Today’s News 21 May 2021 (Friday)

A. NAVY NEWS/COVID NEWS/PHOTOS

Title Writer Newspaper Page

NIL NIL NIL NIL B. NATIONAL HEADLINES

Title Writer Newspaper Page

1 Private sector jabs arriving next month C Valencia P Star 1

2 DU30 Firm: Don’t Disclose Covid-19 Vaccine Brand

J Aning PDI A1

C. NATIONAL SECURITY

Title Writer Newspaper Page

3 China: US creating risks with S. China Sea warship sail-bys

P Star 14

4 China fumes after US move on disputed waters

AFP M Standard A1

5 Japan, Australia back PH in row T Santos PDI A5 6 Duterte, Japan head agree to tackle security

in disputed sea C Valente M Times A1

7 Duterte may consult predecessors on dispute with China – Palace

J Montemayor Malaya 1

8 Rody, Noy meet on WPS M Blancaflor D Tribune A1 9 Ex-Phl presidents kakausapin ni Duterte sa

isyu ng West Phl Sea M Escudero Ngayon 2

10 Duterte eyes meeting with former presidents to discuss WPS dispute

PNA P Tonight 6

11 Convene National Security Council to discuss WPS dispute – Biazon

M Casayuran M Bulletin 3

12 Senators urged united stand on West Philippine Sea Issue

H Torregoza M Bulletin 8

13 Coast Guard to protect you, Palace tells fisherfolk amid China Ban

L Salaverria PDI A2

14 JPE wrong person to back WPS Tack R Hipolito PDI A7 15 Pinoy fishermen told to ignore China fishing

ban C Mendez P Star 1

16 Filipinos told: Ignore China, go out and fish in PH waters

V Barcelo M Standard A1

D. INDO-PACIFIC

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NIL NIL NIL NIL

E. AFP RELATED

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17 AFP: Reds behind 289 killings in the past decade

R Cabrera P Star 12

18 Lawmakers seek though penalties vs Red-tagging

N Corrales PDI A5

19 Clenched fist photo caused pantry organizer woes?

W Vigilia Malaya 1

20 DND chief: Too many generals in military M Araneta M Standard A3 21 Military athletes now in PSC P Tonight 9

F. CPP-NPA-NDF-LCM

Title Writer Newspaper Page

NIL NIL NIL NIL G. MNLF/MILF/BIFF/ASG

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22 House backs DU30’s amnesty proclamations

M Guillang D Tribune 3

H. EDITORIAL-OPINION-COMMENTARY-SPECIAL

Title Writer Newspaper Page

23 Impostor nonpareil D Tribune A4

24 WPS patrols continue P Journal 4

25 A Single voice on sea dispute R Saguisag M Times A4

26 Philippine historic claims V Ybiernas M Times A6

27 Lies peddled by Trillanes and Robredo L Biraogo M Standard B1

28 Coup d’oeil in waging political war LT. Gen Parlade, Jr. M Times A6

I. ONLINE NEWS

Title Link

NATIONAL NEWS

29 PHL debt wieldy, ratings will be kept https://businessmirror.com.ph/2021/05/21/bsp-

phl-debt-wieldy-ratings-will-be-kept/

30 DA plotting industry roadmap to strengthen food security

https://www.pna.gov.ph/articles/1140984

31 Govt infra spending up to ₧195.2B in Q1 https://businessmirror.com.ph/2021/05/21/govt

-infra-spending-up-to-%e2%82%a7195-2b-in-q1/

32 15 areas register heat index values within ‘danger’ level

https://mb.com.ph/2021/05/20/15-areas-register-heat-index-values-within-danger-level/

33 No face-to-face classes without Duterte’s approval, DepEd says

https://mb.com.ph/2021/05/20/no-face-to-face-classes-without-dutertes-approval-deped-says/

34 Artistic freedom pushed in singing PH national anthem

https://mb.com.ph/2021/05/20/artistic-freedom-pushed-in-singing-ph-national-anthem/

NAVY NEWS

36 Ex-AFP chief Biazon: 'Convene National Security Council to discuss WPS dispute'

https://mb.com.ph/2021/05/20/ex-afp-chief-biazon-convene-national-security-council-to-discuss-wps-dispute/

37

Palace denies confusing WPS policy, says no need to convene National Security Council

https://www.philstar.com/headlines/2021/05/20/2099643/palace-denies-confusing-wps-policy-says-no-need-convene-national-security-council

38 Philippines protests as China reimposes annual fishing ban ‘without basis’

https://www.nationthailand.com/international/40001082

39 Filipino fisher folk told not to leave WPS despite China's fishing ban

https://mb.com.ph/2021/05/20/filipino-fisher-folk-told-not-to-leave-wps-despite-chinas-fishing-ban/

40

China fishing ban meant to assert control over South China Sea: analyst

https://news.abs-cbn.com/news/05/20/21/china-fishing-ban-meant-to-assert-control-over-south-china-sea-analyst

41

Duterte may invite former presidents to WPS meeting

https://businessmirror.com.ph/2021/05/21/duterte-may-invite-former-presidents-to-wps-meeting/

42

'Un-Filipino': Duterte degrading statements of own advisers on West PH Sea – lawmaker

https://news.abs-cbn.com/news/05/20/21/un-filipino-duterte-degrading-statements-of-own-advisers-on-west-ph-sea-lawmaker

43 Senators urge gov’t to come up with united stand on West Philippine Sea issue

https://mb.com.ph/2021/05/20/senators-urge-govt-to-come-up-with-united-stand-on-west-philippine-sea-issue/

44

Poe wants united stand on West Philippine Sea: 'Don't confuse protecting territory with utang na loob'

https://www.gmanetwork.com/news/news/nation/788247/poe-wants-united-stand-on-west-philippine-sea-don-t-confuse-protecting-territory-with-utang-na-loob/story/

45

Carpio, Roque answer queries on fishing rights, territorial dispute in West Philippine Sea

https://www.gmanetwork.com/news/news/nation/788283/carpio-roque-answer-queries-on-fishing-rights-territorial-dispute-in-west-philippine-sea/story/

46 Govt stakes claim over Philippine Rise with installation of state-of-the-art buoys

https://businessmirror.com.ph/2021/05/21/govt-stakes-claim-over-philippine-rise-with-installation-of-state-of-the-art-buoys/

47 Udenna buys Shell stake in Malampaya gas field for $460 million

https://businessmirror.com.ph/2021/05/21/udenna-buys-shell-stake-in-malampaya-gas-field-for-460-million/

48 4 Pinoy cadets graduate from US Coast Guard Academy, with POTUS Biden as guest and speaker

https://mb.com.ph/2021/05/20/4-pinoy-cadets-graduate-from-us-coast-guard-academy-with-potus-biden-as-guest-and-speaker/

AFP RELATED

49 Lorenzana wants 1 general per 1,000 military personnel ratio in AFP

https://www.gmanetwork.com/news/news/nation/788220/lorenzana-wants-1-general-per-1-000-military-personnel-ratio-in-the-afp/story/

50 3-7-20’ applies in processing of uniformed personnel benefits

https://www.pna.gov.ph/articles/1140946

51 Solon's threat to 'red-tag' fellow legislator mars Lower House briefing on community pantry

https://mb.com.ph/2021/05/20/solons-threat-to-red-tag-fellow-legislator-mars-lower-house-briefing-on-community-pantry/

52 Community pantries should uplift PH, not demean gov’t efforts

https://www.pna.gov.ph/articles/1140894

53 AFP lauds ASoG for support on military education

https://www.pna.gov.ph/articles/1140878

54 ’Deliberate falsehood’: Court frees Red-tagged store owner

https://newsinfo.inquirer.net/1434585/deliberate-falsehood-court-frees-red-tagged-store-owner

55

SC issues show cause order vs ex-spokesman over 'offensive posts'

https://www.manilatimes.net/2021/05/18/latest-stories/sc-issues-show-cause-order-vs-ex-spokesman-over-offensive-posts/sc-issues-show-cause-order-vs-ex-spokesman-over-offensive-posts/1601157

56 House concurs to Rody’s proclamations granting amnesty to former rebels

https://tribune.net.ph/index.php/2021/05/20/house-concurs-to-rodys-proclamations-granting-amnesty-to-former-rebels/

INDO-PACIFIC NEWS

57

The folly of the Duterte Administration’s appeasement policy on China and the Belt and Road Initiatives

https://adrinstitute.org/2021/05/19/the-folly-of-the-duterte-administrations-appeasement-policy-on-china-and-the-belt-and-road-initiatives/

58 China, Philippines to hold sixth BCM meeting on South China Sea

http://www.xinhuanet.com/english/2021-05/20/c_139958902.htm

59

Singapore uses misinformation law to swat online virus claim

https://www.nst.com.my/world/world/2021/05/691689/singapore-uses-misinformation-law-swat-online-virus-claim

60

Singapore PM: US, China must learn to cooperate or war may ruin us all

https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/3134243/us-china-must-learn-cooperate-or-war-could-ruin-us-all-singapore

61 China’s Growing Role in Central Asia https://geopoliticalfutures.com/brief-chinas-

growing-role-in-central-asia/

62 China preens in U.N. spotlight over Mideast as U.S. isolated

https://www.reuters.com/world/middle-east/china-preens-un-spotlight-over-mideast-us-isolated-2021-05-19/

63 Why do so many people join the Communist Party in China?

https://www.koreatimes.co.kr/www/world/2021/05/672_309104.html

64 China deploys offshore oil production rig in South China Sea

https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3134232/china-deploys-offshore-oil-production-rig-south-china-sea

65 China builds key highway in Tibet https://www.hindustantimes.com/world-

news/china-builds-key-highway-in-tibet-101621504363053.html

66 Putin, Xi Launch Nuclear Power Projects in Show of Warming Ties

https://thediplomat.com/2021/05/putin-xi-launch-nuclear-power-projects-in-show-of-warming-ties/

67 China plans to hold talks with Israel as well as Russia, EU and UN over conflict in Gaza

https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3134238/china-plans-hold-talks-israel-well-russia-eu-and-un-over

68 PetroChina ships jet fuel to junta-ruled Myanmar, data shows

https://www.reuters.com/world/china/exclusive-petrochina-ships-jet-fuel-junta-ruled-myanmar-data-shows-2021-05-20/

69 Covid increases China influence in India's backyard

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-57167091

70 U.S. senator's China threat rhetoric completely unfounded

http://www.xinhuanet.com/english/2021-05/20/c_139958448.htm

71

Hong Kong court denies jury trial to first person charged under national security law

https://www.reuters.com/world/asia-pacific/hong-kong-court-denies-jury-trial-first-person-charged-under-national-security-2021-05-20/

72 Malaysia’s Muhyiddin says Asia should fill leadership vacuum in post-pandemic world

https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/3134220/asia-should-fill-leadership-vacuum-post-pandemic-recovery

73

Malaysia's Mahathir: 'Old' Quad strategy risks provoking China

https://asia.nikkei.com/Spotlight/The-Future-of-Asia/The-Future-of-Asia-2021/Old-Quad-strategy-risks-provoking-China-Malaysia-s-Mahathir

74 Tibet’s government-in-exile has a new leader. Here’s what to expect

https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/people/article/3134103/tibetans-have-new-political-leader-heres-what-expect

75 Taiwan president negative for COVID-19 after scare at residence

https://www.reuters.com/world/asia-pacific/taiwan-covid-19-cases-rise-again-not-dramatically-2021-05-20/

76 Taiwan's foreign ministry welcomes German party’s removal of ‘one-China’ policy

https://www.taiwannews.com.tw/en/news/4207038

77 Biden, saying 'silence is complicity,' signs COVID hate crimes bill into law

https://www.reuters.com/world/us/biden-saying-silence-is-complicity-signs-covid-hate-crimes-bill-into-law-2021-05-20/

78

Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp Slams Critical Race Theory As ‘Dangerous Ideology,’ Says It Shouldn’t Be Taught

https://www.forbes.com/sites/nicholasreimann/2021/05/20/georgia-gov-brian-kemp-slams-critical-race-theory-as-dangerous-ideology-says-it-shouldnt-be-taught/

79 Vaccine diplomacy builds China’s status in Latin America, US panel hears

https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3134273/vaccine-diplomacy-strengthens-chinas-stature-latin-america-us

80 A tough agenda for Biden and Moon’s first summit

https://www.eastasiaforum.org/2021/05/19/a-tough-agenda-for-biden-and-moons-first-summit/

81 Biden to push South Korea to take tough line on China at summit

https://asia.nikkei.com/Politics/International-relations/Biden-to-push-South-Korea-to-take-tough-line-on-China-at-summit

82 The Biden-Moon Summit: Rejuvenating and Modernizing the Alliance

https://www.csis.org/analysis/biden-moon-summit-rejuvenating-and-modernizing-alliance

83 Moon visits US military cemetery in show of commitment to stronger alliance

https://www.koreatimes.co.kr/www/nation/2021/05/120_309155.html

84 The US and South Korea’s Shaky Alliance https://geopoliticalfutures.com/the-us-and-

south-koreas-shaky-alliance/

85 U.S. plays down prospect of North Korea initiative at Moon summit

https://www.reuters.com/world/china/us-minimizes-prospect-new-north-korea-initiative-moon-summit-2021-05-20/

86 Japan opposes 'unilateral attempts' to change status quo in SCS

https://www.pna.gov.ph/articles/1140892

87 Japan ready to freeze all Myanmar development aid: Motegi

https://asia.nikkei.com/Editor-s-Picks/Interview/Japan-ready-to-freeze-all-Myanmar-development-aid-Motegi

88 Full steam ahead on Vietnam’s anti-corruption campaign

https://www.eastasiaforum.org/2021/05/20/full-steam-ahead-on-vietnams-anti-corruption-campaign/

89 Fewer independents vie for Vietnam's Communist Party-dominated assembly

https://www.channelnewsasia.com/news/asia/vietnam-election-communist-party-legislature-independents-14854468

90 Some 100 Myanmar diplomats oppose junta, ordered to return home

https://www.thejakartapost.com/seasia/2021/05/20/some-100-myanmar-diplomats-oppose-junta-ordered-to-return-home.html

91 Samoa to scrap China-backed port project under new leader

https://www.reuters.com/world/asia-pacific/samoa-shelve-china-backed-port-project-under-new-leader-2021-05-20/

92 Kiribati’s airstrip revamp sparks political debate on China’s intentions

https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/3134157/kiribatis-china-backed-airstrip-upgrade-fuels-political

92 Russian envoy G7 - playing a 'dangerous game' by pushing Moscow towards China

https://www.reuters.com/world/china/g7-playing-dangerous-game-by-scolding-moscow-russian-envoy-says-2021-05-20/

94 Russia 'ready' to provide COVID-19 vaccines to Japan, ambassador says

https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2021/05/20/national/science-health/russia-covid-19-vaccines-japan/

95 Putin to would-be aggressors: 'Will knock their teeth out'

https://www.hindustantimes.com/world-news/putin-to-would-be-aggressors-will-knock-their-teeth-out-101621529183878.html

96 Israel and Hamas reach Gaza truce with Egyptian mediation

https://asia.nikkei.com/Politics/International-relations/Israel-and-Hamas-reach-Gaza-truce-with-Egyptian-mediation

97 Why Muslim governments are giving China a free pass on its abuses against Uyghurs

https://www.businessinsider.com/muslim-governments-give-china-free-pass-on-abuses-of-uyghurs-2021-5

98 The Amazing Convergence on China Policy

https://prospect.org/blogs/tap/bipartisanship-lives-amazing-convergence-on-china-policy/

99 Leveraging the Quad to Counter China’s Digital Sinosphere

https://www.atlanticcouncil.org/blogs/new-atlanticist/how-to-leverage-the-quad-to-counter-chinas-digital-sinosphere/

100 China and the US: Who Has More Influence in Vietnam?

https://thediplomat.com/2021/05/china-and-the-us-who-has-more-influence-in-vietnam/

101 Economic Growth in a Digital Economy: The Role of Intellectual Property and Innovation

https://www.csis.org/analysis/economic-growth-digital-economy-role-intellectual-property-and-innovation

DEFENSE NEWS

102 Duterte Rejects U.S. Assistance During Whitsun Reef Stand-Off

https://amti.csis.org/duterte-rejects-u-s-assistance-during-whitsun-reef-stand-off/

103 U.S. Nears Extension on Philippine Basing Pact

https://foreignpolicy.com/2021/05/20/biden-duterte-philippines-defense-pentagon/

104 Duterte, Japan head agree to tackle security in disputed sea

https://www.manilatimes.net/2021/05/21/news/national/duterte-japan-head-agree-to-tackle-security-in-disputed-sea/1800030

105 PH procurement of 6 naval vessels from Aussie firm still 'under negotiations' — Australian envoy

https://mb.com.ph/2021/05/20/ph-procurement-of-6-naval-vessels-from-aussie-firm-still-under-negotiations-australian-envoy/

106 Philippines to Acquire Israeli Missile-Capable Patrol Boats for $209M

https://www.thedefensepost.com/2021/05/20/philippines-missile-capable-patrol-boats/

107 Shangri-La Dialogue security forum in Singapore canceled due to COVID-19

https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2021/05/20/national/singapore-shangri-la-dialogue-security-forum-canceled-covid-19/

108 The U.S. Military In Competition: Supporting Effort One

https://cimsec.org/the-u-s-military-in-competition-supporting-effort-one/

109 US Envoy: Fears of Taliban Conquering Kabul Are Overblown

https://thediplomat.com/2021/05/us-envoy-fears-of-taliban-conquering-kabul-are-overblown/

110 Hill Presses For Better Cyber Responses, More Info Sharing

https://breakingdefense.com/2021/05/hill-presses-for-better-cyber-responses-more-info-sharing/

111 Divide over scope of military’s extremism problem impedes culture, policy changes

https://www.rollcall.com/2021/05/20/divide-over-scope-of-militarys-extremism-problem-impedes-culture-policy-changes/

112

Incoherent Global Strategy Cripples U.S. Military Readiness

https://www.greatpowersjournal.com/us-global-strategy-military-readiness/

113 GAO Cites Technical Shortcomings In Emerging DHS Biodefense Program

https://www.defensedaily.com/gao-cites-technical-shortcomings-emerging-dhs-biodefense-program/homeland-security/

114 National Guard troops expect to leave U.S. Capitol next week

https://www.reuters.com/world/us/national-guard-troops-expect-leave-us-capitol-next-week-officials-2021-05-19/

115 Microsoft, SOCOM Highlight Need for Ethical Use of Artificial Intelligence

https://www.nationaldefensemagazine.org/articles/2021/5/20/sofic-news-microsoft-investing-in-ai-ethics-rd

116 US Forces Korea nominee calls joint US-South Korea exercises 'extremely important'

https://www.koreatimes.co.kr/www/nation/2021/05/103_309135.html

117 A Starcruiser For Space Force: Thinking Through The Imminent Transformation Of Spacepower

https://warontherocks.com/2021/05/a-starcruiser-for-space-force-thinking-through-the-imminent-transformation-of-spacepower/

118 House Lawmakers Call For Long-Term Strategy For Sealift After Decades of Neglect

https://news.usni.org/2021/05/19/house-lawmakers-call-for-long-term-strategy-for-sealift-after-decades-of-neglect

119 US Navy Needs Large-Scale Innovation to Deter Adversaries

https://news.usni.org/2021/05/20/geurts-navy-needs-large-scale-innovation-to-deter-adversaries

120 Ghost Fleet Ship ‘Nomad’ Transited Panama Canal, Headed to California

https://news.usni.org/2021/05/20/ghost-fleet-ship-nomad-transited-panama-canal-headed-to-california

121 USSOCOM touts amphibious MC-130 https://www.janes.com/defence-news/news-

detail/sofic-2021-ussocom-touts-amphibious-mc-130

122 Littoral Combat Ship: The U.S. Navy’s Biggest Warship Failure

https://www.19fortyfive.com/2021/05/littoral-combat-ship-the-u-s-navys-biggest-warship-failure-ever/

123 US Navy notes progress on Constellation frigate, hypersonics

https://www.janes.com/defence-news/news-detail/us-navy-notes-progress-on-constellation-frigate-hypersonics

124 US Navy Issues $554M Contract Modification for Second Navy Frigate

https://news.usni.org/2021/05/20/navy-issues-554m-contract-modification-for-second-navy-frigate

125 USS Ronald Reagan carrier strike group departs Japan for deployment in Indo-Pacific

https://www.upi.com/Defense-News/2021/05/19/reagan-carrier-japan-depart-port-deployment/9221621438435/

126 U.S. 7th Fleet Denies Chinese Claim American Destroyer Was ‘Expelled’ from South China Sea Island Chain

https://news.usni.org/2021/05/20/u-s-7th-fleet-denies-chinese-claim-american-destroyer-was-expelled-from-south-china-sea-island-chain

127 US Navy denies warship was 'expelled' from South China Sea

https://thehill.com/policy/defense/navy/554499-us-navy-denies-warship-was-expelled-from-south-china-sea

128

USMC Commandant says content with flat budget, anti-ship missiles the top priority in 2022

https://www.janes.com/defence-news/news-detail/content-with-flat-budget-anti-ship-missiles-the-top-priority-in-2022-usmc-commandant-says

129 Why the US Marine Corps’ future may sideline its ground-pounders

https://www.marinecorpstimes.com/news/your-marine-corps/2021/05/19/why-the-corps-future-may-sideline-its-ground-pounders/

130 Biden praises Coast Guard agreement with Taiwan

https://www.taiwannews.com.tw/en/news/4207036

131

Biden Says U.S. Coast Guard Will Take On More Global Missions; Highlights Indo-Pacific Region

https://www.defensedaily.com/biden-says-u-s-coast-guard-will-take-global-missions-highlights-indo-pacific-region/homeland-security/

132 Building An Agile Force: The Imperative for Speed and Adaptation in the U.S. Aerospace Industrial Base

https://a2dd917a-65ab-41f1-ab11-5f1897e16299.usrfiles.com/ugd/a2dd91_776e3514d41f4e0aa1c0954050eaa194.pdf

133 Special Ops Undergoing Historic Transformation, AFSOC Says

https://breakingdefense.com/2021/05/special-ops-undergoing-historical-transformation-afsoc-says/

134 Biden cites Coast Guard's role in protecting shipping lanes at academy graduation

https://www.upi.com/Top_News/US/2021/05/19/connecticut-joe-biden-coast-guard-academy-commencement/6991621425764/

135 Chinese ships staying too close irk Hawaii fishers and U.S. military

https://usa.inquirer.net/71389/chinese-ships-staying-too-close-irk-hawaii-fishers-and-u-s-military

136 China, US Argue Over Naval Activity in South China Sea

https://www.military.com/daily-news/2021/05/20/china-us-argue-over-naval-activity-south-china-sea.html

137 How China’s Thinking About The Next War https://breakingdefense.com/2021/05/how-

chinas-thinking-about-the-next-war/

138 China Keeps Studying One World War II Battle For a Sinister Reason

https://www.realcleardefense.com/articles/2021/05/20/china_keeps_studying_one_world_war_ii_battle_for_a_sinister_reason_777962.html

139 World Intelligence Congress opens in China's Tianjin

http://www.xinhuanet.com/english/2021-05/20/c_139958869.htm

140 Beijing’s space race frenzy burns up resources

https://asiatimes.com/2021/05/beijings-space-race-frenzy-burns-up-resources/

141 PLA Eastern Theater Command monitors US warship transiting Taiwan Straits

https://www.globaltimes.cn/page/202105/1223849.shtml

142 China says U.S. warship illegally enters its territory in S. China Sea

https://www.reuters.com/world/china/china-says-us-warship-illegally-enters-its-territory-s-china-sea-2021-05-20/

143 China furious after US warship sails close to disputed Paracels

https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2021/5/20/china-furious-after-us-warship-sails-close-to-disputed-paracels

144 PLA drives away 'accident-risking' US warship intruding territorial waters in South China Sea

https://www.globaltimes.cn/page/202105/1224046.shtml

145 US should stop turning Taiwan into 'most dangerous place'

http://en.people.cn/n3/2021/0519/c90000-9851633.html

146

PLA-N Marine Corps armored vehicles in live-fire training

http://en.people.cn/n3/2021/0520/c90000-9852178.html

147 China's deep-water drilling machine sets new world record

http://en.people.cn/n3/2021/0520/c90000-9852043.html

148 China’s J-15 Carrierborne Fighter: Sizing up the Competition

https://thediplomat.com/2021/05/chinas-j-15-carrierborne-fighter-sizing-up-the-competition/

149 China flies 2 fighter-bombers over median line amid COVID outbreak in Taiwan

https://www.taiwannews.com.tw/en/news/4207322

150 Taiwan Deploys 42 Upgraded F-16s at Southwestern Airbase

https://www.thedefensepost.com/2021/05/20/taiwan-deploys-upgraded-f16s/

151 Japan Looking At Providing Financing Framework For Defense Exports

https://www.asiapacificdefensejournal.com/2021/05/japan-looking-at-providing-financing.html

152 Japan, Poland look to expand defence equipment ties

https://www.janes.com/defence-news/news-detail/japan-poland-look-to-expand-defence-equipment-ties

153 Japan won’t limit defence spending amid ‘uncertainty’ in East China Sea

https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/3134195/japan-wont-limit-defence-spending-amid-uncertainty-east-china

154 Japan must 'radically' speed up defence build-up: Minister

https://www.channelnewsasia.com/news/asia/japan-speed-up-defence-build-up-east-china-sea-14847470

155 Japan eyes stronger regulations on foreign students to prevent outflow of national security tech

https://the-japan-news.com/news/article/0007416199

156

North Korea ‘unlikely to surrender its nuclear stockpile'

https://www.janes.com/defence-news/news-detail/north-korea-unlikely-to-surrender-its-nuclear-stockpile-says-usfk-commander-nominee

157 North Korean Weapons Are Likely Here to Stay, Even if Biden Won’t Say It

https://www.nytimes.com/2021/05/20/us/politics/biden-north-korea-nuclear-weapons.html

158 North Korean Security Services Given Food for a Year While Others Go Hungry

https://www.rfa.org/english/news/korea/food-05202021145307.html

159 South Korean Navy Upgrades to New Fire-Resistant Uniform

https://www.thedefensepost.com/2021/05/20/south-korean-navy-upgrades-uniform/

160 SoKor military hit over substandard food, clothes for conscripts

https://www.koreatimes.co.kr/www/nation/2021/05/205_309125.html

161 Soldiers given substandard clothing, berets

http://www.koreaherald.com/view.php?ud=20210520000696

162 Thailand cuts defence budget again https://www.janes.com/defence-news/news-

detail/thailand-cuts-defence-budget-again_17744

163

Enough troops on Ladakh frontier to tackle any situation: Indian Army chief

https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/defence/enough-troops-on-ladakh-frontier-to-tackle-any-situation-indian-army-chief/articleshow/82797309.cms

164 Bangladesh Cracks Down on Hardline Islamist Group

https://thediplomat.com/2021/05/bangladesh-cracks-down-on-hardline-islamist-group/

165 Signs of Rift Between Military and Prime Minister Imran Khan in Pakistan

https://thediplomat.com/2021/05/signs-of-rift-between-military-and-prime-minister-imran-khan-in-pakistan/

167 Australian prime minister: Multibillion-dollar military spending not a warning to PRC

https://ipdefenseforum.com/2021/05/australian-prime-minister-multibillion-dollar-military-spending-not-a-warning-to-prc/

168 Australian Military to Establish New $7 Billion Space Division

https://www.thedefensepost.com/2021/05/20/australia-military-space-division/

169 Royal Australian Navy’ Second Supply-Class AOR Sails Home

https://www.navalnews.com/naval-news/2021/05/royal-australian-navy-second-supply-class-aor-sails-home/

170

Australia launches maritime research vessel Ginan

https://www.navyrecognition.com/index.php/naval-news/naval-news-archive/2021/may/10164-australia-launches-maritime-research-vessel-ginan.html

171

Royal Australian Navy's HMS Ballarat joints Operation Argos

https://www.navyrecognition.com/index.php/naval-news/naval-news-archive/2021/may/10167-royal-australian-navy-s-hms-ballarat-joints-operation-argos.html

172 Australia and New Zealand should coordinate space launch capabilities

https://www.aspistrategist.org.au/australia-and-new-zealand-should-coordinate-space-launch-capabilities/

173 New Clashes Between Myanmar’s Military and Ethnic Armies Exacerbates Refugee Crisis

https://www.rfa.org/english/news/myanmar/clashes-05202021195632.html

174 Military lifts age limit for Min Aung Hlaing post

https://asia.nikkei.com/Spotlight/Myanmar-Coup/Myanmar-coup-latest-Military-lifts-age-limit-for-Min-Aung-Hlaing-post

175 Myanmar troops shell Thai border village https://www.nationthailand.com/in-

focus/40001105

176

Myanmar air force chief in Moscow for military helicopter expo

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-myanmar-politics-russia/myanmar-air-force-chief-in-moscow-for-military-helicopter-expo-media-reports-idUSKCN2D10Z4

177

Sanctions Targeting Russia’s Defense Sector

https://www.realcleardefense.com/articles/2021/05/20/sanctions_targeting_russias_defense_sector_will_they_influence_its_behavior_777935.html

178 Russian lawmakers vote to follow US out of overflight treaty

https://www.militarytimes.com/news/pentagon-congress/2021/05/19/russian-lawmakers-vote-to-follow-us-out-of-overflight-treaty/

179 Russian Navy to restructure Project 955/955A Borey SSBN deployment

https://www.janes.com/defence-news/news-detail/russian-navy-to-restructure-project-955955a-borey-ssbn-deployment

180

Russian Krasnodar submarine passes L-1 qualification mission

https://www.navyrecognition.com/index.php/naval-news/naval-news-archive/2021/may/10165-russian-krasnodar-submarine-passes-l-1-qualification-mission.html

181 Russia will start supplying S-400 missile to India in Q4 -Interfax

https://www.reuters.com/world/india/russia-will-start-supplying-s-400-missile-india-q4-interfax-2021-05-20/

182 Russia calls for military meeting of Arctic states as tensions rise

https://asia.nikkei.com/Politics/International-relations/Russia-calls-for-military-meeting-of-Arctic-states-as-tensions-rise

183 Russian fighter intercepts U.S. bomber before Lavrov-Blinken meeting

http://en.people.cn/n3/2021/0520/c90000-9851991.html

184

NATO Maritime Commander: Allies Are Coming Up With Modern Littoral Warfare Concepts, and NATO Needs to Exercise Them

https://news.usni.org/2021/05/20/nato-maritime-commander-allies-are-coming-up-with-modern-littoral-warfare-concepts-and-nato-needs-to-exercise-them

185 Two massive British aircraft carriers sail together

https://ukdefencejournal.org.uk/two-massive-british-aircraft-carriers-sail-together/

186 Israeli jets destroy 60 miles of Hamas tunnels under Gaza

https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/israeli-jets-destroy-60-miles-of-hamas-tunnels-under-gaza-8x3knhlbz

187 Iron Dome sustains interception rate https://www.janes.com/defence-news/news-

detail/iron-dome-sustains-interception-rate

188 Israel, Hamas agree to cease-fire to end bloody 11-day war

https://businessmirror.com.ph/2021/05/21/israel-hamas-agree-to-cease-fire-to-end-bloody-11-day-war/

189 What’s Next for Iran Nuclear Talks? https://www.csis.org/analysis/whats-next-iran-

nuclear-talks

190 Why does the UK want more nuclear weapons?

https://www.aspistrategist.org.au/why-does-the-uk-want-more-nuclear-weapons/

191 Maintenance Wins Wars https://www.usni.org/magazines/proceedings/2

021/may/maintenance-wins-wars

192

Mapping the National Security Industrial Base: Policy Shaping Issues

https://csis-website-prod.s3.amazonaws.com/s3fs-public/publication/210519_Lewis_NationalSecurity_IndustrialBase.pdf

193 The UN Struggles to Make Progress on Securing Cyberspace

https://carnegieendowment.org/2021/05/19/un-struggles-to-make-progress-on-securing-cyberspace-pub-84491

194 Aerospace Industrial Base Can’t Handle The Future: Mitchell Institute

https://breakingdefense.com/2021/05/aerospace-industrial-base-cant-handle-the-future-mitchell-institute/

195 Software-Defined Tactics And Great Power Competition

https://cimsec.org/software-defined-tactics-and-great-power-competition/

196 Apple criticised for storing data inside China

https://www.bbc.com/news/technology-57186275

COVID NEWS

197 Preference for brands causing delay in vax program

https://www.pna.gov.ph/articles/1140990

198 Philippines Won't Disclose COVID Shot Brand Until Appointment, to 'Overcome' Preferences

https://www.newsweek.com/philippines-wont-disclose-covid-shot-brand-until-appointment-overcome-preferences-1593363

199 India battles rash of "black fungus" cases hitting COVID-19 patients

https://www.reuters.com/world/india/india-battles-rash-black-fungus-cases-hitting-covid-19-patients-2021-05-20/

200 Black fungus: Call to declare epidemic in Indian states

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-india-57191507

201 A new coronavirus that usually infects canines is found in a pneumonia patient in Malaysia

https://www.scmp.com/news/china/science/article/3134113/new-coronavirus-usually-infects-canines-found-pneumonia-patient

202 Mapping the Coronavirus Outbreak Across the World

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

203 Covid map: Where are cases the highest? https://www.bbc.com/news/world-51235105

J. OPINION/EDITORIAL/COMMENTARY

Title Link

204 Dealing with Beijing’s maritime projection

https://tribune.net.ph/index.php/2021/05/20/dealing-with-beijings-maritime-projection/

205 A single voice on sea dispute https://www.manilatimes.net/2021/05/21/opinion/columns/a-single-voice-on-sea-dispute/1800033

206 China does not possess the WPS https://opinion.inquirer.net/140405/china-does-not-possess-the-wps

207 JPE wrong person to back WPS tack https://opinion.inquirer.net/140429/jpe-wrong-person-to-%e2%80%8dback-wps-tack

208 Noy fails, America wins https://tribune.net.ph/index.php/2021/05/20/noy-fails-america-wins/

209 Impostor nonpareil

https://tribune.net.ph/index.php/2021/05/21/impostor-nonpareil/

210 Correcting injustice https://opinion.inquirer.net/140443/correcting-injustice

211 Coup d'oeil in waging political war https://www.manilatimes.net/2021/05/21/opinion/columns/coup-doeil-in-waging-political-war/1800024

212 Rizal: Unimpressed by the US https://opinion.inquirer.net/140435/rizal-unimpressed-by-the-us

213 Biden’s Israel Problem https://www.project-syndicate.org/commentary/israel-netanyahu-wag-the-us-dog-by-fawaz-a-gerges-2021-05

214 Artificial Intelligence Is America’s Achilles Heel Against China

https://www.bloomberg.com/opinion/articles/2021-05-20/china-s-artificial-intelligence-advantage-is-america-s-achilles-heel?srnd=premium-asia

215 Our Responsibility to South Asia https://www.project-syndicate.org/commentary/world-must-help-india-south-asia-with-vaccines-oxygen-by-kevin-rudd-2021-05

216 Still Waiting for a Serious Debate on Taiwan

https://foreignpolicy.com/2021/05/19/still-waiting-for-a-serious-debate-on-taiwan/

217 Arabs: Hamas Does Not Care About Palestinian Suffering

https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/17390/hamas-palestinians-suffering

218 Hasty U.S. withdrawal to create security black hole in Afghanistan

http://en.people.cn/n3/2021/0519/c90000-9851836.html

BSP: PHL debt wieldy, ratings will be kept BYBIANCA CUARESMA

MAY 21, 2021

Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas Governor Benjamin E. Diokno

BANGKO Sentral ng Pilipinas Governor Benjamin Diokno expressed confidence that the Philippines will retain its investment grade rating from all three major international credit watchers, as the BSP’s latest assessment shows the country’s debt profile will remain manageable amid increased foreign borrowings.

In a press briefing on Thursday, Diokno told reporters the recent increase in foreign borrowings, as propelled by the pandemic-induced disruptions, is sustainable and manageable.

Diokno noted that the loans taken up by the government are diversified with low interest rates. As such, they do not see the government debt-to-GDP (gross domestic product) ratio exceeding the 60-percent threshold for the year.

Asked whether the rising debt remains manageable enough for credit watchers to keep their ratings of the country this year, Diokno said, “definitely.”

“While admittedly the debt-to-GDP ratio is rising, it is still within the 60-percent threshold and we are very careful about that,” he said.

According to Diokno, the current external debt as a percentage of GDP as of 2020 is at 27.2 percent. The total public external debt to GDP ratio, meanwhile, is at 54.6 percent.

BSP data showed the country’s external debt stood at $98.5 billion as of end-December 2020, up from $83.6 billion recorded at end-December 2019.

The end-2020 external debt figure represented 27.2 percent of the country’s GDP. The latest ratio indicates the country’s sustained strong position to service foreign borrowings.

The maturity profile of the country’s external debt also remained predominantly medium and long term (MLT) in nature, with share to total at 85.6 percent.

