China Boosts Naval Presence Near Korean Peninsula

[bluesky79]

Alarm bells are ringing in some quarters here as China becomes more assertive in waters near the Korean Peninsula. Beijing reportedly wants to include a submerged rock effectively controlled by Korea in regular maritime patrols near the peninsula and deploy its first aircraft carrier there in August. It is also bolstering naval facilities at Dalian port and increasing the number of naval destroyers.

The chief of China's State Oceanic Administration was reported as saying in an interview with the official Xinhua news agency on Saturday that Ieo Island is in waters under Chinese control, causing Seoul to call in the Chinese ambassador before deciding whether to lodge an official complaint. The media reports have apparently not been verified.

Some pundits say these developments could spell a new maritime threat to Korea. A researcher with a state-run think tank said China's decision to include the submerged rock of Iedo, which lies in the two countries' overlapping economic zones, in maritime patrols "looks 10 to 20 years down the road. If China starts to flex its muscle, a clash with Korea would be inevitable."

A government official said while the U.S. is ostensibly shifting its strategic focus on Asia, it is decreasing its military strength in the region, leading to "an inevitable power vacuum" in East Asia and the Pacific, which China may be determined to fill.

China has been pursuing a three-stage plan since the 1980s to bolster its naval power. It wants to expand its naval reach to waters near Guam and Indonesia by 2020 and to anywhere in the world by 2050. It is also bolstering a task force fleet to increase its naval mobility.

Ieo Island is 149 km off the southern coast of Jeju and is closer to Korea than any other country. Submerged rocks cannot be claimed as any country's territory, but the question is whether the waters are under Korean or Chinese control. Korea is building a maritime research station there.

China is also involved in various other territorial disputes, laying claim to the Diaoyu or Senkaku Islands, which are partly controlled by Japan. Lee Dae-woo, a researcher at the Sejong Institute, said, "China is bolstering its naval strength faster than scheduled and is likely to become a major global force around 2020 due to its powerful economic base."

These concerns lay behind the decision during the Roh Moo-hyun administration to build a naval base on Jeju Island in order to stem China's increasing naval reach. But now the plan is facing a stumbling block in fierce opposition from leftwing groups.

 

[night]

I only think of Yoda. He has the philosophy down.

Fear is the path to the dark side. We are going down the path of fear.

 

[waltky]

bluesky...

... possum wants to know if ya got a source link for dat info?...

... ya s'posed to post a link to the source article...

... dat's so's ya don't get the board in trouble fer not accrediting copyrighted material.

Just copy and paste the URL from yer address bar.

 

[waltky]

China gonna increase the size of its navy...

Chinese navy eyes major expansion
Tue, Apr 10, 2012 - China is not satisfied with a single refurbished aircraft carrier and has plans to build two conventional and one nuclear-powered aircraft carriers by 2020, as well as 200 more vessels, a Russian military analysts’ Web site says.

The People’s Liberation Army (PLA) Navy will also continue developing its submarine and missile forces, with the principal objective of breaking out of the first island chain, the Russian Military Review said. In the view of Chinese strategists, the first island chain, an invisible line that extends from the Ryukyu Islands, Taiwan and the Philippines into the South China Sea, has kept China bottled in and prevents it from assuming its role as a major regional power. Another stated aim for the PLA Navy is preventing a formal declaration of independence by Taiwan as well as preventing or delaying a US Navy deployment in the region.

Although China has also set its eyes on the Indian Ocean, Beijing maintains that naval deployments in that region will be principally to address piracy. If the numbers cited in the report are true, the PLA Navy’s fleet of modern vessels, which currently numbers about 200, would double in size by 2020. China’s first aircraft carrier, the former Varyag, which is still being outfitted, is expected to enter service on Aug. 1 to coincide with the anniversary of the establishment of the PLA. The number of aircraft carriers Beijing intends to build is the subject of debate, with some analysts putting the number of nuclear-powered carriers at two rather than one.

Amid its naval modernization, the PLA will continue to focus on developing Shenyang J-15 carrier-based fighter aircraft, as well as Z-8 transport helicopters and airborne early warning and control aircraft. China is currently developing an early-warning and anti-submarine warfare (ASW) twin turboprop aircraft similar to the E-2 aircraft used by the US Navy. Military analysts believe the marine surveillance aircraft will operate from China’s aircraft carriers. An ASW version of the Shaanxi Y-8 is also believed to be in production.

Chinese navy eyes major expansion - Taipei Times

 

[waltky]

China tryin' to take Japanese islands...

