China given second warning by Vietnam

HANOI: Vietnam has issued its second rebuke in a week to Beijing, accusing its northern neighbour of “threatening peace” after more Chinese aircraft landed on a contested reef in the South China Sea.

Chinese state media on Wednesday said two civilian planes landed on one of the islands in the Fiery Cross reef in the disputed Spratly Islands, which are claimed by Hanoi but controlled by Beijing.

China lands 1st civilian plane on disputed islands, sparks neighbors' military fears

A test flight by a civilian plane landed on an island in the South China Sea, the Chinese Foreign Ministry said. It’s the first time the country has done so in the disputed Spratly Islands. Tensions are now high with neighboring Vietnam and the Philippines.

Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying said at the weekend the test flight of a non-military aircraft was intended to check if the runway meets civilian aviation standards and fell “completely within China's sovereignty,” according to Reuters.

Vietnam eyes Western warplanes, patrol aircraft to counter China

Vietnam is in talks with European and U.S. contractors to buy fighter jets, maritime patrol planes and unarmed drones, sources said, as it looks to beef up its aerial defences in the face of China's growing assertiveness in disputed waters.

The battle-hardened country has already taken possession of three Russian-built Kilo-attack submarines and has three more on order as part of a $2.6 billion (1.69 billion pounds) deal agreed in 2009. Upgrading its air force would give Vietnam one of the most potent militaries in Southeast Asia.

Vietnam to Add Two Locally-built Warships to Naval Fleet This Quarter

Molniyac-class ship of the Vietnam People's Navy with Uran-E launchers (Source: VNExpress)

The Vietnam People’s Navy will add two warships to its fleet in the next two months following the recent successful test run of two fast-attack missile ships of the Molniya class, the first of its kind to have been built locally, according to government website chinhphu.vn.

The two warships, HQ379 and HQ380, have been accepted by a joint council made up of Ministry of Defense and Vietnam People’s Navy officials after the test run.

MH370 – Geopolitical Implications of the Missing Plane

By Danny Liew Shan Lee

On the early hours of 8^th March 2014, Malaysian Airlines flight MH370 to Beijing, carrying 239 souls (of which 153 are Chinese nationals) took off from Kuala Lumpur International Airport.  Not even 2 hours later, the flight turned missing.  Her transponders and communication systems were all shut off. 

Who or why and how it happened, as at writing time are beyond our comprehension.  Theories upon theories, many of them conspiracy in nature were shared.  Many if not all were easily debunked.

But what we know today is that in the effort to search for the missing plane has certainly resulted in tectonic shift in the regional geopolitics.