Filippine

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Braccio di ferro fra le unità della marina filippina, e quelle della marina cinese.

 

L'area è quella della Scarborough Shoal, dove unità filippine stavano conducendo accertamenti su un peschereccio cinese, ma quasi subito un'unità cinese si è interposta fra le due.

 

L'ultimo episodio di una serie di atti che segnano l'area come un campo di dispute diplomatiche e territoriali, che per di più arriva in vista di una esercitazione programmata USA-Filippine fra il 14-27 Aprile.

 

Intanto anche i Marines pensano di incrementare la loro presenza nell'aerea.

[Andrea75]

Un aggiornamento Philippines Warns Neighbors on China’s Territorial Claims

[Andrea75]

Hackers hit Philippines websites amid China dispute

[Andrea75]

Philippines Asks U.S. for Radars, Patrol Boats and Aircraft

 

The Philippines said May 2 that it has asked the United States to supply its armed forces with patrol boats and aircraft as well as radar systems amid an escalating territorial dispute with China.

 

Philippine Foreign Secretary Albert del Rosario said the hardware would help his country achieve a “minimum credible defense,” a phrase he used in unprecedented talks with senior U.S. officials in Washington earlier this week.

 

“We need to know what’s going on around us. That’s maritime domain awareness,” del Rosario said in answer to a question following a speech at The Heritage Foundation think tank.

 

“And we also need to deter any additional incursions into our seas where we have sovereign rights,” the chief Philippine diplomat said, referring to its dispute with China in the South China Sea.

[Andrea75]

Segnalo un paper che prendendo spunto dalla disputa con la Cina, analizza le forze armate filippine

[Andrea75]

U.S. Committed to Upholding Security Pact: Philippines

 

The Philippines said May 9 that the United States had pledged to protect it from attacks in the South China Sea, a day after China issued a warning over a territorial row in the waters.

 

Filipino Defence Secretary Voltaire Gazmin said he had received the assurances during talks in Washington last week in which the Philippines’ increasingly tense dispute with China over rival claims to a shoal in the sea were discussed.

 

Gazmin said U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and Defense Secretary Leon Panetta stressed they were not taking sides in the dispute, but they assured the Philippines the United States would honor a 1951 mutual defense treaty.

 

“It includes armed attack ... [on] island territories in the Pacific,” said Gazmin, citing conditions for the allies coming to each other’s aid.

[Andrea75]

Segnalo un'analisi delle "tensioni" marittime tra la Cina e i suoi dirimpettai: LA REGIONE ASIA-PACIFICO: TENSIONI E STRATEGIE

 

E, a seguire, ecco il piano di sorveglianza marittima della Cina (fonte Stratfor)

 

[Andrea75]

Lo Scarboroug Shoal e le tensioni tra Cina e Filippine

[Andrea75]

segnalo due analisi

 

Scarborough Shoal And Safeguarding American Interests – Analysis

 

U.S. Takes A Pass — For Now — On China Sea Disputes

Modificato 26 Giugno 2012 da Andrea75

[Andrea75]

Philippines May Ask U.S. for Air Surveillance

 

The Philippines may ask the United States to send surveillance planes to help it monitor a disputed area in the South China Sea, a presidential spokesman said July 2, in a move that could deepen tensions with China.

The move to request P-3C Orion electronic surveillance planes would first require the approval of the top defense advisers of President Benigno Aquino III, Ramon Carandang said.

The request “is a possibility as a way to enhance our monitoring capabilities,” Carandang told Agence France-Presse. “But definitely, this is just for monitoring and surveillance purposes.”

 

se andrà in porto, ai cinesi non piacerà!

[Andrea75]

Credo che questa discussione possa ospitare segnalazioni che riguardano il "teatro" del Mar Cinese Meridionale, non limitandosi solo alla questione Cina-Filippine (salvo diverso avviso dei moderatori). Il comune denominatore è la Cina, con le sue ambizioni territoriali ed energetiche, che si contrappone a tutti gli stati che si affacciano su quel mare.

