Defense/Military - 9. page

Recently Australia and New Zealand expressed security concerns over Communist China’s working with the Solomon Islands government on treaties having to do with economic development, police training, and a military base (see Chinascope briefing: China and the Solomon Islands Deepen their Police and Military Ties.

Sky News Australia obtained a letter from a large state-owned enterprise in China. It showed that Beijing planned to build a naval base in the Solomon Islands. It was dated back as early as 2020. The letter, dated September 29, 2020, was from China’s Aviation Industry Corporation of China (AVIC) International (AVIC-INTL) to former Governor of Isabel Province Leslie Kikolo. The first paragraph of the letter read:

“We, AVIC-INTL PROJECT ENGINEERING COMPANY, in partnership with CHINA SAM ENTERPRISE GROUP LTD, present this letter to demonstrate our intention to study the opportunity to develop naval and infrastructure projects on leased land for the People’s Liberation Army Navy in Isabel Province with exclusive right for 75 years.”

Source: Radio Free Asia, April 7, 2020
https://www.rfa.org/cantonese/news/paper-04072022072039.html

Guancha, a Shanghai based news and commentary aggregation service in China, reported that, recently, the Solomon Islands signed a police assistance treaty with China. and “some people got really worried.”

China’s Embassy in the Solomon Islands reported that, on March 14, China’s police advisory team and the Solomon Islands police held an opening ceremony for a Sino-Solomon Islands Police Training Class. Hon. Anthony Veke, Minister of the Police of the Solomon Islands spoke at the ceremony. He expressed sincere gratitude to China for providing COVID prevention materials, police equipment, and police training. He hoped all trainees will proactively study China’s police knowledge, skills, and tactics, efficiently use China provided equipment, and quickly improve their skills in handling riots and sudden events.

On March 22, the Solomon Islands Ministry of Police website showed that its police in the training had started using the simulated guns that China had provided.

The Guancha article then stated, “Some people got really worried” about the cooperation plan. Both the Australian and New Zealand governments expressed their “concerns” about the impact of the Sino-Solomon Islands military cooperation on the (South Pacific’s) regional security.

Reuters reported that the Solomon Islands government confirmed that it was “diversifying the country’s security partnership including that with China,” and that it would sign off on a number of agreements with Beijing “to further create a secure and safe environment for local and foreign investments.” Reuters later reported on a leaked draft security treaty that would allow China’s armed police and its military to protect Chinese projects that are in the Solomon Islands.

Source:
1. Guancha, March 25, 2022
https://www.guancha.cn/internation/2022_03_25_631859.shtml
2. Reuter, March 25, 2022
https://www.cnbc.com/2022/03/25/australia-nz-concerned-as-solomon-islands-confirm-china-security-deal.html
3. Reuter, March 28, 2022
https://www.reuters.com/world/asia-pacific/solomons-prime-minister-says-will-not-pick-sides-confirms-security-negotiations-2022-03-28/

Global Times recently summarized and commented on Taiwanese media reports about the event that on February 26th  eight Mainland Chinese military aircraft “harassed” the southwestern airspace of Taiwan’s Air Defense Identification Zone. This occurred while the USS Johnson missile destroyer was passing through the Taiwan Strait. The aircraft from the Mainland  included J-16 and J-11 fighter jets and a Yun-8 anti-submarine aircraft. The Eastern Theater Command of the Chinese military has organized troops to monitor the U.S. warship’s passing operations. The U.S. has carried out this provocative act and attempted to support Taiwan by making some gestures. It is both hypocritical and futile. The spokesperson of the Chinese Ministry of Defense said that, since 2021, the Chinese military has regularly organized bombers, reconnaissance planes, and fighter planes to conduct patrols and combat drills approaching the surrounding area of Taiwan. The actual number of planes dispatched will only be more, not less than the number hyped by the Taiwan media. The goal is very clear, and that is to take decisive action to counter the vicious actions of forces inside and outside of the island who frequently collude and challenge the one-China principle. The Taiwan Air Force claimed on the evening of the 26th that, for the eight Mainland military aircraft, the Taiwan Air Force sent air patrol forces to respond and broadcasted that they would drive them away, and they conducted active monitoring of the anti-aircraft missile system in place.

Source: Global Times, February 27, 2022
https://taiwan.huanqiu.com/article/46z18H1igqE

Global Times, an English-language Chinese newspaper under People’s Daily recently reported that Japan is working on electromagnetic railgun technology to counter hypersonic missiles. This is because Japan is eager to deal with hypersonic weapons from China, Russia, and North Korea. The country has emphasized the need to strengthen deterrence against China. However, while Japan is exaggerating the threat of hypersonic weapons from other countries and making excuses for its own military spending, Japan is also actively developing offensive weapons including hypersonic missiles. Japan’s Defense Ministry is working on rail-gun technology that can fire artillery shells through electromagnetic acceleration, which means they can be fired faster than conventional interceptor systems and can fire continuously. Along with long-range missiles, this next-generation weapon system will provide Japan with multiple layers of interception capabilities. Hypersonic weapons typically travel at more than five times the speed of sound. In November last year, the Financial Times reported that, in August 2021, China conducted a test of a hypersonic weapon saying that the weapon could launch missiles during flight. North Korea also claimed to have conducted a new test of its Hwasong-8 hypersonic missile in September last year. Russian President Vladimir Putin has previously stated that, in 2022, Russia plans to deploy hypersonic cruise missiles.  Japanese policymakers see hypersonic weapons as the next generation of military weapons and believe Japan must immediately strengthen its deterrent capabilities, especially against China.

Source: Global Times, January 5, 2022
https://mil.huanqiu.com/article/46H3xOyIBJS

The think tank Center for Strategic and International Studies reported that, in photos released by the Cambodian government and commercial satellite images, Chinese dredgers can be seen near Cambodia’s Ream naval base.

The Asia Maritime Transparency Initiative (AMTI) said deepening the port is necessary for big warships to use it and that this is part of a secret agreement between China and Cambodia. It quoted a Wall Street Journal report in 2019 that this agreement would allow the People’s Liberation Army to use the Ream naval base in exchange for Beijing providing money to improve the base’s infrastructure.

Source: Epoch Times, January 22, 2022.
https://www.epochtimes.com/gb/22/1/22/n13522623.htm.