China
Obama Silences Pentagon Orders Them To Stop Talking About Threat From Chinese Military
The Obama White House has barred Pentagon leaders from a key talking point when it comes to publicly describing the military challenges posed by China.
The Obama White House has barred Pentagon leaders from a key talking point when it comes to publicly describing the military challenges posed by China.
In February, Defense Secretary Ash Carter cited the “return to great power of competition” in the Asia-Pacific, “where China is rising.” Similarly, Chief of Naval Operations Adm. John Richardson characterized China and Russia as rivals in this “great power competition” in his maritime strategy.
But a recent directive from the National Security Council ordered Pentagon leaders to strike out that phrase and find something less inflammatory, according to four officials familiar with the classified document, revealed here for the first time by Navy Times. Obama administration officials and some experts say “great power competition” inaccurately frames the U.S. and China as on a collision course, but other experts warn that China’s ship building, man-made islands and expansive claims in the South and East China seas are hostile to U.S. interests. This needlessly muddies leaders’ efforts to explain the tough measures needed to contain China’s rise, these critics say.
China threat to USA with New advanced ballistic missiles:
“Their explanation is an exercise in nuance and complexity, purposely chosen by the administration to provide maximum flexibility, to prevent them from committing to a real structural approach to the most important national security challenge of our time,” said Bryan McGrath, a naval expert and retired destroyer skipper.
The Obama administration, however, believes that the term “great power competition” oversimplifies a complicated relationship with a rising superpower.
“Nothing is preordained about this relationship,” said a senior administration official in a Sunday phone call. “We don’t buy into the notion that an established and rising power are destined for conflict.”
Top Pentagon spokesman Peter Cook declined to comment on the NSC directive.
“As I am sure you know, we don’t comment on internal policy documents or discussions, especially ones that may be incomplete, and so we will decline to comment here as well,” Cook said.
The Pentagon and the White House have grappled with how to engage with China while confronting their expansive military moves. Early this year, some Pentagon leaders urged tough responses to China’s island building, which threatens allies like the Philippines. In March, the White House similarly dissuaded military leaders from airing differences over the Chinese moves in the South China Sea so as not to complicate a high-level meeting between the the U.S. and Chinese presidents.
Japan expresses concern over “China Threat”:
The U.S. later adopted more muscular moves, like sending destroyers on close passes of China’s fake islands and sending more ships, troops and aircraft to rotate through the Philippines — a neighbor at odds with China over its claims.
‘High-end enemy’
The confrontational rhetoric has at times upset the White House as it pursues agenda items beyond security challenges. The latest directive comes after a September state trip by President Obama and National Security Advisor Susan Rice to the Group of 20 summit in Hangzhou, China.
“Great power competition” has been at the core of Carter’s message, as the services reinvest in the state-of-the-art weapons needed to deter sophisticated opponents like Russia and China.
“We will be prepared for a high-end enemy,” Carter said in February talk to the Economic Forum. “That’s what we call full spectrum. In our budget, our plans, our capabilities and our actions, we must demonstrate to potential foes, that if they start a war, we have the capability to win. … In this context, Russia and China are our most stressing competitors. They have developed and are continuing to advance military systems that seek to threaten our advantages in specific areas. And in some case, they are developing weapons and ways of wars that seek to achieve their objectives rapidly, before they hope, we can respond.”
Great power competition was also the central idea of the CNO’s strategic guidance, which said Russia and China have “a growing arsenal of high-end war-fighting capabilities, many of which are focused specifically on our vulnerabilities.”
Rumors of the directive also rankled some on Capitol Hill. During a recent Senate Armed Services Committee hearing, Sen. Tom Cotton, R-Ark., asked Carter and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Joe Dunford to comment.
“Gen. Dunford, are we in great power competition with China?” Cotton asked, to which Dunford replied: “We are, senator.”
When Cotton asked Carter, the secretary replied: “We are. Absolutely right.”
A complex relationship
The back-and-forth comes amid debate about how to confront China’s increasingly aggressive behavior in the South and East China seas. China’s land reclamation projects in the vicinity of the Spratly Islands have been the focus of rising tensions between China and the United States and its regional allies like the Philippines.
