Free Republic

After delaying for as long as possible, Biden went ahead and finally approved strikes on Houthi targets over the Iranian-backed terror group’s attacks on container ships and US Navy vessels. Biden’s statement took care to emphasize that these were “strikes against a number of targets in Yemen used by Houthi rebels to endanger freedom of navigation in one of the world’s most vital waterways.” The statement describes them as “targeted strikes” that reportedly hit Houthi radar sites, weapons depots, production facilities and launch systems with the goal of preventing the Houthis from launching attacks on shipping. This sounds sensible, but...

he power of the coronavirus pandemic as a potential global “game changer” may be on full display in the South China Sea. China is stepping up its operations in the international waterway while the U.S. Defense department grapples with over 1,500 confirmed cases of COVID-19 in its ranks. The pandemic began in Wuhan, China and peaked in the Communist country in February. China’s numbers may reek of skepticism but by all accounts, they have seen the worst of the disease. Barring any 2nd wave of COVID-19, the country is slowly returning to normal with their military unscathed and at full...

China has "intensified" monitoring of foreign vessels in areas it considers Chinese waters, but which internationally are regarded as open ocean, reports Geostrategy-Direct, the global intelligence information service. The effort is part of China's announced goal of extending its sea control further from Chinese shores. The stepped-up surveillance was announced in a 2003 China Maritime Administrative Law Enforcement Bulletin recently published by the State Bureau of Oceanic Administration. The U.S. government last year challenged China's new decree claiming control over a 200-mile economic zone from its coast. The bulletin said its surveillance ships tracked two U.S. Navy vessels that entered...

Two developments in the past few weeks suggest that America’s China policy is on a cusp.The more publicly discussed event involves the Arleigh Burke-class destroyer USS Dewey, which conducted a freedom of navigation operation near Mischief Reef in the Spratlys island group.This is the first freedom of navigation action conducted by the Trump administration. It is the first true freedom of navigation conducted since at least 2012.By contrast, the Obama administration had undertaken a handful of “innocent passage” activities in the South China Sea, which failed to demonstrate the critical issues at stake.The actions carried out in the previous administration...