Meanwhile, the federal debt held by the public has increased to $24.627 trillion—and China has begun divesting from it.

In April 2022, according to U.S. Treasury Department data, China’s holdings of U.S. Treasury securities dropped below a trillion to $976 billion. In each of the past seven months on record—August 2022 to February 2023—China’s holdings of U.S. Treasury securities have declined.

In February, they dropped to $848.8 billion.

Americans apparently can no longer rely on Communist China to help fund the deficit spending of our federal government.

https://www.dailysignal.com/2023/05/15/when-biden-thanked-communist-china-helping-fund-us-government/

China will invade its neighbors the moment they have completely divested!

(https://cdn.cfr.org/sites/default/files/styles/large_s/public/image/2023/02/Chart%2013.jpg.webp)

That is a year and a half out of date and you have provided no link!

Estimated isn't fact it is a guess!

It's clear that China's US holdings have been dropping for years now.   Dropping before Biden and dropping from before trump even. 

Really?

You don't know how to read even an out-of-date graph?

Your graph indicates CCP investment in US debt has been static from December 2014 through 2021!

CCPWvit proves himself to be as ignorant as possible!

it's clear you can't read the graph zippydoodly, but then that's not surprising since trolls aren't very smart. 

Really?

You don't know how to read even an out-of-date graph?

Your graph indicates CCP investment in US debt has been static from December 2014 through 2021!

Key Takeaways

• Complementary CCP industrial and anti-espionage policies may facilitate the long-term expansion of China’s domestic industrial base and supply chain security.
• Kuomintang (KMT) presidential nominee Hou Yu-ih emphasizes the preservation of peace over clear cross-strait policy positions, possibly to create a pragmatic image in the eyes of Taiwanese voters.

https://www.understandingwar.org/backgrounder/china-taiwan-weekly-update-may-19-2023               

A senior Republican congressman in the United States has lashed out at Emmanuel Macron, calling the French President’s foreign policy on China a “dumpster fire”.

Mike Gallagher, the Wisconsin lawmaker who serves as chairman of the U.S. House Select Committee on the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), has denounced French President Emmanuel Macron over his “dumpster fire” foreign policy towards Beijing.

Unlike many Anglosphere and Eastern European politicians, leading officials in Central and Western Europe have been more hesitant to take a hard line on China, with Emmanuel Macron advocating for the continent to stay out of any hot or cold conflict between the communist nation and the United States.

The French President has also argued for Europe to take a hands-off approach when it comes to Taiwan, identifying potential military support of the democratic island nation as an American foreign policy objective and less so a European one.

Such a position has outraged a wide variety of China-hawk politicians in the U.S. and UK, with Gallagher becoming one of the latest officials to lambast the French leader as trying to undermine support for Taiwan with some of his recent statements.

“Macron’s trip and comments were what we describe in the United States as a dumpster fire,” The Telegraph reports him as saying.

https://www.breitbart.com/europe/2023/05/20/macrons-foreign-policy-is-a-pro-china-dumpster-fire-says-u-s-congressman/

France is noted for the appeasement of aggressor states!

Elon Musk weighed in this week on Taiwan—where his comments did not go over well.

“The official policy of China is that Taiwan should be integrated,” Musk said in an interview with CNBC’s David Faber. “One does not need to read between the lines. One can simply read the lines. There’s a certain inevitability to the situation.”

In China, the state-controlled China Daily ran with the headline, “Elon Musk: Taiwan should be integrated.”

On Friday in Taiwan, Foreign Minister Joseph Wu tweeted a response to the Tesla CEO, writing that the Chinese Communist Party’s “bullying & threats are a concern, especially for those who would rather stay free & democratic.”

Wu added that China’s “expansionist policy violates rules-based international order & the status quo. Mr. @ElonMusk, other than money, there is something we call VALUES.”

https://www.msn.com/en-us/money/companies/elon-musk-gets-blowback-from-taiwan-after-saying-there-s-a-certain-inevitability-china-will-integrate-it/ar-AA1bsfDF

Of course, it didn't go over well!

Inconvenient truths never go over well!

Musk recognizes the simple and immutable fact there is no one capable of stopping China from taking over Taiwan!

Since China has SO MUCH Equity in US, they have NO REASON to attack us
or ruin our Economy.  BTW - Aren't we their #1 trading partner?

WHY would they want to put ALL that at risk?

They won't.

Musk is 150% right, just like Russia going into Ukraine, china will move on Taiwan, and biden will stutter gaze off into space mumble a few incoherent words and try to find is way off stage!

At this point, our weapons and energy stockpiles are virtually non-existent!

If we send a fleet to repel an invasion of Taiwan it will not be equipped for a fight!

The loss of lives and ships will be record-breaking!

It matters not to the regime in power today, the more America loses the better their chances are for full control by executive order if need be.

So very true!

Taiwan Excluded From WHO Annual Assembly Following Chinese Opposition!

Taiwan failed on Monday in its efforts to gain an invitation to the World Health Organization's annual assembly despite the island's assertion that support was growing for its participation.

The annual assembly in Geneva decided not to extend Taiwan an invitation to the event, which runs from May 21-30. China and Pakistan urged members to reject Taiwan's inclusion, while eSwatini and the Marshall Islands spoke in favor.

https://www.usnews.com/news/world/articles/2023-05-22/taiwan-excluded-from-who-annual-assembly-following-chinese-opposition


The CCP dictates to the WHO and Democrats are all for it!

It was Taiwan that exposed the CCP Virus and the CCP will never forgive them!

Key Takeaways
[LIST=1]

• The People’s Liberation Army debates on the strategic role of hybrid warfare may mean the CCP’s ongoing “unification” campaigns targeting Taiwan do not primarily rely on military force.
• The recent appointment of Xie Feng as Chinese Ambassador to the United States is unlikely to initiate a thawing of Sino-American relations by the CCP.
• The dominant but contested domestic framing of the 2024 Taiwanese presidential election as a choice between peace and war likely supports CCP efforts to coerce Taiwan into supporting cross-strait engagement. Framing the upcoming election as a choice between war and peace, regardless of the election result, likely supports the CCP’s objective to alter Taiwan’s security policy towards the United States.

https://understandingwar.org/backgrounder/china-taiwan-weekly-update-may-26-2023

Taiwan Is ‘an Enduring Rebuke to Totalitarianism’ of China!

“Your future is our future.”

That was the simple yet powerful message of former British Prime Minister Liz Truss to Taiwan.

Truss made a notable five-day trip to Taiwan starting on May 16, becoming the first former British prime minister to visit the self-governing island republic since Margaret Thatcher, who visited the nation in 1992.

In her address to Taiwan’s Prospect Foundation, Truss unambiguously pointed out:

    The reason I’ve come here this week is I am a huge admirer of Taiwan and the Taiwanese people. I want to do all I can to help ensure your continued success. I want to increase awareness of the position that you find yourselves in. And I’m also here because I believe that this is the most consequential place in the world for what is the most consequential struggle of our time … Taiwan really is a shining beacon in the Pacific. It’s an enduring rebuke to totalitarianism. It’s an example of the power of free enterprise and it shows the importance of a free society.

https://www.dailysignal.com/2023/05/24/former-british-prime-minister-liz-truss-taiwan-is-enduring-rebuke-totalitarianism-china/

https://www.youtube.com/v/gGLvUyzEMj0

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gGLvUyzEMj0

first you want putin to succeed in his invasion of the free countries of Europe, then you want to see the US to default on our debt and create a huuuge recession in our country, now you're whining about how imminent it is that China will be invading Tiawan and how the US military would be wipped out.

you're nothing but a doom and gloomer who hopes abover all to see the US losing on all fronts.

why is that zippydoodly?

Why must you always lie?

Key Takeaways

[LIST=1]

• 2024 Taiwanese presidential candidates are basing their cross-strait policy positions within the “peace vs war” framework, which may provide China greater influence over their election narratives through the PRC-supported framework.
• Xi Jinping stressed the need to establish China’s national security risk monitoring and early warning system, which could serve as a tool to implement the CCP’s holistic security concept.

https://www.understandingwar.org/backgrounder/china-taiwan-weekly-update-june-2-2023

Will China be satisfied with taking Taiwan and destroying the US Pacific fleet?

Key Takeaways
[LIST=1]

• Ongoing sexual harassment scandals primarily within the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) may increase the domestic appeal of Taiwan People's Party (TPP) presidential candidate Ko Wen-je, who promotes cross-strait policies broadly emphasizing economic and political engagement with China.
• Chinese participation in high-level dialogue with the United States may aim to mitigate the risks of additional US sanctions and export controls on Chinese technological sectors.
• Chinese military activities in the Indo-Pacific may undermine the Global Security Initiative’s (GSI) ability to re-orient Indo-Pacific security cooperation away from the United States.

https://www.understandingwar.org/backgrounder/china%E2%80%93taiwan-weekly-update-june-9-2023

Democrats love the idea of paving their way to dictatorship with the bodies of Americans!

The Navy is developing a new long-range anti-ship missile — dubbed the Maritime Strike Tomahawk — that would allow Marine units based on Japanese islands to sink Chinese ships taking part in an invasion of Taiwan.

Right now, the Marine Corps’ Navy Marine Expeditionary Ship Interdiction System, or NMESIS, uses Naval Strike Missiles, which have a range of up to 115 miles.

A recent war game conducted by the Center for Strategic and International Studies think tank showed that for NMESIS to be effective during a Chinese invasion of Taiwan, the system would have to be on the island before hostiles commence, said retired Marine Col. Mark Cancian, a senior adviser with the CSIS International Security Program.

Moreover, the diplomatic hurdles involved with deploying a Marine unit equipped with NMESIS to Taiwan before such an invasion are immense, Cancian told Task & Purpose. Because of the range and quantity of Chinese weapons, it is not likely that the Marines could deploy NMESIS to Taiwan after an invasion had started.

“Based on the Navy’s development schedule, procurement [of Maritime Strike Tomahawks] may begin as early as the late 2020s,” Close told Task & Purpose. “The Marine Corps does not have any Maritime Strike Tomahawks now as MST is a developmental program in the Navy.”

https://taskandpurpose.com/news/marine-corps-tomahawk-anti-ship-missiles/

Another constraint on the CCP's window of opportunity to take Taiwan!

Democrats want China to win!

War between the United States and China in the western Pacific is a real possibility in the next several years. Although both sides have conducted military exercises and “war games” in the region, predicting the course and outcome of such a war is problematic. Military strategists and war planners, even armed as they are with the latest information technologies and precision weapons, have yet to overcome Clausewitzian “friction” and the Luttwakian “paradoxical logic” of strategy. Strategies and plans often fail to survive contact with the enemy. What Bismarck said about statesmen is also true of generals and admirals: They “cannot control the current of events [but] can only float with them and steer.”

In any future U.S. war with China, sea power will play a major role in the fighting. In the Asia-Pacific, China has the obvious advantages of geographical proximity to the arena of conflict and has been assiduously expanding its naval power to achieve regional naval superiority--at least in numbers of warships. As Sam Tangredi of the U.S. Naval War College has noted, numbers matter, and by the end of the decade if current trends continue China’s PLA Navy (PLAN) may reach a total of 460 warships, while the U.S. fleet may decrease to 260 warships. Tangredi contends that those who claim America’s technological advantages will tip the balance in war against China are ignoring history which shows that “in a naval struggle between near-peers, mass (numbers), and the ability to replace losses bests technological advantage.” “At a certain point of imbalance in mass,” Tangredi continues, “the larger naval force cannot be defeated.” Tangredi’s conclusion: “If the United States wants to retain global influence, maintain deterrence in multiple regions, and conduct combat operations against a near peer that is expanding its global military footprint, it needs a large number of naval platforms.”

Tangredi’s conclusion is based on history, which is the best teacher. He studied the outcomes of 28 wars that involved significant naval clashes, including the Peloponnesian Wars, the Punic Wars, Rome’s civil wars, Anglo-Spanish and Anglo-Dutch-French wars, the Seven Years’ War, the wars of the French Revolution and Empire, the Opium Wars, the American Civil War, the Spanish-American War, the Russo-Japanese War, World Wars I and II, and the Cold War. In all but three of the 28 naval clashes, the nation with superior numbers won.

https://www.realcleardefense.com/articles/2023/06/10/american_sea_power_in_the_asia-pacific_939895.html

Democrats have gutted our national defense!

Democrats are gleeful!

The Biden administration is working on preparing plans to evacuate Americans in Taiwan, The Messenger reported Monday.

The federal government’s plans have been in the works for at least six months, according to The Messenger, which cited three sources with knowledge of the plans. Anticipation of a possible Chinese invasion of Taiwan has been mounting as China’s military encroachment of waters and airspace has heated up in recent months.

https://dailycaller.com/2023/06/12/biden-admin-prepping-plans-evacuate-americans-taiwan/

Bent Bought Beijing Biden is working hard to ensure the CCP takes as many Americans hostage as possible!

Remember Democrats will use any excuse to gain more power!

Were those Democrats who beat up 130 cops and smeared shit on the walls of our Capitol in an attempt to steal the presidency?

Why do you keep making stuff up?

(http://www.aesopsretreat.com/forum/richedit/upload/2k4381b2ad84.png)

At present our military is gutted and we have no means of producing the equipment we so desperately need!

https://www.youtube.com/v/MmeTYW3dqp8

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MmeTYW3dqp8

For those not willing to patronize the Leftist censorship platform known as YouTube:  https://rumble.com/v2szir4-you-must-have-three-children.html (https://rumble.com/v2szir4-you-must-have-three-children.html)

China knows its current demographic trend will result in too few military-age people available for service for 18 years after 2026! 

They want to shorten that dearth of service age people by 3 years!

Key Takeaways [LIST=1]

• The narrative that the 2024 presidential election is a choice between peace and war is likely to reemerge as the dominant narrative in the mid to long term.
• The CCP used a recent report about US evacuation plans for Taiwan to advance information operations that aim to degrade United States-Taiwan security cooperation.
• China questioned the United States’ motives for re-joining the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) in a likely attempt to establish conditions to discredit US global leadership.
• CCP General Secretary Xi Jinping’s call for “large domestic [economic] circulation” that can withstand “extreme circumstances” is likely a long-term push to create a sanction resistant Chinese economy while engaging with, but not becoming reliant upon, the international economic environment.

https://www.understandingwar.org/backgrounder/china-taiwan-weekly-update-june-16-2023

Key Takeaways

• The PLA has normalized drone flights around Taiwan within Taiwan’s air defense identification zone (ADIZ) and may begin conducting such flights with regular manned aircraft during the next 12-24 months.
  
• Ongoing media coverage about TPP presidential candidate Ko Wen-je’s support for resuming cross-strait talks involving the controversial Cross-Strait Service Trade Agreement (CSSTA) may improve the standing of the DPP or KMT in the 2024 presidential election.
  
• The PRC framed the Wagner Group rebellion as a minor challenge that Russia overcame.

https://www.understandingwar.org/backgrounder/china-taiwan-weekly-update-june-30-2023

Taiwan scrambled aircraft and dispatched ships late Tuesday to monitor the passage of two Russian warships off its eastern coast, according to the island’s Ministry of National Defense.

Two Russian frigates traveled northward along the coast toward the East China Sea around 11 p.m. Tuesday, the ministry said in a news release Tuesday. It did not specify how far offshore the ships were.

In response, Taiwan’s military used “joint intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance methods” and “dispatched mission aircraft, ships and shore-mounted missile systems to closely monitor” the Russian vessels, according to the release.

The ships continued on course and left Taiwan’s “response area” southeast of Suao, a city on the island’s northeastern edge that is also home to a logistics support naval base, according to the Defense Ministry.

While Taiwan reports near-daily activity from the Chinese military off its western coast in the Taiwan Strait — 49 Chinese aircraft and 20 ships have been reported in the waterway since Sunday — Russian activity is less common.

https://www.stripes.com/theaters/asia_pacific/2023-06-28/taiwan-russia-warships-passage-china-10574003.html

Desperation and greed make bad decisions!

Democrats the most irrational people on Earth expect the CCP to act rationally!

The Chinese People's Liberation Army (PLA) has reportedly ramped up military exercise around the island of Taiwan after the US approved a latest round of potential arms sales to the island on Thursday, with experts saying on Sunday that the PLA is fully capable of safeguarding national sovereignty, security and development interests.

The defense authority on the island of Taiwan said on Saturday that it detected 26 PLA aircraft and seven PLA vessels around the island of Taiwan over the past day, with 12 of the aircraft, including fighter jets, bombers and reconnaissance aircraft, crossing the so-called Taiwan Straits median line or the island's self-proclaimed southwest air defense identification zone, media on the island reported.

https://www.globaltimes.cn/page/202307/1293556.shtml

The United States Navy helped secure victory in two world wars and the Cold War. Today the Navy remains a formidable fighting force, but even officers within the service have questioned its readiness.

While the U.S. spent 20 years fighting land wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, the Pentagon watched China, its greatest geopolitical rival of the 21st century, build the largest navy in the world. China has threatened to use that navy to invade Taiwan, an important American ally.

As tensions with China continue to rise, we wanted to know more about the current state of the U.S. Navy, how it's trying to deter China, and as we first reported in March, preparing for the possibility of war.

Admiral Samuel Paparo: The Navy's always on alert. One-third of the Navy is always deployed and operating at all times. The Navy's mustering right now about 300 ships, and there are about 100 ships at sea right now all around the globe.

Admiral Samuel Paparo commands the U.S. Pacific Fleet, whose 200 ships and 150,000 sailors and civilians makeup 60% of the entire U.S. Navy.  We met him in February on the aircraft carrier USS Nimitz deployed near the U.S. territory of Guam, southeast of Taiwan and the People's Republic of China, or PRC.

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/the-state-of-the-us-navy-amid-a-massive-chinese-naval-buildup/ar-AA1dlkV3

Formidable isn't superior!

China has prepared for a long time to invade Taiwan!

They have laid a vast and deadly trap for any fleet coming to Taiwan's aid!

https://www.youtube.com/v/Tx2noi4WXWc

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tx2noi4WXWc

Japan, South Korea and the Philippines will be hardest hit in the event of a conflict between Taiwan and China, according to a report by the Economist Intelligence Unit.

EIU defines a conflict as a “full-conflict scenario, involving direct military participation by China, Taiwan and the U.S.” and based on the presumption of an escalation by China.

To be clear, the EIU assesses the risk of a direct Chinese military assault on Taiwan as “very unlikely.” But should it occur, the three economies will be “most vulnerable” due to their proximity to the Taiwan Strait and heavy trade ties with China, but more importantly, because these three countries are U.S. treaty allies.

China sees self-ruled Taiwan as a breakaway province that should be reunified with the mainland. Chinese President Xi Jinping has previously said China will “strive for the prospect of peaceful reunification,” but “will never promise to give up the use of force.”

