NATO | Aug. 20, 2021

 2 - White House News in Chinese (weebly.com)

Taiwan president thanks Biden for 'rock solid' support amid China threats
Presidential Office thanks US president for vowing to 'respond' if China attacks

Date published on Aug. 20, 2021

... Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen's (蔡英文) administration on Friday (Aug. 20) thanked U.S. President Joe Biden for demonstrating a "rock solid" commitment to Taiwan following his pledge to "respond" if Taiwan was attacked by China.
During an interview with George Stephanopoulos of ABC News on Wednesday, the host pointed out that China has exploited the situation to make comparisons between Afghanistan and Taiwan. "You can already see China telling Taiwan, 'See? You can't count on the Americans.'"
Biden reacted by saying the U.S. has made a "sacred commitment to Article Five" that if any country attacks NATO allies, "we would respond" and added that it would be the "same with Taiwan"...     more

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The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO, /ˈneɪtoʊ/; French: Organisation du traité de l'Atlantique nord, OTAN), also called the North Atlantic Alliance, is an intergovernmental military alliance between 28 European countries and 2 North American countries. The organization implements the North Atlantic Treaty that was signed on 4 April 1949.[3][4]

NATO constitutes a system of collective security, whereby its independent member states agree to mutual defense in response to an attack by any external party. The NATO headquarters are located in Haren, Brussels, Belgium, while the headquarters of Allied Command Operations is near Mons, Belgium.

​Since its founding, the admission of new member states has increased the alliance from the original 12 countries to 30. The most recent member state to be added to NATO was North Macedonia on 27 March 2020. NATO currently recognizes Bosnia and Herzegovina, Georgia, and Ukraine as aspiring members.[5] An additional 20 countries participate in NATO's Partnership for Peace programme, with 15 other countries involved in institutionalized dialogue programmes. The combined military spending of all NATO members in 2020 constituted over 57% of the global nominal total.[6] Members agreed that their aim is to reach or maintain the target defence spending of at least 2% of their GDP by 2024.      from Wikipedia

PARTNERS

​​NATO cooperates with a range of international organisations and countries in different structures. Below is a list of these partners with links to web pages on their relations with NATO as well as links to their information servers...     more

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the boy & slide
《花生漫畫》西元1953八月/"Peanuts" on August 14, 1953
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four-thirty rolls
《花生漫畫》西元1953八月/"Peanuts" on August 15, 1953
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some of us have to be dogs…
《花生漫畫》西元1953八月/"Peanuts" on August 16, 1953
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Ghaghara | Aug. 9, 2021

 2 - White House News in Chinese (weebly.com)

1 - White House News in Chinese (weebly.com)

Taliban Advance On Major Afghan City
Aug 9, 2021
Kunduz, a key economic hub with 300,000 people, fell to the Taliban on Sunday. This is another blow to the country's crumbling security forces, who’ve lost control of at least three cities since Friday.

Taliban Warn Biden Against Interfering in Afghan Affairs - TV Report

This comes after the Biden administration launched airstrikes on the Taliban* fighters in northern Afghanistan on Saturday, as Islamists have continued the offensive, capturing new areas amid the rapid withdrawal of US forces.

Aug. 9 - The Taliban has issued a message to the United States warning Washington against any further interference in Afghanistan's internal affairs, a spokesperson for the movement's Political Office told Al Jazeera.

"We are warning against the US interference in Afghanistan," the spokesperson for the Taliban Political Office said, stressing that no intra-Afghan ceasefire had been reached.

He also accused the Afghan government of escalating the tensions in the country by launching operations in several provinces.

On Saturday, US B-52 Stratofortress bombers struck Taliban forces in Sheberghan city, Jawzjan province, causing casualties and inflicting significant damage on the terrorists, Afghan Defence Ministry spokesman Fawad Aman confirmed on Twitter.     source from

Afghans inspect damaged shops after fighting between Taliban and Afghan security forces in Kunduz city, northern Afghanistan, Sunday, Aug. 8, 2021

The Taliban Has Taken Key Northern Afghan Cities With Battles Raging On

Aug. 9 - Taliban fighters seized most of the capital of northern Afghanistan’s key Kunduz province on Sunday, and took another neighboring provincial capital after a monthlong siege. The advances were the latest in a series of blows to government forces as U.S. troops complete their pullout after nearly two decades in the country.

The militiamen planted their flag in the main square of Kunduz city, where it was seen flying atop a traffic police booth, a video obtained by the Associated Press showed.

​It was the fourth provincial capital to largely succumb to Taliban fighters in less than a week, as they ramp up a push across Afghanistan’s regions, and wage an assassination campaign in the capital, Kabul...   more

In this September 14, 2017, file photo, a banner erected by the Indian army stands near Pangong Tso lake near the India-China border in India’s Ladakh area.

Indian and Chinese Troops Disengage from Gogra

​The establishment of buffer zones in areas of disengagement is eating into territory formerly under Indian control.

