Welcome to the Stealth War Newsletter, a collection of the top 5 recent news items, collected on The Jamestown Foundation's website, stealth-war.org. To continue to receive this weekly collection, click the button below to subscribe.
|
|
Stat Du Jour
This issue's number to watch
52%
Amount of globally operational coal-fired power capacity for which China is responsible for. In 2022, China was responsible for 66% of new coal-fired power energy capacity. |
|
|
This Week:
* As Chinese Surveillance Balloon Flies Over Continental U.S., Secretary of State Blinken Postpones Beijing Trip
* Xi’s Forthcoming Visit to Moscow Demonstrates Continued Resilience of China-Russia Partnership
* Taiwan Cracks Spy Rings Involving High-Ranking Military Officers
* Construction of $700 million Chinese Corn Mill Near Air Force Base in North Dakota Halted
* In Tibet, China’s Iron Fist Tightens with New Cybersecurity Law |
|
As Chinese Surveillance Balloon Flies Over Continental U.S., Secretary of State Blinken Postpones Beijing Trip |
|
At a press briefing on February 2, the Pentagon revealed that NORAD was tracking a Chinese surveillance balloon, which had been sighted flying approximately 60,000 feet over Montana. Following talks between President Biden and defense officials, the decision was made not to shoot the balloon down. Officials cited concerns that debris falling from that height would be hard to predict and as a result, were unwilling to risk potential injuries or property damage on the ground. The resulting diplomatic row, however, prompted U.S. Secretary of State Anthony Blinken to postpone his trip to Beijing today, just hours before he was scheduled to depart.
Department of Defense officials revealed that the balloon had originally been sighted over the Aleutian Islands, passing through Alaska and Canada before reaching Montana. Although Chinese government officials have claimed that the balloon is intended for civilian meteorological research, the craft is clearly not a standard weather balloon.
The balloon in question is approximately three times the size of a normal weather balloon, and has survived for days since it left mainland China, rather than the hours a standard balloon would. The balloon seems to have a significant capacity to maintain position and maneuver, changing altitude to pick up or avoid air currents going in an unfavorable direction.
The Chinese balloon’s location in particular has caused some concern, as it appears close to Maelstrom Air Force Base and the missile fields that surround it, one of three missile fields that make up the land component of the nuclear triad. The trajectory of the balloon is not known at the time of writing, but may pass through one of the other missile fields, arrayed around Minot Air Force Base (the only base which hosts two legs of the nuclear triad) or F.E. Warren AFB in Wyoming.
|
|
Xi’s Forthcoming Visit to Moscow Demonstrates Continued Resilience of China-Russia Partnership |
|
Russia’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs announced on January 30 that Chinese President Xi Jinping was expected to visit Russia in the spring, the latest in a series of four-dozen meetings between the two leaders over the past decade and the second in-person visit since the start of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. The ministry added that the meeting would “strengthen and advance” interstate ties and be considered the “central event” in bilateral relations in 2023. The announcement comes on the heels of Russian President Vladimir Putin’s teleconference with President Xi in December, 2022, when he urged the Chinese leader to come for an in-person visit in springtime. Notably, however, Chinese Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Mao Ning did not confirm the visit, stating that while Russia and China were “comprehensive strategic partners,” she was “not aware” of the planned visit.
As Xi’s visit to Moscow indicates, China’s partnership with Russia has shown few signs of slowing down despite Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Beijing remains an eager consumer of Russian hydrocarbon and energy products, with imports soaring in 2022. As China reopens from its three year-long isolation under the zero-COVID policy, more Chinese are also going to Russia, with the country establishing itself as one of the top international destinations for Chinese students. While Beijing has strictly avoided granting diplomatic recognition to Russia’s illegal annexation of Ukrainian territory, the economic support extended to Moscow has been a vital lifeline for Russia as it attempts to survive Western sanctions. |
|
Taiwan Cracks Spy Rings Involving High-Ranking Military Officers |
|
Last month, a Taipei court determined that two former high-ranking military officers were found guilty of espionage in violation of Taiwan’s National Security Act. The case involved two officers, former Air Force Major General Chien Yao-tung and Lt. Col. Wei Hsien-yi, who sought to recruit colleagues to spy for China. The arrest is the latest in a series of recent espionage cases involving Taiwan's military.
On January 6, seven members of an Air Force spy ring were arrested in the southern city of Kaoshiung. The group was headed by a Colonel, who is suspected to have worked for China since at least 2013. In late November, a retired marine Major was arrested for seeking to enter a naval base with a false idea in order to take photographs for Chinese intelligence.
Penetration of Taiwanese society by PRC intelligence and influence operations remains a major challenge. Taiwan’s National Security Act is periodically amended and has recently been strengthened to address these threats. |
|
Construction of $700 million Chinese Corn Mill Near Air Force Base in North Dakota Halted |
|
On January 27, Assistant Secretary of the Air Force for Acquisition, Technology and Logistics Andrew P. Hunter declared that the planned construction of a $700 million corn mill by Fufeng USA—an American branch of the Chinese agrochemical giant Fufeng Group—in Grand Forks, North Dakota represented a “significant threat to national security with both near- and long-term risks of significant impact to our operations in the area.” 370 acres of land were purchased in November 2021 by Fufeng USA for $2.6 million, about 12 miles away from Grand Forks Air Force Base.
The proposed mill would have been sizable, processing 25 million bushels of corn annually, or, approximately 6 percent of North Dakota’s crop; China is a major importer of US corn. Since the purchase of the land, the situation was sent to the federal Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS) for review. Last August, CFIUS declared that it lacked jurisdiction in the matter, leaving the issue to local officials to decide. It was not until the Air Force provided a clear statement regarding the matter that local authorities decided to block the construction. With the land already sold to Fufeng, city authorities have decided that the best course of action at this point is to issue no further permits and refuse the project any connection to preexisting industrial infrastructure, preventing the construction of the mill.
While Assistant Secretary Hunter did not specify what that threat to national security was, Grand Forks Air Force Base hosts the 319th Reconnaissance Wing and its constituent 348th Reconnaissance Squadron, the main operator of the RQ-4 Global Hawk unmanned aircraft system. Grand Forks AFB is a hub for UAV research as well, with “Grand Sky,” the US’s only commercial unmanned aerial systems research and development park, located on the base. Grand Sky is one of the centers of research into beyond visual line of sight (BVLOS) drone technology, considered a cutting edge technology in drone development. |
|
In Tibet, China’s Iron Fist Tightens with New Cybersecurity Law |
|
Earlier this week, authorities in the People’s Republic of China (PRC) put in place a new "cybersecurity" law in Tibet. The law would impose harsh punishment for anyone in Tibet who fosters "public disorder by engaging in separatist acts" online. In general, the law expands the already extensive censorship and digital surveillance of ethnic Tibetans. The law is purposefully ambiguous, using broad language. It does not specify what constitutes a "separatist act," generating fear that any discussion of Tibetan culture, society or religion could be targeted. It could also be applied not only to statements, but mere liking or sharing of content related to Tibetan identity. The edict is particularly chilling as PRC authorities have already sent large numbers of Tibetan Buddhist monks and nuns to mandatory, residential “re-education facilities.” The purpose of “reeducation” is ideological indoctrination, i.e., to instill unswerving loyalty to the Chinese Communist Party and Xi Jinping. |
|
|
Comments
Post a Comment