Charles Theiner

Contributing Analyst with @PLATracker • Yearning for precedented times • My views are my own. 🇺🇦🇹🇼

[Windward @WindwardAI]

A sanctioned, Chinese-owned tanker has been loitering north of Algiers for 19 days. In ballast for 7 months, no cargo, no reason to be there.

Since Sep 29 it's run the same drift 3 times: 60–68nm at under 1kn, across 4 Europe–Africa–Asia cables, crossing EIG ~8 times (closest 0.24nm).

Windward assesses this as a possible cover case for seabed cable survey.

[Charles Theiner @Charles_Theiner]

@avrilbradley23

[Charles Theiner @Charles_Theiner]

Image of live fire exercises by the PLAN near Okinotorishima from this weekend.

[Charles Theiner @Charles_Theiner]

Happy to report that @PLATracker's three Japan-focused datasets are up to date:

- PLA Activity Around Japan
- Russian Military Activity Around Japan (now with past ship names and pennant numbers!)
- Air Activity Around Japan

You can find them and more at https://t.co/k7HM8DlNdv

[Ben Lewis 🇺🇦 @OfficialBen_L]

Was able to geolocate the video to Dongshan peninsula (23°35'19.78"N 117°25'31.95"E).

The vessel formation was captured by Sentinel 2 on 11 July 2026:

[Greg R. Lawson @ConservaWonk]

The longer we remain mired in an #IranWar in the #MiddleEast, the more our #deterrence posture towards #China erodes.
https://t.co/OQr0VTEb2f

Excerpt,

"Pentagon-proposed $122 billion China deterrence plan faces depleted stockpiles, industrial weakness, exposed bases and wary allies."

[Charles Theiner @Charles_Theiner]

Interesting how the PRC constantly circles Japan with surveillance ships, sends sortie after sortie from its aircraft carriers, and pushes the JASDF to scramble on a near daily basis... and then has the audacity to claim Japan is a militaristic and colonial power.

[UnveiledChina @Unveiled_ChinaX]

Beijing's cognitive warfare machine is in overdrive. This time targeting Japanese territory through a polished "academic" summit at Peking University.

The 5th Ryukyu-Okinawa Academic International Symposium (June 27-28) brought nearly 100 scholars from mainland China and Okinawa (pointedly framed as the "Ryukyu Islands"). The event was organized by Peking University’s History Department along with other state-linked institutes and the Aisixiang platform. Far from a neutral academic forum, it served as a coordinated platform for advancing CCP narratives.

It pushed CCP revisionist narratives: emphasizing ancient tributary ties to China, portraying Okinawa as a victim of Japanese "colonialism" and "militarism," and criticizing defensive deployments on Yonaguni and Ishigaki islands (nearest to Taiwan). Speakers like CASS's Yang Bojiang and PKU's Xu Yong framed the region as a frontline of rivalry, not Japan's internal affair.

This is textbook United Front influence ops: co-opting local voices, amplifying grievances against Tokyo and US bases, and sowing divisions to weaken the US-Japan alliance. Okinawa is the critical chokepoint for deterring a Taiwan invasion which is exactly why Beijing is weaponizing history here.

The hypocrisy is glaring. The CCP lectures Japan on militarism while conducting the largest peacetime military buildup in history, militarizing the South China Sea, and threatening its neighbors.

Another win for narrative control. How long until democratic alliances push back against this soft-power subversion of key defense hubs?

#UnveiledChina #CCP #Okinawa #Ryukyu #CognitiveWarfare #UnitedFront #Taiwan #JapanDefense

[Charles Theiner @Charles_Theiner]

Far and away the most aggressive Russian action we've seen around Japan in a while

[防衛省統合幕僚監部 @jointstaffpa]

６月２７日（土）午前から午後にかけて、東シナ海から日本海に進出した中国の爆撃機（Ｈ－６）×２機が、日本海においてロシアの爆撃機（Ｔｕ－９５）×２機及びロシアの哨戒機（Ｔｕ－１４２）×２機と合流した後、東シナ海ま で共同飛行を行ったことを確認しました。これらの爆撃機が共同飛行する際に、中国の戦闘機（Ｊ－１６）×２機及びロシアの戦闘機（Ｓｕ－３０）×１機が飛行したことを確認しました。 また、同日午後、ロシアの爆撃機（Ｔｕ－９５）×２機に対し、大陸方面か ら新たに飛来した中国の爆撃機（Ｈ－６）×２機が合流し、東シナ海から四国沖の太平洋にかけて長距離にわたり共同飛行したことを確認した。これらの爆撃機が共同飛行する際に、ロシアの哨戒機（Ｔｕ－１４２）×２機及び中国の 戦闘機（Ｊ－１６）×４機が飛行したことを確認しました。
これらに対し、航空自衛隊の西部航空方面隊等の戦闘機を緊急発進させ対応しました。

[Ben Lewis 🇺🇦 @OfficialBen_L]

@PLATracker's Taiwan ADIZ Violations Tracker is up to date. Apologies for the lapse!

You can find it and others at https://t.co/fbkHcRyvBK

[Charles Theiner @Charles_Theiner]

@andonlabs Absolutely losing my mind over the Bhola cyclone 😂

[Charles Theiner @Charles_Theiner]

@sentdefender How many victories does that make over the last month? 🤨

[Charles Theiner @Charles_Theiner]

@Ditty_77 @robrousseau We could get that kid who played Goose's son 👀

[Charles Theiner @Charles_Theiner]

@Osinttechnical I know it's the least concerning thing, but what the hell is this capitalization?

[PointlessHub @HubPointless]

WALLACE AND GROMIT WENT TO THE MOON IN A ROCKET BUILT IN A BASEMENT. FROM A BOX OF SCRAPS

[Charles Theiner @Charles_Theiner]

@sentdefender

[Disclose.tv @disclosetv]

NEW - Japan will deploy approximately 1,000 combat troops to the Philippines for the 2026 Balikatan exercises, marking the first time since 1945 that Japanese combat forces have set foot on Philippine soil — PNA

[Charles Theiner @Charles_Theiner]

@clashreport

[Charles Theiner @Charles_Theiner]

@sentdefender It's an article from multiple weeks ago, and that definitely seems more of a suggestion than an actual policy implementation.

https://t.co/T9ZPMt2IeD

[Dean W. Ball @deanwball]

Think about the power Hegseth is asserting here. He is claiming that the DoD can force all contractors to stop doing business of any kind with arbitrary other companies.

In other words, every operating system vendor, every manufacturer of hardware, every hyperscaler, every type of firm the DoD contracts with—all their services and products can be denied to any economic actor at will by the Secretary of War.

This is obviously a psychotic power grab. It is almost surely illegal, but the message it sends is that the United States Government is a completely unreliable partner for any kind of business. The damage done to our business environment is profound. No amount of deregulatory vibes sent by this administration matters compared to this arson.

[Charles Theiner @Charles_Theiner]

Слава Україні 🇺🇦

[OSINTdefender @sentdefender]

Four years…