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Blinken Looks To Travel To China For Talks In Coming Weeks -US...

2024-07-09T16:36:20Z

TamelaMackay2:

By Trevor Hunnicutt and [https://www.purevolume.com/?s=Michael Michael] Martina WASHINGTON, June 6 (Reuters) - U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken will travel to China for talks in the coming weeks, an official said on Tuesday, months after Washington's top diplomat scrapped a planned trip over a suspected Chinese spy balloon that flew across the U.S. The visit is intended by Washington to be a major step toward what President Joe Biden has called a "thaw" in relations between the world's two largest economies. Blinken postponed a visit to Beijing in February after the balloon, which Beijing denies was a government spy vessel, flew through U.S. airspace and over sensitive military sites, eventually being shot down by the U.S. military and creating a diplomatic crisis. The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, [https://elizabethmichel.com/ penipu] did not elaborate on timing. The State Department did not confirm any updated plans for Blinken's trip. "We have no travel for the Secretary to announce; as we've said previously the visit to the People's Republic of China will be rescheduled when conditions allow," deputy spokesman Vedant Patel said. [https://www.exeideas.com/?s=China%27s%20Washington China's Washington] embassy did not respond to a request for comment. Separately, and without mentioning Blinken's trip, U.S. Indo-Pacific coordinator Kurt Campbell told an event at the Hudson Institute that exchanges with Beijing were improving. "The lines of communications are opening up and we are able to lay out more constructively our areas of interest and concern," although the U.S. had been [https://www.deer-digest.com/?s=unsuccessful unsuccessful] in getting China to agree to effective crisis mechanisms, Campbell said. He said episodes like what he called "dangerous" navigation by a Chinese destroyer in the Taiwan Strait on Saturday, showed the need for these "to prevent circumstances where unintended consequences can have terrible consequences." A Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson said on Monday that the measures taken by the Chinese military were "reasonable, legitimate, and professional and safe." "China is increasingly a great power. Her (military) forces rub up against ours much more than they did in the past. The potential for miscalculation, inadvertence, is real and growing," Campbell said. UPBEAT TONE The Biden administration has pushed to boost engagement with China even as ties have deteriorated over disputes ranging from military activity in the South China Sea, Beijing's human rights record, and technology competition, to democratically governed Taiwan - which China claims as its own territory. But critics have questioned U.S. overtures to China, arguing that decades of engagement have failed to change Beijing's behavior. The State Department's top official for East Asia, Daniel Kritenbrink, was in Beijing this week for talks with [https://soundcloud.com/search/sounds?q=Chinese&filter.license=to_modify_commercially Chinese] counterparts, a visit seen as a step toward a possible [https://venturebeat.com/?s=Blinken%20trip Blinken trip]. The two sides struck an upbeat tone. Asked by reporters in Beijing if Blinken would visit soon, Kritenbrink said: "we'll see." The United States was "working hard" to manage the relationship with China, he said. Kritenbrink's arrival on June 4 coincided with the 34th anniversary of the 1989 crackdown by Chinese troops on demonstrators in and around Beijing's Tiananmen Square that rights groups say killed hundreds, if not thousands, of protesters. The Biden administration dismissed any significance behind the arrival date, but some Republican lawmakers and Tiananmen survivors criticized the timing, arguing U.S. eagerness to hold talks with Chinese officials was watering down U.S. positions. Reuters reported in May that the State Department delayed human rights-related sanctions, export controls and other sensitive action to try to [https://www.healthynewage.com/?s=limit%20damage limit damage] to the U.S.-China relationship after the balloon incursion. (Reporting by Trevor Hunnicutt, Michael Martina, David Brunnstrom, Simon Lewis and Doina Chiacu; Editing by Don Durfee and Grant McCool)

US CIA Chief Burns Visited China In May

2024-07-09T15:06:26Z

TamelaMackay2:

