China's Military and Geopolitics

BEIJING, Nov. 13 (Xinhua) -- China will work with Kazakhstan to enhance exchanges and cooperation between the two militaries, a senior Chinese army officer said here Friday.

　　Chen Bingde, chief of the General Staff of the People's Liberation Army, made the remarks when meeting with Kirgizbaev Bulat, vice chairman of the National Security Committee of Kazakhstan.

　　Hailing the China-Kazakhstan relations since forging diplomatic ties 17 years ago, Chen said the two nations maintained frequent high level visits, made fruitful cooperation in various sectors, and supported each other on major issues.

　　"We attach great importance to the friendly relations with Kazakh armed forces," Chen said, hoping that the two militaries would make concerted efforts to promote bilateral ties.

　　Kirgizbaev spoke highly of China's achievements in social and economic progress, saying that Kazakhstan regarded China as a good friend, neighbor and partner.

　　Kirgizbaev, who is also the commander of the country's border defence forces, said Kazakhstan was ready to work with the Chinese armed forces to increase cooperation in border defence and other sectors.

http://eng.mod.gov.cn/DefenseNews/2009-11/14/content_4104044.htm

milky_candy_sugar wrote:BEIJING, Nov. 13 (Xinhua) -- China will work with Kazakhstan to enhance exchanges and cooperation between the two militaries, a senior Chinese army officer said here Friday.

　　Chen Bingde, chief of the General Staff of the People's Liberation Army, made the remarks when meeting with Kirgizbaev Bulat, vice chairman of the National Security Committee of Kazakhstan.

　　Hailing the China-Kazakhstan relations since forging diplomatic ties 17 years ago, Chen said the two nations maintained frequent high level visits, made fruitful cooperation in various sectors, and supported each other on major issues.

　　"We attach great importance to the friendly relations with Kazakh armed forces," Chen said, hoping that the two militaries would make concerted efforts to promote bilateral ties.

　　Kirgizbaev spoke highly of China's achievements in social and economic progress, saying that Kazakhstan regarded China as a good friend, neighbor and partner.

　　Kirgizbaev, who is also the commander of the country's border defence forces, said Kazakhstan was ready to work with the Chinese armed forces to increase cooperation in border defence and other sectors.

http://eng.mod.gov.cn/DefenseNews/2009-11/14/content_4104044.htm

They are even trying to come in to our sphere of influence. This is bad..

like an octopus, a growing octopus. As i said, sooner or later Russia will have to confront China

Recently, on a diffeent forum, I commented about the increasing presense of China in the Middle East, especially with Pakistan opening a port to China.
I wrote the following:
Pakistan is opening an Arabian Sea Port to China! This signals a whole new "balance of power" in the region and looks good for Iran. China is flexing it's muscle and saying to the world that it has strategic interests too. By moving into the "Middle East", China is challenging the traditional power base of Isreal/US and taking up part of the vaccumn left by British decline in the region. Closer cooperation betwen China and Iran is one of the obvious benefits of this as too is China's interrest in oil.
And:
The issue here is; China may not have the most up-to-date or sophisicated weaponry, but they have very good, workable equipment. The analogy can be made to the Soviet Union / Germany during the Great Patriotic War. The USSR won by over-powering her opponent with possibly inferior equipment in technical or machining terms, but more robust, easier to produce and effecive, very effective.
So too with China - her vast quantity will simply swamp opposing forces. Look at what happened in Korea, once China took an active role! We have a stalement that exists to this day!
Taiwan - be careful, be very careful! Amerikanski support may not be all that it is cracked up to be. At some point, Amerikanski will have to grapple wiht the conundrum of - can we win against China?
Watch for China obtaining Aircraft carries and then you will see the expansion of Chinese interest around the world - head-to-head positioning with Amerikanski in the Middle East and Pacific.

