Sino-Vietnam Conflicts : Spratley Islands and others

[RPK]

Mainland may remove some missiles: Expert


Beijing might consider removing a portion of its missile arsenal in South China, a long-held precondition by Taiwan officials for peaceful cross-Straits ties, a mainland expert said Wednesday.

The possibility of the mainland's missile removal should not be excluded, according to Li Jiaquan, a senior researcher with the Institute of Taiwan studies at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, ahead of new round of talks next month between the two sides.

"(Removing the missiles) would be a goodwill gesture by the mainland toward Taiwan," Li said.

But he emphasized that the missiles are not targeting Taiwan and are positioned at their current location to safeguard national safety. It is thus impossible for the mainland to remove them all, he added.

According to the island's defense officials, the mainland has nearly 1,500 missiles pointed at Taiwan.

Li's remarks come after two key instances in the past days. Yang Yi, spokesman of the Taiwan Affairs Office of the State Council, gave a positive response to the mainland's reported plan to remove regional missiles at a press conference yesterday.

On Tuesday, Raymond Burghardt, chairman of the Washington-based American Institute in Taiwan, said the United States plans to resume arms sales to Taiwan.

Yang expressed firm opposition to US arms sales to Taiwan.

"We strongly oppose US arms sales to Taiwan and our stance is consistent, clear and resolute," Yang said.

Cross-Straits relations have improved since Taiwan leader Ma Ying-jeou of Kuomintang came into power in May. Both sides have established closer economic and cultural exchanges. But Ma has said the missiles remain a big hurdle to warmer relations.

Yang's overture, however, signaled a departure from Beijing's practice of shunning the issue of removing missiles from South China.

At the press conference, Yang did not attempt to deny the media that the mainland plans to remove "one-third of the missiles targeting Taiwan" before next March or April and said: "We hope both sides can make joint efforts to get prepared for addressing political difficulties in the future."

The mainland has recently expressed a strong desire to open political talks as soon as possible, but Taipei has backed off from discussions and has said "the time is not ripe".

"The mainland could accept the present cross-Straits status quo, but if it remains so in the long term, it will divide China," said Wu Nengyuan, director of the Institute of Taiwan Studies at the Fujian Academy of Social Sciences.

He added that it seems that Ma is delaying political and military talks indefinitely in a compromise with the opposition pro-independence Democratic Progressive Party to stabilize his power on the island.

"So there is a possibility that the mainland is making some concessions, including removing some missiles, to show its sincerity of pushing forward peaceful negotiations," he said.

Li said removing the missiles could also serve as a signal to the US, which is pushing with its plan to resume arms sales to Taiwan.

 

[Daredevil]

Taiwanese are not comfortable with the bogey of their govt. in China and one can see the result in local elections and might be a precursor for future elections.

Taiwan polls hint at China unease

By Cindy Sui
BBC News, Taipei
Taiwan's President Ma Ying-jeou has ordered a thorough look at what went wrong in local weekend elections.

These showed his ruling party, which favours closer ties with China, losing ground to the opposition which supports formal independence from China.

Cross-straits ties have only recently improved since Mr Ma became president after decades of tensions.

A slow reaction to a deadly typhoon in August and the global recession also hurt the ruling Kuomintang.

The elections for county magistrates and city mayors are being widely seen in Taiwan as a setback for President Ma and the Kuomintang.

Dependency fears

Although the party won a majority of the seats, the opposition Democratic Progressive Party gained nearly as big a percentage of votes, the largest percentage it has ever gained in local elections, narrowing the gap between the two parties.

The president's focus on opening Taiwan to Chinese investment and signing a landmark free-trade agreement with China next year are believed to have affected the election.

Some voters fear this would hurt Taiwan's industries, cause job losses and threaten the island's sovereignty, making it too dependent on China.

Analysts have said that if this voting trend continues, it could threaten President Ma's chances of re-election in 2012.

It could also hurt his efforts to bring Taiwan and China closer economically and to eventually bring an end to the military tensions between the two former rivals.

