Chinese Maritime Militia swarming Philippines's Iroquois Reef
Chinese Maritime Militia is China's third navy & is comprised of fishing vessels subsidized by Beijing in exchange for helping China extend it's dominance & dominance in the seas. @MalayaIrredenta@ChongJaIanpic.twitter.com/6yYFXKJ8dm
A Chinese fishing vessel hit & sank a Vietnamese fishing boat inside Vietnam's EEZ near Paracel Island!
This wasn't an accident but a planned attack by Chinese fishing militia to instill fear in Vietnamese fishermen so that they do not sail in the waters claimed by China! 1/4 pic.twitter.com/ub1S3DYdST
Firing on fishing boats may look harsh, but the boats at which Indonesian Navy fired were not ordinary fishing boats. They were part of China's fishing militia.
The Green Line in this map of South China Sea shows the real Exclusive Economic Zone of China, recognised by UNCLOS.
The Red Line cutting across EEZs of Vietnam, Philippines & Malaysia is China's so called Nine & Ten Dash Lines, the main reason behind tension in South China Sea pic.twitter.com/MEoj6G3xOF
After illegally occupying Mischief Reef, Subi Reef & Scarborough Shoal, located inside Philippines's EEZ & converting them into military bases & waging Gray Zone Warfare inside PH' water,China is accusing Philippines of destabalising South China Sea! 1/3 @DrewPavlou@jaytaryelapic.twitter.com/zKwhWEyTJs
The Malaysian prime minister says his country is not going to give in to Chinese demands to stop drilling for oil in the South China Sea:
Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim said Thursday that Malaysia will not bow to demands by China to stop its oil and gas exploration in the South China Sea as the activities are within the country’s waters. Anwar said Malaysia would continue to explain its stance following China’s accusations in a protest note in February to the Malaysian Embassy in Beijing that Kuala Lumpur had infringed on its territory.
Malaysia’s Foreign Ministry said Wednesday it was investigating the leak of the diplomatic protest note that was published by a Filipino media outlet on Aug. 29. “We have never intended in any way to be intentionally provocative, unnecessarily hostile. China is a great friend, but of course we have to operate in our waters and secure economic advantage, including drilling for oil in our territory,” Anwar said in a televised news conference from Russia, where he is on an official visit.
The Philippine Daily Inquirer published the diplomatic note in which Beijing reportedly demanded that Malaysia immediately halt all activities in an oil-rich maritime area off Sarawak state on Borneo island. The report said China had accused Malaysia of encroaching on areas covered by its 10-dash line, Beijing’s controversial map showing its claims to sovereignty in the South China Sea. The diplomatic note also expressed Beijing’s displeasure over Malaysia’s oil and gas exploration activities near the Luconia Shoals, which is near to Sarawak, it said.
The Chinese are significantly escalating their provocations against the Philippines military as they try and resupply troops stationed on the Second Thomas Shoal:
The Philippines military chief demanded Wednesday that China return several rifles and equipment seized by the Chinese coast guard in a disputed shoal and pay for damage in an assault he likened to an act of piracy in the South China Sea. Chinese personnel on board more than eight motorboats repeatedly rammed then boarded the two Philippine navy inflatable boats Monday to prevent Filipino navy personnel from transferring food and other supplies including firearms to a Philippine territorial outpost in Second Thomas Shoal, which is also claimed by Beijing, according to Philippine officials.
After a scuffle and repeated collisions, the Chinese seized the boats and damaged them with machetes, knives and hammers. They also seized eight M4 rifles, which were packed in cases, navigation equipment and other supplies and wounded a number of Filipino navy personnel, including one who lost his right thumb, two Philippine security officials told The Associated on Tuesday. The two officials spoke on condition of anonymity because of a lack of authority to discuss the sensitive conflict publicly.
You can read more at the link, but it is easy to imagine how this can escalate because the Philippines military next time will probably come in more forcibly to defend their resupply boats against the Chinese piracy.
