Incitement.

This is coolbert:

“'What we need in the West Philippine Sea is not just vessels for maritime patrols but air assets as well,' . . . 'It will have a critical and direct impact on our ability to project our assets beyond our 12 nautical miles territorial sea which include our 200 nautical miles exclusive economic zone (EEZ).'”- Rej Torrecampo.

"Rejection of US help in South China Sea shows Philippines acting on its own"

"Military chief Romeo Brawner said Washington’s support won’t be sought before ‘exhausting all possible options’ amid rising tensions with China"

https://www.scmp.com | Jeoffrey Maitem |  10 Jul 2024 | The South China Morning Post (SCMP).

"The Philippines’ rejection of a US offer to help with regular resupply missions for troops on a disputed shoal in the South China Sea shows Manila prefers to handle operations on its own and Beijing could view Washington’s involvement as attempts to incite conflict in the waterway, analysts say."

"Chinese and Philippine ships have been embroiled in a series of confrontations in the contested seaway in recent months."

Belligerent and adversarial encounters over fly-speck islands the South China Sea. Second Thomas Shoal.

See also here warplanes as under consideration for purchase by the Filipino. Air power of the latest type on-call if necessary.

coolbert.

Minerva II.

This is coolbert:

"At sea one day, you'll smell land where there'll be no land, and on that day Ahab will go to his grave, but he'll rise again within the hour. He will rise and beckon. Then all - all save one shall follow. "

The gauntlet is thrown? All over a speck of land only visible above the water line at low tide.

Battle of the South China Sea? Second Thomas Shoal 

"China anchors 'monster ship' in South China Sea: Philippine coast guard"

From https://www.japantimes.co.jp | REUTERS  |  Jul 8, 2024.

"MANILA – The Philippine Coast Guard said on Saturday that China's largest coast guard vessel has anchored in Manila's exclusive economic zone (EEZ) in the South China Sea, and is meant to intimidate its smaller Asian neighbor."

"The Chinese coast guard's 165-meter [about 540 feet] 'monster ship' entered Manila's 200-nautical mile (370-kilometer) EEZ on July 2, Philippine Coast Guard spokesperson Jay Tarriela told a news conference.

CHINESE VESSEL ESTABLISHING A KNOWN PRESENCE AT SECOND THOMAS SHOAL PERMANENT TO SEMI-PERMANENT. A PROCLAMATION OF SOVEREIGNTY! A BRAZEN CHALLENGE THAT CANNOT BE IGNORED.

To an extent this reminds me of the Minerva Reef Incident from way back when:

"In 1971, a wealthy Nevada real estate mogul, Michael Oliver, attempted to create a libertarian micronation on the reefs, which he declared as the Republic of Minerva. However, Tonga had already issued a claim over the land, and Oliver’s efforts were ultimately unsuccessful."

Michael Oliver and his compatriots their plans ambitious to say the least but resulting in very quick Tongan military intervention and ultimate expulsion.

"Some damn fool thing in the South China Sea" - Bismarck.

Let Ahab beware Ahab!

coolbert.

Shangri-La.

This uis coolbert:

Maintaining international rules-based order! Germany? East Asia? Germany?

"Germany to send two warships to Indo-Pacific in 2024 amid South China Sea tensions"

Courtesy Reuters |  June 4, 2023.

"BERLIN, June 4 (Reuters) - Germany will send two warships to the Indo-Pacific in 2024, Defense Minister Boris Pistorius said on Sunday, amid rising tensions between China and Taiwan and over the disputed South China Sea."

SHOW THE FLAG TYPE MISSIONS! AN ARMED KNOWN PRESENCE!

"Speaking at the Shangri-La Dialogue in Singapore, Asia's most important security conference, Pistorius said countries needed to stand up for the rules-based international order and the protection of major maritime passages.

Hardly the German East Asia Squadron from 1914 and the era of the Great War. An expression in 2023 of solidarity with American and Asian interests focusing predominantly the South China Sea.

coolbert.

Inspiration.

This is coolbert:

"The future is in Asia. We've got to have a presence in the Pacific to prevent China doing something ridiculous like invading Taiwan," 

Not just east of Suez but east of Singapore?

"UK May Deploy Warship to Indo-Pacific on Permanent Basis"

 From https://sputnikglobe.com | 17 Apr 2023.

"MOSCOW (Sputnik) - The UK government is in talks to place a warship to the Indo-Pacific region for a permanent deployment, British newspaper reported on Monday citing a government source."