Taiwan sees itself as a sovereign state and separate from China, having ruled itself since the Nationalist government fled there from the mainland in 1949 following a protracted civil war. Tensions between Taiwan and China’s governments have risen over the years, and high-level U.S. politicians’ visits to Taiwan have drawn Beijing’s ire.

https://www.cnbc.com/2023/07/07/taiwan-conflict-will-hit-japan-philippines-south-korea-hardest-eiu.html

Key Takeaways 

   

• KMT presidential candidate Hou Yu-ih stated his intent to stop the extension of mandatory military service to one year, likely exacerbating existing CCP leverage points targeting the DPP under the dominant but contested “war versus peace” election narrative.
• The CCP publicly qualifies comments from Chinese Ambassador to the European Union Fu Cong about Ukraine reclaiming its 1991 borders and is unlikely to replace Fu Cong.

https://understandingwar.org/backgrounder/china-taiwan-weekly-update-july-6-2023

The only country that can rival the United States in economic, political, and military power is China . And Beijing's military threat to the U.S. is growing.

China continues to intimidate Taiwan , a longtime American friend and home of Taiwan Semiconductor, a pillar of the digital and artificial intelligence revolution .

China also continues to pursue false territorial claims against Japan and the Philippines, two stalwart treaty allies of the U.S. In a new development, China is also turning the screws on the U.S. economy by restricting access to rare earths, which are inputs into America’s electronic and digital infrastructure.

But what would war with China mean for different sectors of the U.S. economy? I wrote on this topic recently , but considering the rising prospect of a U.S.-China war, it's worth a deeper dive.

For a start, consider that over 1,000 U.S. companies have operations in China. China is an important source of revenue for many of the largest U.S. companies, including Apple, Caterpillar, John Deere, and Nike. Equally important, these and several hundred other U.S. companies use China as the source for their global supply chains. Unfortunately, most U.S. businesses have adopted a "head in the sand" policy regarding the possibility of war between the U.S. and China.

https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/restoring-america/courage-strength-optimism/us-corporate-giants-are-badly-overexposed-to-china-war-risk

Any sane company with assets in China would be removing them!

I never understood why any business would do business in China!

Can anyone explain why anyone would be so stupid as to do business in China?

Democrats profess ignorance!

US defense manufacturer Raytheon is reportedly bringing retirees back on the job to help make enough missiles to aid the war effort in Ukraine. While the Pentagon hasn't bought Stinger missiles in decades, those are precisely the weapons that Ukraine is wanting.

"Stinger's been out of production for 20 years, and all of a sudden in the first 48 hours [of the war], it's the star of the show and everybody wants more," said Wes Kremer of Raytheon at the Paris Air Show last week, according to Defense One.


The US Army placed an order for 1,700 Stinger missiles in May 2022, but the Pentagon said at the time that it would take 4 years, or about 30 months, for those weapons to be delivered. This is "largely because of the time it takes to set up the factory and train its employees," Defense One reports.

https://thepostmillennial.com/us-defense-contractor-raytheon-to-bring-engineers-out-of-retirement-to-fulfill-bidens-order-for-stinger-missiles-to-send-to-ukraine

Bet the order isn't completed in less than 6 years!

The Chinese military is training kindergarteners to handle firearms and fight like soldiers in boot camps across China this summer, according to dozens of school social media accounts reviewed by the Daily Caller News Foundation.

The boot camps feature combat training for boys and girls with a wide variety of toy weapons including knives (https://mmbiz.qpic.cn/mmbiz_jpg/eFHIuRj4h9aUNibJQfX8KVMBsOrg9rDib6co1SQVFFfagrOgADHbu1TjFicfOFzvNjaiboZqQ0KfhibZZAI5U5MtJBQ/640?wx_fmt=jpeg&wxfrom=5&wx_lazy=1&wx_co=1), grenades (https://mmbiz.qpic.cn/mmbiz_jpg/EZhR68FU3zU5anicwoPu8WlpBQEJV0QR7AMicOBibMohk0nibbt8tB6lqHLJAGGvhqmXSVW5HU31ZV0QITRdqQVSFg/640?wx_fmt=jpeg&wxfrom=5&wx_lazy=1&wx_co=1), rifles (https://mmbiz.qpic.cn/mmbiz_jpg/EZhR68FU3zU5anicwoPu8WlpBQEJV0QR7ZtMVAVRAY3gHqR037UvUAYgR6ibqFicexfaMsxzaPRW1Oyy3pPEhVxxw/640?wx_fmt=jpeg&wxfrom=5&wx_lazy=1&wx_co=1) and shoulder-fired missiles (https://mmbiz.qpic.cn/mmbiz_jpg/EZhR68FU3zU5anicwoPu8WlpBQEJV0QR7TST2a1vbeYSShCPEMSuZuexCwibnpBQpWxMZW3e0Txuq2J1WHvrXib4Q/640?wx_fmt=jpeg&wxfrom=5&wx_lazy=1&wx_co=1), and require the children to adopt military behavior, such as saluting (https://mmbiz.qpic.cn/mmbiz_jpg/EZhR68FU3zVvMgHNfuX4yMdwq6MTFLiak7icNRVgZTdXgBleU0YRicn1UXs6iaRA3wPRoeG4QA4pwUl4roibSiby85CA/640?wx_fmt=jpeg&wxfrom=5&wx_lazy=1&wx_co=1), the schools’ social media posts show (https://mp.weixin.qq.com/s/0jiDb6q4UvfLPAbhG2rIzg). The rise in the militarization of China’s youth appears to follow a 2019 Chinese Communist Party (CCP) Central Committee push (https://www.gov.cn/zhengce/2019-11/12/content_5451352.htm) for increased “National Defense Education” and a related effort (https://www.gov.cn/zhengce/2022-09/01/content_5707818.htm) directing schools to hold National Defense Education activities in 2022, according to government documents.

https://dailycaller.com/2023/07/10/chinese-military-kindergarteners-war-bootcamps/

The next bloody purge is coming very soon!

Apparently, Democrats see nothing wrong with militarized 5-year-olds!

Key Takeaways

1.   Cross-strait issues have reemerged as the prominent topics of debate in the Taiwanese presidential election.


2.   The Cyberspace Administration of China renewed its crackdown on “self-media” to create an internet order governed by stricter central censorship.

Democrats are all for it and wish Xi ruled America!

https://www.youtube.com/v/oiP4HD5zUK0

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oiP4HD5zUK0

Sadly, we don't have the manufacturing capacity to supply Taiwan any faster!

The Chinese know it, too!

It’s 17 Months before the end of Biden’s first term as President. The weakness he and his cronies have displayed could spell the end of Taiwan and the beginning of the worst political disaster since the moronic pullout from Afghanistan. According to a House Armed Services Committee member and other experts. China has been preparing to take Taiwan, the US has been dithering, sending most of its munitions to Ukraine. Are they waiting for American munitions to magically show up in the stockpiles?

“We’re three-and-a-half years behind in providing the Taiwanese military with the weapon systems that they’ve already paid for.  Military goods already paid in full simply haven’t been provided to them…We have problems in our defense industrial base providing the numbers of equipment that we need and that all of our allies have already paid for.” Rep. Keith Self (R-Texas) Washington Watch (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zbT-Wm_dmQM)
“I have talked to at least one senior member in Congress that says he believes that Communist China may make this effort during the Biden administration. … That is something we need to at least plan for, be prepared for.” Lt Gen Jerry Boykin (https://washingtonstand.com/news/senators-aim-to-reverse-chinas-economic-warfare-repeal-most-favored-nation-trade-status), Ret

17 months or before

We’ve written about the weakness of the Biden administration since 2021. It’s been a circus of mistakes and foolish moves that have ceded US strength. The giddy Treasury Secretary, the giggling Vice President, the confused President, a foolish Secretary of State, and a woke Secretary of Defense have all led to a massive drain of power and status. China has been watching. They increased their military spending “723% (https://chinapower.csis.org/military-spending/),” from $41.2B in 2000 to $298B in 2021, although they do not report all of it, and where they stand today is not fully known. They also have added at least 60 (https://asia.nikkei.com/Politics/Defense/China-raises-nuclear-arsenal-by-60-warheads-think-tank) nuclear missiles.


All while 18 of the US’ 49 attack (https://freebeacon.com/latest-news/almost-40-of-us-attack-submarines-out-of-commission/) submarines sit in drydock and unavailable. That’s 40% of our submarine fleet. Not to mention our military being concerned about diversity, equity, and inclusion instead of warfighting. 17 months or before to get your act together, America.

https://ipatriot.com/china-could-attack-taiwan-within-next-17-months-house-armed-services-committee-member-warns/

China has planned and prepared for this for decades!

There is a reason the CCP armed the Spratlys!



(http://www.aesopsretreat.com/forum/richedit/upload/2kfafc0d1f01.png)

They have created the naval version of a gauntlet that any relief force heading to Taiwan will have to travel!

nobody's attacking Tiawan.

But putin has said that any and all ship approaching the ports of Ukraine are assumed to be carrying military supplies and will be treated as hostile.

I will remind you of this claim when Taiwan is invaded by China!

The resulting massive loss of life will be on all Democrat hands including your own!

ok, you do that zippydoodly. 

I will!

Key Takeaways

[LIST=1]

• Foxconn founder Terry Gou published an article in the Washington Post urging high-level dialogue between the ROC and PRC. The article likely will further CCP information operations that aim to exculpate the party from blame for exacerbating cross-strait tensions. This assessment is independent of Gou’s intentions for publishing the article.
  
• The Taiwanese media outlet United Daily News (UDN) falsely alleged the United States pressured Taiwan to develop biological weapons. The UDN allegation likely will further CCP information operations that aim to decrease the confidence of the Taiwanese population in the United States as a reliable partner.
  
• The CCP is likely to fuse human and technological surveillance methods in implementing its anti-espionage law.
• The CCP criticized Japan’s release of over one million tons of water from the destroyed Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant, possibly to buttress the party’s image as a responsible regional power.
• The CCP messaged its alignment with Russia’s view of NATO as an instigator in other regions’ affairs to signal its opposition to greater NATO involvement in East Asia.

https://www.understandingwar.org/backgrounder/china-taiwan-weekly-update-july-20-2023

Amid growing threats by China to attack Taiwan, the commander of the U.S. Indo-Pacific Command said on Tuesday he is confident U.S. forces could prevent a military takeover of the island state.

Adm. John Aquilino, the top officer in charge of deterring a conflict with China over Taiwan, also told a security conference that he does not currently have all the forces he needs if war broke out in the Taiwan Strait.

“That said, with what we have today, I’m confident that they would fail,” Adm. Aquilino said of a Chinese invasion.

The four-star admiral was asked at an appearance at the Aspen Security Forum about China’s timetable for seeking to take over Taiwan, which Beijing claims is part of its sovereign territory.

Chinese President Xi Jinping has already indicated that the military should be prepared for military action by 2027, the admiral noted.

https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2023/jul/19/inside-ring-admiral-says-chinese-invasion-taiwan-w/

Desperate bluster from a man who knows his forces are hollow!

With the fast approach of the Davidson Window, which sets the date for a potential Chinese invasion of Taiwan as soon as 2027, much attention has been focused on Beijing’s aircraft carriers and how they could come into play. In the following analysis, Ben Ho of IISS looks at two prevailing theories about how effective the carriers may be in an invasion, before raising a new way of looking at the issue.

In the past decade, there has been much talk over China’s staggering pace of defense modernization. Of note would be Beijing’s aircraft-carrier program, and this aspect of the People’s Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) has spawned a bustling cottage industry. There have been additions to this conversation in recent months. For instance, in a May Reuters article, various experts maintained that the Chinese carrier force is still embryonic and poses “little threat yet” despite 10 years of development and counting. The story came on the back of the early-spring deployment of the PLAN’s second flattop, the Shandong, into the western Pacific and approaching Guam.

The Reuters piece added that there are questions over the value of Chinese carriers during a Taiwan contingency, at least in the short term (read within the next few years or within the timeframe of the “Davidson window.”), and such doubts are largely due to the limited capabilities of the Liaoning (China’s first flattop) and Shandong. (While China’s third carrier, the Fujian, is much more capable owing to its catapult-assisted takeoff and barrier-arrested recovery, or CATOBAR, flight-deck configuration, the ship will probably be operational only in the late 2020s given the “first-in-class” issues that will invariably surface). In response to the Reuters article, military analyst Rick Fisher warned of underestimating the Chinese carrier threat because of the protective cover of Beijing’s shore-based anti-access/area-denial (A2/AD) edifice. The arguments both sides put forth have merit, but need more nuance. What is more, that PLAN carrier airpower could adequately menace Taiwan’s east coast — an argument which seems to be gaining traction — needs to be addressed.

https://breakingdefense.com/2023/07/reassessing-the-near-term-chinese-carrier-threat-in-a-taiwan-scenario/

Land-based systems are the primary threat to Taiwan!

The only factor in Taiwan's favor is China needs to take the semiconductor factories intact and undamaged!

https://www.youtube.com/v/V7En1hELQPc

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V7En1hELQPc

Experts wargamed for Congress a conflict with China!

Here is what they had to say:  https://www.fdd.org/podcasts/2023/07/21/the-game-of-war-part-i/

DvD HATES facts that contradict its Opinions!

Truman again proves he blames others for his sins!

Key Takeaways
[LIST=1]

• The KMT called for coordinating with the TPP during the 2024 Legislative Yuan elections, which indicates that the KMT aims to expand its ability to win legislative seats even if it loses the presidency.
• The CCP’s United Front apparatus coordinated attacks on DPP presidential candidate Lai Ching-te’s July 4 The Wall Street Journal op-ed “My Plan to Preserve Peace in the Taiwan Strait” to reduce support for his candidacy by framing him as pro-war.
  
• The CCP announced the creation of the National Data Bureau (NDB) in March to manage the PRC’s public and private data. The organization may serve as a coordination vehicle between the CCP’s economic and national security organs.
• Higher-ranking Chinese officials decided to meet with Henry Kissinger rather than United States Special Presidential Envoy for Climate John Kerry during their recent visits to China. That higher-ranking CCP officials met with Kissinger indicates that the party will use access to CCP policy-makers as leverage to induce American policy-makers to enact the party’s preferred policy outcomes.

https://understandingwar.org/backgrounder/china-taiwan-weekly-update-july-27-2023

Key Takeaways
[LIST=1]

• The Kuomintang (KMT) has echoed the People’s Republic of China (PRC) attacks on Lai Ching-te’s association with “Taiwan independence” in the lead up to his mid-August US transit. High-profile KMT parroting of PRC talking points indicates the success of the PRC's efforts to influence discourse in Taiwan and could advance its goal of broadening support for peaceful unification.
• The Republic of China (ROC) arrested active-duty Republic of China Army (ROCA) personnel for allegedly passing on national security secrets to China. The pattern of ROC military personnel spying for China in conjunction with light espionage punishments indicates the ineffectiveness of current ROC laws in deterring potential spies.
• Chinese Communist Party (CCP) media published English-language reports about the recent party calls for the Chinese people to participate in counter-espionage work. This messaging comes as the CCP aims to increase foreign investment in China, which indicates that the CCP seeks to reassure foreign firms that they can safely engage in commercial activity in China.

https://www.understandingwar.org/backgrounder/china-taiwan-weekly-update-august-10-2023

TAIPEI – China has been steadily intensifying military pressure on Taiwan over the past year, sending jets, drones, bombers and other planes farther and in greater numbers to extend an intimidating presence all around the island.

Chinese naval ships and air force planes have been edging closer to Taiwan’s territorial seas and skies, probing the island’s vigilance and trying to wear down its military planes and ships. Chinese forces have also been operating more frequently in skies and waters off the island’s eastern coast, facing the West Pacific. China’s increasing presence there signals its intent to dominate an expanse of sea that could be vital for the island’s defenses, including for securing potential aid from the United States in a conflict, experts say.

Beijing claims Taiwan is its lost territory that must accept unification, preferably peacefully, but by force if Chinese leaders deem that necessary. It has seized on moments of high tension with Taiwan to intensify military activities around the island, and it may put on another show of force in the coming days, when Taiwan’s vice president, Lai Ching-te, passes through the United States.

https://www.japantimes.co.jp/asia-pacific/2023/08/12/china-taiwan-pressure-up/

https://www.theepochtimes.com/epochtv/biden-hits-the-ccp-with-economic-death-blow-5465004

Beijing Biden gives China the excuse it needs!

HONG KONG—China’s deepening economic slump is damaging the fortunes of big American companies deeply rooted there, with some growing increasingly pessimistic that the country’s long-awaited post-pandemic boom will materialize.

Companies embedded in China’s ailing manufacturing, construction, and export industries are reporting weaker sales. In some cases, they are warning of further trouble to come as growth grinds to a near halt and economic readings are dour.

https://www.msn.com/en-us/money/markets/chinas-worsening-economy-is-hurting-corporate-america/ar-AA1feUkX

The more desperate Xi becomes the more likely he will lash out with military force!

A majority of Americans surveyed in a poll released Wednesday said the U.S. needs to increase preparations for potential military threats from China, amid rising tensions between Washington and Beijing.

The Reuters-Ipsos poll found 66 percent of respondents believe America “needs to do more to prepare for military threats from China.”

Republican respondents were more likely than their Democratic counterparts to call for additional military preparations, a split often mirrored by their parties’ respective lawmakers. While 58 percent of Democrats in the poll said the U.S. should boost preparations, 81 percent of Republicans said the same.

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/most-say-us-needs-to-increase-preparations-for-military-threats-from-china-survey/ar-AA1fm1zE

How many seconds left until D-Day?

120?  100?  30?  10?

Does it matter?

China has been setting this up for decades and most of its pieces are in place!

You've been crying "Wolf" since May...

This is getting monotonous.

Yeah, I am in good company there!

Fools like you have always existed in history but rarely pay the price for their foolishness!

ONLY foolishness around here is you, and your MAGA nutjob friends.

Yes, you are a nutjob as you believe those who have murdered millions will not invade their neighbors!

Why do you believe that?

Explain your reasoning!

Are you even capable of doing that?

Guess not!

 Land forces now control the sea — and that is vital in the Pacific!

"It is likely that we are only at the beginning of a leap in the capability of land-based anti-ship missiles," warns Albert Palazzo of the University of New South Wales.

The US may have the most advanced navy in the world — but as Pentagon officials have openly warned, China’s strategy to counter it has been to load up on land-based anti-ship missiles. Below, Albert Palazzo of the University of New South Wales in Canberra, Australia, warns that the threat will only continue to grow.

There is an old saying, attributed to British Admiral Horatio Nelson, that “a ship’s a fool to fight a fort.” In light of modern weaponry improvements Nelson’s saying is overdue for an update. Now it would be more accurate — if less alliterative — to say that “a ship is a fool to fight a missile defended coast.”

