China on Saturday urged U.S. not to undermine mutual trust and regional peace.

China on Saturday urged U.S. not to undermine mutual trust and regional peace. (NewsAcrossChina).

China on Saturday urged the United States to respect and abide by its laws, and not to undermine the mutual trust and regional peace and stability.

Foreign Ministry spokesperson Hua Chunying made the remarks as reports said a U.S. Navy guided-missile destroyer sailed within 12 nautical miles of Zhongjian Dao, Xisha Islands.

According to the China's law on the territorial sea and contiguous zone enacted in 1992, foreign warships entering China's territorial waters must be approved by the Chinese government.

"The U.S. warship violated Chinese law and entered China' s territorial sea without authorization. The Chinese side conducted surveillance and vocal warnings to the U.S. warship," Hua said.

Defense Ministry spokesman Yang Yujun also issued a statement, saying the U.S. act severely violated Chinese law, sabotaged the peace, security and good order of the waters, and undermined the region' s peace and stability. The Defense Ministry is firmly against this, he said.

Yang said China's law on the territorial sea and contiguous zone accords with the international law and practice, and that many other countries have similar laws.

The Chinese government also issued a statement on territorial sea baseline on May 15, 1996, which announced part of the baseline of the territorial sea adjacent to China's mainland and the baseline of the territorial sea adjacent to the Xisha Islands.

"The U.S. side is fully aware of this, yet it still sent its warship into China' s territorial sea without authorization. It is a deliberate provocation," Yang said in the statement.

According to Yang, Chinese troops on the islands and Navy vessels and warplanes took actions immediately. They identified and verified the U.S. warship, warned and expelled it swiftly.

For many years, the U.S. side has proposed measures to ensure navigation safety of ships and aircraft of all parties, but it repeatedly sent vessels and planes into China' s territorial sea and air space regardless of China's opposition, leading to close encounters of navy and air force troops of the two countries, Yang said.

He added that the move on the U.S. side is very unprofessional and irresponsible for the safety of the troops of both sides, and may cause extremely dangerous consequences.

The Chinese armed forces will take whatever measures necessary to safeguard China's sovereignty and security, no matter what provocations the U.S. side may take, Yang said.  More on this story here.

China responds to U.S. Statement: "It is very clear who is breaking the international order and making trouble,"

China responds to U.S. Statement: "It is very clear who is breaking the international order and making trouble," (Icrosschina).

A Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson on Tuesday refuted a recent speech made by the U.S. Defense Secretary Ash Carter, stressing that China is a maintainer, builder and contributor to the current international order.

China unswervingly defends peace and stability in the Asia-Pacific region as well as international justice, spokesman Hong Lei said at a press briefing when commenting on the speech issued by the Pentagon chief on Saturday.

Carter reportedly said that China presents a challenge to the "international order."

The current international order is based on the purpose and principles of the UN Charter and jointly established by the international community, Hong said, stressing that the most fundamental principles are respect to each other's sovereignty and territorial integrity, equality and non-interference in others' internal affairs.

"International order" can not be defined by any individual in the United States at his own will, the spokesman said.

As for the freedom of navigation in the South China Sea, Hong said China's position is consistent and clear and remains unchanged.

China has the right to carry out construction on its own territory, because the Nansha Islands have been Chinese territory since ancient times, he said.

"It won't cause any damage to any other country, nor affect the region's navigation freedom," Hong said.

China has always been committed to the peaceful settlement of disputes through negotiation and consultation on the basis of respecting historical facts and international law. The country is willing to work together with ASEAN countries to safeguard peace and stability in the S.China Sea, he said.

China's position is reasonable and lawful and the U.S. side has no right to make irresponsible comments, he said.

Last week, Carter boarded an American aircraft carrier in the South China Sea to demonstrate the U.S.'s commitment to freedom of navigation.

The move posed serious damage to China's sovereignty and security while exacerbating tensions in the region, Hong said.

"It is very clear who is breaking the international order and making trouble,"said Hong. Enditem

Head of US naval intelligence in the Pacific claims China plans quick attack against Japan.

