Research, editing : Gan Yung Chyan, KUCINTA SETIA
America will lose a new Cold War arms race with China within a decade unless it takes a tougher stance with Beijing, a Republican congressman has warned after it was revealed the Chinese tested a new hypersonic nuke.
Mike Gallagher, a member of the armed services committee, blasted the Biden administration for 'complacency' and said America needs to 'aggressively' re-think its relations with China after security sources revealed that Beijing launched a rocket that carried a nuclear-capable hypersonic missile into space back in August.
While China was known to be working on the technology, the test took analysts by surprise and showed Beijing's missile programme is more advanced than previously thought. "We have no idea how they did this," one said.
Issuing a stark warning after news of the test became public at the weekend, Mr Gallagher said, "If we stick to our current complacent course... we will lose the New Cold War with Communist China within the decade.
China carried out a test of the new hypersonic weapon back in August, according to the Financial Times, which said it was launched into space on a Long March 2C rocket.
Beijing has been regularly announcing launches of the rocket, including the 77th launch in July this year and the 79th launch in late August. But it never announced a 78th launch. It is now thought that rocket carried the nuke.
After being carried into space on a rocket, a hypersonic glide vehicle - of the kind that China has showed off before in military parades - is released into low-Earth orbit, circling the globe at speeds up to Mach 5, or five times the speed of sound.
During this flight it can be manoeuvered and repositioned before dropping out of orbit, crashing back down on to a target while avoiding missile detection systems and blind-siding defences designed to shoot it down.
While the Chinese test missile missed its intended target by some 24 miles - according to sources familiar with the test - the fact that it is so far along with the development of the weapon has caused alarm.
News (23)
Pentagon responds to the CCP's hypersonic weapon test
The Pentagon did not comment on China's testing of the hypersonic missile, but did acknowledge China as their "number one pacing challenge".
"We have made clear our concerns about the military capabilities China continues to pursue, capabilities that only increase tensions in the region and beyond," John Kirby, a Pentagon spokesperson, told Fox News. "That is one reason why we hold China as our number one pacing challenge."
News (24)
Global Times: The Chinese hypersonic weapon "new blow to the US's mentality of strategic superiority over China"
After news of the test was made public, Beijing's state media mocked America by saying it is a 'new blow to the US's mentality of strategic superiority over China'.
An op-ed in the Chinese state media outlet Global Times, Beijing's mouthpiece, said the test means 'there is a key new member in CCP China's nuclear deterrence system', adding that this is a 'new blow to the US's mentality of strategic superiority over China'.
Global Times said, "If the FT report is to be believed, it means that there is a key new member in China's nuclear deterrence system, which is a new blow to the US' mentality of strategic superiority over China.
"It is important to note the unstoppable trend that China is narrowing the gap with the US in some key military technologies as China is continuously developing its economic and technological strength."
"China doesn't need to engage in an 'arms race' with the US – it is capable of weakening the US" overall advantages over China by developing military power at its own pace,' the editorial added.
This is the latest development in a terrifying arms race taking place in Asia as tensions between CCP China and Taiwan continue to grow.
At a 2019 parade, China showcased advancing weaponry including its hypersonic missile, known as the DF-17.
Ballistic missiles fly into outer space before returning on steep trajectories at higher speeds. Hypersonic weapons are difficult to defend against because they fly towards targets at lower altitudes but can achieve more than five times the speed of sound - or about 6,200 km per hour (3,850 mph).
China's ministry of defence did not immediately respond to a faxed request for comment on Sunday.
News (25) to (28) / Reporter : Luo Tingting / Editor: Wen Hui
News (25)
Yu Maochun: Dealing with the CCP and the Chinese people, the United States is very divided
Image : Pompeo and Yu Maochun (right), former US Secretary of State. (Provided by the U.S. State Department)
Yu Maochun, the former chief adviser of China's policy planning at the White House, recently stated that the CCP is a dictatorship and does not represent the 1.4 billion Chinese people. The US government’s dealings with the CCP is one thing, and dealings with the Chinese people is another matter. "We are very separate on this."
News (26)
Yu Maochun: The United States helps the Chinese people express their demands
During the last U.S. government, Yu Maochun served as Secretary of State Pompeo’s Chief China Policy and Planning Advisor, and had an important influence on U.S. China policy. He is currently a senior researcher at the Hudson Institute and a visiting researcher at the Hoover Institution.
Radio Free Asia reported on 17 October 2021 that Yu Maochun accompanied Pompeo to Northern California on the 16th to meet with local Hong Kong groups and Chinese dissidents.
In an interview with Radio Free Asia in Livermore, Yu Maochun said that the Communist Party of China is an autocratic political party that concentrates all power in its own hands, saying that “the party, the government, the military, and the people in the east, the west, the north and the south, the party must lead everything.” This is a very hegemonic and dictatorial political concept, and it is constantly practicing, using high-tech and modern technological capabilities to impose the Communist Party's ruling concept on the Chinese people.
"Therefore, the fundamental interests of the Communist Party and the fundamental interests of the Chinese people are in absolute conflict." Yu Maochun said.
He believes that the CCP’s claim that it represents 1.4 billion Chinese people is groundless. "The problem now is that the Communist Party strictly controls Chinese speech and public opinion tools, and the people have no chance to express their vital interests."
Yu Maochun pointed out that what the U.S. government is doing is to create an opportunity for the Chinese people as far as possible under conditions permitted by international norms and international laws to give them a chance to express their demands. "It is necessary for them to say something dissatisfied with the Communist Party, and not be the possibility of the Communist Party's autocratic suppression."
