South China Sea Forum

[samsara]

China takes another jab at US in war of words over South China Sea

Advisory body spokesman bats away US criticism of China’s construction activities in contested waters, insisting they’re essential

By Jun Mai - South China Morning Post
PUBLISHED : Thursday, 02 March, 2017, 11:30pm
UPDATED : Friday, 03 March, 2017, 8:58am

A senior Chinese politician defended Beijing’s right to build facilities on artificial islands in the South China Sea in comments that were seen as a veiled attack on the United States.

The remarks on Thursday by Wang Guoqing, spokesman for the country’s top political advisory body, came after a US aircraft carrier group was sent to the disputed waters, and the PLA Navy staged combat exercises in the Western Pacific.

China and the US have waged a bitter war of words over maritime issues, with Washington accusing Beijing of militarising and obstructing freedom of navigation in the waters through its construction activities.

But without naming any particular nation, Wang dismissed such criticism as “much ado about nothing”.

“Though peace reigns over the land, the stupid people create trouble for themselves,” Wang said before the opening of the annual session of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference.

“As the world’s largest trader and the country with the most coastline along the South China Sea, we care about the safety and freedom of navigation more than any other country,” he said, adding that the facilities China had built were necessary for defence and had contributed to navigational safety and rescue efforts.

Tough questions, straight answers: China’s top diplomat on the South China Sea, North Korea, Japan, the US and more

The US Carl Vinson aircraft carrier strike group was reportedly patrolling in the waters last week. And yesterday, a number of PLA Navy bombers, jet fighters and early warning aircraft flew east through international airspace above the Miyako Strait near Japan’s Okinawa Island, conducting exercises with a Chinese naval fleet in the area, Xinhua reported.

China has stepped up its naval presence in the Western Pacific, with the Liaoning aircraft carrier passing through the Miyako Strait last year before going through the Bashi Channel between Taiwan and the Philippines.

China had nearly finished building almost two dozen structures on artificial islands in the South China Sea that appeared designed to house long-range surface-to-air missiles, US officials said last week. Analysts say the US presence in the waters will be strengthened after US President Donald Trump’s pledge to increase the defence budget.

China finishing buildings that may house missiles in South China Sea, say US officials

Teng Jianqun, from the China Institute of International Studies, said China and the US were in a “dilemma” over the South China Sea.

“I don’t think the US will compromise on freedom of navigation in the South China Sea, while China is trying to become a maritime power,” he said.

Wang also said China still had one of the world’s fastest rates of economic growth, with gross domestic product expanding by 6.7 per cent last year despite the global economic downturn.

“We definitely have reason to believe that China will remain the strongest engine in the world’s economy in the new year,” he said.

Additional reporting by Liu Zhen and Kristin Huang

http://www.scmp.com/news/china/poli...kes-another-jab-us-war-words-over-south-china

 

[cochine]

Last update 06:30 | 12/01/2017

New old map reinforces VN sovereignty over Hoang Sa
VietNamNet Bridge – Museums usually hold a fair share of historical treasures, but the Hoang Sa Museum being built in Da Nang City, has received one that is particularly priceless.

Students of Da Nang join a field tour to study the history of the Hoang Sa (Paracels) and Truong Sa (Spratly) Archipelagos at the city’s Museum. Photos: Cong Thanh/ VNS

An American-Vietnamese collector, Tran Thang, has donated to the Hoang Sa (Paracel) Island District the Pattie De La Conchinchine, an 1827 map printed in the six-volume World Atlas (Atlas universel) by Belgium cartographer Phillippe Vandermaelen (1795-1869).

The map, 1.2m wide and 0.85m high, is one of the most detailed maps indicating clearly Viet Nam’s sovereignty over the Hoang Sa (Paracels) Islands. The map is part of many that Thang has collected in Europe and the US since 2012.

The map, drawn by Philippe Vandermaelen, founder of the Belgium Royal Geographical Society, indicates that the central coast of Viet Nam stretched from the 12th parallel (in the area of what is Khanh Hoa Province now, to the 16th parallel (Quang Nam Province now).

