WAR CHINA THREATENS TO INVADE TAIWAN
- Thread starter danielboon
- Start date
jward
passin' thru
US TSMC plant faces calls to ban Taiwanese workers
Ben Lovejoy
Controversy over the first ever US TSMC plant aren’t going away – especially plans for around 500 Taiwanese construction workers to be flown in.
A petition has been created, calling on senators and members of Congress to block the visas needed to bring in their foreign workers …
Ongoing controversies over US TSMC plant
While things started on a high, with Apple touting US-made chips for older devices in its line-up, construction of the Arizona plant isn’t going well.There have been questions about worker safety at the site, and the project is behind schedule, and over budget. Production has already been pushed into 2025, from 2024, and there is talk of US-made chips costing more than those made in Taiwan.
To help address this, TSMC wants to bring in around 500 Taiwanese workers. The company says that these workers have experience of setting up similar plants in Taiwan, so will help with faster and more cost-effective working.
However, unions say it breaks a promise to create jobs for American workers.
Petition for EB-2 visas to be denied
Any TSMC employees brought over from Taiwan will need EB-2 visas in order to work legally in the US. These visas are intended for workers with “exceptional ability,” which would justify their employment over a US worker.(An alternative basis for application is an advanced degree, for a job which requires one. This seems unlikely to apply to construction work, however skilled it may be.)
The Arizona Pipe Trades 469 union has started a petition to block the issuing of these visas.
A separate “Stand with American Workers” microsite has also been launched. This accuses TSMC of broken promises, insulting American workers, and trying to exploit cheap labor.
TSMC planning a plant in Germany
Separately, the Financial Times reports that TSMC is “widely expected to announce plans for a new fabrication plant” in the Saxony of Germany.As with the Arizona plant, this relies on the availability of government subsidies for domestic chipmaking, where again overseas workers look set to be brought into the country.
US TSMC plant faces calls to ban Taiwanese workers
jward
passin' thru
Ken Moriyasu
@kenmoriyasu
Aug 8
In Taiwan, Aso says Japan must show 'will to fight'
1/ "Never has there been a time" when like-minded players like Japan, Taiwan and the U.S. "have needed the resolve to make strong deterrence work than now. It's the will to fight"
In Taiwan, Aso says Japan must show 'will to fight' to deter China via @NikkeiAsia
View: https://twitter.com/kenmoriyasu/status/1688813210789720064?s=20
2/ Aso talks about the defense of Taiwan.
"It is not enough to spend money and just having defense capabilities. It is important to make clear to the opponent that we will use those capabilities for the defense of Taiwan, for the stability of the Taiwan Strait"
3/ Aso points to the Falklands War as an example where deterrence failed. "Thatcher had not signaled accurately to Argentina that the U.K. would defend the Falklands. That small mistake led to the war, and the U.K. had to endure large sacrifices to retake the islands"
@kenmoriyasu
Aug 8
In Taiwan, Aso says Japan must show 'will to fight'
1/ "Never has there been a time" when like-minded players like Japan, Taiwan and the U.S. "have needed the resolve to make strong deterrence work than now. It's the will to fight"
In Taiwan, Aso says Japan must show 'will to fight' to deter China via @NikkeiAsia
View: https://twitter.com/kenmoriyasu/status/1688813210789720064?s=20
2/ Aso talks about the defense of Taiwan.
"It is not enough to spend money and just having defense capabilities. It is important to make clear to the opponent that we will use those capabilities for the defense of Taiwan, for the stability of the Taiwan Strait"
3/ Aso points to the Falklands War as an example where deterrence failed. "Thatcher had not signaled accurately to Argentina that the U.K. would defend the Falklands. That small mistake led to the war, and the U.K. had to endure large sacrifices to retake the islands"
jward
passin' thru
Square profile picture
Reuters
@Reuters
1m
Japan ex-PM Aso's 'fight for Taiwan' remark in line with official view, lawmaker says Japan ex-PM Aso's 'fight for Taiwan' remark in line with official view, lawmaker says
Reuters
@Reuters
1m
Japan ex-PM Aso's 'fight for Taiwan' remark in line with official view, lawmaker says Japan ex-PM Aso's 'fight for Taiwan' remark in line with official view, lawmaker says
jward
passin' thru
Ankush Dey
@AnkushDey_
28m
Replying to
@Z_DauletSingh
Sir,@nitingokhale informs India preparing, that a tri-service study initiated@Chellaney recommends 'Ind/Jap must come out of defensive to deal with CCP'
Cdr Dhawan (R) @InsightGL recommends linking Taiwan's security with Himalaya/Tibet China’s Invasion of Taiwan – Opportunity for India
Regds @Ptr6Vb
View: https://twitter.com/AnkushDey_/status/1689465923642793984?s=20
@AnkushDey_
28m
Replying to
@Z_DauletSingh
Sir,@nitingokhale informs India preparing, that a tri-service study initiated@Chellaney recommends 'Ind/Jap must come out of defensive to deal with CCP'
Cdr Dhawan (R) @InsightGL recommends linking Taiwan's security with Himalaya/Tibet China’s Invasion of Taiwan – Opportunity for India
Regds @Ptr6Vb
View: https://twitter.com/AnkushDey_/status/1689465923642793984?s=20
jward
passin' thru
John Ʌ Konrad V
@johnkonrad
1h
Anyone who says China can’t invade Taiwan because PLAN lacks amphibious ships or because the ports will be sabotaged or (enter reason) knows nothing about modern offshore construction.
Why invade a port when you can bring your own /1
Lucky for us these massive semi-submersible mobile ports are not Chinese, they are owned by @HeeremaHFG
a dutch company but they are IMPRESSIVE.
Can China build their own?
China hasn’t built one that massive but they have come close and the Chinese version are faster, might be more survivable, and could potentially be better for the job
And China has other massive heavy lift crane ships that are capable of carrying large pier sections that could be used to build new ports or rebuild damaged ones in Taiwan.
Jumbo and Heerema are upstanding companies and nothing in this thread is meant to suggest they would help China invade any sovereign nation.
But we should ask can China build its own mobile ports? What capabilities do they have already? Would PLAN ever commandeer foreign ships?
@johnkonrad
1h
Anyone who says China can’t invade Taiwan because PLAN lacks amphibious ships or because the ports will be sabotaged or (enter reason) knows nothing about modern offshore construction.
Why invade a port when you can bring your own /1
Lucky for us these massive semi-submersible mobile ports are not Chinese, they are owned by @HeeremaHFG
a dutch company but they are IMPRESSIVE.
Can China build their own?
China hasn’t built one that massive but they have come close and the Chinese version are faster, might be more survivable, and could potentially be better for the job
And China has other massive heavy lift crane ships that are capable of carrying large pier sections that could be used to build new ports or rebuild damaged ones in Taiwan.
Jumbo and Heerema are upstanding companies and nothing in this thread is meant to suggest they would help China invade any sovereign nation.
But we should ask can China build its own mobile ports? What capabilities do they have already? Would PLAN ever commandeer foreign ships?
jward
passin' thru
EndGameWW3
@EndGameWW3
1h
Despite China's warning... Taiwan's Vice President arrives in New York on his way to Paraguay.
The US official in charge of relations with Taipei says he will meet the Vice President of Taiwan in San Francisco.
In response to Taiwan's VP showing up in NYC tonight...
Chinese Foreign Ministry: We will take appropriate and decisive measures to safeguard the country's sovereignty and unity.
EndGameWW3
@EndGameWW3
41m
Replying to
@EndGameWW3
People don't seem to get China is moving closer to Taiwan every time a diplomat/official comes here or goes there.
@EndGameWW3
1h
Despite China's warning... Taiwan's Vice President arrives in New York on his way to Paraguay.
The US official in charge of relations with Taipei says he will meet the Vice President of Taiwan in San Francisco.
In response to Taiwan's VP showing up in NYC tonight...
Chinese Foreign Ministry: We will take appropriate and decisive measures to safeguard the country's sovereignty and unity.
EndGameWW3
@EndGameWW3
41m
Replying to
@EndGameWW3
People don't seem to get China is moving closer to Taiwan every time a diplomat/official comes here or goes there.
danielboon
TB Fanatic
Here is more on the visit to NYC
View: https://twitter.com/EndGameWW3/status/1690555456014446592
Countrymouse
Country exile in the city
In response to Taiwan's VP showing up in NYC tonight...
Chinese Foreign Ministry: We will take appropriate and decisive measures to safeguard the country's sovereignty and unity.
Thank you, jward.
I am kind of worried about what "decisive measures" China is contemplating taking.
northern watch
TB Fanatic
northern watch
TB Fanatic
Watch: Alarming Video Shows Chinese Troops Rehearsing For Taiwan Invasion
BY TYLER DURDENZERO HEDGE
FRIDAY, AUG 18, 2023 - 07:20 PM
The Chinese People's Liberation Army (PLA) Eastern Theatre Command has released a provocative video showing troops practicing a coastal invasion of Taiwan. The video first appeared on the social media site WeChat Thursday, and features waves of PLA soldiers storming beaches, including armored vehicles and tanks driving into attack positions.
The clip didn't specifically name Taiwan, but given the Eastern Theatre Command oversees the Taiwan Strait area, it's being widely interpreted as a warning and threat aimed at the self-ruled island which is backed by the West. Watch:
The Daily Mail in highlighting the video on Friday, commented: "Meanwhile, the song featured in the video and the accompanying WeChat post were littered with evocative lyrics and phrases like 'go over the city gate and the high wall' and 'no matter how dark it is, don't be afraid... chase and win the warmest years'."
