Tag: South China Sea

China In The Crosshairs

Donny has been rabid about the tariffs and sanctions he has placed on China some go as high as 125%…..and then out of the blue a pause to give China time to do whatever it is they think it will do.

Is this competition with China a winning strategy or is it just BS from a cluttered mind?

China’s economy is already one-third larger than the U.S. economy and growing far more rapidly. This was true before Donald Trump took office, but the growth gap has been even larger in the first six months of this year.

China’s economy has been growing at more than a 5.0 percent annual rate. Meanwhile the US economy grew at just a 1.2 percent annual rate. Put in dollar terms, China’s economy has grown by roughly $1 trillion in the last six months, while the US economy has grown by just $180 billion.

This comparison doesn’t really mean much to any of us in our daily lives. People care about whether they have jobs, rising wages, and living standards. Things don’t look great on the wages and living standards front either, but I’ll leave that one for now.

The point here is that if we envision ourselves in a Cold War competition with China, we’re losing badly. I know that China’s growth statistics must always be viewed with skepticism (that may be true here soon as well), but there is little doubt that over long period of times they are pretty much on the mark.

Over the last half century China has gone from Sub-Saharan Africa living standards to upper middle-income living standards. This means that even if the 5.0 percent growth reported for the first half of the year may not be exactly right, it is likely in the ballpark.

So, we shouldn’t be like Donald Trump and say we can ignore the numbers. We are behind China and falling further behind. Those are the facts that the New Cold Warriors need to recognize.

https://www.counterpunch.org/2025/08/11/in-trumps-competition-with-china-china-is-winning/

Will all these half-ass policies actually make China greater?  After all we are having a mini Cold War with China in and around the South China Sea……

Two certainties have emerged after seven months of Donald Trump’s control of America’s national security policy. First of all, there is no comprehensive national security policy and no likely candidate in the administration for formulating and managing a comprehensive policy. Second, the greatest challenge in the national security arena is China—the most important bilateral policy in the entire global arena—and the Trump administration is doing everything it can—whether intentional or not—to make China great and to worsen America’s standing vis-a-vis China. The dumbing down of the United States continues under Trump, and China’s standing in the global community is becoming stronger.

Over the past 75 years, China has rarely relied on the use of military power—in Korea in the 1950s to stop the advance of U.S. forces, and in 1979 to “teach the Vietnamese a lesson,” which didn’t go well for Chinese forces. Conversely, the United States has relied on the Pentagon and the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) to pursue wars that were neither winnable nor affordable (Vietnam, Afghanistan, and Iraq), and to use covert action unsuccessfully in overthrowing democratic governments in Iran, Guatemala, the Congo, and Chile.

U.S. military engagements that were designed to last weeks and months turned into decades of military engagement and occupation. Nearly every administration claimed it was not engaged in nation-building, but hundreds of billions of dollars were wasted in doing exactly that—nation-building. And, of course, the ridiculous absurdity of the Iraq War that was going to introduce democracy as a model for the entire Arab world. No strategic purpose was served by any of these interventions. And apparently no lessons were learned.

Meanwhile, China has transitioned from one of the poorest nations in the world to the second-largest economy with nuclear-armed forces growing at a record pace. Over the past 40 years, China has had the world’s fastest-growing economy with annual growth rates that often exceeded 10% a year. China’s economy grew over five percent in the first half of this year; the U.S. economy expanded by one percent. Meanwhile, U.S. tariff policy is losing friends around the world.

https://www.counterpunch.org/2025/08/08/trumps-policies-will-make-china-great-again/

The only people that are suffering the consequences of this competition are the consumers…..when will that be accounted for?

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”

Under Pressure

The US for far too long has threatened China over Taiwan…..originally it was over the Chinese doings in the South China Sea but then the focus went to Taiwan (I guess there was more of a case they could make for going to war over the island nation)…..for the past 3 or more years the war drums have been beating and now under Donny the pressure is being put on our Asian allies to get on-board….