China sends patrol ships to islands held by Japan
Sep 11,`12 -- A territorial flare-up between China and Japan intensified Tuesday as two Beijing-sent patrol ships arrived near disputed East China Sea islands in a show of anger over Tokyo's purchase of the largely barren outcroppings from their private owners.

The China Marine Surveillance has drawn up a plan to safeguard China's sovereignty of the islands and the ships were sent to assert those claims, said the Chinese government's official news agency, Xinhua. The marine agency is a paramilitary force whose ships are often lightly armed. The rocky islands, known as Senkaku to Japanese and Diaoyu to Chinese, have been the focus of recurring spats between the countries and also are claimed by Taiwan. The China-Japan dispute has been heating up in recent months, in part because the nationalist governor of Tokyo proposed buying the islands and developing them.

Japan's central government announced its own deal this week with the Japanese family it recognizes as the owner. Chief Cabinet Secretary Osamu Fujimura told reporters the government budgeted 2.05 billion yen ($26 million) for the purchase "to maintain the Senkakus peacefully and stably." Public broadcaster NHK said the government and the family signed a deal Tuesday. The central government does not plan to develop the islands. Several experts interpreted the move as an attempt to block the plan by Tokyo Gov. Shintaro Ishihara, which could have raised tensions further. Ishihara also had said he hoped to visit the islands in October.

"Ishihara put the national government in a very difficult spot. He pushed them into doing this now," said Sheila Smith, a senior fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations in Washington. But she said this was a "good outcome" that should be seen as an attempt by Tokyo to sideline Ishihara. Japan cannot afford to let the dispute hinder its vital ties with China, its top trading partner, she said. Smith said Tokyo needs to be able to work through "different problems with Beijing in order to make sure the economic interdependence between those two countries continues to serve both nations' needs." Beijing, however, responded with fury.

"The determination and the will of the Chinese government and military to safeguard their territorial integrity are firm," Chinese Defense Ministry spokesman Geng Yansheng said in a statement. "We are closely monitoring the development of the situation and reserve the right to take necessary measures." Japan has claimed the islands since 1895. The U.S. took jurisdiction after World War II and turned them over to Japan in 1972. But Beijing sees the purchase as an affront to its claims and its past calls for negotiations. Carlyle Thayer, an expert on regional security at the University of New South Wales in Australia, said the sending of the Chinese patrol boats "ups the stakes." "It's a tit-for-tat response because China is extremely sensitive about sovereignty matters," he said.

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[martybegan]

Alarm bells are ringing in some quarters here as China becomes more assertive in waters near the Korean Peninsula. Beijing reportedly wants to include a submerged rock effectively controlled by Korea in regular maritime patrols near the peninsula and deploy its first aircraft carrier there in August. It is also bolstering naval facilities at Dalian port and increasing the number of naval destroyers.

The chief of China's State Oceanic Administration was reported as saying in an interview with the official Xinhua news agency on Saturday that Ieo Island is in waters under Chinese control, causing Seoul to call in the Chinese ambassador before deciding whether to lodge an official complaint. The media reports have apparently not been verified.

Some pundits say these developments could spell a new maritime threat to Korea. A researcher with a state-run think tank said China's decision to include the submerged rock of Iedo, which lies in the two countries' overlapping economic zones, in maritime patrols "looks 10 to 20 years down the road. If China starts to flex its muscle, a clash with Korea would be inevitable."

A government official said while the U.S. is ostensibly shifting its strategic focus on Asia, it is decreasing its military strength in the region, leading to "an inevitable power vacuum" in East Asia and the Pacific, which China may be determined to fill.

China has been pursuing a three-stage plan since the 1980s to bolster its naval power. It wants to expand its naval reach to waters near Guam and Indonesia by 2020 and to anywhere in the world by 2050. It is also bolstering a task force fleet to increase its naval mobility.

Ieo Island is 149 km off the southern coast of Jeju and is closer to Korea than any other country. Submerged rocks cannot be claimed as any country's territory, but the question is whether the waters are under Korean or Chinese control. Korea is building a maritime research station there.

China is also involved in various other territorial disputes, laying claim to the Diaoyu or Senkaku Islands, which are partly controlled by Japan. Lee Dae-woo, a researcher at the Sejong Institute, said, "China is bolstering its naval strength faster than scheduled and is likely to become a major global force around 2020 due to its powerful economic base."

These concerns lay behind the decision during the Roh Moo-hyun administration to build a naval base on Jeju Island in order to stem China's increasing naval reach. But now the plan is facing a stumbling block in fierce opposition from leftwing groups.

it would be nice for the Chinese navy to go into some deeper waters further away from their own shores.