China has 1,500 missiles targeting Taiwan and has not renounced the use of force to take back the island, despite the two sides being ruled separately since the end of a civil war in 1949.

 

[bhramos]

Vietnam army concerned over S.China Sea disputes.

Vietnam army concerned over S.China Sea disputes.

08 Dec 2009 11:07:40 GMT
Source: Reuters
By John Ruwitch


HANOI, Dec 8 (Reuters) - Disputes over sovereignty in the South China Sea are increasing and Vietnam's Deputy Defence Minister Nguyen Chi Vinh said on Tuesday that was cause for concern but unlikely to lead to conflict.

Vietnam, China and other countries have longstanding competing claims of sovereignty over parts of the South China Sea, which Vietnam calls the East Sea, including the potentially oil and gas-rich Spratly and Paracel island chains.

Vietnam's third white paper on national defence, issued by the Ministry of Defence on Tuesday, said territorial disputes in Asia were more complicated and "in particular those relating to sovereignty and national interests in the East Sea have been on the rise.

"The situation with regard to disputes over sovereignty in the East Sea causes certain concerns for Vietnam's national defence and creates new challenges," Vinh told reporters, foreign defence attaches and diplomats.

"But the complications over the East Sea will not lead to a military clash in this region," he added.

The damaging effects, he said, would be felt widely, legal efforts to resolve disputes had intensified and Vietnam sought to solve conflict peacefully. China has said it would step up patrols by maritime vessels of the South China Sea this year.
Article continued at Reuters AlertNet - Vietnam army concerned over S.China Sea disputes

 

[Sridhar]

EXCLUSIVE - Obama eyes arms sales to Taiwan, official says

By Jim Wolf

A UH-60 Black Hawk helicopter prepares to land at FOB Salerno in Afghanistan December 2, 2009. (REUTERS/Zohra Bensemra)


WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Obama administration is moving toward possible new arms sales to Taiwan, including design work on diesel-electric submarines, a U.S. State Department official told Reuters on Wednesday.

China strongly opposes arms sales to Taiwan, which Beijing sees as a renegade province, as interference in its domestic affairs. New submarines could help challenge any Chinese seaborne assault on the self-governing island, which Beijing reserves the right to take by force.
Also progressing toward notification to the U.S. Congress is the sale to Taiwan of UH-60 Black Hawk helicopters, said Robert Kovac, acting deputy assistant secretary of state for defense trade.
In addition, the Obama administration is weighing more sales to Taiwan of Patriot "Advanced Capability" missiles known as PAC-3 as well as an operations deal for the "Po Sheng" (Broad Victory) command and control program, Kovac said.
"All of those things are going on," he said during a break in testimony to a House of Representatives Foreign Affairs subcommittee hearing on U.S. aerospace exports.
Asked whether "going on" meant advancing toward notification to Congress as a prelude to any sale, Kovac said: "In some cases, yes," including the Black Hawks and the submarines. On supplying more PAC-3 missiles, he said this was "in discussions."
China suspended military-to-military contacts with the United States after then President George W. Bush notified Congress in October 2008 of plans to sell Taiwan a long-delayed arms package valued at up to $6.4 billion.
'VERY SIGNIFICANT EVENT'
The United States does not build deisel-electric submarines.
The design work, estimated at $360 million, would require a U.S. company to show it had the ability to build them or had found a foreign partner that would do so, said Ed Ross, director of operations at the Pentagon's Defense Security Cooperation Agency from 1994 to 2007.
The cost of building eight diesel-electric submarines had been estimated at $10.2 billion and would take 10 to 15 years, he added in a telephone interview.
"It's a very significant event if they go forward with these sales," said Ross, now a defense consultant specializing in East Asia. "They are desperately needed for Taiwan's defense and deterrence to maintain the relative military balance in the Taiwan Strait."
The Black Hawk, a tactical transport helicopter, is built by Sikorsky Aircraft, a unit of United Technologies Corp.
The PAC-3 missile is built by Lockheed Martin Corp and Raytheon Co is the system integrator. Lockheed was the prime contractor for the original Po Sheng program, designed to integrate Taiwan's air, marine, ground and command and control assets in a single network.
Taiwan long has sought 60 Black Hawks and the submarines.
Bush had cleared both for sale in April 1991 but he omitted them when he finally sent Congress his 2008 arms package after much debate in Taiwan's legislative Yuan.
Included were up to 330 PAC-3 missiles and related gear valued at up to $3.1 billion, about half the amount Taiwan had sought for its defense against missiles and aircraft.
"We decided that trying to make up for the delays in the arms sale package in one fell swoop was potentially destabilizing to the improvements in cross-strait relations that occurred during the first year" of President Ma Ying-jeou's administration, Dennis Wilder, senior director for East Asian affairs on Bush's National Security Council staff, told Reuters in March.
"We also clearly told Taiwan that nothing had been taken off the table," Wilder said. "We wanted to leave the door open for the next U.S. administration to do its own review in consultation with Taiwan to decide on future arms sales."
U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates said in a Sept. 16 speech that China's investments in anti-ship weaponry "could threaten America's primary way to project power and help allies in the Pacific -- in particular our forward air bases and carrier strike groups."

