US media coverage has been running hand in hand with the revolutionary ideology of Kiev's interim leaders. And brushing aside contradictions to its reasoning, the White House is relying on verified data. Or, as Anastasia Churkina finds out, their interpretation of that.

Russian military aircraft have not breached any state borders, including those of Ukraine, Russia’s Defense Ministry has said. Ukraine’s acting defense minister has also retracted claims by Kiev that Russian jets “violated Ukrainian airspace seven times.” ● “Russia’s means of objective airspace situation control did not record any violations of air boundaries of the states adjacent to Russia, including those of Ukraine,” Russian Defense Ministry said in a statement Saturday. Pentagon officials quoted by US media Friday claimed that “Russian fighter jets flew into Ukrainian airspace a handful of times over the last 24 hours,” calling it “a continued provocation.” The officials were not named. “The unfounded claims of Pentagon officials on the alleged ‘breaching of airspace of Ukraine by Russian fighter jets’ appears to have been based on rumors and speculation,” a Russian Defense Ministry spokesman told Itar-Tass on Saturday.

The deployment of US and NATO aviation, ships and troops raises concerns, Russia’s Chief of General Staff told his American counterpart. In a phone conversation the two also spoke of Russian military exercises and “substantial” Ukrainian troop buildup. ● “Our concern is caused by an increase of US air force and the American military personnel in the Baltic, Poland, and also the Alliance's ships in the Black Sea,” the Defense Ministry said in a statement, quoting General Valery Gerasimov. NATO wargames in Eastern Europe are also “not helping” to normalize the situation, Russia's defense minister Sergey Shoigu said earlier. The first waves of US soldiers have already arrived in Poland and Latvia, after Tuesday announcement that the Pentagon is sending about 600 soldiers to Poland and the three Baltic states for infantry exercises. “If there's a message to Moscow, it is the same exact message that we take our obligations very, very seriously on the continent of Europe,” Defense Department spokesman Rear Admiral John Kirby said at the time. Also this week, the US frigate USS Taylor entered the Black Sea, with this NATO vessel – the French frigate Dupleix – reportedly scheduled to enter the Black Sea by the end of the week. France is also sending four fighter jets to help NATO’s air patrols over the Baltics.

RT.com: US soldiers arrive in Lithuania to ‘reassure’ NATO allies amid Ukrainian crisis

xymphora ■ "Furious Russia, Downgraded To Just Above Junk By S&P, Proposes "Scorched Earth" Retaliation Against NATO Countries" You can always count on S&P to be corrupt and crooked. Historians will look back on this time and marvel at how Americans took every step possible to accelerate their decline.

● Al Gore is coming under fire for promoting population control in Africa, saying that citizens of African nations must have their fertility “managed.” Tim Graham of Neswbusters blogged on what was said: Speaking at the World Economic Forum in Davos last week, former vice president Al Gore asserted that it’s crucial for global philanthropists to impose “fertility management” on Africa. No one called that racist. Gore pushed population control back in 2011 as well: “One of the things we could do about it is to change the technologies, to put out less of this pollution, to stabilize the population, and one of the principle ways of doing that is to empower and educate girls and women. You have to have ubiquitous availability of fertility management so women can choose how many children have, the spacing of the children… You have to educate girls and empower women. And that’s the most powerful leveraging factor, and when that happens, then the population begins to stabilize and societies begin to make better choices and more balanced choices.”

● Gore is echoing the same message Microsoft billionaire Bill Gates gave in a video he posted to YouTube last year, in which he stated, “If we do a really great job on new vaccines, healthcare, reproductive health services, we could lower [the population] by perhaps 10 or 15 percent.” Thankfully, the video was removed, but it seems to have left an impression. What I want to know is: Since when does America have a population control problem? And when did our environment become so endangered that we need to consider killing our children to fix it?

On another financial collapse, best-selling author Prins predicts, "We absolutely can. There is much more reason that we will than that we won't. The stability of the system is really fake. A lot of speculation has occurred with cheap money, and then it is bailout, and then nothing changes, and then something worse happens. That is the current pattern and the pattern of the last three decades."

Prins, who is a former top Goldman Sachs banker, exclaims, "It is very easy to see how the system could unravel because it isn't stable. We are definitely in big trouble. There is no way we are not headed for a crisis. . . . It should have happened already, but the level of support is epic and reckless from the political and financial elite."

