The South China Sea's Gathering Storm
Ecce Homo! Loquitur...
Thread Starter
https://www.snafu-solomon.com/2021/0...to-invade.html
Leaked map shows China plans to invade S. Taiwan after taking Kinmen, Penghu
via Taiwan News.
Later that afternoon, two accounts on the tightly government-orchestrated social media site Weibo, Tianfu Community and Dingsheng Forum, released a photo of PLA soldiers seated with their backs turned to a massive topographical model of southern Taiwan. The model is covered in black marks, appearing to show key strategic locations the PLA plans to seize during an invasion…….
Leaked map shows China plans to invade S. Taiwan after taking Kinmen, Penghu
via Taiwan News.
Later that afternoon, two accounts on the tightly government-orchestrated social media site Weibo, Tianfu Community and Dingsheng Forum, released a photo of PLA soldiers seated with their backs turned to a massive topographical model of southern Taiwan. The model is covered in black marks, appearing to show key strategic locations the PLA plans to seize during an invasion…….
Originally Posted by Imagegear
There is some interesting background in this document to China's claims to the SCS. It would appear that they have no leg to stand on under law.
South China Sea Tribunal
IG
South China Sea Tribunal
IG
The good Admiral is on the right track.
China will multiply its nuclear strike force to be the largest in the world, because that is a cheap way to get real respect.
They have the production capacity to do it easily and there is no incentive for them not to do so.
China will multiply its nuclear strike force to be the largest in the world, because that is a cheap way to get real respect.
They have the production capacity to do it easily and there is no incentive for them not to do so.
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Originally Posted by SASless
No incentive to stop.....who would try to stop them?
I can see the current American President sending them a terse Note about it.
I can see the current American President sending them a terse Note about it.
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Originally Posted by Commander Taco
What would DJT do - fall in love all over again, this time with Xi?
Last edited by West Coast; 28th Jul 2021 at 14:20.
Originally Posted by etudiant
Taiwan also supports the 9-Dash line, despite the clearly limited historical evidence, so it is not a Beijing only policy.
Originally Posted by Commander Taco
What would DJT do - fall in love all over again, this time with Xi?
What do I know about China… not much. Apart From WW2 reading up on The Hump, Flying Tigers etc and movies like The Last Emperor.
Now that they have a new Emperor, may I recommend “The Invention of China” by Bill Hayton. Published in 2020.
Associate Fellow of Chatham House and Beeb World News journalist.
Its heavy going, but very well worth the effort. Chapters deal with, in great detail, the following….
The invention of China, sovereignty, the Han race, History, the Nation, the language and the Maritime claim.
Get stuck in and persevere…it’s well worth it. For ones own education.
Now that they have a new Emperor, may I recommend “The Invention of China” by Bill Hayton. Published in 2020.
Associate Fellow of Chatham House and Beeb World News journalist.
Its heavy going, but very well worth the effort. Chapters deal with, in great detail, the following….
The invention of China, sovereignty, the Han race, History, the Nation, the language and the Maritime claim.
Get stuck in and persevere…it’s well worth it. For ones own education.
In The Times today.
Beijing’s hostile welcome for British fleet
Sensible comment by Lloyd Austin - but will it be heeded?
Beijing’s hostile welcome for British fleet
China’s navy is hoping to “practise” its military skills on the British aircraft carrier Queen Elizabeth as it sails through the tense and contested waters of the South China Sea, the country’s state media has warned.
In a teasingly sinister message of welcome, the nationalist tabloid Global Times reported that the People’s Liberation Army navy was holding exercises of its own in two separate parts of the sea, and would react to any “improper acts” by the British fleet. Other Chinese commentary has denounced the British deployment as a pretentious act of neo-colonial chest-thumping.
“The PLA will closely monitor the UK warships’ activities, stand ready to deal with any improper acts, and also see this as a chance for practise and for studying the UK’s latest warships up close,” the Global Times reported, citing an unnamed military expert.
“China receives friends with good wine and deals with wolves with a shotgun,” warned Wu Shicun, president of the National Institute for South China Sea Studies, in an article published online yesterday.