“This means that foreign exchange requirements for debt payments continued to be spread out and manageable,” Diokno said, adding that 60 percent of MLT borrowings have fixed interest rates, which minimizes risks from possible interest rate increases.

https://businessmirror.com.ph/2021/05/21/bsp-phl-debt-wieldy-ratings-will-be-kept/

DA plotting industry roadmap to strengthen food

security

By Lade Jean Kabagani May 20, 2021, 8:21 pm

MANILA – The Department of Agriculture (DA) targets to establish a commodity industry roadmap within four months to strengthen the country’s food security system.

Citing the Philippines’s 73rd place in the 2020 Global Food Security Index (GFSI), DA Assistant Secretary Liza Battad said the creation of the roadmap is one of the department’s biggest challenges.

"I think we need to focus ourselves on the more impactful commodities and at the same time, tulong talaga ng buong byurukrasya ang nakikita natin (we see the need for the entire bureaucracy to help), and we have identified important strategies na hihingan sana natin o idudulog natin na maging (that we would seek to become an) executive order," Battad said in a virtual presser on Thursday.

The DA will also need the private sectors’ commitment, she said.

“We will draw the private sector's commitment and plot them into their industries' roadmap para sa ganun makita natin yung mekanismo kung paano natin sila i-implement (so we can know the mechanism and how to implement it) with them," said Battad, who also co-chaired the 2021 National Food Security Summit Steering Committee.

The GFSI considers the issues of food affordability, availability, quality and safety, and natural resources and resilience across 113 countries.

Indicators measure the drivers of food security across both developing and developed countries.

The Philippines’ strengths were in agricultural production, change in average food costs, market access and agricultural financial services, and agricultural import tariffs.

The DA, Battad added, has suggested and identified some options on how to implement the industry roadmap with the private sector.

"What is significant that should happen in four months is we should be able to identify and influence ‘yung pagbabago sa budget din ng DA (the changes in the DA's budget)," she said.

The two-day food security summit that ended Wednesday addressed major challenges on accessing sufficient, safe, nutritious, and affordable food.

She said they were also seeking the full support of the Department of the Interior and Local Government in "bringing about relevant technologies and capacitation of the workers and livestock technicians and more importantly, the farmer and fishers organization and cluster leaders." (PNA)

https://www.pna.gov.ph/articles/1140984

Govt infra spending up to ₧195.2B in Q1

BYBERNADETTE D. NICOLAS

MAY 21, 2021

2 MINUTE READ

A construction crane is silhouetted against the sunset in Pasig City.

The government said it is banking on the resumption of big-ticket

infrastructure projects under its Build Build Build program to lift the economy battered by the pandemic.

STATE infrastructure spending in the first quarter of this year hit P195.2 billion, up by 25.1 percent compared to the same period a year ago.

Data from the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) showed national government disbursements for infrastructure and capital outlays from January to March this year were P39.1 billion higher than last year’s P156.1 billion.

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In its latest assessment on the government’s disbursement performance, the DBM said the increase was largely due to Department of Public Works and Highways’ (DPWH) road infrastructure program and direct payments made to suppliers by foreign creditors for foreign-assisted projects, such as the Metro Manila Subway Project of the Department of Transportation and the Davao City By-Pass Construction Project of the DPWH.

“Although the growth in infrastructure and other capital outlays may be partly due to base effects, the increase in infrastructure disbursements for Q1 this year of P39.1 billion was enough to completely offset the P22.1 billion reduction recorded in Q1 last year,” it said. “It also

recovered from the negative growth recorded in the preceding two quarters of 33.0 percent in Q3 and 32.7 percent in Q4 2020.”

The double-digit expansion in state infrastructure spending along with higher maintenance disbursements drove the growth in overall government spending for the first quarter of this year.

For the three-month period, total government spending surged by nearly 20 percent to P1.018 trillion from last year’s P849.2 billion.

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“Government spending is one of the major sources of growth which helped temper the economic contraction recorded for Q1 of this year. While the overall economic performance declined by 4.2 percent, government final consumption expenditure, which consists largely of the expenditures for various social programs, expanded by 16.1 percent,” the DBM said.

For March alone, state infrastructure spending jumped by 41.1 percent to P87.8 billion this year from P62.2 billion in the same month last year.

“This was largely propelled by the payment for completed and partially completed infrastructure projects of the Department of Public Works and Highways nationwide such as construction,

repair and rehabilitation of access, by-pass, and diversion roads, bridges, and flood mitigation structures and drainage systems,” the DBM said.

Overall government spending in March stood at P407.6 billion, up by 22.3 percent from P333.2 billion a year ago.

For the rest of the year, the DBM said they still see disbursements in the second quarter to be driven by Covid-19 related expenditures, including the release of allotments for the procurement of vaccines and the financial assistance to Metro Manila and four nearby provinces Cavite, Laguna, Bulacan and Rizal which were placed under Enhanced Community Quarantine to address the surge in the number of Covid-19 cases.

It also expects overall government spending to be boosted by ongoing construction projects of DPWH and the downloading of program subsidies to government-owned and -controlled corporations based on submitted requests.

https://businessmirror.com.ph/2021/05/21/govt-infra-spending-up-to-%e2%82%a7195-2b-in-q1/

No face-to-face classes without Duterte’s approval, DepEd says

Published May 20, 2021, 2:02 PM

by Merlina Hernando-Malipot

An official of the Department of Education (DepEd) on Monday maintained that the conduct of face-to-face classes this upcoming school year will not be possible without the approval coming from President Duterte.

During the Laging Handa public briefing on Thursday, May 20, DepEd Undersecretary Annallyn Sevilla said the DepEd is currently preparing for the opening of School Year (SY) 2021-2022. She noted that the department will also present its plans for the opening of classes to President Duterte.

“Hindi po tayo babalik sa face-to-face educational learning delivery system kung hindi po ito papayagan (We will not go back to the face-to-face educational learning delivery system if this will not be allowed),” Sevilla said, noting that in-person learning will remain prohibited the President gives his approval.

However, Sevilla clarified that education will continue even amidst the ongoing pandemic. This, she explained, will be through blended delivery approaches that are being used in the current school year.

“Magtutuloy po ang pag-aaral, itutuloy natin ang tinatawag na self-learning modules, online, through the DepEd TV, DepEd radio, at iba pa pong approaches (Learning will continue, we will continue what we call self-learning modules, online, through DepEd TV, DepEd Radio and other approaches),” Sevilla added.

Aside from the reported Aug. 23 recommended school opening, Sevilla said that DepEd will be giving the President options on how to proceed with opening of the upcoming school year.

Sevilla also noted that in the Management Committee meeting led by Education Secretary Leonor Briones on May 19, the agency’s key officials – including those at the regional level – have discussed possible scenarios for the opening of SY 2021-2022.

“DepEd has prepared a proposal to the President and it includes options within the law,” Sevilla said.

Aside from Aug. 23 school opening recommendation, she said that there are “also other dates” to be presented to the President and other Cabinet members.

However, she did not specify what are these other dates being eyed by DepEd for the start of classes for the upcoming school year.

https://mb.com.ph/2021/05/20/no-face-to-face-classes-without-dutertes-approval-deped-says/

Artistic freedom pushed in singing PH national anthem

Published May 20, 2021, 6:17 PM

by Vanne Elaine Terrazola

A House official wanted to give artists the discretion in interpreting and singing the Philippines’ national anthem.

House Deputy Speaker and Cagayan de Oro 2nd District Representative Rufus Rodriguez on Thursday, May 20, urged his colleagues to relax the proposed law prescribing a definite tempo for singing the “Lupang Hinirang”.

The House Committee on Basic Education was tackling the substitute bill containing proposals to revise the Republic Act No. 8491 or the Flag and Heraldic Code of the Philippines.

Rodriguez particularly took exception to the bill’s provision specifying that the Lupang Hinirang must be sung in accordance with the arrangement and composition of its composer Julian Felipe, which is in 2/4 beat. The anthem was originally composed as a marching song.

“There are requirements, [which] to me, [are] not understood by people,” the House leader said, mistakenly calling the national anthem “Bayang Magiliw” during the hearing.

“You know, there are criminal sanctions if you don’t follow these…How can we, first, be able to really have this observed and secondly, which people do not rea lly understand,” the legal expert pointed out.

Instead, Rodriguez proposed to his colleagues to just mandate that the national anthem be “sung with utmost respect”, and give artists the leeway in interpreting it, like in the United States.

He cited the performers who deviated from Julian Felipe’s arrangement while singing the Philippine national anthem during the fights of boxer-turned-politician Senator Emmanuel “Manny” Pacquiao.

“All I’m saying is that, why don’t we just put there that its should be ‘sung with utmost respect’. We know already what is not respectful, like if you will sing it with not the proper lyrics. Or number two, you will sing it in rap,” Rodriguez said.

“People like it when it is played it by our artists and we follow our artist, and we give pride to our song. That is my point, Mr Chairman. We cannot be canalized into these beats,” he went on.

“It should allow some freedom of expression of the singer, in how he feels, she feels, about our national anthem,” he appealed.

Deputy speaker and SAGIP Party-list Rep. Rodante Marcoleta and Marikina 2nd District Rep. Stella Quimbo backed Rodriguez’ proposal, saying singers should be allowed the leeway as long as it is sung with utmost respect.

Other House members, however, opposed any changes to the national anthem.

“If we respect our history, how it was made, it should remain like that,” said Lanao del Norte Rep. Abdullah Dimaporo.

The National Commission for Culture and the Arts also said that the current arrangement and melody of the Lupang Hinirang must be kept, and that freedom of expression “cannot be absolutely applied”.

“This is a national anthem, not music for performing before a passive audience. It is not for showing off or exhibition of musical skills and artistry by a so-called ‘artist’ who might like to dazzle and awe his or her audience with technical wizardry. Everybody is a participant in the singing or playing of a national anthem,” the NCCA said in its position paper, read by Sorsogon 1st District Rep. Evelina Escudero before House basic education panel.

“Singing the national anthem is a communal activity. The people must be able to sing together with the lead singer and not be cowed into silence by a musician eager to impress

with his or her prowess, who makes the interpretation so complicated and unconventional preventing the people from joining the singing,” the agency further explained.

“As a rule, the simpler the arrangement, the better so everybody can join in the singing of the anthem,” the NCCA pointed out.

In the end, the House committee agreed to retain the 2/4 beat of the Philippine national anthem in approving the unnumbered substitute bill.

https://mb.com.ph/2021/05/20/artistic-freedom-pushed-in-singing-ph-national-anthem/

Ex-AFP chief Biazon: 'Convene National Security Council to

discuss WPS dispute'

Published May 20, 2021, 10:16 AM

by Mario Casayuran

Former Senator Rodolfo Biazon has strongly suggested that President Duterte convene the National Security Council (NSC) for the Duterte administration to form a united stand on the West Philippine Sea (WPS) territorial dispute with China.

Biazon made the call as Philippine leaders have divergent views on how the country should deal with China which carry a mighty military and economic stick.

Biazon, a former chief of staff of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) and former chairman of the Senate national defense and security committee, said there is danger in the conflicting and divergent views on

the WPS issue of the President himself, Cabinet members, lawmakers, former lawmakers, and experts on the WPS issue.

He said this cauldron of different opinions might push China into adopting an aggressive stance against the Philippines.

Biazon said even allies of the Philippines might get confused and might not support the country should China becomes aggressive.

He stressed that President Duterte should not be left alone in adopting policies on the WPS issue because the WPS factor involves Philippine national and food security.

The NSC is composed of the President as chairman, members of the Cabinet such as the secretaries of the Department of National Defense (DND) and Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA), leaders of Congress, police and military.

The President may also invite former Philippine Presidents and those in the academe.

Although he is retired from the political scene and public life, Biazon said he is ready to share his knowledge on the WPS.

Biazon said he went to the Senate yesterday to call on senators that they strongly suggest to President Duterte to convene the NSC.

https://mb.com.ph/2021/05/20/ex-afp-chief-biazon-convene-national-security-council-to-discuss-wps-

dispute/

Palace denies confusing WPS policy, says no need to convene National Security Council Bella Perez-Rubio (Philstar.com) - May 20, 2021 - 4:25pm

MANILA, Philippines — There is no need to convene the National Security Council, Malacañang said Thursday as it dismissed calls on the government to come up with a "clear and united" stand on the West Philippine Sea.

"[T]here is nothing confusing about President [Rodrigo Duterte's] stand on the West Philippine Sea," palace spokesman Harry Roque said in Filipino during his regular briefing.

"Actually, the president already mentioned this to me, and the problem with the [NSC] is that nothing is resolved there when he attends [meetings]," he

added. "So, if necessary he is considering inviting former presidents and personalities to have a meeting to discuss the issue."

Duterte invited former Sen. Juan Ponce Enrile to attend a meeting that televised Monday night to discuss the West Philippine Sea. They exchanged compliments throughout their discussion. Enrile, a former Senate president and former defense secretary to President Ferdinand Marcos, is facing a P172.83-million plunder case at the Sandiganbayan anti-graft court. He was granted bail due to his age and health.

Former senator, AFP chief: 'We are confused and that is dangerous' He said this in response to former Sen. Rodolfo Biazon who traveled to the Senate Wednesday to urge lawmakers to pass a resolution calling for the convening of the NSC in order to address what he called the "confusing" position of the country on the issue.

"[R]ight now, we are confused and that is dangerous," a statement from Biazon, a former chief of the armed forces, is quoted in a report from the Inquirer. "We are not only confusing ourselves, we are also confusing potential allies in our pursuit of our national interests in the area." Biazon also warned that Beijing might "mount a dangerous move" if it believes that Manila has given up its claim in the West Philippine Sea or the part of the South China Sea within the Philippines' exclusive economic zone.

Sen. Grace Poe on Wednesday echoed Biazon's call to convene the NSC, saying it is "high time that the whole of government comes up with a clear and united stand on the West Philippine Sea issue."

"We cannot be divided as a nation when we talk about our sovereignty," she said. "Protecting territorial integrity is so vital to a country's survival that we must not confuse it with friendship or utang na loob (indebtedness)."

"This is the country's resources we are talking about," Poe stressed.

"There shouldn't be any debate as to whether we should protect it or not. There is only one constitutional answer—we should. The only thing left for us to discuss now is how."

What is the current stance on the West Philippine Sea? Duterte has repeatedly disparaged the country's 2016 arbitral award in the West Philippine Sea. He also insists that asserting the Philippines' claim in the area would lead to war with China, a widely disputed claim.

The president also routinely invokes "utang an loob" or indebtedness to China as he continues to push warmer ties with the regional power.

Despite this, his alter egos insist that his speech at the 75th United Nations General Assembly acknowledging the award is the supreme expression of policy on the issue.

Foreign Affairs Secretary Teodoro Locsin Jr. and Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana have been outspoken amid Beijing's repeated incursions in the West Philippine Sea, both entering heated word wars with Chinese officials.

But on Monday, Duterte barred his Cabinet from discussing tensions with China over the West Philippine Sea in public, saying only Roque would be allowed to do so from now on. Roque later clarified that Locsin, who has told the palace spokesman to "lay off"commenting on foreign policy, would be allowed to discuss the matter in public too. The spokesman on Thursday also reiterated the country's stance on the dispute with China over the West Philippine Sea, saying in Filipino: "What cannot be agreed upon, will be set aside first. Things that can be advanced such as trade and investment will be advanced."

"But we will never give up territory and we will stand and protect national sovereignty and our sovereign rights."

https://www.philstar.com/headlines/2021/05/20/2099643/palace-denies-confusing-wps-policy-says-

no-need-convene-national-security-council

Philippines protests as China reimposes annual fishing ban ‘without basis’

Fishermen and conservation groups on Wednesday also denounced the May 1-Aug. 16 ban

which covers waters north of the 12th parallel and two of the 12 fishing management areas

(FMAs) of the Philippines—designated as zones 5 and 6 by the Bureau of Fisheries and

Aquatic Resources (BFAR).

These zones include waters surrounding the provinces of Antique, Occidental Mindoro,

Palawan, Ilocos Norte, Ilocos Sur, Pangasinan, Zambales, Bataan, Pampanga, Bulacan,

Cavite, and Batangas.

The annual Chinese fishing ban roughly covers waters west of Palawan’s Busuanga Island

all the way north past Panatag (Scarborough) Shoal, also called Bajo de Masinloc.

The Chinese regulation’s encroachment on Philippine territory “is a violation of Philippine

sovereignty and sovereign rights,” Ivy Banzon Abalos, spokesperson for the Department of

Foreign Affairs (DFA), told reporters on Tuesday, a day after Manila lodged its protest with

Beijing.

“And with the new Chinese Coast Guard law, it effectively grants the Chinese Coast Guard

freedom and authority to use force within what it considers its maritime jurisdiction,” Abalos

said. “This can curtail and put at risk the legitimate rights of Filipino fishermen to fish in

Philippine territorial waters and EEZ.”

Under that law, the Chinese Coast Guard is allowed to “take all necessary measures,

including the use of weapons when national sovereignty, sovereign rights, and jurisdiction

are being illegally infringed upon by foreign organizations or individuals at sea.”

ADVERTISEMENT

‘Verbal threat of war’

The DFA earlier protested against the law, which Foreign Secretary Teodoro Locsin Jr. said

was “a verbal threat of war to any country that defies” it.

The DFA said China’s unilateral ban did not exempt areas with the Philippines’ EEZ and did

not limit it to Chinese vessels.

Citing Paragraph 716 of the July 2016 arbitral award on the South China Sea, it said the

prohibition breached Article 56 of the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea

(Unclos) “with respect to the Philippines’ sovereign rights over the living resources of its

EEZ.”

The award refers to the ruling of the arbitral tribunal that invalidated China’s sweeping

claims to the South China Sea, including the West Philippine Sea (WPS).

The award also affirmed the traditional and legitimate fishing rights of Filipino fishermen.

“China’s annual fishing moratorium extends far beyond China’s legitimate maritime

entitlements under Unclos and is without basis under international law. China cannot legally

impose nor legally enforce such a moratorium in the West Philippine Sea,” the DFA said in a

statement on Tuesday.

It also strongly urged China “to desist from any action and activity that infringes on

Philippine sovereignty, sovereign rights, and jurisdiction, in contravention of international

law.”

The National Task Force for the West Philippine Sea has told Filipino fishermen to ignore the

Chinese ban and continue fishing in Philippine waters.

https://www.nationthailand.com/international/40001082

Filipino fisher folk told not to leave WPS despite China's

fishing ban

Published May 20, 2021, 1:55 PM

by Argyll Cyrus Geducos

“Stay there.”

This was what Malacañang told Filipino fishermen despite China’s fishing moratorium over the South China Sea, assuring them that they will be protected from those who may try to drive them away.

Presidential Spokesman Harry Roque made the statement after the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) fired a diplomatic protest against China’s fishing ban, saying it is “far beyond” Beijing’s maritime entitlements under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS).

In his press briefing on Thursday, Roque said China’s fishing ban has no effect in Philippine territory.

“Wala pong extraterritorial application ang mga batas ng mga dayuhang bansa (The laws of foreign countries do not have extraterritorial applications),” he said.

He, then, told Filipino fishermen not to leave the area and assured them that they will be protected against possible transgressions.

“Diyan lang po kayo sa ating mga traditional na fishing grounds (Just stay there in our traditional fishing grounds),” he said.

“Nandiyan naman po ang ating Coast Guard para pangalagaan din po ang interes ng ating mga mangingisda (Our Coast Guard is there to protect the interests of our fishermen),” he added.

China’s unilateral imposition of a fishing moratorium in the South China Sea until August 16 of this year came as tension in the disputed waters grew due to recent incursions of Chinese vessels in the area.

The DFA said in a statement that the Philippines does not recognize the fishing ban and that China cannot legally enforce such a moratorium in the West Philippine Sea.

It likewise urged China to “desist from any action and activity that infringes on Philippine sovereignty, sovereign rights, and jurisdiction, in contravention of international law.”

https://mb.com.ph/2021/05/20/filipino-fisher-folk-told-not-to-leave-wps-despite-chinas-fishing-ban/

China fishing ban meant to assert control over South China Sea: analyst ABS-CBN News Posted at May 20 2021 10:13 AM | Updated as of May 20 2021 10:30 AM

This photo taken on June 7, 2014 shows fishing boats anchored at Ulugan Bay, near the mouth of the

South China Sea, off Puerto Princesa on Palawan island. Ulugan Bay, with a coastline partly concealed by

thick mangrove forests, is at the center of the Philippine military's efforts to shore up the defense of

contested South China Sea islands and waters. Ted Aljibe, AFP/File

MANILA - A 3-month fishing moratorium is imposed by China annually in parts of South China

Sea to assert administrative control of the disputed waters, an analyst said Thursday.

Greg Poling, director of the Asia Maritime Transparency Initiative at the Washington-based

think tank Center for Strategic and International Studies, said Chinese marine scientists may

argue the ban was necessary to stop the impending collapse of fish stock.

"The South China Sea is grossly overfished and it is devastating the marine environment," he

told ANC.

"But I don't think that that's what motivates Xi Jinping and leadership in places like Hainan who

are actually in charge of their citizens in the South China Sea."

"For them, this is about asserting Chinese administrative control and so, they are happy to turn

a blind eye to Chinese poachers. The point is to assert that these are Chinese waters and stop

Filipino and Vietnamese fishermen from operating on them," he added.

Poling warned Beijing could de facto administer the moratorium if no country opposed it.

"Legally, it also matters more because now if one doesn't actually protest the ban, China has

the ability to de facto administer it," he said. "China will be able to say that Manila acceded,

Manila by not objecting in essence recognized it."

The fishing moratorium imposed by China since 1999 runs from May 1 to Aug. 16 and covers

the West Philippine Sea, the country's exclusive economic zone.

The Philippine government has filed a diplomatic protest against the unilateral ban, saying it

does not recognize such moratorium.

"As announced by China's Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, the ban covers 'waters north

of 12 degrees north latitude' in the South China Sea. These waters include areas over which the

Philippines exercises sovereignty, sovereign rights, and jurisdiction," the Department of Foreign

Affairs said in a statement.

Under the 2016 UN ruling that invalidated Beijing's claims in the South China Sea, the fishing

ban violates Article 56 of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, which states

that the Philippines, as the coastal state in the disputed waters, has "sovereign rights for the

purpose of exploring and exploiting conserving and managing the natural resources" of the EEZ,

the DFA added.

https://news.abs-cbn.com/news/05/20/21/china-fishing-ban-meant-to-assert-control-over-south-china-

sea-analyst

Duterte may invite former presidents to WPS meeting BYBUTCH FERNANDEZ

MAY 21, 2021

INCUMBENT and former senators have pressed President Duterte to convene the National Security Council to tackle the brewing West Philippine Sea issue amid increasing incidents of China’s intrusions in Philippine territory.

In response, Palace officials said on Thursday the President was considering inviting former presidents of the country to a meeting on the issues in WPS.

“It is high time that the whole of government comes up with a clear and united stand on the West Philippine Sea issue,” said Senator Grace Poe in a statement, adding that “convening of the National Security Council ASAP would be a timely intervention.”

She reminded Malacañang Palace, “we cannot be divided as a nation when we talk about our sovereignty,” asserting that “protecting territorial integrity is so vital to a country’s survival that we must not confuse it with friendship or utang na loob.”

Poe stressed that, “this is the country’s resources we are talking about. There shouldn’t be any debate as to whether we should protect it or not. There is only one constitutional answer—we should. The only thing left for us to discuss now is how.”

At the same time, former Senator Rodolfo Biazon, urged the Executive to convene the NSC to craft a unified position on the West Philippine Sea.

Biazon, a former Armed Forces chief of staff before joining the Senate, prodded Duterte to take the lead in addressing the issue.

He voiced concern that officials from the civilian and uniformed sectors seen to be conveying different positions. “The different pronouncements of the President, Cabinet members, lawmakers and ex-lawmakers and experts on the issue spawns danger and confusion,” he said, adding that even China may get confused and take aggressive action against the Philippines.

Biazon added that even other allies of the Philippines are likely to get confused and uncertain and be reluctant to help the Philippines counter China’s intrusions in its exclusive economic zone.

The former AFP chief-turned senator stressed that the President alone cannot decide what actions the government will take on the policy concerning the West Philippine Sea as the issue involves “national security and food security.”

He noted that the NSC, presided by Duterte as chairman, is composed of top officials of the Executive branch, including the Departments of National Defense and of Foreign Affairs, leaders of Congress and heads of the AFP and PNP.

https://businessmirror.com.ph/2021/05/21/duterte-may-invite-former-presidents-to-wps-meeting/

'Un-Filipino': Duterte degrading statements of own advisers on West PH Sea - lawmaker ABS-CBN News Posted at May 20 2021 12:32 PM

MANILA - "It's really a mess."

This is how opposition Sen. Risa Hontiveros described President Rodrigo Duterte's handling of

Chinese repeated incursions in the Philippines' exclusive economic zone.

Speaking to ANC's Matters of Fact, Hontiveros said the President seemed to degrade the

statements of his own advisers who have spoken out against Chinese intrusions in the West

Philippine Sea.

"It's really a mess. And beyond the messaging part, which is clearly very messy. Palagay ko

maling-mali ang posisyon ni Presidente sa Tsina at sa West Philippine Sea. And maybe, I can

only guess as an outsider, maybe his own inner circle also have their own debates about the

correctness not only of their messaging but the content. We've heard much better, proper

positions from Sec. [Teodoro] Locsin, from Sec. [Delfin] Lorenzana about Philippine interests in

the West Philippine Sea vis-a-vis China," she said in the interview.

"The President seems to degrade their statements by his repeated avowals of BFF niya ang

Tsina, na ang Tsina ang in possession ng West Philippine Sea, and his silence on really egregious

actions by China katulad nitong kamakailan na fishing ban laban sa ating mga mangingisda sa

West Philippine Sea."

"So the President's silence and then when he speaks, his very un-Filipino pronouncements

about these issues, 'yun talaga ang malaking mess, rather than The Hague ruling na sabi nila ay

papel na dapat itapon sa basurahan. 'Yung ganitong pananahimik at pagiging un-Filipino sa

kabila ng ginagawa ng Tsina— 'yun ang basura, at 'yun ang dapat itapon sa basurahan."

https://news.abs-cbn.com/news/05/20/21/un-filipino-duterte-degrading-statements-of-own-advisers-

on-west-ph-sea-lawmaker

Senators urge gov’t to come up with united stand on West Philippine Sea issue

Published May 20, 2021, 2:25 PM

by Hannah Torregoza

Senators on Thursday urged the country’s leaders to discuss, unify and come up with a strong stand on the issues hounding the West Philippine Sea to counter the confusing statements the public is hearing from Malacanang.

Senator Grace Poe said convening the National Security Council (NSC) to discuss the Philippine’s stand on the West Philippine Sea would be a timely intervention in the face of the conflicting declarations coming from President Duterte and some government officials.

“It is high time that the whole-of-government comes up with a clear and united stand on the West Philippine Sea issue. The convening of the NSC as soon as possible would be a timely intervention,” Poe said when sought to comment on former Senator Rodolfo Biazon’s call.

“We cannot be divided as a nation when we talk about our sovereignty. Protecting territorial integrity is so vital to a country’s survival that we must not confuse it with friendship or utang na loob (indebtedness),” Poe stressed.

The government, she said, should take into account that the country’s resources and future are at stake.

“This is the country’s resource we are talking about. There shouldn’t be any debate as to whether we should protect it or not. There is only one constitutional answer—we should. The only thing left for us to discuss now is how,” she stressed.

Senator Risa Hontiveros lamented that even President Duterte’s own closest people are quarreling among themselves about who will articulate the Philippine’s own foreign policy in light of the Chief Executive’s repeated avowals of friendship with China and disregarding the 2016 arbitral ruling at The Hague.

“I have never seen before a presidential legal counsel saying, oops hey I should also be a spokesperson on this issue. Secretary (Teddy) Locsin has already told Secretary (Harry) Roque that he should be the only one speaking about this, and in the end, after all, the President is the chief architect of the country’s foreign policy, and his alter egos can and should only say no more or less what his own policy is, as he has articulated it,” Hontiveros said in an interview on ANC.

“So again, we ultimately look to the President, to take the proper stand vis-a-vis China, for Philippine interest in the West Philippine Sea,” she added.

Hontiveros said she agrees that Malacañang’s pronouncement on the West Philippine Sea issue is “really a mess” and it should be fixed quickly as soon as possible.

“Rather than saying that The Hague ruling should be thrown in the trash, the President’s silence and his un-Filipino statements are the ones that should go to the waste bin,” she stressed.

https://mb.com.ph/2021/05/20/senators-urge-govt-to-come-up-with-united-stand-on-west-philippine-

sea-issue/

Poe wants united stand on West Philippine Sea: 'Don't

confuse protecting territory with utang na loob'

Published May 20, 2021 3:30pm

Senator Grace Poe on Thursday urged the National Security Council (NSC) to convene and come up with

a united position on the West Philippine Sea (WPS), saying the government is constitutionally mandated

to protect the country's territory.

“It is high time that the whole of government comes up with a clear and united stand on the West Philippine Sea issue. The convening of the National Security Council as soon as possible would be a

timely intervention,” Poe said in a text message to reporters.

Poe was echoing former Armed Forces chief and former Senator Rodolfo Biazon when he suggested that

the Philippines should not be divided as a nation in its statements about sovereignty.

“Protecting territorial integrity is so vital to a country's survival that we must not confuse it with friendship or utang na loob (debt of gratitude),” she said

“This is the country’s resources we are talking about. There shouldn’t be any debate as to whether we should protect it or not. There is only one constitutional answer— we should. The only thing left for us

to discuss now is how,” she added.

In an interview on Wednesday, Biazon suggested the legislative department to take the Constitutional

path in asserting the Philippines’ rights in the WPS by passing a resolution in both Houses of Congress that will call for the convening of the NSC.

“I came here to campaign for a convening of the National Security Council. Because the NSC can provide

us, the Filipino people, everybody, including the policy makers, national policymakers, national program

implementers and our people, a very clear projection of a clear, united national position on this,” Biazon said in an interview.

Biazon stressed the danger of the Philippine government coming out with "confusing" positions on the

WPS.

“Right now, we are confused and that is dangerous. We are not only confusing ourselves. We are also confusing potential allies in our pursuit of our national interests in the area. We are confusing our

policymakers and program implementers,” he said.

This confusion might also be used by China in making “dangerous move,” thinking that the Philippines has already given up its pursuit of national interest in the WPS.

“With the help of the legislature, we have to call a convening of the National Security Council to provide us a clear, united position on the issue,” he said.

In his Monday night public address, President Rodrigo Duterte delegated presidential spokesman Harry

Roque Jr. as the government's sole spokesman on the WPS issue.

“If we have to talk, we talk and tayo-tayo lang and there is one spokesman. Si Secretary (Harry) Roque,"

Duterte said.

His statement came after Foreign Affairs Secretary Teodoro Locsin Jr. emphasized that international

diplomacy should be left exclusively to the Department of Foreign Affairs.

Some senators have been calling out the Executive Department over the different statements being

issued on its stand on the WPS.

One of them was Senator Panfilo Lacson, who earlier said that distinguishing Duterte’s jokes from his official statements on the WPS was problematic.

He also noted the mixed signals that are being relayed by the Executive Department which also confuses

the Armed Force Philippines.

Senate Minority Leader Franklin Drilon also said it was “quite unfortunate” for the Philippines that its Cabinet officials and Duterte were sending across different messages on the territorial issue.

Recently, Duterte said the Philippines' arbitral victory in 2016 against China's massive claims in the West

Philippine Sea before the United Nations is just paper fit to be thrown in the trash. -MDM, GMA News

https://www.gmanetwork.com/news/news/nation/788247/poe-wants-united-stand-on-west-

philippine-sea-don-t-confuse-protecting-territory-with-utang-na-loob/story/

Carpio, Roque answer queries on fishing rights, territorial

dispute in West Philippine Sea

Published May 20, 2021 7:30pm

Former Supreme Court Justice Antonio Carpio and presidential

spokesperson Harry Roque, who were supposed to have a public debate

on the West Philippine Sea issue, responded to GMA News' questions

regarding the contested territories.

In a report by Ivan Mayrina and Raffy Tima on "24 Oras," Carpio and

Roque answered concerns on the value of the 2016 arbitral ruling, China's

behavior on the territorial dispute, China's fishing rights, and events in the

2012 Scarborough Shoal standoff.

Specifically, GMA News asked the Palace official and President Rodrigo

Duterte's critic about the following issues:

• The Philippines considers the 2016 Arbitral Tribunal ruling on the

West Philippine Sea a big win over China. What is its real value since

China refuses to acknowledge it? • Can we influence China to change its behavior? Do we have any

leverage or influence on China? And how can we utilize them to our

advantage? • Who has possession of the West Philippine Sea? • In resolving the conflict in the West Philippine Sea, is the military

option our only option? • What would be an acceptable settlement to the territorial

dispute? • Can Chinese fishermen fish inside our exclusive economic zone in

the WPS? • What lessons did we learn from the loss of Scarborough Shoal and

Mischief Reef? How can we prevent this from happening again?

To recall, Duterte backed out from his debate with Carpio regarding the

matters on West Philippine Sea. Roque then said he will represent the

President in the square off with the retired high court justice.

Carpio, meanwhile, rejected Roque's proposal for the debate because of

the topic that will be covered in the dispute. He said it is futile to debate

on how Philippines lost Scarborough Shoal to China because there is no

evidence to prove that China seized the island.—Consuelo Marquez/AOL,

GMA News

https://www.gmanetwork.com/news/news/nation/788283/carpio-roque-answer-queries-on-fishing-

rights-territorial-dispute-in-west-philippine-sea/story/

Govt stakes claim over Philippine Rise with installation of state-of-the-art buoys

BYRENE ACOSTA

MAY 21, 2021

Philippine government has formally marked its ownership of the Philippine (Benham) Rise. The Philippine Coast Guard (PCG ) and M-

NA V Solutions Inc. successfully installed three state-of-the-art lighted

ocean buoys in the territory’s maritime waters from May 14 up to 16, an activity that followed earlier maritime training exercises that the Coast Guard held in the West Philippine Sea, including Scarborough

Shoal.

The government formally marked its ownership of the Philippine Rise as the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) and M-NAV Solutions Inc. successfully installed three state-of-the-art lighted ocean buoys in the territory’s maritime waters.

A news statement said Coast Guard and M-NAV Solutions Inc. personnel mounted the buoys from May 14 to 16, 2021, an activity that followed earlier maritime training exercises that the Coast Guard held in the West Philippine Sea, including the Scarborough Shoal.

The buoys were transported by vessel MV MORNING LIGHT from the Uni-Orient Pearl Ventures Inc. shipyard in Mandaue, Cebu, to the Philippine Rise on May 12, 2021, where the installation of the navigational aid subsequently followed.

Coast Guard Commandant, Admiral George Ursabia Jr. said the presence of buoys in the Philippine Rise sends message that the “vicinity waters is considered a special protected zone. Hence, mining and oil exploration are strictly prohibited to preserve its rich natural resources.”

The buoys are equipped with modern marine aids to navigation lanterns, specialized mooring systems and a remote monitoring system that uses satellite technology to transmit data to the Coast Guard National Headquarters in Port Area, Manila.

The Coast Guard’s Maritime Safety Services Command (MSSC) said seven more state-of-the-art lighted ocean buoys will arrive in the country this year to mark other vicinity waters inside Philippines’s exclusive economic zone.

https://businessmirror.com.ph/2021/05/21/govt-stakes-claim-over-philippine-rise-with-installation-of-

state-of-the-art-buoys/

Udenna buys Shell stake in Malampaya gas field for $460 million BYLENIE LECTURA

MAY 21, 2021

A platform at the Malampaya gas field is seen in this BusinessMirror file photo.

DENNIS UY-LED Udenna Corp. now controls 90 percent of the Malampaya gas-to-power project after Shell Petroleum N.V. sold its entire stake in the gas project for a total of $460 million.

A Sale and Purchase Agreement (SPA) was signed Thursday with Malampaya Energy XP Pte Ltd. for the sale of Shell Petroleum’s 100-percent shareholding in Shell Philippines Exploration B.V. (SPEX).

SPEX holds a 45-percent operating interest in Service Contract 38 (SC38), which includes the producing Malampaya gas field. The other partners in SC38 are UC38 LLC, another subsidiary of UC (45 percent), and Philippine National Oil Company Exploration Corporation (10 percent).

“The base consideration for the sale is $380 million, with additional payments of up to $80 million between 2022 and 2024 contingent on asset performance and commodity prices,” a statement from Shell Philippines said.

The deal is still subject to partner and regulatory approvals. The transaction is targeted to be completed by the end of 2021.

“Since it began commercial operations in 2002, Malampaya has supplied a significant portion of the Philippines’s energy demand and it will continue powering the country with indigenous gas following a safe transition of the asset and its experienced work force,” said Wael Sawan, Shell’s Upstream

director. “Today’s announcement is consistent with Shell’s efforts to shift our Upstream portfolio to one that is focused on nine core positions.”

