Miscellaneous News

coolgod said:

Please, Log in or Register to view URLs content!

Cuban, US governments deny secret Chinese spy base in Cuba​

The Wall Street Journal said Beijing and Havana secretly agreed on the facility, some 100 miles off Florida. The Cuban government denied the "unfounded" reports, while the White House said it wasn't "accurate."

Please, Log in or Register to view URLs content!

Blinken’s long-delayed Beijing trip now in planning for next week​

Blinken’s visit coincides with uproar over reports of Beijing’s push to establish a spy base in Cuba.



The Cuban gov, the White House and the Pentagon have all denied the "secret Chinese spy base" in Cuba.

Big brain time: what if China (and maybe Sullivan) leaked the tip to WSJ to stop Blinken's trip? China couldn't send another balloon so a new excuse is needed.

Click to expand...

Senior U.S. officials are convinced that future support for the Ukraine war — and President Joe Biden’s global reputation — hinges on the success of Ukraine’s counteroffensive.

Succeed and Western military and economic aid will flow. Stumble or fail to meet expectations, and that support will likely dry up, sparking heightened calls for an expedited diplomatic resolution and hampering one of the White House’s signature international achievements.

Anxiety is also growing in Washington as Ukrainian elements are striking deep into sovereign Russian territory, leading to several private, stern admonishments in diplomatic backchannels.

Click to expand...

Biden will have to address mounting concerns about Saudi Arabia’s defiance of American wishes by moving to raise the price of oil; collapsing military-to-military talks with China as President Xi Jinping’s military acts aggressively toward U.S. crafts in the region; and an uneasy visit coming this month from Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi that cuts against his argument that the 21st century’s defending conflict is between small-d democrats and autocrats.

And later this month, Biden is set to welcome Modi to the White House for just the third state dinner of his presidency. The high honor is normally reserved for close allies, but this one will be for an increasingly authoritarian ruler who promotes Hindu nationalism and jails journalists.

While Modi is viewed with wariness in the White House, the U.S. continues to court him as an essential bulwark to Xi or Russian President Vladimir Putin. His country will host the world’s leaders at the G-20 in New Delhi this fall.

“It’s not ideal that we need him,” said a Democratic Senate staffer familiar with the visit planning, “but we do. He’s who we got.”

Click to expand...

Palestinian president to visit China​

BEIJING -- At the invitation of President Xi Jinping, President of the State of Palestine Mahmoud Abbas will pay a state visit to China from June 13 to 16, Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Hua Chunying announced Friday.

Click to expand...

coolgod said:

Please, Log in or Register to view URLs content!

Palestinian president to visit China​

China's new strategy, whenever US cause trouble in (South) East Asia, China will cause trouble in the middle east.

Click to expand...

Chevalier said:

It’s smart; put pressure on Israel and Israel will order its Israeli lobby and AIPAC to do the needful. Otherwise, Palestine and Iran start getting Israel killer weapons

Click to expand...

ASEAN to hold first joint military drills in South China Sea​

Click to expand...

Southeast Asian nations have agreed to hold their first joint military drills in the South China Sea, Indonesian officials said on Thursday (Jun 8), as tensions grow over China's increasing assertiveness in the region.

"We will hold joint military drills in the North Natuna Sea," Indonesian military chief Yudo Margono said after a meeting of Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) defence chiefs in Bali, state news agency Antara reported.

Click to expand...

They will take place in September and involve all 10 members of the bloc as well as observer member Timor-Leste, he said.

That would include junta-ruled Myanmar, where the military has overthrown a civilian leader and overseen a bloody crackdown on dissent that has resulted in wide-ranging United States and European Union sanctions.

Margono said that the exercises will focus on maritime security and rescue, and will not involve combat operations.

"It is about ASEAN centrality," he said.

Click to expand...

The bloc's members have held naval drills with the US before but never military exercises as a bloc on its own

Click to expand...

After President Biden vowed to impose ‘consequences’ on Saudi Arabia for slashing oil production last year, Mohammed bin Salman privately threatened to sever ties and retaliate economically, according to a classified U.S. intelligence document.

Last fall, President Biden vowed to impose “consequences” on Saudi Arabia for its decision to slash oil production amid high energy prices and fast-approaching elections in the United States.

In public, the Saudi government defended its actions politely via diplomatic statements. But in private, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman threatened to fundamentally alter the decades-old U.S.-Saudi relationship and impose significant economic costs on the United States if it retaliated against the oil cuts, according to a classified document obtained by The Washington Post.

The crown prince claimed “he will not deal with the U.S. administration anymore,” the document says, promising “major economic consequences for Washington.”

Eight months later, Biden has yet to impose consequences on the Arab country and Mohammed has continued to engage with top U.S. officials, as he did with Secretary of State Antony Blinken in the seaside Saudi city of Jiddah this week.

It is unclear whether the crown prince’s threat was conveyed directly to U.S. officials or intercepted through electronic eavesdropping, but his dramatic outburst reveals the tension at the heart of a relationship long premised on oil-for-security but rapidly evolving as China takes a growing interest in the Middle East and the United States assesses its own interests as the world’s largest oil producer.

Biden, who pledged to make Saudi Arabia a “pariah” as a presidential candidate, scarcely communicates with the crown prince but the president’s top aides have gradually rebuilt ties with him hoping the two nations can work together on pressing issues, including a long-sought peace deal in Yemen, a sustained cease-fire in Sudan, counterterrorism challenges and continued disagreements over the supply of oil.

U.S. officials say the U.S.-Saudi relationship is too important to let languish given Riyadh’s economic and political clout and Beijing’s courtship of traditional U.S. partners in the Middle East.

Click to expand...

Bellum_Romanum said:

You ain't seen nothing yet!! That sort of "MESSIAH COMPLEX" was entirely evident and highly hypocritical, if not hillarious when Blinken bleeping gave the U.S. under the Biden administration for ending the War in Yemen. LoL China was apparently just didn't do diddly squat. The man talked about the elimination of ISIL/ISIS which they helped create and brought havoc in the region. Yet, are now trying gain undue recognition for the truce, peace that's hopefully lasting in that region.

The West/EUropean have God Complex, and it's quite dangerous, not to mention genocidal. The level of their lying is also God level.

Click to expand...

Feima said:

Nah, this is a shit take. I don't know about the younger generation, but most Singaporeans born in the 60s and 70s have a siege mentality and in no way fancy themselves leaders of ASEAN.

Click to expand...