Michmutters

US Says China ‘Manufactured’ Crisis

China’s actions in the Taiwan Strait are “manufactured” and “completely unnecessary,” Undersecretary of Defense for Policy Colin Kahl said Monday during a press briefing at the Pentagon.

Kahl said the US has not changed its support of the One China policy, nor do US officials believe China will take Taiwan over militarily in the next few years.

“We don’t support China using its military actions against Taiwan. We don’t support Taiwan moving towards independence. Our policy has not changed its support for the status quo. China’s policy is what’s changed,” Kahl said, adding that China is trying to “salami-slice their way into a new status quo.”

China is “trying to coerce” both Taiwan and the international community, Kahl said.

“All I’ll say is, we’re not going to take the bait, and it’s not going to work,” he said. “It’s a manufactured crisis. That doesn’t mean we have to play into that. I think it would only play to Beijing’s advantage.”

Kahl was asked about the developing situation between China and Taiwan several times during the Monday briefing. He reiterated the Defense Department’s support of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s visit to Taiwan last week, which prompted China’s last several days of military exercises in the Taiwan Strait.

China “clearly” was not “happy” with Pelosi’s visit, Kahl said, but “nothing about the visit changed one iota of the US government’s policy toward Taiwan or toward China.”

Kahl said China’s reaction to Pelosi’s Taiwan visit was not surprising. Pelosi “had every right” to go to Taiwan, Kahl said, adding that the Department of Defense was committed to providing Pelosi with “the support required” once she confirmed that the trip was happening.

After Pelosi traveled to Taiwan, Kahl said China carried out missile exercises and other live fire demonstrations. China also boosted its air and naval military activities in the Strait, he said.

Kahl declined to say whether Chinese aircraft or missiles have flown over Taiwan, saying those answers depended on the lock and trajectory of each object and that he did not “have the physics of it” in front of him in that moment.

Family on Monday identified the man who was shot to death in an Otsego neighborhood over the weekend by deputies who the Sheriff’s Office said were threatened by him with a knife.

Jordyn J. Hansen, 21, was fatally wounded about 1 am Sunday in the 12300 block of NE. 72nd Court, said his aunt Sara Wroblewski, who lives where deputies responded.

The Wright County Sheriff’s Office said deputies shot Hansen during a confrontation and that he was armed with a knife.

However, Hansen’s aunt contended in a detailed written account released to the Star Tribune late Monday morning that law enforcement was lax while in her home, missed opportunities to detain him and allowed him to get a hold of a knife.

Multiple messages were left with the Sheriff’s Office seeking a response to Wroblewski’s allegations.

In a statement Sunday, the Sheriff’s Office said that “reports indicated a man was having mental health challenges and had threatened physical harm to his family and himself.”

Deputies spoke to Hansen upon arriving at the scene, and he agreed to go to the hospital for an evaluation. However, the statement continued, he “ran into the kitchen and grabbed a knife” before an ambulance could arrive.

“I have fled the home and ran into the neighborhood,” the statement read. “Squads set up a perimeter and requested additional support from the Minnesota State Patrol helicopter.”

The statement said Hansen confronted deputies a short time later in a neighboring backyard, where two deputies attempted to stun him with a Taser as he threatened them with the knife. The two deputies then shot the man.

Hansen was taken to North Memorial Health Hospital, where he was pronounced dead a short time later.

Justine Love, in a brief interview Monday with the Star Tribune, said the Midwest Medical Examiner’s Office told her family that her brother was hit by six gunshots from law enforcement.

Court records in Rice County show that Hansen has a history of mental health difficulties dating back nearly four years to when he lived in Faribault and include attempts of suicide, delusions that his life was being threatened, hearing voices, belief that his mind was being read , and extreme alcohol and illicit drug abuse.

Courts twice ordered him civilly committed for treatment of social anxiety disorder and depression, with his most recent commitment being extended in March for six months and active at the time of his death.

Wroblewski said in her statement to the Star Tribune that Hansen moved into her Otsego home a few months ago after completing treatment.

“He was still under formal treatment commitment until September but was released [by the Rice County District Court] into our care,” she added.

She said the family believed a new place to live “was his best chance at a full recovery away from his previous lifestyle, which triggered mental health crisis.”

Rice County Attorney John Fossum said that the court’s decisions leading up to Hansen moving in with his aunt “would be based on medical evaluations and recommendations from the professionals responsible for the individual’s care.”

Fossum added that “any explanation of those decisions not found in the public portions of the court file is private data and cannot be disclosed by this office.”

Wroblewski said the family contacted law enforcement early Sunday because Hansen “was having a mental health episode, and we needed him to be removed from our home to get some help.”

The aunt said Hansen “had communicated threats to family outside our home, but didn’t make any threats to us. But there were signs of volatility when we were with Jordyn prior to [law enforcement] and we made officers aware of this.

“We believe there were multiple opportunities inside our home for officers to peacefully restrain and contain Jordyn knowing that this was a mental health call, and the situation was unpredictable and could change in a moment’s notice.”

Instead, she continued, “the officers allowed Jordyn to be escorted through our home unrestrained, which is how he obtained a weapon.”

Wroblewski said her husband warned the officers on that scene that Hansen was heading toward the kitchen unrestrained.

“We believe the outcome would have been different if officers had handled this differently inside our home,” she said. “We have many questions for law enforcement that we are still waiting on.”

The state Bureau of Criminal Apprehension is now heading the investigation and has yet to release any information. The deputies have been placed on standard administrative leave.