South China Sea and China (2018 onwards)

[AdamG]

“Chinese assertiveness” has become an infamous phrase – it is regularly used by media, pundits, and politicians, yet there is little scholarly work that would clarify the meaning of the concept. A similar situation exists when it comes to China’s power. Although it is generally assumed that “China is rising,” there are surprisingly few systematic studies of China’s power being done comprehensively and rigorously.
As such, we have ended up with the proposition that China is “assertive” and that the ongoing “power shift” is the reason why. In reality, we do not know which Chinese actions, precisely, fall within the “assertive” label or what this label actually means. Similarly, we do not know how much power China has acquired, and we are not even sure how to assess China’s power. Worse, there is not even much ongoing discussion about these questions.

https://thediplomat.com/2017/12/whats-really-behind-chinese-assertiveness-in-the-south-china-sea/

[AdamG]

HONG KONG — President Trump railed against a lot of things in 2017. Chinese construction in the South China Sea was not really one of them, despite his campaign tough talk.
Focused on North Korea and evidently enamored of President Xi Jinping, the voluble U.S. president said relatively little as China continued to build on disputed islands, rocks and reefs.
A recent Chinese report hailed progress in the South China Sea last year, noting construction totaling 290,000 square meters, or 72 acres. That included work on hangars, missile shelters and large radar and sensor arrays, according to satellite images reviewed by the Asia Maritime Transparency Initiative, a U.S. think tank.
China claims nearly all of the South China Sea. In 2016, an international tribunal ruled against those claims, but the finding has largely been ignored — both by the Philippines, which brought the case, and by Beijing.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/asia_pacific/the-south-china-sea-fell-off-trumps-radar-this-year-he-may-have-to-pay-attention-in-2018/2018/01/01/b7c9a27a-eb1e-11e7-956e-baea358f9725_story.html

[AdamG]

New counter(s) for those of you setting up your HARPOON scenarios.

http://council.smallwarsjournal.com/showthread.php?p=209927#post209927

[AdamG]

HONG KONG/BEIJING, Jan 23 (Reuters) - While the Pentagon plays down patrols close to Chinese-controlled reefs and islands in the South China Sea, Beijing is sounding the alarm about them, seeking to justify what experts say will be an even greater presence in the disputed region.
Chinese officials publicized the latest U.S. "freedom of navigation patrol", protesting the deployment last week of the destroyer USS Hopper to within 12 nautical miles of Scarborough Shoal, an atoll west of the Philippines which Beijing disputes with Manila.
It was the second time in recent months that confirmation of a patrol came from Beijing, not Washington, which had previously announced or leaked details.
Bonnie Glaser, a security expert at Washington's Center for Strategic and International Studies, said while the administration of U.S. President Donald Trump had a policy of keeping the patrols regular but low key, China was willing to publicly exploit them to further their military ends.
"It is difficult to conclude otherwise," she said. "Even as it pushes ahead with these (patrols), I don't think the Trump administration has really come to terms with what it will tolerate from China in the South China Sea, and what it simply won't accept, and Beijing seems to grasp this."
http://news.trust.org/item/20180123063045-8mhe8

[davidbfpo]

A new thread for 2018. The previous thread:South China Sea and China (2011-2017) (http://council.smallwarsjournal.com/South China Sea and China (2011-2017)) has 769 posts and 230k views. In a moment four posts will be moved here, as they are in 2018 and this post will become the 5th.

[AdamG]

Chinese air force holds drills over South China Sea, Western Pacific in ‘preparation for war’

H-6K bombers, Su-30 and Su-35 fighter jets carry out combat patrols after passing over Miyako Strait between Japanese islands
http://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy-defence/article/2138792/chinese-air-force-jets-bombers-drill-over-south-china

[Azor]

From Reuters: https://www.reuters.com/article/us-china-defence/exclusive-satellite-images-reveal-show-of-force-by-chinese-navy-in-south-china-sea-idUSKBN1H3135


...The photos, taken on Monday, show what appear to be at least 40 ships and submarines flanking the carrier Liaoning in what some analysts described as an unusually large display of the Chinese military’s growing naval might.

