Philippines boosts military to resist ‘bullies’

Country relations in Asia are getting to the boiling point in regards to China. What we’re seeing within the region is an arms race to protect itself against the communist giant, and it’s not just the Philippines. For example, Japan seems to be silently going nuclear and going on the offensive to protect its disputed territory. Within the next ten years, we could see a situation where all countries within the Asian giant’s reach become strong enough combined that China will have no choice but to go on a ‘charm offensive’ and unite the continent under its political/military/economic umbrella rather than go to war with every neighbor. Having done this, combined with the United States suiciding itself from within and becoming more unreliable as a partner each day, it will have effectively taken out America’s hegemony in the Asia Pacific without having to go to war with it. However, because that nobody has a crystal ball (that works), a war or skirmish in the future shouldn’t be dismissed.

MANILA – Philippine President Benigno Aquino on Tuesday announced a US$1.8-billion (S$2.26b) military upgrade to help defend his country’s maritime territory against “bullies”, amid an ever-worsening dispute with China.

The announcement came on the same day that the Philippines filed a protest with China over the “illegal and provocative” presence of a Chinese warship and two other vessels at a Filipino-claimed shoal in the disputed South China Sea.

Asia’s Currency War

Global finance chiefs may have denounced it, but that has not stopped Japan joining other central banks in driving its exchange rate lower. With Australia and South Korea forced to respond, will the Asia-Pacific region be the main battleground in a global currency war?

Abe warns of possible military response to intruder subs

TOKYO — Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said Tuesday Tokyo could mount a military response if foreign submarines enter its territorial waters while underwater, as Japan and China continue to squabble over islands.

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“These are serious acts. If submarines enter our territorial waters while underwater, we would have to implement maritime security action,” Abe told the Diet.

Okinawa doesn’t belong to Japan, says hawkish PLA general

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  “The Ryukyus do not belong to Japan,” said Major General Luo Yuan. Photo: Simon Song

A hawkish Chinese general has possibly opened a Pandora’s box on territorial disputes in East Asia by saying that the Ryukyu Islands including Okinawa do not belong to Japan.

Luo Yuan, a People’s Liberation Army two-star general, has said that Japan could not rightfully claim sovereignty over the islands, because they had started paying tribute to China half a millenium before they had done so to Japan. 

China Conducts Test of New Anti-Satellite Missile

As it’s been reported here a few times: Like Iran, like China… or vice versa. See the following previous entries for further information:

• Iran sends monkeys into space – so can place nukes anywhere on earth
• Iran Says It Will Send Monkey into Space in 2012
• Iran launches observation satellite: media

China’s military on Monday conducted the first test of a new ground-launched anti-satellite missile that was fired into space and disguised as a space-exploration rocket, according to U.S. officials.

The test was carried out early Monday from the Xichang Space Launch center and was identified by officials as the new Dong Ning-2 ASAT missile.

Chinese ships have entered disputed-islands waters, claims Japan

Tokyo: Three Chinese government ships entered the waters of disputed Tokyo-controlled islands on Monday, Japan’s coastguard said, as a long-running row shows no sign of fading.

Japanese Defense — Going Nuclear?

Recent reports about the imminence of the opening of a massive reprocessing facility in Rokkasho, northern Honshu, have analysts wondering about the Japanese government’s intent for its use. The real concern is that the plant could produce weapons-grade plutonium for manufacturing nuclear weapons.

Beijing Says Okinawa May Belong to China

China’s main newspaper said on Wednesday that Beijing is unsure of Japan’s sovereignty over the island of Okinawa—the home of key U.S. military bases.

A long-winded article in the People’s Daily—the mouthpiece of China’s ruling Communist Party—said that Beijing may rightfully own the Ryukyu island chain, which includes Okinawa. The island is home to 1.3 million people, who are much more closely related to Japan than to China in terms of both ethnicity and linguistics. The Ryukyus chain was a sort of vassal state of China before Japan annexed it in 1879, and now the Chinese say it should return to them based on post-World War II measures requiring Japan to return territories that it took from Beijing.

‘Get ready to fight’: China shifts from Deng’s ‘low profile’ to Mao’s aggression

Nothing illustrates better the conservative turn that Chinese politics and foreign policy have taken under the Xi Jinping administration than the way ministers and senior cadres are reviving the credos – and familiar sayings – of Chairman Mao Zedong.

Consider the reaction of the new Chinese ambassador to the United States Cui Tianhai to Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel’s statement earlier this week that Washington supported Tokyo’s administrative rights over the contested Senkaku Islands (known as the Diaoyus in China).

First Strike — China omission of no-first-use nuclear doctrine in defense white paper signals policy shift

China omitted a reference to its no-first-use strategic nuclear weapons doctrine in a recently published government white paper, indicating Beijing shifted the policy as part of its large-scale nuclear arms buildup.

The omission, along with recent comments by a senior Chinese military officer, is raising new concerns among Pentagon officials about China’s nearly opaque strategic arms buildup.

Chinese Maj. Gen. Yao Yunzhu, a senior researcher at China’s Academy of Military Science, revealed earlier this month that China is considering expanding its growing nuclear arsenal in response to U.S. missile defense deployments and upgrades.

On China’s Rising Hatred Of The Japanese, And Why The BoJ Just Doesn’t Get It

It is becoming increasingly evident that Japan is attempting to use monetary policy to paper over the cracks of imploding foreign policy decisions. The ‘storm in a teacup’ that has brought China and Japan into fierce rhetorical battles over the Senkaku (or Diaoyu) Islands is having far more deep-seated impacts on the people of the two nations – and implicitly their buying habits. Unfortunately for the embattled Japanese – they are the ones in need far more than vice versa.

Troops in Motion — Chinese troops continue mobilization along N. Korean border

China’s military is continuing to mobilize military forces along the North Korean border despite official denials as Pyongyang appears set for a missile test launch this week, according to U.S. officials.

U.S. intelligence agencies continued to collect reports of Chinese military movements in border provinces that have been underway since last month.