PRESS RELEASE
Helga Zepp-LaRouche Interviewed
on Popular Chinese English-Language Talk Show
April 2014
April 14, 2014 (EIRNS)—An interview with Helga Zepp-LaRouche, the president of the Schiller Institute, was aired today on the most popular talk show on CCTV-9, the Chinese premier English-language channel. Yang Rui, something of a Chinese Charlie Rose on its popular "Dialogue‚" program, conducted the interview. Mrs. Zepp-LaRouche was introduced as the "New Silk Road Lady." She explained her work on the project in the last 20 years when she received that epithet.
Yang Rui noted that the idea had also been raised at the end of the last century by Sun Yat-sen. Zepp-LaRouche said that that was an important influence in her taking up the idea, since Sun based his concept on that of Abraham Lincoln and his policy of the Transcontinental Railroad. She contrasted her concept of the New Silk Road with the monetarist conceptions, where people think only of "buying cheap and selling dear‚" insisting to the contrary, "The real source of wealth is the creativity of the people." And getting out of the present crisis means returning to those ideas which led to the industrialization of the past.
While praising the proposals of President Xi Jinping, she also said that it is not only a matter of a transportation grid, but also of creating a "new economic platform." It involves the issue of creating new sources of water, through river diversion and nuclear desalination. The goal is to bring the standard of living in the poor land-locked regions to a level reached by those in the coastal and riverine regions, she said.
Yang Rui noted some of the negative comments coming from some Russian officials to the idea of the New Silk Road. Zepp-LaRouche said that she understood from her Russian friends that, with the developments in Ukraine, there is a much more positive view of the concept than may have been the case previously. She also noted that Russian President Vladimir Putin had given his support to the project and that his position was absolutely key. She said, "We are at a dangerous moment of history. Either we now enter into a new era of mankind or we may not exist."
It should be noted that the interview was conducted well over a month ago, and, while these things sometimes take a while to get aired, the responsible authorities undoubtedly put in some thought and deliberation regarding the reactions from various quarters in the West before running the interview. While CCTV-9, which prides itself on competing with CNN in international coverage, is not widely seen by the Chinese-speaking public, it will be viewed by anyone in the English-speaking world interested in China. It will also be duly noted by the Chinese leadership who closely monitor CCTV's English-language broadcasts. Furthermore, this interview, either partially or as a whole, was also made available to one of the Chinese-language stations
