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

Chinese Survey Ship Moves to Malaysian, Bruneian Waters

A Chinese survey ship on Thursday commenced operations within Malaysia and Brunei’s exclusive economic zone, according to a vessel tracking software, in the latest sign of Beijing’s expansive reach across the contested South China Sea.


The Hai Yang Di Zhi 8 left China’s Hainan Island last week, and was spotted earlier this week moving through Vietnam’s waters toward Malaysia. On Thursday it was located at an area around 190 nautical miles (352 km) from the coast of Malaysia’s Sarawak state and Brunei.


The vessel moved back and forth, a tell-tale sign that it was exploring the area. China and Brunei have agreed in the past to a joint exploration over energy resources in Brunei’s part of the South China Sea, but it was not immediately clear if the current activities could be part of that deal.


Technically, a research vessel would need to request permission before operating within another country’s exclusive economic zone, experts said. The Hai Yang Di Zhi 8 was accompanied by at least six escort vessels belonging to the China Coast Guard (CCG), according to vessel tracking data analyzed by Radio Free Asia (RFA), an online news service affiliated with BenarNews.


That was reminiscent of its excursion into Vietnam’s exclusive economic zone in July 2019, near the disputed area of Vanguard Bank. Those survey activities appeared aimed at pressuring a Russian oil exploration vessel out of the area and sparked a months-long standoff with Vietnamese coast guard vessels.


This time, the Hai Yang Di Zhi 8 was operating just past a part of the South China Sea jointly delimited between Malaysia and Vietnam, which may serve to avoid another confrontation with Vietnam.


The survey activity was very close to where the West Capella, a Malaysian-contracted drillship, was working in October. The West Capella was eventually tracked by a combination of CCG, Chinese maritime militia, and Vietnamese maritime militia ships, according to the Washington-based think tank Asia Maritime Transparency Initiative.


At least one CCG ship accompanying the Hai Yang Di Zhi 8, the Zhongguohaijing 1105, was spotted Thursday in the same area where the West Capella was last reported.


Malaysian Maritime Enforcement Agency ships could not be detected in the area of the Chinese survey ship on Thursday. A Malaysian offshore patrol vessel, KM Pekan, was last seen on Wednesday near a CCG ship patrolling the Luconia Shoals, which lies to the south.


Neither Malaysian nor Bruneian officials could immediately be reached for comment Thursday.


Beijing claims most of the mineral-rich South China Sea, including areas that reach the shores of its smaller neighbors. Brunei, Malaysia, the Philippines, Vietnam and Taiwan also have overlapping claims in the sea region.


Malaysia, Vietnam and the Philippines have directly disputed China’s expansive claims in diplomatic notes in recent weeks. China has also been criticized by the United States, which says Beijing is exploiting the COVID-19 pandemic to expand its “unlawful claims” in the South China Sea.

https://www.benarnews.org/english/ne...020172003.html

Time for a few more US "survey ships" to sail through the Taiwan Strait methinks.

China Ups Ante in South China Sea with New Place Names, Districts

China has upped the ante amid rising tensions in the South China Sea by declaring two new administrative districts for the contested region and releasing a new map naming all the islands and reefs it claims.


The provocative moves come as Beijing faces diplomatic pushback from some of its Southeast Asian neighbors against its sweeping assertion of sovereignty across the resource-rich sea.


It also takes place as the China’s Coast Guard and maritime militia pressure other claimants, even as they grapple with the global coronavirus pandemic. Most recently, China has deployed a survey vessel and escort ships near an oil field off the coast of Malaysia.


China’s announcement on the administrative measures came this weekend. The State Council, China’s top administrative body, approved the creation of two new municipal districts: Nansha District, which is based at Fiery Cross Reef, an artificial island built by China that it says will oversee all of the Spratly Islands and their surrounding waters; and Xisha District, based on Woody Island, which will oversee the Paracel Islands.


It follows the July 2012 declaration of Sansha City on Woody Island as China’s administrative center for the region. The two new districts cover a vast but largely uninhabited area. They are incorporated under Sansha, which itself has only 1,800 permanent residents.


China’s Global Television Network on Saturday described Sansha as a prefecture-level city that compromises only 20 square kilometers of land area but oversees “nearly two million square kilometers.”


