| Home Front: Politix |
| Trump backers, former officials being considered for top posts in 2nd administration |
| 2024-11-07 |
Everybody is full of advice so that President Trump can hit the ground running as soon as he is formally sworn in. [IsraelTimes] Lebanese-American businessman, who is the father-in-law of Trump’s daughter, says he’ll be point man for Lebanon to negotiate end of fighting between Israel and HezbollahDonald Trump will begin the process of choosing a cabinet and selecting other high-ranking administration officials in the coming weeks following his presidential election victory. Here are the top contenders for some of the key posts overseeing defense, intelligence, diplomacy, trade, immigration and economic policymaking. Some are in contention for a range of posts. Scott Bessent, potential treasury secretary Bessent, a key economic adviser to Trump, is widely seen as a top candidate for treasury secretary. A longtime hedge fund investor who taught at Yale University for several years, Bessent has a warm relationship with the president-elect. While Bessent has long favored the laissez-faire policies that were popular in the pre-Trump Republican Party, he has also spoken highly of Trump’s use of tariffs as a negotiating tool. He has praised the president-elect’s economic philosophy, which rests on a skepticism of both regulations and international trade. John Paulson, potential treasury secretary Paulson, a billionaire hedge fund manager and major Trump donor, is another top contender for treasury secretary. The longtime financier has told associates he would be interested in the job. A longtime proponent of tax cuts and deregulation, Paulson’s profile is broadly similar to that of other potential members of Trump’s economic team. He has publicly supported targeted tariffs as a tool to ensure US national security and combat unfair trade practices abroad. One high-profile fundraiser hosted by Paulson in April raked in over $50 million for the former president. Larry Kudlow, potential treasury secretary FOX Business Network personality Larry Kudlow, who served as director of the National Economic Council for much of Trump’s first term, has an outside shot at becoming his treasury secretary and would likely have an opportunity to take a separate economics-focused position if he is interested. While he is privately skeptical of broad tariffs, there is publicly little daylight between the policies Kudlow advocates and those of the president-elect. Robert Lighthizer, potential treasury secretary A loyalist who served as Trump’s US trade representative for essentially the then-president’s entire term, Lighthizer will almost certainly be invited back. Though Bessent and Paulson likely have a better shot at becoming treasury secretary, Lighthizer has an outside chance, and he might be able to reprise his old role if he’s interested. Like Trump, Lighthizer is a trade skeptic and a firm believer in tariffs. He was one of the leading figures in Trump’s trade war with China and the renegotiation of the North American Free Trade Agreement, or NAFTA, with Mexico and Canada during Trump’s first term. Howard Lutnick, potential treasury secretary The co-chair of Trump’s transition effort and the longtime chief executive of financial services firm Cantor Fitzgerald, Lutnick is in the running for treasury secretary. A bombastic New Yorker like Trump, Lutnick has uniformly praised the president-elect’s economic policies, including his use of tariffs. He has at times given elaborate, unvarnished opinions about what policies will be enacted in Trump’s second term. Some Trump allies had privately complained that he too often presented himself as speaking on behalf of the campaign. Richard Grenell, potential national security adviser Grenell is among Trump’s closest foreign policy advisers. During the president-elect’s first four-year term, he served as acting director of national intelligence and US ambassador to Germany. When Trump met with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy in September, Grenell sat in on the private meeting. Grenell’s private dealings with foreign leaders and often-caustic personality have made him the center of multiple controversies, a fact that might make another Senate confirmation process a challenge, depending on the composition of the upper chamber. However, he is considered a top contender for national security adviser, which does not require Senate confirmation, and a Senate-confirmed post is not out of the question. Among the policies he has advocated for is setting up an autonomous zone in eastern Ukraine to end the war there, a position Kyiv considers unacceptable. Robert O’Brien, potential secretary of state O’Brien, Trump’s fourth and final national security adviser during his first term, maintains a close relationship with Trump, and the two often speak on national security matters. He is likely in the running for secretary of state or other top foreign policy and national security posts. He has maintained close contacts with foreign leaders since Trump left office, having met with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Israel in May. His views are somewhat more hawkish than some of Trump’s advisers. He has, for instance, been more supportive of military aid for Ukraine than many of his Republican contemporaries, and he is a proponent of banning TikTok in the United States. Bill Hagerty, potential secretary of state A US senator from Tennessee who worked on Trump’s 2016 transition effort, Hagerty is considered a top contender for secretary of state. He has maintained solid relations with essentially all factions of the Republican Party, and could likely be confirmed with ease in the Senate. He served as US