Earlier this month, we reported that 275 Chinese fishing militia and Coast Guard vessels surrounded the island of Thitu in the South China Sea, which is currently being occupied by the Philippines. The US recently delivered a stern message to Beijing about its aggression in the highly disputed body of water, announcing that Chinese fishing militia and Coast Guard ships would be treated as military vessels.
Admiral John Richardson, head of the US Navy, described how he told, vice-admiral Shen Jinlon of the Chinese People’s Liberation Army Navy (PLAN), back in January, that the Trump administration would label the Coast Guard and the maritime militia as military vessels.
“I made it very clear that the US navy will not be coerced and will continue to conduct routine and lawful operations around the world, in order to protect the rights, freedoms and lawful uses of sea and airspace guaranteed to all,” Admiral Richardson told the Financial Times.
China’s Coast Guard has more than doubled its feet to over 130 ships in the last decade, making it the largest coast guard in the world. Beijing trains and provides financial subsidies to the maritime militia, an armed reserve force of civilians and fishing boats, has significantly increased in size since 2015.
In its last annual report on the PLAN, the Pentagon said the fleet “plays a major role in coercive activities to achieve China’s political goals without fighting.”
In 2H17 through 1H18, the maritime militia sailed through the East China Sea with commercial grade laser pointers — striking low-flying American warplanes with damaging beams of light.
China has more frequently deployed the maritime militia in the East and South China sea because the US Navy is likely not to respond to aggression from small fishing boats. But that seems to be coming to an end, as the latest warning from Admiral Richardson could provoke a hot conflict.
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What appears to be Beijing’s latest military flex in the South China Sea – the contested collection of shoals and reefs that plays a crucial role in global trade and also contains vast untapped gas reserves – has reportedly set off “alarm bells” in Manila, just as the Philippines and the US were preparing to begin a round of military drills. According to Bloomberg, Philippines personnel have lodged a complaint with a joint Chinese-Flippino commission created to resolve disputes in the region, after authorities counted a mass of 200 Chinese shipsaround the Thitu, the second-largest island in the Spratly Islands.
With a trade deal still in limbo, military tensions in the South China Sea have intensified as the US Navy has stepped up the pace of its “freedom of navigation” operations, while Beijing has stepped up its threatening rhetoric toward Taiwan and carried out more military drills.
A Philippines official said the ships appeared to be part of China’s sea militia. Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte’s spokesman Salvador Panelo said he would meet China’s ambassador and ask for an explanation for the bolstered presence, after the Philippine Foreign Affairs Department lodged its protest with the committee.
Philippine soldiers will continue their patrols in the disputed area, military chief General Benjamin Madrigal Jr. told reporters separately, adding that Chinese fishing vessels have repeatedly been spotted near the island. He urged a panel with representatives from both nations tasked with resolving South China Sea disputes to address Chinese presence in the area.
“This is a concern not only for the military, but for other agencies as well, including the Coast Guard. We are looking for ways to address this,” Madrigal told reporters on the sidelines of opening ceremonies for annual joint military drills between the Philippines and the U.S.
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After a 5.2 magnitude earthquake struck the Philippines, the Ring of Fire was put on alert. After dozens of earthquakes rocked Hawaii this month, followed by a volcanic eruption, many fear the Ring of Fire has become much more active, which has prompted scientists to warn California.
The recent and strong Philippines earthquake struck 113 miles from Davao, which is home to about 1.2 million people. No tsunami threat has been issued for the Philippines, however, which is made up of more than 7,500 islands. The lack of tsunami warning has slightly calmed the fears of those living in the vicinity of the quake, but those who reside near the Ring of Fire are on alert.
Hawaii’s Kilauea volcano, which could be set to unleash its biggest eruption yet in the coming week, along with the 5.2 magnitude earthquake in the Philippines has scientists looking more closely at the densely populated state of California. According to The Express UK, the Pacific Ring of Fire volcanoes are more explosive than the ones located in the island state of Hawaii. With Hawaii experiencing widespread devastation at the hands of the Kilauea volcano, geologists are now warning that California could be the next in line for an explosive eruption.
The California Volcano Observatory (CVO) revealed that seven of the state’s 19 volcanoes are at high threat, with a three of those at “very high” risk of imminent eruption. According to the CVO, these California volcanoes are more dangerous than Hawaiian volcanoes because they are blast volcanoes, which are more destructive. “
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The Philippines most active volcano, Mount Mayon, has been rumbling for days. Because of the volcano’s ongoing activity, the alert level has been raised to 4 and the danger zone around Mayon is now 5 miles in diameter.