At the same time, new joint Russia-China naval drills near Japan's waters have alarmed Tokyo and its Western allies. Russia's defense ministry (MoD) have confirmed the major exercises which rehearse 'interoperability' in the Pacific Ocean.
Russian state media summarized of the MoD statements:
The two navies have also been conducting anti-submarine and anti-aircraft drills, which have been closely monitored from Japan.
The Japanese government on Friday expressed "grave concern" given the close proximity of the Russian-Chinese naval grouping, consisting of nearly a dozen warships, having passed near Japan's southern islands on Thursday.
While the ships did not breach Japan's territorial waters, the particular passageway used off the southern islands marked a first for the Russian and Chinese navies.
All of this comes just as President Biden is hosting his Japanese and South Korean counterparts at Camp David on Friday...
AFP/Getty Images
The three leaders are reportedly putting in place long-term joint naval exercises in Pacific waters as a response to regional provocations, including from North Korea and China. Beijing has been alarmed at deepening Washington-Tokyo defense relations in particular.
China has also warned that NATO must not seek expansion east into the Pacific arena, after months ago there was talk of NATO opening a liaison office in Japan, but which didn't materialize.
Watch: Alarming Video Shows Chinese Troops Rehearsing For Taiwan Invasion | ZeroHedge
ZeroHedge - On a long enough timeline, the survival rate for everyone drops to zero
www.zerohedge.com
northern watch
TB Fanatic
Chinese military launches drills around Taiwan as a 'warning' after a top island official went to US
China’s defense ministry says its military has launched drills around Taiwan as a “stern warning” over what it calls collusion between “separatists and foreign forces,” days after the island’s vice president stopped over in the United StatesBy The Associated Press
August 19, 2023, 12:06 AM
In this photo released by the Taiwan Presidential Office, Taiwan's Vice President William Lai speaks at an event to welcome him to New York on Monday, Aug. 14, 2023. The Chinese military launched drills around Taiwan on Saturday, Aug. 19 as a "stern warning" over what it called collusion between "separatists and foreign forces," its defense ministry said, days after the island's vice president stopped over in the United States. (Taiwan Presidential Office via AP)
The Associated Press
BEIJING -- The Chinese military launched drills around Taiwan on Saturday as a “stern warning” over what it called collusion between “separatists and foreign forces,” its defense ministry said, days after the island's vice president stopped over in the United States.
Taiwanese Vice President William Lai's recent trip to Paraguay to reinforce relations with his government's last diplomatic partner in South America included stops in San Francisco and New York City. The mainland’s ruling Communist Party claims democratic Taiwan as part of its territory and says it has no right to conduct foreign relations.
A spokesperson for China’s Eastern Theater Command said in a brief statement that the military exercises involved the coordination of vessels and planes and their ability to seize control of air and sea spaces.
It was also testing the forces' “actual combat capabilities," Shi Yi said. The drills in the waters and airspace to the north and southwest of Taiwan were a warning over provocations from pro-Taiwan independence forces and foreign forces, he added.
The command released footage of the drills online that showed soldiers running, as well as military boats and planes.
State media CCTV reported that missile-equipped boats and fighter jets were involved in the operation and that units worked together to simulate the surrounding of Taiwan.
Taiwan’s defense ministry said on the social media platform X, formerly known as Twitter, that its forces detected 42 Chinese military aircraft starting from 9 a.m. on Saturday. It said 26 of them crossed the midline of the Taiwan Strait, an unofficial boundary considered a buffer between the island and the mainland. Eight vessels also took part in the joint combat patrol, it said.
Taiwan deployed aircraft and vessels and activated land-based missile systems in response to the drills and was closely monitoring the situation, the ministry said.
The ministry also strongly condemned what it called the “irrational, provocative moves" in a separate statement. It said its military would stand ready in the face of the threats posted by the Chinese army, adding that its forces have “the ability, determination and confidence to safeguard national security.”
It posted a video on Facebook that showed previous military drills and said the Chinese military exercises reflected a militaristic mentality.
Taiwan and China split in 1949 following a civil war that ended with the ruling Communist Party in control of the mainland. The self-ruled island has never been part of the People’s Republic of China, but Beijing sees Taiwan as a breakaway province to be retaken by force if necessary.
China's official Xinhua news agency on Saturday reported that an unnamed official in China's Taiwan Work Office strongly condemned what it called further collusion between Taiwan’s ruling Democratic Progressive Party and the U.S. and said it was a “new provocative move."
The official pointed to the stopovers in the U.S., an interview Lai gave to news outlet Bloomberg and his meeting with U.S. officials in Paraguay, the report said. The official said Lai had used “Taiwan independence” rhetoric in the interview.
The official also accused Lai of using his stopovers in the U.S. to sell out the interests of Taiwan to seek gains in the island's election, and described him as a “troublemaker who will push Taiwan to the dangerous brink of war,” the report added.
Lai is his party's candidate for the 2024 presidential election in January.
China's largest military drills in recent years were in response to former U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s visit to Taiwan last August. It fired missiles over the island in a significant escalation and the military exercises disrupted trade lanes in the Taiwan Strait and forced airplanes to reroute their flights.
In April, Chinese forces held large-scale combat readiness drills in the air and waters around Taiwan in response to President Tsai Ing-wen's meeting with current U.S. House Speaker Kevin McCarthy.
Chinese military launches drills around Taiwan as a 'warning' after a top island official went to US
China’s defense ministry says its military has launched drills around Taiwan as a “stern warning” over what it calls collusion between “separatists and foreign forces,” days after the island’s vice president stopped over in the United States
abcnews.go.com
Posted for fair use.......
70 Killed In China’s Biggest Submarine Tragedy: Rewind 2003 As Rumors Swirl About PLA Navy Losing Its Nuke Sub
By Sakshi Tiwari - August 27, 2023Earlier this week, unverified reports started to surface on social media suggesting that a Chinese submarine had crashed on its transit through the Taiwan Strait. As soon as these reports were posted to social media, they went viral, triggering a widespread frenzy about the fate of the PLA Navy submarine.
Some of these reports, which started popping up on August 21, suggested that the submarine in question was the nuclear-powered Type-093 Shang Class submarine. Subsequently, another set of reports added to the hysteria by claiming that all the submarine crew members had died.
The Shang class is a family of Chinese second-generation nuclear-powered attack submarines (SSNs). The Chinese People’s Liberation Army Navy (PLA) has six of these submarine types in service that make up the backbone of its submarine fleets. The more advanced Chinese subs like the Type 093A and Type 093B SSNs are upgraded versions of the Type 093.
However, in less than 24 hours, the Taiwan Ministry of National Defense (MND) dismissed the reports as untrue. The Taiwanese MND said on August 22 that there was no proof to support the rumor that a Chinese submarine had crashed in the Taiwan Strait.
The MND spokesperson, Major General Sun Lifang, stated that it had carefully grasped the dynamics of all sea and airspace around the Taiwan Strait through joint intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance methods, and there was no relevant information confirming the loss of a Chinese nuclear submarine.
Subsequently, OSINT analysts and weapon tracking accounts started to retract the unconfirmed reports.
After Taiwan’s MND released its statement, popular open-source intelligence and naval analyst H.I. Sutton wrote on platform X, “I deleted the post re-reported missing #Chinese submarine. So far not seen any convincing evidence to support rumors, and too much weight is being placed on my posts (despite my caveats).” Sutton advised netizens to treat the topic with caution owing to the sensitivity.
View: https://twitter.com/CovertShores/status/1693901159671492807?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1693901159671492807%7Ctwgr%5E9e2a4113946a9aa8d606db0251a070bf5ee10512%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.eurasiantimes.com%2Fnew-submarine-crash-news-mere-rumors-but-a-chinese%2F
The reports of the crash came amid months of increased tension between China, Taiwan, and the US and days after Beijing began extensive military exercises around Taiwan. The People’s Liberation Army’s Eastern Theatre Command said in a brief statement earlier this month that it was conducting joint naval and air combat readiness patrols around the island.
These drills, which reportedly began on August 19, were allegedly aimed at retaliating against the visit of Taiwanese Vice President William Lai to the United States. Lai is the frontrunner in the elections due in January next year. China regularly condemns high-profile meetings between officials of Taipei and Washington.
In recent months, China has conducted several military exercises close to Taiwan, including one in August 2022, when US House speaker Nancy Pelosi paid a high-profile visit to Taipei. Later, in April 2023, the Chinese military conducted another set of drills when Taiwan’s President Tsai Ing-wen met US House Speaker Kevin McCarthy.
The bizarre piece of news not only exposed the extent of false information that could proliferate on social media platforms but also rekindled memories of an actual Chinese sub-accident that rocked the PLAN and the entire country.
China’s 2003 Submarine Tragedy
Unlike the news of the recent crash, the Chinese submarine crash news of 2003 was very much authentic, and unlike the recent spell of rumors that overtook the internet, the submarine accident of 2003 took place in the Yellow Sea of China instead of the Taiwan Strait.In early May 2003, the PLA Navy suffered its biggest peacetime military tragedy in Communist China’s history as an overloaded submarine operating off the nation’s northeast coast claimed the lives of 70 officers and crew members aboard.
