Huh...considering (per what I've posted on the WoW thread, that the system the Army is looking at fast tracking to deployment is naval compatible too) Beijing is going to be even more "annoyed"...
ALERT The Winds of War Blow in Korea and The Far East
- Thread starter northern watch
- Start date
Huh...considering (per what I've posted on the WoW thread, that the system the Army is looking at fast tracking to deployment is naval compatible too) Beijing is going to be even more "annoyed"...
danielboon
TB Fanatic
Duduman,s prophecy is almost here
EndGameWW3 Retweeted
Ankit Panda
@nktpnd
This is very significant: Trump administration plans $8 billion fighter jet sale to Taiwan, angering China
Trump administration plans $8 billion fighter jet sale to Taiwan, angering China
washingtonpost.com
1:46 AM · Aug 16, 2019 https://t.co/QKQ3XE6gaB?amp=1
Ankit Panda
@nktpnd
·
4h
Replying to
@nktpnd
Still very much a possibility that Taiwan is being set up as a bargaining chip though in the trade war.
Joe Moschella
@joemosch
·
3h
Replying to
@nktpnd
We can really do without the "angering China" at this point. It's pretty much assumed in every action of the West.
EndGameWW3 Retweeted
Ankit Panda
@nktpnd
This is very significant: Trump administration plans $8 billion fighter jet sale to Taiwan, angering China
Trump administration plans $8 billion fighter jet sale to Taiwan, angering China
washingtonpost.com
1:46 AM · Aug 16, 2019 https://t.co/QKQ3XE6gaB?amp=1
Ankit Panda
@nktpnd
·
4h
Replying to
@nktpnd
Still very much a possibility that Taiwan is being set up as a bargaining chip though in the trade war.
Joe Moschella
@joemosch
·
3h
Replying to
@nktpnd
We can really do without the "angering China" at this point. It's pretty much assumed in every action of the West.
danielboon
TB Fanatic
Huh...considering (per what I've posted on the WoW thread, that the system the Army is looking at fast tracking to deployment is naval compatible too) Beijing is going to be even more "annoyed"...
War is coming
For links see article source.....
Posted for fair use.....
https://www.defensenews.com/congress/2019/08/16/trump-oks-f-16-sale-to-taiwan-amid-china-tensions/
Congress
Trump OK’s F-16 sale to Taiwan amid China tensions
By: Joe Gould and Mike Yeo
6 hours ago
This article was updated to reflect comment from key U.S. lawmakers.
WASHINGTON ― The Trump administration has informally green lit a potential major arms sale to Taiwan involving dozens of new Lockheed Martin F-16V fighter jets, according to administration and Capitol Hill sources.
The move is part of Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen’s larger drive to combine arms bought from the U.S with domestically developed training jets, submarines and other weapons technology. It’s also sure to infuriate China amid its tense trade dispute with the U.S. and controversial crackdown on Hong Kong protesters.
The fighter jet sale had been in limbo as the White House directed Secretary of State Mike Pompeo to hold off, Capitol Hill sources said. That fueled speculation Trump planned to use it as a bargaining chip in ongoing trade negotiations with China.
Washington negotiated the sale with Taipei over several years, leaning on leaders the island nation to devote a significant part of its budget to purchase the fighter jets. Lawmakers were concerned a reversal by Trump who look bad for Tsai, whose government has proposed increasing the total national defense budget by 5.2 percent in 2020 and is running for reelection.
The State Department advanced the sale late yesterday for informal review and approval by the House Foreign Affairs Committee and Senate Foreign Relations Committee, according to Capitol Hill sources. From there, there is a mandatory 30-calendar-day formal review process before state can issue a letter of offer and acceptance to Taiwan for the sale.
Congressional Reaction
Key Members of Congress on Friday said the sale will likely be supported on a bipartisan basis in both chambers and invoked the strong bonds between the U.S. and Taiwan.
House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Eliot Engel, D-N.Y., and the panel’s top Republican, Rep. Michael McCaul, of Texas, said in a joint statement that the sale “sends a strong message about the U.S. commitment to security and democracy in the Indo-Pacific” amid China’s “military aggression in the region.”
“Following our meeting with President Tsai Ing-wen in New York last month, we know this sale will underscore our deep and enduring partnership with Taiwan,” they said. "Further, it will help deter China as they threaten our strategic partner Taiwan and its democratic system of government.”
The Senate Foreign Relations Committee’s chairman, Sen. Jim Risch, R-Idaho, cheered Trump and welcomed the sale as “critical to improving Taiwan’s ability to defend its sovereign airspace, which is under increasing pressure from the People’s Republic of China.”
"Taiwan is a steadfast partner of the United States in advancing a free and open Indo-Pacific, and the United States remains firmly committed to supporting its defense,” Risch said.
The U.S. is Taiwan’s main supplier of defensive weapons, despite the lack of formal diplomatic ties. However Beijing considers self-governing Taiwan part of China, to be annexed by force if necessary ― and it has objected to past U.S. arms sales to Taiwan.
The F-16V is the most advanced version of a plane that already forms the backbone of Taiwan’s air forces. The country is expected to use the F-16Vs to replace the Northrop F-5E/Fs that are being retired in the next couple of years. Taiwan was also hoping to be cleared to buy F-35s, particularly the STOVL F-35B variant, but approval for that jet does not appear forthcoming.
In July, the U.S. approved the potential sale of 108 M1A2T Abrams tanks and other equipment, worth a combined $2 billion.
The State Department said it was its policy not to comment on proposed defense sales until they are formally notified to Congress.
Sen. Ted Cruz, R-T.X., hailed Trump for the move in a Twitter post Friday and also pointed to China’s defense posture as a reason to approve the sale.
“With China building up its military to threaten us & our allies-and the People’s Liberation Army aiming thousands of missiles at Taiwan and deploying fighter aircrafts along the [Taiwanese Strait]-now more than ever it is critical that Taiwan has the support needed to defend itself,” Cruz’s post read.
Before heading out for Congress’s summer recess weeks ago, Republicans on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee were urging the Trump administration to move the sale forward.
Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., downplayed fears the sale would impact trade negotiations with Beijing and said it should go through as soon as possible. “We can’t allow that to dictate our foreign policy or dictate our policy toward Taiwan,” Rubio said.
“Hell, I’d like to sell them F-35’s, so the least we could do is sell them F-16s,” Sen. Corey Gardner, R-Colo., and the chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Subcommittee that covers Asia. “It’s the law.”
The U.S. is bound by the 1979 Taiwan Relations Act to “make available to Taiwan such defense articles and defense services in such quantity as may be necessary to enable Taiwan to maintain a sufficient self-defense capability.”
Previous requests, including one for 66 new F-16s, were rejected by the Obama administration. The White House at the time instead offered to upgrade Taiwan’s existing fleet of about 140 F-16A/B Block 20 aircraft, the first of which have been delivered to Taiwan’s Air Force. As of March, however, this process was behind schedule.
In addition to its F-16s, Taiwan’s Air Force is operating the French Mirage 2000 and the locally made AIDC F-CK-1 Ching-kuo fighters, although all three types date from the 1990s and are due for replacement soon, even after upgrades.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
-----
For links see article source.....
Posted for fair use.....
https://www.lockheedmartin.com/en-u...-technologically-advanced-4th-generation.html
Meet F-16V: The Most Technologically Advanced 4th Generation Fighter in the World
The Lockheed Martin F-16V is the latest and most advanced F-16 on the market today. The F-16V configuration includes numerous enhancements designed to keep the F-16 at the forefront of international security, strengthening its position as the world’s foremost combat-proven 4th Generation multi-role fighter aircraft.
The F-16V, an option for both new production F-16s and F-16 upgrades, is the next generation configuration that leverages a common worldwide sustainment infrastructure and provides significant capability improvements.
Integrated Capabilities
The F-16V provides advanced combat capabilities in a scalable and affordable package. The core of the F-16V configuration is an Active Electronically Scanned Array (AESA) radar, a modern commercial off-the-shelf (COTS)-based avionics subsystem, a large-format, high-resolution display; and a high-volume, high-speed data bus. Operational capabilities are enhanced through a Link-16 Theater Data Link, Sniper Advanced Targeting Pod, advanced weapons, precision GPS navigation, and the Automatic Ground Collision Avoidance System (Auto GCAS).
Advanced AESA Radar
Northrop Grumman’s advanced APG-83 AESA radar delivers greater situational awareness, flexibility and quicker all-weather targeting. The APG-83 provides pilots with unprecedented target area detail and digital map displays that can be tailored with slew and zoom features. The APG-83 provides F-16s with 5th Generation fighter radar capabilities by leveraging hardware and software commonality with F-22 and F-35 AESA radars.
The APG-83 AESA radar enables greater detection and tracking ranges, multiple target track (20-plus target tracks), high-resolution Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) maps for all-environment precision strike, interleaved air-to-air and air-to-surface mode operations for improved situational awareness, operational effectiveness and survivability; and robust electronic protection for operations in dense radio frequency (RF) environments. The APG-83 also provides greater overall system reliability and availability—three to five times that of legacy MSCAN radars
F-16
Enhanced Battlespace Awareness
Another key feature of the F-16V configuration is the new Center Pedestal Display (CPD), which provides critical tactical imagery to pilots on a high-resolution 6”x 8” screen. The high-resolution display allows Pilot to take full advantage of AESA and Targeting Pod data. The new CPD enables color moving maps, larger and easier to manage air-to-air Situation Displays, zoom functionality with the ability to switch information among displays, and digital display of Flight Instrument Data. The CPD is also compatible with the Night Vision Imaging System (NVIS).
F-16V Takes Flight
Lockheed Martin successfully completed the maiden flight of the F-16V on October 16, 2015, marking the first time an F-16 had flown with Northrop Grumman’s advanced APG-83 AESA radar. The new radar delivers a quantum leap in capability for the venerable F-16. Northrop Grumman’s APG-83 SABR AESA fire control radar provides 5th Generation air-to-air and air-to-ground radar capability. Northrop Grumman also provides AESA radars for the F-22 Raptor and F-35 Lightning II.
Lockheed Martin is more than two years into development of the F-16V and is now in the flight test phase of the program. Customer interest in the F-16V remains strong, particularly now that the program is in its flight test phase—a key milestone for any fighter aircraft development program.
F-16V
F-16 Durability Testing
Lockheed Martin also completed more than 27,000 hours of simulated flight time on an F-16C Block 50 aircraft and is now analyzing the data to determine the durability of the aircraft beyond its original design service life. The test data will be used to identify an extended, definitive flight hour limit for the venerable F-16 and demonstrate the safety and durability of the aircraft well beyond its original design service life.
The durability tests should provide even more confidence to current and potential new F-16 customers that the combat-proven F-16 will continue to play a crucial role in international security for years to come.
With more than 4,550 F-16s delivered to date, the F-16V is a natural step in the evolution of the world’s most successful 4th Generation fighter.
Learn More About the F-16
northern watch
TB Fanatic
Global: MilitaryInfo
@Global_Mil_Info
Aug 16
Top North Korean military official Kim Su Gil is this week making a rare trip to China, Japanese and South Korean outlets reported on Friday. This top visit has been described as: abnormal.
@Global_Mil_Info
Aug 16
Top North Korean military official Kim Su Gil is this week making a rare trip to China, Japanese and South Korean outlets reported on Friday. This top visit has been described as: abnormal.
northern watch
TB Fanatic
AMTI
Verified account @AsiaMTI
8h8 hours ago
Japanese government sources reveal Chinese JH-7 fighter-bombers simulated attacks on Japanese warships during drill in East China Sea. The drill occurred in May.
