Tag: Financial Times

Donald Trump’s cabinet picks signal tougher stance on China

Tina Marie (Ms. Cat)

Donald Trump’s cabinet picks signal tougher stance on China

Alexander Gray, who served as National Security Council chief of staff in the first Trump administration, said the selections showed that Trump wanted “to surround himself with strategic thinkers who understand the challenge posed by the People’s Republic of China”. 

But Gray said Waltz would be an “honest broker”, mediating debates in the inter-agency process rather than trying to impose his own positions instead of the president’s.

Related:

Marathon Initiative:

Alexander Gray is a Senior Advisor at the Marathon Initiative. Gray previously served at the White House for four years, most recently as Deputy Assistant to the President and Chief of Staff of the National Security Council. He had earlier served as Special Assistant to the President for the Defense Industrial Base at the National Economic Council and as the first-ever Director for Oceania & Indo-Pacific Security at the National Security Council.

Front Organizations

Hong Kong ‘Protests’

*Xinjiang*

Marathon Initiative (Colby & Pottinger)

Largest U.S. Drone Manufacturer Says It Will Need To Ration Batteries For Customers After Sanctions By China

Tina Marie (Ms. Cat)

Largest U.S. Drone Manufacturer Says It Will Need To Ration Batteries For Customers After Sanctions By China

Bry said China sanctioned his company for selling drones to Taiwan—noting the Taiwanese National Fire Agency is its only customer in the country—but said Skydio was “proud to support critical infrastructure operators, first responders, and allied militaries.”
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The blog post sharply attacked the Chinese government, saying the sanctions show that the Chinese government “will use supply chains as a weapon to advance their interests over ours.”
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Bry also accused the Chinese government of attempting to “eliminate the leading American drone company” and increase the “world’s dependence on Chinese drone suppliers.”

…

According to the Financial Times, Skydio’s list of customers includes the Ukrainian military, and the company has sent over 1,000 of its drones to Ukraine to aid with gathering intelligence in its ongoing war with Russia and record instances of war crimes by the Russian military. Skydio’s X10 drone—which is affected by the battery rationing—is reportedly hard to jam, and Ukraine has sought to acquire thousands of them.

Related:

[04-10-2024] How American Drones Failed to Turn the Tide in Ukraine

The Silicon Valley company Skydio sent hundreds of its best drones to Ukraine to help fight the Russians. Things didn’t go well. 

Skydio’s drones flew off course and were lost, victims of Russia’s electronic warfare. The company has since gone back to the drawing board to build a new fleet.

76 days to get it right in Ukraine

Tina Marie (Ms. Cat)

76 days to get it right in Ukraine (translation)

With less than two weeks to go until the US presidential election, and with polls showing a tie that will make the result depend on a small number of swing states, states that could fall to one side or the other and change the course of events, the electoral issue marks the global political agenda and represents a special element of uncertainty in the case of Ukraine. All the certainties that have existed until now under the leadership of Joe Biden, who has managed relations with Kyiv for two terms, since he was in charge of the White House during the years of the Obama administration, will disappear the moment it is announced who will come to power next January. Although, without a doubt, a victory for Trump would be more worrying for Zelensky, who apparently did not get the desired support from the Republican candidate at the meeting held during the Ukrainian president’s last visit to the United States, neither would a victory for Kamala Harris mean the end of concerns. The scant presence of the war in Ukraine in the campaign is compounded by speculation about the candidate’s cold relationship with Zelensky, despite the fact that it was Harris who attended the peace summit in Switzerland representing the White House. However, beyond slogans such as “support Ukraine as long as necessary,” the candidate has not at any time suggested what specific policy she would pursue with regard to the war or the relationship with Russia. Electoral needs are marked by issues of national policy and neither the Republican nor the Democrat candidate are making long speeches detailing their proposals.

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Ukraine: Gas and regional geopolitics

Tina Marie (Ms. Cat)

Gas and regional geopolitics

“Ukraine and Slovakia will create an energy hub for Eastern Europe,” headlined Ukrainska Pravda on Monday , citing the words of Ukrainian Prime Minister Denis Shmyhal after his meeting with Prime Minister Robert Fico, who has recovered and returned to his post after the assassination attempt that put his life in danger. Although the Ukrainian media mainly focused on news about energy cooperation, the Slovak president did not hesitate to repeat to Shmyhal his position regarding Ukraine’s geopolitical position. As Politico stated on Monday, the Slovak president said on Sunday in an appearance in a Slovak media that “as long as I lead the government, I will direct the deputies under my control as chairman of the party [Smer] to never accept Ukraine’s accession.” According to Strana, Fico insisted on his “100%” support for Ukraine’s entry into the European Union, but not into NATO. This “no” attitude towards Ukraine’s entry into the military bloc is compounded by Fico’s intention to resume normal relations with Russia if the war ends during his term in office. However, as his meeting with the Ukrainian prime minister shows, this position is not in contradiction with cooperating with Kyiv on issues affecting both countries, including energy.

