Pentagon Discloses Chinese Spy Balloon over U.S.: Reports
Jimmy Quinn for National Review
Pentagon Press Secretary Air Force Brigadier General Patrick S. Ryder holds a press briefing at the Pentagon in Washington, D.C., January 17, 2023.(Lisa Ferdinando/Department of Defense)none
A Chinese spy balloon was spotted over the U.S. by civilians on an airplane this week, the Defense Department revealed today, with President Biden initially ordering that it be shot down, according to news reports.
The U.S. “has detected and is tracking a high altitude surveillance balloon that is over the continental U.S. right now,” Brigadier General Pat Ryder, the Pentagon spokesman, said today, the Wall Street Journalreported. Ryder added, “Once the balloon was detected the U.S. government acted immediately to protect against the collection of sensitive information.”
According to the Journal, President Biden had initially ordered that the reconnaissance device be shot down but was rebuffed by the Pentagon, which worried that such a move could cause civilian casualties. The balloon first was spotted by passengers onboard a civilian aircraft, the paper also reported.
A senior defense official, in comments reported by NBC, downplayed the balloon’s intelligence value because the Chinese government has other surveillance options. That official also said the U.S. could have taken it down during a period in which it flew over Montana and that it entered the U.S. over Alaska, then flew over Canada. This person also said the U.S. has confidently attributed the balloon, which is still over the U.S., to China and that Washington has raised the issue with Chinese officials “through multiple channels.”
The balloon was spotted at one point above Malmstrom Air Force Base, which is home to nuclear-missile silos, the Associated Press reported. Ryder also reportedly said it doesn’t pose a threat to air traffic nor civilians on the ground.
Secretary of State Antony Blinken is slated to travel to China later this week, where he will meet senior officials. The Financial Timesreported today that Blinken is expected to meet General Secretary Xi Jinping.
There are several things that are incomprehensible. We can start with; ““Once the balloon was detected the U.S. government acted immediately to protect against the collection of sensitive information.”Based on that statement, apparently they only protect sensitive information when a spy balloon is overhead. Frankly, such would not be a surprise. DoD is noted for being reactive not proactive.
Next is: “President Biden had initially ordered that the reconnaissance device be shot down but was rebuffed by the Pentagon, which worried that such a move could cause civilian casualties.” The Pentagon “rebuffed” the CINC. Really? As to “civilian casualties, it traversed areas where there are minimal civilians. Montana is not the most heavily populated state.
Last but not least is the mention of Blinken’s upcoming trip to China. The chances he raises the topic of a spy balloon entering our air space is zero to none! Such conversation would take a spine.
Since creating the topic, there has been some additional activity. The Chinese are saying this is a civilian airship blown off course. Secretary of State Blinken’s Chinese trip has been postponed.
The news is full of writings about China. They write/speak about economic impact of trade imbalance. There are articles about Chinese financed organizations gaining a foothold in universities. I may have missed any mention of China’s most recent significant import that is until the following article from Mises.
It is neither Red Scare hyperbole nor misplaced attribution to say that the covid regime established in the Western world is primarily a product of the Chinese regime. I refer not strictly to the claim that covid-19 originated in a Wuhan lab but also to the fact that the propaganda campaign that “informs” the covid response is directly attributable to Beijing. As Michael P. Senger has brilliantly demonstrated, the entirety of the covid response is an export of Xi Jinping’s regime.
Out of a perverse admiration for China’s draconian lockdown measures, due to financial conflicts of interest deriving from Chinese money and the strange fear of failing to evince sufficiently totalitarian impulses, Western health agencies, governments, scientists, media, and citizens have adopted and promoted Beijing’s supposedly successful methods for controlling a viral pandemic, thereby transforming Western democracies, to varying degrees, into budding totalitarian states. Australia represents the most egregious example, while other countries, such as Lithuania, are not far behind. It remains to be seen what the US and many other nations will do as the covid narrative crumbles in the face of the mounting evidence of mistakes and apparent malfeasance. Likely, they will double down.
The utter illogic of the covid regime is based on a false syllogism: China contained the virus with the lockdown of Wuhan. The virus simultaneously escaped Wuhan. Thus, the rest of the world must emulate China’s lockdown measures.
