China Can Afford to Out-wait Abe

    An escalating ambassadorial war of words between Japan and China has descended into a kind of “pot calling the kettle black” situation. In an opinion piece published in the Daily Telegraph last Monday,…

Just How Much Does the U.S. Air Force Spy on China?

  U2 spy plane   China spies on America—or harasses it, at least—to the best of Beijing’s limited ability. And America definitely spies on China. But just how much? Most U.S. intelligence activities are deeply classified, but…

Intimidation of John Kerry

Israeli Defence Minister Moshe Yaalon articulated publicly what Israeli leaders say privately: Give us your tax money, weapons and your veto power but “leave us alone.” He called the US peace efforts “not worth the…

Who’s in Driver’s Seat before Geneva-II

Unquestionably, there would be no Geneva-II conference on Syria had it not been for Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov’s brilliant tactical strategy of offering up a positive proposal from Syrian President Bashar al-Assad that Syria would turn over to the West all of his country’s chemical weapons in order to avoid a Western military attack. Kerry laid down his chemical weapons stipulation at a September 2013 joint press conference in London with British Foreign Secretary William Hague. In answer to a reporter’s question about what Assad could do or offer in order to stop an attack from the United States and other NATO forces, Kerry responded, “Umm… sure, he could turn over every single bit of his chemical weapons to the international community in the next week. Turn it over! All of them… without delay and allow a full and total accounting for that. But he isn’t about to do it and it can’t be done, obviously.”

“US Naval Might is WANING,” REALLY?

On January 3 Rear Admiral Viktor Bursuk, a deputy commander of the Russian navy who oversees weapons procurement, said Russia’s Navy is expected to receive 40 new warships and auxiliary vessels in 2014. In addition to surface ships of various classes, the Navy will also commission the third Borey-class nuclear powered ballistic missile submarine, the Vladimir Monomakh, and a Varshavyanka-class diesel electric submarine. Russia will continue the repair and overhaul of the Admiral Nakhimov nuclear-powered missile cruiser and three nuclear-powered attack submarines this year. The Admiral Nakhimov is expected to rejoin the Russian navy in 2018 with the most advanced weapons systems for its vessel type, the Sevmash shipyard said in June last year.

DPRK Demands Halt to US-South Korea the RENEWED NUCLEAR WAR DRILLS

North Korea has demanded South Korea and the US halt their annual military drill, calling it “a serious provocation.” If not, north-south relations “will plunge into a deadlock and unimaginable holocaust,” says Pyongyang. “We sternly warn the US and the South Korean authorities to stop the dangerous military exercises which may push the situation on the peninsula and the north-south ties to a catastrophe,” said the spokesman for the Committee for the Peaceful Reunification of Korea (CPRK) in a statement, reported [North Korea’s] KCNA state news. The US and South Korea, which have shared the cost of hosting American soldiers since 1991, are planning to stage military exercises late February. The annual drills such as ‘Key Resolve’ and ‘Ulchi-Freedom-Guardian’, staged by Seoul and Washington, focus on defending the South from attacks, including possible ones from the North.