Join Greg Hunter as he goes One-on-One with Nomi Prins, best-selling author of the new book, "All the Presidents' Bankers."

Utterly defeated by the Masonic-controlled family court system, Christopher Mackney, 45, committed suicide Dec 29, 2013 in Washington DC. Dina Mackney who Christopher says drove him to suicide, now pursues him beyond the grave. She seeks to have his suicide note removed from over three dozen websites around the world. ● Christopher Mackney, a successful real estate agent, committed suicide last December after his life was destroyed by family court and he was blocked from seeing his children. His ex-wife, prominent jewelry designer Dina Mackney (nee Scarmardo) aided by lawyer Rachelle E. Hill of the firm Bean, Kinney & Korman, now claims she owns the copyright and seeks to remove his suicide note from about 40 web-sites from around the world. She has been supported by her father Pete Scarmardo who Mackney describes as very dangerous. (Pete Scamardo and Dina Mackney are the most ‘successful’ father/daughter psychopaths ever to fool the Court.)

Christopher Mackney: A Father's Suicide Note

After Ukrainian troops killed five protesters today in Slovyansk, the odds of the protesters simply giving up and embracing the pro-US government are slim to none, and the Obama Administration is still holding out hope Russia can somehow “order” the protesters to stop their protesting. It’s not so much a hope as a demand, really, as the White House and the State Department are both presenting it as an obligation Russia has under the terms of last week’s Geneva deal, at least near as the US sees it. President Obama insists the next round of anti-Russia sanctions are all “teed up” and ready to go, saying Russia needs to publicly condemn the “malicious” protesters seeking autonomy in Ukraine’s east. Secretary of State John Kerry also insisted Russia was obliged to force an end to the protests, saying their refusal to do so would be an “expensive mistake” and would leave the US with no choice but to enact more sanctions. Russia [correctly] has insisted that they don’t have the authority to order the protesters to abandon their calls for autonomy, and has chided the US for endorsing military action against them as an acceptable solution.

Yahoo: [Arrogant & Conceited] John Kerry Just Gave Russia A Final Warning
RT.com: Ukraine army launches next stage of military op 'to isolate Slavyansk'
MoA: Kerry Lies, Repeats Debunked State Department Claim
Justin Raimondo: Ukraine: Out of Control

Bill Van Auken: Does Washington want war with Russia? ■ In the last 48 hours, the Pentagon has announced the deployment of US paratrooper units to Poland and the three former Baltic republics of the Soviet Union—Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania—bringing US troops to Russia’s very border. Another American warship has been dispatched to the Black Sea and more US forces are slated to deploy to Ukraine itself this summer under an exercise known as Operation Rapid Trident. These military moves by Washington are unfolding in the context of an acute crisis within Ukraine that, thanks to the machinations of Washington and its puppets, threatens to erupt into full-blown civil war. Less than one week after signing a joint statement with Russia, the US and the European Union in Geneva pledging to end all violence in Ukraine and disarm illegal groups, the US puppet regime in Kiev has ordered its military to carry out an “anti-terrorist” crackdown against the restive Russian-speaking population in the country’s industrial southeast. To that end it has dispatched not only troops, tanks and warplanes, but also armed thugs from the neo-fascist Right Sector.

John Kerry has attacked RT for its coverage of the Ukraine crisis, calling it a “propaganda bullhorn.” Neglecting to address the US’ role in the conflict or back up his assertions with any evidence, Kerry said Russia was behind the unrest in Ukraine.

During a press conference with the State Department on Thursday, Secretary of State John Kerry rounded on RT, lashing out at its Ukraine coverage. “The propaganda bullhorn that is the state-sponsored RT program has been deployed to promote – actually, RT network – has been deployed to promote President Putin’s fantasy about what is playing out on the ground,” Kerry said. Furthermore, he said RT almost spends all its time “propagandizing and distorting what is happening, or not happening, in Ukraine.” Dismissing the entire eastern Ukrainian, anti-Maidan movement as sponsored and controlled by Moscow, Kerry did not address allegations of American involvement in Ukraine. Earlier this week, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said that America was “running the show in Ukraine” and referenced the visits to Kiev of CIA head John Brennan and Vice-President Joe Biden.

Lavrov decried John Kerry’s latest comments about RT as “uncivilized” and “prosecutorial.” “[The West] was convinced for some time that it had a full monopoly on mass media,” said Lavrov in a statement. “Russia Today has won a large audience in the US and Western Europe, not to mention in Latin America and the Arab world."

