De Chinese expansie(drift)

[jurrien visser (JuVi op Twitter)]

China has territorial claims to nearly 20 countries

17.07.2012

Chinese leader Mao Zedong not only built a strong country but also outlined a global goal: "We must conquer the globe where we will create a powerful state." Today, China has territorial claims to all its neighbors. Naturally, the U.S. is dreaming of becoming a mediator in resolving disputes in the region. But it seems that Beijing absolutely does not care about their opinion.

Burma, Laos, Northern India, Vietnam, Nepal, Bhutan, Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore, the Ryukyu Islands, 300 islands of the South China, East China and Yellow Seas, as well as Kyrgyzstan, Mongolia, Taiwan, South Kazakhstan, the Afghan province of Bahdashan, Transbaikalia and the Far East to South Okhotsk - here is the complete list of areas that, according to Zedong, were lost due to the fall of the Qing empire. All of these countries and regions combined exceed the territory of modern China. Not all complaints are voiced by the Government of China in the international arena, but within the country the imperialist ambitions have not been lost, but rather, are actively promoted.

The PRC authorities talk out loud only about the areas that, at least theoretically, can be taken away from Japan and Korea. Tokyo is regularly frustrated not only because of the travel of the Russian leaders to the Kuril Islands, but also about the Chinese ships freely entering the disputed Senkaku Islands waters. Beijing believes that the Islands are called Diaoyu, and they belonged to China, but the malicious Japanese tricked the U.S. into giving them to Japan because after World War II the uninhabited archipelago was in the US jurisdiction.

Significant reserves of natural gas were found on the islands. For the growing industry of China and stagnant Japan it is more than a serious argument in favor of the struggle for the archipelago, no matter what it is called. Not to mention the fish that is found there in large quantities. To date, the only agreement the parties have reached in the negotiations is on the joint development of oil fields. In addition, if the Japanese behave more or less decently, the Chinese are regularly caught for illegal fishing in the area.

Any territorial dispute, but rather, its resolution, is a serious precedent. If China's claim in respect of at least one territory from the list of the "lost" is satisfied, the Chinese machine would be unstoppable. Despite the fact that the Chinese are very pleased to partner with Russia and have always supported Russia in the UN Security Council, in person, on the sidelines, its diplomats supposedly jokingly hint to their Russian colleagues: you must understand that soon you will have to share the Far East? China has more than a billion people, while Russia's vast territory barely has 150 million.

These dangerous trends - demographic, and as a result, geopolitical - must sound scary to the Russian government, but so far it seems that it is happy with the fact that Beijing makes territorial claims only to Seoul and Tokyo. In 2005 Russia had already given China a bounty in the form of 337 square kilometers of land in the area of ​​Big Island (upper Argun River in the Chita region) and two sites in the vicinity of the islands Tarabarov and Big Ussuri near the confluence of the Amur and Ussuri.

However, none of the leaders of the military departments of ASEAN that includes all debating countries agree to recognize, for example, the fact that Diaoyu belongs to Japan. Instead, the defense ministers of Vietnam, Indonesia, Australia, Thailand and Singapore urged the Japanese authorities to proceed with caution and within the framework of the international law. These countries certainly do not need a resolution to the dispute because in that case their territory will be separated from China only by perseverance of the latter.

They are silent about the "Iodo island" (the Chinese version is Suenchzhao. - Ed) in the East China Sea. The sneaky Chinese took the principle of dividing the Arctic as an example and now claim that the underwater ridge of this tiny piece of land is under close control of the Chinese. Since the Iodo is closer to Korea, in 2003 the Koreans built an uninhabitable marine research station there. From the standpoint of the international law, this rock in general should not be the subject of a debate.

In any case, the controversy continues, Japan and South Korea remain to be supported by their all-time ally - the United States. For the US, the unification of Southeast Asian Nations is a chance to save their own economy, because in that case the World Trade Center will move there, where currently there are no transnational corporations in the amount sufficient for the U.S. 

The success of the White House in the region does not depend on the strength that America loves to show any chance it has, but rather, diplomacy, as the countries of ASEAN and Asia-Pacific region do not trust each other or anyone outside the regional boundaries. However, Washington is trusted here because of the support of Seoul and Tokyo. However, China has already pushed Japan out of the ranks of the largest economies in the world, and the structure of the region is no longer formed on spatial basis.

Therefore, territorial claims of China, and not Russia, India or, for example, Australia are so important for Washington. Beijing is the only capital of the world, ready to use force in the struggle for the sake of expansion. During the last ten years, while America was blowing up its financial bubble, China has not only developed the industry, but also equipped its area of ​​interest with military equipment. China has placed 38 new diesel and nuclear submarines in the region, purchased four destroyers of class "Modern" from Russia and built another dozen on its own, and has launched a network of ground-based ballistic missiles to destroy naval targets.