Sea control has always been an essential objective for many countries’ militaries. Without it, a fleet cannot achieve its goals. If an enemy force controls the sea, it can deny a weaker fleet the ability to maneuver and act. Sea control, therefore, is a prerequisite for the attainment of many nations’ war aims. For example, in 1982 Britain first had to establish its fleet in the waters around the Falkland Islands so it could put ashore the land force that retook the islands from Argentina.

For as long as humanity has sailed upon the world’s waters, the fight for sea control has depended on the outcome of battle between ships, or more recently, ships and maritime strike aircraft. This reality
endured from the age of the galley to that of the nuclear-powered aircraft carrier. Now land forces, armed with long-range maritime strike missiles supported by sensing and targeting systems, will change how sea control is achieved or denied.

Contemporary anti-ship missiles that are already in service can reach out over the sea for thousands of kilometers and, since their cost is trivial compared to that of a ship, an adversary can afford to use them in large numbers and thus overwhelm a ship’s defenses. The Chinese, for example, guard their maritime approaches with a host of anti-ship missiles including the DF-21D, which is ominously known as the “carrier killer.” Nor are distant fleet bases safe. The Chinese DF-26 missile is nicknamed the “Guam Killer,” and has the range to hold the US military’s infrastructure on that island at risk.

https://breakingdefense.com/2023/08/land-forces-now-control-the-sea-and-that-is-vital-in-the-pacific/

CHILLING ATTACK China’s Apocalypse Now-style video reveals "rehearsals for Taiwan INVASION" with flock of attack choppers & beach assault!

CHINA has released a chilling Apocalypse Now-style propaganda video appearing to show rehearsals for a full scale invasion of Taiwan.

Fighter jets can be seen roaring overhead, a fleet of tanks rumble across dirt roads, and missiles can be seen being fired.

China’s government seems to have learned a lesson from Vladimir Putin’s war in Ukraine.

Beijing's drills show they want any attack to be well-rehearsed and quick - while Russia remains bogged down in a meatgrinder for the last 18 months.

Away from the conflict in Europe, the eyes of the world are nervously watching the boiling tensions between the two nations in East Asia.

Demonstrating the capabilities of its military, China released the hair-raising propaganda video showing troops preparing for an attack on what appears to be the Taiwan Strait.

https://www.thesun.co.uk/news/23546054/chinas-rehearsals-taiwan-invasion-assault/

Key Takeaways [LIST=1]

• Republic of China (ROC) Vice President and Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) presidential candidate Lai Ching-te gave an interview with Bloomberg in Taiwan on July 27, which Bloomberg released on August 14. The publication of Lai’s statements in a leading English-language magazine helps him project his message to a wider American audience compared to attacks from the CCP and KMT that aimed to undermine Lai’s legitimacy.
  
• KMT presidential candidate Hou Yu-ih emphasized nuclear energy policy during a press conference to burnish his national security credentials. Hou focused on his energy policy to portray the KMT as a responsible party on national security without having to address his cross-strait policy.
• Typhoon Doksuri made landfall in China on July 28. A CCP directive implemented in November 2022 slowed the PRC’s emergency response to the typhoon, which drew criticism from CCP-affiliated media.

https://www.understandingwar.org/backgrounder/china-taiwan-weekly-update-august-18-2023

Taiwan is under threat as China sends fighter jets and warships with nations on the brink of war!

Amid the escalating tensions, Vice President Lai Ching-Te's return to Taiwan from a diplomatic trip to Paraguay, one of Taiwan's South American allies, raised eyebrows.

China's People's Liberation Army (PLA) dispatched a staggering total of 45 warplanes and nine warships near Taiwan's borders over a 24-hour period.

The Ministry of National Defence (MND) confirmed the unsettling development, which unfolded between 6am on Saturday and 6am on Sunday.

A key focus of concern was the audacious crossing of the unofficial median line in the Taiwan Strait by 25 of the warplanes.

The MND unveiled the flight paths of these intruding aircraft, revealing that among them were nine Su-30 fighter jets, four J-11s, and twelve J-10s.

Adding to the gravity of the situation, a Y-9 electronic warfare aircraft and a Z-9 anti-submarine helicopter were detected venturing into the southwestern sector of Taiwan's air defence identification zone (ADIZ).

https://www.express.co.uk/news/world/1804165/taiwan-china-war-warplanes-warships

There are unconfirmed rumors that a Chinese nuclear submarine suffered an “accident” in the Taiwan Strait, which separates Taiwan from mainline China.

The chatter comes after Beijing launched military drills around the island in a “stern warning” to Taipei and Washington, Newsweek reported.

Citing online reports, the news outlet said there are claims that one of China’s Type 093, or “Shang-class,” nuclear submarines “had crashed in unknown circumstances at some point in the past few days. Some of the reports claimed the entire crew onboard the vessel had been killed.”


More from Newsweek (https://www.newsweek.com/china-submarine-crash-taiwan-strait-miitary-drills-1821787):

There has been no official confirmation of a Chinese submarine running into difficulty in the contentious strait, and experts have been hesitant to speculate. The topic was not mentioned in a press briefing from China’s Defense Ministry on Tuesday and has not appeared in any state news agencies’ reports.
Officials in Taipei did not confirm the reports. In remarks carried by Taiwanese news outlets on Tuesday, a spokesperson for Taipei’s Defense Ministry said during a regular press briefing that the island’s military and government had not detected any evidence of a submarine crash and could not substantiate the reports.


https://americanwirenews.com/nuclear-submarine-accident-chinese-troops-reportedly-involved/

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Type_093_submarine

A pretext for invasion?

(http://www.aesopsretreat.com/forum/richedit/upload/2k416623cc7e.png)
As you can see the depth of the Taiwan Strait is not conducive to submersible operations!

I bet they crashed into the bottom!

Of course, given it was made in China we must include the possibility of failure due to construction defects!

Fortunately, the site is in shallow waters and easily recoverable!

Biden administration approves $500M arms sale to Taiwan as tension with China continues to grow!

China stepped up its military activity in the waters and skies around Taiwan in recent years!

The Biden administration has approved a $500 million arms sale to Taiwan as it ramps up military assistance to the island despite fervent objections from China.

The State Department said Wednesday it had signed off on the sale of infrared search tracking systems along with related equipment for advanced F-16 fighter jets. The sale includes the infrared systems as well as test support and equipment, computer software, and spare parts, it said.

Although the deal is modest in comparison to previous weapons sales, the move is likely to draw fierce criticism from Beijing, which regards self-governing Taiwan as a renegade province and refuses to rule out the use of force to reunify it with the mainland.

https://www.foxnews.com/us/biden-administration-approves-500m-arms-sale-taiwan-tension-china-continues-grow

Too little and far too late!

Key Takeaways

• The Kuomintang (KMT) is facing several internal disputes as the party falls further behind in the presidential election polls.
• The flagship CCP journal Qiushi republished a February article by Xi Jinping on August 15 that emphasized “Chinese-style modernization.” This content of the publication and its reprinting indicates that the party aims to buttress support for spreading its political and economic governance models in formerly colonized countries.
  
• The CCP outlet Red Flag Manuscript published an article on August 14 about the necessity of recapturing the spirit of “revolutionary patriotism” embodied by the Chinese military during the Korean War. The content of the article indicates that creating ideological alignment amongst PLA leadership is becoming increasingly necessary in order to prepare for future wars.

https://www.understandingwar.org/backgrounder/china-taiwan-weekly-update-august-24-2023

Taiwan's vice president accuses China of attempting to influence the country's upcoming election!

Taiwan's presidential elections are set for January 2024!

Taiwan’s vice president and front-runner in upcoming presidential elections accused China on Friday of employing unfair trade practices that could be used to influence the voting.

William Lai, in a meeting with foreign journalists in Taipei, said China "will be hoping to interfere in the elections with all sorts of tactics." If they succeed, he said, "it will be an undermining of Taiwan’s democracy."

His comments come after China announced on Monday that it was suspending mango imports from Taiwan, alleging that authorities had detected pests on the fruit. The trade curb is widely believed to be politically motivated.

Lai said Beijing was engaging in "unfair trade practices against our agricultural products, potentially in an effort to undermine the coming elections."

Taiwan is due to hold presidential elections in January 2024.

https://www.foxnews.com/world/taiwans-vice-president-accuses-china-attempting-influence-countrys-upcoming-election

Nothing new there given China has been running America's elections for a decade!

Democrats have no interest in the freedom of Taiwan!

Beijing Biden will continue to encourage China to invade Taiwan!

Chinese electronic spies target Taiwan, Microsoft report claims!

Flax Typhoon group 'living off the land' in compromised networks!

A group of state-sponsored Chinese hackers carried out attacks against dozens of organizations in Taiwan as part of a sophisticated cyber-espionage operation, according to a report by computer software giant Microsoft.

The group, using the code name “Flax Typhoon,” succeeded in maintaining long-term access inside computer networks in Taiwan with the minimal use of malicious software, relying instead on features of the operating systems themselves to maintain access.

“Microsoft attributes this campaign to Flax Typhoon…, a nation-state actor based out of China,” the online report by Microsoft Threat Intelligence released late last week said. The hackers’ behavior “suggests that the threat actor intends to perform espionage and maintain access to organizations across a broad range of industries for as long as possible.”

https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2023/aug/28/chinese-electronic-spies-target-taiwan-microsoft-r/

And yet you do NOTHING about Russia's interference in 2016 AND 2020!

Why not?

because they are trying to help Idiot Trump win!

(https://media.makeameme.org/created/heres-what-you-ae831bdf90.jpg)

???

You cannot take action against what doesn't exist!

Meta unveils covert China-driven 'spamouflage' operation to undermine the United States!

Meta purged thousands of Facebook accounts that it claims were connected to a widespread Chinese spam operation designed to promote China and slam the West.

The social media giant announced on Tuesday that it had removed more than 7,700 Facebook accounts and 15 Instagram accounts that were part of a campaign known as "Spamouflage." This campaign, which spanned across a multitude of social networks, aimed to post praise for China and attacks on the United States as well as critics of China.

https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/policy/technology/meta-covert-china-spam-operation-undermine-united-states

Taiwan Announced a Record Defense Budget: But Is It Enough to Deter China?


While Taiwan has significantly increased its defense spending over the past seven years, it needs to invest more to deter China and prevent the military balance from shifting decisively in Beijing’s favor. 

Last week, Taiwan announced plans to increase (https://focustaiwan.tw/politics/202308210025) its total defense spending to a record NT$606.8 billion (US$19.1 billion), equivalent to 2.6 percent of GDP. While this might seem like good news, the reality is that this represents only a 3.5 percent nominal increase over last year’s budget (https://www.reuters.com/business/aerospace-defense/taiwan-proposes-129-on-year-rise-defence-spending-2023-2022-08-25/) of NT$586.3 billion and a smaller increase in real terms with inflation (https://www.imf.org/external/datamapper/PCPIPCH@WEO/TWN?zoom=TWN&highlight=TWN) standing at roughly two percent. Most important, the proposed budget still falls far short of what the island should be investing in defense. Ironically, the smallest growth (https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2023-08-22/taiwan-plans-smallest-increase-in-military-spending-in-six-years) in Taiwan’s defense budget in half a decade is coming at a time when defense spending should be accelerating to confront the growing threat that Taiwan faces.

https://www.cfr.org/blog/taiwan-announced-record-defense-budget-it-enough-deter-china

Taiwan can expect no effective support from America!

Key Takeaway:
The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) conducted a multifaceted informational, military, and economic pressure campaign in response to the transit of the Republic of China (ROC) Vice President Lai Ching-te through the United States in August. This indicates that the CCP aims to use ROC leadership transits as part of a larger coercive campaign to gain political control of Taiwan. The CCP’s threatening messaging, economic coercion, and military coercion in response to Lai’s transit will advance the party’s coercion campaigns to secure political control of Taiwan.

Republic of China (Taiwan) Vice President Lai Ching-te transited through the United States on his way to and from representing the ROC at the August 15 inauguration of Paraguayan President Santiago Peña Palacios.[1] The transits occurred on August 12 and 16. Lai’s transits through the United States were well-precedented. Ten ROC vice presidents have transited through the United States during the last several decades, for example.[2]

The CCP responded to the transits by messaging threats that inaccurately characterized Taiwan’s independence as well as with ambiguous threats about whether the People’s Republic of China (PRC) would respond militarily. The CCP launched military exercises on August 19 and initiated a trade dispute with Taiwan. This multifaceted response indicates that the CCP aims to use ROC leadership transits as part of a larger coercive campaign to gain political control of Taiwan.

https://www.understandingwar.org/backgrounder/people%E2%80%99s-republic-china-used-lai%E2%80%99s-us-transit-advance-unification-campaigns

China's window for military action continues to shrink!

Philippines, Malaysia, Taiwan, Vietnam, India reject China’s new South China Sea map!

The Philippines, Malaysia, Taiwan, Vietnam and India have rejected China’s newly released map asserting sovereignty over the South China Sea.

About the new map: The map includes a U-shaped line covering most of the South China Sea, a region marked by disputes and significant trade traffic in which trillions of dollars in trade flow through each year. The new map also has 10 dashes that appear to the east of Taiwan. The line extends into the exclusive economic zones of the Philippines, Vietnam, Malaysia, Brunei and Indonesia.

“China's position on the South China Sea issue has always been clear,” Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin said, according to Reuters. “The competent authorities of China regularly update and release various types of standard maps every year. We hope that relevant parties can view this in an objective and rational manner.”

https://www.yahoo.com/news/philippines-malaysia-taiwan-vietnam-india-182520101.html

The window for CCP aggression continues to close!

Beijing Biden continues to invite China to expand its borders!

Quadrilateral Coordination: US, Japan, South Korea, and Taiwan!

Japan’s daily newspaper Sankei Shimbun reported that the Japanese Ministry of Defense’s fiscal 2024 budget request amounts to an unprecedented 7.738 trillion yen (approximately $52.75 billion), marking a significant escalation from the 6.8219 trillion yen ($46.6 billion) allocated for fiscal 2023.

The proposed budget earmarks 930 billion yen (about $6.35 billion) for ammunition expenses, aimed at augmenting the nation’s sustained combat capabilities. A further 380 billion yen (about $2.6 billion) has been allocated for the initiation of construction for two naval vessels outfitted with the state-of-the-art missile defense system, Aegis Ashore, referred to as “Aegis system equipped vessels (ASEV).”

The budget also includes a 64-billion yen (about $440 million) allocation for the joint development of next-generation fighter jets with the UK and Italy, alongside a 32-billion yen (about $220 million) provision for the development of precision-guided munitions designed for naval and terrestrial targets. Additional budgetary considerations cover the installation of domestically-produced Type 12 surface-to-ship guided missiles on naval vessels, the mass production of hypersonic guided missiles with a range of 3,000 kilometers (about 1864 miles), and the formation of a new logistics entity named the “Maritime Self-Defense Forces Transportation Group” to facilitate equipment and material shipments to Japan’s southwestern islands.

https://www.theepochtimes.com/world/analysis-japan-and-taiwan-amplify-defense-budgets-to-fortify-the-first-island-chain-5485175

Japan and South Korea are forced to make up for America's loss in combat effectiveness!

 US Pacific Policy in China’s Shadow!

Washington has indeed stepped up engagement, but missteps, half-steps, and mixed messaging are getting in the way.

There has been a flurry of Pacific Islands-related press releases coming out of the United States Department of State this year.

The announcements came especially fast and furious during a bevy of meetings in Papua New Guinea this May. On May 22 and 23 alone, the State Department issued four major read-outs: “The United States and Papua New Guinea Sign New Defense Cooperation Agreement,” “U.S.-Pacific Islands Forum Leaders Dialogue in Papua New Guinea,” “Secretary Blinken Witnesses the Signing of the U.S.-Palau 2023 Agreement,” and “Signing of the U.S.-FSM [Federated States of Micronesia] Compact of Free Association-Related Agreements.”

Earlier, U.S. President Joe Biden hosted the “first ever U.S-Pacific Island Country Summit” on September 28-29, 2022, at which the White House’s Pacific Partnership Strategy was launched. There is due to be a second summit in September 2023. (The meetings are held in September as many Pacific leaders are already in New York for the United Nations General Assembly, so it is more likely they would be willing to hang out for a few days for meetings in Washington.)

There is no question, then, that the United States wants to, at the least, look like it is serious about the Pacific Islands. The reason for the renewed interest is obvious. The degree to which Chinese influence operations in the region have undermined local governance has become difficult to ignore, and has the potential (and likely the intent) to undermine U.S. strategic architecture in the Pacific – and with it, the viability of a free and open Indo-Pacific.

https://thediplomat.com/2023/08/us-pacific-policy-in-chinas-shadow/

Appearance is more important than action according to Democrats!

It's just a matter of time before the Chi-Comms invade Taiwan.

It'll probably happen while Pedo-Biden is still in office since they know he won't do anything.

After that, they'll take the Philippines and Vietnam to guarantee access to ALL the oil in the South China Sea.

Yes, Xi has dreams of an empire!

The US And China Are Ratcheting Up A Tug- Of- War For Influence Over Little-Known Islands In The Pacific!

•   The U.S. and China are competing for influence over a collection of small and little-known, but strategically vital, islands in the Pacific, experts told the Daily Caller News Foundation.
  
•     An August agreement with Palau allows the U.S. Coast Guard to avert malign Chinese naval activity in Palauan waters.
  
•     “These are literally the same locations as what the Japanese had in World War Two, because the strategic value of these locations has been unchanged for 80 years,” Alexander Gray, who held the first National Security Council position ever focused primarily on Australia, New Zealand, and the Pacific Islands, told the DCNF.

Competition between the U.S. and China is taking shape across a swath of little-known islands that have an outsized strategic importance for America, experts told the Daily Caller News Foundation.

A recent pact expanding the U.S. Coast Guard’s ability to ward off disruptive Chinese activities around Palau, an archipelago of atolls and islands in the western Pacific Ocean and former U.S. territory, is the latest in a series of agreements aimed at giving the U.S. open access to the Pacific. As China expands its own malign brand of policing power and dangles white elephant economic projects before developing Pacific partners, the impetus for America to woo Palau and countries like it is greater than it has been in recent memory, experts told the DCNF.

“You cannot maintain our policy in Taiwan and our policy in Korea without being able to have free and open access to the Pacific running through these islands,” Alexander Gray, who held the first National Security Council position ever focused primarily on Australia, New Zealand, and the Pacific Islands, now a senior fellow at the American Foreign Policy Council, told the DCNF.

