gelliot

SEN. SHAHEEN: What we are hearing from our sources is the President does not want to notice the arms sale to Taiwan before he goes to China. Well, what better time to notice it?   Because that sends a very strong message that China should keep its mitts off Taiwan.

@jljzen This is cognitive warfare on the President and the coterie. Without the NSC to provide institutional knowledge, they are shooting at the hip.

Trump’s plan to discuss Taiwan arms sales with Xi rattles Asian allies ft.trib.al/bONAnC9

@walberque The DPP is not blameless. They talk about the CN threat but they prioritize re-inventing the wheel. UKR producing 200K drones/month vs TW's 200K/year. CN produces millions. The lack of engineering and warfare expertise at the top is obvious. Where are the ISR investment & jobs?

Another great example of China exploiting the gaps in governance and transparency and grey zone tactics to advance their broader goals. @IndoPacSentinel Building national intelligence capabilities to address this gap is a good first step, but will it be enough?

@walberque @walberque its a good question! For TW, a small pro- China faction within the KMT with the help of a wedge party TPP is holding the entire gov hostage. The original DPP defense budget created real jobs on island. Cheng rejected that wholesale so she could remain in control.

New @USAJOBS! @NavalWarCollege / @ChinaMaritime Studies Institute Seeks New Professor—Apply by 12 June 2026! usajobs.gov/job/868717600 ➡️ Complete info here: bit.ly/CMSIProfessor From #CMSI Director CAPT @ChrisHSharman, @USNavy (Ret): Come Join the #China Maritime Studies Institute Team! China Maritime Studies Institute (CMSI) Friends & Colleagues – CMSI at the #NavalWarCollege in Newport, Rhode Island is pleased to announce a new (& rare) hiring opportunity to join the CMSI team as an Assistant / Associate Professor. ⚓ CMSI is the @DeptofWar’s 1st service-specific China center & premier research center for the scholarly study of China’s military maritime power. ⚓ CMSI scholars perform academic research based on Chinese-language sources to develop deeper insight into key aspects of China’s military maritime development, capabilities, trends & future trajectory. ⚓ We seek candidates with strong research & analytical skills, demonstrated expertise on China & maritime security issues, & the ability to produce high-quality written analysis for both academic & operational audiences. Chinese-language proficiency is required. ⚓ Highly desirable candidates will have significant experience researching PRC security issues; analytical experience, including in developing innovative approaches to research & analysis; an extensive, top caliber publication record focusing on PRC strategy, policy, military, &/or maritime issues; & impact recognized by leading stakeholders. ⚓ Candidates must be U.S. citizens & capable of obtaining a DoW security clearance. ⚓ The position is located in Newport, Rhode Island & offers the opportunity to work alongside a highly collaborative team conducting impactful research on issues of critical importance to the future military maritime security environment for the Department of War & other key stakeholders. Please circulate this opportunity widely among qualified colleagues, researchers & professional networks. Thanks!

China exploits bureaucratic seams to wage gray-zone warfare. The First Island Chain must counter with cheap, shared intelligence and transparency. japan-forward.com/chinas-irregul… #ChinaIrregularWarfare #SubmarineCables #FirstIslandChain #GrayZoneWarfare #MaritimeMilitia

"Items on the packing lists range from engines to computer chips, fiber-optic cables and gyroscopes. For a time, Chinese exporters intentionally mislabeled some shipments to skirt US and European sanctions, but in many instances they no longer bother." wsj.com/world/china-is…

Not many people would have predicted in February 2022 that in May 2026 Zelensky would be waiting to meet his sixth UK Prime Minister.

@Reuters That’s a bit rich. OSINTers have monitoring that ship loitering for days on end.

Taiwan says it drove away Chinese research ship reut.rs/3RilgEt reut.rs/3RilgEt

#vietnamese farmers are hit with a double whammy #beltandroad #debttrap and skyrocketing fertilizer prices due to the Iran crisis.

Not to be overlooked: a senior US official took a minute at the end of the briefing to call out Taiwan for failing to pass @ChingteLai's entire special defense budget: "It was disappointing in that there was some stuff left on the cutting room floor that we believe still needs to be funded, and we would like to see the rest of the original proposed package funded."

Of course the will

North Korea says it will deploy its new nuclear-armed destroyer, the No. 51 Choe Hyon, in "mid-June" — meaning it will soon sail around South Korea to reach the East Sea Fleet, likely putting Seoul and Washington on high alert. Full story by @ColinZwirko: nknews.org/2026/05/north-…

The following statement is factually incorrect: “When a U.S. EP-3 reconnaissance aircraft collided with a Chinese fighter in 2001…” Instead, @USNavy and other official U.S. histories document clearly that Wang Wei’s J-8 fighter jet made repeated dangerously close passes and, on the third pass, collided with the EP-3: “While making a series of aggressive close passes of the EP-3, one of the J-8 fighter jets collided with the aircraft.” history.navy.mil/research/archi… “the Chinese pilot got so close, and slowed down so much that he actually [lost lift and] stalled under the left wing, knocking out two of the four engines and the radar nose cone.” adst.org/2016/04/a-u-s-… See additionally: twz.com/air/ep-3e-arie… One can also use common sense to understand the fundamental difference between a small, fast, aggressively-piloted fighter jet and a large, slow, carefully-piloted reconnaissance aircraft. When will you issue a correction, @WSJ/@Lingling_Wei?

missiles, not just help the US to scale domestic production. Both administration needs to remember that US can leverage Taiwan for smarter and faster manufacturing.

Without question, KMT/TPP's unspoken Beijing Appeasement Policy ensures TW never develops a real domestic defense-industrial base. On separate note, Taiwan doesn't need to re-invent the wheel, which NCSIST is famous for. TW needs to acquire the licenses to domestically produce

@boundbyjourney @michaelturton Not if you are reinventing the wheel and can’t produce enough to be relevant. Or setting up your supply chain under quarantine conditions. To put in context, 200k drones is 1-month production by UKR. I certainly want to see more produced in country but it has to be done right.

@michaelturton Domestic production is key. It will create jobs, exports and it will pay itself off. Plus can create also a civilian industry. Self sufficiency is key.

This package does not appear to include the domestic production of sea drones necessary for the Hellscape concept.

If this deal is actually signed, it would be a fitting end to a campaign that began as “Epic Fury” and is ending as “Epic Disaster.” What started as a war supposedly aimed at toppling the regime and dismantling its nuclear and ballistic missile capabilities may instead leave Iran’s regime stronger than before — empowered by sanctions relief, still retaining significant missile capabilities, continuing support for its proxies, and almost certainly preserving uranium enrichment on its own soil. And then there’s the additional "bonus" nobody even mentioned at the outset: the Strait of Hormuz is now firmly back at the center of global strategic risk. The truly grim reality is that this may still be the best available option for the administration out of a set of deeply flawed alternatives. At least Iran is unlikely to obtain a nuclear weapon in the immediate future. But the central question remains: what was the strategic logic of launching a war whose end state may ultimately be worse than the conditions that existed before it began? A failure from beginning to end. #iran