International Censorship

Posted on 22 July 2017 by eehines

France wants to enforce a “right to be forgotten” law (recently enacted by the EU that allows persons to demand publicly available information about them to be erased from links in search engine results) inside other nations than the EU membership—inside the United States, for instance. Google, et al., is demurring, and France has taken the matter to the EU’s highest administrative court, the Court of Justice.

The case will help determine how far EU regulators can go in enforcing the bloc’s strict new privacy law….

This is a preview of International Censorship. Read the full post (235 words, estimated 56 secs reading time)

The Fruits of Timidity

Posted on 20 July 2017 by eehines

Rebel forces in eastern Ukraine on Tuesday announced that they plan to hold a referendum calling for the creation of a new state known as Malorossiya, which translates as “Little Russia.”

In a statement published on the rebel-aligned Donetsk News Agency, rebel leader Alexander Zakharchenko said that the new state would aspire to include not only the areas under insurgent control, but also the rest of Ukraine.

This wouldn’t be occurring now, had our government and those of Europe hadn’t been so meek in the face of Russian aggression in the two eastern oblasts and then without a whimper accepting Russian partition of Ukraine and occupation of Crimea.

This is a preview of The Fruits of Timidity. Read the full post (193 words, estimated 46 secs reading time)

The PRC and Northern Korea

Posted on 15 July 2017 by eehines

The People’s Republic of China trade relations with northern Korea appear to be robust and growing, despite efforts by President Donald Trump to get PRC President Xi Jinping to do more to curb his dog. Imports from northern Korea have actually fallen 13.2% in the first six months of this year compared to the first six months of last year, but exports have risen 29.1%, for a net increase in trade over 10%.

Huang Songping, representing the PRC’s customs agency, said

As neighbors, China and North Korea maintain normal business and trade exchanges[.]

This is a preview of The PRC and Northern Korea. Read the full post (204 words, estimated 49 secs reading time)

A Good Move

Posted on 14 July 2017 by eehines

…if risky from a security perspective. After all, such installations can make lucrative targets for intelligence gathering.

The US State Department says it’s prepared to approve the sale of Patriot missile defense systems to Romania. The purchase is a further signal that Bucharest is concerned about the Kremlin’s role in the Black Sea area.

Aside from strengthening Romania, it’s also a good spot for us to gather intelligence.

This is a preview of A Good Move. Read the full post (102 words, estimated 24 secs reading time)

Brussels Misunderstands

Posted on 13 July 2017 by eehines

This time on the matter of the deal with Iran that codifies its legal capacity develop nuclear weapons.

European diplomats say they are increasingly concerned the Trump administration will stretch out its review of the Iranian nuclear deal, undermining the agreement by curbing the economic benefits designed to ensure Iran’s compliance.

This is at the heart of their misunderstanding. Regardless of the intent professed by those who negotiated this thing, those economic benefits do not at all “ensure Iran’s compliance.” What they do do is fund Iran’s nuclear weapons development program and backfill its funding of its terrorist minions in the Middle East and proxies in Europe and the US.

This is a preview of Brussels Misunderstands. Read the full post (214 words, estimated 51 secs reading time)

A Plan for Dealing with Northern Korea

Posted on 13 July 2017 by eehines

Ex-SecDef Robert Gates has one, as described by Gerald Seib in The Wall Street Journal.

Under the Gates approach, the US would make China the following offer: Washington is prepared to recognize the North Korean regime and forswear a policy of regime change, as it did when resolving the Cuban missile crisis with the Soviet Union; is prepared to sign a peace treaty with North Korea; and would be prepared to consider some changes in the structure of military forces in South Korea.

In return, the US would demand hard limits on the North Korean nuclear and missile program, essentially freezing it in place, enforced by the international community and by China itself.

This is a preview of A Plan for Dealing with Northern Korea. Read the full post (597 words, estimated 2:23 mins reading time)

The Left

Posted on 12 July 2017 by eehines

…doesn’t like us very much. And, by “us” I don’t mean Conservatives, I mean the United States in particular and Western Civilization in general.

Here are a couple of examples. Recall President Donald Trump’s speech in Poland last week wherein he touted the successes of Western Civilization and the United States’ role in that and further said that we would never give in to the forces arrayed against us.

This is a preview of The Left. Read the full post (834 words, estimated 3:20 mins reading time)

Russia and the PRC Propose

Posted on 6 July 2017 by eehines

Recall that northern Korea has just tested a missile it’s representing as an intercontinental range missile (and the missile’s flight profile suggests that it can reach Anchorage). Northern Korea also has a potful of shorter-range missiles that easily can hit the Republic of Korea and Japan and most of our bases in the Western Pacific, including in those nations. Russia and the People’s Republic of China have a proposal to resolve the matter.

[T]he Chinese and Russian foreign ministries proposed that North Korea declare a moratorium on nuclear and missile tests while the United States and South Korea refrain from large-scale joint military exercises.

This is a preview of Russia and the PRC Propose. Read the full post (172 words, estimated 41 secs reading time)

An Area for Sales Increases

Posted on 2 July 2017 by eehines

We must be on the right track. Now it’s time to push the pace. The People’s Republic of China doesn’t want us to sell to the Republic of China the wherewithal to defend itself against aggression, not even the pittance that is the $1.4 billion arms deal that the Trump administration is contemplating.

Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Lu Kang on Friday said Washington should immediately stop the sale to avoid harming relations with Beijing.

He said the deal would severely damage China’s sovereignty and security interests and runs contrary to Washington’s commitment to a “one-China” policy.

This is a preview of An Area for Sales Increases. Read the full post (274 words, estimated 1:06 mins reading time)

It’s About Time, Ollie

Posted on 19 June 2017 by eehines

In a move met by applause from at least one congressman, the Energy Department announced a pilot program for research into domestic mining of rare earth elements.

Rare earths are minerals critical to computing technologies and to various military and civilian sensor technologies. China currently dominates the production and market for these elements, with about 85% of the world’s production from its domestic mines.

Another major source for rare earths, not yet exploited, is the South China Sea floor. Part of the purpose of the PRC’s seizure of the South China Sea and of its island-building and militarization of those constructs is to control access to those rare earths and to reserve them for itself.

This is a preview of It’s About Time, Ollie. Read the full post (235 words, estimated 56 secs reading time)

A Plebe's Site

Quam bene vivas referre, non quam diu.

Category Archives: foreign policy