China Tightens Grip on Disputed Islands Amid Wuhan Coronavirus Outbreak
China’s People’s Liberation Army (PLA) exploits the misery created by coronavirus
With neighboring countries struggling with the Wuhan coronavirus outbreak, Beijing is tightening its control of disputed islands in the South China Sea. During President Barack Obama’s time in office, China began a massive project of creating artificial islands in the area. These man-made islands have since been converted into military installations, naval bases, and aircraft landing strips for the Chinese military.
Beijing is now setting up fictitious local governments on these islands in a ploy to legitimize its clams over the territory, the Japanese public broadcaster NHK reported citing official sources. China stakes claim on nearly 90 percent of the waters in the area, rejecting the territorial sovereignty of many of its maritime neighbors, including the Philippines, Vietnam, Malaysia, Brunei, and Taiwan.
While the world is reeling under the human and economic cost of the Wuhan virus, Communist China is ramping up its military intimidation of its weaker rivals. In the midst of the outbreak, China’s People’s Liberation Army (PLA) carried out several “naval and air intrusions in Taiwan and Japan,” foreign police journal The Diplomat confirmed on Friday.
Hong Kong-based newspaper South China Morning Post reported on Saturday:
Beijing has moved to tighten its grip over the South China Sea by setting up new administrative structures in the disputed waters.
The two new districts will be under the authority of the local government in Sansha, a city in the southern island of Hainan.
The new districts will govern the Paracels and Macclesfield Bank – an area claimed by Vietnam and Taiwan – as well as the Spratly Islands and their adjacent waters, where there are multiple overlapping claims.
Over the past six years China has sought to expand its control over the South China Sea by building artificial islands and facilities that can be used for military purposes. (…)
Beijing claims almost all of the area but has conflicting claims with Vietnam, the Philippines, Taiwan, Malaysia and Brunei. The conflict has remained unresolved for decades and has now become another flashpoint with the US.
The Chinese aggression is not limited to the South China Sea, Beijing makes territorial claims on 18 of its neighbors. These disputes are not restricted to maritime claims, but extend to the vast 2,000-mile mountainous border it shares with India. The border row reignited between the two Asian neighbors in 2017 after New Delhi accused the Chinese military of incursion into its territory.
With Beijing’s growing economic clout, many of its neighbors watch the Communist regime’s expansionist plans with great anxiety. The One Belt, One Road project, initiated in 2013, gives China control of roads, railways, and power grids in nearly 70 countries spread across Asia, the Middle East, Europe, and Africa. The Chinese Army has acquired naval bases in the Horn of Africa and the Arabian Sea under the cover of the One Belt, One Road Initiative.
While nations of the world struggle to deal with the contagion which originated in central China, Beijing is pushing ahead with a military expansion at cost to its weaker neighbors. Communist China shamelessly exploits the human suffering and economic misery it created by downplaying and covering-up the origins of the life-threatening contagion.
Philippines dispute Chinese expansion at South China Sea
[Cover image via YouTube]
DONATE
Donations tax deductible
to the full extent allowed by law.
Comments
Why it is like the Chinese Wuhan Germ Release
was all pre-planned and deliberate…….
Are you asserting that the Chinese could have anticipated all the mass stupidity and irrational responses in the West?
Why now that you mention it…….
They do leave nothing to chance………….
POMPEO DETAILS HOW COMMUNIST CHINA HAS LISTS EVEN DOWN
TO COLLEGE ADMINISTRATORS AND GRADE SCHOOL PRINCIPALS
WHO ARE CORRUPTABLE FOR THEIR TAKE OVER.
NATURALLY THAT LIST INCLUDES MAYORS AND GOVERNORS TOO.
https://www.c-span.org/video/?469104-1/national-governors-association-2020-winter-meeting
Mass stupidity, like believing China’s claims about when and how the CCR virus emerged, their claim that there was no person to person spread, and so much more? Frankly, China’s actions remind me a great deal of Pearl Harbor, the only difference being the weapons used. This was a sneak attack.
SNEAK ATTACK!!!!!!
THEY HAVE AWAKENED A SLEEPING GIANT.
Not this time around. There aren’t enough Americans steeped in American culture and duty.
We’ve allowed the rot within to become so prevelant that maggots like obama, tlaib, omar, cortez, waters, etc are elected to Congress, and feminzazis like Michigan governor whitmar fly their fascists colors proudly. The fact that pelosi hasn’t been run out of town on the proverbial rail says it all.
