East Asian Crisis

The East Asian Crisis is an ongoing political crisis within the Alliance of Independent Nations. The crisis is centered around the East Asian nations of Teiko and Sansheng, however has since spread worldwide involving countries such as Carolina and Siculia.

The crisis began after Sansheng and Amuria responded to an unknown object being identified off the coast of Amuria by radar. Both Amurian and Sansheng authorities believe that the object was a submarine, however offer conflicting accounts which country owned the submarine. Sansheng authorities believe they saw the Teikoan naval ensign, while Amurian authorities have neither confirmed nor denied that claim. The government of Sansheng dispatched an aircraft carrier to the Sea of Japan, which was seen as a provocation by the government of Teiko, along with the Carolinian government. Amuria, Poemia and Nakama offered early support for the issue to be resolved peacefully, through bilateral talks. The Siculian Government, while offering bilateral talks also revealed they had satellite footage of the incident, which has yet to be released. A statement released by Teiko at 5:14 AM, JST claimed that the article written by thee Zhangbei Daily, which mainly started the incident, was false and was a ploy to discredit Teiko's military capabilities. They also expressed their right for free navigation in international waters. Both Oka and Carolina reaffirmed their support for Teiko after the statement, while Amuria has asked both countries to rethink their stance.

Initial Incident
Early Tuesday morning, Shangese and Amurian radar detected what appeared to be a submarine and undisclosed distance away from the Amurian coastline. An Amurian and Shangese patrol ship was launched to investigate the incident. The patrol ships confirmed that the object indeed was a submarine, however both ships only were able to obtain glimpses of the vessel. The several members of the Shangese crew members believed they saw the Teikoan naval ensign placed on the submarine. A warning shot was shot into the sky by the Amurian patrol ship, which caused the submarine in question to submerge and turn away from the patrol ships.

Sansheng reportedly dispatched an aircraft carrier into the Sea of Japan, which is located far to the north of Teiko, however between Teiko and Amuria. The subject of where the ships was dispatched is currently under debate as Teikoan authorities believe that the ship was instead dispatched to the Sea of Ryukyu.

Escalation
Poemia was the first country to issue a response saying that it hoped for the issue to be resolved peacefully. Amuria later stood by the actions of Sansheng although also expressed it's desire for the event to end peacefully. Amuria also proposed meetings with both President Liu Zhang of Sansheng and Premier Akashi Seijuro of Teiko. Nakama later proposed that it should be the mediator in any peace talks related to the incident.

Carolina became the first country to support Teiko in the crisis, issuing a statement which said that Teiko had the write to exercise it's naval authority in international waters, and that Carolina would protect Teiko should an provocations occur. Mikenstein later echoed the calls of Amuria for an emergency meeting.

Around 4:22 PM SDT, Siculia announced via. the Siculia Broadcasting Corporation that a satellite used for Google Maps had captured images of the incident which may help to clarify confusion. The government of Siculia announced that it would release the footage to governments that desired the footage in order to hopefully clarify the situation.

At 5:14 AM JST, Teiko issued a statement which said that the article written by the Zhangbei Daily was written in to deflame Teiko's military capabilities. The government of Teiko issued a warning to the Zhangbei Daily that it would begin a libel lawsuit against the news organization if the article was not taken down and the author apologized. Teiko neither confirmed nor denied that a submarine was near the Amurian coast, but expressed its right to navigate its vessels in international waters. Teiko also declined to participate in any bilateral talks regarding the incident.

Following the announcement, Oka announced its support for Teiko as a part of the Mashikura Pact. The Ministry of Defense in Oka claims that the submarine was located in the Ryukyu Sea and not near the Amuria coastline. Amuria responded by defending the actions of both Sansheng and the Zhangbei Daily, as well as criticizing Teiko for decline to attend bilateral summits. In addition it asked both Carolina and Oka to rethink their military support of Teiko. The Department of State in Carolina issued a press release which stated that Carolina stood by the comments of both Teiko and Oka. At the same time, the release noted that Carolina's navy and military personnel in the Pacific had been alerted to be ready to retaliate should any provocations by Sansheng or Amuria arise.