Philippines Could Receive $2.5 Billion in Security Aid from U.S. Defense Bill
Read More »Tag: Territorial disputes in the South China Sea
China accuses Philippines of ‘premeditated’ provocations near Sabina Shoal + more
Beijing has accused Manila of organising a “premeditated” provocation and dangerous manoeuvres near a disputed reef in the South China Sea, and Washington of making false statements that have escalated tensions in the region.
Manila said Philippine fishing boats near Sabina Shoal had been targeted with water cannons by Chinese coastguard ships in an incident on Friday, while Beijing said Philippine personnel had threatened Chinese officers with knives.
Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Guo Jiakun said on Monday that the Philippines had assembled a large number of vessels “in an organised and premeditated manner to provoke trouble” in waters near the shoal.
[SCMP] China accuses Philippines of ‘premeditated’ provocations near Sabina Shoal (archived)
Related:
Read More »Filipino fishermen injured in China Coast Guard encounter
[Aaron-Matthew Lariosa] VIDEO: China Coast Guard Blasts Fishermen With Water Cannon Near Sabina Shoal, Philippines Dispatches Patrol Boats
Read More »Imagine Being Ray Powell (CIA), Terrified of Peace, Diplomacy, and a Filipina +
Oh, look — Ray Powel, again, the CIA operative messing around the SCS dispute???
Apparently, I’m living rent-free in the head of a retired U.S. Air Force colonel turned “maritime gray-zone investigator” who thinks the Philippines, China, ASEAN, and the entire South China Sea revolve around his newly invented fantasy threat matrix. Let me make this absolutely clear:
Ray Powell mentioning me — twice now — is A BADGE OF HONOR!! Because if a CIA-adjacent operative (yes, Ray, we all know how “Air Force Attachés” function abroad), working hand-in-hand with Washington’s geopolitical machinery, has me on his radar, it only means one thing:
I’m saying something true enough, loud enough, and inconvenient enough to rattle him.
Imagine Being Ray Powell (CIA), Terrified of Peace, Diplomacy, and a Filipina
Related:
Read More »Who’s Zoomin’ Who in the South China Sea?
Lately I’ve been giving everything in my life a soundtrack. SeaLight now has one.
Read More »A Narrow Pacific Waterway is at the Heart of U.S. Plans to Choke China’s Vast Navy +
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.
…
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.
Related:
Read More »Japan Is Strengthening the Philippine Navy to Deter China in the South China Sea +
As global attention focuses on China and Japan, Tokyo and Manila are quietly deepening their economic and “defense” ties.
Ms. Cat’s Chronicles 
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