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☆ A top US Army general says it's not the right time to build a new drone branch
▼ + stars: | 2024-06-10 | by ( Ella Sherman | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Read previewUS Army Gen. James Rainey, who serves as the commanding general of Army Futures Command, said it's too soon for the service to establish a new drone branch, reiterating a point made by other Army leaders. These systems have been used for strikes, reconnaissance, targeting, and more on a scale previously unseen, and Ukraine established a drone branch earlier this year. That said, top Army officials don't feel a drone branch is needed right now. AdvertisementArmy Undersecretary Gabe Camarillo previously pushed back on the proposal to establish a drone corps. "I don't think it would be helpful to have a separate drone branch," he said.

Persons: —, James Rainey, it's, Rainey, Thomas Karako, Rob Wittman, Virginia, Gabe Camarillo, we're, Randy George Organizations: Service, Army Futures Command, Center for Strategic, International Studies, Business, Army, Aerial, House Armed Services Committee, CSIS Locations: Ukraine, Europe

☆ Taiwan, on China’s Doorstep, Is Dealing With TikTok Its Own Way
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-16 | by ( Meaghan Tobin | Amy Chang Chien | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

As it is in the United States, TikTok is popular in Taiwan, used by a quarter of the island’s 23 million residents. People post videos of themselves shopping for trendy clothes, dressing up as video game characters and playing pranks on their roommates. Influencers share their choreographed dances and debate whether the sticky rice dumplings are better in Taiwan’s north or south. Taiwanese users of TikTok, which is owned by the Chinese internet giant ByteDance, are also served the kind of pro-China content that the U.S. Congress cited as a reason it passed a law that could result in a ban of TikTok in America. The video was flagged as fake by a fact-checking organization, and TikTok took it down.

Persons: Influencers, Rob Wittman, stoking, TikTok Organizations: U.S, Republican Locations: United States, Taiwan, China, America, Virginia, Taiwan’s

☆ US House panel seeks ban on federal purchases of Chinese drones - FT
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-01 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

U.S. and Chinese flags are seen in this illustration taken, January 30, 2023. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration Acquire Licensing RightsNov 1 (Reuters) - The U.S. House of Representatives' China committee will introduce a bill to ban the U.S. government from buying Chinese drones, the Financial Times reported on Wednesday. Mike Gallagher, the Republican head of the committee, and Raja Krishnamoorthi, the ranking Democrat, will introduce the "American Security Drone Act" on Wednesday, the FT report added. The bill was cosigned by Virginia Republican Rob Wittman and Connecticut Democrat Joe Courtney, the FT said, adding that the bill would also bar local and state governments from purchasing Chinese drones with federal grants. The U.S. House of Representatives' China committee did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment.

Persons: Dado Ruvic, Mike Gallagher, Raja Krishnamoorthi, Gallagher, Virginia Republican Rob Wittman, Joe Courtney, Devika Nair, Chizu Organizations: REUTERS, U.S . House, Representatives, Financial Times, Republican, FT, China, Virginia Republican, Connecticut, Thomson Locations: China, United States, Bengaluru

☆ China's massive navy is only getting bigger, and the US is looking overseas for help keeping its warships in action
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-24 | by ( Christopher Woody | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +8 min

For years, the US Navy has struggled to complete repairs of its ships on time. To reduce workload at domestic shipyards and keep ships at sea, the US is looking for help overseas. That number has improved, but delays persist amid other challenges at Navy shipyards. Salvor was the first ship repaired in India following the signing of a Master Ship Repair Agreement with L&T Shipyard. "It's all hands on deck within the free world right now, and I think something like that would simultaneously enhance our ability to repair ships more quickly and also be a deterrent in the Pacific."

Persons: —, MCS3 Brandon Roberson, Biden, USNS Charles Drew, USNS Matthew Perry, Salvor, Fitzgerald, Leonard Adams, Carlos Del Toro, Charles Drew, Del Toro, Joel Garcia Japan, Rahm Emanuel, Emanuel, Harry Harris Jr, Harris, Paul, Wendy Hallmark, Rob Wittman, Wittman, Mike Gallagher, Gallagher Organizations: US Navy, Service, Pentagon, Navy, MCS3 Brandon Roberson Public, Maritime Sealift Command, USNS, Larsen & Toubro Shipyard, USNS Salvor, T Shipyard, Military Sealift Command, Mazgaon, Goa Shipyard, Getty, US, White, National Press, Nikkei Asia, US Military Sealift Command, Pacific Command, USS, Puget Sound Naval Shipyard, Republican, House Armed Services Committee, Capitol, Strategic Competition Locations: Western, Washington, China, Norfolk, India, Chennai, Shipbuilders, Mumbai, Goa, Japan, Asia, Philippines, Singapore, South Korea, extremis, USS Minneapolis, St, United States

Together, experts say, these efforts aim to enhance China’s military reach, which currently includes only one operational overseas naval base in Djibouti on the Horn of Africa. “It’s a question of when – not if – China will secure its next overseas military outpost,” he said. This photo taken on August 1, 2017, shows Chinese People's Liberation Army personnel attending the opening ceremony of China's new military base in Djibouti. The Hambantota commercial port in Sri Lanka has long been considered a prime candidate for a Chinese naval base. However, China’s path to developing permanent overseas bases, if indeed that is its aim, is not straightforward.

Persons: FDD, Craig Singleton, “, –, ”, Tea Banh, FDD’s Singleton, Tang Chhin Sothy, Singleton, Xi Jinping, Stringer, ” AidData, Stephen J, Townsend, ” Townsend, Bata, Ali Bongo Ondimba, Ken Ishii, ’, ” Singleton, China’s, Aaron Favila, Isaac Kardon, Kardon, ” Kardon, BlackSky Singleton, Rob Wittman, Fu Tian, Seth Moulton, ” Moulton, Martin Meiners Organizations: South Korea CNN, People’s Liberation Army Navy, Foundation for Defense of Democracies, People’s Liberation Army, PLA, Ream, Base, CNN, China’s Ministry of Defense, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Ream Naval Base, ” Cambodian Defense, Cambodian, Getty, Fleet, Communist Party, US, Liberation Army personnel, William & Mary University, Sri Lankan Navy, US Africa Command, Gabonese, of, Xinhua, Naval Research Academy, Carnegie Endowment, International Peace, East China Seas, China, Control, Organization, Force, Strategic, International Studies, Defense Department, Chinese Communist Party, ”, Virginia Republican, The Defense Department, Qingdao Port, People's Liberation Army Navy, China News Service, America, Pentagon, US Defense Department Locations: Seoul, South Korea, China, Beijing, Washington, Cambodia, Argentina, Cuba, Djibouti, of Africa, Africa, West Asia, Gulf, Thailand, United States, Preah Sihanouk, AFP, Horn of Africa, “, South, Taiwan, Virginia, —, Sri Lanka, Bata , Equatorial Guinea, Gwadar, Pakistan, Kribi, Cameroon, Ream, Vanuatu, Nacala, Mozambique, Nouakchott, Mauritania, Colombo, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, West Africa, South China, East Asia, East, Asia, Washington In Washington, Nanchang, Qingdao, Shandong province, Massachusetts

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