China's Peaceful Rise

[Guest Charles]

 

Apparently the PRC is angry that a recent report describe them as aggressive and inconsistent with international law.

 

It's like these guys a live on the moon and have no access to the internet. They should get out more often.

 

Either that, or they really aren't angry, just engaging in the usual propaganda. <snicker>"I'm outraged, I really am!" <snicker>.

 

One of those, for internal consumption reports, maybe.

 

Charles

[tankerwanabe]

China just sucessfully launched a Cyber Pearl Harbor against the USA.

 

There's the USArmy, USN, USAF, USMC. Maybe there should be a 5th arm, the USCyber.

[Guest Charles]

China just sucessfully launched a Cyber Pearl Harbor against the USA.

 

There's the USArmy, USN, USAF, USMC. Maybe there should be a 5th arm, the USCyber.

The US already has it, NSA; Fort Mead .

 

Charles

[JasonJ]

Human rights lawyers detained in nationwide crackdown within the last few days.

 

http://m.scmp.com/news/china/policies-politics/article/1837022/about-50-human-rights-lawyers-and-law-firm-staff-held?page=all

 

Mainland police have launched a large-scale, unprecedented crackdown on human rights lawyers in the past two days detaining dozens of lawyers and law firm staff and searching some of their homes and offices, while other people have disappeared, fellow lawyers and three rights groups say.

 

Up to noon on Saturday, 47 people 42 lawyers, four law firm employees, plus one member of a rights lawyers family across 15 cities and provinces had been taken away, summoned or detained by police, said Hong Kong-based China Human Rights Lawyers Concern Group.

 

The rights group Chinese Human Rights Defenders documented 57 lawyers and rights activists that had been detained, summoned or disappeared since Friday morning.

 

One of them, Guangzhou-based lawyer Sui Muqing, was placed under "residential surveillance at a designated location" -- a form of detention -- for alleged "incitement to subvert state power" late on Saturday, according to a police document given to his family.

 

Amnesty International said that by Saturday evening 28 people detained in the crackdown, including Wang Yus teenage son, had been released.

 

The crackdown started after lawyer Wang Yu, known for her courage in taking on difficult human rights cases, went missing in the early hours of Thursday. More than 100 lawyers across the country issued a joint statement on Friday protesting about her disappearance. Many of its signatories were detained late on Friday night and early on Saturday.

 

Most fellow lawyers believe Wang has been detained by police. She disappeared shortly after she sent a text message saying unidentified people were picking at the lock of her front door. Her friends said a security guard at her housing compound saw police taking away someone early on Thursday.

 

Her colleagues at the Beijing Fengrui law firm, lawyers Zhou Shifeng and Li Zhuyun, were taken away by police on Friday, while lawyer Wang Quanzhang and another three staff members also went missing.

 

Lawyer Liu Xiaoyuan, a partner at the firm, sent a text message on Friday night saying he had been summoned by police.

 

Zhou, Wang Quanzhang and Lius phones all remained switched off on Saturday.

 

Beijing Fengrui is the firm where detained activist Wu Gan, nicknamed Super Vulgar Butcher, used to work.

 

Wang Yu was the lawyer of Wu, who was last week charged and formally arrested with inciting subversion and provoking trouble. The firms premises were searched by police on Friday.

 

Other lawyers taken away or summoned by police included Beijingbased Li Heping, Jiang Tianyong, Liang Xiaojun and Zhang Kai, Guangzhou-based Sui Muqing, Henan-based Chang Boyang and Ji Laisong, Shanghai-based Zhang Xuezhong, Zhejiang-based Wang Cheng, Shangdong-based Liu Weiguo, Hunan-based Yang Jinzhu and Gansu-based Jiang Yongji, said the rights groups and fellow lawyers, who declined to be named out for fears of reprisals.

 

Li Hepings brother, lawyer Li Chunfu, said police also searched Lis home and office on Friday and had taken away a large number of books and documents, computers and hard disks. Police had not given reasons for his brothers detention, he said.

 

Suis wife, Sun Shihua, also a lawyer, told a friend that Sui was taken away by police late on Friday night on the charge of seeking quarrels and provoking trouble. China Human Rights Lawyers Concern Group said she was also taken away early Saturday morning.

 

Lawyer Li Jinxing, who was not in Beijing, said his office had been searched on Friday.

 

Other activists taken away included Beijing house church leader Hu Shigen and member Liu Yongping.

 

Zhang Xuezhong, who was one of those that was detained and later released, refused to discuss his detention when contacted.

 

Some of those who had been released, who declined to be named, said they were warned by police to refrain from publicly voicing their support for Wang Yu.