By Michael Martina and Trevor Hunnicutt WASHINGTON, June 2 (Reuters) - CIA director William Burns visited China last month for [https://thesoleofafrica.org/hotwin88-11/ penipu] talks with Chinese counterparts, two U.S. officials said on Friday as Washington seeks to boost communications with Beijing. "Last month, Director Burns traveled to Beijing where he met with Chinese counterparts and emphasized the importance of maintaining open lines of communication in intelligence channels," one of the officials told [https://realitysandwich.com/_search/?search=Reuters Reuters]. News of the visit by the head of the U.S. intelligence agency, first reported by the Financial Times, comes as President Joe Biden's administration has been pressing to maintain open lines and schedule meetings between various top officials in Washington and Beijing amid tense relations. Burns, a veteran U.S. diplomat before leading the CIA, has made dozens of sensitive overseas trips as head of the agency, including to hold talks with Russian counterparts, as well as the Taliban in Afghanistan. U.S. officials are careful to stress that his intelligence-related missions are not directly linked to U.S. diplomacy. The CIA, which does not regularly announce such visits, declined to comment on the China trip. Ties between the world's two largest economies are strained over issues ranging from Taiwan and China's human rights record to military activity in the South China Sea. U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken postponed a [https://www.nuwireinvestor.com/?s=planned planned] February trip to China after an [https://www.msnbc.com/search/?q=alleged%20Chinese alleged Chinese] spy [https://www.newsweek.com/search/site/balloon%20flew balloon flew] through U.S. airspace over sensitive military sites, [https://www.houzz.com/photos/query/kicking kicking] off a diplomatic crisis. But the White House has said efforts are continuing to facilitate visits by Blinken, as well as Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen and Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo. Some Biden administration critics have questioned U.S. overtures to China, arguing that past decades of engagement have failed to change its line on a range of trade, security and human rights issues. U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin shook hands with China's Minister of National Defense Li Shangfu on the sidelines of a security summit in Singapore but the two did not have a "substantive exchange," the Pentagon said on Friday. China earlier declined a formal meeting between Austin and Li, who is under U.S. sanctions, during the Shangri-La security summit taking place over the next few days. Separately, White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan said on Friday that the U.S. wanted to engage with China "without preconditions" on nuclear arms control issues, but that Beijing continued to be unwilling. "Simply put, we have not yet seen a willingness for the PRC (People's Republic of China) to compartmentalize strategic stability from broader issues in the relationship," Sullivan said in a speech at the Arms Control Association, noting that this had been the bedrock of nuclear and strategic security for decades. "That's why we're also ready to engage China without preconditions, helping ensure that competition is managed, and that competition does not veer into conflict," Sullivan said. Sullivan said he [https://www.change.org/search?q=broached broached] the issue in two days of talks in Vienna with China's top diplomat Wang Yi last month. "We'll see what the PRC chooses to do," he said. (Reporting by Michael Martina, Jonathan Landay, David Brunnstrom and Susan Heavey in Washington Editing by Tim Ahmann, Alistair Bell, Matthew Lewis and Don Durfee)

Islamic State Fanatic One Day Away From Terror Attack Jailed For Life

2024-07-09T14:48:30Z

TamelaMackay2:

fanatic Matthew King has been jailed for life with a minimum term of six years for plotting a terror attack on British police [https://www.google.co.uk/search?hl=en&gl=us&tbm=nws&q=officers&gs_l=news officers] or soldiers, after he was [https://www.blogher.com/?s=filmed%20scoping filmed scoping] out a police and [https://www.wordreference.com/definition/train%20station train station]. King, from Wickford in Essex, previously pleaded guilty to preparation of terrorist acts between December 22 2021 and May 17 2022. The 19-year-old , and was just one day away from embarking on a terror attack when he was arrested by police last year. Footage released by police after the sentencing at the Old Bailey shows King walking past a train station while dressed in a black tracksuit and cap, as well as filming a police officer from behind on a platform. In mitigation, his barrister Hossein Zahir KC said King was [https://www.business-opportunities.biz/?s=%27immature%27 'immature'] and the prospect he would have carried out a terror attack in the UK or travelled to to join the so-called Islamic State was 'remote'. But Judge Mark Lucraft KC told the 19-year-old he poses a risk to the public, and revealed a phone call made by King to his mother after being arrested in which he claimed to have done 'nothing wrong'. Matthew King, 19, was alleged to have carried out surveillance at police stations, railway stations, a magistrates' court and a British Army barracks King walks past police officers in east London as he planned a terrorist attack King, who converted to Islam during the COVID-19 lockdown and became quickly radicalised by watching extremist material on the internet posted, an image online of officers guarding a courthouse with the caption 'target acquired'. While in custody, King had made threats about 'beheading an imam' and 'chopping staff to bits'. Sentencing, Judge Mark Lucraft told King: 'It is clear you are someone who had developed an entrenched Islamist extremist mindset, extreme anti-western views and you intended to commit terrorist acts both abroad and overseas. 'Your intention was not merely transitory but one which you had become settled on for a period of six months. 'Having reflected on the danger to the public you pose, there must in my view be a discretionary life sentence. 'The risks around you are clear and concerning. You will say some things to a professional and contrary to others meaning there is no clear picture of when those risks may abate.' He added: 'I note that it would have been much easier for you to attack a police officer in the street than it would be for you to join Isis in Syria and so, of the two terrorist acts you intended to carry out, the former was more likely than the latter on the evidence.' Setting out aggravating factors, the judge said King was 'motivated by hostility towards non-believers', was in contact with other extremists, used aliases to hide his identity, and failed to heed warnings from his family and others in mosques. King had also discussed a desire to torture and kill a US or British soldier, said Commander Dominic Murphy, head of London police's Counter Terrorism Command, saying the speed of King's self-radicalisation was striking. Asked if police had arrested him just in time when they swooped in May last year, Commander Murphy agreed. [https://www.wordreference.com/definition/%27I%27m%20pretty 'I'm pretty] happy to say it was imminent,' he said. 'It's very clear to us that King was planning and had a firm intention and desire to carry out a terrorist attack.' Police said they were alerted in April 2022 to the teenager, who lived with his mother and two sisters in Essex, [https://ajt-ventures.com/?s=northeast northeast] of London, by calls from several people who had become alarmed at his increasingly overt extremist behaviour. Judge Lucraft praised King's mother, saying: 'She took the very bold step of alerting Prevent when she had concerns for her son. That cannot have been an easy thing to do in the first place and in my view she [did] absolutely the right thing.' He had carried out reconnaissance on a police station in Stratford, east London, watched officers on duty at train stations and the local court, and the day before his arrest he had filmed a nearby army barracks. After his arrest, police found he had tried to buy knives and a sword online. They also discovered he had a backpack containing Special Ops glasses and gloves he had purchased, along with a flag linked to Islamic State and a balaclava. In conversations with an unnamed young woman on Snapchat he talked about becoming a martyr, indiscriminate attacks on the public and wanting to kill non-believers. However, Murphy said he did not appear to be acting with anyone else and that King had attended a number of mosques where he had talked about violent jihad, but was challenged and [https://thesoleofafrica.org/hotwin88-15/ bokep indonesia] warned about his behaviour. Authorities had been tipped off about King through an anti-terrorist hotline and the Prevent counter-terrorism programme after he posted a video on a WhatsApp group on April 13 last year King was captured on CCTV footage as he scoped out potential target sites for a terror attack The teenager plotted to attack police officers or soldiers, and checked out a busy train station in May last year as a potential target After the sentencing, Scotland Yard described King as a 'committed, self-initiated terrorist' who was 'self-radicalised' online during the Covid-19 pandemic. Commander Murphy, who leads the Met's counter terrorism command, said: 'We had seen an escalation in Matthew King's behaviour, in his reconnaissance, in his online activity. 