Territorial dispute | CHINDIA ALERT: You'll be living in their world, very soon

22/05/2014

India scales up military forces on disputed China border – CSMonitor.com

Very interesting: Pakistan is invited to Modi’s inauguration, but China is not; and more troops along Chinese border but not along border with Pakistan!

“India is raising a new mountain strike corps of nearly 90,000 soldiers to strengthen its defense along its disputed border with China in the high reaches of the Himalayas.

Chinese troops hold a banner which reads: "You've crossed the border, please go back" in Ladakh, India. India is raising a new mountain strike corps consisting of some 90,000 soldiers to strengthen its defence along its disputed but largely uninhabited border with China in the high reaches of the Himalayas. Photo taken Sunday, May 5, 2013.

China will be a top foreign policy challenge for Narendra Modi, the incoming prime minister who won a landslide victory last week. Business ties between India and China are booming. But despite rounds of talks, the two countries have yet to resolve their decades-old dispute over the 2,000-mile border between the two countries. It remains one of the most militarized borders in the world.

The strike corps will have its own mountain artillery, combat engineers, anti-aircraft guns, and radio equipment. Over 35,000 soldiers have already been raised in new infantry units in India’s northeastern state of Assam. The entire corps will be fully raised over the next five years with 90,274 troops at a cost of $10.6 billion. The proposal to raise a new strike corps was recommended last year by India’s China Study Group, a government body that considers all strategic issues related to China.

The strike corps signals a new assertiveness in New Delhi and will provide an additional defense capability to India, which for a long time focused on the land borders with Pakistan. While the decision predated Mr. Modi, he is likely to further strengthen India’s military modernization which is one of his party’s top agenda items.

“China has made frequent border transgressions into Indian border,” says retired Lieutenant General Prakash Katoch, who formerly commanded the Indian Army‘s Special Forces wing. “The new prime minister has to ensure that our borders are well protected. It cannot be business as usual.”

He predicts that as both countries are growing and keen to increase their influence, China and India will increasingly step on each other’s areas of interest and importance.”

via India scales up military forces on disputed China border – CSMonitor.com.

Posted in China alert, Chindia Alert, Defence, GeoPolitics, India alert, Military, Politics, Territorial dispute | Leave a Comment »

Tags: Assam, China, Himalayas, India, Military, Narendra Modi, New Delhi, Pakistan

07/05/2014

Philippines police capture Chinese fishing boat in South China Sea | South China Morning Post

Philippines police seized a Chinese boat near ‘Half Moon Shoal‘ in the South China Sea on Wednesday after it was found to have hauled in 500 turtles. Philippine police confirmed the capture and said the vessel was being towed to southwestern Palawan province.

China’s official Xinhua news agency earlier reported contact had been lost with 11 fishermen in the South China Sea after they were intercepted by “armed men”.

The fishermen were on board the boat Qiongqionghai 09063, which was “intercepted by an unidentified armed vessel at about 10am in waters off” the Spratly Islands, Xinhua said, citing a fishing association in Qionghai on China’s southern island province of Hainan.

Reporters were not immediately able to reach officials in Hainan for comment. It was also not clear from the report if the fishermen were Chinese nationals.

China claims almost the entire oil- and gas-rich South China Sea, rejecting rival claims to parts or all of it from Vietnam, the Philippines, Taiwan, Malaysia and Brunei.

There are frequent tensions in the South China Sea between China and the other claimant nations, particularly Vietnam and the Philippines, both of which say Beijing has harassed their ships in the waters there.

On Tuesday, China warned Vietnam not to disturb activities of Chinese companies operating near disputed islands in the South China Sea, after Hanoi condemned as illegal the movement of a giant Chinese oil rig into what it says is its territorial water.

via Philippines police capture Chinese fishing boat in South China Sea | South China Morning Post.

Posted in China alert, GeoPolitics, Politics, Territorial dispute | Leave a Comment »

Tags: Beijing, China, Hainan, Half Moon Shoal, Philippines, Philippines police, South China Sea, Spratly Islands, Vietnam

07/05/2014

Vietnam dispatches 29 ships to intercept Chinese oil rig in South China Sea; standoff with Chinese ships

Case of Lilliput versus Gulliver?

Posted in China alert, GeoPolitics, Politics, Territorial dispute | Leave a Comment »

Tags: Beijing, China, South China Sea

07/03/2014

China, ASEAN to have talks on South China Sea – Xinhua | English.news.cn

China is willing to work with the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) to formulate a code of conduct (COC) for the South China Sea, Foreign Ministry spokesman Qin Gang said on Friday.

Flag of ASEAN (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Qin’s comment came ahead of the 10th joint working group meeting between China and ASEAN on the implementation of the declaration on the conduct (DOC) of parties in the South China Sea. The meeting will be held on March 18 in Singapore.

“China is ready to work with ASEAN for comprehensive and effective implementation of DOC and steadily push forward consultations on COC,” Qin said.

Practical maritime cooperation will also be touched upon during the meeting, Qin said.

Qin called for favorable conditions for the implementation of DOC and formulation of COC to maintain peace and stability on the South China Sea.

