Latest news on the development in Ukraine.
While US foreign secretary Blinken should be sitting around the negotiating table together with his Russian counterpart Lavrov, the Chinese newspaper 《星洲》 reported about an ongoing delivery of US weapons to Ukraine by proxy.
The Chinese news from 《星洲》 are appearing in Malaysia and are independent from Beijing. The quoted article was published today, January 21.
美同意波罗的海三国向乌克兰转交美制武器
The United States agreed to the transfer of U.S.-made
weapons to Ukraine by the three Baltic states.
The U.S. State Department has agreed to Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia to deliver U.S.-made missiles and other weapons to Ukraine. Lithuania's defense minister said on Thursday that the country hoped to deter "aggressor" Russia.
U.S. President Joe Biden's administration has approved $650 million in weapons to Ukraine since last year, including $200 million in defensive security assistance that was approved at the beginning of this month.
Yesterday, I discovered a Chinese language article published on the same day and which sheds a light on the missing acceptance of Russian supremacy over the peoples and cultures in the western part of the Soviet Union after its foundation in 1917. According to that article, this led to an initial fraternization of these peoples with German troops after their invasion of the Soviet Union in 1941.
While the German Federal Republic, founded in 1949, finally refrained from militarism and gave way to economic partnership and a peaceful competition of political systems, Russia feels its influence on Ukraine weaken in front of Western economic and political temptations, namely an EU and NATO membership which recently appeared on the Ukrainian horizon like a mirage. This is necessarily raising fears in Moscow to lose its last grip on a former satellite and which once made up for an indispensable part of the old Russian Empire and the Soviet Union.
Here are some quotations from that remarkable Chinese evaluation of a limited popular support for German invaders in World War II. It is still a proof that unbearable suppression is steadily raising resistance against any kind of 'Big Brother' and might finally be leading to an open revolt against his system.
... , after the establishment of the Soviet Union, due to the policy of terror for many years, the Russian culture was decisive, and other cultures, such as Ukrainian culture and language, were even illegal, which also aroused their dissatisfaction with the Soviet authorities. These peoples were not particularly willing to fight for the Soviet regime, and even anti-Soviet groups in the Baltic countries had already occupied some cities before the Germans arrived. Therefore, when the Soviet-German war broke out, many fighters and commanders in the Russian, Eastern Ukrainian and Eastern Belarusian troops did not show their due combat effectiveness and easily surrendered.
A Belarusian officer once said to the Russian Liberation Army, which aptly reflected the mentality of these Soviets at the time: "We have no choice at all to do this or that. If the Germans win, they will wipe us all out. If the Soviets win, they will wipe out our civilization and assimilate our nation... There is no third option."
However, as the German army expropriated the occupied areas, it aroused the dissatisfaction of the local people, which intensified the contradiction. The local people realized the nature of the German invaders, and some people took up arms and resisted the German army.
Two major US cellphone carriers, AT&T and Verizon, agreed Tuesday afternoon to delay the planned roll-out of some new 5G wireless service that was intended to go into full operation tomorrow, Wednesday 19.
This comes after many US airlines like American Airlines, Delta Air Lines, United Airlines and Southwest Airlines raised alarms about potential interference with important systems on planes. In a letter to the White House, airline CEOs asked the government for “immediate intervention,” warning that the deployment of 5G could result in massive flight disruptions nationwide.
The US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) is concerned about a narrow range of frequencies included in the package of radio frequencies used for 5G services. These frequencies should provide higher data speeds and make cellphones more reliable. But airline CEOs worry that cellphone towers on the ground emitting a 5G signal could interfere with an airplane’s altimeter.
Other than some European 5G mobile communications standard, the US based 5G standard is using a frequency above 3,7 Gigahertz which is dangerously near the operation frequency of radar altimeters (4,2 - 4,4 Gigahertz), needed for aircraft approach navigation at low altitude and low visibility.
All Nippon Airways (ANA) and Japan Airlines (JAL) announced on the evening of the 18th that they had cancelled some flights between Japan and the United States due to the possible impact of the 5G signal in the United States. The Federal Aviation Administration and several airlines have previously warned that 5G airwaves could cause malfunctions in aircraft instruments and systems.
The Japanese press reported that two Japanese airlines flying Boeing 777s on the America Line will cancel flights that cannot be changed to other models. All Nippon Airways pointed out that it learned from Boeing on the 18th that due to the influence of 5G radio waves, the system that controls the posture of the 777 aircraft may malfunction when it is flying at low altitudes.
According to ANA, U.S. aviation authorities pointed out in December that 5G airwaves could affect the plane's altimeter, and on Jan. 13 revealed the airports that might be affected. Boeing notified all airlines operating its 777s to limit operations because it could affect airframe control as the planes land. JAL also canceled some flights due to this impact.
Warnings from Boeing were accompanied by similar declarations from Airbus Industries.
The Arabic air carrier Emirates grounded its flights bound for North America.
Russian sources express some second thoughts about the origin of widespread protests against Kazakhstan's autocratic leadership and which rather unexpectedly broke out some days ago.
There is no doubt that such protests are originally based on the fragility of Kazakhstan's economy, even though their violence seems to be unusual.
