We begin today’s tales from the dark side with a deal from the New York Times:
Sony Pictures Buys Film Rights to Book on Snowden
After a long, slow haul, the film rights to Glenn Greenwald’s book about Edward J. Snowden and his revelations about electronic surveillance by United States security officials have found a home, at Sony Pictures Entertainment.
Sony said on Wednesday that it had acquired rights to Mr. Greenwald’s book, “No Place to Hide: Edward Snowden, the NSA and the U. S. Surveillance State,” for the producers Michael G. Wilson and Barbara Broccoli. Mr. Wilson and Ms. Broccoli are known for their work on James Bond films like “Skyfall” and “Quantum of Solace,” both of which were released by Sony and Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer.
Mr. Greenwald’s book, whose rights were represented by both the Paradigm agency and Writers House, had been in consideration around Hollywood since the fall, as potential buyers fretted about how to tell a real-life story that is still playing out. Mr. Snowden remains in Russia, and is wanted by the authorities in the United States, where he faces criminal charges. Last month, he retained a Washington lawyer in hopes of reaching a plea deal with federal prosecutors.
Another whistleblower may also catch a break, though not nearly so lucrative, via BBC News:
US ‘considers Manning transfer’ to civilian prison
The Pentagon is considering transferring Private Chelsea Manning to a civilian prison in order to treat her gender dysphoria, US media report.
Pte Manning, formerly known as Bradley, was sentenced to 35 years in military prison for leaking a massive trove of classified US documents.
After the conviction, she announced the desire to live as a woman. However, the US military prohibits transgender people from serving openly in the military.
From Ars Technica, a major cyberfail:
Al-Qaeda’s new homebrew crypto apps may make US intel-gathering easier
NSA spying revelations led to development of three new encryption apps.
Terrorists loyal to al Qaeda and its offshoots are using new encryption software, most likely in response to revelations that the National Security Agency is able to bypass standard cryptographic protections as part of an expansive surveillance program, according to a recently released report from intelligence firm Recorded Future.
The three new major encryption tools were adopted within a three- to five-month period following leaks from former NSA contractor Edward Snowden, according to the report. The apps replace or bolster the original Mujahideen Secrets crypto program that al Qaeda members have mainly used for e-mail since 2007. One of the new releases, known as Tashfeer al-Jawwal, is a mobile program developed by the Global Islamic Media Front and released in September. A second, Asrar al-Ghurabaa, was released by the Islamic State of Iraq and Al-Sham in November, around the same time the group broke away from the main al Qaeda group following a power struggle. The third program is known as Amn al-Mujahid and was released in December by that Al-Fajr Technical Committee.
The influx of new programs for al Qaeda members came amid revelations that the NSA was able to decode vast amounts of encrypted data traveling over the Internet. Among other things, according to documents Snowden provided, government-sponsored spies exploited backdoors or crippling weaknesses that had been surreptitiously and intentionally built in to widely used standards.
The Guardian covers hackery by corporate hacks for the Rupester:
News of the World royal editor: I hacked Kate Middleton 155 times
Clive Goodman tells phone-hacking trial he himself intercepted princes’ voicemails, but has never been asked about it by police
Kate Middleton was hacked 155 times by a reporter on the News of the World who said he snooped on her voicemails on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day, the Old Bailey has heard.
Clive Goodman, the paper’s former royal editor, also revealed for the first time he directly hacked the phone of Prince William, adding that police had failed to ask him a single question about it in the eight years since he was arrested on related charges.
He told jurors he hacked Prince William 35 times, Prince Harry nine times and the Duchess of Cambridge 155 times.
CBC News covers specious secrecy involving a widely publicized Ottawa visit by U.K. Prime Minister David Cameron:
David Cameron’s ‘top-secret’ visit to Canada revealed
Access to Information request results in redaction of name of British PM on official visit to Canada The Privy Council Office, it seems, is working hard to protect the identity of those who visit the prime minister.
According to documents recently released under Access to Information, the name of an individual who paid an official visit to Canada in September 2011 must be withheld because it is considered “personal information.”
Owing to an apparent clerical error, however, CBC News has uncovered the identity of the mystery world leader in question. One page in the batch of documents was printed in duplicate: one time with names blanked out and the other with the names readable.
The documents show the deletion was meant to be “Prime Minister Cameron,” presumably referring to British Prime Minister David Cameron.
