South China Sea Strategies for other nations (Not China)

according to BreakingDefense
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While it will be a short deployment,
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and the United States have agreed to deploy America’s
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next year as part of the Enhanced Air Cooperation (EAC) Initiative that has seen
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and other advanced American aircraft deployed to the
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.

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, head of Pacific Command, disclosed the news during a Q and A session at the
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, a foreign policy thinktank here. Harris, fresh from a short visit to the seemingly always turbulent island state of Papua New Guinea, did not disclose how many
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would fly to the
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‘s base in Tindal.

While the US Marines have gotten most of the press for their now sort of regular six-month deployments to the northern port city of
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, 2017 marks a significant ramp-up in the air portion of America’s military commitment to — arguably — our closest ally.

While some journalists had already heard about the F-22 deployment, it was disclosed off the record. Harris decided to make it public in response to a question by an Australian reporter. There were concerns that Indonesia might react badly since, in the words of one source, they think everything that happens here is about them.” Indonesia and Australia have long had a very fractious, complicated and often antagonistic relationship.

In his public speech, Harris also reitereated the US commitment to open seas and
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, where China has destroyed large coral reefs to build temporary islands where they are deploying military ships and planes in a clear effort to execute a fait accompli and control access to an area
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China has no legitimate claim to.

In his prepared remarks, Harris said that “the
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-Asia-Pacific economic miracle is coming under pressure from revisionist powers (
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and
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).” How should the US and its allies and partners react? Harris offered three tools: “the absolute necessity to maintain credible combat power;” resolve; and, finally, expanding partnerships. “These partnerships advance national interests outside the confines of the old US hub and spoke alliance model,” Harris said.

When I asked Harris what concrete measures the
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could take to counter China’s revanchist actions in the South China Sea, he took issue with our focus on military power, saying that diplomacy and other tools of national power were the most likely to change China’s behavior.
source:
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I put it into
China's SCS Strategy Thread
as well:

I noticed as it's on top of Breaking News at gazeta.ru right now
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which through
ТАСС

Подробнее на ТАСС:
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links to

China confirms US request for seized drone
A Chinese military source confirmed with the Global Times that they received on Saturday a “claim request” from the US for an underwater drone after a Chinese warship seized the craft during a security check in the South China Sea.

According to a Reuters report, the request was made after the Chinese navy seized the drone Thursday, about 80 kilometers northwest of Subic Bay in the Philippines just as the USNS Bowditch, an oceanographic survey ship, was about to retrieve it.

The Pentagon had confirmed the incident at a news briefing Friday and said the drone used commercially-available technology and sold for about $150,000, Reuters reported.

China believes that the incident will be “resolved successfully,” said the PLA source.
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advill

Junior Member
An Owlish approach is a wise solution to solve the problem related to this particular (underwater drone) activity. Hawkish (antagonistic) approaches should be avoided for the sake lasting peace and progress of international maritime trade in the South China Sea.
 
now I read
Philippines' Duterte to US over Aid Issue: 'Bye-bye, America'
President Rodrigo Duterte threatened Saturday to terminate a pact that allows U.S. troops to visit the Philippines, saying "bye-bye America" as he reacted with rage to what he thought was a U.S. decision to scrap a major aid package over human rights concerns.

A U.S. government aid agency, the Millennium Challenge Corporation, said earlier in the week that its board deferred a vote on a renewal of the development assistance package for the Philippines "subject to a further review of concerns around rule of law and civil liberties."

The agency has clearly not voted to scrap or approve the aid package, but Duterte unleashed an expletives-laden tirade upon his arrival in his southern hometown of Davao after back-to-back visits to Cambodia and Singapore.

"I understand that we have been stricken out of the Millennium Challenge. Well, good, I welcome it," Duterte said with apparent sarcasm.

"We can survive without American money," he said.

"But you know, America, you might also be put to notice. Prepare to leave the Philippines, prepare for the eventual repeal or the abrogation of the Visiting Forces Agreement," he said, referring to a 1998 accord that governs
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.

"You know, tit for tat ... if you can do this, so (can) we. It ain't a one-way traffic," Duterte said, adding tauntingly, "Bye-bye America."