Aug. 8 - Six months after they stepped back on the north and south banks of Pangong Tso, Indian and Chinese troops have completed their disengagement from the Gogra area (Patrolling Point 17A) in eastern Ladakh.

“Both sides have ceased forward deployments in this area in a phased, coordinated and verified manner. The disengagement process was carried out over two days i.e. 04 and 05 August 2021,” a statement issued by India’s Ministry of Defense (MoD) said.

The two sides have dismantled “all temporary structures and other allied infrastructure” erected in the area and “troops of both sides are now in their respective permanent bases,” the statement added.

​The agreement on pullback of troops in the Gogra area, which was reached at the 12th round of talks between Corps Commanders of the two sides held on July 31, “ensures that the Line of Actual Control (LAC) in this area will be strictly observed and respected by both sides, and that there is no unilateral change in status quo.”
However, there is no statement from Beijing relating to the troop disengagement...     more

Ghaghara, also called Karnali (Hindi: घाघरा; Ghāghrā [ˈɡʱɑːɡrɑː]; Nepali: कर्णाली; Karṇālī [kʌrˈnɑːliː]; Chinese: 加格拉河; Jiāgélāhé [t͡ɕi̯ákɤ̌láxɤ̌]) is a perennial trans-boundary river originating on the Tibetan Plateau near Lake Manasarovar. It cuts through the Himalayas in Nepal and joins the Sharda River at Brahmaghat in India. Together they form the Ghaghara River, a major left bank tributary of the Ganges. With a length of 507 kilometres (315 mi) it is the longest river in Nepal. The total length of Ghaghara River up to its confluence with the Ganges at Revelganj in Bihar is 1,080 kilometres (670 mi).[1] It is the largest tributary of the Ganges by volume and the second longest tributary of the Ganges by length after Yamuna.

Lower Ghaghara is also known as Sarayu river and finds mention in Ramayana. Ayodhya is situated on its right bank. The Ghaghara was also the site of the battle between Amin Khan Aitigin and Tughral Tughan Khan.[2]

欲向南海派舰队 印度“向东行动”会否随美起舞？20210807 |《今日关注》CCTV中文国际
Aug 8, 2021

OPINION / VIEWPOINT

Strategic ambiguity or clarity? China’s power will crush all US’ Taiwan calculation

Aug 8 - With a policy of strategic ambiguity toward Taiwan, Washington has not clearly pledged whether or not to help defend the island in case of an attack. Although this current strategy has been frequently discussed and questioned by strategic circles in the US, it has remained intact following the normalization of Washington's diplomatic relations with Beijing in 1979... more

Chinese structures are pictured in Subi Reef in South China Sea.
Stern message to China: Indian warships head to South China Sea

Four ships, including a guided missile destroyer and a missile frigate, will be deployed for a two-month period to southeast Asia, the South China Sea and the western Pacific, the navy said in the statement. The Indian ships will take part in annual joint war drills with countries part of Quad.

Aug. 5 - ..."The deployment of the Indian Navy ships seeks to underscore the operational reach, peaceful presence and solidarity with friendly countries towards ensuring good order in the maritime domain..." the navy said.

The Indian ships will take part in annual joint war drills involving the United States, Japan and Australia - the group known as Quad along with India - off the coast of Guam, the navy said. The Quad has emerged as a platform to counter an assertive China.

The mood of Indian navy has hardended following the clashes between Indian and Chinese militaries in Galwan in East Ladakh last year....     quoted from

Krinkle
《花生漫畫》西元1953八月/"Peanuts" on August 9, 1953
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https://yaoleechen.wordpress.com/2021/07/31/1953-august/
https://turtlesallthewaydowns.wordpress.com/2021/08/01/1953-auguest/
https://yaoleec.blogspot.com/2021/08/krinkle-aug8-2021.html
https://yaoleechen.pixnet.net/blog/post/269634896
https://www.gocomics.com/peanuts-begins/1953/08/09
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White House News (白宮消息) | Mar. 1st, 2021

2 - White House News in Chinese (weebly.com)

Disloyal: A Memoir: The True Story of the Former Personal Attorney to President Donald J. Trump

The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) is an international organization that seeks to promote the peaceful use of nuclear energy, and to inhibit its use for any military purpose, including nuclear weapons. The IAEA was established as an autonomous organisation on 29 July 1957. Though established independently of the United Nations through its own international treaty, the IAEA Statute,[4] the IAEA reports to both the United Nations General Assembly and Security Council.

The IAEA has its headquarters in Vienna, Austria. The IAEA has two "Regional Safeguards Offices" which are located in Toronto, Canada, and in Tokyo, Japan. The IAEA also has two liaison offices which are located in New York City, United States, and in Geneva, Switzerland. In addition, the IAEA has laboratories and research centers located in Seibersdorf, Austria, in Monaco and in Trieste, Italy.[3]

The IAEA serves as an intergovernmental forum for scientific and technical co-operation in the peaceful use of nuclear technology and nuclear power worldwide. The programs of the IAEA encourage the development of the peaceful applications of nuclear energy, science and technology, provide international safeguards against misuse of nuclear technology and nuclear materials, and promote nuclear safety (including radiation protection) and nuclear security standards and their implementation.