In the current global energy crisis, Kazakhstan, a net oil exporter, is struggling with rising prices and domestic fuel supplies. Kazakhstan is highly dependent on oil exports but lacks the pricing power of OPEC members, so its inflation and exchange rate are affected by the oil market and its main trading partner, the Russian currency ruble. In fact, it is a sharp increase in energy prices that finally blew the fuse of civil unrest in Kazakhstan.
Kazakhstan And Western Interests
Russian experts believe that 'Western black hands' are behind the massive protests in Kazakhstan. Pictures are being distributed that should prove the distribution of guns among protesters. Russian media are pointing at US interests in the region and suspect Western NGOs, namely 'Kazakhstan Democratic Choice' and 'Wake Up, Kazakhstan', for trying to take the lead in local protests in the capital Almaty.
Furthermore, there could be much money involved, as US authorities are being scolded for having allegedly allocated more than 1.5 million US dollars to the 'rights and freedoms protection' work of Kazakh citizens last year.
After a 4-day outage, the mobile phone signal in Kazakhstan's largest city has been restored today while bitcoin mining activities in Kazakhstan have been seriously affected. They disappeared by 12% due to the repeated interruption of the Internet in Kazakhstan during the riots. Data are showing that Kazakhstan will become the second largest bitcoin mining center in the world after the United States in 2021.
In the frame of their peace-keeping mission requested by Kazakhstan's leader Tokayev, Russia sent about 2,500 Russian airborne troops and related equipment. It is reported that 10 Il-76 large transport aircraft and 3 An-124 strategic transport aircraft of the Russian Aerospace Forces participated in the troop transport mission. Judging from the models used, the Russian airborne troops obviously carried a lot of heavy equipment. A video released by Russian state TV also showed that the Russian military transport plane to Kazakhstan was equipped with BMD-3 airborne combat vehicles and BTR-82A wheeled vehicles. Infantry fighting vehicles and "Tiger" high-mobility armored vehicles, etc.
As to the peace-keeping troops, the Russian army sent the 45th Special Brigade of the Airborne Forces, the Ivanovo Airborne Forces and the famous Ulyanovsk Airborne Forces. The airborne troops are the elite troops in the Russian army, and their personnel treatment, training level and equipment level are very good.
The deployment of these troops, however would certainly weaken Russia's general combat-readiness when it came to a military showdown between Russia and Ukraine, another hotspot where Russian and US interests are colliding.
China's Central Asian Strategy Affected
Russian sources have been quoted by Chinese media that are warning Chinese expatriates to take effective safety precautions and inform China's consulate and embassy in case of an urgency. China has much interest in a steady development of Kazakhstan which it sees as an important factor in its policy of 'One Road - One Belt'. That policy is intended to create a 'New Silk Road' between China and Eastern Europe via Kazakhstan and expand economic ties in the region while simultaneously developing new markets for Chinese goods.
The Kashagan oil field in the Caspian Sea and which is partly owned by Chinese share holders. 中企拥有股份的卡沙甘油田在哈萨克斯坦的里海
Tens of thousands of Russian troops have gathered at the Ukrainian border, raising worries amongst the U.S. and its allies of a possible invasion. Russia has said it built up its military to prevent NATO expansion towards its borders and to defend Russian ethnic nationals living in the war-torn east Ukrainian region of Donbas.
US President Biden has said that Russia will have "a heavy price to pay" if it invades Ukraine.
Biden made his comment after reporters asked about his latest phone call with Russian President Vladimir Putin on December 30. During the 50-minute call, the two presidents mostly discussed de-escalation in Ukraine and U.S.-Russia diplomatic relations heading into European talks that will begin in mid-January.
Following the Biden-Putin call, a group of 24 former U.S. national security officials and Russia experts — a group that includes several officials who served in the Obama, George W. Bush and Clinton’s administrations — released a statement calling on Biden to immediately, and publicly, lay out the penalties Russia would face if Putin were to move forward with military action.
“We believe the United States should, in closest consultation with its NATO allies and with Ukraine, take immediate steps to affect the Kremlin’s cost-benefit calculations before the Russian leadership opts for further military escalation,” the group wrote. “Such a response would include a package of major and painful sanctions that would be applied immediately if Russia assaults Ukraine. Ideally, the outline of these sanctions would be communicated now to Moscow, so that the Kremlin has a clear understanding of the magnitude of the economic hit it will face.”
The Russians for their part continue to make the case that they are facing an existential threat with Ukraine.
UPDATE 04-01-2022 Russian Cyber Attacks
Ukraine has been the target of Russia’s most brazen cyber operations in recent years. Such attacks would surely accompany any land invasion launched by the roughly 175,000 Russian troops currently massed on the Ukraine border.
Cybersecurity experts are already noting an uptick in Russian cyber intrusions into Ukrainian government and civilian computer networks that could lay the groundwork for a major cyberattack. [Washington Post]
I recently learned about a cyber attack which caused a shutdown of local electricity in Ukraine. The shutdown was stopped by the aggressor only shortly before essential and long-lasting damage to the regional water supply could be caused by the freezing of idle pumping systems during the cold season. [German TV documentation]
Some Historic and Ethnic Facts Serving Russia's War Readiness
Historic Links Between Moscow and Kiev
In the 11th century, a prince called Yaroslav the Wise united principalities lying between the Baltic and Black seas, codifying laws and forming the first political state of the eastern Slavs. Both Russia and Ukraine claim him as a forefather.
