After Tesla CEO Elon Musk characterized Taiwan as an “integral part of China,” Taiwan’s Foreign Minister <a href="https://nypost.com/2023/09/14/taiwan-slams-elon-musk-says-its-not-for-sale-after-he-defends-chinas-policy/?utm_campaign=nypost&amp;utm_medium=social&amp;utm_source=twitter" target="_blank" rel="noopener">reacted furiously</a>, saying Taiwan was “not for sale.”
Musk stated at the “All In” Summit on Wednesday, “China has, really for like half a century or so or maybe longer at this point, their policy has been to reunite Taiwan with China. From this standpoint, it maybe is analogous to Hawaii or something like that, like an integral part of China that is arbitrarily not part of China – mostly because the US Pacific Fleet has stopped any sort of unification effort by force.”
Taiwan’s Foreign Minister Joseph Wu started by referring to the fact that X, formerly called Twitter, is blocked in China, as well as reports that Musk refused to let Ukraine use SpaceX’s Starlink satellite network to aid a prospective attack on Russia’s Black Sea fleet.
“Hope @ElonMusk can also ask the CCP to open @X to its people. Perhaps he thinks banning it is a good policy, like turning off @Starlink to thwart Ukraine’s counterstrike against Russia,” Wu tweeted, continuing, “Listen up, Taiwan is not part of the [People’s Republic of China] &amp; certainly not for sale!”
In October 2022, Musk <a href="https://nypost.com/2022/10/10/china-lauds-elon-musks-suggestion-that-taiwan-become-a-special-administrative-zone/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">angered Taiwan</a> after he told the <a href="https://nypost.com/2022/10/10/china-lauds-elon-musks-suggestion-that-taiwan-become-a-special-administrative-zone/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Financial Times</a> that Taiwan should be a “special administrative zone” controlled by China. “My recommendation…would be to figure out a special administrative zone for Taiwan that is reasonably palatable, probably won’t make everyone happy,” he speculated.
Bi-khim Hsiao, Taiwan’s representative to the U.S. fired back, “Taiwan sells many products, but our freedom and democracy are not for sale. Any lasting proposal for our future must be determined peacefully, free from coercion, and respectful of the democratic wishes of the people of Taiwan.”
China is Tesla’s second-largest market; half of Tesla’s cars are <a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/tech/elon-musks-business-ties-china-draw-scrutiny-twitter-purchase-rcna26057" target="_blank" rel="noopener">produced there</a>. Over one-quarter of Tesla’s revenue reportedly comes from China; in 2019, Tesla was the first foreign automaker to open an independent factory in China.
In July, China accused the United States, which had <a href="https://www.reuters.com/world/us-state-dept-oks-two-possible-military-sales-taiwan-pentagon-2023-06-30/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">approved</a> $440 million in military equipment in a sale to Taiwan, of paving the way for war. “This is tantamount to accelerating the transformation of Taiwan into a ‘powder keg’ and pushing the Taiwanese people into the abyss of disaster,” Chinese Defense Ministry Spokesman Col. Tan Kefei <a href="https://apnews.com/article/taiwan-china-us-military-sales-4730400c993d2e32e85ad8cf718be583" target="_blank" rel="noopener">stated</a>.
Taiwan has been independent since 1949; China believes Taiwan is a part of China. The United States has not yet recognized Taiwan&#8217;s formal independence.

Musk

Taiwan Blasts Musk After He Calls Country ‘Integral Part Of China’

China

Elon Musk

Taiwan

President <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/joe-biden" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Joe Biden</a> has reportedly notified Congress that he intends to shift tens of millions of dollars from Egypt to Taiwan for failing to improve in areas that were required to receive the money.
The Wall Street Journal <a href="https://www.wsj.com/politics/policy/u-s-to-shift-millions-in-military-aid-from-egypt-to-taiwan-a416c2e0" target="_blank" rel="noopener">reported</a> that the Biden administration will withhold $85 million in aid while some lawmakers are pushing the administration to withhold an additional $235 million. The deadline for authorizing the withholding of the aid is September 30.
U.S. officials said that the shifting of money comes in response to Egypt failing to &#8220;make progress on human rights and other issues,&#8221; the report said.
The conditional aid is only a fraction of the $1.3 billion that the U.S. gives Egypt per year, the report noted, which comes as the two countries have growing disagreements on a variety of matters.
The report said that the administration is planning to redirect at least $55 million to Taiwan and $30 million to Lebanon.
Taiwan is facing rising threats of military confrontation with communist China and Lebanon has been in a state of upheaval ever since a <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/massive-explosion-reported-in-beirut-lebanon" target="_blank" rel="noopener">massive explosion</a> in Beirut in 2020.
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The news comes as Taiwan is set to purchase 400 Harpoon anti-ship missiles from the U.S. — a formidable weapon that could make an attempted invasion by China nearly impossible.
Rupert Hammond-Chambers, president of the US-Taiwan Business Council, told <a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2023-04-17/taiwan-to-buy-400-us-anti-ship-missiles-intended-to-repel-a-china-invasion?leadSource=uverify%20wall">Bloomberg</a> that the contract with Boeing on Taiwan’s behalf by the US Naval Air Systems Command marks the first time the island will have purchased land-launched versions of the missile.
Rep. Mike Gallagher (R-WI), chairman of the House Select Committee on China, <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/top-house-republican-warns-u-s-needs-to-arm-taiwan-fast-beef-up-u-s-military-presence-to-avoid-war">said</a> earlier this year that the U.S. needed to provide Taiwan with weapons and the U.S. needed to “be moving heaven and earth to surge power out to the Indo-Pacific before it’s too late, before we have another war on our hands.”
Gallagher said that the “most important” weapon that the U.S. needed to send to Taiwan are “Harpoon anti-ship missiles.”
“I remain convinced that there’s more we can do to move Taiwan to the front of the line, ahead of Saudi Arabia, for example, when it comes to Harpoon deliveries, as well as take the Harpoon missiles that we’re putting into deep storage, that we’re de-milling, and change around a few aspects of them so that we can deliver them to Taiwan,” he said. “We could also explore licensing certain weapons systems so the Taiwanese could produce them domestically. But, at the end of the day, it just comes down to energy and focus and prioritization from the executive branch. We need the secretary of defense himself to get involved, to make this a daily priority for the backlog to get cleared.”
This is a developing news story; refresh the page for updates.