In a brief report, the official New China News Agency at the time stated that the disaster took place “recently” in the Yellow Sea between the Shandong and Korean peninsulas. The vessel involved in the accident, the Navy Submarine No. 361, was a diesel-powered vessel engaged in a drill when the tragedy occurred.
The report noted that due to a mechanical malfunction, the 70 crew members on board died in the submarine accident. At the time, preliminary reports suggested that the vessel likely belonged to the East China Fleet.
Former Chinese president and chairman of the Central Military Commission of the time, Jiang Zemin, said, “The officers and sailors of 361 remembered their sacred duty entrusted by the Party and the People. They died on duty, sacrificed themselves for the country, and are great losses to the People’s Navy.”
After the disaster, the crippled submarine drifted for ten days because it was on a silent, no-contact exercise. The vessel was discovered by Chinese fishermen who noticed its periscope protruding above the surface on April 25, 2003. The crew were slumped over at their stations, seemingly dying before becoming aware of any issue. The incident occurred sometime in April, and was officially notified by Chinese officials on May 3.
Soon after, the PLA itself informed the media about the tragic accident, in a stark departure from its regular practice. Military experts closely following the developments identified the vessel as a Ming-class submarine. When the accident took place some 20 years ago, the submarine was already 20 years old.
In the aftermath of the accident, military experts noted the Ming-class submarine could hold 57 men at a time, including ten officers, and that it would have been “packed” if it had 70 men on board at the time of the accident.
The incident eventually led to the dismissal from the service of the PLA Navy’s Commander Shi Yunsheng and Political Commissar Yang Huaiqing.
Although the accident came at a time of peace and tranquility in the region, it somewhat shook the annals of the PLA Navy and the Central Military Commission. Twenty years later, it is still distastefully remembered as the worst tragedy to have struck the PLA Navy, which has grown by leaps and bounds since.
- Contact the author at sakshi.tiwari9555(at)gmail.com
Posted for fair use......
www.indiatimes.com
WTF
16 hours ago
Updated on Aug 28, 2023, 14:46 IST
Recent reports have generated fears and prompted worries about the possibility of a Chinese submarine hitting a roadblock in the Taiwan Strait.
As tensions in the region remain high, every incident involving military equipment is cause for concern. The Taiwan Strait, which separates mainland China from Taiwan, has long been closely monitored.
So, what exactly happened in this reported incident? Let's get started.
Credit: Twitter
But, in this day and age, does an official denial stop rumours? Seemingly not. The rumours persist even though no submarine debris has been found and no survivors have come forward. Accidents occur in the Taiwan Strait, which is teeming with naval activity, but this assertion remains unsubstantiated.
This is not the first time Liberty Times Nett has hit the news. Their allegation concerning the Type 093 submarine on August 22, 2023, sparked speculation. The fast-paced world of online media can sometimes exaggerate dubious information, further complicating matters.
In the age of digital media, accurate information is not only a must but also an obligation. Misinformation, especially concerning sensitive geopolitical zones, can have disastrous consequences. As a result, trusting only confirmed information sources becomes critical.
So did a Chinese submarine crash in the Taiwan Strait? The definitive answer still eludes us. Scepticism remains until evidence comes to light. But one thing is certain: in today's environment, relying entirely on certified sources is prudent and necessary.
What do you think about it? Do let us know in the comments.
For more trending stories, follow us on Telegram.
Did A Chinese Submarine Crash In Taiwan Strait? What You Need To Know
Recent reports have generated fears and prompted worries about the possibility of a Chinese submarine hitting a roadblock in the Taiwan Strait.
www.indiatimes.com
WTF
16 hours ago
Did A Chinese Submarine Crash In Taiwan Strait? What You Need To Know
Anusha JainUpdated on Aug 28, 2023, 14:46 IST
Recent reports have generated fears and prompted worries about the possibility of a Chinese submarine hitting a roadblock in the Taiwan Strait.
As tensions in the region remain high, every incident involving military equipment is cause for concern. The Taiwan Strait, which separates mainland China from Taiwan, has long been closely monitored.
So, what exactly happened in this reported incident? Let's get started.
Jump To
- Taiwan Strait Submarine Incident: Latest Developments
- Unconfirmed Reports
- Response From Taiwan's Ministry Of National Defence
- Nuclear Submarine Accident In China
Taiwan Strait Submarine Incident: Latest Developments
There are rumours going around that a Chinese submarine was involved in an unfortunate accident in the Taiwan Strait. This isn't an insignificant development since the Taiwan Strait isn't just any ordinary body of water.Unconfirmed Reports
These rumours first surfaced on August 22, 2023. Liberty Times Nett, a Taiwanese news source, set the first flare, implying that a Chinese nuclear-powered submarine was lost in the Taiwan Strait. As is often the case, social media fuelled the flames resulting in a frenzy of theories and worries.Response From Taiwan's Ministry Of National Defence
To put out these fires, Taiwan's Ministry of National Defence (MND) called a press conference on August 23, 2023. Their message was unmistakable: no data supports claims of such a cataclysmic occurrence in the Taiwan Strait.
But, in this day and age, does an official denial stop rumours? Seemingly not. The rumours persist even though no submarine debris has been found and no survivors have come forward. Accidents occur in the Taiwan Strait, which is teeming with naval activity, but this assertion remains unsubstantiated.
This is not the first time Liberty Times Nett has hit the news. Their allegation concerning the Type 093 submarine on August 22, 2023, sparked speculation. The fast-paced world of online media can sometimes exaggerate dubious information, further complicating matters.
Nuclear Submarine Accident In China
Interestingly, rumours of another major catastrophe involving a Chinese nuclear submarine have surfaced amid all of this. Details are scarce, and whether this has anything to do with the Taiwan Strait remains unclear.In the age of digital media, accurate information is not only a must but also an obligation. Misinformation, especially concerning sensitive geopolitical zones, can have disastrous consequences. As a result, trusting only confirmed information sources becomes critical.
So did a Chinese submarine crash in the Taiwan Strait? The definitive answer still eludes us. Scepticism remains until evidence comes to light. But one thing is certain: in today's environment, relying entirely on certified sources is prudent and necessary.
What do you think about it? Do let us know in the comments.
For more trending stories, follow us on Telegram.
danielboon
TB Fanatic
US approves first-ever military aid to Taiwan through program typically used for sovereign nations
posted for fair useBy Kylie Atwood
Updated 4:12 AM EDT, Thu August 31, 2023
A Taiwanese soldier holds a Taiwan national flag during the annual Han Kuang military exercises at Taoyuan International Airport in Taoyuan, Northern Taiwan, July 26, 2023. The Biden administration has approved the first-ever transfer of US military equipment to Taiwan under a program typically saved for sovereign nations, according to a notification sent to Congress on Tuesday, August 29, 2023.
ChiangYing-ying/AP/FILE
CNN —
The Biden administration has approved funding for the first-ever transfer of US military equipment to Taiwan under a program typically saved for sovereign nations, according to a notification sent to Congress on Tuesday.
The package – which is part of the State Department’s foreign military financing (FMF) program – totals $80 million and will be paid for by US taxpayers.
“FMF will be used to strengthen Taiwan’s self-defense capabilities through joint and combined defense capability and enhanced maritime domain awareness and maritime security capability,” the department wrote in its notification to Congress that was reviewed by CNN.
A State Department spokesperson confirmed the first-ever transfer.
“Consistent with the Taiwan Relations Act and our longstanding one China policy, which has not changed, the United States makes available to Taiwan defense articles and services necessary to enable it to maintain a sufficient self-defense capability,” the spokesperson told CNN in a statement. “The United States has an abiding interest in peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait, which is critical to regional and global security and prosperity.”
The newest development in continued US support for Taiwan has drawn an angry response from China, which claims the self-governing island as its own.
China’s Foreign Ministry on Thursday expressed “strong dissatisfaction” and “firm opposition” at the arms sale, which it said had harmed “China’s sovereignty and security interests” and undermined “peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait.”
It urged the US to “cease enhancing US-Taiwan military connections and arming Taiwan” and “stop creating tensions across the Taiwan Strait,” ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin told a regular news conference.
China’s Defense Ministry also lashed out at the sale, saying the Chinese military will “take all necessary measures to resolutely counter this.”
The US has sold weapons to Taiwan in the past through a separate program called Foreign Military Sales (FMS). The FMF program will provide grant assistance, paid for by US taxpayers, to Taiwan in order to make those purchases.
According to the letter sent to Congress, the sale could span a wide range of capabilities, including air and coastal defense systems, ballistic missile defense, cyber defense, drones, military training, individual soldier protective gear, and ammunition. It is likely to take months or years for the military support to actually get to Taiwan, because the equipment will be folded into future equipment buys by the Pentagon.
Under the Taiwan Enhanced Resilience Act passed last year, the US government is authorized to spend up to $2 billion annually in military grant assistance to the island from 2023 to 2027.
House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Michael McCaul welcomed the approval.
“I am glad the administration is further implementing our bipartisan Taiwan Enhanced Resilience Act by finally providing FMF to Taiwan. These weapons will not only help Taiwan and protect other democracies in the region, but also strengthen the U.S. deterrence posture and ensure our national security from an increasingly aggressive CCP,” McCaul said in a statement. https://edition.cnn.com/2023/08/30/politics/us-taiwan-foreign-military-financing-program/index.html
Posted for fair use......
