News Story: Chinese ships sail near disputed islands with Japan

Chinese coast guard vessels sailed near disputed islands claimed by Japan and China in the East China Sea on Monday, marking the second such incident in less than a week.

The four ships entered the waters surrounding the island chain, controlled by Japan and known as Senkaku in Japanese and Diaoyu in China, at around 10:00 am (0100 GMT) and were moving in a southwest direction, according to the Japanese coast guard.

An online statement from China's State Oceanic Administration only said the four Chinese coast guard vessels were "patrolling in Chinese waters off the Diaoyu Islands."

Japan's coast guard said it was the second time since Thursday that four Chinese ships had entered its waters.

Read the full story at SpaceDaily

News Story: Shifting tactics - China advances 'four sha' claim in South China Sea

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By Patricia Lourdes Viray

MANILA, Philippines — Shifting away from its nine-dash line claim in the South China Sea, Beijing has forwarded a new sovereignty claim over the island groups in the disputed waters.

China's "four sha" (Chinese for sand) claim covers sovereignty and maritime entitlements from four island groups in the South China Sea—the Pratas Islands, Paracel Islands, Spratly Islands and the Macclesfield Bank area—according to a report from The Washington Free Beacon.

The Pratas Islands are occupied by Taiwan while the Paracel Islands are being disputed by China, Taiwan and Vietnam. Parts of the Macclesfield Bank are being claimed by China and Taiwan.

Meanwhile, there is an ongoing territorial dispute between China, Malaysia, the Philippines, Taiwan and Vietnam over the ownership of the Spratly Islands.

According to the report, the Chinese Foreign Ministry has laid its new tactic to assert its claims over the disputed sea in a closed-door meeting with US State Department officials last month.

International law experts Julian Ku and Christopher Mirasola, however, said that China's four sha claims are no more lawful than its nine-dash line claim.

"The challenge for critics of Chinese claims in the South China Sea, however, will be effectively explaining and articulating why this shift does not actually strengthen China’s legal claims in the South China Sea," Ku and Mirasola said in an article published by Lawfare.

In July 2016, the United Nations-backed tribunal invalidated the nine-dash line claim and ruled that Beijing violated its commitment under the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS).

Read the full story at PhilStar

News Report: Mattis Hails ‘Historic’ Opportunity to Expand US-India Ties

William Gallo

NEW DELHI — U.S. Defense Secretary Jim Mattis took steps to reinforce a quickly growing defense partnership with India on Tuesday, declaring the relationship has “never been stronger.”

During meetings with senior Indian officials in New Delhi, Mattis stressed that the United States and India are “natural strategic partners who share common values and interests.”

“This is, again, a historic opportunity for our two democracies, a time of strategic convergence,” Mattis said alongside his Indian counterpart, Defense Minister Nirmala Sitharaman.

The U.S. sees India as a counterweight to the rising influence of China, and hopes to persuade New Delhi to become more involved in bringing stability to Afghanistan.

“We applaud India’s invaluable contributions to Afghanistan, and welcome further efforts to promote Afghanistan’s democracy, stability, and security,” Mattis said.

Pakistan, India’s longtime rival, opposes New Delhi’s expanded involvement in Afghanistan, fearing a future war with its strategic rival, (India), on two fronts.

Sitharaman on Tuesday downplayed those concerns, pointing out that most of India’s support for Afghanistan has been non-military.

“We have made it very clear that there shall not be boots from India on the ground,” Sitharaman said.

India has invested billions of dollars in Afghanistan, mostly in sectors such as health, education and infrastructure. India also recently agreed to expand its support for Afghan defense forces, which includes training of Afghan army personnel.

News Story: Australia, Japan and India Look to South China Sea

HMAS Adelaide and her escorts leave Sydney for Exercises

By Noel Tarrazona

Three major countries in the Asia Pacific region are expected to continue to make their naval presence felt in the South China Sea amid the Philippine’s softening sovereignty stance in the disputed waters. 

Australia, Japan and India are all making moves in the region at a time when the Philippines is softening its stance, collaborating with China in oil and gas exploration and accepting the increasing presence of Chinese vessels within its exclusive economic zone.

