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Alan W. Dowd is a Senior Fellow with the American Security Council Foundation, where he writes on the full range of topics relating to national defense, foreign policy and international security. Dowd’s commentaries and essays have appeared in Policy Review, Parameters, Military Officer, The American Legion Magazine, The Journal of Diplomacy and International Relations, The Claremont Review of Books, World Politics Review, The Wall Street Journal Europe, The Jerusalem Post, The Financial Times Deutschland, The Washington Times, The Baltimore Sun, The Washington Examiner, The Detroit News, The Sacramento Bee, The Vancouver Sun, The National Post, The Landing Zone, Current, The World & I, The American Enterprise, Fraser Forum, American Outlook, The American and the online editions of Weekly Standard, National Review and American Interest. Beyond his work in opinion journalism, Dowd has served as an adjunct professor and university lecturer; congressional aide; and administrator, researcher and writer at leading think tanks, including the Hudson Institute, Sagamore Institute and Fraser Institute. An award-winning writer, Dowd has been interviewed by Fox News Channel, Cox News Service, The Washington Times, The National Post, the Australian Broadcasting Corporation and numerous radio programs across North America. In addition, his work has been quoted by and/or reprinted in The Guardian, CBS News, BBC News and the Council on Foreign Relations. Dowd holds degrees from Butler University and Indiana University. Follow him at twitter.com/alanwdowd.

ASCF News

Scott Tilley is a Senior Fellow at the American Security Council Foundation, where he writes the “Technical Power” column, focusing on the societal and national security implications of advanced technology in cybersecurity, space, and foreign relations.

He is an emeritus professor at the Florida Institute of Technology. Previously, he was with the University of California, Riverside, Carnegie Mellon University’s Software Engineering Institute, and IBM. His research and teaching were in the areas of computer science, software & systems engineering, educational technology, the design of communication, and business information systems.

He is president and founder of the Center for Technology & Society, president and co-founder of Big Data Florida, past president of INCOSE Space Coast, and a Space Coast Writers’ Guild Fellow.

He has authored over 150 academic papers and has published 28 books (technical and non-technical), most recently Systems Analysis & Design (Cengage, 2020), SPACE (Anthology Alliance, 2019), and Technical Justice (CTS Press, 2019). He wrote the “Technology Today” column for FLORIDA TODAY from 2010 to 2018.

He is a popular public speaker, having delivered numerous keynote presentations and “Tech Talks” for a general audience. Recent examples include the role of big data in the space program, a four-part series on machine learning, and a four-part series on fake news.

He holds a Ph.D. in computer science from the University of Victoria (1995).

Contact him at stilley@cts.today.

China aircraft carrier sails through Taiwan Strait raising alarm

Monday, December 21, 2020

Categories: ASCF News Emerging Threats National Preparedness

Comments: 0

An aircraft carrier group led by China’s newest carrier, the Shandong, sailed through the Taiwan Strait on its way to routine drills in the South China Sea, China’s navy said on Monday, after Taiwan mobilised its forces to monitor the convoy.

The Shandong sailed through the Taiwan Strait a day after a US warship passed through the same stretch of sea.

China’s navy said the Shandong and its accompanying ships had “smoothly” travelled through the sensitive Taiwan Strait on Sunday, heading for exercises in the South China Sea, where China has made extensive territorial claims in the disputed waters.

The drills are part of “normal arrangements made in accordance with annual plans”, it said. “In the future, we will continue to organise similar operations based on training needs.”

The carrier’s move through the strait comes amid rising tension between China and Taiwan, which Beijing sees as part of its territory. The democratically ruled island says it has recorded almost daily incursions into its airspace by the Chinese armed forces in recent months.

Taiwan’s Ministry of National Defense said the Shandong was accompanied by four warships and had set out from the northern Chinese port of Dalian on Thursday. In a statement on its website, it said the convoy continued to move south.

Taiwan said it sent six warships and eight military aircraft to monitor the Chinese ships’ movements.

“The military has the confidence and ability to protect its homeland, ensure national security and maintain regional peace and stability,” the statement said.

The Shandong is China’s second carrier, and was formally commissioned almost exactly a year ago.

Since then, it has successfully completed tasks such as carrier-based aircraft take-off and landing and use of its weapons, the Chinese navy said.

“The combat capability of the formation system has been continuously improved in experimental training,” it added, referring to the group of warships which accompany the Shandong.

China has been working to hone its carrier operations but has little experience compared to the United States, which has operated integrated carrier battle groups with multiple vessels for decades.

Photo: The Shandong aircraft carrier, which was commissioned a year ago, sailed through the sensitive Taiwan Strait over the weekend [File: Li Gang/Xinhua via AP Photo]

Link: https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2020/12/21/alarm-in-taiwan-as-china-aircraft-carriers-sail-through-strait

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