PLAN SCS Bases/Islands/Vessels (Not a Strategy Page)

From global times imagine surfing on fiery Island
Only Mainlander are allowed!. Foreigner need not bother to visit

S. China Sea popular with patriotic tourists, experts predict greater visitor numbers in future
By Li Ruohan Source:Global Times Published: 2017/3/12 17:18:39


Visitors take pictures in front of a monument on Yongxing Island erected to mark the founding of Sansha city. Photo: CFP

South China's Sansha city, which administers some of the Xisha Islands in the South China Sea, including some disputed islets, is planning to expand the local tourism industry by providing more fishing and diving services, the city's mayor said.

More than 20,000 tourists have had the chance to sample Sansha's remarkable scenery since cruises started heading to the region in 2013, Xiao Jie, mayor and Party chief of Sansha, told the media during the ongoing annual session of China's top legislature, the National People's Congress.

Sansha has drafted a tourism development plan, Xiao was qouted by the Xinhua News Agency as saying on Wednesday.

Though visiting Sansha is still mostly chosen by small groups of people, due to relatively high travel costs, the region has great potential which simply requires further infrastructure development, local tour guides told the Global Times on Thursday.

Meanwhile, as many visitors to Sansha come for patriotic purposes, the region will likely enjoy a greater number of tourists after it opens up more and more attractive sites in the South China Sea, said Chen Xiangmiao, a research fellow at the Hainan-based National Institute for South China Sea Studies.

A bite of the sea



Currently, tourists can only visit Sansha via three cruise services. The routes they offer will be expanded and there will be more travel products in future, said Xiao.

The Changle Princess, Beibuwan No.1 and "The dream of the South China Sea" are currently in service, and these three boats as well as the now-retired Coconut-fragrance Princess, have taken more than 20,000 tourists on over 120 voyages to Sansha since 2013, according to the Sansha government's website.

A five-day cruise from Sanya, South China's Hainan Province, to Sansha, starts from 4,780 yuan ($691).

Sansha's peak tourist season starts around Spring Festival and runs until May, when temperatures in the region are relatively high, Zhao Xinbo, a tour guide at Hainan Air International Travel Agency, told the Global Times.

Diving, fishing and photography are the most popular activities, said Zhao.

A typical trip includes fishing, a journey to the Dragon Hole scenic spot, and visiting the islands of Yagong, Quanfu and Yinyu, the only three that Xiao said are currently open to tour groups.

In the future, more islands will be opened, Xiao explained. For instance, infrastructure on Zhaoshu Island and Jinqing Island is under construction and the two islands will soon be able to host travelers, Xiao added.

Cruises are the ideal industry for Sansha's development, said Xiao, explaining that as travelers eat and stay on the cruise ship, and almost all of their recreational activities are also held on the ship, visitors' fun will not have too much of an impact on Sansha's ecology.

However, such tourist services are only open to residents of the Chinese mainland, meaning foreigners, overseas Chinese and those from Taiwan, Hong Kong and Macao cannot enjoy Sansha.

Experts say this ban was introduced as tourist development should not compromise the military confidentiality of the Xisha Islands.

China has deployed its military on the Xisha Islands, and has held military drills in the region, Xinhua reported.

Moreover, those who have criminal records cannot sign up for those trips, said Zhao, adding that the cruise registration system is connected to the public security system.

Some travel agencies, including leading online agency Tuniu, also exclude those who have published comments online that are regarded as "inciting subversion of State power," and those who spread "reactionary ideologies."

Patriotic trip

Apart from its scenery, many visitors chose the city that administers disputed islands for patriotic reasons, Chen told the Global Times.

Some travel agencies even market the cruise as a "patriotic trip."

According to itineraries released on online booking platforms such as Tuniu and Ctrip, the first thing listed in visitors' schedules after they arrive in Sansha is a flag-raising ceremony followed by singing the national anthem.

According to Xiao, patriotic education and maritime protection education are both included in the schedules of visitors to the Xisha region.

"When I arrived on the island and saw the lives of local residents, the feeling of protecting the land was overwhelming and it lasted all through the trip," a tourist wrote on Tuniu's website in January. Such comments can also be found on other online booking platforms.


Newspaper headline: Sailing in Sansha

Yulin is transformed into formidable Naval, Submarine base

China's Most Important South China Sea Military Base
The Yulin Naval Base is shaping up to be the most strategically important military base in the South China Sea.


