Thread: China 'building runway in disputed South China Sea island'

Vietnam, China ships embroiled in South China Sea standoff

HANOI--Vietnamese and Chinese ships have been embroiled in a weeks-long standoff near an offshore oil block in disputed waters of the South China Sea, which fall within Vietnam's exclusive economic zone, two Washington-based think-tanks said on Wednesday.


China's U-shaped "nine-dash line" marks a vast expanse of the South China Sea that it claims, including large swathes of Vietnam's continental shelf where it has awarded oil concessions.


The Haiyang Dizhi 8, a ship operated by the China Geological Survey, on Monday completed a 12-day survey of waters near the disputed Spratly Islands, according to separate reports by the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) and the Center for Advanced Defense Studies (C4ADS).


One of the oil blocks it surveyed is licensed by Vietnam to Spanish energy firm Repsol, which was forced last year and in 2017 to cease operations in Vietnamese waters because of pressure from China.


As the Haiyang Dizhi 8 conducted its survey, nine Vietnamese vessels closely followed it. The Chinese ship was escorted by three China Coast Guard vessels, according to data from Winward Maritime, compiled by C4ADS.


In a separate incident days earlier, the China Coast Guard ship Haijing 35111 maneuvered in a "threatening manner" towards Vietnamese vessels servicing a Japanese-owned oil rig, the Hakuryu-5, leased by Russian state oil firm Rosneft in Vietnam's Block 06.1, 370 kilometers southeast of Vietnam.


That block is within the area outlined by China's "nine-dash line." A series of dashes on Chinese maps, the line is not continuous, making China's claims often ambiguous.


Last year, Reuters exclusively reported that Rosneft Vietnam BV, a unit of Rosneft, was concerned that its drilling in Block 06.1 would upset China.


"On July 2 the vessels were leaving the Hakuryu-5 when the 35111 maneuvered between them at high speed, passing within 100 meters of each ship and less than half a nautical mile from the rig," CSIS said in its report.


It was not clear on Wednesday if any Chinese ships were still challenging the Rosneft rig.


In 2014, tension between Vietnam and China rose to its highest levels in decades when a Chinese oil rig started drilling in Vietnamese waters. The incident triggered boat rammings by both sides and anti-China riots in Vietnam.



‘READY TO FIGHT’


In response to reports of this month's standoff, which first emerged on social media, Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Geng Shuang said on July 12 that China's position on the South China Sea was "clear and consistent."


"China resolutely safeguards its sovereignty in the South China Sea and maritime rights, and at the same time upholds controlling disputes with relevant countries via negotiations and consultations," Geng said, without elaborating.


On Tuesday, Vietnam's foreign ministry released a statement in response to unspecified "recent developments" in the South China Sea.


"Without Vietnam's permission, all actions undertaken by foreign parties in Vietnamese waters have no legal effect, and constitute encroachments in Vietnamese waters, and violations of international law," foreign ministry spokeswoman Le Thi Thu Hang said.


Neither statements confirmed or elaborated on the standoff.


Neither Rosneft nor Repsol immediately responded to an emailed request from Reuters for comment.


On July 11, as China was conducting its survey of the blocks, Vietnam's prime minister, Nguyen Xuan Phuc, visited the headquarters of the Vietnam Coast Guard in Hanoi.


State media did not mention the incident, but showed Phuc speaking to sailors on board vessels via a video link.


Phuc told the sailors to "stay vigilant and ready to fight" and to be aware of "unpredictable developments," the Vietnam Coast Guard said in a statement on its website.


On the same day, Vietnam's national assembly chairwoman, Nguyen Thi Kim Ngan, met her Chinese counterpart, Li Zhanshu, in Beijing, China's Xinhua news agency reported.


The two officials agreed to "jointly safeguard peace and stability at sea," Xinhua said.


Vietnam, China ships embroiled in South China Sea standoff?The Asahi Shimbun

When you look at the map and see how close those islands are to Philippine territory, it's astonishing how arrogant the Chinese have been.

Duterte is a bit of a loose cannon, but I guess the US sees him as having his uses.

Originally Posted by Latindancer

When you look at the map and see how close those islands are to Philippine territory, it's astonishing how arrogant the Chinese have been.

