Science

The US Relationship With China Faces A Test As Taiwan Elects A New Leader

Published

10 months ago

2024-01-12

Washington — Washington’s relationship with Beijing will face its most serious test since the two presidents met in November, as the U.S. seeks to keep the Taiwan Straits calm when Taiwanese voters pick a new president this weekend.

The peace and stability of the 110-mile-wide (177-kilometer-wide) waterway connecting China’s mainland to the self-governing island are at stake. Any armed war might pit Washington against China, disrupting the global economy.

China thinks the front-runner’s victory in Saturday’s election will be a step toward independence and has warned Taiwanese voters that they may have to choose between peace and war.

According to officials and analysts, regardless of who wins the presidential election, Washington is willing to collaborate with both Taipei and Beijing to avoid miscalculations and escalation of tensions.

A senior White House official stated that the United States will maintain open lines of communication with China and close touch with Taiwan to “reinforce both our support for Taiwan’s democratic processes and also our strong commitment to peace, stability, and the status quo.” The official talked with reporters on Thursday under the condition of anonymity to outline the plans.

The US Relationship With China Faces A Test As Taiwan Elects A New Leader

President Joe Biden intends to send an unofficial group of former senior officials to the island soon after the election. The United States has no diplomatic relations with Taiwan, and sending an official delegation would irritate Beijing, which considers the island Chinese territory.

Anticipating a “period of higher tensions,” the person stated that the U.S. is preparing for several replies from Beijing based on the election results, which may range from no response to military action.

On Saturday, the island’s 23 million inhabitants will elect a new president to succeed Tsai Ing-wen, who has served two terms. The election has received a lot of attention since Beijing is opposed to front-runner Lai Ching-te, the candidate from the ruling Democratic Progressive Party, which is known for its pro-independence stances. This has generated concerns that a Lai victory may prompt a military response from the mainland.

Beijing has sworn to unify Taiwan, even if it means using force. Any military action may involve the United States, which supports Taiwan with military hardware and technology under a security treaty.

While not taking sides on Taiwan’s sovereignty, Washington opposes any unilateral alteration in the status quo by either side. It has not indicated an official preference for any candidate.

When Biden met with Chinese President Xi Jinping in California in November, he emphasized the significance of peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait. Xi urged Biden to support China’s peaceful reunification with the island, telling him that “the Taiwan question remains the most important and sensitive issue in China-US relations.”

The US Relationship With China Faces A Test As Taiwan Elects A New Leader

Politicians and observers say that no matter who wins Saturday’s election, Washington will work with the new Taiwanese government to enhance ties and stop Beijing’s military aggression.

“The United States will exchange notes with Taiwan to maintain stability and ensure Taiwan’s future resilience,” said Bonnie Glaser, managing director of the German Marshall Fund’s Indo-Pacific program.

“Regardless of who wins, the American people will stand with the people of Taiwan and the vibrant, beautiful democracy of Taiwan,” Illinois Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi said Wednesday during a Politico conversation. “And that’s on a bipartisan basis.” He is the top Democrat on a House select committee looking into strategic competition between the United States and the Chinese Communist Party.

Republican Representative Andy Barr of Kentucky stated during the same conversation that the United States and all of Taiwan’s major parties believe in deterrence. “We will work with whoever wins this election to reestablish and strengthen that deterrence,” he said.

The overwhelming support among Taiwanese for retaining the status quo indicates that U.S. policy will remain the same regardless of who wins the election, according to Scott Kennedy, senior adviser and trustee chair in Chinese business and economics at the Center for Strategic and International Studies.

“No one wants to provoke a war, and the current situation is minimally acceptable to almost everyone, whether in Taiwan, mainland China, or the United States,” he said.

According to Rorry Daniels, managing director of the Asia Society Policy Institute in New York, all of Taiwan’s presidential hopefuls now view a strong connection with the United States as a powerful deterrent to Beijing’s violent takeover of the island.

According to Daniels of the Asia Society Policy Institute, the challenge for Taipei and Washington would be handling Beijing’s fear that Taiwan would be “creeping into independence,” according to Daniels of the Asia Society Policy Institute.

The US Relationship With China Faces A Test As Taiwan Elects A New Leader

Lai is closely followed by the opposing Kuomintang party’s nominee, Hou Yu-ih. Beijing is accused of conducting an influence operation in support of Hou, whose party considers Taiwan to be part of China, albeit not necessarily under Beijing’s control. However, many believe a Kuomintang victory would stay the same U.S. policy because popular opinion on the island overwhelmingly supports the present quo.

