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Posted: 10/2/2024 10:30:19 PM EDT
[#1]
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Posted: 10/2/2024 10:32:34 PM EDT
[#2]
Quote HistoryOriginally Posted By zoinks: I'm pulling out a quote at the end of the piece that is relevant even in an individual's life: Always have a plan!! We don't. Here's the beginning of the article: This is the kind of story where I really miss the wise-words of ScreechJet. He once posted a link to a book about the Army General who in mid-1940 was tasked with a plan to mobilize industry to turn out war materiel. Great Story!! https://www.ar15.com/media/mediaFiles/1737/80709_-_Copy_jpg-3338837.JPG Smart guy. I miss his posts. The article outlines the problem and what's needed. I want to grab a few of the more interesting paragraphs. and most important of all: Using Russia going into the Ukraine was a good example. None of us know what the hell the Russians were thinking when they entered the Ukraine proper. It was truly a bizarre series of maneuvers that mostly made no sense to those outside of the planners especially me! I still can't think of why they drove a convoy of empty trucks reportedly 20 miles long that parked itself over a week and everyone was surprised when the Ukrainians didn't attack it for whatever reason they didn't attack the convoy, and then the trucks drove back to the Crimea. We can't expect that sort of behavior from the PLA. That definitely was my favorite article I read today. Our government really needs to unfuck our procurement process and get parts of our economy on a war footing. We also need to educate our population on what could happen when the fighting begins. This war won’t just be fought on the other side of an ocean. It will affect us here at home. Fighting the PLA is going to be unlike any war we’ve fought before. I know GD thinks they are retarded and only make rubber dog shit. But that’s not the case. Not everyone is as incompetent as the Russians. The clock is ticking and we are on the wrong side of the hour glass. |
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TX, USA
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Posted: 10/2/2024 10:41:24 PM EDT
[Last Edit: Wineraner]
[#3]
Quote HistoryOriginally Posted By zoinks: No cool flight tracker tonight. We'll repeat tomorrow morning: 2024/09/29 PLA activities in the waters and airspace around Taiwan This is a cool story for me and brings back fond memories: Former US diplomat says Taiwan troops training in Michigan I was stationed at Wurtsmith AFB a bit South of there. Camp Grayling is where we used to do our quarterly Ground Combat training. It's the Polish part of Michigan!! I swear to you, Gentlemen, that the best Kielbasa in the World used to, and may still, comes from here!! The more things change, the more they stay the same. Again, while stationed at Wurtsmith (my first PCS) we would see pick up trucks with campers on them and antennae array on the campers. Same when I was at Nellis AFB years later, and the same at most of the Conus bases I'd TDY to. The Chinese just buy the land and set up receivers. I know. Pretty damn lazy. Put in the effort!!!! Quote HistoryOriginally Posted By zoinks: No cool flight tracker tonight. We'll repeat tomorrow morning: 2024/09/29 PLA activities in the waters and airspace around Taiwan 1.Date 6 to 6 a.m. (UTC+8) Saturday to Sunday, Sep. 28-29 2.PLA activities 8 PLA aircraft and 7 PLAN vessels operating around Taiwan were detected up until 6 a.m. (UTC+8) today. 6 of the aircraft crossed the median line of the Taiwan Strait and entered Taiwan's northern and western ADIZ. ROC Armed Forces have monitored the situation and employed CAP aircraft, Navy vessels, and coastal missile systems in response to the detected activities. This is a cool story for me and brings back fond memories: Former US diplomat says Taiwan troops training in Michigan TAIPEI (Taiwan News) A retired United States diplomat says troops from Taiwan are receiving military training at a National Guard base in the state of Michigan, reports said Saturday (Sept. 28). Joseph Cella, a former ambassador to Fiji, Kiribati, Nauru, Tonga and Tuvalu, made the claim during a congressional hearing on September 24, the Liberty Times reported. The facility in Michigan where the Taiwanese troops were reportedly training was the National All-Domain Warfighting Center at Camp Grayling. While a National Guard facility, the site also provided training to Army, Navy, Air Force, and Space Force officers, as well as to troops from allied nations. In past years, Taiwan's 333 Mechanized Infantry Brigade reportedly took part in the Northern Strike summer maneuvers in Michigan, while the 542 Armored Brigade received training in Hawaii. However, Cella did not provide any dates or details of the alleged Taiwanese military presence at Camp Grayling. During the congressional hearing, the retired diplomat also issued a warning against China's actions, both in the U.S. and overseas. He criticized investment by a Chinese just 70 miles (112 kilometers) from Camp Grayling, and Beijing's aggressive campaign to persuade Taiwan's diplomatic allies in the Pacific to switch sides. Again, while stationed at Wurtsmith (my first PCS) we would see pick up trucks with campers on them and antennae array on the campers. Same when I was at Nellis AFB years later, and the same at most of the Conus bases I'd TDY to. The Chinese just buy the land and set up receivers. I know. Pretty damn lazy. Put in the effort!!!! Not sure if mentioned, but the FBI busted 5 Chinese nationals, and "students" at local universities, for lying to them (basically) about why they were camping near Grayling and spying on activities there. The story that was told in local news reports didn't make sense at all, but your post mentioning ROC personnel training there, sheds a lot more light on the event. And I see Carmel already covered it. The bit on the earlier page about the Russian Navy's "missile range communication ship" going through La Perouse, was a little weird. I guess that was the boat I thought was an ELINT ship in the photos from a few pages ago. Wonder if it was tasked with grabbing telemetry from the DF-31 test? |
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Posted: 10/2/2024 11:03:31 PM EDT
[Last Edit: zoinks]
[#4]
Quote HistoryOriginally Posted By CarmelBytheSea: https://amp.scmp.com/news/asia/south-asia/article/3280727/india-rejects-japans-call-asian-nato-despite-growing-tensions-china India not joining an organization that wasn't they're idea or they won't be in charge of is...you all know. I barely remember SEATO, but I think one of the biggest problems with SEATO was that it was aimed at China and Russia. Most of the Countries in Asia don't want to piss off either country. They don't trust each other to come to a common defense, and with the history of US Congress in March of '75 ending money and material support to South Vietnam, yeah, I'm pretty sure they'll be no takers unless we pay them money. |
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Posted: 10/2/2024 11:13:13 PM EDT
[Last Edit: zoinks]
[#5]
Quote HistoryOriginally Posted By Wineraner: Not sure if mentioned, but the FBI busted 5 Chinese nationals, and "students" at local universities, for lying to them (basically) about why they were camping near Grayling and spying on activities there. The story that was told in local news reports didn't make sense at all, but your post mentioning ROC personnel training there, sheds a lot more light on the event. And I see Carmel already covered it. The bit on the earlier page about the Russian Navy's "missile range communication ship" going through La Perouse, was a little weird. I guess that was the boat I thought was an ELINT ship in the photos from a few pages ago. Wonder if it was tasked with grabbing telemetry from the DF-31 test? Quote HistoryOriginally Posted By Wineraner: Originally Posted By zoinks: No cool flight tracker tonight. We'll repeat tomorrow morning: 2024/09/29 PLA activities in the waters and airspace around Taiwan 1.Date 6 to 6 a.m. (UTC+8) Saturday to Sunday, Sep. 28-29 2.PLA activities 8 PLA aircraft and 7 PLAN vessels operating around Taiwan were detected up until 6 a.m. (UTC+8) today. 6 of the aircraft crossed the median line of the Taiwan Strait and entered Taiwan's northern and western ADIZ. ROC Armed Forces have monitored the situation and employed CAP aircraft, Navy vessels, and coastal missile systems in response to the detected activities. This is a cool story for me and brings back fond memories: Former US diplomat says Taiwan troops training in Michigan TAIPEI (Taiwan News) A retired United States diplomat says troops from Taiwan are receiving military training at a National Guard base in the state of Michigan, reports said Saturday (Sept. 28). Joseph Cella, a former ambassador to Fiji, Kiribati, Nauru, Tonga and Tuvalu, made the claim during a congressional hearing on September 24, the Liberty Times reported. The facility in Michigan where the Taiwanese troops were reportedly training was the National All-Domain Warfighting Center at Camp Grayling. While a National Guard facility, the site also provided training to Army, Navy, Air Force, and Space Force officers, as well as to troops from allied nations. In past years, Taiwan's 333 Mechanized Infantry Brigade reportedly took part in the Northern Strike summer maneuvers in Michigan, while the 542 Armored Brigade received training in Hawaii. However, Cella did not provide any dates or details of the alleged Taiwanese military presence at Camp Grayling. During the congressional hearing, the retired diplomat also issued a warning against China's actions, both in the U.S. and overseas. He criticized investment by a Chinese just 70 miles (112 kilometers) from Camp Grayling, and Beijing's aggressive campaign to persuade Taiwan's diplomatic allies in the Pacific to switch sides. Again, while stationed at Wurtsmith (my first PCS) we would see pick up trucks with campers on them and antennae array on the campers. Same when I was at Nellis AFB years later, and the same at most of the Conus bases I'd TDY to. The Chinese just buy the land and set up receivers. I know. Pretty damn lazy. Put in the effort!!!! Not sure if mentioned, but the FBI busted 5 Chinese nationals, and "students" at local universities, for lying to them (basically) about why they were camping near Grayling and spying on activities there. The story that was told in local news reports didn't make sense at all, but your post mentioning ROC personnel training there, sheds a lot more light on the event. And I see Carmel already covered it. The bit on the earlier page about the Russian Navy's "missile range communication ship" going through La Perouse, was a little weird. I guess that was the boat I thought was an ELINT ship in the photos from a few pages ago. Wonder if it was tasked with grabbing telemetry from the DF-31 test? France still hasn't delivered it's promised statement for those keeping score. |
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Posted: 10/2/2024 11:32:16 PM EDT
[#6]
Quote HistoryOriginally Posted By GoldenMead: That definitely was my favorite article I read today. Our government really needs to unfuck our procurement process and get parts of our economy on a war footing. We also need to educate our population on what could happen when the fighting begins. This war won't just be fought on the other side of an ocean. It will affect us here at home. Fighting the PLA is going to be unlike any war we've fought before. I know GD thinks they are retarded and only make rubber dog shit. But that's not the case. Not everyone is as incompetent as the Russians. The clock is ticking and we are on the wrong side of the hour glass. We have leftists, American and foreign, that are just destroying American culture and society systematically. It's too big a subject for here, but in just one aspect, the powers that be wanted to get rid of whitey and bring in their people into the Military. The problem is their people actually have some understanding of sacrifice and service and don't want that for themselves. Sure, they'll show up to protests with bricks and such, but nothing's going to happen to them. It's easy. It's fun. You get to puff up yourself as a real revolutionary. But, ultimately, these people have an identitiy that's wrapped up in "victimhood." That's who and what they are: victims. You're really something being a victim in San Francisco!!! You get parades, fairs and celebrations. But to ask them to be nameless, faceless, maybe dying somewhere you can't find on a map, but certainly suffering from some sort of privation(s), that's just not them. |
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Posted: 10/3/2024 3:06:15 AM EDT
[#7]
Quote HistoryOriginally Posted By zoinks: I don't have a lot of confidence in American Society, I guess. We have leftists, American and foreign, that are just destroying American culture and society systematically. It's too big a subject for here, but in just one aspect, the powers that be wanted to get rid of whitey and bring in their people into the Military. The problem is their people actually have some understanding of sacrifice and service and don't want that for themselves. Sure, they'll show up to protests with bricks and such, but nothing's going to happen to them. It's easy. It's fun. You get to puff up yourself as a real revolutionary. But, ultimately, these people have an identitiy that's wrapped up in "victimhood." That's who and what they are: victims. You're really something being a victim in San Francisco!!! You get parades, fairs and celebrations. But to ask them to be nameless, faceless, maybe dying somewhere you can't find on a map, but certainly suffering from some sort of privation(s), that's just not them. I hear you Zoinks I really do. I don’t have much confidence either. |
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Posted: 10/3/2024 9:26:38 PM EDT
[#8]
Last night I wanted to post two stories that struck me as somewhat odd, but I was already hogging up too much of the bandwidth, so I didn't.
