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☆ China Deploys Dozens of Ships to Block Philippine Protest Flotilla
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-14 | by ( Chris Buckley | Camille Elemia | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

China has sent dozens of coast guard and maritime militia vessels toward a disputed atoll in the South China Sea, a large show of force aimed at blocking a civilian protest flotilla from the Philippines, as tensions between the countries have flared. The Filipino group organizing the flotilla of about 100 small fishing boats, led by five slightly bigger ones, said it wanted to assert the Philippines’ claims to Scarborough Shoal, an atoll controlled by Beijing that is closer to Manila. But even before the motley Philippine fleet set out on Wednesday morning, China deployed a formidable contingent of much bigger government-run ships to the area, an intimidating escalation of its frequent assertions of control over vast expanses of sea far from its mainland. “What we’re seeing this time, I would say, is definitely of another order,” said Ray Powell, the director of SeaLight, a group that monitors the South China Sea. “I think that the China Coast Guard is concerned that they’re going to try to sort of get too close and so they’re sending an overwhelming force.”

Persons: ”, Ray Powell Organizations: Philippine, China Coast Guard Locations: China, South China, Philippines, Scarborough, Beijing, Manila

☆ South China Sea: On board an outnumbered Philippine ship facing down Chinese aggression
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-06 | by ( Rebecca Wright | Ivan Watson | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +15 min

Near Second Thomas Shoal, South China Sea CNN —As dawn slowly broke on the horizon, a large fleet of Chinese vessels came into view from the deck of a Philippine Coast Guard ship as it entered the contested waters of the South China Sea. Filipino soldiers on the dilapidated Sierra Madre ship, anchored near the Second Thomas Shoal in the South China Sea, on May 11, 2015. The US military also maintains a regular presence in the South China Sea, with aircraft overflights, so-called “freedom of navigation” operations, and patrols and exercises with allies and partners to assert that the South China Sea is an international waterway. The Philippine Coast Guard said it counted five China Coast Guard vessels and 18 boats belonging to Beijing’s “maritime militia." Rebecca Wright/CNNTarriela, the Coast Guard spokesperson, said a China Coast Guard vessel had come within 20 yards (60 feet) of the Cabra.

Persons: David, Goliath, “, ”, Thomas Shoal, Rebecca Wright, Sabina, Ritchie, Jiao, –, Jay Tarriela, Mao Ning, China Coast Guard “, Thomas, Ferdinand “ Bongbong ” Marcos Jr, Rodrigo Duterte, Marcos Jr, Jose Manuel Romualdez, CNN Tarriela, Tomas Etzler, Erik de Castro, month’s, ” Tarriela, ‘, Collin Koh, ” Koh, Ray Powell, SeaLight, “ Will, ” Powell, we’ve Organizations: South China, CNN, Philippine Coast Guard, Philippine, Armed Forces, China Coast Guard, ” CNN, Philippine Navy, Coast Guard, Foreign Ministry, Sierra Madre, Center for Strategic, Studies, China Power, Ministry, Washington, Philippine News Agency . Diplomacy, Coast Guardians, Guard, Madre, Reuters, USS, China, Rajaratnam, of International Studies, National Security, Stanford University Locations: South, South China, Philippines, United States, Philippine, China, Bulilyan, Palawan, Sierra Madre, Sierra, The Philippines, Vietnam, Malaysia, Brunei, Taiwan, Madre, Hague, Beijing, China’s, Manila, Shanghai, Singapore

☆ Australian leader Albanese accuses Chinese navy of ‘dangerous’ conduct
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-20 | by ( Nectar Gan | Brad Lendon | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +5 min

CNN —Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has accused the Chinese navy of “dangerous, unsafe and unprofessional” conduct after an incident in international waters near Japan, marking a potential friction point with Beijing weeks after he visited the Chinese capital to stabilize relations. Australian divers aboard the long-range frigate HMAS Toowoomba were trying to clear fishing nets from its propellers on November 14 when a Chinese destroyer approached, Defense Minister Richard Marles said in a statement Saturday. Despite being warned that a diving operation was underway, the Chinese destroyer operated its sonar in a manner that “posed a risk to the safety of the Australian divers,” the statement said. In the Sky News interview, Albanese sidestepped a question on whether the incident will make bilateral relations “look shaky” now. And this is one of those times where we disagree with the action of China,” Albanese said.

