Konflikti Kiinan merellä

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Jostain luin ja en tietenkään löydä enää uutista, että Kiinan keinotekoset saaret ois vajoamassa mereen. Että niitä pitäs kokoajan korottaa, mutta lisääntynyt maamassa taas lisää vajoamista.

Ne on hiekkasärkkiä. Ainoa keinoa pitää eroosiota alhaalla on puiden ja pensaiden istutukset. Se voi olla tietenkin turhauttavaa kun isot aallot pyyhkii yli ja jättää suolavesilätäköitä jälkeensä ja ne pääsee tappamaan juuristoa.

 

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China has begun talking to ten nations in the South Pacific with an offer to help them improve their network infrastructure, cyber security, digital forensics and other capabilities – all with the help of Chinese tech vendors.

Newswire Reuters broke the news of China’s ambitions after seeing a draft agreement that China’s foreign minister Wang Yi is reportedly tabling on a tour of Pacific nations this week and next.

The draft agreement proposes assistance with data governance, training local police, and mapping the marine environment. Supply of customs management applications, possible funding of data links to island nations, and cyber-security assistance are also reportedly on the table.

Australian foreign minister Penny Wong has acknowledged the reports and made a counteroffer of financial and development assistance with what she says is fewer strings attached.

That’s a nod to accusations that China practices what’s been labelled “debt trap diplomacy” whereby development assistance comes with repayment plans small nations may not be able to afford. Defaults lead to Chinese entities taking ownership of assets.

Pacific nations have pushed back on the plan, citing worries that it could effectively see them cede sovereignty or lose control of key assets.

China offering ten nations help to run their cyber-defenses and networks

Sure, they’re small Pacific nations, but they’re in very strategic locations

www.theregister.com

Minä en haluaisi joutua kiinan palomuurin alle. Tämä kehitys on huolestuttavaa.

 

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China’s accusations, which were noted by security journalist Catalin Cimpanu, all follow a very similar pattern. On February 23, Chinese security company Pangu Lab published allegations that the US National Security Agency’s elite Equation Group hackers used a backdoor, dubbed Bvp47, to monitor 45 countries. The Global Times, a tabloid newspaper that’s part of China’s state-controlled media, ran an exclusive report on the research. Weeks later, on March 14, the newspaper had a second exclusive story about another NSA tool, NOPEN, based on details from China’s National Computer Virus Emergency Response Center. A week later, Chinese cybersecurity firm Qihoo 360 alleged that US hackers had been attacking Chinese companies and organizations. And on April 19, the Global Times reported on further National Computer Virus Emergency Response Center findings around HIVE, malware developed by the CIA.

The reports are accompanied with a flurry of statements—often in response to questions from the media—by China’s Foreign Ministry spokespeople. “China is gravely concerned over the irresponsible malicious cyber activities of the US government,” Foreign Ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin said in April after one of the announcements. “We urge the US side to explain itself and immediately stop such malicious activities.” Over the first nine days of May, Foreign Ministry spokespeople commented on US cyber activities at least three times. “One cannot whitewash himself by smearing others,” Zhao Lijian said in one instance.

The Mystery of China’s Sudden Warnings About US Hackers

The Chinese government recently began saber-rattling about American cyberespionage. The catch? It’s all old news.

www.wired.co.uk

 

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For the first time in 33 years, church services to commemorate the Tiananmen Square crackdown will not be held in Hong Kong, erasing one of the last reminders of China’s bloody suppression of the 1989 protests.

Since Beijing imposed a sweeping national security law in 2020 to snuff out pro-democracy demonstrations, once-packed candlelit vigils have been banned, a Tiananmen museum has been forced to close and statues have been pulled down.

The annual Catholic masses were one of the last ways for Hong Kongers to come together publicly to remember the deadly clampdown in Beijing on 4 June 1989, when the Chinese government set tanks and troops on peaceful demonstrators.

Hong Kong churches drop Tiananmen tributes after 33 years amid arrest fears

Concerns of breaching security law prompt cancellation of services that were among last ways to publicly mark China’s 1989 crackdown

www.theguardian.com

 

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It appears China has put at least one other semi-submersible transport ship into service with the People’s Liberation Army Navy, according to photos published by state media showing the ship transporting an amphibious hovercraft.

The official China Military Online website showed the semi-submersible heavy ship Yinmahu transporting a Type 958 air-cushioned landing craft.

