Taiwan Strait | Oct. 6, 2021

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

White House press secretary Jen Psaki holds a briefing with reporters — 10/4/2021
​ Oct 5, 2021
White House press secretary Jen Psaki holds a press briefing on Monday. President Joe Biden on Monday blamed Republicans for blocking efforts to raise or suspend the U.S. borrowing limit and avert a dangerous first-ever default on the national debt. The president slammed the GOP for what he described as hypocritical behavior: Adding nearly $8 trillion to the U.S. debt during the Trump administration and later refusing to pay for already-approved tax cuts and spending.

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The Taiwan Strait is a 180-kilometer (110 mi)-wide strait separating the island of Taiwan and continental Asia. The strait is part of the South China Sea and connects to the East China Sea to the north. The narrowest part is 130 km (81 mi) wide.


The journey through the Taiwan Strait has angered China.
China accuses British navy of 'evil intentions' as UK warship sails through Taiwan Strait

​China's military followed and warned the British warship that sailed through the Taiwan Strait.

Sep. 28 - A British warship has sailed through the Taiwan Strait - a move that angered China, which claims self-governing Taiwan as part of its territory. 

​China's military followed and warned the British warship that sailed across the waters the People's Liberation Army said on Monday, adding that Britain was engaging in behaviour that "harboured evil intentions".

"After a busy period working with partners and allies in the East China Sea, we are new en route through the Taiwan straight to visit Vietnam and the Vietnam People's Navy," the official account of the frigate HMS Richmond said on Twitter...     more

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US-China politics collide over Taiwan airspace

Growing conventional wisdom in Washington says that Beijing is preparing to attack the island. Not so fast.

Oct. 6 - Since late last year, the Chinese military has begun significantly increasing its offshore air activities near Taiwan. 

​This trend has grown over time to include a wide range of different types of military aircraft, often sortied in ever-larger numbers, mostly to the west and southwest of the island. But many flights are also crossing the so-called midline of the Taiwan Strait between the island and mainland China, and almost all of them cross into Taiwan’s very expansive Air Defense Identification Zone (ADIZ), in each case forcing the Taiwan aircraft to sortie aircraft in response.

This significant increase in Chinese military activity near Taiwan is of considerable concern, as it represents a largely unprecedented set of actions (in scale and frequency and type of aircraft involved), thus raising tensions across the Strait. This situation has naturally generated all manner of both informed and uninformed speculation by a wide range of pundits on the meaning of the Chinese flights. 

Unfortunately, rather than shedding light on the issue, much of this commentary simply serves to reinforce the growing conventional wisdom in Washington that Beijing is preparing to attack the island at the first opportunity, or is at the very least gearing up for vastly more provocative actions, such as flights over Taiwan, or perhaps the seizure of a small offshore island under Taipei’s control, thus daring the U.S. to respond. 

The problem is thus seen as a very simple one of growing Chinese military aggression; hence, for most pundits, the answer is equally simple: we need ever greater levels of military deterrence, including far more arms for Taiwan. For some that means an unambiguous U.S. commitment to defend the island if attacked, regardless of the reason, and for others a call to place Taiwan within the U.S. defense perimeter, which could imply the placement of U.S. forces on the island...     more

美日再炒钓鱼岛话题 三航母在台海周边军演意图何在？20211005 |《今日关注》CCTV中文国际
Oct 6, 2021

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Takeo Akiba | Aug. 10, 2021

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

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

• White House denies that Security Adviser Jake Sullivan offered Brazil's Bolsonaro membership of NATO if he kicked China's Huawei out of its 5G network during visit last week
  
  Aug. 10 - U.S. National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan warned Brazil about using equipment from Chinese telecoms giant Huawei in its 5G phone network during a visit last week, the White House said on Monday.
  
  ​Officials also pressed Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro on his repeated claims that electronic voting could throw next year's elections into doubt, according to the National Security Council's senior director for the Western Hemisphere Juan Gonzalez.
  