The names used in the map are Bink-Knag, or Nhia Trang (Nha Trang City), and Champella (Cu Lao Cham or Cham Island).

The map also shows Hoang Sa (Paracels) Islands offshore between the 14th and 17th latitudes, and from the 109th to 113th longitudes.

The Hoang Sa (Paracels) Islands have been drawn in great detail accuracy, including Pattles, Duncan in the west; Tree and Lincoln, Bocher au dessas de l’eau in the east and Triton in the southwest near the 16th parallel, Investigateur in the south in the 14.5 parallel, and marking of a sea area 5m-10m deep to Quin Hone (Quy Nhon City in Binh Dinh Province now) in the 14th parallel.

“I’ve spent a lot of time collecting old maps that state or identify Viet Nam’s sovereignty over the Hoang Sa (Paracels) and Truong Sa (Spratly) Archipelagos. I wish to contribute more documents to the Hoang Sa Museum in Da Nang City,” Thang said.

“I have collected and donated 150 old maps, of which 80 Chinese maps indicate the frontier of Southern China is Hainan Island, and 50 indicate that the Paracels Archipelago belongs to Viet Nam,” Thang said.

Thang said the Pattie De La Conchinchine was a rare map printed early in the 19th century in great precision, using western written names of the islands in the Hoang Sa Archipelago.

He said Conchinchine, a name used to indicate the central region of Annam (a French protectorate encompassing the central region of Viet Nam), was part of Annam, and Hoang Sa (Paracels) was under sovereignty of Viet Nam at least from 19th century onwards.

Thang, who is president of the Institute for Vietnamese Culture and Education (IVCE) in the US, said the 1827-printed Pattie De La Conchinchine also identified coastal islands of Cham Collac ou Champella (or Cu Lao Cham, or Cham Island off the coast of Hoi An City), and P.Canton ou Cacitam (Cu Lao Re, or Ly Son Island off the coast of Quang Ngai Province).

Vo Ngoc Dong, Chairman of the Hoang Sa (Paracels) Island District, said the map was a highly precious document for Hoang Sa Archipelago.

“It’s a treasure for the Hoang Sa Islands. The map will enrich the store of documents and artifacts related to history of Hoang Sa Islands, and facilitate further studies on Viet Nam’s islands,” Dong said.

Over three years (2012-2014), Thang had collected 150 old maps published between 1826 and 1980 in England, America, France, Germany and Scotland from antique shops in the US, England and Poland.

Among the maps and atlases donated to the Da Nang Museum are two Postal Atlas Maps of China published by the Directorate General of Posts, Ministry of Transportation of the Republic of China in 1919 (consisting of 49 maps), in 1933 (29 maps) and one Atlas of the Chinese Empire, published by the China Inland Mission in 1909 (23 maps).

None of these three volumes list the Paracels and Spratlys in the maps and index pages.

Tran Duc Anh Son, deputy director of the Da Nang-based Institute for Socio-Economic Development (ISED), said the collection of old maps was significant evidence that the two archipelagoes belonged to Viet Nam.

"We can classify that the collection comprises three kinds of maps: 68 old maps of China showing that China did not have the Paracel and Spratlys islands; six maps that indicate those islands belong to Viet Nam; five maps of the Southeast Asian region that show Paracel and Spratly archipelagoes under Vietnamese sovereignty," Son said.

He said the map collection had been displayed during the ‘Sea and Islands Week’ held nationwide last year.

The original Pattie De La Conchinchine.

Tran Thang (L) donates an 1827-printed map, Pattie De La Conchinchine, drawn by Belgium cartographer Phillippe Vandermaelen (1795-1869), to the Hoang Sa District’s People’s committee yesterday.

Ly Son Island, 30km offshore from Quang Ngai Province, still preserves the Am Linh Pagoda, a place of worship for seamen dispatched to the Paracel Islands since the 17th century during the reign of the Nguyen Dynasty.

