text: Good morning. Here’s your Early Warning for Monday, 06 December 2021.TODAY’S BRIEFING:Army Secretary warns of cyber attacks in PacificSlovakia, EU signal diplomatic support for TaiwanChina to build Atlantic naval baseAhead of talks, Putin senses weakness in BidenDemocrat Congress compromised by ChineseIn Focus: Observations of the Patriot Front marchFar Left Activity Rollup & OutlookUpcoming Event CalendarSITUATIONAL AWARENESSEXPECT CYBERATTACKS OVER TAIWAN: At the Annual Reagan National Defense Forum, Army Secretary Christine Warmouth stated that Americans should expect cyberattacks on U.S. critical infrastructure should conflict break out in the Pacific over Taiwan. Warmouth said attacks on the U.S. power grid and transportation sector would have implications not only for how we would be able to project our military power, but also have substantial consequences for the American public. (Analyst Comment: Cyberattacks are part of the hybrid war and unrestricted warfare strategies of our two near-peer adversaries Russia and China, and a host of asymmetric adversaries like Iran and North Korea. Any modern conflict will likely include collateral cyberattacks as a tactic to disrupt national command and control functions and as a psychological weapon against the general population , whether the receiving nation is involved in kinetic operations or not. – M.M.) TAIWAN-SLOVAKIA-EU TIES: Senior officials from the Slovak Republic are in Taiwan for talks on deepening ties with the island in the highest-level visit by the EU-member country since it opened a representative office in Taiwan in 2003. The visit by the delegation, which began on Sunday, follows a mission last month by members of the European Parliament to the self-ruled island, which is claimed by Beijing. It comes amid growing support for the island, which Beijing says is its territory to be annexed by force if necessary. (AC: The EU, which is just starting to pay attention to the global economic disruption that could result from a China-Taiwan-US conflict in the Pacific, is using its member states to publicly pledge support for Taiwan. The Slovakia visit is an attempt to influence China’s intentions vis-a-vis forced repatriation of Taiwan and further expansion in the Pacific. This is typical diplomacy in action, and potentially effective to signal western support for Taiwan. Expect to see more western attention and diplomatic visits in the future. – M.M.)CHINA: U.S. Intelligence agencies are reporting that China intends to establish a permanent PLA Naval base on the Atlantic coast of the Central African country of Equatorial Guinea. The base will reportedly be a full-service naval facility capable of rearming and refitting China’s naval surface combatant fleet. This would give the PLA Navy the ability to sustain combat operations in the Atlantic, including along the U.S. eastern seaboard. Principal deputy U.S. national security adviser Jon Finer visited Equatorial Guinea in October on a mission to persuade President Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo and his son and heir apparent, Vice President Teodoro “Teodorin” Nguema Obiang Mangue, to reject China’s proposal. Finer’s request was denied. (AC: China is continuing on its march to become a global hegemon. Africa is a resource-rich continent which China sees as an important means of sustainment. This naval facility, along with its existing facility in Djibouti gives China a solid security footprint on the African continent. While the U.S. national security establishment is concerned with China’s new Atlantic operations capability, it should be noted that Equatorial Guinea is 7000 miles from the U.S. eastern seaboard. – M.M.)