If Hou is elected, Washington, which has a history of working with the Kuomintang, will be prepared to engage with him to continue strengthening US-Taiwan relations, and any easing in cross-strait tensions that results from his election could allow the U.S. to focus on other issues, according to Brian Hart, a fellow of the China Power Project at the Center for Strategic and International Studies.

A warming cross-strait relationship could complicate US-China relations. “There will be more to coordinate,” Daniels explained. But, as Beijing is likely to put pressure on a Kuomintang government to proceed toward reunification, she said that Washington may assist Hou in managing that pressure.

If elected, the third candidate, Ko Wen-je of the newly formed Taiwan People’s Party, might pose Washington’s most serious challenge. His party has yet to be tested and establish a relationship with Washington, but experts note that Ko has expressed an interest in collaborating with the United States.

“The Biden administration has gone out of its way to have no preference,” he remarked. “There is an opportunity regardless of who wins. The United States is truly not attempting to weigh in on this.”

“From the U.S. perspective, what we want Taiwan to do at a higher degree is to invest in its defense, to deter China’s aggression,” he said.

SOURCE – (AP)

Science

A Spacecraft Is On Its Way To A Harmless Asteroid Slammed By NASA In A Previous Save-The-Earth Test

Published

2 weeks ago

2024-10-10

Kiara Grace

CAPE CANAVERAL, Florida – A spacecraft launched Monday to probe the site of a cosmic accident.

The European Space Agency’s Hera spacecraft launched on a two-year trip to the little, harmless asteroid slammed by NASA two years ago as a practice run for the day when a murderous space rock threatens Earth. It’s the second phase of a planetary defense experiment that could one day save the globe.

SpaceX’s Falcon rocket vanished with Hera into the late morning clouds. An hour later, cheering erupted in the control center in Germany as the spacecraft split from the rocket’s upper stage and returned home. “It’s an amazing day,” the space agency’s director general, Josef Aschbacher, said later.

The 2022 crash of NASA’s Dart spacecraft reduced Dimorphos’ orbit around its larger companion, indicating that if a harmful rock was heading our way, it might be pushed off course with adequate warning.

nasa

A Spacecraft Is On Its Way To A Harmless Asteroid Slammed By NASA In A Previous Save-The-Earth Test

Scientists are eager to analyze the aftermath of the impact up close to determine how effective Dart was and what improvements may be required to protect Earth in the future.

“The more detail we can glean the better as it may be important for planning a future deflection mission should one be needed,” University of Maryland astronomer Derek Richardson stated before launch.

Researchers want to know if Dart (short for Double Asteroid Redirection Test) created a crater or changed the 500-foot (150-meter) asteroid more dramatically. It seemed to be a flying saucer before Dart’s blow and may now resemble a kidney bean, according to Richardson, who participated in the Dart mission and is assisting Hera.

Dart’s wallop sent rubble and boulders hurtling off Dimorphos, adding to the impact’s momentum. For months, the debris track extended thousands of miles (almost 10,000 kilometers) into space.

According to flight director Ignacio Tanco, some rocks and debris may still be hovering about the asteroid, posing a threat to Hera.

A Spacecraft Is On Its Way To A Harmless Asteroid Slammed By NASA In A Previous Save-The-Earth Test

“We don’t really know very well the environment in which we are going to operate,” Tanco informed me. “But that’s the whole point of the mission is to go there and find out.”

European authorities refer to the $400 million (363 million euros) effort as a “crash scene investigation.”

“Hera is going back to the crime scene and getting all the scientific and technical information,” said project manager Ian Carnelli.

Carrying a dozen science instruments, the compact car-sized Hera must swing past Mars in 2025 for a gravitational boost before landing at Dimorphos by the end of 2026. It’s a moonlet of Didymos, the Greek word for twin, a five-times larger asteroid that spins quickly. At that point, the asteroids will be 120 million miles (195 million kilometers) from Earth.

Hera will attempt to enter orbit around the rocky duo, progressively reducing flyby distances from 18 miles (30 kilometers) to a half-mile (1 kilometer). The spacecraft will examine the moonlet for at least six months to determine its mass, shape, composition, and orbit around Didymos.