  But he denied reports in local media that the visiting delegation had offered Brazil membership of NATO if it took a harder line on Huawei.
  
  'At no point there was a quid pro quo,' he told reporters on a conference call. 'No exchange of a favourable position on Huawei for us and for becoming a needed global partner...     more
  
  
• Readout from NSC Spokesperson Emily Horne on National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan’s Call with Prime Minister Kaja Kallas of Estonia
  
  ​AUGUST 09, 2021•STATEMENTS AND RELEASES
  National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan spoke today with Prime Minister Kaja Kallas of Estonia to reinforce the strong bilateral relations between our countries, international economic cooperation, and their shared support for transparent infrastructure investments in Europe and around the world. Mr. Sullivan reaffirmed the unwavering U.S. support for the security of Estonia and our other NATO Allies. He also stressed the U.S. commitment to hold the Lukashenka regime in Belarus to account for its attacks on democracy and human rights, transnational repression, and corruption.    source from
• 

  
  

  Thousands Flee As Taliban Eye Full Control Of Northern Afghanistan (ibtimes.com)
  
  Aug. 10 - The Taliban were in control of six Afghan provincial capitals on Tuesday after a blitz across the north that forced tens of thousands of people to flee their homes for the relative safety of Kabul and other centres.
  
  The insurgents now have their eyes on Mazar-i-Sharif, the biggest city in the north, whose fall would signal the total collapse of government control in a region that has traditionally been anti-Taliban.
  
  Government forces are also battling the hardline Islamists in Kandahar and Helmand, the southern Pashto-speaking provinces from where the Taliban draw their strength.
  
  The United States -- due to complete a troop withdrawal at the end of the month and end its longest war -- has all but left the battlefield. However, its special envoy Zalmay Khalilzad has been sent to Qatar to try and convince the Taliban to accept a ceasefire.
  
  Khalilzad "will press the Taliban to stop their military offensive", the State Department said, and "help formulate a joint international response to the rapidly deteriorating situation".
  
  Officials from Afghanistan's most vested neighbours -- Pakistan, China and Iran -- would also attend meetings there.
  But Pentagon spokesman John Kirby said it was down to the Afghan government and its forces to turn the tide, saying there was "not much" the United States could do to help.     source from
  
  

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  An executive assistant to New York Governor Andrew Cuomo has broken her anonymity and called for accountability over his alleged sexual harassment.
  
  ​Andrew Cuomo: Accuser Brittany Commisso says governor broke law
  
  Aug. 10 - Brittany Commisso's claims were first detailed in a report which found Mr Cuomo sexually harassed 11 women.
  
  What he did to me was a crime," Ms Commisso, 32, said about alleged instances of groping while she worked under the governor.
  
  Mr Cuomo, 63, denies any wrongdoing and has so far resisted calls to resign.
  An inquiry by Attorney General Letitia James's office last week found that Mr Cuomo's alleged behaviour against women had violated state and federal law.
  
  The investigation took months and involved interviews with almost 200 people, including staff members making complaints against him.
  
  Ms Commisso, referred to in the report as Executive Assistant #1, told investigators that the governor made increasingly suggestive comments about her appearance and relationship status after she began working with him.
  
  She said he had inappropriately hugged her - and once kissed her on the lips without her consent.
  
  ​She also accused the governor of touching her bottom while the pair took a photograph together and alleged that on another occasion put his hand up her blouse and grabbed her breast...     more
  
  Related Articles:

  • Biden says Cuomo should resign
  • Andrew Cuomo faces impeachment threat

  

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Japan’s National Security Advisor Takeo Akiba meet in Washington on Monday

​US and Japan stress importance of peace in Taiwan Strait

​Aug. 10 - The United States and Japan say that peace in the Taiwan Strait is important to both countries. That came during a meeting between US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Japan’s National Security Advisor Takeo Akiba in Washington on Monday. 

​The two officials say that the US-Japan alliance is vital for maintaining an “inclusive, free and open Indo-Pacific.”

The US State Department says that the two pledged “to maintain freedom of navigation and overflight and other lawful uses of the sea in the South China Sea and beyond.”

