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THE PAINFUL, BUT NECESSARY, NEXT STEPS IN THE U.S.-TAIWANESE RELATIONSHIP

MICHAEL A. HUNZEKER AND DENNIS L. WENG

SEPTEMBER 24, 2020

China is once again rattling its saber at Taiwan. This past weekend, Beijing repeatedly sent fighter jets and bombers across the so-called median line, which has long served to unofficially demarcate Chinese and Taiwanese airspace over the Taiwan Strait. Chinese leaders were ostensibly reacting to U.S. Undersecretary of State Keith Krach’s trip to the Taiwanese capital, a move that Taiwan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs held up as a symbol of the growing relationship between Washington and Taipei. Yet China’s hard-line Global Times hinted at an even more unsettling motive. It called the exercise a dress rehearsal that showed the speed with which China could strike Taiwan if it so chose.

Regardless of the specific message Chinese leaders wanted to send, Taipei and Washington will see the move as yet another indicator that Beijing is considering military action to bring the island under its control. Indeed, Friday’s “exercise” is just the latest example of Beijing’s increasingly bellicose rhetoric, policies, and actions at home and abroad.

From Capability to Resolve

In recent years, a consensus emerged among military experts that the best way for Taiwan to offset China’s growing military advantages is to heavily invest in asymmetric weapons, such as anti-ship missiles, air defenses, and drones. They argue that Taiwan cannot afford to buy enough “traditional” weapons — platforms like surface ships and advanced fighter jets — to keep up with the Chinese military. However, by using its limited resources to acquire large numbers of relatively inexpensive weapons, Taiwan could make it more costly for China to project power across the Taiwan Strait and harder for China to achieve a quick military victory.

Last week’s proposed arms deal shows that Taiwan is serious about improving its defensive capabilities. By buying the sorts of asymmetric weapons included in this package (e.g., coastal defense missiles and mines) instead of flashier, high-profile platforms like main battle tanks or advanced fighter jets, President Tsai Ing-wen is making it clear that the country is serious about addressing the island’s actual security needs.

Acquiring the “right” military capabilities to defend against Chinese aggression represents an essential first step. The next step should involve strengthening Taiwanese resolve. After all, even the best weapons in the world will not make a difference if the people are not willing to fight.

Unfortunately, recent public opinion surveys suggest that many in Taiwan do not yet take the risk of a war with China seriously. In early August, a poll commissioned by the Chinese Association for Public Opinion Research found that only 20 percent of the Taiwanese public believed a military confrontation over Taiwan’s status might happen. It also revealed that less than half of those polled would be willing to fight if such a war did happen.

More at link:

https://www.taiwannews.com.tw/en/news/4015987

The Most Dangerous Cult of Our Times

QAnon's Inexorable Spread Beyond the U.S.

The bizarre, pro-Trump cult known as QAnon has been gaining followers in the United States for months. Now, the conspiracy theory has begun spreading to Germany. It's followers believe that the coronavirus is a weapon of the elite in their quest to enslave the world.

By Patrick Beuth, Marie Groß, Roman Höfner, Max Hoppenstedt, Judith Horchert, Katrin Kuntz, Alexandra Rojkov, Alexander Sarovic, Christoph Scheuermann und Daniel C. Schmidt

24.09.2020, 11.38 Uhr

The path into the parallel world follows rural roads snaking through the hills of Baden-Wurttemberg to a house located on the edge of a village with a bright white façade, well-swept driveway and carefully trimmed lawn. The conspiracy has long since eaten its way into the southern German idyll. A friendly man opens the door - muscular, burly, he does a lot of lifting.

It was not easy to set up a meeting. He has a deep aversion to journalists and other members of a supposed elite, whom he believes are covering up a worldwide plot to oppress humanity. Over the phone, he said that he hopes to open the reporter’s eyes. "Maybe I can wake you up.” He requested that his real name not be used, so we'll call him Martin Schmidt.

"The goal of the elites is to stay powerful, to stay rich and to enslave the world,” he says.

