Senior US Admiral suggests American ships could escort Filipino ships in South China Sea
China’s navy, coast guard, and naval militia operate throughout the South China Sea. The Chinese Communist Party arbitrarily marked the “extended Chinese territory” with a “nine dash line”. In addition to bringing China within reach of other countries in that area, China claims islands belonging in the economic zones of other Asian countries. China’s navy, coast guard, and naval militia have been harassing ships from other countries. However, a miscalculation could result in U.S. military involvement.
From Associated Press:
MANILA, Philippines (AP) — The U.S. military is open to consultations about escorting Philippine ships in the disputed South China Sea, the head of U.S. Indo-Pacific Command said Tuesday amid a spike in hostilities between Beijing and Manila in the disputed waters.
Adm. Samuel Paparo’s remarks, which he made in response to a question during a news conference in Manila with Philippine Armed Forces chief Gen. Romeo Brawner Jr., provided a glimpse of the mindset of one of the highest American military commanders outside the U.S. mainland on a prospective operation that would risk putting U.S. Navy ships in direct collisions with those of China.
Chinese coast guard, navy and suspected militia ships regularly clash with Philippine vessels during attempts to resupply Filipino sailors stationed in parts of the South China Sea claimed by both countries. As these clashes grow increasingly hostile, resulting in injuries to Filipino sailors and damage to their ships, the Philippine government has faced questions about invoking a treaty alliance with Washington.
Paparo and Brawner spoke to reporters after an international military conference in Manila organized by the U.S. Indo-Pacific Command, at which China’s increasingly assertive actions in the South China Sea were spotlighted. Military and defense officials and diplomats from the U.S. and allied countries attended but there were no Chinese representatives.
Additional Reading:
Gomez, J. (2024, August 28). US military open to escorting Philippine ships in the South China Sea, senior admiral says. Associated Press. Link.
Do we even have any ships in any condition to do this? Or does some ship towing company have sole recovery rights ( with a kickback, of course).
What could go wrong?
Everything!…and anything!
Why not have our Pacific Fleet Carriers provide air cover for those ships? Oh…wait…never mind. We no longer have a carrier in the ‘hood.
Chinese merchant ship officers and crews are also all reservists; trained in use of weapons, wartime emergency cargo handling and load/discharge procedures (with and without viable docks/facilities) — and they train regularly. COSCO, one of their largest outfits, also carries commissars onboard (usually the second officer.)
With over 5,000 vessels in their registry, they have a sizable naval auxiliary force right there.
Yeah, but what training in Diversity Equity and Inclusion and Recognizing White Rage do those Chinese sailors have? And Hack Stone is more than confident that when the Harris-Walz Administration takes office, Vice President Walz will be appointed the China Czar and keep those Commies at bay. (Insert sarcasm tag here)
Harris-Walz to the rescue!!!!
A little more reading on the aforementioned:
https://digital-commons.usnwc.edu/cmsi-maritime-reports/40/
https://gcaptain.com/warning-china-has-militarized-its-seafarers/
The gCaptain article is rather poorly written. John Konrad isn’t exactly my favorite person in this business… nor anyone else’s.
As long as Hanes can still produce mens briefs on the cheap
in Vietnam and ship them without interference I don’t care.
A little tax here and a grift there, everybody takes it in the shorts.
Hope there are no supply chain issues this fall, otherwise it may negatively impact the Christmas gifts that the Vice President of the proud but humble woman owned business that sells outdated and overpriced software formerly located on Wilson Lane in Bethesda Maryland. Last year all of the employees received half a dozen pairs of crotchless boxer shorts.
“crotchless boxer shorts”
Also known as a skirt.
A kilt. Why is called a “kilt”, you may ask? Because that’s what happened to the guy that called it a skirt.
Escort them with what? And with whose air power? These guys are living in a pure fantasy bubble of what once was.
Actually an LCS would be perfect for this role. They are going to retire then anyway so turning them into reefs in the South China Sea is “a way” to retire them. They just need to get the PIN to slow down so they don’t lose them while underway. Also every sailor will need to be rescue swimmer qualified.
What about selling retiring LCS to our allies around the South China Sea? Even if they can’t fight them as well as we do, the Chinese will still have to include them in their war planning and allocate units to deal with them.
How hard is to plan for half a dozen aerial drones?
I am sure the Chinese have more than enough tugboats to clear the sea lanes of those hazards to navigation.
I thought this was interesting….
Good luck, Mr. Gorsky!
That smile will vanish when he discovers they don’t plan to bring him back.
He will be brought back…. in 2025 on a different platform than he left on.
He’ll only be in trouble if he insists on flying a Boeing product.
Maybe we can just tell the Philippines to fly US flags, that will stop the Chinese.
Maybe the US Navy can hire themselves out as mercenary protection escort.
Wait…..what am I saying?
Could the Navy effectively do it?
Could the Phillipinos afford to pay for it?
ROFLOLMFAO!!!!!
To both questions, I think the answer would be a long, loud, and resounding NO!
We’re gonna have to bring back press gangs to crew these escort ships.
Please. They call it the “Selective Service System” these days.
Before we provide anything to the Philippines, PI needs to show us that they are willing to fight for themselves by sinking some illegal Chinese militia boats and give us basing access for something more than token exercise forces.
Jus’ sayin’
That looks to me like we have all our eggs in one basket.
No risk for Taiwan, etc. at all. /sarc
Meanwhile, the Houthis are left to run loose:
https://x.com/amuse/status/1829120754421493796
Chicoms want SCS as a “bastion” for their SSBNs– f*ck ’em!
Given that the majority of our Navy is in another part of the world and they are kinda strapped for crews, how are they going to handle a 2 front operation? Lets also add in the sad state of readiness of even front line Naval assets.
I don’t see china backing down very much, especially if we are stuck with harris and walz after November.
Chicoms gonna Chicom:
