1) #India & #Vietnam should improve defense ties

They face increasing assertiveness by #China, but military cooperation has been spotty

India & Vietnam made good progress on military cooperation. Yet more needs to be done to materialize these goals.
asiatimes.com/2021/05/india-…
2) In terms of weapons procurements, the two countries are faced with some level of ambiguity. In 2014, India offered the BrahMos, an anti-ship cruise missile, to Vietnam. But no real progress has been seen since then, apart from intermittent talks.
3) Lack of funding has been stated as a reason for the deal not materializing. Another reason being speculated is fear of Beijing.

New Delhi seems to be hesitant to accelerate supplies of military hardware to countries in its immediate neighborhood.
4) Since 2016, Vietnam & India have been in talks regarding the potential sale of the Varunastra torpedo. Finally, in 2018, the torpedo was inducted into the Indian Navy.

Still, the development process took longer than expected. When Vietnam will receive it is still unclear.
5) India must carefully overlook such lapses & effectively carry out weapons exports if it intends to strengthen its defense partnership with Vietnam. With China ramping up its Belt & Road Initiative, India needs to have a coherent export policy to transform its Act East Policy.

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More from @IndoPac_Info

18 May
1/ #Apple has stored the data of thousands of customers on #Chinese servers and censored apps to please the government that controls most of its supply chain, the New York Times reports

businessinsider.com.au/apple-data-chi…
2/ Apple has catered to China’s government as it relies on China’s supply chain, the NYT reports.

Tim Cook approved using servers run by Chinese firms to store customer data.

That would make it easy for authorities to access the information of millions of Chinese citizens.
3/ CEO Tim Cook green-lit using servers run by Chinese state-owned companies to store customer data.

China also reportedly wouldn’t accept Apple’s use of encryption technology that it typically uses in its data server centers, so the company agreed to abandon it.
Read 5 tweets
11 May
Tiny #Palau in not-so-pacific middle of #US & #China

Pacific island nation has responded to #Beijing's perceived 'bullying' by inviting #US to establish strategic ports, bases & installations.

There is a “high-stakes rivalry going on” between China & US.
asiatimes.com/2021/05/tiny-p…
2) Tiny Palau invited the US Pentagon to build ports, bases and airfields on its Pacific islands after Chinese President Xi Jinping bullied the Pacific island nation by destabilizing its fragile economy, according to defiant President Surangel Whipps.
3) “President Whipps’ frank assessment of Chinese pressure – and invitation to host US bases – are unusually blunt for a Pacific leader,” Australia Pacific Security College director Meg Keen said in an interview.
Read 4 tweets
10 May
Biowarfare history of #China's Sinopharm vaccine maker raises questions

Suspicions among biowarfare experts, the #US government & #Taiwan's military over whether it continues to serve as a dual-use biological warfare (BW) facility for the #PLA.
taiwannews.com.tw/en/news/4137284
2) In 1993 and again in 1995, China declared the Wuhan Institute of Biological Products (WIBP), the hub of Sinopharm's COVID-19 vaccine development, to be one of eight dual-use BW research facilities under its "national defensive biological warfare R&D program."
3) Although China denied having an "offensive" biological warfare program since signing the Biological & Toxin Weapons Convention, in 1984, the US in 2005 alleged that "China maintains some elements of an offensive biological weapon capability in violation of BTWC obligations"
Read 5 tweets
10 May
THREAD: Origin of Covid — Following the Clues

Did people or nature open Pandora’s box at Wuhan?

Nicholas Wade sorted through the scientific facts, which hold many clues as to what happened & provide readers with the evidence to make their own judgments.
nicholaswade.medium.com/origin-of-covi…
2) Neither the natural emergence nor the lab escape hypothesis can yet be ruled out. There is still no direct evidence for either. So no definitive conclusion can be reached.
3) That said, the available evidence leans further in one direction than the other. Readers will form their own opinion. But it seems that proponents of lab escape can explain all the available facts about SARS2 considerably more easily than can those favoring natural emergence.
Read 10 tweets
10 May
Colonization by other means: #China’s debt-trap diplomacy

“There are 2 ways to conquer & enslave a country: By the sword or by debt.”

China, choosing the 2nd path, has embraced colonial-era practices & is now the world’s biggest creditor.
japantimes.co.jp/opinion/2021/0…
2) Instead of first evaluating a borrower country’s creditworthiness, including whether new loans could saddle it with an onerous debt crisis, China is happy to lend, because the heavier the debt burden on the borrower, the greater China’s own leverage becomes.
3) China leverages its state-sponsored loans to developing countries to aggressively advance its trade and geopolitical interests, with the study reporting pervasive links between Chinese financial, trade and construction contracts with other countries.
Read 4 tweets
10 May
#Tesla Ready to Exit #China?

Tesla recently repaid in full a $614 million loan for the construction of its Gigafactory 3, a super factory in #Shanghai.

After the news broke, the rumor that Tesla may be preparing to leave the #Chinese market spread fast.
theepochtimes.com/ready-to-exit-…
2) Tesla Suppressed After Huawei’s IPO

Last month, China’s state media claimed that Huawei is the only Chinese company that is capable of competing with Tesla. Huawei’s first smart luxury all-electric car was launched in Shanghai on April 17.
3) The CCP atracts foreign firms using deception. When it grows stronger, it gets rid of them.

Taiwanese & Japanese firms have known this for a long time.

Now the CCP has thrusted the knife into Tesla, because it already learned to make electric cars & no longer needs Tesla.
Read 4 tweets

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