Beijing is using underwater drones in the South China Sea to show off its might
China has deployed underwater drones in the strategic waterway for scientific purposes, but the technology could be used as a political and military tool
Beijing claims a massive section of the South China Sea that extends roughly 1,000 miles from its southern shores — many other nations dispute those claims
▻https://www.cnbc.com/2017/08/12/china-uses-underwater-drones-in-south-china-sea.html
U.S. destroyer challenges China’s claims in South China Sea
▻http://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-china-southchinasea-exclusive-idUSKBN1AQ0YK
A U.S. Navy destroyer carried out a “freedom of navigation operation” on Thursday, coming within 12 nautical miles of an artificial island built up by China in the #South_China_Sea, U.S. officials told Reuters.
The operation came as President Donald Trump’s administration seeks Chinese cooperation in dealing with North Korea’s missile and nuclear programs and could complicate efforts to secure a common stance.
The officials, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the USS John S. McCain traveled close to #Mischief_Reef in the #Spratly_Islands, among a string of islets, reefs and shoals. China has territorial disputes with its neighbors over the area.
It was the third “#freedom_of_navigation operation” during Trump’s presidency.
#FON #Mer_de_Chine_méridionale #Spratleys
Histoire d’obtenir la coopération de la Chine contre la Corée du Nord, j’imagine…
Britain’s new aircraft carriers to test Beijing in South China Sea | UK news | The Guardian
▻https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2017/jul/27/britains-new-aircraft-carriers-to-test-beijing-in-south-china-sea
Boris Johnson has committed the UK’s two brand new aircraft carriers to freedom of navigation exercises in the fiercely-contested waters of the #South_China_Sea.
In a pointed remarks aimed squarely at China - whose island-building and militarisation in the sea has unnerved western powers - the Foreign Secretary said that when the ships are in service they would be sent to the Asia-Pacific region as one of their first assignments.
“One of the first things we will do with the two new colossal aircraft carriers that we have just built is send them on a #freedom_of_navigation operation to this area,” Johnson said in Sydney on Thursday, “to vindicate our belief in the rules-based international system and in the freedom of navigation through those waterways which are absolutely vital for world trade.”
Le Royaume-Uni se met aussi aux #FONOPS …
China urges halt to oil drilling in disputed South China Sea
▻https://www.reuters.com/article/us-southchinasea-china-vietnam-idUSKBN1AA13I
China’s Foreign Ministry has urged a halt to oil drilling in a disputed part of the South China Sea, where Spanish oil company Repsol had been operating in cooperation with Vietnam.
Drilling began in mid-June in Vietnam’s Block 136/3, which is licensed to Vietnam’s state oil firm, Spain’s Repsol and Mubadala Development Co of the United Arab Emirates.
The block lies inside the U-shaped ’#nine-dash_line ’ that marks the vast area that China claims in the sea and overlaps what it says are its own oil concessions.
Foreign Ministry spokesman Lu Kang said China had indisputable sovereignty over the Spratly Islands, which China calls the Nansha islands, and jurisdiction over the relevant waters and seabed.
Travel sickness: visitors turning China’s #Qinghai_Lake attraction into huge rubbish dump | South China Morning Post
▻http://www.scmp.com/news/china/society/article/1865214/travel-sickness-visitors-turning-chinas-tourist-attraction
Parts of China’s Qinghai Lake – a place of outstanding natural beauty that is one of the area’s most popular travel destinations – have been turned into huge rubbish dumps by visitors and local hotels and hostels, mainland media reports.
#Koukou_Nor (Хөх нуур, le Lac Bleu) #Mongolie_Intérieure
côté pile
côté face
Et comme ça fait longtemps,…
DaiQing Tana & Haya Band - Qinghai Lake
▻https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FM7SOlOdBGE
Carrier pigeon captured in China reveals precious secret | South China Morning Post
▻http://www.scmp.com/news/china/society/article/2101375/carrier-pigeon-captured-china-reveals-precious-secret
▻https://cdn1.i-scmp.com/sites/default/files/styles/980x551/public/images/methode/2017/07/05/3bbbf3e8-6137-11e7-badc-596de3df2027_1280x720_153833.JPG
Given recent concerns in China about social unrest or even foreign espionage, it was not surprising that a civic-minded citizen in Nanjing, Jiangsu province called police on Sunday after he found a carrier pigeon at his home with suspicious note tied to its leg, a news website reports.