Head of US naval intelligence in the Pacific claims China plans quick attack against Japan.(Alalam).

Head of US naval intelligence in the Pacific claims China is stepping up its training for a “short, sharp war” designed to seize the disputed Senkaku islands from Japan.

Addressing a conference sponsored by the US Naval Institute in San Diego, California, Captain James Fannell said the recent Missing Action 2013 exercises were training for the invasion of the uninhabited archipelago, which China considers as its sovereign territory and refers to as the Diaoyutai Islands.

“We concluded that the [People's Liberation Army] has been given the new task to be able to conduct a short, sharp war to destroy Japanese forces in the East China Sea, following with what can only be expected as the seizure of the Senkakus or even a southern Ryukyu island,” said Capt. Fannell, director of intelligence for the US Pacific Fleet.

The Ryukyu islands are Japan’s Okinawa Prefecture, which China has also recently laid claim to.

“As a senior US government official recently stated, there is growing concern that China’s pattern of behaviour in the South China Sea reflects an incremental effort by China to assert control of the area contained in the so-called ‘nine-dash line,’ despite the objections of its neighbors and despite the lack of any explanation or apparent basis under international law,” Capt. Fannell said.

“By the way, ‘protection of maritime rights’ is a Chinese euphemism for coerced seizure of coastal rights of China’s neighbours,” he added.

Beijing has laid claim to vast swathes of the area based on its sovereignty over the Spratley and Paracel island groups.

China is undeterred by Washington declaring that is does not recognize the “nine-dash line” drawn up by Beijing to encompass its territorial claims – which go as close as 125 miles from the mainland of the Philippines.

Reports suggest that as many as 40,000 service personnel took part in the exercise, which was based on a scenario of invading an island “where China has encountered strong resistance to its claims of territorial or maritime assets”.

An analyst with Japan’s National Institute of Defense Studies said Tokyo has “good reason” to be concerned given that Beijing has deployed an aircraft carrier on operation patrols in the South China Sea and has purchased two large hovercraft, designed to land invasion forces on a beachhead, from the Ukraine.

Beijing has announced that it will develop indigenous versions of the hovercraft as well as a new class of large landing ships, designed to put large numbers of troops and equipment ashore.Hmmm.....The World realy has become a 'much safer place' since Pres Obama is a the helm........'leading from behind the golf course'.

Related: http://blogs.wsj.com/japanrealtime/2014/02/06/u-s-official-sees-unprecedented-spike-in-risky-china-activity-in-island-dispute-with-japan/

"To Lose Face or not?" - Chinese jets shadowed US and Japanese planes in new air defense zone.

"To Lose Face or not?" - Chinese jets shadowed US and Japanese planes in new air defense zone.(RT).

Two US surveillance aircraft and 10 Japanese F-15 jets were ‘tailed’ by Chinese pilots on Friday.China ordered an urgent dispatch of its Su-30 and J-10 fighter jets to an area in the East China Sea after the foreign aircraft “invaded” the air defense zone, they said. 

The reported intrusions came in defiance of the East China Sea Air Defense Identification Zone (ADIZ), established by Beijing last week.

China’s move has triggered outrage from several states in the region and critical rhetoric from the US, as the vast zone covers disputed areas, including the islets claimed by both China and Japan. 

Earlier on Thursday, the Chinese Air Force conducted its first air patrol flights over the zone, as Japan and South Korea sent their own military aircraft into the zone's airspace in an act of defiance.

China has stressed its decision to enforce the airspace identification zone - which requires all aircraft flying over or near it to identify themselves - follows common international practices and “is a necessary measure in China’s exercise of self-defense rights.”

No international flights will be affected by the setup of the zone, Chinese Air Force spokesman, Shen Jinke, told Xinhua.

Japan and its US ally blasted the decision as “unacceptable” and rejected the “unilateral” declaration, saying it would create dangerous tension. However, Chinese officials gave a reminder that both countries have long had their own ADIZ, and that the Japanese never discussed theirs with their neighbor.

