Satellite images published this week confirm that China has almost completed the construction of a variety of military assets in the Philippine and Vietnamese South China Sea, assets that allow it to deploy fighter jets and missile launchers at a moment’s notice and provide it expanded surveillance capabilities.
Philippines President Rodrigo Duterte said “in jest” during a speech Thursday that he believed China was seeking to turn his country into “a province” of theirs, after condemning the United States for not doing enough to stop China from building artificial islands on Philippine territory in the South China Sea.
WASHINGTON – The Navy has made several requests to conduct operations that would challenge China’s territorial claims in the South China Sea, but the administration has not granted them, Breitbart News has learned.
The Philippines has threatened to protest the launch of a building project on the Scarborough Shoal, a land formation within the Philippines’ sovereign territory that also falls within China’s “nine-dash line,” a territorial claim struck down by an international tribunal.
Taiwan’s President Tsai Ing-wen announced Tuesday that she was approving a new plan for the island nation to build an indigenous submarine, following years of failing to get foreign nations to agree to sell submarines to the Taiwanese military for fear of upsetting the Chinese Communist Party.
The government of Taiwan is planning to request the purchase of new fighter aircraft from the United States, The Guardian reported, just as it completes the transfer of two decommissioned U.S. Navy frigates.
Contents: Taiwan says it must defend against increasingly threatening China; China responds harshly to Taiwan’s defense report; Taiwan’s government responds to China’s threats; China begins construction on Philippines’ Scarborough Shoal
A bill introduced by Senators Marco Rubio (R-FL) and Ben Cardin (D-MD) on Wednesday calls for sanctions against Chinese individuals and companies that participate in island-building projects across the disputed South China Sea region.
China finally got around to responding to Japan’s planned tour of the South China Sea with the helicopter carrier Izumo, its largest warship. The Chinese response was predictably unpleasant, as reported by Reuters.
Sources within the Japanese government revealed plans on Monday to send the Izumo helicopter carrier, the nation’s largest warship, on a three-month tour of the South China Sea.
Philippines President Rodrigo Duterte walked back concerns about China’s presence in an undisputed Philippine South China Sea territory on Monday, calling reports of tension “exaggerated” while demanding the navy “tell them straight that this is ours” by constructing new “structures” meant to ward off Chinese territorial challenges.
President Donald Trump will host the Chinese President Xi Jinping at his Mar-a-Lago estate, according to Mike Allen of Axios.
The government of Vietnam has condemned China for imposing a fishing ban over its territory in the Paracel Islands, a South China Sea archipelago that China illegally claims as its own.
Contents: Vietnam protests China’s fishing ban in the South China Sea; China’s fishing ban related to food security in times of war; North Korea fires four ballistic missiles into sea near Japan
The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), currently chaired by the Philippines, is aspiring to debut a new maritime code of conduct by June intended to diminish tensions between member nations and China in the South China Sea.
Numerous articles in Chinese state-controlled media are encouraging Chinese nationals to boycott the Lotte Group, a South Korean conglomerate that recently approved a land deal making the deployment of a new U.S. missile defense system in the country possible.
In an interview with Reuters on Thursday, President Donald Trump expressed frustration that the previous administration did not take stronger action against Pyongyang and that China refuses to bring its unruly client state to heel.
Contents: China preparing to install long-range missiles in South China Sea; China’s ASEAN neighbors express increasing anxiety over China’s illegal militarization
China is reportedly nearing completion on some two dozen structures that could house long-range missiles in the South China Sea.
China is considering modifications to its maritime law that would require foreign vessels to identify themselves to Beijing and would require submarines to travel above the surface. As China considers most of the South China Sea and some of the East China Sea as its own, the law would thus require Vietnamese, Philippine, and other vessels to report to China in their own domestic waters.
On Tuesday, China slammed the United States’ deployment of an aircraft carrier to conduct “routine operations” in the South China Sea earlier this week, calling it a pretense to undermine its sovereignty.
Bombing in Somalia kills 50, said to target Somali-American president; US aircraft carrier renews challenge to China in the South China Sea; US-backed Iraqi army launches major new offensive in western Mosul
The Chinese government bristled at reports suggesting the Trump administration is considering a new round of Freedom of Navigation operations (FONOPs) in the South China Sea, warning the United States not to “challenge China’s sovereignty” in territory international courts have found China has no claims to.
On Friday, the U.S. Pacific Command announced that one of its patrol aircraft had a “close encounter” with a Chinese plane over the South China Sea. The Pentagon initially classified the encounter as “unsafe” but later walked this judgment back.
A report published this week unveils significant Chinese development of military constructions and placement of new naval and aerial military assets in the Paracel Islands, a disputed territory in the South China Sea.
President Donald Trump sent a letter wishing his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping a happy Lunar New Year and extending his well-wishes to the Chinese people on the occasion of the Lantern Festival, the first one-on-one communication between the two world leaders.
Contents: China-Philippines détente unravels over Scarborough Shoal; Mainstream media frets over Steve Bannon, the Fourth Turning, and Donald Trump
The Chinese government sent three warships to sail within 12 nautical miles of Japan’s Senkaku Islands shortly after U.S. Secretary of Defense James Mattis concluded his visit to South Korea and Japan.
Secretary of Defense James Mattis concluded his visit to Japan this weekend with a glowing statement praising Tokyo as a “model of cost-sharing” on defense, while warning China that the United States will not hesitate to defend Japan’s East China Sea islands should Beijing make a move to colonize them.
A poll released Friday shows that over four in five Philippine nationals support confronting China over their colonization of Philippine territory in the South China Sea, just as the administration of President Rodrigo Duterte announced it would honor an agreement to expand America’s military footprint in the country.
The Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) has published a commentary assuring Chinese readers that it is investing in preparations for potential war with the United States, citing the threat of a more robust American international presence, particularly in the South China Sea.
The Chinese government has continued to protest the Trump administration’s repeated assurances it would oppose China’s ongoing colonization of international waters in the South China Sea, most recently challenging White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer for calling the waters in question “international territory.”
The Pentagon announced on Wednesday that Secretary of Defense James Mattis will visit Japan and South Korea in early February, on his first overseas trip since confirmation.
Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying responded to remarks from White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer on Monday suggesting the United States would not allow China to continue illegally occupying territory in the South China Sea with a warning: “Be cautious.”
After President-elect Donald Trump is sworn into office and Hillary Clinton supporters finally accept it, an important question will confront a divided America: Can a once-great nation recover the greatness it has surrendered?
Philippine Foreign Secretary Perfecto Yasay confirmed this week that Manila had sent Beijing a formal protest about the development of military infrastructure in the South China Sea, where China has invested heavily in colonizing sovereign Philippine territory.
According to the Associated Press, Chinese diplomats “say they aren’t overly worried by fiery rhetoric from Trump and his Cabinet picks, and that China won’t change its basic approach” to issues like the South China Sea.
The Chinese military engaged in multiple exercises near Japan, South Korea, and Taiwan this week, forcing all three nations to scramble jets while Beijing officials insisted the display of force was a “normal” event.
The Russian Navy is visiting the Philippines for “regional threat assessment drills,” as Russian state outlet Sputnik News puts it. While they are in town, the Russians are wooing the Filipinos with arms deals and crazy Kung Fu performances.
China’s only aircraft carrier, the Liaoning, has been roaming through the South China Sea with its battle group in tow, making other Pacific powers nervous, especially Taiwan and Japan.