Why China built second aircraft carrier base in Hainan

[unhappycamper]

http://atimes.com/2015/08/why-china-built-second-aircraft-carrier-base-in-hainan/



Chinese carrier

Why China built second aircraft carrier base in Hainan
By AT Editor on August 5, 2015

An Aug. 4 story in People’s Daily Online carried several insights on why a second Chinese navy aircraft carrier base was completed on Hainan island in November 2014.

The online version of the Chinese Communist Party’s official newspaper cited Kanwan Defense Review, a Canada-based Chinese researcher. It quoted the researcher as saying recently in a report that “Hainan’s strategic location, its complete defense facilities and the effectiveness of deploying guided missile nuclear submarines” were the three major reasons for building the base.

Kanwan’s report said the new base “incorporates a pier which can dock large ships on both sides, suggesting that both carriers can dock at the PLA Navy’s carrier bases at the same time. ” The new base is reportedly 700 meters long, making it the longest carrier berth in the world.

Ma Yao, a researcher with Shanghai International Studies University, was credited with conducting the study. He said in his analysis that the Hainan navy base is comparatively close to the three strategically important straits — Malacca Strait, Lombok Strait and Sunda Strait, making it easier for its naval fleet’s composition. Ma also says the base is situated in such way that it can protect this “comparatively weak oil passage to ensure its economic development.”

[bemildred]

1. Goodbye honest broker, hello anti-submarine warrior in the South China Sea

Assistant Secretary of State Danny Russel spoke at the CSIS South China Sea Conference on July 21, 2015. He made news by declaring that the United States is not neutral in some issues pertaining to the South China Sea.

The money quote came in reply to a question from Wu Shicun, the PRC representative at the conference:

On the first issue of neutrality, I appreciate the opportunity to clear up what seems to be an almost ineradicable perception of the Chinese. We are not neutral when it comes to adherence to international law. We will come down forcefully on the side of the rules.

Cue the triumphant hooting from the China hawks, who were well represented at the conference and urging the United States to “draw a line in the sea”. And squealing from the PRC that the United States had abandoned its “honest broker” stance, which dated back to the Potsdam Declaration and presented US military force in Asia as the only viable peacekeeping alternative to Japanese re-militarization.

http://atimes.com/2015/08/goodbye-honest-broker-hello-anti-submarine-warrior-in-the-south-china-sea/

"Draw a line in the sea."

[Ghost Dog]

2. We will come down forcefully on the side of the rules...

Except when it's the USA that breaks them.

:spew: