Hong Kong Is Not China

Hong Kong soccer fans boo Chinese anthem

By Clare Jim, James Pomfret

Soccer fans hold signs in support of anti-government protesters at a football World Cup qualifier match between Hong Kong and Iran, at Hong Kong Stadium, China September 10, 2019.

HONG KONG -- Anti-government protests that have roiled Hong Kong for more than three months spread to the sports field on Tuesday, as many local fans defied Chinese law to boo the country’s national anthem ahead of a soccer World Cup qualifier against Iran.
The latest sign of unrest in the former British colony followed another weekend of sometimes violent clashes, in which police firing tear gas engaged in cat-and-mouse skirmishes with protesters who at times smashed windows and started fires in the streets.
Earlier on Tuesday, the city’s Beijing-backed leader, Carrie Lam, warned against foreign interference in Hong Kong’s affairs, adding that an escalation of violence could not solve social issues in the Asian financial hub.
Hong Kong returned to Chinese rule in 1997 under a “one country, two systems” formula that guarantees freedoms not enjoyed on the mainland. 

But Beijing is steadily eroding that autonomy.
Weeks of protests over a now withdrawn extradition bill have evolved into a broader backlash against the government and greater calls for democracy.
At Hong Kong’s main stadium on Tuesday night, a sizeable contingent of the crowd of more than 10,000 football fans jeered and held up “boo” signs as China’s anthem played before the game, while others chanted “Revolution of our time” and “Liberate Hong Kong”. 

Disrespecting the national anthem is an offence in China.
Other fans sang “Glory to Hong Kong,” a song that has become a rallying cry for more democratic freedoms in the semi-autonomous Chinese territory.
“We hope we can unite Hong Kong,” said one of those booing, Ah Wing, wearing a red Hong Kong team shirt and glasses. 

“Even if we lose, we’ll keep going. That’s what we do against strong teams, against strong enemies.”
During a rally at the U.S. consulate on Sunday, thousands of demonstrators, some waving the American flag, called for help in bringing democracy to Hong Kong.
The protesters urged the U.S. Congress to pass proposed legislation that would require Washington to make an annual assessment of whether Hong Kong is sufficiently autonomous from mainland China to retain special U.S. trade and economic benefits.
A bipartisan group of senior U.S. senators stepped up the pressure on Tuesday by writing to the U.S. State and Commerce Departments asking them to assess U.S. export rules for Hong Kong and expressing concern about China’s potential acquisition of sensitive U.S. technologies via the special treatment Hong Kong is allowed.
The lawmakers also expressed concern about whether current export control laws allowed U.S. persons to “inappropriately” export police equipment to Hong Kong that could be used to suppress dissent.

The sometimes violent demonstrations have taken a toll on Hong Kong’s economy, which is on the verge of its first recession in a decade. 

Hong Kong visitor arrivals plunged nearly 40% in August from a year earlier.

Fitch downgrading

Stephen Schwarz, head of sovereign ratings for the Asia-Pacific region at Fitch Ratings, said the agency’s downgrade of Hong Kong last week reflected damage to the city’s reputation as a place to do business.
“The downgrade reflects months of ongoing conflict environment which are testing the ‘one country, two systems’ framework and which have inflicted damage to the international perception of the quality and effectiveness of Hong Kong’s governance and rule of law as well as the stability of its business environment,” Schwarz said.
China expressed rage on Tuesday after German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas met prominent Hong Kong activist Joshua Wong.
On Monday, former U.S. Defense Secretary Jim Mattis said the anti-government protests were not an internal Chinese matter and the United States should offer at least moral support to the demonstrators.
Lam last week withdrew the controversial extradition bill that had triggered the unrest, but the gesture failed to appease demonstrators.
Anger over the now-shelved bill has rekindled opposition to Beijing that had waned after 2014, when authorities faced down 79 days of pro-democracy protests in the city’s central business district.
Lam called for dialogue on Tuesday.
The protests, beamed live to the world since June, have also prompted some of the city’s powerful tycoons to appeal for calm.
In his first speech mentioning the unrest, billionaire Li Ka-shing urged political leaders to offer young people an olive branch, calling them “masters of our future”, according to an online video of remarks to a small crowd during a monastery visit on Sunday.