 

South China Morning Posts calls to the Ministry of Public Security yesterday went unanswered.

 

Eva Pils, a China expert at Kings College, London University, said the nationwide crackdown was the most recent step in the implementation of the Xi Jinping administrations programme to crackdown on independent civil society.

 

Since so many lawyers started openly identifying with human rights causes and coordinating their advocacy campaigns, they are one of the closest things China has to a political opposition, she said.

 

Amnesty Internationals China researcher William Nee said police bore a grudge against lawyers because they have effectively used the law to curb the misuse of state power and redress human rights violations.

 

While experts said it was hard to say whether the latest crackdown was connected to the controversial, recently passed National Security Law, Pils said the law aimed at protecting the political regime gives at least rhetorical support for this sweeping campaign.

Edited July 12, 2015 by JasonJ

[JasonJ]

Now over 100 arrests. Some seem to be an arrest of the same person shortly after release in a first arrest.

 

http://time.com/3954935/china-arrests-lawyers-human-rights/

[Corinthian]

The Philippines holds off from signing onto AIIB, leaves the choice to sign on until the end of the year.

 

http://www.manilatimes.net/philippines-still-open-to-aiib-till-yr-end/196203/

 

The Philippines is keeping its doors open to becoming a founding member of the China-backed Asian Infrastructure and Investment Bank (AIIB) until the year-end deadline to consider all factors involved more carefully, the Department of Finance (DOF) said.

 

<snip>

 

 

The Philippines, come check out the non-AIIB bench members, primarily the US and Japan. But some others.. Canada, Taiwan, Thailand..

Thanks for posting that! I was interested in such news but failed to follow due to, well, I forgot to do so hehehehe

[Corinthian]

 

China just sucessfully launched a Cyber Pearl Harbor against the USA.

 

There's the USArmy, USN, USAF, USMC. Maybe there should be a 5th arm, the USCyber.

The US already has it, NSA; Fort Mead .

 

Charles

 

 

Nah. Too busy collecting dick and tit pix instead of monitoring external threats.

[Guest Charles]

 

 

China just sucessfully launched a Cyber Pearl Harbor against the USA.

 

There's the USArmy, USN, USAF, USMC. Maybe there should be a 5th arm, the USCyber.

The US already has it, NSA; Fort Mead .

 

Charles

 

 

Nah. Too busy collecting dick and tit pix instead of monitoring external threats.

 

That would not surprise me one wit.

It's not like the US has the budget to waste on another alphabet soup dept in defense.

 

Charles

[Mikel2]

 

 

China just sucessfully launched a Cyber Pearl Harbor against the USA.

There's the USArmy, USN, USAF, USMC. Maybe there should be a 5th arm, the USCyber.

 

The US already has it, NSA; Fort Mead .

 

Charles

Nah. Too busy collecting dick and tit pix instead of monitoring external threats.

Given how they failed to notice the Boston bombers, who were very indiscrete about their intentions on the internet...

[JasonJ]

 

The Philippines holds off from signing onto AIIB, leaves the choice to sign on until the end of the year.

 

http://www.manilatimes.net/philippines-still-open-to-aiib-till-yr-end/196203/

 

The Philippines is keeping its doors open to becoming a founding member of the China-backed Asian Infrastructure and Investment Bank (AIIB) until the year-end deadline to consider all factors involved more carefully, the Department of Finance (DOF) said.

 

<snip>

 

 

The Philippines, come check out the non-AIIB bench members, primarily the US and Japan. But some others.. Canada, Taiwan, Thailand..

Thanks for posting that! I was interested in such news but failed to follow due to, well, I forgot to do so hehehehe

 

 

That's what tank-net is for

[JasonJ]

The Philippines taking their case in the SCS to the UN tribunal.

 

The Philippines, in its complaint against China, is asking a United Nations tribunal to rule on five issues - a comprehensive collection of its protests against Chinese expansionist moves in the West Philippine Sea in nearly two decades.

 

Manilas five principal claims was enumerated by Foreign Secretary Albert del Rosario when he spoke on the first day of the crucial week-long hearing where the Philippines, backed by international law experts, will persuade the judges of the Permanent Court of Arbitration to assume jurisdiction on its case in The Hague, Netherlands.

 

China, which refused to participate in the legal proceedings, has questioned the tribunals jurisdiction over the case, saying sovereignty and maritime delimitation are beyond its scope under the 1982 UN Convention on the Law of the Sea or UNCLOS.

 

Del Rosario on Tuesday countered that the Philippine case does not require or even invites the Tribunal to make any determinations on questions of land sovereignty, or delimitation of maritime boundaries.

