Revelations 6:3-4 “when he opened the second seal, I heard the second living creature say, “Come!” 4 And out came another horse, bright red. Its rider was permitted to take peace from the earth, so that people should slay one another, and he was given a great sword.
Important Takeaways:
- Chinese Army tightens its blockade drill on Taiwan with start of attack drills
- The Chinese military began conducting ”precision strike” exercises on ”key targets” in Taiwan on Sunday, the second day of a large-scale blockade drill it is conducting around the island.
- During the drills, multiple Chinese Army Navy destroyers and frigates ”rapidly approached the island of Taiwan, took advantageous positions and practiced close assaults, long-range deterrence and air defense,” Chinese state-run CCTV added.
- Early this morning, Taiwan’s Defense Ministry detected that at least 71 Chinese fighter jets and nine Chinese warships had approached the territory, and warned that 45 of the planes temporarily crossed the ”Davis line” that divides the strait and marks the beginning of its security zone; an extremely high number even for the usual incursions China has been carrying out during the last few months.
- This large-scale drill has been seen as a response to President Tsai Ing Wen’s meeting this week with U.S. House of Representatives Speaker Kevin McCarthy, in what Beijing saw as an affront to its sovereignty claims over the territory.
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Revelations 6:3-4 “when he opened the second seal, I heard the second living creature say, “Come!” 4 And out came another horse, bright red. Its rider was permitted to take peace from the earth, so that people should slay one another, and he was given a great sword.
Important Takeaways:
- US-Philippines military exercise to be the largest ever amid rising tensions with China
- Roughly 12,000 U.S. troops, 5,400 Philippine personnel and over 100 Australian military members are set to participate in the annual Balikatan Exercise between the countries, far surpassing the 9,000 that participated in the event last year, according to reporting from the Navy Times Wednesday.
- The 17-day exercise, which is set to kick off on April 11, comes amid rising tensions with China in Asia, most recently after an announced deal struck between the Philippines and U.S. that gives the U.S. military access to four additional military installations in the country, a few of which will face the South China Sea.
- Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said of the event, which was announced last month. “This is part of our effort to modernize our alliance, and these efforts are especially important as the People’s Republic of China continues to advance its illegitimate claims in the West Philippine Sea.”
- The announced plans also come after China vowed “strong and resolute measures” in response to a meeting between House Speaker Kevin McCarthy and Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen in California.
- We will take resolute measures to punish the ‘Taiwan independence’ separatist forces and their actions, and resolutely safeguard our country’s sovereignty and territorial integrity,” China’s Taiwan Affairs Office said in a statement Thursday morning.
- McCarthy and a group of bipartisan lawmakers met with Tsai Wednesday, with McCarthy vowing “unwavering” support for Taiwan.
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Revelations 6:3-4 “when he opened the second seal, I heard the second living creature say, “Come!” 4 And out came another horse, bright red. Its rider was permitted to take peace from the earth, so that people should slay one another, and he was given a great sword.
Important Takeaways:
- China warns McCarthy not to meet Taiwan’s president in L.A., threatens retaliation
- China on Wednesday threatened “resolute countermeasures” over a planned meeting between U.S. House Speaker Kevin McCarthy and Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen during her upcoming stop in Los Angeles on an international trip.
- Earlier this month, Honduras established diplomatic relations with China, leaving Taiwan with only 13 countries that recognize it as a sovereign state.
- [Tsai Ing–wen] left Taiwan on Wednesday afternoon, Tsai framed her 10-day tour of the Americas as a chance to show Taiwan’s commitment to democratic values on the world stage.
- Zhu Fenglian, a spokeswoman for China’s Taiwan Affairs Office, denounced Tsai’s U.S. stopover on her way to visiting diplomatic allies in Central America and demanded that no U.S. officials meet with her.
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Revelations 6:3-4 “when he opened the second seal, I heard the second living creature say, “Come!” 4 And out came another horse, bright red. Its rider was permitted to take peace from the earth, so that people should slay one another, and he was given a great sword.
