US - China relations

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Do the Chins have any technology they didn't steal?

How The U.S. Caught A Chinese Spy​

Jun 22, 2023
19:27

CNBC’s Eamon Javers explores how U.S. companies are in the crosshairs of China’s economic espionage efforts, all while trying to do business in one of the world’s biggest markets. In this in-depth report, Javers examines the unprecedented case of Xu Yanjun, a spy from China who was convicted in U.S. federal court of trying to steal GE engine secrets, and what it reveals about China’s plans to take on Boeing, GE Aviation, Honeywell and the rest of America’s aerospace industry. Watch the video to find out how U.S. law enforcement caught a spy from China’s Ministry of State Security.

Chapters: 01:37 — Spotting a target 05:59 — Investigation begins 08:18 — Made in China12:30 — Catching a spy18:38 — Winning the espionage war
 
From the link:

Two San Diego-based sailors have been arrested and charged with providing sensitive military information to China, U.S. federal officials announced Thursday.

Machinist’s Mate 3rd Class Jinchao Wei, 22, assigned to the amphibious assault ship Essex, and Construction Electrician 2nd Class Wenheng Zhao, 26, of Naval Construction Group 1, were charged in separate indictments.

Two U.S. sailors charged with sharing military info with China

The Feds announced separate indictments against two San Diego-based sailors on Thursday.
www.navytimes.com
 
It will take China 6 to 7 years to divest itself of T-bills at their current shrinkage rate.
 
It is highly likely that Chinese spies are attempting to infiltrate Congress in the same way they did British parliament after it emerged Sunday that a well-connected researcher had been arrested on suspicion of spying for Beijing, according to a prominent international security expert.

In March, a man identified in the British press as Chris Cash, 28, was arrested in Edinburgh under the U.K.'s Official Secrets Act, as was a second man in his 30s in Oxfordshire who has not been identified. Both suspects have been bailed until October, with Cash insisting he is completely innocent via a statement released by his lawyers.

Warning over China spy threat to U.S. Congress

American politicians should receive "mandatory security training" to protect from Chinese spying, according to a security expert.
www.newsweek.com
 

Chinese Aircraft Carrier, Warships Massing for Major Exercise Near the Philippines​

The Chinese People’s Liberation Army Navy Shandong Carrier Strike Group is operating in the Philippine Sea, being shadowed separately by Republic of China Navy and Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force (JMSDF) destroyers, according to both countries.

Meanwhile, North Korea fired two ballistic missiles into the Sea of Japan on Wednesday – shortly before its leader, Kim Jong Un, met with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Russia – marking the first time North Korea has conducted such a launch while its leader was overseas.
Taiwan’s Ministry of National Defense in a Wednesday social media post stated that a total of 35 PLA aircraft had been detected – 28 of which crossed the median line between China and Taiwan, entering Taiwan’s southwest air defence identification zone. Taiwan also reported that PLAN aircraft carrier Shandong had sailed into the western Pacific. A follow up post stated that the ROC Armed Forces were monitoring the situation and had tasked combat air patrol aircraft, navy vessels and land-based missile systems to respond, and included a picture of destroyer ROCS Kee Lung (DDG-1801) (former Kidd-class destroyer USS Scott [DDG-995]) shadowing the carrier.

More:

 

Report on U.S.-China Competition in East, South China Sea​

The following is the Sept. 14, 2023, Congressional Research Service report U.S.-China Strategic Competition in South and East China Seas: Background and Issues for Congress.

From the report​

Over the past 10 to 15 years, the South China Sea (SCS) has emerged as an arena of U.S.-China strategic competition. China’s actions in the SCS—including extensive island-building and base-construction activities at sites that it occupies in the Spratly Islands, as well as actions by its maritime forces to assert China’s claims against competing claims by regional neighbors such as the Philippines and Vietnam—have heightened concerns among U.S. observers that China is gaining effective control of the SCS, an area of strategic, political, and economic importance to the United States and its allies and partners. Actions by China’s maritime forces at the Japan-administered Senkaku Islands in the East China Sea (ECS) are another concern for U.S. observers. Chinese domination of China’s near-seas region—meaning the SCS and ECS, along with the Yellow Sea—could substantially affect U.S. strategic, political, and economic interests in the Indo-Pacific region and elsewhere.

