A powerful U.S. warship sailed this week within 12 nautical miles (14 miles) of a Chinese military base on a contested island in the South China Sea, leading Chinese ships to warn it to leave the area.
“This behavior by the United States military is a show of force to promote the militarization in the region, and would very easily lead to accidents on the sea and in the air,” Senior Colonel Ren Guoqiang, a spokesman for China’s People’s Liberation Army (PLA), told the media.
The Chinese are upset because the U.S. ship, the USS Dewey, was close to their base on Mischief Reef in the Spratly Islands in the South China Sea, The New York Times reported. Both China and the Philippines — a key US ally — claim the Spratly chain, although the PLA has been building bases there in defiance of international law.
Are the U.S. and China on Collison Course?
The Dewey is an Arleigh Burke class-guided missile destroyer that carries Harpoon airship missiles, cruise missiles, ballistic missiles, five-inch guns and torpedoes. The Chinese have built runways and stationed troops on the artificial island.
During last year’s presidential campaign, President Trump was critical of the installation on Mischief Reef, even calling it a “military fortress.”
During Wednesday’s operation, the Dewey stayed in international waters and conducted a man overboard drill. The operation apparently was held to keep the Chinese from taking control of sea lanes in the area.
“All operations are conducted in accordance with international law and demonstrate that the United States will fly, sail and operate wherever international law allows,” Major Jamie Davis, a spokesman for the Pentagon, told The Times. “We have a comprehensive freedom of navigation operations program that seeks to challenge excessive maritime claims in order to preserve the rights, freedoms and uses of the sea and airspace guaranteed to all nations under international law.”
Should the U.S. challenge China’s claims to the South China Sea? Share your thoughts in the section below:
(ANTIMEDIA)South China Sea — As the reality of all-out war breaking out in the Middle East looms larger, the potential for a collision course in the South China Sea also continues to grow.
On Friday, Anti-Mediahighlighted the situation unfolding in East and Southeast Asia, where the United States, Japan, and South Korea are coordinating military drills purportedly aimed at taking out Kim Jong-un of North Korea.
Meanwhile, just south of those exercises, the relationship between China and formerly-staunch U.S. ally the Philippines is warming. Filipino troops are now stationed on some of the islands within the Spratly chain, and Reutersreported Monday that Chinese military vessels are even lending a hand to Filipino fisherman at the Scarborough Shoal.
As Anti-Media has pointed out, tensions are likely to escalate considerably in the coming days, as Japan intends to send its mightiest warship on a three-month tour of the South China Sea in May — its biggest show of naval force since World War Two.
And if that isn’t enough, the New York Timesreported Monday that the U.S. military just rerouted some major firepower in the direction of North Korea:
“The commander of American forces in the Pacific has ordered an aircraft carrier and several other warships toward the Korean peninsula in a show of force by the Trump administration just days after North Korea tested another intermediate-range missile.”
Continuing:
“The officer, Adm. Harry B. Harris Jr., the head of the military’s Pacific command, diverted the aircraft carrier Carl Vinson and its wing of fighter jets from a planned series of exercises and port calls in Australia, the commander said in a statement. The Vinson and three guided-missile destroyers and cruisers steamed out of Singapore on Saturday for their new mission in the Western Pacific.”
Incidentally, the U.S.S. Carl Vinson is the craft that transported the Navy SEAL, Army Ranger, and Delta Force units to South Korea, where they are currently taking part in the military exercises.
This means that right now, a U.S. aircraft carrier, supported by a squad of warships and fighter jets, is steaming north toward the Korean peninsula. Of course, it will have to pass by the Filipino and Chinese-occupied islands in the South China Sea.
At the same time, Japan is preparing to send a powerful warship south with the stated goal of “touring” those very waters.
So a Japanese warship, we’re told, will be hanging out in the region just as a U.S. aircraft carrier — again, escorted by gunships and jets — passes through on its way to North Korea.
For a more detailed look at the factors that make the area of the South China Sea so potentially explosive, readers can turn to a more comprehensive analysis published by Anti-Media last week.
For now, it’s significant to note that there’s at least one man who’s looking at the whole board — the Philippines’ president, Rodrigo Duterte. During a news conference Monday, he referred to his move to occupy islands in the Spratlys, stating:
“I ordered the occupation of the ten or nine islands that are just near our shores because there’s a heightening of geopolitical issues and eventually maybe a violent low-intensity war over here.”
The president didn’t elaborate on how a war can be both “violent” and “low-intensity” — particularly when the conflict will involve the level 0f military hardware that’s currently building up in the South China Sea — but it seems clear that at a minimum, he accepts that bloodshed could be a near-approaching reality.