Only one other country has done this before - the Soviet Union during the "Cold War". It is no wonder that the Americans are very concerned with the regular quarrels between China and its major allies. Construction of a naval base on Hainan Island does not add confidence to the U.S. The proximity to the Malacca Strait poses a threat to the smooth supply of Washington's main allies in the region - Japan, South Korea and Taiwan - this is the way the US sees the situation. The American senators have already decided that such behavior is a threat to Beijing's regional peace and stability, economic development and even "food security". The international community is well aware what usually follows such wording.

Ilona Raskolnikova

http://english.pravda.ru/world/asia/17-07-2012/121658-china_territorial_claims-0/

[Lex]

Navy on standby for Spratlys deployment

MANILA, Philippines - The military is ready to assist the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) in enforcing the country's maritime laws, but will only do so if ordered by higher authorities.

Armed Forces spokesman Col. Arnulfo Burgos Jr. stressed Tuesday that the PCG is the agency tasked to ensure that the country's laws are being followed.

"The maritime laws there (in the West Philippine Sea) are being enforced by the Philippine Coast Guard and whenever told to do so, we will be in the area," Burgos said in a press briefing.

"But as far as our constitutional mandate to protect the people and the state, we will continue to do that," he added.

Burgos was asked to react to reports that China has sent a big fleet of fishing vessels at the disputed Spratly Islands.

Burgos said they would only comply with the directives issued to them by higher authorities.

"We are implementers. We just execute whatever order is handed down to us," Burgos said.

"Coordination between the Philippine Coast Guard and the Armed Forces of the Philippines is very critical," he added.

On Sunday, a huge fleet of Chinese fishing vessels arrived at the contested parts of the West Philippine Sea, in what observers view as an effort to assert Beijing's claim over the area.

China's state-owned news agency Xinhua said the fleet of 30 fishing vessels from Hainan province arrived near Yongshu Reef on Monday afternoon.

The fleet reportedly includes a 3,000 ton supply ship and a patrol vessel and is said to be the largest ever launched from the province.

The fishing expedition in the area will last for five to 10 days, reports said.

The arrival of the fishing fleet in the Spratlys came on the same day a Chinese warship that ran aground on a shoal off Palawan was successfully refloated after being assisted by vessels sent by Beijing.

The grounded ship - a Jianghu-class, Chinese guided-missile frigate – was removed from the Hasa Hasa (Half Moon) Shoal on Sunday and left the area on the same day.

Hasa Hasa Shoal, where the Chinese warship got stuck, is located about 60 nautical miles off Rizal town in Palawan.

The warship got stuck on the shoal last July 11 while conducting a routine patrol.

The Philippine media knew about the incident through a report released by Australian paper Sydney Morning Herald last Friday.

Philippine officials did not inform the public about the incident before the Sydney Morning Herald report was published.

The warship reportedly pinned itself to a reef at Hasa Hasa Shoal, on the southeastern edge of the hotly-contested Spratlys Islands.

The ship got stuck within the Philippines' 200-nautical mile exclusive economic zone, as determined by exclusive economic zone as provided by international law.

The Philippine Star
July 17, 2012 03:52 PM

[jurrien visser (JuVi op Twitter)]

Philippines says no protest as Chinese ship leaves

Agence France-Presse
Sunday, July 15th, 2012

MANILA, Philippines—The Philippines said Sunday it would not lodge a diplomatic protest after China extricated a naval frigate from a disputed South China Sea shoal where it had been stranded for four days.

Last week's stranding of the ship on Half Moon shoal, which Manila calls Hasa Hasa, was likely an accident, Foreign Secretary Albert del Rosario said.

"We don't believe that there were ill-intentions that accompanied the presence of that ship in our EEZ [exclusive economic zone]," Del Rosario said.

"As far as filing a diplomatic protest is concerned, my stance is that we will probably not do that," he said.

The ship was reportedly on "routine patrol" when it got stranded Wednesday on the shoal, which sits just 60 nautical miles from the western Philippine island of Palawan, within the country's exclusive economic zone.

International law defines a country's exclusive economic zone as being up to 200 nautical miles from its shores.

The Chinese embassy in Manila said the frigate was "refloated successfully" before daybreak Sunday, and Del Rosario said he was informed it was already en route back to China.

"We wish its crew a safe voyage back to China," he said.

The shoal is part of the Spratly Islands – which the Chinese call Nansha – a string of atolls and islands straddling vital shipping lanes in the West Philippine Sea (South China Sea) believed sitting atop vast mineral deposits.