By H I Sutton
Since August 22 there have been persistent rumors that a Chinese Navy (PLAN) nuclear submarine experienced a serious accident. They were first widely circulated on certain Chinese language social media. It has since been reported in Taiwanese media and there has been much wild speculation. However the rumor hasn't gone away, notably in Chinese sources.
Unfortunately I played an unintended role in this. The noise reached a level on August 22 that I tweeted about it in the hope of bringing more information to the surface. My tweet contained clear caveats. Despite this it was picked up by Taiwanese and other non-English language press and misrepresented to 'prove' that the incident occurred. It became a news story for a few days.
These rumors are still unconfirmed and should not be treated as fact. However, in case other information subsequently comes to light, it is worth recording them for reference. Where there is smoke, sometimes there is fire.
Treat with Caution: Unverified Rumors
However, combined with other sources for these rumors, it was at least an indication that something took place. Media stories in Taiwan generally repeated this version.
CLICK to Enlarge. Analysis of Radar satellite (SAR) imagery by Satim Inc shows that no submarines were present at Lian Yun Gang on August 24. If they were, Satim's artificial intelligence would have detected them and identified the class.
However, the rumor then suggested that the submarine returned to Qingdao, which is completely plausible. Qingdao is a major naval base.
New details suggested that it was a malfunction with the air purification / sterilizing system. Or that it was mistakenly turned on, suffocating the entire crew.
H I Sutton - Covert Shores
www.hisutton.com
Possible Fatal Accident Aboard Chinese Navy Nuclear Submarine
Thu 31 August 2023By H I Sutton
Possible Fatal Accident Aboard Chinese Navy Nuclear Submarine
Unfortunately I played an unintended role in this. The noise reached a level on August 22 that I tweeted about it in the hope of bringing more information to the surface. My tweet contained clear caveats. Despite this it was picked up by Taiwanese and other non-English language press and misrepresented to 'prove' that the incident occurred. It became a news story for a few days.
These rumors are still unconfirmed and should not be treated as fact. However, in case other information subsequently comes to light, it is worth recording them for reference. Where there is smoke, sometimes there is fire.
Treat with Caution: Unverified Rumors
Early Version Of Story, August 22
The initial telling of the story, reported by 'Lude Media', stated:There are several aspects which raise questions in this account. Two obvious question marks are 1) Nuclear subs don’t normally run out of air for months, they can make it 2) Nuclear boats have a lot of power, anchor chain shouldn’t be fatal. The small crew is also worth noting as unusual, but not out of the question.
However, combined with other sources for these rumors, it was at least an indication that something took place. Media stories in Taiwan generally repeated this version.
Additional Leads
One version of the rumor I was told involved the submarine having the accident near Lian Yun Gang, south of Qingdao. It was said that the submarine may have pulled in to Lian Yun Gang after the incident. However, satellite image analysis by Satim Inc did not detect the submarine and that detail can be treated as unreliable.
CLICK to Enlarge. Analysis of Radar satellite (SAR) imagery by Satim Inc shows that no submarines were present at Lian Yun Gang on August 24. If they were, Satim's artificial intelligence would have detected them and identified the class.
However, the rumor then suggested that the submarine returned to Qingdao, which is completely plausible. Qingdao is a major naval base.
New details suggested that it was a malfunction with the air purification / sterilizing system. Or that it was mistakenly turned on, suffocating the entire crew.
New Version, August 28
On August 28, the China Front blog posted an article titled "All officers and soldiers of China's No. 417 (Long March 14) Type 093 attack nuclear submarine died". It references the rumors and adds " After verification by the editor, the news is very likely to be true." I am posting an abridged translation here for future reference:northern watch
TB Fanatic
China: Preparing for War
by Lawrence A. FranklinGatestone Institute
September 6, 2023 at 5:00 am
- Chinese Communist Party (CCP) leader Xi Jinping is rapidly militarizing his country and has instructed its army to "prepare for war" and "fight and win" it.
- "Chinese ruler Xi Jinping replaced the senior leadership of China's Rocket Force, which is responsible for almost all of China's 400 or so nuclear warheads. These personnel changes are part of what is almost certainly the most ominous development of this time. It looks like Xi is contemplating using or at least threatening to use his most destructive weapons. In other words, China is planning to go to war." — Gordon Chang, China expert, Newsweek, August 14, 2023.
- "Xi sacked Rocket Force commander, Li Yuchao, and its political commissar, Xu Zhongbo. Neither has been seen in public since. Li's deputy, Liu Guangbin, has also disappeared, along with Zhang Zhenzhong, a former deputy. At about the same time, Wu Guohua, deputy commander of the Rocket Force, reportedly took his own life in early July." — Gordon Chang, Newsweek, August 14, 2023.
- Xi is doubtless weighing the risk-reward ratio of launching an aggressive operation against Taiwan during US President Joe Biden's term of office. Xi is doubtless aware that his "window of opportunity" may be closing in 18 months, accompanied by a felicitously distracting US presidential election.
- The timing of any Chinese assault on Taiwan will most certainly be determined by Xi's assessment of the domestic political strength of the Biden administration as well as the possible need for a strong diversion from his own imploding economy. Xi is also doubtless assessing the US president's resolve to back up his repeated declarations that US forces would come to the defense of Taiwan in the event of a Chinese invasion, as opposed to the US State Department's immediate walk-back of the promise.
- The Chinese Communist Party claims that the US is treating Taiwan as an independent state and these VIP visits violate its "One China Policy." The truth, most likely, is that the CCP's repeated transgressions against Taiwan's air and maritime sovereignty, after then Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi's August 2022 visit to Taiwan, are actually just part of the CCP's military invasion exercises on its way to an all-out assault.
- The CCP's Eastern Theater Command has, in addition, established a Joint Operations Command Center, responsible for coordinating all phases of an actual invasion of Taiwan. Military moves suggestive of the CCP's hostile intent toward Taiwan, included recent deliveries of wheeled armor vehicles to China's coastal province of Guangdong, an area with several natural launch points for an invasion of Taiwan.
- Xi Jinping and former Foreign Minister Qin Gang both warned the US about interfering in what China claims is an internal problem, and Xi added: "Western countries led by the United States have carried out all-round containment, encirclement and suppression of China, which has brought unprecedented severe challenges to China's development." Xi has stressed that "the Taiwan question is the core of China's core interest" and has described as "wishful thinking" any expectation that China might compromise on the eventual incorporation of Taiwan into Communist China.
- China has also rolled out a campaign of intimidation that shows China calling the shots. These began with the berating the US in Alaska, to which the State Department's response was "deep concerns" and continued with smuggling over the US border fentanyl and other drugs that have killed an estimated 200,000 civilians.
- For a finishing touch, China's Ministry of Foreign Affairs, in the spring of 2022, tried to sell the public the idea that the US is attempting the "full-blown containment and suppression of China."
- The danger, of course, is that if Xi loses faith in the possibility of a peaceful union with Taiwan, which he may hope will come about on January 13, 2024 with the election in Taiwan of a new, more complaint president, and if China's economy continues to collapse, he could decide to incorporate Taiwan with military force. He will then need to decide on the most appropriate time to launch an invasion of Taiwan. After witnessing the Biden Administration's abandonment of Afghanistan, that would most likely be while Biden is still in power.
- China's leadership might be calculating that as the months get closer to the 2024 US presidential election, the Biden administration will be too focused on campaigning to response in a serious way to a Chinese invasion of Taiwan. There are sure to be parallel threats to the United States, thanks to China's greater knowledge of US military sites from the spy balloon; land purchases near military bases from which the Chinese could jam, disable, or entirely prevent a US response; and a new group of possibly up to 5,000 men, many single and of military age, brought into America over its southern border. These men, even now, may be militarizing China's new US "farmland" -- as they did on China's artificial islands in the South China Sea –- to sabotage US electric grids, water supply, power plants, civilian and military airports, communication centers, highways, tunnels, bridges, ports and other strategic infrastructure.
Chinese Communist Party leader Xi Jinping is rapidly militarizing his country and has instructed its army to "prepare for war" and "fight and win" it. He is doubtless weighing the risk-reward ratio of launching an aggressive operation against Taiwan during US President Joe Biden's term of office. (Image source: iStock)
Chinese Communist Party (CCP) leader Xi Jinping is rapidly militarizing his country and has instructed its army to "prepare for war" and "fight and win" it. Just a few weeks ago, China expert (full disclosure: and Gatestone Senior Fellow) Gordon Chang warned:
Xi is doubtless weighing the risk-reward ratio of launching an aggressive operation against Taiwan during US President Joe Biden's term of office. Xi is doubtless aware that his "window of opportunity" may be closing in 18 months, accompanied by a felicitously distracting US presidential election.
The timing of any Chinese assault on Taiwan will most certainly be determined by Xi's assessment of the domestic political strength of the Biden administration as well as the possible need for a strong diversion from his own imploding economy. Xi is also doubtless assessing the US president's resolve to back up his repeated declarations that US forces would come to the defense of Taiwan in the event of a Chinese invasion, as opposed to the US State Department's immediate walk-back of the promise.