“If they want it revoked, then we would ask that Japan first revoke its own air defense identification zone and China will reconsider it after 44 years,” China’s Defense Ministry spokesman, Yang Yujun, said in a statement posted on the ministry’s website on Thursday.

While possible action against the zone’s infiltrators has been vaguely defined as “defensive emergency measures,” The Global Times, a Chinese state media newspaper, on Friday called for “timely countermeasures without hesitation,” should Tokyo violate the new ADIZ.


At the same time, the paper suggested China could ignore violations by some other states, including the US. Two US military B-52 bombers flew over the area on Monday without prior notice, with a Pentagon spokesman telling Reuters we “have continued to follow our normal procedures.” 

Chinese 'Red Lines': China sends warplanes to newly declared air zone

CHINA – China has sent warplanes to its newly declared air defense zone in the East China Sea, state media reports.

The vast zone, announced last week, covers territory claimed by China, Japan, Taiwan and South Korea. China has said all planes transiting the zone must file flight plans and identify themselves, or face “defensive emergency measures.”

But Japan, South Korea and the U.S. have all since flown military aircraft through the area. Japanese restraint in the face of Chinese efforts to modify the status quo is currently keeping the peace, potentially to the detriment of Japan’s claim to the island.”

The new dispute in an already tense region has raised concerns it could escalate into an unplanned military incident.

China’s state news agency Xinhua quoted air force spokesman Col Shen Jinke as saying several fighter jets and an early warning aircraft had been deployed to carry out routine patrols as “a defensive measure and in line with international common practices.”

He said the country’s air force would remain on high alert and would take measures to deal with all air threats to protect national security. In Xinhua’s Chinese language version of the article, the colonel said the aircraft would “strengthen the monitoring of targets in the air defense zone and do their duty.”

B-52s sing the ‘pivot to Asia’ song....Another 'Obamination' in the make?

B-52s sing the ‘pivot to Asia’ song....Another 'Obamination' in the make?(RT).


The twin B-52s took off from a US base in Guam and breached China’s Air Defense Identification Zone (ADIZ) only a few days after it had been announced. Lost in the usual ‘exceptionalism’ fog was the fact that both the US (in 1950) and Japan (in 1969), not to mention Russia, Indonesia and others, also imposed their own ADIZ – which essentially means planes entering a particular airspace must identify themselves.

Predictably, the Washington/Wall Street reaction to the B-52 show was loud cheers for the “cause of global security” against “China's increasingly aggressive military actions,” “Beijing's brinksmanship,” “serious violation of international law,” “threat to freedom of navigation” and attempt of “naked aggression.”

Even US ambassador to Japan, Carolyn Kennedy, went out on a limb to scold China for “raising tensions”.

Nonsense: The Pentagon – via Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel – and the State Department – via Secretary John Kerry – gave the game away when both condemned China’s ADIZ as an attempt to change “by force” the “status quo” over the Senkakus.

Worse: Washington insists Beijing is allegedly trying to “control” an immense area of the Western Pacific, which, of course, are God-given American waters. Thus Washington had to “send a message”; otherwise President Obama’s “pivot to Asia” will be stuck in credibility limbo.

So it’s all here, in a nutshell: the “pivot to Asia” once again proved to be a fundamental military strategy to “contain” China, part of the Pentagon’s Full Spectrum Dominance doctrine, which has been the US military Bible since 2002.  It’s always crucial to remember the “pivot” was officially announced by Obama at the Pentagon.

SUBHEADER: There will be payback

The US Air Force insisted the B-52s were unarmed and there was “no communication” with the Chinese. That implies the Chinese had to infer, in a flash, that the B-52s were not lethal. China’s Ministry of Defense duly confirmed they “monitored” the B-52s all along.

An ADIZ is essentially a notification zone. Even Taiwan – not exactly a cheerleader of Beijing – officially announced that China’s ADIZ is peaceful. And the islands in fact are closer to Taiwan than to either Japan or China. So the B-52 adventure cannot be construed as anything else but a provocation.
Now imagine if Beijing had decided to scramble jet fighters to intercept the B-52s, followed by the US Air Force scrambling their jet fighters from Japanese bases. The whole B-52 adventure could have gone lethally wrong.

