End Of Days News
China may be ending dollar's hold on reserve currency as early as September
On March 9, sources within China provided new information that validates that the Far Eastern economy is now ready to compete with, or even supplant, the dollar as the sole global reserve currency as early as September of this year.
Showing posts with label China. Show all posts
Showing posts with label China. Show all posts
Thursday, March 12, 2015
Friday, February 21, 2014
PROPHECY UPDATE: China, Russia Making Their Moves On The International Chessboard
End Of Days News
China, Russia Making Their Moves On The International Chessboard
China, Russia Making Their Moves On The International Chessboard
The first two articles are enlightening. As we watch America progressing rapidly in its demise, the void must be filled. Russia and China are more than willing to accomplish this task: *China Starts To Make A Power Move Against The U.S. Dollar* *China accounts for more global trade than anyone else on the planet(including the United States), and most of that trade is conducted in U.S. dollars. This keeps demand for our dollars very high, and it ensures that we can import massive quantities of goods from overseas at very low cost. As a major exporting nation, China ends ... more »
Monday, June 17, 2013
China Wants Washington To Explain Its Monitoring Programs To The International Community
End Of Days News
China Wants Washington To Explain Its Monitoring Programs To The International Community
Protesters marched in Hong Kong on Saturday in support of Edward J. Snowden. Bobby Yip/Reuters *China Asks U.S. To Explain Internet Surveillance -- Reuters* (Reuters) - China made its first substantive comments on Monday to reports of U.S. surveillance of the Internet, demanding that Washington explain its monitoring programs to the international community. Several nations, including U.S. allies, have reacted angrily to revelations by an ex-CIA employee over a week ago that U.S. authorities had tapped the servers of internet companies for personal data. "We believe the United S... more »
Friday, June 7, 2013
The Chinese Plan To Encircle And Contain America
End Of Days News
The Chinese Plan To Encircle And Contain America
REUTERS/Hyungwon Kang *Rising Red Tide: China Encircles U.S. By Sailing Warships In American Waters, Arming Neighbors -- Bill Gertz, Washington Times/The Washington Free Beacon* China has been quietly taking steps to encircle the United States by arming western hemisphere states, seeking closer military, economic, and diplomatic ties to U.S. neighbors, and sailing warships into U.S. maritime zones. The strategy is a Chinese version of what Beijing has charged is a U.S. strategy designed to encircle and “contain” China. It is also directed at countering the Obama administratio... more »
Thursday, June 6, 2013
Congressman: Obama is letting China steal U.S. military secrets
End Of Days News
Congressman: Obama is letting China steal U.S. military secrets
A formerly obscure naval exercise involving China and the United States is coming under increased scrutiny ahead of President Barack Obama‘s meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping on Friday.
For the first time, the Obama administration invited China’s People’s Liberation Army to participate in the 2014 Rim of the Pacific (RIMPAC) exercise, an annual maritime exercise that enlists a variety of nations typically allied with the United States. But in wake of concerted Chinese attempts to obtain U.S. military secrets, not everyone is thrilled about the two naval powers floating side-by-side.
“The administration made a mistake by letting China play a role in the Rim of the Pacific exercises,” Rep. Steve Chabot (R-OH), chairman of the House Subcommittee on the Middle East and South Asia, tells The Cable. “They will likely utilize these exercises to their advantage: stealing our military secrets and better understanding our military strategy.”
Michael Auslin, a resident scholar of Asian security studies at the conservative American Enterprise Institute, agrees.
“They will get a better understanding of our tactics and procedures as they see how we can coordinate with our allies and friends,” he told The Cable. “I would much rather see them mystified about how well or closely we work with the Japanese or Australians. If they come into RIMPAC and see the improved communications between the fleets, that is valuable from a military perspective.”
Deputy Defense Secretary Ashton Carter first acknowledged that China had accepted the offer in March, though the invite was originally extended by then-Defense Secretary Leon Panetta last year. At the time, Carter said, “We seek to strengthen and grow our military-to-military relationship with China, which matches and follows our growing political and economic relationship.”
Monday, June 3, 2013
China Admits To Sending Naval Ships On Patrol Off The Coast Of The U.S.. Are Chinese Ballistic Missile Subs Next?
End Of Days News
China Admits To Sending Naval Ships On Patrol Off The Coast Of The U.S.. Are Chinese Ballistic Missile Subs Next?
*Photo:* The Trident is one of the United States' submarine-launched ballistic missiles. China is on the verge of deploying its own, the JL-2. *Maritime Game-Changer Revealed at Shangri-La Dialogue -- Rory Medcalf, The Diplomat* For years, China has criticized the surveillance activities of U.S. naval vessels in its 200 nautical mile exclusive economic zone. Now China has begun, in however small a way, to do the same thing off Guam and Hawaii. And, somewhat counter-intuitively, this may prove to be in the interests of peace, stability and security right across Indo-Pacific Asia. ... more »
Tuesday, May 28, 2013
U.S. Weapons System Designs Compromised By Chinese Cyberspies
End Of Days News
U.S. Weapons System Designs Compromised By Chinese Cyberspies
*Confidential Report Lists U.S. Weapons System Designs Compromised By Chinese Cyberspies -- Washington Post* Designs for many of the nation’s most sensitive advanced weapons systems have been compromised by Chinese hackers, according to a report prepared for the Pentagon and to officials from government and the defense industry. Among more than two dozen major weapons systems whose designs were breached were programs critical to U.S. missile defenses and combat aircraft and ships, according to a previously undisclosed section of a confidential report prepared for Pentagon leaders... more »
Saturday, May 4, 2013
Israel's Netanyahu, Palestine's Abbas head to China
End Of Days News
BEIJING (Reuters) - China will host Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas next week for separate bilateral talks as it tries to shore up its role in a region where its diplomatic influence is limited.
Netanyahu's visit -- the first trip by a top Israeli leader to China since former prime minister Ehud Olmert visited in 2007 -- will be focused on trade, though experts have also said he is likely to discussIran's nuclear program with China.
China, Iran's top oil customer and a permanent member of the U.N. Security Council, has opposed unilateral sanctions on Tehran such as those imposed by Washington and the European Union and has called repeatedly for talks to resolve the stand-off over Iran's nuclear program.
Netanyahu's visit comes as a U.S. official said Israel has conducted an airstrike in Syria, apparently targeting a building, a development that is likely to worry Beijing.
Netanyahu is set to arrive on Monday in China's commercial capital of Shanghai, where he will meet business leaders, and fly to Beijing after for talks with Chinese leaders. Abbas will arrive in Beijing on Sunday.