Apart from the Philippines and China, the Spratlys are claimed in whole or in part by Taiwan and the other Southeast Asian countries of Brunei, Malaysia and Vietnam.

Overlapping claims to the islands have perennially caused tensions among the claimants, with the Philippines and Vietnam recently accusing China of increasingly becoming aggressive in staking its claims.

The dispute also marred an annual meeting of Southeast Asian foreign ministers held in Cambodia last week, where Manila's chief diplomat accused China of "duplicity" and intimidation.

The dispute divided the grouping, with host Cambodia siding with China, thus preventing them from issuing a customary joint statement that summarizes achievements and concerns.

But in a marked turn-around of rhetoric Sunday, Philippine Defense Secretary Voltaire Gazmin said the Chinese frigate apparently made a navigational mistake that caused it to run aground.

Gazmin said there appeared to be no signs that it was on a mission to intrude in a Philippine claimed area, noting the absence of structures on the shoal.

"It may have been human error. The CO [commanding officer] may have not seen the rocks," Gazmin said.

http://globalnation.inquirer.net/44355/philippines-says-no-protest-as-chinese-ship-leaves

[jurrien visser (JuVi op Twitter)]

Philippines Plane Sights Stranded Chinese Ship

July 14, 2012

Manila. A Philippine military aircraft confirmed Saturday that a Chinese naval frigate remains stranded in disputed waters of the South China Sea, a military spokesman said.

The Chinese frigate and smaller craft were sighted by a Philippine Islander plane, said regional military spokesman Colonel Neil Anthony Estrella.

"During the aerial reconnaissance mission, they were able to confirm, based on photographs, that there is indeed a ship with bow number 560 aground at Half Moon Shoal," he told Agence France-Presse.

He said five more vessels and a number of smaller boats were assisting the grounded ship.

A navy ship and a coast guard vessel had been dispatched to the area to monitor the Chinese operations, he added.

He stressed that the shoal was just 60 nautical miles from the western Philippine island of Palawan, well within the country's 200-nautical-mile exclusive economic zone, as recognized by international law.

Foreign Department spokesman Raul Hernandez said in a statement, "we need to find out what really happened with the Chinese frigate in our territory."

He reiterated that the Philippines would provide assistance to move the ship if China requested it.

The Chinese government earlier confirmed that the ship was on "routine patrol" when it became stranded near Half Moon Shoal in the Spratly Islands on Wednesday evening.

The stranding highlights the territorial conflicts between the two countries which marred the Asean Regional Forum in Cambodia this week.

At the forum, the Philippines' foreign minister denounced Chinese "duplicity" and "intimidation" in the South China Sea and conflicting positions on the issue prevented the Association of Southeast Asian Nations from issuing its customary joint statement.

The Philippines and China have been in a standoff since Chinese ships blocked the Philippine navy from arresting Chinese fishermen at the disputed Scarborough Shoal in the South China Sea in April.

The Philippines says the shoal is also within its EEZ but China claims the entire South China Sea as its historical territory, even up to the coasts of other Southeast Asian countries. The sea is believed to sit atop vast oil and gas deposits.

In Manila, a group of Filipino-Americans on Saturday called for a boycott of Chinese products and a day of prayer to rally support against China's actions.

Agence France-Presse

http://www.thejakartaglobe.com/international/philippines-plane-sights-stranded-chinese-ship/530518#Scene_1

[Harald]

The stricken People's Liberation Army Navy vessel, believed to be No. 560, a Jianghu-class frigate

Read more: http://www.smh.com.au/world/embarrassment-as-chinese-frigate-runs-aground-20120713-220r8.html#ixzz20WhiYKQF


Meer info en foto van fregat :
http://eyedrd.org/2012/07/chinese-jianghu-class-frigate-no-560-gets-stuck-in-the-philippines-water.html

[Lex]

China navy ship 'stranded' in disputed waters

Ik was reeds op zoek naar de naam voor een foto, maar nog geen succes. 

[jurrien visser (JuVi op Twitter)]

Friday July 13, 2012

China navy ship 'stranded' in disputed waters

BEIJING: A Chinese naval frigate has run aground while patrolling disputed waters in the South China Sea, the defence ministry said Friday, amid tensions with the Philippines over territorial claims.

The ship was on "routine patrol" when it became stranded near Half Moon Shoal in the Spratly Islands on Wednesday evening, the ministry said in a statement posted on its website.

The shoal is off the Philippine island of Palawan.

No one was injured or killed in the accident and the navy was now organising a rescue, the statement said, but gave no further details.

The Sydney Morning Herald on Friday quoted Western diplomatic sources as saying the frigate, which has been discouraging fishing boats from the Philippines from entering the area, was "thoroughly stuck".

China says it has sovereign rights to all the South China Sea, believed to sit atop vast oil and gas deposits, including areas close to the coastlines of other countries and hundreds of kilometres (miles) from its own landmass.

But Taiwan, Vietnam, Brunei, Malaysia, and the Philippines also claim parts of the South China Sea.

The Spratlys are one of the biggest island chains in the area.

The rival claims have long made the South China Sea one of Asia's potential military flashpoints, and tensions have escalated over the past year.

The Philippines and Vietnam have complained China is becoming increasingly aggressive in its actions in the area, such as harassing fishermen, and also through bullying diplomatic tactics. - AFP

http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2012/7/13/reutersworld/20120713203512&sec=reutersworld

[jurrien visser (JuVi op Twitter)]

New carrier, new war scenarios
By Carl O Schuster

HONOLULU - China's as yet unnamed aircraft carrier will soon begin another round of sea trials before its planned commissioning in August. It has yet to conduct a full range of flight operations and its fixed-wing air component remains largely in the prototype and testing phase.

It will be several months, if not years, before it can fulfill many of the key roles attributed to a modern aircraft carrier and will not achieve full operational capability, including a complete fixed-wing and helicopter equipped air wing, nor full integration into fleet operations before 2016-2017.

Commissioning of the carrier nonetheless will mark a major milestone in China's progress towards becoming a major ocean-going naval power. The carrier will significantly improve the fleet's

air defenses and broad ocean strike capabilities, but its full strategic significance cannot be understood without examining its role within China's increasingly aggressive posture in the South China Sea and complex fleet force structure.

Beijing's fleet modernization program has involved the patient acquisition and development of the surveillance, sensor, command and control, and weapons systems integral to a balanced, modern ocean-going fleet. The People's Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) has introduced these new systems incrementally, building primarily upon technology acquired openly from Europe, Israel and Russia as well as incorporating American systems obtained from a variety of sources.

As a result, the latest Chinese surface ships and submarines are equipped with an array of first-rate sensor and weapons systems. The former have area air-defense systems not unlike America's Aegis-system, albeit with capabilities more akin to earlier rather than the latest models. The Luyang-II class guided missile destroyers are a formidable platform equipped with the HHQ-9 area air defense surface-to-air missile (SAM) system and both YJ-82 anti-ship (ASCM), and more ominously for neighboring Southeast Asian nations, HN-2 land attack cruise missiles (LACMs).

With those high-end platforms entering service in growing numbers, China's new carrier will extend the fleet's reach, reinforcing its strike power and providing a command, control, communications, computer and intelligence (C4I) platform for an embarked fleet commander. The question moving ahead will be which roles dominate and under what conditions.

All militaries balance their plans and structure against two often competing mission requirements: the most dangerous situation they will face and the most likely one. For the PLAN, the sea denial mission is perceived as countering the most dangerous. That is, denying a hostile fleet from controlling its most critical waters as defined in China's 2008 Defense White Paper, starting from the referred to "first island chain" stretching from the Yellow Sea down to the eastern and southernmost reaches of the South China Sea.

For that strategic concern, the carrier can play a forward command role, extend the fleet's and nation's air defense umbrella by an additional 200 nautical miles, and protect reconnaissance platforms flying out from shore bases. The embarked admiral can command all the naval and forward air forces involved, including coordinating with the 2nd Artillery Corps in its employment of China's DF-21D anti-ship ballistic missiles (ASBMs). With ASBMs targeting enemy carriers, China's aircraft carrier could be used as a quick reaction strike platform against the enemy's other surface combatants.

The carrier will be able to perform a similar mission under what Chinese leaders probably see as a more likely conflict scenario: a limited regional war under high technology conditions. China's recent emphasis on defending its "territorial sovereignty" in the South China Sea is of growing regional concern due to the extensive nature of its maritime claims.

China's recent confrontation with the Philippines at Scarborough Shoal is the latest example of its growing assertiveness over the contested area. Beijing's elevation last month of the South China Sea islands of Xisha, Zhongsha and Nansha to prefecture status is indication of Beijing's hardening political commitment to these claims. The 2011 White Paper reiterated China's strong commitment to defending its claimed national territory and Beijing is increasingly employing military forces to fortify related maritime claims.

Although the sea denial scenario would still apply in a limited regional war, the carrier's role against China's weaker neighbors would focus more on sustaining air and maritime superiority. China's fleet will likely rely on the carrier's air wing to intercept any enemy ASCM-carrying aircraft and attack any surface ships that move into position to threaten China's surface units or island garrisons. Chinese leaders probably view this last mission - the enforcement of maritime sovereignty over the South China Sea - as a likely scenario, especially should its growing coast guard prove insufficient to the task.

