Sunday, May 31, 2015

With tensions in South China Sea... it's now between Russian aircraft and US warship in Black Sea

As tensions build among China, US and Asian countries with claims on the South China Sea islands, Russian military aircraft were scrambled to head off a U.S. warship that was acting “aggressively” in the Black Sea.


Russian aircraft head off U.S. warship in Black Sea: RIA

REUTERS 


The Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer USS Ross (DDG 71) stands by during a nighttime passenger transfer during exercise Sea Breeze 2014. Ross, forward deployed to Rota, Spain, is conducting naval operations in the U.S. 6th Fleet area of operations in support of U.S. national security interests in Europe.


MOSCOW — Russian military aircraft were scrambled to head off a U.S. warship that was acting "aggressively" in the Black Sea, state news agency RIA reported on Saturday, citing an anonymous source in Russia's armed forces in Crimea.

The source was quoted as saying that the U.S. destroyer Ross was moving along the edge of Russia's territorial waters and heading in their direction.

"The crew of the ship acted provocatively and aggressively, which concerned the operators of monitoring stations and ships of the Black Sea Fleet," RIA quoted the source as saying.

“Su-24 attack aircraft demonstrated to the American crew readiness to harshly prevent a violation of the frontier and to defend the interests of the country."

Russia's Defence Ministry was not immediately available to comment on the report.

The incident is the latest example of encounters between Russian and Western militaries, as tensions continue over the crisis in Ukraine and Russia's annexation of the Crimea peninsula, home to Russia's Black Sea Fleet, last year.

Earlier this month both Britain and Sweden said that they had scrambled fighters to intercept Russian bombers near their territory.

The United States said last month that it was filing a complaint to Russia over a Russian fighter's "sloppy" and unsafe interception of a U.S. reconnaisance plane in international aerospace over the Baltic Sea. - NY Daily News

The biggest volcano on earth and yesterday's 7.8M earthquake in Japan

Yesterday, I came across a story about a giant volcano discovered below sea in the northwest Pacific and identified in 2013 as the "biggest volcano on earth and one of the biggest in the solar system". (See story below)

Called TAMU MASSIF the giant shield volcano had been thought to be a composite of smaller structures, but now scientists say they must rethink long-held beliefs about marine geology.

By coincidence, a 7.8M earthquake struck in the same area, also yesterday, (see maps below), where the said massive volcano has been hiding for 145 million years.



New Giant Volcano Below Sea Is Largest in the World

Tamu Massif in the northwest Pacific challenges traditional views of ocean science.
By Brian Clark HowardNational Geographic
A volcano the size of New Mexico or the British Isles has been identified under the Pacific Ocean, about 1,000 miles (1,600 kilometers) east of Japan, making it the biggest volcano on Earth and one of the biggest in the solar system.
Called Tamu Massif, the giant shield volcano had been thought to be a composite of smaller structures, but now scientists say they must rethink long-held beliefs about marine geology.
“This finding goes against what we thought, because we found that it’s one huge volcano,” said William Sager, a geology professor at the University of Houston in Texas. Sager is lead author in a study about the find that was published this week in the peer-reviewed journal Nature Geoscience.
“It is in the same league as Olympus Mons on Mars, which had been considered to be the largest volcano in the solar system,” Sager told National Geographic.
Tamu Massif is a rounded dome that measures about 280 by 400 miles (450 by 650 kilometers), or more than 100,000 square miles. Its top lies about 6,500 feet (about 2,000 meters) below the ocean surface, while the base extends down to about 4 miles (6.4 kilometers) deep. Tamu Massif dwarfs the largest active volcano on Earth, Mauna Loa in Hawaii, which measures about 2,000 square miles (5,200 square kilometers).
Made of basalt, Tamu Massif is the oldest and largest feature of an oceanic plateau called the Shatsky Rise in the northwestern Pacific Ocean. The total area of the rise is similar to Japan or California.
Sager started studying Tamu Massif about 20 years ago. He named it Tamu Massif because Tamu is short for Texas A&M University, where the scientist worked at the time; massif is French for “massive” and is a scientific term for a large mountain.
The 7.8M Earthquake May 30, 2015  189km WNW of Chichi-shima, Japan Depth: 677.6 km


Location of Tamu Massif

Saturday, May 30, 2015

8.5M Earthquake strikes Bonin Island region, near Japan (downgraded to 7.8M)

VERY LARGE 8.5M EARTHQUAKE STRIKES NEAR JAPAN – BONIN ISLANDS (7.8M REVISED)


A very large 8.5 magnitude earthquake has struck Southeast of mainland Japan in the Bonin Island region.  (downgraded to 7.8M)
8.5 m earthquake may 30 2015
This earthquake occurred at a depth of 696km / 432 miles, which falls deep into the Asthenosphere below the Pacific plate.
Worthy to note that an earthquake forecast was issued for Japan YESTERDAY, giving full warning of a very large event coming this week. - Dutchsinse

Source: USGS

Update: The Japan Meteorological Agency (JMA) has this earthquake of May 30, 2015 pegged at 8.5M.

