Konflikti Kiinan merellä

[ctg]

China has slammed the US for sailing a warship near disputed territory in the South China Sea, saying the move was a "serious illegal act" and "deliberately provocative".

In a statement on its website late Friday night, the country's defence ministry said two Chinese naval vessels warned off a US ship after it entered "Chinese territorial waters" near the Paracel Islands, known as Xisha in Chinese.

China controls all of the islands, which are also claimed by Vietnam and Taiwan.

The ship's "entrance into China's territorial waters is a serious illegal act and a deliberately provocative act," it said, adding that the ministry had made "solemn representations" to Washington.

In a separate online statement, the foreign ministry said the action had "seriously violated China's sovereignty and security interests, and had seriously broken relevant Chinese law and international law."

The Pentagon said Friday it had sent the destroyer USS Decatur close to the Paracel Islands, but that the ship had not passed within the 12 nautical mile zone that international law defines as territorial waters.

The ships transited the area in "a routine, lawful manner without ship escorts and without incident," a spokesman said.

The manoeuvre was the third South China Sea "freedom of navigation" operation conducted this year by the US, which has repeatedly stressed it will ignore China's "excessive" maritime claims.

http://www.spacewar.com/reports/China_slams_provocative_US_sail-by_in_South_China_Sea_999.html

 

[ctg]

Maailmanluokan tason poliittinen kömmähdys Dutertelta. Luulen kuitenkin että jotakin Kiinan kanssa on kuitenkin solmittu.

Acid-tongued Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte takes his diplomatic roadshow to Japan on Tuesday, days after his apparent tilt towards China raised questions about the leader's strategic intentions.

The Philippines and Japan have long been key US allies in Asia, but Duterte has done a dramatic U-turn since coming to office in late June.

That appeared to culminate last week in Beijing where he declared his "separation" from the United States, played down a maritime dispute with China and pledged to enhance friendship and economic ties.

Back home on Saturday, however, the former mayor seemed to walk back his comments, saying he would not be severing the alliance with Washington.

And on Monday, he went further, telling Japanese media that the US will remain the country's sole military ally.

"The alliances are alive, it is there," he said in a reference to the United States, according to Kyodo News. "There should be no worry about changes of alliances. I do not need to have alliances with other nations."

Other Japanese media including the top-selling Yomiuri Shimbun quoted him as saying that all military activities with the US should be halted.

His seesawing has been closely watched in Japan, a major investor and aid donor to Manila that is wary of China's rising influence.

"It is important to have good communication and to listen directly to what Mr Duterte has in mind," Japanese foreign minister Fumio Kishida, who will dine with the president later Tuesday, told reporters when asked about the firebrand leader's elusive comments on ties with Washington.

Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has worked to beef up relations with Manila by providing patrol boats and has supported it in the territorial row with China, as Japan seeks support in its own maritime dispute with Beijing.

Duterte's predecessor took Beijing to an international tribunal over its extensive claims in the South China Sea -- where it has built artificial islands capable of hosting military facilities -- and the Philippines won a resounding victory in July.

- 'Shared interest' -

Japan's Asahi Shimbun newspaper said that improvement in diplomatic relations among "neighbouring nations" is desirable in principle.

"But if they disrespect the rule of law for the sake of narrow bilateral interest, that would be a grave concern for the Asian region," it said in a Saturday editorial, referring to Duterte's Beijing visit.

Duterte told Japanese public broadcaster NHK that his talks with Abe will centre on economic cooperation and "shared interest" in an interview ahead of his three-day visit.

"Now the most important thing there is the shared interest... it's about the South China Sea," he said.

Duterte has made a habit of hurling sharp, even profane, verbal barbs at the US and President Barack Obama, which resulted in Washington cancelling talks between them at an ASEAN summit last month.

But Kunihiko Miyake, a former Japanese diplomat and visiting professor at Ritsumeikan University, warned against reading too much into such rhetoric.

"President Duterte is an anti-US nationalist and populist leader, which doesn't necessarily mean he is pro-China," Miyake told AFP.