The declaration comes despite unresolved territorial disputes across that area, and efforts by China and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) to forge a binding code of conduct.


Vietnam, which claims both the Paracels and the Spratlys, immediately condemned the announcement of the two new districts by China, calling it a serious violation of its sovereignty.


Pooja Bhatt, author of Nine-Dash Line: Deciphering the South China Sea Conundrum, said China’s move was intended to cement its territorial claims, which were undermined by a Permanent Court of Arbitration verdict from 2016. That verdict found that most of the land features it occupies in the South China Sea were actually rocks originally, due to lack of human habitation and economic activity. By inhabiting them now, China in time seeks to have these features regarded as islands entitled to territorial waters and exclusive economic zones, she said.


“Second, having administrative units can justify the presence of military and defense installations for protection purposes,” Bhatt said. “Furthermore the establishment of these cities increases the area of operation over the vast maritime domain in the South China Sea.”


China has constructed airstrips and military infrastructure at a number of the artificial islands it has built in the South China Sea in recent years, including at Fiery Cross Reef, where commercial satellite imagery provider ImageSat International recently spotted military aircraft.


On April 6, the U.S. State Department had mentioned the landing of military aircraft at Fiery Cross. In that statement, the U.S. accused China of exploiting nations’ distraction over COVID-19 to expand its “unlawful claims” in the South China Sea.


Also on the weekend, in a move calculated to demonstrate Chinese jurisdiction of the new districts, the Ministry of Civil Affairs and Ministry of Natural Resources released a new map naming each feature in the South China Sea it claims – an exhaustive list that was last updated in 1983.


The move by China to assert jurisdiction comes after a dueling series of diplomatic notes by China and rival claimants that were submitted to the United Nations. Malaysia’s initial submission claiming a part of the seabed in December sparked a protest from China, which in turn sparked further protests against China’s claim from the Philippines and Vietnam.


China issued its latest statement on Friday, and adopted a notably more aggressive tone towards Vietnam.


“China always opposes the invasion and illegal occupation by Viet Nam of some islands and reefs of China’s Nansha Qundao, and the activities infringing upon China’s rights and interests in the waters under China’s jurisdiction,” its submission to the United Nations’ Commission on the Limits of the Continental Shelf (CLCS) read. Nansha Qundao refers to the Spratly Islands.


“China resolutely demands that Viet Nam withdraw all the crews and facilities from the islands and reefs it has invaded and illegally occupied,” the note added.


Bhatt believes the continental shelf dispute and China’s new districts will figure prominently in the year’s discussions between China and ASEAN. Vietnam is currently protesting Chinese actions the loudest and may be best-placed to press the issue further as the current chair of the 10-nation ASEAN bloc, she said.

https://www.benarnews.org/english/ne...020182553.html

United States Sends 2 Warships as China Continues Survey near Malaysia

The United States has sent an amphibious assault ship and a guided missile cruiser to the site of an ongoing survey by a Chinese ship operating in Malaysian waters, the U.S. military said Tuesday, signaling Washington’s support for other countries in the region as China presses its advantage in the middle of the COVID-19 pandemic.


Lt. Cmdr. Nicole Schwegman, spokeswoman for U.S. Indo-Pacific Command, confirmed that the USS America and USS Bunker Hill have been deployed in the South China Sea.


“Through our continued operational presence in the South China Sea, we are working with our allies and partners to promote freedom of navigation and overflight, and the international principles that underpin security and prosperity for the Indo-Pacific,” she wrote in an email. “The U.S. supports the efforts of our allies and partners to determine their own economic interests.”


Schwegman did not state the exact location of the warships but satellite imagery from Tuesday provided by the European Union through the EO Browser service confirms that the USS America is less than 60 nautical miles from the West Capella, a Malaysian-contracted oil exploration ship. In close proximity, there are a combination of Chinese survey vessels, coast guard, and maritime militia ships, according to vessel tracking software.


The Chinese survey vessel, named the Hai Yang Di Zhi 8, arrived in Malaysian waters on April 16 and is surveying an area within Malaysia’s exclusive economic zone, between the West Capella and Malaysia’s coast.