Here is an interesting article I came across.
iReport — A new report circulating in the Kremlin today prepared for Prime Minister Putin by Director Anatoly Perminov of the Russian Federal Space Agency states that an Arkon-1 military satellite monitoring the western coastal regions of North America detected an “EMP anomalous event” occurring on November 8^th at 0600 Pacific Standard Time (-8 hours GMT) that bore the “direct signature” of a YJ-62 subsonic anti-ship missile fired from a Chinese People’s Liberation Navy Type 041 submarine (NATO code name Yuan-Class) [photo 2^nd left] known to be patrolling approximately 200 kilometers off United States coast.
Nearly 11 hours after this EMP “event”, this report further says, Arkon-1 then detected a BGM-109 (Tomahawk) subsonic cruise missile launched from a US Navy Ohio-Class submarine operating off the coast of California [photo bottom left] on a “training mission” from its home port located at US Navy’s Kitsap Base in Washington State and was enroute to the largest American Naval Base on the US west coast in San Diego, California.
Note: A Russian military intelligence (GRU) addendum to this report states that the “training mission” the Ohio-Class submarine was on is related to a new US law passed this year allowing for the first time in history for women to serve on US Navy subs and was an “operational exercise” testing female Naval Officers competence prior to their first “operational deployment”.
The “immediate effect” of the Chinese Navy’s firing of their EMP missile, this report continues, was the “catastrophic crippling” of the US based cruise ship Carnival Splendor [photo 3^rd left] that stranded its nearly 4,500 passengers and crew in a “dead in the water” boat and prompting the Americans to send the US Navy’s Ronald Reagan aircraft carrier, warplanes, and supply aircraft to protect it from further attack after all of its electronic systems were destroyed.
An electromagnetic pulse (EMP) such as was used upon the Carnival Splendor is a burst of electromagnetic radiation that causes rapidly changing electric fields (or magnetic fields) that when coupling with electrical/electronic systems produces damaging current and voltage surges destroying all non-hardened electrical systems.
The US Naval Surface Warfare Center (NSWC) had previously warned that American ships were vulnerable to such attacks with EMP Assessment Group Leader of Blaise Corbett stating that “the consequences of failing to take appropriate precautions to protect fleet mission critical systems can ultimately prove catastrophic to the Navy’s mission.”
The purpose of this Chinese EMP upon an American ship, this report says, was twofold: 1.) A test of the EMP weapon itself that in a war against the Americans and would be used against their Naval Fleet and Marine Forces operating out of California and the west coast of the US, and 2.) A test of the response time for American retaliatory measures against any Chinese warship attacking the US and/or its interests in the Pacific.
The GRU further states that the timing of this attack was timed even more crucially due to China’s testing of America’s response time during a period when their President, as Commander In Chief of all US Military Forces, was out of the country, as Obama was as he was in India at the time.
The Americans response time of nearly 11 hours between the EMP attack on the Carnival Splendor and the US retaliatory strike, the GRU states, “virtually assured” that the Chinese submarine responsible for the attack escaped, but which they further point out may have been intended by the Americans so as not to escalate this crisis.
To the geo-political reason(s) for a Communist Chinese attack upon the Americans just days before the crucially important G-20 Summit in South Korea, which both President’s Hu and Obama will be attending, this report says was due to the United States, in essence, declaring total economic war upon the rest of the world by its printing of nearly $1 Trillion US Dollars in order to monetize its staggering debt and that China warned:
“If the United States can increase the volume of dollars and it can transmit inflation to other countries to lessen the pressure of debt, then it will bring about a catastrophic influence on the world.”
Typical of the United States propaganda media organs in telling their citizens about the true events relating to this crisis, it as if they have put themselves in total Cold War mode reminiscent of the 1940’s to the late 1980’s when they, likewise, failed to inform them of the many incidents or US Soldier deaths related to that conflict.
Most dangerous about the American people not being informed of the true and tragic state of our world today is their not being able to prepare for the much larger conflicts to come, especially in light of China’s Communists vowing that they won’t go down without a fight. A fight, mind you, that now appears not only a sure thing, but imminent.


CREDIT- http://www.whatdoesitmean.com/index1421.htm

The U.S. says that the Carnival Splendor went powerless due to Engine failure to unknown reasons and that the CVN-Ronald Regan was sent in because 4,500 people needed food and water and the such.

The key to unlocking or debunking that article is that report given to Mr. Putin and what Arkon-1 actually detected, and because I never trusted sites like whatdoesitmean, I'd like to see better sources.

Yeah, I'd like to see better sources than the "Offical 9/11 Investigation" or the "Warren Commission" or "The Bay of Toikin Report", Saddam's Weapons of Mass Destruction" et al. Nothing that comes from the Zionist American Main Stream Media is credible - look at the alert over a terrorost bomb threat out of Yeman - just prior to the US Senate elections! A load of bullshit.

