Originally Posted by
havoc
China fully militarizes key South China Sea features | Asian TelegraphWhile international attention is transfixed on the war in Ukraine, China has fully militarized three of its occupied islands in the contested South China Sea.
Speaking aboard a P-8 Poseidon on patrol in the South China Sea, US Indo-Pacific Commander Admiral John Aquilino said on March 20 that “China has fully militarized at least three of several islands it built in the disputed South China Sea, arming them with anti-ship and anti-aircraft missile systems, laser and jamming equipment and fighter jets in an increasingly aggressive move that threatens all nations operating nearby.”
According to Aquilino, China’s facilities on Mischief Reef, Subi Reef and Fiery Cross Reef appear to have been completed. He said it is yet to be seen whether China will start construction of additional military facilities in its other occupied features in the maritime area.
Admiral Aquilino added that “the function of those islands is to expand the offensive capability of the PRC beyond their continental shores” and that from these occupied features, China “can fly fighters, bombers plus all those offensive capabilities of missile systems.”
Aquilino also stressed that commercial and military planes flying near these occupied islands will be within the range of China’s weapons, which he said threatens all countries that operate near those features....
China’s objectives in the South China Sea can be summed up in three main points. First, China wants to transform the South China Sea into a sanctuary for its nuclear ballistic missile submarines, which need to operate in the Western Pacific to ensure nuclear deterrence against the US....
Second, China intends to transform the South China Sea into a buffer zone between itself and the US in the event of a conflict in the Taiwan Strait. Third, China aims to control the South China Sea’s underwater resources, namely oil, gas, and fisheries, as well as secure its own maritime trading routes....
Traditionally, China considered Taiwan to be the most immediate threat to its core interests as its mere existence presents an alternate China not under Communist rule. China considers Taiwan a rogue province that should eventually be reunited with the mainland.....
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Boomers in the SCS
The acoustics of the SCS is just awful, but it is a pond compared to the complete Pacific ocean. with GPS and burst transmission, a temporary SOSUS type array is still feasible, and nuke-powered boomers still have coolant pumps even when good acoustic isolation is employed, and they always leave a thermal trail. I would rather chase a nuke in the lake than a nuke in an open ocean expanse. Turbulence tracking is still viable, so I would not be signing up to spend time in a boat assuming that I cannot be detected or attacked.
The more established China becomes with air defence on their stolen islands, the less tenable the P8 type search and attack capability become, but that doesn't do anything to avoid retasking predators with a Mk 101 or aerial torpedoes.
BUFFERS
Stealing disputed territory as a buffer doesn't look good on your resume, and the sooner that the USA and EUR determine that China's long game is not to be friendly to the interests of the US or EUR, particularly with the resurrection of a god-emperor, the sooner we can get back to stable basics of economics. The cost of concluding manufacture arbitrage pays back very quickly. Ask China. Taiwan has been an asset to China over the last 40 years, and a petulant dear leader moment doesn't do anything to make China a better place than it is now. Taiwanese nationalism will give a response to a Chinese attack that would lead to China being a pariah, and having to deal with long-term guerilla warfare, that quite possibly would be taken back to China proper. The gift that keeps giving. The good news is, making bases in the SCS makes for better targeting of the PRC infrastructure than having to go chase skimmers and boats. Closure of the SCS would have the neat side effect of shutting down China's trade indefinitely, by their own hand. Chinas centrally controlled bubble economy that has developed domestic demand through the insanity of propping up unwanted and unsupportable property development is starting to come home to roost. Shutting off foreign trade is hardly a victory to China.
RESOURCES
SCS has its fair share of resources, a lot of which is getting past its use-by date. Obtaining the resources at the cost of alienating every trading partner apart from.... North Korea, Eritrea, and Russia seem to be unbalanced as a break-even. Doesn't mean that it won't happen, it just suggests that a god-emperor with all-powerful authority and no constraints from rational subordinates conjures up the adage, that total power corrupts totally. How that is of long-term benefit to a China that is successful as a global exporter is lost on me.