Today’s News 26 March 2021 (Friday)

A. NAVY NEWS/COVID NEWS/PHOTOS

Title Writer Newspaper Page

1 South Korean Ambassador M Bulletin 3

2 Dagdag na Navy ships ipinadala sa WPS

A Recuenco

Balita

2

3 AFP to deploy more ships in West PH Sea

A Recuenco

Tempo

3

4 Solon to Navy: Hasten procurement of warships

J Dela Cruz B Mirror A3

B. NATIONAL HEADLINES

Title Writer Newspaper Page

5 Rody: No jumping vaccination line C Mendez P Star 1

6 Duterte orders probe of vaccine line-jumpers D Cabalza PDI A1

C. NATIONAL SECURITY

Title Writer Newspaper Page

7 Rody to Sino envoy: We’re concerned about your ships

L Salaverria PDI A4

8 Rody raises Phl reef incident to Chinese envoy

A Romero P Star 2

9 Duterte airs concern over Chinese vessels K Calayag M Times A3 10 Duterte to China envoy: Arbitral ruling

stands in PH favour V Barcelo M Standard A1

11 China, Palace play down ships on reef M Blancaflor D Tribune A1 12 House Makabayan bloc calls for Chinese

incursion probe J Manalastas P Journal 3

13 US backs PH in new sea territorial dispute CNN Staff P Journal 3 14 Canada, NZ back PH vs Chinese incursion C Pisco P Tonight 8 15 DND urged to advance acquisition of 16

warships R Pacpaco P Tonight 8

16 Duterte, Chinese envoy nagkausap na sa militia vessels sa Julian Felipe Reef

M Escudero Ngayon 2

D. INDO-PACIFIC

Title Writer Newspaper Page

NIL NIL NIL NIL

E. AFP RELATED

Title Writer Newspaper Page

17 Vietnamese boat seized, 7 held for illegal fishing

R Pareño P Star 9

18 Appointment of former military men defended

K Calayag M Times A3

19 Velasco seeks additional P54b to augment military pension

M Cruz M Standard A3

20 Viet vessel crew apprehended J Roson D Tribune B15

21 Duterte rejects calls for IATF overhaul R Africa Malaya A10

22 Vietnam boat, 7 crew held for poaching off Tawi-tawi

A Jacinto M Times A7

23 2 Abu men die in clash with troops in Tawi-tawi

A Jacinto M Times

F. CPP-NPA-NDF-LCM

Title Writer Newspaper Page

24 Drilon bill to outlaw ‘Red-tagging’ filed, cheered

M Gascon PDI A4

25 Drilon bill seeks to criminalize red-tagging B Tamayo M Times A8

26 Bill makes red-tagging punishable by up to 10 years

M Araneta M Standard A3

27 10 years for red-taggers S Locus D Tribune A3

28 Punish red-tagging as a crime – Drilon M Purification P Journal 3

29 Red-tagging of Senate employees hit M Purification P Tonight 8

30 LGU, Army give NPA rebel proper burial L Domingo M Times A7

31 Death toll in Negros Oriental clash rises to 10

G Masculino M Bulletin 8

32 Negros clash death toll rises to 10 G Masculino Tempo 2

33 ‘Crazy’ amazon L Iñigo Tempo 1

34 Rebeldeng NPA na nagpanggap na baliw, timbog sa checkpoint

V Martin Ngayon 6

G. MNLF/MILF/BIFF/ASG

Title Writer Newspaper Page

35 Vietnam boat, 7 crew held for poaching off Tawi-Tawi

A Jacinto M Times A7

36 2 Abu men die in clash with troops in Tawi-Tawi

A Jacinto M Times A7

H. EDITORIAL-OPINION-COMMENTARY-SPECIAL

Title Writer Newspaper Page

37 Mischief in the making P Star 6

38 ‘Sheltering from storm’: China’s worn-out excuse for poaching

J Bondoc P Star 7

39 ‘Friend,’ indeed PDI A6

40 Sample literature on the West Philippine Sea V Ybiernas M Times A6

41 The unending story of red-tagging, courtesy of CPP

LT Gen. Parlade Jr. M Times A6

42 They belong to the circus L Biraogo M Standard B1

43 Can’t disconnect ‘em P Journal 4

44 Mataas na sweldo at benepisyo sa nurses PM 3

45 Dapat ipaglaban ng AFP ang WPS R Valmonte Balita 5

I. ONLINE NEWS

Title Link

NATIONAL NEWS

46 Palace mulls ‘expanded’ cash aid in NCR bubble

https://tribune.net.ph/index.php/2021/03/25/palace-mulls-expanded-cash-aid-in-ncr-bubble/

47 Despite new inflation risks, BSP keeps rates

https://businessmirror.com.ph/2021/03/26/despite-new-inflation-risks-bsp-keeps-rates/

48 PHL exporters chafe as pandemic delays product shipments

https://businessmirror.com.ph/2021/03/26/phl-exporters-chafe-as-pandemic-delays-product-shipments/

49 Phivolcs chief warns public vs going near Taal Volcano Island

https://mb.com.ph/2021/03/25/phivolcs-chief-warns-public-vs-going-near-taal-volcano-island/

50 Pinoys urged to join Earth Hour to ease effects of climate change

https://www.pna.gov.ph/articles/1134934

NAVY NEWS

51 Solon to Navy: Hasten procurement of warships

https://businessmirror.com.ph/2021/03/26/solon-to-navy-hasten-procurement-of-warships/

52 Show of force: Sobejana orders deployment of more Navy ships in West Ph Sea

https://mb.com.ph/2021/03/25/show-of-force-sobejana-orders-deployment-of-more-navy-ships-in-west-ph-sea/

53 AFP to deploy more Navy ships for WPS patrols

https://www.pna.gov.ph/articles/1134832

54 PH sends more Navy ships to West PH Sea, but not in reef where Chinese militia ships seen

https://news.abs-cbn.com/news/03/25/21/ph-sends-more-navy-ships-to-west-ph-sea-but-not-in-reef-where-chinese-militia-ships-seen

55 Verbal row over reef militia sizzles; Duterte, Huang meet

https://businessmirror.com.ph/2021/03/26/verbal-row-over-reef-militia-sizzles-duterte-huang-meet/

56 Duterte to China envoy: Arbitral ruling stands in PH favor

https://manilastandard.net/news/top-stories/350472/duterte-to-china-envoy-arbitral-ruling-stands-in-ph-favor.html

57 Huang allays PRRD’s worry over spotted Chinese vessels in WPS

https://www.pna.gov.ph/articles/1134878

58 Palace sees no controversy in 200 Chinese vessels in Julian Felipe Reef

https://mb.com.ph/2021/03/25/palace-sees-no-controversy-in-200-chinese-vessels-in-julian-felipe-reef/

59

Palace shrugs off Chinese maritime militia ships near Julian Felipe Reef

https://news.abs-cbn.com/video/news/03/25/21/palace-shrugs-off-chinese-maritime-militia-ships-near-julian-felipe-reef

60

Duterte ‘not concerned’ about presence of Chinese vessels near disputed reef —Carpio

https://www.gmanetwork.com/news/news/nation/781157/duterte-not-concerned-about-presence-of-chinese-vessels-near-disputed-reef-carpio/story/

61 Duterte policy of 'appeasing' China failed amid latest West PH Sea tensions – int'l studies expert

https://cnnphilippines.com/news/2021/3/25/duterte-policy-appeasing-china-failed-west-ph-sea-tensions.html

62 Makabayan bloc wants probe on presence of Chinese vessels in WPS

https://mb.com.ph/2021/03/25/makabayan-bloc-wants-probe-on-presence-of-chinese-vessels-in-wps/

63 Lost in translation: Locsin’s tweet gets ‘distorted’ in Chinese social media

https://mb.com.ph/2021/03/25/lost-in-translation-locsins-tweet-gets-distorted-in-chinese-social-media/

64 PH, S. Korea to deepen maritime security ties

https://www.pna.gov.ph/articles/1134805

65 Vietnamese vessel, crew held for encroaching on Tawi-Tawi waters

https://tribune.net.ph/index.php/2021/03/25/vietnamese-vessel-crew-held-for-encroaching-on-tawi-tawi-waters/

AFP RELATED

66

Demand for pullout of Chinese vessels from Philippine reef conveyed to Chinese military —AFP

https://www.gmanetwork.com/news/news/nation/781192/demand-for-pullout-of-chinese-vessels-from-philippine-reef-conveyed-to-chinese-military-afp/story/

67 House leaders seek P54.6-B add’l budget for military pension

https://mb.com.ph/2021/03/25/house-leaders-seek-p54-6-b-addl-budget-for-military-pension/

68 ARTA allots email for benefit claims of uniformed personnel

https://www.pna.gov.ph/articles/1134906

69 20 patay, mahigit 50,000 lumikas sa bakbakan sa Maguindanao

https://tribune.net.ph/index.php/2021/03/26/20-patay-mahigit-50000-lumikas-sa-bakbakan-sa-maguindanao/

70 Drilon files bill criminalizing ‘red-tagging’ https://mb.com.ph/2021/03/25/drilon-files-bill-

criminalizing-red-tagging/

71 Makabayan solons back Drilon bill penalizing red-tagging

https://mb.com.ph/2021/03/25/makabayan-solons-back-drilon-bill-penalizing-red-tagging/

72 NUJP welcomes bill seeking to punish red-tagging

https://mb.com.ph/2021/03/25/nujp-welcomes-bill-seeking-to-punish-red-tagging/

73 Red-tagged UP alumni oppose return of generals linked to error-ridden 'rebel list'

https://www.philstar.com/headlines/2021/03/25/2086955/red-tagged-alumni-oppose-return-generals-linked-error-ridden-rebel-list

74 ‘You need not be a doctor here’: Duterte defends former military men in charge of pandemic response

https://mb.com.ph/2021/03/25/you-need-not-be-a-doctor-here-duterte-defends-former-military-men-in-charge-of-pandemic-response/

75 House OKs creation of Medical Reserve Corps

https://mb.com.ph/2021/03/25/house-oks-creation-of-medical-reserve-corps/

76 ‘Crazy’ NPA amazon nabbed in Cagayan

https://mb.com.ph/2021/03/25/crazy-npa-amazon-nabbed-in-cagayan/

INDO-PACIFIC NEWS

77 China's CNOOC to start production at Lingshui 17-2 in H1 2021

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-china-cnooc/chinas-cnooc-to-start-production-at-lingshui-17-2-in-h1-2021-idUSKBN2BH1E1

78

China responds to UK, Australia, Canada after getting flak over incursion in West PH Sea

https://news.abs-cbn.com/news/03/25/21/china-responds-to-uk-australia-canada-after-getting-flak-over-incursion-in-west-ph-sea

79

Uighur Muslims protest in Turkey as Chinese foreign minister visits

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-turkey-china/uighur-muslims-protest-in-turkey-as-chinese-foreign-minister-visits-idUSKBN2BH1EW

80 Police chief lashes out at ‘attempts to use Xinjiang to contain China’

https://www.scmp.com/news/china/politics/article/3127019/police-chief-lashes-out-attempts-use-xinjiang-contain-china

81 China’s Foreign Minister Heads to the Middle East

https://thediplomat.com/2021/03/chinas-foreign-minister-heads-to-the-middle-east/)

82

China says will safeguard Iran nuclear deal, defend Sino-Iran relations

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-china-iran/china-says-will-safeguard-iran-nuclear-deal-defend-sino-iran-relations-idUSKBN2BH0UL

83

China urges U.S. to stop 'discriminatory' action against its firms

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-sec-foreigncompanies-china/china-urges-u-s-to-stop-discriminatory-action-against-its-firms-idUSKBN2BH0UY

84 China presses global fashion firms to reverse Xinjiang cotton boycott

https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3126904/backlash-china-against-nike-adidas-and-other-global-brands

85

Chinese State Media Fuels Backlash Against Nike, H&M And Others Over Xinjiang ‘Forced Labor’ Statements

https://www.forbes.com/sites/siladityaray/2021/03/25/chinese-state-media-fuels-backlash-against-nike-hm-and-others-over-xinjiang-forced-labor-statements/

86

Hong Kong tells foreign governments to stop accepting special British passport

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-hongkong-security-passports-exclusive/exclusive-hong-kong-tells-foreign-governments-to-stop-accepting-special-british-passport-idUSKBN2BH0PR

87

Xi urges Chinese province to deepen ties with democratic Taiwan

https://www.hindustantimes.com/world-news/xi-urges-chinese-province-to-deepen-ties-with-democratic-taiwan-101616671574526.html

88

China’s Go-It-Alone Five-Year Plan https://www.project-syndicate.org/commentary/china-self-reliance-5-year-plan-by-george-magnus-2021-03?a_la=english&a_d=605ca65ec5e8022a6401eb26&a_m=&a_a=click&a_s=&a_p=%2Farchive&a_li=china-self-reliance-5-year-plan-by-george-magnus-2021-03&a_pa=archive-results&a_ps=&a_ms=&a_r=

89 NATO countries must cease South China Sea troubles: spokesperson

http://www.xinhuanet.com/english/2021-03/25/c_139836109.htm

90 China’s EU Sanctions Are the Latest Proof: Beijing Doesn’t Understand Democracies

https://thediplomat.com/2021/03/chinas-eu-sanctions-are-the-latest-proof-beijing-doesnt-understand-democracies/

91

Biden compares Xi to Putin, Republican voting plans to Jim Crow laws

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-biden/biden-compares-xi-to-putin-republican-voting-plans-to-jim-crow-laws-idUSKBN2BH1AY

92 Biden says China won't surpass U.S. as global leader on his watch

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-biden-china/biden-says-china-wont-surpass-u-s-as-global-leader-on-his-watch-idUSKBN2BH2ZE

93

UK says Hong Kong cannot dictate which passports other governments recognize

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-hongkong-security-passports-britain/uk-says-hong-kong-cannot-dictate-which-passports-other-governments-recognise-idUSKBN2BH36Y

94

Biden warns of responses if North Korea escalates, but open to diplomacy

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-northkorea-missiles-biden/biden-warns-of-responses-if-north-korea-escalates-but-open-to-diplomacy-idUSKBN2BH2Z2

95 US, Europe, NATO close ranks to counter ‘aggressive’ China

https://businessmirror.com.ph/2021/03/26/us-europe-nato-close-ranks-to-counter-aggressive-china/

96 US and EU reboot dialogue on China 'challenges and opportunities'

https://asia.nikkei.com/Politics/International-relations/US-and-EU-reboot-dialogue-on-China-challenges-and-opportunities

97

US Secretary of State Blinken says West needs to cooperate more than ever

https://www.hindustantimes.com/world-news/us-secretary-of-state-blinken-says-west-needs-to-cooperate-more-than-ever-101616675386031.html

98

U.S. says promoting chip cooperation with Taiwan is a priority

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-taiwan-usa-semiconductors/u-s-says-promoting-chip-cooperation-with-taiwan-is-a-priority-idUSKBN2BH0JY

99 AIT says US-Taiwan chip supply chain cooperation a priority

https://www.taiwannews.com.tw/en/news/4160290

100 As US puts heat on China, Japan under pressure to side with Taiwan

https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/3126796/us-puts-heat-china-japan-under-pressure-side-taiwan

101

U.S. blacklists two Myanmar military-controlled companies: U.S. Treasury

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-myanmar-politics-usa-sanctions/u-s-blacklists-two-myanmar-military-controlled-companies-u-s-treasury-idUSKBN2BH1VM

102

The secret network helping hundreds of Myanmar police flee to India

https://www.reuters.com/article/myanmar-politics-india-refugees/the-secret-network-helping-hundreds-of-myanmar-police-flee-to-india-idUSKBN2BH0O0

103

Four killed by Myanmar security forces as thousands hold street protests -reports

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-myanmar-politics/four-killed-by-myanmar-security-forces-as-thousands-hold-street-protests-reports-idUSKBN2BH079

104 Myanmar coup latest: Indonesia and Singapore 'gravely concerned'

https://asia.nikkei.com/Spotlight/Myanmar-Coup/Myanmar-coup-latest-Indonesia-and-Singapore-gravely-concerned

105 Amid Legal Crackdown, Thai Protest Movement Regains Momentum

https://thediplomat.com/2021/03/amid-legal-crackdown-thai-protest-movement-regains-momentum/

106

Taiwan’s Last South American Ally Gets Helicopters, Covid Drugs

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2021-03-25/taiwan-s-last-south-american-ally-gets-helicopters-covid-drugs?srnd=premium-asia

107

Some Australians return home as others evacuated in floods crisis

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-australia-weather/some-australians-return-home-as-others-evacuated-in-floods-crisis-idUSKBN2BG3G5

108 Paraguay says Chinese vaccine offers tied to dumping Taiwan

https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2021/03/25/world/paraguay-china-taiwan-vaccine/

109

Suez Canal suspends traffic as ship stuck like 'beached whale'

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-egypt-suezcanal-ship/suez-canal-suspends-traffic-as-ship-stuck-like-beached-whale-idUSKBN2BH0BA

110

Experts Estimate Ship Stuck In Suez Is Blocking $9.6 Billion In Maritime Traffic Each Day–Here’s Why Actual Losses Are Harder To Quantify

https://www.forbes.com/sites/palashghosh/2021/03/25/experts-estimate-ship-stuck-in-suez-is-blocking-96-billion-in-maritime-traffic-each-dayheres-why-actual-losses-are-harder-to-quantify/

111 Why Did North Korea Sever Diplomatic Ties With Malaysia?

https://thediplomat.com/2021/03/why-did-north-korea-sever-diplomatic-ties-with-malaysia/

112 Are India and Pakistan really heading towards peace?

https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/3126822/are-india-and-pakistan-really-heading-towards-peace

113 Alaska summit: how China’s victim strategy will play out in its relations with the US

https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/article/3126917/alaska-summit-how-chinas-victim-strategy-will-play-out-its

114 China and Russia show a united front amid US-led sanctions

https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/article/3126825/china-and-russia-show-united-front-amid-hail-us-led-sanctions

115 Hong Kong Isn’t an Endgame for China. It’s a Starting Point.

https://thedispatch.com/p/hong-kong-isnt-an-endgame-for-china

116 ‘In the dragon’s shadow: Southeast Asia in the Chinese century’

https://www.aspistrategist.org.au/from-the-bookshelf-in-the-dragons-shadow-southeast-asia-in-the-chinese-century/

117 What Biden’s domestic approach means for US foreign and security policy—and for Australia

https://www.aspistrategist.org.au/what-bidens-domestic-approach-means-for-us-foreign-and-security-policy-and-for-australia/

DEFENSE NEWS

118

Satellite photos show China's construction on Subi Reef while ships swarm Julian Felipe Reef

https://www.philstar.com/headlines/2021/03/25/2086919/satellite-photos-show-chinas-construction-subi-reef-while-ships-swarm-julian-felipe-reef

119 Philippines, Vietnam press China over vessels massing in South China Sea

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-philippines-china-southchinasea/philippines-vietnam-

press-china-over-vessels-massing-in-south-china-sea-idUSKBN2BH13R

120 Manila 'will protect' its territory in new South China Sea row

https://asia.nikkei.com/Politics/International-relations/South-China-Sea/Manila-will-protect-its-territory-in-new-South-China-Sea-row

121 PH should leverage defense pact with US amid China intrusion in West PH Sea – analyst

https://news.abs-cbn.com/news/03/25/21/ph-should-leverage-defense-pact-with-us-amid-china-intrusion-in-west-ph-sea-analyst

122

Ocean conservation group urges gov't to protect maritime resources in Julian Felipe Reef

https://news.abs-cbn.com/news/03/25/21/ocean-conservation-group-urges-govt-to-protect-maritime-resources-in-julian-felipe-reef

123

Philippines sends navy on ‘sovereignty patrols’ as row with China grows

https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/3126997/philippines-sends-navy-sovereignty-patrols-south-china-sea-amid

124 EU, Canada voice their concerns on China’s ‘unilateral actions’ in the West PH Sea

https://mb.com.ph/2021/03/25/eu-canada-voice-their-concerns-on-chinas-unilateral-actions-in-the-west-ph-sea/

125 Canada slams China's actions in SCS, Julian Felipe Reef

https://www.pna.gov.ph/articles/1134873

126 New Zealand, EU join calls for rules-based order in SCS

https://www.pna.gov.ph/articles/1134931

127

Japan complains over U.S. military's use of term 'East Sea'

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-northkorea-missiles-japan-usa/japan-complains-over-u-s-militarys-use-of-term-east-sea-idUSKBN2BH1F2

128 Japan Commissions 12th Soryu-Class Diesel-Electric Attack Submarine

https://www.asiapacificdefensejournal.com/2021/03/japan-commissions-12th-soryu-class.html

129 Taipei wants talks, but must watch China threat: Wu

https://www.taipeitimes.com/News/front/archives/2021/03/25/2003754455

130 Taiwan, US join forces to counteract China’s Coast Guard Law

https://www.taiwannews.com.tw/en/news/4160378

131 U.S. and Taiwan Team Up Amid Looming China Coast Guard Threat

https://www.newsweek.com/us-taiwan-team-amid-looming-china-coast-guard-threat-1578741

132

Taiwan says has begun mass production of long-range missile

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-taiwan-defence/taiwan-says-has-begun-mass-production-of-long-range-missile-idUSKBN2BH0IT

133 Taiwan boosts its defences as long-range missile goes into mass production

https://www.scmp.com/news/china/military/article/3126925/taiwan-boosts-its-defences-long-range-missile-goes-mass

134 Taiwan’s indigenous ground-based missile has far-strike capabilities

https://www.taiwannews.com.tw/en/news/4160098

135 China Has as Much More Sinister Plan for the South China Sea

https://nationalinterest.org/blog/buzz/china-has-much-more-sinister-plan-south-china-sea-181121

136 No geopolitical purpose, political strings behind PLA's COVID-19 vaccine aid: spokesperson

http://www.xinhuanet.com/english/2021-03/25/c_139835547.htm

137 China rejects U.S. allegations of militarizing South China Sea

http://www.xinhuanet.com/english/2021-03/25/c_139835753.htm

138

China nuclear reprocessing to create stockpiles of weapons-level materials: experts

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-china-nuclear-plutonium/china-nuclear-reprocessing-to-create-stockpiles-of-weapons-level-materials-experts-idUSKBN2BH31P

139 Chinese hackers ‘used fake Facebook accounts in attempt to trick Uygur minority’

https://www.scmp.com/news/china/article/3126848/chinese-hackers-used-fake-facebook-accounts-attempt-trick-uygur-minority

140 How Can America Fend off China's Navy in a War?

https://nationalinterest.org/blog/reboot/how-can-america-fend-chinas-navy-war-180950

141 China's Aircraft Carriers Are Multiplying https://nationalinterest.org/blog/reboot/chinas-

aircraft-carriers-are-multiplying-when-will-beijing-be-satisfied-181075

142 As North Korea plots revenge over extradited ‘spy’, assassinations may be next

https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/3126937/north-korea-plots-revenge-over-spy-extradited-us-malaysia)

143 Reaction to North Korea's ballistic missile launch

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-northkorea-missiles-quotebox/reaction-to-north-koreas-ballistic-missile-launch-idUSKBN2BH068

144

North Korea missile launch tests Biden, alarms Japan ahead of Olympics

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-north-korea-missile/north-korea-missile-launch-tests-biden-alarms-japan-ahead-of-olympics-idUSKBN2BG3CO

145

Timeline: North Korea's tests and summits over recent years

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-northkorea-missiles-timeline/timeline-north-koreas-tests-and-summits-over-recent-years-idUSKBN2BH0DJ

146

U.N. sanctions committee to meet at U.S. request over North Korea missiles

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-northkorea-missiles-usa-un/u-n-sanctions-committee-to-meet-at-u-s-request-over-north-korea-missiles-idUSKBN2BH35H

147 Report on U.S.-China Competition in East, South China Sea

https://news.usni.org/2021/03/25/report-on-u-s-china-competition-in-east-south-china-sea-7

148

U.S.-China Strategic Competition in South and East China Seas: Background and Issues for Congress

https://assets.documentcloud.org/documents/20522334/us-china-strategic-competition-in-south-and-east-china-seas-background-and-issues-for-congress-march-18-2021.pdf

149

US Defense Innovation Leader Stresses Importance of U.S., China Technology Race

http://www.defense.gov/Explore/News/Article/Article/2549916/defense-innovation-leader-stresses-importance-of-us-china-technology-race/

150

U.S. wages psychologicial war on Moscow - Russian defense adviser

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-russia-usa-minds/u-s-wages-psychologicial-war-on-moscow-russian-defense-adviser-idUSKBN2BH1TD

151 Biden wants to keep a Trump policy that boosted sales of armed drones to countries with shady records

https://www.businessinsider.com/biden-wants-to-keep-trump-policy-boosting-armed-drone-sales-2021-3

152 Biden Expects China 'Competition,' Its Military Says It's 'Not Afraid'

https://www.newsweek.com/biden-expects-china-competition-its-military-says-not-afraid-any-challenge-1578866

153 The Taiwan Emergency, Explained by a Top Commander

https://www.nationalreview.com/corner/the-taiwan-emergency-explained-by-a-top-commander/

154 China’s Damaging Influence and Exploitation of U.S. Colleges and Universities

https://www.heritage.org/asia/commentary/chinas-damaging-influence-and-exploitation-us-colleges-and-universities

155 What should become of the Zumwalt class? The US Navy has some big ideas

https://www.defensenews.com/naval/2021/03/25/what-should-become-of-the-zumwalt-class-the-us-navy-has-some-big-ideas/

156

New US Navy Command To Oversee Unmanned Ships As They Work With Fleet

https://breakingdefense.com/2021/03/navys-unmanned-ships-plans-teaming-with-zumwalt-in-major-new-test/?_ga=2.47013991.1944939912.1616717697-1889943733.1611096689

157 US Marines deploy with new JLTV following month-long training exercise

https://www.upi.com/Defense-News/2021/03/25/Navy-Marines-JLTV-deployment/3981616701694/

158

US Special Operations team in Pacific will confront Chinese information campaigns

https://www.c4isrnet.com/information-warfare/2021/03/25/special-operations-team-in-pacific-will-confront-chinese-information-campaigns/

159 Russia Plans New Hypersonic Missile Test Amid Arms Race With U.S., China

https://www.newsweek.com/russia-plans-new-hypersonic-missile-test-amid-arms-race-us-china-1578678

160 The Russian Navy Is Becoming A Mach 9 Hypersonic Killer

https://www.19fortyfive.com/2021/03/the-russian-navy-is-becoming-a-mach-9-hypersonic-killer/

161 The Future of Sino-U.S. Proxy War https://tnsr.org/2021/03/the-future-of-sino-u-s-

proxy-war/

162

The Last Azerbaijan-Armenia War Changed How Small Nations Fight Modern Battles

https://www.forbes.com/sites/pauliddon/2021/03/25/the-last-azerbaijan-armenia-war-redefined-how-small-nations-fight-modern-battles/?ss=aerospace-defense

163 Warming drives 'fundamental' changes to ocean, scientists warn

https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2021/03/25/world/science-health-world/warming-oceans-climate-change/

164 What Is a Water War? https://thediplomat.com/2021/03/what-is-a-

water-war/

165 Sheltering from storm’: China’s worn-out excuse for poaching

https://www.philstar.com/opinion/2021/03/26/2087020/sheltering-storm-chinas-worn-out-excuse-poaching

166 Mischief in the making https://www.philstar.com/opinion/2021/03/26/2

087022/editorial-mischief-making

167 Prioritizing Jointness in the Next US National Security Strategy

https://www.realcleardefense.com/articles/2021/03/25/prioritizing_jointness_in_the_next_national_security_strategy_769759.html

168 Hybrid: An Adjective Describing the Current War

https://smallwarsjournal.com/jrnl/art/hybrid-adjective-describing-current-war

169

Gray is Here to Stay: Principles from the Interim National Security Strategic Guidance on Competing in the Gray Zone

https://mwi.usma.edu/gray-is-here-to-stay-principles-from-the-interim-national-security-strategic-guidance-on-competing-in-the-gray-zone/

COVID NEWS

170

Philippines reports record high 8,773 new coronavirus infections

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-health-coronavirus-philippines-cases/philippines-reports-record-high-8773-new-coronavirus-infections-idUSKBN2BH0W4

171 Philippine mayors accused of jumping Covid-19 vaccine queue

https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/southeast-asia/article/3126976/coronavirus-philippine-mayors-accused-vaccine-queue

172 UPLB ‘virus hunters’ are hunting for bats to prevent next pandemic

https://mb.com.ph/2021/03/25/uplb-virus-hunters-are-hunting-for-bats-to-prevent-next-pandemic/

173 AstraZeneca says vaccine 76% effective in updated US trial data

https://www.bangkokpost.com/world/2089463/astrazeneca-says-vaccine-76-effective-in-updated-us-trial-data

174

Countries resume use of AstraZeneca vaccine, while some lose confidence

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-health-coronavirus-astrazeneca-vaccin/factbox-countries-resume-use-of-astrazeneca-vaccine-while-some-lose-confidence-idUSKBN2BH17T

175

What you need to know about the coronavirus right now

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-health-coronavirus-snapshot/what-you-need-to-know-about-the-coronavirus-right-now-idUSKBN2BG0HM

176 Mapping the Coronavirus Outbreak Across the World

https://www.bloomberg.com/graphics/2020-coronavirus-cases-world-map/?srnd=coronavirus

J. OPINION/EDITORIAL/COMMENTARY

Title Link

177 Friend,’ indeed https://opinion.inquirer.net/138830/friend-indeed

178 SE Asian democratic reversals favor China

https://opinion.inquirer.net/138820/se-asian-democratic-reversals-favor-china

179 North Korea provokes in predictable ways

https://www.japantimes.co.jp/opinion/2021/03/25/editorials/north-korea-u-s-nuclear-weapons-missiles-kim-jong-un-joe-biden/

180 We must start planning for a permanent pandemic

https://www.japantimes.co.jp/opinion/2021/03/25/commentary/world-commentary/permanent-covid-19-vaccines/

Palace mulls ‘expanded’ cash aid in NCR bubble

Published 19 hours ago on March 25, 2021 04:07 PM By TDT @tribunephl

Malacanang on Thursday backed proposals to provide financial aid to poor Filipinos following the reimposition of stricter quarantine rules in Metro Manila and four nearby provinces due to the continuing rise in coronavirus disease infections.

Presidential spokesperson Secretary Harry Roque said the Palace supports Sen. Christopher Lawrence “Bong” Go’s call to expand the social amelioration program, but he noted that the government must first distribute the financial aid allocated under the Bayanihan to Recover as One Act and the 2021 national budget.

“We agree with Senator Bong Go, but we have to utilize all the available funds first to help our fellow countrymen, especially now that there are new challenges amid the Covid-19 pandemic,” he said in a televised briefing.

Roque said the government will only push for the passage of the proposed Bayanihan to Arise As One Act or the Bayanihan 3, if it has no sufficient funds to aid poor Filipinos amid the pandemic.

“If the funds under Bayanihan 2 and 2021 budget are not enough, we can talk about Bayanihan 3. But let’s utilize first all the funds under Bayanihan 2 and 2021 budget,” he said.

The Bayanihan Law mandates the granting of emergency subsidies from P5,000 to P8,000 to each poor Filipino family residing in areas under lockdown.

As of Wednesday, the government has already released a total of P98,786,563,950 for over 17 million low-income households affected by the Covid-19 pandemic, according to the SAP Monitoring Dashboard on the official website of the Department of Social Welfare and Development.

Roque also noted that the Department of Health has received around P287.47 billion under the 2021 national budget to ensure the implementation of the government’s Covid-19 response programs.

Go has recently urged President Rodrigo Duterte to grant additional financial aid to the poor through an expanded SAP, following the two-week stricter restrictions in Metro Manila, Bulacan, Cavite, Laguna, and Rizal, which form the “NCR Plus” bubble.

Fitness centers, spas, and internet cafes in Metro Manila would be temporarily closed in the next two weeks after all mayors of the capital region have voted to stop their operations in an effort to control the spread of Covid-19.

Driving schools, traditional cinemas, arcades, libraries, archives, museums, and cultural centers are also prohibited in the “NCR bubble.”

The government placed the Greater Manila Area under a bubble setup to limit people’s mobility following a surge in coronavirus infections.

The Palace clarified that the bubble setup is different from a lockdown, because most businesses in these areas remain operational.

Authorities have rejected closing all establishments, especially in Metro Manila which accounts for at least 30 percent of the country’s GDP, to resuscitate the pandemic-battered economy.

https://tribune.net.ph/index.php/2021/03/25/palace-mulls-expanded-cash-aid-in-ncr-bubble/

Despite new inflation risks, BSP keeps rates

ByBIANCA CUARESMA

MARCH 26, 2021

A woman browses the prices of goods at a local grocery in this Bloomberg file photo.

THE Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) Monetary Board opted to keep all monetary policy levers unmoved in its second meeting for 2021, shrugging off its own projection of an inflation target breach for this year.

In its post-monetary policy setting briefing on Thursday, BSP Governor Benjamin Diokno announced that they have decided to maintain the interest rate on the BSP’s overnight reverse repurchase facility at 2.0 percent. The interest rates on the overnight deposit and lending facilities were likewise kept at 1.5 percent and 2.5 percent, respectively.

The decision was made despite their newest inflation forecast, which was adjusted to 4.2 percent for this year, up from the 4-percent projection in the previous meeting. This means that the BSP is preparing for inflation to breach the government’s target of 2 to 4 percent for this year. BSP officials said they are able to keep the monetary policy accommodative for the time being as inflation drivers are largely supply side in nature and transitory. This means that monetary policy is not the most appropriate tool to lower this kind of price swelling.

The country’s central monetary authority has been aggressively accommodative in 2020. In total, the BSP has lowered the country’s benchmark interest rates to its all-time low of 2 percent by cutting 200 basis points in a span of less than a year.

This accommodative stance, however, is being threatened by rising prices, a problem which is usually resolved by tightening or hiking interest rates.

The BSP said earlier that, at the moment, current monetary policy rates remain appropriate and that inflation risks remain temporary and transitory.

“It is in the nature of supply disturbances that it is temporary and transitory. What we have to guard against is the possibility of that being translated to second round increases in prices. As of this moment there is really no evidence of any spillovers to other commodities apart from those that are subject to the supply shocks,” BSP Deputy Governor Francisco Dakila said. For next year, the BSP also revised its inflation forecast slightly upward but still within target from 2.7 percent in the previous meeting now to 2.8 percent.

Diokno, meanwhile, reiterated that they stand ready to respond to rising inflationary pressures should the need for monetary policy intervention is needed, even if it means unwinding their aggressive easing in 2020.

“The BSP will remain watchful for any signs of inflation becoming broader based. The BSP is prepared to take immediate measures as appropriate to ensure that the monetary policy stance continues to support the BSP’s price and financial stability objectives,” Diokno said in his statement. ING Bank Manila economist Nicholas Mapa said the BSP is likely to keep its monetary policy settings low for as long as they can to support the ailing local economy.

“We expect BSP to keep policy rates unchanged in the near term, with BSP willing to look past the supply side-induced price spike for now to maintain support for the economic recovery,” Mapa said. “BSP may only consider a possible rate hike should inflation remain stubbornly high, which could disanchor inflation expectations and spark second round effects such as wage and transport fare adjustments,” he added. Rizal Commercial Banking Corporation (RCBC) economist Michael Ricafort also agreed with the BSP’s move to help pull the economy out of recession.

“The economy still needs all the support measures that it could get. Monetary easing, at least by keeping policy rate steady at the record low of 2 percent, would still be needed to support economic recovery prospects from Covid-19,” Ricafort said. However, the economist warned that the BSP will have to tread “a delicate balancing act” between inflation and the economy down the line, especially if spillovers to price increases start to show.

https://businessmirror.com.ph/2021/03/26/despite-new-inflation-risks-bsp-keeps-rates/

PHL exporters chafe as pandemic delays product shipments

ByTYRONE JASPER C. PIAD

MARCH 26, 2021

EXPORTERS are still left with no choice but to bear the brunt of delayed shipments—which are seen to cut industry revenues—as the global pandemic forced business activities to slow down.

Philippine Exporters Confederation Inc. (Philexport) Assistant Vice President Flordeliza C. Leong told the BusinessMirror that constraints in shipping began when production picked up in the last quarter of 2020. While there is no conclusive report yet, she said that delays usually range from two weeks to one month.

She explained that the delays are caused by piling up of goods in the shipping lines and the traffic going to the ports. In addition, she noted that ports have no regular operations at the moment and employees are working shortened hours amid the pandemic, among others.

Leong said she has talked to traders and logistics service providers to find solutions to the shipping delays. However, it appears that she has no luck yet.

“There is nothing to do but to wait [if there is a shipping container already],” she lamented. However, the Philexport official said it may help if exporters consolidate their orders and book early shipments.

The delays in shipments could also explain the lower export revenues because the earnings will not be reflected immediately, she said.

According to the Philippine Statistics Authority, exports in January dipped by 5.2 percent to $5.49 billion from $5.79 billion for the same month last year.

Apart from this, Leong cited issues with higher storage costs if products stay longer undelivered.

A silver lining in the situation is that customers are understanding of the shipping delays, she said.

“The good thing about this is it is a global thing. Alam din ng mga buyer nila na this is happening [The buyers are aware of the situation],” Leong said, noting that some exporters are negotiating with their buyers to have a longer turnaround period.

If the buyers agree, there will be no order cancellations but delays instead, she said. In general, Leong said that exporters have accepted that they have to adjust their production timeline.

However, there are still concerns for perishable items, Leong said, adding that air shipment is usually the solution to make sure the products arrive fresh. This may not be applicable to some nonperishable items as fees could be higher if ever, she added.

So far, Leong said she has not encountered an exporter who decided to cut production because of the shipment delays.

A garment exporter, Leong shared, is even seeing continuous flow of orders from the US. “They have to decline orders only because of order capacity, not because of the shipping problem,” she added.

https://businessmirror.com.ph/2021/03/26/phl-exporters-chafe-as-pandemic-delays-product-

shipments/

Phivolcs chief warns public vs going near Taal Volcano Island

Published March 25, 2021, 10:52 AM

by Jhon Aldrin Casinas

The Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (Phivolcs) has warned the public against visiting Taal Volcano and its surrounding areas amid the volcano’s continued unrest.

(Ali Vicoy / FILE PHOTO / MANILA BULLETIN)

Phivolcs Director Dr. Renato Solidum Jr. urged people not to go near the volcano, and refrain from boating around the Taal Lake.

In an interview over TeleRadyo on Thursday, March 25, Solidum said seismic activity in the vicinity of Taal Volcano has been increasing recently, with a total of 268 earthquakes recorded in the past 24 hours.

In its latest bulletin, Phivolcs has maintained Alert Level 2 or “Increased Unrest” in the volcano, but it noted that the “unrest has been elevating and is under constant evaluation.”

Under such alert level, phreatic explosions, volcanic earthquakes, minor ashfall, and lethal accumulations or expulsions of volcanic gas can occur and threaten areas within and around the volcano island.

