South China/West Philippine Sea

[lomex32]

Walk softly and carry a big stick

 

We need to strengthen ourselves to earn our neighbors' respect so we can have a dignified co-existence with them.

Edited May 22, 2015 by lomex32

[sonnyt111]

E bakit ba puro daldal na lang dito?? A as a pa sa kano?? Unahin na ng pin as na pasabugin ang mga beho na yan

If we do that, it's tantamount to war. Would you like the Chinese to start bombing Metro Manila with its aircraft? Or getting hit by missiles launched off China's war ships? America will be in a quandary. While it's bound by the Mutual Defense Treaty with the Philippines, it also doesn't want to engage China in a shooting war especially if China does not pose a direct threat towards the USA.

[Bugatti Veyron]

China is acting with impunity. Its superior military allows China to do as it wishes without any serious opposition from ASEAN which seems to be disunited at this time. The only ASEAN countries which have expressed displeasure against China are the Philippines, Vietnam, and Indonesia. The current US government does not want to directly challenge China's aggressive moves in the West Philippine Sea. Perhaps a Republican President will have the balls to put China in its place.

 

http://news.yahoo.com/china-plans-blunt-move-open-seas-warns-foreign-125040380.html

[Bugatti Veyron]

I totally agree with the views expressed in this article.

 

http://nationalinterest.org/feature/how-america-should-respond-chinas-moves-the-south-china-sea-12969

[Bugatti Veyron]

If China continues to build new infrastructure in the West Philippine Sea without any real opposition except expressions of concern by the US, the Philippines, and other ASEAN nations, China will perceive non-action by ASEAN and the United States as weakness and will only embolden that nation to expand its territorial claims.

 

We are living in dangerous times. I certainly hope China will back down somehow through increased economic and hopefully, military pressure from the United States. What I'd like to see is a fleet of US warships heading towards the West Philippine Sea with a stern warning to China that force will be met by force.

 

http://news.yahoo.com/china-boost-offshore-military-capability-defense-strategy-paper-055523045.html

[Husband's Lover]

China is now showing their muscles to the world that they are now considered as Super Power.

[maxiev]

The US has stated that it will continue to maintain its presence in the disputed waters of the West Philippine Sea. Hopefully, the US will step up the pressure against China since it's the only nation that can put China in its place.

 

http://news.yahoo.com/us-says-china-artillery-vehicles-artificial-island-093552171--politics.html

[maxiev]

Finally, the US has vowed to continue to send military aircraft and ships to the West Philippine Sea. I hope this includes aircraft carriers, stealth planes, stealth submarines, and other advanced warships. And for added measure, it would be great if the US also invites Japan to send patrol craft to this part of the world in support for the US effort to curb Chinese aggression.

 

http://news.yahoo.com/us-demands-immediate-halt-south-china-sea-reclamations-014652782.html

May 2015

Why is China Militarising the South China Sea?

 

http://mercury.ethz.ch/serviceengine/Files/ISN/160x0/190766/iresourcemultiple_files/e27c41c1-ff78-4206-a2f9-7cbe7863e24b/en/ChineseforcesREGULAR.jpg
http://mercury.ethz.ch/serviceengine/Files/ISN/15x9/92679/ilicense_icons/61eaf7ad-68ad-46a8-85e2-7c0be08e7409/en/cc.gif http://mercury.ethz.ch/serviceengine/Files/ISN/15x9/92679/ilicense_icons/153980b0-c06c-4f2b-9cea-5fd657881196/en/by.gif

 

What really explains Beijing’s decision to build military installations in the disputed waters of the South China Sea? Sukjoon Yoon thinks that we should view China’s militarization of the region as a misguided political choice rather than a desire for increased military flexibility.

By Sukjoon Yoon for RSIS

 

 

This commentary was originally published by the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies (RSIS) on 11 May 2015.

Recent Western reports confirm that China is militarising disputed reefs and shoals in the South China Sea. China will obtain no military benefit from this but will simply acquire some weak naval bases at the cost of antagonising rival claimants.

Even as ASEAN nations are responding warmly to China’s “Maritime Silk Road” initiative, dredging operations for land reclamation works are going on at seven disputed reefs and shoals in the South China Sea. Naval and air force facilities are being established: new piers and wharves, extended airstrips, and military garrisons with radar installations and coastal artillery. Does this militarisation of the South China Sea really help China to become a “true maritime power” as exhorted by President Xi Jinping?

The South China Sea is a large semi-enclosed sea which carries a third of the world’s shipping and has vast oil and gas reserves; it therefore has enormous geostrategic and economic significance. Recently, there have been growing tensions between China and ASEAN members concerning numerous small islands which are either permanently submerged or exposed only at low tide. Seeing China’s determination to apparently reestablish its historical dominance of the South China Sea, all the Southeast Asian nations, especially those with territorial claims disputed by China, are currently building up their naval capacities.

Does the PLAN understand modern naval warfare?

Unfortunately, the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) Navy (PLAN) seems to be ignoring the reality of modern naval warfare, which does not need widespread and numerous geographical assets, but instead relies upon expeditionary naval forces which are permanently at sea and always prepared to go where they are required.

In fact, the PLAN is taking some sensible steps to transform itself into a modern navy capable of undertaking far-sea operations: it is building its first true aircraft carrier much bigger and more capable than the refurbished Russian-designed Liaoning, and also the Type 055, a new-generation destroyer with phased array air defence radar and impressive missile capabilities.

US-based Defense News reports that the PLAN is investigating the feasibility of establishing a Fourth Fleet, apparently in the Indian Ocean. The Chinese Coast Guard has also become more prominent: last year they rammed and used water cannons against Vietnamese vessels trying to intercept a Chinese drilling rig.

The PLAN has successfully developed into a blue-water navy, expanding its submarine forces and deploying a surface task unit to the Indian Ocean. But the militarisation of the Paracels and Spratlys in the South China Sea over the last few years, building military garrisons, coastal defence positions, runways, large aircraft hangers, logistics facilities etc., does nothing to extend the PLAN’s far-sea operational capabilities. These efforts are of dubious military value, so presumably they represent a political statement.

Questionable decisions

The South China Sea is notorious for its bad weather conditions and rough seas, and the difficulty of conducting all-weather naval patrols and maritime interdiction missions in such circumstances is obvious; there may be less than 60 days per year when the weather allows the berthing of small- or medium-sized naval vessels at piers or wharves of the artificial islands. Unless the facilities are built on a very large scale, they will be inadequate to protect even fishing vessels from the frequent typhoons.

As to aircraft, it will not be straightforward for the PLA Air Force to operate its Su-27SKs from such artificial islands. Their state-of-the-art technology requires advanced logistical and maintenance capacities, and their pilots are unused to taking off and landing from runways without taxiways. Moreover, hangered Su-27SKs could be easily monitored by satellites and targeted by long-range drones.

The radar installations on the artificial islands are also likely to prove inferior to those already available on a variety of PLAN surface platforms, which have better three-dimensional coverage. Basically, there is no military justification to build these artificial islands, so the PLA leaders who took the decision undoubtedly have more political than operational experience.

Sadly, therefore, we should see the militarisation of the South China Sea as a misguided statement of China’s political choices, rather than an expression of military flexibility. For more than 10 years now, the PLAN’s naval modernisation has focused on the assertive manifestation of solid naval power. Of course, this has disturbed China’s neighbours, the small and weak ASEAN countries, as well as sending the wrong signals to Japan and the United States: this is not the way to become a true maritime power.

Throughout history, most maritime powers striving for “command” of their seas to protect their national commerce and other interests have faced severe financial and military resources deficits, so that absolute sea control has remained a matter of political imagination.

True naval powers respect their neighbours and cooperate with them; maritime peace and prosperity is best maintained by recognising maritime domains protected by properly codified international law: purely military tools are insufficient.

What next?

The US is now clearly treating China as a major threat: it has transferred some older naval and coast guard vessels to ASEAN navies, and the commander of the US Navy Seventh Fleet has expressed support for US-ASEAN joint naval patrol operations in the South China Sea. Likewise, although the ASEAN countries have welcomed Xi Jinping’s “Maritime Silk Road” initiative, their navies are lobbying for funds to upgrade their dilapidated naval bases, and to acquire advanced platforms and weapons from foreign suppliers.

The South China Sea disputes are unnecessarily complicating China’s own progress: surely China’s “peaceful rise” should contribute to the common destiny of East Asia. On a more positive note, the PLAN is starting to develop a conceptual understanding of modern naval warfare and to incorporate this into its strategic approach. This militarisation of the South China Sea is a fruitless distraction: China will only become a true maritime power by making further adjustments to outdated mindsets, both within the PLAN and also in the wider political leadership.

 

 

Dr. Sukjoon Yoon is a Senior Research Fellow at the Korea Institute for Maritime Strategy (KIMS), and a visiting professor at the Department of Defence System Engineering, Sejong University, Seoul, South Korea.

[sonnyt111]

The regional bully is upping the ante.

 

http://www.ibtimes.com/china-prepares-war-chinese-aircraft-carrier-fighter-jets-conduct-navy-drills-amid-1964361

[lomex32]

G7 Summit : China Stop

China to G7 : You are overstepping your powers

[Bugatti Veyron]

China definitely cannot be taken at its word. Seems honor, which the Chinese used to hold dear, has been replaced by double-talk where their words and their actions do not jive.

 

http://nationalinterest.org/feature/why-china-cant-be-trusted-13108

[Bugatti Veyron]

The US has stated that it will continue to maintain its presence in the disputed waters of the West Philippine Sea. Hopefully, the US will step up the pressure against China since it's the only nation that can put China in its place.

 

http://news.yahoo.com/us-says-china-artillery-vehicles-artificial-island-093552171--politics.html

I'm afraid that the pressure that the US is currently applying towards the aggressive behavior of the Chinese isn't enough. And I doubt if the US will apply a different tact to make China tow the line and respect the claims of other ASEAN nations. Right now, all the US can do is observe from a distance. The Chinese know that America and ASEAN are helpless which only further emboldens them to militarize atolls, islets, and reefs in the West Philippine Sea.

[sonnyt111]

I'm afraid that the pressure that the US is currently applying towards the aggressive behavior of the Chinese isn't enough. And I doubt if the US will apply a different tact to make China tow the line and respect the claims of other ASEAN nations. Right now, all the US can do is observe from a distance. The Chinese know that America and ASEAN are helpless which only further emboldens them to militarize atolls, islets, and reefs in the West Philippine Sea.

This is what's happening at this time. The US will deal with China in a more forceful manner if US interests in this part of the world are compromised. For instance, if China restricts the flow of trade by making the West Philippine Sea "off limits" to the US and other nations. China knows this and will probably avoid restricting international commerce by preventing ships from passing through the West Philippine Sea lest it provoke the US to take military action against them. The US will never allow closing the South China Sea because it's economy and the economies of its allies will suffer. This is tantamount to war.

 

The US and China will most probably enter into backdoor negotiations which will be beneficial to both nations.

[maddromeo]

Actually they already did!

 

US-China signs deal!

 

http://rt.com/news/267241-china-us-drills-agreement/

 

US just wants to secure its piece of the pie! And not protecting any "allies" and policing all over the world!

[Julianda]

What You Need to Know on South China Sea Dispute