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Todayrsquos News 31 July 2021 (Saturday)

A NAVY NEWSCOVID NEWSPHOTOS

Title Writer Newspaper Page

NIL NIL NIL NIL

B NATIONAL HEADLINES


1 Metro back to ECQ from Aug 6 to 20 A Romero P Star 1

2 Govrsquot scrambles to find funding for ECQ aid B De Vera PDI A1

C NATIONAL SECURITY


3 Expert Beijing may be illegally surveying WPS

D Cabalza PDI A8

4 47 of Pinoys think govrsquot not asserting sea right

H Flores P Star 2

5 Rody cancels order to terminate VFA with US

A Romero P Star 2

6 Duterte recalls order to terminate VFA C Valente M Times A2

7 Duterte drops VFA scrap plan D Tribune 1

8 Romualdez airs full support for Duterte move to retain VFA

J Manalastas P Journal 2

9 Duterte kumambiyo VFA tuloy na uli M Escudero Ngayon 2

D INDO-PACIFIC


NIL NIL NIL NIL E AFP RELATED


10 Former Army chief heads AFP A Romero P Star 1

11 Faustino is now AFP chief of staff D Cabalza PDI A8

12 Duterte appoints LTG Faustino as next AFP Chief

G Kabiling M Bulletin 2

13 Faustino named new AFP chief A Recuenco Tempo 1

14 Faustino bagong AFP chief M Escudero Ngayon 2

15 COA to Army Stop lsquohugersquo cash advances E Marcelo P Star 6

16 4 more PAF plane crash fatalities identified R Cabrera P Star 7

17 lsquoPolice military legal aid should curb abusersquo L Devio M Times A3

18 Free Legal aid for cops soldiers pressed J Manalastas P Journal 3

F CPP-NPA-NDF-LCM


19 Eleazar orders offensive vs NPA rebels in Samar ambush

A Dalizon P Journal 11

G MNLFMILFBIFFASG


NIL NIL NIL NIL

H EDITORIAL-OPINION-COMMENTARY-SPECIAL


20 Costly myopic approach to decades-long conflict

S Ocampo P Star 5

21 Hidilyn rises ndash lsquoHerstoryrsquo F Braid M Bulletin 4

22 Relations as these should be D Tribune A4

23 lsquoKalayaanrsquo in the West Philippine Sea The story

A Tolentino M Times A4

24 Expansive but baseless P Journal 4

I ONLINE NEWS

Title Link

NATIONAL NEWS

25 Transmission of cases rising steadily OCTA Group warns

httpsmanilastandardnetnewstop-stories361141transmission-of-cases-rising-steadily-octa-group-warnshtml

26 Putting NCR under ECQ preemptive response to Delta threat

httpswwwpnagovpharticles1148833

27 Govrsquot scrambles to find funding for ECQ aid

httpsnewsinfoinquirernet1467001govt-scrambles-to-find-funding-for-ecq-aid

28 New NCR lockdown may cost economy P105 billionndashNeda chief

httpsbusinessmirrorcomph20210730new-ncr-lockdown-may-cost-economy-e282a7105-billion-neda-chief

29 Quarantine pass required in Manila under ECQ

httpsmbcomph20210730quarantine-pass-required-in-manila-under-ecq

30 Malampaya Going going gone httpsbusinessmirrorcomph20210731goin

g-going-gone

31 After Hidilyn PHL athletes brace for tough fight

httpsbusinessmirrorcomph20210730after-hidilyn-phl-athletes-brace-for-tough-fight

32 Petecio targets shot at another Olympic gold for Philippines

httpswwwphilstarcomsports202107302116386petecio-targets-shot-another-olympic-gold-philippines

33 Fabianrsquo agri damage hits P615M httpsnewsinfoinquirernet1467012fabian-

agri-damage-hits-p615m

34 Southwest monsoon to continue affecting greater Luzon

httpstribunenetphindexphp20210731southwest-monsoon-to-continue-affecting-greater-luzon

NAVY NEWS

35 Olympic gold medalist Diaz takes bold stand in West Philippine Sea issue

httpsnewstv5comphpoliticsreadatin-yun-olympic-gold-medalist-diaz-takes-bold-stand-in-west-philippine-sea-issue

36 47 say govt not doing enough to assert countrys rights in West PH Sea mdash survey

httpsmbcomph2021073047-say-govt-not-doing-enough-to-assert-countrys-rights-in-west-ph-sea-survey

38

Pangakong biyaya kay Onyok Velasco na silver medalist sa 1996 Olympics napako raw

httpswwwgmanetworkcomnewsbalitambayanbalita797545pangakong-biyaya-kay-onyok-velasco-na-silver-medalist-sa-1996-olympic-napako-rawstory

AFP RELATED

39 Outgoing military chief bids farewell to trusty weapon


40 Duterte appoints Faustino as next AFP chief Defense capability upgrade to be prioritized

httpsmbcomph20210730duterte-appoints-faustino-as-next-afp-chief-defense-capability-upgrade-to-be-prioritized

41 Mindanao task force commander Faustino is next AFP chief but will only serve 4 months

httpsmbcomph20210730mindanao-task-force-commander-faustino-is-next-afp-chief-to-serve-for-4-months

42 PH-US alliance makes Duterte reconsider VFA Palace


43 Senators hail retention of PH-US VFA httpsmbcomph20210730senators-hail-

retention-of-ph-us-vfa

44 Lower House leaders laud assail Duterte decision to recall VFA abrogation

httpsmbcomph20210730lower-house-leaders-laud-assail-duterte-decision-to-recall-vfa-abrogation

45 As if nothing happened Duterte nixes termination of PH-US VFA says Lorenzana

httpsmbcomph20210730as-if-nothing-happened-duterte-recalls-termination-of-ph-us-vfa-lorenzana-says

46 VFA lsquoin full forcersquo again mdashDND chief httpsmanilastandardnetnewstop-

stories361140vfa-in-full-force-again-dnd-chiefhtml

47

Armed Forces eye use of lands as defense industrial ecozones

httpswwwmanilatimesnet20210730latest-storiesarmed-forces-eye-use-of-lands-as-defense-industrial-ecozones1809058

48

4 more cadavers in C-130 crash identified 17 others still undergoing tedious process mdashAFP

httpswwwgmanetworkcomnewsnewsnation7974824-more-cadavers-in-c-130-crash-identified-17-others-still-undergoing-tedious-process-afpstory

49 Rizal solon No free legal aid for AFP PNP personnel who abuse power

httpsmbcomph20210730rizal-solon-no-free-legal-aid-for-afp-pnp-personnel-who-abuse-power

50 Go lauds Duterte Promoting welfare of uniformed personnel remains a priority

httpsmbcomph20210730go-lauds-duterte-promoting-welfare-of-uniformed-personnel-remains-a-priority

51 Armed NPAs burn P32 million worth of heavy equipment

httpsmbcomph20210730armed-npas-burn-p32-million-worth-of-heavy-equipment

52 COA to Army Stop lsquohugersquo cash advances

httpswwwphilstarcomnation202107312116432coa-army-stop-huge-cash-advances

INDO-PACIFIC NEWS

53 Philippine leaderrsquos U-turn over US forces helps keep up the pressure on China

httpswwwscmpcomnewschinadiplomacyarticle3143245how-philippine-leaders-u-turn-over-us-forces-helps-keep

54 WHO urges action to suppress Covid before deadlier variants emerge

httpsnewsinfoinquirernet1467043who-urges-action-to-suppress-covid-before-deadlier-variants-emerge

55 US Vice President Kamala Harris to make first official visit to Singapore Vietnam

httpswwwchannelnewsasiacomnewsworldus-vice-president-kamala-harris-visit-singapore-vietnam-15340826

56 Biden prepares the ground for Quad-3 httpsasiatimescom202107biden-prepares-

the-ground-for-quad-3

57 US seizes Singaporean tanker for evading North Korea sanctions

httpsasianikkeicomPoliticsInternational-relationsUS-seizes-Singaporean-tanker-for-evading-North-Korea-sanctions

58 Many Hurdles on the Way to Accountability for Rohingya and Uyghur Atrocities Experts Tell US Hearing

httpswwwrfaorgenglishnewsmyanmarhearing-07292021212338html

59 Lawyers say China using Interpol to seek dissidentrsquos return

httpsapnewscomarticlechina-immigration-migration-6463bf3d26c5a4ed3b799e83116edc45

60 Conservatives Take Aim at Democratsrsquo Anemic China Bills

httpswwwnationalreviewcom202107conservatives-take-aim-at-democrats-anemic-china-bills

61 US says it is concerned over harassment of media covering China floods

httpswwwchannelnewsasiacomnewsasiaus-says-it-is-concerned-over-harassment-of-media-covering-china-15333916

62 China-ASEAN trade skyrockets by 85 times in three decades

httpenpeoplecnn320210730c90000-9878323html

63 China Is Providing an Alternative Regional Framework for South Asia

httpsthediplomatcom202107china-is-providing-an-alternative-regional-framework-for-south-asia

64 Recent Trends in Sino-Israeli Relations Bely Lasting Warm Ties

httpsjamestownorgprogramrecent-trends-in-sino-israeli-relations-bely-lasting-warm-ties

65 China wants to lead in the next internet protocol as Beijing eyes IoT era

httpswwwscmpcomtechpolicyarticle3143180china-hatches-plan-lead-adoption-new-internet-protocol-beijing-eyes

66 Hong Kong police arrest man for booing China anthem during Olympics broadcast

httpswwwchannelnewsasiacomnewsasiahong-kong-police-arrest-man-boo-china-national-anthem-olympics-15340308

67 Hong Kong police investigate Olympic chants China anthem booing

httpswwwchannelnewsasiacomnewsasiahong-kong-fans-boo-china-national-anthem-olympics-police-15334210

68 First person charged under Hong Kongs national security law sentenced to 9 years in prison

httpseditioncnncom20210730asiatong-ying-kit-hong-kong-sentencing-intl-hnkindexhtml

69

DOWNLOAD A High-Tech Alliance Challenges and Opportunities for US-Japan Science and Technology Collaboration

httpscarnegieendowmentorgfilesSchoff_etall20US-Japan_finalpdf

70 SKorea proposes video link with NKorea

httpswww3nhkorjpnhkworldennews20210730_22

71 Cambodia Jails Opposition Figure as US Congress Takes Step Toward Sanctions

httpswwwrfaorgenglishnewscambodiaopposition-figure-07292021171241html

72 Thai media restrictions raise freedom of expression concerns

httpswwwnews10comnewsinternationalthai-media-restrictions-raise-freedom-of-expression-concerns

73 Thailands long history of coups stirs debate in time of danger

httpsasianikkeicomPoliticsTurbulent-ThailandThailand-s-long-history-of-coups-stirs-debate-in-time-of-danger

74 Junta-Run Public Hospitals Rejecting Even Myanmarrsquos Sickest COVID-19 Patients

httpswwwrfaorgenglishnewsmyanmarhospitals-07292021170330html

75 Activists allege Myanmar leaders are weaponising COVID-19

httpswwwchannelnewsasiacomnewsasiaactivists-allege-myanmar-leaders-are-weaponising-covid-19-15336538

76 Junta Troops Arrest Dozens of PDF Militiamen in Myanmarrsquos Sagaing Region

httpswwwrfaorgenglishnewsmyanmararrest-07292021193215html

77 Myanmar democracy movement moves out of jailed Aung San Suu Kyis shadow

httpswwwchannelnewsasiacomnewsasiamyanmar-democracy-movement-aung-san-suu-kyi-15335948

78 Samoarsquos new PM confirms cancellation of US$100 million China-funded port

httpswwwscmpcomnewsasiaaustralasiaarticle3143132samoas-new-pm-mataafa-confirms-cancellation-us100-million

79 Indian state issues travel advisory after deadly border clash

httpswwwchannelnewsasiacomnewsasiaassam-mizoram-border-clash-police-dead-injured-india-15338844

80

Pakistan United States discuss negotiated political settlement in Afghanistan

httpseconomictimesindiatimescomnewsdefencepakistan-united-states-discuss-negotiated-political-settlement-in-afghanistanarticleshow84890986cms

81 The US needs to break Chinarsquos siege mentality

httpsresponsiblestatecraftorg20210730the-us-needs-to-break-chinas-siege-mentality

82 Japan Wasted a Golden Chance for Olympic Reconciliation

httpsforeignpolicycom20210729japan-olympics-korea-relations

83 China Ambushes Top American Diplomat

httpswwwgatestoneinstituteorg17605china-ambush-american-diplomat

84 Chinarsquos Afghan conundrum httpswwwlowyinstituteorgthe-

interpreterchina-s-afghan-conundrum

85 Is Pax Sinica Possible httpswwwproject-

syndicateorgcommentarycan-china-lead-the-world-by-lee-jong-wha-2021-07

86

Repression Trap The Mechanism of Escalating State Violence in Russia

httpscsis-website-prods3amazonawscoms3fs-publicpublication210730_Omelicheva_State_Violencepdf

DEFENSE NEWS

87 Philippines Duterte fully restores key troop pact with United States

httpswwwchannelnewsasiacomnewsasiaphilippines--duterte-fully-restores-key-troop-pact-with-united-states-15335740

88 Pentagon Chief Strong resilient US-PH alliance vital to peace in Indo-Pacific region

httpsmbcomph20210730pentagon-chief-strong-resilient-us-ph-alliance-vital-to-peace-in-indo-pacific-region

89 PH US mark 70th anniversary of the Mutual Defense Treaty

httpsnewsabs-cbncomnewsmultimediaphoto073021defense-us-philippines

90 Philippines US defense chiefs discuss South China Sea VFA

httpswwwgmanetworkcomnewsnewsnation797497philippines-us-defense-chiefs-discuss-south-china-sea-vfastory

91 China observers Practical Philippines will not lean to US despite military pact restoration

httpswwwglobaltimescnpage2021071230109shtml

92

German Navy To Deploy A Frigate In Indo-Pacific Region For The First Time Since 2016

httpswwwnavalnewscomnaval-news202107german-navy-to-deploy-a-frigate-in-indo-pacific-region-for-the-first-time-since-2016

93 British aircraft carrier sails through the South China Sea China exercises

httpsdefenceviewinbritish-aircraft-carrier-sails-through-the-south-china-sea-china-exercises

94 Is An Aircraft Carrier Showdown Brewing In The South China Sea

httpswww19fortyfivecom202107is-an-aircraft-carrier-showdown-brewing-in-the-south-china-sea

95

United Kingdom rebuffs Chinese media warning over carrier task force

httpseconomictimesindiatimescomnewsdefenceunited-kingdom-rebuffs-chinese-media-warning-over-carrier-task-forcearticleshow84889868cms

96 A missile race is heating up all across Asia

httpswwwbusinessinsidercommissile-race-heats-up-in-asia-amid-concerns-about-china-2021-7

97 Austin Accomplishes Two Missions in Southeast Asia

httpswwwcsisorganalysisaustin-accomplishes-two-missions-southeast-asia

98

Sen Marco Rubio mocked Defense Sec Austin for masking up in the Philippines where masks are required and COVID-19 is surging

httpswwwbusinessinsidercommarco-rubio-mocked-lloyd-austin-for-masking-up-the-philippines-2021-7

99 Lawmaker Calls for New US Maritime Strategy with Pacific Focus

httpsnewsusniorg20210730lawmaker-calls-for-new-u-s-maritime-strategy-with-pacific-focus

100

The Top US Diplomat on Arms Control Commits to `Values-Based Security Partnershipsrsquo mdash Herersquos How to Do That

httpswwwjustsecurityorg77644the-top-us-diplomat-on-arms-control-commits-to-values-based-security-partnerships-heres-how-to-do-that

101 Pentagon chief Austin hails arrival of first evacuation flight of Afghans who helped US forces

httpswwwwashingtontimescomnews2021jul30dod-chief-lloyd-austin-hails-arrival-first-evacuat

102 Critical Supply Chain Task Force Releases Recommendations

httpwwwdefensegovExploreNewsArticleArticle2714084critical-supply-chain-task-force-releases-recommendations

103

The Pentagon Is Experimenting With Using Artificial Intelligence To See Days In Advance

httpswwwthedrivecomthe-war-zone41771the-pentagon-is-experimenting-with-using-artificial-intelligence-to-see-days-in-advance

104 Admiral Talisman Sabre Proves US Allies Can Create Pacific Naval Force in Days

httpsnewsusniorg20210729admiral-talisman-sabre-proves-u-s-allies-can-create-pacific-naval-force-in-days

105 US Navy Decommissions Littoral Combat Ship lsquoUSS Independencersquo

httpswwwnavalnewscomnaval-news202107u-s-navy-decommissions-littoral-combat-ship-uss-independence

106 Report to Congress on Gerald R Ford Carrier Program

httpsnewsusniorg20210730report-to-congress-on-gerald-r-ford-carrier-program-7

107 US Marine quick reaction force has deployed twice in the last 30 days to protect American embassies

httpstaskandpurposecomnewsmsg-security-augmentation-unit

108 Re-Shaping the USMC as a Crisis Management Force Working Naval Integration

httpssldinfocom202107re-shaping-the-usmc-as-a-crisis-management-force-working-naval-integration

109 Stop Bickering and Save the Navy httpswwwwashingtonexaminercomopinion

op-edsenough-bickering-republicans-and-

democrats-must-work-together-to-save-the-navy

110 Chinese Coast Guard amp maritime militias behavior not consistent with rules-based order says US Coast Guard chief

httpsmbcomph20210730chinese-coast-guard-not-consistent-with-rules-based-order-says-us-coast-guard-chief

111 International Space Station thrown out of control by misfire of Russian module mdash NASA

httpswwwbworldonlinecominternational-space-station-thrown-out-of-control-by-misfire-of-russian-module-nasa

112 US Strengthening Space Domain Awareness

httpswwwnationaldefensemagazineorgarticles2021730us-strengthening--space-domain-awareness

113 Second test of USAFs Hypersonic Missile Unsuccessful

httpswwwdefenseworldnetnews30134Second_test_of_U_S_A_F__s_Hypersonic_Missile_Unsucessful

114 USAF Research Lab Seeks Partners to Build Anti-Drone Microwave Weapon System

httpswwwdefenseworldnetnews30129USAF_Research_Lab_Seeks_Partners_to_Build_Anti_Drone_Microwave_Weapon_System

115

State Department Okays $34 Billion Sale Of 18 CH-53K Helicopters To Israel Javelin Missiles To Thailand

httpswwwdefensedailycomstate-department-okays-3-4-billion-sale-of-18-ch-53k-helicopters-to-israel-javelin-missiles-to-thailandinternational

116 USAF Delivers Chinooks to lsquoStrengthen Alliancersquo With Australia

httpswwwthedefensepostcom20210730usaf-chinooks-australia

117 US warns China is building more nuclear missile silos

httpswwwnews10comnewsinternationalu-s-warns-china-is-building-more-nuclear-missile-silos

118 Beijing warns of lsquocounter-measuresrsquo as Royal Navy sails South China Sea

httpsasiapostlivebeijing-warns-of-counter-measures-as-royal-navy-sails-south-china-sea-south-china-sea

119 Obey the Rules China Warns UK After Royal Navy Enters Waters

httpswwwnewsweekcomobey-rules-china-warns-uk-after-royal-navy-enters-waters-1614756

120 Chinarsquos Hypersonic Missiles Methods and Motives

httpsjamestownorgprogramchinas-hypersonic-missiles-methods-and-motives

121 Beijing summons Big Tech firms over data security concerns

httpswwwscmpcomtechbig-techarticle3143240beijing-summons-alibaba-tencent-bytedance-9-other-tech-firms-over

122 Chinese coast guard ships depart for North Pacific on law enforcement mission

httpengchinamilcomcnview2021-0730content_10068982htm

123 Chinas Xi Vows to Defend and Develop North Korea Ties as Kim Rallies Army

httpswwwnewsweekcomchinas-xi-vows-defend-develop-north-korea-ties-kim-rallies-army-1614774

124 Taiwan Receives Second Tuo Chiang-Class Catamaran Missile Corvette For Commissioning Soon

httpswwwasiapacificdefensejournalcom202107taiwan-receives-second-tuo-chiang-classhtml

125 Japan says Chinarsquos military incursions policies lsquomatter of grave concernrsquo to Indo-Pacific stability

httpsipdefenseforumcom202107chinas-military-incursions-policies-matter-of-grave-concern-to-indo-pacific-stability-japan-says

126 Japanrsquos Evolving Policy on Taiwan and the USndashJapan Alliance Towards a Nixon Doctrine for Northeast Asia

httpswwwrusiorgexplore-our-researchpublicationscommentaryjapans-

evolving-policy-taiwan-and-us-japan-alliance-towards-nixon-doctrine-northeast-asia

127

F-35Bs to begin trials aboard Japanese aircraft carrier JS Izumo in 2021

httpswwwnavyrecognitioncomindexphpnaval-newsnaval-news-archive202110240-naval-news-july-2021-navy-forces-maritime-defense-industry10503-f-35bs-to-begin-trials-aboard-japanese-aircraft-carrier-js-izumo-in-2021html

128

Japan Signals More Robust Security Posture

httpswwwrealcleardefensecomarticles20210730japan_signals_more_robust_security_posture_in_new_defence_white_paper_787833html

129 Defense chiefs of S Korea US reaffirm commitment to alliance combined defense posture

httpwwwkoreaheraldcomviewphpud=20210730000801

130 NKorea says hostile forces are boosting drills


131 Kim stresses military preparations ahead of US-SKorea drills

httpswwwnews10comnewsinternationalkim-stresses-military-preparations-ahead-of-us-skorea-drills

132 Indonesia The US and China both have their eyes on a country at the heart of the Indo-Pacific

httpswwwbusinessinsidercomus-and-china-both-competing-for-influence-with-indonesia-2021-7

133

Indonesia negotiates acquisition of Ukrainian RK-360MC Neptune coastal missile defense system

httpswwwnavyrecognitioncomindexphpnaval-newsnaval-news-archive202110240-naval-news-july-2021-navy-forces-maritime-defense-industry10505-indonesia-negotiates-acquisition-of-ukrainian-rk-360mc-neptune-coastal-missile-defense-systemhtml

134

India and China to hold 12th round of Corps commander-level talks

httpseconomictimesindiatimescomnewsdefenceindia-and-china-to-hold-12th-round-of-corps-commander-level-talks-tomorrowarticleshow84891521cms

135 Shortage of Officers amp Soldiers in Indian Armed Forces 2021

httpsasiapostliveshortage-of-officers-soldiers-in-indian-armed-forces-2021

136 India To Acquire 30 US-Built MQ-9 Reaper Drones From United States

httpsasiapostliveindia-to-acquire-30-us-built-mq-9-reaper-drones-from-united-states

137

Pakistan-China partnership becoming increasingly important for regional peace

httpseconomictimesindiatimescomnewsdefencepakistan-china-partnership-becoming-increasingly-important-for-regional-peace-general-qamar-javed-bajwaarticleshow84887833cms

138

Drills between UK Carrier Strike Group and Indian Navy conclude

httpswwwnavyrecognitioncomindexphpnaval-newsnaval-news-archive202110240-naval-news-july-2021-navy-forces-maritime-defense-industry10500-drills-conclude-between-uk-carrier-strike-group-and-indian-navyhtml

139 Australia can learn from Bidenrsquos domestic terrorism strategy

httpswwwaspistrategistorgauaustralia-can-learn-from-bidens-domestic-terrorism-strategy

140

Australian lsquoHMAS Brisbanersquo Conducted Replenishment At Sea For The First Time

httpswwwnavalnewscomnaval-news202107australian-hmas-brisbane-conducted-replenishment-at-sea-for-the-first-time

141

Royal Australian Navy lsquoHMAS Sydneyrsquo Frigate Completed Combat System Trials

httpswwwnavalnewscomnaval-news202107royal-australian-navy-hmas-sydney-frigate-completed-combat-system-trials

142 Australian army to enforce stay-at-home orders as Delta spreads through children

httpswwwsmhcomaupoliticsnswarmy-to-enforce-stay-at-home-orders-as-delta-spreads-through-children-20210729-p58e3rhtml

143 Australia Researching Use of Parasites Against Bio-Weapons

httpswwwthedefensepostcom20210730australia-parasites-bio-weapons

144 Australia Removing the risks from a decentralised internet

httpswwwaspistrategistorgauremoving-the-risks-from-a-decentralised-internet

145 Brief Russo-China Naval Drills httpsgeopoliticalfuturescombrief-russo-

china-naval-drills

146

Russia to commission Project 20380 corvette Rezky earlier in 2022

httpswwwnavyrecognitioncomindexphpnaval-newsnaval-news-archive202110240-naval-news-july-2021-navy-forces-maritime-defense-industry10498-russia-to-commission-project-20380-corvette-rezky-earlier-in-2022html

147 Sevmash Shipyard Launches Russian Navy Project 855M Krasnoyarsk SSGN

httpswwwnavalnewscomnaval-news202107sevmash-shipyard-launches-russian-navy-project-855m-krasnoyarsk-ssgn

148 Russia and China in Afghanistan After US Withdrawal

httpswwwrussiamattersorganalysisbe-careful-what-you-wish-russia-china-and-afghanistan-after-withdrawal

149

BRICS finalises action plan to combat terrorism radicalisation terror financing

httpseconomictimesindiatimescommultimediadefencebrics-finalises-action-plan-to-combat-terrorism-radicalisation-terror-financingarticleshow84895208cms

150 Beijingrsquos Attempts to Intimidate Taiwan Have Backfired

httpsforeignpolicycom20210730china-intimidate-taiwan-backfire

151 Even a Short War Over Taiwan or the Baltics Would Be Devastating

httpsforeignpolicycom20210729war-taiwan-china-united-states-russia-baltics-nato-military-civilians-deaths-losses-casualties

152 How the US Learned to Stop Worrying About the Pacific and Love the lsquoIndo-Pacificrsquo

httpsforeignpolicycom20210730biden-pacific-china

153 Defense Threats in Cyberspace httpswwwnationalreviewcommagazine202

10816defense-threats-in-cyberspace

154

Chinese disinformation much more subtle much more insidious than Moscows former cyber chief warns

httpswwwwashingtonpostcompolitics20210730technology-202-chinese-disinformation-much-more-subtle-much-more-insidious-than-moscow-former-cyber-chief-warns

155 From the Middle East to China Pegasus revelations show spread of hacking

httpswwwscmpcomweek-asiapoliticsarticle3143251middle-east-china-pegasus-spyware-revelations-show-spread

156 The US doesnrsquot need Europersquos help in the lsquoIndo-Pacificrsquo

httpsresponsiblestatecraftorg20210730the-us-doesnt-need-europes-help-in-the-indo-pacific

157

DOWNLOAD Global Britain in a Competitive Age and Defence in a Competitive Age A Critique

httpscsis-website-prods3amazonawscoms3fs-publicpublication073021_Cordesman_Global_Britain_Critiquepdf

158 Donrsquot Include Women in the Draft httpswwwnationalreviewcom202107dont-

include-women-in-the-draft

159 How an ex-intel officialrsquos prison sentence exposes the folly of the Espionage Act

httpsresponsiblestatecraftorg20210730how-an-ex-intel-officials-prison-sentence-exposes-the-folly-of-the-espionage-act

160 Improving Cybersecurity for Critical Infrastructure Control Systems Is Only a First Step

httpswwwcsisorganalysisimproving-cybersecurity-critical-infrastructure-control-systems-only-first-step

161 Twitter Will Not Steward The Profession httpswarontherockscom202107twitter-will-

not-steward-the-profession COVID NEWS

162 DOH says no differentiation between vaccinated unvaccinated as NCR shifts to ECQ

httpsmbcomph20210730doh-says-no-differentiation-between-vaccinated-unvaccinated-as-ncr-shifts-to-ecq

163 WHO PH urges LGUs to prioritize vaccination of senior citizens

httpsmbcomph20210730who-ph-urges-lgus-to-prioritize-vaccination-of-senior-citizens

164 UK-donated vax to arrive in PH Aug 2 envoy


165 US Donating Moderna COVID-19 Vaccine to the Philippines

httpswwwvoanewscomcovid-19-pandemicus-donating-moderna-covid-19-vaccine-philippines

166 Israeli health expert Vaccinate as many people as possible booster shot irrelevant right now

httpsbusinessmirrorcomph20210730israeli-health-expert-vaccinate-as-many-people-as-possible-booster-shot-irrelevant-right-now

167 Delta Variant Of COVID-19 May Spread As Easily As Chickenpox Cause More Severe Infection Report

httpsasiapostlivedelta-variant-of-covid-19-may-spread-as-easily-as-chickenpox-cause-more-severe-infection-reports

168 Clinical trials of inhaled COVID-19 vaccine led by Chinese military medics gain authoritative recognition


169 Japan expands virus emergency after record spikes amid Games

httpsapnewscomarticle2020-tokyo-olympics-japan-tokyo-coronavirus-f38106df2354d25d0eb056f578a31d29