Today, I can't as the stories have taken some interesting turns, but I can post one of them: Chinese tourists disrupt Hong Kong protest in Taipei There's an "x" post at the bottom with two videos. I don't think there's sound, but there's subtitles!!  I think those are in simplified Chinese which really means nothing to me other than I can "show off" that I know there's such a thing as "simplified Chinese."  I take what I can get!! TAIPEI (Taiwan News) A pair of Chinese tourists tried to stop a pro-democracy protest launched by Hongkongers in Taipei on China's national day Tuesday (Oct. 1). Hong Kong citizens living in Taiwan held a protest in Taipei's Ximending area to coincide with the 75th anniversary of the founding of the People's Republic of China, per Radio Free Asia. However, two Chinese tourists tore down their banners and made remarks such as, "Taiwan and Hong Kong are both part of China." According to organizers, the event was called "Nation Day of Mourning" and was purposely held in one of Taipei's busiest areas. The event protested China's infringement on democracy, freedom, and human rights in Hong Kong and other regions. The organizers placed banners along the street bearing slogans such as, "Liberate Hong Kong, revolution of our times" and "Hong Kong Independence." However, before the event began, two Chinese tourists, a man and a woman, arrived and attempted to sabotage the rally by throwing the banners onto the ground and getting into a verbal altercation with the organizers. The male Chinese tourist loudly exclaimed, "Today is China's National Day, and I will not allow these kinds of flags to be displayed," and "Taiwan and Hong Kong are both part of China." Police arrived on the scene shortly after, separating both parties and allowing the Chinese tourists to leave.  Attached FileYes, the big guy. This part is from the pov of the original Hong Kong protesters: One of the event organizers, a Hongkonger in Taiwan named Tong Wai-hung ( ), said that while Chinese tourists may disagree with the views of Hongkongers, it is unacceptable for them to destroy banners and throw them on the ground. He said such vandalism is not in line with the values of democracy and freedom. He added, "If you, who don't have freedom, think that a lack of freedom is acceptable and do not think freedom is something precious, then go back to your China. Don't come here to destroy our democracy and freedom." Sky Fung ( ), secretary-general of the Taiwan-based exile group Hong Kong Outlanders, who also attended the event, believes the behavior of the travelers is a result of "China's brainwashing education." Kacey Wong ( ), a Hong Kong artist living in Taiwan who witnessed the event, said it reflected how jingoistic Chinese nationalists are everywhere. He added that similar incidents of sabotaging protest activities occurred during Hong Kong's Umbrella Movement 10 years ago. However, Wong said the most unacceptable thing this time is that after the Taiwanese police arrived at the scene, "the disruptors still arrogantly shouted that 'Taiwan is part of China.'" As Taiwanese, Hongkongers, or people who love Taiwan, this statement cannot and should not be accepted, said Wong, who suggested that Taiwan should not allow these tourists to visit again. This morning, we have this! Taiwan deports 2 Chinese tourists for disturbing pro-Hong Kong protest TAIPEI (Taiwan News) Taiwan's Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) said on Thursday (Oct. 2) that it deported two Chinese nationals for disturbing a protest by Hong Kongers in Taipei on Tuesday (Oct. 1). Hong Kong citizens in Taiwan organized a small protest in Taipei's Ximending area to coincide with China's national day. Organizers said they were protesting China's infringement on democracy, freedom, and human rights in Hong Kong. They placed banners with slogans reading "Liberate Hong Kong" and "Hong Kong Independence." Two Chinese tourists reportedly disturbed the protest by tearing down the banners and verbally harassing the protesters. One of the tourists reportedly yelled, "Today is China's national day, and I will not allow these kinds of flags to be displayed." "Taiwan and Hong Kong are both part of China," they added. Police intervened, separating both parties and allowing the Chinese tourists to leave. The Chinese tourists had reportedly flown to Taiwan to visit relatives. MAC stated following the incident, "The government will take immediate and strict action against any mainland Chinese who come to Taiwan and engage in illegal or irregular behavior that endangers our national security and social stability." It revoked the entry permits of the two Chinese nationals and deported them on Thursday. China's Taiwan Affairs Office (TAO) has not responded to a request for comment. Taiwan is home to a large community of Hong Kongers, who immigrated following China's tough new national security laws. The second story I wanted to post was about the attempt of the KMT to stir up some anti-DPP sentiment by having an investigation of the Premier of Taiwan investigated for using too much electricity at his home that is now a compound for security reasons. My book mark is entitled: Taiwan premier's power bill scrutinized | Taiwan News | Oct. 2, 2024 17:44 https://www.taiwannews.com.tw/news/5945815 Click To View SpoilerAin't that some shit!! Here's what I get today when I opened it up: https://www.taiwannews.com.tw/news/5945815 I can't explain this. The even weirder part is that yesterday there were several stories about Premier Cho, but they are also gone. |
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Posted: 10/3/2024 9:29:34 PM EDT
[#9]
Here's a good old-fashion propaganda story about Celebrities:
Taiwanese celebrities post congratulatory messages on PRC's 75th birthday TAIPEI (Taiwan News) Taiwanese celebrities, including Wu Kang-ren ( ), posted on Weibo celebrating the People's Republic of China's (PRC) 75th anniversary on Tuesday (Oct. 1). Taiwanese celebrities reposted articles from Chinese state media onto their personal Weibo accounts that wished China a happy national day. Golden Horse Award-winning actor Wu Kang-ren shared a People's Daily article, adding his message, "Blessings to a glorious China" ( ). The People's Daily article addressed China as "my motherland" ( ) and wrote "I love you, China" ( ), per CNA. China Central Television (CCTV) also published celebratory articles, encouraging people to share on social media. Other well-known Taiwanese celebrities reposted the articles, including actress Ouyang Didi ( ), singer Annie Yi ( ), singer and actress Cyndi Wang ( ), singer Aska Yang ( ), singer and actor Nicky Wu ( ), and singer and actress Angela Chang ( ). In addition, Taiwanese singer Jam Hsiao ( ) performed at a CCTV national day celebration on Monday (Oct 1.). He was called an artist from "Taiwan, China." In response to the celebrities' posts, Taiwan's Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) on Tuesday urged Taiwanese artists working in China to consider public sentiment and perceptions in Taiwan. It said it hoped they valued Taiwan's democracy and freedom. In addition, MAC acknowledged the pressure some Taiwanese artists may face working in China. It said the Chinese Communist Party often targets artists for political statements. Wu recently signed a management deal with China's Easy Entertainment ( ). |
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Posted: 10/3/2024 9:37:22 PM EDT
[#10]
Next two stories are about things we've been advocating for the last couple of years:
Foreign ministry says Taiwan is not subordinate to China (This is why we went over the History of Formosa/Taiwan in the earlier pages.) TAIPEI (Taiwan News) The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) said the country is not subordinate to China in response to Xi Jinping's ( ) claims that Taiwan is part of China. At a state banquet on Monday (Sept. 30) on the eve of the founding of the People's Republic of China (PRC) anniversary, Xi claimed Taiwan is "China's sacred territory, and the people on both sides of the Taiwan Strait are connected by blood, and blood is thicker than water." At a press conference on Tuesday, MOFA Spokesperson Jeff Liu ( ) responded by emphasizing that Taiwan has never been ruled by the PRC. During his speech, Xi insisted on adherence to Beijing's "one-China principle" and the "1992 Consensus" and opposed Taiwan independence, while also saying Beijing would achieve "reunification" with Taipei. Liu said Taiwan's 23 million citizens uphold a free and democratic constitutional system. He added Taiwan's sovereignty must not be infringed upon and that it is opposed to annexation, while the country's future must be determined by the Taiwanese. Liu highlighted Taipei's calls for peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait, the right to its own space in the global arena, and participation in international organizations. He also hoped Taiwanese would no longer face interference when cheering for Taiwan's athletes at the Olympics. On Monday, the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) called on China to "face up to the reality that the two sides of the Taiwan Strait are not affiliated with each other, rationally face the mainstream public opinion in Taiwan, and engage in pragmatic dialogue with Taiwan's democratically elected government." It called on Beijing to build goodwill to foster favorable conditions for the development of cross-strait relations. The next story is something we suggested in the Spring(?) I think. It was actually more than just stingers, though. The Backlog is huge and a license agreement is good. The PRC/MSS already steals enough here. At least the Taiwanese will prosecute: US mulls Taiwan-produced Stinger missiles TAIPEI (Taiwan News) The US is evaluating the feasibility of allowing Taiwan's National Chung Shan Institute of Science and Technology to assemble and produce Stinger missiles, according to a senior Taiwanese military official. As NCSIST has made breakthroughs in missile technology, the US plans to send a team to Taiwan next year to asses technical capacity, production capabilities, and cybersecurity measures for assembling the 1,985 Stinger missiles it previously ordered, Liberty Times reported. If the institute meets US certification standards, production could begin in Taiwan as early as 2026, with deliveries made in batches each year. This would significantly speed up the delivery process. Taiwan's Army and Navy each ordered 250 Stinger missiles in 2019 and 2015, respectively. Delivery will be completed by 2025. However, Taiwan's forces urgently require more effective countermeasures and deterrence, prompting the Army to order 1,985 more Stinger missiles from the US for approximately US$1.73 billion (NT$55.54 billion). According to the Ministry of National Defense's 2025 budget report, the Army will procure 549 launch systems and 549 identification, friend or foe (IFF) systems. The missiles are expected to be delivered by 2031. NCSIST said the military's additional procurement of Stinger missiles involves investment decisions that do not involve the institute. However, NCSIST is optimistic about participating in joint production and manufacturing, it said. The possibility of producing US-designed missiles comes as NCSIST has expressed an interest in joining the international drone supply chain through co-production, joint development, or providing key components. The institute recently said it aims to collaborate with international companies in drone production and supply chains to align with Taiwan's goal of building a "democratic drone supply chain." |
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Posted: 10/3/2024 9:41:03 PM EDT
[#11]
Russian foreign minister says Moscow stands with China on Taiwan issue
TAIPEI (Taiwan News) Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov on Thursday (Oct. 3) said Russia stands alongside China on Taiwan and other issues. In an interview with the Russian government newspaper Rossiiskaya Gazeta, Savrov said, "Russia's position on the Taiwan issue has been unchanged support for China's territorial integrity." He said this support has been expressed at different levels, "including at the very top." He criticized the US for "deliberately stirring up the situation in the Taiwan Strait." "In violation of the 'one China' principle that they recognize, they are strengthening ties with the island's administration," Lavrov said. Lavrov said the two countries felt similar "in assessing the risks associated with the advance of the West" in the Indo-Pacific region. He said the US and NATO discredited the security mechanisms in Europe and Euro-Atlantic affairs. The Russian foreign minister called for a "new architecture for Eurasian security. He said Russia supports China in opposing US attempts to influence the region. In addition, Lavrov commended China's balanced approach to the Ukraine War. He said both countries sought to stop the war's causes, which they said were NATO's expansion eastward and the creation of an "anti-Russian military bridgehead in Ukraine." Lavrov said that China and Brazil have been working on a peace proposal consisting of a conference with leaders from Russia and Ukraine. He said Ukrainian President Voldodymyr Zelenskiy rejected the idea, forming his "victory plan" and insisted on restoring Ukraine's 1991 post-Soviet borders. |
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Posted: 10/3/2024 9:43:24 PM EDT
[#12]
and to top it all off:
2024/10/04 PLA activities in the waters and airspace around Taiwan 1.Date 6 to 6 a.m. (UTC+8) Thursday to Friday, Oct. 3-4 2.PLA activities No PLA aircraft and PLAN vessels operating around Taiwan were detected up until 6 a.m. (UTC+8) today. 3.Illustration of flight path is not provided due to no PLA aircraft operating around Taiwan were detected during this timeframe. |
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Posted: 10/3/2024 9:52:15 PM EDT
[#13]
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Posted: 10/3/2024 10:00:32 PM EDT
[#14]
CIA Boosts China Recruiting Effort to Exploit Discontent With Xi
Move is aimed at evading China’s surveillance of its people Washington has struggled to gain insights on Xi’s inner circle Source: https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2024-10-02/cia-boosts-china-recruiting-effort-to-exploit-discontent-with-xi Archive: https://archive.ph/P7Wec |
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Posted: 10/3/2024 11:13:32 PM EDT
[#15]
Quote HistoryOriginally Posted By CarmelBytheSea: https://amp.cnn.com/cnn/2024/10/03/china/china-russia-coast-guard-arctic-ocean-intl-hnk Quote HistoryOriginally Posted By CarmelBytheSea: https://amp.cnn.com/cnn/2024/10/03/china/china-russia-coast-guard-arctic-ocean-intl-hnk I'm going to disagree with this assessment: "The significance of the (China) Coast Guard operating farther north than it has ever done implies (China) is extending its Coast Guard into areas the US has traditionally considered its own domain," said Carl Schuster, a retired US Navy captain and former director of operations at the US Pacific Command's Joint Intelligence Center. "China in particular is signaling that the US Coast Guard is not the only one that (can) operate within and near other countries' Economic Exclusion Zones from their own home waters," he said. The CGA has 4 ice breakers and a semisubmerisble heavy lift ship, these guys have never rescued anyone. They detain a lot of people. They apprehend a lot of people, but they really don't rescue anyone. |
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Posted: 10/3/2024 11:16:53 PM EDT
[#16]
Quote HistoryOriginally Posted By GoldenMead: CIA Boosts China Recruiting Effort to Exploit Discontent With Xi Move is aimed at evading China's surveillance of its people Washington has struggled to gain insights on Xi's inner circle Source: https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2024-10-02/cia-boosts-china-recruiting-effort-to-exploit-discontent-with-xi Archive: https://archive.ph/P7Wec |