The Pentagon is pressing Japan and Australia to make clear what role they would play if the US goes to war with China over Taiwan, the Financial Times reported over the weekend.

The report said that the Pentagon’s policy chief, Elbridge Colby, has been pressing the issue in recent meetings with Japanese and Australian officials, an effort that has frustrated officials in Tokyo and Canberra.

Appearing to confirm the report, Colby said in a post on X that the Pentagon is implementing President Trump’s “America First” foreign policy by “urging allies to step up their defense spending and other efforts related to our collective defense” in both Europe and Asia. “Of course, some among our allies might not welcome frank conversations,” he said.

Colby is a China hawk and a major proponent of the US preparing for war over Taiwan despite the risk of nuclear war. The FT report said that his meetings with Australian and Japanese officials were Colby’s latest effort to convince allies in the region to “raise deterrence” and prepare for a potential conflict in the Taiwan Strait.

Sources told the paper that the US has been asking allies to raise military spending, but the request for commitments related to a potential war with China was a new demand. The US is for clarity on the issue despite maintaining a policy of strategic ambiguity over the question of whether or not the US would intervene if China attacked Taiwan.

https://news.antiwar.com/2025/07/14/us-pressing-japan-and-australia-on-what-they-would-do-if-the-us-goes-to-war-with-china-over-taiwan/

There has been lots of crazed macho chest beating over the situation and massive assets have been moved into the region for the coming conflict and in return China has been beefing up their forces and assets  in response

All the pieces are being put into place and the wait begins.

So is how firm is the commitment to Taiwan?

At first glance, Washington’s informal but very real commitment to defend Taiwan and preserve its de facto independence seems quite secure.  Over the past decade, Taipei’s security relationship with the United States grew steadily closer – with strong bipartisan approval in the United States.  Not only was that development apparent during Donald Trump’s first administration, but also, to the surprise of many experts on East Asian affairs, the trend persisted throughout Joe Biden’s presidency.

The prevailing assumption was that Trump’s return to the White House would be very good news for hardliners in Taiwan who want to push the envelope on independence.  Elbridge Colby, the official whom Trump chose to be undersecretary of defense for policy in his second administration is renowned for being an avid supporter of Taiwan.  Indeed, Colby embraces a hardline approach toward Beijing on a range of issues throughout East Asia.

However, Trump’s early statements indicated that Washington’s support for Taiwan’s security was far from unconditional.  He immediately pressured Taipei to raise its yearly defense spending – reportedly to 5 percent of annual Gross Domestic Product (GDP).  That is the same demand Trump is making to all members of NATO, and it is consistent with the U.S. president’s rhetorical commitment to an “America First” foreign policy overall.  One of his complaints dating from his 2016 presidential election campaign is that too many U.S. allies engage in “free riding” on Washington’s military exertions.  Trump’s insistence on greater “burden sharing” by America’s security clients has been a consistent theme of his tenure in the White House.

https://original.antiwar.com/Ted_Galen_Carpenter/2025/07/14/how-firm-is-washingtons-commitment-to-taiwans-security/

Muscle flexing 101….

Nearly 40,000 troops from 19 nations, including the US, have converged on northern Australia for the largest Talisman Sabre military drills ever, sending a hard-to-miss message about unity in the face of China’s growing assertiveness in the Asia-Pacific region. The live-fire drills held over three weeks involve artillery, rocket launchers, and tanks from the US, Australia, South Korea, Japan, and other allies, the Wall Street Journal reports. “Everyone is seeing the aggressive activities that China is doing,” said Lt. Gen. Matthew McFarlane, who commands the US Army’s I Corps. “That’s why they’re more interested in what they need to do to protect their sovereign interests.”

