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Global Times: U.S. Military Repeatedly Visited the South China Sea Region

Global Times recently reported that, not long ago, the U.S. Navy ship, the USS Barry DDG-52 destroyer “freely navigated” through the Paracel (Xisha) Islands without the permission of the Chinese government, which was considered illegal. Then the U.S. Navy USS Bunker Hill CG-52 missile cruiser again “freely navigated” the Spratly (Nansha) Islands. On April 30, once again the U.S. Air Force two B-1B strategic bombers flew from Ellsworth Air Force Base in South Dakota over the South China Sea region for a 32-hour long distance training mission. The U.S. military has, very recently, been entering Chinese territories repeatedly and even performed a joint exercise with the Australian Navy in the South China Sea. These moves are not making a positive contribution to regional stability and are proof that the United States is the one militarizing the South China Sea. The Chinese Military has been monitoring and issuing warnings to the U.S. operators.

Source: Global Times, May 2, 2020
https://mil.huanqiu.com/article/3y3je7LuuHw

Briefings | | |   Defense/Military US-China Relations

PLA Aircraft Flew Near Taiwan on February 28

On Friday afternoon, February 28, a number of China’s People’s Liberation Army (PLA) aircraft flew over the sea southwest of Taiwan, Taiwan’s Ministry of National Defense said.

An unspecified number of Chinese H-6 bombers flew over the region before entering the Bashi Channel between Taiwan and the Philippines. Soon after entering the Bashi Channel, the bombers returned to an unspecified base through the same route, the ministry said.

Since President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) won re-election in January 2020, China has carried out an increasing number of drills near Taiwan .

On Feb 9 and Feb 10, China also dispatched Chinese J-11 fighters, KJ-500 early warning and control aircraft, and H-6 bombers on flight missions near Taiwan, the ministry said.

On Feb 10, several Chinese aircraft briefly crossed the median line of the Taiwan Strait and entered Taiwan’s airspace, but retreated to the western side of the line after Taiwan military dispatched F-16s and other military aircraft to meet them and issue radio warnings, the ministry said.

On Feb 12, the U.S. dispatched two B-52 Stratofortress bombers flying off Taiwan’s east coast, while an MJ-130J Commando II multi-mission combat transport plane flew over the Taiwan Strait.

On Feb 16, the U.S. sent the USS Chancellorsville south through the Taiwan Strait.

Source: Taipei Times, March 1, 2020
http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/taiwan/archives/2020/03/01/2003731871

Briefings | | |   Defense/Military Geo-Strategic Trend

Virus Origin: Genome Analysis of the New Wuhan Coronavirus Found Viral Sequences Suspicious of Laboratory Engineering

Dr. Lyons-Weiler, the founder and CEO of the Institute for Pure and Applied Knowledge (IPAK), published an article stating that medical research found evidence that might suggest the novel coronavirus in China could come out from a laboratory-induced event. He listed possibilities of the origin as either a vaccine or a biomedical weapon.

Dr. Lyons-Weiler has written many articles and three books, many of them are on medical related topics.

“There is, however, clear evidence that the novel sequence, which I will refer to henceforth as INS1378, is from a laboratory-induced recombination event. Specifically,

(1) The sequence similarity to other coronavirus sequences is lower to its most similar sequences in any coronavirus than the rest of the genome (IPAK finding)

(2) The high sequence similarity of INS1378 to a SARS spike protein (2; IPAK Confirmed).

(3) We also found significant sequence similarity of INS1378 to a pShuttle-SN vector that was in use in the 1980’s in China to create a more immunogenic coronavirus (IPAK finding, details below, Option 4).”

He gave four options on the origins of virus:

Option 1. Natural coronavirus related to bat coronaviruses, Not a Recombined Virus. He concluded that this option is a “falsified hypothesis.”

Option 2. A recombined virus that naturally picked up a SARS-like spike protein in its N-terminus of the viral genome. He concluded this option as “speculative hypothesis and unlikely.”

Option 3. A recombined virus made in a laboratory for the purpose of creating a bioweapon.

“Both China and the US hinted at the other side’s potential liability in playing a role in bringing about a novel coronavirus in the lab specifically for the purpose of being used as a bioweapon. To add to the intrigue, a Chinese Scientist had her security access revoked from a BSL-4 laboratory in Manitoba, Canada for violating protocols, allegedly sending samples of deadly viruses to mainland China. On January 26, The Washington Times published an article citing an Israeli defense expert who claimed that China has likely proceeded with a bioweapons program.”