Still, he noted the need to "watch closely" his future words and actions.

In recent months Abe has criticised China for rejecting the international tribunal ruling, which said Beijing's expansive claims to the waters had no legal basis.

At talks Wednesday, Duterte and Abe are expected to agree on expanding ties in areas of "maritime security and defence cooperation", a Japanese embassy official in Manila told reporters.

http://www.spacewar.com/reports/Philippines_Duterte_visits_Japan_after_China_tilt_999.html

 

[Kampela 1]

Hiukan ristiriitaisia lausuntoja ja/tai uutisointia. sillä kotisaarellaan Duterte ei halua nähdä muunmaalaisia sotilasjoukkoja. Sotilaallisen yhteistyön USA:n kanssa hän ilmoitti päättyvän mutta taloudellinen yhteistyö jatkuu.

 

[Soldierblue]

http://www.spacewar.com/reports/China_slams_provocative_US_sail-by_in_South_China_Sea_999.html

Niin kyllä USA osaa provosoida!....haluaako ne edes rauhaa??......aina USA jossain uudessa tämmösessä, eikö niilä ole myös laivoja Yemen läheisyydessä?

 

[Ingsoc]

Duterten on paras pitää varansa.

Kohtaa alkaa demokratia mielenosoitukset ja ruskea vallankumous.

 

[ctg]

Duterte ei halua nähdä muunmaalaisia sotilasjoukkoja. Sotilaallisen yhteistyön USA:n kanssa hän ilmoitti päättyvän mutta taloudellinen yhteistyö jatkuu.

Ei kun sotilaallinen jatkuu, mutta hän lausui myös virallisesti tiedotusvälineiden välityksellä että se päättyy. Kiina sopi jotakin hänen kanssaan, mutta mitä? Tai sitten hän sanoi median välityksellä Obamalla F U.

 

[ctg]

Aha Filippiinit saavat neljä saarta itselleen, ja koralliriuttojen raiskaaminen jatkuu kunnes niitä ei enään ole eteläisellä kiinan merellä.

A Chinese state-owned company said to have been involved in Beijing's island-building in the South China Sea signed a deal to construct islands for rival claimant the Philippines as its President Rodrigo Duterte visited last week, reports said.

CCCC Dredging will create four artificial islands totalling 208 hectares of reclaimed land in Davao, the port city on the southern island of Mindanao where Duterte was mayor, the Beijing Youth Daily reported.

The islands will spread along eight kilometres of coastline and be used for government buildings, commercial spaces, residences, ports and industry in a project to be completed by 2019, it added.

The deal with the Philippines' Mega Harbour Port and Development was one of several inked as Duterte paid a state visit to China last week, when Beijing offered $9 billion in soft loans for development projects.

Duterte has sought to restore his country's ties with China, brought low by a territorial dispute over the South China Sea, and during his trip announced his "separation" from longstanding Philippine ally the United States.

In a case brought by his predecessor Benigno Aquino, the Philippines won a resounding victory at an international tribunal earlier this year over Beijing's extensive claims, infuriating the Asian giant.

China has built up artificial islands, some with airstrips, capable of hosting military facilities.

Dredging vessels owned by CCCC Dredging subsidiary CCCC Tianjin Dredging were spotted working in the Spratly archipelago disputed by Manila, according to an analysis of satellite imagery from IHS Jane's Intelligence Review.

In the Davao project, a perimeter of sand bags will be dropped into the sea, and sand pumped into the space, displacing water until an island is formed, the Monday report explained.

CCCC Dredging, a subsidiary of the China Communications Construction Company (CCCC), is the world's largest by dredging capacity, according to the official website of the Chinese shipping industry.