170 More than 183000 active COVID-19 cases in Malaysia amid record ICU numbers

httpswwwchannelnewsasiacomnewsasiacovid-19-malaysia-183-000-active-cases-icu-record-clusters-15339830

171 What you need to know about the coronavirus right now

httpswwwreuterscombusinesshealthcare-pharmaceuticalswhat-you-need-know-about-coronavirus-right-now-2021-03-02

172 Mapping the Coronavirus Outbreak Across the World

httpswwwbloombergcomgraphics2020-coronavirus-cases-world-mapsrnd=coronavirus

173 Covid map Where are cases the highest

httpswwwbbccomnewsworld-51235105

174 Covid-19 Vaccine Tracker httpswwwbloombergcomgraphicscovid-

vaccine-tracker-global-distributionsrnd=premium-asia

J OPINIONEDITORIALCOMMENTARY

Title Link


httpswwwphilstarcomopinion202107312116450costly-myopic-approach-decades-long-conflict

176 Kalayaan in the West Philippine Sea The story

httpswwwmanilatimesnet20210731opinioncolumnskalayaan-in-the-west-philippine-sea-the-story1809106

177 Rekindling patriotism httpsmanilastandardnetopinioncolumnspower-point-by-elizabeth-angsioco361111rekindling-patriotismhtml

178 Invaluable lessons from Hidilyn Diazrsquos victory

httpsopinioninquirernet142626invaluable-lessons-from-hidilyn-diazs-victory

179 Fighting an unseen enemy httpsmanilastandardnetopinioneditorial361113fighting-an-unseen-enemyhtml

180 Relations as these should be httpstribunenetphindexphp20210731relations-as-these-should-be

181 Phishing httpswwwphilstarcomopinion202107312116451phishing

182 The four revolutions undertaken by the CPC

httpsmanilastandardnetopinioncolumnsbackbencher-by-rod-kapunan361110the-four-revolutions-undertaken-by-the-cpchtml

183 Why China under attack must resist the urge to turn inward

httpswwwscmpcomcommentlettersarticle3143024why-china-under-attack-must-resist-urge-turn-inward

184 How the US can craft a bold and positive China agenda that benefits all Americans

httpswwwscmpcomcommentopinionarticle3143068how-us-can-craft-bold-and-positive-china-agenda-benefits-all

185 Cyberattacks reveal Chinas willingness to raise the temperature

httpsasianikkeicomOpinionCyberattacks-reveal-China-s-willingness-to-raise-the-temperature

186 Indiarsquos future as big power lies in tech httpseconomictimesindiatimescomnewsdefenceview-indias-future-as-big-power-lies-in-techarticleshow84881033cms

Transmission of cases rising steadily OCTA

Group warns posted July 31 2021 at 0130 am by Willie Casas

Metro Manila could possibly have as much as 2000 new COVID-19 cases per day by

next week independent researchers tracking the pandemic said Friday

ldquoWhat wersquore seeing right now is possibly 2000 cases per day in the NCR by next week and this would be worrisomerdquosaid Guido David of the OCTA Research Group

OCTA has led calls for a two-week ldquocircuit breakerrdquo lockdown to arrest the spread of the highly contagious Delta coronavirus variant

Currently the National Capital Region (NCR) is averaging almost 1100 new cases per

day

OCTA said the reproduction rate of the virus in Metro Manila has climbed to 135

indicating sustained COVID-19 transmission

ldquoIf we get to the 2000 it would be close to our surge capacities meaning our contact

tracing would start to break down Transmission or become less efficient and our testing

would be strainedrdquo David warned

David pointed out that in August 2020 the modified enhanced community quarantine

(MECQ) mdash the second-strictest lockdown classification mdash was imposed when Metro

Manila was only logging around 1800 new cases daily

ldquoOur MECQ lasted only two weeks and then after that we were fine So it workedrdquo he said

ldquoLast March we had a lockdown but we were at almost 5000 cases when we had the lockdown so we waited too late to pull the trigger and that lockdown lasted seven

weeksrdquo David added

The Philippines logged 8562 new COVID-19 cases on Friday bringing the total number

of infections to 1580824

One hundred forty-five new fatalities brought the COVID-19 death toll to 27722

The DOH reported 2854 persons who recently recovered bringing the total recoveries

to 1491182

There were 61920 active cases reported the highest since May 8

Of the active cases 94 percent were mild 12 percent were asymptomatic 12 percent

were critical 21 percent were severe and 149 percent were moderate

Nationwide 59 percent of the ICU beds 50 percent of the isolation beds 47 percent of

the ward beds and 38 percent of the ventilators were in use

In Metro Manila 52 percent of the ICU beds 44 percent of the isolation beds 41

percent of the ward beds and 37 percent of the ventilators were in use

The Department of Health (DOH) said Friday that six of the eight Delta variant fatalities

were local cases

Health Undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire said Delta variant deaths were recorded

in San Nicolas Ilocos Norte (one fatality) Balanga Bataan (one fatality) Pandan

Antique (one fatality) Cordova Cebu (two fatalities) and Pandacan Manila (one

fatality)

The two other deaths were returning overseas Filipinos she said

Vergeire said the fatalities were aged 27 to 78 years Five of them were male

Three have been confirmed to be unvaccinated against COVID-19 while five others are

still undergoing verification

Vergeire said authorities are still studying if community transmission of the highly

contagious Delta variantmdashwhich means links among cases can no longer be identified--

has begun She said however that there was a need to act as if this kind of

transmission was already happening

The Philippines has so far reported 216 Delta variant cases

The government on Friday announced that it is placing Metro Manila under enhanced

community quarantine from August 6 to 20 to curb the spread of the new variant

httpsmanilastandardnetnewstop-stories361141transmission-of-cases-rising-steadily-octa-group-

warnshtml

Putting NCR under ECQ preemptive response to Delta threat

By Raymond Carl Dela Cruz July 30 2021 409 pm

MANILA ndash An infectious disease expert said Friday putting the National Capital Region (NCR) under the strictest enhanced community quarantine (ECQ) is a preemptive response to the highly transmissible Delta variant threat

In a Facebook post on Friday Dr Edsel Salvantildea a member of the technical advisory group of the Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF-EID) said data experts have made ldquointricate modelsrdquo on the latest Delta variant spread based on fresh genome data

ldquoBased on these models the downstream effect of Delta was such that some sort of lockdown was inevitable if we wished to avoid the fates of Malaysia and Indonesiardquo Salvantildea said

To avoid such a scenario he said the IATF-EID made its decision to impose ECQ across NCR from August 6 to 20 and to ldquovaccinate like crazyrdquo during the same period to arrest the possible rise in cases fueled by the Delta variant

ldquoThis is an unprecedented escalation because it is not within our usual metrics This is a preemptive response to Delta and is premised on an accelerated vaccination program to get as many people vaccinated as possiblerdquo Salvantildea said

The IATF made the decision to lock down in order to give time to increase vaccination and delay the spread of Delta They did this with eyes wide open on the drastic economic implications As for the timing the cases and healthcare capacity still remain manageable and so the experts felt there was still time to prepare the public he added

He noted that the metrics for Metro Manila are still consistent for a general community quarantine (GCQ) with heightened restrictions and that the decision to escalate to ECQ was made based on the appeals of local government units (LGUs)

ldquoAppeals by LGUs are always entertained and so the mayors having seen some clusters on the ground wanted to escalaterdquo Salvantildea said

As of July 30 the Philippines has recorded a total of 216 Delta variant cases While health authorities said there is no community transmission yet of the Delta variant local transmission has been confirmed

In a separate statement Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA) and concurrent Metro Manila Council Chair (MMC) Chair Benjamin ldquoBenhurrdquo Abalos Jr thanked the IATF-EID for its ldquoprompt and appropriate actionrdquo

ldquoThe imposition of this quarantine classification is timely thanks to the national government for granting our requestrdquo Abalos said

He said the MMCmdashmainly composed of the 17 mayors in the NCRmdashwill again meet to discuss the ldquonecessary course of actionsrdquo to further prevent and ease the spread of the Delta variant within the two-week ECQ period

ldquoMetro Manila LGUs shall intensify their vaccination programs inoculating as many as possible daily to achieve population protection the soonest possible time in the NCR it being the center of the pandemicrdquo Abalos said

Earlier Malacantildeang said NCR will stay under GCQ with heightened restrictions from July 30 to August 5 and will shift to ECQ from August 6 to 20

Under ECQ status more restrictions will be placed in NCR such as restricting dine-in and alfresco dining in food establishments limiting seating capacity in personal care services like beauty salons and barring the operation of indoor sports courts and indoor tourist attractions (PNA)


Govrsquot scrambles to find funding for ECQ aid

By Ben O de Vera Leila B Salaverria - inquirerdotnet

Philippine Daily Inquirer 0530 AM July 31 2021

Philippine Daily Inquirer file photo Nintildeo Jesus Orbeta

With another round of the strictest lockdown to be imposed in Metro Manila the

government on Friday scrambled to find the money to compensate those who

would temporarily lose their jobs or means of livelihood with the expected closure

of some businesses The countryrsquos chief economist warned of hundreds of billions of pesos in losses resulting from the enhanced community quarantine (ECQ) in Metro Manila from

Aug 6 to Aug 20 on top of hundreds of thousands of Filipinos who would slide to

temporary poverty

ADVERTISEMENT

With the threat of community transmission of the more contagious Delta variant of

the coronavirus the government is again struggling to contain COVID-19 with

another cycle of lockdown

This would be the third ECQ in the National Capital Region (NCR) since the

pandemic was declared in early 2020 The first and longest was from March 16 to

May 15 2020 which crippled the economy The second was from March 29 to

April 11 this year during a surge in COVID-19 cases

Budget Secretary Wendel Avisado said in a text message to the Inquirer that officials were awaiting the Office of the Presidentrsquos directive on the doleouts Asked whether there were funds for cash aid Avisado replied ldquoWersquore looking for where we could get somerdquo

President Duterte approved a P1000 cash aid per person and a maximum of

P4000 per family in areas under ECQ his spokesperson Harry Roque said on

Thursday

Roque said the money would come from the Department of Social Welfare and Developmentrsquos Assistance to Individuals in Crisis Situation program

Under ECQ only essential businesses would be allowed to fully operate and the

movement of the general public would be limited in NCR New stricter rules would

also be imposed from July 30 to Aug 5 when NCR would be under general community quarantine ldquowith heightened and additional restrictionsrdquo Roque said on Friday ldquoThis was a difficult decision But the President said that even if we made a hard and bitter decision this is for the good of allrdquo he said when he announced the ECQ

status for NCR on television

Roque explained that the lockdown was not imposed immediately because the

health-care system could still handle the COVID-19 cases


New NCR lockdown may cost economy ₧105 billionndashNeda chief BYCAI ORDINARIO

JULY 30 2021

The National Economic and Development Authority (Neda) estimates that placing Metro Manila under Enhanced Community Quarantine (ECQ) may cost the economy some P105 billion

Socioeconomic Planning Secretary Karl Kendrick T Chua told reporters on Friday that this would also increase the ranks of the poor by up to 177000 people and renders 444000 Filipinos jobless

However Chua said the impact would be mitigated by cash assistance that the government will be providing those who will be adversely affected by the lockdown

ldquoThese can be partly reversed if we use the three weeks to accelerate vaccination of everyone in the high risk areasrdquo Chua said

ldquoThis way the ECQ will be an investment to pave the way for a recovery once we control Delta spreadrdquo he added

Last year Chua said quarantine restrictions and the fall in consumption translated to a total income loss of around P104 trillion in 2020 or an average of P28 billion a day

Quarantine restrictions led to an average annual income loss of P23000 per worker However he said this average masks wide differences across sectors and jobs and some workers are hit much harder especially those who lost their jobs

Nonetheless he said the governmentrsquos response this year has improved visits to public transport stations to a contraction of 40 percent this year from a decline of 80 percent last year

More Filipinos Chua said have also started going back to work Those going to work are only down by 25 percent this year compared to a decline of over 40 percent last year

httpsbusinessmirrorcomph20210730new-ncr-lockdown-may-cost-economy-e282a7105-

billion-neda-chief

Quarantine pass required in Manila under ECQ

Published July 30 2021 439 PM

by Andrea Aro

The use of quarantine passes will be implemented anew in Manila as the National Capital Region (NCR) will be under enhanced community quarantine (ECQ) again starting August 6 until August 20

The Manila Barangay Bureau (MBB) ordered all the barangay officials to issue quarantine passes to their constituents

ldquoOnly one quarantine pass shall be issued to each familyrdquo the memorandum stated

All quarantine passes will be in odd and even format Those with quarantine passes ending in odd numbers (13579) will be allowed to go outside on Mondays Wednesdays Fridays and 500 am to 1200 pm only on Sundays

Meanwhile those with quarantine passes ending in even numbers (24680) can go out in public on Tuesdays Thursdays Saturdays and 12 pm to 600 pm only on Sundays

Non-quarantine pass holders can still go out for their vaccination and will be required to present their QR codes and waivers

The MBB encouraged the public to get vaccinated as soon as possible

President Duterte approved on Friday (July 30) the recommendation to place Metro Manila back to ECQ from August 6 to 20 due to the spike in COVID-19 cases


Going going gone They said it would run till 2027 but gas from Malampaya is depleting

faster than projected leaving a lawmaker and some industry players

worried about another power crisis

BYLENIE LECTURA

JULY 31 2021

PRECIOUS gas from the Malampaya Deep Water Gas-to-Power Project is depleting faster than anticipated

Power plant operators that source fuel from Malampaya and the soon-to-be operator of the countryrsquos sole natural gas field observed that gas production shortfall is bound to happen very soon And with that another power crisis could hit the country

ldquoIt has started already It was supposed to happen in 2027 First Gen the biggest buyer of Malampaya gas reached out to us They gave us a briefer I am puzzled as to why there had been gas restrictions Dire-diretso na iyan [Therersquos no stopping that] Hindi na babalik sa [It wonrsquot return to] normal level Itrsquos six years earlier This is very worrisome for all of usrdquo said Senate Energy Committee chairman Sherwin Gatchalian in an interview

According to Gatchalian the Malampaya gas field will be completely exhausted by the first quarter of 2027 Citing data from the DOE the remaining gas in the Malampaya field as of end-September last year stood at 858834 million standard cubic feet (MMscf)

The Malampaya gas restriction occurred late March up to mid-June this year This resulted in the derating of the countryrsquos largest natural gas plantmdashthe 1200-megawatt (MW) Ilijan plantmdashto 716MW which prompted the issuance of red alerts in the Luzon grid Thereafter rotating power outage occurred

There was no clear reason provided by the Malampaya consortium as to why this happened The Department of Energy (DOE) was supposed to meet industry stakeholders to address the gas restriction but the situation improved ahead of the meeting

httpsbusinessmirrorcomph20210731going-going-gone

After Hidilyn PHL athletes brace for tough fight BYJUN LOMIBAO

JULY 30 2021

Nesthy Petecio and Colombiarsquos Yeni Marcela Arias Castantildeeda exchange punches in the womenrsquos featherweight 57-kg boxing match

at the 2020 Summer Olympics Wednesday July 28 2021 in Tokyo

Japan

TOKYOmdashNesthy Petecio squares off with a taller opponent anew on Saturday hoping to nail a victory against Italyrsquos Irma Testa to get into the gold medal play in womenrsquos featherweight class of boxing at the Tokyo Olympics

Similarly another boxer flyweight Carlo Paalam and pole vaulter Earnest John ldquoEJrdquo Obiena will share the spotlight in the Philippinesrsquos weekend Olympic campaign that is now wanting of another winner after Hidilyn Diaz whorsquos now home serving a seven-day hotel quarantine with her weightlifting gold medal

ldquoWe have a game plan against the Italian girl Shersquos similar with the [Chinese] Taipei girl but she hooks and sways backrdquo said Philippine boxing coach Don Abnett of Australia ldquoSo wersquore going to make a counter move but Irsquom comfortable with Nesthyrsquos performancerdquo

Petecio is fighting a taller Irma just like top-seeded Lin Yu-Ting who she eliminated in the round-of-16

Paalam on the other hand needs to get through a more experienced Algerian Mohamed Flissi to see himself securing at least a bronze medal

ldquoCarlorsquos opponent is a very experienced boy Hersquos boxing in the WSB [World Series of Boxing]rdquo Abnett said of Flissi ldquoBut Carlorsquos going to get moving similar to the game plan that he did in his last fight He probably just continues with thatrdquo


Petecio targets shot at another Olympic gold for Philippines Nelson Beltran (Philstarcom) - July 30 2021 - 334pm

TOKYO ndash One win to a sure silver two to a gold

On the brink of matching the highest Philippine achievement in Olympic boxing Nesthy Petecio is calm cool and focused simply promising to give it her all in her big day atop the ring Saturday

Shersquos the main feature in the first session starting at 11 am (10 pm in Manila) at the Kokugigan Arena clashing with former AIBA world junior champ Irma Testa of Italy in the first womenrsquos featherweight semifinal bout

The other semis face-off pitting Great Britainrsquos Karriss Artingstall and Japanrsquos Sena Irie is the main showcase in the evening session starting at 5 pm

Itrsquos another twin fight for Team Philippines with Carlo Paalam going up against Algeriarsquos Mohamed Flissi in a menrsquos flyweight Round of 16 clash at 1148 am

Needless to say Petecio and Paalam are determined to get going and make up for Irish Magnorsquos exit Thursday in the womenrsquos flyweight division

Assured of a bronze Petecio eyes a fourth win that will guarantee her of matching the silver feats of Anthony Villanueva in 1964 in Tokyo and Onyok Velasco in 1996 in Atlanta

But as it is the Davao City native is already sure of going down in history as the first Philippine female pug to win an Olympic medal

From hereon beckoning is a better legacy to offer to the nation

ldquoWe have a game plan for the next fight The Italian girl is similar to the Taipei girl but she hooks and sways back So wersquore gonna take a counter act moverdquo said coach Don Abnett believing Peteciorsquos first-round match against top seed Lin Yu-ting prepared her for Testa

httpswwwphilstarcomsports202107302116386petecio-targets-shot-another-olympic-gold-

philippines

lsquoFabianrsquo agri damage hits P615M

By Karl R Ocampo - Reporter kocampoINQ


SUBMERGED Waist-deep floodwater submerges the Puerto Rivas village in the

City of Balanga on Thursday which is among

the hardest-hit areas in Bataan province following days of monsoon rains Over

12000 residents in Bataan are currently seeking shelters in evacuation sites mdashPHOTO COURTESY OF THE BALANGA CITY DISASTER RISK REDUCTION

ANDMANAGEMENT OFFICE The value of agricultural damage and losses caused by Typhoon ldquoFabianrdquo has climbed to P61572 million the Department of Agriculture reported on Thursday The typhoon internationally known as ldquoIn-fardquo left 24596 farmers fishers and

livestock raisers with production losses in the regions of Cordillera Ilocos Central

Luzon Calabarzon Mimaropa Bicol and Western Visayas

It destroyed 30916 hectares of agricultural areas with an estimated production

loss of 9777 metric tons

The biggest losses were incurred by the rice sector comprising 92 percent of the

total damage The rest were sustained by rice farmers high-value crops planters

fishers and livestock raisers

httpsnewsinfoinquirernet1467012fabian-agri-damage-hits-p615m

Southwest monsoon to continue affecting greater Luzon

Published 2 days ago on July 31 2021 0734 AM By TDT tribunephl

The Philippine Atmospheric Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration reported on Saturday that the southwest monsoon will continue to affect the greater area of Luzon The region will generally experience light to moderate rains On the other hand Visayas and Mindanao are expected to welcome fair weather for the rest of the day with sudden downpours Gale warning was also raised on the northern and western seaboards of Luzon Meanwhile flood advisories were raised for Cordillera Administrative Region (CAR) Region I and Region 3 Local disaster risk reduction management councils are advised to take appropriate actions httpstribunenetphindexphp20210731southwest-monsoon-to-continue-affecting-greater-

luzon__cf_chl_jschl_tk__=pmd_7ec2121db07d7616fae271ec0a251c088f4ff5a5-1627885218-0-

gqNtZGzNAjijcnBszQzi

lsquoATIN lsquoYUNrsquo | Olympic gold medalist Diaz takes bold stand in West Philippine Sea issue July 30 2021 1223 PM

By Beatrice Puente

(July 30 2021) ndash Hidilyn Diaz just did arguably her toughest lift of all

The weightlifting wonder who won the gold medal in the Tokyo Olympics did more than just represent

the country and make history in the quadrennial event She also used her voice and influence to make a striking statement that even some of the countryrsquos leaders could not even dare say The West Philippine Sea belongs to the Philippines

Diaz who ended the countryrsquos century-old drought in the Summer Games admitted she does not have profound knowledge about international issues and political disputes but she knows by heart that the

country has sovereign rights over the disputed maritime territory

ldquoGusto kong sabihin na atin lsquoyun erdquo said Diaz in a forum hosted by the Foreign Correspondents Association of the Philippines (FOCAP) on Thursday ldquoSa ordinary people na wala masyadong alam about sa (nine-dash) line and sa international dispute or international political thing gusto ko lang sabihin sa kanila na ito ang alam komdashsa atin ang West Philippine Seardquo

China has been ignoring the countryrsquos landmark arbitral win that affirmed the Philippinesrsquo economic rights over its 200-nautical-mile exclusive economic zone (EEZ) based on the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea President Rodrigo Duterte also chose to set it aside calling it a ldquopiece of paper to be thrown into the trash binrdquo

China has also continued to deploy fishing and maritime vessels in the West Philippine Sea many of which are even dumping wastes that damage the coral reef China snubbed the repeated diplomatic protests filed by the Department of Foreign Affairs

Monico Puentevella president of Samahang Weightlifting ng Pilipinas said they used the issue to motivate Diaz into beating Chinarsquos Liao Qiuyun the heavily favored competitor in the Tokyo Olympics

Puentevella said they also deliberately tricked China into thinking that Diaz was weaker than Liao by not showing her full ability in recent competitions Diaz outscored Liao by one kilogram in the Summer Games to bring home the countryrsquos first gold medal after 97 years

The 30-year-old Diaz expressed her heartfelt appreciation to the people who helped her including the MVP Sports Foundation (MVPSF) which stepped up to assist her and the other athletes She said the private support greatly helped as she chose not to seek government assistance due to the COVID-19

pandemic

ldquoNaintindihan ko rin naman last year nasa pandemic hindi ako nag-request (sa government) dahil ayokong magdagdag sa problema kasi nga nasa pandemic tayo biglang nag-lockdownrdquo said Diaz on One Newsrsquo The Chiefs

httpsnewstv5comphpoliticsreadatin-yun-olympic-gold-medalist-diaz-takes-bold-stand-in-west-

philippine-sea-issue

47 say govt not doing enough to assert countrys rights in

West PH Sea mdash survey


by Ellalyn De Vera-Ruiz

About 47 percent of adult Filipinos are saying that the government is not doing enough to assert the countryrsquos rights in the West Philippine Sea a survey conducted by Social Weather Stations (SWS) and sponsored by Stratbase Albert Del Rosario (ADR) Institute showed

The June 23-26 2021 survey with 1200 respondents found 47 percent of adult Filipinos agreeingndashconsisting of 18 percent (strongly agree and 29 percent who somewhat agree) and 24 percent disagreeing (consisting of 15 percent somewhat disagree and 9 percent strongly disagree)ndashwith the statement ldquoThe Philippine government is not doing enough to assert its rights to the countryrsquos territories in the West Philippine Sea as stipulated in the 2016 decision of the Permanent Court of Arbitrationrdquo

Twenty-nine percent of the respondents were undecided on the issue

SWS said these translate to a net agreement score (percentage of those who agree minus percentage of those who disagree) of +23 classified by SWS as ldquomoderately strongrdquo

The net agreement was also ldquomoderately strongrdquo in all areasndashMetro Manila (+25) Balance Luzon (+24) and Mindanao (+24) and Visayas (+17)

Based on the survey results the most demanded government moves are strengthening Philippine military capability conducting joint military exercises with allies and implementing the terms of the Visiting Forces of Agreement (VFA) and the Enhanced Defense Cooperation Agreement (EDCA)

Among the five pre-listed proposals on what the Philippine government should do about the West Philippine Sea 77 percent chose to strengthen the military capability of the Philippines especially the Navy and Coast Guard 65 percent chose to conduct joint maritime patrols and military exercises with allied countries and 57 percent chose fully implementing the terms of the VFA and EDCA

Following the top three responses are finalizing the ASEAN Code of Conduct or an agreement on how countries would act within the South China Sea (39 percent) and bringing the issue to the United Nations General Assembly (38 percent)

In all areas majorities chose to strengthen the military capability of the Philippines especially the Navy and Coast Guard as the most effective measurendash81 percent in Mindanao 78 percent in Metro Manila 76 percent in Balance Luzon and 75 percent in the Visayas

httpsmbcomph2021073047-say-govt-not-doing-enough-to-assert-countrys-rights-in-west-ph-

sea-survey

Pangakong biyaya kay Onyok Velasco na

silver medalist sa 1996 Olympics napako

raw

Hulyo 30 2021 924pm GMT+0800 Umaasa si Mansueto lsquoOnyokrsquo Velasco silver medalist sa boxing sa 1996 Atlanta Olympics na maibibigay kay Hidilyn Diaz ang kauna-unahang Olympic gold

medalist ng Pilipinas ang lahat ng mga ipinangakong pabuya sa kaniyang tagumpay

na kinabibilangan ng mahigit P40 milyon house and lot at iba pa

Sa panayam ng GMA News 24 Oras nitong Biyernes inihayag ni Velasco na nang

manalo siya ng silver medal noong 1996 may mga nangako rin ng gantimpalaya sa

kaniya pero hindi lahat ay naibigay

Kabilang umano ang P25 milyon na manggagaling umano sa Kongreso

ldquoYung kay Hidilyn sana matupad lahat para hindi lang si Hidilyn yung iba pang gustong maging athletes na kabataan magpursige rin na ganun pala kalaki yung mga ibinibigayrdquo saad ni Velasco Sinabi rin ng dating Olympian na mayroon ding negosyante na nangako sa kaniya ng

lifetime allowance na P10000 bawat buwan pero tumigil na matapos lang ang isang

taon

Hindi rin daw natupad ang pangakong scholarships ng Philippine Navy para sa

dalawa niyang anak

Ang bahay at lupa na ipinangako sa kaniya natanggap niya pero hanggang ngayon

ay hindi rin ibinibigay sa kaniya ang titulo

ldquoAng inaano ko na lang sana yung titulo lang mai-transfer na ba kasi nakatira ako doon sa bahay mamaya bigla akong palayasin doonrdquo sabi ni Velasco Ayon kay Velasco mahalaga ang mga insentibo sa mga atleta para magpursige lalo

na sa panahon ng pagsasanay

Noon panahon niya wala pang cellphone kaya mahirap umano ang malayo sa

pamilya na hindi niya makamusta kung nakakain na

Matapos ang pagsabak ni Velasco sa Olympic nagretiro na siya para tutukan ang

pamilya

Naniniwala naman siya na puwede pang magpatuloy sa paglaban si Diaz

Sa kabila ng kaniyang karanasan idinadaan na lang ni Velasco sa biro ang lahat

ldquoJoke joke namin lagi pinganakuan ka na gusto mo pa tuparin pa Dapat matuwa ka na kasi pinangakuan ka na ehrdquo ayon kay Velasco--FRJ GMA News

httpswwwgmanetworkcomnewsbalitambayanbalita797545pangakong-biyaya-kay-onyok-

velasco-na-silver-medalist-sa-1996-olympic-napako-rawstory

Outgoing military chief bids farewell to trusty weapon

By Ben Cal July 30 2021 826 pm

MANILA ndash When Armed Forces Chief of Staff Gen Cirilito Sobejana retires after 34 years in service on Saturday he will also turn over his government-issued M-653 rifle which he used for nearly three decades

Sobejana said he was a young lieutenant when the weapon was issued to him

ldquoIt was this weapon I used in 27 gun battles against rebels and terrorists particularly the Abu Sayyaf Group on that fateful day of Friday the 13th 1995 in Matarling Basilan where I was seriously woundedrdquo he told the Philippine News Agency (PNA) in an exclusive interview on Friday a day before he reaches the mandatory retirement age of 56

As an Army Scout Ranger who specialized in jungle fighting Sobejana saw action in various parts of the country fighting insurgents and terrorists even after he recovered from the 1995 Basilan incident where he almost lost his right arm

For his bravery in leading 15 men against at least 150 bandits he was awarded the Medal of Valor

After undergoing a number of surgical procedures in the United States he got used to firing the M-653 with his more able left hand which he also uses to salute

Sobejana thanked his Commander in Chief President Rodrigo Duterte for giving him the opportunity to serve as military chief