“Kung sakaling magkaroon ng mga steam-driven explosion, dahil wala ng mga tao (sa isla) ay mas ligtas sa kasalukuyan. Importante lang na walang lumabag (In case there should be a steam-driven explosion, because no one is there on the island, it is safe at present. It’s just important that no one violates),” Solidum said.

“At sa paligid ng Taal Volcano Island, sinabi rin natin kahapon nung nag issue tayo ng advisory, na dapat walang nag bo-boating o di kaya naninirahan sa tubig (And around Taal Volcano Island, we also said yesterday when we issued the advisory, that no one should go boating or living on the water,” he added.

The Phivolcs chief said the agency has monitored a movement of the magma inside the volcano, but he noted that the movement is not continuous.

“Kailangan din nating bantayan kung ang magma na umuusad ay lalabas ba talaga diyan sa bulkan (We also need to monitor if the magma that is moving will actually come out of the volcano),” he said.

“At kung sakaling lalabas, titingnan natin kung ito ba ay magiging explosive o di kaya ay dahan-dahan o magkakaroon lang ng lava (And if it does come out, we will determine if it’s going to be explosive or it will come out slowly or will just produce lava),” he added.

https://mb.com.ph/2021/03/25/phivolcs-chief-warns-public-vs-going-near-taal-volcano-island/

Pinoys urged to join Earth Hour to

ease effects of climate change

March 25, 2021, 8:22 pm

MANILA – Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) Secretary Roy A. Cimatu is once again calling on all Filipinos to participate in the global Earth Hour movement on March 27 in support of the agency's efforts to mitigate the increasing effects of climate change.

The worldwide event will be observed in the Philippines from 8:30 p.m. to 9:30 p.m.

"I enjoin all households and businesses across the country to jointly switch off their lights and other energy-consuming devices for an hour, and to encourage action towards the environment even after the lights are turned back on," Cimatu said in a news release on Thursday.

Computers, television sets, air conditioning units and non-essential lights may be switched off to express a shared concern for the environment.

"Now more than ever, environmental responsibility is critical and must be sustained. Let us do our share and switch off for an hour in support of a healthy future for humankind and the environment," Cimatu said.

However, he emphasized that beyond this symbolic action, Filipinos should reduce electrical consumption to lessen carbon footprint and emissions generated by carbon dioxide and fossil fuel, which are major causes of climate change.

He also proposed shifting to renewable sources of energy such as solar technology and use of light-emitting diode (LED) light bulbs, which draw less power compared to incandescent and fluorescent lights.

Supporting worthy causes like the Earth Hour movement has become more significant than ever, Cimatu said as he noted the importance of nature conservation in combatting climate change, biodiversity loss, and even health risks.

"As the Covid-19 pandemic continues to rage, let us recognize the inevitable truth that the state of our planet and our health and well-being are inherently related. We should persist against harmful human activities and shift towards environment-friendly lifestyle choices," he added.

He said while the DENR addresses deforestation, plastic pollution, and illegal wildlife trade through its policies and programs, Filipinos are also encouraged to do their share.

"Educate yourselves, spread awareness, support government campaigns, and rethink ways how to eat, buy and travel. Let us take climate actions especially now that we are in the midst of a health crisis. When we protect our climate, we protect our health," Cimatu said.

Earth Hour is an annual global environmental movement organized by the World Wildlife Fund to encourage individuals and organizations in taking tangible actions and commitments for the planet by jointly turning off non-essential lights for an hour.

The movement started in 2007 in Sydney, Australia, and eventually spread to over 7,000 cities and 180 countries and territories. (PR)

https://www.pna.gov.ph/articles/1134934

Solon to Navy: Hasten procurement of warships

ByJOVEE MARIE DE LA CRUZ

MARCH 26, 2021 Amid China’s repeated incursions in the West Philippine Sea (WPS), the chairman of the House Committee on Strategic Intelligence on Thursday urged the Department of National Defense (DND) to advance by three years the acquisition of 16 new warships.

Surigao del Sur Rep. Johnny Pimentel issued the statement in light of the reported presence 220 Chinese vessels, believed to be Chinese maritime militia, swarming west of Palawan.

The Philippines has already filed a diplomatic protest against Beijing over the Chinese maritime militia’s swarming in Julian Felipe Reef.

Pimentel said the 16 warships lined up for procurement are on top of the two South Korean-built multi-role guided missile frigates—BRP

Jose Rizal and BRP Antonio Luna—recently put into active service by the Navy. “Instead of getting these 16 new combat ships in phases between now and 2028, the Navy should get them all by 2025,” Pimentel said. “The biggest threat to our sovereign rights as a nation is clearly in our strategic waters, so we have to give top priority to rebuilding our naval fleet,” Pimentel added. The lawmaker also urged Camp Aguinaldo to fine tune the military’s modernization program and give preference to funding the Philippine Navy’s plan to get hold of another four frigates and 12 corvettes.

“In the annual national budgets from 2022 to 2025, Congress should also provide the additional appropriations needed for the Navy’s expedited acquisition of the new warships,” Pimentel said. The Navy is getting the money for new warships from the annual budget for the revised Armed Forces of the Philippines Modernization Program, which has an allocation of P27 billion this year.

The Navy also plans to buy 18 offshore patrol vessels, 40 fast-attack interdiction craft and 42 smaller multipurpose attack craft.

“Coupled with strong diplomacy, we need highly visible warships to demonstrate our readiness to protect and enforce our rights over our 200-nautical mile exclusive economic zone,” Pimentel added.

https://businessmirror.com.ph/2021/03/26/solon-to-navy-hasten-procurement-of-warships/

Show of force: Sobejana orders deployment of more Navy ships in West Ph Sea

Published March 25, 2021, 12:07 PM

by Aaron Recuenco

Gen. Cirilito Sobejana, Jr., chief of staff of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP), has ordered the deployment of Navy ships in the West Philippine Sea as China cont inues to defy the Philippine government’s demand to leave the Julian Felipe Reef.

AFP spokesman Maj. Gen. Edgard Arevalo said the move is to beef up the conduct of maritime sovereignty patrols in the West Philippine Sea (South China Sea) amid the continuous presence of scores of Chinese militia in the Julian Felipe Reef which the government declared to be well-within the country’s Exclusive Economic Zone.

“By the increased naval presence in the area, we seek to reassure our people of the AFP’s strong and unwavering commitment to protect and defend them from harassment and ensure that they can enjoy their rights over the country’s rich fishing ground which is the source of their livelihood,” said Arevalo in a statement issued on Thursday, March 25.

The order for the deployment of more Navy warships appears to be the first time that the military took a strong action against China over the West Philippine Sea since the standoff between the Philippine Navy and Chinese Coast Guard at the Scarborough Shoal in 2012.

The military order for additional Navy ships, however, is yet to be seen.

On March 7, the Philippine Coast Guard reported the swarming of more than 200 Chinese vessels believed to be manned by China’s militia forces in the disputed West Philippine Sea, specifically at the Julian Felipe Reef. The military ordered the deployment of ships and aircrafts to confirm the report and as soon as it was confirmed, the Philippine government filed a diplomatic protest.

But China, in a statement, said the Julian Felipe Reef, which it called Niu’e Jiao, insisted that it is part of the Nansha administrative district in the South China Sea.

“In the vastness of our maritime domain, the military’s Western Command is the government’s ‘eyes and ears’ by providing vital informat ion on what is happening in that part of our country,” said Arevalo in explaining the order of deployment.

“The importance of the data obtained from our littoral monitoring stations, from our Marines manning the islands, islets, and features they occupy, and those from regular aerial and maritime sovereignty that are contained in our reports to the NTF-WPS cannot be over emphasized,” he added.

Arevalo said that aside from deployment of Navy ships, the military is also pursuing a non-traditional means to manage the issues arising in the WPS through a meeting with their Chinese counterparts.

During the meeting, Arevalo said China’s People’s Liberation Army representatives reiterated their government’s assurance that those ships were not manned by militia and that those were constrained to seek shelter in the area when inclement weather hampered their fishing activity.

https://mb.com.ph/2021/03/25/show-of-force-sobejana-orders-deployment-of-more-navy-ships-in-

west-ph-sea/

AFP to deploy more Navy ships for

WPS patrols

By Priam Nepomuceno March 25, 2021, 1:34 pm

MANILA – Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) chief-of-staff, Gen. Cirilito Sobejana, has ordered the deployment of additional Philippine Navy ships to bolster the conduct of maritime sovereignty patrols in the West Philippine Sea (WPS).

In a statement Thursday, AFP spokesperson, Marine Maj. Gen. Edgard Arevalo, said this additional naval presence in the area aims to reassure the Filipino people that the military remains committed to protecting and defending them from harassment.

"By the increased naval presence in the area, we seek to reassure our people of the AFP’s strong and unwavering commitment to protect and defend them from harassment and ensure that they can enjoy their rights over the country’s rich fishing ground which is the source of their livelihood," he said.

Due to the vastness of the country's maritime domains, Arevalo said the AFP's Western Command is the government’s “eyes and ears” by providing vital information on what is happening in that part of the Philippines.

"The importance of the data obtained from our littoral monitoring stations, from our Marines manning the islands, islets, and features they occupy, and those from regular aerial and maritime sovereignty that are contained in our reports to the NTF WPS (National Task Force for the West Philippine Sea) cannot be overemphasized," he added.

Aside from these measures, the AFP likewise resorts to non-traditional means to manage the issues arising in the WPS.

"AFP representatives engaged on March 24, 2021 their Chinese counterpart in a meeting to discuss the situation obtaining in the WPS as reported. We conveyed the Defense Secretary’s (Delfin Lorenzana) demand for the vessels to leave Julian Felipe Reef where 183 vessels were sighted per AFP’s recent aerial patrol," Arevalo said.

In the meeting, China’s People’s Liberation Army (PLA) representatives reiterated their government’s assurance that those ships were not manned by militia and that those were constrained to seek shelter in the area when inclement weather hampered their fishing activity.

"He also committed to making himself available to discuss and explain any future issues involving the PLA," Arevalo said.

Earlier, the NTF WPS expressed concern about a Philippine Coast Guard report that around 220 Chinese fishing vessels, believed to be manned by Chinese maritime militia personnel, were sighted in line formation at the Julian Felipe Reef on March 7.

“The NTF WPS notes this circumstance as a concern due to the possible overfishing and destruction of the marine environment, as well as risks to the safety of navigation,” the NTF WPS said.

The reef is a large boomerang-shaped shallow coral reef at the northeast of Pagkakaisa Banks and Reefs (Union Reefs), located approximately 175 nautical miles west of Bataraza, Palawan. (PNA)

https://www.pna.gov.ph/articles/1134832

PH sends more Navy ships to West PH Sea, but not in reef where

Chinese militia ships seen ABS-CBN News

Posted at Mar 25 2021 02:00 PM

The Philippines inaugurates a beaching ramp on Pag-asa Island in the West Philippine Sea, June 9, 2021.

Chiara Zambrano, ABS-CBN News

MANILA— The Philippine military on Thursday said its chief Gen. Cirilito Sobejana has ordered the deployment of more Navy ships to the West Philippine Sea to beef up the country's maritime sovereignty patrols in the area, but not in the reef where Chinese militia ships were seen to avoid confrontation.

The deployment of more Navy ships came as China's maritime militia fleet remained at the Julian Felipe Reef (Whitsun Reef), despite mounting calls from the international community to have it recalled.

The reef is also within the Philippine EEZ and continental shelf, over which the country owns exclusive right to use resources, including fish, oil and natural gas.

https://news.abs-cbn.com/news/03/25/21/ph-sends-more-navy-ships-to-west-ph-sea-but-not-in-reef-

where-chinese-militia-ships-seen

Verbal row over reef militia sizzles; Duterte, Huang meet

BySAMUEL MEDENILLA andRECTO MERCENE

MARCH 26, 2021

This 2019 file photo shows a protester holding a sign during a rally outside the Chinese Consulate in the

financial district of Makati to mark Independence Day. (AP Photo / Aaron Favila)

THE presence of a fleet of Chinese ships in the Julian Felipe Reef were among the issues discussed by President Duterte during his recent meeting with Chinese Ambassador Huang Xilian, Malacanang said on Thursday, as harsh exchanges on the subject, from various parties, continued to rule social media.

In an online press briefing, Presidential spokesman Harry Roque confirmed the discussion happened last week around the time he tested positive for Covid-19.

During the meeting, he said the President expressed concern over the incident in Julian Felipe Reef.

“The President said…that we, like any other country, are concerned with such large number of ships. The Chinese ambassador said [the crew of the said ships] are fishermen, who sought shelter [in the reef],” Roque said.

The claim that Chinese fishermen sought refuge in the reef from turbulent waters in the West Philippine Sea (WPS) was earlier floated by the Chinese embassy, but critics pounced on this, citing Beijing’s record of decades-long misrepresentations about their activities n disputed waters, now deemed a flashpoint in the region.

In the course of their discussion, Roque said, Duterte reiterated the position he made during his speech before the United Nations in September, that he will protect the country’s territories in the WPS, including the Julian Felipe Reef.

Last Sunday, the National Task Force for the West Philippine Sea (NTF-WPS) reported the entry of 200 ships in the Julian Felipe Reef (Whitsun Reef) on March 7, 2021.

The Julian Felipe Reef is a boomerang-shaped shallow coral reef, which is part of the country’s Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) and Continental Shelf (CS) since it is located approximately 175 nautical miles west of Bataraza, Palawan.

Roque clarified the meeting between Duterte and Xilian was scheduled long before the controversy over the reef presence of the ships, which experts said look more like militia ships than those of fishermen.

“It was a social call because it is the birthday of the President,” Roque said.

The President will celebrate his 76th birthday on Sunday.

For the special occasion, Roque said, Duterte wishes for an end of the pandemic and a restoration of a sense of normalcy in the country.

On Thursday, the Chinese Embassy issued a sharp rebuke on Twitter in the wake of the increasing exchanges of notes in social media, saying: “If the so-called ‘facts’ are false from the beginning, you couldn’t be more wrong to repeat the mistakes. Understand and respect the fact before you make any comment.”

https://businessmirror.com.ph/2021/03/26/verbal-row-over-reef-militia-sizzles-duterte-huang-meet/

Duterte to China envoy: Arbitral ruling stands in PH favor posted March 26, 2021 at 01:30 am by Vito Barcelo and Rey E. Requejo

President Rodrigo Duterte has asserted the international court’s 2016 arbitral ruling favoring the Philippines against China’s massive claims in the disputed West Philippine Sea (WPS) during his meeting with Chinese ambassador Huang Xilian, Malacañang said Thursday.

The presidential assertion came as Armed Forces of the Philippines chief-of-staff, Gen. Cirilito

Sobejana, ordered the deployment of additional Philippine Navy ships to bolster the conduct of

maritime sovereignty patrols in the West Philippine Sea.

The National Task Force on the WPS earlier raised the alarm about a Philippine Coast Guard

report that around 220 Chinese fishing vessels, believed to be manned by Chinese maritime

militia personnel, were sighted in line formation at the Julian Felipe Reef on March 7.

Presidential spokesperson Harry Roque said Duterte raised the issue when the Chinese envoy

visited the President to greet him for his birthday. Duterte is turning 76 on March 28.

“The President is not surrendering our sovereignty by not aggressively pursuing the arbitral

ruling in our favor rendered by the Permanent Court of Arbitration,” he said.

“Before the presence of the ships, the Ambassador already made an appointment to greet the President for his upcoming birthday. So it was a personal visit between two very close friends,” Roque added.

Meanwhile, Canada joined other nations in calling out China for its recent incursions in the West

Philippine Sea, saying the actions of the world’s second largest economy “undermine regional stability.”

“Canada opposes recent Chinese actions in the South China Sea, including off the coast of the

Philippines, that escalate tensions and undermine regional stability and the rules-based

international order,” Canadian Ambassador to the Philippines Peter MacArthur said in a tweet.

China, on the other hand, lashed back at its critics for coming out with “irresponsible comments” and “using the same scripts.”

“Neither these diplomats understand the basic facts, nor do they have the ability to think and judge independently,” the Chinese Embassy in Manila said on Twitter.

“If the so-called ‘facts’ are false from the beginning, you couldn’t be more wrong to repeat the mistakes. Understand and respect the facts before you make any comments,” the Chinese embassy added.

Earlier this week, the United States, Japan, Australia and the United Kingdom also criticized

China’s recent action which retired Supreme Court Senior Associate Justice Antonio Carpio warned might be a prelude to occupation and building of a naval base as it did to Mischief Reef

in 1995.

“The [People’s Republic of China] uses maritime militia to intimidate, provoke, and threaten

other nations, which undermines peace and security in the region… We share the concerns of our Philippine allies,” the US Embassy had said in a statement.

“We stand with the Philippines, our oldest treaty ally in Asia,” it added.

“The South China Sea issues are directly related to peace and stability and a concern for all,” said Japanese Ambassador Kazuhiko Koshikawa, that is why his country “strongly opposes any

action that heightens tensions.”

Manila demanded China’s immediate withdrawal from the reef, which is being claimed by Beijing as part of its territory.

From 220 on March 7, about 183 Chinese vessels have remained in the area.

China said the vessels were merely seeking shelter from bad weather – a claim dismissed by

the US, saying they have been moored there “for several months in ever increasing numbers, regardless of weather.”

In a statement Thursday, AFP spokesperson Maj. Gen. Edgard Arevalo said the additional

naval presence in the area aimed to reassure the Filipino people that the military remained

committed to protecting and defending them from harassment.

“By the increased naval presence in the area, we seek to reassure our people of the AFP’s strong and unwavering commitment to protect and defend them from harassment and ensure

that they can enjoy their rights over the country’s rich fishing ground which is the source of their

livelihood,” he said.

Roque reiterated the President’s pronouncement before the UN that he would protect Philippine

territory, and “we believe that this can be solved through the UNCLOS and that we affirm our victory in the arbitral tribunal.”

Roque admitted that the President was really concerned because “which country would not be

concerned about that many ships?”

The Chinese official reportedly reiterated that the 220 ships spotted at the Julian Felipe Reef in

the West Philippine Sea were only fishing vessels merely “seeking refuge” from the bad sea conditions.

The Palace official maintained there was really no controversy because they were not insisting

to stay there and would leave the area – but he did not say when.

Due to the vastness of the country’s maritime domains, Arevalo said the AFP’s Western Command was the government’s “eyes and ears” by providing vital information on what is happening in that part of the Philippines.

“The importance of the data obtained from our littoral monitoring stations, from our Marines

manning the islands, islets, and features they occupy, and those from regular aerial and

maritime sovereignty that are contained in our reports to the NTF WPS (National Task Force for

the West Philippine Sea) cannot be overemphasized,” he added.

Aside from these measures, the AFP likewise resorts to non-traditional means to manage the

issues arising in the WPS.

“AFP representatives engaged on March 24, 2021 their Chinese counterpart in a meeting to discuss the situation obtaining in the WPS as reported. We conveyed the Defense Secretary’s (Delfin Lorenzana) demand for the vessels to leave Julian Felipe Reef where 183 vessels were

sighted per AFP’s recent aerial patrol,” Arevalo said.

In the meeting, China’s People’s Liberation Army representatives reiterated their government’s assurance that those ships were not manned by militia and that those were constrained to seek

shelter in the area when inclement weather hampered their fishing activity.

“He also committed to making himself available to discuss and explain any future issues

involving the PLA,” Arevalo said.

https://manilastandard.net/news/top-stories/350472/duterte-to-china-envoy-arbitral-ruling-stands-in-

ph-favor.html)

Huang allays PRRD’s worry over spotted Chinese

vessels in WPS

By Ruth Abbey Gita-Carlos March 25, 2021, 4:28 pm

SOCIAL CALL. President Rodrigo Roa Duterte reads a document while discussing matters with Ambassador of the People's Republic of China to the Philippines Huang Xilian who paid a courtesy call on the President at the Malacañan Palace on March 11, 2020. Malacañang on Thursday (March 25, 2021) said Huang has paid “social call” on Duterte and assured that the Philippines need not worry over the reported presence of Chinese vessels in Julian Filipino Reef which is within the country’s exclusive economic zone (Presidential file photo)

MANILA – Chinese Ambassador to the Philippines Huang Xilian has assured President Rodrigo Duterte that the Philippines need not worry over the reported presence of Chinese vessels in Julian Filipino Reef (Union Reefs), Malacañang said on Thursday.

Huang gave the assurance when he paid a “social call” on Duterte at Malacañan Palace in Manila, Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque said in an online press briefing.

“Nagkaintindihan naman po si Presidente (The President [and the Chinese ambassador] understood each other),” Roque said.

During his meeting with Huang, Duterte raised concern over the reported sighting of Chinese ships, Roque said.

Roque added that Duterte had made it clear that he would protect the Philippines’ sovereign rights in its maritime domain and uphold the country’s historic win over the contested West Philippine Sea (WPS).

“Naging malinaw ang Presidente na siya ay Presidente at puprotektahan ang teritoryo ng Pilipinas (The President has taken a firm stance that he is the President and he will protect the Philippine territory),” he said.

Huang, Roque said, echoed China’s stance that the spotted Chinese boats off the Julian Felipe Reef in the WPS were merely taking shelter due to rough sea conditions.

“Sinabi po ni Pangulo na concerned po talaga tayo dahil kahit sino namang bansa, mako-concern po dahil may mga barko. Ang sabi naman po ng Chinese ambassador,sila po ay mga mangingisda, na ayun nga po, nandoon sila dahil they were seeking shelter also (The President said we are really concerned because any country will be concerned if there are spotted boats [within their territory]. The Chinese ambassador said the vessels carry fishermen who were there because they were seeking shelter also),” Roque said.

Roque refused to disclose the date of the meeting between Duterte and Huang, but noted that it happened “during the time [the spokesperson] is in isolation.”

The Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) on Sunday lodged a note verbale to protest the “unauthorized and lingering” presence of Chinese ships in and around Julian Felipe Reef.

The Philippine Coast Guard initially reported that around 220 Chinese fishing vessels, believed to be manned by Chinese maritime militia personnel, were sighted moored in line formation at the Julian Felipe Reef as early as March 7.

The Armed Forces of the Philippines confirmed on March 22 that around 183 Chinese vessels were sighted by a Philippine maritime air patrol in Julian Felipe Reef.

Julian Felipe Reef is a large boomerang-shaped, shallow coral reef at the northeast of Pagkakaisa Banks and Reefs (Union Reefs) located approximately 175 nautical miles west of Bataraza, Palawan.

Roque believed that the incident should not be deemed controversial.

“Sa tingin ko po wala po talagang kontrobersiya dahil hindi naman nila pinaglalaban na mananatili sila doon (I think there is no controversy because they are not saying that they would stay there),” he said.

Roque is also confident that the issue would be resolved between the Philippines and China since the two nations are “friends.”

“Naniniwala po tayo sa panig ng pagkakaibigan ay mareresolba naman po ito (We believe that this will be resolved between friends),” he said. “Sabi ng Tsina, nandoon lang ang kanilang mga mangingisda dahil daw po they were seeking refuge from the bad weather. So sana po lumipas na ‘yung bad weather at in the spirit of friendship,inaasahan po natin na hindi mananatili doon ang mga barkong ‘yun (China said its fishermen are there because they were seeking refuge from the bad weather. So we hope for the end of the bad weather and in the spirit of friendship, we expect the vessels to leave the place).”

China, which claims almost all the entire South China Sea, has overlapping claims with the Philippines, Brunei, Malaysia, Taiwan, and Vietnam.

On July 12, 2016, the Permanent Court of Arbitration in The Hague, Netherlands ruled in favor of the Philippines’ petition against China’s supposedly historic rights over almost the entire disputed South China Sea.

China, however, has repeatedly refused to acknowledge the arbitral ruling. (PNA)

https://www.pna.gov.ph/articles/1134878

Palace sees no controversy in 200 Chinese vessels in Julian Felipe Reef

Published March 25, 2021, 3:03 PM

by Argyll Cyrus Geducos

Malacañang thought there really was no controversy in the latest Chinese incursion in the West Philippine Sea where more than 200 vessels were sighted swarming the Julian Felipe Reef.

Presidential Spokesman Harry Roque made the statement after President Duterte’s recent meeting with Chinese Ambassador Huang Xilian.

In his Thursday presser, Roque, who cannot remember when the meeting took place, said the two seemed to have reached an understanding about the situation.

“Nagkaintindihan naman po ang Presidente. Sinabi po ng Pangulo na concerned po talaga tayo. Kahit sino namang bansa mako-concern kung ganyang karaming barko (I think they understood each other. The President said we are really concerned just like any other country if they see those many ships),” he said.

“Ang sabi naman po ng Chinese Ambassador, sila po ay mga mangingisda, na yun nga po, nandoon sila dahil (The Chinese Ambassador responded that they were fishermen and) they were seeking shelter also,” he added.

With this, Roque said the incident was not really controversial.

“Sa tingin ko wala po talagang kontrobersiya dahil hindi naman nila pinaglalaban na talagang mananatili sila doon (I don’t think there is any controversy because the Chinese are not insisting on staying there),” he said.

However, he said that the incident will test the friendship between the Philippines and China, especially if the vessels will not leave the area.

“Diyan papasok naman yung issue ng ano ang epekto ng malapit na pagkakaibigan ng Pilipinas at ng Tsina ngayon (The close friendship between the Philippines and China will come into play if the vessels won’t leave),” he said.

“Naniniwala po tayo na sa panig ng magkakaibigan ay mareresolba naman ito (We believe that friends will be able to resolve this issue),” he added.

According to Roque, President Duterte reiterated what he said during the 2020 United Nations (UN) General Assembly.

“Naninindigan tayo at poprotektahan ang ating mga teritoryo, naininiwala tayo na kinakailangan maresolba ito sa pamamagitan ng UN Convention on the Law of the Sea, at pinaninindigan natin yung pagpanalo natin sa Arbitral Tribunal (We insist and will protect our territory, we believe that this needs to be resolved through the UNCLOS, and we will stand by our win at the Arbitral Tribunal),” he said.

The Philippines on March 23 demanded China withdraw the boats deemed to be maritime militia vessels from the Julian Felipe Reed, saying their continued presence and activities there “blatantly infringe upon Philippine sovereignty, sovereign rights, and jurisdiction.”

https://mb.com.ph/2021/03/25/palace-sees-no-controversy-in-200-chinese-vessels-in-julian-felipe-

reef/

Duterte ‘not concerned’ about presence of Chinese vessels

near disputed reef —Carpio

By VIRGIL LOPEZ, GMA News

Published March 25, 2021 12:38pm

Retired Supreme Court (SC) justice Antonio Carpio on Thursday accused President Rodrigo Duterte of having no sense of urgency amid the continued presence of Chinese vessels near Julian Felipe Reef in the West Philippine Sea. Duterte is expected to discuss the issue with China’s Ambassador to the Philippines Huang Xilian, but Carpio said a date has not yet been set. “If we are really serious about this, the President should call the ambassador of China and berate him. Heads of state do this if they are invaded, if there are encroachments on their territory or maritime zones,” Carpio told CNN Philippines. “In situations like this you immediately summon the ambassador of the other country. Here we don’t do it.”

Carpio claimed that Duterte was “not concerned at all” about the issue even after his aides filed a diplomatic protest and urged China to immediately withdraw the boats which the Philippine military believed were crewed by maritime militia. “I think the President will just allow the DFA (Department of Foreign Affairs) to protest, will allow our military to make noise but he will not do anything because President Duterte doesn’t want to incur the ire of [Chinese] President Xi Jinping. He loves President Xi Jinping,” the retired magistrate said. “How can President Duterte go against his idol? His idol is President Xi Jinping.”

The Philippines initially monitored 220 Chinese vessels near the reef, which is inside Manila’s exclusive economic zone, on March 7. The number of vessels, which China claimed were taking shelter from rough seas, later went down to 183.

Still, Armed Forces chief General Cirilito Sobejana has ordered the deployment of additional naval assets to the West Philippine Sea to increase the country’s visibility and ensure the security and safety of Filipino fishermen there.

For Carpio, the Philippines should beach a vessel at Julian Felipe Reef just like in the Ayungin Shoal, where a rusty Navy ship was intentionally grounded in 1999 to mark the country's sovereign rights over the area. “I would be happy if he [Duterte] orders that we beach a landing ship on Julian Felipe Reef because that landing vessel is a public vessel and it cannot be attacked by China without triggering the Mutual Defense Treaty. China will not attack that vessel,” said Carpio, who warned on Wednesday that China might seize the reef from the Philippines.

The 1951 Mutual Defense Treaty obliges American troops to help defend the Philippines if it comes under attack.

China insists ownership over nearly the entire South China Sea — a claim debunked by the Permanent Court of Arbitration in July 2016 following a lawsuit filed by the Philippines.

Beijing does not recognize the ruling despite calls from the Philippines and United States for the Asian powerhouse to comply.—AOL, GMA News

https://www.gmanetwork.com/news/news/nation/781157/duterte-not-concerned-about-presence-of-

chinese-vessels-near-disputed-reef-carpio/story/

Duterte policy of 'appeasing' China failed amid latest West PH

Sea tensions – int'l studies expert By CNN Philippines Staff

Published Mar 25, 2021 10:48:32 PM 1

Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, March 25) — The Duterte administration's policy of "appeasing" China has failed amid the latest tensions in the West Philippine Sea, according to an international studies expert.

"Since 2016, he basically announced he is trying to resolve this according to China's conditions: bilateral talks and joint development. But nothing concrete has come out from all these efforts to appease China," International Studies professor Renato de Castro told CNN Philippines' The Final Word on Thursday. "The policy that this administration has adopted in 2016 is an utter failure."

Citing history, de Castro emphasized efforts to appease an aggressive power do not work in situations like maritime stand-offs. He also sees a possible three to four months of standoff in the disputed waters, just like the Scarborough Shoal incident in 2013.

"If we will have another President who will adopt the policy of appeasing China, this might be Duterte administration part two. The people will have to be really careful about the leader they will choose, somebody who will not see himself as a lapdog of China," de Castro said.

The De La Salle University International Studies professor noted the presence of over 200 Chinese militia vessels in the Julian Felipe Reef, located inside the Philippines' exclusive economic zone, demonstrates China's "gray zone operations" which are intimidating activities that are short of actual use of force.

"Japan provided us 13 multi-purpose coast guard vessels. Where did this government deploy these vessels? In Boracay and in Mindanao, but not one in the South China Sea. That's why the Japanese are very much disappointed," de Castro said.

On the silence of the country's Southeast Asian neighbors over the latest West Philippine Sea row, de Castro said most nations in the region don't want to get involved in delicate issues like this.

"We might expect probably some words from Vietnam. But that's it, don't expect," de Castro said. Vietnam also has its own maritime row with China in the South China Sea.

Since assuming the presidency in 2016, Duterte has been friendly with China despite its continuing maritime activities in the West Philippine Sea. Beijing has refused to honor the historic 2016 ruling of the Permanent Court of Arbitration that invalidated its sweeping claims over the South China Sea.

Several countries led by the United States backed the Philippines' latest diplomatic protest over the presence of Chinese boats at the Julian Felipe Reef. The Chinese Embassy in Manila denied the boats are militia vessels, arguing those are merely fishing vessels that took shelter near the area due to rough sea conditions.

The Asia Maritime Transparency Initiative in December 2020 warned that China may have "increased the frequency" of its patrols in the South China Sea during the COVID-19 pandemic, including areas Manila claims as part of the West Philippine Sea. In the same report, the U.S. think tank flagged that Chinese forces conducted patrols at Scarborough Shoal, also known as Panatag, for a total of 287 days from Dec. 1, 2019.

https://cnnphilippines.com/news/2021/3/25/duterte-policy-appeasing-china-failed-west-ph-sea-

tensions.html

Makabayan bloc wants probe on presence of Chinese vessels in WPS

Published March 25, 2021, 10:33 AM by Vanne Elaine Terrazola

Members of the House of Representatives’ Makabayan bloc are calling for a legislative probe on the presence of Chinese fishing vessels at the Julian Felipe Reef in the West Philippines Sea.

(MANILA BULLETIN FILE PHOTO)

Bayan Muna Representatives Carlos Zarate, Ferdinand Gaite and Eufemia Cullamat, ACT Teachers’ Partylist Reps. France Castro, Gabriela Women’s Party Arlene Brosas; and Kabataan Partylist Rep. Sarah Elago filed House Resolution No. 1675, which u rges the House Committee on National Defense and Security to look into the matter.

They attributed the verified incursion to the Duterte administration’s “passive stance” on the territorial dispute, despite the Philippines’ victory against China in the Uni ted Nations tribunal.

“The Philippine government, especially the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP), has yet to effectively enforce the arbitration award and protect the country’s national patrimony and territorial integrity against China’s encroachment in the West Philippines Sea,” they said.

“The failure of the Duterte administration to protect the country’s territorial integrity resulted to the loss of livelihood of any Filipino fisherfolk. With the continuing harassment by the China Coast Guard and the Chinese deployment of maritime militias, Filipino were deprived of natural resources in its own territory,” also pointed out.

They expressed fear that China “will intensify the harassment and human rights violation against the Filipino people.”

The National Task Force on the West Philippine Sea (NTF-WPS) earlier raised concern over the confirmed presence of over 200 Chinese fishing vessels in the Julian Felipe Reef. The task force believed that the vessels were manned by Chinese militia personnel and were not engaged in fishing.

AFP chief of staff Lt. Gen. Cirilito Sobejana disclosed to lawmakers on Wednesday that they are assessing the situation, as the vessels, now down to 183, were seen to be in a

“phalanx-like” formation. The phalanx formation is known as an army formation in ancient history.

Additional naval assets were deployed to the Julian Felipe Reef, Sobejana said.

The Chinese government, on the other hand, denied that the vessels were maritime militia, and insisted that they were only fishing vessels taking shelter in the area due to “rough sea condition”.

The Philippines already demanded the removal of the Chinese vessels in the reef, which is part of the country’s exclusive economic zone (EEZ).

https://mb.com.ph/2021/03/25/makabayan-bloc-wants-probe-on-presence-of-chinese-vessels-in-wps/

Lost in translation: Locsin’s tweet gets ‘distorted’ in Chinese social media

Published March 25, 2021, 3:59 PM by Roy Mabasa

One of Foreign Affairs Secretary Teodoro Locsin Jr.’s most recent tweets has apparently created a stir in Chinese social media, prompting him to call the attention of the Embassy of the People’s Republic of China to correct what he described as “totalitarian distort ions” of his English expression.

Foreign Affairs Secretary Teodoro Locsin Jr. (PNA)

The tweet in question refers to the one that Locsin posted on Sunday that pertains to his order to “fire at will” or to file a diplomatic protest against China over the intrusions of more than 200 of its vessels near the Julian Felipe Reef (Whitsun Reef) which is within the Philippines’ exclusive economic zone (EEZ).

“Chinese Embassy said that in Chinese social media my expression ‘fire at will’ — unmistakably our diplomatic protest — is portrayed in Chinese characters as an order to fire guns at Chinese boats. I am not responsible for totalitarian distortions of plain English. Correct it yourself,” the foreign affairs chief said in a tweet on Thursday.

The DFA secretary even jokingly told the Chinese Embassy in a separate tweet that the beautiful Chinese translator, Zhang Jing, who interpreted Chinese diplomat Yang Jiechi’s 15-minute opening speech during the high-level US-China meeting in Alaska last week should do the translation of his tweets.

“@Chinaembmanila The beautiful and much smarter Ch inese translator at Anchorage should translate my tweets next time. She was, though it was the longest statement in modern diplomacy, unfailingly accurate, idiomatic and true in her transliteration… no more, interpretation. Kudos,” he said.

Shortly after getting details on the situation in Julian Felipe Reef on Sunday, Locsin tweeted: “So recommended by General (Hermogenes) Esperon this noon by WhatsApp. I got coordinates, so to speak. And relayed to my legal artillery, ‘Fire at will.’ Shell should be flying at first light. I don’t usually announce maneuvers but it seems everybody is baring his chest.”

https://mb.com.ph/2021/03/25/lost-in-translation-locsins-tweet-gets-distorted-in-chinese-social-

media/

PH, S. Korea to deepen maritime

security ties

By Priam Nepomuceno March 25, 2021, 10:24 am

DEEPENING TIES. South Korean Ambassador to the Philippines Kim In-Chul (left) and Philippine Navy chief, Vice Adm. Giovanni Carlo Bacordo, (right) shares a light moment in a meeting at the Navy headquarters in Manila on Wednesday (March 24, 2021). Kim's courtesy call highlighted the continuing bilateral cooperation between the Philippines and South Korea particularly in maritime security and naval cooperation. (Photo courtesy of Naval Public Affairs Office)

MANILA – The Philippines and South Korea will continue to have strong ties in maritime security and naval cooperation.

This commitment was made following the introductory call of newly-designated Ambassador of the Republic of Korea (ROK), Kim In-Chul, to Philippine Navy (PN) chief, Vice Admiral Giovanni Carlo Bacordo, at the PN headquarters in Manila on Wednesday.

"The highpoint of the discussion during the call was the continuing strong bilateral cooperation between the Philippines and South Korea particularly in maritime security and naval cooperation," said PN public affairs office chief Commander Benjo Negranza in a statement Thursday.

Incidentally, South Korean shipbuilder Hyundai Heavy Industries was the contractor of the BRP Jose Rizal (FF-150) and BRP Antonio Luna (FF-151), the first two guided-missile frigates, in the PN fleet.

The South Korean government also donated a "Pohang"-class corvette to the Navy which was later renamed the BRP Conrado Yap (PS-39) and is now considered one of the most capable and heavily armed ships of the fleet.

Negranza added the visit highlights both parties' commitment to "continuing and strengthening friendship and ties fundamental to the long-standing diplomatic relations between the Philippines and South Korea."

Meanwhile, Bacordo in a message to the Philippine News Agency Thursday, said he also discussed ongoing naval cooperation efforts between the two countries.

"With the ROK (Republic of Korea) Ambassador, we discussed ongoing naval cooperation efforts and how to enhance it - like the Navy-to-Navy talks which we hosted virtually (in the) 4th Quarter of

2020, the student officer exchanges, the PPE (personal protective equipment) and medical equipment donations by the ROK government, the Meeting Procedures and Passing Exercises conducted regularly," he added.

Bacordo said the South Korean envoy also committed to further strengthening cooperation and support between the PN and ROK Navy through technical support of acquired and donated assets, education and training, and other capability development programs.

"He reiterated the ROK government invitation for our Armed Forces to attend defense exhibits scheduled this year," he added.

On the PN's Corvette Acquisition Program, Bacordo said the South Korean diplomat also reiterated that Seoul's offer includes an additional Pohang-class corvette. (PNA)

https://www.pna.gov.ph/articles/1134805

Vietnamese vessel, crew held for encroaching on Tawi-Tawi

waters

Published 21 hours ago On March 25, 2021 02:43 PM By John Roson

Government forces apprehended a Vietnamese vessel and its seven crew members for entering and fishing in waters off Turtle Islands, Tawi-Tawi, the military reported Thursday.