Before the crash, Dimorphos circled its larger partner from three-quarters of a mile (1,189 meters) away. Scientists believe the orbit has become tighter and more oval-shaped, and that the moonlet may be tumbling.

Two shoebox-sized Cubesats will launch from Hera for even closer drone-like examinations, with one employing radar to peek beneath the moonlet’s boulder-strewn surface. Scientists believe Dimorphos was produced from particles shed by Didymos. The radar measurements should assist in determining whether Didymos is the small moon’s parent.

A Spacecraft Is On Its Way To A Harmless Asteroid Slammed By NASA In A Previous Save-The-Earth Test

After their survey, the CubeSats will attempt to land on the moonlet. If the moonlet tumbles, the situation will become more complicated. Hera may potentially conclude its mission with a perilous touchdown but on the bigger Didymos.

Neither asteroid poses a threat to Earth, before or after Dart appeared. That is why NASA chose the pair for humanity’s first asteroid-deflecting demonstration.

Asteroids, which are remnants of the solar system’s origin 4.6 billion years ago, circle the sun principally between Mars and Jupiter in what is known as the main asteroid belt, where millions of them live. When they fall from the belt and land in our area, they become near-Earth objects.

NASA now has around 36,000 near-Earth objects, the majority of which are asteroids, although there are also some comets. More than 2,400 of them are deemed potentially dangerous to the Earth.

SOURCE | AP

Science

A Rare Comet Brightens The Night Skies In October

Published

3 weeks ago

2024-10-09

Kiara Grace

NEW YORK — Prepare to spot a rare and dazzling comet.

The space rock is hurling toward Earth from the far reaches of the solar system and will make its closest approach on Saturday. It should be visible through the end of October, assuming clear skies.

A Rare Comet Brightens The Night Skies In October

Comet Tsuchinshan-Atlas should be visible to the naked eye, but binoculars and telescopes will provide a clearer view.

“It’ll be this fuzzy circle with a long tail stretching away from it,” explained Sally Brummel, planetarium manager at the Bell Museum in Minnesota.

What is a comet?
They are frozen remains from billions of years ago when the solar system was formed. They heat up as they swing toward the sun, revealing their distinctive streaming tails.

In 2023, a green one that had last visited Earth 50,000 years ago flew past again. Other significant flybys were Neowise in 2020 and Hale-Bopp and Hyakutake in the mid to late 1990s.

Where did Tsuchinshan-Atlas come from?
Also known as C/2023 A3, was found last year and named after the observatories in China and South Africa that spotted it.

It originated in the Oort Cloud, which extends far beyond Pluto. After making its closest approach to Earth at 44 million miles (71 million kilometers), it will not return for another 80,000 years, provided it survives the journey.

A Rare Comet Brightens The Night Skies In October

Every year, several comets are detected, but many of them burn up near the sun or are too far away to be observed without special equipment, according to Larry Denneau, a key researcher with the Atlas telescope that helped discover it.

How to View

Those seeking to see Tsuchinshan-Atlas should go outside about an hour after sunset on a clear night and look to the west.

The comet should be visible from both the Northern and Southern Hemispheres.

SOURCE | AP

Science

NASA Switches Off Instrument On Voyager 2 Spacecraft To Save Power

Published

3 weeks ago

2024-10-07

Kiara Grace

NEW YORK — To save power, NASA turned off another scientific equipment on its long-running Voyager 2 spacecraft.

NASA Switches Off Instrument On the Spacecraft To Save Power

The space agency announced on Tuesday that 2’s plasma science instrument, meant to study the movement of charged atoms, was turned off in late September to allow the spacecraft to continue exploring for as long as possible, which is estimated to be into the 2030s.

NASA turned off a suite of instruments on Voyager 2 and its twin, Voyager 1, after exploring the gas giant planets in the 1980s. Both are currently in interstellar space or the region between stars. The plasma instrument on Voyager 1 stopped working years ago and was finally shut off in 2007.

The remaining four instruments on 2 will continue to collect data on magnetic fields and particles. Its mission is to investigate the regions of space beyond the sun’s protective sphere.

NASA Switches Off Instrument On Voyager 2 Spacecraft To Save Power

It launched in 1977, is the only spacecraft to have visited Uranus and Neptune. It is now more than 12 billion miles (19.31 billion kilometers) from Earth. 1 is more than 15 billion miles (24.14 billion kilometers) beyond Earth.

SOURCE | AP