This deal has no impact on other Shell businesses in country. The Philippines remains an important country for Shell after over a century of successful operations. Shell will continue to pursue opportunities in the Philippines where it can leverage its global expertise in line with its strategy.

“Shell and the country leadership will always be grateful for the dedication, professionalism, and support that the entire SPEX organization has contributed to the wider SciP [Shell companies in the Philippines] family in particular, and to our country in general,” said SciP Country Chairman Cesar Romero.

In April this year, the Department of Energy (DOE) has approved the transfer of Chevron Malampaya LLC’s 45-percent stake to UC Malampaya Pte. Ltd.

“We are tremendously proud of Malampaya Energy for acquiring one of Shell’s most successful natural gas assets in Asia, which of course includes the world-class SPEX team currently operating Malampaya,” said Uy, UC chairman and CEO.

Malampaya delivers a fifth of the Philippines’s growing electricity requirements through the supply of natural gas to five power plants in Luzon. The asset has been operating safely and reliably since 2002

and has contributed over $10 billion in revenues to the Philippine government to date.

SPEX staff will be retained by Malampaya Energy. “The ongoing safety and reliability of Malampaya is our top priority and will be delivered by the same experienced team of upstream professionals from SPEX working with consistent practices. They will be strongly supported by our newly established Upstream Decision Review Board of industry leaders and the ex-Chevron and ex-Shell upstream specialists in our Malampaya Energy business, who are already actively involved in managing the Malampaya consortium,” said Belinda Racela, top executive of Malampaya Energy.

“We are excited about the future growth opportunities at Malampaya. Our teams are accelerating exploration and production plans to extend the life of the Malampaya field and expand supplies of affordable, safe, low-carbon and indigenous energy for the nation,” Racela added.

https://businessmirror.com.ph/2021/05/21/udenna-buys-shell-stake-in-malampaya-gas-field-for-460-

million/

Lorenzana wants 1 general per 1,000 military personnel ratio in AFP

By HANA BORDEY, GMA News

Published May 20, 2021 1:27pm

Saying there are “too many generals” in the force, Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana on Thursday proposed a one star-rank official per 1,000

military personnel ratio in the Armed Forces of the Philippines.

During the Senate national defense committee hearing on bills prescribing

fixed terms for the Chief-of-Staff and other key officers of the AFP and

reforming the pension system of military and uniformed personnel,

Lorenzana underscored the need to set the percentage of generals at .1%

of the total number of military personnel.

“As it stands today, by virtue of passed legislation, the percentage is .125 and in fact we have already exceeded that percentage because as of

today, we have 190 generals in the Armed Forces of the Philippines when

it should have been only 170 as per the percentage,” he said.

“Our strength is 143,000, that means we should only have 143 generals in the Armed Forces of the Philippines. I believe, personally, that we have

too many generals in the Armed Forces,” he added.

He told the Senate panel that the AFP should maintain the ratio of general

per troop at 1:1,000.

“That is actually maliit ‘yun dapat 1 is to 1,500 but for our purpose, .1 percent will already do,” he said.

Lorenzana said maintaining this ratio will be “healthier for the organization.”

Senator Richard Gordon has filed Senate Bill 1785 as he said the

personnel of the AFP should have longer terms in office to foster

continuity of policies and implement meaningful long-term plans for the

institution.

The Senate defense panel also tackled other measures that seek to raise

the compulsory retirement age for military and uniformed personnel as

senators previously pointed out that this will ease the government’s expenses on their retirement benefits.

Albay Representative Joey Salceda has also warned of a looming crisis in

the pension system of the MUP unless reforms are undertaken by the

government.—AOL, GMA News

https://www.gmanetwork.com/news/news/nation/788220/lorenzana-wants-1-general-per-1-000-

military-personnel-ratio-in-the-afp/story/

‘3-7-20’ applies in processing of uniformed personnel benefits

By Kris Crismundo May 20, 2021, 5:15 pm NEW TASK FORCE. The Anti-Red Tape Authority leads the creation of the Inter-Agency Task Force on Streamlining the Processing of Uniformed Services Benefit Claims in a virtual ceremony on Thursday (May 20, 2021). The task force will simplify the processes of claiming benefits of uniformed personnel. (Photo courtesy of ARTA)

MANILA – The government has simplified the process of claiming benefits of uniformed personnel with the creation of the Inter-Agency Task Force on Streamlining the Processing of Uniformed Services Benefit Claims.

A joint memorandum circular (JMC), signed on Thursday in a virtual ceremony, was initiated by the Anti-Red Tape Authority (ARTA) in response to President Rodrigo Duterte’s directive to simplify and speed up the processing of death benefit claims and other entitlements of legal beneficiaries of uniformed personnel.

The JMC was signed by the Department of the Interior and Local Government, Philippine Statistics Authority, National Police Commission, Armed Forces of the Philippines, Philippine National Police, Philippine Coast Guard, Bureau of Fire Protection, and Bureau of Jail Management and Penology.

"It's unfortunate that our uniformed personnel spent their time serving and giving their lives for the country subalit ang mga pamilya naman nila ang nahihirapan sa mahabang proseso sa pagkuha ng mga gasinong benepisyo (but their families suffer from long processes in obtaining even the smallest of benefits)," ARTA director general Jeremiah Belgica said during the signing ceremony.

ARTA Deputy Director General Carlos Quita, who will chair the task force, said the JMC targets to apply the "3-7-20" rule for the entire process of claiming the benefits, not just by the agency.

Prior to the JMC, a benefits claim takes between three and 20 days per agency, depending on the complexity of the process. With the signing of JMC, the entire process shall be streamlined among agencies.

Under the implementing rules and regulations of the Republic Act 11032, or the Ease of Doing Business and Efficient Government Service Delivery Act, government agencies shall complete simple transactions within three working days; seven working days for complex transactions; and 20 days for highly technical transactions.

The task force has started to review the existing processes of all the involved agencies and bureaus for initial analysis of standardization of processes.

Quita said they target to implement the streamlined and automated process by end of the year. (PNA)

https://www.pna.gov.ph/articles/1140946

Solon's threat to 'red-tag' fellow legislator mars Lower House

briefing on community pantry

Published May 20, 2021, 6:30 PM

by Ben Rosario

While several congressional leaders crossed partylines to condemn the alleged red-tagging efforts against organizers and supporters of community pantries, a senior administration lawmaker bluntly threatened to link a young solon to the communist rebellion during a briefing on the controversy conducted recently by the House Committee on Human Rights Senior Majority Leader and Cavite Rep. Crispin Remulla’s behavior during the hearing drew sharp criticisms from the Makabayan bloc that admitted on Thursday, May 20 to raise to Speaker Lord Allan Velasco the administration solon’s alleged demonstration of disrespect to a fellow legislator.

“All of us are members of the House of Representatives so certainly we will bring this matter to our head in the minority, as well as in the House leadership,” House Deputy Minority Leader and Bayan Muna Rep. Carlos Isagani Zarate said in response to a reporter’s query during a Makabayan press conference on Thursday.

Zarate said that while the Makabayan bloc and Remulla have had “several instances” of clashes in opinions on several issues, “we respect his position”.

“We hope he should also respect our position as co-equal member. While he may be a senior majority leader, we are co-equal,” stated Zarate.

During Wednesday’s virtual briefing presided over by Quezon City 4th District Rep. Jesus “Bong” Suntay, Remulla linked community pantry organizers and their supporters to the communist movement, insisting that their criticisms against the government abetted rebellion.

The briefing discussed the complaint of community pantry organizer Patricia Non against alleged harassment and ‘red-tagging’ she faced as she and her friends distributed free food and other basic needs to individuals distressed by the effects of the 2019 coronavirus disease (COVID 19) epidemic.

“If you really want to go to the other side of the road, kung gusto mo ibagsak ang gobyerno, you have to suffer the conserquences. Rebelliion is a crime,” Remulla said.

In reaction, Commission on Human Rights representative Erwin Caliba reminded the House official that criticism against government should not be interpreted as a move to bring down government.

Rep. Sarah Jane Elago, representative of the youth partylist group Kabataan, explained that the demand for accountability from government “is part of protected speech”.

“Walang ilegal dito. Hindi pwedeng pakialaman ng PNP… ng AFP at ating mga law enforcement agencies ito (There is nothing illegal here. The PNP, AFP and other law enforcement agencies are barred from interfering),” said Elago.

Clearly, stunned by Remulla’s statement, Elago said: “Bakit natin idinidikit ang community pantry, hindi po ito pumapatay ng tao. (Why are we linking the community pantry, it does not kill people) In fact, it is saving lives.” While Elago was explaining her position, Remulla tried twice to cut her by declaring that “aiding and abetting rebellion is a crime.”

“Hindi porke’t sumusuporta sa community pantry ay sumusuporta rin sa rebelyon. Kasi parang ganoon po iyong ipinararating ninyo (Not because one is supporting the community party, he is also supporting rebellion. It seems that is what you are trying to say),” stated Elago.

Apparently irked by Elago’s statement, Remulla threatened to link the partylist lawmaker to a move to overthrow government.

“Gusto mo ikonek natin, kung gusto mo ikokonek ko sa iyo? (Do you want me to link it; if you want I can connect this to you)” Remulla said.

To this, Elago responded: “Kung meron kayong ganyang akusasyon dalhin natin sa korte (If you are accusing me, let’s go to court).” Zarate said there have been a number of times that Makabayan bloc members were threatened with court cases, with government claiming possessing enough evidence to back up its accusations.

“You’ve been boasting you have truckload of cases; bring them to the proper forum where we can cross examine and look at your evidence,” Zarate said.

Gabriela Partylist Rep. Arlene Brosas said the human rights panel should not have let what happened to slide. She said House members should have been treated with respect, especially during official proceedings.

https://mb.com.ph/2021/05/20/solons-threat-to-red-tag-fellow-legislator-mars-lower-house-briefing-

on-community-pantry/

Community pantries should uplift PH, not demean gov’t efforts

By Filane Mikee Cervantes May 20, 2021, 1:35 pm

MANILA – A spokesperson of the National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (NTF-ELCAC) has lamented that the Filipino “bayanihan” (working together) spirit has been used for political ends and “bastardized” by some groups.

During Wednesday’s hearing of the House Committee on Human Rights on the emergence of community pantries, NTF-ELCAC spokesperson, Undersecretary Severo Catura, said that while he welcomes such initiative for people participation in the campaign to uplift the daily struggle of the poor, he lamented that critics chose to show the government on a bad light.

“The government is saddened that the Filipinos’ capacity of overextending kindness and generosity exemplified in the bayanihan has been used for political ends by some groups,” Catura said.

"The reason they're doing this is because they're telling people that our government is palpak (a failure) and is incapable of addressing our people's needs in the time of the pandemic, and questions this government's moral ascendancy to remain in authority.”

He said community pantries may be new, but the concept is not, as similar activities have been organized several times over, like community grocery, feeding programs, kindness kitchens, food banks, parish outreach missions, and social service for the poor that have been in operation long before the Covid-19 pandemic.

Such activities were done without fanfare, in an orderly fashion, without media hype, and “most importantly, without any hint at demeaning government for alleged failure in governance”, Catura said.

“The much-loved Filipino virtue of bayanihan has been so bastardized that, as a serious human rights advocate, I can only deem this act as an affront and insult to Filipino culture,” he said.

He believes that in the context of promoting economic, social, and cultural rights, the community pantry does not contribute at all in promoting the general welfare of society and must be addressed accordingly.

“The Philippine government welcomes all support from all sectors in society in the campaign to uplift the lives of the people in these difficult times, so long as such support reinforces the beauty of the Filipino’s bayanihan spirit, does not use and abuse the same for some political ends, or use the same to blame and shame the government and the Filipinos in general before the international community,” he said.

He said such initiatives should not “foment hatred or distrust” against anyone, any group, or the government.

Catura said the government has been conducting its own version of community pantries in marginalized communities not only in relation to the pandemic, but also because of natural calamities last year. (PNA)

https://www.pna.gov.ph/articles/1140894

AFP lauds ASoG for support on military education

By Priam Nepomuceno May 20, 2021, 9:37 am

MANILA – The Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) on Wednesday formally recognized the Ateneo School of Government (ASoG) for its continuous support to improve military training and education.

ASoG has been assisting the military in the conduct of the Competency and Training Needs Analysis (CTNA) for AFP field grade officers since 2019.

“The military leadership extends its gratitude to the Ateneo School of Government for coming up with a customized training design that will help our soldiers, sailors, airmen and marines realize the AFP’s desired competencies,” said AFP chief Gen. Cirilito Sobejana in a statement.

The CTNA’s primary objective is to identify the competencies essential to the effective and efficient discharge of responsibilities of the military’s Middle Managers with the rank of major to colonel.

The plaque of recognition was received by Ma. Christina Alikpala, MBA, ASoG's academic head, in a ceremony held at the Office of the Chief of Staff in Camp Aguinaldo, Quezon City.

“This is one of our humble ways that we can contribute to the whole of nation approach to security where civil servants from other government agencies interact with fellow students coming from the AFP in a healthy exchange of ideas and promote meaningful partnership,” Alikpala said.

The Competency Framework for Middle Managers reflecting the proficiency levels was developed from the result of the research. Extrinsic competencies pertain to Stakeholder Engagement, Policy Analysis, Planning, Systems Thinking, Solutions Focused, People Management, Self-Mastery, and Communication.

On the other hand, the intrinsic competencies are People Management, Self-Mastery, and Communication.

The AFP and ASoG sustained the partnership in 2020 and conducted another CTNA Project for junior officers (company-grade officers) now covering the ranks of 2nd lieutenant to captain.

The project became an extension of the AFP-ASoG Middle Managers’ Competency Framework that completes the AFP-ASoG Competency Framework for Officers Continuum.

The project was formally concluded in the first quarter of 2021, and was approved and noted by the AFP chief this April 7.

Currently, the ASoG has 80 AFP scholars enrolled in its post-graduate governance programs.

“The CTNA Projects pave the way for the institutionalization of a progressive learning continuum on leadership and management for the AFP. This is a significant milestone for the organization as we continue to enhance our partnership with our stakeholders as an institution that is neither above nor below the Filipinos rather than beside them in achieving lasting peace and development,” Sobejana said. (PNA)

https://www.pna.gov.ph/articles/1140878

‘Deliberate falsehood’: Court frees Red-tagged store

owner

By: Delfin T. Mallari Jr., Krixia Subingsubing - @inquirerdotnet

Philippine Daily Inquirer / 05:42 AM May 21, 2021

Batangas Court orders release of wrongfully accused Lamberto Asinas. PHOTO

from PILC

A Regional Trial Court (RTC) judge has ordered the release of a Red-tagged “sari-sari” store owner whose house was raided last year by police who submitted inadmissible evidence and used “deliberate falsehood” in applying for a search warrant.

In a 10-page amended order signed on May 6 and released to the media only on

May 19, Judge Wilhelmina Go Santiago of RTC Branch 14 in Nasugbu, Batangas, approved Lamberto Asinas’ motion to quash the search warrant and to exclude illegally seized evidence.

Police had described Asinas as a ranking intelligence officer of the communist New People’s Army, but the judge ruled that the raiders had no personal knowledge of

him before securing the warrant.

Asinas was arrested on April 16, 2020, after police claimed to have seized firearms

in his home on the strength of a search warrant issued by Sta. Cruz Branch 27

Judge Cynthia Ricablanca.

He was freed on May 6 and is now back home in Sitio Alas-as, Barangay Bunducan,

Nasugbu, according to his lawyer, Kristina Conti of the Public Interest Law Center

(PILC). But Asinas is “very scared” and his family “traumatized” by his experience, Conti said in a phone interview on Thursday. She said even Asinas’ neighbors were afraid that the police raiders who had swarmed their community would return.

https://newsinfo.inquirer.net/1434585/deliberate-falsehood-court-frees-red-tagged-store-owner

House concurs to Rody’s proclamations granting amnesty to former rebels

Published 21 hours ago on May 20, 2021 06:32 PM By Michelle R. Guillang @tribunephl_mish

The House of Representatives has concurred with President Rodrigo Duterte’s proclamations granting amnesty to former members of four major rebel groups.

Lawmakers in a plenary session on Wednesday evening adopted House Concurrent Resolutions 12 to 15, concurring with Presidential Proclamations 1090 to 1093 granting amnesty to Muslim and communist rebels who have committed crimes punishable under the Revised Penal Code and Special Penal Laws in furtherance of their political beliefs.

Qualified members of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF), Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF), Rebolusyunaryong Partido ng Manggagawa ng Pilipinas/Revolutionary Proletarian Army/Alex Boncayao Brigade (RPMP-RPA-ABB), and Communist Terrorist Group (CTG) are covered by the proclamations.

House Speaker Lord Allan Velasco, Majority Leader Martin Romualdez, and Minority Leader Joseph Stephen “Caraps” Paduano principally authored the concurrent resolutions.

The House chief described the development as a “significant milestone toward reconciliation and lasting peace in the country.”

“We are one with President Duterte in his noble desire to give Muslim and communist insurgents a second chance at life,” Velasco said.

“Accepting these rebels back into the folds of the law through amnesty and eventually providing them access to government’s existing socioeconomic services are essential to attaining peace and reconciliation in the country,” he added.

Romualdez, for this part, said the concurrent resolutions will strengthen President Rodrigo Duterte’s administration’s peace-building efforts with former communist rebels.

This, he also believed, will make the administration make headway into the full implementation of the Chief Executive’s program of reintegrating them into civilian life.

The House leader disclosed that Velasco ordered the “immediate passage” of the resolutions in support of Mr. Duterte’s “peace and stability program.”

“I now appeal to our brothers and sisters who are eligible to avail of this amnesty offer. It is high time to abandon the armed struggle and take advantage of the amnesty program offered by the President,” Romualdez said.

“Returning to the fold of law does not mean giving up your ideals. What you have fought for will be achieved under the amnesty program being implemented by the government. A home in your own parcel of land. Free education for your children. A stable job to feed your family,” he stressed.

“But what is the most important benefit of this amnesty program? Filipinos can now enjoy the company of a family or friends, in the comfort of their own home and communities, without fear of being caught in the crossfire between government and rebel forces.

“A long and lasting peace. One that is based on justice and prosperity,” he said.

Under Section 19, Article VII of the 1987 Constitution, it allows the President to grant amnesty with the concurrence of a majority of all the Members of the Congress.

The grant of amnesty will extinguish any criminal liability for acts committed in pursuit of political beliefs, without prejudice to the grantee’s civil liability for injuries or damages caused to private persons whose right to be indemnified is fully recognized herein.

Romualdez explained that the proclamations cover crimes committed due to their political belief such as “acts and omissions performed or undertaken as part of a plan, program of action or strategy decided by the rebel leadership to overthrow and replace the National Government, any of its political subdivisions, or duly constituted authority, with or without the use of arms.”

However, the amnesty does not cover crimes such as kidnap for ransom, massacre, rape, terrorism, and other crimes committed against chastity as defined in the RPC as amended, according to Romualdez.

Moreover, crimes committed for personal ends; violation of the Comprehensive Dangerous Act of 2002 and grave violations of the Geneva Convention of 1949 are not covered.

Also excluded are those identified by the United Nations as crimes that can never be amnestied such as genocide, crimes against humanity, war crimes, torture, enforced disappearances, and other gross violations of human rights.

An Amnesty Commission will be formed to review the applications after both the Senate and House of Representatives have concurred with the measures.

The agency will be in charge of receiving and processing applications for amnesty and determine if applicants are entitled to reprieve under the proclamations.

https://tribune.net.ph/index.php/2021/05/20/house-concurs-to-rodys-proclamations-granting-

amnesty-to-former-rebels/

The folly of the Duterte Administration’s appeasement policy on China and the Belt

and Road Initiatives

Dr. Renato de Castro, Trustee and Convenor of the National Security and East Asian Affairs

Program, Stratbase ADR Institute Maritime

The Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) origin could be traced back to October 2014 when President

Xi Jinping, speaking before the Indonesian Parliament, proposed the formation of a China-

ASEAN community with a common destiny to provide a new blueprint for a new Maritime Silk

Road. He also suggested the creation of an Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) to

finance China-ASEAN infrastructure connectivity especially the ports facilities along the route.

By launching these new initiatives, the Chinese leader put forth a new agenda for China-ASEAN

relations involving the familiar themes of closer economic, social, diplomatic, and security ties

without compromising the South China Sea issue. As a tool of economic statecraft, the BRI

enables China to use its massive financial resources, networks, and human interchanges to

establish more comprehensive trade and diplomatic relations with countries in Europe and

Asia. It also facilitates China’s utilization of existing regional organizations to the greatest extent possible for negotiations, coordination, and enhanced connectivity.

China clarified its goal to promote economic development via the Maritime Silk Road, which

begins from its coastal provinces through the South China Sea to the South Pacific. Relevant to

the South China Sea dispute, the BRI has greatly stabilized China’s bilateral relations with Southeast Asian countries. Many of these countries lack technological expertise and stable

financial institutions to raise the capital needed to fund their long-term development projects.

Through the BRI, China is poised to make huge investments in Southeast Asian infrastructure,

including railways, highways, seaports, power plants, and digital communication network

facilities.

LURED BY THE BRIs

At the onset of his term in June 2016, President Rodrigo Duterte and his economic advisers

were aware that the Philippines had not fared well in competing with its more prosperous

Southeast Asian neighbors for foreign investments primarily because of the country’s lack of infrastructure. Potentially, Chinese public investments for infrastructure development projects

would be forthcoming if Philippine-China relations — severely strained during the previous

administration — were improved considerably. Then ad interim Foreign Affairs Secretary

Perfecto Yasay echoed the administration’s position on the South China Sea dispute as he declared, “that the relationship between the two countries (China and the Philippines) was not limited to the maritime dispute. There were other areas of concern in such fields as investment,

trade, and tourism and discussing them could open the doors for talks on the maritime issues.”

With the benefit of hindsight, the historical first meeting between President Xi Jinping and

President Duterte could have offered expansive opportunities to enhance bilateral operations.

While coordination and cooperation to build infrastructure were the manifest motives, the two

leaders have two different, but intersecting intentions hinged on their individual agendas. For

President Xi Jinping, the Philippines’ inclusion within the BRI framework places the whole archipelago in the clutches of China’s grandiose expansionist agenda. For President Duterte, the BRI projects would bolster his infrastructure agenda alongside the consolidation of his power in

government. Either way, the interests of the Philippine people and the importance of railways,

urban rail transit, highways, ports, and other facilities are leveraged.

THE FOLLY OF APPEASING CHINA

So far, no substantial results have come out of the administration’s appeasement policy as it is not clear how the BRI fund can be tapped. The Philippines was not a party when China unveiled

the initiative in 2015 because of the tension over the South China Sea dispute. China excluded

the Philippines from the web of six economic corridors linking China with neighboring sub-

regions. By the time the Philippines became a BRI participant in 2017, the initiative suffered

major setbacks due to cancellations.

Former Philippine National Economic Development Authority Secretary-General Ernesto M.

Pernia publicly admitted the slow inflow of Chinese ODA because of the two countries’ very strict screening process in scrutinizing loan agreements and implementation of contracts. In

late 2019, he also argued that part of the issue is unfamiliarity. The Philippines is “not used to Chinese ODA as we are with other partner [countries] like Japan and South Korea.” The Nomura Research Institute observed delays in the implementation of the BRI-funded projects caused

not only by technical issues but also because of domestic political struggles, developments

related to the South China Sea dispute, and the forthcoming change in Philippine regime in

2022.

Associated with the BRI is China’s predatory financing. Philippine experience manifests the

growing impact of corrosive capital as exemplified in the four case studies undertaken by the

Stratbase ADR Institute in partnership with the Center for International Private Enterprise

(CIPE). According to the study, “defective consultation process in both CRPIP and NCWS-KDP

projects” were a concern, “where project construction started ahead of the completion of the consultation process in violation of the Indigenous People’s Rights Act of 1997.”

Further, in the case of DITO Telecommunity, “it is not an ODA, but Duterte offered China to

become the third telecom player.” The study also found that “For the Safe Philippines Project, bidding was open exclusively for Chinese contractors.” In its entirety, the study concluded that “transparency issues are recurring in all four case studies involving Chinese investments in the

Philippines.”

https://adrinstitute.org/2021/05/19/the-folly-of-the-duterte-administrations-appeasement-policy-on-

china-and-the-belt-and-road-initiatives/

China, Philippines to hold sixth BCM meeting on South China Sea Source: Xinhua| 2021-05-20 20:35:22|Editor: huaxia

BEIJING, May 20 (Xinhua) -- China and the Philippines will hold the sixth

meeting of the bilateral consultation mechanism (BCM) on the South China

Sea via video link in the near future, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson

Zhao Lijian told a daily press briefing on Thursday.

The two sides will exchange views over the current situation in the South

China Sea and maritime issues between the two countries, and explore ways

to further expand exchanges and cooperation in areas such as maritime

search and rescue, marine fishery, marine ecological and environmental

protection, and scientific research, according to the spokesperson.

"The delegations of the two sides will be headed by China's Assistant Foreign

Minister Wu Jianghao and Philippine Foreign Undersecretary Elizabeth

Buensuceso, respectively," Zhao said, adding that the attendees will include

officials from sectors such as foreign affairs, national defense, natural

resources, agriculture and environmental protection.

"We hope this meeting will achieve positive results," he said.

Early in 2017, China and the Philippines established the BCM, aiming to build

trust and promote maritime security and cooperation, he noted.

The two sides have held five meetings under the BCM, conducting in-depth

communication and dialogue on bilateral maritime issues, properly handling

maritime differences, and promoting exchanges and cooperation in various

fields such as maritime search and rescue, maritime security, oil and gas

development and marine fishery, said Zhao.

"The BCM has played positive roles in promoting the healthy and stable

development of China-Philippines relations and maintaining peace and

stability in the South China Sea," he noted. Enditem

http://www.xinhuanet.com/english/2021-05/20/c_139958902.htm

Singapore uses misinformation law to swat online virus claim

By AFP - May 20, 2021 @ 5:01pm

A restaurant worker prepares takeaway food from customers in Singapore, 16 May 2021.

Singapore has tightened its circuit breaker restrictions in response to a rise in COVID-19 cases

through the community and a local spread of the B.1.617.2 virus variant. Groups will be

restricted to two and dining-in at restaurants will not be permitted. Offices will also implement

work from home policies and students from the primary school level will also begin home-

based learning starting from next week. - EPA/WALLACE WOON

SINGAPORE: Singapore used a misinformation law Thursday to order Facebook and Twitter to warn users about what it said were false claims about a dangerous coronavirus strain emerging in the city.

New Delhi's chief minister Arvind Kejriwal claimed this week on social media that a strain of the virus had appeared in Singapore that could trigger a new wave of cases in India, and urged a flight ban.

But the city-state strongly rejected what it said were "unfounded assertions" -- insisting there was no such thing as a "Singapore variant". India's own government also strongly criticised Kejriwal.

Singapore said a strain recently detected there, and responsible for an uptick in cases, had originated in India.

But claims about a "Singapore variant" began circulating online, prompting leaders to order Facebook, Twitter and a local technology-focused portal to post the warnings.

Facebook and Twitter confirmed they had received the request and complied with it.

https://www.nst.com.my/world/world/2021/05/691689/singapore-uses-misinformation-law-swat-

online-virus-claim

US, China must learn to cooperate or war could ruin us all: Singapore PM Lee Hsien Loong

• ‘Everything is to be lost’ in the event of a military conflict between the world’s two largest economies, and casualties would be a certainty, warns Lee Hsien Loong

• Even if Washington and Beijing cannot learn to trust each other fully, they must learn to cooperate on areas such as climate change and health, he says

The United States and China must find ways to cooperate even if there is no full trust between them because if relations continue to plummet, the possibility of military conflict would have dire consequences for the rest of the world, Singapore

Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong has said.Speaking during an interview at the inaugural Global Forum

on Economic Recovery, hosted by the US Chamber of Commerce on Wednesday, Lee said if the two countries clashed, “everything is to be lost”. “You are going to have a state of tension – anxiety at the very least and conflict possibly – all over the world,” Lee said, adding: “This is going to be bad, not just for other countries big and small, but for both America and China too.”

https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/3134243/us-china-must-learn-cooperate-or-war-

could-ruin-us-all-singapore

China preens in U.N. spotlight over Mideast as U.S. isolated Michelle Nichols

5 minute read

The United Nations logo is seen on a window in an empty hallway at United Nations headquarters during the 75th annual U.N. General Assembly high-level debate, which is being held mostly virtually due to the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic in New York, U.S., September 21, 2020. REUTERS/Mike Segar/File Photo

U.S. isolation at the United Nations over efforts to end renewed Middle East violence has seen China seize the chance to burnish its multilateral leadership credentials, diplomats say, just months after President Joe Biden declared: "America is back." https://www.reuters.com/world/middle-east/china-preens-un-spotlight-over-mideast-us-isolated-2021-

05-19/

Why do so many people join the Communist Party in China?

Posted : 2021-05-20 12:38

Updated : 2021-05-20 12:38

China's ruling Communist Party had only 50 members when it was founded in 1921 by Chen Duxiu and Li

Dazhao.

Both Chen and Li studied Marxism in Japan, and were among the Chinese intellectuals with communist

ideas that were influential in the 1919 student protests known as the May Fourth Movement.

The party they founded has since grown to become the second-largest in the world ― after the Bharatiya

Janata Party, one of India's two major political parties - with almost 92 million members.

After the party won the civil war and established the People's Republic of China in 1949, membership

grew to 22 million in the next two decades and continued to rise.

In this century, membership rose at an average of 2.4 percent annually under Hu Jintao, who served as

the party's general secretary from 2002 to 2012 before growth slowed markedly to about 1 percent a year

in the past decade, according to official data.

In 2013, the party's organization department set an annual growth target for membership of "about 1.5

percent" over the next 10 years, as President Xi Jinping ― who also serves as party general secretary ―

ordered it to "control numbers" and "improve the quality" of members.

Today, one in every 15 people in China is a Communist Party member. There are almost 5 million local-

level party organizations, also known as party cells, pervading every aspect of Chinese society, from

villages, schools and neighborhoods to private companies and institutes.

https://www.koreatimes.co.kr/www/world/2021/05/672_309104.html

China deploys offshore oil production rig

in South China Sea

• Lufeng 14-4 central platform set to go into operation by end of the year, CNOOC says

• It will enhance China’s large-scale offshore oil and gas equipment construction and installation capabilities, company says

The float-over installation of China’s largest independently designed offshore crude oil production platform has been completed, China National Offshore Oil Corporation (CNOOC) said on Thursday.

The Lufeng 14-4 central platform, which is located in the South China Sea about 200km (124 miles) southeast of Hong Kong, is set to go into operation at the end of the year. Gao Shuang, general director of the company’s Lufeng oil complex project, said that once operational, the platform would explore the Lufeng 14-4 and Lufeng 14-8 oilfields, and provide more natural gas and oil resources for the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macau Greater Bay Area

.

https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3134232/china-deploys-offshore-oil-production-

rig-south-china-sea

China builds key highway in Tibet

It cuts through the world’s deepest canyon, the Yarlung Zangbo Grand Canyon, and its likely terminus is Baibung county (known as Drepung in Tibetan), close to the Indian village of Bishing

in Arunachal Pradesh

By Sutirtho Patranobis I Edited by Amit Chanda

UPDATED ON MAY 20, 2021 03:30 PM IST

China has completed building a highway including a 2km mountain tunnel in a remote

part of southeastern Tibet Autonomous Region (TAR), which ends near the border with

Arunachal Pradesh, posing a security challenge to India.

The highway cuts through the world’s deepest canyon, the Yarlung Zangbo Grand Canyon, and its likely terminus is Baibung county (known as Drepung in Tibetan), close

to the Indian border village of Bishing in the Upper Siang district of Arunachal Pradesh.

The village of Bishing is located in Arunachal’s Gelling circle, which touches the McMahon Line, the de-facto Sino-India border in the region.

The highway is part of China’s ambitious plans to build roads and tunnels along the

length of the Line of Actual Control (LAC) with India, connecting far-flung areas to inland

cities and airports.

The new highway has cut down the travelling time between the Chinese border county

and the nearest city area of Nyingchi prefecture by eight hours.

https://www.hindustantimes.com/world-news/china-builds-key-highway-in-tibet-

101621504363053.html

China plans to hold talks with Israel as well as

Russia, EU and UN over conflict in Gaza

• Beijing says it welcomes ‘Palestinian and Israeli representatives coming to China for direct negotiations’

• Foreign ministry accuses US of blocking Security Council from reaching consensus, while also claiming China will not be deterred from promoting peace

China said it planned to hold talks with Israel and other powers to discuss the Israeli-Palestinian conflict after it had expressed “firm support” for Palestine’s statehood in a telephone call with Palestinian officials this week.Beijing has sought to play a more active part in the crisis and has used its role as the rotating chair of the United Nations Security Council this month to cement its position as an arbiter in the

Middle East peace process.In separate phone calls with Palestinian and Egyptian officials over the past two days, China’s special envoy on the Middle East, Zhai Jun, has called for peace talks between Palestine and Israel to resume and reiterated China’s “firm support for the just cause of the Palestinian people in resuming their national sovereign rights”, according to a statement by the foreign ministry on Thursday. https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3134238/china-plans-hold-talks-israel-well-

russia-eu-and-un-over

Sri Lanka: Covid increases China influence in India's backyard

By Suranjana Tewari BBC News

Published8 hours agoShareRelated Topics

image captionChina is ramping up its relief efforts in South Asia, which experts say could

strengthen its influence there

South Asia, a region with a combined population of nearly two billion people, is

facing its worst health crisis in recent memory. India and its neighbours are seeing a

ferocious spike in coronavirus infections, leaving smaller countries like Sri Lanka

particularly vulnerable.

However, China is ramping up its relief efforts in these countries, which experts say

could strengthen its influence there. On Friday, the streets of towns and cities across Sri Lanka will fall silent once again - people there will only be able to venture out of their homes for essentials until 25 May. Like its neighbours, Sri Lanka largely coasted through a milder first wave last year, but has been seeing a recent surge in Covid cases which is threatening to overrun its healthcare system. It is now reporting around 3,000 cases a day which is a more than 1,000% rise from a month ago. And despite having a largely free, widely accessible public health system that is regarded as the best in the region, hospitals in the island nation of 21 million people are struggling to cope. "We have limited capacity to control a surge. We are good, the healthcare system is great as long as there is not a surge in the pandemic, as long as the system is not challenged as much," public health expert Shashika Bandara told the BBC. https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-57167091

U.S. senator's China threat rhetoric completely unfounded

Source: Xinhua| 2021-05-20 16:06:46|Editor: huaxia

WASHINGTON, May 20 (Xinhua) -- U.S. Senator Mitt Romney's opinion

essay "We ignore China's rise at our own peril" is a marker of "exaggerated

and dangerous fearmongering," the Washington Post said in an opinion

essay.

"That China represents an existential threat -- a threat to the literal existence

of the United States -- is completely unfounded," the article said.

Romney's rhetoric is disturbing especially at a time of prevalent anti-Asian

sentiment in the United States. His false comparison of China to an "infection"

and China replacing America claims could imperil the safety of Asian

Americans and foreign nationals, the essay said.

The United States should hold dialogue with China to prevent conflict and

promote cooperation on shared interests, and pursue a pragmatic strategy

that does not seek to stifle China's growth. Enditem

http://www.xinhuanet.com/english/2021-05/20/c_139958448.htm

Hong Kong court denies jury trial to first person charged under national security law Reuters

3 minute read

The first person charged under the national security law in Hong Kong will face a trial without jury, the city's High Court ruled on Thursday, in a landmark decision which marks a departure from the global financial hub's common law traditions.

https://www.reuters.com/world/asia-pacific/hong-kong-court-denies-jury-trial-first-person-charged-

under-national-security-2021-05-20/

Coronavirus: Asia should fill leadership vacuum in post-pandemic world, Malaysia’s Muhyiddin says

• The region should take the lead in drawing new strategies from trade to health as ‘there can be no recovery without an Asian recovery’, Muhyiddin said

• He was speaking at the Nikkei Future of Asia conference, which also saw discussions of the US-China rivalry, geopolitical security and Covid-19 vaccines

With Covid-19 throwing a spotlight on the deep flaws in global governance in areas from trade to public health and patent protection, Asian countries should take the lead in rebuilding new mechanisms for the post-pandemic era, regional leaders told an annual conference on Thursday. Malaysia’s Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin was among the speakers at the Nikkei Future of Asia conference who urged regional counterparts to reimagine and then take action to build a new global order that would cast aside increasingly pervasive nationalism and isolationism.

The Malaysian leader said the vacuum in global leadership offered an opportunity for Asian nations given that “there can be no recovery without an Asian recovery”. https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/3134220/asia-should-fill-leadership-vacuum-post-

pandemic-recovery

'Old' Quad strategy risks provoking

China: Malaysia's Mahathir Veteran leader also urges Beijing to tread carefully regarding Taiwan

Malaysia's former Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad speaks to Nikkei Asia during an online interview on May 20.