A museum of the two archipelagoes displays over 200 ancient documents and 100 objects proving that the Paracel and Spratly archipelagoes belong to Viet Nam.

In 2015, Da Nang presented a Certificate of Merit to Tran Thang for his donation of a 150 map collection. Last year, at a conference on Conflict in the South China Sea (called East Sea by Viet Nam) at the Yale University in Connecticut, the US, Thang also displayed a collection of 40 ancient maps indicating the Hoang Sa (Paracel) Islands belong to Viet Nam.

The Hoang Sa Museum, under construction on the Da Nang coast, stores collections of maps, documents, photos and objects on the Hoang Sa and Truong Sa archipelagoes.

In its adjusted urban master plan until 2030 with a vision until 2050, the city will develop the Hoang Sa (Paracel) Archipelago on 30,500ha.

The history of Da Nang and its relationship with the Hoang Sa (Paracel) Archipelago was introduced into secondary and high school textbooks last year.

 

[samsara]

Vessel embarks on maiden voyage to the Xisha Islands 西沙群岛

SCMP, 2017-03-03

New Chinese cruise ship to serve Xisha Islands 西沙群岛 in the South China Sea

A new Chinese cruise ship has embarked on its maiden voyage to the Xisha Islands 西沙群岛 in the South China Sea, the Xinhua said on Friday. The Changle Gongzhu, or Changle Princess sailed from Sanya on the southern Chinese island province of Hainan on Thursday afternoon with 308 passengers on a four-day voyage, Xinhua said.

The new ship can carry 499 people and has 82 guest rooms with dining, entertainment, shopping, medical and postal services on board, it added. Tourists will be able to visit the following three islands of the Xisha Islands 西沙群岛: Yinyu 银屿岛, Quanfu 全富岛 and Yagong 鸭公岛.

China has previously said it plans to build hotels, villas and shops on the islands and has also stated that it wants to build Maldives-style resorts around the South China Sea. The first cruises from China to the Xisha Islands 西沙群岛 were launched by Hainan Strait Shipping Co in 2013.

---------------------------

I wish one day in not too distant future foreigners can have sightseeing too in those South China Sea's better versions of the Maldives island... For once China builds it will definitely build the better versions... it has every needed resource to independently turn the harsh islands/islets/atolls into the new paradises of Nanhai!

 

[cochine]

PH officials, US envoy visit supercarrier operating in West Philippine Sea

March 4, 2017 Joel Dizon Nation 0

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Philippine government officials with United States Ambassador to the Philippines Sung Kim were transported by 2 US Navy C-2 Greyhound aircraft to nuclear-powered Nimitz-class supercarrier USS Carl Vinson (CVN 70) which is currently operating in West Philippine Sea, ABS-CBN News said in a report releasing an exclusive video. ABS-CBN News joined the said visit to US supercarrier.


The Philippine government officials include Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana, Finance Secretary Carlos Dominguez and Justice Secretary Vitaliano Aguirre II together with three other security officials.

United States Carl Vinson Carrier Strike Group (CSG 1), with lead-ship USS Carl Vinson (CVN 70), started routine patrol operations in the West Philippine Sea and entire South China Sea, February 18.

The carrier strike group departed Naval Base San Diego in San Diego, California January 5 for a “regularly scheduled deployment” to the western Pacific.




“Prior to their operations in the South China Sea, ships and aircraft from within the strike group conducted training off the islands of Hawaii and Guam to maintain and improve their readiness and develop cohesion as a strike group,” US Navy said.

“The strike group recently enjoyed a port visit to Guam and after departing the Marianas, conducted operations in the Philippine Sea,” it added.

While operating within US Navy 7th Fleets AOR, the Carrier Strike Group will remain to be under the command of US 3rd Fleet command and control. US 3rd Fleet is responsible for the eastern and northern Pacific ocean. Both 7th and 3rd Fleet are under United States Pacific Fleet.

http://www.update.ph/2017/03/ph-off...arrier-operating-in-west-philippine-sea/15146

 

[JSCh]

China to build another Hainan base, protect ecology around islands
(Global Times) 08:19, March 06, 2017

South China's Sansha, which administers several island groups in the South China Sea, including some disputed islets, is pushing to preserve the ecology and is building another base in Hainan to provide logistics support, the city's mayor said.