Verified account @AsiaMTI
8h8 hours ago
Japanese government sources reveal Chinese JH-7 fighter-bombers simulated attacks on Japanese warships during drill in East China Sea. The drill occurred in May.
danielboon
TB Fanatic
Tic tock
ELINT News
@ELINTNews
#BREAKING: US State Department authorises sale 66 F-16 fighter jets to Taiwan
5:09 PM · Aug 20, 2019·
32
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ELINT News
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Source:
Quote Tweet
Political-Military Affairs, US Dept of State
· 15m
.@StateDept authorizes a proposed Foreign Military Sale (FMS) to Taipei Economic & Cultural Representative Office in the United States #TECRO for up to 66 F-16C/D Block 70 Aircraft valued at $8 billion @StateDeptPM @USAsiaPacific @eAsiaMediaHub #FMSupdate-https://go.usa.gov/xVg5P
·
·
MrRevinsky
@Kyruer
·
7m
Quote Tweet
ELINT News
@ELINTNews
· 9m
Source: https://twitter.com/statedeptpm/status/1163919594668593157?s=21
ELINT News
@ELINTNews
#BREAKING: US State Department authorises sale 66 F-16 fighter jets to Taiwan
5:09 PM · Aug 20, 2019·
32
Retweets
52
Likes
ELINT News
@ELINTNews
·
9m
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Source:
Quote Tweet
Political-Military Affairs, US Dept of State
· 15m
.@StateDept authorizes a proposed Foreign Military Sale (FMS) to Taipei Economic & Cultural Representative Office in the United States #TECRO for up to 66 F-16C/D Block 70 Aircraft valued at $8 billion @StateDeptPM @USAsiaPacific @eAsiaMediaHub #FMSupdate-https://go.usa.gov/xVg5P
·
·
MrRevinsky
@Kyruer
·
7m
Quote Tweet
ELINT News
@ELINTNews
· 9m
Source: https://twitter.com/statedeptpm/status/1163919594668593157?s=21
northern watch
TB Fanatic
China could crush U.S. military in Pacific: Report
Budget shortfalls, Middle East wars could lead to catastrophe
By Ben Wolfgang - The Washington Times - Tuesday, August 20, 2019
The era of U.S. dominance in the Pacific is over, a study claims, with China now capable of launching devastating military attacks that could crush American forces in the region in a matter of hours.
A startling study from the University of Sydney’s United States Studies Center argues that decades of military engagements, budget shortfalls, a lack of investment in military technologies and other factors have cost the U.S. the edge it has held in the Indo-Pacific region since the end of World War II. A Chinese attack, the Australian researchers say, could overwhelm U.S. forces in the air and at sea.
President Trump brushed off those warnings and said any military confrontation between the world’s leading superpowers would end badly for Beijing.
“We have the strongest military in the world right now,” Mr. Trump said. “Right now there’s nobody that’s even close to us militarily — not even close.
“They’d pay a price they wouldn’t want to pay,” the president said of any Chinese aggression against U.S. assets in the Pacific.
But concern is growing inside the Pentagon and on Capitol Hill that, in a worst-case scenario, the U.S. military is ill-equipped and ill-positioned to deal with an all-out Chinese offensive. The Defense Department’s “Indo-Pacific Strategy” report released this year focuses on containing Chinese expansion in the Pacific and bolstering partnerships with key regional allies such as Japan and Australia, but researchers say Washington hasn’t made the necessary investments to prepare for a full-scale military attack.
“The combined effect of ongoing wars in the Middle East, budget austerity, underinvestment in advanced military capabilities and the scale of America’s liberal order-building agenda has left the U.S. armed forces ill-prepared for great power competition in the Indo-Pacific,” the University of Sydney study says.
“Chinese counter-intervention systems have undermined America’s ability to project power into the Indo-Pacific, raising the risk that China could use limited force to achieve a fait accompli victory before America can respond; and challenging U.S. security guarantees in the process.”
While China’s defense budgets surge as the country emerges as an economic superpower, officials in Beijing deny they are crafting plans for any such assault.
“What I can tell you is that China unswervingly follows the path of peaceful development and a national defense policy that is defensive in nature,” Foreign Ministry spokesman Geng Shuang told reporters.
The report was released against the backdrop of broader tensions between the U.S. and China over a host of issues. The two nations remain embroiled in an increasingly bitter trade war — a policy tack that Mr. Trump defended Tuesday — and have repeatedly clashed over China’s expansive sovereignty claims in the South China Sea.
Late last week, the Trump administration approved an $8 billion sale of F-16 fighter jets to Taiwan. Beijing has condemned the weapons sale to a state it considers a renegade province of the mainland.
The U.S. also is closely monitoring Beijing’s response to protests in Hong Kong amid fears China could respond militarily or even impose martial law. Prominent lawmakers are urging the White House to prepare a slate of options should the Chinese government mount a violent crackdown.
“We ought to reconsider the kind of visas that we give to senior-level Chinese officials, or the number of Chinese nationals we allow into our universities,” Sen. Tom Cotton, Arkansas Republican, told radio host Hugh Hewitt on Tuesday. “We could also just say simply that trade talks will no longer go forward and the tariffs will remain in place.”
Power shift
China’s newfound military supremacy in the Pacific complicates each of those issues and adds another dangerous layer to the Sino-American relationship.
In recent years, the U.S. has routinely condemned China’s claim to islands in the South China Sea and its broader effort to exert power and influence in the region. U.S. forces also regularly sail warships throughout the Pacific to assert “freedom of navigation” rights in international waters.
But if push comes to shove, scholars say, the U.S. would stand little chance against an assault from China’s People’s Liberation Army.
“Asymmetries in power, time, distance and interest would all work against an effective American response,” the Australian study concluded. “Under present-day U.S. posture in the region, most American and allied bases and forward-deployed ships, troops and aircraft would struggle to survive a PLA salvo attack, and would be initially forced to focus on damage limitation rather than blunting the thrust of a Chinese offensive.
“American forces that are able to operate would be highly constrained in the early phases of a crisis — lacking air and naval dominance, outnumbered by their PLA equivalents and severely challenged by the loss of enabling infrastructure, like functioning airstrips, fuel depots and port facilities, all of which would be at least temporarily degraded by precision strikes,” the study continues.
Specifically, China has made huge military investments in recent years, leading to its undeniable advantage. The nation has produced hundreds of fighter aircraft and dozens of cutting-edge submarines and warships, the study said, most of which could be immediately thrown into a fight with the U.S.
China has an estimated 570 missile launchers that could be used in war, an increase of nearly 100 over its 2014 arsenal, underscoring the massive buildup in just five years.
The situation remains at the top of the priority list inside the Pentagon, which under Mr. Trump has refocused its core mission on countering competing world powers such as China.
Defense Secretary Mark Esper traveled to the Pacific earlier this month and spoke extensively with allies about the need to counter an increasingly bold Beijing, though he and other officials typically don’t discuss the possibility of direct military confrontation.
“It’s pretty vast in terms of where they’re going or where they’re touching,” Mr. Esper said during his trip. “We’ve got to be able to compete with them. … We’ve got to be conscious of the toeholds that they’re trying to get into many of these countries.”
His predecessor at the Pentagon, Patrick M. Shanahan, memorably listed his priorities during his brief tenure as acting secretary of defense as “China, China, China.” In May, Mr. Shanahan unveiled a revamped Indo-Pacific strategy for the U.S. military that centers on ensuring sovereignty of all nations, and freedom of navigation and flight in and over the South China Sea.
To counter China’s growing claims in the South China Sea, Defense Department officials said they will make unprecedented investments in cyber and space defense, undersea warfare, tactical aircraft, missile defense and a host of other areas.
Indeed, the University of Sydney study argues that the U.S. must ramp up its military presence in the Pacific, launch new military exercises and partnerships with key allies in the region, pour more money into hypersonic technology and other cutting-edge weapons, and take other steps to avoid falling further behind.
https://www.washingtontimes.com/new...PTullqHlpd+H8RjDu4Ww6+v1c&bt_ts=1566337154463
Budget shortfalls, Middle East wars could lead to catastrophe
By Ben Wolfgang - The Washington Times - Tuesday, August 20, 2019
The era of U.S. dominance in the Pacific is over, a study claims, with China now capable of launching devastating military attacks that could crush American forces in the region in a matter of hours.
A startling study from the University of Sydney’s United States Studies Center argues that decades of military engagements, budget shortfalls, a lack of investment in military technologies and other factors have cost the U.S. the edge it has held in the Indo-Pacific region since the end of World War II. A Chinese attack, the Australian researchers say, could overwhelm U.S. forces in the air and at sea.
President Trump brushed off those warnings and said any military confrontation between the world’s leading superpowers would end badly for Beijing.
“We have the strongest military in the world right now,” Mr. Trump said. “Right now there’s nobody that’s even close to us militarily — not even close.
“They’d pay a price they wouldn’t want to pay,” the president said of any Chinese aggression against U.S. assets in the Pacific.
But concern is growing inside the Pentagon and on Capitol Hill that, in a worst-case scenario, the U.S. military is ill-equipped and ill-positioned to deal with an all-out Chinese offensive. The Defense Department’s “Indo-Pacific Strategy” report released this year focuses on containing Chinese expansion in the Pacific and bolstering partnerships with key regional allies such as Japan and Australia, but researchers say Washington hasn’t made the necessary investments to prepare for a full-scale military attack.
“The combined effect of ongoing wars in the Middle East, budget austerity, underinvestment in advanced military capabilities and the scale of America’s liberal order-building agenda has left the U.S. armed forces ill-prepared for great power competition in the Indo-Pacific,” the University of Sydney study says.
“Chinese counter-intervention systems have undermined America’s ability to project power into the Indo-Pacific, raising the risk that China could use limited force to achieve a fait accompli victory before America can respond; and challenging U.S. security guarantees in the process.”
While China’s defense budgets surge as the country emerges as an economic superpower, officials in Beijing deny they are crafting plans for any such assault.
“What I can tell you is that China unswervingly follows the path of peaceful development and a national defense policy that is defensive in nature,” Foreign Ministry spokesman Geng Shuang told reporters.
The report was released against the backdrop of broader tensions between the U.S. and China over a host of issues. The two nations remain embroiled in an increasingly bitter trade war — a policy tack that Mr. Trump defended Tuesday — and have repeatedly clashed over China’s expansive sovereignty claims in the South China Sea.
Late last week, the Trump administration approved an $8 billion sale of F-16 fighter jets to Taiwan. Beijing has condemned the weapons sale to a state it considers a renegade province of the mainland.
The U.S. also is closely monitoring Beijing’s response to protests in Hong Kong amid fears China could respond militarily or even impose martial law. Prominent lawmakers are urging the White House to prepare a slate of options should the Chinese government mount a violent crackdown.
“We ought to reconsider the kind of visas that we give to senior-level Chinese officials, or the number of Chinese nationals we allow into our universities,” Sen. Tom Cotton, Arkansas Republican, told radio host Hugh Hewitt on Tuesday. “We could also just say simply that trade talks will no longer go forward and the tariffs will remain in place.”
Power shift
China’s newfound military supremacy in the Pacific complicates each of those issues and adds another dangerous layer to the Sino-American relationship.
In recent years, the U.S. has routinely condemned China’s claim to islands in the South China Sea and its broader effort to exert power and influence in the region. U.S. forces also regularly sail warships throughout the Pacific to assert “freedom of navigation” rights in international waters.
But if push comes to shove, scholars say, the U.S. would stand little chance against an assault from China’s People’s Liberation Army.
“Asymmetries in power, time, distance and interest would all work against an effective American response,” the Australian study concluded. “Under present-day U.S. posture in the region, most American and allied bases and forward-deployed ships, troops and aircraft would struggle to survive a PLA salvo attack, and would be initially forced to focus on damage limitation rather than blunting the thrust of a Chinese offensive.
“American forces that are able to operate would be highly constrained in the early phases of a crisis — lacking air and naval dominance, outnumbered by their PLA equivalents and severely challenged by the loss of enabling infrastructure, like functioning airstrips, fuel depots and port facilities, all of which would be at least temporarily degraded by precision strikes,” the study continues.
Specifically, China has made huge military investments in recent years, leading to its undeniable advantage. The nation has produced hundreds of fighter aircraft and dozens of cutting-edge submarines and warships, the study said, most of which could be immediately thrown into a fight with the U.S.
China has an estimated 570 missile launchers that could be used in war, an increase of nearly 100 over its 2014 arsenal, underscoring the massive buildup in just five years.
The situation remains at the top of the priority list inside the Pentagon, which under Mr. Trump has refocused its core mission on countering competing world powers such as China.
Defense Secretary Mark Esper traveled to the Pacific earlier this month and spoke extensively with allies about the need to counter an increasingly bold Beijing, though he and other officials typically don’t discuss the possibility of direct military confrontation.
“It’s pretty vast in terms of where they’re going or where they’re touching,” Mr. Esper said during his trip. “We’ve got to be able to compete with them. … We’ve got to be conscious of the toeholds that they’re trying to get into many of these countries.”