Potential broader U.S. goals for U.S.-China strategic competition in the SCS and ECS include but are not necessarily limited to the following: fulfilling U.S. security commitments in the Western Pacific, including treaty commitments to Japan and the Philippines; maintaining and enhancing the U.S.-led security architecture in the Western Pacific, including U.S. security relationships with treaty allies and partner states; maintaining a regional balance of power favorable to the United States and its allies and partners; defending the principle of peaceful resolution of disputes and resisting the emergence of an alternative “might-makes-right” approach to international affairs; defending the principle of freedom of the seas, also sometimes called freedom of navigation; preventing China from becoming a regional hegemon in East Asia; and pursing these goals as part of a larger U.S. strategy for competing strategically and managing relations with China.

More:

 
It's about which 5G tech will become the world standard or will there be two?
 
As the rivalry between the U.S. and China heats up in the Pacific, both sides have begun investing heavily in subsea sensing networks for detecting submarines. China's deep-sea listening program - known as the "Underwater Great Wall" or "Good Wind Ears" - is focused on its near abroad, reaching from the South China Sea to the U.S. sub base at Guam. The U.S. Navy's program, according to Reuters, will revitalize a naval intelligence program from the Cold War - the top-secret Sound Surveillance System (SOSUS), now known as the Integrated Undersea Surveillance System (IUSS).

Facing Threat From China's Subs, U.S. Navy Upgrades Subsea Surveillance

As the rivalry between the U.S. and China heats up in the Pacific, both sides have begun investing heavily in subsea sensing networks for detecting su...
maritime-executive.com
 
Once again, the China Coast Guard and Chinese maritime militia have blockaded and harassed a Philippine supply convoy at Second Thomas Shoal, where the Philippine Navy maintains a small outpost to defend Manila's maritime claims. This time, the resupply mission occurred against the backdrop of a large-scale naval drill involving U.S. and Philippine forces based out of Manila.

China Blockades Second Thomas Shoal, Cutting Off Supply Convoy

Once again, the China Coast Guard and Chinese maritime militia have blockaded and harassed a Philippine supply convoy at Second Thomas Shoal, where th...
maritime-executive.com
 
This one is a podcast. Nothing to see. You can listen in one tab, play around on the forum in a different tab.

FINDING THE FLOOR: CAN THE U.S. AND CHINA STABILIZE THEIR RELATIONSHIP?​

Nick sat down with Evan Medeiros, Thomas Shugart and Emily Weinstein to take stock of where U.S.-Chinese relations stand today and where they might be going. Can President Biden’s diplomatic push pay off? How will Taiwan’s elections and Beijing’s internal shakeup change the equation? What lessons is President Xi Jinping actually learning from the invasion of Ukraine? And can the U.S. and China ultimately find a stable floor for their bilateral relationship or are they headed toward conflict?

Finding the Floor: Can the U.S. and China Stabilize Their Relationship? - War on the Rocks

Nick sat down with Evan Medeiros, Thomas Shugart and Emily Weinstein to take stock of where U.S.-Chinese relations stand today and where they might be
warontherocks.com
 

Report to Congress on Chinese Naval Modernization​

From the report​

China’s military modernization effort, including its naval modernization effort, is the top focus of U.S. defense planning and budgeting. China’s naval modernization effort has been underway for about 30 years, since the early to mid-1990s, and has transformed China’s navy into a much more modern and capable force. China’s navy is a formidable military force within China’s near-seas region, and it is conducting a growing number of operations in the broader waters of the Western Pacific, the Indian Ocean, and waters around Europe.