Important Takeaways:
- China holds ‘military advantage’ over US as Washington prepares for conflict over Taiwan: retired general
- General Jack Keane: Victory over Taiwan would give Beijing control of South China Sea, greater dominance on world stage
- Concerns over a Chinese invasion of Taiwan continue to mount with Beijing now suspected of involvement in damaging some of the island nation’s undersea internet cables this week in another show of deliberate harassment.
- President Biden has said he will send troops to counter a Chinese land invasion, which would likely prompt responses from other regional U.S. allies and could make this form of assault costly and deadly for all parties involved.
- But it has also prompted questions over whether the U.S. is capable of engaging with China in a traditional kinetic attack like the ongoing war in Ukraine.
- “China does have a military advantage,” retired Gen. Jack Keane, a Fox News senior strategic analyst, said. “They have more ships, more airplanes, more offensive and defensive missiles than the United States has.”
- Keane argued this form of warfare was unlikely to be how China actually would carry out an assault, which Chinese President Xi Jinping is said to have slated for 2027, according to U.S. defense officials
- “A more likely scenario would be a quarantine or a blockade of Taiwan where China would attempt to control the airspace, as well as the sea lanes, and gain control of it without firing a shot,” the retired four-star general said.
- Keane said in order to successfully deter China from prompting a war that would involve two major superpowers, the U.S. would need to drastically ramp up its arms production, weapons stockpiles and the development of advanced missile systems like hypersonic missiles.
- But, the U.S. also would need to better arm Taiwan and fill the current backlog of arms that America has owed to the island, he added.
- If China takes control of that [Taiwan], then they take control of the major influence that drives our automobiles, our iPhones, our military capabilities – that gives them enormous economic control.”
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Revelations 6:3-4 “when he opened the second seal, I heard the second living creature say, “Come!” 4 And out came another horse, bright red. Its rider was permitted to take peace from the earth, so that people should slay one another, and he was given a great sword.
Important Takeaways:
- China boosts military spending by billions as US warns of potential Taiwan invasion
- US officials have warned that China could invade Taiwan as early as 2027
- The Chinese government will boost its military spending by 7.2% this year, rising to a total budget of 1.56 trillion Yuan.
- In U.S. dollars, China’s budget now sits at $230 billion, up nearly $16 billion from its budget in 2022. China’s Ministry of Finance announced the new infusion of cash in its annual report on Sunday. The spending increase comes as the U.S. warns of a potential Chinese invasion of Taiwan in the near future. U.S. officials have also warned China against sending lethal aid to support Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
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Revelations 6:3-4 “when he opened the second seal, I heard the second living creature say, “Come!” 4 And out came another horse, bright red. Its rider was permitted to take peace from the earth, so that people should slay one another, and he was given a great sword.
Important Takeaways:
- Biden agrees to arm F-16s for Taiwan: President backs $619 million weapons package after China flexed its muscles by dispatching 25 war planes to island
- President Joe Biden’s administration has approved an estimated $619 million potential arms sale to Taiwan, including hundreds of missiles for F-16 fighter jets, after China sent 25 warplanes and three warships toward the island.
- Biden’s move will likely further inflame tensions between Washington and Beijing, which have gotten worse in the wake of the spy balloon China sent over the U.S. and reports Xi Jinping is considering lethal aid to Russia for its war in Ukraine.
- A State Department official told CNN the potential sale of F-16 munitions and related equipment is ‘consistent with the Taiwan Relations Act and our longstanding One-China policy,’ wherein ‘the United States makes available to Taiwan defense articles and services necessary to enable it to maintain a sufficient self-defense capability.’
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Revelations 6:3-4 “when he opened the second seal, I heard the second living creature say, “Come!” 4 And out came another horse, bright red. Its rider was permitted to take peace from the earth, so that people should slay one another, and he was given a great sword.
