Published: Global Times 05/07/2018
While half of the world is focused on the release of the white paper about China’s relationship with the WTO, the other half has been occupied with migration as countries are struggling over which member was in charge of sheltering the illegal immigrants who were shipwrecked. Continue reading “Europe sails without a humanitarian goal”
Published: Global Times 08/06/2018
Spanish version published by Diario De Verdad Digital
On Friday, June 1, Spaniards observed how history was made. It was not only that the Spanish prime minister, Mariano Rajoy, was forced out, losing a no-confidence vote triggered by a corruption scandal — but also after 40 years of democracy it was the first time that the Congress did change the administration. Also, it is the first time that the prime minister’s party doesn’t have a majority as well as the first time that the prime minister doesn’t have a seat in the Congress and finally it is also the first time that there is a prime minister who doesn’t have the presidency of the Congress.
In less than a week, the political situation turned 180 degrees. Nowadays, an old traveler wouldn’t be able to recognize the new Spain. Indeed, the onlooker would feel like the screenwriters of ‘House of Cards’ or ‘Game of Thrones’ with a magic pen were writing the ‘Game of Moncloa’s plot’. There are all the elements of a Hollywood production: the hero and his allies, the band of bad guys, the people who wait for the hero to appear on screen, conspiracies. But what about this so-called Mr. Handsome, is he the new hero? Well, we can at least be assured of one thing — his biography is so impressive that we would doff our hat to him.
In 2015, Pedro Sánchez tried to reach to the Moncloa and failed because the leader of the socialist party did not get the support of the two new parties, PODEMOS, and Cs. Due to their respective political and electoral interests, the two leaders Pablo Iglesias and Albert Rivera proved incompatible in investing Sánchez as president of the Government. After the general elections of 2016, and despite achieving the worst electoral result in the history of his party, and only with 84 Socialist deputies, Sánchez wanted to try again. But he was not allowed by most of the regional presidents and socialist referents, who ended up forcing his resignation as secretary general in the convulsive federal committee on October 1, 2016. As a result, and not having to facilitate with his vote the investiture of Mariano Rajoy (right-wing leader) with the abstention decided by the manager of his party, Sánchez also opted to resign his seat in Congress.
Against all odds, Sánchez regained the position of general secretary of the socialist party in the primaries on May 21, 2017, that is, a year ago, when many had already taken him for politically dead — “nobody gave a penny to my candidacy”, he admitted.
Prime minister Pedro Sánchez is not only a phoenix that rises from its ashes but also a political byproduct of the European convulsion. The global financial crisis in 2008 brought to Europe a new scenario. A growing social mobilization through the continent against the management of the crisis by governments and its effects on citizens.
The protests were common to almost all of Europe, but their ideologies, intensity, and effects varied in countries. Generally, creditor countries such as Germany, Holland, the Scandinavian nations, were on one side of the balance while the southern European countries and Ireland were on the other side. France and the UK found themselves suffering the crisis but not reaching a state of bankruptcy. The economic situation gave rise to new parties with a less conventional understanding of economic and political solutions while the traditional parties came together to face a new threat.
Specifically, the anti-austerity movement in Spain also referred to as the 15-M Movement, started on May 15, 2011, close to local and regional elections. Demonstrators protested steep welfare cuts, high unemployment, Spanish politicians and their corrupt practices, dysfunctional political institutions, and its two-party system. As a result, the crisis in traditional parties led new parties to get into the national ring. With Cs and PODEMOS, the two-party system became a multi-party system. The core characteristic of the two new-born parties is their non-conventional ideological stance. They defined themselves neither as right-wing nor left-wing.
So, the latest events in Spain shouldn’t shock anyone since the weft yarn dates back seven years. Moreover, prime minister Pedro Sánchez is sharing the focus with the Italian incumbent government these days. However, they are not alike. Spain’s multi-party institution has not brought on a phenomenon resembling Italy’s Five Star Movement, let alone an anti-immigrant, far-right party akin to the League. Nor is Euroscepticism a force in Spain. It is a measure of the pro-European consensus in Madrid that Pedro Sánchez has promised to embrace the restrained 2018 budget that was recently approved.
Many wonder what will happen next in Spain but no one dares to guess. Anyway, what is certain is that the new socialist government must act quickly. There’s no time for a period of transition. In some days, almost 1,500 people will leave office and newcomers will come in. The outgoing party will carry on a policy of attrition from day one in order to force early national elections. The new prime minister needs to get ready to fight back or these seven years waiting for a change will end up at a glance.
