China on the South China Seas

[Randy W]

In the South China Morning Post (Hong Kong)

 

Territorial disputes in the South China Sea

Several countries compete for territory in the South China Sea: China, Vietnam, the Philippines, Malaysia and Brunei. This is our ongoing visual guide on the topic.

 

Edited June 6, 2021 by Randy W (see edit history)

[Randy W]

China responds to "provocation"

 

Provocation can’t stop China’s island plan

Source:Global Times Published: 2015-5-22 0:13:01

 

Now, China has the initiative, and as long as China can finish the construction, this round of intervention by the US will end up futile. Then, it will have more leverage to carry out its South China Sea policies. These policies will eventually prove to be constructive in terms of regional security and development. China will show the world its self-restraint in the face of disputes, and the Nansha Islands, thanks to China's reclamation, might develop into a navigation and fishing hub. The entire regional climate will be dramatically changed.

It seems that the US has nearly used up all its tricks to disrupt China's actions in the South China Sea. As long as China insists on this endeavor, hardliners in the Pentagon will only find they have reached the end of their tether.

China should be prepared to ramp up its countermeasures, one notch at a time, according to the degree of provocations from the US. Washington should keep in mind that the might of its warships and fighters have just a long shot at victory in the face of China's centuries-old wisdom.

 

[warpedbored]

 

 

China will show the world its self-restraint in the face of disputes

Sounds like face saving words to me.

[Randy W]

 

http://blogs.wsj.com/briefly/2015/05/27/chinas-claims-in-the-south-china-sea-the-short-answer/

Edited June 6, 2021 by Randy W (see edit history)

[Randy W]

. . . and from the SCMP

Edited June 6, 2021 by Randy W (see edit history)

[Bigguy_33]

On 1/7/2015 at 5:53 PM, Randy W said:

 

from the People's Daily

 

China has no intention of 'kicking the U.S. out of Asia'

 

Quote

China welcomes the U.S. desire to play a role in Asia and make a positive contribution to Asian development. But the U.S. needs to engage in a little introspection about its policies towards China and Asia, rather than simply treating China as yet another potential rival. Trying to constrain China's management of Chinese issues around the shores of China by strengthening the U.S. relationship with its local allies is unlikely to bring any positive benefits to the U.S. or anyone else.

 

The article is edited and translated from《要被赶出亚洲？美国人多虑了》, source: People's Daily, author: Jia Xiudong

 

 

 

They sure are building a lot of ship while saying they are not kicking any one out of Asia.

 

http://defensetech.org/2014/12/03/report-chinese-navys-fleet-will-outnumber-u-s-by-2020/

 

Report: Chinese Navy’s Fleet Will Outnumber U.S. by 2020

by Kris Osborn on December 3, 2014

351100161

 

 

China has plans to grow its navy to 351 ships by 2020 as the Chinese continue to develop their military’s ability to strike global targets, according to a new report.

The 2014 U.S.-China Economic and Security Review Commission recommended to Congress the U.S. Navy respond by building more ships and increase its presence in the Pacific region – a strategy they U.S. military has already started.

The commission asked Congress to increase its Pacific fleet up to 67 ships and rebalance homeports such that 60-percent of the force is based in the region by 2020.

The commissions’ recommendations, which are based on Congressional testimony, expert assessments and open-source information on China’s military and U.S.-Chinese relations, are consistent with Pentagon’s stated plans for the region.

The Navy’s intended Pacific rebalance is designed to station 60-percent of the fleet in the area, rotate more ships and sailors through Pacific ports and move Marine Corps units through Darwin, Australia. Part of the Navy’s Pacific rebalance strategy includes plans to rotate up to four Littoral Combat Ships through Singapore, among other things.

Defense analysts have questioned where the U.S. Navy has the resources and funding to expand its presence in the Pacific adequately enough to meet the emerging Chinese threat. Critics point to the sweeping sequestration cuts as an example of the budgetary challenges that U.S. Navy officials face.

Opponents to this strategy point out that the U.S. has 11 aircraft carriers, the Chinese have one. And that one carrier still lacks an aircraft wing capable of operating off a carrier deck.