 

The Philippines understands that the jurisdiction of this tribunal convened under UNCLOS is limited to questions that concern the law of the sea. With this in mind, we have taken great care to place before you only claims that arise directly under the Convention, Del Rosario said.

 

The following claims are as follows:

 

- First, that China is not entitled to exercise what it refers to as historic rights over the waters, seabed and subsoil beyond the limits of its entitlements under the Convention;

 

- Second, that the so-called nine dash line has no basis whatsoever under international law insofar as it purports to define the limits of Chinas claim to historic rights;

 

- Third, that the various maritime features relied upon by China as a basis upon which to assert its claims in the South China Sea are not islands that generate entitlement to an exclusive economic zone or continental shelf. Rather, some are rocks within the meaning of Article 121, paragraph 3; others are low-tide elevations, and still others are permanently submerged. As a result, none are capable of generating entitlements beyond 12M, and some generate no entitlements at all. Chinas recent massive reclamation activities cannot lawfully change the original nature and character of these features;

 

- Fourth, that China has breached the Convention by interfering with the Philippines exercise of its sovereign rights and jurisdiction; and

 

- Fifth, that China has irreversibly damaged the regional marine environment, in breach of UNCLOS, by its destruction of coral reefs in the South China Sea, including areas within the Philippines EEZ, by its destructive and hazardous fishing practices, and by its harvesting of endangered species.

 

China insists indisputable and historical claim over virtually the entire waters in the South China Sea, of which some parts that fall within Manilas exclusive economic zone was renamed West Philippine Sea.

 

Beijing frowns on any effort to bring the disputes to any multilateral forum, such as arbitration, insisting on direct talks with smaller rival claimants to the South China Sea giving it advantage due to its size and military power.

 

Other countries with competing claims to the waters are Vietnam, Malaysia and Brunei. Taiwan, which is considered as Chinas renegade province, is also a claimant.

 

The South China Sea- a strategic and resource-rich waterway where more than 50 percent of the world's merchant fleet tonnage passes each year had been a source of conflict among rival claimants.

 

Overlapping claims to the contested waters, islands and reefs, where undersea gas deposits have been discovered in several areas, has been feared to be Asia's next potential flashpoint for war.

 

Del Rosario said the Philippines, in nearly two decades, tried to engage China in bilateral talks and exhausted all efforts and avenues to resolve the maritime row, but all options have failed.

 

Del Rosario even recalled that in one of the bilateral negotiations between the Philippines and China in the 1990s, Beijing has agreed to resolve their disputes peacefully under the ambit of the UNCLOS.

 

The talks happened two years after China seized and built structures on the Mischief Reef - a low-tide elevation located 126 nautical miles from the Philippine island of Palawan and more than 600 nautical miles from the closest point on Chinas Hainan Island.

 

Then Chinese Vice Minister for Foreign Affairs, Mr. Tang Jiaxuan, stated two years later during bilateral negotiations, that China and the Philippines should approach the disputes on the basis of international law, including the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, particularly its provisions on the maritime regimes like the exclusive economic zone, Del Rosario said.

 

The same Chinese commitment, he pointed out, was reflected in a Joint Communiqué issued in July 1998 upon completion of bilateral discussions between his predecessor, Foreign Secretary Domingo Siazon and Tang, who later became Chinas Foreign Minister.

 

An excerpt of the document was quoted by Del Rosario as follows: The two sides exchanged views on the question of the South China Sea and reaffirmed their commitment that the relevant disputes shall be settled peacefully in accordance with the established principles of international law, including the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea.

 

The country, he added, has also been persistent in seeking a diplomatic solution under the auspices of Association of South East Asian neighbors, of which it is a member, as well as claimants Vietnam, Malaysia and Brunei, and Singapore, Thailand, Indonesia, Cambodia, Laos and Myanmar. Manila also failed to get the full backing of the ASEAN on the South China Sea issue, Del Rosario said.

 

The DFA Chief said the most that has been achieved in the ASEAN was the issuance in 2002 of a Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the South China Sea, which aims to prevent armed conflicts.

 

He pointed to Chinas intransigence in the 13 years of subsequent multilateral negotiations as the reason for not turning the declaration into a legally-binding code of conduct and for making that goal nearly unattainable. -NB, GMA News

http://www.gmanetwork.com/news/story/518554/news/nation/un-tribunal-phl-raises-5-points-vs-china-s-claims

Edited July 15, 2015 by JasonJ

[JasonJ]

This tribunal looks like it will take awhile..

 

The United Nations (UN) tribunal in The Hague, Netherlands, has given China another chance to respond to the arbitration case filed by the Philippines over the West Philippine Sea dispute despite Beijing’s repeated refusal to participate.

