Philippines to Build Islands Port Near Taiwan
The U.S. military will not be involved in development of a port in the Philippines' remote northernmost islands near Taiwan, the local governor said, removing a potential source of friction with China over the U.S. presence in the region.The governor of the Batanes islands, less than 200 km (125 miles) from Taiwan, said in August she had sought U.S. funding for a new port there. The U.S. embassy had at the time confirmed its diplomats and U.S. Army Pacific (USARPAC) experts had…
Taiwan Expects to Deploy Two New Submarines by 2027
Taiwan hopes to deploy at least two new, domestically developed submarines by 2027, and possibly equip later models with missiles, to strengthen deterrence against the Chinese navy and protect key supply lines, the head of the program said.Taiwan, which China claims as its own territory, has made the indigenous sub program a key part of an ambitious project to modernise its armed forces as Beijing stages almost daily military exercises to assert its sovereignty.President Tsai Ing-wen…
Taiwan Tracking Chinese Carrier off its Southeast Coast
Taiwan's defence ministry said on Monday that a Chinese carrier group led by the Shandong was about 120 nautical miles off the southeast of the island's coast, the same ship that took part in China's war games around the island earlier this month.Taiwan previously reported that the Shandong, commissioned in 2019, had sailed into waters in the Western Pacific through the Bashi Channel that separates the island from the Philippines ahead of a meeting between President Tsai Ing-wen and U.S.
Malaysia Calls for Peaceful End to South China Sea Standoff
Malaysia called on Thursday for disputes over the South China Sea to be resolved by peaceful means, amid a standoff between Chinese and Malaysian vessels that a U.S. think tank said had been going on for months.U.S. and Australian warships arrived in the South China Sea this week near an area where a Chinese government survey vessel, the Haiyang Dizhi 8, has been operating close to a drillship under contract to Malaysian state oil company Petronas, regional security sources have…
U.S. Carrier Drills with Japanese Navy
A U.S. Navy aircraft carrier, the Ronald Reagan, is conducting drills with a Japanese warship in waters around Okinawa southwest of the Korean peninsula, Japan's military said on Wednesday. The exercise comes amid heightened tension with North Korea as the U.S. holds air drills in the region with B1-B bombers flown from Guam. The exercise with the Reagan strike group, which began on Saturday, involves vessels sailing from the Bashi Channel, which separates the Philippines and Taiwan, to seas around Japan's southwest island nearer to North Korea, Japan's Maritime Self Defence Force said in a statement. One Japanese destroyer, the Shimkaze, is accompanying the 100,000-ton Reagan, which is based in Japan, and its escort ships, the JMSDF said. Reporting by Tim Kelly
This Day in U.S. Navy History: December 30, 2015
USS John D. Ford (DD 228) is commissioned. It serves in both the Atlantic and the Pacific during World War II and receives a Presidential Unit Citation, specifically honoring her "extraordinary heroism in action" during the Java Campaign, Jan. 23 - March 2, 1942 and four battle stars. USS Bluefish (SS 222) sinks Japanese oiler Ichiyu Maru in the Java Sea. USS Block Island (CVE 106) is commissioned, serving until decommissioned in 1954. Struck from the Navy list in 1959, ex-Block Island is sold to Kowa Koeki Co., Ltd., Mitsubishi Naka, of Chiyoda-Ku, Tokyo and scrapped a year later. USS Razorback (SS 394) attacks a Japanese convoy going from Manila to Takao, about 60 miles southeast of Formosa, and sinks the destroyer Kuretake in the Bashi Channel.
Russia, China Hold Joint Naval Exercises
The second stage of Russia-China "Joint Sea 2015" maritime exercises are taking place on June 8-11 in Russia’s Far Eastern Primorsky Territory, according to a statement from the Russian Defense Ministry’s Eastern Military District press service. The joint exercise will include troop landing practices and reconnaissance missions. "As part of the upcoming joint Russian-Chinese naval drills, Joint Sea 2015 [II] at the firing range at Cape Klerk the airborne and amphibious landing will be practiced," Pacific Fleet’s spokesman Captain 1st Rank Roman Martov said. On Tuesday, the Russian Defense Ministry said that officers from the Russian Eastern Military District…
China's Air Drills Roil South China Sea Waters
China's air force conducted its first drill above the western Pacific Ocean on Monday, the Defence Ministry said, in a move that could exacerbate tensions with its South China Sea neighbours including Taiwan and the Philippines. People's Liberation Army aircraft conducted exercises over the western Pacific Ocean after they flew over the Bashi Channel, said Shen Jinke, an air force spokesman. The channel is located between Taiwan and the Philippines, and is claimed by both. The ministry showed photos of long-range bombers sitting on the tarmac along with their crews. The jets returned the same day, it said. This marks the first time the air force has conducted drills in airspace so far from China's coast, the official Xinhua news agency reported.
China Navy Beefs Up South China Sea Presence
A People's Liberation Army (PLA) Navy fleet has entered territorial waters in the South China Sea for patrol and training missions. Comprising the missile destroyer Qingdao and the missile frigates Yantai and Yancheng, the fleet entered the South China Sea after a five-hour passage through the Bashi Channel (between Taiwan and the Philippines' Luzon Island). The three ships, all from the North China Sea Fleet of the PLA Navy, are scheduled to carry out patrol missions and multi-type training exercises in the South China Sea over the next few days.