Public Domain, DoD image of Chinese Luhu Class Destroyer, HARIBING on the first ever Chinese “visit” of a warship to U.S. naval station in San Diego, 1997
Editor’s Comment: If a trade war there will be, China is more than ready to make a stand. The military issue over the South China Sea and disputed territorial claims is coming to a head. Both sides have demonstrated their ICBM missiles, and their respective strength. Any incident there could lead to war, and if so, then a blockade against all the commercial products and food items that China exports to America each year. Short of war, China has been edging forward with its currency, valuing it to keep Chinese goods appealing, and deepening its place in the basket of world currencies that is set to displace U.S. sole advantage through the petrodollar. If President Trump puts up a tariff wall against Chinese imports, or more drastically implements sanctions for any reason, there could be a hostile trade war that leads to military action.
There are many scenarios, and greater tensions than ever before. The stage is being set, and all is not quiet in the Pacific. Stand by, and keep close watch over the reported interactions between warships both in the Asian sphere, and close to the shores of Iran. Meanwhile, Russian spy ships have been seen trolling U.S. waters. How crazy are things about to get?
In a preemptive move to limit foreign naval presence in proximity to China and especially the disputed South and East China Sea islands, China’s People’s Daily reports the Beijing is set to revise its 1984 Maritime Traffic Safety Law, which would allow the relevant authorities to “bar some foreign” (read U.S.) ships from passing through Chinese territorial waters. The Legislative Affairs Office of the State Council announced Tuesday it is soliciting public opinions on the revisions. Think of it as an Air Defense Identification Zone, only in the water.
According to the Chinese press, the draft would empower maritime authorities to prevent foreign ships from entering Chinese waters if it is decided that the ships may harm traffic safety and order. The draft revisions would grant authorities the right to designate specific areas and temporarily bar foreign ships from passing through those areas according to their own assessment of maritime traffic safety. The revisions are based on the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea and Chinese laws on the sea, adjacent areas and exclusive economic zones, the office said.
It was not clear how China would implement and enforce this bar, or what the punishment for transgressors would be.
Wang Xiaopeng, a maritime border expert at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, told the Global Times on Wednesday that the revisions will provide legal support for China to safeguard its maritime rights.
“As a sovereign State and the biggest coastal State in, for example, the South China Sea, China is entitled to adjust its maritime laws as needed, which will also promote peace and stable development in the waters.”
Quoted by the Daily, Yang Cuibai, a professor with the School of Law at Sichuan University, agreed, saying that “the revisions will strengthen China’s management over territorial waters in a new era when the country’s communication and trade with foreign countries in the waters have sharply increased.” Yang added that China should take the lead to establish the legal order in the Yellow Sea, the East China Sea and the South China Sea.
Additionally, the draft said that foreign submarines would travel on the surface, display national flags and report to Chinese maritime management administrations when they pass China’s water areas. They should also get approval from the relevant administrations to enter China’s internal waters and ports.
Foreign military ships that are approved to enter China’s waters should apply for pilotage. Foreign ships that enter Chinese waters without approval will be fined 300,000-500,000 yuan ($43,706-72,844) and those violating Chinese laws would be expelled, it said.
“China’s waters are open to foreign ships as long as they do not damage the waters’ safety, order, or China’s sovereignty,” Yang said.
The draft also states that people in distress at sea have the right to be rescued without charge, adding that human lives should come before the environment and assets.
The State Council and local governments should set up maritime search and rescue centers, if needed, to organize, coordinate and command rescue operations, the draft says. Civilian groups are also encouraged by the revised regulations to set up rescue teams and participate in such operations.
Aside from the contested islands, the waterway in question is one of the biggest focal points of global naval trade: should China implement a mandatory check of each and every naval vessel, it may have a chilling effect on global seaborne trade, which would come at a time when worldwide commerce is already declining and could be further impacted in coming months should Trump implement his protectionist trade agenda.
This article was written by Tyler Durden and originally published at Zero Hedge.
"It must be pointed out that U.S. military planes frequently carry out reconnaissance in Chinese coastal waters, seriously endangering Chinese maritime security," China"s Foreign Ministry spokesman Hong Lei Hong told reporters, adding that "we demand that the United States immediately cease this type of close reconnaissance activity to avoid having this sort of incident happening again."
CNN reports that two US defense officials confirmed that there was an "unsafe" close encounter between a US Navy P-3 Orion aircraft and a Chinese surveillance aircraft Wednesday in the general vicinity of the contested Scarborough Shoal in the South China Sea.
One official said the Chinese plane was a People"s Liberation Army Air Force KJ-200.
CNN reports the two planes flew within 1,000 feet of each other in the general vicinity of the contested Scarborough Shoal in the South China Sea.
A second official said that the American P-3 had to alter course to ensure that there wasn"t an aerial collision.