It is unclear whether Netanyahu and Abbas will meet in China. China's foreign ministry said the country "is willing to offer necessary assistance if the leaders of Palestine and Israel have the will to meet in China".
China has traditionally had a low profile in Middle East diplomacy, but is keen to assert its role as a key player in international politics. It has tried on and off over the years to mediate in the Israeli-Palestinian issue but with little apparent success.
Friday, May 3, 2013
Chinese Soldiers March Into Indian Territory, Pitch Tents, Declare Land For China
End Of Days News
Read more: http://qz.com/80649/chinese-troops-marched-into-india-and-set-up-their-tents-and-everyones-puzzled-why/#ixzz2SEiHb0uW
China and India are once again at each other’s throats over an unmarked border in the Himalayas.
But this time, oddly, nobody seems to know why.
In mid-April, around 30 Chinese troops marched across the de facto border between China and India and pitched tents 19 kilometers inside Indian territory, just when relations between the two were going so well. The Indian government, which has so far exercised relative restraint, was accused by opposition politicians as being “weak, cowardly and incompetent” for not driving the troops off. The Chinese, on the other hand, deny that their soldiers ever crossed into Indian territory.
China and India haven’t been able to agree on how to carve up the Himalayas since they fought over the border in 1962, but this latest development has baffled experts. As recently as March, Chinese leader Xi Jinping met with the Indian prime minister at a summit in South Africa, calling for India and China to deepen military ties and come to a border solution “as soon as possible.”
So why would China provoke conflict between the two nuclear neighbors? Here are some possible explanations.
Read more: http://qz.com/80649/chinese-troops-marched-into-india-and-set-up-their-tents-and-everyones-puzzled-why/#ixzz2SEiHb0uW
Tuesday, April 2, 2013
China mobilizes military, on 'high alert' over N. Korea threats
End Of Days News
China has started mobilizing military forces around the Korean peninsula in response to rising tensions that follow recent threats by North Korea to launch missile attacks against its southern neighbor and the United States.
According to US officials, Pyongyang’s declaration of a ‘state of war’ against South Korea has led to the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) to increase its military presence on the border with the North. The officials say the process has been going on since mid-March, and includes troop movements and readying fighter jets. The PLA is now at ‘Level One’ readiness, its highest.
Chinese forces, including tanks and armored personnel carriers, have been spotted in the city of Ji’an and near the Yalu River, which splits China and North Korea. Other border regions were also reportedly being patrolled by planes.
China has also been conducting live-firing naval exercises in the Yellow Sea, scheduled to end on Monday. The move is widely viewed as open support for North Korea, which continues to show extreme opposition to the US-South Korean military drills that are to last until May.
The news comes as the US deployed its USS Fitzgerald destroyer off the coast of North Korea, adding to its Sunday deployment of F-22 fighter jets to take part in the drills with the friendly South, which has further served to heighten tensions on the peninsula.
Meanwhile, North Korea has been mobilizing its short and medium-range missile arsenal, according to analyses of satellite imagery. Officials say Pyongyang is set to test its new KN-08 medium-range mobile missile; they say preparations have been spotted in the past. Pyongyang claims that since March 26, its forces have been placed on their highest possible status of alert.
Although officials believe Pyongyang will not provoke Seoul during the war games, they also fear that a miscalculation by South Korea could lead to all-out war, following its promise of retaliation against the North, should it launch its missiles first.
Chinese forces, including tanks and armored personnel carriers, have been spotted in the city of Ji’an and near the Yalu River, which splits China and North Korea. Other border regions were also reportedly being patrolled by planes.
China has also been conducting live-firing naval exercises in the Yellow Sea, scheduled to end on Monday. The move is widely viewed as open support for North Korea, which continues to show extreme opposition to the US-South Korean military drills that are to last until May.
The news comes as the US deployed its USS Fitzgerald destroyer off the coast of North Korea, adding to its Sunday deployment of F-22 fighter jets to take part in the drills with the friendly South, which has further served to heighten tensions on the peninsula.
Meanwhile, North Korea has been mobilizing its short and medium-range missile arsenal, according to analyses of satellite imagery. Officials say Pyongyang is set to test its new KN-08 medium-range mobile missile; they say preparations have been spotted in the past. Pyongyang claims that since March 26, its forces have been placed on their highest possible status of alert.
Although officials believe Pyongyang will not provoke Seoul during the war games, they also fear that a miscalculation by South Korea could lead to all-out war, following its promise of retaliation against the North, should it launch its missiles first.
Tuesday, March 5, 2013
Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner...A Chinese general who once threatened to use nuclear weapons against hundreds of U.S. cities will visit the Pentagon this week as part of a U.S.-China military exchange program
End Of Days News
A Chinese general who once threatened to use nuclear weapons against hundreds of U.S. cities will visit the Pentagon this week as part of a U.S.-China military exchange program.
Maj. Gen. Zhu Chenghu, who is head of China’s National Defense University, will take part in a “familiarization exchange,” Maj. Catherine Wilkinson, a Pentagon spokeswoman, told the Free Beacon.
“The delegation will visit Hawaii and D.C.,” she said. “A military delegation from the U.S. Pacific Command will visit China later this year for a reciprocal exchange.”
Zhu will lead a group of 10 senior colonels from all branches of the Chinese military, Wilkinson said. She declined to provide the names of the officers.
Zhu is best known for inflammatory comments made to two foreign news reporters in 2005 when he said China would use nuclear weapons against the United States in any conflict over Taiwan.
A State Department spokesman at the time called the comments “highly irresponsible.”
“If the Americans draw their missiles and position [sic]-guided ammunition onto the target zone on China’s territory, I think we will have to respond with nuclear weapons,” Zhu told reporters for the Financial Times and the Asian edition of the Wall Street Journal, according to their July 14, 2005, editions.
The comments raised questions within the Pentagon about the sincerity of China’s policy of not being the first to use nuclear weapons in a conflict.
Zhu’s comments also were the most explicit statement of Chinese strategic intent since 1995 when another general, Xiong Guangkai, implicitly threatened to use nuclear arms against Los Angeles if the United States defended Taiwan in a conflict.
“If the Americans are determined to interfere … we will be determined to respond,” Zhu said.
Maj. Gen. Zhu Chenghu, who is head of China’s National Defense University, will take part in a “familiarization exchange,” Maj. Catherine Wilkinson, a Pentagon spokeswoman, told the Free Beacon.
“The delegation will visit Hawaii and D.C.,” she said. “A military delegation from the U.S. Pacific Command will visit China later this year for a reciprocal exchange.”