He called it a “rumor” but didn’t reject it from the angle of possibility.

Option 4. A recombined virus made in a laboratory for the purpose of creating a vaccine.

“IPAK researchers found a sequence similarity between a pShuttle-SN recombination vector sequence and INS1378. It turns out that the sequence from pShuttle is most closely related to the Spike protein from SARS coronavirus. This particular technology was used in 2008 to attempt to develop a more immunogenic vaccine against coronavirus.”

Studies reported “serious immunopathology in animals – rats, ferrets, and monkeys – in which animals vaccinated against coronaviruses tended to have extremely high rates of respiratory failure upon subsequent exposure in the study when challenged with the wild-type coronavirus.”

He thinks Option 4 is “most likely.” The Chinese government might have conducted human trials with this vaccine, or this vaccine might have escaped from a lab. “The available evidence most strongly supports that the 2019-NCoV virus is a vaccine strain of coronavirus either accidentally released from a laboratory accident, perhaps a laboratory researcher becoming infected with the virus while conducting animal experiments, or the Chinese were performing clinical studies of a Coronavirus vaccine in humans.”

Sources:
1. Principia Scientific International, January 31, 2020

On the Origins of the 2019-nCoV Virus, Wuhan, China


2. Washington Times, January 26, 2020
https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2020/jan/26/coronavirus-link-china-biowarfare-program-possible/
3. James Lyons-Weiler website

James Lyons-Weiler, PhD

Hot Topics | | |   Defense/Military Social Stability

Sputnik Chinese: China Launched Satellites for African and Latin American Countries

Sputnik Chinese, the news agency that the Russian government owns, reported that, on December 20, 2019, China launched an Ethiopian satellite and a Brazilian satellite with its Long March 4B rocket.

The Ethiopian satellite was the country’s first satellite. China designed and built it. Out of the total cost of US$ 7 million, China paid US$ 6 million for it.

The Brazilian satellite was the country’s sixth satellite. It is part of a joint Sino-Brazilian project.

A little earlier, China also sent two more Beidou Satellites of its own into space. It thus completed the 24-satellite setup of the Beidou global navigation system. 24 satellites are what is needed to provide full global coverage; both the U.S.’ GPS system and the Russian navigation system also use 24 satellites.

In 2019, China made 30 launches; it has sent over 50 spacecraft into space leading Russia and the U.S.

Source: Sputnik Chinese, December 21, 2019
http://sputniknews.cn/science/201912211030290947/

Briefings | | |   Defense/Military Geo-Strategic Trend

Xi Jinping Promoted Nearly 100 Generals

In four days in December, Beijing promoted 96 generals.

On December 12, 2019, Xi Jinping promoted seven Chinese military officers to the rank of General.

On December 10, the army promoted 52 officers, including six to Lieutenant General and 46 to Major General.

On December 9, the armed police promoted 37 officers, including one to Lieutenant General and 36 to Major General.

Usually Beijing promotes generals around August 1st, the anniversary of the establishment of the People’s Liberation Army. Observers think that Xi did this large scale off-cycle promotion to impose stronger control over the military, as he is facing the U.S. trade war, Hong Kong Protests, a falling economy, and political rivalry inside the Communist Party.

Source: Epoch Times, December 12, 2019
http://www.epochtimes.com/gb/19/12/12/n11719114.htm

 

Briefings | | |   Defense/Military Government/Politics

Russia Concerned about China Copying Russian Weapons

Voice of America quoted a statement from an official in charge of intellectual property protection at a Russian technology group. He said that China has been copying Russian weapons and equipment on a large scale, from aircraft engines to Sukhoi fighters and from carrier-based aircraft to air defense missile systems and to portable air defense missiles. The official said that even the short to medium range surface-to-air missile and anti-aircraft artillery weapon system Pantsir-S1 (NATO reporting name: SA-22 “Greyhound”) saw its copycat in China.

China has been a major buyer of Russian weapons and equipment for many years. Piracy is also a major problem in military and technical cooperation between the two countries. In the past two or three years, Russia’s major arms trading projects with China have included the Su-35 fighters and S-400 air defense missiles. However, China has purchased a very limited number of these weapons. Military analysts believe that the main purpose of China’s procurement of these weapons was imitation.

