De Chinese expansie(drift)

Gestart door VandeWiel, 25/04/2010 | 22:02 uur

jurrien visser (JuVi op Twitter)

Citaat van: Thomasen op 25/11/2012 | 15:24 uur
Dat China met een zeer snelle ontwikkeling van haar militaire capaciteiten bezig is, kan niemand ontkennen. Ook dit is daar weer een stevig voorbeeld van. Zou me niets verbazen als ook dit schip in een (semi)operationele taakgroep terecht komt.

Lijkt me geweldig, het is 2014 en net buiten de 12 mijls zone, voor de Scheveningse kust, vaart een Chinese carrier battle group, natuurlijk onaangekondigt maar wel goed voor het publiek zichtbaar.

Eén OPV is wakker... nu de politiek nog.

dudge

Citaat van: Elzenga op 25/11/2012 | 15:11 uur
Ze leren snel!!

Dat China met een zeer snelle ontwikkeling van haar militaire capaciteiten bezig is, kan niemand ontkennen. Ook dit is daar weer een stevig voorbeeld van. Zou me niets verbazen als ook dit schip in een (semi)operationele taakgroep terecht komt.

jurrien visser (JuVi op Twitter)


Elzenga


J15: successful Landing & Takeoff drill on Chinese aircraft carrier Liaoning on Nov. 23 2012

Ze leren snel!!

jurrien visser (JuVi op Twitter)

China to launch first self-made aircraft carrier in 2013

2012/11/24

Taipei, Nov. 24 (CNA) China's first domestically made aircraft carrier will be launched next year and will be commissioned between 2015 and 2016, according to a Hong Kong magazine.

After the launch of the first carrier, China will bring a second one on stream two years later, the Mirror said in its December edition, which was made available to the CNA in advance.

The Chinese-language magazine also said that mainland China plans to build a superb first-class Navy over 20 or 30 years.

In the first decade, China will build three aircraft carrier fleets while in the second decade, it will build two nuclear-powered aircraft carriers, the report said.

The magazine forecast that China will launch its first nuclear- powered aircraft carrier no later than 2020.

(By Stanley Cheung and Lilian Wu)

http://focustaiwan.tw/ShowNews/WebNews_Detail.aspx?Type=aIPL&ID=201211240010

jurrien visser (JuVi op Twitter)

All eyes on China in Asian arms build-up

by: Rick Wallace, Tokyo correspondent
From:The Australian
November 22, 2012

THE decks of the Liaoning were filled with saluting sailors rather than fighter aircraft and in the smog it was impossible to see Hu Jintao and other dignitaries at the commissioning ceremony for China's first aircraft carrier.

The carrier itself is a retrofitted Ukrainian model and was once earmarked to be a floating casino in Macau. Compared with the 97,000-tonne, nuclear-powered George Washington, the centrepiece of the US Navy's fleet in Asia, the Liaoning is a modest vessel.

Nevertheless, the official launch of China's first aircraft carrier, in the northeastern seaport town of Dalian in September, may turn out to be the moment the world fully awoke to the significance of the arms build-up taking place in Asia.

Having an aircraft carrier - even one described by Western analysts as a floating museum - is a potent symbol of a nation's desire to project force in the open ocean. And China has wasted no time in using the commissioning of the Liaoning, on the eve of its decadal leadership transition, as a symbol of power, reportedly already conducting test flights on it.

Neighbouring countries - indeed, countries throughout the region - didn't need the Liaoning launch to tip them off about this: they've been steadily upgrading defence capabilities in recent years to counter China's rise.

According to a recent study by the Washington-based Centre for Strategic and International Studies, "several Asian countries are already among the largest defence spenders in the world".

"In addition, unlike the defence budgets in many other regions, Asian defence spending continues to be on the rise in stark contrast to Europe and the US, where defence budgets have been declining in recent years."

The latest figures from the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute show the value of defence imports in Asia grew by 25 per cent across the four years to 2011. Put together with Oceania, the region accounts for 44 per cent of all arms imports.

These figures, of course, do not factor in the full total of China's expenditure. Much of the production of its new nuclear submarines, warships and missiles is carried out domestically, leaving the true value shrouded.