"The UK plans to deploy at least one Type-31 frigate, which will become a tipping point after five decades of UK military power's decline east of Suez, the newspaper added."

ONE Inspiration class frigate of a class that yet to have been built, much less capable of sailing half-way around the world.

I doubt a SINGLE warship even of the Royal Navy [RN]  going to intimidate or SCARE the Chinese a whole lot. 

Think this gesture part and parcel of the tripwire force concept of deterrence.

"A tripwire force . . . is a strategic approach in deterrence theory. The tripwire force is a military force smaller than that of a potential adversary, which is designed to signal the defending side's commitment to an armed response to future aggression without triggering a security spiral."

coolbert.

FFH 331.

This is coolbert:

"Following their participation in RIMPAC, Her [His] Majesty’s Canadian Ships (HMCS) Vancouver [FFH 331] and Winnipeg continue to operate in the Indo-Pacific, where they will remain deployed until December 2022, on Operation (Op) PROJECTION and Operation NEON. - August 15, 2022 – Ottawa, ON.

Canada moves WEST!

HMCS warships on the move, the Pacific ocean. Canada is a Pacific power.

From the Toronto Star the original story Lee Berthiaume | The Canadian Press | Nov. 18, 2022

"Canadian military can work in Europe, Asia at same time: defense minister"

"OTTAWA - Defense Minister Anita Anand pushed back on Friday against suggestions that growing Canada’s military’s footprint in Asia will come at a cost to the country’s long-standing commitments to Europe, where NATO allies are expecting to see more Canadian troops."

"The issue emerged after Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced at an international summit in Bangkok that the government’s new Indo-Pacific strategy will include 'increased defense investments' to ensure peace and stability in the region."

"While the prime minister did not offer further details, the statement followed the government’s decision in the summer to send two Royal Canadian Navy frigates to the Asia-Pacific region at the same time, as a sign of Canada’s increased engagement."

1. Canadians are even aware [?] their nation operates on the scale of geo-politics to include the Indo-`Pacific oceans area. 2. Besides warships [only a very limited number] the Canadian can make valuable contributions in the manner of naval aviation surveillance warplanes. 3. I suspect this is a response of a coalition of nations their concerns Taiwan and the South China Sea.

coolbert.

SPAR19.

This is coolbert:

"Cue to 48 hours later, when hundreds of thousands across the west were glued to the screen of flighradar24.com (until the website was hacked), tracking 'SPAR19' – the US Air Force jet carrying House Speaker Nancy Pelosi – as it slowly crossed Kalimantan [Borneo] from east to west [west to east actually], the Celebes Sea, went northward parallel to the eastern Philippines, and then made a sharp swing westwards towards Taiwan, in a spectacular waste of jet fuel to evade the South China Sea."

From an Internet web site commenting on the circuitous flight route of the aircraft carrying USA Speaker of the House of Representatives Nancy Pelosi from Malaysia to Taiwan.

"SPAR19 becomes the most tracked flight of all time"

Click on image to see an enlarged view. Roundabout for Nancy. Precautions and prudence. Direct flight over the South China Sea seen as too hazardous. Proper measures taken.

"From the time it lifted off from Kuala Lumpur at 15:42 local time, SPAR19 was already the most tracked flight on Flightradar24 among active flights. By the time it landed in Taipei, SPAR19 was being tracked by more than 708,000 people around the world, making it the most tracked live flight in Flightradar24 history. Over the seven hours from Kuala Lumpur to Taipei, a total of 2.92 million people followed at least a portion of the flight."

I indeed had a worry that the Chinese would try to interfere in the SPAR19 flight to Taipei. Threats made repeatedly and with some vigor. An overflight and intrusion of the South China airspace as claimed by the Chinese might have well been seen as an unmistakable challenge and deliberate provocation that had to be answered with a military response of some sort.

coolbert.

Chaff.

This is coolbert:

"'The J-16 then accelerated and cut across the nose of the P-8, settling in front of the P-8 at a very close distance,' . . .  'At that moment it then released a bundle of chaff, which contains small pieces of aluminum, some of which were ingested into the engine of the P-8 aircraft,' . . .  'Quite obviously, this is very dangerous.'" - Richard Marles, Australia's defense minister.

DANGEROUS! DELIBERATE! MALICIOUS!

"Chinese fighter jet [J-16] cut in front of an Australian plane and dumped debris into its engine, likely forcing it to abort its mission, officials say"

From yahoo.com June 6, 2022 original story from "Business Insider".

"A Chinese jet cut in front of an Australian plane and fired debris [chaff] into its engine, officials said."