It delayed an initial public offering on the Hong Kong stock exchange last year due to concerns over its work in the Spratlys.

http://www.spacewar.com/reports/Dre...Chinas_islands_gets_Philippines_deal_999.html

 

[Mortti]

Hiukan ristiriitaista uutisointia. Otsikko Duterte affirms US alliance despite tough talk, mutta asiasisältö kuitenkin jotakuinkin se, että Duterte pyrkii eroon kumppanuudesta USA:n kassa, joskaan ei katkaise diplomaattisuhteita. Erikoinen tulkinta, että maat olisivat jotenkin "liittolaisia" pelkästään sen varassa, jos niiden välillä on diplomaattiset suhteet (niinkuin valtaosalla maailman valtioista on keskenään...). Alla poimintoja Duterten kannanotoista. Diplomaattinen suunnanmuutos on täysin selvä, joten voi vain ihmetellä, miten jutun kirjoittanut toimittaja sai väännettyä otsikon tuohon muotoon.

President Rodrigo Duterte said he wants the Philippines to be free of foreign troops and criticized American foreign policy.
...
Duterte, in his second round of talks only among close aides, reassured Abe that he has no intention to sever diplomatic ties with the US, Hagiuda said.
...
Duterte said that he wants his country to be free of foreign troops, possibly within two years. "I want them out," he said.

"I want to be friends to China," he told an audience of businesspeople in Tokyo. "I do not need the arms. I do not want missiles established in my country. I do not need to have the airports to host the bombers."
...
The Philippine leader spoke about the US at the end of his prepared remarks on economic development and investment, saying he was addressing what he knows is "what is in everybody's mind."

"I may have ruffled the feelings of some, but that is how it is," he said. "We will survive, without the assistance of America, maybe a lesser quality of life, but as I said, we will survive."

 

[TT]

Ei kun sotilaallinen jatkuu, mutta hän lausui myös virallisesti tiedotusvälineiden välityksellä että se päättyy. Kiina sopi jotakin hänen kanssaan, mutta mitä? Tai sitten hän sanoi median välityksellä Obamalla F U.

Teki ensin U-käännöksen mutta jatkoi siitä sujuvasti 360 asteen O-käännökseen. Vaan vielä vaikuttaa kurvi jatkuvan. Ota tuollaisista selvää. Onko tuo ärhentely vain nationalistista populismia kotimaan äänestäjäkunnalle ja ulkomailla kabineteissa sitten ihan toiset puheet? Vai onko todella viemässä Filippiinejä uuteen asetelmaan?

(Pardón hieman monivaiheisesta laitosta... tässä pysy ajatukset asian perässä...)

 

[ctg]

Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte says he has promised God he will clean up his famously vulgar language.

Arriving in his home city of Davao after a trip to Japan, Mr Duterte said God gave him an ultimatum on the plane.

"I heard a voice telling me to stop swearing or the plane will crash in mid-air, and so I promised to stop," he told reporters at the airport.

Mr Duterte's blunt speaking, often directed at the West, has contributed to his popularity at home.

He called President Barack Obama a "son of a whore", called the European Union "hypocritical", threatened to leave the UN and accepted comparisons to Hitler, saying he would gladly kill three million drug addicts.

All were responses to criticisms of his bloody war on drugs, that has seen thousands of alleged drug dealers and users killed by police and vigilante groups.

Mr Duterte said he had promised God he would not "express slang, cuss words and everything", and said a "promise to God is a promise to the Filipino people".

But he suggested his promise might have its limits. Whether he will stick to not swearing when talking about the US, EU or arch political foe Senator Leila de Lima, will depend on timing, local media quoted him as saying.

Like most Filipinos, Mr Duterte is Roman Catholic, although he has boasted about his womanising and called the Pope a "son of a whore" for causing traffic jams during his visit.

The president has spoken about being abused by an American priest as a child, saying that informed his political views.

He recently said that the Philippines wanted "a separation" from long-standing ally the US, and wanted American troops to leave the country, possibly within two years.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-37795957

 

[ctg]

Philippine ships have been allowed to access the contested Scarborough Shoal in the South China Sea, with Chinese ships not harassing Filipino fisherman for the first time in years.

Philippines Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana told CNN Monday that aerial surveillance had showed that Chinese patrol boats were still guarding the small but strategic reef but had allowed Filipino boats to enter and fish in the nearby waters.

“They are still there, but they are not harassing or preventing our fishermen from fishing,” he said.

