AIPEI (Taiwan News)   The Ministry of National Defense tracked 28 Chinese military aircraft and 10 naval ships around Taiwan between 6 a.m. on Friday (Aug. 9) and the same time Saturday.

Of the Chinese aircraft, 22 crossed the Taiwan Strait median line in the nation's southwestern and southeastern air defense identification zone (ADIZ), according to the defense ministry.

So far this month, Taiwan has tracked China's aircraft 201 times and ships 89 times.

Originally Posted By zoinks:
Real Air Forces show the video!!!



Here's a summary of events, but one of them creates a question:
Reuters has a link to that article:
China holds joint combat patrol near Scarborough Shoal in South China Sea
China posted on WeChat that they "organized a joint combat patrol..sea and airspace."

In both articles, this is mentioned, but there is no corroboration of what was involved or what actually happened. All that we know is that the PRC had ships and planes on a combat mission which would mean that ships and planes were fully armed in the Philippine Economic Exclusive Zone and maybe even in Philippine territorial waters.

I would say this is an interesting development, but mostly it's probably Chinese bull shit. Who are they trying to impress by posting on WeChat, and would these same people even require proof of an expensive and very provocative mission? Did any other country even realize it? Hence the pink color.

TAIPEI (Taiwan News)   Taiwan Power Company (Taipower) Chair Tseng Wen-sheng (   ) cautioned the effect AI demand would have on Taiwan's power consumption on Friday (Aug. 9).

The chair said electricity demand from AI will primarily affect the manufacturing sector, including GPU, CoWoS, and server production, per CNA. To alleviate transmission bottlenecks, the government will no longer approve data centers exceeding 5 MW north of Taoyuan.

The development of AI relies heavily on data centers, which consume a significant amount of electricity, Tseng explained. He cited South Korea and Singapore as countries that have implemented power consumption regulations for their centers.

Using a large AI data center in Kaohsiung as an example, Tseng said its power demand is about 7.68 MW. Areas south of Taoyuan are better suited to maintain system stability and safety due to infrastructure, he added.

Tseng stressed power demand for generative AI training is substantial and that future applications will have a significant impact on Taiwan's electricity usage compared to other countries.

TAIPEI (Taiwan News)   The Ministry of National Defense (MND) tracked nine Chinese military aircraft and nine naval vessels around Taiwan between 6 a.m. on Sunday (Aug. 11) and 6 a.m. on Monday.

Of the nine People's Liberation Army (PLA) aircraft, three crossed the Taiwan Strait median line in the nation's central and southwest air defense identification zone (ADIZ), according to the MND.

So far this month, Taiwan has tracked PLA aircraft 218 times and Chinese ships 106 times.

TAIPEI (Taiwan News)   Development of the D3 infantry fighting vehicle (IFV) prototype vehicle is proceeding according to schedule, the Ministry of National Defense's Armaments Bureau stated in a press release on Saturday (Aug. 10).

The Armaments Bureau and National Chung-Shan Institute of Science and Technology (NCSIST) have completed developing the prototype and initial operational evaluations, CNA reported. The goal is to improve the vehicle's shape and performance based on the Army's feedback.

The prototype is expected to be completed by the end of June next year. The military has allocated NT$170 million (US$5.25 million) for an improved turret, designed by the National Chung-Shan Institute of Science and Technology, and NT$120 million for the vehicle body, which the Armament Bureau will handle.

In June, the Armaments Bureau unveiled the latest prototype of its IFV, the D2. The D2 is based on the eight-wheeled Clouded Leopard armored vehicle but is armed with a 105 mm assault gun and features hunter-killer capabilities, similar to the U.S.-made Abrams tank.

It passed 91 tests last August as part of its initial operational evaluation and is still in the development phase, military officials said. They added that there were still areas to improve, including the vehicle's height and the turret's internal configuration.

The IFV's gun can fire armor-piercing fin-stabilized discarding sabot rounds that can penetrate 500 mm thick steel plates from 2000 meters away. Ammunition can be shared since it has the same gun barrel diameter as Taiwan's M60A3 and CM11 tanks.

Standoff

Beijing and Manila have been locked in a tense standoff in recent months, as China continues to press claims to almost the entire South China Sea, despite a 2016 international tribunal ruling that its assertion has no legal basis.

