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Does CGTN Video Prove US Blew Up Nord Stream?!

Claim : CGTN Video Shows How US Blew Up Nord Stream Pipelines!

People are sharing a CGTN video that claims to show how the US government blew up the Nord Stream gas pipelines.

Here is a transcript of the video which I will share in two parts below, but feel free to skip to the next section for the facts.

How they blew up Nord Stream

On February 24, 2022, the Ukrainian crisis erupted. Before and after that, the U.S. politicians have repeatedly threatened an attack on the Nord Stream pipeline.

US President Joe Biden : If Russia invades Ukraine, Nord Stream will cease to exist.

US Deputy Secretary of State Victoria Nuland : If Russia invades Ukraine, Nord Stream 2 will not move forward.

119 days prior to the Nord Stream explosions, several members of the task force, allegedly led by U.S. President National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan, flew to Norway to find a suitable place to plant explosives under the pipeline.

116 days prior to the Nord Stream explosions, a U.S. aircraft carrier has arrived in the Baltic Sea to participate in NATO’s annual naval exercise Baltops-22.

113 days prior to the Nord Stream explosions, the Baltops-22 military exercise has begun. The manoeuvres continued in the Baltic Sea for 13 days.

During the exercise, the U.S. planes regularly circled over the sites of future gas pipeline explosions. The minimum flight altitude was less than 600 meters.

Underwater explosive placement training was performed during the military drills in the water area near the gas pipelines.

103 days prior to the Nord Stream explosions, presumably, a group of Americans in plain clothes arrived at the exercise site by helicopter, and met with the Vice Admiral of the Sixth Fleet of the U.S. Navy, as well as a group of men in plain clothes.

The Americans then went on a deep dive. They placed the C4 explosive on pipes with a protective concrete coating. The operation lasted six hours.

24 days prior to the Nord Stream explosions, U.S. Navy helicopters circled the sites of future pipeline explosions.

On the day of the explosions, a P8 reconnaissance plane allegedly flew over the Baltic Sea and dropped a hydroacoustic buoy that detonated C4 explosives on the gas pipelines.

The explosive destroyed three out of the four gas pipelines. Methane from the pipelines began to spread across the surface of the water. The operator of Nord Streams [sic] estimates that the repair work will cost more than $500 million and take at least a year.

However, due to the U.S. and Western sanctions, the repair of the Nord Streams [sic] is not yet possible. The longer the repairs are delayed, the more difficult they will be.

4 days after the explosions at Nord Streams, Anthony [sic] Blinken said, “This is also a great opportunity to end Europe’s energy dependence on Russia once and for all.

148 days after the explosions at Nord Streams, on February 21, 2023, at Russia’s request, the UN Security Council held a meeting on the North [sic] Streams explosions where a heated debate about the incident and its investigations erupted.

Show less

Here is Part 2 of the CGTN video that claims to show HOW the United States blew up the Nord Stream pipelines!

Read my fact check : https://t.co/d0GHPsm2tM #TechARP #CGTN #China #Russia #Ukraine #UkraineWar #NordStream #SeymourHersh #Conspiracy #Facts #FactsMatter #FactCheck pic.twitter.com/PJ86b2aYvn

— Dr. Adrian Wong (@AdrianTechARP) March 10, 2023

No Evidence CGTN Video Shows How US Blew Up Nord Stream Pipelines!

This is yet another example of Chinese propaganda, and here are the reasons why…

Fact #1 : CGTN Is An Official Chinese State Media Outlet

China Global Television Network (CGTN) is a state-run and -funded news channel owned by Chinese state broadcaster China Central Television, and controlled by the Central Propaganda Department of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP).

While it portrays itself as offering an alternative view of world affairs, it is known as a vital Chinese government propaganda outlet, with its accuracy often questioned.

Even here at Tech ARP, I have personally fact checked CGTN on several occasions.

Fact #2 : CGTN Video Is Based On Seymour Hersh’s Claims

The CGTN video appears to be based entirely on claims by American journalist, Seymour Myron Hersh, and does not offer anything new to add to the story.

Fact #3 : CGTN Video + Seymour Hersh Offered No Actual Evidence

Like Seymour Hersh’s Substack article, the CGTN video is loud and dramatic. Quite unlike the Nord Stream explosions that took place underwater.

However, if you actually analyse both the CGTN video and/or Seymour Hersh’s article, you have to ask – where actually is the evidence?

Seymour Hersh himself based his article on a single anonymous source. Even more concerning, no one else has been able to corroborate his claims more than 5 weeks later.