The kingdom of Yaroslav became a central part of the Russian empire during later centuries, and the axis Moscow-Kiev even served as the main line of supply for the Russian-Japanese War at the beginning of the 20th century where Russia blew most of its military and financial reserves in a colonial adventure that should provide access to coal, iron and unexpensive labour in China's eastern province of Manchuria, a region that was contested at the time between two colonial powers, Russia and Japan.
Further information is available from a brandnew Chinese article:
* 乌克兰的历史 *
The above quoted source from China and less comprehensive sources from the West are hinting at the role of national identity that is firing the Ukraine Conflict.
Ethnic Russians in Eastern Ukraine
As to the distribution of ethnic Russians in contested areas of Eastern Ukraine, there is an article I once published in this blog in order to prove the presence of a vast community of Russians in the Donbas region after World War II:
* Russlands Historische Wurzeln am Rand der Ukraine *
This article has been written in German as it refers to Russian literature, translated into German and distributed in occupied Eastern Germany after the end of World War II. At that time, nothing indicated that the Donbas region would become an object of dispute between independent states.
A related English language article on the 2014 referendum in the frame of Russia's occupation of Crimea can be found here:
* Ukraine - Crimean Referendum *
European Dreams of Love Peace and Open Markets
Now that the Ukraine Conflict has become increasingly complicated and dangerous, the European Union needs to decide whether to leave it to US President Biden to negotiate a deal with Russia's Putin regarding an publicly requested - though hypothetic - NATO membership of Ukraine, or get involved to find new ways of further cooperation between the EU and Ukraine that could be tolerated by Putin. However, there is not much choice left. Wouldn't it be therefore more favourable to abandon the fundamental idea of making Ukraine an affiliate to the EU which could only lead to a direct confrontation with Russia. In case of an armed conflict which seems to become more and more real, this could freeze all relations with Russia for years.
To emphasize 'value based policies' in foreign politics might not be the best choice at the moment. Close economic relationship could be achieved sooner or later anyway, however not in opposition with existing treaties signed between Ukraine and Russia.
As I tried to show, both countries enjoy a long common history that was, as well, the history of the Russian Empire smashed in the revolution of 1917. When the subsequently founded Soviet Union failed in the 1980ies, Ukraine became independent, however not completely separated from Russia. There are still many links, economic and ethnic ones, which have their impact on Russian-Ukrainian coexistence. No wonder that Russia's leader looks with great suspicion at the expansion of the European Union, even though he might be aware that such expansion can include an unhealthy aspect for the EU itself.
Memories of the 'Great War of the Fatherland' are still present, especially in the disputed area of Donbas and Crimea. This is what should not be forgotten. When Russian troops finally prevailed over German invaders in the battle of nearby Stalingrad at the end of 1942, it was the result of different reasons and developments, and it was not the logical consequence of Russian supremacy.
And we don't want to see the Euro currency end like the German occupation forces' Karbowanez currency for Ukraine in 1942.
Well, the 20 Euro banknote for use in Ukraine is a fake ! But I hope I got it look real.
Or do you really wish to make Ukraine a part of the European Union and 'Euroland' ?
Yesterday, December 11, 2021, German cyber security authority BSI launched a RED ALERT regarding the use of a certain Java based logging utility.
On December 9, 2021, a zero-day arbitrary code execution vulnerability in Log4j 2 was reported and given the descriptor "Log4Shell". It has been characterized as "the single biggest, most critical vulnerability of the last decade".
Apache Log4j is a Java-based logging utility originally written by Ceki Gülcü. It is part of the Apache Logging Services, a project of the Apache Software Foundation. Log4j is one of several Java logging frameworks.
The critical security gap caused by Log4j is now being compared with critical gaps like Shellshock or Heartbleed that already endangered hundreds of million computer systems on the internet in 2014.
Last Update (Monday, December 13):
After the BSI warning had been upgraded, cyber security units of leading German enterprises reacted immediately. VW, Lufthansa, Deutsche Telecom and Hapag-Lloyd Shipping raised their levels of security measures and watched out for possible cyber attacks. [German Press]
Apart from vulnerabilities of software structures, there are increasing dangers from the outside that are using such vulnerabilities to compromise business and private data in a most extensive way.
An Israeli spyware named Pegasus has become the most dangerous example of an aggressive software that is able to target selected Android and iOS smartphones to extract and download almost any relevant data which government authorities might be interested in. Originally written to enable the tracking of criminals and terrorists, this highly expensive software is only offered to governmental clients who have to sign a document that is intended to restrict the use of Pegasus spyware to the investigation of crime and terrorism.
However, human rights organizations are providing evidence that Pegasus has been used as well to target journalists and system critics in different countries. Both Ghana and Saudi Arabia are mentioned by international media in a relation with NSO's Pegasus. In the case of Saudi Arabia, the murder of system critic Jamal Khashoggi on the premises of Saudi Arabia's consulate in Istanbul in October 2018 is still present in the memory of many people who suspect the Saudi crown prince Mohammed bin Salman as the initiator of that crime.
