China's SCS Strategy Thread

[plawolf]

Philippine is anti-Chinese also, and also have dispute with China. So as far as risk is concerned, there is really not much difference.

Thailand is unstable politically right now. And both Thailand and Malaysia have wage level that is above that of China, so there isn't any point economically to relocate there rather than relocate back to China.

Look further from home.

Africa is a huge market for Chinese goods, and is also much closer to Europe than mainland China.

Major Chinese firms, with government backing, and probably also a little direction, have spent the last deade or so quietly but steadily upgrading much of Africa's basic infrastructure.

I think it would be the logical next step for Chinese and other manufacturers to eventually set up production facilities in Africa to take advantage of its vast natural and human resources as well as the new infrastructure China has been building, and use its close proximity to Europe and the Middle East to gain an advantage over producing in South East Asia.

China already have significant investments in Africa, and that is only going to grow exponentially. I think one of the key driving factors behind China's naval modernisation, and especially its carrier programme, is to give China the ability to protect its growing interest in Africa. Conversely, once China has a powerful world class navy with multiple carrier groups, I think major Chinese firms will find it much more attractive to go into Africa knowing that they have all that military muscle to back them up if needed, so a repeat of the Lybian experience would not be allowed.

 

[port_08]

Please, Log in or Register to view URLs content!

...
Beijing has accused Hanoi of being the provocateur at sea, saying Vietnamese vessels were the first to begin ramming while Chinese ships merely responded as necessary while exercising restraint.

Hua said Vietnamese ships rammed Chinese vessels 169 times on Tuesday, adding that Hanoi brought journalists on board to try to publicise its "false" portrayal of the situation.

"Within one day the Vietnamese side rammed Chinese vessels as many as 169 times, in coordination with its organising journalists to go to the site to do reporting," Hua said.

"This was all done for show, in an attempt to present a false picture and deceive the public."
...

These kind of self publicise propaganda can cause serious harm to one's economy. I remember at the height of the anti japanese protest in China, some damages were done, japanese goods were destroyed (cars etc). Somehow Vietnamese manage to take it 1 step further by torching the means of production, factories that produce these mass goods, their employment and somewhat their economic lifeline. Not sure about the Philippines, it's possible they may burn buildings and begin killing innocents, could be more worst because they have more rebels problem and constant civil war and natural disasters. A lot people without jobs, nothing to do, will cause riots easily and feed by their state propaganda which is what happen to China some time back. How many nations are destroyed by their own self inflicted wound, look at US war on terrorism of creating conflict here and there to feed their industrial military complex cause them massive amount of unrepayable debts.

 

[Geographer]

Please, Log in or Register to view URLs content!

reports that blood has been spilled:

More than 20 people were killed and rioters attacked Vietnam’s biggest steel plant overnight as violent anti-China protests spread to the centre of the country a day after arson and looting in the south, a doctor and newspapers said on Thursday.

A doctor at a hospital in central Ha Tinh province, 250 kilometers south of Hanoi, said five Vietnamese workers and 16 other people described as Chinese were killed in the rioting, one of the worst breakdowns in Sino-Vietnamese relations since the neighbours fought a brief border war in 1979.

The irony is that the rioters targeted a TAIWANESE steel mill! Granted both China and Taiwan claim ownership of the Spratly and Paracel Islands using the same nine-dotted line map, but the oil rig belongs to China. And anyways, businesspeople running a factory have nothing to do with Beijing decision on this. The businesspeople are innocent.

I remember when Chinese people rampaged against Japanese interests in China. It was just as embarrassing and shameful as this. The next time anti-Japanese sentiment gets riled up, I hope Chinese people will look at the situation in Vietnam and handle things differently.

 

[A.Man]

Johnson South Reef

 

[joshuatree]

Look further from home.

Africa is a huge market for Chinese goods, and is also much closer to Europe than mainland China.

Well, even within the SEA region, there are still options such as Laos and Cambodia. I wonder how the relationship is with Papua New Guinea? Or even East Timor?

Johnson South Reef

If the land reclamation process is done on the last pic, it doesn't appear to be long enough for a meaningful airstrip which is the prevailing charge.

The land reclamation is basically a 2 for 1 deal. In needing to dredge material from under the shallow waters to create the land, a deeper harbor is concurrently created which is needed for larger ships to dock. My speculation would be a larger base to support more ELINT, maybe even be part of a SONUS network, as well as serve as a central base for the rest of the Spratly outposts, perhaps troops out there can now rotate to this base on greater frequency for more R&R possibilities.

 

[Blackstone]

Please, Log in or Register to view URLs content!

reports that blood has been spilled:

The irony is that the rioters targeted a TAIWANESE steel mill! Granted both China and Taiwan claim ownership of the Spratly and Paracel Islands using the same nine-dotted line map, but the oil rig belongs to China. And anyways, businesspeople running a factory have nothing to do with Beijing decision on this. The businesspeople are innocent.

I remember when Chinese people rampaged against Japanese interests in China. It was just as embarrassing and shameful as this. The next time anti-Japanese sentiment gets riled up, I hope Chinese people will look at the situation in Vietnam and handle things differently.

Since you're busy equating behaviors of Chinese and Vietnamese protestors, how many Japanese did the Chinese protesters kill?

 

[SteelBird]

Has any check what types of asset has China sent to the Paracel islands to protect the oil rig HD-981? According to a report on

Please, Log in or Register to view URLs content!

China has sent 2 missile corvettes and 2 of its largest type-071 LPD to the region.

Tin mới nhất cho hay, chiều ngày 14 tháng Năm, ngoài 2 tàu hộ vệ tên lửa, Trung Quốc còn điều 2 tàu vận tải đổ bộ số hiệu 998 và 999.

 

[AssassinsMace]

Has any check what types of asset has China sent to the Paracel islands to protect the oil rig HD-981? According to a report on

Please, Log in or Register to view URLs content!

China has sent 2 missile corvettes and 2 of its largest type-071 LPD to the region.

Here's a link with some pics the Vietnamese took.

Please, Log in or Register to view URLs content!

 

[Geographer]

Joshuatree, I don't think the island is finished because they've only build a seawall around one edge. Most of the island is just a pile of sand--basically a beach. The March photo shows all but one ship gone but they probably just returned to their home ports to refuel and pick up more supplies. Anyways, the island can easily be expanded. You make a good point about the two-for-one deal: dredging the reef to reclaim land simultaneously creates a deep water harbor. Photographs of Woody Island in the past three years have shown an expanded beach on the north of the island using dredged material from the third harbor.

 

[port_08]

Please, Log in or Register to view URLs content!

...
Hong Kong’s Security Bureau on Thursday raised the Outbound Travel Alert (OTA) for Vietnam to red, warning travellers to avoid non-essential visits to the country, after 16 Chinese nationals and five Vietnamese were killed in a riot at a Taiwanese-owned steel mill in centre of the country.
...

Not wise for business travel to Vietnam at the moment, especially for Chinese (or those who look like Chinese) Koreans, Taiwanese and even Japanese could be killed for mistaken identity. Years of propaganda and brainwashing will result entire population behave like what Nazi once did with their ethnic cleansing blaming Jews for all their troubles. Vietnam seems bent on blaming the Chinese for their ills and fear of such ethnic cleansing tragedy will happen in future in Vietnam.