China and ASEAN officials met last September in Suzhou, in east China’s Jiangsu Province, for the 6th China-ASEAN senior officials’ meeting and the 9th joint working group meeting on the implementation of DOC.

via China, ASEAN to have talks on South China Sea – Xinhua | English.news.cn.

Posted in China alert, Diplomacy, GeoPolitics, Good news, Neighbour conflict, peace keeping, Politics, Territorial dispute, war | Leave a Comment »

Tags: ASEAN, Association of Southeast Asian Nations, China, Code of conduct, DOC, Singapore, South China Sea, Suzhou

03/03/2014

China’s media says deployment of troops for war with Japan is now complete; waiting for opportune time to attack

Let’s hope this is mere “sabre ratling” rather than real. But given China’s past conflicts with neighbours around border/territorial issues (India, Russia, Vietnam – see https://chindia-alert.org/political-factors/chinese-tensions/) this may be genuine preparation.

Posted in China alert, GeoPolitics, History, Military, Neighbour conflict, Politics, Territorial dispute | Leave a Comment »

Tags: China, Crimea, India, Japan, Russia, Ukraine, United States, Vietnam

23/02/2014

India’s Modi Talks Tough on China – India Real Time – WSJ

The frontrunner to become India’s next prime minister traveled to a town near the country’s disputed Himalayan border with China over the weekend and bluntly warned Beijing to abandon its territorial ambitions.

In a sign of rising Indian wariness of its northern neighbor, Hindu nationalist opposition leader Narendra Modi said China “will have to leave behind its mindset of expansion” and said Beijing should work for “development and prosperity.”

For Mr. Modi, the Bharatiya Janata Party’s candidate for the premiership in upcoming national elections, it was a rare foray into foreign policy on the campaign trail, where he has focused primarily on a weak domestic economy.

Speaking in Pasighat, a town in India’s northeast Arunachal Pradesh state, and again in Assam near India’s border with Bangladesh, Mr. Modi sought to portray himself as strong on defense and unafraid of other regional powers.

“No power on earth can snatch away Arunachal Pradesh from India,” Mr. Modi said.

India’s next leader will inherit a volatile neighborhood.

In addition to a more assertive and well-armed China, which is looking to play a greater role in South Asia and the Indian Ocean, New Delhi also must deal with the fallout of a diminishing U.S. troop presence in Afghanistan.

Security experts warn that reduced Western presence there could fuel Islamic militancy along India’s already troubled border with Pakistan. Bangladesh and Sri Lanka have been gripped by internal political tensions.

via India’s Modi Talks Tough on China – India Real Time – WSJ.

Posted in China alert, Chindia Alert, Foreign invasion, GeoPolitics, History, India alert, Neighbour conflict, Politics, Territorial dispute | 2 Comments »

Tags: Arunachal Pradesh, Bangladesh, Bharatiya Janata Party, China, India, Modi, Narendra Modi, Pasighat

22/02/2014

China gives order to commence war with Japan ‘if it is appropriate to fight’

This translated article seems to confirm the views of a senior US military person – https://chindia-alert.org/2014/02/20/china-training-for-short-sharp-war-says-senior-us-naval-officer-ft-com/

China has been to war with India, Russia and Vietnam over border/territorial disputes – https://chindia-alert.org/political-factors/chinese-tensions/ – Perhaps this will be another such conflict.

Posted in China alert, Foreign invasion, Military, Neighbour conflict, Politics, Territorial dispute | Leave a Comment »

Tags: China, East China Sea, India, Japan, People's Liberation Army, Russia, Senkaku Islands, Vietnam

20/02/2014

China training for ‘short, sharp war’, says senior US naval officer – FT.com

China has been training for a “short, sharp war” against Japan in the East China Sea, a senior US military officer has claimed, in comments that underline the growing military tensions in the western Pacific.

Disputed territory

Captain James Fanell, director of intelligence for the US Pacific Fleet, said that a large-scale Chinese military exercise conducted in 2013 was designed to prepare forces for an operation to seize disputed islands in the East China Sea, which Japan calls the Senkaku and China the Diaoyu.

“We witnessed the massive amphibious and cross military region enterprise – Mission Action 2013,” Capt Fanell said at a navy conference last week in San Diego.

“We concluded that the PLA [People’s Liberation Army] has been given the new task of being able to conduct a short, sharp war to destroy Japanese forces in the East China Sea following with what can only be an expected seizure of the Senkakus,” he added.

Conducting a training exercise is very different from having an actual plan to seize the islands. For years, the Chinese military has staged exercises designed to mimic a possible invasion of Taiwan.

However, the comments about China’s military training plans come at a time of considerable tension surrounding the contested islands. The regular presence of both Chinese and Japanese vessels and aircraft in the region has raised the risk of an accident that could spark a wider confrontation.

In December, China declared an air defence identification zone for the East China Sea, which the US and many other countries in the region interpreted as an attempt to cement its sovereignty claim over the disputed islands.

Although Capt Fanell’s remarks were unusually blunt in their assessment of China’s intentions, they represent a growing tide of anxiety from senior US officials about Beijing’s ambitions in both the East China Sea and South China Sea.