But according to the CSIS study, even China's official figures show spending has quadrupled in the past decade. At the end of last year, says the CSIS study, China was spending $90 billion a year on defence, or 40 per cent of the total defence spending from the five biggest arms spenders in Asia (China, India, Japan, South Korea and Taiwan). The Stockholm Institute says the real total could be as much as $140bn a year.

Asian defence spending "accelerated visibly around 2005", according to the CSIS, so is this the start of a new arms race? The experts can't agree.

But one thing is certain: with its continued rise economically and militarily, China has everyone's attention. This includes Australia, which is keeping a close eye on the security of shipping lanes for our exports and imports through the South China Sea.

China is in dispute with The Philippines, Vietnam, Taiwan, Malaysia and Indonesia over control of strategic outcrops and hydrocarbon resources in a stretch of water that covers sea lanes used for half the world's shipping trade.

Julia Gillard, attending the East Asia Summit in Cambodia this week, says Australia supports a code of conduct for rival claims in the South China Sea to avert clashes that affect these trade routes.

"We are talking about an area of the world that our shipping goes through to take our goods to the world," she says.

"It is a heavily used trade route for Australia and consequently what happens with maritime security there is important to us."

The US, which also supports a code of conduct to prevent maritime clashes, has made no secret of the redeployment of military assets under its "pivot" to Asia, which will see 60 per cent of its naval ships deployed in the Asia-Pacific.

The director of the Lowy Institute's international security program, Rory Medcalf, has stopped short of calling it an arms race for now, but acknowledges the trend bears close study.

"I would be pedantic and hesitate to call it an arms race, but there's very few headline writers in the world who would agree with me," he says. "It is a competitive arms dynamic. There's a lot of hedging and investment in niche capabilities."

His point, and that of many analysts, is that while spending has grown markedly, it has not grown much as a percentage of gross domestic product. That's broadly correct and certainly true of China, where spending has remained at about 2 per cent of GDP (about the same level as Australia). In comparison, the US continues to spend almost 5 per cent of GDP on defence.

Other Asian nations, particularly in Southeast Asia, have ramped up their spending dramatically, but off a very low base.

Medcalf says that although Southeast Asian powers are keen to match each other's capabilities, the overall increase in spending is mostly about China's rise. Smaller states know they can't match China's military machine but are investing in submarines and aircraft to avoid being pushed around in territorial disputes.

China is investing in missiles - its "carrier killer" DF-21 anti-ship missiles and its DF-41 intercontinental ballistic missiles - along with nuclear submarines, destroyers and aircraft. According to some analysts, it is helping to build a "string of pearls" in developing countries consisting of Indian Ocean ports where its warships can berth and resupply. It is also pursuing stealth aircraft technology. But all indications from the experts are that its stealth technology, like its blue water navy and its fighter aircraft, lag the US by many years in terms of capability and technology.

On spending figures, as well as technological might, the US still leads the way and remains the guarantor of freedom of navigation in the Asian seas.

But amid tight budgetary pressure, defence spending in the US is unlikely to stay this high in percentage terms, with much riding on the so-called fiscal cliff at the end of the year. Most of the assets it places in Asia under the pivot will be ships and aircraft removed from other areas.

The US is shifting fighter aircraft (F22 Raptors) into its bases in Japan's southern island of Okinawa, as well as Osprey vertical take-off aircraft, and it will eventually have another aircraft carrier deployed in the Asia-Pacific to complement its West Coast force of four carrier groups and the USS George Washington group, based in Japan's Yokosuka base.

It does have, however, some new vessels under construction. Defence columnist Kirk Spitzer, who writes for Time magazine's Battleland site, says up to four new littoral conflict vessels (a new class of battleship suitable for clashes in shallow coastal waters) will be deployed from Singapore.

But it is submarines, Spitzer says, that are the main game. "Submarines remain the biggest concern in the South China Sea. You start sinking ships there and basically all commerce stops. For the US, subs are a major concern because if you have a carrier group in the South China Sea, then they could do a lot of damage."

The US has a fleet of 60 subs, including nine nuclear-powered vessels, and has more subs deployed in Asia than elsewhere, according to a recent AP article.

