Scarborough Shoal

China took an increasingly aggressive stance towards the Philippines this week, threatening to use force to repel civilian activists who are bringing supplies to Filipino fishermen in the Scarborough Shoal.

The Philippine government announced on Monday that it will take legal action against China for harvesting giant clams at the disputed Scarborough Shoal in the South China Sea.

Japan courted the wrath of China on Monday by announcing its submarine Kuroshio has been dispatched to join an anti-submarine warfare exercise in the South China Sea on Thursday, marking the first officially confirmed drill for a Japanese sub in those contested waters.

Satellite images taken on Friday revealed that China has returned surface-to-air missiles to Woody Island in the Paracels, restoring them to exactly the same positions they occupied before tensions with the United States prompted Beijing to withdraw the weapons.

The latest American freedom of navigation patrol in the South China Sea provoked an angry response from China, delivered through editorials in state-run media that blamed the United States for escalating tensions in the region.

Contents: Turkey begins its air and ground invasion of Syria’s Afrin; China lies about ‘indisputable sovereignty’ in new confrontation in South China Sea; Summary of major Generational Dynamics predictions

Contents: Chinese vessels massing near Philippines island in South China Sea; Official warns may be necessary to invoke US-Philippines mutual defense treaty

Contents: Taiwan says it must defend against increasingly threatening China; China responds harshly to Taiwan’s defense report; Taiwan’s government responds to China’s threats; China begins construction on Philippines’ Scarborough Shoal

Contents: Vietnam protests China’s fishing ban in the South China Sea; China’s fishing ban related to food security in times of war; North Korea fires four ballistic missiles into sea near Japan

Contents: China preparing to install long-range missiles in South China Sea; China’s ASEAN neighbors express increasing anxiety over China’s illegal militarization

On Friday, the U.S. Pacific Command announced that one of its patrol aircraft had a “close encounter” with a Chinese plane over the South China Sea. The Pentagon initially classified the encounter as “unsafe” but later walked this judgment back.

Contents: China-Philippines détente unravels over Scarborough Shoal; Mainstream media frets over Steve Bannon, the Fourth Turning, and Donald Trump

Contents: Philippines to reject US use of its bases for South China Sea patrols; China says its South China Sea military buildup is a boon to the world; Vietnam and Australia reject China’s claims

Contents: Philippines leader Rodrigo Duterte in comic dance with China; Duterte’s statement generates backlash at home; Philippines president Duterte apparently cedes Scarborough Shoal to China

On Sunday, the government of the Philippines asked the Chinese ambassador to explain why a growing flotilla of Chinese boats is surrounding the disputed Scarborough Shoal.

Contents: China’s ‘ironclad proof’ of South China Sea claims revealed as hoax; The craziness of China’s claims in South China Sea; France calls for European navies to patrol the South China Sea; A request to readers: Protect the Generational Dynamics legacy

Pentagon officials confirmed to The Wall Street Journal that they had canceled a “freedom of navigation” exercise planned for April that was intended to make a statement against China’s growing colonization of the region.

China builds Navy designed to overwhelm the US Navy; Philippine fishermen harassed by China’s ‘cabbage strategy’