China aiming for air control over Western Pacific, surveillance as far as Izu chain: report

In a report on its air strategy, the Chinese People’s Liberation Army plans to broaden its air surveillance and attack capabilities to the Western Pacific, including the vicinity of Japan, to ensure its command of the air, it was learned Sunday.

The report seen by Kyodo News emphasizes the need to develop and enhance nine types of “strategic equipment,” such as a new type of strategic bomber and a Terminal High-Altitude Area Defense ground-based interceptor system with an eye specifically toward the United States, which is strengthening its so-called pivot to Asia.

China: We Need Long-Range Strategic Bombers

 

Chinese defense officials say Beijing needs to develop a long-range strategic bomber capable of striking enemies farther away from its coast in the event of a conflict.

The Chinese government has ramped up defense spending in recent years, particularly on its navy, which has commissioned its first aircraft carrier and is adding to its submarine and surface fleets.

But according to the latest issue of Kanwa Defence Review, a Canada-based defense and weapons technology publication, a meeting of Chinese military officials recently deemed the country’s air force to be a “strategic force” – a title previously reserved for the Second Artillery Corps, the country’s de facto strategic missile force.

PLA wants dominance in Western Pacific: US experts

China is increasing the frequency of its naval exercises with the aim of contesting the Second Island Chain in the Pacific — a series of island groups that runs north to south from the Japanese archipelago to the Bonin and Marshall islands — and taking control of the Taiwan Strait, reports our Chinese-language sister paper Want Daily.

Just two months after the largest naval exercise in the country’s history, the People’s Liberation Army Navy has again deployed vessels to the West Pacific for more sea drills.

CHINA’S String of Pearls Strategy: Why is the U.S. AFRAID and how does it affect us?

Modernising the military is one of China’s four pillars in its modernisation drive which includes education, industry and infrastructure, military and agriculture.

China’s largest strategic concern – regime survival and domestic stability – directly links to its economy. To sustain its economic growth China has to be depending increasingly on its external supply of energy, raw materials and food. So the development of Sea Line of Communication or (SLOCs) is vitally important as more than 80% of China’s trade go through the sea. The majority of the energy comes from the country’s coal about 65 %, 30% by oil and remaining by gas, nuclear and hydroelectric power.

China Imposes No-Fly Zone Over Japanese Islands

Maritime Grab: Iran isn’t the only nuclear threat to worry about. As its military and economy have grown, so too have China’s dreams of dominating an island chain centered on Taiwan and including Japan’s Senkakus.

China’s increased belligerence in the region is part of its plan to control the Yellow Sea, the South China Sea and the larger East China Sea. Its military doctrine refers to dominance over the “first island chain,” which encompasses the East China Sea.