Under the Biden administration, the United States Commerce Department has now blacklisted NSO, the maker of Israeli spyware Pegasus, for maliciously targetting journalists.
According to US Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo, "The United States is committed to aggressively using export controls to hold companies accountable that develop, traffic, or use technologies to conduct malicious activities that threaten the cybersecurity of members of civil society, dissidents, government officials, and organisations here and abroad."
This looks very much different from earlier US security practice – even under the Obama administration - when National Security Agency NSA was sucpected of eavesdropping the smartphone of German chancellor Angela Merkel.
It seems that global distribution of high-end spyware has run out of control. Since private business took over, Israeli authorities have come under pressure for the first time to look into the proceedings of NSO on their own territory. And it should be noted that Israel, as well, is being suspected of targeting Palestinian politicians with Pegasus
Indeed, it is from Israel that subversive software originally started. I remember having learned the expression "information mining" from an Israeli company that was offering a special software on the internet for those who were still disappointed by a too low performance of search engines in the first years of the internet.
Much later, Israel succeeded in planting its destructive virus "Stuxnet" into the hardware of Iran's Uranium enrichment facility and which led to the destruction of a certain amount of Uranium centrifuges.
Now that "evil government hackers" from China, Russia and North Korea have joined the long-standing electronic spying activities of Israeli and US government services, things are out of control.
This happens at a time when communications technology has reached new levels of complexity, while online access to important infrastructure - like power and water supply -, not to mention all kinds of administrative data, has already become a matter of everyday practice.
People lacking Bifidobacterium adolescentis in their intestinal flora showed subnormal antibody response to different COVID-19 vaccines. This was discovered in a cooperation between two independent research facilities at the University of HongKong.
Shenzhen News, December 3, 2021.
Joint research proved that over half of the people who received the Chinese SinoVac vaccine had a suboptimal antibody response. There was a close correlation between low antibody response and lack of a unique bacterium in our gut called Bifidobacterium adolescentis. Among BioNTech recipients, those who lacked Bifidobacterium adolescentis (and F. prausnitzii) also showed lower antibody response.
An evaluation given by a German medical journal (January 2021) is hinting at the use of antibiotics in some critical cases of Covid-19 and which was possibly leading to a disturbance of the intestinal flora.
The gut organ makes part of the human immune system and its cells can as well be infected by the corona virus. That is why a possible relation between intestinal flora on one side and antibody response to covid vaccines or the Long Covid sydrome on the other side cannot be excluded.
Last Update (November 27/28):
- Israel closes its borders to all foreign visitors for a period of two weeks says prime minister.
- Germany restricted air traffic coming from further African destinations like Botswana, Lesotho,
Malawi and Zimbabwe, countries situated in the neighbourhood of the South African Republic,
after the omicron variant of SARS-CoV-2 was found in air passengers who recently entered
Germany. Only German citizens and other permanent residents are allowed to enter and are
subject to quarantine.
- Measures are intended to provide further time for national health authorities to evaluate the
dangers of the omicron variant and possible counter measures.
- Zhang Wenhong 张文宏, a high-ranking expert for infectious diseases and connected with
the Communist Party of China confirmed the necessity of an observation period of two weeks
for a comprising evaluation of the corona variant. He shows himself convinced that China can
cope with the omicron virus strain. PR China and Hong Kong already detected omicron infected
persons on their territories.
- News on the spotting of the omicron variant in covid infected travellers from South Africa are
developing in different European countries like Great Britain, Italy, the Czech Republic and the
Netherlands.
The original article was
continuously updated on
the day of publishing:
A brandnew fast-spreading variant of SARS-CoV-2 has been detected in South Africa. Researchers are racing to determine whether it poses a threat to COVID vaccines’ effectiveness.
An expert group of World Health Organization (WHO) is meeting today on the subject. It already labelled the strain — currently known as B.1.1.529 — as a 'variant of concern' and named it 'omicron' according to the Greek naming system for coronavirus variants.
Researchers spotted B.1.1.529 in genome-sequencing data from Botswana. The variant stood out because it contains more than 30 changes to the spike protein — the SARS-CoV-2 protein that recognizes host cells and is the main target of the body’s immune responses. Many of the changes have been found in variants such as δ (Delta) and α (Alpha) and are linked to heightened infectivity and the ability to evade infection-blocking antibodies.
But the variant’s apparent sharp rise in South Africa’s Gauteng province — home to Johannesburg — is also setting off alarm bells. Cases increased rapidly in the province in November, particularly in schools and among young people.
The variant harbours a spike mutation that allows it to be detected by genotyping tests that deliver results much more rapidly than genome sequencing.
German authorities immediately declared South Africa a 'COVID variant region' and ordered restrictions on air traffic between both countries starting tonight. This comes at a time when infection rates in Germany are peaking, due to a lack of acceptance of the prescribed corona vaccinations and other protective measures within a population group which is resistant to advice. Public vaccination centers became deserted after a 65% vaccination rate had been reached and were subsequently closed in September. In November the situation changed dramatically. As intensive care beds are now running out at some hospitals in Southern Germany, German Air Force prepares to provide transport capacities in order to transfer critical cases of covid-19 to Northern German locations.