By Damen Cook
March 09, 2017


Near the picturesque city of Sanya, at the southernmost tip of Hainan Island, the Chinese People’s Liberation Army Navy is methodically preparing itself for the next phase of power projection in the South China Sea. The site in question is the Yulin Naval Base, and it is shaping up to be the most strategically important military base in the South China Sea. In fact, it may already hold the title, depending largely on the current nuclear submarine traffic flowing in and out of Yulin’s underground facility. Theater and point defense assets have been deployed, degaussing and weapons-loading facilities appear operationally ready — as do the administrative buildings, munitions transportation systems, and geological fortifications — and much of the South Sea Fleet’s submarine force has already nestled itself deep into the resident mountain. With a healthy mix of surface vessels, anti-aircraft and anti-ship missile platforms, and both conventional attack and nuclear deterrent submarines, Yulin’s strategic value is steadily rising. And with it rises China’s coercive power in the South China Sea and its surrounding waterways.

Yulin-East

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Open-source intelligence tools provide an informative glimpse of Hainan Island’s busy, fortified, and increasingly vital base. All told, Yulin-East encompasses over 25 square kilometers (sq km) of military infrastructure lying within a protected, man-made harbor. As will be expanded on below, the base accommodates surface and subsurface vessels (and most of the necessary accouterments thereof), theater and point defense weapons systems, munitions transport vehicles and depots, and administrative buildings for military commanders.




Construction by the year 2000, and though it is not yet complete, the sprawling complex reflects all of its 17 years of dedicated effort. Yalong Bay’s natural defenses — namely, of course, the big imposing mountain — must have caught China’s eye. The mountain itself now houses China’s sea-based nuclear deterrent, suitably sheltered under a few hundred feet of earth and stone. Still, prudently recognizing that geological advantages alone would not win the day, China constructed a large and formidable sea wall along the base’s border. Satellite photographs taken over the past 15 years tell a tale of gargantuan effort and expenditure. How these physical fortifications would fare against a coordinated wave of strikes from China’s adversaries is unclear.

In addition to its natural and man-made fortifications, Yulin-East boasts an array of theater and point defense technologies. At least five buildings at Yulin-East, each separated from one another by protective blast walls, are capable of housing Surface-to-Air Missile (SAM) batteries. The variations in length — two weapons storage buildings measure 55 meters while three measure 78 meters — could indicate planned installments of shorter- and longer-range SAMs to layer the base’s defenses. Rounding out the team are anti-ship cruise missile (ASCM) launchers lining either side of the submarine tunnel entrance. Longer range models like the C-802 and YJ-83 are too long for the 6.5-7m canisters identified by Strategic Sentinel. The C-801, a lighter weapon designed to defend a smaller area, would be a better fit. The anti-aircraft and anti-ship missile platforms on China’s artificial islands project their military’s power over important waterways; the similar but distinct systems stationed at Yulin-East primarily defend the base itself.

Yulin-East’s highest value assets are its submarines (and associated facilities), as will become abundantly clear. As seen in the attached graphic above, Yulin-East houses four submarine piers capable of docking any submarine in the PLA Navy — including the Shang-class attack submarine, two of which are docked in the image. Open-source satellite photographs have shown weapons loading occurring on these piers, but there remains much speculation about whether weapons loading also occurs inside the underground berthing facility. This would not be an ideal location, since an accidental concussive blast would be made exponentially more dangerous in such an enclosed space. (A sturdy enclosed space filled with expensive combustibles.) However, either in wartime or in an effort to preserve vital secrecy, China may accept this risk and load explosive weaponry inside the underground facility. Currently, not enough open-source documentation of submarine weapons loading at Yulin exists to account for all of what we would expect to see, leaving open the very distinct possibility that China has chosen to perform some of these activities in the underground berthing facility just inside the mountain.

The only entrance into the mountain’s underground berthing facility is a 16-meter-wide semi-submerged submarine tunnel entrance; this, as the Federation of American Scientists has previously , is 3 meters — or nearly 20 percent — wider than the entrance at the North Sea Fleet’s Jianggezhuang Naval Base. China plans to base all of its largest subs, the Jin-class (or Type 094), in this mountain. The Jin-class submarines are the only ship in the PLAN that carry nuclear missiles — — and are the start of China’s sea-based nuclear deterrent. Though China only plans to build six Jin-class subs, the minimum required to maintain a continuous naval second-strike capability, a new class of nuclear submarines will make an appearance in the coming decade. Yulin will soon be the headquarters to not just the South Sea Fleet’s submarine force, but to an entire leg of China’s nuclear triad.

Though Yulin-East’s most salient purpose is to house nuclear submarines, surface warships are far from excluded in its mission. Along the northernmost crook of Yalong Bay, two surface combatant piers stand ready to host virtually any surface ship in the PLAN. We estimate that these two piers, each nearly a kilometer in length, can house up to sixteen frigates total — or some similar combination of destroyers, corvettes, and frigates as necessary. At least one satellite image shows loading cranes preparing to service a docked surface vessel. Just a few kilometers west, the PLAN has also constructed piers capable of housing two aircraft carriers. (And they might, too, if China had even one aircraft carrier to spare.)