As of Tuesday morning, the Hai Yang Di Zhi 8 was roughly 180 nautical miles from the Malaysian coast – but only 100 nautical miles from the Luconia Shoals, which are claimed by China and Malaysia in the southernmost part of the South China Sea. On April 17, the Hai Yang Di Zhi 8 was also within 200 nautical miles of Indonesia’s Natuna Island.


Vessel-tracking software shows that the survey is being conducted in a back-and-forth manner over an area about 150 nautical miles wide, and creeping ever-closer to Malaysia’s Sarawak state.


Malaysia’s coast guard last week confirmed that the Chinese survey ship was in Malaysian waters.


Zack Cooper, a research fellow at the Washington-based think tank the American Enterprise Institute said there were many possible reasons for the U.S. to have sent warships to the area of the survey ship but it was unlikely that Malaysia had asked for the U.S. to intervene.


“I don’t think the United States has any intention to directly engage on behalf of Malaysia, especially because Malaysia may not have asked for assistance and is not a U.S. treaty ally,” Cooper explained. “But it is useful for U.S. forces to be there to help monitor Chinese activities and show other claimants that China is not the only outside military capable of operating in the South China Sea.”


The commander of the USS America Expeditionary Strike Group said that his forces had interacted with Chinese naval forces in the South China Sea this week.


“All our interactions continue to be safe and professional with them,” Rear Adm. Fred Kacher told Reuters by phone from the USS America.




A graphic representation of the path of the Chinese survey ship Hai Yang Di Zhi 8 since it arrived off the coast of Malaysia on April 16. (MarineTraffic with annotation by BenarNews)
China has said that the Hai Yang Di Zhi 8 is conducting normal activities and has accused U.S. officials of smearing Beijing. That followed statements from the U.S State and Defense departments strongly critical of China’s recent activities in the South China Sea, particularly the April 2 sinking of a Vietnamese fishing boat in a confrontation with a China Coast Guard ship.


The State Department accused China of exploiting other nations’ distraction over COVID-19 to expand its “unlawful claims” in the South China Sea.


The Hai Yang Di Zhi 8 is accompanied by China Coast Guard (CCG) and People’s Armed Forces Maritime Militia ships. Two CCG ships, the Zhongguohaijing 4203 and 1105, are sailing alongside the Hai Yang and shadowing supply ships supporting the West Capella, according to vessel-tracking software. Another CCG ship, the Haijing 5203, has been sailing in and around Luconia Shoals since April 1.


The apparent standoff near the West Capella occurs as Beijing faces diplomatic pushback from some of its Southeast Asian neighbors against its sweeping assertion of sovereignty across the resource-rich sea.


Over the weekend, China’s upped the ante when it announced two new administrative districts for the South China Sea and released a new map naming all the islands and reefs it claims in the contested region – though Brunei, Malaysia, the Philippines, Taiwan and Vietnam also have sovereignty claims that overlap with China.


In recent weeks the U.S. has withdrawn key assets from the Pacific. The aircraft carrier the USS Theodore Roosevelt had to be pulled out of active deployment on March 26 because of dangerous rates of coronavirus infections among its crew. The U.S. Air Force announced last Friday it would stop deploying strategic bombers to its base on the Pacific island of Guam.


But Cooper said the arrival of the USS America and Bunker Hill “serves as a reminder that the U.S. Navy is large and not dependent on one ship to show regional presence.”


He said the U.S. is using this deployment to remind China and other claimants in the South China Sea that China has no legal basis to economic rights in the area the Hai Yang Di Zhi 8 is operating in.

United States Sends 2 Warships as China Continues Survey near Malaysia

Get right up close.

The Chinese are masters of advancing slowly and gradually, using the thin end of the wedge.

Can't some US nuclear submarines just sink half a dozen Chinese vessels then let the Chinese respond if they dare...

F'kin boring watch the Chinese slowly choke the small nations around them.

Philippines Files Diplomatic Protests against Beijing’s Moves in South China Sea


The Philippines filed two diplomatic protests against Beijing on Wednesday, saying it violated international law through recent actions in the South China Sea, including by declaring parts of the disputed waters as Chinese districts, according to Manila’s top envoy.


The protests were delivered to the Chinese Embassy in Manila after office hours, Philippine Foreign Secretary Teodoro Locsin Jr. said.


They were for the “pointing of a radar gun at a Philippine Navy ship in PH waters” and for “declaring parts of the Philippine territory as part of Hainan province,” Locsin posted on Twitter. He said both actions constituted “violations of international law and Philippine sovereignty.”


