China's ambitions in the South China Sea is no different from Japan in WWII

China's ambitions in the South China Sea is no different from WWII Japan

China has been aggressively building up its military might and staking claims over islands in the South China Sea.

The South China Sea disputes involve both island and maritime claims among several sovereign states within the region, namely the Nation of Brunei, the People's Republic of China, the Republic of China (Taiwan), Malaysia, Indonesia, the Republic of the Philippines, and the Socialist Republic of Vietnam.

The territorial disputes involve the following:

The nine-dash line area claimed by the Republic of China, later People's Republic of China which covers most of the South China sea and overlaps the exclusive economic zone claims of Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Taiwan, and Vietnam.
Maritime boundary along the Vietnamese coast between PRC, Taiwan, and Vietnam.
Maritime boundary north of Borneo between China, Malaysia, Philippines, and Taiwan.
Islands, reefs, banks and shoals in the South China Sea, including the Paracel Islands, the Pratas Islands, Macclesfield Bank, Scarborough Shoal and the Spratly Islands between China, Taiwan, and Vietnam, and parts of the area also contested by Malaysia and the Philippines.
Maritime boundary in the waters north of the Natuna Islands between China, Indonesia and Taiwan[6]
Maritime boundary off the coast of Palawan and Luzon between China, the Philippines, and Taiwan.
Maritime boundary, land territory, and the islands of Sabah, including Ambalat, between Indonesia, Malaysia, and the Philippines.
Maritime boundary and islands in the Luzon Strait between the China, the Philippines, and Taiwan.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Territorial_disputes_in_the_South_China_Sea

The contested region is widely speculated to be rich in oil, natural gas deposits and also sea produce. Also, establishing the maritime boundaries would mean controlling the sea trading routes.

As the nationalist movements in China become increasingly widespread,, the young and web-savvy Chinese netizens have become increasingly vocal in their support for the Chinese government's antagonistic approach in the disputes through the use of social media. Even celebrities have taken to posting on weibo (China's equivalent of facebook) to state their stands. In July, public figures in the entertainment circle, including Fan Bingbing, Tiffany Chen (Charles Heung's wife) and Hu Jun posted a picture with the caption: China, not even a bit less (sic). Loosely translated, it means that China is adamant and will not give up sovereignty over the disputed maritime boundaries and islands.

Earlier in May, a Pentagon report says China has reclaimed more than 3,200 acres of land in the south-eastern South China Sea. But the country’s focus has shifted to developing and weaponizing those man-made islands so it will have greater control over the maritime region without resorting to armed conflict. On these man-made islands, China has excavated deep channels, created and dredged harbors (for warships), and constructed communications, logistics and intelligence gathering facilities.

More recently (In December), Fox News first reported China is getting ready to deploy another missile defense system from a port in southeast China. China also flew a long-range bomber around the South China Sea for the first time since March 2015 and days after Mr. Trump’s phone call with his Taiwan counterpart. The US intelligence believes that the hundreds of surface-to-air missiles that the Chinese military has recently shipped to Hainan Island will eventually be deployed on the man-made islands.

This has led to protests by the collection of countries involved in the claims. During the ASEAN summit held in Laos, the South China Sea row dominated the discussion. While countries involved in the SCS spate has been voicing frustration over China's blatant disregard for its neighbours nor the international community, ASEAN has yet to issue any joint statement nor collective protest over China's military developments in the SCS.

China's brazen defiance of the Hague ruling shows that the up and coming superpower is not afraid of flexing its military and economic might and will readily resort to provocative actions to defend its purported territorial rights - and this is eerily similar to Japan's aims at dominating Asia and the Pacific.

ASEAN and US will need to take a firm stand against the region's up and rising powerhouse and curb its influence and antagonistic approaches. At the same time, the awakened Dragon has not shown the willingness to back down, nor hesitate provocations in order to "defend" its sovereignty.

With the new US president elect Donald Trump calling for a renewed arms race, a regional war could be the fuse that eventually erupts into a new World War.

A look at the upcoming GE2015

As Singapore's political scene heats up in preparation for the upcoming general elections, newly introduced candidates from various parties come under public scrutiny.

First up was Ms Kevryn Lim, a member of the National Solidarity Party (NSP). A Masters holder in Professional Communication from Curtin University of Technology in Perth, she was compared to and touted as Nicole Seah v2.0.