ambassador to Japan in the first Trump administration at a time when the president touted his warm relationship with then-Prime Minister Shinzo Abe. Hagerty’s policies are broadly in line with those of Trump. Earlier in the year, he voted against a major military aid package for Ukraine. Marco Rubio, potential secretary of state Rubio, a US senator from Florida and 2016 Republican presidential candidate, is also a top secretary of state contender whose policies hew closely to those of Trump. Like Hagerty, he was a contender to be Trump’s 2024 running mate. Rubio has long been involved in foreign affairs in the Senate, particularly as it relates to Latin America, and he has solid relationships throughout the party. Mike Waltz, potential defense secretary A former Army Green Beret who is currently a US congressman from Florida, Waltz has established himself as one of the foremost China hawks in the House of Representatives. Among the various China-related bills he has co-sponsored are measures designed to lessen US reliance on critical minerals mined in China. Waltz is on speaking terms with Trump and is widely considered to be a serious contender for secretary of defense. Mike Pompeo, potential defense secretary Pompeo, who served as CIA director and secretary of state during Trump’s first term, is considered a top contender for secretary of defense but could land in various slots involving national security, intelligence or diplomacy. While he flirted with a Republican primary challenge against Trump, Pompeo never pulled the trigger, and he is now back on friendly terms with the president-elect after a period of awkwardness. He stands out as possibly the fiercest defender of Ukraine among Trump’s close allies, a position that puts him at odds with most high-ranking figures in his potential boss’s camp. Tom Cotton, potential defense secretary A Harvard College and Harvard Law School-educated Army officer-turned-US senator from Arkansas, Cotton is well-liked among Trump donors and is a serious contender for secretary of defense. Like Hagerty, he emerged as a dark-horse contender to be Trump’s running mate in the final weeks of the vice presidential selection process in June and July. Cotton represents the shrunken hawkish wing of the Republican Party, having consistently supported military aid for Ukraine. Keith Kellogg, potential candidate for national security posts A retired lieutenant general who served as chief of staff to the National Security Council under Trump, Kellogg has Trump’s ear and is a contender for several national security-related positions, though it is unclear precisely where he would land. During the campaign, he presented Trump with a plan to end the war in Ukraine, which involved forcing both parties to the negotiating table and ruling out NATO membership for Ukraine for the foreseeable future, among other measures. Tom Homan, potential homeland security secretary Homan, who served as the acting director of Immigration and Customs Enforcement for a year and a half during Trump’s first term, is a contender for secretary of homeland security. Trump made cracking down on illegal immigration the central element of his campaign, promising mass deportations. Trump frequently praised Homan during the campaign, and Homan often hit the trail to rally supporters. During Trump’s first term, Homan was a leading advocate of the administration’s controversial child separation policy, during which children of immigrants who had entered the country illegally were detained separately from their parents. Chad Wolf, potential homeland security secretary Wolf, who served as Trump’s acting secretary of homeland security for roughly 14 months during his first presidency, may have a shot at heading back to DHS. Wolf loyally carried out Trump’s hardline immigration policies, and he deployed federal agents to Portland, Oregon, to control protests during the riots that followed the murder of George Floyd, a Black man, by a white police officer. He may have some strikes against him. He resigned on January 11, 2021, just days after the January 6 attack on the US Capitol. Trump has expressed misgivings about bringing back those who resigned in the final days of his term. Wolf, however, cited the legal controversy around his appointment as DHS secretary – rather than the Capitol attack – when he stepped down. Multiple judges ruled that his appointment by Trump, which effectively circumvented the Senate, was illegal. Mark Green, potential homeland security secretary A former Army flight surgeon and the current chair of the House Homeland Security Committee, Green is considered by some Trump allies in Washington as a contender for the top job at DHS. His supporters describe him as a Trump loyalist and immigration hardliner who also has significant legislative experience. Green was nominated by Trump during his first term to serve as secretary of the Army, but he withdrew his name as past statements, which were widely seen as transphobic and Islamophobic, drew more scrutiny. John Ratcliffe, potential attorney general A former congressman and prosecutor who served as director of national intelligence during Trump’s last year in office, Ratcliffe is seen as a potential attorney general, though he could also take a separate national security or intelligence position. The president-elect’s allies view Ratcliffe as a hardcore Trump loyalist who could likely win Senate confirmation. Still, during his time as director of national intelligence, Ratcliffe often contradicted the assessments of career civil servants, drawing criticism from Democrats who said he politicized the role. Mike Lee, potential attorney general A US senator from Utah, Lee is widely seen as another top candidate for