Scarborough Shoal is 240km (150 miles) west of the Philippines' main island of Luzon and nearly 900km (560 miles) from the nearest major Chinese land mass of Hainan.

China seized the shoal, a triangular chain of reefs and rocks that form part of a rich fishing ground, after a months long stand-off in 2012. The shoal had long served as a safe harbour for Filipino fishermen.

There have also been confrontations at Second Thomas Shoal where the Philippines makes regular resupply missions to sailors living on board a warship that Manila grounded there in 1999. Second Thomas Shoal, which lies about 200 kilometres (124 miles) from the western Philippine island of Palawan, and more than 1,000 kilometres (621 miles) from China's southern Hainan island.

In June, Chinese coastguards armed with knives and axes boarded Philippine naval vessels near the strategic reef with one sailor losing a thumb and Philippine equipment seized or destroyed.

Beijing blamed the escalation on Manila and maintained its actions to protect its claims were legal and proportional.

Gap between US, Chinese ship count expected to grow larger by 2035

A U.S. Office of Naval Intelligence (ONI) slide that was leaked online highlights concerns over a rapidly expanding Chinese navy and the country's continued capability to produce ships at a faster rate than the United States.

"The Chinese see this decade as a strategic opportunity," Brent Sadler, senior research fellow for naval warfare and advanced technology in the Center for National Defense at the Heritage Foundation, told Fox News Digital. "I don't see any near-term bending of the curve where we actually start closing the gap with the Chinese."

Sadler's comments come after images of the unclassified Office of Naval Intelligence slide have been widely circulated around the internet. The image, which was picked up in a War Zone report, show China's massive shipbuilding capacity as compared to the United States.

The slide's authenticity was confirmed by a Navy spokesperson, who cautioned that it was not meant to be an in-depth analysis.

"The slide was developed by the Office of Naval Intelligence from multiple public sources as part of an overall brief on strategic competition," the spokesperson told Fox News Digital. "The slide provides context and trends on China's shipbuilding capacity. It is not intended as a deep-dive into the PRC (People's Republic of China) commercial shipbuilding industry."

The slide shows that Chinese shipyards have a capacity of about 23.2 million tons compared to less than 100,000 tons in the U.S., making Chinese shipbuilding capacity more than 232 times greater than that of the U.S.

The slide also shows the "battle force composition" of the countries' two navies side-by-side, which includes "combatant ships, submarines, mine warfare ships, major amphibious ships, and large combat support auxiliary ships." The ONI estimated that China had 355 such naval vessels in 2020 while the U.S. had 296. The disparity is expected to continue to grow every five years until 2035, when China will have an estimated 475 naval ships compared to 305-317 U.S. ships.

While much of the attention on China's advantage in shipbuilding has been focused on the country's naval capabilities, Sadler said that the Chinese advantage in commercial shipping also has large implications on U.S. security and the economy.

"In peacetime, the everyday family is just trying to get diapers, baby formula, bottles of water, toilet paper, or during COVID, PPE, masks. A lot of that supply chain, the ships, the movement, the shippers, they're tied to the Chinese market or they're Chinese ships," Sadler said.

"We had backlogs of containers in China because it was more profitable to hold cargo in China," Sadler added. "It caused a backlog of supply. There were situations many people probably still recall of empty shelves. Part of the reason for that was an over reliance on this global supply chain overwhelmingly centered in China."

That dominance in commercial shipping also plays out when it comes to a potential conflict, Sadler added, arguing that the over-reliance on Chinese shipping would allow China to "sanction us very effectively" in response to hypothetical U.S. sanctions if they were to get more aggressive around Taiwan.

"The United States relies on 80,000-plus visits to keep its economy by foreign flag vessels, to keep the lights on   the stores and industries humming," Sadler said. "So, if the Chinese basically deal themselves out of that market, we lose the ability to sustain our economy, and the shocks of that are really not fully appreciated."

In a potential direct conflict with China, Sadler argued that the implications of shipbuilding disparity would be "even more dire," pointing to possible rations similar to World War II. The consequences of the situation could also be felt in a battle at sea, where China would have the ability to produce, repair and replace naval vessels at a faster rate than the United States.

Despite the looming threat, Sadler said the U.S. has not worked toward the goal of increasing the number of U.S. naval vessels.

