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CHINA 2023: Chinese Balloon Soars Across US; Blinken Scraps Beijing Trip

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WASHINGTON — The U.S. Friday, a huge, high-altitude Chinese balloon flew over the United States. The Pentagon accused China of spying, but China denied it. Antony Blinken, the Secretary of State, abruptly canceled a high-stakes trip to Beijing that was meant to ease tensions between the United States and China.

People using binoculars and telephoto lenses tried to find the “spy balloon” in the sky as it flew east over Kansas and Missouri at 60,000 feet. Fuzzy videos flooded social media sites.

Despite China’s claim that the balloon was merely a weather research “airship” that had blown off course, Blinken was canceled. The Pentagon didn’t believe that at all, and neither did China, which said that the balloon, which was about the size of two school buses, wasn’t used for spying and couldn’t go very far.

The balloon was found over sensitive military sites in Montana. By noon, it had moved east over the center of the United States and was expected to stay there for several days, according to officials.

The news made things even worse between the US and China, which have been getting worse for years because of many things. Nonetheless, U.S. officials maintained that diplomatic channels were open and that Blinken was willing to visit China at “an appropriate time.”

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Biden Delcined To Comment About The China Balloon

President Joe Biden declined to comment when asked about the matter at an economic event. Former President Donald Trump, who is running for reelection in 2024, and former South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley, who is running for reelection in 2024, said the U.S. should pop the balloon right away.

According to White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre, Biden was first briefed about the Chinese surveillance balloon on Tuesday. She should have explained why the administration waited until Thursday to express its concerns.

According to a senior defense official, the United States has prepared fighter jets, including F-22s, to shoot down the balloon if ordered. The Pentagon eventually advised against it, noting that even though the balloon was over a sparsely populated area of Montana, its size could create a large debris field to endanger people.

On Friday, Pentagon press secretary Brig. Gen. Pat Ryder refused to say whether there was any new consideration of shooting down the balloon.

Ryder stated it was about 60,000 feet in altitude, maneuverable, and had changed course. He stated that it was no longer a threat.

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Blinkin Trip Cancelled

Regarding Blinken’s trip, Jean-Pierre stated that a diplomatic visit to China was unnecessary. “The presence of this balloon in our airspace… is a clear violation of our sovereignty as well as international law, and it is unacceptable that this happened,” she said.

According to a State Department official, Blinken and Deputy Secretary of State Wendy Sherman protested to the Chinese Embassy’s top official on Wednesday, the day before the Pentagon announced the balloon’s discovery.

According to Pentagon officials, it was spotted over Montana, home to one of America’s three nuclear missile silo fields at Malmstrom Air Force Base.

Several Republican lawmakers have chastised the administration for not taking stronger action against China before this. And allowing Blinken to go ahead with his trip could have made Biden even more vulnerable to their complaints when he is dealing with the new Republican-led U.S. House.

According to weather experts, China’s claim that the balloon had gone off course was not implausible. China’s account of Westerlies carrying a balloon to the western United States was “absolutely possible – not possible, likely,” said Dan Jaffe, an atmospheric chemistry professor at the University of Washington.

Nonetheless, multiple U.S. officials called the presence of the balloon “unacceptable” and said Blinken delivered that message to Chinese State Councilor Wang Yi when he told them he was postponing his trip on Friday.

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China Denounces Surveillance Attempts

According to State Department spokesman Ned Price, Blinken told Wang that the “U.S. is committed to diplomatic engagement and maintaining open lines of communication and that he would be prepared to visit Beijing as soon as conditions allow.”

Blinken’s long-awaited meetings with senior Chinese officials were seen as a possible way for both countries to find some areas of common ground amid major disagreements over Taiwan, human rights, China’s claims in the South China Sea, North Korea, Russia’s war in Ukraine, trade policy, and climate change.

Even though Biden and Chinese President Xi Jinping agreed to the trip at a meeting in Indonesia in November, it hasn’t been officially announced yet. However, officials in both Beijing and Washington have been talking about Blinken’s arrival on Sunday and Monday for meetings.

