DTN News: Philippines Wins South China Sea Case Against China

DTN News: Philippines Wins South China Sea Case Against China
Source: K. V. Seth - DTN News + The Guardian

(NSI News Source Info) TORONTO, Canada - July 12, 2016: China has lost a key international legal case over strategic reefs and atolls that it claims would give it control over disputed waters of the South China Sea. The judgment by an international tribunal in The Hague chiefly in favour of claims by the Philippines will increase global diplomatic pressure on Beijing to scale back military expansion in the sensitive area.

By depriving certain outcrops – some of which are exposed only at low tide – of territorial-generating status, the ruling effectively punches a series of holes in China’s all- 

encompassing “nine-dash” demarcation line that stretches deep into the South China Sea. It declares large areas of the sea to be neutral international waters.

Beijing claims 90% of the South China Sea, a maritime region believed to hold a wealth of untapped oil and gas reserves and through which roughly $4.5tn of ship-borne trade passes every year. Vietnam, Malaysia, Brunei and Taiwan also contest China’s claims to islands and reef systems close to their territory than Beijing’s.

Sporadic violence between Chinese vessels and those of south-east Asia militaries have broken out in recent decades and the verdict, the first international legal decision on the issue, could have unpredictable consequences.

The court case at the permanent court of arbitration in The Hague, the UN-appointed tribunal that adjudicates in international disputes over maritime territory, has been running since 2013.

The judgment does not allocate any of the outcrops or islands to rival countries but instead indicates which maritime features are capable under international law of generating territorial rights over surrounding seas. 

China has previously stated that it “will neither accept nor participate in the arbitration unilaterally initiated by the Philippines”. The tribunal ruled, however, that China’s refusal to participate did not deprive the court of jurisdiction and that the Philippines’ decision to commence arbitration unilaterally was not an abuse of the convention’s dispute settlement procedures.

Prof Philippe Sands QC, who represented the Philippines in the hearing, said: “This is the most significant international legal case for almost the past 20 years since the Pinochet judgment.” Last year, US officials claimed the Chinese had built up an extra 800 hectares (2,000 acres) on their occupied outposts across the South China Sea over the previous 18 months.

The main focus of activity has been on Mischief Reef, where satellite images reveal the island is growing bigger, and is surrounded by fleets of dredgers and tankers.

Speaking on the eve of the court’s ruling, Bonnie Glaser, a senior Asia adviser at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, said she did not anticipate a major escalation from Beijing over its findings but admitted its reaction was hard to predict. “[If] the Chinese really do perceive that the ruling is just poking a finger in their eye I think there is a good possibility they will lash out,” she said.

“I believe we have all underestimated Xi Jinping,” Glaser said of China’s strongman president who has pursued an increasingly assertive foreign policy on issues such as the South China Sea. “He just seems quite comfortable with a high level of friction with every country.”

China’s foreign minister spoke to the US secretary of state, John Kerry, by telephone last week to warn Washington against moves that infringe on China’s sovereignty, Chinese state media reported.

And Beijing conducted military drills in the South China Sea, deploying at least two guided missile destroyers, the Shenyang and Ningbo, and one missile frigate deployed.

China says it follows a historical precedent set by the “nine-dash line” that Beijing drew in 1947 following the surrender of Japan. The line has been included in subsequent maps issued under Communist rule.

But the Philippines strongly contests China’s claims, specifically on nearby islands it says are part of the West Philippine Sea. Manila argued in seven hearings that China has exceeded its entitlement under the UN convention on the law of the sea. That gives China 12 miles of territorial waters around islands it controls, far less than claimed under the nine-dash line.

Beijing has the support of Russia and Saudi Arabia but has also garnered backing from dozens of smaller nations far from and not greatly affected by the hearing, including landlocked African countries Niger and Lesotho, as well as Palestine, Afghanistan and Togo. Vanuatu, a Pacific island nation of fewer than 300,000 citizens, also supports Beijing.

The Philippines has been backed by the US, UK, France, Japan and others.

The Philippine president, Rodrigo Duterte, is widely considered unpredictable and his moves in the next days and weeks will determine what could happen next.

*Link for This article compiled by K. V. Seth + The Guardian
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DTN News - CHINA SPACE NEWS: China Takes The Fight To Space

DTN News - CHINA SPACE NEWS: China Takes The Fight To Space
*The 21st-century battlefield in East Asia might not be on water or air, but in space.

Source: DTN News - - This article compiled by K. V. Seth from reliable sources By Michael Auslin
(NSI News Source Info) TORONTO, Canada - April 22, 2014: The debate over U.S. military presence in Asia usually centers on traditional areas like water or air. Yet Chinese President Xi Jinping has provided evidence that military competition may be shifting from ships and planes to space. He showcased China's military priorities when last week he encouraged his country's air force to better integrate its air and space capabilities. Although not as dramatic as President John F. Kennedy's 1961 call for a U.S. mission to the Moon, the Chinese leader's desire to expand the realm of military competition are clear. Washington should prepare for crippling attacks on satellites and other communications systems before it is too late.