P PREM KUMAR, Nikkei staff writerMay 20, 2021 20:51 JST

KUALA LUMPUR -- The countries in the Quadrilateral Security Dialogue, or

Quad, should be careful not to enrage China lest they trigger a heavy global

economic backlash, Malaysia's former Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad

warned in an exclusive interview on Thursday.

https://asia.nikkei.com/Spotlight/The-Future-of-Asia/The-Future-of-Asia-2021/Old-Quad-strategy-risks-

provoking-China-Malaysia-s-Mahathir

Tibetans have a new political leader. Here’s what to expect

• Penpa Tsering says he wants a ‘lasting solution’ for Tibet’s status and to restart stalled talks on a visit by the Dalai Lama

• But his efforts may not be enough for younger Tibetans advocating a more aggressive campaign against Beijing

After a four-month voting process that saw 83,000 Tibetan refugees around the world cast their ballots, 54-year-old Penpa Tsering, a former speaker of the Tibetan parliament-in-exile, was declared the community’s new political leader. Tsering’s election as the new head of the Central Tibetan Administration (CTA) – as the parliamentary government based in Dharamshala,

India, is known – comes at a time when Tibetans have grown increasingly vocal in their opposition

to China, from joining calls from US lawmakers and activists for a boycott of the

Beijing Winter Olympics next year because of alleged human rights violations, to asking New Delhi to

boycott goods and services from mainland China.

This has coincided with greater support from Washington for the Tibetan refugee community, who number an estimated 130,000 worldwide, though about half of them live in India.

https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/people/article/3134103/tibetans-have-new-political-leader-heres-

what-expect

Taiwan president negative for COVID-19 after scare at residence Yimou LeeBen Blanchard 3 minute read

Soldiers in protective suits disinfect a metro station following a surge of coronavirus disease (COVID-19) infections in Taipei, Taiwan May 20, 2021. REUTERS/Ann Wang

Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen has tested negative for COVID-19 after a worker at her residence was confirmed to be infected, her spokesman said on Thursday, as the island reported 286 new domestic cases amid a spike in infections. https://www.reuters.com/world/asia-pacific/taiwan-covid-19-cases-rise-again-not-dramatically-2021-

05-20/

Taiwan's foreign ministry welcomes German party’s removal of ‘one-China’ policy Free Democratic Party votes to remove ‘one-China’ policy from political platform 3255

By Kelvin Chen, Taiwan News, Staff Writer

2021/05/20 13:55

Free Democratic Party leader Christian Lindner (Facebook, Christian Lindner photo )

TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) welcomed the decision by Germany’s Free Democratic Party (FDP) to eliminate the “one-China” policy from its campaign platform.

MOFA Spokesperson Joanne Ou (歐江安) noted that the FDP had voted to remove all

language pertaining to the “one-China” policy ahead of Germany's September general elections. The move is a friendly and groundbreaking gesture, Ou said, adding that the ministry is glad to see the party adopt a Taiwan-friendly platform, Radio Taiwan International reported.

She pointed out that the FDP attaches great importance to Taiwan and had specifically included a paragraph on the Taiwan issue in the proposal to update the platform. The removal of the "one-China” policy affirms Taiwan’s democracy and supports the Taiwanese people's freedom to choose their own political future, she said.

Taiwanese envoy to Germany Hsieh Chih-wei (謝志偉) told CNA he was grateful to see

such a pro-Taiwan action. He also said that the “one-China” policy, which is often invoked by international organizations to exclude Taiwan, has long been outdated.

The Free Democratic Party is a major German political party that was founded in 1948.

https://www.taiwannews.com.tw/en/news/4207038

Biden, saying 'silence is complicity,' signs COVID hate crimes bill into law Jarrett Renshaw 3 minute read This video will resume in 0 seconds

President Joe Biden on Thursday signed into law the COVID-19 Hate Crimes Act that overwhelmingly passed Congress in a rare show of bipartisanship following a spate of high-profile attacks on Asian Americans in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic.

https://www.reuters.com/world/us/biden-saying-silence-is-complicity-signs-covid-hate-crimes-bill-into-

law-2021-05-20/

Vaccine diplomacy strengthens China’s stature in Latin America, US congressional panel hears

• ‘The Chinese have made every delivery to an airport tarmac a photo op,’ one expert tells the US-China Economic and Security Review Commission

• Vaccine delivery, which has built on other outreach by Beijing including the Belt and Road Initiative, is said to weaken US influence in the region China’s distribution of its home-grown coronavirus vaccines in Latin America has helped Beijing gain

a stronger foothold in the region and weaken US influence there, a congressional advisory panel was told on Thursday.

The US-China Economic and Security Review Commission (USCC), which monitors the national security implications of Washington’s relationship with China, was warned that the US needed to start sending its highly successful vaccines to countries in the western hemisphere – and at the same time, to step up other diplomacy and development efforts to win back the hearts and minds of America’s neighbours. “The Chinese have made every delivery to an airport tarmac a photo op,” said R. Evan Ellis, a Latin American research professor at the US Army War College Strategic Studies Institute, told the panel. “The president comes out and the boxes roll off with Chinese flags on them.”

https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3134273/vaccine-diplomacy-strengthens-chinas-

stature-latin-america-us

Biden to push South Korea to take tough line on

China at summit

Moon wary of language that would anger Beijing as he meets Biden in Washington

A protester against US policy on North Korea near the American embassy in Seoul. South Korean wants Washington

to ease sanctions on North Korea. © AP

May 21, 2021 00:32 JST

WASHINGTON/SEOUL (Financial Times) -- The U.S. is trying to convince

Moon Jae-in to agree to a strong statement of concern about China when the

South Korean president becomes the second world leader to meet Joe Biden in

Washington on Friday.

https://asia.nikkei.com/Politics/International-relations/Biden-to-push-South-Korea-to-take-tough-line-

on-China-at-summit

The Biden-Moon Summit: Rejuvenating and Modernizing the Alliance

May 19, 2021

South Korean president Moon Jae-in is set to visit Washington this week for a summit with U.S. president Joe Biden on May 21. These critical questions preview what the two leaders are likely to discuss as well as the pressing issues in the U.S.-South Korea relationship.

Q1: What is the setting for this summit?

A1: This is the 10th meeting between President Moon and a U.S. president, and the first with President Biden. President Moon is the second foreign head of state to visit the Biden White House, following Japanese prime minister Yoshihide Suga, a reflection of the priority placed by the Biden administration on rejuvenating U.S. alliances in Asia. The administration did well to clear the underbrush in the alliance of nettlesome issues so that the two leaders could start afresh. Prominent among these was the conclusion of the 11th Special Measures Agreement signed in April, which commits the two allies to a cost-sharing plan for U.S. Forces Korea and requires no renegotiation for six years. This issue remained unresolved for the duration of the Donald Trump presidency and was the source of both distraction and bad blood between the two sides. The two leaders will likely reaffirm the strength of the alliance and undertake measures to enhance defense and extended deterrence, including possible improvements to South Korea’s strike capabilities.

Q2: What about policy toward North Korea?

A2: The Biden administration at the end of April completed its long-awaited policy review that included significant consultations with South Korea. Ahead of the summit, administration officials state that they are comfortable with the degree of alignment between Seoul and Washington, deflecting views that the engagement-oriented Moon and more cautious Biden are far apart on how to approach North Korea. While details of the review have not been made public, the administration has made clear: (1) the goal remains denuclearization

of the Korean Peninsula (North Korea); (2) the likelihood of a “grand bargain” is small; and (3) there is a commitment to diplomacy (i.e., not strategic patience) with a desire to negotiate incremental steps that make meaningful progress toward reducing the threat. The fact that Seoul has not raised expectations in advance of the summit of some breathtaking proposals suggests a collective realization that Pyongyang is not cycling into a dialogue mode just yet. Indeed, North Korea might await the results of the summit before engaging in typical provocations, such as missile tests, to raise the price for their return to the negotiating table.

https://www.csis.org/analysis/biden-moon-summit-rejuvenating-and-modernizing-alliance

Moon visits US military cemetery in show of commitment to stronger alliance

Posted : 2021-05-20 23:31

Updated : 2021-05-20 23:45

South Korean President Moon Jae-in visited Arlington National Cemetery on

Thursday, kicking off his official schedule in the United States.

Moon laid a wreath at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier at the cemetery in

northern Virginia, just south of the U.S. capital. The monument is dedicated to

fallen American service members whose remains have not been identified,

including many killed in the 1950-53 Korean War.

The president paid his respects to all soldiers who dedicated themselves to the

protection of freedom and peace in foreign countries, according to Cheong Wa

Dae.

He then donated a plaque, reading "In Memory of the Unknown Soldiers and

their Noble Sacrifices," to the Memorial Display Room, it said.

https://www.koreatimes.co.kr/www/nation/2021/05/120_309155.html

U.S. plays down prospect of North Korea initiative at Moon summit David BrunnstromJarrett Renshaw

4 minute read

1/4

South Korean President Moon Jae-in speaks at the National Assembly in Seoul, South Korea, October 28, 2020. Jeon Heon-Kyun/Pool via REUTERS/File Photo

South Korean President Moon Jae-in has been hoping to use his first summit with U.S. President Joe Biden this week to press a legacy policy of engaging North Korea, but Washington has played down the prospect of any quick impetus on the issue. https://www.reuters.com/world/china/us-minimizes-prospect-new-north-korea-initiative-moon-

summit-2021-05-20/

Japan opposes 'unilateral attempts' to change

status quo in SCS

By Joyce Ann L. Rocamora May 20, 2021, 1:56 pm

Japan Prime Minister Suga Yoshihide (Anadolu photo)

MANILA – The Japanese government expressed its opposition to unilateral attempts that undermine peace and stability in the South China Sea during a summit teleconference with President Rodrigo Duterte Wednesday.

In a readout, the Japanese Embassy in Manila said Prime Minister Suga Yoshihide also shared "grave concerns" about recent developments in China, particularly the passage of a Chinese law that permits its coast guard to fire on foreign vessels it deemed infringing on its sovereignty or jurisdiction.

"Japanese Prime Minister Suga expressed his opposition to the continued and strengthened unilateral attempts to change the status quo in the East China Sea and the South China Sea, and shared grave concerns about recent developments in China, including the Coast Guard Law," the embassy said.

"The two leaders concurred to work together closely toward the maintenance of peace and stability in the region under the rule of law such as the UNCLOS (United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea)," it added.

Japan is among the first countries to share concern over the swarming of Chinese vessels at the Julian Felipe Reef, located within the Philippines' exclusive economic zone, last March 2021.

Issues surrounding the contested South China Sea are "directly related to peace and stability and a concern for all", it said. It also emphasized its "strong" opposition to any action that heightens tensions in the region.

In light of the 65th anniversary of the normalization of the Japan-Philippines diplomatic relations and a decade-old Strategic Partnership, Duterte and Suga also agreed to promote a free and open Indo-Pacific, including the Asean Outlook for the Indo-Pacific (AOIP).

The two leaders shared the intention to strengthen cooperation in the Sulu and Celebes Seas and surrounding areas, the embassy said. (PNA)

https://www.pna.gov.ph/articles/1140892

Fewer independents vie for Vietnam's

Communist Party-dominated assembly

People stand around a place that will be a polling station for the upcoming elections, on a street in

Hanoi, Vietnam, May 19, 2021. (Photo: REUTERS/Thanh Hue)

21 May 2021 08:39AM

HANOI: Fewer independent candidates than before are standing in an election in Vietnam on

Sunday (May 23) to a legislature that is dominated by the Communist Party but which has taken on

a growing role in discussing social issues.

Despite increasing openness to social change and a plethora of free trade deals, the party - one of the last ruling communist parties in the world - retains tight control over Vietnam and its media, and tolerates little dissent.

About 92 per cent of candidates standing for the 500-seat National Assembly are party members.

Of the 868 candidates, 74 are independents, down from the 97 in the previous elections in 2016, while local media say the number of assembly deputies who were not party members halved over the last three elections.

https://www.channelnewsasia.com/news/asia/vietnam-election-communist-party-legislature-

independents-14854468

Samoa to scrap China-backed port project under new leader Jonathan Barrett 4 minute read

A container ship unloads at the Matautu port, which has been expanded through support from Japan, in the Samoan capital of Apia, July 12, 2019. Picture taken July 12, 2019. REUTERS/Jonathan Barrett/File Photo

Samoa's expected new prime minister has pledged to cancel a $100 million Chinese-backed port development, calling it excessive for the small Pacific island that is already heavily indebted to China. https://www.reuters.com/world/asia-pacific/samoa-shelve-china-backed-port-project-under-new-

leader-2021-05-20/

Kiribati’s China-backed airstrip upgrade fuels political divisions in Pacific nation

• The Pacific Island’s government and Beijing say the proposed revamp of the airstrip is to upgrade transport links

• But opposition figures are questioning the purpose of the project, which will draw attention from the US and Australia

A China-backed plan to upgrade an airstrip on Kiribati is fuelling political divisions in the tiny Pacific Island nation, with opposition figures questioning

Beijing’s intentions and the project’s purpose. Kiribati’s 33 islands are scattered across resource-rich waters that make up one of the world’s largest exclusive economic zones.

The proposed revamp of the airstrip, which was used by American bombers during World War II, comes amid heightened scrutiny of Beijing’s outreach efforts to strategically-located

Pacific Island nations, which are entangled in a growing competition for influence between

China and the US and its Pacific allies.

https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/3134157/kiribatis-china-backed-airstrip-upgrade-

fuels-political

EXCLUSIVE G7 playing a 'dangerous game' by pushing Moscow towards China - Russian envoy Guy Faulconbridge 4 minute read

00:00

00:00

The Group of Seven is playing a "dangerous game" by making aggressive and baseless criticism of the Kremlin because it pushes Russia closer to China, Russia's ambassador to London Andrei Kelin told Reuters on Thursday. https://www.reuters.com/world/china/g7-playing-dangerous-game-by-scolding-moscow-russian-envoy-

says-2021-05-20/

Russia 'ready' to provide COVID-19 vaccines to Japan, ambassador says

• SHARE

• May 20, 2021

Russian Ambassador to Japan Mikhail Galuzin on Thursday reiterated his country’s readiness to begin exports to and production in Japan of the Russian-made Sputnik V COVID-19 vaccine.

Galuzin said earlier this year Russia had proposed the vaccine supply to Japan and was awaiting a response from the Japanese government.

His remarks come at a time when Japan, where Pfizer’s coronavirus vaccine is the only one approved for use and those of Moderna Inc. and AstraZeneca PLC are set to be approved Friday, is struggling to speed up vaccination of health care workers and the elderly before starting a rollout to the wider population.

“We are ready for cooperation with Japan with regard to the Sputnik vaccine,” Galuzin told reporters at the Foreign Correspondents’ Club of Japan in Tokyo.

The ambassador said the Russian vaccine has already been approved for use in about 65 countries and several of them including India are locally producing it.

As for the long-running territorial issue between the two countries, Galuzin said there is no change in Russia’s position of prioritizing economic cooperation in such fields as tourism and fisheries.

Japan and Russia have yet to conclude a post-World War II peace treaty due to their spat over the Moscow-held, Tokyo-claimed islands off Japan’s northernmost main island of Hokkaido, known as the Northern Territories in Japan and Southern Kurils in Russia.

https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2021/05/20/national/science-health/russia-covid-19-vaccines-

japan/

Bipartisanship Lives! The Amazing Convergence on

China Policy

BY ROBERT KUTTNER

MAY 14, 2021

Chinese staffers adjust the U.S. and Chinese flags before the opening session of trade

negotiations between U.S. and Chinese trade representatives at the Diaoyutai State

Guesthouse in Beijing, February 2019.

In today’s poisoned partisan atmosphere, where Republicans are laying systematic plans to steal

the 2022 election and using the filibuster to block much of the Biden program, one remarkable

island of bipartisanship stands out—China policy.

Next week, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer is likely to bring to the Senate floor a

stunningly tough China bill, with wide Republican support. The bill is expected to pass

overwhelmingly.

The bill combines strategic industrial and technology policy with restraints on China’s abuse of the trading system and of human rights. It reverses the globalist consensus of recent Democratic

administrations.

The heart of the bill is Schumer’s own Endless Frontier Act, which was reported out of the Commerce Committee on May 11, by a bipartisan vote of 24-4. Schumer’s lead co-sponsor is the

committee’s ranking Republican, Todd Young of Indiana.

More from Robert Kuttner

The bill creates a comprehensive industrial and technology policy, targeting ten key technologies

for public development, including artificial intelligence, robotics, advanced semiconductors,

biotech, cybersecurity, and advanced energy. It creates ten regional technology hubs as well as a

“Supply Chain Resiliency and Crisis Response Program,” and contains measures to crack down

on China’s predatory trade practices.

Other bills are likely to be folded into this one. The Strategic Competition Act, co-sponsored by

Foreign Relations Committee Chair Bob Menendez and ranking Republican Jim Risch of Idaho,

toughens policies to block Chinese theft of intellectual property and counter state subsidies of

industry, as well as stronger enforcement of export controls, sanctions for human rights

violations, and much more.

Still another measure proposed by Ohio Democrat Sherrod Brown and Republican Rob Portman

would add new teeth to trade law. And Florida’s Marco Rubio wants to toughen a Trump executive order that bars U.S. stock exchanges from listing Chinese companies that are deemed

threats to U.S. national security, and prohibits U.S. individuals from investing in them as well.

Rubio’s American Financial Markets Integrity and Security Act would lock these and stronger prohibitions into law.

All this is a stunning harmonic convergence. It reflects Republican hawkishness on China as a

security menace coupled with the GOP’s desire to actually deliver to workers some of what Trump merely proffered at the level of rhetoric. More remarkably, it is a complete reversal of the

Clinton-Obama-Rubin-Summers embrace of China’s Wall Street alliance, and Wall Street

Democrats’ disdain for industrial policy.

In this case, Republicans don’t mind letting Democrats lead, if they can share the credit. While the White House would have preferred to define its own China policy, Schumer’s leadership has

such momentum that Biden’s people have settled for fine-tuning the details rather than trying to

derail it.

There is constructive overlap between this legislation and Biden’s own program. And just maybe, the bipartisanship on China can even spill over into other Republican support that Biden

urgently needs.

https://prospect.org/blogs/tap/bipartisanship-lives-amazing-convergence-on-china-policy/

How to leverage the Quad to counter China’s Digital Sinosphere

President Joe Biden, joined by Vice President Kamala Harris and Secretary of State

Antony Blinken, participates in a virtual Quad Summit with the leaders of India, Japan,

and Australia on Friday, March 12, 2021, in the State Dining Room of the White House.

(Official White House Photo by Adam Schultz via Sipa USA and Reuters.)

China’s growing ambition to recode the rules of cyberspace should serve as a wake-up

call for the Indo-Pacific’s leading digital democracies: Cooperate on technology or risk ceding ground to Beijing and its expanding digital sphere of influence.

At the historic Quad summit held in March, leaders of the United States, Japan, India,

and Australia took important steps to bolster tech cooperation. Foremost among these

efforts was the creation of a new Quad working group on critical and emerging

technologies, which will drive coordination on standards, encourage diversification of

equipment suppliers and future telecommunications technology (particularly 5G), and

convene regular dialogues on critical-technology supply chains. Although China was not

specifically referenced in this context, the cause célèbre is quite clear: anxiety about

China’s growing digital adventurism.

While the unity on display at the Quad summit was an impressive show of strength, it

was also an incomplete picture that masked growing friction among members on

several elemental technology issues such as cross-border data flows, data privacy,

payments, digital taxation, competition, e-commerce, and law enforcement.

For its part, India has pointedly rejected Japan’s “data free flow with trust” formulation for cross-border data transfers and championed expansive data-localization restrictions

through its forthcoming data-privacy legislation. The United States has frequently

clashed with India on digital-trade and online-freedom issues and has taken steps

to levy tariffs on New Delhi in response to the Modi government’s digital taxes. More recently, Australia has engaged in a high-stakes showdown with US social-media

companies over its “pay-for-news” law, which resulted in Facebook temporarily pulling all news content from its platform in Australia.

For the national-security community, it may be tempting to sideline these digital-trade

battles as commercial irritants that distract from cooperation on strategic-technology

issues. Yet this would be a mistake. If the Quad is to reach its full potential in

technology cooperation, its members must find ways to tap into the full power of the

private sector.

To see why, consider how strategic-technology innovation takes place in the modern

era. Efforts to develop strategic-technology capabilities today are less Manhattan

Project than Menlo Park; private-sector firms big and small, rather than governments,

push the boundaries of innovation and develop technologies with commercial

applications and a strategic valence. Innovations in dual-use technologies such as

artificial intelligence, machine learning, and advanced robotics are important examples;

they emerge from commercial imperatives, but they produce national-security

applications that deliver strategic benefits.

Pure market dynamics can also create and amplify strategic risks to Quad members.

The concerns over TikTok’s global growth are a case in point. While the app’s privacy approach allows invasive collection of data at the individual level, its global popularity

magnifies the scale and impact of those risks and gives them salience as a national-

security threat. If Quad policymakers accept that TikTok or other Chinese firms pose

strategic risk, then the need to check their growth and market share should follow

logically.

Over the past four years, members of the Quad have understood this imperative and

sought to curb the growth of Chinese firms using policy instruments. New Delhi

has bannedTikTok and nearly 270 other Chinese apps. The United States, Australia,

Japan, and India have all either formally banned Huawei or excluded the company from

participating in 5G trials. Restrictions on inbound Chinese foreign direct

investment and outbound investmentin Chinese firms are also starting to take root

among Quad members, especially India and the United States.

Though bans and investment restrictions are powerful, they are limited in scope.

Countering a “Digital Sinosphere” on a global basis will require getting the world’s netizens to choose non-Chinese platforms at scale.

https://www.atlanticcouncil.org/blogs/new-atlanticist/how-to-leverage-the-quad-to-counter-chinas-

digital-sinosphere/

Economic Growth in a Digital Economy: The Role of Intellectual Property and Innovation May 19, 2021

Setting appropriate policies for economic growth tops the agendas of most national leaders. From the European Union’s Digital Single Market to China’s most recent five-year plan, and various other such broad outlines, governments across the world are trying to enact public policy that spurs economic growth. But what is the role of innovation and of intellectual property (IP) in driving economic growth?

Economists have long articulated the critical role of technological innovation in driving economic growth. Robert Solow’s neoclassical economic growth model clearly displayed that the primary driver of long-run economic growth is not the accumulation of labor or capital (although they play a role), but technological progress. While other inputs can only scale linearly, technological progress enables a multipliers effect on productivity of labor and capital. Most recently, Paul Romer was awarded a Nobel Prize in economics for articulating the mechanisms that enable innovation to drive economic growth. Most governments’ plans reflect the focus on innovation leading to technological leadership—not only for economic growth, but also for concerns related to national security and tech sovereignty.

What is less understood is the role of IP in driving innovation. From the early work of Kenneth Arrow to Romer’s recent writings on the drivers of innovation, the question of whether IP enables or hinders innovation has at best been unanswered, and at worst been ignored. In today’s knowledge economy, one led by the digital platform giants, this question is of critical importance and has immediate and actionable consequences for policymakers. A few decades ago, 80 percent of the market value of S&P 500 firms was explained by their labor and capital assets. Today that has reversed, and 80 percent of their market value is explained by intangible assets.

These intangible assets come in various forms: accumulation of skills and ideas, patents, copyrights, trade secrets, novel business models, etc. Whatever they are, both individuals and firms are incentivized to innovate if there is a return on their investment. If their ideas and inventions are not

monetized and protected by institutions such as IP—designed to make those ideas a public good after a finite timeframe—innovation will only come in the form of proprietary ideas, that is, those that can be protected by other mechanisms, such as vertical integration and conglomerates who develop ideas and design products. Innovation will only become accessible to large organizations that have the means to protect their intellectual assets through mechanisms other than through the IP regime. For this reason, economic historians have identified IP as the key instrument for the “democratization of invention” in the United States, making economically feasible inventing activity available to all. At the Center for Strategic and International Studies, we are embarking on projects that empirically explore the mechanisms by which IP drives innovation, and what kind of innovation takes place (and by whom) when IP is no longer available as a reliable institution.

Understanding the importance of IP in driving innovation has geopolitical implications. If the United States adopts policies that only enable large, vertically integrated firms to innovate, any country with centralized policies and state-subsidized conglomerates gains a huge advantage over a market-driven economy. China’s state-backed policies and enterprises understand this. Plans such as China Standards 2035 ensure large, vertically integrated firms drive the innovation agenda for future critical technologies. The United States has an advantage it should not risk losing, by ensuring a market-driven approach to innovation remains through access to protection of all intangible assets, including IP. A regime where the future innovation agenda is driven by preferences of a state or large conglomerate creates a non-democratized, riskier, and poorer world.

https://www.csis.org/analysis/economic-growth-digital-economy-role-intellectual-property-and-

innovation

DUTERTE REJECTS U.S. ASSISTANCE DURING

WHITSUN REEF STAND-OFF

BY RENATO CRUZ DE CASTRO | MAY 19, 2021

AMTI UPDATE

On March 20, Secretary of National Defense Delfin Lorenzana officially informed the Philippine nation about the presence of around 220 Chinese fishing vessels moored in line at Whitsun Reef (called Julian Felipe Reef in the Philippines). The reef is a wide boomerang-shaped shallow coral reef at the northeast end of Union Banks, located approximately 175 nautical miles west of Bataraza, Palawan. According to Lorenzana, the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) sighted and reported the presence of these vessels, allegedly manned by the Chinese maritime militia, as early as March 7. The PCG reported its sighting to an interagency body, the National Task Force for the West Philippine Sea (NTF-WPS).

Satellite imagery published by Simularity, a United States-based imagery analysis company, shows that this large grouping of Chinese fishing vessels had been at the reef since December 2020, though others, including Radio Free Asia and AMTI had documented the presence of Chinese vessels at Whitsun as early as February 2020. Based on these satellite images, the vessels are not doing any fishing, nor have they moved significantly over time—they have just remained anchored and tied together at the reef. It was noted that although the number of ships in the reef varied on a day-to-day basis from December through March, the average number of ships remained the same. The ships’ behavior displays China’s application of a strategy whereby it effectively lays claim to submerged land features through swarming the disputed waters with a huge flotilla of vessels that defy other countries’ diplomatic or law enforcement efforts to expel them.

After announcing the Chinese flotilla’s presence, Secretary Lorenzana issued a statement saying that the Philippines was ready to defend its national sovereignty and protect the country’s marine resources.” The following day, Secretary of Foreign Affairs Teodoro Locsin filed a diplomatic protest with the Chinese Embassy in Manila. The immediate and animated reaction of the Department of National Defense (DND) and Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) to the presence of Chinese maritime militia in Whitsun Reef reflects the Philippine government’s recognition of an ongoing Chinese gray zone operation. This was what transpired during the three-month Scarborough Shoal stand-off between Philippine and Chinese civilian vessels in 2012.

Duterte Rejects the United States’ Offer of Assistance

On April 9, Secretary of State Antony Blinken called Secretary Locsin to express Washington’s concern over the massing of Chinese maritime militia vessels in the South China Sea, and more importantly, to reaffirm the applicability of the 1951 U.S.-Philippine Mutual Defense Treaty (MDT) in the South China Sea. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin called Secretary Lorenza to express U.S. support to its ally and informed his Philippine counterpart that the USS Theodore Roosevelt and its escorts were operating in the South China Sea.

https://amti.csis.org/duterte-rejects-u-s-assistance-during-whitsun-reef-stand-off/

PH procurement of 6 naval vessels from Aussie firm still

'under negotiations' — Australian envoy

Published May 20, 2021, 1:22 PM

by Roy Mabasa

Australian Ambassador to the Philippines Steven Robinson AO on Thursday confirmed that negotiations are still ongoing between the Department of National Defense and Austal, a world-renown Australian defense contractor and shipbuilder, for the procurement of AUS$600 million worth of six naval offshore patrol vessels (OPVs).

Robinson said the ongoing discussion is strongly supported by the Australian government and is part of the Armed Forces of the Philippines’ modernization plan.

“We are having an ongoing discussion with the Department of National Defense as part of their modernization program and we would like to contribute to that in a meaningful way,” the Australian diplomat said in an interview over CNN Philippines Thursday, May 20.

A ranking Philippine Navy official earlier confirmed that the procurement of the OPV from Austal has been already approved as part of the AFP’s Horizon 2, or the second tier of the military’s modernization plan subject to the availability of funds.

Under the Horizon 2 tier, the AFP is acquiring fast-attack interdictor craft missile (FAIC-M), landing docks, air search radars, and other external defense equipment . The OPVs are expected to replace the World War II ships that were earlier retired by the PN.

It was earlier reported that Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana considers the Australian shipbuilder, which has a shipyard in Balamban Cebu, “at the forefront of the Navy’s OPV procurement program”.

During the television interview, Ambassador Robinson reaffirmed Australia’s strong support to the Philippines through their existing Memorandum of Understanding on defense cooperation and the Status of Forces Agreement (SoFA).

Aside from the possible supply of naval offshore vessels, Robinson said Austal is also negotiating with Korean giant shipbuilder Hanjin for the operation of the Subic shipyard.

The Australian top diplomat in Manila said the Hanjin facility is a world-class facility which would be an “enormous boon” to any company that would be seeking to expand its business in the Philippines.

https://mb.com.ph/2021/05/20/ph-procurement-of-6-naval-vessels-from-aussie-firm-still-under-

negotiations-australian-envoy/

Shangri-La Dialogue security forum in Singapore canceled due to COVID-19

• A Gurkha police officer stands guard outside the venue of the IISS Shangri-La Dialogue in Singapore in May 2019. | REUTERS

• KYOD • SHARE

• May 20, 2021

SINGAPORE – A major security forum scheduled to be held next month in Singapore has been canceled due to the coronavirus pandemic, its organizer said Thursday. Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga had been expected to participate in the June 4-5 gathering, known as the Shangri-La Dialogue, sponsored annually by the International Institute for Strategic Studies, a British think tank. It would have been the first attendance by a Japanese leader in seven years.

The forum was expected to be an occasion for Suga to promote a free and open Indo-Pacific, a vision sought by Japan and the United States as China increases its maritime assertiveness in the region.

“Unfortunately the global COVID-19 situation has recently deteriorated, in part because of the rise of infectious new COVID variants,” IISS said in a statement.

“In Singapore there has been a rise in local cases, the introduction of new restrictions, and the prospect of further tightening cannot be ruled out, all of which creates uncertainty,” it said. “Taken together these various factors mean that holding an in-person Shangri-La Dialogue this year has become unviable.”

The conference, which has been held in Singapore since 2002, was similarly canceled last year after pandemic forced many countries to restrict travel and shut their borders.

The event has provided a platform for ministers and top military officials for more than 40 countries, including the United States and China, to discuss major security challenges in the region.

The last time a Japanese prime minister attended the event was in 2014 when Shinzo Abe, Suga’s predecessor, was in the post.

https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2021/05/20/national/singapore-shangri-la-dialogue-security-

forum-canceled-covid-19/

THE U.S. MILITARY IN COMPETITION:

SUPPORTING EFFORT ONE MAY 20, 2021 GUEST AUTHOR 1 COMMENT

By Ryan Ratcliffe“Ultimate excellence lies…in defeating the enemy without ever

fighting.” —Sun Tzu

“America is back,” proclaimed President Joe Biden in his first address to the Department of State. “Diplomacy is back at the center of our foreign policy,” he continued, declaring that the United States would repair its alliances and reengage the world to confront global challenges. Speaking to the department that had recently published itscomprehensive assessment of relations with Chinaand called for a revival of U.S. foreign policy, the President’s words were likely well received.

Designed to serve as a modern-day “long telegram,” The Elements of the China

Challengereveals the Chinese Communist Party’s aim to revise world order, highlighting many of the Party’s malign and coercive activities designed to achieve its subversive ambitions. The authors of this seminal work, the Secretary of State’s Policy Planning Staff, conclude by calling for the United States to refashion its foreign policy around the principles of freedom and to reserve the use of military force for when all other measures have failed.

Diplomacy will certainly be fundamental in addressing the China challenge, but returning it to the forefront of U.S. foreign policy will not occur overnight. Decades of systemic decline havereduced U.S. diplomatic capacity and left the military as the more prolific instrument of national power. Therefore, until the Department of State completes the transformation it requires and returns to primacy, the Department of Defense will need to shoulder some of the burden in answering the China challenge. One such element that the Department of Defense should assist with is countering actions in the gray zone. https://cimsec.org/the-u-s-military-in-competition-supporting-effort-one/

Hill Presses For Better Cyber Responses, More Info Sharing

Colonial Pipeline "refused" to share details of ransomware payment with

Congress. "Our constituents are on the front lines of these [cyber]attacks, and

yet they don't know what their country is doing to respond," Rep. Slotkin said.

By BRAD D. WILLIAMSon May 19, 2021 at 6:13 PM

WASHINGTON: Companies and the federal government do not share

information about cyber incidents well enough, and defense contractors

need to be held accountable for security blunders, lawmakers said.

Sen. Joe Manchin, chair of the Senate Armed Services cyber subcommittee,

questioned Jesse Salazar, deputy assistant secretary of defense for industrial

policy, yesterday about holding contractors accountable for cyber incursions

— at both primes and their subcontractors. Current DoD regulations provide

“a number of acquisition levers” that can be used, Salazar noted, but “usually” the contractor’s program management office is contacted and ordered to “improve.”

Manchin pressed Salazar on whether there are “any fines, penalties, costs for not securing.” Salazar, who is just two months into the position, said yes, but he could not provide any examples. Salazar took the question for the

record before Manchin noted, “We [Manchin and his staff] are finding out there’s no action taken against primes for subcontractors’ security lapses.”

Sen. Mike Rounds, the top Republican on the cyber subcommittee, weighed

in during the hearing, saying there remain significant challenges to sharing

information about cyber incidents — both between the private sector and

the government, as well as within government.

Rounds questioned Rear Adm. William Chase, deputy principal cyber advisor

to the defense secretary and the director of the Protecting Critical

Technology Task Force, who said there are some mandatory cyber incident

reporting requirements in place for contractors working on DoD-related

projects, but they do not apply to companies without DoD contracts. And

some information sharing for DoD contractors is only voluntary.

https://breakingdefense.com/2021/05/hill-presses-for-better-cyber-responses-more-info-sharing/

Matthew Kypta: America's incoherent global strategy cripples military readiness

Matthew J. Kypta is a political strategist and branding expert based in Washington, DC.

As rising powers like Russia and China develop capabilities to secure their spheres of influence, the United States continues to view the entire world as its responsibility. But our strategy of global engagement is becoming increasingly unsustainable – and nowhere is this more evident than in our weapons development. Right now, the US Army, Air Force, and Navy are scrambling to fix or kill off the failed weapons systems that were based on our goal of being everywhere and doing everything at once.

On land

Earlier this month, the Army announced that it would be retiring all of its M1128 Mobile Gun Systems. This vehicle, based on the Stryker, is supposed to provide firepower above that of typical light armored vehicles. But an Army study has determined that the vehicle and its cannon are obsolete. It’s not the first program of its kind to fail in recent memory: the previous M8 Armored Gun System completed development, but was not adopted. And the Stryker itself is a product of the Interim Armored Vehicle program, intended as a stop-gap. Competing priorities like air mobility, improvised explosive device protection, and the ability to fight in both counter-insurgency campaigns and conventional wars have kept the Army from committing to a light armored vehicle program for more than a decade.

Compare the mess that is American weapons procurement to the way Russia has modernized her armed forces. Following a victorious but poorly executed war with Georgia, Russia began re-building her military to achieve regional objectives. Russia’s closest equivalent to the M1128 is the 2S25 Sprut. It’s more compact, transportable by air, has a bigger cannon, and can fire guided missiles. This makes it ideal for supporting airborne or amphibious troops against a wide range of opponents, such as Russia’s small but well-armed neighbors. And while some of its characteristics may lag behind those of American vehicles, it – like much of Russia’s military equipment – is designed to last.

By air

Last week, the Air Force acknowledged that the start date for full-rate production of the F-35 stealth fighter is still undetermined. It has been fifteen years since the first prototype flew in 2006, and the program is anticipated to cost $22 billion more than originally expected. The aircraft still has nearly 900 design flaws, including some that are potentially fatal: pressure spikes inside the cockpit, sensor and optics glitches, and structural damage at high speeds. From the beginning, the program suffered from requirement creep, and production started while major features were

still in testing. But with manufacturing distributed among more than 1500 suppliers, the program is too big to cancel, and Congress wants to fund even more aircraft than the DoD has requested since the program benefits companies in 44 states. The F-35 was supposed to fulfill a broad range of requirements and make the Air Force, Navy, and Marines happy. So far, it has only made Lockheed and other contractors rich.

Now, take a look at how China developed its J-20 stealth fighter. Defense analysts generally agree that the J-20 is optimized for long-range interceptions and surface strikes. While it can still take on other top-of-the-line fighters, its performance seems to fall short of Russia’s Su-57 or America’s F-22. But its long-range capabilities are ideal for a conflict with the United States in the Pacific, where China would need to shoot down American early warning aircraft and strike American ships.