(cont)
Strategic Analysis and Implications

Base Vulnerabilities and Defenses

Layered theater defense of Yulin-East is more than merely expected — it would be rather strange if such anti-aircraft and anti-ship assets were missing. The HQ-9 surface-to-air missile battery is the most likely deployment, for now. With assets as valuable as Yulin’s, the S-400s China from Russia are also plausible future residents of the island. The S-400 has a better chance of causing trouble for the fifth generation planes that may target the base. However, the Russian SAM also boasts a much longer range than the HQ-9, and therefore would be more effective serving China’s A2/AD strategy on artificial islands deep in the South China Sea. Strategic Sentinel will keep a close watch on these facilities once the S-400s are delivered. Whether China values extending its area denial range more than increasing the effectiveness of Yulin’s theater defenses will presumably be demonstrated in due course. As noted in the above section, China has also positioned anti-ship cruise missiles near the submarine tunnel entrance. These are likely short-range missile launchers (as indicated by their size), and as such somewhat ineffective at deterring modern surface combatants, which could strike Yulin from well out of range.

Though Yulin’s point defenses pose a very manageable challenge to U.S. forces, Hainan Island itself is remarkably well defended. The environment is rich in electronic warfare assets and well within range of Chinese air bases and the J-11 aircraft housed there. The island’s security is very highly prioritized — in a private conversation, one analyst described the Chinese as “very sensitive about [Hainan].” So, although Yulin’s point defenses themselves are something short of awe-inspiring, the base is still sheltered by the heavy military presence nearby. Any U.S. attempt to strike targets on Hainan Island would only really be practicable in the context of a larger scale conflict and would require extraordinary effort. Successfully striking Yulin or other Hainan targets is definitely within the realm of U.S. capability, but would also undoubtedly be enormously expensive (in terms of logistical effort, hardware deployed and lost, lives lost, and of course a disturbingly vast sum of money).

Warships, Above and Below

Yulin serves as the perfect complement to China’s strategic goals in the South China Sea. Artificial islands throughout the Sea itself host A2/AD technology to deter or delay the United States from encroaching on China’s sphere of influence. The Jin-class nuclear missile submarines housed at Yulin deter the United States from attacking China with nuclear weapons — and from charging into any conflict, for that matter. And finally, Yulin’s many surface combatants, aircraft carriers, and attack submarines coerce regional navies into submitting to China’s aggressive maneuvers and acceding to its claims. Yulin’s dual mission — deterrence for the West and coercion for the rest, if you will — magnifies its strategic value.

Stocking Yulin with attack submarines and carrier strike groups facilitates a type of power projection tailored to the most relevant audience: rival South China Sea claimants. China uses its submarine force as an anti-surface warfare vessel, making it ideally suited to this mission of classical naval power projection. (Indeed, of China’s entire submarine force is armed specifically to sink enemy ships, rather than strike land targets or hunt other submarines.) When China deploys its future carrier strike groups from Yulin, it intends to remind rival claimants that China can strike their cities and knock their planes out of the sky. Until the PLAN’s new aircraft carriers arrive, simply sailing destroyers and frigates through Southeast Asian exclusive economic zones (EEZs) visibly demonstrates a strategic commitment to the nine-dash line. And when said surface ships are otherwise occupied, Chinese subs may make a point of surfacing just a few miles from an opposing navy, with a U.S. aircraft carrier in 2006. The coercive pressure on Southeast Asian navies is palpable as the People’s Republic cements its de facto control over the South China Sea.

While the attack submarines and surface vessels exert pressure on regional navies, Yulin’s Jin-class submarines will be securing China’s second-strike capability. The Jin-class, capable of holding 12 intercontinental nuclear ballistic missiles at a time, constitutes the entire naval component of the Chinese nuclear triad. As second-strike guarantors, these subs will spend as little time inside the mountain as possible. And in the case of a conflict, it would most behoove China to disperse their nuclear submarines as widely as possible, keeping them far away from obvious targets like the Yulin base. Still, the mountain at Yulin provides a formidable shield when the subs are at their most vulnerable — that is, when they are being repaired, refueled, or possibly even upgraded.

Conclusions

Yulin-East, this growing naval complex jutting into the South China Sea, is establishing itself as one of the most vital military bases in the Asia-Pacific, and indeed the world. The base stands out for the missions it facilitates: classic, conventional power projection for the region and strategic nuclear deterrence for the globe. Yulin-East’s surface vessels and attack submarines will strengthen China’s position over important regional trade routes and attempt to coerce China’s neighbors into accepting the nine-dash line The Jin-class submarines, powerful guarantors of China’s second-strike capability, will be Yulin’s most valued yet least present asset. The South China Sea, already crowded by over a dozen navies, just got a lot smaller.

