Photo, left:  USS Mason (DDG-87) fires an SM-2 during a March 2016 exercise. US Navy Image
 
JOHN BATCHELOR SHOW
 
Co-host: Gordon Chang, Forbes.com & Daily Beast.
 
Hour One
Wednesday   12 October 2016 / Hour 1, Block A: Arthur Waldron, Lauder Professor of International Relations in the Department of History at the University of Pennsylvania, in re: A dictator rising in China.  . . . Xi has institutionalized nothing, at all, yet wants to be president for an extended period.  “The Communist Party has been able to ensure smooth successions” - - oops, nope, the Chinese constitution is below the Party. Traditionally in China, as soon as a new monarch enters, the next successor is immediately named; this is called “the root of the state.”  The Party seems to have a playbook of: nothing. His book on China makes clear that he’s not a systematic thinker. 
Chinese military: on Tuesday, over a thousand de-mobed soldiers in uniform lined up in front of the Ministry to say emphatically that they had no jobs. They sang patriotic songs and unnerved the Party.  Greatest Chinese military thinker of the Nineteenth Century: “If you keep China little loose, it’ll work if you tighten it to much, it’ll fractionalize, break up.” Now is a time to loosen up, stop wars, and above all do not make yourself the keystone.
These soldiers are angry, and resent on a drop in the bucket of what's all over China.  Currently, the people in charge of the military are not of the military. Bo Xilai and his wife each in jail, are smiling at these signs of one-man-control overreach and break-up.
Wednesday   12 October 2016 / Hour 1, Block B:  Joe Bosco, senior associate at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, in re: The 1992 Consensus [‘twixt China and Taiwan] agreed that both Taiwan and Beijing were part of the same country, just not where its capital was. The new president of Taiwan, Mme Tsai Ing-wen of the Democratic Progressive Party, does not accept that, offers to speak with China—and Beijing sits mum.
Beijing fears above al that Taiwan’s leaders are democratically elected. That’s the virus that terrifies the Party leader on Mainland.  It’s not merely that Taiwan is a democracy; 70% of the people do not think they're Chinese, they know they're Taiwanese. Every day, the elders who thought they were Chinese are leaving this mortal coil, while the young people all have known only Taiwan as a nation.  . . . many foreign nations have such deep economic ties to China that they fear annoying the tyrants of Beijing — but notice that even Washington is timid and kowtowing.  The entire policy of “strategic ambiguity” the US have been living with for twenty years is nuts. Will we, won’t we, defend Taiwan? Extremely poor thinking!  http://www.reuters.com/article/us-taiwan-politics-president-idUSKCN12A063 http://the-japan-news.com/news/article/0003267448
Wednesday   12 October 2016 / Hour 1, Block C: David Feith, WSJ Hong Kong, in re:
Joshua Wong, prominent student leader of democracy movement in HK. At 17 he led demos against barricades, but even led a manifestation against school propaganda when he was 14. Last week he as invited to Thailand to speak, but Thai authorities refused him entry on demand of Beijing Thailand is becoming a Chinese minion.  Last year, he was turned back by Malaysian cops at Kuala Lumpur. 
When he gets world press attention this way, he speaks not to a local university but to a global audience, incl in press conferences in HK; and here we are talking about it now. Beijing may or may not notice this but enjoys intimidating and bulldozing people. 
Philippines, Duterte.
Editorial: Thailand Acts as China’s Enforcer; Bangkok bars a Hong Kong democracy leader from the country.  Thai authorities blocked Hong Kong democracy leader Joshua Wong Wednesday from entering the country, where he was scheduled to speak at local universities. The 19-year-old was back in Hong Kong by day’s end, but the incident confirms Thailand’s willingness to act as China’s overseas enforcer—a role Beijing is increasingly pushing other governments to play.  http://www.wsj.com/articles/thailand-acts-as-chinas-enforcer-1475708365
Wednesday   12 October 2016 / Hour 1, Block D:  Mona El-Naggar, New York Tmes video journalist; in re:  The world premiere of Ladies First: Saudi Arabia’s First Female Candidates, a New York Times documentary, will take place on Friday, October 14, at 7 PMET at the American Museum of Natural History’s 40th annual Margaret Mead Film Festival.
Ladies First takes viewers inside Saudi Arabia to witness the ultra-conservative nation’s 2015 elections — the first in which women were allowed to vote and run for office but were barred from campaigning. The film follows three female candidates who span a broad socioeconomic spectrum, and possess very different attitudes on women’s rights, but they are united by daring to seek a more active role in society. Together, they offer a provocative look at what it means to be a Saudi woman today.   
The documentary was directed by the New York Times reporter and video journalist Mona El-Naggar. It was produced by El-Naggar along with Adam B. Ellick, a senior international video correspondent and reporter at The Times, and Adam Bolt, an Academy Award-winning freelance editor. The film was edited by Bolt. Yousur Al-Hlou, a video journalist at The Times, was the associate producer and cinematographer. El-Naggar was a co-cinematographer. Ellick was the film's executive producer.
http://investors.nytco.com/press/press-releases/press-release-details/20...
 
