A new slant on RIMPAC Naval politics/The Fight To Control The South China Sea

[Onkel Neal]

The video that accompanies the article tells it all


How long until somene gets killed over this BS?

[Onkel Neal]

http://foxtrotalpha.jalopnik.com/loo...out-1691571576

The reality is that under the UN's Law and Sea Convention, an island, even a small one, gets 12 nautical miles out to sea of territory to call its own and another 200 miles in any direction of mineral and fishing rights. You can imagine that if China has a string of these reefs-turned-sea-base-islands, they can claim a continuous swath of control ranging over hundreds of miles. With proven oil reserves measured in the billions of barrels and trillions of cubic feat of natural gas, China's man-made island chain also could end up greatly offsetting its ferocious appetite for energy, the vast amount of which the Chinese are relegated to importing.

[Jimbuna]

Originally Posted by Neal Stevens

The video that accompanies the article tells it all


How long until somene gets killed over this BS?

My thoughts exactly....the closer to their homeland meaning their boldness will become greater.

This area will fast become a no-fly zone at this rate and it was quite concerning to learn that civilian flightpaths are practically right above them.

[Onkel Neal]

The Fight To Control The South China Sea


Plus, threads merged, thanks Aktung.

[Aktungbby]

An aerial photo taken though a glass window of a Philippine military plane shows the alleged on-going land reclamation by China on mischief reef in the Spratly Islands in the South China Sea, west of Palawan, Philippines, May 11, 2015.
"The U.S., which said that the man-made islands cannot be recognized as sovereign Chinese territory, may be expecting that any possible deployments of military units in the region would impact the Chinese aggression. However, the move could also backfire if China decides to double down its efforts in defiance of the U.S., the Journal reported.
“The risk of this is that China may use such deployments as a reason to try to challenge or confront U.S. forces,” Rory Medcalf, head of the National Security College at the Australian National University, told Reuters.
Meanwhile, Chinese embassy spokesman Zhu Haiquan told Reuters that China had “indisputable sovereignty” over the Spratly Islands, and that the country’s construction in the area was “reasonable, justified and lawful.”
China has expanded the artificial islands in the Spratly Islands to 2,000 acres of land, which is significantly up from 500 acres last year, according to a February estimate by experts who studied the images released by IHS Jane’s, a defense intelligence provider." http://www.ibtimes.com/us-military-mulls-sending-planes-navy-ships-counter-chinese-expansion-south-china-sea-1919959 It is well past time to forge a pact with Viet-Nam, Japan, Brunei and Malaysia and put an extremely forceful halt to this expansion.

[Onkel Neal]

China’s Military Blueprint: Bigger Navy, Bigger Global Role

China laid out its military strategy in its first-ever defense white paper, promising not to hit first, but vowing to strike back hard if attacked in a world full of what it sees as potential threats.

The paper, released by China’s State Council, the chief administrative body of the Chinese government, is especially noteworthy at a time of heightened tensions with the United States over China’s aggressive behavior in disputed areas of the South China Sea. On Monday, Chinese state media spoke of war with the United States as “inevitable” if the United States keeps pressing Beijing on its illegal activities; in the United States, meanwhile, the consensus over accommodating China’s rise seems to have given way to a more hawkish stance on the need to contain the rising Asian giant.

China’s new white paper provides plenty of points of continuity with past strategies, especially with Mao Zedong’s doctrine of “active defense,” known in the United States as the Billy Martin school of conflict management. (“I never threw the first punch; I threw the second four.”)

[mapuc]

Yesterday in the Danish news paper, I read this
"Make no mistake about it: the United States will fly, sail and operate wherever international law admits it"
Said by the Minister of defense Ash Carter

It was about this growing tension between USA and China.

Markus

[Onkel Neal]

Yeah, this has the potential to be B.A.D.

China isn't putting all that money and effort into those islands to be told no.

Building of Islands Is Debated, but China and U.S. Skirt Conflict at Talks
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/05/31/wo...alks.html?_r=0

It was an unexpectedly direct exchange: With nearly every significant Asian defense official gathered in a single room, a senior Chinese military officer on Saturday defended his country’s island-building spree in the South China Sea and rebuked Defense Secretary Ashton B. Carter for saying it threatened the region’s stability.

If anything, “the region has been peaceful and stable just because of China’s great restraint,” said Senior Col. Zhou Bo, the Chinese officer.