At sea

In February, the Navy announced plans to decommission four of its Littoral Combat Ships, or LCS. The USS Freedom, Fort Worth, Independence, and Coronado were commissioned between 2008 and 2014, meaning that some have been in service for less than a decade. The four ships come in two different designs, which has only increased the program’s complexity. Both were designed using a high-risk approach where technologies for the ships were still being tested as they were being built. Both have encountered problems with the engine and other components. Both have been unable to use various weapon systems intended for them. Is this starting to sound familiar? In the words of Shelby Oakley, a Government Accountability Office official overseeing Navy acquisitions, “there was a lot of over-promising of capability and technology and concepts that didn’t come to fruition.” It’s the same trap that the Air Force and Navy fell into with the F-35 program.

https://www.greatpowersjournal.com/us-global-strategy-military-readiness/

GAO Cites Technical Shortcomings In Emerging DHS Biodefense Program

Share:

By Cal Biesecker | 11 hours ago | 05/20/2021

Also In This Issue:

• Senate Votes Down GOP Proposal For Defense Spending Parity Measure

• Delays Surface in Planned U.S. Space Force Launches Under NSSL

• U.S. Air Force to Issue Contract to Martin Baker for Simulated F-35 Ejection

Seats for JSE

• DoD Technology Officials Push For Greater Budget Flexibility To Get After

Latest Innovations

• TSA Plans To Begin Drone Detection Testing In July

• NATO Starts Steadfast Defender Exercise With First Deployment of UK

Carrier

• Senators Probe Acting NNSA Chief About Livermore Pits, Foreign Uranium

• GAO Cites Technical Shortcomings In Emerging DHS Biodefense Program

The Department of Homeland Security’s new biological threat detection and

warning program faces limitations with the key systems and technologies it hopes

to use although Biological Detection for the 21st Century (BD21) program officials

are taking actions to…

https://www.defensedaily.com/gao-cites-technical-shortcomings-emerging-dhs-biodefense-

program/homeland-security/

National Guard troops expect to leave U.S. Capitol next week- officials Reuters 2 minute read

U.S. Capitol Police and National Guard soldiers operate a checkpoint at the U.S. Capitol, in advance of U.S. President Joe Biden's first speech to a joint session of Congress in Washington, U.S., April 28, 2021. REUTERS/Jonathan Ernst/File Photo

The Pentagon does not expect another request to extend National Guard troops in Washington who are helping to protect the U.S. Capitol, two officials said on Wednesday, with the current mission for the roughly 2,000 personnel expiring on Sunday. https://www.reuters.com/world/us/national-guard-troops-expect-leave-us-capitol-next-week-officials-

2021-05-19/

SOFIC NEWS: Microsoft, SOCOM Highlight Need for Ethical Use of Artificial Intelligence

5/20/2021 By Meredith Roaten

Tech giant Microsoft is doing a “significant amount” of research and development work to ensure that its artificial intelligence products are in line with its ethical principles, according to the company's CEO. Incorporating ethical principles into the corporation’s engineering practices is a priority, said Satya Nadella during prerecorded remarks that aired May 20 at the virtual Special Operations Forces Industry Conference, which is managed by the National Defense Industrial Association. Nadella said the research into machine learning operations will help the corporation find ways to ensure ethical behavior in every aspect of artificial intelligence, from data provenance to creating unbiased models. “There is a significant amount of R&D we are doing ... so that people who create AI have the best process practice tools in order to create AI that really conforms to the ethics that we have all defined for ourselves in our institution,” he said.

The company has published principles that include fairness, transparency, accountability, privacy and security, he noted.

Last year, the Defense Department rolled out its own list of five AI ethics principles that will underpin the miltiary's development and employment of the technology. The list was based on recommendations from the Defense Innovation Board and other experts.

Military personnel must be responsible and exercise appropriate levels of judgment and care in the development, deployment and use of AI capabilities. The technology should be “equitable” and steps taken to minimize unintended bias. It must be traceable and include transparent and auditable methodologies, data sources, and design procedure and documentation. And systems must be reliable and governable, according to the list.

Nadella said that while Microsoft and the Defense Department both have published ethics principles, the next step is ensuring they are followed.

https://www.nationaldefensemagazine.org/articles/2021/5/20/sofic-news-microsoft-investing-in-ai-

ethics-rd

A STARCRUISER FOR SPACE FORCE: THINKING THROUGH THE IMMINENT TRANSFORMATION OF SPACEPOWER

JEFF BECKER

MAY 19, 2021

COMMENTARY

The U.S. military has launched and operated Earth-orbiting satellites since the Discoverer 1 mission in March 1959. Despite this long-term presence in space, spacepower as a mature military discipline remains in its infancy. However, change is coming faster than many expect. The X-37B spacecraft — the first true military spaceplane — foreshadows the “end of the beginning” for military space as satellites, tiny spaceplanes, and single-use orbital boosters give way to massive fleets of very large, maneuverable, and reusable spacefaring vehicles.

Rapid advances in rocketry led by private space companies mean that the U.S. military may be able to reach orbit cheaply, refuel in orbit at low cost, and use this fuel to maneuver extensively once there. These new rockets will replace the X-37B and ultimately transform how the U.S. military understands spacepower. SpaceX’s new orbital vehicle, Starship, and its booster stage, Superheavy, exemplify these new spacecraft in that they are capable of lifting huge payloads to low Earth orbit and beyond frequently and at extremely low cost. With this vehicle now flying and landing, it is not too early for the U.S. military to think through the far-reaching military implications of the emergence of Starship-class vehicles for its future joint warfighting concepts.

Numerous technical challenges remain. Starship still needs to demonstrate that it can be reused after surviving landing and it has not yet achieved orbit. Superheavy is still under construction and will not fly until summer — and even then, with only three of its planned complement of 37 engines. Core capabilities such as orbital refueling, crucial to advanced maneuver above the atmosphere and central to unlocking commercial and military space,still need to be tested. However, many were skeptical that reusable rockets would ever be commercially viable. Yet such rockets transformed the global space access landscape. SpaceX is quickly working to overcome these remaining technical obstacles as well, recently landing Starship safely and tail first for the first time, and returning it to the pad within days for a possible second launch attempt.

Despite these very real technical hurdles, the U.S. military should start thinking through the implications of what these capabilities — once they come online — will mean for space warfare. Bringing together “impossible” full-flow staged combustion rocket engines, very large vehicles, and, most critically, the ability to refuel vehicles in orbit at or near the cost of propellant will upend the harsh and unforgiving constraints that drive

America’s understanding of space operations today. As a result of this pending transformation, the military should alter its assumptions about the cost and difficulty of accessing space, and rethink space warfare in a world in which cheap space access is plentiful and the ability to maneuver in space is abundant.

https://warontherocks.com/2021/05/a-starcruiser-for-space-force-thinking-through-the-imminent-

transformation-of-spacepower/

House Lawmakers Call For Long-Term Strategy For Sealift After Decades of Neglect

By: Mallory Shelbourne

May 19, 2021 7:09 PM

•

An undated photo of a Watson-class LMSR. MSC Photo

House lawmakers are calling on U.S. Transportation Command and the U.S. Maritime Administration to create a sealift strategy amid decades of concerns over the capacity of the sealift fleet. During a joint hearing between the House Armed Services Committee’s seapower and projection forces subcommittee and readiness subcommittee on Tuesday, lawmakers criticized and expressed concern over the lack of a cohesive strategy to build up the sealift fleet. “Throughout this hearing, it appears as though the effort that has been made by MARAD, by TRANSCOM, Navy and by the committee has not been successful,” HASC readiness subcommittee chair Rep. John Garamendi (D-Calif.) said. “We’ve made a little bit of progress here and there, but we really have not been able to really put in place a comprehensive strategy and then carry it out. We’ve had bits and pieces.”

Garamendi pointed to several components contributing to a strategy – the tanker security program Congress created, recent legislation mandating the U.S. military transport its cargo with U.S. planes and ships, and MARAD’s construction of National Security Multi-Mission Vessels – but said an overarching strategy is necessary.

The HASC readiness chair suggested lawmakers hold a roundtable so Congress and officials from the Defense Department and Transportation Department can produce a cohesive

strategy to incorporate into this year’s defense policy legislation and possibly the appropriations bill. “Here’s what I am proposing … is that we have a roundtable. Invite members of the two committees – Mr. Courtney’s committee and my committee – to participate, staff and members of the maritime committee, of the [House] Transportation [and] Infrastructure Committee,” Garamendi said. “That sometime within the next month we sit down, invite [U.S. Transportation Command commander Gen. Steve] Lyons or whomever you would like to send to that meeting, and that we develop for this year’s NDAA a strategy that would provide over both dealing with the immediate – meaning now, this year, next year – appropriations, as well as the NDAA, and long-term.”

Rep. Rob Wittman (R-Va.), the ranking member of the seapower panel and the vice ranking member of HASC, echoed Garamendi’s concerns about the lack of a strategy. “There doesn’t seem to be one. If there’s not a long-term strategy about how we recapitalize, then it deeply concerns me, especially because we’ve been emphasizing this. Now I know – between Chairman [Joe] Courtney and myself, Chairman Garamendi and Mr. [Doug] Lamborn now – this is going on four years and we still haven’t gotten to the point of getting two additional ships in. And I can tell you by any other measure, in any other place, that would be unacceptable. And I would say it’s unacceptable here,” Wittman said. While Congress in the Fiscal Year 2021 policy bill authorized the Navy to purchase two used sealift vesselsand in the FY 2021 appropriations bill allotted $60 million for those ships, the service has yet to get them on contract. “We don’t have a contract – or it doesn’t look like right now contracts have been let for at least for the two new sealift ships that have been authorized by the NDAA. So that’s being held up, or it just hasn’t been done yet. The two of the seven have not been contracted yet,” Sal Mercogliano, an associate professor of history at Campbell University, told USNI News. “And then the other thing I think that’s really important out of this is, again, the requirement from Garamendi and Wittman for the development of a sealift strategy. And I think that was the talk that he had about putting this roundtable working group together to develop a sound sealift strategy akin to the 30-year Navy strategy.”

During the hearing, Wittman also expressed concern over the recent decrease to the Ready Reserve Force, which went down to 41 ships from 46. According to Mercogliano, MARAD took SS Cape Mohican (T-AKR-5065), SS Cape May (T-AKR-5063), SS Flickertail State (T-ACS-5), SS Grand Canyon State (T-ACS-3) and SS Petersburg (T-AOT-9101) out of the force. “Why have we had to reduce those number of ships? I understand it’s about Coast Guard certification, but it seems like to me that that would even heighten the importance of bringing new ships, or newer ships, into the force,” Wittman said. “And what’s the practical impact of this reduced force structure? I mean, if the call goes out tonight, you know this is pretty precarious.”

Lyons told Wittman that former Defense Secretary Mark Esper established a team under the Pentagon’s Cost Assessment and Program Evaluation office to evaluate sealift and that the retirements were a result of the CAPE team’s work. “A couple of those were retired because it was no longer a utility – two of them were [Cape

May and Cape Mohican] that were required for special missions. A couple were crane ships that were no longer required based on [operational] plan analysis,” Lyons said. During the hearing, Rep. Elaine Luria (D-Va.), the vice-chair of HASC, also voiced concern over a lack of a maritime plan. “I would just say that it feels like we just keep saying that we’re waiting on a plan, and we’re waiting to refine the plan,” Luria said. Lucinda Lessley, MARAD’s deputy administrator, said she is examining the maritime transportation strategy released under the Trump administration to assess whether it’s in sync with the Biden administration’s aims. Luria asked a series of questions drawing attention to the current state of the U.S. maritime industry. Lessley confirmed to Luria that there is no mandate that U.S. cargo, besides government cargo, be transported on ships built and flagged by the U.S.

Mercogliano also noted the uncertain state of the maritime industry, pointing out that the Navy must buy the used sealift ships from the international market. “I think one of the biggest things that wasn’t discussed, or was kind of touched on there but not really discussed so much, was the issue about the really decline of the U.S. Merchant Marine and the fact that there are not sufficient ships to draw upon or infrastructure to draw upon,” Mercogliano told USNI News. “All those ships they’re talking about buying – those sealift ships they’re talking about buying on the open market – are all foreign vessels,” he added. “They have to go on the foreign market because there are just no U.S. vessels available.”

https://news.usni.org/2021/05/19/house-lawmakers-call-for-long-term-strategy-for-sealift-after-

decades-of-neglect

Geurts: Navy Needs Large-Scale Innovation to Deter Adversaries

By: Mallory Shelbourne

May 20, 2021 1:03 PM

•

James F. Geurts, the assistant secretary of the Navy for Research,

Development and Acquisition, speaks to the crowd about acquisition on Aug.

15, 2019 at the Marine Corps Ground Acquisition Award Dinner in Arlington,

Va., in 2019. US Marine Corps Photo

The Navy needs to pursue large-scale innovation and experimentation across the service to deter U.S. adversaries, according to the department’s number-two civilian.

James Geurts, who is currently performing the duties of the undersecretary of the Navy and previously was the service’s acquisition chief, emphasized the need for the service to go beyond small-scale experimentation and testing during the U.S. Naval Institute’s annual meeting on Wednesday. “When an institution embraces [innovating at scale and speed] – at the individual, at the unit and all the way at the highest and lowest levels in the organization – you can get innovation at scale. Other than that, it’s a bunch of niche little things, little experiments, which are interesting, but they

don’t scare a competitor. No. A cute little demo here, one little software factory here, one little new technology – that doesn’t get a competitor to change their thinking,” Geurts said. “A competitor starts to get really concerned when they see you adapting faster than they are, when you’re challenging in multiple domains, when you’re putting things together that don’t normally go together, when you’re creating effects in ways that they haven’t considered yet. And then they start chasing you, versus us chasing [the] competitor,” he continued. “That’s my challenge for all of us in the Department of the Navy. Again, we’re moving out in some pieces of that. We’ve got to do it now at scale and speed. I think if we can do that, then we’ll continue to be the dominant naval force. If we don’t, we’re fighting a losing game, and I don’t like losing.”

Geurts described a three-pronged approach the Navy could take to innovation. “I think if we think of the three traits I talked about in kind of this structure – of constantly thinking about the future, challenge our assumptions, create platforms that can modify quickly, and then experiment, experiment, experiment – if I go back to all the times I’ve seen innovation at scale and innovation In large organizations, that’s when it’s occurred,” he said. As the Assistant Secretary of the Navy for Research, Development and Acquisition from late 2017 to January 2020, Geurts repeatedly emphasized a need for the service to streamline its acquisition processes and get creative in solving various problems.

https://news.usni.org/2021/05/20/geurts-navy-needs-large-scale-innovation-to-deter-adversaries

Ghost Fleet Ship ‘Nomad’ Transited Panama Canal, Headed to California

By: Sam LaGrone

May 20, 2021 12:03 PM

•

An experimental unmanned surface vehicle has transited the Panama Canal on the way to its new home in California, USNI News has learned.

Nomad, a former offshore patrol vessel retrofitted with systems to allow the ship to operate autonomously, passed through the Panama Canal this week, according to ship spotters tracking data from Marine Traffic.com. A Navy official also confirmed the transit.

Web cameras at the canal’s Miraflores locks showed Nomad en route the Pacific late Tuesday night.

A spokesperson for Naval Surface Forces Pacific referred USNI News to the Office of the Secretary of Defense’s Strategic Capabilities Office when reached on Tuesday. A SCO spokesman acknowledged a request for additional information from USNI News but did not provide comment.

Based near the Austal USA shipyard in Mobile, Ala., Nomad was underway extensively in the Gulf Coast and traveled as far away as Norfolk, Va., for its testing program, according to ship spotters.

Nomad, formerly known as Riley Claire, is one of two known ships SCO created for its Ghost Fleet Overlord experimentation program to test the viability of at-sea autonomous ships.

SCO contracted with Gibbs & Cox and L3 ASV Global in 2018 to convert one craft each into unmanned prototypes. The Pentagon used special contracting rules to prevent disclosure of the contractors and the cost of the Overlord program.

https://news.usni.org/2021/05/20/ghost-fleet-ship-nomad-transited-panama-canal-headed-to-

california

SOFIC 2021: USSOCOM touts amphibious MC-130

by Andrew White

The US Special Operations Command (USSOCOM) is considering the design and development of an amphibious MC-130 aircraft to support operational requirements in the age of ‘Great Power Competition’ (GPC), service officials have disclosed.

Addressing delegates at the virtual Special Operations Forces Industry Conference (SOFIC) on 19 May, the Program Executive Officer for Fixed Wing, Colonel Ken Kuebler, suggested the MC-130 Amphibious Capability (MAC) concept could allow the aircraft to “land and take off” from land and sea during the same mission.

Kuebler was unable to provide Janes with a projected timeline for the effort. However, USSOCOM’s Fixed Wing Technology Insertion Roadmap, which was illustrated at the event, referred to a 2022–25 timeframe for the MAC.

Lockheed Martin’s MC-130 Commando II aircraft is operated by the US Air Force Special Operations Command (AFSOC) and tasked with “clandestine, or low-visibility, single or multiship, low-level infiltration, exfiltration, and resupply of special operations forces”. According to AFSOC documents, the aircraft is ideally suited to operating in “politically sensitive or hostile territories”.

Referring to the historic consideration by the US Department of Defense to design an amphibious C-130 aircraft, Kuebler suggested there was “enough command interest” at USSOCOM to pursue the MAC concept today.

“There is enough of a focus on peer and near-peer as we look at emerging threats. Is it going to be cost effective? That’s why we have several lines of effort early on and there will be plenty of off-ramp [opportunities] along the way to determine if we move forward,” he said.

https://www.janes.com/defence-news/news-detail/sofic-2021-ussocom-touts-amphibious-mc-130

US Navy notes progress on Constellation frigate, hypersonics

by Michael Fabey

The US Navy (USN) is on track to deliver its new Constellation-class FFG 62 guided-missile frigate and surface-ship hypersonic-missile capability by the middle part of this decade, according to Admiral Michael Gilday, chief of naval operations (CNO).

“FFG 62 is in a really good place,” Adm Gilday said on 13 May at the virtual McAleese and Associates FY2022 Defense Programs conference. “We're going to start bending metal at the end of the year on that hull.”

The CNO added, “That workforce understands how critically important the on-time delivery of that ship is.”

https://www.janes.com/defence-news/news-detail/us-navy-notes-progress-on-constellation-frigate-

hypersonics

Navy Issues $554M Contract Modification for Second Navy Frigate

By: Mallory Shelbourne

May 20, 2021 6:51 PM

•

Rendering of USS Constellation (FFG-62). Fincantieri Image

The Navy on Thursday issued Fincantieri Marinette Marine a $554 million contract to start building the next frigate in the Constellation class, the service announced.

The award is for the future USS Congress (FFG-63), which is the second hull in the Constellation class. “The Navy Program Office is pleased to award the option for the USS Congress (FFG 63) to our industry partner Fincantieri Marinette Marine,” Capt. Kevin Smith, the program manager for the Constellation class, said in a news release. “As the second ship of the Constellation Class Frigate Program, the USS Congress will provide a highly capable, next-generation surface combatant that our Navy and Nation needs.”

The design for the Constellation-class ships is based on the Italian and French navies’ FREMM multi-mission frigate.

The frigates will be equipped with systems including the Aegis Baseline 10 combat system, the Mk 41 Vertical Launch System (VLS), and Raytheon’s Enterprise Air Surveillance Radar (EASR), which is a variant of its SPY-6 radar, the Navy has said.

“The Constellation Class Frigate will be an important part of the Navy’s future Fleet. It represents the evolution of the Navy’s small surface combatant force with increased lethality, survivability, and improved capability to support the National Defense Strategy across the full range of military operations,” the service said in the news release. “It will help conduct distributed maritime operations more effectively and improve the Navy’s ability to fight both in contested blue-water and littoral environments.”

https://news.usni.org/2021/05/20/navy-issues-554m-contract-modification-for-second-navy-frigate

U.S. 7th Fleet Denies Chinese Claim American

Destroyer Was ‘Expelled’ from South China Sea Island Chain

By: Sam LaGrone

May 20, 2021 4:25 AM

U.S. Navy officials are denying a guided-missile destroyer conducting a freedom of navigation operation in the South China Sea was “expelled” from the Paracel Island Chain on Thursday.

USS Curtis Wilbur (DDG-54), “asserted navigational rights and freedoms in the vicinity of the Paracel Islands, consistent with international law,” according to a statement from U.S. 7th Fleet.

Claimed by China, Vietnam and Taiwan, the Paracels have been under Chinese control since the 1970s and been heavily militarized over the last decade. Beijing requires prior permission for warships to operate with 12 nautical miles of the entire chain – a claim the U.S. contests regularly through freedom of navigation operations.

Following Curtis Wilbur’s transit, the People’s Liberation Army Southern Theater Command issued a statement that the PLA had “expelled” the Japan-based warship from the region. Chinese warships and aircraft tracked the transit. “U.S. behavior violates international law and basic norms of international relations, increases regional security risks, and are prone to misunderstandings, misjudgments, and accidents at sea,” the PLA’s Southern Theater said in a statement.

In a subsequent statement, U.S. 7th Fleet denied the destroyer was forced to leave the region of the island chain “The PLA’s statement about this mission is false. USS Curtis Wilbur was not “expelled” from any nation’s territory. USS Curtis Wilbur conducted this FONOP in accordance with international law and then continued on to conduct normal operations in international waters,” read a statement from

the Japan-based fleet. “The PLA’s statement is the latest in a long string of PRC actions to misrepresent lawful U.S. maritime operations and asserts its excessive and illegitimate maritime claims at the expense [of] the Southeast Asian neighbors in the South China Sea. The PRC’s behavior stands in contrast to the United States’ adherence to international law and our vision for a free and open Indo-Pacific region. All nations, large and small, should be secure in their sovereignty, free from coercion, and able to pursue economic growth consistent with accepted international rules and norms.”

https://news.usni.org/2021/05/20/u-s-7th-fleet-denies-chinese-claim-american-destroyer-was-

expelled-from-south-china-sea-island-chain

Content with flat budget, anti-ship missiles the top priority in 2022, USMC Commandant says

by Ashley Roque

US Marine Corps (USMC) Commandant General David Berger did not publicly bemoan the prospect of a relatively flat budget over the coming years when he spoke about progress in transforming the force for operations in the Pacific region at an 18 May Brookings Institute event.

“My anticipation was that it was going to be flat [budget] and we were not going to be on a climbing trajectory for the next four or five years,” the four-star general. “I think we are set up okay.”

Over the past year, the USMC has moved ahead with its Force Design 2030 plan that redefines how the service will fight in the future, in part by becoming smaller and more nimble in support of naval expeditionary warfare operations.

“You need a very forward expeditionary, fairly light, fairly mobile force all the time in the right areas,” Gen Berger said, noting that this will allow the service to conduct reconnaissance operations.

”Somebody has to paint a picture of what in the world is going on in front of us and you need a force forward to do that,” he added. “I think satellites and everything else contribute, but there’s great value in being forward.”

Gen Berger said the USMC would act as a “deterrence” to China if based around the Indo-Pacific region.

”Not just deterrence by punishment, or the threat of punishment, but actually deterrence detection, meaning they will have to change their scheme because they believe we can pretty much see what they’re doing all the time,” the commandant added.

https://www.janes.com/defence-news/news-detail/content-with-flat-budget-anti-ship-missiles-the-top-

priority-in-2022-usmc-commandant-says

Biden praises Coast Guard agreement with Taiwan US-Taiwan partnership will help response to shared threats: Biden 2241

By Matthew Strong, Taiwan News, Staff Writer

2021/05/20 13:51

TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — During a speech to the Coast Guard Academy in Connecticut Wednesday (May 19), U.S. President Joe Biden praised the Coast Guard agreement with Taiwan for improving the capability to respond to threats in the region.

In his address to the academy’s 140th commencement exercises, he emphasized the role of the freedom of navigation. The concept is essential in maintaining free trade and international security, but it has come under threat from “the disruptive actions of nations like China and Russia,” he said.

The U.S. was adamant that trade and shipping should remain free from disruption, Biden said, naming the South China Sea as one of the key areas. The Coast Guard agreement with Taiwan would help improve responses “to shared threats in the region and to conduct coordinated humanitarian and environmental missions,” the president said.

He told his audience of Coast Guard graduates that they played “an essential role in our efforts to ensure a free and open Indo-Pacific” and to protect lives, preserve the environment, and “safeguard sovereignty throughout the region.”

https://www.taiwannews.com.tw/en/news/4207036

Special Ops Undergoing Historic Transformation, AFSOC Says

"The SOF that we have is not the SOF we will need" for the future, head of Air

Force Special Ops Command, Lt. Gen. James Slife, warned today.

By PAUL MCLEARYon May 19, 2021 at 6:08 PM

U.S. Air Force Special Tactics operators from the 22nd Special Tactics

Squadron

WASHINGTON: Special Operations Forces are going through the kind of

generational change that happens about once every two decades, a top

general said today, as the force grapples with moving from hunting

insurgents to confronting China and Russia.

The head of Air Force Special Ops Command, Lt. Gen. James Slife, warned

today at the annual SOFIC conference that “the SOF that we have is not the SOF we will need” for the future, one in which battlefields will be more dynamic, and influenced by machine learning and long-range standoff

weapons.

It was a sentiment echoed by SOCOM commander Gen. Richard Clarke on

Tuesday: What “we can’t say is: USSOCOM only does counterterrorism, only does crisis response. We have to develop and make sure we really look at

what SOF can do in competition and what SOF can do in high-end conflict.”

https://breakingdefense.com/2021/05/special-ops-undergoing-historical-transformation-afsoc-says/

Biden cites Coast Guard's role in protecting shipping lanes at academy graduation

ByDon Johnson

May 19 (UPI) -- President Joe Biden told graduates at the U.S. Coast Guard

Academy Wednesday that they have an important role to play in keeping the

world's shipping lanes peaceful and open to trade.

Biden traveled to Connecticut on Wednesday morning, where he gave his firs t

Armed Forces commencement address as commander in chief to the 240 men and

women in the academy's graduating class. The ceremony was closed to the public

because of COVID-19 rules.

https://www.upi.com/Top_News/US/2021/05/19/connecticut-joe-biden-coast-guard-academy-

commencement/6991621425764/

Chinese ships staying too close irk Hawaii

fishers and U.S. military INQUIRER.NET U.S. Bureau / 10:37 AM May 18, 2021

A U.S. Coast Guard officer checks on Chinese fishing vessel in this Nov. 29, 2016

photo. US NAVY

Hawaii’s commercial fishermen and the U.S. naval authorities are growing concerned that China’s government-subsidized ships have been coming too

close to the islands in search of seafood.

Local fishers are accusing the Chinese vessels of overfishing and intimidating

tactics, according to a Civil Beat report.

Eric Kingma, executive director of the Hawaii Longline Association, said

sometimes the ships are fishing or on their way to more distant waters, but

sometimes they just sit there.

A group of Chinese vessels appeared to hanging around north of Midway Atoll

National Wildlife Refuge last week, Kingma told Civil Beat. “It’s an example of them being close to Hawaii and, we believe, getting closer.”

https://usa.inquirer.net/71389/chinese-ships-staying-too-close-irk-hawaii-fishers-and-u-s-military

China, US Argue Over Naval Activity in South

China Sea

In this Aug. 1, 2019, file photo, a TV screen showing the U.S. Navy fleet sailing in formation near the

models of Liaoning aircraft carrier with navy frigates and submarines on display at the military museum

in Beijing. (AP Photo/Andy Wong)

20 May 2021

The Associated Press | By The Associated Press

BEIJING — China on Thursday issued its second protest in as many days over United States naval activity in the region, drawing an unusually sharp response from the U.S. 7th Fleet, which accused Beijing of attempting to assert illegitimate maritime rights at the expense of its neighbors.

A statement from the Chinese People’s Liberation Army’s Southern Theater Command said the guided missile destroyer USS Curtis Wilbur “illegally” intruded into its territorial waters surrounding the Paracel island group in the South China Sea on Thursday. It said Chinese forces mobilized to track and monitor the ship and “warned and expelled it.”

https://www.military.com/daily-news/2021/05/20/china-us-argue-over-naval-activity-south-china-

sea.html

China Keeps Studying One World War II Battle For a Sinister Reason By Lyle J. Goldstein

May 20, 2021

Official U.S. Navy Photograph, now in the collections of the National Archives. Photo #: 80-G-701870 Official U.S. Navy Photograph work

Here's What You Need to Remember: China likely recognizes that once wars are started with

America, even when militarily successful, they may be extremely difficult to end.

Late springtime is a fitting time to contemplate the origins of U.S. maritime supremacy. Over a

period of about twenty-four hours in June 1942, U.S. naval aviators turned the whole course of

history by putting the Imperial Japanese Navy’s four premier flattops on the bottom. This victory

can be attributed in roughly equal parts to strategic acumen, code-breaking genius, dive-bombing

technology, precision training, and luck, as well as no small amount of valor and sacrifice.

To take but one example, consider LCDR Lance Edward “Lem” Massey. A native of Syracuse,

New York, he graduated from the U.S. Naval Academy in 1930. He had the extraordinary

distinction of leading the very first aerial torpedo attack in U.S. Navy history, as his squadron

struck an early blow against the sweeping tide of Japanese victories near the Kwajalein Atoll in

February 1942. On that fateful June 4 morning, he boldly led his squadron into the maelstrom of

the Midway battle, charging in to attack the Japanese carrier Hiryu. “[Another U.S. pilot] . . . saw

the skipper’s plane erupt into a big ball of flame. Massey stood up in his open cockpit, with one

foot on the stub wing and the other on the seat, as his TBD [Avenger] dropped toward the water

250 feet below. The skipper did not have the altitude to survive the jump from his flaming

wreck.” Of course, those familiar with this battle know well that the torpedo-laden Avengers’

sacrifice was not in vain as they successfully diverted the Japanese carriers’ fighter cover,

allowing the U.S. Devastator dive bombers a clear path to wreak their fury against the crown

jewels of the Japanese Navy—an act of sweet revenge for the Pearl Harbor attack some six

months prior.

https://www.realcleardefense.com/articles/2021/05/20/china_keeps_studying_one_world_war_ii_battl

e_for_a_sinister_reason_777962.html

World Intelligence Congress opens in China's Tianjin Source: Xinhua| 2021-05-20 20:06:36|Editor: huaxia

People view an industrial robot at the World Intelligence Congress in Tianjin, north China, May 20, 2021.

The fifth World Intelligence Congress, a major artificial intelligence (AI) event in China, kicked off on

Thursday, highlighting frontier AI technologies and applications. (Xinhua/Zhao Zishuo)

TIANJIN, May 20 (Xinhua) -- The fifth World Intelligence Congress, a major

artificial intelligence (AI) event in China, kicked off in north China's Tianjin

Municipality on Thursday, highlighting frontier AI technologies and

applications.

The four-day event, with the theme of "New Era of Intelligence: Empowering

New Development, Fostering New Pattern," has attracted the participation of

over 240 AI companies and institutions.

A series of activities, including forums, exhibitions and competitions featuring

smart cities and transportation, smart manufacturing, and IT application and

innovation, will be presented during the event.

The development and application of the new generation of AI require cross-

border and inter-disciplinary scientific research, which necessitates the

participation and cooperation of all countries, said Wan Gang, chairman of the

China Association for Science and Technology.

Over the past four years, more than 10,000 scientists, entrepreneurs,

educators and financiers from home and abroad have participated in the event

to discuss the trends and future of smart technology. Enditem

http://www.xinhuanet.com/english/2021-05/20/c_139958869.htm

Beijing’s space race frenzy burns up resources Launch failure highlights China's over-reach as multiple missions challenge America's lead in

space exploration

By FRANK CHENMAY 20, 2021

Print

The Long March 5B rocket carrying the first module of China's low Earth orbit Space Station is

launched on April 29. Photo: AFP/ China Manned Space Agency/Eyepress

Is Beijing’s zeal about space superpower status crimping real progress on multiple fronts in

space?

Several programs are going on simultaneously, spanning the lower reaches of space, the Moon

and celestial bodies as far as the Red Planet.

To the dismay of President Xi Jinping, unspecified technical breakdowns forced a vital launch to

be aborted early on Thursday. Nerves were frayed when lights on the display board in ground

control in Beijing flashed red.

The mission was meant to catapult life-support components and supplies from a cosmodrome

off Hainan Island to the Low Earth Orbit to rendezvous with the core module of China’s future Tiangong space station, which has been standing by about 400 kilometers above sea level since

late April.

State media reported earlier this week that the Long March 7 heavy-lift rocket had been

“tanked up” for the unmanned trip. https://asiatimes.com/2021/05/beijings-space-race-frenzy-burns-up-resources/

China says U.S. warship illegally enters its territory in S. China Sea Reuters 1 minute read

The U.S. Navy guided-missile destroyer USS Curtis Wilbur patrols in the Philippine Sea in this August 15, 2013 file photo. REUTERS/U.S. Navy/Mass Communication Specialist 3rd Class Declan Barnes/Handout via Reuters

China said on Thursday an American warship had illegally entered its territorial waters in the South China Sea and was expelled, which the United States denied in the latest salvoes over Beijing's claims in the busy waterway. https://www.reuters.com/world/china/china-says-us-warship-illegally-enters-its-territory-s-china-sea-

2021-05-20/

China furious after US warship sails close to disputed Paracels

Beijing accuses US of entering its waters around islands also claimed by Vietnam and Taiwan without permission.

The USS Curtis Wilbur during 'freedom of navigation' operations in the South China Sea on May 20

[Courtesy of US Navy 7th Fleet]

20 May 2021

China has reacted with fury after the United States Navy sent a warship through waters in the disputed South China Sea near the Paracel Islands in a mission it said was to “assert” navigational rights and freedoms, but China said was illegal.

The Chinese military’s Southern Theatre Command said on Thursday the USS Curtis Wilbur had entered the waters without permission, and that its ships and planes followed the US vessel.

https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2021/5/20/china-furious-after-us-warship-sails-close-to-disputed-

paracels

UPDATE: PLA drives away ‘accident-risking’ US warship intruding territorial waters in South China Sea By

Liu Xuanzun

, Guo Yuandan and

Huang Lanlan

Published: May 20, 2021 07:43 PM

Three warships attached to a naval flotilla under the PLA Southern Theater Command, including the amphibious dock landing ship Wuzhishan (Hull 987) and comprehensive supply ship Chaganhu (Hull 967) , steam in formation during a combined arms training exercise. The flotilla under training has traveled more than 8,000 nautical miles in over 30 days, conducting dozes of training items including air and missile defense, anti-terrorism and anti-piracy operation, and joint search and rescue. Photo: China Military Online

Two days after monitoring a provocative US warship transit in the Taiwan Straits, Chinese People's Liberation Army (PLA) forces drove away the same US vessel which intruded Chinese territorial waters in the South China Sea on Thursday. as the US move was deemed an act of navigational hegemony and public opinion manipulation that seriously violated China's sovereignty and safety and risked misjudgment and accidents. The two recent US warship activities were related and intentionally planned, analysts said, noting that the PLA's consecutive responses also demonstrated that it is fully prepared to fend off any provocations. Without authorization from the Chinese government, the guided missile destroyer USS Curtis Wilbur illegally trespassed into China's territorial waters of Xisha on Thursday, and the PLA Southern Theater Command organized maritime and aerial forces to track and monitor it and warned it away, Senior Colonel Tian Junli, spokesperson of the command, said in a statement. The US military's claim that it was not "expelled from any nation's territory" is a

confusing statement that intentionally leads the public to focus on "expelled or not," military experts pointed out. "USS Curtis Wilbur was not 'expelled' from any nation's territory" that the US 7th Fleet stated, which emphasizes "expel" while ignoring the specific location "on the territory of any country," is an attempt to confuse the public and diverting the focus, experts said. The US military intended to create the impression that Curtis Wilbur was driven away by the PLA's warning in "international waters" instead of "the territorial waters of any country," experts analyzed.

https://www.globaltimes.cn/page/202105/1224046.shtml

US should stop turning Taiwan into 'most dangerous place' (Chinadaily.com.cn) 11:18, May 19, 2021

Chinese military expressed strong opposition on Wednesday morning, as the US guided missile destroyer USS Curtis Wilbur sailed through Taiwan Straits on Tuesday. Some Western politicians and media outlets, especially those in the United States, have been speculating whether a military conflict will break out across the Taiwan Straits. For example, in an article published earlier this month, Economist describes Taiwan as "the most dangerous place on earth". However, it's the US' repeated so-called routine actions that have sent the wrong signals to the island and encouraged the pro-independence forces to seek bolder moves to provoke the mainland. It's the US that is turning Taiwan into the "most dangerous place". This strategic ambiguity seems growingly hard to sustain for the US. But it should realize that it may no longer be able to deter the mainland from unifying China. In March, Admiral Phil Davidson, commander of the US Indo-Pacific Command, told the US Congress that he was worried that the mainland would attack Taiwan in the next six years. Davidson made the remarks to create an imaginary enemy and exaggerate the threat it poses to the US and the region, so he could seek a bigger military budget as well as persuade Taiwan to buy more weapons from the US and interfere in cross-Straits affairs. Some Western countries and institutions always blame Beijing for any deterioration in cross-Straits relations, and hype up news about the mainland sending warships and planes cross the middle line of the Straits but remain silent on why it did so. The mainland has made its stance clear that peaceful reunification is a priority so long as the Taiwan authorities acknowledge the one-China principle and do not try to split the island from the motherland. It is an established international practice to take all necessary measures, including using military power, to prevent separatists from splitting a country or undermining its core interests such as sovereignty and territorial integrity.