 

“The Arbitral Tribunal has decided to provide China with the opportunity to comment in writing, by Monday 17 August 2015, on anything said during this Hearing on Jurisdiction and Admissibility,” it said in a statement posted online on Tuesday.

 

China has been given several opportunities in the past to submit comments to support their side but they have stood firm on their position to not participate in the proceedings.

 

The Philippine deliberation, led by Foreign Affairs Secretary Albert del Rosario, presented its arguments when the tribunal commenced hearing the case on July 7 and concluded on July 13.

 

“The Arbitral Tribunal now enters its deliberations and is conscious of its duty under the Rules of Procedure to conduct proceedings to avoid unnecessary delay and expense and to provide a fair and efficient process,” the statement said.

 

The tribunal is expected to render a decision on whether the court has jurisdiction of the case before the end of the year.

 

Despite China’s firm refusal to participate in the proceedings, the tribunal says it has exerted all efforts to ensure China is updated and informed of the status of the case.

 

“The Arbitral Tribunal has kept China updated on all developments in the arbitration and … remains open to China to participate in these proceedings at any stage. Transcripts of the hearing have been made available to China, and China has been invited to comment on anything stated at the hearing,” it said.

http://globalnation.inquirer.net/126077/un-tribunal-gives-china-another-chance-to-respond

[JasonJ]

These lawyers and activists combined with the internal "corruption" CPC round ups, a purge is probably a fair description.

 

More than 100 lawyers and human rights defenders and their relatives have been detained or questioned as Chinese authorities carried out an unprecedented nationwide crackdown on human rights activists over the weekend.

 

As of July 14 at 7:30pm in Hong Kong, the total number of people who have been summoned, questioned, arrested, or detained had reached 159 across 24 cities and provinces, according to the China Human Rights Lawyers Concern Group. Of those, 10 are still detained by authorities, the whereabouts of 14 are unknown, and 135 have been released, said the Hong Kong-based advocacy group.

 

It is unclear what sparked the crackdown, and why it is being conducted now. But information about individual cases began to appear in state media over the weekend.

 

An article published on July 12 on People’s Daily, the Communist Party’s leading mouthpiece, called a Beijing-based law firm that specializes in human rights cases a “major criminal gang” that “organized, planned, and hyped more than 40 sensitive cases since July 2012, seriously disturbing social order.” Four lawyers from the firm, Beijing Fengrui, as well as an assistant and a lawyer’s husband, have been “criminally detained” for “seriously violating the law,” the article said without specifying any charges.

 

Zhou Shifeng, director of Beijing Fengrui, represented Zhang Miao, the Chinese news assistant who had been detained for nine months after she helped cover the Hong Kong democracy protests for a German publication. Zhou was kidnapped and detained last Friday, after Zhang was freed without charge on Tuesday, according to human rights website Weiquanwang (link in Chinese).

 

Beijing Fengrui also involved in the case of a man from Qing’an county, Northeastern Heilongjiang province, who was shot dead by a policeman after he attacked the police with a baton. People’s Daily’s said “these lawyers publicly challenged the court … and mobilized troublemakers to rally petitioners … outside the court.”

 

According to a police notice revealed on July 11 by overseas political news website Boxun, Guangzhou-based lawyer Sui Muqing was put under a police detention at his residence for “incitement to subvert state power.”

 

Since President Xi Jingping came to power, the ruling Communist Party has seriously tightened control over advocates for legal rights and free speech. Over 200 Chinese rights lawyers were detained last year, including Pu Zhiqing, who represents artist Ai Weiwei. But this past weekend’s roundup was so wide-reaching and severe that some described it as a “purge.”

 

Under a post on Sina Weibo by state broadcaster CCTV about lawyers from the Beijing firm making “confessions,” citizens wrote:

 

"Is this rule of law? Don’t make common people laugh their teeth out.”

“Take down the lawyers quickly, then those disobedient journalists. After that, nobody or nothing will restrict you, and you will be able to dominate the political arena generations after generations. Come on."

China recently introduced a sweeping national security law, that will give the state the power to cut off the internet, which has aroused concern among the Chinese public and other countries. The U.S. Department of State said on its website on July 12 that it is “deeply concerned that the broad scope of the new National Security Law is being used as a legal facade to commit human rights abuses.”

 

 

http://qz.com/451621/chinas-nationwide-crackdown-on-human-rights-lawyers-has-netted-106-people-so-far/

[JasonJ]

 

Japanese officials have released a public map and a set of aerial photos that show China’s unilateral gas-platform development in the East China Sea. The gas project has been a point of contention between Japan and China because of its location, near the proposed “median line” between the two countries.