His predecessor at the Pentagon, Patrick M. Shanahan, memorably listed his priorities during his brief tenure as acting secretary of defense as “China, China, China.” In May, Mr. Shanahan unveiled a revamped Indo-Pacific strategy for the U.S. military that centers on ensuring sovereignty of all nations, and freedom of navigation and flight in and over the South China Sea.
To counter China’s growing claims in the South China Sea, Defense Department officials said they will make unprecedented investments in cyber and space defense, undersea warfare, tactical aircraft, missile defense and a host of other areas.
Indeed, the University of Sydney study argues that the U.S. must ramp up its military presence in the Pacific, launch new military exercises and partnerships with key allies in the region, pour more money into hypersonic technology and other cutting-edge weapons, and take other steps to avoid falling further behind.
https://www.washingtontimes.com/new...PTullqHlpd+H8RjDu4Ww6+v1c&bt_ts=1566337154463
northern watch
TB Fanatic
China says it will sanction US firms in Taiwan warplane sale
By The Associated Press
BEIJING — August 21, 2019, 10:01 AM ET
China said Wednesday that it will levy sanctions against U.S. companies linked to a planned $8 billion sale of advanced F-16V fighter jets to Taiwan in a move that has further strained Sino-American relations.
The U.S. should "immediately back away" from the arms sale proposal, Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Geng Shuang said at a daily briefing.
Geng said China urges the U.S. to "stop arms sales to and military interactions with Taiwan" or otherwise "bear all the consequences arising from it."
"China will take all necessary measures to safeguard its own interests, including imposing sanctions on U.S. companies involved in this arms sale to Taiwan," Geng said. He did not elaborate on any specific measures.
The Trump administration informed Congress last week that it plans to sell the warplanes despite repeated warnings from China. Earlier this week, the U.S. State Department approved the sale.
Beijing fiercely opposes all arms sales to Taiwan, which it regards as a renegade province, but has specifically objected to advanced fighter jets. Despite a lack of formal diplomatic ties, U.S. law requires Washington to ensure Taiwan has the means to defend itself.
Taiwan is a democratically governed island that broke away from the Communist Party-ruled mainland during a civil war in 1949.
China also pledged sanctions against the U.S. in July when the Trump administration said it was considering a $2.2 billion sale of tanks and air missiles to Taiwan.
Taiwan leader Tsai Ing-wen thanked the U.S. on Tuesday for approving the sales.
"These packages reaffirm the United States' long-standing commitment to helping maintain peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait," Tsai said. She also urged China to respect Taiwan's right to defend itself.
———
Associated Press videojournalist Taijing Wu in Taipei, Taiwan, contributed to this report.
https://abcnews.go.com/Internationa...5093997?cid=clicksource_76_null_headlines_hed
By The Associated Press
BEIJING — August 21, 2019, 10:01 AM ET
China said Wednesday that it will levy sanctions against U.S. companies linked to a planned $8 billion sale of advanced F-16V fighter jets to Taiwan in a move that has further strained Sino-American relations.
The U.S. should "immediately back away" from the arms sale proposal, Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Geng Shuang said at a daily briefing.
Geng said China urges the U.S. to "stop arms sales to and military interactions with Taiwan" or otherwise "bear all the consequences arising from it."
"China will take all necessary measures to safeguard its own interests, including imposing sanctions on U.S. companies involved in this arms sale to Taiwan," Geng said. He did not elaborate on any specific measures.
The Trump administration informed Congress last week that it plans to sell the warplanes despite repeated warnings from China. Earlier this week, the U.S. State Department approved the sale.
Beijing fiercely opposes all arms sales to Taiwan, which it regards as a renegade province, but has specifically objected to advanced fighter jets. Despite a lack of formal diplomatic ties, U.S. law requires Washington to ensure Taiwan has the means to defend itself.
Taiwan is a democratically governed island that broke away from the Communist Party-ruled mainland during a civil war in 1949.
China also pledged sanctions against the U.S. in July when the Trump administration said it was considering a $2.2 billion sale of tanks and air missiles to Taiwan.
Taiwan leader Tsai Ing-wen thanked the U.S. on Tuesday for approving the sales.
"These packages reaffirm the United States' long-standing commitment to helping maintain peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait," Tsai said. She also urged China to respect Taiwan's right to defend itself.
———
Associated Press videojournalist Taijing Wu in Taipei, Taiwan, contributed to this report.
https://abcnews.go.com/Internationa...5093997?cid=clicksource_76_null_headlines_hed
northern watch
TB Fanatic
StratforVerified account @Stratfor · 17h17 hours ago
"As remaining problems are ironed out and its amphibious #fleet grows in the longer term, the #Chinese may develop a credible option for an amphibious landing in a conflict against #Taiwan."
"As remaining problems are ironed out and its amphibious #fleet grows in the longer term, the #Chinese may develop a credible option for an amphibious landing in a conflict against #Taiwan."
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Holger Zschaepitz
þ @Schuldensuehner
1h1 hour ago
Tit for tat: #China hits US w/tariffs on $75bn worth of goods, reinstates auto levies. Levies will range from 5-10% & be put in place in 2 rounds, on Sept1 & Dec15, same dates on which Trump’s latest tariffs on $300bn in China goods slated to take effect
þ @Schuldensuehner
1h1 hour ago
Tit for tat: #China hits US w/tariffs on $75bn worth of goods, reinstates auto levies. Levies will range from 5-10% & be put in place in 2 rounds, on Sept1 & Dec15, same dates on which Trump’s latest tariffs on $300bn in China goods slated to take effect
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‘Mulan’ Actress Supports Repressing Hong Kong Pro-Freedom Protesters
Moviegoers call for boycotting the film
Jeffrey Cimmino - August 16, 2019 10:55 AM
Free Beacon
The lead actress in Disney's upcoming live-action remake of Mulan expressed support for police repressing pro-democracy protesters in Hong Kong, prompting calls to boycott the film.
"I support the Hong Kong police. You can all attack me now," actress Liu Yifei posted on Weibo, a Chinese social media platform. "What a shame for Hong Kong."
Yifei also included a Chinese propaganda post against the protesters and used the hashtag #IAlsoSupportTheHongKongPolice along with a heart and strong arm emoji.
The hashtag #BoycottMulan is trending in response to the comments, CBS News reports.
Earlier this week, pro-democracy protesters shut down Hong Kong's airport, the latest episode in a protest movement that began in June against a proposed extradition law. The law would permit some criminal suspects to be sent to mainland China for trial. Despite the bill being suspended, protesters have continued to call for reforms.
Videos have shown police firing tear gas and beanbag rounds against protesters at close range, possibly in violation of international law. Video has also emerged of Hong Kong protesters waving American flags and singing America's national anthem.
China's influence over Hollywood has grown in recent years.
The Heritage Foundation's Mike Gonzalez has noted that Hollywood movie scripts must be submitted to Chinese censors, who typically "change your script, change your movie in order to portray China as not the dictatorship that it is, but as a benevolent country no different from the UK or France."
Censorship has prompted scriptwriters and producers to start writing films they know will be approved in China.
"So, if you're a Hollywood studio, and you know that Tibet is [forbidden], you're not going to include anything about Tibet," Gonzalez observes.
Freedom House rates China as one of the least free countries in the world, writing that it "has become increasingly repressive in recent years," with the ruling Communist Party "tightening its control over the state bureaucracy, the media, online speech, religious groups, universities, businesses, and civil society associations, and it has undermined its own already modest rule-of-law reforms."
The State Department's most recent human rights report highlights a lengthy list of human rights violations, including "arbitrary or unlawful killings by the government; forced disappearances by the government; torture by the government; arbitrary detention by the government; harsh and life-threatening prison and detention conditions; political prisoners; arbitrary interference with privacy; physical attacks on and criminal prosecution of journalists, lawyers, writers, bloggers, dissidents, petitioners, and others as well as their family members; censorship and site blocking," among other violations.
China has also continued to repress Tibetans in the Tibet Autonomous Region and has waged an increasingly repressive campaign against the Uighurs in Xinjiang.
https://freebeacon.com/uncategorize...ail&utm_term=0_b5e6e0e9ea-8cb43effb0-45641005
Moviegoers call for boycotting the film
Jeffrey Cimmino - August 16, 2019 10:55 AM
Free Beacon
The lead actress in Disney's upcoming live-action remake of Mulan expressed support for police repressing pro-democracy protesters in Hong Kong, prompting calls to boycott the film.
"I support the Hong Kong police. You can all attack me now," actress Liu Yifei posted on Weibo, a Chinese social media platform. "What a shame for Hong Kong."
Yifei also included a Chinese propaganda post against the protesters and used the hashtag #IAlsoSupportTheHongKongPolice along with a heart and strong arm emoji.
The hashtag #BoycottMulan is trending in response to the comments, CBS News reports.
Earlier this week, pro-democracy protesters shut down Hong Kong's airport, the latest episode in a protest movement that began in June against a proposed extradition law. The law would permit some criminal suspects to be sent to mainland China for trial. Despite the bill being suspended, protesters have continued to call for reforms.
Videos have shown police firing tear gas and beanbag rounds against protesters at close range, possibly in violation of international law. Video has also emerged of Hong Kong protesters waving American flags and singing America's national anthem.
China's influence over Hollywood has grown in recent years.
The Heritage Foundation's Mike Gonzalez has noted that Hollywood movie scripts must be submitted to Chinese censors, who typically "change your script, change your movie in order to portray China as not the dictatorship that it is, but as a benevolent country no different from the UK or France."
Censorship has prompted scriptwriters and producers to start writing films they know will be approved in China.
"So, if you're a Hollywood studio, and you know that Tibet is [forbidden], you're not going to include anything about Tibet," Gonzalez observes.
Freedom House rates China as one of the least free countries in the world, writing that it "has become increasingly repressive in recent years," with the ruling Communist Party "tightening its control over the state bureaucracy, the media, online speech, religious groups, universities, businesses, and civil society associations, and it has undermined its own already modest rule-of-law reforms."
The State Department's most recent human rights report highlights a lengthy list of human rights violations, including "arbitrary or unlawful killings by the government; forced disappearances by the government; torture by the government; arbitrary detention by the government; harsh and life-threatening prison and detention conditions; political prisoners; arbitrary interference with privacy; physical attacks on and criminal prosecution of journalists, lawyers, writers, bloggers, dissidents, petitioners, and others as well as their family members; censorship and site blocking," among other violations.
China has also continued to repress Tibetans in the Tibet Autonomous Region and has waged an increasingly repressive campaign against the Uighurs in Xinjiang.
https://freebeacon.com/uncategorize...ail&utm_term=0_b5e6e0e9ea-8cb43effb0-45641005
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China criticizes Australian move to close language schools
By The Associated Press
BEIJING — August 23, 2019, 6:24 AM ET
China on Friday criticized a decision by the government of Australia's New South Wales state to close Chinese-sponsored language programs in more than a dozen public schools over political concerns.
Foreign ministry spokesman Geng Shuang said the 13 Confucius Institute programs operating in the schools had been "open, transparent and lawful" and a "win-win thing."
"But without communicating with China, the New South Wales state announced it was stopping this program. This shows no respect to the local people and students, it is not fair and not good for our people-to-people exchange," Geng said at a daily briefing.
"We hope Australia and the authorities in New South Wales can respect our cooperation and cherish the results of our cooperation, not politicize this normal exchange program and do more to contribute to our friendship and mutual trust," Geng said.
Confucius Institutes are run by a Chinese Education Ministry department known as Hanban and its teachers and curriculum are chosen by the communist state.
They are normally housed in universities, and New South Wales, which includes Sydney, was the only government body in the world to host them within its own education department starting in 2012.
A New South Wales report issued after a review of the program said no evidence of "actual political influence" was found but that there was a sense that "the institute is or could be facilitating inappropriate foreign influence."
"Having foreign government appointees based in a government department is one thing," it said. "Having appointees of a one-party state that exercises censorship in its own country working in a government department in a democratic system is another."
China has opened around 500 Confucius Institutes around the world since 2004, including more than 100 in the U.S. alone. While China publicly portrays them as purely a vehicle for teaching Chinese language and culture, they have come under increasing scrutiny for their role spreading Chinese pro-government propaganda and censoring opposing viewpoints on issues such as Tibet, Xinjiang and Hong Kong.