RT.com: Lavrov: Kerry's 'prosecutorial' RT assault unacceptable
VoR: RT demands apology for US Kerry's 'propaganda bullhorn' comment
Stephen Lendman: Lavrov - Profile of a World Class Diplomat

U.S. Vice President Joe Biden will announce a package of technical assistance focused on energy and economic aid distribution during a two-day visit to Ukraine that began on Monday, a senior administration official said. ● Biden is the highest ranking U.S. official to visit the country since the crisis with Russia erupted months ago. His trip is largely symbolic. But during talks with Ukrainian leaders on Tuesday he will announce U.S. assistance, primarily of technical know-how to boost energy efficiency as well as production in Ukrainian natural gas fields and extraction of "unconventional" gas resources, a senior administration official told reporters traveling on board the vice president's plane. A U.S. team was also in Ukraine to help deal with the issue of securing gas flows from EU countries such as Slovakia and Hungary in the event that Russia cuts off Ukraine's supply, the official said.

Paul Craig Roberts: Western Looting Of Ukraine Has Begun [03/31/14]
Rick Rozoff: USAID and “Democracy Promotion” in Ukraine
William Engdahl: Ukraine’s Delusional Energy Calculus full of Shale
Jack Rasmus: Ukraine’s IMF Deal Means Greece-Like Depression
Jack Rasmus: Who Benefits from the Ukraine Economic Crisis?
Steve Horn: ExxonMobil, Russia and Ukraine
Kyiv Post: Chevron has no plans to end fracking agreement with Ukraine

Ecuador has ordered all 20 defence department employees in the US embassy's military group to leave the country by the end of the month, Associated Press says. The group was ordered to halt operations in Ecuador in a letter dated 7 April, said embassy spokesman Jeffrey Weinshenker. AP was first alerted to the expulsions by a senior Ecuadorean official who refused to be identified by name due to the information's sensitive nature.

VoR: Ecuador kicks out 20 US military specialists as there were 'too many of them'

Naveed Shinwari hasn’t seen his wife in 26 months. He suspects it’s because he refused to become an informant for the FBI. ● Shinwari is one of four American Muslims in a new lawsuit who accuse the FBI of placing them on the no-fly list, either to intimidate them into becoming informants or to retaliate against them for declining. [...] In February 2012 Shinwari, who has lived in the US since he was 14, flew to Afghanistan to get married. He says that before he could get home to Omaha, Nebraska, he was twice detained and questioned by FBI agents who wanted to know if he knew anything about national security threats. A third FBI visit followed when he got home. The following month, after Shinwari bought another plane ticket for a temporary job in Connecticut, he couldn’t get a boarding pass. Police told him he had been placed on the US no-fly list, although he had never in his life been accused of breaking any law. Another FBI visit soon followed, with agents wanting to know about the “local Omaha community, did I know anyone who’s a threat”, he says.

Michael Snyder ■ An all-time high 53 percent of all Americans believe that neither party “represents the American people”. || No wonder so many Americans are so angry. Things are not nearly as good as they used to be. Unfortunately, even though so many people are angry and frustrated, there is very little consensus on the solutions to our problems. Many Americans even want to throw out the principles that this country was founded upon entirely. For example, one recent survey discovered that 59 percent of all Americans believe that the U.S. Constitution is “outdated”. That is a very chilling number. We live at a time when Americans are becoming increasingly ignorant about who we are, where we came from and how we got here.

Margaret Kimberley: Freedom Rider: Democracy is Dead

The UK scrambled fighter jets this week to intercept two Russian military aircraft in international air space north of Scotland. ● The two Royal Air Force Typhoon fighters identified the planes as Tupolev TU-95s, mainly used by Russia for reconnaissance. The headline in the Daily Mail falsely claimed the Tupolevs had “stray[ed] into British airspace”. This was contradicted by a Ministry of Defence (MOD) spokesman, who later confirmed that the Russian planes “remained in international air space at all times”, saying this was something “they are perfectly entitled to do”. He also added that Russian military flights have “never entered sovereign UK airspace without authorisation”. Royal Navy vessels are also reportedly shadowing a Russian destroyer, which is sailing past the UK. The MOD and the Guardian tried to downplay the link between these incidents and the explosive tensions between NATO and Russia following the installation of a pro-West regime in Kiev with the support of far-right and fascist forces. They said it was not “related to the Ukraine crisis”, but was a “relatively routine” occurrence. Such statements were flatly contradicted, however, by reports in the Daily Telegraph, which wrote: “Senior commanders have said they are prepared for such incidents to increase, if tensions over Ukraine flare further.” They occur as the Western-backed Kiev regime’s crackdown on pro-Russian protesters in eastern Ukraine is bringing Europe to the brink of war between Russia and Ukraine, and NATO builds up its military forces aimed at Russia throughout northern and eastern Europe.