Source: Global Times
Published: Global Times 12/10/2017
On Tuesday afternoon, Catalonia’s President, Carles Puigdemont, announced to the regional parliament that following the positive result of the referendum, Catalonia should become an independent state in the form of a republic. However, the process has been frozen by the central government, and so separatists, witnesses to the rise and end of the shortest republic in history, could only enjoy the triumph of the independence referendum for a few moments.
For weeks, the international community has expressed concerns over how broken the dialogue between the regional and central government is. Both Spanish Prime Minister, Mariano Rajoy, and President Puigdemont are stubborn men who will not budge an inch. In fact, they are willing to play a trench war if it is necessary. Proof of this willingness comes from the fact Rajoy has been betting everything on the coercive powers of the law and the state in order to make Catalan leaders back down from their plans of declaring independence.
However, these ongoing incidents are not the conflict itself, it is, in fact, the most recent political decision that provoked the escalation and led to the changing role of the Catalan government: the situation went from dealmaker to insurrection.
Due to the complexity of the dispute, the Spanish government has not yet found the correct way to solve the conflict with the Catalan autonomous region. In fact, the conflict dates back to 100 years ago, though recent months have seen the conflict turn more intense and deep-rooted among the different political groups. But to understand the mechanism that has been causing the present political struggle, it is not necessary to look back so far in time. Catalonia’s 0-1 score and Tuesday’s faint declaration of independence is the culmination of an important set of disagreements between Barcelona and Madrid, which started in 2003 when Catalonia sought a deal to increase autonomy and failed.
In 2003, when the Catalan parties pushed for a reform of its statute on autonomy, they received a promise from Spain’s former Socialist prime minister José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero, who at that time was part of the pro-independence campaign. Hence, in 2005, the Catalan parliament approved the reform of the region’s statute on autonomy. However, in 2006, the Spanish conservative opposition leader Mariano Rajoy took the reform to the Constitutional Court. His Popular Party launched a campaign against the reform which collected 4 million signatures against it.
Even though the Spanish Congress and Senate approved a watered-down version of the autonomy statute, which was accepted by the regional parliament, the tensions between the central and the regional governments were already there. Moreover, as a consequence of the global economic crisis in 2008, the tensions escalated. Historically, Catalonia has been one of the richest regions in Spain. Therefore, its contribution through taxes to the welfare of other regions was high. However, by 2009, the global financial crisis had already started to strike the region’s economy. And by 2012, the Spanish government created a line of credit, known as FLA, for regional governments. From then on, Madrid checked and approved all payments made with FLA funds. And that year, Catalonia received 40 percent of all FLA funds. By the end of 2016, about 66 percent of Catalonia’s public debt was owed to Spain through the FLA funding. The economic austerity imposed from Europe added to the tax collection and distribution system helped to increase societal discomfort. Consequently, in 2010, Catalans marched for the first time with signs reading “We are a nation. We decide!” to protest the court ruling. Since 2012, during La Diada on September 11, Catalonia’s national day, pro-independence grassroots organizes provoked mass rallies in hopes of attracting international attention.
In 2014, former Catalan president Artur Mas’ call for a non-binding referendum on independence for November 9 of that year further represented the conflict’s escalation. At that time, Mariano Rajoy, already the Spanish Prime Minister, decided to remain passive. Though, the Constitutional Court suspended the referendum, as well as the vote.
Then, the conflict exploded in the first part of 2015, when Mas and three of his former ministers were banned from public office over the 2014 non-binding informal vote. Subsequently, Carme Forcadell, former president of the Catalan assembly, stood trial facing criminal charges for disobeying the Constitutional Court when allowing a parliamentary debate on independence.
Nothing is solved yet and the dialogue between the parties continues to be deficient. Rajoy’s cabinet rejects the idea of getting help from a third party as it would undermine its position, while the European Union maintains that the Catalan crisis is an internal Spanish affair, so international mediation is not an option now. Moreover, both the Catalans and Spanish have already proceeded with their parliamentary sessions, though neither side has taken the next step. While Puigdemont declared independence without an actual statement, Rajoy has talked about using Article 155 of the Constitution but hasn’t enforced it yet. Both players know that the next move most probably will determine the end of this political game.