Tokyo has just announced that  Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe held an exclusive security meeting with India’s leader Narendra Modi to finalize a maritime security cooperation deal in response to the growing naval presence of China in the South China Sea.

With this development, the Indian external affairs ministry along with Japan’s counterpart  met with  U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson in New York to discuss how to assert the freedom of navigation and respect for international law in the global maritime.

Earliser this year, Japan has sent a helicopter-carrying warship into the South China Sea after making a port call in Vietnam, and the ISEAS Yusof Ishak Institute in Singapore has noted that Japan plans to continue to deploy  low-key patrols in Southeast Asia waters. Institute analyst Le Hong Hiep says that India is also looking at Vietnam as its entry point for establishing presence in the South China Sea. 

Read the full story at MarEx

News Report: Australia Positioning to Help US Check China’s Maritime Expansion

Royal Australian Navy Ships leave Sydney for Exercises

Ralph Jennings

TAIPEI, TAIWAN — Australia, concerned about its vast regional trade network, is joining Japan, India and the United States in countering Chinese expansion in Asia’s biggest maritime dispute.

Six Australian warships were moving toward the South China Sea this week, with no publicized destination, for military exercises. Australian media has called the mission their country’s largest in 30 years.

“There is certainly a view in some quarters in Australia that one of Australia’s contributions to diplomacy and international affairs in Asia is as a security player,” said Jeffrey Wilson, a fellow with the Asia Research Centre at Murdoch University in Perth. “We have a very small defense force, but very high tech, high capacity.”

Australia’s leaders want their electorate, as well as its Asian neighbors, to see Canberra as a defender of rule of law in the South China Sea, consistent with its role since the Cold War, analysts say.

The Australian Department of Defense says that by 2021 it will raise the military budget to 2 percent of GDP, one of the fastest-growing in the Asia Pacific. The budget is $27.4 billion for 2017-2018.

AUS: Australia-United States Alliance stronger than ever before

Minister for Defence
Marise Payne

Minister for Defence, Senator the Hon Marise Payne, said the Australia-US Alliance continues to go from strength to strength, following a successful visit to the United States.

Minister Payne travelled to Honolulu and Washington DC from 18-22 September, where she met with senior members of the Trump Administration, including US Secretary of Defense Jim Mattis.

At their 20 September meeting in Washington DC, Minister Payne and Secretary Mattis discussed global security threats and challenges, as well as priorities for the Alliance.

“Australia and the US will continue to work together on the security challenges in the Indo-Pacific, including countering the threat posed by Daesh in the Philippines," Minister Payne said.

USA: Mattis, Australian Counterpart Discuss Defense Relationship, Challenges

Australian and US military personal (File Photo)

DoD News, Defense Media Activity

WASHINGTON, Sept. 21, 2017 — Defense Secretary Jim Mattis hosted Australian Defense Minister Marise Payne for a bilateral meeting at the Pentagon yesterday to discuss the defense relationship between their nations and the regional security challenges they continue to face, chief Pentagon spokesperson Dana W. White said.

In a statement summarizing the meeting, White said Mattis expressed his sincere and deep appreciation to Payne for Australia's assistance in the search, rescue and recovery efforts following the early August MV-22 Osprey incident that took the lives of three Marines off the Australian coast.

100 Years of 'Mateship'

"Secretary Mattis also highlighted the upcoming celebration of the first hundred years of 'Mateship' that underpins the ironclad Australia-U.S. alliance," White said, referring to the close bond formed between the United States and Australia when their troops fought side by side during World War I. "The relationship is built from tight bonds of trust, respect and friendship."

The two leaders also discussed concerns about destabilizing actions in the South China Sea and the threat posed by North Korea, White said. "They emphasized the importance of the international community coming together to hold Kim Jong-Un's regime accountable and pressuring North Korea to give up their illegal nuclear weapons program," she added.

Mattis and Payne also reaffirmed their continued commitment and support to address the growing threat from the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria and other extremist groups, particularly in Southeast Asia, she said.

US DoD

News Report: Not All See China’s Great Power Diplomacy as Huge Success

Chinese President Xi Jinping

William Ide

BEIJING — Analysts say China’s foreign policy achievements are likely to be a key focus next month when the Communist Party hosts a crucial once-in-five-year leadership meeting. But don’t expect China’s leaders to say much about the challenges and setbacks they’ve faced since Xi Jinping came to power, even though a growing number of some scholars here are doing just that.

