"This is the Chinese navy ... You go!"

[Sir Slash]

Apparently Kerry didn't have his "Obama Red-Line Paint" spray can with him.

[mirth]

The Obama administration has called on China to stop land reclamation, construction and militarization of South China Sea outposts, a policy that Washington calls the "three noes."

[LongBlade]

smh

[Mr. Bigglesworth]

Apparently John Kerry's warning went unheeded by the Chinese  ::)

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/09/16/world/asia/china-building-airstrip-on-3rd-artificial-island-images-show.html

Before or after the strongly worded letter?

[mirth]

Whoa SecDef is getting tough with the ChiComms

http://breakingdefense.com/2015/09/carter-calls-for-immediate-complete-halt-to-south-china-sea-island-building/

We also oppose any further militarization of disputed features. We all know there is no military solution to the South China Sea disputes. Right now, at this critical juncture, is the time for renewed diplomacy, focused on a finding a lasting solution that protects the rights and the interests of all," Carter told a standing room only audience at the Air Force Association's annual conference.

Damn I hope he doesn't start WWIII!

[Swatter]

Lets try to be a little more fair to Kerry, he is the instrument of administration policy. Remember that recently the Obama admin went through a phase were policy makers and military leaders were often out of step as far as messaging. I would imagine Kerry's leash is short and Ashton Carter's even shorter, and military leaders shortest of all.

Its no secret that Obama is a domestic oriented president and his foreign policy, at best, has been aimless. US foreign policy will change for the better with almost anyone else as president, except maybe Bernie Sanders or Steven Keaton from Family Ties.

No matter how many times I hear it, I still can't get over foreign policy statements that say there are no military solutions to X problem. Nobody wants to fight a war, but c'mon, this is getting a little silly. Even worse than saying there is no military solutions to a problem is when you say to Iran that military options are on the table, when they damn well know there are not.

[mirth]

Game on

http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/10/26/us-southchinasea-usa-idUSKCN0SK2AC20151026

[Mr. Bigglesworth]

China's Foreign Minister Wang Yi said Beijing was trying to verify if the U.S. ship had entered the 12-mile zone.

"If true, we advise the U.S. to think again and before acting, not act blindly or make trouble out of nothing," the Foreign Ministry quoted Wang as saying.


Seems like an abrupt change of tone.

[mirth]

Apparently the Chinese are getting a lot of domestic pressure to stand up to the US, so there's going to be some menacing rhetoric. 

Mostly this is one more bungle by the Obama administration. Not that we shouldn't be making the FoN sail, but that we waited so long to do it and are now making a spectacle out if it.

http://breakingdefense.com/2015/10/navy-to-challenge-chinese-claims-at-last-the-price-of-delay/

[mirth]

Western media needs to stop referring to the Chinese island building as " land reclamation". I've seen it several times now in reporting on the matter. From the WP article:

A massive Chinese program of land reclamation and construction on several islands has taken place since 2014, upsetting ties with the United States and several of those rival claimants.

Dredging sand and dumping it onto reefs to make islands is not land reclamation.

[Staggerwing]

Those reefs were not considered islands under international convention and thus not subject to the 12 mile limit. Piling sand on them does not change that.

BTW, has anyone read or heard about how those Filipino marines are doing with their territorial placeholder mission aboard that rusty beached freighter ?

[mirth]

I thought they had to abandon it. Not sure though.

[mirth]

Apparently the ship, and the marine contingent, is still there

http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/07/14/us-southchinasea-philippines-shoal-exclu-idUSKCN0PN2HN20150714

[Centurion40]

Apparently the ship, and the marine contingent, is still there

http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/07/14/us-southchinasea-philippines-shoal-exclu-idUSKCN0PN2HN20150714

Good! They should fill it with sand and call it an island.  Better yet, hire a Japanese company to dredge-up an island there, and build a 5 star resort, with airport that offers a 50% military discount to ASEAN & ANZUS nations.  Maybe build a "NASA"  ;) observatory or two, just to round things out.

[Steelgrave]

Apparently the ship, and the marine contingent, is still there

http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/07/14/us-southchinasea-philippines-shoal-exclu-idUSKCN0PN2HN20150714

Good! They should fill it with sand and call it an island.  Better yet, hire a Japanese company to dredge-up an island there, and build a 5 star resort, with airport that offers a 50% military discount to ASEAN & ANZUS nations.  Maybe build a "NASA"  ;) observatory or two, just to round things out.

Or let's go park a carrier five or six miles offshore from the Spratleys and call the carrier an island! I like that one too  :)