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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 ‘Weighing Carefully’ Russia–Ukraine War for Its Ambitions on Taiwan: CIA Director

Monday, May 9, 2022

Categories: ASCF News Emerging Threats

Comments: 0

Source: https://www.theepochtimes.com/china-weighing-carefully-russia-ukraine-war-for-its-ambitions-on-taiwan-cia-director_4453859.html

CIA Director William Burns testifies before the Senate Intelligence Committee in Washington, on March 10, 2022. (Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images)

China is “weighing very carefully” the resistance of the Ukrainians and the economic costs Russia is incurring as a result of its invasion of Ukraine while keeping an eye on Taiwan, CIA Director William Burns said Saturday.

During an interview with the Financial Times, Burns speculated that the Chinese leadership was struck by the ways in which Ukrainians have resisted Russian aggression through “a whole society” effort.

Burns believes that Beijing closely monitored the Russia–Ukraine war to analyze the costs and consequences of using force to gain control over Taiwan, the self-ruled island that China claims as part of its territory.

“I don’t for a minute think that it’s eroded [Chinese leader Xi Jinping’s] determination overtime to gain control over Taiwan. But I think it’s something that’s affecting their calculation about how and when they go about doing that,” he said.

China has refrained from condemning Russia for its invasion of Ukraine, citing Russia’s “legitimate concerns on security issues” as justification. The two nations declared a “no limits” partnership on the opening day of the Beijing Winter Olympics on Feb. 4.

Russia recognizes Taiwan as “an inalienable part of China” and rejects the island’s independence “in any form,” while Beijing backed Russia’s opposition to the enlargement of NATO, according to their joint statement.

However, Burns said that Xi was “unsettled” by the reputational damage of being associated with the “brutishness” of the Russian leadership and the fact that the war has led to stronger cooperation between the United States and Europe.

He added that Xi was also unsettled by the economic uncertainties posed by the Russia–Ukraine war.

“I think what the bitter experience in many ways of [Russian President Vladimir Putin’s] Russia in Ukraine over the last 10 or 11 weeks has done is demonstrate that that friendship actually does have some limits,” Burns noted.

Tensions between self-ruled Taiwan and the regime in Beijing have been escalating, with China making its recent largest incursion into Taiwan’s air defense zone on May 6, involving 18 warplanes, including fighters and bombers.

Taiwan’s Defense Ministry said that it detected 18 Chinese aircraft, including 12 J-11 and J-16 fighter jets, and two H-6 bombers, entering its air defense identification zone (ADIZ).

Taiwan responded by issuing radio warnings and deploying air defense missile systems to monitor the Chinese warplanes.

This is Beijing’s second-largest incursion into Taiwan’s aerial territory. The Chinese military sent 39 warplanes into the island’s ADIZ on Jan. 23, including fighter jets and a bomber.

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