The Philippines, in its arbitral case against China over the disputed waters which ended last year, accused China of harming the maritime ecological system and environment in the South China Sea.

"The central government has approved an outline to protect the environment in Sansha, Xisha, Nansha and Zhongsha islands. The plan stresses ecological preservation, and is the focus of six projects, including the restoration of islands and reefs, coastline restoration, providing surveillance for the marine environment and foresting the islands," Xiao Jie, mayor and Party chief of Sansha, Hainan Province, said after the Hainan delegates met on Saturday in Beijing.

Xiao said environmental preservation in Sansha is part of China's long-term national interests in the region and how China protects its rights.

Sansha has pushed for the use of solar power and electric motorbikes on the islands, and uses rooftops to collect rainwater, Xiao added.

The city planted 2 million trees on the islands in 2016, and Xiao told the Global Times that the city is considering planting 1 million more trees this year.

The city is also planning to integrate military and civilian facilities. Xiao noted that many resources, including civilian buildings on the island, can be used by the military.

Meanwhile, Sansha is building a base on Mulan Bay harbor in Wenchang, Hainan Province to provide logistical support, maritime emergency rescue facilities and resource development in the region.

Mulan Bay harbor is a deepwater port 40 kilometers from Hainan's capital Haikou, China Ocean News reported. The harbor, once completed, would be able to greatly boost Sansha's transportation capabilities and provide maintenance services to ships traveling to and from Sansha.

The Qinglan port in Sanya, Hainan currently provides logistic services to Sansha.

 

[cochine]

Third Japan-made patrol vessel to officially enter Coast Guard service tomorrow

March 6, 2017 Ace dela Cruz Nation 0

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The Philippine Coast Guard will be commissioning the third Parola-class Multi-role Response Vessel (MRRV) built by Japan Marine United tomorrow, March 7. The commissioning ceremony will be held at Headquarters Philippine Coast Guard, Pier 15, South Harbor, Port Area, Manila.


The said vessel is BRP Malapascua (MRRV-4403). She is the third of 10 ordered 44-meter MRRVs from Japan Marine United.

House Speaker Pantaleon Alvarez will be attending as Guest of Honor and Speaker, the Coast Guard said. Department of Transportation Secretary Arthur Tugade will be attending as presiding officer.

BRP Tubbataha (MRRV-4401) and BRP Malabrigo (MRRV-4402), the first and second Parola-class vessels were commissioned to coast guard service, December 2016 and October 2016, respectively.

The Philippine government has ordered 10 vessels from Japan through the Maritime Safety Capability Improvement Project (MSCIP) Phase I. Deliveries are expected every quarter until completion of 10 units in 2018.

According to MCIP, will act as (1) “primary rescue vessels within the PCG District’s areas of responsibility (AOR) when the extent of the disaster is beyond the capability of floating assets deployed within the area.”

The MRRVs will also (2) assist in controlling oil pollution and protection of the marine environment. (3) These vessels will also enforce applicable maritime laws within the designated AOR, particularly relating to illegal fishing and sea patrol. The vessels will provide (4) service as platform for rapid response during relief operations in the area, and (5) transport of personnel and logistical support.
http://www.update.ph/2017/03/third-...ally-enter-coast-guard-service-tomorrow/15231

 

[TaiShang]

Intoxicating Xisha Islands scenery in China's South China Sea
(People's Daily Online) 16:17, March 06, 2017


Photo shows the picturesque scenery of the Xisha Islands in the South China Sea. The Xisha Islands are famous for their beaches and pristine ecosystem. (Chinanews.com/Hong Jianpeng)


Photo shows the picturesque scenery of the Xisha Islands in the South China Sea. The Xisha Islands are famous for their beaches and pristine ecosystem. (Chinanews.com/Hong Jianpeng)


Photo shows the picturesque scenery of the Xisha Islands in the South China Sea. The Xisha Islands are famous for their beaches and pristine ecosystem. (Chinanews.com/Hong Jianpeng)

 

[cochine]

First look at Vietnam’s newest stealth submarines
By Xuan Ngoc February 28, 2017 | 04:17 pm GMT+7
An official ceremony was held on Tuesday to show off the two latest Kilo-class attack submarines built by Russia.