Persons: Anthony Albanese, Richard Marles, Albanese, ” Albanese, Xi Jinping, “, ”, “ We’ve, Marles, Ray Powell, SeaLight, Powell, ” Powell Organizations: CNN, Australian, Defense, Sky News, APEC, China’s Defense Ministry, Liberation Army Navy, PLA Navy, Military, United, “ Defense, National Security, Stanford University, US Air Force Locations: Japan, Beijing, Toowoomba, Chinese, China, San Fransisco, London, United Nations, Australia, East, South China, South, Canada, Australian

☆ South China Sea: Philippines accuses Chinese maritime militia of destroying coral reefs near Palawan
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-22 | by ( Kathleen Magramo | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +11 min

Philippine Coast Guard/FacebookTarriela said between August 9 and September 11, the coast guard monitored 33 Chinese vessels within the vicinity of Rozul Reef and around 15 Chinese ships near Escoda Shoal. The UP Marine Science Institute found vibrant corals in the Rozul (Iroquios) Reef in the South China Sea in May 2021. At least two foreign ambassadors in Manila have expressed alarm over reports of destruction of marine resources in the South China Sea. The grounded Philippine navy ship Sierra Madre, which Manila uses to stake its territorial claims at Second Thomas Shoal in the Spratly Islands in the disputed South China Sea, as pictured on April 23, 2023. Under current President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., the country’s National Security Team began to publicize its findings about what was actually happening in the West Philippine Sea and the South China Sea more regularly, Powell said.

Persons: Jay Tarriela, ” Tarriela, Facebook Tarriela, Tarriela, Mao Ning, “, ”, Gerry Arances, Arances, Ray Powell, SeaLight, Powell, Philippines MaryKay Carlson, Kazuhiko Koshikawa, Rodrigo Duterte, Shoal, Ted Aljibe, Thomas Shoal, Ferdinand Marcos Jr Organizations: CNN, Philippine Coast Guard, Chinese Maritime Militia, Facebook, Philippine, Spratly Islands, Philippine coastguard, University of, Philippines Marine Science Institute, country’s National Security Council, Scientific, UP Marine Science Institute, Marine Science, CNN Philippines, Center for Energy, coastguard, National Security, Stanford University, The, United, Philippine Department of Foreign Affairs, Asia, Transparency Initiative, BRP, BRP Sierra Madre, National Security Team, West Philippine, South China Locations: South, Philippines, China, Sabina, South China, Palawan, Beijing, Philippine, Rozul, Escoda Shoal, ” Beijing, China’s, Malaysia, Brunei, Taiwan, The Hague, West Philippine, United States, Indonesia, Vietnam, The Philippines, Manila, Sierra, Spratly, AFP, BRP Sierra, Sierra Madre, West

☆ China-Philippines tensions: Is a maritime militia Beijing says doesn't exist causing chaos in the South China Sea?
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-12 | by ( Brad Lendon | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +9 min

Most of the Chinese ships involved are marked “China Coast Guard,” but among the flotilla are also at least two blue-hulled vessels that resemble fishing boats. After the confrontation last weekend, China claimed the Philippines had violated its sovereignty by grounding the ship on the shoal. That symbiotic relationship became even clearer in 2021 when the China Coast Guard came under the jurisdiction of the Chinese Central Military Commission effectively making it part of Beijing’s military. The Chinese vessels “physically blockaded the supply ship. Ted Aljibe/AFP/Getty ImagesChina’s waiting gameAnalysts say they don’t see any appetite in Beijing for actual combat over Second Thomas Shoal, but they also say China can afford to play a waiting game.

Persons: Thomas Shoal, Jay Tarriela, Thomas, “, ”, China’s, People’s Liberation Army –, Lyle Morris, CNN ‘, doesn’t, Ray Powell, SeaLight, Powell, Morris, ” Powell, Shoal, Ted Aljibe, Lionel Fatton, ” Washington Organizations: CNN, China Coast Guard, United, “, Philippine Coast Guard, Hague, People’s Liberation Army, PLA Navy, Chinese Central Military Commission, Asia Society, Center for China, National Security, Stanford University, Central Military Commission, US Navy, US Coast Guard, Getty, Webster University Locations: Philippine, South, Philippines, Spratly, United States, Beijing, China, Palawan, Sierra Madre, ”, South China, Malaysia, Vietnam, Brunei, Taiwan, Washington, Manila, Sierra, AFP, Switzerland

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