Within the past year or so, the US leadership seems to have assumed that the increasingly provocative posture of China's army toward Taiwan was a mainly a consequence of visits to Taiwan by prominent US politicians, as well as the trip to Washington D.C. by Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen. The Chinese Communist Party claims that the US is treating Taiwan as an independent state and these VIP visits violate its "One China Policy." The truth, most likely, is that the CCP's repeated transgressions against Taiwan's air and maritime sovereignty, after then Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi's August 2022 visit to Taiwan, are actually just part of the CCP's military invasion exercises on its way to an all-out assault. The CCP's "rehearsals" have so far demonstrated its increased capability in amphibious landing exercises, air attacks, bombing runs, and naval maneuvers in support of its ground forces.
The CCP's Eastern Theater Command has, in addition, established a Joint Operations Command Center, responsible for coordinating all phases of an actual invasion of Taiwan. Military moves suggestive of the CCP's hostile intent toward Taiwan, included recent deliveries of wheeled armor vehicles to China's coastal province of Guangdong, an area with several natural launch points for an invasion of Taiwan. Another maneuver was the April 4, 2022 exercise displaying the CCP's most modern amphibious assault ship which, in an actual invasion, would be deployed in support of its Ground Forces, specifically the 72nd Group Army.
The CCP's contempt for international law can be seen in its repeated violations of Taiwan's air and maritime sovereignty. The country's aggressive behavior was repeated on August 19-20, when several People's Liberation Army (PLA) warplanes flew so close to Taiwan that the island's military scrambled its air defense.
The CCP has also violated other international agreements: the 2016 ruling of the International Tribunal at the Hague that awarded to the Philippines the waters and outcrop islets as being within their Economic Exclusive Zone; the Geneva Convention on the Laws of War, by allowing PLA troops to use medieval torture weapons against Indian troops in Himalayan Mountain clashes in 2020, and the UN's Universal Declaration on Human Rights by the mass imprisonment, rape and property destruction of ethnic Uighurs in Xinjiang Province.
In addition, China's Rocket Force, in April 2022, launched missiles that flew over Taiwan and landed inside Japan's Exclusive Economic Zone . Furthermore, since January of this year, Chinese aircraft and naval vessels have habitually crossed the assumed median line between China and Taiwan in the Taiwanese Strait.
Xi Jinping and former Foreign Minister Qin Gang both warned the US about interfering in what China claims is an internal problem, and Xi added:
Xi has stressed that "the Taiwan question is the core of China's core interest" and has described as "wishful thinking" any expectation that China might compromise on the eventual incorporation of Taiwan into Communist China.
China has also rolled out a campaign of intimidation that shows China calling the shots. These began with the berating the US in Alaska, to which the State Department's response was "deep concerns" and continued with smuggling over the US border fentanyl and other drugs that have killed an estimated 200,000 civilians; renaming Confucius Institutes instead of closing them; establishing at least six illegal police stations in the US; sending a Chinese spy balloon over America's sensitive military and nuclear military sites before the Biden Administration shot it down, after the spycraft had sent back to China in real time all the information it needed; hacking and spying, and repeatedly rejecting US proposals to establish protocols of communication in a crisis between the United States and China.
Chinese Minister of National Defense Li Shangfu also summarily refused to meet with US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin in May 2023. China's pattern of negativity in trying to gaslight the US and perhaps the world into thinking the US is doing what, in fact, China is doing. For a finishing touch, China's Ministry of Foreign Affairs, in the spring of 2022, tried to sell the public the idea that the US is attempting the "full-blown containment and suppression of China."
The danger, of course, is that if Xi loses faith in the possibility of a peaceful union with Taiwan, which he may hope will come about on January 13, 2024 with the election in Taiwan of a new, more complaint president, and if China's economy continues to collapse, he could decide to incorporate Taiwan with military force. He will then need to decide on the most appropriate time to launch an invasion of Taiwan. After witnessing the Biden Administration's abandonment of Afghanistan, that would most likely be while Biden is still in power.
The most extensive exercises, the "invasion rehearsal," were executed in April 2023, when apparently winds and waves are conducive to amphibious operations. Early October would offer good weather for an invasion, too.
Political perceptions of an ideal time for an invasion, however, are probably the prime factor. It is apparent that the vast majority of Taiwan's population want to maintain the status quo with increased support for independence for the next generation of Taiwanese.
China's leadership might be calculating that as the months get closer to the 2024 US presidential election, the Biden administration will be too focused on campaigning to response in a serious way to a Chinese invasion of Taiwan. There are sure to be parallel threats to the United States, thanks to China's greater knowledge of US military sites from the spy balloon; land purchases near military bases from which the Chinese could jam, disable, or entirely prevent a US response; and a new group of possibly up to 5,000 men, many single and of military age, brought into America over its southern border. These men, even now, may be militarizing China's new US "farmland" -- as they did on China's artificial islands in the South China Sea –- to sabotage US electric grids, water supply, power plants, civilian and military airports, communication centers, highways, tunnels, bridges, ports and other strategic infrastructure.
China: Preparing for War
Chinese Communist Party (CCP) leader Xi Jinping is rapidly militarizing his country and has instructed its army to "prepare for war" and "fight and win" it. "Chinese ruler Xi Jinping replaced the senior leadership of China's Rocket Force, which is
Last edited:
northern watch
TB Fanatic
Early October would offer good weather for an invasionChina: Preparing for War
by Lawrence A. Franklin
Gatestone Institute
September 6, 2023 at 5:00 am
- Chinese Communist Party (CCP) leader Xi Jinping is rapidly militarizing his country and has instructed its army to "prepare for war" and "fight and win" it.
- "Chinese ruler Xi Jinping replaced the senior leadership of China's Rocket Force, which is responsible for almost all of China's 400 or so nuclear warheads. These personnel changes are part of what is almost certainly the most ominous development of this time. It looks like Xi is contemplating using or at least threatening to use his most destructive weapons. In other words, China is planning to go to war." — Gordon Chang, China expert, Newsweek, August 14, 2023.
- "Xi sacked Rocket Force commander, Li Yuchao, and its political commissar, Xu Zhongbo. Neither has been seen in public since. Li's deputy, Liu Guangbin, has also disappeared, along with Zhang Zhenzhong, a former deputy. At about the same time, Wu Guohua, deputy commander of the Rocket Force, reportedly took his own life in early July." — Gordon Chang, Newsweek, August 14, 2023.
- Xi is doubtless weighing the risk-reward ratio of launching an aggressive operation against Taiwan during US President Joe Biden's term of office. Xi is doubtless aware that his "window of opportunity" may be closing in 18 months, accompanied by a felicitously distracting US presidential election.
- The timing of any Chinese assault on Taiwan will most certainly be determined by Xi's assessment of the domestic political strength of the Biden administration as well as the possible need for a strong diversion from his own imploding economy. Xi is also doubtless assessing the US president's resolve to back up his repeated declarations that US forces would come to the defense of Taiwan in the event of a Chinese invasion, as opposed to the US State Department's immediate walk-back of the promise.
- The Chinese Communist Party claims that the US is treating Taiwan as an independent state and these VIP visits violate its "One China Policy." The truth, most likely, is that the CCP's repeated transgressions against Taiwan's air and maritime sovereignty, after then Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi's August 2022 visit to Taiwan, are actually just part of the CCP's military invasion exercises on its way to an all-out assault.
- The CCP's Eastern Theater Command has, in addition, established a Joint Operations Command Center, responsible for coordinating all phases of an actual invasion of Taiwan. Military moves suggestive of the CCP's hostile intent toward Taiwan, included recent deliveries of wheeled armor vehicles to China's coastal province of Guangdong, an area with several natural launch points for an invasion of Taiwan.
- Xi Jinping and former Foreign Minister Qin Gang both warned the US about interfering in what China claims is an internal problem, and Xi added: "Western countries led by the United States have carried out all-round containment, encirclement and suppression of China, which has brought unprecedented severe challenges to China's development." Xi has stressed that "the Taiwan question is the core of China's core interest" and has described as "wishful thinking" any expectation that China might compromise on the eventual incorporation of Taiwan into Communist China.
- China has also rolled out a campaign of intimidation that shows China calling the shots. These began with the berating the US in Alaska, to which the State Department's response was "deep concerns" and continued with smuggling over the US border fentanyl and other drugs that have killed an estimated 200,000 civilians.
- For a finishing touch, China's Ministry of Foreign Affairs, in the spring of 2022, tried to sell the public the idea that the US is attempting the "full-blown containment and suppression of China."
- The danger, of course, is that if Xi loses faith in the possibility of a peaceful union with Taiwan, which he may hope will come about on January 13, 2024 with the election in Taiwan of a new, more complaint president, and if China's economy continues to collapse, he could decide to incorporate Taiwan with military force. He will then need to decide on the most appropriate time to launch an invasion of Taiwan. After witnessing the Biden Administration's abandonment of Afghanistan, that would most likely be while Biden is still in power.
- China's leadership might be calculating that as the months get closer to the 2024 US presidential election, the Biden administration will be too focused on campaigning to response in a serious way to a Chinese invasion of Taiwan. There are sure to be parallel threats to the United States, thanks to China's greater knowledge of US military sites from the spy balloon; land purchases near military bases from which the Chinese could jam, disable, or entirely prevent a US response; and a new group of possibly up to 5,000 men, many single and of military age, brought into America over its southern border. These men, even now, may be militarizing China's new US "farmland" -- as they did on China's artificial islands in the South China Sea –- to sabotage US electric grids, water supply, power plants, civilian and military airports, communication centers, highways, tunnels, bridges, ports and other strategic infrastructure.