Zhu will lead a group of 10 senior colonels from all branches of the Chinese military, Wilkinson said. She declined to provide the names of the officers.
Zhu is best known for inflammatory comments made to two foreign news reporters in 2005 when he said China would use nuclear weapons against the United States in any conflict over Taiwan.
A State Department spokesman at the time called the comments “highly irresponsible.”
“If the Americans draw their missiles and position [sic]-guided ammunition onto the target zone on China’s territory, I think we will have to respond with nuclear weapons,” Zhu told reporters for the Financial Times and the Asian edition of the Wall Street Journal, according to their July 14, 2005, editions.
The comments raised questions within the Pentagon about the sincerity of China’s policy of not being the first to use nuclear weapons in a conflict.
Zhu’s comments also were the most explicit statement of Chinese strategic intent since 1995 when another general, Xiong Guangkai, implicitly threatened to use nuclear arms against Los Angeles if the United States defended Taiwan in a conflict.
“If the Americans are determined to interfere … we will be determined to respond,” Zhu said.
Japanese PM prepares for war
End Of Days News
Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s appeal last week to the example of the Falklands war to justify his tough stance in the island dispute with China is a chilling warning that the fault lines of a new and terrible global conflict are being drawn in Asia.
Abe quoted former British prime minister Margaret Thatcher’s cynical rationale for declaring war on Argentina in 1982 that the “the rule of international law must triumph over the exertion of force.” She proceeded to send the British military into a bloody conflict that cost hundreds of lives on both sides in order to secure a tiny remnant of the British Empire in the South Atlantic.
Abe’s remark is an unmistakeable declaration that his government is prepared to go to war with China to defend its control over the group of uninhabited, rocky outcrops in the East China Sea, known as Senkaku in Japan and Diaoyu in China.
The enormous dangers are obvious. Unlike Argentina, China is a substantial, nuclear-armed power with a large, increasingly sophisticated military. Any armed clash between Japan and China could spiral out of control and draw in other powers, in particular the United States, which has already stated that it would side with Tokyo in a war over the islands.
Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s appeal last week to the example of the Falklands war to justify his tough stance in the island dispute with China is a chilling warning that the fault lines of a new and terrible global conflict are being drawn in Asia.
Abe quoted former British prime minister Margaret Thatcher’s cynical rationale for declaring war on Argentina in 1982 that the “the rule of international law must triumph over the exertion of force.” She proceeded to send the British military into a bloody conflict that cost hundreds of lives on both sides in order to secure a tiny remnant of the British Empire in the South Atlantic.
Abe’s remark is an unmistakeable declaration that his government is prepared to go to war with China to defend its control over the group of uninhabited, rocky outcrops in the East China Sea, known as Senkaku in Japan and Diaoyu in China.
The enormous dangers are obvious. Unlike Argentina, China is a substantial, nuclear-armed power with a large, increasingly sophisticated military. Any armed clash between Japan and China could spiral out of control and draw in other powers, in particular the United States, which has already stated that it would side with Tokyo in a war over the islands.
Thursday, February 21, 2013
China's Christians see mounting persecution in country's effort to disband churches, report finds
End Of Days News
May 3, 2012: Rep. Chris Smith, left, and ChinaAid President Bob Fu, right, listen as Chinese activist Chen Guangcheng addresses a Capitol Hill committee over the phone.
May 3, 2012: Rep. Chris Smith, left, and ChinaAid President Bob Fu, right, listen as Chinese activist Chen Guangcheng addresses a Capitol Hill committee over the phone.
Christians and human rights advocates are alarmed over an aggressive crackdown on house churches in China, where the faithful are forced to call their gatherings "patriotic" assemblies or sent to prison where they can face torture, according to a new report.
Cases of the government persecuting Christians rose 42 percent last year, amid a three-phase plan by Beijing to eradicate the home-based churches, according to China Aid, a Texas-based human rights group. Experts say the Communist Party in China has long felt threatened by any movement that galvanizes a large sector of the population, fearing it could wield political clout. But the nation has become more systematically hostile to worshippers, according to Bob Fu, China Aid founder and president.
“There have been new tactics of persecution as well, especially with the government using secret directives and memos with long-term, step-by-step strategies to eradicate house churches,” Fu told FoxNews.com. “This is very serious stuff.”Last year, the government mounted a new three-phase approach designed to wipe out unregistered house churches by forcing them to join the official "Three-Self Patriotic Movement" and stop defining themselves as churches. The phase included having China's State Administration for Religious Affairs secretly investigate house churches and create files on them, the report found. The current wave of crackdowns, which began midway through 2012, is part of the second phase, according to Fu.
Fu said the government is using a wide array of subtle and ham-handed tactics to persecute Christians, targeting house church leaders and churches in urban areas.
“Instead of using law enforcement officials directly to attack churches, last year we found they used a softer approach,” he said. “They used utility companies, service committees and neighborhood committees to terminate contracts with rental facilities and cut off electricity and water [to the churches].”
Those semi-official agencies, including industrial and commercial affairs departments, used various excuses to “harass, interfere and ban” church services.
“In most cases, they did not take anyone into custody, or detain or sentence, and even if a person was in custody, he was quickly released,” the report found. “The unrelenting persecution of Shouwang Church in the past nearly two years has been conducted in this manner. For example, landlords were pressured to terminate lease agreements with church members, church members who had purchased real estate were unable to take possession of them, church leaders were placed under house arrest and church members were evicted — all of which was done to make it impossible for the house church to operate normally so that it would eventually disband.”
At least 132 cases of persecution affecting 4,919 Christians, including 442 church leaders, were reported last year, up from 93 cases and 4,322 Christians in 2011, respectively. The number of people detained (1,441) and sentenced (9) also increased from the year earlier, the report
found.
A total of 62 cases — the highest countrywide — were reported in Beijing, according to the report, affecting 934 Christians, followed by 11 cases in Xinjiang in northwest China that affected 382 Christians. Fu said the systematic targeting of the estimated 80 million Christians living in China has become commonplace.
“It has almost become routine and that’s the danger,” Fu said. “And when the Chinese government purposefully uses this kind of soft approach, the foreign media in Beijing won’t be able to report it and the government is essentially taking advantage of the passive obedience by the church folks. If it happened to other social groups, there would be large demonstrations.”
Fu said his most pressing goal is to educate the millions of people in the United States and China who are unaware of the rampant persecution.
“Many people, especially in China, don’t even know there are really hundreds and thousands of their fellow Christian brothers being persecuted,” he said. “If a country like China shows it does not respect its own citizens and their most basic freedoms, we should be on alert and take more action from our side in the United States to advance that.”