From PCWorld, about damn time:
Senators want to limit companies’ use of student data
Two U.S. senators want to prohibit companies from sharing students’ personal data when advertising their products or services and require that organizations holding student data put data security safeguards in place.
A proposal from Senators Ed Markey, a Massachusetts Democrat, and Orrin Hatch, a Utah Republican, would largely regulate the use of student data by private companies. The Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) of 1974 generally requires public schools to get parental consent before sharing students’ personal data with third parties, but lawmakers and some privacy groups have raised concerns in recent months that those protections are weakened when schools outsource data processing and other functions.
Markey and Hatch on Wednesday released a discussion draft of legislation called the Protecting Student Privacy Act. In addition to data protection and data-sharing rules, the proposal would allow parents to access personal information about their children held by private companies and change incorrect information.
From the Guardian, another despicable neoliberal move:
Privacy groups demand rethink over HMRC plan to sell tax data
Three groups hand in petition of 300,000 signatures, and Lib Dem MP says proposed scheme would undermine confidentiality
HM Revenue and Customs must rethink its plans to share millions of people’s personal tax data with private companies and researchers, a prominent Lib Dem MP and privacy campaigners have said – as they handed in a petition of 300,000 signatures to the government.
Julian Huppert, a Lib Dem member of the Commons home affairs committee, said HMRC would “seriously undermine the confidentiality we expect” if it proceeded with the proposal to relax restrictions on sharing taxpayer data and potentially selling it to private firms.
Although the data would be anonymised, critics fear it could include details about income, tax arrangements and payment history and carry a risk that people could be identified. The campaign groups 38 Degrees, Open Rights Group and Sum of Us handed in a petition calling for an end to the plans.
From Aero-News Network, our first drone story and an apparent win for the private sector:
FAA To Expedite Limited Commercial Operations Of UAS
Association For Unmanned Vehicle Systems International Welcomes Move To Advance UAS Integration
Perhaps realizing that the UAV train has already left the station … during a speech at AUVSI’s Unmanned Systems 2014, FAA Manager of UAS Integration Jim Williams on Tuesday announced that the FAA is working with several industries to expedite some limited commercial operations of UAS before UAS rules are finalized.
“We applaud the FAA for working collaboratively with the industry and other stakeholders to help UAS technology begin to take off,” said AUVSI President and CEO Michael Toscano. “UAS have a host of societal and economic benefits, and many industries are clamoring to harness their capabilities. Limited commercial operations is a good first step, but we also need to begin the small UAS rulemaking immediately. We look forward to continue working with the FAA to advance UAS integration safely and responsibly.”
Specifically, Williams said the FAA is expected to allow limited commercial operations for filmmaking, powerline inspection, precision agriculture and flare stack inspection. Williams said these industries approached the FAA for expedited approvals.
CNN covers the latest dronal body count:
Drone strike kills at least 10 militants near Afghan-Pakistani border, official says
A U.S. drone strike Wednesday morning killed at least 10 militants and injured 14 near the Afghan-Pakistani border, a Pakistani military official said.
The attack targeted militants in Afghanistan’s Nangarhar province, the official said, speaking on condition of anonymity.
It wasn’t immediately clear which militant group or groups were targeted.
And from Ars Technica, a good PR move for the military’s drones:
US sends its giant spy drone to look for kidnapped Nigerian girls
It can look through trees, but can a Global Hawk find 276 girls in the forest?
The drone that the United States Air Force sees as the replacement for the venerable U-2 spy plane is now flying surveillance missions over Nigeria as part of the search for 276 schoolgirls kidnapped by the Boko Haram terrorist group. A Northrop Grumman RQ-4 Global Hawk flew a mission over Nigeria on Tuesday, according to an NBC News report.
The Global Hawk, which first flew in 1998, can stay airborne for up to 28 hours and has a range of 8,700 miles. It has a wingspan close to that of a Boeing 747, weighs more than 32,000 pounds, and carries the Hughes Integrated Surveillance and Reconnaissance (HISAR) sensor system, a down-market version of the infrared, optical, and synthetic aperture radar gear Hughes developed for the U-2.