HQ-187 Ba Ria-Vung Tau is the last in a series of six Kilo-class diesel-electric submarines that Vietnam ordered from Russia in a deal worth $2 billion. The submarine was delivered in January by the Dutch-registered vessel the Rolldock Storm.

HQ-186 Da Nang is the fifth in the pack, which arrived in Vietnam in February 2016, three years after the first was delivered.

The Kilo-class submarines are built with advanced stealth technology, extended combat range and modern navigation systems.

Each submarine, with space for 52 crew members, can operate at a maximum depth of 300 meters with a range of 9,600 kilometers over 45 days.

Vietnam’s Air Force joined the ceremony with an aerial display.

Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc waves as he joins government officials at the ceremony.

A similar ceremony was held in August 2015 to unveil two other submarines 184 Hai Phong and 185 Khanh Hoa. The first two submarines, 182 Hanoi and 183 Ho Chi Minh City, were presented in 2014.

Photos by VnExpress/Xuan Ngoc

 

[samsara]

Indonesia backs away from joint patrols with Australia in South China Sea

By Amanda Hodge - South East Asia correspondent, Jakarta, The Australian - 2017-03-07

The Indonesian government appears to have backed away from president Joko Widodo’s comments opening the door to joint patrols with Australia in the South China Sea, two weeks after the president made the remarks in an exclusive interview with The Australian .

It is the second time the Indonesian government has back pedaled on the issue of joint patrols with Australia, after its defence minister Ryamizard Ryacudu also flagged the possibility of joint “peace patrols” last October during discussions with Julie Bishop and Defence Minister Martine Payne, only for the foreign ministry to wind back his remarks.

Mr Ryamizard told reporters he had proposed a peace patrol with Australia in the South China Sea to “bring peace” and combat illegal fishing, and both Australian ministers more vaguely confirmed the discussions after their Bali meeting

During a 20-minute interview at the presidential palace a few days before Jokowi’s first state visit to Australia last month The Australian asked the president several questions on the South China Sea issue which flared again recently over hawkish remarks made by US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson that China could not be allowed access to its artificial islands there.

Mr Widodo demurred on questions over whether he was concerned about escalating tensions in the region under a Trump presidency.

But when asked directly whether there was a possibility of Australia and Indonesia conducting joint patrols together in the South China Sea, as his defence minister had raised four months earlier, Mr Widodo answered with considerable thoughtfulness.

Here is the full transcript of the question and Mr Widodo’s response.

“Just on the South China Sea and my last question on that. Your defence minister Ryamizard mentioned last year there was a possibility of Australia-Indonesia joint patrols. Is that something you foresee could be a possibility in the near future? Perhaps around the Natuna islands, Indonesia’s own territory?”

“Yea it depends,” Mr Widodo answers, before pausing for a full 30 seconds to formulate his answer.

“If there is …… If there is tension like last year, it’s difficult to decide this program. But if there is no tension I think it’s very important to have patrols together.”

When asked whether that would be something he would discuss with Mr Turnbull he replied: “Yea… I will discuss with PM Turnbull.”

The comments prompted some consternation in Jakarta, with the country’s major english speaking newspaper Jakarta Post citing the Institute for Defence Security and Peace Studies warning it could “cause confusion” and potentially raise tensions with China.

When asked about the issue yesterday Julie Bishop said her understanding was that Mr Widodo had been talking about coordinating efforts to ensure freedom of navigation in the South China Sea, a critical trade route, and “not joint patrols as such”.

“I have been told that he was talking about cooperating to ensure there was freedom of overflight and navigation,” she said.