Right to Interference vs. China

General Jim Mattis said anti-government protests in Hong Kong were “not an internal” Chinese matter: U.S. should side with Hong Kong protesters

By Jonathan Allen

Former U.S. Secretary of Defense General Jim Mattis speaks at a Reuters Newsmaker event in New York, September 9, 2019.

NEW YORK -- Former U.S. Defense Secretary Jim Mattis said on Monday anti-government protests in Hong Kong were “not an internal” Chinese matter and that the United States should offer at least moral support to the demonstrators.
The retired U.S. Marine general, speaking at a Reuters Newsmaker event in New York, said the United States should generally side with those standing up for human rights, which he said included the Hong Kong protesters.
“When people stand up for those (rights), I just inherently think we ought to stand with them, even if it’s just moral,” said Mattis, who abruptly resigned as Pentagon chief in December over disagreements with Donald Trump’s foreign policy.
“This is not an internal matter,” Mattis said.
Trump has previously described the protests as riots, but has also called on China to end the discord in a “humanitarian” way. 

He said a crackdown could make his efforts to end a damaging trade war with China “very hard.”
Mattis said China’s effort to pass a law to allow people in Hong Kong to be extradited to mainland China was in breach of the “one country, two systems” formula under which British control of Hong Kong was ended in 1997.
“They said it would be two systems, and the extradition law was a violation of that,” said Mattis, who is promoting a new memoir about his role in the U.S. wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Although the extradition bill was withdrawn last week after months of unrest, the mass protests in streets and public places across Hong Kong continue, having grown into a broader pro-democracy backlash against the Chinese government.
Protesters marched outside the U.S. consulate in Hong Kong over the weekend, urging Trump to help “liberate” the city. 

Hong Kong police fired tear gas to disperse the crowds.

“We don’t want to say we’re going to land the 82nd Airborne Division in Hong Kong to do this,” he said.
“But morally? Yeah, I think we have to stand with them.”

SURPRISED AT TALIBAN TALKS
Mattis resigned from Trump’s administration a day after Trump’s plans to withdraw U.S. troops from Syria became public. 

His resignation letter was widely seen as a sharp critique of Trump’s approach to national security, including what Mattis saw as a failure to value American allies around the world.
Although there had been speculation that Mattis might enter the political arena, he has since declined to share his views on Trump, saying it is inappropriate for military figures to pontificate on politics.
Mattis also said he was surprised by the news last weekend that Trump had invited Afghanistan’s Taliban leaders for peace talks in the United States. 

Trump said he canceled the talks after the insurgent group claimed responsibility for an attack in Kabul that killed an American soldier and 11 other people.
“I salute people who try to bring wars to an end,” Mattis said. 

The Taliban, however, had repeatedly failed to break with al Qaeda, the militant group behind the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks on the United States, he said.
“The Taliban was offered: If you break with al Qaeda, we have no problem with you,” Mattis said. “President (George W.) Bush offered that, President Obama offered that, President Trump has offered that, and they’ve declined. So yes, I was very surprised that we were at that point.”
Asked on Monday whether he had confidence in Trump’s leadership, he said only that he had “great confidence” in American voters and in the U.S. Constitution.
“If we will employ our constitutional checks and balances correctly, this big experiment will continue,” Mattis said.

Gen. Mattis says China's crackdown on Hong Kong protesters is a sign of China's dangerous ambitions

• Former Secretary of Defense Jim Mattis warned that China's treatment of pro-democracy protesters in Hong Kong shows what the totalitarian regime is capable of.
• "Watching what's going on in Hong Kong right now, their authoritarian mode against their own people... it would take a real stretch of imagination to say they would treat foreigners better than they treat their own people at home, if that's their world view," Mattis said, while also calling out China's actions in the Spratly Islands and Sri Lanka.

By Ellen Ioanes

Retired Gen. Jim Mattis, whose resignation sent shockwaves through the US military and its allies last year, opted to answer questions about political leaders like President Trump obliquely at a Tuesday think tank event. 

