China

Russian Ships Visit Hong Kong, Boost Regional Presence

The military of Russia has warships visiting the port of Hong Kong for the first time in modern history in a non-official port call.

The Russians two ships, the guided missile cruiser Varyag and the tanker Pechenga, are based with the Russian Pacific Fleet at Vladivostok. And the purpose of the public visit is two-fold. It is a Russian attempt to boost their presence in the region where they haven’t been in a very long time and it shows a thawing of relations between Russia and China. And a third unstated purpose is to thumb their nose at the United States, who have been visiting the port of Hong Kong since the British settled there in the 1840s.

While port calls to Hong Kong by the US Navy are common, there has been no such arrangement for the Russian Navy.

Hong Kong is final stop for the two ships before returning to their home base. They also visited Busan in South Korea, Manila, Cam Ranh Bay in Vietnam, Sattahip in Thailand and Singapore.
The visit to Hong Kong was aimed to strengthen Sino-Russian relations, Captain Alexey Ulianenko, commander of the detachment, said on Monday.
It was possible that the ships might also visit other cities in China and Japan on the current deployment, said another senior officer, Alexander Gorbachevsky, but no such orders had been received so far.
“Although the Varyag is not that advanced in modern military technology, it can still impress countries like the Philippines and Vietnam, who have competing maritime interests with China. In this way, Russia is taking advantage of China’s trust to sail in the South China Sea and perhaps secure business or even military deals.”
Commissioned in 1989 for the Soviet Navy, the Varyag features an array of deadly anti-ship, anti-sub and anti-aircraft weaponry. It has a crew of 520 and a maximum of speed of 32 knots (59km/h).

The Russians under Putin, continue to expand their influence and their fleet, while not up to the Soviet Union size is a formidable foe. And it least for now, with the Chinese and Russians cooperating, it will give the US more to think about in the region. “The enemy of my enemy is my friend.”

To read the entire article from South China Morning Post click here:

Photo courtesy SCMP

North Korea Fires Scud Ballistic Missile into the Sea of Japan

The North Koreans are it again, test firing a Scud-type ballistic missile that successfully launched and landed in the Sea of Japan off Korea’s east coast. This was the latest in a series of missile tests that the reclusive, belligerent nation has conducted in recent weeks.

This latest test unleashed a protest from Japan who stated that the missile landed in their exclusive economic zone. President Trump, returning from a weeklong trip overseas was briefed on the situation. Secretary of Defense Jim Mattis spoke on television about the latest developments and was asked what a conflict in Korea would be like answering, “probably the worst kind of fighting in most people’s lifetimes”.

The missile was believed to be a Scud-class ballistic missile and flew about 450 km (280 miles), South Korean officials said. North Korea has a large stockpile of the short-range missiles, originally developed by the Soviet Union.
Monday’s launch followed two successful tests of medium- to long-range missiles in as many weeks by the North, which has been conducting such tests at an unprecedented pace in an effort to develop an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) capable of hitting the mainland United States.
North Korea likely showing its determination to push ahead in the face of international pressure to rein in its missile program and “to pressure the (South Korean) government to change its policy on the North”, South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff spokesman Roh Jae-cheon said.
It was the third ballistic missile test-launch since South Korea’s liberal President Moon Jae-in took office on May 10 pledging to engage with the reclusive neighbor in dialogue.

The Russians called for restraint in the area while Pyongyang’s protector, China, in a statement to the UN’s Security Council that the council’s resolutions had ‘clear rules’ and urged the North Korean government to follow them.

In a statement from the Foreign Ministry, China stated, “The situation on the Korean peninsula is complex and sensitive, and we hope all relevant sides maintain calm and exercise restraint, ease the tense situation as soon as possible and put the issue back on the correct track of peaceful dialogue.”

To read the entire article from the Reuters click here:

Photo courtesy BBC

Chinese Launch Aircraft Carrier a Sign of Increased Power In Asia

The Chinese have launched the country’s second aircraft carrier, but the first to be manufactured domestically as they grow in power and look to project it more and more in the region.

The unnamed carrier should be operational by 2020 and for now, will continue to be outfitted in the port city of Dalian. With tensions running high around North Korea with the US, the Chinese will be looking to counter the US at every turn.

The Chinese have one operational carrier, the Liaoning, which was a Soviet-style carrier that the country bought from the Ukraine and has refurbished. While technologically not on par with their US counterparts, it carries 50 aircraft and can be a formidable weapon.

The sight of a bottle of champagne hitting the bow of a new Chinese-built aircraft carrier will worry many.
Western military intelligence will be poring over the television footage. For them it’s not emotional: cold calculations are being made.
They see a not quite finished vessel, a few years from full service, partly based on Soviet-era design.
It’s technologically inferior to the ten aircraft carriers being used by the United States Navy – but there’s no doubt that it’s a big step for China.
China’s aircraft carrier programme is a state secret, but it’s hard to imagine this country being satisfied with two of them.
The US says all options are on the table to remove North Korea’s nuclear weapons – and it is using the USS Carl Vinson battle group to press the point.

The carrier’s launch was attended by Fan Changlong, the vice-president of China’s central military commission. It will be powered by conventional propulsion rather than nuclear. And according to Chinese military sources, the carrier will carry the Chinese J-15 aircraft which are based on the Russian SU-33 design. They are rumored to be a “semi-stealth” variant.

To read the entire article from The BBC click here:

Photo courtesy Reuters