The scale and diversity of the force, which includes partners from Europe and across Asia, reflect growing concern over Beijing’s actions in the region. China’s military buildup and recent maneuvers—including live-fire naval drills near Australia and increased activity around Taiwan and the South China Sea—have spurred the US and its allies to expand joint exercises. This iteration features new elements: the debut of America’s Typhon missile system west of the International Date Line, drone operations inspired by the Ukraine war, and the first Talisman Sabre activity in Papua New Guinea. A ceremony kicked off the biennial event on Sunday.

Can the US afford another lengthy war?

How will the conflict be met by the American voter?

At what point is enough enough?

Just wondering.

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”

The Long And Winding Road

For decades the rhetoric around China has been swirling and the ‘intel’ says that they are gearing up for something big…..why else would they want to build a base in the South China Sea?

In the past decade the rhetoric has gotten more intense and the money has been flying out of the treasury and into the hands of the defense industry so that the US can thwart any attempts by China to do the damage we have been warned about.

This back and forth has been brewing since about 2001….at that time each saw themselves as peace loving and the other as aggressor.

SecDef, Hogsbreath, is ramping up the rhetoric in preparation (it seems)….

The Chinese Foreign Ministry on Sunday slammed US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth for a “Cold War mentality” in response to his remarks about China at the Shangri-La Dialogue in Singapore, which included him warning that the US is ready to “fight and win” a war over Taiwan.

During his speech on Saturday, Hegseth took aim at China over a range of issues, including Taiwan and the South China Sea. “China seeks to become a hegemonic power in Asia. No doubt. It hopes to dominate and control too many parts of this vibrant and vital region,” he said.

Hegseth accused China of wanting to “fundamentally alter the region’s status quo” and said Beijing’s “behavior towards its neighbors and the world is a wake-up call.”

Regarding Taiwan, Hegseth claimed that it was “public” that Chinese President Xi Jinping had ordered his forces to be prepared for an invasion by 2027. However, that claim is based on comments from US officials and has never been confirmed by Beijing.

Hegseth Says US Ready to ‘Fight and Win’ a War With China Over Taiwan

China wants to be the hegemonic power in Asia?   Is that not what the US is doing?

So fast forward to today and the mash-up over Formosa (Taiwan to the youngsters out there)….the US is pouring money into the island nation by the truckload…..

The late journalist and documentarian John Pilger in 2016 commented on evolving U.S. strategies:

“When the United States, the world’s biggest military power, decided that China, the second largest economic power, was a threat to its imperial dominance, two-thirds of US naval forces were transferred to Asia and the Pacific. This was the ‘pivot to Asia’, announced by President Barack Obama in 2011. China, which in the space of a generation had risen from the chaos of Mao Zedong’s ‘Cultural Revolution’ to an economic prosperity that has seen more than 500 million people lifted out of poverty, was suddenly the United States’s new enemy…. [Presently] 400 American bases surround China with ships, missiles and troops.”

Analyst Ben Norton pointed out recently that, “the U.S. military is setting the stage for war on China. … The Pentagon is concentrating its resources in the Asia-Pacific region as it anticipates fighting China in an attempt to exert U.S. control over Taiwan.” Norton was reacting to a leaked Pentagon memo indicating, according to Washington Post, that “potential invasion of Taiwan” would be the “exclusive animating scenario” taking precedence over other potential threats elsewhere, including in Europe.

https://www.counterpunch.org/2025/05/13/u-s-war-on-china-a-long-time-coming/

“China is the strongest it’s ever been,” said Brigadier General Doug Wickert, the 412th Test Wing commander in the United States air force. “It has fairly aggressively built a very large force that’s been specifically developed to counter our strengths.”

Today, the PLA boasts almost a million more troops than the United States and over a thousand more tanks. It has built its navy into the largest in the world with approximately 400 warships and stacked its air force with nearly 2,000 fighter jets.

Beijing has also drastically expanded its intelligence capabilities to the point where deputy CIA Director Michael Ellis claimed earlier this week that China has become an “existential threat to American security in a way we really have never confronted before”.

