China Upping the Ante, Are We Ready?

By: Danny Liew Shan Lee

(China's new ADIZ: Source: SCMP)

The 9 – Dotted Line, Senkaku/Diaoyu Islands, the Spratly, the ADIZ, and now the Liaoning, PLAN's first aircraft carrier.  The Dragon has awakened and it is asserting its claim over its historical territories. 

For China’s immediate neighbours, the growing strength of China’s military might is disconcerting.  The claim on Senkaku/Diaoyu chain of islands and the unilateral declaration of Air Defence Identification Zone (ADIZ) over the same area had rattled her neighbours, particularly South Korea and Japan, both of which has overlapping claims over the chain of islands.

But the biggest bombshell would be the launching of Liaoning’s sea trial in the seas of South China Sea, which China sees as her own playground.  The launch, declared earlier last week caused trepidation over the region as the exercise is being seen as potentially as an escalation of aggression in the hotly contested region.

Part One

In this article, we will examine the relationship between Malaysia and China.  How this relationship had been built from Day 1 till today.  We will examine also how China’s multiple unilateral actions and military build-up has led to slow erosion of our relationship.

We will also look into the current and near future order of battle of Malaysian forces, on how these could interdict Chinese hegemony in the region.

Iran's Increased Strike and Surveillance Capabilities in the Middle East with Unveiling of Latest Drone

 By Yusni Yussof

Iran has unveiled the Fotros, deemed to be the state’s largest unmanned strategic plane to date. The drone boasts of having an operational range of 2,000 kilometres and capable of flying at an altitude of 25,000 feet, with a flight time of 16 to 30 hours. Furthermore, the drone can be equipped with air-to-surface missiles, enabling it to conduct military missions. The drone’s capability will enable it cover much of the Middle East, including Israel. 

2 MALAYSIANS, 2 US NAVY PERSONNEL ARRESTED OVER BRIBERY CHARGES

By DSGC Staff 

According to a US Justice Department release dated Sept 17, three individuals - a commander in the United States Navy, a special agent for the Naval Criminal Investigative Service (NCIS) and the CEO of a multinational defense contractor - were charged in criminal complaints unsealed on the same date in connection with two separate bribery schemes.

The complaints allege that Leonard Glenn Francis, the CEO of Singapore-based Glenn Defense Marine Asia Ltd. (GDMA), paid US Navy Commander Michael Vannak Khem Misiewicz and NCIS Supervisory Special Agent John Bertrand Beliveau II with luxury travel and prostitutes in exchange for confidential information and other assistance in relation to hundreds of millions of dollars in Navy contracts.

Francis was arrested in San Diego on Sept 16 and made his initial appearance in federal court on Sept 17 before US Magistrate Judge Karen S. Crawford. 

Somali Pirates Apprehended, Skiffs Destroyed by Combined Maritime Forces (CMF)

October 18 - A group of Somali pirates were apprehended and their skiffs were destroyed by the Combined Maritime Forces ( CMF)  Counter Piracy Task force , CTF 151 in the Indian Ocean . The CTF 151 staff embarked on RFA Fort Victoria coordinated the maritime interdiction supported by HMAS Melbourne and ROKS Wang Geon from CTF 151, European Union flagship HMLMS Johan de Witt, and a Seychelles based maritime patrol aircraft from Luxembourg.

It is reported that the task force was on hot pursuit of the pirates after the pirates attacked and exchanged gunfire with the supertanker Island Splendor on Friday. The same pirates were reported to have attacked a Spanish fishing vessel 3 days later. The search was fruitful as the pirates were located some 500 nautical miles from the Somali coast.

A Seahawk helicopter from HMAS Melbourne guided the warship to the location of the pirates. After locating the perpetrators, the warship’s armed and highly trained boarding teams made the final approach to board and search the skiffs. They successfully apprehended nine pirates and later destroyed two skiffs and associated pirate equipment.

North Korea's Fresh Warning Signals Escalating Tense in the Pacific

By DSGC Staff

Barely days after North Korea warned of horrible disaster in light of Japan and South Korea joint naval exercise with the US, today the republic  issued a fresh warning of an "all-out war", urging the United States to stop military drills and what it described as "nuclear blackmail".

In a statement released by the republic’s National Defence Commission (NDC),  the US government must withdraw its policy of hostility against the North if it wants peace on both the Korean peninsula and the "US mainland". In a statement carried by the North's official state media on Saturday, the National Defence Commission spokesman said the U.S. should stop sanctions meant to punish its February nuclear test and provocations including military exercises on the Korean Peninsula.

"(The United States) must bear it in mind that reckless provocative acts would meet our retaliatory strikes and lead to an all-out war of justice for a final showdown with the United States," a spokesman of the NDC was quoted as saying in a statement carried by Pyongyang's Korean Central News Agency. 

"We emphasise again that the United States must withdraw various measures aimed to isolate and strangulate us. Dependent upon this are... peace and security, not only on the Korean peninsula but the US mainland as well." 

North Korea refused to sign a non-aggression pact that John Kerry, the US Secretary of State, offered last week on condition of denuclearisation. The statement follows North Korea strong criticism towards the joint two-day naval drills among the U.S., South Korea and Japan, which the allies said were aimed at improving readiness to maritime disasters. North Korea called the drills as a military confrontation, saying it is ready to foil any enemy provocation.