Newly released data from a giant whirlpool near the Paracel Islands could give fresh clues about a major US Navy incident
Was doomed US submarine caught by a monster whirlpool in the South China Sea?
Previously:
USS Connecticut’s leadership fired following undersea mountain collision
Was the USS Connecticut Spying on Chinese Bases in the South China Sea?
US Nuclear Sub Collision Demonstrates South China Sea’s True Menace
Analysts believe that while Vietnam appreciates the gesture, it is unlikely to influence Hanoi’s strategy in the disputed waters.
Philippines sides with Vietnam in South China Sea dispute, hoping it will ‘return the favour’
Related:
BowerGroupAsia: Dr. Prashanth Parameswaran
Prashanth is concurrently a fellow at the Wilson Center, a senior columnist at The Diplomat magazine and an instructor for institutions including the U.S. State Department. He is the founder of the twice-weekly ASEAN Wonk newsletter, which offers research insights and analysis on the geopolitics and geoeconomics of Southeast Asia and the Indo-Pacific region.
Stratbase ADR Institute Non-Resident Fellow: Dr. Prashanth Parameswaran
Dr. Parameswaran has held various roles across think tanks, governments, media and companies, including the Center for Strategic and International Studies, Singapore’s Ministry of Trade and Industry and the Associated Press. In those capacities, he worked on various issues including geopolitical and geoeconomic statecraft, Southeast Asia foreign and security policy, regional institutions, major power engagement in the Indo-Pacific as well as alliances and partnerships.
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Dr. Parameswaran holds a Ph.D. and MA focused on international business, international relations, Asian affairs, and U.S. foreign policy from the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University. He earned a BA from the University of Virginia, where he studied foreign affairs and peace and conflict studies with a focus on Asia. He regularly advises groups and individuals seeking to advance conversations on Indo-Pacific affairs and serves on the board of several institutions.
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.
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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.
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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:
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
Part One: Americans Prospecting GenSan as EDCA Site
In a flash, May Kay Carlson proved she is part of the problem President Bongbong Marcos Jr. has created with China rather than any solution.
Related:
US envoy says China’s maritime claims a ‘cartoon’
Read More »The drill in the disputed waters follows joint manoeuvres by the Philippines, US, Australia, Japan and New Zealand
PLA stages National Day drill in South China Sea in wake of 5-nation exercise
Related:
Biden Approves $567 Million in Military Aid for Taiwan, Angering China
Chinese Missile Boat Undertakes ‘Alarming’ Action (archived)
Read More »A Chinese navy missile craft shadowed a Philippine civilian ship on Friday in an unprecedented encounter that one analyst described as “alarming.”
The Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR) vessel the BRP Datu Romapenet was en route to a South China Sea feature known as Half Moon Shoal to deliver supplies to fishermen.
Half Moon Shoal is situated at the eastern edge of the Spratly Islands and about 60 miles from the Philippine province of Palawan, well within the Southeast Asian country’s recognized exclusive economic zone (EEZ).
According to the Philippines’ ABS-CBN News, which was onboard, the ship picked up a tail in the form of a Houbei-class (Type 22) guided-missile craft, easily identifiable by its wide camouflaged catamaran hull.
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Chester Cabalza, founder of Manila-based think tank the International Development and Security Cooperation, told the news agency it was the first time a Type 22 had been spotted in the EEZ.
“This incident is alarming because a missile ship shadowed our BFAR ship,” Cabalza said, adding that it was a show of power intended to intimidate the Philippines.
The Voice of America, in an article about why the Quad met in Washington this week, claims that the aims of the Quad are to create an open and free Indo-Pacific. Biden, in a prepared remark, suggested his Administration believes “Xi Jinping is looking to focus on domestic economic challenges and minimise the turbulence in China’s diplomatic relationships, and he’s also looking to buy himself some diplomatic space”.
US’ $1.6 billion fund for ‘Info-War’ vs. China
The fund is assigned to the US State Department and USAID for spending over the next five years to “subsidize” media and civil society sources around the world and “counter Chinese ‘malign influence’ globally.
In the Philippines, this funding is already showing in many State Department and USAID funded reports in mainstream media outlets such as the Philippine Star and popularly known US shills such as Rappler.
These two US info-war outlets I mentioned regularly publish reports on “Chinese influence operations” basing all on materials provided by AidData and Internews, both of which are verifiable as US-funded anti-China operations.
There are tons of evidence of the AidData and Internews ties to the State Dept. and USAID. As well, there are more than enough proof that Philippine Star, Rappler and their ilk are “agents of influence of the US.”
Rappler and AidData for example jointly “launched a journalism training for Filipino journalists, and students” just this September. Philstar of course has Christina Chi and a staff of four writing about “Chinese influence ops” all based on Internews and AidData reports.
Our “mosquito” think tank, Asian Century Philippines Strategic Studies Institute (ACPSSII) has researched Internews and AidData, and we discovered the usual US oligarchs and US government donors to Internews. These include Omidyar (which donated at least $1.5-million to Rappler in 2018), Rupert Murdock’s Sky News and stated previously, the State Dept. and USAID.
Likewise, AidData and its parent organization, College of William and Mary’s have links to USAID, a fact that is open for anyone to see on the Internet.
Rappler, of course, has been “convicted” of violating Philippine law for being a foreign owned company which it eventually skirted when its foreign investors agreed to “donate” its PDR investment to Rappler’s 14 directors.
I find this very profitable for the directors and for the information warfare of the State Department courtesy of the highly “malleable” Philippine justice system, especially when it is the US pushing the levers of justice behind the scene.
Marites Vitug, Rappler editor-at-large was recently ‘honored’ by the US. Rogue State’s top foreign policy rag, ‘Foreign Affairs,’ by publishing her rubbish article. “America and the Philippines Should Call China’s Bluff.”
Related:
Read More »MANILA, Philippines — The spokesperson of the country’s security council said a replacement vessel is now actively patrolling Sabina (Escoda) Shoal, the latest flashpoint of Chinese aggression in the West Philippine Sea.
Replacement ship for Sabina Shoal now on patrol — Security Council
Related:
Collin Koh is Senior Fellow at the Institute of Defence and Strategic Studies which is a constituent unit of the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies, based in Nanyang Technological University, Singapore. He has research interests on naval affairs in the Indo-Pacific, focusing on Southeast Asia.
Ms. Cat’s Chronicles 
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