“This is a welcome development for our fishermen who have been forcibly prevented to fish in their traditional fishing ground,” he added.

The apparent concession from Beijing is a victory for President Rodrigo Duterte in a long-running territorial dispute in the South China Sea.

http://gantdaily.com/2016/10/31/chi...-access-to-disputed-shoal-in-south-china-sea/

Australia and Indonesia are considering joint patrols in the highly sensitive South China Sea amid escalating tensions in the region over the hotly-contested waters.

Indonesian Minister Ryamizard Ryacudu said he had proposed a "peace patrol" with Australia in the South China Sea to "bring peace" and combat illegal fishing when the two countries' defence ministers met in Bali last week.

"It's a joint patrol or coordinated patrol, it's the same thing," Mr Ryamizard told reporters. "There are no intentions to disrupt the relationship (with China). It is called a peace patrol, it brings peace. It is about protecting fish in each other's areas."

Defence Minister Marise Payne told Fairfax Media the ministers had agreed to explore options to increase maritime cooperation.

"This could include coordinated activities in the South China Sea and the Sulu Sea consistent with Australia's policy of exercising rights of freedom of navigation in accordance with international law and our support for regional security," she said.

http://www.smh.com.au/world/austral...trols-in-south-china-sea-20161031-gseta5.html

Unambitious. That’s the proper adjective for USS Decatur’s “freedom of navigation” cruise near the Paracel Islands last week. Released last year, the Pentagon’s Asia-Pacific Maritime Security Strategy lists “safeguarding freedom of the seas” first among U.S. strategic priorities for the region, followed by “deterring conflict and coercion” and “promoting adherence to international law and standards.” The Maritime Security Strategy is a fine document on the whole, and there’s no quarreling with its to-do list. The document also presents observers a yardstick to judge Decatur’s exploits in the South China Sea.

The yardstick tells a sobering tale: on balance the operation advanced none of the Pentagon’s self-professed strategic aims. It challenged one minor Chinese infraction—Beijing’s demand that foreign ships request permission before transiting waters China regards as its own—while letting China’s major affronts to freedom of the seas stand. Indeed, by seeming to acquiesce in the notion that the transit was an “innocent passage” through Chinese-claimed waters, the operation may have actually vindicated Beijing’s lawlessness. That’s no way to promote adherence to international law and standards, let alone deter conflict or coercion.

Let’s review the legal dimension, then examine how misconceived operations ripple through U.S. alliances in the Indo-Pacific. Legalities first. The Aegis destroyer traversed waters that China deems part of its “territorial sea,” offshore waters subject to Chinese sovereignty. But a simple transit like Decatur’s does nothing to dispute Beijing’s assertion that it makes the rules regulating shipping in the South China Sea—including the Paracels. Indeed, the law of the sea explicitly permits foreign vessels to pass through a coastal state’s territorial sea provided that’s all they do—pass through.

That’s why the doctrine is known as innocent passage. A vessel undertaking an innocent passage must refrain from all manner of routine military activities. It may not operate aircraft from its decks, conduct underwater surveys, or do anything else that might be construed as impeaching the coastal state’s security. Decatur evidently desisted from all of these activities—and thus comported itself as though it were executing an innocent passage through China’s rightful territorial waters.

What does acting as though China’s claims are legitimate prove? Not much. The voyage did nothing to dispute Beijing’s effort to fence off the Paracels within “baselines” sketched around the archipelago’s perimeter and proclaim sovereignty—physical control backed by force—over the waters within. To reply to that claim, Decatur should have made the transit while carrying out every activity Beijing purports to forbid—sending helicopters aloft, probing the depths with sonar, and on and on. What China proscribes, in other words, friends of freedom of the sea must do.

Fail to contest excesses and you consent to them by default.

Now, it is true that Decatur’s crew didn’t request Chinese permission before making the crossing. The destroyer’s matter-of-fact approach flouted China’s demand that foreign ships request permission before transiting its territorial sea. (For that matter, China insists that skippers ask permission before essaying “any military acts” in its offshore “exclusive economic zone,” the expanded sea belt where the coastal state has exclusive rights to harvest natural resources from the water and seafloor. Apart from the right to extract resources, the coastal state has no special say-so over what happens in the EEZ. The EEZ and the waters beyond comprise the “high seas,” a “commons” that belongs to everyone and no one.)