China, which angrily denounces surveillance attempts by the U.S. and others over areas it considers to be its territory and once shot down an American spy plane and imprisoned its crew on Hainan Island, was relatively conciliatory in response to U.S. complaints.

The Chinese foreign ministry said in a statement that came close to an apology that the balloon was a civilian airship used primarily for meteorological research. According to the report, the airship had limited “self-steering” capabilities and had “deviated far from its planned course” due to winds.

“The statement said that the Chinese side regrets that the airship accidentally entered U.S. airspace due to “force majeure,” which is a legal term for things that are out of one’s control.”

SOURCE – (AP)

 

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Putin Says US Long-Range Missiles Hitting Russia an Act of War

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Putin Says US Long-Range Missiles Hitting Russia an Act of War
Putin Says US Long-Range Missiles Hitting Russia an Act of War -Getty Images

Speaking in St. Petersburg, Russian President Vladimir Putin issued a clear warning to the West: do not allow Ukraine to deploy its long-range missiles to hit Russian territory. Russia would interpret this as NATO’s’ direct participation in the conflict in Ukraine and an act of war.

“This would substantially change the very essence, the nature of the conflict,” Vladimir Putin continued.

“This will mean that NATO countries, and especially the USA and European states, are at war with Russia.”

He said that Ukraine would need data from US satellites to launch missiles into Russia, and that only personnel from NATO member nations and the US defence department would be able to “input flight missions into these missile systems”.

Russia has already drawn red lines with NATO on its border. I’ve seen them cross before these lines before.

On February 24, 2022, when he announced the launch of his “special military operation” – a full-scale invasion of Ukraine – President Putin issued a warning to “those who may be tempted to interfere from the outside”.

“No matter who tries to stand in our way or create threats for our country and our people, they must know that Russia will respond immediately,” Putin said. “The consequences will be such as you have never seen in your entire history.”

Vice President Harris

Vice President Harris – White House Image

The Biden-Harris administration has widely ignored what they largely perceive as nuclear sabre-rattling. The West has since supplied Ukraine with tanks, advanced missile systems, and, most recently, F-16 American fighter jets.

According to the BBC, Russia has already accused Ukraine of employing American long-range ATACMS missiles to target Crimea, a Ukrainian peninsula that Russia has occupied.

The tone of Putin’s most recent words suggests that he believes that hitting Russian territory with Western missile systems will escalate the confrontation, possibly to WWIII.

What Putin did not specify yesterday was how Moscow would retaliate.

“We will take corresponding decisions based on the threats to us that will be created,” Putin told reporters.

On Friday, Russia expelled six British diplomats, accusing them of “subversive activities” and endangering Russian security.

During a meeting with the leaders of international news agencies, he was asked how Russia would react if Ukraine was given the opportunity to strike targets on Russian territory with weapons supplied by Europe.

“First, of course, we will upgrade our air defence systems. “We will destroy their missiles,” President Putin responded.

Russian missiles

Russia Beefs Up Missile Defense – Getty Images

“Second, we believe that if someone is thinking it is possible to supply such weapons to a war zone to strike our territory and create problems for us, why can’t we supply our weapons of the same class to those regions around the world where they will target sensitive facilities of the countries that are doing this to Russia?”

In other words, Moscow has considered arming foes of the US to strike Western targets abroad.

Earlier this month, Russia’s deputy foreign minister, Sergei Ryabkov, indicated that the country was planning to update its nuclear doctrine, which outlines the parameters under which Moscow may consider using nuclear weapons.

He claimed that the decision to alter the doctrine was “connected with the escalation course of [Russia’s] Western adversaries”.

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Australia Launches Manhunt for Man Who Poured Scolding Coffee on Baby

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Baby Australia

Police in Australia have launched an international manhunt to find a man they believe fled the country after dumping hot coffee on a newborn in Brisbane. The random attack stunned the nation, left the nine-month-old infant with “serious burns” on his face and arms.

