This is pretty audacious whoever is committing these attacks on US diplomats:
The State Department is evacuating several Americans from China amid health concerns about mysterious symptoms arising after unusual noises detected by U.S. diplomats and their families working in the consulate in Guangzhou. U.S. DEPT OF STATE
The State Department is evacuating several Americans from China amid health concerns about mysterious symptoms arising after unusual noises detected by U.S. diplomats and their families working in the consulate in Guangzhou.
After initial screenings by a medical team dispatched last month when the first incident was reported, the State Department has sent “a number” of affected people to the United States for further evaluation, State Department spokeswoman Heather Nauert said.
The evacuation was the first sign that the unexplained ailments previously known to have afflicted only one U.S. government employee in China has now broadened and threatens to become a full-blown health crisis like the one that affected at least 24 U.S. diplomats and their families in Cuba.
The latest round of evacuations began Wednesday in China, which was still Tuesday in the United States. More diplomats and their dependents are expected to be sent home in coming days. [Stars & Stripes]
You can read more at the link, but it is believed that the sonic attacks in Cuba were caused possibly by a flawed spying device. So whatever the spying device being used in Cuba was maybe it came from China and this same device malfunctioned while spying on US diplomats in Guangzhou as well?
This incident with a British man is pretty good analogy for what would happen to Taiwan and other Southeast Asian nations if they try and take on China on the simmering territorial disputes in the region, expect to get bullied and beaten into submission by overwhelming numbers:
A group of Chinese men assaulted a British man who had the word “Taiwan” tattooed on his forehead for refusing to say “Taiwan is part of China.”
Paul Farrell, who has lived in Taiwan for 14 years, lost two teeth, received a fat lip and ended up with bruises all over his body after 10 Chinese men beat him during his holiday in the southern Cambodian city of Sihanoukville, the Taiwan News reported Sunday.
According to the report, he became embroiled in an argument with them after they tried to pick a fight over the tattoo at a bar.
One of them suddenly shouted “Taiwan-China!” In response, Farrell said, “Taiwan-Taiwan!” And then they “went insane, grabbed poles and started attacking me,” he said.
He said at least 10 Chinese men savagely assaulted him, forcing him to say “Taiwan is part of China,” as hundreds of bystanders watched the attack.
Fearing for his life, Farrell eventually said: “OK, you think Taiwan is China, I’ll say Taiwan is China. I just want to leave.” [Korea Times]
Here is another strange brain injury inflicted on a US diplomat, this time in China:
US officials have issued a health alert in China after a US government employee stationed there reported “abnormal sensations of sound and pressure” that indicated a mild brain injury.
The US State Department is looking into whether the incident is a “sonic attack,” a US diplomatic official told CNN, similar to what happened in Cuba in 2016 and 2017, which led to a reduction in staffing at the nation’s US embassy in Havana.
The official who fell ill was assigned to the city of Guangzhou in southern China and reported a range of physical symptoms from late 2017 through to April 2018, the State Department said. The employee was sent back to the United States for assessment. The US Embassy in Beijing learned on May 18 that the clinical findings of the evaluation matched that of a “mild traumatic brain injury,” an embassy spokeswoman told CNN.
A US Diplomatic official told CNN the State Department “is looking into whether this is a sonic attack, similar to what happened in Cuba.” CNN has reached out to China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs but has not yet received a response on this matter. [CNN]
You can read more at the link, but it is believed that the sonic attacks in Cuba were caused possibly by a flawed spying device. So whatever the spying device being used in Cuba was maybe it came from China and this same device malfunctioned there as well?
Admiral Harry Harris, commander of the US Pacific Command in Hawaii, was slated to start work as ambassador to Australia this month. Suddenly, out of the blue, the Trump White House announced on April 24 that Harris would be assigned to South Korea.
The assignment was unprecedented at multiple levels. Assigning a military officer as ambassador to Korea when Seoul is trying to develop peaceful ties with North Korea, and the rest of East Asia, is extraordinary. Assigning a military officer who has close ties with the far-right in Japan is also extraordinary granted the sensitivity about Japan’s colonial domination of Korea.
The fact that Harris was born in Japan to a Japanese mother is not a reason to oppose his appointment. Yet his being awarded the “Order of the Rising Sun” at exactly the same moment he was assigned at ambassador to Korea was extremely odd.
And then there is that matter of his role at the Guantanamo Prison camp at the time that torture and abuse were carried out within a carefully constructed legal limbo. In normal times, Harris’ role in that blatantly illegal operation would be enough to end a career, at the very least.
You can read the rest at the link, but his article reads like he received his talking points straight from Beijing. He made sure to bring up Admiral Harris ethnicity just like Beijing and he even tried to equate that Admiral Harris was running a Unit 731 like operation at Guantanamo Bay. Talk about hyperbole when three terrorists getting waterboarded is equated to 3,000 mostly Chinese being used as human lab rats for biological weapons testing by the Imperial Japanese.