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Posted: 10/3/2024 11:26:26 PM EDT
[#17]
Quote HistoryOriginally Posted By zoinks: I remember the huge failure of the CIA operation in China under Obama. It was a complete disaster with the number of captured, tortured and killed CIA collaborators. It's funny that be it the PRC, the USSR or the Iranians, they always seem to have their people in place in the CIA before the CIA can hit the ground somewhere. They should just stick with going after Republicans. Yeah it was real rough under Obama for them I remember and thought of that when I read that article. We sure have weakened tremendously since his first day in office. Kinda like it was part of a grand design. |
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Posted: 10/3/2024 11:33:27 PM EDT
[#18]
Quote HistoryOriginally Posted By GoldenMead: Yeah it was real rough under Obama for them I remember and thought of that when I read that article. We sure have weakened tremendously since his first day in office. Kinda like it was part of a grand design. Quote HistoryOriginally Posted By GoldenMead: Originally Posted By zoinks: I remember the huge failure of the CIA operation in China under Obama. It was a complete disaster with the number of captured, tortured and killed CIA collaborators. It's funny that be it the PRC, the USSR or the Iranians, they always seem to have their people in place in the CIA before the CIA can hit the ground somewhere. They should just stick with going after Republicans. Yeah it was real rough under Obama for them I remember and thought of that when I read that article. We sure have weakened tremendously since his first day in office. Kinda like it was part of a grand design. |
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Posted: 10/4/2024 9:07:14 AM EDT
[#19]
China is using an “anaconda strategy” to squeeze Taiwan
Taiwan’s navy commander warns that his forces are increasingly strained Source: https://www.economist.com/asia/2024/10/03/china-is-using-an-anaconda-strategy-to-squeeze-taiwan Archive: https://archive.ph/xNlQZ |
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Posted: 10/4/2024 9:45:50 PM EDT
[#20]
Quote HistoryOriginally Posted By GoldenMead: China is using an "anaconda strategy" to squeeze Taiwan Taiwan's navy commander warns that his forces are increasingly strained Source: https://www.economist.com/asia/2024/10/03/china-is-using-an-anaconda-strategy-to-squeeze-taiwan Archive: https://archive.ph/xNlQZ Quote HistoryOriginally Posted By GoldenMead: China is using an "anaconda strategy" to squeeze Taiwan Taiwan's navy commander warns that his forces are increasingly strained Source: https://www.economist.com/asia/2024/10/03/china-is-using-an-anaconda-strategy-to-squeeze-taiwan Archive: https://archive.ph/xNlQZ  I need to split the opening paragraph because the author makes a mistake that we should correct for us: China's dislike of Taiwan's president Lai Ching-te is no secret. Chinese authorities call him a stubborn, confrontational "separatist" who may provoke war in the Taiwan Strait. But since Mr Lai's election in May, it is China's People's Liberation Army (PLA) that has been raising the chances of conflict by deploying more air and naval craft around Taiwan. "The PLA is using an 'anaconda strategy' to squeeze the island," says Admiral Tang Hua, Taiwan's navy commander. In an interview with The Economist, Admiral Tang (pictured) warns that Chinese forces are "slowly, but surely" increasing their presence around his country. "They are ready to blockade Taiwan at any time they want," he says. His concerns are backed up by the data. The number of PLA air incursions across the median line, the de facto border in the middle of the Taiwan Strait, has jumped more than five-fold, from 36 in January to 193 in August. The number of PLA ships operating around Taiwan has steadily risen, too, doubling from 142 in January to 282 in August. These vessels are also coming closer to Taiwan right along its contiguous zone, or 24 nautical miles from its coast. And they are patrolling for a few days at a time, up from a few hours previously, according to Taiwan's naval commander. These are relatively new developments. Until August 2022 the PLA had operated mostly in Taiwan's south and west, around the Bashi Channel between the island and the Philippines. Taiwan's rugged east coast, home to aircraft hangars built underneath its mountains, was seen as safer and harder to reach from China. But that changed after a visit to the island that year by Nancy Pelosi, then a high-ranking American official. The trip enraged China and, soon after, the PLA conducted a mock blockade near Taiwan's east. That sent a signal that the region was no longer safe. Now the PLA has normalised patrols there and regularly encircles the island by sea and air. It has also increased the number of navy transits through the Yonaguni channel between Taiwan and Japan. and now we get our answer as to why there's so little information for us: Few people in Taiwan are aware of how close and regular the PLA patrols are. Since 2020 Taiwan's defence ministry has published daily updates on air activity around the island, including maps of Chinese warplanes' locations. In 2022 it added updates on the number of PLA naval vessels operating "around Taiwan". But it does not specify what types of ships, where they go, or for how long. The government may be worried that too much disclosure would damage Taiwan's public morale or economy, says Admiral Tang. The PLA's increased patrols are straining Taiwan's navy. China has twice as many frigates and ten times as many destroyers. Taiwan often has to deploy 25-50% of its combat vessels just to match China's patrols, according to Cheng-kun Ma and Tristan Tan, a pair of Taiwanese defence researchers. "They give you extreme pressure, pressure, pressure. They're trying to exhaust you," says Admiral Tang. A government audit found that more than half of Taiwan's main warships had fallen behind on regular maintenance. As the PLA Navy presses closer to the island, Taiwan is focused on avoiding confrontation. "The PLA is trying to force Taiwan to make mistakes," says Admiral Tang, and looking for "excuses" to trigger a blockade. That is why Taiwan's military leaders issued new rules of engagement this year that define ethical and legal use of force in self-defence: "We restrain our guys, not to provoke or escalate." Even as Taiwan's armed forces practise restraint its leaders are working with allies on how to keep sea lines of communication open in case of a blockade. Taiwan is also seeking international help to resist Chinese pressure. Japan's navy conducted a transit exercise through the Taiwan Strait for the first time in September, as did naval ships from Australia, New Zealand and Germany. America's navy sails through it several times a year. The exercises send a signal to China that the strait is international territory. The Chinese authorities protest. But they show no sign of loosening the anaconda's squeeze. and on that note, here's the MND's latest Score Card: 2024/10/05 PLA activities in the waters and airspace around Taiwan 1.Date 6 to 6 a.m. (UTC+8) Friday to Saturday, Oct. 4-5 2.PLA activities 13 PLA aircraft and 3 PLAN vessels operating around Taiwan were detected up until 6 a.m. (UTC+8) today. 8 of the aircraft crossed the median line of the Taiwan Strait and entered Taiwan's southwestern ADIZ. ROC Armed Forces have monitored the situation and employed CAP aircraft, Navy vessels, and coastal missile systems in response to the detected activities. And here's an interesting story! Overcharge by U.S. arms vendor to be refunded to Taiwan: Defense head Looks like we're not the only ones the Big Boys try and fuck over: Taipei, Oct. 4 (CNA) The amount that United States defense contractor RTX Corp. overcharged Taiwan for weapons will be fully compensated, Defense Minister Wellington Koo ( ) said Friday. The overpricing case involving RTX Corp. -- formerly known as Raytheon Technologies Corp. -- was voluntarily investigated by U.S. authorities to crack down on improprieties in the U.S. arms sales system, Koo said on the sidelines of a legislative hearing. After U.S. authorities informed Taiwan of the investigation's results, judicial proceedings began and should result in the amount of the overcharges to be returned to Taiwan, Koo said. Asked by reporters about the amount of funds involved, whether the overcharged funds will be fully returned, and when the U.S. notified Taiwan of the RTX overpricing case, Koo said all of the funds will be returned but he declined to provide further details on other questions. Koo did say, however, that the major sale on which the case is based occurred in 2013 and that because the case involved other countries as well, Taiwan benchmarked the prices of the sales with those other countries. It was later found that there was overpricing, though Koo did not say who discovered that or what the response was. According to a Bloomberg article in July, the U.S. Justice Department began investigating RTX in October 2020 on pricing issues with Raytheon contracts entered into between 2011 and 2013 and in 2017. Koo was replying to a report by local news outlet Yi Media on Oct. 1, which said U.S. arms sales to Taiwan might involve "international fraud." It alleged that RTX Corp. raised prices for defense items such as missile and radar systems and "kept Taiwan in the dark" about it. The report also said that after the U.S. found out about the RTX overpricing case, the two countries established an additional "secret agreement" stipulating that Taiwan cannot publicly disclose the matter on its own initiative due to diplomatic considerations and the importance of maintaining the U.S.' reputation in foreign arms sales. Taiwan's Ministry of National Defense responded with a statement on Oct. 1 that said the U.S. Department of Justice had reached a plea agreement with the defense contractor and that the improper gains will be returned to Taiwan. The statement also said the Yi Media report's claims of a secret agreement or a cover-up were false, and speculated it was trying to stir up sentiment aligned with "America Skepticism Theory." According to a report by the Global Taiwan Institute, the "America Skepticism Theory" is a narrative that America is an "untrustworthy and treacherous" ally which is "exploiting Taiwan for its own purposes." Koo said Yi Media's report portrayed Taiwan as being "a person taken advantage of," and he argued that such a description was part of an effort to support "America Skepticism Theory" that does not reflect reality. The Bloomberg report noted, however, that RTX was in the process of settling a criminal investigation and was setting aside US$575 million to cover penalties for pricing issues to sales to several countries and another US$384 million for a corruption investigation. In a separate Bloomberg report in June, it said American lawmakers had urged Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin to investigate "price-gouging" of the U.S. government by defense contractors. Taiwan and the U.S. -- a major weapons supplier to the island country -- have maintained close communication, and the final details of the judicial procedures are still being worked out, Koo said. |
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Posted: 10/4/2024 11:29:00 PM EDT
[#21]
Quote HistoryOriginally Posted By zoinks: Thanks for posting the archive article, GoldenMead!! and now we get our answer as to why there's so little information for us: We did ask why not too long ago. It was nice of them to answer. and on that note, here's the MND's latest Score Card: 2024/10/05 PLA activities in the waters and airspace around Taiwan If the Taiwan News posts a flight tracker, I'll ETA it in, or if GoldenMead gets it in his X feed, please post! What I got most out of the economist article is Taiwan is hiding how serious the situation is getting and trying to prevent panic by controlling the information. Also the Admiral said China keeps bring new assets into the area and keeping them there. China keeps building up its forces slowly but surely. Here’s the Score Cars:  Attached File Attached FileI’ll be gone for a week and outside of cell service. Hopefully China can put off the invasion until I return. |
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Posted: 10/5/2024 2:14:07 AM EDT
[#22]
Quote HistoryOriginally Posted By GoldenMead: What I got most out of the economist article is Taiwan is hiding how serious the situation is getting and trying to prevent panic by controlling the information. Also the Admiral said China keeps bring new assets into the area and keeping them there. China keeps building up its forces slowly but surely. Here's the Score Cars: https://www.ar15.com/media/mediaFiles/482001/IMG_0946_jpeg-3340685.JPG https://www.ar15.com/media/mediaFiles/482001/IMG_0947_jpeg-3340686.JPG I'll be gone for a week and outside of cell service. Hopefully China can put off the invasion until I return. |
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Posted: 10/5/2024 12:48:04 PM EDT
[#23]
Quote HistoryOriginally Posted By GoldenMead: What I got most out of the economist article is Taiwan is hiding how serious the situation is getting and trying to prevent panic by controlling the information. Also the Admiral said China keeps bring new assets into the area and keeping them there. China keeps building up its forces slowly but surely. Here's the Score Cars: https://www.ar15.com/media/mediaFiles/482001/IMG_0946_jpeg-3340685.JPG https://www.ar15.com/media/mediaFiles/482001/IMG_0947_jpeg-3340686.JPG I'll be gone for a week and outside of cell service. Hopefully China can put off the invasion until I return. Quote HistoryOriginally Posted By GoldenMead: What I got most out of the economist article is Taiwan is hiding how serious the situation is getting and trying to prevent panic by controlling the information. Also the Admiral said China keeps bring new assets into the area and keeping them there. China keeps building up its forces slowly but surely. Here's the Score Cars: https://www.ar15.com/media/mediaFiles/482001/IMG_0946_jpeg-3340685.JPG https://www.ar15.com/media/mediaFiles/482001/IMG_0947_jpeg-3340686.JPG I'll be gone for a week and outside of cell service. Hopefully China can put off the invasion until I return. Taiwan tracks 13 Chinese military aircraft and 3 ships They had this statement added: When Typhoon Krathon hit Taiwan there was a stop to the usual daily incursions by the Chinese military. On Thursday the ministry reported two consecutive days without intrusions from Chinese military planes in its ADIZ. Here's a story about another couple of changes to an annual exercise in Taiwan: Taiwan schedules Chang Tai 19 war games TAIPEI (Taiwan News) Taiwan's ground forces have scheduled a round of day-and-night drills named "Chang Tai 19" to start at the end of the month, reports said Saturday (Oct. 5). Just like the better-known Han Kuang exercises, the October 28 November 1 drills will include night-time maneuvers and a focus on spontaneity, per CNA. The main participants in the exercises will be the Sixth Army Command in the north, the 586 Armored Brigade in Central Taiwan, and the 333 Mechanized Infantry Brigade in the south. For the first time, reservists were also expected to take part in the drills. The "Chang Tai" Army exercises had been interrupted for six years until 2023. Consider growing external threats, the latest edition would cover a wide range of activities, including the coordination of defense, counterattack, communication, intelligence, and action against virus infections. I need to apologize as I lost a story about Taiwan's gov't initiating a plan involving 400,000 civilians whom the gov't intends to train and "coast watchers" for the Island's coast. The story editorial photo showed them training with night sticks. I'll keep looking, but I lost it like more than two weeks ago, so I'm not expecting victory. 