The Vietnamese crew are presently being held by police in Bongao, where their vessel is impounded, said Lt. Chester Ross Cabaltera, Naval Forces Western Mindanao public affairs officer.

Members of the Marine Battalion Landing Team 6 and Turtle Islands Police were conducting maritime patrols on fastboats Tuesday, when they chanced on the foreign vessel, he said.

“Kapag may nakikita tayong boat, kahit Pilipino, tsini-check natin ang papers nila, routine po yan. Ito, nataon, Vietnamese pala,” Cabaltera said.

The vessel was inspected and its crew failed to present any document allowing them to enter Philippine waters, he said.

The military identified the vessel’s occupants as boast captai Hunya Van Day, and his fellow crew members Cao Van Mih, Lam Tang Hung, Huyuh Tuan Anh, Huyuh Van Cuong, Nguyen Ngoc Hoa, and Vo Van Taun.

Reports by the apprehending units did not indicate if there was any fish in the vessel, but Cabaltera said its crew members are being held for illegal fishing just the same.

“According to law, it is unlawful for any foreign person, corporation, or entity to fish or operate any fishing vessel in Philippine waters. Any entry shall constitute a prima facie evidence that the vessel is engaged in fishing within the country’s territorial waters,” Cabaltera said in a statement.

The vessel and its crew were first brought to the Turtle Islands Police Station and later turned over to the PNP Maritime Group’s office in Bongao.

Rear Adm. Toribio Adaci Jr., Naval Forces Western Mindanao commander, assured that Navy and Marines in the region will continue helping other law enforcement agencies maintain security in the seas.

https://tribune.net.ph/index.php/2021/03/25/vietnamese-vessel-crew-held-for-encroaching-on-tawi-

tawi-waters/

Demand for pullout of Chinese vessels from Philippine

reef conveyed to Chinese military —AFP

By JOVILAND RITA, GMA News

Published March 25, 2021 3:41pm

The Philippine military has conveyed to its Chinese counterpart the demand for the close to 200 Chinese vessels to leave Julian Felipe Reef in the West Philippine Sea. However, representatives of the China’s People’s Liberation Army reiterated the Chinese government's stand that the vessels were not manned by Chinese militia and are just taking refuge in the area amid foul weather, Major General Edgard Arevalo, spokesperson for the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP), said on Thursday.

Arevalo said the meeting took place Wednesday. “We conveyed the Defense Secretary’s demand for the vessels to leave Julian Felipe Reef where 183 vessels were sighted per AFP’s recent aerial patrol,” he said. “China’s People’s Liberation Army representatives reiterated their government’s assurance that those ships were not manned by militia and that those were constrained to seek shelter in the area when inclement weather hampered their fishing activity.”

AFP chief General Cirilito Sobejana has ordered the deployment of more Navy ships to intensify the maritime sovereignty patrols in the West Philippine Sea, Arevalo said. “Aside from those measures, the AFP likewise resorts to non-traditional means to manage the issues arising in the WPS,” he said. Arevalo noted that he cannot add further details about the matter, saying that other questions are for the National Task Force WPS to answer.

On Monday, Sobejana said they sighted 183 Chinese militia vessels off the reef after reports claimed that around 220 Chinese vessels were seen moored there on March 7.

Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana has appealed to China to pull out the vessels, saying the deployment breaches maritime rights and sovereignty.

The Philippines has already filed a diplomatic protest against China over the presence of vessels off Julian Felipe Reef.

The Chinese Embassy, however, denied that the vessels were operated by Chinese Maritime Militia. It said that the vessels are only "seeking shelter" near the reef, which they claimed is part of China's Nansha Islands or Spratlys in the South China Sea

The United States has expressed support to the Philippines, while Japan has called for the enforcement of the rule of law in the sea. The Reef, called Niu’e Jiao by China, is a large boomerang shaped shallow coral reef at the northeast of Pagkakaisa Banks and Reefs (Union Reefs), located approximately 175 nautical miles west of Bataraza, Palawan.

It is within the Philippine Exclusive Economic Zone and Continental Shelf, over which the country enjoys the exclusive right to exploit or conserve any resources which encompass both living resources, such as fish, and non-living resources such as oil and natural gas. "Niu’e Jiao is a part of China’s Nansha Qundao. Chinese fishing vessels have been fishing in its adjacent waters for many years," the embassy said. --KBK, GMA

News

https://www.gmanetwork.com/news/news/nation/781192/demand-for-pullout-of-chinese-vessels-

from-philippine-reef-conveyed-to-chinese-military-afp/story/

House leaders seek P54.6-B add’l budget for military pension

Published March 25, 2021, 5:35 PM

by Vanne Elaine Terrazola

House leaders led by Speaker Lord Allan Velasco on Thursday filed a bill calling for the allocation P54.6-billion supplemental budget for the pension and gratuity of former members of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) and other uniformed personnel.

(MANILA BULLETIN FILE PHOTO)

Velacso, House Majority Leader Martin Romualdez, Minority Leader Joseph Paduano and House appropriations committee chairman Eric Go Yap filed House Bill No. 9149, which seeks to appropriate the said amount to augment the government’s Pension and Gratuity Fund (PGF) under the 2021 national budget.

Under the bill, the fund would be sourced from “any funds in the National Treasury, not otherwise appropriated”.

It shall then be released to the AFP, as well as Philippine National Police (PNP), Bureau of Fire Protection (BFP), Bureau of Jail Management and Penology (BJMP), Philippine Coast Guard (PCG), and National Mapping and Resource Information Authority (NAMRIA) “in accordance with budgeting, accounting and auditing laws , rules and regulations.”

The bill states that the proposed budget shall be available for release and obligation from the date of its effectivity “until fully spent”.

“The passage of this supplemental budget will ensure the final settlement of the long -overdue pension differential of retired MUPs, who have faithfully served the country while they were on active duty,” Velasco said in a statement.

The filing of the bill came weeks after Anakalusugan Party-list Rep. Michael Defensor accused the House leadership of diverting P20 billion from the pension fund to pork barrel funds, and not for the procurement of COVID-19 vaccines.

Yap quickly denied the claim, hitting instead the administration of Velasco’s predecessor, Taguig-Pateros Rep. Alan Peter Cayetano of slashing P70 billion from the PGF when the 2020 budget was passed.

He explained that the House, Senate and the executive department agreed to realign the P20 billion for COVID-19 response.

Defensor is a known supporter of Cayetano, who was replaced by Velasco in a controversial power struggle in the House last year. After Velasco assumed the speakership, Defensor was stripped of his key post in the chamber.

https://mb.com.ph/2021/03/25/house-leaders-seek-p54-6-b-addl-budget-for-military-pension/

ARTA allots email for benefit claims of uniformed

personnel

March 25, 2021, 5:05 pm

MANILA – Families of deceased soldiers and cops may now direct their issues and concerns regarding the processing of death benefit claims to the Anti-Red Tape Authority (ARTA).

Claimants with pending applications at the Philippine National Police (PNP) and the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) or other related concerns are encouraged to communicate with ARTA through afppnpclaims@arta.gov.ph.

“Hindi na po kailangang hintayin ang pagbuo ng inter-agency task force with the Department of [the] Interior and Local Government and PNP dahil ngayon pa lang ay maaari n’yo na pong iparating sa amin ang mga concern ukol dito para agad po nating maaksyunan (There is no need to wait for the formation of inter-agency task force with DILG and PNP because right now concerns can be sent to us for immediate action)," ARTA Director General Jeremiah Belgica said in a news release on Thursday.

The inter-agency task force, to be headed by ARTA Deputy Director General for Finance and Administration Carlos Quita, will work on simplifying the steps and reducing the processing time for death benefit claims.

In the meantime, a special task force within ARTA had already been set up to address related issues and concerns channeled through the mentioned e-mail address.

The immediate action by ARTA is in response to President Rodrigo Duterte’s directive last Monday to fast-track the release of death benefit claims to families of uniformed personnel.

ARTA will also be coordinating with concerned government agencies for the setting-up of a one-stop shop in the regions and localities for all the services involved in the process. (PR)

https://www.pna.gov.ph/articles/1134906

20 patay, mahigit 50,000 lumikas sa bakbakan sa

Maguindanao

Publishe 6 hours ago On March 26, 2021 06:23 AM By John Roson

Tinatayang 20 Islamic militant ang napatay, samantalang marami ang nasugatan, kasama na ang ilang mga sundalo sa isang linggo nang bakbakan sa ilang bahagi ng Maguindanao.

Umabot naman sa 50,000 residente ang lumikas, ayon sa mga otoridad.

Kabilang sa ginamitan ng air at artillery asset ng militar ang kilalang kuta ng mga Islamic militant sa Brgy. Saniag, ayon kay Lt. Gen. Corleto Vinluan Jr., Armed Forces Western Mindanao Command chief.

Ayon sa militar, hawak ng isang Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters (BIFF) breakaway faction ang lugar sa pamumuno ni Salahuddin Hassan na ngayon ay tinatawag na Daulah Islamiyah-Hassan group.

Nadiskubre ng mga Army Scout Ranger ang tatlong inabandonang mga kuta, na pinaniniwalaang ginagamit ng mga BIFF sa paggawa ng bomba.

Narekober ang tatlong improvised bombs, IED component, cellphone, at mga kagamitan ng mga BIFF.

https://tribune.net.ph/index.php/2021/03/26/20-patay-mahigit-50000-lumikas-sa-bakbakan-sa-

maguindanao/

Drilon files bill criminalizing ‘red-tagging’

Published March 25, 2021, 2:02 PM

by Hannah Torregoza

Senate Minority Leader Franklin Drilon has filed a bill that seeks to criminalize red-tagging activities and making it punishable by up to 10 years in prison.

Senator Franklin Drilon (Senate of the Philippines / MANILA BULLETIN)

Drilon said Senate Bill No. 2121 or the proposed “Act Defining and Penalizing Red -Tagging”, which he filed on Wednesday, March 24, primarily seeks to criminalize red-tagging and provide for penalties as deterrence “in order to fix the legal gaps, address impunity and institutionalize a system of accountability” in the Philippines.

Aside from making the act of red-tagging punishable by imprisonment of up to 10 years, the bill also seeks to disqualify persons convicted of red-tagging from holding public office.

SB 2121 defines the crime of “red-tagging” as the act of labeling, vilifying, branding, naming, accusing, harassing, persecuting, stereotyping or caricaturing individuals, groups or organizations as state enemies, left-leaning, subversives, communists, or terrorists as part of a counter-insurgency or anti-terrorism strategy or program by any state actor, such as law enforcement agent, paramilitary or military personnel.

Any person who would be found guilty of red-tagging shall be imprisoned for 10 years and shall suffer the accessory penalty of perpetual absolute disqualification to hold public office, the bill stated.

“The passage of this bill will reverse the increasingly institutionalization and norm alization of human rights violations’ and put a stop on the attacks against the members of the legal profession,” Drilon said in the bill’s explanatory note.

He explained that libel, or grave threats, “is not appropriate where a state agent denigrates a person as an enemy of the state, thereby, impinging on the rights of that individual.”

“It has resulted in serious human rights violations such as harassments, arbitrary arrests, detentions and enforced disappearances,” Drilon said

“In some instances, being red-tagged is a prelude to death,” he stressed.

The bill, he said, seeks to fix the legal gaps, address impunity and institutionalize a system of accountability by criminalizing red-tagging and providing for penalties as deterrence.

“The measure, will likewise, serve as a reminder to the government of its primary duty under the Constitution to serve and protect the people,” Drilon further said.

https://mb.com.ph/2021/03/25/drilon-files-bill-criminalizing-red-tagging/

Makabayan solons back Drilon bill penalizing red-tagging

Published March 25, 2021, 6:04 PM

by Vanne Elaine Terrazola

Progressive lawmakers welcomed on Thursday, March 25, the bill that calls for the criminalization of “red-tagging” activities.

(MANILA BULLETIN FILE PHOTO)

Bayan Muna Representative Carlos Zarate and Kabataan Party-list Rep. Sarah Elago said they will study the bill filed by Senate Minority Leader Franklin Drilon, which defines and penalizes red-tagging with a jail time of 10 years.

“We welcome the initiative of Sen. Frank Drilon,” Zarate said in a statement.

Elago stressed that red-tagging by military, police and other government officials have resulted in the deaths of those tagged as state enemies or their supporters. The government, on the other hand, has repeatedly denied engaging in such activities.

“We must demand justice and accountability for the relen tless red-tagging which caused graver human rights violations and killings of [human rights defenders] and activists,” she said in a separate statement.

“Tuloy-tuloy ang red-tagging habang wala pa ring nananagot; dapat itigil na ito (Red-tagging will continue as long as no one is held accountable, this should stop),” she added.

Under Drilon’s bill, “red-tagging” is committed when “any state actor, such as a law enforcement agent, paramilitary or military personnel…labels, vilifies, brands, names, accuses, harasses, persecutes, stereotypes or caricatures individuals groups, or organizations as state enemies, left-leaning, subversives, communists, or terrorists as part of a counter-insurgency or anti-terrorism program or strategy”.

It proposes a penalty of imprisonment of 10 years and perpetual disqualification to hold public office.

For their part, the Makabayan bloc members of the lower chamber are pushing for the passage of the Human Rights Defenders Bill (House Bill 9199), which includes provisions specifying the right against intimidation, defamation and vilification.

“As it is, we will certainly work and collaborate with our House colleagues and Senate counterparts in crafting a comprehensive framework of Human Rights Defenders protection

that we can legislate – one that will address the issues of and make accountable the perpetrators of red tagging, filing of trump-up charges, extra-judicial killings and other attacks against human rights defenders,” Zarate said.

https://mb.com.ph/2021/03/25/makabayan-solons-back-drilon-bill-penalizing-red-tagging/

NUJP welcomes bill seeking to punish red-tagging

Published March 25, 2021, 5:19 PM

by Gabriela Baron

The National Union of Journalists of the Philippines (NUJP) on Thursday, March 25, welcomed the proposal by Senate Minority Leader Franklin Drilon to criminalize red-tagging.

(AFP / MANILA BULLETIN)

Under Senate Bill (SB) No. 2121 or the proposed “Act Defining and Penalizing Red -tagging” that Drilon filed on Wednesday, anyone found guilty of red-tagging shall be penalized with 10-year imprisonment and will also be disqualified from holding any public office.

SB 2121 defines the crime of red-tagging as the “act of labeling, vilifying, branding, naming, accusing, harassing, persecuting, stereotyping, or caricaturing individuals, groups, or organizations as state enemies, left-leaning, subversives, communists, or terrorists as part of a counter-insurgency or anti-terrorism strategy or program by any state actor, such as law enforcement agent, paramilitary, or military personnel.”

In a statement, NUJP said red-tagging has often led to harassment and violence against its targets.

Although the 1987 Constitution guarantees freedom of expression, NUJP said it “does not give state offices and agents free license to label activists, rights workers, labor organ izers, and journalists as enemies of the state.”

“The government is the primary duty bearer in upholding human rights. These dangerous accusations, when done by state agents as part of a so-called counter-insurgency program, are no longer private opinions and conspiracy theories but official actions and policy,” the group said, citing the red-tagging and arrest of one of its directors and Manila Today editor Lady Ann Salem.

“There have been no immediate consequences to erring parties and the judge who ordered her release has herself been linked to communist rebels,” it added.

On March 16, a tarpaulin sign along Shaw Boulevard in EDSA bared the photo and name of Judge Monique Quisumbing-Ignacio, linking her to the Communist Party of the Philippines, National People’s Army, and National Democratic Front of the Philippines after dismissing the case filed against Salem and trade unionist Rodrigo Espargo.

NUJP also reiterated its opposition to the Anti-Terrorism Act which “makes terror tagging even more dangerous” and “has dire implications” on the performance of journalists’ duty.

“While a law penalizing red-tagging is welcome, the draconian Anti-Terrorism Act violates our basic human rights, including the right to a free press.”

https://mb.com.ph/2021/03/25/nujp-welcomes-bill-seeking-to-punish-red-tagging/

‘You need not be a doctor here’: Duterte defends former military men in charge of pandemic response

Published March 25, 2021, 9:41 AM by Genalyn Kabiling

The government’s pandemic response does not have to be led by doctors, President Du terte declared Wednesday in his latest defense of his preference for former military officers to get the job done.

(JANSEN ROMERO / MANILA BULLETIN)

The President explained that he chose vaccine czar Carlito Galvez Jr. to implement the government’s plan to fight the pandemic, particularly the vaccine rollout, since it required business, not medical, skills.

“Kaya nga kayo nagtatanong bakit kaya masyadong atat sa military wala mang alam ‘yan? Hindi man ito — (You’re asking me why am I’m eager to appoint the military when they know nothing?) This is a mechanical act. It is not a study of medicine. Ano ito parang transaction sa negosyo kaya tinawag ko si Galvez, Secretary, para siya ang magdala (This is like a business transaction that’s why I called Secretary Galvez to lead it),” Duterte said during a televised address Wednesday, March 24.

“You need not be a doctor here ‘coz you are transacting a business. It is not really a matter of medical science that you are talking of,” he said.

The President’s comments came after some lawmakers sought the abolition or reorganization of the government task force in charge of addressing the pandemic over alleged failure to curb the country’s rapid surge in coronavirus cases. The Palace earlier rejected the abolition of the task force and dismissed the latest round of criticisms as mere politicking related to the 2022 elections.

The President has appointed several retired military officials to various government positions since 2016, saying they were honest and reliable.

Galvez, former Armed Forces chief, currently serves as Chief Implementer of the government’s National Action Plan against the COVID-19 pandemic. He supervises and coordinates the task groups on response operations, resource management and logistics, and strategic communications.

The President’s peace adviser also heads the government’s coronavirus vaccine acquisition and distribution program. Galvez, a graduate of Philippine Military Academy, earned a master’s degree in project management at the University of New South Wales in Australia.

Other former military men involved in the National Task Force Force against COVID -19 are Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana, chairman, and Interior and Local Government Secretary Eduardo Año, vice-chairman. The task force implements the policies issued by the Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF-EID), the policy-making group of the government on pandemic response.

https://mb.com.ph/2021/03/25/you-need-not-be-a-doctor-here-duterte-defends-former-military-men-

in-charge-of-pandemic-response/

House OKs creation of Medical Reserve Corps

Published March 25, 2021, 8:26 PM

by Vanne Elaine Terrazola

The bill that would establish the Medical Reserve Corps (MRC) has been approved in the House of Representatives on third and final reading.

Voting 195-6-0, congressmen passed on Thursday, March 25, the House Bill No. 8999, or the proposed “Medical Reserve Corps Act”.

Under the bill, the MRC, which would be under the supervision of the Department of Health (DOH), shall be composed of licensed physicians, including those who are no longer practicing in the hospital setting; licensed allied professionals; and medical students who have completed four years of medical course, graduates of medicine as well as as registered nurses.

Their “primary mission” is to support the country’s health system “in times of public health emergencies or health threats”, the bill stated.

“The MRC shall be organized, trained, developed, and maintained so as to ensure their readiness to immediately respond to the call of service,” it further read.

The President of the Philippines, upon the DOH’s recommendation, may also order the mobilization of the MRC to complement the Armed Forces of the Philippines’ (AFP) Medical Corps “in case of the declaration of a state of war, state of lawless violence or state of calamity.”

The AFP could provide expertise on the organization and s tructure of the MRC “for efficient, effective and swift deployment”. The military could also augment the MRC in times of public health emergency.

The bill says that members of the MRC would be covered by labor laws and are entitled to “all the pay and allowances, medical care, hospitalization and other privileges and benefits” during their deployment.

They shall also receive all their existing benefits from the regular employment during the mobilization period.

In registering his “no” vote, Bayan Muna Party-list Representative Carlos Zarate said the bill would pave the way for the “militarization” of the health sector, which he said would not solve health crises.

“Habang kaisa ang kinatawan na ito sa pagpapalakas ng pagtugon ng pamahalaan tuwing may sakuna at kalamidad, naninindigan ang kinatawan na ito na hindi matutugunan ang problemang pangkalusugan sa pamamagitan ng pagbubuo ng bagong mili tarisadong istruktura sa loob ng DOH (While this representation supports the strengthening of the

government’s calamity and disaster response, we maintain that health problems will not be solved by establishing a militarized structure within the DOH),” he explained.

“Ngayong nasa gitna tayo ng pandemya ng COVID-19, lantad na lantad ang kakulangan sa hospital, doktor, nars, PPE, gamot at marami pang iba (Now that we are in the middle of the COVID-19 pandemic, it is evident that we lack the hospitals, doctors, nurses, protective personal equipment, medicine and several others).”

“Sa pagtatayo ng Medical Reserve Corps, inililihis nito ang limitadong health workers, pondo at rekurso na sana ay maggagamit natin para mapalakas ang health care system ng Pilipinas (The establishment of the Medical Reserve Corps diverts the limited heal th workers, funds, and recourse that should be used instead for improving the Philippines’ health care system),” Zarate pointed out.

Echoing Zarate, Kabataan Partylist Rep. Sarah Elago stressed the need for “scientific and rights-based approach” in responding to health emergencies. “Ito ay malinaw na creeping militarization ng mga civilian agencies and institutions (This a clear manifestation of the creeping militarization of civilian agencies and institutions),” Elago warned.

https://mb.com.ph/2021/03/25/house-oks-creation-of-medical-reserve-corps/

‘Crazy’ NPA amazon nabbed in Cagayan

Published March 25, 2021, 2:54 PM

by Liezle Basa Iñigo

ALLACAPAN, Cagayan – Police arrested a New People’s Army (NPA) amazon who pretended to be mentally ill to be able to pass a checkpoint here Wednesday.

Police Lt. Col. Andree Abella, spokesperson of the Police Regional Office 2 (PRO 2), identified the arrested NPA as alias “Gian,” of Barsat West, Baggao, this province .

Gian was identified through the help a former NPA guerilla who said Gian was with the movement operating in the mountains of Flora, Apayao 16 years ago.

The former NPA rebel also said that Gian taught illiterate NPA rebels in March 2005 in Flora.

Gian is already in the custody of the police here and is undergoing thorough interrogation.

PRO 2 chief Police Brig. Gen. Crizaldo Nieves called on the public, especially law enforcement, to be alert for communist rebels like Gian who pretend to be someone to be able to gather information against the government.

https://mb.com.ph/2021/03/25/crazy-npa-amazon-nabbed-in-cagayan/

China's CNOOC to start production at Lingshui 17-2 in H1

2021 By Reuters Staff 2 M I N R E A D

BEIJING (Reuters) - China’s offshore oil and gas major CNOOC Ltd is expected to start production at Lingshui 17-2, a large deepwater natural gas deposit in South China Sea, in the first half of 2021, told the company executive on Thursday.

Lingshui 17-2 is CNOOC’s first fully-owned deepwater gas project, with annual production of 3 billion cubic meters, or about 1.6% of China’s total domestic gas production.

“Deepwater exploration remains the key area to us in the future, and we have discovered medium-sized oil and gas deposits in Lingshui and Wenchang areas,” said Xu Keqiang, chief executive of CNOOC, at a media briefing.

CNOOC had vowed to hike the share of natural gas to make up 35% of its total output by 2025, from about 21% currently, and to 50% by 2035, as a contribution to Beijing’s climate change pledge.

CNOOC is also planning to raise investment in offshore wind development, to more than 5% of annual capital spending from previous 3-5%, in order to seize more offshore wind resources, said Xu.

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-china-cnooc/chinas-cnooc-to-start-production-at-lingshui-17-2-in-

h1-2021-idUSKBN2BH1E1

China responds to UK, Australia, Canada after getting flak

over incursion in West PH Sea Willard Cheng, ABS-CBN News

Posted at Mar 25 2021 08:59 PM | Updated as of Mar 25 2021 11:17 PM

Picture taken March 7, 2021. Philippine Coast Guard/National Task Force-

West Philippine Sea via Reuters

MANILA - The Chinese Embassy in Manila on Thursday reacted to the criticisms Beijing received from diplomats of the United Kingdom, Australia, and Canada over its current incursion in the West Philippine Sea.

In a tweet, the embassy said the diplomats do not understand “basic facts” in coming up with “irresponsible comments, using the same scripts.”

“Neither these diplomats understand the basic facts, nor do they have the ability to think and judge independently. But they came out with irresponsible comments, using the same scripts.”

Around 200 Chinese vessels have been moored at the Julian Felipe Reef in the Philippines' exclusive economic zone since March 7, prompting a retired Philippine Supreme Court justice to warn of possible occupation and building of a naval base in the area as China did on the Mischief Reef, a feature also within Philippine territory, in 1995.

A 2016 landmark ruling by an international arbitration court invalidated China's sweeping claims over the South China Sea, of which the West Philippine Sea is a part.

China signed a 2002 Declaration on the Conduct (DOC) of Parties in the South China Sea with the Association of the Southeast Asian Nations, that included a provision on exercising "self-restraint in the conduct of activities that would complicate or escalate disputes and affect peace and stability."

The Philippines has formally protested against the presence of the Chinese flotilla and demanded their withdrawal.

Canadian Ambassador to the Philippines Peter MacArthur said China's actions escalate tensions and undermine regional stability and the rules-based international order.”

Yesterday, Australian Ambassador to the Philippines Steven Robinson also expressed concern over “destabilising actions that could provoke escalation.”

“Australia supports an #IndoPacific region which is secure open and inclusive. The South China Sea – a crucial international waterway – is governed by international rules and norms,

particularly UNCLOS. We remain concerned about destabilising actions that could provoke escalation,” Robinson said on Twitter.

The South China Sea was also a topic in the conversation Tuesday between Philippine Foreign Affairs Secretary Teodoro Locsin, Jr. and United Kingdom’s Minister for Asia at the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO) Nigel Adams.

In a tweet, Adams said he shared UK’s concerns over “actions which raise tensions” in the South China Sea.

“The Philippines is an important partner for the UK in the Indo-Pacific. Earlier I spoke to Secretary of Foreign Affairs @teddyboylocsin about our Integrated Review &our shared concerns on #Myanmar and the South China Sea, including actions which raise tensions there,” Adams said.

Also on Twitter on Tuesday, Japanese Ambassador to Manila Kazuhiko Koshikawa the “South China Sea issues are directly related to peace & stability and a concern for all.”

“Japan strongly opposes any action that heightens tensions. We support the enforcement of #RuleOfLaw in the sea & work with the int'l community to protect the free, open, and peaceful seas,” Koshikawa said.

His remarks followed the assurance given by the United States that it stands with its oldest treaty ally in Asia.

Addressing Adams, Robinson and MacArthur, the Chinese embassy said, “If the so-called “facts” are false from the beginning, you couldn’t be more wrong to repeat the mistakes. Understand and respect the fact before you make any comments.”

In a statement last Monday, the Chinese embassy denied allegations the vessels are part of Beijing's militia, describing them as fishing vessels taking shelter due to “rough sea conditions.” It also said the reef is part of their territory.

https://news.abs-cbn.com/news/03/25/21/china-responds-to-uk-australia-canada-after-getting-flak-

over-incursion-in-west-ph-sea

Turkey raises Uighur issue with Chinese minister amid

protests By Reuters Staff 3 M I N R E A D ERTISEMENT: Your content will begin in 14 seconds

ISTANBUL (Reuters) - Turkey raised the issue of Uighur Muslims during talks with China’s foreign minister in

Ankara on Thursday, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said, as hundreds of Uighurs protested against the

treatment of their ethnic kin in China.

Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi met Cavusoglu and later President Tayyip Erdogan, as around 1,000 protesters

gathered in Istanbul, chanting “Dictator China” and “Stop Uighur Genocide, Close the Camps”. Some waved blue-

and-white flags of the independence movement of East Turkestan, the name by which the movement refers to

Xinjiang.

“We are here to ask about our families. Why can’t we get in touch with our families? Are they dead or alive? Where are they? Are they at camps or outside?” said Imam Hasan Ozturk, a Uighur protester.

China approved an extradition treaty with Turkey in December and with the deal awaiting ratification by Ankara’s parliament, activists among some 40,000 Uighurs living in Turkey have stepped up efforts to highlight their plight,

holding regular protests in Ankara and Istanbul.

Cavusoglu, who has denied that the extradition accord would lead to Uighurs being sent back to China, said after

meeting Wang he had conveyed “our sensitivity and thoughts on Uighur Turks”, adding that Ankara and Beijing

would enhance cooperation against the COVID-19 pandemic and on vaccines.

Uighurs’ worries have been fuelled by Ankara’s dependence on China for COVID-19 vaccines, having received 15

million doses from Sinovac Biotech and ordered tens of millions more. This week, Turkey received 1.4 million

doses of the vaccine developed by Germany’s BioNTech, the first significant batch of non-Chinese vaccines.

U.N. experts estimate at least a million Uighurs and other Muslims are held in detention centres in northwest China’s Xinjiang. The United States said in January China has committed “genocide and crimes against humanity” by repressing Uighurs.

China denies accusations of abuses in Xinjiang, and has said the complexes it set up in the region provided

vocational training to help stamp out Islamist extremism and separatism.

A Chinese embassy spokesperson said last month that Uighurs who have been holding regular protests near China’s diplomatic premises in Turkey in recent months were trying to deceive Turkish people and damage relations.

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-turkey-china/uighur-muslims-protest-in-turkey-as-chinese-foreign-

minister-visits-idUSKBN2BH1EW

Police chief lashes out at ‘attempts to use Xinjiang to contain China’ • Zhao Kezhi made the remarks on a visit to the region, saying cooperation on

counterterrorism must be stepped up • Beijing is facing mounting pressure and sanctions over its treatment of ethnic

minorities in Xinjiang China’s police chief has hit out at what he called efforts to use Xinjiang

to contain Beijing, as the Communist Party comes under growing pressure over its treatment of ethnic

minorities in the region.“[We] must step up international cooperation on counterterrorism and resolutely stop attempts to use Xinjiang to contain China and attempts to use terrorism to contain China,” Minister of Public Security Zhao Kezhi said, according to a statement from the ministry on Thursday.

He was speaking during a five-day trip to Xinjiang that wrapped up on Wednesday, repeating a line that has been used in Chinese state media to refer to Western sanctions.

https://www.scmp.com/news/china/politics/article/3127019/police-chief-lashes-out-attempts-use-

xinjiang-contain-china

China says will safeguard Iran nuclear

deal, defend Sino-Iran relations By Reuters Staff 1 M I N R E A D

FILE PHOTO: Chinese Commerce Ministry spokesman Gao Feng gestures during a

news conference in Beijing, China January 29, 2021. REUTERS/Tingshu Wang

(Corrects to say China to safeguard Iran nuclear deal, not oil deal, in headline and paragraph 1)

BEIJING (Reuters) - China will make efforts to safeguard Iran nuclear deal and defend legitimate interests of Sino-Iran relations, the commerce ministry said on Thursday.

Ministry spokesman Gao Feng told a news briefing that China has not receive notices of sanctions on Iranian oil from the Biden administration.

Reuters reported that Iran has “indirectly” moved record volumes of oil into China in recent months, marked as supplies from Oman, the UAE and Malaysia.

(This story corrects to say China to safeguard Iran nuclear deal, not oil deal, in headline and paragraph 1)

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-china-iran/china-says-will-safeguard-iran-nuclear-deal-defend-sino-

iran-relations-idUSKBN2BH0UL

China urges U.S. to stop 'discriminatory' action against its firms By Reuters Staff 1 M I N R E A D

BEIJING (Reuters) - China on Thursday urged the United States to stop “discriminatory” action against Chinese companies after the U.S. adopted measures that would kick foreign companies off stock exchanges if they do not comply with U.S. auditing standards.

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying said the U.S. measures distort market principles.

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-sec-foreigncompanies-china/china-urges-u-s-to-stop-

discriminatory-action-against-its-firms-idUSKBN2BH0UY

China presses global fashion brands to reverse

Xinjiang cotton boycott

• Chinese social media users and clothing consumers strike back at firms refusing to buy cotton because of human rights issues against Uygurs

• Celebrities in China terminate brand arrangements, adding to the backlash against labels such as Converse, Adidas and Calvin Klein

The Chinese government added to the backlash against foreign brands boycotting Xinjiang

cotton, pressing the companies to “correct their mistakes” and respect the views of Chinese customers.The ministries of foreign affairs and commerce upped the rhetorical ante on Thursday as

more brands came under fire for refusing to buy Xinjiang cotton over claims of genocide and forced

labour in the region.“Chinese people do not allow some foreigners to eat Chinese food while smashing Chinese bowls,” Chinese foreign ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying said.

https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3126904/backlash-china-against-nike-adidas-

and-other-global-brands

Chinese State Media Fuels Backlash Against Nike, H&M And Others Over Xinjiang ‘Forced Labor’ Statements

Fashion giants H&M, Nike and several others are facing a backlash in China fueled by the

country’s state-run media which has lashed out at the companies for past remarks about not

sourcing cotton from Xinjiang region, as Beijing attempts to push back against coordinated

sanctions imposed by western nations amid concerns of human rights violations and forced

labor camps in Xinjiang.

https://www.forbes.com/sites/siladityaray/2021/03/25/chinese-state-media-fuels-backlash-against-

nike-hm-and-others-over-xinjiang-forced-labor-statements/?sh=7bfb743463af

Exclusive: Hong Kong tells foreign governments to stop

accepting special British passport By Greg Torode, Anne Marie Roantree 5 M I N R E A D

HONG KONG (Reuters) - The Hong Kong government on Thursday confirmed a Reuters report that it

had told 14 countries to stop accepting a British travel document that many of its young people use to apply for working holiday visas in Europe, North America and parts of Asia.

FILE PHOTO: A British National Overseas passport (BNO) is pictured in Hong Kong, China February 17,

2021. Picture taken February 17, 2021.REUTERS/Tyrone Siu u000d

In a move seen by some envoys as a diplomatic affront, the government informed the foreign consulates

in a letter that it no longer considered the British National Overseas (BNO) passport a valid travel document as of Jan. 31.

The letter, seen by Reuters and confirmed by the Hong Kong government after the story was published, demanded that its Hong Kong passport should be used instead.

A diplomatic row broke out over the BNO in January after Britain introduced a new visa scheme offering

a pathway to full citizenship for Hongkongers who want to leave the Chinese-ruled territory.

Britain launched the scheme after Hong Kong passed a sweeping national security law last year that critics say is crushing dissent in the former British colony.

“The Hong Kong government has no authority to dictate which passports foreign governments recognise as valid,” a spokeswoman for the British Foreign Office said when asked about the Reuters report.

“The UK will continue to issue British Nationals (Overseas) passports which remain valid travel

documents.”

Almost 3 million Hong Kong residents hold or are eligible for the BNO document that was created ahead of Britain handing the city back to Chinese rule in 1997.

Hong Kong has also started to mirror mainland China by not recognising dual nationality, preventing for the first time foreign diplomats from visiting locals with foreign passports in detention.

“Most countries are going to ignore this,” said one senior Western diplomat who had seen the letter.

“It is the Hong Kong government just trying it on ... They have no right to tell any state what foreign

passports it can recognise.”

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-hongkong-security-passports-exclusive/exclusive-hong-kong-tells-

foreign-governments-to-stop-accepting-special-british-passport-idUSKBN2BH0PR

Xi urges chinese province to deepen ties with democratic Taiwan

He urged them to focus on offering policies that would benefit Taiwanese people and deepen

mutual understanding, Xinhua said, without elaborating.

Bloomberg

PUBLISHED ON MAR 25, 2021 04:58 PM IST

Chinese President Xi Jinping has urged Fujian to do more to develop ties with Taiwan, a

sign of Beijing’s continuing efforts to bring the democratically ruled island under its sway.

Xi told provincial officials to “be bold in exploring new paths for integrated cross-strait

development,” the official Xinhua News Agency reported on Thursday. He urged them to focus on offering policies that would benefit Taiwanese people and deepen mutual

understanding, Xinhua said, without elaborating.

Xi worked in Fujian from 1985 to 2002, rising from vice mayor of Xiamen to provincial

governor, and recalled that period as he wrapped up a four-day “inspection tour.”

“I worked in Fuzhou for six to seven years,” he said. “I came here at the age of 37 and spent the best years of my life here. I gained a lot of experience and understanding.”

The Chinese leader also visited RICOM Group, an optical lens company in Fuzhou,

according to Xinhua. The company says on the Chinese-language version of its website

that it supplies the Shenzhou manned spacecraft program.

https://www.hindustantimes.com/world-news/xi-urges-chinese-province-to-deepen-ties-with-

democratic-taiwan-101616671574526.html

China’s Go-It-Alone Five-Year Plan

Mar 25, 2021GEORGE MAGNUS

China's new Five-Year Plan focuses on self-reliance more than any other since its reform and

opening up began. But unless the government recognizes the limits of authoritarianism, top-

down directives, and social control, it is likely to stifle innovation and fall far short of its

ambitious development goals.

LONDON – This year’s meeting of China’s legislature, the National People’s Congress, was one of the most important in recent times. China is facing its most hostile external environment in decades, with a growing number of countries pushing back against its political repression and coercive diplomacy. And the imperative of reshaping its economic-development model is more urgent than ever. While China’s leaders now shun all mention of the so-called middle-income trap, their determination to avoid this looming threat is clear.

To meet the challenges ahead, China is banking on its 14th Five-Year Plan, which was officially approved at the recent meeting. The plan is supposed to ensure that China is on track to meet its grandiose longer-term goal, also affirmed at the meeting, of becoming a “modernized socialist country” – with an OECD-level per capita income – by 2035.

The phrase “Five-Year Plan” might conjure thoughts of production targets and coal, steel, or grain quotas. But China hasn’t issued that kind of document in more than 20 years. Running over 140 pages, the 14th Five-Year Plan comprises a broad set of economic, social, technological, and environmental objectives and targets, intended to shape the behavior of local governments, enterprises, institutions, and citizens.

To be sure, this does include grain-production targets. Yet that is but one part of a far more comprehensive strategy that reflects a growing emphasis on the link between the economy and national security.

For Chinese President Xi Jinping, national security requires not only a modernized military (which China plans to build over the next decade) and internal “social stability” (which has been central to Xi’s leadership). It also demands action in areas like food and natural resources, commerce, supply chains, and technology.

That is why the new Five-Year Plan includes binding targets not only for military spending, but also for grain production, investment in research and development, and digital-sector growth. Moreover, it sets ambitious goals for Chinese leadership in cutting-edge sectors, such as artificial intelligence, quantum computing, semiconductors, neuroscience and genetics, and space, sea, and polar exploration.

As for the environment, the Plan includes binding targets for reducing CO2 emissions and energy intensity per unit of output. Here, however, the targets lack ambition, casting doubt on China’s ability to fulfill its previously announced pledge to reach peak greenhouse-gas emissions by 2030 and achieve net-zero emissions by 2060.

What the Five-Year Plan does not include, for the first time ever, is a target for overall GDP growth for the period. Instead, the government has pledged to keep annual growth “within a reasonable range as appropriate” – which, according to Prime Minister Li Keqiang, means “above 6%” for 2021– while aiming to meet non-binding targets for a range of other economic variables.

