Free Republic

Japan was the first country to break its silence after the full-scale invasion of Ukraine last year. Tokyo said of the Kuril Islands that it was “completely unacceptable that the Northern Territories have yet to be returned since the Soviet Union’s illegal occupation of them 77 years ago”. That annexation saw the expulsion of Japanese people from the southern islands, and since then, the countries have failed to reach a compromise. Talks broke down when Putin showed he was not willing to share lands but only to gain new ones. Then China started drawing maps marking part of Siberia and...

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Tuesday the “time is now” for Turkey to drop its objections to Sweden joining NATO but said the Biden administration also believed that Turkey should be provided with upgraded F-16 fighters “as soon as possible.” Blinken maintained that the administration had not linked the two issues but acknowledged that some U.S. lawmakers had. President Joe Biden implicitly linked the two issues in a phone call to Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Monday. “I spoke to Erdogan and he still wants to work on something on the F-16s. I told him we wanted...

The Taliban threatened on Sunday that it could conquer Iran as tensions increase over water disputes between Afghanistan and Iran, leaving at least three people dead. Senior Taliban commander Abdulhamid Khorasani, aka Nasser Badri, has in a video message warned that the group will fight against Iranians "with more passion" than they did against the US forces. "We will conquer Iran soon if Taliban's leaders give the green light for jihad."

China’s burgeoning space program plans to place astronauts on the moon before 2030 and expand the country’s orbiting space station, officials said Monday. Monday’s announcement comes amid against the background of a rivalry with the U.S. for reaching new milestones in outer space, reflecting their competition for influence on global events. That has conjured up memories of the space race between the U.S. and the former Soviet Union in the 1960s and 1970s, although American spending, supply chains and capabilities are believed to give it a significant edge over China, at least for the present. The U.S. aims to put...

Is Biden targeting white republicans' small businesses the same way Stalin targeted the Kulaks during the holodomor? Biden is not only targeting small business truckers, he is also targeting family farms By Ezequiel Doiny On April 17, 2023 Madeline Coggins wrote in Fox Business "The trucking industry is sounding the alarm on consequential ripple effects of the Biden administration's latest move in the electric vehicle push. While critics have voiced concerns about the EPA's recent emissions regulations, the Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association (OOIDA), a trade organization that represents small business truckers, warns the restrictions are dangerous and threaten small businesses...

A Chinese content creator died last week after livestreaming himself consuming an excessive amount of exceptionally strong alcohol. The 34-year-old influencer, who goes by “Sanqiange,” was found dead 12 hours after the May 16 livestream on Douyin, China’s version of TikTok, according to CNN. During the stream, he reportedly drank at least seven bottles of Baijiu, a Chinese liquor with an alcohol content of 30% to 60%. Sanqiange was allegedly involved in an online challenge, called a “PK,” against another creator on the platform. In a “PK” challenge, two influencers typically compete for gifts or rewards from their audience. The...

With tensions rising in the South China Sea, there are fears a China-linked advanced persistent threat group’s (APT) infiltration of critical U.S. infrastructure could be a precursor to an attack on Western military communication links in Asia. Microsoft has discovered a “stealthy and targeted” campaign affecting organizations across a range of industries, carried out by what it says is a state-sponsored China-based APT group. The group, which Microsoft calls Volt Typhoon, has been active since mid-2021 and has successfully targeted critical infrastructure organizations in Guam and elsewhere in the United States. “Microsoft assesses with moderate confidence that this Volt Typhoon...

A Chinese salvage ship has been caught looting British World War II shipwrecks near the Malaysian coast. The vessel, a dredger named Chuan Hong 68, was seen lurking near the shipwrecks of the Royal Navy battleship HMS Prince of Wales and cruiser HMS Repulse, according to the U.K.’s Daily Mail. Imperial Japanese forces destroyed both ships in December 1941, resulting in the loss of 842 British sailors — a significant setback for the Royal Navy in the Far East. The sites of the shipwrecks are officially designated war graves, according to a statement from the Royal Navy National Museum. Chuan...

A farmer, 72, fell into a crocodile enclosure in the Cambodian city of Siem Reap Luan Nam was pulled in when one of the reptiles pulled on the stick he was using A 72-year-old farmer was killed by 'about 40 crocodiles' this morning after falling into their enclosure on the family's reptile farm. Luan Nam was trying to move a crocodile out of its cage in Cambodia where it had laid eggs when it grabbed the stick he was using as a goad and pulled him in. A group of reptiles swarmed him, tearing his body to pieces and leaving...

China’s new ambassador to the United States called on “fellow compatriots” and “Chinese students” in the U.S. to work with the Chinese Embassy, according to two open letters published by China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs Tuesday. On his first day in office, Ambassador Xie Feng asked for the “support” of Chinese “compatriots” in the U.S., and also urged “Chinese students” in the U.S. to “serve the motherland,” according to two open letters written in English on the Chinese Embassy’s website. Xie called on both groups to serve as “bridges” between the U.S. and China to improve flailing bilateral relations. “Blood...