He also thanked soldiers for their heroism and sacrifice in protecting the country especially amid the pandemic

A fitting ceremony spiced with an honor parade at Camp Aguinaldo will send off Sobejana

He will be succeeded by Lt Gen Jose Faustino Jr the incumbent commander of the Joint Task Force Mindanao and former acting commanding general of the Philippine Army (PNA)


Duterte appoints Faustino as next AFP chief Defense

capability upgrade to be prioritized


by Genalyn Kabiling

President Duterte has appointed Lt Gen Jose Faustino Jr as the next chief of the Armed Forces of the Philippines Malacantildeang announced Friday July 30

Faustino commander of the joint task force in Mindanao will take the place of Gen Cirilito Sobejana who is expected to retire from the service on Saturday

ldquoWe confirm that President Rodrigo Roa Duterte approved and signed the designation of LGEN Jose C Faustino Jr as Chief of Staff of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) effective July 31 2021rdquo Presidential spokesman Harry Roque said

According to Roque the incoming military chief is expected to help ensure national security as well as pursue the AFP modernization program

ldquoWe are confident that Gen Faustino will continue the peace and development efforts of his predecessors while aggressively building up our defense capability We pray for Gen Faustinorsquos success as he embarks in his new role as AFP Chiefrdquo he added

Faustino a member of the Philippine Military Academy Class of 1988 previously served as acting chief of the Philippine Army

httpsmbcomph20210730duterte-appoints-faustino-as-next-afp-chief-defense-capability-

upgrade-to-be-prioritized

Mindanao task force commander Faustino is next AFP chief

but will only serve 4 months


by Martin Sadongdong

Lt Gen Jose Faustino Jr incumbent commander of a newly-formed joint task force (JTF) in Mindanao has been appointed by President Duterte to be the next Chief of Staff of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) effective Saturday July 31

Capt Jonathan Zata AFP public affairs chief confirmed that Faustino will replace Gen Cirilito Sobejana who is set to retire from the military service on Saturday

ldquoThe AFP welcomes the decision of the President to appoint Lt Gen Jose Faustino as the next Chief of Staff of the aFP replacing General Cirilito Sobejana who will retire on Saturday July 31rdquo Zata said in a statement sent to reporters on Friday

The signed appointment papers of Faustino dated July 29 2021 was sent by the Office of the President to Department of National Defense (DND) Secretary Delfin Lorenzana

Faustino is the current head of the JTF for Peace and Security in Mindanao a task force created last month to ldquounify the effortsrdquo of the Eastern Mindanao Command (EASTMINCOM) and the Western Mindanao Command (WESTMINCOM)

However he will serve as AFP chief for a brief four months as he will reach the mandatory retirement age of 56 for military personnel this coming November

Prior to the latest appointment Faustino was installed by Sobejana as the acting Commanding General of the Philippine Army (PA) as stated in a memorandum order dated February 11 However he only served for three months

On May 18 he was removed by Sobejana from office mdash in an unprecedented move in the major service unit mdash and replaced by Major Gen Andres Centino as the Army chief

This after former general and now Senator Panfilo Lacson pointed out that his appointment in the Army was a violation of Section 4 of Republic Act 8186 It states that AFP officers are prohibited to take major service command posts except for the AFP Chief ldquoif he has less than one year of active service remaining prior to compulsory retirementrdquo

httpsmbcomph20210730mindanao-task-force-commander-faustino-is-next-afp-chief-to-serve-

for-4-months

PH-US alliance makes Duterte reconsider VFA Palace

By Ruth Abbey Gita-Carlos and Priam Nepomuceno July 30 2021 151 pm

MANILA ndash President Rodrigo Duterte has decided to recall the termination of the Philippinesrsquo Visiting Forces Agreement (VFA) on the ground of the two nationsrsquo respect for their partnership being ldquosovereign equalsrdquo Malacantildeang said on Friday

Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque issued the statement the same day when Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana announced Dutertersquos move to retract the abrogation of VFA following his meeting with US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin III at Malacantildeang Palace in Manila on Thursday

ldquoPRRDrsquos (President Rodrigo Roa Duterte) decision to recall the abrogation of VFA is based on upholding PH strategic core interests the clear definition of PH-US alliance as one between sovereign equals and clarity of US position on its obligations and commitments under MDT (Mutual Defense Treaty)rdquo Roque said in a statement

Roque was referring to the 1951 MDT that aims to step up the defense and security cooperation between the US and Philippine troops

Duterte ordered the VFArsquos revocation in February 2020

The controversial military pact was supposed to be officially scrapped in August last year but its termination was suspended for three six-month periods

The latest was in June this year when Duterte decided anew to extend the VFArsquos validity for six more months

Lorenzana said the Philippines would continue to hold negotiations with the US to revisit the VFA

The VFA a 1998 defense deal between Manila and Washington allows American forces to enter the Philippines sans passport and visa to allow them to participate in joint military drills in the host country

The two countries are currently holding talks to come up with a ldquoside agreementrdquo that will serve as an addendum to the VFA

During a meeting at Malacantildeang Duterte and Austin agreed that ldquoenhanced communication and greater cooperationrdquo can further boost Manila and Washingtonrsquos alliance the Palace said

Despite the latest development Roque said the Philippines would continue to engage other countries for ldquopartnerships that work based on our core national interestsrdquo

Back on track

In a joint press conference with Austin Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana said military exercises between Manila and Washington DC are now ldquoback on trackrdquo

Last night after the meeting between Secretary Austin and (the) President (Rodrigo R Duterte) after Secretary Austin left Malacanang the President decided to recall or retract the termination letter for the VFA so the VFA is in full force again there is no termination letter We are back on track Mr Secretary to plan for future exercises under the VFA thank you Lorenzana said

Lorenzana also said there is nothing to restore in the VFA as the original documents are still there

What happened was there was this termination letter that was submitted by the Philippines to the United States informing the (United) States that this treaty agreement will (be) terminated in six months which the president extended several times but later has been retracted so I think happened and the VFA will continue now regards to custody of people I think thats one of the side agreements that had been in work by both sides and it will not affect the original document he added

US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin (left) DND Secretary Delfin Lorenzana (center) and AFP chief-of-staff Gen Cirilito Sobejana (right) (Photo courtesy of AFP Public Affairs Office)

Prior to the recall of the VFAs termination Lorenzana said both the US and the Philippines as long-standing allies and friends are committed to shared goals of regional peace and security

Meanwhile Austin said the US continues to stand with the Philippines during this difficult time

I am privileged to be here during my first visit to the Philippines as Secretary of Defense and Im glad to have the opportunity to reaffirm our shared commitment to the US-Philippines alliance the US defense chief added

Austin also said the Philippines is a valuable treaty ally

This year we mark our (75th anniversary of our) diplomatic relations and the 70th anniversary of our Mutual Defense Treaty so especially this time to work together to advance our already robust defense cooperation and on behalf of the US let me thank President Duterte for his decision to fully restore the Visiting Forces Agreement he added

As both countries continue to face a range of challenges from the climate crisis to the coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic Austin said a strong resilient US-Philippine alliance is vital to the security stability and prosperity of the Indo-Pacific

A fully restored VFA will help us achieve that goal together Im especially grateful for our long-standing US-Philippine Visiting Forces Agreement which enabled us to respond swiftly and seamlessly to disasters he added

Austin said the VFA made possible the conduct of more than 300 annual bilateral engagements with the Armed Forces of the Philippines from expert exchanges to ship visits to component exercises and major training exercises such as Balikatan

And you know Balikatan being shoulder-to-shoulder in Tagalog and thats exactly how we hope our alliance will (be in the) future he added (PNA)


Senators hail retention of PH-US VFA


by Vanne Elaine Terrazola

Senators lauded on Friday July 30 the decision of President Duterte to retract his planned termination of the visiting forces agreement (VFA) between the Philippines and the United States

ldquoI concur Good moverdquo Senate President Vicente ldquoTitordquo Sotto III said in a text message sent to reporters

Senator Francis Tolentino said the move reflects the ldquostrong alliancerdquo between the two countries which recently celebrated their diplomatic relationship of 75 years

He however stressed the need to improve and strengthen the VFA even as the Philippines and the US have agreed to keep it

ldquoWe should move for an upgraderdquo Tolentino said disclosing that he filed a resolution on the matter

ldquoIf the retraction of the termination is coupled with the strengthening of the VFA it is the correct movehellipgiven the current Indo-pacific geopolitical tensionsrdquo he added

Senate Committee on Foreign Relations chairperson and Sen Aquilino ldquoKokordquo Pimentel III said that should the VFA be revised to come up with new terms a new treaty must be ratified by the Senate

ADVERTISING

ldquoSince there is no announcement that there is a new VFA treaty then we assume that what has been continued is the existing VFA Hence it is as if everything regarding the VFA is as it used to berdquo he noted

Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana first announced that Duterte decided to recall the abrogation of the VFA after meeting US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin

Dutertersquos spokesman Harry Roque said the decision was ldquobased on upholding the Philippinesrsquo core interests the clear definition of PH-US alliance as one between sovereign equals and clarity of US position on its obligations and commitments under the Mutual Defense Treatyrdquo

httpsmbcomph20210730senators-hail-retention-of-ph-us-vfa

Lower House leaders laud assail Duterte decision to recall

VFA abrogation


by Ben Rosario

President Rodrigo Dutertersquos decision to recall his previous decision for the abrogation of the Visiting Forces Agreement with the United States won the support of two officials of the majority bloc in the House of Representatives

But not Deputy Minority Leader and Bayan Muna Rep Carlos Zarate who said the move has long been

expected as the threat to rescind the VFA pact was meant only to impress China

ldquoPres Duterte is appeasing the US haggle for more war materiel in support of its US-dictared counter-insurgency campaign At the same time he continues to pursue a vassal-like relations with Chinardquo said the Davao-based solon

Majority Leader and Leyte Rep Martin Romualdez welcomed Dutertersquos decision as a means of further strengthening ldquobilateral cooperation between the two countries which is crucial in this age of pandemicrdquo ldquoWe should welcome all efforts to shore up relations with other countries especially with our allies as only through global cooperation can we survive from this world-wide crisisrdquo said Romualdez

He added ldquoMore than ever we need partnership and collaboration with our brother-nations so that we may be able to withstand all threats that our country face right now and in the futurerdquo

Muntinlupa City Rep Ruffy Biazon lauded the decision that government announced following a visit by US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin this week

ldquoIt is assumed that Secretary Austin conveyed the Biden Administrationrsquos commitment to standing by the Philippines for mutual interest and benefit particularly on security issues hence the presidentrsquos redirection of his policy on the PH-US defense agreementrdquo said Biazon vice chairman of the House Committee on National Defense

The senior administration lawmaker said Philippine defense and security interests ldquowill surely benefitrdquo in the continuing cooperation between the two countries

He said the alliance between the two countries ldquohas been consistent in ensuring the freedom of navigation and deterrence of a one-country dominance in the South China Seardquo

ldquoThis will also mean that the countryrsquos anti-terrorism drive especially in the Southern Philippines will continue to be bolstered by the US through operational and technical assistance as well as intelligence sharingrdquo said Biazon

For Zarate the Duterte flip-flop came as no surprise as ldquoit was an expected move and part of the administrationrsquos Janus-faced foreign poolicyrdquo ldquoIf at all the prior threat to abrogate is

even one way also for Pres Duterte to appease the United States government and court its favor behind his political plans and for his selected successor in the 2022 electionsrdquo noted the opposition solon

httpsmbcomph20210730lower-house-leaders-laud-assail-duterte-decision-to-recall-vfa-

abrogation

As if nothing happened Duterte nixes termination of PH-US

VFA says Lorenzana

Published July 30 2021 1158 AM


President Duterte has ordered the complete retraction of the planned revocation of the Visiting Forces Agreement (VFA) between the Philippines and the United States (US) Department of National Defense (DND) Secretary Delfin Lorenzana revealed Friday July 30

Lorenzana said Duterte made the decision after his meeting in Malacanang on Thursday with US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin III who is currently visiting the country as par t of his Southeast Asian tour to strengthen Washingtonrsquos defense ties with its allies Prior to this Austin had gone to Singapore and Vietnam to meet with his counterparts

ldquoLast night after the meeting of Secretary Austin and Mr President in Malacantildeang the President decided to recall or retract the termination [of] the VFArdquo Lorenzana said in a joint press briefing with the Pentagon Chief at Camp Aguinaldo in Quezon City

Enacted in 1999 the VFA was put in peril after Duterte announced on Feb 11 2020 that he was terminating the pact allegedly after the US cancelled the travel visa of Senator Ronald dela Rosa a close administration ally

Dela Rosa led the Presidentrsquos bloody anti-illegal drug warndashwhich critics and human rights watch groups claimed was responsible for numerous extrajudicial killings (EJKs)ndashas the national police chief in 2016

However in June 2020 the government decided to suspend the termination of the military pact for six months due to an increased tension between the Philippines and China in the West Philippine Sea amid the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic

Two more six-month suspensions were announced by the government in November 2020 and June 2021 to ldquoreviserdquo the 22-year-old pact

ldquoThere was a termination letter that was submitted by the Philippines to the Unitd States That letter has been retracted as if nothing happenedrdquo Lorenzana bared

ldquoI donrsquot know the reason behind the Presidentrsquos decision The DFA [Department of Foreign Affairs] has been working for this to happen Maybe the President was just convinced so he decided to continue with the VFArdquo he added

httpsmbcomph20210730as-if-nothing-happened-duterte-recalls-termination-of-ph-us-vfa-

lorenzana-says

VFA lsquoin full forcersquo again mdashDND chief posted July 31 2021 at 0120 am by Vito Barcelo and Rey E Requejo Maricel V Cuz Macon Ramos-Araneta

President Rodrigo Duterte has walked back on a decision to end the Visiting Forces

Agreement (VFA) with the United States Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana said

Friday during a visit by Pentagon chief Lloyd Austin

Duterte told the United States in February last year he planned to axe the VFA after

Washington cancelled the visa of a close ally who led his internationally condemned war

on drugs

The deal has been extended three times since then most recently in June after months

of negotiations between the two sides

Lorenzana said Friday the VFA was in full force again during a news conference with

Austin who was in Manila on the last stop of a Southeast Asia tour

Last night after the meeting between Secretary Austin and the President the

President decided to recall or retract the termination letter for the VFA Lorenzana said

We are back on trackrdquo

The 1998 VFA provides the legal framework for the US to hold joint military exercises

and operations in the Philippines and is a key component of their decades-long alliance

It is also seen as a bulwark against Chinas growing clout in the region

Austin who was visiting Southeast Asia for the first time as US defense secretary

welcomed Dutertes decision saying it provides us some degree of certainty going

forwardrdquo

A strong resilient US-Philippine alliance will remain vital to the security stability and

prosperity of the Indo-Pacific Austin said

A fully restored VFA will help us achieve that goal together

The move comes with tensions growing in the hotly contested South China Sea where

Beijings growing assertiveness has raised alarm

China claims almost all of the resource-rich sea through which trillions of dollars in

trade passes annually with competing claims from Brunei Malaysia the Philippines

Taiwan and Vietnam

Beijing has ignored a 2016 international tribunal decision that declared its historical

claim over most of the waters to be without basis (See full story online at

manilastandardnet)

Manila was angered after hundreds of Chinese boats were spotted inside the

Philippines exclusive economic zone in March sparking a war of words between the

two countries

Speaking in Singapore on Tuesday Austin said Chinas claim to the vast majority of the

waters had no basis in international law and reiterated the United States would

support countries defending their rights

Duterte has sought to pivot away from the United States the Philippines former colonial

master towards China since taking power in 2016 and has appeared reluctant to

confront Beijing

But facing growing domestic pressure to take a harder line Duterte has insisted

Philippine sovereignty over the waters is not negotiable

Gone are the days when the Philippines decides and acts in the shadows of great

powers Duterte said Monday

We will assert what is rightfully ours and fight for what is rightfully due to the Filipino

people

The Palace said the President recalled the abrogation of the VFA based on the two

countriesrsquo respect for the partnership between sovereign equals

The Philippines also sought clarity about the US position on its obligations and

commitments under its Mutual Defense Treaty (MDT) with Manila

The Presidentrsquos decision to recall the abrogation of VFA is to uphold the Philippines strategic core interests the clear definition of PH-US alliance as one between sovereign

equals and clarity of US position on its obligations and commitments under Mutual

Defense Treaty (MDT)rdquo presidential spokesperson Harry Roque said in a statement The VFA a 1998 defense deal between Manila and Washington allows American

forces to enter the Philippines sans passport and visa to allow them to participate in

joint military drills in the host country


During their meeting Duterte and Austin agreed to strengthen the two nationsrsquo alliance

ldquothrough enhanced communication and greater cooperationrdquo in areas of pandemic response combating transnational crimes including the war on illegal drugs maritime

domain awareness the rule of law and trade and investments

ldquoThe President also thanked the US for its assistance to the Philippinesrsquo fight against COVID-19rdquo Roque said

Austin said he has great respect for the Filipino people and conveyed US President Joe

Bidenrsquos greetings to the President

The United States on Friday welcomed the Presidentrsquos decision

ldquoWe strongly believe that the VFA and the broader alliance that the VFA enables strengthens not only the security of our two nations but also the rules-based order that

benefits all nations in the Indo-Pacificrdquo the US government through its embassy in

Manila said

httpsmanilastandardnetnewstop-stories361140vfa-in-full-force-again-dnd-chiefhtml

Armed Forces eye use of lands as

defense industrial ecozones By Christian Crow Maghanoy July 30 2021 320

THE Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) with the help of the

Philippine Economic Zone (PEZA) will start to explore the possibility of

converting identifying assets and setting the boundaries of some of its

lands as economic zones

The initiative comes as both AFP and PEZA forged a pact on Thursday

that will guide future use of military reservations as defense industrial

ecozones

The memorandum of agreement (MoA) was signed by the outgoing AFP

chief of staff Gen Cirilito Sobejana and Bgen Charito Plaza (Ret) PEZA

director general to support the AFP modernization program

These identified ecozones are potential Asean regional production and

distribution hubs for manufactured products which will definitely

optimize our resource generation opportunities that can significantly

support the successful implementation of our Modernization Programs

said Sobejana in a statement on Friday as both top officials signed the

MoA in Camp Aguinaldo Quezon City

In this signing we make our collaboration institutional and is a concrete

step toward our common goal of developing idle government lands like

our military reservations to attract and create investments bring in

technology and create jobs and livelihood for our people said Plaza

The parties will endeavor to enhance the capacity of defense

manufacturing sectors through regional economic zones which shall

serve as ready locations for defense manufacturing enterprises

PEZA claimed it will also provide assistance to the AFP in complying with

regulations administering incentives and performing functions per

Republic Act (RA) 7916 or the Special Economic Zones Act00000000

Further it will also assist in linking up the AFP with industries for

possible joint ventures and other investment arrangements

We are extremely confident in the capability of PEZA [to help] the AFP

and transform parts of our military real estates into bustling economic

zones that will become an alternative source of funds for the

procurement of modern assets and equipment for the Armed Forces

Sobejana added

httpswwwmanilatimesnet20210730latest-storiesarmed-forces-eye-use-of-lands-as-defense-

industrial-ecozones1809058

4 more cadavers in C-130 crash

identified 17 others still undergoing

tedious process mdashAFP By JOVILAND RITA GMA News

Published July 30 2021 316pm

Four more cadavers of military personnel who died in the C-130 crash in Sulu on July 4 have been identified the Armed Forces of the Philippines said on Friday

In a statement the AFP identified them as Sergeant Jelson Sadjail Corporal Alhamin Salahuddin Private First Class Alzid Hawrani and Private First Class Nazer Albaracinmdashall from the Philippine Army

Through the Western Mindanao Command the AFP said it has reached out to the loved ones of the identified personnel while their remains are being prepared for transport and proper burial

With 33 cadavers already identified the AFP said there are still 17 more cadavers of soldiers undergoing the ldquotediousrdquo process of identification as most of the fatalities were burned beyond recognition

On July 4 the C-130 crashed at Barangay Bangkal in Patikul after failing to land at the airport

httpswwwgmanetworkcomnewsnewsnation7974824-more-cadavers-in-c-130-crash-identified-

17-others-still-undergoing-tedious-process-afpstory

Rizal solon No free legal aid for AFP PNP personnel who

abuse power


by Ben Rosario

The law that would extend free legal aid to uniformed personnel of the Armed Forces of the Philippines and the Philippine National Police should provide strict guidelines to guarantee that only the innocent will be benefitted

Rizal 2nd District Rep Fidel Nograles said he fully supports the proposal that President Rodrigo Duterte included in his legislative wish list during his State of the Nation Address on Monday July 26

A Harvard-trained lawyer Nograles said the legislative proposal that will be passed by Congress should prevent abuse from all parties

` ldquoI agree that free legal assistance should be given to enlisted personnel who face charges arising from the discharge of their duties as the potential for abuse does exist in legitimate operations and law enforcement authorities can be made the subject of trumped up chargesrdquo the neophyte solon said

He added rdquoAnd in cases such as these many of our police and military personnel lack the means to hire competent counselrdquo

However he stressed the importance of putting ldquoguidelines to ensure that the State does not protect law enforcement authorities who have indeed stepped out of boundsrdquo

The legislator pointed out that under the Constitution ldquoa basic right is the right to obtain legal counsel but the reality is that the costs of legal services make these inaccessible to many of our countrymen including members of the police and the militaryrdquo

There are currently four bills pushing for the said free legal assistance pending in the House committee on justice

Nograles who also sits on the justice committee as vice-chair vowed that he would raise the issue once the committee decides to tackle these bills

The solon emphasized the need for the committee to include all possible points of view once deliberation on the bills start

ldquoNaniniwala naman tayong makakapagpasa tayo ng panukalang-batas na mababalanse ang magkatunggaling interes (I believe that we can pass a will that will strike a balance between contradicting interests)rdquo said the lawmaker


Go lauds Duterte Promoting welfare of uniformed personnel

remains a priority


by Mario Casayuran

Senator Christopher Lawrence ldquoBongrdquo Go on Friday July 30 welcomed the inclusion of measures meant to improve the conditions of service and life of active and retired members of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) and Philippine National Police (PNP) as well as other uniformed personnel in President Dutertersquos sixth and final State of the Nation Address (SONA) last Monday July 26

In his last SONA the President called for the passage of a bill that will ensure the fiscal stability and sustainability of the AFP and PNPrsquos pension system He previously raised concerns of a growing budget burden where the total cost of pensions for retired soldiers will inevitably exceed the compensation of those in active service

ldquoI am asking Congress to pass a Unified System for Separation Retirement and Pension of Military and Uniformed Personnel (MUP) to maintain government fiscal flexibility and provide adequate benefits and remuneration to our men and women in uniform This shall apply only to the new entrants of the Military and (Uniformed) Servicesrdquo said the President in his SONA

Aligned with President Dutertersquos pronouncement Go remains firm that there is a need to balance the welfare of military and other uniformed personnel and their dependents while addressing the possible adverse financial impact of the military pension system based on current projections

ldquoMahal namin ni Pangulong Rodrigo Duterte ang mga sundalo(President Rodrigo Duterte and I love the soldiers) Gagawin namin lahat para maproteksyunan sila (We will do everything to protect them) Kaya natin sinusubukang masolusyunan ito ngayon dahil ayaw naming madehado ang ating kasundaluhan kung magiging iba ang direksyon ng mga susunod na administrasyon pagdating sa pension reform (This is why we are now trying to find a solution for this because we do not want the soldiers to be at the losing end if the next administration will change direction when it comes to pension reform)rdquo Go said

ldquoKung hindi natin ma-cure ang problemang ito ngayon baka mas lumala pa ang sitwasyon at kawawa hindi lang ang pensioners kundi ang taumbayan (If we cannot cure this problem now the situation might worsen to the detriment of the soldiers if not the citizens) Long-term po ang solusyon na gusto namin ni Pangulong Duterte dito (President Duterte and I want a long-term solution to this)rdquo he explained

httpsmbcomph20210730go-lauds-duterte-promoting-welfare-of-uniformed-personnel-remains-

a-priority

Armed NPAs burn P32 million worth of heavy equipment


by Marie Tonette Marticio

TACLOBAN CITY ndash Nine heavy equipment and a generator set with an estimated worth of P32 million were totally burned by armed men suspected to be members of the New Peoplersquos Army about 400 am Friday (July 29) in Brgy San Francisco Las Navas Northern Samar

Las Navas Desk Officer on duty PSSg Leonardo Dianeto disclosed that an engineer of CDU Construction reported that some unidentified armed men went to their barracks and set the heavy equipment on fire without any reason Some of the armed men pointed their guns at the workers who were called outside their barracks while they burned the equipment

One of the armed men said ldquoKay ano it nga ginpapahilapad niyo it kalye nga nakakaagi naman it mga scooter Kay para liwat makadalidali pag-agi it tangke hit armyrdquo (Why are you widening the road when scooters can pass on it Is this also being widened for the military tanks to easily pass on it)

The responding officers who went to the area which is about 155 kilometers away from the town proper saw the damaged heavy equipment including a bulldozer two backhoes a loader a dump truck prime mover crane grader road roller and a welding generator set

The equipment were being used for the construction of missing gaps connecting national roads including the right of way to Arteche Brgy Catumsan-Jipapad-Las Navas-Catubig-Rawis Road including a bridge and right of way Package 1 in Northern Samar

The project is set provide access to the interior barangays in Northern Samar province and faster delivery of agricultural products

The Department of Public Works and Highways Regional Office VIII ndash Construction Division were implementing the project through EZ Jones Construction Inc and CDU Construction


COA to Army Stop lsquohugersquo cash advances Elizabeth Marcelo (The Philippine Star ) - July 31 2021 - 1200am

MANILA Philippines mdash The Commission on Audit (COA) has asked the Philippine Army to stop the practice of granting ldquoextremely hugerdquo cash advances to a few officers saying that it exposes the government funds to the ldquorisk of loss or misappropriationrdquo

The COA made the recommendation in its 2020 annual audit report on the Army after its audit team discovered that cash advances totaling P84385 million were granted last year to five accountable officers (AOs) of its First Infantry Division (1st ID)

The cash advances were supposedly for the payment of service and subsistence allowances of around 11000 members of the Citizen Armed Force Geographical Unit (CAFGU) an auxiliary force of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP)

The COA said the CAFGU members ndash deployed in areas of Misamis Occidental Zamboanga del Sur Lanao del Norte Lanao del Sur Zamboanga del Norte Zamboanga Sibugay Zamboanga City and Basilan ndash were each allotted P2000 service allowance and P4350 subsistence allowance per month

The audit body said that in accordance with at least three circulars of the Department of Budget and Management the Army should have deposited the allowances in the CAFGU membersrsquo accounts with government banks

The COArsquos breakdown showed that AO 1 was granted a total of P24468 million AO 2 P4437 million AO 3 P19887 million AO 4 P20277 million and AO 5 P15316 million The AOs were not named in the report

The Army said it is working on implementing the cash card system in phases

In the same report the COA said cash advances amounting to P9081 million remain unliquidated by five Army units ndash the 3rd ID 4th ID 7th ID 52nd Engineering Brigade and Training and Doctrine Command

This contravened Presidential Decree 1445 or the Government Auditing Code which provides that all cash advances should be fully liquidated at the end of each year state auditors said


How Philippine leaderrsquos U-turn over US forces helps keep up the pressure on China

bull Rodrigo Dutertersquos decision to keep the Visiting Forces Agreement helps the US retain a strong presence close to Taiwan and the South China Sea

bull Chinese observers say Washington may increase the military aid it gives its ally following the decision

Philippine President Rodrigo Dutertersquos decision to keep a key military agreement with the United States will boost Americarsquos goal of keeping China under pressure over the South China Sea and Taiwan according to observers

Duterte had threatened to end the Visiting Forces Agreement last year after the US cancelled the visa of one of his political allies Senator Ronald Dela Rosa a former police chief over his role in the countryrsquos bloody war on drugsThe agreement which came into effect in 1999 provides a simplified legal

framework allowing US troops in the Philippines to take part in drills or joint exercises It also allows the US to retain custody over personnel accused of committing crimes in the host country httpswwwscmpcomnewschinadiplomacyarticle3143245how-philippine-leaders-u-turn-over-us-

forces-helps-keep

WHO urges action to suppress Covid before

deadlier variants emerge

Agence France-Presse 0339 AM July 31 2021

GENEVA Switzerland mdash The Delta variant of Covid-19 is a warning to the world to

suppress the virus quickly before it mutates again into something even worse the

WHO said Friday

The highly-transmissible variant was first detected in India It has now surfaced in

132 territories and is partly to blame for an 80 percent rise in coronavirus deaths

in Africa over the past four weeks the World Health Organization said ldquoDelta is a warning itrsquos a warning that the virus is evolving but it is also a call to action that we need to move now before more dangerous variants emergerdquo the WHOrsquos emergencies director Michael Ryan told a press conference WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus added ldquoSo far four variants of concern have emerged mdash and there will be more as long as the virus continues to spreadrdquo

