China's Emergence as a Superpower (2015 onwards)

[AdamG]

A Chinese billionaire is building one of the world’s largest engineering projects, a canal in Nicaragua that is three times the size of world’s largest, the Panama Canal, and is estimated to cost at least $50 billion. Of the many Chinese infrastructure projects spanning the globe, the new canal seems to make the least commercial sense.

http://www.msn.com/en-us/news/other/...nts/ar-AAbGonx

[davidbfpo]

The chart below features in a long NYT article, which interestingly uses Ecuador as its focus:http://www.nytimes.com/2015/07/26/bu...attached.html?

[davidbfpo]

Logistics matter and from Australia a short article reviewing what is happening. Rather oddly it concludes (in part) that:

The PLAN in 2015 has an adequate RAS force to support continuous far seas operations.

Link:http://www.lowyinterpreter.org/post/...pability.aspx?

[davidbfpo]

The Pentagon has confirmed the presence of five Chinese naval vessels in the Bering Sea between Russia and Alaska, which Barack Obama is currently visiting.....This is the first time we have observed PLAN ships in the Bering Sea.” The vessels are in international waters near the Aleutians, a chain of islands that fan out from the Alaskan mainland. The boats comprise three combat ships, an amphibious ship and a replenishment vessel.

Link:http://www.theguardian.com/world/201...a-alaska-coast

[AdamG]

"U.S. officials were at a loss to explain the Chinese naval movements, which came as President Barack Obama was visiting Alaska and the Arctic region on a three-day trip to address climate change."

http://www.wsj.com/articles/pentagon...sea-1441216258

A small group of Chinese Navy ships showed up near Alaska earlier this week during President Obama’s visit to the northern state, mostly as a “we’re here” message. But then, as the Chinese People’s Liberation Army marched in a Beijing parade, someone simultaneously put out this completely nuts video of a naval attack on an American fleet, and on an American base that looks suspiciously like the one on the Japanese island of Okinawa.

http://foxtrotalpha.jalopnik.com/thi...-it-1728674129

[davidbfpo]

An offering from RAND, the full title being: The U.S.-China Military Scorecard: Forces, Geography, and the Evolving Balance of Power, 1996-2017:

Link: http://www.andrewerickson.com/2015/0...wer-1996-2017/

The intro:

Over the past two decades, China’s People’s Liberation Army has transformed itself from a large but antiquated force into a capable, modern military. Its technology and operational proficiency still lag behind those of the United States, but it has rapidly narrowed the gap. Moreover, China enjoys the advantage of proximity in most plausible conflict scenarios, and geographical advantage would likely neutralize many U.S. military strengths. A sound understanding of regional military issues—including forces, geography, and the evolving balance of power—will be essential for establishing appropriate U.S. political and military policies in Asia. This RAND study analyzes the development of respective Chinese and U.S. Military capabilities in ten categories of military operations across two scenarios, one centered on Taiwan and one on the Spratly Islands. The analysis is presented in ten scorecards that assess military capabilities as they have evolved over four snapshot years: 1996, 2003, 2010, and 2017. The results show that China is not close to catching up to the United States in terms of aggregate capabilities, but also that it does not need to catch up to challenge the United States on its immediate periphery. Furthermore, although China’s ability to project power to more distant locations remains limited, its reach is growing, and in the future U.S. military dominance is likely to be challenged at greater distances from China’s coast. To maintain robust defense and deterrence capabilities in an era of fiscal constraints, the United States will need to ensure that its own operational concepts, procurement, and diplomacy anticipate future developments in Chinese military capabilities.

[davidbfpo]

Via FP:

he Congressional Research Service has updated two of its continuing publications on Chinese military developments. The Federation of American Scientists got its hands on the September update of analyst Ronald O'Rourke's "China Naval Modernization: Implications for U.S. Navy Capabilities," and the latest edition of "The Chinese Military: Overview and Issues for Congress."

The links hopefully work. The, unread reports are 122 and 45 pgs each.