Shining a Light on China's Gray Zone

Earlier in August, we reported on China's Maritime Aggression against the Philippines in the West Philippine Sea and also on how China's aggression was uniting nations in the region. In the intervening months, this aggression has increased in frequency and severity and expanded further afield to include Vietnam and Japan.

In late October, I had the pleasure of meeting Ray Powell (@GordianKnotRay) who is the Director of SeaLight, a project of the Gordian Knot Center for National Security Innovation at Stanford University in California. We spoke about the background to the current tensions in the Indo Pacific, the origins and validity of China's so-called 'Nine Dash Line', the role of China's maritime militia and deep sea research ships, why what happens in the region matters to the rest of the world and much more.

Date of Recording: October 23rd, 2024.



Since our interview in late October, Philippine President, Ferdinand Marcos Jr. signed into law two new acts on November 8th which outline the waters and territories that fall within Manila's jurisdiction. These acts are entitled the Maritime Zones Act and the Archipelagic Sea Lanes Act and according to President Marcos, they emphasize the importance of the Philippines maritime and archipelagic identity and align Philippines domestic law with the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) to uphold the rules based international order.

On November 10th, just two days after the Philippines announcement, Beijing released a new map establishing what it calls its territorial sea baselines adjacent to Huangyan Dao - China's name for Scarborough Shoal - outlining its control over this area which lies within Manila's Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ). According to Chinese state media outlet, The Global Times, China has also ramped up the presence of its large coastguard vessels in the region which it says are capable of longer patrols and stricter Chinese law enforcement.

China's actions in the South China Sea in the past as well as these recent announcements further demonstrate that the Chinese Communist Party does not adhere to the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea or recognize the 2016 ruling of the Permanent Court of Arbitration which denied Beijing's claims to this area.


Picture of a region in the West Philippine Sea where a single Philippine Coast Guard Vessel is surrounded by several Chinese ships. An insert map shows the extent of China's massive claim in this region.
[Main] Multiple Chinese Coast Guard and Militia ships surround a Philippines Coast Guard vessel in the West Philippine Sea (pic courtesy PCG). [Insert] Map shows the extent of China claim in this region (Facebook Online Maps Blog).



DIVE DEEPER:

Additional information on the topics covered in this episode:

  • China releases baselines of territorial sea adjacent to Huangyan Dao, 'countermeasure to Philippines' introduction of two laws infringing on China's territorial integrity': analyst - Zhang Han, Global Times (Nov 10th, 2024)


Photo Credit: Courtesy of Philippines Coast Guard (PCG) - link

Image Credit: Facebook Online Maps Blog - link


#Taiwan, #Philippines, #SouthChinaSea, #SecondThomasShoal, #China, #CCP, #ChinaCoastGuard, #SierraMadre, #SCS, #Ninedashline, #BRPSierraMadre, #UNCLOS, #CabbageTactics, #LittleBlueMen, #SouthChinaSeaDispute, #SouthChinaSeaConflict, #Russianspyship, #IrishSea, #scarboroughshoal

Taiwan in NorCal



Date of Recording: November 4th, 2024.

Earlier in May and June of 2024, we reported from Taipei on the massive street protests which became known as the Bluebird Movement. These protests were the largest Taiwan had seen in the decade since the 2014 Sunflower Movement.

The protests voiced the public's concern with the new amendments to the law governing the Legislative Yuan's (Taiwan's parliament) power and in particular, new investigative powers including the power to subject public officials to fines or jail time if they refused to attend hearings or provide information when asked to do so by legislators.

Many feared that these new powers would allow private individuals, government officials, corporate executives, military staff and others to be targeted and persecuted by the Kuomingtang (KMT) and their smaller ally, the Taiwan People's Party (TPP) under the auspices of legislative questioning.

The Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) subsequently took a case to Taiwan's Constitutional Court contesting these new legislative powers and in late October, the Court struck down most of the expanded powers sought by the KMT.

In this episode of Perspectives with Neilo, we report from a November 4th gathering of the Taiwanese American Federation of Northern California (TAFNC) where we spoke to a number of the attendees as well as to the special guest Wang Yi-chuan (王義川) of the DPP about the recent political events in Taiwan as well as how the outcome of the US presidential election may affect US-Taiwan relations moving forward.

[Special thanks to Cooper Wong for translation during Director Wang's interview, to Leona Chen for organizing the interviews and everyone who helped make this episode possible.]

Since recording the interviews, Donald Trump has secured a second term as U.S. President and has already begun making announcements on cabinet positions.

In addition, Taiwan news media are reporting that consensus has been reached between political parties on the national budget for 2025, but as many of them also point out, this is unlikely to mark an end of contention between the KMT and DPP moving forward.


Picture shows DPP Policy Chair, Wang Yi-chuan giving his speech at the Taiwanese American Federation of Northern California on November 4th, 2024
Wang Yi-chuan (王義川) gives a speech at the Taiwanese American Federation of Northern California on November 4th, 2024

DIVE DEEPER:

Additional information on the topics covered in this episode:


#Taiwan, #DPP, #KMT, #TPP, #CCP, #JointSword, #PLA, #Incursions


Hydrogen Powered Data Centers



In today's digital age, data centers have become the backbone of our interconnected world. From streaming our favorite shows to conducting complex financial transactions, these high-powered facilities are the engines driving our digital revolution. But as our reliance on technology grows, so does the energy consumption of these data centers.