A spokesperson for US Pacific Command, which oversees US troops in the region confirmed, the incident, calling it "unsafe" in a statement provided to CNN.
"The U.S. Navy P-3C was on a routine mission operating in accordance with international law," Maj. Rob Shuford said.
"The Department of Defense and US Pacific Command are always concerned about unsafe interactions with Chinese military forces," he added.
"We will address the issue in appropriate diplomatic and military channels."
While the Navy considers the encounter to be "unsafe," it does not assess that any malign intent was behind the incident, though the event was considered serious enough to be raised up the chain of command.
The official called encounters between US and Chinese aircraft like the one that took place Wednesday "extremely rare," noting that there were zero such incidents in 2015 and two in 2016. It was the first such instance of 2017.
We look forward to China"s official response tomorrow, especially considering President Trump"s positive outreach earlier today.
(ANTIMEDIA)Beijing — In a state-run editorial on Monday, China praised comments made by Secretary of Defense James Mattis over the weekend. Mattis suggested the hotly disputed issue of the South China Sea should be handled diplomatically rather than through warfare.
Calling the defense secretary’s words a “mind-soothing pill” that “dispersed the clouds of war that many feared were gathering over the South China Sea,” the China Daily hinted at a warming in U.S.-China relations.
“Mattis has inspired optimism here that things may not be as bad as previously portrayed,” the state-controlled newspaper wrote.
Stating Mattis’s remarks were “worthy of affirmation,” Foreign Ministry spokesman Lu Kang echoed this sentiment at a press briefing. The spokesman said the U.S. defense secretary’s comments align “with the common interests of China and all countries in the region” and reiterated the Chinese desire for outside nations to “respect the joint interests and wishes of countries in the region.”
While seemingly conciliatory, these words from an official Chinese spokesman also seem to imply that every Pacific Rim nation wishes to voluntarily adhere to the “One China” policy the superpower is seeking to establish. And that, as the United States under the leadership of Donald Trump seems vehement upon proving, is simply not the case.
In fact, even as James Mattis was suggesting over the weekend that between the U.S. and China, the diplomatic road was the one to take on the issue of territorial sovereignty, he was also accusing the Asian superpower of using coercion to force its will upon neighboring countries.
“We have watched in the South China Sea as China has shredded the trust of nations in the region,” Mattis said at the conference in Tokyo, “apparently trying to have veto authority over security and economic conditions of neighboring states.”
Providing further evidence that tensions are invariably rising between China and the United States — despite what government officials on both sides might happen to say at a given time — Fox Newsreported Monday that three Chinese warships have just sailed into the East China Sea.
It would be difficult to argue the timing is coincidental, as just two days before, the U.S. solidified its security commitments to ally Japan. And those commitments essentially back up the claim that Japan — not China — has a sovereign claim to the contested Senkaku Islands in the East China Sea.
In effect, it’s the same fundamental disagreement over two different bodies of water — both of which are in one region. And it’s a region neither the United States nor China appears willing to cede control over.
As China celebrates the new year and begins Golden Week vacation, it appears US equity futures are off to a rough start on heavy volume as perhaps this weekend"s Trump dysphoria finally took the shine off the rally...
With China, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Singapore and South Korea are all shut for holidays, there is no desperate capital outflow bid of last resirt to save stocks (for now).
(ZHE) In the harshest warning yet that China is actively contemplating a worst case scenario for its diplomatic relations with the US, a senior Chinese military official said that “a war within the president’s term’ or ‘war breaking out tonight’ are not just slogans, they are becoming a practical reality.” The remarks, first reported by the SCMP, were published on the People’s Liberation Army website in response to the escalating rhetoric towards China from America’s new administration, and as Beijing braces itself for a possible deterioration in Sino-US ties, with a particular emphasis on maritime security.
The commentary written by an official at the national defence mobilisation department in the Central Military Commission – which has overall authority of China’s armed forces – also called for a US rebalancing of its strategy in Asia, military deployments in the East and South China Seas and the instillation of a missile defence system in South Korea were hot spots getting closer to ignition.
The People’s Liberation Army, quoted by SCMP, said in a commentary on its official website last Friday, the day of Trump’s inauguration, that the chances of war have become “more real” amid a more complex security situation in Asia Pacific.
China’s sabre-rattling then peaked earlier last week, following an unconfirmed report that China’s military moved long range ICBM closer to the north east border in Heilongjiang province, within firing range of the US. As reported here, Chinese social media carried pictures claiming to show the Dongfeng-41 advanced intercontinental ballistic missile system near the Russian border.
Provocative state-run tabloid The Global Times suggested the People’s Liberation Army could have leaked the photos on social media as a warning to Mr Trump. However, Chinese President Xi Jinping has also recently called for the reduction of nuclear weapons.