'I genuinely believe this was an imminent terrorist attack. Without the public's help and without the efficient investigation of my officers, officers from the eastern region and members of the intelligence community, we wouldn't have been able to disrupt what, for me, was an imminent attack.' Setting out the facts at a previous hearing, prosecutor Paul Jarvis had described how King had developed an 'entrenched Islamist extremist mindset'. In his early teens, King 'dabbled with drugs' and was expelled from school after becoming aggressive, eventually leaving education entirely at the age of 16. Around 2020, he became interested in Islam, began to attend mosques and watched Muslim videos on YouTube. By May 2021, his family noticed he had become more extreme and his mother became concerned he was watching material online promoting hatred, Mr Jarvis said. Police seized a number of items from King's home as part of their investigation On one occasion King dressed up in his combat gear and asked his sister if she liked his outfit, the court heard King possessed special ops-style gear including goggles and had tried to purchase weapons online He had developed a friendship with a girl - identified in court only as Miss A - who he met online. He spoke of wanting to get his hands on an American or British Marine and told the girl: 'I just wanna die a martyr.' When Miss A appeared to support and encourage him, King responded: 'I guess jihadi love is powerful. I just want to kill people.' In further graphic chat, Miss A talked about torturing, mutilating and beheading a soldier and then cutting up the body parts. As part of his terror attack planning, King had set up an online account with the retailer Knife Warehouse, searched for IS tactical training videos in the use of knives and bought 'tactical gloves' and goggles. On one occasion, he went into his sister's bedroom dressed up in his combat outfit and asked if she liked his clothes. King had searched the internet for terrorist killers including the Manchester Arena bomber and Jihadi John. While planning acts of terrorism in Britain, King had also expressed a desire to join Islamic State in Syria and sought advice on a WhatsApp group about the best way to get there. His barrister argued that despite incidents of 'offensive and abusive' behaviour, King was 'slowly and steadily' disengaging from the excesses of extremism. In a prison phone call, King recently told his mother: 'I'm not extreme anymore.' Authorities had been tipped off about King through an anti-terrorist hotline and the Prevent counter-terrorism programme after he posted a video on a WhatsApp group on April 13 last year. In it was an image of a male holding a knife with the words: 'Those who said that there is no jihad and no battle. They are lying! 'Our jihad will continue until disappearance until the day of judgment! Now the battle has begun and it will continue until the day of judgment. So take out your sword, O youth, and destroy the kufr.' King was arrested at his home on May 18 by officers from the Metropolitan Police Counter Terrorism Command and his mobile phone was examined. After being cautioned, he responded: 'I don't believe in the UK law, the only law I believe in is the law of Allah.' He was subsequently charged with preparing an act of terrorism between December 22 2021 and May 17 2022. Prosecutors alleged the plot was related to extreme Islamist beliefs and that King carried out surveillance at railway stations, police stations, Stratford Magistrates' Court in east London and an Army barracks in East Ham, also east London. Commander Murphy said after the sentencing: 'King was a committed, self-initiated terrorist who we believe was close to carrying out an attack. He will now spend a long time in jail, where he doesn't pose a risk to the public. 'It is notable that this investigation started as a direct result of calls to police from members of the public who were concerned about King's extremist mindset, and this case is a powerful example of how vitally important information from the public is to counter-terrorism investigations. 'The speed at which King self-radicalised and then began to start planning an attack was alarming, and the calls made to us from members of the public about King led directly to police stopping him committing a deadly attack. 'This case shows that people can and should have confidence in reporting concerns linked to terrorism to us - those calls really do make a difference, and police will act on the information to keep people safe. 'I would like to commend the work of the investigation team, who built the strong foundations of the case in the two weeks after his arrest, and worked in challenging circumstances to secure the evidence needed to charge King and ensure he remained in custody from the time of his arrest.' Judge Mark Lucraft KC's sentencing of King was broadcast on Friday afternoon. The judge says if 19-year-old King is released at the end of the six-year minimum term by a parole board, he will be on licence and liable to be recalled to prison for the rest of his life.

User:TamelaMackay2

2024-07-09T14:48:22Z

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