But he wasn't so tightlipped on another topic: China.
Mattis called out Beijing's treatment of Hong Kong pro-democracy protesters as a signal of what China is capable of.
"Watching what's going on in Hong Kong right now, their authoritarian mode against their own people...it would take a real stretch of imagination to say they would treat foreigners better than they treat their own people at home, if that's their world view," Mattis said at the Council on Foreign Relations in New York.
The Pentagon increasingly views China as the US's number one rival. 

Mattis recalled some of China's recent aggressions, namely its 2018 move to place weapons on the disputed Spratly Islands, despite Xi Jinping's promises to the contrary, and China's seizure of a Sri Lankan port the previous year to repay the loans China gave Sri Lanka to finance the port through its Belt and Road initiative.
"In the national defense strategy we'd call them a competitor," he said. 

"And what we're trying for is not great power deterrence, we're trying for great power peace."

"We can find a way to work with China, but we're going to have to confront China where they are interrupting the universal... the order of the world."
He saved his strongest criticism for China's actions in Hong Kong during the semi-autonomous territory's three-month-long pro-democracy protests.
"There are ways that China is working right now that we can no longer be deluded by our own desires, we are going to have to accept China as it is," Mattis said.
The Chinese People's Liberation Army has sent troops to Shenzhen, a city bordering Hong Kong, as a way to threaten the island with military intervention if protests continue, and recently drove military transport vehicles onto the island.
While the protests initially concerned a bill that proposed to send Hong Kongers charged with major crimes to the mainland for trial, they soon spiraled into broader demands for democratic reforms. 

As protests have continued, they have gotten increasingly violent, with Hong Kong police brandishing guns at protesters. 

China has also detained a Hong Kong resident on the mainland and waged a massive propaganda campaign against the protesters.
"So we're going to have to recognize it, cooperate where we can, collaborate where we can, and also confront where we must," Mattis concluded, without going into specifics about what that might look like militarily.
Mattis is the author of "Call Sign Chaos: Learning to Lead," a memoir of his four decades in the Marine Corps.
At the talk, Mattis' greatest concerns were about the state of America; he previously expressed dismay at the politically divided nature of the country. 

In concluding Tuesday's discussion, Mattis said, "I'm not convinced that we're turning [the US] over in as good a shape or better to the younger generation ... and that worries me."

Sina Delenda Est

Defense Budget Shifts Military's Focus From Terrorism To China
By DAVID WELNA

Senate Armed Services Committee Chairman John McCain, R-Ariz., talks with reporters after the National Defense Authorization Act passed 93-1 at the U.S. Capitol in 2015.

It may seem counter-intuitive and head-scratchingly odd, but Congress nearly always approves defense spending bills before the armed services committees — which actually oversee the Pentagon — vote on how the money will be spent.
Not this year.
The John S. McCain National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2019 was enacted this month well ahead of a still-pending budget bill.
It was also the earliest date on the legislative calendar that the NDAA has been sent to a president for his signature in more than two decades.
The bill sped through Congress as the nation's military continues waging war in Afghanistan, Syria, Yemen, Iraq, Niger, Libya, Somalia and an untold number of other global hot spots. 

All arise from what's been the Pentagon's main post-Sept. 11 focus: fighting terrorism.
But this new NDAA reflects Defense Secretary Jim Mattis' pivot away from those prolonged and inconclusive battles with insurgencies, to what he says should be the Pentagon's main concern: the United States' growing competition with the world's two other great powers, Russia and China.
Big majorities in the House and Senate approved the NDAA. 

Among the 10 senators who opposed its final passage were three Democrats — Kamala Harris of California, Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts and Kirsten Gillibrand of New York — who are all considered potential contenders in the 2020 presidential race.
The $716 billion in spending authorized by the bill is $16 billion more than what Congress approved for fiscal year 2018. 

In real terms, this 2.23 percent increase amounts to a reduction in defense spending, given the 2.46 percent rise in inflation over the past year. (Exceeding that inflation rate was the bill's 2.6 percent raise for the uniformed military, the largest pay hike it's had since 2010.)

U.S. Secretary of Defense Jim Mattis.
Congress matched dollar-for-dollar what the Pentagon asked for. 

Yet, the NDAA mandates doing more with less. 