Duterte is a bit of a loose cannon, but I guess the US sees him as having his uses.

The chinkies will buy their way into these territories, trawl everything that moves and then move out leaving it fucked for decades. They're like locusts.

And if there's a sniff of oil or gas they'll just nick it.

In Speech to Congress, Philippine Leader Defends Actions Toward China

Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte told congress during a speech on Monday that he had no choice but accept Beijing’s expansionism in the South China Sea because, he said, the Chinese had deployed missiles in the maritime region within striking distance of Manila.


While he maintained that the Chinese were increasingly encroaching in Philippine areas of the disputed sea, he said during his fourth “state of the nation” address that his government would move to reclaim its territories in “due time.”


In his 90-minute speech, Duterte also defended his administration’s drug war that has left more than 6,600 dead and led the United Nations Human Rights Council to call for a U.N. investigation into it.


“The West Philippine (Sea) is ours. There is no ifs and buts. It is ours but we have been acting along that legal truth and line. But we have to temper it with the times and the realities that we face today,” Duterte said, using the Philippine name for the South China Sea.


Discussing overlapping territorial claims in the sea, Duterte said the Philippines must “perform a delicate balancing act,” as he defended China for the first time in a speech to congress.


“A shooting war is a grief and misery multiplier. War leaves widows and orphans in its wake,” he said. “I am not ready or inclined to accept the occurrence of more destruction, more widows and more orphans, should war, even on a limited scale, break out.”


He argued that better results with China could be reached “in the privacy of a conference room than a squabble in public.”


Duterte, who is under pressure from critics who want him to stand up to Chinese ships encroaching in the country’s exclusive economic zone (EEZ) within the maritime region, said the government would do just that “in due time.”


Recounting his first trip to China as president in 2016, Duterte said he told Chinese leader Xi Jinping that he would drill for oil in the South China Sea. Duterte recalled how Xi, in a soft voice, had warned him that should he insist, “it can mean trouble.”


China claims most of the mineral-rich sea that is home to some of the world’s most important international shipping lanes. The Philippines, Brunei, Malaysia, Vietnam and Taiwan have overlapping claims.


“If the trouble comes out from the mouth of a president of a republic, what can I do?” Duterte asked. “We cannot you know, have our cake and eat it too.”


He said the Chinese had deployed “guided missiles” in an island that Beijing controls in the South China Sea. “And the fastest ones they have installed there can reach Manila in seven minutes. You want war?”


In addition, Duterte said if he were to send marines to drive away the Chinese fishermen “I guarantee you, not one of them will come home alive.”



‘China’s repeated provocative actions’


Duterte’s speech occurred shortly after the Philippines accused a Chinese trawler of sinking a Philippine fishing boat and abandoning 22 Filipino fishermen in the sea. Manila initially reacted angrily to the incident, but Duterte later downplayed it as a maritime incident.


On Monday, he said the Philippine and Chinese sides had agreed to investigate the incident separately, and when both sides were done “we should meet and compare notes and let us determine who pays for what damage.”


After meeting with Philippine officials in Manila last week amid reports that China had tested anti-ship ballistic missiles in the sea, U.S. Assistant Secretary of State David Stilwell affirmed that defense ties were strong and vital to the region.

On Saturday, the American State Department expressed concern over reports about “coercion” and “interference” by Chinese coast guard vessels with oil and gas activities by other claimants to the South China Sea.


On July 16, the Asia Maritime Transparency Initiative, which is backed by the Washington-based Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), reported that the Chinese coast guard had, twice in six weeks, “harassed” oil and gas operations conducted in the sea by Malaysia and Vietnam.


“China’s repeated provocative actions aimed at the offshore oil and gas development of other claimant states threaten regional energy security and undermine the free and open Indo-Pacific energy market,” the State Department said in a statement.


“The United States firmly opposes coercion and intimidation by any claimant to assert its territorial or maritime claims,” it went on to say, calling on Beijing to refrain from “bullying behavior.”


On Monday, China lashed out at U.S. officials over the comments.


“For a long time, external forces including the U.S. have been making wanton remarks on this issue, stirring up troubles and sowing discord with ill intentions. Such behaviors will only disrupt the situation in the South China Sea and undermine regional peace and stability,” Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Geng Shuang told a news conference.