 

In questo caso segnalo un nuovo episodio tra Cina e Giappone Japan protests at Chinese ships near disputed islands

 

Japan has summoned China's ambassador to protest against the appearance of Chinese patrol boats near a disputed chain of islands in the East China Sea.

 

continue their coverage on the East China Sea islands dispute after Japan protested at the entry of Chinese patrol boats into disputed water.

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Credo che questa discussione possa ospitare segnalazioni che riguardano il "teatro" del Mar Cinese Meridionale, non limitandosi solo alla questione Cina-Filippine (salvo diverso avviso dei moderatori). Il comune denominatore è la Cina, con le sue ambizioni territoriali ed energetiche, che si contrappone a tutti gli stati che si affacciano su quel mare.

 

 

Ben detto, questo è l'intento del topic.

[Andrea75]

Segnalo quest'analisi. The Paradox of China's Naval Strategy. Interessante per l'excursus storico della politica navale cinese.

 

Ecco quello che la Cina vorrebbe

 

 

Strategia del 'divide et impera':

La Cina è un grande paese, in crescita, che stà sviluppando delle Forze Armate - la Marina in special modo - adatte alle ambizioni.

Evita un confornto Cina vs Tutti, e preferisce tanti confronti bilaterali, con i quali può far valere tutto il prorpio status.

 

China's long-term goal is to use its growing naval capabilities to control the islands and islets within the South China Sea and thus the natural resources and the strategic position they afford. When China was militarily weak, it supported the concept of putting aside sovereignty concerns and carrying out joint development, aiming to reduce the potential conflicts from overlapping claims while buying time for its own naval development. Meanwhile, to avoid dealing with a unified bloc of counterclaimants, Beijing adopted a one-to-one negotiation approach with individual countries on their own territorial claims, without the need to jeopardize its entire nine-dash line claim. This allowed Beijing to remain the dominant partner in bilateral negotiations, something it feared it would lose in a more multilateral forum.

[Andrea75]

Taiwan tests new weapons in China war simulation

 

Taiwan for the first time Monday tested how a fleet of advanced submarine hunting aircraft and attack helicopters would be utilised in the event of an attack by rival China, officials and media said.

The weapons were included at the beginning of the five-day “Han Kuang No 28″ computer-aided wargame — the biggest of the military’s series of annual drills.

The Defence ministry confirmed the drill started Monday but refused to provide further details.

[Andrea75]

La Cina è irritata India's ONGC to Continue Exploration in South China Sea Off Vietnam

 

ONGC Videsh Ltd., the overseas investment arm of ONGC, has accepted Vietnam's proposal to stay invested in Block 128 as Hanoi has offered additional data that can help to make future exploration economically feasible and discovering hydrocarbons commercially viable

...

A renewed push into the South China Sea will strengthen India's ties with Vietnam but will rile China, which has opposed India's presence in the region, claiming its own territorial rights over the potentially energy-rich sea.

"ONGC has just received a two-year renewal recently," said Phan Tien Vien, chief of exploration division for Vietnam's state-run Vietnam Oil & Gas Group, or PetroVietnam.

China claims sovereignty over much of the South China Sea, including areas close offshore some of its bordering states, putting it in conflict with Vietnam, the Philippines, Malaysia and Brunei.

[Andrea75]

Segnalo un interessante paper che parla dell'India, con particolare riguardo alla "competizione" con la Cina L’India e la Cina: l’evoluzione delle dinamiche bilaterali, regionali e globali

 

 

L’India e la Cina sono economie in fase ascendente, alla ricerca di fonti energetiche capaci di oliare i loro motori di crescita. Di conseguenza, i due paesi sono

in competizione per l’esercizio della rispettiva influenza sia in Africa, sia in Asia.

