Bob Mackin
Amid the Trump/Carney trade war, the top official for the United States Pacific Command was asked a big, hypothetical question at a news conference in Victoria on Sept. 2.
Would he obey Donald Trump, if he were to order invasion of Canada?
Canada’s Gen. Jennie Carignan (left) and the United States’ Adm. Sam Paparo in Victoria on Sept. 2. (CPAC/YouTube)
“I find that scenario to be absolutely and utterly preposterous,” Admiral Sam Paparo responded. “So I follow the orders of the Commander-in-Chief, but that is a needlessly emotional question. Forgive my saying it too, is that Canada is a close ally.”
Paparo was standing beside Canada’s Chief of Defence Staff, Gen. Jennie Carignan, at the 28th annual Indo-Pacific chiefs of defence conference.
“Would you ask me please also what my attack plans are for the Martians?” Paparo continued.
On a serious note, Paparo said there is “undeniable competition” in the Western Pacific between market democracies and the People’s Republic of China and its friends and partners.
“We’re defending freedom of navigation. We’re defending our own homelands presently,” Paparo said. “That’s the environment that we find ourselves in right now. What underlies that is peace through strength is the underlying idea that underpins that strategic stability that we’re operating under right now.”
Around the Rim
In the Taiwan News, Taiwan’s Tourism Administration warned travel agencies to file reports about groups traveling to Mainland China or face fines of up to $1,500. The Taiwanese government advises against non-essential travel to China.
Group tourism to China is banned, but some still go under the guise of research or exchange purposes.
China abstained from the final communique of the G20 finance ministers’ summit in Asheville, N.C.
The final statement said: “We agree that countries should take steps to eliminate non-market policies and practices that exacerbate imbalances.”
Kyodo News reported that Japanese Finance Minister Satsuki Katayama said at a press conference that the United States’ handling of the situation was “tactful.”
In Papua New Guinea, ABC News Australia reported that 10 armed thieves held security crews at gunpoint and stole 25 gold bars and hundreds of thousands of dollars in cash.
The hold up of two private security vehicles in Port Moresby is one of the country’s biggest robberies.
Cascadia Calling
The Oregon State Fair in Salem, through Labour Day, features a table-setting competition.
One of the entries is an anti-Donald Trump table, reports Willamette Week.
Kate Greenstreet’s entry, inspired by Trump’s poorly attended Great American State Fair, includes “a green table runner for Reflecting Pool algae and a menu with cyclospora salad.”
The Oregon State Fairgrounds event also features quilting, cake decorating and photography.
Remember that recall petition aimed at unseating Seattle socialist Mayor Katie Wilson?
Melinda Jacobson and Dale Osterud accused Wilson of malfeasance, misfeasance and violating her oath of office based on five public-safety allegations, reported KING 5.
They missed a filing deadline and asked a judge to withdraw their application. But they may try again.
The annual Pacific Region Cross-Border Law Enforcement Forum came to Esquimalt on Sept. 1. CHEK News said they focused on transnational crime, extortion and the illegal drug trade.
Senior police and operational staff from Washington and B.C. also discussed the FIFA World Cup in Vancouver and Seattle.
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