"There's a submarine arms race going on right now," another American defence specialist who chooses to remain nameless tells The Australian. "Every country that has a coastline in Asia is investing in submarines.

"It's primarily driven by China because everybody is obsessed with China, but everybody is concerned about their neighbour, too.

"It's about access. When you get out on the high seas the US has the game wrapped up, but when you get into the coastal areas it's a free-for-all."

Indonesia, South Korea, India and Singapore have all recently purchased or built submarines, or are planning to do so so.

Australia, too, is buying or building new subs to replace the trouble-plagued Collins class. The government also has committed to purchasing up to 100 Lockheed Martin F-35 Joint Strike Fighters to replace our ageing fighter fleet, albeit with significant delays.

Medcalf, who has dubbed Australia "the odd man out" in the region for cutting overall defence spending, says that while these projects are on the drawing board, there is a great scepticism in the defence community that the government can "square the circle" in accomplishing these goals within the budget it has allocated. A technology swap deal with Japan recently brokered by Defence Minister Stephen Smith and first revealed in the The Australian could alleviate some of the uncertainty on costs by allowing Australia to buy Japanese engines for the subs.

Japan, the other main regional power, is limited by caps on military spending and its peaceful constitution, but it is forging ahead with the US on a missile shield that's ostensibly about protecting against North Korean missiles but in reality is also about China.

The US and Japan recently announced a second X-band radar site would be installed in the south to complement the one in the northern island of Hokkaido. It will help improve missile-interception capabilities. Japan also is upgrading its fighter fleet by purchasing 42 Lockheed Martin F-35 Joint Strike Fighters.

South Korea's defence spending has not been growing as fast as other countries of late but it did recently reach agreement with the US to extend the range of its ballistic missiles to hit any point of North Korea. That will involve upgrades to its missiles and it is also upgrading its KF-16 fighter fleet.

Still, Spitzer, like Medcalf, hesitates to call the build-up an arms race. "I don't really see it. You have an arms build-up, but it's not an arms race," he says. "Even the arms build-up is not that significant. I don't see it contributing to any sort of imminent armed conflict."

Spitzer says it also is important to look at the quality of soldiers, noting that China spends about $40,000 a soldier a year compared with the $240,000 in Japan and almost $500,000 in the US.

Another overlooked element of the defence build-up amid all the focus on China and the US pivot is India, which received 10 per cent of all arms imports in the four years from 2007 to 2011. It "is likely to remain the largest recipient of major conventional weapons in the coming years", according to the Stockholm Institute report.

"They are buying subs, surface ships and aircraft," Spitzer says. It's about Pakistan, but also about China, against which it fought an all-but-forgotten war in the 1960s, he says.

Roughly half the goods transported between countries go through the South China Sea and this accounts for $1.2 trillion of trade each year.

Add to that the large gas reserves, territorial conflicts and important fish stocks in the area, and it is no surprise that the region's inhabitants are hedging their bets with arms purchases.

Everyone's definition of an arms race is different, but when even Bangladesh - growing rapidly but still one of the poorest countries - is buying a submarine perhaps there's something worth watching going on.

http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/features/all-eyes-on-china-in-asian-arms-build-up/story-e6frg6z6-1226521547251

dudge

Citaat van: Elzenga op 19/11/2012 | 17:36 uur
Als je ziet waar China allemaal in investeert in Europa zou me niks verbazen. Maar militaire eenheden zullen hier waarschijnlijk slechts op bezoek komen. Of China moet dan al tot de "nieuwe vijand" zijn gebombardeerd door bepaalde kringen.

Dat zijn ze al. Die koude oorlog tussen China en het westen is al aan de gang. Al is het nu nog slechts in de begin status, hij doet in niks onder voor de koude oorlog tussen de vroege sovjet unie en het westen. Chinese militaire bases in Europa is dan ook niet iets waarvan ik denk dat we daar naar uit moeten kijken, maar zoveel mogelijk moeten zien tegen te houden. En ja, het is niet onlogisch dat de Chinezen een positie zoeken waarvan ze Europa en de VS figuurlijk bij de ballen hebben, maar dat betekend niet dat we dat ook toe moeten laten. Ze gaan maar lekker in Algerije zitten ofzo.....ohh wacht...ze zitten al in half Afrika.

