View of Spratly Islands. Photo: US Navy handout via Reuters
Word of US intelligence report comes after assessment that equipment was installed on the contested Spratly islands earlier this year
As the US and China plunge into a trade war, Beijing is apparently preparing for a different type of warfare that some fear may be on the horizon. Continue reading
Adm. Harry Harris, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Joe Dunford, Defense Secretary Jim Mattis and CNO Adm. John Richardson (L-R) attend a change of command ceremony / Getty Images
Secretary of Defense James Mattis announced Wednesday that the Pentagon was renaming U.S. Pacific Command to Indo-Pacific Command in order to better reflect regional priorities.
Mattis made the announcement at Joint Base Pearl Harbor Hickam on Wednesday during a change-of-command ceremony for the U.S. military’s oldest and largest geographic unified combatant command. Continue reading
Tensions continue to flare up in the South China Sea, as Beijing has reportedly installed anti-ship cruise missiles and surface-to-air missile systems on three outposts in the region, as reported by CNBC on Wednesday, which cited sources with direct knowledge of U.S. intelligence reports. The missiles have reportedly been installed on Fiery Cross Reef, Subi Reef and Mischief Reef.
The land-based anti-ship cruise missiles, designated as YJ-12B, allow China to strike surface vessels within 295 nautical miles of the reefs. Meanwhile, the long-range surface-to-air missiles designated as HQ-9B, have an expected range of targeting aircraft, drones and cruise missiles within 160 nautical miles. –CNBC
As we’ve documented again and again (and again and again), China’s military buildup in the Pacific, particularly surrounding the Spratly Islands, a collection of small islands, cays and atolls in the South China Sea, is one of the greatest long-term risks to peace and stability in the US and many of China’s neighbors, who have territorial claims in the region that may conflict with China’s. Continue reading
(Photo Credit: MC1 Tiffini M. Jones/U.S. Navy)
Pacific Command Commander-designate Adm. Philip Davidson said China could overwhelm any other military force short of going to war with the U.S.
The nominee to take over the beleaguered U.S. Pacific Command, Adm. Philip Davidson, has informed Congress that China has the capacity and capability to control the South China Sea “in all scenarios short of war with the U.S.” Continue reading
The 350,000 Chinese students in the U.S. “are here legitimately and doing great research and helping the global economy,” said Bill Evanina, director of the National Counterintelligence and Security Center, but others are used as tools to facilitate nefarious activity. (Associated Press/File)
A senior U.S. counterintelligence official recently said publicly what many officials and experts have been warning privately for years: China is using its large student population in the United States to spy.
Bill Evanina, director of the National Counterintelligence and Security Center, a DNI agency, said recently that China poses a broad-ranging foreign intelligence threat that includes the use of academics, students, cyberespionage and human agents to steal secrets from the government and private sectors.
“I look at the China threat from a counterintelligence perspective as a whole-of-government threat by China against us,” Mr. Evanina told a conference last week at The Aspen Institute.
“We allow 350,000 or so Chinese students here every year,” he said. “That’s a lot. We have a very liberal visa policy for them. Ninety-nine point nine percent of those students are here legitimately and doing great research and helping the global economy. But it is a tool that is used by the Chinese government to facilitate nefarious activity here in the U.S.” Continue reading
Further militarization under the guise of ‘science’:
illustration only
Just after the likely next head of US Pacific Command told Congress China’s undersea warfare capability is one of the most pressing threats to the US, a new report says Beijing is establishing another base in the South China Sea for deploying manned and unmanned submersible vehicles.
The base would be located in Sanya, a city on the southern edge of China’s Hainan island, Asia Times reported Friday. Continue reading
Chinese President Xi Jinping / Getty Images
Admiral urges rapid U.S. buildup of hypersonic and medium-range missiles to counter China threat
China has deployed electronic attack systems and other military facilities on disputed islands in the South China Sea and is now capable of controlling the strategic waterway, according to the admiral slated to be the next Pacific Command chief.
Additionally, the command nominee Adm. Philip Davidson told the Senate Armed Services Committee in a written statement this week that the military urgently needs hypersonic and other advanced weaponry to defeat China’s People’s Liberation Army in a future conflict. Continue reading
Additional source:
US & South Korea carry out chilling ‘MAX THUNDER’ military drills in huge warning to Kim
DRILL: Around 1,000 US fighter jets have been deployed to South Korea [GETTY]
US VICE-president Mike Pence has threatened North Korea with an “overwhelming response” if Kim Jong-un uses nuclear weapons.
Donald Trump’s number two has issued the stark warning to Pyongyang during a visit to South Korea today.
During a trip to the Korean demilitarized zone (DMZ), Pence said “strategic patience” with North Korea is over. Continue reading
The CCP is being given what it wants: Recognition of its claim to sovereignty of the South China Sea.
Failure to assert passage rights in South China Sea bolsters Beijing’s illegal maritime claims
The Obama administration has restricted the U.S. Pacific Command from sending ships and aircraft within 12 miles of disputed Chinese-built islands in the South China Sea, bolstering Beijing’s illegal claims over the vital seaway, Pentagon leaders revealed to Congress on Thursday.
“The administration has continued to restrict our Navy ships from operating within 12 nautical miles of China’s reclaimed islands,” Senate Armed Services Committee Chairman Sen. John McCain (R., Ariz.) said in opening remarks criticizing the failure to guarantee safe passage for international commercial ships in Asia.
“This is a dangerous mistake that grants de facto recognition of China’s man-made sovereignty claims,” he said. Continue reading
“I believe they’ve had the time and the capability to miniaturize” a nuclear weapon to arm North Korea’s new KN-08 intercontinental ballistic missiles, Army Gen. Curtis M. “Mike” Scaparrotti told the Senate Armed Services Committee (SASC).
Scaparrotti, commander of U.S. Forces Korea, said “we must assume they have that capability” of hitting the U.S. Adm. Samuel Locklear, head of the Pacific Command, also testified and agreed with Scaparrotti’s assessment of North Korea’s nuclear capabilities but said they had yet to test the KN-08. Continue reading
The worst thing any military could do is perform joint exercises with a military whose main goal is to defeat you in conflict. They will participate in it for learning the war fighting tactics of enemies, not ‘stronger ties’. Espionage under the guise of stronger ties is only a means to an end.
The four-star commander of U.S. Pacific Command says the era when the U.S. military enjoys uncontested control over the Pacific’s blue water and its airspace is coming to an end.
Adm. Sam Locklear told a Navy conference in Virginia that the rise of China is a key factor that is putting at risk U.S. Navy ships and service members in the Pacific.
“Our historic dominance that most of us in this room have enjoyed is diminishing, no question,” Locklear said at the Surface Navy Association’s annual meeting near the Pentagon. Continue reading
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