'Disturbing, escalatory' mobile artillery on reclaimed island

South China Sea: China placing mobile artillery on reclaimed island, US says


PHOTO: The US Navy has released footage purporting to show Chinese vessels during outcrops into islands. (Reuters/US Navy)

The United States says China has placed mobile artillery weapons systems on a reclaimed island in the disputed South China Sea, a development that Republican senator John McCain has called "disturbing and escalatory".
Brent Colburn, a Pentagon spokesman travelling with defence secretary Ash Carter, said the United States was aware of the weapons.
Senator McCain, chairman of the Senate's armed services committee, said the move would escalate tensions but not lead to conflict.
"It is a disturbing development and escalatory development, one which heightens our need to make the Chinese understand that their actions are in violation of international law and their actions are going to be condemned by everyone in the world," he said at a news conference in Ho Chi Minh City.
"We are not going to have a conflict with China but we can take certain measures which will be a disincentive to China to continue these kinds of activities," he said.
In Beijing, China's foreign ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying said she had no information on the weapons.

Chinese ships busy transforming outcrops into islands

US officials said Chinese dredging work had added some 2,000 acres to five outposts in the resource-rich Spratly islands in the South China Sea, including 1,500 acres this year.
It has released surveillance plane footage showing dredgers and other ships busily turning remote outcrops into islands with runways and harbours.
Mr Carter called on Wednesday for an immediate halt to land reclamation in the South China Sea and was expected to touch on the issue of maritime security and freedom of navigation again in a speech at the Shangri-La Dialogue security conference in Singapore.
China says the islands are in sovereign Chinese territory.
Pentagon officials said efforts by China and other claimant countries to turn reefs into islands in the Spratlys undermines international law and raises questions about their future plans and intentions.
"It creates an air of uncertainty in a system that has been based on certainty and agreed-upon norms," said Mr Colburn, the Pentagon spokesman.
"So anything that steps outside of the bounds of international law we see as a concern because we don't know what the ... motivations are behind that. We think it should concern everyone in the region."
Asian military attaches and analysts said the placement of mobile artillery pieces appeared to be a symbol of intent, rather than any major development that could tilt any balance of power.
"It is interesting and a point to watch. But it should be remembered they've already got potentially a lot more firepower on the naval ships that they routinely move through the South China Sea," one military attache said.
China claims most of the South China Sea. The Philippines, Vietnam, Malaysia, Brunei and Taiwan also claim parts of the vital trade route.
All claimants except Brunei have military fortifications in the Spratlys.

War this summer? Wars and rumor of wars; 'visible to anyone with eyes to see'

Matthew 24:4 Jesus answered: “Watch out that no one deceives you. 5 For many will come in my name, claiming, ‘I am the Messiah,’ and will deceive many. 6 You will hear of wars and rumors of wars, but see to it that you are not alarmed. Such things must happen, but the end is still to come. 7 Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be famines and earthquakes in various places. 8 All these are the beginning of birth pains.
 
SENIOR NATO OFFICIAL: “WE’LL PROBABLY BE AT WAR THIS SUMMER”

"If we're lucky it won't be nuclear"

by Paul Joseph Watson, Infowars|

A senior NATO official told former NSA intelligence analyst John Schindler that the world would “probably be at war” sometime this summer.

“We’ll probably be at war this summer, if we’re lucky it won’t be nuclear,” the official told Schindler last week.

Image Credits: US Air Force, Wikimedia Commons

Although the tweet was retweeted over 400 times, (1,221 times as of May 29), the comment garnered no mainstream media attention whatsoever, which is odd given that Schindler is a former U.S. Naval War College lecturer and is known to have many high level military contacts.

Although not specified, the reference was almost certainly in relation to growing tensions between the United States and Russia.

One analysis of the comment suggests it may have been a “deliberate “leak” from NATO sources, to emphasize how serious the situation is.”

Earlier this month NATO launched its biggest ever wargame exercise on Russia’s doorstep. Moscow responded by conducting “provocative” wargames in the Mediterranean Sea in coordination with the Chinese PLA, the first ever naval drill involving both superpowers.