BBC: RAF pilots up close to Russian bombers

xymphora ■ I've mentioned the American technique of regime change, which is to carpet bomb civilians in a country until the country's leader is forced to leave just to save lives. This has been applied in Serbia and Libya. Now we have the logical, if utterly psychopathic, conclusion, bomb Syria in order to force Putin to acquiesce to American plans for Ukraine:

1. "Stopping Russia Starts in Syria"
2. "Killing Syrians For Ukraine"
3. "'Bomb Syria…For Ukraine’s Sake!': The True Colors of the 'Humanitarian Interventionist' and 'Responsibility to Protect' Crowd"

The psycho is the aptly named Anne-Marie Slaughter, and if I lived in her neighborhood I'd have the police keep an eye on her lest she try to poison my cat or strangle my children. This is simply one of the most insane things anybody has ever written.

Former US drone operator Brandon Bryant says that he risks being killed by the US government if he decides to return to his country. “They could kill me if they want to, but when I go back home, I’m homeless, like I’m a disabled homeless veteran. I have no income. I’m nothing,” he told in an exclusive interview with Press TV. Bryant, who has operated drones from different US bases and flown them over several countries, attended a panel debate in Oslo which was followed by an exclusive pre-screening of a documentary about US drones. The Norwegian-produced documentary, DRONE, is the latest film on the US covert drone war and will be released this month.

NBC News: Former drone operator pretends to feel remorse for 1,600 deaths [06/08/13]

After being forced to vacate public lands by ranchers and peaceful protesters, Uncle Sam left the most disturbing calling card of all at the Bundy Ranch. This week farmers and public officials have unearthed more fresh evidence proving the existence of US taxpayer-funded mass animal graves – left behind at the Bureau of Land Management’s field operations compound. So far, it is believed a least a dozen previously healthy animals have been found either shot in the head, discarded and buried. [...] In addition to the livestock debacle, it is now conformed that the BLM had been systematically vandalizing and destroying water troughs on the ranch for the animals. It is not know when the orders were given to intentionally ruin the water supply and fences, but residents are now suspicious of the possibility that these orders may have been given after the BLM knew they would might be vacating the site prematurely – a spiteful move by a federal government in retreat (certainly be an interesting question for a grand jury hearing). To think, all of this, perpetrated under the BLM’s alleged banner as “conservationists” acting on behalf of US the Federal Government to save an endangered Desert Tortoise – who it turns out is now being euthanized by the very same government.

21st Century Wire: Chinese Takeaway: Globalist Gangsters Use Agenda 21 for Nevada Land Grabs

In a video that is quickly going viral, a shocked father recorded TSA agents giving his young children full-body pat-downs. His son was just two years old, while his daughter was six years old. ● In his recent post on YouTube, the angry father explained that he was selected "as usual" for extra security screening because of his name. Writing under the name "khanzahir100," he recalled that the TSA agents said the kids had to be patted down because they were in contact with him and he had been chosen for additional screening. The man accused the TSA agents of patting down his children and wife in a "very rude manner." The family involved has not identified themselves, and the exact date and location of the incident is unclear.

Carl Herman ■ Critical mass public-awakening of Americans to US “leaders’” unlawful and lie-started Wars of Aggression raises several related and OBVIOUS issues that must be resolved if the 99% are to end the 1%’s War Crimes:

● US corporate media was/is REQUIRED and criminally complicit to lie in omission and commission to “cover” these War Crimes from public recognition.
● Both US political parties were/are REQUIRED and criminally complicit to lie and vote for these War Crimes.
● “Developed” nations are criminally complicit in these War Crimes by direct participation and/or refusing to enforce war law to stop OBVIOUS unlawful and lie-started Wars of Aggression.

