Sunday, November 3, 2013

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US has no plans to defend Diaoyu islands with Japan

Staff Reporter
2013-11-03
16:07 (GMT+8)

Chinese foreign ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying. (Photo/CNS)

Pentagon spokesman LT Col Jeff Pool said the United States does not have a joint operation plan with Japan to defend the disputed Diaoyu (Senkaku or Diaoyutai) islands from a potential Chinese attack, reports the state-run China News Service.

The spokeman made the comments during a press conference held in Washington DC on Nov. 1, after being asked to discuss whether the United States would support Japan against a People's Liberation Army assault over the islands.

Tokyo-based Kyodo News reported on Sep. 12 that the US reaffirmed its support for Japan over the islands during a meeting between William Burns, the US deputy secretary of state, and Natsuo Yamaguchi, a member of Japanese House of Councillors in Washington in September. At the meeting, Burns suggested that the islands are covered within the US-Japan Security Treaty, the Kyodo News said.

However, Pool dismissed the Japanese report and emphasized that it is not the policy of the US government to take any side regarding territorial disputes between China and Japan. He added that the United States instead encourages both sides to seek a peaceful solution. Echoing Pool, US state department spokeswoman Jen Psaki also said that the United States takes no position on the sovereignty issue over the islands.

Chinese foreign ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying said that she received similar clarifications from the US government during the press conference held on Nov. 1. There are currently no plans for the US military to support the Japan Self Defense Force in a military confrontation over the Diaoyu islands. However, the United States is obligated to defend the islands if attacked by China as they are covered by the US-Japan Security Treaty, sources said.

The Diaoyu islands, known in Japan as the Senkaku islands and in Taiwan as the Diaoyutai islands, are an island chain in the East China Sea claimed by the three parties but controlled by Japan, which nationalized three of the islands in September last year, a move condemned by Beijing as an illegal appropriation of Chinese territory.

References:

Hua Chunying　　華春瑩

Not Confined Anymore

News
Politics

US can no longer contain China within First Island Chain: Duowei

Staff Reporter
2013-11-04
08:57 (GMT+8)

The Guangzhou, a Type 052B guided-missile destroyer, passes through the Bashi Channel to participate in the Mobile 5 exercise on Oct. 23. (Photo/Xinhua)

China's Mobile 5 naval exercise in the Western Pacific between Oct. 18 and Nov. 1 has shown that the United States can no longer contain the Chinese maritime power within the First Island Chain — which extends from Alaska, South Korea, Japan, Okinawa, Taiwan and the Philippines, according to Duowei News, an outlet run by overseas Chinese.

Under the request of Admiral Wu Shengli, commander of the People's Liberation Army Navy, the Mobile 5 naval exercise deployed vessels, submarines, helicopters and fixed-wing aircraft from China's North Sea Fleet, East Sea Fleet and South Sea Fleet to compete against each other in an environment closest to real combat. The exercise was launched to prove that Chinese vessels have the ability to hold exercises beyond the First Island Chain by penetrating the Miyako waterway between the Japanese islands of Miyako and Okinawa.

State-run China Central Television (CCTV) reported that Japanese aircraft closely monitored the Chinese naval fleet during the exercise. During a press conference held on Oct. 31, Chinese defense ministry spokesperson Yang Yujun said the Japan Maritime Self Sefense Force sent the Ikazuchi — a Murasame-class destroyer — into the area of exercise on Oct. 25 and claimed that the intrusion was a act of provocation. Yang said that China demands a promise from the Japanese government to never interrupt Chinese naval exercises in the future.

Tensions between the two countries continue to mount after the Japanese government nationalized the disputed Diaoyu (Senkaku or Diaoyutai) islands last September. The Diaoyu islands, known in Japan as the Senkaku islands and in Taiwan as the Diaoyutai islands, are an island chain in the East China Sea claimed by the three parties but controlled by Japan.

China has begun to launch routine naval exercises near the disputed waters, while Chinese vessels penetrate the Miyako waterway at least once every two months for exercises in the Western Pacific, according to the London-based Jane's Defense Weekly.

Du Wenlong, a military analyst from Beijing told Duowei News that the First Island Chain was established by the United States and its alliesduring the Cold War to contain the maritime expansion of China. The PLA Navy has made several attempts to break through the line over the years, proving its ability to launch military drills beyond the makeshift barrier, Du said.

Another military expert Chen Hu said the PLA Navy has no intention of challenging the position of the US Navy as a global maritime superpower, but China has a legal right to conduct exercises like any of other nation in the open sea.

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Saturday, November 2, 2013

Chinese Nuclear Submarines

Thu,Oct 31,2013

English>>Military

Expert: Chinese offensive nuclear submarines can globallytrack and attack aircraft-carrier formations

(People's Daily Online) 17:15, October 31, 2013

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There have been several recent media reports on China's first nuclear submarinedetachment. Pictures disclosed to the media show drills taking place inside Chinese nuclearsubmarines for the first time. When interviewed by a media agency, the military expertYin Zhuo analyzed the combat capability of China's nuclear submarine force.

In the 1970s, a special group coded 09 emerged, which is China's fleet of nuclearsubmarines. A counter-attack force against aggression by foreign powers, this fleetrecently made a continuous voyage of 90 days and nights, thus setting a new record for asingle voyage of long duration among nuclear submarines worldwide. As a strategic "ironfist" of the Chinese military, the fleet has an initial nuclear deterrence and counterattackcapability. It has guaranteed nuclear safety for 42 years, and no nuclear accident has everoccurred.

Speaking about the strategic deterrent ability and wartime combat capability of China'snuclear submarine fleet, Yin Zhuo said that our current nuclear submarines include twotypes: ballistic missile nuclear submarines and offensive submarines. The former are thepillar of China's nuclear counterattack force. This confirms that China operates a defensivenuclear strategy and will not make first use of nuclear weapons, or deploy nuclear weaponsto forestall any enemy attack.

Instead, China operates a nuclear counterattack strategy. That is to say, only when ouropponents use nuclear weapons to attack us will we use nuclear weapons to counterattackthem. This requires our nuclear forces to have a very strong capacity to withstand enemyattack. The survival ability of nuclear submarines is higher than that of any other defenseunit, capable of reaching 85 to 90 percent. The survival capacities of other land-basednuclear forces are generally estimated at 6.5 percent, or 15 to 20 percent, far lower thanthat of nuclear submarines.

Yin Zhuo said that offensive nuclear submarines can deter large warships, and can track,pursue, seek out and attack the aircraft-carrier formations of the adversary wherever theyhide themselves. However, conventionally-powered submarines cannot do this, as theyonly have an ambush capacity. Because of their low cruising speed, conventionalsubmarines are limited to waiting for "windfalls". If the adversary alters its course, there islittle that they can do about it. However, as long as they can identify their opponents,nuclear submarines can track them globally, in all waters, worldwide.

（Editor：YanMeng、Yao Chun）

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