China increasingly aggressive in asserting its hegemony in Asia

Clashes at sea with Japan, Taiwan and the Philippines and the imposition of the death penalty on Taiwanese “independence activists”. China has recently been demonstrating its hegemonic power more aggressively, which worries many in the international community.

Last week, four coast guard vessels chased Chinese fishing boats out of territorial waters disputed by China and Japan.

The Japanese coast guard, for its part, said it had to intervene and turn back the Chinese ships near the disputed islands named Senkaku in Japan and Diaoyu in China.

For weeks, the coast guard has been conducting control operations in the Taiwan Strait near the Taiwanese archipelago Kinmen. Maneuvers that are disturbing to the point that Taipei dispatched three ships of its coast guard this week to monitor and document Chinese activities.

Clashes between the Chinese coast guard and Philippine ships in waters contested by China have also been frequent for months.

Images of Chinese coast guards wielding axes to scare their Filipino counterparts have been circulating around the world over the past week.

The latest sea dispute with the Philippines came just two days after a new Chinese law went into effect allowing the Chinese coast guard to stop foreign vessels and detain their crew members without trial for 60 days in the South China Sea.

China has engaged in aggressive shipbuilding and coast guard capacity building programs. It is also building a lot of infrastructure, such as artificial islands in the South China Sea, to increase its ability to project power into its neighbors’ internal waters.recently told Voice of America (VOA) Ray Powell, director of Gordian Knot Center from Stanford University.

Canadian satellites and US naval unit to counter Chinese aggression

Canada has put its satellite technology at the service of Manila to detect intrusions into its territorial waters. The Philippines said it had used it over the past 10 days to monitor a coast guard vessel nicknamed The Monster.

Canada’s Dark Vessel Detection Program was launched in 2021. It uses satellite technology to locate and track vessels whose location transmitting devices have been turned off, sometimes in an attempt to evade tracking, control and surveillance.

This program was initially created to provide satellite data and analysis to small island and coastal states around the world where illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing has major impacts on local economies, food security and health of fish stocks.

Canada supports the Philippines and the international court ruling in its maritime dispute with China. The two countries recently participated in military exercises with the United States.

In January last year, Ottawa and Manila signed a defense agreement as part of Canada’s Indo-Pacific Strategy.

Canadian ships operate in the North Pacific under this strategy. A first mission to counter illegal fishing with the help of satellite detection took place in 2023.

Last fall, 250 Canadian Forces members participated in Operation Neon at sea and in the air to help monitor illegal activity in the region.

Canada’s presence in Asia has grown since the unveiling of Canada’s Indo-Pacific Strategy.

Dangerous operations by the Chinese coast guard and navy are so frequent that Washington has also reorganized its forces in Asia and last November created a new naval unit based on the Japanese island of Okinawa, near Taiwan.

The named entity Coastal Marine Regiment is tasked with defending important geopolitical locations in Asia and countering what the Americans see as Chinese aggressiveness.

The U.S. unit also vows to intervene quickly if remote islands claimed by China come under attack.

It is designed to detect distant activity and conduct long-range strikes, using mobile missile batteries capable of striking enemy ships in strategic sea lines of communication. The aim is to protect the Japanese islands, the Philippines and South Korea.said U.S. Navy Commander Gen. Eric Smith in a rare interview with Nikkei Asia on June 21 in Washington.

De-escalation remains the preferred resolution for everyone. For example, Manila is trying to hold discussions with Beijing regarding the clashes at sea near the Second Thomas Reef. This call could ultimately take place in the coming weeks.

We have tried all sorts of ways to reduce the tension. Obviously, most of these measures have not worked, and so we think that a frank discussion with the Chinese is probably the best way forward.argued the Philippine ambassador to Washington, Jose Manuel Romualdez, in front of a group of journalists.

The World War II-era Sierra Madre ship stranded near Second Thomas Reef is at the heart of tensions between China and the Philippines.

Manila uses the ship in its territorial waters as a naval base and the coast guard carries out frequent resupply missions.

Despite an international judgment against it in 2016, China considers these to be its territorial waters.

Recent clashes between Chinese and Philippine coast guards threaten to spark an armed conflict that would also draw the United States into. Washington and Manila signed peace agreements last year Guidelines for bilateral defense.

According to the document, an armed attack on a Philippine ship would trigger an obligation for the Americans to intervene and defend the territory.

China wants to impose the death penalty on independentists from Taiwan

A new judicial recommendation issued by the Chinese Communist Party came into effect on June 21 to exert more pressure on and intimidate Taiwan.

These guidelines promise life in prison or the death penalty for independentists Taiwanese guilty of the crime of secession.

According to Chinese state media, this is a direct response to the inauguration speech of Taiwan’s new president, Lai Ching-te. The rules are said to target Taiwan’s ruling party.

The Taiwanese president said in his speech on May 20 that Taiwan and China are not subordinate to each other.

China does not have the right to sanction Taiwanese people for their political opinions or take legal action beyond its borders. Democracy is not a crime; autocracy is what is truly evil. Once again, I urge China to choose dialogue with the democratically elected government of Taiwanreplied Lai Ching-te on his X account.

Taiwan’s president expressed concern about China’s new rule on Wednesday, stressing that it could potentially affect more than 90 percent of Taiwan’s population.

The new guidelines also state that people “in the fields of education, culture, history and media who distort and falsify the reality that Taiwan is part of China” also fall under the guidelines. This could be aimed at silencing media outlets, academics and commentators, similar to how previous sanctions have expanded to target media figures and not just politicians.commented Brian Hioe, the founder of the magazine New Bloomin its publication.

The Chinese Communist Party has never ruled or owned the island of Taiwan, but it still considers it part of its territory.

The self-governing, democratic island issued a warning this week, advising its 24 million citizens to avoid travel to China, Macau and Hong Kong.

Beijing would force its allies to publicly reject Taiwan’s autonomy

At the end of his meeting with the Chinese Prime Minister, Li Qiang, whom he received in Kuala Lumpur, the Prime Minister of Malaysia, Anwar Ibrahim, issued a press release which raised eyebrows.

In accordance with the one-China policy, Malaysia recognizes that Taiwan is an inalienable territory of the People’s Republic of China.it can be read. The statement also supports China so that it achieve national unification.

Malaysia joins here a group of countries which no longer just emphasize their support for the principle of one China, but which add their explicit support for the takeover of the democratic island of Taiwan.

Egypt, Tunisia, Pakistan, Zambia, East Timor and Bahrain have all changed their positions since last year to publicly express their support for the efforts of unification of China.

American analysts believe that Beijing is increasingly forcing its allies to speak out publicly on this issue in response to the U.S.-led bloc, of which Canada is a member, which constantly repeats that it seeks peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait.

Beijing is no longer content to dissuade Taiwan’s independence. Xi Jinping now seeks to promote unificationBonnie Glaser, director general of the Indo-Pacific program of the German Marshall Fund of the United States.

China denies responsibility and maintains that the United States is responsible for tensions and clashes in Asia because of its support for Taiwan and the Philippines.