Learning by doing
For now, the carrier is more significant strategically for what it portends than what it is. China's leaders say they built the carrier primarily for experimentation and study and those roles will certainly dominate its early operations. However, China does not possess a pool of experienced aircraft personnel to fulfill the carrier's crew requirements. Although China has studied aircraft design and operation for over 20 years, the crew will still have to learn largely by doing. Based on its large number of sea trials, including at least eight since last August, the PLAN is taking a cautious and incremental approach to preparing the carrier and its crew for August's commissioning.

Carriers are the world's most complex warships, involving the simultaneous operation of dozens of systems and hundreds of personnel at very close quarters. That is especially true during flight operations, the most dangerous of military activities outside of combat. Simulations and pier-side drills can help crews to prepare, but there is no substitute for actual operations. China's carrier is expected to begin simple one-two plane flight deck operations later this year, starting with "touch and goes" where planes simply touch the deck before resuming flight and later daytime landings and launches.

Notwithstanding those exercises, China's carrier will enter service without a fully composed air wing. Its primary fixed-wing aircraft, the Shenyang J-15, has not entered production and is not expected to before 2014. China's Russian-built Sukhoi Su-33MKKs are reportedly carrier capable, but only J-15 prototypes have been seen flying off the carrier's deck. It appears that the Sukhoi aircraft were acquired specifically to build a pool of qualified aviators to facilitate the establishment of the carrier's air wing once its fixed wing component was operational.

If the J-15 follows traditional aircraft development and production patterns, China will commission its first fully operational squadron by either late 2015 or early 2016. Several months of carrier workups will likely follow. Until then, the carrier's primary air wing components will consist of helicopters, primarily the Z-9 anti-submarine and Z-8 logistic models. There is no indication so far that China is developing a ship borne airborne warning and control system (AWACS), aerial refueling tanker, electronic warfare capability or maritime patrol aircraft.

Those shortcomings mean China's carrier must rely on shore-based aircraft for those missions. Although jet aircraft can carry "buddy stores" to refuel their mates on long missions and carry electronic countermeasures pods or anti-radiation missiles to defeat enemy air defenses, their inclusion comes at the expense of ordnance and other payloads.

The carrier's accompanying guided missile destroyers (DDGs) can also use their land attack cruise missiles against key enemy air defense centers and sites to clear the way for the air wing.

There has been speculation that China is developing an airborne early warning (AEW) version of the Z-8, China's license-built model of the French SA-320 Super Frelon. While that helicopter has the lift and endurance to carry a long-range surveillance radar, it cannot service the command and control systems required to conduct AWACS missions. It can, however, detect and warn of incoming low-altitude cruise missiles and provide outstanding just-beyond-the-horizon surveillance, warning and targeting. But in a high intensity naval operation there is no substitute for an AWACS with its battle space management and long-range surveillance capabilities.

To be sure, China's Z-9 ship borne helicopters are outstanding close-in surveillance and anti-submarine warfare (ASW) platforms, but they are no substitute for long-range or long endurance fixed-wing ASW search and localization aircraft. Perhaps China's military planners believe unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) can fill its AWACS and long-range ASW and maritime surveillance roles.

Given the carrier's long incubation period, that seems quite plausible - although such platforms will not be combat-ready and integrated into fleet operations before the end of this decade. Until then, the carrier's capabilities against a conventional takeoff or landing (CTOL) carrier or fully integrated enemy air and fleet defense system will be limited.

Missions beyond war
At the same time, aircraft carriers have significant uses beyond their war potential. With a likely eventual air wing of 20-30 fixed wing fighters and 12-18 helicopters, once fully operational, China's carrier will offer a full range of surveillance, helo-borne transport and fighter capabilities to support various combatant and non-combatant contingencies.

China's maritime trade now stretches around the globe and requires ever rising levels of protection, a fact that has been driven home to China's political and naval leaders over the last four years. Indian Ocean piracy has hit China's trade hard, driving it to deploy small naval contingents to conduct anti-piracy operations; its 12th anti-piracy contingent recently departed for the western Indian Ocean. However, meeting the small surface action groups' needs without a forward base has provided challenging lessons and significant on-the-job logistics training for China's naval crews.

The PLAN has already negotiated a series of access agreements reaching from the shores of Pakistan down to Djibouti to facilitate these missions. Regional media have speculated that China is also seeking an access arrangement, if not a permanent basing agreement, with the island nation of Seychelles. Although costs and geopolitical considerations will probably preclude China from seeking a permanent base in the Indian Ocean within this decade, anti-piracy missions and related logistics requirements will remain a key PLAN focus.