In effect, then, USS Decatur and the U.S. Navy were quibbling over a trivial rule China wants to enforce rather than denying that China has any right to make such rules.

http://nationalinterest.org/feature/americas-latest-south-china-sea-fonop-did-more-harm-good-18234

 

[Pistemaali]

Jotenkin tästä kehityksestä tulee omalla tavallaan pelottavasti toisen maailmansodan alku.

Eri asiat tänäpäivänä, mutta samat luonteet sieltä nousee esiin (tuolla sitä populaa on todella lahdattu urakalla).

https://fi.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kiinan–Japanin_sota_(1937–1945)

 

[ctg]

Philippines and China have reached a "friendly" understanding allowing Filipinos to fish around a disputed shoal seized by Beijing in 2012, a senior aide to President Rodrigo Duterte said Monday.

Duterte negotiated the understanding during his recent meeting in Beijing with Chinese President Xi Jinping, said Manila's national security adviser Hermogenes Esperon.

As a result, he said, in recent days Filipino fishermen have been able to fish unmolested at Scarborough Shoal in the South China Sea while Chinese government vessels have patrolled nearby.

"There is no agreement... but our president believes that our fishermen will no longer be harassed because he already brought up this matter" during his visit to China, Esperon told the media.

"The coastguard of China is there, but their navy is gone. And now, our fishermen are no longer being accosted, no longer being forced out, so we can say things are now friendly," he added.

China took control of Scarborough Shoal, 230 kilometres (140 miles) west of the main Philippine island of Luzon, in 2012. It had been driving away Filipino fishermen from the rich fishing ground, sometimes using water cannon.

But last weekend Filipino fishermen were once more able to fish at the shoal with the Chinese ships not interfering.

Esperon stressed that neither country dropped its claim to the shoal, with China insisting on its "historical rights".

http://www.spacedaily.com/reports/C...ndly_understanding_on_shoal_official_999.html

 

[ctg]

No niin. Seuraava osallinen tippuu Kiinan taskuun.

China and Malaysia have said their navies will cooperate more in the politically sensitive South China Sea in an agreement signed on Tuesday during a visit by Malaysia’s leader, Najib Razak.

The prime minister hopes to use his visit to Beijing this week to woo new investment and boost his image as he is shunned by western leaders over the 1MDB financial scandal, which has prompted a US government investigation, analysts say.

He was given a warm welcome on Tuesday by his Chinese counterpart, Li Keqiang. After meeting at the Great Hall of the People, they oversaw the signing of agreements, including a memorandum of understanding on defence cooperation.

Vice-foreign minister Liu Zhenmin said: “We have not touched upon the details of our cooperation. Mostly we are focusing on naval cooperation.”

Because China and Malaysia are both South China Sea coastal nations, “we need to enhance our naval cooperation to ensure peace and stability in the South China Sea and enhance our mutual trust,” he said.

Razak said former colonial powers should not “lecture countries they once exploited on how to conduct their own internal affairs today”, a Chinese newspaper reported on Wednesday, in a veiled attack on the west.

Najib said in an editorial in the state-run China Daily that larger countries should treat smaller countries fairly.

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2...n-military-cooperation-in-the-south-china-sea

 

[Guderian]

Tue Nov 1, 2016 | 9:05 AM EDT

U.S. stopped Philippines rifle sale.

By Patricia Zengerle | WASHINGTON

The U.S. State Department halted the planned sale of some 26,000 assault rifles to the Philippines' national police after Senator Ben Cardin said he would oppose it, Senate aides told Reuters on Monday.

Aides said Cardin, the top Democrat on the U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee, was reluctant for the United States to provide the weapons given concerns about human rights violations in the Philippines.

News of the thwarting of the weapons sale was met with disappointment among the Philippine police and government on Tuesday, but they said alternative suppliers would be found. Police spokesman Dionardo Carlos said the Philippines had yet to be notified about the sale being stopped.