Cross-Straits ties have deteriorated, against Beijing's wishes, because of the collusion between Taiwan secessionists and foreign anti-China forces, which have stirred up trouble across the Straits in a bid to change the status quo and curb the mainland's rise, making Taiwan "the most dangerous place on earth". The mainland's unprecedented development over the past more than four decades has greatly narrowed its gap with the US in terms of GDP and global influence. On the other hand, Washington, in its desperation to maintain its hegemony worldwide, believes its previous policy toward Beijing — peaceful evolution strategy — has proved a failure and therefore it is now focusing on strategic competition to contain the mainland's rise. Ever since Donald Trump assumed the US presidency in 2017, Washington has been ramping up efforts to contain the mainland's rise by, among other things, playing the "Taiwan card" more frequently including selling more advanced weapons and sending higher-level officials to the island, and sailing US aircraft carriers very close to the island in a display of military muscles. Such acts pose a serious threat to peace and stability across the Straits and have emboldened the island's separatists to more aggressively seek "Taiwan independence". The island's ruling Democratic Progressive Party, too, has been pushing its "Taiwan independence" agenda since assuming power in 2016 by refusing to acknowledge the 1992 Consensus that there is only one China, and serving as a US pawn against the mainland in exchange for US support. There is only one China, so there is no so-called middle line of the Straits. The PLA navy is fully obliged to safeguard the nation's core interests, so it is entitled to send aircrafts near the island, even more frequently. Beijing is determined to defend the nation's sovereignty and territorial integrity at all costs. If the US keeps playing the "Taiwan card" and the DPP intensifies its activities to seek "independence", the mainland will take appropriate countermeasures. And if the Taiwan authorities cross the bottom line, Beijing will be forced to take necessary strong actions to prevent the division of the country. http://en.people.cn/n3/2021/0519/c90000-9851633.html

China's deep-water drilling machine sets new world record By Yu Si'nan, Tang Yahui (People's Daily Online) 10:14, May 20, 2021

A Chinese deep-sea drilling rig recently drilled to a depth of 231 meters on a seabed more than 2,000 meters beneath the sea level in the South China Sea, setting a new world record in deep-sea drilling depth.

Photo shows China's Hainiu II deep-water drilling machine on a research vessel. (Photo/Hunan University of Science and Technology) Before that, the maximum designed drilling depth of deep-sea drilling machines around the world was 200 meters, and the actual depth drilled in pressure coring was 135 meters. The Chinese drilling rig Hainiu (meaning "manatee") II, developed by Hunan University of Science and Technology (HNUST), signifies that China has theoretically acquired the capability to explore all maritime resources as a front runner in deep-sea drilling. Pressure core sampling is a unique technique of Hainiu II, which enables the rig to retrieve core samples from the ocean floor while maintaining in-situ pressure. It is considered vital for exploring flammable ice, a methane-laced ice crystal, and some other seafloor minerals. Flammable ice is in ice form only when it's under seawater pressure. Once withdrawn from the depth it is adapted to, it would volatilize due to decompression. That's why such substances can only be retrieved with pressure core sampling. The Hainiu II drilling rig has made a series of technological breakthroughs, such as whole-process pressure coring, as well as high-capacity drill rods and fast connection & release, said Wan Buyan, a professor with the HNUST and chief researcher of the Hainiu II project. All the core technologies were independently developed by Chinese researchers, which have obtained 125 Chinese patents and four international ones, Wan added.

The smart drilling machine can be operated by one person alone on a mother ship. While drilling and sampling, it can also detect rock electrical resistivity and porosity, and take photos in the borehole. China has placed increasing importance on the R&D of marine equipment over the recent years. Deep-sea drilling technologies are important for the manufacturing techniques of other deep-sea equipment, and are able to drive the development of relevant industries. Over 10 years ago, almost all the equipment on China's research vessels was imported, Wan recalled. Now, however, more than 80 percent of the devices used in Chinese expeditions are domestically produced, and the proportion will continue to grow in the future, he added. Wan disclosed that the research team of Hainiu II will further improve the performance of the drilling machine to make it more adaptive, better complete operations, and become more intelligent. The team plans to put the drilling rig into an exploration operation at the Mariana Trench with a depth of over 10,000 meters, where no seabed drilling has ever been performed, Wan said.

http://en.people.cn/n3/2021/0520/c90000-9852043.html

China flies 2 fighter-bombers over median line in Taiwan Strait 4 PLA military planes intrude on Taiwan's ADIZ 3817

By Keoni Everington, Taiwan News, Staff Writer

2021/05/20 19:09

Xi'an JH-7 fighter-bomber. (Wikimedia Commons photo)

TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — Four Chinese military planes intruded on Taiwan's air defense identification zone (ADIZ) on Thursday (May 20), including two fighter -bombers, which breached the median line, as the nation grappled with a surge in COVID-19 cases.

On Thursday afternoon, the Ministry of National Defense (MND) announced that one Y-8 electronic warfare plane and one Y-8 anti-submarine warfare aircraft penetrated into the southwest corner of Taiwan's ADIZ, while two Xian JH-7 fighter-bombers crossed the Taiwan Strait median line. This marks the first time that China has sent JH-7 fighter-bombers into Taiwan's ADIZ since Feb. 23, the first fighter or bomber to encroach on the zone in the month of May, and the first median line incursion this year.

On May 10, Taiwan reported three local coronavirus cases; however, within one week, the daily local case count exploded to 333. During that period, China alternated sending one to two Y-8 planes to the area, but Thursday broke the pattern with the appearance of the two JH-7s.

As is normally the case, the MND stated that it responded by sending air patrol aircraft, issuing radio warnings, and activating its air defense missile systems. There was no explanation from Beijing as to why it had dispatched fighter-bombers to Taiwan's ADIZ as it deals with a health crisis.

On Sept. 21 of 2020, Beijing suddenly denied the existence of the median line in the Taiwan Strait, despite the fact that there has been a tacit agreement in place not to cross the line since 1955. In the fall of that year, People's Liberation Army Air Force (PLAAF) aircraft crossed the median line on a few occasions and entered Taiwan's air defense identification zone (ADIZ).

https://www.taiwannews.com.tw/en/news/4207322

Japan looking at providing financing

framework for defense exports

MAY 19, 2021

Facebook

Japanese defense companies participate in a defense exhibition. Photo c/o The Diplomat.

The Japanese Government was reported to be considering a formal system that will provide financing to

support the export of defense systems and equipment.

According to reports by British defense media outlet Jane’s, the Japanese Government could be looking at

providing low-interest loans to countries to allow them to purchase Japanese defense products.

The state-owned Japan Bank for International Cooperation (JBIC) is eyed to provide loans to export

customers, while the Nippon Export and Investment Insurance (NEXI) would provide support for the loans.

Japan has only started exporting defense materiel recently, as part of easing of restrictions in arms exports

and transfer to other countries.

While Japan has been exporting parts and subcomponents for weapon systems from other countries, it has

only allowed the export of complete systems in the past few years.

The Philippines was reportedly the first country to acquire Japanese defense systems, ordering 4 air defense

and surveillance radar systems for its air force.

Other Asian countries like Indonesia and Thailand have shown interest in Japanese defense equipment as

well, with Indonesia is close discussions for the potential joint construction of frigates for the Indonesian

Navy.

Japan has been pushing forward to improve its defense relations with international partners, especially with

Southeast Asian partners.

This includes the export and transfer of defense equipment, which was outlined in the “Defense of Japan

2020” White Paper released by the Japanese Government.

https://www.asiapacificdefensejournal.com/2021/05/japan-looking-at-providing-financing.html

Japan won’t limit defence spending amid ‘uncertainty’ in East China Sea: minister

• Tokyo is prepared to exceed the 1 per cent of GDP normally spent on defence, Japanese defence minister Nobuo Kishi says

• The increased spending sends a message to the US and China, but could trigger unease among the public, analysts say Tokyo is prepared to exceed the 1 per cent of GDP normally spent on defence as it targets a “radically different” approach to counter Beijing’s growing military capacity, according to Japan’s defence minister. Nobuo Kishi warned the gap between Japan and China’s military was “growing by the year”, in an

interview with the Nikkei newspaper on Wednesday.“The security environment surrounding

Japan is changing rapidly, with heightened uncertainty. We will properly allocate the funding we

need to protect our nation,” he told the newspaper, in statements viewed by analysts as a signal both to Japan’s allies and its rivals.

https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/3134195/japan-wont-limit-defence-spending-amid-

uncertainty-east-china

Japan must 'radically' speed up defence build-up:

Minister

Japanese soldiers take part in an exercise with French and US forces. (File photo: AFP/Charly

TRIBALLEAU)

20 May 2021 12:29PM

TOKYO: Tokyo must boost its military at a "radically different pace" than in the past to counter

Beijing's growing capacity, Japan's defence minister said in an interview published on Thursday

(May 20).

Nobuo Kishi warned the gap between Japan and China's military was "growing by the year", in an interview with the Nikkei newspaper.

"We must increase our defence capabilities at a radically different pace than in the past," he said, citing China's military spending as well as new areas of warfare including space, cyber and electromagnetics.

Japan's defence spending has tended to hover at around 1 per cent of GDP, but Kishi said that spending would be guided by needs rather than caps.

"The security environment surrounding Japan is changing rapidly with heightened uncertainty," the Nikkei quoted him as saying.

"We will properly allocate the funding we need to protect our nation."

https://www.channelnewsasia.com/news/asia/japan-speed-up-defence-build-up-east-china-sea-

14847470

Japan eyes stronger regulations on foreign students to prevent outflow of national security tech

• Yomiuri Shimbun file photo

The Economy, Trade and Industry Ministry is seen in Tokyo in November 2020.

4:10 pm, May 20, 2021

The Yomiuri ShimbunThe government intends to strengthen regulations on foreign students and researchers at Japanese universities and other institutions concerning the transfer of advanced technology that can be used for military purposes, The Yomiuri Shimbun has learned.

Strict application is being considered of the Foreign Exchange and Foreign Trade Law. Under the current system, it is difficult to regulate cases such as those involving foreign nationals who entered Japan more than six months ago, and

therefore a review has been deemed necessary, according to government sources.

The government’s intent is to prevent the outflow of military-related technology, with China in mind, the sources said.

Under the law, the provision of technology in Japan to nonresident foreign nationals that can be used for the development of weapons and arms is deemed an “export” and requires approval from the economy, trade and industry minister in a similar manner to exports of goods to other countries.

The Finance Ministry’s notification concerning the interpretation of the law states that foreign nationals who “work in an office in Japan” or “have been in Japan for more than six months” are regarded as “residents.” Such foreign

nationals do not need to apply for approval to acquire military-related technology.

For example, foreign researchers employed by Japanese universities and foreign students who have been in Japan for more than six months are categorized as residents. They are still prohibited from acts such as taking technology out of the country, but it is difficult for the government to keep track of the situation and ensure the effectiveness of regulations.

“This has been a loophole in measures to prevent the outflow of technology,” a senior official of the Cabinet Secretariat said.

The government is therefore considering issuing a new notice regarding the requirements for treating foreign nationals as residents under the law. According to the sources, the notice is likely to state that if there is anything suspicious about foreign nationals to whom the technology is to be provided, they will not be recognized as residents and be required to apply for approval for the provision.

https://the-japan-news.com/news/article/0007416199

North Korea ‘unlikely to surrender its nuclear stockpile', says USFK commander nominee

by Gabriel Dominguez

US Army General Paul LaCamera, the Biden administration’s nominee to be the next commander of US Forces Korea (USFK), said North Korea is not only continuing to build its nuclear programme, but is also unlikely to surrender its nuclear stockpile and production capabilities.

In a statement on policy questions submitted ahead of an 18 May hearing before the US Senate Armed Services Committee, Gen LaCamera said North Korea “has not taken any concrete steps towards denuclearisation”, adding that he does not believe economic sanctions alone will achieve this goal.

“Economic sanctions must be combined with a whole-of-government approach, including all elements of national power and the international community, to convince the [North Korean] regime to return to meaningful negotiations,” he said. “While I do not know what will ultimately incentivise or dissuade the regime to denuclearise, maintaining a combat credible force that is regularly exercised at echelon is an essential tenet to engage North Korea from a position of strength in any discussion of incentives or disincentives.”

Gen LaCamera, who is currently the commander of US Army Pacific, said Pyongyang continues to pursue capabilities to “hold key alliance targets at risk”. For instance, he stated that North Korea showcased “newer and developmental missile … and advanced ballistic fuel systems” in 2020, noting that a total of 76 individual ballistic missile systems, some of which probably have a nuclear capability, were paraded in October of that year.

These new systems represent advanced capabilities that offer greater range and accuracy than legacy North Korean systems while shortening the missile load and launch time, said the general, who, if confirmed, will also head the Republic of Korea (RoK)-United States Combined Forces Command and the United Nations Command, replacing US Army General Robert Abrams.

https://www.janes.com/defence-news/news-detail/north-korea-unlikely-to-surrender-its-nuclear-

stockpile-says-usfk-commander-nominee

North Korean Security Services Given Food for a

Year While Others Go Hungry The move is aimed at ensuring loyalty to the regime at a time of general hunger and hardship in the country.

2021-05-20

North Korean authorities have distributed food supplies for a year to law enforcement and other security agencies in a move to shore up loyalty to the regime at a time of general shortages across the country, North Korean sources say.

Beginning in April, food deliveries made to members of the national police and state security forces stationed along the border with China, an official in Hyesan city in Ryanggang province, bordering China, told RFA’s Korean Service.

“The food distributions to the police and security agencies were carried out nationwide, despite the country’s difficult food situation,” the official said, speaking on condition of anonymity. The amounts of food distributed have varied depending on the status of the units receiving them, the official added.

“But in general, the Public Security Department was given 200 kilograms of corn and 40 kilograms of unpolished rice to distribute per person, while the State Security Department was given 220 kilogram of corn and 80 kilograms of rice per person,” RFA’s source said.

Around 50 percent of each individual distribution was then provided for family members separately, the source said.

Already given priority as “special agencies” for distributions of food, North Korean police and security agencies had previously been given 15 or even 20 days’ worth of food at a time, the official said. “However, this year more was distributed in the name of giving them their portion for the entire year.”

Another reason for this year’s larger distribution is that police and other security forces working along the border, now blockaded to prevent the spread of COVID-19, typically supplement their meagre pay by taking smugglers’ bribes, and are now facing hardships.

“So this can be said to be support from the authorities,” the source said.

The source added that members of the agencies now receiving their full year’s allotment of food will likely sell some in the local markets rather than store them for months and risk spoilage, and will then use the money they get to purchase necessities including food later on.

'Sharing stolen food'

An official in Chagang province, also bordering China, told RFA that full-year distributions of food had already been made in March to local ruling-party organizations, with the party’s Central Committee pretending that the grain had been produced on land specially leased by the state.

“In fact, they were getting food meant for the country’s people, but they kept their mouths shut, feeling they were sharing stolen food,” he said.

“It is the ordinary people who really need the grain,” the source said. “And many have become angry when they hear about the distributions, saying that many in the party organizations and security groups, especially the officials, don’t even appreciate what they’re getting.”

Many North Korean families are now running low on food and struggling to get by when much of the grain from last year’s harvest has already been eaten and this year’s crop is still ripening in the fields, RFA’s source said.

“This distribution by authorities of food only to the workers of organizations responsible for controlling residents and protecting the regime is an action against the people, and only strengthens the dictatorship regardless of the people’s suffering,” the official said.

Serious food crisis

Food insecurity has plagued a significant segment of North Korea’s 23 million people for decades.

U.N Special Rapporteur on North Korean Human Rights Tomás Ojea Quintana warned in a report in March that the closure of the Sino-Korean

border and restrictions on the movement of people could bring on a “serious food crisis.”

“Deaths by starvation have been reported, as has an increase in the number of children and elderly people who have resorted to begging as families are unable to support them,” said the report.

RFA reported earlier this month that North Korean authorities were warning residents to prepare for economic difficulties as bad as the 1994-1998 famine which killed millions, as much as 10 percent of the population by some estimates.

Kim Jong Un was quoted in state media in April as saying the country faced grim challenges.

“Improving the people’s living standards ... even in the worst-ever situation in which we have to overcome unprecedentedly numerous challenges depends on the role played by the cells, the grassroots organizations of the party,” Kim said during an opening speech at a meeting of cell secretaries of the ruling Workers’ Party.

https://www.rfa.org/english/news/korea/food-05202021145307.html

South Korean Navy Upgrades to New Fire-Resistant Uniform

The previous uniforms were “inconvenient” and “vulnerable” to a fire aboard navy vessels.

INDER SINGH BISHT MAY 20, 2021

1 MINUTE READ

The Republic of Korea Navy (ROK Navy) has ordered the decades-old camouflage

uniforms and boots worn by personnel onboard combat ships be

replaced, Kyunghyang Shinmun reported.

Personnel aboard submarines and combat service support ships will receive the

new uniforms by June, the Seoul-based news outlet added.

Uniform ‘Vulnerable’ to Flame The upgrade follows an assessment by the service which revealed that the

uniforms were “inconvenient” and “vulnerable” to a fire aboard navy vessels,

which have narrow passages to exit during a blaze.

“Existing naval ship suits have been pointed out as being inconvenient and

particularly vulnerable to flames in ships with many protruding parts due to

narrow passages, equipment, and bolts and nuts,” the outlet explained.

https://www.thedefensepost.com/2021/05/20/south-korean-navy-upgrades-uniform/

Military hit over substandard food, clothes for conscripts

Posted : 2021-05-20 16:18

Updated : 2021-05-20 18:44

The military has come under fire over a series of reports on substandard clothing

and poor quality meals for conscripted service members.

As the defense ministry's earlier order to improve troops' living conditions has

not been carried out and such reports have continued, Defense Minister Suh

Wook convened a meeting of top commanders, Thursday, to discuss the issue.

According to Rep. Yun Ju-keyng of the main opposition People Power Party

(PPP), Wednesday, the recent investigation by the Defense Acquisition Program

Administration (DAPA) into 18 companies that provide six military clothing

items has found that three items from eight companies, including berets and

sportswear, did not meet standards set by the government.

The military spent 18.2 billion won ($16.1 million) for 810,000 items from the

companies which did not meet quality standards.

In particular, summer sports pants provided by one company had a far lower

quality in terms of sweat absorption rate ― it took 19 seconds for the pants to

absorb sweat when the standard requires two seconds.

DAPA said that it would request the prosecution to investigate a company that

had its contracts with the military terminated, while demanding the other seven

companies, whose contract periods have yet to end, improve production quality.

The controversy over clothing is also amplifying recent criticisms of the military

that it is not protecting the basic rights of service members. The military has

come under fire in recent weeks for providing poor-quality meals to conscripted

service members, especially those under quarantine amid the pandemic.

A series of photos and other information related to their poor living conditions,

such as food quality and excessive quarantine rules, were posted on social media

platforms by some anonymous service members as they are allowed to use their

smartphones.

In response to one of the photos, the defense ministry initially said it confirmed

the food provided to service members at the unit in question had no problems,

but said two days later that parts of the poor-quality food allegation were true.

The ministry then vowed to improve the meal quality and other living conditions,

but similar reports have continued to be uploaded on social media, resulting in

the meeting of commanders.

https://www.koreatimes.co.kr/www/nation/2021/05/205_309125.html

[Newsmaker] Soldiers given substandard

clothing, berets

By Kim So-hyun

Published : May 20, 2021 - 16:00 Updated : May 20, 2021 - 16:09

South Korean soldiers have been using substandard exercise clothes and berets for years, the Defense Acquisition Program Administration said amid continued reports about poorly fed troops. According to DAPA data released by Rep. Yoon Joo-kyung of the main opposition People Power Party on Thursday, eight of the 18 companies that provide apparel for the military has supplied substandard exercise clothes and berets. The total cost of the faulty products supplied by the eight firms over the past five years amounted to 18.2 billion won ($16.01 million), according to DAPA. Spring and fall exercise clothes supplied by two of the firms were misshapen and discolored, and some 190,000 such items were provided to the soldiers over two years. Some 300,000 sets of summer exercise t-shirts and shorts worth 8.7 billion won, supplied by five companies over five years, were made of defective material that didn’t absorb sweat or was easily torn. http://www.koreaherald.com/view.php?ud=20210520000696

Thailand cuts defence budget again

by Jon Grevatt

Thailand plans to cut its defence budget for 2022 in response to the Covid-19 pandemic. It will be the third reduction in military expenditure in consecutive years if approved by the country’s House of Representatives next month.

The country’s 2022 budget brief – published recently by the government’s Budget Bureau – shows that Thailand’s proposed defence budget for fiscal year (FY) 2022 (which starts October 2021) will be THB203.28 billion (USD6.5 billion). According to the budget document, this represents a cut of around THB11 billion (or a decline of 5%) compared with the 2021 allocation of THB214.53 billion.

The 2021 allocation amounted to a cut of about THB17 billion (or a decline of 7%) compared with the THB231.74 billion appropriation in 2020.

Janes analysis suggests Thailand’s defence budget will face near-term declines (Janes Defence Budgets)

However, in terms of the proportion of the government’s proposed overall spending for 2022, the defence budget has risen marginally to 6.6%; in 2021 it was 6.5%. For 2022, the Thai government has been forced to reduce its plan for total spending by 5.6% largely owing to the economic impact of Covid-19.

In 2020, the defence budget amounted to 7.2% of the national expenditure and in 2019 it was about 7.5%. Janes analysis suggests that the last time it was below 7% before 2020 was 2006.

In terms of the 2022 defence budget, the budget brief shows that the Royal Thai Army (RTA) will receive THB99.37 billion (or 49% of the total defence budget), with the Royal Thai Navy (RTN) and the Royal Thai Air Force (RTAF) allocated THB41.30 billion and THB38.40 billion respectively.

https://www.janes.com/defence-news/news-detail/thailand-cuts-defence-budget-again_17744

Australian prime minister: Multibillion-dollar military spending not a warning to PRC Voice of America News May 20, 2021 Top Stories 0 Comment

Voice of America News

Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison, pictured, says multibillion-dollar investments in

military bases in northern Australia are designed to enhance regional peace, rather than as a deliberate response to the People’s Republic of China’s (PRC’s) growing assertiveness. Australia is beefing up its military bases in the Northern Territory, including facilities to

train aboriginal recruits, and others that host joint exercises with United States Marines

stationed in the region.

Speaking at Robertson Army Barracks in the Northern Territory in late April 2021,

Morrison insisted that a 10-year, U.S. $6 billion plan to improve defense facilities is intended to keep the peace in an “uncertain” region rather than prepare for conflict. He was responding to media questions about recent tensions with the Chinese Communist Party

(CCP) over Taiwan. “All of our objectives here through the activities of our defense forces are designed to pursue peace. That is the objective of our government,” he said.

Morrison denied that the huge investment in military bases is aimed at sending a message to the PRC. Government ministers and analysts have said that the CCP’s military expansion in the South China Sea and its crushing of democracy in Hong Kong have been of great

strategic concern to Canberra. Morrison, however, has also defended comments by Australia’s new defense minister, Peter Dutton, that the possibility of conflict with the CCP over Taiwan should not be “discounted.” Dutton’s remarks have further inflamed diplomatic tensions between Canberra and Beijing,

already strained by geopolitical and trade disputes. Chinese Foreign Affairs Ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian called Australia’s politicians the “real troublemakers” and declared Australia’s concerns about the threat posed by the PRC as “unethical.”

The PRC previously accused Australia of peddling “anti-China hysteria.”

Australia has had to balance its long-standing military alliance with the U.S. and its valuable

commercial ties with the PRC, its biggest trading partner.

Political squabbles with the PRC have had damaging economic consequences. Canberra’s call in 2020 for a worldwide investigation into the origins of the COVID-19

pandemic that was first detected in China caused fury in Beijing. There followed sweeping

tariffs and restrictions on a range of Australian exports to China, including wine, beef and

coal.

https://ipdefenseforum.com/2021/05/australian-prime-minister-multibillion-dollar-military-spending-

not-a-warning-to-prc/

Australian Military to Establish New $7 Billion Space Division

Australia’s new space division will be compromised of military officers from the army, navy, and air force.

Australia’s defense department announced on Wednesday that the country will be creating a new space

division in a bid to protect its satellites from attack.

The division will be established within the Royal Australian Air Force headquarters in Canberra and will

have a budget of $7 billion over the next 10 years.

According to Australian Air Force Chief Mel Hupfeld, creating a space division is imperative because the

military relies on space for weather prediction, navigation, accessing geospatial information, and sharing

data across Australia and throughout the world.

“Defence will need capabilities that directly contribute to outcomes in space as a contested domain,

however, this does not mean that Defence encourages the militarization of space,” Hupfeld said. “All Space operations are conducted consistent with international and domestic legal obligations.”

Military officers from the army, navy, and air force will comprise Australia’s new space division. It is set

to be established in 2022.

Labor Department Shows Support

Shadow Treasurer Jim Chalmers said investing in technology development is essential because the

country’s defense force needs to maintain its capabilities.

“There are new frontiers in defense technology all of the time, and any country like ours investing so

heavily in our defense needs to keep up with those developments and ideally get ahead of them,”

he explained.

“If the developments in technology require us to invest in those areas, then so be it,” he added.

https://www.thedefensepost.com/2021/05/20/australia-military-space-division/

Royal Australian Navy’ Second Supply-

Class AOR Sails Home

The Royal Australian Navy’ second Supply Class Auxiliary Oiler

Replenishment ship, NUSHIP Stalwart, departed for Australia from

Pier 12 in Navantia’s Ferrol shipyard on Thursday, 20 May 2021.

Naval News Staff 20 May 2021

Navantia press release

The ‘Stalwart’ is the second of two supply vessels (AOR) built by Navantia Ferrol for the Royal Australian Navy. The ship will now navigate for 30 days towards her

homeport, HMAS Sterling, in Western Australia. ‘Stalwart’ will then undergo a final

fit-out where the installation and testing of the combat and communications

systems, as well as some logistics areas, will be completed by Australian industry.

The Australian ambassador to Spain, Her Excellency Ms Sophia McIntyre,

participated in the farewell to NUSHIP ‘Stalwart’, together with the president of Navantia, Mr Ricardo Domínguez and the director of the Ferrol shipyard, Mr

Eduardo Dobarro.

President of Navantia, Mr Ricardo Domínguez

The president of Navantia especially recognized the efforts of the workers and

highlighted the importance of the next program for the Spanish Navy in which the

shipyard is already embarked, the frigate F-110, which will be a lever for growth and

employment.

The director of the shipyard, Eduardo Dobarro, underlined “the knowledge, know-

how and effort made by the workers, both of Navantia and its collaborating

industry, especially in such a delicate situation, caused by the pandemic”.

After the speeches, the rope launching maneuver was carried out and the anthems

of Australia and Spain were interpreted with the last one.

The contract for two AOR vessels was the fourth signed between Navantia and the

Commonwealth of Australia, after the construction of two LHDs and its 12 landing

crafts and the design and transfer of technology for three AWD destroyers.

This contract for the two AOR vessels also includes their sustainment, for which

Navantia Australia is developing an advanced asset management model to support

the life cycle during the first five years. Likewise, it will also require an important

participation of the Australian industry that will be responsible for the installation

and testing of elements of the combat and communications systems, as well as

some logistic areas. After completing these works, the ship will be delivered to the

Commonwealth of Australia on August 31. Australia is a strategic client for

Navantia. When the second AOR is operational, the Royal Australian Navy will have

in service 19 naval units designed by Navantia. In addition to supporting the life

cycle of AOR vessels, Navantia Australia is involved the support of all other units.

https://www.navalnews.com/naval-news/2021/05/royal-australian-navy-second-supply-class-aor-sails-

home/

Australia launches maritime research vessel Ginan

Naval News May 2021 Navy Forces Maritime Defense Industry

POSTED ON WEDNESDAY, 19 MAY 2021 11:06

According to a press release published by the Australian Government on May 19, 2021, the Australian Department of Defence is partnering with Australian companies to strengthen maritime research skills by delivering a new regional Australia-built defence science research vessel. Follow Navy Recognition on Google News at this link

The vessel will spend three weeks on the Manning River undertaking testing and commissioning of systems before being delivered to Garden Island, Sydney.

The Department of Defence’s Science and Technology Group (DSTG) conducts research in a number of areas including support for the RAN’s mine countermeasures programs.

The boat was constructed by a local Australian boat builder, Steber International, based at Taree, NSW.

It will be used for science and technology trials in coastal waters, predominantly in the Sydney Harbour and Jervis Bay regions of New South Wales.

The Steber 40, a 12m vessel, is powered by twin Cummins 480hp diesel engines and features a comprehensive electronics package and specialised hydraulics and it will be capable of carrying up to 10 passengers and overnight accommodation for two.

The firm Steber already equip NSW and Victorian Water Police, Australian Federal Police, Australian Customs and the Republic of Mauritius.

https://www.navyrecognition.com/index.php/naval-news/naval-news-archive/2021/may/10164-australia-launches-maritime-research-vessel-ginan.html

Royal Australian Navy's HMS Ballarat joints Operation Argos

Naval News May 2021 Navy Forces Maritime Defense Industry

POSTED ON WEDNESDAY, 19 MAY 2021 16:23

According to information published by the Australian Government on May 17, 2021, the Royal Australian Navy ship HMAS Ballarat has joined the international effort to enforce United Nations Security Council sanctions on North Korea.

HMAS Ballarat departs Fleet Base West in 2018 (Picture source: Royal Australian Navy)

Ballarat’s support to sanctions enforcement marks the second Australian Defence Force contribution to Operation ARGOS this year. Chief of Joint Operations, Lieutenant General Greg Bilton said Operation ARGOS demonstrated Australia’s commitment to nuclear non-proliferation and global rules-based order.

This is the fifth deployment of a Navy vessel to Operation ARGOS since the operation commenced in 2018. The Australian Defence Force has also deployed a maritime patrol aircraft on eight occasions for Operation ARGOS.

Ballarat is currently on a two-month regional presence deployment throughout Southeast and Northeast Asia.

HMAS Ballarat (FFH 155) is an Anzac-class frigate of the Royal Australian Navy (RAN). The frigate was laid down in 2000 and commissioned into the RAN in mid-2004.

The Anzacs are based on Blohm + Voss' MEKO 200 PN (or Vasco da Gama-class) frigates, modified to meet Australian and New Zealand specifications and maximise the use of locally built equipment. Each frigate has a 3,600-tonne (3,500-long-ton; 4,000-short-ton) full load displacement.

The ships are 109 metres (358 ft) long at the waterline, and 118 metres (387 ft) long overall, with a beam of 14.8 metres (49 ft), and a full load draught of 4.35 metres (14.3 ft).

A Combined Diesel or Gas (CODOG) propulsion machinery layout is used, with a single, 30,172-horsepower (22,499 kW) General Electric LM2500-30 gas turbine and two 8,840-horsepower (6,590 kW) MTU 12V1163 TB83 diesel engines driving the ship's two controllable-pitch propellers. Maximum speed is 27 knots (50 km/h; 31 mph), and maximum range is over 6,000 nautical miles (11,000 km; 6,900 mi) at 18 knots (33 km/h; 21 mph); about 50% greater than other MEKO 200 designs.

The standard ship's company of an Anzac consists of 22 officers and 141 sailors.

The main armament for the frigate is a 5-inch 54 calibre Mark 45 gun, supplemented by an eight-cell Mark 41 vertical launch system (for RIM-7 Sea Sparrow or RIM-162 Evolved Sea Sparrow missiles), two 12.7-millimetre (0.50 in) machine guns, and two Mark 32 triple torpedo tube sets (initially firing Mark 46 torpedoes, but later upgraded to use the MU90 Impact torpedo).

They were also designed for but not with a close-in weapons system (two Mini Typhoons fitted when required from 2005 onwards), two quad-canister Harpoon anti-ship missile launchers (which were installed across the RAN vessels from 2005 onwards), and a second Mark 41 launcher (which has not been added).

https://www.navyrecognition.com/index.php/naval-news/naval-news-archive/2021/may/10167-royal-

australian-navy-s-hms-ballarat-joints-operation-argos.html

Australia and New Zealand should coordinate space

launch capabilities

21 May 2021|Geoff Slocombe

We’re hearing a lot about the need for Australia to develop a sovereign space capability. An article on The Strategist in March warned that Australia risks New Zealand ‘becoming the more commercially attractive location for establishing a launch-dependent space company.’ Shock and horror that the Kiwis should offer something commercially better than anything available in the current Australian business environment.

The NZ launch experience is running several years ahead of Australia with 17 successful launches of 104 small satellites since November 2018 by Rocket Lab’s launch complex on the North Island’s Mahia Peninsula. These 17 Electron rocket loads have included satellites for NASA, US government agencies, universities and corporations, as well as several Australian companies and universities. Rocket Lab’s only failed launches occurred just last week and on 4 July last year. Both incidents appear to have been related to second-stage engines on Electron boosters. Compare this with Australia’s current successful small satellite launch statistics—zip.

So why does Australia need a sovereign launch capability when there’s already a successful one in New Zealand? The answer is very interesting. Rocket Lab’s location is suitable for launching into sun-synchronous low-earth orbits, or LEO, which mean a satellite can cover the entire earth’s surface, in daylight, once every 24 hours. However, without the benefit launch sites on the equator receive from the earth’s rotational speed, the Mahia Peninsula is not suitable to launch satellites into geo-stationary orbits high above the earth, or to achieve long-distance space travel.

If Australia committed to having most of its government-owned small satellites launched by Rocket Lab in New Zealand, what could we offer New Zealand in return? An equatorial launch site in the far north of Australia could boost rocket launch velocity in the direction of the earth’s rotation. The closer a launch site is to the equator, the heavier the payload that can be sent up for the same fuel burn. At the equator, a rocket launch site is travelling through space at 1,670 kilometres per hour, compared with 1,635 km/h at Darwin’s latitude (12o 27’ South), 1,292 km/h at the Mahia Peninsula (39o 26’ South) or 1,319 km/h at NASA’s Wallops Island in Virginia (37o 58’ North). Apart from Rocket Lab’s very sound experience placing small satellites into LEO, it has now developed its Neutron rocket, an advanced 8-tonne payload launch vehicle tailored to launch large constellations of satellites into LEO, or with lighter payloads for geostationary or interplanetary missions and human spaceflight.

Rocket Lab says Neutron will also launch larger civil, defence and commercial payloads that need a level of schedule control and high-flight cadence not available on large and heavy lift rockets. Neutron will be capable of lifting 98% of all satellites forecast to launch through 2029 and will be able to lower costs by leveraging Electron’s heritage, launch sites and architecture.

If Australia and New Zealand combine capabilities, they could use an Australian launch site near the equator. Both countries will be able to despatch heavy Neutron payloads when required. Rocket Lab’s LC-1A and new LC-1B will enable it to increase the frequency of launches to around 120 per year. It’s licensed for a launch every 72 hours. Rocket Lab New Zealand can launch satellites of up to 300 kilograms from its two co-located complexes. Multiple satellites can be delivered into orbit in a single launch, with individual satellites released from Rocket Lab’s Proton spacecraft on top of the Electron two-stage rocket.

Rocket Lab was founded in 2007 by New Zealand engineer Peter Beck. In 2013 it became a US corporation called Rocket Lab USA and attracted a lot of working capital. Rocket Lab USA has set up a launch complex at NASA’s Wallops Flight Facility, which is expected to serve primarily government customers.

Earlier this year, Royal Australian Air Force chief Air Marshal Mel Hupfeld revealed planning was well underway for a new ‘space command’ within the RAAF. The RAAF’s head of capability, Air Vice-Marshal Catherine Roberts, now responsible for designing and shaping air and space power for the joint force, becomes the inaugural head of this new command in January 2022.

Two of its key responsibilities will be protecting satellites used by the Australian Defence Force and its allies for operations, and the establishment of an Australian sovereign constellation of small communications satellites through Joint Project 9102. Roberts will no doubt also be closely involved with development of Defence’s surveillance satellites.

The numerous satellite launches already planned could provide commercial opportunities for Australian companies.

Editor’s note: An earlier version of this story said Rocket Lab had experienced one launch failure. The article has been updated to include one that occurred on 15 May.

https://www.aspistrategist.org.au/australia-and-new-zealand-should-coordinate-space-launch-

capabilities/

New Clashes Between Myanmar’s Military and Ethnic Armies Exacerbates Refugee

Crisis Fighting in recent weeks has displaced some 45,000 civilians in Chin and Kachin states.