Protests


As he addressed his nation on Monday night, Duterte blamed former President Benigno Aquino III for allowing the Chinese to occupy areas in the Scarborough Shoal.


Aquino brought the case to an international court when Beijing reneged on a deal to pull leave the area after Manila accused the Chinese of encroaching on the Philippines’ EEZ.


The court ruled for the Philippines in July 2016, a month after Duterte took office.


But instead of moving to enforce the order, Duterte shelved it to appease China. He has said that action along with restoring ties led to billions of investment pledges from Chinese economic benefactors.


In the streets of Manila and other Philippine cities, meanwhile, an estimated 40,000 protesters braved heavy rains to denounce Duterte’s pro-China stance. In the Philippine capital, they burned effigies of Duterte and fake Chinese flags.


“China, get out!” a group chanted while marching near Congress in northern Manila.


“Filipino fishers are most often the front-line casualties of this long-running sea row and have been enduring the Chinese-perpetrated violence and intimidation on a regular fishing basis,” said Fernando Hicap, head of the fishermen’s group Pamalakaya.

“The fishers are sick and tired of his pack of lies and rhetoric to cover-up his incompetence and criminal neglect to advance the interest of the country and the Filipino people,” he said.



Drug war to go on


Among those who attended the speech at congress were Duterte’s former chief of police, Ronald dela Rosa, and ex-chief aide Bong Go, who were elected to the Senate in May. They joined other members of the Duterte-controlled senate including Imee Marcos, the daughter of the late strongman Ferdinand Marcos, whose family is a political ally of the president.


Dela Rosa carried out the first phase of Duterte drug war, which has killed 6,600 suspected drug dealers and addicts since Duterte took office, according to government figures. Rights groups said the number could be higher.


In his speech Duterte said the drug war would continue through the end of his six-year term in 2022.


“For it is not the eagle in the fight, but the fight in the eagle that matters. Believe me, I will end my term fighting,” he said.


“It has been three years since I took my oath of office and it pains me to say that we have not learned our lesson. The illegal drug problem persists, corruption continues,” he said.


https://www.benarnews.org/english/ne...019135406.html

Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte told congress during a speech on Monday that he had no choice but accept Beijing’s expansionism in the South China Sea because, he said, the Chinese had paid him a lot of money.

FTFY.

Malaysian Air Force Staging Live-Fire Missile Exercises in Sabah, South China Sea

Malaysia’s air force says it is conducting live-fire missile exercises in Sabah state and surrounding waters including the South China Sea, days after the navy carried out similar exercises that followed Beijing’s test-firing of at least one missile in the disputed waterway last month.


The 19-day training began on July 23 and is to run until Aug. 10 in the state located on Borneo Island, the Royal Malaysian Air Force announced in a news release this week.


The RMAF “is conducting live-fire missile exercises with air-to-air and air-to-surface missiles at Kota Belud’s airspace shooting range,” the air force said Thursday. Kota Belud is a district of Sabah that borders the South China Sea.


The training “involves Sabah’s airspace and its surrounding waters,” the release said.


It said the training is “to ensure the readiness of RMAF’s assets and weaponry, especially when it comes to protecting the sovereignty of the national airspace.”


The training is testing pilots’ skills in striking targets using a multitude of weapons in the air force’s arsenal, officials said.


The press release did not specify when missiles would be fired during the exercises. Air force officials declined to confirm on Friday whether any missiles had been fired during the current training.


“The public is advised to not panic and worry if they see low-flying RMAF aircraft and hear sounds of explosions in areas within Sabah’s airspace,” the release said.


The exercises involve 232 personnel and feature pilots flying Russian- and U.S.-made fighter jets. On Thursday, pilots dropped gravity bombs from the Russian jets at targets at a range in Sabah, a source in the air force told BenarNews.
Officials said Navy and Malaysian Maritime Enforcement Agency (MMEA) staff would assist in the training in and around Sabah to ensure target zones were safe. A similar training was held five years ago.


“It is not yearly training. The air force conducts it from time to time according to our requirements,” an air force spokesman said.