^^Thnx

China had always been an ally to us & a very humble ally to us; perhaps more like a friend. This dictates that we Pakistanis don't necessarily make nonMuslims our enemies (as is projected by West). Rather China even though idol worshippers if don't go against humanity & commit world-wide conspiracies they be our lasting friends.
we definitely are trying hard to make Russia pour some money in our country & recently had been visited by Russian delegations regarding investing in Pakistan

The quantity argument about China doesn't apply anymore. The days of the People's War are over. They have been reducing numbers at a very high rate. Current forces stand at 2.3m but will be reduced by 700,000 over the coming years. PLAAF and PLAN are no longer growing as ship and plane production has fallen to a trickle. The number of land forces equipment is also coming at a snails pace compared with the 80s. It is amasing that they spend $120 billion a year and have so little to show for it.

Does that number include Research costs? They could just be research spamming so they can get as close as possible (if not farther) than current technologies and then procure them.

Vladimir79 wrote:The quantity argument about China doesn't apply anymore. The days of the People's War are over. They have been reducing numbers at a very high rate. Current forces stand at 2.3m but will be reduced by 700,000 over the coming years. PLAAF and PLAN are no longer growing as ship and plane production has fallen to a trickle. The number of land forces equipment is also coming at a snails pace compared with the 80s. It is amasing that they spend $120 billion a year and have so little to show for it.

Vlad, it is the depth of reserves that is important - just like the Soviet Union in 1941. The Defernce Forces may have been reduced, but the potential is there to be huge. Any nation considering action against China would ahve to weigh that up. Can China be defeated before full mobilisation?

There isn't going to be a war with China that requires full mobalisation. The two hotspots are the LOC and Taiwan. Both would be limited wars. The most recent war they lost with Vietnam proved to be small in scale to the People's War concept.

China just voted to sanction Iran, so I doubt her support for it will get it involved in anything. China is not about to send troops to the ME to fight a war. They had a hard enough time finding ports to run escort missions off Somalia. Any muscle flexing China does will be near their borders. They are in no position to project power globally.

China has emerged as an economic force to be taken seriously, but its military has no projection power. The Fed printing more money (despite China's objections) is only going to fuel China's rampant inflation. If CCP can't get this inflation monkey under control, we aren't going to be talking about taking China's place on the world stage, we will be talking past tense about her fall.

Country with Worlds 2nd defense budget and has no topic on this forum.  

Well I think we all heard about it but I think that after this nothing will be the same.

China establishes 'air-defence zone' over East China Sea

China is a harder country to understand than the others. Simply put, in Western Media, they don't tell you much other than flat out lies or half truths, like "China is invading Russia" or "China will invade (Insert South East Asian country here) and in other news, they don't say much if nothing at all other than "Cheap labour". But what can be seen, especially from Afar, that Chinese politics is aimed strictly at economics as they know militarily they cannot win hearts and minds, or authority. Due to their policies, China has been a significantly better partner than any other country for Russia. They helped American fat cats get even more rich, and all the same time, take the whole entire blame.

That is my viewpoint. But so far, China hasn't been the evil country that is portrayed so far. With exceptions of Tibet of course. But that is in question as well, seeing as how the Freedom loving Americans invaded far more areas than China and can still be regarded as a hero of freedom.

Hate china, they used to be our friends. I know how half the world has fled land to go to the US because the Chinese and Rus Militaries would enlist children. Not questioning the point of Marxism and Enlisting but we should not promote censoring and diplomatic efforts to not promote banning and confiscating children for having one too many. Its not ethical.

I disaggree with the "Tibet" point.

Chinese were provoced by CIA trained tibetian younger generations which were special trained inside the US to attack with weapons chinese and the entire plan behind this was exact this case that China would occupy Tibet and the evil Chinese is born. It was a plan of USA in their war against Russia and China to bring their reputation down and portray them as the Evil.

There is also a documentary with EX-CIA agents talking about this mission "Shadow Tibet Circus".

China is not so difficult to understand, the Chinese approach is economical and their major concern is to secure their supply routes of oil from the Middle East. There is the Taiwan issue, although both of them wants to keep the status quo. A greater problem for China would be the impending conflict, not necessary an armed conflict with Vietnam and Philippines. China is increasing their naval forces to protect their supply lines.

The air defense zone seems to be a mistake from the Chinese government and they will probably let it be for now. The island issue between Japan, China, and Taiwan pops up from time to time.