[…]
The website of Jstv.com reported that worried policeman took the bird back to the station where they gingerly opened the note to reveal its short but direct message: “Lili, I love you!!! With love from Xiaojun.”
The bird was found to be a champion racing pigeon from Henan province and had an authorised ID band, according to the report.
China calls border row with India ‘the worst in 30 years’ as both sides dig in heels | South China Morning Post
▻http://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy-defence/article/2101432/china-calls-border-row-india-worst-30-years
China’s envoy to India has warned that a military stand-off along a contested part of the border in the Himalayas was the most serious confrontation between the two nations in more than 30 years.
[…]
Last month China began building a road on territory also claimed by Bhutan, a move seen as upsetting the status quo. Although China and Bhutan have spent decades negotiating the precise border without serious incident, the tiny Himalayan kingdom sought help this time from its long-time ally, India, which sent troops onto the plateau.
U.S. warship sails near disputed island in South China Sea | Reuters
▻https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-southchinasea-navy-idUSKBN19N0O0
A U.S. warship sailed near a disputed island in the South China Sea claimed by China, Taiwan and Vietnam on Sunday in an operation meant to challenge the competing claims of all three nations, a U.S. Defense Department official said.
The USS Stethem, a guided-missile destroyer, sailed within 12 nautical miles of Triton Island, part of the #Paracel Islands in the South China Sea, the official said.
The operation was first reported by Fox News on Sunday.
It was the second “#freedom-of-navigation operation,” or “#fonop,” conducted during the presidency of Donald Trump, following a drill in late May in which a U.S. warship sailed within 12 nautical miles of an artificial island built up by China in the South China Sea.
Quand ils ne jouent pas à se faire éperonner en mer du Japon (USS Fitzgerald, DDG62) les destroyers de la classe Arleigh Burke vont jouer les provocateurs en mer de Chine méridionale (USS Stethem, DDG63)
– fin mai 2017 (précédent évoqué dans le texte), le même bâtiment avec 2 petits camarades
▻https://seenthis.net/messages/601383
– en octobre 2016 (sous le précédent président), déjà à #Triton_Island
▻https://seenthis.net/messages/535620
etc.
US warship in South China Sea, ’military provocation,’ says China | Asia Times
▻http://www.atimes.com/article/us-warship-south-china-sea-military-provocation-says-china
China called the operation “serious political and military provocation,” according to the official Xinhua News Agency, citing a statement on Sunday by Foreign Ministry spokesman Lu Kang. China sent ships and fighter planes to warn off the Stethem, Lu said, according to the report.
Is Hong Kong on the verge of a major bed bug epidemic? We talk to the experts and get some tips | South China Morning Post
▻http://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/health/article/2098227/hong-kong-verge-major-bed-bug-epidemic-we-talk-experts-and-get-some
The number of infestations of the tenacious parasite is on the increase in the city, and one pest control expert believes it’s only a matter of time before things get really serious, as Hong Kong is a paradise for bed bugs
[…]
Bed bugs possess many qualities that make them hard to get rid of. Containing an infestation is notoriously difficult due to how quickly they grow and reproduce. “An adult female bed bug can lay about 25 eggs a week. The life cycle from egg to adult takes about six weeks, which means if a single female bug finds its way into your bed, it can keep on laying fertile eggs, and by the time it’s ready to mate again, its own offspring will be reaching maturity,” Naylor says.
This ability to inbreed means they can mutate, and produce stronger detoxifying enzymes that can break down insecticides. They can grow a thicker protective exterior that prevents insecticides from harming them.