Our attack subs must be getting bored with the lack of practice targets. This will give some captains some ships to screw around with.

 

[Jroc]

China tryin' to take Japanese islands...

China sends patrol ships to islands held by Japan
Sep 11,`12 -- A territorial flare-up between China and Japan intensified Tuesday as two Beijing-sent patrol ships arrived near disputed East China Sea islands in a show of anger over Tokyo's purchase of the largely barren outcroppings from their private owners.

The China Marine Surveillance has drawn up a plan to safeguard China's sovereignty of the islands and the ships were sent to assert those claims, said the Chinese government's official news agency, Xinhua. The marine agency is a paramilitary force whose ships are often lightly armed. The rocky islands, known as Senkaku to Japanese and Diaoyu to Chinese, have been the focus of recurring spats between the countries and also are claimed by Taiwan. The China-Japan dispute has been heating up in recent months, in part because the nationalist governor of Tokyo proposed buying the islands and developing them.

Japan's central government announced its own deal this week with the Japanese family it recognizes as the owner. Chief Cabinet Secretary Osamu Fujimura told reporters the government budgeted 2.05 billion yen ($26 million) for the purchase "to maintain the Senkakus peacefully and stably." Public broadcaster NHK said the government and the family signed a deal Tuesday. The central government does not plan to develop the islands. Several experts interpreted the move as an attempt to block the plan by Tokyo Gov. Shintaro Ishihara, which could have raised tensions further. Ishihara also had said he hoped to visit the islands in October.

"Ishihara put the national government in a very difficult spot. He pushed them into doing this now," said Sheila Smith, a senior fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations in Washington. But she said this was a "good outcome" that should be seen as an attempt by Tokyo to sideline Ishihara. Japan cannot afford to let the dispute hinder its vital ties with China, its top trading partner, she said. Smith said Tokyo needs to be able to work through "different problems with Beijing in order to make sure the economic interdependence between those two countries continues to serve both nations' needs." Beijing, however, responded with fury.

"The determination and the will of the Chinese government and military to safeguard their territorial integrity are firm," Chinese Defense Ministry spokesman Geng Yansheng said in a statement. "We are closely monitoring the development of the situation and reserve the right to take necessary measures." Japan has claimed the islands since 1895. The U.S. took jurisdiction after World War II and turned them over to Japan in 1972. But Beijing sees the purchase as an affront to its claims and its past calls for negotiations. Carlyle Thayer, an expert on regional security at the University of New South Wales in Australia, said the sending of the Chinese patrol boats "ups the stakes." "It's a tit-for-tat response because China is extremely sensitive about sovereignty matters," he said.

MORE

Hey!!....Obama's busy campaigning...Leave him alone!!

 

[waltky]

What's it arra `bout, Arfie?...

Panetta Warns of War Between China and Japan Over Disputed Islands
September 17, 2012 – Exchanging warnings but avoiding confrontations thus far, Chinese and Japanese ships have come within less than half a nautical mile of each other in an ongoing dispute over the sovereignty of contested islands.

Amid deepening tensions in a long-running saga over the uninhabited islands, known as Senkaku in Japan and Diaoyu in China, Defense Secretary Leon Panetta warned Sunday about the possibility of war between the two Asian countries. “What we don't want is to have any kind of provocative behavior on the part of China or anybody else result in conflict,” he told reporters accompanying him on a trip that includes stops in Japan, China and New Zealand. “My purpose will be to urge that they engage in the effort by the Asian nations to try to work out a format for resolving these issues,” he added, referring to a code of conduct developed by the Association of Southeast Asian Nations in a bid to manage unconnected territorial disputes between China and ASEAN members in the South China Sea.

Asked again about the concerns, Panetta said he was worried that “when these countries engage in provocations of one kind or another over these various islands, that it raises the possibility that a misjudgment on one side or the other could result in violence and could result in conflict, and that conflict would then, you know, have the potential of expanding.” “We’re going to face more of this, countries are searching for resources,” he added. “There’s going to be questions raised as to who has jurisdiction over these areas. There has got to be a peaceful way to resolve these issues.” Any conflict between Japan and China could risk drawing in the United States.