The devastating covid regime was established under this pretense and has relied on a series of self-contradictory measures. First, masks were useless and thus unnecessary. Then, masks were necessary. Then, two weeks of lockdowns were needed to flatten the curve. Then, the lockdowns continued for months. Then, two or more masks were needed. Then, vaccinations made masks unnecessary for the vaccinated; with the vaccines, masks and lockdowns would be obviated. Then, the vaccinated should wear masks, because they too are vulnerable to infection (and may spread covid). Then, lockdowns should be reinstated. These are but a few of the policy statements and reversals that have constituted the covid regime response.
The lockdowns, masking, and vaccine mandates have been instituted to address a virus with an average infection fatality rate (IFR) of under 0.2400 percent across all age groups, with median IFRs of 0.0027 percent, 0.0140 percent, 0.0310 percent, 0.0820 percent, 0.2700 percent, and 0.5900 percent for 0–19-year-olds, 20–29-year-olds, 30–39-year-olds, 40–49-year-olds, 50–59-year-olds, and 60–69-year-olds, respectively. Deaths from the lockdown measures, meanwhile, may have outstripped the “deaths from covid,” while causing yet incalculable suffering, including the financial ruin of hundreds of millions.
Furthermore, “deaths from covid” have been grossly inflated by the inclusion of those who had either tested positive or been in contact with anyone who had within several weeks prior to their death. And the PCR tests for covid, set at cycle thresholds from 37 to 40, and sometimes as high as 45, yield approximately 85 to 90 percent false positives, as confirmed by the New York Times. Given these issues, it is almost impossible to know how many of the excess deaths of 2020 over 2019 were due to covid-19 and how many were due to the lockdowns.
Meanwhile, the institution of vaccine passports represents a differential and discriminatory extension of the lockdowns. Despite the fact that the vaccinated can both contract and spread covid-19 and its variants, the vaccine passport rollout proceeds apace.
Vaccine mandates and calls for mandates have increased in volume, despite an Israeli study demonstrating that the natural immunity of the previously infected is thirteen times more efficacious in preventing infection from the delta variant, currently the most prevalent strain, than double doses of the Pfizer vaccine. And the double vaccinated are six times more likely to suffer serious illness than the unvaccinated previously infected by the wild virus or earlier variants.
In the US alone, deaths subsequent to the vaccine, according to the Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System (VAERS), have reached thirteen thousand, while injuries exceed five hundred thousand. And these are conservative numbers, given that many vaccine deaths and other vaccine-related “events” do not make the VAERS, thanks to their suppression by covid regime medical professionals. Yet, former president Barack Obama’s secretary of education recently compared antimaskers and vaccine resisters to Kabul suicide bombers, and a Democratic candidate for Congress has called for the right to shoot “those who do not take covid seriously enough.”
Neither the faulty science nor the lunacy of covid fanatics represents the ultimate justification for opposing the covid regime, however. To oppose the covid regime, one need not be an “antivaxxer.” One must merely assert one’s rights. Lockdowns and vaccine mandates represent the abrogation of property rights—first and foremost the right of bodily autonomy—or the right to do what one deems proper with one’s own body. This right cannot be superseded by the supposed right of others not to be infected. Such a right is not only scientifically spurious in the current context; it is indefensible in principle, regardless of context. It is about time to state this clearly and directly: the onus is on those who fear infection to protect themselves from the virus and its variants, and not on others—whether they are vaccinated or not.
The covid regime brings despotism not only because it is destroying the property of small business owners, landlords, and workers, while increasing the power of the state. It also infringes on the fundamental right over one’s person—which is to say that it makes otherwise free individuals into slaves.
Senger’s final paragraph is apropos in this regard:
For Xi Jinping, lockdown was never about a virus. It was about sending a message: that stripped of all disguise, the illusion of virtue, competence, and commitment to human rights among the Western political class is nothing more than conformity with easily subvertible norms and institutions passed down by prior generations.
Xi’s covid communism does not represent, first and foremost, a challenge to Western governmental integrity or scientific competence. Rather, it is a challenge to what’s left of Western regimes’ recognition of individual rights. These rights have not been given to us by the government, but governments, including their judicial branches, have arrogated to themselves the right to infringe and abolish them at will. This should be the hill that libertarians stake their lives on.
Slap On The Wrist: Honeywell Fined For Sharing F-35, Other Secrets To China
On May 5th, the US State Department announced that it had reached a $13 million settlement with defense contractor Honeywell.
The settlement is over allegations it exported technical drawings of parts for the F-35 fighters and other weapons platforms to China, Taiwan, Canada and Ireland, according to the Bureau of Political-Military Affairs’ charging document.