It calls for adding 15,600 troops to the country's 1. 3 million active duty forces, an expansion also sought by the Pentagon. 

It adds another aircraft carrier and two littoral combat ships that the Pentagon did not request. 

A total of 13 new ships for the U.S. Navy are authorized — exactly half as many new ships as Russia plans to build this year.
The Republican-controlled armed service committees backtracked and bowed to several significant policy changes the Trump administration sought during the merging of the House and Senate versions of the NDAA.

Turkey
Mattis convinced Congress to strip the Senate's tough talk on Turkey from the final version of the bill.
That version instructed him to draw up plans for suspending delivery of 100 F-35 Joint Strike Fighters ordered by Turkey as well as Turkey's participation in an international consortium producing the radar-evading warplane.
It was retaliation for the Turkish government's arrest and detention, following a failed coup attempt two years ago, of Andrew Brunson, an American Presbyterian minister; as well as this longtime NATO ally's intention to buy the Russian-made S-400 missile defense system.
Mattis wrote Congress in July asking that Turkey's access to the F-35s not be blocked. 

In its place is language from the House bill, which simply requires that Mattis submit a report "on the status of the United States relationship with the Republic of Turkey" by Oct. 31.

China
The White House prevailed in its quest to exclude from the NDAA language approved by the full Senate blocking the sale of American technology to Chinese telecommunications giant ZTE.
Such a trade restriction had already been imposed by the Trump administration, but it was lifted after Trump spoke with Chinese dictator Xi Jinping and tweeted that he was looking for a way to get ZTE back in business because "[t]oo many jobs in China [were] lost."
The final NDAA does nothing specific to restrict the sale of American technology to ZTE and Huawei, another Chinese telecommunications and video surveillance giant. 

But it does tighten overall U.S. national security reviews of American exports of sensitive technology by issuing stricter guidelines for the Committee on Foreign Investment in the U.S., or CFIUS.
The NDAA also bars the purchase or use by the federal government and its contractors of technology sold by ZTE and Huawei. 

That restriction would not, however, apply for sales to the general public.
There is also a ban in the bill on Pentagon spending for any Chinese language instruction provided by the Confucius Institute, which is operated by an entity associated with China's education ministry.

Russia
Mattis also prevailed in dissuading Congress from requiring enforcement of a 2017 sanctions law for countries that purchase Russian-made weapon systems or parts.
"Some nations who now actively seek a security relationship with the United States still rely on Russia for spare parts and other material," Mattis wrote, citing India and Vietnam as examples.

President Trump meets Putin in Helsinki in July.

Otherwise, the new NDAA carries a spate of policy measures likely to irritate Russia. 

They include:
— $6.3 billion for the European Deterrence Initiative, the largest U.S. infusion yet for this effort — started during the Obama administration — that's aimed at bolstering defenses in European nations near Russia.
— A requirement that Secretary Mattis send Congress by March 2019 a feasibility report on permanently stationing in Poland U.S. Army brigade combat teams that are currently cycling through nine-month rotations there. Russia maintains that the 1997 NATO-Russia Founding Act prohibits the establishment of permanent NATO bases in former Warsaw Pact nations, including Poland. NATO and the U.S. disagree, but have nonetheless held off establishing new bases in those countries during the 21 years since the act was signed.
— A directive that Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin brief Congress on all assets known to be held by Vladimir Putin, his "oligarch" associates and other high officials in Russia.
— A strengthening of a ban on funding anything that recognizes the sovereignty of Russia over Crimea.
— A labeling of Russia as a violator of the Chemical Weapons Convention, based on Russia's role in chemical attacks in Syria and Kremlin-linked assassination attempts in the United Kingdom.
— A requirement for certification that Trump has imposed sanctions on Russia for violations of the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty, as he had been directed to do in the 2018 NDAA; the bill also calls for the administration to submit plans to Congress for additional sanctions. A House provision was dropped that had called for considering INF treaty obligations nonbinding if Russia is not in compliance with the treaty.
— A ban on extending the New START nuclear arms limitation treaty (which expires in Feb. 2021) unless Congress receives a report from the administration on Russia's new strategic weapons determining whether Russia is in compliance with the treaty.
— Authorizes $65 million "for developing and producing a low-yield warhead to be mounted on a submarine-launched ballistic missile," according to a summary of the bill. Proponents say this would deter Russia from using tactical, lower-yield weapons; opponents say such weapons increase the likelihood of nuclear war.