attorney general. Though the former prosecutor declined to vote for Trump during the 2016 election, he later became an unwavering ally, and he has become something of an intellectual hero among some factions of Trumpworld. Lee was a key figure in attempts by Trump and his allies to overturn his 2020 election loss to Democrat Joe Biden, and has spread unfounded conspiracy theories about the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol. Susie Wiles, potential chief of staff One of Trump’s two co-campaign managers, Wiles is seen as the odds-on favorite to be Trump’s White House chief of staff. While the specifics of her political views are somewhat unclear, she is credited with running a successful and efficient campaign. Supporters hope she would instill a sense of order and discipline that was often lacking during Trump’s first term, when he cycled through a number of chiefs of staff. Brooke Rollins, potential chief of staff The former acting director of Trump’s Domestic Policy Council, Rollins is also a contender for chief of staff. Trump has a close personal relationship with Rollins, and often compliments her in private settings. She was generally considered one of Trump’s more moderate advisers while in office. Among other policies she supported during Trump’s first term were criminal justice reforms that lessened prison sentences for some relatively minor offenses. Kash Patel, potential candidate for national security posts A former Republican House staffer who served in various high-ranking staff roles in the defense and intelligence communities during Trump’s first term, Patel has frequently appeared on the campaign trail to rally support for the candidate. Some Trump allies would like to see Patel, considered the ultimate Trump loyalist, appointed CIA director. Any position requiring Senate confirmation may be a challenge, however. Patel has leaned into controversy throughout his career. In an interview with Trump ally Steve Bannon last year, he promised to “come after” politicians and journalists perceived to be enemies of the president-elect. During Trump’s first term, Patel drew animosity from some more experienced national security officials, who saw him as volatile and too eager to please the then-president. Massad Boulos, point man to Lebanon Boulos, a Lebanese-American businessman and Trump surrogate, revealed in a recent interview days before the election that he will serve as the US point man for Lebanon in the incoming administration, tasked with negotiating with Beirut to secure a ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah. “I will be responsible for negotiating with the Lebanese side in order to reach an agreement, and Trump will appoint someone familiar with the Israeli file to negotiate with the Israelis,” Boulos told the Lebanese broadcaster Al-Jadeed in what appeared to be one of the first revelations regarding now President-elect Trump’s personnel. Boulos joined the Trump inner circle after his son Michael married the former president’s daughter Tiffany in 2022. He helped Trump make significant inroads in the Arab American in yesterday’s election. He will apparently assume half of the role currently filled by US President Joe Biden’s special adviser Amos Hochstein, who has been tasked with negotiating with both Israel and Lebanon. He successfully brokered a maritime boundary deal between the sides in 2022, but has not yet succeeded in brokering a ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah since the terror group began conducting cross-border attacks on October 8, 2023. Boulos told Al Jadeed in another interview that Trump will fulfill his recent promise to “end the destruction in Lebanon” through a “comprehensive regional peace agreement.” “Trump is committed to ending the war before he enters the White House,” he added, without elaborating. An Israeli official and a former Trump official told The Times of Israel last month that the former president told Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu when they met in July that he wants the Gaza war wrapped up by the time he enters office. “People see that Biden and Harris failed to end the wars and failed to even return the American hostages from Gaza… Lebanese Americans are migrating to Republican Party and to Trump because they feel that Trump is their only hope to end this war, and end all the wars… so we can start talking about rebuilding Lebanon and Gaza,” Boulos said. |
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| China-Japan-Koreas |
| Suspect in Japan PM attack may have had election grudge |
| 2023-04-20 |
Follow up to this story from Sunday. [AlAhram] A 24-year-old man who allegedly threw an explosive at Prime Minister Fumio Kishida wanted to be a politician and believed that he was unfairly blocked from running for Japan's parliament by an age requirement, according to media reports and social media posts that appeared to be his.The suspect, Ryuji Kimura, was wrestled to the ground and arrested Saturday at a campaign event in the fishing port of Saikazaki, in the western Japanese city of Wakayama. The explosive, believed to be a pipe bomb, landed near Kishida, who escaped unhurt. Kimura has refused to talk to police, but local media reports that he bore grievances about Japan's election system might shed light on his motives. In June last year Kimura, who police said is unemployed, filed a lawsuit with the Kobe District Court claiming that he should have been allowed to register for the July 2022 Upper House election, according to Japanese media including NHK public television and Kyodo News. A candidate must be aged 30 years or older and present a 3 million yen ($22,260) deposit to run for the upper house, the less powerful of