The passage of the Queen Elizabeth, which is accompanied by an American and Dutch ship as well as its own support vessels, is intended to underline the government’s strategic “tilt” to East Asia at a time of increasing Chinese military assertiveness throughout the region. Ben Wallace, the defence secretary, said last week that, despite China’s claims to sovereignty over almost the entire South China Sea, Britain had a “duty” to insist on freedom of navigation through the strategic waterway through which $5 trillion of trade passes every year.
Lloyd Austin, the US defence secretary, sounded a note of caution about the British tilt towards Asia — hinting at concerns that it overstretches Britain’s armed forces. At a speech in Singapore he emphasised the need for countries with limited resources to “balance” military commitments around the world.
“If, for example, we focus a bit more here [in Asia], are there areas that the UK can be more helpful in other parts of the world?” Austin asked.
In a teasingly sinister message of welcome, the nationalist tabloid Global Times reported that the People’s Liberation Army navy was holding exercises of its own in two separate parts of the sea, and would react to any “improper acts” by the British fleet. Other Chinese commentary has denounced the British deployment as a pretentious act of neo-colonial chest-thumping.
“The PLA will closely monitor the UK warships’ activities, stand ready to deal with any improper acts, and also see this as a chance for practise and for studying the UK’s latest warships up close,” the Global Times reported, citing an unnamed military expert.
“China receives friends with good wine and deals with wolves with a shotgun,” warned Wu Shicun, president of the National Institute for South China Sea Studies, in an article published online yesterday.
The passage of the Queen Elizabeth, which is accompanied by an American and Dutch ship as well as its own support vessels, is intended to underline the government’s strategic “tilt” to East Asia at a time of increasing Chinese military assertiveness throughout the region. Ben Wallace, the defence secretary, said last week that, despite China’s claims to sovereignty over almost the entire South China Sea, Britain had a “duty” to insist on freedom of navigation through the strategic waterway through which $5 trillion of trade passes every year.
Lloyd Austin, the US defence secretary, sounded a note of caution about the British tilt towards Asia — hinting at concerns that it overstretches Britain’s armed forces. At a speech in Singapore he emphasised the need for countries with limited resources to “balance” military commitments around the world.
“If, for example, we focus a bit more here [in Asia], are there areas that the UK can be more helpful in other parts of the world?” Austin asked.
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Originally Posted by Lyneham Lad
In The Times today.
Beijing’s hostile welcome for British fleet
Sensible comment by Lloyd Austin - but will it be heeded?
Beijing’s hostile welcome for British fleet
Sensible comment by Lloyd Austin - but will it be heeded?
Originally Posted by West Coast
Quite frankly SECDEF’s comments should have been made in private and not in a public forum. The RN would be quite right in telling Austin to stuff it.
Perhaps that explains the quality of much of the public discourse.
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Originally Posted by etudiant
So sensible comments should only be made in private?
Perhaps that explains the quality of much of the public discourse.
Perhaps that explains the quality of much of the public discourse.
Originally Posted by West Coast
I would expect the SECDEF to praise in public, criticize in private.
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Originally Posted by etudiant
Agree fully, so suspect he is now speaking out after that effort was rebuffed. At least he is putting down a marker that the US thinks this is stupid.
I hope the task force stays for a long while, an FU to the Chinese and to Austin.
Anyway, who is Austin to suggest to the UK to stay in their own lane. The Chinese will eat up the division offered by him.
So are VMFA-211 and DDG-68 no longer in the same chain of command as the US SECDEF? As West Coast implies, I think the Indian and Malaysian Navies (and their Governments) are not be alone in welcoming having more than just the USN demonstrating a commitment to the rule of law in the Indian Ocean and South China.
If General (rtd) Austin is hinting that the UK needs to address its overstretch by investing more in defence capabilities, then I wouldn't disagree. I wonder if he has some residual doubts from a perception of the effects overstretch on the UK's commitment to operations Iraq or Afghanistan during his commands there? As a trained counsellor I would have thought he would know the importance of listening carefully before giving advice.
If General (rtd) Austin is hinting that the UK needs to address its overstretch by investing more in defence capabilities, then I wouldn't disagree. I wonder if he has some residual doubts from a perception of the effects overstretch on the UK's commitment to operations Iraq or Afghanistan during his commands there? As a trained counsellor I would have thought he would know the importance of listening carefully before giving advice.