It also says that trilateral cooperation between the United States, Japan and South Korea is important for addressing a number of challenges, including the denuclearization of the Korean peninsula.

As Chinese military activity near Taiwan has increased, global leaders have been more vocal about their concern for cross-Strait peace. The Group of Seven (G7) nations also expressed their concern about peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait for the first time in their joint statement in June.     source from

Takeo Akiba, close aide to Suga, named Japan's top national security adviser

Date published on July 6, 2021

The government decided Tuesday to appoint former Vice Foreign Minister Takeo Akiba as secretary-general of Japan’s National Security Secretariat to succeed Shigeru Kitamura who is stepping down for health reasons.

The 62-year-old Akiba, a close aide to Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga and his predecessor Shinzo Abe, will take the post of the nation’s top security adviser on Wednesday.

Akiba will be responsible for beefing up the country’s alliance with the United States and forging a stable relationship with China, amid escalating tensions between Washington and Beijing.
He will also work on improving chilly relations between Japan and South Korea.

Takeo Akiba, former vice foreign minister, will become Japan’s national security adviser on Wednesday. | KYODOAfter joining the Foreign Ministry in 1982, Akiba served as vice minister between January 2018 and June this year.

Speaking at a news conference, Chief Cabinet Secretary Katsunobu Kato said, “As (Akiba) has a wide range of work experience at the Foreign Ministry, he is just the right man for the job.”

The personnel change will see a diplomat in the post for the first time since Shotaro Yachi, a former vice foreign minister who became the first head of the secretariat in 2014 before stepping down in 2019.

The secretariat assists the National Security Council, which was launched by Abe in 2013 as the command base for Japan’s foreign and security policies. Under Abe’s administration, the prime minister’s office spearheaded matters of diplomacy.
Kitamura, 64, a former National Police Agency official, served as an executive secretary to Abe during his first stint as prime minister from 2006 to 2007 before becoming the head of the secretariat in September 2019, replacing Yachi.

​December, Kitamura was awarded the Department of Defense Medal for Distinguished Public Service by the United States for his contributions to strengthening the bilateral alliance and regional cooperation under the vision of a Free and Open Indo-Pacific.     source from

U.S. President Joe Biden and Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga of Japan walk along the Rose Garden Colonnade as they arrive for a news conference at the White House on April 16, 2021 in Washington, DC.

​Biden commends Japan’s Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga for successful Olympics

Aug. 10 - U.S. President Joe Biden spoke with Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga on Monday and commended him on the successful hosting of the Olympic Games and the public health measures that allowed them to be held, a White House statement said.

Biden also affirmed U.S. support for Japan’s hosting of the Paralympics, which start on Aug. 24, it said.

​“President Biden applauded the performance of all the athletes and highlighted the success of Japanese and U.S. Olympians,” the statement said, while noting “the public health measures taken so that Olympic athletes could compete in the best traditions of the Olympic spirit.”

​Suga, an important ally for Biden in pushing back against China’s increasingly assertive behavior, has suffered a dip in domestic support amid a resurgence of coronavirus infections...     

...​Blinken and Akiba also stressed the importance of preserving peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait and noted the importance of trilateral cooperation between the United States, Japan and South Korea to address challenges, including denuclearization of the Korean peninsula, it said.

Jake Sullivan, Biden’s national Security adviser, also met Akiba and discussed a range of security issues, “including the challenge of China, economic and technology security,” a later White House statement said.     source from

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Statement by NSC Spokesperson Emily Horne on National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan’s Meeting with Takeo Akiba, Secretary General of Japan’s National Security Secretariat