The Military-Industrial Courier, a weekly Russian newspaper, has published a long article saying that China developed the J-11B fighter on the basis of the Su-27 fighter aircraft and it also developed the J-15 on the basis of the carrier-based aircraft Su-33. The Xian H-6 bomber also comes from the Soviet Tupolev Tu-16 bomber. Furthermore, the armored fighting vehicles that started to equip the Chinese army in 2012 are also reminiscent of the two models of infantry fighting vehicles from the Soviet Union and Russia. China’s Yuan-class conventional-powered submarine also uses Russian technology.

Zvezda (Red Star), a Russian state-owned nationwide TV network that the Russian Ministry of Defense runs, has published a long story, detailing how China has been copying Soviet and Russian weapons and equipment since the 1950’s. The report said that 95 percent of current Chinese weapons and equipment have elements from Soviet or Russian weapons.

Source: Voice of America, December 15, 2019
https://www.voachinese.com/a/russia-concerns-weapons-chinese-military-pirated-20191215/5206556.html

Briefings | | |   Defense/Military

Retired Taiwan General Sentenced for Receiving Political Donation from CCP’s Contact in Hong Kong

The Taipei Court sentenced Luo Wen-shan, a retired Lieutenant General, to 2.5 years in prison for violating the Political Donation Law.

In the past, Luo has served the Administrative Deputy Minister of National Defense and the Deputy Commander of the Joint Logistics Headquarters.

He was charged with receiving political donations from Hong Kong businessman Hui Chi-Ming amounting to a total of HK $2 million (US $255,500).

Hui immigrated to Hong Kong from Guangdong Province in the late 1980s and chairs the Hong Kong Hoifu Energy Group and Sino Union Petroleum & Chemical International. As a member of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) National Committee, Hui has met with several of the Chinese Communist Party’s top leaders, including Xi Jinping, Li Keqiang, Hu Jintao, and Wen Jiabao. On multiple occasions, he has also led China’s delegation to visit other countries.

Luo also received HK $137,500 (US $17,563) from Ho Biu, another Hongkonger in August 2012.

Luo claimed that the money from Hui and from Ho was used to pay for the Presidential campaign advertisements for Ma Ying-jeou during the Taiwan elections and the cost of Hui’s meeting with Ma Ying-jeou and Lien Chan. Ma was the former Taiwan President and the Kuomintang Chairman. Lien also served as the Kuomintang Chairman and former Taiwan Premier.

Source: Radio Free Asia, December 3, 2019
https://www.rfa.org/cantonese/news/htm/tw-court-12032019134226.html?encoding=simplified

Briefings | | |   Defense/Military Geo-Strategic Trend Government/Politics

China Decided to “Teach the United States a Hard Lesson.”

People’s Daily reported on December 2 that the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs announced a ban on U.S. military vessels and aircraft. They are now prohibited from using Hong Kong for logistics. At the same time, China also announced sanctions on a number of U.S. NGOs (Non-Governmental Organizations) that China identified as “playing an evil role in the Hong Kong riots.” The People’s Daily commentary suggested that it’s about time to “teach the United States a hard lesson.”

Primary Taiwanese news agency Central News Agency (CNA) reported on December 3, along with several Taiwanese media companies, that the Mainland ban should be considered an opportunity for Taiwan to extend an invitation to the U.S. Navy to dock at a Taiwanese port for logistical supplies. The U.S. never truly had a dependency on Hong Kong, and Taiwan can offer much better reliability for supplies.

Global Times published a commentary on December 6 that maintained the region is facing a historic change of military balance. China now has a far superior military power over the Taiwan Strait. The commentary explained that, if the U.S. and Taiwan get closer, Mainland aircraft can attempt flying over the Taiwanese presidential palace and the Mainland navy also has the option of entering the Taiwanese coastal line. The cost for the U.S. to intervene in a Taiwan Strait conflict is rapidly growing. So if Taiwan wants more collusion with the U.S., just go ahead.

Sources:
(1) People’s Daily, December 2, 2019
http://opinion.people.com.cn/n1/2019/1202/c1003-31486087.html
(2) CNA, December 3, 2019
https://www.cna.com.tw/news/firstnews/201912030145.aspx
(3) Global Times, December 6, 2019
https://m.huanqiu.com/article/9CaKrnKobF2

Briefings | | |   Defense/Military Geo-Strategic Trend US-China Relations