Since Xi began assuming leadership in China in 2012, the world’s second largest economy has been rapidly expanding its global footprint and influence. Beijing is engaging and seeking to play a more prominent role in international affairs, while laying out its own initiatives, such as the Asia Infrastructure Investment Bank and the near trillion-dollar trade program, the Belt and Road.

Xi has visited nearly 30 countries, five continents and championed what some here call “Great Power Diplomacy." He has also been advocating what he calls the “China Solution,” Beijing’s proposals and answers to the world’s toughest problems.

The foreign policy focus is so important that some analysts say China’s need to play a more central role in global affairs is likely to be added to the communist party’s constitution during the meeting, along with other changes.

State media recently released a six-party series ahead of the 19th Party Congress on “Great Power Diplomacy.” Advocates of that idea, argue that as a rising great power, China should do what it feels is right anytime and whenever it wishes.

News Story: China jabs back at Trump's barb over South China Sea

Beijing hit back Wednesday at US President Donald Trump's veiled criticism of its territorial claims in the disputed South China Sea, countering that the United States was a greater threat to sovereignty.

In his speech to the UN General Assembly on Tuesday, Trump decried "threats to sovereignty" in Ukraine and the resource-rich South China Sea, without explicitly mentioning Russia or China.

"We must uphold respect for law, respect for borders, and respect for culture, and the peaceful engagement these allow," Trump said.

China asserts sovereignty over almost all of the strategically vital waters in the face of rival claims from its Southeast Asian neighbours, and has rapidly turned reefs into artificial islands capable of hosting military planes.

The United States has conducted three "freedom of navigation" operations near islands held by China to challenge Beijing's maritime claims since Trump took office in January.

Read the full story at SpaceDaily

News Report: India, Japan Expected to Increase Maritime Activity Aimed at China

Ralph Jennings

TAIPEI, TAIWAN — India and Japan, anxious to keep Asia’s dominant power Beijing in check, may send patrols into the contested South China Sea or sell arms to rival states following a pair of high-level meetings this month, experts say.

Both Asian countries could sell or donate more weapons to China’s rival maritime claimants, such as Vietnam, so they can build a defense against Beijing. Japan may also use coast guard or naval ships to patrol the sea to show it’s open despite China’s claim to some 90 percent of it.

India will probably continue joint exploration with Vietnam for oil and gas under the 3.5 million-square-kilometer sea, analysts say.

“Delhi and Tokyo have both been stepping up their capacity-building efforts in the region, with Japan focused mainly on providing patrol vessels and training for Southeast Asian states and India selling arms to and training the Vietnamese navy,” said Gregory Poling, director of the Asia Maritime Transparency Initiative of the American think tank Center for Strategic and International Studies.

News Report: India to Investigate Pakistan’s Alleged Role in DPRK Nuclear Program

The Indian Ministry of External Affairs has announced that they will be conducting an investigation into potential links between India’s rival Pakistan and the North Korean nuclear programs, promising to “hold accountable” those who have assisted North Korea’s nuclear ambitions.

External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj "deplored North Korea's recent actions and stated that its proliferation linkages must be explored and those involved must be held accountable," according to Foreign Ministry spokesman Raveesh Kumar on Monday.

While Kumar did not directly name Pakistan in his comment, he did say that he was "giving you enough material to try to figure out what we are talking about."

Pakistan, a nuclear power, has been accused on many occasions of assisting North Korea in its nuclear ambitions. In 2004, Abdul Qadeer Khan, the founder and chief scientist of Pakistan's nuclear program, claimed that he had sold nuclear secrets to North Korea, Libya, and Iran. 

News Story: Vietnam, Japan want effective COC in East (South China) Sea

Tokyo (VNA) – Vietnam’s Deputy Minister of Defence Nguyen Chi Vinh and his Japanese counterpart Ro Manabe agreed at a meeting on September 12 that the China-ASEAN Code of Conduct (COC) on the East (South China) Sea should be effective and legally binding. 

