People’s Liberation Army air force (PLAAF) H-6K long-range bomber is shown over Scarborough Shoal. Picture: Weibo
The United States has conducted several B-52 bomber ‘freedom of navigation’ flights over the contested waterway in recent months, along with flights by surveillance and patrol aircraft.
Beijing on Friday returned the favour. Continue reading
China raised tensions in the South China Sea on Wednesday by threatening to declare an air defence identification zone (ADIZ) over disputed waters where a tribunal has quashed its legal claim.
The Permanent Court of Arbitration in The Hague ruled on Tuesday that China had “no legal basis” for its “nine-dash line”, which lays claim to almost all of the South China Sea. After considering a case brought by the Philippines, the court ruled against China on virtually every substantive point.
President Xi Jinping responded by saying that China would “refuse to accept” the decision.
The tribunal that has taken jurisdiction over the Philippine suit against China concerning islands and rocks in the South China Sea (“SCS”) is to issue its decision on the merits on July 12, 2016. However well-reasoned the award, it cannot undo the damage caused by the litigation. The Philippines will remain unable to force China to modify its positions. China will ignore the award. And the US will be forced to continue to expand freedom of navigation exercises and other measures to push back against China’s conduct. Continue reading
China’s determined efforts over the past two decades to seize control of almost the entire South China Sea is nothing short of classic aggressive imperialism. What’s remarkable is that it has been done without basically firing a shot, using the Chinese People’s Liberation Army concept of “military soft power.” This tactic is designed to defeat the enemy without fighting. Make no mistake: China views the United States as the enemy. Under President Obama’s strategy to fundamentally transform America, our country doesn’t confront our enemies, it embraces them. China has the perfect enemy. Continue reading
Make no mistake about it, regardless of how communist Chinese officials downplay or whitewash it, they want war. Internal problems (social and economic) are forcing the CCP to make a choice: Distract the nation by placing the blame outward, or own up to the failures of Communism and lose your grip on power in a violent overthrow of government.
Ask Chi Haotian, once Vice-Chairman of China’s military commision who said in his 2005 speech that conquering America is a must for China’s survival and that America must be exterminated (click HERE for a Biblical perspective).
This article should come as no surprise as it wouldn’t be the first time China has threatened war with the United States. Some years ago, Colonel Meng Xianging said there would be hand-to-hand combat with America within the next ten years.
In 2007, China also threatened to nuke the U.S. Dollar — a claim it can still make good on.
As an indicator, and as geopolitical expert JR Nyquist has warned about, When the China Bubble Bursts, war is around the corner.
BEIJING — China’s attempts to claim a nearly 1.4-million-square-mile swathe of open ocean are without precedent and probably without legal merit, but Beijing continues to assert its right to the economically critical zone — and increasingly puts its claims in military terms.
Speaking to a small group of reporters in Beijing on Thursday, a high-ranking Chinese official made his warning clear: The United States should not provoke China in the South China Sea without expecting retaliation.
“The Chinese people do not want to have war, so we will be opposed to [the] U.S. if it stirs up any conflict,” said Liu Zhenmin, vice minister of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. “Of course, if the Korean War or Vietnam War are replayed, then we will have to defend ourselves.”
The Maritime Self-Defense Force training submarine Oyashio, escorted by the destroyer Ariake (background), one of two vessels that accompanied the sub, arrives at Subic Bay in the Philippines on Sunday. | AFP-JIJI
A Maritime Self-Defense Force flotilla of three ships arrived in the Philippines early Sunday on a goodwill visit — the first to include a Japanese submarine in 15 years — amid China’s growing assertiveness in the region.
The training submarine Oyashio, accompanied by the destroyers Ariake and Setogiri, made a port call at Subic Bay, home of a former U.S. naval base, ahead of planned open sea drills. Some 500 Japanese personnel, including 55 officer candidates, are taking part in the confidence-building exercise. Continue reading
Did China just deploy dangerous anti-ship missiles to Woody Island in the South China Sea?
Several outlets are speculating that Beijing might have taken what is very likely the next logical step in its dangerous game of military brinksmanship in this increasingly tension-filled body of water. Continue reading
Not only do they have coast guard ships, they are now able to mobilize commercial ships, bringing the total to 172,000 vessels during a national emergency.
Hong Kong: When a U.S. Navy guided-missile destroyer sailed near one of Beijing’s artificial islands in the disputed South China Sea this week, it was operating in a maritime domain bristling with Chinese ships.
While the U.S. Navy is expected to keep its technological edge in Asia for decades, China’s potential trump card is sheer weight of numbers, with dozens of naval and coastguard vessels routinely deployed in the South China Sea. Continue reading
Global Hawk targeted over disputed South China Sea islands
China tried to electronically jam U.S. drone flights over the South China Sea in a bid to thwart spying on disputed island military construction, U.S. officials said.
Global Hawk long-range surveillance drones were targeted by the jamming in at least one incident near the disputed Spratly Islands, where China is building military facilities on Fiery Cross Reef.
Disclosure of the jamming came as a U.S. Navy P-8 surveillance flight on Wednesday was challenged eight times by the Chinese military to leave the same area. Continue reading
China has long trained for an amphibious invasion of Taiwan during military exercises but has expanded its training to include a similar attack on Japanese holdings in the East China Sea, according the chief of intelligence of the U.S. Pacific Fleet (PACFLEET).
As part of China’s Mission Action 2013 exercise — a massive exercise between the all branches of China’s People’s Liberation Army (PLA) — the military trained for taking the Senkaku Islands, said Capt. James Fannell, deputy chief of staff intelligence and information operations for PACFLEET.
View China’s Training Plan in a larger map Continue reading
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