“Honeywell voluntarily disclosed to the Department the alleged violations that are resolved under this settlement. Honeywell also acknowledged the serious nature of the alleged violations, cooperated with the Department’s review, and instituted a number of compliance program improvements during the course of the Department’s review. For these reasons, the Department has determined that it is not appropriate to administratively debar Honeywell at this time.”
The State Department alleged some of the transmissions harmed national security, which Honeywell acknowledges with the caveat that the technology involved “is commercially available throughout the world. No detailed manufacturing or engineering expertise was shared.”
Overall, the materials pertained to the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter, the B-1B Lancer long-range strategic bomber, the F-22 fighter, the C-130 transport aircraft, the A-7H Corsair aircraft, the A-10 Warthog aircraft, the Apache Longbow helicopter, the M1A1 Abrams tank, the tactical Tomahawk missile; the F/A-18 Hornet fighter, and the F135, F414, T55 and CTS800 turboshaft engines.
Honeywell would only pay its fine, essentially, and keep working for the US government, because it voluntarily admitted to violating national security.
Between 2011 and 2015, Honeywell allegedly used a file-sharing platform to inappropriately transmit engineering prints showing layouts, dimensions and geometries for manufacturing castings and finished parts for multiple aircraft, military electronics and gas turbine engines. Its first disclosure of violations to the government came in 2015.
“The U.S. Government reviewed copies of the 71 drawings and determined that exports to and retransfers in the PRC [People’s Republic of China] of drawings for certain parts and components for the engine platforms for the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter, B-1B Lancer Long-Range Strategic Bomber, and the F-22 Fighter Aircraft harmed U.S. national security,” the charging document read.
In a statement, Honeywell said it has since taken steps to ensure there are no repeat incidents.
“Under an agreement reached with the State Department to resolve these issues, Honeywell will pay a fine, engage an external compliance officer to oversee the Consent Agreement for a minimum of 18 months, and will conduct an external audit of our compliance program,” Honeywell’s statement on the matter reads in part.
“Since Honeywell voluntarily self-reported these disclosures, we have taken several actions to ensure there are no repeat incidents. These actions included enhancing export security, investing in additional compliance personnel, and increasing compliance training.”
Interesting enough, the US was concerned that the F-35 flying disaster’s secrets would be shared through Turkey’s purchase of an S-400 missile defense system.
Turns out, a US corporation simply sold the secrets to China and others, simply for profit.
The Uighurs, a muslim turkic people, have been systematically persecuted by the Chinese government for decades. In recent months, images and video have surfaced showing internment and re-education camps in the Xinjiang region. There are also reports of mass sterilization of Uighur women and of children being taken from Uighur parents to be placed in orphanages or with childless Chinese couples far from Xinjiang.
This move is overdue as far as I’m concerned. The CCP did the same thing to the Tibetans after they invaded and conquered that country. The ChiComs have a long history of repressing non-chinese in the territories they control.
This move also puts the Biden team in a tough spot. Joe is tied to China via his crack addict son Hunter. Allegedly. These types of designation are hard to undo, and restrict the incoming administration’s options when dealing with China.
A number of months ago, I was approached by an individual I had known for the better half of a decade. I had known this individually professionally and enjoyed their company and deep insight into our overlapping professional interests. Consequently, I would not infrequently seek out their professional opinion. They had written a research report for a client worried about political risk that involved background on the Biden’s in China. This individual believed that the information that had been discovered, and with the approval of the client, needed to make its way into the public domain.
They asked my help in putting the research report in the hands of press asking them just to use the information for their own professional purposes leaving the report anonymous. Knowing this individual and the quality of work they do, I agreed after reviewing in detail the report that was produced. There are a couple of key points about the report.
First, it is almost exclusively taken from public sources and documentation. Everything from Chinese news reports to corporate records. The report is immaculately cited so that anyone who wishes to replicate where a specific piece of information was found or see the underlying documentation can do so.
Second, the complexity of the overall story, attempts have been made to break down the key points about what happened, who was involved, with timelines and indexes.
Third, only three human sources are used in the report. Two human sources only confirmed top line information in the acknowledgement of an individual and no other information. The third human source was not consulted for the story but agreed to let the information be used for the story after the importance of the information became apparent.
For two months I have worked on behalf of my colleague to ensure that this report helped others report on the documented evidence of Biden activities with regards to China. I want to emphasize a couple of things about my own involvement.