"Australia's defense ministry said the incident happened on May 26 over international waters."

[....]

"The incident happened on May 26 in international airspace over the South China Sea, the ministry said Sunday. The South China Sea is an area where China has tried to assert dominance to gain a strategic advantage in recent years."

NEED I SAY THAT CHAFF INGESTED INTO THE JET ENGINES OF THE POSEIDON COULD CAUSE THE MECHANISM TO STALL WITH A FATAL PLANE CRASH! THIS TOO CANNOT HAVE BEEN ANYTHING OTHER THAN DELIBERATE!!

coolbert.

Unidentified.

This is coolbert:

Normally these type of launches would require a NOTAM to be issued. Aircraft stay out of the area!!

"A NOTAM is a notice containing information essential to personnel concerned with flight operations but not known far enough in advance to be publicized by other means. It states the abnormal status of a component of the National Airspace System (NAS) – not the normal status."

NO NOTAM!

"Watch: Mysterious South China Sea Missile Launch Came Dangerously Close To Commercial Airliner"

From the Internet web site "Zero Hedge" the article BY TYLER DURDEN MAY 27.

"An unknown foreign military in southeast Asia has reportedly test launched an SLBM, or submarine-launched ballistic missile, which appears to have endangered a nearby commercial aircraft full of people. Stunning video taken from a Cathay Pacific Boeing 777 as it flew over the South China Sea just as the unidentified submarine launched the missile shows the airliner remarkably close. The Drive reports that it was likely a test of either the Chinese or South Korean military, but not even the precise date of the event has been confirmed at this point"

"Twitter user @jchovernut, a pilot for U.S.-based airline Allegiant Air and a veteran of the U.S. Navy's submarine community, posted the video, seen below, online on Tuesday. 'They were over the South China Sea & were issued a last-minute hectic call from ATC: 'turn left 90 degrees immediately!!,'' according to one Tweet accompanying the video."

See the twitter video showing the missile from launch as it ascends: https://twitter.com/i/status/1529201510533550080

coolbert.

Surged.

This is coolbert:

“GOOD EVENING MR. AND MRS. AMERICA—LET’S GO TO PRESS.”

Courtesy the Hal Turner Internet web site and the article

Something very big going on? You can reasonably think so?

"Two U.S. 'SeaWolf' Fast-Attack Subs, show up in San Diego, receive top secret cargos and depart port without crew disembarking!"

Sea Wolf class nuclear submarines "Sea Wolf" and "Jimmy Carter"

"An astonishing thing took place recently involving two United States fast-attack submarines, and what happened is an ominous sign that REAL trouble in the Pacific is much closer than any of us have been told." 

"Once it was placed at dock by two tug boats, the crew DID NOT disembark.  Instead, the tarps were placed along the entire dock to prevent anyone seeing what was taking place, material-handling equipment like fork trucks, went out on the dock, then straight-job trucks with concealed cargo headed out also.  Whatever the trucks were carrying was apparently loaded into the submarine."

First Jimmy Carter surfaces and receives mysterious cargo. Then Sea Wolf later the same! Both vessels immediately sailing without allowing crew to disembark.

Note that San Diego NOT the home port for either boat!

This all has to do with the recent collision in the South China Sea of the USS Connecticut [Sea Wolf class submarine] with an underwater object of an undetermined nature? Connecticut now undergoing [?] repairs in Guam.

We have not heard the last of this? Submarine operations always conducted in great secrecy. Eighty year rule applies!

I would be derelict in not mentioning that Hal Turner is a known controlled asset of the American FBI. Hal fond of acting the role of the agent provocateur with alarmist "news flashes" often of an unfounded or exaggerated nature.

When Hal Turner speaks we must all pause? See these previous blog entries:

https://militaryanalysis.blogspot.com/2019/12/boom.html

https://militaryanalysis.blogspot.com/2021/01/bomb.html

coolbert.

Indo-Pac III.

This is coolbert:

Malacca. Chokepoint Indo-Pac.

Continuing my series of blog entries the geo-political intrigue and considerations in the Indian and Pacific ocean region. [Indo-Pac]

See part I and part II.

The Strait of Malacca. As vital now as it was five-hundred years ago.

As "articulated" by Admiral Sir Jackie Fisher Malacca a vital choke point the control of which a necessity for the free and continuous flow of vital international trade. During the time of the British Empire Sir Jackie identified those critical choke points as: "Strait of Hormuz, Bab al-Mandeb, Strait of Malacca, Gibraltar, Turkish/Bosporus Straits, Suez Canal, Panama Canal, Cape of Good Hope and Cape Horn."

