International

China Sets New Record with Air Incursions

The People's Liberation Army set new records yesterday with the number of planes it deployed into Taiwan’s Air Defense Identification Zone (ADIZ). Taiwan’s Ministry of National Defense announced that 103 warplanes were detected around Taiwan in a 24-hour period yesterday. The ADIZ is the airspace in which planes normally identify themselves for security purposes. Aircraft also maneuvered in airspace southeast and southwest of the island...

One-Day Uptick in Chinese Military Activity Observed After Lai Transit

China launched another set of military drills after vice president William Lai returned from his trip to the US and Paraguay. Lai’s trip involved a stopover in San Francisco and New York City. Though the ostensible main purpose of the trip was to attend the presidential inauguration of Paraguayan president Santiago Peña, there was greater attention to the sensitivity of Lai’s transit through the US, given the possibility of a reaction from China...

China’s Group Tourism Remains in Place for Taiwan, as Moves Continue to Influence Taiwan Via Trade

The Chinese government recently announced a list of 78 countries in which tour groups will now be allowed to travel to. This includes a number of frequent travel destinations for Chinese tourists that China is otherwise geopolitically at odds with, such as the US, South Korea, Japan, and the UK. Notably, in response to the announcement, stocks for travel companies in these countries immediately rose, a sign of how Chinese tourists are considered big spenders in a number of sectors...

As China Uses Lai Trip as Pretext for Exercises, Will the Drills be Blown Out of Proportion Internationally?

The Chinese government has announced that it will conduct military exercises in the East China Sea starting today until the 14th, in an area approximately 500 kilometers away from Taiwan. Yesterday morning, the Zhejiang Maritime Safety Administration announced a no-sail order lasting from 12 PM today until 4 PM on August 14th in the area the exercises are slated to take place...

“New McCarthyism” Petition Illustrates Western Leftists’ Failure of Internationalism

A recent expose in the New York Times on tech multimillionaire Roy Singham, who funds various tankie media outlets, organizations, and institutions such as the Tricontinental Institute, Code Pink, and the People’s Forum in New York City, has led to a petition on the Tricontinental Institute and Code Pink’s websites lashing out against the “new McCarthyism.” This petition was signed by anyone from David Harvey to Radhika Desai, Chris Hedges, and luminaries of the Brooklyn left such as Doug Henwood and The Nation president Bhaskar Sunkara...