"Every budget for the last three years during the Biden administration   the long-range plans have all laid out a reduction in the size of the Navy when the danger is going in the other direction, it's going up," Sadler said.

According to an Association of the United States Navy report earlier this year, President Biden's proposed fiscal year 2023 budget called for a reduction of 15 vessels from the Navy's fleet. While the proposal allowed funding to build nine new vessels, it also proposed a decommission of 24 ships, leading to the overall reduction of the fleet.

Thailand's Constitutional Court has ordered the dissolution of the progressive, election-winning Move Forward Party (MFP), saying it violated the constitution when it pledged to amend the country's lese-majeste law outlawing criticism of the royal family.

In its unanimous decision on Wednesday, the court in Bangkok also banned the party's executive board, which includes its former leader Pita Limjaroenrat and current chief Chaithawat Tulathon, for 10 years.

MFP won the most seats in the 2023 general election, as young and urban voters swung behind its agenda for reform including of the strict royal defamation law, which rights groups say has been misused to stifle pro-democracy groups.

But Pita's bid to become prime minister was blocked by conservative forces in the then military-appointed Senate. His political career was further shaken earlier this year when the Election Commission asked the country's top court to dissolve MFP.

The decision comes six months after the same court ordered MFP to drop its plan to reform the law on royal insults, ruling it was unconstitutional and risked undermining the country's system of governance with the king as head of state.

While the ruling is likely to anger millions of voters who backed the party, its impact could be limited.

While 10 MFP members have been banned, the ruling means 143 of the party's lawmakers will keep their seats in parliament. They are expected to reorganise under a new party, as they did in 2020, when MFP's predecessor, the Future Forward Party (FFP), was also banned.

Lawmakers of a dissolved political party can retain their seats if they move to a new party within 60 days.

Fighting is escalating in an area stretching 280 kilometres (174 miles) from Mandalay to the city of Lashio, home of the military's Northeastern Regional Command centre.

Hla Su is one of about 41,000 people who have fled their homes since a new round of fighting broke out in the Mandalay region and northern Shan State in late June, according to the United Nations, which says three million people have been forced from their homes Myanmar, most of them since the 2021 military coup.

Data collated by the Tai Student Union (TSU), a community-based humanitarian group, indicates that the number of displaced by the recent fighting in northern Shan State and Mandalay region may be closer to 100,000. The TSU also found that 141 civilians were killed and a further 100 injured from June 15 to July 18.

The latest battles mark the second phase of a wider offensive against the military, known as Operation 1027, which began last October. In the first phase, an alliance of ethnic armed organisations seized strategic territory along Shan State's eastern border with China, in one of the most dramatic advances for groups opposing the military since the coup.

Now, resistance forces are fighting for control over an area stretching 280 kilometres (174 miles) from Mandalay to the city of Lashio, which serves as the military's Northeastern Regional Command centre.

According to Nathan Ruser, a geospatial analyst with the Australian Strategic Policy Institute, Operation 1027 now has the potential to establish a continuous pathway of resistance control from the Chinese border across the Ayeyarwady river through Myanmar's central heartlands.

He said that the offensive represents advanced levels of coordination between ethnic armed organisations and PDFs formed after the coup, but also cautioned that its further success depends largely on the ability of northern Shan State's ethnic armed organisations   some of Myanmar's strongest   to peacefully resolve questions over power and influence among themselves.

Originally Posted By zoinks:
The above story advertised this Fox News Story:
Chinese shipbuilding capacity over 200 times greater than US, Navy intelligence says

It appears Naval Intelligence "leaked" a slide, wholly by accident and innocently enough.



This was only one part of the ugly truth about the COVID debacle besides the Democrats shutting down the economies of the states they controlled with the US media shaming the other states to "follow suit."

Remember all those container ships moored outside of West Coast ports? Part of it was because of the sheer number of ships, part of it was long shoremen unions going on strike for higher pay, part of it was because CA decided they were going to punish its trucking industry through regulation.

The only way the ships "disappeared" from a camera's view was because the shipping companies had mooring fees increased HUGELY and it was cheaper to wait outside of the 12-mile territorial waters or go get a anchorage in Mexican waters were government officials can be bribed. We're only just now ALMOST fully recovered from this time.