He even made sure to call him names just like Beijing by calling him Dirty Harry in the article. Probably the most ridiculous thing was to claim that Admiral Harris was put in charge of Pacific Command to stop global warming initiatives with China. He even claims Admiral Locklear was replaced “unceremoniously” by Admiral Harris two months after giving a speech about global warming at Harvard. Admiral Locklear had long been scheduled to be replaced by Admiral Harris, but was held up because of the accusations made against Locklear in the Fat Leonard Scandal. Admiral Harris was the Pacific Fleet commander prior to taking command of PACOM making him highly qualified for the job. He was already selected for the PACOM job before Pastreich’s claim of Locklear being “unceremoniously” removed. Plus the Secretary of Defense Ash Carter came out to Hawaii to give remarks during the Change of Command ceremony held for Admiral Locklear. A big ceremony with the Secretary of Defense presiding over it does not seem like something that is “unceremonious” to me.
PEARL HARBOR (May 27, 2015) – U.S. Pacific Command (USPACOM) and U.S. Pacific Fleet (USPACFLT) held a joint change of command ceremony at Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam. During the dual ceremony, Adm. Scott H. Swift relieved Adm. Harry B. Harris Jr. as the PACFLT commander and Harris assumed command of USPACOM from Adm. Samuel J. Locklear III.
Another incredible claim in Pastreich’s article is that he equates the 12 nautical mile exclusive economic zone around Hawaii with the artificial islands being built in the South China Sea:
“Freedom of navigation” is a catchy way of saying that the U.S. is obligated to send military vessels into the waters surrounding the islands claimed by China in the South China Sea regularly, often intentionally crossing over the 12 nautical mile EEZ (exclusive economic zone).
This is a needless provocation (imagine how the U.S. would respond if Chinese ships regularly sailed close to Hawaii) became central to the planning in the Pacific Command.
First of all it is nothing new for Chinese Navy ships to sail by and stop at Hawaii. So his analogy is not even true. Secondly a better analogy would be if the United States started dredging up a bunch of sand and built an island off the coast of China and militarized it because that is what the Chinese are doing to their neighbors in an attempt to consolidate control over the South China Sea.
Admiral Harris is well known for being tough on China because of this and thus why the Chinese have used everything in their propaganda apparatus to discredit him and it appears Pastreich believes this propaganda. The Chinese government have even asked the US government to fire Admiral Harris. However, history has shown that Admiral Harris has been right about China as they continue to bully their neighbors and intensify building artificial islands in the South China Sea in their attempt to claim the entire body of water.
Here is where out of no where Pastreich goes into an anti-military screed:
American politics is incomprehensible because, at the moment that the military is playing an increasingly central role in the administration of the global system set up by the U.S. after World War II, military officers, whether fighting for justice or indulging in corruption, are completely inaccessible to the population and almost never the subject of investigative journalism.
The guidelines issued to military officers direct them to avoid social exchanges with ordinary citizens, and even with other branches of the government, or with other branches of the military.
This is quite the accusations being made here that the military just likes to indulge in corruption and directs its personnel to avoid social exchanges with civilians or even other branches of the military. This is beyond stupid considering that for officers to get promoted to senior ranks they have to have joint time serving with the other branches of the military. The command Pastreich highlights in his article, PACOM is a joint command with its headquarters at Camp Smith, Hawaii filled with officers, NCOs, and servicemembers from all the branches of the military. As far as interacting with civilians this is actually promoted in the military. For example USFK has its own Good Neighbor program that encourages US servicemembers to help out the surrounding Korean community. The ridiculousness goes on and on in Paestrich’s article such as calling Chelsea Manning a “legend” and Admiral Harris a Chinese “warlord”. Overall Paestrich is extremely uninformed about the US military and how it works.
To me it seems that Admiral Harris is heading to South Korea for the simple reason that he is someone that the President fully trusts to promote his policies on North Korea. Admiral Harris’s command, PACOM was responsible for the executing the “maximum pressure campaign” that many have credited with helping bring North Korea to the negotiating table. Putting Admiral Harris in charge of the US embassy in Seoul, along with putting John Bolton in place as National Security Advisor, and Mike Pompeo as Secretary of State signals to the Kim regime that President Trump has strong advocates of his policies across the US national security apparatus at a time of upcoming tough negotiations with North Korea. Using Occam’s Razor the simplest reason is usually the right one instead of wild global warming, military cabal, military industrial complex, etc. conspiracy theories.
North Korea’s top leader Kim Jong-un looks at a photo of his grandfather and the North’s founder, Kim Il-sung, hung at a state guest house on Bangchuidao Island of China’s northern city of Dalian in this photo captured from the North’s Korean Central TV on May 9, 2018. Kim met with Chinese President Xi Jinping in Dalian during his visit there from May 7-8, the second such meeting in just over 40 days. Bangchuidao Island is a seaside resort that was often used in the past for secret North Korea-China leaders’ meetings. (Yonhap)
Here is the statement put out after the trilateral summit in Tokyo:
Chinese Premier Li Keqiang, left, Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, center, and South Korean President Moon Jae-in, right, pose for photographs prior to their summit in Tokyo Wednesday. [YONHAP]Leaders from South Korea, Japan and China on Wednesday adopted a special statement in support of the Panmunjom Declaration, which was signed at the inter-Korean summit last month and confirmed the shared goal of the two Koreas of complete denuclearization.