​AUGUST 09, 2021•STATEMENTS AND RELEASES
National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan met today with the Secretary General of Japan’s National Security Secretariat, Takeo Akiba, to discuss shared efforts to strengthen the U.S.-Japan relationship and ensure that the alliance sustains its vital role as the cornerstone of peace and security in the Indo-Pacific region and around the world. They discussed a range of national security issues, including the challenge of China, economic and technology security, the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula, and the importance of trilateral U.S.-Japan-Republic of Korea cooperation. They affirmed the importance of enhancing multilateral cooperation in the region, including with ASEAN and through the Quad. Mr. Sullivan also congratulated Secretary General Akiba on Japan’s successful hosting of the Olympic Games.     source from

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

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John Aquilino | Aug. 7, 2021

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

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

US Warns About 'Rapid Growth' in China's Nuclear Arsenal

​China's Foreign Minister Wang Yi said in June that Beijing keeps its nuclear capabilities at a minimum level needed for national security.

Aug. 7 - U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken expressed grave concern Friday about what he described as China’s growing nuclear arsenal and told an annual regional security conference that the Asian superpower should also cease “provocative behavior” in the South China Sea.

America’s top diplomat raised these concerns during his first appearance in that role before the ASEAN Regional Forum, a virtual meeting that drew his counterparts from the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations and 10 of the bloc’s dialogue partners, including China, Russia, Japan, and other world powers.  

“The Secretary … noted deep concern with the rapid growth of the PRC’s [People’s Republic of China’s] nuclear arsenal which highlights how Beijing has sharply deviated from its decades-old nuclear strategy based on minimum deterrence,” the State Department said in a statement about Blinken’s participation at the meeting.

Blinken was referring to recent think-tank reports that said China was building more than 100 silos for nuclear missiles in its Gansu province and in eastern Xinjiang...     more

US National Security Advisor Robert O'Brien and Philippine Foreign Affairs Secretary Teodoro Locsin Jr. elbow bump after the turnover ceremony of defense articles, at the Department of Foreign Affairs in Pasay City, Nov. 23, 2020.

PH thanks US for affirming mutual defense pact

Aug. 7 - ​Foreign Affairs Secretary Teodoro Locsin Jr. has welcomed the United States’ reaffirmation of its obligations under the Mutual Defense Treaty, noting that the alliance is "vital" for stability in the Asia-Pacific region.

Speaking at the virtual Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Post-Ministerial Conference Session with the US on Aug. 4, Locsin also thanked the treaty ally for its open support for the 2016 arbitral award which invalidated China’s expansive claims over the South China Sea.

The conference session was attended by US Secretary of State Antony Blinken. 

Reiterating his previous statement before the virtual ASEAN Post Ministerial Conference Session with China, Locsin said the award is “most helpful in clarifying maritime issues” and that “only a bad conscience should feel aggrieved by it.”

“The award is the Philippines’ contribution to strengthening the legal order of the seas. It must be seen for what it is: a benefit to all the world across the board," the country's top diplomat said...     more

Related Articles;
Locsin to raise equitable access to COVID-19 vaccines, S. China Sea issue at ASEAN meeting
Locsin: Arbitral award helpful in clarifying maritime issues
Countries should oppose China's new coast guard law, says Carpio

US Embassy lauds PH decision to restore VFA, says pact strengthens security in region
PH to reap consequences of Duterte 'abandonment’ of S. China Sea ruling: Del Rosario
Southeast Asian ministers aim to encourage Myanmar talks as crisis intensifies

Read More:
  Code of Conduct   South China Sea   West Philippine Sea   Arbitral Award   2016 The Hague Ruling   South China Sea Code of Conduct update   Association of Southeast Asian Nations   ASEAN   Joint Communique  

John Christopher Aquilino (born 1961)[3] is an admiral in the United States Navy, serving as the commander of the United States Indo-Pacific Command since April 30, 2021.[4] He previously served as the commander of the United States Pacific Fleet[5] and before that, commander of the United States Fifth Fleet and Combined Maritime Forces.     from Wikipedia

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‘The US is ready’: Indo-Pacific Command leader confident in ability to defend Taiwan

Aug. 7 - The United States is capable of assisting and defending Taiwan in the event of a military crisis, the commander of all U.S. forces in the Pacific said Thursday.