During separate training exercises that took place in the South China Sea from July 1 to July 18, Malaysia’s Navy fired guided missiles from a ship and a helicopter, the commander of the military branch announced Tuesday. The naval exercises took place off Kuantan, in Pahang state in Peninsular Malaysia, he said.


The missile firings were held as part of a larger exercise in the waterway that was revived after a pause of several years because of cost concerns, Adm. Mohd Reza Mohd Sany told reporters.


“The last time the missiles were fired was in 2014. After five years, it gives us the chance to test the readiness of the guided missiles, missile platform again, as well as the personnel assigned,” he told reporters, adding the missiles hit their targets.


Those tests followed a Chinese government announcement in June that it was carrying out two days of military training in the South China Sea. Its defense minister warned that the country would “resolutely take action” to defend Beijing’s claims over the waterway.


U.S. officials claimed the Chinese conducted missile tests from man-made structures near the contested Spratly Island chain in the South China Sea at the end of June.


“The Pentagon was aware of the Chinese missile launchfrom the man-made structures in the South China Sea near the Spratly Islands,” Department of Defense Lt. Col. David Eastburn was quoted as saying.


China claims most of the mineral-rich South China Sea, which is home to some of the world’s most important international shipping lanes. Malaysia, the Philippines, Brunei, Vietnam and Taiwan have overlapping claims.



Analyst calls training essential


Aruna Gopinath, a Malaysian defense analyst, said it was essential for Malaysia to conduct missile training to ensure its military is on par with others in the region.


“RMAF must be equipped with the knowledge so that in times of a crisis we are able to overcome any problems. We should be self-sufficient and not be dependent on others,” said Gopinath, who retired from the Center for International Defense and Security, National Defense University of Malaysia.


She said overlapping claims over Sabah waters and the volatile and porous maritime border with Mindanao in the Philippines warrant constant vigilance by the armed forced.


“Like what happened in Lahad Datu in February 2013, we never expected an invasion from the Filipino guerillas and took them for granted. Any form of intrusion should be confronted if we have the proper training,” Gopinath said.


A group of more than 200 whose members called themselves the “Royal Security Forces of the Sultanate of Sulu and North Borneo” sailed into Lahad Datu from an island in the nearby Southern Philippines, leading to a six-week armed standoff.

https://www.benarnews.org/english/ne...019153820.html

Dunno if this has been posted but Australia's northern border is interesting -





Kinda backs up China's dashing notion of borders.

Not really. PNG used to be a kind of Aussie protectorate which only became independent in my lifetime.

We're still very chummy....we even turned a blind eye when Indonesia invaded West Papua.

So chummy that there's no ABC correspondent there anymore.
Though we do politely ignore the corruption and violence as long as they stay on their side of the fence and don't start burning our witches.

Originally Posted by docmartin

So chummy that there's no ABC correspondent there anymore.

Did locals eat them all?

They're called 'nationals' and no, there's no cannibalism anymore and hasn't been for a long time.
Except for out in the boonies of course where the cops are few and also hungry for meat.

A mate did some work in Moresby recently and the bus from the airport to the camp had mesh over the windows and armed guards in Landcruisers fore and aft.
The currency exchange at the airport has been robbed several times.
Roadblocks in the city are staffed by opportunists fleecing the eager customers and even the cops are alleged to do their bit too.
There's not many restaurants in town because it's not safe.

Meanwhile, Winnie is trying to promote lawnorder in the South China Sea and gets nothing but whining.

Malaysia Seeks Non-Militarization of South China Sea

Malaysia called Wednesday for non-militarization of the South China Sea, as Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad unveiled his Pakatan Harapan government’s first comprehensive foreign policy document since it took power last year.


The 80-page document, described by Mahathir as a “guiding framework,” said the nation would also adopt a non-aligned stance in its relations with major powers.

The document did not specifically mention China or the United States, but it formally laid out the Southeast Asian nation’s foreign policy on the South China Sea under the new government.


Last year, months after his stunning electoral victory, Mahathir told U.S. Vice President Mike Pence that his country did not wish to see warships in the disputed sea region.


“In its relations with major powers, Malaysia will practice the non-aligned policy and approach,” the document said, underscoring that Mahathir had proposed “non-militarization of the South China Sea and for the regional waters to be turned to a region of peace, friendship and trade.”


