Free Republic

Event Time 2013-03-27 02:03:20 UTC 2013-03-27 10:03:20 UTC+08:00 at epicenter 2013-03-26 21:03:20 UTC-05:00 system time Location 23.840°N 121.135°E depth=20.7km (12.9mi)

Unlike the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt, which faces no existential threat, our Asian ally faces an increasingly belligerent and well-armed China. Yet only one gets the latest weaponry and the question is why. On Jan. 30, a Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force destroyer in the East China Sea near the disputed Senkaku Islands just north of Taiwan was "painted" by fire control-radar from two People's Liberation Army warships, believed to be the Chinese frigates Linyungang and Wenzhou. This was just the latest provocation by a China flexing its deep water naval muscle as it asserts itself in the East and South...

The Board of the Office of Congressional Ethics  just released findings (with extensive evidentiary supporting documents) that there is “substantial reason to believe” Rep. Bill Owens (D-NY21) violated federal law and House Rules in connection with a trip to Taiwan (emphasis added): NATURE OF THE ALLEGED VIOLATIONS: Representative Bill Owens may have accepted payment of travel expenses for an officially connected trip to Taiwan from an impermissible source, resulting in an impermissible gift, in violation of federal law and House Rules. Representative Owens may have accepted payment of travel expenses for an officially connected trip to Taiwan, when that trip was in some part planned,...

Senior Colonel Liu Mingfu of China's National Defence University has raised the specter of a nuclear war, and warned Australia not to side with America and Japan. Liu is not an official spokesman for China, but his views are approved. Referring to the dispute between Japan and China over the Senkaku/Diaoyu islands, Liu said that China was prepared to fight "to the death": America is the global tiger and Japan is Asia's wolf and both are now madly biting China. Of all the animals, Chinese people hate the wolf the most. If this Japanese wolf again attacks America's Pearl Harbor...

In the wake of increased tension with Japan over disputed islands, China’s soldiers have been directed to be ready for a war in 2013 and also win it. Government Chinese media disclosed this in a report. The report also said the soldiers are being prepared to the best possible level and that they are being trained for the purpose. According to reports, in 2012, no such directive- of getting ready for a war and winning it- was given. The Chinese army has also been told to improve its activities and enhance information and intelligence gathering techniques. In 20th century, Japan...

President Barack Obama offered on Saturday to provide any assistance the Algerian government needs after a deadly hostage siege at a desert gas plant and said the United States was seeking a "fuller understanding" from Algerian authorities of what took place there. "The thoughts and prayers of the American people are with the families of all those who were killed and injured in the terrorist attack in Algeria," Obama said in his first comments on the hostage crisis. Obama's written statement was issued by the White House after the Algerian army carried out a dramatic final assault to end a...

Unmanned J-6 fighter jets put on Fujian air base 2013/01/07 17:19:30 Hong Kong, Jan. 7 (CNA) A large number of old J-6 fighter jets that have been converted into unmanned attack aircraft are being stationed at Liancheng Air Base in Fujian province, according to the latest issue of Kanwa Defense Review. China's Huanqiu.com cited the Canadian online magazine as saying that satellite photos taken on July 31, 2011 showed there were at least 55 of the J-6 aircraft on the base. The magazine said the air base most likely has more J-6s than any other base in Fujian, showing that...

Beijing - Chinana hopes that the new Obama administration would set a more constructive tone in crafting its China policy as it pointed out that US President Barack Obama's first term had seen ties "effectively whittled down", state-run news agency Xinhua said. A commentary in Xinhua, which appeared after Obama defeated his Republican challenger Mitt Romney to clinch a second term at the White House said: "For four years, China-US relations, which Obama himself dubbed as the world's most important, has zigzagged forward." "On his watch, the US government has sold a huge amount of arms to Taiwan, received (Tibetan...

NOTE The following text is a quote: fbi.gov/sanantonio/press-releases/2012/taiwanese-citizen-sentenced-to-prison-for-illegally-exporting-military-sensitive-items-from-the-united-states-to-iran Taiwanese Citizen Sentenced to Prison for Illegally Exporting Military-Sensitive Items from the United States to Iran U.S. Attorney’s Office October 24, 2012 Western District of Texas SAN ANTONIO—This afternoon in San Antonio, 35-year-old Susan Yip, aka Susan Yeh, a citizen of Taiwan, was sentenced to two years in federal prison for helping to obtain military sensitive parts for Iran in violation of the Iranian trade embargo. The sentence was announced by Robert Pitman, U.S. Attorney for the Western District of Texas; Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) San Antonio Office Special Agent in Charge...

