China says it sent warplanes to monitor and mirror a US military reconnaissance plane as it flew over the contested Taiwan Strait on Tuesday, according to statements of the People’s Liberation Army (PLA).

The PLA’s Eastern Theater Command identified the aircraft as a US Navy P-8A Poseidon patrol plane. A statement said the PLA “organized warplanes to tail and monitor the U.S. aircraft’s flight and handled it in accordance with the law.”

“Theater command troops will remain on constant high alert and resolutely safeguard national sovereignty and security as well as regional peace and stability,” the statement added.

The US Navy’s 7th Fleet later confirmed, “The aircraft’s transit of the Taiwan Strait demonstrates the United States’ commitment to a free and open Indo-Pacific.” It asserted in response to Beijing’s condemnation: “The United States military flies, sails and operates anywhere international law allows.”

“The Poseidon on Tuesday encountered foreign military forces, but the flight was not affected,” the US Navy indicated. “All interactions with foreign military forces during the transit were consistent with international norms and did not impact the operation,” the statement noted.

Tuesday’s fly through marked the US Navy’s first aerial transit of the vital strait in five months. Days prior, the German frigate Baden-Wuerttemberg and support ship Frankfurt am Main made their own transit.

The German pass-through was much rarer, a first in over two decades, and suggests deepening NATO forces’ involvement in the Taiwan issue.

This past summer, Taiwan’s foreign ministry had stated that it “welcomes NATO’s continuous increase in attention to peace and stability in the Indo-Pacific region in recent years, and its active strengthening of exchanges and interactions with countries in the Indo-Pacific region.”

The German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius said on Friday regarding the transit of the frigate across Taiwan Strait:

“It’s the shortest route … so we’re going through.” But It’s not true, it traveled NM, the shortest route is 1528 NM

Seems like it was just a provocation 🤷🏻‍♂️ https://t.co/lrZWB9qFyi pic.twitter.com/Rr9LMSED6G

— MenchOsint (@MenchOsint) September 18, 2024

Median line incursions by Chinese military assets have seen an uptick ever since the election victory last January of new Taiwan President Lai Ching-te, which Beijing has called a ‘separatist’. China’s Foreign Ministry has repeatedly vowed that “The determination of China to safeguard its sovereignty and territorial integrity remains unrelenting.”

FCC Commissioner Brendan Carr criticized the Biden-Harris administration, pointing out that their $42.45 billion program to bring high-speed internet to rural America has yet to connect a single person. He said it had been 1,038 days, and “not a single person has been connected” since the program debuted.

1️⃣,0️⃣3️⃣7️⃣ days.

Vice President Harris has been leading the Administration’s signature, $42 billion plan to extend Internet to millions of Americans for 1️⃣,0️⃣3️⃣7️⃣ days now.

The result?

0️⃣ people have been connected to the Internet. Not one home. Not one business. None. pic.twitter.com/n1HLYkUZwD

— Brendan Carr (@BrendanCarrFCC) September 17, 2024

Carr on X pushed out a post in the early afternoon of Wednesday featuring a new letter from nine US senators, including Sen. John Thune (R-S.D.) and Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX), stressing concern about VP Harris’ time as ‘broadband czar’ entirely mismanaged the $42.45 billion program to connect rural America. Considering that not a single home in rural America has been connected, the senators warned that the failures are piling up for VP Harris, citing her failure as ‘border czar.’

Dear Vice President Harris:

We are writing to express serious concerns regarding your role as the Biden-Harris administration’s “broadband czar” and the mismanagement of federal broadband initiatives under your leadership. It appears that your performance as “broadband czar” has mirrored your performance as “border czar,” marked by poor management and a lack of effectiveness despite significant federal broadband investments and your promises to deliver broadband to rural areas.

As you are aware, Congress, through the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, provided the National Telecommunications and Information Administration with $42.45 billion for the Broadband, Equity, Access, and Deployment (BEAD) program. These funds are intended to provide broadband access to unserved communities, particularly those in rural areas.

In 2021, you were specifically tasked by President Biden to lead the administration’s efforts to expand broadband services to unserved Americans. And at the time, you stated, “we can bring broadband to rural America today.” Despite your assurances over three years ago, rural and unserved communities continue to wait for the connectivity they were promised. Under your leadership, not a single person has been connected to the internet using the $42.45 billion allocated for the BEAD program. Indeed, Politico recently reported on “the messy, delayed rollout of” this program.

Instead of focusing on delivering broadband services to unserved areas, your administration has used the BEAD program to add partisan, extralegal requirements that were never envisioned by Congress and have obstructed broadband deployment. By imposing burdensome climate change mandates on infrastructure projects, prioritizing government-owned networks over private investment, mandating the use of unionized labor in states, and seeking to regulate broadband rates, your administration has caused unnecessary delays leaving millions of Americans unconnected.

The administration’s lack of focus on truly connecting the unconnected has failed the American people and represents a gross misuse of limited taxpayer dollars. The American public deserves better.

NEW

Senators write Vice President Kamala Harris over her mismanagement of a $42 billion program to expand Internet.

After 1️⃣,0️⃣3️⃣8️⃣ days “not a single person has been connected to the internet using the $42.45 billion.” pic.twitter.com/F6RUBgoNwq

— Brendan Carr (@BrendanCarrFCC) September 18, 2024

‘All-In’ podcast host Jason Calacanis recently said, “Our government is corrupt and stealing our money. United airlines just put Starlink on 1,000+ planes, but the FCC claims we need to spend 5-10k per rural home for wired connections?!? These homes are putting starlink in on their nickel while they wait for a cable modem in 10 years — wtf??? Pure corruption or insane stupidity — you decide!”

Our government is corrupt and stealing our money.

United airlines just put Starlink on 1,000+ planes, but the FCC claims we need to spend 5-10k per rural home for wired connections?!?

These homes are putting starlink in on their nickel while they wait for a cable modem in 10… https://t.co/vy4lpUGHH5

— @jason (@Jason) September 13, 2024

Carr recently chimed in and said Elon Musk’s Starlink offered the FCC a secured commitment of $1,300 per household for 640,000 rural locations. He said in 2023, the federal government rejected Starlink and decided to spend $100,000 per location. 

In 2020, the FCC secured a commitment from Starlink to offer high-speed Internet to 640,000 rural locations for $1,300 per location in federal support.

After revoking that award in 2023, the government is now spending in the ballpark & upwards of $100,000 per location in cases. pic.twitter.com/D1q4AGcUag

— Brendan Carr (@BrendanCarrFCC) September 13, 2024

Musk said Wednesday that the FCC rejected Starlink because of “lawfare.” 

Lawfare https://t.co/Y7eGLYllMW

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) September 18, 2024

Here’s what X users are saying about an inefficient and what appears to be a ‘corruption’ within the Biden-Harris admin:

glad some senators are standing up for the americans who need better access

— Whole Mars Catalog (@WholeMarsBlog) September 18, 2024

Put Mayor Pete in charge, he’ll fix it now that he’s done creating all those charging stations.

— Nine Foot Couch (@9FootCouch) September 18, 2024

Good question.

Hmmmm…curious. Wonder where all that money could have possibly gone?

— Joe Citizen 🇺🇸 🇵🇱 🇺🇸 (@JoeCitizen15) September 18, 2024

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