“China created Nansha district under the jurisdiction of Sansha city, akin to something we already protested in 2012,” the foreign secretary added. “Old hat but bears repeating in the protest.”


Locsin did not elaborate on the alleged radar-gun incident.


Late Wednesday, officials from the Philippine Navy and the armed forces declined to comment. China’s embassy in Manila did not immediately respond to phone calls from BenarNews.


Manila made the accusations against Beijing as the U.S. Pacific Fleet announced that an Australian frigate, the HMAS Parramatta, joined three U.S. Navy ships during exercises in the South China Sea on April 18.


“It is great to be operating with the Australians again,” the Pacific Fleet quoted Capt. Kurt Sellerberg, commanding officer of the USS Bunker Hill, as saying in a statement. The guided missile-cruiser was with an amphibious U.S. assault ship and another warship, USS America, during the maneuvering exercise with the Australians, which was observed or participated in by over 3,000 sailors, it said.


This comes after the USS America and Bunker Hill sailed near the Chinese survey ship Hai Yang Di Zhi 8, which is operating at the site of recent oil exploration inside Malaysian waters.


On Tuesday, the USS America was within 60 nautical miles of the West Capella, the Malaysian-contracted drillship being shadowed by China’s survey vessel and coastguard, according to vessel-tracking software.


According to Patrick Buchan, a former Australian government official and the director of the U.S. Alliances Project at the Washington-based Center for Strategic and International Studies, this latest joint effort by their navies demonstrates the closeness of the alliance between the United States and Australia.


“This is yet another example of Australia increasing its interoperability with the U.S. Navy on the high seas, but it’s particularly gratifying to see Australia operating with U.S. vessels at this time in the South China Sea,” he said.


Australia has participated in freedom of navigation and freedom of flight exercises in the South China Sea, but has a neutral stance on the various claims made by states in the area.


Nonetheless, Buchan emphasized that Australia has a stake in the stability and openness of the region. Australia’s top trading partners are all in Northeast Asia, he pointed out. “It’s critical for its trade links that no single country dominates the South China Sea,” he said.


Manila, Hanoi, US criticize China


The Philippines lodged the new diplomatic protests barely two weeks after Manila joined Hanoi and the United States in criticizing China over the alleged sinking of a Vietnamese fishing boat by a Chinese coast guard ship near the Paracel Islands in the South China Sea.


The “statement of solidarity” from Manila rebuked Beijing for the incident, and said it was an act of needless provocation at a time when countries in the region were busy trying to contain a pneumonia-like virus, which has killed thousands and left millions sick around the world.


In the wake of the April 2 sinking, China claimed that the Vietnamese boat sank itself by ramming into its coast guard ship.


Locsin issued his statement about the diplomatic protests three days after Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte had a one-on-one call with U.S. President Donald Trump, during which the two discussed bolstering bilateral ties as their countries continued to battle the COVID-19 pandemic.


“Both leaders agreed to continue working together as long-time allies to defeat the pandemic, save lives and restore global economic strength,” the U.S. Embassy in Manila said on Monday.


“The two leaders also discussed how the United States and the Philippines can continue building upon the strong and enduring economic, cultural and security ties binding the two nations,” it said.


On Tuesday, the U.S. military said it had sent an amphibious assault ship and a guided missile cruiser to the site of an ongoing survey by a Chinese vessel in Malaysian waters in the South China Sea, signaling Washington’s support for other countries in the region as Beijing pressed its advantage in the middle of the coronavirus outbreak.


Lt. Cmdr. Nicole Schwegman, spokeswoman for the Hawaii-based U.S. Indo-Pacific Command, confirmed that the USS America and USS Bunker Hill had been deployed to the South China Sea.


“Through our continued operational presence in the South China Sea, we are working with our allies and partners to promote freedom of navigation and overflight, and the international principles that underpin security and prosperity for the Indo-Pacific,” she wrote in an email. “The U.S. supports the efforts of our allies and partners to determine their own economic interests.”


Satellite imagery from Tuesday provided by the European Union through the EO Browser service confirmed that the USS America was then less than 60 nautical miles from the West Capella, a Malaysian-contracted oil exploration vessel. In close proximity, there were a combination of Chinese survey vessels, coast guard and maritime militia ships, according to vessel tracking software.