President Joe Biden’s administration canceled a $200 million grant it previously planned to award to a Chinese Communist Party-linked lithium-ion battery maker after Republican lawmakers criticized the deal. Last year, Biden’s Department of Energy (DOE) selected Microvast to receive a $200 million federal grant from a fund created under the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act of 2021. Those funds were intended to help America become less reliant on China for critical supplies like lithium-ion batteries.

The House Ethics Committee closed its two-year-long investigation into Rep. Eric Swalwell’s ties to suspected Chinese spy Christine Fang on Tuesday and said it will take no action against the California Democrat. “As you are aware, on April 9, 2021, the Committee on Ethics informed you that it had determined to investigate allegations raised in the complaint that you may have violated House Rules, laws, or other standards of conduct in connection with your interactions with Ms. Christine Fang. The Committee will take no further action in this matter,” read a letter to Swalwell from Ethics Committee Chairman Michael Guest...

Overnight celebrity Harry “Hazza” Harding held a prestigious job with China’s state media. He now believes he was being groomed for espionage. Walking into a Starbucks in Guangzhou, China in October 2021, Harry Harding was searching for a woman called “Susan”. He was there to discuss a new business opportunity. She’d contacted him over the messaging app WeChat, explaining that she was from a consulting company in Shanghai — later clarifying it was a think tank — and wanted him to write essays for her “clients”. Harding was a famous face in Guangzhou, where he had become an overnight pop...

VIDEOThere was a big lawsuit recently instituted in Australia against the federal government over Covid-19 vaccine injuries. However, shouldn't the lawsuit be expanded to include the mental case former Chief Minister of the Northern Territory who ranted like a lunatic about forcing vaccine mandates on everyone in his jurisdiction? This official, Michael Gunner, was forced to resign in humiliation in 2022 due to the vaccines NOT stopping the transmission of Covid nor preventing Covid in those who were already vaccinated.

Socialist Left governments in Australia twist justice. A grandmother pushed onto her back on the road then pepper sprayed. My grandfather JR Blanchard stood up for human rights after World War Two and represented the Presbyterian Church of Australia at Queen Elizabeth's coronation. He taught me The Lord's Prayer. I am proud of him. My grandmother, Clarissa Fox, made me deeply happy because she recognised when I was young that I like to help people. I believe she was a granddaughter of someone in The Australian Aboriginal cricket team which toured England in 1868. She had a cooking show on...

Australian government agencies' use of Chinese-made technology has been making headlines again. This time, the potential threat comes from DJI drones produced by China-headquartered company Da Jiang Innovations. A cessation order signed earlier this month will see the Australian Defence Force (ADF) suspend its use of DJI products, pending a six-month security audit of the force's supply chain. DJI drones were being used for training and military exercises. DJI joins a growing list of Chinese technology producers spurring anxiety in Australia and among allies. But the disproportionate focus on Chinese-made technologies might not be doing Australia's national security much good....

We have a lot of stupid people the United States governments. ItÂ’s not their fault. The creators of our Constitution designed a system that should rarely entangle itself in highly profitable transactions that involve innovative products or strategies. As a result, our economy historically bids the most driven and intelligent away from government jobs. Government, then, finds a governing formula that works, and sticks to it, often no matter what. China, as every American senses, differs. There, the government bears no shame in announcing that it is the sole source of all beneficial economic activity. In this way, the...

Youtube video from yesterday of a Congressional press conference outside the US Capitol on the threat to US sovereignty from the WHO treaty by the Biden, the CCP and the globalists. The press conference was put together by Rep. Ralph Norman, (SC-5) and consisted of short speeches by about 18 outstanding patriot Congressmen and several pro US sovereignty leaders, including Frank Gaffney from the Center for Security Policy. The audio is pretty bad until about the 3:25 mark (hint: turn on closed captions.)

Japan's Nikkei share average rallied on Friday to the highest since August 1990, the country's so-called "bubble" era, driven by a confluence of positive factors from strong earnings to optimism over a U.S. debt ceiling deal. The benchmark index jumped as high as 30,924.57 shortly after the open, on course for a seventh straight winning session, after smashing through the psychological 30,000 level on Wednesday for the first time in 20 months. The broader Topix, which had reached the post-bubble milestone on Tuesday, extended its climb to as high as 2,171.37.

Pakistan’s Army needs to take a large chunk of the blame for ruining the country’s economy. Last year, former Army Chief, General Qamar Javed Bajwa officially admitted that the military has been meddling in politics for decades. “In my opinion, the reason for this is the constant meddling by the army in politics for the last 70 years, which is unconstitutional,” he said, adding that the crumbling economic situation must be taken as a lesson and all stakeholders need to work together to safeguard the country’s interest. Last year in November General Asim Munir took charge as Pakistan’s new Army...