China spent the weekend trying to intimidate Taiwan:
China sent warships and dozens of fighter jets toward Taiwan on Saturday, the Taiwanese government said, in retaliation for a meeting between the U.S. House of Representatives speaker and the president of the self-ruled island democracy claimed by Beijing as part of its territory.
The Chinese military announced the start of three-day “combat readiness patrols” as a warning to Taiwanese who want to make the island’s de facto independence permanent. The People’s Liberation Army gave no indication whether they might include a repeat of previous exercises with missiles fired into the sea, which disrupted shipping and airline flights.
Speaker Kevin McCarthy held talks with President Tsai Ing-wen on Thursday in California, adding to a series of foreign lawmakers who have met Tsai to show support in the face of Chinese intimidation. Beijing responded Friday by imposing a travel ban and financial sanctions against American groups and individuals associated with Tsai’s U.S. visit.
On Saturday, eight warships and 42 planes were detected near Taiwan, 29 of which flew across the middle line of the strait that separates it from the mainland, the island’s Ministry of Defense said. It said they included Chengdu J-10, Shenyang J-11 and Shenyang J-16 jet fighters.
Stars & Stripes
You can read more at the link.
I hoped nobody is shocked by the news that the U.S. collects intelligence on its allies:
The presidential office said Sunday it will hold necessary discussions with the United States following a U.S. report accusing the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) of intercepting South Korean government communications regarding aid to Ukraine in war with Russia.
In a report published Saturday in the U.S. (local time), the New York Times said some parts of the CIA documents, posted on a social media chat platform Discord, detailed South Korea’s “internal debates about whether to give the U.S. artillery shells for use in Ukraine, violating Seoul’s policy on providing lethal aid.”
The newspaper noted South Korean officials were concerned that U.S. President Joe Biden would pressure President Yoon Suk Yeol to come through and that the U.S. learned about South Korean deliberations through “a signals intelligence report.” It’s a term used by spy agencies to describe intercepted communications, from phone calls to electronic messages, according to the New York Times.
Yonhap
You can read more at the link.
Please leave anything you want to discuss in the comments section.
The trilateral naval exercise was quite successful in getting the attention of the Kim regime. Lets hope many more of them are scheduled in the future:
North Korea on Thursday denounced South Korea and the United States’ latest joint military drills as an “unprecedented” war rehearsal, vowing to take “offensive” military steps against such actions.
In a commentary carried by the Korean Central News Agency, Choe Ju-hyon, a critic of international security affairs, said Seoul and Washington’s “frantic” military drills have turned the Korean Peninsula into a “powder keg” that can explode at any moment.
“Our war deterrence will continue to show responsibility and confidence in its critical mission with offensive actions,” Choe said.
Yonhap
You can read more at the link.
I have been very critical about the claim of altitude sickness being the cause of the crash that killed two Japanese civilians by a U.S. naval officer. After reading this really good article from Military.com about the accident, I am more convinced then ever he just simply fell asleep at wheel:
Navy Lt. Ridge Alkonis was driving his car, filled with his wife and their three children, down from the heights of Mount Fuji on May 29, 2021. It’s an iconic destination for both Japanese and foreign tourists alike, a peak that serves as a sentry over much of central Japan.
Alkonis and his family had taken the trip at the request of his second daughter, spending an hour near the summit before planning to go to a dairy farm in the foothills that sells pizza and ice cream.
As they descended the mountain, Alkonis felt something was wrong but chose to keep going because they were very close to the next town, he would later testify at his trial.
He lost consciousness right as the vehicle approached a roadside noodle restaurant, swerving into the parking lot and hitting three parked cars, pushing one into a fourth vehicle, before crashing into a fifth and final car. Between the layers of metal, two Japanese nationals, an 85-year-old woman and her 54-year-old son-in-law, were crushed. They both died.
Two members of the Alkonis family were taken to a local hospital, but the sailor himself did not receive medical attention. All have made a full recovery. Today, Alkonis sits in a Japanese prison, serving a three-year sentence after being convicted of negligent driving.
That’s the part of the story that no one disputes. It’s the other parts — why Alkonis lost consciousness, how he’s been treated in Japanese custody — that have drawn in lawmakers, led to accusations of a “false” conviction, and even put pressure on the legal agreement that governs U.S. service members’ presence in Japan.
Military.com
The big thing to take from this passage is that he did not even go to the summit of Mt. Fuji which has an altitude of over 12,600 feet. Instead he just drove to one of the stations where hikes begin at about 7,000 feet. People travel to cities like Colorado Springs in the U.S. that is near 7,000 feet every day and you don’t see them crashing vehicles due to altitude sickness.
Additionally the accident happened in Fujinomiya which is almost near sea level. Altitude sickness gets better when losing altitude not worse. I think he got up early to drive to Mt. Fuji from his home in Yokosuka and simply feel asleep at the wheel after a long day of driving.
I highly recommend reading the rest of the article because the claims made by his wife and her Congressional supporters conflict with the facts of the case. The Japanese put a big emphasis on self responsibility and all the excuses is probably why he will not be released early.