TAIWAN-CHINA-US-POLITICS-MILITARY-DRILL

Biden Shifts Some Military Foreign Aid From Middle East Country To Taiwan

Egypt

Global Politics

Joe Biden

World

<a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/nebraska" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Nebraska</a> Republican Rep. Don Bacon said on Tuesday that the FBI informed him that operatives from the Chinese Communist Party hacked his emails. 
Bacon’s announcement comes after it was previously reported that suspected Chinese hackers gained access to communications from officials at the State Department and the Commerce Department. 
“I thank the FBI for notifying me that the CCP hacked into my personal and campaign emails from May 15th to June 16th of this year. The CCP hackers utilized a vulnerability in the Microsoft software, and this was not due to ‘user error,&#8217;” Bacon <a href="https://twitter.com/RepDonBacon/status/1691187487350177793" target="_blank" rel="noopener">said on X</a>. 
“Thus, there were other victims in this cyber operation. The Communist government in China are not our friends and are very active in conducting cyber espionage. I’ll work overtime to ensure Taiwan gets every $ of the $19B in weapons backlog they’ve ordered, and more,” he added. 
Bacon, a member of the House Armed Services Committee, has <a href="https://news.usni.org/2022/12/14/u-s-needs-to-clear-19b-in-arms-sale-backlog-to-taiwan-says-hasc-member" target="_blank" rel="noopener">consistently pushed</a> for more U.S. military equipment to be sold to Taiwan. He said the supplies are necessary for Taiwan to “deter” any action from China. 
News of the hacking of the federal agencies, which officials first discovered in June, was <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/house-republicans-open-probe-into-suspected-chinese-cyber-espionage-targeting-federal-agencies" target="_blank" rel="noopener">first made public</a> in July. 
“Microsoft notified the department of a compromise to Microsoft’s Office 365 system, and the department took immediate action to respond,” a spokesman for the Commerce Department said last month. “We are monitoring our systems and will respond promptly should any further activity be detected.”
The communications of U.S. Ambassador to China Nicholas Burn and Assistant Secretary of State for East Asia Daniel Kritenbrink <a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2023/07/21/china-hackers-breach-emails-of-us-diplomats-nicholas-burns-kritenbrink.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">were</a> also breached due to the hacking. 
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In March, the White House put out a <a href="https://www.whitehouse.gov/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/National-Cybersecurity-Strategy-2023.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener">framework</a> discussing the need for better cybersecurity, warning that China, North Korea, Russia, and Iran were all working to increase their cyber capabilities.
According to the framework, China represents “the broadest, most active, and most persistent threat to both government and private sector networks and is the only country with both the intent to reshape the international order and, increasingly, the economic, diplomatic, military, and technological power to do so.”

House Republicans Hold Their Caucus Meeting On Capitol Hill

GOP Congressman Says His Emails Were Hacked By Chinese Communist Party Operatives

Communist China

Congress

Cyberattack

Hackers

Nebraska

Politics

Republican presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy suggested Monday that he would not commit to defending Taiwan — one of America&#8217;s top allies in Asia — against an attack from communist <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/china">China</a> if America were to no longer be reliant on Taiwan for semiconductors.
Ramaswamy told radio host Hugh Hewitt in an interview Monday that China &#8220;should not mess with Taiwan until we have achieved semiconductor independence,&#8221; which he claimed he could achieve in less than four years. After that though, he said, his commitment to intervention would &#8220;change.&#8221;
“I’m being very clear: Xi Jinping should not mess with Taiwan until we have achieved semiconductor independence, until the end of my first term when I will lead us there,” Ramaswamy said Monday, as reported by the <a href="https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/news/campaigns/vivek-ramaswamy-let-china-attack-taiwan-2028">Washington Examiner</a>. &#8220;And after that, our commitments to Taiwan, our commitments to be willing to go to military conflict, will change after that, because that’s rationally in our self-interest.”
Hewitt pointed out that Ramaswamy &#8220;drew a red line around Taiwan, a big, bright red line&#8221; and asked if that means there would be &#8220;war&#8221; if China invaded Taiwan before 2028 or the U.S. achieved semiconductor independence.
&#8220;I’m not committing to that,&#8221; Ramaswamy replied. He would commit, though, to continue to &#8220;deter&#8221; an invasion until the U.S. has semiconductor independence through various means, he said.
The presidential candidate&#8217;s comments about Taiwan prompted a response from Rebeccah Heinrichs, senior fellow at the Hudson Institute, who noted that the island nation&#8217;s &#8220;security will remain tied to US security regardless of semiconductors *as long as the US is determined to remain the world’s preeminent power.* This isn’t a game.&#8221;
Heinrichs, an expert on foreign policy, said that the idea of letting China invade Taiwan was &#8220;dangerous.&#8221;
&#8220;We are talking about risking slaughter of human beings, squashing a democracy, pushing the US out of the region and handing it to the Marxist, expansionist, violent CCP,&#8221; she <a href="https://twitter.com/RLHeinrichs/status/1691191772813066240">wrote</a>.
Ramaswamy previously <a href="https://www.nationalreview.com/the-morning-jolt/why-vivek-ramaswamy-says-these-things/">suggested</a> that the U.S. should stop China from invading Taiwan by giving guns to Taiwanese citizens.
&#8220;Here’s how we protect Taiwan without going to war with China: open a branch of the NRA in Taiwan, put an AR-15 in the hands of every family, and train them how to use it,&#8221; he said at an event. &#8220;That’ll give Xi Jinping a taste of American exceptionalism.&#8221;
The U.S. currently approaches the question of Taiwan&#8217;s sovereignty and the potential U.S. response to Chinese aggression with “strategic ambiguity.”
This article has been revised for clarity and emphasis.

