Day: August 6, 2022

In Turbulent Times, Xi Builds a Security Fortress for China, and Himself

Chin@Strategy

Over informal, private meals with American leaders, China’s Xi Jinping let his guard down a little. It was a decade ago, relations were less strained, and Mr. Xi, still cementing his power, hinted he worried about the Chinese Communist Party’s grip. Speaking privately with President Barack Obama and Vice President Joe Biden, Mr. Xi suggested that China was a target of “color revolutions,” a phrase the party adopted from Russia for popular unrest in the name of democracy and blamed on the West. The recent “Arab Spring” uprisings across the…

Taiwan says China making simulated attack on main island

Chin@Strategy

China’s military has pressed ahead with its largest ever military drills, targeting Taiwan with what the island’s government called a simulated attack, including further incursions over the median line and drone flights over Taiwan’s outlying islands. Western pushback on China’s live-fire drills, launched in response to a visit to Taiwan by the US House speaker, Nancy Pelosi, earlier in the week, also continued, with condemnation from senior US officials and foreign ministers from Australia and Japan. Beijing vociferously objected to Pelosi’s visit, which it said violated its “one-China principle”, a…

Taiwanese tech firms such as Apple supplier Pegatron distance themselves from political turmoil after Pelosi’s visit

Chin@Strategy

Men walk past a signboard of chip maker United Microelectronics Corp (UMC) in Hsinchu, Taiwan, on January 10, 2006. UMC has sought to distance itself from its founder after he made comments criticising mainland China’s military drills around the island following a visit by US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi. Photo: Reuters South China Morning Post

In the Philippines, Blinken Vows to Strengthen Military Ties

Chin@Strategy

MANILA — President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. of the Philippines and Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken said on Saturday that their nations were committed to strengthening their military alliance, and that their governments would need to deal with rising tensions in Asia, including those involving China and Taiwan. Mr. Marcos said at the start of a meeting with Mr. Blinken in the presidential palace that Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s visit to Taiwan had not, in his opinion, intensified those tensions; rather, it “demonstrated how the intensity of the conflict has been…

Senior Taiwan defence official found dead in hotel room; China aircraft and ships ‘simulated attack drills’ – live

Chin@Strategy

From 1h ago Senior Taiwan official died of heart attack, local media say The Taiwan official who was found dead in his hotel room on Saturday morning (see 5.52am) died of a heart attack, according to official media reports cited by Reuters. Authorities said there was no sign that anyone had broken into his room. Ou Yang Li-hsing was deputy head of the military-owned National Chung-Shan Institute of Science and Technology, where he supervised various missile production projects. He was 57. <gu-island name="TweetBlockComponent" deferuntil="visible" props="{"element":{"_type":"model.dotcomrendering.pageElements.TweetBlockElement","html":" A senior official leading Taiwan's…