In July, an international tribunal dealt a legal blow to China. The panel in The Hague, Netherlands, dismissed China’s attempt to create legal rights for features in the Spratly Islands chain by constructing air strips and bases there. The ruling states that piling dirt and sand on rocky outcroppings and reefs doesn’t confer additional resource rights to the waters around it.
Despite the ruling, China has not vacated its islands and is currently threatening to expand its claims with a new island-building project near Scarborough Shoal, less than 140 miles from the Philippines’ capital and well within the Philippines’ 200-mile exclusive economic zone. A military base on Scarborough would threaten U.S. troops and aircraft in that country.
China has also edged in on Japanese claims in the East China Sea, which has prompted the pacifist nation to increase its military activities and spending. In 2015, Japan passed a record defense spending bill, largely in response to the Chinese threat.
For its part, the Obama administration insists it’s not blind to the threat China’s activities pose to American interests.
“We always talk about maximizing cooperation to the extent possible,” the senior administration official said. “But we are very clear-eyed and candid about the differences and that there is competition between us. … There is no question that some of China’s activities in the maritime realm are generating significant tension, but there are other areas where developments have been extremely positive.”
The official went on to say that using a “slogan” to describe a complicated relationship is unhelpful, pointing to progress on a climate change pact and global health programs.
Several leading experts have called for precisely that kind of nuanced approach to the world’s most populous country.
“My view is that it’s unhelpful to describe a very complex relationship in a simple phrase, regardless of whether it is positive or negative,” said Bonnie Glaser, the director of the China Power Project at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington.
Michael O’Hanlon, an influential security policy expert at the Brookings Institution, said that focusing solely on the positive or the negative aspects of the relationship isn’t good policy.
“To oversimplify in either direction is not only analytically inaccurate, but consequential for the tone and substance of the relationship,” he said. “The White House really does have it right, I strongly believe.”
A Pentagon spokesman said the U.S. relationship with China focuses on competition and cooperation.
“The US-China relationship is composed of competitive and cooperative elements,” said Navy Cmdr. Gary Ross in an email. “It is only natural that, as the deterrent arm of the United States government, the Defense Department is prepared for the possibility of conflict with any potential aggressor.”
“At the same time, we have worked hard at reducing tensions and increasing transparency with China by implementing confidence building measures in both the maritime and air domains. We also have a long-standing military to military relationship. We will continue to engage with China as appropriate, while being open and clear about our differences.”
The NSC’s directive is unsettling for those who view China’s military buildup as the key driver of the U.S.-China relationship — and a threat to the post-World War II world order.
“This kind of lawyerly nuancing is not what the American people need,” said McGrath, who leads the consulting firm The FerryBridge Group. “They don’t need nationalism or jingoism, they need a restatement of the role the U.S. plays in the proper function, security and prosperity of the world. To actually contend in great power competition, you have to identify for the American people what is the problem. The problem with this administrations’ insistence in avoiding terms that the American people understand is it lacks clarity.
“What this means is we will spend at least the next 90 days with an administration that’s just trying to tread water.” source
China
Palestinian Terror Groups Travel To Communist China To Sign The ‘Beijing Declaration’ Creating A National Unity Government To Come Against Israel
The Beijing Declaration was signed at the closing ceremony of a reconciliation dialogue among the factions held in China’s capital from July 21-23.
In further proof that we are living in the end times prophesied in your King James Bible, this amazing thing just happened. A meeting was held in Communist China that brought together representatives of 14 Palestinian terror groups to sign something called the Beijing Declaration creating a national unity government in Palestine. There is so much end times stuff happening in this one event that we will talk about it on our Tuesday night Bible study this evening.
“The kings of the earth stood up, and the rulers were gathered together against the Lord, and against his Christ.” Acts 4:26 (KJB)
If you’ve ever watched the movie ‘The Godfather’ and saw the scene about the meeting of the 5 crime families, then you know what’s happening here. Communist China has formed this alliance with Palestinian terror groups because all of them seek the destruction of the nation of Israel. At some point Russia will jump into the action as well. Things are moving very quickly now, Christian, as this next giant step on the end times timeline takes place.