China's plan to militarize its space activities has been in development for years. Its space program is controlled by its military, unlike in the U.S., where military services and NASA have separate agencies and leadership. Repeated Pentagon reports in recent years on China's military activities have noted the country has built up the means of disabling foreign satellites. And technological advantages have been growing steadily.

China shocked the world in 2007 by successfully destroying one of its aging weather satellites, demonstrating an anti-satellite capability that few nations can match. That test created a cloud of debris that continues to bedevil satellites and the International Space Station. Beijing also tested what is widely believed to have been a new, mobile-launched anti-satellite missile last May.

By comparison, the Pentagon has no formal anti-satellite system under development. And at a time when America's exploration program of the Moon has ended, China's has just begun. Its "Jade Rabbit" moon rover, the first Earth vehicle to visit the lunar surface in almost 40 years, successfully landed last December. Although Jade Rabbit broke down halfway through its planned three-month mission—highlighting the complexities of sustained space programs—China's goal remains to execute a manned mission to the Moon and possibly even establish a lunar base.

Which gets to Mr. Xi's high-profile exhortation last week that he will guide his country's growing technological expertise toward making space another dimension of the battlefield. How might Beijing integrate its air and space capabilities, and to what end? This is where both American homeland security and military planners need to be concerned.

There are currently only 30 operational GPS satellites operated by the U.S. Any Chinese ability to target those satellites could potentially disrupt, if not cripple, GPS operations on which everything from weather reporting to civil aviation to smartphone apps rely. That would impose huge costs on the American economy and potentially shut down entire industries. It is the 21st century version of saturation bombing, designed to target civilians and break their will to resist.

Similarly, Mr. Xi is moving China into a position where it could deny U.S. military forces their one unquestioned global advantage: a networked battle system. The U.S. Air Force operates around 20 advanced satellite communications systems.

Targeting those and some GPS satellites could make U.S. military operations difficult, if not impossible, to undertake. It could eliminate the effectiveness of precision-guided munitions. The U.S. Congress has become so concerned about this vulnerability that it requested that the Pentagon run studies on the ability of the U.S. military to operate in communications-denied environments.

Offensive space weapons would undoubtedly be employed in conjunction with China's advanced cyber warfare capabilities. By blinding satellites while knocking down computer networks through distributed denials of service, Beijing could effectively prevent U.S. forces from operating in Asia and beyond. This is what the Chinese call "war under informationized conditions," a twist on the "joint operations" that the U.S. military touts. The potential of such an attack is not based on military branches, but on capabilities.

Consider the threat of increased space presence to some of Asia's flashpoints. Blinding some of America's spy satellites could deprive policy makers of timely intelligence on Chinese naval and air moves to threaten foreign-held territory, such as the disputed Senkaku Islands. Introducing just enough uncertainty to delay American or joint allied decision-making could give Chinese forces the margin of success necessary to present Washington with a fait accompli. It would undoubtedly be even easier to isolate and interrupt the military activities of America's smaller allies, leaving Washington with a heavier burden.

The trend is clear: President Obama may want to shrink the military and surrender America's lead in space, but China is moving in the opposite direction. Eventually, Beijing will have a lead. At that point, American policy makers will be forced on the defensive while grasping to connect the dots of seemingly disparate events in space and cyberspace. America prides itself on being the world's technological powerhouse, but that is a diminishing advantage when others have a clearer view of why they are aiming at the stars.

Mr. Auslin is a resident scholar at the American Enterprise Institute and a columnist for wsj.com. He is on Twitter @michaelauslin.

*Link for This article compiled by K. V. Seth from reliable sources By Michael Auslin
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DTN News - AIRLINES NEWS: Malaysia Airlines MH370 Plane 'CHANGED COURSE'

DTN News - AIRLINES NEWS: Malaysia Airlines MH370 Plane 'CHANGED COURSE'

Source: DTN News - - This article compiled by K. V. Seth from reliable sources CBC News
(NSI News Source Info) TORONTO, Canada - March 11, 2014: The Malaysian military has radar data showing the missing Boeing 777 jetliner changed course and made it to the Malacca Strait, hundreds of kilometres from the last position recorded by civilian authorities, according to a senior military official.

The development injects more mystery into the investigation of the disappearance of Saturday's flight, and raises questions about why the aircraft was not transmitting signals detectable by civilian radar.

Local newspaper Berita Harian quoted Malaysian air force chief Gen. Rodzali Daud as saying radar at a military base had detected the airliner at 2:40 a.m. local time near Pulau Perak at the northern approach to the strait, a busy waterway that separates the western coast of Malaysia and Indonesia's Sumatra island.

A high-ranking military official involved in the investigation confirmed the report and also said the plane was believed to be flying low. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the information.

Authorities had earlier said the plane, which took off at 12:20 a.m. and was headed to Beijing, may have attempted to turn back to Kuala Lumpur, but they expressed surprise that it would do so without informing ground control.

