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.
EVERYBODY REMAIN CALM, DAMMIT! If we didn’t know any better – we’d guess that folks in Russia are feeling a bit stressed. For example, Russia Media Monitor Julia Davis provided this clip of State TV pundits shouting at each other about how no one should panic. Or another clip with Putin propagandist Vladimir Solovyov freaking out over NATO providing support for Ukraine and calling Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg a “hysterical, stupid Norwegian herring!” Then there are reports that “spymania” has gripped Russian security services with several high-profile scientists being arrested over the past 15 months on charges of treason – accused of passing hypersonic missile secrets to China. The arrested scientists’ colleagues insist they were not spies – but we may never know – since they tend to die in custody before a “fair trial.” Meanwhile, there are renewed reports of Russian army and Wagner Group troops shooting at each other. According to The Moscow Times, one Russian lieutenant colonel was captured by Wagner and admitted in a video that he “acted in a state of alcoholic intoxication out of personal animosity.”
AT LEAST, WE THINK THAT IS WHAT HE SAID: That video of the Russian lieutenant colonel apparently copping to drunken aggression seems to be real. But you never know these days. For example, this week a deep-fake video which appeared to show President Putin declaring martial law and military mobilization, aired on several Russian television networks. But Kremlin officials said they were victims of a hack and that Putin had definitely not made any such recording. Either that, or he made it while in a state of alcoholic intoxication and out of personal animosity.
NEVER SAY “NEVER” General Daniel Hokanson, chief of the National Guard Bureau, promised during a Senate hearing last week, that a massive intelligence leak like the one perpetrated by Air National Guardsman Jack Teixeira “will never happen again.” Hokanson offered that "This was an individual action and not indicative of the entire system. But we are looking at safeguards that we can put in place that would prevent any individual in the future from ever being able to do this." Call us crazy, but saying there are safeguards that “we can put in place” sure sounds like they are not currently in place. Let’s hope there are no narcissistic gamers in the Guard who want to overshare secrets – at least not until those safeguards are fully in place.
WHAT KEEPS KIM UP AT NIGHT? Maybe it’s the snacks. The South Korean National Intelligence Service recently reported that Kim Jong Un may be suffering from a sleep disorder and worsening alcohol and nicotine dependency. One hint may be that their North Korean intelligence counterparts are reportedly collecting medical information about how to treat such conditions. According to a story in Bloomberg News, analysts believe Kim now tips the scales around 300 pounds. Intelligence officials noted that Pyongyang has been purchasing large amounts of imported cigarettes and “high-end snacks that are traditionally served with alcohol.”
JACK’S ALMOST BACK: The final season of “Tom Clancy’s Jack Ryan” returns to Prime Video on June 30th. The official trailer has dropped and can be seen here. From what we can tell there are a lot of explosions, assassinations, and corruption. Shocking.
SOUNDS LIKE A DANIEL SILVA NOVEL: But apparently not (at least not yet). The Sun reports that two Italian intelligence agents and an Israeli ex-spy were killed (along with a Russian woman) when their party boat was sunk by a “whirlwind.” The incident happened in Lake Maggiore along the border between Italy and Switzerland. Not everybody onboard was a current or former spy. Some were reportedly tourists. About nineteen passengers of the overcrowded boat managed to survive. The Times of Israelconfirmed that a 50-year-old retired Mossad agent, who Italian media had identified as Erez Shimoni, who was “still devoted to state security” died in the incident. Italian media said the boat trip was a “working meeting of intelligence agents.” The Jerusalem Post said the Mossad agent was on a mission working against Iran.
POCKET LITTER: Dead Droplets and bits and pieces of interesting /weird stuff we discovered:
WEEKLY TIP FROM THE CIPHER BRIEF: A lot of Cipher Brief Experts (and there are a lot of them) have spent a lot of time trying to figure out how to get a substantive daily brief on what’s going on in the world after they retired and no longer had access to classified briefings. Say no more. The Cipher Brief answered that question by creating the M-F Open Source Report. If you’re looking for the perfect daily brief to help you navigate those water cooler conversations like an expert, check it out.
BIG BOOM THEORY: Residents of the Washington, DC area were shaken last Sunday afternoon by a loud bang. At first, the cause was unclear but eventually the facts emerged that a high performance US Air Force jet had created a sonic boom while chasing a wayward civilian aircraft that had flown over the national capital region. The private jet later tragically crashed in southern Virginia. While the cause of the crash is still under investigation, signs point to a loss of cabin pressure that led to a loss of consciousness of the pilot and the eventual death of all onboard. During the early hours post-boom, there was a lot of speculation in the media. We heard one talking head on CNN say that the jet likely had been scrambled from Bolling Air Force Base – which came as a surprise to us since the facility (now known as Joint Base Anacostia-Bolling) stopped flying fixed wing aircraft in 1974. While the crash of the Cessna tragically resulted in the loss of four lives – it could have been much worse had the plane gone down in a populated area. For those who want to know more about sonic booms – the Washington Post provided a detailed explanation.
WILL THERE BE A BOOM IN NEWS TIPS? We hope so. If you have news we can use, send items to us at: TheDeadDrop@theCipherBrief.com.
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