U.S. warns China not to ‘exploit’ virus for sea disputes

April 7, 2020 — SpaceWar.com reports: “The United States on Monday warned China not to take advantage of the coronavirus pandemic to exert itself in the South China Sea after Vietnam said Beijing sank a trawler.

Amid the global focus on fighting COVID-19, China has ramped up self-described research stations and landed special military aircraft in the dispute-rife sea, according to the State Department.

‘We call on the PRC to remain focused on supporting international efforts to combat the global pandemic, and to stop exploiting the distraction or vulnerability of other states to expand its unlawful claims in the South China Sea,’ State Department spokeswoman Morgan Ortagus said in a statement.

Vietnam said last week that it lodged a protest with Beijing after the Chinese Coast Guard ‘hindered, rammed and sunk’ a Vietnamese boat with eight fishermen on board near the Paracel Islands.

Vietnam — which, like China and Taiwan, claims sovereignty over the Paracel Islands — called in a foreign ministry statement for Beijing to compensate the fishermen, ‘strictly discipline’ the officers responsible and prevent similar occurrences in the future…”  (China will become a basic partner with Russia for the rapidly approaching battle of Armageddon – Revelation 16:16. Russia will lead invasion number one – Ezekiel 38 & 39. China will lead invasion number two – Revelation 16:12; Revelation 9:14 – 16. Then all nations will come against Jerusalem for the final invasion at which point Jesus will return to stop the bloodshed and set up his eternal kingdom upon earth – “[He gathers] all nations against Jerusalem to battle; and the city shall be taken… Then shall the Lord go forth, and fight against those nations, as when he fought in the day of battle. And his feet shall stand in that day upon the mount of Olives, which is before Jerusalem on the east, and the mount of Olives shall cleave in the midst thereof toward the east and toward the west, and there shall be a very great valley; and half of the mountain shall remove toward the north, and half of it toward the south” – Zechariah 14:2 – 4. Then Psalm 2:6 occurs as God the Father says: “…I set my king upon my holy hill of Zion [Jerusalem].”  See the next two reports)

Chinese aircraft carrier sails past Japan, Taiwan

April 14, 2020 — SpaceWar.com reports: “A Chinese aircraft carrier passed through the East China Sea over the weekend, a maneuver keeping defense ministries in Japan and Taiwan on edge.

The aircraft carrier Liaoning, accompanied by five other vessels in its strike group — two guided missile destroyers, two multi-role warships and a fast combat supply ship — carried out what a People’s Liberation Army spokesman called ‘routine’ exercises.

The vessel traveled through the 155-mile-wide Miyako Strait, between Japan’s Ryukyu Islands and the Bashi Channel, then east of Taiwan toward the South China Sea. Both Tokyo and Taipei announced that they were monitoring the progress of the Chinese convoy.

China has ongoing territorial claims on the islands of the area, and the show of force comes as two U.S. aircraft carriers in the Pacific region are debilitated by the effects of the coronavirus.

The USS Theodore Roosevelt is in port in Guam, with much of its crew undergoing quarantine. The U.S. Navy said that 585 of the ship’s crew of about 4,800 have tested positive for the virus.

The USS Ronald Reagan, undergoing maintenance in Yokohama, Japan, is preparing for deployment, but currently has 1,000 members of its strike force in quarantine…”

U.S. ‘Strongly Opposes China’s Bullying’ in the South China Sea

April 23, 2020 — Voice of America News reports: “The United States is accusing China of taking advantage of the COVID-19 outbreak and increasing its military activities near Taiwan and in the South China Sea.

‘The United States strongly opposes China’s bullying,’ U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said Wednesday, ahead of a virtual meeting between the U.S. and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) foreign ministers later in the day.

‘We’ve also seen that the Chinese Communist Party is exerting military pressure on Taiwan and coercing its neighbors in the South China Sea, even going so far as to sink a Vietnamese fishing vessel.  We hope other nations will hold them to account,’ added Pompeo during a press briefing, hours before his videoconference with ASEAN ministers.

The U.S. and ASEAN had been eyeing a summit to boost ties, at a time when China continues to expand its influence in Southeast Asia. The dialogue was scheduled for March but later postponed due to the coronavirus outbreak…”