The interesting question would be China's relation with North Korea whether NK decides to do something against South Korea. That would put China in an awkward position

Is China Building a Base Near the Senkakus?

New satellite imagery confirms that it is, with more clarification on specifics.

Satellite imagery analysis by IHS Jane’s released on January 22 confirms Japanese media reports last month that China is building a military base on islands near the disputed Senkaku/Diaoyu islands.

The analysis, which compared images captured from October 2013 to October 2014, shows a heliport with 10 landing pads being built in the center of the main Nanji Island, part of a group of islands that are part of Zhejiang province and are located about 300 kilometers (190 miles) away from the disputed Senkaku/Diaoyu Islands.

However, in contrast to earlier media reports, the analysis shows no signs of an airstrip under construction, only existing radar and communication sites. Jane’s also notes that without an airfield currently in place, the closest one would be at a base in Luqiao 380 km away from the Senkaku/Diaoyu Islands, which is home to the PLA Navy Air Force’s East Sea Fleet 4th Division, 12th Regiment, which operates Chengdu J-10A fighter aircraft.

On December 22, a widely-cited report from Kyodo News had suggested that Beijing was building a large military base on the Nanji islands to improve China’s readiness to respond to a potential military crisis and strengthen its surveillance over the air defense identification zone it declared in the East China Sea in November 2013.

But that report cited unconfirmed Chinese sources. Japanese officials declined to comment on the specifics of the initial report, while Chinese statements and media reports reacted with the expected nationalistic bluster, charging that Tokyo was being unnecessarily alarmist. While this quiet militarization is consistent with Chinese behavior in other instances in both the East and South China Sea, Jane’s satellite imagery now offers clear, public, visual confirmation that such construction is indeed ongoing.

Japan, meanwhile, is not standing still either. In April, Tokyo announced measures to strengthen its defense and surveillance capabilities with a troop presence and military radar station in Yonaguni, 150 km (93 miles) from the Senkaku/Diaoyu Islands. It is also developing amphibious forces that will be based in Nagasaki, among other moves under consideration as signaled in its record defense budget disclosed earlier this month.

As both China and Japan engage in such activities, Jane’s concludes that Beijing’s base is a move that risks further escalating the “quiet military buildup” around the Senkaku/Diaoyu Islands by the two countries. Despite the famous handshake between Chinese president Xi Jinping and Japanese prime minister Shinzo Abe on the sidelines of the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation meeting last November, as well as continued talks on developing mechanisms to manage maritime tensions, the silent saber-rattling by both sides has continued to simmer beneath the surface.

http://thediplomat.com/2015/01/is-china-building-a-base-near-the-senkakus/

A Game Changer for China and India in Sri Lanka?

India may be celebrating the election result in Sri Lanka, but China is in the region for the long haul.

On January 18, a Reuters reported claimed that Sri Lanka’s now former president, Mahinda Rajapaksa, had expelled the station chief of India’s intelligence agency in Colombo after accusing him of working against his government and supporting the opposition.

India denied the claim, but the report serves as an example of Rajapaksa’s thorny attitude towards New Delhi, irrespective of the face presented by public diplomacy.

The docking last September of a Chinese naval submarine in Colombo turned heads in New Delhi, just as the new government led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi was still getting up to speed. The event underlined the magnitude of Chinese influence in Sri Lanka under Rajapaksa, despite assurances from Beijing that the docking was a routine stopover to re-stock on supplies before heading to the Gulf of Aden to participate in anti-piracy operations.

A month later in October, the Indian government quietly launched an inter-ministerial review exercise to revisit India’s policies for the Indian Ocean. This followed on the heels of China’s proclaimed Maritime Silk Road, its growing influence around the Bay of Bengal, and the development of the Pakistani port of Gwadar, which is to be operated exclusively by Beijing. Glimpses of this exercise were seen the same month when Modi visited Myanmar, Australia and Fiji. China is the biggest foreign investor in Australia, and has liberally provided economic aid, loans and investments to Myanmar and Fiji. A few weeks later, China docked two of its submarines again in Sri Lanka.

Calls for a reworking of India’s Indian Ocean strategy had been brewing within the strategic community for some time. The new government took some initial steps within months of taking power in New Delhi, with the Shipping Corporation of India launching special container trade lanes with countries such as Myanmar. External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj’s visit to Maldives was also aimed at strengthening the Indian Ocean Rim Association (IORA), an organization set up in 1995. A subsequent visit to the UAE, also an IORA member, was made with the same intention.

