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U.S. Warns China Over East China Sea Maritime Grab
Chinese Internet
BY: Bill Gertz
The Pentagon invoked a U.S. defense treaty with Japan and warned China on Saturday that its declaration of an air defense zone over the East China Sea is increasing the danger of military conflict.
Both Secretary of State John Kerry and Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel issued statements late Saturday expressing “deep concern” over China’s creation of the air defense identification zone, or ADIZ, that extends over Japan’s Senkaku Islands, which China claims as its territory.
“We view this development as a destabilizing attempt to alter the status quo in the region,” Hagel said. “This unilateral action increases the risk of misunderstanding and miscalculations.”
Hagel then reaffirmed the U.S. military commitment to the 1952 U.S.-Japan Mutual Defense Treaty.
“The United States reaffirms its longstanding policy that Article V of the U.S. Japan Mutual Defense Treaty applies to the Senkaku Islands,” Hagel said.
A reference to the defense treaty is the clearest sign that the Pentagon fears China will use the creation of a new air defense zone to block U.S. and Japanese aircraft or ships from passing through the zone that includes large areas of international waters.
Such actions could set off the use of force and a Read more…
China is flexing its muscles in the Pacific Ocean
China’s Navy ships moved to the Western part of the Pacific for military exercise. In response Tokyo expressed its concern about the growing naval activity of the Chinese Armed Forces in that region.
According to Japanese mass media, a group consisting of four battle ships (frigates) of the Chinese Navy passed through the waters between the Japanese islands of Okinawa and Miyako. The Chinese Defense Ministry already made a statement that the tour of the ships is connected to the preparation of the annual military exercise of routine nature. In response to the concern of the Japanese side, Beijing stated that China has a free right to pass in those waters. According to the Chinese authorities, that is completely Read more…
China infuriated by US-Philippines defense plans
The US decision to station forces in the Philippines could have dangerous repercussions. Beijing may enact economic sanctions after Manila invited in US troops in response to an escalating territorial dispute over the South China Sea.
Dr. Pak-Nung Wong of the City University of Hong Kong told RT that the Philippines is merely cashing in on America’s move.
“At the international level, the Philippines knows that the US has definitely returned to Asia – refocusing its military and security deployment in the Middle East and Asia-Pacific, targeting China and Iran as the primary security concern,” he said.
“At the regional level, the Philippines also sees that there are recent changes in the regional politics, particularly in Read more…
US negotiating larger presence in Philippines
With an eye toward China’s growing influence in the South Pacific, President Obama and the Philippines are negotiating a greater US military presence on the island nation, the Washington Post said.
Discussions are to continue Thursday and Friday in Washington, but it appears the US military will return to the Philippines 20 years after losing its foothold there.
“We can point to other countries: Australia, Japan, Singapore,” a senior Philippine official told the Post. “We’re not the only one doing this, and for good reason. We all want to see a peaceful and stable region. Nobody wants to have to face China or confront China.”
American troops left Subic Bay in Philippines in 1992 because a new treaty could not be signed. A volcanic eruption a year earlier forced them from Clark Air Force Base.
Now the American plan is for Read more…
Manila, US plan military drills in South China Sea
The United States and the Philippines are set to hold military drills that may anger Beijing near disputed waters in the South China Sea, testing their readiness to protect offshore oil and natural gas platforms, a Marine general said on Thursday.
Philippines Lieutenant-General Juancho Sabban, military commander on western island of Palawan, said it is the first time an annual exercise will be focused on protecting offshore energy platforms, adding that the drills should not anger China which also has territorial claims in the region.
“Why should they be angry, this is an annual activity,” he said, referring to China, one of six states claiming sovereignty over the South China Sea.
The drills are to be held near Read more…
American geopolitical expert sees South China Sea conflict
Wikipedia
In his September-October 2011 Foreign Policy article (“The South China Sea is the future of conflict”) Robert D. Kaplan clearly outlined the importance of the South China Sea, which will make it the convergent point of conflict between the US and China.
A national security and geopolitics expert, Kaplan is the author of many books on these topics and is a member of the Defense Policy Board of the US Defense Department. The US Army’s Special Forces, the United States Marines, and the United States Air Force have tapped Kaplan as their consultant. Per Wikipedia, he also “lectured at the military war colleges, the FBI, the National Security Agency, the Pentagon’s Joint Chiefs of Staff, major universities, the CIA, and business forums, and has appeared on PBS, NPR, C-Span, and Fox News. He is a senior fellow at the Foreign Policy Research Institute.
Kaplan explains: “Europe is a landscape; East Asia a Read more…
Chinese warship confronts Indian naval ship: Report
New Delhi: The Indian and Chinese navies were involved in a face-off in the disputed South China Sea. A Chinese warship confronted an Indian naval vessel as it left Vietnamese waters in July but the Indian Navy has denied the reports.
According to reports a Chinese warship, which remains unidentified, confronted India’s INS Airawat, an amphibious assault vessel, and asked the ship to identify itself and explain its presence in the South China. London-based Financial Times reported that the Indian warship was in international waters after completing a scheduled port call in Vietnam.
Government sources told CNN-IBN that the incident took place on July 22 when INS Airavat ship was 45 nautical miles from the Read more…
Chinese Carrier Sea Trial Raises Concerns
China to give more information about its first aircraft carrier, which was sent out on an initial sea trial Wednesday.
A spokeswoman for the U.S. State Department told reporters that Washington would welcome any kind of explanation China would like to give for needing this kind of equipment. She said China’s lack of transparency about its military acquisitions and its military budget raises concerns.
Earlier Wednesday, Beijing announced that the carrier it purchased from Ukraine in 1998 had left the port of Dalian for its inaugural sea trial.
Little was said about the vessel formerly known as the Varyag until last month when Chinese defense officials said it would Read more…
Why China Wants South China Sea
By Tetsuo Kotani
Beijing is interested in more than just energy and fishery resources. The area is also integral to its nuclear submarine strategy.
In an effort to underscore its importance to Asia, geostrategist Nicholas Spykman once described it as the ‘Asiatic Mediterranean.’ More recently, it has been dubbed the ‘Chinese Caribbean.’ And, just as Rome and the United States have sought control over the Mediterranean and Caribbean, China now seeks dominance over the South China Sea.
It’s clear that China’s claims and recent assertiveness have increased tensions in this key body of water. Yet while most attention has focused on Beijing’s appetite for fishery and energy resources, from a submariner’s perspective, the semi-closed sea is integral to China’s nuclear strategy. And without understanding the nuclear dimension of the South China Sea disputes, China’s maritime expansion makes little sense.
Possessing a credible sea-based nuclear deterrent is a priority for China’s military strategy. China’s single Type 092, or Xia-class, nuclear-powered ballistic missile submarine, equipped with short-range JL-1 submarine-launched ballistic Read more…
China’s Growing Military Muscle: A Looming Threat?
Stonecutters Island army base in Hong Kong opens to the public once a year as a goodwill gesture. Displays include kung fu demonstrations and shows of knife-fighting skills.
This month, NPR is examining the many ways China is expanding its reach in the world — through investments, infrastructure, military power and more.
At the Stonecutters Island army base in Hong Kong, camouflage-clad Chinese soldiers lunge forward with fierce yells, making stabbing motions with their daggers. There’s a communal shout of admiration from the crowd watching the display on the army’s home territory, which is opened up once a year to the public as a goodwill gesture.
Evolving Military Technology
China is pouring money into its military forces — retrofitting ships, building stealth airplanes and developing advanced weapons technology. Below Read more…
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