Síntesis informativa - 21 de agosto 2019
THE GUARDIAN
US risks China's anger after sealing $8bn deal to sell Taiwan 66 fighter jets
Taiwan will get the latest version of the Lockheed Martin-built fighter, the F-16C/D Block 70, in the $8bn deal, the state department said.
Mike Pompeo, secretary of state, said in a statement that president Donald Trump had green-lighted the proposed sale after Congress was notified last week.
Taiwan’s plan to upgrade its air defences comes amid increasing Chinese military incursions into its air space.
Beijing regards Taiwan as a part of China awaiting reunification, but the island is self-ruled and is a close ally of the United States.
On Monday, China’s foreign ministry spokesperson, Geng Shuang, said US arms sales to Taiwan “severely violate” agreements between Washington and Beijing and “constitute severe interference in China’s internal affairs.”
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/aug/21/us-taiwan-8bn-deal-66-f16-fighter-jets-china
North Korea now able to miniaturise nuclear warheads – Japan defence report
Japan’s government will reportedly state that North Korea is capable of miniaturising nuclear warheads in a forthcoming defence report, it has emerged.
North Korea has conducted six rounds of short-range missile launches in recent weeks, in an apparent attempt to pressure Washington into making concessions in any future talks over Pyongyang’s nuclear weapons programme.
Earlier this year a report by the Rand Corporation, a California-based thinktank with close ties to the US military, said North Korea could possess as many as 100 nuclear warheads by 2020.
In 2017, a leaked US intelligence assessment concluded that North Korea had developed the technology to produce nuclear warheads small enough to fit inside missiles, theoretically giving it the ability to send nuclear-armed intercontinental ballistic missiles [ICBMs] to distant targets, including the US mainland.