Sailing in a line formation more suited to visual propaganda than hard military maneuvers, the flotilla was headed by what appeared to be submarines, with aircraft above.

Jeffrey Lewis, a security expert at the California-based based Middlebury Institute of Strategic Studies, said the images showed the first confirmation that the carrier was joining the drills.

“It’s an incredible picture,” he said. “That’s the big news to me. Confirmation that, yes, the carrier participated in the exercise.”

While the Liaoning has previously entered the South China Sea as part of drills in uncontested training grounds south of Hainan, its annual exercises are closely watched by regional and international powers eyeing Beijing’s growing military might.

It is unclear where the flotilla was headed, or how long operations will last. China’s defense ministry did not immediately respond to a faxed request for comment.

Collin Koh, a security expert at Singapore’s S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies, described the deployment as unusual for its size and scope...

[AdamG]

The Varyag is just some SSN CO’s Navy Cross waiting to happen ...


China has held its largest ever military drills in the hotly contested South China Sea, culminating in a naval review overseen by President Xi Jinping. China's only aircraft carrier, the Liaoning, took part in the parade.
https://www.scmp.com/video/china/2141633/huge-show-strength-chinas-largest-ever-naval-review

[AdamG]

A 15 year old sea-story, which begs the question 'how much of a learning curve has the Chinese navy climbed since then?'


On April 25, 2003 the crew of a Chinese fishing boat noticed a strange sight—a periscope drifting listlessly above the surface of the water. The fishermen notified the People's Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) which promptly dispatched two vessels to investigate.
At first the PLAN believed the contact to be an intruding submarine from South Korea or Japan. But when Chinese personnel finally recovered the apparent derelict they realized it was one of their own diesel-electric submarines, the Ming-class 361.
When they boarded on April 26, they found all seventy personnel slumped dead at their stations.

http://nationalinterest.org/blog/the-buzz/2003-chinese-submarine-was-lost-sea-how-the-crew-died-25072?page=1

...cause they're all about Force Projection these days

PLA Navy at 69 faces increasing challenges from US
By Yang Sheng Source:Global Times Published: 2018/4/23 21:48:41
More logistics bases needed to achieve overseas missions


The PLA Daily and the Ministry of Defense released a video on their official websites and social media accounts showcasing the achievements of the PLA Navy in recent years. The video provides details on China's nuclear submarines, the country's first overseas logistics base in Djibouti, anti-piracy missions in Somalia, amphibious landing military exercises by the Marine Corps and the aircraft carrier strike group's training missions in the open seas.
http://www.globaltimes.cn/content/1099311.shtml

Newsweek's 6th grade level siphoning-off of the Global Times article above
http://www.newsweek.com/how-does-chinas-navy-compare-us-897209

[AdamG]

(CNN)China's first domestically built aircraft carrier began sea trials on Sunday, a historic step in the country's mission to build a navy capable of rivaling the world's leading maritime powers.

The new aircraft carrier, temporarily named Type 001A, sailed out at around 7 a.m. in Dalian, in the northeast province of Liaoning, according to reports in Chinese state media.
The 50,000-tonne ship will become the country's second aircraft carrier, and the first to be entirely built and designed inside of China, when it joins the navy sometime before 2020.
The carrier's maiden sea trial follows a speech given by Chinese President Xi Jinping on April 12, in which he announced plans to build a "world-class" navy under the banner of the Chinese Communist Party.
China's first carrier, the Liaoning, a retrofitted Soviet-era vessel bought from the Ukraine, was hailed as the fulfillment of a "70-year dream" of the Chinese nation when it launched to much celebration in 2012.
But experts said while the new aircraft carrier will dramatically boost China's military power in the Asia region, its technology was still outdated and lagged far behind the world's naval superpower, the United States.

https://www.cnn.com/2018/05/12/asia/china-aircraft-carrier-trial-intl/index.html

[AdamG]

In a move that will not go down well with China, India has decided to hold its first ever naval exercise with Vietnam next week, Times of India has reported.
According to the report, stealth frigate INS Sahyadri, missile corvette INS Kamorta and fleet tanker INS Shakti will reach the Tien Sa Port in Vietnam’s Da Nang on Monday. These warships were on operational deployment to South East Asia and North West Pacific region as part of the Navy’s ‘mission-based deployment’ strategy.

https://swarajyamag.com/insta/much-to-chinas-displeasure-india-to-hold-first-ever-naval-exercise-with-vietnam-next-week

[AdamG]

Chinese government hackers have compromised the computers of a Navy contractor, stealing massive amounts of highly sensitive data related to undersea warfare — including secret plans to develop a supersonic anti-ship missile for use on U.S. submarines by 2020, according to American officials.
The breaches occurred in January and February, the officials said, speaking on the condition of anonymity to discuss an ongoing investigation. The hackers targeted a contractor who works for the Naval Undersea Warfare Center, a military organization headquartered in Newport, R.I., that conducts research and development for submarines and underwater weaponry.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/china-hacked-a-navy-contractor-and-secured-a-trove-of-highly-sensitive-data-on-submarine-warfare/2018/06/08/6cc396fa-68e6-11e8-bea7-c8eb28bc52b1_story.html

[AdamG]

US intelligence report: China will have the world's most powerful naval gun ready for war by 2025

The warship-mounted electromagnetic railgun is expected to enter China's arsenal by 2025, according to sources with direct knowledge of a U.S. intelligence report.
Railguns have long appeared on Russian, Iranian and U.S. military wish lists as cost-effective weapons that give navies the might of a cannon with the range of a precision-guided missile.
China's railgun is capable of striking a target 124 miles away in under 90 seconds, according to the report.
https://www.cnbc.com/2018/06/21/china-will-have-worlds-most-powerful-naval-gun-by-2025-us-intelligence-report.html

[AdamG]

South Korea is already part of the Joint Strike Fighter program, having decided to buy forty F-35A fighters in 2014 for $6.75 billion. However, that is the conventional version of the fighter jets. By contrast, the F-35Bs have the short takeoff and vertical landing (STOVL) capability that would be necessary to operate the planes from the Dokdo-class ships. Thus, if South Korea decided to move forward with the plan outlined in the Yonhap report, it would have to purchase F-35Bs, along with reconfiguring the amphibious assault ships to carry fixed-wing aircraft.

South Korea has launched its second amphibious assault ship.

On May 14, South Korean officials launched the second Dokdo-class helicopter carrier. The ceremony took place in Busan at the shipyard of Hanjin Heavy Industries and Construction, the company that built the vessel. Among those in attendance were Defense Minister Song Young-moo and Chief of Naval Operations Adm. Um Hyun-seong, according to local news outlets.

Construction of the second Dokdo-class amphibious assault ship, named Marado, began in 2016. The ship will be the second largest ship in the Republic of Korea’s Navy, after the first Dokdo-class ship. Displacing 14,500 tons, the ship has a width of thirty-one meters and a length of 199 meters. The Marado can also sail at speeds approaching forty-one kilometers per hour. According to Yonhap News Agency, “It has a 20-mm Phalanx close-in weapons system, as well, while the Dokdo [the first ship in the class] is installed with the 30-mm Goalkeeper gun.” The Marado will be delivered to the South Korean Navy in late 2020 following testing.

https://www.yahoo.com/news/navy-first-fighter-jet-went-141900366.html

[AdamG]

The US Navy P-8A Poseidon jet was flying at 16,500 feet to get a view of low-lying coral reefs that have been turned into garrisons with five-storey buildings, large radar installations, power plants and runways sturdy enough to carry large military aircraft.