Hamas, Fatah, Palestinian factions agree to end divisions, form unity gov’t after China talks
FROM THE JERUSALEM POST: Various Palestinian factions including rivals Hamas and Fatah agreed to end their divisions and form a national unity government during negotiations in China that ended Tuesday, according to Chinese state media.
The Beijing Declaration was signed at the closing ceremony of a reconciliation dialogue among the factions held in China’s capital from July 21-23, state broadcaster CCTV said.
Senior Hamas official Hussam Badran said the most important point of the Beijing Declaration was to form a Palestinian national unity government to manage the affairs of Palestinians. In a statement to their Telegram, Hamas claimed that the Beijing Declaration was a positive step towards achieving Palestinian national unity, thanking the host country China “with its international weight and its firm position in support of the Palestinian cause.”
The statement criticized the US, saying, “The American administration stands against any internal Palestinian national consensus and is completely biased and even partners with the occupation in its crimes against our people.”
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has said his goal is to destroy Hamas, an Iranian-backed terror group, and opposes it having any role in a post-war Gaza administration. Foreign Affairs Minister Israel Katz responded to the deal between the factions in a post to X, stating, “Hamas and Fatah signed an agreement in China for joint control of Gaza after the war.”
“Instead of rejecting terrorism, Mahmoud Abbas embraces the murderers and rapists of Hamas, revealing his true face. In reality, this won’t happen because Hamas’s rule will be crushed, and Abbas will be watching Gaza from afar. Israel’s security will remain solely in Israel’s hands.”
A total of 14 Palestinian factions, including the leaders of Fatah and Hamas, also met with the media, with China’s Foreign Minister Wang Yi present, CGTN said in a social media post.
The agreement marks a diplomatic coup for Beijing and its growing influence in the Middle East. Last year, Beijing brokered a breakthrough peace deal between longstanding regional foes Saudi Arabia and Iran. Badran praised China in a statement for its significant effort to host the talks and reach such a declaration. READ MORE
Big Blow To Israel & U.S; Palestinian Factions Unite | Hamas, Fatah Sign ‘Beijing Declaration’
Hamas and Fatah have signed an agreement in Beijing to form a national unity government and govern Gaza post-war. China, hosting the talks, emphasized the importance of a ceasefire and humanitarian aid. This move strengthens China’s role as a mediator in the Middle East following its successful mediation between Iran and Saudi Arabia in 2023.
Now The End Begins is your front line defense against the rising tide of darkness in the last Days before the Rapture of the Church
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When you contribute to this fundraising effort, you are helping us to do what the Lord called us to do. The money you send in goes primarily to the overall daily operations of this site. When people ask for Bibles, we send them out at no charge. When people write in and say how much they would like gospel tracts but cannot afford them, we send them a box at no cost to them for either the tracts or the shipping, no matter where they are in the world. We have a Gospel Billboard program. We are now broadcasting Bible studies, Podcasts and a Sunday Service 5 times a week, thanks to your generous donations. All this is possible because YOU pray for us, YOU support us, and YOU give so we can continue growing.
But whatever you do, don’t do nothing. Time is short and we need your help right now. The Lord has given us an open door with a tremendous ‘course’ for us to fulfill that will create an excellent experience at the Judgement Seat of Christ. Please pray for our efforts, and if the Lord leads you to donate, be as generous as possible. The war is REAL, the battle HOT and the time is SHORT…TO THE FIGHT!!!
“Looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ;” Titus 2:13 (KJB)
“Thank you very much!” – Geoffrey, editor-in-chief, NTEB
China
House Farm Bill Aims To Prevent Communist China From Purchasing More US Farmland, Much Of It Near Military Installations And Bases
The upcoming House Farm Bill will contain measures to restrict foreign entities like China from scooping up American farmland in a big win for national security
What is the point of spending billions on bombers and tanks if you allow one of your biggest enemies, Communist China for example, to purchase hundreds of thousands of acres of prime US farmland, often times within minutes from a major military base? Is there no one watching the gates in Washington DC, or is this part of the plan?
