China’s top newspaper, decrying Washington as a trouble-maker, said on Monday U.S. moves in the South China Sea like last week’s freedom of navigation operation will only cause China to strengthen its deployments in the disputed waterway. China’s foreign ministry said the USS Hopper, a destroyer, came within 12 nautical miles of Huangyan island, which is better known as the Scarborough Shoal and is subject to a rival claim by the Philippines, a historic ally of the United States. It was the latest U.S. naval operation challenging extensive Chinese claims in the South China Sea and came even as President Donald Trump’s administration seeks Chinese cooperation in dealing with North Korea’s missile and nuclear programmes. The ruling Communist Party’s official People’s Daily said in a commentary that, with the situation generally improving in the South China Sea, it was clear that the United States was the one militarising the region. “Against this backdrop of peace and cooperation, a U.S. ship wantonly provoking trouble is singleminded to the point of recklessness,” the paper said. “If the relevant party once more makes trouble out of nothing and causes tensions, then it will only cause China to reach this conclusion: in order to earnestly protect peace in the South China Sea, China must strengthen and speed up the building of its abilities there,” it said. The commentary was published under the pen name “Zhong Sheng,” meaning “Voice of China,” which is often used to give the paper’s view on foreign policy issues. The… [Read full story]
A state-backed Chinese newspaper Sunday blamed "intense" farming methods for heightening the risk of deadly diseases such as H7N9 bird flu crossing from animals to humans. China has confirmed 18 cases -- including six deaths -- of the new strain of avian influenza, so far confined to its developed east coast, since announcing a week ago that the virus had been discovered in humans for the first time. "Normally, diseases are likely to break out in poor areas. Why is it the other way around in China?" the Global Times editorial said. "In China's southern and eastern coastal areas, agriculture,…... [read more]
Tensions have been rising ahead of a July 12 ruling by an arbitration court hearing the argument between China and the Philippines over the South China Sea (Vietnam's East Sea) in the Dutch city of The Hague. In joint editorials in its Chinese and English editions, the state-run Global Times said the dispute, having already been complicated by U.S. intervention, now faces further escalation due to the threat posed by the tribunal to China's sovereignty. "Washington has deployed two carrier battle groups around the South China Sea (Vietnam's East Sea), and it wants to send a signal by flexing its muscles:…... [read more]
A China Air Force Military drill in Jinan, China. China's air force is fielding new precision-guided cruise missiles, long-range bombers and drones as its Navy expands its long-range punch, according to U.S. military intelligence officials. "While we would not characterize the modernization as accelerated," it's "progressing at a steady pace" and is significant, Lee Fuell, a director at the Air Force's National Air and Space Intelligence Center, said in a presentation released yesterday. Fuell's presentation and one prepared by the Office of Naval Intelligence for a hearing of the U.S.-China Economic and Security Review Commission in Washington are the…... [read more]
Beijing came under pressure at an Asian summit Wednesday over its "illegal" island-building in the South China Sea, after the Philippines produced photos it said showed fresh construction activity at a flashpoint shoal. Any artificial island at Scarborough Shoal could be a game-changer in China's quest to control the South China Sea and raises the risk of armed confrontation with the United States, security analysts say. Beijing insists it has not started building at the shoal -- a move that could lead to a military outpost just 230 kilometers (140 miles) from the main Philippine island, where U.S. forces are…... [read more]
CNOOC Group, the parent of the listed unit, 240 km (150 miles) off the coast of Vietnam. China has sent four oil rigs into the South China Sea in a sign that Beijing is stepping up its exploration for oil and gas in the tense region, less than two months after it positioned a giant drilling platform in waters claimed by Vietnam. Coordinates posted on the website of China's Maritime Safety Administration showed the Nanhai number 2 and 5 rigs had been deployed roughly between southern China and the Pratas islands, which are occupied by Taiwan. The Nanhai 4 rig…... [read more]