At least some of the current RQ-4 aircraft carry a signals intelligence sensor as well, which can be used to intercept radio transmissions from the ground. The latest generation of RQ-4s (Block 40) will carry an improved radar system called the Multi-Platform Radar Technology Insertion Program (MP-RTIP), which can both provide synthetic aperture radar imaging of the ground below and track multiple moving targets.
SecurityWeek covers snitches in unsuspected places, including those “smart” household thermostats, refrigerators, and suchlike:
The Massive Challenge of Securing the Internet of Things
If the buzz last year was all about software defined networking (SDN), this year’s buzz is about the Internet of Things – everyday devices that are IP-enabled, can communicate over the Internet and can transmit what may be very confidential and important data. In fact, according to data from Cisco, there are now more “things” connected to the Internet than there are people on Earth, and these “things” are not just smartphones and tablets. For example, a Dutch startup, Sparked, is using wireless sensors on cattle so that when one of them is sick or pregnant, it sends a message to the farmer.
While devices that are used in the Internet of Things (IoT) can address either consumer or enterprise needs, its use within enterprises and critical infrastructure such as manufacturing plants or transportation hubs may pose the biggest security risks, and the biggest targets for criminal organizations and nation states.
Spiegel covers a covert blast from the past starring some nasty Nazi volk:
Files Uncovered: Nazi Veterans Created Illegal Army
Newly discovered documents show that in the years after World War II, former members of the Nazi Wehrmacht and Waffen-SS formed a secret army to protect the country from the Soviets. The illegal project could have sparked a major scandal at the time.
For nearly six decades, the 321-page file lay unnoticed in the archives of the BND, Germany’s foreign intelligence agency — but now its contents have revealed a new chapter of German postwar history that is as spectacular as it is mysterious.
The previously secret documents reveal the existence of a coalition of approximately 2,000 former officers — veterans of the Nazi-era Wehrmacht and the Waffen-SS — who decided to put together an army in postwar Germany in 1949. They made their preparations without a mandate from the German government, without the knowledge of the parliament and, the documents show, by circumventing Allied occupation forces.
Independent.ie has Irish police behaving badly:
Doctor: ‘Special needs boy was stripped naked and whipped with belt in garda custody’
A RETIRED doctor has claimed a “special needs boy” was stripped naked and whipped with his own belt in Garda custody.
Dr Richard O’Flaherty told the Oireachtas Justice Committee the 17-year-old was arrested after he borrowed his father’s car.
He said the young man was arrested by gardai who took off his clothes and beat him while he was detained.
Dr O’Flaherty was speaking at an Oireachtas hearing on proposed changes to the Garda Siochana Act.
Relatively good news, at least for one state, from MintPress News:
Minn. Closer To Stopping “Policing For Profit”
Starting in August, police in Minnesota will no longer be able to seize property from people suspected of — but not charged with — criminal involvement.
Starting Aug. 1, new legislation goes into effect in Minnesota that will stop law enforcement from seizing a person’s property — including cash, stocks, real estate, vehicles, guns, cars and homes — if that person is only suspected of being involved with wrongdoing or crime.
Under the bipartisan supported legislation, Minnesota will soon require law enforcement to first convict an individual, or require the property owner to plead guilty to a crime or become an informant, in order for law enforcement to be able to seize that individual’s property under civil forfeiture rules.
The new law also shifts the burden of proof onto the government. Previously, those who had their property taken away under civil forfeiture practices had to prove that their property was not used in, or obtained through any illegal activity.
After the jump, a host of stories for the increasingly accelerating Game of Zones, including massive violence in Vietnam, a whole lot of serious saber-rattling, and a whole lot more. . .
The Yomiuri Shimbun gives us our first Asian story
New legislation to bolster cyberdefense
A bill to bolster cyberdefense that the Liberal Democratic Party and New Komeito plan to submit to the current Diet session stipulates the establishment of the new cybersecurity strategic headquarters, which will be headed by the chief cabinet secretary, The Yomiuri Shimbun has learned.
A basic bill for cybersecurity, which aims at strengthening defense against cyber-attacks ahead of the 2020 Tokyo Olympics and Paralympics, requires all ministries and agencies to report information related to cyber-attacks to the headquarters.
The bill also stipulates that it is the responsibility of the central and local governments to take security measures against cyber-attacks.
