REPORT: CHINA SENDS WARSHIPS TO COAST OF SYRIAPLA dispatches vessels to “observe” US maneuversImage: Jinggangshan WarshipChina has reportedly sent warships to the coast of Syria to “observe”the actions of US and Russian ships as tensions build in preparation fora potential military strike on Syria which could come as soon as nextweek.According to the Russian news outlet telegrafist.org/2013/09/04/83711/ the People’s Liberation Army dispatched the Jinggangshan amphibiousdock landing ship and the vessel was seen passing through the Red Seatowards the Suez Canal, the waterway in Egypt that leads to theMediterranean Sea and waters off the coast of Israel, Lebanon and Syria.According to the report, the ship has not been sent toengage in any aggressive actions but is merely there to “observe” theactions of Russian and US warships. However, the Jinggangshan isequipped for combat, is armed with missiles, and chinadailymail.com/2013/03/27/chinas-navy-near-malaysia-to-d in maneuvers aimed at defending the South China Sea earlier this year.The report states that additional PLA warships have also been sent to the region but that their identity is unknown. www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-09-04/russia-boosts-mediterranea thatRussia was sending three more ships – two destroyers and a missilecruiser – to the eastern Mediterranean to bolster its forces whichalready include three other warships dispatched over the last two weeks.Earlier this week, gulfbusiness.com/2013/09/us-fuels-tension-by-deploying-warsh forsending warships close to Syria, with Russian Defense Ministry officialOleg Dogayev remarking, “The dispatch of ships armed with cruisemissiles toward Syria’s shores has a negative effect on the situation inthe region.”Five U.S. destroyers and an amphibious ship are currently positioned in the eastern Mediterranean awaiting strike orders. The abcnews.go.com/blogs/politics/2013/09/uss-nimitz-carrier-mov are also stationed in the nearby Red Sea.In a related story, China today toughened its rhetoric on Syria, www.zerohedge.com/news/2013-09-05/china-officially-backs-rus that,“Military action would have a negative impact on the global economy,especially on the oil price – it will cause a hike in the oil price.”The Global Times, a newspaper described by ForeignPolicy Magazine as “hyper nationalistic” and an “angry Chinesegovernment mouthpiece, also www.globaltimes.cn/content/808455.shtml#.UiiMsjZ9te5 whichslammed Obama for failing to prove that last month’s chemical weaponsattack was the work of the Syrian government, charging that Washington’s“geopolitical interests” in the region were behind the militarybuild-up.The editorial, which also complains of the total lack of media coverage in America concerning reports that www.mintpressnews.com/witnesses-of-gas-attack-say-saudis-sup , accuses the White House of “ignoring logic as it beats war drums.”