South China Seas

[Ryan Ruck]

We Have Indisputable Sovereignty Over South China Sea: Chinese Foreign Ministry

The response followed US’ claims that China has nearly finished building several structures on artificial islands in the South China Sea.

February 22, 2017

Rejecting the contention of the United States that China is building structures on the South China Sea Islands to house long-range surface-to-air missiles, the country's foreign ministry said on Wednesday that no country could question Beijing's right over the South China and its adjacent waters.

Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Geng Shuang told media, "We have seen these reports. China has indisputable sovereignty over Nanhai Zhudao (South China Sea) and the adjacent waters. China firmly safeguards its territorial sovereignty and maritime rights and interests."

"Meanwhile, we are always committed to resolving relevant disputes in a peaceful way with countries directly concerned through dialogue and consultation and to collectively maintaining peace and stability of the South China Sea with ASEAN countries," he added.

"I want to reiterate that China carrying out normal facility construction, including deploying necessary and appropriate national defence facilities, on its own territory, is exercising a right bestowed by international law to sovereign states,” Shuang said.

Also adding that the concerted efforts made by China and ASEAN countries have improved the situation in the South China Sea, he said, “We hope that non-regional countries can truly respect the efforts made by regional countries and do more for regional peace and stability."

China's response came after Washington claimed that Beijing has nearly finished building almost two dozen structures on artificial islands in the South China Sea that appear designed to house long-range surface-to-air missiles.

The South China Sea carries a third of the world's maritime traffic. Apart from China, Brunei, Malaysia, the Philippines, Taiwan and Vietnam also have also staked a claim to these waters.

The Donald Trump administration has described China's island building in the South China Sea as illegal.

A Pentagon spokesman said the United States remained committed to "non-militarization in the South China Sea" and urged all claimants to take actions consistent with international law.

[Ryan Ruck]

China Nearly Finished Building South China Sea Structures To House Missiles, Officials Say

February 22, 2017

In a move likely to stoke tensions in the region, China has built new structures to potentially house surface-to-air missiles on three of its artificial islands in the South China Sea, but so far no missiles have been sent there, two U.S. officials confirmed to Fox News.

The news comes as the U.S. Navy deployed an aircraft carrier to the South China Sea during the weekend -- the first time since President Trump took office.

China has built runways on Subi, Mischief and Fiery Cross islands, built atop former reefs in the Spratly chain of islands. China has constructed 24 new buildings across these three islands in the past few months, according to the officials.

Recent U.S. satellite imagery showed that each structure is 11-by-22 yards in length, according to one official. The buildings have retractable roofs.

Surface-to-air missile systems don’t need to be covered or housed, but the new buildings likely will help conceal the missiles should they arrive and also protect them from the salt air, one official said.

Fox News exclusively reported on Dec. 24 that China had amassed hundreds of surface-to-air missiles on Hainan island just off the mainland for training, and intelligence officials believe they could be sent to China’s man-made islands next. So far, though, none of the missiles have been shipped south to the artificial islands, according to officials.

U.S. officials said they are also seeing signs that Russia is preparing to deliver advanced SA-21 launchers to China, which could one day end up on the artificial islands.

Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, in his confirmation hearing in January, told lawmakers China should be denied access to its artificial islands in the South China Sea.

Over the weekend, the aircraft carrier USS Carl Vinson and her strike group patrolled in the South China Sea, conducting what the Navy called “routine operations.” A few hours ago, the U.S. Pacific Command tweeted photos showing a U.S. Air Force B-1 bomber flying in formation with F/A-18 Hornets over Vinson in the South China Sea.

On Tuesday, a Chinese military spokesman said he opposed the presence of the American aircraft carrier in the region.

"We are consistently opposed to relevant countries threatening and damaging the sovereignty and security of littoral countries under the flag of freedom of navigation and overflight," Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Geng Shuang said at a news briefing according to Reuters, the first official comment since the aircraft carrier strike group began its patrol in the South China Sea.

Reuters first reported the presence of new buildings on the man-made islands in the South China Sea.

[Ryan Ruck]

Asia Times: China on Edge as U.S. Carrier Strike Group Exercises in South China Sea

February 22, 2017
By Bill Gertz

The aircraft-carrier strike group led by USS Carl Vinson conducting naval and air operations in the South China Sea this week is the first challenge to Beijing’s expansive maritime claims to the waters since Donald Trump took office.

The US Navy announced that the operations began on February 18, describing them as “routine,” while Chinese state media quickly called the warships’ freedom-of-navigation activities a threat to China.

A Pentagon official said the naval maneuvers were not freedom-of-navigation but exercises of the kind the US Navy has been doing for a hundred years.

Read the entire article at Asia Times.

[vector7]

It's no longer a matter of if, but when.