More than 70 percent of India’s liquefied energy supplies travel through the Indian Ocean, making it vital to the country’s security. Close Indian allies such as Japan, which is now setting up a permanent anti-piracy outpost in Djibouti, also source vast quantities of natural gas and crude oil from the Middle East, which travels through the Indian Ocean towards Japanese shores. The international community is also trying to rapidly extend security from the Indian Ocean to the Arabian Sea and Bay of Bengal.

The news of Rajapaksa losing the elections was greeted with much enthusiasm in the Indian media even as the government responded with the routine declaration that it would work with whichever government the people of Sri Lanka decided to choose. It is no secret, though, that India is looking more than confortable with Sirisena at the helm in Colombo.

China had been building its base of influence in Sri Lanka since 2009, when the Rajapaksa government ended its bloody crackdown against the LTTE in the country’s largely Tamil populated north. While the Sri Lankan government was the target of global protests over alleged human rights violations against the Tamils, Beijing stood by Colombo and began providing it with huge loans at liberal terms, albeit with high interest rates.

According to statements made during pre-poll campaigning, Sri Lanka picked up major loans for projects from countries such as Japan, Kuwait and China. Japan and Kuwait, on average, offered loans at rates of 0.2-0.3 percent. In contrast, the interest rate on the Chinese loans exceeded 3 percent.

Rajapaksa’s government chose Beijing over conventional lenders such as the World Bank or the International Monetary Fund. Using Chinese funds, totaling nearly $5 billion since 2009 (compared to India’s $350 million over roughly the same time frame), Sri Lanka was able to boost its growing services sector by investing in infrastructure projects such as highways, public amenities, and ports. China enthusiastically partnered with Sri Lanka in a $1.5 billion port project in the southern coastal town of Hambantota, one that India had vehemently opposed. Chinese loans are also being used to build a new international airport in Mattala.

Sirisena, in his pre-poll campaigning, had said that he would put a stop to the unchecked inroads that China had made in the country. Since taking over, his government has already stated that it plans to reassess the port project, a decision that will resonate positively in the Indian capital.

The new government has apparently already made the first moves to rebalance towards Delhi, with the new Sri Lankan foreign minister, Mangala Samaraweera, making India his first port of call. Meanwhile, Sri Lankan Prime Minister Ramil Wickramasinghe in a recent interview said that “Rajapaksa played China and India against each other in Sri Lanka,” and that the new government will look to fix this.

However, India’s ambition of checking Chinese influence in Sri Lanka by influencing Colombo to abandon, or at least minimize projects, may not be an easy task. For Sri Lanka to ignore China could be next to impossible. Sri Lanka today owes China billions, and in some cases, according to sources, significant sections of these loans did come with certain sovereign guarantees that were agreed between the two countries. These guarantees today give Beijing significant political advantages in Colombo irrespective of who is in power.

This situation makes it difficult for the new Sri Lankan government to renegotiate with China the projects and loans already signed off by the Rajapaksa administration. Beijing has leverage, which it will doubtless use to prevent Sirisena from diluting the influence China had built under the previous regime.

At any rate, China is too large an economic entity for any country to actively sideline. The art of managing Beijing’s economic assertiveness is not easy to master, and requires political will and skillful diplomatic maneuvering. A recent example of the challenges has been witnessed in Myanmar, where the government reportedly decided to clamp down on the pace of Chinese economic and cultural infusion after it was found that Chinese language had started to overshadow Burmese in Yangon.

Rajapaksa’s policy of enjoying the best of both worlds was clear, as Japan remained Sri Lanka’s largest lender, even as China managed to build a strong political constituency in India’s neighborhood. The new Sri Lankan government will find that it has its work cut out just containing Chinese influence in the country, let alone fulfilling the Indian dream of eliminating it altogether. The growth of Chinese influence in Sri Lanka may slow, but Beijing is in the region for the long haul. It is up to India to turn this political change in Colombo to its advantage.

http://thediplomat.com/2015/01/a-game-changer-for-china-and-india-in-sri-lanka/

US Accuses China of 'Creating a Great Wall of Sand'

Speaking before an audience in Australia, the commander of the US Pacific Fleet rang alarm bells over perceived Chinese aggression. But shortly after condemning the construction of a "great wall of sand" in the South China Sea, he stressed the importance of an American fleet presence – a great, floating fence, you might say.

