Symphony

Cadence of Conflict: Asia, October 25, 2021

Taiwan was thrust into a position without being asked. In 1971, the United Nations removed the Taipei-seated government known today as “Taiwan” and switched to recognizing the Beijing-based government known as “China”. The Taiwanese were elbowed out of the global forum. Now, the US is working to bring Taiwan back in, but not the same way as in 1971. If the trend continues, China and Taiwan would both have a place in the General Assembly, though no government would admit that outcome quite yet.

At the same time Washington swoons the world and Taiwan toward each other, we hear the old fashioned, non-Trump, typical vibrato from the Biden administration. Biden’s own China ambassador nominees says China can’t be trusted. That kind of diplomacy is rooted in neither Trump’s success-at-any-cost focused strategy nor the moderate go-along-to-get-along mantra. Washington Democrats have read the polls and calculated that hating on China is popular with the electorate. This administration will blame and shame China more than Trump. Expect a WWI style war reparations ending to the coming scuffle, not the rebuilding WWII effort MacArthur did in conquered Japan.

Afghanistan’s failure is a false signal to China, but the Beijing echo chamber sees it as a true sign the US is weak. They don’t get it. America wanted out of Afghanistan. And, Americans won’t want post-Afghanistan disaster to hit Taiwan. China is an election campaign whipping boy, but can’t figure out that because China doesn’t know what an election really is.

Indo-Pacific

Afghanistan hurtling toward collapse, Sweden and Pakistan say // CNN

Taiwan

Taiwan, US discuss UN participation // Taipei Times

China warns against ‘wrong signals’ as Biden suggests US would defend Taiwan // Guardian

Biden’s pick for China ambassador says ‘we cannot trust the Chinese’ on Taiwan // Guardian

Military Faceoff

Flashback 10 years…
China Freaked Out: The Navy Surfaced 3 Missile Submarines Simultaneously // 19FortyFive

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Symphony

Cadence of Conflict: Asia, September 27, 2021

The Huawei heir apparent and CFO, Meng, walked. She confessed, then flew home. China immediately released the two Canadians both named Michael, which China had previously said were not detained in any connection to Meng; but they were both released in connection to Meng. The world saw what China did because China did something once again.

Meng gets “deferred prosecution”, meaning she’s guilty, but as a foreigner she goes home because of some arrangement such as her confession. Her charges will be dropped in December 2022, only on condition that she does not contest points connected to her case as to fact. That gives the US 14 months to use her confession as grounds for deciding which countries and big companies to sanction, et cetera.

If we use China’s promise about Hong Kong as any example, we can expect the heat to turn up so high that Meng eventually breaks her promise and charges resume. With what action from the US could come, China may expect her to break her promise and accuse the US, more or less, of lying. If she doesn’t do what China expects, she may wish she was still enjoying her prison-mansions in Canada. Either way, her goose is cooked. The world is learning even more about China. And, the West marches on with its goals.

This week, five more countries urged the UN to recognize Taiwan. That makes twelve out of fifteen formal allies.

Indo-Pacific

As The UK ‘Revives’ Its Diego Garcia Naval Base, Is London Set To Join QUAD Nations To Challenge China? // EurAsian Times

Trade & Tech

Meng Wanzhou: The PowerPoint that sparked an international row // Yahoo News

China sets Canadians free after Meng settles with US // Taipei Times

China

Musk praises China, says Tesla will expand investments in country // CNBC

Taiwan

Five more allies voice support at UN // Taipei Times

Taiwan applies to Pacific trade deal // Taipei Times

Military Faceoff

US Air Force Confirms It’s Bringing World’s First Stealth Fighter Aircraft ‘Back In Action’ // EurAsian Times

F-22 Raptor Of Warships: Why US’ Fully Stealth, Revolutionary Zumwalt Program Finds Itself In Troubled Waters? // EurAsian Times

Uh-Oh: F-35 Jets and Their Carriers Can’t Talk to Each Other // National Interest

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Symphony

Cadence of Conflict: Asia, April 20, 2020

Just when we thought China couldn’t make itself more unpopular, China made itself more unpopular. Perhaps it was charity. Perhaps it was delusion. We don’t like thinking bad things about others, especially if we sacrificed our jobs and economies to have our stuff made more cheaply by them. Saying bad things about China was as politically incorrect as blaming the Karan for militants wanting to kill their enemies. Thinking bad things about China made Americans feel almost as guilty as thinking that voting against Obama wasn’t racist. No one wanted to say that China might be up to no good.

