Tag: Biden, Joseph R Jr

Putin and Biden Shore Up Alliances in Dueling Appearances

Chin@Strategy

WARSAW — In a day of dueling efforts to shore up allegiances, President Biden wrapped up a three-day trip to Europe Wednesday with a promise of America’s commitment to its allies as President Vladimir V. Putin warmly welcomed China’s top diplomat to Moscow and rallied pro-war Russians. With the anniversary of Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine approaching, Mr. Biden met in Warsaw with leaders from NATO’s eastern flank, acknowledging that “you know better than anyone what’s at stake in this conflict, not just for Ukraine, but for the freedom of democracies…

China’s Economic Support for Russia Could Elicit More Sanctions

Chin@Strategy

WASHINGTON — President Biden and his top officials vowed this week to introduce additional sanctions aimed at impeding Russia’s war efforts against Ukraine. But the administration’s focus is increasingly shifting to the role that China has played in supplying Russia with goods that have both civilian and military uses. As one of the world’s biggest manufacturers of products like electronics, drones and vehicle parts, China has proved to be a particularly crucial economic partner for Russia. Beijing has remained officially unaligned in the war. Yet China, along with countries like…

In Biden’s Unannounced Visit to Kyiv, a Preview of an Increasingly Direct Contest With Putin

Chin@Strategy

WARSAW — President Biden’s sudden appearance in Kyiv’s presidential palace on Monday morning was intended first as a morale booster for shellshocked Ukrainians in the midst of a bleak winter of power outages and a bitter war of attrition. But it was also the first of several direct challenges on this trip to President Vladimir V. Putin, who a year ago this week believed the Ukrainian capital would become Russian-controlled territory again in a matter of days, moving Mr. Putin closer to his ambition of restoring the empire of Peter…

With an Eye on China, Philippines Moves Closer to U.S. Interests

Chin@Strategy

For years, the Philippines largely stood by as Chinese forces rammed its fishing vessels and occupied the reefs and shoals that once belonged to the Southeast Asian nation. Those days may soon be over. President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., who took office in June, has adopted the most muscular foreign policy approach that the Philippines has seen in close to a decade. He is seeking out alliances, restoring his country’s defense ties with the United States and prioritizing his country’s territorial dispute with China in the South China Sea. Earlier this…

Navy Divers Complete Recovery of Chinese Spy Balloon Debris

Chin@Strategy

WASHINGTON — Navy divers on Thursday completed an operation to recover pieces of the Chinese spy balloon that a U.S. fighter jet had shot down off the coast of South Carolina this month, according to U.S. Northern Command. The recovered debris was sent to the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s laboratory in Quantico, Va., for further analysis, including “counterintelligence exploitation,” raising the possibility of greater visibility into what the balloon had been able to capture as it traversed parts of the United States. In remarks on Thursday, President Biden called the…

U.S. and China Vie in Hazy Zone Where Balloons, U.F.O.s and Missiles Fly

Chin@Strategy

WASHINGTON — During the Cold War, American strategists feared the Soviet Union was outpacing the United States in arms production, potentially leading to a so-called missile gap. Now, U.S. officials are worried about a literal gap called near space and China’s growing presence there. High above earth, but below orbiting satellites, the United States and China are testing new defense systems. China’s exploitation of the zone with aerial craft and advanced munitions suggests it is pulling ahead of its superpower rival in important ways. This little-known and little-seen strategic contest…

Behind China’s Balloons, a Push for Business to Serve the Military

Chin@Strategy

WASHINGTON — A People’s Liberation Army veteran turned drone manufacturer. A Shanghai real estate company that wagered there was more profit in high-altitude airships. An eminent Chinese aviation scientist who started more than a dozen companies to commercialize his expertise. Each sought to help their business by supporting China’s military modernization. Each now stands accused by the United States of helping to build China’s spy balloons. The international fracas over those high-altitude balloons has thrown a light on China’s program of “military-civil fusion.” Xi Jinping, China’s leader, has pushed the…

Senate Unanimously Condemns China for Spy Balloon, Joining the House

Chin@Strategy

WASHINGTON — The Senate on Wednesday unanimously passed a pair of resolutions condemning China for sending a surveillance balloon over the United States, joining the House in formally decrying an incident that has prompted a bipartisan chorus of demands for accountability on Capitol Hill. The first of the two measures, written by Senator Josh Hawley, a Republican from Missouri, condemns the Chinese Communist Party for an “invasion” of U.S. airspace, while calling on the president to be “transparent with the American people and Congress” about the spy balloon incident and…

China Tries to Depict Furor Over Spy Balloon as Sign of U.S. Decline

Chin@Strategy

While many in the world see the Chinese spy balloon as a sign of Beijing’s growing aggressiveness, China has sought to cast the controversy as a symptom of the United States’ irrevocable decline. Why else would a great power be spooked by a flimsy inflatable craft, China has argued, if not for a raft of internal problems like an intensely divided society and intractable partisan strife driving President Biden to act tough on Beijing? The balloon incident “has shown to the world how immature and irresponsible — indeed hysterical —…

China’s Top Airship Scientist Promoted Program to Watch the World From Above

Chin@Strategy

The balloon that was launched in July 2019, Professor Wu said then, was a “big guy,” nearly 330 feet in length and weighing several tons, which appears to be bigger than the balloon that was shot down off the coast of South Carolina by an American fighter jet this month. “This is the first time that an aerodynamically controlled airship has flown around the world in the stratosphere at 20,000 meters,” or about 65,000 feet high, Professor Wu told an outlet of the Southern Daily newspaper of Guangdong Province. The…