Political and Military Analysis on China

...The mine warfare experiences of America and other nations are not lost on the People’s Liberation Army Navy (PLAN).Chinese naval analysts and historians understand the asymmetric potential for mine warfare to “baffle the enemy, and thus achieve exceptional combat results.” Mines provide what some have described as “affordable security via asymmetric means.”...

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* Taiwan’s Intelligence Chief Offers New Insights on Chinese Security Developments
* Wang Yang: The Future Torchbearer of Reform?
* Organized Crime Exploits China’s Growing Links to Latin America
* China’s Hydropower Miscalculation
* Beijing Lays the Groundwork in Tajikistan: A View from the Ground

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advill said:

Escobar & interested parties, you might be interested to know that the Annual "Shangrilla Dialogue" is being held in Singapore this weekend. It will focus on Asia-Pacific inc. the South China Sea, ASEAN etc. The US Sec of Defence & his team of Senior Staff are attending together with very Senior Govt Officials/Military Officers from Asia. A great pity that the Chinese Defence Minister is giving it a miss, although he attended last year. Do log onto the Organiser: International Institute of Strategic Studies (UK) Website to get more info on discussions/papers presented.

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The survivability of China's ballistic missile submarines and submarine-launched ballistic missiles is examined. First, the Type 094 ballistic missile submarine is noisy and vulnerable even in shallow waters. This suggests the urgency for China to improve the quietness of the Type 094. Second, after the deployment of the U.S. interceptor missile, SM-3 Block IIA, in 2018, China's intercontinental ballistic missiles and submarine-launched ballistic missiles launched from Chinese coastal waters would face a three-layer engagement, constructed by SM-3 IIAs deployed near China's coastal waters, ground-based interceptors deployed in California and Alaska, and SM-3 IIAs deployed near U.S. coastal waters respectively. These deployments could undermine the credibility of China's nuclear deterrence. It would be well for China and the United States to work together to improve strategic stability between these two states.

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The Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) is a multilateral free trade agreement (FTA), which aims to liberalize the economies of the Asia-Pacific region. The rapid movement of the TPP agenda has caused China some disquiet. China is actively promoting the regional economic integration of East Asia, which depends heavily on external neighboring economies, and the TPP agenda is considered by many Chinese policy makers and scholars as a centrifugal force arising to rip asunder the regional economic integration of East Asia. Moreover, there is also a strong voice in Chinese academic and policy circles which maintains that the main reason behind the Obama Administration’s support for the TPP agenda is the US’s desire to use the TPP as a tool to economically contain China’s rise.

Given the high financial, economic and security stakes of the TPP negotiations, this briefing aims to: clarify whether the TPP is in fact an agenda pushed by the US to economically contain China’s rise, evaluate how the TPP agreement will affect China in the future, articulate the possible strategies the Chinese government will employ with regards to the rapid movement of the TPP agenda, and discuss whether China’s corresponding strategies will be effective and how these strategies will impact the world trade system in the long run

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* Central Party School’s Critiques Suggest New Leadership Dynamics
* China Deploys Pugilistic Foreign Policy with New Vigor
* Su Tseng-Chang and the Future of the DPP
* From Strength to Strength: Military Exercises Bolster Sino-Thai Relations
* China’s Air Force Female Aviators: Sixty Years of Excellence (1952-2012)

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Americans are justifiably concerned about China’s military space programs, particularly China’s efforts to develop anti-satellite (ASAT) weapons. Unfortunately, U.S. assessments of these programs lack credibility because they are based on limited information from a small set of poorly evaluated Chinese sources. U.S. government reports on Chinese ASAT programs are not well documented and
in some cases contain information that is demonstrably wrong. Non-governmental assessments, which tend to rely on the information contained in government reports, suffer from the same shortcomings...

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The only weapons the United States has to punish China's intransigence over Iran sanctions are financial. However, as China's burgeoning trade with Iran has migrated to a barter, yuan or gold basis, there's no vulnerable Chinese bank to punish. US sanctions not only give Beijing preferential access to Tehran's economy, they also threaten America's central position in the world financial system...

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