The search for the plane was initially focused on waters between the eastern coast of Malaysia and Vietnam, the position where aviation authorities last tracked it. No trace of the plane, which was carrying 239 people, has been found by the 40 planes and ships from at least 10 nations searching the area.

Earlier Tuesday, Malaysia Airlines said in a statement that search and rescue teams had expanded their scope to the Malacca Strait. An earlier statement said the western coast of Malaysia was "now the focus," but the airline subsequently said that phrase was an oversight. It didn't elaborate. Civil aviation chief Azharuddin Abdul Rahman said the search remained "on both sides" of the country.

Also Tuesday, authorities said two people who boarded the flight using stolen passports were Iranians who had purchased tickets to Europe. Their appearance on the flight had raised speculation of a possible terrorist link.

Malaysian police chief Khalid Abu Bakar said investigators had determined one was a 19-year-old Iranian, Pouria Nourmohammadi Mehrdad, and that it seemed likely he was planning to migrate to Germany.

"We believe he is not likely to be a member of any terrorist group," Khalid said.

Switched passports

Interpol identified the second man as Seyed Mohammed Reza Delavar, a 29-year-old Iranian, and released an image of the two boarding a plane at the same time. Interpol Secretary General Ronald K. Noble said the two men travelled to Malaysia on their Iranian passports, then apparently switched to their stolen Austrian and Italian documents.

He said speculation of terrorism appeared to be dying down "as the belief becomes more certain that these two individuals were probably not terrorists." He appealed to the public for more information about the two.

Malaysia Airlines, meanwhile, said it is investigating an Australian television report that the co-pilot on the missing plane had invited two women into the cockpit during a flight two years ago.

Jonti Roos described the encounter on Australia's A Current Affair. The airline said it wouldn't comment until its investigation is complete.

Roos said she and her friend were allowed to stay in the cockpit during the entire one-hour flight on Dec. 14, 2011, from Phuket, Thailand, to Kuala Lumpur. She said the arrangement did not seem unusual to the plane's crew.

"Throughout the entire flight, they were talking to us and they were actually smoking throughout the flight," Roos said.

Roos didn't immediately reply to a message sent to her via Facebook.

The missing plane took off from Kuala Lumpur, on the western coast of Malaysia, early Saturday en route to Beijing.

It flew across Malaysia into the Gulf of Thailand at 11,000 metres and then disappeared from radar screens.

Vast search area

The hunt began on Saturday near the plane's last known location. But with no debris found there, the search has been systematically expanded to include areas the plane could have reached with the fuel it had on board. That is a vast area in which to locate something as small as a piece of an aircraft.

China, where two-thirds of the passengers are from, urged Malaysian authorities on Tuesday to "speed up the efforts" to find the plane. It has sent four ships, with another four on the way.

A shopping mall in Beijing suspended advertising on its large outdoor LED screen to display a search timer — an image of an airplane along with a digital clock marking the time since contact with the flight was lost.

Assuming the plane crashed into the ocean or disintegrated in midair, there will likely still be debris floating in the ocean, but it may be widely spread out and much may have already sunk. In past disasters, it has taken days or longer to find wreckage.

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DTN News - AIRLINES NEWS: Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370 Mystery

DTN News - AIRLINES NEWS: Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370 Mystery

Source: DTN News - - This article compiled by K. V. Seth from reliable sources Fox News
(NSI News Source Info) TORONTO, Canada - March 10, 2014: Vietnamese aircraft spotted what they suspected was one of the doors belonging to the ill-fated Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370 on Sunday, as troubling questions emerged about how two passengers managed to board the Boeing 777 using stolen passports.

The discovery comes as officials consider the possibility that the plane disintegrated mid-flight, a senior source told Reuters.

The state-run Thanh Nien newspaper cited Lt. Gen. Vo Van Tuan, deputy chief of staff of Vietnam's army, as saying searchers in a low-flying plane had spotted an object suspected of being a door from the missing jet. It was found in waters about 56 miles south of Tho Chu island, in the same area where oil slicks were spotted Saturday.

"From this object, hopefully (we) will find the missing plane," Tuan said. Thanh Nien said two ships from the maritime police were heading to the site.

An authority told Reuters that it was too dark to be certain the object was part of the missing plane, and that more aircraft would be dispatched to investigate the site in waters off southern Vietnam in the morning.

Rahman said that the search area has been increased to 50 nautical miles, from 20, and includes 34 aircraft and 40 ships. Aircraft are conducting 12-hour searches, until sundown, while ships are scheduled to continue the search throughout the night.

Meanwhile, Interpol says no country checked its database for information about stolen passports that were used to board the Malaysia Airlines flight that disappeared with 239 people on board Saturday less than an hour after taking off from Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, bound for Beijing.

In a sharply worded criticism of shortcomings of national passport controls, the Lyon, France-based international police body said information about the thefts of an Austrian passport in 2012 and an Italian passport last year was entered into its database after they were stolen in Thailand.