Chinese Communist Party leader Xi Jinping is rapidly militarizing his country and has instructed its army to "prepare for war" and "fight and win" it. He is doubtless weighing the risk-reward ratio of launching an aggressive operation against Taiwan during US President Joe Biden's term of office. (Image source: iStock)
Chinese Communist Party (CCP) leader Xi Jinping is rapidly militarizing his country and has instructed its army to "prepare for war" and "fight and win" it. Just a few weeks ago, China expert (full disclosure: and Gatestone Senior Fellow) Gordon Chang warned:
Xi is doubtless weighing the risk-reward ratio of launching an aggressive operation against Taiwan during US President Joe Biden's term of office. Xi is doubtless aware that his "window of opportunity" may be closing in 18 months, accompanied by a felicitously distracting US presidential election.
The timing of any Chinese assault on Taiwan will most certainly be determined by Xi's assessment of the domestic political strength of the Biden administration as well as the possible need for a strong diversion from his own imploding economy. Xi is also doubtless assessing the US president's resolve to back up his repeated declarations that US forces would come to the defense of Taiwan in the event of a Chinese invasion, as opposed to the US State Department's immediate walk-back of the promise.
Within the past year or so, the US leadership seems to have assumed that the increasingly provocative posture of China's army toward Taiwan was a mainly a consequence of visits to Taiwan by prominent US politicians, as well as the trip to Washington D.C. by Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen. The Chinese Communist Party claims that the US is treating Taiwan as an independent state and these VIP visits violate its "One China Policy." The truth, most likely, is that the CCP's repeated transgressions against Taiwan's air and maritime sovereignty, after then Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi's August 2022 visit to Taiwan, are actually just part of the CCP's military invasion exercises on its way to an all-out assault. The CCP's "rehearsals" have so far demonstrated its increased capability in amphibious landing exercises, air attacks, bombing runs, and naval maneuvers in support of its ground forces.
The CCP's Eastern Theater Command has, in addition, established a Joint Operations Command Center, responsible for coordinating all phases of an actual invasion of Taiwan. Military moves suggestive of the CCP's hostile intent toward Taiwan, included recent deliveries of wheeled armor vehicles to China's coastal province of Guangdong, an area with several natural launch points for an invasion of Taiwan. Another maneuver was the April 4, 2022 exercise displaying the CCP's most modern amphibious assault ship which, in an actual invasion, would be deployed in support of its Ground Forces, specifically the 72nd Group Army.
The CCP's contempt for international law can be seen in its repeated violations of Taiwan's air and maritime sovereignty. The country's aggressive behavior was repeated on August 19-20, when several People's Liberation Army (PLA) warplanes flew so close to Taiwan that the island's military scrambled its air defense.
The CCP has also violated other international agreements: the 2016 ruling of the International Tribunal at the Hague that awarded to the Philippines the waters and outcrop islets as being within their Economic Exclusive Zone; the Geneva Convention on the Laws of War, by allowing PLA troops to use medieval torture weapons against Indian troops in Himalayan Mountain clashes in 2020, and the UN's Universal Declaration on Human Rights by the mass imprisonment, rape and property destruction of ethnic Uighurs in Xinjiang Province.
In addition, China's Rocket Force, in April 2022, launched missiles that flew over Taiwan and landed inside Japan's Exclusive Economic Zone . Furthermore, since January of this year, Chinese aircraft and naval vessels have habitually crossed the assumed median line between China and Taiwan in the Taiwanese Strait.
Xi Jinping and former Foreign Minister Qin Gang both warned the US about interfering in what China claims is an internal problem, and Xi added:
Xi has stressed that "the Taiwan question is the core of China's core interest" and has described as "wishful thinking" any expectation that China might compromise on the eventual incorporation of Taiwan into Communist China.
China has also rolled out a campaign of intimidation that shows China calling the shots. These began with the berating the US in Alaska, to which the State Department's response was "deep concerns" and continued with smuggling over the US border fentanyl and other drugs that have killed an estimated 200,000 civilians; renaming Confucius Institutes instead of closing them; establishing at least six illegal police stations in the US; sending a Chinese spy balloon over America's sensitive military and nuclear military sites before the Biden Administration shot it down, after the spycraft had sent back to China in real time all the information it needed; hacking and spying, and repeatedly rejecting US proposals to establish protocols of communication in a crisis between the United States and China.
Chinese Minister of National Defense Li Shangfu also summarily refused to meet with US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin in May 2023. China's pattern of negativity in trying to gaslight the US and perhaps the world into thinking the US is doing what, in fact, China is doing. For a finishing touch, China's Ministry of Foreign Affairs, in the spring of 2022, tried to sell the public the idea that the US is attempting the "full-blown containment and suppression of China."
The danger, of course, is that if Xi loses faith in the possibility of a peaceful union with Taiwan, which he may hope will come about on January 13, 2024 with the election in Taiwan of a new, more complaint president, and if China's economy continues to collapse, he could decide to incorporate Taiwan with military force. He will then need to decide on the most appropriate time to launch an invasion of Taiwan. After witnessing the Biden Administration's abandonment of Afghanistan, that would most likely be while Biden is still in power.
The most extensive exercises, the "invasion rehearsal," were executed in April 2023, when apparently winds and waves are conducive to amphibious operations. Early October would offer good weather for an invasion, too.
Political perceptions of an ideal time for an invasion, however, are probably the prime factor. It is apparent that the vast majority of Taiwan's population want to maintain the status quo with increased support for independence for the next generation of Taiwanese.
China's leadership might be calculating that as the months get closer to the 2024 US presidential election, the Biden administration will be too focused on campaigning to response in a serious way to a Chinese invasion of Taiwan. There are sure to be parallel threats to the United States, thanks to China's greater knowledge of US military sites from the spy balloon; land purchases near military bases from which the Chinese could jam, disable, or entirely prevent a US response; and a new group of possibly up to 5,000 men, many single and of military age, brought into America over its southern border. These men, even now, may be militarizing China's new US "farmland" -- as they did on China's artificial islands in the South China Sea –- to sabotage US electric grids, water supply, power plants, civilian and military airports, communication centers, highways, tunnels, bridges, ports and other strategic infrastructure.
China: Preparing for War
Chinese Communist Party (CCP) leader Xi Jinping is rapidly militarizing his country and has instructed its army to "prepare for war" and "fight and win" it. "Chinese ruler Xi Jinping replaced the senior leadership of China's Rocket Force, which iswww.gatestoneinstitute.org
danielboon
TB Fanatic
only a matter of time
northern watch
TB Fanatic
From my email Bloomberg Evening Briefing September 8 2023
India is studying possible responses to any potential Chinese invasion of Taiwan following discreet inquiries from the US on how it could contribute in the event of a war. About six weeks ago, Defense Chief General Anil Chauhan—India’s top military commander—commissioned a study to examine the wider impact of any war over the island democracy that also involves the US and its allies, and what action India could take in response.
India is studying possible responses to any potential Chinese invasion of Taiwan following discreet inquiries from the US on how it could contribute in the event of a war. About six weeks ago, Defense Chief General Anil Chauhan—India’s top military commander—commissioned a study to examine the wider impact of any war over the island democracy that also involves the US and its allies, and what action India could take in response.
I have to wonder whether or not they're running the same vehilces around in circles or actually moving the hardware into cantonments, which could be easily monitored and targeted?
Yeah, that should give Beijing and Islamabad, as well as Kabul, Rangoon/Yangon and Hanoi more that a few concerns and considerations.
jward
passin' thru
Frustrated China steps up warship and fighter plane activity around Taiwan
Helen Davidson
China has sent a carrier strike group and dozens of warplanes into the region around Taiwan in one of its biggest operations in months. The activity comes as Beijing accuses the US and Canada of “inciting conflict” by sailing through the Taiwan Strait, and as Xi Jinping calls for “comprehensive” military combat readiness of the People’s Liberation Army (PLA).
The Republic of China military, which uses Taiwan’s formal name, on Monday said a Chinese carrier strike group passed 111km to the south-east of the island on its way to the western Pacific for training. It said 11 Chinese warplanes were detected in Taiwan’s air defence identification zone (ADIZ) since 5am. They added to 26 planes and 13 ships detected around Taiwan in the previous 24 hours, one of the biggest daily totals since July.
The PLA strike group was being led by the aircraft carrier Shandong, but it was not clear what exercises it was taking part in.
In recent years the PLA has greatly increased its military targeting of Taiwan, which the Chinese Communist party considers to be a province of China and threatens to “reunify” by force. Taiwan’s government and people overwhelmingly reject the prospect of Chinese rule. Warplanes and ships of the PLA have been sent into the ADIZ on a near daily basis, although recent weeks have been quieter with several active typhoons passing through the region.
The renewed PLA activity immediately followed a freedom of navigation operation (Fonop) by the US and Canadian navies, which sailed two warships through the Taiwan Strait on Saturday. Chinese state media accused the two of attempting to “raise tensions and flex their military muscles at China’s doorstep”. It warned Washington that there was “a limit to Beijing’s patience” and said the more frequently US and its allies sailed through “China’s waters”, the greater chance there was of a “head-on conflict”.