Fu, a 45-year-old scholar and activist born in China, ran a house church himself in Beijing until he and his wife, Heidi, were arrested for doing so in 1996. He fled to the United States a year later and made national headlines last year while championing the plight of Chen Guangcheng, a blind lawyer and dissident who fled house arrest to take refuge in the U.S. Embassy in Beijing as then-Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton arrived in Washington for talks with Chinese officials.
Fu described himself as Chen’s “ambassador” at the time and was instrumental in China’s ultimate decision to grant Chen, his wife and the couple’s two children, U.S. visas in May. Chen, 41, remains in New York and speaks with Fu on a regular basis, he said.
Cases of the government persecuting Christians rose 42 percent last year, amid a three-phase plan by Beijing to eradicate the home-based churches, according to China Aid, a Texas-based human rights group. Experts say the Communist Party in China has long felt threatened by any movement that galvanizes a large sector of the population, fearing it could wield political clout. But the nation has become more systematically hostile to worshippers, according to Bob Fu, China Aid founder and president.
“There have been new tactics of persecution as well, especially with the government using secret directives and memos with long-term, step-by-step strategies to eradicate house churches,” Fu told FoxNews.com. “This is very serious stuff.”Last year, the government mounted a new three-phase approach designed to wipe out unregistered house churches by forcing them to join the official "Three-Self Patriotic Movement" and stop defining themselves as churches. The phase included having China's State Administration for Religious Affairs secretly investigate house churches and create files on them, the report found. The current wave of crackdowns, which began midway through 2012, is part of the second phase, according to Fu.
Fu said the government is using a wide array of subtle and ham-handed tactics to persecute Christians, targeting house church leaders and churches in urban areas.
“Instead of using law enforcement officials directly to attack churches, last year we found they used a softer approach,” he said. “They used utility companies, service committees and neighborhood committees to terminate contracts with rental facilities and cut off electricity and water [to the churches].”
Those semi-official agencies, including industrial and commercial affairs departments, used various excuses to “harass, interfere and ban” church services.
“In most cases, they did not take anyone into custody, or detain or sentence, and even if a person was in custody, he was quickly released,” the report found. “The unrelenting persecution of Shouwang Church in the past nearly two years has been conducted in this manner. For example, landlords were pressured to terminate lease agreements with church members, church members who had purchased real estate were unable to take possession of them, church leaders were placed under house arrest and church members were evicted — all of which was done to make it impossible for the house church to operate normally so that it would eventually disband.”
At least 132 cases of persecution affecting 4,919 Christians, including 442 church leaders, were reported last year, up from 93 cases and 4,322 Christians in 2011, respectively. The number of people detained (1,441) and sentenced (9) also increased from the year earlier, the report
found.A total of 62 cases — the highest countrywide — were reported in Beijing, according to the report, affecting 934 Christians, followed by 11 cases in Xinjiang in northwest China that affected 382 Christians. Fu said the systematic targeting of the estimated 80 million Christians living in China has become commonplace.
“It has almost become routine and that’s the danger,” Fu said. “And when the Chinese government purposefully uses this kind of soft approach, the foreign media in Beijing won’t be able to report it and the government is essentially taking advantage of the passive obedience by the church folks. If it happened to other social groups, there would be large demonstrations.”
Fu said his most pressing goal is to educate the millions of people in the United States and China who are unaware of the rampant persecution.
“Many people, especially in China, don’t even know there are really hundreds and thousands of their fellow Christian brothers being persecuted,” he said. “If a country like China shows it does not respect its own citizens and their most basic freedoms, we should be on alert and take more action from our side in the United States to advance that.”
Fu, a 45-year-old scholar and activist born in China, ran a house church himself in Beijing until he and his wife, Heidi, were arrested for doing so in 1996. He fled to the United States a year later and made national headlines last year while championing the plight of Chen Guangcheng, a blind lawyer and dissident who fled house arrest to take refuge in the U.S. Embassy in Beijing as then-Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton arrived in Washington for talks with Chinese officials.
Fu described himself as Chen’s “ambassador” at the time and was instrumental in China’s ultimate decision to grant Chen, his wife and the couple’s two children, U.S. visas in May. Chen, 41, remains in New York and speaks with Fu on a regular basis, he said.
Wednesday, February 6, 2013
Chinese Media Urge 'Heavy Price' For North Korea Nuclear Test
End Of Days News
Beijing, which has stressed calm and restraint as its unpredictable neighbour prepares to conduct its third nuclear test, has tended to avoid punitive measures against it, partly for fear of provoking regional instability.
"If North Korea insists on a third nuclear test despite attempts to dissuade it, it must pay a heavy price. The assistance it will be able to receive from China should be reduced," the Global Times said in an editorial.
" China is never afraid of Pyongyang," it said. "If Pyongyang gets tough with China, China should strike back hard, even at the cost of deteriorating bilateral relations.
Beijing was "willing to maintain the Sino-North Korean friendship" it said, "but Pyongyang should do the same".
"China shouldn't be taken hostage by North Korea's extreme actions," added the article, which appeared in both the English- and Chinese-language editions of the paper.
Last month Beijing's foreign ministry distanced itself from a similar Global Times editorial that threatened a cut-off of assistance if the test went ahead, calling the claim "only the opinion of the media".
North Korea vowed to conduct the test after the UN Security Council condemned its December 12 rocket launch in a resolution that was the product of extensive negotiations with China.
Beijing is seen as fearing the consequences of a North Korean collapse, which could send an exodus of refugees across the border and potentially lead to a reunified, US-allied Korea on its border.
China has acted as Pyongyang's main benefactor since the 1950-53 Korean War, providing vital diplomatic support and economic ties to one of the world's most isolated regimes.
China should exact a "heavy price" from North Korea if it carries out a planned nuclear test, state media has declared, in an unusually strongly-worded call for action.
Beijing, which has stressed calm and restraint as its unpredictable neighbour prepares to conduct its third nuclear test, has tended to avoid punitive measures against it, partly for fear of provoking regional instability.
"If North Korea insists on a third nuclear test despite attempts to dissuade it, it must pay a heavy price. The assistance it will be able to receive from China should be reduced," the Global Times said in an editorial.
" China is never afraid of Pyongyang," it said. "If Pyongyang gets tough with China, China should strike back hard, even at the cost of deteriorating bilateral relations.
Beijing was "willing to maintain the Sino-North Korean friendship" it said, "but Pyongyang should do the same".
"China shouldn't be taken hostage by North Korea's extreme actions," added the article, which appeared in both the English- and Chinese-language editions of the paper.