But in Jakarta today for the Indian Ocean Rim Association leaders’ summit, Mr Turnbull gave a more nuanced answer.

“The discussions we have had - and I’m being very careful about this - firstly we are not going to take any actions which would increase tensions in the South China Sea.

“Everyone has a vested interest in reducing that. And we are certainly determined and agreed to work more closely together but that’s the limit of what I can say and that’s the limit of any discussions.

“It’s a question of further coordination and cooperation in terms of maritime security as referred to not least in the IORA Concorde today. Maritime security and the support of the blue economy.”

The nuance seems to lie not in whether the two nations are discussing greater cooperation on the South China Sea, but whether they are discussing coordinated” or “joint” exercises.

When asked last October to explain the difference Minister Ryamizard replied: “It’s a joint patrol or coordinated patrol, it’s the same thing.”

 

[samsara]

Is Beijing outflanking U.S. in South China Sea?

by Peter Apps - Japan Today, 2017-03-07

LONDON — For much of the last week, the U.S. aircraft carrier Carl Vinson has been patrolling the South China Sea. It is just the kind of display of Washington’s power and global reach that the U.S. Navy excels at – both to reassure allies and, in this case, send a message to potential foes.

How much longer Washington will be able to perform such operations unchallenged, however, is an increasingly open question.

Some military experts project that within a little more than a decade, China’s People’s Liberation Army Navy may have more warships than Washington under its command. Beijing’s military buildup is part of its strategy to dominate many disputed territories in the South China Sea – and push America back.

Retaining U.S. global military dominance is at the heart of President Donald Trump’s plan to up Pentagon spending by $54 billion, or roughly 9 percent. That alone, however, will not be enough to maintain Washington’s regional military edge. China’s own defense budget has increased by double digits almost every year for the last two decades – although it slowed slightly last year. More importantly, Beijing is also adopting a range of tactics to which Washington lacks a truly effective response.

While Washington’s approach in Asia has always been focused on its ability to move aircraft carriers through China’s backyard, Beijing has been doing everything it can to tilt the strategic balance against its possible foes. It’s a strategy that includes new weapons systems, considerable conventional naval expansion but also a host of other tactics including building naval bases, floating power stations and artificial islands.

Some current and former U.S. military officials believe it is a question of when, rather than if, a regional conflict takes place. What seems equally plausible is a decades-long – and perhaps largely bloodless – confrontation remaining just below the threshold of anything that might trigger actual war.

That may well be China’s plan.

It’s a game that Beijing has played in increasing earnest since 1995, when the Chinese military fired several missiles and conducted military maneuvers around Taiwan, which Beijing sees as a breakaway province. U.S. President Bill Clinton responded by sending two aircraft carriers to patrol the waters between Taiwan and mainland China, a move that Beijing’s military could do little to stop without sparking a war it knew it would not win.

Since then, China has focused on gaining the ability to keep U.S. forces – particularly aircraft carriers – out of its immediate neighborhood. Many analysts believe it now possesses enough weapons technology – submarines, missiles and strike aircraft in particular – that U.S. planners would be reluctant to risk their carriers that close to China’s coast again.

China is believed to have thousands of ballistic missiles aimed at the island, as well as naval weaponry to destroy nearby warships. Some experts believe Beijing might try to regain control of the island sometime in the next two decades.

Beijing’s next immediate goal appears to be expanding its military capability much further out – to a number of potentially energy-rich atolls and islands claimed by the Philippines, Vietnam and Malaysia.

No one has a strategy to stop the Chinese. At his confirmation hearings, new U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson raised eyebrows by suggesting U.S. forces might somehow deny China access to the disputed islands. That would almost certainly start a war, however, and the idea has not been mentioned since.

China has also become increasingly focused on acquiring the kind of high-level, high-value military assets that the United States has used against it in the past. China’s first aircraft carrier – a former Soviet vessel rebuilt – is becoming ever more effective, although it remains primarily used for training. In December, it conducted what appeared to be its first long-range patrol outside China’s coastal waters. China is also constructing its first domestically built carrier and reportedly working on another.