The 71-year-old Duterte, who describes himself as a left-wing politician, has made similar threats before and after taking office in June, but he and his officials have walked back on many of his public statements, causing confusion.

While calling Americans "sons of bitches" and "hypocrites," Duterte praised China as having "the kindest soul of all" for offering what he said was significant financial assistance. "So, what do I need America for?" he asked.

He also said Russia can be a very important ally. "They do not insult people, they do not interfere," he said.

Philippine Foreign Secretary Perfecto Yasay Jr. also criticized the U.S. aid decision, saying it happened after Duterte declared he would chart a foreign policy course independent of Washington.

The Philippines had been slated for another aid package after its previous five-year, $434 million poverty reduction program was successfully completed in May under Duterte's predecessor, Benigno Aquino III.

The agency's spokeswoman, Laura Allen, said Thursday that it would continue to monitor events in the Philippines before the next board review in March 2017.

The U.S. decision is among the first signs of how concerns about the rule of law and human rights under Duterte could entail economic costs.

The U.S. government, along with European Union and U.N. officials, has raised concerns about Duterte's crackdown on illegal drugs, which has left more than 2,000 suspected drug users and dealers dead in purported gun battles with police. More than 3,000 other deaths are being investigated to determine if they were linked to illegal drugs.

In his news conference, Duterte was pointedly asked how many crime suspects he has killed in the past when he was still a crime-busting city mayor amid his vague and contradicting accounts of his exploits. The former government prosecutor again gave contrasting replies.

"Maybe one, two, three ... I'm saying, maybe my bullets hit them, maybe not, but after the burumbumbumbum, they're all dead," Duterte said.

Replying to another question, he said that he indeed has killed, but did not provide details and tried to justify his act. "When I tell you now that I killed, do not term them as suspects because all of them died while they were fighting government people."

He asked God for forgiveness in advance, saying he may not have time to pray if he's assassinated. "God, forgive me for killing these idiots," Duterte said, then blamed God for the presence of criminals. "You create a human monster so if you are God, why do you have to create these idiots? That's why they die."

Duterte, who has had a difficult relationship with President Barack Obama, said he would change his mindset if President-elect Donald Trump appeals to him. "I have talked to Trump, he was very nice, very courteous," he said. "I could not sense any hostile drift, or even the manner he was saying it, so, in deference, I'll just wait."

"I will let Obama fade away and if he disappears, then I will begin to reassess," Duterte said, adding that he and Trump acknowledged each other's similarly brash manners.

"We talk in the same language," Duterte said. He recalled that when he told Trump in a recent phone call that "I like your mouth, it's like mine," he said Trump responded by saying, "Yes, Mr. President, we're similar."

source:
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mr.bean

Junior Member
gotta love Du30. he calls the US ambassador a ''gay son of a bitch'' then calls Obama ''son of whore''. you guys need to see his Christmas message to the Philippine people on youtube. it's the best damn Christmas message by a world leader. his supporters gave him a new slogan "Du30 will make the Philippines great again"!
 

Air Force Brat

Brigadier
Super Moderator
I put it into
China's SCS Strategy Thread
as well:

I noticed as it's on top of Breaking News at gazeta.ru right now
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which through
ТАСС

Подробнее на ТАСС:
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links to

China confirms US request for seized drone
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Yep, Trump says "KEEP THE DANG THANG!", it just makes my point anyway!" really this does illustrate that people with concerns about China's behavior have a legitimate concern, and FON will likely be stepped up considerably under the new Trump administration.
 
Yep, Trump says "KEEP THE DANG THANG!", it just makes my point anyway!" ...
LOL I guess you're referring to

"Hours later, while riding in a motorcade back to his resort, Trump tweeted his second jab. "We should tell China that we don't want the drone they stole back - let them keep it!" he said."

from inside of Today at 8:13 AM
Yesterday at 11:32 AM

now I read China to return seized U.S. drone, says Washington 'hyping up' incident

source is Reuters
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Air Force Brat

Brigadier
Super Moderator
LOL I guess you're referring to

"Hours later, while riding in a motorcade back to his resort, Trump tweeted his second jab. "We should tell China that we don't want the drone they stole back - let them keep it!" he said."

from inside of Today at 8:13 AM

Yes Sir, we are SICK of Dictators and their Thugs, Barack is GONE, and we Don't want HILLARY! get it, we are done with leftist KRAP!
 