At a naval conference in Canberra, Admiral Harry Harris Jr. of the US Pacific Fleet spent a few moments speaking on the beauty of the South China Sea, a body of water teeming with natural islands and coral reefs.

"But what’s really drawing a lot of concern in the here and now is the unprecedented land reclamation currently being conducted by China," Harris said. "China is creating a great wall of sand with dredges and bulldozers over the course of months."

This wall, as the admiral calls it, refers to a series of submerged reefs in the Spratlys archipelago, which China has built into utilitarian landmasses, complete with buildings and aircraft runways.

"China is building artificial land by pumping sand on to live coral reefs – some of them submerged – and paving over them with concrete," he said. In total, Harris said that China had converted over 4 square kilometers of sea into land.

A destroyer of the South China Sea Fleet of the Chinese Navy fires a missile during a training exercise.

The purpose of these islands is what worries both the US military and other regional players. The South China Sea is a highly contested area, with territorial disputes between a number of nations. While China claims a vast majority of the sea, the Philippines, Vietnam, Taiwan, Brunei, and Malaysia all have overlapping stakes. Earlier this month, both the Philippines and Vietnam filed diplomatic protests to Beijing over Chinese naval presence near their shores.

The main fear is that these islands are being built as military installations with the intention of broadening Beijing's influence in the region.

"When one looks at China’s pattern of provocative actions towards smaller claimant states…it’s no surprise that the scope and pace of building man-made islands raises serious questions about Chinese intentions," Harris said.

"How China proceeds will be a key indicator of whether the region is heading towards confrontation or cooperation," he added.

But to address these concerns, the United States is bolstering its own military presence. Last month, the US Navy admitted that it is launching its most advanced spy plane – the Poseidon P-8A – out of bases in the Philippines. Earlier this month, a bipartisan group of Senators wrote to Defense Secretary Ash Carter, demanding a formal strategy for countering Chinese influence in the South China Sea.

Some kind of strategy appears to be taking shape. Admiral Harris also said that the US Navy was currently in preparation to shift 60% of its fleet to the Pacific by 2020, and the Pentagon is also seeking broader cooperation with India to conduct maritime exercises.

The conference, itself, was meant to signal a stronger partnership between the US and Australia. Earlier in the day, Rear Admiral Christopher J. Paul, deputy commander of the US Pacific surface fleet, urged the Australian Navy to join US-led "hunter-killer" patrol groups.

Paul also said that the US was moving in its latest Zumwalt stealth destroyers, and that combined with Australian missile destroyers, amphibious ships, and frigates, the allied nations could pursue the "distributed lethality" doctrine recently decided on by the US Navy.

"A shift to the offensive is necessary to create more favorable conditions to project power where required," Paul said.

Building artificial islands may be one form of abstract aggression, but the expansion of US naval presence over 10,000 miles from home could be perceived as another, more direct type of aggression.

Read more: http://sputniknews.com/asia/20150331/1020264686.html#ixzz3VyisSGLu

Djiboutian Army Displays New Chinese Tank Destroyer



Amid rumors of the installment of a Chinese military base in the Horn of Africa country, the Djiboutian Armed Forces (FAD) unveiled a new Chinese tank destroyer during its Independence Day parade on June 27.

China North Industries Corporation, or Norinco, specializes in the production of high-tech defense products, including precision strike systems and amphibious assault weapons and equipment. The company is ranked as one of the top 500 state-owned enterprises in China, and one of its assault tanks was displayed on Saturday during Djibouti’s Independence Day Parade.

With similar fire-power to a tank, but slightly more affordable and easier to maintain, Norinco’s WMA301 Assault Tank destroyer consists of a 6x6 armored personnel carrier fitted with a 105 mm gun atop a three-person turret, IHS Jane reports. The assault tank will be a new addition to the FAD which does not currently have any tanks, but only armored vehicles that have fire-support capabilities.

The WMA301 Assault Tank’s unveiling comes nearly two months after Djiboutian President Ismail Guelleh said his country was in talks with China over the installment of a military base in the small, but strategically important, African country.

Due to its strategic position between Somalia and Yemen, the US already has its regional military based in Djibouti, from where it carries out covert and anti-terror operations across Africa. France and Japan also have military bases located there.