Earlier in February, Danny Russel, the US assistant secretary of state for East Asia, warned “there are growing concerns that this pattern of behaviour in the South China Sea reflects incremental effort by China to assert control over the area”. He said that China’s recent actions had “created uncertainty, insecurity and instability in the region”.

Capt Fanell said that Chinese maritime training had shifted in character in the second half of 2013 to prepare for “realistic maritime combat” that its navy might encounter. Last year, it conducted nine operations in the western Pacific that were designed to “practise striking naval targets”.

“I do not know how Chinese intentions could be more transparent,” he said. When Beijing described its activities as the “protection of maritime rights”, this was really “a Chinese euphemism for the coerced seizure of coastal rights of China’s neighbours”, Capt Fanell said.

via China training for ‘short, sharp war’, says senior US naval officer – FT.com.

Posted in China alert, Foreign invasion, GeoPolitics, History, Military, Neighbour conflict, PLA, Politics, Territorial dispute | 1 Comment »

Tags: Beijing, China, East China Sea, Japan, People Liberation Army, Senkaku, South China Sea, United States Pacific Fleet

13/02/2014

For South China Sea claimants, a legal venue to battle China | Reuters

When Philippine President Benigno Aquino compared China to the Germany of 1938 and called for global support as his country battles Beijing’s claims in the South China Sea, he put the focus on a case that Manila has filed in an international court.

The Philippines has taken its dispute with China to arbitration under the United Nations’ Convention on the Law of the Sea and its lawyers say that the tribunal has discretionary powers to allow other states to join the action.

China is refusing to participate and has already warned Vietnam against joining the case being heard at the Permanent Court of Arbitration at The Hague, sources have said. Hanoi has so far kept its options open.

Any final ruling by the court on the dispute, one of the most tense flashpoints in Asia, cannot be enforced but will carry considerable moral and political weight, analysts say.

“If a large number of countries, including members of ASEAN, speak out in support of the application of international law to resolve disputes, Beijing might conclude that flouting the ruling of the tribunal is too costly, even if China’s nine-dash line is found to be illegal,” said Bonnie Glaser at the Centre for Strategic and International Studies in Washington.

ASEAN, or the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, groups four of the claimants to the sea – Malaysia, the Philippines, Brunei and Vietnam – and six other countries in the region.

China, and also Taiwan, claim much of the sea through a nine-dash line on Chinese maps that encompasses about 90 percent of its 3.5 million sq km (1.35 million sq mile) waters. The sea provides 10 percent of the global fisheries catch and carries $5 trillion in ship-borne trade each year.

via For South China Sea claimants, a legal venue to battle China | Reuters.

Posted in China alert, Diplomacy, GeoPolitics, Politics, Territorial dispute | Leave a Comment »

Tags: Asia, Association of Southeast Asian Nations, Beijing, China, international court, Permanent Court of Arbitration, Philippine, South China Sea, Vietnam

09/01/2014

Japan wants India’s support on disputes with China – The Hindu

Engaged in a territorial dispute with China, Japan on Thursday sought to rope in India’s support over “the recent Chinese provocative actions” saying a message needs to be sent to it collectively that status quo cannot be changed by force.

Union Defence Minister A.K. Antony with his Japanese counterpart Itsunori Onodera in New Delhi. File photo

Japanese Defence Minister Itsunori Onodera said dialogue is the only way to resolve the row created by imposition of restrictions by China in the East China Sea and other areas.

“For both India and Japan, China is an important neighbouring country. Both countries have important economic linkages with China. However, after the recent Chinese provocative actions, entire international community will have to send a message to China,” he told PTI in an interview in New Delhi.

“Both Japan and India should ask for a dialogue with Chinese side and tell China not to change status quo by force. These issues should be solved through dialogue and following international rules,” the Minister said.

He was responding when asked whether India and Japan could come together on issues with China as both the countries have territorial disputes with it.

The security situation in the region against the backdrop of recent tensions between Japan and China triggered by imposition of ‘Air Defence Identification Zone’ (ADIZ) over East China Sea and other areas by China came up during talks between Mr. Onodera and his Indian counterpart A.K. Antony on Monday.

During the meeting, Mr. Antony is understood to have told Onodera that India stands for freedom of navigation in international waters and application of global conventions.

After the ADIZ started creating tensions in the South East Asian region, India had stated that the issue should be resolved between the concerned parties through dialogue in a peaceful way and it was against use of force to resolve the matters.

Asked about an earlier proposal by Tokyo for forming a trilateral grouping of India, Japan and the U.S. to deal with challenges from China, Mr. Onodera said, “India and Japan have good ties with the U.S. Economically and internationally and in terms of military forces, these are big countries.”

He said that, “If India, Japan and the U.S. are in cooperation and send a common message

via Japan wants India’s support on disputes with China – The Hindu.

Posted in China alert, Chindia Alert, Diplomacy, Economics, GeoPolitics, India alert, Neighbour conflict, Politics, Territorial dispute | Leave a Comment »

Tags: China, East China Sea, India, Japan, K Antony, New Delhi, Onodera, Tokyo

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