Over the last three years China has needed to rapidly evacuate its citizens from three far-flung countries - Libya, Kenya and Yemen - which have suffered from violent political turmoil. With over 5.5 million of its citizens officially working overseas, many in countries facing stability challenges, Beijing has likely given thought to expanding its capacity to evacuate them on short notice. The domestic political pressure for readiness will grow in the years ahead, driving the political leadership to at least consider a naval presence in waters near those areas. With its large helicopter contingent, the soon-to-be-commissioned carrier is second only to an amphibious task group in its ability to evacuate or assist large numbers of people in distant lands.

Looking beyond the evacuation of its citizens, Beijing cannot have missed the important role America's carriers performed during the massive international relief effort that followed the 2004 Asian tsunami disaster. China's carrier will be able to perform similar missions, though humanitarian assistance operations rarely receive much notice in Beijing's budgetary or military planning debates. The return in diplomatic and public goodwill, however, could help to mitigate neighboring countries' threat perceptions associated with the carrier.

Beijing has long wanted a carrier force and for decades is known to have studied closely carrier operations, design and technology. The prohibitive costs and political implications of acquiring a carrier made it the subject of much internal debate throughout the 1980s and 1990s. With those financial and political obstacles now overcome, military planners will gain intimate knowledge of a carrier's uses, costs and challenges. The latter should not be underestimated as carriers require significant logistical support, far beyond that needed for guided missile destroyers and lesser combatants. Discussions about China's carrier have so far seemingly overlooked issues related to integration with the PLAN's existing operations and coordination with its growing submarine force.
Coordinating surface fleet and air operations with submarines adds yet another level of complexity to an already complicated military operation. By building and commissioning a carrier, China has signaled it aims to become a great naval power. How the PLAN employs its carrier-bolstered fleet over the next two to five years will largely shape regional and global perceptions of China and its intentions. Even the carrier's name, once christened, will carry political significance outside China's shores. With growing power comes growing responsibility - the world will be watching how Beijing responds to both challenges.

Carl O Schuster is a retired United States Navy Captain based in Honolulu, Hawaii. The views expressed here are his own.

(Copyright 2012 Asia Times Online (Holdings) Ltd.

[jurrien visser (JuVi op Twitter)]

China's UAVs capable of disrupting U.S. aircraft carriers: reports

2012/06/24 19:09:55

Taipei, June 24 (CNA) China has reportedly developed unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) capable of interfering with the navigation of U.S. aircraft carriers in the Taiwan Strait and the South China Sea, according to foreign reports.

China Briefing, a news website sponsored by the Washington-based Jamestown Foundation, said China's continued investment in UAV research will make it the second UAV country after the U.S., and its rapidly developed UAVs will enable Beijing to interfere with the situation in the two bodies of water.

The UAV has become an important tool for the Chinese navy to carry out "anti-intervention and regional isolation operations," and the vehicles will be used particularly in anti-aircraft carrier combat, it said.

Jane's Defense Weekly reported that the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force displayed two pictures captured by its surveillance aircraft that show three People's Liberation Army Navy vessels crossing the Miyako waterway into the western Pacific on April 29.

One of the pictures shows three UAVs practicing vertical take-offs and landings on the rear deck of China's Type 054A frigate "Zhoushan."

Based on the picture, analysts speculated that the UAVs have good stealth capability and can carry 34 kilograms for six hours.

When performing reconnaissance missions, the UAVs have different types of sensors mounted on their bellies. Target images recorded by the UAVs will be transferred to frigates at sea using data link carriers, the weekly reported.

Jane's Defense Weekly reported that the UAVs spotted by Japan's defense ministry are similar to the Camcopter S-100s built by Austria-based Schiebel Corp.

The weekly magazine suspected that the Austrian company breached the European Union's arms embargo to China.

But Schiebel Corp. said its sale of civil S-100 UAVs to China in 2010 was in line with European Union regulations and stressed that the UAVs shown in the photos were not S-100s. The company suspected they might be products developed independently by the Chinese army.

Whatever the origin of the UAVs, James C. Bussert, editor at the U.S.-based Signal Magazine, said in an article that simply having UAVs would not be enough for the People's Liberation Army to attack U.S. aircraft carriers.

The army will need to have a comprehensive operational support system for search, identification, track, locks, combat and assessments against the "sources of threats," before it can complete a "kill chain," Bussert said.

He added, however, that the UAVs will be the integral part of the "kill chain."

(By Kang Shi-ren Ann Chen)

http://focustaiwan.tw/ShowNews/WebNews_Detail.aspx?Type=aIPL&ID=201206240013

[Lex]

China lawmakers slam claim to islands by Hanoi

China's top legislature strongly protested against Vietnam's "erroneous" new maritime law and urged its Vietnamese counterpart to make an "immediate correction".