So, it looks like Pres. Biden, the greatest President ever, sharp as a tack, no one can keep up with him, is going to be made the scape goat, thus allowing even further inaction.

Originally Posted By zoinks:
Score Card!!!!!!!!!

Taiwan tracks 18 Chinese military aircraft, 9 naval ships
https://www.ar15.com/media/mediaFiles/1737/7d5c6f93344d435e9b1632dfad2fe583_jpg-3290562.JPG

Here's a story for Carmel! More on the Type 076 type amphibious assualt ship - Now with a toilet!!!

China building world's largest amphibious assault ship


Article covers some specs:
The rest of the article is pretty rah rah rah, so let's get to some thinking instead.

If we recall, the current Commandant of the Marine Corps is getting rid of amored vehicles and other weapon systems, so it can fight on islands and in littoral areas in a war with a near peer such as the PRC. I think that about covers it????

These type 076 amphibious assualt ships seem to me to be the counter to the Marine Corp concept. 3  of these are just juicy targets against Taiwan. However, 3 to 6 of these in hiding around in the lslands to the South could do some damage.

It's Second down and 7.
You make the call!!!!!

Noumea, New Caledonia   The debris has been cleared from the streets of New Caledonia's capital Noumea, but the shells of torched buildings are a continued reminder of the unrest that rocked the French territory in the Pacific nearly three months ago.

The May protests were sparked by Paris's backing for electoral reforms in the territory that pro-independence supporters say would have diluted the Indigenous Kanak community's influence at the ballot box.

But while that plan is now on the backburner, with the French government itself in flux following snap general elections this month, there is little sign that the political divisions it exposed have eased.

"It is very difficult for the Kanak people to live here. The French government still has a colonial strategy in New Caledonia and does not respect the political situation here," Alain, a member of the Kanak and Socialist National Liberation Front (FLNKS) who preferred to be known by a pseudonym for security reasons, told Al Jazeera.

New Caledonia has vast resources of nickel and, at $35,745, one of the highest levels of gross domestic product (GDP) per capita in the Pacific Islands, but there are severe disparities between the Kanak and non-Kanak populations. The overall unemployment rate in the territory is about 11.2 percent, but among Kanaks, it is as much as 38 percent. Low education outcomes and joblessness are also acutely affecting younger Indigenous people and a high proportion of recent protesters on the streets were under the age of 25.

Originally Posted By CarmelBytheSea:

Yeah my impression was 4 was their minimum goal and ideally 8 but there's no way they can crank out that many before 2027

TAIPEI (Taiwan News)   The Taiwanese military has revealed plans to develop supersonic combustion ramjet (scramjet) technology to produce hypersonic missiles.

As missile technology advances from subsonic and supersonic speeds to the hypersonic domain, Taiwan is keeping pace by developing supersonic anti-aircraft and anti-ship missile systems, such as the Sky Bow and Hsiung Feng. However, a recent advanced technology plan published by the Armaments Bureau revealed new research on scramjet engines, indicating a long-range missile program, according to Liberty Times.

The Armaments Bureau recently announced its "National Defense Advanced Technology Research Program" for 2025, which includes a breakthrough project proposed by the System Development Center of the National Chung-Shan Institute of Science and Technology (NCSIST). This project aims to develop heat-resistant protective materials and improve scramjet engine ignition and flame retention over three years to enhance propulsion efficiency.

Hypersonic weapons have superior speed to current supersonic weapons, featuring streamlined designs and higher flight altitudes that provide exceptional maneuverability. This allows them to change direction mid-flight, significantly reducing the enemy's reaction time and making them a more formidable threat than traditional ballistic missiles.

Only the Hsiung Feng 2E (    ) cruise missile, with a range exceeding 1,000 km, has been publicly acknowledged among Taiwan's current missile arsenal. Other long-range weapons, such as the rumored but unseen Yun Feng (  ) high-altitude supersonic cruise missile, the Ching Tien (  ) supersonic cruise missile, and an unidentified ballistic missile, are also believed to have ranges exceeding 1,000 km.

A report by the U.S. think tank Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) stated that a ramjet powers the Yun Feng surface-to-surface supersonic cruise missile and has a range of 1,200 km, with an extended version in development that could reach 2,000 km. The report noted that the Yun Feng has been in development since 1996, became operational in 2014, and that the first batch of 20 missiles and 10 launchers was produced by NCSIST in 2019.