Schmidt is 27, works as an electrician and has been living with his parents again since the beginning of the pandemic. He leads the way into the living room, with its bright tile floor and woodchip wallpaper, and says he has been thinking about the big questions for a long time. The death of John F. Kennedy, the attacks of September 11, the coronavirus pandemic: He believes they have all been faked as part of a giant plan.

His father nods next to him. He also believes people are being systematically deceived by politicians and members of the media. Schmidt says: "This elite, they are various men and women who work on Wall Street, to whom the banks belong, all these people.” He believes businesspeople like George Soros, Bill Gates and Mark Zuckerberg are among them, as well as the Rockefellers and the Rothschilds.

He takes out his smartphone. "I’ll show you how the rich and beautiful party.” He shows a photo of performance artist Marina Abramović with the singer Lady Gaga at a charity event. In the picture, they are standing next to a naked female body covered with a red liquid. For Schmidt, the photo is proof of how morally degenerate the leaders of society have become, and that even the so-called elite aren’t afraid of killing people - even if, in this case, the photo is of an art performance. He says the situation is alarming. "I have awoken.”

Martin Schmidt is part of a growing number of QAnon sympathizers, one of tens of thousands in Germany. Followers of this right-wing conspiracy theory are convinced that an influential group of Satanist pedophiles is kidnapping boys and girls and using their blood to produce a drug. They believe that the coronavirus was developed in a Chinese lab – possibly with the help of Barack Obama – in order to hurt Donald Trump and prevent his reelection, a claim that is as absurd as it is false. And they believe Donald Trump is a hero fighting against the "deep state,” and that he wants to protect the world from the demonic group.

"He is trying to save humanity,” says Schmidt. "He will take away the elites’ power.”

More at close-link because speigel links are weird:

https://www.spiegel.de/international/world/the-most-dangerous-cult-of-our-times-qanon-s-inexorable-spread-beyond-the-u-s-a

In Politically Charged Inquiry, Durham Sought Details About

Scrutiny of Clintons

John Durham’s team has sought information about the F.B.I.’s handling of the Clinton Foundation investigation, raising questions about the scope of the prosecutor’s review.

By Adam Goldman, William K. Rashbaum and Nicole Hong

Sept. 24, 2020, 5:00 a.m. ET

WASHINGTON — From the beginning, John H. Durham’s inquiry into the Russia investigation has been politically charged. President Trump promoted it as certain to uncover a “deep state” plot against him, Attorney General William P. Barr rebuked the investigators under scrutiny, and he and Mr. Durham publicly second-guessed an independent inspector general and traveled the globe to chase down conspiracy theories.

It turns out that Mr. Durham also focused attention on certain political enemies of Mr. Trump: the Clintons.

Mr. Durham, the U.S. attorney in Connecticut assigned by Mr. Barr to review the Russia inquiry, has sought documents and interviews about how federal law enforcement officials handled an investigation around the same time into allegations of political corruption at the Clinton Foundation, according to people familiar with the matter.

Mr. Durham’s team members have suggested to others that they are comparing the two investigations as well as examining whether investigators in the Russia inquiry flouted laws or policies. It was not clear whether Mr. Durham’s investigators were similarly looking for violations in the Clinton Foundation investigation, nor whether the comparison would be included or play a major role in the outcome of Mr. Durham’s inquiry.

The approach is highly unusual, according to people briefed on the investigation. Though the suspected crimes themselves are not comparable — one involves a possible conspiracy between a presidential campaign and a foreign adversary to interfere in an election, and the other involves potential bribery and corruption — and largely included different teams of investigators and prosecutors, Mr. Durham’s efforts suggest the scope of his review is broader than previously known.

Mr. Durham’s focus on the Clinton Foundation inquiry comes as concerns deepen among Democrats and some former Justice Department officials that his investigation is being weaponized politically to help Mr. Trump. Congressional Democrats last week called on the department’s inspector general to investigate whether Mr. Durham’s review was free from political influence after his top aide abruptly resigned, reportedly over concerns that the team’s findings would be prematurely released before the election in November.