The following is the Jan. 23, 2024, Congressional Research Service In Focus report, China-Philippines Tensions in the South China Sea.
Report to Congress on China-Philippines Tensions in the South China Sea
I’ll be updating this, soon: Philippines Game Changer – Project Myoushu – South China Sea Analysis. You can find it, here, as well. I just hope that they don’t end up stationing any US troops at the BRP Sierra Madre (see videos, below)!
Related:
Read More »ANC 24/7 (where I got the clip) lied and said that the PLA didn’t respond, at all! As for the South China Sea Arbitration, see this video.
PH-US drills off Mindoro ‘shadowed,’ shortened
Del Pilar’s sister ship, the BRP Ramon Alcaraz (PS-16), sailed from Subic port the same day. On Tuesday, however, the US side asked for a 24-hour delay due to “operational requirements.”
…What is your intention, over?” “Philippine warship 15, this is Chinese Navy warship 570 conducting lawful activities in our territorial seas, over,” came the reply.
One more time, from the Philippine ship: “Chinese warship 570, you are within the Philippines’ exclusive economic zone. Your actions will affect Philippine-Chinese relations and will be reported to concerned authorities, over.”
…On Wednesday, US Navy destroyer USS Sterett (DDG- 104), one of the escort ships of the nuclear-powered aircraft carrier USS Carl Vinson (CVN-70), was the only American ship to arrive for the exercises.
Canceled, shortened
Two other US warships and the USS Carl Vinson were expected to join but did not show up due to “operational necessity.”
…
“Unfortunately, they did not give specifics (why the other activities were canceled). They just said that ‘due to some operational necessity,’ they have to reallocate some of their forces to other tasks,” Carlos said in an interview on board the Del Pilar.
Related:
PLA conducts naval, air patrols in South China Sea amid US-Philippine provocations
In the name of resupply, the Philippines has repeatedly sent vessels carrying illegal building materials in attempts to reinforce a warship that has been illegally grounded on Ren’ai Reef since 1999 to permanently occupy the Chinese reef.
Those attempts were blocked by China Coast Guard vessels with legitimate and professional restriction measures.
Illustration by Greg Groesch/The Washington Times
“As China arrives with a splash in Honduras, the US wrings its hands”- Washington Post, October 2, 2023In a break from its hysterical coverage of the existential threat posed by Donald Trump, the Washington Post – house organ of the Democratic National Committee – cautions us of the other menace, China. “When the leader of this impoverished Central American country visited Beijing in June,” we are warned, “China laid out the warmest of welcomes.”
Humor in the Headlines Over China in Latin America
Related (Archived):
The U.S. Defense Department’s Role in the Honduras Coup
Littoral combat ships were supposed to launch the Navy into the future. Instead they broke down across the globe and many of their weapons never worked. Now the Navy is getting rid of them. One is less than five years old.
The Inside Story of How the Navy Spent Billions on the “Little Crappy Ship”
Yesterday, the New York Times published a guest essay by Craig Singleton, a fellow at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, entitled “China’s Military is Going Global.” Singleton argues that Beijing is well on its way to building a globe-spanning network of “strategic strong points along China’s major trade, energy, and resource routes” that pose a dire military threat to the United States.
Actually, China’s military isn’t going global
The House of Representatives is discussing a move that would effectively amount to an act of war if carried out: a naval blockade on China.
House Republicans Propose The Study Of An Oil Naval Blockade Of China
The following is outdated, especially considering the problems with the US Navy’s LCS ships, but I thought that the bold quote was interesting. I highly doubt that Russia would ever submit to the US!
Related:
[2013] Stranglehold: The Context, Conduct and Consequences of an American Naval Blockade of China
In short, Russia would not only be China’s best hope of overcoming an American blockade, but it would also be the United States’ key to closing China’s transit route through Central Asia and preventing China’s two neighboring oil producers from supplying it with petroleum. In an American blockade of China, Russia’s importance as a swing state cannot be overstated, as is borne out by the observation that “no blockade of China in history has succeeded without Russian acquiescence.”
The commanding officer of the aircraft carrier USS Nimitz said Chinese vessels and planes that he encountered during a seven-month deployment in the western Pacific were “very polite and very professional.”
US Aircraft Carrier Commander Reports ‘Very Professional’ Interactions With China
Philippine lawmakers have pushed the Marcos administration to amend two defence treaties with the US and make the long-time security ally cough up for using Manila’s military bases to fund a cash-strapped armed forces pension scheme that is staring at “financial collapse”.
Philippine lawmakers demand US pays for bases to fund cash-strapped military pension scheme
A thousand-plus people joined a demonstration in Okinawa’s prefectural capital on Feb. 26 to protest the Japanese government’s plans to build up its defense capabilities on a group of islands in the country’s south for a possible contingency in Taiwan.
1,600 people march through Naha protesting Japan’s defense buildup in Okinawa
Related:
U.S., Japan, South Korea Hold Ballistic Missile Defense Drills after North Korean Launches
Read More »The meltdown in DC risks turning into a self-fulfilling prophecy: Routine inter-state relations becoming a full-blown crisis.
Washington inflates the China balloon threat
Related:
Ms. Cat’s Chronicles 
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