions.
"As with any new industry, there are certain bad actors that need to be weeded out, and that is what we are seeing today.
[Sources: BBC (Britain), N-TV (Germany), SINA (China) on February 25 / 26, 2014]
Here is a short description of how the Bitcoin system is working and which has been provided by BBC business and technology news:
How Bitcoin works
Bitcoin is often referred to as a new kind of currency.
But it may be best to think of its units being virtual tokens rather than physical coins or notes.
However, like all currencies its value is determined by how much people are willing to exchange it for.
To process Bitcoin transactions, a procedure called "mining" must take place, which involves a computer solving a difficult mathematical problem with a 64-digit solution.
For each problem solved, one block of Bitcoins is processed. In addition the miner is rewarded with new Bitcoins.
This provides an incentive for people to provide computer processing power to solve the problems.
To compensate for the growing power of computer chips, the difficulty of the puzzles is adjusted to ensure a steady stream of about 3,600 new Bitcoins a day.
There are currently about 11 million Bitcoins in existence.
To receive a Bitcoin, a user must have a Bitcoin address - a string of 27-34 letters and numbers - which acts as a kind of virtual post-box to and from which the Bitcoins are sent.
Since there is no registry of these addresses, people can use them to protect their anonymity when making a transaction.
These addresses are in turn stored in Bitcoin wallets, which are used to manage savings.
They operate like privately run bank accounts - with the proviso that if the data is lost, so are the Bitcoins owned.
Bitcoin's strength - that it has grown in an organic, slightly anarchic and
devolved way, with no central oversight or control - is also its weakness”
Robert Peston - Business editor for British Broadcasting Corporation BBC
You Better Buy Stamps !
..............................
UPDATE for February 27:
Today, China's People TV channel CCTV 1 comes with the news of a high-ranking meeting of Communist Party leaders dealing with internet security. That meeting should have taken place only some hours ago.
[While] presiding over the opening of the first conference of a leading group from the [CPC] Central Committee [and which is addressing] Internet Security and informatisation, [CPC chairman] Xi JinPing underlined [that] a general layout of plannings [requires] each side to blaze new trails of development. [It needs] to actively [transform] our country into a powerful internet nation. - [Prime minister] Li KeQiang and Liu Yunshan [a member of the CPC's political bureau] were attending [the meeting].
Editor's Note:
Even though the official bulletin doesn't mention Bitcoins, that item can be expected to establish an important subject in the discussions behind closed doors, even more as a remarkable number of Chinese internet users already adopted that virtual currency. That's why China's government had earlier emphasized the risks of using "Bitbi" when it stated that Bitcoins are not supported by any national currency system. However, the need for some kind of virtual money is not generally rejected by China's authorities.
Taiwan, on the contrary, seems to be much more worried: When the first public automat for money exchange into Bitcoins was installed in Hong Kong some weeks ago, Taiwan's authorities turned down the operating company's request to install a similar device in their country.
Here now comes an isolated personal remark published by some Chinese reader who considered the official Chinese bulletin mentioned above. As to Xi JinPing's demand to strengthen China's position on the internet, that reader argues:
网络反垄断搞不好，中国网络就没太大作为。
"The Web isn't too good in opposing a monopoly, China's Web will therefore accomplish next to nothing."