European Union (EU) authorities triggered off a general alert for its member nations. A first case of infection with the new covid variant has already been detected in Belgium.
Israel is known for having put on traffic restrictions to some African regions much earlier. A Chinese source referring to Taiwan health authorities just reported: (The new variant) is expected to become the next wave of mainstream virus strains in South Africa .....預估可能成為下一波南非主流病毒株
Additional News on COVID Research:
A new protein vaccin, developed at the University of Tübingen (Germany), should enable an immune response to SARS-CoV-2 on the basis of detecting certain characteristic protein snippets of the corona virus. The spike protein itself, and which is being targeted by other vaccins, would not play a role in the detection of the virus and the generation of an immune response. Changes to that protein will therefore have no consequences for the vaccin's effectiveness. The protein vaccin has been developed for a group of patients already suffering from immune deficiency and is intended to be applied to certain cancer patients. However, compulsory evaluation of experimental data could take some further time.
The evaluation of an Israeli health insurer on the efficiency of vaccination has been quoted by British and German medical journals. The data are indicating that the risk of re-infection with SARS-CoV-2 increases earlier than previously assumed after a full vaccination just 90 days after the second dose of the mRNA vaccine BNT162b2 (BioNTech-Pfizer).
Update included in the following text on 2021-11-05:
Yesterday, 2021-11-03, the international program of the Arabic news channel 《Al-Jazeera》 reported on a close encounter between US warships and vessels of the Iranian revolutionary guard near the coast of Oman. It seems, Iranian coast guard hurried to the relief of an oil tanker navigating under the flag of Vietnam. Iran says its military units thwarted a US attempt to "steal Iranian oil" by confiscating the tanker. The incident should have happened on October 24.
《Al-Jazeera》الجزيرة
2nd news video published on 2021-11-03, 1st to contain Iranian video material.
《Al-Mayadeen》قناة الميادين
, a pro-Iranian TV channel broadcasting in Arabic on 2021-11-03:
جرأة إيرانية كبيرة في مواجهة الأميركيين تجبرهم على التراجع
Great Iranian courage in a confrontation with the Americans forced them to retreat.
Other Arabic language sources confirmed the Iranian news, showing matching videos of the incident that were taken from different positions (view from Iranian helicopter, view inside helicopter, view from Iranian vessel). What happened: Some helicopter operated by the Iranian revolutionary guards landed on the tanker and deployed a special forces unit to prevent US troops from taking over the ship. At the same time, a US warship close to the tanker, was confronted at very short distance by different Iranian military vessels including speedboats.
The Arabic and Iranian news make sense when related to another incident that already took place off the coast of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) in February this year:
观察者网：美国扣押伊朗油轮卖掉船上200万桶原油，获利1.1亿美元
The Chinese source 《Observer Network》 reported on 2021-06-01:
The US Energy Information Administration released the US oil import and export data for March on the 28th [of May]. Some traders noticed that the import data showed US imports from Iran in March. Some 33,000 barrels of crude oil should have been imported. However, as early as 2018, the United States imposed trade sanctions on Iran's crude oil exports.
The Associated Press AP reported on the 31st, citing court documents and government statistics, that this batch of "imported" crude oil was "confiscated" from Iran. The United States seized an Iranian oil tanker off the coast of the UAE in February this year and sold 2 million barrels of crude oil on board, and finally made a profit of 110 million U.S. dollars.
Footnote added on 2021-11-10:
According to Iranian sources, the Vietnamese tanker "Sothys" was guided to the Iranian port of Bandar Abbas where it was unloaded and recently released. The tanker is now anchoring near the indicated position off the coast of Oman.
_________________________
Sunday, October 31, 2021
In 2018 my blog reached 250.000 visitors. At that time, I listed some
remarkable guests together with satellite images of their locations and
related information. Using the official statistics, only anonymous entities
like government offices, universities, civil or military units of all
kind could be identified. No living humans, known or unknown to the
public, were personally identified, even though, one might have
second thoughts about those who visited my blog, when it comes to
rare coincidence.
After presenting the results of my visitor count, I stopped publishing,
because visitor identification on an advanced level was no longer
available and the success of my blogspots could not be verified any longer
to such extent. Things had generally become more difficult.
However, there are still many visitors from the U.S.A., France and other regions
who keep visiting blueprinteditor.blogspot.com . As a proof for that development,
I decided to add latest statistics.
In the second year of the pandemic, there is still such thing as "homeschooling", even at
Hogwart's where Voldemort can finally be tracked by his IP address and Dumbledore now
belongs to a Covid-19 risk group.
Als am 9. November 1989 die Berliner Mauer fiel und den Untergang der DDR besiegelte, fand gerade eine Tournee des DDR-Buchhandels in der Bundesrepublik statt.
Die Ausstellung "Bücher aus der DDR" schloss am 9. November in Heidelberg um dann am 6. Dezember in München wieder zu eröffnen. Die Veranstaltung des Börsenvereins der Deutschen Buchhändler zu Leipzig war möglich auf der Grundlage eines Kulturabkommens, das DDR und BRD am 6. Mai 1986 geschlossen hatten.