These islands serve as “gas stations” for the U.S. Pacific Fleet, necessary logistics and pre-positioning hubs allowing the American military to operate thousands of miles away from its home shores, Kelley Currie, a former U.S. Representative to the United Nations Economic and Social Council and member of the Vandenberg Coalition, explained to the DCNF.

https://dailycaller.com/2023/09/02/us-china-competition-pacific-islands-palau/

China openly declares its territorial ambitions!

India and Malaysia have reacted strongly to a new map issued by China. India objected to the map showing the Indian state of Arunachal Pradesh in the northeast and Aksai Chin in Ladakh as part of China, and Malaysia took exception to the fact that the Chinese map showed the whole of South China Sea as Chinese territory, including those parts of Malaysian Borneo.


There was an exchange of statements between the foreign offices of the three states. Indian foreign office spokesman Arindam Bagchi said, “We reject these claims as they have no basis. Such steps by the Chinese side only complicate the resolution of the border question.” The border dispute between the two large Asian states has been a longstanding one, going back to nearly 70 years, and there has been a war between the two in 1962 and a flashpoint in June 2020 when soldiers on both sides died. The Chinese foreign office responded saying that the map was “an exercise of sovereignty in accordance with the law.”

https://gulftoday.ae/opinion/2023/09/01/india-malaysia-object-to-new-china-map

China-Taiwan Weekly Update, August 31, 2023

Key Takeaways: 

1.  Foxconn founder Guo Taiming (Terry Gou) announced his campaign for president of the Republic of China (ROC) as an independent candidate. His entrance will likely further divide non-Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) voters, thereby increasing the chance of the DPP candidate Lai Ching-te (William Lai) winning the race.
2.  The Central American Parliament expelled the ROC as an observer. This advances a CCP coercion campaign to politically control Taiwan.
3.  The People’s Liberation Army Air Force (PLAAF) began employing new flight patterns on August 24 in the Republic of China (Taiwan) air defense identification zone (ADIZ) likely to complicate and reduce Taiwan’s decision response timeline.


https://www.understandingwar.org/backgrounder/china-taiwan-weekly-update-august-31-2023

https://www.youtube.com/v/X89Qi4lrNcw

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X89Qi4lrNcw

China flies more than 150 military planes toward Taiwan as the island condemns military "harassment"!

China’s military sent over 150 warplanes toward Taiwan this week in an unprecedented military action that the island’s government swiftly condemned as "harassment."

On Monday, mainland China’s military, known formally as the People’s Liberation Army, flew 103 warplanes near and over the island in a 24-hour period in what the island’s defense ministry called a recent new high. On Tuesday, an additional 55 PLA aircraft were detected near the island by Taiwan’s R.O.C. Armed Forces.

The Ministry of National Defense said 40 of the planes invaded Taiwan’s Air Defense Identification Zone, the symbolic median line between mainland China and the island. They included more than 30 fighter jets as well as midair refueling tanker planes. Another 27 of the warplanes on Tuesday crossed the ADIZ.

"We urge the Beijing authorities to bear responsibility and immediately stop such kind of destructive military activities," Taiwan’s Defense Ministry said in a statement, calling the Chinese military action "harassment" that could escalate in the current tense atmosphere.

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/china-flies-more-than-150-military-planes-toward-taiwan-as-island-condemns-military-harassment/ar-AA1gVPZ9

Key Takeaways

 

•   Terry Gou aims to unify with the Kuomintang (KMT) and Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) against the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) ahead of the 2024 presidential election and is unlikely to succeed in bridging differences between the parties.
•     The consensus among the major Taiwanese political parties to defend the Republic of China’s sovereignty provides the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) with opportunities to advance its coercive unification campaign.
•     The CCP purged Defense Minister Li Shangfu in September 2023 following investigations into corrupt equipment procurement.

https://www.understandingwar.org/backgrounder/china-taiwan-weekly-update-september-23-2023

https://www.youtube.com/v/JXckJ-GHDi8 (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JXckJ-GHDi8)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JXckJ-GHDi8 (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JXckJ-GHDi8)

Will it become operational in time?

The Philippines said Monday it would take "all appropriate actions" to remove a floating barrier it accuses China of erecting in a disputed area of the South China Sea, a move that threatens to further fray fraught relations between the Asian neighbors.

National security adviser Eduardo Año assured the Philippine public in a statement carried by the state-run Philippine News Agency that the floating barrier would be removed.

"We condemn the installation of floating barriers by the Chinese Coast Guard," he said.

The nearly 1,000-foot barrier was discovered Friday blocking Filipino fishing boats from entering the Scarborough Shoal, a triangle-shaped chain of reefs about 120 nautical miles west of the Philippines' Zambales Province in Luzon.
The Coast Guard made the discovery public Sunday, posting pictures and video of the barrier on X, the social media platform formerly known as Twitter. Coast guard spokesman Jay Tarriela said three Chinese Coast Guard boats along with Chinese maritime militia service vessels installed the floating barrier in the southeast portion of the shoal, affecting the livelihoods of Filipino fishermen.

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/philippines-says-it-will-remove-barrier-installed-by-china-in-disputed-south-china-sea/ar-AA1hdvpa

A Chinese dissident who has been living in a Taiwanese airport since Friday has pleaded for the United States or Canada to grant him asylum after he fled Thailand saying he feared being deported back to China.

Chen Siming, known for his annual commemorations of the 1989 Tiananmen Square massacre, which is heavily censored and remains a major political taboo in China, told CNN he fled China in July after coming under increasing pressure and scrutiny from authorities.

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/chinese-dissident-stranded-in-taiwan-airport-pleads-for-asylum-in-us-or-canada/ar-AA1hgq9H

Beijing Biden will never allow him entry, while Trudeau would allow him in only to extradite him to China as a traitor to global communism!

Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen (https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/tag/tsai-ing-wen) unveiled a new domestically-produced submarine, declaring victory in a “mission impossible” intended to undermine China’s (https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/tag/china) plans to subjugate the island democracy (https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/restoring-america/courage-strength-optimism/if-china-ends-up-invading-taiwan-it-started-last-weekend).

“A submarine designed and manufactured by our country's people sits before our eyes,” Tsai told an audience in Kaohsiung, a port city on the southern coast of Taiwan (https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/tag/taiwan). “Even if there are risks, and no matter how many challenges there are, Taiwan must take this step and allow the self-reliant national defense policy to grow and flourish on our land.”
Chinese General Secretary Xi Jinping’s (https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/tag/xi-jinping) regime mocked the project as a waste of “hard-earned money of people in Taiwan.” Yet Taiwanese officials hope the "Narwhal" submarine, the first of eight in its class, will allow Taiwanese forces to thwart Chinese Communist attempts to choke the island (https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/policy/defense-national-security/taiwan-china-food-imports-blockade-military) in a crisis.

"The aim is to counter China's efforts to encircle Taiwan for an invasion, attack, or a blockade,” Taiwanese Adm. Huang Shu-kuang told (https://asia.nikkei.com/Politics/International-relations/Taiwan-tensions/Taiwan-unveils-Narwhal-its-first-home-built-submarine#) Nikkei Asia.

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/other/taiwan-unveils-narwhal-submarine-designed-to-bust-china-s-blockade-strategy/ar-AA1hpda6

Still waiting for D-Day...

Will it be right after the Hillary indictments?

Truman again insists China is threatening no one!

Tell that to Taiwan, Vietnam, and India!

Democrats want the CCP to expand its power over the whole of Asia!

https://www.youtube.com/v/d5upa_CNcVE

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d5upa_CNcVE

https://www.youtube.com/v/bFDMh_dyshY

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

https://csis-website-prod.s3.amazonaws.com/s3fs-public/publication/230109_Cancian_FirstBattle_NextWar.pdf?VersionId=WdEUwJYWIySMPIr3ivhFolxC_gZQuSOQ

https://www.csis.org/analysis/first-battle-next-war-wargaming-chinese-invasion-taiwan

Key Takeaways

• The Kuomintang (KMT) seeks to lead a joint presidential ballot with the Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) and is unlikely to obtain a compromise deal with the TPP in the coming two weeks.
• The imported egg scandal shifted the presidential electoral narrative away from cross-strait relations over the past two weeks, and the dominant narrative of the election as a choice between peace and war is likely to reemerge in the next two weeks.
• The CCP aims to economically integrate the ROC-controlled offshore island of Kinmen with the PRC province of Fujian, which could allow the CCP to exacerbate domestic ROC internal divisions over cross-strait engagement with the PRC.

https://www.understandingwar.org/backgrounder/china-taiwan-weekly-update-september-29-2023

The report commissioned by the MAC highlights the necessity for Taiwan to bolster its combat capabilities and employ asymmetric warfare tactics as China pursues both "peaceful unification" and "unification by force" strategies. The report warns of increased geopolitical risks and national security threats in the short to medium term, underscoring the impact of China's tactics, which include intimidation and local attacks capable of disrupting essential infrastructure. While Beijing seeks peaceful unification through economic incentives and preferential policies for Taiwanese businesses, political system differences and trust issues pose significant obstacles.

On the other hand, the "unification by force" strategy presents China with economic challenges, military risks, resistance from Taiwanese citizens, and mounting international opposition. The report also suggests that Chinese President Xi Jinping might use military actions to unify Taiwan by 2027, aiming to consolidate his leadership within the Chinese Communist Party. Given the persistent political differences and unresolved tensions with the United States, the report advises Taiwan to raise awareness of China's intentions, enhance regulatory, mental, strategic, and military preparedness, and improve defense and asymmetric capabilities. It emphasizes the importance of a national defense strategy that considers diplomatic, economic, and tactical elements, as well as multi-layered deterrence capability for the armed forces.

https://www.republicworld.com/world-news/rest-of-the-world-news/taiwan-urged-to-strengthen-defense-amid-growing-geopolitical-risks-from-china-articleshow.html

   Taiwan needs to preserve its combat capabilities and leverage asymmetric warfare strategy to counter China's military unification objective, Taipei Times reported citing a report commissioned by the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC).
   The report also found that Beijing is pursuing both "peaceful unification" and "unification by force" strategies, which would lead to an increase in Taiwan's geopolitical risks and national security threats in the short to medium term, Taipei Times reported.

https://www.business-standard.com/world-news/combat-ability-key-for-taiwan-to-defy-beijing-s-unification-agenda-report-123100200056_1.html

https://www.youtube.com/v/Htt_ioaWueg

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

TAIPEI, Taiwan — Prosecutors in Taiwan have indicted two leaders of the island’s tiny Taiwan People’s Communist Party on accusations they colluded with China in an effort to influence next year’s elections for president and members of the legislative assembly.

Party Chairman Lin Te-wang and Vice Chairman Chen Chien-hsin were accused on Tuesday of violating the Anti-Infiltration Act and the Civil Servants Election and Recall Act after having accepted funds and other benefits from China’s ruling Communist Party, the official Central News Agency said.

It wasn’t clear whether the two men were in Taiwan when the indictments were issued.

https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2023/oct/4/taiwan-indicts-2-peoples-communist-party-members-a/

When China invades Taiwan will have a great deal of problems with murderous saboteurs!

https://www.youtube.com/v/9SiGmGjLTCU (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9SiGmGjLTCU)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9SiGmGjLTCU (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9SiGmGjLTCU)

Pentagon Warns It is Nearly Out of Budget to Replace Our Own Munitions after Biden Sent it all to Ukraine!

The Pentagon is warning Congress that the U.S. is nearly out of weapons and ammunition and does not have enough money in the budget to replace it all after Joe Biden depleted our stocks by sending it all to Ukraine.

In a letter to Congress, Pentagon Comptroller Michael McCord said that the U.S. has “exhausted nearly all” of the funding it was given for Ukraine and is also in need of funding to replenish U.S. military supplies and weapons stockpiles.

“DoD has exhausted nearly all available security assistance funding for Ukraine,” McCord wrote.

Per Just the News (https://justthenews.com/government/security/pentagon-exhausted-nearly-all-ukraine-funding-needs-replenish-us-stockpile):

The Ukraine Security Assistance Initiative is completely out of funding and of the $25.9 billion that Congress allocated to replenish U.S. military stockpiles, just $1.6 billion is left, he also said.
“We have already been forced to slow down the replenishment of our own forces to hedge against an uncertain funding future. Failure to replenish our military services on a timely basis could harm our military’s readiness,” McCord also said.
He added that cutting off funding would “send a negative signal to our defense industrial base,” as it is producing more munitions for the war, which has increased the number of jobs.


https://ipatriot.com/pentagon-warns-it-is-nearly-out-of-budget-to-replace-our-own-munitions-after-biden-sent-it-all-to-ukraine/

Democrats have finally achieved their dream of unilateral disarmament!

https://www.youtube.com/v/TUqzCg2a3eU (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TUqzCg2a3eU)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TUqzCg2a3eU (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TUqzCg2a3eU)

https://www.youtube.com/v/KUPgwMqRIrg

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

Beijing Biden continues to make China stronger and America weaker!

Democrats, of course, don't care!

https://www.youtube.com/v/w6CusO9BntE

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w6CusO9BntE

https://www.youtube.com/v/oyo_e1SSF60

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oyo_e1SSF60

Democrats have laid the ground for the defeat of the West!

Democrats are America's worst enemy!

https://www.youtube.com/v/GUbPlrjdOYY

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

Some learn from Israel's mistakes and Hamas' successes!

The words "democratic Taiwan" appeared more times in the island's national day celebrations this year than any other - by far.

"We have brought the international spotlight to Democratic Taiwan," declared President Tsai Ing-wen last week, in her last national day address before she steps down as the first democratically elected female president.

"The people of Taiwan will remain a democratic and free people for generations to come," she added. It was both an assertion of the island's identity and a call for the world to take note and not allow this vibrant and open society to disappear.

The head of Taiwan's legislature, You Si-Kun, had touted those same credentials in his opening remarks: "The UK's Economist Intelligence Unit ranks Taiwan the number one democracy in Asia and number 10 in the world."

The importance of these words to Taiwan, which feels increasingly threatened by Chinese claims to its territory, cannot be overstated.

"Democratic Taiwan" has become its brand - its pitch to the world for why this self-governed island of 23 million people matters, and why it should be protected from being gobbled up by China. And yet for an $800bn chip superpower Taiwan has very few official friends.

https://www.aol.com/spooked-lonely-taiwan-looks-friends-220942615.html

The weaker Democrats make us the greater the likelihood of war!

Beijing Biden has invited China to invade Taiwan!

Key Takeaways

• A recent poll revealed broad backing among Kuomintang (KMT) and Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) supporters for a joint KMT-TPP presidential ticket. The polling data is consistent with ISW’s assessments that the two candidates will form a joint ticket, but such a ticket is unlikely to capture the entirety of each candidate’s support base.
• The DPP and KMT are seizing on the People’s Republic of China’s (PRC’s) probes into Foxconn. The DPP aims for Terry Gou to stay in the presidential race, while the KMT wants him to drop out.
• The PRC Coast Guard and maritime militia committed aggression against Filipino ships near the Second Thomas Shoal. The PRC naval aggression contradicts the Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) claim to build a peaceful Asia.
• The National People’s Congress officially removed former Minister of Foreign Affairs Qin Gang and Defense Minister Li Shangfu from their posts on October 24.
• The CCP is using the Israel-Hamas War to message its status as leader of the Global South and convey that the United States is not a responsible actor in the Middle East.

https://www.understandingwar.org/backgrounder/china-taiwan-weekly-update-october-26-2023

China’s Brazen Provocation Puts Taiwan’s Democracy in Peril – Is This the Spark That Ignites Global Conflict?

Beijing’s relentless aggression toward Taiwan has now taken a huge step as China deployed a further 103 warplanes to the surrounding border of the territory, with US and Canada ships navigating the waters, keeping a close eye on the action.

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/chinas-brazen-provocation-puts-taiwans-democracy-in-peril-%E2%80%93-is-this-the-spark-that-ignites-global-conflict/ss-AA1j2ti8#image=1

Japan has appointed a serving government official to act as its de facto defense attache in Taiwan, four sources said, elevating security ties in a move likely to anger China, which claims the strategic, democratic island as its own.

Japan does not have any formal diplomatic representation in Taiwan, and instead handles bilateral relations through the Japan-Taiwan Exchange Association in Taipei, which is chiefly staffed by reassigned foreign and trade ministry officials. The defense attache role, however, has until now been held by a retired Japan Self Defense Force officer to avoid antagonizing China.

He has been joined by an official dispatched by the defense ministry to enhance information gathering and communicate with Taiwan’s military, said the sources, who asked not to be identified because of the sensitivity of the issue.

It is also “symbolic” of Japan’s support for Taiwan, said one of the people who know about the appointment. “Taiwan had been asking for an active-duty defense official to fill the post,” he added.

Highlighting Tokyo’s nervousness about Beijing’s reaction, the move was halted last year after a Japanese media report about the plan, the sources said.

Japan’s defense ministry said that it would only pursue “non-governmental” ties to Taiwan, a Japanese colony from 1895-1945, that were within the bounds of a 1972 joint statement that recognized Beijing as the sole legitimate government of China.

Taiwan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs declined to comment when asked about the new defense attache but said it “will continue to deepen cooperation with similar-minded partners such as Japan.”

https://www.asahi.com/ajw/articles/15004254

As China’s military threats intensify, Taiwan’s military is reported to be planning to establish 12 missile bases by 2026. The missile bases will be equipped with the Tien Kung 3 missile system, developed by the National Chung-Shan Institute of Science and Technology, Taiwan’s state-run defense research institute. The Tien Kung 3 missile, a high-altitude anti-aircraft missile designed to intercept Chinese ballistic missiles, is also called the Taiwanese version of THAAD.

According to Taiwanese media on the 23rd, this information was included in a report submitted by the Ministry of Defense on the 20th. The report also mentioned plans for equipment upgrades to meet air defense requirements, as the currently operational Tien Kung 2 missile is losing its mobility against China’s increasingly powerful aerial threats.

The National Chung-Shan Institute of Science and Technology plans to complete the upgrade of the Tien Kung 3 by this year. The upgraded Tien Kung 3 missile system, which integrates long-range early warning radar information, is expected to improve the defense efficiency against ballistic missiles, according to the Ministry of Defense.

The Taiwan Ministry of Defense stated that the construction of the missile bases is progressing in two stages. Six missile bases will start construction in 2022 and are expected to be completed by the end of 2025, while the remaining six will be built from 2023 to 2026. The specific locations have not been disclosed yet.

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/taiwan-responds-to-china-s-threats-with-plans-to-establish-12-missile-bases-by-2026/ar-AA1iL6U7

On Monday night, Taiwanese Foreign Minister Joseph Wu delivered a talk at La Trobe University in Melbourne. Due to Taiwan’s unique status in international affairs, outreach and engagements like this serve an important purpose in explaining Taiwan’s interest and perspectives, and building empathy and international cooperation that can serve as a bulwark against China’s attempts to absorb the territory. Australia is seen by Taiwan as a key player in constructing this resilience.

