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`Strewth - Vanuatu!
Definitely military, but not strictly aviation - although no doubt the MPAs, bombers and fighters would soon be arriving in short order.
https://www.smh.com.au/politics/fede...09-p4z8j9.html Our icy Foreign Minister - she of the `death stare' Julie Bishop was on the radio here this morning saying Canberra and Washington are all over it like a rash. Personally I'm not so confident they are. |
Maybe we should have created a “United States of Oceania” to prevent the allure of Chinese investment? Maybe we could have paid more attention to the needs of our South Pacific Neighbours?
I know that Samoa has a lovely new Parliament building, courtesy of China, in exchange for favourable voting at the UN…or so I was told. Military bases takes it to a whole new level though. |
So they provide the islanders with development aid and schools and hospitals and a Parliament building and other goodies? Pussies!
Here's how real men build a military outpost on a faraway island. |
Hey ho.
By the time it's built we'll just get a few of the boys to truck on up from Amberley and Townsville in their shiny new F-35s. A JASSM or two will sort it all out... ;) Maybe the Coral Sea is destined to become as sporty as the South China Sea. I keep teasing young Tartare that he better watch his six for Lieutenant Wang... |
A new wharf for Vanautu? I wonder if it will be more usable than the Chinese built hospital on Samoa?
Story I heard it is that the lifts can accommodate a gurney (with patient) or hospital staff, but not both at the same time. Sending someone up / down means arranging someone to meet them at the other end. |
Prince Charles has just been there pressing the flesh so all sorted :ok:
It is, isn't it?? . . . |
And?
Not bad for a freebie. |
Nothing is free from China....
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China owns most of the South Pacific any way, they are just protecting their investment.
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Much as the Chinese have a fascinating history, culture and country - I don't trust Xi Jinping for a second.
Despite all the denials - I reckon there's clearly a very long game being played here. Talk to anyone in international law enforcement, or if you can, in intelligence and they'll tell you that the level of Chinese involvement in the Pacific is very surprising... not just in overt and covert diplomacy, but in trans-national crime as well. Couple all of that with belt and road and the picture doesn't look good. On the military front we'll wake up one day and discover incrementally that they have established one or two major South West or Mid Pacific bases - unless Canberra, Wellington and Washington really raise the bar engagement wise with South Pacific nations. And once they've got that base or bases it won't just be peaceful engagement. Returning China peacefully to its prior status in history as a great power? Bollocks - eventually there'll be nothing peaceful about it. Xi is a dictator and strongman - it'll be forcible power projection. |
My comment was most definitely tongue in cheek. It's quite plain to see China has been gearing up for power projection for quite some time.
In order to control the Pacific they will need a blue water navy, something the PLAN currently is not. But give them 20 years and they will be more than capable. |
China is pouring 750 MM tons of steel annually, about 10x the US output.
That gives some indication of their potential. Belt and Road is a clever scheme to sop up some of the surplus capacity and credit to widen China's sphere of influence. Thus far there has been no creative counter from either the US nor anyone else. So we should not bleat when China steps out, they are pursuing their national interests, much as the West has done historically. |
If you read the Chinese press quite regularly you notice that there is a non-stop rotation of third world leaders making a pilgrimage to Beijing. You can be sure their country didn't pay for the first class air fares or the five star hotels.
Good old fashioned Chinese bargaining technique. I used to do the same thing, albeit at a far smaller scale, when I worked in China. |
In light of Japan's announcement of a millions tons of rare earths found in the ocean around their Pacific islands:
https://japantoday.com/category/tech...earth-reserves ... I can see another reason why China might wish to encroach upon any island in those seas by hook or by crook, ie by any means available. |
Interesting to read about your part of the world
just returned froma holiday on the lovely and large Indian ocean island of Sri lanka. Situated at the tip of India thousands and thousands of Ships from Asia-Suez/Gulf including innumerable tankers pass withing 50Km of its southern tip. Sri Lanka has recently acquired two very lovely motorways A huge sea port (on the Southern tip of the island) A huge 'conference centre' in same area , and best of all, A fully functioning international airport-same region which has no flights at all. All paid for by guess who , and guess why |
pax britanica, Yes, and there are those who say we should reduce our Foreign Aid budget.
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https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/a...isle-cdh36vl9z Australia fears China’s military might on Pacific isle China is in talks to build an airport, aircraft maintenance facilities and a shopping district on the strategically important island of Guadalcanal, extending its influence far into the Pacific. Guadalcanal is one of the impoverished Solomon Islands lying 2,000 miles northeast of Australia, and was a major Second World War battleground as the Allies fought to stop the Japanese advance across the Pacific...... https://www.thetimes.co.uk/imageserv...2C0&resize=640 There is concern within the Australian government about Chinese-funded infrastructure in Pacific nations that Beijing could put to military use. The Australian government paid A$100 million (£55 million) this year to build an undersea internet cable connecting the Solomon Islands with Sydney to stop the Chinese telecommunications giant Huawei from building it....... Jonathan Pryke, director of the Lowy Institute’s Pacific Islands Program in Sydney, which has tracked Chinese investment, said: “This certainly raised the eyebrows of some people. It’s a large piece of infrastructure that could have dual-use purposes... There’s been no signal from any side that is the intent, but intent can change.”....... Concerns over China’s investment across the Pacific, especially in Vanuatu, the former French and British controlled territory south of the Solomons, will be prominent when Australian ministers meet President Macron in Sydney. France has substantial overseas territories in the Pacific...... The Australian defence industry minister, Christopher Pyne, acknowledged China’s increased activity and said that Australia wanted to work with France in the Pacific. This is thought to mean that Australia will press France to broaden its activities in the region. In 2016, Australia awarded a €32 billion deal for submarines to France. French interests in the Pacific are extensive, from New Caledonia in the west to French Polynesia in the east. It has more than 3,000 military personnel in the region...... It is understood that the Chinese deal in Guadalcanal is being handled by Anthony Veke, the island’s premier, and Bradley Tovosia, the minister of mines. Mr Veke said that it was at an “early stage”. |
...Even bloody shopping malls too!
So they'll cater to the Officer's wives as well. This cannot stand... |
Having had the misfortune to operate out of Guadalcanal in 2005 they can have it.
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Originally Posted by tartare
(Post 10135774)
...Even bloody shopping malls too!
So they'll cater to the Officer's wives as well. This cannot stand... |
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