Hanoi's disputes with Beijing in the South China Sea have given rise to frictions, and analysts said the passed law may internationalize the issue and bring a heavy blow to bilateral relations.

The Foreign Affairs Committee of The National People's Congress expressed its position concerning Vietnam's Thursday move in a letter to the Committee on Foreign Affairs of the Vietnamese National Assembly, Xinhua reported on Friday.

The Vietnamese Law of the Sea would include China's Xisha Islands and Nansha Islands in the South China Sea within Vietnam's so-called sovereignty and jurisdiction.

The NPC urged the Vietnamese lawmakers to pay substantial respect to China's territorial sovereignty, immediately correct its erroneous move and make due efforts to ensure the comprehensive strategic partnership between the two countries as well as the friendly relationship with its Chinese counterpart.

"It violates the consensus reached by leaders of both countries, as well as the principles of the Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the South China Sea," the letter said.

China has indisputable sovereignty over the Xisha and Nansha islands and adjacent waters in the South China Sea, the NPC reiterated, asserting that Vietnam's move seriously infringed China's sovereignty and is illegal and invalid.

Chinese Vice-Foreign Minister Zhang Zhijun on Thursday summoned Vietnam's Ambassador to China Nguyen Van Tho to lodge a solemn representation.

Vietnamese Foreign Ministry spokesman Luong Thanh Nghi, however, said in a statement posted on the ministry's website late Thursday that Vietnam rejected China's protest.

The official Thanh Nien newspaper reported on Friday that the law will come into force in January 2013, AFP said.

Qi Jianguo, former Chinese ambassador to Vietnam, said Hanoi's Law of the Sea will not change the fact that China enjoys indisputable sovereignty and substantial control over the islands.

"Actually the Vietnamese National Assembly approved the Law on National Border in June 2003 to lay rival claim over China's Xisha Islands and Nansha Islands, yet the move made little difference," Qi said.

The South China Sea is believed to sit atop vast oil and gas deposits, and by passing the law, Vietnam is trying to involve more foreign countries and firms in resource exploration and development in the area, said Shu Zhenya, a researcher of China Institute for Marine Affairs under the State Oceanic Bureau.

"Hanoi wants to bundle up its interests with countries overseas, and the passed law provides a legal basis for internationalizing the South China Sea issue," Shu said in an online article.

Shu also urged a quickening of ocean-related legislation and administration to ensure China's maritime rights and interests.

As a move to improve administrative management on the islands, China has raised the administrative status of Xisha, Zhongsha and Nansha islands in the South China Sea from county level to prefectural level, according to an official statement from the Ministry of Civil Affairs on Thursday.

Jakarta Post,
Sat, 06/23/2012 2:46 PM

[Lex]

China tightening grip on Spratlys

MANILA, Philippines - China has set up a new "prefecture level" city called Sansha to administer three disputed islands in the West Philippine Sea (South China Sea), according to Chinese state-owned Xinhua news agency.

The development has tightened China's grip on islands that it calls its own in the West Philippine Sea, particularly the Spratlys.

On Thursday, Xinhua reported that Xisha (Paracels), Zhongsha (Macclesfield bank), and Nansha (Spratlys) islands have been collectively elevated to prefecture status under Sansha city from their previous county-level status.

Sansha means "city of three sands" in Chinese.

A statement from the Ministry of Civil Affairs said the State Council or China's Cabinet has approved the establishment of Sansha, with its seat of government on Yongxing Island, which is part of the Paracels.

The county-level "administration office" for the three islands was also based on Yongxing Island.

A spokesperson for China's Ministry of Civil Affairs said the creation of Sansha city would help improve China's "administrative management on Xisha, Zhongsha and Nansha islands and their future development."

"It is also conducive to protecting the oceanic environment of the South China Sea," the spokesman said.

He claimed that China set up the administration office for the three islands in 1959.

He also maintained that it was China which first discovered and named the reefs and islets around Xisha, Zhongsha and Nansha Islands.

The Department of Foreign Affairs said it had no detailed information on China's latest declaration.

"We don't have yet the details of this report," DFA spokesman Raul Hernandez said.

Also on Thursday, China's foreign ministry spokesman Hong Lei urged Philippine officials to refrain from making remarks meant to influence public opinion on the month-old standoff at Panatag (Scarborough) Shoal.

Hong issued the statement at a press briefing in Beijing when asked to comment on President Aquino's announcement that Philippine Air Force planes would fly over Panatag Shoal to check on the situation in the area.

Hong asserted it was the Philippine warships' "harassment" of Chinese fishermen in early April that triggered the Panatag Shoal incident.

