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China tightening grip on Spratlys; merge threads, updates
Topic Started: Jun 25 2012, 06:46 PM (30,278 Views)
MSantor
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Some people forget that Cambodia has been China's ally since just before the Sino-Vietnamese War of the 1970s.

Diplomat

Quote:
 
Cambodia: A New South China Sea Mediator Between China and ASEAN?
A recent suggestion by the country’s foreign minister is a rather curious one.


Last week, Cambodia’s foreign minister Hor Namhong suggested that Cambodia would continue to seek to be a mediator in South China Sea disputes between China and the claimant states in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN).

“Cambodia wants to mediate in order to reduce the tense atmosphere between ASEAN and China because we discern that no solution can be found without talking to each other,” Hor Namhong said according to Voice of America.

For those who follow developments in the South China Sea and Southeast Asia closely, the suggestion of Cambodia as a mediator in the disputes is a rather curious one. True, the country is not an ASEAN claimant unlike Brunei, Malaysia, the Philippines and Vietnam. But mediation is a tall order even for more capable Southeast Asian states like Indonesia, despite its status as primus inter pares within ASEAN and its role – led by former Indonesian diplomat Hasjim Djalal – in informally conducting workshops on the issue since the 1990s (See: “No, Indonesia’s South China Sea Approach Has Not Changed”). The case for Cambodia assuming such a role does not appear to be a very strong one by comparison.

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"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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Duh!

Diplomat

Quote:
 
Beijing’s South China Sea Rhetoric Is Fooling No One
China’s anti-Japanese rhetoric only masks Beijing’s own misbehavior in the Asia-Pacific region.


Last week Chinese Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Hua Chunying commented on the passage of the controversial Legislation for Peace and Security by the lower house of the National Diet, urging Japan to “draw hard lessons from history […] respect the major security concerns of its Asian neighbors, and refrain from […] crippling regional peace and stability.”

This last accusation in particular has been picked up by The Japan Times, The New York Times, France24, The Telegraph and others, and it deserves critical public reflection. China’s sermons on history are undermined by the aggressive repression of its own historical truths, such as the Tiananmen massacre, just as the call to respect neighbors’ security concerns are undermined by Beijing’s flagrant disrespect for such concerns in the South China Sea. Let’s consider these two points independently.

As for historical grievances, Beijing isn’t likely to stop beating this drum anytime soon. For one thing, it’s a highly effective emotional cattle prod. As noted by The Washington Post on July 22: “China’s propaganda machine has been ratcheting up the anti-Japanese rhetoric […] to focus attention on a foreign threat rather than Xi’s own ruthless efforts to centralize power.” Authorities did the same thing, the article notes, after the Tiananmen massacre, hoping to “legitimize the leadership and stoke national unity.”

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"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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Hong Nam
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Bought by China

MSantor
Jul 29 2015, 01:11 AM
Duh!

Diplomat

Quote:
 
Beijing’s South China Sea Rhetoric Is Fooling No One
China’s anti-Japanese rhetoric only masks Beijing’s own misbehavior in the Asia-Pacific region.

Duh ! = short, concise and straight to the point.




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MSantor
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ABS-CBN

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PH monitors China military drills in disputed sea

Posted at 07/29/2015 5:26 PM

MANILA - The Philippine government is looking into China's military drills in disputed waters.

The live-ammunition drills involved more than 100 ships, dozens of aircraft, information warfare units as well as the nuclear force, the state-backed China Military Online said in a report posted on the defense ministry's website.

There is no word though on where exactly the drills took place.

"China didn't specify the location of the drill so it's important first to find out where the drill took place," Foreign Affairs Spokesman Charles Jose said.

(...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:
 
China's Navy Tests 'Maritime Combat Ability' in the South China Sea
The Philippines are apparently not impressed with China’s martial might.


The Chinese People’s Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) conducted naval drills that included live firing drills in order to boost its “maritime combat ability” in the South China Sea on Tuesday, Xinhua reports.

According to PLAN spokesperson Liang Yang the naval drills are part of an annually held exercise and in line with international law. Consequently, he urged observers not to indulge in “excessive interpretations” of the military maneuvers:

Holding sea drills is a common practice for navies with various countries. The annual drill by the Chinese navy aims to test the troops’ real combat abilities, boost their maneuvrability, search and rescue power and the abilities to fulfill diversified military missions.

Citing PLAN sources, Xinhua stated that the exercise involved over 100 ships, dozens of aircraft and several battalions of the Second Artillery Corps – the unit responsible for most of China’s conventional and nuclear ballistic missiles and land-attack cruise missiles.

