STOKING TENSIONS: Another News-Worthy 28-Sec Incident in South China Sea

The collisions, which occurred early on Sunday, are the latest in a series of maritime confrontations between the two countries in the South China Sea, and provoked condemnation of China by the US, which has a mutual defense pact with the Philippines.

• The Philippines accused China’s coast guard of “dangerous blocking maneuvers” that caused it to collide with a Philippine resupply boat about 25km from Second Thomas Shoal, where the warship was deliberately run aground decades ago to underline the Philippines’ claims in the sea. 
• The site is a particular flashpoint, and the Philippines has repeatedly accused China of trying to block its resupply missions.
• China accused the Philippine boat of “deliberately” stirring up trouble by reversing in a “premeditated manner” into a Chinese fishing vessel.

China claims the South China Sea almost in its entirety, despite a UN tribunal finding this to be without legal basis. 

The Philippines and other neighbouring countries also have overlapping claims to the waterway, which is one of the world’s busiest trading routes, and is thought to contain significant reserves of oil and natural gas.

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In response to Sunday’s collisions, the U.S. State Department accused China of “dangerous and unlawful actions”, and reaffirmed that its mutual defense treaty with Manila “extends to armed attacks on Philippine armed forces, public vessels, and aircraft – including those of its Coast Guard – anywhere in the South China Sea.”

Philippine and Chinese boats collide in South China Sea

The Philippines has accused China of “dangerous maneuvers” after their coast guard vessels collided in the disputed South China Sea on Tuesday. 

• The Philippines Coast Guard said it was on a resupply mission near the Second Thomas Shoal - known in Chinese as the Ren’ai Jiao - when the incident occurred.

In a post on Twitter, one Philippine official said its vessel suffered “minor structural damage”. He shared footage showing the vessels hitting then scraping against each other. 

• Chinese state media reported that the China Coast Guard “lawfully took measures against a Philippine vessel”.

 

South China Morning Post

3 hours ago

South China Sea: China and the Philippines blame each other for latest collision in disputed Second Thomas Shoal | South China Morning Post

• Beijing says a Philippine coastguard vessel ‘deliberately rammed’ one of its ships near the disputed reef
• But Manila hit back saying it was the result of China’s ‘reckless and illegal’ actions while its ships were trying to resupply troops stationed on a grounded warship
• Seong Hyeon Choi
  Published: 2:34pm, 5 Mar, 2024

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News about South China Sea

Yahoo

Philippine and Chinese vessels collide in disputed South China Sea and 4 Filipino crew are injured

1 hour ago

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BBC

Philippine and Chinese boats collide in South China Sea

4 hours ago

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Al Jazeera

Philippines says ship damaged in South China Sea incident with Chinese boat

5 hours ago

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U.S. News & World Report

Philippine and Chinese Boats Collide in Their Latest Confrontation Over a South China Sea Shoal

6 hours ago

AJC.com

Philippine and Chinese vessels collide in disputed South China Sea and 4 Filipino crew are injured

10 hours ago

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Al Jazeera

5 hours ago

Philippines says ship damaged in South China Sea incident with Chinese boat | South China Sea News | Al Jazeera

Reuters

4 hours ago

Philippines blames China's coast guard for collision

Watch

Uploaded: Mar 5, 2024

The Philippines on Tuesday (March 5) accused China's coast guard of carrying out "dangerous manoeuvres" that led to a collision between its coast guard ship and a Chinese vessel during a resupply ...

BBC

4 hours ago

Watch: Philippine and Chinese boats collide in South China Sea

Watch

Uploaded: Mar 5, 2024

The Philippines says “dangerous manoeuvres” by China caused a collision in the disputed waters.

The Mountaineer

5 hours ago

A frame grab from aerial video footage shows the collision between ships of the Chinese and Philippine coast guards | National | themountaineer.com

The Independent

1 hour ago

Philippine and Chinese boats collide in South China Sea

Watch

Uploaded: Mar 5, 2024

The Guardian

The Philippines summons Chinese ambassador after two South China Sea collisions | Philippines | The Guardian

YouTube

5 hours ago

PH and China coast guard ships collide in West Philippine Sea | INQToday - YouTube

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CNA

4 hours ago

China coastguard's 'dangerous manoeuvres' caused South China Sea collision, Philippines says - CNA

Quora

Do you think the Philippines' occupation of Second Thomas Shoal has intensified disputes with China? - Quora

Stratfor

Chinese-Philippine Collisions Bring Attention Back to the South China Sea

AFP Fact Check

1 day ago

Manipulated images do not show US-China maritime 'clash' | Fact Check

Visit

Fact check from AFP Fact CheckClaim: US and China coast guard in aggressive clash in South China SeaRated by AFP Fact Check: False

German recording shows intent to strike Russia, Kremlin says | REUTERS

$40M LAUNDERED From Ukrainian War Aid, Zelensky Admits: Rising Reacts

Zelensky and the West have found a new scam in a country that ranks near the top of the global corruption index | Opinion By Rachel Marsden RT.com

Bilking Western taxpayers for cash under the guise of active warfare won’t last forever. So it seems like it’s a race against the clock to pivot to a new way to keep the flow open before peace breaks out and ruins everything.

