The latest freedom of navigation patrol for the U.S. Navy in the South China Sea brought the destroyer USS John S. McCain to within 12 nautical miles of a Chinese artificial island off the Philippine coast on Thursday.
Singapore is scheduled to assume the rotating chairmanship of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations next year, and China wasted no time making it known that it expects Singapore to keep a lid on ASEAN discontent over Chinese adventures in the South China Sea.
Japan’s annual defense report is focused on the threat from North Korea, but it also has a good deal to say about China. Those two Japanese concerns converge in a live-fire exercise held by the Chinese Navy off the Korean coast this week, in which dozens of different types of missiles were tested, air intercepts were simulated, ground assaults were practiced, and submarines prowled the waters.
At the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) meeting this weekend, Australia and Japan joined the United States in calling for a legally binding “code of conduct” for the South China Sea. More to the point, they want an internationally-recognized legal barrier to China’s conduct in the region.
Contents: UK to send warships to South China Sea, as China’s neighbors militarize; South China Sea countries build larger navies, preparing for war with China
President Trump approved a Pentagon plan this year that will require regular challenges to China’s excessive maritime claims in the South China Sea, Breitbart News has learned.
President Trump has placed a high priority on rebuilding the U.S. military and allowing his commanders to make more calls. So far, in the administration’s first six months, successes have been piling up.
Contents: China bans Winnie The Pooh because Xi Jinping looks like him; Indonesia defies China and renames part of the South China Sea
Indonesia is attempting to change the name of a portion of the hotly disputed South China Sea that falls within its exclusive economic zone, christening it the “North Natuna Sea.”
Contents: China establishes its first foreign military base, in Djibouti; Russia, India, Japan prepare for war with China
The Chinese state-run People’s Daily newspaper reported Wednesday that the nation’s military will reduce its army to under one million troops in an effort to do away with “the old military structure.”
Since President Donald Trump took the oath of office in January, he has taken a series of actions and used diplomatic channels to put in place many of the China policies he spoke about on the campaign trail, including confronting the nation on trade, North Korea, the South China Sea, and human rights.
Even as China and India square off over unrest on their borders, the United States Navy held its largest joint maritime exercise with India and Japan in three decades, teaming the USS Nimitz battle group with India’s only aircraft carrier and Japan’s most powerful warships.
Contents: China and India have military confrontation over Bhutan’s Doklam plateau; Border tensions grow between China and India
The U.S. Air Force confirmed that two American bombers flew over disputed territories in the South China Sea on Friday, where China has illegally built numerous military facilities. China condemned the flight and demanded America stop “flaunting” its military assets in the region.
The U.S. Navy conducted its second freedom of navigation operations in the South China Sea this week in a challenge to China’s disputed claim to islands there.
Chinese President Xi Jinping praised the current period of China-Russia ties as the “best time in history” before his arrival in Moscow for a meeting with counterpart Vladimir Putin, following a phone call with American President Donald Trump in which Xi lamented “negative factors” affecting the bilateral relationship.
Contents: China builds illegal surface-to-air missile sites in South China Sea; Xi Jinping threatens Hong Kong pro-democracy protesters with ‘Red Line’
A report updated this week suggests that China has continued to build advanced military facilities on illegally-seized reefs and artificial islands in the South China Sea, as the anniversary of an international tribunal ruling against China on the matter nears.
Japan sent the Izumo-class helicopter carrier, the nation’s largest warship, into the South China Sea this week as part of an effort to strengthen ties with southeast Asian nations, angering the Chinese the government.
The U.S. military confirmed a military exercise by Air Force B-1B Lancer bombers over the South China Sea Thursday, a move that prompted Beijing, which illegally claims most of the sea, to remind Washington that it remains “vigilant” before U.S. exercises.
The Chinese Foreign Ministry has expressed its “firm opposition” to “irresponsible remarks” by Secretary of Defense James Mattis, who demanded at a security conference in Singapore this weekend that China cease its mission to colonize the entire South China Sea.
Defense Secretary James Mattis over the weekend assured nervous allies in the Asia Pacific that the U.S. military is committed to securing stability in the region, amid several rising threats.
Vice President Mike Pence delivered words of encouragement to the class of 2017 at the United States Naval Academy on Friday. He told them to look toward their future, to write a heroic story of service, selflessness, and leadership with their lives, and that President Donald Trump is the best friend the armed forces of the United States will ever have.
The Chinese government has condemned a U.S. Freedom of Navigation Operation (FONOP) conducted near the disputed Mischief Reef in the Spratly Islands, the first such operation under President Donald Trump.
On Thursday, Philippine Foreign Secretary Alan Peter Cayetano suggested the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) should reach a “gentlemen’s agreement” on South China Sea waterways because there is no legal authority to enforce a binding contract for navigation through the region.
The UK Daily Mail cites Chinese media reports that “anti-frogman” rocket launchers have been installed on a disputed South China Sea island to keep Vietnamese divers at bay.
Contents: Japan’s largest warship, the JS Izumo, will escort and defend a US supply ship; Japan moves from ‘self-defense’ to ‘collective self-defense’
Contents: Philippines President Duterte seeks to appease China at ASEAN meeting; The phrase ‘Code of Conduct’ is the new code word for appeasement
China launched a 50,000-ton aircraft carrier on Wednesday, its second carrier after the Soviet-built Liaoning, which China purchased from Ukraine. The new ship represents a milestone because it is the first domestically constructed carrier for China.
On Saturday, two high-ranking Philippine officials visited the island of Pag-asa in the South China Sea, drawing a protest from China, which claims ownership of the entire region.
From the deck of the USS Ronald Reagan as it sat alongside Yokosuka Naval Base in Japan, Vice President Mike Pence commended military troops with a message from the president, in the same speech bringing robust affirmation of the United States’ commitment to longtime ally Japan.
Philippines President Rodrigo Duterte shocked international observers last week with a call to occupy the uninhabited islands of the South China Sea before China colonized them, an apparent about-face from his months-long campaign to improve bilateral relations with China.
Contents: Japan to repopulate 148 remote islands, as confrontation with China looms; Taiwan and Japan try to settle their disputes peacefully
Contents: President Trump orders missile strikes on Bashar al-Assad’s Syria; Philippines president Duterte orders military to occupy South China Sea islands; Philippines sends warship to Benham Rise to protect from China
Former U.N. ambassador John Bolton discussed Chinese President Xi Jinping’s summit with President Donald Trump and the chemical weapons crisis in Syria with SiriusXM host Raheem Kassam on Thursday’s Breitbart News Daily.
On Friday’s Breitbart News Daily, presidential adviser Dr. Sebastian Gorka talked about Asia policy with SiriusXM host Alex Marlow, taking an especially firm stand against China’s effort to claim dominion over the entire South China Sea.
A Chinese Defense Ministry spokesman denied the existence of Chinese-made artificial islands in the South China Sea on Thursday, a bizarre development given the open construction of such islands and promotion of their newly-installed assets in Chinese media.
Former U.N. Ambassador John Bolton paid a visit to Breitbart News Daily with SiriusXM host Alex Marlow on Thursday to offer his thoughts on some top news items of the day.
Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte once again criticized the United States for not acting with sufficient boldness to keep China from usurping the Philippine waters of the South China Sea, questioning why Washington did not send an “armada” to the Spratly Islands.”