“Modern populations of bed bugs now have widespread resistance to every major class of insecticide,” Naylor says. “So it’s not surprising that people are struggling to control the insects using conventional insecticides.”
America Rules the Waves. But for How Long ? - Bloomberg
▻https://www.bloomberg.com/view/articles/2017-06-03/america-rules-the-waves-but-for-how-long
China builds fake islands in the South China Sea. Russia fires missiles into Syria from the Mediterranean and Caspian Seas. North Korea launches ballistic missiles into the Sea of Japan. The U.S. orders three — three! — aircraft carrier strike groups to the Western Pacific in response. Houthi rebels shoot rockets at U.S. ships off Yemen. Pacific nations go on a submarine-buying binge. India and China start constructing their first homemade aircraft carriers. Pirates return to the waters off East Africa.
You’d be forgiven for thinking that control of high seas is becoming more vital than any time since World War II. Which makes it the perfect moment for an authoritative new book on the role of sea power in shaping human civilization across the globe and across the ages.
Into the breach steps James Stavridis, a retired four-star admiral and former supreme allied commander of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. His new book, “Sea Power: The History and Geopolitics of the World’s Oceans,” is a breezy yet comprehensive overview of the topic, as well as a sort of sailor’s log and meditation on the power of the Great Blue. I decided a talk with Stavridis, now dean of the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University, could help put the rising tensions on the world’s waterways into perspective. Here is an edited transcript of our interview.
Intéressant entretien avec un survol (forcément rapide…) de #géopolitique (mânes de Mahan !)
La réponse à la dernière question :
Donald Trump’s decision to pull the U.S. out of the Paris agreement is a huge blow. Voluntary, international cooperation on emissions control is the way forward, and now that is in question. There are a lot of international organizations that work on fisheries, scientific monitoring, deal with pollution and the like, but they are mostly under the United Nations umbrella. And strengthening them under Trump will be tougher.
In the U.S., we need better interagency cooperation: all cabinet-level and other organizations — Treasury, Justice Department, Coast Guard — working together to think through our regulatory regimes, share data, and reach a common understanding of how to go after lawbreakers. Oceans are the biggest crime scene in the world.
But above all, we need better public-private cooperation. You cannot solve this globally without working with the companies that move 95 percent of the world’s good across the ocean highway. It would be like developing a cyber-defense strategy without talking to Microsoft or Google. People call the Amazon the “lungs of the earth,” but it’s really the oceans. And if we cannot count on sustainable oceans, our future is bleak.
Westinghouse: Origins and Effects of the Downfall of a Nuclear Giant - World Nuclear Industry Status Report
▻https://www.worldnuclearreport.org/Westinghouse-Origins-and-Effects-of-the-Downfall-of-a-Nuclear-Gi
what led to this bankruptcy were two bets that Westinghouse and Toshiba made. The first bet was that there will be a growing and large market for nuclear power plants. When Toshiba acquired Westinghouse from British Nuclear Fuels Ltd. (BNFL) in February 2006, the press release confidently projected: “By 2020, the global market for nuclear power generation is expected to grow by 50 percent compared with today”. At that time, the President and CEO of Toshiba estimated that there would be 10 large (1 GW) nuclear reactors built each year till 2020 amounting to 130 GW of new reactor capacity. That estimate was off by at least an order of magnitude. Much of the hype around that time was over what many saw as a coming #nuclear_renaissance
(...) In 2013, for example, a former Vice-President of CNNC and Vice-Minister of Atomic Energy complained to South China Morning Post: “Our state leaders have put a high priority on [nuclear safety] but companies executing projects do not seem to have the same level of understanding”.
Tensions erupt between the Philippines and China over disputed island - World Socialist Web Site
▻http://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2017/03/30/phil-m30.html
Tensions erupt between the Philippines and China over disputed island
By Joseph Santolan
30 March 2017
Over the past several weeks, sharp tensions emerged between Beijing and Manila over the disputed Scarborough Shoal in the South China Sea, exposing the advanced character of the crisis gripping the Philippines, a result of Washington’s preparations for war with China.