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/world-news/2025/05/25/china-military-capability-missiles-peoples-liberation-army/

This is war waiting to happen….the rhetoric keeps it in the forefront of conversations….but let us say that some incident pushes the US and Chiona into a real war not just a war of words….

A report to Congress last July examining the risk of simultaneous conflict with Russia, China, North Korea and potentially Iran reached a similar conclusion, warning that the U.S. population was not sufficiently prepared for the disruptions in supplies and services such a conflict might produce, through cyber attacks and interruption of supply chains.
Keeping supplies coming would almost certainly a challenge for both sides. The U.S. Indo Pacific Command has talked repeatedly about using smaller and larger drones, including robot submarines, to create a “Hellscape” in the Taiwan Strait to block Chinese forces.
Still, U.S. commanders acknowledge China’s People’s Liberation Army (PLA) now has its own hefty ability to target U.S. planes and ships, rendering it vital to forward locate equipment and weapons stocks early in advance – particularly as China’s missile range improves.
This month, head of U.S. Indo Pacific command Admiral Sam Paparo said the “depth and range” of China’s military drills were now increasing fast, including exercises to invade and blockade Taiwan while also striking port and energy facilities.
Beijing is also publicly highlighting its ability to conduct such actions, presenting them as a key part of seizing the island. “If Taiwan loses its maritime supply lines, its domestic resources will quickly be depleted, social order will fall into chaos and people’s livelihoods will be severely impacted,” said a Chinese military official in one video released by the PLA.
“I remain confident in our deterrence posture, but the trajectory must change,” Paparo told congressional officials in April, warning that while his forces currently retained enough superiority to deter a Taiwan invasion, that advantage was being rapidly eroded as China built up forces.
I believe the whole scenario of money and rhetoric is not making us safer….no matter who ‘wins or loses’ any actions of conflict there will be no winner…..just a planet that suffered from too much arrogance and stupidity.
This is not a fight that we should be forcing onto the world.
I Read, I Write, You Know
“lego ergo scribo”

China Response In Kind

Just a few days ago I wrote about the US master plan of prepping for conflict with China….here is that post….

WHOLLY SH*T! More War Prep?

Then there is the massive build-up of the US war machine in the South China Sea region….

A significant amount of US military power has been on the move over this past week, including several B-2 strategic bombers which have landed at the US military base in Diego Garcia in the Indian Ocean just over 2,000 miles southeast of Iran. According to press reports this is the most significant B-2 presence on the Island in nearly half a decade. In addition flight trackers are showing increased activity by at least nine KC-135R refueling aircraft in the region. Several C-17 cargo planes have also been spotted by satellites on the Island.

(antiwar.com)

Now with all the threatening rhetoric China has reciprocated….with more threatening rhetoric….

The People’s Liberation Army will respond to any “dangerous provocations” by the US military in the waters and airspace near China, Beijing said on Thursday after a bilateral maritime security meeting in Shanghai.
“The reconnaissance, survey, and high-intensity drills conducted by US warships and aircraft in the sea and airspace near China are highly likely to cause misjudgment, jeopardising China’s sovereignty and military security,” the PLA Navy said.
This situation is getting close to being out-of-hand…..everyday the possibility of an incident occurring in the South China Sea area more and more possible.
This has the stench of war all around these plans…..
So is the US president elected with the promise to end wars rather than start them ready to launch a war against the modern, technologically-advanced nation of 90 million with an extremely complicated terrain, advanced military capabilities, and a newly-signed strategic partnership treaty with Russia?
Looks like yet another lameass promise of Little Donny was a LIE!
It is time for someone to pull the US from the brink of war that we are approaching….maybe Little Marco at State ….hahahaha he does not have the nuts to get into this debate he must wait for Little Donny to tell him what he is to do.
“When we ever learn”?
In closing song from Pete Seeger…..please listen closely….very informative.
Thoughts?
I Read, I Write, You Know
“lego ergo scribo”

What Is The Problem With The China/Taiwan Thing?