However, she invited much criticism over her seemingly inappropriate choice of attire during the opposition horse-trading talks.

Since then, Kevryn Lim seems to have disappeared from the public eye. Whether she has been let go by the NSP or been placed in interim cold storage has yet to be affirmed.

Aside from the small episode above, it does seem that the opposition has been taking a concerted effort in vetting their candidature namelist.

Next up is PAP's team to contest Aljunied in a bid to recover lost grounds from GE2011. For now, it seems that the party in white has randomly and haphazardly (did they even try?) cobbled together a miserable team to rival Workers' Party's A-team. 

It is no doubt that this decision has aroused rife speculations on online forums (Hardwarezone, Sammyboy) that PAP has given up hope of getting Aljunied back although it remains to be seen if the current slate of candidate (Mr Victor Lye, Mr Chua Eng Leong, Ms Chan Hui Yeh, Mr K Muralidharan Pillai and Mr Shamsul Kamar). With the exception of Victor Lye who has been getting his share of the limelight (for the wrong reasons, actually), the other 4 are practically unheard of. 

The PAP lineup to contest Workers' Party's A-team has yet to be revealed although the likelihood of any PAP heavyweights joining the "suicide squad" is as close as Singapore winning the world cup. There have been rumours though, that the resignation of the transport minister Lui Tuck Yew has got to do with infighting within the PAP upper echelons (that he was actually being fielded to Aljunied to be the anchor minister) - which pretty much sums up his hasty decision to leave.

There have been many high profile resignations in the civil service over the past few weeks as well, apparently timed to coincide with the upcoming General Elections. The most watched of them being current Chief of Defence - Lieutenant General Ng Chee Meng's announcement of retirement just before National Day (31 July 2015) which prompted much buzz on the Internet that he was joining politics. No other details have been furnished and he is expected to step down officially as Chief of Defence Force on Aug 18 and we will have to wait and see if he is indeed joining the white team.

I do believe that he would join either DPM Teo Chee Hean, or DPM Tharman Shanmugaratnam in their constituencies since these wards are considered to be "safe wards".

Melvin Yong, a Senior Police Officer was also introduced today at Pek Kio market. He is poised to take over the outgoing Minister Lui Tuck Yew as the incumbent candidate for Moulmein. It is only elections that we see ministers cracking wry common man jokes which are not in the least funny - "Mr Lui played on his surname and Mr Yong's Chinese name, Yi Cai, when making the introduction. He said: "Last time, it was 'Lui lai liao, (Hokkien for 'Money is coming'), now it's 'Cai lai liao'." Cai is Mandarin for fortune."

Some have noted though, that he had joined PAP's walkabout in Moulmein despite it being his official last day as the Assistant Commissioner of Police's in the force - which begs the question, did he breach the code of conduct for civil servants to not have any political affiliations.

Then there is Chee Hong Tat, formerly principal private secretary (PPS) to then Minister Mentor Lee Kuan Yew.

Picture from - The Online Citizen

His letter to the Straits Times 6 years ago, writing in his official capacity was to defend the government’s bilingual policy. In the letter, he wrote "It would be stupid for any Singapore agency or NTU to advocate the learning of dialects, which must be at the expense of English and Mandarin," His brash remarks have drawn widespread condemnation online. It is even more ironic that Chee Hong Tat chose to speak in Hokkien when first introduced as a PAP candidate contesting in the Bishan-Toa Payoh ward.

In short, PAP's antics for these high-flying (newly) former civil servants to appear friendlier, less out-of-touch with the general public comes across to me as superficial and feeble attempts at trying desperately to connect and score some last minute brownie points with the electorate.

Samsung Galaxy Note 5 - a gravely mistake for Samsung

The Samsung S6 was already going in the wrong direction and many have predicted that the Note 5 would follow in the foot steps.

 My thoughts - why would anyone buy an iPhone lookalike when it has:

1. No removable battery
2. No MicroSD slot
3. No radio (most likely no)
4. Waterproof (probably not, water-resistant is as far as it would go)

If I'd want an Android I'll get a Xiaomi or LG or HTC, or some other phones that are more bang for the buck and probably comes with additional bell-whistles (special features). Samsung has somehow gotten lost with regards to their Android fan-base.

Looks like Samsung's Note 5 is the final nail in coffin for the Korean company.