“When the righteous are in authority, the people rejoice: but when the wicked beareth rule, the people mourn.” Proverbs 29:2 (KJB)
Republican congresswoman Ashley Hinson is sponsoring her ‘Farm Bill’ which, if passed, would stop Communist China from buying up any more US farmland. It is mindboggling to think this is a ‘new idea’ in Washington, something that should have been passed long ago. One reason that Adolf Hitler was so effective in his conquests during WWII is that he was always scheming behind the scenes, long after others were asleep, Hitler was up and making plans for world domination. This is what China is doing right now, have we learned nothing from history? Apparently not.
How Republican Ashley Hinson’s ‘Farm Bill’ provision could stop China’s buy out of U.S. farmland – as it’s revealed communist adversary has bought 347,000 acres
FROM THE DAILY MAIL UK: Foreign entities own a total of 40 million acres of U.S. farmland and China has bought up nearly 347,000 acres, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA). Now lawmakers are working to further restrict China and other adversaries from snatching up coveted land in the fiscal year 2024 ‘Farm Bill.’
Rep. Ashley Hinson, R-Iowa, who represents a heavy agricultural district, says it’s critical to stop China in order to protect U.S. food supply chains and bolster national security.
‘Communist China shouldn’t be allowed to buy another acre of American farmland, nor should we rely upon our top foreign adversary for key parts of our food supply chain,’ Hinson exclusively told DailyMail.com.
The Chinese land purchases near important U.S. military instillations have been a particular concern for lawmakers and government officials.
In 2022, for example, the China-based food producer, Fufeng Group, acquired 300 acres of land in Grand Forks, just 20 minutes down the road from the Grand Forks Air Force Base, where some of the nation’s most sensitive drone technology is based.
Air Force Major Jeremy Fox wrote a memo that year characterizing the move as being emblematic of Chinese efforts to install themselves close to sensitive US defense installations. He argued that the Fufeng property is located at just the right location for the company to intercept communications coming from the Air Force base.
Now, lawmakers are moving to crack down on such instances using the Farm Bill.
One of the wins Hinson says will be in the bill are reforms to the Agricultural Foreign Investment Disclosure Act (AFIDA). Those improvements would help the government more easily track foreign entities’ purchases of U.S. agricultural land. It will also now mandate minimum penalties on individuals who intentionally submit false AFIDA filings.
As highlighted by the January GAO report, previously the USDA tracked foreign agricultural land purchases using paper forms. Now, the Farm Bill includes language to create an online submission form where the USDA can better track submissions. READ MORE
House Agriculture Committee takes action on GOP farm bill draft
Now The End Begins is your front line defense against the rising tide of darkness in the last Days before the Rapture of the Church
- HOW TO DONATE: Click here to view our WayGiver Funding page
When you contribute to this fundraising effort, you are helping us to do what the Lord called us to do. The money you send in goes primarily to the overall daily operations of this site. When people ask for Bibles, we send them out at no charge. When people write in and say how much they would like gospel tracts but cannot afford them, we send them a box at no cost to them for either the tracts or the shipping, no matter where they are in the world. We have a Gospel Billboard program. We are now broadcasting Bible studies, Podcasts and a Sunday Service 5 times a week, thanks to your generous donations. All this is possible because YOU pray for us, YOU support us, and YOU give so we can continue growing.
But whatever you do, don’t do nothing. Time is short and we need your help right now. The Lord has given us an open door with a tremendous ‘course’ for us to fulfill that will create an excellent experience at the Judgement Seat of Christ. Please pray for our efforts, and if the Lord leads you to donate, be as generous as possible. The war is REAL, the battle HOT and the time is SHORT…TO THE FIGHT!!!
“Looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ;” Titus 2:13 (KJB)
“Thank you very much!” – Geoffrey, editor-in-chief, NTEB
China
The People’s Liberation Army Of China Mobilized Aircraft From Different Theatre Commands Taking Part In An ‘Island Encirclement Patrol’ Near Taiwan
China tracks at least 143 warplanes and 56 warships entering air defence zone in four days as part of Beijing’s ‘island encirclement patrol’ near Taiwan
Over in Communist China, the People’s Liberation Army has been conducting called an ‘island encirclement patrol’ over by Taiwan, a country that they claim sovereignty over. The citizens of Taiwan do not see themselves as belonging to China, and that subject has been and remains a topic of much discussion. At some point, it is expected that mainland China will, according to their ‘One China Principle’, make a military move against them. Things like the island encirclement patrol and cross-theatre drills speak to that.