Important Takeaways:
- Taiwan says 25 Chinese planes, 3 ships sent toward island
- China sent 25 warplanes and three warships toward Taiwan on Wednesday morning, the island’s Defense Ministry said, as tensions remain high between Beijing and Taipei’s main backer Washington.
- The ministry said 19 of those planes crossed into Taiwan’s air defense identification zone while the ships were continuing to operate in the Taiwan Strait. It said Taiwan responded by scrambling fighters, dispatching ships and activating coastal missile defense systems to “closely monitor and respond.”
- China stages such incursions on a near-daily basis, part of what are termed “gray zone” tactics, aimed at intimidation and wearing down Taiwan’s equipment, exhausting its personnel and degrading public morale.
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Revelations 6:3-4 “when he opened the second seal, I heard the second living creature say, “Come!” 4 And out came another horse, bright red. Its rider was permitted to take peace from the earth, so that people should slay one another, and he was given a great sword.
Important Takeaways:
- Asian countries push back on China demand
- Beijing is demanding that Indonesia, Brunei, Malaysia, the Philippines, Vietnam and Taiwan surrender their territorial rights to the South China Sea. But all have rejected its claim of “historical” ownership of the 3.5 million square kilometer waterway.
- Now escalating military pressure from China is forcing the traditionally non-aligned South East Asian states to seek mutual and international support.
- “The situation in the South China Sea is far from stable,” Centre for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) analyst Greg Poling says.
- “Chinese vessels engaged in dangerous and escalatory encounters with those of other states regularly throughout 2022.”
- Now Jakarta has put Beijing in a position where it must either put up or shut up.
- Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) regional bloc produced a statement stating China’s artificial island fortresses and aggressive behavior at sea, “have eroded trust and confidence, increased tensions and may undermine peace, security and stability in the region”.
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Revelations 6:3-4 “when he opened the second seal, I heard the second living creature say, “Come!” 4 And out came another horse, bright red. Its rider was permitted to take peace from the earth, so that people should slay one another, and he was given a great sword.
Important Takeaways:
- Chinese military aircraft and ships cross the Taiwan Strait amid soaring tensions with the US after Navy and Marines held drills in South China Sea and fallout over Montana spy balloon
- Nearly two dozen Chinese military aircrafts and ships were seen in the Taiwan Strait on Monday morning.
- According to the countries defense ministry, there were 18 Chinese army aircrafts and four ships spotted – 11 of which crossed the median line of the contended buffer zone.
- This comes amid heightened tension in the region – after the US shot down a 200ft Chinese spy balloon that was caught flying across Montana.
- The US Navy also conducted joint exercises with the Marine Corps in the South China Sea over the weekend – which they described as ‘integrated expeditionary strike force.’
- Explaining the drills on Saturday, the 7th Fleet said: ‘The mobility and sustainability provided by amphibious platforms gives the Navy and Marine Corps team an asymmetric advantage in a maritime environment.
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Revelations 6:3-4 “when he opened the second seal, I heard the second living creature say, “Come!” 4 And out came another horse, bright red. Its rider was permitted to take peace from the earth, so that people should slay one another, and he was given a great sword.
Important Takeaways:
- Taiwan activates defenses in response to China incursions
- Taiwan scrambled fighter jets, put its navy on alert and activated missile systems in response to nearby operations by 34 Chinese military aircraft and nine warships that are part Beijing’s strategy to unsettle and intimidate the self-governing island democracy.
- The large-scale Chinese deployment came as Beijing increases preparations for a potential blockade or military action against Taiwan that have stirred increasing concern among military leaders, diplomats and elected officials in the U.S., Taiwan’s key ally.
- In a memo last month, U.S. Air Force Gen. Mike Minihan instructed officers to be prepared for a U.S.-China conflict over Taiwan in 2025
- NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg warned that China’s growing assertiveness and collaboration with Russia pose a threat not only to Asia but also to Europe.
- On a visit to Japan on Wednesday, Stoltenberg said China is increasingly investing in nuclear weapons and long-range missiles without providing transparency or engaging in arms control talks.
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