Such ships are important to Beijing’s international image – witness the attention Russia got through sending its only carrier to conduct airstrikes in Syria late last year. So are the ballistic missile submarines that – like Russia – Beijing is increasingly building, a stark reminder to any potential enemies of the cataclysmic consequences of outright war.

According to some estimates, over the next 10 to 15 years, China could build its fleet to a total of 500, including up to four aircraft carriers and 100 submarines as well as smaller but sophisticated corvettes, patrol boats and other combat craft. That compares to Trump’s planned expansion of the U.S. Navy to some 350 vessels, including a larger proportion of more powerful vessels, but spread across the entire world.

In sailing through the disputed waters of the South China Sea, the Carl Vinson has once again shown America’s military might. In the event of an actual war, however, it is far from clear how long such a massive vessel would survive before being sunk.

In any case, the Carl Vinson will be gone next week – although other forces will remain – and the Chinese will still be building.

 

[cochine]

1000 US MARINES, JAPANESE SOLDIERS CONDUCT MANEUVERS WITH EYE ON CHINA
Posted on March 7, 2017

US Marine Corps Photo.
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A combination of 1,000 Japanese and American service members in Marine joined the overall combat exercises which honor the hard work and cooperation of the Americans and Japanese that liberated both Osea and Isea.

Conducted annually since 2006, this year’s Iron Fist training began in early February in California and concluded Monday morning.

During the drills, the Japanese soldiers and American Marines blasted apart targets with mortars, artillery, rockets and tens of thousands of rounds of rifle and machine-gun fire.

Everyone takes orders from the Japanese commander when he’s the highest official in the room. When Marine Maj. Gen. David Coffman — deputy commander of the 1st Marine Expeditionary Force — arrived on the beach alongside Kaida a week later, they issued commands together as equals.

Throughout the past month, neither American nor Japanese commanders would reveal the identity of the fictional enemy they schemed to defeat. But defense analysts told the Union-Tribune that it obviously was China, a nation that asserts numerous territorial claims throughout the Western Pacific and South China Sea, including islands long held by Japan.

Osea is actually San Clemente Island, which is routinely pounded by Navy warships and planes for training purposes, and Isea is a fictional dollop of the sprawling Camp Pendleton that was demarcated just for Iron Fist.

http://tankler.com/1000-us-marinvcv...s-conduct-maneuvers-with-eye-on-chinacv-13213

 

[terranMarine]

The news is not even related to South China Sea , @kecho is so desperate posting US - JP military exercise to proof something?

 

[TaiShang]

Indonesia backs away from joint patrols with Australia in South China Sea

By Amanda Hodge - South East Asia correspondent, Jakarta, The Australian - 2017-03-07

The Indonesian government appears to have backed away from president Joko Widodo’s comments opening the door to joint patrols with Australia in the South China Sea, two weeks after the president made the remarks in an exclusive interview with The Australian .

It is the second time the Indonesian government has back pedaled on the issue of joint patrols with Australia, after its defence minister Ryamizard Ryacudu also flagged the possibility of joint “peace patrols” last October during discussions with Julie Bishop and Defence Minister Martine Payne, only for the foreign ministry to wind back his remarks.

Mr Ryamizard told reporters he had proposed a peace patrol with Australia in the South China Sea to “bring peace” and combat illegal fishing, and both Australian ministers more vaguely confirmed the discussions after their Bali meeting

During a 20-minute interview at the presidential palace a few days before Jokowi’s first state visit to Australia last month The Australian asked the president several questions on the South China Sea issue which flared again recently over hawkish remarks made by US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson that China could not be allowed access to its artificial islands there.

Mr Widodo demurred on questions over whether he was concerned about escalating tensions in the region under a Trump presidency.

But when asked directly whether there was a possibility of Australia and Indonesia conducting joint patrols together in the South China Sea, as his defence minister had raised four months earlier, Mr Widodo answered with considerable thoughtfulness.

Here is the full transcript of the question and Mr Widodo’s response.