The Scarborough Shoal is a triangular chain of rocks and atolls located 140 miles west of the Philippine island of Luzon. In the wake of the Obama administration’s launching its “pivot to Asia” in 2010, this collection of rocks in the South China Sea became the subject of fierce contention. Manila and Beijing came to the brink of a shooting war over the shoal in a military stand-off that lasted for months in the first half of 2012.
China launches new cruise ship tour in South China Sea | Reuters
▻http://www.reuters.com/article/us-southchinasea-china-ship-idUSKBN16A0A4
A new Chinese cruise ship has embarked on its maiden voyage to the disputed Paracel Islands in the South China Sea, state news agency Xinhua said on Friday, the latest effort by Beijing to bolster its claims in the strategic waterway.
The Changle Princess sailed from Sanya on the southern Chinese island province of Hainan on Thursday afternoon with 308 passengers on a four-day voyage, Xinhua said.
The new ship can carry 499 people and has 82 guest rooms with dining, entertainment, shopping, medical and postal services on board, it added.
Tourists will be able to visit the three islands in the Crescent group of the Paracels, Xinhua said.
China has previously said it plans to build hotels, villas and shops on the Crescent group and has also said it wants to build Maldives-style resorts around the South China Sea, though it is unclear if foreigners will ever be allowed to visit.
Îles Paracels — Wikipédia
▻https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Îles_Paracels
Au centre ouest des Paracels, la chaîne du Croissant (Crescent group) se situe à près de 70 km au sud-ouest des îles de l’Amphitrite, vers 16° 30′ N, 111° 42′ E. C’est une chaîne d’îles et de récifs, de 31 km d’est en ouest et 15 km du nord au sud, dont la forme générale est celle d’un croissant ouvert vers le sud, délimitant un lagon central très profond5 0 En dehors des petites cayes, toutes les îles de ce groupe sont couvertes de végétation. Les îles de ce groupe sont nommées d’après des membres de la Compagnie britannique des Indes orientales. Trois étaient membres du comité directeur de Canton : James Drummond, Thomas Pattle et John William Roberts. Jonathan Duncan était gouverneur du conseil de Bombay, et William Taylor Money était surintendant de la flotte de Bombay.
US conducts show of force in South China Sea - World Socialist Web Site
▻http://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2017/02/20/scse-f20.html
Defying warnings from Beijing not to escalate tensions in the South China Sea, the Trump administration last Saturday said a United States aircraft carrier strike group had begun “routine” patrols in the strategic waterway.
According to a US Navy statement, the guided-missile destroyer USS Wayne E. Meyer is joining the 97,000-ton Carl Vinson along with aircraft from Carrier Air Wing for the operations. The Carl Vinson carries a flight group of more than 60 aircraft, including F/A-18 jet fighters, as well as a crew of 7,500.
Les Propos irresponsables Steve Bannon sur la #mer_de_chine_méridionale
Chinese foreign minister warns against war with the US - World Socialist Web Site
▻http://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2017/02/09/wang-f09.html
The journalist specifically highlighted the comments of Trump’s top adviser Steve Bannon, predicting war between the US and China in five to ten years over the South China Sea. Bannon, who was speaking last March on the extreme right-wing web site Breibart, said: “There is no doubt about that. They’re taking their sandbars and making basically stationary aircraft carriers and putting missiles on those.”
Donald the Menace - The New York Times
▻https://www.nytimes.com/2017/02/03/opinion/donald-the-menace.html
But it also reflected a cold view of the incentives the new administration would face: as working-class voters began to realize that candidate Trump’s promises about jobs and health care were insincere, foreign distractions would look increasingly attractive.
The most likely flash point seemed to be China, the subject of much Trumpist tough talk, where disputes over islands in the South China Sea could easily turn into shooting incidents.
But the war with China will, it seems, have to wait. First comes Australia. And Mexico. And Iran. And the European Union. (But never Russia.)