Yemen
— Prohibits funds being spent on in-flight refueling of Saudi aircraft or members of the Saudi-led coalition conducting missions over Yemen, until the U.S. secretary of state certifies that Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates are seeking a diplomatic resolution of the conflict in Yemen and respecting the humanitarian needs of that country's inhabitants.
— Requires that the Trump administration brief Congress on what the U.S. strategy is in Yemen.

U.S. Defense Secretary Jim Mattis, left, at the Demilitarized Zone in the border village of Panmunjom in Paju, South Korea in October 2017.

South Korea
— Bars funding for the reduction of U.S. troops stationed in South Korea below 22,000, unless the secretary of defense certifies such a draw-down is in the national security interest of the U.S., and both South Korea and Japan have been "appropriately consulted."

Syria
— Renews the Syria train-and-equip program, but limits any expenditure of funds until Trump submits to Congress the Syria strategy report mandated by the 2018 NDAA.

Afghanistan
— Extends the Afghanistan Security Forces Fund through the end of next year. This continues the effort to stand up the Afghan military and police forces, which has become the main focus of the U.S. in Afghanistan.
— Authorizes $25 million to promote recruitment, training and integration of women in the Afghan National Defense and Security Forces.
— Requires that the secretary of defense designate a senior civilian official focused on civilian casualties associated with U.S. military operations. That official would regularly inform Congress on civilian casualties and work to improve reporting on noncombatant casualties.

Guantanamo
— Renews congressional bans on transferring any of the 40 remaining detainees to U.S. prisons and on building facilities in the U.S. to hold them.
— Denies the $69 million requested by the Trump administration for building a new "high-value detainee complex." That would replace a top-secret structure there known as Camp Seven which currently holds 15 detainees.

Outer Space
— Establishes a U.S. Space Command as part of the U.S. Strategic Command, but does not authorize funds for creating the space force that Trump has directed the Pentagon to create.

Sina Delenda Est

US will continue to confront China over disputed islands, Mattis says
By Lukas Mikelionis

U.S. Defense Secretary Jim Mattis lands in Kabul on March 13, 2018 on an unannounced trip to Afghanistan. 

Defense Secretary Jim Mattis said Tuesday that the U.S. will continue to confront China’s increasing militarization of islands in the South China Sea -- despite the U.S. angering Beijing over the weekend by sending two Navy ships to the region.
Mattis rebuked China and said the country hasn’t abided by its promise to stop militarization of the Spratly Islands, a disputed territory whose ownership is contested by Brunei, Malaysia, the Philippines and Vietnam.
Mattis said U.S. ships are maintaining a "steady drumbeat" of naval operations and will confront “what we believe is out of step with international law."
“You’ll notice there is only one country that seems to take active steps to rebuff them or state their resentment [to] them, but it’s international waters and a lot of nations want to see freedom of navigation,” Mattis told reporters while enroute to Hawaii.

His comments came after the two U.S. warships sailed close to the Paracel Islands, north of the Spratlys, promoting an angry response from China, which claims to have sent ships and aircraft to counter the U.S. Navy’s presence in the area.
The U.S. operation on Sunday was planned in advance, but similar military exercises have become routine amid China’s increasing militarization of the islands.
Officials at the Pentagon have long criticized China’s actions in the disputed islands, claiming the Chinese government has not been open about its military build-up and has been using the islands to gather intelligence, Reuters reported.

China deployed truck-mounted surface-to-air missiles or anti-ship cruise missiles at Woody Island, according to recent satellite photos. 

Earlier this month, China also landed bombers in the islands.
“When they (Chinese) do things that are opaque to the rest of us, then we cannot cooperate in areas that we would otherwise cooperate in,” Mattis told reporters, adding that American diplomats were working on the issue and heard concerns about Chinese actions not just from the U.S. government but other regional allies as well.
He is expected to raise the issue with Chinese officials during a security forum in Singapore later this week.