 

“In recent years, China has accelerated its development activities of natural resources in the East China Sea, and the government of Japan has confirmed that there are 16 structures in total on the Chinese side of the geographical equidistance line between Japan and China,” the Japanese Foreign Ministry said in a statement Wednesday.

 

Japan has reignited its concern over the proximity of China’s gas project, which lies on the Chinese side of the line -- but only about 16 miles away from Japan’s exclusive economic zone. This raises concern for Tokyo because it means the gas platform could be siphoning gas from Japan-owned seabeds.

 

Because China and Japan both have stronghold claims in the East China Sea, mutually agreed-upon demarcations have not been made. Japan believes the development of the gas project should stop until an agreement can be made.

 

"In this regard, under the circumstances pending maritime boundary delimitation, it is extremely regrettable that China is advancing unilateral development, even on the China side of the geographical equidistance line,” the Foreign Ministry said. “The Government of Japan once again strongly requests China to cease its unilateral development and to resume negotiations as soon as possible on the implementation of the ‘June 2008 Agreement’ in which Japan and China agreed to cooperate on the development of natural resources in the East China Sea.”

 

For its part, China rejected the objections made by Japan because China is operating strictly on the Chinese side of the median line.

 

"China's oil and gas exploration in undisputed waters of the East China Sea under China's jurisdiction is justified, reasonable and legitimate," China's Foreign Ministry spokesman Lu Kang said in response to criticism. "China's construction on some garrisoned Nansha islands and reefs, which does not affect or target any other country, is fully within China's sovereignty and beyond reproach."

 

 

 

http://www.ibtimes.com/japan-china-territorial-dispute-map-photos-china-gas-project-released-japanese-2019592

 

 

If relations were good, I'd thing the location of the structures wouldn't necessarily be an issue. But more Chinese stuff up against the equidistance line with Japan raises the area of tension points.

[JasonJ]

Apologies and compensation to Chinese forced laborers from Mitsubishi after lawsuit.

 

Groups of Chinese have decided to settle a dispute with Mitsubishi Materials Corp. over the Japanese companys use of wartime forced labor by receiving apologies and compensation of 100,000 yuan (about $16,000) for each victim, sources with direct knowledge of their negotiations said Thursday.

 

Mitsubishi Materials is prepared to offer the money to 3,765 Chinese, the largest number of people to be subject to a Japanese companys postwar compensation.

 

This is also the first time that a Japanese firm has decided to apologize and pay monetary compensation to Chinese war victims in relation to a case that has already been rejected by Japans Supreme Court.

 

A negotiation team representing the Chinese groups and Mitsubishi Materials are preparing to sign a historic reconciliation agreement in the not-so-distant future in Beijing, the sources said, as this year marks the 70th anniversary of the end of World War II.

 

Mitsubishi Materials has admitted that its predecessor, Mitsubishi Mining Co., and subcontractors of that accepted 3,765 Chinese people as forced laborers and infringed on their human rights, according to the sources.

 

The victims were part of about 39,000 Chinese who were brought to Japan against their will between 1943 and 1945 in line with a Japanese government decision to address a growing shortage of labor in places such as coal mines and construction sites.

 

Due to hard labor and privations, 6,830 of them died. Starting in the 1990s, Chinese survivors of forced labor and their families filed a series of compensation lawsuits against the Japanese government and companies.

 

But the Supreme Court ruled in 2007 that Chinese individuals have no judicial right to demand wartime compensation as it had already been renounced under a 1972 joint communique issued when Sino-Japanese diplomatic ties were normalized.

 

Mitsubishi Materials will express deep remorse and sincere apologies, the sources said, adding that it will pay ¥100 million (about $807,680) for the construction of a monument with the aim of not repeating the same mistake and ¥200 million for the search for missing victims and their relatives.

 

Of the 3,765, only about 1,500 Chinese survivors of forced labor and their families have been found so far.

 

The Chinese groups, which had hoped to restore the dignity of aging victims while they are alive, started negotiations with the Tokyo-based company in January 2014. There are now less than 20 living survivors.

 

Mitsubishi Materials will come to terms with three Chinese groups that have sought compensation from it. Both sides recognize that the signing of the agreement will be a final settlement of the issue.

 

The three groups represent a large majority of the victims.

 

One different Chinese group of 37 people filed a compensation lawsuit in February 2014 with a Beijing court against Mitsubishi Materials.

 

The group took legal action after South Korean courts ordered several Japanese firms in 2013 to pay damages over wartime forced labor, even though Tokyo and Seoul agreed in 1965 when normalizing bilateral ties that all compensation issues had been settled.

