Less politics more marine diplomacy – a fix for South China Sea?

Territorial wrangling over who owns the South China Sea has strangled local marine life, say scientists, urging China and the Philippines to set aside political differences and work to save the fish, coral and plants that live border-free.

Since 2013, China has built artificial islands that cover more than 3,000 acres of the Spratlys, according to U.S.-based policy organisation Asia Maritime Transparency Initiative.

A study last December by the Asia Maritime Transparency Initiative also blamed China’s dredging and clam harvesting for destroying almost 20,000 acres of reefs in the South China Sea.

Less politics more marine diplomacy – a fix for South China Sea?

The Asia Maritime Transparency Initiative (AMTI) is part of the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS). Gregory Poling is director of the AMTI. The same Poling that told the U.S. government-funded Voice of America that “Vietnam’s use of cutter suction dredgers is much more environmentally destructive than its previous dredging methods.

According to the CIA’s World Factbook, Vietnam occupies around 50 outposts, The Philippines occupies nine, Malaysia occupies five, and China occupies seven in the disputed Spratly Islands.

Previously:

China unveils evidences showing Philippine grounded warship at Ren’ai Jiao destroys coral reefs, endangers marine organism

Experts warn of Philippines scheming for ‘new arbitration’ on South China Sea + More

Vietnamese Poachers using Cyanide and Dynamite Fishing in the Philippines’ EEZ

Philippine Coast Guard clarifies ‘assertive transparency’ tact

Iranian Missiles Overwhelmed Israeli Defenses at Some Sites, Analysts Say

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DUBAI—Iran’s barrage of ballistic missiles this week appears to have overwhelmed Israel’s air defenses in some places, despite causing limited damage, said independent researchers who examined emerging satellite imagery.

Iranian Missiles Overwhelmed Israeli Defenses at Some Sites, Analysts Say

Related:

Israel censors reporting on military sites hit by Iran, obscuring extent of damage

The NATO “solution”

The NATO “solution”

The focus of political and media attention has inevitably turned from Europe to the Middle East, where the United States, through the Secretary of the Pentagon, has insisted on “Israel’s right to defend itself,” has welcomed the assassinations of Hezbollah leaders carried out by means of massive bombings in Beirut, and has given explicit approval to the ground operation with which Tel Aviv and Washington claim to want to “dismantle the attack infrastructure along the border to ensure that the Lebanese Hezbollah cannot carry out attacks in the style of October 7 against communities in northern Israel.” The precedent of the last twelve months in Gaza, the West Bank, Syria, Yemen and Lebanon foreshadows what the ways of defending oneself against Israel will be and that the United States will continue to justify any excess, selective assassination or massacre, while any response, such as that which occurred yesterday with the launching of Iranian missiles against Israeli military bases, will be considered an unacceptable escalation. And although Ukraine’s public concern for securing priority war status has not yet begun, any escalating war could affect Kiev, especially when it comes to imposing its discourse of existential war on the West as a collective.

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Looking Back, Looking Ahead: World War II Provides Lessons for Pacific Submarine Posture

Previously:

South China Sea: Maritime Counterinsurgency:

Brent Sadler is with the Heritage Foundation:

Its initial funding was provided by Joseph Coors, of the Coors beer empire, and Richard Mellon Scaife, heir of the Mellon industrial and banking fortune. Its founders include Paul Weyrich and Mickey Edwards. The Foundation maintains strong ties with the London Institute of Economic Affairs and the Mont Pelerin Society.SourceWatch

Richard Mellon Scaife (Mellon family), Committee on the Present Danger/MembersScaife Foundations (WikiSpooks), Atlas NetworkKock Network, State Policy Network, ALEC, Council for National Policy

US Seeks “Super Weapons” to Reign as Sole Superpower

YouTube / Rumble

– The US realizes its window of opportunity following the Cold War to assert itself as sole global superpower is closing (if it hasn’t closed already);

– It seeks to find a way to match or exceed the military capabilities and industrial capacity of both Russia and China through “innovation;”

– The US refuses to recognize the fundamental flaws in its own system as well as the premise upon which it seeks primacy in the first place;

– Start-up companies seeking to out-innovate and/or out-produce China propose unrealistic measures that either won’t work or that China is already employing itself on a much larger scale;

References:

US Seeks “Super Weapons” to Reign as Sole Superpower

Previously:

US Seeks “Super Weapons” to Reign as Sole Superpower

PH: America, Marcos and AFP can get us nuked

IF advocates of the United States’ access to bases of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) and US deployment of intermediate-range missiles prove the above headline unduly alarmist, this writer would be most thankful.

America, Marcos and AFP can get us nuked (archived)

Related:

Out-Competing China and Constraining Russia

Forget Hardened Bases, Pacific Conflict Requires Agile Combat Employment, Commander Says

The Plan to Defend Guam from Missile Threats Is Years from Completion: More Investment Is Needed Now

Ground-Based Intermediate-Range Missiles in the Indo-Pacific

The U.S. Alliance with the Philippines