This increasing energy consumption is driving data center operators and tech entrepreneurs to explore new ways to power these energy-hungry facilities more efficiently and sustainably.

As we heard in our previous episode from the Open Compute Global Summit in San Jose, data centers consume large amounts of electricity and this increasing trend is being driven by new technologies such as Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Machine Learning (ML).

According to a recent report from the International Energy Agency (IEA), there are currently more than 8,000 data centers globally and in 2022, they are estimated to have consumed around 460 TWh of electricity - about 2% of global demand, and they predict that this demand could double before the end of the decade.

While its still early days for AI and ML, the emerging capabilities and potential benefits have created an urgency for tech companies to continue to innovate in this important global race.

From a sustainability perspective, many data center owners and operators have also committed to achieving net zero emissions by 2030, so the increasing electricity demands of AI and ML place an additional urgency on achieving a successful transition to sustainable power sources.

In 2023, renewable energy sources accounted for an average of 30% of the world's electricity supply, and as many national power grids also face demand constraints, data center operators are looking to off-grid sources for alternatives.

One option for data centers is to generate and store power onsite with solar or wind turbines plus battery storage, however, given the space requirements of solar and wind this may not always be feasible and many operators resort to purchasing renewal energy offsets (Renewable Energy Certificates or Power Purchase Agreements).

More recently we've seen announcements particularly from hyperscalers of power purchase agreements for nuclear power, but also their intent to investigate Small Modular Reactors (SMRs) and nuclear fuel strategy roadmaps. However, many commentators agree that the construction timeline for SMRs is likely to stretch to the end of the decade before they break ground.

A third less controversial option is the hydrogen powered data center. While some data center providers have deployed hydrogen fuel cells as backup power supplies and others are conducting trials, Edge Cloud Link (ECL) based in Mountain View, California has combined fuel cells using green hydrogen derived from renewable energy with battery energy storage and a highly reliable power architecture to deliver an off-grid sustainably powered data center.

ECL say their mission is to deliver a fully sustainable green data center to market via disruptive engineering, design and deployment of emerging technologies that have never been combined.  They claim that the resulting efficiency culminates in a lower-cost alternative with zero carbon emissions.

We went along to chat with the founder and CEO of ECL, Yuval Bachar about ECL's vision and the technology and performance of their hydrogen powered data center. 




DIVE DEEPER:

Additional information on the topics covered in this episode:

  • The truth about hydrogen - DW Planet A - YouTube


#Datacenters, #Datacentre, #Hydrogen, #ECL, #Greenhydrogen, #Nuclear, #SMR, #AI, #ML 

2024 OCP Global Summit Report

 It's an exciting time for data centers not only because of the new technology developments in AI and ML, but also because of the parallel advancements in sustainability in the drive to net zero emissions.

In this episode we report from this year's Open Compute Global Summit in San Jose, California. The Open Compute Project (OCP) was initiated in 2011 and its mission is to apply the benefits of open source and open collaboration to data center technology and to support the growing demands on compute infrastructure.

OCP believes that sharing ideas and specifications for servers, networking, AI and general data center technology is the key to driving innovation and reducing complexity.

This year's summit contained many interesting topics and announcements including the Open Systems for AI strategic initiative, Sustainability (including Green Concrete), the opening of the Open Chiplet Economy in OCP Marketplace and lots more (see the links in the Dive Deeper section below).

I spoke with Rob Coyle, Director of Technical Programs at the Open Compute Project Foundation about OCP's mission and some of the exciting announcements and topics at this year's summit as well as to Andy Gill, VP of Hyperscale for Rittal about his company's products and the impact of the recent advances in AI technology.

Both Rob and Andy also shared their insights regarding the upcoming OCP EMEA Summit which will take place in Dublin, Ireland on April 29th and 30th, 2025.

Date of Recording: October 15th to 17th, 2024.



George Tchaparian, CEO of the Open Compute Project Foundation presenting his keynote address at the 2024 OCP Global Summit in San Jose
George Tchaparian, CEO of the Open Compute Project Foundation presenting his keynote address at the 2024 OCP Global Summit in San Jose


DIVE DEEPER:

Additional information on the topics covered in this episode:

  • Additional Data Centre resources


#OpenCompute, #OpenComputeProject, #AI, #datacenter, #OCP, #GreenConcrete, #NetZero

China 101 - Interview with Dr Niall Duggan, UCC

 Regular listeners to Perspectives with Neilo will be aware that China and the behavior of its government, the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), have been the subject of many of our past episodes, from their aggression against Taiwan and its neighbors in the South China Sea, to their questionable trade practices and the many dubious tactics they employ in their quest for global influence.

