China Is Determined To Enforce Their Territorial Claims

China Shores up Territorial Claims -- Voice of America

China has long had territorial maritime disputes with its Asian neighbors, but over the past year tensions over its claims in the East and South China Sea have seen a dramatic uptick. Beijing is using everything from establishing a new city in the South China Sea to weather reports to take a more assertive stance.

As a rising maritime power, China is using a wide range of measures to shore up its territorial claims.

In July, Beijing established a new city and military garrison on the island of Sansha, extending its reach further into the South China Sea. Next month, police on Hainan island will begin to search and board foreign ships that enter its claimed territory.

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My Comment: The Chinese are not going to bend .... and it appears that some Asian leaders and thinkers are beginning to understand that. What does not help the situation for these Asian leaders is that there is also a growing realization that the U.S. does not want to be directly involved in these border disputes.

Asia's 'Passport Wars'

Asia’s Passport Wars: Chinese Map Triggers Diplomatic Firestorm -- Time

As anybody who travels with personal documents from countries like India or China or Vietnam will tell you, an Asian passport can be a miserable thing. It means having to steel yourself through weeks, if not months, of visa-application processes that can be both interminable and humiliating. It means being forced to wait for special screening at the borders of prosperous Western nations, just by circumstance of birth and bureaucracy. It means feeling forever a second-class citizen of a world that is supposed to be growing ever more interdependent and intertwined.

But, if it wasn’t enough of an albatross, the Asian passport has become something else altogether more absurd: a crude weapon of geopolitics. In the past week, neighboring governments reacted with anger after Beijing rolled out a new iteration of Chinese passports. The Indian Foreign Minister deemed it “unacceptable.” A Vietnamese official, speaking to the Financial Times, described it as “one very poisonous step by Beijing among their thousands of malevolent actions.”

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More News On The Uproar Over China's New Passports

Philippines, Vietnam Refuse to Stamp New Chinese Passport -- Voice of America
Philippines will not stamp visa in new Chinese passport because map image claims disputed seas -- Washington Post
India says China's new passport maps unacceptable -- CBS/AP
Indian Ambassador Downplays Chinese Passports Map -- US News and World Report
US to raise concerns with China over passport map that has angered Asian neighbors -- Washington Post
China Seeks to Calm Anger Over Passports -- Wall Street Journal
Why China’s new passports have infuriated most of its neighbours -- Araminta Wordsworth, National Post
Here’s the Chinese passport map that’s infuriating much of Asia -- Washington Post

Former Singapore Diplomat: U.S. Containment Of China Will Not Work

Asia Will Resist U.S. Efforts To Contain China, Says Singapore Diplomat -- Washington Times

Asian nations will resist any U.S. attempts to block the rise of China, as Washington pursues a new strategy in the Asia-Pacific region, according to Singapore’s former ambassador in Washington.

“I think if the United States re-engages Asia to contain China it won’t work because countries in Asia won’t sign on to containment,” Chan Heng Chee said in a phone interview from Singapore.

“We don’t want another Cold War. The United States should not ask Asian countries to choose. You may not like the results if you ask countries to choose.”

Ms. Chan returned to Singapore in July after 16 years as Singapore’s ambassador to the U.S., a tenure that made her the second-longest-serving foreign envoy in Washington after Djibouti Ambassador Roble Olhaye. She was replaced by Ambassador Ashok Kumar Mirpuri, who previously served as Singapore’s envoy in Indonesia, Malaysia and Australia.

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My Comment: I think the natural inclination among Asian states is to stay away from tensions that may escalate into armed conflict .... but .... China is making a good effort to "piss-off" it`s neighbors over territorial claims, and they are driving many of these nations to embrace America`s "undeclared containment" policy.

Senior Chinese Military Leader: Order Forces To Be Prepared For Possible Combat

General Xu Caihou of the People's Liberation Army of China and U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates at the Pentagon (2009). U.S. Department of Defense.

Senior Military Official Urges No Slackness In Military Preparation -- People's Daily/Xinhuanet

TAIYUAN, Sept. 14 (Xinhua) -- A senior Chinese military official has urged the army not to slack off and be prepared for any possible military combat.

Efforts should be made to ensure that the military is capable of resolutely performing its duty to safeguard the country's national sovereignty, security and territorial integrity whenever it is needed by the Party and the people, said Xu Caihou, vice chairman of China's Central Military Commission.

Xu made the remarks Thursday during a recent inspection to certain military units in north China's Shanxi Province.

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Update: Chinese General: Prepare for Combat. Top Chinese general in unusual move tells troops to ready for combat with Japan -- Washington Free Beacon

My Comment: Preparing one's military forces for combat is nothing new .... this is what armies train for. But this senior Chinese military leader is saying these provocative statements with US Secretary of Defense Panetta visiting the country. The Chinese are sending out a message .... to their own people and to the outside .... but are the Americans and the rest of Asia listening?