In January 2022, I predicted the exact timeline of the Russia-Ukraine conflict. The United States was the only country that was making noise about the imminent Russian attack on Ukraine. The rest of the western world was living in Utopia…. Read More ›
The Chinese military has intensified its drone incursions into the skies above Taiwan with almost daily flights of combat and reconnaissance unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs). Taiwan’s Defense Ministry said a People’s Liberation Army (PLA) TB-001 drone was spotted crossing the… Read More ›
Taiwan’s frontline island of Kinmen was once again in the headlines when President Tsai Ing-wen paid tribute this week to the soldiers and civilians who “operated in solidarity and safeguarded Taiwan” 64 years ago. On Aug. 23, 1958 mainland Chinese… Read More ›
China is attempting to establish a “new normal” across the Taiwan Strait, eroding self-ruled Taiwan’s territorial control and increasing the threat of a strike with each military sortie, officials and analysts say. Beijing has ramped up military maneuvers in the… Read More ›
Once China achieves its professed goal of establishing control over Taiwan, a process of “re-education” of the island’s population would follow, according to China’s Ambassador to France Lu Shaye. The ambassador was speaking on French television channel BFM TV on… Read More ›
China’s military drills around Taiwan have led some foreign companies on the island to draw up contingency plans in case there is an attack. Photo: Reuters (image omitted) Multinational businesses in Taiwan are laying plans to evacuate assets and personnel… Read More ›
Nikkei Asia describes US military deployment for possible military response to China’s response to Pelosi’s Taiwan visit in its report “U.S. deploys ships and planes near Taiwan as Pelosi eyes visit” yesterday. However, China is not fully prepared for taking… Read More ›
The Taiwanese military kicked off a five-day annual live-fire exercise on Monday aimed at bolstering the island’s defense capabilities and combat readiness at a time when China and Taiwan’s allies have been facing off in the airspace and seas around… Read More ›
The White House has been left scrambling a little after President Joe Biden suggested on May 23, 2022, that the US would intervene militarily should China attempt an invasion of Taiwan. The comment, which Biden made during a trip to… Read More ›
A Taiwanese news channel Chinese Television System (CTS) accidentally reported on Wednesday that the Chinese military had invaded the island, setting off what it called a “public panic” before the error was resolved. According to Taiwan News, screenshots from the… Read More ›
It has been an amazing twelve years. The first political columns started in summer 2010. In 2011, I predicted that Taiwan would be recognized—a prediction which has not yet failed, but continues to push forward. Since 2014, the Times has… Read More ›
Today China has over 350 ships and submarines (130 major surface components), numerically making it the largest Navy globally. These extraordinary Chinese naval expansions are not there to recreate the 15th century goodwill voyages of Admiral Zheng He. China has bigger ambitions,… Read More ›
Taiwan’s vice president went on tour. After meeting with the new president of Honduras, Vice President William Lai stopped in San Francisco. While in the States, he held virtual meetings with House Speaker Pelosi and others. Taiwan’s envoy to North… Read More ›
Taiwan has showcased some of its indigenous-built warships at an event designed to send a message of deterrence to China, local officials and analysts said. Over the weekend, the Taiwanese Ministry of Defense held a naval exercise off the coast of Keelung… Read More ›
China has been busy online. Western allies warn about increasing cyber attacks from China; it’s become the common thing to expect and discuss. Cyber attacks aren’t China’s only online hobby. Social media “influencers” are reportedly set to spread the good… Read More ›
China is illegal. The US Department of State even says so. France even reports as such. This won’t exactly improve friendly relations across the Pacific. It’s actually a much larger step to an all out conflict. Just over a year… Read More ›
Lithuania has become the “Taiwan of Europe”. Since WWII, Americans never again struggled with the concept that a problem abroad is a problem at home. This is how we Americans can vote to interfere around the world that we know… Read More ›
If we thought 2019 and 2020 presented uncertainties then 2022 is here to surprise all of us. It could be remembered as one of the most complex, unpredictable, and potentially dangerous years in the recent past. COVID-19, oil crossing $100/barrel,… Read More ›
Taiwan is on the rise. With chip shortages, stock is booming. You know how graphics cards are astronomically high? A lot of that money is going into Taiwan. Meanwhile, China found an excuse to order a real estate developer to… Read More ›
Japan is on the scene in the Pacific. While Japanese athletes will attend the Olympics, Japanese officials will not. China doesn’t want Japan to “politicize” the games. But, consider 2008, the one-hour opening ceremony about nothing but China’s history, with… Read More ›
The US is hitting China hard over treatment of Uyghurs. Nearly all imports from Xinjiang will be banned. At the same time, the US bolsters the call to bolster Taiwan’s military defense. However, Taiwan has the seeds of the same… Read More ›
China responds with propaganda. A lot more keeps happening more. It’s too much for China to track. But, when the US pontificates about democracy, China leaps to opine first. The problem is the vibe. It’s not about what we say,… Read More ›
This week, Slovokia cozies up to Taiwan. This is dangerously close to the Czech Republic. Formerly, the two were “Czechoslovakia” until 1993. Pacific Daily Times has some dark information about Taiwan’s poor treatment of a Czech citizen. As calls to… Read More ›
China faces a very serious and very real boycott at the Olympic Games. The Olympic Committee awarded China as the host country and claims that politics isn’t its business; other governments need to handle that. Boycotts are under serious consideration… Read More ›
The U.S. Navy’s Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer USS Milius (DDG 69) sailed through the Taiwan Strait in a routine operation on Tuesday. The transit sparked anger from the Communist Chinese government, which considers Taiwan its territory, and it characterized the… Read More ›