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Posted: 10/6/2024 4:54:33 AM EDT
[#24]
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Posted: 10/6/2024 5:32:04 AM EDT
[#25]
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Posted: 10/6/2024 4:43:26 PM EDT
[Last Edit: zoinks]
[#26]
Quote HistoryOriginally Posted By CarmelBytheSea: https://www.independent.co.uk/asia/southeast-asia/china-taiwan-president-mainland-motherland-b2624548.html Quote HistoryOriginally Posted By CarmelBytheSea: https://www.independent.co.uk/asia/southeast-asia/china-taiwan-president-mainland-motherland-b2624548.html )As a little reminder back in FEB and MAR of this year we went over the History, as best we could, of Chiang Kai-Shek and Mao Tse-Tung (or Zedong for you Northeners). How they shared the same spritual Father in Sun Yat-Sen, and how the Republic of China was originally created back before WWI. They really wasn't much of a difference between Chiang and Mao in these days except for who was giving them money. Let's get to the article: Taiwan president says 'impossible' for mainland China to be the motherland Taiwan's president Lai Ching-te said it was "impossible" for mainland China to become the self-governing island's motherland, claiming that Taiwan had older political roots. "In terms of age, it is absolutely impossible for the People's Republic of China to become the motherland of the Republic of China's people," Mr Lai said. The People's Republic of China (PRC) governs mainland China, whereas the Republic of China (ROC) administers Taiwan and several smaller islands. "On the contrary, the Republic of China may be the motherland of the people of the People's Republic of China who are over 75 years old," Mr Lai said. In a speech at a concert before Taiwan's national day celebrations on 10 October, Mr Lai highlighted that the People's Republic of China marked its 75th anniversary on 1 October, while the Republic of China will celebrate its 113th birthday shortly after. China considers Taiwan a part of its territory and Chinese president Xi Jinping has threatened to "reunite" the island with the mainland, while the democratically elected government of Taiwan says only the island's people can choose their future. Taiwan split from the mainland in 1949 following a civil war after which the losing nationalist government fled to the island. Many countries recognise China's "One China" policy which does not consider Taiwan a sovereign entity. To wit, especially in this year of 2024, the Taiwanese government has been putting out many historical/cultural stories, news reports, political photo-ops and National Day of This, or That, or The Other. Now, I can finally use an article I bookmarked back in July!! I've been waiting for this day.................... Lai visits political archives on anniversary of martial law lifting Just remember, there has been much to propagandize for the Taiwanese to get them a sense of Citizenship and Cultural Affinity without which, there is no County. This is the the CCP/MSS has been trying to destroy in Taiwan and what they Democrats are destroying here. New Taipei, July 15 (CNA) Important information in political archives must not be concealed for any reason, President Lai Ching-te ( ) said in a visit to the National Archives Administration (NAA) in New Taipei on Monday, the day Taiwan marked the 37th anniversary of the end of martial law. During his tour, Lai observed how the political archives are open for members of the public to read declassified documents related to Taiwan's martial law period and its subsequent lifting, including lists of books and songs that were banned during that time. The martial law period, one of the longest in modern history, began on May 20, 1949, when the then Kuomintang (KMT) government declared it as its position in mainland China was becoming untenable against the Communists in the Chinese Civil War. This period lasted until July 15, 1987, ending with the lifting of martial law by former President Chiang Ching-kuo ( ) of the KMT after 38 years of significant political repression and restrictions on civil liberties in Taiwan. When giving remarks after the tour at NAA, Lai said it is the government's undeniable responsibility to restore justice to the people, while making historical truths known to society and honoring the achievements of those who contributed to democratic movements. "These archives are records of an authoritarian government's false accusations and even persecution of its people," Lai said, adding that he has issued three directives for the NAA to implement regarding political archives. "For archives sent by different units, important information must not be concealed under any pretext," Lai said, noting that such concealment would undermine the spirit of the "Political Archives Act" by "having the look of openness without actual transparency. At the end of his remarks, Lai encouraged the public to visit the NAA to gain a better understanding of the history of Taiwan's martial law period, hoping society will cherish the hard-earned democracy in Taiwan. Enacted in July 2019, the "Political Archives Act" aims to establish a system for accessing political archives that aligns with the spirit of transitional justice and "disclose truths and spur social reconciliation," while promoting historical research and education on topics such as authoritarian systems, martial law, and the 228 Incident. Meanwhile, back at the Ranch, the CCP is doing things like this: (The end of the post is where the conclusion is for the TLDR crowd.) Assassinating Chiang Kai-shek The reputation of China's Nationalist leader is falling in Taiwan and being rehabilitated on the Mainland. What's going on? During World War II, it was sometimes hard to know who hated the Chinese Nationalist commander Chiang Kai-shek more: his sworn enemy, the Chinese Communist Party, and its leader Mao Zedong or the Americans. It is a little known fact that at least twice during the long course of the war, senior officials of the United States considered assassinating Chiang, who was fighting the Japanese on the side of the Americans. During the Cairo Conference in November 1943, attended by President Franklin D. Roosevelt, British Prime Minister Winston Churchill, and Chiang, Roosevelt met privately with his senior commander in China, Maj. Gen. Joseph Stilwell. "Big boy," Stilwell said when he got back to China's wartime capital Chongqing, quoting Roosevelt to his chief of staff, Gen. Frank "Pinky" Dorn, "if you can't get along with Chiang and can't replace him, get rid of him once and for all. You know what I mean. Put in someone you can manage." Stilwell, who made no secret of his contempt for Chiang, told Dorn to "cook up a workable scheme and await orders." Dorn did just that, devising a plan that would have been worthy of a mass-market thriller. Stillwell would take Chiang on a flight to Ramgarh in northeast India to inspect Chinese troops being trained there, as part of the effort to improve the Nationalists' backward army. The pilot would pretend to have engine trouble and order his crew and passengers to bail out. Chiang would be escorted to the door of the plane wearing a faulty parachute and told to jump. "I believe it would work," Stilwell told Dorn. This American (and Chinese) vexation with Chiang persisted for decades even after he fled to Taiwan resulting in a widespread conventional wisdom that he was one of the great incompetents of history. Indeed, it would be pointless to deny his faults. Especially after the United States came into the war at the end of 1941, he frequently refused to go on the offensive against Japan, keeping several hundred thousand of his best troops in reserve to guard against the expansion of Mao's party in the north. At Cairo, Roosevelt wondered aloud to his son Elliot "why Chiang's troops aren't fighting at all." And Chiang was no liberal democrat: His much feared secret police, which Stilwell likened to the Gestapo, maintained a regime of surveillance, imprisonment, and on occasion execution of real and suspected opponents. And yet, the view of Chiang in the United States has softened in recent years a trend marked by the 2009 book The Generalissimo, a major biography by the historian Jay Taylor, which gave Chiang more credit for his brave leadership under impossible circumstances than previous historians. The view of Chiang has also shifted on both mainland China and Taiwan, reflecting changing political circumstances in both places. For Beijing, which just held a splashy military parade on Sept. 3 to celebrate its wartime victory over Japan, there have been far fewer negative comments about Chiang, intransigent anti-Communist though he was. Conversely, on Taiwan, the one part of China that he was able to preserve from Maoist dictatorship, Chiang's stature has steadily declined. Why the shift? Especially in the United States, there's the realization that getting rid of Chiang would in all likelihood have not produced a happy result. It is hard to imagine that it would have altered the tragically paradoxical outcome of World War II in Asia: The United States fought for four years to prevent a hostile power, Japan, from controlling China, only to see the country fall to a Communist dictatorship closely allied to the Soviet Union, an even more menacingly hostile power. Contrary to popular perception, for example, Chiang did fight: He mounted a brave, veritably suicidal, resistance to the initial full-scale Japanese invasion of 1937. According to Stilwell's replacement, Gen. Albert C. Wedemeyer, the battle for Shanghai, in which China lost thousands of its best troops, was at the time the world's bloodiest battle since Verdun in 1916. Japan's military leaders had predicted that the war in China would be over quickly. It could have been if Chiang surrendered and joined forces with the Japanese in a renewed effort to eradicate the Communists. But while that may have been tempting, Chiang never did. His defiance tied down a million Japanese troops who otherwise would have been available for battle against American forces. For the first four years of its eight-year war of resistance against Japan, until Pearl Harbor pushed the United States into the battle in December 1941, China fought alone. It was this that so impressed Wedemeyer. While Stilwell saw the Chinese leader as "a grasping, bigoted, ungrateful little rattlesnake," Wedemeyer was unrestrained in his admiration. Chiang's call on China's people to "sacrifice and fight to the bitter end" was, Wedemeyer believed, "more gallant and resolute than Churchill's famous 'blood, sweat and tears' speech." Given his situation, moreover, his military strategy of "endeavoring to dissipate Japanese strength and forcing the enemy to overextend his lines" made perfect sense, Wedemeyer felt, and so did his diversion of troops to prevent Communist expansion. Chiang understood as most Americans, focused exclusively on the defeat of Japan, did not that once the war ended there would be a fight to the finish between him and the Communists. Chiang maintained, to any Americans who would listen, that if successful the Communists would impose a totalitarian dictatorship allied with the Soviet Union. And Mao's total victory in 1949 proved him right. As both mainland China and Taiwan observe the 70th anniversary of the victory over Japan, Beijing's position on Chiang as a wartime leader has edged closer to Wedemeyer's than to Stilwell's. This took decades. During the 1960s and 1970s, when Mao still ruled China, the propaganda emanating from Beijing spoke about "American imperialism and its running dog Chiang Kai-shek." After the anti-imperialist rhetoric died away in China in the 1980s, Beijing portrayed Chiang as a reactionary servant of international capitalism who, but for the blessing of the party's victory, would have prevented the "new China" from being born. Nor was Chiang given any credit for the victory over Japan that went to Communist guerrillas and Mao's theories of people's war. There hasn't been an official verdict on Chiang of the sort that the party has decreed, for example, in connection with Mao, declaring him to have been 70 percent correct and 30 percent wrong. Still, in recent years, the accepted opinion about Chiang has clearly shifted in a positive direction, starting with a recognition of his role resisting the Japanese invasion. In 2009, for example, as China marked the 60th anniversary of the establishment of the People's Republic of China, the documentary The Founding of a Republic depicted Chiang as an essentially honorable figure misled by bad advisors. Since then, official exhibits on Chiang have dropped much of the tone of enmity that previously prevailed and replaced it with a mostly respectful view of him as the country's legitimate wartime leader. The 70th anniversary commemoration seems to have brought the trend regarding Chiang to a new stage, with many in Beijing seeming to recognize that Chiang wasn't only a patriot but that he deserved credit for the defeat of Japan a conclusion that American historians have only reached recently. Yang Tianshi, a member of the official Chinese Institute of Modern History, has been prominent on Chinese web portals and in television interviews, explicitly rejecting old Communist arguments that Chiang refused to fight the Japanese. Given the tremendous disadvantages that encumbered Chiang, especially China's material weakness and political fragmentation, Yang has argued his "patriotic contribution" was actually rather extraordinary. "Chiang Kai-shek never wavered in his determination to resist the Japanese," Yang has written. "He was a nationalist and a patriot." Paradoxically, while Beijing has expressed deeper respect for Chiang, his standing among the Taiwanese has steadily declined. Chiang, who ruled over the island from his arrival in 1949 to his death at the age of 87 in 1975, exercised a regime of terrifying repression. Tens of thousands of people, including much of the Taiwanese educated elite, were executed in a White Terror that lasted until 1987. In the early years of Chiang's control over Taiwan which proudly called itself "Free China" the island was as repressive as the mainland under Mao. Taiwanese remembered Chiang's repressions as the island became a democracy in the mid-1990s. Chiang's official stature remains high his picture, for example, adorns Taiwan's currency but he's less venerated than before. The vast park in the middle of Taipei that contains Chiang's memorial hall was formerly called Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Square. In the early 1990s, it was the scene of major pro-democracy demonstrations in recognition of which its name was changed to Liberty Square in 2007. (The imposing, white-walled museum inside is still called the Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall.) It's a major tourist site for mainland tourists, who pose for pictures in front of a giant portrait of Chiang near the entrance something that few Taiwanese seem interested in doing. And Taipei's international airport, once named for Chiang, is now just Taoyuan International Airport, named after the city south of Taipei where the airport is situated. "[Chiang Kai-shek] is being forgotten," said Lin Jih-wen, a political scientist at Academia Sinica, Taiwan's main research organization. More important is Feb. 28, the Taiwanese national holiday called Peace Memorial Day. It commemorates the massacre of between 18,000 and 28,000 Taiwanese by Kuomintang troops in Taipei, starting on that day in 1947. When Chiang was alive, what's known as the 228 Incident was publicly unmentionable. But a major museum, founded in 1997 and located in 228 Peace Memorial Park, tells the full story of the massacre. Every year on the anniversary holiday, the president of the country rings a bell in honor of the victims and formally bows in apology to their family members. (Imagine the rulers of Beijing bowing their heads in repentance to the family members of those killed in the 1989 suppression of the student-led demonstrations centered on Tiananmen Square.) The end here is an important conclusion. Oh, and this article is from 2015: There is a political meaning in this. The favorable view of Chiang emerging on the mainland has the advantage of being closer to the truth than the old propaganda caricature, but it also fits China's current goal, which is to lure Taiwan into such interdependency that a merging of the two societies will take place almost inevitably. China's recognition of Chiang's heroic role in the anti-Japanese resistance is useful because anti-Japan enmity itself is a powerful symbol of Chinese unity. During Chiang's years in Taiwan, the ubiquitous slogan draped over the island's highways was huifu dalu recover the mainland. But even more useful to Beijing now was Chiang's determined opposition to any suggestion of Taiwanese independence. In other words, the very reason his reputation has declined in Taiwan is the same reason Beijing has refurbished it. Despite the tremendous proliferation of contacts and relations between Taiwan and the mainland, Taiwanese are not buying the idea of unification. Indeed, with presidential elections coming up in January which the pro-independence Democratic Progressive Party is widely expected to win reunification seems as far away as ever. Indeed, one reason for the incumbent President Ma Ying-jeou's deep unpopularity is the widespread suspicion that his eagerness to build ties with the mainland has made Taiwan too susceptible to China's influence. In July, senior officials of both parties affirmed themselves in favor of what's called "the status quo" no independence, no unification, and no use of force meaning no use of force by Beijing to bring about unification. A poll conducted in July by the Election Study Center of National Chengchi University showed that over 80 percent of Taiwanese are either in favor of the status quo or in favor of immediate independence, despite China's strenuous efforts to persuade them otherwise. Less than 3 percent want unification as soon as possible. In this sense, the elevation of Chiang's status is an element of Beijing's attempted seduction of Taiwan that seems not to have brought about the desired result. The ruse of history has turned Chiang whom Mao, like Stilwell, would happily have assassinated into an ideological role model for Beijing. In other words, an embodiment of the goal of reunification, even if the reunification Chiang had in mind was not acceptable to Beijing. But now, Chiang's loss of heroic status is a sign of the island's drift toward a separate identity from that of the mainland. That is not an outcome that Chiang himself would have wanted, and it's not one Americans had in mind 70 years ago, when the United States unrealistically hoped that a united, democratic, pro-Western China would emerge from the wreckage of the war. But it will be a difficult one for Beijing to reverse, because it arises from something that China's leaders don't generally have to take into account: a genuine expression of the popular will. |
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Posted: 10/6/2024 4:44:34 PM EDT
[#27]
This may be all we get today for a Score Card without a score:
2024/10/06 PLA activities in the waters and airspace around Taiwan 1.Date 6 to 6 a.m. (UTC+8) Saturday to Sunday, Oct. 5-6 2.PLA activities 4 PLA aircraft and 6 PLAN vessels operating around Taiwan were detected up until 6 a.m. (UTC+8) today. 2 of the aircraft crossed the median line of the Taiwan Strait. ROC Armed Forces have monitored the situation and employed CAP aircraft, Navy vessels, and coastal missile systems in response to the detected activities. |
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Posted: 10/7/2024 12:21:13 PM EDT
[#28]
Score Card!!! Oct 6 to 7!!!