[Ryan Ruck]

From 2015 but just saw it...

Chinese Navy Issues Angry Warning to US Plane in South China Sea - Audio Recording

[Ryan Ruck]

China Issues Warning To US Bomber Flying In East China Sea

March 22, 2017

The Chinese military issued a warning to a U.S. Air Force B-1 bomber flying in the East China Sea Wednesday morning amid escalating tensions in the region, two U.S. officials told Fox News.

The Chinese said the U.S. bomber was flying in international airspace. American officials tell Fox News the bomber was flying in international airspace and continued on its mission---albeit without its wingman.

Fox News has learned that two B-1 bombers were supposed to launch a patrol from Guam to the Korean Peninsula as part of training exercises with the South Koreans, hours after the failed North Korean missile launch.

Only one B-1 bomber was able to take off. The other was scrubbed due to maintenance issues.

The Chinese warning came over the emergency radio frequency known as "guard," according to one official. The incident unfolded when the American bomber was flying 70 miles southwest of the South Korean island of Jeju.

Meanwhile, Defense Secretary Jim Mattis and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Joe Dunford were addressing lawmakers on Capitol Hill Wednesday about the defense budget and the current readiness crisis facing the U.S. military.

[Ryan Ruck]

U.S. Slams ‘Unprofessional’ Intercept By Chinese Fighter Jets

May 19, 2017

A pair of Chinese fighter jets conducted an “unprofessional” intercept of an American radiation-sniffing surveillance plane over the East China Sea, the U.S. Air Force said Friday, the latest in a series of such incidents that have raised U.S. concerns in an already tense region.

On Wednesday, the two Chinese SU-30 jets approached a WC-135 Constant Phoenix aircraft conducting a routine mission in international airspace in accordance with international law, Pacific Air Forces spokeswoman Lt. Col. Lori Hodge said in a statement.

The WC-135 crew characterized the intercept as unprofessional “due to the maneuvers by the Chinese pilot, as well as the speeds and proximity of both aircraft,” Hodge said.

She declined to provide further details and said the issue would be addressed with China through “appropriate diplomatic and military channels.”

“We would rather discuss it privately with China,” Hodge said in an email to The Associated Press. “This will allow us to continue building confidence with our Chinese counterparts on expected maneuvering to avoid mishaps.”

China declared an air defense identification zone over a large section of the East China Sea in 2013, a move the U.S. called illegitimate and has refused to recognize.

China has demanded foreign aircraft operating within the zone declare their intentions and follow Chinese instructions. Hoge declined to say whether Wednesday’s incident was within the self-declared Chinese zone.

“U.S. military aircraft routinely transit international airspace throughout the Pacific, including the East China Sea,” she said. “This flight was no exception.”

Unexpected and unsafe intercepts involving U.S. and Chinese military aircraft have occurred occasionally over the South China Sea, which China claims virtually in its entirety. Although China says it respects freedom of navigation in the strategically vital area, it objects to U.S. military activities, especially the collection of signals intelligence by U.S. craft operating near the coast of its southern island province of Hainan, home to several military installations.

In recent years, the sides have signed a pair of agreements aimed at preventing such encounters from sparking an international crisis, as happened in April 2001 when a Chinese jet fighter collided with a U.S. surveillance plane over the South China Sea, leading to the death of the Chinese pilot and China’s detention of the 24 U.S. crew members for 10 days.

[Ryan Ruck]

President Xi Reviews Navy in South China Sea

[American Patriot]

Very interesting

[Ryan Ruck]

Australian Warships Challenged By Chinese Military In South China Sea

April 20, 2018




Three Australian warships were challenged by the Chinese military as they travelled through the disputed South China Sea earlier this month, the ABC can reveal.

The confrontations with the People's Liberation Army are believed to have occurred as China was conducting its largest ever naval exercises in the hotly contested waters.

Defence sources have confirmed HMAS Anzac, HMAS Toowoomba and HMAS Success were challenged by the PLA Navy as they were transiting towards Vietnam where they are now conducting a three-day goodwill visit in Ho Chi Minh City.


HMAS Toowoomba is among the ships challenged by the Chinese military while on deployment in South East Asia

One official, speaking on the condition of anonymity, insists the exchanges with the Chinese were polite, but "robust".

The Defence Department has refused to answer questions or discuss details of the interactions between the Australian warships and the Chinese military.

In a statement it has confirmed HMAS Anzac and HMAS Success recently travelled through the South China Sea after leaving Subic Bay in the Philippines, while HMAS Toowoomba also went through the disputed waters after departing from Kota Kinabalu in Malaysia.

"The Australian Defence Force has maintained a robust program of international engagement with countries in and around the South China Sea for decades," the department told the ABC.

"This includes bilateral and multilateral military exercises, port visits, maritime surveillance operations and ship transits."

Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull would not confirm the incident but reiterated Australia's right to conduct freedom of navigation exercises in the area.

"We maintain and practice the right of freedom of navigation and overflight throughout the world, and in this context, naval vessels on the world's oceans including the South China Sea, as is our perfect right in accordance with international law," he said.

Defence Industry Minister Christopher Pyne also reiterated Australia's rights within international law and downplayed the seriousness of the incident.

"I think 'confrontation' is somewhat of a tabloid-style description of what goes on in the South China Sea very regularly," he said.

During their port visit to Ho Chi Minh City, HMAS Anzac, HMAS Toowoomba and HMAS Success will conduct a logistic resupply and local engagement with Vietnam People's Armed Forces and local government officials.

Earlier this month, Beijing boasted of the largest-ever military exercises by the Chinese navy in the contested South China Sea.

In the rare display, China brought much of its naval hardware for the world to see — 10,000 personnel, 76 fighter jets, 48 naval vessels, a nuclear powered submarine and China's first aircraft carrier.

[American Patriot]

Sheesh

[Ryan Ruck]

China Quietly Installed Defensive Missile Systems On Strategic Spratly Islands In Hotly Contested South China Sea

May 2, 2018

China has quietly installed anti-ship cruise missiles and surface-to-air missile systems on three of its fortified outposts west of the Philippines in the South China Sea, a move that allows Beijing to further project its power in the hotly disputed waters, according to sources with direct knowledge of U.S. intelligence reports.

Intelligence assessments say the missile platforms were moved to the outposts in the Spratly Islands within the past 30 days, according to sources who spoke on the condition of anonymity.

The placement of the defensive weapons also comes on the heels of China's recent South China Sea installation of military jamming equipment, which disrupts communications and radar systems. By all accounts, the new coastal defense systems represent a significant addition to Beijing's military portfolio in one of the most contested regions in the world.

The United States has remained neutral – but expressed concern – about the overlapping sovereignty claims to the Spratlys.

"We have consistently called on China, as well as other claimants, to refrain from further land reclamation, construction of new facilities, and militarization of disputed features, and to commit to managing and resolving disputes peacefully with other claimants," a Pentagon official told CNBC when asked about China's recent military activity in the area. "The further militarization of outposts will only serve to raise tensions and create greater distrust among claimants."

The recent intelligence, according to sources, indicates the deployment of anti-ship cruise missiles and surface-to-air missiles on Fiery Cross Reef, Subi Reef and Mischief Reef in the Spratly Islands. The Spratlys, to which six countries lay claim, are located approximately two-thirds of the way east from southern Vietnam to the southern Philippines.


Satellite photo of Fiery Cross Reef in the South China Sea taken on January 1, 2018

The land-based anti-ship cruise missiles, designated as YJ-12B, allow China to strike surface vessels within 295 nautical miles of the reefs. Meanwhile, the long-range surface-to-air missiles designated as HQ-9B, have an expected range of targeting aircraft, drones and cruise missiles within 160 nautical miles.

The defensive weapons have also appeared in satellite images of Woody Island, China's military headquarters in the nearby Paracel Islands.

"Woody Island serves as the administrative and military center of China's presence in the South China Sea," Gregory Poling, Center for Strategic and International Studies fellow and director of the Asia Maritime Transparency Initiative, told CNBC in a prior interview.

"We assume that anything we see at Woody will eventually find its way farther south to more directly menace China's neighbors," he added.

A hotly contested part of the world

The South China Sea, which is home to more than 200 specks of land, serves as a gateway to global sea routes where approximately $3.4 trillion of trade passes annually.

The numerous overlapping sovereign claims to islands, reefs and rocks — many of which disappear under high tide — have turned the waters into an armed camp. Beijing holds the lion's share of these features with approximately 27 outposts peppered throughout.

Beijing's interest in developing the crumbs of land across the South China Sea is by no means new.

For instance, China first took possession of Fiery Cross Reef and Subi Reef in 1988 and has since outfitted the features with deep-water ports, aircraft hangars, communication facilities, administration offices and a 10,000-foot runway.

Last week, U.S. Navy Adm. Philip Davidson, the expected nominee to replace U.S. Pacific Command Chief Adm. Harry Harris, described China's increased presence in the South China Sea as "a substantial challenge to U.S. military operations in this region."

In written testimony to the U.S. Senate Armed Services Committee, Davidson said the development of China's forward operating bases in the hotly contested waters appear to be complete.

"The only thing lacking are the deployed forces. Once occupied, China will be able to extend its influence thousands of miles to the south and project power deep into Oceania," Davidson wrote. "In short, China is now capable of controlling the South China Sea in all scenarios short of war with the United States."

Davidson's comments echo a steady drumbeat of warnings made by Harris regarding China's growing strength.