Though Delta has shaken many countries Ryan said proven measures to bring

transmission under control still worked ldquoThe same measures that we have applied before will stop that virusrdquo notably physical distancing wearing masks hand hygiene and avoiding long periods

indoors in poorly ventilated busy places ldquoThey are stopping the Delta strain especially when you add in vaccination But we need to work hardrdquo he said ldquoThe virus has got fitter the virus has got faster The game plan still works but we need to implement and execute our game plan much more efficiently and much more effectively then wersquove ever done beforerdquo

Tedros said that on average infections increased by 80 percent over the past four

weeks in five of the six WHO regions

The UN health agency has consistently called for vaccines to be distributed more

evenly around the world

More than four billion doses of Covid-19 vaccines have now been administered

globally according to an AFP count

AD

httpsnewsinfoinquirernet1467043who-urges-action-to-suppress-covid-before-deadlier-variants-

emerge

US Vice President Kamala Harris to make first official visit to Singapore Vietnam

FILE PHOTO US Vice-President Kamala Harris waves as she boards her plane at Detroit

Metropolitan Wayne County Airport in Romulus Michigan on Jul 12 2021 (Photo REUTERSRebecca

Cook)

30 Jul 2021 1003PM(Updated 30 Jul 2021 1050PM)

SINGAPORE US Vice President Kamala Harris will make her first official visit to Singapore and Vietnam next month the White House announced on Friday (Jul 30) adding that the trip is aimed at strengthening ties with two critical Indo-Pacific partners

Her visit to Singapore comes at the invitation of Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong

Advertisement

ldquoVice President Harrisrsquos visit affirms the strength of the relationship between our two countries said Mr Lees press secretary

She added that Mrs Harris will meet Singapore leaders and discuss ways to deepen bilateral cooperation in multiple areas including defence cybersecurity digital trade climate change and the global response to the COVID-19 pandemic

Mr Lee said he is delighted to welcome Mrs Harris on her first official visit to Singapore

I look forward to our discussions on strengthening bilateral cooperation and working together on global challenges such as the COVID-19 pandemic and climate change he added

httpswwwchannelnewsasiacomnewsworldus-vice-president-kamala-harris-visit-singapore-

vietnam-15340826

Biden prepares the ground for Quad-3 It is only a matter of time before Biden announces yet another Quad comprising the US

Jordan Iraq and Saudi Arabia

By MK BHADRAKUMARJULY 30 2021

US President Joe Biden shakes hands with Iraqi Prime Minister

Mustafa Al-Kadhimi (L) in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington DC July 26 2021 Photo AFP Saul Loeb

US President Joe Bidenrsquos foreign policy team seem increasingly unsure of the ground beneath their feet They can see that the edifice that their 78-year-old chief is erecting stands on shaky ground But they lack the presence of mind to object

Biden has the supreme advantage that even if one were to add up the entire experience of his top officials in international diplomacy he still towers over them And that includes even veteran diplomat William Burns whom Biden plucked from retired life to head the Central Intelligence Agency an organization that even illustrious presidents such as Dwight D Eisenhower and John F Kennedy could not control

Burns admitted tactfully to National Public Radio (NPR) in his first interview as the CIA boss last week that his priority task will be to rein in the agency ldquoI hope very much that Irsquoll be a better director of CIA because my experience as a policymaker as a diplomat should help me better connect intelligence work to what matters most to policymakers At least thatrsquos what Irsquoll try very hard to do hellip

ldquoAs a diplomat over those three and a half decades I helped shape policy And my job our job at CIA is to support and inform policymakers so they make the best possible choices itrsquos not to become policymakers

ldquoAnd so what that means I think is that our obligation is to deliver in an unvarnished way without any political or policy agenda the best and most well-grounded intelligence that we can collect to help the president and all of my colleagues in this government make smart choices

httpsasiatimescom202107biden-prepares-the-ground-for-quad-3

US seizes Singaporean tanker for evading North Korea

sanctions

North Korea is the subject of United Nations and other international sanctions over its nuclear weapons and ballistic missile programs The sanctions restrict its imports of oil and other items copy AP

July 31 2021 0849 JST

WASHINGTON (Reuters) -- The US Justice Department (DoJ) on Friday

announced the seizure of a 2734-ton tanker it said was owned and operated

by a Singaporean national and used to make shipments of petroleum products

to North Korea in violation of international sanctions

httpsasianikkeicomPoliticsInternational-relationsUS-seizes-Singaporean-tanker-for-evading-

North-Korea-sanctions

Many Hurdles on the Way to

Accountability for Rohingya and Uyghur

Atrocities Experts Tell US Hearing China and to a lesser degree Myanmar have ways to evade international reckoning 2021-07-29

Holding perpetrators of genocide in China Myanmar and elsewhere accountable for atrocities is a worldwide goal but there are many obstacles to seeking justice through courts panelists told a Washington hearing this week

The Tom Lantos Human Rights Commission together with the US Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) hosted a hearing Wednesday on how to ldquohold perpetrators of mass atrocities accountable and ensure justice for victimsrdquo

Nury Turkel USCIRFrsquos vice chair said the Uyghurs of China and the Rohingya in Myanmar ndash Muslim groups whose treatment has been described as genocide present particular challenges following Myanmarrsquos Feb 1 military coup and with Chinarsquos international status and clout

ldquoIn the wake of Burmas military coup which brought many of the perpetrators of the violence against the Rohingya community into power accountability is urgently needed In other contexts the pathways to justice for genocide victims are less clear This is the case for Uyghurs and other Turkic Muslims in China who are victims of genocide and crimes against humanityrdquo he told the panel

In the case of Myanmar and the 2017 violent mass expulsion of 740000 Rohingya to Bangladesh the international legal system is a key tool that the United States can utilize to hold the government accountable Turkel said

But that approach will be harder to apply to Beijingrsquos mass incarceration of Uyghurs in camps and other widespread abuses in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region because China is a veto-wielding member of the United Nations Security Council he said

ldquoThe International Criminal Court [ICC] will not initiate an investigation into the crimes committed against the Uyghurs because China is not a party to the court and China would veto any attempt by the Security Council to refer the situation to the ICC or create an ad hoc tribunal The ICJ [International Court of Justice] is also not an option as China has submitted a reservation to the Genocide Conventionrsquos jurisdictionrdquo said Turkel


Lawyers say China using Interpol to seek dissidentrsquos return

By NOMAAN MERCHANTJuly 30 2021

WASHINGTON (AP) mdash Attorneys are asking the Biden administration to release from immigration custody a Chinese democracy advocate who could be deported to his homeland to face what they say are false charges mdash despite the lack of an extradition treaty between the United States and China

Human rights advocates say this is one of a handful of cases in which China has used the Interpol ldquored noticerdquo system to try to force the return of dissidents from the United States Under the red notice system a member country of the international police consortium can ask other countries to arrest and return fugitives living abroad Itrsquos not clear how often if ever this tactic has resulted in the US turning over detainees to Chinese authorities

The man was arrested in June and is being held in a US Immigration and Customs Enforcement detention center The Associated Press is withholding the manrsquos name because a sibling still living in China has reported being threatened by government agents with criminal charges unless his brother returns to the country

ICE says it arrested the man for overstaying his visa and has not commented on whether the Chinese charges led to his detention But the manrsquos attorneys say China is exploiting the US immigration system to bypass American efforts to fight Beijingrsquos targeting of dissidents The man and his immediate family are seeking asylum in the US

A red notice issued in January accuses the man of being the ringleader of a conspiracy to make illegal profits through a mining business and recruit former prisoners to attack a supposed enemy The manrsquos advocates say other documents from Chinarsquos legal system show he is being framed for crimes that have already been linked to others

ldquoThere are countries that abuse the Interpol red notice system especially including Chinardquo said John Sandweg one of the manrsquos attorneys Sandweg a former acting director of ICE said the agency risked being manipulated by red notices and becoming ldquoa tool to continue the persecution of law abiding activists and dissidentsrdquo

ICE says the man was detained for overstaying his visa after entering the country in September The agency did not directly answer a question about whether it arrested the man because of the red notice or how this would affect his case It said that ldquoin some instances the interest of another law enforcement agencyrdquo in the US or abroad ldquomay inform the analysisrdquo of whether someone is deported or released

Chinarsquos embassy in Washington and Interpol did not respond to requests for comment


US says it is concerned over harassment of media covering China floods

FILE PHOTO An aerial view shows a flooded road following heavy rainfall in Zhengzhou Henan

province China July 23 2021 Picture taken with a drone REUTERSAly Song

30 Jul 2021 1028AM(Updated 30 Jul 2021 1226PM)

WASHINGTON The United States is deeply concerned with the increasingly harsh surveillance harassment and intimidation of US and other foreign journalists covering recent floods in Chinas Henan province State Department spokesperson Ned Price said on Thursday (Jul 29)

Chinas harsh rhetoric toward news it perceives as critical has provoked negative public sentiment leading to tense in-person confrontations and harassment of journalists Price said in a statement

Chinas foreign ministry did not immediately respond to a request for comment

The Foreign Correspondents Club of China said on Tuesday that journalists from several media outlets covering recent floods in China were harassed online and by local residents with staff from the BBC and Los Angeles Times receiving death threats

We call on the PRC to act as a responsible nation hoping to welcome foreign media and the world for the upcoming Beijing 2022 Winter Olympic and Paralympic Games Price said

httpswwwchannelnewsasiacomnewsasiaus-says-it-is-concerned-over-harassment-of-media-

covering-china-15333916

China hatches a plan to lead in the adoption of new internet protocol as Beijing eyes internet of things

bull China has overtaken India to become No 1 in terms of IPv6 addresses with 528 million as of May this year representing more than half of its internet users

bull Beijingrsquos targets are ambitious as the countryrsquos internet content and service connection providers are not in a hurry to shift to the new protocol

China wants to achieve global leadership in the next-generation IPv6 internet protocol by 2025 as Beijing prepares itself for the internet of things (IoT) era when a washing machine or a microwave oven may have its own IP address

According to a document released by the Cybersecurity Administration of China the National Development and Reform Commission and the Ministry of Industry and Information this month China plans to boost its active IPv6 users to 800 million by 2025 with 70 per cent of all online traffic at that time relying on the new protocol

The plan envisions that China will have a ldquosingle stackrdquo network by 2030 totally replacing the existing IPv4 protocol which has been in place since the early 1980s

httpswwwscmpcomtechpolicyarticle3143180china-hatches-plan-lead-adoption-new-internet-

protocol-beijing-eyes

Hong Kong police investigate Olympic chants China anthem booing

Edgar Cheung Ka-long won gold in foil at the Tokyo Olympics (Photo AFPFabrice COFFRINI)


HONG KONG Hong Kong police on Friday (Jul 30) said they had launched an investigation into Olympic Games fans who booed Chinas national anthem and drowned it out with chanting during a public screening at a mall

The international finance hub has had its best Games on record with Edgar Cheung winning gold in fencing and Siobhan Haughey taking two silvers in swimming Advertisement

READ Swimming - Haughey makes history for Hong Kong with Tokyo Olympics silver medal

But the sporting success also comes at a politically turbulent time for the city as China cracks down on dissent in response to huge and often violent protests two years ago

Hundreds of fans gathered in a mall on Monday night to watch Cheungs winning bout erupting into rapturous applause and cheers when he came out on top

At the subsequent medal ceremony some fans initially booed Chinas national anthem and then chanted We are Hong Kong in scenes that were broadcast live

httpswwwchannelnewsasiacomnewsasiahong-kong-fans-boo-china-national-anthem-olympics-

police-15334210

Cambodia Jails Opposition Figure as US

Congress Takes Step Toward Sanctions The Cambodia Democracy Act provides for sanctions on officials responsible for uprooting democracy in the country 2021-07-29

A Cambodian court has convicted a former commune councilor from the outlawed main opposition party of ldquoincitement to commit a felonyrdquo for participating in weekly protests demanding the release of other arrested opposition party members sentencing him to 18 months in prison his lawyer said

The ruling Wednesday came the same day that the US House Foreign Affairs Committee passed an act calling for sanctions on Cambodian officials responsible for undermining democracy in the Southeast Asian nation mdash the first step in legislation punishment for abuses in Phnom Penh

The Phnom Penh Municipal Court also ordered Pen Chan Sangkream an activist for the Cambodia National Rescue Party (CNRP) who served as a local official in the capitalrsquos Daun Penh district to pay a 3 million-riel (US $728) fine

Police arrested Pen Chan Sangkream on Dec 23 2020 with court officials charging him the same day with incitement to commit a felony for participating in several Friday protests in the capital organized by family members of detained opposition activists to call for their release

He was remanded to pre-trial detention in Prey Sar Prison where he has been for the past seven months

The ldquoFriday Wivesrdquo group of women holds weekly protests demanding the release of their husbands CNRP members who were jailed on incitement charges for opposing Prime Minister Hun Senrsquos crackdown on the party

Cambodiarsquos Supreme Court dissolved the CNRP in November 2017 two months after the arrest of its leader Kem Sokha for his role in an alleged scheme to topple Hun Senrsquos government The ban along with a wider crackdown on NGOs and the independent media paved the way for the ruling Cambodian Peoplersquos Party (CPP) to win the countryrsquos 2018 general elections

CNRP activists their relatives and their supporters still face backlash targeted and beaten by anonymous attackers mostly by motorbike-riding assailants who hit them with batons bricks and their vehicles

Pen Chan Sangkream refused to accept the verdict and asked his lawyer to appeal the decision said the attorney who declined to be named for safety reasons

Am Sam Ath deputy director of the human rights monitor Licadho told RFA that the former official did not commit any crime because he was expressing his views under Cambodiarsquos right of freedom of expression and that the charge was politically motivated


Thailands long history of coups stirs debate in time of

danger Widespread rage over worsening COVID-19 has increased political tensions

A cavalry parade to mark the coronation of King Maha Vajiralongkorn Tanks in Thailand have very limited tactical value because of the terrain but have often been used to stage coups in the capital (File photo by Reuters) copy

Reuters

MARWAAN MACAN-MARKAR Asia regional correspondentJuly 30 2021 1400 JST

BANGKOK -- After pulling off Thailands last coup in 2014 when he was army

commander Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha is in an altogether different

place as drumbeats quicken for a putsch against his military-backed

government

httpsasianikkeicomPoliticsTurbulent-ThailandThailand-s-long-history-of-coups-stirs-debate-in-

time-of-danger

Activists allege Myanmar leaders are weaponising COVID-19

A Buddhist monk wearing a face mask holds an oxygen tank for refill outside the Naing oxygen

factory at the South Dagon industrial zone in Yangon Myanmar (Photo AP)

30 Jul 2021 0103PM

BANGKOK With coronavirus deaths rising in Myanmar allegations are growing from residents and human rights activists that the military government which seized control in February is using the pandemic to consolidate power and crush opposition

In the last week the per capita death rate in Myanmar surpassed those of Indonesia and Malaysia to become the worst in Southeast Asia

The countryrsquos crippled health care system has rapidly become overwhelmed with new patients sick with COVID-19

Supplies of medical oxygen are running low and the government has restricted its private sale in many places saying it is trying to prevent hoarding But that has led to widespread allegations that the stocks are being directed to government supporters and military-run hospitals

httpswwwchannelnewsasiacomnewsasiaactivists-allege-myanmar-leaders-are-weaponising-

covid-19-15336538

Myanmar democracy movement moves out of jailed Aung San Suu Kyis shadow

Myanmars Aung San Suu Kyi was deposed by the military in February 2021 and faces an eclectic

raft of charges (File photo AFPSTR)

30 Jul 2021 1201PM

YANGON Imprisoned by the military detained Myanmar leader Aung San Suu Kyi is isolated from the young protesters now forging their own struggle for democracy outside of her shadow

Sunday (Aug 1) marks six months since her National League for Democracy (NLD) government was ousted setting off a mass uprising and violent military crackdown that has killed nearly 1000 people

Aung San Suu Kyi remains a revered figure locally for her courageous opposition to a previous junta despite her international reputation suffering after she governed in a power-sharing deal with the generals

But for many still fighting the revolution must go further than the movement the Nobel laureate led decades ago and permanently root out military dominance of the countrys politics and economy

Were on strike not because of the NLD but because we dont want our next generation to live under the military like we did a 33-year-old doctor - fired after joining protests - told AFP

httpswwwchannelnewsasiacomnewsasiamyanmar-democracy-movement-aung-san-suu-kyi-

15335948

Indian state issues travel advisory after deadly border clash

Aizawl the capital of the northeastern Indian state of Mizoram AFPSajjad HUSSAIN

30 Jul 2021 0630PM

NEW DELHI The Indian state of Assam has advised its residents to avoid travelling to neighbouring Mizoram after six policemen were shot dead in a rare border clash between the two regions

Indias northeast has been a hotbed of ethnic tensions since independence in 1947 and borders between its seven states are not clearly defined

Assam and Mizoram have been wrangling over their frontier for decades but tensions erupted on Monday (Jul 26) with six police shot dead and more than 60 injured

Given the critical situation the people of Assam are advised not to travel to Mizoram the travel advisory issued on Thursday said

It recommended those already there exercise utmost caution and said many civilians are heavily armed with automatic weapons

India has longstanding border disputes with China and Pakistan but the clash between two of its own states has been an embarrassment for the central government led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi

Both states have blamed each other for the violence

K Vanlalvena a Mizoram politician in Indias upper house stoked tensions on Wednesday when he was quoted by media as saying his state was ready for more violence

More than 200 policemen entered our territory and they pushed back our policemen from our own posts and they gave firing orders first before we fired Vanlalvena reportedly said

They are lucky that we didnt kill them all If they come again we shall kill them all httpswwwchannelnewsasiacomnewsasiaassam-mizoram-border-clash-police-dead-injured-india-

15338844

The US needs to break Chinarsquos siege mentality

Combative high-level meetings this week highlight the urgency for Washington to take small

steps toward reducing tensions

High-level US and Chinese officials met in the city of Tianjin earlier this week and during the meeting Chinese Vice Foreign Minister Xie Feng laid out Chinarsquos grievances with the United States Among the main complaints he made Xie listed US sanctions on top party officials visa restrictions on party members restrictions on Confucius Institutes and Chinese companies and the extradition demand for Huawei Chief Financial Officer Meng Wangzhou Much like the clash at the Anchorage summit earlier this year the meeting between Xie and US Deputy Secretary of State Wendy Sherman began with extensive criticisms from the Chinese side and the meeting ended up resolving none of the outstanding issues between the two governments For its part the State Department released a readout that also amounted to little more than a litany of complaints US-Chinese relations seem to be trapped in a downward spiral of hectoring and sanctions from our government and aggrieved lashing out from theirs It is imperative that the United States finds a way to break out of this pattern and stabilize the relationship before it deteriorates further

The intensifying Cold War-like rhetoric in Washington has encouraged Chinarsquos siege mentality reflected in Xiersquos remarks The Biden administrationrsquos decision to frame the relationship as part of a ldquocontest with autocratsrdquo and the tendency to cast a wide range of foreign and domestic policy issues in terms of competition with China have both also contributed Xie noted that latter tendency ldquoThe US side talks about China at every turn and it seems as if it is unable to speak or do anything if it does not involve Chinardquo Itrsquos not surprising that the Chinese government has interpreted the administrationrsquos China policy in sharply adversarial terms such that Xie reportedly told Sherman that US policies were a ldquothinly veiled attempt to contain and suppress Chinardquo Many Western China hawks would like to tear away the veil and leave no doubt

Xie was quoted in a statement from the Chinese foreign ministry identifying the root of the problems with the relationship and he said that ldquo[t]he foundational reason is that some people in the US are treating China as an lsquoimagined enemyrsquordquo The growing hawkish consensus around China policy in Washington has provoked a similarly overwrought nationalist reaction in the Chinese government Hard-liners in both countries thrive on the mutual recriminations and suspicions that have come to define the relationship and they must be delighting in the miserable state of US-China diplomacy

Chinarsquos siege mentality was already on display to some degree in President Xi Jinpingrsquos speech marking the Chinese Communist Partyrsquos centenary China hawks were

quick to seize on Xirsquos warning that other governments should not oppress or subjugate China lest they end up with ldquoheads cracked and bleedingrdquo as evidence of Beijingrsquos aggressive intentions but what it really showed was the extent to which the Chinese government sees itself as being surrounded and threatened from the outside Insofar as US policies in East Asia are being cast in terms of a new anti-Chinese containment policy that fuels fear that the United States seeks to encircle and weaken them and that in turn encourages China to behave more combatively


China Ambushes Top American Diplomat

by Gordon G Chang July 30 2021 at 500 am

Share261

Chinese leaders give the impression that the USA has much more to seek from them than they from Washington This time the Americans were on the defensive as they sought Beijings cooperation on a range of issuesmdashclimate change North Korea Iran Afghanistan and othersmdashensuring that the USA did not seek conflict mdash Yogesh Gupta former Indian diplomat and specialist on China-India relations Hong Kongs South China Morning Post July 27 2021

In fact the Chinese are not that essential and American leaders do not have to listen to them Take their economy Last year China became even more dependent on exports and it remains extraordinarily reliant on access to the US market In 2020 Chinas merchandise trade surplus with the US accounted for a stunning 580 of its overall merchandise trade surplus

Moreover Chinas financial markets have become even more dependent on foreign capital because of Xi Jinpings unrelenting attack on his countrys tech sector Xi began his most recent phase of this months-long assault with the unprecedented halting last November of Ant Groups initial public offering slated to be the worlds largest at $395 billion This year Xi has wiped more than $140 billion of value off US-listed Chinese tech giants during the last week of July alone and most analysts believe the carnage will continue

China as a result is needy requiring foreign cash to replace what has already been lostmdashand what will be lost as Xi continues to take apart his tech giants Biden can use his

considerable powers under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act of 1977mdashor if he is even bolder the Trading with Enemy Act of 1917mdashto halt commerce with China and investment into the Chinese markets ending once and for all the China threat


Is Pax Sinica Possible Jul 30 2021LEE JONG-WHA

Chinese President Xi Jinping seems to want to build a Pax Sinica which would compete with ndash and even replace ndash

the Pax Americana that has prevailed since the end of World War II But realizing this vision will require China

to overcome some daunting internal and external challenges

SEOUL ndash For nearly a decade Chinese President Xi Jinping has been promising to deliver ldquothe great rejuvenation of the Chinese nationrdquo This promise ndash which he dubbed the China Dream ndash took a clearer form with the introduction of the two centenary goals building a ldquomoderately prosperous societyrdquo by 2021 (the centennial of the founding of the Communist Party of China CPC) and becoming a ldquomodern socialist countryrdquo by 2049 (100 years after the founding of the Peoplersquos Republic) Now China is one centennial down ndash and according to Xi it has achieved its first goal Is the China Dream within reach

While the second centenary goal specifiesgoals like strength prosperity democracy harmony and cultural advancement it also represents a vision of China as a global economic and political power Ultimately Xi seems to want to build a Pax Sinica which would compete with ndash and even replace ndash the Pax Americana that has prevailed since the end of World War II

These are ambitious goals But China is no stranger to ambition ndash or achievement While the CPC made serious mistakes during the Peoplersquos Republicrsquos early years it has since led the country in a remarkable economic and social transformation For more than three decades China achieved double-digit annual GDP growth Hundreds of millions of people were lifted out of poverty This transformation was made possible by ldquocapitalism with Chinese characteristicsrdquo ndash a system that has proved far more effective and durable than many expected The Chinese state played a central role in mobilizing resources building national infrastructure supporting export firms and facilitating inflows of foreign capital and technology Chinarsquos record proves that an authoritarian political system does not preclude development and in fact can drive rapid progress In fact on the question of which political system ndash dictatorship or democracy ndash is better suited to economic development the evidence is ambiguous

Daron Acemoglu and James A Robinson have made the case that ldquoextractive political institutionsrdquo in which political power is concentrated in the hands of a small group of people lead to ldquoextractive economic institutionsrdquo in which the ruling class exploits the majority The result they argue is weaker incentives for most economic agents to engage in productive economic activities

httpswwwproject-syndicateorgcommentarycan-china-lead-the-world-by-lee-jong-wha-2021-07

Philippines Duterte fully restores key troop pact with United States

The 1998 Visiting Forces Agreement (VFA) is the legal framework for the presence of

American troops on Philippine soil and is central to the two nations hundreds of annual military

exercises (File photo AFPTed Aljibe)

30 Jul 2021 1230PM

MANILA President Rodrigo Duterte has restored a crucial pact governing the presence of US troops in the Philippines the two countries defence ministers said on Friday (Jul 30) reversing a decision that had caused increasing concern in Washington and Manila

The Visiting Forces Agreement (VFA) provides rules for the rotation of thousands of US troops in and out of the Philippines for war drills and exercises

It has assumed additional importance as the United States and its allies contend with an increasingly assertive China

Philippine Defence Secretary Delfin Lorenzna said he was unsure why Duterte had reversed himself but made the decision after meeting US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin in Manila on Thursday

Dutertes decision wont change much on the ground as the pact had not been terminated but it provides stability for both countries

httpswwwchannelnewsasiacomnewsasiaphilippines--duterte-fully-restores-key-troop-pact-with-

united-states-15335740

Pentagon Chief Strong resilient US-PH alliance vital to peace

in Indo-Pacific region



Boosting the security ties and defense cooperation between the Philippines and the United States (US) is crucial to maintain the peace and security in the Indo-Pacific region the USrsquo top Defense official disclosed Friday July 30

US Department of Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin III made the remark as he held a bilateral meeting with Department of National Defense (DND) Secretary Delfin Lorenzana at Camp Aguinaldo in Quezon City Austin was in a two-day visit in the country from July 29 to 30 as part of

his Southeast Asian tour to strengthen USrsquo ties with its allies

ldquoA strong and resilient US and Philippines alliance [sic] remain vital to the security stability and prosperity of the Indo-Pacificrdquo Austin said

The bilateral talks was conducted as Manila and Washington commemorated the 70th anniversary of the establishment of the Mutual Defense Treaty (MDT) and the 75th year since the establishment of diplomatic relations between the two countries The MDT signed in 1951 is a formal agreement which states that both parties shall support each other in case of an external attack from another country

ldquoThe bilateral ministerial meeting we held this morning served as a platform to di scuss the way ahead for the Philippines-US alliance based on the current priorities of our respective administrations It underscored the significance of the bilateral defense relations between the Philippines and the US in light of new and re-emerging challenges that confront our nationsrdquo Lorenzana said

During the bilateral meeting Austin discussed with Lorenzana the developments in the South China Sea (SCS) as the territorial dispute between China and the Philippines in the West Philippine Sea (WPS) appears to subside Tensions flared in March when around 220 maritime militia vessels were spotted at Julian Felipe Reef in the WPS triggering a word war between top officials and diplomats of the DND and Chinese government

After the bilateral meeting Lorenzana announced that President Duterte ordered the recall of the planned termination of the Visiting Forces Agreement (VFA) another military pact which governs

the conduct or behaviour by American troops in the country

ldquoThe Philippines is a valuable treaty ally our oldest in age and [an] equal and sovereign partnerrdquo Austin said

The Pentagon Chief also committed to support the Philippines in case of an armed attack from a foreign country within the Pacific region including the maritime dispute in the WPS

httpsmbcomph20210730pentagon-chief-strong-resilient-us-ph-alliance-vital-to-peace-in-indo-

pacific-region

PH US mark 70th anniversary of the Mutual Defense Treaty

Rolex Dela Pena Reuterspool Posted at Jul 30 2021 0200 PM

United States Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin (left) and Philippines Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana (right) shake hands after a bilateral meeting at Camp Aguinaldo in Quezon City on Friday President Rodrigo Duterte has decided to fully restore a pact governing the presence of US troops in the Philippines the two countries defense ministers said reversing a decision that had caused increasing concern in Washington and Manila


Philippines US defense chiefs discuss

South China Sea VFA By JOVILAND RITA GMA News


Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana and US Defense Secretary Lloyd J Austin III discussed issues related to the South China Sea during their bilateral meeting on Friday the Department of National Defense has said

In a statement the DND said the two Defense chiefs also tackled developments in the Indo-Pacific region as well as the Visiting Forces Agreement (VFA) ldquoAside from boosting security ties and defense cooperation between the two countries the defense secretaries discussed the VFA developments in the South China Sea and the Indo-Pacific region as well as the fight against COVID-19rdquo the DND said Lorenzana and Austin held a bilateral meeting in Camp General Emilio Aguinaldo during the two-day official visit of the US defense chief to the Philippines from July 29 to 30 ldquoThe bilateral ministerial meeting we held this morning served as a platform to discuss the way ahead for the Philippines-US alliance based on the current priorities of our respective administrationsrdquo he said ldquoIt underscored the significance of the bilateral defense relations between the Philippines and the US in light of new and re-emerging challenges that confront our nationsrdquo he added Lorenzana also announced that President Rodrigo Duterte decided to retract the notice of termination of the VFA after the meeting of the commander-in-chief with Austin Thursday night

