Who is to Blame For Taiwan’s Military Woes?

Chiang Kai-shek reviews Taiwanese conscripts in the 1950s. Image source. Two weeks ago The National Interest published an important, hard-nosed essay by Wendell Minnick. I have had the opportunity to meet Minnick before. His knowledge of and long experience with the ROC Armed Forces (the “guojun” 國軍) has few equals. His assessment on Taiwanese defense preparations […]

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Reflections on China’s Stalinist Heritage II: Just How Totalitarian is Modern China?

Rainer Hachfeld, Stalin-Mao-Xi, originally published 12 March, 2018. The most striking difference between ancient and modern sophists is that the ancients were satisfied with a passing victory of the argument at the expense of truth, whereas the moderns want a more lasting victory at the expense of reality. In other words, one destroyed the dignity of human thought […]

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Secure Communications Strategies for China and Elsewhere

Image Source The New York Times had an interesting piece out this week about the lengths their reporters in China go to try and protect their sources and their data from the digital surveillance state. To quote a bit from the piece: I use an iPhone because Apple tends to be more secure than Android. […]

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