Earlier this year, Harris told Congress that Beijing's impressive military buildup, including its pursuit of hypersonic weapons, could challenge the United States "across almost every domain."

"While some view China's actions in the East and South China Seas as opportunistic, I do not. I view them as coordinated, methodical and strategic, using their military and economic power to erode the free and open international order," Harris told the House Armed Services Committee.

Harris, whom President Donald Trump is reportedly set to nominate as U.S. ambassador to South Korea, currently oversees approximately 375,000 military personnel and is responsible for defending a theater that spans nearly half of the Earth's surface.

"Ladies and gentlemen, China's intent is crystal clear. We ignore it at our peril," Harris said.

[Ryan Ruck]

Panel: Chinese Navy, Maritime Militia Has Given Beijing De Facto Control of the South China Sea

June 4, 2018

Through its navy, coast guard, a loose collection of armed fishing vessels, and a network of military bases built on artificial islands, Beijing has gained de facto control of the South China Sea, a panel of Indo-Pacific security experts said Friday.

And the implications of that control — militarily, economically, diplomatically — are far-reaching for the United States and its partners and allies in the region.

“Every vessel [sent on a freedom of navigation transit] is shadowed” by a Chinese vessel, showing Beijing’s ability to respond quickly events in areas it considers its own, retired Marine Lt. Gen. Wallace “Chip” Gregson said during an American Enterprise Institute forum.

Gregson added that U.S. freedom of navigation operations do little to protect American maritime rights, or the right of allies like the Philippines, Vietnam and Brunei.

The challenge over control in waters claimed by many other nations in addition to China has to be managed. Otherwise, U.S. allies will be reluctantly pushed to work with China because there is no steady American presence across the board in this key part of the globe.

To see how much has changed recently, all the panelists said look to what leaders are saying now about China’s aspirations.

Chinese President Xi Jinping has set forth a public goal of complete recovery of all lost territory.” In addition to the South China Sea’s reefs, rocks and shoals, Roger Cliff, of CNA, said Xi’s declaration also means, “I’m looking at you Taiwan.”

Cliff said the Chinese armed forces are expanding to include large-deck carriers, destroyers the size of U.S. Aegis guided-missile cruisers, more submarines, a strategic bomber and airlift force. Research into hypersonic and laser weapons was viewed in China as a complementary element in a strategy to project “political influence in regional and world affairs” beyond its membership on the U.N. Security Council.

Xi has stressed the importance of a campaign to exert “cultural influence outside Asia,” as it did into the mid-19th century and Japan does now. At the same time, it is flashing its economic strength through the Asian Pacific Investment Bank, which has attracted traditional American allies like Thailand and the Philippines, and its “One Belt/One Road” initiatives in building and controlling infrastructure from highways to dams to ports in programs stretching from Asia into Africa, Europe and the Caribbean.

Gregson termed the decision to pull the United States out of the Trans-Pacific Partnership “a very damaging blow” as it opened ways for China to fill a trade and investment gap with the bank and infrastructure initiatives. He added the imposition of tariffs on allies most recently over steel and aluminum as creating more rifts in what should be stable relationships with nations who have shared goals.

The way the Chinese see it, only one nation could block them from reaching those goals, and that is the United States, he said.

“The United States was going to have to work harder and smarter” to compete with China, Nathan Freier, of the Army War College, said. He called for more concrete action than “its two half-hearted rebalances” toward the Pacific under the administrations of George W. Bush and Barack Obama.

This means a shift in U.S. thinking and strategy to recognize, that with China, America will be in a state of “persistent competition for advantage.”

Thomas Donnelly, of the American Enterprise Institute, said, the United States is “missing an opportunity to impose cost on China,” particularly for its territorial assertiveness. “It is a global competition [with its] principal theater East Asia maritime.” He added current U.S. strategy does not address that point well enough.

The planned June 12 summit between President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un later this month or in the future has created a new dynamic in relations among American allies in the Pacific and with China.

During the panel discussion, he mentioned that China also has viewed the Korean Peninsula “as being part of the first island chain” where it can and does exert its greatest influence, Donnelly said.

Gregson said that initially the United States defense perimeter in the Pacific after World War II did not take in Korea. The result of that miscalculation was the invasion of South Korea by Kim’s grandfather and later Chinese intervention in the war.

For Trump, Freier said the president needed to be very careful in discussing American troop levels in Korea and joint exercises during the negotiations, regarding them as more than bargaining chips. Likewise, the president also needed to realize that reaching an accord with Kim on intercontinental ballistic missiles threatening the United States does not lessen Pyongyang’s ability to strike Japan with shorter-range missiles — a continuing security concern in Tokyo.