Several have already been closed down on grounds of interfering in academic freedom, and a bipartisan report from Congress in February urged U.S. colleges and universities to sever ties with the institute, concluding that the deals give Chinese authorities too much control over programs on U.S. soil.
https://abcnews.go.com/Internationa...42979?cid=clicksource_76_null_articleroll_hed
By The Associated Press
BEIJING — August 23, 2019, 6:24 AM ET
China on Friday criticized a decision by the government of Australia's New South Wales state to close Chinese-sponsored language programs in more than a dozen public schools over political concerns.
Foreign ministry spokesman Geng Shuang said the 13 Confucius Institute programs operating in the schools had been "open, transparent and lawful" and a "win-win thing."
"But without communicating with China, the New South Wales state announced it was stopping this program. This shows no respect to the local people and students, it is not fair and not good for our people-to-people exchange," Geng said at a daily briefing.
"We hope Australia and the authorities in New South Wales can respect our cooperation and cherish the results of our cooperation, not politicize this normal exchange program and do more to contribute to our friendship and mutual trust," Geng said.
Confucius Institutes are run by a Chinese Education Ministry department known as Hanban and its teachers and curriculum are chosen by the communist state.
They are normally housed in universities, and New South Wales, which includes Sydney, was the only government body in the world to host them within its own education department starting in 2012.
A New South Wales report issued after a review of the program said no evidence of "actual political influence" was found but that there was a sense that "the institute is or could be facilitating inappropriate foreign influence."
"Having foreign government appointees based in a government department is one thing," it said. "Having appointees of a one-party state that exercises censorship in its own country working in a government department in a democratic system is another."
China has opened around 500 Confucius Institutes around the world since 2004, including more than 100 in the U.S. alone. While China publicly portrays them as purely a vehicle for teaching Chinese language and culture, they have come under increasing scrutiny for their role spreading Chinese pro-government propaganda and censoring opposing viewpoints on issues such as Tibet, Xinjiang and Hong Kong.
Several have already been closed down on grounds of interfering in academic freedom, and a bipartisan report from Congress in February urged U.S. colleges and universities to sever ties with the institute, concluding that the deals give Chinese authorities too much control over programs on U.S. soil.
https://abcnews.go.com/Internationa...42979?cid=clicksource_76_null_articleroll_hed
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China announces tariff hike on $75 billion of US products
By Joe Mcdonald, AP Business Writer
BEIJING — August 23, 2019, 9:19 AM ET
China on Friday announced tariff hikes on $75 billion of U.S. products in retaliation for President Donald Trump's latest planned increase, deepening a conflict over trade and technology that threatens to tip a weakening global economy into recession.
China also will increase import duties on U.S.-made autos and auto parts, the Finance Ministry announced.
The announcement comes as leaders of the Group of 7 major economies prepare to meet in France this weekend.
Tariffs of 10% and 5% will take effect on two batches of goods on September 1 and December 15, the ministry said in a statement. It gave no details of what goods would be affected but the timing matches Trump's planned duty hikes.
Washington is pressing Beijing to narrow its trade surplus and roll back plans for government-led creation of global competitors in robotics, electric cars and other technology industries.
The spiraling conflict has battered exporters on both sides and fueled concern it might drag down weakening global economic growth.
China's government appealed to Trump this week to compromise in order to reach a settlement.
That came after Trump warned that the American public might need to endure economic pain in order to achieve long-term results.
The United States, Europe, Japan and other trading partners say Beijing's development plans violate its market-opening commitments and are based on stealing or pressuring foreign companies to hand over technology.
Some American officials worry they might erode U.S. industrial leadership.
Chinese leaders have offered to alter details but are resisting giving up a development strategy they see as a path to prosperity and global influence.
The talks are deadlocked over how to enforce any deal. China insists Trump's punitive tariffs have to be lifted as soon as an agreement takes effect. Washington says at least some have to stay to ensure Beijing carries out any promises it makes.
Trump announced plans to raise tariffs September 1 on $300 billion of Chinese products after talks broke down in May. Increases on some goods were postponed to December 15.
Trump escalated "trade frictions" that are "seriously threatening the multilateral trading system," the Finance Ministry said. "China was forced to take countermeasures."
A separate statement said tariffs of 25% and 5% would be imposed on U.S.-made autos and auto parts on December 15. Beijing announced that increase last year but suspended it after Trump and his Chinese counterpart, President Xi Jinping, agreed at a meeting in December in Argentina to put off further trade action while they negotiated.
Trump and Xi agreed in June to resume negotiations. But talks in Shanghai in July ended with no indication of progress. Negotiators talked by phone this month and are due to meet again in Washington next month.
Trump already has imposed 25% tariffs on $250 billion of Chinese products. Beijing retaliated by imposing its own penalties on $110 billion of American goods. But their lopsided trade balance meant China was running out of imports for retaliation.
Friday's announcement, if it applied to goods not already affected by Chinese penalties, would extend tariff hikes to everything China imports from the United States. That would match Trump's hikes, which cover almost all of what Americans buy from China.
https://abcnews.go.com/Internationa...ucts-65145696?cid=clicksource_76_null_bsq_hed
By Joe Mcdonald, AP Business Writer
BEIJING — August 23, 2019, 9:19 AM ET
China on Friday announced tariff hikes on $75 billion of U.S. products in retaliation for President Donald Trump's latest planned increase, deepening a conflict over trade and technology that threatens to tip a weakening global economy into recession.
China also will increase import duties on U.S.-made autos and auto parts, the Finance Ministry announced.
The announcement comes as leaders of the Group of 7 major economies prepare to meet in France this weekend.
Tariffs of 10% and 5% will take effect on two batches of goods on September 1 and December 15, the ministry said in a statement. It gave no details of what goods would be affected but the timing matches Trump's planned duty hikes.
Washington is pressing Beijing to narrow its trade surplus and roll back plans for government-led creation of global competitors in robotics, electric cars and other technology industries.
The spiraling conflict has battered exporters on both sides and fueled concern it might drag down weakening global economic growth.
China's government appealed to Trump this week to compromise in order to reach a settlement.
That came after Trump warned that the American public might need to endure economic pain in order to achieve long-term results.
The United States, Europe, Japan and other trading partners say Beijing's development plans violate its market-opening commitments and are based on stealing or pressuring foreign companies to hand over technology.
Some American officials worry they might erode U.S. industrial leadership.
Chinese leaders have offered to alter details but are resisting giving up a development strategy they see as a path to prosperity and global influence.
The talks are deadlocked over how to enforce any deal. China insists Trump's punitive tariffs have to be lifted as soon as an agreement takes effect. Washington says at least some have to stay to ensure Beijing carries out any promises it makes.
Trump announced plans to raise tariffs September 1 on $300 billion of Chinese products after talks broke down in May. Increases on some goods were postponed to December 15.
Trump escalated "trade frictions" that are "seriously threatening the multilateral trading system," the Finance Ministry said. "China was forced to take countermeasures."
A separate statement said tariffs of 25% and 5% would be imposed on U.S.-made autos and auto parts on December 15. Beijing announced that increase last year but suspended it after Trump and his Chinese counterpart, President Xi Jinping, agreed at a meeting in December in Argentina to put off further trade action while they negotiated.
Trump and Xi agreed in June to resume negotiations. But talks in Shanghai in July ended with no indication of progress. Negotiators talked by phone this month and are due to meet again in Washington next month.
Trump already has imposed 25% tariffs on $250 billion of Chinese products. Beijing retaliated by imposing its own penalties on $110 billion of American goods. But their lopsided trade balance meant China was running out of imports for retaliation.
Friday's announcement, if it applied to goods not already affected by Chinese penalties, would extend tariff hikes to everything China imports from the United States. That would match Trump's hikes, which cover almost all of what Americans buy from China.
https://abcnews.go.com/Internationa...ucts-65145696?cid=clicksource_76_null_bsq_hed
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StratforVerified account @Stratfor · 22h22 hours ago
The United States' other great power rival in the western #Pacific, #Russia, won't be in range of any initial intermediate-range #missiles stationed in #Guam, although subsequent, longer-range missiles will be able to hit the country's east.
The United States' other great power rival in the western #Pacific, #Russia, won't be in range of any initial intermediate-range #missiles stationed in #Guam, although subsequent, longer-range missiles will be able to hit the country's east.
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Donald J. TrumpVerified account @realDonaldTrump · 2h2 hours ago
Our Country has lost, stupidly, Trillions of Dollars with China over many years. They have stolen our Intellectual Property at a rate of Hundreds of Billions of Dollars a year, & they want to continue. I won’t let that happen! We don’t need China and, frankly, would be far....
Donald J. TrumpVerified account @realDonaldTrump · 2h2 hours ago
....better off without them. The vast amounts of money made and stolen by China from the United States, year after year, for decades, will and must STOP. Our great American companies are hereby ordered to immediately start looking for an alternative to China, including bringing..
Donald J. TrumpVerified account @realDonaldTrump · 3h3 hours ago
....your companies HOME and making your products in the USA. I will be responding to China’s Tariffs this afternoon. This is a GREAT opportunity for the United States. Also, I am ordering all carriers, including Fed Ex, Amazon, UPS and the Post Office, to SEARCH FOR & REFUSE,....
Donald J. TrumpVerified account @realDonaldTrump · 3h3 hours ago
....all deliveries of Fentanyl from China (or anywhere else!). Fentanyl kills 100,000 Americans a year. President Xi said this would stop - it didn’t. Our Economy, because of our gains in the last 2 1/2 years, is MUCH larger than that of China. We will keep it that way!
Our Country has lost, stupidly, Trillions of Dollars with China over many years. They have stolen our Intellectual Property at a rate of Hundreds of Billions of Dollars a year, & they want to continue. I won’t let that happen! We don’t need China and, frankly, would be far....
Donald J. TrumpVerified account @realDonaldTrump · 2h2 hours ago
....better off without them. The vast amounts of money made and stolen by China from the United States, year after year, for decades, will and must STOP. Our great American companies are hereby ordered to immediately start looking for an alternative to China, including bringing..
Donald J. TrumpVerified account @realDonaldTrump · 3h3 hours ago
....your companies HOME and making your products in the USA. I will be responding to China’s Tariffs this afternoon. This is a GREAT opportunity for the United States. Also, I am ordering all carriers, including Fed Ex, Amazon, UPS and the Post Office, to SEARCH FOR & REFUSE,....
Donald J. TrumpVerified account @realDonaldTrump · 3h3 hours ago
....all deliveries of Fentanyl from China (or anywhere else!). Fentanyl kills 100,000 Americans a year. President Xi said this would stop - it didn’t. Our Economy, because of our gains in the last 2 1/2 years, is MUCH larger than that of China. We will keep it that way!
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US stocks fall sharply as US-China trade war escalates
By Alex Veiga, AP Business Writer
August 23, 2019, 12:29 PM ET
Stocks fell sharply on Wall Street Friday after President Donald Trump called on U.S. companies to consider alternatives to doing business in China. He also said he would respond to Beijing's latest tariff increase.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average sank more than 400 points after the president made the announcements on Twitter.
Trump also said he was "ordering" UPS, Federal Express and Amazon to block any deliveries from China of the powerful opiod drug fentanyl. The stocks of all three companies fell as traders tried to understand what the implications for them were.
The U.S. has said it would impose 10% duties on the $300 billion of Chinese goods that were not already subject to tariffs. Early Friday China said it would retaliate with taxes on $75 billion of U.S. products.
The market opened lower with the news of the new tariffs. It recovered some of its losses after a widely anticipated speech by Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell gave no clear signal on when the central bank may cut interest rates again.
Speaking at a Fed policy conference in Jackson Hole, Wyoming, Powell noted that there's growing evidence of a global economic slowdown and suggested that uncertainty over Trump's trade wars have complicated the central bank's ability to set interest rate policy. Powell said the Fed "will act as appropriate to sustain the expansion."
Markets have been jumpy for weeks as traders increasingly worry about a protracted trade war and whether it could tip the already fragile global economy into recession.
"There's been reason to be concerned that this might not get resolved anytime soon, but the market is accepting that not only is it not likely, it's very unlikely," said Randy Frederick, vice president of trading and derivatives at Charles Schwab.
The S&P 500 was down 1.6% as of 12:30 p.m. Eastern Time. The Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 417 points, or 1.6%, to 25,834. The Nasdaq dropped 2%.
Technology companies, which have much to lose in the trade battle, accounted for the biggest share of the market's losses. Chipmaker Nvidia slid 4.8% and Apple lost 4%. Companies that rely on consumer spending also took losses. Retailer L Brands dropped 6.8%.