Oh, and one more thing: Peter Navarro, head of Mr. Trump’s new National Trade Council, accused Germany of exploiting the United States with an undervalued currency. There’s an interesting economics discussion to be had here, but government officials aren’t supposed to make that sort of accusation unless they’re prepared to fight a trade war. Are they?
I doubt it. In fact, this administration doesn’t seem prepared on any front. Mr. Trump’s confrontational phone calls, in particular, don’t sound like the working out of an economic or even political strategy — cunning schemers don’t waste time boasting about their election victories and whining about media reports on crowd sizes.
No, what we’re hearing sounds like a man who is out of his depth and out of control, who can’t even pretend to master his feelings of personal insecurity. His first two weeks in office have been utter chaos, and things just keep getting worse — perhaps because he responds to each debacle with a desperate attempt to change the subject that only leads to a fresh debacle.
5 jours sous #trump
Five. Days. In.
On January 19th, 2017, DT said that he would cut funding for the DOJ’s Violence Against Women programs.
On January 19th, 2017, DT said that he would cut funding for the National Endowment for the Arts.
On January 19th, 2017, DT said that he would cut funding for the National Endowment for the Humanities.
On January 19th, 2017, DT said that he would cut funding for the Corporation for Public Broadcasting.
On January 19th, 2017, DT said that he would cut funding for the Minority Business Development Agency.
On January 19th, 2017, DT said that he would cut funding for the Economic Development Administration.
On January 19th, 2017, DT said that he would cut funding for the International Trade Administration.
On January 19th, 2017, DT said that he would cut funding for the Manufacturing Extension Partnership.
On January 19th, 2017, DT said that he would cut funding for the Office of Community Oriented Policing Services.
On January 19th, 2017, DT said that he would cut funding for the Legal Services Corporation.
On January 19th, 2017, DT said that he would cut funding for the Civil Rights Division of the DOJ.
On January 19th, 2017, DT said that he would cut funding for the Environmental and Natural Resources Division of the DOJ.
On January 19th, 2017, DT said that he would cut funding for the Overseas Private Investment Corporation.
On January 19th, 2017, DT said that he would cut funding for the UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change.
On January 19th, 2017, DT said that he would cut funding for the Office of Electricity Deliverability and Energy Reliability.
On January 19th, 2017, DT said that he would cut funding for the Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy.
On January 19th, 2017, DT said that he would cut funding for the Office of Fossil Energy.
On January 20th, 2017, DT ordered all regulatory powers of all federal agencies frozen.
On January 20th, 2017, DT ordered the National Parks Service to stop using social media after RTing factual, side by side photos of the crowds for the 2009 and 2017 inaugurations.
On January 20th, 2017, roughly 230 protestors were arrested in DC and face unprecedented felony riot charges. Among them were legal observers, journalists, and medics.
On January 20th, 2017, a member of the International Workers of the World was shot in the stomach at an anti-fascist protest in Seattle. He remains in critical condition.
On January 21st, 2017, DT brought a group of 40 cheerleaders to a meeting with the CIA to cheer for him during a speech that consisted almost entirely of framing himself as the victim of dishonest press.
On January 21st, 2017, White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer held a press conference largely to attack the press for accurately reporting the size of attendance at the inaugural festivities, saying that the inauguration had the largest audience of any in history, “period.”
On January 22nd, 2017, White House advisor Kellyann Conway defended Spicer’s lies as “alternative facts” on national television news.
On January 22nd, 2017, DT appeared to blow a kiss to director James Comey during a meeting with the FBI, and then opened his arms in a gesture of strange, paternal affection, before hugging him with a pat on the back.
On January 23rd, 2017, DT reinstated the global gag order, which defunds international organizations that even mention abortion as a medical option.
On January 23rd, 2017, Spicer said that the US will not tolerate China’s expansion onto islands in the South China Sea, essentially threatening war with China.
On January 23rd, 2017, DT repeated the lie that 3-5 million people voted “illegally” thus costing him the popular vote.
On January 23rd, 2017, it was announced that the man who shot the anti-fascist protester in Seattle was released without charges, despite turning himself in.
