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| We don't know how it could have been any clearer than this warning from Chicom mouthpiece and ultra-hawk, Hu Xijin. Prior to America's other senile leader putting herself in harms way by touching down in Taiwan today, Xijin let loose a volley of histrionics that left little doubt as to where Beijing stood: "If US fighter jets escort Pelosi's plane into Taiwan, it is invasion," Hu Xijin of Global Times wrote on Twitter. "The [Chinese military] has the right to forcibly dispel Pelosi's plane and the US fighter jets, including firing warning shots and making tactical movement of obstruction. If ineffective, then shoot them down." For want of doubt, an official Chinese spokesman chimed in shortly thereafter: At a daily press briefing on Tuesday, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying reiterated China's opposition to Mrs. Pelosi's visiting Taiwan. No matter for what reason Pelosi goes to Taiwan, it will be a stupid, dangerous and unnecessary gamble," Ms. Hua said. "It is difficult to imagine a more reckless and provocative action." She got that right. Pelosi has now completed an utterly "stupid, dangerous and unnecessary gamble", and for what earthly purpose? |
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| On Monday, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres warned that "humanity is just one misunderstanding, one miscalculation away from nuclear annihilation." Guterres made the warning at a conference of countries that are signatories to the Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT), which entered into force in 1970. The UN chief said the war in Ukraine and global tensions have put the world in "a time of nuclear danger not seen since the height of the Cold War." Russian President Vladimir Putin addressed the NPT conference participants in a letter where he warned nuclear war must never happen. "We proceed from the fact that there can be no winners in a nuclear war and it should never be unleashed, and we stand for equal and indivisible security for all members of the world community," the Russian leader said. |
| Tensions between the United States and the People's Republic of China (PRC) are rising sharply over the Taiwan issue. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's stated intention to include a stop in Taipei to meet with Taiwanese officials during her forthcoming trip to East Asia is the latest source of trouble. Pelosi apparently escalated that provocation further by inviting other prominent members of Congress to join her in that stop. Her actions have caused even the staunchly pro-Taiwan Biden administration to quietly press her to change her plans. Conversely, congressional hawks are urging Pelosi not to back down. The reason for the administration's caution are readily apparent. Beijing has reacted with unusually intense anger to the prospective visit, with President Xi Jinping warning the United States not to "play with fire" on the Taiwan issue. Pelosi's visit is the latest -- and most serious -- in a series of U.S. actions over the past several years that have infuriated PRC leaders. The Biden administration needs to exercise even greater wariness about Pelosi's venture than it already has. Indeed, Washington needs to back away from its overall hardline policy toward the PRC. |
| | Tunisians headed to the polls last week to vote on a new constitution drafted by authoritarian President Kais Saied. President Saied had suspended parliament and seized broad powers roughly one year prior. Given widespread economic struggles, the Tunisian public remains divided as to whether Saied is more dictator or savior. Nowhere on last week's ballot was mention of the United States' military-industrial complex. Tunisia is major non-NATO ally of Washington, a designation permitting the Tunisian Armed Forces to receive greater access to goods and services from the U.S. war industry. Major non-NATO allies - -the group includes Argentina, Australia, Bahrain, Brazil, Colombia, Egypt, Israel, Japan, Jordan, Kuwait, Morocco, New Zealand, Pakistan, the Philippines, Qatar, South Korea, and Thailand -- are not required to be democratic. The US war industry sells weaponry abroad via foreign military sales (FMS) and direct commercial sales (DCS). |
| House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) departed Taiwan on Wednesday for South Korea and left in her wake soaring tensions between Taipei and Beijing as the Chinese military continued preparing unprecedented military exercises that will effectively blockade the island. China's People's Liberation Army (PLA) is closing off six areas around Taiwan from Thursday to Sunday and is expected to hold drills, including live-fire exercises, in some areas within 12 miles of the island. The drills are expected to be bigger than the missile tests China launched during the Third Taiwan Strait Crisis that was sparked in 1995 by the US granting a visa to former Taiwanese President Lee Teng-hui. |
| No one would benefit from the return to violence in Yemen. In spite of that, the UN only managed to get a truce extension Tuesday, the very day before the ongoing ceasefire was to expire.
Hopes were to slap another six months on the truce, but in the end they only managed to get another two months in place, with UN envoy Hans Grundberg adding that the sides agreed to intensify negotiations to reach an expanded truce agreement "as soon as possible."
The goal is not just to get more time out of the truce, but to start making progress toward ending the war entirely. After seven years, it is more apparent than ever that no one is winning this war. |
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