2021-05-20

At least 10 military junta troops were killed and around 20 critically wounded in five clashes over the last two days in Myanmar’s Chin state, militia groups said Thursday, while tens of thousands of civilians have fled and are living in dire conditions as fighting has intensified in the region.

Four of the engagements took place in Chin’s Hakha township, killing and injuring regime soldiers, a Hakha-based Chin-land Defense Force (CDF) spokesman told RFA’s Myanmar Service.

The first occurred when CDF forces entered Lot Klone village on May 18 and were fired on by the junta troops, while the second took place the following morning, when a CDF unit ambushed soldiers on Matupi Road, killing seven, he said.

“This morning [Thursday] we heard from sources close to the area that more than 10 troops were killed and more than 20 injured,” the spokesman said.

Additionally, the CDF reported, a clash took place at a security checkpoint near Hakha University on May 18 and another near the intersection of Hakha Thar 6 and Hakha-Gangaw Roads the same day. On the evening of May 19, the military set fire to more than 30 motorbikes owned by Hakha CDF members, the group said, although no casualties were suffered.

In Chin’s nearby Mindat township, the Mindat People’s Administration (MPA) militia said it engaged with regime troops on May 19 between mile markers 40 and 50 on Mindat-Matupi Road, killing three junta soldiers, including a sergeant.

As of Thursday, the military had yet to confirm details of any of the clashes in Chin state, where soldiers are battling volunteer militias wielding mostly home-made weapons more than three months after it overthrew the country’s elected government in a Feb. 1 coup and reinstated junta rule.

Za Op Ling, deputy executive director of the Chin Human Rights Organization (CHRO), told RFA that more than 35,000 civilians from Chin

state have fled their homes since the attack on Lot Klone village—15,000 of whom have crossed Myanmar’s border into India’s Mizoram state.

“Whenever there is a clash, the soldiers later search every house and make arrests,” he said.

“Their main target is young people, so all the youths have fled to nearby villages. Some escaped to the Indian border. All this happened mostly in Mindat and at least 8,000 people have fled from the township alone.”

Za Op Ling said that local authorities in Mizoram state have asked India’s central government to provide assistance to the refugees from Myanmar.

A resident of Mindat confirmed that the township is nearly deserted after the military “opened fire with heavy artillery,” killing several residents.

“In this kind of situation, it isn’t possible for people to live in the town. It’s not safe to stay at home at all,” she said.

“People just fled to nearby forests or villages. The young people from our village have helped some of the refugees. Now there are only some elderly people left in the town, most of whom are trapped.”

Around 3,000 people taking shelter in four villages in Mindat township are currently facing food shortages due to logistical difficulties and with water and power cut off, according to a local aid worker.

A member of the Mindat CDF, which is helping the refugees, said the group plans to ask the United Nations refugee agency for help in distributing food and other necessities.

A spokesman for the U.N. Secretary-General said in a statement on Tuesday that that the UN Office for Human Rights is investigating reports of arbitrary detentions, including the killing of six people in Mindat over the weekend.

The Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights said at least 797 civilians, including dozens of children, have been killed by security forces since the latest military coup, while more than a thousand civilians have been injured.

The fighting in Mindat over the weekend prompted Physicians for Human Rights (PHR) on Thursday to condemn the military’s blocking of humanitarian and medical aid and access to clean water.

“The reports out of Mindat … expose the horrifying reality of ongoing violence against tens of thousands of civilians in Mindat by the Myanmar military,” the group said.

“These actions further echo the unconscionable actions and severe breaches of international human rights law perpetrated by the Tatmadaw since the group seized power in a February 1 coup d’etat,” it said, using the Burmese name for the military.

“Physicians for Human Rights is appalled by the Myanmar military’s unlawful implementation of martial law in Mindat, who has pushed civilians into Mindat’s surrounding jungles to escape detention, and the reported obstruction in access to clean drinking water.”

The group noted that the fighting has left women and children in Mindat vulnerable to tactics of war it said the military regularly employs, including sexual and gender-based violence.

https://www.rfa.org/english/news/myanmar/clashes-05202021195632.html

Myanmar coup latest: Electoral body to dissolve

Suu Kyi's party - media

Military lifts age limit for Min Aung Hlaing post

News outlet Myanmar Now said in a tweet on May 21 that Myanmar's election commission Chair Thein Soe stated

the regime will prosecute National League for Democracy leaders as "traitors." © Reuters

Nikkei staff writersMay 17, 2021 10:10 JSTUpdated on May 21, 2021 15:53 JST

YANGON/BANGKOK -- Myanmar's military on Feb. 1 detained State

Counselor Aung San Suu Kyi and President Win Myint in the country's first

coup since 1988, bringing an end to a decade of civilian rule.

The Suu Kyi-led National League for Democracy had won a landslide in

a general election in November. But the military has claimed the election was

marred by fraud.

https://asia.nikkei.com/Spotlight/Myanmar-Coup/Myanmar-coup-latest-Electoral-body-to-dissolve-Suu-

Kyi-s-party-media

Myanmar troops shell Thai border village

Myanmar troops shelled a Thai border village in Mae Hong Son

province on Thursday, prompting Thai forces to beef up security.

Myanmar’s 341st Battalion troops fired three 60mm shells into Tha Ta Fang

village in Mae Sariang district at around noon, according to local reports.

Villagers fled from the shelling in terror, while damage from the attack is still

being assessed.

Thai forces responded by mobilising heavy weapons – two K120mm mortar

guns – to support frontline soldiers at the neighbouring village of Tha Ta

Kiang.

The shelling by Myanmar troops was retaliation for an attack this morning on

their Da Kawin military base by Karen National Union (KNU) soldiers.

Myanmar forces then threatened to shell Tha Ta Fang village as a suspected

hideout for KNU rebel troops.

https://www.nationthailand.com/in-focus/40001105

Myanmar air force chief in Moscow for military helicopter expo - media reports Reuters 3 minute read

The chief of Myanmar's air force and other military officials are visiting Moscow on Thursday to attend an exhibition displaying combat helicopters, one Russia-focused and one Myanmar-focused news outlet reported.

https://www.reuters.com/world/asia-pacific/myanmar-air-force-chief-moscow-military-helicopter-

expo-media-reports-2021-05-20/

Sanctions Targeting Russia’s Defense Sector: Will They Influence Its Behavior? By John V. Parachini & Ryan Bauer

In response to recent Russian cyber espionage, interference in U.S. elections, and the poisoning

of opposition leader Alexei Navalny, President Biden announced a new round of sanctions and

expulsions of Russian officials. The question is, will these sanctions hurt Russia’s defense

industry enough to curb the Kremlin’s behavior?

The U.S. added 32 entities to the sanctioned entities list of more than 700 Russian individuals,

companies and entities already subject to sanctions. These include sanctions passed following

Russia’s 2014 military takeover of Crimea and aggression in Southeastern Ukraine and 2016

legislation aimed at discouraging countries from purchasing Russian advance conventional

weapons through the Countering America’s Adversaries Through Sanctions Act. While President

Biden indicated that he did not seek an escalatory cycle of actions against Moscow, he has been

much more forceful than his predecessor in calling out the Russian government for its malign

interference in other states.

There are few indications that the cumulative effect of U.S. and E.U. sanctions, expulsions of

diplomats and suspected intelligence offices, and financial restrictions are causing Putin to be

more cautious. After mobilizing more than 100,000 forces at its border with Ukraine, Russia has

pulled back some of the forces, though some of its equipment remains threateningly close to

Ukrainian territory. Putin's participation in the Biden-sponsored climate summit and the

potential summit between the two leaders in June are also signs that Putin may be tempering his

approach to the new American administration. But the Kremlin leader’s track record does not

suggest he will back down and chart a more responsible course.

Ever since Russia’s military aggression in Crimea and Southeastern Ukraine, Putin’s regime has

sought ways to mitigate Western economic pressures. The restrictions on Russia’s ability to

import critical system components and high-performance machine tools will, over time, have a

noteworthy impact on Russia's high-technology manufacturing sector. To lessen the impact of

sanctions on its manufacturing industry, Russia launched a program of import substitution in key

industrial sectors, but it has struggled to achieve its intended goals. One example is Russia's

continued struggle to replace key system components such as engines and composite material for

aircraft wings, which Ukrainian and Western manufacturers previously supplied. This has led to

development delays with both military aircraft, such as Russia's proclaimed Su-57 fifth-

generation fighter and civil aircraft such as Russia's MC-21. Russian Security Council Secretary

Nikolai Patrushev also acknowledged last year that the Russian defense industry “is still

dependent on foreign technologies.”

https://www.realcleardefense.com/articles/2021/05/20/sanctions_targeting_russias_defense_sector_w

ill_they_influence_its_behavior_777935.html

Russian lawmakers vote to follow US out of overflight treaty

Vladimir Isachenkov, The Associated Press

A Russian Air Force Tu-214 flies over Offutt Air Force Base on April 26, 2019, in

Omaha, Neb. The flight is allowed as part of the Open Skies Treaty. (Chris

Machian/Omaha World-Herald via AP)

MOSCOW — The Russian parliament’s lower house voted Wednesday to withdraw from an international treaty allowing surveillance flights over military facilities following the U.S. departure from the pact.

The Russian exit from the Open Skies Treaty is yet to be endorsed by the upper house of parliament and needs to be signed by President Vladimir Putin to take effect. Moscow has signaled its readiness to reverse the withdrawal procedure and stay in the treaty if the United States returns to the agreement.

Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov told Russian lawmakers Wednesday that if the U.S. declares its intention to return to the pact, a “new diplomatic process will start.” He added, however, that he considers that unlikely.

The withdrawal vote came hours before U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov were to hold their first meeting on the sidelines of a gathering of top diplomats from the Arctic countries in Reykjavik, Iceland. They are expected to focus on setting the stage for a planned summit next month between U.S. President Joe Biden and Putin.

The Open Skies Treaty was intended to build trust between Russia and the West by allowing the accord’s more than three dozen signatories to conduct reconnaissance flights over each other’s territories to collect information about military forces and activities. More than 1,500 flights have been conducted under the treaty since it took effect in 2002, aimed at fostering transparency and allowing for the monitoring of arms control and other agreements.

U.S. President Donald Trump pulled out of the pact last year, arguing that Russian violations made it untenable for Washington to remain a party. Washington completed its withdrawal from the treaty in November.

https://www.militarytimes.com/news/pentagon-congress/2021/05/19/russian-lawmakers-vote-to-

follow-us-out-of-overflight-treaty/

Russian Navy to restructure Project 955/955A Borey SSBN deployment

by Tony Roper

Borey (Project 955A)-class nuclear-powered ballistic missile submarine (SSBN) fleet, according to local media reports.

USS Seawolf is pictured visiting Royal Navy base Clyde (Faslane) in Scotland in September 2020. (Tony Roper)

Following Russia's recent ‘Umka 2021' military drills, which took place in March within the Arctic circle, a review is now under way to better place the SSBNs to counteract threats and deployments of NATO forces that operate in the North, Russian newspaper Ivestia reported on 11 May.

Previous information released by the Russian MoD has alluded to the SSBNs primarily being deployed to the 25 th Submarine Division/16 thSubmarine Squadron of the Pacific Fleet, based in Petropavlovsk-Kamchatskiy. However, it now appears that at least one Project 955A not yet commissioned will instead be allocated to the Northern Fleet.

In addition, one of the Project 955As already in service with the 25 thSubmarine Division may also transfer to the Northern Fleet. This would bring the tally of 955s to four for the 31 st Submarine Division/12 thSubmarine Squadron, which is based in Gadzhiyevo, in the Murmansk Oblast. The 12th Submarine Squadron currently operates Yuriy Dolgorukiy (Project 955) and Knyaz Vladimir (Project 955A).

Knyaz Vladimir was one of three submarines that broke through the ice as part of the ‘Umka' exercise. According to the Russian MoD the SSBN operated efficiently and as expected during the event.

It is not yet known which of the remaining SSBNs to be commissioned would be allocated to the Northern Fleet if the reshuffle does take place. Of the completed SSBNs, fifth-of-class Knyaz Oleg is currently undergoing sea trials following its launch in July 2020, while the sixth,

https://www.janes.com/defence-news/news-detail/russian-navy-to-restructure-project-955955a-borey-

ssbn-deployment

Russian Krasnodar submarine passes L-1 qualification mission

Naval News May 2021 Navy Forces Maritime Defense Industry

POSTED ON WEDNESDAY, 19 MAY 2021 11:51

According to information published by Tass on May 18, 2021, the Krasnodar diesel-electric submarine of project 636.3 of the Black Sea fleet passed the L-1 qualification mission, which provides the initial permission for submariners to fulfill the assigned missions, the Defense Ministry said. Follow Navy Recognition on Google News at this link

The Krasnodar submarine is a Russian diesel-electric submarine of project 636.3 Varshavianka built-in 2014. Krasnodar laid down 20 February 2014 at the Admiralty Shipyard, Saint Petersburg (yard No.01673), launched 25 April 2015, commissioned 05 November 2015.

Kilo-class is the NATO reporting name for a type of military diesel-electric submarines that are made in Russia. The original version of these vessels is designated in Russia Project 877 "Paltus" (Turbot). There is also a more advanced version, which is designated in the west Improved Kilo and in Russia as Project 06363. Nicknamed the “Black Hole” submarine by the U.S. Navy, the Improved Kilos are extremely quiet.

The ships are powered by two diesel generators and an electric drive, giving them enough power to make ten knots at the surface and seventeen knots underwater. They are not fast submarines. They have a range of six thousand to 7500 nautical miles. The ship has a rubbery anechoic coating to deaden noise emanating from the submarine, which occasionally gives the submarines a blocky appearance noticeable in photographs. The sensor suite consists of the MGK-400 Rubikon (Shark Gill) low-frequency active and passive radar suite with a passive hull array. It also has an MG519 Mouse Roar high-frequency radar for target classification and mine avoidance. For simple surface navigation and search the Kilos are equipped with the MRK-50 Albatros radar.

Submarines have six torpedo tubes of standard 533-millimeter diameter and were originally configured to carry homing torpedoes and eighteen SS-N-15A Starfish antisubmarine missiles. On the Improved Kilos, two of the torpedo tubes are capable of firing wire-guided torpedoes. One major improvement of Project 06363 is the ability to launch Kalibr cruise missiles. Kalibr is a versatile class of missiles with land-attack, antiship, and antisubmarine warfare versions.

https://www.navyrecognition.com/index.php/naval-news/naval-news-archive/2021/may/10165-

russian-krasnodar-submarine-passes-l-1-qualification-mission.html

Russia will start supplying S-400 missile to India in Q4 -Interfax Reuters 1 minute read

Russian S-400 missile air defence systems are seen during a training exercise at a military base in Kaliningrad region, Russia August 11, 2020. REUTERS/Vitaly Nevar

Russia will start supplying its S-400 surface-to-air missile systems to India in the fourth quarter, the Interfax news agency quoted Russian state arms exporter Rosoboronexport as saying on Thursday. https://www.reuters.com/world/india/russia-will-start-supplying-s-400-missile-india-q4-interfax-2021-

05-20/

Russia calls for military meeting of

Arctic states as tensions rise Lavrov proposes gathering of general staffs of the eight countries.

Twenty five F-35A Lightning IIs assemble on the flight line prior to taking off during an exercise at Eielson Air Force

Base, Alaska on April 7. (Photo courtesy of the U.S. Air Force)

May 21, 2021 01:50 JST

COPENHAGEN (Reuters) -- Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov on

Thursday urged Arctic states to resume high-level military meetings amid

growing tension in the region and expressed concern about the deployment of

foreign troops in Norway near the Russian border.

As a warming climate is opening up the Arctic for shipping, fishing, drilling

and mining, Russia has beefed up its military presence there and the United

States is carrying out more naval exercises.

"It is important to extend the positive relations that we have within the Arctic

Council to encompass the military sphere as well," Lavrov said in a speech at

an Arctic Council meeting in Reykjavik.

Military matters are not covered by the Arctic Council, which was created in

1996 to establish peaceful dialogue between Arctic states and indigenous

people on issues such as environmental protection and sustainable

development.

On Monday, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken accused Russia of

unlawful maritime claims in the Arctic.

Annual meetings between armed forces chiefs from Arctic states were halted

in 2014 following Russia's annexation of Crimea. Russia has not participated

in another forum, the Arctic Security Forces Roundtable, since 2014.

Lavrov proposed starting with a meeting of military experts from the general

staffs of the eight Arctic countries.

Russia takes over the chairmanship of the Arctic Council this year.

Lavrov also voiced concern over NATO-member Norway, which shares a short

border with Russia and last month allowed the United States to build facilities

at three Norwegian airfields and a naval base.

"We are concerned about what is going on close to our border with Norway,"

Lavrov said.

Relations between Norway and Russia gradually improved in the post-Cold

War era before suffering a setback when Moscow annexed Crimea. That led to

a military build-up on both sides of the border and more frequent military

maneuvers.

https://asia.nikkei.com/Politics/International-relations/Russia-calls-for-military-meeting-of-Arctic-

states-as-tensions-rise

Russian fighter intercepts U.S. bomber before Lavrov-Blinken meeting (Xinhua) 09:11, May 20, 2021

File photo of a Russian Su-27 fighter

The U.S. bomber was approaching Russia's sovereign airspace over the neutral waters of the Baltic Sea. MOSCOW, May 19 (Xinhua) -- A Russian Su-27 fighter intercepted a B-52H strategic bomber of the U.S. Air Force over the Baltic Sea on Wednesday, the Russian Defense Ministry said. The Russian jet escorted the U.S. plane, which was approaching Russia's sovereign airspace over the neutral waters of the Baltic Sea, until the B-52H changed its course and left. http://en.people.cn/n3/2021/0520/c90000-9851991.html

NATO Maritime Commander: Allies Are Coming Up With Modern Littoral Warfare Concepts, and NATO Needs to Exercise Them

By: Megan Eckstein

May 20, 2021 1:13 PM

• The head of NATO’s maritime force says amphibious operations will play a big role in any future combat or crisis response scenario – but he wants to move beyond old notions of what an amphibious operation really is. Royal Navy Vice Adm. Keith Blount, commander of NATO’s Allied Maritime Command (MARCOM), said this week that amphibious operations often bring to mind images of the battle of Iwo Jima or the World War II movie “Saving Private Ryan.” But he highlighted three countries’ new amphibious concepts that are attractive options to him and make best use of emerging technologies like unmanned systems, cyber, electronic warfare, networks and more – and, coincidentally or not, don’t feature the word “amphibious” in their names. Blount first highlighted the U.S. Marine Corps’ new naval expeditionary warfighting concept, Expeditionary Advanced Base Operations. “I think is particularly attractive and interesting – and actually quite distinct in the way that it sets various forms of capability apart but nevertheless threads them together. It’s not a linear form of warfighting, it’s a very dispersed, nonlinear approach to warfighting to deliver to the adversary a number of different effects that range from simply influence right away to kinetic fires. And it uses within it a lot of terms that we would be familiar with, but the word ‘amphibious’ doesn’t really appear.” Blount also highlighted “the United Kingdom’s own Littoral Strike idea and its Future Commando Force orientated around Littoral Strike Groups or Littoral Response groups that will be deployed dispersed in a persistent way, whether in support of NATO operations further east or south. It blends some traditional thinking around amphibiosity with fifth-gen

firepower, which immediately draws the attention of the capability to the most modern form of warfighting that we have, capable of interdicting and ultimately dispatching anti-access and area-denial systems.” And third, he mentioned the Netherlands’ new approach, which “talks about the three-landscape model: the human, the physical and the information landscapes.” “It identifies key points that need to be penetrated or interdicted,” Blount said. Additionally, he said, it includes mobile cyber teams that can be an advance force and go deep into enemy territory to set up cyber networks, which Blount said is a niche capability today but could become the way of doing things in the future.

https://news.usni.org/2021/05/20/nato-maritime-commander-allies-are-coming-up-with-modern-

littoral-warfare-concepts-and-nato-needs-to-exercise-them

Iron Dome sustains interception rate

by Yaakov Lappin

The Iron Dome air defence system has maintained “an intercept rate of approximately 90%” during the latest conflict with militants in the Gaza Strip, the Israel Defense Forces said on 20 May.

Iron Dome launchers in southern Israeli fire Tamir interceptors (left) against a barrage of rockets coming from the Gaza Strip, the contrails of which can be seen (right) on the night of 14 May. (Anas Baba/AFP via Getty Images)

It added that the militants have launched 4,070 rockets at Israel in the 10 days since the fighting escalated on 10 May, making this by far the most intense fire Iron Dome has faced since it entered service in 2011. In contrast, around 4,500 rockets were launched at Israel during the 49-day conflict in 2014.

The IDF did not state how many rockets have been intercepted, although it noted that 610 failed and landed inside the Gaza Strip.

The 90% figure refers to successful engagements where Iron Dome launched interceptors at rockets that it assessed to be heading towards areas designated for protection. It ignores those heading towards unprotected areas.

Both Hamas and Islamic Jihad unveiled new types of rockets with longer ranges and/or heavier warheads during the conflict and appeared to be attempting to saturate Israel’s air defences by launching more than a hundred at one area in a short space of time.

Multiple rockets have penetrated Israel’s air defences to hit Israeli population centres where they have killed at least 10 civilians and seriously injured more than 100. That contrasts with six civilians killed in 2014.

https://www.janes.com/defence-news/news-detail/iron-dome-sustains-interception-rate

Why does the UK want more nuclear weapons?

20 May 2021|Wyn Rees and Azriel Bermant

In March, the United Kingdom took many nuclear policy experts by surprise with its announcement that it was increasing the cap on its nuclear stockpile from 225 to 260 warheads. This reversal of decades of reductions of the UK’s nuclear stockpile was spelled out in the government’s ‘integrated review’ of security and defence policy. When Britain obtained the Trident D5 missile from the United States in the early 1980s, the capability exceeded UK military needs and the decision was taken not to deploy the maximum number of warheads on the missile. The Trident submarines could carry more warheads and strike more accurately than the UK believed was necessary.

The size of the UK nuclear force has been guided over the years by considerations of what constitutes a ‘minimum deterrent’. The UK has sought to put a certain number of enemy targets at risk.

Missile defences around Moscow led the UK to improve the penetrability of its former Polaris missile under the ‘Chevaline’ program in the 1970s to ensure that its warheads could pierce those defences. The size of the UK’s deterrent has been gauged in concert with the much larger US capability. The UK and its allies have historically been concerned that the US might be reluctant to use its nuclear forces in defence of its allies and have believed it necessary to possess a ‘second centre of decision-making’ in which their own weapons could be used in a supreme national emergency.

The British government says the decision to expand its nuclear stockpile is driven by a deterioration in the strategic landscape and technological threats. Russia has been overhauling its nuclear forces since 2007 and investing in new technologies such as underwater nuclear drones and hypersonic missiles. China has been increasing its nuclear capabilities and its current hostility towards Taiwan increases the risk of a China–US confrontation.

In addition, the UK is mindful of the need to deter newly proliferating countries as well as novel threats such as cyberattacks. The UK has committed to replacing its four Trident submarines with a new generation of vessels to preserve its deterrent into the 2050s.

The surprise for some is that Russian improvements in missile defences have played a key role in the UK’s decision. Western intelligence has been monitoring Russia’s comprehensive upgrade of its missile defences around Moscow and neighbouring areas, and it’s not the first time that anti-

ballistic missile improvements around the Russian capital have influenced UK strategic thinking.

Recently declassified papers in Britain and the US demonstrate that such concerns were being expressed as far back as the early 1980s and even resulted in a spat between Margaret Thatcher’s government and Ronald Reagan’s administration, something we discuss in more depth in this article in the Journal of Strategic Studies. The main cause of those tensions was the determination of the Reagan administration to move ahead with its Strategic Defense Initiative (SDI).

https://www.aspistrategist.org.au/why-does-the-uk-want-more-nuclear-weapons/

The UN Struggles to Make Progress on Securing Cyberspace

ARINDRAJIT BASU, IRENE POETRANTO, JUSTIN LAU

The stability of global financial, healthcare, and security systems is increasingly

at risk from cyber threats. As more critical infrastructure and industrial control

systems are connected to the internet, a growing number of state and nonstate

actors have developed, purchased, and deployed tools, weapons, and strategies to

deter and disrupt cyberspace. The WannaCry, NotPetya, and SolarWinds hacks

represent a few examples of recent cyber attacks with significant geopolitical

consequences. In addition, the coronavirus pandemic has precipitated new

attacks against critical medical organizations (such as ransomware attacks

against hospitals).

Businesses and government agencies around the world, including

in Georgia, India, Iran, Israel, and the United States, have reportedly been

compromised by state-sponsored cyber attacks. Receiving less media attention

is civil society, which faces the same persistent threats experienced by states and

major corporations, yet lacks the resources needed to defend itself. These trends

illustrate that the proliferation of information technologies that facilitate digital

attacks is threatening the security and integrity of the internet, as well as internet

users’ safety and privacy, which should be of concern to governments worldwide. Arindrajit Basu

Arindrajit Basu is the research lead at the Centre for Internet and Society, India,

where he focuses on the geopolitics and constitutionality of emerging technologies. He is a lawyer by training and holds a BA, LLB (Hons) degree from

the National University of Juridical Sciences, Kolkata, and an LLM in public international law from the University of Cambridge.

UN member states have attempted to devise rules for responsible state behavior

in cyberspace to help maintain international peace and security. The most recent

initiative, the UN Open Ended Working Group (OEWG) on Information and

Communication Technologies (ICTs)—created by a Russia-sponsored

resolution—resulted in the adoption of a consensus report in March 2021.

Unfortunately, long-standing disagreements between countries on the need for a

global, interoperable, and open internet have resulted in a consensus report that

largely fails to deliver on the OEWG’s key objectives, namely, to address the root

causes of global cyber instability today. Consequently, the international system

remains beset by a lack of accountability and inadequate safeguards for civilians

and critical infrastructure, leading to unpredictability and harmful outcomes.

The OEWG is not the first attempt by UN member states to create common rules

of the road for cyberspace. As far back as 1999, Russia proposed a set of

“principles of international information security” to the UN secretary general but

it received little support. In 2004, the UN established a Group of Governmental

Experts (GGE) to develop norms of responsible state behavior in cyberspace. Six

subsequent GGEs have been established thus far, including the GGE in 2019–

2021, which was created by a U.S.-sponsored resolution. The most notable

development stemming from the GGE process was the adoption of a consensus

report in 2013 outlining a set of foundational norms for the governance of

cyberspace (or “cyber norms” for short) and reaffirming that international law,

state sovereignty, and human rights apply to cyberspace. The GGE’s 2015

report elaborated on the principle of nonintervention in other states’ internal

affairs and emphasized that states should protect their own critical infrastructure

and should refrain from carrying out cyber attacks that damage critical

infrastructure. These developments have served as a basic framework for

subsequent cyber norm discussions, including those at the OEWG.

https://carnegieendowment.org/2021/05/19/un-struggles-to-make-progress-on-securing-cyberspace-

pub-84491

SOFTWARE-DEFINED TACTICS AND

GREAT POWER COMPETITION MAY 19, 2021 GUEST AUTHOR LEAVE A COMMENT

By LT Sean Lavelle, USN

There are two components to military competency: understanding and proficiency. To execute a task, like driving a ship, one must first understand the fundamentals and theory—the rules of navigation, how the weather impacts performance, how a ship’s various controls impact its movement. Understanding is stable and military personnel forget the fundamentals slowly. Learning those fundamentals, though, does not eliminate the need to practice. Failing to practice tasks like maneuvering the ship in congested waters or evaluating potential contacts of interest will quickly degrade operational proficiency.

In the coming decades, human understanding of warfighting concepts will still be paramount to battlefield success. Realistic initial training and high-end force-on-force exercises will be critical to building that understanding. However, warfighters cross-trained as software developers will make it far easier to retain proficiency without as much rote, expensive practice. Their parent units will train them to make basic applications, and they will use these skills to translate their hard-won combat understanding into a permanent proficiency available to anyone with the most recent software update.

These applications, called software-defined tactics, will alert tacticians to risk and opportunity on the battlefield, ensuring they can consistently hit the enemy’s weak points while minimizing their own vulnerabilities. They will speed force-wide learning by orders of magnitude, create uniformly high-performing units, and increase scalability of conventional forces. https://cimsec.org/software-defined-tactics-and-great-power-competition/

Apple criticised for storing data inside China

Published

However it said it had "never compromised the security" of either its customers or their data. Apple said it was complying with Chinese law about the data storage of its nationals. However, one expert told the BBC it was effectively "handing over the keys" to the Chinese government by doing this. China has long been accused of using technology to track its citizens and for the

purpose of mass surveillance. "I would have been uncomfortable a long time ago [using Apple products] if I were critical of the Chinese government," said Prof Michael Posner, a former Obama administration official, and director of the Centre for Business and Human Rights at New York University. "I would have no confidence that there is any privacy in anything that I'm putting up on the cloud using an Apple product." By housing the encrypted data in servers inside the country, Apple was "playing by Chinese rules", he added. Apple said it complied with the laws of all the countries in which it has a presence. "We retain control of the encryption keys for our users' data, and every new data centre we build affords us the opportunity to use Apple's most cutting-edge hardware and security technologies to protect those keys," it said in a statement. "In addition, we handle law enforcement requests in China through the appropriate legal process, just like we do everywhere else, and we regularly and transparently report the instances when we are compelled to provide user information." https://www.bbc.com/news/technology-57186275

Preference for brands causing delay in vax program

By Lade Jean Kabagani May 20, 2021, 7:41 pm

e GUARANTEED SAFE. Health Secretary Francisco Duque III administers the Pfizer Covid-19 vaccine to 87-year-old dialysis patient Juana Ramos at the Makati Medical Center on Thursday (May 13, 2021). Local government units are now prohibited from announcing what brands will be available. (PNA photo by Robert Oswald P. Alfiler)

MANILA – Waiting for a preferred brand will delay the Covid-19 immunization program, thus Pasay City’s expression of support to the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) order that local government units (LGUs) should no longer announce what brands will be used.

In a statement on Thursday, Mayor Emi Calixto-Rubiano appealed to Pasay residents to continue supporting the national vaccination program "to finally halt the Covid-19 pandemic".

"Ang paghihintay at pamimili po kasi sa bakuna ang nagiging dahilan kung bakit mabagal ang rollout at kung magpapatuloy ito ay matatagalan bago natin maabot ang herd immunity (Waiting and selecting vaccine brands are the reasons why the rollout is slowed down and achieving herd immunity will be delayed if this will continue)," she said.

Rubiano emphasized that all Covid-19 vaccines, regardless of brands, are safe and effective.

"Wala tayong dapat ipag-alala at ang mga ito po ay aprubado ng mga eksperto at siyentipiko mula sa ibang bansa (We don't have to worry because all of these are approved by the experts and scientists from different countries)," she said. “The best vaccine is the one that is available.”

DILG Secretary Eduardo Año said LGUs should not announce the brand of vaccine to be used to overcome brand preference among vaccinees.

The city government has also started offering home service vaccination for bedridden senior citizens and those with comorbidities.

Pasay’s “Vacc to the Future: Home Service” will visit residents who want to be inoculated but cannot go to sites due to their vulnerabilities.

Those who wish to avail of the service may request for an appointment at their village health centers. (PNA)

https://www.pna.gov.ph/articles/1140990

India battles rash of "black fungus" cases hitting COVID-19 patients Manas Mishra 3 minute read

A man suffering from coronavirus disease (COVID-19) receives treatment as a Syringe Infusion Pump, donated by France is seen next to his bed, inside the emergency room of Safdarjung Hospital in New Delhi, India, May 7, 2021. REUTERS/Adnan Abidi

India has ordered tighter surveillance of a rare fungal disease hitting COVID-19 patients, officials said on Thursday, piling pressure on hospitals struggling with the world's highest number of daily infections of the novel coronavirus. https://www.reuters.com/world/india/india-battles-rash-black-fungus-cases-hitting-covid-19-patients-

2021-05-20/

A new coronavirus that usually infects canines is

found in a pneumonia patient in Malaysia

• Report in the medical journal Clinical Infectious Diseases identifies case in 2018 among hospital patients in Sibu and Kapit

• The study also features a new approach to detect viruses and to try to prevent them from evolving into ones that cause pandemics

A new type of coronavirus that could infect humans was confirmed in at least one pneumonia patient hospitalised in 2018 in the Malaysian state of Sarawak, a medical journal reports.

The virus was the first canine coronavirus to have been isolated in a human patient, according to a paper by an international team of scientists – including those from the US, Malaysia and China – published in the journal Clinical Infectious Diseases on Thursday.

The virus was discovered in a project by researchers from Duke University and Malaysia studying causes of pneumonia and building viral detection capacity in Sarawak, according to Dr Gregory Gray, an infectious disease epidemiologist at Duke.

https://www.scmp.com/news/china/science/article/3134113/new-coronavirus-usually-infects-canines-

found-pneumonia-patient

Mapping the Coronavirus Outbreak Across the World

Updated: May 21, 2021, 3:20 PM GMT+8

Brazil 2,112 75,577 N/A N/A

U.K. 1,956 68,326 2,542.7 2.5

U.S. 1,782 100,091 1,312.8 2.8

France 1,602 88,434 N/A 6.0

Germany 1,085 45,331 722.5 8.0

Russia 813 34,647 917.0 8.1

India 222 19,848 238.7 0.5

Japan 95 5,620 98.6 13.1

Mainland China 3 65 N/A 4.3

Testing data as of May 17, 2021, 11:33 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 165 million people and killed more than 3.4 millionglobally 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

165,555,850

Confirmed cases worldwide

3,430,955

Deaths worldwide

Jurisdictions with cases confirmed as of May 21, 2021, 3:20 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. 588,539 33,056,860

Brazil 444,094 15,894,094

India 291,331 26,031,991

Mexico 221,080 2,390,140

U.K. 127,963 4,471,065

Italy 124,810 4,178,261

Russia 115,393 4,917,906

France 108,343 5,979,099

Germany 87,144 3,640,687

Colombia 83,233 3,177,212

Spain 79,601 3,631,661

Iran 77,994 2,804,632

Where deaths have

occurred Deaths Cases

Argentina 72,699 3,447,044

Poland 72,500 2,861,351

Peru 67,253 1,910,360

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.

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

Covid map: Coronavirus cases, deaths, vaccinations by country

By The Visual and Data Journalism Team BBC News

Covid-19 is continuing to spread around the world, with more than 160 million

confirmed cases and three million deaths across nearly 200 countries.

The US, India and Brazil have seen the highest number of confirmed cases, followed by France, Turkey, Russia and the UK. Very few places have been left untouched.

In the table below, countries can be reordered by deaths, death rate and total cases. In the coloured bars on the right-hand side, countries in which cases have risen to more than 10,000 per day are those with black bars on the relevant date.

