Contents: China displays belligerence, militarism in WW II victory parade; China’s weaponry highlighted by the anti-American ‘carrier killer’; Many world leaders snub China’s WW II victory parade; China sends warships to Bering Sea off the coast of Alaska; China rewrites history of WW II by giving credit to Mao instead of Chiang
China is attempting to strongarm the countries forming the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) not to discuss its aggressive expansion of control in the South China Sea, issuing statements arguing that the venue is “improper” for such a topic. The Philippines, Malaysia, and Singapore, all who object to China’s expansion, strongly disagree.
Chinese officials are trying to downplay accusations of aggression at the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) this Tuesday.
Philippine Supreme Court Senior Associate Justice Antonio Carpio announced this week that his court had sufficient evidence to conclude China had destroyed 17 reefs near the Spratly Islands in the South China Sea, and had begun work dredging ten other reefs to build artificial islands in international waters.
Contents: Kurds blame Erdogan for ISIS terrorist attack in southeastern Turkey; Philippines reinforces grounded ship to challenge China in South China Sea
The United States moved to reassure its jittery allies in the Asia-Pacific that it has enough firepower to maintain stability in the region that has seen increased Chinese muscle-flexing in recent years.
Japan is considering joining the United States on surveillance flights in the South China Sea, having already participated in one this week with the Philippines. The disputed waters, which China has claimed almost entirely as its own, have seen significant construction on its reefs by the communist power in the past year, angering its neighbors.
Chinese state media outlet the People’s Daily released a report this week claiming that artificial island construction and the usurpation of international waters in the South China Sea would improve “marine meteorological monitoring, warning, forecasting, prediction and scientific research,” and benefit all neighboring countries with claims in the region.
Following a bizarre statement that the “reclamation” of South China Sea areas historically not belonging to China is near completion, the Chinese government announced the passing of a new law which would require all private, civilian maritime vessels to be ready for military use “in cases of emergency.” Such a move converts civilian ships into military ships at any time.
Contents: China says it’s finished building artificial islands in South China Sea; China tests hypersonic missile designed to defeat American missile defenses; Greece’s bitter PM Tsipras hurls ultimatums and insults at IMF
The Chinese government announced in an official statement on Tuesday that it would “complete” the usurpation of Philippine, Vietnamese, and territory of other nations in the South China Sea “soon.” No timeline was given, nor were any geographic limits set to the expansion in the Spratly and Paracel Islands.
U.S. Defense Secretary Ash Carter met a top Chinese general on Thursday and repeated a U.S. call for a halt to land reclamation in the South China Sea while stressing that the Pentagon remained committed to expanding military contacts with China.
An Australian senator who made headlines this week by endorsing the massacre of peaceful protesters by the Chinese government in Tiananmen Square told an Australian media outlet today that he believes China has “valid” claims in the South China Sea, where Beijing has been slowly usurping large swaths of Vietnamese and Filipino waters.
Philippine President Benigno Aquino, in remarks made Wednesday at a public event, compared China’s incursions into Philippine and Vietnamese land in the South China Sea to Nazi Germany’s push into the Sudetenland, calling for the United States to intervene and keep China out of their sovereign territory before it was too late.
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The United States has offered Vietnam $18 million for the purchase of American patrol boats, to be used in self-defense against looming threats from China to Vietnamese and Philippine vessels that dare navigate into the South China Sea. China has both increased its belligerent activity in the disputed region and trumped up calls to condemn its neighbors for “provocative” behavior near the Spratly Islands.
Philippine President Benigno Aquino is set to land in Japan on Tuesday following initial negotiations for new weapons trade deals and closer military ties. Observers see the move as a preventative measure in the face of China’s expanded efforts in disputed South China Sea territory to build military facilities and artificial islands, violating international law.
You may not have noticed, as ISIS expands its reach across Iraq and Russia fuels conflict in Ukraine, but the odds of an armed confrontation between the United States and China just dramatically increased.
Contents: Russia using mobile crematoriums to continue pretense about Ukraine; Russia’s economic crisis may force withdrawal from Ukraine; US-China military tensions get rapidly inflamed over South China Sea
Contents: Vietnam protests China’s fishing ban in the Gulf of Tonkin; China says war with US in South China Sea is inevitable; China’s military using jamming against US drones in South China Sea; China’s media describes ‘bottom line’ for war with US
Tensions are rising in the South China Sea as American officials have become increasingly vocal regarding their opposition to China’s development of islands over which Vietnam and the Philippines contend China has no sovereignty. In a scathing opinion piece in state media Friday, China has responded by telling American officials to stay out of Asian affairs.
Contents: Indonesia and Malaysia back down and accept stranded Rohingya migrants; Iran backs down and allows inspection of aid ship to Yemen;
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Multiple reports indicate that American military officials are considering sending forces to monitor disputed areas of the South China Sea in an attempt, as Reuters describes it, to “assert freedom of navigation around rapidly growing Chinese-made artificial islands.” The reports arrive less than one week before Secretary of State John Kerry is scheduled to meet with Chinese leadership in Beijing.
International Business Times reports that Abdul Basit Usman, said to be “one of the most wanted Islamist terrorists in the Philippines,” has been killed by one of his bodyguards for a million-dollar bounty from the U.S. State Department.
