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Expert: Chinese Navy Will Need Semi-Submersible Vessels of Greater Tonnage in the Future

In the just-concluded U.S.-South Korea "Double Dragon" exercise on the 18th of this month, the U.S. Mobile Landing Platform Ship "Montford Point" played the role of being a mobile offshore port, in which all supply transfers happened at sea. Cao Weidong, a military expert at the China Naval Research Institute, said in an interview with CCTV "Asia Today" that China has built similar equipment known as semi-submersible vessels. The tonnage of the ship, however, is much smaller than the United States’ "Montfort Point." 

Cao Weidong thought that the semi-submersible vessel that China built has many similarities to the U.S. "Montford Point" in shape. They have to perform similar tasks for logistics. China’s semi-submersible vessels serve as a logistical support base, transporting logistical supplies and providing maintenance for combat ships and submarines. In the future, as China’s other naval equipment constantly gets updated, China will require semi-submersible vessels of greater tonnage. 
Source: People’s Daily, March 25, 2016 
http://military.people.com.cn/n1/2016/0325/c1011-28227085.html
Briefings | | |   Defense/Military

Central Military Commission: PLA and Armed Forces to Cease All Paid Service Contract Work

According to Xinhua, the Central Military Commission recently published a notice that requires all PLA and Armed Forces to cease all paid service contract work. The notice called it a “major political task” related to the ongoing development of the army. The notice stated that, effective immediately, no new projects will be launched, no existing projects will be renewed, and any projects that can be stopped through negotiation must end. The notice also included rules and guidelines to implement the direction and calling all military units to execute the plan with “strong political consciences and a sense of responsibility.” The article said that the Commission plans to spend the next three years on implementing the plan.

Source: Xinhua, March 27, 2016
http://news.xinhuanet.com/politics/2016-03/27/c_1118454667.htm

Briefings | | |   Defense/Military

China to Amend Armed Police Force Law

Last Wednesday, People’s Liberation Army Daily reported that Sun Sijing, Political Commissar of the People’s Armed Police Force (PAPF) and a People’s Congress representative attending the National People’s Congress in Beijing, submitted a proposal seeking an amendment that would put the PAPF exclusively under the command of the Central Military Commission headed by Xi Jinping. 

According to Sun, the proposal to amend the law was based on the need to codify Xi Jinping’s recent guidance on the Armed Police Force and to implement the responsibility of the Chairman of the Central Military Commission. "Our Constitution established the responsibility of the Chairman of the Central Military Commission as an important part of the system. The Armed Police Force is part of the national armed forces. This major principle, that the Armed Police Force must follow the command of the Chairman of the Central Military Commission, must be written into law in order to ensure that the Party’s Central Committee, the Central Military Commission, and President Xi Jinping have firm supreme command of the armed forces."
[Editor’s Note: The current Armed Police Force Law, passed in 2009, states that PAPF is under the dual leadership of the State Council and the Central Military Commission.] 

Source: National People’s Congress, March 8, 2016 
http://www.npc.gov.cn/npc/dbdhhy/12_4/2016-03/08/content_1973601.htm

Briefings | | |   Defense/Military

Kyodo Chinese: Many Chinese Warships Gathered Around U.S. Aircraft Carrier

Major Japanese news agency Kyodo recently reported in its Chinese edition that the U.S. nuclear aircraft carrier USS John Stennis and its battle group fleet started its mission in the South China Sea. A large number of Chinese warships gathered to monitor them. Chinese media referenced this report rather widely. The report said, according to the U.S. Department of Defense and the U.S. Navy Seventh Fleet, that the aircraft carrier battle group started its “routine exercises in the Western Pacific region.” Aircraft from the carrier had been sent out for certain tasks. This aircraft carrier mission was widely considered to be a response to China’s missile and radar deployments in the same region. USS Stennis Captain Hoffman told the reporter that he “had never seen that many Chinese warships gathered together.” 
Source: Kyodo Chinese, March 5, 2016
https://china.kyodonews.jp/news/2016/03/115983.html
Briefings | | |   Defense/Military

Expert: U.S. Can Monitor Nearly Half of China if “THAAD” Enters Korea

How much harm can the "THAAD" Missile System do to China if it enters Korea? CCTV interviewed Chinese military expert Du Wenlong, who said that, if the THAAD system is deployed in Korea, the United States will further improve its capability of reconnaissance and surveillance activity in China. Previously, U.S. ships and planes had to come close to China’s territory to conduct surveillance, covering the surface above the water, under the water, the air, and any other range. If the "THAAD" enters Korea, the U.S. military will increase its reconnaissance capabilities deep into China’s hinterland and will have a combination of fixed and mobile reconnaissance and surveillance. It can do real-time monitoring and continuous surveillance of different launch activities in China. This will have a serious impact on China’s national security. 