Taiwan is asking Apple Inc. to blur a map image of its new $1.4 billion early warning radar station that can detect aircraft and missiles coming from as far as western China. Defense Ministry spokesman David Lo said Tuesday that Apple should follow its rival Google in using only low-resolution satellite pictures to show sensitive facilities. He acknowledged the military should also try to camouflage them

<p>Japanese and Taiwanese ships shot water cannon at each other Tuesday in the latest confrontation over tiny islands in the East China Sea, as Japan met with another rival, China, in an effort to tamp down tensions.</p> <p>About 40 Taiwanese fishing boats and 12 patrol boats entered waters near the islands on Tuesday morning, briefly triggering an exchange of water cannon fire with Japanese coast guard ships. Coast guard officials said the Taiwanese vessels had ignored warnings to get out of their territory, and the Taiwanese ships pulled back after being fired upon.</p>

Washington - Accusing Chinese diplomats stationed in the US of attempting to limit free speech, US lawmakers have said that a recent move to push a little known American city to remove a mural on 'free Tibet' and 'Taiwan independence' is "a grave affront". "Limitations on speech and expression are incompatible with fundamental human rights anywhere in the world, and an attempt by your representatives to limit freedom of speech in the United States is a grave affront", Oregon Senator Ron Wyden said in a letter to the Chinese Ambassador to the US Zhang Yesui. Wyden wrote the strongly worded...

Too often, we see East Asia only from an economic perspective, marveling at the undeniable success of China, Japan, Taiwan, Vietnam, and South Korea. Yet these nations have another story to tell, one that owes less to current economic performance than to much older instincts: nationalism and ethnic resentment, the forces that kindled World War I in Sarajevo. Today, those forces underlie disputes in places that we ignore or know nothing about, such as the Senkaku Islands, the Dokdo Islands, and the Spratly archipelago. And those disputes may spark military conflicts between rival Asian countries. Such thinking goes against...

Taiwan retires 20 fast attack missile boats (AFP) – 7 hours ago TAIPEI — Taiwan on Sunday decommissioned the last 20 of a fleet of ageing missile boats as part of ongoing efforts to modernise its military forces against former rival China, officials said. The navy bid farewell to the 50-tonne Seagull-class missile boats during a ceremony held in the southern Tsoying naval base, more than three decades after they had been put into service. The Taiwanese navy first built the missile boats, reportedly an imitation of Israel's Dvora-class patrol boats, in the late 1970s and later mass produced them...

Fast-attack boat efficacy questioned ACHILLES’ HEEL:：By disabling radar and data links needed to acquire target information, China could blind Taiwan’s fast-attack missile boats and render them practically useless By J. Michael Cole / Staff reporter Tue, Jun 12, 2012 - Page 3 The effectiveness of Taiwan’s fast-attack missile boats to counter the Chinese military will largely depend on the vessels’ ability to acquire targeting information, which might not be guaranteed in a full-scale war scenario, a defense expert said recently. Unable to compete with the People’s Liberation Army Navy on a tonne-for-tonne basis, the Taiwanese Navy has in recent years...

Russia’s ‘no’ on arms sale to China aids Taiwan The Taiwanese air force will perhaps sigh in relief at the news that Russia is refusing to sell China Sukhoi Su-35 multirole aircraft — one of the world’s most advanced fighters — and top-of-the-line S-400 air defense systems over fears that Chinese engineers could eventually copy the technology. The Russian-language Kommersant business newspaper reported earlier this year that Beijing last year had requested 48 Su-35s, valued at more than US$4 billion, as well as an unspecified number of S-400 systems. With Taiwan already playing catch-up in the race for control of...

Two days after Christmas last year, Rep. Bill Owens, D-N.Y., and his wife, Jane, boarded a first-class flight to Taiwan for a four-day tour of the island. Owens and his wife roomed at $500-a-night luxury hotels and enjoyed fine meals between meetings with Taiwanese officials and a day trip to Taipei’s famed National Palace Museum. Interactive Timeline How Lobbyists Arranged Rep. Bill Owens’ Trip to Taiwan The Chinese Culture University in Taiwan had ostensibly invited the congressman and his wife “to promote international cultural exchange.” In fact, lobbyists for Taiwan’s government had organized the trip. Congressional ethics rules prohibit members...

Will Obama drop a viper in China's lap? Last August I wrote in this blog that Taiwan's long-hoped-for F-16 C/D purchase could become an election issue in the USA this year. The recent letter from the Obama administration to Senator John Cornyn suggests that the administration could indeed sell Taiwan new F-16s. This would be a great way to bolster the president's tough guy foreign policy credentials and show that he cares about jobs back home. He might even sincerely care about defending Taiwan. That said, is it really in the interests of the US to sell advanced F-16 C/Ds...

Why is the US considering F-16 sales to Taiwan? Political shifts in China, Taiwan, and the US have revived the prospect of a US F-16 deal with Taiwan. Taipei, Taiwan In September, the United States politely told Taiwan it would not sell its late-model F-16 fighter jets to help Taiwan keep up with the military might of China. Taiwan was disappointed. China's response was low key. his month, however, the White House said the sale deserved “serious consideration.” This announcement comes despite the fact that China sees any sale of the F-16 fighter jets to Taiwan as a red line...

Taiwan’s Navy Gets Stealthy News that Taiwan is set to get some stealthy fast patrol boats is welcome. But without some daring personnel, it might come to nothing. Huzzah! The Taipei Times’ J. Michael Cole broke the story this weekend that Taiwan’s Legislative Yuan has levied funds to field a squadron of between seven and eleven stealthy Hsun Hai (Swift Sea) fast patrol boats by 2014. Computer generated images depict a sleek catamaran that resembles a smaller sibling of USS Independence, a variant of the U.S. Navy’s new Littoral Combat Ship. Each new craft will reportedly displace around 500 tons...