"France’s presence is old, and the Americans found that the position of Djibouti could helped in the fight against terrorism in the region," Guelleh told AFP during an interview in May. "The Japanese want to protect themselves from privacy – and now the Chinese also want to protect their interests, and they are welcome."

China’s Defense Ministry last week declined to confirm the reports, saying only that both countries have a friendly relationship and that both are interested in regional peace and security.

Beijing’s strengthening relations with Djibouti over recent years, along with the FAD’s recent unveiling of the assault tank, are however likely to reignite concerns in Washington over China’s expanding "sphere of influence" in the region.

In May, US Rep. Randy Forbes, the chairman of the seapower subcommittee of the House Armed Services Committee, warned that "China’s determination for permanent basis far outside their traditional area of influence should remind Washington that Beijing sees itself as a global power."

Read more: http://sputniknews.com/africa/20150630/1024008139.html#ixzz3eUZP0Kv0

I'll never understand why the media calls these vehicles "tank destroyers". Based on its' armament and everything else, it is a Fire Support Vehicle.

Technically it is a tank destroyer in that it has a tank gun... 105mm rather than an artillery gun/howitzer.

Of course the division is blurred because the 105mm gun was also carried by the Abbot self propelled gun, which is a support vehicle.

In the Soviet forces a 100mm rifled from T-54/55, or 115mm smoothbore or 125mm smoothbore was optimised for anti tank use, while 100mm rifled medium pressure BMP-3 gun and 120mm gun/mortar and 122mm guns are all artillery or direct fire support guns.


In the context of its use you could say it was more a fire support vehicle... ie big gun on a mobile platform, as it would be in a more modern army because the 105 is largely obsolete as an anti tank gun, but then what sort of equipment does the potential enemy have?

If it is M60s or T-55s and T-62 class vehicles then it certainly could be considered a tank destroyer... which by definition just means anti tank gun in a lightly armoured vehicle...

Victory Parade in Beijing Signals China's Rise as 'Great Military Power'

The September 3rd military parade to celebrate Japan’s surrender in World War II will feature 12,000 troops and showcase Beijing’s military hardware, some of which will be unveiled for the first time.

WASHINGTON (Sputnik) – A large-scale Chinese military parade this week to mark the 70th anniversary of victory in World War II signals a crucial return of the country as a global military power, retired US Ambassador Chas W. Freeman, co-chair of the US China Policy Foundation, told Sputnik on Monday.

“Although billed as a celebration of victory in World War II, the Beijing parade really marks China's coming-out party as a great military power, a status it has not occupied for nearly two centuries,” Freeman said.

“Much of the weaponry on display — all of it said to be in service in the People's Liberation Army — will be new, the product of a military modernization drive aimed at ensuring that China can never again be attacked with impunity or overrun by foreign invaders,” he said.

China’s “century of powerlessness” from 1840 to 1948, culminating in the 20 million killed at the hands of Imperial Japanese Army invaders from 1937 to 1945, motivated the current national consensus to keep the country strong, united and secure, Freeman said.

However, China’s leaders are not threatening neighbors or developing aggressive policies, Freeman emphasized.

“The Chinese …make the point that only those with plans to attack them need fear the PLA [People’s Liberation Army],” he said. “Still, the more foreign forces attempt to retain their …ability to overwhelm Chinese defenses, the more China is driven to acquire the ability to take the military offensive.”

The ironies of China staging this celebration of military victory in World War II abound, Freeman, who was former US President Richard Nixon’s translator on his visit to Beijing to meet Mao Zedong in 1972, noted.

“Japan's inability to come to grips with its despicable behavior in China, Korea, and elsewhere in Asia in the first half of the 20th century has prevented the reconciliation and reduction of tensions that occurred in post-war Europe,” Freeman argued.

The difficulty this continues to cause for Japan's relations with its neighbors has revived a strategic context of renewed Sino-Japanese rivalry, the expert stated.

“The United States, once allied with a weakened China against a rising Japan, now finds itself allied with a weakened Japan that is increasingly at odds with a rising China,” he said. “The awkwardness of this alignment has precluded US participation in the celebrations in Beijing.”

What might have been a celebration of past Sino-American cooperation has instead become a harbinger of Sino-Russian collaboration in countering US policies aimed at sustaining American global dominance, he pointed out.

Read more: http://sputniknews.com/politics/20150831/1026406985.html#ixzz3kQZJuymC