IHS "Pacific War Alert"

https://www.andrewerickson.com/2024/07/modern-chinese-maritime-forces-1-july-2024-ed-order-of-battle-for-worlds-largest-navy-coast-guard-maritime-militia-by-ship-s/

https://www.bakerinstitute.org/research/reaping-whirlwind-how-chinas-coercive-annexation-taiwan-could-trigger-nuclear

https://twitter.com/AndrewSErickson/status/1747354843298103682

bit.ly/CMPR23

https://www.taipeitimes.com/News/front/archives/2024/01/08/2003811771

🇨🇳 China unveils new images of its next-generation aircraft carrier Chinese state media unveiled new images of China's most advanced aircraft carrier yet, including next generation launch tracks that can catapult a wider range of aircraft from its deck. Yet to conduct its first sea trials, the Fujian aircraft carrier is larger and technologically more advanced than the Shandong, commissioned in 2019, and the Liaoning, which China bought second-hand from Ukraine in 1998 and refitted domestically. The Fujian has been conducting tests including mooring tests before its sea trials, which some observers expected to have taken place by 2023. The carrier started launch tests for its electromagnetic catapult system in November. #China @asianomics

🇨🇳🇵🇭 Beijing will respond if Manila builds structure on disputed reef China warned that it would “respond resolutely” if the Philippines built a permanent structure on a disputed reef in the South China Sea. Foreign ministry spokeswoman Mao Ning said that Manila’s plan to establish a permanent base on the Renai Jiao – or Second Thomas Shoal – in the Spratly Islands amounted to “a significant move” that would “seriously infringe on China’s sovereignty”. “China will respond resolutely to any provocation and infringement and firmly safeguard our territorial sovereignty and maritime rights and interests,” she said. #China #ThePhilippines @asianomics

🇵🇭🇨🇳 Philippines mulls building fishers’ shelter in disputed territory The government is considering building a shelter for fisherfolk - a permanent structure - in the West Philippine Sea's Ayungin Shoal (South China Sea’s Second Thomas Shoal), the Armed Forces of the Philippines said. “Maybe it is still being planned because it should be an inter-agency program,” said AFP Spokesperson Colonel Medel Aguilar. On December 12, former Supreme Court Senior Associate Justice Antonio Carpio said the Philippines should build a structure on the Ayungin Shoal following the latest attacks against Filipino vessels in the WPS. #ThePhilippines #China @asianomics

🇨🇳 Xi Jinping reveals China’s push for global power after rare closed-door meeting At a closed-door party meeting about China’s future foreign policy direction, President Xi Jinping urged the country’s diplomats and cadres to “break new ground”, “rally the overwhelming majority” of the world and adhere to the “fighting spirit”. He vowed to seize “strategic opportunities” and further raise its “international influence, appeal and power” to shape a rapidly changing world The two-day Central Conference on Foreign Affairs Work was attended by top party leaders such as Politburo members, senior government officials and diplomats, including dozens of Chinese ambassadors. Xi touted China as a “responsible” global power rising under his head-of-state diplomacy since he took power in 2012 and said China had overcome “various difficulties and challenges.” He also warned of “high winds and choppy waters” ahead because the world had “entered a new period of turbulence and transformation” – a thinly veiled reference to Beijing’s feud with the US and its allies over ideological and geopolitical differences. #China @asianomics

🇨🇳 China names new defense minister China has named a new defense minister, two months after Li Shangfu was removed from the post with no explanation. General Dong Jun, the commander of the People’s Liberation Army Navy, was named as the new minister. Dong has served in all major naval divisions in the PLA. Before becoming the navy’s top commander in 2021, he served in the Northern Sea Fleet, now a regular player in joint drills with the Russian navy; the Eastern Sea Fleet, which focuses on potential conflicts with Japan, as well as the Southern Command Theatre, which oversees the South China Sea. #China @asianomics

↖️ 🇨🇳 🌏 Wild week in the Indo-Pacific. 🔶️ Confrontation + Collision 🔶️ Water Cannon Clash 🔶️ Chinese Ships Swarm 🔽 Continued https://threadreaderapp.com/thread/1734034175307416040.html

📢 🇵🇭 🇨🇳 Philippine defense chief: Beijing is “converting the South China Sea into a lake of China.” https://globalnation.inquirer.net/224375/china-is-converting-south-china-sea-into-a-lake-of-china-says-teodoro

