07-12-2017, 09:51 PM
*** 13-Jul-17 World View -- China establishes its first foreign military base, in Djibouti
This morning's key headlines from GenerationalDynamics.com
****
**** China establishes its first foreign military base, in Djibouti
****
![[Image: g170712b.jpg]](http://Media.GenerationalDynamics.com/ww2010/g170712b.jpg)
Chinese soldiers stand guard at a military port in Zhanjiang, Guangdong province, on Tuesday, as warships with soldiers depart for Djibouti (Reuters)
Ships carrying Chinese military personnel are being sent to Djibouti
to set up a "logistics support base" to "ensure China's performance of
missions, such as escorting, peace-keeping and humanitarian aid in
Africa and west Asia." The base is clearly a military base, although
Chinese media and officials are denying that. In fact, Western media
are referring to it as China's first military base outside of China.
On Wednesday, China's Foreign Ministry spokesman Geng Shuang denied
that there was any military expansion:
> [indent]<QUOTE>"[The] establishment of this base is mainly aimed to
> enable China to better perform its escort missions in the Gulf of
> Aden and Somali waters as well as humanitarian relief and to make
> greater contributions to the peace and stability of Africa and
> beyond. In addition, I would like to reiterate that China stays
> committed to the path of peaceful development and follows a
> defensive national defense policy. This remains
> unchanged."<END QUOTE>[/indent]
Apparently Geng Shuang thinks that all of us in the West are so stupid
that we don't remember that China told us exactly the same garbage
about the South China Sea artificial islands. We were told that they
were some sort of environmental project, with no military purpose
whatsoever. Now those artificial islands are huge military bases
bristling with missiles and aircraft, in clear violation of
international law, as determined by a 2016 ruling by the United
Nations Permanent Court of Arbitration (PCA) in the Hague, which
declared China's activities in the South China Sea to be illegal
Today, it's clear that China is planning further criminal activity in
the South China Sea, including launching military assaults to take
full control of the entire South China Sea.
So now Geng Shuang thinks we're going to believe the same laughable
nonsense about the Djibouti military base. Even more laughable is
that Chinese media are weeping and whining, complaining about media
bias. The Global Times says that "Many of the Western media has
described China's Djibouti facility as a military base and referred to
the move as military expansionism," and quotes Xu Guangyu, a military
official as saying that Western media reports on the base show their
prejudice:
> [indent]<QUOTE>"China's base in Djibouti has basic differences with
> military bases of other countries in scale, function and
> equipment. Compared with the specialized function of logistics
> support of the Chinese base, other military bases station more
> troops and fighters and conduct military training. ...
>
> Whether a country needs to build an overseas base should come out
> of its own concerns and it merely involves bilateral talks with
> the other nation. Why do some Western countries make carping
> comments about China's first overseas base, while they already
> have many?"<END QUOTE>[/indent]
Again, this is exactly the same kinds of things we heard from China
when China was building illegal military bases in the South China Sea.
Ironically, what makes the above whining by Xu Guangyu even more
laughable is that it's contradicted by Chinese language editions of
the Global Times:
> [indent]<QUOTE>"People's Liberation Army in Djibouti base 11 was set
> up.... This is the People's Liberation Army overseas base zero
> breakthrough, and thus subject to a lot of attention.
>
> We note that the base of the People's Liberation Army in Djibouti
> was described as a "base of protection" and was not addressed as a
> "military base". It is worth pondering.
>
> First of all, it is indeed the People's Liberation Army's first
> overseas base, where China will garrison. It is not a commercial
> supply point. It is justified by foreign public opinion that the
> base can support the Chinese navy to go further and thus be
> significant."<END QUOTE>[/indent]
The Djibouti naval military base is the perfect endpoint to China's
"string of pearls," commercial deep-water ports in the Indian Ocean
that China could use in time of wars. Many of these ports were built
and often are operated by Chinese companies. These include deep-water
ports in Sri Lanka, in Colombo and Hambantota; Pakistan, in Gwadar and
Karachi; Myanmar, in Sittwe; and the Seychelles, in Port Victoria.
The Gwadar port in Pakistan is expected to be upgraded to a full
Chinese military base soon.
