Thursday 20 April 2017

Voice of America. The Fighter

Is the current pop hit from Keith Urban and Carrie Underwood, which is fast climbing the US charts.

The fighter from the USA has sent a direct warning to Malaysia, that uncle Sam is watching , and it does not like what it is seeing.

The CIA linked Voice of America has the story :

The Malaysian government is facing public pressure to resist following reports of the Chinese coast guard patrolling waters claimed by Malaysia.

From December to late February, three Chinese coast guard ships had been patrolling off the Malaysian coast of Borneo.

A Malaysian coast guard ship, according to the Asia Maritime Transparency Initiative, tracked the boats. The initiative is part of the U.S. Center for Strategic and International Studies, or CSIS.

The Chinese boats were found near Luconia Shoals, a small area of land in Malaysia’s exclusive economic zone.

The report from CSIS says Malaysia also spotted 100 fishing boats escorted by the Chinese coast guard at the same area in March 2016. The Chinese coast guard had been there since 2013.

Pressure on Malaysia for response

Experts say the finding will add pressure on Malaysia’s Prime Minister Najib Razak to respond against China.

Colin Koh is a maritime security research fellow at Nanyang Technological University in Singapore. He feels that these issues will be problematic for Razak.

“This is going to become a particularly problematic issue that he will find very hard to deal with," Koh said.

Economic relations a factor

Razak usually avoids direct conflict with China. The country is Malaysia’s top trading partner and its biggest source of direct foreign investment.

Jonathan Spangler is director of the South China Sea Think Tank in Taipei. He says, “For Malaysia, which has sought to maintain friendly relations with China, publicly condemning Chinese actions would disrupt that delicate balance and could have serious economic and other repercussions.”