China will focus on implementing its “dual-circulation strategy,” according to which it will reduce its reliance on external demand, in favor of increased self-reliance. While the government will continue to emphasize exports, it will also increase import substitution and introduce supply-chain safeguards, especially where American firms are closely involved. Most important, China plans to boost domestic consumption of the goods it produces. National-security concerns undoubtedly lie at the heart of this strategy.

China’s government also has reform plans in other crucial areas, though they often lack credibility. For example, the authorities want to spur rural revitalization and tackle inequality. But they have failed to commit to some crucial interventions, such as income and wealth redistribution, tax reform, and an overhaul of the country’s fragmented and grossly inadequate social-welfare system, which impedes labor mobility. Moreover, there are no provisions to open up service industries.

One factor underlying inequality that China’s government does plan to address is its household registration (hukou) system. By tying people to their “hometowns,” this system has often blocked migrant workers’ access to education, health care, and other social services. The new Five-Year Plan aims to abolish or ease restrictions in small and medium-size cities, and introduce a points system in large cities.

But, in the past, high costs and strong resistance have often hampered hukou reform, with new restrictions replacing those that are removed. It remains to be seen whether the same will happen this time.

China’s government also wants to encourage an “appropriate birth rate” to address the looming economic drag caused by population aging. And there are proposals to raise the low statutory retirement ages “in a phased manner.” Both of these reforms are long overdue. But plans to implement them lack detail.

Ultimately, China’s government is going to give priority to its $1.4 trillion science and technology strategy, aimed at achieving self-reliance in advanced technologies. Semiconductors, which form the core of such technologies, are vital to achieving this goal.

https://www.project-syndicate.org/commentary/china-self-reliance-5-year-plan-by-george-magnus-

2021-

03?a_la=english&a_d=605ca65ec5e8022a6401eb26&a_m=&a_a=click&a_s=&a_p=%2Farchive&a_li=chi

na-self-reliance-5-year-plan-by-george-magnus-2021-03&a_pa=archive-results&a_ps=&a_ms=&a_r=

NATO countries must cease South China Sea

troubles: spokesperson

Source: Xinhua| 2021-03-25 23:44:03|Editor: huaxia

BEIJING, March 25 (Xinhua) -- A Chinese military spokesperson on Thursday

urged certain members of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) to

stop stirring up troubles in the South China Sea.

Ren Guoqiang, a spokesperson for the Ministry of National Defense, made

the remarks when asked for comment on the recent dispatch of, or

announcement of dispatching, warships to the South China Sea by certain

NATO countries for the so-called "freedom of navigation" mission.

China is paying close attention to relevant developments, Ren said.

Thanks to concerted efforts of countries in the region, the current situation in

the South China Sea is generally stable, he said, noting that the so-called

problem of "freedom of navigation" does not exist.

The region and the international community see that the security risks in the

South China Sea are mainly from outside, Ren said. He called on relevant

countries to make constructive contributions to regional peace and stability

instead of making troubles out of nothing.

"Neither today's world nor China are what they were 100 years ago," Ren

said. "China always respects the freedom of navigation and flight in the South

China Sea enjoyed by all countries per international law, but firmly oppose

any act jeopardizing sovereignty and security of littoral states."

http://www.xinhuanet.com/english/2021-03/25/c_139836109.htm

Biden compares Xi to Putin, Republican voting restriction plans to

segregation-era laws By Jarrett Renshaw, Steve Holland 6 M I N R E A D

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Joe Biden vowed on Thursday to push China to play by

international rules, criticized his Republican opponents and defended his policy to provide shelter to children crossing the U.S. border from Mexico at his first solo news conference since taking office.t will begin in 12 seconds

Appearing before reporters for more than an hour, Biden seemed well-prepared, read from written papers occasionally, and calmly took questions, a sharp contrast to the often raucous, combative news conferences held by his Republican predecessor, Donald Trump.

Amid the worst U.S.-Chinese relations in decades, Biden compared Chinese President Xi Jinping to Russian President Vladimir Putin, calling them both supporters of autocracy.

But he said the United States was not looking for confrontation with China over differences on trade,

Beijing’s rollback of democracy in Hong Kong, treatment of minority Uighurs and military buildup.

“He’s one of the guys, like Putin, who thinks that autocracy is the wave of the future, (and) democracy can’t function in an ever-complex world,” Biden said of Xi. “He doesn’t have a democratic - with a small

‘d’ - bone in his body, but he’s a smart, smart guy.”

He said he would insist the Chinese leader “play by the international rules, fair competition, fair practices, fair trade.”

Biden also criticized Republican-backed measures in many state legislatures to restrict voting rights, saying they were worse than “Jim Crow,” referring to laws put in place in Southern states in the decades after the 1861-65 U.S. Civil War to legalize racial segregation and disenfranchise Black citizens.

Struggling to contain a surge in unaccompanied children seeking asylum at the U.S. southern border, Biden suggested his Republican critics who say his policies are at fault were inhumane.

No previous administration had refused care and shelter to children coming over from Mexico, except that

of Trump, Biden said. Rather than leaving those children to “starve to death” at the border, Biden said his administration would care for them.

Biden noted that he had selected Vice President Kamala Harris to lead diplomatic efforts with Mexico,

Honduras, Guatemala and El Salvador to stem the flow of migrants.

Biden faces opposition from congressional Republicans to his ambitious plans for what could end up being a $3 trillion plan for infrastructure and other priorities and tax increases to pay for it.

He said he believed the Democratic-controlled U.S. Senate should make it harder for Republicans to use a parliamentary blocking maneuver called the filibuster that requires 60 votes to advance most legislation in the 100-seat chamber, saying it is being abused.

He called for a return to the “talking filibuster” - a tradition from decades ago that required senators to occupy the floor and make their case against legislation if they opposed it.

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-biden/biden-compares-xi-to-putin-republican-voting-plans-to-jim-crow-laws-idUSKBN2BH1AY

Biden says China won't surpass U.S. as global leader on

his watch By Jarrett Renshaw, Andrea Shalal, Michael Martina 4 M I N R E A D

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. President Joe Biden on Thursday said he would prevent China from

passing the United States to become the most powerful country in the world, vowing to invest heavily to ensure America prevails in the race between the world’s two largest economies.: Your contentll begin in 9 seconds

Biden said he had spent “hours upon hours” with Xi Jinping when he served as vice president under former President Barack Obama, and was convinced the Chinese president believed autocracy - not

democracy - held the key to the future.

The Democratic president said he had made it clear to Xi that the United States was not looking for confrontation, but would insist that China abide by international rules for fair competition and fair trade

and respect for human rights.

“China has an overall goal ... to become the leading country in the world, the wealthiest country in the world, and the most powerful country in the world,” he told reporters at the White House. “That’s not going to happen on my watch because the United States is going to continue to grow.”

Biden took aim at Xi and Russian President Vladimir Putin for embracing autocracy.

“He’s one of the guys, like Putin, who thinks that autocracy is the wave of the future, (and) democracy can’t function in an ever-complex world,” the president told his first news conference since taking office in January.

Earlier in March, Biden told ABC News he believed Putin was “a killer,” which sparked fury in Moscow.

“He (Xi) doesn’t have a democratic - with a small ‘d’ - bone in his body, but he’s a smart, smart guy,” he said.

Biden’s remarks echoed those made during his presidential campaign, and come days after the first high-

level, in-person talks between U.S. and Chinese officials under his administration in Alaska, where combative public statements laid bare the depth of tensions between the rivals.

U.S. President Joe Biden gestures as he answers a question during his first formal news conference as

president in the East Room of the White House in Washington, U.S., March 25, 2021. REUTERS/Leah

Millis

Biden said he would work with U.S. allies to hold China accountable for its actions on Taiwan, Hong

Kong, the South China Sea, and its treatment of the Uighur minority, as well as push Beijing to stick to

international rules for fair trade.

He said he told Xi during a two-hour conversation after taking office: “As long as you and your country continue to so blatantly violate human rights, we are going to continue in an unrelenting way to call it to

the attention of the world, and make it clear, make it clear, what’s happening. And he understood that.”

Failing to do so, as happened under former President Donald Trump, would undermine America’s credibility, Biden said.

“The moment a president walks away from that, as the last one did, is the moment we begin to lose our legitimacy around the world. It’s who we are,” he said.

Biden, who plans to unveil a multi-trillion-dollar infrastructure proposal next week, said he would ensure

increased U.S. investment in promising new technologies, such as quantum computing, artificial intelligence and biotechnology.

He said he aimed to return U.S. investment in research and technology development closer to the 2% of

GDP invested in the 1960s from the current rate of about 0.7%.

“The future lies in who can, in fact, own the future as it relates to technology, quantum computing, a whole range of things, including in the medical fields,” he said.

“We are going to make real investments,” he said, noting that China spending three times more than the United States on infrastructure.

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-biden-china/biden-says-china-wont-surpass-u-s-as-global-

leader-on-his-watch-idUSKBN2BH2ZE

Biden warns of responses if North Korea escalates, but open to

diplomacy By David Brunnstrom, Jarrett Renshaw 5 M I N R E A D

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Joe Biden said on Thursday the United States remained open to

diplomacy with North Korea despite its ballistic missile tests this week, but warned there would be responses if North Korea escalates matters.

U.S. President Joe Biden answers a question as he holds his first formal news conference as president in

the East Room of the White House in Washington, U.S., March 25, 2021. REUTERS/Leah Millis

Biden told his first White House news conference the missile tests by Pyongyang violated U.N. resolution

1718, a 2006 measure through which the world body imposed sanctions on North Korea for missile and nuclear tests.

“We are consulting with our allies and partners, and there will be responses if they choose to escalate. We will respond accordingly,” Biden said.

“I’m also prepared for some form of diplomacy, but it has to be conditioned upon the end result of denuclearization,” he added, referring to the U.S. effort to persuade North Korea to give up its nuclear weapons.

Shortly after Biden’s remarks, the U.S. mission to the United Nations said the U.N. Security Council’s North Korea sanctions committee would meet on Friday, at the request of the United States, to discuss the

North Korean launches.

The move suggested a measured response by Biden’s administration to the first tests since he took office in January, given that the meeting will be at a lower level than one held after North Korea last tested

ballistic missiles a year ago.

North Korea launched two ballistic missiles into the sea near Japan on Thursday, underscoring steady progress in its weapons program and ramping up pressure on Biden’s administration even as it reviews its North Korea policy.

After Biden spoke, North Korea’s state media said the tests were of a “newly developed new-type tactical guided projectile” and that the pair of weapons accurately hit a target 600 km (370 miles) away.

A DV E RT I S EM E NT

A spokesman for the U.S. State Department condemned the launches as “destabilizing” and said North Korea’s nuclear and ballistic missile programs constituted serious threats to international peace and

security. The tests came just days after North Korea fired several cruise missiles in an exercise that Biden had played down as “business as usual”.

Asked on Thursday if he agreed that North Korea was the top foreign policy issue he faced, Biden

replied: “Yes.”

The Biden administration says it is in the final stages of a policy review after former President Donald Trump’s unprecedented engagement with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, which failed to persuade

Pyongyang to give up its nuclear weapons.

The current administration has been simultaneously signaling a hard line on human rights, denuclearization and sanctions, while making diplomatic overtures that administration officials say have

been rebuffed by Pyongyang.

Analysts say the North Korean tests were likely a response to joint U.S. and South Korean military drills and Blinken’s recent visit to Japan and Korea, during which he criticized North Korea’s human rights record.

Victor Cha, a former White House official now at the Center for Strategic and International Studies think tank, said the scale of the North Korean tests had been measured so far compared with those at the start of

the Obama and Trump administrations.

Cha said they could be a tactic aimed at extracting concessions for a return to the negotiating table.

Joel Wit, a fellow with 38 North, a Washington-based North Korea monitoring project, said some

observers had predicted North Korean might return to testing intercontinental ballistic missiles, something is has not done since 2017.

“This falls far short of that,” he said.

Jenny Town, the director of 38 North, said Biden’s reference to denuclearization could explain why North Korea had ignored his administration’s overtures.

She said his language ignored principles set out in a joint declaration agreed between Trump and Kim at

their first summit in Singapore in 2018, “that gave equal priority to peace building, normalization of relations and working toward denuclearization.”

“Bringing the focus of negotiations back to solely the nuclear issue is a step backward in diplomatic

terms,” she said.

Biden called Kim Jong Un a “thug” during his election campaign, and said he would only meet him “on the condition that he would agree that he would be drawing down his nuclear capacity to get there.”

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-northkorea-missiles-biden/biden-warns-of-responses-if-north-

korea-escalates-but-open-to-diplomacy-idUSKBN2BH2Z2

US, Europe, NATO close ranks to counter ‘aggressive’ China

ByTHE ASSOCIATED PRESS

MARCH 26, 2021

BRUSSELS—The United States and European countries are closing ranks to respond to what the US calls “aggressive and coercive” behavior by China, days after the US and its allies launched coordinated sanctions against Chinese officials accused of rights abuses in the far-western Xinjiang region.

Secretary of State Antony Blinken said on Wednesday that he wants to work with the US’s partners on “how to advance our shared economic interests and to counter some of China’s aggressive and coercive actions, as well as its failures, at least in the past, to uphold its international commitments.”

Blinken agreed in talks with senior European Union officials on the launch of what EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell described as an EU-US dialogue on China “to discuss the full range of related challenges and opportunities.”

“We share an assessment of China’s role as a partner, as a competitor, and a systemic rival,” Borrell told reporters after their meeting in Brussels, where Blinken has been underlining the importance that alliances and international partnerships play for the Biden administration.

Earlier, at NATO headquarters, Blinken said “when we are acting together, we are much stronger and much more effective than if any single one of us is doing it alone.” He noted that alone the US accounts for about 25 percent of global GDP, but up to 60 percent with its allies in Europe and Asia. “That’s a lot harder for Beijing to ignore,” he said. On Monday, the US, EU, Britain and Canada imposed asset freezes and travel bans on a group of officials in Xinjiang. China retaliated by slapping sanctions on 10 Europeans, including lawmakers and academics, and four institutions. Beijing said they had damaged China’s interests and “maliciously spread lies and disinformation.”

Initially, China denied the existence of camps detaining Uyghur Muslims in Xinjiang but has since described them as centers to provide job training and to re-educate those exposed to extremists. Chinese officials deny all charges of human rights abuses there.

Blinken said at NATO that Beijing’s retaliatory sanctions “make it all the more important that we stand firm and stand together, or risk sending the message that bullying works.”

But views on the way that business and trade should play out differ across the Atlantic.

The EU is China’s biggest trading partner but they are also economic competitors. As Beijing has become more assertive in recent years, the 27-nation bloc has struggled to balance its commercial interests with a country that it sees as “a systemic rival” and has human rights concerns about.

The two sealed a major investment agreement in December giving European businesses about the same level of market access in China as those from the United States. It was announced just weeks before President Joe Biden took office and raised some concerns that the Europeans were undercutting Biden’s leverage as he looked to take a tougher line on China.

But Blinken said “the United States won’t force our allies into an ‘us-or-them’ choice with China.” He warned of Beijing’s threatening behavior, but said “that doesn’t mean countries can’t work with China where possible, for example on challenges like climate change and health security.”

In terms of China’s military aggressiveness, Blinken noted its “efforts to threaten freedom of navigation, to militarize the South China Sea, to target countries throughout the Indo-Pacific with increasingly sophisticated military capabilities. Beijing’s military ambitions are growing by the year.”

NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said the military alliance does not “regard China as an adversary, but of course the rise of China has direct consequences for our security.” He noted that China is investing heavily in military equipment, including nuclear-capable missiles.

“More importantly, China is a country that doesn’t share our values. We see that in the way they deal with democratic protests in Hong Kong, how they suppress minorities in their own country, the Uyghurs, and also how they actually try to undermine the international rules-based order,” Stoltenberg said.

https://businessmirror.com.ph/2021/03/26/us-europe-nato-close-ranks-to-counter-aggressive-china/

US Secretary of State Blinken says West needs to cooperate more than ever

Blinken won European Union support on Wednesday for a US plan to confront Chinese power

together through a formal dialogue that Beijing had hoped to avoid.

Reuters, Brussels

PUBLISHED ON MAR 25, 2021 06:12 PM IST

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said on Thursday that cooperation between allies

was more important than at any time in recent history and that relations with NATO and

the European Union would be crucial to overcoming challenges.

Speaking on the last day of his three-day visit to Brussels, Blinken continued what many

European officials said was a charm offensive to win back the support of allies sidelined

during four abrasive years under US President Joe Biden's predecessor Donald Trump.

"I came here very much with one particular focus in mind, and that was to make clear

the United States' determination to revitalise our alliances and partnerships," Blinken

said alongside Belgium's Foreign Minister Sophie Wilmes.

He later told U.S. diplomats in Brussels he wanted to mend and "modernise"

relationships to focus on new challenges, which he has listed as China's rise, Covid-19,

climate change, a newly assertive Russia and keeping a technological edge on rivals.

"There's a greater premium than any time since I've been involved in these issues, on

finding ways to work together, again," said Blinken, a long-time Biden confidant involved

in U.S. foreign policy for decades.

Blinken won European Union support on Wednesday for a U.S. plan to confront

Chinese power together through a formal dialogue that Beijing had hoped to avoid,

praising EU officials who Trump actively sought to undermine.

"A basic tenet of the Biden-Harris administration is consulting with our friends, early and

often," Blinken said.

Biden will address EU leaders via video conference later on Thursday, the first such

gesture since President Barack Obama did so in 2009.

Issues remain, however, including Turkey's purchase of Russian missiles and

discussions with Moscow to buy more, and the Nord Stream 2 pipeline under

construction between Russia and Germany, which Blinken reiterated that Washington

opposes.

"Some of our allies are moving in the wrong direction," he said on Wednesday, referring

to backsliding on democracy in Hungary, Poland and Turkey, although he did not name

countries.

He stressed that alliances need to serve U.S. interests and that NATO allies must help

pay for their own security, saying: "We can't sustain effective alliances without showing

how they deliver for the American people."

But China's decision on Monday to retaliate strongly against Western sanctions over

human rights abuses has appeared to bring Europe and the United States closer

together. European governments have summoned Chinese envoys to explain measures

against EU nationals that were seen as going far beyond what Brussels imposed.

"We're convinced that it is (through) enduring relationships, like the one between our

countries, and like the ones that exist through the European Union and through NATO

... that we can overcome any of these challenges," Blinken said.

https://www.hindustantimes.com/world-news/us-secretary-of-state-blinken-says-west-needs-to-

cooperate-more-than-ever-101616675386031.html

U.S. says promoting chip cooperation with Taiwan is a priority By Reuters Staff 3 M I N R E A D

TAIPEI (Reuters) - The United States and Taiwan are natural partners when it comes to semiconductors

and promoting this cooperation is a U.S. priority, the de facto U.S. ambassador in Taiwan said on

Thursday.

Washington has increasingly viewed tech-powerhouse and democratically ruled Taiwan as a key part of

its strategy to shift global supply chains away from China, especially when it comes to technology and

chip companies.

Speaking at the groundbreaking ceremony for a new chip fabrication plant for Powerchip Semiconductor

Manufacturing Corp in central Taiwan, Brent Christensen, director of the American Institute in Taiwan

(AIT), said he was there “to restate the U.S. government’s focus on supply chain security”.

“Both President Biden and President Tsai have rightly identified the semiconductor industry as a key

strategic priority, not only for economic innovation, but also national security,” he said, according to a transcript of his comments provided by his office.

Christensen pointed to last year’s launch of the U.S.-Taiwan Economic Prosperity Partnership Dialogue

as a way the two can “build a coalition to counter the PRC’s unfair economic and investment policies”, referring to the People’s Republic of China.

“The United States and Taiwan are the globe’s most natural partners in the semiconductor supply chain

with an abundance of companies across the value chain, and it will continue to be an AIT priority to

support this cooperation.”

Taiwan President Tsai, attending the same event, said she would guarantee that the government will

fully support the development of the semiconductor industry, describing it as a “mountain range protecting the country”.

Taiwan’s central role in producing chips has shot into focus during the COVID-19 pandemic, with soaring

demand for laptops, tablets and other equipment to power the work-from-home trend benefiting firms

like Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co Ltd (TSMC), the world’s largest contract chipmaker.

Foreign governments and companies have also beseeched Taiwan to help resolve a shortage of auto

chips which have idled factories around the world.

U.S. companies are not standing still either, and this week Intel Corp announced a $20 billion plan to

expand its advanced chip manufacturing capacity.

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-taiwan-usa-semiconductors/u-s-says-promoting-chip-cooperation-

with-taiwan-is-a-priority-idUSKBN2BH0JY

As US puts heat on China, Japan under pressure to

side with Taiwan

• Japan’s long-held ambiguity towards Taiwan has enabled it to keep official ties with Beijing, while staying in favour with Taipei

• US pressure, concerns over Beijing’s perceived aggression and a shared history with its island neighbour mean Japan may need to make its position clear

For decades, Japan’s security relationship with Taiwan has been left deliberately vague. But in the wake

of the recent visit to Tokyo of the US secretary of state and the secretary of defence, during which security and the rise of China dominated the agenda, Japan’s leaders are likely to come under pressure to make their stance more explicit. Japan’s ambiguity has until now enabled it to enjoy cordial relations with both Beijing and Taipei. Tokyo officially accepts Beijing’s ‘One China’ principle – that mainland

China and the island of Taiwan are both part of the same country – and consequently has formal

diplomatic relations with Beijing and not Taipei. However, on an unofficial level, ties between Japan and

Taiwan are strong, due to shared history and cultural values.

While in the past Japan could get by with this ambiguity, experts say a confluence of factors – including growing pressure from the US, shared security concerns over Beijing’s perceived aggression towards Taiwan, and a Japanese public that is largely sympathetic to its island neighbour – is putting Tokyo under pressure to clarify its stance.

https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/3126796/us-puts-heat-china-japan-under-pressure-

side-taiwan

U.S. and Britain blacklist Myanmar military-controlled

companies By Reuters Staff 5 M I N R E A D

WASHINGTON (Reuters) -The United States and Britain imposed sanctions on conglomerates controlled

by Myanmar’s military on Thursday, following the generals’ Feb. 1 coup and deadly crackdown, with Washington calling it a response to “abhorrent violence and abuses.”

FILE PHOTO: Firecrackers explode as protestors take cover behind a barricade during a demonstration

against the military coup in Mandalay, Myanmar March 21, 2021. REUTERS/Stringer

The U.S. Treasury department said its sanctions targeted Myanma Economic Holdings Public Company

Ltd (MEHL) and Myanmar Economic Corporation Ltd (MEC).

Britain imposed similar sanctions on MEHL, citing the Myanmar military’s serious human rights violations against Rohingya Muslims.

Representatives for the two entities, which control big sections of the Myanmar economy, had no immediate comment on when Reuters reported on Wednesday the sanctions were expected.

Thursday’s actions were the most significant by far against the business interests of Myanmar’s military, which range from beer and cigarettes to telecommunications, tires, mining and real estate.

Shortly after the announcement, the State Department condemned the continued use of lethal force by

authorities in Myanmar over the weekend that resulted in the deaths of at least 27 people, including several children.

“These abhorrent and brutal acts against children, one as young as seven years old who was shot and

killed in her home while sitting on her father’s lap, further demonstrate the horrific nature of the Burmese military regime’s assault on its own people,” department spokesman Ned Price said in a statement.

Washington’s move freezes any assets held by the entities in the United States and is the lates t in a series

of sanctions following the military takeover that have targeted Myanmar’s central bank as well as top generals.

The designation prohibits American companies or citizens from trading or conducting financial

transactions with those listed.

Since almost all dollar payments clear through U.S. financial institutions, the move effectively kicks blacklisted companies out of the American banking system.

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said the Myanmar military “have taken increasingly disturbing actions aimed at their own citizens since February 1.”

“These actions will specifically target those who led the coup, the economic interests of the military, and the funding streams supporting the Burmese military’s brutal repression,” he said. “They are not directed at the people of Burma.

“The United States and the UK have shown that we will follow through on our pledges to promote accountability for the coup and the abhorrent violence and other abuses we have seen in recent weeks,” Blinken said.

At a U.S. Senate hearing, Senator Ed Markey, Democratic chairman of the Asia subcommittee, said he

welcomed the latest sanctions but called for more.

“More must be done to deny the army its economic lifeline and to deny it the weapons of war. The United States should play a leading role in urging our partners and allies, including members of ASEAN, to take

steps to cut off funding for the military,” he said, referring to the Association of Southeast Asian Nations.

Human rights groups welcomed the U.S. move but also urged more steps.

Human Rights Watch said the sanctions would create significant difficulties for the conglomerates in

doing business with outside companies.

“This is a very important step but it is not the biggest economic sanction that could be implemented,” said the group’s Asia advocacy director, John Sifton, adding that Washington should also target Myanmar’s revenues from natural gas joint ventures with international companies.

Global Witness urged the European Union to also impose sanctions on the military’s business interests, and said Britain should follow the United States in targeting MEC.

In announcing the sanctions, the United States issued several licenses providing exemptions for official U.S. government transactions and those of international and nongovernmental organizations. One license authorized transactions necessary to wind down business involving MEC and MEHL or any entity they

own, until June 22.

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-myanmar-politics-usa-sanctions/u-s-blacklists-two-myanmar-

military-controlled-companies-u-s-treasury-idUSKBN2BH1VM

The secret network helping hundreds of Myanmar police

flee to India By Devjyot Ghoshal 1 0 M I N R E A D

AIZAWL, India (Reuters) - Strung across remote mountain settlements, a secret network of activists and

volunteers is helping spirit hundreds of defecting Myanmar policemen away from the military’s brutal crackdown on dissent and into relative safety in a small northeastern Indian state.

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Their escape - by car, motorcycle and on foot through densely forested terrain - is often guided by

volunteer-led groups on both sides of the border, according to accounts from at least 10 people who are involved in the loose-knit network or have used it to cross the border. Once in India, local activists and residents provide food and shelter in safe houses, the people said.

Some police personnel have said they fled Myanmar because they feared persecution after refusing to obey the military junta’s orders to shoot protesters.

More than 1,000 people fleeing violence in Myanmar have crossed into neighbouring India’s Mizoram state since late February, according to Indian lawmaker K. Vanlalvena, Reuters has reported. That includes about 280 Myanmar police and more than two dozen fire department personnel, according to a senior police official in Mizoram.

The tools used by members of the network are simple: social media messaging apps, mobile phone SIM cards from both countries, hardy jeeps and a knowledge of smuggling routes along the Tiau River, a narrow ribbon of water flowing between sparsely populated mountains that separate India and Myanmar.

Several police personnel told Reuters they feared imprisonment if caught fleeing by Myanmar authorities.

“It is a matter of life and death,” said a 29-year-old activist named Puia, who has been assisting people

arriving from Myanmar in eastern Mizoram’s Champhai town, a seven-hour drive away from the state’s capital of Aizawl. He asked to be identified by only part of his name.

More than 280 people have been killed in Myanmar amid a wave of protests in the southeast Asian

country demanding the return of the civilian government led by elected leader Aung San Suu Kyi, according to figures from the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners (AAPP) activist group. The group says thousands of people have been detained since the military staged a coup on Feb. 1.

On Wednesday, the junta freed hundreds of people who had been arrested during the crackdown on demonstrations, according to witnesses and the AAPP.

Myanmar’s military, officially known as the Tatmadaw, didn’t respond to a request for comment.

The junta earlier this week accused anti-coup protesters of arson and violence while also expressing sadness for the deaths of what it said were 164 demonstrators. It added that it would use the least force

possible to quell violence.

Myanmar’s military has said a Nov. 8 election won by Suu Kyi’s party was fraudulent - an accusation the country’s electoral commission has rejected. Military leaders have declared a state of emergency. They

have promised a new election but have not set a date.

The influx from Myanmar could pose a diplomatic challenge for India, which has close relations with the Tatmadaw.

The arrivals from Myanmar have also generated some disagreement between India’s federal government, which wants to keep them out, and Mizoram’s state administration that is keen to provide assistance in line with local sentiment. Tribes in Mizoram share close ties with Myanmar’s Chin community, which is

dominant in the areas bordering the Indian state.

The Indian foreign ministry and the Mizoram state government didn’t respond to requests for comment.

https://www.reuters.com/article/myanmar-politics-india-refugees/the-secret-network-helping-

hundreds-of-myanmar-police-flee-to-india-idUSKBN2BH0O0

Nine more protesters in Myanmar killed, Britain and U.S.

impose sanctions on military busineses By Reuters Staff 6 M I N R E A D

(Reuters) -The United States and Britain turned up the international pressure on Myanmar’s ruling junta on Thursday by blacklisting military-controlled businesses, but troops reportedly shot dead nine more protesters in the generals’ campaign to crush dissent.

Protesters release red balloons during a protest against the military coup in Yangon, Myanmar, March

24, 2021. REUTERS/Stringer

Thousands of people held protests against last month’s coup in the commercial capital Yangon and other cities and towns on Thursday, according to witnesses and social media posts.

“Are we united? Yes we are,” protesters shouted in Monywa. “The revolution must prevail.”

Myanmar has been rocked by almost daily protests since the army overthrew Aung San Suu Kyi’s elected government on Feb. 1 and installed the junta. Suu Kyi and other members of her National League for Democracy (NLD) are being held in detention.

At least 320 people have been killed in the subsequent crackdown as of Thursday evening, according to figures compiled by the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners (AAPP) activist group.

In Washington, the U.S. Treasury Department announced new sanctions targeting Myanma Economic

Holdings Public Company Limited (ed. correct) and Myanmar Economic Corporation Limited.

Both are part of a vast military-controlled network which spans a variety of sectors from mining to tourism and has enriched the generals. Representatives for the two entities had no immediate comment.

Washington’s move freezes any assets held by them in the United States. It also prohibits U.S. companies or citizens from trading or conducting financial transactions with those listed.

“These actions will specifically target those who led the coup, the economic interests of the military, and

the funding streams supporting the Burmese military’s brutal repression,” U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in a statement.

“They are not directed at the people of Burma.”

In a move coordinated with the United States, former colonial power Britain said it would target Myanma Economic Holdings Ltd, citing human rights violations against civilians and its association with senior

military figures.

Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab said the sanctions would help to drain the sources of finance for the military’s campaigns of repression.

Earlier U.S. measures had hit individuals linked to the coup, while junta leader and army commander General Min Aung Hlaing was already blacklisted due to previous human rights issues.

The European Union announced sanctions on 11 individuals on Monday and is expected to target the

conglomerates soon.

But although many foreign governments have condemned the military’s actions, Thomas Andrews, special U.N. rapporteur on human rights in Myanmar, said the diplomatic response was slow and “out of step with the scale of the crisis”.

Conditions in Myanmar were deteriorating and likely get much worse without an “immediate, robust, international response in support of those under siege,” he said, calling for an emergency summit on the

crisis.

Protests against the miitary resumed on Thursday after a silent strike on Wednesday left normally bustling areas of commercial hubs like Yangon and Monywa virtually deserted.

The AAPP recorded nine deaths of protesters at the hands of the security forces on Thursday - in Yangon’s Thingangyun township, Khin-U town in Sagaing Region, Mohnyin town in Kachin State, and Taunggyi City in Shan State.

Other media outlets reported at least seven protesters were wounded when security forces opened fire in various places. Reuters could not independently verify the reports.

The military was trying to stifle protests before Armed Forces Day on Saturday, the AAPP said. A

military spokesman did not respond to calls seeking comment.

Candle-lit vigils took place across the country again overnight, photographs on social media showed.

Residents said that after dark on Thursday, soldiers raided Yangon’s Mingalar Taungnyunt district and arrested people still on the streets after curfew. Residents heard bangs that could be either stun grenades or gunfire although there was no protest in the area, they said.

One Yangon resident said soldiers had shot at his building every night this week and checked houses they deemed suspicious.

“Even if they find nothing, they take everything they want,” he told Reuters.

Although the junta has shown little sign of reversing course, on Wednesday it freed hundreds of people who had been rounded up and imprisoned in the crackdown. Nearly 3,000 people have been arrested since

the coup, AAPP said.

The junta has tried to justify the takeover by saying a Nov. 8 election won by Suu Kyi’s NLD was fraudulent - an accusation the electoral commission has rejected. Military leaders have promised a new

election but have not set a date and have declared a state of emergency.

Suu Kyi, who won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1991 for her campaign to bring democratic civilian rule to Myanmar, has been in detention since the coup and faces charges that her lawyer says have been cooked

up to discredit her.

Singapore’s Foreign Minister Vivian Balakrishnan met his Indonesian counterpart in Jakarta on Thursday and said both countries were “very distressed” by the situation in Myanmar. He had visited Malaysia and

Brunei earlier in the week.

Malaysia and Indonesia are seeking an urgent meeting of Southeast Asia’s ASEAN regional grouping, of which Myanmar is a member, to discuss the crisis.

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-myanmar-politics/four-killed-by-myanmar-security-forces-as-

thousands-hold-street-protests-reports-idUSKBN2BH079

Some Australians return home as others evacuated

in floods crisis By Renju Jose, Jonathan Barrett 4 M I N R E A D

SYDNEY (Reuters) -Australians hit by devastating floodwaters began returning to their homes on Thursday as skies cleared and authorities accelerated clean-up efforts, though fresh evacuation orders were issued in some areas where water levels were still rising.

Relentless rains for five straight days - the worst downpour in more than half a century - burst river banks, inundating homes, roads, bridges and farms and cutting off entire towns in Australia’s east. More than 40,000 people were forced to move to safe zones and two men were killed after their cars became trapped in floodwaters.

Water continued to flow from overloaded dams and rivers on Thursday, particularly in New South Wales state, leading authorities to urge caution.

“Even though the sun is now shining, the danger has not passed,” the Australian Bureau of Meteorology said in a statement.

Rising floodwaters from the Mehi river split Moree, a regional town 650 kms (404 miles) northwest of Sydney, into two, emergency services said.

Moree resident Jaimee Maunder said the main road into the town had been cut, and that she had not been able to leave her home since the flooding intensified on Tuesday.

“We got some supplies before the floods hit,” Maunder told Reuters, adding that people in lower-lying areas had been evacuated to emergency facilities in the town. “You can’t drive through it, not when

The damage is more limited in the flat agricultural plains around Moree, where the drenching is expected to prime farmland ahead of the planting window next month for wheat, the country’s most important crop.

Major flooding also continues in Sydney’s western suburbs of North Richmond and Windsor, while fresh evacuation orders were issued for some areas in the centre of the state.

Still, there were some signs of relief as rescue teams, including defence force personnel, took advantage of eased conditions in several areas to clear debris and deliver supplies.

“The best advice I’ve received this morning is that most of the river systems we believe have peaked,” NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian said during a televised news briefing.

“And now we are considering ... which communities are able to return back in the next few days, and we just ask for everybody’s patience.”

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-australia-weather/some-australians-return-home-as-others-

evacuated-in-floods-crisis-idUSKBN2BG3G5

Paraguay says Chinese vaccine offers tied to dumping Taiwan

Like many nations, Paraguay faces an uphill battle to procure coronavirus vaccines. But its quest is being complicated by fraught relations between China on one side, and Taiwan and the U.S. on the other.

The Paraguayan government has been approached with offers of Chinese-made vaccines in exchange for breaking ties with Taiwan, the country’s foreign ministry said in a statement earlier this week. The ministry said that the offers were made by individuals “whose legitimacy and ties to the government of the People’s Republic of China are not proven.”

Foreign Minister Euclides Acevedo vowed in a radio interview Monday to not bow to pressure, according to local news site Hoy. “We are not going to accept them telling us, ‘We sell the vaccines, but they break relations with Taiwan,’” Acevedo said.

Paraguay’s Foreign Ministry didn’t immediately respond to phone calls and an email seeking comment.

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying said Wednesday that she wasn’t aware of the source of the allegations, but said the country was “always honorable and above board” with its offers for vaccine support. “On the specific incident you mentioned, I think it is a typical malicious piece of disinformation,” Hua told a regular news briefing in Beijing.

The episode is the latest example of how geopolitics is infecting the global race for vaccines, with major powers dominating production and hoarding supplies. It also caused street protests against the government’s handling of the health crisis and led to opposition lawmakers unsuccessfully pushing for an impeachment last week.

Paraguay belongs to a shrinking club of 15 countries including Guatemala and Honduras that still recognize Taiwan’s government, officially known as the Republic of China, over Beijing. The 63-year-old relationship dates back to when anti-communist dictators Alfredo Stroessner and Chiang Kei-shek ruled in Asuncion and Taipei. Stroessner’s personal secretary and father of current Paraguayan President, Mario Abdo Benitez, accompanied the strongman on his visit to Taiwan in 1975.

Taiwan has provided hundreds of millions of dollars in loans and aid over the years, but Paraguay’s dogged support of Taipei has sidelined it from public works financing under China’s so-called Belt and Road initiative. While Chinese factories flood Paraguay with manufactured goods, Paraguay can’t directly sell its beef and soy to China.

China’s Communist Party claims Taiwan as its territory, despite having never ruled it, and has stepped up efforts to poach the island’s diplomatic allies since Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen’s election in 2016. Tsai, who maintains that Taiwan is already a

sovereign nation, and has sought to defend such relationships while pursing greater economic and security ties with the U.S.

‘Political manipulation’

“Vaccines should not be used as a tool for political manipulation,” Alexander Yui, director-general of Taiwan’s Department of Latin American and Caribbean Affairs, told a news briefing Tuesday. “We strongly oppose attempts by some parties to use the cutting of Taiwan-Paraguay relations as a precondition for receiving the COVID-19 vaccine from China.”

Hua, the Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman, sought to blame Taiwan for the dispute. “We urge certain people in Taiwan to stop making petty moves or create rumors or engage in political manipulation,” she said.

Paraguay has struggled to secure vaccines for its population of more than 7 million. The South American country has received just 63,000 doses since February, although it recently announced that India and Qatar had promised to supply a total of 600,000 shots. The government has reported more than 198,000 cases of COVID-19 and more than 3,800 deaths.

Paraguay’s desperate search for shots has attracted dozens of middlemen including a real estate company offering to broker vaccine deals. Many of the 35 intermediaries that have approached the health ministry have demanded multi million dollar down payments, Health Minister Julio Borba said in a radio interview.

After Panama, El Salvador and the Dominican Republic switched ties to China, the U.S. has sought to prevent further diplomatic gains for Beijing in its own backyard. U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken discussed relations with Taipei during a March 14 call with Abdo Benitez, stressing “the importance of continuing to work with democratic regional and global partners, including Taiwan, to overcome this global pandemic, combat corruption, and increase transparency and accountability.”