The Chinese survey vessel, named the Hai Yang Di Zhi 8, arrived in Malaysian waters on April 16 and was last tracked surveying an area within Malaysia’s exclusive economic zone, between the West Capella and Malaysia’s coast.


As of Tuesday morning (local time), the Hai Yang Di Zhi 8 was around 180 nautical miles from the Malaysian coast – but only 100 nautical miles from the Luconia Shoals, which are claimed by both China and Malaysia. On April 17, the Hai Yang Di Zhi 8 was also within 200 nautical miles of Indonesia’s Natuna Islands.


China has said that the Hai Yang Di Zhi 8 was conducting normal activities.


At the weekend, announced two new administrative districts for South China Sea and released a new map naming all the islands and reefs it claims in the contested region.


The United States, for its part, in recent week had withdrawn key military assets from the Western Pacific region.


The aircraft carrier the USS Theodore Roosevelt had to be pulled out of active deployment on March 26 due to dangerous rates of coronavirus infections among its crew. On April 17, the U.S. Air Force announced that it would stop deploying strategic bombers to its base on the Pacific island of Guam.


China claims most of the South China Sea on historical grounds, including areas that reach the shores of its smaller neighbors. Apart from the three countries, Malaysia, Brunei and Taiwan also have overlapping claims over the region.

Philippines Files Diplomatic Protests against Beijing’s Moves in South China Sea

Originally Posted by misskit

Philippines Files Diplomatic Protests against Beijing’s Moves in South China Sea

Unfortunately bullies normally need a bloody nose to get the message and the Phils are not able to give them one.

Originally Posted by Bettyboo

F'kin boring watch the Chinese slowly choke the small nations around them.

Yes; seen it time after time
A good handfull of countries south of Mexico is still in ICU

Originally Posted by helge

A good handfull of countries south of Mexico is still in ICU

Hadn't they been seen already a century ago?

US Calls Out Intimidation as China Pressures Malaysian Ship

The top U.S. diplomat has accused China of deploying an energy survey ship to contested waters off Malaysia to intimidate other South China Sea claimants from developing hydrocarbon resources in the region’s resource-rich waters.


Malaysia’s foreign minister, meanwhile, called for disputes in the South China Sea to be resolved peacefully and came under pressure from his predecessor to take firmer action against China.


China’s survey ship, the Hai Yang Di Zhi 8, which arrived off the Malaysian coast with an escort of China Coast Guard ships a week ago, continued to operate within Malaysia’s exclusive economic zone on Thursday, according to vessel-tracking software. It is near the West Capella, a drillship contracted by Malaysian state petroleum company, Petronas.


The U.S. statement, issued late Wednesday in Washington by Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, followed a conference call with Southeast Asian counterparts to discuss the response to COVID-19. Pompeo reiterated the U.S. position that China is taking advantage of the pandemic to press its claims in the South China Sea and engage in “provocative behavior.”


“The PRC (People’s Republic of China) has dispatched a flotilla that included an energy survey vessel for the sole purpose of intimidating other claimants from engaging in offshore hydrocarbon development,” Pompeo’s statement said, referring to the Hai Yang Di Zhi 8.


“The U.S. strongly opposes China’s bullying and we hope other nations will hold them to account, too,” Pompeo said.




His remarks follow maneuvers by U.S. warships in the area this week as Southeast Asian nations face pressure from China in the region’s disputed waters. The U.S. Indo-Pacific Command said the presence of the USS America and USS Bunker Hill showed the U.S. “supports the efforts of our allies and partners to determine their own economic interests.”


Pompeo also cited the sinking of a Vietnamese fishing boat and the establishment of new research stations and administrative districts on islands and reefs as evidence that China is exploiting the distraction caused by COVID-19 in its neighborhood.


Geng Shuang, spokesman for China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, shot back at these accusations on Thursday during a press conference in Beijing. He asserted China’s sovereignty over islands and reefs in the South China Sea and adjacent waters.


“We are committed to resolving differences with parties directly concerned through dialogue and consultation,” he said. “Some people in the US want to replace facts with rumors and lies and sow discords among neighbors. Such attempts will not succeed.”