I know that the Gaza thing has every little person concerned with what is happening and all the while Ukraine continues and then there is this thing that has popped up in the last couple of years…..South China Sea.

The US has mobilized in protection of the island nation of Taiwan and the war drums are slowly beating out a scenario that could be disastrous for all parties involved in this mash-up.  (There are other problems in this region but this is the one that is getting the grease in the form of taxpayer dollars)

Have you ever asked yourself….What is this all about?

China has launched major military drills around Taiwan, simulating a full-scale attack on the island – just days after the new president William Lai was sworn in.

The exercises reinforce what is at the heart of the issue: China’s claim over self-governed Taiwan.

Beijing sees the island as a breakaway province that will, eventually, be part of the country, and has not ruled out the use of force to achieve this.

But many Taiwanese consider themselves to be part of a separate nation – although most are in favour of maintaining the status quo where Taiwan neither declares independence from China nor unites with it.

Taiwan’s first known settlers were Austronesian tribal people, believed to have come from modern day southern China.

Chinese records appear to first mention the island in AD239, when an emperor dispatched an expeditionary force to it – a fact Beijing uses to back its territorial claim.

After a relatively brief spell as a Dutch colony, Taiwan was administered by China’s Qing dynasty, before it was ceded to Tokyo after Japan won the First Sino-Japanese War.

After World War Two, Japan surrendered and relinquished control of territory it had taken from China. Afterwards, Taiwan was officially considered occupied by the Republic of China (ROC), which began ruling with the consent of its allies, the US and UK.

But in the next few years a civil war broke out in China, and then-leader Chiang Kai-shek’s troops were defeated by Mao Zedong’s Communist army.

Chiang, the remnants of his Kuomintang (KMT) government and their supporters – about 1.5m people – fled to Taiwan in 1949.

Chiang established a dictatorship that ruled Taiwan until the 1980s. Following his death, Taiwan began a transition to democracy and held its first elections in 1996.

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-34729538

All this was possible because the nationalists ran from the communists and the world got another domino in the theory that was ever so popular back in the day.

Now the US is once again pouring money into the island to confront China.

Taiwan’s recent election could spell a major escalation.

A Taiwan led by the newly inaugurated William Lai Ching-te will bring new challenges to the cross-strait relationship, as well as Beijing’s global articulation of its policies towards the self-governed island, according to observers on either side.
Joanna Lei Chien, a former Taiwanese lawmaker from the opposition party Kuomintang, said many assumptions on the cross-strait situation “should be thrown out of the window because things have changed at an exceedingly surprising speed” since Lai took over on Monday.
“Lai’s persona. It’s something that we really need to be very careful about,” Lei told a digital seminar hosted by the think tank Centre for Globalisation Hong Kong on Thursday.

If you must worry about something then I suggest that you keep an eye on Taiwan for it could be bursting into flames and sooner rather than later.

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”

Philippines, Japan, Australia–Oh My

Meanwhile back at the South China Sea.

The US is paranoid about the South China Sea and has set aside billions for Taiwan and the waters around the island.

The US held a meeting and made a new pact…..

The US has been working to increase military cooperation with the Philippines, Japan, and Australia as part of its strategy against China in the Asia Pacific, a grouping Pentagon officials privately call the “Squad,” Bloomberg reported on Friday.

The defense chiefs of the US, the Philippines, Japan, and Australia met in Hawaii on May 2 and issued a joint readout that used harsh rhetoric against China’s claims to the South China Sea and the East China Sea, two areas where the US has vowed to intervene if the maritime disputes turn into shooting wars.

