This is how a future conflict with China could get started by a nation in the South China Sea sinking a Chinese ship and facing retaliation that draws the U.S. into the conflict:
Philippine navy ship BRP Sierra Madre is seen at the Second Thomas Shoal, locally known as Ayungin Shoal, at the South China Sea, April 23, 2023. A Chinese vessel and a Philippine supply ship collided near the disputed Spratly Islands in the South China Sea on Monday, June 17, 2024, China’s coast guard said. (Aaron Favila/AP)
A Chinese vessel and a Philippine supply ship collided near the disputed Spratly Islands in the South China Sea on Monday, China’s coast guard said, in the latest flare-up of escalating territorial disputes that have sparked alarm. The coast guard said a Philippine supply ship entered waters near the Second Thomas Shoal, a submerged reef in the Spratly Islands, part of a territory claimed by several nations. The Philippines says the shoal falls within its internationally recognized exclusive economic zone and often cites a 2016 international arbitration ruling invalidating China’s expansive South China Sea claims based on historical grounds.
The Chinese coast guard said the Philippine craft “ignored China’s repeated solemn warnings … and dangerously approached a Chinese vessel in normal navigation in an unprofessional manner, resulting in a collision.” “The Philippines is entirely responsible for this,” the coast guard said in its statement on the social media platform WeChat. Meanwhile, the Philippine military called the Chinese coast guard’s report “deceptive and misleading,” and said it would “not discuss operational details on the legal humanitarian rotation and resupply mission at Ayungin Shoal, which is well within our exclusive economic zone.”
It used the Philippine name for the shoal, where Filipino navy personnel have transported food, medicine and other supplies to a long-grounded warship that has served as Manila’s territorial outpost.
China is not the Soviet Union. It will not buckle economically from a failed war and an arms race, as Moscow did, columnist @azeemibrahim writes. https://t.co/sRnpOlsvRI
Last Christmas Eve, NewsBreak, a free app with roots in China, published a piece about a small-town New Jersey shooting. The problem was, no such shooting took place. Authorities said the app ‘writes fiction’ with AI https://t.co/oLPajBbdkJpic.twitter.com/CS6E7jDPxn
It is a bit surprising that China is not siding with Iran over its territorial dispute with the UAE. Maybe China is trying soften their image by trying to look like some kind of peacemaker especially when they know Iran will not be giving back the islands and there is nothing the UAE can do to get them back:
Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) speedboats during an exercise in Abu Musa Island on Aug. 2, 2023. (West Asia News Agency via Reuters)
China held its stance on three disputed islands in the Gulf on Monday despite Tehran’s anger at Beijing for describing the Iran-controlled islands as a matter to be resolved with the United Arab Emirates. In a statement last week, China expressed support for the efforts of the UAE to reach a “peaceful solution” to the issue of the islands — the Greater Tunb, the Lesser Tunb and Abu Musa.
The islands, claimed by the UAE and Iran, have been held by Tehran since 1971 after the withdrawal of British forces from the Gulf. In a rare show of anger toward its biggest trading partner, the Iranian foreign ministry on Sunday summoned the Chinese ambassador to Iran to protest China’s “repeated support” for the UAE’s “baseless claims.” “Considering the strategic cooperation between Tehran and Beijing, it is expected that the Chinese government will revise its stance on this matter,” the Iranian foreign ministry said.
China is continuing to expand their surveillance capabiliites with this new drone:
Japanese fighter jets have scrambled to intercept a Chinese surveillance and strike drone seen operating for the first time north of Okinawa. A Wing Loong-10 was spotted Monday over the East China Sea by members of the Japan Air Self-Defense Force, according to a statement that day from the country’s Ministry of Defense.
The drone was initially clocked heading east, as if it were traveling from mainland China, the statement said. After flying over waters west of Amami Oshima, the drone appeared to reverse course back toward its homeland. It did not violate Japanese airspace, the statement said.
Bloomberg: "Taiwan poses a direct threat to the Communist Party’s entire narrative that only it can secure prosperity and success for the mainland, something it hasn’t been doing so well of late" https://t.co/lIOUu4pQXQ
NYT: "Taiwan is particularly exposed to the possibility of TikTok’s being used as a source of geopolitical propaganda…But unlike Congress, the government in Taiwan is not contemplating legislation that could end in a ban."@megatobin1@amy_changchienhttps://t.co/YEt8Q6FOud
China media comparing the Philippines to a snake. Favourite line: “Despite the insatiable appetite Manila has demonstrated in its desire to gobble up Chinese territory, Beijing has exercised great restraint and displayed considerable composure”. https://t.co/Uc5AAZX0Ej