Su Yu-pen (   ), an advisor at NCSIST who was recently selected as an international member of the National Academy of Engineering, said in an interview with Liberty Times earlier this month that the key to successfully developing hypersonic missiles lies in materials science and thermal design. He believes Taiwan has sufficient talent and resources in the hypersonic field and that the government should quickly implement advanced projects to stay competitive.

TAIPEI (Taiwan News)   The military is monitoring and developing response strategies to a new electronic warfare (EW) variant of a Chinese unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) spotted northeast of Taiwan.

This aircraft appears to be a new version of China's Harbin BZK-005 medium-altitude, long-range UAV, which has repeatedly entered Taiwan and Japan's air defense identification zones (ADIZ), per Liberty Times. Japan's Ministry of Defense on Friday (Aug. 9) photographed a BZK-005 UAV flying in the Miyako Strait with antennas under its nose and a suspected pod with an unknown purpose under its belly.

According to the announcement from Japan's defense ministry, a Chinese BZK-005 reconnaissance drone flew from the East China Sea on Friday, passing between Okinawa and Miyako Island, reaching the western Pacific, and returning along the same route. However, the photos released by Japan show that this BZK-005 drone is markedly different from previous BZK-005 drones also photographed by the Ministry of Defense.

This variant is suspected of being a new EW version of the BZK-005 drone. On Sunday (Aug. 11) a military source told the newspaper the Ministry of National Defense is aware of the development, deployment, and use of drones by the People's Liberation Army (PLA), and it has already taken appropriate countermeasures.

The source said foreign experts assessed that the PLA added various EW antennas and pods to some of its drones to enhance their EW capabilities. These enhancements may include full-spectrum jamming and radio communication disruption.

The PLA might use these capabilities to interfere with Taiwan's military command and control systems during the initial stages or ongoing phases of an attack on the country, rendering the military's radar systems ineffective and making it difficult for various precision missiles to target or intercept PLA aircraft and missiles, said the source.

In addition, the U.S. military has also warned Taiwan to be aware that the PLA might use small drone swarms equipped with microwave reconnaissance, jamming devices, or electromagnetic weapons. These drones could enter Taiwan's airspace to launch electronic warfare and various jamming activities.

In recent years, the PLA has increased its use of drones operating around Taiwan. In addition to the BZK-005 reconnaissance drone, the Tengden TB-001 reconnaissance and strike UAV, dubbed the "Twin-Tailed Scorpion," poses a new threat to Taiwan due to its reconnaissance and attack capabilities.

The BZK-005 is a large, multi-purpose drone with a maximum flight time of up to 40 hours and a cruising altitude of 3,000 to 7,000 meters. Depending on the mission, it can be equipped with various payloads, such as electro-optical sensors, radar, communications intelligence, radar detection, and communications relay pods, enabling it to perform long-duration reconnaissance, surveillance, ground strikes, and battle damage assessment tasks.

Originally Posted By Nailcrusher:
War is inevitable.
Only question is when.

TAIPEI (Taiwan News)   The Ministry of National Defense (MND) tracked 15 Chinese military aircraft and 11 naval vessels around Taiwan between 6 a.m. on Monday (Aug. 12) and 6 a.m. on Tuesday.

Of the 15 People's Liberation Army (PLA) aircraft, 11 crossed the Taiwan Strait median line in the country's northern, central, southwestern, and eastern air defense identification zone (ADIZ), according to the MND

So far this month, Taiwan has tracked PLA aircraft 233 times and Chinese ships 117 times.

AIPEI (Taiwan News)   Former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi criticized former Australian Prime Minister Paul Keating's claim that Taiwan is "Chinese real estate" as a "stupid statement to make."

The Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) on Aug. 8 released an interview with Keating in which he said "Taiwan is not a vital Australian interest" and compared US military aid to Taiwan to China helping Tasmania secede from Australia. On Tuesday (Aug. 13), ABC published an interview with Pelosi in which she rebuffed Keating's remarks and suggested Beijing may influence him.  