The Philippines sent an official letter of termination of the VFA to the US on February 11 2020

In November 2020 Duterte suspended the abrogation of the agreement amid lingering tensions with China in the disputed South China Sea mdashNB GMA News

httpswwwgmanetworkcomnewsnewsnation797497philippines-us-defense-chiefs-discuss-south-

china-sea-vfastory

Practical Philippines will not lean to US despite

military pact restoration observers By Zhang HanPublished Jul 30 2021 0640 PM As US defense secretary Lloyd Austin wraps up his Southeast Asia trip with a final stop in the Philippines the two sides restored the Visiting Forces Agreement (VFA) one of Austins major goals but observers pointed out that despite the US military and security promises the Philippines and others regional countries will remain practical and keep the balance in dealing with China and the US Austin departed from Hanoi for Manila and called on Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte late on Thursday in a 75-minute meeting that was open and frank Philippines News Agency reported on Friday saying the two agreed to heighten their alliance via enhanced communication and greater cooperation particularly on pandemic response combating transnational crimes trade and investment The Visiting Force Agreement which offers the legal basis for US troops to function in the Philippines was on their agenda but no reports on that were released until Friday noon when Philippine defense chief Delfin Lorenzana held a joint press briefing after talks with Austin Lorenzana announced Duterte had walked back from the decision to terminate the VFA and the pact is in full force again The Thursday discussion and Friday announcement were interpreted by Chinese observers as demonstrating the Philippines domestic split on their attitude toward the US Duterte announced his plan to scrap the VFA in February 2020 but extended the suspension of the termination process three times due to domestic pressure Duterte and the Philippine government have been cautious of leaning too close to the US but the Philippine military would rather enhance cooperation and have always been tough on China Tian Guangqiang assistant research fellow with the National Institute of International Strategy at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences told the Global Times


German Navy To Deploy A Frigate In Indo-Pacific

Region For The First Time Since 2016

With the deployment of a frigate in Indo-Pacific region the German

Navy wants to send a signal for free sea routes and the observance of

international law in the region

Martin Manaranche 30 Jul 2021

German Navy press release

The ship will be underway for a good six months It will sail through the

Mediterranean Sea and the Suez Canal via the Indian Ocean to Australia and East

Asia On the way exercises are planned with the navies of Australia Singapore

Japan and the United States of America In addition there will be formal visits port

visits at the highest diplomatic level

By sending the ldquoBayernrdquo to the South China Sea the German government is underscoring its guidelines on the Indo-Pacific published last year The region is of

great strategic importance

ldquoStronger defense and security cooperation fills the multilateralism that

is so important to us with life and strengthens the partnership with

friends in Australia Japan South Korea and Singaporerdquo

ldquoOur prosperity is generated globally What happens in Asia has direct consequences for us I am pleased that we are flying the flag with our

ship at seardquo Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer German Minister of Defense

ldquoMore than 90 percent of the worldrsquos foreign trade is conducted by sea much of it via the Indian and Pacific Oceansrdquo the guidelines state These maritime trade routes and

with them the supply chains must be kept free and secure

The voyage of the frigate ldquoBayernrdquo to the Indo-Pacific sends a signal that Germany is

becoming more involved in the geopolitically central region of the 21st century

Together with its value partners the Federal Republic stands up for the

preservation and defense of a rule-based international order

ldquoThe worldrsquos oceans belong to all of usrdquo says Admiral Kay-Achim Schoumlnbach Chief of

Naval Operations Against the backdrop of territorial disputes in the Indo-Pacific he

said it is important to stand by our value partners Since Germany is committed to

global prosperity and human and international rights it cannot duck out of the way

At the same time however the Federal Republic does not want to behave

confrontationally in the South China Sea he said ldquoWe will use the usual trade routes where everyone can sailrdquo the admiral explained

Until the end of February 2022 the frigate ldquoBayernrdquo will be underway with more

than 230 crew members on board She will leave her home port of Wilhelmshaven

on August 2 Among other things she will support NATOrsquos Operation Sea Guardian in the Mediterranean and the EUrsquos Atalanta anti-piracy mission in the Horn of Africa

during her voyage as well as taking part in monitoring the United Nations sanctions

against North Korea

Highlights include joint exercises with friendly naval forces and naval diplomacy in

the form of formal port visits This is also intended to further deepen strategic

partnerships for example with Australia Japan and South Korea

httpswwwnavalnewscomnaval-news202107german-navy-to-deploy-a-frigate-in-indo-pacific-

region-for-the-first-time-since-2016

British aircraft carrier sails through the South China SeaChina worries

The situation in the South China Sea this week heated up with the arrival of the British aircraft carrier

group HMS Queen Elizabeth a group of US ships passing through the Taiwan Strait and the Chinese

military conducting exercises

The British aircraft carrier group HMS Queen Elizabeth is in the spotlight prompting Chinese

newspapers and diplomats to accuse Britain of causing trouble in the South China Sea at the

behest of the US The UK has not officially acknowledged the presence of an aircraft carrier

strike group in the South China Sea but a series of photos posted on the British Navyrsquos website

show US Marines jets accompanying them British group of ships displayed data about the

South China Sea

ldquoA free and open Indo-Pacific has a vital role to play in ensuring great prosperity for the region

and the worldrdquo the photos were captioned

The British Ministry of Defense said the group of aircraft carriers was the largest gathering of

air and sea forces deployed in a generation

Ten US F-35s are carried on board the aircraft carrier under an agreement between

Washington and London to divide tasks and coordinate operations A US Navy destroyer and a

Dutch frigate joined the escort of the British aircraft carrier


Austin Accomplishes Two Missions in Southeast Asia July 30 2021

Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin spent this week in Singapore Vietnam and the Philippines The choices are telling Among the 10 countries of Southeast Asia those are the three that are most strategically aligned with the United States and most supportive of a robust US presence in the region They are also the three in which some attention from Washington is likely to deliver concrete progress in the short to medium term Other partners most obviously Indonesia Malaysia and Thailand are also important and warrant greater focus from Washington But a secretary canrsquot be everywhere at once and Austinrsquos choice of stops reflects an accurate prioritization of US partnerships in Southeast Asia

The trip was reflective of the two-track approach that Washington is by necessity taking toward the region On the one hand the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) remains the only game in town for regional architecture and so must be supported In Indonesia and Singapore in particular ldquoASEAN centralityrdquo is fiercely coveted by political elites who see it as the best way to guarantee the regionrsquos autonomy in the face of larger powers The United States has for the last 15 years seen support for ASEAN as a smart strategic investment It provides a venue for all interested actors to meet if not always productively And it is the best hope for developing regional institutions that could someday moderate Chinarsquos ambitions The first two days of Austinrsquos trip spent in Singapore were in part about signaling support for ASEAN and assuaging concerns that US policy in the region might undermine its centrality

But ASEAN is a long-term bet In the short term it is impotent in the face of the regionrsquos most pressing political and security issues from the South China Sea disputes to the dying Mekong River and the crisis in Myanmar The only way to advance the interests of the United States and its partners on such critical issues is by working bilaterally

with those states most receptive to itmdashthe Philippines Vietnam and Singaporemdashand multilaterally through non-ASEAN entities like the Quad Austinrsquos last three days in Hanoi and Manila were about securing real deliverables along this second track

Part I Singapore

The centerpiece of the secretaryrsquos time in Singapore was his speech at the IISS Fullerton Lecture series It was intended to reassure allies and partners that the administration gets it Southeast Asia is vital and the Biden team has through a mix of distraction and bad luck been showing it too little attention Most of the region had hailed Joe Bidenrsquos election victory in November 2020 The annual survey of elite opinion by the Institute of Southeast Asian Studies (ISEAS)-Yusof Ishak Institute for instance showed a double-digit bounce across the board in favorability and trust in the United States But six months after his inauguration the post-honeymoon glow has begun to wear off President Biden has not spoken with a single Southeast Asian leader by phone Until this week no cabinet official had visited the region When it comes to Asia Washingtonrsquos attention has been fixed on elevating the Quad which includes Australia India and Japan and ensuring Europe is on the same page when it comes to the China challenge Those are important and more productive than engaging with a deeply dysfunctional ASEAN But half a year is still too long to go without showing Southeast Asia some high-level diplomatic attention


Lawmaker Calls for New US Maritime Strategy with Pacific Focus

By Courtney Mabeus

July 30 2021 433 PM

bull

To counter threats from China a top US lawmaker Friday called on the US Navy to develop a new maritime strategy that would rebalance how it deploys and strategically scattered persistent deterrent force in an arc throughout the Indo-Pacific region

Two decades of focus on the Middle East has strained US naval forces and worn out its fleet of carriers said US Rep Elaine Luria (D-Va) a retired Navy surface warfare officer and vice chair of the House Armed Services Committee

Luria used the recent example of the aircraft carrier USS Ronald Reagan (CVN-76) which is forward deployed to Japan being sent to the Middle East to support the US withdrawal of forces from Afghanistan ldquoWhat wersquore seeing today is not a persistent deterrent because if our deterrent in the Pacific is the carrier strike group and its other ships but they leave to go to a different area of the world in order to respond to a different crisis then that leaves a gap for a period of timerdquo Luria said Her comments came during an online Center for Strategic and International Studies panel focused on the South China Sea Luriarsquos proposed strategy was published by the Center for International Maritime Security earlier this month It also outlines approaches for a maneuver force as well as deterrent forces to respond to emerging threats in the Arctic

Presence in the South China Sea has become increasingly urgent for the US and its allies China has fortified artificial reefs in the Spratly Islands which are also claimed by Vietnam and the Philippines It has also increased its aggressive tactics against Taiwan which it has promised to reunite with its mainland In recent months the Philippine Coast Guard accused China of

deploying a fleet of Maritime Militia vessels to the Whitsun Reef in a show of aggression as well

Maintaining a persistent presence in the South China Sea and increasing interoperability with allies would not only show a unified force to confront the Chinese but also develop the sort of familiarity with merchant and fishing vessels necessary to prevent ldquogray-zonerdquo miscalculations she said httpsnewsusniorg20210730lawmaker-calls-for-new-u-s-maritime-strategy-with-pacific-focus

Pentagon chief Austin hails arrival of first evacuation flight of Afghans who helped US forces

In this Friday Dec 11 2009 file photo US Marine Sgt Isaac Tate left and Cpl Aleksander

Aleksandrov center interview a local Afghan man with the help of a translator from the 2nd

MEB 4th Light Armored Reconnaissance Battalion on more gt

bull bull

Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin on Friday welcomed the arrival in the US

of the first contingent of Afghan nationals who aided the 20-year US

combat mission in their country and now face potential revenge attacks

from insurgent Taliban forces

More than 200 Afghan nationals including family members of those who

worked with the US arrived on a flight to Virginia to be housed for now

at Fort Lee About 10 times that number including interpreters

contractors and their families are still in the security screening process

and expected to come in the near future

ldquoThese brave men and women at great risk to themselves and their families served alongside US and coalition forces and diplomats to

support our operations and prevent Afghanistan from becoming a safe

haven for terrorism that threatens our homelandrdquo Mr Austin said in a

statement ldquoWe have spoken many times about the moral obligation we

have to help those who have helped us and we are fully committed to

working closely with our interagency partners to meet that obligationrdquo

The Biden administration has faced bipartisan pressure from Congress to

provide refuge to Afghan interpreters and other allies as US forces near

the completion of their withdrawal from the country

Many fear they will be targeted by the Taliban who have been on attack

and seizing territory as US troops and their allies withdraw

There remains a much larger backlog of about 18000 Afghan interpreters

contractors and others still hoping to secure a so-called ldquospecial immigrant visardquo allowing them to resettle with their families in the US httpswwwwashingtontimescomnews2021jul30dod-chief-lloyd-austin-hails-arrival-first-evacuat

The Pentagon Is Experimenting With Using

Artificial Intelligence To See Days In Advance The Pentagon aims to use cutting-edge cloud networks and artificial

intelligence systems to anticipate adversaries moves before they make

them BY BRETT TINGLEY

bull US Northern Command (NORTHCOM) recently conducted a series of tests

known as the Global Information Dominance Experiments or GIDE which combined global sensor networks artificial intelligence (AI) systems and cloud

computing resources in an attempt to achieve information dominance and

decision-making superiority According to NORTHCOM leadership the AI and machine learning tools tested in the experiments could someday offer the Pentagon a robust ldquoability to see days in advance meaning it could predict the future with some reliability based on evaluating patterns anomalies and trends in massive data sets While the concept sounds like something out of Minority

Report the commander of NORTHCOM says this capability is already enabled by tools readily available to the Pentagon

General Glen VanHerck Commander of NORTHCOM and North American

Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD) told reporters at the Pentagon this week that this was the third test of GIDE conducted in conjunction with all

11 combatant commands ldquocollaborating in the same information space using the same exact capabilitiesrdquo The experiment largely centered around contested logistics and information advantage two cornerstones of the new warfighting

paradigm recently proposed by the Vice Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff A

full transcript of VanHercks press briefing is available online

VanHerck told reporters that this AI-enabled decision making could actually allow for a type of proactive forecasting that sounds truly like the stuff of

science fiction

The machine learning and the artificial intelligence can detect changes [and] we

can set parameters where it will trip an alert to give you the awareness to go take

another sensor such as GEOINT on-satellite capability to take a closer look at what

might be ongoing in a specific location

httpswwwthedrivecomthe-war-zone41771the-pentagon-is-experimenting-with-using-artificial-

intelligence-to-see-days-in-advance

Re-Shaping the USMC as a Crisis Management

Force Working Naval Integration

07302021

The Marines are re-focusing their efforts from the Middle East land wars to shaping their way ahead to build a purpose-built force to facilitate sea denial and assured access in support of fleet and joint operations against potential adversaries

One way they are doing this is working with the US Navy in new ways to operate together

Because the US Navy is itself undergoing fundamental change as they return to a clear priority on blue water operations and littoral engagements this means that the Marines are changing with a sense of urgency while the Navy is itself

It is really an interactive engagement exploring ways to shape more effective crisis management and combat capabilities to deal with strategic competition

During my visit to 2nd Marine Air Wing in July 2021 I had a chance to discuss the evolving approach with the G-3 or operations team at 2ndMAW

I met with Col Eilertson the head of G-3 Maj Barnes the G-3 Future Operations Officer which involves the planning and engagement in exercises and Col (Ret) Michael Watkins the newly appointed senior civilian advisor in G-3

This exercise will focus on a variety of operational vignettes testing out a variety of ways the Navy and the Marines can work together in enhance joint maritime littoral warfare capabilities

Maritime power is an essential element of the National Defense Strategy in light of increasingly capable maritime adversaries it is absolutely critical to the success of our nation

During the past two years I have asked a number of Naval officers what they considered to be contributions which the Marines might make to the maritime fight and one of the most often capabilities highlighted was the possibility of deploying sensors as part of an inside force to facilitate sea denial and sea control in support of fleet operations and the joint force

httpssldinfocom202107re-shaping-the-usmc-as-a-crisis-management-force-working-naval-

integration

Chinese Coast Guard amp maritime militias behavior not

consistent with rules-based order says US Coast Guard chief


by Roy Mabasa

The behavior of the Chinese Coast Guard and maritime militia vessels in the South China Sea is ldquonot consistentrdquo with how the best coast guards in the world should act and operate

This was the assessment made by Admiral Karl Schultz Commandant of the United States Coast Guard during a media teleconference on Thursday July 29 2021 citing several ramming incidents involving Chinese militia vessels and in the same reporting the Chinese Coast Guard

ldquoI think what I would say as the Commandant of the United States Coast Guard and I think amongst the worldrsquos best-recognized coast guards for following a rules-based order for our behaviors across the globe is that (Chinarsquos) behavior does not seem consistent to me with how the worldrsquos best coast guards should operate and how the worldrsquos best coast guards should actrdquo Schultz told reporters during the Asia-Pacific Hub teleconference

The top US coast guard chief said they have seen examples where the Chinese government has used their China Cost Guard which was a civilian-led agency until 2018 as the ldquoauctioning armrdquo with the latter extending such function to Chinese maritime militias

He noted that the Chinese maritime militias are alleged to be fishermen but with what ldquowould appear to be vessels of the state or purchased by the state with water cannonsrdquo

ldquoI think wersquove seen China use their Coast Guard as the actioning arm and I think wersquove also seen by extension of that using the maritime militias as an actioning arm And we have seen examples and I think itrsquos all been in public domain reporting press of militia vessels running down other regional fishermen in disputed spaces and wersquove seen some of the same reporting on the China coast guardrdquo the US coast guard official said

In his four years as head of the US Coast Guard Schultz said they have seen regions that were ldquosmall spits of sand in the ocean that now have been built up and theyrsquore turned into islandsrdquo

httpsmbcomph20210730chinese-coast-guard-not-consistent-with-rules-based-order-says-us-

coast-guard-chief

US Strengthening Space Domain Awareness 7302021 By Yasmin TadjdehIllustration of the Space Fence radar as seen from space

As outer space becomes more congested due to the proliferation of satellites and orbital debris the Space Force is investing in powerful radars and sensors for better situational awareness

ldquoSpace is a very dynamic domain right now therersquos a lot happeningrdquo said Chief of Space Operations Gen John Raymond Just a couple of years ago the military was tracking 22000 objects That number has now risen to 30000

ldquoOf those objects only about 1500 were actually satellites and everything else was debrisrdquo he said in June during a Council on Foreign Relations event ldquoIf you look now there are significantly more satellites that are on orbit In fact one commercial company has well over 1600 satellitesrdquo

Additionally barriers to launch have been reduced and increasingly more and more countries companies and even students are sending items into space he noted

Meanwhile threats are increasing as well said Lt Gen Nina Armagno staff director at Space Force headquarters She cited Chinarsquos Shijian 17 mdash an experimental satellite with a robotic arm that Beijing says will be used to repair spacecraft mdash as a major concern

ldquoIf yoursquore going to repair something it needs to be repairable If itrsquos going to be refueled it needs to have a fuel portrdquo she said during a July event hosted by the Mitchell Institute for Aerospace Studies ldquoThis is not the case with their satellitesrdquo

The Space Force views the Shijian 17 as a weapon she said Such a system could collide or tamper with a US satellite

Meanwhile Russia is also a concern with its Nudol ground-based missile anti-satellite system she said There are also worries about a new platform that many are likening to a Russian nesting doll Itrsquos ldquoa satellite within a satellite within a satelliterdquo Armagno explained

The Space Force mdash which will soon celebrate its second birthday mdash has and is developing a number of domain awareness tools to increase its visibility into space

httpswwwnationaldefensemagazineorgarticles2021730us-strengthening--space-domain-

awareness

USAF Research Lab Seeks Partners to

Build Anti-Drone Microwave Weapon

System The Air Force Research Laboratoryrsquos Directed Energy Directorate is seeking partners to build a new counter-drone high-power microwave (HPM) weapon system to defend against the ever increasing threat of adversarial drone activity

The Tactical High-Power Operational Responder (THOR) technology demonstrator uses bursts of intense radio waves to disable small unmanned aircraft systems (sUAS) instantly

ldquoThe new prototype will be called Mjolnir after the mythical Norse god Thorrsquos hammerrdquo said Amber Anderson THOR program manager ldquoBecause THOR was so successful we wanted to keep the new systemrsquos name in the THOR familyrdquo

ldquoAfter a successful 2-year testing campaign the AFRL team has learned a lot about the benefits of the technology and how it can be improvedrdquo Anderson said

The Mjolnir prototype will use the same technology but will add important advances in capability reliability and manufacturing readiness

ldquoWe are releasing an opportunity for businesses in the directed energy field to help us build the follow-on system said Adrian Lucero THOR deputy program manager rdquoAFRLrsquos goal is to create a blueprint for our partners so these systems can be economically produced in large quantities and to grow a fledgling industry that will become critically important as the US strives to maintain our electromagnetic spectrum superiorityrdquo

AFRL is working closely with cross-service partners in the Joint Counter sUAS Office and the Armyrsquos Rapid Capability and Critical Technologies Office

ldquoAs the danger from drone swarms evolves all services are working closely to ensure emerging technologies like Mjolnir will be ready to support the needs of warfighters already engaged against these threats The program will begin this fall with a delivery of the prototype weapon in 2023rdquo said Lucero

httpswwwdefenseworldnetnews30129USAF_Research_Lab_Seeks_Partners_to_Build_Anti_Dron

e_Microwave_Weapon_SystemYQeYnegzbIU

USAF Delivers Chinooks to lsquoStrengthen Alliancersquo With Australia HERCULES REYES JULY 30 2021

LESS THAN A MINUTE

The United States Air Force has delivered two CH-47F Chinook helicopters to

Australia in a gesture to strengthen their alliance

The delivery is part of the US Defense Departmentrsquos Foreign Military Sales

program and was organized by the 9th Airlift Squadron at Dover Air Force Base

The CH-47F helicopters were loaded onto a C-5M Super Galaxy and transported

from Dover to the Royal Australian Air Force Base in Townsville Australia

US-Australia Alliance ldquoThe US-Australia alliance has been an anchor for peace security and stability in

the Indo-Pacific for decadesrdquo Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in a

recent address ldquoWe find strength not only in how vital and dependable the

relationship has been but also in how it has continued to evolve to meet the

challenges we face and that our citizens facerdquo

The 9th AS aircrew upon delivery officially turned over the two Chinooks to the

Australian Army where they will soon be assigned

ldquoOur unshakeable alliance with Australia is enabled by Airmen and their personal

connections with members of the Australian Defence Forcerdquo said Col Aaron

Brooks USAF Indo-Pacific Division chief

ldquoExecution of the foreign military sales program is just the latest example of how

Airmen continue to deepen interoperability and ensure a free and open Indo-

Pacific alongside our alliesrdquo


Beijing warns of lsquocounter-measuresrsquo as Royal Navy sails South China Sea | South China Sea July 30 2021

httpsasiapostlivebeijing-warns-of-counter-measures-as-royal-navy-sails-south-china-sea-south-

china-sea

July 30 2021 1222 PM Age 3 days

东

风鹰击


Chinese coast guard ships depart for North Pacific on law

enforcement mission

SHANGHAI July 30 (Xinhua) -- Two coast guard ships dispatched by the China Coast

Guard (CCG) departed from Shanghai on Friday for the North Pacific Ocean to enforce

fisheries law

The two vessels will cruise on the high seas of the North Pacific Ocean during a 31-day

patrol according to the CCG

The mission aims to strengthen supervision over the fishing boats operating on the seas

of the North Pacific Ocean in accordance with relevant United Nations General

Assembly resolution and the Convention on the Conservation and Management of High

Seas Fisheries Resources in the North Pacific Ocean said the CCG

The coast guard ships will also crack down on illegal fishing and board to inspect fishing

vessels suspected of violations the CCG noted

This is the first cruise mission of the Chinese coast guard ships on the high seas of the

North Pacific Ocean since the passage of the coast guard law this year said the CCG

adding that such missions are important to maintaining the fishery production order and

protecting marine resources


Taiwan receives second Tuo Chiang-class catamaran missile corvette for commissioning soon

JULY 30 2021

The Republic of China Navy (ROCN) also called the Taiwanese Navy has formally received its second Tuo Chiang-class missile corvette The corvette named Ta Chiang (619) was handed over to the ROCN during ceremonies held

on 27 July 2021 at Lung Teh Shipbuildings facility in Suao Yilan County with Taiwanese Defense Minister Chiu Kuo-cheng presiding the event The new warship is an improved version of the Tuo Chiang-class with improved stability and

steath capabilities than the original design with the first ship ROCS Tuo Chiang delivered to the ROCN in 2014 It was launched on 15 December 2020 and is scheduled for commissioning with the ROCN by

August 2021 The Taiwanese Government plans to build 5 more of the improved Tuo Chiang-class missile corvettes dubbed aircraft carrier killers by 2023

The new corvettes developed under the Hsun Hai Program are also designed to provide a high-end asymmetric platform to defend against amphibious assault ships and other larger capital ships

The Tuo Chiang-class corvettes are armed with the Hsiung Feng II subsonic and Hsiung Feng III supersonic anti-ship missiles Sky Sword II air defense missiles a 76mm gun a Phalanx CIWS and two triple torpedo tubes

It features a wave-piercing catamaran hull design with waterjet propulsion and a low radar

cross section design

It has a length of 604 meters a displacement of 685 tons a maximum speed of 30 knots and

an operational range of 1800 nautical miles

c httpswwwasiapacificdefensejournalcom202107taiwan-receives-second-tuo-chiang-classhtml

Statements by Japanese officials regarding the vital role of Taiwan for Japanrsquos security suggest a long-term evolution in Japanese defence policy which could

reinforce the position of the US-led alliance in the region

Recent statements by senior Japanese officials such as Defence Minister Nobuo Kishi

and Deputy Prime Minister Taro Aso indicating that a Chinese invasion of Taiwan

would pose an lsquoexistential threatrsquo to Japan should come as no surprise Indeed the geography of Northeast Asia has historically made the political status of Taiwan a key

consideration for Japanese policymakers The statements underscore precisely why

Taiwan is critical to the USrsquos position in Asia Beyond its symbolic importance as a

democratic entity the geographical position of Taiwan makes its independence critical

to preserving Japanrsquos freedom of action and by extension the USndashJapan alliance This

reality could result in Japan becoming more directly engaged with cross-strait issues

The recent statements by Japanese officials do not represent a break from the past

Rather they are the latest step in a gradual reorientation of Japanese policy which

began in the 1990s Although Japanrsquos current prime minister was quick to clarify that his administration is not committing Japanrsquos forces to intervening militarily in the

Taiwan Strait the structural incentives that have driven Japanrsquos gradual revision of its security posture could make this viable in the medium term particularly if the ruling

Liberal Democratic Party should succeed in its efforts to amendJapanrsquos constitution which currently restricts the potential use of force

Even a greater degree of uncertainty regarding a Japanese military response to a cross-

strait conflict could have a deterrent effect on China Given Japanrsquos status as a regional

power with greatermilitary resources than is sometimes assumed the need to factor in

potential Japanese responses could significantly complicate Chinese planning for a

cross-strait invasion In the longer term should the country eventually shake off its

self-imposed restrictions on the use of force Japan could become a key actor in any

effort to secure Taiwan This coupled with military and

technological developments allowing Taiwan itself to play a greater role in its own

defence would make it possible for the US to play the part of an enabling power in a

Taiwan scenario intervening with forces sufficient to tip the scales in favour of local

partners rather than achieving preponderance in a contested theatre itself

httpswwwrusiorgexplore-our-researchpublicationscommentaryjapans-evolving-policy-taiwan-

and-us-japan-alliance-towards-nixon-doctrine-northeast-asia

Japan Signals More Robust Security Posture in New Defence White Paper By Thomas Wilkins amp Daisuke Akimoto July 30 2021

Japanrsquos new defence white paper Defense of Japan 2021 affirms Prime Minister Yoshihide

Sugarsquos continuation of his predecessor Shinzo Abersquos proactive contribution to regional peace and

security

Stemming from a desire to counter any trend towards a norm of lsquomight is rightrsquo in the region the

white paper must be seen in the context of broader diplomatic efforts by Japan to champion a

rules-based order This is exemplified by its vision for a lsquofree and open Indo-Pacificrsquo first

introduced in 2016 which has three lsquopillarsrsquo rule of law economic prosperity and peace and

stability The 2021 white paper is designed to support each of these objectives

The new white paper has been warmly received by allies and partners in Washington and

Canberra but has drawn predictable denunciation from Beijing particularly for its stance on

Taiwan and the explicit statement that lsquoTaiwan is important for Japanrsquos security and the stability

of the international communityrsquo Xi Jinpingrsquos reiteration of his desire to achieve lsquonational

reunificationrsquo in his speech at the centenary celebrations of the Chinese Communist Party along

with the US Indo-Pacific Commandrsquos warning that a conflict could break out within the next six

years have alarmed Japanese policymakers

Noting the shifting military balance in the Taiwan Strait as well as in the region as a whole in

Chinarsquos favour the white paper states that Japan must lsquopay close attention to the situation with a

sense of crisis more than ever beforersquo

httpswwwrealcleardefensecomarticles20210730japan_signals_more_robust_security_posture_

in_new_defence_white_paper_787833html

NKorea says hostile forces are boosting drills Asia

South Korea

North Korea

Friday July 30 1351

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un says hostile forces are intensifying war drills for aggression

The ruling Workers Party newspaper Rodong Sinmun reported on Friday that Kim delivered a speech in Pyongyang during a 4-day workshop for military commanders and political officers that ended on Tuesday

Kim reportedly said the hostile forces systematically keep bolstering up their capabilities for making a preemptive attack on the DPRK

