Tag: economic security

Philippines’ Aggressive Territorial Claims In South China Sea: A New Threat to Regional Stability

Tina Marie (Ms. Cat)

Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. has appointed a new Navy chief (Rear Admiral Jose Ma. Ambrosio Ezpeleta) amid tensions in the South China Sea, which include a number of maritime drills which are perceived as provocations by Beijing. One such military exercise earlier this month, for instance, included drills to simulate seizing an island in the disputed South China Sea. Last month Manila held military exercises in the same Sea together with Canada, Japan, and the United States, as part of Exercise Sama Sama 2024. The Philippines are also officially expanding their maritime claims. These developments are all connected.

Philippines’ Aggressive Territorial Claims In South China Sea: A New Threat to Regional Stability (archived)

Related:

What’s Really Going On In the South China Sea Between the Philippines and China

South China Sea: Marcos inks laws on PH Maritime Zones, Archipelagic Sea Lanes + Responses of China and the United States

Tina Marie (Ms. Cat)
YouTube

MANILA – President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. on Friday signed laws declaring the maritime zones under Philippine jurisdiction and designating sea lanes in the country for foreign vessels and aircraft.

Marcos inks laws on PH Maritime Zones, Archipelagic Sea Lanes

Related:

South China Sea: Philippines’ legal moves reveal its expansionist goals

U.S. State Department On the Philippines Maritime Zones Act

Arnaud Bertrand’s Twitter thread (ThreadReader)

Regarding the South China Sea Arbitration:

The South China Sea Arbitration did not rule on sovereignty, and China does not recognize it because the Arbitral Tribunal lacked jurisdiction. “The Arbitral Tribunal violated the principle of state consent, exercised its jurisdiction ultra vires and rendered an award in disregard of the law. This is a grave violation of UNCLOS and general international law, Wang said.” The United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) is an international treaty that establishes a legal framework for all marine and maritime activities.  The Permanent Court of Arbitration is not an agency of the United Nations. The PCA rents space in the same building as the UN’s International Court of Justice.  A Congressional Research Service report, dated August 2023, stated that the U.S. has not declared its position regarding sovereignty over any of the geographical elements that comprise the South China Sea.  

Washington’s REAL Policy on China – “Repairing Ties” is Theater Ahead of Sanctions, War

Tina Marie (Ms. Cat)

The US Build-Up for War with China

– Visit by US Secretary of State attempts to portray the US as “reasonable” versus a “belligerent” Chinese “dictatorship;”

– Secretary Blinken recited the US “One China” policy, omitting the many ways the US has and still is blatantly violating it and provoking China;

– US strategy follows similar pattern of the US “reset” with Russia or the US-Iran “nuclear deal,” where the US sought to appear to have exhausted diplomatic options before moving on “reluctantly” to economic sanctions and war;

– Such a strategy is necessary for consensus building among US allies who would otherwise be hesitant to join the US in both economic sanctions and eventual military intervention versus China;

– US policymakers are already busy planning sanctions against China, which includes an already ongoing public relations campaign to sell Russia-style sanctions against China, as well as preparations for military operations to follow the sanctions;

– The US has a long-standing strategy to encircle and contain China spanning decades, indifferent to presidential administrations;

References:

Washington’s REAL Policy on China – “Repairing Ties” is Theater Ahead of Sanctions, War (Rumble) via The New Atlas