The most recent deterioration in US-Sino diplomacy follow a statement by Trump spokesman Sean Spicer who told a press conference on Monday that the US would prevent China from taking over territory in international waters in the South China Sea. Spicer told the press “the US is going to make sure that we protect our interests there,” when asked about US President Donald Trump’s position on the South China Sea. “It’s a question of if those islands are in fact in international waters and not part of China proper, then yeah, we’re going to make sure that we defend international territories from being taken over by one country,” he said.
Foreign ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying responded by telling the US “to be cautious in what it says and does, so as to avoid harming the peace and stability in the region.”
The Chinese military is constantly prepared for possible military conflict whoever serves as US president, but Donald Trump’s possible “extreme approach” against China was dangerous, according to analysts.
Ian Storey, a senior fellow at ISEAS-Yusof Ishak Institute in Singapore, said some of the comments from Trump’s key advisors and appointees suggest that the US may pursue a more hardline policy against Beijing in the South China Sea over the next four years.
“As it’s highly unlikely that China will compromise its sovereignty claims in the face of US pressure, we can be sure that the dispute will increasingly become a risky point of contention between Beijing and Washington,” he said.
The comments come as President Xi Jinping is overseeing massive reforms within China’s military to improve its fighting capabilities. A huge reshuffle is also underway in the military’s top brass. Vice-Admiral Shen Jinlong, commander of the South Sea Fleet, is to replace retiring Admiral Wu Shengli as chief of the PLA Navy.
Washington, D.C. – The Chinese wasted no time responding to U.S. President Donald Trump’s tough talk regarding the South China Sea by reportedly deploying an advanced Dongfeng-41 ICBM system in Heilongjiang Province, which borders Russia.
Xi Jinping’s gave a powerful speech at Davos, in which he essentially laid Chinese claim to the mantle of global neoliberalism, and now the Chinese are moving to project their power – believing that Trump’s “America First” doctrine has created a “superpower vacuum.”
Additionally, on Monday, a senior Chinese diplomat said that Beijing is prepared to “assume a role of world leadership if others step back from that position” after U.S. President Donald Trump pledged in his inaugural address to put “America first.” Many international observers have perceived this move as signaling a U.S. retreat from leading the post-WWII neoliberal alliance.
According to China’s nationalist Global Times, “the Chinese military intentionally revealed the Dongfeng-41 and connected it with the inauguration of US President Donald Trump. They think this is Beijing’s response to Trump’s provocative remarks on China.”
The Global Times added that “pictures of China’s Dongfeng-41 ballistic missile were exposed on Chinese mainland websites,” citing reports in “some Hong Kong and Taiwan media.” One of the reports was identified as the Apple Daily, another tabloid-style resource based ot of Hong Kong, according to RT. “It was revealed that the pictures were taken in Heilongjiang Province. Military analysts believe that this is perhaps the second Dongfeng-41 strategic missile brigade and it should be deployed in northeastern China,” the report in the Chinese newspaper notes.
The Dongfeng-41 is a nuclear solid-fuel road-mobile intercontinental ballistic missile. With a range of 15,000 kilometers and a payload of 10-12 nuclear warheads, it can target anywhere in the world and is widely considered one of the most advanced intercontinental ballistic missiles. China has yet to reveal the ICBM to the general public during a military parade or any similar event. Most information of the advanced weapon remains highly classified.
The Global Times reports that the images of the nuclear weapons brigade’s deployment were timed to coincide with Trump’s inauguration as a means flexing Chinese muscle in light of the harsh tone taken towards China in comments by Trump and the White House. In fact, China’s foreign ministry today urged the US to “act and speak cautiously” when it comes to the disputed South China Seas to “avoid harming the peace and stability” in the region after comments by White House press secretary Sean Spicer.
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Similar Chinese displays of power are a regular occurrence, which are used to demonstrate their military prowess and send a message to large power rivals like the U.S. During a visit in December by then-Dense Secretary Ash Carter to the aircraft carrier ‘USS John C. Stennis’, deployed in the South China Sea, the Chinese tested a railcar-launched version of the DF-41.
The ICBM system was placed in the Heilongjiang Province, which borders Russia. However, Russia welcomed the placement of China’s ICBM next to its border, noting that it did not take the deployment as an indication of threats toward Russia. “The deployment of the DF-41 near Russia’s border should not be read as a threat to Russia,” noted military analyst Konstantin Sivkov in comments to RIA Novosti.
“DF-41 missiles placed near Russia’s border are a smaller threat than if they were placed deeper in the Chinese territory. Such missiles usually have a very large ‘dead zone’ [area within minimal range that cannot be attacked by a weapon],” Sivkov said.