Photos show China has fielded another semi-submersible transport ship

The official China Military Online website showed the semi-submersible heavy ship Yinmahu transporting a Type 958 air-cushioned landing craft.

www.defensenews.com

 

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U.S. economic and military competition with China is the defining condition of this decade and, likely, of decades to follow. The outcome of today’s competition with China rests on who will assume technology leadership for advanced and emerging technologies.

Semiconductors feed the defense, medical, industrial control and transportation sectors, to name just a few. America is confronted with a rising China that is committed to becoming the dominant technology power and increasingly poses an existential threat. We must quickly address critical supply chain security and resiliency issues. Both American soft and hard power are girded by our innovative technology and ability to apply it with agility to market demands and national security requirements.

America needs a robust, resilient supply chain for semiconductors

The United States is at a precarious juncture where private and public sector missteps could erode our technological superiority.

www.defensenews.com

 

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China has made the second largest incursion into Taiwan’s air defence zone this year with Taipei reporting 30 jets entering the area, including more than 20 fighters.

Taiwan’s defence ministry said late on Monday it had scrambled its own aircraft and deployed air defence missile systems to monitor the latest Chinese activity.

Taiwan scrambles jets after China makes largest incursion into air defence zone since January

China has almost doubled its incursions this year, as it attempts to keep island under pressure

www.theguardian.com

Monday’s incursion was the largest since 23 January, when 39 planes entered the air defence identification zone, or ADIZ.

The ADIZ is not the same as Taiwan’s territorial airspace but includes a far greater area that overlaps with part of China’s own air defence identification zone and even includes some of the mainland.

A flight map provided by the Taiwanese defence ministry showed the planes entered the south-western corner of the ADIZ before they looping back out again.

 

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Journalists covering the Chinese foreign minister’s tour of the Pacific say they have been blocked from filming or accessing events, and that not a single question from a Pacific journalist has been allowed to be asked of Wang Yi.

The allegations raise serious press freedom concerns and alarm about the ability of Pacific journalists to do their jobs, particularly as the relationship between the region and China becomes closer.

Wang is midway through a marathon trip visiting eight countries in 10 days. He has held bilateral meetings in Solomon Islands, Kiribati, Samoa and Fiji to date, with trips to Tonga, Vanuatu, Papua New Guinea and Timor-Leste to come.

Outcry as China stops Pacific journalists questioning Wang Yi

Beijing’s foreign minister signing bilateral deals with leaders but reporters are blocked, sometimes physically, from asking questions

www.theguardian.com

 

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Chinese foreign minister Wang Yi is nearing the end of a marathon tour of eight Pacific states. By Saturday, he will have visited Solomon Islands, Fiji, Kiribati, Samoa, Tonga, Vanuatu, Papua New Guinea, and Timor-Leste.

While Wang will come away with multiple bilateral economic and development agreements, he will not return to China with the big prize – a comprehensive security treaty, which would have seen a reconfiguration of the political landscape in the Pacific, which 10 Pacific states declined to sign at a virtual meeting on Monday.

Pacific leaders deliberated the Chinese proposal in the Pacific consensus decision-making way; carefully and sensitively weighing their decision, and – much to the relief of traditional partners – declined the proposal.

The rejection of China’s deal shows the Pacific will not be used as a geopolitical pawn | Henry Ivarature

Pacific leaders have sent a strong message that countries who want to partner with them must treat them with respect and take action on climate change

www.theguardian.com

Australia needs a more considered approach to the Pacific. It should let the dust created by Wang’s visit settle, and then build on Penny Wong’s visit by identifying opportunities for relationship-building in consultations with the Pacific. Pacific Islanders can tell their Australian and New Zealand friends what they need.

Australia must really learn to listen and listen well. Australia does not need to throw baskets of money into the Blue Pacific. I think for Pacific Islanders, it is relationships that matter and Australia needs to look to areas where its relations with the Pacific can grow and flourish. Australia should recognise China’s intensified engagement as an opportunity to rebuild its relations with Pacific, and a lesson not take the Pacific for granted.

Niin prkl

 

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Taiwan has engaged with the United States, and the European Union, in separate talks aimed at securing tech supply chains.

On Wednesday, the US and Taiwan launched an "Initiative on 21st Century Trade" that is very similar to the recently-announced 14-country Indo-Pacific Economic Framework (IPEF) that aimed to secure regional supply chains.