“We are in grave danger of a fraying relationship” with important allies,” he said. The time is now for the United States “to make a choice” and “push our chips to the center of the table” in containing China and maintaining a stable Indo-Pacific, Freier said.

The panelists said dropping China from the invited nations to the Rim of the Pacific exercises was a step in the right direction but not a be-all and end-all in ending China’s bullying of its neighbors in a host of ways.

Donnelly added, “We’re not a status quo power,” and one of the reasons East Asia is so economically prosperous now and militarily quiet is “we infused our political values into [these] societies,” citing the democracies in Japan, South Korea and Taiwan. “They are very different societies than before we began interacting with them day-by-day,” he said.

[Ryan Ruck]

Chinese Robo-Boats Swarm the South China Sea

August 30, 2018

A video from late May 2018 shows a swarm of 56 small, unmanned boats operating in the South China Sea. While a rudimentary demonstration, it mirrors similar exercises performed by U.S. Navy boats practicing — semi-autonomously — to defend harbors and intercept incoming vessels.

The Chinese robo-boats do not appear to be armed, but the company behind it — Yunzhou Tech Corporation — revealed an armed unmanned boat at a Beijing “Civil-Military Integration Expo” in July 2017.

The show focused on cutting-edge technologies that China believes could provide an “asymmetric” advantage in a conflict with the United States. Meaning, cheaper technologies and tactics that allow a weaker adversary to exploit unanticipated weaknesses in a more powerful opponent.

If the at-sea demonstration is any sign, those capabilities are developing.

The expensive and difficult portion of a robotic swarm is the technology you can’t see — the networks and algorithms that allow machines to work together and avoid obstacles. The boats themselves are cheap.

Once you figure out the mathematical problems, then it’s a simple matter of arming each of those small boats with rockets and missiles and sending them after a $1 billion cruiser. Like a swarm of mosquitoes, the cruiser can’t swat them all away before one draws blood.


However, the Chinese military is not entirely sold on the concept, as there are more conservative-minded generals who prefer the People’s Liberation Army focus on improving and expanding its conventional, and established, military forces — warships, fighter jets and missiles — as opposed to taking risks on largely untried technology.

But Chinese companies are still developing drones, and the armed Wing Loong — similar to the U.S. Predator — has proliferated to Africa where it has seen combat . A more anodyne set of examples of developing Chinese drone tech are the dancing displays of networked machines taking to the skies during public events.

[Ryan Ruck]

‘Sink Two Aircraft Carriers’: Chinese Admiral’s Chilling Recipe To Dominate The South China Sea

Beijing has a devastating plan to force the world out of the East and South China Seas — and it could cost the US 10,000 lives.

January 2, 2019

They’re the pride of the US fleet: enormous 100,000 tonne, 333m long nuclear-powered aircraft carriers. But Beijing thinks they’re Washington’s achilles heel.

Rear Admiral Lou Yuan has told an audience in Shenzhen that the ongoing disputes over the ownership of the East and South China Seas could be resolved by sinking two US super carriers.

Taiwan’s Central News Agency (CNA) reports Admiral Lou gave a wide-ranging speech on the state of Sino-US relations. The high-profile, hawkish military commentator reportedly declared the current trade spat was “definitely not simply friction over economics and trade,” but was instead a “prime strategic issue”.

His speech, delivered on December 20 to the 2018 Military Industry List summit, declared that China’s new and highly capable anti-ship ballistic and cruise missiles were more than capable of hitting US carriers, despite them being at the centre of a ‘bubble’ of defensive escorts.

“What the United States fears the most is taking casualties,” Admiral Lou declared.

He said the loss of one super carrier would cost the US the lives of 5000 service men and women. Sinking two would double that toll.

“We’ll see how frightened America is.”

FIGHTING WORDS

Rear Admiral Lou Yuan is deputy head of the Chinese Academy of Military Sciences.

In his speech, he said there were ‘five cornerstones of the United States’ open to exploitation: their military, their money, their talent, their voting system — and their fear of adversaries.

Admiral Lou, who holds an academic military rank — not a service role — said China should “use its strength to attack the enemy’s shortcomings. Attack wherever the enemy is afraid of being hit. Wherever the enemy is weak …”


It’s not the controversial commentator’s first aggressive outburst.

And its part of a steadily escalating war of words between the two nations.

Earlier in December, the Chinese state-run Global Times published the views of a panel of such ‘military commentators’ concerning Beijing’s sovereignty claims over Taiwan and the East and South China Seas.

“If the US naval fleet dares to stop in Taiwan, it is time for the People’s Liberation Army to deploy troops to promote national unity on (invade) the island,” Admiral Lou said.

“Achieving China’s complete unity is a necessary requirement. The achievement of the past 40 years of reform and opening-up has given us the capability and confidence to safeguard our sovereignty. Those who are trying to stir up trouble in the South China Sea and Taiwan should be careful about their future.”

