This morning’s key headlines from GenerationalDynamics.com

U.S./Philippine joint naval exercises will challenge China’s claims


BRP Sierra Madre grounded in Ayungin Shoal (Chiangrai Times)

U.S. and Philippine warships will conduct a joint naval exercise nearislands in the South China Sea that have historically belonged to thePhilippines but which are claimed by China as havingAmerican and Filipino sailors and servicemen will take part in a jointnaval exercise in Ayungin Shoal (called Renai Reef by the Chinese)from June 27 to July 2. The exercises will include fire drills,maritime interdiction, ship boarding and seizure, and aerialsurveillance. The exercises were scheduled in 2010. 

Tensions have been rising because of a Philippine warship, the BRPSierra Madre, that was grounded on the shoal in 1999. China hasaccused the Filipinos of grounding the warship on purpose and hasbeen demanding for years that the Philippine navy remove the warship fromChina’s sovereign territory. Instead, the Filipinos stationed marineson the ship and have been regularly sending in supplies, which has angered the Chinese. The Chinese have imposed a “three-layered” naval defensearound the region to prevent Filipino fishermen from getting there.China Daily and Xinhua andPhilippines Star

China military strategy on trend to seize Ayungin from Philippines

China appears to be on the military path to seize the Ayungin Shoal /Renai Reef from the Philippines, following the military strategy thatwas stunningly successful last year in seizing the Scarborough Shoalfrom the Philippines. The Chinese sent a fleet of warships into theregion to challenge Filipino ships. At one point, the Philippine Navy had two ships facing off against 90 Chinese vessels. The UnitedStates brokered a negotiated settlement where both sides wouldwithdraw their vessels. The Philippines complied, but the Chinesereneged and instead took complete control of an island historicallythe territory of the Philippines. The United States expressed outrageat the Chinese subterfuge but took no other action. 

Chinese experts praised the operation as an adroit exercise of Chinesepower and are now encouraging the government to follow a similarstrategy to seize the Ayungin Shoal. They arecounting on the fact that the U.S. will, once again, take no actionexcept to express outrage. However, the Filipinos will not fall for asimilar subterfuge this time and there may be a militaryconfrontation, even though the Philippine navy is substantiallyinferior to the emerging blue-water Chinese navy. Jamestown and Chiangrai (Thailand) Times

Britain ends last line of defense against an interstellar alien invasion


Flying object photographed in 1981 in Vancouver (Reuters)

Britain has released the last of the government’s UFO files from theMinistry of Defense’s “UFO Desk,” which was closed in November 2009after 60 years in operation. The closure announcement resulted in aspurt of new UFO sighting reports, though not nearly as many as afterthe movie Close Encounters of the Third Kind reached movie theaters in1978. The decision to close the UFO Desk was made after defensesecretary Bob Ainsworth was told that in 50 years “no UFO sightingreported has ever revealed anything to suggest an extra-terrestrialpresence or military threat to the UK.” Irish Times and UK National Archives on UFOs 

Those who are interested in this subject may find it interesting toread my discussion on the existence of extraterrestrials in Chapter 7 – The Singularity of my unfinishedbook, “Generational Dynamics for Historians.” The following is abrief outline of the arguments in that chapter: 

Chapter 7 – The Singularity

KEYS: Generational Dynamics, China, Philippines, Ayungin Shoal,Renai Reef, South China Sea, BRP Sierra Madre,Scarborough Shoal, Britain, UFO Desk, Bob Ainsworth,Singularity 

Permanent web link to this article

Receive daily World View columns by e-mail