He made the comment amid discussions between South Korea and the United States on the details of their regular joint military exercise that takes place in August every year

In a party meeting last month Kim said that a grave incident had occurred due to a lapse in anti-coronavirus measures He accused senior officials of incompetence

In a conference of war veterans on Tuesday Kim said the unprecedented global health crisis has caused difficulties and hardship no less challenging than during a war

The recent series of events apparently aim to strengthen efforts to implement party policies amid economic difficulties caused by the coronavirus pandemic and UN economic sanctions



Naval News July 2021 Navy Forces Maritime Defense Industry

POSTED ON FRIDAY 30 JULY 2021 1807

According to information published by the Depot UA website Oleg Korostelov from the Ukrainian company Luch Design Bureau has announced that Indonesia negotiates the acquisition of RK-360MC Neptune a coastal missile dense system developed by Luch Design Bureau

Indonesia could be the first foreign of the Ukrainian-made coastal missile defense system RK-360MC Neptune

The RK-360MC Neptune is a cruise anti-ship missile that can be mounted on ships land vehicles or air launchers The missile was unveiled for the first time to the public at the defense exhibition Weapons and Security in October 2015 The first system was delivered to the Ukrainian navy in March 2021

According to military sources the RK-360MC Neptune missile could be based on the Soviet-made anti-ship missile Kh-35 The missile has an inertial navigation system with active radar homing on the terminal stage of its flight

The coastal missile defense system RK-360MC Neptune is based on the MAZ-543 high-mobility truck chassis but the launcher missile system can be fitted to other military truck chassis The rear part of the truck is fitted with four container launchers each carrying one missile A typical Neptun coastal defense battery consists of 6 launcher vehicles with a total of 24 anti-ship missiles Launcher vehicles can be located up to 25 km from the sea It takes 15 minutes to prepare this coastal defense missile system for firing

The RK-360MC Neptune missile has a maximum firing range of 280 km It carries a High Explosive Fragmentation (HE-FRAG) warhead which weighs around 145 kg This missile should be efficient against vessels with a displacement of up to 5000 tons such as frigates and destroyers

httpswwwnavyrecognitioncomindexphpnaval-newsnaval-news-archive202110240-naval-news-

july-2021-navy-forces-maritime-defense-industry10505-indonesia-negotiates-acquisition-of-ukrainian-

rk-360mc-neptune-coastal-missile-defense-systemhtml

India To Acquire 30 US-Built MQ-9 Reaper Drones From United States July 30 2021





According to information published by the Royal Navy on July 28 2021 the UKrsquos Carrier Strike Group has completed its first major workout since entering the Indian Ocean Led by flagship HMS Queen Elizabeth the task group sailed with the Indian Navy for a range of exercises in the Bay of Bengal

The series of close maneuvers and drills saw the Royal Navy aircraft carrier frigates HMS Kent and Richmond RFA support ship Fort Victoria the Dutch HNLMS Evertsen and US Navy Arleigh Burke-class destroyer USS The Sullivans sail with the Indian destroyer INS Ranvir frigate Satpura corvettes Kulish and Kavaratti and replenishment ship INS Jyoti

Over the course of a busy two days the ships conducted a range of air surface and sub-surface exercises In total 12 ships took part in the training along with more than 30 aircraft and 4500 personnel

The aim of the exercise was to see how the UK and Indian navies could work closely together with both countries committed to freedom of navigation in the Indian Ocean and surrounding regions

The INS Ranvir is a Rajput-class destroyer in active service with the Indian Navy She was commissioned on 21 April 1986 The Rajput-class guided-missile destroyers built for the Indian Navy are modified versions of Soviet Kashin-class destroyers These ships have a displacement of 4900 tonnes The destroyers are the first ships in the Indian Navy to deploy the BrahMos supersonic cruise missile systems

The INS Kulish is a Kora-class guided corvette currently in active service with the Indian Navy She was ordered in October 1994 and was laid in October 1995 She was launched in August 1997 and was commissioned on 20 August 2001 The ship is armed with four quad-launchers for 3M-24 anti-ship missiles (Russian Kh-35 Uran NATO SS-N-25 Switchblade)

The corvette is also armed with a 76 mm (30 in) AK-176 dual-purpose gun and two 30 mm (12 in) AK-630 CIWS The Ak-176 can fire at the rate of 120 rounds-per-minute (RPM) to a range of 155 km (96 mi) while the AK-630 can fire 3000RPM to a range of 2 km (12 mi)


july-2021-navy-forces-maritime-defense-industry10500-drills-conclude-between-uk-carrier-strike-

group-and-indian-navyhtml

Australian lsquoHMAS Brisbanersquo Conducted Replenishment At Sea For The First

Time

RAN HMAS Brisbane and United States Navy Military Sealift Command

replenishment oiler USNS Rappahannock conducted two

replenishments at sea (RAS) within a week during Exercise Talisman

Sabre 21 (TS21)


Royal Australian Navy press release


replenishment oiler USNS Rappahannock conducted two replenishments at sea

(RAS) within a week during Exercise Talisman Sabre 21 (TS21)

This was the first time the Australian Hobart-class destroyer had conducted the

critical logistics task since she commissioned into service in 2018

Brisbanersquos navigator Lieutenant Marita Knack said the serialrsquos success was a testament to the ability of the crews of the ships to operate as a single unit in

exchanging fuel at sea

ldquoBrisbane conducted RAS approaches as well as seamanship training in order to set

up the conduct of the replenishment with USNS Rappahannockrdquo Lieutenant Knack said

ldquoIt was quite exciting for the crew to actually put this training into practice and conduct Brisbanersquos first-ever international RAS during TS21rdquo

A RAS is a whole-of-ship activity that can take up to two-and-a-half hours

It involves personnel from across the shiprsquos company ndash from medics and chefs to

combat systems operators electronics and marine technicians and boatswains ndash

who are required to work seamlessly as a team for the duration of the RAS

Able Seaman Jacob Hodge was among those participating in the RAS and said it was

a memorable experience

httpswwwnavalnewscomnaval-news202107australian-hmas-brisbane-conducted-replenishment-

at-sea-for-the-first-time

Removing the risks from a decentralised internet

30 Jul 2021|Julie Inman Grant

Increasingly people worry about the concentration of power in the digital environment and the control that large companies exercise over usersrsquo data and experiences online The Australian government has opted to regulate lsquobig techrsquo for a range of online harms But more broadly this concern has led to calls to lsquore-decentralisersquo the internet harking back to the early days of the web before these companies which now serve as gatekeepers to the internet existed Under a decentralised internet often referred to as lsquoDWebrsquo or lsquoWeb 30rsquo peoplersquos data information and interactions are widely distributed Power is also redistributed with people able to access online services and platforms without relying on a concentration of large technology companies that operate centralised servers

While this allows users to protect their information and control their online experiences it can also make it more difficult to hold users (or the entities behind them) responsible for illegal and harmful content and conduct

Highly decentralised networks are currently used by a minority of users with special interestsmdashand unfortunately some bad actors However therersquos growing interest within the tech community in developing decentralised platforms and services for messaging file sharing and social networking For example Twitterrsquos Bluesky project is looking at an open decentralised standard for social media

At eSafety we understand the importance of taking a balanced nuanced and proactive approach to emerging technologies and digital trends It is incumbent on us as an agency with a mandate to ensure that Australians have safer and more positive experiences online to assess risks in emerging technologies We help prevent harm through research awareness raising and education We aim to better protect citizens when harm has occurred via our statutory content reporting schemes and investigations and to support guide and assist industry to develop safer online products via our Safety by Designinitiative Decentralisation has the benefit of improving usersrsquo security privacy and autonomy because they have greater control over their personal information and online experiences It can enhance freedom of expression by removing the ability of technology companies and authorities to control who can connect and communicate online or to control content and conduct Conceptually and dependent on a spirit of altruism and benevolence this could protect diversity of thoughts and opinions and reduce the risk of monitoring tracking and targeting of at-risk or marginalised individuals or groups including whistleblowers and advocates for social change





According to information published by Tass on July 29 2021 the Amur Shipyard integrated into the United Shipbuilding Corporation (USC) is planning to commission the Project 20380 corvette Rezky four months earlier than planned Shipyard CEO Vladimir Kulakov told Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin during his visit to the outfitting pier

The corvette is expected to be commissioned by Victory Day in 2022

In early July the Rezky corvette left the slipway of the Amur Shipyard and was moved to the outfitting dock for outfitting work and trials

Earlier the Amur Shipyard built Project 20380 corvettes Sovershenny Gromky and Hero of the Russian Federation Aldar Tsydenzhapov After the Rezky is commissioned the shipyard will construct another ship of the type ie the Grozny The enterprise is loaded with state orders through 2028 and may receive additional orders for 2025-2033

The shipyard needs a new transport dock and a hydraulic unit to extend its range of ships The operational dock is 80 worn-out Its service life was prolonged several times by the Pacific Fleet commander In 2021 it was prolonged for the last time The construction of the transport dock is estimated at 92 billion rubles ($125 million)

The Rezky Steregushchiy class Russian designation Project 20380 is a class of corvettes being built for the Russian Navy and designed by the Almaz Central Marine Design Bureau The corvettes has a steel hull and composite material superstructure with a bulbous bow and nine watertight subdivisions She has a combined bridge and command center and space and weight provision for eight SS-N-25 missiles Stealth technology was widely used during the construction of the ships as well as 21 patents and 14 new computer programs

The is armed with one100mm A-190 Arsenal or 130mm A-192 naval gun one Kashtan CIWS-M (Close-In Weapon System) eight Kh-35 (SS-N-25) subsonic cruise anti-ship missile two AK-630М CIWS (Close-In Weapon Systems) eight 330mm torpedo tubes for Paket-NK (Paket-NKE for export) anti-torpedoanti-submarine torpedoes and two 145mm MTPU pedestal machine guns


july-2021-navy-forces-maritime-defense-industry10498-russia-to-commission-project-20380-corvette-

rezky-earlier-in-2022html

Be Careful What You Wish For Russia China and Afghanistan after the Withdrawal July 29 2021

Jeffrey Mankoff

The ongoing withdrawal of US forces from Afghanistan aims to put an end to what

has been the United Statesrsquo longest war The departure is accelerating the long-

running effort on the part of Afghanistanrsquos neighbors including Russia China and other regional stakeholders to shape Afghanistanrsquos future and secure their own interests in the wider region Their ability to do so will depend on multiple factors

not least the extent to which the US-backed Afghan government led by President

Ashraf Ghani can maintain control in the face of escalating Taliban attacks and

the questionable willingness and capacity of the security forces to fight back

For Russia and China the US departure will be a moment of truth Both argue that

the US is leaving behind a failed state risking not only renewed civil war in

Afghanistan but also wider regional destabilization At the same time Beijing and

Moscow have long been skeptical of the US ability to solve the Afghan problem

and worry that the conflict was providing Washington an excuse to maintain a

military presence in Eurasia that could be used to check their own ambitions

Now that US forces are finally leaving Russia and China could find themselves

faced with a quandary whether to wade deeper into a conflict that couldmdashas

Moscow learned to its chagrin in the 1980smdashreadily turn into a quagmire Should

the security environment in Afghanistan continue to deteriorate Beijing and

Moscow might feel compelled to take on a greater share of the burden for conflict

management and regional security tasks for which their capabilities remain

uncertain

httpswwwrussiamattersorganalysisbe-careful-what-you-wish-russia-china-and-afghanistan-after-

withdrawal

Beijingrsquos Attempts to Intimidate Taiwan Have Backfired Chinese coercion has strengthened democratic resolve

By Zoe Leung director of Track 2 Diplomacy Programs at the George H W Bush Foundation for US-China Relations

and Cameron Waltz an associate editor of the Intercollegiate US-China Journal and a junior fellow at the George H W Bush

Foundation for US-China Relations

Taiwanese soldiers display Happy New Year signs after a drill at the Hsinchu military base on Jan

19 SAM YEHAFP VIA GETTY IMAGES

JULY 30 2021 952 AM

In the past few months the United States has worked to deepen long-standing ties with Taiwan and has corralled like-minded allies into openly supporting it Many have considered this a necessary response to Beijingrsquos attempts to convince the Taiwanese people and military of the inevitability of reunification and to show the United States its determination to achieve that goal by force if necessary To date this strategy has yet to persuade Taiwan that Beijing is unstoppable or convince the United States to step back Instead it is inspiring greater urgency among the United States and its allies and has placed Taiwan on the international agenda With its credibility critically damaged by the crackdown in Hong Kong and repression at home Beijingrsquos tactics have only complicated its path to cross-strait unification


How the US Learned to Stop Worrying About the Pacific and Love the lsquoIndo-Pacificrsquo The United States has a new lens for its rivalry with China

By Jack Detsch Foreign Policyrsquos Pentagon and national security reporter

NEW EMAIL ALERTS FP subscribers can now receive alerts when new stories written by this author are published Subscribe

now | Sign in

Then-US President Donald Trump (right) and then-Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe listens to

members of the families who have had relatives abducted by North Korea during a meeting at

Akasaka Palace in Tokyo on May 27 2019 BRENDAN SMIALOWSKIAFP VIA GETTY IMAGES

JULY 30 2021 1224 PM

In early 2017 US and Japanese strategists were poring over maps on the top floor of the US State Department Satoshi Suzuki a Japanese official and Brian Hook his US counterpart zoomed in on almost every touch point in Asia the honeymoon between then-newly elected US President Donald Trump and then-Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe the emergence of India and a potential flare-up on the Korean Peninsula And then Suzuki widened the lens


The US doesnrsquot need Europersquos help in the lsquoIndo-Pacificrsquo Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin inadvertently introduced a conversation about where the EU

should focus its security priorities

JULY 30 2021

Written by Anatol Lieven

Some of Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austinrsquos remarks in Singapore on Tuesday are a severe embarrassment to the British government Whether Austin realized this or not he undermined one part of Biden administration strategy with regard to Europe and China when he said ldquoIfhellipwe focus a bit more on Asia are there areas where Britain can be more helpful in other parts of the worldrdquo

Austinrsquos statement is an implicit recognition that the British carrier group (whose planes and escort vessels are in fact chiefly American) dispatched to the ldquoIndo-Pacificrdquo does very little in practical terms to strengthen US forces against China The purely symbolic warships dispatched by European NATO members to the region do even less which is to say nothing at all

On the other hand as Austin suggested Europe is facing challenges closer to home where Britain could play a more useful role and Europe could relieve the United States of some of its present commitments Of these the most menacing is the spread of Islamist revolt across the Sahel region and the way in which it overlaps with the increasing decay of the Nigerian state

British and European calculations in making gestures of support to the United States in the ldquoIndo-Pacificrdquo are somewhat different For the British establishment it is part of their continuing desire to be seen as playing the role of a great power on the world stage without bankrupting Britain in the process This can only be done on the shoulders of the United States Since Brexit this desire has become an obsession on the part of the Johnson government in Britain because of their promises that as a result of leaving the EU Britain would regain the freedom and independence to become great again

Paradoxically but inevitably this desire for independence has in fact led to even greater dependence on the United States Yet the crazy thing mdash as hinted at in Austinrsquos remarks and stated explicitly by President Obama and his administration mdash is that sensible members of the establishment in Washington never wanted Britain to leave the EU This was not just because they regarded Britain as a channel for American influence within the EU but because within Europe Britain can make a real military contribution mdash not due to the strength of its forces but because Britain (together with France) has one of the only two armies that is actually willing to fight


Donrsquot Include Women in the Draft

bull US Army troops with Second Battalion Fifth Cavalry Regiment and Croatian soldiers stand in front of the vehicles they used in the exercise Immediate Response combined-arms live-fire demonstration at Eugen Kvaternik Military Training Area in Slunj Croatia May 26 2021 (Sergeant Joshua OhUS Army)

This change in policy would negatively affect our ability to

institute a draft in a time of national crisis

IN the name of progress we have lost sight of the original purpose of the

institutions policies and procedures we are attempting to advance The latest example

of this nonsense is the debate to require women to register for Selective Service This proposal would not increase the effectiveness of the institution the policies supporting it or the procedures of executing the draft

Did any of the people advancing or considering this idea stop and ask themselves what the purpose of the draft is Of course not If they had they would have quickly realized that this change in policy would hamper our ability to institute a draft in a time of national crisis However for proponents that is beside the point Progress for them simply is any blow they can strike against the values and traditions of our country in the name of ldquosocial justicerdquo consequences be damned Why any Republicans are going along with this is a mystery do they realize theyrsquore getting played

To understand fully why this is a bad idea we need to know why we have a draft in the first place and when it has been used and might be used again in the future The Selective Servicersquos mission is ldquoto register men and maintain a system that when authorized by the President and Congress rapidly provides personnel in a fair and equitable manner while managing an alternative service program for conscientious objectorsrdquo Critics are quick to point out that the exclusive reference to only men is clearly a problem in todayrsquos modern progressive society But they neglect to ask the obvious Why only men

httpswwwnationalreviewcom202107dont-include-women-in-the-draft

Improving Cybersecurity for Critical Infrastructure Control Systems Is Only a First Step July 28 2021

The central question raised by todayrsquos National Security Memorandum (NSM) on Improving Cybersecurity for Critical Infrastructure Control Systems is what should take the place of a voluntary approach to cybersecurity This responsibility falls on Congress In many areas Congress has realized that the United States is in a contest with China The Chinese think the United States is unable to govern itself Providing the authorities needed for better cybersecurity is an opportunity to prove China wrong

Proposed legislation in 2012 would have given the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) the authority to regulate critical infrastructure but it was fiercely opposed by many in the private sector One result of this failure to pass legislation in 2012 has been more than a decade of significant economic loss (probably more than $1 trillion in aggregate) and major damage to national security

Stymied by Congressrsquos unwillingness to provide new authorities the Obama administration issued Executive Order 13636 (Improving Critical Infrastructure Cybersecurity) on February 12 2013 This order circumvented Congressional reluctance by creating a sector-specific approach Agencies used their existing authorities over critical infrastructure sectors to hold their charges accountable in meeting new cybersecurity standards created by the NIST Cybersecurity Framework developed in close partnership with the private sector (When asked why it was called a framework one of Executive Order 13636rsquos authors replied that calling it regulatory was too politically sensitive)

The NIST framework laid out the best practices for cybersecurity It has since become a global standard Sectoral regulatory agencies can to the extent permitted by their existing authorities direct companies to meet the frameworkrsquos requirements While this

approach avoided the need to ask Congress for more authority the results vary from sector to sector given disparities in their authorities Pipelines for example had voluntary guidelines and no monitoring or reporting requirements Other sectors vary in the degree of regulatory rigor but there is a correlation between greater regulatory authority and better cybersecurity

To be fair neither DHS nor the United Statesrsquo understanding of cybersecurity was mature enough in 2012 to justify a regulatory approach The publication of the NIST framework and the creation of the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) in 2018 changed this While it could be strengthened DHS now has the capacity to regulate critical infrastructure in partnership with sector-specific agencies and with NIST There are also a patchwork of authorities in legislation like the Graham-Leach-Bliley Act the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act and a few others but politically expedient patchworks leave too many gaps to provide effective cybersecurity (or to be effective in other areas like privacy) The dark secret of the May 2021 cybersecurity executive order is that it relied on existing authorizes found within the Federal Acquisitions Regulation (FAR) to require better cybersecurity because using the FAR obviated the need to ask Congress for new authorities

What DHS lacks are the key authorities needed to improve cybersecurity While there has been much action in Congress and many bills most dodge the fundamental problems of authority and regulation Addressing this problem would be difficult for any Congress Too much regulation stifles growth Too little regulation harms public safety and national security Finding the sweet spot requires a working political process of hearings and bill-drafting

httpswwwcsisorganalysisimproving-cybersecurity-critical-infrastructure-control-systems-only-first-

step

TWITTER WILL NOT STEWARD THE PROFESSION

THEO LIPSKY

JULY 30 2021

COMMENTARY

The Army is busy determining how it can graduate from the industrial age to the information age But it is worth asking whether in every instance the Army should make that shift In particular senior officers across the service have migrated the professional dialogue about the Army and how to reform it onto Twitter The resultant online conversation is funny It is fast It is thrillingly flat in the militaryrsquos otherwise martial and hierarchical world It is also a mistake

Moving the Armyrsquos dialogue onto Twitter invites a fickle transient and undiscerning online gallery to partake in shaping the Armyrsquos culture It conditions servicemembers to attend more to that online gallery than to institutional feedback leading to a fractured military ethos and alienated servicemembers

This migration is also a mistake because Twitter invites the service into the American political scrum The Army cannot afford to accept this invitation but owing to the platformrsquos design servicemembers often cannot resist doing so The result is an Army that appears available for political capture at a time when it is one of the nationrsquos last institutions to have evaded that fate and crucially so

The Army cannot and should not retreat from Twitter and other social media platforms wholesale They have uses that the Army cannot neglect including family outreach recruiting and strategic messaging But intra-Army professional dialogue is not one of them If a service wants to discuss reform leaders should foster a culture of long-form writing mdash not tweeting Whereas Twitterrsquos design stunts ideas reducing them to punchlines stripped of context long-form writing develops those ideas into the substantive arguments that drive meaningful change Whereas Twitter orients servicemembers toward virality and seeking approval long-form writing orients them inward toward the institution they hope to reform

httpswarontherockscom202107twitter-will-not-steward-the-profession

DOH says no differentiation between vaccinated

unvaccinated as NCR shifts to ECQ


by Analou de Vera

As Metro Manila is set to be placed under the enhanced community quarantine (ECQ) starting August 6 the Department of Health (DOH) said that all safety protocols will apply to all individualsmdash whether they are vaccinated or not

DOH Undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire said that there will be ldquono distinctionrdquo between the vaccinated and unvaccinated individuals on who should be allowed outdoors

ldquoNo differentiation between vaccinated and unvaccinated Ayun pong APORS ang pwedeng lumabas (Only the APORs will be allowed to go out) These are the authorized persons outside of their residencerdquo said Vergeire in an online forum on Friday July 30

Vergeire said that the countryrsquos vaccine supply remains limited

ldquoThat is why it is not the time yet para makapag impose tayo ng ganitong regulasyon (for us to impose such a regulation)rdquo she said

ldquoIbig sabihin doon po sa mga hindi bakunado meron po diyan na talagang ayaw nilang magpabakuna ngunit meron din po diyang gusto niyang magpabakuna pero hindi pa siya nakakapag-access ng bakuna(It means on those who remain unvaccinated there are people who really donrsquot want to be vaccinated but there are also those who want to be vaccinated but they have not been able to access the vaccine)rdquo

Metro Manila will shift to the strictest quarantine classification from August 6 to 20 due to the threat of the more transmissible Delta variant of the COVID-19 virus

ADVERTISING

ldquoKaya nagkaroon ng ganitong desisyon na magkaroon ng additional restrictions for this week and in the coming weeks we will go into tightened restrictions para lang we can prevent the further spread and delay this pagtaas ng kaso sa ating bansa (Thatrsquos why we made this decision to have additional restrictions for this week and in the coming weeksmdash- we will go into tightened restrictions so we can prevent the further spread and delay this increase in cases in our country)rdquo said Vergeire

Metro Manila mayors had expressed their support for the imposition of ECQ in the area and requested the national government of at least four million doses of COVID-19 vaccines to ramp up the vaccination drive amid the two-week lockdown

Vergeire said that the government can meet this demand quoting vaccine czar Secretary Carlito Galvez Jr

ldquoMeron naman tayong supplies na enough para makapagbigay tayo ng ganitong kadami na bakuna sa NCRrdquo said Vergeire

ldquoPero syempre pag-uusapan pa rin (But of course there should be a discussion) with all of the officials because we need to also provide vaccines to the other areas of the countryrdquo she added

httpsmbcomph20210730doh-says-no-differentiation-between-vaccinated-unvaccinated-as-ncr-

shifts-to-ecq

WHO PH urges LGUs to prioritize vaccination of senior

citizens


by Analou de Vera

The World Health Organization (WHO) Philippines has called on the local government units (LGUs) in the country to prioritize the vaccination among senior citizens in their respective jurisdiction amid rising threat from the Delta variant of COVID-19 virus

WHO Philippines expressed its concern over the rdquo sluggish COVID-19 vaccination rate among senior citizens in some LGUsrdquo

ldquoThe slow rollout among senior citizens leaves the Philippines vulnerable to its hospitals being overwhelmed due to severe cases among the elderly and possibly higher deaths due to a surge in cases from the fast-spreading Delta variant confirmed to be locally transmittedrdquo it said in a statement on Friday July 30

ldquoTo date only 21 million of the 85 million master-listed senior citizens (around 25 percent) in the Philippines have been fully vaccinated against COVID-19rdquo it added

The WHO said that senior citizens are at higher risk of developing severe COVID-19 It said that by prioritizing the vaccine supply to the A2 group this will ldquohelp save more lives and will reduce the potential overwhelming of hospitalsrdquo

It also added that seven out of 10 COVID-19 deaths in the Philippines are from the A2 group

ldquoWe are very concerned that most of our older more vulnerable people are still missing out on essential life-saving vaccines against COVID-19rdquo said WHO Representative to the Philippines Dr Rabindra Abeyasinghe


UK-donated vax to arrive in PH Aug 2 envoy

By Joyce Ann L Rocamora July 30 2021 714 pm

Foreign Affairs Secretary Teodoro L Locsin Jr (left) and United Kingdom Ambassador to the Philippines Daniel Pruce (Photo by DFA-OPCD Philip Adrian Fernandez)

MANILA ndash Outgoing British Ambassador to the Philippines Daniel Pruce said 415000 doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine donated by the United Kingdom are set to arrive in Manila on August 2

The announcement was made during his farewell call on Foreign Affairs Secretary Teodoro Locsin Jr at the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) on Thursday

To support the Philippinesrsquo vaccine rollout program Ambassador Pruce informed the Secretary that the UKrsquos donation of 415000 doses of AstraZeneca vaccines is tentatively scheduled to arrive in the country on Monday afternoon 2 August 2021 the DFA said in a statement on Friday

Britain this week will start deploying about nine million doses of vaccines to countries with high levels of Covid-19 cases hospitalizations and deaths

The 415000 doses allocated for the Philippines is part of the first tranche of 100 million vaccine doses Britain pledged to deploy across the world within the next year with 30 million due to be distributed by end of 2021

During the meeting Locsin also thanked Pruce for his dedicated service in strengthening the Philippines-United Kingdom bilateral relations

Aside from pandemic response the two followed through on matters discussed during the recent phone call between Locsin and British Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab including the enhanced bilateral partnership police cooperation and the UKrsquos bid to become a dialogue partner at the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (PNA)


US Donating Moderna COVID-19 Vaccine

to the Philippines By VOA News

July 30 2021 1231 PM The United States is sending three million doses of Modernarsquos COVID-19 vaccine to the Philippines the White House said Friday

A White House official told reporters the shipping process began Friday and that the doses would arrive ldquoearly next weekrdquo

The US is providing the doses through COVAX a campaign to provide equitable access to COVID-19 vaccine worldwide the official said

The White House official said the US is not contributing the doses to the Philippines ldquowith strings attachedrdquo but because ldquoItrsquos the right thing morally the right thing from a global public health perspective and right for our collective security and well-beingrdquo Americarsquos vaccine donations to the Philippines ldquorepresents the largest-ever purchase and donation of vaccines by a single countryrdquo according to the official The US has donated $2 billion to COVAX and will buy 500 million doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine for distribution this year to the African Unionrsquos 55-member nations and ldquo92 low and lower middle-income countriesrdquo as defined by COVAX the official said


Delta Variant Of COVID-19 May Spread As Easily As Chickenpox Cause More Severe Infection Reports

Delta variant known as B16172 might cause more severe disease Report

About 35000 infectionsweek among 162 million Americans Report

Vaccines prevent more than 90 per cent of severe disease Report

New York

Also Read

httpsasiapostlivedelta-variant-of-covid-19-may-spread-as-easily-as-chickenpox-cause-more-severe-

infection-reports

What you need to know about the coronavirus right now Reuters

July 30 (Reuters) - Heres what you need to know about the coronavirus right now

Japan expands state of emergency as COVID-19 surge shadows Olympics

Japan decided on Friday to expand states of emergency to three prefectures near Olympic host Tokyo and the western prefecture of Osaka as COVID-19 cases spike in the capital and around the country overshadowing the Summer Games read more

Tokyo already under its fourth state of emergency since the pandemic began on Friday announced 3300 new cases after a record 3865 the day before The surge is beginning to strain the medical system with 64 of Tokyos hospital beds available for serious COVID-19 cases already filled as of mid-week

