Tensions Soar After Chinese Boat Rams, Sinks Vietnamese Vessel In Disputed Waters
Tensions in the South China Sea are once again soaring after a Vietnames fishing boat reportedly came under attack by a Chinese vessel near the contested Paracel Islands, a Vietnamese official said Friday. According to the Australian Associated Press the dangerous incident has sent tensions in the region to “a new high”. The Vietnamese boat was fishing near Discovery […]
China bans 23 million from traveling as part of citizen report card system
China has blocked millions of travelers from purchasing train or plane tickets as part of the Communist country’s controversial “social credit” system, which has drawn the ire of privacy advocates who fear the surveillance-based system could lead to dystopian outcomes. The Guardian reports that Chinese courts banned travelers from buying flights 17.5 million times by the end […]
Special ops to turn focus from war on terror to China, Russia
Will be taking a larger role in cyberwarfare, information and ‘influence’ operations, sources say America’s elite special operations forces are getting new marching orders as the Pentagon moves away from its post-9/11 focus on radical terrorist groups and trains its eye on big-power rivals such as China and Russia. In a major shift of mission, […]
Is Xi Jinping’s Taiwan reunification push hastening a US-China clash?
Fragile power balance in Taiwan Strait exposed with superpowers locked in a trade war. Taipei using the US as a hedge against mainland’s pressure campaign. Beijing’s renewed push for reunification with Taiwan has exposed the fragility of the balance of power in the Taiwan Strait – a relationship increasingly in question with China and the United […]
China orders armed forces to enhance combat readiness
Chinese President Xi Jinping on Friday ordered the country’s armed forces to enhance their combat readiness and develop an even stronger military presence. Xi gave the instruction at a meeting of the Central Military Commission (CMC) in Beijing, reports state-owned news portal Xinhua. “The world is facing a period of major changes not seen for […]
China passes Japan to become UN’s No. 2 contributor
Beijing’s gain could prove Tokyo’s loss in terms of clout China will become the second-largest monetary sponsor of the United Nations, behind only the U.S., under newly adopted contribution plans, knocking Japan from a spot it has held since the 1980s. The General Assembly on Saturday adopted a resolution increasing the Chinese contribution to 12.005% for […]
Senior Chinese military officer calls for attacks on US ships
The South China Sea is a powder keg, and one senior Chinese military officer seems interested in lighting the fuse. Dai Xu, a People’s Liberation Army Air Force colonel commandant and the president of China’s Institute of Marine Safety and Cooperation, suggested at a conference in Beijing on Saturday that the Chinese navy should use […]
EU, RUSSIA, CHINA emphasized to keep commercial ties with Iran
The European Union, Russia, and China have emphasized they will keep commercial ties with Iran despite a new wave of sanctions imposed by the United States that covers Iran’s energy and banking field. On Saturday Iran requested European guarantees of backing in the face of Washington’s intent to re-impose sanctions on vital Iranian oil sales […]
Germany tries to defuse N.Korea tensions, praises China
Germany on Wednesday vowed to do all it could to defuse tensions between the United States and North Korea, lauding China’s role in pressuring North Korean leader Kim Jong Un to delay plans to fire missiles towards the U.S. territory of Guam. But Berlin played down the idea that Germany could be a significant mediator […]