EXCLUSIVE - Obama eyes arms sales to Taiwan, official says

 

[IBRIS]

Vietnam protests China's tourism plan in Spratlys

Hanoi - Vietnam protested a Chinese proposal to begin tourist visits to the disputed Spratly and Paracel Islands in the South China Sea, local media reported Tuesday. The Chinese State Council announced the proposal Thursday as part of a plan for development of the tourism industry in the Chinese island province of Hainan.

Vietnamese government spokeswoman Nguyen Phuong Nga denounced the Chinese proposal for the islands, which both countries claim, the official Vietnam News reported.

"China's act seriously violated Vietnam's sovereignty, running counter to the common understanding reached between senior leaders in both countries," Nga said.

Last week, Vietnam protested the adoption of an environmental protection law for sea islands by China's legislature. The law bans construction, the felling of trees, tourism on uninhabited islands and activities that could damage coral reefs.

The new law puts China's State Oceanic Administration in charge of monitoring compliance. Vietnam objected because the disputed islands were included under the law.

China has occupied the Paracel Islands since 1974 when its troops overwhelmed a South Vietnamese garrison occupying the islands.

Both Vietnam and China are signatories to the 2002 Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the South China Sea. It commits the parties to resolving the islands' status through negotiations and provides for freedom of navigation.

Vietnam and China generally enjoy close relations, but the conflict over maritime resources is a persistent source of tension. Each country submitted maritime territorial claims to the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea in early May and rejected the other's claims shortly afterward.

The South China Sea is believed to contain substantial undersea oil reserves.

Vietnam, Taiwan, China, the Philippines, Malaysia and Brunei each claim all or part of the Spratlys and the nearby Paracels, and all but Brunei have a military presence on one or more of the atolls.
Vietnam protests China's tourism plan in Spratlys : Travel General

 

[Ray]

There is a huge spat on between the US and China over the Taiwan Arms sales and also because Obama will meet His Holiness The Dalai Lama.

 

[amoy]

China should have grown up - not to be so easily agitated. Or is either China or the US (or both) playing the tact of getting harsh on certain issues in tradeoff for other compromises?

Taiwan or Dalai Lama or trade barriers have become US' routine campaigns in containing China. Of course they're China's soft belly and China isn't sophisticated enough in playing the game.

 

[Ray]

China is like glutinous rice!

 

[amoy]

glutinous rice

don't get your metaphor here - sticky - can't be got rid of?

 

[youngindian]

US leaves open option for more arms sales to Taiwan

19 March 2010


AFP - The United States left open the possibility of further arms sales to Taiwan, with a senior official saying that China's military buildup was aimed squarely at the self-governing island.

President Barack Obama's administration in January approved a 6.4 billion dollar arms package for Taiwan including helicopters, Patriot missiles and mine-hunting ships, angering Beijing.

State Department official David Shear told a congressional panel that the United States will "continue to stand by our commitment" under US law to provide Taiwan with weapons to defend itself.