First, I did not write the report and I am not responsible for the report. I have gone over the report with a fine tooth comb and can find nothing factually wrong with the report. Everything is cited and documented. Arguably the only weakness is that we do not have internal emails between Chinese players or the Chinese and Bidens that would make explicit what the links clearly imply.
Second, I will not be disclosing the individual who did write this report. They have very valid reasons to fear for both their personal safety and professional risks. Throughout the years that I have known this individual we never discussed politics. I have never heard them criticize any political party other than the CCP. They are not a Republican.
Third, it was my very real wish that the press would have reported on the documented evidence in this report and left me and the author entirely out of this situation. I did not vote for Trump in 2016 and will not vote for him in 2020. This information however is entirely valid public interest information that the press has simply refused to cover due to their own partisan wishes. I have serious policy differences with President Trump. I am pro-immigration. I would like to see more free trade efforts to shift trade away from China and into partner countries from Mexico to Vietnam and India. I believe that institution building in Asia is vital and America needs to take that lead. However, I cannot in good conscience allow documented evidence of the variety presented here go unreported by partisans who are simply choosing to hide information.
Finally, I will not be answering any questions about the report. I had no wish to be involved in Presidential politics. I do not want to be on the news. I will not be answer any questions about who wrote the report. We need to return the focus to the known documented facts.
Key Points of the Report:
Joe Biden’s compromising partnership with the Communist Party of China runs via Yang Jiechi (CPC’s Central Foreign Affairs Commission). YANG met frequently with BIDEN during his tenure at the Chinese embassy in Washington.
Hunter Biden’s 2013 Bohai Harvest Rosemont investment partnership was set-up by Ministry of Foreign Affairs institutions who are tasked with garnering influence with foreign leaders during YANG’s tenure as Foreign Minister.
HUNTER has a direct line to the Politburo, according to SOURCE A, a senior finance professional in China.
Michael Lin, a Taiwanese national now detained in China, brokered the BHR partnership and partners with MOFA foreign influence organizations.
LIN is a POI for his work on behalf of China, as confirmed by SOURCE B and SOURCE C (at two separate national intelligence agencies).
BHR is a state managed operation. Leading shareholder in BHR is a Bank of China which lists BHR as a subsidiary and BHR’s partners are SOEs that funnel revenue/assets to BHR.
HUNTER continues to hold 10% in BHR. He visited China in 2010 and met with major Chinese government financial companies that would later back BHR.
HUNTER’s BHR stake (purchased for $400,000) is now likely be worth approx. $50 million (fees and capital appreciation based on BHR’s $6.5 billion AUM as stated by Michael Lin).
HUNTER also did business with Chinese tycoons linked with the Chinese military and against the interests of US national security.
BIDEN’s foreign policy stance towards China (formerly hawkish), turned positive despite China’s country’s rising geopolitical assertiveness.
Summary:
Lost among the salacious revelations about laptop provenance is the more mundane reality of influence and money of major United States political figures. Ill informed accusations of Russian hacking and disinformation face the documented reality of a major Chinese state financial partnership with the children of major political figures. A report by an Asian research firm raises worrying questions about the financial links between China and Hunter Biden.
Beginning just before Joe Bidens ascendancy to the Vice Presidency, Hunter Biden was travelling to Beijing meeting with Chinese financial institutions and political figures would ultimately become his investors. Finalized in 2013, the investment partnership included money from the Chinese government, social security, and major state-owned banks a veritable who’s who of Chinese state finance.
It is not simply the state money that should cause concern but the structures and deals that took place. Most investment in specific projects came from state owned entities and flowed into state backed projects or enterprises. Even the deals speak to the worst of cronyism. The Hunter Biden investment firm share of a copper mine in the Congo was guaranteed with assets put at risk by the larger copper company to ensure deal flow to Hunter’s firm.
In another instance, Bank of China working on an IPO in Hong Kong gave its share allocation to the BHR investment partnership. They were able to do this because even though the Hunter Biden firm completed no notable work on the IPO, it is counted as a subsidiary of the Bank of China. The Hunter Biden Chinese investment partnership is literally invested in by the Chinese state and a subsidiary of the Bank of China owned by the Chinese Ministry of Finance.
The entire arrangement speaks to Chinese state interests. Meetings were held at locations that in China speak to the welcoming of foreign dignitaries or state to state relations. The Chinese organizations surrounding Hunter Biden are known intelligence and influence operatives to the United States government. The innocuous names like Chinese People’s Institute for Foreign Affairs exist to “…carry out government-directed policies and cooperative initiatives with influential foreigners without being perceived as a formal part of the Chinese government.”
