copenlu/druid huggingface dataset:
Claim: When Sajith Premadasa Was Questioned Why He Did Not Accept Invitation to Become President in 2022, He Skipped from Giving Answers !! (Social Media Users, 2024-09-12)
Evidence (2024-06-14): This was despite some acts of commemoration for the war, and links between the 2022 democracy protests and the quest for justice for the war dead and disappeared. Thus when contemporary narratives of the Aragalaya/Porattam, to use the names for the movement in both Sinhala and Tamil, cast it primarily as an economic crisis they exhibit blatant short-termism and thus erase the violence of the civil war. [...] 2022, on the other hand, can be seen as beginning the end of Sinhala Buddhist extremism. First, throwing Rajapaksa supporters into the Beira Lake signified more than a violent act towards the political enemy. These Rajapaksa supporters represented the political ideology which was termed ‘Rajapaksawadaya’ (Rajapakshism) by historian Nirmal Dewasiri.42Rajapaksawadaya is a political ideology which managed to mobilize the Sinhala Buddhist constituency in the south between 2005 and 2015 to a greater extent than any other single political ideology had achieved. It was characterized by the combination of three elements: Sinhala Buddhist nationalism powered by the military victory against the LTTE; neoliberal economic commitments through mega development projects such as highways, a port and airport; and human rights violations through violent suppression of political protests and forced disappearances (and the murder) of political dissenters. The last was known as ‘white van culture’. Therefore, not only Rajapaksa supporters but also Rajapaksawadaya as an ideology went into the Beira Lake. Second, as I witnessed, it was ordinary people, regardless of ethnicity, class, caste, religion and language, who were acting together. There was an unspoken solidarity among us.
Claim: When Sajith Premadasa Was Questioned Why He Did Not Accept Invitation to Become President in 2022, He Skipped from Giving Answers !! (Social Media Users, 2024-09-12)
Evidence (2024-08-28): Former Opposition Leader Sajith Premadasa promoted Plaquenil as a drug superior than hydroxychloroquine, though they are both the same drug. Due to its serious side effects, self-administration is not recommended. Premadasa also claimed azithromycin could treat the side effects of hydroxychloroquine, though it is an antibiotic and is not used to treat side effects.[413] Premadasa later apologised for spreading misinformation.[414] [...] - ^ ""If I had made any incorrect or misleading statements regarding this issue, I take this opportunity to profusely apologize" Sajith Premadasa". Newswire. 23 March 2020. Archived from the original on 23 March 2020. Retrieved 23 March 2020.
Claim: When Sajith Premadasa Was Questioned Why He Did Not Accept Invitation to Become President in 2022, He Skipped from Giving Answers !! (Social Media Users, 2024-09-12)
Evidence (2024-03-13): President Wickremesinghe thanked India for the economic support extended to Sri Lanka amid the 2022 economic crisis. Speaking to WION, he said that he is "thankful to India. Without India’s help we could not have survived and this is why we are also looking at closer relations between the two countries".
Claim: When Sajith Premadasa Was Questioned Why He Did Not Accept Invitation to Become President in 2022, He Skipped from Giving Answers !! (Social Media Users, 2024-09-12)
Evidence (2024-10-03): Voters resoundingly rejected incumbent president, opting for newcomer. In first presidential poll since country’s 2022 economic collapse held 21 Sept, head of leftist National People’s Power (NPP) alliance Anura Kumara Dissanayake secured 42.31% of vote to 32.76% for his closest rival, opposition leader Sajith Premadasa of Samagi Jana Balawegaya (SJB); incumbent president Wickremesinghe gained just 17.2%. Dissanayake won few votes from Tamil or Muslim majority electorates, while Premadasa secured 40% of Tamil minority’s vote in island’s north, east and central hill area. Dissanayake is first head of state not from country’s traditional centre-left or centre-right political blocs, or from English-speaking elite. During entirely peaceful election campaign, Dissanayake pledged root and branch reform of political system, crackdown on corruption and reworking of economic reforms mandated by International Monetary Fund (IMF).