The best thing that may happen to this country is to break into seperate parts. At least we can choose a way of life we want, instead of having the swamp/left/islamic anchor around our necks, taking us to the bottom.
The older I get, the less I believe in coincidences.
How big a coincidence would it be if there were no coincidences? Maybe humans saw the last coincidence when the Titanic coincided with that unsinkable iceberg. I thought Shakespeare settled the issue with the best-laid plans line.
The big problem is, can we learn to force coincidence. We fail, mostly. Looking for an aspirin substitute, didn’t we discover saccharine? Looking for a passage to India, didn’t we discover CC underestimated the circumference of earth by one-fourth. Looking for Hillary, didn’t we discover Trump?
Coincidences are not as good as serendipities because all coincidences are not happy ones, like contracting WU-HA or George Washington’s brother succumbing to small pox.
No worries. NOTHING will happen. There is no nation that will challenge the ChiComs and their ambitions. The United States is inhibited by the Dems/Progs, who are natural allies of Communist governments, everywhere. See how they like Venezuela, Comrade Sanders is a willing advocate. There isn’t enough strength or will be any other country. The South China Sea is theirs.
So what is the alternative? Do you seriously propose the US go to war with China to protect 6 other countries’ claims to the South China Sea?! If not, then what exactly can we do about this Chinese aggression?
“Claims to South China Sea”… let me rephrase this to Chinese Lebensraum as they push for more territorial control. China is expanding its area of dominance making any pushback harder and any confrontation for difficult. This turns these nations into proxy states… and where down it end?
There are options short of a war. In any event we either are prepared to ensure freedom of navigation within international waters or we are not.
As with the old CCCP, the PRC will use a series of gradually escalating provocations to test our resolve. IMO, it is better to meet these provocations at the outset, before they reach a point of an actual shooting war.
We can certainly assert the freedom of navigation, and they won’t attack our ships. But every so often, when the USN is not around, they will attack some fishing boat, just to make their point.
And the freedom of navigation will do nothing to stop them entrenching themselves on these islands they’ve created. Next step: populating them. Then what do we do? Again, if we’re not prepared to go to war with them over it, and we shouldn’t be, then what choices do we have?
Comparisons to Hitler’s slow expansion in the mid-’30s are valid and ominous, but the differences are also stark. France was capable of resisting the occupation of the Rhineland, but was too frightened. We now know that the German forces were under orders to turn back if the French put up any resistance. In this case there isn’t a physical invading army that can be blocked, and none of the 6 claimants to the sea can possibly fight China. The only ones capable of doing that are us, and we’re not willing to do it. So I repeat, what options are there? Denouncing it won’t do much.
Milhouse,
Freedom to navigate in international waters is a collective right of all nations. Yes the PRC will harass local fishing boats and the Philippines can’t do much but protest.
That said the PRC, like all our strategic foes, closely observe how the U.S. reacts to provocation. So, when Iran harass our vessels every so often we should bring them under fire. Destroying these ‘pirates’ in international waters and informing Iran that we have done them a service by doing so.
Perhaps after our repeated warnings to the PRC regarding the importance of respecting maritime law, we could ‘observe’ a vessel or vessels with cargo bound for PRC under ‘attack’ and render aid.
Press release; ‘Oops, we were to slow, both PRC vessels were destroyed. However the U.S. takes it’s responsibility for ensuring freedom of navigation seriously and will be increasing it’s presence along both ends of commercial supply routes on either side of the staits of Malacca.’
Lots of ways to skin the cat without a direct confrontation between military vessels of PRC and U.S.
Just wait for the next big typhoon.
There is a reason those atolls were uninhabited.
FYI.
Well that’s $150 Million going directly to the benefit of the COMMUNIST CHINESE.
Global Citizen’s star-studded “One World: Together at Home” concert came under fire as some criticized the televised event for raising money for the World Health Organization’s coronavirus response.
The two-hour primetime show curated by Lady Gaga raised more than $150 million for the organization’s Solidarity Response Fund, organizers said.
Elton John, Jennifer Lopez, Stevie Wonder, former US first ladies Michelle Obama and Laura Bush, Andrea Bocelli, Celine Dion and Taylor Swift all participated in the special.