The commission cites a platforms and weapons systems the Chinese are developing, which change the strategic calculus regarding how U.S. carriers and surface ships might need to operate in the region. The report mentions the Chinese DF-21D, a precision-guided, land-launched anti-ship ballistic missile designed to reach surface targets at ranges greater than 900 nautical miles.

“China is pursuing a missile-centric strategy with the purpose of holding U.S. aircraft carriers at high risk if they operate in China’s near seas and thereby hinder their access to those waters in the event of a crisis. Given China’s growing navy and the U.S. Navy’s planned decline in the size of its fleet, the balance of power and presence in the region is shifting in China’s favor,” the commission states.

While the commission says the exact amount of Chinese military spending is difficult to identify, China’s projected defense spending for 2014 is cited at $131 billion, approximately 12.2 percent greater than 2013. This figure is about the sixth of what the U.S. spends annually.

The Chinese defense budget has increased by double digits since 1989, the commission states resulting in annual defense spending doubling since 2008, according to the report.

Rep. Randy Forbes, R-Virginia, chairman of the House Armed Services Committee Seapower and Projection Forces subcommittee, cited the increase in submarine and surface navy patrols tripling since 2007 as an area of concern.

“What they are doing with patrols is just the tip of the iceberg. It is not just the number of the ships, but within five to eight years they will have about 82 submarines in the Asia Pacific area and we will have about 32 to 34,” he said.

“If you look at where we are today, they outnumber us about 60 to 32 in subs. If you look at their surface ships they can get us further out with their anti-ship missiles than we can hit them,” Forbes said.

The Chinese have used cyber espionage of the U.S. military to boost their weapons development programs, the report said. In particular, the review cited a 2012 Defense Science Board report which explains how Chinese cyber spying resulted in their learning details on a number of U.S. systems such as the Littoral Combat Ship, F-35, FA/18, Black Hawk helicopter, Aegis Ballistic Missile Defense, Patriot and Global Hawk.

Chinese Naval Power

While Chinese naval technology may still be substantially behind current U.S. platforms, the equation could change dramatically over the next several decades because the Chinese are reportedly working on a handful of high-tech next-generation ships, weapons and naval platforms.

These include the LUYANG III, a new class of Chinese destroyer slated to enter the fleet this year. The ship is being engineered with vertically-launched, long-range anti-ship cruise missiles, the commission said. The new destroyer will carry an extended-range variant of the HHQ-9 surface-to-air missile, among other weapons, the report says.

Furthermore, the Chinese may already be beginning construction on several of their own indigenous aircraft carriers. China currently has one carrier, the Ukranian-built Liaoning. It is not expected to have an operational carrier air wing until at least 2016, according to the report.

The Chinese are currently testing and developing a new, carrier-based fighter aircraft called the J-15.

Regarding amphibious assault ships, the Chinese are planning to add several more YUZHAO LPDs, amphibs which can carry 800 troops, four helicopters and up to 20 armored vehicles, the report said.

The Chinese are also working on development of a new Type 055 cruiser equipped with land-attack missiles, lasers and rail-gun weapons, according to the review.

“They are becoming a blue-water Navy,” said Larry Wortzel, a commissioner tasked with helping to oversee the compilation and publication of the annual review.

China’s surface fleet is also bolstered by production of at least 60 smaller, fast-moving HOBEI-glass guided missile patrol boats and ongoing deliveries of JIANGDAO light frigates armed with naval guns, torpedoes and anti-ship cruise missiles.

The commission also says Chinese modernization plans call for a sharp increase in attack submarines, nuclear-armed submarines or SSBNs. Chinese SSBNs are now able to patrol with nuclear-armed JL-2 missiles able to strike targets more than 4,500 nautical miles.

The Chinese are currently working on a new, modernized SSBN platform as well as a long-range missile, the JL-3, the commission says.

The commission also specifically addresses areas of Chinese-Russian military developmental cooperation, saying the two countries are working on a joint deal to build new attack submarines.

“China is pursuing joint-design and production of four to six Russian advanced diesel-electric attack submarines containing Russia’s latest submarine sonar, propulsion, and quieting technology. The deal would improve the PLA Navy’s capabilities and assist China’s development of quiet submarines, thus complicating future U.S. efforts to track and counter PLA submarines,” the commission writes.

In addition, China is reportedly pursuing a new class of nuclear submarines, called the Type 095 SSGN, which could bring the country its first-ever submarine-launched, land-attack cruise missile.

