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China expects respect after US naval shift

Published: 04 June, 2012, 16:15
Edited: 04 June, 2012, 20:48

AFP Photo / HO / US Navy / Chief Mass Communication Specialist Ty Swartz

China has expressed mild concerns with the American plans to shift most of its warships to the Pacific region by 2020. Beijing called on to Washington to respect the interests of all sides in the Asia-Pacific, including that of China.

*Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Liu Weimin said that the Asia-Pacific is the region where Chinese and the US interests overlap the most, so China expects Washington to play “a constructive role in the region.”

"We also hope that the United States will respect the interests and concerns of all sides in the Asia-Pacific, including China,” Chinese diplomat said.

This statement has become the first official reaction from Beijing to America’s new plans for the South-Pacific voiced earlier.

On Saturday the US Defense Secretary Leon Panetta revealed Pentagon’s plans to reposition its naval power so that up to 60 per cent of its warships would be deployed in the Asia-Pacific by the end of the decade from the current 50 per cent now.

Attending a security conference in Singapore Leon Panetta delivered a speech about the US-China relations. He says neither side has illusion about the complexity of these relations.

"We both understand the differences we have, we both understand the conflicts we have, but we also both understand that there really is no other alternative but for both of us to engage and to improve our communications and to improve our (military) relationship," Panetta said.

The US Defense Secretary attempted to soothe Chinese concerns, saying “Our effort to renew and intensify our involvement in Asia is fully compatible… with the development and growth of China. Indeed, increased US involvement in this region will benefit China as it advances our shared security and prosperity for the future.”

The fast-growing Chinese Navy has made China’s neighbors to look for another power to counterbalance Chinese might in the region. The reason is a number of territorial disputes over islands in the South China Sea that China has with many countries, including claims from Taiwan, Vietnam, Malaysia, Singapore, Brunei and the Philippines.

That is what pushed Panetta into a nine-day trip through Asia.

While in Hanoi, Panetta made a sensational statement, asking for permission so that Vietnamese ports could be used by the US Navy. The last time the Americans used naval facilities in the country was during the Vietnam War.

The Kamran deepwater port Panetta was specifically talking about was also used by the Soviet/Russian Navy from 1979 till 2001. The base was shut down due to economic reasons. Hanoi has said more than once it is ready to welcome a Russian base of supply back to Kamran.

While Moscow is in deep thought about the proposal Washington is apparently trying to take the initiative and make a proposal to Hanoi, a move that might aggravate its relations with Beijing even more.

Nevertheless, China has been extremely accurate commenting on the issue. Beijing insists that all sides should strive to preserve and promote regional peace, stability and development.

“The approach of artificially stressing military security, enhancing military deployments and strengthening military alliances is out of keeping with the times," Chinese diplomat said answering a question on the announced US plans.

“Washington has been consistent in making these policies since the Obama administration adopted the ‘return to Asia’ policy,” confirmed a professor at the City University of Hong Kong, Pak Nung Wong, to RT. “The South China Sea is a very important strategic location connecting the oil and other commercial shipping routes from the Middle East and East Asia.”

“The South China Sea is a major irritant between China and South Asian countries (because of the territorial claims). These countries would like to invite the US into the arena so that they could have more bargaining chips against China.”

As of now the US Navy has a fleet of 282 ships, evenly shared between east and west coasts of the country. Within the next two years the number of ships will fall to 276 due to decommissioning. Still, the Pentagon expects to have 300 warships by the end of this decade according to a 30-year projection plan released in March.

Among these ships are 11 aircraft carriers. Six of them are deployed to the Pacific, but the USS Enterprise is going to be decommissioned soon. In 2015 it will be replaced with the USS Gerald R. Ford.

China expects respect after US naval shift — RT

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bttt

The Asian-American Arms Race In Charts


Submitted by Tyler Durden on 07/18/2012 18:43 -0400

• China

"Asia is a study in contrasts. It is home to economic freedom and political liberty; it is also home to political instability and tyranny. Some of Asia’s borders are unsettled and volatile. And military budgets and capabilities are expanding, sometimes faster than economic growth. The rise of China as a great power presents both sides of this equation. It is being watched carefully by all the countries of the region. It is the U.S. that is recognized as the catalyst in ensuring a prosperous peace over conflict. America is a Pacific power. That much is a matter of geography and history. But the facts – and America’s principles and interests – demand more than resignation to geography. They call for continued American leadership, commitment, and the predominant comprehensive power that has enabled Asia’s very welcomed, opportunity-laden rise."

Thus prefaces the Heritage Foundation its Asian 'Book of Charts', which summarizes most of the key economic, financial, trade, geopolitical, most importantly militaristic tensions both in Asia and, by dint of being the global marginal economic force, the world itself. And while we will present the complete deck shortly, of particular interest we find the summary in 7 easy charts how Asia is slowly but surely catching up on that accepted by conventional wisdom GloboCop - the United States.

We present it in its entirety below.



