"Taiwan must be confident that it has the physical capacity to resist intimidation and coercion in order to engage fully with the mainland," said Shear, the deputy assistant secretary of state for East Asia, on Thursday.

Testifying before the US-China Economic and Security Review Commission, US officials declined to say if the Obama administration would approve a top item on Taiwan's wish-list -- F-16 fighter-jets.

Despite his drive to repair relations with Beijing, President Ma Ying-jeou has pitched for F-16s to refurbish Taiwan's aging fleet. A recent report by Taiwan's defense ministry found that China has gained an edge in air power.

Michael Schiffer, the deputy assistant secretary of defense for East Asia, said he "didn't want to suggest a decision one way or the other" on the F-16s.

China has been ramping up military spending for years as part of a modernization drive for its People's Liberation Army (PLA).

Despite China's growing interests around the world, "we believe that the primary focus of the PLA build-up remains oriented on preparing for contingencies in the Taiwan Strait," Schiffer said.

"It appears Beijing's long-term strategy is to use political, diplomatic, economic and cultural levers to pursue unification with Taiwan, while building a credible military threat to attack the island if events are moving in what Beijing sees as the wrong direction," he said.

China also appears content not to attack Taiwan if it believes it will achieve its goals in the long run but is determined to pose a "credible threat" to pressure the island, Schiffer said.

Taiwan is ruled by nationalists who fled China in 1949 after losing the mainland's civil war. Beijing considers the island part of its territory awaiting reunification, by force if necessary.

David Shlapak, an analyst at the Rand Corp. think tank, said that the chances China could deliver a "knock-out blow" to Taiwan's air force at the start of a conflict have "increased substantially in recent years."

"China is assembling a military capable of providing the leadership in Beijing with credible options for the use of force against Taiwan, even in the face of US opposition," Shlapak told the panel.

China strongly opposes US arms sales to Taiwan, arguing that they run counter to the US recognition in 1979 of Beijing as China's sole government.

China responded sharply to the arms sales in January, warning that the United States was setting back relations and -- in a new step -- explicitly threatening sanctions on US companies involves in the contracts.

But Shear said that China's reaction "did not exceed our expectations."

"As far as I know, the Chinese have not implemented that threat. They have not yet imposed any sanctions on US firms," Shear testified.

Some US-based China watchers believe that Beijing may have concluded that it went too far in antagonizing Obama, who in his first year put off decisions certain to irk the growing Asian power.

China criticized Obama in February when he met with Tibet's exiled spiritual leader the Dalai Lama but made no concrete threat of retaliation.

http://www.france24.com/en/20100319-us-leaves-open-option-more-arms-sales-taiwan

 

[nandu]

Russia will continue supporting China on Taiwan - Putin

Russia will continue to support China, including on the "sensitive" issue of Taiwan, Prime Minister Vladimir Putin said on Tuesday.
"Russia is very careful about [its] ties with China," Putin said during a meeting in Moscow with Chinese Vice President Xi Jinping, who is expected to succeed Hu Jintao as president.
"We have always supported China on the most sensitive issues, including the Taiwan problem," Putin added.
The statement comes amid a simmering dispute over U.S. arms sales to de facto independent Taiwan, an island just off China's west coast, which Beijing considers a rebel region to be reunited with the mainland.
Tension rose sharply earlier this year after the United States said it would sell $6.4 billion worth of arms to Taiwan.
Beijing has threatened to suspend military ties with Washington and impose sanctions against the arms exporters.
Relations were further soured when U.S. President Barack Obama received Tibetan spiritual leader Dalai Lama at the White House in late February.

http://en.rian.ru

 

[youngindian]

Taiwan to test missiles capable of hitting China

24/03/2010 - 08:25:54

Taiwan will test two missiles with the capability to hit China this year, according to reports today.

Next Magazine's report came after Taiwanese President Ma Ying-jeou's repeated pledge to bolster the island's defence against the mainland.

China claims the island as part of its territory and has previously vowed to retake it by force if necessary. The two sides split amid civil war in 1949.