Want China Times rattles the sabers:
PLA’s ‘Long Sword’ missiles deadly to US, Japan, Taiwan: report
China’s CJ-10 “Long Sword” cruise missile has capabilities that match those of the American Block-IV Tomahawk and could be devastating in a potential naval conflict against the US, Japan or Taiwan, according to a report published in US-based political magazine The National Interest.
The May 12 article, jointly written by military experts Dennis Gormley from the University of Pittsburgh, Andrew S Erickson from the Naval War College in Newport and Jingdong Yuan from the University of Sydney, claims that China’s cruise missile development has been advancing rapidly under the radar while the US Navy has limited itself severely in both the type and quantity of its own anti-ship cruise missiles.
In terms of land-attack cruise missiles, China has deployed the air-launched YJ-63 with a range of 200 km and the 1,500+ km-range ground-launched DH-10, the article said, adding that both systems have benefited from technical assistance from Russia.
Want China Times adds more context:
Guided cruise missiles key to China’s defense in regional conflict
China has commissioned cruise missiles that can attack ships and targets on land for its fleets, submarines and launching platforms in an attempt to discourage intervention from the United States, reports the website of China’s nationalistic tabloid Global Times.
The country’s military modernization has focused on building up a military force that could win any potential regional war. China sees cruise missiles capable of attacking land targets as a game changer in any potential war. Highly accurate anti-ship cruise missiles deployed from multiple land, air and sea platforms are the keys to countering US intervention, according to the paper.
Beijing has developed advanced anti-ship cruise missiles and introduced Russian ultrasonic missiles into the country. Almost every new ship and submarine in China can launch cruise missiles. Sources claim China’s missiles can attack land targets located as far away as Guam. The increasing number of missiles and launching platforms in the country has posed a significant challenge to the defense system of the US and its regional allies, according to the paper.
From BBC News, serious violence in Vietnam:
Vietnam anti-China protest: Factories burnt
At least 15 foreign-owned factories have been set on fire amid anti-China protests at industrial parks in southern Vietnam. Hundreds more were attacked by some of the 20,000 workers who protesting in the streets of Binh Duong province.
They are protesting after China moved a drilling rig into waters also claimed by Vietnam earlier this month.
No casualties have been reported but officials said at least 200 people had been arrested over the violence.
South China Morning Post admonishes:
Hong Kong issues Vietnam travel warning after mobs torch Chinese factories
Beijing and Hong Kong authorities warn against travel to Vietnam after protesters, angry over oil drilling in disputed waters, run amok
The Hong Kong government issued an amber travel warning for Vietnam after protesters there vandalised hundreds of foreign-owned factories and torched at least 15 of them.
The riots followed a large protest by workers on Tuesday against China’s recent placement of an oil rig in disputed waters around the Paracel Islands in the South China Sea.
The rioting in Binh Duong province followed protests by up to 20,000 workers at industrial parks near Ho Chi Minh City. Smaller groups of men attacked factories they believed were mainland Chinese-run, but many were Taiwanese or South Korean, the provincial government said.
And from Want China Times, hints of a body count:
Anti-China riots in Vietnam may have turned deadly
At least two people have allegedly been killed amid escalating violence in Vietnam as several Chinese and Taiwanese factories were set ablaze by anti-China protesters.
Thousands of workers in industrial parks across southern Vietnam reportedly smashed gates and damaged property as they targeted Chinese factories, though many Taiwanese and Hong Kong-financed companies were also affected as locals were unable to tell the difference and apparently went after any building featuring signs with Chinese characters.
And the latest, from Reuters via the Jakarta Globe, and with a decided bias:
China tells Indonesia it Urged Vietnam to Calm Down, Respect Sovereignty
China’s foreign minister told his Indonesian counterpart that China had urged Vietnam to “calm down” and respect China’s sovereignty amid protests in Vietnam over Chinese oil drilling in a disputed part of the South China Sea.
Foreign Minister Wang Yi made the comments to Indonesia’s Foreign Minister Marty Natalegawa in a telephone call, the ministry said in a statement posted to its website on Wednesday.
Southeast Asian nations have called for self-restraint on territorial disputes in the South China Sea as tensions escalate over China’s pursuit of its claims to large swaths of the resource-rich region.
South China Morning Post shifts to another front in the War of Zones:
Philippines protests to China over land reclamation in disputed reef
Manila says Beijing is reclaiming land on a reef in the disputed Spratly Islands and seems to be constructing an airstrip
The Philippines has protested against China’s reclamation of land at a disputed reef in the South China Sea that can be used to build an airstrip.