A recent explosion has taken place at the volcano in the Philippines as well, sending a huge plume of ash and steam into the sky. Authorities have since raised the alert level to four out of five, meaning a potentially deadly major eruption is possible within days. The Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (Phivolcs) raised its alert on Mayon to level 4, signifying a hazardous eruption is imminent, from level 3, which warns that such an eruption could be “weeks or even days” away. “We strongly advise all people, both residents, and tourists, to avoid the danger zone, and airlines to avoid flying near the volcano summit,” agency chief Renato Solidum said in a public news conference.
PHIVOLCS reported “increased seismic unrest, lava fountaining, and summit explosions” in the area and Solidum warned of two possible scenarios in the press conference on Monday: continuous lava eruptions, or a more dangerous pyroclastic flow. (A pyroclastic flow is a mix of hot lava blocks, pumice, ash, and volcanic gas that moves at high speed down the slope of a volcano while typically following valleys, according to the United States Geological Survey.)
Solidum said this eruption was a possible “smaller version [of the] 2001 eruption,” which had pyroclastic flow. Solidum said the agency had recorded increased seismic activity and “lava fountaining and a summit explosion” from Sunday night, indicating more explosions could be ahead, including a hazardous eruption. A level 5 would signify that a violent and possible deadly eruption is underway.
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(ANTIMEDIA) — New legislation that would make enthusiastic singing of the national anthem mandatory in the Philippines has been approved by the Philippine House of Representatives. The act, known as the “Revised Flag and Heraldic Code” is a revision of an existing bill that will require all persons to stand, salute, and sing when the national anthem is played at a public event. “The singing shall be mandatory and done with fervor,” it states.
The legislation provides the official lyrics and music for the Lupang Hinirang, specifies a tempo of 100-120 beats per minute, and demands a proper salute from the first note of the song to the last. Also outlined are a number of other strict guidelines regarding flag code, the national motto, and the display of other emblems. In addition, the school system is required to make memorization of the anthem compulsory for all students.
Those who violate any of the rules or regulations outlined in the act will be issued a warning before being publicly shamed in a “newspaper of general circulation,”and it will be left to the discretion of the court to impose either a fine of 50,000-100,000 pesos ($2,800-$5,590) or no more than one year in prison — or both. The bill stipulates that both fine and imprisonment will be mandatory for repeat offenders. “Any act which casts contempt, dishonour or ridicule upon the national anthem shall be penalized,” the bill says.
“The national anthem embodies and expresses the aspirations, dreams, ideals, longings, commitment and determination, nationalism and patriotism, sentiment and spirit of the people,” said Maximo Rodriguez Jr., one of the authors of the bill.
The legislation has been sent to the Philippine Senate for approval.
As an arbitration court in The Hague gets ready to make a decision regarding an ongoing territorial dispute between China and the Philippines, China has reportedly told some other Asian countries that it may leave the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea if it disagrees with the ruling.
The Philippines has been the most vocal critic of China’s activities in the South China Sea, and filed a case with the Permanent Court of Arbitration in The Hague in 2013 in an attempt to invalidate China’s “nine-dash line”, China’s version of what territory it owns.
Here is a map showing different maritime claims each country has, many overlap each other.
Zoomed version
China believes the worst outcome would be for the tribunal to rule that Beijing’s claim over the sea has no international legal grounds, and invalidates its line.
China thinks the worst outcome would be for the tribunal, constituted by the 1982 convention, or UNCLOS, to rule that Beijing’s claim of “historic rights” over the sea has no international legal grounds and invalidate its expansive line, according to the sources.
China has told some diplomats of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations that it does not rule out withdrawing from the convention, often referred to as the constitution of the oceans, if that happens, the sources said.
Many experts believe that the ruling will not be favorable for China, which also has territorial disputes in the South China Sea with three other members of the 10-member association, namely Vietnam, Malaysia and Brunei.
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The shift in demographic and economic weight from Europe to East Asia has intensified over the past 20 years, which makes East Asia and its coastal areas increasingly important – a critical shift in current and future international relations dynamics underscored by the United States’ (US) “Pivot to Asia” or East Asian foreign policy of the Obama administration. Four Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) members, plus China/Taiwan either partially or fully claim sovereignty over the South China Sea and its territorial features: islands, reefs, and atolls. Given the importance of the South China Sea’s islands and sub-soils, we seek to assess whether a Chinese policy towards the South China Sea’s territorial disputes endangers regional stability and cooperation.