 

It also took place at a time when the Chinese government was stepping up its campaign at home and abroad to warn of Japans resurgent militarism, after Prime Minister Shinzo Abes visit in late 2013 to Yasukuni Shrine, where convicted war criminals are enshrined along with the countrys war dead.

 

Earlier this year, the group broke off its out-of-court settlement negotiations with the Japanese company.

 

If the Chinese court decides to begin a trial, it will be the first case in China seeking compensation for victims of forced labor involving a Japanese company.

 

Until last year, Chinese authorities largely prevented individuals from filing compensation suits against Japan out of concern it could hurt bilateral ties and discourage Japanese investment.

 

On Sunday, Mitsubishi Materials apologized to U.S. former prisoners of war who were used as forced labor during the war in mines operated by its predecessor.

 

Chinese official media gave big coverage to its apologies to nearly 900 former U.S. prisoners of war with the tone that the Japanese government and companies should also be more sincere to people in other parts of Asia who suffered under Japans past militarism.

http://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2015/07/24/national/history/mitsubishi-materials-apologize-settle-3765-chinese-wwii-forced-labor-redress-claims/#.VbGmvHgay0d

Edited July 24, 2015 by JasonJ

[JasonJ]

Lee, Teng-hui: Former President of Taiwan talks in Japan.

 

Among many things he talked about how Taiwan has been a country under the rule of many foreign countries including Qing China being one of them, Japan rule was tough but very beneficial. That after WW2 under the rule of another foreign power, the Nationalist government China, the Taiwanese people thought very much about their identity. The bloodless democracy revolution in Taiwan and the ending of the communists hunting and ending the old goal to retake the mainland. Ideal relations with mainland China being fair, friendly, and good but with China as China and Taiwan as Taiwan. The falling influence of the US and that the world is at a stage where there is no leading nation anymore but what is called a "G-0 world", the current rule of mainland China is really just an extensions of the 5,000 imperial way of China, a plan for Taiwan to break out of the old Asiatic way which includes ethnicity playing a major part in nationalism and replacing it with a democratic idealism that includes any ethnicity, that the liberalization and democratization of China is highly unlikely, and praises Abe for trying to elevate Japan's role and for taking steps to make Japan more keen on the ideas of defense, and the current Taiwanese administrations low popularity.

 

He dodges answering some questions so he's not being entirely straight up but the gist looks fine to me. The interpreters struggled at a few points but overall a good watch IMO.

 

Edited July 24, 2015 by JasonJ

[JasonJ]

The Chinese Peoples Liberation Army (PLA) has made more mock-ups of strategic targets in Taiwan for simulated attacks since last year, which suggests Beijing has stepped up its preparations for a military struggle with Taiwan, an expert on the Chinese military said yesterday.

 

China has increased preparations because Beijing is concerned about potentially drastic changes in Taiwans political situation after the presidential election in January next year, said Andrei Chang (張毅弘), also known as Pinkov, founder of Canada-based online Kanwa Defense Review.

 

Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Chairperson Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文), is the front-runner in the presidential race and, if elected, is expected to adopt a less conciliatory position toward China than President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九).

 

Earlier this week, Chinese state-run CCTV showed a building similar to Taiwans Presidential Office Building being stormed by PLA troops in a military exercise, leading some experts to believe the series of drills might simulate resolving the Taiwan issue with force.

 

The footage and related media reports prompted the Taiwanese government to convey a serious protest to China.

 

In addition to the Presidential Office Building, Chang said surrounding buildings and roads were replicated as well, including Ketagalan Boulevard, two parking lots in front of the Presidential Office Building, a building similar to that housing the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and others.

 

According to Chang, all of the replicas were copied in great detail.

 

To prove his point, he provided a satellite image showing a building in the shape of a bisected rectangle, just like the Presidential Office Building in Taipei.

 

Chang said elevated highway sections were constructed in another simulated area of Taipei for urban combat drills with the goal of paralyzing traffic in the capital by taking control of the highways.

 

The work to construct replicas of more strategic targets is still ongoing, he added.

http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/taiwan/archives/2015/07/25/2003623860

Edited July 24, 2015 by JasonJ

[chino]

New Chinese rifle.

 

It's a grenade firing weapon like the OICW.

 

The sight apparently has some "corner shot" capability as well.

 

Websites give the name of this weapon as "戰略大槍" which literally translated means "strategy big gun" Doesn't make any sense as PLA normally just give their firearms a Type number.

 

Edited July 27, 2015 by chino

[chino]

Looks like a single shot copy of the Korean K11.