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Bushehr Iran's nuclear facility
Iran Threatens to Remove IAEA’s Cameras at Nuclear Sites

Mar. 1 - Tehran - Asharq Al-AwsatIran reiterated its intention to remove the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) surveillance cameras from nuclear facilities if US sanctions are not lifted in three months.

The Head of Atomic Energy Organization of Iran (AEOI), Ali Akbar Salehi, affirmed in remarks on state TV that his country decided to remove the cameras.

Salehi asserted that Tehran is ready for diplomatic talks, but not in the way the United States and the Europeans imagine, insisting that sanctions should be lifted in advance as a precondition for negotiations.

He warned that Iran could increase uranium enrichment to 60 percent relatively quickly.

According to the international nuclear agreement, Iran is only allowed to enrich uranium to a level of less than four percent, while uranium must be enriched to 90 percent for a nuclear bomb.

Meanwhile, an Iranian document revealed that Tehran had threatened to end an agreement concluded with IAEA that temporarily maintains most of its monitoring if the agency’s board adopts a US-led effort to criticize Tehran next week.

Earlier, Tehran scaled back its cooperation with the Agency, ending extra inspection measures introduced by its 2015 nuclear accord with major powers, according to Reuters.

It was the latest of many steps retaliating for the US reimposed sanctions after former President Donald Trump pulled out of the agreement in 2018.

In its own paper sent to other IAEA member states ahead of next week’s quarterly meeting of the 35-nation Board of Governors, Washington said it wants a resolution to “express the Board’s deepening concern with respect to Iran’s cooperation with the IAEA”.

The US paper obtained by Reuters said the board should call on Iran to reverse its breaches of the deal and cooperate with the IAEA to explain how uranium particles were found at old, undeclared sites. The issue was first reported by the media and confirmed in an IAEA report this week.

“Iran perceives this move as destructive and considers it as an end to the Joint Understanding of 21 February 2021 between the Agency and the Islamic Republic of Iran,” Iran said in its own paper sent to other countries and obtained by Reuters.

It said that this could lead to further complications in relation to the 2015 nuclear deal by its full name, adding that France, Britain, Germany, and the US had “revealed their plans” for a board resolution.

Diplomats said it was still unclear whether the board would adopt a resolution.

In June, after the IAEA said Iran had denied it access for snap inspections at two sites where it later found uranium particles, the board passed a resolution calling on Iran to relent, which was opposed by Russia and China.     source from

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U.S. government releases report on who was responsible for the murder of Saudi journalist and Virginia resident Jamal Khashoggi
US must hold Mohammed bin Salman accountable for Jamal Khashoggi’s murder, rights groups say

In response to the release of a U.S. congressional report identifying Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman as having ordered the operation against journalist Jamal Khashoggi, rights groups call on the Biden administration to impose sanctions on the prince, and suspend arms sales

Date published on Feb. 26, 2021
...“DNI Avril Haines said in her confirmation hearing that the Biden administration would ‘follow the law’ and release this report – the administration has rightly kept its word,” said PEN America’s Thomas O. Melia. “This is an essential starting point in terms of holding accountable those responsible for these heinous crimes, even amidst the United States’ fraught relationship with Saudi Arabia. We welcome today’s announcement of new sanctions and sanction mechanisms and hope that those pave the way toward fuller accountability for all those responsible for Mr. Khashoggi’s brutal murder. We call on the executive and legislative branches to join forces in demanding the release of all Saudi political prisoners from confinement and travel restrictions.”...     quoted from

拜登首场精准打击剑指伊朗 美伊“边缘博弈”将失控？20210227 |《今日关注》CCTV中文国际
Feb 28, 2021

Late journalist Jamal Khashoggi. 
Diplomat says US report on Khashoggi murder is ‘manipulation’ for ‘political gain’

Mar. 1 - The latest report released by the Biden Administration on the murder of late journalist Jamal Khashoggi was “manipulation of intelligence for political gain,” according to former Acting Director of National Intelligence Richard Grenell.

“There is nothing new in the repackaged Khashoggi report released by the Biden team. It was a gratuitous repackaging of intel and therefore a manipulation of intelligence for political gain,” Grenell said in a tweet on Monday.

The report declassified by US President Joe Biden alleged that Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman approved the 2018 operation that led to the murder of Khashoggi in Saudi Arabia’s Istanbul consulate, allegations that Saudi Arabia’s Foreign Ministry denied following the report’s publication.

Saudi Arabia’s government last week released a statement saying it completely rejects the negative, false, and unacceptable assessment made by the US.     more details

《花生漫畫》西元1953年三月/"Peanuts" on Mar. 1, 1953
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