Symphony

Cadence of Conflict: Asia, June 22, 2020

China seems desperate for war. America has typically been the infamous provocateur. That’s how China paints things. That’s how Japan and Germany saw things. But, China has taken up a new role.

Buzzing jets into Taiwanese airspace is just one concern. China also sends fishing boats to ram Taiwan’s Coast Guard and sand ships just to annoy. These won’t convince the Taiwanese that China’s rule would be preferable to status quo. Taiwanese respond by demanding more money for military and more weapons purchases from America.

Hong Kong looks grim as Beijing closes its stranglehold. There’s no question anymore whether China held up its end of the bargain on its treaty that allowed Hong Kong to return. The question is whether anyone in the West cares. Hong Kongers have done all they can.

Meanwhile, Trump hasn’t forgotten. In America’s election, China “trumps” many topics, as it were—including the economy, the virus, Biden’s past, and even war. The only reason China hasn’t stepped up its aggression is unawareness: China doesn’t know how American elections work because China doesn’t understand the concept of democracy, as Hong Kong’s deterioration shows. To those who know, Trump faces a statistically likely victory. Holding out for November might prove too late.

Taiwan

Seventh Chinese jet spotted this month // Taipei Times

Beijing steps up presence in ‘military grey zones’ to pressure Taiwan // SCMP

Chinese fighter jets buzz Taiwan again, stoking tensions // Yahoo News

Taiwan jets ‘drive away’ intruding Chinese fighter plane, third intrusion in days // CNA

Hong Kong

Beijing details HK security law // Taipei Times

This is what is called a ‘threat’
The End of Hong Kong. // thenationalpulse.com

Beijing reserves right to handle ‘rare’ cases involving Hong Kong’s new national security law // SCMP

Korean Peninsula

North Korea blows up liaison office in Kaesong used for talks with South // CNN

 

Standard
Faux Report

Massive Sunken Ship, Treasure Found Off Coast of Boston

pirateship

BOSTON, Massachusetts – 

Remnants of an old, sunken pirate ship were found off the coast of Boston, Massachusetts yesterday by treasure hunters who had reportedly found documentation claiming that a ship had sunk there over 600 years ago.

“We really didn’t expect to find anything, at least not so quickly,” said Gary Richards, who headed the expedition. “We found materials that lead us to that area, claiming that a ship, The Black Death, was wrecked there in 1423. The ship was said to have been a legitimate pirate ship, and could possible have contained billions of dollars worth of gold.”

What Richards and his team found, though, was something entirely more amazing.

“We did find the gold, yes. There was an entire ship down there, almost preserved by the salt water, and we were able to dive down using specialized equipment to board it. What we found were hundreds of small ‘treasure chest’ style boxes, filled with everything from doubloons to bones.”

Richards says that they believe that the boxes filled with bones may have been the crew’s way of discarding the bodies of dead hookers.

“We found what amounts to about $3.7 billion dollars worth of treasure on this ship, which will be parted out to museums,” said Richards. “Sadly, the bones of the dead whores will be left, buried at sea, with the memories of some ill-fated nights, no doubt.”

Standard