Energy stocks headed lower along with crude oil prices. The price of crude sank 3% to $53.63 a barrel as traders worried that the latest escalation in the trade battle could sap global demand for energy.
U.S. bond prices rose sharply as investors sought safety, sending yields lower. The yield on the 10-year Treasury fell to 1.54% from 1.61%, a large move.
The price of gold, another safe haven for investors during times of market turbulence and economic weakness, rose 1.7% to $1,534 an ounce.
The Trump administration has imposed a 25% tariff on $250 billion in Chinese imports. The pending 10% tariff on another $300 billion in goods would hit everything from toys to clothing and shoes that China ships to the United States, however some 60% of the new tariffs wouldn't go into effect until mid-December, and others were taken off the table altogether.
China gave no details of what goods would be affected in its latest round of tariffs, but the timing matches Trump's planned duty hikes.
China's government appealed to Trump this week to compromise in order to break a deadlock in negotiations.
https://abcnews.go.com/Business/wir...5148162?cid=clicksource_74_null_headlines_hed
By Alex Veiga, AP Business Writer
August 23, 2019, 12:29 PM ET
Stocks fell sharply on Wall Street Friday after President Donald Trump called on U.S. companies to consider alternatives to doing business in China. He also said he would respond to Beijing's latest tariff increase.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average sank more than 400 points after the president made the announcements on Twitter.
Trump also said he was "ordering" UPS, Federal Express and Amazon to block any deliveries from China of the powerful opiod drug fentanyl. The stocks of all three companies fell as traders tried to understand what the implications for them were.
The U.S. has said it would impose 10% duties on the $300 billion of Chinese goods that were not already subject to tariffs. Early Friday China said it would retaliate with taxes on $75 billion of U.S. products.
The market opened lower with the news of the new tariffs. It recovered some of its losses after a widely anticipated speech by Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell gave no clear signal on when the central bank may cut interest rates again.
Speaking at a Fed policy conference in Jackson Hole, Wyoming, Powell noted that there's growing evidence of a global economic slowdown and suggested that uncertainty over Trump's trade wars have complicated the central bank's ability to set interest rate policy. Powell said the Fed "will act as appropriate to sustain the expansion."
Markets have been jumpy for weeks as traders increasingly worry about a protracted trade war and whether it could tip the already fragile global economy into recession.
"There's been reason to be concerned that this might not get resolved anytime soon, but the market is accepting that not only is it not likely, it's very unlikely," said Randy Frederick, vice president of trading and derivatives at Charles Schwab.
The S&P 500 was down 1.6% as of 12:30 p.m. Eastern Time. The Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 417 points, or 1.6%, to 25,834. The Nasdaq dropped 2%.
Technology companies, which have much to lose in the trade battle, accounted for the biggest share of the market's losses. Chipmaker Nvidia slid 4.8% and Apple lost 4%. Companies that rely on consumer spending also took losses. Retailer L Brands dropped 6.8%.
Energy stocks headed lower along with crude oil prices. The price of crude sank 3% to $53.63 a barrel as traders worried that the latest escalation in the trade battle could sap global demand for energy.
U.S. bond prices rose sharply as investors sought safety, sending yields lower. The yield on the 10-year Treasury fell to 1.54% from 1.61%, a large move.
The price of gold, another safe haven for investors during times of market turbulence and economic weakness, rose 1.7% to $1,534 an ounce.
The Trump administration has imposed a 25% tariff on $250 billion in Chinese imports. The pending 10% tariff on another $300 billion in goods would hit everything from toys to clothing and shoes that China ships to the United States, however some 60% of the new tariffs wouldn't go into effect until mid-December, and others were taken off the table altogether.
China gave no details of what goods would be affected in its latest round of tariffs, but the timing matches Trump's planned duty hikes.
China's government appealed to Trump this week to compromise in order to break a deadlock in negotiations.
https://abcnews.go.com/Business/wir...5148162?cid=clicksource_74_null_headlines_hed
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Australia cracks down on foreign interference at university
By The Associated Press
CANBERRA, Australia — August 28, 2019, 12:04 AM ET
Australia has formed a task force to crack down on attempts by foreign governments to meddle in Australian universities.
The move comes as concerns grow over Chinese influence at Australia's universities, where Chinese students are by far the largest group of foreign students. Pro-Beijing student demonstrators have recently clashed with Hong Kong democracy advocates on Australian campuses.
Australia has also raised concerns about the influence of Beijing-funded Confucius Institutes at Australian universities.
Education Minister Dan Tehan announced the task force's launch Wednesday.
Last year, the government angered China by banning covert foreign interference in Australian politics. Foreign political donations have also been banned.
https://abcnews.go.com/Internationa...33095?cid=clicksource_76_null_articleroll_hed
By The Associated Press
CANBERRA, Australia — August 28, 2019, 12:04 AM ET
Australia has formed a task force to crack down on attempts by foreign governments to meddle in Australian universities.
The move comes as concerns grow over Chinese influence at Australia's universities, where Chinese students are by far the largest group of foreign students. Pro-Beijing student demonstrators have recently clashed with Hong Kong democracy advocates on Australian campuses.
Australia has also raised concerns about the influence of Beijing-funded Confucius Institutes at Australian universities.
Education Minister Dan Tehan announced the task force's launch Wednesday.
Last year, the government angered China by banning covert foreign interference in Australian politics. Foreign political donations have also been banned.
https://abcnews.go.com/Internationa...33095?cid=clicksource_76_null_articleroll_hed
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Ousting Huawei, Australia finishes laying undersea internet cable for Pacific allies
Colin Packham
August 27, 2019 / 11:21 PM / Updated 43 minutes ago
SYDNEY (Reuters) - The final piece of Australia’s A$137 million ($92.53 million) undersea cable to bring high-speed internet to the Solomon Islands and Papua New Guinea was laid on Wednesday, with Canberra seeking to repulse Chinese influence in the Pacific.
Australia in 2018 agreed to fund the construction of the cable after the two Pacific islands struck deals with China’s Huawei Technologies Co Ltd to lay a cable via Sydney - which Canberra feared could have jeopardized its broadband network.
Huawei denies its equipment provides an opportunity for foreign espionage.
Australian Foreign Minister Marise Payne said the infrastructure, known as the Coral Sea Cable, will cement Canberra’s ties with the Pacific - a region that Australia worries is being swayed by China’s increased foreign aid to the region.
“The cable is so practical, so important and so emblematic of the relationship between Australia and our key partners in the Pacific,” Payne told reporters in Sydney.
“The Coral Sea Cable will deliver for Papua New Guinea and the Solomon Islands a connected future, Payne said, adding that the aim was for the cable to be operational by December.
China denies using economic aid as political leverage, insisting it considers the ability of a country to repay loans when offering finance.
In a bid to counter China, Australia has offered A$3 billion ($2.03 billion) in cheap loans and grants to the Pacific.
The competition for influence in the Pacific has soured bilateral relations between Australia and China.
The relationship came under further strain on Tuesday when China confirmed it has formally arrested a Chinese-born Australian writer on suspicion of espionage.
Yang Hengjun, a former Chinese diplomat turned online journalist and blogger, was detained in January.
Payne on Tuesday said Australia held grave concerns about Yang and the “harsh” conditions he is being held in.
The comments were immediately rebuked by China, which called on Australia to respect China’s judicial sovereignty.
Reporting by Colin Packham; Editing by Simon Cameron-Moore
https://uk.reuters.com/article/us-a...t-cable-for-pacific-allies-idUKKCN1VI08H?il=0
Colin Packham
August 27, 2019 / 11:21 PM / Updated 43 minutes ago
SYDNEY (Reuters) - The final piece of Australia’s A$137 million ($92.53 million) undersea cable to bring high-speed internet to the Solomon Islands and Papua New Guinea was laid on Wednesday, with Canberra seeking to repulse Chinese influence in the Pacific.
Australia in 2018 agreed to fund the construction of the cable after the two Pacific islands struck deals with China’s Huawei Technologies Co Ltd to lay a cable via Sydney - which Canberra feared could have jeopardized its broadband network.
Huawei denies its equipment provides an opportunity for foreign espionage.
Australian Foreign Minister Marise Payne said the infrastructure, known as the Coral Sea Cable, will cement Canberra’s ties with the Pacific - a region that Australia worries is being swayed by China’s increased foreign aid to the region.
“The cable is so practical, so important and so emblematic of the relationship between Australia and our key partners in the Pacific,” Payne told reporters in Sydney.
“The Coral Sea Cable will deliver for Papua New Guinea and the Solomon Islands a connected future, Payne said, adding that the aim was for the cable to be operational by December.
China denies using economic aid as political leverage, insisting it considers the ability of a country to repay loans when offering finance.
In a bid to counter China, Australia has offered A$3 billion ($2.03 billion) in cheap loans and grants to the Pacific.
The competition for influence in the Pacific has soured bilateral relations between Australia and China.
The relationship came under further strain on Tuesday when China confirmed it has formally arrested a Chinese-born Australian writer on suspicion of espionage.
Yang Hengjun, a former Chinese diplomat turned online journalist and blogger, was detained in January.
Payne on Tuesday said Australia held grave concerns about Yang and the “harsh” conditions he is being held in.
The comments were immediately rebuked by China, which called on Australia to respect China’s judicial sovereignty.
Reporting by Colin Packham; Editing by Simon Cameron-Moore
https://uk.reuters.com/article/us-a...t-cable-for-pacific-allies-idUKKCN1VI08H?il=0
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MSNBC
Verified account @MSNBC
28m28 minutes ago
Satellite photos appear to show N. Korea building a submarine capable of firing ballistic missiles. That could dramatically increase their ability to hit U.S. targets like Guam, and shows it is not denuclearizing, says @MSNBC Korea analyst Victor Cha.
Verified account @MSNBC
28m28 minutes ago
Satellite photos appear to show N. Korea building a submarine capable of firing ballistic missiles. That could dramatically increase their ability to hit U.S. targets like Guam, and shows it is not denuclearizing, says @MSNBC Korea analyst Victor Cha.
northern watch
TB Fanatic
Stratfor
Verified account @Stratfor
28m28 minutes ago
The United States is attempting to block a 12,800-kilometer (roughly 8,000 miles) undersea cable connecting #HongKong to #LosAngeles due to national security concerns stemming from the involvement of a #Chinese investor, @WSJ reported Aug. 28.
Verified account @Stratfor
28m28 minutes ago
The United States is attempting to block a 12,800-kilometer (roughly 8,000 miles) undersea cable connecting #HongKong to #LosAngeles due to national security concerns stemming from the involvement of a #Chinese investor, @WSJ reported Aug. 28.
northern watch
TB Fanatic
AFP news agency
Verified account @AFP
19h19 hours ago
US to sell 73 anti-ballistic missiles to Japan, following close behind a series of new ballistic missile tests by North Korea
Verified account @AFP
19h19 hours ago
US to sell 73 anti-ballistic missiles to Japan, following close behind a series of new ballistic missile tests by North Korea
Hummm....
jward
passin' thru
Chinese Troops And Armored Trucks Enter Hong Kong Under Pretext Of "Planned Garrison Rotation"
Profile picture for user Tyler Durden
by Tyler Durden
Wed, 08/28/2019 - 22:21
https://www.zerohedge.com/news/2019...gsO0j6Fd6w9YnfzD3cNbyITbPotTi_3YGD4F5lov57Mj8
Hong Kong watchers were startled, asking if "this was it", when videos and images started emerging of Chinese troops and armored trucks entering Hong Kong.
Subsequent media reports, notably from the People's Daily, suggested that this military maneuver which took place in the "wee hours of Thursday", was due to the 22nd annual rotation of the People's Liberation Army garrison in Hong Kong.
People's Daily, China
✔
@PDChina
The #HongKong Garrison of the Chinese People's Liberation Army conducted the 22nd rotation of its members in the wee hours of Thursday since it began garrisoning Hong Kong in 1997.
View image on TwitterView image on TwitterView image on Twitter
162
7:30 PM - Aug 28, 2019
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84 people are talking about this
Local media reported that the move was routine, and approved by the Central Military Commission, representing a "normal routine annual rotation in line with the Law of the People’s Republic of China on Garrisoning the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region", which stipulates that “the Hong Kong Garrison shall practice a system of rotation of its members.”