Japan’s two-chamber parliament. He was 23 at the time. He demanded the government pay 100,000 yen ($740) in compensation for his psychological anguish, according to the reports. Violent crimes are rare in Japan. With its strict gun control laws, the country has only a handful of gun-related crimes annually, most of them gang-related. But in recent years Japanese police have worried about "lone offender" attacks with homemade guns and explosives. Former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe was assassinated with a homemade gun at a campaign event on July 8, just two days before the upper house election. In a document he submitted to the court, Kimura argued that the election system that blocked his candidacy was unconstitutional, the reports said. Kimura argued that the election law violates constitutional guarantees of equality and other rights, according to media reports. The court dismissed his claim in a November 2022 ruling, and Kimura appealed the decision to the Osaka High Court, whose decision is expected in May, reports say. Tweets posted to an account cited by local media as Kimura's and seen by the News Agency that Dare Not be Named complained about Japan's political system. The account does not carry his name, but identifies itself as representing the plaintiff in a lawsuit that matches the one filed by Kimura. The News Agency that Dare Not be Named was not able to contact the owner of the account. The account had only 23 posts since it began in late June. An Aug. 11, 2022 tweet said the deck is stacked against ordinary people who quit their job and pay the deposit to run in national elections. "There is an established system where ordinary people can never become politicians." Other tweets on the account criticized Kishida's decision to hold a state funeral for Abe. The man accused of shooting Abe, Tetsuya Yamagami, told authorities soon after his arrest that he killed Abe because of the former prime minister’s apparent links to a religious group that Yamagami hated. In statements and in social media posts attributed to him, Yamagami said his mother’s donations to the Unification Church bankrupted his family and ruined his life. |
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| Japan PM Kishida evacuated unhurt after explosion at speech: report |
| 2023-04-16 |
| [GEO.TV] Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida was evacuated unhurt after a suspect threw what appeared to be a smoke bomb at an outdoor speech in western Japan on Saturday, domestic media reported. A loud explosion was heard, but the premier took cover and was unharmed while police subdued a man at the scene, public broadcaster NHK said. The incident occurred at the Saikazaki fishing harbour in Wakayama prefecture, some 65 km (40 miles) southwest of Osaka city. Former prime minister Shinzo Abe, the longest-serving leader of modern Japan, was assassinated with a homemade gun last July while campaigning for a parliamentary election, shocking the nation and prompting a review of security for politicians, who routinely press the flesh with the public. Kishida had just started to deliver the speech after touring the harbour when Saturday's incident occurred, NHK said. The speech was scheduled for 11:40am (0240 GMT), according to Kishida's ruling Liberal Democratic Party. Kishida was to continue his Saturday afternoon campaign schedule after the incident, the LDP confirmed via its Twitter account. NHK footage showed crowds running away as several coppers appeared to pin a man to the ground before removing him from the scene. The man appeared to be in his 20s or 30s, media said. A representative of Wakayama's prefectural police headquarters told Rooters he could not answer questions about the incident. A woman on the scene told NHK that she saw an object flying overhead and "it gave me a bad feeling, so we bravely ran away unbelievably fast. Then we heard a really loud noise. It made my daughter cry." Kishida is to host a Group of Seven (G7) summit in Hiroshima next month. G7 foreign ministers are to meet on Sunday in the resort city of Karuizawa. |
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| Beijing's Taiwan Aggression Has Backfired in Tokyo |
| 2022-08-13 |
| [ForeignPolicy] Military exercises have stiffened Japanese resolve. China’s four days of military exercises encircling Taiwan in response to a visit by U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi last week has clear ramifications for Japan. The show of military muscle just 70 miles from Japanese territory and the firing of ballistic missiles into waters controlled by Japan were clearly meant as a warning that the country risks being dragged into any future conflict in the region. While China’s motives in indirectly targeting Japan are not known, the results are pretty clear. The surprisingly extensive military action is bringing a new sense of urgency to heighten Japan’s defense capability, substantially raise the defense budget, and, potentially, institute new rules that would for the first time allow preemptive military steps if Japan is at risk. It’s hard to see how any of these meet Beijing’s policy goals. The military exercises included the firing of five missiles that overflew Taiwan and landed in Japan’s exclusive economic zone (EEZ). Japanese Defense Minister Nobuo Kishi said the firings represented “serious threats to Japan’s national security and the safety of the Japanese people.” China’s foreign ministry brushed aside Japan’s protests. It said that there was no EEZ, because Japan had failed to negotiate with China over proper boundaries between Chinese territory and the string of islands that stretch from Japan’s Okinawa region, with the westernmost isle just 70 miles from