It also comes a few days after China’s leader, Xi Jinping, inspected a Chinese army base in the north-east and called for “comprehensive” enhancements in combat readiness. State media said Xi “urged efforts to improve the level of combat preparedness, strengthen the training of key and difficult subjects, and build new combat capabilities”.
Some analysts believe the activity could be a sign of new training exercises to target Taiwan, with the Shandong signifying the potential for ship-launched fighter jet flights, as seen in the drills staged earlier this year in response to Taiwan’s president, Tsai Ing-wen, meeting with the US House speaker, Kevin McCarthy. Those drills marked the first time J-15s had been detected inside the ADIZ, and the launches from the east of the island suggested the PLA was practising strikes on Taiwan from an encirclement-style posture, analysts said at the time.
J-15s were not among the planes detected by Taiwan on Sunday and Monday. All but one of the 26 planes detected on Sunday crossed the median line, a de facto border in the Taiwan Strait. The line has, until recent years, served as a significant barrier and was only crossed on rare and significant occasions.
Maps of the ADIZ incursions on Sunday, provided by Taiwan, showed unusual flight paths, with J-16 fighters staying on Taiwan’s side of the line for extended periods of time. The paths indicated the PLA continuing to train new strategies, after conducting a full aerial encirclement of Taiwan’s main island last month.
“The passage of the Shandong warship group through the Bashi Strait, coupled with resumption of ADIZ intrusions, suggests that China may be initiating a new round of training exercises around Taiwan,” said Duan Dang, a freelance South China Sea observer.
“I anticipate that China will escalate military activities around Taiwan in the coming months, strategically aiming to influence public opinion in the lead-up to Taiwan’s presidential election scheduled for January next year.”
Frustrated China steps up warship and fighter plane activity around Taiwan
Taipei reports People’s Liberation Army operation, which comes after Beijing accused US and Canada of ‘inciting conflict’ by traversing Taiwan Strait
www.theguardian.com
jward
passin' thru
Taiwan sees China's most advanced carrier in service by 2025 - Insider Paper
AFP
China’s most modern aircraft carrier is expected to be commissioned by 2025, the Taiwan government said Tuesday, describing it as a major threat to be dealt with in the future.
China’s sabre-rattling has intensified in recent years under President Xi Jinping, who has said the “reunification” of Taiwan must not be passed on to future generations.
China views self-ruled Taiwan as part of its territory and has vowed to bring the self-ruled island under its control.
The Fujian, Beijing’s third and biggest carrier, was launched last year but authorities have not said when it will enter service.
Taiwan’s defence ministry said in a biennial report released Tuesday the Fujian is expected to be commissioned “after its completion of sea trials by 2025”.
The Fujian is China’s “first catapult aircraft carrier”. Its other carriers, the Liaoning and the Shandong, use a ski-jump-style ramp for takeoffs, said Huang Wen-chi, assistant deputy chief of Taiwan’s General Staff for Intelligence.
The building of the Fujian shows that China “is preparing for deep-sea operations”, said Huang.
“This is a major maritime threat that we must actively deal with in the future,” Huang told reporters.
He spoke as Taipei’s defence ministry said Beijing sent 22 warplanes and 20 naval ships around Taiwan between Monday and Tuesday morning.
The incursions came after the Shandong was detected on Monday around 60 nautical miles southeast of the island heading into the Western Pacific.
The Shandong entered service in 2019 while the Liaoning, China’s first aircraft carrier, was commissioned in 2012.
Beijing’s carrier development programme is part of a massive military overhaul by Xi, who has vowed to build a “fully modern” force to rival the US military by 2027.
Taiwan sees China's most advanced carrier in service by 2025 - Insider Paper
China's most modern aircraft carrier is expected to be commissioned by 2025, the Taiwan government said Tuesday, describing it as a
insiderpaper.com
jward
passin' thru
Taiwan defense white paper outlines plan for 7,700 drones
Taiwan News
4–5 minutes
Defense ministry to work with goverment and private sector on R&D, production
[IMG alt="A Taiwan-made NCSIST Albatross. (CNA photo)
"]https://tnimage.s3.hicloud.net.tw/photos/2023/09/12/1694510973-65002f7d018f4.png[/IMG]
A Taiwan-made NCSIST Albatross. (CNA photo)
TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — Taiwan will produce 7,700 unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) for military use by 2028, according to a white paper released by the country’s defense ministry on Tuesday (Sept. 12).
The “Republic of China (Taiwan) National Defense Report 2023” surveys the military threats faced by Taiwan and the country’s ability to combat them. After reviewing armed forces defense needs, the military has “decided to incorporate UAVs into their force buildup plans,” the report reads.
Seven hundred of the UAVs will be military grade, and 7,000 commercial. The report said that five prototypes for “army-purpose UAVs” have already been completed, and 36 units will be delivered to the military by July 31.
The UAVs are part of Taiwan’s “Five-year Force Buildup Plan,” which also involves increasing foreign arms purchases, improving indigenous defense technologies, improving training, and increasing recruitment. Force buildup is related to “how we fight dictates what we equip, how we organize, what we acquire, and how we train,” the report reads.
Taiwan’s leaders have paid increased attention to drones after seeing their effective deployment in the Ukraine war. “Ukraine, which was previously considered as lacking air supremacy, cleverly used drones to create its own partial air supremacy,” a Taiwan government report obtained by Reuters stated.
Incursions into Taiwan’s Air Defense Identification Zone are being normalized by the China’s People’s Liberation Army (PLA) to sap Taiwan’s morale, the report reads. It also said the PLA is using rhetorical intimidation and misinformation to build its capacity to launch operations against Taiwan.
The report said that Taiwan is a geographical “linchpin” for containing China’s expansion of maritime power into the Pacific Ocean. The word “contain” in relation to China appeared five times in the report, up from zero mentions in 2021.
The number of pages describing the military capabilities of China’s People’s Liberation Army also increased from 10 to 19 when compared to the ministry’s last white paper. The report also includes a map of U.S. military installations in the Pacific for the first time.
In addition to outlining the development and growth of the threat from China’s armed forces, the white paper also noted climate change, infectious diseases, and cyber, energy, and food security as security challenges for Taiwan.
Taiwan defense white paper outlines plan for 7,700 drones | Taiwan News | 2023-09-12 17:38:00
Defense ministry to work with goverment and private sector on R&D, production | 2023-09-12 17:38:00
www.taiwannews.com.tw
danielboon
TB Fanatic
Taiwan says it spotted 22 Chinese warplanes and 20 warships near the island
Taiwan says China is continuously bolstering its military bases along the coastline facing Taiwan as Beijing steps up military activities around the territory it claims as its ownBySIMINA MISTREANU Associated Press
September 12, 2023, 2:45 AM
The Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer USS Ralph Johnson (DDG 114) conducts routine underway operations in the Taiwan Strait, on Sept. 9, 2023. (Mass Communication Specialist 1st Class Jamaal Liddell/U.S. Navy via AP)
The Associated Press
TAIPEI, Taiwan -- China is continuously bolstering its military bases along the coastline facing Taiwan, the self-ruled island's Defense Ministry said in a report Tuesday, as Beijing steps up military activities around the territory it claims as its own.
Taiwan said it will continue to monitor the Chinese activities around the island and bolster its defenses in response. Earlier on Tuesday, Taiwan’s Defense Ministry said it had spotted 22 Chinese warplanes and 20 warships near the island over the previous 24 hours — part of military harassment by Beijing, which hasn't ruled out force to reunite the island with the mainland.
“This year, the Chinese Communist Party has aggressively expanded its armaments and continued to build various types of fighter jets and drones,” Maj. Gen. Huang Wen-Chi, the assistant deputy chief with the General Staff for Intelligence of Taiwan’s Defense Ministry, said during a news conference releasing the biennial report.
“The information we have received is that all important military bases along the coast … are being continuously updated,” he added.
Huang pointed to three military airfields in China’s southeastern Fujian province – Longtian, Huian and Zhangzhou – that have recently been expanded. The closest one to Taiwan, Longtian, is only 217 kilometers (135 miles) from the capital, Taipei.
Over the past year, Beijing has stepped up military activities around Taiwan, including by sending warships and warplanes on a near-daily basis.
The latest dispatch of Chinese warplanes and warships came after the United States and Canada sailed warships through the Taiwan Strait in a challenge to Beijing's territorial claims.
On Monday, China sailed its own naval formation led by the aircraft carrier Shandong about 70 miles (110 kilometers) southeast of Taiwan. The vessel was expected to conduct drills simulating aircraft, submarine, warship and land attacks, according to Chinese state media.
This was the second time China has deployed the Shandong to the western Pacific, according to state media. The carrier, commissioned in 2019, participated in drills around Taiwan in April, shortly after Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen met U.S. House Speaker Kevin McCarthy in California. Beijing sees all exchanges between Taiwanese and foreign officials as challenges to its claims over the island.
Thirteen of the Chinese military aircraft reported on Tuesday had crossed the median line of the Taiwan Strait, an unofficial demarcation zone between China and Taiwan, according to Taiwan’s Defense Ministry.