I put it into
China's SCS Strategy Thread
as well:

I noticed as it's on top of Breaking News at gazeta.ru right now
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which through
ТАСС

Подробнее на ТАСС:
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links to

China confirms US request for seized drone
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Simple informative explanation of the military implications of what the USN and the PLAN are doing in instances like this USNS Bowditch incident with a glimpse of other issues surrounding the topic.

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Q&A: China just seized a research robot from a U.S. Navy ship. What was it doing?
By David Malakoff
Dec. 16, 2016 , 1:45 PM

For ocean scientists who have worked with the U.S. military, today’s news that Chinese forces seized an oceanographic glider launched by an unarmed U.S. Navy research ship working in the South China Sea has a familiar ring. It’s not the first time that Chinese ships have confronted the USNS Bowditch or one of its five sister oceanographic ships, a little-known U.S. Navy fleet operated mostly by civilians that conducts mapping and ocean data collection cruises around the world. In 2001 and 2002, for instance, Chinese Navy frigates dogged the Bowditch as it worked in the Yellow Sea, leading to an exchange of diplomatic complaints.

In general, the Chinese object to the U.S. Navy conducting research activities within China’s exclusive economic zone (EEZ), which stretches some 320 kilometers off its coastline. But U.S. officials have long held that the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea specifically allows military ships to conduct research cruises within a nation’s EEZ (although civilian research cruises need to get permission from the host country).

To learn more about the work of the Bowditch and its sister ships, ScienceInsider chatted with now-retired Rear Admiral David Titley, who oversaw the U.S. Navy’s research fleet from 2007 to 2009 as commander of the Naval Meteorology and Oceanography Command. Titley is now director of the Center for Solutions to Weather and Climate Risk at Pennsylvania State University in State College. The interview has been edited for clarity and brevity.

Q: What do ships like the Bowditch do?

A: Well, these oceanographic survey ships are very rarely in the news, but they play a big part in what the Navy is doing, in a data-driven scientific way, to learn about our oceans. They do just what the name implies. The reason the Navy is interested in surveying the ocean worldwide is because it operates worldwide. So while the Navy has to play the away game, it needs and wants the home field advantage—it wants to know the terrain. And if you want to understand something you have to first measure it, and that’s what these ships are designed to do. They collect information about how deep the ocean is, the type of bottom, the currents, the temperature and salinity structure, and where the eddies are. All of that is essential to understanding the terrain and forecasting how it might change. They’ve been doing these missions in international waters for many, many decades.

Q: Are these regular Navy vessels?

A: These are Military Sealift Command vessels. In the Navy, we have what we call the gray hulls—your destroyers, aircraft carriers, and submarines—that have crews that are all active-duty military. Then there is the sealift command—the white hulls—that have civilian masters and mates, and the crews are often contractors. They also have a technical surveying crew that is usually mostly civilian oceanographers, hydrographers, and other technical personnel.

Q: What happens to the data these ships collect?

A: When the U.S. Navy works in another nation’s EEZ, you have to be careful about how you handle data, and what you do and do not release. Under the Law of the Sea, the position taken by the U.S. and many other nations is that the military can collect data within a country’s EEZ without the permission of that country, because it is a military survey. We can ask for permission, and we do at times, but we don’t have to. But those data then cannot be released to the general public, because that would make it a more civilian-type science expedition. And you don’t want another country to say: See, it’s not a military mission.

Q: China takes a different position on military research activities in the EEZ …

A: Yes, China does not like it. So, historically, what we have had occasionally is that when the Bowditch or [a similar ship] has been working in China’s EEZ, they have harassed our oceanographic survey ships. Now, I don’t know where the Bowditch exactly was working—the South China Sea is a huge area—or what its mission was. Clearly something has happened. But one of the first things you learn in the Navy is that the very first report is probably wrong. So I’m sure we’ll learn more.

Updated, 12/16/2016, 5:35p.m.: This story has been updated to remove a reference to the comparative sizes of the South China Sea and the contiguous United States.


Posted in: Asia/Pacific,
Oceanography,
Policy


DOI: 10.1126/science.aal0524
 
USNI info on the USNS Bowditch glider:
lbs_glider.png
 
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