Elzenga

#402
Citaat van: Thomasen op 18/11/2012 | 11:06 uurMisschien kunnen we ze op leeuwarden uitnodigen? Is aan denl poltiek gelijk duidelijk dat de Chinezen zo vreedzaam zijn.
Als je ziet waar China allemaal in investeert in Europa zou het me niks verbazen. Maar militaire eenheden zullen hier waarschijnlijk slechts op bezoek komen. Of China moet dan al tot de "nieuwe vijand" zijn gebombardeerd door bepaalde kringen.

jurrien visser (JuVi op Twitter)

Arms race explodes as neighbours try to counter China

Date November 19, 2012
Lindsay Murdoch

Cambodian capital, Phnom Penh, on Tuesday.

Defence spending across the region increased 13.5 per cent to $US25.4 billion ($24.5 billion) last year and was expected to rise to $US40 billion by 2016, the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute said.

Flush with economic success and wary of China's military expansion, countries are acquiring sophisticated sea- and air-based arsenals that include dozens of submarines that can operate in secret.

The institute said Indonesia, Vietnam, Thailand and Cambodia had increased defence budgets by 66 per cent to 82 per cent from 2002 to last year.

Indonesia was buying submarines from South Korea and coastal radar systems from China and the US, Vietnam was getting submarines and combat jets from Russia and had acquired Israeli ballistic missiles, defence analysts said.

Vietnam's defence budget for this year is $US3.1 billion, a rise of 35 per cent over last year. The Philippines has a huge wish-list of equipment it wants from the US and is also approaching Japan, South Korea, France and Britain for defence acquisitions.

Singapore, already the fifth-largest weapons importing nation, looked like keeping its title as the region's biggest spender, allocating $US9.7 billion this year on defence, 24 per cent of its national budget. The city-state's purchases included combat jets from the US and submarines from Sweden.

Thailand was planning to buy submarines and warplanes from Sweden that would eventually be fitted with anti-ship missiles, while arms deliveries to Malaysia jumped eightfold over the five years to 2009.

For decades, much of south-east Asia spent little on weapons except guns and tanks to respond to internal threats. But they are now building their defence capabilities amid tensions over territorial claims in the South China Sea and other squabbles that underscore the role of the East Asia Summit.

Leaders attending include the US President, Barack Obama, the Chinese Premier, Wen Jiabao, and the Australian Prime Minister, Julia Gillard.

Defence officials estimated 86 submarines would be added to regional fleets by 2020, 30 of which would belong to China, which already had the most.

Some Chinese nuclear submarines were expected to carry 12 sea-launched ballistic missiles and could eventually be equipped with multiple warheads.

A south-east Asia analyst from the Australian Defence Force Academy at the University of NSW, Carl Thayer, said the ''deployment of nuclear submarines, including ballistic missile submarines, will introduce a new geostrategic dimension to the regional balance of power''.

Professor Thayer said Chinese nuclear submarine deployments would attract continuing attention from the US Navy. He warned the arms buying spree could have a destabilising impact on regional security.

In a paper delivered in Vietnam at the weekend, Professor Thayer says ''south-east Asia is ripe for rivalry - but not armed conflict - due to the strategic mistrust between a rising and increasingly militarily powerful China and a US committed to maintaining the present balance of power''.

Senior US officials said Mr Obama's trip to Cambodia, the first by a US president, would reinforce the ''pivot'' of US security forces to Asia and the Pacific. The strategy is seen as a counterweight to China, which is aggressively asserting its claim to almost all the South China Sea. Parts of the area are also claimed by the Philippines, Brunei, Malaysia and Vietnam.

In his paper, Professor Thayer says the ''most disturbing'' trend in defence spending is China's growing reliance on citizen fishing fleets and paramilitary forces gathering in a disputed area to assert Chinese jurisdiction.