Economic and Strategic Importance of the Spratly Islands
China’s extensive borders, surrounded by sea and a rich diversity of neighbors, from large Russia, unstable Afghanistan, to maritime neighbors such as the Philippines, South Korea, and Japan, presents a host of security challenges. The South China Sea forms part of the complexity of China’s border security challenges. The following claimants surround the South China Sea: China, Taiwan, Vietnam, Malaysia, Brunei, and the Philippines. Territorial disputes contribute to regional volatility. The Sea is considered a flashpoint for conflict in the Asia Pacific Region. There are two groups of islands in the South China Sea: the Paracel and Spratly Islands. China, Taiwan, and Vietnam claim all of the Paracel and Spartly Islands, while Malaysia, the Philippines, and Brunei only claim parts of the Spratlys. Claims put forward by China, Taiwan, and Vietnam are historically based, whereas claims made by Malaysia and Brunei are based on the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLoS), the proximity principle, and the continental shelf principle. The Philippines’ claim is based on proclaimed discovery of unclaimed islands in 1956.
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Whereas over the past year, ever since the outbreak of the hostilities over the fate of Ukraine following the Victoria Nuland orchestrated presidential coup, relations between Russia and NATO have devolved to a Cold War 2.0 state as manifested by countless interceptions of Russian warplanes by NATO jets and vice versa as depicted in the following infographic…
… at least China was mercifully allowed to stay out of the fray between the Cold War enemies.
This all changed this month when first the Pentagon’s annual report to Congress this month cast China as a threat to regional and international peace and stability, followed several weeks ago when, with China aggressively encroaching into territories in the South China Sea claimed by US allies in the region such as Philippines, Vietnam and Japan, the US decided to get involved in yet another regional spat that does not directly involve it, and started making loud noises about China’s territorial expansion over the commodity-reach area.
China promptly relatiated by threatening a US spy plane during a routine overflight, while immediately thereafter the US retaliated at China’s escalation, and warned that building sea “sandcastles” could “lead to conflict.”
Far from shutting China up, earlier today China said it had lodged a complaint with the United States over a U.S. spy plane that flew over parts of the disputed South China Sea in a diplomatic row that has fuelled tension between the world’s two largest economies.
Quoted by Reuters, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying said on Monday China had lodged a complaint and that it opposed “provocative behaviour” by the United States.
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The South China Sea remains at the epicenter of one of the most volatile maritime areas in the world, with little or no agreement on sovereignty claims to the ownership of atolls, submerged banks, islands, reefs and rocks. Yet South China Sea fishermen, marine biologists, and policy shapers agree that without an end to unsustainable fishing practices and urgent adoption of environmental protection measures, a catastrophic marine biodiversity and fishery collapse is imminent.
Beijing’s accelerated land reclamation over these specks of rock in the roiling sea is increasing friction among other claimants like Vietnam and the Philippines. Moreover, the Chinese-directed Spratly Island building expansion on the Johnson, Cuarteron, and Gaven reefs wrecks rich fishing grounds and valuable coral reefs in the archipelago.
The daily dumping of landfill with sand dug from nearby reefs by Chinese laborers, “upsets the marine ecology of the region, completely destroying the formed coral reefs that are hundreds of millions years old. At the same time these actions destroy the habitat of many marine species. Protecting the marine ecological environment is a global issue and citizens all over the world are responsible for that,” claims Dr. Le Van Cuong, former director of the Institute for Strategy and Science and a recognized expert on the South China Sea.
Flashpoints continue in the Scarborough Shoals with critical potential at the Paracel Islands, (China occupied, Vietnam claimed). At this desolate rock formation of the Philippines’ exclusive economic zone (EEZ), Chinese vessels violently ram Filipino fishermen boats and illegally remove endangered giant clams.
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(Reuters) – A powerful, slow-moving typhoon ripped through the central Philippines on Sunday, bringing howling winds that flattened houses and toppled trees and power lines in areas still scarred from a deadly super-storm just over a year ago.
In the coastal villages of Dolores, on Samar island, where Typhoon Hagupit first made landfall on Saturday night, Mayor Emiliana Villacarillo said around 80 percent of homes were destroyed.
“Only the big houses were left standing,” said Villacarillo, adding floods also washed away rice crops in what is a key growing region.
Officials confirmed at least three people had died due to the typhoon, including a resident of Dolores town who was killed by a falling coconut tree.
“The devastation in homes is huge because of the strong winds,” Interior Secretary Manuel Roxas told local radio DzBB from Samar. “Many people voluntarily returned to evacuation centers tonight, even more than those who fled to centers last night, because they do not have homes anymore.”
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Olduvai IV: Courage
Click on image to read excerpts