Moscow agreed with Sivkov’s assessment, stating that China is Russia’s “strategic partner in political and economic senses.”
“Certainly, the actions of the Chinese military, if the reports prove correct, the military build-up in China is not perceived as a threat to our country,” said Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov.
The implied threat is a clear one – China will not be bullied – and certainly aimed at the U.S. as a display of Chinese military strength, as noted by the ominous tone in the pro-government and nationalistic Global Times report – a communist party mouthpiece in China:
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“The US has the world’s most powerful military strength, including the most advanced and powerful nuclear arsenal. But Trump has called for a nuclear arms build-up many times. Even Washington feels that its naval forces and nuclear strength are lacking, so how can China be content with its current nuclear strength when it is viewed by the US as its biggest potential opponent?”
The Global Times added, “China’s nuclear capability should be so strong that no country would dare launch a military showdown with China under any circumstance, and such that China can strike back against those militarily provoking it. A military clash with the US is the last thing China wants, but China’s nuclear arsenal must be able to deter the US.”
Essentially, the message is that the US has not paid China’s military the respect it deserves and that the Chinese must now — after realizing the flippant U.S. attitude and lack of respect towards Chinese “core interests” — procure a level of strategic military strength that will force the U.S. to respect it. The Chinese intention is clearly to let the Trump administration know that they will not be pushed around in their own backyard.
The U.S. should proceed cautiously, as the Chinese hold over a trillion dollars in U.S. debt – a weapon likely much more deadly to the U.S. empire than any nuke.
(ANTIMEDIA)Manila — On Monday, a Philippines’ foreign minister announced his country had filed an official complaint against China — a move, as Anti-Mediareported, that actually demonstrates a strengthening diplomatic bond between the two countries rather than a weakening one. On Tuesday, the Filipino defense minister took a harder line on the issue of China’s installation of military hardware on artificial islands in the South China Sea.
“The actions of China militarizing those disputed features are very troubling,” Defense Minister Delfin Lorenzana said in a statement. “They do not square with the Chinese government’s rhetoric that its purpose is peaceful and friendly.”
On Monday, Filipino Foreign Minister Perfecto Yasay toldCNN Philippines that “when we take action in engaging China in this dispute, we do not want to take such aggressive, proactive action that will not solve the problem.” Yasay said the filing of the official complaint, as the diplomatic process dictates, was to ensure “the interests and rights of the Philippines are properly protected.”
Regardless of his harsher words, Minister Lorenzana would seem to agree with Yasay’s approach. He stated, according to Reuters, that “a diplomatic protest was the correct procedure,” but despite warming ties with China, “the government still had a duty to protect the national interest.”
The South China Sea dispute, which centers on regional nations such as Vietnam as they combat China’s nearly all-encompassing territorial claim to those waters, was thrown into the spotlight once again last week as incoming President Trump’s pick for secretary of state, Rex Tillerson, brought a staunch anti-China position with him into his Senate confirmation hearing.
“We’re going to have to send China a clear signal that, first, the island-building stops,” he stated when asked if he supported a more aggressive posture toward China, “and, second, your access to those islands also is not going to be allowed.”
Tillerson went on to call China’s actions in the South China Sea “extremely worrisome,” arguing China’s absolute control over those waters would have a negative impact on the global economy as the trade routes there see around $5 trillion worth of traffic annually.
“They’re taking territory or control, or declaring control of territories that are not rightfully China’s,” the would-be secretary of state said.
For its part, China has continued to stand firm on its one-China policy, which regional nations who wish to deal with the superpower are required to adhere to.
(ANTIMEDIA) U.S. ally Japan pledged six new patrol boats to Vietnam on Monday, Reutersreports, as Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe visits the country during a diplomatic trip to several nations in the region.
“We will strongly support Vietnam’s enhancing its maritime law enforcement capability,” Prime Minister Abe said while announcing the pledge.
The potential problem lies in the fact that Vietnam has been one of the few nations in the region to display a willingness to oppose China — particularly on the issue of the South China Sea, of which the Southeast Asian superpower and incoming President Trump are on opposite sides.
“Abe’s stop in Vietnam completes a tour through an arc of a region where Japan stakes a leadership claim in the face of China’s growing dominance and uncertainty over what policy change Donald Trump will bring as U.S. president.”
Last week, while in Manila, Prime Minister Abe pledged nearly $9 billion toward infrastructure development in the Philippines — a nation that appears, on the surface, to be wholeheartedly embracing the one-China policy.
Speaking to President Duterte at his home, Abe said Japan “will create business opportunities through Official Development Assistance and private sector investments which, together, will be in the order of one trillion yen ($8.7 billion) over the next five years.”