In 2016, Taiwan launched its New Southbound Policy. The policy was designed to strengthen Taiwan’s relationships with the 10 countries of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), six states in South Asia, Australia, and New Zealand. Its objective, alongside enhancing shared prosperity, is to build mutual interests and habits of cooperation in Taiwan’s near region that hinge upon its remaining an open and democratic society.

https://thediplomat.com/2023/10/in-australia-taiwans-foreign-minister-appeals-to-shared-values/

The Chinese continue to beat the drums of war!

Key Takeaways

• The Kuomintang (KMT) and Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) agreed to cooperate in the legislative elections and will likely form a joint presidential ticket before the January 13 presidential election.
• The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) is interfering in the Taiwanese election to harm the Democratic Progressive Party’s (DPP) chances of victory in the January 13 presidential and legislative elections.
• High-level meetings between PRC and United States officials are unlikely to mitigate People’s Liberation Army (PLA) military coercion targeting Taiwan.
• The PRC is shaping the information environment to blame the United States for potential future geopolitical incidents in the South China Sea.
• The PRC is using the Israel-Hamas War to enhance its image as an international mediator in the Middle East.

https://www.understandingwar.org/backgrounder/china-taiwan-weekly-update-november-2-2023

China keeps up military pressure on Taiwan, sending 43 planes and 7 ships near the island!

Taiwan says China has sent another 43 military aircraft and seven ships near the self-ruled island, the latest sign that Beijing plans no let-up in its campaign of harassment, threats, and intimidation!

TAIPEI, Taiwan -- Taiwan said Wednesday that China sent 43 military aircraft and seven ships near the self-ruled island, the latest sign that Beijing plans no let-up in its campaign of harassment, threats and intimidation.

Taiwan's Defense Ministry said the figure was current for the 24 hours up to 6:00 a.m. Wednesday and that 37 of the aircraft had crossed the median line in the Taiwan Strait, which China no longer recognizes as an informal divider between the sides.

It said Taiwan had monitored the situation, scrambled jet fighters, dispatched ships and activated land-based missile systems, all standard responses to Chinese military activities, which include crossing into Taiwan's air defense identification zone but not into its actual airspace.

Such Chinese maneuvers have become frequent and aggressive since then- U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi visited Taiwan in August 2022. China suspended military communication with the U.S. to show its displeasure over her trip to Taiwan, which Beijing considers part of its territory to be brought under under its control by force if necessary.

https://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory/china-military-pressure-taiwan-sending-43-planes-7-104531993

As the world watches the new war unfolding between Israel, Hamas, and other Iranian proxies – and perhaps remembers occasionally to check in on the grinding struggle in Ukraine – far away in the Indo-Pacific China is asserting itself more and more. Beijing’s latest move has been to send its aircraft carrier Shandong out through the Bashi Channel for maneuvers once again, this time with an extra threat added.

The Bashi Channel is situated strategically between Taiwan and the Philippines and serves as the main gateway between the western Pacific Ocean and the South China Sea. This move by China is the most recent in a string of provocative exercises that the carrier Shandong has carried out in the seas around Taiwan this year, including a symbolic transit of the Taiwan Strait in June. By operating to the east of Taiwan, as the Shandong is doing once again, Beijing places its naval forces between the island democracy and any help that might arrive in the event of war.

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/meanwhile-in-the-western-pacific-china-is-getting-ready-to-isolate-taiwan/ar-AA1jkz3G

It’s time to move beyond the question of whether the United States is, or should be, in a cold war with China, for China’s cold war with the United States is well underway.

In fact, China’s multi-pronged “struggle” against America and the Free World has hot war dimensions. In the varied research areas of human rights and international institutions, cyber and information domains, military strategy, and global economics, analysts use words in common to describe China’s behavior. In collectively pointing to China’s coercion, aggression, deception, violations, threats, and attacks, they portray the Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) domestic, regional, and global policies as definitively hostile.

China today is expansionist, fiercely anti-democratic, and determined to subvert the post-World War II, U.S.-oriented world order. Toward that end, it is deploying every grey-zone tool conceivable while building a massive military arsenal, honing war plans, and mobilizing forces to seize Taiwan. A drive for internal and external predominance that eschews accommodation is manifest everywhere: in omnipresent domestic repression and terrible atrocities against “minorities”; in the exploitation, intimidation and control that accompanies the CCP’s expansive military and economic footprint; in the worldwide exportation of authoritarianism, surveillance, and propaganda; in bellicosity and territorial and maritime encroachments against neighbors; and in the China-Russia-Iran-North Korea axis which aggressively challenges the West and backs other dictators and extremists.

https://nationalinterest.org/feature/china%E2%80%99s-cold-war-america-has-already-gone-hot-207157

DvDemented just LOVES to type to itself.

STILL waiting for that invasion 2 years later...

Truman says screw Taiwan and we don't need Computers!

Warning as Taiwan is on high alert after China’s navy prowls the coast!

An analyst has suggested China may be ramping up tensions as the US is focused on supporting Israel against Hamas.

China may be using the distraction of the Israel - Hamas war to increase its threat level towards Taiwan, an analyst has suggested.

Beijing sent its aircraft carrier Shandong through the Bashi Channel - a strategic gateway between Taiwan and the Philippines - in the latest in a string of provocative exercises.

By placing the aircraft carrier here during its exercise, China effectively blocked Taiwan off from the western Pacific Ocean, where help from its allies would likely come in the event of full-scale war.

Shandong, China’s first domestically built carrier, holds up to 44 aircraft and is armed with the Type 1130 defence system and HQ-10 missiles.


https://www.express.co.uk/news/world/1831840/taiwan-china-navy-warning

Democrats insist China has the right to control the world's semi-conductor supply!

 What the World Can Learn From 2 Taiwanese Activists Jailed in China!

Their stories serve as a warning of the potential fate for Taiwan itself if Xi Jinping decides to take the island.

Two months ago, I was in Taiwan where, among other people, I met two Taiwanese men who spent time in Chinese prisons. Their stories serve as a warning of the potential fate for Taiwan itself if Xi Jinping decides to take the island.

Lee Ming-che was sentenced to five years in jail in China in 2017 and returned home in April 2022. Lee Meng-chu (also known as Morrison Lee) was arrested in 2019, and only returned home to his family in Taipei three days before we met.

Lee Ming-che is a long-time human rights activist. He supported Chinese political dissidents financially, and disseminated information about universal human rights and democracy online to mainland Chinese audiences. For these activities, he was accused of “subversion of state power” and spent five years in prison in China.

Lee Meng-chu was a businessman who attended one of the protests in Hong Kong in 2019. He was caught at the border-crossing into mainland China in Shenzhen with postcards promoting “love, peace, compassion and communication,” and flyers that said “Hong Kong and Taiwan stand together.” He spent 72 days in “residential surveillance at a designated location” (RSDL) – the Chinese regime’s term for detention in a “black jail” – incommunicado, with no access to legal counsel, entirely outside the justice system. He then spent a year and five months in a detention center and another five months in jail.

https://thediplomat.com/2023/11/what-the-world-can-learn-from-2-taiwanese-activists-jailed-in-china/

Remember Democrats insist China is better than America!

Key Takeaways

• The negotiations between the Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) and Kuomintang (KMT) about forming a joint presidential ticket have stalled.
  
• The PRC instigated two aggressive encounters with US-allied militaries in the South China Sea between October 29 and November 6.
  
• The PRC is using the Israel-Palestinian conflict to bolster its image as a fair, responsible broker in contrast to the “biased” United States.
  
• The PRC extended a naval deployment in the Middle East during the Israel-Hamas war, possibly as a means of increasing its influence in the Middle East.

https://www.understandingwar.org/backgrounder/china-taiwan-weekly-update-november-10-2023

China’s military sent over seven aircraft sorties and five ships operating around the Taiwan Strait, Taiwan’s Ministry of National Defense said.

On Saturday, mainland China’s military, known formally as the People’s Liberation Army, said that seven aircraft sorties and five ships were detected near the island in a 24-hour period.

China, which claims Taiwan as part of its territory, flies warplanes toward the self-governing island on a near-daily basis.

When asked about the activity, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Mao Ning has previously said that there is no such thing as a “median line” because the island of Taiwan, although self-governing, is recognized officially as part of Chinese territory.

Most of the international community, including the US, formally recognizes the “One-China” policy, although President Biden said the US would respond should China invade the island – a comment the White House later walked back.

https://nypost.com/2023/11/12/news/taiwan-says-chinese-government-sent-seven-aircrafts-five-ships-near-island/

Democrats see nothing wrong with what China is doing!

https://www.youtube.com/v/IkkomAf1ito

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IkkomAf1ito

On Wednesday, four Republican candidates will take the stage in Tuscaloosa, Ala. for the fourth presidential primary debate. Foreign policy may not be the top issue in American politics, but two-thirds of Republicans say that China poses the greatest foreign threat to the United States. China’s rapid military buildup and human rights abuses are the leading concerns among Republicans, according to a recent poll by the Ronald Reagan Institute.

So it’s important to ask what these 2024 presidential hopefuls would do to address these challenges. Each of the candidates — Ron DeSantis, Nikki Haley, Vivek Ramaswamy and Chris Christie — has spoken about how they would handle U.S. relations with China. These speeches, as well as comments from former U.S. president Donald Trump, suggest some major differences among the candidates.

Given how important China is to voters, moderators Eliana Johnson, Megyn Kelly, and Elizabeth Vargas should consider asking the candidates these questions:

https://www.aei.org/op-eds/5-questions-about-china-that-wednesdays-republican-presidential-debate-needs-to-answer/

A Chinese Pearl Harbor-style attack could end America’s days as a superpower!

As Americans pause to reflect on Imperial Japan’s brutal attack on Pearl Harbor — 82 years ago Thursday — the US military faces an even bigger threat coming from Asia once again.

There’s ample evidence that if China were to go to war against America, it would use the same strategy as Japan to try to achieve a quick and dirty victory — but with a modern twist: a massive “bolt-from-the-blue attack” that could, in not even a day, wipe out most of our military assets in the Indo-Pacific region and perhaps forever mark the end of the United States as a superpower.


https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/a-chinese-pearl-harbor-style-attack-could-end-america-s-days-as-a-superpower/ar-AA1l7dFA

China wouldn't make the mistakes Japan did in 1941!

They wouldn't sink our ships where they could easily be refloated and repaired!

If we sail to defend Taiwan the PRC will stop at nothing to make it a one-way trip!

Democrats are praying for a Chinese victory!

https://www.youtube.com/v/lfOID3FMTUI

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lfOID3FMTUI

TAIPEI, Taiwan -- Taiwan’s Defense Ministry says it spotted a Chinese surveillance balloon in the Taiwan Strait along with a large-scale movement of military aircraft and ships.

The ministry said the balloon passed southwest of the northern port city of Keelung on Thursday night, then continued east before disappearing, possibly into the Pacific Ocean.

There seemed to be some uncertainty about whether the balloon was operated by the People's Liberation Army, the military branch of China's ruling Communist Party. The ministry referred to it both as a ”PLA surveillance balloon" and as “PRC's balloon," using the acronym for the People's Republic of China, China's official name.

A Defense Ministry spokesperson said they had no additional information.

The incident came just over a month before Taiwan is to hold elections for president and the legislature and raises questions about possible Chinese efforts to influence the vote.

https://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory/chinese-military-surveillance-balloon-spotted-taiwan-strait-islands-105487719

 South China Sea conflict: US, allies to 'stand up' for stability in Taiwan Strait!

The United States and its Western allies have increased 'freedom of navigation' crossings by naval vessels in both the Taiwan Strait and the South China Sea, to reinforce that both are international waterways, angering Beijing.

US National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan announced on Saturday that Washington and its Asian allies are committed to maintaining stability across the Taiwan Strait. Sullivan, during a joint briefing with counterparts from Tokyo and Seoul following a trilateral meeting in South Korea, reiterated their dedication to ensuring freedom of navigation in the disputed South China Sea.

In recent weeks, naval vessels from the United States and its Western allies have increased “freedom of navigation” crossings in both the Taiwan Strait and the South China Sea. This move aims to emphasize that both areas are considered international waterways, eliciting dissatisfaction from Beijing. The comments underscore the ongoing geopolitical tensions in the region.

“We will continue to stand up for peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait and freedom of navigation in the East and South China Seas,” Sullivan told reporters in Seoul, alongside South Korea’s Cho Tae-yong and Japan’s Takeo Akiba.

https://www.firstpost.com/world/south-china-sea-conflict-us-allies-to-stand-up-for-stability-in-taiwan-strait-13483632.html


With our stockpiles near empty and little effort taken in their refilling, what will we fight with if it comes to that?

China sees America as less than a paper tiger!

https://www.youtube.com/v/c0HfHw-lekc (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c0HfHw-lekc)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c0HfHw-lekc (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c0HfHw-lekc)

Wishful thinking!

Xi will never surrender power while he lives!

Ret. Admiral Sounds Alarm About Munition Shortage as China Threat Grows!

A retired Navy Admiral issued a stern warning on the threat of China's aggressive actions amid worldwide munitions shortages.

In an op-ed for Barron's, retired Rear Admiral Mark Montgomery said productions of munitions must be increased in order to support the democratic nation of Taiwan in what would be a "massive air-sea battle."

Around Taiwan, Chinese forces are pressuring the country with so-called "gray zone" coercive maneuvers.

The Communist Party in China claims Taiwan, despite never having ruled the democratically governed island, and has vowed to unify it in the future. In running polls, most Taiwanese would rather have the island country's current status over a formal declaration of independence, of which China has said it would go to war.

Montgomery's statements echo similar remarks by NATO General Secretary Jens Stoltenberg, who said increasing munitions is tantamount in support of Ukraine in its war against Russia.


https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/ret-admiral-sounds-alarm-about-munition-shortage-as-china-threat-grows/ar-AA1lfGBy

When the confrontation with China comes we will put to sea poorly armed and wholly unprepared!

China's threat to Taiwan must prompt action after 'lesson learned in Ukraine'!

In recent years, China has ramped up its threats against Taiwan, a territory it considers its own, by conducting several military drills and crossing the median line in the Taiwan Strait.

China's increased threats against Taiwan must be met with decisive actions, a retired US Navy officer believes.

Beijing will "eventually use force" if President Xi Jinping realizes that he can't annex Taiwan peacefully, according to retired US Navy Rear Admiral Mark Montgomery.

https://www.express.co.uk/news/world/1843948/china-threat-taiwan-reaction-usa

 Taiwan's military sent forces to watch a Chinese naval formation, led by the aircraft carrier Shandong, sailing through the Taiwan Strait on Monday, Taiwan's defence ministry said, as Beijing keeps up pressure ahead of elections next month.

The Shandong, commissioned in 2019, last transited the sensitive strait in early November. The latest sailing comes about one month before presidential and parliamentary elections on the island.

The ministry said in a statement that the formation sailed south through the strait but kept to the western side of the waterway's median line - the Chinese side of the unofficial barrier between the two.

China says the Taiwan Strait is not an international waterway and that it alone has sovereignty there, which both Taiwan and the United States dispute.

Taiwan dispatched "appropriate" forces to keep watch on the formation, the ministry added, without elaborating.

https://www.msn.com/en-gb/news/world/taiwan-again-reports-chinese-carrier-group-in-taiwan-strait-as-election-looms/ar-AA1ljFps

America Must Confront China for Ramping Up Belligerence in the South China Sea!

Chinese leader Xi Jinping   (http://<a")last week told the communist regime’s coast guard  (https://www.reuters.com/world/china/chinas-xi-tells-coast-guard-enforce-maritime-law-2023-12-01/)simply to enforce maritime law, but we all know what that really means—and it has nothing to do with upholding the rule of law on the high seas.

Chinese vessels collided last month (https://time.com/6327263/philippines-south-china-sea-collision/) with a Philippine resupply boat and a Philippine coast guard ship within the span of a few hours. These confrontations were the latest of many between the two countries over competing territorial claims to a submerged reef called the Second Thomas Shoal, a military outpost in the Spratly Islands some 120 miles from the Philippines.

This situation underscores the need for America to adopt a robust response in the region and defend its treaty allies from Chinese bullying—before the situation escalates into the next major international conflict.

The Second Thomas Shoal is the site of a critical yet unorthodox Philippine military outpost in the form of a World War II warship run aground on the Spratly Islands, equipped with relatively few marines. The ship’s presence maintains Philippine sovereignty over the shoal, but the vessel remains a liability; its dilapidated state requires frequent resupply missions.

In fact, international scrutiny has grown with the belief that the grounded ship may fall off the reef and sink, allowing China (https://www.dailysignal.com/category/china) to seize the shoal.

Philippine resupply missions are fodder for increasingly aggressive Chinese vessels that attempt to isolate the post, including the two collisions last month.

https://www.dailysignal.com/2023/12/05/america-must-confront-china-for-ramping-up-belligerence-in-south-china-sea/

https://www.youtube.com/v/qFd_XFtbO1A

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qFd_XFtbO1A

Emboldened by Beijing Biden's incompetence China and Russia expand their aggression against their neighbors!

South Korea scrambles jets as China and Russia fly warplanes into its air defense zone!

Seoul — South Korea's military said Thursday it scrambled fighter jets as two Chinese and four Russian military planes entered its air defense zone, an area wider than the country's airspace. The Chinese and Russian planes entered and exited the Korea Air Defense Identification Zone (KADIZ) in the East Sea, also known as the Sea of Japan, for just less than 20 minutes around midday local time, Seoul's Joint Chiefs of Staff said.

But "there was no invasion of airspace," the joint chiefs added, and the South Korean military identified the planes "before they entered KADIZ, and deployed air force fighter jets to take tactical measures in preparation for contingencies."

An air defense identification zone is a broader area than a country's airspace in which it tries to control aircraft for security reasons, but the concept is not defined in any international treaty.


https://www.cbsnews.com/news/south-korea-china-russia-north-korea-warplanes-air-defense-zone/

Matters keep getting worse!

https://www.youtube.com/v/NNxbh-fruV8

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NNxbh-fruV8

Chinese Military armed with Tofu!

Key Takeaways 

   

• DPP presidential candidate Lai Ching-te made significant gains in the polls while support for KMT candidate Hou Yu-ih plateaued.
•     Chinese Coast Guard and Maritime Militia vessels took aggressive actions against Philippine government vessels near the Spratly Islands in the South China Sea on December 9 and 10.
•     A loss of Compacts of Free Association funding for Palau, Micronesia, and the Marshall Islands would enable the CCP to expand its leverage points over these countries.
•     PRC Foreign Minister Wang Yi emphasized the need for an immediate ceasefire to the Israel-Hamas War during separate conversations with American and Iranian officials. Wang’s comments are consistent with the PRC’s efforts to use the Israel-Hamas War to bolster its image as a fair, responsible broker in contrast to the “biased” United States.

https://www.understandingwar.org/backgrounder/china-taiwan-weekly-update-december-15-2023

Risk of war with China is real and rising!

