South China Sea and China (2011-2017)

[davidbfpo]

Missing from discussions at last week's US-China Strategic and Economic Dialogue (S&ED) was Taiwan's significance in China's land reclamation efforts in the South China Sea, said defense analysts.Held annually since 2009, the S&ED is a high-level government meeting set alternatively in each other's capital.

With the recent reporting on PRC building up some islands in The Spratley's we missed what Taiwan (RoC) was doing:

current expansion projects on Taiwan-controlled Taiping Island (Itu Abu), which include lengthening the runway to accommodate larger aircraft (currently only C-130s can resupply the island), and the construction of a dock capable of handling 3,000-ton vessels, ostensibly for Taiwan's new coast guard cutters.

Link:http://www.defensenews.com/story/def...-pla/29260999/

[Firn]

I'm sure that today more Chinese eyes will be one the stock exchanges then on some small islands. There was much talk about the possibly superior ability (compared to decadent western democracies) of the pseudo-commy dictatorship to manage it's economy. So will the Chinese leadership show economic sense and, hm , leadership?



The markest around the world have not exactly become calmer after the confusing Chinese devaluation which Krugman compared almost two weeks ago with a first bite into a cherry.

Are you staring to have the feeling that when it comes to economic policy Xi-who-must-be-obeyed has no idea what he’s doing? [Quite a bit more seem to share that feeling now]

....

This is what Charlie Kindleberger used to call “taking the first bite of the cherry”. (Nobody takes just one bite out of a cherry.) China has now demonstrated that its currency peg is no longer solid; but it has come nowhere near to devaluing enough to create expectations of future appreciation. This is a recipe for convincing investors that the future direction of the currency is down — which means that capital flight will accelerate (and apparently already has.)

[AdamG]

“The South China Sea, as the name indicated, is a sea area. It belongs to China,” said Vice Adm. Yuan Yubai, who commands the North Sea Fleet for the People’s Liberation Army Navy.

http://www.defenseone.com/threats/20...-china/120989/

[AdamG]

China said on Friday it would not stand for violations of its territorial waters in the name of freedom of navigation, as the United States considers sailing warships close to China's artificial islands in the South China Sea.

A U.S. defense official told Reuters on Thursday the United States was considering sending ships to waters inside the 12-nautical-mile zones that China claims as territory around islands it has built in the Spratly chain.

Western media reports quoted U.S. officials as saying the action could take place within a matter of days, but awaited a decision by U.S. President Barack Obama.

http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/...0S30ND20151009

[AdamG]

China’s military is getting its ducks in a row for what many experts see as a realistic competence at destroying US aircraft carriers during a confrontation scenario over Taiwan.

In a recent issue of the Chinese-language state-run China Youth Daily newspaper, a report claims that the Gaofen-4 geostationary earth observation satellite will be launched by the end of this year with the express purpose of hunting US aircraft carriers. The satellite is equipped with a visible light imager at 50 meters and infrared staring optical imager at 400 meters.

http://www.defensenews.com/story/def...ation%20Report

[AdamG]

China's first landing of a plane on one of its new island runways in the South China Sea shows Beijing's facilities in the disputed region are being completed on schedule and military flights will inevitably follow, foreign officials and analysts said.

China's increasing military presence in the disputed sea could effectively lead to a Beijing-controlled air defence zone, they said, ratcheting up tensions with other claimants and with the United States in one of the world's most volatile areas.

http://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/...cid=spartandhp

[AdamG]

(CNN)—The U.S. Navy sent a ship near a contested island in the South China Sea on Saturday to challenge "excessive maritime claims that restrict the rights and freedoms of the United States and others," a U.S. Defense Department spokesman told CNN.

"This operation challenged attempts by the three claimants, China, Taiwan and Vietnam, to restrict navigation rights and freedoms around the features they claim by policies that require prior permission or notification of transit within territorial seas," Cmdr. Bill Urban said.

http://www.cnn.com/2016/01/30/asia/u...uth-china-sea/