(...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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South China Sea: Satellite Imagery Shows Intensive Chinese Building
The latest satellite pictures show China building what appears to be a large runway on Subi Reef.


Satellite imagery of Subi Reef in the Spratly Islands taken July 18, 2015 shows intensive preparation of terrain for a likely airstrip. A straight segment of reef that China has filled in with sand can easily accommodate a runway more than three kilometers long. At a width of approximately 250 meters, this straight segment also could accommodate a runway accompanied by a parallel taxiway like that recently constructed by China at Fiery Cross Reef; the total width of the Fiery Cross runway plus taxiway is approximately 125 meters, with a runway width of 54 meters. (For comparison, the primary runway at the B-52-hosting Andersen Air Force Base on Guam is 3,414 meters long and 61 meters wide.)

(...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


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Hong Nam
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Bought by China

What China Has Been Building in the South China Sea

By DEREK WATKINS - NEW YORK TIMES
July 31, 2015


Fiery Cross Reef - August 2014
Posted Image
Images by DigitalGlobe, via the CSIS Asia Maritime Transparency Initiative, and CNES, via Airbus DS and IHS Jane’s



Fiery Cross Reef - December 2014
Posted Image
Images by DigitalGlobe, via the CSIS Asia Maritime Transparency Initiative, and CNES, via Airbus DS and IHS Jane’s



Fiery Cross Reef - March 2015
Posted Image
Images by DigitalGlobe, via the CSIS Asia Maritime Transparency Initiative, and CNES, via Airbus DS and IHS Jane’s



Fiery Cross Reef - May 2015
Posted Image
Images by DigitalGlobe, via the CSIS Asia Maritime Transparency Initiative, and CNES, via Airbus DS and IHS Jane’s



The islands are too small to support large military units but will enable sustained Chinese air and sea patrols of the area. The United States has reported spotting Chinese mobile artillery vehicles in the region, and the islands could allow China to exercise more control over fishing in the region.

For China, the Fiery Cross Reef is the most strategically significant new island, with a nearly completed airstrip that will be large enough to allow China to land any plane, from fighter jets to large transport aircraft. China’s reefs hosted smaller structures for years before the surge in construction. By preserving these initially isolated buildings, China can claim that it is merely expanding its earlier facilities, similar to what other countries have done elsewhere in the region.

China continues to expand islands at two locations, Mischief Reef and Subi Reef. It is unclear what structures will be built on the islands, though each will have straight portions long enough for airfields.






Edited by Hong Nam, Jul 31 2015, 10:58 PM.

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MSantor
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China suspected of getting ready to build new runway in disputed sea

Kyodo News
Posted at 08/06/2015 7:03 PM | Updated as of 08/06/2015 11:14 PM
WASHINGTON - The U.S. think tank Center for Strategic and International Studies said Wednesday that China may be getting ready to build a 3,000-meter runway on Subi Reef in the South China Sea (West Philippine Sea).

Based on satellite imagery released by DigitalGlobe, the CSIS said it would be China's second such runway in the South China Sea following one on Fiery Cross Reef that is nearly complete. Subi Reef and Fiery Cross Reef are part of the Spratly Islands.

Land reclamation on Subi Reef close to the Philippines has expanded to 3.95 million square meters, according to estimates by the think tank.

(...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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Reuters

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China's land reclamation in South China Sea grows: Pentagon report
Fri Aug 21, 2015 4:49am EDT

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - China has reclaimed more land in the disputed Spratly islands of the South China Sea than previously known, according to a new Pentagon report, which says Beijing is also completing construction of a runway on one of its seven man-made outposts.

Once the airstrip on Fiery Cross Reef is operational, China could potentially use it as an alternative runway for carrier-based planes, allowing the Chinese military to conduct "sustained operations" with aircraft carriers in the area, the report said.

China's sole aircraft carrier, a Soviet-era ship bought from Ukraine and refitted in China, has carried out exercises in the South China Sea but is not yet fully operational. Some experts believe China will deploy domestically built carriers by 2020 as part of plans to develop an ocean-going "blue water" navy.

(...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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Presence of floaters with Chinese markings alarms AFP

Chiara Zambrano, ABS-CBN News
Posted at 08/26/2015 4:16 PM
MANILA - The Armed Forces of the Philippines said it is concerned about the environmental impact and dangers posed by the set of metal pipes with large flotation devices washed ashore recently in La Union.


AFP spokesperson Colonel Restituto Padilla said such a large object floating at sea, bearing Chinese markings similar to those found in Iba, Zambales last month, puts the lives of Filipino fishermen and sailors at risk.

When asked where the AFP thinks the pipes came from, Padilla said the AFP is still studying the matter.

(...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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