China’s navy is, by far, the largest of any country in East Asia, and sometime between 2015 and 2020 it surpassed the U.S. Navy in numbers of battle force ships (meaning the types of ships that count toward the quoted size of the U.S. Navy). DOD states that China’s navy “is the largest navy in the world with a battle force of approximately 340 platforms, including major surface combatants, submarines, ocean-going amphibious ships, mine warfare ships, aircraft carriers, and fleet auxiliaries…. This figure does not include approximately 85 patrol combatants and craft that carry anti-ship cruise missiles (ASCM). The … overall battle force [of China’s navy] is expected to grow to 400 ships by 2025 and 440 ships by 2030.” The U.S. Navy, by comparison, included 290 battle force ships as of October 5, 2023, and the Navy’s FY2024 budget submission projects that the Navy will include 290 battle force ships by the end of FY2030. U.S. military officials and other observers are expressing concern or alarm regarding the pace of China’s naval shipbuilding effort and resulting trend lines regarding the relative sizes and capabilities of China’s navy and the U.S. Navy.

More:

 
To compete strategically with the United States and undermine President Joe Biden’s Indo-Pacific policy, China has quietly been advancing its stealthy divide-and-conquer foreign policy agenda on four different but connected frontiers. The core of Beijing’s comprehensive plan can be described as a ‘blue dragon’ strategy, anchored primarily between two ‘unsinkable aircraft carriers’, Sri Lanka and Taiwan. The plan targets three bodies of water in the Indo-Pacific region and the major river systems in Southeast and South Asia originating in the Himalayas.

China’s ‘blue dragon’ strategy in the Indo-Pacific | The Strategist

To compete strategically with the United States and undermine President Joe Biden’s Indo-Pacific policy, China has quietly been advancing its stealthy divide-and-conquer foreign policy agenda on four different but connected frontiers. The core of Beijing’s ...
www.aspistrategist.org.au
 

Pentagon’s 2023 Report on China’s Military and Security Developments​

From the report​

The 2022 National Security Strategy states that the People’s Republic of China (PRC) is the only
competitor to the United States with the intent and, increasingly, the capacity to reshape the
international order. As a result, the 2022 National Defense Strategy identifies the PRC as the
“pacing challenge” for the Department of Defense. As the PRC seeks to achieve “national
rejuvenation” by its centenary in 2049, Chinese Communist Party (CCP) leaders view a modern,
capable, and “world class” military as essential to overcoming what Beijing sees as an increasingly
turbulent international environment.

More:

 

China weighs options to blunt U.S. sanctions in a Taiwan conflict

In a war with the U.S. over Taiwan, China would need to create a global network of companies under U.S. sanctions, seize American assets within its borders, and issue gold-denominated bonds, according to Chinese government-affiliated researchers studying the Western response to Russia after its...
www.reuters.com
 

“Five Eyes” intelligence leaders warn of China’s global espionage campaign | 60 Minutes​

Oct 23, 2023
13:14

Intelligence leaders from the U.S., Canada, United Kingdom, Australia and New Zealand are issuing a stark warning on the danger of China’s global espionage campaign.
 
^^^^ those people are stupid. Just now they see it? What they are talking about has been going on for as long as we've had trade relations with China.
 
Proceedings opinion piece..............

Berlin Brigade to Taipei Tripwire: A Moral Imperative​

At midnight on 12 August 1961, East Germany closed the border between East and West Berlin. The status quo established by the 1945 Potsdam Agreement, in which Allied forces enjoyed freedom of movement in Berlin, had become unbearable to Moscow and its satellite government in East Germany.

For too long the socialist East had hemorrhaged prestige and vitality as its talented youth traveled to Berlin and conveniently slipped across the border to the Western partitions, escaping the Soviet Union’s clutches and fundamentally undermining its pet myth of socialist paradise. Soviet Premier Nikita Khrushchev precipitated the Berlin Crisis with a forceful ultimatum to the United States, Britain, and France: make a separate peace with East Germany and terminate dated Allied agreements to share control of Berlin. Doing so would have permitted the East to snuff out the carefully maintained democracy in West Berlin.