Scroll table to see more data

*Deaths per 100,000 people

Filter:

Country Deaths Death rate* Total Cases

New Cases

0

10

100

1k

10k

**

US 583,366 178.3 32,792,530 JAN 2020

MAY 2021

Brazil 435,751 208.0 15,627,243

India 274,390 20.3 24,965,463

Mexico 220,437 174.7 2,381,923

UK 127,679 190.2 4,450,777

Italy 124,156 204.8 4,159,122

Country Deaths Death rate* Total Cases

New Cases

0

10

100

1k

10k

**

Russia 113,927 78.2 4,883,734

France 107,616 165.6 5,877,787

Germany 86,166 103.7 3,602,939

Colombia 81,300 163.7 3,118,426

Spain 79,339 169.9 3,604,799

Iran 76,936 94.1 2,751,166

Poland 71,664 189.0 2,854,079

Argentina 70,522 159.0 3,307,285

Peru 66,220 207.0 1,889,052

South Africa 55,210 95.5 1,613,728

Ukraine 50,128 113.3 2,212,511

Indonesia 48,093 18.0 1,739,750

Turkey 44,760 54.4 5,117,374

Czech Republic 29,901 280.3 1,652,840

Romania 29,523 151.4 1,071,899

Hungary 29,175 300.5 798,147

Chile 27,832 148.6 1,286,548

Canada 24,904 67.2 1,335,782

Belgium 24,709 215.2 1,031,923

Ecuador 19,699 115.3 410,129

Pakistan 19,617 9.2 880,362

Philippines 19,191 18.0 1,143,963

Netherlands 17,466 102.4 1,599,761

Bulgaria 17,259 244.8 414,192

Portugal 17,007 165.8 842,182

Iraq 15,954 41.5 1,139,373

Egypt 14,327 14.6 245,721

Sweden 14,275 143.2 1,037,126

Bolivia 13,517 119.1 332,567

Slovakia 12,224 224.2 387,523

Bangladesh 12,149 7.5 780,159

Tunisia 11,849 102.5 326,572

Japan 11,471 9.0 685,135

Greece 11,415 108.5 377,090

Switzerland 10,731 125.9 679,510

Austria 10,474 117.8 637,097

Jordan 9,259 92.9 724,154

Country Deaths Death rate* Total Cases

New Cases

0

10

100

1k

10k

**

Morocco 9,098 25.3 514,944

Bosnia and

Herzegovina 8,981 270.2 202,143

Guatemala 7,887 45.7 241,369

Croatia 7,708 185.4 350,390

Lebanon 7,620 111.1 535,753

Paraguay 7,596 109.2 313,527

Saudi Arabia 7,162 21.3 433,094

Serbia 6,681 95.7 706,458

Israel 6,382 76.1 839,119

Panama 6,296 150.7 370,877

Moldova 6,027 148.7 253,845

Honduras 5,960 62.2 226,719

North Macedonia 5,211 250.2 154,698

Nepal 5,001 17.8 455,020

Ireland 4,941 102.5 254,870

China 4,846 0.3 102,746

Azerbaijan 4,779 48.0 329,843

Georgia 4,442 111.0 330,375

Slovenia 4,324 208.1 249,310

Armenia 4,323 146.5 220,860

Lithuania 4,103 146.5 265,536

Ethiopia 3,996 3.7 266,264

Dominican Republic 3,582 33.7 277,188

Costa Rica 3,547 70.9 282,741

Uruguay 3,459 100.3 240,512

Palestinian Territories 3,428 70.5 303,827

Kazakhstan 3,400 18.6 414,345

Algeria 3,374 8.0 125,311

Myanmar 3,212 6.0 143,065

Libya 3,088 46.2 181,410

Kenya 3,003 5.8 165,465

Afghanistan 2,742 7.4 63,484

Belarus 2,701 28.6 376,341

Denmark 2,502 43.5 266,503

Sudan 2,446 5.9 34,889

Albania 2,432 84.4 132,015

Country Deaths Death rate* Total Cases

New Cases

0

10

100

1k

10k

**

Venezuela 2,396 8.3 215,301

Latvia 2,266 117.5 127,978

Kosovo 2,230 120.8 106,506

Oman 2,193 45.4 205,511

El Salvador 2,187 34.1 71,479

Nigeria 2,066 1.1 165,709

South Korea 1,903 3.7 132,290

Malaysia 1,902 6.0 470,110

Kyrgyzstan 1,711 27.1 100,732

Syria 1,698 10.0 23,738

Kuwait 1,693 40.9 291,629

United Arab Emirates 1,631 16.9 546,182

Zimbabwe 1,582 11.0 38,560

Montenegro 1,561 248.6 98,852

Yemen 1,289 4.5 6,543

Zambia 1,260 7.3 92,436

Estonia 1,222 92.4 127,053

Malawi 1,153 6.4 34,214

Cameroon 1,152 4.6 74,946

Senegal 1,125 7.1 40,850

Sri Lanka 962 4.5 142,746

Finland 931 16.9 90,105

Australia 910 3.7 29,978

Jamaica 860 29.3 47,319

Mozambique 826 2.8 70,442

Luxembourg 806 133.4 68,922

Cuba 804 7.1 124,454

Ghana 783 2.6 93,243

DR Congo 776 0.9 30,562

Norway 774 14.5 119,299

Madagascar 763 2.9 40,141

Botswana 761 33.8 49,656

Somalia 753 5.0 14,486

Bahrain 746 47.5 200,977

Namibia 718 29.3 51,218

Eswatini 672 59.1 18,520

Uzbekistan 668 2.1 96,670

Country Deaths Death rate* Total Cases

New Cases

0

10

100

1k

10k

**

Angola 659 2.1 30,637

Thailand 614 0.9 111,082

Qatar 530 19.1 213,183

Mali 511 2.7 14,190

Mauritania 457 10.4 18,828

Malta 417 94.9 30,480

Uganda 347 0.8 42,779

Cyprus 346 29.1 71,064

Rwanda 344 2.8 26,141

Guyana 341 43.8 15,271

Belize 323 84.3 12,714

Lesotho 320 15.2 10,790

Ivory Coast 298 1.2 46,656

Trinidad and Tobago 285 20.5 16,255

Haiti 271 2.4 13,393

Cape Verde 249 45.8 28,168

Guadeloupe 236 59.0 15,429

Suriname 228 39.6 11,950

Bahamas 216 56.0 11,024

Mongolia 214 6.8 49,175

Niger 192 0.9 5,333

Nicaragua 184 2.8 7,086

Gambia 175 7.7 5,940

Chad 173 1.1 4,904

Mayotte 171 65.9 20,176

Réunion 169 19.1 22,644

Burkina Faso 164 0.8 13,397

Cambodia 154 0.9 22,544

Guinea 151 1.2 22,746

Djibouti 151 15.7 11,434

Congo 148 2.8 11,343

Comoros 146 17.5 3,863

Gabon 143 6.7 23,799

French Polynesia 141 50.8 18,815

Papua New Guinea 136 1.6 13,707

Andorra 127 164.9 13,510

Togo 125 1.6 13,275

Country Deaths Death rate* Total Cases

New Cases

0

10

100

1k

10k

**

Curaçao 120 73.7 12,254

South Sudan 115 1.0 10,652

Equatorial Guinea 112 8.6 7,694

French Guiana 108 38.2 21,465

Aruba 104 98.3 10,854

Benin 101 0.9 7,995

Maldives 97 18.8 44,523

Central African

Republic 95 2.0 6,866

Gibraltar 94 278.8 4,286

Tajikistan 90 1.0 13,308

San Marino 90 266.4 5,083

Martinique 87 23.2 11,490

Channel Islands 86 50.4 4,057

Liberia 85 1.8 2,114

Sierra Leone 79 1.0 4,107

Saint Lucia 75 41.2 4,818

Guinea-Bissau 67 3.6 3,746

Liechtenstein 58 153.0 2,985

Barbados 46 16.0 3,967

Vietnam 37 0.0 4,212

Sao Tome and Principe 35 16.6 2,327

Antigua and Barbuda 33 34.3 1,241

Seychelles 32 33.0 9,184

Monaco 32 82.7 2,493

Bermuda 32 51.0 2,466

Singapore 31 0.5 61,585

Iceland 29 8.6 6,537

Isle of Man 29 34.5 1,590

Saint Martin 27 72.5 2,282

New Zealand 26 0.5 2,651

Tanzania 21 0.0 509

Turks and Caicos

Islands 17 45.1 2,404

Mauritius 17 1.3 1,282

Diamond Princess

cruise ship 13 712

Country Deaths Death rate* Total Cases

New Cases

0

10

100

1k

10k

**

Eritrea 12 0.3 3,844

St Vincent and the

Grenadines 12 10.9 1,937

Taiwan 12 0.1 1,682

Timor-Leste 10 0.8 4,458

Burundi 6 0.1 4,329

Fiji 4 0.5 172

Brunei 3 0.7 232

Laos 2 0.0 1,591

Cayman Islands 2 3.1 565

MS Zaandam cruise

ship 2 9

Bhutan 1 0.1 1,286

Saint Barthelemy 1 10.2 974

Faroe Islands 1 2.1 670

British Virgin Islands 1 3.4 248

Grenada 1 0.9 161

Montserrat 1 20.0 20

Vanuatu 1 0.3 4

Dominica 0 0.0 178

New Caledonia 0 0.0 124

Anguilla 0 0.0 109

Falkland Islands 0 0.0 63

Saint Kitts and Nevis 0 0.0 45

Greenland 0 0.0 31

Vatican 0 0.0 27

Saint Pierre and

Miquelon 0 0.0 25

Solomon Islands 0 0.0 20

Marshall Islands 0 0.0 4

Samoa 0 0.0 3

Micronesia 0 0.0 1

Show more

Note: The map, table and animated bar chart in this page use a different source for figures for

France and the UK from that used by Johns Hopkins University, which results in a slightly

lower overall total. US figures do not include Puerto Rico, Guam or the US Virgin Islands.

Confirmed cases have been rising steeply since the middle of last year, but the true extent of the first outbreaks in 2020 is unclear because testing was not then widely available. The 100 millionth Covid case was recorded at the end of January - about a year after the first officially diagnosed case of the virus.

Deaths have also been rising, however official figures may not fully reflect the true number in many countries. Data on excess deaths, a measure of how many more people are dying than would be expected based on the previous few years, may give a better indication of the actual numbers in many cases.

Who has vaccinated the most? Several coronavirus vaccines have been approved for use, either by individual countries or groups of countries, such as the European Union and the World Health Organization (WHO). Of the 189 countries and territories administering vaccines and publishing rollout data, 66 are high-income nations, 100 are middle-income and 23 low-income. The map below, using figures collated by Our World in Data - a collaboration between Oxford University and an educational charity - shows the total number of doses given per 100 people, mostly first doses. https://www.bbc.com/news/world-51235105

Dealing with Beijing’s maritime projection

Published 2 days ago on May 20, 2021 03:20 AM By Concept News Central

With Philippine officials playing the blaming game and pointing fingers at one another, China must be rolling on the floor laughing. Millennials abbreviate this term as ROFL.

In the first place, it doesn’t even have to lift a finger for it to grab critical islands, shoals and reefs as alleged by rival claimants in the disputed South China Sea. It only has to project its maritime superiority and things would be relatively easy against a scared neighborhood.

Beijing, as we very well know, uses a very potent state-backed maritime militia to pursue its political, economic and military goals in the region. These supposed fishing boats have been accused of harassing vessels from other nations around the disputed waters, reportedly part of Beijing’s “gray zone” tactics to defend its interests without having to wage a conventional war.

According to a 2018 report by the Vietnam Institute for Economic and Policy Research, China has the biggest maritime militia of any country in the world, consisting of an estimated 370,000 non-motorized boats and 762,000 motorized vessels.

It is officially known as the People’s Armed Forces Maritime Militia, allegedly funded by the government and operates in the South China Sea without clear identification. The armed fishing fleet is part of Beijing’s power projection and, according to studies, is deployed to seize territory and target anyone who challenges its claims.

These irregular forces reside under the direct command and control of the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) and play an important role in “establishing a de facto Chinese operating presence in disputed areas.”

Their operations are designed to “win without fighting” by “overwhelming the adversary with swarms of fishing vessels usually bolstered by the Chinese coast guard and possibly PLA Navy ships,” the report, published last year, said.

Beijing, in several pronouncements, does not acknowledge its existence explicitly, allowing it to deny any role in their actions. The Pentagon says, however, that it will treat the maritime militia as de facto military vessels.

Although it is very difficult to prove that several incidents in the past have been initiated by these maritime militia, it has been alleged that Chinese fishing boats rammed the Japanese destroyer Shimakaze March last year while its coast guard reportedly sank a Vietnamese fishing boat with eight fishers on board the following month.

More than 10 Chinese fishing boats were likewise reported to have rammed a Taiwanese coast guard vessel last year while a Filipino fishing boat, parked in the disputed Reed Bank, was allegedly slammed by another Chinese vessel before fleeing and leaving its crew of 22 at the mercy of the open sea.

In 2019 and just recently, these little-known fishing vessels have swarmed a Philippine-occupied island and scattered around the country’s exclusive economic zone when told to leave. The Philippine military has monitored over 200 such ships, which international naval experts say do more than just fishing.

These incursions only bolster the assertion that China’s neighbors ought to put up a unified stand that would show Beijing it cannot simply throw its weight around.

Southeast Asian countries have likewise accelerated the adoption of a Code of Conduct to govern behavior by claimant countries in the disputed waters.

It could also probably do well for other claimant countries like the Philippines to ramp up reconnaissance patrols in their respective economic zones to prevent China’s so-called third force from conducting its guerilla warfare at sea.

No less than China’s official military newspaper, the PLA Daily, put things more bluntly when it said, “Putting on camouflage, they qualify as soldiers; taking off the camouflage, they become law-abiding fishermen.”

https://tribune.net.ph/index.php/2021/05/20/dealing-with-beijings-maritime-projection/

A single voice on sea dispute

By Rene Saguisag

May 21, 2021

340

LEILA de Lima and I may have been the first Bedans to differ openly with the new president, our fellow

Bedan, on human rights.

Now, the gap may have widened on the issue of the West Philippine Sea, which we own and should

keep and exploit.

To say that the President would jet-ski to the area and plant the Philippine flag might have been hyper-

bola and so understood and forgiven, but it could not be good if Prez Duterte would be known as the

president who'd go down in history to have lost the valuable territory because what he says seems

music to the Chinese. Not a sour note.

Prudential command or rhetoric, as understood or misunderstood, has a powerful effect on human

conduct. Or leading in singing, "let me call you sweetheart,"

On the viral statement last Sunday of scores of low-profile fellow Bedans chiding the Prez for dividing us

on the West Philippine Sea issue I hadn't been assailed because of the negligible weight my mere

signature would have carried, along with Leila's. But, it is more telling when low-profile personalities in

the Bedan community are disturbed by what the Prez says and does or fails to say or do. Foreign

Secretary Ted Locsin and Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana are alter egos of the Prez, but legal counsel

Sal Panelo butts in and says, "This is what the Prez really meant to say."

So, we are all confused and plead for a clarification.

https://www.manilatimes.net/2021/05/21/opinion/columns/a-single-voice-on-sea-dispute/1800033

China does not possess the WPS

By: Antonio T. Carpio - @inquirerdotnet

Philippine Daily Inquirer / 05:08 AM May 20, 2021 President Duterte’s mantra is “China is in possession of the West Philippine Sea (WPS).” The President made this declaration on several occasions: the November 2018 Asean-India Summit in Singapore, his July 2019 and 2020 State of the Nation

Addresses, and his late night TV addresses on April 19, 2021 and April 29, 2021. The reason for this extraordinary concession is the President’s professed love for President Xi Jinping, who has promised to protect President Duterte from mutinies

by the Philippine military. Ironically, President Xi is the acknowledged architect of China’s invasion of the WPS. Under Administrative Order No. 29 dated Sept. 5, 2012 (AO29), the WPS refers to a vast body of water facing the South China Sea. AO29 provides: “The maritime areas on the western side of the Philippine archipelago are hereby named as the

West Philippine Sea. These areas include the Luzon Sea as well as the waters

around, within and adjacent to the Kalayaan Island Group and Bajo De Masinloc,

also known as Scarborough Shoal.” The WPS includes the Philippines’ territorial sea and exclusive economic zone (EEZ) measured from our archipelagic baselines,

a maritime area larger than the total land area of the Philippines. The President’s mantra has grave ramifications on Philippine national interest.

First, the President is even conceding that China is in possession of our territorial sea in the WPS. China does not claim our territorial sea because China’s nine-dash

line does not overlap our territorial sea measured from our archipelagic baselines.

The President is generously giving to China far more than what China wants.

Second, the WPS includes our entire EEZ facing the South China Sea. The Arbitral

Award of July 12, 2016 affirmed that the Philippines has an EEZ facing the South China Sea unimpaired by China’s nine-dash line. The Philippines has exclusive

right to exploit all the living and non-living resources in this EEZ—all the fish, oil,

gas, and other mineral resources found in this EEZ. By conceding to China

possession of the WPS, the President is sending a message to Filipino fishermen

that it is not safe to fish in the WPS because another state with a powerful navy is

already in possession of the WPS. Since the President has allowed Chinese

fishermen to fish in the WPS, the Chinese fishermen, with their huge trawlers in

the hundreds, practically have the WPS all to themselves. Filipinos now import

expensive galunggong from China, whose fishermen scoop the galunggong from

what under international law is our exclusive fishing grounds in the WPS.

https://opinion.inquirer.net/140405/china-does-not-possess-the-wps

JPE wrong person to back

WPS tack Philippine Daily Inquirer / 05:01 AM May 21, 2021

One of the architects of martial law, which saw many human rights violations. A liar who connived with the dictator Ferdinand Marcos in fabricating his “ambush.” A man who is facing a plunder case for his role in the Priority Development

Assistance Fund scam. That is the person President Duterte consulted to defend

his docile policy toward China in the West Philippine Sea.

If the President thought former senator Juan Ponce Enrile sitting beside him would

bolster his slavish policy, then he chose the wrong person.

https://opinion.inquirer.net/140429/jpe-wrong-person-to-%e2%80%8dback-wps-tack

Noy fails, America wins Enrile said until now he can’t find an answer on why the supposed mediator left the Philippines out in the cold.

Published 2 days ago on May 20, 2021 03:25 AM By TEB

There were pieces of the puzzle missing in the pivotal withdrawal of Philippine vessels during the term of former President Noynoy Aquino that led to China holding sway over Scarborough Shoal in 2012.

The shoal under the Permanent Court Arbitration ruling in 2016 was declared a common fishing ground, stating that fishermen of both the Philippines and China have traditional rights and should have access to the area.

Filipino fishers, nonetheless, have been repeatedly harassed ever since the Philippines blinked in the standoff and pulled out its ships, but their access to the shoal improved greatly after President Rodrigo Duterte embarked on winning back China’s trust, which was lost as a result of the belligerent stance of Aquino.

Former Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile, who wanted to come up with an accurate chronology of events toward the end of the stalemate as a result of the Philippine ships returning to port, asked who sought help from the Americans.

In the intervening period, putschist Antonio Trillanes IV demanded Enrile to check his facts since the former senator is now being pointed to as key to the bungling of the withdrawal process that was revealed to have been brokered by the United States.

The exchange of statements provided a rough outline of what really happened.

In the Brady notes that Enrile revealed during a confrontation with Trillanes when both were members of the Senate, Trillanes had a leading hand in drafting the process toward the eventual disengagement in the standoff as Aquino’s backdoor negotiator.

Former US Ambassador Jose Cuisia and Foreign Affairs Secretary Albert del Rosario then sought American pressure for China to agree to the terms of withdrawal.

In Cuisia’s own words during a remote interview, he admitted approaching the US, but he claimed that the initial suggestion was for only the Philippines to withdraw to avoid a naval skirmish.

“The US’ suggestion was for us to withdraw, but I told them I cannot make that recommendation. What I recommended was a simultaneous withdrawal. The US talked to the Chinese ambassador, and China agreed,” he narrated.

Cuisia, however, said China reneged on the deal and the US did not do anything about it.

A key admission of the former official was that the botched agreement was brokered by then US Assistant Secretary of State Kurt Campbell.

“We set a time and date of such withdrawal. On 15 June (2012), we withdrew. Two hours later, then-Foreign Affairs Secretary Del Rosario called me saying China did not withdraw as reported by our Philippine Navy. That is the problem. China did not withdraw,” he admitted.

It is noteworthy then that it was the back channel, Trillanes, who was in close coordination with the Chinese regarding the pullout of their ships.

Cuisia then relayed the message to US officials who advised “the Philippine side to give China more time.”

“I said okay but they should withdraw within the day,” Cuisia claimed to have said.

China stayed and the next morning, Cuisia, instead of demanding action from the US, brought the situation to “all ASEAN ambassadors.”

“And they can all confirm that China agreed to such an agreement,” Cuisia added.

Instead of withdrawing, China increased its presence in the area to 77 large vessels.

Enrile then brought up a crucial question: Why did the Americans fail to confront China when it became obvious that it had no intention to stick to the agreement?

“The impression it gave me was that we were used in that particular situation to protect the interest of the United States,” he explained.

Enrile said until now he can’t find an answer on why the supposed mediator left the Philippines out in the cold.

It was during that time that the administration of President Barack Obama was implementing its East Asia rebalancing policy to contain China.

Shortly thereafter, the Americans pushed for a prolonged presence in the country, which was a privilege stripped from it after the 1992 termination of the Military Bases Agreement.

In 2014, President Aquino signed the executive pact called Enhanced Defense Cooperation Agreement that allowed American equipment and troops to be rotated in Philippine military camps. Go figure.

https://tribune.net.ph/index.php/2021/05/20/noy-fails-america-wins/

Impostor nonpareil Statements made by various officials regarding the incident indicated that the United States brokered a de-escalation plan of the two-month standoff in which both Philippine and Chinese ships would withdraw.

Published 14 hours ago on May 21, 2021 03:35 AM By TEB

There were a lot of holes in the alibis and excuses which when summed up further indicts destabilizer Antonio Trillanes IV in the 2012 blunder that resulted to the Chinese occupation of Scarborough Shoal, a feature within the country’s Exclusive Economic Zone. (EEZ).

His version of the event had Trillanes raising the point Sonia Brady who drafted the notes which former Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile read in a September 2012 faceoff, was not yet performing as ambassador during the order for Philippine vessels to pull out of the area of the standoff with Chinese vessels.

In 16 June 2012, former President Noynoy Aquino on the pretext of bad weather ordered a Philippine Coast Guard patrol vessel and a Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR) survey ship to sail home leaving China in control of Scarborough Shoal.

Statements made by various officials regarding the incident indicated that the United States brokered a de-escalation plan of the two-month standoff in which both Philippine and Chinese ships would withdraw.

“When I retire, I can probably tell the world that this is my biggest accomplishment in my political life,” Trillanes said of his backchannel escapade under Aquino.

His faux pas was indeed unforgettable since the Philippines squandered a rich fishing ground that deprived Filipinos depending on the shoal of livelihood. It was only after President Rodrigo Duterte mended relations with China that Filipino fishermen were able to return to Scarborough.

Given Trillanes’ claim that Brady was “never present at any backchannel meeting from May to July” merely proved that the then senator had blanket authority over the dealings with China as a de facto envoy.

“Upon her arrival, at the first instance, I briefed her on the whole talks at the Philippine Embassy with no Chinese present. That was the only time I met her. After that briefing, I concluded the backchannel talks,” which was then August or two months after Aquino ordered the pullout of the ships from the shoal.

Enrile, as a guest during the “Talk to the People” program of the President and his Cabinet, recounted the crucial meeting at Malacañang that proved the divisive streak of Trillanes.

In the meeting presided by Aquino to discuss the maritime stalemate, Enrile said Trillanes kept whispering to him “treason, treason” which the Senate President asked his colleague what he meant.

Then Foreign Affairs Secretary Albert del Rosario then started the meeting on what has been transpiring at Scarborough Shoal then.

It was then that Trillanes revealed that he went to China to meet with key officials to discuss the deadlock.

Enrile then asked Trillanes from whose authority did he meet the Chinese, which Aquino replied that he gave the order to the putschist.

To that, Enrile warned Aquino that extra care must be taken on the issue since it was not known who Trillanes have met.

Del Rosario then passed to Enrile a letter of Ambassador Sonia Brady saying that he was being bypassed by Trillanes in his back-channel meetings.

It later turned out that Enrile was ignored by Aquino and the advice of Trillanes, who has a zero success record to his credit in any undertaking, be it a coup d’etat or Vice Presidential run, was followed.

The plan failed as expected and China never left Scarborough Shoal and the West Philippine Sea.

https://tribune.net.ph/index.php/2021/05/21/impostor-nonpareil/

Correcting injustice Philippine Daily Inquirer / 05:08 AM May 21, 2021

In a fresh pushback against government abuse and overreach, the Davao del Norte

provincial prosecutor last week dismissed the complaints lodged against the so-called “Bakwit School 7,” who were arrested Feb. 15 for allegedly recruiting at least 19 minors and training them to be “child warriors” for a communist rebel group. Declared the ruling: “It appears that there is insufficient evidence to support any of the alleged crimes of kidnapping and serious illegal detention, human trafficking, and child abuse.” The decision cleared and ordered the release of two Bakwit

school teachers, three adult lumad students, and two lumad elders. The seven were among the 26 people rounded up in what police had called a “rescue operation” of lumad minors from a retreat house inside the University of San Carlos (USC) Talamban campus, Cebu, which had been turned into a “bakwit” school, a learning center for refugees who had fled increasing militarization in

their communities in Mindanao. “Not a single witness” was produced to support the police allegations, according to the prosecutor’s resolution. Neither could police identify who, among those arrested, supposedly indoctrinated the minors in communist ideology.

The latest judicial slap in its face is not, however, deterring the National Task

Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict. On Wednesday, it said it would file

a motion for reconsideration on the dismissed charges, and was preparing a new

complaint for alleged violations of the Indigenous Peoples Rights Act against the

Bakwit School 7.

The continuing harassment and intimidation of citizens already cleared by the

government prosecutor should prompt lawmakers to make good on their

announced plan to look into the case to demand accountability from the police.

Party-list congressman Michael Romero said he was pushing for a probe into

police methods of using warrantless arrests and baseless charges to seemingly, as he put it, “merely get an accomplishment report or promotion at the expense of anybody, even innocent Filipino lives.”

A number of courts have correspondingly stepped in to try to thwart such brazen

police misconduct. In February, the Mandaluyong Regional Trial Court Branch 209

ordered the release of journalist Lady Ann Salem and trade unionist Rodrigo

Esparago, a month after the illegal firearms and explosives case against them was

dismissed. The grounds for dismissal? False testimonies by the police officers and

inconsistencies in the affidavit of the informant.

In May last year, the 10 volunteers (aka the Marikina 10) who were arrested for

supposedly breaking quarantine protocols while conducting a feeding program

were released after the prosecutor found the evidence on alleged illegal assembly

and violation of other laws insufficient. Marikina City Mayor Marcelino Teodoro

himself had refuted the police allegations: “Those involved had asked our permission to conduct relief operations, which is part of the humanitarian aid that we give the community.”

In Zambales, the acting provincial prosecutor also dismissed the complaint of

inciting to sedition that was refiled by the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI)

against public school teacher Ronnel Mas, who was arrested in 2020 over his

social media post offering a P50-million bounty on President Duterte (a joke,

protested Mas). The case was thrown out for “lack of probable cause” after the NBI failed to secure a witness to prove that it was indeed Mas who posted the tweet. The prosecutor also said the social media post was not “authenticated and verified” as required by the Rules on Electronic Evidence. Further evidence of the

sloppy casework: The NBI had refiled the case after it was junked by the Olongapo

City Regional Trial Court Branch 72 because the warrantless arrest used against

the teacher was invalid.

The latest case highlighting arbitrary, gravely damaging police work involves a

sari-sari store owner, Lamberto Asinas, who languished in jail for a year on

allegations that he harbored firearms and was a communist official. In its ruling

released last Wednesday, the Nasugbu, Batangas Regional Trial Court quashed the warrant used in Asinas’ arrest and dismissed the case due to inadmissible evidence. A barangay certification also showed that the police informant, who claimed to be Asinas’ neighbor, was not from his neighborhood. https://opinion.inquirer.net/140443/correcting-injustice

Coup d'oeil in waging political war By Lt. Gen. Antonio Parlade

May 21, 2021

1340

WAR is costly but a protracted insurgency war is even more so. The armed forces and the

police are spending billions year in and year out in sustaining a fight that seems to have no

end. We have lost more than 13,000 soldiers and policemen in the past 52 years, yet we

have been accused of simply "managing the conflict" and not ending it completely in order

for us to benefit from the billions that the taxpayers spend for the war kitty.

Let me give it to you straight. If there is anybody who wants to see the end of this

insurgency, it is we, your soldiers. We don't want more soldiers to die out there. We don't

want to see more orphans from this useless war being waged by Jose Ma Sison and his ilk in

the Kamatayan (Makabayan) bloc. We want to go home to our families. We want to go back

to our barracks so we can prepare, train and fight instead the bigger wars, which may be

launched by non-Filipinos. We are tired of fighting our own countrymen. It is pointless.

But no, we can't. Just as the National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict

(NTF-Elcac) is about to lick this "war of the running dogs" (to use Noel Barber's term),

suddenly some smart people are telling us what to do. Go back to the Army and do your

fighting there (as if I left, and isn't this charlatanism if not neo-Hegelian thinking?). They

would tell me to shut up, stop red-tagging, stop our Barangay Development Program, stop

our arrogance, just stop. Or they will take hostage our budget for next year.

Makes you wonder where this hubris is coming from.

And then I realized. Thirty-seven years of fighting this kind of war has helped me develop a

kind of strategic intuition. Napoleon Bonaparte was widely known for using it extensively

as he conquered half the globe. He kept his boots on the ground, felt the breeze, and

smelled the smoke. Then he is able to sense the battlefield. Coup d'oeil. Swivel chair

generals, politicians and even Joma, know nothing about it.

https://www.manilatimes.net/2021/05/21/opinion/columns/coup-doeil-in-waging-political-

war/1800024

Rizal: Unimpressed by the US

By: Ambeth R. Ocampo - @inquirerdotnet

Philippine Daily Inquirer / 05:04 AM May 21, 2021

While we do not lack for primary source materials on the Philippines from the 16th to the 18th centuries, almost all of these were written by foreigners, leaving us without an insider’s account. Nevertheless, the sharp historian is able to turn this given bias around on its head to tease out from within the silences of the pages, or what the late William Henry Scott called “cracks in the parchment curtain,” the Filipino voice in history. Many years ago, I compiled travel accounts of Europe and the United States by Filipinos for a yet unpublished book called “The Empire Strikes Back.” Can you imagine if, aside from Antonio Pigafetta’s eyewitness account of the 1521 Battle of Mactan, Lapulapu had a chronicler whose account gives our side of the story?

When I was reading Jose Rizal’s letters from abroad and collating these with his many travel diaries, I noticed that he wrote the least about his 19-day trip through the United States of America. That trip is not very well

known. He studied medicine in Madrid and did further training in ophthalmology in Heidelberg and Paris. He published “Noli me tangere” (1887) in Berlin, a profusely annotated edition of Antonio de Morga’s 1609 “Sucesos de las islas Filipinas” (1890) in Paris, and “El Filibusterismo” (1891) in Ghent. The inspiration of many

Filipino seamen and junketing politicians who have women in every port, Rizal had love interests in Madrid,

London, Tokyo, Paris, and Brussels.

Traveling by sea, he made stopovers in cities not in the usual tourist routes today. In each place, Rizal took

detailed notes and sometimes drew what he saw and experienced, his jottings made relevant because he often

compared the foreign place unfairly with the Philippines, particularly places back home painted in the soft light

of nostalgia and the glow of homesickness.

Before writing this column, I plotted on a Google map the places he mentioned in his US diary, starting with his

arrival in San Francisco, California from Yokohama on April 28, 1888, to his departure from New York for

Liverpool on May 16, 1888. It was quite a journey then, and I hope to follow Rizal’s route someday without taking an airplane.

After two days at the Palace Hotel, San Francisco (May 4-5, 1888), Rizal traveled to Oakland on May 6, took the

train ferry from Port Costa to Benicia, had dinner in Sacramento, and slept on the train. He had breakfast in

Reno, Nevada on May 7, and was in Ogden, Utah by May 8 to change trains. He saw young Mormon men in

Farmington, Utah, and proceeded to Salt Lake City and Provo, noting in his diaries that there were more women

in Utah than men, judging from restaurant tables in that state that were served more by waitresses than waiters.

I wonder what train sleepers were like in his day, because Rizal woke up in Colorado on May 9 noting with annoyance that “the porter of the Pullman car, an American, was somewhat of a thief.” In Colorado, the clock was adjusted by an hour, and he noticed that the place had “more trees than the three states we passed.” He woke up at dawn of May 10 in Nebraska, and by 4 p.m. was in Omaha. The Missouri River he estimated at “about twice the Pasig in its widest part.” He woke up on May 11 in Chicago, Illinois where he strolled around the city before his evening departure. In Chicago, he noted that “every tobacco shop had a statue of an Indian and always different.”

Stopping at Ontario on May 12, he saw Niagara Falls from the Canadian side. Standing at the foot of the majestic falls led him to say: “Though not as pretty nor as mysteriously beautiful as that in Los Baños… it is much more gigantic and imposing that no comparison is possible.” His train departed that night, and he woke up on May 13 in Albany, New York. Then he passed the Hudson River “whose banks are beautiful although a little lonely in comparison with the Pasig,” finally arriving in New York City where he stayed in the Fifth Avenue Hotel on May

14 and 15, before catching the second largest ocean liner at the time, City of Rome, for Liverpool.

It is not surprising that Rizal was unimpressed by America. He was an old soul with a cosmopolitan mindset, a

man who matured and was formed by education and travel through Europe. Even New York failed to amaze him, “because there, everything is new.”

https://opinion.inquirer.net/140435/rizal-unimpressed-by-the-us

Biden’s Israel Problem

May 20, 2021FAWAZ A. GERGES

Despite new voices in the Democratic Party and within American Jewry, US foreign-policy

circles are still wedded to an Israel-knows-best approach to the Middle East. Until that

changes, the tail will continue to wag the dog, ruling out a durable, sustainable, and just

peace in the Holy Land, and undermining US interests in the region.

LONDON – When asked whether he would insist on a ceasefire after the escalation in violence between Israel and Hamas, US President Joe Biden said that he would speak to Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu “in an hour, and I’ll be able to talk to you after that.” Far from a Biden gaffe, the president’s apparent deference to Netanyahu raises alarming – albeit not new – questions about the nature of the US-Israel relationship. Israel is what scholars of international relations would call “the tail that wags the dog.” Given the asymmetry of power between the two, one would expect the United States, as the superpower that furnishes Israel with $3.8 billion per year in military aid, to lay out the ground rules for their relations. Yet in Israel’s case, the reverse is true.

Since the 1980s, the US foreign-policy consensus has been that Israel knows best how to preserve its security, and that unequivocal US support, not pressure, would induce it to take the risks necessary for peace. Hence, US presidents often defer to their Israeli counterparts on questions of war and peace in the Middle East, even though vital American interests are at stake there. Yet far from giving the US leverage over Israel or advancing the prospects of peace, this approach to the bilateral relationship has ultimately been detrimental to both countries.

Netanyahu knows all too well how to influence US politics, particularly when violent conflict erupts. He has long exploited the fact that the US inevitably reiterates Israel’s “right to self-defense” without taking into account Israeli leaders’ responsibility for triggering a crisis. This time, too, US officials, regardless of party affiliation, have tended to shy away from acknowledging Netanyahu’s direct role in sabotaging reconciliation between Palestinians and Israelis, disenfranchising Palestinian citizens of Israel, and empowering his country’s most extremist and xenophobic forces.

Biden knows Netanyahu well, having dealt with him first as a senator and then as vice president for eight years in the Obama administration. In 2011, Netanyahu publicly humiliated America’s first black president, Biden’s former boss, by lecturing to him about US policy and Israeli security live on American television from the Oval Office. Worse, he later colluded with congressional Republicans to try to kill the 2015 nuclear deal with Iran. Overlooking Netanyahu’s long record of mischief, Biden’s stance in the current conflict amounts to a green light for Israel to continue its military campaign against Hamas. Three times since the current crisis began, the US has blocked UN Security Council statements

calling for an immediate ceasefire, leading UN diplomats to conclude that the Biden administration wants to keep that body “silent” in the matter.

Moreover, on May 17, just as the violence in Gaza was intensifying, The Washington

Post reported that Biden had approved the sale of $735 million in “precision-guided weapons” to Israel, raising red flags for House Democrats who have been calling on the administration to push for a ceasefire and take a more active role in addressing the root causes of the conflict. For obvious reasons, the escalation of bloodshed will have far-reaching consequences not just for civilians in Gaza but also for regional peace and security more broadly.

The following day, after coming under increasing pressure at home and abroad, and after speaking with Netanyahu, Biden issued a statement expressing support for a ceasefire. But Netanyahu has made it clear that he is not ready to end the airstrikes on Gaza, and the White House remains seemingly unwilling to persuade him otherwise as long as Hamas is still indiscriminately firing rockets into Israel.

Clearly, Biden belongs to the generation of US officials who cling to the hoary vision of Israel as a shining democracy in a sea of Arab and Muslim autocracy. Biden and likeminded Democratic and Republican leaders are willfully oblivious to evidence of Israeli authorities’ systemic abuses and crimes in the occupied Palestinian territories and within Israel. Recent reports by the main Israeli human rights group, B’Tselem, and Human Rights Watch make a compelling case that Israel is now an “apartheid” state, not a democracy. https://www.project-syndicate.org/commentary/israel-netanyahu-wag-the-us-dog-by-fawaz-a-gerges-

2021-05

Commentary: Hasty U.S. withdrawal to create security black hole in Afghanistan (Xinhua) 17:17, May 19, 2021

Photo taken on May 4, 2021 shows the White House in Washington, D.C., the United States. (Xinhua/Liu Jie) At the moment, a sudden U.S. withdrawal would only exacerbate the country's ongoing security crisis, as it would be a chance for terrorist groups and various political forces to fill the vacuum and stoke more unrest. KABUL, May 19 (Xinhua) -- U.S. President Joe Biden's decision to bring home all U.S. troops from Afghanistan by Sept. 11, as an attempt to irresponsibly pull the United States out of the quagmire of war, will create a security black hole and aggravate the already heavy scourge suffered by the country. The abrupt announcement by the United States of a complete troop exit has deteriorated the security situation in the conflict-battered country, causing mounting militant attacks and ensuing civilian casualties. Since the start of the withdrawal of U.S.-led forces on May 1, the Taliban militants have stepped up activities. Moreover last week, three consecutive explosions outside a secondary school for girls in western Kabul killed at least 50 people and injured over 100 others. It was during the Cold War that the U.S. helped sow the seeds of unrest in the country by funding and arming militants to fight the then Soviet Union. Over the following decades, Afghanistan has developed a malignant tumor of terrorism, and gradually descended into a hotbed of international terrorism and extremism

http://en.people.cn/n3/2021/0519/c90000-9851836.html