...

sostenendo la necessità di una risoluzione pacifica della questione, appare chiaro che Delhi non condivide la rivendicazione di Pechino sul controllo dell’intero Mar Cinese Meridionale. Non sembra tuttavia probabile che l’India sposi la strategia statunitense di contenimento della Cina nell’area. Anche se l’India è parte del processo di dialogo a tre, insieme a Stati Uniti e Giappone, essa non ha in realtà accettato la proposta americana di aderire al patto strategico di cooperazione

tra gli Stati Uniti e l’Australia nell’area Asia-Pacifico, volto al contenimento della Cina. All’India non piacerebbe infatti correre il rischio di essere utilizzata strumentalmente dagli Stati Uniti in Asia Meridionale, da cui l’approccio cauto di Delhi.

Non è quindi sorprendente che, dopo le minacce pronunciate dalla Cina, le operazioni di perlustrazione condotte dalla compagnia petrolifera statale indiana ONGC Videsh nel blocco esplorativo 127, situato nelle acque del Mar Cinese Meridionale, siano state arrestate con il pretesto di motivi “commerciali”. La compagnia, tuttavia, continua l’esplorazione di gas nel blocco 6,1, vicino al Vietnam, dove sono stati rinvenuti ben 2 miliardi di metri cubi di gas naturale. L’India ha respinto l’obiezione cinese alle proprie attività di esplorazione petrolifera al largo delle coste del Vietnam, ribadendone la natura commerciale, e sostenendo che Pechino dovrebbe risolvere la questione della sovranità sul Mar Cinese Meridionale pacificamente, secondo i dettami del diritto internazionale

 

 

P.S.: ho segnalato questo documento anche nel topic dedicato alla Cina

 

Inoltre segnalo: China Announces Intention to Garrison Disputed South China Sea, siamo nelle Paracel Islands

 

On 22 July China’s official state-run Xinhua News Agency announced that the People’s Liberation Army’s (PLA) Central Military Commission approved plans to establish a permanent military garrison in the disputed South China Sea. China is known to have positioned military vessels in the region on a routine and recurring basis in the recent past and this announcement appears to be a continuation of China’s determination to strengthen its claims of sovereignty over the area.

...

China began sending combat-ready naval patrols throughout the disputed area following Vietnam’s 21 June passage of legislation claiming sovereignty over the disputed islands and the surrounding waters.

 

Modificato 24 Luglio 2012 da Andrea75

[Andrea75]

Siamo in una fase "fluida" dove le parti in causa si stanno posizionando, o cercano di consolidare le rispettive posizioni:

 

... riprendo dalle puntate precedenti:

dopo l'annuncio di Pechino di voler inviare un contingente militare su delle isole "disputate" con il Vietnam (source), arriva la protesta ufficiale degli USA, per mezzo del senatore John McCain (source), a cui si accodano le Filippine (source) che nel frattempo ratificano un accordo militare con l'Australia (source).

L'Indonesia, seguendo un trend consolidato in quella regione, programma un aumento delle spese militari per il futuro (source)

 

La USAF ha programmato l'invio dell'F-22 Raptor in Giappone (source). Normale routine, dicono, ma la Cina non farà i salti di gioia.

 

Le differenze di 'opinioni'

 

Beh, siamo in una regione dove ci sono dispute territoriali ed energetiche e dove praticamente tutti gli stati stanno facendo una corsa agli armamenti, comincio a pensare che abbia ragione chi parla di una futura, probabile guerra source

[Andrea75]

Segnalo una relazione (divisa in due parti) sulle tensioni nel Mar Cinese Meridionale Parte I e parte II

 

tensions continue to escalate while the prospects of resolution seem to be diminishing. With political resolution to the disputes in sight, China and most South East Asian claimant countries have continued to expand and modernise their navies and coast guards. The regional build-up of arms increases the likelihood of unintentional escalation, and the aggressive use of law enforcement vessels to assert claims leads to more frequent contact with civilian vessels and other coast guards.

...