Japan has avoided a devastating COVID-19 outbreak but is now struggling to contain the highly transmissible Delta variant with daily cases nationwide topping 10000 for the first time on Thursday

httpswwwreuterscombusinesshealthcare-pharmaceuticalswhat-you-need-know-about-

coronavirus-right-now-2021-03-02

Mapping the Coronavirus Outbreak Across the World

Updated August 2 2021 221 PM GMT+8

Brazil 2648 94808 NA NA

UK 1987 90279 36478 25

US 1857 105985 14723 28

France 1658 91848 NA 60

Germany 1141 47044 8344 80

Russia 1104 43732 11292 81

India 324 24167 3543 05

Japan 121 7450 1381 131

Mainland China 3 67 NA 43

Testing data as of July 30 2021 608 PM GMT+8

Sources OECD for number of hospital beds (2016 for the US 2017 for other countries)

government agencies and the COVID Tracking Project via Our World in Data for testing data

(various recent dates) (reported in the past 45 days) and the US Census Bureau for population

figures (2019)

The world is bracing for a new wave of Covid-19 infections as the coronavirus pandemic has infected more than 195 million people and killed more than 42 million globally since late January 2020 Efforts many countries took to stamp out the pneumonia-like illness led to entire nations enforcing lockdowns widespread halts of international travel mass layoffs and battered financial markets Recent attempts to revive social life and financial activities have resulted in another surge in cases and

hospitalizations though new drugs and improved care may help more people who get seriously ill survive

01002003004005001 yrDays since 100 confirmed cases10010001000010000010000001000000030000000CasesMainland ChinaFranceUKHong KongUSAustraliaBrazilIndiaRussiaTaiwanNew Zealand

Note JHU CSSE reporting began on January 22 2020 when mainland China had already surpassed 500 cases

Source Johns Hopkins University Center for Systems Science and Engineering

198335637

Confirmed cases worldwide

4224492

Deaths worldwide

Jurisdictions with cases confirmed as of August 2 2021 221 PM GMT+8 1ndash99 100ndash999 1000ndash9999 10000ndash99999 100000ndash999999 1000000ndash9999999 10 million or more Where deaths have

occurred Deaths Cases

US 613228 35003523

Brazil 556834 19938358

India 424773 31695958

Mexico 241034 2854992

Peru 196438 2113201

Russia 156726 6207513

UK 130014 5907594

Italy 128068 4355348

Colombia 120998 4794414

France 112073 6209934

Argentina 105772 4935847

Indonesia 95723 3440396

Germany 91666 3778277

Where deaths have


Iran 90996 3903519

Spain 81486 4447044

Show more Note Totals for Denmark France the Netherlands the UK and the US include overseas

territories and other dependencies Cases and deaths for cruise ships have been separated in

accordance with JHU CSSE data

The epicenter of the pandemic has continued to shift throughout the year from China then Europe then the US and now to developing countries like Brazil Cases globally surpassed 10 million in late June but ever since infections have been multiplying faster The US and India have the most infections accounting for more than a third of all cases combined

Global Cases Added Per Day

New cases 419322

Jan 21 2020

Aug 1 2021

Iran New cases 32511

Jan 21 2020

Aug 1 2021

UK 24173

US 23872

Russia 22264

Brazil 20503

France 19600

Germany 1553

Mainland China 96

India 0

Note On February 14 2020 Hubei officials changed their diagnostic criteria resulting in a spike in reported cases

Countries took drastic measures to mitigate the spread of Covid-19 on their homefrontmdashwith varying degrees of success More than 140 governments placed blanket bans on incoming travelers closed schools and restricted gatherings and public events according to data compiled by Oxford Universityrsquos Blavatnik School of Government and Bloomberg reporting

As countries loosen lockdowns in an effort to reboot their economies many have seen a resurgence of infections The number of new daily cases in the US rose to record highs after some states relaxed social distancing requirements Even places that successfully contained infections earlier in the year like China and South Korea have seen cases bubble back up Theories that warmer weather in the Northern Hemisphere would bring relief appear to be unfounded

Mar 2020Jan 2021Aug 1005K10K15K20K25K30K35K40KNew deaths by dayUSIndiaRussiaUK

Note Shown are the 15 places with the highest totals of confirmed cases as of August 1 Negative values resulting from governments revising their totals have been excluded from rolling average calculations

The ldquoworst is yet to comerdquo given a lack of global solidarity Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus head of the World Health Organization said at a briefing in Geneva on June 29

In May the WHO emphasized the need for a plan that includes testing for the virus and its antibodies effective contact tracing and isolation and community education Antibody tests on the market that could potentially indicate a personrsquos immunity have been unreliable so far Researchers and drugmakers are racing to develop treatments that could hold the key to recovery

Gilead Sciences Incrsquos antiviral remdesivir is one of the first widely used drugs for Covid-19 It received an emergency use authorization from US regulators in May after a trial found it sped recovery by about four days in hospitalized patients It was also part of US President Donald Trumprsquos treatment after he tested positive for the coronavirus in early October along with Regeneron Pharmaceuticals Incrsquos antibody cocktail and the generic drug dexamethasone

Vaccines are also in development though the study of one leading candidate from the University of Oxford and AstraZeneca Plc is on hold in the US while regulators investigate a potential safety issue


Covid map Coronavirus cases deaths vaccinations by country

By The Visual and Data Journalism Team BBC News

Covid-19 is continuing to spread around the world with more than 196 million

confirmed cases and more than four million deaths across nearly 200 countries

The US India and Brazil have seen the highest number of confirmed cases followed by France Russia the UK and Turkey Very few places have been left untouched

In the table below countries can be reordered by deaths death rate and total cases In the coloured bars on the right-hand side countries in which cases have risen to more than 10000 per day are those with black bars on the relevant date Note The map table and animated bar chart in this page use a different source for figures for

France and the UK from that used by Johns Hopkins University US figures do not include

Puerto Rico Guam or the US Virgin Islands

Confirmed cases have been rising steeply since the middle of last year but the true extent of the first outbreaks in 2020 is unclear because testing was not then widely available The 100 millionth Covid case was recorded at the end of January - about a year after the first officially diagnosed case of the virus

Deaths have also been rising however official figures may not fully reflect the true number in many countries Data on excess deaths a measure of how many more people are dying than would be expected based on the previous few years may give a better indication of the actual numbers in many cases

Who has vaccinated the most Several coronavirus vaccines have been approved for use either by individual countries or groups of countries such as the European Union and the World Health Organization (WHO) Of the 194 countries and territories administering vaccines and publishing rollout data 67 are high-income nations 101 are middle-income and 26 low-income

The map below using figures collated by Our World in Data - a collaboration between Oxford University and an educational charity - shows the total number of doses given per 100 people mostly first doses

This information is regularly updated but may not reflect the latest totals for each country Total vaccinations refers to the number of doses given not the number of people vaccinated It is possible to have more than 100 doses per 100 population as some vaccines require two doses per person

Source Our World in Data ONS govuk dashboard

Last updated 30 July 2021 1147 BST

Overall China and India have administered the highest number of doses with more than 16 billion and 450 million respectively The US ranks third with more than 343 million But when breaking the figures down by doses per 100 people in countries with a population of at least one million the United Arab Emirates Uruguay and Bahrain top the list Most countries are prioritising the over-60s health workers and people who are clinically vulnerable Some countries have secured more vaccine doses than their populations need while other lower-income countries are relying on a global plan known as Covax which is seeking to ensure everyone in the world has access to a vaccine

Where are cases still high The number of daily cases is rising again in several regions

Asia Asia which was the centre of the initial outbreak that spread from Wuhan in China in early 2020 has seen another rise in cases In India the official death toll is more than 420000 while it has recorded more than 31 million cases - second only to the US Elsewhere Indonesia is recording an average of more than 40000 new cases and 1000 Covid-related deaths every day Japan is extending a state of emergency in Tokyo and expanding it to new regions as the Olympic Games host faces a surge in Covid-19 cases

In China whilst official figures on daily cases are low the authorities are dealing with a new outbreak in Nanjing which state media is calling the most extensive contagion

after Wuhan

Latin America In Latin America Brazil has recorded nearly 20 million cases and more than 550000 deaths - the worlds second highest official death toll Mexico has seen the fourth highest number of deaths in the world with nearly 240000 and is currently experiencing another surge in cases Peru now has the fifth highest toll with nearly 200000 deaths but the highest number of deaths by population size - more than 600 deaths for every 100000 people

Europe The UK Spain and Russia are among the European countries seeing a rise in cases once again driven by the Delta variant of the virus New cases in the UK are similar to the level seen as in the Spring though the high level of vaccination has greatly reduced the number of deaths Russia is currently seeing more than 24000 new cases every day and over 700 deaths - the highest daily death figures the country has seen since the pandemic began However the pace of Europes Covid-19 vaccination campaign has picked up and lockdowns have been eased in many countries

bull How is Europe lifting lockdown restrictions

North America The US has recorded nearly 35 million cases and over 610000 deaths - the highest figures in the world Daily case numbers in the US fell in May and June but are rising again as Delta becomes the main variant in circulation The death rate in Canada is far lower than its neighbours and it is currently seeing a relatively low number of daily cases

Middle East Several countries in the Middle East have had severe outbreaks of the virus with Iran and Iraq seeing the highest numbers of deaths Iran has the highest official death toll in the region and the country is currently seeing another rise in daily cases Israel has rolled out a highly successful vaccination programme but has seen a surge in cases and has announced plans to give a third dose of vaccine to people aged over 60

Africa Africa has seen more than 65 million cases and about 165000 deaths - but the true extent of the pandemic in many African countries is not known as testing rates are low South Africa with more than 24 million cases and 71000 deaths is the worst affected country on the continent according to official figures Morocco has recorded about 600000 cases and Tunisia is not far behind with 580000 Ethiopia and Egypt are both approaching 300000 cases


More Than 413 Billion Shots Given Covid-19 Tracker In the US 346 million doses have been administered

Updated August 2 2021 553 AM GMT+8

The biggest vaccination campaign in history is underway More than 413 billion doses have been administered across 180 countries according to data collected by Bloomberg The latest rate was roughly 418 million doses a day

In the US 346 million doses have been given so far In the last week an average of 662529 doses per day were administered

World Map of Vaccinations

More than 413 billion doses have been administeredmdashenough to fully vaccinate 269 of the global population

bull no data01102550of population covered Note ldquoPopulation coveredrdquo divides the doses administered for each vaccine type by the number of doses required for full vaccination Data gathered from government agencies public

statements Bloomberg interviews and the World Health Organization and Johns Hopkins

University

Enough doses have now been administered to fully vaccinate 269 of the global populationmdashbut the distribution has been lopsided Countries and regions with the highest incomes are getting vaccinated more than 30 times faster than those with the lowest

Note Vaccine access calculations account for the number of doses needed for full protection

some vaccines require a two-dose regimen while others require just a single dose Countries and

regions are ordered by GDP per capita (PPP)

When will life return to normal

While the best vaccines are thought to be 95 effective it takes a coordinated campaign to stop a pandemic Anthony Fauci the top infectious-disease official in the US has said that vaccinating 70 to 85 of the US population would enable a return to normalcy

On a global scale thatrsquos a daunting level of vaccination At the current pace of 418 million a day it could take another year to achieve a high level of global immunity Manufacturing capacity however is steadily increasing and new vaccines by additional manufacturers are coming to market

The Path to Immunity Around the World

Globally the latest vaccination rate is 41833362 doses per day on average At this pace it

will take another 6 months to cover 75 of the population

Note Immunity calculations take into account the number of doses required and the current

rate of administration for each vaccine type The ldquodaily rate estimaterdquo is a seven-day trailing

average interpolation is used for jurisdictions with infrequent updates Coverage may exceed

100 in some places as shots may be administered to non-residents Data are from

Bloombergrsquos Covid-19 Vaccine Tracker

Israel was first to show that vaccines were bending the curve of Covid infections The country led the world in early vaccinations and by February more than 84 of people ages 70 and older had received two doses Covid cases declined rapidly and similar patterns of vaccination and recovery repeated in dozens of other countries

This progress is under threat The emergence of new strains led by the highly transmissible delta variant threatens renewed outbreaks Around the world new cases and hospitalizations are rising and after 10 weeks of global declines in deaths delta is driving a new uptick Itrsquos now a life-and-death contest between vaccine and virus

The current slate of vaccines remains highly effective at preventing severe cases that lead to hospitalization and death according to recent data from the US UK and Israel The vaccines are less effective at preventing mild cases of delta The disproportionate toll that Covid is taking in under-vaccinated communities has led US health officials to dub it the ldquopandemic of the unvaccinatedrdquo

httpswwwbloombergcomgraphicscovid-vaccine-tracker-global-distributionsrnd=premium-asia

Costly myopic approach to decades-long conflict AT GROUND LEVEL - Satur C Ocampo (The Philippine Star ) - July 31 2021 - 1200am

President Duterte in his final State of the Nation Address last Monday said that his administration has made ldquogreat stridesrdquo in addressing the root causes of the armed conflict with the Left revolutionary movement ldquoby empowering our kababayans who have been used by the communists for so many decadesrdquo

This was accomplished he stressed through the National Task Force to End the Local Communist Armed Conflict (NTF-ELCAC) that he nominally heads He explained how

ldquoWe have worked towards the sustainable rehabilitation and development of communities where the communists used to operate We invested in farm-to-market roads school buildings water and sanitation systems health stations and livelihood projectsrdquo

ldquoKasali na tayo dito lahat (We are all in this together)rdquo he interjected in an ad-lib referring to the NTFrsquos vaunted ldquowhole-of-nationrdquo counterinsurgency approach

ldquoBecause of these interventions more than 17000 former communist rebels have surrendered to the governmentrdquo the President crowed ldquoThey have returned to the fold of the law and are happily reintegrating into society through the E-CLIP (Enhanced-Comprehensive Local Integration Programrdquo


Kalayaan in the West Philippine

Sea The story

By Amado Tolentino Jr July 31 2021

420

KALAYAAN is located in the west of Palawan the Philippines last

frontier It is the only Philippine municipality that has a single barangay

(village) that is Pag-asa which is also the administrative center of what

is referred to as the Kalayaan Island Group in the Philippine-occupied

Spratly Islands in the West Philippine Sea

Admiral Tomas Cloma - educator explorer patriot

Before Kalayaan Freedomland was the name given to a group of islands

islets atolls banks coral reefs shoals and sand cays lying in the vast

body of water between southern China and the Philippine archipelago In

1947 Tomas Cloma a Filipino lawyer by profession an educator by

association (as director of the Philippine Maritime Institute the pioneer

seafarers school in the Philippines) and an adventurer by avocation

discovered the island group During the period 1947 and 1950 fishing

boats belonging to Tomas Cloma amp Associates visited the group of

islands with the original intention of putting up an ice plant and cannery

and to explore the guano deposits in the islands inhabited by birds In

fact the flag he designed for Freedomland consists of a white bird in

flight on a red background

In 1956 after another expedition on board the PMI-IV a training vessel

of the Philippine Maritime Institute Cloma addressed a letter to the then

Secretary of Foreign Affairs Carlos P Garcia informing him that about

20 Filipino citizens were undertaking survey and occupation work in the

South China Sea outside of Philippine waters and not within the

jurisdiction of any country and that the territory being occupied was

being claimed by him and his associates as citizens of the Philippines

based on the rights of discovery andor occupation open public and

adverse as against the whole world He named the claimed area Free

Territory of Freedomland

Further communications were made by Cloma to the Department of

Foreign Affairs mentioning among others things a) more expeditions

inspecting practically all the major islands in Freedomland b) clearings

on an island by settlers accompanied by planting of bananas and other

Philippine crops c) setting up of a radio station d) establishment of a

separate government for the Free Territory of Freedomland democratic

in character and de facto in nature e) adoption of all laws of the Republic

of the Philippines and f) declaration and affirmation of its status as a

protected state under the Republic of the Philippines

httpswwwmanilatimesnet20210731opinioncolumnskalayaan-in-the-west-philippine-sea-the-

story1809106

Rekindling patriotism posted July 31 2021 at 1220 am by Elizabeth Angsioco We have been very hungry and thirsty for a reason to again feel pride as a Filipino

Last week was a rollercoaster ride It was a week of lows and highs

Depending on which political side to which one belongs the last State of the Nation

Address (SONA) of President Rodrigo Duterte was met with much anticipation or

trepidation It was disturbing to see Duterte losing his balance and almost stumbling

(again) as he was walking

Since this was not the first time it seemed that even the simple act of walking is now a

challenge to the aging head of the country This is concerning especially for his family

friends and allies and for the whole nation because the state of the presidentrsquos health is a serious concern

People had expectations of the SONA but certainly no one thought it would last for two

hours and 46 minutes Duterte loves to talk and (like in previous addresses) many times

deviated from his prepared speech and resorted to his usual rambling manner of

speaking He tried to but could not really control himself from threatening to kill people

and uttering his favorite cuss words

Those in attendance at the plenary of the House of Representatives for the SONA were

obviously Dutertersquos close allies Who else would clap at almost every sentence from Duterte even the most inane but his fandom

Obviously for this president the biggest problem of the country is not the still raging

COVID-19 pandemic but drugs It was drugs then and it still is drugs now Needless to

say his campaign promise of ridding the country of illegal drugs in three to six months is

a huge failure

People wanted to know how his administration would defeat COVID-19 especially since

the pandemic has been ravaging the country for almost one year and five months

now Metro Manila and nearby provinces have been under various forms of quarantine

for the same period and more and more Filipinos suffer from worsening poverty and

experiencing anxiety Ending the pandemic would have been a good legacy for

Dutertersquos administration

But it was not to be so It was such a disappointment when the President instead

focused on drugs and merely said that the answers to this terrible plague were

vaccines and prayers

Dutertersquos last SONA was a huge letdown It was not inspiring at all It did not offer the country a roadmap to recovery It did not give people a reason to hope It did not rally

Filipinos to be united in defeating COVID-19

His last SONA was nothing more than his usual ldquotalk to the nationrdquo addresses only he had as audience his political allies who were only too happy to oblige him with generous

doses of applause

On the other hand this SONA has strengthened the resolve of many to do better in the

next elections This is not a president that the Filipinos deserve Patriotism was

rekindled by Dutertersquos SONA not because he inspired it but because of how he disregarded peoplersquos aspirations

In the evening of the SONA the country was greeted with the wonderful news of Hidilyn

Diazrsquo success in bagging the gold medal at the Tokyo Summer Olympics This woman athlete who was red-tagged by the Duterte administration and who had to virtually beg

for support to be able to compete gave the country our first Olympic gold medal She

won over her closest rival who was from China

The news of Hidilynrsquos success was met with much jubilation by a nation that is very hungry for good news It also provided them with some respite from the just finished

SONA that got people so riled up The countryrsquos first gold medal gave the Filipino people a reason to celebrate for a change

Hidilynrsquos successful bid at the Tokyo Olympics was sweet but it was even sweeter because she is a woman and she vested her Chinese opposition I shed tears when

for the very first time the Philippine national anthem Lupang Hinirang was played in

the Olympics It warmed my heart to see Hidilyn passionately singing our countryrsquos song behind her face mask I was filled with pride as a woman because of Hidilyn and as a

Filipino when the countryrsquos flag was hoisted ABOVE Chinarsquos flag It was a glorious moment

It was a heartwarming experience to for once see and hear our countryrsquos foremost

symbols given the respect we as a country deserves Maybe this is because for the

last five years we have felt repeatedly disrespected Our countryrsquos sovereign rights have been disregarded and set aside by this administration that is supposed to defend

the countryrsquos honor and sovereignty

We have been very hungry and thirsty for a reason to again feel pride as a Filipino We

wanted especially to prove to China that the Philippines is a co-equal nation and that it

cannot continue to occupy our territories and rob our resources We have been wanting

to show Duterte that we can go against his friend China

Dutertersquos SONA gave us a reason to renew our patriotism in our quest for better public servants who will protect the peoplersquos rights and the countryrsquos sovereignty Hidilyn rekindled and gave us the opportunity to proclaim our patriotism

httpsmanilastandardnetopinioncolumnspower-point-by-elizabeth-angsioco361111rekindling-

patriotismhtml

Invaluable lessons from Hidilyn Diazrsquos victory

By Solita Collas-Monsod - inquirerdotnet


The most significant event that happened this week we can all agree is Hidilyn Diazrsquo triumph at the Tokyo Olympics bringing the Philippines its first gold medal This shrimp of a lady ndash all 4 foot 11 inches of her mdash lifted much more than twice

her weight (5490 kg lifting 127 kg) to win

Seven things we will never forget about this victory and which teach us invaluable

lessons 1 It took a WOMAN to break the countryrsquos 96-year no-gold Olympic curse This is

where the ldquowhen the going gets tough the women get goingrdquo saying gets its traction And this is where the misogyny of the Duterte administration gets a

major slap Think of all the women he has despised or insulted or maltreated

abusing his powers as President to do so mdash Filipino and foreigner alike 2 Hidilynrsquos first reaction after her victory was to praise and thank God and her intercessor the Our Lady of the Miraculous Medal (Our Lady of Graces Immaculate Conception) with her ldquotalagang grabe si Godrdquo Then after our National

Anthem was played she pointed upward to God and clutched the Miraculous

Medal that encircled her neck She had her values right Another saying comes to mind ldquoWork as if everything depends on you and pray as if everything depends on God rdquo


Fighting an unseen enemy posted July 31 2021 at 1225 am

We need to brace ourselves for a much longer struggle

The return to Enhanced Community Quarantine on August 6 as recommended and

approved while COVID-19 vaccinations continue is certainly not ideal Most affected

will be the daily wage earners who will have to find another way to earn their keep

Small businesses which have managed to get by during the past few months will again

see diminished activitymdashhence revenue

We defer however to the authorities and decision makers We are sure they have

analyzed the data and deliberated the pros and cons of imposing yet another lockdown

The return of Metro Manila under ECQ from August 6 to 20 to be reviewed after that

period will succeed the general community quarantine status with ldquoheightened and additional restrictionsrdquo which is in effect until August 5 in the NCR Plus Bubble which includes the provinces of Rizal Bulacan Cavite and Laguna

Local chief executives in the national capital region previously called for the imposition

of the strictest form of quarantinemdasha circuit breaker to the noted increasing daily rate of

infectionsmdashin Metro Manila to prevent the spread of the disease

Metropolitan Manila Development Authority Chairman Benhur Abalos said the national

government has approved the request of local chief executives in the NCR to distribute

cash aid to the affected families during the two-week ECQ

Presidential and Task Force spokesman Harry Roque reminded the public not to resort

to ldquopanic buyingrdquo since they have a week to prepare for the ECQ Businesses that will be affected are also encouraged to make the necessary preparations

Under the latest IATF Resolution 130-A outdoor dining will not be allowed under the

stricter GCQ starting July 31 Take-out and food deliveries are the only services

allowed

Starting July 30 personal care services can operate up to 30 percent of venue or

seating capacity Indoor sports courts and venues and indoor tourist attractions and

specialized markets of the Department of Tourism will not be allowed to operate

Public transportation will remain operational Only authorized persons can travel into

and outside NCR Plus composed of Metro Manila Cavite Rizal Bulacan Laguna

Only virtual religious gatherings shall be allowed starting July 30

Beyond doubt the return to ECQ is not the development we all had hoped formdashbut we

need to remember that we are still fighting an unseen enemy We need to brace

ourselves for a much longer struggle

httpsmanilastandardnetopinioneditorial361113fighting-an-unseen-enemyhtml

Relations as these should be Austinrsquos apparent mission in the country is to remove the uncertainties brought by the hanging fate of VFA at a time when the US wanted a strong presence in the region

Published 3 days ago on July 31 2021 0200 AM

By TDT tribunephl

Recent outturns in foreign relations were clearly the result of the independent foreign policy that President Rodrigo Duterte had made as a badge of his administration as the contending global powers of the United States and China extended their hands of friendship to him

During the visit of US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin in Malacantildeang President Rodrigo Duterte said he had reconsidered his decision to seek the termination of the Visiting Forces Agreement (VFA) out of respect for both countriesrsquo relations as ldquosovereign equalsrdquo

The decision to recall the abrogation of the VFA is based on upholding Philippine strategic core interests the clear definition of Philippine-US alliance as one between sovereign equals and the clarity of US position on its obligations and commitments under the Mutual Defense Treaty the Palace said

The VFA signed in 1998 allows American forces to enter the Philippines without passport and visa to allow them to participate in joint military drills in the host country This has whipped up controversies regarding the involvement of American troops in crime incidences while they are on rest and recreation


Austin agreed that ldquoenhanced communication and greater cooperationrdquo boost the long-held alliance between Manila and Washington


Austinrsquos apparent mission in the country is to remove the uncertainties brought by the hanging fate of VFA at a time when the US wanted a strong presence in the region amid the growing influence and economic strength of China

In the past such a move from the head of government would have alienated the Philippines from China due to weak relations Beijing now seems used to courting the attention of the government by showering it with assistance

For instance the Chinese Embassy pledged to donate more and sustain a steady supply of coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) vaccines to the Philippines timed with the visit of Austin ldquoWe will donate more and substantively increase the supply of vaccines to the Philippinesrdquo Chinese Ambassador Huang Xilian said

httpstribunenetphindexphp20210731relations-as-these-should-be

Phishing July 31 2021 - 1200am The last line of defense against cybercrime is the consumer himself

As we all become more reliant on digital transactions in this age of pandemic cyber criminals are bound to be more active The vulnerable understandably are consumers of financial services

The latest data show a 37 percent increase in online scams in the period from January to September 2020 compared to the same period in 2019 We might expect that escalation to continue as we all migrate our transactions online

We have effective anti-cybercrime laws Regulators are breathing down the necks of banks to constantly upgrade their defenses against cybercrime The banks in turn are constantly sending out advisories to their consumers about how to guard against fraud

Those are not enough to protect consumers against phishing

Phishing happens when consumers are duped into giving out their passwords personal identification numbers and account details to unscrupulous persons No amount of regulatory regulations can stop this It has nothing to do with the strength of the banksrsquo cyber-security architecture It has everything to do with the naivety of some consumers

For this reason the banks are using social media to inform their customers that they never ask for personal information online Included here is the One-Time Password (OTP) issue along with your ATM card ndash and which you are expected to change immediately This appears to be a frequent point of vulnerability

So far and we are keeping our fingers crossed no Philippine bank has lost customer data to cybercriminals In the US by contrast a financial services company called Capital One lost data on 100 million customers to cyber thieves US regulators fined that company P80 million for failing to fully secure its data

The BSP has done a commendable job encouraging our banking system to maintain state-of-the-art security measures The strong firewalls erected around the databases of banks have so far withstood cyber attacks

There have been reports of people losing their money to cyber fraud Almost always the loss is attributable to phishing The banks cannot be held responsible for fraud committed because some customers let down their guard

With more and more transactions happening online we all have to be vigilant against data theft Cybercriminals are become more and more creative faking bank notices and setting up attractive baits for unwary customers

The best our banks can do is to alert customers about the latest modus operandi of cybercriminals The rest of the burden of maintaining security falls on the shoulders of customers

Responsibility for any breach falls where they must The banking public can either be the Achillesrsquo Heel of our financial system or its best weapon

Articulate Hidilyn Diaz is not only headstrong She is clear-minded as well

Trapped in mandatory quarantine she had all the time to entertain all the requests for interviews the past few days She has proven to be extremely articulate and immensely informed

For one Hidilyn is one of very few Filipino athletes to have a sports psychologist in her small team She also participates in a regular meeting over Zoom with other athletes and coaches providing emotional support for each other This is almost a novelty certainly most modern

It is only this year ndash after Naoimi Osaka withdrew from the French Open for reasons of mental health and gymnastics superstar Simone Biles withdrew from the Tokyo Olympics for the same reason ndash that mental health became a public concern for athletes at the highest level

For too long we treated our athletes one-dimensionally ndash as supermen with no frailty at all It was nearly taboo to speak of mental health in the context of sports

We now know better Athletics is not just a test of physical prowess It is more importantly a test of mental strength

Mental strength is particularly important is gymnastics We know from Bilesrsquo account that the brain can lose control of the muscles In the most precise maneuvers the sport requires this can lead to serious injuries

With her gold medal Hidilyn also wins an enviable pulpit from which to address her people It is a powerful pulpit She can use this pulpit most effectively advocating for our athletes and speaking for the betterment of our sporting institutions This will make her a true gift to Filipino sports

httpswwwphilstarcomopinion202107312116451phishing

Letters | Why China under attack must resist the urge to turn inward

bull Chinarsquos current push for technological self-sufficiency is a page taken from its history

bull But that was then and this is now In 2021 China is a multilateral player and must think about keeping its promises of global collaboration Opening up more is the right choice

China has repeatedly positioned itself as a staunch supporter of multilateralism President Xi Jinping has on multiple occasions called for the removal of barriers and sought global integration During the Apec Informal Economic Leadersrsquo Retreat on July 16 President Xi proclaimed ldquoWe must remove barriers not erect walls We must open up not close off We must seek integration not decouplingrdquo