Yu Maochun said that dealing with the Chinese Communist Party is one thing for the U.S. government, and dealing with the Chinese people is another thing. The United States is actively developing non-governmental exchanges with China, and the Chinese people are very eager to study in the United States. However, the CCP used this to manipulate foreign students and dispatch spies to steal American high-tech and intellectual property rights.
Yu Maochun said, "We are very separate." During the Trump administration, the Trump administration severely cracked down on spies and secret agents sent by the CCP. At the same time, it continued to allow Chinese students to study in the United States. The CCP uses the United States to restrict some student visas that cooperate with the CCP to incite anti-American sentiment. This is very bad.
He pointed out that the CCP is very afraid that the Chinese people will identify with the political philosophy and political system of the United States. This is one of the most fundamental reasons for the continued deterioration of Sino-US relations. It has nothing to do with the fact that hawks and doves in the US government are in power.
News (27)
Yu Maochun: The CCP’s current situation is very passive and isolated
Yu Maochun believes that China’s problems have recently become more concentrated, and American politics, business, academia, and policy have all paid more attention to it. It is not that the international community wants to contain the CCP, but a series of policies adopted by the CCP that make the international community dissatisfied. Therefore, the CCP is now in a very passive and isolated situation.
He gave examples, such as the CCP’s aircraft disrupting Taiwan and taking an oath of sovereignty but the whole world has vowed to protect and promote democracy and freedom in Taiwan. Therefore, the CCP is in a more isolated position, "this is the basic trend of failure of the CCP's major power diplomacy."
Regarding the Hong Kong issue and Xinjiang issue, Yu Maochun said that the CCP completely abandoned its promise a year ago. This was actually a complete blow to the CCP’s own prestige. Therefore, the Chinese Communist government has lost its face in front of the whole world. "It not only turned its back on the people of Hong Kong, but also turned its back on the people of the world."
The Xinjiang concentration camps are not only to torture Xinjiang people physically, but also to use the concentration camps to brainwash them. Yu Maochun said that this is a "learning class", no different from the brainwashing system of labor camps organized by the CCP for decades or the May 7th Cadre School.
When the Trump administration was about to end, Secretary of State Pompeo designated the CCP’s persecution of human rights in Xinjiang as genocide. Yu Maochun said that this requires a lot of courage, and the international community has further proved that this definition is very correct.
News (28)
Yu Maochun: Pompeo's China policy will be further sublimated
He also talked about Pompeo's running for the president of the United States, and praised Pompeo for being very courageous, principled, and loving the United States very much. He said that if Pompeo announces his candidacy for President of the United States, his China policy will be further sublimated.
"I hope he can stand in the election, and I hope he can win the other hand," Yu Maochun said.
News (29)
NUG endorses ASEAN's decision to select the truly neutral representative of Myanmar to attend ASEAN summit
Press Release : National Unity Government of Myanmar
Source below : Myanmar Now
Myanmar’s shadow government said on Monday (18 October 2021) that it welcomed a
decision by the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) not to allow the
country’s military chief to attend a summit of the regional grouping later this
month.
In a statement, the National Unity Government (NUG) called the
move an “unprecedented and positive step” and urged the bloc to ensure that not
only junta members, but also “any individuals and organisations” associated
with the regime, are barred from the summit.
“ASEAN must ensure the Myanmar representative can objectively
represent the interests of Myanmar and its people,” the NUG said in its
statement.
“We stand ready to provide recommendations for [a] non-political
representative for ASEAN’s evaluation and consideration,” it added in response
to the bloc’s announcement that it would invite an alternative representative
for Myanmar to the summit.
On Saturday (16 October 2021), ASEAN’s current chair Brunei announced that junta
chief Min Aung Hlaing would not be invited to the upcoming summit due to his
regime’s failure to implement a five-point consensus reached between the
junta and the regional grouping in April.
The NUG said that the military had taken advantage of
the principle to prevent meaningful engagement to resolve Myanmar’s current
political crisis as it continued to try to consolidate control over the country
“by force and violence.”
“The junta has betrayed not only its own people but also the
leadership of ASEAN,” the NUG statement said.
In a 13-minute televised address on Monday (19 October 2021), Min Aung Hlaing
accused the NUG, the ousted lawmakers’ Committee Representing Pyidaungsu
Hluttaw (CRPH), and some ethnic armed groups of inciting violence and
sabotaging the military’s efforts to restore peace and stability since the
April consensus.
“We still have to solve this till today,” he said, arguing that
opponents of the regime are chiefly responsible for the ongoing violence in the
country.
“No one has been trying to prevent and stop their violence, but
they have demanded that we solve those problems. ASEAN should help us deal with
that,” he added.
Regarding last week’s postponement of a planned trip to Myanmar by ASEAN’s special envoy
to the country, Erywan Yusof, the junta chief said that further negotiations
would be needed before the visit could go ahead.
News (30)
Over 5,600 anti-coup protestors released on 18 October 2021
Source : The Irrawaddy
Myanmar’s military regime released over 1,300 people jailed for participating in anti-coup protests on Monday, while also freeing more than 4,300 detainees who were facing charges for their anti-regime activism.
The amnesty came after coup chief Senior General Min Aung Hlaing was excluded on Saturday from an annual Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) leaders’ summit.
Some 24 artists and 10 celebrities who were facing lawsuits for their role in anti-regime movements had the cases against them closed as part of the amnesty. But those charged with bombings or destroying public property were excluded from the amnesty.
The 5,600-odd people freed on Monday were warned that if they are re-arrested they will have to serve the rest of their original sentences, as well as any new one. “If they commit crimes again, they will have to serve the remaining sentences in addition,” said the junta statement accompanying the prisoner release.
Ref: https://www.irrawaddy.com/news/burma/myanmar-junta-releases-over-5600-anti-coup-protesters.html
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