The Taiwan count down has begun!

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Two Chinese fishermen have drowned while being chased by the Taiwanese coastguard off Taiwan's northernmost Kinmen archipelago.

Taipei said the fishing boat trespassed into Taiwanese waters on Wednesday.

The four fishermen on board resisted an inspection and the boat capsized when authorities gave chase.

Beijing "strongly condemned" the incident, saying it "seriously hurt the feelings of compatriots on both sides of the Taiwan Strait".

Kinmen lies just 3km (1.86 miles) away from China's south-eastern coast, placing it on the frontline of tensions between China and Taiwan.

China sees self-ruled Taiwan as a breakaway province that will, eventually, be part of the country, and has not ruled out the use of force to achieve this.

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/two-chinese-fishermen-die-in-sea-chase-by-taiwan/ar-BB1iiR0f

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Key Takeaways

• Taiwan’s Tourism Administration canceled plans to resume group tours to the PRC on March 1 in response to the CCP changing a commercial flight route over the Taiwan Strait.
• Eight PRC high-altitude balloons that crossed the median line in the Taiwan Strait two days in a row on February 9 and 10 are likely part of a campaign to test and erode Taiwan’s military readiness.
• US and foreign partner cybersecurity and intelligence agencies confirmed in a joint advisory on February 7 that a PRC state-sponsored cyber threat actor infiltrated critical infrastructure organizations in the continental United States and US territories.
• Philippines Defense Secretary Gilberto Teodoro Jr. called for a stronger Philippines military presence in the northern Batanes Islands on February 6. The People’s Liberation Army routinely sends naval ships through the Bashi channel between the Batanes and Taiwan.
• The loss of Compact of Free Association (COFA) funding for Palau, Micronesia, and the Marshall Islands presents opportunities for the People’s Republic of China to fill the gap in funding.
• The PRC and Russia held “interagency consultations” on February 1 to discuss military applications of artificial intelligence (AI).

https://www.understandingwar.org/backgrounder/china-taiwan-weekly-update-february-15-2024

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<a href="https://www.youtube.com/v/MlQQwm7N_mY" target="_blank">https://www.youtube.com/v/MlQQwm7N_mY</a>

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MlQQwm7N_mY

[Truman62]

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<a href="https://www.youtube.com/v/yPRpx9a5Vgg" target="_blank">https://www.youtube.com/v/yPRpx9a5Vgg</a>

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yPRpx9a5Vgg

[D2D]

<a href="https://www.youtube.com/v/by0zxkVv2-c" target="_blank">https://www.youtube.com/v/by0zxkVv2-c</a>

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=by0zxkVv2-c

[D2D]

<a href="https://www.youtube.com/v/8UZv3zCBgP8" target="_blank">https://www.youtube.com/v/8UZv3zCBgP8</a>

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8UZv3zCBgP8

Any old excuse will do!

[D2D]

Chinese coast guard personnel briefly boarded a Taiwanese tourist boat near Taiwan-controlled islands next to China's coast on Monday, the government in Taipei said, in an escalation of tensions after China said it would carry out regular patrols.

China announced on Sunday that its coast guard would strengthen law enforcement activity around the Kinmen islands following the death of two Chinese nationals fleeing Taiwan's coast guard having entered into prohibited waters too close to Kinmen, which lies opposite the Chinese cities of Xiamen and Quanzhou.

https://www.msn.com/en-gb/news/world/china-coast-guard-boarded-taiwanese-boat-near-frontline-islands-taiwan-says/ar-BB1iwcX4

China has only a very few years of opportunity!

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<a href="https://www.youtube.com/v/o47ALJ87s9Q" target="_blank">https://www.youtube.com/v/o47ALJ87s9Q</a>

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o47ALJ87s9Q

[D2D]

<a href="https://www.youtube.com/v/mgvml4UFUro" target="_blank">https://www.youtube.com/v/mgvml4UFUro</a>

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mgvml4UFUro