Hour Two
Wednesday   12 October 2016 / Hour 2, Block A:  Scott Harold, deputy director, Center for Asia-Pacific Policy at The Rand Corporation, in re:
http://www.philstar.com/headlines/2016/10/10/1632233/duterte-set-aside-sea-dispute-during-china-trip   ;  http://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2016/10/11/national/politics-diplomacy/dates-set-duterte-visit-japan-visit-month/#.V_5pyPQbRqA
Wednesday   12 October 2016 / Hour 2, Block B:  Bruce Bechtol, professor at Angelo State University and author of North Korea and Regional Security in the Kim Jong-un Era, in re:  impending North Korean missile and nuke tests.
Wednesday   12 October 2016 / Hour 2, Block C:  Michael Tomasky, Daily Beast; in re: Trump & Clinton Roil Japan.   Clinton brought up Japan first. She said her Republican opponent "has said repeatedly that he didn't care if other nations got nuclear weapons -- Japan, South Korea, even Saudi Arabia." Clinton called for a stronger alliance with Japan instead.
She appeared to be trying to stress that Trump is "totally unqualified" to be the president of the United States, who also serves as the commander in chief of the country's armed forces and is responsible for launching nuclear weapons. 
Trump argued that the U.S. allies "do not pay us" for being defended by the U.S. "We can't defend Japan, a behemoth, selling us cars by the million," he also said.
Trump referred to Japan four times during the debate, while Clinton did so twice.
It’s unusual for the Asian country to be highlighted in a presidential debate. Even in the 1980s, when trade disputes between the U.S. and Japan escalated, presidential candidates hardly referred to Japan during debates. To be exact, Japan was mentioned once by the Republican Ronald Reagan in 1980, and once by the Democrat Walter Mondale in 1984.
It’s been said that foreign policy does not affect voters. If that’s true, why are Clinton and Trump so concerned about Japan? One possible explanation is that they’re using "Japan" as a code word to appeal to certain voters. http://asia.nikkei.com/Politics-Economy/Policy-Politics/Clinton-Trump-use-Japan-as-code-word?page=1
Wednesday   12 October 2016 / Hour 2, Block D:  Michael Tomasky, Daily Beast; in re: The War among the Republicans: Democrats Watch for Advantages. @Mtomasky, @TheDAilyBEast. http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2016/10/11/the-republican-party-made-donald-trump-now-donald-trump-is-destroying-the-republican-party.html
 