Interpol said in a statement it was investigating all other passports used to board the flight and was working to determine the "true identities" of the passengers who used the stolen passports.

"I can confirm that we have the visuals of these two people on CCTV," Malaysian Transport Minister Hishammuddin Hussein said at a news conference late Sunday, adding that the footage was being examined. "We have intelligence agencies, both local and international, on board."

Hussein declined to give further details, saying it may jeopardize the investigation. Hussein said only two passengers had used stolen passports, and that earlier reports that the identities of two others were under investigation were not true.

European authorities on Saturday confirmed the names and nationalities of the two stolen passports: One was an Italian-issued document bearing the name Luigi Maraldi, the other Austrian under the name Christian Kozel. Police in Thailand said Maraldi's passport was stolen on the island of Phuket last July.

A telephone operator on a China-based KLM hotline on Sunday confirmed to The Associated Press that "Maraldi" and "Kozel" were both booked to leave Beijing on a KLM flight to Amsterdam on March 8. Maraldi was then to fly to Copenhagen, Denmark, on KLM on March 8, and Kozel to Frankfurt, Germany, on March 8.

She said since the pair booked the tickets through China Southern Airlines, she had no information on where they bought them. The ticket purchases reportedly took place almost simultaneously, and the tickets were numbered consecutively, according to the BBC.

A U.S. official told Fox News that a key priority is clarifying the status of the passports, whether they were lost or stolen, and determining through airport security screening and video who got on the flight under those names.

The statements came as officials said finding the wreckage of the flight is “the utmost priority."

“There is still no sign of the aircraft,” Azharuddin Abdul Rahman, director general of the Department of Civil Aviation, said during a news conference in Kuala Lumpur.

The U.S. Navy sent a warship, the USS Pickney, which was conducting training and maritime security operations off the South China Sea, and a surveillance plane. Singapore said it would send a submarine and a plane. China and Vietnam were sending aircraft to help in the search.

It is not uncommon for it to take several days to find the wreckage of an aircraft floating on the ocean. Locating and then recovering the flight data recorders, vital to any investigation, can take months or even years.

When pressed on reports of fake passports used by at least two passengers on board the flight and the possibility of a terrorist attack, Rahman re-stated that the priority is to find the aircraft and that any probe investigating a terror link is independent of the search mission. Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak has also said it is “too early to make any conclusive remarks.”

Earlier, Malaysia’s air force chief told reporters that military radar indicated that the plane may have turned from its flight route before losing contact.

Rodzali Daud didn't say which direction the plane might have taken when it apparently went off route.

"We are trying to make sense of this," he told a media conference. "The military radar indicated that the aircraft may have made a turn back and in some parts, this was corroborated by civilian radar."

Malaysia Airlines Chief Executive Ahmad Jauhari Yahya said pilots were supposed to inform the airline and traffic control authorities if the plane does start to return. "From what we have, there was no such distress signal or distress call per se, so we are equally puzzled," he said.

Vietnamese air force planes spotted two large oil slicks late Saturday in the first sign that the aircraft had crashed. The slicks were each between 6 miles and 9 miles long, the Vietnamese government said in a statement.

But there was no confirmation that the slicks were related to the missing plane, but the statement said they were consistent with the kinds that would be produced by the two fuel tanks of a crashed jetliner.

The plane was carrying 227 passengers, including two infants and 12 crew members when it “lost all contact,” with Subang Air Traffic Control at 2:40 a.m., two hours into the flight, the airline said. The plane was expected to land in Beijing at 6:30 a.m. Saturday.

Around the time the plane vanished, the weather was fine and the plane was already at cruising altitude, making its disappearance all the more mysterious.

Just 9 percent of fatal accidents happen when a plane is at cruising altitude, according to a statistical summary of commercial jet accidents done by Boeing. The plane was last inspected 10 days ago and found to be "in proper condition," Ignatius Ong, CEO of Malaysia Airlines subsidiary Firefly airlines, said at a news conference.

The lack of a radio call "suggests something very sudden and very violent happened," said William Waldock, who teaches accident investigation at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University in Prescott, Ariz.

The plane "lost all contact and radar signal one minute before it entered Vietnam's air traffic control," Lt. Gen. Vo Van Tuan, deputy chief of staff of the Vietnamese army, said in a statement issued by the government.

U.S. officials said late Saturday that a team of safety experts had been dispatched to Southeast Asia to assist in the investigation. Officials from the National Transportation Safety Board told Fox News that the team, which includes investigators from the agency and technical experts from the Federal Aviation Administration and Boeing, had been sent to the region despite the fact that the plane had not been located due to the lengthy travel time from the U.S. and the team's desire to be in a position to assist local authorities right away. The FBI is also assisting in the search.

Meanwhile, a former intelligence official told Fox News that the information about stolen passports from two adjacent European countries, combined with recent warnings for flights to the United States about the risk of possible shoe bomb attacks, is concerning.