After President Joe Biden met with Chinese President Xi Jinping at the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit in San Francisco last month, the White House touted three modest accomplishments.


Xi had agreed to restore military-to-military communications that had been cut off after then-House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s (D-CA) high-profile August 2022 visit to Taiwan. Xi also pledged to limit the export of precursors used to make the deadly drug fentanyl and threw in a promise of some new pandas for the National Zoo in Washington, D.C.

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/risk-of-war-with-china-is-real-and-rising/ar-AA1lwbhP

LMAO!

DvD just LOVES to post conspiracy theories and keep this thread going while it types to itself.

STILL waiting for the invasion to begin...

???

China's aggression is a "conspiracy theory"?

Since when?

https://www.youtube.com/v/AQ6TmdkEvQ8

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AQ6TmdkEvQ8

https://www.youtube.com/v/pPFwN3ewQ34

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pPFwN3ewQ34

Now you know why China hates the Philippines!

The U.S. ambassador to China on Friday said he isn't "optimistic" about the future of U.S.-Chinese relations.

"I don’t feel optimistic about the future of U.S.-China relations. I feel that we need to see how things develop. We had a very good, productive meeting in California, can we now sustain that engagement? Can we sustain our commitments to each other," Nicholas Burns explained in a Brookings Institution question and answer session, referring to President Biden’s meeting last month with Chinese President Xi Jinping at the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum in San Francisco.

He added that he’d lived through the "roller coaster" of China cutting off communications then reinstating them.

"So, I wouldn’t say I’m optimistic, I’m careful, maybe realistic," he added. "Hopeful. But hopeful’s different than being optimistic."

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/us-ambassador-to-china-doesnt-feel-optimistic-about-future-relations-between-countries/ar-AA1lzDlb

It has gotten so bad even Democrats can see the writing on the wall!

https://www.youtube.com/v/KIVTjzEaIl8

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KIVTjzEaIl8

https://www.youtube.com/v/8bnkulJjEIM

https://www.youtube.com/v/8bnkulJjEIM

https://www.youtube.com/v/uWWpl1PXQSA

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uWWpl1PXQSA

As you can see, Democrats are the surrender party!

U.S. military at smallest size since before WWII:


It’s not a good time to be short of military manpower, but that’s precisely what the Biden administration is facing due to an abject failure to meet its recruitment numbers. As the Military Times reports: “Under end strength levels outlined in the annual defense authorization bill passed by [Congress] … the total number of active-duty troops in the armed forces will drop to 1,284,500 in fiscal 2024. That’s down nearly 64,000 personnel in the last three years and the smallest total for America’s military since 1940, before the United States’ entry into World War II.” Since the end of 2020, the Army is down 8.4%, the Marines are down 4.9%, the Air Force is down 4%, and the Navy is down 2.9%. The Biden administration has been in a state of denial throughout this recruiting shortfall, claiming that the military’s newfound wokeness — its obsession with white supremacy and its insistence on paying for sex-change operations, for example — has nothing to do with it. We disagree. And so does General Thomas Spoehr.

https://patriotpost.us/articles/102970-tuesday-below-the-fold

Key Takeaways:
 
1. The Taiwanese government and DPP officials, including Vice President Lai Ching-te, accused the PRC of using an ongoing trade investigation to interfere in Taiwan’s election. 
2. ROC authorities are investigating reports that local Taiwanese officials accepted CCP-funded trips to the PRC and received instructions to back particular candidates in the presidential elections.
3. Five Chinese balloons moved through Taiwan’s Air Defense Identification Zone since December 7. This may be part of a broader effort to wear down Taiwan’s resources and response capabilities.
4. Chinese Maritime Militia vessels entered the Philippines-controlled Second Thomas Shoal after the PRC attempted to deny access to Filipino government vessels on routine resupply missions on December 9 and 10.
5. The PRC, Saudi Arabia, and Iran held their first trilateral joint committee on December 15 in Beijing.

https://www.understandingwar.org/backgrounder/china-taiwan-weekly-update-december-21-2023

https://www.youtube.com/v/nk4_0vLADS4

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nk4_0vLADS4

Tofu housing construction methods cost more lives as the invasion of Taiwan looms!

https://www.youtube.com/v/_ufNS23EE-A

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_ufNS23EE-A

https://www.youtube.com/v/q0z0URduFl0

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q0z0URduFl0

https://www.youtube.com/v/e8LW2v5SBlI (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e8LW2v5SBlI)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e8LW2v5SBlI (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e8LW2v5SBlI)

https://www.youtube.com/v/0ke6PioIaCA

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0ke6PioIaCA

https://www.youtube.com/v/2AHyuq2Bzhw

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2AHyuq2Bzhw

https://www.youtube.com/v/Z4D-8pawa2k

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z4D-8pawa2k

https://www.youtube.com/v/Pm5qIy-QCjI

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pm5qIy-QCjI

China is at war with us!

https://www.youtube.com/v/4R_z6nz4y5o

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4R_z6nz4y5o

https://www.youtube.com/v/c-zLuICcGjQ

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

https://www.youtube.com/v/xD7R4iKrJXA (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xD7R4iKrJXA)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xD7R4iKrJXA (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xD7R4iKrJXA)

Just like the Democrat party!

https://www.youtube.com/v/f-ma_ylRy38

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f-ma_ylRy38

Democrats want to do the same here!

https://www.youtube.com/v/nbyixJ7Yx14

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nbyixJ7Yx14

https://www.youtube.com/v/JVZ3eDVRQHc

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JVZ3eDVRQHc

https://www.youtube.com/v/PIikvhqNOFk

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

https://www.youtube.com/v/zuJsjQMypEc

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

No Democrat will dare view this video!

https://www.youtube.com/v/2QCeVlqSuFk

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2QCeVlqSuFk

https://www.youtube.com/v/BV_o32kStPY

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BV_o32kStPY

https://www.youtube.com/v/BkReVej9xqA

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BkReVej9xqA

https://www.youtube.com/v/8xCNd2l42mI (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8xCNd2l42mI)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8xCNd2l42mI (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8xCNd2l42mI)

Come on baby light my fire seems to be the CCP's motto!

https://www.youtube.com/v/Mo8LCF7hils

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mo8LCF7hils

Key Takeaways

• Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) presidential candidate Lai Ching-te continues to lead in the polls.
• Taiwan’s three presidential candidates participated in a televised debate on December 30.
• The PRC is continuing its intimidation tactics toward Taiwan before the election.
• The PRC’s removal of top military and defense industry officials from political bodies reflects Xi Jinping’s continuing efforts to purge corruption and strengthen the loyalty of the military.
• Xi Jinping appointed Admiral Dong Jun as the new Minister of National Defense on December 29.
• CCP General Secretary Xi Jinping reiterated his vision to forge a Sino-centric international order in statements around the new year.
• A loss of Compacts of Free Association (COFA) funding for Palau, Micronesia, and the Marshall Islands would enable the CCP to expand its leverage points over these countries.
• PRC Consul General in Jeddah Wang Qiming authored an article on the “Palestinian-Israeli conflict” in the Saudi media outlet Okaz that supports a CCP line of effort to supplant US influence in Arab states.

https://www.understandingwar.org/backgrounder/china-taiwan-weekly-update-january-4-2024

https://www.youtube.com/v/449VsVag930

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=449VsVag930

https://www.youtube.com/v/Iibs7buNwxQ

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Iibs7buNwxQ

Now you know the cause of China's animosity toward its neighbors!

https://www.youtube.com/v/L7EBYCJ33z4

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L7EBYCJ33z4

https://www.youtube.com/v/bGjrVzn3SW4

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bGjrVzn3SW4

https://www.youtube.com/v/I4B2AsaQb2Q

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I4B2AsaQb2Q

https://www.youtube.com/v/DR5BOl8aglI

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DR5BOl8aglI

https://www.youtube.com/v/V1KdstIJCvo


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V1KdstIJCvo

Ah, the joys of Socialism!

https://www.youtube.com/v/MZXx7kVCPGY

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MZXx7kVCPGY

https://www.youtube.com/v/aBIYQTXDwqw

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

https://www.youtube.com/v/QcfHGnzZB9c

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QcfHGnzZB9c

https://www.youtube.com/v/gc9yOQyskyY

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gc9yOQyskyY

https://www.youtube.com/v/ZI5GFeS7Gt8

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZI5GFeS7Gt8

https://www.youtube.com/v/_kLlxkDVqSQ

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

2 colonies that we should have cut loose decades ago.
Taiwan
Israel

What ???

I am sorry, I don't speak deranged leftist!

Neither Taiwan nor Israel are colonies of anyone!

Are you saying the people of both those nations should be enslaved or massacred?

Do you even know what you are saying?

What am I saying?  Augie doesn't want a discussion on the matter!  This is just another one of his cowardly drive-by postings!

The People Of Taiwan Stand Up To Chinese Threats By voting For Democracy!

TAIPEI, Taiwan—The ruling Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) has secured the presidency for another four years, a result that means Taiwan and the United States will likely continue to work closely as partners in the face of challenges from Beijing.

The DPP presidential candidate, current Taiwan Vice President Lai Ching-te, also known as William Lai, secured over 5.5 million votes, or about 40 percent of the ballot, defeating two other candidates. His victory means that his running mate, Hsiao Bi-khim, who stepped down as Taiwan’s de facto ambassador to the United States in November, will be the new vice president.

Hou Yu-ih, the current New Taipei City mayor and the presidential candidate of the main opposition Kuomintang Party (KMT), finished second with about 4.6 million votes. In third place with about 3.6 million votes is Ko Wen-je, former Taipei mayor and the presidential candidate of the Taiwan People’s Party (TPP), a relatively new party founded in 2019.


https://www.theepochtimes.com/world/taiwans-ruling-party-dpp-candidate-william-lai-wins-presidency-5564784

Democrats appalled!

https://www.youtube.com/v/5YFxZM_eg-Y

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5YFxZM_eg-Y

Yes, the Progressive Democratic Candidate WON!

Ching-te Wins!  Ching-te Wins!

But you want China to win!

https://www.youtube.com/v/TshHFSVzR4I

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TshHFSVzR4I

https://www.youtube.com/v/p16cn84pGGQ

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p16cn84pGGQ

The more China's economy fails the greater the chance of aggression against China's neighbors!

https://www.youtube.com/v/ujs3xGZ0_V0

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ujs3xGZ0_V0

When government competes with private businesses the private businesses die!

https://www.youtube.com/v/2csesU-YnPc

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2csesU-YnPc

LONGEST Streak of DvD typing to itself.

THIS is why DvD NEEDS Psychological Help.

I provide information!

It is up to you to view it or ignore it!

It is clear ignorance is your passion!

https://www.youtube.com/v/gbU6H066-FY

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gbU6H066-FY

https://www.youtube.com/v/rnCSwzSC9TA

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rnCSwzSC9TA

https://www.youtube.com/v/12KJRIrVCI8

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=12KJRIrVCI8

https://www.youtube.com/v/X7l2Q5v1cVQ

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X7l2Q5v1cVQ

China is likely to demonstrate “force against Taiwan in the near term” because of the recent election, the head of U.S. Indo-Pacific Command said—and they will probably blame the United States. 

“The pressure campaign against Taiwan continues, and we’re watching it in the wake of the elections,” Adm. John Aquilino said Tuesday at a conference hosted by the Pacific Forum.

“Their actions over the past number of years have been pretty consistent. When something occurs that they don’t like, they tend to take actions,” Aquilino said, noting that China increased its military harassment after then-

Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi visited the island in 2022.

China is “clearly not happy,” and the U.S. should “not be surprised” if they “attempt to spin it in the information space as the United States as the aggressor,” he said. “I don’t know how you connect those dots, but they’re pretty effective in the information space. Doesn’t have to be true. They’ve just got to say it enough times.”

https://www.defenseone.com/threats/2024/01/expect-chinese-show-force-against-taiwan-soon-says-indopacom-head/393418/

That and the fact the Chinese economy is collapsing will result in aggression against China's neighbors!

Key Takeaways

• Democratic Progressive Party candidate Lai Ching-te won the Taiwanese presidential election on January 13. The DPP did not secure a majority in the Legislative Yuan and will face opposition from the KMT and Taiwan’s People’s Party in the legislative body.
• Nauru severed diplomatic ties with Taiwan and established diplomatic relations with the PRC on January 15.
• Head of the CCP International Department Liu Jianchao commented on the need for stronger “international cooperation” during an interview at the US Council on Foreign Relations on January 9.
• President Joe Biden and CCP General Secretary Xi Jinping agreed on November 15, 2023, to resume high-level military-to-military communication.
• The CCP views United States-led strikes against the Houthis as escalating regional tensions.
• A second PRC-brokered ceasefire in northern Myanmar failed to stop the fighting between the Myanmar junta and rebel groups.

https://www.understandingwar.org/backgrounder/china-taiwan-weekly-update-january-19-2024

https://www.youtube.com/v/hBMnQh3Agx0

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hBMnQh3Agx0

https://www.youtube.com/v/jaTtax94Wl4

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jaTtax94Wl4

https://www.youtube.com/v/b7cRjItO8XE

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b7cRjItO8XE

https://www.youtube.com/v/WyFefxKKOlA (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WyFefxKKOlA)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WyFefxKKOlA (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WyFefxKKOlA)

NEVER have I ever seen a thread as Full of SHIT as THIS One!  LOL

Truman says the truth is shit!

https://www.youtube.com/v/R749tvznZMM

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R749tvznZMM

Democrats want America to be just like China!

Trucks carrying Taiwan's homegrown missile launchers rolled through a southern township over the weekend as the island's armed forces repositioned their air defenses to better meet China's growing military threat.

Footage supplied to Newsweek by local plane-spotting group Taiwan ADIZ showed the convoy of Tien Kung 3, or Sky Bow 3, systems moving through the seaside town of Hengchun in southern Pingtung County on Saturday.

Taipei's latest Sky Bow 3 surface-to-air missile systems are a key component in the island's air defenses, typically handled by the army. Their presence was a reminder to local residents of the Chinese military's increasingly frequent activity in nearby skies.

Beijing claims the democratically ruled island as part of Chinese territory, although the Communist Party has never governed there. It is Chinese government policy not to rule out the use of force to achieve its ultimately goal of political control over Taiwan.

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/other/taiwan-redeploys-air-defense-systems-to-counter-china-threat-videos/ar-BB1h7TCl

They have to keep them moving to thwart their elimination in a first strike!

Taiwan is constructing a new light frigate for the Republic of China Navy (ROCN) with a focus on anti-submarine warfare. The frigate project, which was previously stalled due to budget issues, poor decision-making, and the National Chung-Shan Institute of Science and Technology’s inability to develop an AESA radar, has been reoriented to building two 115-meter-long frigates with displacements of 2,500-3,000 tons.

The first ship, the anti-air warfare (AAW) variant, began construction in November 2023, with ten follow-on ships planned after delivery in 2026. American naval architecture firm Gibbs & Cox has designed two Tier 2 combat ships for air defense, patrolling the Taiwan Strait, conducting reconnaissance, escorting supplies, securing communication lines, and supporting military exercises and training.

Taiwan’s first indigenous defense submarine, Hai Kun, is undergoing harbor acceptance tests and is expected to begin sea acceptance tests next month. The Hai Kun-class hulls will be produced in batches of three, two, and three, with the Chien Lun-class submarines remaining in service after upgrading. The program aims to provide a fleet of 10 attack submarines to deter PLA-N submarines.

https://theasialive.com/taiwans-naval-defense-against-a-china-invasion/2024/01/24/

https://www.youtube.com/v/omgWV1fZlNg

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=omgWV1fZlNg

Taiwan begins extended one-year conscription in response to China threat!

The first batch of new recruits began serving their one-year compulsory military service in Taiwan on Thursday after the conscription period was extended from four months due to government concerns about China's rising military threat.

https://www.msn.com/en-gb/news/world/taiwan-begins-extended-one-year-conscription-in-response-to-china-threat/ar-BB1hehcR

https://www.youtube.com/v/Gk83BZWNq9M (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gk83BZWNq9M)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gk83BZWNq9M (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gk83BZWNq9M)

DvD types to itself and agrees with itself.

DvD needs SERIOUS Psychological help...

Truman admits he has nothing to say and needs help!

Democrats admit it is so and are proud to do so!

https://www.youtube.com/v/4RgJMbyVe1Y

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4RgJMbyVe1Y

https://www.youtube.com/v/klY523rOEUM

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=klY523rOEUM

If you could SELL this hot air, you would be a thousandaire.

STILL waiting for the Invasion to begin...

Truman proudly proclaims he hates being informed and views his ignorance as a strength!

Trump will just surrender.

He doesn't have the guts, the balls or the IQ to fight.

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/a-china-taiwan-war-simulation-that-assumes-a-trump-return-to-office-in-2025-warns-taiwan-would-be-toast/ar-BB1hmSps?ocid=msedgdhp&pc=U531&cvid=97e42e4f3d5f4dcc8f3668920effebf5&ei=31[/COLOR]]https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/a-china-taiwan-war-simulation-that-assumes-a-trump-return-to-office-in-2025-warns-taiwan-would-be-toast/ar-BB1hmSps?ocid=msedgdhp&pc=U531&cvid=97e42e4f3d5f4dcc8f3668920effebf5&ei=31 (http://[COLOR=#000000)

According to Kristof, in the game, Taiwan couldn't meet the hypothetical demands China and America would make in the simulation, such as a timeline for a unification — in which China and Taiwan are consolidated — and pressure from the US to spend more on Taiwan's military.

War games are conducted as part of an exercise to think out potential scenarios and strategies in case of a conflict, but the results should not be taken as guaranteed.

The Center for Strategic and International Studies, a Washington, DC-based national security think tank, ran a simulation 24 times and found that in "most scenarios," the US, Taiwan, and Japan could fend off China during an amphibious invasion.

But the defense would come at a "high cost," with Taiwan's economy decimated, the found.

Donald Trump's unpredictability also has some political experts and analysts concerned about what a second Trump term could mean for China-Taiwan relations.

"Trump is completely unreliable as an ally or an opponent" for China, Stanley Rosen, professor of political science and international relations at the University of Southern California's US-China Institute, previously told Business Insider.

In interviews, Trump has repeatedly refused to explicitly say if he would come to Taiwan's defense if China invaded.

"Trump is very popular in Taiwan and Hong Kong because they think he talks tough and is tough," Rosen said. "But he doesn't follow through."

Truman again proves his ignorance!

Remember our stockpiles of energy and ammunition have never been this low!

All thanks to Beijing Biden!

Xi knows it will take President Trump years to restore our energy and ammo stockpiles to serviceable levels!