On the current tensions over disputed waters, Abe asserted, “[T]he issue of the South China Sea is directly linked to regional peace and stability and is a concern of the entire international community.”
As Reuters once again noted Monday, “China claims almost all of the South China Sea, through which about $5 trillion worth of sea-borne trade passes every year.” This is what Abe is referring to when he says the dispute is of international concern.
This is also what makes Abe’s pledge of patrol boats to Vietnam so interesting. Only days ago, Vietnam vowed to work with China peacefully on the territorial disputes over the South China Sea, marking a change in tone in negotiations.
Given the facts — and the geopolitical environment they originate from — one might conclude that U.S. ally Japan is trying to win favor, via pledges of financial investment, with nations facing a decision to turn from the West and succumb to a one-China authority.
(ANTIMEDIA)Beijing — On Sunday, directly on the heels of Taiwanese President Tsai-Ing wen’s controversial meeting with U.S. lawmakers in Houston, a state-run Chinese tabloid ran an editorial warning that China would “take revenge” if the U.S. abandoned its one-China policy.
“Trump is yet to be inaugurated, and there is no need for Beijing to sacrifice bilateral ties for the sake of Taiwan,” writes the Global Times. “But in case he tears up the one-China policy after taking office, the mainland is prepared.”
The editorial goes on to state that “Beijing would rather break ties with the US if necessary” and that continuing collaboration between U.S. and Taiwanese officials will “ruin Sino-US relations and destabilize the entire Asia-Pacific region.”
Later in the piece, however, the Times discards pretense and assumes a more threatening tone:
“If Trump reneges on the one-China policy after taking office, the Chinese people will demand the government to take revenge. There is no room for bargaining.”
The opinion of the Global Times, as Reuterspoints out, does not necessarily equate to the official stance of the Chinese government. It is, however, a state-controlled outlet, and the editorial undeniably reflects the mounting tension between China and the U.S. over the issue of Taiwan.
China views the nation of Taiwan — whose foundation was laid in 1949, when the official Chinese government was forced to flee to the island to escape the Communists — as an official Chinese province. This is the root of the one-China policy, which the U.S. has long adhered to.
This all began to change when incoming President Trump broke protocol, as highlighted by a Washington Postpiece on Monday.
“Tensions regarding U.S.-Chinese-Taiwanese relations have been high since early December,” the Post writes, “when President-elect Donald Trump accepted a phone call from Tsai, breaking with nearly four decades of protocol in speaking directly with the Taiwanese leader.”
The situation intensified during the weeks that followed, most notably due to the Taiwanese president’s announcement that she would stop over in Houston to meet with Texas lawmakers on her way to Central America. This prompted the Chinese General Consul of Houston to send a letter to one of those lawmakers, Senator Ted Cruz, asking him not to meet with Tsai.
The senator ignored that request, however, and he and Governor Greg Abbott met with Tsai on Sunday. Within hours, the Global Times editorial warning the U.S. against taking actions counter to the “obligation of US presidents to maintain China-US relations” had been published.
In a statement, however, Senator Cruz made it clear the United States will not be told with whom it can and cannot meet.
“The People’s Republic of China needs to understand that in America we make decisions about meeting with visitors for ourselves,” the statement reads. “This is about the U.S. relationship with Taiwan, an ally we are legally bound to defend. The Chinese do not give us veto power over those with whom we meet. We will continue to meet with anyone, including the Taiwanese, as we see fit.”
After more than a year of provocation and saber rattling, the very real threat of an armed conflict with China is coming to fruition. While Americans opened presents during the holidays, the Chinese government began flexing its military might in the Eastern Pacific — up to, and including, talk of putting its carrier fleet off the coast of the United States.
It is important to note that US foreign policy over the last year and a half has enabled this unprecedented show of force by the Chinese.
In October 2015, in an apparent move meant to project U.S. military power to the Chinese government, American officials announced that U.S. Navy warships will sail directly through a Chinese claimed 12-nautical mile zone in the disputed region of the South China Sea.
The contested waters around the Spratly Islands, which China claims as its own sovereign territory, have been the cause of intense controversy. The U.S. has refused to recognize China’s territorial claims and believes the disputed area resides in international waters.
Then, in March, the US Navy dispatched a small armada to the South China Sea. Consisting of the John C. Stennis aircraft carrier, two cruisers, two destroyers, and the 7th Fleet flagship, the US made its mission clear — we are not scared of kicking off World War III.
Confirmed by the Navy Times, the stand-off has been heating up on both sides. After news in February that the Chinese deployed an advanced surface-to-air missile battery to the Paracel Islands, U.S. Pacific Command head Adm. Harry Harris told lawmakers that China was militarizing the South China Sea.