Ricardo Chiu, an official at Taiwan’s embassy in Asuncion, told Paraguayan media earlier this month that Taiwan would not interfere in any discussions regarding vaccines produced in China. Chiu rejected politicization of the fight against the pandemic, which he called “a human matter,” while also noting that Taiwan expected its own vaccine to be ready by June.

https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2021/03/25/world/paraguay-china-taiwan-vaccine/

Suez Canal could be blocked for weeks by 'beached

whale' ship By Yusri Mohamed, Gavin Maguire, Florence Tan 6 M I N R E A D

ISMAILIA, Egypt (Reuters) - A huge container ship blocking the Suez Canal like a “beached whale” may take weeks to free, the salvage company said, as officials stopped all ships entering the channel on Thursday in a new setback for global trade.n in 9 seconds

The 400 metre Ever Given, almost as long as the Empire State Building is high, is blocking transit in both directions through one of the world’s busiest shipping channels for oil and refined fuels, grain and other trade linking Asia and Europe.

Late on Thursday, dredgers were still working to remove thousands of tonnes of sand from around the ship’s bow.

The Suez Canal Authority (SCA) said earlier that nine tugs were working to move the vessel, which got stuck diagonally across the single-lane southern stretch of the canal on Tuesday morning amid high winds and a dust storm.

“We can’t exclude it might take weeks, depending on the situation,” Peter Berdowski, CEO of Dutch company Boskalis, one of two rescue teams trying to free the ship, told the Dutch television programme “Nieuwsuur”.

A total of 206 large container ships, tankers carrying oil and gas, and bulk vessels hauling grain have backed up at either end of the canal, according to tracking data, creating one of the worst shipping jams seen for years.

The blockage comes on top of the disruption to world trade already caused in the past year by COVID-19, with trade volumes hit by high rates of ship cancellations, shortages of containers and slower handling speeds at ports.

The world’s number one line A.P. Moller Maersk said it was considering diverting vessels around Africa’s Cape of Good Hope, adding five to six days to the journey between Asia and Europe. It said time-sensitive cargo could be sent on trains and airplanes, although no decisions had yet been made.

The SCA, which had allowed some vessels to enter the canal in the hope the blockage could be cleared, said it had temporarily suspended all traffic on Thursday. Maersk said in a customer advisory it had seven vessels affected.

Berdowski said the ship’s bow and stern had been lifted up against either side of the canal.

“It is like an enormous beached whale. It’s an enormous weight on the sand. We might have to work with a combination of reducing the weight by removing containers, oil and water from the ship, tug boats and dredging of sand.”

Dredging work to remove 15,000-20,000 cubic metres of sand surrounding the bow continued after dark on Thursday, in coordination with the team from Boskalis subsidiary Smit Salvage, the SCA said.

The dredging work, which began on Wednesday evening and has involved two dredgers, aims to return the ship to a draft of 12-16 metres at which it could be refloated, the authority said.

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-egypt-suezcanal-ship/suez-canal-suspends-traffic-as-ship-stuck-

like-beached-whale-idUSKBN2BH0BA

Are India and Pakistan really heading towards

peace?

• A ceasefire at the border, a sporting visit or two, pleasantries between prime ministers Narendra Modi and Imran Khan. It’s all looking up, isn’t it?

• Not quite, say experts. What looks like positive discussions on the Indus Water Treaty and progress in Kashmir may hide deeper disagreements

Are the winds of change finally blowing across Sir Creek, the narrow strip of water

dividing India and Pakistan?After years of tension, violence and even aerial bombings that have brought

the two countries to the brink of war, a series of moves have rekindled a hope for peace between the two

nuclear-armed nations.Last month, the two countries made a surprise announcement that their armed

forces had agreed to halt all cross-border firing across their shared border, The Line of Control.

https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/3126822/are-india-and-pakistan-really-heading-

towards-peace

Alaska summit: how China’s victim strategy will play out in its relations with the US

• The narrative has served China well in gaining benefits from other countries, but appears increasingly untenable as Beijing seeks to be treated as an equal by the US

• The Biden administration is not naive when it comes to China and is prepared to respond to its challenges with realism rather than idealism China has long described itself as a victim of foreign aggression in what it terms the “century of humiliation”, which President Xi Jinping seeks to prevent from reoccurring by achieving the Chinese

dreamof national rejuvenation.The narrative of victimhood has served China well in its diplomatic strategies to gain benefits from other countries, as well as Beijing’s justification for conditional acceptance and selective modification of the existing rules-based order.

The strategy is increasingly untenable, however, as Beijing seeks to be treated as an equal by the United States and first among equals in the Asia-Pacific. This paradox of seeking great power status while challenging previously agreed rules indicates that some in Beijing feel the victimhood approach is too effective to give up.

https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/article/3126917/alaska-summit-how-chinas-victim-strategy-

will-play-out-its

China and Russia show united front amid a hail of US-

led sanctions

• Talks between the Chinese and Russian foreign ministers reassured the world of the strength of relations as the West increases pressure on the two nations Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov’s recent two-day meeting with his Chinese counterpart Wang Yi

was announced on the same day that the Alaska talks between China and the United States kicked off. Despite speculation over the timing, Beijing has denied that Lavrov’s visit was aimed at third parties or connected to the US talks.

This was the first meeting between Lavrov and Wang since last September, when they met on the

sidelines of Shanghai Cooperation Organisation summit in Moscow and stressed Russia and China’s effective response to attacks from “extremist forces” in the US.

https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/article/3126825/china-and-russia-show-united-front-amid-

hail-us-led-sanctions

Hong Kong Isn’t an Endgame for China. It’s a Starting Point.

If its strategy works there, the CCP could decide it will work elsewhere

in the Western world.

Weifeng Zhong 19 hr ago 42 20

(Photograph by Anthony Kwan/Getty Images.)

When asked for a response to recently proposed legislation in China that would make

Hong Kong’s elections favor Beijing loyalists even more, U.S. State Department spokesman Ned Price condemned the move and said Washington would “galvanize” collective action against Beijing. A few short days later, the proposal passed into law.

While some Western nations did respond with condemnation and targeted sanctions, the

measures once again failed to dissuade China from crushing Hong Kong’s already narrowing freedom.

But assimilating Hong Kong is not Beijing’s end game. It’s the beginning—the first

domino to fall as China attempts to erode freedom globally. China is playing a long

game, one that requires the United States and its allies to consider very different policy

choices, ones that would focus on making our own democratic institutions more resilient

to infiltration, especially by China’s increasingly sophisticated influence campaign. Such a pivot to home is long overdue.

Hong Kong is a proving ground for testing China’s global influence. Until recent years, its foreign policy philosophy, as laid out by former Chinese Communist Party leader

Deng Xiaoping, was to “hide its strength and bide its time” in exchange for a peaceful rise. When President Xi Jinping came to power and threw out that philosophy, Hong

Kong was an obvious place to start. For the first time, the Chinese government had to

develop effective tactics to overturn a place with a very different political system. If those

tactics work—which from today’s vantage point, they do—the Chinese government may

conclude that the same infiltration tactics may also work elsewhere.

What tactics have likely succeeded in China’s Hong Kong operation? Those dealing with

the economy, population, and propaganda.

At the time of its handover from the United Kingdom in 1997, trade with mainland China

was a third of Hong Kong’s total trade. Today, it accounts for more than half, making

Hong Kong highly dependent on and vulnerable to China’s economic leverage. Because

of its low birth rate, any population increase that Hong Kong has seen in recent years

is almost exclusively driven by the influx of mainland citizens, many of whom bring

along their pro-Beijing values as they settle in the city. And now, after years of

takeover, more than half of Hong Kong’s media properties have close political ties to Beijing, making critical voices of the mainland few and far between.

These efforts paid off when China repeatedly and openly altered Hong Kong’s institutions. Despite massive protests that frequently made headlines, political and

business elites in Hong Kong were remarkably amenable to Beijing’s will.

What happens in Hong Kong doesn’t stay in Hong Kong. China is already starting to replicate this model in Western democracies.

https://thedispatch.com/p/hong-kong-isnt-an-endgame-for-china

From the bookshelf: ‘In the dragon’s shadow: Southeast Asia in the Chinese century’ 26 Mar 2021|John West

Southeast Asia is a region of crucial strategic importance to China. The Strait of Malacca and the South China Sea are choke points for much of its international trade. The mainland states of Southeast Asia have been closely connected with China for centuries. And Southeast Asia is one area on its periphery where China is not encircled by another great power.

With the rise of China as an economic and political power in recent decades, Southeast Asia has become a critical economic partner for China, as well as a target for China’s political influence, as well documented by Sebastian Strangio in his recent book, In the dragon’s shadow: Southeast Asia in the Chinese century.

Strangio began his career as a reporter at the Phnom Penh Post in Cambodia, and has since traveled and reported extensively across the 10 nations of ASEAN.

With some flair, he weaves stories of the rich history of the region, with a discussion of recent trends and defining issues. Recurrent themes through his country profiles are mutually beneficial economic cooperation, Chinese attempts at regional domination, pushback by regional countries and the waning influence of the US. Nowhere in the world is China’s rise more visible than in Southeast Asia, according to Strangio, due to the reality of proximity. For centuries, they were bound together by trade, tribute, movements of people, and cultural and technological diffusion. And with China’s economic renaissance, China and Southeast Asia are now tied ever more tightly together, thanks to a ‘collapse of the distance’ between the two. A network of highways, rail lines and special economic zones is breaking natural barriers with mainland Southeast Asia. And there’s a similar collapsing of distance at sea as China has built-up a world class navy.

Southeast Asia is also home to sea lanes which are critical for China’s booming trade, especially imports of crude oil. This is the basic strategic driver of China’s occupation of the South China Sea, writes Strangio, rather than claims of historic rights and traditional fishing grounds. For Southeast Asia, China’s proximity has always been a mixed blessing. The lure of prosperity coexists with fear and trepidation about what a powerful China will mean for the region’s future, especially in light of the deterioration in US–China relations. In some countries, it has reawakened memories of China’s support for communist insurgencies during the Cold War and the vexed question of its relationship with the region’s ethnic Chinese communities, according to Strangio. And China has mirrored its construction of artificial islands in the South China Sea by damming the upper Mekong River, giving

Chinese dam engineers the power of life and death over large swathes of the downstream Mekong nations.

China is not popular in Southeast Asia, and is its own worst enemy with its imperious attitude, writes Strangio. The general Chinese message to the region is that it can flourish within a Chinese orbit or languish outside. In short, China believes that Southeast Asian states should defer to its wishes. While all great powers tend to behave that way (‘great state autism’), in China’s case it may be worse as it also reflects the nature of its one-party, authoritarian system that leaves very little space for civil society. One disturbing trend has been Chinese outreach to the ethnic Chinese populations in Southeast Asia to enlist their support, which risks reawakening old fears about dual loyalties on the part of ethnic Chinese, notably in countries like Indonesia.

Nevertheless, a prosperous and stable China is in the best interests of Southeast Asia, which has good reason to maintain healthy relations with its big neighbour. China has become a vital economic partner to every nation in the region, and has been more helpful than the US for dealing with Covid-19. Despite the risks and challenges of China’s Belt and Road Initiative, it is very attractive to the region’s poorer countries for kickstarting their economies. The reality of geographic proximity makes China something that Southeast Asia can’t ignore or wish away.

https://www.aspistrategist.org.au/from-the-bookshelf-in-the-dragons-shadow-southeast-asia-in-the-

chinese-century/

What Biden’s domestic approach means for US foreign

and security policy—and for Australia

25 Mar 2021|Michael Shoebridge Since becoming US president on 20 January, Joe Biden has shown that he’s a changed animal to the vice president he was under Barack Obama. He’s learned some important lessons since then and is applying them to how he operates domestically and internationally, with some striking parallels.

What this means for Australia is starting to get clearer and creates opportunities for Australian national security and economic interests—if we can lift our speed of action and delivery.

Obama tried to bring America—and the US Congress—together and get big initiatives through using negotiation, consultation and reaching across party lines. The Affordable Health Care Act is a totemic example of this approach.

The bill was signed into law by Obama on 23 March 2010 after the enormous effort he put into working with congressional Democrats and a small number of Republicans failed in the preceding year. The law itself was a compromise that came from the failed consultations, and so achieved less than the original design.

What Biden seems to have learned from this is that big initiatives have to be driven hard, and that consultation with those who fundamentally don’t want you to succeed will likely result in big initiatives being blunted. So, even if they proceed, they do so in a way that underwhelms and underdelivers. That’s not how Team Biden wants to roll. Biden has already put forward and signed into law a US$1.9 trillion stimulus bill despite not a singleRepublican in either house voting for it. And he’s been rewarded by polls showing that 70% of American adults support the package (including 41% of Republican voters surveyed). Uncomfortable reading for Republicans in Congress, and a signal of more to come.

At the same time, Biden has made unity a signature part of every element in his administration’s priorities—starting with his inaugural address to the American people:

Few periods in our nation’s history have been more challenging or difficult than the one we’re in now … To overcome these challenges—to restore the soul and to secure the future of America—requires more than words. It requires that most elusive of things in a democracy: Unity. Unity.

But this unity is not defined by bipartisanship with congressional Republicans. It can be despite them.

Biden is now taking the same approach to an even bigger economic plan, with a multi-part package of some US$3 trillion. The first tranche will apparently ‘center on roads, bridges and other infrastructure projects and include many of the climate-change initiatives Mr Biden outlined in the “Build Back Better” plan he released during the 2020 campaign’. This tells us Biden is in a hurry because he knows speed of delivery matters. It also tells us that he’s comfortable with building support where he can, outside the normal centres, institutions and forums like Congress, and that he doesn’t intend to have delivery slowed and blunted by interminable negotiations and consultation with partners who either don’t want what he does or can’t move with the speed and momentum he sees as essential. If you are to provide company, you also need to make a contribution. Biden won’t throw away his strength as a pragmatic negotiator, but he also won’t lose focus on outcomes. This is the same method Team Biden is using internationally. And it’s what seems best described as ‘fast multilateralism’. The Quad leaders’ meeting is an example. Biden sought unity on things that matter, with speed of delivery a key factor. That explains the Quad focus on vaccine production, financing and delivery in the Indo-Pacific, with Southeast Asia and the Pacific as focuses. And it explains why taking risk out of critical supply chains, notably for high-technology items, was also at the heart of the Quad agenda. One reason Biden will have chosen the Quad as the right grouping for this work is that, while it’s brand new as a leaders’ forum, it has the unity and sense of urgency these challenges require. There’s a similar ‘fast multilateralism’ in US preparation for engagement with China: Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin made sure they consulted with Japan and South Korea, and built on Biden’s Quad discussions and early calls to allied and partner leadership to set the scene for the Alaska meeting with China.

https://www.aspistrategist.org.au/what-bidens-domestic-approach-means-for-us-foreign-and-security-

policy-and-for-australia/

Satellite photos show China's construction on Subi Reef while ships swarm Julian Felipe Reef Patricia Lourdes Viray (Philstar.com) - March 25, 2021 - 12:46pm MANILA, Philippines — While Chinese militia ships swarm Julian Felipe Reef, Beijing continues its construction on Subi Reef in the West Philippine Sea.

Satellite images released by US-based Simularity showed significant construction activity by China on Subi Reef, located just 13 nautical miles from Pag-asa Island, between November 2020 and March 2021.

The report noted that most of the changes observed in the concerned areas are mostly land-related reshaping or reconfiguration.

https://www.philstar.com/headlines/2021/03/25/2086919/satellite-photos-show-chinas-construction-subi-reef-while-ships-swarm-julian-felipe-reef

Philippines, Vietnam press China over vessels massing in South China Sea

By Reuters Staff 3 M I N R E A D

MANILA (Reuters) - Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte expressed concern to China’s ambassador about Chinese vessels massing in the South China Sea, his spokesman said, as Vietnam urged Beijing to respect its maritime sovereignty.

FILE PHOTO: Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte speaks at Villamor Air Base in Pasay, Metro Manila, Philippines, February 28, 2021. REUTERS/Eloisa Lopez

International concern has grown in recent days over what the Philippines has described as a “swarming and threatening presence” of more than 200 Chinese vessels that it believes were manned by maritime militia.

The boats were moored at the Whitsun Reef within Manila’s 200-mile exclusive economic zone.

“The president said we are really concerned. Any country will be concerned with that number of ships,” Duterte’s spokesman, Harry Roque, told a regular news conference.

Brunei, Malaysia, the Philippines, Taiwan, China and Vietnam have competing territorial claims in the South China Sea, through which at least $3.4 trillion of annual trade passes.

Roque said Duterte reaffirmed to China’s ambassador, Huang Xilian, that the Philippines had won a landmark arbitration case in 2016, which made clear its sovereign entitlements amid rival claims by China.

China’s maritime assertiveness has put Duterte in an awkward spot throughout his presidency due to his controversial embrace of Beijing and reluctance to speak out against it.

He has instead accused close ally the United States of creating conflict in the South China Sea.

China’s embassy in Manila did not respond to a request for comment on Duterte’s meeting.

On Wednesday it said the vessels at Whitsun Reef were fishing boats taking refuge from rough seas. A Philippine military spokesman said China’s defence attache had denied there were militia aboard.

Vietnam’s Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Le Thi Thu Hang on Thursday said the Chinese vessels at the reef, which Hanoi calls Da Ba Dau, had infringed on its sovereignty.

“Vietnam requests that China stop this violation and respect Vietnam’s sovereignty,” Hang told a regular briefing.

A Vietnamese coastguard vessel could be seen moored near the disputed area on Thursday, according to ship tracking data published by the Marine Traffic website.

Hang said Vietnam’s coastguard was “exercising its duties as regulated by laws”, including international law.

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-philippines-china-southchinasea/philippines-vietnam-press-china-over-vessels-massing-in-south-china-sea-idUSKBN2BH13R

Manila 'will protect' its territory in new South China Sea row Duterte asserts UN ruling, with backing from US, Japan, Australia, UK, Canada

A satellite aerial view of a set of fishing vessels at Whitsun Reef, which Manila calls the Julian Felipe Reef, on March 23 © Reuters CLIFF VENZON, Nikkei staff writer March 25, 2021 19:24 JST

MANILA -- President Rodrigo Duterte told the Chinese envoy to Manila in a meeting that the Philippines will protect its territory amid the latest spat in the disputed South China Sea, his spokesperson said on Thursday.

https://asia.nikkei.com/Politics/International-relations/South-China-Sea/Manila-will-protect-its-territory-in-new-South-China-Sea-row

PH should leverage defense pact with US amid

China intrusion in West PH Sea - analyst ABS-CBN News

Posted at Mar 25 2021 09:30 AM | Updated as of Mar 25 2021 09:50 AM

Chinese vessels are seen on March 22, 2021 in the Julian Felipe Reef in the West Philippine Sea. Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana said the "incursion" violates the Philippines' maritime rights as the vessels are encroaching into Manila's sovereign territory. Photo courtesy of the Armed Forces of the Philippines

MANILA - The Philippines should leverage its defense treaty with the United States as deterrence against China's latest incursion near Julian Felipe Reef in the West Philippine Sea, an analyst said Thursday.

"The Philippines' vessel for short-term deterrence against Chinese violence is to leverage its Mutual Defense Treaty with the US," Greg Poling, director of Asia Maritime Transparency Initiative-Center for Strategic and International Studies, told ANC.

The 1951 Mutual Defense Treaty between the US and the Philippines binds both countries to aid each other in the event of foreign aggression.

The US has said it was standing with the Philippines as it criticized China's move.

"It's certainly key that messaging from both Manila and Washington to make clear to China that we are united in this. That China can't just pick a fight with the Philippines and expects US to do nothing," he said.

But Poling noted the Philippines couldn't invoke the MDT without the Visiting Forces Agreement, which lays out the terms on the entry and visit of American troops for military exercises.

Another pact, the Enhanced Defense Cooperation Agreement, is an executive agreement forged by the 2 parties in 2014 that allows greater rotational presence of US troops in the Philippines.

President Rodrigo Duterte unilaterally cancelled the VFA last year, in an angry response to the cancellation of the US visa of his close ally Sen. Ronald Dela Rosa.

The withdrawal period has been twice extended, however, to create what Philippine officials have said is a window for better terms to be agreed.

"If there were violence against Filipinos right now, the US doesn't have any forces in the Philippines. The closest US forces are out in Okinawa, 13,000 miles from this reef. It would take us 2 days to get there," Poling said.

The Philippine government this week filed a diplomatic protest on the presence Chinese militia vessels on Julian Felipe Reef.

The reef, also known as Whitsun Reef, is a large boomerang shaped shallow coral reef at the northeast of Pagkakaisa Banks and Reefs (Union Banks), located approximately 175 nautical miles west of Bataraza, Palawan.

It is within the Philippine exclusive economic zone and continental shelf, over which the country owns exclusive right to use resources, including fish, oil and natural gas. The waters are within the South China Sea, which China claims almost entirely.

"China wants to establish de facto if not legal control over waters, seabed and airspace in different parts of South China Sea," Poling said. "It's doing that by keeping hundreds of militia boats, just swarming the area."

Poling said the Philippines should continue to seek diplomatic action against China to end its use of paramilitary forces in Philippine waters.

"This is not the way that responsible, great powers behave. This is the way that rogue states behave," he said.

https://news.abs-cbn.com/news/03/25/21/ph-should-leverage-defense-pact-with-us-amid-china-intrusion-in-west-ph-sea-analyst

Ocean conservation group urges gov't to protect

maritime resources in Julian Felipe Reef ABS-CBN News

Posted at Mar 25 2021 10:48 PM

MANILA - An ocean conservation group urged the Philippine government to ensure the protection of maritime resources in the West Philippine Sea amid the reported presence of more than 200 Chinese vessels near the Julian Felipe Reef.

In a statement, Atty. Gloria Estenzo-Ramos, vice president at Oceana Philippines, urged the Department of Environment and Natural Resources, and the Department of Agriculture-Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources, to protect the area and its maritime resources from outsiders.

"The Constitution makes the State the duty-bearer in protecting our marine wealth. The government, specifically our law enforcement agencies, the Department of Environment and Natural Resources, and the Department of Agriculture-Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources have the duty to protect our ocean, the important marine habitats and ecosystem to ensure we are able to sustainably manage our fisheries and marine resources and ensure that livelihoods of our fisherfolks are not put at risk. There is a big penalty for illegal fishers including poachers in our waters and the question is: are we implementing our law, without fear or favor?" she said.

The Julian Felipe Reef (Whitsun Reef) is within the Philippine Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) and continental shelf, over which the country owns the exclusive rights to use resources, including fish, oil and natural gas.

The West Philippine Sea covers the country's EEZ in the disputed South China Sea, where China lays expansive claims.

Over the weekend, the Philippine Coast Guard released a report revealing that 220 Chinese maritime militia vessels were sighted moored in the West Philippine Sea.

The report, which was received by the National Task Force for the West Philippine Sea (NTF-WPS), showed that the PCG counted around 220 CMM vessels massed at Julian Felipe Reef (Whitsun Reef) on March 7, 2021.

The Philippine military on Thursday said its chief Gen. Cirilito Sobejana has ordered the deployment of more Navy ships to the West Philippine Sea to beef up the country's maritime sovereignty patrols in the area, but not in the reef where Chinese militia ships were seen to avoid confrontation.

https://news.abs-cbn.com/news/03/25/21/ocean-conservation-group-urges-govt-to-

protect-maritime-resources-in-julian-felipe-reef

Philippines sends navy on ‘sovereignty patrols’ to South China Sea amid fears Whitsun Reef is

‘Scarborough Shoal 2.0’ • Military chief orders deployment to the South China Sea amid claims a Chinese militia

fleet of 200 boats has surrounded disputed Whitsun Reef • The United States has said it will back the Philippines, but China is adamant there is no

militia – only fishing vessels

Associated Pressand Raissa Robles

Published: 6:06pm, 25 Mar, 2021 Why you can trust SCMP

Chinese ships anchored at Whitsun Reef. Photo: AFP

The Philippine military has ordered more navy ships to be deployed for “sovereignty patrols” in the South China Sea, where a Chinese flotilla has surrounded a disputed reef and ignored Manila’s demand to leave the area. Philippine Defence Secretary Delfin Lorenzana has asked about 200 Chinese vessels he described as militia boats to immediately leave Whitsun Reef, a shallow coral region about 175 nautical miles (324km) west of Bataraza town in the western Philippine province of Palawan. China ignored the call, insisting it owns the offshore territory and that the vessels were sheltering from rough seas. Military chief General Cirilito Sobejana ordered the deployment of additional navy ships to strengthen the country’s “maritime sovereignty patrols” in the disputed waters, the military said on Thursday.

https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/3126997/philippines-sends-navy-sovereignty-patrols-south-china-sea-amid

EU, Canada voice their concerns on China’s ‘unilateral actions’ in the West PH Sea

Published March 25, 2021, 6:09 PM by Roy Mabasa

The European Union (EU) and Canada are the latest to join the snowballing call of the international community in denouncing China’s “unilateral actions” in the South China Sea or the West Philippines Sea following the deployment and lingering of more than 200 Chinese vessels near the Julian Felipe Reef (Whitsun Reef).

EU Foreign Minister Joseph Borrell Fontelles emphasized their position during the EU-ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations) ministerial meeting on March 23, 2021.

“We cannot allow countries to unilaterally undermine international law and maritime security in the South China Sea, thereby representing a serious threat to the peaceful development of the region,” Fontelles said.

https://mb.com.ph/2021/03/25/eu-canada-voice-their-concerns-on-chinas-unilateral-actions-in-the-west-ph-sea/

Canada slams China's actions in SCS, Julian Felipe

Reef

By Joyce Ann L. Rocamora March 25, 2021, 4:26 pm

MANILA – The Canadian government on Thursday slammed China's actions in the South China Sea, "including off the coast of the Philippines" where over 200 China-flagged vessels were sighted as early as March 7.

"Canada opposes recent Chinese actions in the South China Sea, including off the coast of the Philippines, that escalate tensions and undermine regional stability and the rules-based international order," Canadian Ambassador to the Philippines Peter MacArthur said.

anada follows the position of several other nations, such as Japan, Australia, the United Kingdom, and the United States, who also aired concerns over the current South China Sea situation.

About 220 Chinese vessels were first reported by the Philippine Coast Guard moored in line formation at the Julian Felipe Reef some 175 nautical miles off Bataraza, Palawan.

This prompted Foreign Affairs Secretary Teodoro Locsin, Jr. to fire off a diplomatic protest over the issue on March 21.

Chinese Ambassador Huang Xilian, however, maintained that the boats were only "taking shelter" in what Beijing claims as part of its administrative district.

The US Embassy in Manila, on the other hand, said the Chinese boats have been mooring in the area "for many months in ever-increasing numbers, regardless of the weather".

Meanwhile, Locsin revealed that the Chinese Embassy nearly mistook his March 21 directive to issue a diplomatic protest as an order to fire guns at the vessels.

https://www.pna.gov.ph/articles/1134873

New Zealand, EU join calls for rules-based order in

SCS

By Joyce Ann L. Rocamora March 25, 2021, 8:11 pm

RULES-BASED ORDER. Chinese fishing vessels are seen off the Julian Felipe Reef in the West Philippine Sea based on information from the maritime patrol by the AFP Western Command on March 22, 2021. The European Union (EU) and New Zealand on Thursday (March 25) joined calls to preserve a rules-based order in the South China Sea, urging all parties to adhere to the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS). (Photo courtesy of AFP)

MANILA – The European Union (EU) and New Zealand joined calls to preserve a rules-based order in the South China Sea amid the reported "lingering" presence of Chinese fishing vessels at the Julian Felipe Reef last Tuesday.

EU Ambassador to Manila Luc Veron on Thursday said the bloc "stands by rules-based order" as he stressed the need for all parties to adhere to the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS).

He also cited the statement made by High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Josep Borrell at a recent EU-Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) ministerial meeting.

"We cannot allow countries to unilaterally undermine international law and maritime security in the South China Sea, thereby representing a serious threat to the peaceful development of the region," Borrell said.

New Zealand, meanwhile, urged parties to exercise "self-restraint, resolution of disputes by peaceful means, and undertaking cooperative activities to build trust and confidence" while it echoed calls for UNCLOS adherence.

The New Zealand statement was delivered during the 28th New Zealand-Asean Dialogue last March 23, where Manila reiterated its objection over the "continued provocative presence" of Chinese fishing vessels at the Julian Felipe Reef.

The Philippines said these vessels "not only infringe upon Philippine sovereignty, sovereign rights, and jurisdiction but threatens security and stability in the region."

Japan, the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, and the United States earlier expressed concern over actions that may raise tensions in the South China Sea.

This prompted a sharp response from the Chinese Embassy in Manila, with the latest directed at the diplomats of Australia, UK, and Canada.

"Neither these diplomats understand the basic facts, nor do they have the ability to think and judge independently. But they came out with irresponsible comments, using the same scripts," it said Thursday.

"If the so-called 'facts' are false from the beginning, you couldn't be more wrong to repeat the mistakes. Understand and respect the fact before you make any comments," it added.

Chinese Ambassador Huang Xilian in a recent meeting told President Rodrigo Duterte that the Chinese vessels spotted off the Julian Felipe Reef within the country's exclusive economic zone were "seeking shelter".

The Philippine Coast Guard initially reported that around 220 Chinese fishing vessels, were sighted moored in line formation at the Julian Felipe Reef last March 7. The Armed Forces of the Philippines confirmed on March 22 that around 183 Chinese vessels linger in the same area.

The reef is a large boomerang-shaped, shallow coral reef at the northeast of Pagkakaisa Banks and Reefs (Union Reefs) located approximately 175 nautical miles west of Bataraza, Palawan. (PNA)

https://www.pna.gov.ph/articles/1134931

Japan complains over U.S. military's use of term 'East Sea' By Sakura Murakami, Josh Smith 3 M I N R E A D

TOKYO/SEOUL (Reuters) - The U.S. military landed in hot water with Japanese officials on Thursday when a spokesman used the term “East Sea” to refer to the wedge of sea between Japan, Russia, and the Korean peninsula where North Korea tested missiles earlier in the day.

“We are aware of North Korean missile launches this morning into the East Sea,” the U.S. Indo-Pacific Command spokesman Captain Mike Kafka said in the only initial official statement from the U.S. government.

North Korea launched two suspected ballistic missiles into the sea near Japan, drawing condemnation and concern from Japan, the United States, and South Korea.

The U.S. military’s use of the term “East Sea” made a splash of its own in Japan, which prefers the name “Sea of Japan”.

Deputy Chief Cabinet Secretary Manabu Sakai told a news conference that the use of East Sea was “inappropriate”.

“Japan’s stance on this issue is that ‘Sea of Japan’ is the one and only official, international name for this body of water,” he said.

“We have already made our position on this issue clear to the United States and are currently requesting a correction.”

Kafka did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The Japanese consternation highlights the challenges for the new Biden administration, which has vowed to rebuild relations with its allies in Asia.

South Korea, which was occupied by Japan from 1910-1945, argues that the area of ocean should be known by what it sees as the neutral name “East Sea”.

The sea is also the location of islets that both South Korea and Japan claim. South Korea, which administers the outcrops, calls them Dokdo while Japan calls them Takeshima.

Those are just two areas of tension between the U.S. allies.

Historical and economic disputes nearly led to South Korea scrapping, in 2019, an intelligence-sharing deal with Japan that had been backed and brokered by the United States.

Rhetoric has since cooled but the disputes can flare up unexpectedly and complicate U.S. efforts to coordinate Asia strategy.

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-northkorea-missiles-japan-usa/japan-complains-over-u-s-militarys-use-of-term-east-sea-idUSKBN2BH1F2

Japan commissions 12th Soryu-class diesel-electric attack submarine MARCH 25, 2021

The JS Toryu (SS-512), newest Soryu-class submarine of the JMSDF. Photo c/o JMSDF.

The Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force (JMSDF) has commissioned its 12th Soryu-class diesel-electric attack submarine, during ceremonies held on 24 March 2021 in Kobe, Japan and attended by State Minister for Defense Yasuhide Nakayama. The new submarine, named the JS Toryu (SS-512), was built at the Kobe Works facility of Kawasaki Heavy Industries. The ship’s name “Toryu” means “Fighting Dragon” in Nihonggo. While the submarine is the 12th ship of the class, it is the 6th Soryu-class submarine built by Kawasaki Heavy Industries, with the rest built by Mitsubishi Heavy Industries. This specific submarine is one of only two Soryu-class submarines fitted with with lithium-ion batteries, which is said to store more energy than lead-acid batteries mounted on ten of the submarines of the class. The JS Toryu had its keel laid in January 2017, and was launched on 06 November 2019. The Soryu-class submarines are 84 meters long, has a beam of 9.1 meters, and a displacement of 2,950 tons surfaced and 4,100 tons submerged. They are armed with six 533mm bow mounted torpedo tubes which employs the Japanese Type 89 heavyweight torpedo and the American UGM-84C Harpoon submarine-launched anti-ship missiles.

They are powered by two Kawasaki 12V 25/25 diesel generators, four Kawasaki Kockums V4-275R Stirling air-independent propulsion (AIP) engines, in addition to the lead-acid or lithium-ion batteries. This allows the submarine to be propelled to a maximum speed of 12 knots when surfaced and 20 knots when submerged.

https://www.asiapacificdefensejournal.com/2021/03/japan-commissions-12th-soryu-class.html

Taipei wants talks, but must watch China threat: Wu

By Lin Chia-nan / Staff reporter

The government looks forward to negotiating with Beijing on certain issues, but it cannot

ignore the threats presented by China, Minister of Foreign Affairs Joseph Wu (吳釗燮)

told lawmakers yesterday.

Wu was speaking at a meeting of the Legislative Yuan’s Foreign Affairs and National Defense Committee.

Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairman Johnny Chiang (江啟臣) asked him to explain

Taiwan’s position amid the evolving competition between the US and China.

Minister of Foreign Affairs Joseph Wu answers questions from legislators during a

meeting of the Legislative Yuan’s Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee yesterday.

Photo: CNA

Chiang described President Tsai Ing-wen’s (蔡英文) diplomatic policy as “aligning with the US and countering China,” but Wu said that it is more than that.

The government hopes to have an opportunity to negotiate with China, Wu said, without specifying what issues would be discussed.

Asked if Taiwan should side with China or the US, or act as a bridge between the two, Wu said that the government has some flexibility, but it would not change its position of prioritizing national interests.

Since US President Joe Biden took office in January, Tsai’s administration has more often conveyed the intent to communicate with Beijing, although she said in February that the Chinese government “holds the key.”

Chiang asked if Taiwan and the US would resume the Trade and Investment Framework Agreement meeting that has been suspended since October 2016.

While many US lawmakers continue to voice support for starting talks on a bilateral trade agreement, the problem is whether trade talks with Taiwan are a priority for the US administration, especially after Taiwan lifted restrictions on US pork products containing traces of ractopamine, Chiang said.

The government is working to resume the meeting, quite likely this year, Wu said.

Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Wang Ting-yu (王定宇) asked Wu

whether Biden’s administration during its first year would send high-ranking officials to visit Taiwan, as encouraged in the US’ Taiwan Travel Act.

The ministry does not rule out the possibility, but there are presently no such plans, Wu said, adding that good precedents were set last year when US officials visited.

Wang also asked if the ministry has received more requests from European lawmakers to visit, after Chinese Ambassador to France Lu Shaye’s (盧沙野) threat to French

Senator Alain Richard backfired.

Wu said that high-ranking lawmakers from many countries have expressed their intention to visit Taiwan, but added that the government would need to plan carefully due to COVID-19 prevention concerns.

https://www.taipeitimes.com/News/front/archives/2021/03/25/2003754455

Taiwan, US join forces to counteract China’s Coast Guard Law

Tensions have made quasi-military cooperation between Taiwan and US a likely outcome

By George Liao, Taiwan News, Staff Writer

2021/03/25 19:48

A Chinese Coast Guard ship (AP photo)

TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — Taiwan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) announced Thursday (March 25) that it will sign a memorandum of cooperation with the United States on coast guard cooperation Friday, Liberty Times reported.

Minister of Foreign Affairs Joseph Wu (吳釗燮), Ocean Affairs Council Minister Lee

Chung-wei (李仲威), and American Institute in Taiwan Director Brent Christensen

were all present at the announcement.

In January, China’s top legislative body, the National People’s Congress standing committee, passed the Coast Guard Law, which came into force on Feb. 1. The law encourages China’s coast guard to “take all necessary measures including the use of weapons to stop the violation and eliminate the danger” when the country's sovereign rights or jurisdiction are in "imminent danger of illegal violation."

Passage of the law, as well as China’s recent frequent movements around the disputed waters near the Diaoyutai Islands, have increased tensions in both the East China Sea and South China Sea.

U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin and Secretary of State Antony Blinken met their counterparts in Tokyo last week. At the meeting, they agreed to closely cooperate in the event of a military clash between China and Taiwan, according to Kyodo News.

In a joint statement with Japan, Austin and Blinken said, "China's behavior, where inconsistent with the existing international order, presents political, economic, military and technological challenges to the alliance and to the international community."

Japan's Defense Minister Nobuo Kishi has also hardened his position on China, saying it was possible Japan would hold joint military exercises with the U.S. around the Diaoyutai Islands. He said Japan would be resolute in using all measures to protect Japan's territories.

Tensions at sea have pushed a quasi-military cooperative framework between Taiwan and the U.S. closer to becoming a reality. Media reported Taiwan and the U.S. will sign a memorandum of coast guard cooperation Friday (March 26).

https://www.taiwannews.com.tw/en/news/4160378

U.S. and Taiwan Team Up Amid Looming China Coast Guard Threat BY JOHN FENG ON 3/25/21 AT 1:00 PM EDT

The U.S. and Taiwan plan to deepen maritime security ties in light of escalating "gray-zone" threats from China, with representatives planning to sign a new cooperation document on Friday.

Brent Christensen, the director of the American Institute in Taiwan, will attend the 40-minute event in Taipei, according to a foreign ministry bulletin.

Christensen, who was appointed to lead the de facto U.S. embassy in 2018, will be joined by Taiwan's Foreign Minister Joseph Wu for the signing of a U.S.-Taiwan coast guard memorandum of understanding.

https://www.newsweek.com/us-taiwan-team-amid-looming-china-coast-guard-threat-1578741

Taiwan says has begun mass production of long-range missile

By Ben Blanchard 3 M I N R E A D

TAIPEI (Reuters) - Taiwan has begun mass production of a long-range missile and is developing three other models, a senior official said on Thursday, in a rare admission of efforts to develop strike capacity amid growing Chinese pressure.

Slideshow ( 2 images )

China, which claims democratic Taiwan as its own territory, has stepped up military activity near the island, as it tries to force the government in Taipei to accept Beijing’s claims of sovereignty.

Taiwan’s armed forces, dwarfed by China’s, are in the midst of a modernisation programme to offer a more effective deterrent, including the ability to hit back at bases deep within China in the event of a conflict.

Taking lawmaker questions in parliament, Taiwan Defence Minister Chiu Kuo-cheng said developing a long-range attack capability was a priority.

“We hope it is long-range, accurate and mobile,” he said, adding research on such weapons by the state-owned National Chung-Shan Institute of Science and Technology had “never stopped”.

Standing next to Chiu, the institute’s deputy director Leng Chin-hsu said one long-range, land-based missile had already entered production, with three other long-range missiles in development.