Taiwan tracks 27 Chinese military aircraft, 6 naval ships TAIPEI (Taiwan News) The Ministry of National Defense (MND) tracked 27 Chinese military aircraft and six naval ships around Taiwan between 6 a.m. on Sunday (Oct. 6) and 6 a.m. on Monday. Of the 27 People's Liberation Army (PLA) aircraft, 19 crossed the Taiwan Strait median line in the country's northern, central, and southwestern air defense identification zone (ADIZ), according to the MND.  Attached FileSo far this month China has sent 44 military aircraft and 15 naval ships around Taiwan. You know the more I look at these areas, the more it seems that they're for CAP sorties, except for those little areas like area 1 today. That's got to be some sort of surveillance aircraft. |
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Posted: 10/7/2024 1:38:20 PM EDT
[#29]
I have some updates on stories we covered last week. Here we go:
RTX to pay Taiwan millions for arms price gouging TAIPEI (Taiwan News) US defense contractor RTX (formerly Raytheon) has reportedly agreed to return up to US$250 million (NT$8.04 billion) in unlawful gains to Taiwan after an investigation found the firm had overcharged the country in two weapons deals. Bloomberg revealed in June that during an audit of the US Department of Defense's foreign military sales, the US Government Accountability Office discovered that RTX had engaged in price gouging of its international clients. In April, the company set aside US$300 million to pay penalties related to overpricing, and in July, it agreed to pay US$1.24 billion in restitution for overcharging, bribery, and export control violations, reported the Wall Street Journal. On Oct. 1, Yi Media reported that Taiwan was one of the international buyers affected by the overpricing. The two sales in question amounted to approximately US$250 million and included a Patriot missile procurement in 2013 and the purchase of radar systems in 2017, according to the report. On Friday (Oct. 4), Defense Minister Wellington Koo ( ) confirmed that the US Department of Justice had investigated RTX for inflating arms sale prices to Taiwan, with the primary case occurring in 2013, per CNA. Koo emphasized that Taiwan would recover all improper gains but declined to specify the exact amount. During a Legislative Yuan session on Monday (Oct. 7), Koo noted that the US proactively investigated the arms deals and informed Taiwan, stressing that both countries are victims in this case. He added that if the US had treated Taiwan as a "sucker" or "fool," it would not have initiated an investigation or notified Taiwan, according to CNA. In the never ending story line of Military Sales: Taiwan defense ministry says 3 weapons deliveries remain delayed TAIPEI (Taiwan News) Taiwan is still waiting for three weapons systems from the US, the Ministry of National Defense (MND) said on Monday (Oct. 7). Lieutenant General Huang Wen-chi ( ), director of the MND's Department of Strategic Planning, said that after coordinating with the US, only three items remain delayed: TOW 2B anti-tank missiles, AGM-154C Joint Standoff Weapons (JSOWs), and F-16V fighter jets, CNA reported. The other weapons Taiwan previously purchased have largely been delivered, Huang said. Defense Minister Wellington Koo ( ) said that the MND is pushing for the TOW 2B missiles to be delivered by the end of this year after initial batches failed testing but passed in later evaluations. Regarding the JSOWs, Koo said that since they are the latest variant, the US still needs to perform system integration and prepare production materials, which means longer production times. The MND is urging the US to complete this process as soon as possible, he said. The first F-16V jet is expected to roll out by the end of this year, with the full order to be completed by 2026, Koo said. The Air Force has been preparing for the jets by building the largest F-16 maintenance hub in the region and stockpiling advanced munitions, including the AIM-9X and AGM-154. It has also purchased MS-110 reconnaissance pods and infrared search and track pods to ensure the fighter jets are fully equipped during missions. Taiwan is set to receive the first batch of 108 M1A2T Abrams tanks in December. The tanks will be assigned to the 6th Army Corps to defend northern Taiwan. Seed instructors training in the US will return to Taiwan by the end of November. After completing the necessary procedures, maintenance and weapons training is set to begin in February 2025, following the Lunar New Year. and there's hope for the future: Meanwhile, the first batch of Harpoon missile systems recently arrived in Taiwan. One hundred twenty-six missiles will be delivered by the end of 2026. Now we have an update on a story originally posted by Carmel: DPP defends Taiwan president's assertion that China cannot be the 'motherland' The story is in two parts. First DPP defends President Lai; second is KMT...doesn't! LOL TAIPEI (Taiwan News) The Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) defended Taiwan President Lai Ching-te's ( ) remarks on Saturday (Oct. 5) that it is "impossible" for the People's Republic of China (PRC) to be the "motherland" of Taiwan. As the PRC commemorated its 75th anniversary on Oct. 1 and Taiwan prepares to celebrate its National Day on Thursday (Oct. 10), Lai spoke at a celebration event at Taipei Dome. He said, "Our nearest neighbor, the People's Republic of China, just celebrated its 75th birthday on Oct. 1 In a few days, the Republic of China (Taiwan, ROC) will celebrate its 113th birthday." Lai pointed out that the ROC was established before the PRC: "Therefore, considering age, it is absolutely impossible for the People's Republic of China to be the 'motherland' of the people of the Republic of China." Lai's remarks attracted international media attention and sparked criticism from opposition Kuomintang (KMT) politicians, per CNA. On Sunday (Oct. 6), the DPP issued a statement defending Lai: "President Lai's speech clarified the pragmatic status of cross-strait relations with clear and simple logic, fully complied with the Constitution of the Republic of China (Taiwan), accurately mentioned the people of the Republic of China, and emphasized that the Republic of China has continued to exist since 1911." The statement continued, "It not only refutes China's so-called 'one China,' 'motherland,' and other United Front rhetoric but also exposes the distorted positions of many cross-strait politicians confused by [the concept of] 'motherland.'" The DPP added that this position runs contrary to Taiwanese public opinion and urged the KMT to stop spreading "PRC propaganda rhetoric." In response, the KMT issued a press release, calling on President Lai "to regard all elements of the Republic of China as major symbols of the nation's spirit." It continued, "Over the past 113 years, the ROC has gone through so much suffering to achieve Taiwan's democracy and freedom today." Meanwhile, Hsiao Hsu-tsen ( ), director of the Ma Ying-jeou Foundation, accused Lai of causing instability in the Taiwan Strait and harming the interests of the Taiwanese people, saying that the ROC constitution "stipulates both mainland China and Taiwan belong to China." He added, "If you want to treat the mainland as a foreign country and deny that you are Chinese, then President Lai, please amend the constitution." Ma Ying-Jeou is the last KMT president elected. He was also the first, I'm pretty sure, to go to the PRC for "talks." This is the trap right here: "If you want to treat the mainland as a foreign country and deny that you are Chinese, then President Lai, please amend the constitution." Removing the "stipulation" is probably the sort of lame excuse the CCP is looking for as casus belli. However, essentially, the former KMT President's organization suggested it as a path forward. This could be fun!! Stories can be produced that since the former President suggested this path of, "let us explore it." It's stirring the pot for sure, but one of the benefits could be separating the KMT (too much to ask for) from the PRC or separating some KMT individuals from the PRC. I'm guessing Hsiao Hsu-Tsen is going to be looking for job soon. |
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Posted: 10/8/2024 12:03:22 PM EDT
[Last Edit: zoinks]
[#30]
Lots of stuff this morning. First, Score Card!
Taiwan tracks 12 Chinese military aircraft, 7 naval ships TAIPEI (Taiwan News) The Ministry of National Defense (MND) tracked 12 Chinese military aircraft and seven naval vessels around Taiwan between 6 a.m. on Monday (Oct. 7) and 6 a.m. on Tuesday. Of the 12 People's Liberation Army (PLA) aircraft, eight crossed the Taiwan Strait median line in the southwest corner of the country's air defense identification zone (ADIZ), according to the MND.  Attached FileThat's a lot of area for just 12 aircraft over a 12 hour day. So far this month China has sent 56 military aircraft and 22 naval ships around Taiwan. Next up is PRC Satellite launch. Just as a reminder, the PRC launch 10 satellites and snuck in an ICBM launch just a couple of weeks ago. China to launch satellite over Taiwan's ADIZ on Oct 10 TAIPEI (Taiwan News) The Ministry of National Defense (MND) on Tuesday (Oct. 8) announced that China will launch a satellite over the air defense identification zone (ADIZ) in two days. The MND announced that China will launch a satellite launch vehicle (SLV) from the Xichang Satellite Launch Center in Sichuan Province on Thursday (Oct. 10). The ministry projected it would pass over the ADIZ as it heads east toward the Western Pacific. On Jan. 9, a Chinese SLV deviated over standard flight paths and passed over Taiwan's airspace, causing the MND to issue a "Presidential Alert." When asked how it would handle a similar scenario, the ministry said it would continuously monitor activities around Taiwan through joint surveillance and reconnaissance and rapidly respond to ensure national security, per RW News.
See where this is going, Gentlemen! We covered 2024A well, and this is when Carmel introduced us to the Type 076 ship!! Variations of Search Engine terms regarding "Joint Sword 2024B" only returned stories about 2024A except for the same two that were returned each time. Taiwan premier urges China to exercise restraint in 'Joint Sword 2024B' drills TAIPEI (Taiwan News) Premier Cho Jung-tai ( ) urged China to exercise restraint amid reports that Beijing could launch a new series of military exercises on National Day (Oct. 10). From May 23-24, China launched large-scale military exercises around Taiwan called "Joint Sword 2024A" following President Lai Ching-te's ( ) inauguration speech on May 20. On Monday (Oct. 7), a senior security official was cited by PTS News as saying that Beijing may use Lai's National Day speech as a pretext to launch similar drills possibly titled "Joint Sword 2024B." During a session of the Legislative Yuan on Tuesday (Oct. 8). Kuomintang (KMT) Legislator Yeh Yuan-chih ( ) asked Cho whether the Chinese Communist Party would launch military exercises on National Day. Cho responded that he hoped China's exercises would be limited to areas under its jurisdiction and that Beijing would limit actions that could "undermine the security of the Indo-Pacific region," per SET News. When Yeh asked to what extent the Ministry of National Defense (MND) is aware of China's preparations for the upcoming exercises, Cho said he is not at liberty to comment in detail. However, he stressed that the ministry is not only monitoring the Joint SwordB exercise. Cho said China has conducted many drills in the past, and the MND has continuously monitored them. Cho pointed out that the MND on Tuesday (Oct. 8) had released information about the planned launch of a Chinese satellite launch vehicle over Taiwan's air defense identification zone (ADIZ) on Oct. 10 to demonstrate to the public that the government is fully aware of all situations, per CNA. Cho said China's military exercises will coincide with Taiwan's National Day, and Taiwan will improve its defense-related security monitoring. Cho said Taiwan has continuously monitored China's military exercises but does not want Beijing to know the extent of its knowledge. PRC likely to launch drills after National Day speech 'JOINT SWORD': Whatever President Lai says in his Double Ten speech, China would use it as a pretext to launch 'punishment' drills for his 'separatist' views, an official said China is likely to launch military drills this week near Taiwan, using President William Lai's ( ) upcoming national day speech as a pretext to pressure the nation to accept its sovereignty claims, Taiwanese officials said. China in May launched "punishment" drills around Taiwan shortly after Lai's inauguration, in what Beijing said was a response to "separatist acts," sending heavily armed warplanes and staging mock attacks as state media denounced newly inaugurated Lai. The May drills were dubbed "Joint Sword 2024A" and drew concerns from capitals, including Washington. Lai is to deliver a key speech on Thursday in front of the Presidential Office Building in Taipei to mark the 113th birthday of the Republic of China. "Our assessment is that no matter what Lai says on October 10, they might put a name on existing exercises and call it Joint Sword 2024B. That's a possibility," a senior Taiwanese security official said, citing intelligence gathered by Taiwan and the government's assessments on China's likely moves. "It's likely to be a pretext," the official said. In an internal security memo, a copy of which was viewed by Reuters, Taiwanese authorities said they believe Beijing might blame the possible drills on Lai's "provocation" in his speech. China has "continuously tried to test the red lines of various countries, maximizing its gray-zone operations," the memo said, referring to military moves that stop short of actual combat to test and pressure other militaries. The Ministry of National Defense did not immediately respond to requests for comment. China's Ministry of National Defense and Taiwan Affairs Office also did not immediately respond to requests for comment A Taipei-based diplomatic source said the one thing that could hold back a military reaction by China to Lai's speech was the closeness of the US presidential election and Beijing not wanting tensions over Taiwan to suddenly be put into the international spotlight so close to the vote. "These days China does not really need a pretext to hold war games around Taiwan. They can do them anytime they like," the source said, speaking on condition of anonymity given the sensitivity of the situation. Lai and the ruling Democratic Progressive Party reject Beijing's sovereignty claims, saying only Taiwanese can decide their future.  ETA: I forgot to add that it's 0904 Pacific Daylight time, and it's Midnight 9OCT in Taiwan. |
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Posted: 10/9/2024 2:32:09 AM EDT
[#31]
Got another Score Card!!!