Still, one can't help but wonder at the curious timing of the annual troop rotation, taking place just as Hong Kong protesters brace for even more demonstrations against China, and as Carrie Lam prepares to invoke an Emergency Regulations Ordinance, according to which "The HK government can legally take your property, force you to work for the benefit of the government, deport you (to China?)...and make anything they do legal."
Kyle Bass
✔
@Jkylebass
Anyone read the Emergency Regulations Ordinance that carrie lam(b) is considering invoking?! The HK government can legally take your property, force you to work for the benefit of the government, deport you (to China?)...and make anything they do legal 1/ https://www.elegislation.gov.hk/hk/cap241@2018-12-13T00:00:00?xpid=ID_1438402882346_001 …
784
7:05 PM - Aug 28, 2019
Twitter Ads info and privacy
419 people are talking about this
So is China's troop deployment nothing but a "routine and planned" mission, or is China taking advantage of an simple pretext to beef up its HK presence ahead of what many have said will be critical clashes? We'll find out soon enough: one way or another Beijing will need to resolve the ongoing HK mutiny before the October 1, National Day of the PRC holiday, when Xi will be compelled to demonstrate to China (and the world) that he remains fully in control over Hong Kong.
Profile picture for user Tyler Durden
by Tyler Durden
Wed, 08/28/2019 - 22:21
https://www.zerohedge.com/news/2019...gsO0j6Fd6w9YnfzD3cNbyITbPotTi_3YGD4F5lov57Mj8
Hong Kong watchers were startled, asking if "this was it", when videos and images started emerging of Chinese troops and armored trucks entering Hong Kong.
Subsequent media reports, notably from the People's Daily, suggested that this military maneuver which took place in the "wee hours of Thursday", was due to the 22nd annual rotation of the People's Liberation Army garrison in Hong Kong.
People's Daily, China
✔
@PDChina
The #HongKong Garrison of the Chinese People's Liberation Army conducted the 22nd rotation of its members in the wee hours of Thursday since it began garrisoning Hong Kong in 1997.
View image on TwitterView image on TwitterView image on Twitter
162
7:30 PM - Aug 28, 2019
Twitter Ads info and privacy
84 people are talking about this
Local media reported that the move was routine, and approved by the Central Military Commission, representing a "normal routine annual rotation in line with the Law of the People’s Republic of China on Garrisoning the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region", which stipulates that “the Hong Kong Garrison shall practice a system of rotation of its members.”
Still, one can't help but wonder at the curious timing of the annual troop rotation, taking place just as Hong Kong protesters brace for even more demonstrations against China, and as Carrie Lam prepares to invoke an Emergency Regulations Ordinance, according to which "The HK government can legally take your property, force you to work for the benefit of the government, deport you (to China?)...and make anything they do legal."
Kyle Bass
✔
@Jkylebass
Anyone read the Emergency Regulations Ordinance that carrie lam(b) is considering invoking?! The HK government can legally take your property, force you to work for the benefit of the government, deport you (to China?)...and make anything they do legal 1/ https://www.elegislation.gov.hk/hk/cap241@2018-12-13T00:00:00?xpid=ID_1438402882346_001 …
784
7:05 PM - Aug 28, 2019
Twitter Ads info and privacy
419 people are talking about this
So is China's troop deployment nothing but a "routine and planned" mission, or is China taking advantage of an simple pretext to beef up its HK presence ahead of what many have said will be critical clashes? We'll find out soon enough: one way or another Beijing will need to resolve the ongoing HK mutiny before the October 1, National Day of the PRC holiday, when Xi will be compelled to demonstrate to China (and the world) that he remains fully in control over Hong Kong.
danielboon
TB Fanatic
EndGameWW3 Retweeted
Alfons López Tena #FBPE
@alfonslopeztena
We don’t purchase military hardware because we pursue conflict. We do so because we know, as you do, that power only responds to strength. We must show that we are firmly resolved to defend our freedom, democracy, and way of life
Taiwan Pres. Tsai Ing-wen
9:42 PM · Aug 28, 2019
Alfons López Tena #FBPE
@alfonslopeztena
We don’t purchase military hardware because we pursue conflict. We do so because we know, as you do, that power only responds to strength. We must show that we are firmly resolved to defend our freedom, democracy, and way of life
Taiwan Pres. Tsai Ing-wen
9:42 PM · Aug 28, 2019
northern watch
TB Fanatic
Australia to improve East Timorese internet and naval base
By The Associated Press
CANBERRA, Australia — August 29, 2019, 10:05 PM ET
Australia has committed to invest in East Timor's naval infrastructure and provide an undersea internet cable between the countries.
Prime Minister Scott Morrison has flown to the East Timor capital Dili on Friday to exchange diplomatic notes that activate a new maritime boundary combined with a Timor Sea seabed oil and gas revenue-sharing deal on the 20th anniversary of a United Nations-sanctioned independence vote.
A government statement says Australia will also announce support for building a new wharf at the Hera Naval Base on East Timor's north coast that will help the country operate two Guardian Class patrol boats that will be gifted by Australia in 2023.
Australia also plans to link East Timor to an Australian cable system.
https://abcnews.go.com/Internationa...82013?cid=clicksource_76_null_articleroll_hed
By The Associated Press
CANBERRA, Australia — August 29, 2019, 10:05 PM ET
Australia has committed to invest in East Timor's naval infrastructure and provide an undersea internet cable between the countries.
Prime Minister Scott Morrison has flown to the East Timor capital Dili on Friday to exchange diplomatic notes that activate a new maritime boundary combined with a Timor Sea seabed oil and gas revenue-sharing deal on the 20th anniversary of a United Nations-sanctioned independence vote.
A government statement says Australia will also announce support for building a new wharf at the Hera Naval Base on East Timor's north coast that will help the country operate two Guardian Class patrol boats that will be gifted by Australia in 2023.
Australia also plans to link East Timor to an Australian cable system.
https://abcnews.go.com/Internationa...82013?cid=clicksource_76_null_articleroll_hed
northern watch
TB Fanatic
China denies visa, expelling Wall Street Journal reporter
By Yanan Wang, Associated Press
BEIJING — August 30, 2019, 9:20 AM ET
Chinese authorities have declined to renew the press credentials of a Beijing-based Wall Street Journal reporter, effectively expelling a journalist who extensively covered President Xi Jinping and Communist Party politics.
The de facto expulsion Friday of Singaporean reporter Chun Han Wong comes one month after he and another WSJ reporter wrote a story detailing an Australian investigation into the alleged links of Xi's cousin to high-stakes gambling, money laundering and suspected organized crime.
"We resolutely oppose certain foreign journalists' evil intention to smear and attack China," China's foreign ministry said in a faxed response to questions about Wong's status.
The statement added that such journalists are "not welcome."
Dow Jones, the WSJ's parent company, said in a statement that authorities declined to renew Wong's press credentials. The statement said the company is looking into the matter but did not elaborate. Wong, 33, who has been reporting in China since 2014, declined to comment.
Foreign journalists based in China need valid press credentials in order to renew their journalist visas. A reporter's visa and press card share the same period of validity and must generally be renewed once a year.
The wealth of Communist Party leaders and their families has long been a taboo subject. Both The New York Times and Bloomberg encountered visa troubles after they reported on the wealth of the families of then-Premier Wen Jiabao and Xi in 2012. Since Xi took power that year, media outlets and various parts of civil society in China have faced tightening restrictions.
Wong is the sixth journalist to leave China under such circumstances since 2013, according to the Foreign Correspondents Club of China.
The FCCC condemned "in the strongest possible terms the use of visa non-renewal as a form of punishment."
"Such treatment of foreign correspondents runs completely counter to Chinese claims that it supports openness and inclusiveness," it said in a statement.
https://abcnews.go.com/Internationa...89802?cid=clicksource_76_null_articleroll_hed
By Yanan Wang, Associated Press
BEIJING — August 30, 2019, 9:20 AM ET
Chinese authorities have declined to renew the press credentials of a Beijing-based Wall Street Journal reporter, effectively expelling a journalist who extensively covered President Xi Jinping and Communist Party politics.
The de facto expulsion Friday of Singaporean reporter Chun Han Wong comes one month after he and another WSJ reporter wrote a story detailing an Australian investigation into the alleged links of Xi's cousin to high-stakes gambling, money laundering and suspected organized crime.
"We resolutely oppose certain foreign journalists' evil intention to smear and attack China," China's foreign ministry said in a faxed response to questions about Wong's status.
The statement added that such journalists are "not welcome."
Dow Jones, the WSJ's parent company, said in a statement that authorities declined to renew Wong's press credentials. The statement said the company is looking into the matter but did not elaborate. Wong, 33, who has been reporting in China since 2014, declined to comment.
Foreign journalists based in China need valid press credentials in order to renew their journalist visas. A reporter's visa and press card share the same period of validity and must generally be renewed once a year.
The wealth of Communist Party leaders and their families has long been a taboo subject. Both The New York Times and Bloomberg encountered visa troubles after they reported on the wealth of the families of then-Premier Wen Jiabao and Xi in 2012. Since Xi took power that year, media outlets and various parts of civil society in China have faced tightening restrictions.
Wong is the sixth journalist to leave China under such circumstances since 2013, according to the Foreign Correspondents Club of China.
The FCCC condemned "in the strongest possible terms the use of visa non-renewal as a form of punishment."
"Such treatment of foreign correspondents runs completely counter to Chinese claims that it supports openness and inclusiveness," it said in a statement.
https://abcnews.go.com/Internationa...89802?cid=clicksource_76_null_articleroll_hed
For links see article source.....
Posted for fair use.....
https://www.militarytimes.com/flash...give-up-arms-modernization/?utm_source=clavis
Flashpoints
North Korea says it won’t give up arms modernization
By: Edith M. Lederer, The Associated Press
21 hours ago
This Aug. 6, 2019, photo provided by the North Korean government shows the launch of a new-type of tactical guided missile at an airfield in the western area of North Korea. (Korean Central News Agency/Korea News Service via AP)
UNITED NATIONS — North Korea accused the United Kingdom, France and Germany on Thursday of meddling in its “self-defensive measures for arms modernization,” saying the West will make “no greater mistake” than thinking Pyongyang will give up its right to have weapons that it says are needed to ensure peace.
The North’s official Korean Central News Agency circulated a statement from Kim Son Gyong, an adviser at the Korea-Europe Association, in response to a joint statement Tuesday from the three important U.S. allies condemning Pyongyang’s “repeated provocative launches” of ballistic missiles.
The Europeans accused North Korea of violating U.N. sanctions and urged leader Kim Jong Un to engage with the United States and make progress on denuclearization, which they said is “the only way to guarantee security and stability on the Korean peninsula and in the region.”
The North Korean statement said defending national security has become more important after seeing countries “whose destinies were hacked to pieces by the Western powers” and which yielded to Western demands “for disarmament under the pressure and appeasement of ‘international society.’”
North Korea’s Kim expresses ‘great satisfaction’ over weapons tests
North Korea’s Kim expresses ‘great satisfaction’ over weapons tests
The launches were North Korea's sixth round of tests since late July, revealing a new rocket artillery system and two short-range mobile ballistic missile systems that could strike targets throughout South Korea, including U.S. bases there.
By: Kim Tong-Hyung, The Associated Press
The statement dismissed U.N. resolutions, saying they "trample the rights to self-defense and survival of the sovereign state, and accordingly, we have never acknowledged them."
Stressing the importance of being able to defend North Korea's security, the statement cited the current state of international relations "where the weak can hardly appeal to anybody, though attacked by the strong."
It said the United Kingdom, France and Germany have no standing to criticize any party because their pursuit of money as led them "to sell their military equipment to South Korea, though habitually saying that they want peace and security on the Korean peninsula."
Sign up for the Early Bird Brief
Get the military's most comprehensive news and information every morning.
The statement said the Europeans are picking "an unreasonable quarrel with us over our measures for developing conventional weapons while deliberately turning their faces away from the military exercises and the introduction of latest lethal weapons in South Korea."
North Korea wants relations with European countries "on good terms," the statement said, and the UK, France and Germany "should get rid of their rigid and prejudiced way of thinking and help to ease tensions and ensure peace on the Korean peninsula."
The three European countries stressed in their statement that "international sanctions must remain in place and be fully and strictly enforced until North Korea's nuclear and ballistic missile programs are dismantled."
Many diplomats and analysts credit 11 rounds of increasingly tougher U.N. sanctions, which have sharply cut North Korea's exports and imports, with helping promote the thaw in relations between North Korea and South Korea, and the two summits between U.S. President Donald Trump and Kim Jong Un.