Mahathir, in a speech during the ceremony launching the foreign policy, said “multilateralism was under threat” and that “powerful countries [were] unilaterally imposing their will on others.”


“Malaysia is extremely concerned over this development,” he said, without elaborating.


China and the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) – to which Malaysia belongs – have been negotiating a “code of conduct,” a pact aimed at averting aggressive acts by claimant states in the sea’s disputed territories.


In recent months, U.S. warships have sailed in the South China Sea as part of “freedom of navigation operations.” Those moves have led to Beijing accusing the United States of trespassing in its territorial waters.


Meanwhile, security analysts say, Beijing has installed anti-ship cruise missile and surface-to-air missile systems on three islands in the Spratlys, a disputed group of atolls and isles in the waterway. Beijing claims nearly all of the mineral-rich sea, which is also contested by Malaysia, the Philippines, Brunei, Vietnam and Taiwan.


Mahathir’s comments on Wednesday came days after the U.S. Navy destroyer Wayne E. Meyer sailed near islands claimed by China in the busy waterway.


In its foreign policy framework, Malaysia said security threats from overlapping claims in the sea region “have been well contained and effectively managed diplomatically,” but it underscored that “there are some flashpoints which might beget crisis or war if not properly handled.”



Recognizing terrorism as a complex issue


In confronting militancy as part of its foreign policy, Malaysia will “continue to be a strong and active participant in global efforts to fight terrorism and violent extremism, in all its forms and manifestations,” Mahathir’s government said in the framework document.


“Resolving the problem of terrorism requires a strong and genuine political will,” it said.


The battle would require “a holistic plan of action, clear and systematic line of authority, the effective involvement of non-state actors, as well as transparent sharing of information” between nations involved in the fight, the document stated.


In its anti-terror campaign, Malaysia, a Muslim-majority nation of 32 million people, will promote the role of the Southeast Asia Regional Center for Counter-Terrorism as a reference point on militancy issues, the foreign policy framework said. The Kuala Lumpur-based agency under the foreign affairs ministry provides training for security officials in the region.


At least 154 fighters from Malaysia joined more than 40,000 foreign fighters from 110 countries in fighting for militant groups, including Islamic State (IS), in Syria and Iraq, according to security analysts.


https://www.benarnews.org/english/ne...019171217.html

I thought Mahathir stood down and handed the reins to Anwar ?

Originally Posted by docmartin

Meanwhile, Winnie is trying to promote lawnorder in the South China Sea and gets nothing but whining.

Winnie the Pooh is trying to annex it.

That is completely different.

Originally Posted by misskit

“In its relations with major powers, Malaysia will practice the non-aligned policy and approach,” the document said, underscoring that Mahathir had proposed “non-militarization of the South China Sea and for the regional waters to be turned to a region of peace, friendship and trade.”

Claiming a position of 'peaceful non-alignment' sounds all very lovely and John Lennon but it does not really provide any practical method in dealing with a belligerent China asserting its claims by force.

China Sends Coast Guard Ship to Scarborough Shoal


China has deployed a Coast Guard patrol ship to the Scarborough Shoal, the latest salvo in its sustained pressure campaign against Philippine-claimed features in the disputed South China Sea, ship-tracking data shows.


The China Coast Guard (CCG) ship 3302 was at Scarborough Shoal as of Wednesday, BenarNews can confirm. It left the port of Sanya, Hainan province, China, on Sunday.


Its deployment means CCG ships are patrolling nearly all of the hotspots disputed between China and the Philippines in the South China Sea. That’s happening at a time of renewed diplomatic tension after Manila issued a statement on Wednesday directly criticizing China over the sinking of a Vietnamese fishing boat.


At the Philippine-occupied Second Thomas Shoal, another CCG ship, the 5302, has been patrolling near since March 6, last week. The ship was still at that location on Wednesday.


Meanwhile, the CCG ship Haijing 5202 has been near Thitu Island, another feature claimed by the Philippines, since April 3.


Thitu Island has been the focus of a prolonged Chinese presence, as reported by the Asia Maritime Transparency Initiative. However, maritime militia appear to have left the area, leaving only the 5202, satellite imagery shows.


Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte has sought closer ties with China since he took office nearly four years ago. He has sought to tamp down the tensions that flared under his predecessor, when Manila successfully challenged the legal basis of Beijing’s expansive South China Sea claims in a case before the Permanent Court of Arbitration in The Hague.


But bucking that trend, on Wednesday the Philippines joined Hanoi and Washington in criticizing Beijing over the April 2 sinking of the Vietnamese boat in a confrontation with a China Coast Guard ship.


The Philippine foreign office issued what it called a “statement of solidarity” with Hanoi. The statement rebuked Beijing for the incident in waters near the Paracel Islands – which both China and Vietnam claim. It described the sinking as a “provocation” amid a global crisis around the COVID-19 outbreak.


China claims it has historical rights to much of the South China Sea, despite conflicting claims by other governments in the region.


Chinese ships strayed into the Scarborough Shoal area in 2012, leading to a diplomatic rift between Manila and Beijing.


The following year, Manila filed its arbitration case against China, arguing that the triangular shoal in the South China Sea had long been a fishing ground for Filipinos and was well within the Philippine exclusive economic zone. But instead of pushing to enforce the 2016 decision, Duterte, who took office that year, chose to appease China.


The CCG ship that has just deployed there, the 3302, is a Zhaoyu-class patrol vessel modeled after the Chinese Type 056 warship. It was last seen in that area in November and forced out a Filipino-crewed ship, Rappler reported at the time. The 3302 weighs roughly 3,500 tons and is equipped with a helicopter deck and a 30-mm gun – it’s designed to be an ocean-going ship, as opposed to patrolling China’s coasts.

China Sends Coast Guard Ship to Scarborough Shoal

But instead of pushing to enforce the 2016 decision, Duterte, who took office that year, chose to appease China.

Of course he did.

I'm sure it had nothing to do with offshore bank accounts.

What are you waffling about now Hoho?

Originally Posted by OhOh

OOH scary warship with no NP&A-CBG to defend it, in the South China Sea.

Does it have any French MM40 Block 3 missiles to defend itself?

There is a big scary pole on the front, with a bright light at the top.

The ship does appear to have plenty of windows, to allow the crew to look out of, though.

Now all ameristani sailors, airmen (how do the pilot and navigator manage to keep 2m apart in an F666BCFT) and submariners can't reach their weapons, due to "social distancing" rules, China can attack the "Land of the Chamorros". Have the British a Battleship to scuttle in it's path?

Wrong boat!

The CCG ship that has just deployed there, the 3302, is a Zhaoyu-class patrol vessel modeled after the Chinese Type 056 warship. It was last seen in that area in November and forced out a Filipino-crewed ship, Rappler reported at the time. The 3302 weighs roughly 3,500 tons and is equipped with a helicopter deck and a 30-mm gun – it’s designed to be an ocean-going ship, as opposed to patrolling China’s coasts

Originally Posted by HermantheGerman

Wrong boat!

Well it is HoHo.

Added: Prolly looks like this one. Nothing a half decent torpedo can't sort out. It's even got that nice low aft deck for throwing Uighurs off.

Originally Posted by HermantheGerman

Wrong boat!

I believe the big number painted on the side gave it away. Damn. Or was it the big pole on the foredeck?

Originally Posted by HermantheGerman

3302

No picture found either.

Originally Posted by harrybarracuda

Prolly looks like this one.

They all look the same to me.

Originally Posted by harrybarracuda

nice low aft deck for throwing Uighurs off.

Just the right length for a magnetic catapult. Injected with a virus when landing on the carrier flight deck the Uighurs would have all the sailors running for their hot bunks.

It's really easy to get HoHo waffling, have you noticed Jerry?

Beijing Deploys Aircraft Carrier as US Senators Criticize South China Sea Conduct

China has sent an aircraft carrier battle group to the East China Sea and South China Sea, according to statements from governments in the region and satellite imagery.


The maneuvers come at a time of increasing tension in the South China Sea and a denouncement by members of the U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee of the Chinese coast guard’s recent sinking of a Vietnamese fishing boat near the contested Paracel Islands.


