South China Sea- China Warns US of War Over Provocative Acts in SCS

China disturbed by US Destroyers sailing through disputed waters in South China Sea has warned Americans that it could spark war with 'provocative acts' in South China Sea

Beijing’s top Navy man issues the warning during teleconference talks with his US counterpart aimed at defusing tension in the region

China has warned the US that its “dangerous and provocative acts” in the South China Sea could lead to “a minor incident that sparks war”.



China’s naval commander, Admiral Wu Shengli, issued the warning to his American counterpart Admiral John Richardson during video conference talks on Thursday aimed at defusing tension in the region, according to a Chinese naval statement.

 “If the United States continues with these kinds of dangerous, provocative acts, there could well be a seriously pressing situation between frontline forces from both sides on the sea and in the air, or even a minor incident that sparks war,” the statement paraphrased Wu as saying.



“I hope the US side cherishes the good situation between the Chinese and US navies that has not come easily and avoids these kinds of incidents from happening again,” Wu said.



The high-level talks followed mounting international alarm in the wake of the decision by Washington to send a US destroyer close to artificial islands built by Beijing in the South China Sea.



According to the Pentagon, however, the hour-long talks had been “productive”.



The admirals discussed “freedom of navigation operations, the relationship between the two navies including pending port visits, senior leader engagement and the importance of maintaining an ongoing dialogue”, a Pentagon spokesman said.



Navy spokesman Lieutenant Tim Hawkins said the conversation on Thursday had been “professional and productive”.



The USS Lassen guided-missile destroyer sailed within 12 nautical miles of at least one of the land formations claimed by China in the disputed Spratly Islands chain on Tuesday.



The move prompted the Chinese government to summon the US ambassador in Beijing and denounce what it called a threat to its sovereignty.



The US said after Thursday’s talks that the Chinese had expressed no desire to cancel scheduled visits by Chinese ships to a Florida port next week and that an upcoming visit to China by the commander of the US Pacific Command would still take place.



“We look forward to continue this dialogue,” an official said.



Wu and Richardson, the US navy operations chief, had agreed to speak again via video conference later this year.



Tensions have mounted since China transformed reefs in the area – also claimed by several neighbouring countries – into small islands capable of supporting military facilities, a move the US says threatens freedom of navigation.



Washington has repeatedly said it does not recognise Chinese claims to territorial waters around the artificial islands and reiterated that it would send more warships to sail close to the controversial islets.



But in a move that is likely to trigger fury in Beijing and reignite tension in the region, an international tribunal ruled on Thursday that it had the power to hear a case brought by the Philippines over the disputed seas.



Manila has insisted the UN convention on the law of the sea, which the Philippines and China have both ratified, should be used to resolve the bitter territorial row over isolated reefs and islets.



China has refused to participate in the proceedings, arguing the Permanent Court of Arbitration – which is more than a century old and based in The Hague – had no jurisdiction over the case.



“Reviewing the claims submitted by the Philippines, the tribunal has rejected the argument” by China that the “dispute is actually about sovereignty over the islands in the South China Sea and therefore beyond the tribunal’s jurisdiction”, the court said in a statement.



Instead, the court ruled the case reflects “disputes between the two states concerning the interpretation or application of the convention” - something which falls within its remit.



A senior Chinese diplomat said on Friday that China would neither participate in nor accept the case. Vice foreign minister Liu Zhenmin added that the case would not affect China’s sovereign claims in the seas.



China insists it has sovereign rights to nearly all of the South China Sea, a strategic waterway through which about a third of all the world’s traded oil passes.



Following a stand-off between Chinese ships and the weak Filipino navy in 2012, China took control of a rich fishing ground called Scarborough Shoal that is within the Philippines’ exclusive economic zone.



China has also undertaken giant reclamation activities, raising fears it will use artificial islands to build new military outposts close to the Philippines and other claimants.