Australia Foreign Minister Marisa Payne also expressed concern over China’s actions. Her remarks followed the deployment of an Australian frigate that joined the U.S. warships for a joint exercise in the South China Sea this week.


“It is vital at this time that all parties refrain from destabilizing activities and work to ease tensions so the international community can devote full attention to responding cooperatively to the COVID-19 pandemic,” Payne was quoted as saying Wednesday by the Sydney Morning Herald.


While the current area of tension is located within Malaysian waters, Malaysia itself had stayed mostly silent, until Thursday’s statement by Foreign Minister Hishammuddin Hussein.


He said that issues in the region should be solved peacefully based on the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea. He said that Malaysia remains steadfast in its commitment to safeguarding its interests and rights in the South China Sea, but added: “We must avoid unintended, accidental incidents in these waters.”


U.S. maritime expert Greg Poling said Malaysia is in an untenable position and is likely to halt its exploration.


“If anybody is unclear about when Hai Yang Di Zhi 8 is going to leave Malaysia waters, they are going to leave when the West Capella leaves, and not before, and that is going to be a waiting game that I suspect Malaysia can’t win,” Poling told Malaysian journalists on Thursday. He is director of the Asia Maritime Transparency Initiative at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, a Washington-based think tank.


Anifah Aman, Malaysia’s former foreign minister, called for his nation to adopt a “consistent and principled stance” and take “appropriate action in relation to surveillance activities being carried out by Chinese vessels in Malaysian maritime areas.”


“Smaller Malaysian Maritime Enforcement Agency and Royal Malaysian Navy vessels may not be able to stop the Chinese ships, but at least we can express our resolve to not let Chinese ships do as they like in Malaysian maritime space,” Anifah said in an open letter. He served as Malaysia’s top diplomat between 2009 and 2018.


It wasn’t clear if the current foreign minister’s comments Thursday were prompted by Anifah’s letter, but Hishammuddin pushed back against suggestions that the government wasn’t doing anything.


“We have open and continuous communication with all relevant parties, including the People’s Republic of China and the United States of America,” Hishammuddin’s statement said.


Beijing claims most of the South China Sea, including areas that reach the shores of its smaller neighbors. Brunei, Malaysia, the Philippines, Vietnam and Taiwan also have overlapping claims in the sea region.


Malaysia, Vietnam and the Philippines have directly disputed China’s expansive claims in diplomatic notes in recent weeks. On Wednesday, the Philippines filed two diplomatic protests against Beijing, saying it violated international law through recent actions in the South China Sea.


On Thursday, Philippine Foreign Secretary Teodoro Locsin, Jr., called for all countries in the region to focus on the COVID-19 crisis and its potential aftermath. The World Bank released a report earlier this month on the dire outlook of Southeast Asia’s economic recovery out of the crisis.


“In Asia, that recovery hinges on China’s recovery from the ravages of the pandemic; but it can never be at the price of our honor and sovereignty,” Locsin said.

US Calls Out Intimidation as China Pressures Malaysian Ship

Originally Posted by Bettyboo (China 'building runway in disputed South China Sea island')
F'kin boring watch the Chinese slowly choke the small nations around them.

Originally Posted by helge (China 'building runway in disputed South China Sea island')
A good handfull of countries south of Mexico is still in ICU

Originally Posted by Klondyke

Hadn't they been seen already a century ago?

Why the "small nations around them" do not want to be developed like the "good handful of countries south of Mexico" had profited from "seeing" by (please no names here) for century long...

“We have open and continuous communication with all relevant parties, including the People’s Republic of China and the United States of America,” Hishammuddin’s statement said.

So he probably trousered some of that Belt and Owed money then.

Originally Posted by Bettyboo

F'kin boring watch the Chinese slowly choke the small nations around them.

Change is inevitable. A chance of a better way. The past system has failed it is dead.

They of course could follow the previous Empire builders SOP, raping, killing, running away and leaving millions of unexploded mines, biological warfare destroyed lands, maimed and burnt civilians ... systematic plunder.

But no they are building stuff, roads, railways, schools, hospitals, factories ... Will their be a profit in it, of course. Better than running away and turning you back on countries for 60+ years. For the whole of Asia, Africa, South America and all others if they desire to join.