More:

 
BEIJING (Reuters) - Two Chinese icebreaker research vessels and a cargo ship set sail on Wednesday for the Antarctic with more than 460 personnel on board to help complete construction of China’s fifth station on the world’s southernmost continent.

Biggest Chinese Antarctic fleet sets off to build research station

Two Chinese icebreaker research vessels and a cargo ship set sail on Wednesday for the Antarctic with more than 460 personnel on board to help complete construction of China's fifth station on the world's southernmost continent.
www.reuters.com
 

Well, I guess there is little danger of them damaging undersea cables or pipelines around Estonia then.
 
pmbug said:
Well, I guess there is little danger of them damaging undersea cables or pipelines around Estonia then.
Click to expand...
Don't think we'll ever know the truth about that one.
 
searcher said:
Don't think we'll ever know the truth about that one.
Click to expand...

I think the physical evidence is pretty clear. The only real question is whether it was deliberate/intentional or an accident.
 

People’s Liberation Air Force Drill with Chinese Carrier Shandong​

The People’s Liberation Army Air Force and Navy drilled with the Shandong Carrier Strike Group near Taiwan on Tuesday, according to the Taiwan Ministry of National Defense (MND). In other developments, the Carl Vinson CSG, along with Australian and Canadian forces, will participate in drills for 12 days with the Japan Maritime Self Defense Force (JMSDF) as part of the JMSDF Annual Exercise 2023.

On Tuesday, the Taiwan MND posted on social media that it had detected PLA aircraft that morning, including J-11, J-16 and SU-30 fighters, Y-20 tankers, H-6 bombers, KJ-500 airborne early warning and control (AEW&C), Y-8 electronic intelligence, Y-9 communications countermeasures and unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV). According to the post, 23 of the aircraft entered Taiwan’s Southwest Air Defense Identification Zone (ADIZ) and conducted joint combat patrols with the Shandong CSG. “Republic of China Armed Forces have monitored the situation and tasked CAP aircraft, Navy vessels, and land-based missile systems to respond,” concluded the post.

More:

 
This one is a podcast, nothing to see, you can listen in one tab, play around the forum in a different tab. I'm halfway through, enjoy the content so I thought I'd share.

UNDERSTANDING CHINA THROUGH ITS RECRAFTED PAST: RANA MITTER​

It’s time for another episode of On Writing with Michael Neiberg. For this conversation, Michael is joined by Rana Mitter, author of China’s Good War: How World War II is Shaping a New Nationalism. Their discussion took place in the heart of London on a warm June afternoon at the British Academy, complete with all the background noises of the bustling city. Rana explains how China is shaping the modern narrative and memory through the reinvention of its role in World War II. An often overlooked theater, the Chinese government has taken liberties with its complicated response to the Japanese invasion and rewritten it as a fierce resistance and heroic battle against fascism.

More:

UNDERSTANDING CHINA THROUGH ITS RECRAFTED PAST: RANA MITTER (ON WRITING)

It's time for another episode of On Writing with Michael Neiberg. For this conversation, Michael is joined by Rana Mitter, author of China’s Good War: How World War II is Shaping a New Nationalism. Their discussion took place in the heart of London on a warm June afternoon at the British...
warroom.armywarcollege.edu
 
Interesting.........

How America is pushing China out of the internet​

Nov 17, 2023

24:10
 
The government of Australia claims that a Chinese warship injured a team of Australian military divers by activating its powerful sonar. It is the most serious allegation yet involving an interaction between the People's Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) and a Western naval force, and the first reported injury.