At their bilateral meeting on the sidelines of the 9th ASEAN-Japan Defence Vice-Ministerial Forum in Fukuoka, Japan, the Japanese Deputy Defence Minister lauded the growing defence cooperation between Japan ASEAN nations, including Vietnam.

He proposed an informal meeting between the Japanese Defence Minister and ASEAN counterparts be organised in the framework of the upcoming ASEAN Defence Ministers’ Meeting (ADMM-plus) in October, saying that such a meeting will help intensify the ties between Japan and ASEAN nations, and create an opportunity for the new Japanese Defence Minister to get acquainted with ASEAN partners.

Ro Manabe noted that Japan is very interested in the negotiations to finalise the China-ASEAN Code of Conduct (COC), adding that Japan wants to cooperate with Vietnam in maintaining peace and security and ensuring maritime security in the East Sea.

Read the full story at VietnamPlus

Think Tank: More than just about Belt and Road - does China hold territorial ambitions in Central Asia?

Connor Dilleen

During a speech at the National Press Club in August, the political leader of the Tibetan diaspora, Lobsang Sangay, speculated that China may use the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) to seize territory in the same way that it used a road project in Tibet as the first step in taking control over the country.

While Sangay’s claim was likely intended to draw attention and sympathy to Tibet, it provides an interesting perspective from which to assess China’s relationship with its Central Asian neighbours and the scale of BRI investments in the region.

As noted by Geremie Barme, a former head of the ANU’s Centre for China in the World, in a rebuttal of Sangay’s comments, for China ‘Tibet was about resources, while it sees most of the rest of the world as markets’. China is investing heavily in BRI projects across Central Asia, and much of that investment is focused on exploiting local resources and developing critical transportation hubs, rather than pursuing domestic markets. Thus, Central Asia potentially fits Barme’s ‘Tibet’ characterisation rather than the ‘market’ model.

But China’s investment in Central Asia carries significant risks, and those risks give rise to questions about China’s risk calculus in Central Asia. Barme’s riposte to Sangay—which contained an interesting point on the extent of China’s imperial ambition and China’s willingness to pay the price associated with such ambition—potentially sheds some light on what China’s risk calculus may be.

News Report: Disputed Asian Sea Fails Despite 2 Decades of Discussion

Ralph Jennings

TAIPEI — Countries with competing claims to the South China Sea have failed to start joint resource projects with the strongest one, China, despite discussions over the past two decades, as they fear unequal results or a loss of sovereignty.

Front-line countries in Southeast Asia worry they would take a minor role compared to China or end up ceding marine resources because China is bigger and more advanced.

“Other countries are still expecting Beijing to be more of a responsible stakeholder in terms of their performance and behavior in the South China Sea,” said Andrew Yang, secretary-general of the Chinese Council of Advanced Policy Studies think tank in Taiwan.

China in turn may suspect that domestic politics in a democratic country such as the Philippines could disrupt a deal, experts say.

News Story: Abe vows to beef up cooperation with India to address N. Korea

TOKYO (Kyodo) -- Prime Minister Shinzo Abe vowed Tuesday to promote defense and security cooperation with India in light of North Korea's intensifying military activities during his talks with Indian Defense Minister Arun Jaitley.

"Whether North Korea's reckless acts can be stopped or not depends on cooperation of the international community," Abe said at the outset of their meeting at his office in Tokyo. "We would like to change North Korea's policies in close cooperation with India."

The meeting followed North Korea's sixth nuclear test on Sunday, which Pyongyang claimed involved a hydrogen bomb that can be loaded onto an intercontinental ballistic missile. In July, the North fired two ICBMs.

Jaitley echoed the view, saying, "India has taken a very strong position on the tests conducted recently, in fact we have deplored them in no uncertain language."

The defense minister also said terrorism and proliferation of nuclear technologies and missiles in the Asian region is a "matter of crucial concern for both Japan and India."

Read the full story at The Mainichi

News Report: Vietnam Slams China Over Live-Fire Drills in South China Sea

Chinese Navy Warships on patrol

Vietnam on Tuesday again strongly criticized China’s military live-fire exercises in the disputed South China Sea amid escalating tensions between the two Asian nations.

The Maritime Safety Administration of China's southern province of Hainan, which oversees the South China Sea, announced last month that live-fire drills would take place around the Paracel Islands, which are claimed by China, Taiwan and Vietnam, until September 2.

