This weekend US President Donald Trump met his Korean counterpart Kim Jong Un on the North Korean side of the DMZ in a historic first for the US's only improving diplomatic relationship (archived). The meeting however was marred by the western press aggressing on North Korean security in an attempt to enter a space they were barred from. During the violence Trump's new press secretary Stephanie Grisham was left bruised.
Category Archives: Asia
Harley-Davidson Partners With China’s Qianjiang Motorcycle Amid Shrinking US Market
Harley-Davidson announced they are working with China’s Qianjiang Motorcycle in order to build smaller displacement bikes (archived). Harley has seen a substantial decline in sales as the US market continues getting poorer and older (archived). At the same time their product line centered around the peculiarities of American recreational riding is failing to gain traction in the international market which favors useful bikes capable of agile urban navigation. The first announced product from this partnership will still have a displacement of 338 cc, well above the 125 to 250 cc range favored by most riders worldwide.
Two Tankers Allegedly Torpedoed In Gulf Of Oman
Today brings news that two oil tankers with connection to Japan were allegedly attacked by torpedoes while Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe is visiting his counterparts in Iran (archived). Iranian naval vessels were the first to respond to distress calls and rescued the two ships' 44 crew members.
US National Security Advisor John Bolton has been attempting to incite an armed conflict between Iran and USG aligned forces in the region since his Venezuela coup spectacularly failed. The USG has previously leveraged the accidental loss of the USS Maine to incite a war against Spain as well as a shootout between the destroyer USS Maddox and radar ghosts inside North Vietnamese territorial waters to escalate hostilities against Vietnam.
Earlier this week Houthi "rebels" in Yemen attacked an airport inside Saudi Arabia with a cruise missile (archived). The Houthi "rebels" control a substantial portion of Yemen including the capital of Sana'a, which they have held in spite of a hostile Saudi government run war attempting to exterminate them.
Ongoing Ebola Outbreak Crosses Border Into Uganda
An Ebola outbreak that has been slowly burning its way through the Congo has gone international with a death across the border in Uganda (archived). The self declared "experts" have been insisting for more than a year that they are positioned to "contain" the outbreak through ring vaccination and other measures. These measures have had limited success for reasons related to the local culture.
A related hemorrhagic fever affecting porcine populations managed to escape the dark continent and is inflicting grave damage on China's swine herd (archived). Prices of pork and other meats on the international market have spiked in response as containment efforts don't seem to be doing much containment at all.
The international "experts" are pointedly not calling for strict biological controls on anything leaving Africa.
China Preparing To Enable Extraditions From Hong Kong To Mainland
The Chinese government is weighing a measure that would enable courts in Hong Kong to extradite suspects to mainland China for trial (archived). This move would represent a small step towards greater integration between Cantonese speaking Hong Kong and the Mandarin speaking mainland which share a common national identity under different systems of government. USG affiliated outlets are presenting the measure as a "grave violation" of the agreement that transitioned colonial stewardship of the territory from British to Chinese hands though the decision to extradite or not would still be undertaken in the Hong Kong courts system.
The Anglophone outrage highlights the always interesting problem of enforcement. What fleet and shipyards can the Anglophones act out their rage? What sanctions can the deindustrialized Anglophone economies apply to the economy that appears to have won manufacturing?
Chinese Ministries Issue Advisories Cautioning Against Travel To US Over Crime And Law Enforcement Hazards To Chinese Citizens
The Chinese foreign ministry and ministry of culture and tourism have issued travel advisories for Chinese citizens considering visits to the US (archived, archived, archived). Both advisories list many of the normal reasons other countries advise caution when traveling to the US including dangers presented by defects of culture and high urban crime rates. The culture and tourism ministry's advisory however goes further in highlighting the hazards posed by US "law enforcement" including the arbitrary application of laws.
Australians Shocked After 3 Chinese Naval Vessels Make Port Call In Sydney
Australians are shocked after three Chinese Navy vessels returning from the Gulf of Aden docked in Sydney for a reciprocal port call after years of Australian vessels visiting Chinese Ports (archived). The group consisted of one Type-054A frigate, a landing platform dock, and a smaller support craft. China has commisioned 30 Type-054A frigates into their Navy since the first entered service in 2007 and is currently producing more for export to select clients (archived, archived).
Huawei Document Deliveries From Japan Via Fedex Routed Through US, IEEE "Professional" Association Cuts Ties With Huawei Affiliated Persons, And More
Several packages in transit from a vendor in Japan to Huawei in China have been routed through the US state of Tennessee despite the substantial milage involved in the detour (archived). This malicious misrouting raises serious concerns of organized industrial espionage in light of FedEx's history of extra-legal collaboration with USG organs.
Meanwhile the US based "Professional" organization has depersoned its Huawei affiliated members. Employees of Huawei and academics affiliated with Huawei are being barred from participating in peer review, editing of the organization's journals, and anything else that involves access to papers before their publication (archived). This is merely yet another demonstration of the way USG affiliated "international" organs aren't in fact very international at all.
Looming over the entire situation is that outside of the market for infrastructure gear where the USG is making noise about Huawei's increasing dominance over Cisco spyware, Huawei and fellow Chinese giant Xiaomi are increasingly eclipsing US based Apple and Lower Korea based Samsung in the high (archived) and low end (archived) of the consumer device market. This development critically endangers the position of USG affiliated firms to draw rent seeking income from owning a brand they apply to devices manufactured for them in east Asia while Chinese firms strengthen the brand they apply to devices they manufacture themselves. Sorry for your loss.
USG Now Targeting Chinese Toy Maker DJI Over National Security Concerns
The USG "national security" apparatus is proposing the Chinese firm DJI, maker of funny looking model airplane toys, is a threat to their continued operation (archived).
Violence Today: Modern Democracy Bringing Misery to Indonesia, ARIN, Iran, And Bolton Watch
For the 27th consecutive week Yellow Jacket protestors in France are calling for an end to the Macron regime.
Jakarta and Indonesia at large are under a "terror alert" ahead of elections next week (archived). The published fear is that local militant groups will bomb protests after the results are announced.
The criminal organization calling itself the "United States Government" has brought violence down upon South Carolina man Amir Golestan for market making North American IPv4 blocks when ARIN, the American Registry for Internet Numbers refused to do so (archived). Unlike the numerous other brokers for IPv4 addresses in the ARIN region Golestan is facing charges because he allegedly made a paperwork mistake leading the USG to issue 20 charges of felony wire fraud, each carrying a potential 20 year prison sentence.
Rumors and innuendo are swirling after recent embarrassments demonstrating the USG's inability to have a foreign policy, that John Bolton's time in the Trump administration may be coming to an end. After some brief stotting in the wake of the Venezuelan coup debacle, Bolton has begun rapidly pivoting the US to a war posture against Iran without adequately seeking the consent of democratically elected US President Trump (archived).