On January 24th, 2017, Spicer reiterated the lie that 3-5 million people voted “illegally” thus costing DT the popular vote.
On January 24th, 2017, DT tweeted a picture from his personal Twitter account of a photo he says depicts the crowd at his inauguration and will hang in the White House press room. The photo is of the 2009 inauguration of 44th President Barack Obama, and is curiously dated January 21st, 2017, the day AFTER the inauguration and the day of the Women’s March, the largest inauguration related protest in history.
On January 24th, 2017, the EPA was ordered to stop communicating with the public through social media or the press and to freeze all grants and contracts.
On January 24th, 2017, the USDA was ordered to stop communicating with the public through social media or the press and to stop publishing any papers or research. All communication with the press would also have to be authorized and vetted by the White House.
On January 24th, 2017, HR7, a bill that would prohibit federal funding not only to abortion service providers, but to any insurance coverage, including Medicaid, that provides abortion coverage, went to the floor of the House for a vote.
On January 24th, 2017, DT ordered the resumption of construction on the Dakota Access Pipeline, while the North Dakota state congress considers a bill that would legalize hitting and killing protestors with cars if they are on roadways.
On January 24th, 2017, it was discovered that police officers had used confiscated cell phones to search the emails and messages of the 230 demonstrators now facing felony riot charges for protesting on January 20th, including lawyers and journalists whose email accounts contain privileged information of clients and sources.
From News and Guts
*credit for compilation: Karen Cornett-Dwyer
h/t Laura McTighe
Rien qu’un matin avec Trump sur WSWS ...
1. Trump veut interdire aux Chinois l’accès à leurs îles (artificielles ou non) en Mer de Chine méridionale.
Trump threats on South China Sea heighten risk of nuclear war - World Socialist Web Site
▻http://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2017/01/25/pers-j25.html
Trump threats on South China Sea heighten risk of nuclear war
25 January 2017
Just days after taking office, the Trump administration has set course for a conflict with China over the South China Sea that threatens military clashes and war.
President Donald Trump’s press secretary, Sean Spicer, on Tuesday backed up an earlier assertion by the administration’s nominee for secretary of state, former Exxon Mobil CEO Rex Tillerson, that Washington would bar Chinese access to islets being built up by Beijing in the South China Sea.
–— --- ---
2. Trump confirme la nomination d’une milliardaire au poste de ministre de l’éducation, opposée à l’école publique.
Senate moves toward confirmation of billionaire opponent of public schools - World Socialist Web Site
▻http://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2017/01/25/devo-j25.html
Senate moves toward confirmation of billionaire opponent of public schools
By Isabelle Belanger
25 January 2017
The confirmation of Trump’s pick for education secretary, billionaire proponent of school privatization Betsy DeVos, is being rushed through despite blatant conflicts of interest and her ignorance of basic federal education laws. In a letter Monday, Tennessee Republican Senator Lamar Alexander, chairman of the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor & Pensions, rejected Democratic Party requests for a second hearing. The Republican-controlled Senate will vote on the confirmation January 31.
–— --- ---
3. Trump veut attaquer et détruire des fragile systèmes de santé.
Trump nominee defends administration’s assault on health care - World Socialist Web Site
▻http://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2017/01/25/pric-j25.html
Trump nominee defends administration’s assault on health care
By Kate Randall
25 January 2017
In his final appearance before the Senate Finance Committee Tuesday, Rep. Tom Price (Republican of Georgia), Donald Trump’s nominee to head the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), arrogantly dismissed questioning from committee Democrats about the new administration’s planned assault on Medicare, Medicaid and health care in general.
–— --- ---
4. Trump va relancer Keystone XL et Dakota Access pipelines et en même temps empêcher l’EPA (agence pour l’environnement) de surveiller et analyser les effets environnementaux de ces projets.
Trump’s pro-corporate rampage of reaction
Executive orders approve Dakota, Keystone pipelines
By Patrick Martin
25 January 2017
President Donald Trump has ordered US government agencies to expedite approval of the Keystone XL and Dakota Access pipelines, running roughshod over opposition by environmentalists and Native American tribes.