The viral CGTN video just repeats whatever Seymour Hersh claimed, without offering any evidence. It is important to note that this video was created by what is ostensibly a news organisation that is supposed to verify the facts before publishing.

Fact #4 : Seymour Hersh Claims Are In Dispute

The US government has naturally disputed Seymour Hersh’s claims, calling his article “utterly false and complete fiction”.

What’s concerning to me, as a common person, though is that some of Hersh’s claims are suspect and easily fact checked. Take for example, his claims that NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg was a committed anti-communist who had been cooperating with US intelligence since the Vietnam War.

It would be quite a feat for Stoltenberg to work with US intelligence during the Vietnam War since he was born in 1959, and would have been only 4-16 years old at that time! Stoltenberg was also pro-Communist as a young teen, and opposed US involvement in the Vietnam War by participating in protest rallies against the US embassy in Oslo.

Seymour Hersh’s claim that an Alta-class minesweeper was used in BALTOPS 2022 is also in dispute. Joe Galvin, OSINT editor of The Outlaw Ocean Project, showed that no Alta-class minesweepers were in the area at that time!

Hersh’s claim that the explosions were triggered by a sonobuoy dropped by a Norwegian P-8 Poseidon aircraft is also in dispute. Norway has five P-8 Poseidon aircraft, but none of them were seen in the area on the day of the explosion – September 26, 2022.

A US Navy P-8 aircraft was spotted in the area, but that aircraft only arrived 90 minutes after the first blast occurred! So it could not have been the P-8 aircraft that triggered the explosions as Hersh claimed.

Fact #5 : Both Nord Stream 1 + 2 Were Not Operational

It is true that both US Presidents Donald Trump and Joe Biden were against the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline, and President Biden threatened to “end Nord Stream” if Russian invaded Ukraine.

However, Nord Stream 2 never became operational, after Germany suspended its certification on 22 February 2022 – two days before Russia invaded Ukraine.

More importantly, Russia cut or interrupted gas supplies on Nord Stream 1, before shutting it down completely in the months following its invasion of Ukraine:

June 2022 : Russia cut Nord Stream 1 gas supply by 75%.
July 2022 : Russia shut down Nord Stream 1 for 10 days. It reopened at 12.5% of normal capacity.
August 2022 : Russia shut down Nord Stream 1 completely.

Both Nord Stream pipelines had long ceased to supply Europe with gas, long before explosions tore holes in them. There is simply no advantage for the Americans to destroy two pipelines that were no longer supplying Europe with gas.

Fact #6 : Europe Refused To Resume Gas Supply

Only three of the four gas pipelines were destroyed by the explosions, with Pipe B of Nord Stream 2 surviving. Russia offered to resume gas supply to Europe, which was promptly declined.

The refusal shows that Europe itself is eager to wean itself off Russian gas, and not because of earlier US threats to “end Nord Stream”.

The Americans did not have to destroy the Nord Stream pipelines, because Russia’s own actions in disrupting gas supplies and invading Ukraine already did that for them.

Fact #7 : Many Countries Had Plausible Reasons To Destroy Nord Stream

As far as plausible reasons go, many countries had plausible reasons to destroy the Nord Stream pipelines:

US : To prevent allies in Europe from being held hostage by their reliance on cheap Russian gas.
UK : To encourage allies in Europe to support Ukraine in its fight against the Russian invasion.
Russia : To stop supplying Europe without breaking its gas supply contracts, and/or to divide Europe.
Ukraine : To unite Europe against Russia.

While motive is important, it is not evidence that a country has committed the crime. There has to be actual evidence that the US / UK / Russia / Ukraine did it.

Regardless of what CGTN or Seymour Hersh may claim, there is simply no conclusive evidence YET that any of those countries are responsible for the destruction of the Nord Stream gas pipelines.

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He continues to devote countless hours every day writing about tech, medicine and science, in his pursuit of facts in a post-truth world.

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Did US Navy Fleet Escort Nancy Pelosi To Taiwan?!

Claim : Massive US Fleet Had To Escort Nancy Pelosi To Taiwan!

People are sharing a video which claims to show a massive fleet of warships and fighters that the United States used to escort Nancy Pelosi safety to Taiwan.

Here are some of the accompanying descriptions :

Pelosi gets more firepower escorting her flight to Asia than any US President flying anywhere ever had in history.