Screenshot 2023-08-14 at 7.33.30 PM

Ramaswamy Suggests Letting China Invade Taiwan Once U.S. No Longer Needs Its Semiconductors

Elections

Vivek Ramaswamy

Taiwan will not back down to China in the face of threats and military drills, Vice President William Lai said over the weekend. 
Lai briefly visited New York City on Sunday, where he made the <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2023/08/14/asia/taiwan-china-threats-william-lai-new-york-intl-hnk/index.html#:~:text=%E2%80%9CWhen%20Taiwan%20is%20safe%2C%20the,according%20to%20Taiwan's%20presidential%20office." target="_blank" rel="noopener">comments</a>, vowing Taiwan would continue to be free and democratic while pushing back on China&#8217;s constant aggression. Beijing has heavily criticized the presidential candidate over his visit, officially called a “transit” for diplomatic reasons, being labeled a “separatist” and “troublemaker.&#8221; 
“When Taiwan is safe, the world is safe, and when there is peace on the Taiwan Strait, there will be world peace,” Lai said during a speech at a lunch banquet. “No matter how great the threat of authoritarianism is to Taiwan, we absolutely will not be scared nor cower, we will uphold the values of democracy and freedom.”
Last month, Chinese ambassador to the U.S. Xie Fang <a href="https://www.reuters.com/world/asia-pacific/china-says-its-priority-is-stop-taiwan-vp-visiting-us-next-month-2023-07-20/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">said</a> it was the communist country’s “priority” to prevent Lai from visiting America. Lai’s stopover in New York occurred on his way to Paraguay for Tuesday&#8217;s inauguration of its new president, Santiago Peña. Paraguay is just one of 13 states to hold formal diplomatic ties with Taiwan; the U.S. does not. 
&#8220;Lai stubbornly adheres to the separatist position of Taiwan independence and is a troublemaker through and through,&#8221; the Chinese Foreign Ministry <a href="https://www.foxnews.com/world/china-rebukes-separatist-taiwan-vp-brief-us-visit-troublemaker?intcmp=tw_fnc" target="_blank" rel="noopener">said</a> after Lai arrived in New York. &#8220;China is closely following developments and will take resolute and vigorous measures to defend national sovereignty and territorial integrity.&#8221;
The communist nation has previously <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/china-claims-the-u-s-is-turning-taiwan-into-a-powder-keg-pushing-taiwanese-toward-abyss-of-disaster" target="_blank" rel="noopener">followed through</a> on these threats, performing extensive military drills after former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) visited Taiwan in August 2022 and when President Tsai Ing-wen visited California and met with current House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) in April. 
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After the Tsai-McCarthy meeting, China conducted three days of military drills, including an exercise of an “encirclement” of Taiwan. David Gitter with the National Bureau of Asian Research <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-china-66495368" target="_blank" rel="noopener">told BBC News</a> that it’s “very likely” that China will conduct military drills following Lai’s return, adding that the drills are &#8220;a boundary that Beijing once rarely crossed but has done so with increased frequency since Pelosi&#8217;s trip last year.”
Lai is currently a <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-china-66495368" target="_blank" rel="noopener">frontrunner</a> in Taiwan’s presidential election, set to take place in January — President Tsai is currently finishing out her second term, the limit under Taiwan’s constitution. Lai has previously referred to himself as a “pragmatic worker for Taiwanese independence” and is part of the “deep green” faction of the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), which is more inclined to support independence, according to <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2023/08/14/asia/taiwan-china-threats-william-lai-new-york-intl-hnk/index.html#:~:text=%E2%80%9CWhen%20Taiwan%20is%20safe%2C%20the,according%20to%20Taiwan's%20presidential%20office." target="_blank" rel="noopener">CNN</a>. 
The outlet notes, however, that since winning his party’s nomination, he has taken a more moderate stance with regard to mainland China. Lai has reportedly denied claims that he is a pro-independence candidate, instead vowing to maintain the status quo and insisting that the Taiwanese people should decide their fate.

PARAGUAY-TAIWAN-LAI-ARRIVAL

Taiwan’s VP Vows To ‘Not Be Scared Nor Cower’ To China Amid Threats From Beijing Over U.S. Visit