 

The Chinese version does not have a provision for multiple shot magazine for the grenades. Which actually makes sense because carrying a full mag on the weapon of grenades on the weapon probably just make the thing heavy and unwieldy.

 

ETA: Do those grenades look like they point backwards in the magazine?

Edited July 27, 2015 by chino

[Sardaukar]

Their Marine uniforms are as ugly as USN ones...why do they have to copy also bad designs...

[Panzermann]

Their Marine uniforms are as ugly as USN ones...why do they have to copy also bad designs...

IIRC the chinese had ugly "camo" before the USN. US Navy cannot have camo gap!w

[JasonJ]

"Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) downplays China’s live fire drills in South China"

The Philippine military said it is not threatened with China’s live firing drills in the South China Sea, saying it is their right as a sovereign nation.

“We’re not threatened at all because it’s in international waters… We see it as the right of any sovereign nation,” Armed Forces of the Philippines spokesperson Colonel Restituto Padilla told reporters at Camp Aguinaldo on Wednesday.

 

China held air and sea drills in the disputed seas amid its sweepings claims in the entire disputed sea. Chinese state media reported that the exercise involved at least 100 naval assets, dozens of aircraft, and information war troops.

 

It did not say the exact location of the drills in the South China Sea, however.

 

READ: China conducts ‘live firing drill’ in disputed South China Sea

 

“It’s the right of any sovereign nation to conduct any kind of exercises that they think are relevant to their own security interest,” Padilla said.

 

China, meanwhile, strongly opposed the military exercises the Philippines held with China and Japan last month. (I think it's supposed to mean "...with the US and Japan")

 

“Any kind of military exercise is always subject to the interpretation of an outsider. An outsider who is biased against that country can initiate negative comments but from our perspective that being their right, they can do it. Just as long as they are not intruding,” Padilla said.

 

He added that they are able to monitor if China will hold the drills within the Philippines’ exclusive economic zone.

Padilla, however, also appealed that China should be transparent in its military exercises.

 

“We have been very transparent whenever we have exercises we tried to invite observers… to say and indicate that what we are doing is aboveboard and that we are not threatening anyone. In the case of China, everybody in the region, the US included, is encouraging them to be transparent so that all of their motives, all of their activities will not be questioned,” he said.

 

China has been increasingly assertive in its claims in the South China Sea and has built artificial islands in recent months. Three of those seven artificial islands are within the Philippines’ exclusive economic zone.

 

The Philippines, meanwhile, is planning to increase its defense budget for 2016.

 

 

http://globalnation.inquirer.net/126693/afp-downplays-chinas-live-fire-drills-in-south-china-sea

 

And a video from wikileaks:

 

 

http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=dc7_1438158557

[chino]

https://sg.news.yahoo.com/china-russia-hold-joint-naval-air-drills-202624662.html

China and Russia will hold joint military drills in the waters and airspace of the Sea of Japan, Beijing said Thursday, the latest defence cooperation between the countries.

*snip*

The drills come as Beijing and Moscow intensify cooperation in military, political and economic spheres.

*snip*

China is planning a huge military parade in early September to commemorate victory over Japanese forces as well as the broader defeat of the Axis powers in World War II.

Russian troops will participate after China's military took part in a march in Moscow in May also marking the end of the conflict.

[JasonJ]

So the second island chain defense plan is now becoming official.

 

In a report on its air strategy, the Chinese Peoples Liberation Army plans to broaden its air surveillance and attack capabilities to the Western Pacific, including the vicinity of Japan, to ensure its command of the air, it was learned Sunday.

 

The report seen by Kyodo News emphasizes the need to develop and enhance nine types of strategic equipment, such as a new type of strategic bomber and a Terminal High-Altitude Area Defense ground-based interceptor system with an eye specifically toward the United States, which is strengthening its so-called pivot to Asia.

 

While the expansion by Chinas navy, such as its building of a second aircraft carrier, is attracting attention, the report by the Air Force Command Academy shows that countrys air force has also started developing a similar expansion strategy. As a result, conflict over the sea with the United States is likely to deepen further.

 

The academy, a think tank in Beijing of an air force leadership training organ, prepared the report in November last year. Reports by the academy have previously served as policy guidelines.

 

It lists the United States, Japan, Taiwan, India and Vietnam as threats in its military airspace until 2030. It proposes broadening the scope of surveillance from a first island chain linking Okinawa, Taiwan and the Philippines and one of Chinas defense lines in the open ocean to a second island chain linking the Izu Island chain, Guam and New Guinea.