Puigdemont could not enforce de facto independence in Catalonia because it would have been rejected by the international community. That would give the perfect ground for the triggering of Article 155, with which the central government would regain control over Catalonia and arrest Catalan separatists. Nevertheless, this move would only give “mate” to the Spanish government, since Puigdemont would become a martyr for the Catalan cause. Consequently, the central government would face the need to control the population through an increase in police forces, because at this point, any form of dialogue is already impossible. Then, Rajoy would face a backlash from the international community. Hence, the Catalan independence campaign would finally find the perfect context for succeeding. Therefore, this is not a titan war. The strongest will not be the winner, if not the most astute player.
But the Catalan dilemma is the symptom of an overall problem: Spain’s transition to a democratic state has not been achieved yet. A reform of the constitution that allows the state to become a real federal country is mandatory. In that way, nationalism, like the Basque or Catalan, would find their place in Spain. As the reality of Spain is complex, it needs a formula that can accommodate its social plurality.
Source: Global Times
Photo by Kylli Kittus on Unsplash
By Cristina Font Haro
Published: Global Times 03/05/2017
Early in April, the Chinese Ambassador to Spain, Lü Fan, visited the Valencia harbor along with a delegation of Chinese businessmen. Among them are representatives from Huawei Spain, Epitisa, China Energy and China Construction Bank Europe. During the tour, Lü announced that China is interested in making Valencia a hub along the 21st Century Maritime Silk Road.
This visit is by no means an isolated case. Many Chinese organizations such as Silk Road International Cultural & Economic Cooperation Organization have long had an interest in the Valencia harbor as where they want to build their Mediterranean headquarters. The organization’s president also signed a memorandum of understanding with the Valencia Chamber of Commerce to further promote cooperation between China, the countries of the Mediterranean basin and other countries along the Silk Road.
What is driving the Chinese interest in Valencia? Actually, this Spanish city has several advantages, which are appealing to the Chinese market. These range from its geostrategic location to close trade relations between the Valencian and the Asian market.
The bilateral trade between the regions has been increasing over the years. In 2016, the number of Valencian companies operating in China doubled that of 2009. Their Chinese counterparts have increased as well, from 6,333 companies in 2009 to 10,454 companies in 2016.
China and Spain have maintained a friendly relationship for decades. As Ambassador Lü said, “Spain is the best friend of China inside the European Union.” Spain’s relations with the People’s Republic of China were formalized on March 9, 1973. Their first bilateral economic agreement was signed in 1984. Since then, 12 more agreements have been signed in various fields such as economic, nuclear energy, scientific cooperation, renewable energy, and civil air transport.
Moreover, the high-level officials of both countries have regularly visited their counterparts. In the last few years, Spanish government officials have visited China at least once a year, with a total of seven trips in 2011 alone. President Xi Jinping and Premier Li Keqiang have also paid a stopover visit to Spain in recent years. Last year, during the Xi’s meeting with Spain’s Deputy Prime Minister Soraya Saenz de Santamaria, it was concluded that the Sino-Spanish relations are in their golden era and the two countries agreed to increase their collaboration on common projects.
So how could Spain contribute to the Silk Road?
Before America was discovered by Christopher Columbus in 1492, Europeans used to think that the end of the world was at the westernmost point of Europe. That is why they called that place “Finisterre,” which comes from Latin, meaning the end of the earth. This place is located in Spain. Hence, with the inclusion of Spain in the Silk Road, the initiative could have its own “Finisterre” on the Eurasian continent.
Currently, due to the already built infrastructure, Spain could be connected to the project both by land and by sea. On the one hand, the train that connects Yiwu with Madrid has already broken the record for the world’s longest railway with 13,000 kilometers.
On the other hand, the harbor of Valencia is already there waiting for China to arrive. This would improve connectivity among China, Europe, and the Mediterranean area as well as their bilateral trade. And it would increase the flow of tourists.
Nevertheless, Spanish economic authorities have already expressed their concern about the equity of economic exchange. For instance, even though the railway that connects the two countries have been there for more than two years, it is mostly used by China, but not by its Spanish counterpart.
As it was discussed on October 9, 2016, during the conference co-organized by the Royal Elcano Institute and the Foundation for the Exchange between Yiwu and Spain, Spanish businessmen are afraid that in the long run, being part of the Silk Road project will not be attractive to countries if they fail to benefit.
It is essential for the Chinese government to come up with a “win-win” policy with the countries along the route.
Source: Global Times
Photo by Kyle Glenn on Unsplash
Cristina Font Haro 