New York

New York City

China is accusing the United States of turning Taiwan into an “ammunition depot” days after the White House announced a $345 million aid package to the island nation. 
In a statement, China said it is committed to “reunification” with Taiwan and opposed the American aid package. The communist nation claimed the recent actions by the U.S. have been increasing the “threat of war” in the region by turning Taiwan into a “powder keg,” an accusation it has <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/china-claims-the-u-s-is-turning-taiwan-into-a-powder-keg-pushing-taiwanese-toward-abyss-of-disaster" target="_blank" rel="noopener">repeatedly</a> levied against America in recent months. 
“No matter how much of the ordinary people’s taxpayer money the &#8230; Taiwanese separatist forces spend, no matter how many U.S. weapons, it will not shake our resolve to solve the Taiwan problem. Or shake our firm will to realize the reunification of our motherland,” China’s Taiwan Affairs Office spokesman Chen Binhua <a href="https://apnews.com/article/china-us-military-aid-taiwan-ships-e49902a6f73781dfec61347fc1ad232b" target="_blank" rel="noopener">said</a>. 
“Their actions are turning Taiwan into a powder keg and ammunition depot, aggravating the threat of war in the Taiwan Strait,” he added. 
The Biden administration’s aid package to Taiwan, which was officially announced on Friday, includes defense, training, and education, according to the <a href="https://apnews.com/article/taiwan-military-aid-china-support-06e61a0e0ed787ea120f839ef59885fa" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Associated Press</a>. Two American officials told the outlet the U.S. would send firearms and missiles, man-portable air defense systems, and intelligence capabilities.
The aid package is significant because it includes equipment taken from American stockpiles instead of making Taiwan wait for production. This is the first time the Biden administration has done that, the AP notes. The aid package was able to rely on U.S. stockpiles because of a presidential drawdown authority <a href="https://www.cbsnews.com/news/biden-administration-announces-345-million-weapons-package-for-taiwan/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">approved</a> by Congress last year. 
Lawmakers have reportedly been pressuring Biden and the Pentagon to send weapons and equipment to Taiwan to help deter an attack from China, a goal Beijing appears to have responded to in its statement. 
Taiwan <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2023/07/28/politics/taiwan-military-aid/index.html#:~:text=The%20US%20on%20Friday%20announced,reset%20its%20relationship%20with%20China." target="_blank" rel="noopener">thanked</a> the U.S. for its “firm security commitment,” while Pentagon spokesman Lt. Col. Martin Meiners said the aid would “bolster deterrence now and in the future.” 
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“Obviously the US has not changed our policy on Taiwan,” Meiners said, confirming that the U.S. is “committed” to the &#8220;One China&#8221; policy Washington holds, in addition to the Taiwan Relations Act. 
Taiwan, <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/china-claims-the-u-s-is-turning-taiwan-into-a-powder-keg-pushing-taiwanese-toward-abyss-of-disaster" target="_blank" rel="noopener">officially</a> the Republic of China, has been independently governed since 1949. China&#8217;s One China policy asserts that Taiwan is a part of China. The United States doesn’t recognize Taiwan’s formal independence and instead has diplomatic relations with Beijing.  
While <a href="https://www.state.gov/u-s-relations-with-taiwan/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">adhering</a> to a “One China” policy, under the 1979 Taiwan Relations Act, the U.S. has <a href="https://uscode.house.gov/view.xhtml?path=/prelim@title22/chapter48&amp;edition=prelim" target="_blank" rel="noopener">vowed</a> “to provide Taiwan with arms of a defensive character.” Additionally, the U.S. State Department’s <a href="https://www.state.gov/u-s-relations-with-taiwan/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">official policy</a> on Taiwan opposes “any unilateral changes to the status quo from either side.”
In the past year, China has repeatedly provoked Taiwan, including after Taiwan’s president, Tsai Ing-wen, met with U.S. House Speaker Kevin McCarthy in California in April. After that meeting, three days of drills were conducted by China’s People&#8217;s Liberation Army, including performing an “encirclement” rehearsal of Taiwan. 
Last week, Taiwan <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2023/07/26/asia/taiwan-taoyuan-airport-military-drill-intl-hnk/index.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">conducted</a> annual drills to repel an invasion from China, and for the first time, the self-governing island rehearsed an anti-takeover training at Taoyuan International Airport.

Taiwan Holds Annual Han Kuang Military Exercise at Taoyuan International Airport

China Accuses U.S. Of Turning Taiwan Into ‘Ammunition Depot,’ Says It Won’t Deter ‘Reunification’ Efforts

China has established itself as a world leader in the creation of “NeuroStrike weapons” that target brain function, according to a new report.
The 12-page report, from three intelligence analysts, was first obtained by <a href="https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2023/jul/6/chinas-military-leading-world-brain-neurostrike-we/?utm_source=Boomtrain&amp;utm_medium=subscriber&amp;utm_campaign=morning&amp;utm_term=newsletter&amp;utm_content=morning&amp;bt_ee=tWC%2BJ%2F00fWQrNib1HwXFPn1Mlpjnbe%2F5TS8I5KOI%2BKckiuAiuwI%2BAnGMOLGYS%2FEa&amp;bt_ts=1688726720931" target="_blank" rel="noopener">the Washington Times</a> and says that the Chinese Communist Party and the People’s Liberation Army have been developing weapons that could use microwaves or other directed energy to control brain function. 
“Unknown to many, the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and its People’s Liberation Army (PLA) have established themselves as world leaders in the development of NeuroStrike weapons,” the <a href="https://static1.squarespace.com/static/6444894f2a886e74091c9e1b/t/6490791efa95ba0a3008ef1b/1687189791347/Enumerating%2C+Targeting+and+Collapsing+the+Chinese+Communist+Party’s+NeuroStrike+Program.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener">report says</a>. “These platforms directly attack, or even control, mammalian brains (including humans) with microwave/directed energy weapons via standalone platforms (i.e., handheld gun) or the broader electromagnetic spectrum.”
The report, “Enumerating, Targeting and Collapsing the Chinese Communist Party’s Neurostrike Program” was written by scholar Ryan Clarke, former Army microbiologist Xiaoxu Sean Lin, and former Air Force intelligence officer L.J. Eads. 
“The CCP views NeuroStrike and psychological warfare as a core component of its asymmetric warfare strategy against the United States and its Allies in the Indo-Pacific,” the report says. “Their new landscape of NeuroStrike development includes using massively distributed human-computer interfaces to control entire populations as well as a range of weapons designed to cause cognitive damage.”
The U.S. Commerce Department <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/officials-warn-china-is-creating-brain-control-weaponry-biden-administration-responds" target="_blank" rel="noopener">took action</a> in December 2021 against Chinese entities they said were working with the CCP to develop “biotechnology processes to support Chinese military end uses and end users, to include purported brain-control weaponry.”
At the time, a senior U.S. official <a href="https://asia.nikkei.com/Politics/International-relations/US-China-tensions/U.S.-accuses-China-of-developing-brain-control-weaponry" target="_blank" rel="noopener">told</a> The Financial Times that China was seeking to use emerging biotechnologies to try to develop future military applications that included “gene editing, human performance enhancement [and] brain-machine interfaces.”
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The new report says that China may seek to use the technology against Taiwan, which it has continued to take aggressive postures toward. 
“Any breakthrough in this research would provide unprecedented tools for the CCP to forcibly establish a new world order, which has been Xi Jinping’s lifelong goal,&#8221; the analysts said. 
In response to the developments, the report said that Americans should work to spread awareness of the “NeuroStrike” weapons, sabotage supply lines and development of the technology, and enact more sanctions against Chinese companies that partner with the military to develop the technology.