The airline said onboard the plane, there were 152 passengers from China, 38 from Malaysia, seven from Indonesia, six from Australia, five from India and three from the U.S. and others from Indonesia, France, New Zealand, Canada, Ukraine, Russia, Taiwan and the Netherlands.

The U.S. State Department later confirmed in a statement that three Americans were aboard the jetliner.

In the United States, a friend confirmed to the Associated Press that an IBM executive from North Texas named Philip Wood had been aboard the jet. Freescale Semiconductor, a company based in Texas, also confirmed Saturday that 20 of its employees -- 12 from Malaysia and eight from China -- were passengers.

The airline says the plane's pilot is Captain Zaharie Ahmad Shah, a 53-year-old who has been with the airline for over 30 years. The plane's first officer is Fariq Ab.Hamid, a 27-year-old who joined the airline in 2007. Both are Malaysians.

At Beijing's airport, authorities posted a notice asking relatives and friends of passengers to gather at a hotel about nine miles from the airport to wait for further information, and provided a shuttle bus service.

Malaysia Airlines has 15 Boeing 777-200 jets in its fleet of about 100 planes.

The 777 had not had a fatal crash in its 20-year history until the Asiana Airlines crash in San Francisco in July 2013.

Fox News' Catherine Herridge and Dan Gallo, as well as The Associated Press contributed to this report.

*Link for This article compiled by K. V. Seth from reliable sources Fox News
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DTN News - CHINA DEFENSE NEWS: China Announces Surge In Military Spending To Almost $132 Billion

DTN News - CHINA DEFENSE NEWS: China Announces Surge In Military Spending To Almost $132 Billion

*China continues years of double-digit rises in military spending to alarm of Asian nations and US

Source: DTN News - - This article compiled by K. V. Seth from reliable sources Telegraph UK
(NSI News Source Info) TORONTO, Canada - March 5, 2014: China has announced a 12 per cent increase on its military, already the largest in the world, sparking concerns among its Asian neighbours and the US.

Beijing has for years been raising spending on the People's Liberation Army (PLA) in double-digit steps, reflecting its military ambitions as it asserts its new-found economic might and its claims in a series of territorial disputes with Japan and others.

"The appropriation for national defence is 808.23 billion yuan (£79 billion), up 12.2 percent," said a budget report prepared for the annual session of the National People's Congress (NPC), China's Communist-controlled parliament, which began on Wednesday.

"We will resolutely safeguard China's sovereignty, security and development interests," Premier Li Keqiang said at the opening session.

"We will safeguard the victory of World War II and the post-war international order, and will not allow anyone to reverse the course of history," he said - a phrase China often uses in relation to rival Japan.

Beijing would also "place war preparations on a regular footing" and "build China into a maritime power", Li added.

In comments ahead of the gathering, NPC spokeswoman Fu Ying sought to play down foreign worries about China's defence expenditure.

"Certain countries have been selling the idea of China as a major threat," she said. "Based on our history and experience, we believe that peace can only be maintained by strength."

This year's stated increase follows rises of 10.7 percent in 2013, 11.2 percent in 2012 and 12.7 percent in 2011.

Analysts believe China's actual military spending is significantly higher than publicised, with the Pentagon estimating it at between $135 billion and $215 billion in 2012.

The United States itself remains far ahead as the global leader in defence spending, with Washington approving a 2014 budget of $633 billion in December.

China devotes about three times as much as India to defence, and more than neighbours Japan, South Korea, Taiwan and Vietnam combined.

Beijing's spending could match that of Washington by the 2030s, the International Institute for Strategic Studies said in February, but added that its capabilities, expertise and ability to project power would require several more years to catch up.

Nonetheless the increases have raised concerns in the US and Asia, particularly in Japan, with the two countries embroiled in an escalating row over East China Sea islands called Diaoyu in Chinese and Senkaku in Japanese.

After the latest figure was revealed, Japan expressed concern about Beijing's level of openness about the PLA.

"The transparency of China's defence policy and military capacity, or lack thereof, has become a matter of concern for the international community, including Japan," Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga told reporters.

China's actions will both fuel the concern of its neighbours and encourage them to beef up their security cooperation with each other and the US, said Denny Roy, an expert on China's military at the East-West Center in Hawaii.

"This would add to the momentum of something that's already in motion," he told AFP.
In December, the cabinet of Japan's hawkish Prime Minister Shinzo Abe agreed to spend 24.7 trillion yen (£144 billion) between 2014 and 2019 in a strategic military shift towards areas of the country facing China - a five per cent boost to the defence budget over five years.

China decried Japan's increase at the time as an issue of "great concern to neighbouring countries in Asia and the international community".