The provocation, on top of it, has made a mockery of the “international law” so prized by Washington. Nothing now prevents China or Russia, for example, to fly their own nuclear bombers through Japan's ADIZ.

Chinese media accused both the US and Japan of overreacting, stressing China has an equal right to impose its own ADIZ, which is not targeted at “any particular country.”
What makes it even more absurd is that China and Japan made a deal in 2008 to cooperate on the joint development of the East China Sea. Yet nothing concrete came out of it.

There’s also a crucial factor that Beijing cannot admit publicly. Based on reams of ancient texts, Beijing is adamant that the islands have been Chinese territory since “immemorial times”, until they were captured by the Japanese in 1895. So it’s back to those venomous strands of mutual nationalistic hatred and their manipulation by current Japanese Prime Minister Shinto Abe. One of the reasons Beijing has imposed the ADIZ is to prevent deranged Japanese nationalists from parachuting into the islands to literally plant the flag.

This post by The Saker argues the definitive case about Washington’s cowboy behavior and its implications for the geopolitics of the Western Pacific. When it comes to the Pentagon’s Full Spectrum Dominance and its offshoot, the “pivot to Asia,” there’s no room for soft power and diplomacy, not to mention the alleged superpower’s “responsibility.” The B-52s splendid adventure is the equivalent of the NSA snooping on the mobile phones of political leaders around the world. 

Did Beijing get the message? You bet they did. Professor Sun Zhe at Tsinghua University in Beijing observes China won’t allow itself to be in a position of being a paper tiger: “If the United States conducts two or three more flights like this, China will be forced to respond. If China can only respond verbally it would be humiliating.”

There will be a non-verbal response. Expect stealth, lightning fast developments regarding Chinese nuclear submarines, missiles with multiple nuclear warheads, and all sorts of asymmetric strategies. 

Yet, most of all, don't expect a spectacular response. Sun Tzu rules. Payback will come. It will be swift. And when US exceptionalism least expects it.

At least 75 Taiwanese fishing vessels to join protest voyage to disputed Diaoyutais islands.

At least 75 Taiwanese fishing vessels to join protest voyage to disputed Diaoyutais islands.(CNA).By Worthy Shen and Sofia Wu.At least 75 Taiwanese fishing ships will sail to the disputed Diaoyutai Islands Monday afternoon to protest Japan's nationalization of the island chain and assert Taiwan's fishing rights in the region, according to the event's organizers. Despite high waves in waters off Suao in Yilan County, many shipowners in the northeastern coastal town began preparations for the protest voyage early in the morning, said Chen Chu-sheng, head of the organizing committee for the upcoming trip. "The number of fishing boats registered to take part in the protest voyage has increased from 60 to at least 75," Chen said, adding that many fishing boats from other parts of Taiwan will also join the event. In addition to protesting the Japanese government's recent purchase of three isles in the island group from their private owners to ramp up its sovereignty claim, the protest voyage is also aimed at asserting local fishermen's rights to operate in the Diaoyutai waters, which have long been Taiwan's traditional fishing grounds, Chen said. The fishing boats are scheduled to start their voyage at 3 p.m. and will converge in waters some 20 nautical miles southwest of the Diaoyutai Islands at around 5 a.m. Tuesday, Chen said, adding that the ships will then split into groups of five and circle the island chain clockwise to underscore their cause. The fishermen will try to penetrate the Japanese coast guard's defense line to enter waters 12 nautical miles off the Diaoyutais and unfurl protest banners to vent their anger over frequent harassment during their fishing operations in the area, Chen said. The participating fishermen have not ruled out the possibility of landing on any outcrop in the contested island chain, Chen said. Located some 100 nautical miles northeast of Taiwan, the Diaoyutai island group has been under Japanese administration since 1972, but is also claimed by Taiwan and China.Read the full story here.More here.