Leng said it was “not convenient” for him to provide details on how far the missile could fly.

The institute, which is leading Taiwan’s weapon development efforts, has in recent months carried out a series of missile tests off its southeastern coast.

Media in Taiwan have carried images of missiles launching and instructions have been given to aircraft to stay clear of the test area, but the tests have otherwise been shrouded in secrecy.

Taiwan’s armed forces have traditionally concentrated on defending the island from a Chinese attack.

But President Tsai Ing-wen has stressed the importance of developing an “asymmetrical” deterrent, using mobile equipment that is hard to find and destroy, and capable of hitting targets far from Taiwan’s coast.

Washington, Taipei’s main foreign arms supplier, has been eager to create a military counterbalance to Chinese forces, building on an effort known within the Pentagon as “Fortress Taiwan”.

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-taiwan-defence/taiwan-says-has-begun-mass-production-of-long-range-missile-idUSKBN2BH0IT

Taiwan boosts its defences as long-range missile

goes into mass production

• Three other long-range missiles are in development, deputy head of research institute says

• Taiwan is keen to bolster its strike capabilities in the event of it coming under attack from mainland China

Taiwan’s armed forces are in the middle of a modernisation programme to offer a more effective deterrent against attack. Photo: Handout

Taiwan has begun mass production of a long-range missile and is developing three other models, a senior official said on Thursday, in a rare admission of efforts to develop strike capacity amid growing pressure from mainland China.

The island’s armed forces are in the middle of a modernisation programme to offer a more effective deterrent, including the ability to hit back at bases deep within mainland China in the event of a conflict.Beijing regards Taiwan as its own territory and has never ruled out the use of military force to “reunify” the island.

https://www.scmp.com/news/china/military/article/3126925/taiwan-boosts-its-defences-long-range-missile-goes-mass

Taiwan’s indigenous ground-based missile has far-

strike capabilities By Ching-Tse Cheng, Taiwan News, Staff Writer

2021/03/25 14:33

TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — Taiwan currently has one indigenous ground-based missile that can be used to strike enemies with precision from a long distance, while researchers are working to develop three more long-range weapons to boost the country's combat capabilities.

The Ministry of National Defense's (MND) 2021 Quadrennial Defense Review (QDR), which was recently submitted to the Legislative Yuan for review, has made clear that enhancing far-strike capabilities is Taiwan's top defense priority in the coming years. The report says the country will be able to delay the advance of a potential Chinese invasion by building more long-distance missiles and remote-controlled weapon systems.

Addressing lawmakers' questions about the QDN at the Legislative Yuan on Thursday (March 25), Leng Jin-xu (冷金緒), vice president of the National Chung-

Shan Institute of Science and Technology (NCSIST), said the country has one indigenous ground-based missile and a few weapons purchased from the U.S. for long-distance strikes. Meanwhile, the development of three other long-range missiles is currently being studied, he noted.

Since specifications of the missiles are considered sensitive military secrets, Leng said he is not at liberty to reveal the information.

Minister of Defense Chiu Kuo-cheng (邱國正) emphasized the MND is planning to

build more mobile air defense weapons with high precision. He said researchers at NCSIST have been working tirelessly to develop advanced warfare systems to ensure national security.

https://www.taiwannews.com.tw/en/news/4160098

China Has as Much More Sinister Plan for the South China Sea

The Chinese military is using the South China Sea to collect data on ongoing construction activities, to improve naval weapons and underwater communications. More importantly, what it learns in the region can be used to help the People's Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) prepare for a future conflict in the region.

by Peter Suciu

Beijing's expansion to the highly contested South China Sea has been about securing access to the region's vast natural resources including oil and gas. It holds an estimated 190 trillion cubic feet of natural gas and 11 billion barrels of oil in proved and probable reserves, with much more potentially undiscovered; but there is also an abundance of near-shore placer minerals including titaniferous magnetite, zircon, monazite, tin, gold, and chromite.

https://nationalinterest.org/blog/buzz/china-has-much-more-sinister-plan-south-china-sea-181121

No geopolitical purpose, political strings behind PLA's COVID-19 vaccine aid: spokesperson

Source: Xinhua| 2021-03-25 18:39:54|Editor: huaxia

BEIJING, March 25 (Xinhua) -- The COVID-19 vaccine assistance provided by the Chinese People's Liberation Army (PLA) to some foreign militaries is not out of any geopolitical calculation or attached to political strings, a Chinese military spokesperson said Thursday. Upon approval by the Central Military Commission, the PLA recently sent several batches of COVID-19 vaccines to the Pakistani, Cambodian, Mongolian and Philippine militaries, according to Ren Guoqiang, spokesperson for the Ministry of National Defense. This is part of China's efforts to fulfill its international commitments and make its vaccines global public goods, Ren said, adding that the move has been highly recognized and widely welcomed by the international community. Officials of the recipient countries' governments and militaries have expressed their thanks to China in multiple forms, Ren said. He said the Chinese military will further work with foreign militaries in fighting the virus, deepen practical cooperation in dealing with unconventional security threats and make new contributions to the building of a global community of health for all and to world peace and stability. Enditem

http://www.xinhuanet.com/english/2021-03/25/c_139835547.htm

China rejects U.S. allegations of militarizing South China Sea

Source: Xinhua| 2021-03-25 21:05:40|Editor: huaxia

BEIJING, March 25 (Xinhua) -- Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Hua Chunying on Thursday refuted U.S. allegations of militarizing the South China Sea and undermining the international system. In response to U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken's address at NATO headquarters in Brussels on Wednesday, Hua told a press briefing that labels like "militarizing the South China Sea" should never be pinned on China. China was not the first one to start construction or deploy necessary armaments in the South China Sea, nor is it the one to deploy the most weaponry. The United States cannot use the so-called militarization to deprive China of the right to defend its own territory, Hua said. She said it is the United States which has actually militarized the area and threatened freedom of navigation, adding that the country, over 8,300 miles from the South China Sea, has built several military bases with offensive weapons around the area, and frequently sent aircraft carriers and strategic bombers throughout the year. In his remarks, Blinken said China threatens NATO security, calling for a joint approach to counter China as the country "is working to undercut the international system" and the values the United States and its allies share. "There is only one system in the world, which is the international system with the United Nations as its core. And there is only one set of rules, which are the basic norms of international relations based on the principles of the UN Charter," Hua said. Noting that the United States has withdrawn from a number of treaties over the years, Hua said it has now wielded the stick of sanctions, and imposed unilateral and illegal sanctions on other sovereign countries. "The label of 'undermining the international system' belongs to the United States," Hua said. "We hope the United States will correctly understand itself and others, abandon zero-sum game and cold war mentality, truly learn to deal with other countries based on equality and mutual respect, and assume the important responsibilities of major powers for world peace and development," Hua said. Enditem

http://www.xinhuanet.com/english/2021-03/25/c_139835753.htm

China nuclear reprocessing to create stockpiles of weapons-level materials: experts

By Timothy Gardner 4 M I N R E A D

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - China’s push to develop fuel for a new generation of nuclear power reactors will produce large amounts of materials that could be diverted to making nuclear weapons, non-proliferation experts said on Thursday.

China is developing advanced fast reactors and reprocessing facilities as it seeks to reduce dependency on coal, which emits emissions harmful to human health and that worsen climate change. But reprocessing also produces plutonium that could be used to make nuclear weapons.

There is no evidence that China intents to divert its potential plutonium stockpile to weapons use, but concern has grown as Beijing is expected to boost its number of nuclear warheads over the next decade from the low 200s now.

“To reduce international concerns about the potential plutonium diversion issues, China needs to keep its plutonium recycling programs more transparent including timely reporting of its stockpile of civilian plutonium like they did before 2016,” Hui Zhang, a senior research associate at Harvard University’s Project on Managing the Atom, said in an email.

Zhang, a contributor to a Nonproliferation Policy Education Center report here called "China's Civil Nuclear Sector: Plowshares to Swords?", said China should also offer to have its plutonium recycling facilities monitored by the U.N.'s International Atomic Energy Agency.

He said that China has started construction here of a second plant to reprocess fuel from traditional nuclear reactors that could be commissioned before 2030.

China’s embassy in Washington did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Reprocessing of nuclear waste has not been practiced for decades in the United States after former President Jimmy Carter halted it on proliferation concerns.

The report recommended that Washington urge China to join the United States, South Korea and Japan, in sharing information on current plutonium and enriched uranium holdings and production capacities.

It also recommended that Washington explore with those countries, the possibility of taking a plutonium production timeout. Japan, South Korea, and the United States should

offer to delay their plutonium production and fast reactor programs, if China does likewise, it said.

Leaders from those countries should work to “forestall industrial scale reprocessing, which would only make the entire region, and the world, less secure,” Christopher Ford, a nonproliferation official under Donald Trump, and Thomas Countryman, who served the same role under Barack Obama, said in the report’s preface.

The U.S. State Department did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The Department of Energy which is developing a sodium-cooled fast reactor, said the plant is not designed as a breeder reactor, which produces more fissile material than it consumes. Its broader fast reactor research and development program supports designs that “incorporate nonproliferation considerations,” a DOE spokesperson said.

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-china-nuclear-plutonium/china-nuclear-reprocessing-to-create-stockpiles-of-weapons-level-materials-experts-idUSKBN2BH31P

Chinese hackers used fake Facebook accounts in

attempt to trick Uygur minority, says site

• The effort, which Facebook described as ‘highly targeted’ saw a group of hackers create fake personalities on Facebook to build relationships with Uygurs, a Muslim ethnic group in China

• Facebook’s probe found links between the hackers and two China-based tech firms but no direct links to Beijing

Facebook’s probe found links between the hackers and two China-based tech firms but no direct links to Beijing. Photo: Reuters

Hackers in China used fake Facebook accounts and impostor websites to try to break into the computers and smartphones of Uyghur Muslims, the social network said on Wednesday.

The company said the sophisticated, covert operation targeted Uygur activists, journalists and dissidents from China’s Xinjiang region, as well as individuals living in Australia, Canada, Kazakhstan, the United States, Turkey, Syria, and other nations.The hackers attempted to gain access to the computers and phones by creating fake

Facebook accounts for supposed journalists and activists, as well as fake websites and apps intended to appeal to a Uygur audience. In some cases, the hackers created lookalike websites almost identical to legitimate news sites popular with Uygurs.

https://www.scmp.com/news/china/article/3126848/chinese-hackers-used-fake-facebook-accounts-attempt-trick-uygur-minority

How Can America Fend off China's Navy in a War?

Americans shouldn't discount the island-building enterprise in Southeast Asia so blithely.

by James Holmes

Here's What You Need to Know: China is not Saddam Hussein’s Iraq, but instead a near-peer competitor vis-à-vis the United States.

It’s dangerous to live by the unexamined assumption. Exhibit A: the oft-heard claim that U.S. sea and air forces sporting precision-guided arms will make short work of military facilities on South China Sea islets. “So what?” says one Pentagon official of Beijing’s island-building project. “If China wants to build vulnerable airstrips on these rocks, let them—they just constitute a bunch of easy targets that would be taken out within minutes of a real contingency.”

RAND, too, softpedals the islands’ longevity in combat. In a generally estimable report on the correlation of forces between America and China, RAND researchers maintain that South China Sea outposts could host only “a handful of SAMs and fighter aircraft.” It’s doubtful, they say, that People’s Liberation Army (PLA) forces forward -deployed to “reclaimed” reefs or atolls would comprise “a significant factor in high-intensity military operations beyond the first hours of a conflict.” Nothing to see here, move along.

The syllogism behind such wartime prognoses seems to go like this: Island fortresses can’t stand against assault unless they’re entirely self-sufficient. China’s manmade islands aren’t self-sufficient in terms of defenses or logistics. So why fret about them?

To start with, a fundamental point: assuming away a foe’s ingenuity, martial skill, and thirst for victory ranks among the most egregious sins a strategist or tactician can commit. As military sage Carl von Clausewitz counsels, the enemy isn’t some lifeless, inert mass on which we work our will. Instead war involves a “collision of two living forces,” both intent on getting their way. “So long as I have not overthrown my opponent,” he adds, “I am bound to fear that he may overthrow me.”

https://nationalinterest.org/blog/reboot/how-can-america-fend-chinas-navy-war-180950

China's Aircraft Carriers Are Multiplying. When Will Beijing Be Satisfied?

Don't blink. Beijing could realistically have four aircraft carriers by 2022—a remarkable feat of military construction.

by Kyle Mizokami

Here's What You Need to Remember: The Chinese Navy is growing. What are they going to use it for?

The People’s Liberation Army Navy—more commonly known outside of China as the Chinese Navy—is modernizing at a breakneck pace. Chinese shipbuilders have built more than one hundred warships in the past decade, a build rate outstripping the mighty U.S. Navy. Most importantly, China now has two aircraft carriers—Liaoning and a second ship under sea trials—and a third and possibly fourth ship under construction. With such a massive force under construction it’s worth asking: where does PLA naval aviation go from here?

For most of its modern history China has been the target of aircraft carriers, not an owner of one. The Imperial Japanese Navy’s carriers conducted strikes on the Chinese mainland in support of ground campaigns in the 1930s, strikes that went a long way toward honing the service’s legendary naval aviation record. U.S. naval power protected nationalist Chinese forces at the end of the Chinese Civil War, and U.S. Navy carriers conducted airstrikes on Chinese “volunteers” during the Korean War. In 1996 during the Third Taiwan Crisis, the United States deployed a carrier battle group near Taiwan as a sign of support against Chinese military actions. It could be fairly said that aircraft carriers made a significant impression on China.

Today, China has two aircraft carriers: the ex-Soviet carrier Liaoning, and a second unnamed ship, Type 002, currently undergoing sea trials. Liaoning is expected to function strictly as a training carrier, establishing training, techniques, and procedures for Chinese sailors in one of the most dangerous aspects of naval warfare: naval aviation. Despite this, Liaoning’s three transits of the Taiwan Strait and visit to Hong Kong show the PLAN considers it perfectly capable of showing the flag.

The second ship, Type 002 (previously referred to as Type 001A) resembles Liaoning but with a handful of improvements, including an active electronically scanned array (AESA) radar the carrier’s island and a larger flight deck. Experts believe Type 002 will carry slightly more fighters than her older sibling, up to thirty J-15 jets in all. Type 002

will be the first combat-capable carrier, although the lack of a catapult means its aircraft must sacrifice range and striking power in order to take off from the flight deck.

https://nationalinterest.org/blog/reboot/chinas-aircraft-carriers-are-multiplying-when-will-beijing-be-satisfied-181075

As North Korea plots revenge over ‘spy’ extradited to US from Malaysia, assassinations and abductions may be next

• Pyongyang fears Malaysia’s extradition of Mun Chol-myong – said to be linked to the shadowy Office 39 – could give its arch enemy America a major intelligence coup

• Malaysia – mindful of the killing of Kim Jong-un’s half-brother on its soil four years ago – has raised security measures at sensitive locations

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un. Photo: DPA

When a North Korean businessman was extradited from Kuala Lumpur to the United States last week to face money laundering charges, the hermit kingdom was outraged. It responded by cutting off diplomatic ties with Malaysia while warning it would “have to bear full responsibility” and that consequences would “be incurred”.

Pyongyang’s fury is in part explained by the fact the businessman, Mun Chol-myong, 55, is the first North Korean to be extradited to the US, potentially paving the way for more such actions. Alan Kohler, assistant director of the FBI’s counter-intelligence division, has already said he hopes Mun’s extradition will be “the first of many”. But another element of its anger, according to analysts, is that Mun is a suspected spy and Pyongyang is worried over what intelligence its arch enemy America may be able to glean from him. So great is the fall out, they say, that the possibility of Pyongyang’s retribution taking the form of assassinations – possibly even of innocent civilians – cannot be ruled out. Their warnings came as South Korea’s military said on Thursday it believed the North had fired two short-range ballistic missiles into the Sea of Japan in what appeared to be the country’s first ballistic missile test during the administration of US President Joe Biden.

“I am sure the [North Korean] regime fears that he will be of great intelligence value to the US if he confesses and provides information as part of a possible plea deal,” David Maxwell, senior fellow of the Foundation For Defence of Democracies and a retired Special Forces Colonel, told This Week In Asia.

https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/3126937/north-korea-plots-revenge-over-spy-extradited-us-malaysia

Reaction to North Korea's ballistic missile launch

By Reuters Staff 8 M I N R E A D

(Reuters) - North Korea launched two ballistic missiles into the sea near Japan on Thursday, Japan’s prime minister said, fuelling tensions ahead of the Tokyo Olympics and ramping up pressure on the new Biden administration in Washington.

Here are some reactions to the launch:

DUYEON KIM, ADJUNCT SENIOR FELLOW, CENTER FOR NEW AMERICAN SECURITY IN WASHINGTON:

“In light of today’s ballistic missile test, the U.S. and South Korea should strengthen their deterrence posture to defend against these smaller missiles including returning to the normal scale and scope of joint military drills, minus U.S. strategic assets for now until there’s a bigger provocation like ICBM and nuclear tests.

“Washington doesn’t need to appear eager to talk any time soon. It should, at the least, send an unambiguous message of its commitment to allies and call for an immediate UN Security Council emergency session with the aim of enforcing existing sanctions more effectively and comprehensively and to lay the groundwork for additional sanctions if Pyongyang continues to violate UN resolutions even though we’re in a tricky situation with the pandemic. These should include secondary boycott sanctions including Chinese firms involved with illicit trade.”

ZHAO TONG, NUCLEAR POLICY EXPERT, CARNEGIE–TSINGHUA CENTER FOR GLOBAL POLICY, BEIJING:

“North Korea has great motivation to continuously develop its strategic deterrence capability. It will likely start testing shorter-range and less provocative missiles like these, and proceed gradually to test longer-range ones, even intercontinental ballistic missiles. It had displayed a series of new strategic missile systems at the last two parades, which it has not had the chance to test yet.

“The exchange of a verbal message between the Chinese and North Korean leader on Monday showed that both sides want to strengthen the relationship.

“North Korea needs the support of countries like China and Russia to circumvent international sanctions. As China faces harsher criticism from the whole western world, it is intrinsically motivated to seek international support, and North Korea has seized this chance to support China in areas where it has been criticised.”

JAMES KIM, SENIOR FELLOW AT ASAN INSTITUTE FOR POLICY STUDIES, SEOUL:

“For the North Koreans, this recent launch accomplishes many things. For one, they tested over the weekend and there wasn’t an immediate response so a follow-up is a good check to see if the allies’ intelligence, surveillance, reconnaissance, and deterrence postures are functioning properly. Secondly, the policy review in the U.S. is coming out soon and they probably want to get ahead of that to see how the U.S. responds, they might even be interested in talks.

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-northkorea-missiles-quotebox/reaction-to-north-koreas-ballistic-missile-launch-idUSKBN2BH068

North Korea missile launch tests Biden, alarms Japan ahead of Olympics

By Josh Smith, Antoni Slodkowski 7 M I N R E A D

SEOUL/TOKYO (Reuters) - North Korea launched two suspected ballistic missiles into the sea near Japan on Thursday, underscoring steady progess in its weapons programme and ramping up pressure on the new U.S. administration as it reviews North Korea policy.

The apparent tests were reported by authorities in the United States, South Korea, and Japan, and coincided with the start of the Olympic torch relay in Japan.

They would be the first ballistic missile tests by North Korea in nearly a year and the first reported since U.S. President Joe Biden took office in January.

Analysts said the latest missile tests did not mean denuclearisation diplomacy was dead, but they highlight an inconvenient truth for the U.S. administration: Pyongyang’s arsenal is advancing, posing new threats and increasing its potential bargaining power should talks resume.

“Every day that passes without a deal that tries to reduce the risks posed by North Korea’s nuclear and missile arsenal is a day that it gets bigger and badder,” said Vipin Narang, a nuclear affairs expert at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in the United States.

Thursday’s launches came just days after North Korea fired several cruise missiles in an exercise that Biden said was not provocative but “business as usual”.

The Biden administration is in the final stages of its North Korea policy review, officials have said, and has been simultaneously signalling a hard line on human rights, denuclearisation and sanctions, while making diplomatic overtures that have been rebuffed by Pyongyang.

It would be a mistake for Washington to ignore the advances in North Korea’s short-range missiles, especially after leader Kim Jong Un declared in January that his military had the technology to miniaturise nuclear warheads and place them on tactical missiles, said Markus Garlauskas, a senior fellow with the Atlantic Council and former U.S. National Intelligence Officer for North Korea.

“Downplaying North Korean ballistic missile tests will not help U.S. diplomacy with North Korea in any way, and would only encourage North Korea to further test the bounds of what the new administration can accept,” he said.

The missile launches highlight the threat North Korea’s illicit weapons programme poses to its neighbours and the international community, the United States military’s Indo-Pacific Command said in a statement.

The command said it was monitoring the situation and consulting allies. There was no official comment from the White House or State Department on the test.

North Korea typically confirms such missile tests - which it says are part of its sovereign right to self-defence - in state media the day after they happen.

Japan’s coastguard said the first missile was detected soon after 7 a.m. and flew about 420 km (260 miles), followed by a second 20 minutes later that flew about 430 km.

South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff reported that two “short-range missiles” were fired into the sea between the Korean peninsula and Japan from North Korea’s east coast.

South Korean and U.S. intelligence agencies were analysing the data of the launch for additional information, the JCS said in a statement.

Narang said even short-range ballistic missile tests would be a “step up” from the weekend cruise-missile test and allow North Korea to improve its technology while sending a proportionate response to recent U.S.-South Korea military drills.

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-north-korea-missile/north-korea-missile-launch-tests-biden-alarms-japan-ahead-of-olympics-idUSKBN2BG3CO

Timeline: North Korea's tests and summits over recent years

By Reuters Staff 5 M I N R E A D

(Reuters) - North Korea launched two ballistic missiles into the sea near Japan on Thursday ramping up tension ahead of the Tokyo Olympics and putting pressure on the new Biden administration in Washington..

FILE PHOTO: A North Korea flag flutters next to concertina wire at the North Korean embassy in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia March 9, 2017. REUTERS/Edgar Su

Following are key moments in North Korea’s missile tests and its foreign relations, in particular with the United States, over the past few years.

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-northkorea-missiles-timeline/timeline-north-koreas-tests-and-summits-over-recent-years-idUSKBN2BH0DJ

U.N. sanctions committee to meet at U.S. request

over North Korea missiles By Reuters Staff 3 M I N R E A D

NEW YORK (Reuters) - The United Nations Security Council North Korea sanctions committee is due to meet on Friday, at the request of the United States, over Pyongyang’s launch of two suspected ballistic missiles into the sea near Japan, a spokesperson for the U.S. mission to the United Nations said.

The move suggests a measured response by U.S. President Joe Biden’s administration to North Korea’s first tests since he took office in January. Attempts by the Biden administration to reach out to North Korea have so far been rebuffed, according to U.S. officials.

Earlier on Thursday, Biden said the United States remained open to diplomacy with North Korea in spite of its missile tests this week, but warned there would be responses if North Korea escalates matters.

When North Korea fired two short-range ballistic missiles a year ago, Britain, Germany, France, Estonia and Belgium raised the issue behind closed-doors in the U.N. Security Council at ambassador level and then the European members condemned the tests as a provocative action in violation of U.N. resolutions.

In contrast, the United States asked for Friday’s meeting of the sanctions committee, comprised of lower-level diplomats from the 15 council members, to discuss the latest launches.

U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres urged Pyongyang to renew its diplomatic engagement with all parties concerned and to work for peace and stability, U.N. spokesman Farhan Haq said on Thursday.

“Diplomatic engagement is the only pathway to sustainable peace and complete and verifiable denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula,” Haq said.

North Korea’s mission to the United Nations in New York did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Since 2006 North Korea has been subjected to U.N. sanctions, which the Security Council has strengthened over the years in an effort to target funding for Pyongyang’s nuclear and ballistic missile programs.

Typically, China and Russia - which along with the United States, Britain and France hold veto power on the Security Council - have viewed only a test of a long-range missile or a nuclear weapon as a trigger for further possible U.N. sanctions.

North Korea has not tested a nuclear weapon or its longest-range intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs) since 2017, ahead of an historic meeting in Singapore between leader Kim Jong Un and former U.S. President Donald Trump in 2018.

However it has maintained and developed its nuclear and ballistic missile programs throughout 2020, helping fund them with some $300 million stolen through cyber hacks, according to independent U.N. sanctions monitors.

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-northkorea-missiles-usa-un/u-n-sanctions-committee-to-meet-at-u-s-request-over-north-korea-missiles-idUSKBN2BH35H

Report on U.S.-China Competition in East, South

China Sea

March 25, 2021 9:35 AM

The following is the March 18, 2020 Congressional Research Service report U.S.-China Strategic Competition in South and East China Seas: Background and Issues for Congress.

From the report

In an international security environment described as one of renewed great power competition, the South China Sea (SCS) has emerged as an arena of U.S.-China strategic competition. U.S.-China strategic competition in the SCS formed an element of the Trump Administration’s confrontational overall approach toward China and its efforts for promoting its construct for the Indo-Pacific region, called the Free and Open Indo-Pacific (FOIP).

China’s actions in the SCS in recent years—including extensive island-building and base-construction activities at sites that it occupies in the Spratly Islands, as well as actions by its maritime forces to assert China’s claims against competing claims by regional neighbors such as the Philippines and Vietnam—have heightened concerns among U.S. observers that China is gaining effective control of the SCS, an area of strategic, political, and economic importance to the United States and its allies and partners. Actions by China’s maritime forces at the Japan-administered Senkaku Islands in the East China Sea (ECS) are another concern for U.S. observers. Chinese domination of China’s near-seas region—meaning the SCS and ECS, along with the Yellow Sea—could substantially affect U.S. strategic, political, and economic interests in the Indo-Pacific region and elsewhere.

Potential general U.S. goals for U.S.-China strategic competition in the SCS and ECS include but are not necessarily limited to the following: fulfilling U.S. security commitments in the Western Pacific, including treaty commitments to Japan and the Philippines; maintaining and enhancing the U.S.-led security architecture in the Western Pacific, including U.S. security relationships with treaty allies and partner states; maintaining a regional balance of power favorable to the United States and its allies and partners; defending the principle of peaceful resolution of disputes and resisting the emergence of an alternative “might-makes-right” approach to international affairs; defending the principle of freedom of the seas, also sometimes called freedom of navigation; preventing China from becoming a regional hegemon in East Asia; and pursing these goals as part of a larger U.S. strategy for competing strategically and managing relations with China.

Potential specific U.S. goals for U.S.-China strategic competition in the SCS and ECS include but are not necessarily limited to the following: dissuading China from carrying out additional base-construction activities in the SCS, moving additional military

personnel, equipment, and supplies to bases at sites that it occupies in the SCS, initiating island-building or base-construction activities at Scarborough Shoal in the SCS, declaring straight baselines around land features it claims in the SCS, or declaring an air defense identification zone (ADIZ) over the SCS; and encouraging China to reduce or end operations by its maritime forces at the Senkaku Islands in the ECS, halt actions intended to put pressure against Philippine-occupied sites in the Spratly Islands, provide greater access by Philippine fisherman to waters surrounding Scarborough Shoal or in the Spratly Islands, adopt the U.S./Western definition regarding freedom of the seas, and accept and abide by the July 2016 tribunal award in the SCS arbitration case involving the Philippines and China.

The issue for Congress is whether and how the Biden Administration’s strategy for competing strategically with China in the SCS and ECS will differ from the Trump Administration’s strategy, whether the Biden Administration’s strategy is appropriate and correctly resourced, and whether Congress should approve, reject, or modify the strategy, the level of resources for implementing it, or both.

https://news.usni.org/2021/03/25/report-on-u-s-china-competition-in-east-south-china-sea-7

U.S.-China Strategic Competition in South and East China Seas: Background and Issues for Congress

Updated March 18, 2021

Summary

In an international security environment described as one of renewed great power competition, the South China Sea (SCS) has emerged as an arena of U.S.-China strategic competition. U.S.- China strategic competition in the SCS formed an element of the Trump Administration’s confrontational overall approach toward China and its efforts for promoting its construct for the Indo-Pacific region, called the Free and Open Indo-Pacific (FOIP). China’s actions in the SCS in recent years—including extensive island-building and baseconstruction activities at sites that it occupies in the Spratly Islands, as well as actions by its maritime forces to assert China’s claims against competing claims by regional neighbors such as the Philippines and Vietnam—have heightened concerns among U.S. observers that China is gaining effective control of the SCS, an area of strategic, political, and economic importance to the United States and its allies and partners. Actions by China’s maritime forces at the Japanadministered Senkaku Islands in the East China Sea (ECS) are another concern for U.S. observers. Chinese domination of China’s near-seas region—meaning the SCS and ECS, along with the Yellow Sea—could substantially affect U.S. strategic, political, and economic interests in the Indo-Pacific region and elsewhere. Potential general U.S. goals for U.S.-China strategic competition in the SCS and ECS include but are not necessarily limited to the following: fulfilling U.S. security commitments in the Western Pacific, including treaty commitments to Japan and the Philippines; maintaining and enhancing the U.S.-led security architecture in the Western Pacific, including U.S. security relationships with treaty allies and partner states; maintaining a regional balance of power favorable to the United States and its allies and partners; defending the principle of peaceful resolution of disputes and resisting the emergence of an alternative “might-makes-right” approach to international affairs; defending the principle of freedom of the seas, also sometimes called freedom of navigation; preventing China from becoming a regional hegemon in East Asia; and pursing these goals as part of a larger U.S. strategy for competing strategically and managing relations with China. Potential specific U.S. goals for U.S.-China strategic competition in the SCS and ECS include but are not necessarily limited to the following: dissuading China from carrying out additional baseconstruction activities in the SCS, moving additional military personnel, equipment, and supplies to bases at sites that it occupies in the SCS, initiating island-building or base-construction activities at Scarborough Shoal in the SCS, declaring straight baselines around land features it claims in the SCS, or declaring an air defense identification zone (ADIZ) over the SCS; and encouraging China to reduce or end operations by its maritime forces at the Senkaku Islands in the ECS, halt actions intended to put pressure against Philippine-occupied sites in the Spratly Islands, provide greater access by Philippine fisherman to waters

surrounding Scarborough Shoal or in the Spratly Islands, adopt the U.S./Western definition regarding freedom of the seas, and accept and abide by the July 2016 tribunal award in the SCS arbitration case involving the Philippines and China. The issue for Congress is whether and how the Biden Administration’s strategy for competing strategically with China in the SCS and ECS will differ from the Trump Administration’s strategy, whether the Biden Administration’s strategy is appropriate and correctly resourced, and whether Congress should approve, reject, or modify the strategy, the level of resources for implementing it, or both.

https://assets.documentcloud.org/documents/20522334/us-china-strategic-competition-in-south-and-east-china-seas-background-and-issues-for-congress-march-18-2021.pdf

Defense Innovation Leader Stresses Importance of U.S., China Technology Race

M A R C H 2 5 , 2 0 2 1 | B Y T E R R I M O O N C R O N K , D O D N E W S

As a pacing threat, China has a well-integrated, systematic, long-term strategy to make sure it's doing the most to achieve its goal to be No. 1 in the world in technology, the director of the Defense Innovation Unit told the National Defense Industrial Association, Tuesday. "We're not entering a new Cold War," said Michael Brown in a virtual, keynote address to NDIA's National Security Artificial Intelligence Conference and Exhibition.

What he thinks is different from the former Cold War starts with China's economic scale. China clearly has the potential to overtake the U.S. in terms of economic scale because its population is four times as large, Brown said.

The other key difference is China is well-integrated into the global economic system, he said.

"That's part of the reason they've risen so dramatically economically, and they're using global institutions. They want to be well-integrated and, in fact, setting [up] how those institutions operate. China [also] wants to have very successful integration of commercial technology into their military," he said.

China has quite an impressive set of technologies where they're already leading, Brown said.

Spotlight: Artificial Intelligence

"If you look at where they're challenging us [in] AI [artificial intelligence], they are a lot closer than we would like, and we need to continue to invest to make sure that we maintain a lead. I would say AI is just one of the areas where we need to continue to invest to make sure that we — with our allies — have a lead," he said.

The DIU director emphasized that China has more genetic data on U.S. citizens than the United States. They've also made it a point to figure out what they can do with mining that data and combining that with other information they've stolen — like health records, or our security clearance information — which has dramatic implications, both offensively and defensively, he added.

Brown said one of the things the U.S. needs to do in response is think about long-term investments in technologies "[and] not to pick winners and losers to make sure we're setting the table so we have a very robust set of commercial suppliers who can be challenging these Chinese global champions," he explained.

If the U.S. is thinking out beyond the next 20, 30 or 40 years as China is, such an investment will have untold spillover effects, Brown said. This is where the internet, global positioning systems, miniaturized electronics and other key innovations have come from that lead to tremendous economic prosperity, which, in turn, guarantees U.S. national security, he added.

http://www.defense.gov/Explore/News/Article/Article/2549916/defense-innovation-leader-stresses-importance-of-us-china-technology-race/

U.S. wages psychologicial war on Moscow - Russian defense adviser By Gabrielle Tétrault-Farber, Andrew Osborn 2 M I N R E A D

MOSCOW (Reuters) - The United States and other Western countries are waging a psychological war on Russia to try to undermine President Vladimir Putin and state institutions, an adviser to Russia’s defence minister said.

FILE PHOTO: Russian and U.S. state flags fly near a factory in Vsevolozhsk, Leningrad Region, Russia March 27, 2019. REUTERS/Anton Vaganov

The aide, Andrei Ilnitsky, also said in comments widely reported by Russian media that Washington also wanted to alter how Russians think in a “war...for people’s minds”.

Moscow’s ties with Washington are at a post-Cold War low, with U.S. President Joe Biden saying he believes Putin is a killer who deserves to be hit with sanctions for meddling in U.S. politics, charges the Kremlin denies.

Russian authorities have also suggested jailed Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny is a Western puppet on a mission to destabilise Russia, an allegation Navalny has dismissed.

“A new type of warfare... is starting to appear. I call it, for the sake of argument, mental war. It’s when the aim of this warfare is the destruction of the enemy’s understanding of civilizational pillars,” Ilnitsky, who advises Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu, told the Spas TV channel.

He said the United States was also using economic and “informational” measures in attempts to undermine Putin, the presidency, the army, the Russian Orthodox Church and youth.

“A war is being waged for people’s minds,” he said.

Ilnitsky said Washington had resorted to such methods because a direct armed confrontation with Russia, a nuclear power, was unrealistic.

Asked whether he agreed Washington was waging a psychological war against Russia, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said: “A deliberate policy to contain and keep Russia down is being pursued. It is absolutely constant and visible to the naked eye.”

Washington is expected to impose sanctions against Russia soon over alleged Russian meddling in the 2020 U.S. presidential election.

Peskov said Russia had never accepted foreign meddling in its affairs and did not meddle in other countries’ affairs.

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-russia-usa-minds/u-s-wages-psychologicial-war-on-moscow-russian-defense-adviser-idUSKBN2BH1TD

Biden wants to keep a Trump policy that boosted

sales of armed drones to countries with shady

records

17 hours a

An MQ-9 Reaper at Miroslawiec Air Base in Poland, March 1, 2019. US Air Force/Senior Airman Preston

Cherry

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Biden administration wants to keep a controversial Trump policy that jump-started sales of armed drones to countries whose human-rights records are under scrutiny in the United States and elsewhere, according to sources familiar with the discussions.

When former President Donald Trump's administration reinterpreted the Cold War-era arms agreement between 35 nations known as the Missile Technology Control Regime (MTCR) to increase drone sales, arms control advocates and some top Democratic lawmakers feared it would worsen global conflicts.

While it's too early to tell if that is the case, sales have risen.

Keeping the policy could also be at odds with President Joe Biden's campaign pledge to "make sure America does not check its values at the door to sell arms."

https://www.businessinsider.com/biden-wants-to-keep-trump-policy-boosting-armed-drone-sales-2021-3

Biden Expects China 'Competition,' But Its Military Says It's 'Not Afraid of Any Challenge' BY TOM O'CONNOR ON 3/25/21 AT 5:05 PM EDT

U.S. President Joe Biden has said he anticipated intensive competition with China throughout his administration, and the People's Liberation Army has warned it would not back down from any test as Washington and Beijing feud over a range of international issues.

Responding to the White House's recently released Interim National Security Strategic Guidance that described China as "the only competitor potentially capable of combining its economic, diplomatic, military, and technological power to mount a sustained challenge to a stable and open international system," Chinese Defense Ministry spokesperson Senior Colonel Ren Guoqiang blasted a document he claimed bore a "Cold War mentality."

He dismissed the strategy as "an excuse to continue to seek hegemony, which reflects its stubborn hegemonic mentality." Ren said during a press conference early Thursday that China is "firmly opposed" to such remarks, which amount to a "dangerous mistreatment" of the People's Republic.

https://www.newsweek.com/biden-expects-china-competition-its-military-says-not-afraid-any-challenge-1578866

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The Taiwan Emergency, Explained by a Top

Commander By JIMMY QUINN

A soldier stands guard during Combat Readiness Week drills in Hsinchu, Taiwan, October 29, 2020. (Ann Wang/Reuters)

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Yesterday’s exchange between Admiral John Aquilino, who has been nominated to lead the U.S. military’s Indo-Pacific Command, and Senator Tom Cotton provides another look at military planners’ expectations about a potential invasion of Taiwan by Chinese forces.

The exchange has been reported on extensively, but these things can get drowned out by other parts of the news cycle. It’s a compelling reminder, following recent testimony by other top military commanders (including Phil Davidson, whom Aquilino would replace), that the potential invasion of Taiwan is a near-term, once-in-a-generation threat and a national-security emergency.

The following excerpts of Aquilino’s testimony, in addition to Cotton’s comments about the 2022 Olympics, are worth reading in full:

Cotton: From a military strategic standpoint, why is it so important to Beijing that they annex Taiwan?

Aquilino: Thanks, Senator. As you know they view it as their number one priority, the rejuvenation of the Chinese Communist Party is at stake, very critical as they look at the problem. From a military standpoint, the strategic location of where it is, as it applies to the potential impact of two-thirds of the world’s trade, certainly, a critical concern. Additionally, the status of the United States as a partner with our allies and partners also is at stake, should we have a conflict in Taiwan. So those two reasons are really the strategic main concerns that I would see…

Cotton: Last week, Admiral Davidson testified that he thinks the PLA may have the capability to effectively invade Taiwan, in as soon as six years, maybe less. Do you agree with that view?

Aquilino: Senator, there’s many numbers out there. I know Admiral Davidson said six years. You’d have to ask him where he made that assessment. There are spans from today to 2045. My opinion is this problem is much closer to us than most think, and we have to take this on, put those deterrence capabilities like [The Pacific Deterrence Initiative] in place in the near term and with urgency.

