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China defence minister brushes off fears over military growth
by Staff Writers
Beijing (AFP) Nov 21, 2014


China building possible airfield in S. China Sea: US
Washington (AFP) Nov 21, 2014 - China is building a massive island in the South China Sea that could host an airfield in an area where Beijing is locked in bitter territorial disputes with neighboring states, a US military spokesman said Friday.

The vast land reclamation project on the Fiery Cross Reef in the Spratly Islands is one of several pursued by China but the first that could accommodate an airstrip, Lieutenant Colonel Jeffrey Pool said.

"It appears that's what they're working toward," Pool told AFP.

A harbor also has been dug out on the east side of the reef that appears large enough for tankers and naval warships.

The United States wants China to halt the project and for other governments to cease similar efforts.

"We urge China to stop its land reclamation program, and engage in diplomatic initiatives to encourage all sides to restrain themselves in these sorts of activities," Pool said.

In the past three months, China has used dredgers to construct an island about 3,000 yards (meters) long and 200-300 meters wide on the reef, which was previously under water, according to a report by IHS Jane's Defence.

The results of the dredging are captured in satellite pictures obtained by IHS Jane's that cover a period between August 8 and November 14.

"The land reclamation at Fiery Cross is the fourth such project undertaken by China in the Spratly Islands in the last 12-18 months and by far the largest in scope," the report said.

Before the latest dredging work, the Chinese navy had used a concrete platform and no artificial island had been created.

China already has built islands at Johnson South Reef, Cuarteron Reef and Gaven Reefs.

Beijing claims nearly all of the resource-rich South China Sea, while Brunei, Malaysia, the Philippines, Taiwan and Vietnam have asserted their own claims by building structures on reefs or occupying islands.

The other Southeast Asian countries already had airfields in the area and China's latest efforts could put it in a stronger position as Beijing pursues its claims.

IHS Jane's said the move appeared aimed to get other countries to relinquish their claims, or provide China a stronger negotiating position should talks take place over the dispute.

The United States has urged China and other states to settle the territorial disputes peacefully and without coercion while urging Beijing to support a regional, multilateral maritime "code of conduct" to defuse confrontations at sea.

But Beijing has tended to prefer bilateral talks with its smaller neighbors, which are heavily dependent on Chinese trade.

China argues it has sovereign control over almost all of the South China Sea, a vital shipping route that is believed to hold lucrative oil and gas deposits.

Beijing has launched naval patrols in waters contested with the Philippines and in May deployed a deep-sea oil rig in disputed waters near the Paracel Islands, sparking deadly anti-China riots in Vietnam.

China's defence minister on Friday sought to soothe concerns over the country's growing armed forces, saying its military modernisation is rooted in both past humiliations and a present need to combat threats including terrorism.

"The remarkable growth of China's comprehensive national power, and the continued progress in national defence modernisation, have become a focus of international attention in recent years," General Chang Wanquan said in a speech.

Among the reasons he cited for the makeover were China's "wretched modern history" as a victim of aggression and the "practical need to secure its own territory", catch up with other militaries and cooperate internationally to combat "terrorism, extremism and separatism".

China's military "lags far behind those advanced military forces elsewhere in the world," he added in the address at a conference sponsored by the China Association for Military Science.

China has consistently stressed that the growth and modernisation of its armed forces -- the world's largest by manpower, with approximately 2.3 million active duty troops as of last year -- pose no threat to any other countries or international order.

But Beijing's growing assertiveness over territorial disputes in the East and South China seas has stoked concerns, as have commentaries in official media questioning the decades-long security role of the United States in the region.

Chang's speech came a day after a US commission warned that potential China-US military confrontations risk escalating into a "major political crisis", amid Beijing's maritime disputes with Japan and the Philippines, both US allies.

Increased Chinese military spending and the country's expanding naval capabilities are among developments "enabling China to challenge decades of air and naval dominance by the United States in the Western Pacific", Dennis Shea, chairman of the US-China Economic and Security Review Commission, told reporters Thursday.

Chang spoke at the Fifth Xiangshan Forum, a military affairs conference Beijing has hosted every other year since 2006 and is upgrading to a higher-level dialogue in which defence officials also participate alongside scholars and experts.

Besides Chang, other defence ministers attending included those from Malaysia, Kyrgyzstan, Serbia, Singapore and Tajikistan.

South Korea sent its deputy defence minister for policy, while Chinese ally North Korea appeared not to have dispatched anyone, based on a list of delegations distributed to participants.

No current US Department of Defense officials were included on the list, though at least one uniformed military attache from the US embassy in Beijing was present.

Gary Roughead, a retired admiral who during his career served as chief of US naval operations as well as commander of the US Atlantic and Pacific fleets, attended the conference.


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Washington (AFP) Nov 20, 2014
China's souring foreign investment climate, "unfair" trade practices and inceased military spending heightened tensions between the United States and Beijing in 2014, a US commission said Thursday. Security ties between the two world powers deteriorated this year amid increased territorial disputes in the South China Sea. These potential China-US military confrontations risk escalating i ... read more


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