Free Republic

A fighter jet has crashed while attempting to land on the USS Carl Vinson in the South China Sea, injuring at least seven crew members, the U.S. Navy says. The pilot safely ejected. The accident happened on Monday when the F-35C Lightning II aircraft was attempting to land on the deck of the USS Carl Vinson, which is carrying out routine flight operations in the South China Sea. A statement from the U.S. Navy said the pilot safely ejected from the aircraft and was later recovered by a U.S. military helicopter, but 7 service members were injured, including 4 sailors...

A German warship entered the South China Sea on Wednesday for the first time in almost 20 years in yet another example of the Western push to stoke tensions with China in the region. Germany’s Defense Ministry said the frigate Bayern began a transit through the disputed waters on the way to Singapore, a trip that should take a few days. The last time a German warship sailed through the South China Sea was in 2002. Via Reuters Germany is the latest Western ally of the US to send a warship into sensitive waters near China in a move that...

Vladimir Putin boasted yesterday that Russia had the power to launch an 'unpreventable strike' against its enemies in a show of strength following the confrontation with Britain in the Black Sea. The Russian president told a navy day parade in St Petersburg: 'We are capable of detecting any underwater, above-water, airborne enemy and, if required, carry out an unpreventable strike.' It comes as military officials announced tests of advanced new weapons – some of which come from an arsenal Mr Putin has described as 'invincible'. He added: 'The Russian navy today has everything it needs to guarantee the protection of...

A RUSSIAN vessel fired warning shots British warships while a fighter jet dropped "warning bombs", Vladimir Putin's defence ministry has claimed. Moscow has alleged the Russian ship and aircraft were scrambled after HMS Defender allegedly crossed into its territorial waters in the Black Sea. HMS Defender was reportedly sailing in the Black Sea Russian state media reports the Royal Navy Type-45 destroyer crossed the border near Cape Fiolent at 11.52am local time and was warned to stand down. The destroyer is alleged to have kept its course and a Russian border patrol vessel opened fire at 12.06pm and 12.08pm. And...

A British warship transited the Taiwan Strait as China continues its military pressure upon Taiwan.The Royal Navy’s HMS Richmond announced on Twitter its latest whereabouts on Sept. 27. “After a busy period working with partners and allies in the East China Sea,” it said, “we are now en route through the Taiwan Strait to visit Vietnam and the Vietnam People’s Navy.”The brief post drew a rebuke from the Chinese military’s Eastern Theater Command the same day.The spokesperson for the command, Shi Yi, criticized the passage on its official WeChat account as a “public hype-up,” saying the UK “just validated its...

China has warned Britain is 'a bi*ch... asking for a beating' if British warships challenge Beijing's claim to the South China Sea. The HMS Queen Elizabeth and her carrier group arrived in the disputed waters on Thursday and are set to sail through Beijing's backyard alongside eight other vessels in a show of strength to Chinese President Xi Jingping. But Chinese state media has warned any move seen as a challenge to islands which Beijing lays claim to would mean Britain 'is being a bi*ch' and 'asking for a beating'.... ....'To say it precisely, if the UK wants to play...

The U.S. Department of Energy's National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) announced Thursday it had "successfully" modernized the first B61 nuclear gravity bomb to increase the nation's air-delivered nuclear deterrent capability amid threats of war with Russia in Ukraine and China in the South China Sea and or in the Taiwan Strait. Over the years, we've been documenting (read: here & here) NNSA's $12 billion program to modify aging B61 thermonuclear gravity bombs for the modern battlefield. The weapons first entered service in the late 1960s and needed upgrades to be more effective and increase lifespan by another two decades. The...

A VIDEO shot from an airliner cockpit has emerged showing what appears to be a fleet of 12 UFOs flying in formation. The pilot who shot the footage can be heard reacting in astonishment to the eerie lights that appeared and then vanished in clouds above the Pacific Ocean. At first, nine lights are visible in the video which then becomes 12 lights moving in formation. The closest UFO disappears before three more objects reappear outside of the group. It is possible that jets could be carrying out wargames because the footage was shot in the hotly contested South China...

LONDON/HONG KONG, Nov 17 (Reuters) - Ships in Chinese waters are disappearing from tracking systems following the introduction of a new data law in China, frustrating efforts to ease bottlenecks that are snarling the global economy, according to three shipping sources directly impacted.

“They can speak to their exercises and what they’re training against. It’s been pretty fairly obvious and we just released the China military report a week ago that I think makes it very clear what our understanding of their intentions are and their capabilities are and how they’re developing those capabilities and to what ends,” Kirby told reporters today.“And clearly they have invested a lot in particularly air and maritime capabilities that are designed largely to try to prevent the United States from having access to certain areas in the Indo-Pacific. What we’re focused on is that pacing challenge and...