The constant US military presence in the area undoubtedly forced the hand of the Chinese as enough firepower to level a small nation sitting in your backyard cannot be seen as a simple peacekeeping mission.
On Christmas Day, the Chinese government made clear to the world that they are now a force to be reckoned with. The state-run Global Times media agency published an editorial calling on the nation to show its capabilities.
“When China’s aircraft carrier fleet appears in offshore areas of the US one day,it will trigger intense thinking about maritime rules.
“If the fleet is able to enter areas where the US has core interests, the situation when the US unilaterally imposes pressure on China will change,” the Global Times said.
Last week, after practicing air confrontations and refueling, the Chinese Liaoning carrier began heading east into the open Pacific beyond Taiwan and Okinawa — toward the US border.
In an ominous statement, the editorial called on China to boost construction of their homemade aircraft carriers “so as to activate their combat.”
For months, analysts have been noting the obvious provocation by the US military and its potential for a global conflict — and now, it appears closer than ever.
In August, the Chinese defense ministerurged citizens to begin “substantial preparation for a people’s war at sea.”
Chinese Defense Minister Chang Wanquan also warned of “offshore security threats” and the need to acknowledge the gravity of risk to China’s national security; and advised the military, police, and populace to ready for mobilization to defend national sovereignty and territorial integrity, according to state news agency,Xinhua.
The Free Thought Project has been documenting this escalation since the beginning and has predicted this very scenario. However, the US has been ignoring the potential repercussions of its actions as well as the warnings from the Chinese if the provocations continued.
Defense Secretary Ash Carter has played a large role in making sure there is plenty of conflict with China through ignoring the fact that the Chinese are simply reacting to the US presence in the area.
In March, Carter, in an evident failure of logic, warned China to halt their militarization of the region, or the US will further militarize the region.
“China must not pursue militarization in the South China Sea,” Carter said in a speech in San Francisco. “Specific actions will have specific consequences.”
In other words, Carter demanded that China allows the US military to continue to amass forces in their backyard and sit idly by. Any attempt to react to the presence of US destroyers, aircraft carriers, and missile systems will be seen as ‘militarization’ and will have ‘consequences.’
In the in the Global Times China summed up their situation, noting, “Chinese people love peace, but the Chinese military must be resolute. China will not be easily irritated, but once it is, it will take firm countermeasures. The Liaoning and its fleet is expected to experience the cruel geopolitical competition and become a standard bearer of the Chinese navy.”
As the global economy teeters on the edge of collapse, the U.S. has ramped up its saber rattling, not only with China but with the Russians as well. While America spends more on war than anyone else in the world, the idea that they can take on China and Russia simultaneously is deadly insane.
Matt Agorist is an honorably discharged veteran of the USMC and former intelligence operator directly tasked by the NSA. This prior experience gives him unique insight into the world of government corruption and the American police state. Agorist has been an independent journalist for over a decade and has been featured on mainstream networks around the world. Follow @MattAgorist on Twitter and now on Steemit
(ZHE) Update: according to US officials cited by Reuters, the unmanned vehicle was seized unlawfully by China. A Reuters official also adds that “the UUV was lawfully conducting a military survey in the waters of the South China Sea,” the official said. “It’s a sovereign immune vessel, clearly marked in English not to be removed from the water – that it was U.S. property.”
The incident, the first of its kind in recent memory, took place on Dec. 15 northwest of Subic Bay off the Philippines just as the USNS Bowditch, an oceanographic survey ship, was about to retrieve the unmanned, underwater vehicle (UUV), the official told Reuters.
The Pentagon later confirmed the incident at a news briefing. It said the drone used commercially available technology and sold for about $150,000.
The Pentagon views China’s seizure seriously since it had effectively taken U.S. military property.
“It is ours, and it is clearly marked as ours and we would like it back. And we would like this not to happen again,” Pentagon spokesman Jeff Davis said.
The seizure by the Chinese Navy will add to concerns about China’s growing military presence and aggressive posture in the disputed South China Sea, including its militarization of maritime outposts. A U.S. think tank this week said new satellite imagery indicated China has installed weapons, including anti-aircraft and anti-missile systems, on all seven artificial islands it has built in the South China Sea.
Mira Rapp-Hooper, a senior fellow in the Asia-Pacific Security Program at the Center for a New American Security, said China would have a hard time explaining its actions. “This move, if accurately reported, is highly escalatory, and it is hard to see how Beijing will justify it legally,” Rapp-Hooper said.
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The escalating, so far mostly verbal conflict with China may have just heated up following a Reuters reports that China has seized an unmanned, underwater US navy vehicle inside off international waters in the South China Sea, and that the US has issued a formal statement demanding the return of the vehicle.