“The Ministers and Secretaries expressed serious concern about the situation in the East and South China Seas,” the readout said. “They strongly objected to the dangerous use of coast guard and maritime militia vessels in the South China Sea. They reiterated serious concern over the PRC’s (People’s Republic of China) repeated obstruction of Philippine vessels’ exercise of high seas freedom of navigation and the disruption of supply lines to Second Thomas Shoal, which constitute dangerous and destabilizing conduct.”

They also vowed to increase military cooperation, including in the South China Sea. “The Ministers and Secretaries discussed opportunities to further advance defense cooperation, including through continued maritime cooperation in the South China Sea, enhanced procedures to enable coordination and information sharing arrangements, as well as strengthening capacity building,” the readout said.

(antiwar.com)

The US has repeatedly vowed that the US-Philippine Mutual Defense Treaty applies to attacks on Philippine vessels in the South China Sea. Similarly, the US has affirmed that the mutual defense portion of the US-Japan Security Treaty would apply to the Senkaku Islands, Japanese-controlled islands in the East China Sea that are also claimed by China.

I have to ask….does that Mutual Defense thing about Filipino vessels extend to derelicts?

I ask that simple question because of something I read……

Earlier this month, President Biden asserted that US support for the Philippines is “ironclad.” A new story in the Washington Post explains how that promise might be tested in the not-too-distant future thanks to a rusting warship.

  • The ship: The BRP Sierra Madre belongs to the Philippines, which deliberately ran it aground on the Second Thomas Shoal in 1999 in order to stake its claim to an outpost in the disputed South China Sea. The ship is no longer seaworthy, but Philippine military vessels routinely bring supplies out to the Filipino marines aboard.
  • ‘Asia’s next war’: Chinese military ships harass the Filipino supply ships with water cannons, and it’s a dangerous tactic, as videos show. If things escalate, or a Philippine service member is killed, that could trigger a US response under a 1951 mutual defense treaty, per the Post. The story describes the ship as a flashpoint that could lead to “Asia’s next war.”
  • Days numbered: The ship is destined to succumb to the elements, and it could be a matter of months, not years, according to an analysis in the Guardian. China accuses the Philippines of trying to rehab the ship to make it a permanent fixture on the atoll, which the Philippines denies. China maintains an outpost on the nearby Mischief Reef, and would likely try to claim Second Thomas Shoal as part of its ever-expanding dominance of the sea.
  • One proposal: The Philippines and the US should act before the ship disintegrates, writes Blake Herzinger at War on the Rocks. “The Philippines should remove the Sierra Madre and replace it with a permanent structure manned by combined rotational forces from both the Philippines and the U.S. Marine Corps,” he writes. “Such a forward operating base would be a powerful signal of commitment to the alliance for both nations.”

Cool!  We could actually go to war over some piece of junk stranded on an atoll because some country wants to clai8m it as theirs….is that about right?

This is just sick!  Nay it is DISGUSTING!

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”

China Goes Global

For a few months we have been beaten with the predictions of China and its attempts to go global that is why we have to spend millions upon millions to make Taiwan feel safe and all of our South China Sea allies to the tune of millions upon millions.

But my question is….Is China truly trying to expand globally?

We are told by all the defense department experts that they are moving in that direction….but are they truly?

(Keep in mind this is not my opinion but that of someone who disagrees with the hype)

New York Times published a guest essay by Craig Singleton, a fellow at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, entitled “China’s Military is Going Global.” Singleton argues that Beijing is well on its way to building a globe-spanning network of “strategic strong points along China’s major trade, energy, and resource routes” that pose a dire military threat to the United States.

Allegedly using the structure of the Chinese Belt and Road Initiative of commercial infrastructure projects, Beijing’s supposedly new “under the radar” strategy is seen as directly challenging Washington’s ability to carry out critical overseas military missions, including the defense of Taiwan.

In response to this expanding threat, Singleton calls for Washington to devise a strategy designed to “pre-emptively” neutralize China’s moves, including “incentives or punishments” directed at host governments.