[1] “Yulin” serves as a term largely interchangeable for the smaller naval base to the west, housing aircraft carrier docks and other naval support infrastructure, and the submarine base to the east. As the eastern submarine complex is the primary subject of this analysis, it will often be referred to as “Yulin-East” to distinguish it from the smaller naval facility a few kilometers west.

Damen Cook is lead research associate at Strategic Sentinel.

This is old article but it is interesting seem they want to make those island bases self sufficient with produce(green house) and ham(pig farm). the hospital is complete and so do other facilities like hanger and administrative building, desalination plant I posted a video couple pages back

One of Beijing’s controversial manmade islands in the South China Sea now has a farm

Pig presence. (Reuters/China Daily)

June 07, 2016

China is in the strategic South China Sea—causing and among neighbors. But as it asserts its claim to the region, it’s also throwing some softer elements in amid the militaristic buildup—including lighthouses, a tourist resort, and a hospital. The latest awkwardly placed civilian outpost is a farm.

The farm sits upon a manmade island that China has built atop the contested Fiery Cross Reef, (link in Chinese) in the state-owned news portal Xinhua. About 500 livestock have been raised there—including pigs, chicken, and geese. There’s a vegetable garden covering about 4,000 square meters. There’s even a fish pond.

Fiery Cross Reef (known as Yongshu to the Chinese) is part of the Spratly archipelago, to which neighboring nations have competing claims. China claims most of the South China Sea as its own territory, using a “nine-dash line” map drawn after World War 2 as part of its justification. But in the coming weeks that claim will likely be rejected by an international tribunal, whose authority on the matter Beijing has . In the meantime China is working to bolster its presence with both military and civilian features in the sea.


(Hobe, Holger Behr/Public domain via commons)
Fiery Cross Reef will also get a hospital, now under construction and expected to be finished later this month. It covers 160,000 square meters and has its own garden with coconut trees and tropical plants, according to Xinhua. The new facilities will come equipped with modern medical equipment and communications gear for consulting with mainland medical experts about major operations or rare diseases.

A lighthouse will adorn the island as well, joining other lighthouses China has recently built in the Spratlys.

Early this year, Fiery Cross Reef also (Chinese ones, of course). They arrived via commercial plane thanks to the island’s runway, which is also used by fighter jets.

In May, Fiery Cross Reef hosted a featuring the celebrity singer Song Zuying, who gave stirring renditions of My Heart Will Go On and a patriotic number called Ode to the South Sea Defenders, next to a Chinese warship.

Meanwhile on Woody Island, in the contested Paracel islands, China is that will host weddings and diving trips. In February, satellite images revealed missile launchers on the very same island. We can see the ad copy now: “Just like the Maldives—but with missile launchers.”

—Zheping Huang contributed reporting

From Reef to an Island amazing transformation Yongshu or Fiery Island. this picture must be old because the hangar and radar station as well as Air defense hangar are finished now

From reef to island

Another amazing picture from SCS Johnson Reef or Chigua. Courtesy of Xinhui. Completed, no more heavy machinery or worker barrack. Can't wait to see grass field, coconut tree, flower bed or vegetable garden
You clearly can see Administrative cum barrack, Helipad, Radar sensor, gun and CIWS emplacement, Solar cell farm, light house. Small pier. Sandy Beach A complete island out of nothing It is marvel of engineering





Dawn at SCS


Standing on Guard

What a nice way to see the stars and Milky Way Galaxy at night with your best friend.

Hendrik_2000 said:

Standing on Guard
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I wonder if a SEAL team could overrun one of the smaller bases like this one. This little mental exercise reminded me of back in 2001 with the Hainan incident, where I read that supposedly a USN attack sub transporting a SEAL team was sitting just off the shore of the Hainan base where the EP-3 crew was being held, just to provide potential "options" to Bush Jr. I assume the Chinese military has since tightened up their security measures.

Iron Man said:

I wonder if a SEAL team could overrun one of the smaller bases like this one. This little mental exercise reminded me of back in 2001 with the Hainan incident, where I read that supposedly a USN attack sub transporting a SEAL team was sitting just off the shore of the Hainan base where the EP-3 crew was being held, just to provide potential "options" to Bush Jr. I assume the Chinese military has since tightened up their security measures.

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Click and flame baiting again? Well I remember there was one time a Chinese submarine surface right in the middle of a US carrier strike force and caught them by surprise. Than in order to save national face all these media make excuses about it.

Equation said:

Click and flame baiting again? Well I remember there was one time a Chinese submarine surface right in the middle of a US carrier strike force and caught them by surprise. Than in order to save national face all these media make excuses about it.

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Can you please explain to me why the hell you think I am flame baiting here. If I asked whether a PLAN SOF team could overrun a Vietnamese atoll in the SCS, I have absolutely no doubt in my mind that you would NOT consider it a flame baiting question, so EXPLAIN YOURSELF.