Taiwan tracks 12 Chinese military aircraft, 9 ships TAIPEI (Taiwan News) The Ministry of National Defense (MND) tracked 12 Chinese military aircraft, eight naval vessels, and one official ship around Taiwan between 6 a.m. on Tuesday (Oct. 8) and 6 a.m. on Wednesday. Of the 12 People's Liberation Army (PLA) aircraft, nine crossed the Taiwan Strait median line in the nation's northern, central, southwestern, and eastern air defense identification zone (ADIZ), according to the MND.  Attached FileSo far this month China has sent 68 military aircraft and 31 ships around Taiwan. Area 4 had one aircraft for 2 hours while area 3 had two aircraft for 7 hours which probably means they split a shift between them, and area 2 had 8 for 9 hours. Let's say they're single engine fighters that's a pair every 2 and a quarter hours? That's kind of a lot for a single engine. Maybe it's single aircraft every hour and 7minutes! LOL. Who the fuck knows!! the MND does, and the ain't talking!!! Tomorrow, I will post a story about the Japanese on a two day visit. |
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Posted: 10/9/2024 1:12:28 PM EDT
[#32]
Highly doubt this goes anywhere but North Korea is building up a Navy base which China could potentially use https://www.twz.com/news-features/signs-point-to-north-korea-building-a-nuclear-powered-submarine-south-korean-intel
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Posted: 10/9/2024 11:06:26 PM EDT
[#33]
Quote HistoryOriginally Posted By CarmelBytheSea: Highly doubt this goes anywhere but North Korea is building up a Navy base which China could potentially use https://www.twz.com/news-features/signs-point-to-north-korea-building-a-nuclear-powered-submarine-south-korean-intel Let's save this and see what shakes out and if we can find any other images of the site. It's on the Pacific side of the Peninsula according to the story. If the orientation is correct (ocean to the right), then the shadows show the Sun is to the South of it heading to the West. That's really blue water, more blue than if it were a lake. There's green algae growing in the upper right portion, so either something organic is being dumped or there's anerobic respiration going on. Maybe brackish water? It would've been more helpful if the author spent more time on where the hell this place is instead of "we don't know yet." Curses!!! We save this one!!! |
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Posted: 10/9/2024 11:14:24 PM EDT
[#34]
Score Card!!
Taiwan tracks 27 Chinese military aircraft, 14 ships TAIPEI (Taiwan News) The Ministry of National Defense (MND) tracked 27 Chinese military aircraft, nine naval vessels, and five official ships around Taiwan between 6 a.m. on Wednesday (Oct. 9) and 6 a.m. on Thursday. Of the 27 People's Liberation Army (PLA) aircraft, 15 crossed the Taiwan Strait median line in the country's northern, central, and southwestern air defense identification zone (ADIZ), according to the MND.  Attached FileSo far this month China has sent 95 military aircraft and 45 ships around Taiwan. Japanese lawmakers land in Taiwan for 2-day visit TAIPEI (Taiwan News) A Japan-ROC Diet Members' Consultative Council delegation arrived in Taiwan on Wednesday (Oct. 9) for a two-day visit. The five-member group is led by former President of the House of Councillors Santo Akiko. The lawmakers will meet with President Lai Ching-te ( ) and attend the National Day celebration on Thursday, according to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA). Their visit demonstrates support for Taiwan and highlights the deep friendship and partnership between Taiwan and Japan, the ministry said. Japan deployed a navy destroyer through the Taiwan Strait last month for the first time. According to the Yomiuri Shimbun, Japanese government sources revealed that Prime Minister Kishida Fumio had ordered the passage in response to China's incursion into Japanese territory in August. More than 180 foreign guests attending Taiwan National Day celebrations TAIPEI (Taiwan News) Approximately 183 distinguished foreign guests are attending Taiwan's National Day celebration (Oct 10), according to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA). This includes 14 official delegations and 91 representatives of diplomatic missions in Taiwan, including their spouses, from both allied and non-diplomatic countries, the ministry said. |
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Posted: 10/9/2024 11:20:40 PM EDT
[#35]
Taiwanese Defense news:
Taiwan mass-producing Chien Hsiang kamikaze drones TAIPEI (Taiwan News) Taiwan's National Chung Shan Institute of Science and Technology (NCSIST) has begun mass-producing its newly developed Chien Hsiang anti-radiation loitering munitions, a military official said on Wednesday (Oct. 9). NCSIST will make 48 loitering munitions per year, totaling nearly 200 by 2025, the official said. The munition has a range of up to 1,000 kilometers and comes in two models: targeting and attack, Liberty Times reported. The targeting variant is equipped with an electro-optical/infrared guidance system, enabling precise long-range strikes. The attack variant is fitted with a satellite-guided precision targeting system, capable of long-range strikes on high-value fixed targets, as well as moving targets. Both types of drones use high-explosive warheads to maximize their impact. The official said batches of the kamikaze drone have already been delivered to the Air Force's Air Defense and Missile Command for operational deployment. Integrating the drones into the command's arsenal significantly enhances the command's flexibility in both offensive and defensive operations, they said. NCSIST will seize all opportunities to join global supply chains, as the US seeks to diversify its supply sources away from China, Defense Minister Wellington Koo ( ) said last week. The Ministry of National Defense said last week it welcomes any opportunity to build a partnership with the US in drone production, he added. Taiwan's Defense Innovation Task Force, which was established in February, is developing underwater unmanned vehicles and other UAV-related systems. It also focuses on AI-assisted target recognition, autonomous navigation, cybersecurity, and communications. Another follow up: Taiwan to purchase new rifles next year TAIPEI (Taiwan News) Taiwan's military will buy the new T112 assault rifle next year. The military plans to purchase 86,114 T112 rifles, according to Minister of National Defense Wellington Koo ( ). The rifle has a tighter shot grouping of 9.8 cm at 100 meters, the Armaments Bureau said on Wednesday (Oct. 9). The rifle features ambidextrous design elements such as dual-sided charging handles, which allow for quick transitions between left- and right-handed shooting, CNA reported. This feature enhances flexibility and mobility in close-quarters combat. The Armaments Bureau also unveiled a new ballistic plate on Wednesday. Development of a new ballistic plate has been completed, the bureau said, and it is based on the US military's Enhanced Small Arms Protective Insert specifications, which is capable of withstanding the Chinese 5.8mm steel-core rounds. The new plate weighs 2.2 kilograms and is made of ceramic tiles and polyethylene fiber. It will be mass-produced alongside a redesigned bulletproof vest starting next year, the bureau added. The new equipment comes as Taiwan has increased efforts to strengthen its defense against a Chinese attack. During a meeting with US lawmakers on Tuesday, Foreign Minister Lin Chia-lung ( ) said Taiwan's defense budget has nearly doubled over the past eight years, demonstrating its commitment to national security. Ex-defense minister judged Mirage jets crucial for defense of north Taiwan TAIPEI (Taiwan News) Despite the high cost of maintenance, the Mirage 2000 jets are still crucial to the defense of north Taiwan, former Defense Minister Yan De-fa ( ) said Wednesday (Oct. 9) The crash of a Mirage in September raised questions about the usefulness of the aging jets. Taiwan had 60 of the fighter airplanes delivered by France from 1997, but eight aircraft were lost in accidents. Yan said that during his term as minister from 2018 to 2021, he had considered scrapping the planes, but despite the elevated cost of maintenance and spare parts, he had decided against because they played a key role in the defense of the north of the country, per CNA. In the end, he chose to have the Mirage jets upgraded instead of scrapped, he told lawmakers. Yan said his main concerns at the time were national security. Opposition lawmakers said the military should consider replacing the Mirages as they were no longer a match for Chinese jets. Yan, who now heads the Cabinet's Veterans Affairs Council, said he would pass the legislators' opinions on to the Air Force. Taiwan reportedly recently abandoned plans to develop a new indigenous fighter jet, instead hoping to procure aircraft from the United States. |
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Posted: 10/9/2024 11:25:05 PM EDT
[#36]
This would've been a follow up story if I had posted the lead story from May. I just deleted it in August as I had no other context to put it in...that is until now!
Bomb threats issued over documentary 'State Organs' in Taiwan TAIPEI (Taiwan News) A documentary film that reports alleged cases of forced organ harvesting in China has been released in theaters across Taiwan, but quickly faced bomb threats aimed at halting its screenings. Shortly after the nationwide release of "State Organs" ( ) in October, theaters across Taiwan began receiving threatening letters, including bomb threats, per FTV News. The police have increased patrols and preliminary investigations suggest that these threats are likely the work of Chinese cyber forces. The documentary features testimonies, audio recordings of victims before they disappeared, and accounts from doctors allegedly involved in surgeries, recalling purported forced organ harvesting procedures. FTV reporter Wang Yu-chun ( ) said that a media outlet had reported on the upcoming release of the film and "within just 20 minutes, they received bomb threats." Wang said the suspects also called theaters across Taiwan, as well as government offices, demanding the screenings be stopped or bombs would be detonated in movie theaters. Threatening emails contained explicit warnings, stating that bombs had been made, information from theaters had been stolen, and if screenings continued, shootings would occur inside theaters. Police have stepped up patrols and searches and identified the email senders' IP addresses. The Criminal Investigation Bureau (CIB) has preliminarily determined that these actions are part of a typical harassment tactic used by Chinese cyber warriors. It never fails. Democratic Progressive Party Legislator Puma Shen ( ) was cited by FTV News as saying, "Since this film 'State Organs' hits a sore spot for China, it would be strange if China did nothing. In Taiwan, it is easier to see these reactions manifest." Shen said they initially tend to use online threats like sending emails and other forms of harassment, "which can ultimately escalate into physical (threats)." Kuan Nung-yun ( ), head of Lion Film and Television Culture Co. ( ), the film's distributor, told the news agency, "Due to the interference faced by the theaters, they are unable to continue the screenings." He added, "We hope that national security and law enforcement agencies can provide ordinary people with an environment that ensures freedom of life and speech." As theaters that show the documentary have been affected by the threats, certain operators have decided to cancel screenings out of concern for audience safety.  State Organs (2024) Official Trailer | Raymond Zhang, Michelle Zhang, Will Huang, Wendy Lan |
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Posted: 10/10/2024 5:11:59 PM EDT
[#37]
National Day in Taiwan ended a few hours ago. No score card because the 0600 to 0600 hasn't ended yet. The PRC did launch a satellite, but in the more normal Western part of China:
China launches third high orbit internet satellite HELSINKI China launched a new communications satellite towards geostationary orbit Thursday, although its precise role remains undisclosed . A Long March 3B lifted off from Xichang Satellite Launch Center, southwest China, at 9:50 a.m. Eastern, Oct. 10 (1350 UTC). The China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation (CASC) declared the launch was a complete success over an hour after liftoff. CASC revealed the previously undisclosed payload for the launch to be High orbit internet satellite-03 (Weixing Hulianwan Gaogui-03). It follows the first and second satellites in series, launched Feb. 29 and Aug. 1 respectively. Neither CASC nor Chinese media reports revealed details of the new satellite or its uses. No images of the satellite, nor an indication of the satellite platform and its potential uses or customers, were provided. While the spacecraft is described as a "high-orbit internet services satellite," the satellite will operate in geostationary orbit. State media Xinhua reported in November 2023 that a first high orbit internet satellite had been completed. It would be used to provide coverage for the entirety of China and key areas along the "Belt and Road" initiative. The first high orbit internet satellite is located at 33.7 degrees. The location could allow it to provide services to Africa and the Middle East. The lack of publicly available information raises speculation about its potential uses, which could include military applications. The satellite, if confirmed for communications purposes, would enhance China's global internet coverage through space infrastructure. This includes low Earth orbit megaconstellations Guowang and Thousand Sails/Qianfan, medium Earth orbit satellites, and the existing ChinaSat and Apstar satellites in GEO. Observational astronomers recently produced a paper indicating the first 18 Thousand Sails/Qianfan satellites are significantly bright and pose a new challenge for astronomers. One of the messages of today's speech by President Lai was this: Lai Ching-te vows to build up Taiwan's resilience TAIPEI (Taiwan News) President Lai Ching-te ( ) pledged to strengthen Taiwan's resilience in his National Day address on Thursday (Oct. 10). Under the Four Pillars of Peace action plan, Lai said he would bolster national defense and protect the well-being of the Taiwanese. Three new committees have been established to address Taiwan's global challenges, including climate change and authoritarian expansion: the National Climate Change Committee, Healthy Taiwan Promotion Committee, and Whole-of-Society Defense Resilience Committee. "These three committees are interconnected and closely related to national resilience," Lai said. The aim is to develop better responses to challenges and foster closer cooperation with the international community, he explained. In terms of cross-strait relations, Taiwan is determined to uphold peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait, the president said. Taipei's commitments to dialogue in the Taiwan Strait based on equality and dignity are unchanged, he said. The nation is also ready to collaborate with China to address global issues and ensure regional security for the benefit of people on both sides of the strait, he added. Lai hoped that China could meet the expectations of the international community by contributing to regional and global peace and security. China can use its influence to help end the war in Ukraine and conflicts in the Middle East, he said. Amid these turbulent times, Taiwan will remain confident and resilient and be a force for peace and prosperity in the region, Lai said. "The more Taiwanese persevere, the stronger global democracy becomes. The more resilient Taiwanese are, the more global democracy endures," he said. |
