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US & China Square Off Over South China Sea
Topic Started: Jul 12 2012, 01:32 PM (27,738 Views)
raider1011


South China Sea ‘islands’ only demilitarized until first warbird touches down

by James Holmes

blogs.reuters.com

Quote:
 
October 29, 2015

The nice thing about the law of the sea is that it’s well written. The UN Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), says coastal states may construct artificial islands within “exclusive economic zones” extending 200 nautical miles off their coasts. Beyond that limit, the law allows no such projects.

Now fire up Google Earth. Subi Reef lies 500 nautical miles from Hainan Island, the nearest Chinese shoreline. It sits far closer to the Philippines — only 230 nautical miles from the island of Palawan. Manila, then, has a better legal claim than Beijing by sheer geographic proximity — but even Philippine land “reclamation” there would be outside the law. ...

An artificial island that falls within a country’s exclusive economic zone merits a concentric 500-meter safety zone. That’s next to nothing in navigation and piloting terms. If it falls beyond the zone, like Subi Reef, it merits nothing at all — much less a 12-nautical-mile territorial sea. Indeed, Lassen could have ventured as close to Subi Reef as its skipper dared while still remaining within the law.

Critics of Washington’s enforcement of international law often criticize the United States for not being party to UNCLOS. The reality is that the accord would have no force but for the U.S. Navy’s efforts to challenge and overturn excessive claims to land, sea or sky. ...

There’s an even more basic point: navies enforce the law of the sea, and always have. Who else will do it — the Maersk Line? A Carnival cruise?
God grant me the courage not to give up what I think is right even though I think it is hopeless.

|| Chester W. Nimitz

Loyalty to the Nation ALL the time, loyalty to the Government when it deserves it.

|| Mark Twain
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raider1011


U.S. Navy eyes two or more patrols in South China Sea per quarter

Reuters

Quote:
 
Nov 2, 2015

"We're going to come down to about twice a quarter or a little more than that," said the official, who was not authorized to speak publicly about Navy operational plans.

"That's the right amount to make it regular but not a constant poke in the eye. It meets the intent to regularly exercise our rights under international law and remind the Chinese and others about our view," the official said.

U.S. Deputy National Security Adviser Ben Rhodes on Monday said there would be more demonstrations of the U.S. military's commitment to the right to freely navigate in the region.

"That's our interest there ... It's to demonstrate that we will uphold the principle of freedom of navigation," Rhodes told an event hosted by the Defense One media outlet.


God grant me the courage not to give up what I think is right even though I think it is hopeless.

|| Chester W. Nimitz

Loyalty to the Nation ALL the time, loyalty to the Government when it deserves it.

|| Mark Twain
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MSantor
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PDFF Mod Group
The US SecDef Ash Carter is on a USN carrier in the South China Sea/West Philippine Sea:

Philippine Star

Quote:
 
US defense chief visits carrier in disputed sea
(Associated Press) | Updated November 6, 2015 - 12:00am

ABOARD THE USS THEODORE ROOSEVELT – In a symbolic swipe at China’s muscular moves in the South China Sea, US Defense Secretary Ash Carter visited an American aircraft carrier in the disputed waterway.

Carter, who was in Malaysia for two days of talks with Asian defense ministers, used the visit to the USS Theodore Roosevelt to amplify the US view that China is making excessive claims that nearly all of the South China Sea is its territory.

Carter also signaled that the US will keep a strong naval presence in the region in support of nations seeking to preserve stability.

He flew aboard the carrier in a V-22 Osprey from a base in the east Malaysian state of Sabah, which is situated on the northern portion of Borneo.

(...SNIPPED)


Edited by MSantor, Nov 6 2015, 02:10 AM.
"If you think you can do a thing or think you can't do a thing, you're right." - Henry Ford

"Courage is going from failure to failure without losing enthusiasm."
- Winston Churchill


"If everyone is thinking alike, someone isn't thinking"- Gen. George S. Patton
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MSantor
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Not sure whether to believe this:

What? PLA-N sailors chatting in plain language with USN sailors about Halloween?

Shanghaiist

Quote:
 
Crews of China and US destroyers become best buddies after contentious South China Sea patrol near artificial islands

(...SNIPPED)

As hard as it is to believe, this was apparently the start of a beautiful friendship. For the following ten days, the Chinese warship continued to tail the Lassen through the South China Sea. As boredom set in, the two got to know each other a little better.