Japan’s military reported China’s naval exercise involving the Liaoning aircraft carrier on Friday. The Japanese Maritime Self-Defense Force said the Liaoning, accompanied by a battle group of two destroyers, two frigates and a support ship, passed through the Miyako Strait, between Okinawa and the Miyako Islands, on that day.


Satellite imagery shows the Liaoning at its homeport of Qingdao as of April 5, along with a Type 901 supply ship – a relatively new class of vessel for replenishing combat ships at sea. Last Wednesday, both sailed out of port and reappeared east of Shanghai, in the East China Sea, on Friday, along with escorts.


On Sunday, Taiwan’s Ministry of National Defense said the Liaoning battle group was observed moving off the island of Taiwan’s eastern coast down to its southern coast.


A Chinese People’s Liberation Army Navy spokesman later confirmed the Liaoning and its battle group were engaged in a naval exercise at the Miyako Strait, the Bashi Channel south of Taiwan, and in the South China Sea. The ships were identified as two Type 052D guided missile destroyers, two Type 054A guided missile frigates, and a Type 901 support vessel.


This coincides with naval maneuvers in the region by the United States. The U.S. Navy sailed a destroyer through the Taiwan Strait on Friday, Reuters reported, and the Japanese Maritime Self-Defense Force conducted a bilateral exercise with the U.S. in the East China Sea on Friday and Saturday.


All this takes place in the aftermath of the April 2 sinking of a Vietnamese fishing boat in a confrontation with a China Coast Guard ship near the disputed Paracel Islands, which China maintained was the fault of the Vietnamese boat. The incident drew criticism from the U.S. State and Defense Departments, Vietnam itself and the Philippines.


Last week, the Philippine foreign office issued what it called a “statement of solidarity” with Hanoi. The statement rebuked Beijing for the incident in waters near the Paracel Islands – which both China and Vietnam claim.


It described the sinking as a “provocation” amid a global crisis around the COVID-19 outbreak.


China claims it has historical rights to much of the South China Sea, despite conflicting claims by other governments in the region.


Malaysia has had its own issues with Chinese ships in the South China Sea. In February, a combination of Chinese Coast Guard ships and maritime militia were monitoring and harassing energy exploration efforts by Malaysia in the mineral-rich waters.


US senators speak out


On Friday, a bipartisan group of senior U.S. lawmakers joined the chorus of disapproval.


Leading figures from the Senate Foreign Relations Committee – Republican chairman James Risch, top-ranking Democrat Robert Menendez, and Republican Asia subcommittee chairman Cory Gardner and his Democratic counterpart, Ed Markey – issued a strongly worded statement over the sinking and China’s reported deployment of military aircraft in the South China Sea.


“The reports of a Chinese Coast Guard vessel sinking a Vietnamese fishing vessel and China’s other activities on illegally reclaimed features in the South China Sea are deeply concerning,” Risch said.


“These are just the latest examples of the Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) blatant intimidation of its neighbors to assert its excessive maritime claims. The CCP is undermining regional stability at a time when the international community should be coming together to combat the COVID-19 pandemic.”


Menendez echoed that sentiment.


“China’s continued divisive and aggressive behavior in the South China Sea is deplorable,” he said. “I strongly believe that the United States must stand up and support efforts by regional institutions and our allies and partners to ensure freedom of navigation and economic opportunity throughout the entire Indo-Pacific.”


On the same day the Liaoning was sailing with its escorts north of Taiwan, China conducted an aircraft exercise south of the self-ruled island, which China considers a “breakaway province.” A Xian H-6 bomber, KJ-500 early warning aircraft, and Shenyang J-11 fighter aircraft flew to the southwest of Taiwan, prompting the U.S. Air Force to send a reconnaissance aircraft in the same direction, according to a Taiwanese Ministry of National Defense press release.


Meanwhile, Chinese state media was blaming Vietnam for stoking tensions in the South China Sea after Hanoi formally protested the April 2 sinking of its fishing boat. Without providing any evidence, a commentary in the Global Times claimed that Hanoi was provoking anti-Chinese sentiment to distract from Vietnam’s domestic challenges in combating COVID-19.

Beijing Deploys Aircraft Carrier as US Senators Criticize South China Sea Conduct

The US should send one too, then they could have mutual exchange ship-to-ship visits.

Pomplem solved.