Taiwan is not a party to the IPEF – an omission possibly intended to avoid provoking China.

But the Office of the United States Trade Representative has described the Initiative as addressing "trade partners that deploy non-market policies and practices, which threaten the livelihoods of [US and Taiwan] people and harm their workers and businesses."

Which sounds a lot like a reference to China.

The pact also aims for "economically meaningful outcomes" on trade facilitation, regulatory practices, technical and anti-corruption standards, digital trade, and labor rights.

US and Taiwan hold trade talks that echo IPEF

The chips must flow. But don't mention the Great Wall

www.theregister.com

 

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Australia has complained to China over its interception of a maritime surveillance flight in international airspace in the South China Sea region, which the deputy prime minister labelled “very dangerous”.

The defence department has revealed the interception of a “routine maritime surveillance activity” in a statement on Sunday, claiming it resulted in a “dangerous manoeuvre” that risked the safety of the Australian aircraft and its crew.

The incident on 26 May, just five days after the federal election, comes at a crucial juncture in Australia’s relationship with China, as Labor’s election provides a circuit-breaker to escalating rhetoric, although no substantial reset in policy has occurred.

Defence advised that “a RAAF P-8 maritime surveillance aircraft was intercepted by a Chinese J-16 fighter aircraft during a routine maritime surveillance activity in international airspace in the South China Sea region”.

“The intercept resulted in a dangerous manoeuvre which posed a safety threat to the P-8 aircraft and its crew,” it said.

“The Australian government has raised its concerns about the incident with the Chinese government.”

The defence minister, Richard Marles, told reporters in Geelong the Chinese aircraft “flew very close to the side of the [Australia] P-8 maritime surveillance aircraft” then “released flares”.

“The J-16 then accelerated and cut across the nose of the P-8, settling in front of the P-8 at very close distance.”

“At that moment, it then released a bundle of chaff, which contains small pieces of aluminium, some of which were ingested into the engine of the P-8 aircraft. Quite obviously, this is very dangerous.”

Defence noted that it has “for decades undertaken maritime surveillance activities in the region and does so in accordance with international law, exercising the right to freedom of navigation and overflight in international waters and airspace”.

Chinese fighter jet’s actions near Australian aircraft ‘very dangerous’, deputy PM says

Defence reports J-16 jet released ‘chaff’ including aluminium shards in front of Australian flight in South China Sea region

www.theguardian.com

vaarallista peliä kiinalaisilta kv vesien yllä

 

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Beijing on Monday warned Australia to "act prudently" or face "serious consequences" after Canberra accused a Chinese fighter jet of dangerously intercepting one of its spy planes over the South China Sea.

Australia has argued it is not unusual for it to undertake surveillance flights in the South China Sea -- a region Beijing insists comes under its domain despite a 2016 Hague ruling that dismissed its claims.

China's stance has heightened tensions with the United States and its allies, which insist on freedom of navigation in the area.

Australian Defence Minister Richard Marles said Sunday that a Chinese J-16 fighter intercepted a P-8 surveillance aircraft late last month, in a "dangerous" manoeuvre that put the safety of the Australian Defence Force crew at risk.

But Beijing hit back Monday, saying it would "never allow any country to infringe upon China's sovereignty and security... under the pretext of freedom of navigation".

"China once again urges Australia to earnestly respect China's national security interests and core interests, act and speak prudently to avoid a miscalculation occurring that results in serious consequences," foreign ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian told reporters.

The incident comes three months after Australia accused the Chinese military of shining a military-grade laser at one of Canberra's defence planes over waters north of Australia, which the previous government labelled an "act of intimidation".

Zhao said Monday that China's military has always conducted operations in a "safe, standard and professional manner" in line with international law.

Last week, Canada also accused Chinese pilots of nearly causing a mid-air collision during recent encounters in international airspace as the Canadians took part in efforts to enforce United Nations sanctions on North Korea.

China's defence ministry retorted Monday that its pilots took "reasonable, forceful, safe and professional measures" in response to "provocative behaviour" by the Canadian military.

China warns Australia risks 'serious consequences' after jet interception

METATEXT

www.spacewar.com

konflikti aineksia

 

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The United States last week quietly eased its ban on investors holding stock in, or otherwise profiting from, Chinese companies that are felt to have ties to China's military.