NATO powers are also taking part in one of Europe’s largest ever fighter jet drills from today, with the United States, the United Kingdom, Switzerland, the Netherlands, Germany, France, Finland, Norway and Sweden all involved in the 12 day exercise.

Tensions are also building between the U.S. and China, with The Global Times, a state media outlet owned by the ruling Communist Party, today warning that “war is inevitable” if Washington doesn’t halt its demands that Beijing stop building artificial islands in the South China Sea.

“If the United States’ bottom line is that China has to halt its activities, then a U.S.-China war is inevitable in the South China Sea,” the newspaper said. “The intensity of the conflict will be higher than what people usually think of as ‘friction’.”

Last week, CNN revealed how China’s Navy has repeatedly issued warnings to U.S. surveillance planes flying over the South China Sea.

Billionaire investor George Soros also cautioned last week that the planet was heading towards a third world war as a result of a potential economic collapse in China.

Noting that Beijing may need to rally its population around an external threat to avoid an internal collapse, Soros said that, “there is a real danger that China will align itself with Russia politically and militarily, and then the threat of third world war becomes real.”


In a People’s Daily editorial last September, Chinese PLA Professor Han Xudong also warned that Beijing should prepare itself for a third world war which could arise out of the conflict between the United States and Russia over Ukraine - INFOWARS


In relation to the above story, Schindler further discussed his above tweet on his blog dated May 28 where he says in part:


I’m not sure why this caused a ruckus, since the reality, visible to anyone with eyes to see, is that Russian aggression over the last year and more has created a very unstable environment in Eastern Europe. Not to mention that the Russian military was simulating nuclear attacks on NATO countries as far back as 2009, back when ties between Moscow and the West remained far from chilly, indeed positively reset-y. The post-Cold War order has been destroyed by Russian acts in Ukraine, and we’re headed towards some sort of new system — whether through renewed Cold War or actual war remains to be seen.
 I am increasingly pessimistic that a wider war can be averted, not least because Putin has been winning off his gambling, despite holding an intrinsically weak hand, and gamblers tend to keep playing when they’re winning. Top NATO officials are now signalling just how dangerous the situation is in Eastern Europe. Yesterday Jens Stoltenberg, the Alliance secretary general, denounced “Russia’s recent use of nuclear rhetoric, exercises and operations are deeply troubling,” adding the obvious, that “Russia’s nuclear saber-rattling is unjustified, destabilizing and dangerous.”

Mincing no words, a top NATO general announced that Russia could take over the Baltic states in just two days. Petr Pavel, the former head of the Czech armed forces and the incoming boss of the Alliance’s Military Committee, ruffled some feathers with his blunt statement, which accords with military reality. Lacking strategic depth, the Baltic states indeed could be overwhelmed by Russia in just a couple days: in other words, before they could be saved by NATO. General Pavel explained that NATO actions to counter Kremlin aggression have been “embarrassingly ineffective” — which, again, is a truth that we are unaccustomed to top Western officials saying in public

Friday, May 29, 2015

China warns US war is 'inevitable' unless...

China warns US war is 'INEVITABLE' unless rival superpower halts meddling


THE United States has been warned that war with China is "inevitable" if it continues to meddle with the emerging superpower's activities.

By Rebecca Perring


In a new military white paper published today, China vowed to increase its focus on offensive capabilities rather than its current defensive stance.

Beijing highlighted a "grave and complex array of security threats" as the reason for the switch, including its ongoing territorial row in the South China Sea.

China is determined to complete its construction of artificial reefs in the internationally disputed waters, despite protests from neighbouring countries Malaysia, Vietnam and the Philippines.

Under President Obama the US has repeatedly clashed with China over its building projects in the disputed Spratly Islands, whose sovereignty are claimed by a number of nations.

Washington believes the work is being conducted with the aim of strengthening China's claim to the vast majority of the South China Sea, increasing fears the movement of ships and aircraft in the region could soon be restricted by Beijing.

The Chinese military's white paper claimed the construction of the artificial reefs is the country's "most important bottom line".

The proposals also included a vow for China to step up its "open seas protection" in the South China Sea; its air force to shift from territorial air defence to both offence and defence; and the Chinese army to increase its mobility and artillery in order to improve its "medium and long-range precision strikes".

REUTERS
Chinese dredging vessels seen in the disputed Spratly Islands in the South China Sea

'We do not want a military conflict with the United States, but if it were to come, we have to accept it'
Coinciding with the publication of the white paper, an editorial in The Global Times – a tabloid newspaper mouthpiece for the ruling Communist Party – issued a warning to the US to halt its protests over the South China Sea.

Last week, China's foreign ministry revealed it had lodged a complaint with the US over an American spy plane that flew over parts of the disputed archipelago. 