Taiwan. Beijing, which claims 90 percent of the entire South China Sea as its own, is no stranger to sweeping maritime claims. Japanese analysts saw China’s actions as a direct warning, especially in relation to Japan’s hosting of more than 50,000 U.S. service personnel, the largest offshore deployment of U.S. forces in the world. “The purpose of those kind of threatening [actions] is … make Japan recognize that if Japan cooperates with the United States to contain China or to block China conducting the unification operation of Taiwan, then Japan must be involved in the war, must be damaged by the Chinese military operation,” Bonji Ohara, a senior fellow at the Sasakawa Peace Foundation, told NHK television. But, as Chinese officials should know well, intimidation seldom produces moderation from the other side. Witness the efforts to scare Taiwan in 1996 with missile launches a few weeks ahead of the country’s first direct presidential election. The result was a clear victory for the independence-minded Lee Teng-hui. The new threats could instead create a “Finland moment” for Beijing. After threatening his neighbors, this year Russian President Vladimir Putin got what he least wanted: a massive expansion in NATO, with long-neutral Finland and Sweden moving to join the military alliance. The landing of missiles in waters close to Japanese territory, coupled with various threats and a claim that Japan is somehow responsible for the Taiwan situation, will do little to improve relations. It doesn’t help that China is in the middle of a surge of anti-Japanese public feeling, leading to the cancellation of cultural festivals and anime conventions across the country. The new missile launches come at an important time for Japan. Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, fresh from a strong showing in parliamentary elections, has promised a significant increase in Japan’s defense spending. Japan’s military (officially the Self-Defense Forces) is one of the largest and considered among the most capable in the world, but the spending level has been unofficially capped at around 1 percent of annual GDP, half the level requested for NATO countries and well below the 3.7 percent racked up by the United States in 2020. Some influential members in the ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) have called for it to be doubled over the next five years. Kishida has been more circumspect, no doubt considering the implication for Japan’s already massive debt load at an estimated 250 percent of annual GDP. In addition to the fiscal impact, opponents of higher spending fear a return to Japanese militarism and see the potential for a new arms race. The pressure will now be on, however, for Kishida to come up with something sizable at the very least. “When you look at the problems in Taiwan, the stronger the recognition that Japan is in a very harsh international environment. As a result, I think the debate about strengthening Japan’s defense capabilities will intensify,” Harukata Takenaka, a professor at the National Graduate Institute for Policy Studies in Tokyo, said on TV Tokyo. As always in a country given to gradualist politics, the move toward a stronger military has been gaining traction for many years. Former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, killed in an attack last month, had pushed through legislation in 2015 that allows Japan’s Self-Defense Forces to take part in collective defense with its U.S. allies. The move was highly controversial in light of Japan’s constitution that bans the use military force except in direct defense of the country. With that bedded down (and the concept now given an inadvertent boost by Beijing), defense hawks within the ruling LDP, many from the faction previously headed by Abe, are now pushing the envelope further to authorize preemptive strikes against a country threatening Japan. The ostensible target is nuclear-armed and always bellicose North Korea (largely forgotten recently as global attention has shifted to Taiwan). But the rules could conceivably apply more broadly. Polls show fairly solid support for the concept, although advocates prefer calling it “counterstrike capabilities” to avoid the image problems raised by the idea of a preemptive attack. |
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| Shinzo Abe murder suspect to undergo mental examination |
| 2022-07-25 |
| [DAWN] The man accused of assassinating Japan’s former prime minister Shinzo Abe is set to undergo an examination of his mental condition around the time of the incident, local media reported on Saturday. Trepanning? Abe was shot full of holes on the campaign trail on July 8 in the western city of Nara, two days before the country’s upper house elections. His accused killer Tetsuya Yamagami is in jug and reportedly targeted Abe because he believed the former leader was linked to the Unification Church. On Friday, the Nara District Court approved a request by the local public prosecutors office for a psychiatric examination of 41-year-old Yamagami, the Asahi Shimbun and other local media reported, citing unnamed investigative sources. The examination is expected to wrap up in late November, the reports said. Investigative questioning of the suspect will be halted during the mental examination. Related: Tetsuya Yamagami: 2022-07-12 Japan's Kishida gets mandate, will work to reinforce nat’l security and amend post-war pacifist constitution Tetsuya Yamagami: 2022-07-08 Former Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe is shot in the chest during speech and is 'showing no vital signs': Man, 42, is arrested at the scene UPDATE: He’s dead |
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| PLA warplane can ‘accompany’ Pelosi’s plane if she visits Taiwan | |