But critics of the WHO lashed out on social media in response to the broadcast event, which was the largest celebrity gathering so far to fight the pandemic.
“Each and EVERY ‘celebrity’ involved is a traitor to humankind and an equal conspirator is covering up the @WHO and Communist China’s CRIMES against humanity,” one Twitter user wrote.
The backlash comes…….
https://nypost.com/2020/04/19/global-citizen-concert-criticized-for-helping-raise-money-for-who/
When the Philippines are done disputing and protesting, perhaps they can do something about it.
Oh right, they can’t.
Limit sea rights to the square root of the land area of the island. Islands existing before 2000 grandfathered in.
Problem solved.
And how do you propose getting the Chinese to agree to such a rule?
It’s just a rule change. Followed by violations and sanctions.
They’re a sovereign nation; they’re not subject to rules they haven’t consented to. So they’d have to consent to the change, which they obviously won’t do.
Maybe if we had some sort of strategic deterrent available in the area, like an Aircraft Carrier ……
Other than sail through to assert the right of navigation, what can it do? Fire on Chinese forces, and risk a war?!
Well I suppose it could conduct low level flights over any craft acting to inhibit navigation and then having identified ‘rouge’ pirate vessels engage those craft. All the while broadcasting that intent and the follow on actions on civilian maritime frequencies.
Of course these must be pirates, clearly couldn’t be PRC vessels no matter how these pirates try to identify themselves. No doubt about it, pirates are full of tricks, lying about their identity is the least of them.
In other words, dear PRC, we got rid of these pirates for you. They must have been pirates because no responsible nation state would willingly undertake those sorts of actions.
Another way would be to intercept a ship or ships with cargo to the PRC and upon inspection, unfortunately the ships were under the control of pirates and had to be destroyed. There seem to be lots and lots of pirates along your shipping routes PRC. It’s a big world with lots of ocean other than the South China sea, but don’t worry PRC, the U.S. has a naval presence worldwide and we will be happy to assist with your sudden pirate problems. No one wants pirates now do they?
Bottom line is no gun boats means no gun boat diplomacy, and diplomacy, even gun boat diplomacy, is preferable to an open shooting war. Everything short of that is preferable, especially when we are, for a while at least, able to set the terms of the engagement.
If only U.S. policy really did have control over the rise or fall of sea levels…
If leftist fantasies were true the world would be a bewildering and frightening place.
“the largest celebrity gathering so far to fight the pandemic.”
Nope. Not even close to correct. This gathering was to further the spread of WHO agitprop.
Thanks to leftards in hollywood and the drooling sheep that worship them, 150 million goes to this “worthy” cause.
Pathetic.
Well said, CommoChief.
Add in the notion of the little likelihood of coincidence in all this and you really can’t deny the ruby-red blush you might get in accepting the proposition that losing the TR (CVN-71) for a while from the South-China-Sea (SCS) scene at least enabled a way to give the CCP a try at enhanced, unencumbered neo-lebensraum, if you will.
Gosh, “We never had it so easy and good!” I’d bet the Party is generally feeling today, maybe going on to add, “Sinking a Vietnamese fishing vessel on the open sea was never so much fun, and relatively cost-free!”
Mark this, please: Whatever and however long it takes; by whatever means short of but not absolutely excluding some non-escalating, non-nuclear, any MAD-based battling — we’ve got to kick the CCP’S ass back to the internationally recognized framework that existed prior to the dredging up of land’s creating novel, highly contested CCP “territory,” beneath the SCS.
Either there is some manner of force attached to the defiance of a lawful verdict of a mutually recognized tribunal (to which the CCP was a litigating party), or there isn’t. Reason must still make right, not might, or we’re all through — including the CCP.
So, I’m thinking specifically of strong, civil, reparative action with the world’s Wuhan virus-infected/affected nations in league with us. Money talks so much louder then even guns. (Germany’s Bild editor, Julian Reichelt, has brilliantly and bravely made his country’s apparent Wuhan-virus-related damage-claim clear and convincing.)
Finally, neo makes a great meteorological/geographical point above regarding the limits of populating the disputed islands as a CCP deterrent against any military action, if it would ever be considered later on. Works for us.
So, I’m thinking specifically of strong, civil, reparative action with the world’s Wuhan virus-infected/affected nations in league with us. Money talks so much louder thAn even guns. (Of course.)