 

Read more: http://defensetech.org/2014/12/03/report-chinese-navys-fleet-will-outnumber-u-s-by-2020/#ixzz3c6SctRm1

Defense.org

 

Edited June 6, 2021 by Randy W (see edit history)

[Randy W]

from the SCMP

China says land reclamation projects in disputed South China Sea territory to finish within days
 

 

Quote

China says it will complete its land reclamation projects on its disputed South China Sea territorial claims as planned within the upcoming days.

A statement from the Foreign Ministry statement on Tuesday said China would build infrastructure to carry out functions ranging from maritime search and rescue to environmental conservation and scientific research.

Apart from satisfying defence purposes, it said the main purpose of such projects was civilian in nature and not targeted at any third parties. China said the projects were legal, justified and within the scope of Chinese sovereignty.

The reclamation work has raised tensions with the United States, and Vietnam and other countries in the region, which fear China will use the artificial islands as military bases and to assert control over navigation in the South China Sea.

Edited June 6, 2021 by Randy W (see edit history)

[Randy W]

Life on a reef (Fiery Cross Reef)

 

 

 

http://www.scmp.com/article/1823710/all-smiles-south-china-sea-chinese-military-pose-camera-disputed-reef

 

http://shanghaiist.com/2015/06/19/south-china-sea-paradise-of-veggie-gardens.php

 

Quote

A Chinese website has published photographs from one of the reefs under China’s control in the disputed South China Sea showing female sailors posing on ocean breakwalls, vegetable gardens being watered and even pigs in a pen.

 

The slideshow of 17 photographs from Fiery Cross Reef shows how quickly China is developing facilities to support its troops on the newly formed island following major land reclamation.

 

Sina, one of China’s biggest web portals, put the slideshow online under the headline “Gratifying results on China’s Yongshu Reef: building vegetable greenhouses and growing fruit trees”.

 

Fiery Cross is among seven Chinese-held reefs in the Spratly chain of the South China Sea that are being transformed into artificial islands despite alarm from other claimants to the strategic waterway and growing criticism from Washington.

 

Edited June 6, 2021 by Randy W (see edit history)

[Randy W]

I'm unclear on the source of this article - it seems to be written from an Australian point of view, but the web page is operated out of Tokyo.

 

A profile on the author - who IS Australian: http://thediplomat.com/authors/greg-austin/

 

But it seems to be a fairly level-headed (and fair) assessment of the situation. "nm" in the article apparently stands for "nautical miles".

 

Intelligence Check: Just How 'Preposterous' Are China's South China Sea Activities?

It’s time for the Pentagon to issue a sober and balanced public assessment on the South China Sea territorial disputes.

 

 

A country’s international law claims to territory or maritime jurisdiction are only those articulated by its government in a formal manner. Beyond its South China Sea coast and Hainan (and minor islands close to these coastlines), and associated territorial sea and contiguous zones, China’s claims in the South China Sea have the following elements.

Territorial Claims

1. A claim to Pratas islands which is identical in character with the claim of Taiwan, Vietnam and the Philippines.
2. A territorial claim to the Spratly Islands and Paracel Islands which is identical in character with the claims of Vietnam and Taiwan and which, as a claim, is fully compatible with international law. Someone must own the islands. (Scarborough Shoal, which has rocks above sea level of a type that other countries have claimed as subject to sovereignty, is part of the Spratly group in Chinese claims. It is not claimed by Vietnam.)
3. A territorial claim to the Macclesfield Bank, a small submerged featured known in Chinese as Zhongsha Islands, which does not qualify as land territory under international law and cannot be subjected to territorial sovereignty.

Of these, only the claim to Macclesfield Bank would not be in conformity with international law. Otherwise, China’s claims to territory are nor more or less preposterous than those of Vietnam. Based on research for my 1998 book, China’s Ocean Frontier, I have concluded that China’s claims to at least some of the islands are less preposterous than those of Vietnam and the Philippines, but that China’s claims to the entire Spratly group are probably not, in respect of each and every natural island, superior to those of other claimants.

 

Edited June 23, 2015 by Randy W (see edit history)

[Randy W]

The headline is about the Philippines, but the article explains a lot about the Chinese position concerning their "territorial sovereignty". In the Global Times

 

Philippines’ illegal occupation of Ren’ai Reef must be ended with determination

The Philippines never ceases being a troublemaker in the South China Sea disputes.