Cotton: I share that view it’s not a 2045, it’s not a 2030 problem. I suspect it may not even be a 2026 problem. From a military planning point of view, what is the best time of year given light weather and sea conditions for the PLA to launch an invasion of Taiwan? Is it the middle part of spring?

https://www.nationalreview.com/corner/the-taiwan-emergency-explained-by-a-top-commander/

China’s Damaging Influence and Exploitation of U.S. Colleges and Universities

Mar 22nd, 2021 6 min read

Commentary By

A constant among all of these programs is that they can be manipulated by the Chinese government to exert influence over students for malicious, illicit, and illegal activity.

Sam Bloomberg-Rissman / Getty Images

The Chinese Government established Confucius Institutes for the stated purpose of teaching Chinese language and culture worldwide.

There is little question that the Chinese government is increasingly using these programs to influence the behavior of students studying abroad.

These concerns are consistent with anecdotal concerns raised over other engagements of the Chinese government.

Americans are increasingly wary of Chinese Communist Party influence on U.S. universities—and rightly so. Despite the Ivory Tower’s leftward slant, universities remain a wellspring of American scientific, technical, and engineering research and innovation.

China’s desire to tap that well is no secret. Its campus-based Confucius Institutes have received much attention of late, but that is just the ice cube on the tip of the iceberg. Several other Chinese programs also have the potential to influence and exploit American colleges and universities. Their activities—like those of the Confucius Institutes—are not fully known. But here is a snapshot of what we do know and why they are a problem.

Get exclusive insider information from Heritage experts delivered straight to your inbox each week. Subscribe to The Agenda >>

Thousand Talents Programs. Beijing’s Foreign Thousand Talents Program aims to attract “high-end foreign scientists, engineers, and managers from foreign countries.” Invitations and advertisements to participate come directly from Chinese research institutions that manage individual programs. But those institutions report to and are overseen by the government and the party, which provides financial compensation for participation.

A 2020 State Department warning about Chinese Communist Party activities at U.S. universities noted that recruits to the Thousand Talents Program must sign “legally binding contracts that often compel recipients to conceal their PRC relationships and funding, facilitate the illicit movement of intellectual capital to duplicate ‘shadow labs’ in China, recruit other talent, publish in China-based science journals, engage in activities abroad that would violate export control regulations, and influence U.S. organizations.”

When the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation started looking into the Thousands Talent Program in 2015, Beijing abruptly ended all public discussions of the program and deleted all online references to it. The programs, however, continue.

Last year, Harvard chemistry professor Charles Lieber, a recipient of substantial research grants from the National Institute of Health and the Defense Department, was charged with crimes related to not disclosing funds received from a Chinese recruitment program.

Shortly thereafter, a similar case came to light at Emory University. Professor Xiojiang Li, and his wife, who managed the university’s neuroscience lab, were abruptly terminated when they came under federal investigation for not reporting hundreds of thousands of dollars in grants from the Chinese Academy of Science.

The Chinese Government established Confucius Institutes for the stated purpose of teaching Chinese language and culture worldwide. In the U.S., the institutes are typically established in partnerships between Chinese institutions (overseen by Beijing) and schools for the stated purpose of offering language instruction, cultural events, and funding for China-related research.

While most Confucius Institutes are based at colleges and universities, several have been established in partnership with public school districts. A few others in the United States are independent, with no local affiliation.

A 2014 study by the American Association of University Professors examined twelve Confucius Institutes, surveying their hiring policies, funding arrangements, contracts, and pressure on affiliated faculty. The report flagged four issues of concern: intellectual freedom; transparency; entanglement with Chinese State policies; concerns that institutes are instruments of propaganda. For example, one professor claimed, “You’re told not to discuss the Dalai Lama—or to invite the Dalai Lama to campus. Tibet, Taiwan, China’s military buildup, factional fights inside the Chinese leadership—these are all off limits.” A 2019 Congressional Research Service report flagged additional concerns.

Unfortunately, vital information about the scope of institute activities, their financial and operational relationships with institutions and their impact remains largely unknown. In January 2019, then-Deputy Secretary of Education Mick Zais testified, “Nearly 70 percent of colleges receiving Chinese-government funding for Confucius Institutes never reported those donations to the Department of Education . . . contra federal law.” If the U.S. government doesn’t even know the extent of funding, then how can it ensure that safeguards against malicious exploitation are sufficient?

Chinese funding of Chinese Students and Scholars Associations (CSSAs). The Chinese government sponsors and funds events for CSSA organizations on American university campuses. Among other things, CSSAs provide services to help Chinese students adjust to life and academic activities in foreign countries. Those services range from finding housing and roommates to organizing study groups and community activities.

But the influence of CSSAs can be far from benign. “I came to the U.S. and thought, ‘Wow, great, I’m in a free country, now I hope that everything is cool and happy,’ one

student recalled, “But I found out that the government extended their control to even Chinese students in America.”

A 2018 report from the congressionally-mandated U.S.-China Economic and Security Review Commission identified at least 124 SCCA chapters in the United States. According to the report, the chapters appear to be directly subordinate to, and receive political direction from, the Chinese Embassy and consulates. The report also details instances—in the U.S. and elsewhere—of espionage, political intimidation, and other illegal or inappropriate activities based in CSSAs.

Not surprisingly, transparency is an issue here as well. The Commission report notes, “CSSAs often attempt to conceal or obscure their ties to the Chinese government, frequently omitting incriminating language from the English-language versions of their websites—the ones typically reviewed by university administrators.” What is absolutely clear is that the Chinese government has a means to directly interfere with freedom of expression at American universities.

Chinese Gifts, Contracts, and Partnerships with U.S. Universities and Funding of U.S. Universities by Chinese Enterprises. U.S. universities enter contracts with Chinese sources to foster collaborative partnerships. Part of these activities include contracts with Chinese companies. A Bloomberg analysis of data collected by the U.S. Department of Education concluded that in six and a half years (through June 2020), 115 U.S. colleges received almost a billion dollars in gifts and contracts from Chinese sources. And that’s just the amount that had been publicly disclosed.

In 2018, the Woodrow Wilson Center sponsored a study assessing Chinese influences on universities. The researchers conducted approximately 180 interviews, including more than 100 with professors. The report concluded: “… concerns are warranted, even if they are sometimes overblown and fraught with potential for mischaracterization, or worse, racial profiling.” It seems abundantly clear there are instances where Chinese money may well come with strings attached.

The China Scholarship Council. A non-profit organization within the Chinese Ministry of Education, the council funds academic exchanges, Chinese scholars, professors, and other researchers. It also provides scholarships for Chinese students pursuing graduate and postgraduate degrees abroad. A study by the Georgetown University Center of Security and Emerging Technology estimates the government currently supports between 26,000 and 65,000 students in the United States. The Council also.

There is little question that the Chinese government is increasingly using these programs to influence the behavior of students studying abroad. “People have come to realize that there’s no longer any kind of great firewall between academic practice in China and academic practice outside of China,” one university professor noted, “There is this kind of increasing pressure on academics working outside of China and ironically, I think this increasing pressure is leading people to realize just how problematic the current system is in China.”

A great constant among all of these programs is that they can be manipulated by the Chinese government to exert influence over students for malicious, illicit, and illegal activity. These concerns are consistent with anecdotal concerns raised over other engagements of the Chinese government.

https://www.heritage.org/asia/commentary/chinas-damaging-influence-and-exploitation-us-colleges-and-universities

What should become of the Zumwalt class? The US

Navy has some big ideas.

By: David B. Larter 15 hours ago 15

The destroyer Zumwalt transits Naval Station Mayport Harbor on its way into port. (U.S. Navy photo

by MC2 Timothy Schumaker)

WASHINGTON – The U.S. Navy is exploring a major ship alteration for its three stealth destroyers that would further drive up the cost of the platform but could deliver a radical new hypersonic capability in the ongoing naval competition with China in the western Pacific.

In a solicitation posted March 18, the Navy asked industry for ideas on how to reconfigure the Zumwalt class to host larger hypersonic missiles of a size that would not fit in the vertical launch system tubes currently installed on the ships. The service also wants that business to provide the missiles and supporting software and technology to support the missiles.

Specifically, the Navy is looking for ideas about installing an “advanced payload module” that can support the Navy’s conventional prompt strike missiles “in a three-pack configuration,” according to the notice.

Two sources familiar with discussions around the future of the Zumwalt class said it would be possible to replace the idle Advanced Gun System – the original raison d’être of the class designed to support Marine landings with gunfire support from well over the horizon – with the desired payload module supporting hypersonic missiles. Experts said that doing so would transform the DDG-1000s from ships in search of a mission into powerful conventional deterrent in the Indo-Pacific region.

Advanced Gun System was holding back the Navy’s new stealth destroyer

Development issues with the Navy’s Advanced Gun System, destined to be one of the main armaments of DDG-1000, prompted the Navy to change Zumwalt into a ship killer, the Navy’s top requirements officers said.

By: David Larter

Unlike with a submarine, having conventional prompt strike on a surface ship puts the capability on a platform that can be more easily tracked. The Chinese will know the U.S. has a threating capability in theater, potentially complicating any hopes for a fast and painless victory, said Bryan Clark, a retired submarine officer who is now a senior fellow at the Hudson Institute.

“If we think of it kind of like a conventional [ballistic missile submarine], that model works,” Clark said.

The reason the idea works is that the Navy would have ships in theater that could fire missiles with a predetermined target list. Those missiles could be fired quickly and would have a high probability of hitting the targets inside Chinese territory. And while a submarine can also accomplish that, the fact that Zumwalt is a surface ship and more easily tracked makes it a more powerful conventional deterrent since a similarly equipped submarine is likely to be out of sight and out of mind, Clark said.

https://www.defensenews.com/naval/2021/03/25/what-should-become-of-the-zumwalt-class-the-us-navy-has-some-big-ideas/

New Navy Command To Oversee Unmanned Ships As They Work With Fleet

The Navy is standing up its first operational unmanned ship command, a big moment in

the Pentagon's move toward autonomy

By PAUL MCLEARYon March 25, 2021 at 1:34 PM

USS Zumwalt sails with an Independence-class Littoral Combat Ship WASHINGTON: The Navy is preparing a first-of-its-kind operational command to test and develop concepts for its new generation of unmanned surface vessels, a major step in getting autonomous ships into the fleet.

The establishment of Unmanned Surface Vessel Division One in 2022 comes as the service is pressing hard to design and field a range of unmanned ships capable of deploying deep into contested waters far in front of crewed ships to hunt mines, monitoring Chinese ships and submarines, and launch ship-killing missiles.

The new command will be “purpose-built to train and operate USVs at scale,” Capt. Henry Adams, Commander Surface Development Squadron ONE, told Breaking Defense.

The new command will fall under Adams’ SURFDEVRON 1, and Adams, who retires Thursday, considers it one of the biggest accomplishments of his two-year tenure. “Getting the agreement from ‘big Navy’ to allow the surface force to establish the subordinate command whose day job is to train and operate USVs is a big deal,” he said, “and it is going to be that initial operational unit from which we’ll be able to scale USV training, maintenance, and operations.”

Established in 2019, SURFDEVRON 1 has been one of the more innovative commands in the Navy, bringing together the service’s first unmanned ships and working to integrate them with the first two of three eventual Zumwalt destroyers — a ship which has struggled to find a role or real mission within the fleet.

Adams’ command is preparing to help run a major operational exercise in April that will see Medium Unmanned Surface Vessels like the Sea Hunter and Sea Hawk, which have been a major focus of Navy leadership, run through drills with the USS Zumwalt.

All of those pieces will come together in April off the California coast for the Fleet Battle Problem exercise, designed to allow the Navy to take a hard look at how its new unmanned ships can begin integrating with crewed ships and drones.

The exercise will include the Super Swarm project, a secretive Office of Naval Research experimental effort to operate swarms of small drones, and the MQ-8B Fire Scout UAV launched from a Littoral Combat Ship, as well as the MQ-9 Sea Guardian UAV. The Fire Scout and Sea Guardian will integrate with both Navy and Marine Corps units.

https://breakingdefense.com/2021/03/navys-unmanned-ships-plans-teaming-with-zumwalt-in-major-new-test/?_ga=2.47013991.1944939912.1616717697-

1889943733.1611096689

Marines deploy with new JLTV following month-long training exercise

By Christen McCurdy

The Wasp-class amphibious assault ship USS Iwo Jima, pictured in the Atlantic Ocean on March 4, is conducting training with Amphibious Squadron 4 and the 24th Marine Expeditionary Unit as part of the Iwo Jima Amphibious Ready Group. Photo by Brenton Poyser/U.S. Navy \March 25 (UPI) -- The Iwo Jima Amphibious Ready Group and the 24th Marine Expeditionary Unit deployed Thursday following a monthlong composite training exercise, the Navy announced.

The 24th MEU is the first East Coast MEU to embark ships with the military's new Joint Light Tactical Vehicle, a versatile ground transport vehicle now in use by all ground elements in the unit, according to a Navy press release issued Thursday.

https://www.upi.com/Defense-News/2021/03/25/Navy-Marines-JLTV-deployment/3981616701694/

Special Operations team in Pacific will confront Chinese information campaigns Mark Pomerleau

11 hours ago

Officials described to Congress in recent weeks the various ways the military is seeking to thwart adversary influence and information operations. In this photo, the military dropped leaflets in 2013 over southern Afghanistan in support of operations to defeat insurgency influence in the area. (Sgt. Demetrius Munnerlyn/Marine Corps) WASHINGTON — U.S. Special Operations Command created a task force in the Pacific region to work with allies there to thwart China’s information operations, the commander told lawmakers Thursday.

The Joint Task Force Indo-Pacific team will be focused on information and influence operations in the Pacific theater, a part of the world receiving much the military’s attention because of China’s growing capabilities.

The team is poised to work with like-minded partners in the region, Gen. Richard Clarke, commander of Special Operations Command, said before the Armed Services Committee. “We actually are able to tamp down some of the disinformation that they [China] continuously sow,” he said of the task force’s efforts.

The task force is an example of the fresh ideas the military is seeking to stifle damaging adversary influence and information operations. Officials are growing more concerned about these operations that sow chaos, doubt and confusion.

“Adversary use of disinformation, misinformation and propaganda poses one of today’s greatest challenges to the United States, not just to the Department of Defense,” Christopher Maier, acting assistant secretary of defense for Special Operations/Low-intensity Conflict, said earlier this month at a House Armed Services Subcommittee hearing.

Today’s information environment gives Russia, China and non-state actors real-time access to a global audience, Maier said. “With first-mover advantage and by flooding the information environment with deliberated and manipulated information that is

mostly truthful with carefully crafted deceptive elements, these actors can gain leverage to threaten our interest.”

Broadly, Maier explained that DoD organizes its efforts to combat disinformation, misinformation and propaganda in four lines of effort: countering propaganda by adversaries, force protection, countering disinformation and strategic deception abroad by adversaries, and deterring and disrupting adversarial influence capabilities.

Given that the primary delivery mechanism for this information malice is taking place through cyberspace, U.S. Cyber Command has seen an increased role beyond just affecting the 1s and 0s that are the language of the domain. Cyber Command also carries out cyber-enabled information operations of its own.

https://www.c4isrnet.com/information-warfare/2021/03/25/special-operations-team-in-pacific-will-confront-chinese-information-campaigns/

Russia Plans New Hypersonic Missile Test Amid Arms Race With U.S., China

BY DAVID BRENNAN ON 3/25/21 AT 9:25 AM EDT

Russia's military has announced it will conduct a new hypersonic missile test in the Barents Sea as the world's great military powers push for the leading edge in weapons to define the future battlefield.

Russia's Northern Fleet—which operates in the Arctic and Atlantic oceans—announced Wednesday that its Admiral Gorshkov-class lead frigate, designated Project 22350, has deployed to the Arctic Barents Sea for tests of the Tsirkon hypersonic missiles, the state-run Tass news agency reported. "The crew of the frigate Admiral Gorshkov has deployed to the Barents Sea where it will practice some elements of a combat training course and conduct firings from its missile and artillery weapons against sea targets," the Northern Fleet press office said. The frigate will then return to its home base in Severomorsk, close to the city of Murmansk in northwestern Russia. Admiral Gorshkov was commissioned in 2018 and is the lead ship of its class, ten of which have been ordered for delivery by 2027. Tass said the ship is one of the most advanced in the Northern Fleet, and its tests of the Tsirkon hypersonic missile speak to its importance in the modernizing Russian navy. The Admiral Gorshkov has already successfully conducted several test firings of the Tsirkon missile. The weapon is among Russia's hypersonic projects, of which two—the Avangard missile-launched hypersonic glide vehicle, and the air-launched Kinzhal hypersonic missile; both nuclear-capable—have already been deployed with troops

https://www.newsweek.com/russia-plans-new-hypersonic-missile-test-amid-arms-race-us-china-1578678

The Russian Navy Is Becoming A Mach 9 Hypersonic

Killer

By Peter Suciu

Published 6 hours ago

The Russian Navy conducted a number of hypersonic missile launches in the final months of 2020, including three from October to December. In those tests, Tsirkon missiles were fired from the 3S-14 universal naval missile launchers installed on Project 22350 frigates and Project 20380 corvettes. Sponsored Content

Now the Project 22350 lead frigate Admiral Gorshkov, which is operational with the Russian Navy’s Northern Fleet’s division of missile ships, has reportedly deployed to the Barents Sea for test-launches of Tsirkon hypersonic missiles. “The crew of the frigate Admiral Gorshkov has deployed to the Barents Sea where it will practice some elements of a combat training course and conduct firings from its missile and artillery weapons against sea targets,” the Northern Fleet’s press office said in a statement, according to Tass. The warship had performed several of last year’s Tsirkon hypersonic cruise missile tests. After this upcoming test in the Barents Sea, the frigate will return to its home naval base of Severomorsk. In December, Russian Deputy Defense Minister Alexei Krivoruchko said in an interview with the Krasnaya Zvezda newspaper that serial deliveries of Tsirkon hypersonic missiles to the Russian troops will begin in 2022.

https://www.19fortyfive.com/2021/03/the-russian-navy-is-becoming-a-mach-9-hypersonic-killer/

The Future of Sino-U.S. Proxy War Dominic Tierney Strategic thought in both the United States and China has focused on the potential for a Sino-U.S. interstate war and downplayed the odds of a clash in a foreign internal conflict. However, great-power military competition is likely to take the form of proxy war in which Washington and Beijing aid rival actors in an intrastate conflict. The battlefield of Sino-U.S. military competition is more likely to be Venezuela or Myanmar than the South China Sea. Proxy war could escalate in unexpected and costly ways as Washington and Beijing try to manipulate civil wars in far-flung lands they do not understand, ratchet up their commitment to avoid the defeat of a favored actor, and respond to local surrogates that pursue their own agendas.

https://tnsr.org/2021/03/the-future-of-sino-u-s-proxy-war/

The Last Azerbaijan-Armenia War Changed How

Small Nations Fight Modern Battles

Last year’s war between Azerbaijan and Armenia over the Nagorno-Karabakh region saw the former country afflict a devastating and decisive defeat against the latter through adept usage of sophisticated military hardware that enabled it to avoid becoming bogged down in a costly war of attrition. By doing so, Baku may well have demonstrated how modern military technology such as armed drones can enable small militaries and nations to punch well above their weight on the battlefield.

Early in the 2020 Nagorno-Karabakh war, many Armenian soldiers seemingly expected to fight a similar war to the one they had won in 1994. With their large arsenal of Russian-built T-72 main battle tanks covered by a formidable network of highly formidable S-300 high-altitude air defense missile systems, they apparently thought they were bound to prevail or at the very least effectively hold the line.

Instead, the Armenian forces were utterly decimated by their Azerbaijani adversary, which had adequately prepared itself for tomorrow’s war rather than a repeat of yesterday’s war.

https://www.forbes.com/sites/pauliddon/2021/03/25/the-last-azerbaijan-armenia-war-redefined-how-small-nations-fight-modern-battles/?ss=aerospace-defense

Warming drives 'fundamental' changes to ocean,

scientists warn

Surfers walk through rough water in the Pacific Ocean in Santa Monica, California, on Tuesday. | REUTERS Mar 25, 2021

PARIS – Climate change has wrought major changes to ocean stability faster than previously thought, according to a study published Wednesday, raising alarms over its role as a global thermostat and the marine life it supports. The research published in the journal Nature looked at 50 years of data and followed the way in which surface water “decouples” from the deeper ocean.

Climate change has disrupted ocean mixing, a process that helps store away most of the world’s excess heat and a significant proportion of carbon dioxide.

Water on the surface is warmer — and therefore less dense — than the water below, a contrast that is intensified by climate change.

Global warming is also causing massive amounts of fresh water to flush into the seas from melting ice sheets and glaciers, lowering the salinity of the upper layer and further reducing its density.

This increasing contrast between the density of the ocean layers makes mixing harder, so oxygen, heat and carbon are all less able to penetrate to the deep seas.

“Similar to a layer of water on top of oil, the surface waters in contact with the atmosphere mix less efficiently with the underlying ocean,” said lead author Jean-Baptiste Sallee of Sorbonne University and France’s CNRS national scientific research center.

He said while scientists were aware that this process was under way, “we here show that this change has occurred at a rate much quicker than previously thought: more than six times quicker.”

The report used global temperature and salinity observations obtained between 1970 and 2018 — including those from electronically tracked marine mammals — with a focus on the summer months, which have more data.

It said that the barrier layer separating the ocean surface and the deep layers had strengthened world-wide — measured by the contrast in density — at a much larger rate than previously thought.

Researchers also found that, contrary to their expectations, winds strengthened by climate change had also acted to deepen the ocean surface layer by five to 10 meters per decade over the last half century.

A significant number of marine animals live in this surface layer, with a food web that is reliant on phytoplankton.

But as the winds increase, the phytoplankton are churned deeper, away from the light that helps them grow, potentially disrupting the broader food web.

These are “not small changes that only some experts care about,” Sallee said.

“They represent a fundamental change in the underlying structure of our oceans. Way more pronounced than what we thought until now.”

The oceans play a crucial role in mitigating the effects of climate change by absorbing around a quarter of carbon dioxide created by human activity and soaking up more than 90% of the heat generated by greenhouse gases, according to the Intergovernmental Panel for Climate Change (IPCC).

“But by stabilizing, the ocean’s role to buffer climate change is made harder as it is made more difficult for the ocean to absorb these vast amounts of heat and carbon,” Sallee said.

Scientists are increasingly sounding the alarm over the potential implications of warming on our oceans.

In 2019, research published in the U.S. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences calculated that climate change would empty the ocean of nearly a fifth of all living creatures, measured by mass, by the end of the century.

Climate scientist Michael Mann warned in September that findings from a study he co-authored in Nature Climate Change — which suggested global ocean stratification had increased by 5.3% from 1960 to 2018 — had “profound and troubling” implications.

These included potentially more intense hurricanes driven by warming ocean surfaces.

And in February, research in Nature Geoscience found that the northern extension of the Gulf stream — the vast, heat carrying ocean current that influences weather in Europe and sea levels in the U.S. — was its weakest in over a thousand years, likely because of climate change.

They said increased rainfall and melting of the Greenland ice sheet have increased the freshwater in the upper ocean, disrupting the normal cycle that carries warm, salty surface water northwards from the equator and sends low-salinity deep water back southwards.

https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2021/03/25/world/science-health-world/warming-oceans-climate-change/

What Is a Water War? How useful is the concept “water wars” and how do they fit into traditional concepts of naval power? By Robert Farley March 24, 2021

Water wars are not simply battles on water; if they were, then almost every war in recorded human history could be categorized as a “water war,” rendering the term virtually meaningless. Rather, the term “water wars,” in order to be analytically useful, refers to conflicts over rights of economic exploitation of water, whether through the support of fishing fleets or the pursuit of undersea resources or access to freshwater for drinking, industrial, and agricultural purposes.

Formulated thus, the concept of “water wars” sits uneasily upon the body of maritime strategic thinking. Historically, naval strategic theory has concentrated on the relevance of water as a means of transit. Theorists such as Alfred Thayer Mahan and Julian Corbett concentrated on the ways that nations could exploit control of the sea (and by extension control of navigable rivers) in order to expand trade, destroy the trade of rivals, and rapidly maneuver ground forces.

Mahan only writes of fishing insofar as the development of a fishing industry tends to enhance maritime interests and maritime cultural virtues, but not as a particularly relevant military or economic phenomenon. Mahan does discuss the economic impact of defeat at sea in terms of the consequences of the loss of fisheries, but the importance of fish relative to trade is not as notable; the book includes just over a dozen mentions of fish, compared with several hundred mentions of “commerce.” For his part, Corbett is explicit about the relationship between fisheries and naval power, suggesting that the former has no impact on the latter. Thus, the question “what do the giants of naval strategic thinking have to say about the exploitation of the sea and about ‘water wars’?” can be answered with a frustrating “not much.”

The legal universe has treated water exploitation a bit differently. Fishing plays a significant role in the earliest legal formulations of freedom of the seas. Indeed, early international law carved out exceptions for fishing fleets, placing them off limits to attacks from naval forces, although such restrictions were often honored in the breach. The exploitation of seabed resources is also bound by a vast, although not necessarily very old, body of law. However, this law has not generally been tested in a modern warfare environment, or in the context of extremely valuable economic installations.

While Mahan and Corbett remain critical touchstones for thinking about maritime strategy, the modern maritime domain is not simply a space through which ships (carrying weapons or soldiers or trade) will pass, but rather a space which must be affirmatively defended because it includes critical economic assets. These assets include offshore drilling platforms, resource extraction systems, and of course fishing fleets. Direct attacks on

these installations can cause significant economic damage, especially to important political lobbies, above and beyond the damage inflicted by an anti-commerce campaign. While space does not allow for a full discussion of how to update Corbett and Mahan, such a discussion would involve contemplation of the strength and placement of defensive technologies (from mines to land-based cruise missiles) as well as a rethink of the principles of concentration and dispersal of force that have long laid at the crux of maritime military theory.

https://thediplomat.com/2021/03/what-is-a-water-war/

‘Sheltering from storm’: China’s worn-out excuse for poaching GOTCHA - Jarius Bondoc The Philippine Star March 26, 2021 - 12:00am

China steals reefs and fish like a common thief. A thief breaks in when the homeowner is asleep, distracted or complacent. If discovered the thief alibis, demands acquiescence and even aggresses. That’s China’s modus in coastal states’ exclusive economic zones worldwide. It demeans its standing. Victims come to associate China not with civilization but barbarism.

China trespassing Julian Felipe (Whitsun) Reef in the Philippines’ 200-mile EEZ is plain thievery. Circumstances favor the 220 Chinese fishing militia vessels. Filipinos are busy staving off the killer virus from Wuhan. Their high leaders are hailing Beijing’s vaccine donation. Their maritime defenders are discouraged from active defense.

Sighted March 7, the intruders are in phalanx along the reef 175 miles from Palawan. Some undaunted Filipino officials protested. At once the Chinese embassy claimed that the vessels are merely sheltering from storm.

That lame excuse was concocted likely by a landlubber from inner China. As tropical islanders, Filipinos know better. It is “amihan” season in the West Philippine (South China) Sea. Temperatures are mild, rains light and waters calm for distant fishing. Global weather bulletins mentioned no storm. “Habagat”, or southwest monsoon of heavy rains and rough seas, is not till May-November.

Three weeks later the Chinese trawlers are still “sheltering” at Julian Felipe. No “storm” lasts that long. The worst “siyam-siyam” is only what the term connotes: nine days.

“Innocent shelter” is an old lie. China used it in 1994 in erecting shanties supposedly for its and Filipino fishers on Panganiban (Mischief) Reef 120 miles from Palawan. By the following year China had concreted a naval fortress with helipads. From there People’s Liberation Army warships now menace Filipino surveyors in oil- and gas-rich Recto (Reed) Bank.

China feigns “innocent shelter” elsewhere. Last year 350 of its trawlers swarmed Ecuador’s Galapagos EEZ to poach as before. Alarmed about their marine ecosystems as well, neighbors Peru, Panama, Costa Rica and Colombia told them to leave. China’s embassy in Quito alibied that the vessels were merely lined up in protection against bad weather in international waters at the edge of Galapagos.

Satellites proved otherwise, The Economist reported this week. At least 550 times for over a day the trawlers shut off their GPS-based automatic identification systems that

international law requires to be always kept on. That they sneaked into the EEZ was proven by the new Hawkeye technology. They were detected via their satellite phones, walkie-talkies and navigation and collision-avoidance radars that not even pirates switch off. For a decade now China has been stealing exotic species at Galapagos, 8760 miles across the Pacific from its mainland. Favorite loot are the endangered hammerhead and whale shark.

China has worn out its “innocent shelter” lie as well in West Africa in the Atlantic, 6320 miles from home. Its trawlers have overfished not only Liberia’s EEZ but also shallow artisanal fishing grounds. Sierra Leone is fighting back with lawsuits and confiscations of poaching vessels. Fishers in neighboring Senegal and Ghana are protesting the deluge of registrations by Chinese fishing craft.

Closer to Manila, authorities in Palau and Indonesia do not buy the “innocent shelter” excuse. They shoot and burn intruding ships. China also encroaches the EEZs of Brunei, Malaysia and Vietnam. Where resistance is weak like in the Philippines, poachers strike again and again.

Beijing disavows control over its 17,000-strong distant-water fishing fleet. That’s incredible in a surveillance state where 1.35 billion citizens are closely monitored. Various intelligence agencies report that the PLA has militarized a third of the fleet. The fisheries militia is funded, equipped and armed for spying and sea aggression. It complements the use of the civilian coast guard for territorial expansion. Beijing recently authorized its coast guard to board and fire on foreign vessels in others’ EEZs that it illegally claims.

Exposed at Julian Felipe, Chinese embassy propagandized that the reef is part of its territory. Of no import to China is the fact that Julian Felipe is 650 miles outside its own EEZ. China defies The Hague arbitral ruling of 2016 that outlaws its baseless “nine-dash line”. No international verdict upholds China’s expansionist claims.

Deputy Speaker Rufus Rodriguez finds the timing of the reef invasion suspicious. It came only a week after Beijing’s vaccine gift. “Bahura para bakuna (Reef for vaccines)?” other congressmen wonder. Former foreign secretary Albert del Rosario suggests that Manila consult with allies America, Britain, European Union, Japan, and Australia.

Julian Felipe forms a triangle with McKennan (Hughes) and Mabini (Johnson South) Reefs in Pagkakaisa (Union) Bank. China had earlier landfilled the latter two reefs into garrisons. Control of Pagkakaisa will threaten Pagasa Island 68 miles away. Near Pagasa, part of Palawan’s Kalayaan town, are Zamora (Subi) and Kagitingan (Fiery Cross) Reefs, on which China has paved airstrips and naval ports in 2014. From there China harasses resupplies to civilians.

Mere entry of foreign fishing vessels in Philippine jurisdiction is poaching under the Fisheries Code (RA 8550). A trespasser can be fined up to $300,000. China’s 220 trawlers must be penalized $66 million or P3.3 billion.

https://www.philstar.com/opinion/2021/03/26/2087020/sheltering-storm-chinas-worn-out-excuse-poaching

EDITORIAL - Mischief in the making

(The Philippine Star ) - March 26, 2021 - 12:00am

In 1995, three huts on stilts were spotted on Panganiban or Mischief Reef, about 120 nautical miles west of Palawan. The huts turned out to be made by the Chinese, who said these were merely shelters for their fishermen.

Today Panganiban Reef is an artificial island with a Chinese military fort complete with airstrip and a ship dock. It is just 50 nautical miles away from Julian Felipe Reef, a boomerang-shaped coral formation 175 nautical miles away from Palawan, where about 220 Chinese ships have swarmed since the start of the month.

The Armed Forces of the Philippines describes the ships as fishing militias – China’s way of skirting accusations of militarizing its operations in disputed waters. The Chinese government says the flotilla consists mainly of fishing vessels taking shelter – from what is unclear, since the weather has been fine since the start of the month as the dry season begins in this part of the planet.

If Chinese vessels need to take shelter, why not proceed to the nearby Panganiban Reef? In 2016, the Permanent Court of Arbitration in The Hague awarded the Philippines sovereign rights specifically over Panganiban Reef, Ayungin or Second Thomas Shoal and Recto or Reed Bank, over which the country has exclusive economic rights, and declared Panatag or Scarborough Shoal a common fishing ground. Beijing has ignored the PCA ruling, which is based on the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, and which invalidated its so-called nine-dash-line claim over nearly the entire South China Sea.

Because the ship swarm was spotted at the start of the month, it was linked by some quarters to the delivery in Manila of COVID-19 vaccines made by Chinese firm Sinovac Biotech and donated by Beijing. An initial 600,000 doses of CoronaVac arrived on Feb. 28, followed by 400,000 more in March.

While Filipinos are deeply grateful for donations of COVID vaccines from China and the international community, the goodwill generated by Beijing is substantially eroded by the occupation of yet another Philippine reef by Chinese vessels. With Beijing insisting that Julian Felipe Reef is part of its territory, it doesn’t look likely that the ship swarm will leave the reef any time soon. Critics of the Duterte administration’s foreign policy can only lament that a million COVID vaccines is a treasonously dirt-cheap price for another piece of Philippine territory.

https://www.philstar.com/opinion/2021/03/26/2087022/editorial-mischief-making

Prioritizing Jointness in the Next National Security Strategy

By Matthew Muehlbauer

March 25, 2021

When considering the next National Security Strategy, policymakers need to address the means by which strategy will be implemented. More specifically, how should force be employed to achieve national security objectives in the twenty-first century? It is a question that ostensibly should be asked in any and every era. But the question is particularly problematic today, not just for the obvious reason of technologies that have produced a contemporary information environment of unprecedented speed and density. More prosaically, the Biden administration inherits a bloated and balkanized national security apparatus, one whose separate and distinct components were created to apply force in specific ways: armies fight on land, navies on the sea, for example. And while each component in the apparatus adapts over time to new and emerging technologies––armies and navies have aviation components, signal and electronic warfare units, etc.––they do so to fulfill their specific and traditionally defined missions.

https://www.realcleardefense.com/articles/2021/03/25/prioritizing_jointness_in_the_next

_national_security_strategy_769759.html

YBRID: AN ADJECTIVE DESCRIBING THE

CURRENT WAR

Thu, 03/25/2021 - 12:44pm

The views expressed in this article are those of the author and do not reflect the official policy or

position of the Department of Defense or the U.S. Government.

Asymmetric warfare, irregular warfare, unconventional warfare, protracted warfare, conventional warfare, and political warfare are just a few terms used to define conflict. Now, add hybrid warfare. War is continuously evolving and attempting to define war poses trouble. Opinions and personal preferences do appear in research, which further serves to increase the breadth of reasonable definitions for hybrid warfare. Hybrid warfare has many different definitions, but the importance must shift to having an in-depth knowledge of the activities conducted by our adversaries. We limit ourselves by continuously seeking definitions.

Meanwhile, our adversaries continue to make advances. We need to spend more time understanding than naming (Maxwell, 2021). This research paper not only serves to answer the question of what hybrid warfare is but also the Russian application. As well as recommendations for United States government (USG) action. Hybrid warfare uses all methods to create a favorable desired condition and is the holistic approach used by Russia. The United States Government (USG) must confront Russia’s methods by defining the operational environment and defining red lines for adversaries not to cross. The biggest threat is the lack of understanding of how many methods can be used by everyday media consumption and the advances in technology.

Defining Hybrid Warfare

Hybrid warfare is the use of all methods used to create a favorable desired condition. As an adjective, hybrid means having two or more distinct elements. Some argue that hybrid warfare is the blurred combination of regular and irregular components within the same battlespace (Hoffman, 2007). Or the integration of instruments of national power at the operational level. Another definition is using military, non-military, lethal, non-lethal, forcing the enemy to act in specific ways (Fridman, 2018). Additionally, hybrid warfare is the employment of political warfare that applies economic pressure, diplomatic pressure, information pressure, and subversive activities to achieve a pre-determined end state.

Russia defines hybrid war, or “гибридная война” in Russian, as the entire competition space, blending all means and instruments (Clark, 2020). Russia not only employs hybrid methods but fully understands that all future wars are hybrid in theory. Russia has adapted and improved its capabilities to achieve its strategic objectives. Russian doctrine does not distinguish between peacetime and war, ensuring that strategy

includes integrating political, military, diplomatic, economic, information, and other measures (Bagge, 2019). Hybrid warfare is applied to prevent armed conflict. For Russia, hybrid warfare is a whole government activity and views the information campaign as the priority over all other efforts (Clark, 2020). In contrast, the USG lacks a national influence capability, and influence serves as a supporting role to other priorities.

Russian Methods and Techniques

Russia is our nation’s main adversary exerting hybrid methods. Understanding how Russia is employing methods is more critical than defining hybrid war. Russia exerts national power through conventional and irregular methods and adapts quickly. Russia employs disruptive technologies in conjunction with accepting vast amounts of risk that do not appear palatable for the United States or its partners to accept. Where a conventional battlefield is lacking, Russia pits the population of its targeted nation in the conflict zone. Russian efforts are subversive and seek to undermine the authority of sovereign nations. As past events have shown, such as in Ukraine or Georgia, subversive efforts are clandestine or covert, making it challenging to pin attribution on Russia. The lack of attribution makes it challenging to hold Russia accountable (Pindjak., 2014).

Russia has been using ‘reflexive control’ since the collapse of the Soviet Union. Reflexive control combines information warfare and information operations by employing direct and indirect effects simultaneously across strategic, operational, and tactical domains. The Russian approach aims to take away the opposing party’s ability to decide, utilize, to adjust their political will and impacts their ability to execute a response (Bagge, 2019). Reflexive control refers to the practice of altering specific factors in an adversary’s perception of the world, therefore manipulating them to make decisions in your favor. This tactic is implicit in psychological operations and allows Russia to gain critical advantages in a myriad of operational environments that are not otherwise present. Russia has applied reflexive control for decades, and it has the necessary infrastructure to deliver messages to foreign audiences (Pomerleau, 2020). The infrastructure, backed by intelligence services, state media, and diplomats allows for the spreading of false information at opportune moments to target perceived weak links that are exploitable through moral arguments, psychological tactics, and specific appeals (Kowalewski, 2017). Russia employs reflexive control as a long-term influence campaign, focusing on the two deception actors, the victim, and the deceiver (Bagge, 2019).

In 2014, Russia used division as a reflexive control method and employed hybrid tactics in Ukraine. Russia deployed troops along Ukraine’s borders. The division served two purposes; first, it kept western entities focused on the possibility of an all-out evasion. Second, it diverted attention from the war taking place in Donetsk and Luhansk. The buildup of troops forced the Ukrainian military to remain in place to counter a potential invasion, which created a state of confusion about the true scope of Russia’s operations—using these tactics to alter the perception, to hinder western and Ukrainian decision making or as Russians call it maskirovka. Maskirovka aims to manipulate the decision-making process to maneuver strategic behavior towards the desired end state.