Commandos have moved on the separatist stronghold of Sloviansk in eastern Ukraine, prompting a warning of "consequences" from Russia's president. ● At least two separatists were reported killed as commandos, backed by armoured vehicles, cleared checkpoints on the outskirts of the town. But a BBC correspondent says the centre of Sloviansk is currently quiet. Pro-Russian separatists are occupying key buildings in at least a dozen eastern towns, defying Kiev. There was also further unrest earlier on Thursday in the south-eastern city of Mariupol. Interior Minister Arsen Avakov said government forces had ousted pro-Russian militants from the city hall building. But another BBC correspondent says there is no sign of Ukrainian troops anywhere nearby. Speaking on Russian TV as news of the Sloviansk operation was coming in, Russian President Vladimir Putin said: "If the regime in Kiev has begun using the army against the population inside the country, then this is undoubtedly a very serious crime.

RIA Novosti: Clashes in Slaviansk Caused by Kiev’s Irresponsible Policy – Lavrov ■ Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said Thursday that deadly clashes in Slaviansk and Mariupol are the result of Kiev’s irresponsible policies that rely on extremism. “What is going on in Slaviansk, and what happened that night in Mariupol, is the result of such irresponsible policies; policies that, and I repeat, rely on ultra-extremism, extremist, and for the most part neo-Nazi groups,” Lavrov said.

The Telegraph: Ukraine crisis: as it happened - April 24
Al Jazeera: Russia tells Ukraine to pull back troops
RIA Novosti: Russia to Hold Military Drills in Response to Ukraine Crackdown
Itar-Tass: Use of army against people criminal decision — Lavrov
Itar-Tass: Eastern Ukrainian region announces mobilization
RIA Novosti: Right Sector Extremists Attacking Civilians in East Ukraine – Russian Defense Minister
RIA Novosti: 5 Killed, 1 Injured in Special Operation in Ukraine’s Slaviansk
RIA Novosti: Armored Vehicles Moving Towards Slaviansk, Federalists Ready for Defense
RT.com: US troops arrive in Poland for drills amid rising tensions over Ukraine
Vineyard of the Saker: The US plan for the Ukraine - a hypothesis
RT.com: Civil war looms as fighting rages in eastern Ukraine - LIVE UPDATES
RT.com: Kiev military op: Ukrainian army tanks, APCs, troops attack Slavyansk
RT.com: Kiev must immediately de-escalate east Ukraine crisis, call back troops - Moscow
Reuters: Russia says Ukraine peace deal cover for power grab

If Kiev has actually started using its army in the eastern Ukrainian city of Slavyansk, then that is a serious crime against its own people, Russian President Vladimir Putin said Thursday, Voice of Russia correspondent Svetlana Kalmykova reports. "If today's regime in Kiev has actually begun using its army against civilians within the country, then that, without a doubt, is a serious crime against its people," Putin said during a MediaForum in St. Petersburg. The Ukrainian authorities should start dialogue within the country and not legalizing radical organizations to settle the conflict in the country, Russian President Vladimir Putin said Thursday. "We participated in the meeting in Geneva and signed definite agreements which include that both sides need to disarm their people, vacate administrative buildings, and so on. What's happening: no 'Right Sector,' or any other radical groups have been disarmed, no one in Kiev has vacated anything. It's just the opposite, these groups are beginning to be legalized. And who's doing the legalization? You shouldn't go on this path, you need to take the path of dialogue among all of the country's residents wherever they are living," Putin said during a MediaForum in St. Petersburg.

Stephen Lendman: Kiev Declares War ■ In mid-April, CIA director John Brennan went to Kiev. He did so quietly. He held secret talks. He met with Obama's new friends. He came to plot war strategy. He wants Eastern Ukrainian freedom fighters eliminated. He wants them slaughtered in cold blood. He wants challengers to Washington's imperium crushed. After his visit, coup-appointed president Okeksandr Turchynov announced a northern Donetsk region "anti-terrorist operation." To "protect the citizens of Ukraine," he claimed. To be conducted "stage-by-stage," he added. So-called "terrorists" are committe freedom fighters. They're Ukraine's best and bravest. They're putting their bodies on the line courageously. They're doing it for fundamental rights everyone deserves.

The media war continues to see a showdown of some kind. Does the West want to provoke Russia into a military conflict? And will Russia back down? CrossTalking with Vladimir Suchan, Marcus Papadopoulos and Patrick Henningsen.