| 2022-07-24 | |
[internet deleted article cache]
By Hu Xijin Hu Xijin An exclusive report in the Financial Times on Tuesday quoted multiple sources as saying Nancy Pelosi, Speaker of the US House of Representatives, will visit Taiwan in August amid her trip to Japan, Singapore, Indonesia and Malaysia. If Pelosi, a fellow Democrat with US President Joe Biden, visits Taiwan, no one will believe it is because Biden "cannot control her". People are more likely to believe that her visit is part of Washington's tactic of "good cop/bad cop." As the Speaker of the House, Pelosi is second in the US presidential line of succession according to the US Constitution. Her visit to Taiwan is not only an escalation of US support for "Taiwan independence," but a major incident. It was reported in April that Pelosi would make the visit, but the planned trip to Asia was canceled because she tested positive for COVID-19 then. It has been proven that the US will not be reasonable on the Taiwan question, and the only way for China to respond to Washington's provocation is to use resolute countermeasures to make it clear the cost of playing the Taiwan card, which is the only language the US understands. Although then-Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich visited Taiwan in 1997, the travel was seen more as an outward manifestation of the US domestic political bad blood, since Gingrich was a Republican, opposite of then-president Bill Clinton. Pelosi's visit to Taiwan, if takes place, however, would be a blatant challenge to China by the US as a whole. I believe that China's countermeasures will be overwhelming, and we will not accept this crude advance of US support for "Taiwan independence," but will clearly tell the US that they are making a subversive mistake. As a media personality who has long been watching the situation in the Taiwan Straits, I suggest that China take firm action this time to make sure that Pelosi's visit to Taiwan is scuttled, either she abandons the planned visit out of fear or that her visit becomes a risky trip, leaving both her and the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) authority in Taiwan, who will host her, in a state of panic and with a keen sense of loss. When it was reported in April that Pelosi was going to visit Taiwan, I wrote an article advocating that the Chinese mainland should establish a no-fly zone over Taiwan, or the People's Liberation Army (PLA) warplanes should fly over the island. Today, I would like to reiterate the above advocacy. I would further suggest that PLA warplanes could "escort" Pelosi's plane at an appropriate distance, enter the island at the same time as she does, skim over her landing site, and then fly over the island and return to the Chinese mainland. There would be low probability of causing a direct military confrontation by doing so, and once PLA warplanes fly in and cross the island, it would be an even more landmark precedent than Pelosi's visit to Taiwan. In that case, we would probably have to thank Pelosi instead for creating the opportunity for PLA warplanes to fly over the island, opening up a whole new space for PLA warplanes to exercise sovereignty over the Taiwan island. The Chinese mainland must be brave enough to take this step of flying warplanes over the island, which, unlike warplanes flight around Taiwan, can truly reflect China's sovereignty over the territory, and is more substantial than any visit to Taiwan by senior foreign officials. Using Pelosi's visit to Taiwan to complete this leap is most likely to make it a peaceful transition. Of course, in order for PLA warplanes to fly over the island of Taiwan, we must be fully prepared for military confrontation, and I believe such preparations by the PLA have been ongoing. We have no intention of seeing a war break out in the Taiwan Straits now, but we are undoubtedly the party that is least afraid of a war in the Straits breaking out right now. PLA warplanes will sooner or later fly over the island. If the Taiwan military dare to fire at PLA warplanes, the response will be a resolute action of shooting down the Taiwanese warplanes or striking its military bases. If the US and the island of Taiwan want an all-out war, then the time will come to liberate Taiwan. I advise both the US and the island not to have any illusions. Let Pelosi and the Biden administration as well as the Taiwan authorities make their choice. The author is a commentator with the Global Times. opinion@globaltimes.com.cn | |
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| Chinese military issues warning to US | ||
| 2022-07-19 | ||
Beijing “demands” that the United States “immediately withdraw the above-mentioned arms sales plan to Taiwan,” as well as halt all other arms deals and cut military ties with the island, said Defense Ministry spokesman Colonel Tan Kefei. “Otherwise, the US side will be solely responsible for undermining the relationship between China and the US and the two militaries and the peace and stability of the Taiwan Strait.” “The Chinese People's Liberation Army will take all necessary measures to firmly defend national sovereignty and territorial integrity, and resolutely thwart any form of external interference and separatist attempts for ‘Taiwan independence’,” the colonel added. Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin echoed this sentiment, saying that Washington’s arms supplies “gravely undermine China’s sovereignty and security interests, and severely harm China-US relations and peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait.” “China will continue to take resolute and strong measures to firmly defend its sovereignty and security interests,” Wang added.