"Vietnam strongly objects to this action by China and seriously requests China to respect Vietnam's sovereignty over the Hoang Sa [Paracel] archipelagos," Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Le Thi Thu Hang said in a newly released statement.

"Vietnam once again asserts that [we] will resolutely protect our sovereignty and our legitimate rights and interests in the East Sea [South China Sea] through peaceful measures that are suitable with international laws," the statement said.

News Report: Festering Maritime Hostilities Push China-Vietnam Relations to New Low

Ralph Jennings

TAIPEI — A rash of incidents since May is threatening to reignite hostilities between neighbors China and Vietnam over control of the contested South China Sea, but Vietnam is seen suppressing its anger in the short term for lack of broader support.

The foreign ministry in Hanoi protested last week against Beijing’s announcement of a military drill in the Gulf of Tonkin. That exchange came after China apparently pressured Vietnam and Spanish contractor Repsol to stop a multi-million-dollar offshore oil exploration project in another part of the South China Sea in late July.

In July, pro-China maritime activists apparently hacked airline computers at two Vietnam airports. China and Vietnam called off a meeting of foreign ministers at a regional event in Manila last month. In June a Chinese military official cut short a visit to Vietnam, a move analysts call a protest over Vietnam’s offshore fuel exploration.

“There’s been a string of setbacks. So (Vietnam) is showing you it’s testy,” said Carl Thayer, Southeast Asia-specialized emeritus professor at The University of New South Wales in Australia.

“I think also for Vietnam anti-China sentiment is so toxic that if the government were to face a situation in South China Sea and be perceived by the Vietnamese public as not defending Vietnamese sovereignty, they’d be in real trouble,” Thayer said.

News Story: US planning more regular South China Sea patrols - report

The Pentagon is planning to conduct more regular patrols in the South China Sea -- as many as two to three a month -- to assert freedom of navigation in disputed waters claimed by China, the Wall Street Journal reported.

The newspaper said the aim is to create a more consistent posture to counter China's maritime claims, rather than a more ad hoc approach favored during Barack Obama's administration.

US officials declined to say where or when the new patrols would be made, but said the plan developed by the US Pacific Command calls for two or three so-called "freedom of navigation" operations a month over the next few months.

Future patrols also could include US military aircraft as well as US Navy warships, the Journal said.

There have been three "freedom of navigation" operations since President Donald Trump took office in January -- the last one by the USS John S. McCain, a destroyer that collided with a cargo ship days later off Singapore, killing 10 sailors.

Read the full story at VietnamPlus

News Report: Has India Secretly Supplied Vietnam with 6,000-pound Supersonic Missiles?

Vietnamese state media claim Hanoi and New Delhi not only agreed on a deal to send BrahMos supersonic projectiles to Hanoi, but also say the weapons have been delivered. India’s Ministry of External Relations, though, denies such a deal exists.

When asked specifically about the acquisition of the BrahMos, Vietnamese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Thi Thu Hang said on August 18 “the procurement of defense equipment by Vietnam is consistent with the policy of peace and self-defense and is the normal practice in self-defense.”

India’s External Relations Ministry said reports of BrahMos cruise missiles reaching Hanoi were “incorrect” August 22. 

Whether the deal has been completed could have major strategic implications. First, the short-range ramjet supersonic cruise missile has a 600-kilometer range that puts some Chinese-owned features in the South China Sea in range. The level of tension between Hanoi and Beijing peaked recently when the People’s Liberation Army threatened to attack Vietnamese posts in the South China Sea if a joint venture between Hanoi and Madrid to explore oil fields there wasn’t called off.

News Story: Vietnam deeply concerned about China’s upcoming military drill

Hanoi (VNA) – Vietnam is deeply concerned about China’s announcement of holding a military drill in the waters off the mouth of the Gulf of Tonkin, the Foreign Ministry’s spokesperson, Le Thi Thu Hang, said on August 31. 

In reply to reporters’ queries about the move of China, Hang asserted Vietnam’s stance that all activities of foreign countries in the waters belonging to Vietnam’s sovereign right and jurisdiction should comply with Vietnam’s legal regulations and international law, especially the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea. 

Read the full story at VietnamPlus