The ban was first imposed by president Donald Trump with a 2020 executive order that forbade US-based individuals or entities owning shares in private Chinese companies identified as offering support to China's military, intelligence, and security agencies, by auditing their "development and modernization."

President Biden later issued a similar order of his own.

Both documents named Huawei, server-maker to the stars Inspur, China's top chipmaker SMIC, and controversial video camera maker Hikvision as verboten to US investors, along with many other Chinese companies.

Trump's order set a divestment deadline of January 11, 2021, but Biden's order extended the deadline to June 3, 2022

Two days before that deadline, the Office of Foreign Assets Control updated its FAQ with instructions that US investors can still receive dividends from the named Chinese companies and are not required to divest shares.

US tweaks requirement for investors to dump Chinese stocks

Stockholders can keep shares in Huawei, SMIC, and Inpsur - they're just not allowed to sell

www.theregister.com

 

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mine-loading exercise conducted by Taiwanese naval personnel revealed that World War II-era Mk 6 mines are aboard at least one of the country’s newly commissioned minelayers. Despite there purportedly being a varied selection of modern mines compatible for use with these ships, the Taiwan Navy’s decision to employ a type with a core design that dates back to 1917 is undoubtedly an intriguing one.

The mine seen in the photos taken during the exercise is likely a Mk 6 Mod 15, which a newsletter published by the U.S. Navy’s Association of Minemen explains is an inert training variant of the Mk 6 Mod 14. Training to load the Mk 6 Mod 15s points to the Taiwan Navy’s intent to potentially deploy the active Mod 14 mines should a conflict arise in the future. To further support that assertion, a text published by Drew Thompson for the Institute for National Strategic Studies claims that Taiwan’s stockpile of Mk 6 mines acquired from the United States undergoes periodic refurbishment. However, the crux of the decades-old design seems to be mostly unchanged.

Taiwan Uses Naval Mines Designed Over A Century Ago

Taiwan's brand new minelaying ships are training to employ the U.S.-designed Mk 6 naval mine, which was designed in 1917.

www.thedrive.com

 

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The Coming War on China

The Coming War on China

johnpilger.com

Tämä filmi, joka pyörii Netflixillä nyt on taitavasti tehtyä propagandaa. Ohjaajan mukaan se tuli ulos kuukausi trumpin astuttua valtaan. Se esittää pahimpia kohtauksia jenkkien ydintestauksesta, siitä historiasta mille emme voi mitään. Se syyllistää sotateollisuuden ja jenkkilän asemat ympäri tyyntä valtamerta, mutta se ei kerro koko totuutta. Se ei näytä miten Kiina on muuttunut röyhkeämmäksi vuosien varrella. Se ei puhu Taiwanin tilanteesta, taikka esitä mitenkään kuinka Kiina on saanut satamia jne lainaehtojen täytyttyä.

Omissa silmissä taitavasti tehtyä propagandaa. En ymmärrä miksi Netflix näyttää sitä ohjelmistossaan. Ihminen joka ei tiedä, eikä vaivaudu ymmärtämään koko kuvaa saa väärän käsityksen koko hommasta.

 

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US tweaks requirement for investors to dump Chinese stocks

Stockholders can keep shares in Huawei, SMIC, and Inpsur - they're just not allowed to sell

www.theregister.com

Olisikohan jotain salaisia lehmänkauppoja Kiinan kanssa, mihin liittyy Ukrainan sota ja Kiinan tuki Venäjälle siinä? Voi toki olla muutakin, tai lisäksi muuta, kuten jenkkien bisnesmaailman vaatimukset. Kaikki liittyy kaikkeen.

Tämä ketju on ehkä ollut vuosien varrella useiten katsomani, jota yleensä vilkaisen kun Länsi-Filippiinien merellä tapahtuu jotain. Hyvä että jotkut seuraavat aluetta.

 

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Olisikohan jotain salaisia lehmänkauppoja Kiinan kanssa, mihin liittyy Ukrainan sota ja Kiinan tuki Venäjälle siinä?

Niillä on paranoiaa ja ne haluaa maksaa potut pottuina. Joten ulkopuolinen sijoittaja joutuu kärsimään ja Kiinalaisia ei kiinnosta se. Kunhan pääsevät näyttämään jenkeille mistä kana pissii.

 

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Cambodia and Beijing have denied a report that they are building a secret naval facility for the Chinese fleet, as Australia’s new prime minister voiced concern about the project and called for transparency.