“And the sixth angel poured out his vial upon the great river Euphrates; and the water thereof was dried up, that the way of the kings of the east might be prepared.” Revelation 16:12 (KJB)
China right now is a nation that is ‘still percolating’, but according to scripture they’ll likely cause quite the dust-up in the great Tribulation. Together with Russia and Iran, China fills out the ‘unholy trio’ of end times nations that are waiting in the wings, listening for the sound of a trumpet that’ scheduled to blow shortly. In the meantime, China prepares for war over Taiwan.
PLA’s latest air and sea drills near Taiwan could signal surprise attack strategy, analysts say
FROM THE SOUTH CHINA MORNING POST: The People’s Liberation Army has mobilized aircraft from different theatre commands to take part in an “island encirclement patrol” near Taiwan, which experts said could signal a new strategy to prepare for regional military conflicts. The aircraft drills coincided with joint sea and air training conducted by the PLA’s Shandong aircraft carrier in the western Pacific Ocean since early this week. According to earlier reports it involved a total of 42 naval ships from the Eastern and Southern Theatre Commands.
A post on the Eastern Theatre Command’s WeChat account said its pilots and ground crews were taking part in long-distance, cross-theatre exercises to practice landing and taking off from unfamiliar airports.
Without saying when the drills took place, the post said the pilots had spent more than 10 hours conducting non-stop flights.
Pictures on the social media platform showed fighter jets such as the J-10, J-16 and Su-30 flying at night and during the day, while drills covered operations such as repairs, refueling, weapon replacement and emergency response.
Zhou Chenming, a researcher from the Beijing-based Yuan Wang military science and technology think tank, said the fighter jets involved in the drill would also take part in Beijing’s regular ‘island encirclement patrol’ near Taiwan.
“Like the island encirclement patrol, cross-theatre drills have become routine, taking place in the Taiwan Strait and western Pacific, which is part of combat-readiness training to prepare for the outbreak of a Taiwan contingency,” Zhou said.
Zhou said mobilizing different forces from its theatre commands would put the PLA at an advantage when dealing with potential challenges from joint US-Japan forces. READ MORE
China begins three days of military patrol around Taiwan
China is staging three days of “combat readiness” patrols around Taiwan – sending military resources towards the island to practice encircling it. Beijing, which claims Taiwan is a breakway province – staged the drills after the Taiwanese president promised to continue working with the United States and other democracies following a meeting with the speaker of the House of Representatives.
Now The End Begins is your front line defense against the rising tide of darkness in the last Days before the Rapture of the Church
- HOW TO DONATE: Click here to view our WayGiver Funding page
Please continue to pray for us, and for wisdom for me especially, as we continue taking steps to print the NTEB branded King James Bible for our free Bible and Bibles Behind Bars program. It is exciting and intimidating at the same time. If the Lord has prospered your financially, we ask you to donate to help us continue to send out free Bibles at this level, and even higher than we are at the moment. It takes a lot of prayer, and a lot of resources to do all this. Praise the Lord we are doing it, all of us together, labouring in the Lord’s harvest field. TO THE FIGHT!!!
When you contribute to this fundraising effort, you are helping us to do what the Lord called us to do. The money you send in goes primarily to the overall daily operations of this site. When people ask for Bibles, we send them out at no charge. When people write in and say how much they would like gospel tracts but cannot afford them, we send them a box at no cost to them for either the tracts or the shipping, no matter where they are in the world. We have a Gospel Billboard program. We are now broadcasting Bible studies, Podcasts and a Sunday Service 5 times a week, thanks to your generous donations. All this is possible because YOU pray for us, YOU support us, and YOU give so we can continue growing.
But whatever you do, don’t do nothing. Time is short and we need your help right now. The Lord has given us an open door with a tremendous ‘course’ for us to fulfill that will create an excellent experience at the Judgement Seat of Christ. Please pray for our efforts, and if the Lord leads you to donate, be as generous as possible. The war is REAL, the battle HOT and the time is SHORT…TO THE FIGHT!!!
“Looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ;” Titus 2:13 (KJB)
“Thank you very much!” – Geoffrey, editor-in-chief, NTEB
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