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| Shinzo Abe: Unification Church distances itself from assassination |
| 2022-07-12 |
| [DW] Fingers were pointed to the church as the alleged shooter of former Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe had said the church drove his mother into bankruptcy. The Japanese branch of the South Korean Unification Church acknowledged on Monday that the mother of the man arrested for the shooting of former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe was indeed a member, but said that neither the suspect himself nor Abe had been. Abe was shot on Friday during a campaign speech in western Japan by who the police identified as a 41-year-old unemployed man who had previously been part of the country's navy. The alleged shooter told police that he had targeted Abe because he believed the former prime minister had promoted a religious group to which his mother had made a large donation, driving her into bankruptcy. "Trying to understand how such hatred may have possibly led to the killing is totally perplexing," the head of the church, Tomihiro Tanaka, told news hounds in Tokyo. While denying that Abe was a member, however, he said that the former prime minister had supported the church in promoting peace. WHAT IS THE UNIFICATION CHURCH? Japanese media had pointed to the church, known fully as the Family Federation for World Peace and Unification The church was founded in 1954. Its founder, the self-declared messiah and ardent anti-communist from South Korea, Sun Myung Moon also ran a business empire. Critics have long called the church a cult and questioned where its financing comes from. Abe, the longest-serving prime minister in Japan's history, attended an event held by an organization with connections to the church last September where he gave a speech praising that organization's work in promoting peace in South Korea. DONATIONS SCANDALS Church head Tanaka confirmed that some people make generous donations, but on a voluntary basis. "The amount of donations is up to each individual,'' he said. "We are grateful to those who give large donations, but nothing is required." He acknowledged several scandals related to donations in the past but said there had not been any problems since measures were set up in 2009. A spokesperson for the church said that it has around 300,000 followers in Japan and up to 200,000 in South Korea. Its appeal in Japan has attracted celebrities as well as the attention of politicians who seek to court its influence. Related: Shinzo Abe: 2022-07-11 Nara police chief admits security failure, takes responsibility for Shinzo Abe's death Shinzo Abe: 2022-07-09 Shinzo Abe's body returns home: Hearse carrying former prime minister arrives at his Tokyo residence a day after he was assassinated during campaign speech in western Japan Shinzo Abe: 2022-07-09 The main thing is for the night. Friday, July 8 |
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| Japan's Kishida gets mandate, will work to reinforce nat’l security and amend post-war pacifist constitution |
| 2022-07-12 |
| [AnNahar] Boosted by a new mandate in weekend elections, Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida met Monday with the U.S.'s top diplomat, Secretary of State Antony Blinken, who delivered condolences over the death of influential former leader Shinzo Abe and reassurances of a strong bilateral alliance. Kishida's governing Liberal Democratic Party and its junior coalition partner Komeito secured a solid majority in elections for parliament's upper, less powerful, chamber in a vote Sunday that was imbued with meaning after Abe was assassinated while campaigning Friday. Abe's death imbued new meaning in Sunday's vote, with all of Japan's politicians emphasizing the importance of free speech and defending democracy against acts of violence. It also may have generated sympathy votes, with turnout around 52%, up about 3 points from the previous 48.8% in 2019. The vote gave the LDP-led coalition 146 seats in the 248-seat chamber — far beyond the majority — and means Kishida stands to rule without interruption until a scheduled election in 2025. That would allow him to work on long-term policies such as national security, his signature but still vague "new capitalism" economic policy, and his party's long-cherished goal to amend the U.S.-drafted postwar pacifist constitution. Advancement on changing the charter is now a realistic possibility. With the help of two opposition parties supportive of a charter change, the governing bloc now has two-thirds majority in the chamber needed to propose an amendment. The governing bloc already has secured support in the lower house. Kishida welcomed the victory but also acknowledged that unifying the party will be a hard task without Abe, who even after resigning as prime minister in 2020 had led a powerful party faction. In media interviews late Sunday, Kishida repeated: "Party unity is more important than anything else." He said responses to COVID-19, Russia's invasion of Ukraine and rising prices will be his priorities. He said he will also steadily push for reinforcing Japan's national security as well the constitutional amendment. Kishida and senior party politicians observed a moment of silence for Abe at the party election headquarters before placing on the whiteboard victory ribbons next to the names of candidates who secured their seats. On the final day of campaigning Saturday, party leaders avoided fist-bumps and other friendly gestures in close contact with the public — a sign of tightened security after Abe was shot on a city street by a man carrying a homemade weapon. On Sunday, the suspect accused of his murder was transferred to a local prosecutors' office for further investigation, and a top regional police official acknowledged possible security lapses allowed the gunman to get close to Abe. The suspect, Tetsuya Yamagami, told Sherlocks he acted because of Abe's rumored connection to an organization that he resented, police said. Some Japanese media identified the group as the Unification Church. Oh? Interesting. Abe stepped down two years ago, citing health reasons. He said he regretted leave many of his goals unfinished, including revising Japan's war-renouncing constitution that some ultra-conservatives consider a humiliation.He was the grandson of another prime minister and became Japan's youngest prime minister in 2006, at age 52. The overly nationalistic stint in office abruptly ended a year later, also because of his health, prompting six years of annual leadership change. He returned to the premiership in 2012, vowing to revitalize the nation and get its economy out of its deflationary doldrums with his "Abenomics" formula, which combines fiscal stimulus, monetary easing and structural reforms. He won six national elections and built a rock-solid grip on power. |