Queensland Police have issued an arrest warrant for a 33-year-old man wanted for causing grievous bodily injury, a charge that carries a maximum life sentence.

However, on Monday, they stated that their prime suspect flew out of Sydney Airport after the crime and only 12 hours before they could establish his identification.

According to Queensland Police the infant was having a picnic with his family in a suburban park when a “strange man” came up and emptied a flask of scolding hot coffee on him before fleeing on foot. An off-duty nurse who witnessed the horrific incident quickly poured cold water on the infants burns, before rushing the boy to the local hospital.

 

The baby boy sustained severe injuries that required multiple surgeries, and his parents believe he will need to recuperate for years.

Australia Launches Manhunt

The Suspect in known to police- ABC News Image

Detective Inspector Paul Dalton of the Queensland Police told media that the motive for the horrific crime is still unknown, adding that the case was one of the “most complex and frustrating” he has ever led.

He stated that police knew where the suspect had fled and his name, but that revealing the information at this time could compromise their investigation. The individual is a itinerant worker who has travelled to Australia several times since 2019, with addresses in both New South Wales and Victoria.

According to Pol Inspector Dalton the suspect was aware of “police methodologies” and had been “conducting counter-surveillance activities” to avoid detection. The Queensland Police is working with Australian Federal Police and Interpol to bring the man to justice.

On Monday, the baby’s parents informed the ABC News media that they were “devastated” to learn that the suspect had fled the country, but also relieved that he had.

“It sounds like they were very, very close to catching him, and this obviously means that we’re going to have to wait who knows how long to get justice for our son,” his mother said The young baby is “in good spirits,” according to his father, but he may yet require additional skin graft surgeries.

An internet fundraising website for the infant boy has raised over AUD$150,000 for the little boy.

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Fugitive Philippines Mayor Alice Guo Captured in Indonesia

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Fugitive former Philippines mayor Alice Guo arrested in Indonesia - Facebook Image
Fugitive former Philippines mayor Alice Guo arrested in Indonesia - Facebook Image

Alice Guo, a former mayor from the Philippine who is thought to have ties to Chinese crime groups, was caught in Indonesia.

The Philippine Senate wants Guo, who is also Chinese and goes by the name Guo Hua Ping, because she refused to go to a congressional investigation into her alleged crime ties, according to the Ministry of Justice.

She has denied the claims, saying that she is a natural-born Filipino citizen and that the charges are “malicious.”

Police in Indonesia have confirmed that Ms. Guo is currently in their custody, according to a statement from the Justice Department.

Guo was caught in Tangerang City in Jakarta at 11:58 p.m. on Tuesday. He used to be the mayor of Bamban town, which is about 100 km (62 miles) north of Manila. Asian media shared a video on X that showed police agents leading her up a white-walled staircase.

Alice Guo arrested in Indonesia, faces deportation to Philippines

In the Philippines, the Anti-Money Laundering Council (AMLC) and other law enforcement agencies charged Guo and 35 others with money laundering multiple times with the Department of Justice last month.

The AMLC says that Guo and her crime partners laundered more than 100 million pesos ($1.8 million) in stolen money.

Lawyer Stephen David, who is officially Guo’s lawyer, did not reply right away to a request for comment from the Reuters news agency.

Al Jazeera news said that Justice Secretary Boying Remulla said in a statement, “The arrest of Alice Guo is a testament to the tireless efforts of our law enforcement agencies and the strength of international cooperation in bringing fugitives to justice.”

People removed Guo from her job as mayor, and she left the country in July, using her Philippine visa to go to Malaysia, then Singapore, and finally Indonesia.

In May, two months after police raided a casino in Bamban town and found scams being run from a building on land partly owned by the mayor, the Senate began an investigation into her activities.

Public outrage followed the finding, and later, Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. banned online gaming companies because he thought they had ties to organised crime.

Marcos also said she would go after those who “helped her escape.”

The government thinks that several hundred illegal online gambling businesses may be running scam sites right in front of them.

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