Claim: When Sajith Premadasa Was Questioned Why He Did Not Accept Invitation to Become President in 2022, He Skipped from Giving Answers !! (Social Media Users, 2024-09-12)
Evidence (2024-09-11): The election will be a referendum on two main issues: Wickremesinghe’s handling of the economy, which has rebounded since a debt default in 2022 but remains fragile, and broader views of Sri Lankan politics. Many Sri Lankans want to move away from the family-driven politics of the Rajapaksas—a sentiment that disadvantages Wickremesinghe, who is close to the family and served out the remainder of Gotabaya Rajapaksa’s term.
Claim: When Sajith Premadasa Was Questioned Why He Did Not Accept Invitation to Become President in 2022, He Skipped from Giving Answers !! (Social Media Users, 2024-09-12)
Evidence (2023-12-24): Our President is an illegitimate child of the collapse of our economic life and decadence of our cultural heritage. When such an inscrutability occurs, adjustments to that new reality does take time and requires more space than one would need in normal circumstances. That illegitimate child has misunderstood the glaring reality; instead of embracing the real and far-reaching decisions that he had to make, he resorted to the most malignant varieties of statecraft. Instead of opening a two-way dialogue with the nation’s youth, the country’s promise, he engineered the brutal suppression, the solitary way in which almost all power-hungry cruel dictators attempt in order, not to resolve the issues at hand, but to ensure perpetuity in power. Sajith Premadasa must be still sulking as to what happened to him when Gotabaya Rajapaksa, the last President who opted to call him before he called Ranil to become his Prime Minister. Lack of farsightedness, bereft of wisdom and profoundness to comprehend the nuanced terrain of power-politics, Sajith chose to reject Gotabaya’s appeal.
Claim: When Sajith Premadasa Was Questioned Why He Did Not Accept Invitation to Become President in 2022, He Skipped from Giving Answers !! (Social Media Users, 2024-09-12)
Evidence (2024-10-08): -By A Staff Writer (Lanka-e-News -23.Aug.2024, 11.30 pm) Reports have surfaced linking Sajaad Mawzoon, owner of Pyramid Wilma, to the funding of Sajith Premadasa’s presidential campaign under the SJB banner. Mawzoon, who is at the center of the sugar scam scandal... Read more >> [...] -By A Staff Writer (Lanka-e-News -10.Aug.2024, 11.30 pm) In a controversial move, Sajith Premadasa, leader of the Samagi Jana Balawegaya (SJB) party, has reportedly turned his back on a key loyalist, Hirunika Premachandra, in a bid to secure media support for his.... Read more >> [...] -LeN Internal Intelligence Service reports (Lanka-e-News -2022.July.27, 8.00 pm) Ranil Wickremesinghe, who has no any people's will, has become a president with the consent of 134 members of the ruling party in Parliament. A mental patient, he hides in a military camp and tries to rule the country Read more >>
Claim: US Military Bases Around China! (Map) (Social Media Users, 2023-02-05)
Evidence (2023-02-05): Many countries marked on the map don't have US military bases. But, yes, some countries have US military bases. To a certain extent, nearby countries of China indeed have US military forces in their land. However, the majority of the countries marked on the map do not have US military bases in their countries.
Claim: US Military Bases Around China! (Map) (Social Media Users, 2023-02-05)
Evidence (2013-08-20): The U.S. military is encircling China with a chain of air bases and military ports. The latest link: a small airstrip on the tiny Pacific island of Saipan. The U.S. Air Force is planning to lease 33 acres of land on the island for the next 50 years to build a "divert airfield" on an ... The U.S. military is encircling China with a chain of air bases and military ports. The latest link: a small airstrip on the tiny Pacific island of Saipan. The U.S. Air Force is planning to lease 33 acres of land on the island for the next 50 years to build a "divert airfield" on an old World War II airbase there. But the residents don't want it. And the Chinese are in no mood to be surrounded by Americans. [...] The U.S. military is encircling China with a chain of air bases and military ports. The latest link: a small airstrip on the tiny Pacific island of Saipan. The U.S. Air Force is planning to lease 33 acres of land on the island for the next 50 years to build a "divert airfield" on an old World War II airbase there. But the residents don’t want it. And the Chinese are in no mood to be surrounded by Americans.
