The Trump administration enters office in an unsettled time. For a variety of reasons (some directly connected to Trump’s rhetoric), the great powers face more uncertainty than at any time in recent memory. In the first few months of Trump’s presidency (indeed, perhaps even before his presidency begins) the United States will have to navigate…
The PLA Navy committed a rather saucy piece of theft against the US Navy in the South China Sea this week. According to the Pentagon, the USNS Bowditch was in the process of recovering an underwater drone when a PLAN vessel, the Nanjiu 510, lowered a boat and scooped up the device, reportedly a “Slocum…
A Chinese navy warship seized an underwater drone deployed by an American oceanographic vessel in international waters. The mission of the survey ship, USS Bowditch, had been sampling and data collection of surface, midwater and ocean floor measurements. The Bowditch was sailing about 100 miles off the port at Subic Bay when the incident happened….
A five-day pollution ‘red alert’ has been announced in China’s capital, Beijing, and other cities, with schools closed, roads blocked, and residents told to stay indoors. Over 20 more cities are also said to be affected. The warning came into effect on Friday at 4:20pm, as the main Chinese news agency tweeted “Smog invades Beijing,”…
Parroting the US State Department’s rhetoric, almost verbatim to justify the decision, a UK envoy vowed to fly warplanes over, and sail warships through the South China Sea over “concerns” regarding “freedom of navigation there.” Reuters in its article, “British fighters to overfly South China Sea; carriers in Pacific after 2020: envoy,” would report: The…
Did President-elect Donald Trump turn a 10-minute phone call with the president of Taiwan into a Hellfire missile, instantly vaporizing the US’ ‘One China’ policy? Of course not. This is a riddle inside an enigma. Let’s start with a cool-headed interpretation, as published in a report by the National Academy of Development and Strategy at Beijing’s…