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| China-Japan-Koreas |
| Nara police chief admits security failure, takes responsibility for Shinzo Abe's death |
| 2022-07-11 |
| [WashingtonTimes] The police chief of the prefecture where former Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe was assassinated this week said he bears responsibility for his death. Nara Prefectural police Chief Tomoaki Onizuka said Mr. Abe’s security personnel followed the lead of the plan he put forward, and he "takes responsibility" for his killing. "I feel the weight of my responsibility," Mr. Onizuka said at the Saturday presser. He added: "After the first report of the incident came at 11:30 a.m., and the situation was revealed, it was the height of the guilt and regret I’ve felt in my 27 years in law enforcement." Mr. Abe, 67, died after being shot by a gunman who opened fire on him while he was making a speech in broad daylight. Related: Shinzo Abe: 2022-07-09 Shinzo Abe's body returns home: Hearse carrying former prime minister arrives at his Tokyo residence a day after he was assassinated during campaign speech in western Japan Shinzo Abe: 2022-07-09 The main thing is for the night. Friday, July 8 Shinzo Abe: 2022-07-08 Good Morning |
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| Caucasus/Russia/Central Asia |
| The main thing is for the night. Friday, July 8 |
| 2022-07-09 |
| Direct Translation via Google Translate. Edited. [LB] The General Staff reports that the Armed Forces of Ukraine repelled the invaders near Bogorodychny and Dementiivka near Kharkiv . The Armed Forces of Ukraine also repressed attempts at an enemy assault on the Kharkiv and Slavyansk directions. In the direction of Bakhmut, the occupiers are advancing in the direction of Veselaya Dolyna and in the area of the settlement of Spirne. In the Donetsk direction - in the Verkhnokamyansky direction, they have partial success. The General Staff also informs that the Armed Forces destroyed about 250 Russian soldiers, 35 tanks and 14 armored vehicles last day . In total, from February 24 to July 8, the Ukrainian army eliminated about 36,900 occupiers. The enemy suffered the greatest losses in the Kramatorsk direction. Other losses of the invaders are in the news. It will be recalled that the intelligence of Great Britain reported that Russia is probably concentrating equipment on the front line in the direction of the city of Siversk in the Donetsk region - approximately 8 km west of the current Russian front line. The Russian military is probably taking a break before starting new offensive operations in the Donetsk region. Last day in Donetsk region, the Russian invaders killed six civilians - in Kramatorsk, Sloviansk, Avdiyivka, Siversk, Pokrovsky and Orlivka. 21 people were injured, Pavlo Kyrylenko, the head of Donetsk OVA, reported in Telegram. The aggressor is constantly shelling Donetsk region, killing and injuring citizens, destroying the civil infrastructure of populated areas. At night, Russia shelled Chernihiv Oblast with machine guns and hit Kharkov with anti-aircraft guns . Artillery was fired along the border of the Sumy Oblast, according to the morning summary of the regional military administrations. In the Dnipropetrovsk region, the enemy again shelled two communities of Kryvorizka district - Apostolivska and Zelenodolska. In Zelenodolsk, they targeted the park area and the country estate. Explosions rang out in Mykolaiv in the morning. The night was relatively calm in Volyn, Zakarpattia, Rivne Oblast, Ivano-Frankivsk, Lviv, Chernivtsi, Vinnytsia, Zaporizhzhya, Khmelnytskyi, Ternopil Oblasts, Kirovohrad Oblast, Cherkasy Oblast, Khmelnytskyi Oblast, Odesa Oblast, Poltava Oblast, Zhytomyr Oblast and Kyiv Oblast. As a result of yesterday's shelling of Kramatorsk, people were killed and wounded . The exact number of victims is being clarified, the regional police of Donetsk region reported. According to preliminary data, around 1:00 p.m., the Russians fired a 9M723 missile from the Iskander-M missile complex at the city. The rocket hit the residential sector, 15 houses were damaged. Evidence of a war crime has been collected. The former Prime Minister of Japan, Shinzo Abe, was assassinated during his performance on the stage of the sports complex in the city of Nara. Abe was reportedly hospitalized bleeding and unconscious. Eyewitnesses heard shots in the hall, security detained one suspect. The Parliament of Finland passed a law on strengthening the border with Russia. "Fearing that Moscow could use migration for political pressure, new amendments to the Border Protection Act promote the construction of stronger fences along the country's 800-mile (1,300 km) eastern border with Russia," the report said. "The war in Ukraine has made this issue urgent," said Anne Ihanus, senior adviser to the Ministry of Internal Affairs. Currently, Finland's borders are protected mainly by light wooden fences that prevent animals from entering the country. Currently, it is planned to build a strong fence with a real barrier effect. |
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