Hour Three
Wednesday   12 October 2016 / Hour 3, Block A:  Monica Crowley, Fox, & Washington Times Online opinion editor; via WashingtonTimes.com; in re:  Clinton Defends While Trump Attacks. @MonicaCrowley, @FNC. WashingtonTimes.com “. . . Mr. Trump on Wednesday condemned the Washington establishment for letting Mrs. Clinton off without punishment for her use of a private email server while she was secretary of state.
“I am so disappointed in Congress, and I mean both sides,” he said at a rally here. “What do you do when you hand it over to the FBI and the Justice Department and that’s the end of it?”
The attacks are part of his campaign’s new strategy to drive down voter turnout, while betting that his ardent backers will cast their ballots. But the Clinton campaign scoffed at the idea that his attacks will deter her voters, many of whom stood in lines Wednesday in Ohio to vote early.
“They couldn’t wait to cast their ballots,” Mrs. Clinton said at a raucous rally in Pueblo, Colo. “Americans want to turn out in as big a number as possible to reject the dark and divisive and hateful campaign that’s being run by my opponent.”
The different messages in the closing weeks of the most unpredictable campaign in modern history reflect their standings in the race.
On Saturday, a string of Republican senators began withdrawing their support for Mr. Trump’s candidacy after hearing his vulgar remarks. A Wall Street Journal/NBC News poll released Tuesday showed him 9 percentage points behind Mrs. Clinton, down from a 6-point deficit in September.  . . . http://www.wsj.com/articles/donald-trump-widens-attack-on-washington-1476317246  (1 of 2)
Wednesday   12 October 2016 / Hour 3, Block B:  Monica Crowley, Fox, & Washington Times Online opinion editor; via WashingtonTimes.com (2 of 2)
Wednesday   12 October 2016 / Hour 3, Block C:  Toby Pennington, Head, Tropical Diversity Section, Royal Botanic Garden, Edinburgh; in re: “Plant diversity patterns in neotropical dry forests and their conservation implications"  (1 of 2)
Preservemos los Bosques Secos Tropicales de Latinoamérica: vea el vídeo animado! | Vamos preservar as Matas Secas tropicais da América Latina: veja a animação! | Help Latin American Dry Forests: see our film http://elmer.rbge.org.uk/dryflor/
Wednesday   12 October 2016 / Hour 3, Block D:  Toby Pennington, Head, Tropical Diversity Section, Royal Botanic Garden, Edinburgh; in re: “Plant diversity patterns in neotropical dry forests and their conservation implications"  (2 of 2)
 
Hour Four
Wednesday   12 October 2016 / Hour 4, Block A: Mary Anastasia O’Grady, WSJ, The Americas; in re:  
Wednesday   12 October 2016 / Hour 4, Block B:  Mary Anastasia O’Grady, WSJ, The Americas; in re:  
Wednesday   12 October 2016 / Hour 4, Block C:  Tyler Rogoway, The War Zone @TheDrive; in re:   USS Mason Returns Fire against Iranian-backed Houthis in Yemen. Tyler Rogoway @thedrive.
“…Two anti-ship missiles were involved in the attack today, just like on Sunday. They were fired at USS Ponce and USS Mason, the latter of which is providing protection for USS Ponce. “…The US Navy's Arleigh Burke class destroyer has been patrolling the Southern tip of the Red Sea with two other US Navy vessels–a destroyer and one forward staging base–since shortly after the UAE-flagged high-speed logistics vessel HSV-2 Swift was destroyed by a missile attack. USS Mason and its flotilla were previously attacked on Sunday by a pair of anti-ship missiles, with the destroyer firing three surface-to-air missiles and an advanced decoy in self defense. Whether or not USS Mason's missiles and countermeasures actually downed missiles, or if they both crashed on their own accord, is still being investigated. 
This latest attack is said to have come from the same Iranian-backed Houthi rebel-held territory on Yemen’s west coast as the missile attacks on Swift and USS Mason and companions. The Navy has already said that they are looking at retaliating following the failed attack, and are currently going through the targeting process in an effort to do so. Reuters reports that rebels are using small fast boats to help direct the attacks and the Pentagon is looking into the possibility that a radar station is being used by Houthi rebels to detect and target USS Mason and her companions for anti-ship missile attacks. If that is the case don't expect that station to be intact for long. http://www.thedrive.com/the-war-zone/5538/more-missiles-fired-at-uss-mason-from-houthi-rebel-territory-in-yemen
The crew of a guided-missile destroyer fired three missiles to defend themselves and another ship after being attacked on Sunday in the Red Sea by two presumed cruise missiles fired by Iran-backed Houthi-forces, USNI News has learned.
During the attack against USS Mason (DDG-87), the ship’s crew fired the missiles to defend the guided-missile destroyer and nearby USS Ponce (AFSB(I)-15) from two suspected cruise missiles fired from the Yemini shore, two defense officials told USNI News.
Mason launched two Standard Missile-2s (SM-2s) and a single Evolved Seasparrow Missile (ESSM) to intercept the two missiles that were launched about 7 P.M. local time. In addition to the missiles, the ship used its Nulka anti-ship missile decoy, the sources confirmed. Mason was operating in international waters north of the strait of Bab el-Mandeb at the time of the attack. https://news.usni.org/2016/10/11/uss-mason-fired-3-missiles-to-defend-from-yemen-cruise-missiles-attack  ( of 2)
Wednesday   12 October 2016 / Hour 4, Block D:   Tyler Rogoway, The War Zone @TheDrive  (2 of 2)
 
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