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DTN News - SHORT STORY: ROOTS OR REALITY BY FREAK OF COINCIDENCE (TRUE OR FICTION) ~ From DTN News Archive

DTN News - SHORT STORY: ROOTS OR REALITY BY FREAK OF COINCIDENCE (TRUE OR FICTION) ~ From DTN News Archive
Source: DTN News - - This article compiled by K. V. Seth 
(NSI News Source Info) TORONTO, Canada - February 27, 2014: Today - August 3, while opening my FB (Facebook) earlier this morning, I was amazed to see the esteemed beauty of 15th century Creation of Adam by Michelangelo, posted or tagged by a very dear friend, I address him AMIT DADA  (Amitava Chatterjee). 

I feel we are blessed with hi-tech and technology era and the internet, which is a gold or better platinum mines of knowledge as well free of charge available at your command.

Back on track, on the above aspect., I usually acknowledge the receipt of a posting on my Facebook.

"Thanks Dada., the famous painting of the Creation of Adam by Michelangelo. I saw the related movie - The Agony and the Ecstasy, was released in 1965 casting Charlton Heston, Rex Harrison and Diane Cilento.

Dada, since ADAM is the centrepoint on this aspect, I may add Adam & Eve are listed as having three children named Cain, Abel and SETH.

Another interesting aspect I like to share with you, last Olympics ~ 2008 Beijing opening ceremony was on Aug 8, 2008 my BIRTHDAY, 2012 London on July 27 is my elder brother Guru Dev Seth's BIRTHDAY and 2016 Rio de Janeiro (?).
Take care and kind regards
Karam Seth"

What a freak of a coincidence with an amazing twist of similarity from the conception of Human kind to the current World Largest Sports Events, the four letter words S E T H is in variably connected. Is it True or Fiction ?

DTN News - CHINA DEFENSE NEWS: Military Personnel After Attending 11th National Women's Congress In Beijing

DTN News - CHINA DEFENSE NEWS: Military Personnel After Attending 11th National Women's Congress In Beijing

Source: DTN News - - This article compiled by K. V. Seth from reliable sources PoTD

(NSI News Source Info) KOTTAKKAL, Kerala, India - October 28, 2013:  Military personnel leave the Great Hall of the People after the opening ceremony of the 11th National Women's Congress near Tiananmen Square in Beijing, China. Photograph: Feng Li/Getty Images

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DTN News - DISPUTED EAST CHINA SEA REGION SENKAKU / DIAOYU ISLANDS: Japan's PM Warns China On Use of Force As Jets Scrambled

DTN News - DISPUTED EAST CHINA SEA REGION SENKAKU / DIAOYU ISLANDS: Japan's PM Warns China On Use of Force As Jets Scrambled

Source: DTN News - - This article compiled by K. V. Seth from reliable sources By Harumi Ozawa (AFP)
(NSI News Source Info) KOTTAKKAL, Kerala, India - October 28, 2013: Japan’s leader warned China on Sunday against forcibly changing the regional balance of power, as reports said Tokyo had scrambled fighter jets in response to Chinese military aircraft flying near Okinawa.

Verbal skirmishing between Asia’s two biggest economies, who dispute ownership of an island chain, escalated as Beijing warned Tokyo that any hostile action in the skies against Chinese drones would be construed as an “act of war.”

“We will express our intention as a state not to tolerate a change in the status quo by force. We must conduct all sorts of activities such as surveillance and intelligence for that purpose,” Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said in an address to the military.

“The security environment surrounding Japan is becoming increasingly severe. This is the reality,” he said. “You will have to completely rid yourselves of the conventional notion that just the existence of a defense force could act as a deterrent.”

Abe presided over an inspection of the military at which a US amphibious assault vehicle was displayed for the first time, an apparent sign of Japan’s intention to strengthen its ability to protect remote islands.

The defense ministry plans to create a special amphibious unit to protect the southern islands and retake them in case of an invasion.

“There are concerns that China is attempting to change the status quo by force, rather than by rule of law,” Abe earlier told the Wall Street Journal in an interview following a series of summits this month with regional leaders.

“But if China opts to take that path, then it won’t be able to emerge peacefully,” he said in the interview published Saturday.

“So it shouldn’t take that path, and many nations expect Japan to strongly express that view. And they hope that as a result, China will take responsible action in the international community,” Abe added.

Kyodo News reported that Japan scrambled jets Sunday for the third successive day in response to four Chinese military aircraft flying over international waters near the Okinawa island chain.

Two Y8 early-warning aircraft and two H6 bombers flew from the East China Sea to the Pacific Ocean and back again but did not violate Japan’s airspace, it said.

The Japanese defense ministry was not immediately available for confirmation.

Japan’s military is on increased alert as Tokyo and Beijing pursue a war of words over the disputed islands in the East China Sea that lie between Okinawa and Taiwan.

On Saturday China responded angrily after a report said Japan had drafted plans to shoot down foreign drones that encroach on its airspace if warnings to leave are ignored.

Tokyo drew up the proposals after a Chinese military drone entered Japan’s air defense identification zone near the disputed islands in the East China Sea last month, Kyodo said.