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Posted: 10/10/2024 5:52:04 PM EDT
[Last Edit: zoinks]
[#38]
This next one is more cultural. I found this story, and the title "Wolf Warrior" reminded me of the Wolf-Warrior Diplomats that the CCP once touted:
Taiwanese actor Tiger Wang dies at 56 TAIPEI (Taiwan News) Taiwanese actor Tiger Wang ( ) died from lung cancer at age 56 on Monday (Oct. 7). Wang was known for several roles as an actor. He was also a producer for the Chinese war film "Wolf Warrior." I've never seen a Chinese War movie. I've seen their propaganda staged documentaries, though. The thing about cultural products (games, movies, TV, books etc.) is that this is where you find strengths, weaknesses of the cultural mindset. By that I mean, what do they believe in when it all goes to shit. You learn so much more from the muck and the mire than from the pristine world most fantasize about. I've seen Russian war films. Everything about those films always comes down to the slug fest where brain power is neither wanted nor appreciated. Again, it's all about mentality. The War in Ukraine is what it is because this is the level of understanding of War both sides have. Their cultural products say so. That brings us to this National Review movie review from 2019 for Wolf Warrior II that I found trying to learn what is a Wolf-Warrior: Wolf Warrior II Tells Us a Lot about China The movie is a window into state propaganda and the population's beliefs, too. The Chinese economy is taking a big hit as a result of the trade war with the U.S: A leading export indicator has fallen several months in a row, Chinese companies postponed campus recruitment, and auto and housing sales dropped. A number of U.S. manufacturers are moving production outside of China. So why is China hanging tough and President Xi Jinping showing no sign of settling the dispute any time soon? The Chinese movie Wolf Warrior II may offer some clues. The original Wolf Warrior, released in 2015, was an action-packed film about a Chinese elite special force nickedname the "Wolf Warriors" and their very muscly star, Leng Feng, apprehending a notorious Chinese drug lord who was aided by white mercenaries (made up mostly of former U.S. Marines). In Wolf Warrior II, Leng travels to an unnamed Africa country for a personal matter but gets caught in the middle of a civil war between government troops and armed rebels, also aided by white mercenaries who are the real bad guys in this movie. With the help of the Chinese Navy, Leng rescues African and Chinese civilians and defeats the white mercenaries, in the process beating up their American leader, "Big Daddy." Both movies are replete with nationalistic messages and patriotic themes, and they share a tagline: "Anyone who offends China, no matter how remote, must be exterminated." If the original movie showed off China's technological advancement, military might, and determination domestically, Wolf II is all about demonstrating China's ambitions and aspirations internationally. In Wolf II, China is the only powerful, responsible, and benevolent world power. Chinese workers help Africans build their economy. Chinese doctors work to discover a cure for a deadly endemic. And the film unabashedly takes several swipes at the U.S. When African and Chinese civilians inside a factory are under attack by rebels and mercenaries, the only good American in the movie, Rachel Smith, a Chinese-American volunteer, fanatically tries to contact the U.S. embassy for help. Leng asks her, "Why are you calling the Americans? Where are they? It is a waste of time." After she tells him that she tried to reach American government by Twitter, Leng responds that "the Americans are good for nothing." When Leng shows up at the factory, he tells the workers that "I'm Chinese and I come to save you." True to his words, it's the Chinese Navy's powerful missiles that destroy the rebel's tanks. It's the Chinese Navy's helicopter that airlifts civilians to the safety of a Chinese battle ship. And it's the ultra-masculine Leng who saves the only good American by carrying her (against her will because she wants to help) to that Chinese helicopter. A typical Hollywood twist with "Chinese characteristics." To reinforce China's superpower status, when Leng is pinned down by Big Daddy, an African rebel tells his American ally, "Don't kill Chinese. Their government is the only permanent U.N. Security Council member presence here." Yes, the dialog is weird. Probably a Chinese-government propagandist inserted this line, because no one in real life talks this way. But rather than laughing at it, we should think about why the propagandist feels strongly the need to make this point: It implies China is the only benevolent superpower. Only China cares about those in need. In the final crucial scene, Big Daddy tells Leng that "people like you will always be inferior to people like me; get f***ing used to it." Leng, who was losing the fight a moment ago, jumps up and says "that's f***ing history" before beating Big Daddy to a pulp. In China, art is sanctioned by the government. There's no doubt that this movie received the full support of the Chinese state. Therefore, we shouldn't dismiss the movie simply as an action-infused fantasy. It clearly presents what China's rise means to China: The country's inevitable rise to world-power status corresponds to the inevitable decline of the old world power, the U.S. China is not only destined for greatness but also responsible for replacing the old world order with a new one led by China one where the U.S. is not only a loser but practically irrelevant. China's rise is realized through its superiority in military might, technological advancement, and, yes, morality. And China knows how to use its superpowers responsibly and wisely. The world is a better place because of China. Americans don't have to agree with any of this. But Wolf II offers insights as to why China has been hanging tough through its trade negotiations with the U.S. China sees the trade war as a new form of cold war and Trump's tariffs as the last futile effort by Americans to curtail China's rise. Chinese state media have vowed that "the Chinese people will never cave in to America's unreasonable demands, citing China's historical humiliations at the hands of colonial occupiers." Chinese who dare to suggest compromise in the trade negotiation have been condemned by state media as "unpatriotic." President Xi has called for Chinese people to be ready for a "Long March," a reference to the long and difficult journey the Red Army took from 1934 to 1936. In government-sanctioned history books, despite the hardship, the Long March preserved the Communist party's strength and fighting power and eventually led to its victory over the Nationalist Party in China's civil war. Xi's message is clear: China's economic setback as a result of the trade war will only strengthen China's resolve. China is digging in for the long haul because China's rise is unstoppable and China will come out of this a winner. This hard-line attitude explains why China has retaliated against U.S. trade actions tit for tat. It also explains why Beijing reportedly set preconditions prior to the Trump Xi summit at the G20, despite having a weaker economy. From reports after the summit, it seems China got what it wanted and more. Besides promising no additional tariffs on Chinese imports for now, President Trump removed the ban on American firms selling technology to Huawei, didn't mention Hong Kong's protest at all, and reaffirmed that Taiwan is part of China. A Chinese diplomat, meanwhile, warns of "disastrous consequences" if the U.S. treats China as an "enemy" while Chinese media portray the U.S. as, quite literally, the bad guy. |
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Posted: 10/10/2024 6:16:52 PM EDT
[#39]
Here are two stories about the military that if this happened consistently would point to the state of Morale and Discipline within their Military.
Taiwan airman accidentally killed in training TAIPEI (Taiwan News) An airman has died after being accidentally shot during weapons training in Taichung on Tuesday (Oct. 8). An Air Force private surnamed Hsu ( ) was shot at a base attached to Taichung International Airport during small arms training, the defense ministry said in a statement on Tuesday afternoon. Hsu was immediately taken to the nearby Tungs' Taichung Metro Harbor Hospital, where he was pronounced dead. The statement said that the Air Force Command had immediately contacted the deceased soldier's family and sent high-level personnel to attend to relevant matters. The command has also set up a task force to cooperate with any investigations to clarify the cause of the incident. Here's the interesting thing: Premier Cho Jung-tai ( ) responded to the incident at the legislature on Tuesday afternoon. He said Defense Minister Wellington Koo ( ) is expected to ask the Air Force Command to investigate the incident to provide a full explanation for the deceased soldier's family and society. Crime Ring!! 5 indicted over stolen Stinger missile launcher in Taiwan Police raid uncovers active military supplies in criminal gang's arsenal TAIPEI (Taiwan News) Taoyuan prosecutors on Monday (Oct. 7) indicted five individuals, including four military officers, for stealing and selling Army weapons, including a Stinger missile launcher. In March 2023, law enforcement officers raided a criminal gang's arsenal and uncovered active military supplies, including a Stinger missile launcher and thousands of rounds of small arms ammunition. An investigation revealed that the items had been stolen from the 66th Marine Corps Brigade. Marine Corps Systems Command confirmed in a press release after the investigation that several items were missing from their related units, per CNA. This included a launch tube from a double-mounted Stinger missile fired during a previous military exercise. In October 2023, security officials repeatedly searched the 66th Marine Corps Brigade, including bases in Taoyuan and the Marine Corps Recruit Training Center in Pingtung. They arrested a military captain, surnamed Wang ( ), and three non-commissioned officers surnamed Wang ( ), Chiu ( ), and Tan ( ). The investigation also uncovered that a man surnamed Xiong ( ), who had purchased the stolen military products, is currently the CEO of the Taiwan Airsoft and Airgun Association in New Taipei. Xiong previously served in the Navy before retiring in 2010. According to the Taoyuan District Prosecutors Office, the captain and non-commissioned officers were indicted for crimes involving the theft and misappropriation of public property under the Anti-Corruption Act. Xiong was charged with purchasing stolen goods on one occasion and receiving stolen goods three times. |
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Posted: 10/10/2024 7:00:06 PM EDT
[#40]
Quote HistoryOriginally Posted By zoinks: Holy Hell, Brother! Those War Zone guys get paid by the word???? Let's save this and see what shakes out and if we can find any other images of the site. It's on the Pacific side of the Peninsula according to the story. If the orientation is correct (ocean to the right), then the shadows show the Sun is to the South of it heading to the West. That's really blue water, more blue than if it were a lake. There's green algae growing in the upper right portion, so either something organic is being dumped or there's anerobic respiration going on. Maybe brackish water? It would've been more helpful if the author spent more time on where the hell this place is instead of "we don't know yet." Curses!!! We save this one!!! I’ve seen another articke about it before but I ignored it because I just don’t think North Korea is at that submarine tech level but seeing another article and whining in the Biden admin about Russia trading tech for artillery ammo I figured it was at least worth tracking and seeing if it has any legs at all. I’d say the one benefit North Korea is getting is resting short range missiles in Ukraine. I’ll post future articles if they’re more substantive than War Zone |
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Posted: 10/10/2024 11:15:32 PM EDT
[#41]
Quote HistoryOriginally Posted By CarmelBytheSea: I've seen another articke about it before but I ignored it because I just don't think North Korea is at that submarine tech level but seeing another article and whining in the Biden admin about Russia trading tech for artillery ammo I figured it was at least worth tracking and seeing if it has any legs at all. I'd say the one benefit North Korea is getting is resting short range missiles in Ukraine. I'll post future articles if they're more substantive than War Zone Take care, Brother!!! |
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Posted: 10/10/2024 11:18:18 PM EDT
[#42]
Score Card!!!!!
Taiwan tracks 20 Chinese military aircraft, 10 naval ships TAIPEI (Taiwan News) The Ministry of National Defense (MND) tracked 20 Chinese military aircraft and 10 naval vessels around Taiwan between 6 a.m. on Thursday (Oct. 10) and 6 a.m. on Friday. Of the 20 People's Liberation Army (PLA) aircraft, 13 crossed the Taiwan Strait median line in the nation's northern, central, and southwestern air defense identification zone (ADIZ), according to the MND.  Attached FileSo far this month China has sent 115 military aircraft and 55 ships around Taiwan. |
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Posted: 10/11/2024 11:17:07 AM EDT
[#43]
This is an al-jazeera story that's good, and it also has several charts that lay out various parameters in the South China Sea, plus at the end of the article, there's a slide show of a "time-line" of how the Chinese expanded into the area even though al-jazeera won't call it that!! To them, this is a US-China territorial dispute. No idea how they came to that conclusion, but the story is written well, and plenty of information that is accurate:
What's behind escalating China-Philippines tensions in the South China Sea? I'm going to post the charts, but please do check out the slide show at the end of the article, so you can watch PRC expansionism while they were claiming they were a non-hegemonic power! I renamed the charts as the titles were pretty long. Titles were typically: INTERACTIVE-US-CHINA-TERRITORIAL-SEA-DISPUTE-MILITARY-ASSETS-JULY4-2024-1720070136.wepb Territorial Claims:  Attached FileOutposts:  Attached FilePRC Military assets:  Attached FileOil and Natural Gas Fields:  Attached FileCheck out the History Time-line slide show at the end of the article!!! |
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Posted: 10/11/2024 11:36:46 AM EDT
[#44]
Reuters...