Die Eröffnung in München am Nikolaustag 1989 nahm allerdings einen anderen Verlauf als geplant und ähnelte eher einer Vereinigungsfeier mit Sekt. Es soll auch Besucher gegeben haben, die sich an den ausgestellten Büchern erfreuten, die meisten aber unterhielten sich angeregt mit den aufgekratzten DDR-Damen über die Mauer-Öffnung. Nur eine von ihnen muss sich anscheinend nicht gefreut haben (Zitat: "Die hat vielleicht ein Gesicht gemacht"). Das war wohl die Aufpasserin von der Stasi.
Bei einer Durchsicht des Ausstellungskatalogs fielen mir einige Titel des DDR-Autors Volker Braun auf, die ich meinen Lesern nicht vorenthalten möchte.
Der eine oder andere Titel wäre sicher auch heute noch verwendbar:
Immer gern gelesen !
Volker Braun, Jahrgang 1939, war ein prominenter Autor der DDR und gleichzeitig jemand, der
besonders schwer unter der Zensur des Systems zu leiden hatte und seine Gedichte und Prosa
nur unter besonderen Schwierigkeiten veröffentlichen konnte.
Möglicherweise war es gerade diesem Umstand zu verdanken, dass seine Werke in den Katalog einer
Ausstellung von DDR-Büchern im Westen aufgenommen wurden. Schließlich war der DDR daran gelegen,
sich im Westen als weltoffen zu präsentieren, solange das eigene Volk selbst nicht zu viel von
diesem kritischen Autor zu sehen bekam. Seine Buchtitel allein lesen sich dabei fast schon wie
ein Programm.
Als ein konstruktiver Kritiker der DDR würde Volker Braun die Bezeichnung "Kultur des Untergangs"
vermutlich nicht akzeptieren. Und so zeigt der folgende Vers aus einem seiner Gedichte eben nur
einen Aspekt seiner Haltung, die stets auch eine gegenteilige Sichtweise beinhaltete, also ganz
im Sinne des dialektischen Materialismus:
… Klein klebt die Landschaft unter den Füßen fest
Kleinlich wird der Wurf, eh die Saat den Boden trifft
Bis das Land, das allen gehört, auch auf alle hört.
Sein Kommentar zur deutschen Wiedervereinigung 1990 endete jedenfalls
mit der Zeile:
„Wann sag ich wieder mein und meine alle.“
_______________________________________________
Ein umfangreicher Zeitzeugenbericht, entstanden zum 20. Jahrestag
der Wiedervereinigung, beschreibt die Wahrnehmung der DDR aus
der Sicht eines Westberliners: "Die ruinierte Auferstehung"
Der Oktober 1949 war ein denkwürdiger Monat für den Sozialismus.
Während in Mitteleuropa die DDR gegründet wurde, entstand in Ost-
asien die Volksrepublik China. Zwei dem Namen nach sozialistische
Staaten, die auf derselben Idee basierten, aber in ihrer Gestaltung
unterschiedlicher nicht sein konnten. Auch das klägliche Ende der
DDR und das erfolgreiche Überleben der VR China sind letztlich das
Ergebnis grundsätzlicher Unterschiede.
Die DDR war von ihrem Beginn an bereits als Satellitenstaat der
Sowjetunion geplant, wenn auch die gemeinsame Führung durch den
Kommunisten Wilhelm Pieck und den Sozialdemokraten Otto Grotewohl
für den einen oder anderen Heimkehrer aus dem Exil noch Hoffnungen
auf den Neubeginn in einem besseren, sozialistischen Deutschland
nährte.
Der Zusammenschluss von KPD und SPD zur SED war von Beginn an eine
Zwangsmassnahme, die keinen Widerspruch duldete und die nicht
zuletzt von Stalins Statthalter Walter Ulbricht, einem kalten
Opportunisten, organisiert wurde. Darüber hinaus, führte die enge
wirtschaftliche Abhängigkeit der DDR von der Sowjetunion zu einer
Behinderung der Bemühungen, eine leistungsfähige Volkswirtschaft
aufzubauen. Eine missglückte Planwirtschaft tat ihr Übriges, und
irgendwann kam der Zeitpunkt, an dem sich alle, Bürger wie Partei-
kader, mit der Situation abfanden. Lethargie senkte sich über das
Land, und eine vergreisende politische Führung übte sich im Prakti-
zieren von Ritualen. Dies führte 1989 bekanntlich zum politischen
und wirtschaftlichen Bankrott und in der Folge zum Kollaps der DDR.
Abb.: Der TianAnMen - Platz
vor der "Verbotenen Stadt"
Anders verlief die Entwicklung der VR China. Am Ende des 2. Weltkriegs,
nachdem japanische Truppen das Land verlassen hatten, war China wieder
das, was es seit dem Zerfall des Kaiserreiches unverändert gewesen war:
Eine riesige, praktisch unregierbare Landmasse, in der regionale Herren
nach eigenem Gutdünken herrschten und immer noch Leibeigenschaft und
Skaverei existierten. Ein grosser Teil der Bevölkerung vegetierte in
extremer Armut.