The article read: "We do not  want a military conflict with the United States, but if it were to come, we have to accept it."

It added that China should "carefully prepare" for the possibility of war with Washington and that "if the United States' bottom line is that China is to halt activities, then a US-China war is inevitable in the South China Sea".

Despite last week's protest from China, the US has vowed to keep up air and sea patrols in the South China Sea. 

Speaking during a press conference in Beijing, spokesman for China's defence ministry, Yang Yujun, defended the country's policies in South China Sea.

He said development work was the same as building roads and homes on mainland China and that it would benefit "the whole of the international society". 


REUTERS
National Defence Senior Colonel Yang Yujun holds a copy of the annual white paper
 
The spokesman added: "From the prospective of sovereignty, there is absolutely no difference… some external countries are also busy meddling in South China Sea affairs". 

Security experts have warned there is a serious risk of an airspace incident near the Spratly Islands, which could escalate rapidly into a US-China military conflict. 

Robert Dujarric, director of the Institute of Contemporary Asian Studies at the Japan campus of Temple University said: "I think the concern has to be that China misjudges the situation. 

"Neither party wants a war if it can be avoided, but there are red lines for both sides.

"I worry that if Beijing considers the US to be a declining power and assumes that Washington will back down if it shoots down a US observation aircraft". Read more on Express (UK)

Policy expert warns an "accident" could spark China-US war

Expert: South China Sea “Accident” Could Spark Sino-U.S. War

Conflict more likely than at any point in last 20 years
by Paul Joseph Watson, Editor, Infowars, Prison Planet
Policy expert Michael Auslin warns that an “accident” in the South China Sea could spark a Sino-U.S. war and that conflict between the two superpowers is more likely than at any point in the last 20 years.

In a piece for the Commentator, Auslin, a former Associate Professor of history at Yale University, explains the “three real-world scenarios” which could lead to a confrontation.

The first is an accidental mid-air collision in a repeat of the 2001 incident when a Chinese fighter and a US Navy surveillance plane collided over Hainan Island, prompting an international dispute.


“The US Navy is reportedly considering sending ships within 12 miles of the manmade islands, thereby entering into what China claims is now sovereign territory,” writes Auslin. “With Chinese naval and maritime patrol vessels in the waters, intimidation or harassment of US ships could lead to a collision, with each side responding in turn.” 

“This is what China has done to ships of other nations, and an accident could lead to a stand-off,” he adds. 

Once China completes the construction of airstrips on the islands, making it easier for fighter jets to patrol the area, a collision becomes more likely, according to Auslin. 

The second scenario which could spark a war involves China forcing a confrontation by closely shadowing US planes in the hope that the Obama administration would back down given its equally pressing problems in the Middle East and with Russia. 

“China’s leaders may decide that stopping American incursion into their newly claimed waters early on is the best opportunity to make the risks to Washington seem too high,” writes Auslin. 

The third scenario involves China intercepting planes belonging to U.S. allies such as the Philippines. Washington could then legitimately intervene under the justification that it is upholding international law. 

“With no de-escalation mechanisms, and deep distrust on both sides, the more capable China becomes in defending its claimed territory, the more risks the US will face in challenging those claims,” concludes Auslin, noting that, “The US and China are now potentially closer to an armed encounter than at any time in the past 20 years.” 

Tension between the two superpowers has been building in recent weeks, with The Global Times, a state media outlet owned by the ruling Communist Party, warning yesterday that “war is inevitable” if Washington doesn’t halt its demands that Beijing stop building artificial islands in the South China Sea. 

Last week, CNN revealed how China’s Navy has repeatedly issued warnings to U.S. surveillance planes flying over the South China Sea. Beijing is attempting to increase its influence by building a series of man made islands in the region. 

Billionaire investor George Soros also recently cautioned that the ruling Communist Party may see fit to rally its population around an external threat in order to head off a societal collapse in the aftermath of an economic implosion. 

“There is a real danger that China will align itself with Russia politically and militarily, and then the threat of third world war becomes real,” said Soros. - Infowars

Thursday, May 28, 2015

Russia, China, Europe and US talk World War III



Funny that the Philippines is so transfixed with its local political circuses, while...

The ‘war’ word is being increasingly heard as Europe, Russia, China and the United States adopt provocative postures

Is the world going mad? Military posturing is quietly reaching new extremes in Europe, the Mediterranean and the South China Sea. And the provocative bluster has just reached new heights.