Interestingly the CPIFA is under the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs. When the investment partnership was struck in 2013, the Minister of Foreign Affairs was Yang Jiechi. Yang would have been very familiar with Hunter Biden from his days in Washington as the Chinese Ambassador to the United States from 2001 to 2005 during which he met regularly with Joe Biden chairing the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. Today the same individual who oversaw institutions helping shepherd Hunter’s investment partnership as the Minister of Foreign Affairs is Xi Jinping’s right hand man on foreign affairs and member of the powerful Politburo.
Most worrying is the financial leverage this gives the Chinese state over a direct member of the Biden family. Despite the widely reported $1-1.5 billion of investment the reality is likely much higher. A co-founder of the investment firm reports the total assets under management as $6.5 billion. While this number cannot be completely replicated, given that two deal alone were worth in excess of $1.6 billion this number is not unrealistic at all. A 2% annual fee on assets under management would generate $130 million annually. Add in the 20% fee on capital gains the firm would recognize and it is not difficult to see Hunter’s stake being worth in excess of $50 million.
According to Hunter’s attorney, he did not invest his $400,000 in the company until 2017. Even assuming the veracity of this statement, this raises a major problem. Founded in 2013, the firm had large amounts of revenue and assets under management by 2017. In other words, his $400,000 stake would have already been worth far more than what he paid for it. This paltry $400,000 investment worth more than $50 million now would have realized a gain of more than 12,400% in three years.
The difficulty in eluding these concerns is their documentability by anyone who cares to look. There is no potential for hacking because it is all public record in China. Any journalist who wishes to look can go review IPO prospectuses, news reports, or corporate records. There is no secret method for discovering this data other than actually looking. There is simply no way to avoid the reality that Hunter Biden was granted a 10% stake worth far in excess of what he paid for a firm that is literally operated and owned by the Chinese state.
I did not vote for Donald Trump in 2016 and have significant concerns about his policies in areas like immigration. Having lived in China for nine years throughout the Xi regimes construction of concentration camps and having witnessed first hand their use of influence and intelligence operations, the Biden links worry me profoundly.
Whether Joe Biden personally knew the details, a very untenable position, it is simply political malpractice to not be aware of the details of these financial arrangements. These documentable financial links simply cannot be wished away. https://www.baldingsworld.com/2020/10/22/report-on-biden-activities-with-china/
This 64 page investigative report was completed by Typhoon Investigations and the pdf link is provided here for your convenience: https://www.baldingsworld.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/KVBJHB.pdf As well, it is appears at the base of the attending summation link as noted above.
Multiple states are issuing warnings not to plant unsolicited seeds.
Unsolicited packages of seeds have been reported in several states. The packages, based on photographs and statements from officials, appear to have been shipped by China’s state-owned postal company and contain Chinese lettering on the exterior. States from coast to coast have been urging residents to report the unexpected deliveries to their local agriculture departments over concerns that the seeds could be invasive or harmful species.
“At this time, we are not sure what the seeds are and therefore are urging everyone to be exceedingly vigilant,” Georgia Agriculture Commissioner Gary Black also said in a statement. “If you have received one of these packages in the mail, please use extreme caution by not touching the contents and securing the package in a plastic bag.”
While the exact motive for the shipments isn’t known, some officials suspect it’s part of an online scam called “brushing”. Brushing is an exploit by a vendor used to bolster product ratings and increase visibility online by shipping an inexpensive product to an unwitting receiver and then submitting positive reviews on the receiver’s behalf under the guise of a verified owner.
If you receive an unsolicited packages of seeds from China you are urged to contact your local authorities so they can dispose of them properly.
British Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab announced that the Brits are suspending the extradition treaty with Hong Kong due to the far reaching effects of China’s new national security law. The U.K. joins the United States, Australia and Canada in abrogating extradition treaties with the semi-autonomous island.
The move comes days after the British dealt Chinese tech giant Huawei a major blow by excluding that company from the British 5G networks due to national security concerns.
Monday’s move extends an arms embargo to Hong Kong, preventing the export of lethal weapons that could be used for internal repression. The British have embargoed arms to the PRC since 1989.
The U.K. has offered Hong Kong residents a path to British citizenship and residency after Prime Minister Boris Johnson accused China of a “serious breach” of the terms under which the U.K. returned the city in 1997.