Die nationale Regierung der Kuomintang kontrollierte nur bestimmte
Regionen, und ihre Armee versuchte den zunehmenden Einfluss der
Kommunisten zu bekämpfen, was ihr zunächst auch gelang. So begann
der berühmte Lange Marsch der Kommunisten in den Jahren 1934 und
1935 als eine Flucht vor den Regierungstruppen. Auf diesem Marsch
der 90.000, den nur ca. 10% der ursprünglichen Teilnehmer überlebten,
wurde Mao Zedong zum Anführer. Es gelang ihm und seinen Mitstreitern,
die Bevölkerung des Landes für seine Ideale einzunehmen. Bauern, die
fremde Soldaten bisher nur als gewalttätige Plünderer kennen gelernt
hatten, waren auf einmal bereit, deren Gedankengut zu übernehmen. Als
Mao Zedong im Oktober 1949 schließlich die Volksrepublik China ausrief,
waren immer noch wichtige Kämpfe auszufechten bis die Volksrepublik
China zu einem einheitlichen Staatsgebilde wurde. Die Einigung Chinas
ist das eigentliche Verdienst Maos, unabhängig von seinen Fehlern und
Verfehlungen, die das Land 1966 ins Chaos der Kulturrevolution stürzten.
Dabei muss betont werden, dass Mao sich schon früh von der politischen
Linie abgrenzte, die von der verbündeten Sowjetunion vorgegeben wurde.
Sein persönliches Verhältnis zu Stalin war ambivalent, das heißt er ließ
sich von Stalin nichts gefallen.
Sein Nachfolger Deng Xiaoping hatte früh erkannt, dass eine permanente
Revolution die Ressourcen des Landes sinnlos vergeudet, und verkündete
1978 seine Wirtschaftspolitik, die zu einer teilweisen Öffnung Chinas
führte. Obwohl Deng wegen seines Vorgehens gegen die Demokratie-Bewegung
Chinas im Jahr 1989 vom Wohltäter zum Unterdrücker wurde, blieb seine
Wirtschaftspolitik ein Segen für das Land.
Sieht man heute chinesische Touristen in München, die sich an den
Schaufenstern mit Luxusuhren die Nasen platt drücken, dann ahnt man,
wie sehr sich China seither verändert haben muss.
Bei meinem Besuch in Peking in den späten 1990er Jahren gab es hier
schon moderne Einkaufszentren und eine MacDonalds-Filiale mit einem
eher bescheidenen Angebot. Soweit ich mich erinnere, wurde nur ein
einfacher Burger angeboten, den man bei uns als "Basic" bezeichnen
würde, und ein paar junge Leute saßen vor ihrem Milchshake. Es schien
offensichtlich, dass der Besuch eines westlichen Burger-Restaurants
eher ein Statussymbol als Normalität war, selbst im Geschäftszentrum
der Hauptstadt.
Es gab in der Umgebung auch einige Bettler, die verstohlen in den
Abfallkörben suchten und auch ihre Landsleute ansprachen. Einen
ausländischen Touristen anzubetteln war aber anscheinend tabu.
Die Bettler gingen mir sogar aus dem Weg, vermutlich aus Angst
vor der Polizei. Aus Indien war ich da ganz andere Szenen gewohnt.
Ein blinder Bettler saß in einer dunklen Straßenunterführung und
spielte voller Hingabe auf seiner ErHu, einem traditionellen Musik-
instrument. Hin und wieder tastete er seine Umgebung nach den
Münzen ab, die ihm seine Landsleute achtlos hingeworfen hatten.
In einer gut besuchten Garküche versuchte eine ärmlich aussehende
alte Frau vergeblich, ihre dicken silbernen Armreifen an die Gäste
zu verkaufen. Einer von ihnen, ein junger Mann mit abgetragenem
Militärmantel, wies in meine Richtung, aber die Frau, die vermutlich
zu einer nationalen Minderheit gehörte, schüttelte nur den Kopf und
verließ dann auffallend schnell den Raum.
Sicher ist aber, dass es heute vielen Chinesen besser geht als
der Generation ihrer Eltern. In gleichem Maße nimmt auch die
Akzeptanz des Systems bei der beruflich erfolgreichen Elite zu,
Überwachung und Sozialpunktesystem können anscheinend
mühelos ausgeblendet werden.
Irgendwie erinnert mich das alles an eine alte Kabarettnummer der
(West-)Berliner Stachelschweine aus der Zeit des kalten Krieges.
Da hieß es, man solle sich einen demokratischen Staat vorstellen,
in dem aber die Volkswirtschaft den materiellen Ansprüchen der
Bürger nicht gerecht wird, sodass eine Mangelsituation herrscht.
Auf der anderen Seite hätte man aber ein totalitäres Regime, in
dem die materiellen Wünsche der Bürger leicht zu erfüllen wären.
Die Frage stellte sich nun, in welche Richtung man in diesem Fall
fliehen würde.
Abb.: Chinas Ministerpräsident Zhou Enlai trifft
seinen Amtskollegen Otto Grotewohl (1954)
Um den Kreis zu schließen, fehlt hier nur noch ein Schlusswort
zum Verhältnis zwischen der DDR und der Volksrepublik China.
Einige deutsche Fluggäste, die mit mir zusammen aus Peking
abflogen, kamen offensichtlich aus den neuen Bundesländern
und machten kein Hehl daraus, welcher Firma sie nahestanden.