Last month Beijing's foreign ministry distanced itself from a similar Global Times editorial that threatened a cut-off of assistance if the test went ahead, calling the claim "only the opinion of the media".
North Korea vowed to conduct the test after the UN Security Council condemned its December 12 rocket launch in a resolution that was the product of extensive negotiations with China.
Beijing is seen as fearing the consequences of a North Korean collapse, which could send an exodus of refugees across the border and potentially lead to a reunified, US-allied Korea on its border.
China has acted as Pyongyang's main benefactor since the 1950-53 Korean War, providing vital diplomatic support and economic ties to one of the world's most isolated regimes.
Monday, February 4, 2013
By Printing Money Central Banks Have Already Begun the Next Stage of Warfare
End Of Days News
Since the Financial Crisis erupted in 2007, the US Federal Reserve has engaged in dozens of interventions/ bailouts to try and prop up the financial system. Now, I realize that everyone knows the Fed is “printing money.” However, when you look at the list of bailouts/ money pumps it’s absolutely staggering how much money the Fed has thrown around.
Here’s a recap of some of the larger Fed moves during the Crisis:
The Fed is not the only one. Collectively, the world’s Central Banks have pumped over $10 trillion into the financial system since 2007. This money printing has resulted in a massive expansion of Central Bank balance sheets, spread inflation into the system, and done nothing to address the key solvency issues that lead up to the great crisis.
This competitive debasement has lead to increased tension between the world’s Central Banks. You will never hear their stated outright for the simple reason that the single most important responsibility of the Central Banks is to maintain confidence in the system.
However, underneath the veneer of goodwill and the occasional necessary coordinated intervention, tensions are rising between Central Banks. When the US debases the US Dollar it pushes the Euro higher. This hurts German exports which in turn angers the Bundesbank.
The Bundesbank fired a warning shot at the Fed last autumn when it announced it wanted to have its Gold reserves at the Fed audited. To be clear here: no one of major financial import has ever questioned the Fed’s trustworthiness before. However, at the time of this announcement Germany stated it had no intentions of actually moving its reserves.
Fast-forward to today and Germany has not only audited and checked its Gold reserves at the Fed but it is now moving them. In plain terms, Germany has told the world that A) it does not trust the Fed and B) it is through playing around.
This situation will likely be getting worse going forward. The fact that Germany will be removing all of its Gold reserves from France certainly doesn’t bode well for future German French relations if push ever comes to shove (it’s not as though Europe has a history of getting along well).
Look for increased tension to grow between the world’s Central Banks in the coming months and years. This tension will likely result in:
Given that the financial system and economic “recovery” have been built on a house of cards, these political developments will have major impacts on the financial markets.
Outside of internal dissent, the power players in the global economy (the US, China, Japan, and Germany) are showing increasing signs of tension both internal (China and the US) as well as external (China vs. Japan, Germany vs. the US, the US vs. China).
These tensions will lead to economic warfare and very likely physical warfare in the coming years.
Since the Financial Crisis erupted in 2007, the US Federal Reserve has engaged in dozens of interventions/ bailouts to try and prop up the financial system. Now, I realize that everyone knows the Fed is “printing money.” However, when you look at the list of bailouts/ money pumps it’s absolutely staggering how much money the Fed has thrown around.
Here’s a recap of some of the larger Fed moves during the Crisis:
- Cutting interest rates from 5.25-0.25% (Sept ’07-today).
- The Bear Stearns deal/ taking on $30 billion in junk mortgages (Mar ’08).
- Opening various lending windows to investment banks (Mar ’08).
- Hank Paulson spends $400 billion on Fannie/ Freddie (Sept ’08).
- The Fed takes over insurance company AIG for $85 billion (Sept ’08).
- The Fed doles out $25 billion for the automakers (Sept ’08)
- The Fed kicks off the $700 billion TARP program (Oct ’08)
- The Fed buys commercial paper from non-financial firms (Oct ’08)
- The Fed offers $540 billion to backstop money market funds (Oct ’08)
- The Fed agrees to back up to $280 billion of Citigroup’s liabilities (Oct ’08).
- $40 billion more to AIG (Nov ’08)
- The Fed backstops $140 billion of Bank of America’s liabilities (Jan ’09)
- Obama’s $787 Billion Stimulus (Jan ’09)
- QE 1 buys $1.25 trillion in Treasuries and mortgage debt (March ’09)
- QE lite buys $200-300 billion of Treasuries and mortgage debt (Aug ’10)
- QE 2 buys $600 billion in Treasuries (Nov ’10)
- Operation Twist reshuffles $400 billion of the Fed’s portfolio (Oct ’11)
- QE 3 buys $40 billion of Mortgage Backed Securities monthly (Sept ‘12)
- QE 4 buys $45 billion worth of Treasuries monthly (Dec ’12)
The Fed is not the only one. Collectively, the world’s Central Banks have pumped over $10 trillion into the financial system since 2007. This money printing has resulted in a massive expansion of Central Bank balance sheets, spread inflation into the system, and done nothing to address the key solvency issues that lead up to the great crisis.
This competitive debasement has lead to increased tension between the world’s Central Banks. You will never hear their stated outright for the simple reason that the single most important responsibility of the Central Banks is to maintain confidence in the system.
However, underneath the veneer of goodwill and the occasional necessary coordinated intervention, tensions are rising between Central Banks. When the US debases the US Dollar it pushes the Euro higher. This hurts German exports which in turn angers the Bundesbank.
The Bundesbank fired a warning shot at the Fed last autumn when it announced it wanted to have its Gold reserves at the Fed audited. To be clear here: no one of major financial import has ever questioned the Fed’s trustworthiness before. However, at the time of this announcement Germany stated it had no intentions of actually moving its reserves.
Fast-forward to today and Germany has not only audited and checked its Gold reserves at the Fed but it is now moving them. In plain terms, Germany has told the world that A) it does not trust the Fed and B) it is through playing around.
This situation will likely be getting worse going forward. The fact that Germany will be removing all of its Gold reserves from France certainly doesn’t bode well for future German French relations if push ever comes to shove (it’s not as though Europe has a history of getting along well).
Look for increased tension to grow between the world’s Central Banks in the coming months and years. This tension will likely result in:
- Economic warfare (see the recent situation in Iran)
- Political infighting
- Key players being sacrificed
Given that the financial system and economic “recovery” have been built on a house of cards, these political developments will have major impacts on the financial markets.
Outside of internal dissent, the power players in the global economy (the US, China, Japan, and Germany) are showing increasing signs of tension both internal (China and the US) as well as external (China vs. Japan, Germany vs. the US, the US vs. China).