Again, Malacca as vital as it was five hundred years. Think from the time of the earliest European exploration of the area the capture of Malacca and the control of same deemed most important. Even in the extreme.

coolbert.

Assuage.

This is coolbert:

"assuage: To make (something burdensome or painful) less intense or severe: synonym: relieve. To appease or calm."

Solution has been found? As proposed? Rather, damage already done, no amelioration possible?

From Freeper and thanks to same, the original article by Tom Rogan the Washington Examiner.

"Why the US should offer to buy France's submarines for Vietnam"

"The United States would achieve three objectives by purchasing a number of Shortfin Barracuda submarines from France and then giving them to Vietnam. First, the Biden administration would repair relations with America's oldest ally. Second, it would supply a rising security partner with newly potent means of challenging China's imperialism. Third, it would test President Emmanuel Macron's commitment to international security in the South China Sea"

Vietnam of course has territorial claims in the South China Sea that overlap and are in dispute with the Chinese "Nine-Dash" line. 

All of this is a tongue-in-cheek for laughs and grins?

"tongue-in-cheek: adjective. Meant or expressed ironically or facetiously. Not intended seriously; jocular or humorous. Cleverly amusing in tone."

USA and Vietnam as hand-in-glove? Stranger things have occurred in the course of geo-political grand strategical considerations. Somehow I doubt any of this will ever come to pass.

coolbert.

Validity.

This is coolbert:

"All of the aircraft were spotted southwest of Taiwan, between the main island and the Taiwanese-held Dongsha Islands"

Dongsha also referred to as Pratas.  This post courtesy Freeper.

Here with an instance of exaggeration as previously elaborated upon?

"Pompeo calls on U.S. to stand with Taiwan after PLA planes enter Taiwan's ADIZ"

"Washington, Sept. 5 (CNA) Former United States Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on Sunday called on the U.S. to stand with Taiwan after 19 Chinese military aircraft, a majority of them being fighter jets, flew into Taiwan's air defense identification zone (ADIZ) early Sunday."

Dongsha [Pratas] that orange blob. Distance between Kaohsiung City and Dongsha about two-hundred forty miles [384 kilometers]. Distance between Taipei City and Dongsha about four-hundred twenty miles [672 kilometers]. Taiwanese ADIZ extends too far out beyond normal to be credible? Unscheduled flights in the ADIZ failing to identify when hailed labeled as hostile/intruder but not for good reason? 

G2mil correct? Taiwan ADIZ having been designated by American general officers in the aftermath of WW2 no longer valid? That result excessively alarmist headlines that does no one any good?

coolbert.

RSN.

This is coolbert:

"It [Singapore] is next to the Straits of Malacca, the most heavily used shipping channel in the world and vital to the Chinese economy."

RSN = Republic of Singapore Navy. 

South China Sea. Singapore enters the fray! FONOP! From Strategy Page and thanks to same.

"Forces: Singapore Confronts China"

"August 30, 2021: Singapore recently took part in a very visible confrontation with China. In late July there was a major international FONOP (freedom of navigation operations) in the South China Sea to confirm international access and defy Chinese claims to offshore resources across most of the South China Sea and control over who enters these waters."

"The late July FONOP was carried out by a carrier task force led by the new British carrier Queen Elizabeth, accompanied by seven other ships, including an American destroyer and frigates from the Netherlands, Britain and Singapore. There were also two other Singapore Navy ships; an amphibious assault vessel and an offshore patrol vessel."

Malacca vital to the Chinese economy but also for the economies of Singapore, Taiwan, Japan, South Korea. Of most vital importance the shipping of Middle Eastern OIL!

See previous blog entries the topic FONOP South China Sea:

https://militaryanalysis.blogspot.com/2021/08/alliance.html

https://militaryanalysis.blogspot.com/2021/07/permanent.html

coolbert.

Alliance.

This is coolbert:

The latest military intelligence dope South China Sea courtesy the Internet web site Gravitas. India and German enter the fray. The English we have spoken about previously active in the region. All about Freedom of the Seas and Freedom of Navigation protocols and conventions? FONOPS?

"dope: noun - - 3. informal : information especially from a reliable source"

The democratic alliance at work? FONOPS an American organized [?] effort naval contingents sailing into waters and show-the-flag beyond normal as a signal to the Chinese.