But negotiations between the U.S. and North Korea have been at a standstill since the second Trump-Kim summit in Hanoi in February broke down over what the United States described as excessive North Korean demands for sanctions relief in exchange for only a partial surrender of its nuclear capabilities.
The statement by the U.S. allies was not joined by the United States or other members of the 15-nation Security Council and it was at odds with Trump’s comments playing down the recent missile tests.
Posted for fair use.....
https://www.militarytimes.com/flash...give-up-arms-modernization/?utm_source=clavis
Flashpoints
North Korea says it won’t give up arms modernization
By: Edith M. Lederer, The Associated Press
21 hours ago
This Aug. 6, 2019, photo provided by the North Korean government shows the launch of a new-type of tactical guided missile at an airfield in the western area of North Korea. (Korean Central News Agency/Korea News Service via AP)
UNITED NATIONS — North Korea accused the United Kingdom, France and Germany on Thursday of meddling in its “self-defensive measures for arms modernization,” saying the West will make “no greater mistake” than thinking Pyongyang will give up its right to have weapons that it says are needed to ensure peace.
The North’s official Korean Central News Agency circulated a statement from Kim Son Gyong, an adviser at the Korea-Europe Association, in response to a joint statement Tuesday from the three important U.S. allies condemning Pyongyang’s “repeated provocative launches” of ballistic missiles.
The Europeans accused North Korea of violating U.N. sanctions and urged leader Kim Jong Un to engage with the United States and make progress on denuclearization, which they said is “the only way to guarantee security and stability on the Korean peninsula and in the region.”
The North Korean statement said defending national security has become more important after seeing countries “whose destinies were hacked to pieces by the Western powers” and which yielded to Western demands “for disarmament under the pressure and appeasement of ‘international society.’”
North Korea’s Kim expresses ‘great satisfaction’ over weapons tests
North Korea’s Kim expresses ‘great satisfaction’ over weapons tests
The launches were North Korea's sixth round of tests since late July, revealing a new rocket artillery system and two short-range mobile ballistic missile systems that could strike targets throughout South Korea, including U.S. bases there.
By: Kim Tong-Hyung, The Associated Press
The statement dismissed U.N. resolutions, saying they "trample the rights to self-defense and survival of the sovereign state, and accordingly, we have never acknowledged them."
Stressing the importance of being able to defend North Korea's security, the statement cited the current state of international relations "where the weak can hardly appeal to anybody, though attacked by the strong."
It said the United Kingdom, France and Germany have no standing to criticize any party because their pursuit of money as led them "to sell their military equipment to South Korea, though habitually saying that they want peace and security on the Korean peninsula."
Sign up for the Early Bird Brief
Get the military's most comprehensive news and information every morning.
The statement said the Europeans are picking "an unreasonable quarrel with us over our measures for developing conventional weapons while deliberately turning their faces away from the military exercises and the introduction of latest lethal weapons in South Korea."
North Korea wants relations with European countries "on good terms," the statement said, and the UK, France and Germany "should get rid of their rigid and prejudiced way of thinking and help to ease tensions and ensure peace on the Korean peninsula."
The three European countries stressed in their statement that "international sanctions must remain in place and be fully and strictly enforced until North Korea's nuclear and ballistic missile programs are dismantled."
Many diplomats and analysts credit 11 rounds of increasingly tougher U.N. sanctions, which have sharply cut North Korea's exports and imports, with helping promote the thaw in relations between North Korea and South Korea, and the two summits between U.S. President Donald Trump and Kim Jong Un.
But negotiations between the U.S. and North Korea have been at a standstill since the second Trump-Kim summit in Hanoi in February broke down over what the United States described as excessive North Korean demands for sanctions relief in exchange for only a partial surrender of its nuclear capabilities.
The statement by the U.S. allies was not joined by the United States or other members of the 15-nation Security Council and it was at odds with Trump’s comments playing down the recent missile tests.
northern watch
TB Fanatic
northern watch
TB Fanatic
Stratfor
þVerified account @Stratfor
24h24 hours ago
"It's billed as the new #SilkRoad, but #China's #BeltandRoad Initiative is much more ambitious than that, as countries on every continent have signed up to partner with Beijing on massive infrastructure projects."
þVerified account @Stratfor
24h24 hours ago
"It's billed as the new #SilkRoad, but #China's #BeltandRoad Initiative is much more ambitious than that, as countries on every continent have signed up to partner with Beijing on massive infrastructure projects."
Attachments
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Stratfor
þVerified account @Stratfor
Aug 28
"The concerns have led #Beijing to sweeten the pot for participating countries, offering, for instance, to reduce the cost of the critical East Coast Rail Link in #Malaysia and a major port project in #Myanmar."
þVerified account @Stratfor
Aug 28
"The concerns have led #Beijing to sweeten the pot for participating countries, offering, for instance, to reduce the cost of the critical East Coast Rail Link in #Malaysia and a major port project in #Myanmar."
Attachments
northern watch
TB Fanatic
Trump prods General Motors over its auto plants in China
David Shepardson, David Alexander
August 30, 2019 / 8:30 AM / 2 days ago
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. President Donald Trump, who is engaged in a trade war with Beijing, said on Friday that the largest U.S. automaker, General Motors Co (GM.N), should begin moving its operations back to the United States.
“General Motors, which was once the Giant of Detroit, is now one of the smallest auto manufacturers there. They moved major plants to China, BEFORE I CAME INTO OFFICE. This was done despite the saving help given them by the USA. Now they should start moving back to America again?” Trump said in a post on Twitter.
Trump appeared to be referring to a Bloomberg News story that reported GM’s hourly workforce of 46,000 U.S. workers has fallen behind that of Fiat Chrysler (FCHA.MI) as the smallest of the Detroit Three automakers. Over the past four decades, GM has dramatically cut the size of its overall U.S. workforce, which numbered nearly 620,000 in 1979.
GM did not directly comment on Trump’s tweet.
“GM’s China operations are not a threat to U.S. jobs,” the company said in a fact sheet, noting that its joint ventures have sent $16 billion in equity income to GM since 2010 and that it has invested $23 billion in U.S. operations since 2009.
GM’s U.S. hourly workforce has fallen by about 4,000 jobs since the end of 2018 to about where it was a decade ago.
Trump’s ire with GM comes as contract talks with the United Auto Workers union with the Detroit Three automakers intensify ahead of a September 14 deadline.
Trump has previously attacked GM for building vehicles in Mexico and for ending production at plants in Michigan, Ohio and Maryland and threatened to cut GM subsidies in retaliation.
GM’s decision to close four plants in the United States is a central issue in the contract talks.
Trump has made boosting auto jobs a key priority and has often attacked automakers on Twitter for not doing enough to boost U.S. employment. His 2020 re-election bid will hinge on holding key industrial battleground states like Wisconsin, Pennsylvania and Michigan that narrowly voted for him in 2016.
China is the world’s largest auto market, and government policy favors automakers assembling vehicles there, and not importing them from overseas.
In response to Trump’s latest tariffs, China said last week it will reinstitute 25% tariffs on U.S.-made vehicles. The U.S. is imposing 15% tariffs on more than $125 billion in Chinese goods starting Sunday.
GM sold 3.6 million vehicles in China last year accounting for 43% of its worldwide sales. GM booked $2 billion in equity income from its China operations last year.
GM imports a small number of vehicles from China. In June, the Trump administration rejected a request from GM to exempt its Chinese-made Buick Envision from a 25% U.S. tariff on sport utility vehicle models.
The midsize SUV has become a target for U.S. critics of Chinese-made goods, including leaders of the UAW members in key political swing states such as Michigan and Ohio.
Reporting by David Shepardson and David Alexander; Editing by Steve Orlofsky
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-...s-over-its-auto-plants-in-china-idUSKCN1VK1I5
David Shepardson, David Alexander
August 30, 2019 / 8:30 AM / 2 days ago
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. President Donald Trump, who is engaged in a trade war with Beijing, said on Friday that the largest U.S. automaker, General Motors Co (GM.N), should begin moving its operations back to the United States.
“General Motors, which was once the Giant of Detroit, is now one of the smallest auto manufacturers there. They moved major plants to China, BEFORE I CAME INTO OFFICE. This was done despite the saving help given them by the USA. Now they should start moving back to America again?” Trump said in a post on Twitter.
Trump appeared to be referring to a Bloomberg News story that reported GM’s hourly workforce of 46,000 U.S. workers has fallen behind that of Fiat Chrysler (FCHA.MI) as the smallest of the Detroit Three automakers. Over the past four decades, GM has dramatically cut the size of its overall U.S. workforce, which numbered nearly 620,000 in 1979.
GM did not directly comment on Trump’s tweet.
“GM’s China operations are not a threat to U.S. jobs,” the company said in a fact sheet, noting that its joint ventures have sent $16 billion in equity income to GM since 2010 and that it has invested $23 billion in U.S. operations since 2009.
GM’s U.S. hourly workforce has fallen by about 4,000 jobs since the end of 2018 to about where it was a decade ago.
Trump’s ire with GM comes as contract talks with the United Auto Workers union with the Detroit Three automakers intensify ahead of a September 14 deadline.
Trump has previously attacked GM for building vehicles in Mexico and for ending production at plants in Michigan, Ohio and Maryland and threatened to cut GM subsidies in retaliation.
GM’s decision to close four plants in the United States is a central issue in the contract talks.
Trump has made boosting auto jobs a key priority and has often attacked automakers on Twitter for not doing enough to boost U.S. employment. His 2020 re-election bid will hinge on holding key industrial battleground states like Wisconsin, Pennsylvania and Michigan that narrowly voted for him in 2016.
China is the world’s largest auto market, and government policy favors automakers assembling vehicles there, and not importing them from overseas.
In response to Trump’s latest tariffs, China said last week it will reinstitute 25% tariffs on U.S.-made vehicles. The U.S. is imposing 15% tariffs on more than $125 billion in Chinese goods starting Sunday.
GM sold 3.6 million vehicles in China last year accounting for 43% of its worldwide sales. GM booked $2 billion in equity income from its China operations last year.
GM imports a small number of vehicles from China. In June, the Trump administration rejected a request from GM to exempt its Chinese-made Buick Envision from a 25% U.S. tariff on sport utility vehicle models.
The midsize SUV has become a target for U.S. critics of Chinese-made goods, including leaders of the UAW members in key political swing states such as Michigan and Ohio.
Reporting by David Shepardson and David Alexander; Editing by Steve Orlofsky
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-...s-over-its-auto-plants-in-china-idUSKCN1VK1I5
northern watch
TB Fanatic
Donald J. Trump
Verified account @realDonaldTrump
General Motors, which was once the Giant of Detroit, is now one of the smallest auto manufacturers there. They moved major plants to China, BEFORE I CAME INTO OFFICE. This was done despite the saving help given them by the USA. Now they should start moving back to America again?
5:06 AM - 30 Aug 2019
Verified account @realDonaldTrump
General Motors, which was once the Giant of Detroit, is now one of the smallest auto manufacturers there. They moved major plants to China, BEFORE I CAME INTO OFFICE. This was done despite the saving help given them by the USA. Now they should start moving back to America again?
5:06 AM - 30 Aug 2019
northern watch
TB Fanatic
Himalaya Global Workstation @HGW45599518 · Sep 2
BREAKING!
#SteveBannon #GuoWengui: The CCP’s regime led by Xi and Wang Qishan has prepared 500K troops and deployed missiles in Fujian Province.Once HK ceases control to CCP,and the US imposes sanctions,the CCP will launch a military attack at Taiwan and take it over at any cost.
BREAKING!
#SteveBannon #GuoWengui: The CCP’s regime led by Xi and Wang Qishan has prepared 500K troops and deployed missiles in Fujian Province.Once HK ceases control to CCP,and the US imposes sanctions,the CCP will launch a military attack at Taiwan and take it over at any cost.
northern watch
TB Fanatic
Japan to set up police unit to help defend disputed islets - NHK
September 2, 2019 / 1:49 AM / a day ago
TOKYO (Reuters) - Japan is bolstering its defence of a group of East China Sea islets disputed with China and other far-flung isles, with the establishment of a special police unit armed with automatic weapons, the public broadcaster NHK reported on Monday.
The police unit will be based on the southern island of Okinawa, which is 420 km (260 miles) east of the disputed outcrops, which are controlled by Japan and known as the Senkaku in Japan and Diaoyu in China.