🇦🇺🇬🇧🇺🇸 US, UK, Australia to carry out maritime drone drills in 2024, focus on AI Australia, the United Kingdom and the United States will conduct joint maritime drone exercises in 2024 and aim to integrate artificial intelligence into various military systems, including maritime patrol aircraft. US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin, UK Defense Secretary Grant Shapps, and Australian Defense Minister Richard Marles said after the meeting that the exercises were expected to enhance the capability to jointly operate unmanned maritime systems. The top defense officials also explained that the military technologies powered by AI would, for instance, improve a network of buoys operated by AUKUS nations in the Indo-Pacific. These buoys, equipped with sensors, are designed to detect enemy submarines and relay the information to patrol aircraft. #Australia #UK #USA @asianomics

🇨🇳 🇯🇵 🇰🇷 The China containment strategy attempts are over. https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/east-asia/article/3242679/top-china-japan-south-korea-diplomats-hold-talks-setting-stage-leaders-summit https://archive.ph/hujjl 📎 Philip Pilkington

🇨🇳 🌏 🇺🇸 NYTimes map of Chinese Coast Guard patrols in the South China Sea this year The Chinese coast guard is now the world’s largest, and its range and presence in the South China Sea have increased dramatically in recent years. Stocked with retired navy corvettes and newer vessels that are longer than most U.S. Navy destroyers, the Chinese coast guard boasts ships that dwarf those of other nations. https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2023/11/16/world/asia/south-china-sea-ships.html https://archive.ph/eK9kk

https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/statements-releases/2023/11/13/fact-sheet-president-joseph-r-biden-and-president-joko-widodo-announce-the-u-s-indonesia-comprehensive-strategic-partnership/

🇨🇳🇹🇼🇯🇵🇺🇸 Japan urged to ‘signal early’ it would be part of Taiwan’s defense in a war Japanese support to defend Taiwan in the event of a war with Beijing could mean a lot on the ground, but its laws make direct involvement unlikely at this stage, experts at a security forum in Taipei said. Former US deputy national security adviser Matt Pottinger, noting that “deterrence is cheaper than war”, told the forum on Wednesday that Japan and other American allies should engage in “collective deterrence” against any aggression from Beijing. The idea that “a Taiwan contingency is a Japan contingency” has gained more attention in recent years. But officially, Japan has not explicitly stated that it would help defend Taiwan if a conflict does break out, to avoid provoking Beijing. #China #Taiwan #Japan #USA @asianomics

🇷🇺🇨🇳 Putin seeks cooperation with China on military satellites, prospective weapons Russian President Vladimir Putin told a senior Chinese military official Zhang Youxia that Moscow and Beijing should expand their cooperation on military satellites and other prospective defense technologies. The Russian leader emphasized the importance of developing closer military links, noting that cooperation in hi-tech spheres now takes priority. He said that while “Russia and China aren’t building any military alliances based on Cold War patterns”, their cooperation is a “serious factor in stabilizing the international situation”. #Russia #China @asianomics

🇯🇵🇵🇭 Japan, Philippines agree to hold talks on reciprocal troops pact The leaders of Japan and the Philippines agreed to start negotiations on a reciprocal troop access deal, strengthening military cooperation amid rising maritime tensions in the region. Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida said he and President Ferdinand Marcos Jr had agreed to work together closely with the United States, and, in a veiled reference to China, shared concern about "unacceptable" attempts to "unilaterally change the status quo by force". The troop pact would follow a similar deal the Philippines has with the United States, called the Visiting Forces Agreement, which provides a legal framework under which the US maintains a constant but rotating military presence in the Philippines, largely for training exercises. #Japan #ThePhilippines @asianomics

🇯🇵🇵🇭 Japan PM: cooperating with Philippines, US to protect South China Sea Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida said on Saturday his country, the Philippines and the United States were cooperating to protect the freedom of the South China Sea as he committed to help enhance Manila's security capabilities. "In the South China Sea, trilateral cooperation to protect the freedom of the sea is under way," Kishida, on an official visit, said in an address before the Philippine congress in the capital Manila. The Philippines and Japan, two of the United States' closest Asian allies, have taken a strong line against what they see as aggressive behavior by Chinese vessels amid decades-old disputes over maritime sovereignty. #Japan #ThePhilippines @asianomics