. . .

The Philippines needs to be informed that these provocations will come at a price, which could be much larger than the benefits it can get through the tricks.

. . .

The Philippines knows clearly that the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea defines the rights and responsibilities of nations with respect to their use of oceans, not lands or islands. Therefore, the problem of maritime rights only comes after the resolution of territorial or land disputes. At the current stage, China and the Philippines are engaged in sovereignty disputes instead of maritime rights disputes. Thus, the Convention cannot be applied to this situation. It is only a misleading strategy that Manila keeps wielding it as if it has acquired legitimacy in the disputes.

. . .

Meanwhile, China should urge the Philippines to remove the warship and offers a package of options for it to consider. The Philippines can pay China to repair and relocate the ship if it can't move it. China will treat the Philippine sailors on the ship as refugees and give them humanitarian aid. The Philippines should compensate China for the environmental damage the ship has caused around the reef. If Manila denies China's generous offers, China should drive away the ship and reclaim the reef by force.

The methods China can use to reclaim the Ren'ai reef are beyond the Philippines' imagination. It had better fulfill its commitments and leave the reef.

It is an unavoidable duty for a government to defend the sovereignty and integrity of its nation. China decided to get Huangyan Island back because of a series of provocations by the Philippines. Now the situation in Ren'ai Reef is getting to the tipping point again.

The author is the vice president of the China Strategy Culture Promotion Association.

 

[warpedbored]

the neighborhood bully pokes again

[Randy W]

ANOTHER air strip under construction?

 

Reuters:

China appears to be working on third airstrip on disputed South China Sea islets: expert

 

Quote

The photographs taken for Washington's Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) think tank on Sept. 8 show construction on Mischief Reef, one of seven artificial islands China has created in the Spratly archipelago.

 

The images show a retaining wall around an area 3,000 meters (3,280 yards) long, matching similar work by China on two other reefs in the Spratlys, Subi and Fiery Cross, said Greg Poling, director of CSIS's Asia Maritime Transparency Initiative (AMTI).

 

Shanghaiist:

 

China looks to be building a third airstrip in the South China Sea

 

 

Quote

The Philippine Daily Inquirer also warned that China intends to annex an island with 200 inhabitants including civilians and soldiers. "They were able to seal off the area, preventing planes from landing on the island," said the newspaper. In the ensuing media battle, Chinese state media has accused the newspaper's claims of "hyping up" the story with "groundless" claims.

 

Edited June 6, 2021 by Randy W (see edit history)

[Randy W]

US Navy ship sails near South China Sea reefs claimed by China as its territorial waters

 

 

A U.S. Navy ship sailed near an artificial island built by China in the South China Sea in a long-anticipated challenge to what the Obama administration considers Beijing's "excessive claim" of sovereignty in those waters, a U.S. defense official said Monday.

 

The official said the White House approved the movement by the USS Lassen, a guided missile destroyer, inside what China claims as a 12-mile territorial limit around Subi Reef in the Spratly Islands archipelago, a disputed group of hundreds of reefs, islets, atolls and islands in the South China Sea.

 

The patrol was completed without incident, said the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss the Lassen's movements. The sail-through took place Tuesday, China time, according to China's Foreign Ministry.

 

[Greg.D.]

I thought this would be big, big news. And, I thought it was, as it was front page at the NYT and WaP for about 24 HRso. Actually, the Guardian did a better job with coverage than the U.S. outlets.

 

But, it is old news now and is sliding to the bottom of the regional news sections.I think both sides got what they wanted out of it.

[tsap seui]

Ho hum, how much money did we borrow from the Chinese for that ship to rattle our worn out sabers?

My wife asked me about his yesterday. I couldn't explain Superman or the Long Ranger to her, so I just said, "America is the world's policeman." I'm so tired of living in Joseph McCarthy's 1950's about China, I have nothing else to say (that I can print). Sound off the trumpets, bang on the drums, let's send the boys in. I reckon we need that oil and natural gas more than them pesky Chinese. Who knows though, maybe they will sell some of it to Japan, Vietnam, and the Filipinos and we can use our own....FOR US!!!!!!!!!!!