Besides the reported efforts to develop indigenous missiles, the Ma administration is also seeking to procure a more advanced model of the American-made F-16 fighter to help Taiwan deter any Chinese attack

Next Magazine said Taiwan will test the Hsiung Feng IIE surface-to-surface cruise missile, with a range of 497 miles, in June and hopes to produce 80 units by the end of this year.

http://breakingnews.iol.ie/news/world/taiwan-to-test-missiles-capable-of-hitting-china-451158.html

 

[nandu]

China adding missiles near Taiwan: navy official

(Reuters) - China has added long-range missiles near Taiwan and leads the self-ruled island in military defenses, a U.S. navy official said, suggesting that Taiwan may need new F-16 jet fighters.

China has deployed "an increasing number" of Russian surface-to-air missiles across an ocean strait about 160 km (100 miles) from Taiwan, U.S. Navy Commander Robert Willard told a Senate committee in Washington but did not give a timeframe.

"Beijing remains committed to eventual unification with Taiwan and has not ruled out the use of force to achieve that goal," Willard said, according to a statement made available on Saturday by the U.S. Pacific Command.

"The (People's Liberation Army's) continued military advancements sustain a trend of shifting the cross-Strait military balance in Beijing's favor," he said.

A $6.4-billion U.S. arms package for Taiwan announced in January would shore up the island's self-defense, but has enraged China.

Although Willard did not say whether Washington should grant Taiwan's long sought request to buy F-16 fighter jets, seen as a red line in already tense Sino-U.S. ties, he said existing aircraft would "have to be recapitalized."

China has claimed sovereignty over Taiwan since 1949, when Mao Zedong's forces won the Chinese civil war and Chiang Kai-shek's Nationalists fled to the island. But ties have warmed since 2008 as the two sides began to talk trade.

http://www.reuters.com

 

[youngindian]

Taiwan military defends development of medium-range missiles

Taipei
- Vice Defence Minister Andrew Yang said Monday that developing medium-range missiles is a 'right direction' for Taiwan, because the military balance of power is tilted towards China.

Yang told parliament that the military should develop medium-range surface-to-surface and cruise missiles to defend the island, but did not confirm or deny whether they were being built.

'Peace through strength is basically the principle of our (defence development), just as the United States is doing the same,' he said.

Ding Shou-chung, parliamentarian of the ruling Nationalist Party or Kuomintang (KMT), had asked if the reported development of the 1,200-kilometre-range surface-to-surface missiles and 800-kilometre-range cruise missiles would trigger international sanctions.

Local media reports said the military would test missiles at the Chiupeng missile base in the southern coastal county of Pingtung in June.

They said the missiles are capable of hitting major cities in China, a political rival of Taiwan since the two sides split at the end of a civil war in 1949.

Although relations between the two sides have improved since Ma Ying-jeou of China-friendly KMT became president in 2008, Beijing has continued to deploy around 1,300 missiles targeting the island.

US Navy Commander Robert Willard told a Senate committee in Washington on Saturday that China has added long-range missiles near Taiwan.

'Beijing remains committed to eventual unification with Taiwan and has not ruled out the use of force to achieve that goal,' he said.

He said continued military advancement has sustained 'a trend of shifting the cross-strait military balance in Beijing's favor.'

http://www.monstersandcritics.com/n...-defends-development-of-medium-range-missiles

 

[youngindian]

Speculation grows over missile development issue

Thursday, April 1, 2010 9:42 am TWN

TAIPEI, Taiwan -- Taiwan's defense minister yesterday declined to comment on speculation
that the military is developing land-to-land mid-range missiles.Defense Minister Kao Hua-chu told lawmakers that such an issue “can only be discussed in secret meetings.”

Kao was responding to the legislative defense committee's query concerning earlier remarks by his deputy, Yang Nien-chu.

The vice defense minister's remarks made during a meeting with the legislative defense committee on Monday were read as a revelation of Taiwan's ongoing project of developing land-to-land mid-range missiles.