Indeed China has given reassuring signals of its involvement in the global system Foreign Minister Wang Yi has affirmed Chinarsquos commitment to existing multilateral platforms by stressing the central role of the World Trade Organization and the basic norms of international relations based on the UN Charter On the other hand China is also actively constructing new multilateral efforts for instance by joining Asean in the

RCEP free trade agreementAs the US rallies to present China as a global threat such positive developments

act as important indicators for other countries to lighten up about the China challenge and continue cooperating with this rising giant

httpswwwscmpcomcommentlettersarticle3143024why-china-under-attack-must-resist-urge-

turn-inward

The four revolutions undertaken by the CPC posted July 31 2021 at 1215 am by Rod Kapunan

On the rejuvenation of the nation

It is rather appropriate to term the 100th founding of the Communist Party of China

(CPC) as the rejuvenation of the nation The term used by President Xi Jinping is to

describe the occasion to include the strides it has achieved

American professor Graham Tillett Allison Jr author of the book ldquoThucydides Traprdquo concurs that ldquoChinarsquos rejuvenationrdquo is the re-emergence of its economic power much

that for five thousand years it has been a great power and was only eclipsed at the

turn of the 18th century when the West imposed unequal trade until it ended in 1949

President Xi Jinpingrsquos description of China as one of great rejuvenation of China is

accurate because China once traded in the ancient world has influenced the

propagation of culture and invented products of great value like gunpowder paper and

compass China has a long history of civilization This explains why the Middle

Kingdom as it was then called imposed an isolationist policy since it has all the

resources it needs

The CPC remains humble but proud of its achievements China also calls the

anniversary as the end to an era of humiliation When somebody in the incoming

Truman administration then whispered that the defeat of the Nazis did not mean the US

would emerge as a monolithic power President Truman could not believe it

Professor Joseph Nye of Harvard later applied the win-win formula in international

relations to avoid the ghastly destruction of World War II He wanted to avoid the US

and China ending up in what Allison termed as the ldquoThucydides Traprdquo In fact ahead was George C Marshall who came out with a novel idea similar to the present Marshall

Plan Many say it is a carbon copy of todayrsquos Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) of China The Marshall Plan extended economic assistance to the war-ravaged countries

of Europe including the drastic reform in the monetary system

Surprisingly the Plan excluded countries in Eastern Europe For this the US

transferred over $13 billion to economically rehabilitate Europe and to prevent it from

being overrun by the Soviet Union The plan included Austria Belgium Denmark

France Greece Iceland Italy Luxembourg Netherlands

Norway Portugal Sweden Switzerland Turkey the United Kingdom and then West

Germany

As stated many countries observed the BRI of China was lifted from the Marshall

Plan Others disagree First the Marshall Plan selected the countries to receive the

economic rehabilitation given by the US while the BRI was open to all provided they

apply for membership Second the BRI is beneficial to countries as it is intended to

develop both the public and the private sectors of the economy Third the Marshall

Plan had ideological undertones of promoting free enterprise Fourth unlike the

Marshall Plan the BRI is one that can generate its own income and is not dependent

on funding from China Fifth the overall ledger of the BRI is the accelerated

development of the member states In effect the BRI can use it to measure the

countryrsquos economic development as it provides the basic infrastructure like the opening of arterial roads and ports and the creation of commercial centers to promote trade and

enhance the income of the people and economy

The BRI is estimated to cost around $4 trillion to 8 trillion involving 60 countries China

and the participating states are not counting on the cost for as said the project is self-

sustaining They will reap the income as soon as it is completed Unlike the Western-

sponsored developmental projects the problem of paying the cost is left to the host

country which is often subject to political blackmail by the lending countries which

reason why many debtor-states are mired in debt or abandoned the project for lack of

funds

Strictly speaking the CPC has already attained its objective of capturing political power

understood as the success of the revolution From the Marxist point of view the

revolution involves changes in the social and economic system In Chinarsquos case the shift to socialism with Chinese characteristics did not end there It continues to improve

and better serve the people well

The CPC went beyond the stage of promising liberation to their people That was the

first revolution And it is now committed to constantly finding solutions to problems

confronting their society This is an important task necessary to avoid the Party from

stagnating to irrelevancy

httpsmanilastandardnetopinioncolumnsbackbencher-by-rod-kapunan361110the-four-

revolutions-undertaken-by-the-cpchtml

How the US can craft a bold and positive China agenda that benefits all Americans

bull Revoke tariffs revisit curbs on Chinese people companies and media engage constructively on human rights and international norms fine-tune Taiwan policy ndash and ditch confrontation

bull The US should not understate the benefits that constructive engagement brought to the American people

As we await the Biden administrationrsquos China policy review I want to address where US China policy stands and propose actions the administration should take to craft a policy that benefits all Americans

I will not spend time rehashing the litany of bad sometimes reprehensible Chinese government decisions

policies and behaviours relating to its treatment of dissidents and people in Xinjiang and Hong Kong its Taiwan policies or its unfair economic policies I am on the record forcefully criticising those policies and attributing blame to the Chinese government for the state of the relationship from far before the Trump era

Over the past four years Americarsquos China policy has been a disaster for average Americans and

US-China relations It has often been based on fallacies rather than facts httpswwwscmpcomcommentopinionarticle3143068how-us-can-craft-bold-and-positive-china-

agenda-benefits-all

H EDITORIAL-OPINION-COMMENTARY-SPECIAL



S Ocampo P Star 5

21 Hidilyn rises ndash lsquoHerstoryrsquo F Braid M Bulletin 4

22 Relations as these should be D Tribune A4

23 lsquoKalayaanrsquo in the West Philippine Sea The story

A Tolentino M Times A4

24 Expansive but baseless P Journal 4

I ONLINE NEWS

Title Link

NATIONAL NEWS

25 Transmission of cases rising steadily OCTA Group warns

httpsmanilastandardnetnewstop-stories361141transmission-of-cases-rising-steadily-octa-group-warnshtml

26 Putting NCR under ECQ preemptive response to Delta threat


27 Govrsquot scrambles to find funding for ECQ aid


28 New NCR lockdown may cost economy P105 billionndashNeda chief

httpsbusinessmirrorcomph20210730new-ncr-lockdown-may-cost-economy-e282a7105-billion-neda-chief

29 Quarantine pass required in Manila under ECQ


30 Malampaya Going going gone httpsbusinessmirrorcomph20210731goin

g-going-gone

31 After Hidilyn PHL athletes brace for tough fight


32 Petecio targets shot at another Olympic gold for Philippines

httpswwwphilstarcomsports202107302116386petecio-targets-shot-another-olympic-gold-philippines

33 Fabianrsquo agri damage hits P615M httpsnewsinfoinquirernet1467012fabian-

agri-damage-hits-p615m

34 Southwest monsoon to continue affecting greater Luzon

httpstribunenetphindexphp20210731southwest-monsoon-to-continue-affecting-greater-luzon

NAVY NEWS

35 Olympic gold medalist Diaz takes bold stand in West Philippine Sea issue

httpsnewstv5comphpoliticsreadatin-yun-olympic-gold-medalist-diaz-takes-bold-stand-in-west-philippine-sea-issue

36 47 say govt not doing enough to assert countrys rights in West PH Sea mdash survey

httpsmbcomph2021073047-say-govt-not-doing-enough-to-assert-countrys-rights-in-west-ph-sea-survey

38

Pangakong biyaya kay Onyok Velasco na silver medalist sa 1996 Olympics napako raw

httpswwwgmanetworkcomnewsbalitambayanbalita797545pangakong-biyaya-kay-onyok-velasco-na-silver-medalist-sa-1996-olympic-napako-rawstory

AFP RELATED

39 Outgoing military chief bids farewell to trusty weapon
















47



48











INDO-PACIFIC NEWS

































69























80













86



DEFENSE NEWS











92







95







98





100







103


























115


























127



128











133



134







137



138





140



141










china-naval-drills

146







149











154







157






































Title Link



























day
















to 1491182









were local cases




fatality)













warnshtml




























temporary poverty

ADVERTISEMENT











Thursday










JULY 30 2021











billion-neda-chief



by Andrea Aro













BYLENIE LECTURA

JULY 31 2021









JULY 30 2021



Japan




















philippines























By Beatrice Puente












pandemic


















sea-survey



raw










taon


dalawa niyang anak








pamilya






















by Genalyn Kabiling























for-4-months















Back on track


























ADVERTISING






VFA abrogation


by Ben Rosario















abrogation


VFA says Lorenzana













lorenzana-says







on drugs













forwardrdquo








Taiwan and Vietnam



manilastandardnet)



two countries






confront Beijing






people




















Manila said










ecozones


























Sobejana added















abuse power


by Ben Rosario














remains a priority


by Mario Casayuran








a-priority





























forces-helps-keep






WHO said Friday













AD


emerge




Cook)




Advertisement






vietnam-15340826













sanctions


July 31 2021 0849 JST


























































police-15334210

















Reuters





government


time-of-danger




30 Jul 2021 0103PM






covid-19-15336538




30 Jul 2021 1201PM







15335948



30 Jul 2021 0630PM











15338844












Share261




















30 Jul 2021 1230PM
























pacific-region













china-sea-vfastory







































against North Korea















South China Sea














Part I Singapore




By Courtney Mabeus

July 30 2021 433 PM

bull











bull bull






































science fiction









07302021











integration




by Roy Mabasa









coast-guard-chief












awareness














LESS THAN A MINUTE























china-sea


东

风鹰击



enforcement mission



fisheries law















JULY 30 2021











































security



















South Korea

North Korea

Friday July 30 1351





































Time




Sabre 21 (TS21)










































Jeffrey Mankoff



















uncertain


withdrawal







JULY 30 2021 952 AM






now | Sign in




JULY 30 2021 1224 PM





JULY 30 2021



























step


THEO LIPSKY

JULY 30 2021

COMMENTARY









by Analou de Vera








ADVERTISING







shifts-to-ecq


citizens


by Analou de Vera































New York

Also Read


infection-reports












UK 1987 90279 36478 25

US 1857 105985 14723 28

France 1658 91848 NA 60

Germany 1141 47044 8344 80

Russia 1104 43732 11292 81

India 324 24167 3543 05

Japan 121 7450 1381 131






figures (2019)






198335637


4224492

Deaths worldwide



US 613228 35003523

Brazil 556834 19938358

India 424773 31695958

Mexico 241034 2854992

Peru 196438 2113201

Russia 156726 6207513

UK 130014 5907594

Italy 128068 4355348

Colombia 120998 4794414

France 112073 6209934

Argentina 105772 4935847

Indonesia 95723 3440396

Germany 91666 3778277

Where deaths have


Iran 90996 3903519

Spain 81486 4447044






New cases 419322

Jan 21 2020

Aug 1 2021


Jan 21 2020

Aug 1 2021

UK 24173

US 23872

Russia 22264

Brazil 20503

France 19600

Germany 1553

Mainland China 96

India 0






























after Wuhan
















University




























Sea The story


420







































story1809106




















a huge failure













doses of applause
























patriotismhtml



































allowed













By TDT tribunephl










































turn-inward














resources it needs















Germany


















funds



















agenda-benefits-all















47



48











INDO-PACIFIC NEWS

































69























80













86



DEFENSE NEWS











92







95







98





100







103


























115


























127



128











133



134







137



138





140



141










china-naval-drills

146







149











154







157






































Title Link



























day
















to 1491182









were local cases




fatality)













warnshtml




























temporary poverty

ADVERTISEMENT











Thursday










JULY 30 2021











billion-neda-chief



by Andrea Aro













BYLENIE LECTURA

JULY 31 2021









JULY 30 2021



Japan




















philippines























By Beatrice Puente












pandemic


















sea-survey



raw










taon


dalawa niyang anak








pamilya






















by Genalyn Kabiling























for-4-months















Back on track


























ADVERTISING






VFA abrogation


by Ben Rosario















abrogation


VFA says Lorenzana













lorenzana-says







on drugs













forwardrdquo








Taiwan and Vietnam



manilastandardnet)



two countries






confront Beijing






people




















Manila said










ecozones


























Sobejana added















abuse power


by Ben Rosario














remains a priority


by Mario Casayuran








a-priority





























forces-helps-keep






WHO said Friday













AD


emerge




Cook)




Advertisement






vietnam-15340826













sanctions


July 31 2021 0849 JST


























































police-15334210

















Reuters





government


time-of-danger




30 Jul 2021 0103PM






covid-19-15336538




30 Jul 2021 1201PM







15335948



30 Jul 2021 0630PM











15338844












Share261




















30 Jul 2021 1230PM
























pacific-region













china-sea-vfastory







































against North Korea















South China Sea














Part I Singapore




By Courtney Mabeus

July 30 2021 433 PM

bull











bull bull






































science fiction









07302021











integration




by Roy Mabasa









coast-guard-chief












awareness














LESS THAN A MINUTE























china-sea


东

风鹰击



enforcement mission



fisheries law















JULY 30 2021











































security



















South Korea

North Korea

Friday July 30 1351





































Time




Sabre 21 (TS21)










































Jeffrey Mankoff



















uncertain


withdrawal







JULY 30 2021 952 AM






now | Sign in




JULY 30 2021 1224 PM





JULY 30 2021



























step


THEO LIPSKY

JULY 30 2021

COMMENTARY









by Analou de Vera








ADVERTISING







shifts-to-ecq


citizens


by Analou de Vera































New York

Also Read


infection-reports












UK 1987 90279 36478 25

US 1857 105985 14723 28

France 1658 91848 NA 60

Germany 1141 47044 8344 80

Russia 1104 43732 11292 81

India 324 24167 3543 05

Japan 121 7450 1381 131






figures (2019)






198335637


4224492

Deaths worldwide



US 613228 35003523

Brazil 556834 19938358

India 424773 31695958

Mexico 241034 2854992

Peru 196438 2113201

Russia 156726 6207513

UK 130014 5907594

Italy 128068 4355348

Colombia 120998 4794414

France 112073 6209934

Argentina 105772 4935847

Indonesia 95723 3440396

Germany 91666 3778277

Where deaths have


Iran 90996 3903519

Spain 81486 4447044






New cases 419322

Jan 21 2020

Aug 1 2021


Jan 21 2020

Aug 1 2021

UK 24173

US 23872

Russia 22264

Brazil 20503

France 19600

Germany 1553

Mainland China 96

India 0






























after Wuhan
















University




























Sea The story


420







































story1809106




















a huge failure













doses of applause
























patriotismhtml



































allowed













By TDT tribunephl










































turn-inward














resources it needs















Germany


















funds



















agenda-benefits-all























69























80













86



DEFENSE NEWS











92







95







98





100







103


























115


























127



128











133



134







137



138





140



141










china-naval-drills

146







149











154







157






































Title Link



























day
















to 1491182









were local cases




fatality)













warnshtml




























temporary poverty

ADVERTISEMENT











Thursday










JULY 30 2021











billion-neda-chief



by Andrea Aro













BYLENIE LECTURA

JULY 31 2021









JULY 30 2021



Japan




















philippines























By Beatrice Puente












pandemic


















sea-survey



raw










taon


dalawa niyang anak








pamilya






















by Genalyn Kabiling























for-4-months















Back on track


























ADVERTISING






VFA abrogation


by Ben Rosario















abrogation


VFA says Lorenzana













lorenzana-says







on drugs













forwardrdquo








Taiwan and Vietnam



manilastandardnet)



two countries






confront Beijing






people




















Manila said










ecozones


























Sobejana added















abuse power


by Ben Rosario














remains a priority


by Mario Casayuran








a-priority





























forces-helps-keep






WHO said Friday













AD


emerge




Cook)




Advertisement






vietnam-15340826













sanctions


July 31 2021 0849 JST


























































police-15334210

















Reuters





government


time-of-danger




30 Jul 2021 0103PM






covid-19-15336538




30 Jul 2021 1201PM







15335948



30 Jul 2021 0630PM











15338844












Share261




















30 Jul 2021 1230PM
























pacific-region













china-sea-vfastory







































against North Korea















South China Sea














Part I Singapore




By Courtney Mabeus

July 30 2021 433 PM

bull











bull bull






































science fiction









07302021











integration




by Roy Mabasa









coast-guard-chief












awareness














LESS THAN A MINUTE























china-sea


东

风鹰击



enforcement mission



fisheries law















JULY 30 2021











































security



















South Korea

North Korea

Friday July 30 1351





































Time




Sabre 21 (TS21)










































Jeffrey Mankoff



















uncertain


withdrawal







JULY 30 2021 952 AM






now | Sign in




JULY 30 2021 1224 PM





JULY 30 2021



























step


THEO LIPSKY

JULY 30 2021

COMMENTARY









by Analou de Vera








ADVERTISING







shifts-to-ecq


citizens


by Analou de Vera































New York

Also Read


infection-reports












UK 1987 90279 36478 25

US 1857 105985 14723 28

France 1658 91848 NA 60

Germany 1141 47044 8344 80

Russia 1104 43732 11292 81

India 324 24167 3543 05

Japan 121 7450 1381 131






figures (2019)






198335637


4224492

Deaths worldwide



US 613228 35003523

Brazil 556834 19938358

India 424773 31695958

Mexico 241034 2854992

Peru 196438 2113201

Russia 156726 6207513

UK 130014 5907594

Italy 128068 4355348

Colombia 120998 4794414

France 112073 6209934

Argentina 105772 4935847

Indonesia 95723 3440396

Germany 91666 3778277

Where deaths have


Iran 90996 3903519

Spain 81486 4447044






New cases 419322

Jan 21 2020

Aug 1 2021


Jan 21 2020

Aug 1 2021

UK 24173

US 23872

Russia 22264

Brazil 20503

France 19600

Germany 1553

Mainland China 96

India 0






























after Wuhan
















University




























Sea The story


420







































story1809106




















a huge failure













doses of applause
























patriotismhtml



































allowed













By TDT tribunephl










































turn-inward














resources it needs















Germany


















funds



















agenda-benefits-all









80













86



DEFENSE NEWS











92







95







98





100







103


























115


























127



128











133



134







137



138





140



141










china-naval-drills

146







149











154







157






































Title Link



























day
















to 1491182









were local cases




fatality)













warnshtml




























temporary poverty

ADVERTISEMENT











Thursday










JULY 30 2021











billion-neda-chief



by Andrea Aro













BYLENIE LECTURA

JULY 31 2021









JULY 30 2021



Japan




















philippines























By Beatrice Puente












pandemic


















sea-survey



raw










taon


dalawa niyang anak








pamilya






















by Genalyn Kabiling























for-4-months















Back on track


























ADVERTISING






VFA abrogation


by Ben Rosario















abrogation


VFA says Lorenzana













lorenzana-says







on drugs













forwardrdquo








Taiwan and Vietnam



manilastandardnet)



two countries






confront Beijing






people




















Manila said










ecozones


























Sobejana added















abuse power


by Ben Rosario














remains a priority


by Mario Casayuran








a-priority





























forces-helps-keep






WHO said Friday













AD


emerge




Cook)




Advertisement






vietnam-15340826













sanctions


July 31 2021 0849 JST


























































police-15334210

















Reuters





government


time-of-danger




30 Jul 2021 0103PM






covid-19-15336538




30 Jul 2021 1201PM







15335948



30 Jul 2021 0630PM











15338844












Share261




















30 Jul 2021 1230PM
























pacific-region













china-sea-vfastory







































against North Korea















South China Sea














Part I Singapore




By Courtney Mabeus

July 30 2021 433 PM

bull











bull bull






































science fiction









07302021











integration




by Roy Mabasa









coast-guard-chief












awareness














LESS THAN A MINUTE























china-sea


东

风鹰击



enforcement mission



fisheries law















JULY 30 2021











































security



















South Korea

North Korea

Friday July 30 1351





































Time




Sabre 21 (TS21)










































Jeffrey Mankoff



















uncertain


withdrawal







JULY 30 2021 952 AM






now | Sign in




JULY 30 2021 1224 PM





JULY 30 2021



























step


THEO LIPSKY

JULY 30 2021

COMMENTARY









by Analou de Vera








ADVERTISING







shifts-to-ecq


citizens


by Analou de Vera































New York

Also Read


infection-reports












UK 1987 90279 36478 25

US 1857 105985 14723 28

France 1658 91848 NA 60

Germany 1141 47044 8344 80

Russia 1104 43732 11292 81

India 324 24167 3543 05

Japan 121 7450 1381 131






figures (2019)






198335637


4224492

Deaths worldwide



US 613228 35003523

Brazil 556834 19938358

India 424773 31695958

Mexico 241034 2854992

Peru 196438 2113201

Russia 156726 6207513

UK 130014 5907594

Italy 128068 4355348

Colombia 120998 4794414

France 112073 6209934

Argentina 105772 4935847

Indonesia 95723 3440396

Germany 91666 3778277

Where deaths have


Iran 90996 3903519

Spain 81486 4447044






New cases 419322

Jan 21 2020

Aug 1 2021


Jan 21 2020

Aug 1 2021

UK 24173

US 23872

Russia 22264

Brazil 20503

France 19600

Germany 1553

Mainland China 96

India 0






























after Wuhan
















University




























Sea The story


420







































story1809106




















a huge failure













doses of applause
























patriotismhtml



































allowed













By TDT tribunephl










































turn-inward














resources it needs















Germany


















funds



















agenda-benefits-all





95







98





100







103


























115


























127



128











133



134







137



138





140



141










china-naval-drills

146







149











154







157






































Title Link



























day
















to 1491182









were local cases




fatality)













warnshtml




























temporary poverty

ADVERTISEMENT











Thursday










JULY 30 2021











billion-neda-chief



by Andrea Aro













BYLENIE LECTURA

JULY 31 2021









JULY 30 2021



Japan




















philippines























By Beatrice Puente












pandemic


















sea-survey



raw










taon


dalawa niyang anak








pamilya






















by Genalyn Kabiling























for-4-months















Back on track


























ADVERTISING






VFA abrogation


by Ben Rosario















abrogation


VFA says Lorenzana













lorenzana-says







on drugs













forwardrdquo








Taiwan and Vietnam



manilastandardnet)



two countries






confront Beijing






people




















Manila said










ecozones


























Sobejana added















abuse power


by Ben Rosario














remains a priority


by Mario Casayuran








a-priority





























forces-helps-keep






WHO said Friday













AD


emerge




Cook)




Advertisement






vietnam-15340826













sanctions


July 31 2021 0849 JST


























































police-15334210

















Reuters





government


time-of-danger




30 Jul 2021 0103PM






covid-19-15336538




30 Jul 2021 1201PM







15335948



30 Jul 2021 0630PM











15338844












Share261




















30 Jul 2021 1230PM
























pacific-region













china-sea-vfastory







































against North Korea















South China Sea














Part I Singapore




By Courtney Mabeus

July 30 2021 433 PM

bull











bull bull






































science fiction









07302021











integration




by Roy Mabasa









coast-guard-chief












awareness














LESS THAN A MINUTE























china-sea


东

风鹰击



enforcement mission



fisheries law















JULY 30 2021











































security



















South Korea

North Korea

Friday July 30 1351





































Time




Sabre 21 (TS21)










































Jeffrey Mankoff



















uncertain


withdrawal







JULY 30 2021 952 AM






now | Sign in




JULY 30 2021 1224 PM





JULY 30 2021



























step


THEO LIPSKY

JULY 30 2021

COMMENTARY









by Analou de Vera








ADVERTISING







shifts-to-ecq


citizens


by Analou de Vera































New York

Also Read


infection-reports












UK 1987 90279 36478 25

US 1857 105985 14723 28

France 1658 91848 NA 60

Germany 1141 47044 8344 80

Russia 1104 43732 11292 81

India 324 24167 3543 05

Japan 121 7450 1381 131






figures (2019)






198335637


4224492

Deaths worldwide



US 613228 35003523

Brazil 556834 19938358

India 424773 31695958

Mexico 241034 2854992

Peru 196438 2113201

Russia 156726 6207513

UK 130014 5907594

Italy 128068 4355348

Colombia 120998 4794414

France 112073 6209934

Argentina 105772 4935847

Indonesia 95723 3440396

Germany 91666 3778277

Where deaths have


Iran 90996 3903519

Spain 81486 4447044






New cases 419322

Jan 21 2020

Aug 1 2021


Jan 21 2020

Aug 1 2021

UK 24173

US 23872

Russia 22264

Brazil 20503

France 19600

Germany 1553

Mainland China 96

India 0






























after Wuhan
















University




























Sea The story


420







































story1809106




















a huge failure













doses of applause
























patriotismhtml



































allowed













By TDT tribunephl










































turn-inward














resources it needs















Germany


















funds



















agenda-benefits-all












115


























127



128











133



134







137



138





140



141










china-naval-drills

146







149











154







157






































Title Link



























day
















to 1491182









were local cases




fatality)













warnshtml




























temporary poverty

ADVERTISEMENT











Thursday










JULY 30 2021











billion-neda-chief



by Andrea Aro













BYLENIE LECTURA

JULY 31 2021









JULY 30 2021



Japan




















philippines























By Beatrice Puente












pandemic


















sea-survey



raw










taon


dalawa niyang anak








pamilya






















by Genalyn Kabiling























for-4-months















Back on track


























ADVERTISING






VFA abrogation


by Ben Rosario















abrogation


VFA says Lorenzana













lorenzana-says







on drugs













forwardrdquo








Taiwan and Vietnam



manilastandardnet)



two countries






confront Beijing






people




















Manila said










ecozones


























Sobejana added















abuse power


by Ben Rosario














remains a priority


by Mario Casayuran








a-priority





























forces-helps-keep






WHO said Friday













AD


emerge




Cook)




Advertisement






vietnam-15340826













sanctions


July 31 2021 0849 JST


























































police-15334210

















Reuters





government


time-of-danger




30 Jul 2021 0103PM






covid-19-15336538




30 Jul 2021 1201PM







15335948



30 Jul 2021 0630PM











15338844












Share261




















30 Jul 2021 1230PM
























pacific-region













china-sea-vfastory







































against North Korea















South China Sea














Part I Singapore




By Courtney Mabeus

July 30 2021 433 PM

bull











bull bull






































science fiction









07302021











integration




by Roy Mabasa









coast-guard-chief












awareness














LESS THAN A MINUTE























china-sea


东

风鹰击



enforcement mission



fisheries law















JULY 30 2021











































security



















South Korea

North Korea

Friday July 30 1351





































Time




Sabre 21 (TS21)










































Jeffrey Mankoff



















uncertain


withdrawal







JULY 30 2021 952 AM






now | Sign in




JULY 30 2021 1224 PM





JULY 30 2021



























step


THEO LIPSKY

JULY 30 2021

COMMENTARY









by Analou de Vera








ADVERTISING







shifts-to-ecq


citizens


by Analou de Vera































New York

Also Read


infection-reports












UK 1987 90279 36478 25

US 1857 105985 14723 28

France 1658 91848 NA 60

Germany 1141 47044 8344 80

Russia 1104 43732 11292 81

India 324 24167 3543 05

Japan 121 7450 1381 131






figures (2019)






198335637


4224492

Deaths worldwide



US 613228 35003523

Brazil 556834 19938358

India 424773 31695958

Mexico 241034 2854992

Peru 196438 2113201

Russia 156726 6207513

UK 130014 5907594

Italy 128068 4355348

Colombia 120998 4794414

France 112073 6209934

Argentina 105772 4935847

Indonesia 95723 3440396

Germany 91666 3778277

Where deaths have


Iran 90996 3903519

Spain 81486 4447044






New cases 419322

Jan 21 2020

Aug 1 2021


Jan 21 2020

Aug 1 2021

UK 24173

US 23872

Russia 22264

Brazil 20503

France 19600

Germany 1553

Mainland China 96

India 0






























after Wuhan
















University




























Sea The story


420







































story1809106




















a huge failure













doses of applause
























patriotismhtml



































allowed













By TDT tribunephl










































turn-inward














resources it needs















Germany


















funds



















agenda-benefits-all


127



128











133



134







137



138





140



141










china-naval-drills

146







149











154







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UK 1987 90279 36478 25

US 1857 105985 14723 28

France 1658 91848 NA 60

Germany 1141 47044 8344 80

Russia 1104 43732 11292 81

India 324 24167 3543 05

Japan 121 7450 1381 131






figures (2019)






198335637


4224492

Deaths worldwide



US 613228 35003523

Brazil 556834 19938358

India 424773 31695958

Mexico 241034 2854992

Peru 196438 2113201

Russia 156726 6207513

UK 130014 5907594

Italy 128068 4355348

Colombia 120998 4794414

France 112073 6209934

Argentina 105772 4935847

Indonesia 95723 3440396

Germany 91666 3778277

Where deaths have


Iran 90996 3903519

Spain 81486 4447044






New cases 419322

Jan 21 2020

Aug 1 2021


Jan 21 2020

Aug 1 2021

UK 24173

US 23872

Russia 22264

Brazil 20503

France 19600

Germany 1553

Mainland China 96

India 0






























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