China Marks 100th Anniversary Of The Communist Party

New Report Warns Of Brain Control Weapons Being Developed By Communist China

Chinese Communist Party

Military

Technology

China is accusing the United States of pushing Taiwan toward a disaster, claiming the recent sale of military equipment to the island nation has turned it into a “powder keg.”
Last week, the U.S. State Department <a href="https://www.reuters.com/world/us-state-dept-oks-two-possible-military-sales-taiwan-pentagon-2023-06-30/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">approved</a> the sale of $440 million in military equipment to Taiwan, including 30 mm ammunition, small arms, combat weapons systems, and other equipment, <a href="https://apnews.com/article/taiwan-china-us-military-sales-4730400c993d2e32e85ad8cf718be583" target="_blank" rel="noopener">according</a> to the Associated Press. On Wednesday, China’s Defense Ministry responded to the approval by accusing the U.S. of putting Taiwan on a path toward destruction. 
“This is tantamount to accelerating the transformation of Taiwan into a ‘powder keg’ and pushing the Taiwanese people into the abyss of disaster,” Chinese Defense Ministry Spokesman Col. Tan Kefei said in a <a href="https://apnews.com/article/taiwan-china-us-military-sales-4730400c993d2e32e85ad8cf718be583" target="_blank" rel="noopener">statement</a>. 
The statement on the defense ministry’s <a href="http://eng.chinamil.com.cn/CHINA_209163/TopStories_209189/16235186.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">website</a> said the communist nation is “firmly opposed” to any arms sales from the U.S. to Taiwan, claiming the U.S. “disregarded” Chinese concerns and interfered in internal relations. The ministry also accused the U.S. of “deliberately” escalating tensions along the Taiwan Strait. 
Between Tuesday and Wednesday, the Taiwan defense ministry <a href="https://www.taiwannews.com.tw/en/news/4936252" target="_blank" rel="noopener">detected</a> 26 Chinese military aircraft and four naval ships from around the island. Nine of those aircraft crossed the air defense identification zone, <a href="https://www.mnd.gov.tw/Publish.aspx?p=81664&amp;title=%e5%9c%8b%e9%98%b2%e6%b6%88%e6%81%af&amp;SelectStyle=%e5%8d%b3%e6%99%82%e8%bb%8d%e4%ba%8b%e5%8b%95%e6%85%8b" target="_blank" rel="noopener">according</a> to the ministry. 
Taiwan, <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/china-could-invade-taiwan-within-the-next-year-u-s-navy-chief-warns" target="_blank" rel="noopener">officially</a> the Republic of China, has been independently governed since 1949. China holds a “One China” policy, asserting that Taiwan is a part of China. The United States doesn’t recognize Taiwan&#8217;s formal independence and instead has <a href="https://www.state.gov/u-s-relations-with-china/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">diplomatic relations</a> with Beijing.  
Even so, the U.S. <a href="https://uscode.house.gov/view.xhtml?path=/prelim@title22/chapter48&amp;edition=prelim" target="_blank" rel="noopener">vowed</a> under the Taiwan Relations Act, <a href="https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/documents/taiwan-relations-act-statement-signing-hr-2479-into-law" target="_blank" rel="noopener">signed</a> by President Jimmy Carter in 1979, &#8220;to provide Taiwan with arms of a defensive character.” On Friday, in response to the U.S. Department of State approving sales to Taiwan, the country’s defense ministry <a href="https://www.reuters.com/world/us-state-dept-oks-two-possible-military-sales-taiwan-pentagon-2023-06-30/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">said</a> it would help protect against “severe threats” by China’s &#8220;expanding threats of military and grey zone tactics.” 
Similarly, the U.S. State Department said the sale of the equipment “serves U.S. national, economic, and security interests by supporting the recipient’s continuing efforts to modernize its armed forces and to maintain a credible defensive capability.”
Taiwan has been continuously <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/china-could-invade-taiwan-within-the-next-year-u-s-navy-chief-warns" target="_blank" rel="noopener">provoked</a> by China, especially since the election of Taiwan’s President Tsai Ing-wen, whose Democratic Progressive Party is more in favor of independence from China. After Tsai met with U.S. House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) in California in April, the Chinese military <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/china-simulates-precision-strikes-on-key-targets-in-taiwan-after-presidents-u-s-visit" target="_blank" rel="noopener">conducted</a> three days of drills, even rehearsing an “encirclement” of Taiwan. 
“Under the unified command of the theatre joint operations command center, multiple types of units carried out simulated joint precision strikes on key targets on Taiwan island and the surrounding sea areas, and continue to maintain an offensive posture around the island,” Chinese state TV <a href="https://www.reuters.com/world/us-says-it-is-monitoring-chinas-drills-around-taiwan-closely-2023-04-08/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">reported</a> at the time. 
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While the State Department’s <a href="https://www.state.gov/u-s-relations-with-taiwan/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">official policy</a> on Taiwan opposes “any unilateral changes to the status quo from either side,” President Joe Biden in September appeared to make a major shift in U.S. policy, <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/china-could-invade-taiwan-within-the-next-year-u-s-navy-chief-warns" target="_blank" rel="noopener">claiming</a> his administration would seek to defend Taiwan if “there was an unprecedented attack.” That comment was later walked back by the White House, and administration officials have since clarified that the United States is not in favor of independence for Taiwan. 
&#8220;We do not support Taiwan independence,&#8221; U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken <a href="https://www.state.gov/secretary-of-state-antony-j-blinkens-press-availability/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">said</a> last month. &#8220;We continue to expect the peaceful resolution of cross-strait differences. We remain committed to meeting our responsibilities under the Taiwan Relations Act, including making sure that Taiwan has the ability to defend itself,&#8221; he added.