That presents a wide window of opportunity!

https://www.youtube.com/v/CmS3EU8OVgY

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CmS3EU8OVgY

Democrats want the same for you!

https://www.youtube.com/v/UKQWbwnGaYQ

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

China's economic collapse will force aggressive action against Taiwan!

https://www.youtube.com/v/eZnxSU3g-Ok

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eZnxSU3g-Ok

How LOW are the stockpiles?

Neither Taiwan or Israel are colonies that we need and we should have cut them loose several decades ago. Israel is responsible for a lot of the world`s problems and we paid a high price for supporting them on 9-11.  Keep arming the bullies and it could happen again.

It's not so much Israel as it's the Zionists who are now running Israel.   They don't see anything wrong with their cruelty and apartheid behaviors.   

Yes, we all know Democrats are "From The River To The Sea" people!

Genocide is your favorite thing!

Democrats insist, just as Hitler did, that we must kill those Jews!

https://www.youtube.com/v/0lUNn9B1i4c

https://www.youtube.com/v/0lUNn9B1i4c

https://www.youtube.com/v/_qNrG7Fdm_c

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_qNrG7Fdm_c

https://www.youtube.com/v/hbQ7wvR63vU

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hbQ7wvR63vU

KEY TAKEAWAYS

The report focuses correctly on the extent of China’s military buildup and modernization program.

The report errs by relying on China’s official defense budget topline of $230 billion.

As worrying as this report is—it almost certainly underestimates the threat posed by China.

The Defense Department’s latest annual China Military Power Report gets a lot right. It accurately identifies the scope of China’s global ambitions and many of the structural changes being implemented by Xi Jinping to make China the preeminent military power in Asia and the Pacific. Even so, the report appears to undersell the threat posed by China and what will be required from the U.S. to counter it.

https://media.defense.gov/2023/Oct/19/2003323409/-1/-1/1/2023-MILITARY-AND-SECURITY-DEVELOPMENTS-INVOLVING-THE-PEOPLES-REPUBLIC-OF-CHINA.PDF

https://thepricklypear.org/the-defense-departments-china-military-power-report-the-threat-is-worse-than-advertised/

By the time police responded to a call shortly before 10 a.m. regarding a Chinese man and woman conducting surveillance near a security entrance of the historic Joint Base Pearl Harbor Hickam, the two fled in what police identified as a 2021 silver Nissan Altima, with unidentified plates.

The two suspects had been “capturing digital media of the entry control point,” police said. Later that afternoon the pair–a man with a black crew cut and the woman with shoulder-length hair, a pink top, and a white skirt–appeared at another entry point. Police issued a “BOLO,” or “be-on-the-lookout,” notice for the two at all base entrances.

This Sept. 29 incident represents just one of at least 14 instances since 2018 of Chinese nationals spotted attempting to either gain entry into the Pearl Harbor base or conduct surveillance, according to records obtained by The Heritage Foundation’s Oversight Project. (The Daily Signal is the news outlet of The Heritage Foundation.)

https://first-heritage-foundation.s3.amazonaws.com/live_files/2024/02/China-DOD-2.pdf

https://twitter.com/OversightPR/status/1753479838537572624

https://twitter.com/OversightPR/status/1753479843323244708

https://first-heritage-foundation.s3.amazonaws.com/live_files/2024/02/China-DOD-3.pdf

https://first-heritage-foundation.s3.amazonaws.com/live_files/2024/02/China-DOD-5.pdf

https://twitter.com/OversightPR/status/1753479846745747794

https://first-heritage-foundation.s3.amazonaws.com/live_files/2024/02/China-DOD-7.pdf

https://www.dailysignal.com/2024/02/02/chinese-nationals-caught-attempting-infiltrate-pearl-harbor-military-base-records-show/

Democrats invite a Pearl Harbor II!

Democrats are proud to aid China in an attack on America!

Key Takeaways

• The Kuomintang (KMT) will present a series of policy proposals to the Legislative Yuan on February 20 that aim to expand legislative oversight over the presidency. The proposals presage what will likely be a contentious dynamic between the KMT and the Democratic Progressive Party in the legislature.
• The CCP denied allegations that it carried out cyberattacks against the United States, Japan, the Philippines, and the Netherlands.
• The New York Times reported on February 4 that the rapid growth of the PRC’s nuclear arsenal under CCP General Secretary Xi Jinping reflects a shift in the party’s thinking on nuclear deterrence.
  
• The PRC is intensifying its information operations to support its claims in the South China Sea.
• The loss of Compact of Free Association funding for Palau, Micronesia, and the Marshall Islands presents opportunities for the CCP to expand its influence in each country. The CCP may leverage revenue shortfalls in Palau and the Marshall Islands to incentivize them to switch diplomatic recognition from Taiwan to the PRC.
• CCP and Russian officials held collaboration talks on the military application of artificial intelligence (AI) in early February.
• The People’s Liberation Army Navy is providing security escorts to PRC cargo ships near the Red Sea amid ongoing Houthi missile attacks on shipping in the region.

https://www.understandingwar.org/backgrounder/china-taiwan-weekly-update-february-8-2024

https://www.youtube.com/v/Qa4Hj-ZQWJ0

https://www.youtube.com/v/Qa4Hj-ZQWJ0

https://www.youtube.com/v/qycH8ACuEpM

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qycH8ACuEpM

A self-driving flying car!

What could go wrong?

https://www.youtube.com/v/m14vK22EZxQ

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m14vK22EZxQ

https://www.youtube.com/v/9N1asMHRsvw

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9N1asMHRsvw

https://www.youtube.com/v/yYfzTDOroIo

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

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

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

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

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

(https://media.makeameme.org/created/reelect-me-i-f9a12f8bd8.jpg)

(http://www.aesopsretreat.com/forum/richedit/upload/2k38ef97f1fa.png)

(http://www.aesopsretreat.com/forum/richedit/upload/2k49fc07c47e.png)

https://www.youtube.com/v/yPRpx9a5Vgg

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

https://www.youtube.com/v/by0zxkVv2-c

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

https://www.youtube.com/v/8UZv3zCBgP8

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

Any old excuse will do!

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!

https://www.youtube.com/v/o47ALJ87s9Q

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

https://www.youtube.com/v/mgvml4UFUro

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

China issued chilling warning against 'miscalculation' as Taiwan war tensions ramp up!

China Coast Guard officers were reported to have boarded a tourist boat near Taipei's front-line islands in Beijing's latest attempt to intimidate Taiwanese authorities.

China has been warned its growing hostile conduct towards Taiwan heightens the risk of "miscalculation" and could lead to direct confrontation.

The warning from the US State Department comes days after six China Coast Guard officers boarded a Taiwanese tourist boat and inspected passengers's documents for half an hour.

The holidaying groups later told local media they had feared for their lives after the Chinese authorities appeared on their ship.

China over the weekend said they would increase maritime law enforcement around Taiwan's Kinmen islands in response to the death of two Chinese fishermen who died after their speedboat capsised while being chased by Taiwanese authorities.

https://www.express.co.uk/news/world/1869192/china-warning-miscalculation-taiwan-invasion-war

https://www.youtube.com/v/Ml_G-qJfO98 (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ml_G-qJfO98)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ml_G-qJfO98 (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ml_G-qJfO98)

https://www.youtube.com/v/MK8o1aB-BwQ

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MK8o1aB-BwQ

Key Takeaways

• The Chinese Coast Guard (CCG) pledged to begin conducting regular maritime inspections around Taiwan-controlled Kinmen Island. Normalizing PRC maritime enforcement around the island will erode Taiwan’s control over its territorial waters and risk confrontations between the PRC and Taiwan’s maritime law enforcement.
• The CCP is engaging in global cyberattacks to degrade regional countries’ capacity to engage in military action against the PRC during a crisis. The cyberattacks could also facilitate actions against individuals who oppose the CCP.
• CCP International Department Head Liu Jianchao and PRC Foreign Minister Wang Yi gave conflicting stances on global governance and the Russia-Ukraine War at the “For Freedom of Nations” forum in Russia and the Munich Security Conference in Germany.
• Three of the PRC’s “Big Four” state banks stopped accepting payments from Western-sanctioned Russian financial institutions.
• The PRC deployed a People’s Liberation Army detachment to monitor a joint US-Philippines air force patrol over the South China Sea.

https://www.understandingwar.org/backgrounder/china-taiwan-weekly-update-february-23-2024

https://www.youtube.com/v/xaAHOVXJ-64

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xaAHOVXJ-64

https://www.youtube.com/v/lVPWvuXmijc

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

Chinese aircraft carriers are getting 5G super stealth fighters. Watch out Taiwan!

The surprise appearance of China’s newest stealth fighter on China’s oldest aircraft carrier raised eyebrows this month. Is the Chinese People’s Liberation Army Navy planning to deploy the Shenyang J-35 aboard the aging flattop Liaoning and her sister vessel Shandong, and not just on the newer – and much bigger – carrier Fujian?

If so, it could complicate US Navy war plans as the Americans factor in the growing capability of the PLAN’s growing carrier fleet.

At present, the PLAN – which by some measures is the world’s biggest navy – has just two operational carriers, compared to the US Navy’s 11. The 61,000-ton Liaoning, a rebuilt ex-Soviet carrier that entered Chinese service in 2012, was the first. The slightly improved and newly-built sister ship Shandong joined the fleet in 2019.

The non-nuclear Liaoning and Shandong represent huge leaps forward for the Chinese fleet, but they’re not without their liabilities. Most seriously, both lack the steam- or electrically-powered catapults that are standard on the Americans’ 100,000-ton, nuclear-powered carriers.

The Chinese carriers launch their planes under their own power via an angled ramp on their bows. That method imparts much less energy than a catapult does, and that in turn weighs on a plane’s payload. The Boeing F/A-18E/F, the US Navy’s main carrier-borne fighter, can launch with eight tons of weapons under its wings. A J-15 can launch with just 1.5 tons of weapons.

All that is to say, China’s carriers are much less useful than America’s carriers, because China’s carrier planes can’t carry very much and still get safely off their carriers’ decks.


https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/chinese-aircraft-carriers-are-getting-5g-super-stealth-fighters-watch-out-taiwan/ar-BB1iQmxs

All as Beijing Biden unilaterally disarms the USA!

https://www.youtube.com/v/MVeiU_4N2x0

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MVeiU_4N2x0

https://www.youtube.com/v/FMAD9_PUfhs

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FMAD9_PUfhs

https://www.youtube.com/v/gYXObcUJXhU

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

https://www.youtube.com/v/M56U4NMiiqg

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M56U4NMiiqg

https://www.youtube.com/v/VazOosG2bA8

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VazOosG2bA8

I fully expect a coordinated attack upon all nations in Asia by China and its ally North Korea!

Democrats will see to it Asia burns!

https://www.youtube.com/v/edd9-NFWF90

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=edd9-NFWF90

https://www.youtube.com/v/r1idq0ComLY

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r1idq0ComLY

Key Takeaways:

• The PRC Coast Guard patrolled prohibited and restricted waters around Taiwan-controlled Kinmen, likely as part of a PRC strategy to assert sovereignty over the island.
• The PRC has increased deployments of research vessels in Taiwan’s contiguous zone to assert its territorial claims over Taiwan.
• The Kuomintang chose defense obstructionist Ma Wen-chun to co-chair the Foreign and National Defense Committee of the Legislative Yuan. Ma proposed 135 cuts or freezes to Taiwan’s defense budget during 2023.
• CCP rhetoric regarding Taiwan signals a redoubling of efforts to exert pressure on the ROC under the DPP's renewed mandate.
• The PRC’s recent national security policy initiatives reflect the CCP’s growing threat perception of security risks to classified and sensitive information in the fraught geopolitical climate.
  
• The Chinese Coast Guard has continued efforts to assert control over Scarborough Shoal. It erected a floating barrier and intercepted vessels that belong to the Philippine Coast Guard and the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources.
• The PRC is pursuing security cooperation with Kiribati to increase its security foothold in the Pacific Islands.

https://www.understandingwar.org/backgrounder/china-taiwan-weekly-update-february-29-2024

https://www.youtube.com/v/h-xvv6TxwZo

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h-xvv6TxwZo

https://www.youtube.com/v/XxfyxKwbhGg

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

B-52 Armed With Hypersonic Missile Makes Appearance In Guam!

The public appearance of a live AGM-183A on Guam raises questions about the Air Force’s previously stated plans to axe the missile.

The U.S. Air Force has released pictures of a live AGM-183 Air-launched Rapid Response Weapon hypersonic missile, or ARRW, under the wing of a B-52H bomber during a training event at Andersen Air Force Base on Guam. This very public showing of ARRW at a highly strategic base in the Pacific comes despite the Air Force announcing its intention to axe the program last year. It prompts new questions about the increasingly ambiguous future of this weapon.

https://www.twz.com/air/b-52-armed-with-hypersonic-missile-makes-appearance-in-guam

Tensions are increasing!

Forward deployed for a reason!

https://www.youtube.com/v/nK38S3jo5XQ

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nK38S3jo5XQ

China is threatening all its neighbors!

Democrats have disarmed the armed forces to such a degree that mass casualties will result!

https://www.youtube.com/v/SwYsBonxuX8

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SwYsBonxuX8

https://www.youtube.com/v/tG6R9nBdELY

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tG6R9nBdELY

https://www.youtube.com/v/8jNrrF-GifM (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8jNrrF-GifM)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8jNrrF-GifM (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8jNrrF-GifM)

https://www.youtube.com/v/QYVpblXXgIo

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

Key Takeaways

• Taiwan’s Coast Guard Administration (CGA) claimed that three Chinese Coast Guard ships entered Taiwan’s contiguous zone off the east coast of the main island on February 27.
• The Kuomintang (KMT) initiated a legislative inquiry into the Kinmen capsizing incident to determine the liability of Taiwan’s Coast Guard Administration. This supports the efforts of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) to vilify and undermine domestic Taiwanese support for the Democratic Progressive Party.
• PRC Premier Li Qiang’s work report to the National People’s Congress continued a trend of CCP officials using more belligerent language about “reunification” with Taiwan but did not signal a major policy change.
• Recent PRC diplomatic outreach in Europe may aim to advance the PRC’s September 2023 Proposal on the Reform and Development of Global Governance, which faults the West for the war in Ukraine.
• Chinese Coast Guard (CCG) ships fired water cannons and collided with Philippine ships while attempting to block a Philippine resupply mission to Second Thomas Shoal.

https://www.understandingwar.org/backgrounder/china-taiwan-weekly-update-march-7-2024

https://www.youtube.com/v/wyP7JGPzIek

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wyP7JGPzIek

Democrats want China to invade its neighbors!

https://www.youtube.com/v/h8DXbanN7bw

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h8DXbanN7bw

(http://www.aesopsretreat.com/forum/richedit/upload/2k04d9a41e79.png)

https://www.youtube.com/v/EqSp2cq0HqM

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EqSp2cq0HqM

It has finally come to pass!

https://www.youtube.com/v/_uN0xp-5lBE

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_uN0xp-5lBE

Key Takeaways

• Taiwan’s Ministry of National Defense announced that it redefined its criteria for a “first strike” against PRC military assets, which now include a “first move” by PLA aircraft and vessels across Taiwan’s territorial boundaries.
• A PRC Taiwan Affairs official participated in the negotiations on Kinmen, which is inconsistent with the CCP policy of not holding official exchanges with Taiwan’s DPP government.
• Taiwan’s Kuomintang is implementing party reforms to restrain the influence of a hardline faction and better appeal to young voters in future elections.
• The PRC’s Taiwan Affairs Office (TAO) spokesperson Chen Binhua stated that “peaceful reunification” with Taiwan remains the PRC’s policy despite the omission of the term “peaceful” from the Two Sessions government work report.
• The PRC, Russia, and Iran held the joint Maritime Security Belt – 2024 naval exercise in the Gulf of Oman from March 11 to 15.
• The People’s Liberation Army increased the number of military aircraft flights through the Miyako Strait in March, likely as part of an effort to normalize flights outside of the first island chain.
• The PRC portrayed the Philippines as a provocateur rather than a partner for managing disputes in the South China Sea while the Chinese Coast Guard drives heightened tensions in the South China Sea.
• The PRC defined its coastal baseline that extends its territorial waters and claims of sovereignty in the Gulf of Tonkin. The baseline is not in line with the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Seas, to which the PRC is a signatory.

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

https://www.youtube.com/v/BaG3of_gCms


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BaG3of_gCms

https://www.youtube.com/v/8sT9LuKY_ww

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8sT9LuKY_ww

https://www.youtube.com/v/nsodyzckSKk

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

Democrats want to make America just like China!

(http://www.aesopsretreat.com/forum/richedit/upload/2k3763d915e0.png)

Key Takeaways

• The Chinese Coast Guard (CCG) is expanding efforts to erode the Republic of China's (ROC) sovereignty around Kinmen Island.
• The PRC Ministry of Defense (MOD) warned the United States was “playing with fire” in stationing Green Berets on the Kinmen and Penghu islands.
• The PRC is framing the upcoming April 11 US-Japan-Philippines trilateral as a way for the United States to drive tension in the South China Sea.
• The PRC MFA framed the United States–South Korea Freedom Shield military exercise as causing instability on the Korean Peninsula.
• The PRC had its first public diplomatic meeting with a Hamas official and its first diplomatic visits to Israel and Palestine since Hamas’ attack on Israel on October 7.

https://www.understandingwar.org/backgrounder/china-taiwan-weekly-update-march-22-2024

https://www.youtube.com/v/FHxcTWWUjXE

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

They will before January 20 if President Trump wins the election!

They won't until 2028 if Beijing Biden wins a second term!

That is when we will be at our weakest!

Biden has been signing RECORD-SETTING Military Budgets.

DvD has no clue...

So, our stockpiles are empty!

Truman doesn't care and cherishes the Democrats' embezzlement of Defense funds!

https://www.youtube.com/v/HA8piVHw1TI

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HA8piVHw1TI

https://www.youtube.com/v/Ni6z9XASFQ8

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ni6z9XASFQ8

https://www.youtube.com/v/DSdQpvtxe20

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DSdQpvtxe20

https://www.youtube.com/v/p6J-KMlyaLE

https://www.youtube.com/v/p6J-KMlyaLE

https://www.youtube.com/v/mlEj1g3R7kI

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mlEj1g3R7kI

Will China take advantage by invading?

Democrats are willing to surrender all of Asia to China!

Key Takeaways

• Former Republica of China (ROC) President Ma Ying-jeou met with the People's Republic of China's (PRC) Taiwan Affairs Office Director Song Tao in Shenzhen.
  
• The Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) proposed legislative reforms in response to the Kuomintang (KMT) and Taiwan People’s Party's (TPP) reforms that threaten to undermine the DPP's governance.
  