The Dakota Access Pipe Line (DAPL) has encountered impassioned opposition, with thousands gathering despite the deep freeze of the North Dakota winter to block completion of the 1,200-mile-long pipeline, which is to bring oil from the Bakken fields to refineries in the Midwest and South. The pipeline’s final link would cross the Missouri River just north of the Standing Rock Sioux reservation, threatening its water supply and tearing up land deemed sacred in tribal culture.
Come and have a look, China says as carrier skirts Japan | Reuters
▻http://www.reuters.com/article/china-defence-carrier-idUSL4N1EO149
The Soviet-built Liaoning, accompanied by several warships, this week travelled through the passage between the Japanese islands of Miyako and Okinawa and into the Pacific for what China has described as a routine exercise.
[…]
Asked about the Liaoning’s encounters with Japanese ships and aircraft, Chinese defence ministry spokesman Yang Yujun said it was natural people wanted to look at something attractive.
“There is an expression in China - the love for beauty is common to all men,” Yang told a monthly news briefing.
“Our Liaoning is both mighty and pretty. If people are interested in it, they can look at it from afar, or peep at it. As long as they don’t break relevant laws and rules, or hinder navigational safety and freedom, we don’t care,” he said.
[…]
However, Yang was less amused about pictures of China’s still-under-construction second aircraft carrier that surfaced on the internet this week, including on Chinese websites.
“I think that foreign reporters reporting in China must respect relevant laws and regulations,” he said when asked about the pictures, apparently implying that he believed it was a foreign reporter who took them. He did not elaborate.
Pacific Sentinel: News Report: Beijing’s Aircraft Carrier Docks After Military Drills in South China Sea
▻http://pacificsentinel.blogspot.fr/2016/12/news-report-beijings-aircraft-carrier.html
The carrier led a fleet of warships 90 miles south of the Taiwan-held Pratas islands before docking in the southern Chinese province of Hainan, but a Taiwan military official pointed out that the movement did not necessarily signal that the Liaoning was finished with its exercises.
Pentagon: Chinese naval ship seized an unmanned U.S. underwater vehicle in South China Sea
A Chinese naval ship seized an underwater naval drone that was being used by the U.S. Navy to test water conditions in the South China Sea, the Pentagon said Friday.
La #Chine saisit une sonde sous-marine de la marine américaine | JDM
▻http://www.journaldemontreal.com/2016/12/16/la-chine-saisit-une-sonde-sous-marine-de-la-marine-americaine
WASHINGTON | La Chine a saisi une sonde sous-marine appartenant à la marine américaine qui évoluait en eau internationale de la mer de Chine méridionale, a affirmé vendredi un responsable américain de la défense à l’AFP.
« Elle a été saisie » par la Chine au large des Philippines, a indiqué ce responsable sous couvert d’anonymat.
La sonde était utilisée pour mesurer la salinité et la température de l’eau, des informations cruciales en particulier pour la flotte des sous-marins américains. Elle a été saisie sous les yeux de ses pilotes.
Selon ce responsable, la sonde était opérée par des civils bien qu’elle appartienne à la Navy.
China’s Navy seizes American underwater drone in South China Sea | Reuters
▻http://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-china-drone-idUSKBN14526J
The seizure by the Chinese Navy will add to concerns about China’s growing military presence and aggressive posture in the disputed South China Sea, including its militarization of maritime outposts.
China Snatches Underwater Drone from Military Sealift Command Ship ’Bowditch’ in South China Sea – gCaptain
▻https://gcaptain.com/china-takes-underwater-drone-from-military-sealift-command-ship-bowditch-i
The drone was part of an unclassified program to collect oceanographic data including salinity, temperature and clarity of the water, the U.S. official added. The data can help inform U.S. military sonar data since such factors affect sound.
The USNS Bowditch, a U.S. Navy ship crewed by civilians that carries out oceanographic work, had already retrieved one of two of its drones, known as ocean gliders, when a Chinese Navy Dalang 3 class vessel took the second one.