Taiwan Flags

China Claims The U.S. Is Turning Taiwan Into A ‘Powder Keg,’ Pushing Taiwanese Toward ‘Abyss Of Disaster’

China Claims The U.S. Is Turning Taiwan Into A ‘Powder Keg,’ Pushing Them Toward ‘Abyss Of Disaster’

United States

weapons

Daily Wire Editor Emeritus <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/author/ben-shapiro" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Ben Shapiro</a> forecast that an emboldened China would move to blockade <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/taiwan" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Taiwan</a> in the next couple of years thanks to weakness from the Biden administration. 
Shapiro discussed on <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/episode/ep-1750-breaking-hunter-biden-charged-pleads-guilty-no-jail-time" target="_blank" rel="noopener">his Tuesday podcast</a> how the Biden administration was ceding ground to China related to its aggression toward Taiwan. During his recent visit to China, Secretary of State Antony Blinken said that the U.S. <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/blinken-meets-xi-says-u-s-does-not-support-taiwan-independence" target="_blank" rel="noopener">did not support Taiwanese independence</a>. 
Although U.S. policy toward Taiwan has generally been ambiguous to ward off war and invasion, Shapiro said Blinken’s open repudiation of the island&#8217;s independence invites more escalation from China. 
&#8220;At the same time, when you say to Jinping, when you say openly and routinely we do not support Taiwanese independence, Xi Jinping is going to find a pretext to now blockade the island,” Shapiro said. “That&#8217;s the next move that&#8217;s going to happen over the course of the next couple of years. Bank on it.”
Shapiro also discussed on his show how China’s systematic issues were masked by Western nations&#8217; own weaknesses. He said that the U.S. and European nations should look to increase the pressure on China instead of the current policy of appeasement being followed by the Biden administration. 
“China is actually in a very weak global position that&#8217;s being hidden by the cowardice of the Americans and the cowardice of the Europeans. But the reality is that China is in a demographic death spiral,” Shapiro explained. “They&#8217;re in a state of declining population. Their economy is built on the back of young workers. Those young workers are not going to exist thanks to their fertility crisis. Their entire economy is built on the back of foreign debt.”
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The Daily Wire co-founder explained that one reason for the underlying economic struggles China was up against was that Chinese Communist Party General Secretary Xi Jinping was afraid that more economic freedom might pave the way for his own demise as China’s top political leader. 
“No one ever talks about the systemic debt in China. It&#8217;s extraordinarily high. China needs to right its economy, but there&#8217;s no actual way for them to do that because Xi Jinping has been not opening the Chinese economy. He&#8217;s afraid that if he were to continue to do so, that China might eventually, the Chinese people might eventually want political reforms and throw him out of power,” Shapiro said. 
The coming instability in China should be countered by the U.S. by increasing the pressure, including reshoring critical manufacturing stateside and building up the American Navy, Shapiro said.

TOPSHOT-CHINA-US-DIPLOMACY

‘Bank On It’: Ben Shapiro Predicts The One Move China Will Make Towards Taiwan Thanks To The Biden Administration

Ben Shapiro Predicts The One Move China Will Make Towards Taiwan Thanks To The Biden Administration

Antony Blinken

Biden Admin

The Ben Shapiro Show

Xi Jinping

Secretary of State Antony Blinken stated that the U.S. does not support Taiwan&#8217;s independence after meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping on Monday.
Blinken was in Beijing to warm U.S. relations with China, which have become strained in recent years over several issues, including Taiwan.
“We do not support Taiwan independence,” Blinken said at a press conference after his meeting with the Chinese president in Beijing. &#8220;We remain opposed to any unilateral changes to the status quo by either side.&#8221;
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
Biden Sec. of State Antony Blinken: &quot;We do not support Taiwan independence.&quot; <a href="https://t.co/PYdxjiMt1j">pic.twitter.com/PYdxjiMt1j</a>
&mdash; Daily Wire (@realDailyWire) <a href="https://twitter.com/realDailyWire/status/1670813122095980546?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">June 19, 2023</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
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The Secretary of State met with President Xi for about 35 minutes at the Great Hall of the People on the west side of Tiananmen Square.
Blinken reiterated that the &#8220;longstanding&#8221; U.S. One China policy &#8220;has not changed.&#8221;
China holds that there is &#8220;one China&#8221; that <a href="https://www.economist.com/the-economist-explains/2017/03/14/what-is-the-one-china-policy" target="_blank" rel="noopener">includes</a> Taiwan as a Chinese territory and has considered annexing Taiwan by force.
The U.S. maintains informal diplomatic relations with Taiwan.
Blinken added that the U.S. remains committed to its responsibility under the Taiwan Relations Act, which includes &#8220;making sure Taiwan has the ability to defend itself.&#8221;
During the meeting, Blinken said he raised U.S. concerns about China&#8217;s &#8220;provocative actions&#8221; in the waters around Taiwan.
&#8220;We and many others have deep concerns about some of the provocative actions that China has taken in recent years going back to 2016,&#8221; Blinken <a href="https://www.foxnews.com/politics/blinken-us-does-not-support-taiwan-independence-china-visit" target="_blank" rel="noopener">said</a>. &#8220;And the reason that this is a concern for so many countries, not just the United States, is that were there to be a crisis over Taiwan, the likelihood is that could produce an economic crisis that could affect quite literally the entire world.&#8221;
Blinken referenced the high level of commercial container traffic that goes through the Taiwan Strait every day as well as the high percentage of semiconductors that are manufactured in Taiwan.
&#8220;If as a result of a crisis that was taken offline, it would have dramatic consequences for virtually every country around the world,&#8221; Blinken said.
&#8220;We continue to expect the peaceful resolution of cross-Strait differences,&#8221; Blinken said.
President Xi said, &#8220;This is very good,&#8221; reportedly referring to the progress made during the meeting.
However, the Chinese president also appeared to reference China&#8217;s grievances.
“State-to-state interactions should always be based on mutual respect and sincerity. I hope that through this visit, Mr. Secretary, you will make more positive contributions to stabilizing China-U.S. relations,” Xi <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2023/06/18/world/asia/blinken-china-xi-diplomacy.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">said</a> during his opening remarks at the meeting.
Blinken <a href="https://twitter.com/BethanyAllenEbr/status/1670756108343066627" target="_blank" rel="noopener">acknowledged</a> that the U.S. had not accomplished one of the primary goals of the meeting — China did not agree to set up a crisis military-to-military communications channel.
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U.S. relations with China have deteriorated in the last few years. Topics that have strained the relationship include Taiwan, China&#8217;s close relationship with Russia, a suspected Chinese spy balloon over the U.S., and data security concerns with the Chinese app TikTok.
Meanwhile, there have been several close encounters recently between U.S. and Chinese military ships and aircraft.
Earlier this month, the U.S. military <a href="https://www.pbs.org/newshour/world/u-s-military-releases-video-of-near-collision-between-chinese-u-s-warships-in-taiwan-strait#:~:text=BANGKOK%20(AP)%20—%20The%20United,slow%20to%20avoid%20a%20collision." target="_blank" rel="noopener">released</a> video of an &#8220;unsafe&#8221; move by a Chinese navy ship, which cut across the path of an American destroyer, forcing the American ship to slow down to avoid a crash. In May, U.S. Indo-Pacific Command <a href="https://www.foxnews.com/world/chinese-fighter-jet-caught-video-intercepting-us-aircraft-south-china-sea-unnecessarily-aggressive" target="_blank" rel="noopener">said</a> a Chinese fighter pilot performed an &#8220;unnecessarily aggressive maneuver&#8221; while intercepting a U.S. aircraft over the South China Sea.
In 2022, the U.S. and China had <a href="https://www.politico.com/news/2023/02/07/trade-china-relations-economies-00081301#:~:text=According%20to%20numbers%20released%20Tuesday,by%20Mexico%2C%20Canada%20and%20Japan." target="_blank" rel="noopener">$690 billion</a> in trade, a record for the two countries.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken News Conference