Chinese Warship Injures Australian Divers With its Sonar

The government of Australia claims that a Chinese warship injured a team of Australian military divers by activating its powerful sonar. It is the mos...
maritime-executive.com
 
"Chinese warship - go fuck yourself"
 
Taiwan is "a life-or-death" question for Beijing, with no room for compromise on the status of what Beijing regards as part of its territory, China's former envoy to Washington, D.C., has warned the United States.

Cui Tiankai, China's longest-serving ambassador to the U.S. until he stepped down in 2021, made the comments in an interview with the Hong Kong newspaper South China Morning Post published on Monday.

China's ex-envoy delivers "life-or-death" warning to US over Taiwan

China would do anything to defend its sovereignty, the former Chinese envoy to the United States said.
www.newsweek.com
 
An opinion piece.

Western Firms Should Leave China Now​

Since the 1990s, Western companies have invested a fortune in the Chinese economy, and tens of thousands of Chinese students have studied in US and European universities or worked in Western companies. None of this made China more democratic, and now it is heading toward an economic showdown with the US.

WASHINGTON, DC/BERKELEY/KYIV – On his recent visit to the United States, Chinese President Xi Jinping encouraged American companies to regard his country as a close trading partner. In fact, US companies should be seeking to move their supply chains and other business away from China – while they still have the time. Through its deliberate and repeated actions, China is heading for an economic showdown with the US.

For many decades, Western governments have pursued versions of what Germans call Wandel durch Handel (change through trade), hoping to achieve global stability, reduce international confrontation, and (perhaps) promote more democracy through economic interaction with authoritarian regimes. The idea is simple: countries that trade extensively with each other will not jeopardize the resulting profits and jobs by going to war; prosperity and interdependence mitigate aggression.

Read the rest:

Western Firms Should Leave China Now | by Simon Johnson, Yuriy Gorodnichenko and Ilona Sologoub - Project Syndicate

Simon Johnson, Yuriy Gorodnichenko and Ilona Sologoub argue that the strategy of economic engagement has failed to mitigate the Chinese regime’s behavior.
www.project-syndicate.org
 
Chinese naval ships have arrived for a military exercise at a Cambodian naval port where the United States has previously expressed concern about the possible involvement of the People’s Liberation Army.

It is the first time ships from a foreign navy are known to have used the new pier at Ream naval base, which Chinese companies helped build.

More:

Chinese warships visit controversial Cambodian naval base for joint exercise

The vessels pictured at the Ream naval base are the first foreign warships known to have used a new facility built with the help of China.
www.scmp.com
 

China Launches Massive Cyber Attack On Critical US Infrastructure​

Reports from the Washington Post and Fox News have revealed a year-long large-scale infiltration of American infrastructure and critical services by Chinese hackers.

The attack, known as “Volt Typhoon,” is part of a broader effort to sow panic and chaos in the event of a U.S.-China conflict in the Pacific.

Targets included a water utility in Hawaii, a West Coast port, oil and natural gas pipelines, and the independent power grid of Texas.

More:

 

Chinese Maritime Militia Swarms Second Thomas Shoal as Manilla Mulls Contingency Plans​

Chinese Maritime Militia vessels swarmed within and around Second Thomas Shoal this week in Beijing’s latest move against the Philippines in the South China Sea.

Eleven Chinese vessels entered the Philippine-occupied shoal on Monday according to the maritime transparency group SeaLight. On Wednesday, the Armed Forces of the Philippines reported that there were four maritime militia vessels within Second Thomas Shoal. Chinese vessels also sailed around the shoal throughout the week, numbering anywhere between five to 27.

While Chinese forces have approached the shoal with rubber-hulled inflatable boats during recent attempts to disrupt Manila’s resupply and rotation missions to its outpost on Second Thomas Shoal, BRP Sierra Madre’s (LS 57), the deployment of larger vessels marks a significant step by China. Ray Powell, director of the SeaLight project at Stanford University’s Gordian Knot Center for National Security Innovation, called the move “unprecedented” and an escalation from China.

More:

 
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