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The NATO “solution”

Tina Marie (Ms. Cat)

The NATO “solution”

The focus of political and media attention has inevitably turned from Europe to the Middle East, where the United States, through the Secretary of the Pentagon, has insisted on “Israel’s right to defend itself,” has welcomed the assassinations of Hezbollah leaders carried out by means of massive bombings in Beirut, and has given explicit approval to the ground operation with which Tel Aviv and Washington claim to want to “dismantle the attack infrastructure along the border to ensure that the Lebanese Hezbollah cannot carry out attacks in the style of October 7 against communities in northern Israel.” The precedent of the last twelve months in Gaza, the West Bank, Syria, Yemen and Lebanon foreshadows what the ways of defending oneself against Israel will be and that the United States will continue to justify any excess, selective assassination or massacre, while any response, such as that which occurred yesterday with the launching of Iranian missiles against Israeli military bases, will be considered an unacceptable escalation. And although Ukraine’s public concern for securing priority war status has not yet begun, any escalating war could affect Kiev, especially when it comes to imposing its discourse of existential war on the West as a collective.

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How the Philippines ‘covertly’ reinforced the BRP Sierra Madre

Tina Marie (Ms. Cat)
Source

China reveals Philippine Personnel secretly resupplying BRP Sierra Madre by posing as Fishermen

Personally, I think that these “Secret” Operations are being done by the Naval Special Operations Command (NAVSOCOM) of the Philippine Navy (PN) as this seems to fall under their Area of Responsibility.

Remember that the NAVSOCOM Troops were also the ones that were involved in an Altercation with the Chinese Coast Guard (CCG) earlier this Month.

PH NAVSOCOM trains with the U.S. Navy SEALs:

Original source
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Anti-Coup Rebellion in Eastern Ukraine Completes 10 Years as Russian Forces Continue Advancing in Donetsk

Tina Marie (Ms. Cat)

April 2014 was a pivotal month for the people of the Donbass region in what was then still part of Ukraine. It was then that the governing regime was newly installed in Kiev by a coup d’état on February 20/21embarked on military hostilities against the people of the region. The coup overthrew Ukraine’s elected president and legislature. It sparked rebellion in Crimea, Donbass (Lugansk and Donetsk), and in towns and cities in other regions of eastern and southern Ukraine.

Anti-Coup Rebellion in Eastern Ukraine Completes 10 Years as Russian Forces Continue Advancing in Donetsk

China vs. the US: shipbuilding, subsidies, and the Jones Act

Tina Marie (Ms. Cat)

Hypocrisy thrives where double standards prevail.

Earlier, I stupidly tweeted out an article about the Jones Act and shipbuilding and Colin Grabow, from the Cato Institute, liked it (he was quoted in the article). I looked him up and decided to listen to this video on the shipbuilding competition between China and the US, where he and a lawyer for United Steelworkers were on the panel. China is eating their lunch, and it’s the ruling elites’ own fault, yet they scapegoat China for it. The double standards over China’s “unfair economic practices” AKA the subsidizing of their shipbuilding industry irritates me (liars irritate me even more). States give subsidies, grants, and tax breaks to corporations, all the time. Fincantieri Marinette Marine is just one example, but Wisconsin had done the same for Foxconn. Foxconn received tax breaks and $3B in subsidies, which was “the largest ever subsidy provided by a state to a foreign company”, despite not living up to their promises.

Rumble

Colin Grabow wants to end the Jones Act. I’ve made at least three video clips regarding the Jones Act, two with Sal Mercogliano from What’s Going On With Shipping and one from the government-funded CSIS (I’ve posted them, below). Spoiler alert: Sal says that the problem isn’t the Jones Act. Meanwhile, both CSIS and the Cato Institute (part of the Atlas Network) blame the Jones Act. Deregulation is a wet dream of big corporations (which fund both the Cato Institute and CSIS).

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