Politics South China Sea Thread
- Thread starter BravoZulu
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Comrades, Xinhua has a message:
"The South China Sea should not become a tool for certain countries to contain and suppress China, still less a wrestling ground for major-power rivalry," said a spokesperson of the Chinese Mission to the European Union (EU).
Countries in the region and beyond have in recent years seen clearly that "the destabilizing factors and security risks in the South China Sea mainly come from outside the region."
I love how they garnish the articlw with romantic pictures of a sperm whale and a (single) boat bringing in "artificial reef nurseries".
"The South China Sea should not become a tool for certain countries to contain and suppress China, still less a wrestling ground for major-power rivalry," said a spokesperson of the Chinese Mission to the European Union (EU).
Countries in the region and beyond have in recent years seen clearly that "the destabilizing factors and security risks in the South China Sea mainly come from outside the region."
I love how they garnish the articlw with romantic pictures of a sperm whale and a (single) boat bringing in "artificial reef nurseries".
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Japan for decades has controlled the Senkakus, a group of uninhabited islands west of Okinawa in the East China Sea.
China also claims the islands, just as it claims many of the most resource-rich features in the East and South China Seas.
But while China under President Xi Jinping has backed up its claims with forceful land grabs in the Paracel and Spratly island groups in the South China Sea—Beijing has built 27 outposts on those island groups—it hasn’t tried to seize the Senkakus.
It’s not hard to see why. With the strong backing of the United States, Japan has built up its forces around the Senkakus. And successive Japanese administrations have made it clear that if China moves on the Senkakus, Japan will push back.
Japan has administered the Senkakus for more than a century. Chinese officials meanwhile claim the islands always have been Chinese. But it wasn’t until 2010 that Beijing tried to put any force behind its claim. In September of that year, a Chinese trawler—likely under control of Beijing’s powerful maritime militia—rammed two Japanese coast guard patrol boats.
Everything changed after the ramming. Since then, Chinese “gray zone” militia boats regularly have appeared around the Senkakus.
Emphasis on regularly. Three times a month like clockwork, four Chinese boats spend two hours in Japanese waters around the island group—a reminder of Beijing’s claim over the islands and, if history is a guide, the vanguard of some possible future Chinese landing on the Senkakus. When Beijing moves to seize some disputed island, militia boats usually arrive first.
Where other Chinese land grabs encountered little or no resistance, Japan swiftly has moved to shore up its defenses around the Senkakus. More ships. More planes. More surveillance. And realistic plans for retaking the island group in the event Chinese forces occupy it.
Moreover, Tokyo matches its rhetoric to its security posture. “Japan will respond effectively and promptly to gray-zone situations or any other acts that may violate its sovereignty,” Japan’s 2013 National Defense Program Guidelines states. “Furthermore, should the acts in question become protracted or escalate, Japan will respond seamlessly as the situation evolves, taking all possible measures for the defense and security of the sea and air space surrounding Japan.”
The Japanese coast guard is in charge of security around the Senkakus. The JCG’s policy is to respond to every incursion by a Chinese boat with a vessel of its own. The coast guard vessels monitor, warn and maneuver close to Beijing’s boats. This sends a signal and complicates Chinese operations around the islands.
To sustain its response, the coast guard is getting more and bigger vessels. The service’s fleet this year is expanding to 144 large patrol ships, 62 of which are capable of long-range operations around the Senkakus. “These capabilities are currently sufficient for the JCG to maintain a 24-hour presence around the Senkaku Islands to automatically respond to any intrusions,” RAND concluded.
China is serious about its claim on the Senkakus. But Japan might be even more serious about its own administration of the islands.
More importantly, Tokyo backs up its administration with serious military capabilities, a real plan and clear messaging. “There is evidence that this approach is working,” RAND noted.
https://www.forbes.com/sites/davida...f-ships-and-americas-backing/?sh=464bf5083edd
China also claims the islands, just as it claims many of the most resource-rich features in the East and South China Seas.
But while China under President Xi Jinping has backed up its claims with forceful land grabs in the Paracel and Spratly island groups in the South China Sea—Beijing has built 27 outposts on those island groups—it hasn’t tried to seize the Senkakus.
It’s not hard to see why. With the strong backing of the United States, Japan has built up its forces around the Senkakus. And successive Japanese administrations have made it clear that if China moves on the Senkakus, Japan will push back.
Japan has administered the Senkakus for more than a century. Chinese officials meanwhile claim the islands always have been Chinese. But it wasn’t until 2010 that Beijing tried to put any force behind its claim. In September of that year, a Chinese trawler—likely under control of Beijing’s powerful maritime militia—rammed two Japanese coast guard patrol boats.
Everything changed after the ramming. Since then, Chinese “gray zone” militia boats regularly have appeared around the Senkakus.
Emphasis on regularly. Three times a month like clockwork, four Chinese boats spend two hours in Japanese waters around the island group—a reminder of Beijing’s claim over the islands and, if history is a guide, the vanguard of some possible future Chinese landing on the Senkakus. When Beijing moves to seize some disputed island, militia boats usually arrive first.
Where other Chinese land grabs encountered little or no resistance, Japan swiftly has moved to shore up its defenses around the Senkakus. More ships. More planes. More surveillance. And realistic plans for retaking the island group in the event Chinese forces occupy it.
Moreover, Tokyo matches its rhetoric to its security posture. “Japan will respond effectively and promptly to gray-zone situations or any other acts that may violate its sovereignty,” Japan’s 2013 National Defense Program Guidelines states. “Furthermore, should the acts in question become protracted or escalate, Japan will respond seamlessly as the situation evolves, taking all possible measures for the defense and security of the sea and air space surrounding Japan.”
The Japanese coast guard is in charge of security around the Senkakus. The JCG’s policy is to respond to every incursion by a Chinese boat with a vessel of its own. The coast guard vessels monitor, warn and maneuver close to Beijing’s boats. This sends a signal and complicates Chinese operations around the islands.
To sustain its response, the coast guard is getting more and bigger vessels. The service’s fleet this year is expanding to 144 large patrol ships, 62 of which are capable of long-range operations around the Senkakus. “These capabilities are currently sufficient for the JCG to maintain a 24-hour presence around the Senkaku Islands to automatically respond to any intrusions,” RAND concluded.
China is serious about its claim on the Senkakus. But Japan might be even more serious about its own administration of the islands.
More importantly, Tokyo backs up its administration with serious military capabilities, a real plan and clear messaging. “There is evidence that this approach is working,” RAND noted.
https://www.forbes.com/sites/davida...f-ships-and-americas-backing/?sh=464bf5083edd
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China protests latest US Navy movements
China has described the latest passage by a US Navy ship through the Taiwan Strait as a provocation...
The passage "demonstrates the US commitment to a free and open Indo-Pacific. The United States military will continue to fly, sail, and operate anywhere international law allows", the Navy said in a statement.
While the strait is in international waters, China claims self-governing Taiwan as its own territory and regards the US Navy's presence in the area as a show of support for the island's democratic government.
In a statement on the defence ministry website, spokesman Colonel Zhang Chunhui said the US actions were "sending wrong signals to the 'Taiwan independence' forces, deliberately disrupting and sabotaging the regional situation and endangering peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait".
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China to be renamed "Eastern Taiwan".
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Chinese Air Force Fly 16 Aircraft Through Malaysian Airspace in Large-Scale Exercise - USNI News
KUALA LUMPUR – Sixteen aircraft from the People’s Liberation Army Air Force conducted a large-scale transport formation exercise over the South China Sea near Borneo on Monday and entered the airspace of Malaysia’s exclusive economic zone (EEZ), the Royal Malaysian Air Force (RMAF) said in a...
news.usni.org
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What was the outcome of the US Navy activating the 1st Naval Fleet?
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Nothing concrete yet mate, still "under consideration" even though it was announced. I think they have realised there are no spare units to put in it
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China is picking a fight with just about everyone and that makes me wonder what is going on in their internal political structures.
Their former strategy was very effective, however their demographic problem must have spooked them. Xi's personal ambition doesn't help either.
Either way, if they continue on this course, conflict is inevitable and they should realize their list of allies is thin.
Their former strategy was very effective, however their demographic problem must have spooked them. Xi's personal ambition doesn't help either.
Either way, if they continue on this course, conflict is inevitable and they should realize their list of allies is thin.
China Is a Paper Dragon
U.S. policy makers should look to the future with a little more confidence and a lot more trust in trade, markets, and the superior potential of a free people.
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US Navy is short of ships for sure. US Navy should have never let go of Subic Bay, Philippines.Nothing concrete yet mate, still "under consideration" even though it was announced. I think they have realised there are no spare units to put in it
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Chinese Military Surveillance Ship, Aircraft Spotted at Contested South China Sea Reef - USNI News
As the U.S. attempts to pivot its national security focus to the Pacific, the situation in the South China Sea continues to grow more complex. China claims almost the entire area as its own and has running territorial disputes with nearly all of its neighbors, while tensions remain high in part...
news.usni.org
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https://foreignpolicy.com/2021/06/07/indonesia-china-jokowi-natuna-sea-military-bri-cooperation-biden-united-states/?utm_source=PostUp&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=33673&utm_term=Editors Picks OC&tpcc=33673
Indonesia will have to choose sides one of these days...
Certainly Indonesia has baggage with Japan & Oz, but it tastes funny when Islamic nations can somehow look past the treatment of the Uighurs, and in Indonesia's case, China teeing up to seize their resources.
Indonesia will have to choose sides one of these days...
Certainly Indonesia has baggage with Japan & Oz, but it tastes funny when Islamic nations can somehow look past the treatment of the Uighurs, and in Indonesia's case, China teeing up to seize their resources.
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I was under the impression the US Navy didnt have a choice.
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Chinese ships have dumped so much poop in the South China Sea, you can see it from space: report
Sewage discharged from more than 200 Chinese vessels around the contested Spratly Islands is causing extensive damage to coral reefs.
www.insider.com
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Germany Sends Warship to South China Sea
Germany is the latest country to enter the disputed waters that China claims as its own.
www.newsweek.com
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The popular Chinese magazine on the naval theme together with the animation studio Jiayou Shenzhu prepared the video entitled "Demonstration of a joint fire strike on Taiwan" in honor of the Day of the People's Liberation Army of China.
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