Chinese premier hopes Japan, China can meet halfway, keep relations on right track What a difference a week makes in the Chinese position! BEIJING, Oct 11 (Reuters) - Chinese Premier Li Qiang said he hopes Japan can meet China halfway and keep bilateral relations on the right track, state media reported, as the two countries try to ease escalating tensions in the region. In talks with Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba on Thursday on the sidelines of a conference of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), Li also said he hoped China and Japan can continuously strengthen dialogue and cooperation, according to the official Xinhua news agency on Friday. Li noted that the two countries should jointly safeguard the stability and smooth flow of industrial and supply chains and the global free trade system. Li made the comments after the leaders' meetings on East Asia cooperation held in Vientiane, Laos, Xinhua news reported. Ishiba said that Japan has no intention of decoupling or severing industrial and supply chains with China, and that his country is willing to work with the world's second-largest economy to strengthen high-level exchanges, intensify dialogue and communication at all levels, Xinhua reported. Ishiba, who became Japan's new prime minister late last month, also said his country wants to resolve pending issues through consultation, and firm up talks with China on international and regional issues. The meeting comes days after China's top diplomat had a phone call with Japan's new foreign minister over several issues affecting the two countries, as relations soured over China's increased military activity near Japan's territorial waters. |
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Posted: 10/11/2024 12:13:28 PM EDT
[#45]
Short story from al-jazeera. There's a video at the end of it:
North Korean troops fighting for Russia in Ukraine: Seoul Pretty sure most of us have suspected this for a very long time! Now we have an official government announced suspicion! North Korean soldiers appear to be fighting alongside Russian troops in Ukraine, according to Seoul's defence minister. Kim Yong-hyun told South Korean politicians on Tuesday that it was "highly likely" that six North Korean officers were killed in a Ukrainian missile strike near Donetsk on October 3, as reported by Ukrainian media last week. The suggestion comes amid strengthening ties between Pyongyang and Moscow. North Korea has rebuffed accusations that it is supplying arms to Russia's forces for use in its invasion of Ukraine. "We assess that the occurrence of casualties among North Korean officers and soldiers in Ukraine is highly likely, considering various circumstances," Kim said, adding that Seoul expects Pyongyang to send more troops to support Russia's war effort. Here's another Reuters story. Yay.  Here's the outline. Your typical islamic militant groups in Pakistan are attacking foreign owned and privately owned (almost no mention of ownership in the article!!) mining companies. Mostly immigrants from Afghanistan are being killed, over 70 since 2021 with 11 Chinese citizens killed during the same time. There are many other foreign nationals working the mines as well and being killed as well. Now we can guess at this point that these chinese aren't working in the mines unlike the Afghannies! The Upshot is the article does it's best to tie itself to the Chinese apparatchik, but doesn't want to say it's name. It's propaganda that will be useful sometime in the future, but now is the time to lay the foundation for whatever purpose may be available: Gunmen kill 21 coal miners in troubled southwestern Pakistan QUETTA, Pakistan, Oct 11 (Reuters) - Dozens of attackers armed with guns, rockets and hand grenades stormed a cluster of small private coal mines in southwestern Pakistan on Friday, slaying some miners in their sleep and shooting others after lining them up, killing at least 21 in the restive region, police said. The attack by around 40 armed men days before Pakistan hosts a summit of the Shanghai Co-operation Organization grouping is the worst in weeks in the mineral-rich province of Balochistan bordering Afghanistan and Iran. "The armed terrorists remained for around 1-1/2 hours in the mining area," regional police official Asif Shafi told Reuters. "They fired rockets and hurled grenades at the mines and miners' quarters." There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the attack on the mines of the Junaid Coal Co in the Duki area, which also injured six. Among the dead were four Afghan nationals; another four were injured. Afghanistan's Ministry of Foreign Affairs strongly condemned the attack in a statement, and assigned its Quetta consulate to facilitate the transfer of the bodies. Businesses and shops were shut in Duki as hundreds of people gathered along with the bodies of the dead in a protest to demand the arrest of the attackers, police said. Now we get some history and the extent of what has been happening: The attackers burnt down all 10 mines, along with the equipment and machinery within, he added. A decades-long insurgency in Balochistan by separatist militant groups has led to frequent attacks against the government, army and Chinese interests in the region to press demands for a share in mineral-rich regional resources. Several attacks have targeted migrant workers, including some from Afghanistan, employed by smaller, privately operated mines. The attacks have risen in recent months, said provincial Governor Jafar Khan Mandokhel, who called the miners' killing an inhuman act. Two Chinese nationals working for a power plant were killed this week in a blast in the southern city of Karachi, for which the Baloch Liberation Army, one of several insurgent groups battling the government, claimed responsibility. The BLA was also behind Balochistan's most widespread violence in years in August, which targeted police stations, railway lines, and highways, killing more than 70 people. Armed men who stormed the residence of labourers from the eastern province of Punjab last month killed seven. On Friday, crossfire between police and attackers killed two suspected militants involved in a 2021 attack on dam project workers that killed 13, including nine Chinese nationals. Okay...so why? There is a pattern of this by Reuters that we've noticed for the couple of years we've been doing this thread. It's par for the course with Reuters. |
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Posted: 10/12/2024 12:25:43 AM EDT
[#46]
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Posted: 10/12/2024 1:25:06 AM EDT
[#47]
Quote HistoryOriginally Posted By CarmelBytheSea: https://www.newsweek.com/us-news-japan-deploy-more-forces-strategic-islands-near-china-1966791 Quote HistoryOriginally Posted By CarmelBytheSea: https://www.newsweek.com/us-news-japan-deploy-more-forces-strategic-islands-near-china-1966791 One thing to remember is that last year Carmel posted a story about the Air Force decision at Kadena AB saying that entire units would be rotating in and out instead of the typical just pilots rotating in and out. We were wondering about how much extra wear and tear that would mean to F-22 units. Engine hours are engine hours and hours on airframes are hours on airframes, and the numbers of F-22s are being reduced through attrition in any event. That was last year's discussion in any event. Here we go: US and Ally To Deploy More Forces to Strategic Islands Near China The defense chiefs of the United States and Japan reaffirmed their commitment to expand military presence in a chain of strategic Western Pacific Ocean islands located near China. U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin held his first telephone talks with Gen Nakatani, the newly appointed defense minister of Japan, on Tuesday. They reiterated the commitment to modernize the U.S.-Japan alliance's command and control and expand bilateral presence in Japan's Southwest Islands that lie between the East China Sea and the Philippine Sea. The islands, or the Ryukyu Islands, are part of a defense concept known as the first island chain, which extends southward from Japan to Taiwan and the Philippines. It attempted to leverage allied or friendly territories to contain China in the wider Western Pacific Ocean.  Attached FileHowever, the Chinese military has accomplished a breakthrough of the first island chain, where its fast-growing naval fleet operates in the wider Pacific Ocean frequently. China has the largest navy in the world by hull count, with more than 370 ships and submarines. The U.S. military deployed 54,000 personnel in Japan pursuant to the U.S.-Japan Treaty of Mutual Cooperation and Security of 1960. Okinawa, a Japanese prefecture that covered two-thirds of the Southwest Islands, hosts more than half of the U.S. forces in the country. The southwestern Japanese prefecture is also home to 70 percent of American military bases in Japan, including Kadena Air Base. The hub of air power is referred to as the "Keystone of the Pacific," an important outpost for the U.S. Air Force to project its power in the region. In July, the Pentagon announced that it will upgrade its presence at Kadena by deploying 36 newer F-15EX fighter jets to replace 48 older F-15C/D fighter jets while continuing to maintain a rotational presence of fourth- and fifth-generation tactical aircraft at the base. Modernization of the alliance's command and control was announced in July as well. The U.S. forces in Japan will be upgraded to a joint force headquarters with expanded missions and operational responsibilities to "better meet the challenges of today and tomorrow." Here's some interesting langauge: Nakatani told reporters that he and Austin shared the awareness that unilateral attempts to change the status quo by force or coercion were intensifying in the Indo-Pacific region. Japan has accused China of attempting to change the status quo of the East China Sea, where they have disputes over the uninhabited Senkaku Islands, also known as the Diaoyu Islands. The Chinese coast guard has been conducting armed patrols around the islands. Japan also concerned the tension in the Taiwan Strait, which it has stressed the peace and stability between China and Taiwan, a self-ruled island supported by Washington. Beijing views the island as a breakaway province and refused to renounce using force against it. |
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Posted: 10/12/2024 1:29:02 AM EDT
[#48]
Score Card!!!
Taiwan tracks 24 Chinese military aircraft and 10 naval ships TAIPEI (Taiwan News) The Ministry of National Defense logged 24 Chinese military aircraft and 10 naval vessels around Taiwan between 6 a.m. on Friday (Oct. 11) and the same time Saturday. Twenty-two aircraft crossed the Taiwan Strait median line in the country's central, southwestern, and eastern air defense identification zone (ADIZ), according to the defense ministry.  Attached FileThis would make 139 aircraft and 65 ships for the month. |
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Posted: 10/12/2024 1:43:36 AM EDT
[#49]
China state news propaganda Friday submission
https://news.cgtn.com/news/2024-10-11/Foreign-meddling-escalates-Taiwan-s-crisis-1xCiBsfcQbS/share_amp.html |
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Posted: 10/12/2024 2:45:48 PM EDT
[Last Edit: zoinks]
[#50]
Quote HistoryOriginally Posted By CarmelBytheSea: China state news propaganda Friday submission https://news.cgtn.com/news/2024-10-11/Foreign-meddling-escalates-Taiwan-s-crisis-1xCiBsfcQbS/share_amp.html Quote HistoryOriginally Posted By CarmelBytheSea: China state news propaganda Friday submission https://news.cgtn.com/news/2024-10-11/Foreign-meddling-escalates-Taiwan-s-crisis-1xCiBsfcQbS/share_amp.html Foreign meddling escalates Taiwan's crisis Editor's note: Keith Lamb, a special commentator on current affairs for CGTN, is a University of Oxford graduate with a Master of Science in Contemporary Chinese Studies. His primary research interests are China's international relations and "socialism with Chinese characteristics." The article reflects the author's opinions and not necessarily the views of CGTN. ABOUT US - China Global Television Network CGTN, See the difference China Global Television Network, or CGTN, is an international media organization launched on December 31, 2016. It aims to provide global audiences with accurate and timely news coverage as well as rich audiovisual services, promoting communication and understanding between China and the world, and enhancing cultural exchanges and mutual trust between China and other countries. Headquartered in Beijing, CGTN has three production centers, located in Nairobi, Washington D.C. and London, all staffed with international professionals from around the world. Adhering to the principles of objectivity, rationality and balance in reporting, CGTN endeavors to present information from diverse perspectives. CGTN's TV channels are available in more than 160 countries and regions worldwide. It also incorporates the video news agency Global Video News Agency. CGTN, a pioneer of media convergence in China, delivers digital content through CGTN Digital, which is accessible via CGTN.com, CGTN mobile applications, YouTube, Facebook, Twitter, Weibo and other social media platforms, with over 150 million followers across the globe. Now, back to our fantasy: After weeks of cross-strait tensions, Taiwan's leader Lai Ching-te, delivered a speech on October 10, praising Taiwan's "democracy" and contrasting it with the People's Republic of China's "authoritarian" attempts to undermine Taiwan's "sovereignty." Defending democracy, sovereignty, national defense, and a rules-based world order, along with striving for peace and prosperity, are commendable goals. However, Lai is wrong in believing that the Taiwan authorities are the true protectors of these values. The Taiwan region, as recognized by the UN and even Western liberal democracies, is part of China. China seeks peaceful reunification, not conflict. This was demonstrated by the peaceful reunification of the special administrative regions of Hong Kong and Macao, under the "One Country, Two Systems" principle, which respects their political and economic differences. The same peaceful reunification is sought with Taiwan, but without foreign interference, which currently threatens peace in the region. When Lai talks about strengthening Taiwan's defense with support from Western democracies, he essentially acknowledges that China's sovereignty is already compromised by foreign powers. Beijing's goal is to counter this foreign threat, not to undermine Taiwan's system, which would be protected under "One Country, Two Systems." Taiwan has become a pawn in the hegemonic ambitions of Western transnational liberal capital (the globalists). Lai's U.S.-backed Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) has allowed Taiwan to become this transnational agenda. Under foreign influence, Taiwan's advanced chip industries have been forced to relocate to the U.S., and Taiwan is increasingly involved in U.S. military exercises, even hosting U.S. troops. The narrative of Taiwan's "threatened sovereignty and democracy" serves as a pretext for U.S. arms sales, benefiting outsiders who profit from potential conflict. The Western democracies, blinded by their own dogma, often fail to recognize the democratic processes at work in other systems, including China's, which they label undemocratic. This attitude contradicts their own democratic principles. If democracy is judged by its structure and not by its outcomes, even harmful results can be deemed democratic if they reflect "the will of the people." Evidently, wars waged against countries in the Global South, supported by certain populations, do not truly reflect the democratic will- just like the unfounded hostility toward China, which is not an enemy of Westerners, or the people of Taiwan. Some may argue that public opinion in Taiwan supports the DPP or the status quo, rejecting reunification with China. However, liberal democracies manipulate public opinion through their transnational media, controlled by monopoly capital, which is misleadingly labeled as a "free press." This raises serious questions about the authenticity of the "popular will" and what is truly democratic. Despite this manipulation, there is strong support for reunification on both sides of the Taiwan Straits. China, with its whole-process people's democracy, embodies the popular will through real development outcomes, achieved without exploiting other nations. Globally, China rejects sovereign interference and works through multilateral organizations such as the UN, and drives development through projects like the Belt and Road Initiative.  For global peace and regional security, Taiwan must reject the distorted globalist liberal narrative that misrepresents democracy. Unification with the Chinese mainland would enhance Taiwan's technology capacity, infrastructure, environment, and welfare. Continuing to collude with hegemonic forces only risks creating a self-fulfilling prophecy that would lead to catastrophe, not only to Taiwan, but to all of China, and possibly the world. Meanwhile, foreign elites will profit from this folly, assuming it doesn't lead to a global conflict. In Blue is laughable as no context has been given, other than arms sales, to say how will foreign elites "profit from this folly." There's a reason for this: It's the foreign elites of various countries that the CCP bribes. The can't really start calling for their executions yet, as these same "foreign elites" will probably raise their price. |
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