Chinese aggressions

Mattis says a U.S. aircraft carrier is likely to visit Vietnam amid Chinese tension
By Alex Horton 

The nuclear-powered USS Carl Vinson aircraft carrier leaves San Diego Bay for deployment to the western Pacific Friday, Jan. 5, 2018.

HANOI, Vietnam — The United States is finalizing plans to dock an aircraft carrier in the south of Vietnam this March, Defense Secretary Jim Mattis said Thursday, part of growing military cooperation between the nations and a 1,092-foot-long signal to China to rethink its aggressive expansion.
The USS Carl Vinson will make a port call in Danang, according to the proposal, the first-ever carrier port call after smaller U.S.-flagged ships have moored here.
“We recognize that relationships never stay the same. They either get stronger or they get weaker, and America wants a stronger relationship with a stronger Vietnam,” Mattis told his counterpart Ngo Xuan Lich.
Mattis’s trip to Southeast Asia included a two-day visit in Indonesia, part of a larger Pentagon strategy to foster military relationships to blunt influence of big state powers like Russia and China.
The United States believes it may have found a key ally in Vietnam. 

The nation is increasingly emboldened to challenge Chinese territorial claims in the South China Sea, a strategic region flush with resources.
China has mostly claimed the sea as its own and has studded artificial islands with radar arrays and military outpost, edging out Vietnam and other nations dependent on waters for fishing and commerce.
Vietnam-U.S. defense relations are still taking shape. 

Mattis said his talks with Vietnamese officials spurred creation of channels to develop military education and U.N. peacekeeping training but did not involve definite plans to sell or provide specific military equipment.
The United States sold a Coast Guard cutter to Vietnam last year, which officials said became the largest ship in its fleet.
That recent activity has relieved officials in Vietnam who believe the United States was too focused on brushfire insurgencies in the Middle East and Africa while China consolidated territory unchecked, said Zack Cooper, an Asia security analyst at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, a Washington think tank.
“They want to make sure the U.S. is actively engaged with the South China Sea,” Cooper said.
Mattis also met with Communist Party General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong, and thanked Vietnam for supporting U.N. sanctions against North Korea and recognized U.S. efforts to remedy the effects of toxic defoliants such as Agent Orange left behind at a Danang air base.
He also met with President Tran Dai Quang. 

Mattis will conclude his trip Friday, when he will meet his South Korean counterpart in Hawaii to discuss strategic issues in the region.

Vietnam wins U.S. defense pledges as tension with China grows

By Eric Beech and My Pham

U.S. Defense Secretary Jim Mattis (L) hosts an honor cordon for Vietnamese Defense Minister Gen. Ngo Xuan Lich (R) at the Pentagon in Arlington, Virginia, U.S., August 8, 2017.

WASHINGTON/HANOI -- Vietnam has won the promise of a visit from a U.S. aircraft carrier and deeper defense cooperation from the United States as strains show with China over the disputed South China Sea.
Within Southeast Asia, Vietnam has become an increasingly lonely voice in challenging Chinese claims to the vast majority of the waterway and was forced to suspend some offshore oil drilling last month after pressure from Beijing.
U.S. Defense Secretary Jim Mattis told Vietnamese counterpart Ngo Xuan Lich in Washington on Tuesday that a strong defense relationship was based on common interests that included freedom of navigation in the South China Sea.
"The Secretary welcomed Vietnam's engagement and growing leadership in the Asia-Pacific region," a statement from the Pentagon said.
The defense ministers agreed on a visit by a U.S. aircraft carrier to Vietnam next year -- the first such visit since the Vietnam War ended in 1975. 

President Donald Trump discussed the possibility of a carrier visit with Vietnamese Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc when they met at the White House in May.
The agreement was consistent with Vietnam's diplomatic strategy of being open to all countries, said Ha Hoang Hop, a Vietnamese political analyst who has advised the government.
"Vietnam is not willing to compromise on issues of sovereignty and also makes its own preparations," he said.
Beijing has been irritated by Vietnam's growing defense relationships with the United States and rival Asian powers, including Japan and India.
Tension has risen since June, when Vietnam infuriated China by drilling for oil and gas in an offshore block that Beijing disputes. 