Blinken Meets Xi, Says U.S. Does Not Support Taiwan Independence

Biden Administration

One of the highest level meetings between the U.S. and <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/china">China</a> in years was hailed by American officials as “direct and productive” and “candid” after months of escalating tensions between the two powers.
Secretary of State Antony Blinken arrived in Beijing on Sunday for talks with his counterpart, Chinese Foreign Minister Qin Gang, after a previously scheduled meeting in February was canceled. The meeting marked the first time a cabinet level official had visited China since 2019, before the start of the COVID pandemic.
According to <a href="https://www.cbsnews.com/news/anthony-blinken-china-trip-high-stakes-diplomatic-talks/">CBS</a>, the meeting on Sunday lasted for five and a half hours and was followed by a two hour working dinner. U.S. officials hoped to use the talks to reestablish senior level communications, “express candid views” and explore “areas of potential cooperation.”
&#8220;We&#8217;ve made progress on all three of those goals … we covered almost the entire waterfront of the relationship,&#8221; they said.
Earlier talks in February were canceled after the incursion of a Chinese spy balloon into U.S. airspace – said balloon crossed the continental United States and passed over several military installations before finally being downed off the coast of South Carolina on February 4. That provocation, combined with years of trade wars, increased tensions in the South China Sea and the Taiwanese strait, and an increasing body of evidence that suggests the COVID-19 pandemic began in a Chinese government lab have all contributed to Sino-American relations being “at the lowest point” they’ve ever been, <a href="https://apnews.com/article/us-china-relations-blinken-afb39654e07ff1022bf8a3bf8296c686">according to</a> the Chinese Foreign Ministry.
According to a <a href="https://www.state.gov/secretary-blinkens-meeting-with-peoples-republic-of-china-state-councilor-and-foreign-minister-qin-gang/">statement</a> from the State Department, during the meeting Blinken “emphasized the importance of diplomacy and maintaining open channels of communication across the full range of issues to reduce the risk of misperception and miscalculation.”
The exact details of the talks are not known, but it was widely expected that the two diplomats would discuss the ongoing invasion of Ukraine, the export of <a href="https://apnews.com/article/fentanyl-mexico-china-united-states-46fade6f948b46ac43299aab272699d7">Chinese fentanyl</a> into the US, and trade disputes, amongst other things.
For their part, Foreign Minister Gang <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-65941659">said</a> that Taiwan was the &#8220;most prominent risk&#8221; for U.S.-China relations, and he also described the island as one of &#8220;China&#8217;s core interests.”
The People&#8217;s Republic of China claims Taiwan as an integral part of its territory but the island has been effectively independent since the end of the Chinese Civil War in 1949. Since then, the island has established itself as an economic and technological powerhouse, and it is currently the world’s <a href="https://www.economist.com/special-report/2023/03/06/taiwans-dominance-of-the-chip-industry-makes-it-more-important">premier manufacturing center</a> for advanced semiconductors, which are crucial components in both civilian and military hardware. Taiwan currently produces about 60% of the world’s semiconductor chips and roughly 90% of cutting edge chips. 
The US has attempted to reduce its dependence on Taiwanese chips by promoting domestic semiconductor production, but for the foreseeable future Taiwan remains a vital supply of a resource used in all advanced computers.
 Furthermore, the U.S. has maintained a strong de facto alliance with Taiwan dating back to before the end of the Second World War – back when its government controlled all of China under Chiang Kai Shek. The U.S. recognized the nationalist government in Taiwan as the legitimate government of all of China until 1979, when the U.S. and Communist China established diplomatic relations. Since then, the U.S. has retained a policy  of “<a href="https://www.rand.org/blog/2023/01/strategic-ambiguity-may-have-us-and-taiwan-trapped.html">strategic ambiguity</a>” the question of Taiwan, theoretically acknowledging it as a territory of China while informally recognizing its independence, sending Taiwan military hardware and heavily suggesting, although never confirming, that it will intervene militarily if China ever attempted to invade the island.
China has been increasingly aggressive with both naval and aerial incursions into Taiwanese territory in recent months, and some observers, such as former National Security Advisor <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/u-s-relationship-with-china-worse-than-with-soviet-union-during-cold-war-former-national-security-adviser-says">H.R. McMaster</a>, “may portray a bit of weakness,” in the face of Chinese aggression.
However, China has refused to respond to U.S. overtures for months, and potentially has its own reasons to come to the negotiating table. The Chinese economy is deteriorating: <a href="https://www.npr.org/2023/06/15/1182377255/the-unemployment-for-young-people-in-china-hits-a-record-high-in-may">youth unemployment</a> has reached historically high levels, the Chinese <a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2023/05/31/new-warning-signs-emerge-for-chinas-property-market.html">housing market</a> is increasingly unstable, and the country has <a href="https://www.reuters.com/world/china/chinas-factory-output-consumption-highlight-slack-post-covid-economic-momentum-2023-05-16/">yet to fully recover</a> from its draconian COVID-19 lockdowns. Furthermore, its aging and shrinking population pose long term structural economic problems. Stabilizing trade with America and its allies could buttress the economic growth which has long been a source of stability and political legitimacy for the ruling regime.
Talks will continue Monday and Blinken has expressed hopes that he will be able to personally meet with Chinese President Xi Jinping in the coming months.

Secretary Of State Antony Blinken

U.S. Cheers ‘Candid’ Talks With China After Months Of Rising Tensions

Trade War

Twitter owner <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/elon-musk" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Elon Musk</a> warned during an interview this week that U.S. policymakers should take China&#8217;s threats of taking over Taiwan &#8220;seriously&#8221; because the communist nation is not kidding around when it comes to its intent to do so.
Musk made the remarks during an interview with CNBC&#8217;s David Faber when asked if he was concerned about &#8220;the growing belligerence between China and the U.S.&#8221;
&#8220;I think that should be a concern for everyone,&#8221; Musk responded.
When asked if he thinks China is going to make a move to take control of Taiwan, Musk responded, &#8220;The official policy of China is that Taiwan should be integrated. One does not need to read between the lines, one can certainly read the lines.&#8221;
Musk said that the move would not be good for &#8220;any company in the world.&#8221;
&#8220;Also no one really realizes that the Chinese economy and the rest of the global economy are like conjoined twins, it would be like trying to separate conjoined twins,&#8221; he said. &#8220;That’s the severity of the situation. It’s actually worse for a lot of other companies than it is for Tesla. I mean, I’m not sure where you’re gonna get an iPhone, for example. And Apple’s recently started doing some sort of small amount of production in India, but it’s tiny.”
When Faber mentioned that it seemed like it was Musk&#8217;s belief that China trying to gain control of Taiwan was &#8220;likely to happen,&#8221; Musk responded, &#8220;I’m simply saying that that is their policy. And I think you should take their word seriously. They mean it.&#8221;
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WATCH:
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
Elon Musk says tension between U.S. and China &quot;should be a concern for everyone.&quot; <a href="https://t.co/kUSHXUka3x">https://t.co/kUSHXUka3x</a> <a href="https://t.co/XscyQvbZ3d">pic.twitter.com/XscyQvbZ3d</a>
&mdash; CNBC (@CNBC) <a href="https://twitter.com/CNBC/status/1658898929164128256?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 17, 2023</a></blockquote>
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Elon Musk Visits Germany

Musk: Take China’s Comments About Capturing Taiwan ‘Seriously,’ They’re Not Kidding Around

Musk: Take China's Comments About Capturing Taiwan 'Seriously,' They're Not Kidding Around

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