“We would advise relevant parties not to underestimate the Chinese military’s staunch resolve to safeguard China’s national territorial sovereignty,” China’s defense ministry spokesman Geng Yansheng said in comments posted on the ministry’s website.

“If Japan takes enforcement measures such as shooting down aircraft, as it says it will, that would constitute a serious provocation, an act of war of sorts, and we would have to take firm countermeasures, and all consequences would be the responsibility of the side that caused the provocation.”

Tokyo and Beijing both claim the small uninhabited islands in the East China Sea. Japan administers them and calls them the Senkakus. China refers to the islands as the Diaoyus.

One of Abe’s first decisions as prime minister was to increase the defense budget for the first time in 11 years.

Tokyo also plans to hold a major air and sea exercise next month to bolster its ability to protect its remote islands.

In the Wall Street Journal interview, Abe said Japan had become too inward-looking over the past 15 years, but as it regains economic strength “we’d like to contribute more to making the world a better place.”

The Journal said he made it clear that one way Japan would “contribute” would be countering China in Asia.

*Link for This article compiled by K. V. Seth from reliable sources By Harumi Ozawa (AFP)
*Speaking Image - Creation of DTN News ~ Defense Technology News 
*Photograph: IPF (International Pool of Friends) + DTN News / otherwise source stated
*This article is being posted from Toronto, Canada By DTN News ~ Defense-Technology News Contact:dtnnews@ymail.com 
©COPYRIGHT (C) DTN NEWS DEFENSE-TECHNOLOGY NEWS

DTN News - DEFENSE NEWS: U.S.-China Defense Consultative Talks

DTN News - DEFENSE NEWS: U.S.-China Defense Consultative Talks

Source: K. V. Seth DTN News & U.S. Department of Defense No. 642-13 September 10, 2013

(NSI News Source Info) TORONTO, Canada - September 10, 2013: Pentagon Press Secretary George Little provided the following readout:

Officials from the United States and China met Sept. 9, 2013 in Beijing for the 14th annual Defense Consultative Talks. Dr. James Miller, undersecretary of defense for policy, and Lt. Gen. Wang Guanzhong, deputy chief of the People’s Liberation Army General Staff, led their respective country’s delegations. The U.S. delegation included representatives from the Joint Staff, U.S. Pacific Command, the National Security Staff and the State Department.

Miller and Wang underscored the accomplishments that the U.S.-China military-to-military relationship has achieved thus far this year. They discussed how to sustain the positive momentum in building a constructive military relationship and advance a new model of military-to-military relations into the future. In this regard, the two agreed to further the exploration of the two proposals on military confidence building offered by President Xi at Sunnylands.

The two leaders discussed how to enhance strategic trust and build upon opportunities to expand cooperation in areas of mutual interest, including humanitarian assistance, disaster relief, peacekeeping, and maritime safety. They also discussed ways to enhance communications to improve understanding and avoid misperception. Both agreed to continue discussions between maritime legal experts, and sustain dialogue in key strategic areas including nuclear, missile defense, space, and cyber.

The two sides also exchanged views on the East and South China Sea. On North Korea, Miller emphasized the significant concerns of the United States regarding North Korea's nuclear and missile developments and called on China to maintain and increase pressure on North Korea to bring the regime back to credible and authentic negotiations aimed at denuclearization.

*Link for This article compiled by K. V. Seth DTN News & U.S. Department of Defense No. 642-13 September 10, 2013 
*Speaking Image - Creation of DTN News ~ Defense Technology News 
*Photograph: IPF (International Pool of Friends) + DTN News / otherwise source stated
*This article is being posted from Toronto, Canada By DTN News ~ Defense-Technology News Contact:dtnnews@ymail.com 
©COPYRIGHT (C) DTN NEWS DEFENSE-TECHNOLOGY NEWS

DTN News - CHINESE PREMIER LI KEQIANG IN PAKISTAN: Li Keqiang Begins Pakistan Visit And Pledges Stronger Partnership

DTN News - CHINESE PREMIER LI KEQIANG IN PAKISTAN: Li Keqiang Begins Pakistan Visit And  Pledges Stronger Partnership

Source: DTN News - - This article compiled by Roger Smith from reliable sources AFP
(NSI News Source Info) TORONTO, Canada - May 22, 2013: Chinese Premier Li Keqiang vowed to strengthen his country's partnership with Pakistan as he arrived Wednesday for a visit less than two weeks after the country's general election.

The long-time allies will look to use the two-day trip to boost trade ties, and Li will meet prime minister-elect Nawaz Sharif - who has not yet been sworn in - as well as holding talks with senior officials.

Sharif's Pakistan Muslim League-N (PML-N) party swept to victory in the May 11 general election on a promise to revitalise the struggling economy. Help from its giant northern neighbour will be important to this.

Trade between China and Pakistan hit an annual US$12 billion for the first time last year, according to Islamabad's foreign ministry, and the two sides plan to raise this to US$15 billion in the next two to three years.