Originally Posted by OhOh

Will their be a profit in it, of course. Better than running away and turning you back on countries for 60+ years. For the whole of Asia, Africa, South America and all others if they desire to join.

It's only for profit. And when they run away they leave land and water poisoned and lifeless.

Originally Posted by harrybarracuda

t's only for profit

Surely the CCP confiscates it?

Manila Downplays Chinese Laser-Gun Incident in South China Sea


The Philippines’ defense chief on Tuesday downplayed Beijing’s latest aggressive move in the South China Sea, saying it appeared that Chinese sailors had no real intention of hurting Filipinos when they pointed a laser gun at a Philippine navy ship.


Although the Chinese move was seen as aggressive, it likely was meant to enforce their presence in the disputed sea region, which is claimed by China, the Philippines and other countries, Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana said.


“I don’t think they have an intention to harm our men with this latest incident of pointing a laser gun,” Lorenzana said on state-run television. “Maybe they are testing what our reaction will be. And we have already filed a protest to the Chinese government.”


“But it’s offensive. Why do they need to aim their target acquisition radars on our airplanes and ships?” he said.


According to Lorenzana, the Chinese were challenging the Philippine ship by saying “You are traversing Chinese territory.”


“But our ships and airplanes say: ‘We are traveling within our EEZ or within Philippine territory,’ so it’s only an exchange of messages,” the defense secretary added, referring to waters in Manila’s exclusive economic zone.


Lorenzana issued the statement several days after the Philippine foreign office said it had filed a diplomatic protest with China for “pointing a radar gun at a Philippine Navy ship” in the EEZ. Manila took that action on April 22, the same day it filed a separate diplomatic note to protest Beijing’s declaration of parts of the disputed sea as Chinese districts.


In the incident with the laser gun, the Philippine ship BRP Conrado Yap was on its way to the Rizal Reef Detachment in the South China Sea when it reported that it had detected “a radar contact of a gray-colored vessel.”


Lorenzana said the Chinese had used a target-acquisition laser meant to guide a missile toward an enemy target.


“It’s like when they will use their missile they will first strike on the target that they have already marked,” Lorenzana said.


The incident was the latest accusation that Chinese forces had used lasers to harass other nations’ naval personnel.


In February this year, the U.S. Navy accused a Chinese naval destroyer of firing off a laser beam at a U.S. surveillance aircraft flying west of Guam and over the Philippine Sea, which lies far to the north and east of the South China Sea.


A statement from U.S. Pacific Fleet said the laser, which was detected by sensors on the P-8A Poseidon aircraft on Feb. 17, was not visible to the naked eye. The U.S. Navy described the Chinese move as an act deemed unsafe and a violation of international codes and agreements.


China’s defense ministry, however, refuted the U.S. claim.


Ministry spokesman Ren Guoqiang told reporters in Beijing last month that Chinese ships were conducting routine exercises in international waters when the incident allegedly happened. He accused the P-8A Poseidon aircraft of carrying out an “unfriendly” behavior, including long periods of low-altitude reconnaissance “despite repeated warnings from the Chinese side.”


Sending a message to China


The Chinese moves in the sea that drew the diplomatic protests from Manila occurred as the Philippines and other Southeast Asian nation were busy with curtailing the spread of the coronavirus in their territories.


A Filipino maritime expert, Jay Batongbacal, said China was taking advantage of its medical assistance to help Southeast Asian nations battle the pandemic to prevent a pushback in the maritime region.


“One could argue that [Beijing] is using this cooperation as a way to leverage against any actions or protests against China for its activities in the West Philippine Sea,” Batongbacal, told local television ANC on Monday, using the Philippine name for the South China Sea.


“This is taking place simultaneously with their medical aid and assistance and offers of cooperation on this pandemic,” said Batongbacal, director of the University of the Philippines’ Institute for Maritime Affairs and Law of the Sea.


On Monday, retired Philippine Supreme Court judge Antonio Carpio told foreign correspondents in Manila that the Philippines should join forces with neighbors Vietnam and Malaysia, and possibly other countries, in conducting joint patrols to deter further Chinese aggression in the South China Sea.


Doing so, he said, would send “a message that China cannot pick us out one by one.”


But Presidential spokesman Harry Roque said the government did not agree with Carpio, although he acknowledged that the former justice’s suggestion of joint patrols with neighbors appeared to be sound.