Vineyard of the Saker: The US plan for the Ukraine - a hypothesis
Tony Cartalucci: West Visits Newly Installed Regime in Kiev
VoR: US intentionally drove Ukraine to regime change – Russia's envoy to UN

A camp on the Libyan coastline meant to train terror-hunters has instead become a haven for terrorists and al Qaeda. ● A key jihadist leader and longtime member of al Qaeda has taken control of a secretive training facility set up by U.S. special operations forces on the Libyan coastline to help hunt down Islamic militants, according to local media reports, Jihadist web forums, and U.S. officials. In the summer of 2012, American Green Berets began refurbishing a Libyan military base 27 kilometers west of Tripoli in order to hone the skills of Libya’s first Western-trained special operations counter-terrorism fighters. Less than two years later, that training camp is now being used by groups with direct links to al Qaeda to foment chaos in post-Qaddafi Libya. Last week, the Libyan press reported that the camp (named “27” for the kilometer marker on the road between Tripoli and Tunis) was now under the command of Ibrahim Ali Abu Bakr Tantoush, a veteran associate of Osama bin Laden who was first designated as part of al Qaeda’s support network in 2002 by the United States and the United Nations. The report said he was heading a group of Salifist fighters from the former Libyan base. In other words, Tantoush is now the chief of a training camp the U.S. and Libyan governments had hoped would train Libyan special operations forces to catch militants like Tantoush.

Mainstream Media Is Being Forced to Retract Its Propaganda More and More Quickly. ● The New York Times pushed fabricated evidence in the run up to the Iraq war. A year later, the newspaper apologized for its inaccurate, one-sided coverage. The U.S. and the New York Times pretended that Syria’s government was responsible for the chemical weapons attack … but that claim was debunked, and even the New York Times was forced to retract it several months later. (The alternative media, including Pulitzer prize winning reporter Seymour Hersh, has also pointed out that it was the Syrians rebels – with the help of the Turkish government – did it). Then the U.S. and the New York Times pretended that they had proof that Russian soldiers were the mysterious “masked men” seizing government buildings in Russia. But a couple of days later, they were forced reporting from the alternative media – especially Robert Parry, winner of the George Polk Award for National Reporting – into retracting that claim, and admitting that their “proof” was almost as flimsy as proof of Saddam’s “weapons of mass destruction”. It seems like the alternative media is forcing the New York Times to retract half-baked, pro-war, propaganda claims more and more quickly.

VoR: NY Times' fake photos: US gov't keeps silent ■ The New York Times released fake photos of a so-called Russian militant in Ukraine amid warning from world media and the US government just watched on the sidelines in silence. This is just one of the ways the US propaganda machine is trying to contort the truth to favor its own money-hungry agenda. [...] As tensions only rise between the US and Russia over the situation going on in Ukraine, it is safe to suppose the false photos have angered many loyal NY Times subscribers along with other world viewers who put their trust in the news organization. What is worse, even though the NY Times distributed false photos, no penal action has been taken against the news outlet nor has any fine been issued for its careless wrongdoing. It seems like the US government allows for the NY Times to make diabolical mistakes because of their close ties with each other, and has let them get away with distributing such an atrociously fabricated story to the public. The bigger question is whether or not people believe the NY Times to be a credible source after its ground-shaking gaffe was exposed.

President says US opposes any attempts to undermine Tokyo's control of disputed islands. ● US President Barack Obama has angered Beijing by saying the uninhabited Diaoyu Islands in the East China Sea, which are claimed by China and Japan, would be covered by the US-Japan security treaty. He is the first US president to spell this out. He gave the assurance as he began a four-nation Asia tour in Tokyo yesterday. China was quick to hit back. "The so-called security alliance between the US and Japan is a bilateral arrangement made during the cold war period, and it should not be used to damage China's sovereignty and legitimate interest," foreign ministry spokesman Qin Gang said. "We resolutely oppose applying the Diaoyu Islands to the Japan-US security treaty." China and Japan are engaged in a bitter territorial dispute over the Diaoyus, known as Senkakus in Japan. The risks of an unintended conflict were highlighted in January when Tokyo alleged that a Chinese frigate locked its radar on a Japanese destroyer in the East China Sea. In December, the US military cruiser Cowpens had to take evasive action in the South China Sea to avoid hitting a warship supporting China's first aircraft carrier, Liaoning. Adding fuel to those fears, both PLA Navy commander Admiral Wu Shengli and Japanese Maritime Self-Defence Force chief of staff Katsutoshi Kawano, attending a defence forum in Qingdao this week, said an accidental conflict between the two militaries could not be ruled out, according to Phoenix TV reports.