Legislator Lin Yu-fang said yesterday he supports the development of strategic weapons, but Yang was “not careful enough.”



http://www.chinapost.com.tw/taiwan/national/national-news/2010/04/01/250655/Speculation-grows.htm

 

[ajtr]

Taiwan must avoid becoming a new Tibet

Why is it that the Dalai Lama, the spiritual and political leader of the Tibetan people, does not live in Tibet? Many people are aware that the Dalai Lama lives in exile and that he has done so for 51 years, but surprisingly few in Taiwan are familiar with the story of why he was forced to flee 51 years ago.

Recently, a Chinese- language version of the Dalai Lama’s autobiography My Land and My People was published in Taiwan and it is an absolute must for anyone curious about that time in history. More importantly, the book also provides many lessons for Taiwan today as it faces the formidable challenge of rapprochement with China.

What happened in Tibet half a century ago? Why did the country not enjoy peace after signing a “peace agreement” with the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), a document that is better known as the Seventeen-Point Agreement, in 1951?

Why did Tibet’s capital, Lhasa, later erupt into mass riots and why was the Dalai Lama forced to flee his homeland?

The Seventeen-Point Agreement not only failed to facilitate a sustainable peace, it resulted in exile for many, with more than 100,000 people losing their homes and thousands more their lives.

In My Land and My People, the Dalai Lama says that when he accepted an invitation from India to take part in the 2,500th Buddha birthday celebrations in 1956, he did not want to return to Tibet.

However, then-Indian prime minister Jawaharlal Nehru persuaded the first premier of the People’s Republic of China, Zhou Enlai (周恩來), to personally guarantee that the CCP would not enforce its “reforms” on the Tibetan people.

That was the reason the Dalai Lama was willing to return to home.

However, after only a few years, the situation deteriorated so badly that he had no choice but to flee for India.

If we look at more recent history, in 1979, when paramount leader Deng Xiaoping (鄧小平) said that everything other than independence was open for discussion, the Dalai Lama decided to start negotiations with the CCP for the welfare of his 6 million countrymen in Tibet.

To that end he asked for a high degree of autonomy and gave up on ever gaining independence.

However, in 30 years of China-Tibetan talks, little of substance has been achieved and the CCP still accuses the Dalai Lama of being a separatist.

The CCP has also not wasted time, seizing more and more land in Tibet, encouraging “Han” Chinese immigration and promoting large-scale sinification.

Today there are more “Han” Chinese residents in Lhasa than Tibetans and Tibet is becoming a second Mongolia, where not even 20 percent of the population is Mongolian.

Tibet’s experience in negotiating with the CCP has been a bloody one and this is an experience that Taiwanese must not forget in their own dealings with China.

Some people in Taiwan propose signing a “peace agreement” with China, but with no war between the two countries, why do we need to sign a peace agreement?

If there is a war, how is it that the governments of Taiwan and China continue to exchange friendly words with one another?

The lessons of history are there to be learned: A “peace agreement” with China failed to save the Tibetan people and that is something the Taiwanese public needs to think about long and hard.

 

[youngindian]

Taiwan To Get 24 BAE Vehicles For PACs

3 May 2010

TAIPEI - The U.S. government awarded a $5.5 million firm fixed-price contract to BAE Systems of Sealy, Texas, on April 26 for 24 vehicles in support of Taiwan's recent procurement of Patriot PAC-3 anti-missile defense systems.

These include eight 5-ton M1086 A1P2 long cargo vehicles with material handling equipment, nine 5-ton M1096 A1P2 long chassis vehicles and seven 5-ton M1088 A1P2 tractors. The medium heavy vehicles make up the Family of Medium Tactical Vehicles (FMTV) produced by BAE Systems for the U.S. Army. All are full-time all-wheeled drive and C-130 transportable.Estimated completion date for the vehicles is December 2010. One bid was solicited with one bid received. The U.S. Army Tank-automotive and Armaments Command (TACOM) Contracting Center, Michigan, was the contracting activity.


http://www.defensenews.com/story.php?i=4608371&c=ASI&s=LAN