It is surprising that the New York Times saw fit to publish such an essay, since it is replete with distortions, exaggerations, and speculations. There is no question that China’s overseas military-related activities merits close examination, especially when they take place in sensitive areas. But such an examination requires a careful parsing of actual facts, with clear distinctions made between proposed plans, actual undertakings, commercial versus military (and non-military security) purposes, and the likely military benefits for China that might ensue from a particular location or operation.

Instead of observing such requirements, Singleton plays fast and loose with the evidence, subtly caveating his statements with weasel words like “might,” “may,“ “could,” “suggests,” “suspected,” etc. Nonetheless, almost every conceivable possible, current, or emerging overseas Chinese commercial, scientific, or security “presence” is labeled as part of a deliberate, coordinated, military-centered strategy to “reshape the global military landscape” in Beijing’s favor and hence to threaten the U.S.

In reality, China has thus far established only one actual, operating overseas military base, on the horn of Africa, in Djibouti, and is probably establishing a naval facility in Cambodia. But there are real limits to how far China can go in duplicating such places. As Isaac Kardon of the Carnegie Endowment has pointed out, China has no formal military alliances (beyond the dubious case of North Korea) and is unlikely to acquire any in the foreseeable future, a fact that imposes major constraints on its ability to establish serious military bases. Few if any countries wish to commit to housing full-fledged, sizeable military facilities that could project Chinese military power across their region and, in the process, invite an American response.

https://responsiblestatecraft.org/china-military/

I believe they are posturing and I think Taiwan is an excuse to waste more money that is needed here in our home.

If they attack Taiwan then maybe I will see things differently but right now I think we have enough involvement in world situations.

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”

South China Sea Gets Hotter

We have a new president and it is time for me to return to my main focus of this blog….international situations and conflict.

For years now the South China Sea has been a region of contention……China claims islands….other countries as well think a bunch of island belong to them…..the US has responded to this possible threat by sending a naval group to patrol the region.

A U.S. aircraft carrier group led by the USS Theodore Roosevelt has entered the South China Sea to promote “freedom of the seas”, the U.S. military said on Sunday, at a time when tensions between China and Taiwan have raised concern in Washington.

U.S. Indo-Pacific Command said in a statement the strike group entered the South China Sea on Saturday, the same day Taiwan reported a large incursion of Chinese bombers and fighter jets into its air defence identification zone in the vicinity of the Pratas Islands.

The U.S. military said the carrier strike group was in the South China Sea, a large part of which is claimed by China, to conduct routine operations “to ensure freedom of the seas, build partnerships that foster maritime security”.

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-southchinasea-usa-idUSKBN29T05J

China has now made the region a bit more dangerous.

China’s legislature passed a law on Friday that gives its coast guard more freedom to fire on foreign vessels. According to the text of the law released by China’s Xinhua, it aims to safeguard “national sovereignty, security and maritime rights.”

The law allows China’s Coast Guard to take “all necessary means”, including the use of weapons, to stop or prevent threats from foreign vessels. The law will allow the coast guard to stop and board vessels in China’s “jurisdictional waters.”

China’s Coast Guard is relatively young, having formed in 2013 after previously being part of Beijing’s People’s Armed Police. The new law gives China’s Coast Guard an authority most country’s coast guards have. Still, the law is significant because of China’s maritime disputes in the South and East China Seas, disputes that the US has involved itself in.

In the South China Sea, Beijing and several Southeast Asian countries have overlapping claims. Since 2015, the US began sailing warships near Chinese-claimed waters in the region, maneuvers that were stepped up during the Trump administration and will likely continue under President Biden.

In the East China Sea, China and Japan both claim the Senkaku Islands, known as the Diaoyus in China. Japan currently administers the uninhabited islands. Chinese coast guard vessels were recently spotted in waters near the Senkakus, which drew condemnation from Tokyo.

After winning the November presidential election, Joe Biden assured Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide that the Senkakus are covered under the US-Japan mutual defense treaty.