Although the U.S. position is that is does not take sides in the territorial dispute the Obama administration, like the Bush administration before it, has confirmed that the islands fall within the scope of article five of the 1960 U.S.-Japan Treaty of Mutual Cooperation and Security – an appraisal rejected by Beijing. The treaty’s article five states: “Each Party recognizes that an armed attack against either Party in the territories under the administration of Japan would be dangerous to its own peace and safety and declares that it would act to meet the common danger in accordance with its constitutional provisions and processes.” The Senkaku/Diaoyu islands, located about halfway between the Chinese mainland and Japan’s southernmost island of Okinawa, have been under disputed Japanese control since the late 19th century.

Earlier this month the Japanese government signed an agreement to buy three of the five islands from their owner, a businessman who has rented them to the government since 2002. China described the move as illegal and in response made a submission to the United Nations defining its territorial claims in the vicinity. China late last week deployed at least six surveillance ships to waters around the islands, to begin what the country’s China Marine Surveillance (CMS) division describes as “patrol and law enforcement” operations. Beijing’s official Xinhua news agency, citing a reporter onboard one of the vessels, said three Japanese coastguard ships and three helicopters monitored the group of Chinese ships and that the two sides had exchanged warnings by radio, each informing the other they were violating sovereignty. The ships had come within less than half a nautical mile (less than 3,000 feet) of each other, it said.

More Panetta Warns of War Between China and Japan Over Disputed Islands | CNSNews.com

 

[Unkotare]

Maybe South Korea should focus more attention on the common threat than on having a national hissy-fit over Takeshima.

 

[waltky]

... the Japanese devils are too evil...

China protests mix colonial anger, modern dispute
Sep 18,`12 -- Old wounds amplified outrage over a burning territorial dispute Tuesday as thousands of Chinese protested Tokyo's purchase of islands claimed by Beijing and marked the 81st anniversary of a Japanese invasion that China has never forgotten.

China marks every Sept. 18 by blowing sirens to remember a 1931 incident that Japan used as a pretext to invade Manchuria, setting off a brutal occupation of China that ended only at the close of World War II. Demonstrations are not routine, but this year, as Chinese fume over last week's Japanese purchase of long-contested islands in the East China Sea, they spread across the country. Outside the Japanese Embassy in Beijing, thousands of protesters shouted patriotic slogans and demanded boycotts of Japanese goods. Some burned Japanese flags and threw apples, water bottles and eggs at the embassy, which was heavily guarded by three layers of paramilitary police and metal barricades. "We believe we need to declare war on them because the Japanese devils are too evil. Down with little Japan!" said Wang Guoming, a retired soldier and seller of construction materials who said he came to the embassy from Linfen in Shanxi province, 600 kilometers (400 miles) away, to vent his frustration.

In another part of the capital, U.S. Defense Secretary Leon Panetta had a lengthy meeting with China's national defense minister, Gen. Liang Guanglie, during a three-day trip that U.S. officials have said Panetta will use to press China to seek ways to peacefully resolve its territorial disputes. Liang told Panetta that China was "resolutely opposed" to the islands' inclusion in the terms of a U.S.-Japan mutual defense treaty, and hopes the U.S. will honor its commitment to maintain a neutral stance, the official Xinhua News Agency reported. Protests also took place in Guangzhou, Wenzhou, Shanghai and other Chinese cities. Japan's Kyodo News agency reported protests in at least 100 cities, and said people threw bricks and rocks at the Japanese Consulate in Shenyang in China's northeast. However, Shenyang police said by telephone there was no unrest.

China's authoritarian government rarely allows protests, and the wave of anti-Japanese demonstrations clearly received a degree of official approval. Many Japanese businesses across China shut their doors as a precaution following recent protests that turned violent and saw the torching and looting of Japanese-invested factories and shops. The nationalist fervor spread to the Internet, where users of the popular search engine Baidu saw a huge Chinese flag planted on a cartoon image of the contested islands, which China calls the Diaoyus and Japan calls the Senkakus. And all members of China's elite badminton team, who scored multiple gold medals in the London Olympics, pulled out of a Japanese tournament that began Tuesday.

The islands are tiny rock outcroppings that have been a sore point between China and Japan for decades. Japan has claimed the islands since 1895. The U.S. took jurisdiction after World War II and turned them over to Japan in 1972. The disagreement escalated last week when the Japanese government said it was purchasing some of the islands from their private owner. Japan considers it an attempt to thwart a potentially more inflammatory move by the governor of Tokyo, who had wanted not only to buy the islands but develop them. But Beijing sees Japan's purchase as an affront to its claims and its past calls for negotiations. Beijing has sent patrol ships inside Japanese-claimed waters around the islands, and some state media have urged Chinese to show their patriotism by boycotting Japanese goods and canceling travel to Japan.

MORE