PLA Navy news, pics and videos
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Blackstone
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It's hard to believe Obama would provoke war by sending US ships inside 12 mile limit of Chinese territory, but given his irrational behavior vis-a-vis Syria and Iran, I could no longer dismiss the possibility.
Miragedriver
Brigadier
Russia and China is going to hold their first joint naval exercise code-named "Sea Cooperation-2015" in the Mediterranean Sea in Mid-May. A total of nine vessels is planned to participate including three ships of China's anti-piracy Escort Task group patrolling in the Gulf of Aden.
Link:
Back to bottling my Grenache
Link:
Back to bottling my Grenache
Mace, despite the fact that they often have excellent pictures, the Aviationist is know for some pretty outlandish tales.
Does it not seem odd to you that they themselves say that this story, supposedly attributed to the French MOD, is not available for sourcing?
Besides, this story has been discussed on the French and other threads with similar observations.
It is off topic here on the PLAN breaking news thread because it has nothing to do with the PLAN.
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Bltzio, two things:
1) In the South China Sea, there are numerous accepted commercial sea lanes. Do any of those pass, unavoidably, within 12 miles of any of the reefs, islands, due to the topography?
If they do, then it would be natural for all vessels to use them,.
2) Can you please source the story indicating that the US is planning on abjectely violating any territorial limit of China?
Clearly, when the PRC itself states that one of the purposes of the reclamation is to provide for better SAR and relief efforts, it is inviting such travel in such circumstances...and any time the US sends a vessel to any Chinese port or location, as the USS Blue Ridge recently did in Zhanjiang China, they penetrate the 12-mile zone.
So, if there is an article that credibly indicates that the US Navy is planning on violating a specific 12 mile zone, unannounced/uninvited, and where it is not a recognized part of an existing sea lane, I would like to see it.
I would have to see a very credible article indicating that the US Navy is planning, unannounced and uninvited, and where it is not a part of a recognized sea lane, to violate the 12 mile limit before I would believe this.
In addition, the word "considering," makes it pretty clear to me at least, that no such plan exists.
So yeah, with the links I posted above I feel like it's pretty clear that there is an idea to directly enter the 12 mile limit of China's claimed islands and they are not exactly intrinsic to shipping paths, rather the US is intending to directly challenge Chinese sovereignty claims over those islands themselves.
That of course is somewhat dependent on differing interpretations of maritime law and that the US does not perceive some of the smaller reclaimed islands as real territory per se, or something like that.
Thanks Bltizo for those links. They are indeed very relevant. . I noticed that China is seeking clarification. Maybe we will get it.
Freedom of navigation is one thing...and I do not contest the US (or other party) desires and needs to assert that.
However, if the Chinese are building up, through reclamation, reefs and islands that they are recognized as possessing (and I guess that right there will be the rub), then the US will be going on a fool's errand to contest that.
If it is a Chinese possession, IMHO, they have every right to improve it. And if they do so to the extent of making it into whatever is classified as an island warranting a 12 mile limit...I cannot see the US as being able to challenge that.
If Obama's policy on this is as it is being depicted, then IMHO, it could easily become unnecessarily confrontational.
As I have said in the past, the real way to counter it is to use the same methods China is using with other nations on the islands and reefs they posses.
This is getting very interesting in the SCS...and I hope it does not spill over into getting dangerous.
I can definitely understand why the US may be seeking to directly challenge Chinese classification of the reclaimed territory as islands, because it is really just one step in the greater scheme of trying to prevent greater Chinese capability and presence in the SCS.
But I can't help but wonder if this will herald a more formal strategy of US military containment of China in future that has been in the minds of US military planners in the last few years, and if this won't heighten tensions in the region.
The way I see it, the US would like to maintain or increase its military capability standing in westpac and the ECS and SCS, relative to potentialy competitors, namely China. While this is an understandable goal in the sense that any nation can have the right to define its own national interests, as the years go by it will be more difficult for the US to keep the same margin of superiority over the PRC militarily in westpac simply on the basis that much of the PRC still needs modernizing while the US military is more or less as modern as they can be.
Unfortunately influence and power is a zero sum game, in the sense that there is only so much power and influence to go around in the world and if someone else has more influence then it means you yourself have less relative influence, and relative influence and power is the issue rather than absolute amounts.