These tensions will lead to economic warfare and very likely physical warfare in the coming years.
Thursday, January 31, 2013
OBAMA WANTS US DEAD! OBAMA ADMIN APPROVES SALE OF SENSITIVE MILITARY TECHNOLOGY TO CHINA
End Of Days News
A Chinese company will take charge of sensitive military and battery technology following the Treasury Department’s decision on Tuesday to permit the sale of a U.S. company that was bankrolled with tax dollars to the Shanghai-based Wanxiang firm.
The Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS) approved the $256 million sale of A123 Systems’ operation, despite warnings from military insiders and lawmakers on Capitol Hill that the sale presents a danger to national security.
A123 Systems, which went bankrupt despite the Obama administrations’ $249 million in green energy funding to produce advanced lithium ion batteries, controls 91 patents for the sensitive technology.
“The approved sale marks yet another step in the coordinated strategy by foreign countries to acquire leading U.S. companies who are researching, developing and producing critical technologies,” said Dean Popps, co-chairman of the Strategic Materials Advisory Council. “CFIUS itself has recognized this strategy but continues to fail to do anything to prevent it.” The committee has not made public its rationale for the decision.
The decision signals a reversal from President Barack Obama’s inaugural day pledge not to “cede to other nations’ critical energy technology,” Popps said.
RELATED: Military suffers with sale of company to China
“Far from protecting America’s lead, as the president promised on the west front of the Capitol, his administration has just allowed China to leapfrog the world in advanced batteries at the expense of American taxpayers,” Popps said.
The cutting edge technology is the preferred tool used in satellite systems; military vehicles, the power grid and telecommunication systems and can withstand high heat and extremely cold temperatures.
The deal was also questioned by Capitol Hill lawmakers who warned the acquisition presents considerable risks, and Rep. Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.) introduced legislation requiring safeguards on future decisions by the committee.
Battery maker A123 is one of 36 green companies that were awarded federal dollars from the Energy Department but are now facing bankruptcy or are laying off workers, including Solyndra, Evergreen Solar, Beacon Power, SunPower and SpectraWatt.
The Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS) approved the $256 million sale of A123 Systems’ operation, despite warnings from military insiders and lawmakers on Capitol Hill that the sale presents a danger to national security.
A123 Systems, which went bankrupt despite the Obama administrations’ $249 million in green energy funding to produce advanced lithium ion batteries, controls 91 patents for the sensitive technology.
“The approved sale marks yet another step in the coordinated strategy by foreign countries to acquire leading U.S. companies who are researching, developing and producing critical technologies,” said Dean Popps, co-chairman of the Strategic Materials Advisory Council. “CFIUS itself has recognized this strategy but continues to fail to do anything to prevent it.” The committee has not made public its rationale for the decision.
The decision signals a reversal from President Barack Obama’s inaugural day pledge not to “cede to other nations’ critical energy technology,” Popps said.
RELATED: Military suffers with sale of company to China
“Far from protecting America’s lead, as the president promised on the west front of the Capitol, his administration has just allowed China to leapfrog the world in advanced batteries at the expense of American taxpayers,” Popps said.
The cutting edge technology is the preferred tool used in satellite systems; military vehicles, the power grid and telecommunication systems and can withstand high heat and extremely cold temperatures.
The deal was also questioned by Capitol Hill lawmakers who warned the acquisition presents considerable risks, and Rep. Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.) introduced legislation requiring safeguards on future decisions by the committee.
Battery maker A123 is one of 36 green companies that were awarded federal dollars from the Energy Department but are now facing bankruptcy or are laying off workers, including Solyndra, Evergreen Solar, Beacon Power, SunPower and SpectraWatt.
Thursday, January 17, 2013
China's PLA to Troops: Prepare for War
As tensions between China and Japan escalate, China’s People’s Liberation Army (PLA) has been told to prepare for war in a training directive issued by the General Staff Headquarters, which oversees the entire PLA.
“The PLA and the Chinese People’s Armed Police Force (APF) should focus closely on the objective of being able to fight and winning battle, vigorously strengthen real-combat-like military training, practice and innovate the training mode under information-based conditions and intensify efforts to cultivate new-type and high-caliber military personnel,” according to a reference to the directive on the English version of the People’s Liberation Army Daily, the official newspaper of the PLA. The directive was issued in Chinese and is entitled “Instructions on the PLA’s Military Training in 2013.”
Past directives have largely focused on coordination among the various PLA branches, in contrast to the strong language of this year’s version.
“What has attracted attention is that the directive has called on Chinese forces to be prepared to fight using a particular Chinese term,” said Taylor Fravel, an expert on Chinese foreign policy and security at MIT.
The term, according to a report in the South China Morning Post, is dazhang, which means “fighting wars.” The phrase did not appear in last year’s directive.
While the official directive does not mention Japan, a commentary about the directive also appearing in the People’s Liberation Army Daily makes clear that Japan is the would-be adversary.
Citing escalating tensions with Japan over the ongoing dispute over the Senkaku/Diaoyu Islands, the commentary claims the new administration of Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe is working to “draw” Vietnam, the Philippines and other East Asian countries together “to contain China.”
“Japan’s Self-Defense Forces have held very frequent drills focused on the Diaoyu Islands for the past days, and boasted of firing warning shots at China’s marine surveillance ships,” according to the commentary, which is signed by Guo Jianyue, a senior reporter at the newspaper. “This confrontation between China and Japan, which has been so rare since World War II, has escalated from the original air force mutual monitoring over the waters around the Diaoyu Islands to the verge of war.”
Despite the rhetoric, Allen Carlson, an associate professor of government at Cornell University, said China could be merely sabre rattling.
“I still think, and perhaps I am wrong, that most of this is bluffing, an extreme form of such an action, and not one that is not without the risk of escalation, but still falls short of an actual declaration of war, and from direct military engagement,” he said.
Carlson added that China has not engaged in direct military conflict of any sustained kind since 1979 with Vietnam.
“Now, past performance is no guarantee of future outcomes, but until this line is crossed, I will continue to think that Beijing is likely to want to stop short of it,” he said.
“The PLA and the Chinese People’s Armed Police Force (APF) should focus closely on the objective of being able to fight and winning battle, vigorously strengthen real-combat-like military training, practice and innovate the training mode under information-based conditions and intensify efforts to cultivate new-type and high-caliber military personnel,” according to a reference to the directive on the English version of the People’s Liberation Army Daily, the official newspaper of the PLA. The directive was issued in Chinese and is entitled “Instructions on the PLA’s Military Training in 2013.”