The relationship between the United States and the Philippines, a long-time ally, has been complicated lately by President Rodrigo Duterte's angry reaction to criticism from Washington of his violent battle to rid the country of illegal drugs.
The U.S. State Department informs Congress when international weapons sales are in the works. Aides said Foreign Relations committee staff informed State that Cardin would oppose the deal during the department's prenotification process for the sale of 26,000-27,000 assault rifles, stopping the deal.

U.S. State Department officials did not comment.

Ronald dela Rosa, the Philippine national police chief and staunch supporter of the war on drugs, said he liked the American rifle, but suggested China as an alternative small-arms provider.

"We really wanted the U.S. rifles because these are reliable," he told broadcaster ABS-CBN.

"But if the sale will not push through, we will find another source, maybe from China."

http://mobile.reuters.com/article/idUSKBN12V2AM

Wed Nov 2, 2016 | 5:07 PM EDT

Philippines' Duterte rails at U.S. 'monkeys' for halting gun sale

Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte chided the United States on Wednesday for halting the planned sale of 26,000 rifles to his country, calling those behind the decision "fools" and "monkeys" and indicating he might turn to Russia and China instead.

Duterte's tirades against the former colonial power are routine during his speeches and he said on Wednesday he once believed in Washington, but had since lost respect for the Philippines' biggest ally.

In Washington, U.S. State Department spokesman John Kirby said he regarded Duterte's latest salvo as "inexplicably at odds with the close relationship that we continue to have with not just the Filipino people, but the Filipino government."
"Look at these monkeys, the 26,000 firearms we wanted to buy, they don't want to sell," Duterte said during a televised speech.

"Son of a bitch, we have many homemade guns here. These American fools."

More than 2,300 people have been killed in police operations or by suspected vigilantes as part of Duterte's anti-narcotics effort, which was the linchpin of his election campaign.

Duterte has vented his anger at the United States for raising concerns about the extrajudicial killings.
"That's why I was rude at them, because they were rude at me," he said.
According to procedures in Washington, the State Department informs Congress when international weapons sales are in the works. Aides said the State Department had been informed Cardin would oppose the deal during the prenotification process, thus effectively halting the sale.

"Committee staff told State that Cardin would block it if it was sent forward. They haven't sent it. Does that mean it has been stopped? I guess that depends on your definition. It would be highly unusual for State to move it forward with explicit opposition," a Senate aide said on Wednesday.

COMMITTED TO PHILIPPINES ALLIANCE

Kirby, the State Department spokesman, said he was barred from commenting on the status of the sale, while stressing the U.S. commitment to the U.S.-Philippines alliance.

Asked how the United States could have a close relationship with the Phiippines' government without also having such ties with its president, Kirby said in a democracy, the government "doesn't rest on the shoulders of just one individual."

Kirby denied Washington had any plan to circumvent Duterte but rather to stress that it has long and robust relationships with other parts of the government.

"Those are solid, they remain. But obviously, you also need to develop a good working relationship with the head of state," Kirby said. "We're committed to doing that."

Speaking with troops at Fort Leonard Wood in Missouri, U.S. Defense Secretary Ash Carter said the long-standing military alliance had benefited both nations.

"We continue to regard them as an ally. Obviously we're having conversations with the government of the Philippines about the future of that. That has been good for the Philippines, it is good for the United States," Carter said in response to a serviceman's question.

The Philippine police chief, Ronald dela Rosa, who has expressed disappointment that police might not get the M4 rifles, held a news conference where he showed a letter from the supplier, SIG Sauer, saying it had been advised by State that the application for the export license was proceeding normally.

If it does not go ahead, dela Rosa said, "We have many options and it's their loss, not ours, if the report is true."

Duterte reiterated that Russia and China had shown willingness to sell arms to the Philippines, but he would wait to see if his military wanted to continue using U.S. weapons.

"Russia, they are inviting us. China also. China is open, anything you want, they sent me brochure saying we select there, we'll give you.