China's base in Djibouti is at the southern entrance to the Red Sea on
the route to the Suez Canal. Thus, in time of war, China will be able
to block traffic through the Suez Canal.
Hosting foreign military bases is big business for Djibouti, which
also hosts American, Japanese and French bases. Xinhua and CNN and China's Foreign Ministry and Global Times (Beijing) - (Trans)
Related Articles
****
**** Russia, India, Japan prepare for war with China
****
Each year since 1992, the United States and India have deployed
warships, submarines and aircraft as part of the joint Malabar
exercises in the Bay of Bengal, adjacent to India and the Indian Ocean.
Because of the increased military threat from China, the military
exercises are the largest in 22 years, and will include Japan for only
the second time. The week-long series of war games will involve a
total of 16 ships -- including the nuclear-powered USS Nimitz, India's
INS Vikramanditya, a reconditioned Russian-built aircraft carrier, and
Japan's JS Izumo, a helicopter carrier with an emphasis on
anti-submarine warfare -- as well as two submarines and more than 95
aircraft.
Most readers won't find it surprising that India and Japan are
preparing for war with China, but may be more surprised that Russia is
also preparing for war with China.
If China and Russia have friendly relations, it's only because of a
transitory "honor among thieves" phenomenon. Both of these countries
are doing what Hitler did -- invading and annexing territories
belonging to other countries -- and so they support each other's
criminal activities in the UN Security Council. When Hitler did it,
it led to World War II. China and Russia are no different. What
China and Russia are doing is one of the factors leading to World War
III.
However, the fact that Russia and China are supporting each other in
criminal activities does not mean that they are going to be allies in
any future war.
Russia and China have been historic enemies for centuries, at least
since the Mongols conquered the Han Chinese in 1206, merged with them
culturally, and then went on to brutally attack the Russians. Those
wars are not forgotten today, and Russians and Chinese have deep
hatreds for each other that will not be mitigated by a brief period of
mutual support in the UN Security Council. In fact, China and Russia
almost had a full scale war with each other in the 1960s.
In early June 2017, Russian media reported that the powerful
road-mobile 9K720 Iskander-M missile system was installed in Russia's
Eastern Military District. This joins three other major missile
installations that took place in 2013, 2015 and 2016, respectively.
These installations have very limited ability to strike American or
Japanese targets. Their only logical purpose is to strike China.
Indeed, the system’s ability to deliver a wide range of cluster
munitions makes it particularly suitable for use against People’s
Liberation Army (PLA) armor and infantry in the event of an armed
confrontation.
In 2014, Russia held the massive Vostok military exercises in the Far
East, explaining that the military drills were necessary to prepare
for war with the United States. And yet, the assets deployed during
this exercise were more consistent with preparing for a defense of the
Far East, a region that America would be unlikely to invade if it
wanted to invade Russia at all. The only state actor that against
which such a defense is needed is China. And so it appears that
Russia and China claim that they're each preparing for war with the
United States, but they're also preparing for war with each other.
CNN and The Diplomat and Lowy Institute (Australia)
Related Articles
KEYS: Generational Dynamics, China, Djibouti, Geng Shuang,
South China Sea, United Nations Permanent Court of Arbitration, PCA,
Xu Guangyu, Gwadar port, Pakistan, Red Sea, Suez Canal,
India, Japan, Malabar exercises, 9K720 Iskander-M missile system,
Vostok 2014 military exercises
Permanent web link to this article
Receive daily World View columns by e-mail
Contribute to Generational Dynamics via PayPal
John J. Xenakis
100 Memorial Drive Apt 8-13A
Cambridge, MA 02142
Phone: 617-864-0010
E-mail: john@GenerationalDynamics.com
Web site: http://www.GenerationalDynamics.com
Forum: http://www.gdxforum.com/forum
Subscribe to World View: http://generationaldynamics.com/subscribe
This morning's key headlines from GenerationalDynamics.com
- China establishes its first foreign military base, in Djibouti
- Russia, India, Japan prepare for war with China
****
**** China establishes its first foreign military base, in Djibouti
****
Chinese soldiers stand guard at a military port in Zhanjiang, Guangdong province, on Tuesday, as warships with soldiers depart for Djibouti (Reuters)
Ships carrying Chinese military personnel are being sent to Djibouti
to set up a "logistics support base" to "ensure China's performance of
missions, such as escorting, peace-keeping and humanitarian aid in
Africa and west Asia." The base is clearly a military base, although
Chinese media and officials are denying that. In fact, Western media
are referring to it as China's first military base outside of China.