It was just one of a string of similarly hawkish views.

“The PLA is capable of taking over Taiwan within 100 hours with only a few dozen casualties,” said retired lieutenant general Wang Hongguang. “2018 is a year of turmoil for Taiwan, and a possible military conflict may take place in Taiwan soon. (But) As long as the US doesn’t attack China-built islands and reefs in the South China Sea, no war will take place in the area.”

Beijing has annexed several reefs in the South China Sea, engaging in an enormous geo-engineering project to build artificial islands upon which it has placed heavily fortified airfields and ports.

STEEL DINOSAURS?

The United States’ enormous aircraft carriers are considered the centrepieces of its navy and highly visible embodiments of that nation’s power.


At $US8.5 billion ($A12 billion) each, they’re also a huge economic investment.

And questions have been growing over their continued relevance to modern warfare.

As with the ‘gunboat diplomacy’ of huge armoured and heavily gunned battleships before World War II, some military analysts technological advances have made these ships obsolete.

Once, aircraft carriers were able to project military might (through their aircraft) while unseen and outside the reach of defences.

Now, with modern satellite and over-the-horizon radar systems, they can no longer rely upon being unseen. And land-based missiles potentially out-reach their aircraft — forcing carriers to move into ‘danger zones’ before they can be effective.

But heavily networked radars, decoys and antimissile systems aboard the aircraft carriers themselves and their escorts are believed capable of warding off attacks from current-generation missiles.

However, both China and Russia have claimed they are rapidly bringing into service a new generation of hypersonic weapons which simply move too fast to counteract.

[Malsua]

Hmm. This guy is a real bright bulb. Sink two capital ships. Yeah, we would just let that happen.

[Ryan Ruck]

Hmm. This guy is a real bright bulb. Sink two capital ships. Yeah, we would just let that happen.

I don't think we'd let it happen without reprisal but, I also don't think we'd turn China into a nuclear cinder over it like some people think we'd do.

After 9/11 we were in a place nationally to turn Afghanistan into glass, and we probably should have to send a message but, I think that's only because it happened right in our backyard. A carrier or two getting sunk, literally across the world, I don't think would carry the same impact to the nation as watching the WTC towers collapse on live TV. I could be wrong but it's not a situation I'd bet money on.

Something else I've seen talk of but haven't hunted down source material of is China saying they're going to wait until the US has weak Dem leadership again, like we will surely have at some point, before they take any action.

[Ryan Ruck]

Deal for Naval Outpost in Cambodia Furthers China’s Quest for Military Network

Use of Ream naval base would help China’s military project power across a broad swath of Southeast Asia

July 22, 2019

China has signed a secret agreement allowing its armed forces to use a Cambodian navy base near here, as Beijing works to boost its ability to project military power around the globe, according to U.S. and allied officials familiar with the matter.

The pact—signed this spring but not disclosed by either side—gives China exclusive rights to part of a Cambodian naval installation on the Gulf of Thailand, not far from a large airport now being constructed by a Chinese company.

Some details of the final deal were unclear, the officials said, but an early draft, seen by U.S. officials, would allow China to use the base for 30 years, with automatic renewals every 10 years after that. China would be able to post military personnel, store weapons and berth warships, according to the draft.

Military operations from the naval base, airport, or both, would sharply increase Beijing’s capacity to enforce territorial claims and economic interests in the South China Sea, to threaten U.S. allies in Southeast Asia and to extend its influence over the strategically important Malacca Strait.

Chinese and Cambodian officials have denied there are any plans for a Chinese military base in the country. “Nothing is happening like that,” Phay Siphan, a Cambodian government spokesman, said on Friday. He called it “fake news.”

Naval Outpost

China's military will have exclusive use of part of Cambodia’s Ream naval base, U.S. officials say.



U.S. and allied officials, however, said a deal had been done that, while stopping short of a full-scale Chinese base, would give Beijing its first dedicated naval staging facility in Southeast Asia and a second outpost in what the Pentagon sees as a Chinese quest for a global network of military and dual-use sites.

Washington is “concerned that any steps by the Cambodian government to invite a foreign military presence in Cambodia” would disturb regional peace and stability, said Emily Zeeberg, a spokeswoman for the U.S. Embassy in Phnom Penh.

Surrounded by dense jungle and mangroves, and overlooked by a Buddhist temple, the naval installation in question, at Ream, covers about 190 acres and includes two facilities built with U.S. funding and used by the Cambodian navy, and a single pier where a dozen patrol craft dock.

According to the early draft of the base accord, China would build two new piers—one for Chinese use, one for Cambodian, U.S. officials said. U.S. officials said further dredging would likely be needed for the base to host larger Chinese navy ships.