"But I am holding off because I was asking the military if they have any problem. Because if you have, if you want to stick to America, fine.

"But, look closely and balance the situation, they are rude to us."

http://mobile.reuters.com/article/idUSKBN12X18O

 

[ctg]

New Delhi: Even as China continues to block India’s entry into the Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG), India has remained neutral over China’s claims to the South China Sea. However, this may no longer be the case.

According to a report, the Indian government is now attempting to squeeze China by making its position clear on China’s claims to the Sea.

India proposed to Singapore last month that the two countries make a specific mention in a joint statement of the international tribunal order in July dismissing China's "historical" rights as claimed by Beijing over almost all of South China Sea waters.

However, this proposal was eventually shot down by Singapore, said the report.

Singapore is not a claimant state in South China Sea and has avoided taking sides in territorial disputes in the region. But India has now approached Japan over the issue, said the report.

India is now discussing including an acknowledgement of the tribunal ruling, which China dismissed as naturally null and void, in a joint statement with Japan which will be issued after the meeting next week between PM Narendra Modi and his counterpart Shinzo Abe.

A joint statement with Vietnam has already been issued during Modi’s visit to Hanoi, and India would like this to serve as a template for similar documents with countries in the region.

Moreover, Japan seems more open to India’s concerns. Japan has said that it ‘encourages India to speak its mind on South China Sea dispute’.

http://www.deccanchronicle.com/nati...outh-china-sea-as-payback-for-nsg-report.html

While a resolution to the South China Sea disputes is unlikely in the near future, improving ties between Beijing and Manila could bode well for maritime peace in the region.

When Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte visited China in October, some worried he was pivoting away from the United States. But Tran Truong Thuy, executive director of the Foundation for East Sea Studies in Hanoi, thinks this is good news for the South China Sea.

At The Economist magazine’s recent Vietnam Summit in Ho Chi Minh City, he said that if China is getting friendlier with the Philippines, then it is unlikely to threaten that progress, for example, by reclaiming islands near the Philippines.

“For China now to conduct reclamation, it would turn back normalization in relations between China and the Philippines,” said Thuy, whose institute takes the Vietnamese name of the South China Sea. “And I think in the near future, in the short, near future, I don’t think China will conduct this kind of activity.”

The rapprochement between Manila and Beijing is all the more unexpected because the Hague-based Permanent Court of Arbitration ruled in July that China’s island-building encroaches on Philippine waters. Manila used to be the most vociferous opponent of Chinese territorial claims in the region, but that all changed when a new president took over this summer.

“The Duterte administration has chosen to downplay the ruling. They acknowledge that it exists, but they haven’t pushed it in China,” said Ian Storey, a panelist at the summit and senior fellow at the Institute of Southeast Asian Studies’ Yusof Ishak Institute in Singapore.

Storey said Vietnam, Malaysia, Brunei, and Taiwan probably perused the court case, which was filed by the Philippines, in case their South China Sea disagreements ever end in blows. But he saw that as a last resort, as the smaller claimants are unlikely to poke China.

“Because the Philippines has decided not to push it, I don’t think any other Southeast Asian country is going to step in and do that,” Storey said.

For its part China, doesn’t seem to be pushing for conflict lately according to Bill Hayton, author of the book South China Sea: The Struggle for Power in Asia. He argued that although Beijing balked at the Hague’s determination, its actions since the summer have been consistent with the ruling.

“It is actually complying. It’s just allowed Vietnamese or, Philippine fishermen to go back to Scarborough Shoal,” he said.

Hayton added that Beijing’s non-aggression is further evidenced by interactions with Hanoi. Armed clashes seemed a possibility two years ago, when China explored for oil in a part of the South China Sea claimed by Vietnam.

“Ever since the 2014 oil rig incident, in which it lost so badly -- Vietnam played a very good game back in 2014 -- China has not drilled for oil in the wrong places,” Hayton said.