Past directives have largely focused on coordination among the various PLA branches, in contrast to the strong language of this year’s version.
“What has attracted attention is that the directive has called on Chinese forces to be prepared to fight using a particular Chinese term,” said Taylor Fravel, an expert on Chinese foreign policy and security at MIT.
The term, according to a report in the South China Morning Post, is dazhang, which means “fighting wars.” The phrase did not appear in last year’s directive.
While the official directive does not mention Japan, a commentary about the directive also appearing in the People’s Liberation Army Daily makes clear that Japan is the would-be adversary.
Citing escalating tensions with Japan over the ongoing dispute over the Senkaku/Diaoyu Islands, the commentary claims the new administration of Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe is working to “draw” Vietnam, the Philippines and other East Asian countries together “to contain China.”
“Japan’s Self-Defense Forces have held very frequent drills focused on the Diaoyu Islands for the past days, and boasted of firing warning shots at China’s marine surveillance ships,” according to the commentary, which is signed by Guo Jianyue, a senior reporter at the newspaper. “This confrontation between China and Japan, which has been so rare since World War II, has escalated from the original air force mutual monitoring over the waters around the Diaoyu Islands to the verge of war.”
Despite the rhetoric, Allen Carlson, an associate professor of government at Cornell University, said China could be merely sabre rattling.
“I still think, and perhaps I am wrong, that most of this is bluffing, an extreme form of such an action, and not one that is not without the risk of escalation, but still falls short of an actual declaration of war, and from direct military engagement,” he said.
Carlson added that China has not engaged in direct military conflict of any sustained kind since 1979 with Vietnam.
“Now, past performance is no guarantee of future outcomes, but until this line is crossed, I will continue to think that Beijing is likely to want to stop short of it,” he said.
Tuesday, January 15, 2013
US Fighters Join Japan's F-15s Over The Disputed East China Sea Islands
US and Japanese fighter jets on Tuesday carried out joint air exercises, an official said, days after Chinese and Japanese military planes shadowed each other near disputed islands in the East China Sea.
The five-day exercise involves six US FA-18 fighters and around 90 American personnel, along with four Japanese F-4 jets and an unspecified number of people, the official said.
The drill is being carried out over Pacific waters off the coast of Shikoku, the fourth largest of Japan's islands.
It comes weeks after hawkish new Prime Minister Shinzo Abe won an election landslide following campaign promises to re-invigorate Tokyo's security alliance with Washington and take a more robust line against Beijing.
The exercise also comes as a stand-off between China and Japan over the sovereignty of the disputed East China Sea islands shows no signs of letting up.
Tokyo reportedly scrambled fighter jets on Thursday to head off Chinese military planes in an area adjoining the airspace of the Japanese-controlled Senkaku islands, which Beijing claims as the Diaoyus.
A Chinese defence ministry official later said two J-10 fighters flew to the area to monitor two Japanese F-15 fighters that had trailed a Chinese Y-8 aircraft, according to China's official Xinhua news agency.
On Tuesday, one Chinese state-owned Y-12 plane flew close to -- but not inside -- the airspace of the disputed islands, triggering the scrambling of Japanese fighter jets, the defence ministry in Tokyo said.
The row between Asia's two largest economies over the uninhabited, but potentially resource-rich islands blistered in September when Tokyo nationalised three of them.
Chinese government ships have repeatedly gone to the archipelago's territorial waters since then.
Beijing insists it is simply patrolling islands it has owned since ancient times. Commentators say China wants to prove that Japan does not have effective control over the chain and draw Tokyo into concessions.
On Sunday, Japan's Ground Self-Defense Force carried out the nation's first military exercise designed to recapture "a remote island invaded by an enemy force".
Some 300 troops took part in the 40-minute drill with 20 warplanes and more than 30 military vehicles at the Narashino Garrison in Chiba, southeast of Tokyo.
Some 80 personnel from the SDF's First Airborne Brigade rappelled from helicopters to demonstrate manoeuvres to counter an enemy invasion of a remote island.
In October Japan and the US dropped plans for a joint drill to simulate the retaking of a remote island, reportedly because Tokyo did not wish to provoke Beijing further.
There was no outward indication that the joint Japan-US exercise that began Monday and runs until Friday was aimed at China, and the area being used was a long way from any contentious zone.
The official told AFP the drill had previously been staged from Iwakuni in the far west of Honshu, but had been moved to Miyazaki in the south of Kyushu out of consideration for people living near the base.
While the security alliance receives wide public support in Japan, there are tensions between bases and their host communities, particularly over noise and the risk of accidents, as well as associated crime.
The five-day exercise involves six US FA-18 fighters and around 90 American personnel, along with four Japanese F-4 jets and an unspecified number of people, the official said.
The drill is being carried out over Pacific waters off the coast of Shikoku, the fourth largest of Japan's islands.
It comes weeks after hawkish new Prime Minister Shinzo Abe won an election landslide following campaign promises to re-invigorate Tokyo's security alliance with Washington and take a more robust line against Beijing.
The exercise also comes as a stand-off between China and Japan over the sovereignty of the disputed East China Sea islands shows no signs of letting up.
Tokyo reportedly scrambled fighter jets on Thursday to head off Chinese military planes in an area adjoining the airspace of the Japanese-controlled Senkaku islands, which Beijing claims as the Diaoyus.
A Chinese defence ministry official later said two J-10 fighters flew to the area to monitor two Japanese F-15 fighters that had trailed a Chinese Y-8 aircraft, according to China's official Xinhua news agency.
On Tuesday, one Chinese state-owned Y-12 plane flew close to -- but not inside -- the airspace of the disputed islands, triggering the scrambling of Japanese fighter jets, the defence ministry in Tokyo said.
The row between Asia's two largest economies over the uninhabited, but potentially resource-rich islands blistered in September when Tokyo nationalised three of them.
Chinese government ships have repeatedly gone to the archipelago's territorial waters since then.
Beijing insists it is simply patrolling islands it has owned since ancient times. Commentators say China wants to prove that Japan does not have effective control over the chain and draw Tokyo into concessions.
On Sunday, Japan's Ground Self-Defense Force carried out the nation's first military exercise designed to recapture "a remote island invaded by an enemy force".
Some 300 troops took part in the 40-minute drill with 20 warplanes and more than 30 military vehicles at the Narashino Garrison in Chiba, southeast of Tokyo.
Some 80 personnel from the SDF's First Airborne Brigade rappelled from helicopters to demonstrate manoeuvres to counter an enemy invasion of a remote island.
In October Japan and the US dropped plans for a joint drill to simulate the retaking of a remote island, reportedly because Tokyo did not wish to provoke Beijing further.