When asked why Australia should not participate in the AUKUS agreement, Keating claimed that China has "no strategic designs upon Australia." He said that the motivation behind the alliance is "the Chinese laying claim to Taiwan, and the Americans are going to say 'no, no, we're going to keep these Taiwanese people protected', even though they're sitting on Chinese real estate."

In Pelosi's rebuttal to Keating's comments, she condemned his "Chinese real estate" claim as "ridiculous." She emphasized that Taiwan "is not Chinese real estate and he should know that."

Pelosi said "Taiwan is Taiwan" and its people have a democracy and admonished Keating's real estate claim as a "stupid statement to make." Casting suspicion on Keating's potential ties to the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), Pelosi said "I don't know what his connection is to China that he would say such a thing."

The former speaker stressed that such statements are "really not in the security interest of the Asian-Pacific region for people to talk that way."

When asked to comment on Keating's claims on Friday (Aug. 9), the Ministry of Foreign Affairs told Taiwan News, "Taiwan, the Republic of China, is a sovereign and independent country that is not affiliated with the People's Republic of China." It added that Taiwan "will not change its status as a sovereign country because of the biased speech of a few international figures who ignore the current international situation."

Originally Posted By Sierradyne:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jT9CDYm42TI

Originally Posted By zoinks:
and

Very good video!! The last couple of minutes of it are extremely important information!!! It starts before the 9 minute mark.
Well worth your time to watch!!!

Thank you, Sierradyne!

Originally Posted By Lieh-tzu:

GD doesn't get it. I've been saying for a while that we've gone past the point where breaking off trade with China hurts us more than them. Unless Europe joins in whatever sanctions we come up with. This post gives that opinion more support.

Originally Posted By GoldenMead:
German direct investment into China has risen sharply this year, in a sign that companies in Europe’s largest economy are ignoring pleas from their government to diversify into other, less geopolitically risky markets.

https://www.ft.com/content/339ac2c7-f570-4ec0-8753-54f431c6aa10

Deals signed by Italy and China after PM Meloni's trip.
https://www.reuters.com/business/deals-signed-by-italy-china-after-pm-melonis-trip-2024-08-06/

I won’t even post about the oil tankers showing up in Europe ports from a unfriendly country.

TAIPEI (Taiwan News)   British-American journalist Mehdi Hasan questioned a Chinese think tank official over Beijing's justification for an invasion of Taiwan during an interview in front of a live audience on Friday (Aug. 9).

On the Al Jazeera program "Head to Head," Hasan interviewed Victor Gao, vice president of the Center for China and Globalization (CCG), about Beijing's foreign policy, particularly concerning Taiwan. Segments that touched on the detention of Uyghurs, the disappearance of foreign minister Qin Gang, the lack of free speech, and Beijing's plans to invade Taiwan went viral on social media.

When Hasan asked Gao whether China, with its increased military activities and frequent cyberattacks on Taiwan, is preparing to invade, Gao initially reiterated Beijing's stance, "There is only one China in the world. Taiwan is a part of China." He added that China "does not want to use a war to solve its unification problem."

Hasan responded, "You don't want to use a war, but you're surrounding it (Taiwan) with ships, drones, and cyberattacks, and making lots of threats." Gao replied, "Each time when the separatists in Taiwan want to push the edge of the envelope, they will come across more and more demonstrations of the commitment of the Chinese nation to eventually achieve peaceful reunification or otherwise."

Hasan interjected: "Your defense minister said anyone who dares to pursue independence for Taiwan will be crushed into pieces and face destruction. Sounds like a truly peaceful guy." Some members of the audience laughed.

Hasan said he is always amused with the phrase "reunification" and reasoned, "If it's one China, then clearly it's not one China. Clearly, you're accepting by definition if you need to reunify they are doing their own thing." He observed that China covers an area of 3.7 million square miles, a population 60 times that of Taiwan, and an economy 20 times that of Taiwan, and asked "Why are you obsessed with Taiwan, why not leave them be?"

Gao responded, "In terms of defending China's sovereignty and territorial integrity, any inch of land is not one inch too much. Any one single person is not one person too many." He said China needs to achieve "reunification."

Hasan interrupted, "Even if they don't want to be part of your country? Twelve percent of the people of Taiwan say they want to reunify with China. Twelve percent! You can't get more unpopular than that!"