The failure to reduce the risks of conflict, combined with the internal economic and political factors that are pushing claimants toward more assertive behaviour, shows that trends in the South China Sea are moving in the wrong direction. The risk of escalation is high, and as pressure in the region threatens to boil over, claimants would benefit from taking concrete steps toward the joint management of hydrocarbon and fishing resources, as well as toward

reaching a common ground on the development of a mechanism to mitigate or de-escalate incidents, even if they cannot agree on an overall approach to dispute resolution. In the absence of such a mechanism, tensions in the South China Sea could all too easily be driven to irreversible levels.

 

Singapore ha condotto con successo un test missilistico source e source. E la CVN 73 USS Washington si stà facendo un giro vicino alle Filippine source.

[Andrea75]

Prove di dialogo: China, Indonesia to establish navy dialogue mechanism

 

China and Indonesia are going to establish a dialogue mechanism between the two navies and hold the first round of navy dialogue this year, a Chinese military spokesman said in Beijing on Thursday.

Defense Ministry spokesman Yang Yujun said at a monthly press briefing that both sides have agreed to announce the official establishment of the mechanism at an appropriate time.

According to Yang, a meeting on the framework of the mechanism and some technical issues is being held in Beijing from Tuesday to Friday, and both sides have reached a basic consensus on the mechanism's purpose, operation mode and contents.

"Both sides agree that the establishment of the mechanism is conducive to deepening the pragmatic exchanges and cooperation between China and Indonesia, as well as the in-depth development of bilateral defense relations and the maintenance of regional peace and stability," he said.

 

A voler pensar male, la Cina usa il vecchio metodo del dividi e comanda: tanti negoziati bilaterali nei quali "trattare" da posizione dominante. Staremo a vedere cosa riserverà il futuro.

[Andrea75]

Ecco la lista della spesa di Taiwan Import or Die: Taiwan’s (Un?)Stalled Force Modernization

 

 

 

 

e Taiwan mulls buying used M1 tanks

 

As the US military pulls out of Iraq and Afghanistan, the Pentagon is reportedly seeking to sell some of the weapons used in those conflicts to its allies — and Taiwan is studying the possibility of acquiring M1 Abrams main battle tanks.

 

aggiungo altri aggiornamenti:

 

Philippine Navy to deploy ships to Pag-asa

 

THE Philippine Navy announced on Thursday that it would deploy its sea assets to Pag-asa Island in a bid to drive away a fleet of 20 Chinese fishing boats and at least two naval frigates that intruded into Philippine territory.

Commodore Rustom Pena, commander of the Naval Forces West, said that ships will be deployed as soon as the weather permits. The command is responsible for the naval defense and security in the western Philippines, including the Kalayaan Island Group (Spratlys).

“The weather is bad in that area so we cannot deploy our boats. Of course we will warn them [Chinese] to leave our area,” Pena said.

He clarified that he would not like to use the words “shoo” or “drive away” as it may sound provocative. He said that Navy personnel would be sent there to “investigate.”

 

Japanese Prime Minister said to consider the dispatch Self-Defense Forces to guard the Diaoyu Islands

 

Japanese Prime Minister Noda publicly declared that, if including the Diaoyu the Japanese territory and territorial waters "illegal violations of other countries, if necessary, Japan will consider dispatch Self-Defense Forces. ... the Government of Japan for the first time will be dispatched the army to respond to the Diaoyu Islands dispute.

...

Noda said the Chinese ships continue to provoke situations in areas surrounding the Diaoyu Islands, he stressed that the Diaoyu Islands are Japanese territory "in the history of international law, no doubt. 26, analysts said, The Noda move is the learning former Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi for the election canvassing. Can Japan's Jiji News Agency commented that Noda position may seem bold formulation is sufficient to contain China, dispatched Self-Defense Forces in fact may lead to more intense response in China.

Modificato 27 Luglio 2012 da Andrea75

[Andrea75]

Philippines to bid out disputed South China Sea oil, gas blocks

 

The Philippines will offer three areas in the South China Sea for oil and gas exploration on Tuesday, two of them in waters also claimed by China.