“Just on the South China Sea and my last question on that. Your defence minister Ryamizard mentioned last year there was a possibility of Australia-Indonesia joint patrols. Is that something you foresee could be a possibility in the near future? Perhaps around the Natuna islands, Indonesia’s own territory?”

“Yea it depends,” Mr Widodo answers, before pausing for a full 30 seconds to formulate his answer.

“If there is …… If there is tension like last year, it’s difficult to decide this program. But if there is no tension I think it’s very important to have patrols together.”

When asked whether that would be something he would discuss with Mr Turnbull he replied: “Yea… I will discuss with PM Turnbull.”

The comments prompted some consternation in Jakarta, with the country’s major english speaking newspaper Jakarta Post citing the Institute for Defence Security and Peace Studies warning it could “cause confusion” and potentially raise tensions with China.

When asked about the issue yesterday Julie Bishop said her understanding was that Mr Widodo had been talking about coordinating efforts to ensure freedom of navigation in the South China Sea, a critical trade route, and “not joint patrols as such”.

“I have been told that he was talking about cooperating to ensure there was freedom of overflight and navigation,” she said.

But in Jakarta today for the Indian Ocean Rim Association leaders’ summit, Mr Turnbull gave a more nuanced answer.

“The discussions we have had - and I’m being very careful about this - firstly we are not going to take any actions which would increase tensions in the South China Sea.

“Everyone has a vested interest in reducing that. And we are certainly determined and agreed to work more closely together but that’s the limit of what I can say and that’s the limit of any discussions.

“It’s a question of further coordination and cooperation in terms of maritime security as referred to not least in the IORA Concorde today. Maritime security and the support of the blue economy.”

The nuance seems to lie not in whether the two nations are discussing greater cooperation on the South China Sea, but whether they are discussing coordinated” or “joint” exercises.

When asked last October to explain the difference Minister Ryamizard replied: “It’s a joint patrol or coordinated patrol, it’s the same thing.”

Vietnam needs to confront China alone, if it wishes to stir up troubles in the SCS. Nobody will risk their lives for them. Not the Indonesians. Not the Filipinos. Not even the USers who often seek meat shields for their own strategic goals.

If VCP catches Kecho, he/she will be seriously reprimanded for painting Vietnam in such an aggressive way.

 

[terranMarine]

Vietnam needs to confront China alone, if it wishes to stir up troubles in the SCS. Nobody will risk their lives for them. Not the Indonesians. Not the Filipinos. Not even the USers who often seek meat shields for their own strategic goals.

If VCP catches Kecho, he/she will be seriously reprimanded for painting Vietnam in such an aggressive way.

Perhaps we have to warn VCP about it don't we? @kecho is working nonstop posting news articles related to any US or JP military drills. You might think he has an agenda like promoting US or JP clashing with China. Someone here doesn't wish for a peaceful region at all. Vietnam stands alone, which is what we have been saying all this time. PH, Indon, Malay none of these countries are gonna escalate things with China especially on behalf of Vietnam.

This image is only the wet dream of Vietnam

This is the reality

 

[TaiShang]

Perhaps we have to warn VCP about it don't we? @kecho is working nonstop posting news articles related to any US or JP military drills. You might think he has an agenda like promoting US or JP clashing with China. Someone here doesn't wish for a peaceful region at all. Vietnam stands alone, which is what we have been saying all this time. PH, Indon, Malay none of these countries are gonna escalate things with China especially on behalf of Vietnam.

When it comes to sovereignty, there is no ASEAN unity. ASEAN does/cannot touch sovereignty issues. Besides, inside ASEAN, the Philippines probably blew up more Vietnam fishing boats in their claimed waters than Chinese boats.

So, in SCS, everybody is against everybody and China has been promoting a peaceful regional existence in which the US is kept in check. The message, although slowly, is getting through the leadership of several countries, including the Philippines, Malaysia, and now, as @samsara shared, Indonesia.

Vietnam is lonelier than it was in 2016. That's probably why the VCP is much more cautious and China does not want to give them a bad face at the moment.