The Washington Post, citing unnamed western officials, said a new facility at Cambodia’s Ream base – strategically located on the Gulf of Thailand – was being built for the “exclusive” use of the Chinese navy.
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2...of-cambodian-naval-base-ream-gulf-of-thailand
The base has been a sore spot in US-Cambodian relations for years, with Washington long suspecting it is being converted for use by China as it seeks to buttress its international influence with a network of military outposts.

Cambodia’s deputy prime minister, Prak Sokhonn, rejected the report as “groundless accusations” in a call with Australia’s foreign minister, Penny Wong, according to a statement released late on Tuesday by Phnom Penh.

Earlier, a spokesman had said the base’s development was “not a secret”. “Cambodia won’t allow the Chinese military to use it exclusively or to develop the site as its military base,” government spokesman Phay Siphan told Agence France-Presse.

The Cambodian defence minister and China’s ambassador will be attending a groundbreaking ceremony on Wednesday for new facilities at Ream, including a boat repair shop and a pier.

Cambodia and China deny naval base scheme as Australian PM voices concern

Cambodia says facilities at Ream naval base will not be for exclusive use of Chinese military, while Beijing denounces ‘malicious conjecture’

www.theguardian.com

Cambodia Ream naval base · NR45, Kambodscha

★★★★★ · Marinestützpunkt

www.google.co.uk

 

[Kent Uranium]

Ne on hiekkasärkkiä. Ainoa keinoa pitää eroosiota alhaalla on puiden ja pensaiden istutukset. Se voi olla tietenkin turhauttavaa kun isot aallot pyyhkii yli ja jättää suolavesilätäköitä jälkeensä ja ne pääsee tappamaan juuristoa.

Vaikuttaa, että lähes kaikki keinotekoiset saaret vajoavat vuosikymmeniä. Kansain lentokenttä Japanissa on vajonnut enemmän, kuin sen laskettiin vajoavan ja sitä on jouduttu korottamaan. Siis kyse ei pelkästään ole eroosiosta, vaikka sillä onkin osansa, mutta myös mereen maamassan läjitykseen liittyvästä ilmiöstä. Pohja antaa hitaasti periksi, kun maamassan paino työntää vettä pois pohjan rakenteesta pohjan vedenpainetta vastaan. Tiedä sitten mitenkä kiinalaiset ovat ottaneet tuon huomioon ja mitenkä optimistisia laskelmia ovat tehneet? Japanilaiset 1994 olivat ylioptimistisia ja se on maksanut heille paljon. Voi olla, että kiinalaiset joutuvat korottamaan tekosaariaan vuosikymmeniä...

"This   October, a new airport will open north of Istanbul, Turkey, on a foundation of muck from a former Black Sea marshland. In the Maldives archipelago, a sprawling expansion to its capital city airport is rising from the Indian Ocean. In 2020, a runway will open in an estuary of the Brisbane River in Australia, atop ground that engineers say is no more stable than toothpaste. Like dozens of airports already built on land reclaimed from water, those airports will sink. The only question is how fast.

The Kansai International Airport, serving the Japanese city of Osaka and occupying two artificial islands in Osaka Bay, leads the race to the bottom. Since it opened in 1994, Kansai has sunk 38 feet. Kansai’s islands were predicted to evenly settle, or as engineers say, subside, over a 50-year period before stabilizing at 13 feet above sea level. That’s the minimum elevation required to prevent flooding in case a breach develops in an encircling"

The Airport Is Sinking

An engineering miracle is still no match for Mother Nature.

www.smithsonianmag.com

 

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Dozens of scholars have accused the UN human rights chief of having ignored or contradicted academic findings on abuses in Xinjiang with her statements on the region.

In an open letter published this week, 39 academics from across Europe, the US and Australia called on Michelle Bachelet to release a long-awaited UN report on human rights abuses in China.

The letter, published online, included some academics with whom Bachelet had consulted prior to her visit to Xinjiang. The letter’s signatories expressed gratitude for this, but said they were “deeply disturbed” by her official statement, delivered at a press conference in Guangzhou at the end of her six-day tour.

They said her statement “ignored and even contradicted the academic findings that our colleagues, including two signatories to this letter, provided”.

Fury at UN human rights chief over ‘whitewash’ of Uyghur repression

Open letter signed by academics in wake of Michelle Bachelet’s China visit demands release of UN report on human rights abuses

www.theguardian.com