See, how Nancy Pelosi reached Taiwan, Escorted by fighter jets and the strength of US Blue Navy

Retired Pakistani Brigadier Ashfaq Hassan also shared the video, claiming that the US Air Force was authorised to shoot at Chinese aircraft or warships interfering with her flight.

👇Arrival of US Air Force One in Taiwan with US official Nancy Pelosi.
20 Warplanes were escorting Nancy Pelosi’s plane including US fighter jets. US air force authorized to open fire in case of any Chinese interference on the plane carrying Nancy Pelosi.

Truth : US Fleet Did Not Escort Nancy Pelosi To Taiwan

This is another example of FAKE NEWS circulating on social media and WhatsApp groups, and here are the reasons why….

Fact #1 : Nancy Pelosi’s Flight Had No US Escort

Nancy Pelosi flew from Kuala Lumpur in Malaysia to Taipei, Taiwan aboard a Boeing C-40C – the military version of the Boeing 737 airliner, operated by the US Air Force.

Her flight with the callsign SPAR19 flew to Taipei without US fighter or warship escort, but was met by Taiwanese fighter escorts on entering Taiwanese airspace.

Fact #2 : Video Was Recorded At Valiant Shield 2020

The video was recorded on September 25, 2020 – just over two years ago, and had nothing to do with Nancy Pelosi, or Taiwan.

If you watch the official Valiant Shield 2020 video, you will see the same aircraft fly over the same ships at around 1:39. Here was the official description of the aircraft flyover :

PHILIPPINE SEA (Sept. 25, 2020) From left, USNS Charles Drew (T-AKE 10), USS Comstock (LSD 45), USS Shiloh (CG 67), USS New Orleans (LPD 18), USS Chicago (SSN 721), USS America (LHA 6), USS Ronald Reagan (CVN 76), USNS John Ericsson (T-AO 194), USS Antietam (CG 54), USS Germantown (LSD 42), and USNS Sacagawea (T-AKE 2) steam in formation while E/A-18G Growlers and FA-18E Super Hornets from Carrier Air Wing (CVW) 5, a P-8 Poseidon from Commander Task Force 72, and U.S. Air Force F-22 Raptors and a B-1B Bomber fly over the formation in support of Valiant Shield 2020.

In this screenshot, you can see the same 3 flights of aircraft flying over the same warships in Valiant Shield 2020.

Fact #3 : US Air Force Won’t Send A Bomber As Escort

The lead aircraft in the flyover has a very distinctive shape. Any military buff will immediately identify it as a Rockwell B-1B Lancer.

The US Air Force would never send the B-1B, because it’s a supersonic heavy bomber, and useless as an escort aircraft.

Fact #4 : P-8 Poseidon Is An ASW Aircraft

The aircraft that looked like a Boeing 737 is actually a P-8 Poseidon, which is based on the 737-800ERX.

It is an anti-submarine warfare aircraft, and is most certainly not a passenger transport aircraft like the Boeing C-40C.

Fact #5 : US Air Force Was Not Authorised To Open Fire

Retired Ashfaq Hassan falsely claimed that the US Air Force was authorised to open fire in case of Chinese interference with Nancy Pelosi’s flight.

It is such an absurd claim, because either party shooting at each other would have been considered an act of war.

In past confrontations, Chinese aircraft have only limited themselves to buzzing other aircraft and dumping chaff into their engines. No one ever fired a shot, because that would have led to an outbreak of war.

Fact #6 : China Sent 10 Observers To Valiant Shield 2020

Interestingly, the Chinese are well-aware that this video is from Valiant Shield 2020, because that was the first time they were invited to observe the exercise.

China sent a 10-person delegation, including one high-ranking officer each from its Navy, Army and Air Force to observe Valiant Shield 2020.

Chinese Rear Admiral Zhang Leiyu – the leader of this delegation, even called it “a positive step in China-US military ties”.

Fact #7 : This Is Just Chinese Propaganda

This is just another example of Chinese propaganda created by the infamous Chinese 50 Cent Army (wumao, 五毛).

All of the wumao articles and videos that I looked at so far have proven to be false… at every instance. So please watch out for such false claims.

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Dr. Adrian Wong has been writing about tech and science since 1997, even publishing a book with Prentice Hall called Breaking Through The BIOS Barrier (ISBN 978-0131455368) while in medical school.

He continues to devote countless hours every day writing about tech, medicine and science, in his pursuit of facts in a post-truth world.

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Chinese J-16 Fighter Fired Flares, Chaff At Australian Plane!