In addition, the "THAAD" system deployed in South Korea will extend U.S. strategic surveillance "eyes" farther, and further expand the scope of monitoring and surveillance of China. Nearly half of China’s national territory is within its monitoring range. If its radar system improves further in the future, the reconnaissance range will be even greater. 

Source: People’s Daily, February 26, 2016 
http://military.people.com.cn/n1/2016/0226/c1011-28151263.html

Briefings | | |   Defense/Military

Major General: Four Bottom Lines for the North Korean Nuclear Issue

On February 24, 2016, Luo Yuan, a retired People’s Liberation Army (PLA) Major General and Chinese military theorist, published an opinion article on Huanqiu, a People’s Daily publication, on the subject of North Korea’s nuclear program. He stated that China must have four bottom lines when handling North Korea. 

The first is that any chaos in North Korea cannot spread to the Chinese side of the Yalu River. "Once unrest starts on the peninsula, the safety of the China-Korea border will be the first thing that is endangered. Why should China pay for the irresponsible act of someone else?" 
The second is that any military action that North Korea takes cannot take place beyond the Korean Demilitarized Zone (DMZ). Luo stated that the DMZ was the result of the Korean Armistice Agreement that multiple parties signed and also that North Korea’s research on and development of long-range offensive and defensive weapons and related military deployment and actions violate the Korean Armistice Agreement. 
The third is that North Korea cannot have nuclear weapons. Luo stated that, although North Korea has the right to the peaceful use of nuclear energy, such a right cannot be abused. Countries, particularly the United States, that want North Korea to abandon its nuclear program, should compensate it for such abandonment and should resume the Agreed Framework. 
The last is that any sanctions cannot be excessive and cannot harm China’s national interest. 
Source: Huanqiu, February 24, 2016 
http://opinion.huanqiu.com/1152/2016-02/8592564.html
Briefings | | |   Defense/Military

Major General: “Kill the Enemy to Open a Bloody Path” for Military Reform

Xinhua republished an article from Guangming Daily on military reform. The author Zhang Chuanjia, a Major General and a consultant to the Central Military Commission’s Military Reform Leading Group, indicated that military reform is facing severe obstructions.

Zhang stated, "Any existing system that has formed has a structure in which vested interests co-exist within that structure. This [military] reform intends to break that structure apart. From past experience, we have seen that almost all excuses given for blocking reform had the intention of covering up the real motivation, which was to protect vested interests. Therefore, if we don’t show the determination to ‘kill the enemy in order to open a bloody path,’ we can’t cut down the fence protecting the vested interests and we can’t make progress on military reform."

Zhang, in the later part of his article, stressed that carrying out military reform should be viewed as a political battle.

Source: Xinhua, February 18, 2016
http://news.xinhuanet.com/mil/2016-02/18/c_128729392.htm

Briefings | | |   Defense/Military

Djibouti: China Will Soon Start Naval Base Construction

BBC Chinese recently reported that Djibouti President Ismail Omar Guelleh told the media that China will soon begin construction work on China’s naval base. The Northeast African country of Djibouti is located on the west bank of the Gulf of Aden, which holds the entrance to the Red Sea and the Suez Canal. It’s a country with strategic geographic importance. Both the United States and France have naval bases in Djibouti, which supports the mission of battling the Somali pirates. However, Djibouti is one of the poorest countries in Africa. It is expecting to attract US$12.4 billion in investments in order to achieve the goal of becoming an international transportation hub. The Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs once explained that China’s plan in Djibouti also involves providing logistic supplies to its fleets fighting the pirates. At this moment, there are no further details on the timing of the construction and on the scale of China’s personnel deployment. 
Source: BBC Chinese, February 3, 2016
http://www.bbc.com/zhongwen/simp/world/2016/02/160203_djibouti_china_military_base
Briefings | | |   Defense/Military