According to CNN, which has a slightly different take on events, a US oceanographic vessel Thursday had its underwater drone stolen by a Chinese warship literally right in front of the eyes of the American crew.
In the latest encounter in international waters in the South China Sea region, the USNS Bowditch was sailing about 100 miles off the port at Subic Bay when the incident occurred, according to the official.
The Bowditch (T-AGS 62) is a Pathfinder class oceanographic survey ship, a third ship in the class. The USNS Bowditch is a part of a 29 ship Special Mission Ship program and operates in the South China Sea. She is named after Nathaniel Bowditch. Bowditch was engaged in surveying at Tacloban shortly after typhoon Haiyan in advance of the Navy’s Operation Damayan in an area known for its shifting hazards to navigation using its multi-beam contour mapping system.
Bowditch had stopped in the water to pick up two underwater drones. At that point a Chinese naval ship that had been shadowing the Bowditch put a small boat into the water. That small boat came up alongside and the Chinese crew took one of the drones.
The US got no answer from the Chinese on the radio when it said the drone was American property, the official said cited by CNN. More details:
As they turned away, the Chinese did come up on the radio and indicated they were returning to their own operations.
US oceanographic research vessels are often followed in the water under the assumption they are spying. In this case, however, the drone was simply measuring ocean conditions, the official said.
The Pentagon has not officially commented on the incident.
Although it’s unclear what the motivation was for the Chinese, the seizing of the drone comes on the heels of other provocative incidents that have happened since President-elect Donald Trump received a congratulatory call with Taiwan’s President, a violation of the US’s agreement with China’s “One China policy”. China publicly voiced their disapproval of that incident and contacted the White House at the time.
This “seizure” takes place one day after China’s influential state-run tabloid, the Global Times, called for a plan to take Taiwan by force and make swift preparations for a military incursion. The article urged China to rebalance its stance towards Taiwan to “make the use of force as a main option” and carefully prepare for possible moves toward independence.
It also follows a series of warnings to the Trump administration by Chinese diplomats, in which they cautioned that China will not allow the “One China” policy to be used as a bargaining chip, something Trump hinted he was willing to do in a Fox News interview last Sunday.
(RPI) While the mainstream media continues its obsessive reporting on the mud-slinging campaign for the White House, a dramatic development in China last week brought President Obama’s “pivot to Asia” to a sudden halt. Philippine president Rodrigo Duterte, while in Beijing, announced his country’s “separation” from the United States. He told his Chinese audience, “Your honors, in this venue, I announce my separation from the United States … both in military, but also economics.’’
The State Department was stunned and asked for a clarification. The Philippines has been a virtual US protectorate since 1898, when it became US property after the Spanish-American war. Even after gaining independence after World War II it remained a close Cold War ally, hosting US military bases until 1992. Just this spring, as US tensions with China were heating up over a Chinese reclamation project in the South China Sea, the US signed a deal to open five military bases on Philippine territory. The deal was considered of major importance in an increasingly confrontational US approach to the region.
Suddenly it appeared the deal was off. Was the Philippines about to sever diplomatic relations with the United States?
Shortly after making the statement, the Philippine president walked back slightly from what appeared a break with the United States. He did not mean total separation, he said, but rather a desire to loosen his country from the firm grip of US foreign policy. But the point had been made. The Philippines was not happy in its current relationship with Washington.
President Obama’s “pivot to Asia” has turned out not to mean improved trade and diplomatic ties with the region, but an aggressive stance toward China over, among other issues, the South China Sea. The US has concluded military agreements with Vietnam and the Philippines, and maintains strong military ties with Japan and South Korea.
The Philippines has been used as a US cat’s paw in South China Sea dispute and Duterte’s surprise statement signaled that he felt the relationship was too one-sided.
But the tension has been rising and the mood souring for some time. The US State Department has been critical of President Duterte’s admittedly brutal crackdown on illegal drugs, which has cost perhaps 2,000 or more lives. In August, Secretary of State John Kerry conveyed the US government’s concerns. As elsewhere, such condemnation by the US likely seemed hypocritical to the Philippine president, as the US leads the world in prison population with a large percentage serving long terms for non-violent drug crimes.
Last week a large protest was held in front of the US embassy in Manila in support of the president’s move toward a foreign policy independent from Washington. Demonstrators burned American flags and demanded the departure of US troops from their country.
Will US-Philippine relations continue to spiral downward? Or will Washington begin to see that its aggressive foreign policy, in Asia and elsewhere, is beginning to alienate allies? Or perhaps the next US administration will decide that a CIA “regime change” is in order for the independent-minded Philippine president. A US pivot away from confrontation with China would go a long way toward repairing strained relations with the Philippines and beyond. Let’s hope that’s Washington’s next move.
