Written by Russel Johnsen   

SOUTH CHINA SEA:

Let's begin first with Hilary Clinton's romp around Africa as she courageously, and with all the diplomacy she knows, told heads of state in a variety of African countries to not trust China in their investments into many African nations. Way to go girl!

I hope you noted the sarcasm. This is a highly indelicate accusation of China and, with outmost certainty, I wouldn't trust any country in negotiations with investments or otherwise in any foreign land. No exceptions. But to throw diplomacy out of the window in such a manner is ludicrous.

So let's look now at the South China Sea along with the East China Sea, Yellow Sea as well as the Sea of Japan. There is supposed to be vast quantities of oil and gas here. Yes, enough to create a feeding frenzy among a block of nations and the Big Oil capital of our world the USA.

I look at the announcements by Clinton in her journey through Africa as a beginning of the threats by the USA toward China. Not the threats of old, but new threats now showing themselves over the past few years in the areas I've noted above.

One big imposition upon China was a US Navy electronic spy ship that ventured well inside of China's territorial waters. Not only the 200 mile limit the USA says it doesn’t agree with but into the 12 mile limit and up close and personal with one of China's most important military bases.1


Let's put this excursion by the US Navy into perspective. The USA claims for itself a 200 mile limit. Hmmm. But China's is not recognized. They approached a special military complex with the intent of spying and they got away with it! Not only could China not respond, with a degree of toughness, but the rest of our world, for the most part, had little to say. Heaven help the airways of complaint should a ship of the Chinese navy venture even a thousand miles away from the USA!

Then there's the complaint that the USA, having administered the Senkaku/Diaoyu Islands from 1945 to 1971 which previously had been controlled by Japan since 1895 were being transferred from the USA to Japan in 1972. In 1971 China had protested the giving of these islands, 330 K off the China coast; 170 k off the Taiwan Coast; 410 K off the island archipelago of Japan; about a 1000 K off the coast of Japan proper.

Taiwan also makes claim to these islands.

The defence of these islands is included in the Treaty of Mutual Cooperation and Security between the United States and Japan. This is one of those treaties that is most deplorable because it makes sure that the USA is impaired from actual negotiation in this affair and must back up Japan all the way to war for Japan's claim over the islands. At some point three of these islands became privately owned and were purchased back by Japan in 2012.

There is a lot to these islands of importance but of most significant is the opportunity to close off the area of these islands for oil exploration and exploitation, The USA has implicitly stated that it will side with Japan. There have been large scale protests in China regarding these most current events.

The Spratly Islands are being claimed by both China and the Philippines in a discussion that has been going on for decades and with no real punch from either side of the issues. But Taiwan makes claim to these islands as does Viet Nam. There has been abundant fishing done here for a very, very long period of time with fishermen from China, Taiwan and the Philippines. Now Malaysia and Brunei are getting into the claims act.

Lately though the Philippine coast guard have been shooting at Taiwanese fishing boats and creating quite a furor. China is upping the stakes by sending a small naval flotilla to indicate its own sovereignty over these islands. Again the fishing has been going on in this area rich with fish for a long time and mostly in a peaceable manner. All the countries involved have high stakes in the oil that is said to be had in this area.

The USA is involved too but its in a difficulty of choice between the backing of Viet Nam, Taiwan or the Philippines in this contest. The Philippines will undoubtedly agree to have USA troops back upon the soil of the Philippines and a new naval presence as they decide how much of their sovereignty be given over to the USA and Big Oil in this region.

However, the USA is playing favour games in Viet Nam as it begins a cleanup of an old airfield they’d poisoned with many chemicals including dioxin - Agent Orange - during the Viet Nam war. Interestingly this cleanup, if continued, would take 10,000 years if it were to cleanup all the poisons dumped upon the people of Vietnam. A paltry little mission to create `friendship with Viet Nam and the ultimate goal to be islands in the seas far from American shores.

Oil means power - not having oil means failure.

Of course, the nonsense out of the USA and Obama steams ahead with untruths. The Obama Administration: "Whether with regard to disputes in the South China Sea or in the East China Sea," Deputy Secretary of State William Burns declared last October in Tokyo, the United States "does not take a position on the question of ultimate sovereignty." True to form, he continued, "What we do take a position on is the importance of dealing with those questions through dialogue and diplomacy and avoiding intimidation and coercion."
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2991080/posts

The actions, to date, over the past few years shows the attraction of the USA against the Chinese in all these matters in its forceful representation in countries of South East Asia, the Philippines, Taiwan and up to Japan in support for everything anti-China. The beds have been made and the whole action, by the USA and its friends old and new is for Big Oil to get the oil and to cut China off.

What is the USA naval force power now inserted into the South China Sea? 2

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1. "Who was in breach of international law is the subject of debate. Beijing claims that such "military operations" are banned within its 200-mile exclusive economic zone under the 1982 UN Convention on the Law of the Sea. The US, which unlike China has not ratified the Convention, disagrees with the Chinese interpretation and continues its intelligence-gathering operations."
https://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2009/03/usch-m17.html

2. ""We are excited to be back in 7th Fleet and the South China Sea," said Capt. John Beaver, commander of Destroyer Squadron 21. "We have long standing partnerships in this region and an ongoing presence here is evidence of our enduring commitment to the peace and stability of Southeast Asia." "
http://www.navy.mil/submit/display.asp?story_id=73214