Chinese Military Seeks to Extend Its Naval Power
NY Times
YALONG BAY, China — The Chinese military is seeking to project naval power well beyond the Chinese coast, from the oil ports of the Middle East to the shipping lanes of the Pacific, where the United States Navy has long reigned as the dominant force, military officials and analysts say.
China calls the new strategy “far sea defense,” and the speed with which it is building long-range capabilities has surprised foreign military officials.
The strategy is a sharp break from the traditional, narrower doctrine of preparing for war over the self-governing island of Taiwan or defending the Chinese coast. Now, Chinese admirals say they want warships to escort commercial vessels that are crucial to the country’s economy, from as far as the Persian Gulf to the Strait of Malacca, in Southeast Asia, and to help secure Chinese interests in the resource-rich South and East China Seas.
The overall plan reflects China’s growing sense of self-confidence and increasing willingness to assert its interests abroad. China’s naval ambitions are being felt, too, in recent muscle flexing with the United States: in March, Chinese officials told senior American officials privately that China would brook no foreign interference in its territorial issues in the South China Sea, said a senior American official involved in China policy.
In late March, Adm. Robert F. Willard, the leader of the United States Pacific Command, said in Congressional testimony that recent Chinese military developments were “pretty dramatic.” China has tested long-range ballistic missiles that could be used against aircraft carriers, he said. After years of denials, Chinese officials have confirmed that they intend to deploy an aircraft carrier group within a few years.
China is also developing a sophisticated submarine fleet that could try to prevent foreign naval vessels from entering its strategic waters if a conflict erupted in the region, said Admiral Willard and military analysts.
“Of particular concern is that elements of China’s military modernization appear designed to challenge our freedom of action in the region,” the admiral said.
Yalong Bay, on the southern coast of Hainan island in the South China Sea, is the site of five-star beach resorts just west of a new underground submarine base. The base allows submarines to reach deep water within 20 minutes and roam the South China Sea, which has some of the world’s busiest shipping lanes and areas rich in oil and natural gas that are the focus of territorial disputes between China and other Asian nations.
That has caused concern not only among American commanders, but also among officials in Southeast Asian nations, which have been quietly acquiring more submarines, missiles and other weapons. “Regional officials have been surprised,” said Huang Jing, a scholar of the Chinese military at the National University of Singapore. “We were in a blinded situation. We thought the Chinese military was 20 years behind us, but we suddenly realized China is catching up.”
China is also pressing the United States to heed its claims in the region. In March, Chinese officials told two visiting senior Obama administration officials, Jeffrey A. Bader and James B. Steinberg, that China would not tolerate any interference in the South China Sea, now part of China’s “core interest” of sovereignty, said an American official involved in China policy. It was the first time the Chinese labeled the South China Sea a core interest, on par with Taiwan and Tibet, the official said.
Another element of the Chinese Navy’s new strategy is to extend its operational reach beyond the South China Sea and the Philippines to what is known as the “second island chain” — rocks and atolls out in the Pacific, the official said. That zone significantly overlaps the United States Navy’s area of supremacy.
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Wild Thing’s comment……..
Our own Internal corruption and decay is doing most of the work for the Chinese. Maybe one day our military can tell obama to put his CIC status where the sun does not shine and the same with the PC mentality. We have such an awesome military.
Bill Clinton can be thanked for this part of China’s remergence into the big game. He sold his soul by selling the chinese Missile technology, all in the spirit of cooperation and space exploration, capable of launching Nuclear war heads. That’s why they caught up so quickly. Clinton did this all for campaign cash from the Chinese. Another, ‘loyal Ally.’ Nobody paid any attention to this, ‘Aw its only politics, Right.’ And Madelein Half-bright gave the NORKs a reactor so they could generate Electricity, yeah, thats just what they’re doing. So while Clinton was getting BJ’s in the oval office and Madelein was working out in the gym, she claimed she can ‘leg-press’ 300#, the Chinese and North Koreans were updating their Military cababilities. All at the expense of the U.S. taxpayer and a democrat victory in ’96.
This can all be laid at the feet of the democrats.
What do you think China’s first objective will be to test the U.S. resolve, Taiwan looks like a likely first target. The second question will be, what will obama do about it ? With his advisors and his lack of a ‘pair’, he’ll probably, stomp his feet, and scream at them, then return to the oval office and play with his Benwa balls and Taiwan will be Red-Chinese.
China is building and modernizing its military. Russia is rebuilding its military. It won’t be long before the US Superpower status falls behind China and Russia. And, we’ve got a President who wants to ensure that.
I think the first test of naval power by the Chinese may be over the Spratly Islands. The islands have been found to be oil rich and they are claimed by China, Vietnam, The Philippines and Taiwan. This would be a good opportunity for China to display it’s power regionally and at the same time send a message to America that we don’t own all the seas.
Mark, well said, when Clinton was president was when I bought my first computer. I was so furious with what he was doing I had to get a computer so I could go online, go to forums and rant about him. The damage he did we are still stuck with, you are so right.
BobF., your so right. They all get stronger and bigger and obama has us cutting back.
Tom, oh wow thank you for the information. Very interesting!!
Well… don’t just blame Clinton only… Nixon, Kissinger, McNamara are the S.Js = stupid Jerks that you have to blame.
They sold out 60000 American Soldiers lives who died in VietNam war and almost 3 Million VietNamese lives and the South VietNam goverment to China when Nixon came to China in 1972. This Visit was the deal between them and China, begging the Chinese to let the US have a good exit from the war. Since then the S.Js gave the chinese so much power … now we have to watch them out.