There appeared to be a consensus on the panel that overlapping claims to the South China Sea are here to stay, along with what could become a permanent Band-Aid: accepting the status quo to keep the waters calm.

http://www.voanews.com/a/status-quo-in-south-china-sea-could-be-best-option-for-now/3584277.html

 

[Pistemaali]

Minua on pitkään ihmetyttänyt, miksi tuolta aasiasta päin ei ainakaan YLE uutisoi päälähetyksissään?

Jonkin venäläisen skitsofreenikon 120v sitten uudelleen (valtion tukirahoilla) herätettyä balettia kyllä hehkutetaan.

 

[ctg]

Minua on pitkään ihmetyttänyt, miksi tuolta aasiasta päin ei ainakaan YLE uutisoi päälähetyksissään?

koska tämä konflikti on pitkä jänteinen, eikä helposti seurattava. Ei heillä ole kirjeenvaihtajia tämän asian kimpussa. Ja monet ihmiset eivät tiedosta, mitä merellä tapahtuu, koska se on niin kaukana kaikesta.

 

[Mustaruuti]

Minua on pitkään ihmetyttänyt, miksi tuolta aasiasta päin ei ainakaan YLE uutisoi päälähetyksissään?

Jonkin venäläisen skitsofreenikon 120v sitten uudelleen (valtion tukirahoilla) herätettyä balettia kyllä hehkutetaan.

Aina joskus kun erehtyy katsomaan TV-uutisia, niin voi vain todeta hukanneensa aikaansa.

Internetissä YLE on seurannut tuota konfliktia ihan hyvin. Mutta, se ei ole vain asia, joka mahtuisi TV-uutisiin.

 

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U.S. Marines and Japan Ground Self-Defense Force (JGSDF) personnel conducted exercise Active Shield at Marine Corps Air Station Iwakuni, Japan, Nov. 8-11, 2016. Active Shield is an annual exercise incorporating the air station’s defense posture to test the abilities of U.S. and Japanese forces to work alongside each other to protect and defend MCAS Iwakuni and other U.S. assets in the region.

The U.S. and Japanese forces shared their techniques in different scenarios ranging from standard vehicle searches, response to suspicious packages, perimeter breaches, chemical attacks and other possible scenarios while being on station.

“It took a lot of coordination and bilateral communication to bring this together,” said U.S. Marine Corps 1st Lt. Jonathan Boron, deputy provost marshal for MCAS Iwakuni. “My expectations for an exercise of this stature was that the execution of events would be rough, but that we would come together to create a plan and keep the air station safe.”

Despite cultural and language differences, the Marines and JGSDF worked together to successfully complete tasks at hand.

“Training with the (Japan Ground Self-Defense Force) has been outstanding,” said U.S. Marine Corps Sgt. Cameron Cooley, special reaction team commander with the Provost Marshal’s Office at MCAS Iwakuni. “There’s been a lot of integration and the only thing that seemed to come between us was the language barrier, but we seemed to push past it by letting our tactics and professionalism take the lead.”

Incorporation of tactics from both forces was a vital part of Active Shield. Marines and JGSDF were able to learn from one another and solidify their weak spots in training scenarios.

“We incorporated the Japanese into our training by always having them right next to us,” said Cooley. “That built their confidence in our techniques and we would do the same with them. It’s always fun to watch and learn their tactics. I know our tactics well, but seeing them train and learning from them speaks volumes about what we can accomplish together.”

While breaking language and cultural barriers, the Marines and JGSDF concluded training better prepared to take a defensive posture if the need arises.

“This exercise correlates very well with real life scenarios,” said Boron. “We tried to imitate and simulate what our adversaries would do in the event we go into a station defense posture. It’s a very good exercise to prepare everyone here for anything that could happen.”

Achieving better relations and perfecting techniques used in likely situations is a step to ensuring the safety of the air station and the surrounding community.

“I hope that this exercise continues to progress,” said Boron. “We can keep growing relationships and build esprit de corps and goodwill between our countries. It’s always a pleasure working with the Japanese. They are very professional, enthusiastic, have a great work ethic and I’m looking forward to more interaction between our cultures.”

http://www.armyrecognition.com/nove..._and_japanese_soldiers_in_japan_11211162.html