The Asian-American Arms Race In Charts | ZeroHedge

bttt

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China Now Using a Cruise Ship to Haul Troops and Tanks

September 3, 2012
The media freaked out about China’s crappy aircraft carrier and hyperventilated over the J-20 stealth fighter. But China’s newest addition to its military is more subtle, and stylish. It’s a 36,000-ton pleasure boat capable of disgorging thousands of troops and hundreds of vehicles held inside its belly.
That would be the Bahai Sea Green Pearl, a 36,000-ton ferry and cruise ship commissioned in August at Yantai Port in China’s northeastern Shandong Province. At heart a vessel for pleasure and civilian transport, the ship is intended to normally ferry cars and passengers across the Yellow Sea. But when needed by the People’s Liberation Army, the Green Pearl can double as a troop carrier. During its launching ceremony and demonstration on Aug. 8, PLA troops could be seen loading dozens of tanks, artillery pieces and armored vehicles on board.

Photos from Chinese state television posted to the China Defense Blog show some of the action, including what looks like fully loaded soldiers running through a corridor. Tanks and artillery pieces are also seen inside one of the ship’s three vehicle compartments. How they got there: via the ship’s roll-on/roll-off (or ro-ro) ramp on its stern.
China also has three more of the vessels under construction, which Zhang Wei, chief of the PLA’s Military Transportation Department under the PLA General Logistics Department, said is a “new leap in our military use of civilian vessels to improve the strategic projection.” The Green Pearl reportedly has room for more than 2,000 people and 300 cars. It’s even got a helicopter pad.
It’s also got luxury. When the ship isn’t ferrying civilians, China’s troops could take in the pleasure of tall windows for observing “the beautiful scenery of the sea,” reported the Yantai Daily Media Group. Not only that, but rooms — which range from first to third class — are equipped with televisions, cellphone signal amplifiers and wireless internet access. And if the troops get bored in their rooms, there’s always mingling in one of two staterooms and a cafe. There are even rooms set aside for reading and chess. And no cruise ship would be complete without some collective entertainment at a multi-purpose auditorium. If troops are feeling cooped up, they can always go above deck for excursions in the sun.

Armored vehicles from China’s People’s Liberation Army prepare to board the Green Pearl in August 2012. Photo: CCTV via China Defense Blog

However, the Green Pearl is by no means a true amphibious assault ship. There’s no indication of any landing craft, or any ability to launch them. The ship needs a proper dock to gets its heavier equipment onto land. That mostly rules out launching an invasion of troops while sitting (relatively) safely off-shore. Instead, the ship is more accurately called something like an “amphibious augmentation” platform. It can base a helicopter, and it can follow up an amphibious assault with more troops — after a landing site is secure.


It’s also not a new concept. Using civilian ships for double duty is “entirely in keeping with Chinese practices reaching back for centuries,” Jim Holmes, an associate professor of strategy at the Navy War College, tells Danger Room. For Western navies, that practice dated up until the 18th century. And today, the U.S. uses mixed military and commercial ships to refuel at sea, Holmes says.
China has also been building up its fleet of amphibious assault ships, which could be at the front line of an invasion of Taiwan, say. That is, if China could conceivably launch one. But probably not.

Since 2008, China has launched four Yuzhao-class, or Type 081 amphibious assault ships. The lead ship was deployed to fight pirates near Somalia. China is also reportedly working on a newer, bigger amphibious ship called the Type 081 (.pdf).
What’s more likely is using the Green Pearl for “soft power” operations distant from China’s shores.

“Beijing seems rather comfortable with the situation in the Taiwan Strait and is clearly looking beyond Taiwan, as it has been for some time now,” Holmes says. “Such a vessel could be a workhorse for any mission involving amphibious operations, meaning humanitarian relief.”
That could mean delivering aid, transporting doctors and engineers to a country beset by an emergency. And there’s always port calls. That is, making stops in countries friendly to China while carrying a contingent of visiting officers and diplomats on board.
And not that China’s new cruise ships of war have any chance of matching the United States’ own massive fleet of commercial transport ships available for military duties. The U.S. has 60 privately owned commercial ships available to be called upon by the Navy under the Department of Transportation’s Maritime Security Program. Most of those are heavy-duty container vessels, but 17 of them are ro-ro ships.
According to the DoT’s Maritime Administration (.pdf), the Navy has relied on them to lift troops during the Persian Gulf War, and into Bosnia, Somalia and Kosovo, and has had to rely on those commercial ships even more in recent years to fight the war in Iraq. The United Kingdom famously hauled troops during the Falklands War with the Queen Elizabeth 2.
In the meantime, let the PLA take in the scenic views and relax to the soothing hum of the Green Pearl‘s engines. Unlike the U.S. and British cruise and ro-ro ships of war, there’s not a huge chance of China’s new pleasure boat invading anyone any time soon.
Source

China Now Using a Cruise Ship to Haul Troops and Tanks | Pakalert Press