The commanding officer of the Lassen, Commander Robert Francis, told Reuters:

"A few weeks ago we were talking to one of the ships that was accompanying us, a Chinese vessel ... (We) picked up the phone and just talked to him like, 'Hey, what are you guys doing this Saturday? Oh, we got pizza and wings. What are you guys eating? Oh, we're doing this. Hey, we're planning for Halloween as well'." The intent, Francis said, is "to show them ... that we're normal sailors, just like them, have families, just like them."

The Chinese sailors, speaking in English, responded by talking about where they were from, their families and places they have visited, Francis said.

Of course, this bromance couldn't last forever and eventually the Chinese destroyer had to leave. Parting is such sweet sorrow.

(...SNIPPED)
Edited by MSantor, Nov 7 2015, 08:12 AM.
"If you think you can do a thing or think you can't do a thing, you're right." - Henry Ford

"Courage is going from failure to failure without losing enthusiasm."
- Winston Churchill


"If everyone is thinking alike, someone isn't thinking"- Gen. George S. Patton
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MSantor
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Diplomat

Quote:
 
Amid Tensions, US, China Assert South China Sea Positions

Speaking on Saturday, Xi Jinping and Ashton Carter laid out their respective positions on the South China Sea.


By Ankit Panda
November 09, 2015

Nearly two weeks after the first U.S. freedom of navigation operation near a Chinese artificial island in the South China Sea, tensions remain high. On Saturday, speaking on opposite ends of the Pacific Ocean, Chinese President Xi Jinping and U.S. Defense Secretary Ashton Carter delivered parallel remarks on the South China Sea that highlighted the rift between the U.S. and Chinese positions on the issue.

Xi, in Singapore for a historic meeting with his counterpart across the Taiwan Strait, Ma Ying-jeou, delivered remarks at the National University of Singapore where he described China’s position that the “islands in the South China Sea have been China’s territory since ancient times.” Xi added that the “Chinese government must take responsibility to safeguard its territorial sovereignty and legitimate maritime interests.”

“Some people have been hyping China’s threat,” Xi continued. “This is either due to the ignorance of Chinese history, culture and current policy, or out of some misunderstanding and prejudice, and probably for some ulterior reasons.”

(...SNIPPED)

"If you think you can do a thing or think you can't do a thing, you're right." - Henry Ford

"Courage is going from failure to failure without losing enthusiasm."
- Winston Churchill


"If everyone is thinking alike, someone isn't thinking"- Gen. George S. Patton
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MSantor
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Diplomat

Quote:
 
Did China Try Restricting US Bombers in the South China Sea?

Two U.S. bombers were contacted by Chinese air traffic controllers over the South China Sea, but details are murky.


By Ankit Panda
November 13, 2015

On Thursday, U.S. officials confirmed that two U.S. B-52 Stratofortress long-range strategic bombers were contacted by Chinese air traffic controllers earlier this week while flying over the South China Sea, near disputed islands. Reuters reports that the U.S. bombers continued undeterred.

The report comes at a time of heightened tensions between the United States and China after the U.S. Navy carried out a freedom of navigation patrol near a Chinese man-made island. The B-52s were reportedly “in the area” of the Spratly Islands and there are conflicting reports regarding whether their passage took them within 12 nautical miles of Chinese outposts in the Spratlys.

Statements from Commander Bill Urban, a spokesman for the U.S. Department of Defense, suggest that the mission was a routine transit flight. ”The B-52s were on a routine mission in the [South China Sea],” he said. ”We conduct B-52 flights in international air space in that part of the world all the time,” Peter Cook, another Pentagon spokesman, told Reuters.

(...SNIPPED)



"If you think you can do a thing or think you can't do a thing, you're right." - Henry Ford

"Courage is going from failure to failure without losing enthusiasm."
- Winston Churchill


"If everyone is thinking alike, someone isn't thinking"- Gen. George S. Patton
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Ayoshi
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Obama set to challenge China at APEC summit | interaskyon
Quote:
 
While China said it wanted the summit to focus only on trade, the French attacks and US attention on the South China Sea showed this was unrealistic, according to Curtis S. Chin, a former US ambassador to the Manila-based Asian Development Bank.

<snipped>

Sovereign rights

China had insisted repeatedly in the lead-up to the summit that the South China Sea dispute was not relevant to the trade talks.

But US National Security Advisor Susan Rice said the dispute would be a "central issue" during Obama's three-day trip to the Philippines starting on Tuesday, and a subsequent visit to Malaysia for another regional summit.

Rice also emphasized Obama would raise the issues of "maritime security" and "freedom of navigation," terms commonly used when referring to the dispute.


see also: Philippines to host APEC 2015
Edited by Ayoshi, Nov 16 2015, 02:37 PM.
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MSantor
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The PLA's General Political Department must have a whole section dedicated to whining about foreign actions, much like their foreign ministry.

Philippine Star

Quote:
 
Chinese Navy calls on US to stop 'provocations' in disputed sea
By Patricia Lourdes Viray (philstar.com) | Updated November 20, 2015 - 11:18am

MANILA, Philippines - The People's Liberation Army Navy of China on Thursday called on the United States to stop its "provocations" in the disputed South China Sea.

PLA Navy commander Wu Shengli told US Pacific Fleet commander Admiral Scott Swift in a meeting that China had exercised maximum restraint over the provocations of the US, according to a report.

The US has been sailing within 12 nautical miles of the artificial islands that China has been constructing in the South China Sea.

(...SNIPPED)


Edited by MSantor, Nov 20 2015, 11:30 PM.
"If you think you can do a thing or think you can't do a thing, you're right." - Henry Ford

"Courage is going from failure to failure without losing enthusiasm."
- Winston Churchill


"If everyone is thinking alike, someone isn't thinking"- Gen. George S. Patton
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MSantor
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Quote:
 
Next US Navy South China Sea Freedom of Navigation Operation: Mischief Reef

The U.S. Navy will likely sail within 12 nautical miles of Mischief Reef soon.

AVw7kxXY
By Ankit Panda
November 23, 2015

The U.S. Navy may be gearing up for its second freedom of navigation operation in the South China Sea within 12 nautical miles of a Chinese artificial island. Bill Gertz, at the Washington Free Beacon, citing U.S. officials with knowledge of matter, reports that two U.S. Navy warships will sail within 12 nautical miles of Mischief Reef. The operation is expected to take place in “several weeks.” The U.S. Navy carried out its first freedom of navigation operation within 12 nautical miles of a Chinese artificial island on October 27, when an Arleigh Burke-class destroyer, the USS Lassen, sailed past Subi Reef.

The choice of Mischief Reef for a second freedom of navigation operation makes sense and should help the Obama administration assert that it does not recognize any territorial sea claim around these features in the Spratly Islands. As I wrote recently, the October 27 operation left matters ambiguous, causing considerable disagreement among many well-informed South China Sea experts about what precisely the United States asserted with its freedom of navigation operation there. The United Nations Convention on the Law of Sea (UNCLOS) determines the conditions under which certain features generated maritime entitlements, including 12 nautical mile territorial seas and 200 nautical mile exclusive economic zones.

(...SNIPPED)
"If you think you can do a thing or think you can't do a thing, you're right." - Henry Ford

"Courage is going from failure to failure without losing enthusiasm."
- Winston Churchill


"If everyone is thinking alike, someone isn't thinking"- Gen. George S. Patton
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MSantor
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Quote:
 
China’s Unilateral Assertiveness ‘Unacceptable’ in Asia: US Navy Commander

Scott Swift voices alarm about Beijing’s South China Sea behavior.


By Prashanth Parameswaran
December 17, 2015

Unilateral assertiveness is unacceptable in Asia, a U.S. admiral warned Monday in a speech clearly referencing Chinese behavior in the South China Sea.

In a speech delivered to the annual U.S. Pacific Fleet Cooperative Strategy Forum in Hawaii on December 14, U.S. Pacific Fleet commander Admiral Scott A. Swift took aim at Chinese assertiveness in the South China Sea. With ships and aircraft subject to superfluous warnings, merchant vessels diverted after entering ‘military zones,’ and fishermen subject to intimidation, Swift – who did not explicitly tie these actions to China – suggested that Beijing was transforming the status quo in the South China Sea and eroding the rules-based system.

“If even one regional navy – or maritime forces under its command — does not fly, sail or operate in accordance with international law, then unilateral assertiveness could become the new normal in this region, driving increased instability in multiple domains,” he said in his address to more than 100 personnel at the Asia-Pacific Center for Security Studies. “I think we all can agree that such a trend is unacceptable.”

(...SNIPPED)


"If you think you can do a thing or think you can't do a thing, you're right." - Henry Ford

"Courage is going from failure to failure without losing enthusiasm."
- Winston Churchill


"If everyone is thinking alike, someone isn't thinking"- Gen. George S. Patton
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