Devoted readers to the blog might want to bookmark Gravitas and visit their web site periodically. They cover interesting material and in a good manner. I recommend Gravitas without qualification or reservation.

coolbert.

Permanent.

This is coolbert:

East of Singapore? British military forces a permanent Pacific presence. Would have been out of the question just a few years ago. 

From the Internet web site "Breitbart" and thanks to same.

"Britain ‘Tilts’ East: Will Deploy Warships in Asia Permanently, Challenge Chinese Territory Claims"

"The United Kingdom has the right to sail its latest aircraft carrier anywhere in the world international law permits and will do so, the country has said just weeks before it is due to travel through the contested South China Sea."

This is all obviously a response to the tension currently existing in the South China Sea. Chinese claims to the area as sovereign territorial waters problematic.

The current voyage of the British aircraft carrier Queen Elizabeth in part the mission FONOP. Freedom of Navigation Operation. Freedom of the seas as a concept at question here and in conflict with Chinese claims to the South China Sea. A conflict that cannot be ignored.

I guess many in the Royal Navy [RN] now are also scratching their heads and wondering where exactly are more ships to be found to execute FONOP and Freedom of the Seas missions.

"Troops. Where do I get more troops?" "Ships. Where do I get more ships?"

coolbert.

F-16 Viper.

This is coolbert:

Was not aware of this. This should be deemed as well beyond the ordinary. 

Thanks to The Drive and the article by THOMAS NEWDICK APRIL 19, 2021.

"Japan-Based USAF F-16s Flew South China Sea Mission Fully Loaded With Live Air-To-Air Missiles"

"Flying far from their home in Japan, the four F-16s, each armed with six missiles, executed operations in one of the tensest areas of the planet."

"The four U.S. Air Force F-16 fighter jets that recently flew a mission over the highly contested South China Sea were photographed landing at Yokota Air Base in Japan, en route to their home base at Misawa. The images confirm that these jets were armed for counter-air operations with a heavy load of live air-to-air missiles. The jets’ appearance in the South China Sea last week coincided with the biggest presence of People’s Liberation Army aircraft in Taiwan’s southwest air defense identification zone (ADIZ) in recent times:"

FLEW FROM BASES IN JAPAN TO VICINITY THE SOUTH CHINA SEA AND EVEN INCLUDED A FLY-OVER OF THE AMERICAN AIRCRAFT CARRIER THEODORE ROOSEVELT.

Warplanes flying that far from their home base armed with live missiles and including several mid-air refueling indeed a rather extreme "show of force" and a demonstration of American resolve in the region of the South China Sea.

I WOULD ALSO HAVE TO ASSUME THE JAPANESE WERE NOTIFIED IN ADVANCE OF THIS OPERATION AND GAVE THEIR O-KAY!

coolbert.

Pulp.

This is coolbert:

THE BIG BOOM THAT NEVER WAS? FROM ONE YEAR AGO.

Thanks to the Planet Today Internet web site.

“'Underwater Nuclear Explosion' Occurred In The South China Sea?"

Question mark?

"Information about the alleged 'underwater nuclear explosion' that occurred in the South China Sea began to spread a couple of days ago."

"Any sane person having read that 'the explosion occurred at a depth of 50 m and its power was 10 to 20 kilotons of TNT,' would immediately conclude that an explosion of such power at such a shallow depth would certainly cause a crushing tsunami wave, but there are no tsunami reports."

ACCIDENTAL ATOMIC DETONATION OF A CHINESE NUCLEAR WEAPON APPARENTLY DID NOT OCCUR. BUT WAS REPORT BY VARIOUS SOCIAL MEDIA OUTLETS AS BEING SO OR AT LEAST A POSSIBLE.

Click on all images to see an enlarged view.

This was some sort of "pulp fiction" [fiction dealing with lurid or sensational subjects]  and FAKE news [false news stories, often of a sensational nature, created to be widely shared or distributed]    apparently. NO underwater accidental detonation of an atomic weapon occurred?

IF indeed "fake" news as generated by whom and for WHAT reason?

coolbert.

Pratas/Bluegill.

This is coolbert:

Some damn fool thing in the South China Sea? The Pratas Islands??

Without question the situation South China Sea to become even more tense? Traditional great power geo-strategic politics at work.

From the English tabloid The Sun and the tip from Freeper:

"COLD FRONT China deploys two new aircraft carriers to stoke tensions with US after warning of a ‘new cold war’"

"CHINA is reportedly set to deploy its two new aircraft carriers off the coast of Taiwan as it warns the US of a 'new cold war'".