Claim: US Military Bases Around China! (Map) (Social Media Users, 2023-02-05)
Evidence (2024-10-04): Australia [edit]Bangladesh [edit]China [edit]France [edit]Germany [edit]Greece [edit]India [edit]Iran [edit]Israel [edit]Italy [edit]Japan [edit]Pakistan [edit]Russia [edit]Saudi Arabia [edit]Singapore [edit]Turkey [edit]United Arab Emirates [edit]United Kingdom [edit]United States [edit]The U.S. military maintains hundreds of military installations, both inside the United States and overseas (with at least 128 military bases in 55 countries and territories, as of July 2024). Some American bases are also NATO-led with forces from multiple countries. According to the U.S. Army, Camp Humphreys in South Korea is the largest overseas base in terms of area.[100] Most of foreign military installations are located in NATO countries, Middle East countries, South Korea and Japan. [...] - ^ "china-establishes-military-base-abroad-where-it-showed-war-robots-months-ago". interestingengineering.com/. Archived from the original on 2017-07-12. Retrieved 2024-07-13. [...] - ^ Reporter, Aadil Brar China News (2024-03-12). "Map shows countries where China seeks overseas military base". Newsweek. Retrieved 2024-07-28.
Claim: US Military Bases Around China! (Map) (Social Media Users, 2023-02-05)
Evidence (2023-02-02): US secures deal on Philippines bases to complete arc around China - Published The US has secured access to four additional military bases in the Philippines - a key bit of real estate which would offer a front row seat to monitor the Chinese in the South China Sea and around Taiwan. [...] The US hasn't said where the new bases are but three of them could be on Luzon, an island on the northern edge of the Philippines, the only large piece of land close to Taiwan - if you don't count China.
Claim: US Military Bases Around China! (Map) (Social Media Users, 2023-02-05)
Evidence (2024-03-12): China is seeking new overseas military facilities around the world to boost geopolitical aspirations, a U.S. intelligence assessment has said. [...] "The U.S. has over a hundred military bases across the world, deploying hundreds of thousands of troops beyond its homeland. It has fought one war after another outside its territory. It is not in a position to accuse other countries in this regard," Liu said. [...] The expansion of China's military footprint is perceived by its rivals as a precursor to establishing a network of potential bases to support its rapidly growing armed forces. Despite Beijing's dismissal of any intention to establish overseas bases for its military, the U.S. and its allies remain wary.
Claim: US Military Bases Around China! (Map) (Social Media Users, 2023-02-05)
Evidence (2024-09-19): South Korea marine bases [edit]United States Navy [edit]Domestic naval bases [edit]California naval bases [edit]- Naval Air Weapons Station China Lake - Naval Base Coronado - Naval Air Facility El Centro - Naval Air Station Lemoore - Naval Postgraduate School - Naval Air Station North Island - Naval Base Point Loma - Naval Base San Diego - Naval Base Ventura County [...] [edit]Wyoming air force bases [edit]Foreign air force bases [edit]Aruba air force bases [edit]- Queen Beatrix International Airport (Cooperative Security Location of U.S. Southern Command) [...] Further reading [edit]- Deppen, Patterson (19 August 2021). "The All-American Base World; 750 U.S. Military Bases Still Remain Around the Planet". TomDispatch. Retrieved 21 August 2021.
Claim: US Military Bases Around China! (Map) (Social Media Users, 2023-02-05)
Evidence (2023-01-24): China is effectively encircled by US bases all across the Pacific—threatening a catastrophic war between the world’s two greatest powers. [...] Camp Humphreys, southwest of Seoul in South Korea, is the largest US overseas military base in the world with more than 500 buildings. It is just 540 kilometres from the city of Dalian on the Chinese mainland, with a population of more than seven million people. That is the same distance as driving between Sydney and Wodonga on the Victorian border. [...] US bases in Australia and the growing integration of Australia’s armed forces into the US military are another part of its push against China.