“Assuming scenarios that include illegal landing by an armed group, highly trained members equipped with sub-machine guns will be deployed,” NHK said on its report. It did not identify its sources.
Japan’s military and coastguard have boosted their postures around the disputed islands but this will be the first time the police have set up a unit in the region to help defend them, NHK said.
No officials were immediately available for comment at the National Police Agency.
The police agency, in a budget request for the year from next April, is asking for 159 additional officers in Okinawa and Fukuoka, another southern prefecture, to boost its capability to respond to situations on remote islands, it said.
Japan’s relations with China have long been strained by the island row and the legacy of Japan’s World War Two aggression.
In 2012, a group of Chinese activists landed on one of the disputed islets and raised a Chinese flag, to the outrage of Japan.
But the neighbours have sought to improve relations more recently, with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe visiting Beijing in October last year when both countries pledged to forge closer ties.
Reporting by Kiyoshi Takenaka; Editing by Robert Birsel
https://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-j...help-defend-disputed-islets-nhk-idUKKCN1VN0CA
September 2, 2019 / 1:49 AM / a day ago
TOKYO (Reuters) - Japan is bolstering its defence of a group of East China Sea islets disputed with China and other far-flung isles, with the establishment of a special police unit armed with automatic weapons, the public broadcaster NHK reported on Monday.
The police unit will be based on the southern island of Okinawa, which is 420 km (260 miles) east of the disputed outcrops, which are controlled by Japan and known as the Senkaku in Japan and Diaoyu in China.
“Assuming scenarios that include illegal landing by an armed group, highly trained members equipped with sub-machine guns will be deployed,” NHK said on its report. It did not identify its sources.
Japan’s military and coastguard have boosted their postures around the disputed islands but this will be the first time the police have set up a unit in the region to help defend them, NHK said.
No officials were immediately available for comment at the National Police Agency.
The police agency, in a budget request for the year from next April, is asking for 159 additional officers in Okinawa and Fukuoka, another southern prefecture, to boost its capability to respond to situations on remote islands, it said.
Japan’s relations with China have long been strained by the island row and the legacy of Japan’s World War Two aggression.
In 2012, a group of Chinese activists landed on one of the disputed islets and raised a Chinese flag, to the outrage of Japan.
But the neighbours have sought to improve relations more recently, with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe visiting Beijing in October last year when both countries pledged to forge closer ties.
Reporting by Kiyoshi Takenaka; Editing by Robert Birsel
https://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-j...help-defend-disputed-islets-nhk-idUKKCN1VN0CA
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Japan defense costs swell on greater role, purchases from US
By Mari Yamaguchi, Associated Press
TOKYO — August 30, 2019, 2:08 AM ET
Japan's defense spending is expected to set a new record next year as the country deepens its military alliance with the U.S. and spends more on expensive American stealth fighters and other equipment amid threats from China and North Korea.
The Defense Ministry on Friday released its 5.32 trillion yen ($50.3 billion) budget request for fiscal 2020, an increase of 1.2% from the current year. It could swell further if Japan agrees to pay more of the cost of stationing American troops in the country or for U.S.-led monitoring of tensions in the Strait of Hormuz near Iran before the budget is finalized later this year and approved by parliament.
Japan's military spending has risen for seven consecutive years by a total of 13%, starting a year after Prime Minister Shinzo Abe took office in December 2012. In 2018 it ranked 8th or 9th in the world in total defense spending, depending on calculation method.
Abe has pushed for Japan's Self Defense Forces to expand its international role and capability by stepping up cooperation and weapons compatibility with the U.S., as Japan increasingly works alongside American troops. Abe in 2015 reinterpreted Japan's pacifist constitution to allow the use of force in defending itself and its allies.
Among the biggest planned purchases are six F-35B stealth fighter jets capable of short takeoff and vertical landing that cost 14 billion yen ($132 million) each, for deployment in 2024. They are the first of 42 F-35Bs that Japan is to acquire in coming years along with 105 F-35As, for a total F-35 fleet of 147 — the largest number of any country outside the U.S., and, critics say, more than is needed for a country committed to self-defense.
To accommodate the F-35Bs, the Defense Ministry will reconfigure the Izumo, one of two destroyers currently serving as helicopter carriers, beginning later this year with a heat-resistant flight deck and guiding lights at a cost of 3.1 billion yen ($290 million).
Defense Minister Takeshi Iwaya said earlier this month that F-35Bs belonging to the U.S Marines will also operate on the Izumo, primarily during joint exercises for the defense of Japan and not for independent U.S. missions, addressing concerns that higher levels of integration between the two militaries could increase the risk of Japan becoming embroiled in a U.S.-led conflict.
The arrangement underscores Japan's expanding role in its alliance with the U.S. as Trump pressures the country to do more. It also is a major shift for Japan's navy, which has lacked aircraft carriers because of a concern that they would remind Asian neighbors of Japanese World War II aggression.
China's growing military presence and capability as it strengthens its claims across the South China Sea have unnerved many in the region.
Japan, under its new defense guidelines for the next decade, will set up a military unit specializing in space and beef up measures against cyber and electromagnetic attacks. Japan and the U.S. agreed this year to cooperate in defense in space, as China and Russia seek to expand their military capability into space.
The Defense Ministry is seeking 52.4 billion yen ($490 million) to launch a 20-member unit as part of the Air Self-Defense Force to monitor the impact of space debris and potential electromagnetic interference on Japanese satellites and acquire a tracking system using a highly sensitive radar and optical telescope.
While acquiring costly American weapons helps reduce the U.S. trade deficit and enhances military cooperation and compatibility, it is a setback for Japan's fledgling defense industry. Amid calls for Japan to produce its own replacement for its aging F-2 fighter jets, the ministry will start developing a successor, possibly as a joint international project.
Growing defense costs are also a burden for a fast-aging nation with a declining population.
Japan's five-year Medium Term Defense Program requires defense spending of 27 trillion yen ($255 billion) through 2024.
———
Follow Mari Yamaguchi on Twitter at https://www.twitter.com/mariyamaguchi
https://abcnews.go.com/Internationa...5286753?cid=clicksource_76_null_headlines_hed
By Mari Yamaguchi, Associated Press
TOKYO — August 30, 2019, 2:08 AM ET
Japan's defense spending is expected to set a new record next year as the country deepens its military alliance with the U.S. and spends more on expensive American stealth fighters and other equipment amid threats from China and North Korea.
The Defense Ministry on Friday released its 5.32 trillion yen ($50.3 billion) budget request for fiscal 2020, an increase of 1.2% from the current year. It could swell further if Japan agrees to pay more of the cost of stationing American troops in the country or for U.S.-led monitoring of tensions in the Strait of Hormuz near Iran before the budget is finalized later this year and approved by parliament.
Japan's military spending has risen for seven consecutive years by a total of 13%, starting a year after Prime Minister Shinzo Abe took office in December 2012. In 2018 it ranked 8th or 9th in the world in total defense spending, depending on calculation method.
Abe has pushed for Japan's Self Defense Forces to expand its international role and capability by stepping up cooperation and weapons compatibility with the U.S., as Japan increasingly works alongside American troops. Abe in 2015 reinterpreted Japan's pacifist constitution to allow the use of force in defending itself and its allies.
Among the biggest planned purchases are six F-35B stealth fighter jets capable of short takeoff and vertical landing that cost 14 billion yen ($132 million) each, for deployment in 2024. They are the first of 42 F-35Bs that Japan is to acquire in coming years along with 105 F-35As, for a total F-35 fleet of 147 — the largest number of any country outside the U.S., and, critics say, more than is needed for a country committed to self-defense.
To accommodate the F-35Bs, the Defense Ministry will reconfigure the Izumo, one of two destroyers currently serving as helicopter carriers, beginning later this year with a heat-resistant flight deck and guiding lights at a cost of 3.1 billion yen ($290 million).
Defense Minister Takeshi Iwaya said earlier this month that F-35Bs belonging to the U.S Marines will also operate on the Izumo, primarily during joint exercises for the defense of Japan and not for independent U.S. missions, addressing concerns that higher levels of integration between the two militaries could increase the risk of Japan becoming embroiled in a U.S.-led conflict.
The arrangement underscores Japan's expanding role in its alliance with the U.S. as Trump pressures the country to do more. It also is a major shift for Japan's navy, which has lacked aircraft carriers because of a concern that they would remind Asian neighbors of Japanese World War II aggression.
China's growing military presence and capability as it strengthens its claims across the South China Sea have unnerved many in the region.
Japan, under its new defense guidelines for the next decade, will set up a military unit specializing in space and beef up measures against cyber and electromagnetic attacks. Japan and the U.S. agreed this year to cooperate in defense in space, as China and Russia seek to expand their military capability into space.
The Defense Ministry is seeking 52.4 billion yen ($490 million) to launch a 20-member unit as part of the Air Self-Defense Force to monitor the impact of space debris and potential electromagnetic interference on Japanese satellites and acquire a tracking system using a highly sensitive radar and optical telescope.
While acquiring costly American weapons helps reduce the U.S. trade deficit and enhances military cooperation and compatibility, it is a setback for Japan's fledgling defense industry. Amid calls for Japan to produce its own replacement for its aging F-2 fighter jets, the ministry will start developing a successor, possibly as a joint international project.
Growing defense costs are also a burden for a fast-aging nation with a declining population.
Japan's five-year Medium Term Defense Program requires defense spending of 27 trillion yen ($255 billion) through 2024.
———
Follow Mari Yamaguchi on Twitter at https://www.twitter.com/mariyamaguchi
https://abcnews.go.com/Internationa...5286753?cid=clicksource_76_null_headlines_hed
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Raytheon awarded $349m for Maritime Strike Tomahawk
By Tom Dunlop
UK Defence Journal
September 3, 2019
The US Navy has awarded Raytheon a $349 million contract for Phase 2 of the Maritime Strike Tomahawk Rapid Deployment Capability, which will follow Phase 1 design and integration efforts as well as test and evaluation.
Work under the contract will be completed in February 2023.
The US Navy is currently recertifying its existing inventory of Tomahawk Block IV missiles, which involves modifying the weapons into the modernised Block V configuration.
The Tomahawk recertification process involves extending the life of some 3,790 missiles by 15 years. A number of missiles will also be upgraded to the Block Va Maritime Strike Tomahawk or Block Vb Joint Multiple Effects Warhead System configuration.
MST enables anti-ship capabilities, while JMEWS is a penetrating warhead intended for hardened targets. Raytheon also received a $7.2 million contract in August for an updated technical data package of the MST guidance test set and additional hardware and software upgrade work.
The US Navy previously utilised Tomahawk anti-ship missiles during the Cold War, but the weapons were ultimately taken out of service following the collapse of the Soviet Union.
https://ukdefencejournal.org.uk/raytheon-awarded-349m-for-maritime-strike-tomahawk/
By Tom Dunlop
UK Defence Journal
September 3, 2019
The US Navy has awarded Raytheon a $349 million contract for Phase 2 of the Maritime Strike Tomahawk Rapid Deployment Capability, which will follow Phase 1 design and integration efforts as well as test and evaluation.
Work under the contract will be completed in February 2023.
The US Navy is currently recertifying its existing inventory of Tomahawk Block IV missiles, which involves modifying the weapons into the modernised Block V configuration.
The Tomahawk recertification process involves extending the life of some 3,790 missiles by 15 years. A number of missiles will also be upgraded to the Block Va Maritime Strike Tomahawk or Block Vb Joint Multiple Effects Warhead System configuration.
MST enables anti-ship capabilities, while JMEWS is a penetrating warhead intended for hardened targets. Raytheon also received a $7.2 million contract in August for an updated technical data package of the MST guidance test set and additional hardware and software upgrade work.
The US Navy previously utilised Tomahawk anti-ship missiles during the Cold War, but the weapons were ultimately taken out of service following the collapse of the Soviet Union.
https://ukdefencejournal.org.uk/raytheon-awarded-349m-for-maritime-strike-tomahawk/
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Yonhap News AgencyVerified account @YonhapNews · 14h14 hours ago
(2nd LD) Top diplomats of N. Korea, China agree to strengthen ties, cooperate on peninsula issues
(2nd LD) Top diplomats of N. Korea, China agree to strengthen ties, cooperate on peninsula issues
And at that point Xi and his chain of command will be on to top of the C4IR target list....