With the advance of technology, reflexive control is moving into cyberspace, expanding the scope of warfare, creating an even more hybrid threat. Internet connectivity

has flattened communications globally. In an instant, information is transmittable overseas, and the floodgates are open for the application of reflexive control and exploitation of foreign audiences. Not only does the internet increase the efficiency and efficacy of reflexive control, but it also offers other unique characteristics like shaping an individual’s' patterns of life through targeted advertisements, as well as providing information to the adversary. Influencing the system is only a few clicks away. Also, the cost of implementing a disinformation campaign is significantly reduced, and infrastructure in other regions of the world supports it. Additionally, it offers outright deniability or plausible deniability of operations. Anything with cyberspace has fewer legal restraints, fewer attributions to attach, and ultimately less enforceable (Bagge, 2019).

This expansion of technology allows Russia to use existing rifts in society as a technique through disinformation campaigns online. An example of this is the ‘Lisa Case.’ A media storm surrounded the story of a 13-year-old Russian girl in Germany who had been raped by Arab migrants, signaling the public to demand a wake-up call from German political elites for mishandling the migrant crisis (Meister, 2016). This incident was fake, yet it generated public outcry and inflamed German opinion over the mass arrival of migrants. In the end, it served to pummel Angela Merkel’s public support without allowing the German political elites the opportunity to make a unified decision over the migrant crisis. Russia masters the manipulation of sensory awareness while hiding its true intentions. They tamper with filters or data processors through sensory awareness.

Recommended USG Action

The USG must confront Russia’s methods by defining the operational environment and defining red lines for adversaries not to cross. The first step is analyzing Russia’s decisions and observing Russia’s threat in its entirety instead of as individual lines of effort (Clark, 2020). Russia is not only in Europe, but it uses reflexive control worldwide (Clark, 2020). Another recommendation is to define non-kinetic red lines for the enemy not to cross, especially when it comes to cyberspace (Bagge, 2019). The USG must seize the initiative and not be in a reactive posture by improving its deterrence methods. One of the most significant risks is the lack of understanding of the potential uses of technology and how quickly someone can be deceived by everyday consumption of convenience. The Russian hybrid approach is an issue for Americans and our allies, not only the military. Again, this is because Russia uses a holistic approach, and their main battlespace is the mind. USG needs to make people aware of the Russian threat so they have the tools to be resilient. The individual is the most crucial aspect to counter Russia.

Hybrid warfare is the use of all methods used to create a favorable desired condition. Russia uses this holistic approach in the form of what they call reflexive control. The USG must confront Russia’s methods by defining the operational environment and defining red lines for adversaries not to cross.

https://smallwarsjournal.com/jrnl/art/hybrid-adjective-describing-current-war

GRAY IS HERE TO STAY: PRINCIPLES FROM THE INTERIM NATIONAL SECURITY STRATEGIC GUIDANCE ON COMPETING IN THE GRAY ZONE

Kevin Bilms | 03.25.21

Earlier this month, the White House released its Interim National Security Strategic Guidance, the foreign policy blueprint that will inform the Biden administration’s national security strategy. Most analysis of the guidance has focused on how it represents a departure in tone and tenor from the previous administration’s National Security Strategy. Much less attention has been paid to the guidance’s treatment of competition in the gray zone between peace and outright war. This oversight is unfortunate, however, because implicit in the guidance are several useful themes for understanding how to oppose state adversaries at their own game. Gray-zone competition has become rogue and revisionist regimes’ preferred approach for seeking political advantages against the United States and its allies, and after years of watching gray-zone activities unfold, more observers appear to be getting the message. A close reading of the guidance shows that although the phrase “great power competition” appears nowhere within it, the Biden administration correctly keeps gray-zone competition in its sights. Departments and agencies should consider these six themes as they develop strategies and prioritize investments to contest authoritarian regimes in the gray zone. 1. Defend Forward with Persistent Engagement Throughout the document, the importance of bolstering and defending US allies and partners against threats to our collective security is clear. This is especially evident in mentions of state actors’ use of non-conventional force to incrementally shape the security environment below the level of armed conflict. These subthreshold, destabilizing behaviors are difficult to detect in isolation or within one nation’s borders. Applied globally, these activities are the ways and means intended to secure political objectives without triggering a conventional military response. The United States’ long-standing network of alliances and partnerships is an asymmetric advantage that America’s gray-zone competitors cannot match, and preserving that advantage is pivotal. Recognizing the challenges that confront numerous allies and partners individually, the guidance reaffirms an important truth demonstrated by the

COVID-19 pandemic: instead of turning inward to treat the symptoms, turning outward and engaging internationally is the surest way to address the root causes of transnational threats, strengthen the United States’ influence and legitimacy abroad, and provide greater security at home. To demonstrate that “America is back,” the United States must defend forward, alongside its allies and partners, in the contact layer where the rules-based international order faces sustained challenges. But defending forward does not need to be a strictly military endeavor. The emphasis on “defending forward” applies a Department of Defense cyberspace concept to the gray zone as a whole by advocating for more proactive, risk-acceptant, and persistent US engagement in the vital terrain beyond US borders. Embracing this sentiment across government would place the United States in lockstep with its allies and partners as we confront shared threats, achieve an exquisite understanding of the political landscape, and uncover valuable indicators and warnings of adversaries’ intentions and vulnerabilities. An approach that defends forward through persistent engagement would position the United States to widen what the interim guidance calls the “circle of cooperation,” an explicitly multilateral approach to what the 2018 National Defense Strategy described as “expand[ing] the competitive space.” These cooperative aspects may afford opportunities for some peaceful interaction with adversaries on issues of mutual concern. More importantly, a big-tent approach with partners and allies ensures that the United States can compete where it must from a position of strength, understand why and how states compete, and enable allies and partners to share costs and work together against shared challenges.

2. Focus on Where Gray Zone Competition is Happening The interim guidance also directs increasing attention to deepening cooperation beyond the regions where high-end conflict is likely to occur. Renewing attention toward Latin America, Africa, and Southeast Asia—some of the more highly contested theaters for influence and credibility—sharpens focus on where gray-zone activities are currently unfolding. Doing so also emphasizes illicit activities in the global commons, such as China’s use of maritime militias and illegal, unregulated, and unreported (IUU) fishing, which form part of a deliberate effort to exert influence on the high seas. Indeed, Chinese doctrine considers the number of new battlefields to be “virtually infinite.” Focusing on where competition is happening does not require the United States to “do everything” or match One Belt One Road (OBOR) investments dollar for dollar. Nor does it require a single-minded focus on amassing high-tech conventional firepower and lethality. Broadening the circle of cooperation can help to prevent authoritarian competitors from creating closed spheres of influence while promoting interdependence among countries that respect international norms. In the places where gray-zone competition is occurring, a more active and engaged posture is essential to maintain US influence. Applying this approach in Africa and the Middle East, for example, could involve more resource-sustainable counterterrorism operations while recognizing that effective counterterrorism efforts provide overlapping and complementary benefits that enhance American influence. Similarly, in Latin America, countering transnational organized crime increases US legitimacy as the region’s preferred partner to uphold basic human rights, the rule of law, good governance, and economic prosperity while simultaneously

combating corruption and other vulnerabilities that adversaries can exploit. By looking at a broader range of regions beyond those closest to authoritarian regimes, the guidance widens the aperture for how the United States identifies emerging areas of competition—before conditions change and the US position weakens. 3. Prioritize and Invest in the Information Space Just as the interim guidance highlights where aggression happens—globally and beyond a nation’s near abroad—it also prioritizes the information space and how antagonistic authoritarian powers are competing through misinformation, disinformation, and weaponized corruption to weaken the United States and its democratic allies. The interim guidance further declares that it is a vital national interest to prevent antidemocratic forces from exploiting perceived weaknesses, eroding existing norms and values, and touting their authoritarian models as alternatives. To that end, the United States must prioritize an active presence in the information space, and cannot sit idly by as China, Russia, Iran, North Korea, and others employ millions to conduct information operations without distinction of being at war or peace. Neglecting the importance of information and influence operations in favor of kinetic or technical military solutions would be a grave mistake: public or global opinion could shift in such a way that makes conventional military overmatch a moot point. Failing to respond to state-sponsored falsities risks generating complacency or tacit acceptance of conditions that undermine US values and interests. At the moment, American information operations remain underfunded, fragmented across the Department of State, Department of Defense, and intelligence community, and unevenly linked to broader public diplomacy. An agile, fully resourced information effort—led by the State Department’s Global Engagement Center, the US Agency for Global Media, or another entity—is imperative for competing in the information domain. Counternarrative options abound: holding the Communist Party of China to task for Beijing’s COVID-19 cover-up; illuminating rampant state-sponsored corruption associated with OBOR; demanding accountability for widespread human rights atrocities; and increasing awareness of China’s aggression toward its seventeen neighbor countries or the global threat posed by the illegal activities of its fishing fleet, for example. Effective gray-zone strategies must account for the information environment and for competition in the battle for the narrative. Investments in human capital, artificial intelligence, and increasing access to truthful information will pay substantial dividends in countering gray-zone advances and building the United States’ legitimacy relative to authoritarian aggressors. 4. Fortune Favors the Bold: New Approaches to Out-Compete Adversaries Fourth, the interim guidance directs US departments and agencies to embrace bold initiatives. Mixing tools of statecraft in dynamic and unorthodox ways can help the United States maintain favorable balances of power without escalating to war. At the same time, rethinking how to adapt and proactively use existing capabilities and expertise in conducting irregular warfare activities without relying on kinetic military force would help the United States set the political and diplomatic agenda and out-compete its adversaries. Dynamic approaches in strategic competition do not need to be confined to one strategic resource or element of government power—in fact, a coordinated interagency response is essential to counter adversaries’ use of such stratagems as “wolf warrior diplomacy,” predatory economics, and lawfare, which are endemic to irregular competition in the gray zone. Offensive operations in the information environment could

allow the United States to turn vulnerabilities in authoritarians’ centralized information processes back against themselves, for example by exposing information that authoritarian states attempt to hide from their populations. Promoting openness and transparency is one way to create dilemmas for states preoccupied with maintaining tight informational control. As a potential frame of reference, an asymmetric approach could emphasize counterinfluence “access denial” to keep the international system open against aggressors who seek to close off outside influence. The conventional military could practice this approach by contesting Chinese and Russian anti-access / area denial (A2/AD) strategies alongside allies and partners, which could frustrate adversaries’ efforts to intimidate and coerce within partner nations’ exclusive economic zones. Proactively incorporating irregular warfare in competition, by conventional or special operations forces, would position the military to take a supporting role in advancing nonmilitary objectives in the gray zone, while imposing costs on adversaries attempting to subvert or coerce. The use of targeted foreign assistance that increases the capacity of US partners to investigate and prosecute malign state-sponsored actors would create a form of financial access denial and position allies and partners to confront illicit finance and the root causes of corruption at a fraction of the cost of the United States going it alone. 5. Resilience for the Gray Zone The interim guidance also establishes resilience as a key tenet for the United States’ approach to an increasingly complex international system beset with challenges from adversarial states, pandemics, climate change, an unclear energy future, and corrosive threats to democratic norms and institutions. Amid renewed debate over whether deterrence is sufficient as a cornerstone of US security, the concept of strategic resilience has increased in popularity. A grand strategy of resilience, however, should not imply an exclusively passive or reactive posture to external provocations. Rather, resilient power is valuable for anticipating and responding effectively to external shocks. An approach that prioritizes resilience might not only deter adversaries from further aggression by raising the costs of their activities—it could also increase US readiness and seize any opportunities that present themselves. Applied both at home and abroad, resilience is evident in the interim guidance’s direction to recommit to allies and revitalize democracy by deterring and defending against aggression from hostile adversaries. The guidance makes clear that focusing excessively on high-end capabilities is ill suited for the task of inoculating democracies from hostile states. It highlights that the United States must work with its allies and partners facing threats from subversion, lawlessness, and other coercive threats. Prioritizing resilience against subversion and coercion, as well as the ability to illuminate hostile gray-zone activities, is key. By emphasizing resilience at home and abroad, it is possible to introduce unconventional deterrence as a means of raising the costs of malign influence and reducing the potential for hostile actors to advance objectives through subversive means. Looking at “resilience” in this way shows that it is not a passive reaction to contact. Instead, “resilience” can become an organizing construct for a fully integrated societal framework against shared threats. 6. Diversity as a Force Multiplier

Finally, the interim guidance acknowledges that American diversity is an invaluable source of national power that strengthens the United States’ stature abroad and illustrates the power of its values and example. This example and the diversity that underpins it are crucial for bolstering US credibility and creating a contrast with potential alternatives; it may also show that competitors are not as invincible as they might appear. However, even if diversity is valued, the federal government must invest in it adequately to ensure that the national security enterprise leverages the range of skills and wealth of experiences across the American workforce. A more representative workforce guarantees that the United States can draw upon the talents of its citizens; benefit from innovative, diverse approaches; and avoid falling into patterns of groupthink. A diplomatic corps that reflects the diversity of the American people and understands local motivations abroad is instrumental: language, regional expertise, and cultural knowledge are mission imperatives for engaging abroad with partners and allies, especially in the gray zone, where influence and legitimacy—the centerpieces of the struggle in irregular warfare—are paramount for overarching political success. If the United States ignores the unique strengths of its diverse population, it will struggle to achieve its vital political interests in gray-zone competition. Gray is Here to Stay The gray zone will remain the main competitive space for as long as the United States maintains conventional overmatch, and for as long as America’s adversaries seek to pursue incompatible interests without risking war. The Interim National Security Strategic Guidance sheds light on the strategic risks that gray-zone threats pose to the United States and its allies despite the United States’ clear superiority in lethality, and it provides useful themes to shape how departments and agencies proceed. By increasing resilience at home and abroad, increasing focus on where and how gray-zone competition is unfolding, and drawing on the United States’ own strengths, Washington and its allies can secure their interests regardless of the subversive challenges the United States faces in the future.

https://mwi.usma.edu/gray-is-here-to-stay-principles-from-the-interim-national-security-strategic-guidance-on-competing-in-the-gray-zone/

Philippines reports record high 8,773

new coronavirus infections By Reuters Staff 1 M I N R E A D

FILE PHOTO:

A health worker performs a swab test for detection of the coronavirus disease

(COVID-19) at a school turned evacuation center for residents affected by Typhoon

Vamco, in Rodriguez, Rizal, Philippines, November 27, 2020. REUTERS/Eloisa Lopez

MANILA (Reuters) - The Philippine health ministry on Thursday recorded 8,773 new coronavirus cases, its highest single-day increase, as the country battles a surge in new infections.

The ministry said total confirmed cases have increased to 693,048, while deaths reached 13,095, after 56 additional fatalities reported on Thursday.

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-health-coronavirus-philippines-cases/philippines-reports-record-

high-8773-new-coronavirus-infections-idUSKBN2BH0W4

Coronavirus: Philippine mayors accused of vaccine queue-

jumping; India curbs delay supply of jabs

• President Duterte said that aside from the mayors, the son of an actress also got immunised

• Elsewhere, export restrictions in India are causing significant delays in the worldwide distribution of Covid-19 vaccines

Philippine president Rodrigo Duterte has ordered at least nine city and town mayors investigated for

possible charges after they reportedly jumped ahead of a priority list led by 1.7 million health workers

and got injected with Covid-19 vaccine amid a shortage in supply.

Duterte said in a televised meeting on Wednesday night with key Cabinet members that aside from the mayors, the son of an actress also got immunised. He expressed fears that the country may lose the chance to get more donated vaccines arranged by the World Health Organization (WHO) if its conditions would continue to be violated. “We were told by the WHO country representative, ‘if you do not follow the list of priority, you might lose the assistance of the WHO’,” Duterte said. “It wasn’t followed because I heard even the son of an actress got it. It’s always the favoured few.”

https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/southeast-asia/article/3126976/coronavirus-philippine-mayors-

accused-vaccine-queue

UPLB ‘virus hunters’ are hunting for bats to prevent next pandemic

Published March 25, 2021, 12:24 PM by Jaleen Ramos

Researchers from the University of the Philippines Los Baños (UPLB) in Laguna are catching and studying bats in hopes of preventing another pandemic similar to COVID -19 which has already claimed the lives of more than two million people worldwide.

The researchers, who call themselves “virus hunters,” are catching bats using nets in Mount Makiling in Laguna, according to a report by GMA News.

The researchers aim to develop a “simulation model” that will be used to give information to prevent another outbreak of bat-derived coronavirus infection in humans from happening again.

The work mostly requires long trips through thick rainforests in the province to catch bats to take swab samples from them before releasing them back into the wild.

The swab samples they collected will be sent to Japan for genetic sequencing, the report added.

“We’re trying to create a model that will predict kung saan bang lugar sa Pilipinas magkakaroon ng next outbreak ng mga infectious diseases na galing sa mga paniki,” Dr. Phillip Alviola, a bat ecologist who leads Filipino experts in a collaborative research with universities in Japan and Vietnam, told GMA.

“Puwede nating ma-preempt ‘yung emergence ng outbreak . Gagawa na tayo ng hakbang (We can preempt the emergence of an outbreak. We will make a way),” he added.

The researchers began their study in late January.

https://mb.com.ph/2021/03/25/uplb-virus-hunters-are-hunting-for-bats-to-prevent-next-pandemic/

AstraZeneca says vaccine 76% effective in updated US trial data

PUBLISHED : 25 MAR 2021 AT 11:45 WRITER: AFP

Vials with Covid-19 Vaccine stickers attached and syringes with the logo of British pharmaceutical company AstraZeneca. WASHINGTON: British-Swedish drugmaker AstraZeneca on Wednesday revised down by three

percentage points the effectiveness of its Covid vaccine after American authorities raised concerns that

results reported from its US trial were outdated.

The company now says its vaccine is 76% rather than 79% effective at preventing any kind of

symptomatic Covid.

It remains 100% effective against severe Covid, it added.

The move came after an independent panel of experts appointed to supervise the trial expressed

concern that AstraZeneca had failed to include updated data in its initially released figure.

The US National Institutes of Health then issued a highly unusual statement asking AstraZeneca to work

with the panel and issue a new press release.

"We look forward to filing our regulatory submission for Emergency Use Authorization in the US and

preparing for the rollout of millions of doses across America," said Mene Pangalos executive vice

president of biopharmaceuticals research and development.

The new figure is based on 190 people who fell sick among 32,449 trial participants across the United

States, Peru and Chile, two-thirds of whom received the vaccine while the rest received a placebo.

The previous figure was based on 141 cases, with a cut-off in mid-February.

The company added there are 14 additional or probable Covid cases left to be adjudicated.

https://www.bangkokpost.com/world/2089463/astrazeneca-says-vaccine-76-effective-in-updated-us-

trial-data

Factbox: Countries resume use of AstraZeneca vaccine,

while some lose confidence By Reuters Staff 5 M I N R E A D

(Reuters) - Many countries are resuming use of the Anglo-Swedish drugmaker’s vaccine after the European Medicines Agency (EMA) and the World Health Organization (WHO) said the benefits

outweighed the risks following investigations into reports of blood clots.

FILE PHOTO: A vial of AstraZeneca's coronavirus disease (COVID-19) vaccine is

pictured, as Spain resumes vaccination with AstraZeneca shots after a temporary

suspension, at Enfermera Isabel Zendal hospital in Madrid, Spain, March 24, 2021.

REUTERS/Sergio Perez

Fresh data on Thursday showed the AstraZeneca vaccine was 76% effective in preventing symptomatic

coronavirus infections in a new analysis of its U.S. trial.

A Ukrainian servicewoman who died two days after taking the Covishield - the vaccine made by

AstraZeneca partner Serum Institute of India - had not complained of any ill effects after taking the shot,

the health ministry said on Wednesday. A poll on Sunday showed European trust in the vaccine had

plunged.

At least 17 countries had suspended or delayed use after reports of hospitalisations with clotting issues

and bleeding, while Asia is accelerating inoculations.

U.N. agency WHO, which has urged inoculations continue, said on Friday that more than 20 million

doses of the vaccine had been given to Europeans, with over 27 million doses of Covishield administered

in India.

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-health-coronavirus-astrazeneca-vaccin/factbox-countries-resume-

use-of-astrazeneca-vaccine-while-some-lose-confidence-idUSKBN2BH17T

Mapping the Coronavirus

Outbreak Across the World Updated: March 26, 2021, 1:26 PM GMT+8

U.K. 1,936 66,215 1,668.2 2.5

U.S. 1,656 91,075 1,091.4 2.8

Brazil 1,443 58,583 N/A N/A

France 1,383 66,330 N/A 6.0

Germany 942 34,174 591.6 8.0

Russia 669 31,297 806.7 8.1

India 123 9,032 178.8 0.5

Japan 71 3,675 69.5 13.1

Mainland China 3 65 N/A 4.3

Testing data as of March 22, 2021, 9:39 PM GMT+8

Sources: OECD for number of hospital beds (2016 for the U.S., 2017 for other countries),

government agencies and the COVID Tracking Project via Our World in Data for testing data

(various recent dates) (reported in the past 45 days) and the U.S. Census Bureau for population

figures (2019).

The world is bracing for a new wave of Covid-19 infections, as the coronavirus pandemic has infected more than 125 million people and killed more than 2.7 million globally since late January 2020. Efforts many countries took to stamp out the pneumonia-like illness led to entire nations enforcing lockdowns, widespread halts of international travel, mass layoffs and battered financial markets. Recent attempts to revive social life and financial activities have resulted in another surge in cases and

hospitalizations, though new drugs and improved care may help more people who get seriously ill survive.

01002003004001 yrDays since 100 confirmed cases1001,00010,000100,0001,000,00010,000,00030,000,000CasesMainland ChinaSouth KoreaJapanFranceSingaporeSpainU.K.Hong KongU.S.AustraliaBrazilIndiaRussiaTaiwanNew Zealand

Note: JHU CSSE reporting began on January 22, 2020, when mainland China had already surpassed 500 cases.

Source: Johns Hopkins University Center for Systems Science and Engineering

125,491,716

Confirmed cases worldwide

2,755,211

Deaths worldwide

Jurisdictions with cases confirmed as of March 26, 2021, 1:26 PM GMT+8

1–99

100–999

1,000–9,999

10,000–99,999

100,000–999,999

1,000,000–9,999,999

10 million or more

Where deaths have

occurred Deaths Cases

U.S. 546,822 30,079,282

Brazil 303,462 12,320,169

Mexico 200,211 2,214,542

India 160,949 11,846,652

U.K. 126,684 4,332,922

Italy 106,799 3,464,543

Russia 95,010 4,442,492

France 93,535 4,484,659

Where deaths have

occurred Deaths Cases

Germany 75,669 2,744,608

Spain 74,420 3,247,738

Colombia 62,519 2,359,942

Iran 62,142 1,830,823

Argentina 55,092 2,278,115

South Africa 52,535 1,541,563

Poland 50,860 2,154,821

Show more

Note: Totals for Denmark, France, the Netherlands, the U.K., and the U.S. include overseas

territories and other dependencies. Cases and deaths for cruise ships have been separated in

accordance with JHU CSSE data.

The epicenter of the pandemic has continued to shift throughout the year, from China, then Europe, then the U.S., and now to developing countries like Brazil. Cases globally surpassed 10 million in late June, but ever since infections have been multiplying faster. The U.S. and India have the most infections, accounting for more than a third of all cases combined.

Global Cases Added Per Day

New cases: 714,605

Jan 21, 2020

Mar 25, 2021

France New cases: 109,885

Jan 21, 2020

Mar 25, 2021

Brazil 100,158

U.S. 67,443

India 59,118

Germany 21,620

Russia 9,128

Iran 7,506

U.K. 6,277

Mainland China 11

Note: On February 14, 2020, Hubei officials changed their diagnostic criteria, resulting in a spike in reported cases.

Countries took drastic measures to mitigate the spread of Covid-19 on their homefront—with varying degrees of success. More than 140 governments placed blanket bans on incoming travelers, closed schools and restricted gatherings and public events, according to data compiled by Oxford University’s Blavatnik School of Government and Bloomberg reporting.

As countries loosen lockdowns in an effort to reboot their economies, many have seen a resurgence of infections. The number of new daily cases in the U.S. rose to record highs after some states relaxed social distancing requirements. Even places that successfully contained infections earlier in the year, like China and South Korea, have seen cases bubble back up. Theories that warmer weather in the Northern Hemisphere would bring relief appear to be unfounded.

https://www.bloomberg.com/graphics/2020-coronavirus-cases-world-map/?srnd=coronavirus

‘Friend,’ indeed

Philippine Daily Inquirer / 05:08 AM March 26, 2021

Is this any way to treat a friend?

Retired Supreme Court senior associate justice Antonio Carpio spoke for many Filipinos this week when he raised the issue of China’s supposed friendship with the Philippines, and in particular with President Duterte, after 220 Chinese militia

ships were sighted moored at the Julian Felipe Reef in the West Philippine Sea

(WPS) since March 7.

ADVERTISEMENT “Friends do not seize, do not occupy the backyard of each other,” pointed out Carpio. Thus, Mr. Duterte should tell Beijing—which once called him “the most respected and most important friend for President Xi Jinping and the Chinese people”—not “to seize our territorial maritime zones.” True to form, presidential spokesperson Harry Roque downplayed China’s latest provocation, saying that the President would talk to the Chinese ambassador. “Friends and neighbors can talk everything out,” he added. But Beijing has so far slammed the door on any possibility of acknowledging its

encroachment on Philippine waters. The Chinese ambassador dismissed the

diplomatic protest filed this week by the foreign affairs department. Denying the

incursion, the Chinese Embassy in Manila said the reef is “part of China’s Nansha Qundao” district—a newfangled administrative zone it had declared over its

seized islands in the WPS that no country in the world recognizes. It swatted away all talk of China’s latest trespassing as an “unnecessary irritation,” including Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana’s demand for the vessels’ pullout since their presence was a “provocative action of militarizing the area.”

According to data from reconnaissance flights led by the Western Command on

March 22, the vessels are still in the reef some 175 nautical miles off Bataraza town in Palawan province, well within the Philippines’ exclusive economic zone. They are “a concern due to the possible overfishing and destruction of the marine

environment, as well as risks to safety of navigation,” said the government watchdog National Task Force for the West Philippine Sea.

This is far from the first time China has brazenly muscled its way into Philippine

territory, using a slew of tactics and military might to harass Filipino fishermen

and fence off seized areas, the ultimate aim apparently to duck the arbitral ruling

and bolster its bogus claims in the South China Sea. The latest incident could be along the same playbook, a “prelude” to China’s occupation of the reef, warned Carpio, who recalled how China started its takeover of the Mischief Reef in 1995

by ostensibly building shelters for its fishermen and eventually turning the reef

into a naval base. International security analysts have also noted how China

established de facto control over Panatag (Scarborough) Shoal after the 2012

standoff through its coast guard and military ships.

Is the military, the constitutional defender of the country’s territorial integrity and sovereignty, bestirred to consider any significant course of action against the

swarming move by the Chinese maritime militia? Not when the Beijing-besotted commander in chief himself isn’t inclined to do so. Hence the dispatch that the Armed Forces is “still deciding the best course of action” while monitoring the situation, and AFP spokesperson Maj. Gen. Edgard Arevalo’s dispiriting remarks that sending a Philippine ship over to reaffirm ownership may “militarize” and “escalate” the situation. As if the Chinese act of barging in and illegally occupying the area hasn’t done that by now. “The PRC [People’s Republic of China] uses maritime militia to intimidate, provoke, and threaten other nations, which undermines peace and security in the region,” said the US Embassy in a statement. “Chinese boats have been mooring in this area for many months in ever increasing numbers, regardless of the weather”—a dig at the Chinese Embassy’s claim that the boats were simply sheltering in the reef due to a storm. Australia and Japan have also expressed

concern—Canberra cautioning against “destabilizing actions” in the South China Sea, a “crucial international waterway” that should remain “secure, open and inclusive,” and Tokyo saying it “strongly opposes any action that heightens tensions.”

Will the international community’s resolve move Xi Jinping’s best friend in

Malacañang in any way? Not likely. At the arrival ceremonies for the Sinovac

vaccine donations from China last month, Mr. Duterte was once again profuse in his praise for the country: “China never asked for anything. China has been giving us everything but never asked anything from us,” he gushed. It never asks, it just takes. The Julian Felipe Reef—named after the composer of

the music of the Philippine national anthem (those words: “Lupang Hinirang, duyan ka ng magiting, sa manlulupig, di ka pasisiil”) might just become its next trophy, unofficial recompense for the vaccine donations that had made

Malacañang all giddy. What a friend.

https://opinion.inquirer.net/138830/friend-indeed

SE Asian democratic reversals favor China

By: Andrea Chloe Wong - @inquirerdotnet

Philippine Daily Inquirer / 05:03 AM March 26, 2021

The democratic backsliding now prevalent in several countries in Southeast Asia

underscores the gradual decline in the quality of these countries’ democracies and the emergence of autocratic tendencies. This political trend has geostrategic

implications, as it may see countries in Southeast Asia gravitating toward China’s authoritarian arm while moving away from US democratic influence.

Except for Laos and Vietnam (both communist one-party regimes), most

governments in Southeast Asia have experienced democratic backsliding. In

Thailand, the military junta that toppled a democratically-elected government

through a coup in 2014 was able to engineer a parliamentary election in 2019 to

prolong its rule. In Indonesia, the government legitimized a conservative and anti-

pluralistic brand of Islam and suppressed political opposition. In Myanmar, the

military coup last February overthrew a civilian-led government, making the

country the front-runner in the region’s “authoritarian race to the bottom.”

As governments in the region reverse their domestic political course, their

external balancing efforts will likely tilt toward China at a time of heightened great

power rivalry with the United States. The lack of transparency, desire to extend power, and propensity to use force among leaders belonging to the “Asean dictators’ club” dovetail with China’s principle of noninterference in other countries’ domestic affairs. Unlike the United States’ willingness to condemn authoritarian rule, China’s “noninterference” is paradoxically notorious for its implicit support of autocratic leaders. It’s an important financier, for instance, of the regime survival of Cambodia’s Hun Sen, the world’s longest-serving prime minister with 36 years in

power. Hun Sen has chosen to exclusively embrace and bandwagon with China,

even describing Beijing as Cambodia’s “ironclad friend.”

For the Philippines’ Rodrigo Duterte, China provides financial assistance without any preconditions anchored on the advancement of human rights. While the

United States has limited aid provision to the Philippines’ brutal war on drugs, China granted support for drug rehabilitation and law enforcement. Amid international condemnation, President Duterte regards China as “the only country to come out freely supporting the fight against drugs in my country.”

Several Southeast Asian countries are also attracted to China’s alternative, non-

Western model of prosperity without democracy. They are increasingly

disillusioned with the chaotic democratization process and its effects on their

economies and societies. While they have sustained economic growth in the past

decades, most of them continue to suffer from high levels of inequality,

widespread corruption, fragile institutions, and weak rule of law. For them, China

represents an exemplar model for political and economic development where

state legitimacy need not be based on a democratic relationship between the government and the governed, but rests instead on the country’s rising standards

of living. China’s authoritarian allure in the region became more evident after the United

States underwent retrenchment in the region and retreated from its role as a global advocate of liberal democracy under the Trump administration’s “America First” foreign policy. Washington’s tarnished democratic credentials have become even less relevant for Southeast Asian countries experiencing democratic

backsliding. And as these countries descend toward autocratic rule, they are

implicitly handing over a wide-open field for Beijing to take further political steps

toward regional dominance.

https://opinion.inquirer.net/138820/se-asian-democratic-reversals-favor-china

North Korea provokes in predictable ways In many ways, North Korea is quite predictable. The government in Pyongyang was expected to try to provoke the Biden administration, and this week it did just that with a series of missile launches. International reaction has been muted — as it should be. Every challenge does not deserve a response. But North Korea should not be allowed to set the pace for diplomacy.

The United States should complete its policy review, consult with allies and partners and then agree on a way forward. Pyongyang’s attempts to escalate should be called out for what they are: transparent efforts to dictate the tempo and nature of a confrontation. Our response should be reasoned and measured.

The North Korean regime invariably tests a new U.S. president, and Biden’s tough talk during the campaign — he called North Korean leader Kim Jong Un “a thug” — made a challenge likely. A nine-day U.S.-South Korean joint military exercise that started March 9 provided additional incentive to take action. When U.S. officials met with Japanese and South Korean counterparts last week and they publicly announced that they had discussed North Korea, a provocation became a virtual certainty. (Pyongyang often greets senior U.S. officials to the region with a test of some sort.)

According to media reports, North Korea first fired two projectiles on Sunday, alternatively described as short-range missiles, cruise missiles or artillery shells. After a muted response — defense officials in Japan, the United States and South Korea had no comment until asked by the media — North Korea followed up Thursday with the launch of two more missiles, this time reported to be ballistic missiles. That is an important escalation: Ballistic missiles are sanctioned by United Nations resolutions and a launch would demand a response.

That is the likely purpose. Short-range missile tests are routine and much less provocative. U.S. President Joe Biden dismissed the weekend launches, calling them “business as usual.” That low-key response was an attempt by the U.S. and its partners to maintain the upper hand. U.S. officials admitted on background that “it’s not in the U.S interest to hype these things,” while insisting that U.S. military forces remain prepared and on high alert. That is the correct attitude. The U.S. should not signal indifference to such launches as it suggests a willingness to tolerate local provocations — a green light to proceed as long as the U.S. homeland remains unthreatened.

Wednesday’s test ups the ante, even if it was expected. As Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga tweeted Wednesday morning, after the missile flew 470 km and landed outside Japan’s exclusive economic zone, “It threatens the peace and security of Japan and the region, and is a violation of United Nations resolutions.”

The Biden administration is conducting a North Korea policy review, and is expected to report its findings to Japanese and South Korean counterparts during a trilateral meeting of national security advisors scheduled to be held in Washington next week. The three men will strategize on how to proceed.

The U.S. would like to engage with North Korea — “diplomacy is always our goal,” said White House spokesperson Jen Psaki — but Pyongyang has refused to talk with U.S.

interlocutors for over a year. Earlier this month, the Biden team revealed that it had reached out to North Korea “through multiple channels,” but they were rebuffed. In response, Kim Yo Jong, sister of Kim Jong Un, warned the U.S against “causing a stink at its first step,” while Choe Son Hui, North Korean first vice-minister of foreign affairs, dismissed the outreach as “a cheap trick.” Choe criticized Biden policy as a “lunatic theory of ‘threat from North Korea’ and groundless rhetoric about ‘complete denuclearization.’”

https://www.japantimes.co.jp/opinion/2021/03/25/editorials/north-korea-u-s-nuclear-weapons-

missiles-kim-jong-un-joe-biden/

We must start planning for a permanent pandemic

• BY ANDREAS KLUTH

• BLOOMBERG • SHARE

• Mar 25, 2021

For the past year, an assumption — sometimes explicit, often tacit — has informed almost all our thinking about the pandemic: At some point, it will be over, and then we’ll go “back to normal.”

This premise is almost certainly wrong. SARS-CoV-2 (the virus that causes COVID-19), protean and elusive as it is, may become our permanent enemy, like the flu but worse. And even if it peters out eventually, our lives and routines will by then have changed irreversibly. Going “back” won’t be an option; the only way is forward. But to what exactly?

Most epidemics disappear once populations achieve herd immunity and the pathogen has too few vulnerable bodies available as hosts for its self-propagation. This herd protection comes about through the combination of natural immunity in people who’ve recovered from infection and vaccination of the remaining population.

In the case of SARS-CoV-2, however, recent developments suggest that we may never achieve herd immunity. Even the United States, which leads most other countries in vaccinations and already had large outbreaks, won’t get there. That’s the upshot of an analysis by Christopher Murray at the University of Washington and Peter Piot at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine.

The main reason is the ongoing emergence of new variants that behave almost like new viruses. A clinical vaccine trial in South Africa showed that people in the placebo group who had previously been infected with one strain had no immunity against its mutated descendant and became reinfected. There are similar reports from parts of Brazil that had massive outbreaks and subsequently suffered renewed epidemics.

That leaves only vaccination as a path toward lasting herd immunity. And admittedly, some of the shots available today are still somewhat effective against some of the new variants. But over time they will become powerless against the coming mutations.

Of course, vaccine makers are already feverishly working on making new jabs. In particular, inoculations based on the revolutionary mRNA technology I’ve previously described can be updated faster than any vaccine in history. But the serum still needs to be made, shipped, distributed and jabbed.

And that process can’t happen fast enough, nor cover the planet widely enough. Yes, some of us may win a regional round or two against the virus, by vaccinating one particular population — as Israel has done, for instance. But evolution doesn’t care where it does its work, and the virus replicates wherever it finds warm and unvaccinated

bodies with cells that let it reproduce its RNA. As it copies itself, it makes occasional coding mistakes. And some of those chance errors turn into yet more mutations.

These viral avatars are popping up wherever there’s a lot of transmission going on and somebody bothers to look closely. A British, a South African and at least one Brazilian strain have already become notorious, but I’ve also seen reports of viral cousins and nephews showing up in California, Oregon and elsewhere. If we were to sequence samples in more places, we’d probably find even more relatives.

We should therefore assume that the virus is already mutating fast in the many poor countries that have so far received no jabs at all, even if their youthful populations keep mortality manageable and thus mask the severity of local outbreaks. Last month, Antonio Guterres, the Secretary General of the United Nations, reminded the world that 75% of all shots had been administered in just 10 countries, while 130 others hadn’t primed a single syringe.

A pathogen’s evolution is neither surprising nor automatically worrisome. One frequent pattern is that bugs over time become more contagious but less virulent. After all, not killing your host too efficiently confers an advantage in natural selection. If SARS-CoV-2 goes this route, it’ll eventually become just another common cold.

But that’s not what it’s been doing recently. The variants we know of have become more infectious, but no less lethal. From an epidemiological point of view, that’s the worst news.

Consider two alternative evolutionary paths. In one, a virus becomes more severe but not more transmissible. It will cause more disease and death, but the growth is linear. In the other path, a mutating virus becomes neither more nor less virulent but more contagious. It will cause increases in disease and death that are exponential rather than linear. Adam Kucharski at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine explains the math here.

If this is the evolutionary trajectory of SARS-CoV-2, we’re in for seemingly endless cycles of outbreaks and remissions, social restrictions and relaxations, lockdowns and re-openings. At least in rich countries, we will probably get vaccinated a couple of times a year, against the latest variant in circulation, but never fast or comprehensively enough to achieve herd immunity.

I’m not arguing for defeatism here. In the grand sweep of history, COVID-19 is still a relatively mild pandemic. Smallpox killed nine out of 10 Native Americans after the Spanish brought it to the Americas in the 16th century. The Black Death carried off about half of the Mediterranean population when it first came to Europe in the sixth century. Worldwide, the coronavirus has killed fewer than four in 10,000 so far. And with our science and technology, we’re armed as our ancestors never were.

But we must also be realistic. Resilience demands that we include this new scenario into our planning. The good news is that we keep getting better at responding. In each

lockdown, for example, we damage the economy less than in the previous one. And we may achieve scientific breakthroughs that will eventually make life better. Our Brave

https://www.japantimes.co.jp/opinion/2021/03/25/commentary/world-commentary/permanent-covid-

19-vaccines/