"The huge carriers, the Liaoning and Shandong, are currently engaged in combat readiness training in the tightly controlled Bohai Bay, in the Yellow Sea before sailing to join an invasion war game near Pratas island."

Graphic thanks to The Sun. Pratas little itty-bitty fly speck islands as claimed by both Taiwan and mainland China.

Again thanks The Sun for the graphic. A task force of two Chinese aircraft carriers in coordinated operations the military exercise having the Pratas Islands as the target. Chinese amphibious military units are actually going ashore. That would be very bad. The Chinese too within the context of the Covid-19 pandemic have chosen the worst possible moment for this "exercise" to occur.

Consider also from the wiki entry for Pratas Islands the military history circa WW2:

"Japanese naval personnel occupied Pratas Island during World War II. The Japanese Navy used the island as a weather station and listening outpost [seaplane base also?] until 29 May 1945 when a landing party consisting of Australian commandos and US naval personnel from the submarine USS Bluegill raised the US flag, declared the island a United States territory, and named it Bluegill Island. The landing party destroyed a radio tower, weather station, fuel and ammunition dumps, and several buildings. No lives were lost during this raid as all of the island's occupants fled just days prior to Bluegill's raid. The islands were later restored to the Republic of China's Guangdong Province."

INDEED. THE USA CAN JUSTIFIABLY JURISDICTION AND SOVEREIGNTY THE PRATAS ISLANDS BY RIGHT OF CONQUEST? DISMISS SUCH AN IDEA OUT-OF-HAND?

coolbert.

Boom.

This is coolbert:

Chinese boomer submarine gone boom?

"boom: 1. to make a deep, prolonged, resonant sound."

Chinese missile firing submarine [boomer] suffering an accidental atomic warhead detonation? As reported by the Russian Internet media outlet Russian Times.

"‘NUCLEAR INCIDENT’ in South China Sea that no one actually noticed hits the headlines (Fake news 101)"

"Brewing a solid piece of fake news is tricky – it has to be hot enough to take off and believable enough to not get debunked at once. The scare around a 'radiation incident' in the South China Sea appears to be almost perfect."

"The story of the ‘incident’ in the South China Sea was broken by the Hal Turner Radio Show on Wednesday, promptly spreading on social media – and eventually getting into more respectable news outlets, and even invoking official reaction."

HAL TURNER A KNOWN CONTROLLED AGENT OF THE AMERICAN FBI. AN AGITATOR WITHOUT SCRUPLES.

"The ‘news’ piece by the right-wing outlet, that has been repeatedly accused of spreading fake news and conspiracy theories, was sensational indeed. It claimed there was a 'significant undersea explosion' in the contested waters of the South China Sea, that was followed by an increase in background radiation across the coast."

UNDERSTAND AS ALLEGED THIS NOT A MELTDOWN OF A NUCLEAR SUBMARINE REACTOR SPEWING ENORMOUS QUANTITIES OF RADIOACTIVITY INTO THE ENVIRONMENT OF THE SOUTH CHINA SEA. RATHER THINK OF A DETONATION OF AN ATOMIC WARHEAD SOME SORT OF SPONTANEOUS AND PRESUMABLY ACCIDENTAL CATASTROPHE.

There is a world-wide monitoring system [IMS] to detect the detonation of atomic weapons. Presumably if such a spontaneous and unplanned [?] explosion had occurred we would have known about it by now?

coolbert.

Abominable.

This is coolbert:

Nine-dash line! Chinese territorial claims in the South China Sea again the source of controversy. Here we go again.

The moment I saw this as reported on television I knew this was good material for a blog entry.

"Abominable: anger grows over controversial map in Chinese children's film"

"Three countries object to animated movie scene showing Chinese territorial claims in South China Sea"

"The film 'Abominable' has sparked tensions in the region over a map that shows China’s nine-dash line"

AN ANIMATED FILM FOR CHILDREN AND SUCH A FUSS? THIS IS WHAT MAKES FOR INTERNATIONAL INTRIGUE.

See previous blog entries as germane:

https://militaryanalysis.blogspot.com/2019/03/india-pakistan.html

https://militaryanalysis.blogspot.com/2012/11/stamps-maps.html

https://militaryanalysis.blogspot.com/2014/06/insets.html

https://militaryanalysis.blogspot.com/2012/11/passport.html

"All men are brothers, like the seas throughout the world; So why do winds and waves clash so fiercely everywhere?" - - Hirohito.

Seas to include the South China Sea? It is just an animated movie for children, isn't it?

coolbert.