The draft also allows China’s personnel to carry weapons and Cambodian passports and requires Cambodians to get Chinese permission to enter the 62-acre Chinese section of Ream, U.S. officials said.

The U.S.-funded facilities at Ream are to be relocated to allow “further infrastructure development and security enhancement,” according to a July letter from Cambodia’s defense ministry to the U.S. seen by The Wall Street Journal.

U.S. officials are debating whether Washington can persuade Phnom Penh to reverse its decision on Ream. Some U.S. officials and analysts believe the U.S. wielded too many sticks in its relationship with Cambodia, frequently criticizing the government’s human-rights record, and didn’t offer enough carrots.

A senior Pentagon official said the U.S. wanted Cambodia to be a “preferred security partner,” but other officials said it appeared Phnom Penh had turned toward Beijing. There was no response to requests for comment from the White House.

U.S. and allied counterparts are also lobbying Cambodia not to allow China’s military to use the large new airport being built at Dara Sakor, about 40 miles northwest of Ream, by a private Chinese company with a 99-year lease on a sparsely populated stretch of coastal Cambodia.

Recent satellite images show that work has progressed rapidly in the past year. The site now features a 2-mile-long runway—big enough for Boeing 747s and Airbus A380s, and for China’s long-range bombers and military transports.

The images, according to U.S. and allied officials, also show what appear to be preparations for the runway turns needed for quick takeoffs and landings by military aircraft, particularly fighters. The company building the airport has said it is purely commercial.

Warplanes flying from Dara Sakor would be able to strike targets in Thailand, Vietnam, Singapore and elsewhere.

China opened its first military outpost abroad, in the east African nation of Djibouti, in 2017, to facilitate operations around the Indian Ocean and Africa. Since 2014, China has also built seven heavily fortified artificial islands—three with airstrips—in the South China Sea.

A Cambodian outpost would further cement China’s grip on a country whose authoritarian government is backed by Chinese loans, investment and diplomatic clout, as Beijing increasingly challenges Washington for economic and military influence across the developing world.


Dara Sakor international airport is located in a national park in sparsely populated Koh Kong province and will be Cambodia’s largest.



Prime Minister Hun Sen of Cambodia, in power for decades, denied there was any plan for a Chinese military base in Cambodia in November, after U.S. Vice President Mike Pence wrote to him expressing concern over the issue.

Cambodian media quoted Mr. Hun Sen repeating that denial on Monday, saying his country’s constitution forbade the establishment of foreign military bases.

Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Geng Shuang, at a regular news briefing on Monday, cited the fresh Cambodian denial, adding that China and Cambodia cooperated “in various areas” and that their cooperation was transparent.

Remote Coastal Airport

U.S. officials fear the Chinese-built Dara Sakor International Airport in Cambodia could be used by China's mililtary.

Dara Sakor International Airport



China’s defense minister denied in June that Beijing was establishing a military presence in Cambodia. China’s defense ministry didn’t respond to a request for comment.

Until shortly before China opened its Djibouti outpost, which it calls a naval “logistics support facility,” Beijing repeatedly denied having any plans for bases abroad.

Combining Cambodian facilities with China’s military outposts in the South China Sea, “you basically have a triangular perimeter boxing in all of mainland Southeast Asia,” said Charles Edel, a former adviser to the U.S. secretary of state who is now an analyst at the United States Studies Centre in Sydney.

A Chinese presence at either facility would also “greatly complicate” the ability of the U.S. to come to the aid of Taiwan if Beijing decides to attack the island, a U.S. official said, as some American forces would arrive via the Strait of Malacca or the outer reaches of the South China Sea.

Ream has been embroiled in great power competition before, attracting both U.S. and Soviet attention in the Cold War.


A model of the Dara Sakor project shows hotels, luxury housing and at least one container port, as well as the airport.

The U.S. bombed the base at the tail end of the Vietnam War in 1975 after China-backed Khmer Rouge forces took power in Cambodia and seized a U.S. container ship. After Vietnam invaded Cambodia in 1978, the Soviet navy visited Ream repeatedly and helped repair and upgrade facilities there, deepening its waters.

Washington sought to rebuild ties with Cambodia in the past decade, resuming aid in 2007, carrying out joint military exercises and financing the Ream facilities. Tensions have mounted again as Hun Sen has tightened his grip on power.

China has made rapid inroads meanwhile, bringing in millions of tourists and billions of dollars of investment and loans; much of it is part of Beijing’s Belt and Road global infrastructure plan and focused around the deep-water port of Sihanoukville, about 10 miles from Ream.

U.S. officials said they first learned about negotiations between China and Cambodia over Ream about a year ago, prompting the letter from Mr. Pence.