Foreign Secretary Albert del Rosario said Manila filed a diplomatic protest against the reclamation on the Johnson South Reef last month, but Beijing rejected it on grounds that the reef is part of Chinese territory.
Asked if China was building an airstrip on the reef, which is also claimed by Vietnam, Del Rosario said: “That’s one possibility.”
On to another front with the Diplomat:
The ICJ and the Dokdo/Takeshima Dispute
Referring the dispute to the international court would have complications, but may be the only feasible solution.
Earlier this month, there was an article in The Korea Herald asking the question “will U.S. back Korea over Dokdo?” As Ankit Panda outlined in The Diplomat, it is quite clear that Washington would not choose between allies based on the U.S.-Korea Mutual Defense Treaty. Moreover, the analogy that some in South Korea are making, to U.S. inclusion of the Senkaku/Diaoyu Islands under the U.S.-Japan Treaty, is manifestly flawed. Yet, while the answer may be clear, the article signifies another disturbing trend over the past few years in Seoul which paints Japan, especially under the Abe administration, as a security threat. Meanwhile, Abe has spent the past few months, following his visit to Yasukuni Shrine last December, trying to keep his head down on worsening ties with Korea in an attempt to patch up relations.
Diplomatic jousting over Dokdo/Takeshima has been a constant over the past decade and has ebbed and flowed with the change of political leaders in South Korea and Japan. But, as Michael Devitt has explained, the status-quo on the dispute is relatively firm: “the only way South Korea will relinquish control is if military force is used to eject it from the islets. Even then, enough military capability would have to be maintained in the vicinity on a more or less permanent basis, to ensure that South Korea could not take the islets back. It is hard to imagine that Japan would ever be willing to attempt such a military undertaking, or could amass the capability to actually sustain control if it ever did seize the islets. In effect, South Korea’s de facto control is permanent.”
And another front from JapanToday:
Senior Japan, South Korea diplomats to meet Thursday
Senior officials from Japan and South Korea will meet in Tokyo on Thursday in a bid to smooth over a badly ruffled relationship.
Japanese Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida told a regular press conference that the officials would address “issues of mutual interest”.
They will likely include lawsuits in South Korea demanding compensation from Japanese companies for wartime conscripted labor and Seoul’s restrictions on importing Japanese marine products after the Fukushima nuclear accident, Kishida said.
While in Japan the right’s struggle to end a six-decade tradition of occupying the spectator section of global military-backed power struggles from the Japan Times:
LDP, New Komeito to start talks on collective self-defense next week
Masahiko Komura, vice president of the Liberal Democratic Party, said Wednesday he will try to strike an agreement on collective self-defense with junior coalition partner New Komeito so that the decision will be reflected in the Japan-U.S. defense guidelines being revised by the end of this year. Talks are expected to begin next week.
“It is absolutely necessary for the coalition to agree on this issue before Cabinet approval,” said Komura, who will be the LDP head of a coalition consultative body on the issue. “It will be difficult, but we will try to reach an agreement in time for the revision of the Guidelines for Japan-U.S. Defense Cooperation.”
The discussions to sway a reluctant New Komeito will kick off next Tuesday after Prime Minister Shinzo Abe outlines how the administration will revise Japan’s defense posture on Thursday, based on a report compiled by his hand-picked panel.
The Asahi Shimbun hints that it may already be considered a done deal:
Abe panel’s report says collective self-defense already covered by Article 9
A key advisory panel to Prime Minister Shinzo Abe is claiming Japan can exercise the right to collective self-defense because it falls under the minimum required level of defense that is already allowed by the Constitution’s pacifist Article 9.
Legal scholars, aghast at the conclusion, said the panel seemed set on “destroying” the Constitution that has kept Japan in postwar peace.
The Asahi Shimbun obtained a copy of the panel’s report that will be submitted to Abe on May 15. It was compiled by the Advisory Panel on Reconstruction of the Legal Basis for Security. Abe will hold a news conference the same day to explain how the government intends to proceed with discussions with the ruling coalition in implementing the panel’s recommendations.
While Nikkei Asian Review plays politics:
Abe trying to bring doves aboard with broader defense powers
Abe hopes to allow Japan’s Self-Defense Forces to come to the rescue of U.S. troops in emergencies.
Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe will step up a public relations campaign to persuade the public and recalcitrant allies to accept an expansion of Japan’s defense rights, determined to tread carefully over this politically explosive issue.
A national security panel is set to submit a report Thursday recommending that the government reinterpret the constitution to allow the country to use force to assist allies under attack. Abe intends to hold a news conference following the document’s release to explain his plans.
“I plan to offer a thorough explanation to allay any concerns,” Abe told senior members of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party on Wednesday night.
The Yomiuri Shimbun covers the angles:
Abe to select issues from security report
Prime Minister Shinzo Abe will ask the ruling parties to consider only selected issues from a report to be submitted Thursday by a government panel that is expected to propose that the government change its interpretation of the Constitution to allow the nation to exercise the right to collective self-defense, The Yomiuri Shimbun has learned.
According to sources, the move to exclude from party discussions such issues as the total lifting of a ban on the use of weapons by Self-Defense Forces personnel during international missions is aimed at accelerating the deliberation process on the report so the government will be able to endorse new constitutional interpretations contained in the report at a Cabinet meeting before the current Diet session ends next month.
Abe is scheduled to announce his administration’s “basic directions” of the nation’s exercise of the right to collective self-defense and other issues at a press conference on Thursday, upon receiving the report.
And South China Morning Post offers a scene- [and seen-] setter:
Shinzo Abe on tightrope as he pushes for change to Japan’s defence policy
Japanese prime minister will need to tread carefully when he makes the case for some flexibility in the country’s pacifist constitution
Would Japan send its military to defend the Philippines if it was attacked by China? That’s the kind of question Prime Minister Shinzo Abe could face as he pushes for a landmark change to security policy.
Abe’s private advisers will today present him with a report urging a loosening of legal limits on Japan’s military, including an end to a decades-old ban on helping allies under attack that has kept Japanese forces from fighting abroad since the second world war.
The report sets the stage for Abe to make a pitch for a historic change in a defence policy that has long been based on the principle that Japan has the right to defend itself with the minimum necessary force, but that combat abroad exceeds the limit.
While the Japan Times gets all obstructionist:
Sunagawa Incident retrial request may throw wrench into self-defense push
Four of the seven people found guilty of entering a then-U.S. base in the town of Sunagawa, now part of the city of Tachikawa, in 1957 during a protest against the base’s expansion will file a retrial request with the Tokyo District Court as early as mid-June, sources said Wednesday.
The four, including Gentaro Tsuchiya, 79, decided to submit the retrial request before the ongoing Diet session ends June 22, sources said.
They are concerned about a move by the government to use a landmark 1959 Supreme Court ruling on the so-called Sunagawa Incident to pursue its goal of changing its interpretation of the Constitution and making it possible for Japan to exercise the right to collective self-defense.
China Daily calls in the major players, bringing Big Uncle out of the woodwork:
US-China ‘Dialogue’ will include S. China Sea
When senior officials from China and the United States sit down for the 6th China-US Strategic and Economic Dialogue (S&ED) in early July, they will have to sort out a wide range of economic and security issues, including the recent tensions in the South China Sea.
On Tuesday, China said the US was “inspiring belligerency” after Secretary of State John Kerry said China’s use of an oil rig in its territorial waters was provocative.
Analysts said China left no doubt that it was warning the US to abandon “hypocrisy” and to stop publicly backing countries such as Vietnam and the Philippines on issues regarding China’s sovereign territory.
Foreign Minister Wang Yi told Kerry in a phone call that China wanted the US to “stop fueling provocations by relevant parties”.
More form the Japan Daily Press:
China accuses U.S. of encouraging Japan, Vietnam and the Philippines
It seems that China is not content with maintaining disputes with its Asian neighbors alone. Apparently, its word war has reached the West as it accuses the United States of encouraging other Asian countries to pursue their respective territorial disputes with the communist nation.
With the way China has been claiming sovereignty over islands in the South China and East China Sea, you would think China owns majority of Asia already. But Japan, has been adamant that the Senkakus are theirs while Vietnam and the Philippines also claim sovereignty over an oil drilling rig in the South China waters. While these most certainly should give China something to worry about, Asia’s biggest nation continues to go about its business, even so far as ramming Vietnam’s patrol ships that were circling the disputed waters.