The source was anonymous. But the mouthpiece has a measure of credibility. High profile military analyst and former US Naval War College lecturer John Schindler tweeted last week: “Said a senior NATO (non-US) GOFO to me today: ‘We’ll probably be at war this summer. If we’re lucky it won’t be nuclear.’ Let that sink in.”

The warning comes as Europe engages in some of its biggest ever war games — right on Russia’s front door. It’s a deliberate ploy, intended to remind Moscow of the consequences of its duplicitous invasion of Ukraine.

Half a world away, the “w” word was mentioned again yesterday. This time in an editorial by a Chinese state controlled paper. Said the Global Times: “If the United States’ bottom line is that China has to halt its activities, then a US-China war is inevitable in the South China Sea.”


Upping the ante ... China and Russia have recently conducted joint naval exercises in the Mediterranean Sea. Source: Bao Xuelin/Xinua via AP Source: AP


It came as China’s government effectively declared a “no fly zone” over the disputed waterway after warning the US over its “provocative” aerial reconnaissance of several islands.

Yesterday, a Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman issued a formal protest at the United States’ actions in challenging its territorial clams.

“We urge the US to correct its error, remain rational and stop all irresponsible words and deeds,” Hua Chunying said. “Freedom of navigation and overflight by no means mean that foreign countries’ warships and military aircraft can ignore the legitimate rights of other countries as well as the safety of aviation and navigation.”

It represents a distinct hardening of China’s attitude towards the rising clamour of international protest.

Until recently it had been ignoring military overflights of these islands by the US and other regional nations.



China is maintaining its stance that its aggressive construction work on disputed islands in South-East Asia is no different to building highways or public facilities anywhere else on the mainland. Such is its determination that these disputed territories are its own.

Combined, the increasingly threatening talk is causing many to take notice: High-profile US Billionaire investor George Soros told the World Bank last week: “If there is conflict between China and a military ally of the United States, like Japan, then it is not an exaggeration to say that we are on the threshold of a third world war,”

POWER POSTURING RAMPS UP

Early in May, the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation began one of its largest ever war-games. The naval anti-submarine exercise was designed to send a message after a series of aggressive Russian submarine incursions into the territorial waters of Baltic States such as Latvia, Finland and Sweden.

This week saw the launch of a third major NATO military exercise: Combat jets from the US, UK, Germany, France, Switzerland and the Netherlands have gathered in Finland, Norway and Sweden for extensive Arctic combat drills over 12 days.

Russia has not been idle in its response. It has teamed up with ally China to conduct war-games in the Mediterranean Sea. The 10-day operation ended last week after the two world powers boldly displayed their warship muscle in the equivalent of Western Europe’s backyard ‘swimming pool’.

Upping the ante ... China and Russia have recently conducted joint naval exercises in the Mediterranean Sea. Source: Bao Xuelin/Xinua via AP 

Sending a message... US and Georgian servicemen take part in a joint exercise outside the Georgian capital. Source: AP Source: AP

SIMMERING TENSIONS BOIL OVER

Despite decades of complaint from Vietnam, the Philppines, Taiwan and Malaysia, the United States has only now begun loudly proclaiming its protests over China’s expansion within the disputed South China Sea.

It’s in response to a sudden surge of expensive and extensive land reclamation projects.

They’re incredible engineering achievements. Rocky shoals and tidal sandbanks are being built up into full-blown artificial islands — 809 hectares worth, in all. And these islands appear intended to house extensive military bases.

Yesterday, Chinese officials responded to US military overflights and a probing visit by one of its warships.

“For a long time, the US military has been conducting close-in surveillance of China and the Chinese military has been making such necessary, legal and professional response — why did this story suddenly pop up in the past weeks?” Senior Colonel Yang Yujun commented yesterday.

“Has the South China Sea shrunk?”

“Some people have been intentionally and repeatedly hyping this topic. Their purpose is to smear the Chinese military and dramatise regional tensions. And I’m not ruling it out that this is being done to find an excuse for certain country to take actions in the future.”

The Chinese-government newspaper The Global Times was even more blunt.
“We do not want a military conflict with the United States, but if it were to come, we have to accept it,” an editorial reads.

“The intensity of the conflict will be higher than what people usually think of as ‘friction’.”

Another newspaper, The People’s Daily, editorialised last September that Beijing should prepare itself for a third world war arising out of the standoff between the United States and Russia over Ukraine.

Meanwhile Billionaire George Soros explained his fears over the South China Sea tensions to the World Bank. If China’s economy continues to falter, he said last week, “there is a real danger that China will align itself with Russia politically and militarily, and then the threat of third world war becomes real.”

He was arguing for China to be allowed to join the IMF’s international currency market to allow the Yuan to compete with the US dollar. Read more on news.com.au