...

"All the areas we have offered are well within the 200 nautical mile exclusive economic zone of the Philippines under the UNCLOS (United Nations Convention of the Law of the Seas)," Jose Layug, an undersecretary in Manila's Department of Energy, told Reuters.

"Thus, the Philippines exercises exclusive sovereign rights and authority to explore and exploit resources within these areas to the exclusion of other countries. There is no doubt and dispute about such rights."

 

Philippines to Offer Offshore Oil Blocks in China-Claimed Areas

 

The Philippines, a U.S. ally, this month denounced “intimidation” from China and warned of possible “physical hostilities” at a regional security meeting that included Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. China last year chased away a survey ship doing work for the Philippines and has said companies need its permission to explore in areas up for bid.

“None of the claimants to the South China Sea can really let each other’s claims go uncontested,” said Michael Wesley, executive director of the Lowy Institute for International Policy in Sydney. “If significant exploration and exploitation occur in contested waters, it’s highly likely that China will do something about it.”

[Andrea75]

China media tell U.S. to "shut up" over South China Sea tensions

 

China's state-run media ramped up condemnation of the United States on Monday over tensions in the South China Sea, with the Communist Party's top newspaper telling Washington to "Shut up" and charging it with "fanning flames" of division in the region.

[Andrea75]

The United States is concerned by the increase in tensions in the South China Sea and is monitoring the situation closely

 

China has indisputable sovereignty over the South China Sea islands and adjacent waters, MFA says in response to American statement

 

Taiwan proposes the East China Sea Peace Initiative

[Andrea75]

U.S. Plans New Asia Missile Defenses

 

The U.S. is planning a major expansion of missile defenses in Asia, a move American officials say is designed to contain threats from North Korea, but one that could also be used to counter China's military.

 

The planned buildup is part of a defensive array that could cover large swaths of Asia, with a new radar in southern Japan and possibly another in Southeast Asia tied to missile-defense ships and land-based interceptors.

 

It is part of the Obama administration's new defense strategy to shift resources to an Asian-Pacific region critical to the U.S. economy after a decade of war in Iraq and Afghanistan.

 

The expansion comes at a time when the U.S. and its allies in the region voice growing alarm about a North Korean missile threat. They are also increasingly worried about China's aggressive stance in disputed waters such the South China Sea, where Asian rivals are vying for control of oil and mineral rights.

U.S. defense planners are particularly concerned about China's development of antiship ballistic missiles that could threaten the Navy's fleet of aircraft carriers, critical to the U.S. projection of power in Asia.

 

"The focus of our rhetoric is North Korea," said Steven Hildreth, a missile-defense expert with the Congressional Research Service, an advisory arm of Congress. "The reality is that we're also looking longer term at the elephant in the room, which is China."

 

China's Ministry of National Defense didn't comment directly on the anti-missile plans, but sounded a cautious note.

 

"China has always believed that anti-missile issues should be handled with great discretion, from the perspective of protecting global strategic stability and promoting strategic mutual trust among all countries," it said in a statement on Thursday. "We advocate that all parties fully respect and be mindful of the security concerns of one another and try to realize overall safety through mutual benefit and win-win efforts, while avoiding the situation in which one country tries to let its own state security take priority over other countries' national security."

 

WASHINGTON VUOLE UNO SCUDO ANTIMISSILE IN ASIA

 

SOMMERGIBILI: CORSA AL RIARMO IN ASIA – Parte I

Modificato 7 Settembre 2012 da Andrea75

[Andrea75]

Japan infuriates China by agreeing to buy disputed isles

 

Japan has agreed to buy a group of islands disputed with China from their private owners, a government official said on Monday, prompting an angry rebuke from China a day after Chinese President Hu Jintao warned against such an "illegal" move.

The islands, called Senkaku in Japan and Diaoyu in China, are near rich fishing grounds and potentially huge maritime gas fields and have been at the heart of long-running territorial disputes between the world's second and third-largest economies.