Officials said the Bowditch was only 500 meters (yards) from the drone and, observing the Chinese intercede, used bridge-to-bridge communications to demand it be returned.
The Chinese ship acknowledged the communication but did not respond to the Bowditch’s demands, the Pentagon’s Davis said.
“The only thing they said after they were sailing off into the distance was: “we are returning to normal operations,” Davis said.
#Vietnam dredging at disputed Spratly reef in #South_China_Sea: Reuters | The Japan Times
▻http://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2016/12/09/asia-pacific/vietnam-dredging-disputed-spratly-reef-south-china-sea-reuters
Vietnam has begun dredging work on a disputed reef in the South China Sea, Reuters news service reported Thursday, a move that will likely anger China, which claims virtually the entire sea.
A commercial satellite image taken on Nov. 30 shows activity on Vietnam-controlled Ladd Reef on the southwestern fringe of the Spratly group of islands, according to the report.
Several vessels can be seen in a newly dug channel between the lagoon and open sea, it said, quoting analysts as saying that similar dredging work has been the precursor to more extensive construction on other reefs.
Vietnam has already constructed a lighthouse on the reef as well as a facility that houses a small contingent of soldiers. Besides China, Taiwan also claims the reef.
#Spratleys #Spratly #Mer_de_Chine_méridionale
mais ce coup-ci, c’est #Ladd_Reef, voisine immédiate (15-20 km à l’ouest) de l’île de Spratley, elle aussi occupée par une base vietnamienne.
Vietnam Responds with Spratly Air Upgrades | Asia Maritime Transparency Initiative
▻https://amti.csis.org/vietnam-responds
https://i1.wp.com/amti.csis.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/11/Spratly-Old-F-1.11.14.jpg 
https://i0.wp.com/amti.csis.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/11/Spratly-Jan-F-1.3.16.jpg Vietnam is responding to China’s construction of military facilities in the Spratly Islands by modestly expanding its own capabilities in the disputed chain. New imagery shows that Hanoi is significantly upgrading its sole runway in the South China Sea—at Spratly Island—and constructing new hangars at that feature. This is a familiar pattern for Hanoi. Even amid reduced diplomatic tensions, Vietnam continues to modernize its military and seek closer security ties with Japan, the United States, and India in preparation for future Chinese assertiveness in disputed waters. Reuters recently reported that Vietnam had deployed surface to air missile platforms to the Spratlys. Hanoi has not confirmed those reports, but such countermeasures should not be surprising in light of the significant air power that China will soon project over the Spratlys.
Manila’s #Pivot Toward Beijing
▻https://jamestown.org/program/manilas-pivot-toward-beijing
China’s use of economic carrots continues to be effective from the Baltic to the South China Sea. With continuing economic contraction at home, and bad bets abroad, such as in Venezuela, the sustainability of economic incentives is far from certain. However, Xi’s strategy in buying China diplomatic breathing room has paid off. Though the outgoing U.S. administration made some moves to gain influence with China’s traditional supporters in ASEAN, such as Laos, it is clear that China’s large overall economic engagement in the region—and targeted diplomatic overtures—have won this round for influence in Southeast Asia.
Indonesia and Australia discuss joint naval patrols in the South China Sea - World Socialist Web Site
▻http://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2016/11/02/auin-n02.html
Indonesia and Australia discuss joint naval patrols in the South China Sea
By Peter Symonds
2 November 2016
Australian Foreign Minister Julie Bishop yesterday confirmed that Australia and Indonesia are considering joint naval patrols in the South China Sea. Her comments followed a four-day visit to Indonesia last week, during which she met with Indonesian President Joko Widido and senior Indonesian ministers.
Speaking to Australian Broadcasting Corporation radio, Bishop sought to portray the mooted patrols as a routine part of the Australian navy’s operations. “This is a regular part of what our navy does,” she said. “This is part of our engagement in the region and this is in accordance with Australia’s right of freedom of navigation, including in the South China Sea.”