Read more: http://www.smh.com.au/world/arms-race-explodes-as-neighbours-try-to-counter-china-20121118-29k4m.html#ixzz2Cf2mVXhA

dudge

Citaat van: Elzenga op 18/11/2012 | 10:24 uur
Citaat van: jurrien visser op 18/11/2012 | 10:03 uurHet zal me benieuwen of het de Chinesen gaat lukken, als dat het geval is, dan zou dat toch een eye opener voor Europa en de NAVO moeten zijn.

Voor de Chinesen zou het een strategische meesterzet zijn, voor de Europeanen en de NAVO een blamage.
Ik denk niet dat het zal gebeuren of lukken. Maar zie theoretisch geen reden waarom China dit niet zou mogen doen. Het creëren van bases in het buitenland is niet slechts het recht van een aantal Westerse landen.

Misschien kunnen we ze op leeuwarden uitnodigen? Is aan denl poltiek gelijk duidelijk dat de Chinezen zo vreedzaam zijn.

Elzenga

Citaat van: jurrien visser op 18/11/2012 | 10:03 uurHet zal me benieuwen of het de Chinesen gaat lukken, als dat het geval is, dan zou dat toch een eye opener voor Europa en de NAVO moeten zijn.

Voor de Chinesen zou het een strategische meesterzet zijn, voor de Europeanen en de NAVO een blamage.
Ik denk niet dat het zal gebeuren of lukken. Maar zie theoretisch geen reden waarom China dit niet zou mogen doen. Het creëren van bases in het buitenland is niet slechts het recht van een aantal Westerse landen.

jurrien visser (JuVi op Twitter)

Citaat van: bermudasun.bm Vandaag om 09:38
China eyes air base in the Azores


Het zal me benieuwen of het de Chinesen gaat lukken, als dat het geval is, dan zou dat toch een eye opener voor Europa en de NAVO moeten zijn.

Voor de Chinesen zou het een strategische meesterzet zijn, voor de Europeanen en de NAVO een blamage.


jurrien visser (JuVi op Twitter)

China eyes air base in the Azores

Raymond Hainey
Senior Reporter

NOVEMBER 16: China is eyeing a US Air Force base in the Azores which is threatened with closure,  according to an expert on Chinese affairs.

Air Base Number 4 at Lajes Field, on Tercieira in the Atlantic chain of islands, is the home of the US 65th air base wing and jointly operated by the US and the Portuguese air force.

Writing on the Drudge Report website, writer and China expert Gordon G. Chang said that Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao had visited Terceira in June and toured the island.

Terceira has a largely agricultural economy and one in 20 jobs on the island are provided by the base.

Mr Chang said: "Unemployment is already high, about ten per cent. If Terceira is to have any future, the Portuguese government will have to find a new major tenant for Air Base Number 4."

Mr Chang said that the strategic important of the air base had lessened in recent years and had been downsized, while Beijing has identified Portugal as its entry point into Europe.

He added: "It is in this context the Portuguese are already thinking about the planned closure of Lajes Field. They don't want to invite China in, but they have quietly indicated they will have no choice is the US Air Force decides to leave the base."

Mr Chang said that if China was to take over the base, its air force would be able the patrol northern and central Atlantic and cut sea traffic between the US and Europe.

He added that Terciera is less than 2300 miles from New York – which means Chinese planes could target the US mainland, as well as deny access to the Mediterranean Sea.

Mr Chang quoted a US Defense Department spokesman as saying the US had "a close relationship" with Portugal.

The spokesman added: "They are an important NATO ally and bilateral partner and we continue to discuss our strong defence cooperation, in Portugal and around the world."

http://bermudasun.bm/main.asp?SectionID=24&SubSectionID=270&ArticleID=61801

Ace1

Citaat van: jurrien visser op 16/11/2012 | 17:00 uur
En niemand jat het Gripen concept... strange  :devil:

Zweedse degelijkheid valt niet te kopieren dat is gewoon te moeilijk voor de chinezen. ;)

jurrien visser (JuVi op Twitter)

Citaat van: Ace1 op 16/11/2012 | 16:59 uur
Onder het motto beter goed gejat dan zelf slecht bedacht. ;)

En niemand jat het Gripen concept... strange  :devil: