China’s Fourth Aircraft Carrier

China’s Fourth Aircraft Carrier Type 004 – Jiangnan Shipyard
Is this China Type 004 aircraft carrier under construction?
Is this China’s Type 004 aircraft carrier under construction at Jiangnan shipyard? Image © 2023 Maxar Technologies – Google.com

Is this China’s fourth aircraft carrier Type 004 under construction at Jiangnan Shipyard, Changxing Island, Shanghai? Well, it appears to be (see addendum). There are numerous online reports that China is planning a fourth aircraft carrier – possibly larger than the Type 003 Fujian, and with nuclear propulsion. To date, there have been no definitive reports of the Type 004 being constructed; although an Australian tabloid newspaper reported that steel plate cutting for the ship began in December 2017. I was therefore surprised to see this recent satellite image on the Google Earth website, showing the advanced construction of an aircraft carrier at Jiangnan Shipyard.
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BBC or BBC PLC?: A DCMS Response

BBC or BBC?: A DCMS Response

BBC Broadcasting House
BBC Broadcasting House, London

In my previous article, ‘BBC or BBC PLC?: Government Policy Needs to be Clarified‘, I presented a number of important issues for debate. Of special concern is the answer to the question: would the BBC become a Public Limited Company (PLC) if it were no longer funded through the existing television licence fee model?

In June 2021, I wrote to Oliver Dowden CBE MP, the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, to comment on my  BBC article. I am publishing the DCMS response for public information purposes and as a matter of record. The DCMS response, dated 7th July 2021, is published below.
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BBC or BBC PLC ?

BBC or BBC PLC ?:  Government Policy Needs to be Clarified

Boris Johnson test card
PM Boris Johnson – Will it be the BBC or BBC PLC?

There is much debate about the direction of the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC), and many people have called for the TV licence fee to be scrapped. Prime Minister Boris Johnson has been concerned enough to speak about the so-called the ‘woke’ agenda. Mr Johnson has threatened to scrap the TV licence fee if matters do not improve, and turn the BBC into a subscription fee service. If this happened, the BBC would need to be privatised, and it would become BBC PLC (Public Limited Company) a commercial broadcaster and subscription service.

These are uncertain times for the BBC, but how did it reach this parlous state? Continue reading “BBC or BBC PLC ?”

Shenyang WW2 Allied Prisoners Camp Site Museum – Mukden POW Camp

Shenyang WW2 Allied Prisoners Camp Site Museum– Site of Mukden POW Camp

Shenyang WW2  Allied Prisoners Camp Site Museum
Shenyang WWII Allied Prisoners Camp Site Museum

In 2017, I sought out the site of Mukden Allied Prisoner of War Camp in Shenyang, Liaoning province, Northeast China. Mukden Camp, also known as Hoten Camp, was located on the outskirts of Mukden, present-day Shenyang. The former POW site, at Di Tan Street, in the Dadong district of Shenyang, is now the location of the Shenyang WWII Allied Prisoners Camp Museum. It has one of the best preserved examples of an Allied POW camp. At the time of my visit, the new museum had not been completed.
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COVID-19 Wuhan medications

COVID-19 Wuhan medications

Wuhan Celebration Illuminations
Wuhan celebration illuminations – 76 days of lockdown ended 8th April 2020

The novel coronavirus, now designated SARS-CoV-2 (severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2), was identified in Wuhan, Hubei province, China, on the 7th January 2020.  This specific coronavirus causes the disease COVID-19, and there have been unofficial reports of confirmed cases going back to 17th November 2019.  Subsequently, the world has seen a race to identify which medications could stop or alleviate the symptoms from this highly infectious disease.

