Military Confrontation in the South China Sea
Is China taking advantage of COVID-19 to pursue South China Sea ambitions?
Source: NYPost
China moving military ships near Taiwanese coast may spark US confrontation
By Mark Moore | May 26, 2020
China's aircraft carrier, the Liaoning AFP via Getty Images
The Chinese Communist Party is readying two new aircraft carriers for deployment off the coast of Taiwan that could lead to a military confrontation with the US ships in the region, as the relationship between the two global powers has become strained by trade issues and the coronavirus pandemic, according to a report.
The ships Liaoning and Shandong, part of the People's Liberation Army navy, are conducting military readiness drills in the Yellow Sea but are expected to move into the South China Sea to Pratas Island for invasion mock battles, CCP-controlled Global Times reported.
Noting Chinese President Xi Jinping's assertions of territorial control over most of the waterway and lack of respect for the sovereignty of countries in the region, like Taiwan, the "risk of a military confrontation in the South China Sea involving the United States and China could rise significantly in the next eighteen months," the Council on Foreign Relations said in a report issued last week.
The think tank said the US has a "strong interest" in stopping China from taking control over the South China Sea to keep the waterway open for navigation and secure international supply chains.
"The United States is also at risk of being drawn into a military conflict with China in this region as a result of U.S. defense treaty obligations to at least one of the claimants to the contested territory, the Philippines," the council said.
President Trump, who has accused Beijing of misleading the world on the coronavirus pandemic, has been sparring with Xi over China's trade policies, which he said are stacked against US corporations.
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Source: OVD
Japan Announces Development Plans for Mageshima
By ALBERT L | January 6, 2020
The Japanese government has begun preparation work for the construction of a military airfield and its supporting facilities on Mageshima. Kyodo reports that the Japanese government currently plans for construction of the airfield to begin in fiscal year 2022. This follows Asahi's reporting at the end of November 2019 that the Japanese government was finalizing the purchase of the uninhabited island from its current owners, Taston Airport, a development company based in Tokyo.
The Japanese government plans to restart an environmental survey of the island in January 2020. The survey will be used to carry out an environmental impact assessment, after which construction of the airbase will proceed. The Japanese government has already set aside 500 million yen ($4.6 million) in its fiscal year 2020 budget for expenditures related to the island.
The Japanese government had sought the purchase of Mageshima Island following a United States request for a new site for carrier aircraft field carrier landing practice (FCLP). US carrier aircraft of Carrier Air Wing (CVW) 5 currently perform FCLP on the island of Iwo To (commonly known as Iwo Jima). The long distance between the aircraft's home base of MCAS Iwakuni and Iwo To (around 1,400 kilometers), however, has driven the United States and Japan to seek a closer airfield for FCLP training. Mageshima Island is around 400 kilometers away from MCAS Iwakuni.
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Intelligence briefing for 26 May 2020:
More:
China may be preparing for first dual-carrier drills in South China Sea, reports say
A cold war is heating up in the South China Sea
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