 The tribunal – set up in 1899 to resolve international disputes between countries – stressed on Thursday its ruling did not yet go to the heart of the merits of Manila’s case, which was first filed in 2013.



A new hearing will now be held behind closed doors in The Hague, and a final ruling is not expected until next year.



The tribunal agreed it would take up seven of the 15 submissions made by Manila, in particular whether Scarborough Shoal and low-tide areas like Mischief Reef can be considered islands, as China contends.



It will also consider whether China has interfered with Philippine fishing activities at Scarborough Shoal.



But it set aside seven more pointed claims, mainly accusing Beijing of acting unlawfully, to be considered at the next hearing on the actual merits of Manila’s case.



In a July hearing in the Hague, Philippine foreign secretary Albert del Rosario warned the integrity of UN maritime laws was at stake.



China’s behaviour had become increasingly “aggressive” and negotiations had proved futile, del Rosario said.



But the court on Thursday also directed Manila to narrow down the scope of its final request that it should order that “China shall desist from further unlawful claims and activities.”



In Washington, a senior US defense official hailed the tribunal’s decision as victory for international law.



“We of course welcome the decision of the panel. This demonstrates the relevance of international law to the territorial conflicts in the South China Sea,” the defense official said.

Russian Helicopter Dropped Barrel Bomb in Darayya, Syria Filmed by Amateur

Russian Helicopter Dropped Barrel Bomb in Darayya, Syria Filmed by Amateur

Russian Forces Strike Syria's Southern Rebels In Preparation For Pro-Regime Ground Offensive

BEIRUT -- Russian warplanes in Syria reportedly hit the southern province of Daraa Thursday, the first time the rebel-held province, the birthplace of the Syrian revolution, has been targeted since Moscow began its air campaign in the war-torn country. Russia has been hitting Syrian opposition and Islamic State group targets in Syria’s northern provinces to aid forces loyal to Syrian President Bashar Assad in making territorial gains.



The strategy suggests Russia’s unprecedented attacks in the south are a precursor to a large-scale ground operation to retake a strategic area that borders both Jordan and Israeli-occupied Golan Heights. Russia began its military campaign in Syria targeting terrorist groups like ISIS and Jabhat al-Nusra, but Moscow’s airstrikes in Daraa make clear all opposition forces are targets.



“The Russian strikes … have confirmed that the quadripartite coalition [sees] everyone bearing arms [against the Syrian regime] as an enemy of the Syrian state,” the pro-Syrian regime and Lebanese Hezbollah-linked newspaper Al-Akhbar reported Thursday.



Among the various rebel groups operating in Syria’s southern province are moderate opposition forces that were part of the United States’ defunct train-and-equip program who received TOW missiles. Rebel groups belonging to the Free Syrian Army seized the area last year, and since then pro-regime forces have made numerous attempts to regain the strategic territory.



On Wednesday, Russian planes struck the Tal Hara, Tal Antar, Kafr Nasaj and Aqraba neighborhoods of northern Daraa, according to the U.K.-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights. Iran's state-run news agency claimed Russia’s targets were al Qaeda affiliate Jabhat al-Nusra militants.



Syrian Civil Defence, a volunteer rescue organization in Daraa, said airstrikes targeted civilian and rebel-held positions. One strike targeted the main road in Daraa city and hit a civilian vehicle, injuring four men and killing one, the Daraa media liaison for SCD told International Business Times.







New Offensive



Russian airstrikes indicate a pro-regime ground offensive could take place in coming weeks and is likely to draw in foreign troops from Lebanon and Iran. Earlier this month IBT reported Iran was planning to send roughly 1,000 fighters from its IRGC Quds Force to be stationed in Daraa.



“All indications [suggest foreign forces] will come down. You will see Russian troops and Iranian troops,” a senior Hezbollah official told IBT.



Regime ground forces and their allies are massing in the area in preparation to retake the Daraa triangle, an area of roughly 60 square kilometers that stretches southwest of the Syrian capital Damascus to southern Daraa city and back up to Quneitra in the Golan Heights.



