Tag: Samuel Paparo

A Narrow Pacific Waterway is at the Heart of U.S. Plans to Choke China’s Vast Navy +

Tina Marie (Ms. Cat)

Reuters reprint: A Narrow Pacific Waterway is at the Heart of U.S. Plans to Choke China’s Vast Navy

Until recently, locals say, this smallest and least populous province of the Philippines was a peaceful backwater. But geography dictates that it is now on the frontline of the great power competition between the United States and China for dominance in the Asia-Pacific region. The islands sit on the southern edge of the Bashi Channel, a major shipping lane between the Philippines and Taiwan that connects the South China Sea with the Western Pacific.

This year’s exercises revealed how the U.S. and its Philippine ally intend to use ground-based anti-ship missiles as part of efforts to deny the Chinese navy access to the Western Pacific by making this waterway impassable in a conflict, Reuters reporting shows. These missiles could also be used to attack a Chinese fleet attempting to invade Taiwan or mount a blockade against the democratically governed island.

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Recent Chinese maneuvers show how access to the Bashi Channel is critical for Beijing’s plans in the Pacific. In June, a powerful Chinese navy aircraft carrier battle group used this passage to enter the Western Pacific before launching an extended series of exercises south of Japan, according to Japanese military tracking data.

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Hegseth visits Manila: Washington prepares for war with China + More

Tina Marie (Ms. Cat)

Hegseth visits Manila: Washington prepares for war with China

The language of Hegseth’s press conference in Manila is indicative of the openly aggressive face of US imperialism under Trump. Gone was any reference to what had been the political shibboleth of Washington in the Asia Pacific region: the defense of “freedom of navigation.” Hegseth spoke rather of “preparing for war,” using the phrase more than once. Every time Hegseth mentioned China he termed it “Communist China,” and spoke of its “aggression.” Hegseth referred to US Seventh fleet commander Admiral Samuel Paparo “and his war plans. Real war plans.”

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China’s stealth destroyer lurks 124 miles off Sydney’s coast

Tina Marie (Ms. Cat)

A Chinese naval task force, consisting of the Type 055 guided-missile destroyer Type 055, a Type 054A frigate, and a Type 903A replenishment ship, has been spotted operating approximately 124 miles [200 kilometers] east of Sydney, Australia.

China’s stealth destroyer lurks 124 miles off Sydney’s coast

Previously:

Chinese Navy Helicopter Intercepts Philippine Cessna Over Scarborough Shoal + Embedded Journalism

The aerial incident follows a week of multilateral activities between the Philippines and its allies in the South China Sea. These drills included back-to-back joint patrols with American, Japanese, Australian and Canadian forces. A U.S. Air Force bomber task force mission composed of two B-1Bs and Philippine Air Force fighter jets drilled off Luzon earlier this month. The Royal Australian Air Force also reported an unsafe interception incident with a People’s Liberation Army Air Force J-16 fighter over the contested waters last week.

Sabina shoal new US tension spot

Tina Marie (Ms. Cat)
Harry B. Harris Jr., former commander of INDOPACOM, explains that the United States doesn’t recognize anyone’s territorial claims. Full video.

While one side of the split personality of PBBM worked out with China a deesclation scheme for the Ayungin Shoal Rotation and Resupply (RORE) missions to the unrealizable U.S. Forward Operating Base (US-FOB) BRP Sierra Madre frustrating its “assertive transparency” strategy, the other lobotomized side of BBM’s brain taken over by the Americans thought up the Sabina Shoal BRP Sierra Teresa Magbanua US-FOB as a new locus for tension to propagandize.

Sabina shoal new US tension spot