Gao then claimed, "It is not up to the people in Taiwan to decide about the one-China policy." Hasan replied, "You're very blunt in your disregard for people's views, freedoms, and dignity, so you don't care about what they think."

Hasan noted that Gao had also said in an interview with the French newspaper Le Monde: "Once we get the island back, we'll have to ask everyone's origin. Those who have Japanese ancestry, who you baselessly say constitute 10% of the population, will have to pledge loyalty to reunification in writing. Otherwise, we'll have to help them leave."

When Hasan said this is tantamount to the ethnic cleansing of 2.3 million people in Taiwan, Gao repeated his claim that 10% of Taiwan's population is of Japanese descent.

Gao alleged many of Taiwan's "diehard separatists" include Japanese descendants. Hasan questioned the veracity of Gao's claims and asked him to confirm that after China's invasion, over two million people would be expelled.

Gao denied that there would be an immediate expulsion and said everyone in Taiwan would be required to make a pledge stating that "there is only one China and Taiwan is part of China." Hasan surmised that "if they don't make that pledge they're out."

Gao said those who pledge will be considered "local citizens." Hasan said that this represents a discriminatory policy in which people who are not ethnically Chinese would be forced to do a loyalty test or leave the country.

Gao claimed that in the U.K., people who are British citizens must support the monarchy. Hasan pointed out that the interview was in Britain and rebutted, "I don't support the monarchy! I don't like King Charles!"

Gao insisted, "No, you can't say that." He said that British citizens could not take any action to oppose the monarchy system.

Hasan replied, "I don't have to sign a pledge saying I support King Charles." Gao conceded, "Well, every country is different."

"We are talking about China, and China has one policy which is part of the constitution...," Gao said. Hasan finished by saying, "which involves threatening people in Taiwan who do not want to be part of your country."

Crimes against humanity and war crimes by Myanmar's military have escalated at an "alarming" rate, United Nations investigators have warned.

Systematic torture, gang rape and abuses against children have increased under the military, the UN body investigating human rights violations in the country said in its annual report on Tuesday.

"We have collected substantial evidence showing horrific levels of brutality and inhumanity across Myanmar," said Nicholas Koumjian, the head of the UN's Independent Investigative Mechanism for Myanmar (IIMM).

In its report, which covers the period from July 1, 2023 to June 30, 2024, the IIMM said the conflict in Myanmar had "escalated substantially   with reports of more frequent and brutal crimes committed across the country".

More violent war crimes have been uncovered by the UN monitors, ranging from aerial attacks on schools, religious buildings and hospitals that are not military targets, to beheadings and public displays of disfigured and sexually mutilated bodies.

The investigators are also examining the unlawful imprisonment of perceived opponents of the military regime.

"Thousands of people have been arrested and many tortured or killed in detention," the IIMM said, adding that there was also evidence of torture in detention.

The report documented torture methods ranging from electric shocks and pulling out detainees' fingernails with pliers, to dousing them in petrol and setting them alight and more.

The IIMM found that crimes   including rape   were committed against all genders, as well as children.

The military seized power from the elected government of Aung San Suu Kyi in February 2021 just as the newly-elected parliament was about to sit.

Originally Posted By GoldenMead:
Some older graphs I seen, couldn't remember if they have been posted yet. Sorry if they are a dupe.

https://www.ar15.com/media/mediaFiles/482001/IMG_0862_jpeg-3293866.JPGhttps://www.ar15.com/media/mediaFiles/482001/IMG_0863_jpeg-3293867.JPGhttps://www.ar15.com/media/mediaFiles/482001/IMG_0864_jpeg-3293868.JPG

Originally Posted By GoldenMead:


German direct investment into China has risen sharply this year, in a sign that companies in Europe's largest economy are ignoring pleas from their government to diversify into other, less geopolitically risky markets.

https://www.ft.com/content/339ac2c7-f570-4ec0-8753-54f431c6aa10

Deals signed by Italy and China after PM Meloni's trip.
https://www.reuters.com/business/deals-signed-by-italy-china-after-pm-melonis-trip-2024-08-06/

I won't even post about the oil tankers showing up in Europe ports from a unfriendly country.

Originally Posted By Lieh-tzu:

I saw that about Germany. They just have no support for their own continent or long-term self-interest. Ultimate sellouts.