Want China Times scents a script:
Timing of flareups in South China Sea is no coincidence
After US president Barack Obama concluded his recent visit to four countries in East Asia, China has had conflict with Vietnam and the Philippines in the disputed South China Sea.
On May 2, Vietnamese vessels collided with a Chinese frigate to stop China to obstruct the operations of an oil rig in the waters of the Paracel islands, which are also claimed by Vietnam.
Four days later, the Philippines seized a boat carrying 11 Chinese fishermen in waters around Half Moon Reef in the Spratly islands.
The fact that the incidents occurred at around the same time might seem coincidental, but they were actually fueled by the United States behind the scenes. Obama actively announced his support for the stance of Vietnam and the Philippines in the South China Sea.
Xinhua brings in another player:
Russian navy ships depart for joint exercise with China
Russian navy ships left here Wednesday for Shanghai to take part in a joint naval drill with the Chinese navy.
Six ships from the Russian Pacific Fleet would take part in the “Joint Sea-2014″ drill in the northern part of the East China Sea, local media reported.
The ships include guided missile cruiser Varyag, large anti-submarine ship Admiral Panteleyev, large amphibious ship Admiral Nevelskoy, anti-surface destroyer Bystry, tanker Ilim and tugboat Kalar.
And Channel NewsAsia Singapore heats up another front:
Philippines: China may be building airstrip at disputed reef
The Philippines warned on Wednesday that China may be building an airstrip on a reef in the South China Sea, boosting the superpower’s claim to most of the strategic Asian waters.
Filipino surveillance aircraft have been monitoring large-scale reclamation and earthmoving activity on Chinese-held Johnson South Reef since January, the defence department said.
Asked if China was building an airstrip on the reef, also claimed by the Philippines and Vietnam, Foreign Secretary Albert del Rosario said: “That’s one possibility”.
More from Kyodo News:
Philippines protests Chinese occupation of reef in S. China Sea
The Philippines said Wednesday it has lodged a protest over China’s fortification of another contested reef in the South China Sea.
Philippine Foreign Secretary Albert del Rosario said Manila sent a diplomatic note to Beijing in April to protest “reclamation” of Johnson Reef, known in the Philippines as Mabini Reef.
Del Rosario said China rejected the protest.
The Guardian catches Big Uncle playing with matches in a tinderbox:
US government grants for North Korea could endanger lives, say experts
Analysts say funding projects that encourage people to break the law is irresponsible and counter-productive. NK News reports
The US government’s recent call for North Korea-focused grant proposals could encourage activities that put people at risk, several experts have told NK News.
The call by the Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights and Labor (DRL), which offers applicants grants of up to $350,000 to promote “human rights and democratic principles in North Korea”, will in part fund projects designed to physically move information in and out of North Korea – activities that could pose serious risks to anyone involved.
Proposals are sought that promote “access to information into, out of, and within North Korea,” the call says, including those involving “the production of media, including visual/video content, for DVDs, USBs, and other methods to send information into North Korea.”
While Little Kim Jr. plots an exit with Want China Times:
Kim Jong-un could flee to China if regime collapses
North Korean leader Kim Jong-un could seek refuge in China if his regime collapses, writes Hong Kong newspaper Ta Kung Pao.
Citing sources such as the Voice of Russia and the UK’s Daily Telegraph, the report says that China has already made plans to set up refugee camps along the 1,400-kilometer border between China and North Korea and intends to detain key leaders in the event of civil unrest or an attack by a foreign power that causes Kim to be overthrown.
The source of the speculation comes from alleged documents that are said to have been drawn up by planners from China’s People’s Liberation Army supposedly leaked to Japanese media.
And for our final item, Big Uncle prepares to up the arsenal of yet another player, via United Press International:
Australia requests purchase of Sidewinder missiles
As many as 350 Sidewinder missiles are being sought from the United States by Australia.
As many as 350 Sidewinder tactical missiles may be sold to Australia under the U.S. Foreign Military Sales program.
The U.S. Defense Security Cooperation Agency, in its required notification to Congress, said the proposed sale carries a value of $534 million and that the U.S. State Department has given its approval for the deal.
“This proposed sale will improve the Royal Australian Air Force’s air-to-air capability and ability to defend its nation and cooperate with allied air forces,” the agency said.