In this episode, we dig a little deeper into the background and hear the perspectives of Dr. Niall Duggan, a Senior Lecturer in the Department of Government and Politics at University College Cork. We discussed the origins of the party, the political framework and institutions, the Belt and Road initiative as well as how things have changed under leader Xi Jinping, plus much more.


Date of Recording: September 6th, 2024.




Leader of China, Xi Jinping stands with his right fist raised together with his Communist party comrades as they renew their oath of allegiance.
CCP Leader Xi Jinping and his party comrades renew their oath of allegiance


DIVE DEEPER:

Additional information on the topics covered in this episode:


  • Dr. Niall Duggan, Department of Government and Politics, University College Cork - Research Profile 
  • Whole-process people's democracy - Wiki



#China, #CCP, #PRC, #XiJinping, #Mao, #DengXiaoping, #Wholeprocessdemocracy, #Nationalcongress, #CentralCommittee, #PLA, #BeltandRoad, #BRI, #onebeltoneroad


Invisible Nation - Interview with Vanessa Hope

In this episode we talk with award-winning filmmaker Vanessa Hope who shines an urgent spotlight on Taiwan as it fights for autonomy and freedom from fear in the gripping new documentary, Invisible Nation.

 It tells the story of how Taiwan's first female president, Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) delicately balanced on the tightrope between the hopes and fears of her nation and the colossal geopolitical forces of the US and China. The movie interweaves highlights from her time in office with Taiwan's history and struggle to preserve its hard won democracy.

Invisible Nation premiered in Ireland at the 36th Galway Film Fleadh in July and we went along to see the movie and talk with Director Vanessa Hope.

Date of Recording: July 12th, 2024.




Tsai Ing-wen, President of Taiwan from 2016 to 2024 leads her cabinet during an official event in Taipei
Tsai Ing-wen, President of the Republic of China (Taiwan) from 2016 to 2024, leads her cabinet during an official event in Taipei.


DIVE DEEPER:

Additional information on the topics covered in this episode:

  • Invisible Nation - website, Trailer (Trailer soundtrack used in this podcast episode courtesy of Invisible Nation)


#Taiwan, #InvisibleNationFilm, #China, #TsaiIngWen, #DPP, #TaiwanisaCountry, #GalwayFilmFleadh

China's Aggression Uniting Nations

 In our previous episode - China's Maritime Aggression - we reviewed China's relations with its neighbors and in particular with the Philippines, including the recent clashes between China's coast guard and Philippine vessels at Ayungin Shoal (aka Second Thomas Shoal) in the West Philippine Sea. I'd highly recommend that you take a moment to listen to that episode first before diving in here if you haven't already done so.

Beijing and Manila have been locked in a tense standoff in recent months as China continues to press claims to almost the entire South China Sea, despite a 2016 International Tribunal ruling that its claims have no legal basis.

It was hoped that an agreement reached in late July on resupply missions to the Second Thomas Shoal would help to smooth relations between China and the Philippines, however as many analysts had warned,  this turned out not to be the case. 

In this episode, we review some of the key events since late July that appear to be contributing to increased tensions. These include China's ongoing military exercises in the South China Sea as well as joint patrols carried out between the Philippines, its allies and its neighbors. Tensions reached a dangerous peak during an encounter between China's PLAAF fighter jets and a  Philippines Air Force patrol plane on August 8th in the skies over Bajo De Masinloc (aka Scarborough Shoal) during which the PLAAF dropped flares in the path of the Philippines' plane. The event was caught on video and can be seen on social media by @FMangosingINQ here. 

In this podcast we share the official response from the Philippines to this encounter, as well as a statement from China's Foreign Ministry Spokesperson, Mao Ning. We also discuss how China's increasingly aggressive behavior is driving its neighbors to form stronger alliances as well as views from analysts on what might lay behind China's increased aggression.

Date of Recording: August 15th, 2024.




The Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP), in collaboration with the armed forces of Australia, Canada, and United States of America conducted a Multilateral Maritime Cooperative Activity (MCA) in the Western Command (WESCOM) within Philippine exclusive economic zone in early August. Picture shows a Filipino marine observing a helicopter flying past a navy vessel..
The Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP), in collaboration with the armed forces of Australia, Canada, and United States of America conducted a Multilateral Maritime Cooperative Activity (MCA) in the Western Command (WESCOM) within Philippine exclusive economic zone in early August 2024.



DIVE DEEPER:

Additional information on the topics covered in this episode:


  • @BRPSierraMadre explains China's use of "Cabbage Tactics" to assert dominance and expand its control in the South China Sea

  • Facts First Podcast - Christian Esguerra talks with David Nye about his experience working for the Global Times and his thoughts on China's aggression against the Philippines and in the South China Sea.



Photo Credits:    Armed Forces of the Philippines - link
                        Frances Mangosing - link 

#Philippines, #SouthChinaSea, #SecondThomasShoal, #China, #CCP, #ChinaCoastGuard, #BRPSierraMadre, #UNCLOS, #SCS, #Ninedashline, #CabbageTactics, #LittleBlueMen, #SouthChinaSeaDispute, #SouthChinaSeaConflict

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