Back in October, then-National Security Advisor Robert O’Brien announced that the US Coast Guard was deploying ships to the Western Pacific. It’s not clear how far west the cutters have sailed, but O’Brien cited Beijing as the reason for the deployment, so there’s a chance the US Coast Guard can cross paths with China’s coast guard.

(antiwar.com)

All it would take is one incident and this could become another endless conflict that we have found this nation fighting.

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”

China Has A Sinking Feeling

If you think this post is about the virus then you have to have another thought because it has little to0 do with the pandemic racing across the globe.

I am NO expert on China but I have been watching their movements in the South China Sea…..https://lobotero.com/2016/07/14/south-china-sea-bingo/

The US is concerned with the build-up of the Chinese military on the islands in the region especially those special built man made islands.

But maybe there is a chance that that situation could solve itself…….

Bejing quickly built human-made artificial islands to seize disputed territories. But now it looks like their greed and speed are coming back to haunt them.

Since 2013 the Chinese government has dredged and mostly destroyed ecologically delicate reefs in disputed waters in order to build seven major military bases complete with ports, airstrips and radar and missile installations.

This first appeared in 2019 and is being reposted due to reader interest.

The islands function as unsinkable aircraft carriers and help to cement Beijing’s claims on waters rich with fish and minerals, waters that neighboring countries also claim.

https://nationalinterest.org/blog/buzz/sunk-how-chinas-man-made-islands-are-falling-apart-and-sinking-ocean-132047

Shoddy construction plus climate change equals unstable islands.

Wait!  Climate Change?

No need to say any more than that.

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”

We Have Been Warned!

It seems, it has been reported, that China has warned the US about sailing into the disputed waters in the South China Sea…..yes I said WARNED!

China said on Monday that it has warned two US ships sailing near disputed islands in the South China Sea to leave the area.

The move comes amid heightened tension between Beijing and Washington over trade tariffs, sanctions and Taiwan.

Warships in the South China Sea

  • US guided-missile destroyers Preble and Chung-Hoon traveled within 12 nautical miles of Gaven and Johnson Reefs.
  • The reefs form part of the Spratly Islands, a region of the South China Sea over which China claims sovereignty.
  • The Foreign Ministry said the US vessels entered the waters without Chinese permission.

‘Infringed on Chinese sovereignty’

Foreign Ministry spokesman Geng Shuang told a press conference that China “is strongly dissatisfied and is resolutely opposed” to the US operation.

https://www.dw.com/en/china-warns-us-after-warships-sail-in-disputed-south-china-sea/a-48614428

Interesting turn of events……usually the US is the country warning others with our might and now the shoe is on the other foot.

China is expanding and the Pacific is their “backyard”…..

On September 30th 2018, the Chinese People’s Liberation Army Navy Type 052C destroyer Lanzhou maneuvered dangerously close to American guided-missile destroyer USS Decatur as it patrolled the South China Sea. Lanzhou came within 50 meters of Decatur’s bow, sounding collision warnings on the bridge as radio calls went unanswered. Chinese skippers typically shadow U.S. vessels in these contested waters, but this behavior was uncharacteristically aggressive.

Decatur was conducting what the U.S. calls a freedom-of-navigation operation  near Gaven Reef in the hotly-contested Spratly Islands.[1] These operations demonstrate the U.S. Navy’s ability to transit international waters under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea—a treaty the U.S. recognizes even if it has not ratified it.[2] China, which is a party to the law of the sea convention, claims adherence to its letter but often violates its spirit with excessive maritime claims.[3]

https://www.realcleardefense.com/articles/2019/05/08/red_star_over_the_pacific_114408.html
 
Things are still tense in the South China Sea….maybe the US should focus on this instead of issuing more tariffs that will make any situation worse……this situation will be tense and will be watched……hopefully calmer intentions and/of rhetoric will prevail.