|
Post by Admin on Jun 1, 2015 20:52:15 GMT
China’s rapid claim on contested islands in the South China Sea is beyond anything seen previously and raises legitimate questions about Beijing’s intentions in the region, the secretary of the Australian defence department, Dennis Richardson, said. Richardson told a Senate estimates committee on Monday that the military buildup on China’s reclamation program in the South China Sea “dwarfs” what other nations in the region have done previously. “The land reclamation activity by China in the South China Sea has been at a pace and scale in the last two years beyond anything we have previously seen. It dwarfs what the other claimant states have done, and the size of the land reclamation does raise questions about its purpose,” Richardson said. China has reportedly started building up its military presence in the artificially created islands, in a region believed to be rich in oil and gas reserves.Several countries have laid claim to the islands, situated just north of Brunei, and the naval corridor is an important shipping route for Australian vessels. Labor has also raised concerns over mounting tension in the South China Sea and has urged the government to tread carefully. Andrews hit out at Beijing’s reclamation program during an Asian security summit in Singapore on Sunday. “We remain concerned by any developments in the South and East China Sea which raise tensions in the region,” he told the summit. “Australia has made clear its opposition to any coercive or unilateral actions to change the status quo in the South and East China Sea. This includes any large-scale land reclamation activity by claimants in the South China Sea. We are particularly concerned at the prospect of militarisation of artificial structures,” he continued. Andrews urged all the parties involved in the dispute – which include China, Malaysia, Brunei, Vietnam, Taiwan and the Philippines – to sign a code of conduct immediately, in a bid to ease tensions. “Disputes must be resolved peacefully and Australia urges all parties to exercise restraint, halt all reclamation activities, refrain from provocative actions and take steps to ease tensions,” Andrews said. “Because when tensions are high, the risks of miscalculation resulting in conflict are very real.”
|
|
|
Post by Admin on Jun 3, 2015 20:36:48 GMT
Russia and China intend to hold naval exercises in the South China Sea, according to comments by Russia’s Deputy Defense Minister Anatoly Antonov. The exercises will include Russia’s allies in the Asia-Pacific region, though Antonov did not clarify which countries, beyond China, would participate in the exercises. Russia maintains close relations with several Southeast Asian states, especially with Vietnam, for which Russia is an important provider of arms. China, however, is involved in territorial disputes with four Southeast Asian states — Vietnam, the Philippines, Malaysia, and Brunei — over the sovereignty of various islands and reefs in the South China Sea. A major point of agreement between China and Russia, per Antonov’s comments in Singapore, is that the United States is the primary destabilizing factor in the South China Sea. Antonov suggested that Russia and China were being singled out for criticism by the United States: ”We are concerned by U.S. policies in the region, especially since every day it becomes increasingly focused on a systemic containment of Russia and China.” Antonov’s remarks reflect the broader cooling of bilateral relations between the White House and the Kremlin since Russia’s invasion of Crimea and subsequent backing of anti-government rebels in Ukraine last year. Russia and China have been steadily increasing their bilateral maritime security cooperation, and the interoperability of their navies. The development is a result of several trends in China’s naval posture and overall ties with Russia. Over the past two years — since Chinese President Xi Jinping came to power — relations between Russia and China have grown closer and deepened strategically. Additionally, China’s military is in the process of readjusting the country’s historic military focus on land-based assets to its navy. As a result, China’s navy is looking toward global operations. As The Diplomat noted recently, Russia and China concluded a naval exercise in the Mediterranean just two weeks ago. The details of any bilateral Russia-China exercise in the South China Sea remain sparse. Russian state media notes that the likely time frame for the exercise is May 2016. Events are moving swiftly in the South China Sea — particularly with regard to China’s land reclamation and construction activities on disputed islands and reefs in the Spratly and Paracel Islands. China has strongly emphasized that its construction activities in the South China Sea are primarily “for civilian purposes,” but as recent events have shown, the People’s Liberation Army is present in the region. A bilateral naval exercise next year between the Russian and Chinese navies could showcase the utility of some of the new features China has established on the disputed islands, including airstrips and radar installations.