The exploration was suspended after diplomatic protests from China.

China was also annoyed by Vietnam's stand at an Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN) meeting at the weekend, when it held out for language in a communique that noted concern about island-building and militarization in the South China Sea.

A scheduled meeting between Chinese and Vietnamese foreign ministers on the sidelines of the summit was canceled. 

China also pointed to Vietnam's own reclamation work in the South China Sea.
Beijing is sensitive to even a veiled reference by ASEAN to its reclamation of seven reefs and its military installations in the South China Sea, which it claims in almost its entirety despite the competing claims of five other countries.
More than $3 trillion in cargo passes through the waterway every year.
Australia, Japan and the United States urged Southeast Asia and China on Monday to ensure that a South China Sea code of conduct they have committed to draw up would be legally binding and said they strongly opposed "coercive unilateral actions".

Chinese Aggressions

Abe, Mattis reaffirm U.S. commitment on Senkakus
The Yomiuri Shimbun

Prime Minister Shinzo Abe shakes hands with U.S. Defense Secretary Jim Mattis, as Defense Minister Tomomi Inada looks on, at the Prime Minister’s Office in Tokyo on Friday.

Visiting U.S. Defense Secretary Jim Mattis clearly said during talks with Prime Minister Shinzo Abe on Friday afternoon that the Senkaku Islands in Okinawa Prefecture are within the scope of Article 5 of the Japan-U.S. Security Treaty, which obliges the United States to defend Japan, according to a senior government official who attended the meeting.
At the opening of the meeting, Abe said he is certain the two countries “can demonstrate in our country and abroad that the Japan-U.S. alliance is unshakable.” 

In response, Mattis said that he intended to make clear during the meeting that Article 5 of the security treaty will be important five years or 10 years from now, just as it was a year ago or five years ago.
Mattis arrived in Tokyo on the day to hold talks with the prime minister, Defense Minister Tomomi Inada and other members of Abe’s Cabinet to exchange views on the security environment in East Asia and to address mutual security concerns. 

The new U.S. defense chief’s visit to Japan marks the first by a U.S. Cabinet member under the administration of President Donald Trump. 

The ministerial meeting with Inada is scheduled for Saturday, after which they will hold a joint press conference.
During these talks, the two sides are also expected to confirm that the United States will firmly uphold the “nuclear umbrella” (see below) over Japan in its defense.
During his presidential election campaign last year, Trump was ambiguous about defending the Senkakus and also suggested that if Japan doesn’t contribute its due share to shouldering the burden of stationing U.S. forces in Japan, it would be acceptable for Japan to possess its own nuclear weapons to confront North Korea’s nuclear threat. 

These remarks caused apprehension on the Japanese side.
Confirmation by Mattis of the U.S. commitment to defend the Senkakus and maintain nuclear deterrence apparently aims to demonstrate that the position of the Japan-U.S. alliance with regard to Japan’s defense remains unchanged under the Trump administration.
At the ministerial meeting on Saturday, the defense chiefs will also confirm their intent to steadily move forward with the plan to relocate the U.S. Marine Corps’ Futenma Air Station in Ginowan, Okinawa Prefecure, to the Henoko district of Nago in the same prefecture, and other plans to reorganize the U.S. forces stationed in Japan.
Inada said at a press conference after a Cabinet meeting on Friday that at the ministerial meeting, she intends to “exchange candid views [with Mattis] on how to strengthen the Japan-U.S. alliance, the reorganization of U.S. forces and other matters to bring a greater level of certainty to the alliance.”

■ “Nuclear umbrella”
The idea that nuclear attacks can be deterred if a country makes clear its position that it would use its nuclear arsenal to retaliate if its allies came under nuclear attack from a third party. 

Between Japan and the United States, the idea was confirmed for the first time in 1965 in a summit meeting of Prime Minister Eisaku Sato and U.S. President Lyndon Johnson. 

The Guidelines for Japan-U.S. Defense Cooperation, which were revised for the second time in April 2015, stipulate that “the United States will continue to extend deterrence through the full range of capabilities, including U.S. nuclear forces.”