Troops from the Syrian army’s 5th armored and 7th mechanized divisions along with fighters from the pro-regime National Defense Forces were deployed to Daraa’s northern countryside earlier this week, al-Masdar news reported.



Syria’s Southern Borders



Among Wednesday night’s bombardment were targets some 15 km from the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights and others on the border with Jordan.



A report from the Institute for the Study of War said if confirmed, Russian airstrikes "in southern Syria could be a sign of Russian cooperation with Israel and Jordan. … Alternatively ... the strikes could represent an escalation against Syria's southern neighbors.”



Jordan and Israel, two important American allies in the fight against ISIS, share borders with Syria’s southern provinces, potentially dragging them into the conflict if Russia persists with its bombardment of the south. Both countries, which backed the U.S. strategy to support moderate Syrian opposition groups, have already discussed military cooperation with Russia.



Last week, Russia and Jordan met and agreed to coordinate their operations in Syria through a "special working mechanism" in the Jordanian capital of Amman. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu traveled to Moscow to discuss how the two countries could operate in Syria without getting in each other’s way. Israel has been monitoring the situation closely as Iran and the Lebanese Shiite militant group Hezbollah increase the number of weapons and their presence on the border.



Netanyahu said an increased number of Iranian troops deployed to the south for the battle for Daraa is not good news for Israel during the meeting in Moscow, according to a transcript released by his office.



“Iran, under the auspices of the Syrian Army, is attempting to build a second terrorist front against us from the Golan Heights,” Netanyahu said.

Israel Witnessing Third Intifada

China Officially Discared One Child Policy

http://www.newsbharati.com/ China Officially Discarded One Child Policy

China One-Child Policy

China has discarded the one-child policy amid rising workforce shortage and aging population that is endangering the country's economic growth.

The policy was implemented 36 years back and was seen as a global landmark that reduced an estimated 400 million births and saved millions from starvation.

The restrictions had also led to an imbalanced sex ratio because of a traditional preference for boys, and draconian enforcement that sometimes included forced abortions. It has been discarded in favour of a two-child policy as China faces significant economic challenges from countries like India, which enjoy demographic dividend of a younger population. "China will fully implement the policy of 'one couple, two children' in a proactive response to the issue of an aging population," the ruling Communist Party said in a communique issued after its central committee's fifth plenary session held from Monday to Thursday. It said China would continue to uphold basic national policy of population control and improve its strategy on population development to promote a balanced growth of population.

China, which is the world's most populous country with over 1.3 billion people, hopes the one-child norm's reversal would result in at least one million new births to help reverse declining population growth.

The move, however, may not spur a huge baby boom in part because fertility rates are believed to be declining even without the policy's enforcement.

China had been relaxing the one-child policy in stages over the past few years. It initially relaxed the policy in some areas and later allowed couples, who were single children of their parents, to opt for a second child.

Beijing permitted a couple to go for a second child even if one of them was a single child to his/her parents in November 2013.

Officials then hoped the relaxed norms would result in two million new births. But only one million parents registered with authorities for second child over the past one-and-half years. This resulted in the review of the one-child policy and its eventual withdrawal. Critics said the relaxation of rules was too little, and too late to redress substantial negative effects of the one-child policy on the economy and society.

Wang Feng, a leading expert on demographic and social change in China, called the change a "historic event" that would change the world but said the challenges of China's aging society would remain. "It's an event that we have been waiting for for a generation, but it is one we have had to wait much too long for," Wang said, adding, "It won't have any impact on the issue of the aging society, but it will change the character of many young families."

The one-child policy revolutionized family planning across the globe when it was introduced in 1979. The only exception to the above rule was rural parents, whose first child was a girl. They were given the right to opt for a second child. The one-child norm was implemented with the help of the Communist propaganda, disincentives to couples with more than one child, fines, forced sterilization and abortions.