“Suggestion well-taken, although we do not agree with the personal opinions of Justice Carpio on what China is doing. But the suggestion on joint patrol is well-taken, it will be considered,” Roque told reporters on Tuesday, as he reiterated that the government would assert territorial sovereignty against China.


“We do not agree with that conclusion, although the current policy is that we will defend all our national territory and our sovereign rights,” he said.


US sends combat ship to sea region


Meanwhile, the USS Gabrielle Giffords, a littoral combat ship, left port in Singapore for the South China Sea on April 25 and sailed near the site of a survey being conducted by the Chinese vessel Hai Yang Di Zhi 8, according to vessel-tracking software.


The presence of the USS Gabrielle Giffords in the disputed sea region was confirmed by the U.S. Indo-Pacific Command in a news release.


As of Tuesday, the Hai Yang Di Zhi 8, a survey ship at the heart of current tensions in the South China Sea, was operating in waters jointly claimed by Vietnam and Malaysia. It has been escorted by Chinese coast guard ships.


The USS Gabrielle Giffords joins the USS America, USS Bunker Hill, and USS Barry in demonstrating the American naval presence in the South China Sea. They were recently joined last week by Australian frigate HMAS Parramatta in a joint exercise. The KD Kelantan, a Royal Malaysian Navy warship, has also been patrolling the area.


On Tuesday, Beijing sent an aircraft battle group through the Miyako Strait, between Japan and Taiwan, according to a news release from the Japanese defense ministry. The release said China’s aircraft carrier Liaoning was spotted moving with two frigates, two destroyers and a high-speed support ship toward the East China Sea.


Meanwhile, the People’s Liberation Army-Navy Southern Theater released a statement on Tuesday accusing the USS Barry of violating China’s territory in the Paracel Islands.


China claims most of the South China Sea on historical grounds, including areas that reach the shores of its smaller neighbors. Apart from the Philippines, Vietnam, Malaysia, Brunei and Taiwan also have overlapping claims over the region.

Manila Downplays Chinese Laser-Gun Incident in South China Sea

Originally Posted by misskit

We are traveling within our EEZ or within Philippine territory,’

Originally Posted by misskit

Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana

One hopes the Defence Secretary will check with a lawyer and educate himself regarding the extent of Philippine territory.

As far as the chinkies are concerned, they haven't got any.

Originally Posted by OhOh

One hopes the Defence Secretary will check with a lawyer and educate himself regarding the extent of Philippine territory.

Take a look at a map and see how close the Spratleys and Paracels actually are to the Philippines, you utter clod.

Originally Posted by OhOh

As you are aware the extent of a countries sovereignty is...

irrelevant to the chinkies because they just take what they want, and if they can't get it they bribe their way to it.

Originally Posted by harrybarracuda

irrelevant to the chinkies because they just take what they want, and if they can't get it they bribe their way to it.

Never disappointing us to miss a chance...
Wondering that he is not expecting a remark: "It's so exceptional nowadays by others (please no names...)"

Or does he expect? (as an agent provocateur paid for encouraging more clicking?)

Chinese military expels USS Barry from Paracel Islands

April 28 (UPI) -- Chinese authorities say they sortied ships and aircraft to "track, monitor, verify, identify and expel" the guided-missile destroyer USS Barry from the Paracel Island chain in the South China Sea on Tuesday.

The People's Liberation Army's Southern Theatre Command accused the USS Barry of intruding into "waters around the Paracel Islands without permission," the South China Morning Post reported.

Navy officials told USNI News, however, that the Barry had conducted a "freedom of navigation operation" in the island chain off Vietnam.

The vessel had transited the Taiwan Strait twice earlier this month, provoking a similar reaction from China. The Chinese Liaoning Carrier Strike Group also transited the Taiwan Strait April 22, a day after Barry transited the same area.

PLA Southern Theatre Command spokesman Li Huamin said the operation was "incompatible with the current atmosphere as the international community is fighting pandemic."

The United States and China have each accused the other of using the COVID-19 pandemic as a distraction to exercise more military control in the South China Sea.

The Barry has been active in the South China Sea operating with the guided-missile cruiser USS Bunker Hill and the amphibious assault ship USS America off the coast of Malaysia.

Chinese military expels USS Barry from Paracel Islands - UPI.com