During the flight that was giving journalists from CNN a rare look at the islands, the crew was warned six times by the Chinese military to get out of their territory.

A voice said: “US military aircraft, this is China ... leave immediately and keep out to avoid any misunderstanding.”

https://www.express.co.uk/news/world/1001656/China-US-latest-WW3-fears-South-China-Sea-US-Navy

[AdamG]

A Chinese destroyer that closed to within 45 yards of a U.S. Navy ship during a September mission in the South China Sea reportedly warned the American vessel it would “suffer consequences” if it didn’t redirect its course.

The People’s Republic of China destroyer Luoyang delivered the message to the USS Decatur during their September 30 showdown near Gaven Reefs, the South China Morning Post reported Sunday, citing the British Ministry of Defence's transcript of the incident.

https://www.foxnews.com/world/chinese-warship-warned-uss-decatur-it-would-suffer-consequences-for-passing-through-south-china-sea?fbclid=IwAR0nH3av_aaeuXQavyycX5OHM0dpAPObWpAkE G1TffqWZfXUMyyUQ0nUEqQ

Link to video posting https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/geopolitics/article/2171596/exclusive-details-and-footage-emerge-near-collision-between

[AdamG]

The Amador peninsula separates the concrete and glass skyline of Panama City from the soaring iron arch of the Bridge of the Americas – under which 40 cargo ships pass each day en route to or from the Panama Canal.

This strategic outcrop is home to a handful of derelict buildings once used to house US military personnel. But it has become a new flashpoint in the global rivalry between Beijing and Washington, as the US struggles to develop a coherent strategy to deal with China’s rising influence in Latin America.

China’s plans to build a new embassy on the islands were derailed after US officials pressured the government of Panama’s president, Juan Carlos Varela, to withdraw its offer of a four-hectare plot, according to senior Panamanian and diplomatic sources.

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2018/nov/28/panama-china-us-latin-america-canal

[AdamG]

Source is THE SUN, but lots of neat pics and drawings.


Chinese warship spotted carrying terrifying ‘next generation’ hypersonic railgun proving Beijing has beaten the world in developing ‘superweapon’ A railgun is a type of weapon that uses powerful electromagnets to accelerate projectiles to very high speeds

https://www.thesun.co.uk/news/8105762/china-warship-railgun-superweapon-picture/

Better article
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2019-01-02/chinese-warship-with-electromagnetic-railguns-spotted-at-sea/10680108

[AdamG]

In the South China Sea disputes, Vietnam dares to do what the Philippines didn’t: challenge China’s mission to turn the vast waterway into its own sea.

That’s according to a recent Reuters report, which claims that Vietnam is pushing for a pact that will outlaw many of China’s ongoing activities in the South China Sea. Like the building of artificial islands, blockades and offensive weaponry such as missile deployments; and the Air Defence Identification Zone—a conduct code China initiated back in 2013.

This isn’t the first time Hanoi is challenging China’s claims in the South China Sea. Back in July of 2017, Vietnam granted Indian oil firm ONGC Videsh a two-year extension to explore oil block 128, according to another Reuters report.

And that’s something Beijing loudly opposed.

https://www.forbes.com/sites/panosmourdoukoutas/2019/01/02/south-china-sea-vietnam-dares-what-philippines-didnt/?fbclid=IwAR0i0FEMctLAqHEv0hOe48X50f4VtGo54EnZ8H-DmD58F_h6Q3TtzxK4lSE#13b7543b149b

[AdamG]

Singapore's acquisition of new submarines which offer more firepower and combat options is a timely move as maritime security challenges evolve and countries beef up their submarine fleets, said Defence Minister Ng Eng Hen. Speaking yesterday at the launch of the first Type 218SG submarine named Invincible, Dr Ng said Singapore faces threats in the maritime domain, including terrorism, the shipping of illegal arms, weapons of mass destruction and people, as well as piracy.

https://www.straitstimes.com/singapore/spore-navy-launches-first-of-its-four-new-submarines