WASHINGTON, DC — China’s “massive effort to grow and modernize” the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) is “eroding” the United States’ “relative competitive military advantage” in the Indo-Pacific region, the top American commander in the area warned on Tuesday, stressing that Beijing’s communist leaders are sensing “weaknesses.”
China’s Foreign Ministry expressed “strong dissatisfaction” on Monday after two U.S. warships sailed within 12 nautical miles of the Spratly Islands in the South China Sea in a Freedom of Navigation Operation (FONOP).
General Li Zuocheng of China’s People’s Liberation Army (PLA) echoed the sentiments of Communist Party leader Xi Jinping in remarks Tuesday urging America not to retain ties to Taiwan and that any attempt to protect it from Chinese invasion would be met with military force.
The U.S. military’s chief of naval operations traveled to Beijing on Sunday for a four-day visit focused on “results-oriented, risk-reduction” talks between the Chinese and American armed forces amid the growing geopolitical and military rivalry between two nations, the United States Navy revealed in a statement Monday.
China responded to the latest U.S. Navy freedom of navigation patrol in the South China Sea by declaring it would “take necessary actions to protect state sovereignty” and touting its deployment of nuclear-capable ballistic missiles as a step toward doing so. Chinese state media pointedly described the missiles as “ship-killers.”
The destroyer USS McCampbell conducted a Freedom of Navigation Patrol (FONOP) on Monday that brought it within 12 nautical miles of the Paracel Islands in the South China Sea.
Contents: Britain may establish a military base in South China Sea after Brexit; US State Dept issues elevated travel warning for China
China’s Ministry of Natural Resources on Tuesday announced an initiative to repair damage to coral reefs inflicted by its dubiously legal development of disputed islands in the South China Sea’s Spratly chain.
Philippine Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana said on Friday his government will protect its interests in the South China Sea – or, as Manila prefers, the West Philippine Sea – despite Chinese aggression in the region, promising that Philippine ships would continue to patrol the area and troops will continue to be stationed in the Spratly Islands.
The government of Indonesia inaugurated a military base in the Natuna Islands on Tuesday, in the South China Sea and near disputed territory that China has increasingly colonized using the manufacture of artificial islands and illegal coast guard patrols.
The Japanese government announced on Tuesday that it will deploy aircraft carriers for the first time since World War II as part of a defense strategy that will involve purchasing a great deal of American military hardware, a course of action U.S. President Donald Trump has strongly urged.
China has flooded parts of the Philippines with “fishing vessels” that in reality serve as parts of a sprawling paramilitary intended to give Beijing control of the entire South China Sea, the Philippine Star reported on Monday.
China’s People’s Liberation Army (PLA) has greatly increased its presence in the Taiwan Strait, part of the greater South China Sea, in response to the growing number of freedom of navigation operations by the U.S. Navy, the South China Morning Post reported on Monday.
The Chinese state publication China Daily announced the beginning of construction on Wednesday of what it referred to as “a complex of facilities for research” on Hainan island in the South China Sea intended to conserve the “historical heritage in the South China Sea.”
Russia alarmed the world on Sunday by reportedly seizing Ukrainian vessels in the Sea of Azov, attacking Ukrainian assets and blocking some of its most important port cities through its illegal command of the Crimean peninsula.
Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte blocked the military from enforcing a 2016 ruling declaring China’s presence in Philippine waters illegal, the nation’s Defense Secretary told reporters on Friday.
The aircraft carrier USS Ronald Reagan and its battle group arrived in Hong Kong on Wednesday, a friendship visit widely interpreted as an easing of tensions between the U.S. and China just a few weeks after the Chinese refused to allow a U.S. warship to dock in Hong Kong.
A study published Tuesday revealed satellite photos of a “modest” new Chinese structure of unknown use in the Paracel Islands of the South China Sea, signs that China has continued to construct facilities in the region despite an international court ruling finding the development illegal.
A poll released Tuesday by the Philippine firm Social Weather Systems (SWS) found that 84 percent of respondents nationwide believed it was “not right” for President Rodrigo Duterte to refuse to challenge China over its ongoing colonization of Philippine territory in the South China Sea.
Philippines President Rodrigo Duterte signed 29 deals with Chinese Communist Party leader Xi Jinping on Tuesday during the latter’s visit to Manila that grant China greater access to Philippine territorial waters and bind the Philippines to China’s expansive Belt and Road infrastructure project.
On Tuesday, China’s president Xi Jinping visited Philippines president Rodrigo R. Duterte to sign 29 agreements. The agreements give China permission to drill for oil and gas in the Philippines territorial waters.
Chinese Communist Party leader Xi Jinping received a frigid welcome in the Philippines on Tuesday as hundreds of protesters circled the Chinese embassy in Manila and others took to attacking Xi on social media for launching a colonization campaign in Philippine territories of the South China Sea.
A group of over 100 Chinese tourists swarmed Yagong Island, in the disputed Paracel Island chain of the South China Sea, this weekend for a “flag-raising ceremony” to assert China’s sovereignty over the region.
Chinese Communist Party chief Xi Jinping declared in an opinion piece published Monday in Philippine media that the dispute about China’s colonization of the South China Sea is officially over. Xi is scheduled to arrive in Manila on Tuesday.
The Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit (APEC) concluded on Sunday without issuing a joint statement for the first time in the organization’s 25-year history.
Contents: APEC meeting ends in disarry after harsh US-China disagreements; Aggressive behavior of China’s officials raises concerns about security
Chinese officials warned on Monday that Vice President Mike Pence could destabilize the South China Sea by appearing at this week’s meetings of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) forum.
National Security Advisor John Bolton warned the Chinese government Tuesday that Washington would sternly oppose any attempts to block free transit in the international waters of the South China Sea, anticipating Beijing proposing a “code of conduct” in the region to grant it control of territory far outside its borders.
Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and Defense Secretary Jim Mattis met with their Chinese counterparts Friday at the State Department.
The governments of Vietnam and the Philippines diverged significantly in their reactions to news that China has begun operating weather stations on their territory in the South China Sea. Vietnam released an outraged statement condemning China on Thursday, while Manila refused to condemn without “proof.”