On Wednesday, China's Foreign Ministry spokesman Geng Shuang denied
that there was any military expansion:
> [indent]<QUOTE>"[The] establishment of this base is mainly aimed to
> enable China to better perform its escort missions in the Gulf of
> Aden and Somali waters as well as humanitarian relief and to make
> greater contributions to the peace and stability of Africa and
> beyond. In addition, I would like to reiterate that China stays
> committed to the path of peaceful development and follows a
> defensive national defense policy. This remains
> unchanged."<END QUOTE>[/indent]
Apparently Geng Shuang thinks that all of us in the West are so stupid
that we don't remember that China told us exactly the same garbage
about the South China Sea artificial islands. We were told that they
were some sort of environmental project, with no military purpose
whatsoever. Now those artificial islands are huge military bases
bristling with missiles and aircraft, in clear violation of
international law, as determined by a 2016 ruling by the United
Nations Permanent Court of Arbitration (PCA) in the Hague, which
declared China's activities in the South China Sea to be illegal
Today, it's clear that China is planning further criminal activity in
the South China Sea, including launching military assaults to take
full control of the entire South China Sea.
So now Geng Shuang thinks we're going to believe the same laughable
nonsense about the Djibouti military base. Even more laughable is
that Chinese media are weeping and whining, complaining about media
bias. The Global Times says that "Many of the Western media has
described China's Djibouti facility as a military base and referred to
the move as military expansionism," and quotes Xu Guangyu, a military
official as saying that Western media reports on the base show their
prejudice:
> [indent]<QUOTE>"China's base in Djibouti has basic differences with
> military bases of other countries in scale, function and
> equipment. Compared with the specialized function of logistics
> support of the Chinese base, other military bases station more
> troops and fighters and conduct military training. ...
>
> Whether a country needs to build an overseas base should come out
> of its own concerns and it merely involves bilateral talks with
> the other nation. Why do some Western countries make carping
> comments about China's first overseas base, while they already
> have many?"<END QUOTE>[/indent]
Again, this is exactly the same kinds of things we heard from China
when China was building illegal military bases in the South China Sea.
Ironically, what makes the above whining by Xu Guangyu even more
laughable is that it's contradicted by Chinese language editions of
the Global Times:
> [indent]<QUOTE>"People's Liberation Army in Djibouti base 11 was set
> up.... This is the People's Liberation Army overseas base zero
> breakthrough, and thus subject to a lot of attention.
>
> We note that the base of the People's Liberation Army in Djibouti
> was described as a "base of protection" and was not addressed as a
> "military base". It is worth pondering.
>
> First of all, it is indeed the People's Liberation Army's first
> overseas base, where China will garrison. It is not a commercial
> supply point. It is justified by foreign public opinion that the
> base can support the Chinese navy to go further and thus be
> significant."<END QUOTE>[/indent]
The Djibouti naval military base is the perfect endpoint to China's
"string of pearls," commercial deep-water ports in the Indian Ocean
that China could use in time of wars. Many of these ports were built
and often are operated by Chinese companies. These include deep-water
ports in Sri Lanka, in Colombo and Hambantota; Pakistan, in Gwadar and
Karachi; Myanmar, in Sittwe; and the Seychelles, in Port Victoria.
The Gwadar port in Pakistan is expected to be upgraded to a full
Chinese military base soon.
China's base in Djibouti is at the southern entrance to the Red Sea on
the route to the Suez Canal. Thus, in time of war, China will be able
to block traffic through the Suez Canal.