Their suspicions grew early this year when Cambodia’s defense ministry first requested, then refused, U.S. funding to renovate the facilities at Ream, according to letters between the two governments seen by the Journal.

Recent satellite images show that an area inside the Ream base has recently been cleared in apparent preparation for construction work. A bridge at the entrance is also being repaired.

Meanwhile, a state-run Chinese construction company is working on Dara Sakor airport, which is due to open next year and will be Cambodia’s largest despite being in a province with a population of 200,000 people.

The Chinese company behind the new airport, Union Group, has said it is part of a $3.8 billion plan to develop the 36,000 hectares (89,000 acres) of land—including about 20% of Cambodia’s coastline—that it leased in 2008.


The Dara Sakor resort has failed to attract many visitors since opening, and one of its main buildings, seen here, is undergoing renovation.

The company’s showroom in Phnom Penh displays plans to build five-star tourist resorts, golf courses, marinas, two container ports, high-tech industrial zones and a “new city” of luxury residences.

So far, however, the single casino and golf resort completed in 2014 has failed to attract many tourists. On a recent visit, seven of about 100 hotel rooms were occupied, staff said, and little progress has been made on other promised facilities.

Union Group representatives say they underestimated transport difficulties and believe the airport will bring in 300,000 Chinese visitors annually. Western officials are skeptical.

The Cambodian runway “seems far longer than needed for any normal commercial purpose or aircraft, and certainly longer than necessary for any tourist development envisaged there,” an Australian intelligence official said.

“We have some concern that China is using the same playbook used in the South China Sea, creating facts on the ground until such time that it is too late for anyone to object.”

[Volk]

“We have some concern that China is using the same playbook used in the South China Sea, creating facts on the ground until such time that it is too late for anyone to object.”

Bears repeating...

China always seems to play a long game, perhaps this is a hallmark of Far Eastern cultures in general, I don't know.

[Ryan Ruck]

Did China “Force A U.S. Warship Away” From The Paracel Islands?

August 28, 2020

John reported on Wednesday about the Chinese launching one of their “aircraft carrier killer missiles” into the South China Sea, presumably as some sort of warning to the United States. A warning over precisely what remains unknown, since the American Navy is operating in international waters and keeping the sea lanes clear for commercial traffic. Yet the Chinese continue to insist that they own the Paracel Islands and the waters surrounding them, so they’re looking to flex their muscle.

What they’re flexing at the moment, however, is their mouths. At the conclusion of the U.S. Navy exercises in the region, the Chinese claimed to have “forced away” one of our Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyers out of the waters surrounding the Paracel Islands. The claim is pretty much laughable, but the Chinese are clearly trying to prove a point and make themselves look tough in the international press.

The Chinese military said it forced a U.S. warship away from disputed islands in the South China Sea, where both sides have defied military warnings to stay out of sensitive areas amid heightened military tensions between the two powers.

Senior Colonel Li Huamin, spokesperson for the Chinese People’s Liberation Army Southern Theater Command, announced Thursday that the Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer USS Mustin had “trespassed into the Chinese territorial waters” off the Paracel Islands, known as Xisha to China and as Hoang Sa to Vietnam, which also claims sovereignty over them. In response to the U.S. movement, Colonel Li said China summoned a combined sea and air force that “warned it away.”

Li, who reiterated his country’s “indisputable sovereignty over the South China Sea islands and their adjacent waters,” issued a stern warning to U.S. forces operating in this contested region.

This posturing by the Chinese didn’t go over very well with our military. U.S. Pacific Fleet spokesperson Navy Lieutenant James Adams told Newsweek that the USS Mustin wasn’t “expelled” from any nation’s territory. She was conducting lawful maritime operations in international waters and continued on with her mission uninterrupted.

Unfortunately, this appears to be only the latest in a series of tense confrontations between the PRC and the United States. And it’s all over the question of the rights to a series of “islands” that are little more than chunks of rock and coral that jut out of the South China Sea if the waves aren’t too rough. Had China not started construction projects out there to militarize them, the Paracels wouldn’t be of interest to anyone beyond the occasional seabirds that nest there sometimes.

Those islands have bounced back and forth between the French, the Vietnamese and the Chinese for ages. Until the recent military construction began, nobody was able to do much of anything with them since they’re so small and frequently get inundated during typhoons. But now we’re apparently expected to fight over them yet again (at least verbally, if not militarily) because we’re human beings and I guess that’s what we do. Claiming sovereign control over a massive amount of “territorial waters” around these rocks seems like the height of idiocy, but now that they have some military value, I suppose this was unavoidable.

Frankly, I wouldn’t give two hoots if everyone just let China have the Paracels were it not for the assumed control of territorial waters. The South China Sea is an important international trade route, and it needs to remain open to commercial shipping and other uses. Handing China the ability to shut down those lanes entirely isn’t a plausible response.