“The period from July to September this year was the peak period for the Chinese Communist Party’s exercises,” Huang said, noting an increase in China's naval activities in the waters surrounding the Taiwan Strait and a large number of warships operating in the South China and East China seas. Taiwan says it spotted 22 Chinese warplanes and 20 warships near the island
danielboon
TB Fanatic
China deploys over 40 planes to Taiwan Strait, is massing forces at coastal military bases, Taiwan warns
Taiwan says China sent 13 warplanes over the demarcation line between the 2 countries
By Anders Hagstrom Fox NewsPublished September 12, 2023 8:20am EDT
Biden admin ‘hopelessly naïve’ on China, North Korea, Russia: Mike Pompeo
FOX News contributor and former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo reacts to Kim Jong Un’s expected meeting with Vladimir Putin, saying China is at the ‘center.’China is continuously massing forces at its coastal military bases facing Taiwan, the self-governing island warned Tuesday.
Taiwan said it is bolstering its own defenses in response. The island's Defense Ministry issued a report on the expansion of Chinese airfields and military activity on Taiwan's doorstep, saying China has begun probing Taiwan's territory on a near-daily basis.
"This year, the Chinese Communist Party has aggressively expanded its armaments and continued to build various types of fighter jets and drones," Maj. Gen. Huang Wen-Chi said of the report. "The information we have received is that all important military bases along the coast … are being continuously updated."
The Chinese military also sent nearly two dozen warplanes on a sortie near Taiwan's territory Tuesday morning. The Defense Ministry reported that 22 Chinese warplanes and 20 warships entered the Taiwan Strait and that 13 of the aircraft crossed the median line, which has historically served as a demarcation line for military activity. China deploys over 40 planes to Taiwan Strait, is massing forces at coastal military bases, Taiwan warns
okie-carbine
Veteran Member
That would be some interesting timing since Gay Milley said Ukraine only has about 30-45 days left of good weather for the counter-offense.
jward
passin' thru
Mainland China aircraft carrier nears Taiwan coast on way to PLA drills
5–6 minutes
Shandong aircraft carrier, warplanes and navy ships skirt Taiwan coast on way to combat drills
Taiwan has tracked at least 84 People’s Liberation Army warplanes and 33 warships in three days as the Shandong aircraft carrier conducts joint sea and air training in the western Pacific in what may be the biggest PLA drill in months.
Some 35 PLA warplanes – including J-10, J-16 and Su-30 fighter jets as well as Y-9 and Y-20 transport planes, KJ-500 airborne early warning aircraft and drones – were detected around Taiwan on Wednesday morning, the ministry said in a statement.
02:36
Mainland China launches military drill near Taiwan in ‘severe warning to separatist forces’
Mainland China launches military drill near Taiwan in ‘severe warning to separatist forces’
“Twenty-eight of them crossed the median line and entered our southwest air defence identification zone (ADIZ),” the ministry said, referring to the de facto line that separates the island from the mainland in the Taiwan Strait.
“Some of the warplanes headed towards the western Pacific through Bashi Channel to join the Shandong for a joint sea and air training.”
The ministry said it had sent warplanes and warships to monitor the PLA’s sea and air activities and it deployed missile systems in response.
The latest sorties bring the total number of PLA warplanes detected around Taiwan in the past three days to 84, with 50 crossing the median line and entering the island’s southwest ADIZ near the Bashi Channel.
The ministry said it had also spotted 33 warships sailing around Taiwan in the past three days, with 20 detected – the largest fleet in recent months – as the Shandong sailed past Taiwan towards the western Pacific on Monday for combat training.
Beijing outlines ‘interconnected living’ plan for Taiwan and Fujian
Japan’s defence ministry reported the passage of eight PLA warships into the Pacific via the Miyako Strait, south of Okinawa, on Tuesday.A weekly curated round-up of social, political and economic stories from China and how they impact the world.
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While Taiwan’s defence ministry did not identify the PLA warships, it released a photo on Wednesday showing the island’s navy had sent the Kee Lung destroyer to shadow the Shandong as it sailed past Taiwan days before. The Kee Lung is the lead ship of the Taiwanese navy’s four Kidd-class guided-missile destroyers.
Su Tzu-yun, a senior analyst at the Institute for National Defence and Security Research, a government-funded think tank in Taipei, said the joint sea and air training involving the Shandong and clusters of warplanes and warships indicated there were major PLA naval manoeuvres with the carrier.
“It is considered the largest PLA naval training in recent months,” he said, adding that the joint drill was intended to prepare the Shandong “to be more combat-ready” while flexing the PLA’s muscles in the region.
He said the long-range training was also a show of force by the PLA in response to recent joint drills staged by the US and its allies, including exercises conducted by Washington along with Japan, Australia and the Philippines in the South China Sea in late August.
01:29
What is known about the Fujian, China’s first home-designed aircraft carrier
What is known about the Fujian, China’s first home-designed aircraft carrier
It was also in response to the Super Garuda Shield drills, which were launched on August 31 and brought together seven participating and 12 observing nations for a two-week combined joint multilateral exercise.
Major General Huang Wen-chi, of the ministry’s general staff for intelligence, said the Shandong would form a new risk for the island.
“The Shandong, flanked by such new destroyers as [the] Type 052C and Type O52D, evidently would form a considerable threat to our near-sea and coastal defence but the carrier still does not possess full capability in air and sea strikes,” he said in Taipei on Tuesday.
Compared with the Fujian, which is the PLA’s third and most advanced aircraft carrier, the Shandong, commissioned in 2019, is smaller and uses less-efficient ski-jump ramps for aircraft take-offs.
The Shandong was last reported taking part in mega military drills near Taiwan in April as a kind of intimidation to the self-ruled island after Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen met US House Speaker Kevin McCarthy during a stopover in California.
‘Substantial threat’ from PLA’s Fujian carrier: Taiwanese defence ministry
Beijing, which views Taiwan as its territory that must be taken under control, by force if necessary, considered the high-level exchange a violation of its sovereignty and a breach of Washington’s one-China policy.Most countries, including the US, do not recognise Taiwan as an independent state, but are opposed to the unilateral change of the cross-strait status quo by force.
Mainland China aircraft carrier nears Taiwan coast on way to PLA drills
Taiwan tracks at least 84 PLA warplanes and 33 warships in three days as the Shandong carrier conducts joint sea and air training in western Pacific.
www.scmp.com
northern watch
TB Fanatic
Taiwan reports 28 Chinese air force planes in its air defence zone
By Yimou Lee and Ben BlanchardSeptember 13, 202310:48 AM EDT
Updated 2 hours ago
Airplane is seen in front of Chinese and Taiwanese flags in this illustration, August 6, 2022. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration/file photo Acquire Licensing Rights
TAIPEI, Sept 13 (Reuters) - Taiwan's defence ministry said it spotted 28 Chinese air force planes in its air defence zone on Wednesday morning, part of what Taipei calls regular harassment by Beijing amid heightened tensions across the Taiwan Strait.
Democratically-governed Taiwan, which China views as its own territory, has complained in recent years of stepped-up Chinese military activities near the island as Beijing seeks to assert its sovereignty claims.
Taiwan's defence ministry said that beginning at around 6 a.m. (2200 GMT Tuesday), Chinese warplanes, including J-10 fighters, had flown into the southwestern corner of the island's air defence identification zone, or ADIZ.
Some of the Chinese aircraft crossed the Bashi Channel to carry out drills with the Chinese aircraft carrier the Shandong in the Pacific, the ministry added.
China's defence ministry did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Taiwan's forces monitored the situation, including sending up its own air force planes and activating air defence systems, the ministry added, using the normal phrasing for its response to such Chinese incursions.
A Chinese naval formation led by the Shandong entered the western Pacific for training, Taiwan's defence ministry said on Monday.
Japan’s defence ministry later said its Maritime Self-Defense Force had spotted the Shandong and five accompanying Chinese navy vessels, including two frigates and two missile destroyers, around 650 km south (400 miles) off Japan’s southwestern Miyako island on Wednesday morning.
Japan sent a destroyer to monitor the Chinese ships and confirmed that jet fighters and helicopters aboard the Shandong conducted landing training, the ministry added.
Separately, more than 20 Chinese warships, including Type 055 destroyers, sailed through the Bashi channel and Miyako Strait into the Pacific on Wednesday, a senior official familiar with security planning in the region told Reuters.
The Chinese naval manoeuvre, along with the training exercises by the carrier group, were an "obvious challenge" to the recent military activities by the United States and its allies in the region, the person said.
"They want to show that they got the total control of the west of the first island chain," the person said, referring to the area which runs from Japan through Taiwan, the Philippines and on to Borneo, enclosing China's coastal seas.
A U.S. and a Canadian warship sailed through the Taiwan Strait on Saturday, the U.S. Navy said, marking the second such joint mission since June and coinciding with the leaders of both countries attending the G20 summit in India.
The two countries' navies also conducted a series of exercises in the South China Sea this week, according to the U.S. Navy.
China has been increasing its military operations around Taiwan over the past few years in response to what it calls "collusion" between Taiwan independence forces and the U.S.
Reporting by Yimou Lee and Ben Blanchard; additional reporting by Beijing newsroom and Kantaro Komiya in Tokyo; editing by Christopher Cushing, Christian Schmollinger, Michael Perry and Mark Heinrich
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Taiwan reports 28 Chinese air force planes in its air defence zone
Taiwan's defence ministry said it spotted 28 Chinese air force planes in its air defence zone on Wednesday morning, part of what Taipei calls regular harassment by Beijing amid heightened tensions across the Taiwan Strait.
www.reuters.com
northern watch
TB Fanatic
Well Daniel, the Chinese are at it again today. Something must be up?