Aus ihren Sprüchen und dem auffallend rotzigen Auftreten ging
hervor, dass sie sich im sozialistischen China zu Hause fühlten.
Einen, der zu dieser Gruppe gehörte, hatte ich schon wenige Tage
zuvor bei einem Besuch des Himmelstempels und durch puren Zufall
dabei beobachtet, wie er einem Chinesen mit Ballonmütze diskret
ein Bündel Banknoten in die Manteltasche schob. Da zu jener Zeit
kaum noch ein Bewohner Pekings solch eine Kopfbedeckung trug,
konnte man schon fast vermuten, dass es sich hierbei um eine Art
Erkennungszeichen handelte. Ich bin danach auch prompt von der
Videokamera dieses „Landsmannes“ heimlich von der Seite aufge-
nommen worden. Anscheinend war ich aber nicht der einzige, dem
diese Leute unangenehm auffielen.
Wie dem auch sei: Der Glaube an eine sozialistische Freundschaft
zwischen DDR und Volksrepublik China schien mir damals schon
eine krasse Fehleinschätzung zu sein. Es war eher so, dass China
mit den Bundesbürgern einträglichere Geschäfte machen konnte
als mit DDR-Vertretern. Immerhin muss es 1989 in China einen
Horchposten des Bundesnachrichtendienstes an der Grenze zur
Sowjetunion gegeben haben, wie in der Presse bekannt wurde.
Die Furcht vor Auslieferung an China war deshalb ein wichtiger
Grund für politische Flüchtlinge der chinesischen Demokratiebe-
wegung, eher in Frankreich als in Deutschland unterzutauchen.
Ein wenig bekannter Fall ist die Entführung eines chinesischen
Diplomaten in unmittelbarer Nähe seiner Botschaft in Ost-Berlin
durch die Staatssicherheit. Der Diplomat, dem man eine absurde
Agententätigkeit vorwarf, wurde in Isolationshaft gehalten und
erst Jahre später, nachdem die Bundesregierung von seiner Existenz
erfahren hatte, aus humanitären Gründen und zusammen mit anderen
Häftlingen frei gekauft. Hier veröffentlichte er seine Geschichte
und wurde später auch von den chinesischen Behörden, die ihn
lange für einen Überläufer gehalten hatten, rehabilitiert.
Epilog:
Während sich die DDR im Jahre 1989 bekanntermaßen selbst erledigt
hat, feiert die Volksrepublik China an ihrem 70. Jahrestag nach wie vor
wirtschaftliche und technologische Erfolge, wenn auch um den Preis
einer Einschränkung persönlicher Freiheiten als Folge ihrer ideologi-
schen Basis. Die weitere Entwicklung Chinas bleibt sicher spannend,
wohin sie auch immer führen mag.
Dagegen hat es das 40jährige Experiment DDR am 30. Jahrestag seines
Scheiterns verdient, in Vergessenheit zu geraten und sein kühles Grab in
den Geschichtsbüchern zu finden. Denn man muss hier realistisch sein:
Nachfolgende Generationen werden vermutlich jeden runden Jahrestag
des Mauerfalls und der Wiedervereinigung mit den Worten quittieren:
Das Beste an der DDR war demnach ihre Auflösung,
und die muss wirklich spektakulär gewesen sein !
Ulysses am 3. Oktober 2019
Ein umfangreicher Zeitzeugenbericht, entstanden zum 20. Jahrestag
der Wiedervereinigung, beschreibt die Wahrnehmung der DDR aus der
Sicht eines Westberliners: "Die ruinierte Auferstehung"
Updates added on May 6/8 :
About 'Donald Trump's Financial Losses' and
'Fund Raising for the Presidential Campaign'
These days US president Trump is celebrating the anniversary of Trump's 10.000th lie since the beginning of his administration. Here is what the British paper The Guardian wrote about Trump on April 29, 2019:
Editor: An important quotation from the article was inserted
into the picture to ensure a better understanding of the item.
From some of these lies one might come to think that Donald Trump is harbouring warm feelings towards Germany. At least, the US ambassador to Berlin seems to believe that. - Or could it be that Trump is only trying to please his German "pawnbroker" Deutsche Bank, thus telling them to keep silent when US Congress investigators are knocking at their door, requesting the inspection of Trump's financial records ?
President Donald Trump, who won the presidency in part on his image as a successful business mogul, lost $1.17 billion over 10 years on failed business deals, according to tax records obtained by the New York Times. [Bloomberg / NY Times on May 8, 2019]
Raising Money for Presidential Campaigns
More about fund raising for presidential campaigns in an
article published by The New York Times on April 26, 2019:
" Joseph R. Biden Jr.’s presidential campaign announced Friday that it had raised $6.3 million in its opening 24 hours, surpassing the first-day totals of his rivals and easing concerns among some supporters over whether he would be able to compete financially in the Democratic primary.
.....
Mr. Biden’s campaign said 96,926 people had contributed in
the first day, and that 65,000 of the donations were from
people who were not previously on his email list of supporters.
The campaign said 97 percent of online donations were below $200,
but it declined to disclose the share of overall contributions that were below that threshold.
The average given per donor was about $65, higher than the first-day averages reported
by some rivals. "