 4 Mar, 2024 16:20HomeWorld News

Zelensky and the West have found a new scam – and taxpayers will foot the bill

Ukraine now self-identifies as a weapons maker and wants help transitioning

By Rachel Marsden, a columnist, political strategist, and host of independently produced talk-shows in French and English.

rachelmarsden.com

FILE PHOTO: Ukrainian soldiers unload ammunition from a military truck. ©  Diego Herrera Carcedo / Anadolu Agency via Getty Images

What do you do to boost GDP when your country is neck-deep in military conflict and your allies’ main interest is using you to wash taxpayer cash into their own military industrial complexes? 

Make that your whole national identity! And demand that the West help you transition.  

“Our country will become one of the world’s key producers of weapons and defense systems. And this is no longer just an ambition or a prospect, it is a potential that is already being realized,” Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky said in September 2023. 

• That plea has echoed all over the Western press. You’d think that it may have thought to “realize” that “potential” before it went live with the big “Ukrainian counteroffensive” show. 

But hey, making lemonade from lemons, there’s definitely a business opportunity in losing on the battlefield that wouldn’t exist if Ukraine had proven to be adequately stocked up and victorious. 

• Any ambulance-chasing weapons salesman would be attracted by that. 
• And on top of that, Russia’s whole stated objective from the very outset has been “de-militarization.” 

Right now, Ukraine is to Western weapons producers what the Cheesecake Factory is to a fat kid. 

Those slightly less cynical might be tempted to view all this as the path to victory for Ukraine, but a recent incident strongly suggests otherwise. 

• In a leaked audio recording obtained by Russian intelligence and authenticated by the German government, senior Luftwaffe officers, including the Air Force’s chief, are overheard talking about how even the delivery of the German Taurus missiles to Kiev wouldn’t change the course of the conflict in Ukraine’s favor. 
• If even the gold standard German cruise missile that doubles the strike distance of its Western rivals isn’t considered a game changer in the overall conflict with Russia at this point, then odds don’t sound too good for much else. 

READ MORE: Nuland accidentally reveals the true aim of the West in Ukraine

And who’s going to pay for Ukraine’s identity change, anyway? 

Western Europe and the US will pay for the transition, of course. 

• Just as they’re also paying to keep all of Ukrainian society afloat, funding salaries and pensions. It’s not like investors are flocking to Ukraine right now.

Much of the weapons-making infrastructure from the Cold War has been decimated, and in a country that ranks near the top of the global corruption index, it probably won’t come as a surprise that the industry itself is rife with “mismanagement.”  

While it’s clear who’s going to pay, what’s less obvious is who will actually benefit from turning Ukraine into a giant factory showroom for Western weapons. 

• Some Western arms manufacturers have rushed into Ukraine to set up shop, such as Germany’s Rheinmetall, which started operating an armored vehicle plant in the country last year. 
• Guess it’s just good business to be cranking out tanks right on the battlefield where they can be blown up coming off the assembly line. 
• May as well just set fire to that Western taxpayer cash funding this charade the moment that it pops out of the ATM. 

Rheinmetall also announced last month it’ll be setting up a joint ammunition factory in Ukraine, as well. 

• Does this attempt to outgun Russia in conventional warfare at this late stage in the game come from a place of genuine belief? 
• Or is it just Germany’s way to keep up the racket for as long as it can? 

After all, Rheinmetall never had it so good. 

• No doubt it’s just a coincidence that its stock started soaring a few days after the conflict popped off in Ukraine and has only gone up astronomically since, from €133.6 beforehand to €214.80 on March 1, 2022, and €429.10 on March 1, 2024. 

READ MORE: Destroyed Ukrainian Abrams tank labeled ‘empty tin can’ (VIDEO)

In August 2023, Britain’s BAE Systems announced its plans to “facilitate the production of 105mm Light Guns in the country.” 

The Guardian reported shortly thereafter that the opportunity would provide a much-needed job boost for the war-torn economy. Not just for Ukraine, but for the EU, too. Pretty tough to produce weapons when it requires energy that’s now almost prohibitively expensive. 

No doubt it’s much cheaper to produce European weapons in Ukraine, which still gets its gas from Russia – unlike those in charge in the EU who have deliberately shunned their own supply of Russian energy to impress Kiev. Sticking it to Putin by leeching off Russian energy supplied to Kiev to make weapons to then use against Russia sounds about right. 

All these projects are joint ventures with a local Ukrainian partner. Let’s just say that the one who ends up wearing the pants in that partnership won’t be the country whose president, a former comedian, once went viral for his hands-free, pantless piano playing routine. 

• Do they really think that German industry is going to be trusting these Ukrainian partners with sensitive defense manufacturing information and trade secrets? 
• It’s a wonder that the Germans even trust the French with anything more than handling the interior decor in Europe’s Airbus venture. 
• But we’re talking here about a war zone with eyes and ears everywhere. 

The point was proven when Russians recently disabled an American Abrams M1 A1 tank on the battlefield and found it stripped of sensitive technologies, likening the supposedly game changing weaponry to an “empty tin can.” 

Bilking Western taxpayers for cash under the guise of active warfare won’t last forever. So it seems like it’s a race against the clock to pivot to a new way to keep the flow open before peace breaks out and ruins everything.

The statements, views and opinions expressed in this column are solely those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of RT.

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