The special statement was made following a trilateral meeting in Tokyo of President Moon Jae-in, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe of Japan and Premier Li Keqiang of China, the first of its kind in more than two years. The last such three-way summit was held in November 2015 in Seoul. [Joong Ang Ilbo]
Here is what was agreed upon that really matters during the trilateral summit:
At the Moon-Abe talks, the latter made it clear that sanctions imposed on the North should not be lifted unless Pyongyang demonstrates concrete denuclearization measures, emphasizing that the closing down of a nuclear testing site and a halt in the firing of ballistic missiles were not sufficient for sanctions relief.
“It is the timing that matters when it comes to easing or withdrawing sanctions altogether on North Korea,” the prime minister was quoted as saying by the Blue House during the bilateral summit talk with Moon in the afternoon.
“We should not reward the North for just shutting down the Punggye-ri nuclear site or stopping the test-firing of intercontinental ballistic missiles. We need additional and substantive actions from the North,” said Abe.
On the matter of easing sanctions, Moon stressed Seoul could not move to ease sanctions unilaterally, noting that sanctions were international agreements in which Seoul took part.
“There could be worries that South Korea could make a unilateral move to ease sanctions independent of the international consensus. There is no need for such worries,” he said. [Joong Ang Ilbo]
Basically Prime Minister Abe is making the case that North Korea was rewarded in past agreements for doing little to nothing in return. This time they should not be rewarded until they take real measures to denuclearize.
A mysterious North Korean aircraft caused speculation that Kim Jong-un was visiting China:
Japanese and South Korean media are speculating that a high-ranking North Korean official, possibly even leader Kim Jong Un, is visiting China after an airliner from the North landed in the Chinese port city of Dalian.
The South’s official Yonhap News Agency said the plane arrived Monday amid tight security. Japanese broadcaster NHK ran a picture of the Air Koryo plane that it said had been taken Tuesday afternoon at Dalian airport.
There are no regularly scheduled flights between North Korea and Dalian, although North Koreans are frequent visitors and its port has been instrumental in two-way trade. [Fox News]
It turned out that Kim Jong-un was in fact in China getting his marching orders from Emperor President Xi before Kim’s summit with President Trump:
North Korean leader Kim Jong-un and Chinese President Xi Jinping held their second summit in about 40 days in northeast China, the two nations’ state media reported Tuesday, ahead of an anticipated summit between Kim and U.S. President Donald Trump.
In a dispatch from the Chinese city of Dalian, China’s Xinhua news agency reported that Kim and Xi held talks on Monday and Tuesday. The second summit between Kim and Xi appears to highlight efforts by the allies to restore ties that have been chilled by the North’s nuclear and missile development.
Kim and Xi “had an all-round and in-depth exchange of views on China-DPRK relations and major issues of common concern,” Xinhua said. DPRK is an acronym for North Korea’s formal name, the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea. [Yonhap]
So why would North Korea care about removing a purely defensive weapon system that is of no threat to them? The only reason they would want the THAAD battery gone is so they can more easily target South Korean cities with their ballistic missiles. That seems contrary to supposedly seeking peace on the peninsula:
THAAD launcher at Seongju, South Korea.
North Korea on Thursday urged South Korea and the U.S. to lift sanctions, withdraw the Terminal High-Altitude Area Defense battery in southwestern Korea, and stop mentioning human rights abuses in the North.
The demands came after the recent inter-Korean summit and ahead of a summit with the U.S.
“The American plot against human rights practices is a provocative racket that poses an obstacle to the trend towards dialogue and peace,” the official Rodong Sinmun daily said. “We’re doubtful of America’s sincerity whether it really has the intention to have dialogue.”
The Uriminzokkiri propaganda website complained about remarks by U.S. officials in favor of keeping up maximum pressure on the North, calling them “an affront and insult to our sincere efforts towards peace.”
State media also said there is “no longer is any justification or excuse” for the presence of the THAAD battery. Propaganda outlet Meari said, “The THAAD battery is an ill-intentioned act running counter to the inter-Korean relations. The battery should be withdrawn immediately.” [Chosun Ilbo]
You can read more at the link, but here is where things are getting even more interesting; the White House and Beijing are supposedly negotiating a withdrawal of THAAD from Korea if North Korea denuclearizes:
The U.S. and China are discussing a possible withdrawal of a U.S. missile defense system from South Korea as part of a grand bargain over North Korea’s nuclear program, multiple sources familiar with the talks said.
The Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) system, deployed in South Korea last year, has been a bone of contention with China. China has doubted U.S. claims that the system has the sole purpose of destroying missiles from North Korea, insisting its covert mission is to spy on Chinese airspace. [Korea Times]
You can read more at the link, but the White House denies this report, but this could be another one of these trial balloons put out by the Trump administration to judge Chinese reactions.
