Alan W. Dowd is a Senior Fellow with the American Security Council Foundation, where he writes on the full range of topics relating to national defense, foreign policy and international security. Dowd’s commentaries and essays have appeared in Policy Review, Parameters, Military Officer, The American Legion Magazine, The Journal of Diplomacy and International Relations, The Claremont Review of Books, World Politics Review, The Wall Street Journal Europe, The Jerusalem Post, The Financial Times Deutschland, The Washington Times, The Baltimore Sun, The Washington Examiner, The Detroit News, The Sacramento Bee, The Vancouver Sun, The National Post, The Landing Zone, Current, The World & I, The American Enterprise, Fraser Forum, American Outlook, The American and the online editions of Weekly Standard, National Review and American Interest. Beyond his work in opinion journalism, Dowd has served as an adjunct professor and university lecturer; congressional aide; and administrator, researcher and writer at leading think tanks, including the Hudson Institute, Sagamore Institute and Fraser Institute. An award-winning writer, Dowd has been interviewed by Fox News Channel, Cox News Service, The Washington Times, The National Post, the Australian Broadcasting Corporation and numerous radio programs across North America. In addition, his work has been quoted by and/or reprinted in The Guardian, CBS News, BBC News and the Council on Foreign Relations. Dowd holds degrees from Butler University and Indiana University. Follow him at twitter.com/alanwdowd.

ASCF News

Scott Tilley is a Senior Fellow at the American Security Council Foundation, where he writes the “Technical Power” column, focusing on the societal and national security implications of advanced technology in cybersecurity, space, and foreign relations.

He is an emeritus professor at the Florida Institute of Technology. Previously, he was with the University of California, Riverside, Carnegie Mellon University’s Software Engineering Institute, and IBM. His research and teaching were in the areas of computer science, software & systems engineering, educational technology, the design of communication, and business information systems.

He is president and founder of the Center for Technology & Society, president and co-founder of Big Data Florida, past president of INCOSE Space Coast, and a Space Coast Writers’ Guild Fellow.

He has authored over 150 academic papers and has published 28 books (technical and non-technical), most recently Systems Analysis & Design (Cengage, 2020), SPACE (Anthology Alliance, 2019), and Technical Justice (CTS Press, 2019). He wrote the “Technology Today” column for FLORIDA TODAY from 2010 to 2018.

He is a popular public speaker, having delivered numerous keynote presentations and “Tech Talks” for a general audience. Recent examples include the role of big data in the space program, a four-part series on machine learning, and a four-part series on fake news.

He holds a Ph.D. in computer science from the University of Victoria (1995).

Contact him at stilley@cts.today.

Maritime Standoff Between China And Malaysia Winding Down

Thursday, May 14, 2020

Categories: ASCF News Emerging Threats National Preparedness

Comments: 0

A standoff between China and Malaysia over potential natural gas and oil reserves beneath the South China Sea appears to be ending as research vessels from both nations moved away from each other following stepped-up U.S. Navy presence in the last several weeks.

On Tuesday, West Capella, a Panamanian-flagged drillship hired by Malaysia’s state-owned Petronas, completed its scheduled work in a part of the South China Sea also claimed by Vietnam and China, according to a report by Reuters.

For several weeks this spring, West Capella was tailed by China’s government-owned research vessel Haiyang Dizhi 8 and armed Chinese coast guard and China Maritime Militia vessels, Reuters reported.

To counter the implied threat posed by China’s armed ships, USS Gabrielle Giffords (LCS-10), USS Montgomery (LCS-8) and USNS Cesar Chavez (T-AKE-14) conducted presence operations near West Capella. In late April, USS America (LHA-6), USS Bunker Hill (CG-52) and USS Barry (DDG-52) sailed with the Royal Australian Navy frigate HMAS Parramatta (FFH-154) in the same part of the South China Sea.

“There is no better signal of our support for a free and open Indo-Pacific than positive and persistent U.S. naval engagement in this region,” Rear Adm. Fred Kacher, the commander of Expeditionary Strike Group 7, said in a Navy news release.

As of Wednesday, the Chinese ships appeared heading in a different direction from West Capella and a nearby Malaysian naval auxiliary ship, KA Bunga Mas 5, according to publicly available ship tracking data.

Last year, Haiyang Dizhi 8 was involved in a similar standoff with the Vietnamese drilling ship Hakuryu 5, in Vietnam’s exclusive economic zone near the Fiery Reef, according to a December report by the Asia Maritime Transparency Initiative at the Center for Strategic and International Studies.

The standoff started in June and lasted for months, according to CSIS. During this time, Haiyang Dizhi 8 was escorted by Chinese Coast Guard ships and other Maritime Militia ships. The CSIS report concludes Haiyang Dizhi 8’s survey area “closely matched a group of oil and gas exploration blocks that the China National Offshore Oil Corporation unsuccessfully offered up for foreign bidding in 2012.”

At times, based on satellite imagery and ship positioning information, the Chinese Coast Guard cutters appeared to focus on blocking or impeding the Vietnamese vessel’s operations in the same region, the CSIS report states.

“The 56-meter Vietnamese vessel is effectively unarmed and less than half the size of the 138-meter 5303, one of China’s advanced Type 818 Zhaoduan-class cutters which sports a 76-mm cannon,” the CSIS report states.

For the past several weeks, the U.S. and Australian navies were determined to send a message to China’s government that such actions would not go unnoticed and unchallenged.

“Routine presence operations, like Gabrielle Giffords, reaffirms the U.S. will continue to fly and sail freely, in accordance with international law and maritime norms, regardless of excessive claims or current events,” Vice Adm. Bill Merz, the commander of U.S. 7th Fleet, said in the news release.“The U.S. supports the efforts of our allies and partners in the lawful pursuit of their economic interests.”

Photo: USS Gabrielle Giffords (LCS-10) conducts routine operations near the Panamanian flagged drill ship, West Capella on May 12, 2020. US Navy Photo

Link: https://news.usni.org/2020/05/13/maritime-standoff-between-china-and-malaysia-winding-down?utm_source=USNI+News&utm_campaign=7e647da109-USNI_NEWS_DAILY&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_0dd4a1450b-7e647da109-234691293&ct=t(USNI_NEWS_DAILY)&mc_cid=7e647da109

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