Taiwan is a peaceful island of peaceful people. The Taiwanese calm demeanor often plays tricks on the minds of Americans and Chinese. Every day, Taiwanese put up with enormous nonsense and harassment, yet manage to carry on with an authentic… Read More ›
China tripped the alarm. Revelations of a US aircraft carrier-shaped target in China’s Taklamakan Desert doesn’t exactly resemble a friendly trick-or-treat visit. Congress is upset, calling this the closest we’ve ever been. Washington tries to use calm rhetoric, saying they… Read More ›
China has been told, then told again. This week, China was told again again again. The EU gave a blistering rebuke to China’s unsolicited three cents about what other governments call their offices. Specifically, Taiwan is labeling it’s representative office… Read More ›
The United States and China are stepping up their war of words over Taiwan in a long-simmering dispute that has significant implications for the power dynamic in the Indo-Pacific and beyond. Amid a surge in Chinese military activity near the… Read More ›
Taiwan was thrust into a position without being asked. In 1971, the United Nations removed the Taipei-seated government known today as “Taiwan” and switched to recognizing the Beijing-based government known as “China”. The Taiwanese were elbowed out of the global… Read More ›
According to Chinese and US claims, China has a high-orbit, hypersonic missile that can hit a target within 24 miles. And, that’s why China is the new boss of the world and everyone else should hate America. The end. But,… Read More ›
Biden is creating a special center within CIA for China. Xi Jinping is irate. Biden knows China almost as well as Trump. He met with Chinese officials as Vice President. While Trump played a “good cop” routine on China, Biden… Read More ›
China is rapidly acquiring new military technologies and weapons as it tries to dominate the Indo-Pacific region, especially the South China Sea which it considers as its backyard. The J-16D electronic warfare aircraft (EWA) is one such platform that stood… Read More ›
This weekend saw yet another step-up in Chinese aggression—over 90 incursions in three days. While the world asks, “WTF!?” Taiwan rallies international support based on its IC chip industry. Taiwan supplies a good portion of the world’s semiconductors. If China… Read More ›
The Huawei heir apparent and CFO, Meng, walked. She confessed, then flew home. China immediately released the two Canadians both named Michael, which China had previously said were not detained in any connection to Meng; but they were both released… Read More ›
China steps up expansion via Hong Kong elections. Seven editors are banned from Wikipedia on concerns of not acting in good faith and with relation to China. The US sails through the Taiwan Straight again, this time a destroyer. Taiwan… Read More ›
Taiwan! Taiwan! Taiwan! Europe can say it enough. In fact, Europe talks about Taiwan almost as much as China does. Taiwan doesn’t need formal diplomatic relations to live rent free in the minds of global leaders around the globe—especially living… Read More ›
Adversity creates alliance. If China’s goal was to unite the world, it is succeeding. Taiwan and Japan are getting cozier than ever, as are Taiwan and the EU. The shift is happening and maps may need to be redrawn. The… Read More ›
The White House’s distinction between Far Eastern allies and Afghanistan is consistent with the US strategic pivot during the Obama years: away from the Middle East, toward China. While China interprets the befuddled Afghanistan withdrawal as an indication that the… Read More ›
Taiwan continues to shine. Aide sent to Haiti after a devastating earthquake combines growing ties with Lithuania. China objects—and those are bad optics that China’s speech-control can’t control outside its borders. China has been rewriting religion for years. Hymnals already… Read More ›
India has an aircraft carrier. It just finished its maiden voyage in China’s backyard. Those shipping lanes—one third of ocean-faring trade traffic—which China wants to claim by planting islands next to—most of them pass India. If any of them have… Read More ›
Japan is planning to deploy missile units on an island 300 kilometers off the coast of Taiwan to counter China’s growing naval presence in the area and defend against a potential Chinese attack. Beijing claims full sovereignty over Taiwan, a… Read More ›
British aircraft carrier HMS Queen Elizabeth is trudging through China’s backyard. Chinese government news “Global Times” describes Britain as trying to relive its old days. China was never happy about getting its ass whipped twice in the Opium Wars, which… Read More ›
While a typhoon largely evaded Taiwan over the weekend, tragedy struck the mainland. Shanghai faced flooding and death while India suffered a landslide in the Himalayas. In a shocking video, one boulder took out a bridge. Several people died. But,… Read More ›
China faces a three-pronged attack in the realm of public opinion. The Olympics converge with COVID; the third is three levelings up in Chinese military aggression. COVID is seen in the public eye as having mainly originated from China. Even… Read More ›
Everyone gets more serious about Taiwan. The US wants a special free trade agreement. China wants reunification, again. While China stockpiles nukes, the US shakes the finger, then China shakes its fist. But, Chinese on the inside are tired of… Read More ›
Spite for China is turning toward panic. Australian university campuses feel the pressure of CCP censorship, including death threats against students and pressure on family members back in China. If the CCP wanted to demonstrate its purported benevolence to the… Read More ›
China is facing massive resentment against its own Communist Party from inside its own borders. Members of ordinary society stab Communist Party members and are regarded heroes. The party of self-importance on the world stage isn’t only hated by the… Read More ›
China does not have the military capability or the intent to seize Taiwan by force in the immediate future, the top uniformed officer of the U.S. military told Congress Thursday. “China has a ways to go to develop the actual no-kidding… Read More ›
The snowball of worldwide hate toward China is past the growth knee. It was slow going, but now it’s gaining unstoppable momentum. China’s self-importance has reached embarrassing levels. G7 wants stability, introducing an alternative plan to China’s tightening Belt Road…. Read More ›
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