Claim: US Military Bases Around China! (Map) (Social Media Users, 2023-02-05)
Evidence (2024-08-07): American military sites at key regional hubs like Hawaii or Guam, the U.S.'s westernmost point, were not included in the overseas presence map. Similarly, China's militarized artificial islands in the Spratly and Paracel archipelagos in the South China Sea were excluded. [...] China's only publicly acknowledged overseas base is 3 miles west of Camp Lemonnier—the only permanent U.S. military base in Africa—and near about half a dozen other installations run by U.S. allies at the critical shipping node. [...] China's overseas bases could support noncombatant evacuation operations, sea lane patrols and "non-kinetic" missions against U.S. activities, the authors said—military parlance for intelligence gathering or cyberattacks.
Claim: US Military Bases Around China! (Map) (Social Media Users, 2023-02-05)
Evidence (2024-07-05): In recent years, US military bases around China have captured the world’s attention, sparking discussions and speculations about the US military’s intentions and impact on the Asia-Pacific region. This article aims to delve into the significance of these US military bases, particularly in Japan and South Korea, while addressing their presence’s various controversies and issues. [...] US military bases around China have raised concerns among neighboring countries and China itself. These countries fear that the US might use its bases to expand military capabilities in the region further, potentially escalating tensions. [...] US military bases around China significantly shape the strategic landscape of the Asia-Pacific region, impacting regional security and stability. While they serve essential purposes in safeguarding US interests, they also invite controversies and challenges.
Claim: US Military Bases Around China! (Map) (Social Media Users, 2023-02-05)
Evidence (2023-03-13): In November, the Pentagon released its annual China Military Power Report, which included a number of maps to illustrate its updated assessments of the Chinese military's capabilities and reach. [...] Ground, naval, and air force units of the People's Liberation Army are based along China's southern coast, including on Hainan Island, which is home to major PLA bases and hosts a PLA Rocket Force missile brigade. The Southern Theater Command and the adjacent Eastern Theater Command would be involved in any Chinese military operation against Taiwan. Recent action by those forces around Taiwan, as well as ongoing Chinese activity in the South China Sea, has worried US commanders.
Claim: US Military Bases Around China! (Map) (Social Media Users, 2023-02-05)
Evidence (2022-03-31): The changes can be tracked on the maps included in the report. Many were unchanged from last year, but those showing the placement of the major units of China's army, air force, and navy do have new details. [...] The maps show the rotation or relocation of some of the group armies compared to last year. It also shows the location of the headquarters for China's Airborne Corps and Marine Corps, which are part of China's air force and navy, respectively. [...] The map shows the creation of an additional bomber brigade in the PLA's Central Theater and an additional naval aviation brigade HQ in the Northern Theater.
Claim: US Military Bases Around China! (Map) (Social Media Users, 2023-02-05)
Evidence (2023-02-14): And again, the comparison with China’s military presence globally is helpful. China has about eight foreign military bases — one in Djibouti and some on human-made islands in the South China Sea. This, compared to the 750 U.S. military bases outside the 50 states and Washington, D.C., shows again how misdirected our priorities are, because of this foreign policy that has been, in my mind, hijacked by the military-industrial complex, the people who are making a killing, often literally, off war, and a foreign policy elite that has taken us down precisely the wrong path. [...] And meanwhile, the United States is in the process of encircling China with more and more bases. And this has been a long-standing buildup over years, dating to the Obama administration — the Trump administration continued it — and, before it, the George W. Bush administration. There are, of course, also a buildup of bases in recent months in Eastern and Central Europe in reaction to Putin’s invasion of Ukraine. But the buildup in East Asia is one we should be deathly concerned about, I’m sorry to say.
Claim: US Military Bases Around China! (Map) (Social Media Users, 2023-02-05)
Evidence (2020-09-13): - The US Defense Department's most recent China Military Power Report details Beijing's expansion of its armed forces. [...] The map shows the approximate locations of each of the PLAAF's/PLAN Aviation theater headquarters as well as multiple air bases. Importantly, it also shows which bases house the PLAAF's bomber and transport division HQs. [...] Most of China's airbases are in the country's south and east. Its airbases in the west are considerably far from India, limiting PLAAF capabilities in the tense region.
