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A THINK TANK has warned a conflict between Washington and Beijing is just weeks away as tensions in the South China Sea reach boiling point. he South China Sea is a highly contested region and faces claims from China, Malaysia, Taiwan, Vietnam and the Philippines. Diplomatic relations between the nations are already extremely strained. he South China Sea is a highly contested region and faces claims from China, Malaysia, Taiwan, Vietnam and the Philippines. Diplomatic relations between the nations are already extremely strained.

For decades, foreign policy experts—the blob—assumed much about the Middle East that has turned out to be completely wrong. It’s been remarkable to watch the mainstream press and official Washington try to downplay the significance of the peace deal the Trump administration brokered between Israel and two Arab states this week.The signing of the Abraham Accords on Tuesday between Israel, the United Arab Emirates, and Bahrain at the White House, which for the first time normalized relations between Israel and the two Persian Gulf states, is by any measure historic. It’s been 26 years since any Arab state recognized Israel,...

Key point: The risk of war may be low, but it is ever present. As the United States enters an election year, prospects for global stability remain uncertain. President Trump’s foreign policy stood at odds with those of his predecessor, and will likely a central point of contestation in the election. At this point, several crises might emerge that would not only turn the election, but potentially bring about a wider global conflict. Iran-Israel Iran and Israel are already waging low-intensity war across the Middle East. Turkey The state of the relationship between the U.S. and Turkey has decayed to...

The U.S. ordered the abrupt closure of the Chinese Consulate in Houston. The Wall Street Journal reports that the State Department is accusing China of conducting massive illegal spying and influence operations throughout the US against our government officials and citizens. The State Department adds that such activities have increased in recent years. The closure order coincided with Washington’s unveiling on Tuesday of indictments against two hackers in China. They are accused of targeting American firms involved in coronavirus research and stealing hundreds of millions of dollars in sensitive information from companies around the globe. This was done, according to...

The most likely detonator for major conflict with China is Taiwan. Hong Kong cannot be viably contested. India can defend itself. Beijing would be foolish to rerun the Korean war. That leaves Taiwan. If Taiwan declares independence it might be enough to light the fuse because China has long declared that any such efforts would be met by force. The question arises: what if Beijing’s actions in Hong Kong precipitates a rush to Taiwanese independence? “Taiwan has moved to assure Hongkongers of “proactive rescue and possibly residency’ to help them through the precarious time facing their city.” This must rankle...

Author's Note: I use “Red China” and “Communist China” to make sure that criticism falls squarely on the evils of the government, not the proud and good people of China or their millennia old history. As of January of this year, large segments of the so-called People’s Republic of China seemed poised to upend the authoritarian state that had ruled over the country since just after the Second World War. Hong Kong protestors defied totalitarian Red China’s efforts to further roll back rights and privileges agreed to when they assumed control from Britain. Then came the virus and a series...

Rep. Doug Collins, R-Ga., told "Fox & Friends" on Sunday it was an "unprecedented" step for U.S. District Court Judge Emmet G. Sullivan to hire a personal attorney as an appeals court reviews his decision not to immediately grant the Justice Department's request to dismiss its case against former National Security Adviser Michael Flynn. "He's wanting to play every position, he wants to play the defense attorney, the prosecutor... the judge, he wants to bring in his own hearings here. This is something that's very concerning," Collins told co-host Griff Jenkins. "It's no shock to me that he finally had...

One of the premier national unions for liberal outlets such as NBC News Digital, The Washington Post and The New York Times actually voted to request the government finance the news industry with taxpayer dollars. Surprisingly, it was The Times that released the story Sunday May 3. The article noted how the president of the “most prominent journalists’ union in the country, the NewsGuild, crossed a line that once seemed unimaginable: He asked the government for money.” Then came the kicker: “The guild’s leaders voted to request “‘public financing for journalism.’” NewsGuild President Jon Schleuss said that “One thing we...

An internal report presented to Chinese President Xi Jinping and other top leaders concludes that global anti-China sentiment is at a level not seen since the 1989 Tiananmen Square crackdown, and recommends preparing for a worst-case scenario of armed conflict with the United States, according to Reuters, citing people familiar with the content of the document. The report, created by the China Institutes of Contemporary Internal Relations (CICIR) – which is affiliated with the Ministry of State Security – suggests that the wave of anti-China sentiment is led by the United States, which sees China’s rise as a global superpower...

It's nothing new for American mainstream media outlets to unabashedly slobber all over their chosen Democratic candidates -- that kind of overt bias is commonplace. Covert bias -- not talking about a politician and thereby giving him or her a free pass -- is a far more insidious thing. It is also essentially the current business model for Bloomberg News and its myriad media offerings. When a media entity is avoiding reporting about a candidate seeking his party's nomination for president because said candidate is the company's namesake and founder, we're getting into some Inception levels of bias. Let's be...

