China has 600 outposts across the world to recruit scientists

The Chinese government has built a network of 600 international outposts across the world to recruit foreign experts and scientists in order to acquire advanced technology and protected intellectual property, the Australian Strategic Policy Institute (ASPI) has claimed. These talent recruitment programmes have been extremely successful, getting almost 60,000 overseas professionals to sign up between 2008 and 2016, according to China’s own statistics.

In a new report, the ASPI, a thinktank founded by Australia’s government, has created a database of 600 overseas talent-recruitment stations to illustrate the international reach of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). The outposts are contracted out to organisations or individuals who are paid to recruit overseas scientists, and they might have no clear physical presence or be co-located with the organisations contracted to run them, the ASPI explained.

These stations are a growing part of China’s talent-recruitment infrastructure, which includes the ‘Thousand Talents’ plan, the report, which was part funded by the US State Department, noted. The outposts may receive instructions to target individuals with access to particular technologies, or be paid up to A$30,000 (£16,400) annually plus bonus payments for each successful recruitment.

https://www.chemistryworld.com/news/china-has-600-outposts-across-the-world-to-recruit-scientists/4012365.article

Report on U.S. Hypersonic Weapon Development

August 28, 2020 9:29 AM

The following is the Aug. 26, 2020 Congressional Research Service report Hypersonic Weapons: Background and Issues for Congress.

From the report

The United States has actively pursued the development of hypersonic weapons—maneuvering weapons that fly at speeds of at least Mach 5—as a part of its conventional prompt global strike program since the early 2000s. In recent years, the United States has focused such efforts on developing hypersonic glide vehicles, which are launched from a rocket before gliding to a target, and hypersonic cruise missiles, which are powered by high-speed, air-breathing engines during flight. As Vice Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and former Commander of U.S. Strategic Command General John Hyten has stated, these weapons could enable “responsive, long-range, strike options against distant, defended, and/or time-critical threats [such as road-mobile missiles] when other forces are unavailable, denied access, or not preferred.” Critics, on the other hand, contend that hypersonic weapons lack defined mission requirements, contribute little to U.S. military capability, and are unnecessary for deterrence.

Funding for hypersonic weapons has been relatively restrained in the past; however, both the Pentagon and Congress have shown a growing interest in pursuing the development and near-term deployment of hypersonic systems. This is due, in part, to the growing interest in these technologies in Russia and China, both of which have a number of hypersonic weapons programs and are expected to field an operational hypersonic glide vehicle—potentially armed with nuclear warheads—as early as 2020. Most U.S. hypersonic weapons, in contrast to those in Russia and China, are not being designed for use with a nuclear warhead. As a result, U.S. hypersonic weapons will likely require greater accuracy and will be more technically challenging to develop than nuclear-armed Chinese and Russian systems.

The Pentagon’s FY2021 budget request for all hypersonic-related research is $3.2 billion—up from $2.6 billion in the FY2020 request—including $206.8 million for hypersonic defense programs. At present, the Department of Defense (DOD) has not established any programs of record for hypersonic weapons, suggesting that it may not have approved either requirements for the systems or long-term funding plans. Indeed, as Assistant Director for Hypersonics (Office of the Under Secretary of Defense for Research and Engineering) Mike White has stated, DOD has not yet made a decision to acquire hypersonic weapons and is instead developing prototypes to assist in the evaluation of potential weapon system concepts and mission sets.

https://news.usni.org/2020/08/28/report-on-u-s-hypersonic-weapon-development-2

Russian navy conducts major war games near Alaska

Posted: Aug 28, 2020 / 10:08 AM CDT / Updated: Aug 28, 2020 / 10:08 AM CDT

MOSCOW (AP) — The Russian navy conducted major war games near Alaska involving dozens of ships and aircraft, the military said Friday, the biggest such drills in the area since Soviet times.

Russia’s navy chief, Adm. Nikolai Yevmenov, said that more than 50 warships and about 40 aircraft were taking part in the exercise in the Bering Sea, which involved multiple practice missile launches.

“We are holding such massive drills there for the first time ever,” Yevmenov said in a statement released by the Russian Defense Ministry.

It wasn’t immediately clear when the exercises began or if they had finished.

Yevmenov emphasized that the war games are part of Russia’s efforts to boost its presence in the Arctic region and protect its resources.

“We are building up our forces to ensure the economic development of the region,” he said. “We are getting used to the Arctic spaces.”

The Russian military has rebuilt and expanded numerous facilities across the polar region in recent years, revamping runways and deploying additional air defense assets.

https://kfor.com/news/russian-navy-conducts-major-war-games-near-alaska/

Deep State? Why Is NASA's Hurricane Twitter Account Retweeting Anti-Trump Nonsense?

o, did someone forget to switch accounts? That should be the only explanation for NASA’s Hurricane Twitter account retweeting this anti-Trump nonsense. Walter Shaub is the former director of the U.S. Office of Government Ethics, and a staunch Trump critic. During the final night of the Republican National Convention, Shaub wrote, “This abomination may be the most visible misuse of official position for private gain in America’s history. It is an abuse of the power entrusted to this man, the breach of a sacred trust. It is the civic equivalent of a mortal sin—maybe a religious one too. And it is a harbinger.”

He was referencing President Trump accepting the Republican nomination and delivering his remarks from the White House. So, then why is a federally funded agency that tracks tropical storms and hurricanes retweeting it on their formal account?

https://townhall.com/tipsheet/mattvespa/2020/08/28/why-did-nasa-hurricane-twitter-account-retweeting-antitrump-nonsense-n2575238