​“There is a narrative that we see often in the media that talks about the U.S. and the West in decline,” Adm. John Aquilino, head of U.S. Indo-Pacific Command, said during a virtual appearance at the Aspen Security Forum in Colorado when asked to describe America’s ability to defend Taiwan.
“I think what I’d start with is that that narrative is certainly being pushed by our adversaries,” Aquilino said. “I want to be very clear — we have the world’s greatest military on the planet.
“We are here to continue to operate to ensure peace and prosperity through the region, and we have to be in a position to ensure that status quo remains as it applies to Taiwan”...     more

​US bill states that the Covid-19 pandemic transcends all borders and that Taiwan should not be excluded from the global health body

• Taiwan has contributed more than $6 billion in international medical and humanitarian aid efforts to over 80 countries since 1996 and the country donated millions of pieces of personal protective equipment and testing reagents during the COVID-19 crises, the bill said

US passes bill to support Taiwan's participation in WHO
​
Aug. 7 - The US senate-house on Friday passed a bill to strengthen support for Taiwan to participate in the World Health Organization (WHO).
The bill states that the COVID-19 pandemic transcends all borders and that Taiwan should not be excluded from the global health body and calls on the U.S. government to formulate strategies to assist the East Asian nation to regain WHO observer status, Taiwan News reported...     more

U.S. Senate passes bill to help Taiwan regain WHO status

​Aug. 7 - The U.S. Senate passed a bill late on Thursday calling on the State Department to submit a plan to help Taiwan regain its observer status at the World Health Organization, one of several U.S. bids to boost Taiwan as it faces pressure from Beijing.

Taiwan is excluded from most global organizations such as the WHO, the U.N. health agency, because of the objections of China, which considers the island one of its provinces and not a separate country.

The legislation, passed by unanimous consent, was sponsored by Senators Bob Menendez, the Democratic chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, and Jim Inhofe, the top Republican on the Senate Armed Services Committee.

The two are also co-chairmen of the Senate Taiwan Caucus.

"The U.S. must continue to stand by Taiwan, and do more to reaffirm our support for our ally’s international engagement," Menendez said in a statement on Friday.

The measure directs the Secretary of State to establish a strategy for obtaining observer status at the World Health Assembly, the decision-making body of the WHO.

The House of Representatives Foreign Affairs Committee approved a similar bill earlier this year, but there has been no word on when the measure might come up for a vote in the full House.     source from

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拜登政府首次对台军售 美大规模演习欲调兵西太？20210806 |《今日关注》CCTV中文国际
Aug 7, 2021

U.S. approves potential sale of howitzers to Taiwan – Pentagon

Aug. 5 - The U.S. State Department approved the potential sale of 40 155mm M109A6 Medium Self-Propelled Howitzer artillery systems to Taiwan in a deal valued at up to $750 million, the Pentagon said on Wednesday.

This comes after arms sales last year that included drones and coastal missile defenses meant to upgrade the island’s capabilities and discourage a Chinese invasion. The Biden administration has approved other direct commercial sales of arms to Taiwan since taking office.

The package would include the howitzers, 1,698 precision guidance kits for munitions, spares, training, ground stations and upgrades for Taiwan’s previous generation of howitzers, the Pentagon said.

The Pentagon’s Defense Security Cooperation Agency notified Congress of the possible sale on Wednesday.

​Taiwan’s defense ministry expressed “sincere gratitude” to the U.S. government in a statement on Thursday, saying the sales would help its ground forces increase their “capacity for speedy reaction and fire support”.

The ministry called the continuous U.S. arms support a “basis for maintaining regional stability.”

China’s foreign ministry said it was “firmly opposed” to the sales and had lodged “stern representations” with the United States, according to comments from a spokesperson posted on the ministry’s website.

The sales interfered in China’s domestic affairs, the spokesperson said and warned that China would take countermeasures as the issue develops.

China’s Taiwan Affairs Office reiterated a call for the United States to stop all arms sales to Taiwan so as not to send a wrong signal to Taiwan pro-independence forces...     more

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