Claim: US Military Bases Around China! (Map) (Social Media Users, 2023-02-05)
Evidence (2023-02-02): The US has secured access to four additional military bases in the Philippines - a key bit of real estate which would offer a front row seat to monitor the Chinese in the South China Sea and around Taiwan. [...] The US hasn't said where the new bases are but three of them could be on Luzon, an island on the northern edge of the Philippines, the only large piece of land close to Taiwan - if you don't count China. [...] While there won't be as many troops as earlier, Washington now has access to bases facing the South China Sea and Taiwan. Unofficial reports point to options in Cagayan, Zambales, Palawan and Isabela.
Claim: US Military Bases Around China! (Map) (Social Media Users, 2023-02-05)
Evidence (2023-10-25): There are around 750 U.S. military bases in at least 80 countries, though Al Jazeera says the number "may be even higher as not all data is published by the Pentagon." Many U.S. military bases were built after World War II "when the U.S. took position as the global leader and peacekeeper in and around Japan and Germany," which explains why those two countries have the most bases. Then the Cold War and the Korean War gave the U.S. another reason for global military expansion – to contain communism. [...] In February the U.S. and the Philippines struck a deal that allows U.S. forces access to four additional military camps in the Philippines; two of these are near Taiwan, giving the U.S. access to a total of nine military camps. Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. told China that the military bases available to the U.S. military wouldn’t be used for any "offensive action," only to aid the Philippines.
Claim: US Military Bases Around China! (Map) (Social Media Users, 2023-02-05)
Evidence (2023-06-27): Over the years, some of these bases or facilities have caused controversy. Some have come under discussion as regional disputes have brought their use into question. Overall, they are tools that provide significant regional stability and influence in a region that is strategically important to U.S. security interests. This map does not include every U.S. base or facility in the Middle East, but rather focuses on those which are well documented or currently known to be in use. Several of these bases are not considered U.S. property, but are host-government operated, and host the presence of U.S. forces or material. Others, such as those in Oman, permit the presence of U.S. forces for pre-approved missions. While U.S. troops currently operate in Iraq and Syria, these areas of operation have changed rapidly over the past several years, requiring the construction of temporary or forward operating bases, few of which are publicly acknowledged by the U.S. military. These are not included in this map. This map is updated as information becomes available. Latest update: 2/9/2021
Claim: US Military Bases Around China! (Map) (Social Media Users, 2023-02-05)
Evidence (2024-07-26): We know the threat that China poses to our national security and our economy. The Chinese Communist Party steals trade secrets from our companies, buys up sensitive land around our military bases, and is always working to find new ways to gather information about us that they can leverage to get ahead. [...] If those vehicles are made by adversaries like China, they offer direct access to Americans’ sensitive personal data and information about critical U.S. infrastructure. China has already banned American-made connected vehicles from operating close to their military bases, government buildings, and sensitive infrastructure – making it clear how they intend to use Chinese connected vehicles in the U.S. Think about it: if one of these Chinese connected cars were to drive by Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Glenn Research Center, Youngstown Air Reserve Station, or Rickenbacker Air National Guard Base, the Chinese Communist Party could use a connected car to listen into private conversations, transmit sensitive data, or gather intelligence – without the American driver ever realizing it.
Claim: US Military Bases Around China! (Map) (Social Media Users, 2023-02-05)
Evidence (2023-02-07): It was a troubling claim made by a key member of Congress with access to top secret information: If you plotted the trajectory of the Chinese spy balloon, it’d mirror where the nation's most sensitive and powerful weapons are stored. [...] A U.S. official, speaking on condition of anonymity, acknowledged the balloon did fly over some sensitive bases, but the U.S. believes it did not have the ability to collect information beyond what China already does through its sophisticated spy satellites. [...] It did not seem to venture close to Minot Air Force Base in North Dakota or Warren Air Force Base, which stretches through Wyoming, Colorado and Nebraska. It appeared to have threaded a fairly wide geographic needle between those two military bases that each boast more than 150 missile silos for the U.S. nuclear stockpile, according to the Nuclear Information Project.