The U.S. Navy still isn’t positive what one of its most powerful attack submarines hit in the South China Sea, as repair assessments continue in Guam, four sources familiar with the results of the preliminary investigations told USNI News this week. As of Tuesday afternoon, the undersea object that damaged the forward section of USS Connecticut (SSN-22) had not been definitively determined as part of several investigations into the Oct. 2 incident, the sources said. Early indications were Connecticut hit a seamount in the South China Sea, two defense officials familiar with the Navy’s examination of the submarines told USNI...

Relations between China and Taiwan have not been at its best as of late, as China grows increasingly aggressive over the island nation in its plans for reunification. As tensions escalate in the South China Sea, a report revealed that China has a four-part plan to invade the island nation, which also includes military actions taken against US soldiers. WION obtained a copy of China’s “invasion playbook” detailing China’s plans in a possible military confrontation as Beijing considers taking over Taiwan through military means. Chinese military planners have come up with four military campaigns for possibly invading Taiwan. Included in...

President Joe Biden’s administration is considering providing tariff exemptions for more than 500 products made in China — a potential boon to corporations who continue offshoring to the communist country. This week, United States Trade Representative (USTR) Katherine Tai said the administration would continue to preserve tariffs on hundreds of billions of dollars worth of Chinese products first imposed by former President Donald Trump.

Taiwan does not seek military confrontation but will do whatever it takes to defend its freedom, President Tsai Ing-wen said on Friday, amid a rise in tensions with China that has sparked alarm around the world. Taiwan, claimed by China as its own territory, reported close to 150 Chinese air force aircraft flew into its air defense zone over a four-day period beginning October 1, though those missions have since ended. Taiwan has complained for more than a year of such activities, which it views as "grey zone warfare," designed to wear out Taiwan's armed forces and test their ability...

Monday, four dozen Chinese military aircraft flew into Taiwan's air defense zone, climaxing a weekend of provocations that saw nearly 150 sorties of China-based fighters and bombers. The U.S. State Department countered by issuing a stern statement warning Beijing about the adverse effect on regional "stability" of such "provocative military activity." Yet even as the waves of Chinese military aircraft entered Taiwan's air defense zone, President Joe Biden was reassuring Japan's new Prime Minister Fumio Kishida that the U.S. would defend the Senkakus from any Chinese attack. Controlled by Japan but claimed by China, the Senkakus are uninhabited rocks in...

News AnalysisBeijing’s containment strategy is failing. Instead of abating, China’s financial strains are intensifying.Last month, when concerns first arose with the insolvency of the real estate giant Evergrande, Beijing held back from getting too involved. The nation’s leadership no doubt hoped that the financial waves would calm without much effort on their part.Now with the announcements of more failures and defaults, it is apparent that financial problems are deepening and becoming more widespread. Indeed, the news is beginning to resemble the beginnings of America’s 2008-09 financial crisis. Beijing cannot avoid acting for long.The latest news is disturbing. The first tentative...

Australia’s former prime minister Tony Abbott visited Taipei on Friday where he gave a speech urging the international community to show “solidarity” with the self-ruled island, resulting in a quick reaction out of China demanding that Canberra officails stay out of its internal affairs. Abbott provocatively told the conference that “any attempt at coercion would have incalculable consequences” for China and strongly suggested that both the United States and Australia would come to Taiwan’s aid militarily. “I don’t believe America could stand by and watch [Taiwan] swallowed up,” he said, added of his own country: “I don’t believe Australia would...

Hunter Biden has sold at least five prints of his artwork for $75,000 each as a team of lawyers works to vet people who plan to attend his spring gallery show in New York City. The prints were sold from Georges Berges Gallery in Los Angeles before the Oct. 1 opening of his pop-up presentation. It is unclear which reproductions were sold or if any other works were sold once the LA show opened. The buyers also remain a secret. However, a source familiar with the sale told the New York Post that 'most of those allowed to buy works...

Hunter Biden used his connection to infamous mobster James 'Whitey' Bulger to try to help his uncle get a business license in China, leaked emails revealed on Thursday. One of the emails also involves a formal State Luncheon that was attended by then-Vice President Joe Biden and Chinese President Xi. Jack Owens, Joe Biden's brother-in-law through his sister, reached out to Hunter on May 9, 2014 telling him a business deal Owens was negotiating in China required them to obtain a 'China Business License.' He said his companies, MediGuide America and MediGuide Insurance Services International, reached 'a serious stage' of...

A new report from The Wall Street Journal says that contingents of U.S. special operations forces and U.S. Marines have been making more regular rotational deployments to Taiwan for at least a year now. This news comes a day after Chiu Kuo Cheng, the island's defense minister, said publicly that Chinese forces would be capable of launching a "full-scale" invasion operation across the Taiwan Strait with far fewer risks than they face now by 2025.