Li, arriving from India on his first overseas tour as premier, was met by President Asif Ali Zardari on the tarmac at Nur Khan air base in Rawalpindi next to Islamabad.

"The purpose of the visit is to devise a strategy to bolster future cooperation and friendship," Li said in a statement quoted by state broadcaster PTV.

"We will strengthen a strategic partnership with Pakistan in whatever the international scenario and circumstances are."

The Chinese premier will hold talks with Zardari and caretaker prime minister Mir Hazar Khan Khoso on Wednesday before meeting Sharif on Thursday.

Pakistan's former ambassador to the United States Tariq Fatemi said the visit was crucial in drawing the economic roadmap for the incoming government.

"Normally foreign visitors don't go to countries during the interim setups, but China has recognised that the visit to Pakistan is necessary even at this stage, and that is why they have organised a separate one-on-one meeting with Nawaz Sharif," Fatemi told AFP.

The PML-N faces a daunting array of problems: a bloody Islamist militancy, sluggish economic growth, high inflation, a crumbling currency, the threat of a balance of payments crisis and crippling electricity shortages.

There are an estimated 10,000 Chinese people and more than 120 Chinese companies in Pakistan, many working on infrastructure and energy projects. Beijing built two nuclear power plants in the country and is contracted to construct two more reactors.

In February Beijing took control of Pakistan's port of Gwadar, which through an expanded Karakoram Highway could connect China to the Arabian Sea and the Strait of Hormuz, a gateway for a third of the world's traded oil.

Li will address a special session of the Pakistani senate, the upper house of parliament, and the two sides are expected to sign memorandums of understanding on economic, energy and science issues.

Li arrived in Pakistan after a visit to arch-rival India, where he promised to open China's vast domestic market wider to India and forge a "dynamic trade balance" with the South Asian giant.

His tour will takes him on to Europe for visits to Switzerland, with which China is negotiating a free trade agreement, and Germany, its largest European trading partner.

Chinese Premier Li Keqiang vowed to strengthen his country's partnership with Pakistan as he arrived Wednesday for a visit less than two weeks after the country's general election.

The long-time allies will look to use the two-day trip to boost trade ties, and Li will meet prime minister-elect Nawaz Sharif - who has not yet been sworn in - as well as holding talks with senior officials.

Sharif's Pakistan Muslim League-N (PML-N) party swept to victory in the May 11 general election on a promise to revitalise the struggling economy. Help from its giant northern neighbour will be important to this.

Trade between China and Pakistan hit an annual US$12 billion for the first time last year, according to Islamabad's foreign ministry, and the two sides plan to raise this to US$15 billion in the next two to three years.

Li, arriving from India on his first overseas tour as premier, was met by President Asif Ali Zardari on the tarmac at Nur Khan air base in Rawalpindi next to Islamabad.

"The purpose of the visit is to devise a strategy to bolster future cooperation and friendship," Li said in a statement quoted by state broadcaster PTV.

"We will strengthen a strategic partnership with Pakistan in whatever the international scenario and circumstances are."

The Chinese premier will hold talks with Zardari and caretaker prime minister Mir Hazar Khan Khoso on Wednesday before meeting Sharif on Thursday.

Pakistan's former ambassador to the United States Tariq Fatemi said the visit was crucial in drawing the economic roadmap for the incoming government.

"Normally foreign visitors don't go to countries during the interim setups, but China has recognised that the visit to Pakistan is necessary even at this stage, and that is why they have organised a separate one-on-one meeting with Nawaz Sharif," Fatemi told AFP.

The PML-N faces a daunting array of problems: a bloody Islamist militancy, sluggish economic growth, high inflation, a crumbling currency, the threat of a balance of payments crisis and crippling electricity shortages.

There are an estimated 10,000 Chinese people and more than 120 Chinese companies in Pakistan, many working on infrastructure and energy projects. Beijing built two nuclear power plants in the country and is contracted to construct two more reactors.

In February Beijing took control of Pakistan's port of Gwadar, which through an expanded Karakoram Highway could connect China to the Arabian Sea and the Strait of Hormuz, a gateway for a third of the world's traded oil.

Li will address a special session of the Pakistani senate, the upper house of parliament, and the two sides are expected to sign memorandums of understanding on economic, energy and science issues.

Li arrived in Pakistan after a visit to arch-rival India, where he promised to open China's vast domestic market wider to India and forge a "dynamic trade balance" with the South Asian giant.

His tour will takes him on to Europe for visits to Switzerland, with which China is negotiating a free trade agreement, and Germany, its largest European trading partner.  


*Link for This article compiled by Roger Smith from reliable sources AFP
*Speaking Image - Creation of DTN News ~ Defense Technology News 
*Photograph: IPF (International Pool of Friends) + DTN News / otherwise source stated
*This article is being posted from Toronto, Canada By DTN News ~ Defense-Technology News Contact:dtnnews@ymail.com 
©COPYRIGHT (C) DTN NEWS DEFENSE-TECHNOLOGY NEWS
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