A few weeks ago a colleague of mine living in Wuhan, China, was tested positive for the disease COVID-19, and spent 20 days quarantined in an emergency hospital. After being treated with the medications prescribed below, my colleague has now fully recovered. There is currently much debate and experimentation on the type of medications that might effectively inhibit and/or alleviate the symptoms of COVID-19. I have recently obtained a picture from my recovered colleague, which shows the medications that were used for COVID-19 treatment at a Wuhan hospital. Continue reading “COVID-19 Wuhan medications”

Huawei 5G : UK Conundrum or US False Flag?

Huawei 5G : UK Conundrum or US False Flag?

Huawei 5G
Huawei 5G

For some time the UK, under pressure from the US, has dillied and dallied about the installation of Huawei 5G equipment in the UK. Lack of leadership, a UK conundrum or a US false flag? Should it bow to US pressure and ban outright Huawei 5G equipment on national security grounds, or allow Huawei’s 5G more advanced and cheaper technology?
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North Korea: a vexing situation for the USA and China

North Korea’s Pukguksong-2 test increases the tension

North Korea, officially the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK), has again provoked international condemnation whilst developing its current ballistic missile and nuclear programme.

north-korea-pukguksong-2
North Korea: Pukguksong-2 missile test

On 12th February 2017, North Korea launched a Pukguksong-2 missile (North Star 2, 북극성 2), from a tracked mobile launch vehicle. The solid-fuel missile is believed to have reached an altitude of 340 miles (550km) and travelled downrange 310 miles (510km) into the East Sea. The missile fell into North Korean territorial waters of the East Sea (disputed by Japan, which it considers it to be the Sea of Japan), and did not pose any risk to Japan. This missile test was primarily of chief concern for the participating nations of the Six-Party talks.
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Does the US Need a Reality Check?

‘US needs Reality Check’: A China View of US Foreign Policy

presidents-xi-jinping-barak-obama
China President Xi Jinping with US President Barak Obama

During my stay in Beijing last year, I came across a thought provoking editorial entitled ‘US needs reality check ‘ (China Daily newspaper, 30th May 2014). Alongside the editorial was another article: ‘Time for China to go it alone’, an interesting juxtaposition. It is possible to interpret this juxtaposition, as the decline of the United States as global leader and the rise of China’s territorial ambitions! Continue reading “Does the US Need a Reality Check?”

Dr Lyushun Shen, Taipei Representative Office (Taiwan) in the UK

Dr Lyushun Shen, Taipei Representative Office (Taiwan) in the UK

Last night, I had the privilege of meeting and hearing a presentation given by Dr Lyushun Shen, Taipei Representative Office (Taiwan) in the UK, at a Conservative Foreign and Commonwealth Council (CFCC) meeting in London (28th January 2013).

Dr Shen gave a thoroughly interesting talk on Taiwan history, which encompassed Britain’s former colonial involvement in China and South China Sea region.

chiang-kai-shek
Chiang Kai-shek, President of Taiwan 1950-1975

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BBC Trust

*First Published on Boris Johnson’s ‘Democracy Archives’ website – click here

The BBC Trust

dr-robert-frew
Dr Robert Frew

“The extent to which the
audience feels its trust betrayed
… bodes ill for the BBC. In the
long term the loser will be
public-service broad­casting itself;
the winners the revengists of ‘old’
New Labour.”

 

Dr Robert Frew reflects on the role of the BBC Trust

The BBC Trust Chairman Sir Michael Lyons, has recently revealed he will not seek to be re-appointed in the role when his four-year term ends next May.

A few weeks ago, in a letter to Jeremy Hunt, Secretary of State for Culture, Olympics, Media and Sport, Sir Michael said the Trust was robust, workable and effective … with much remaining to be done. So what of the background that led to the formation of the BBC Trust and its future ?

The BBC Trust replaced the BBC’s Board of Governors in January 2007. The Government said it was intended to ensure an “unprecedented obligation to openness and transparency”. But one of its first announcements was that the BBC Trust would review the corporation’s UK news coverage, which, whilst seeming even-handed to some, was seen by others as an insidious first step to totalitarianism : more like a politburo flexing its muscles. Continue reading “BBC Trust”