He said the Philippines' tough and high profile stance on the issue had only heightened tensions.

But he said tensions have eased and that the two sides have been vigorously exerting efforts to repair bilateral relations.

"China hopes the Philippine side will do more to help the development of bilateral ties and refrain from stirring public opinion, so as to safeguard the recovery of bilateral ties," Hong said.

Thankful

The DFA also said the Philippines greatly appreciates the United States' reaffirming of its support for the country in its territorial dispute with China, as relayed by Ambassador Harry Thomas Jr.

"What US Ambassador Harry Thomas Jr. said on Thursday was a reiteration of the US position on the territorial dispute and support for the Philippines to seek resolution," Hernandez said.

The US has been pressing China, the Philippines and other countries with territorial claims in the West Philippine Sea to resolve their dispute through diplomacy, particularly in accordance with international law, including the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS).

At the 2+2 meeting in May in Washington, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton had expressed deep concern over developments in the West Philippine Sea and urged China to clarify its motivation and interest in the region.

Hernandez said that Clinton's message was for nations involved to "subscribe to a rules-based approach in resolving competing claims in maritime areas through peaceful, collaborative, multilateral and diplomatic processes within the framework of international law, reflected in the UNCLOS."

"This is the same position that the Philippines has repeatedly conveyed to China," Hernandez said.

Unmindful of China

As China appears to be tightening its grip on territories being claimed by its smaller neighbors, the mayor of Kalayaan town in the Spratlys said he and his constituents would never give up asserting Philippines sovereignty.

Mayor Eugenio Bito-onon, in a telephone interview, said that while China cannot be prevented from doing "crazy things," they would never recognize its latest effort to strengthen its "administrative control" over the Spratlys.

"We do not recognize that. We are a regime of islands under the Philippine government," Bito-onon, said, stressing that Kalayaaan town has been in existence for 34 years. He said his municipality celebrated its founding anniversary last June 11.

He also said the seat of the so-called Sansha city on Yongxing Island or Woody Island in the Paracels – a Chinese island garrison – is 364 nautical miles from Kalayaan island town.

"It's very far from Pag-Asa. It's not going to affect us," he said.

Aside from China and the Philippines, Vietnam, Taiwan, Brunei and Malaysia have territorial claims in the area.

All Spratlys claimant countries have troops in the region except for Brunei.

The Philippine Star
June 23, 2012 12:00 AM

[jurrien visser (JuVi op Twitter)]

Chinese military steps up conventional missile capability

PTI Jun 11, 2012, 03.38PM IST

BEIJING: Amid escalation of maritime tensions with neighbours and a US military focus shift to Asia Pacific, Chinese military is stepping up its conventional missile capability, polishing its ability to carry out multiple launches while preserving its strategic nuclear deterrence.

"Conventional missiles are a trump card in modern warfare. So we must be ready at any time. We must be able to deliver a quick response to attacks, hit the targets with high accuracy, and destroy them totally," Tan Weihong, Commander of Second Artillery Force, which handles conventional and nuclear missiles said in a rear interview.

http://articles.economictimes.indiatimes.com/2012-06-11/news/32174850_1_missile-tests-deterrence-second-artillery-force

[dudge]

Chinese export groeit fors
PEKING - De Chinese export was afgelopen maand 15,3 procent hoger dan in dezelfde periode vorig jaar.
Foto:  AFP

Dat maakten de autoriteiten zondag bekend.

Het is een aanzienlijke stijging na een magere prestaties in de voorgaande maand. De import was in mei 12,7 procent hoger dan vorig jaar. Voor de derde maand op een rij registreert China een licht handelsoverschot.

na een kleine dip, lijken de Chinezen weer vollop over meer geld te gaan  beschikken. Geld dat (ook) gebruikt gaat worden om de regionale claims kracht bij te zetten.

[Lex]

Rusland haalt militaire banden aan met China

PEKING -  De Russische president Vladimir Poetin zei woensdag dat hij de militaire samenwerking met China wil aanhalen, onder meer door vaker samen te oefenen. De aankondiging komt na Amerikaanse plannen om de meeste oorlogsschepen naar de regio rond China te sturen tegen 2020.

Rusland en China hielden in april samen een grote marineoefening in de Gele Zee bij China. ,,Dat was de eerste van deze oefeningen", zei president Poetin na een gesprek met de Chinese vicepresident Xi Jinping. Poetin is dezer dagen in Peking voor een bezoek aan president Hu Jintao.

Telegraaf,
wo 06 jun 2012, 11:06

[Ace1]

hier een video


http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/videos/news/Will-deploy-60-of-navy-fleet-to-Asia-Pacific-Leon-Panetta/videoshow/13730478.cms