 

The report affords a glimpse into the Chinese militarys confidence in thwarting the U.S. military, which has been critical of Chinas controversial land reclamation activities in the South China Sea. It mentions enhancing the ability to attack U.S. bases on the China side of the second archipelago line with strategic bombers, and deter U.S. military intervention in the event of a defense operation involving Chinese islands.

 

The nine types of strategic equipment also include a high-speed air-launched cruise missile, a large transport plane, and air ship that moves in the upper atmosphere, a next-generation fighter, unmanned attack aircraft, air force satellites and precision-guided bombs.

 

Regarding the air defense identification zone that China established over the East China Sea in November 2013, the report proposes cooperation between the air force and navy to enhance the air defense capability, and stresses the need to boost joint training.

 

The report also places considerable emphasis on developments in the space and missile fields. It says the air force would be put in charge of a space unit to be established in the future, adding that careful examination is needed regarded the form it will take.

http://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2015/08/03/asia-pacific/china-aiming-air-control-western-pacific-surveillance-far-izu-chain-report/#.Vb7Ujngay0d

Edited August 3, 2015 by JasonJ

[JasonJ]

Time to cut some economic links with CPC's China and let them rot or be prepared to succumb to CPC demands. Second airstrip possible on Subi. And they keep doing the same deflection responses whether it's ASEAN meetings, US concerns, anti-Japanese propaganda, or whatever. It's totally obvious that they seek to make the SCS a CPC pond which can be used to exert more influence further out. If it was a better country, it wouldn't be so bad, but CPC is not to be trusted with so much relative power IMO. They are not transparent and continue unfair competition. They had their good economic development run but rather than being content, they seem to want a much bigger role on the world stage while still continuing crackdowns on freedom of speech. I think the danger point is drawing near. Paper dragon arguments are now becoming obsolete.

Beijing: Beijing could be preparing to build a second 3,000-metre airstrip on an artificial island in the disputed South China Sea, a Washington-based think-tank said.

China is already building a 3,000-metre (9,842 feet) runway on Fiery Cross reef, the longest in the area, which could ultimately be used for combat operations, according to the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS).

Airstrip building in the Spratly islands goes back nearly 40 years and four other claimants already have such facilities, according to CSIS' Asia Maritime Transparency Initiative.

But China has been accused of seeking to advance its sovereignty claims with its land reclamation programme and tensions have been rising in the South China Sea.

The website said China's airstrip on Fiery Cross Reef, around 1,000 kilometres from the island province of Hainan just off the Chinese mainland, is in the "advanced stages" of construction, which began last year.

Satellite photos of another reef, Subi, where nearly four million square metres (988 acres) of land have been reclaimed, indicate Beijing may be getting ready to build another strip of similar length there, it added.

"A Chinese airbase at Fiery Cross Reef would allow for much-improved situational awareness," the website said, adding it could let China deploy maritime surveillance aircraft and fighter squadrons in the area.

"China may be more readily able to use the airbase for patrols or limited offensive operations against other South China Sea claimants, or even United States assets," it added.

Taiwan is currently upgrading its 1,195 metre airstrip on Itu Aba island, CSIS said.

According to the website, Malaysia has the second-longest runway in the area on Swallow Reef at 1,368 metres. The Philippines' strip is slightly shorter but with an "extremely worn" dirt surface.

Vietnam, the first runway builder in the region in 1976, has the smallest at just 550 metres.

Malaysia, the Philippines and Vietnam are all members of the Association of South East Asian Nations, as is Brunei, another claimant to the waters.

Apprehension has grown over the militarisation of the South China Sea, nearly all of which is claimed by Beijing.

China is pouring massive amounts of sand to expand and fortify small reefs and build facilities which it says are meant to promote maritime and navigational safety and scientific research, as well as military purposes.

Washington has a network of military bases in Asia and conducts active reconnaissance of the area, and has been particularly critical of Beijing's activities, though it has also called on other claimants to cease new construction.

"The US side disregards and distorts the facts, and plays up 'China's military threat' to sow discord between China and China's maritime neighbours in the South China Sea," Chinese defence ministry spokesman Yang Yujun said at a monthly briefing on Thursday.

"We firmly oppose such actions."

China's island-building and construction activities are expected to come under scrutiny during high-level Asian security meetings hosted by ASEAN from Tuesday, which top US and Chinese diplomats will also attend.

China's navy last week carried out a "live firing drill" in the South China Sea, involving at least 100 naval vessels, dozens of aircraft, missile launch battalions and information warfare troops, state media reported.

http://m.ndtv.com/world-news/china-may-be-preparing-second-spratly-airstrip-think-tank-1203539

Edited August 5, 2015 by JasonJ