• CCP Secretary General Xi Jinping emphasized Taiwan and economic issues in a phone call with US President Joe Biden. The PRC readout of the call did not mention the US key security concerns.
  
• Top PRC officials met with US business and academic leaders to boost foreign investment.
  
• A flotilla of PLA Southern Theater Command naval warships carried out live-fire drills in an unspecified area of the South China Sea on the weekend of March 30.

https://www.understandingwar.org/backgrounder/china-taiwan-weekly-update-april-5-2024

https://www.youtube.com/v/YNSUxY4QPfU

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YNSUxY4QPfU

https://www.youtube.com/v/wxm-NQcTaBE

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wxm-NQcTaBE

Beijing Biden invites China to invade Taiwan by delaying needed supplies!

Biden Is Giving TSMC $11.6 Billion (of money we don't have) in Funding for More US Chip Factories!

The US is awarding Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Corporation $6.6 billion in grants and up to $5 billion in loans to expand its chip manufacturing business in Arizona.

The White House has reached a preliminary agreement with Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Corporation (TSMC) to help fund its US expansion. Under the agreement, TSMC will build a third chip manufacturing plant in Arizona and create an estimated 25,000 jobs, according to a White House press release published Monday.

The chipmaker is expected to receive roughly $11.6 billion in total US government funding, with $6.6 billion of that as grants and the remaining $5 billion as loans, a TSMC post states. This would bring the company's total Arizona investments to $65 billion, as it already has two Arizona plants in the works that are expected to begin production in 2025 and 2028. The third factory will begin making advanced chips "by the end of the decade," TSMC says.

https://www.pcmag.com/news/biden-giving-tsmc-funding-for-more-us-chip-factories

A further sign that Beijing Biden intends to abandon Taiwan!

Idaho, Arizona Legislatures Pass Bills Aimed at Combating CCP’s Forced Organ Harvesting!

It is unclear when Idaho Gov. Brad Little, a Republican, and Arizona Gov. Katie Hobbs, a Democrat, will each sign their respective bills into law.

https://legislature.idaho.gov/sessioninfo/2024/legislation/H0670/

https://apps.azleg.gov/BillStatus/BillOverview/80377

While it is unclear when Idaho Gov. Brad Little, a Republican, and Arizona Gov. Katie Hobbs, a Democrat, will each sign their respective bills into law, Texas and Utah have already passed similar legislation. The Lone Star State was the first to take up the issue when its law went into effect on Sept. 1, 2023.

https://www.theepochtimes.com/china/idaho-arizona-legislatures-pass-bills-aimed-at-combating-ccps-forced-organ-harvesting-5623688

Why is it only Republicans pass such legislation?

https://www.youtube.com/v/NvR6dSzEkhU (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NvR6dSzEkhU)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NvR6dSzEkhU (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NvR6dSzEkhU)

https://www.youtube.com/v/oGasxSZkGqE

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

North Korea executes 200 families!

https://www.youtube.com/v/ShOR-d9s_CU

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ShOR-d9s_CU

Democrats want China to rule the world!

Lawmakers dug into the Navy's shipbuilding efforts on Wednesday, saying that it is "behind" in providing ships to stay apace of global competition, specifically with China.

The criticisms were raised when Department of the Navy leaders, including Commandant of the Marine Corps Gen. Eric Smith, met with members of the House Appropriations Committee's defense panel to discuss the Navy's shipbuilding and maintenance shortfalls.

The Navy has admitted that all of its key shipbuilding programs -- from the new Columbia-class submarine to the new Constellation-class frigate -- are facing yearslong delays, which come amid cases of ships being delayed to deploy because of mounting maintenance issues.

https://www.military.com/daily-news/2024/04/10/falling-behind-navy-criticized-delays-shipbuilding-deployments-may-leave-us-behind-china.html

Remember, this failure was ordered by Beijing Biden!

https://www.youtube.com/v/3-zbfF6xyL4 (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3-zbfF6xyL4)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3-zbfF6xyL4 (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3-zbfF6xyL4)

Key Takeaways

• CCP General Secretary Xi Jinping met with former ROC President Ma Ying-jeou on April 10 for the first time since 2015. The Xi-Ma meeting is consistent with a CCP effort to legitimize the KMT as its negotiating partner in Taiwan and to promote the Ma administration’s cross-strait policies as its preferred vision of cross-strait relations.
• PRC civilian drones repeatedly approached islands of Taiwan’s Kinmen archipelago to film military facilities on the islands.
• The PLA participated in the Military Maritime Consultative Agreement (MMCA) Working Group with their American counterparts in early April for the first time since December 2021.
• The PRC Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA) criticized the United States and Japan for expanding security relations to counter the PRC. The PRC perceives a deterioration in the threat environment from Japan’s deepening integration into the US-led regional security framework.
• The PRC has normalized Chinese Coast Guard (CCG) harassment of Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) and supply ships near the Second Thomas Shoal since December 2023 to render the Philippines unable and unwilling to defend its claim to the Second Thomas Shoal.

https://www.understandingwar.org/backgrounder/china-taiwan-weekly-update-april-12-2024

https://www.youtube.com/v/00iuNWdHXaI

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=00iuNWdHXaI

https://www.youtube.com/v/wtsH90Ii4GY

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wtsH90Ii4GY

https://www.youtube.com/v/OAZpm3pOI8o

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OAZpm3pOI8o

https://www.youtube.com/v/Ml2DDsFT0nc

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ml2DDsFT0nc

The window is closing!

https://www.youtube.com/v/smktcmESsGc

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

https://www.youtube.com/v/P2xW8iDqMWA (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P2xW8iDqMWA)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P2xW8iDqMWA (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P2xW8iDqMWA)

https://www.youtube.com/v/4UpHLZpiqtE

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4UpHLZpiqtE

https://www.youtube.com/v/YX2ALeUDvH4

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YX2ALeUDvH4

https://www.youtube.com/v/auwgIXkjY3k

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=auwgIXkjY3k

https://www.youtube.com/v/s4KdUgGlEIg

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s4KdUgGlEIg

As global political landscapes shift, Taiwan faces increasingly grave security threats. From the conflict between Ukraine and Russia in Europe to the tense situation between Israel and Iran in the Middle East, and the issues in the Taiwan Strait in East Asia, these international conflicts not only highlight the potential risks of military conflicts, but also underscore the urgent need for Taiwan to bolster its defense budget to deter potential wars.

GLOBAL PICTURE

As a global military superpower, the US’ attention and defense resources are dispersed across multiple fronts. From supporting Ukraine against Russian aggression to addressing the tense Iran-Israel situation in the Middle East, the US is forced to distribute its military resources globally. These developments mean that Taiwan cannot overly depend on foreign assistance and needs to enhance its own defense capabilities.

Additionally, coordination and cooperation between China, Russia, North Korea and Iran has become an evident threat to Taiwan, with North Korea providing military supplies to Russia and China’s support with drones. These actions not only exacerbate regional instability, but also pose a direct threat to Taiwan’s security.

Furthermore, Taiwan must remain vigilant and learn from other countries in the face of global conflict. For example, Ukraine’s defense budget as a percentage of its GDP was about 3 percent before the war broke out, suddenly spiking to 33 percent following the Russian invasion. This underscores the importance of pre-emptively increasing the defense budget. Taiwan should learn from Ukraine and gradually increase its defense budget in accordance with the perceived threat level, ensuring it possesses adequate defense and deterrence capabilities before any crisis unfolds.

https://www.taipeitimes.com/News/editorials/archives/2024/04/22/2003816759

https://www.youtube.com/v/LjT80SWxzzA

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LjT80SWxzzA

Xi does love Nazi rhetoric!

https://www.youtube.com/v/S_YjlrFi2UM

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S_YjlrFi2UM

https://www.youtube.com/v/_5j7bZiU_UI

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_5j7bZiU_UI

https://www.youtube.com/v/z4G9sUNSz44

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z4G9sUNSz44

https://www.youtube.com/v/JSRhrykA4jY (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JSRhrykA4jY)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JSRhrykA4jY (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JSRhrykA4jY)

https://www.youtube.com/v/IO9LrlspHBA

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IO9LrlspHBA

Imprisoned because he performed politically incorrect science!

Just the way Democrats like it!

https://www.youtube.com/v/phSO2kYRtSY

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=phSO2kYRtSY

CCP General Secretary Xi Jinping met with former ROC President Ma Ying-jeou on April 10 for the first time since 2015. The Xi-Ma meeting is consistent with a CCP effort to legitimize the Kuomintang (KMT) as its negotiating partner in Taiwan and to promote the Ma administration’s cross-strait policies as its preferred vision of cross-strait relations.


Xi Jinping praised “Mr. Ma” for upholding the “1992 Consensus,” opposing Taiwanese independence, and promoting the peaceful development of cross-strait relations and exchanges. Ma, no longer a Taiwanese government or party official, met with Xi informally, with the KMT's approval. During his trip, Ma asserted that Taiwanese people value Chinese culture and identity, emphasizing the need for peaceful dispute resolution.


Chinese Defense Minister Dong Jun and US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin held their first meeting since November 2022. Dong downplayed US concerns about the South China Sea, calling the situation "generally stable." The PRC had cut off military talks with the US after House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's August 2022 visit to Taiwan, agreeing to resume them after the November 2023 summit between President Joe Biden and Xi Jinping in San Francisco. The CCP often uses military exchanges as a bargaining chip to influence US actions.


Senior US officials stated that China is providing Russia with equipment to boost military production for the war in Ukraine. On April 12, they revealed that China is selling Russia machine tools, drone and turbojet engines, cruise missile technology, microelectronics, and nitrocellulose for ammunition. They also noted that Chinese and Russian entities are jointly developing drones in Russia and that China has given Russia satellite imagery that aided its war effort.

https://www.understandingwar.org/

Taiwan stands out as a beacon of democracy, innovation and resilience in an increasingly autocratic region. But this is under growing threat.

In recent years, China has used a variety of “grey zone” tactics to pressure Taiwan to accept the Communist Party’s attempts at unification. This has included an onslaught of cyberattacks, which not only pose a significant threat to Taiwan’s national security but also seek to undermine its democratic processes.

These attacks range from phishing attempts to sophisticated malware intrusions. Website defacement attacks and Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) attacks are often seen during significant events, such as the August 2022 visit of Nancy Pelosi, then-speaker of the US House of Representatives. Government agencies, educational institutions, convenience stores and train stations are among the targets.

So, how is Taiwan defending itself from these attacks? And can it continue to do so as China’s tactics become more sophisticated?

https://theconversation.com/taiwan-is-experiencing-millions-of-cyberattacks-every-day-the-world-should-be-paying-attention-225677

https://www.youtube.com/v/5ISa2CvhODM

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5ISa2CvhODM

https://www.youtube.com/v/xU1P7Ph8tAs (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xU1P7Ph8tAs)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xU1P7Ph8tAs (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xU1P7Ph8tAs)

Washington dispatched two high-level delegations to Beijing in the hope of stabilizing relations while redressing various issues of concern. But like previous U.S. visits, the delegations returned only with stern lectures from Chinese leaders.

https://www.fdd.org/analysis/2024/05/03/biden-administration-foreign-policy-tracker-may-3/

China has nothing but hostile intentions toward the West and its neighbors!

Chi-Comms are the biggest liars/weasels/scumbags in the World1!

Though, Democrats do come in at a close second!

https://www.youtube.com/v/fCttkeJJPxc

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

China is building a base in Cuba, too!

Democrats want China to win!

TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — The head of the U.S. intelligence community on Thursday (May 2) said that Russia could coordinate militarily with China to open a second front if it attacked Taiwan.

During a U.S. Senate Committee on Armed Services hearing, Senator Mike Rounds asked Director of National Intelligence Avril Haines whether, given the increasing military cooperation between Beijing and Moscow, an attack by either on the U.S. and its allies would provoke hostilities from the other.

Haines replied, “We see China and Russia, for the first time, exercising together in relation to Taiwan and recognizing that this is a place where China definitely wants Russia to be working with them, and we see no reason why they wouldn’t.”

https://www.taiwannews.com.tw/news/5680172

China knows the attack window is closing!

https://www.youtube.com/v/Hhr61amkmhw (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hhr61amkmhw)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hhr61amkmhw (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hhr61amkmhw)

China is run by complete scumbags!

https://www.youtube.com/v/KuiyFCL1EG8

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KuiyFCL1EG8

https://www.youtube.com/v/aglWda9iOaU

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aglWda9iOaU

https://www.youtube.com/v/D6aILhNWqzE (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D6aILhNWqzE)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D6aILhNWqzE (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D6aILhNWqzE)

China Drafts Law to Require Military Training for Elementary School Children!

The Chinese Communist regime has drafted a law that would require military training for children all the way down to the elementary school level. If the legislation is approved, it could go into effect this year.

Nikkei Asia noted on Tuesday that some Chinese high schools and universities already require students to participate in basic military drills, some of which involve tanks, armored personnel carriers, hand grenades, and rocket launchers. Also, China’s conscription laws were amended in May 2023 to make all university students eligible for the draft.

The new law would require schools to include “defense education” in their budgets, make military training universal at the high school and college levels, and teach the “theory, knowledge, and skills associated with national defense” to even grade-school children.

https://www.breitbart.com/asia/2024/05/08/china-drafts-law-require-military-training-elementary-school-children/

Xi views that as a way to provide some depth should invading Taiwan go slowly!

https://www.youtube.com/v/lfQIxIFxUJ8

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lfQIxIFxUJ8

Key Takeaways

• ­The Chinese Coast Guard has normalized patrols around Kinmen, a Taiwan-controlled island with a large military garrison roughly 3 km from the coast of the PRC.
  
• Kuomintang and Taiwan People’s Party legislators in the Legislative Yuan rejected a Democratic Progressive Party draft amendment that would reduce the CCP’s ability to engage with the opposition.
  
• CCP General Secretary Xi Jinping met with French President Emmanuel Macron and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen on May 5 as part of a charm offensive to block the formation of a stricter EU policy on China.
  
• The PRC alleges that the Philippines has violated a series of secret and informal agreements about the Second Thomas Shoal since 2016. The PRC claims are part of a malign influence campaign to secure PRC control over the shoal and frame the Philippines as the belligerent in the South China Sea.
  
• The PRC announced that it will release an audio recording that it claims will prove that the Philippines had agreed to the terms of the secret deals.
  
• The election of Jeremiah Manele as prime minister provides the PRC with an opportunity to continue expanding economic and infrastructure cooperation with the Solomon Islands.
  
• The United States Intelligence Community warned of Sino-Russian military cooperation in East Asia.
  
• Russia is starting the development of a joint Sino-Russian lunar nuclear power plant. The PRC and Russia are also collaborating on the development of surveillance space capabilities that threaten US access to space and space-based capabilities.

https://www.understandingwar.org/backgrounder/china-taiwan-weekly-update-may-10-2024

https://www.youtube.com/v/yLE7gGFoTtM

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yLE7gGFoTtM

https://www.youtube.com/v/nf5U4OIOW0c

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nf5U4OIOW0c

https://www.youtube.com/v/HuqioHM5hdg

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HuqioHM5hdg

Our project recognized this significant gap in US strategic thought and has sought to examine whether such PRC short-of-war coercive approaches could cause Taiwan to capitulate to PRC demands absent an invasion or full-scale military blockade. We have developed a realistic approach the PRC could use to coerce Taiwan into a political settlement favorable to the PRC without invading and occupying the island. We refer to this comprehensive political-military campaign as the short-of-war coercion course of action (SoWC COA).

The COA attacks four centers of gravity that currently provide the ROC government and Taiwanese people with the strength to resist PRC coercion.

• The first is the US-Taiwan strategic relationship, which involves comprehensive bilateral cooperation. The COA uses economic carrots and sticks, information operations, and military escalation to convince the US and Taiwan that their cooperation directly precipitates further escalation, whereas peace and prosperity are just around the corner if this partnership is halted.
• The second center of gravity is the ROC government’s ability to function and provide essential services. Economic warfare, cyberwarfare, sabotage, rigorous (and pseudo-legal) inspections of ships carrying goods to Taiwan, air and sea closures, electronic warfare, and propaganda critical of government mismanagement seek to drastically decrease standards of living and erode the ROC government’s legitimacy in the eyes of its own people.
• Third, extensive and persistent cognitive and psychological campaigns aim to break the Taiwanese public’s will to resist by intimidating supporters of resistance, sowing doubt and fear among the population, and generating demands to trade political concessions for peace.
• Fourth, widespread information campaigns aim to decrease the US public’s and political leadership’s willingness to support Taiwan.

https://www.understandingwar.org/backgrounder/coercion-capitulation-how-china-can-take-taiwan-without-war

https://www.youtube.com/v/8o2ocEQQr_g

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8o2ocEQQr_g

https://www.youtube.com/v/STq7LNwa3Gs

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=STq7LNwa3Gs

Democrats have nothing as usual!

Key Takeaways: 

• The Fujian provincial government in the PRC launched a series of economic initiatives that aim to build political support in Taiwan for cross-strait integration. Promoting economic ties between Fujian and Taiwan’s outer islands furthers the PRC’s efforts to establish greater political influence over ROC municipalities.
  
• The United States and PRC held their first bilateral government negotiations on artificial intelligence risks and governance in Geneva, Switzerland on May 14.
  
• The PRC may make an upcoming PRC-South Korea summit conditional on South Korea not sending a delegation to Taiwan President-elect Lai Ching-te’s inauguration on May 20.
  
• The PRC is increasingly asserting its claims over disputed maritime features in three areas of the South China Sea to signal its resolve amid heightened tensions with the Philippines.
  
• CCP General Secretary Xi Jinping held a series of meetings with European and Russian leaders in April and May, after which he likely concluded that the PRC could maintain and deepen economic ties with Europe while continuing to support Russia’s war against Ukraine.

https://www.understandingwar.org/backgrounder/china-taiwan-weekly-update-may-17-2024

https://www.youtube.com/v/GPDdTue1okI

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GPDdTue1okI

https://www.youtube.com/v/TDZAHWIcigg

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

Remember when you buy property in China you don't own it, you have a lease of 50 to 100 years that the Party can rescind at any time for any reason without compensation!

Democrats, what do you think of China's massive devaluation of the Yuan?

https://www.youtube.com/v/DPTBzVT9TLk

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DPTBzVT9TLk

Democrats, what do you think of China's massive devaluation of the Yuan?

So much for the Yuan becoming the international currency of trade!

https://www.youtube.com/v/vce04NRmCgQ (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vce04NRmCgQ)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vce04NRmCgQ (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vce04NRmCgQ)

https://www.youtube.com/v/sxYAdf-fO5M (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sxYAdf-fO5M)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sxYAdf-fO5M (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sxYAdf-fO5M)

https://www.youtube.com/v/EPhSQqtESFk

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