In 2018, the Trump Administration withdrew from the 2015 multilateral nuclear agreement with Iran (Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, JCPOA), and since mid-2019 has taken several steps in its campaign of applying “maximum pressure” on Iran. Apparently in response to the maximum pressure campaign, Iran and Iran-linked forces have attacked and seized commercial ships, caused destruction of some critical infrastructure in the Arab states of the Persian Gulf, attacked facilities used by U.S. military personnel in Iraq, and downed a U.S. unmanned aerial vehicle. As part of an effort its leaders term “maximum resistance,” Iran has also reduced its compliance...

How many FReepers have lost or strained relationships with family, friends, co-workers, etc. because of your support for Trump and/or for being a conservative? Clearly, there is a lot of actual hatred out there, and it has already turned violent. The left want to remove a duly elected US President, because they don't like him. They don't care about the opinions of their fellow citizens who voted for him and support him, and they are perfectly willing to disenfranchise them - or worse. I thought having people weigh in about their experiences would help to understand how widespread this is,...

KYIV, Ukraine—As the Russian shells and rockets rained down on them in the frontline town of Debaltseve in February 2015, Ukrainian troops began to receive curious, anonymous text messages on their cellphones. “Your comrades nearby already left their positions, so you should leave yours as well,” one message read. The messages also claimed that Petro Poroshenko, Ukraine’s president at that time, as well as Ukrainian military commanders, had “betrayed” their soldiers. The Ukrainian military later concluded that Russian military forces had taken over the local cellphone network with mobile jamming stations. The text messages were part of a psychological operation...

POTUS and his team probably set this situation up to trap the Dems.

There are many issues Democrats and Republicans disagree on, but elevating women in peace negotiations should certainly not be one of them. Just a few weeks ago, the United States under the Trump administration became the first country in the world with a Women, Peace and Security (WPS) comprehensive law (2017) and strategy (2019) bringing women to the negotiating table in global peace efforts. This is something to be widely celebrated. I have proudly worked with women across the aisle to train, support and empower women around the world — because ending poverty and violence against women, and increasing their...

I grew up attending a Fundamental, Independent Baptist church, and no, those aren’t capitalized by mistake. That’s because the words “Fundamental” and “Independent” were displayed prominently on our sign, our church bulletin, and anywhere else the church name appeared. It wasn’t just that we were “Baptist,” or even a “church” – because any ragamuffin group of heretics could band together and call themselves a “church” in these United States – no, we wanted the world to know we were “independent” of any top-down control, and we believed we had the “fundamentals” of the Christian faith. Of course, those were the...

Colombia’s Cano Limon crude oil pipeline that can transport 210,000 bpd of crude has been bombed again, for the 78th time since the start of this year, Ecopetrol, the state oil company, said, as quoted by Reuters. Previous attacks have been blamed by the Colombian army on a rebel group, the national Liberation Army, or ELN, which is considered a terrorist group by the European Union and the United States. The pipeline was not operational at the time of the attack, which is the second in as many months. In September, Reuters reported that the pipeline was bombed again in...

When Donald Trump’s chief trade adviser went to Beijing in May with proposals to open up China’s vast domestic market to American goods – and thereby reduce a ballooning trade deficit with China – the mission was declared a failure. Before Robert Lighthizer set off, the veteran rightwing economist told Congress: “It is not my objective to change the Chinese system. It seems to work for them … But I have to be in a position where the US can deal with it, where the US isn’t the victim of it. And that’s where our role is.” Chinese officials wanted...

WASHINGTON — It sounds like something out of a science fiction movie: In April, China is said to have tested an invisibility cloak that would allow ordinary fighter jets to suddenly vanish from radar screens. This advancement, which could prove to be a critical intelligence breakthrough, is one that American officials fear China may have gained in part from a Chinese researcher who roused suspicions while working on a similar technology at a Duke University laboratory in 2008. The researcher, who was investigated by the F.B.I. but never charged with a crime, ultimately returned to China, became a billionaire and...

Yemen’s rebel Houthi movement launched earlier on Wednesday drone strikes on a Saudi Aramco facility and on an airport in Saudi Arabia, Houthi-owned Al-Masirah TV channel reported on Wednesday. Aramco says that its plants are operating normally and safely, Reuters reports. The Iran-aligned Yemeni rebels, who have been fighting a Saudi-led Arab coalition in Yemen since 2015, said that they targeted on Wednesday morning local time the Abha airport in Asir and Aramco in Jazan, according to the Houthis’ Al-Masirah outlet. Saudi Aramco has a 400,000-bpd refinery in Jazan in the country’s southwest. The refinery is part of a project...