Hosting foreign military bases is big business for Djibouti, which
also hosts American, Japanese and French bases. Xinhua and CNN and China's Foreign Ministry and Global Times (Beijing) - (Trans)
Related Articles
- Djibouti, Eritrea border clash looms after Qatar withdraws peacekeepers (17-Jun-2017)
- Concerns grow about the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) (10-Jun-2017)
- China and India have military confrontation over Bhutan's Doklam plateau (08-Jul-2017)
****
**** Russia, India, Japan prepare for war with China
****
Each year since 1992, the United States and India have deployed
warships, submarines and aircraft as part of the joint Malabar
exercises in the Bay of Bengal, adjacent to India and the Indian Ocean.
Because of the increased military threat from China, the military
exercises are the largest in 22 years, and will include Japan for only
the second time. The week-long series of war games will involve a
total of 16 ships -- including the nuclear-powered USS Nimitz, India's
INS Vikramanditya, a reconditioned Russian-built aircraft carrier, and
Japan's JS Izumo, a helicopter carrier with an emphasis on
anti-submarine warfare -- as well as two submarines and more than 95
aircraft.
Most readers won't find it surprising that India and Japan are
preparing for war with China, but may be more surprised that Russia is
also preparing for war with China.
If China and Russia have friendly relations, it's only because of a
transitory "honor among thieves" phenomenon. Both of these countries
are doing what Hitler did -- invading and annexing territories
belonging to other countries -- and so they support each other's
criminal activities in the UN Security Council. When Hitler did it,
it led to World War II. China and Russia are no different. What
China and Russia are doing is one of the factors leading to World War
III.
However, the fact that Russia and China are supporting each other in
criminal activities does not mean that they are going to be allies in
any future war.
Russia and China have been historic enemies for centuries, at least
since the Mongols conquered the Han Chinese in 1206, merged with them
culturally, and then went on to brutally attack the Russians. Those
wars are not forgotten today, and Russians and Chinese have deep
hatreds for each other that will not be mitigated by a brief period of
mutual support in the UN Security Council. In fact, China and Russia
almost had a full scale war with each other in the 1960s.
In early June 2017, Russian media reported that the powerful
road-mobile 9K720 Iskander-M missile system was installed in Russia's
Eastern Military District. This joins three other major missile
installations that took place in 2013, 2015 and 2016, respectively.
These installations have very limited ability to strike American or
Japanese targets. Their only logical purpose is to strike China.
Indeed, the system’s ability to deliver a wide range of cluster
munitions makes it particularly suitable for use against People’s
Liberation Army (PLA) armor and infantry in the event of an armed
confrontation.
In 2014, Russia held the massive Vostok military exercises in the Far
East, explaining that the military drills were necessary to prepare
for war with the United States. And yet, the assets deployed during
this exercise were more consistent with preparing for a defense of the
Far East, a region that America would be unlikely to invade if it
wanted to invade Russia at all. The only state actor that against
which such a defense is needed is China. And so it appears that
Russia and China claim that they're each preparing for war with the
United States, but they're also preparing for war with each other.
CNN and The Diplomat and Lowy Institute (Australia)
Related Articles
- Mongol invasion of China in 1206 has impact today (06-Dec-2010)
- Vietnam buys cruise missiles from Russia to threaten China (02-May-2015)
- Russia's concerns about China's 'invasion' of the Far East continue (21-Jun-2015)
- Russia holds massive Vostok 2014 military exercises amid anti-US hysteria (26-Sep-2014)
KEYS: Generational Dynamics, China, Djibouti, Geng Shuang,
South China Sea, United Nations Permanent Court of Arbitration, PCA,
Xu Guangyu, Gwadar port, Pakistan, Red Sea, Suez Canal,
India, Japan, Malabar exercises, 9K720 Iskander-M missile system,
Vostok 2014 military exercises
Permanent web link to this article
Receive daily World View columns by e-mail
Contribute to Generational Dynamics via PayPal
John J. Xenakis
100 Memorial Drive Apt 8-13A
Cambridge, MA 02142
Phone: 617-864-0010
E-mail: john@GenerationalDynamics.com
Web site: http://www.GenerationalDynamics.com
Forum: http://www.gdxforum.com/forum
Subscribe to World View: http://generationaldynamics.com/subscribe