Why governments and global economy jockeys supposedly didn’t see it coming remains unexplained. But, all of a sudden, China is global enemy number one. The Western press has been educating the world about Taiwan in almost every Taiwan news story for the past decade. Anybody who is anybody at least asks, “What’s the relationship between China and Taiwan?” To Western taxpayers and voters, no acceptable answer will be in China’s favor. These days, China is damned if it does and more damned if it isn’t.

Governments are paying factories to dump China’s manufacturing. But, that’s not the biggest problem for the Chinese.

No one gives as much money to the World Health Organization as the US, behind that is Bill Gates, then the UK. China is among the smallest donors. So, why is so much Western money being used along the propaganda points of such a puny donor as China? If so much money is being usurped, the US would be obligated to pull the plug. And, that’s what it looks like, especially with the WHO siding with China on the matter of Taiwan. While Taiwan’s exclusion from the WHO indicates bias, Western countries are concerned about the WHO helping cover up what happened in China.

With president Trump now calling for investigations in China about the pneumoniavirus, other problems could come up, such as the Uyghurs in Xinjiang. China won’t allow that, not even to regain control of all that US money in the WHO. The world won’t have it. Global hatred toward China is only beginning.

Great Pacific

‘Suppress and lift’: Hong Kong and Singapore say they have a coronavirus strategy that works // Science

Singapore’s Ho Ching thanks ‘friends in Taiwan’ after quibble over masks donation // SCMP

Trade & Tech

Coronavirus: American Factory boss says pandemic will change China’s role in global supply chain // SCMP

Huawei founder to leave board of Shanghai Huawei Technologies // Taiwan News

China

National coronavirus updates: Trump says US wants investigators to go to China // Seattlepi.com

Trump warns China over Covid-19 outbreak as Europe approaches 100,000 deaths // Guardian

Navarro: China went from net exporter of protective equipment to net importer // YouTube @ Fox News

As Coronavirus Fades in China, Nationalism and Xenophobia Flare // NY Times

Coronavirus: China’s economy shrank for the first time since 1976 in first quarter // SCMP

Nancy Pelosi calls Zoom ‘a Chinese entity’ // CNBC

Taiwan

Good news: Taiwan reports zero new coronavirus cases // Taiwan News

Hong Kong

US and UK condemn arrest of Hong Kong democracy activists // Guardian

More than 1,000 Hong Kong homeowners could see loans exceed value of properties in first quarter // SCMP

Cathay Pacific to lay off nearly 300 cabin crew in US, calling bases in New York, San Francisco and Los Angeles ‘no longer viable’ // SCMP

Korean Peninsula

North Korean defector becomes first to win South Korea parliamentary seat // BBC News

 

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Symphony

Encore or Revival: America, September 17, 2018

Trump's sanctions about elections are about the election. Turn all eyes to Texas. The seat of Senator Ted Cruz should not be in jeopardy. Democrats have no reason to dump such large amounts of money into a Texas race where senators are trending Republican—unless they are either crazy or they happen to know about other plans that could affect the vote. They aren't campaigning against Cruz because they think he is weak, but because he is so powerful.

Without the additional sanctions on foreign interference, it would be much easier to meddle in your opponent's election by asking a foreign power to do the meddling. Americans know better than to meddle in American elections because they have nowhere to run. Off-shore meddlers are another story—at least they were until Trump ordered his sanctions.

This is a shot across the bow, not so much deterring foreign powers from meddling as much as making foreign powers—and any domestic cooperatives—aware that the White House is aware that there are attempts to meddle. Only a fool would think Trump's order is purely for the optics of pleasing his unusually loyal base, which cares more about jobs and walls than defusing accusations they have already decided are fraudulent. These sanctions from the White House could be what wins Cruz his second term. We'll see.

US Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley lives in a unit in the famed Waldorf Astoria. She originally had the $135k/month unit occupied by Susan Rice during the Obama years. Rice had ordered $52k worth of drapes and motors to close them, but the furnishings didn't arrive until Haley had insisted on moving to a less-than-half-the-price unit of the lavish Obama ambassador, at only $58k/month. New York is an expensive place for everyone, but Haley also rejected the set of drapes. Of course, in New York newswriting, Obama's bad decision must be blamed on Trump. It's all Trump's fault what Obama did.

Senator Feinstein should be impeached and Judge Kavanaugh should be approved Monday rather than Thursday. After a long and—according to Democrats—interesting career in the White House, an uncorroborated claim from a supposed victim of a so-called assault—much less severe than anything Clinton was praised for by his base—came to Feinstein in July. The accuser didn't mention anything in all the other years of Kavanaugh's career, nor did Feinstein mention the accusations in July or August. Everyone waited until the last possible minute.

If it is true that Democrats don't mention important facts until time is almost up, they should be expelled from Washington. Many voters in the #WalkAway movement seem to agree. But, this looks more like something made-up. By doing this at such a late hour, Democrats have implied that there is nothing more meaningful to discuss. Democrats are still angry that they can't read all the private memorandum that other people wrote to other people which Kavanaugh was the confidential delivery boy for. So, they pull an Anita Hill style accusation that looks fake in every time and manner they choose. The only credibility this accuser can gain at the bottom of this ninth inning would be for Feinstein to resign in disgrace for either trying to pull a fake "September surprise" or for exploiting a victim in doing so. Fat chance on a Democrat not exploiting the victims so desperately engineered into their voter base.

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Symphony

Encore of Revival: America, September 25, 2017

"Welcome to New York." President Donald Trump greeted diplomats and heads of state at the United Nations. Many of those diplomats have some kind of grudge or complaint against the only place on Earth safe enough for them to meet. Among them, North Korea's envoy, who used disrespectful "name-calling" rhetoric similarly to the American Left and now American sports.

Kneeling during your nation's national anthem, when standing is the respectful thing to do, does not make any move toward lowering conflict. Many nations would not allow such disrespect, but ingrates only disrespect the nations where they have such freedoms to take for granted.

Problems with "bad apple" police do not stem from lack of disrespect. Politicizing sports hasn't made the country safer, it has hurt sports ratings on TV. People watch sports to get away from politics, to rest their minds and hearts, and to share common ground with friends. Taking away that common ground will take away common ground.

There are many problems in America. One of the biggest problems is that many powerful people don't know how to solve problems, only spread them. For example, 20% of college students want to set a precedent that free speech should be shut down with violence.

So, while Congress is lowering taxes for the middle class and world leaders, once again, found America to be the safest place to exchange insults, top news this week was about the president vs sports.

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Symphony

Cadence of Conflict: Asia, September 18, 2017

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-LSM7VtOn4Q

China's situation is growing more and more similar to North Korea's. They seek to "match" the US in military strength, but aim to do so without US economics. Without the economics it will be hard to match anything. Slowly, but surely, the US is chipping away at money going into China.

Stocks were up in China, especially recently. Shenzhen is fairing quite well. But, Trump managed to block a Chinese company from buying a US chip maker, Lattice. This is just the beginning, not only for blocked deals both in the US and elsewhere, but also in bad international press against China.

Taiwan isn't helping. 500 Taiwanese in New York protested the island not being a UN member, claiming that Palestine is not a state, but has a membership. If Taiwan were to join the UN, it would be in the top 25% largest populations. But, pushing these matters will likely have no impact, other than bad press against China.

This week, North Korea launched again, scaring Japanese even more, making it even harder to defend the Kim Dynasty. China doesn't want to lose a "buffer" that would put a stronger US ally on its border, nor deal with an influx of refugees. But, China may have more than the situation with the US and North Korea to worry about. The dormant volcano on North Korea's side of the China border has been rumbling.

There's nothing like a small "act of God" to settle all disputes.

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Faux Report

U.N. Worker In Contact With Refugees Contracts Unknown Skin Disease

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AUGUSTA, Maine – 

A United Nations employee who worked on the intake of refugees fleeing to the United States seeking asylum has contracted a serious and as-yet-unknown skin condition that is causing panic among government workers.

According to doctors, Mark Shawl, who has worked for the U.N. for over 20 years, came in contact with an infected Syrian refugee and contracted a serious and potentially contagious skin condition.

“Mr Shawl’s skin has formed extreme and vile callouses over most of his body, but especially on his hands,” said Dr. Emmett Brown of the Maine State General Hospital in Augusta. “At this point were are not able to pinpoint exactly what is causing the disorder, but we are taking measures to ensure that this condition does not spread further.”

Dr. Brown says that Mr. Shawl’s fingers are getting the worst of it, and one has become so hard and brittle that it has begun to fall off.

“So far, Mr. Shawl is the only one this heavily infected by whatever is causing the issue,” said Dr. Brown. “Unfortunately, he is not the only one entirely. Several other people have since come into our location with similar issues. We are working jointly with the US Department of Health to discover the cause.”

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