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Wednesday, July 16, 2014

BRICS News and Updates

There are so many BRICS summit articles coming out we decided to just post links to several of them below for readers to explore. We will offer just a brief summary of the article below each one. Articles were selected from both BRICS related media sources and Western media sources to give readers an easy way to compare how the coverage "spin" differs. Not surprisingly, we note BRICS media are mostly favorable while Western media tend to emphasize all the problems the BRICS will encounter trying to form a bloc.


From the BRICSPOST:

More to BRICS summit than Development Bank

Article is pro BRICS and emphasizes all the areas of cooperation between the BRICS nations.

BRICS Condemn Sanctions Against Russia

This article makes it clear the BRICS stand behind Russia and against US efforts to "isolate" Russia over the Ukraine. Here is a quote from a Russian official in the this article:

“When we are said in the West that there is a kind of world community, which condemns us, they mean 28 NATO member states and the EU. However, this is not the world, but the west, the Euro-Atlantic community. And it is, with all its weight, not all of the world community, but only part of it,” Pushkov said."

Russia Our Greatest Friend: Modi to Putin

As expected, Putin is using the BRICS summit to send a global message that Russia is not isolated.

China Pushes for Developing World's Rights as BRICS summit opens

Note the difference in tone in the Reuters article linked above. Here an one example using a couple of paragraphs from the article which show the different angle in this article:

"But China faces deep suspicion about its motives, not least from another BRICS member, India, and there have also been concerns in the group that China could hijack the new bank to serve its own interests."

"China's moves to assert its claims of sovereignty in the disputed South and East China Seas, as well as its growing military might, have unsettled the region and caused concern in Washington."


BRICS summit: Banking on a New Global Order

This BBC article shows the Western slant as well with comments like this:

"It (the BRICS summit) is an annual diplomatic meeting that brings together these regional leaders and economic powerhouses. And every time it happens, there are questions about whether the Brics grouping is anything more than a catchy acronym.

"The Brics isn't a trade bloc, it's a group of letters making up a word and created by an economist," says Jose Augusto de Castro, the president of the Brazilian Foreign Trade Association. "If Brazil exports to China, India or Russia, or vice versa, it doesn't get any benefit - it's just an informal grouping."

BRICS nations move closer to new joint bank deal, sources

This CNBC article (picked up from Reuters) is almost comical in its efforts to cast doubt on the BRICS as a bloc. Here are some interesting comments I have only seen in this CNBC article.

"Negotiations over the (BRICS bank) headquarters and first presidency had hit an impasse hours before the BRICS countries' leaders were due to launch the $100 billion bank and a reserves fund of the same size at a summit in the coastal city of Fortaleza."

"Negotiations stalled overnight on a dispute between China and India over who will host the bank, several officials said. China was proposing Shanghai and India pushed for New Delhi. "

"Failure to agree on the headquarters would be an embarrassment for the BRICS, a group better known for its anti-Western rhetoric than agreement on concrete actions to reshape the world's financial architecture."

"The officials, who declined to be named because the deal had to be ratified by the BRICS leaders, said positions moved closer late on Tuesday morning."

"The stark economic and political differences between the BRICS countries have made it difficult for the group to turn rhetoric into concrete action in coordinating policies."

 
My added comments: This should give readers a good cross section to look at. Note how the "spin" in the articles can be made postive or negative. We think this is an interesting thing to observe and illustrates how the media tries to influence opinion along with just reporting news.
 
Using the CNBC article as a blatant expample, Russia stated before the summit started that China had been selected as headquarters for the bank (which is what was announced).
 
CNBC says there was a last minute dispute, talks about it being a potential "embarrassment", and then takes an open shot at the BRICS with this comment :
 
"the BRICS, a group better known for its anti-Western rhetoric than agreement on concrete actions to reshape the world's financial architecture"
 
We'll let readers decide which view they find more credible.

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