Dead Drop: June 9

CLOSE ENCOUNTERS OF THE CHINESE KIND:  A few days after Chinese fighters cut in front of (and dangerously close to) a U.S. reconnaissance flight over the South China Sea, a Chinese warship deliberately crossed a short distance ahead of a U.S. guided missile destroyer, USS Chung-Hoon, in the Taiwan Straits.  The U.S. objected to the Chinese actions and Beijing responded by saying it was the U.S.’  fault. Absurdly, they maintain that just about the entire South China Sea (an area about half the size of the continental United States) belongs to them. There is some kind of weird karma that the Chinese People’s Liberation Army Navy endangered the first U.S. Navy ship that was named after an Asian-American flag officer. Also, in the “you can’t make this stuff up – or maybe you can” category – there was a 2021 novel by Elliot Ackerman and Cipher Brief expert Admiral James Stavridis called 2034: A Novel of the Next World War, which envisions a superpower conflagration which starts with the Chinese sinking U.S. Navy ships in the Taiwan Straits – one of which in the book – is the USS Chung-Hoon.

WHICH WAY TO THE NORTHERN LIGHTS? It’s worth noting that the Chinese tendency to get too close reaches beyond what they see as their home waters.  USA Todayreported recently that Chinese spies disguised as tourists, allegedly have repeatedly attempted to enter US military bases in Alaska. In one incident, the paper cites sources saying a vehicle with Chinese citizens allegedly blew past a security checkpoint at Fort Wainwright in Fairbanks. When the vehicle was stopped and searched – a drone was found inside.  The occupants claimed to be tourists who had gotten lost. In some similar cases, the wayward visitors said they were just looking at the northern lights. Yeah, that’s it…maybe the U.S. Navy should just tell the Chinese that the Chung-Hoon was full of tourists and got lost.