There was no outward indication that the joint Japan-US exercise that began Monday and runs until Friday was aimed at China, and the area being used was a long way from any contentious zone.
The official told AFP the drill had previously been staged from Iwakuni in the far west of Honshu, but had been moved to Miyazaki in the south of Kyushu out of consideration for people living near the base.
While the security alliance receives wide public support in Japan, there are tensions between bases and their host communities, particularly over noise and the risk of accidents, as well as associated crime.
Monday, January 14, 2013
China Newspaper Says To 'Prepare For The Worst' After Military Confrontation With Japan In The East China Sea
After repeatedly flying surveillance aircraft into disputed airspace with Japan, which made Tokyo scramble F-15s in response, China sent fighters of its own on Thursday into the East China Sea.
A Friday press release out of China confirms the incident began when Beijing was flying a Shaanxi Y-8 on a "routine Thursday patrol" over the "oil and gas fields in the East China Sea."
The fact that the aircraft was a Shaanxi Y-8 is interesting in that the Y-8 isn't necessarily any one particular aircraft.
The Diplomat calls the Y-8 a transport plane, and it can be, but the aircraft has more than 30 variants.
The Y-8 performs everything from Mineral Research, to Geophysical Surveying, to Electronic Warfare to Intelligence Gathering and one variant is simply an innocuous but lethal fully loaded gunship, with two heavy cannons and three heavy machine guns.
It's the perfect plane for a game of cat and mouse because if the Y-8 ever received fire from Japan's F-15s, China could simply maintain it was an unarmed transport model carrying troops, or the Y8-F model that carries only livestock.
In the meantime, the plane can perform all manner of sophisticated tests on the seabed floor, while eavesdropping on Japanese communications. China has been flying these planes consistently lately to surveil the contested island chain that's supposed to hold billions in oil and gas reserves.
So, again, on Thursday Japan spotted aircraft in its Air Defense Identification Zone (above the islands) that it believed to be Chinese J-7 interceptors, along with some J-10 fighters whose combat abilities rival that of Western jets. Japan responded with two F-15s scrambled from Naha, Okinawa — just a couple hundred miles away. There are minor variations from either side about who sent what first, but all agree the aircraft met above the islands.
The Chinese planes scattered soon after, but this marked the first time China and Japan flung military assets at one another over the East China Sea island dispute. A line was crossed and staying behind it in the future will only be more difficult.
Google
Air base Shuimen, China — disputed island chain — Naha, Japan
The U.S. assistant Secretary of State for East Asian and Pacific Affairs Kurt Campbell announced that he will be traveling to Seoul, and Tokyo. What he decides in Tokyo will filter south to Naha and the Japanese unit confronting the Chinese.
An interesting fact about Naha, aside from its proximity to the contested territory, is that while being fairly remote, it is also home to Alfred R. Magleby, a United States Consul General who holds a M.S. in Strategic Studies from the U.S. Naval War College. This is appropriate, since the Naha Port (formerly Military) Facility is part of U.S. Forces Japan and the U.S. Marine Corps Air Station Futenma is less than nine miles from where Japan's F-15s scrambled.
It looks like the islands everyone's talking about are a few dots in the middle of nowhere, but all of this is taking place close to the U.S. Consulate and a contingent of several thousand U.S. Marines whose former commanding general told Time in 2010: "All of my Marines on Okinawa are willing to die if it is necessary for the security of Japan."
In the future, when responding to China's fighter deployment, if Japan considers permitting its F-15 pilots to fire tracer bullets as warning shots against Chinese planes, it is now reasonable to assume that U.S. forces at Futenma may have an indirect say in that decision.
Firing tracers, which usually contain phosphorous or some highly flammable material, sends a line of light through the air like a laser. Tracers are usually loaded in about every tenth round to let gunners know where they're shooting, but in this case they would be fired to show Chinese pilots they're being fired upon.
An editorial in China's state-run Global Times called this possibility, "a step closer to war," warning a military clash is "more likely" while its people need to prepare "for the worst." With a U.S. presence so close at hand to where these Japanese decisions are being made, and tactical practices employed, we can hope for at least a bit of immediate tempering.
The Chinese jets are likely flying from air base Shuimen, built east of the islands in Fujian Province, not too much farther from the islands than Naha, Okinawa. So both sides have assets equally within reach of the islands.
Satellite imagery of the base came to light in 2009, and experts believe it was completed late last year.
The Taipei Times reported in May 2012 that J-10 combat aircraft, Su-30 fighters, and various unmanned drones were arriving at the base.
In addition to aircraft, experts believe Russian made S-300 long-range surface-to-air missiles ring the
airbase, providing some of the best missile protection in the world. The S-300 is comparable to the U.S. made Patriot missile recently sent to Turkey for its first line of missile defense against Syria.
The Shuimen airbase compliments China's East Fleet that maintains 35 ships in the region, including its newest warship the Type 054, seven submarines, and eight additional landing craft.
Among the subs are four Kilo-class diesel-electric Russian made submarines capable of the most advanced underwater warfare.
All of this located just 236 miles from the contested islands, which have been in dispute between Japan and China for some time. Han-Yi Shaw writes an interesting history of the dispute, for those interested in more background.
While the U.S. takes no official position on who owns the Islands, it would be expected to honor its U.S.-Japan security treaty signed in 1960.
Though this is a formal agreement that the U.S. will aid Japan if it comes under attack, there are few who believe the U.S. would risk a full-blown war with China over a few uninhabited islands, regardless of how much oil and gas lies beneath them.
But with a U.S. presence so closely intertwined in these events, and a contingent of Marines standing by, it seems that whatever happens could involve American input — one way or another.
Among the subs are four Kilo-class diesel-electric Russian made submarines capable of the most advanced underwater warfare.
All of this located just 236 miles from the contested islands, which have been in dispute between Japan and China for some time. Han-Yi Shaw writes an interesting history of the dispute, for those interested in more background.
While the U.S. takes no official position on who owns the Islands, it would be expected to honor its U.S.-Japan security treaty signed in 1960.
Though this is a formal agreement that the U.S. will aid Japan if it comes under attack, there are few who believe the U.S. would risk a full-blown war with China over a few uninhabited islands, regardless of how much oil and gas lies beneath them.
But with a U.S. presence so closely intertwined in these events, and a contingent of Marines standing by, it seems that whatever happens could involve American input — one way or another.
Read more: http://www.businessinsider.com/china-fighter-jet-flights-diaoyu-senkaku-islands-2013-1#ixzz2HyP31SgU
Saturday, January 12, 2013
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