|
|
|
Post by Admin on Jul 15, 2015 20:37:23 GMT
There were chaotic scenes inside Japan's normally orderly parliament Wednesday as opposition lawmakers thronged a committee room in an unsuccessful bid to block Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's controversial security bills. Dozens of politicians held signs protesting against what they said was the "forced" passage of legislation that will bolster the role of Japan's military, in a way they say is anathema to the country's pacifist constitution. The floor of the committee room filled moments after chairman Yasukazu Hamada, a member of Abe's conservative Liberal Democratic Party (LDP), called a vote. Lawmakers chanted "nay, nay, nay" and held posters saying "No to Abe politics", and "No to a forced decision", as their LDP colleagues pressed on with the vote, which they won comfortably. "This will drastically change our defence policies. It's also likely they are unconstitutional," said Katsuya Okada, head of main opposition Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ). "I strongly protest that these bills were forced through the committee," he said. The bills, which are expected to go to a vote of the powerful -- and LDP-dominated -- lower chamber on Thursday, are something of a pet project for Abe, despite widespread public disquiet over what many Japanese say is an affront to 70 years of pacifism. Hundreds of people protested outside parliament Wednesday, with numbers expected to swell throughout the evening.
|
|
|
Post by Admin on Jul 21, 2015 20:20:05 GMT
Japan says China's aggressive maritime activities in the East China Sea are among the major threats to the country's security, as Prime Minister Shinzo Abe pushes through a series of controversial measures aimed at expanding the role of Japan's military. In its annual defense review issued Tuesday, Japan's Defense Ministry lashed out at Beijing's development of undersea oil and gas reserves in the East China Sea, as well as its increasing military presence near a series of Japanese-controlled islands that are also claimed by China. The report denounced China's activities in the resource-rich South China Sea, where it has begun building several artificial islands, a move which has escalated tensions between Beijing and several of its East Asian neighbors. "China, particularly over conflicting maritime issues, continues to act in an assertive manner, including coercive attempts at changing the status quo, and is poised to fulfill its unilateral demands without compromise," the report concluded. The Defense Ministry also identified North Korea's nuclear missile program as a threat to Japan's security. The Chinese military's new white paper notes that it is ready to use force beyond its borders in the air and at sea "to safeguard its maritime possessions. Japan's lower house of parliament has approved legislation that will loosen restraints on Japan's Self-Defense Forces, which were imposed in the country's post-World War II pacifist constitution. The legislation, among other things, would allow Japan's military to be able to defend friendly countries that come under attack.
|
|
|
Post by Admin on Jul 22, 2015 20:20:13 GMT
Japan released aerial photos of Chinese oil and gas exploration platforms Wednesday it said were close to disputed waters and proved that Beijing was planning to tap into an oil field that straddles both countries' territory. "While the objects may be on the Chinese side of the dividing line, for China to unilaterally develop the natural resources there is extremely regrettable," Japan's main government's main spokesman Yoshihide Suga told reporters during a press conference. In 2008, Japan and China agreed to jointly develop resources in the area, which is claimed by both countries. The new aerial photographs showed 16 Chinese platforms in the area, 12 of which have been built since 2013, Suga said. "We decided to disclose what we can show, as there's been increasing interest home and abroad over China's unilateral efforts to change the status quo," Suga said, referring to a territorial dispute involving Vietnam and the Philippines over the Spratly Islands in South China Sea. On Tuesday, Japan's defense minister Gen Nakatani called on China to stop building the platforms, adding that Beijing's activities "were also of international concern." China pushed back after Nakatani's statement. "This kind of action completely lays bare the two-faced nature of Japan's foreign policy and has a detrimental impact on peace and stability in the Asia Pacific region," China's defense ministry said in a statement on Tuesday.
|
|