On 5 June 2022, Australian Defense Minister Richard Marles announced that a Chinese J-16 fighter jet put the crew of an Australian P-8 reconnaissance plane at risk during a recent mid-air intercept on 26 May.

The Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) P-8 Poseidon was in the South China Sea conducting “routine maritime surveillance” activities in international waters when it was intercepted by a Chinese Shenyang J-16 fighter.

This time though, the J-16 pilot recklessly cut across the Australian recon plane’s flight path at close proximity, and fired flares and chaff.

Some of the chaff – usually aluminium foil or aluminium-coated glass fibres – were ingested by one of the Australian P-8 aircraft’s engines, potentially damaging it.

This was apparently done to forcibly end the recon aircraft’s patrol. Any potential damage to one of the engines would force the crew to return to base, even though the Boeing P-8 Poseidon can operate on a single engine.

What occurred was that the J-16 aircraft flew very close to the side of the P-8 maritime surveillance aircraft. In flying close to the side, it released flares.

The J-16 then accelerated and cut across the nose of the P-8, settling in front of the P-8 at a very close distance.

At that moment it then released a bundle of chaff, which contains small pieces of aluminum, some of which were ingested into the engine of the P-8 aircraft. Quite obviously, this is very dangerous.

The Australian Defense Ministry described the incident as “a dangerous maneuver which posed a safety threat to the P-8 aircraft and its crew”.

Chinese Justified J-16 Firing Flares, Chaff At Australian P-8…

In a statement released on 7 June 2022, Chinese Defense Ministry spokesman Tan Kefei justified the J-16’s dangerous intercept by accusing the Australian P-8 aircraft of “approaching Chinese airspace” close to the Paracel Islands.

The Paracel Islands, which the Chinese call “Xisha Islands”, is a disputed archipelago in the South China Sea claimed by China, Vietnam and Taiwan.

While the Vietnamese were in control of the Paracel Islands since 1947, they were taken over by China after the Battle of the Paracel Islands in January 1974.

He also claimed that the Chinese pilot behaved in a “professional, safe, reasonable and lawful way“.

On May 26, an Australian P-8 anti-submarine patrol aircraft conducted close reconnaissance in the neighboring airspace of China’s Xisha Islands and approached the airspace continuously despite repeated warnings from the Chinese side.

The People’s Liberation Army’s Southern Theater Command mobilized naval and air forces to identify the craft and warned it off.

The Chinese military responded in a professional, safe, reasonable and lawful way.

Militaries from other countries should take note of what the Chinese government considers as “professional, safe, reasonable and lawful” conduct, and return the favour.

Perhaps once a Chinese jet or two have ingested chaff into their engines, they will reconsider such “professional, safe, reasonable and lawful” intercepts.

This was also the second time in the same week Chinese aircraft have aggressively intercepted reconnaissance aircraft from other countries.

Just a day earlier, the Canadian government revealed that Chinese fighters repeatedly “buzzed” Canadian CP-140 Aurora maritime patrol aircraft that were monitoring North Korea to enforce United Nations sanctions under Operation NEON.

The Chinese fighters flew so close, their pilots were “very clearly visible”, and the Canadian aircrews had to change course to avoid collisions. Canadian Armed Forces media relations chief Dan Le Bouthillie said :

In these interactions, PLAAF (People’s Liberation Army Air Force) aircraft did not adhere to international air safety norm.

These interactions are unprofessional and/or put the safety of our RCAF (Royal Canadian Air Force) personnel at risk.

The Chinese naturally claimed that their national security was endangered by the Canadian aircraft’s monitoring of a completely different country… Chinese Defense Ministry spokesperson Wu Qian said :

Recently, under the pretext of enforcing UN Security Council resolutions, Canadian warplanes have intensified close-in reconnaissance of China and acted provocatively, endangering Chinese national security and the safety of frontline personnel from both sides.

China urges Canada to face up to the seriousness of the situation, strictly control its frontline troops, and stop taking any risky and provocative actions; otherwise, Canada will have to take all responsibilities for any serious consequences from such actions.

In short, it’s never China’s fault, and everyone is always provoking them. Tut tut….

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Support my work through a bank transfer / PayPal / credit card!

Name : Adrian Wong
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Dr. Adrian Wong has been writing about tech and science since 1997, even publishing a book with Prentice Hall called Breaking Through The BIOS Barrier (ISBN 978-0131455368) while in medical school.

He continues to devote countless hours every day writing about tech, medicine and science, in his pursuit of facts in a post-truth world.

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