US THAAD could take down Chinese missiles from SK

Intercepting potential Chinese missile attacks over the East China Sea is one of the capabilities the US would gain if it successfully deploys its Terminal High Altitude Area Defense System to South Korea, according to the party mouthpiece Global Times.

The defense system, also known as THAAD, is an air missile designed by Lockheed Martin as part of the US Theater Missile Defense system in the Asia-Pacific Region. With the help of the AN/TPY-2 X-band radar, the THAAD is able to detect and intercept ballistic missiles launched more than 1,000km away. Its range would extend over the East China Sea and could be used to intercept missiles from China. 

Last year, the United States tried to convince South Korea to join the Theater Missile Defense system through allowing the deployment of the X-band radar to the island of Baengnyeongdo, which sits on the border between the North and South Korea. 

The idea was turned down by South Korea's defense minister Kim Kwan-jin over concerns that the deployment would irritate Beijing and lead it to believe that the country was trying to contain China in an alliance with Japan and the US, according to the Seoul Shinmun.

The range of the air defense system fars exceeds North Korean territory, leading professor Kim Hung-gyu from Seoul's Sungshin Womens University to believe the US is trying to provoke South Korea into conflict with Beijing. This would make South Korea a pawn in a US-Japan crusade against China, according to Kim.

China military planes flew close to disputed isles

Chinese military planes, mostly fighter jets, made more than 40 flights close to Tokyo-controlled islands at the centre of a territorial dispute on a single day this week, a press report said on Saturday.

The flights took place on Tuesday, when eight Chinese marine surveillance ships entered the 12-nautical-mile territorial zone off the islands in the East China Sea, which Japan calls the Senkakus and China calls the Diaoyus, the Sankei Shimbun newspaper reported.

The conservative daily, citing senior government officials, said F-15 fighter planes from an airbase on the Japanese island of Okinawa scrambled to intercept the Chinese aircraft which flew in waves towards the skies over the islands.

"It was an unprecedented threat," one of the officials was quoted as saying.

Another said: "If such a show of force continues, it is feared it could lead to a situation where the (Japanese) air defence force may not be able to cope."

The report said the military planes included updated Sukhoi Su-27 and Su-30 fighter aircraft.

The report, which did not say whether the planes intruded into Japan's airspace, could not be immediately confirmed by Japan's Defence Ministry.

Chinese government ships have frequently sailed around the five Tokyo-controlled islands in recent months sparking diplomatic clashes.

But Tuesday's flotilla was the biggest to sail into the disputed waters in a single day since Tokyo nationalised part of the island chain in September.

On December 13, a Y-12 turbo-prop plane from China's State Oceanic Administration breached airspace over the disputed islands, prompting the launch of Japanese F-15s.

It was the first known incursion ever by a Chinese plane into Japanese airspace, the government said at the time.

China Calls Planned U.S.-Japan Drills 'Provocative'

China says Japan's decision to participate in joint military exercises with the United States will not dampen its resolve to defend its claim to a disputed island chain that has been a recurring source of tension between the Asian neighbors.

In reference to the joint drills, planned for June, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying said "foreign pressure" cannot sway China from protecting its territorial sovereignty in the East China Sea.

"For any related provocative actions, the Chinese government will maintain a resolute response," Hua was quoted by Reuters as saying during a regular media briefing.

On Tuesday, patrol craft from the two countries squared off in a game of oceangoing chicken near the disputed islands, known by Japan as Senkaku and to China as Diaoyu.

The Wall Street Journal from Tokyo that on Tuesday:

"China sent eight maritime-patrol ships to the waters surrounding small East China Sea islands controlled by Tokyo but claimed by Beijing, saying it was responding to the 'illegal entry' of boats piloted by Japanese activists into its waters. The Chinese flotilla was the largest Beijing had sent to the area since September, when the current dispute flared up following Japan's decision to nationalize the islands."

Foreign Policy magazine writes that "the Senkaku-Diaoyu Islands dispute has been marked by an increasing number of deliberate provocations on both sides: surveillance vessels enteringnearby waters, patrol planes making passes by the islands, scrambled fighter jets. These are planned actions, designed to incrementally heighten tensions. But the more fighter jets that get scrambled without good communications systems in place, the higher the chances that these deliberate moves escalate beyond what either Japan or China is anticipating."

As we've reported in the past, this particular dispute is just one of several in Asian waters that has placed China at odds with its maritime neighbors for decades and has even resulted in brief clashes on occasion.

Reuters quotes U.S. Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Martin Dempsey as telling reporters in Beijing on Wednesday on the last day of his trip to China that he had reminded Chinese officials of U.S. obligations to Japan.

"Our position is that we don't take a position on territorial issues. In the case of Japan in particular, however, I was careful to remind them that we do have certain treaty obligations with Japan that we would honor," he said.

China has launched the first ship in a new class of stealth missile frigates, state media reported Tuesday, amid ongoing tensions with neighboring countries over Beijing's maritime claims.

The People's Liberation Army Navy is building a total of 20 Type 056 Jiangdao class frigates to replace older models and bolster its ability to conduct patrols and escort ships and submarines in waters it claims in the South China and East China seas.

The first in the class, No. 582, was formally delivered to the navy on Monday in Shanghai, which is home to one of the country's largest complexes of naval shipyards, according to the official Xinhua News Agency and the navy's official website.

Newly promoted navy commander Wu Shengli attended the delivery ceremony, the reports said, an indication of the importance with which the service regards the new ships' mission.

The helicopter-equipped ships feature a sleek design to reduce clutter and make them harder to spot by radar and are armed with anti-ship and anti-aircraft missiles. They also need a crew of just 60, two-thirds fewer than older vessels, a major advantage that should boost efficiency and relieve burdens in training and recruitment. At 1,440 tons fully loaded, is considerably smaller than U.S. Navy frigates, and is categorized by some observers as a member of the smaller class of ship known as corvettes.

China's navy has so far stayed aloof from the island disputes in order to avoid further escalating tensions, with patrol ships from the Ministry of Transportation and other government agencies dispatched instead to assert China's territorial claims.

However, China has made no secret of its desire to extend its navy's global reach, and the service has received considerable attention in China's military modernization. China's first aircraft carrier, the overhauled Soviet-era Liaoning, entered service last year, while a growing array of nuclear submarines and ultra-modern surface ships are also joining the fleet.

Tokyo: Seven Chinese Navy Ships Near Japanese Island

Japan says it has spotted seven Chinese naval ships near one of its islands, as tensions between the two Asian powers remain high over a territorial dispute in the East China Sea.

Japan's Defense Ministry says the Chinese ships were spotted early Tuesday by Japanese aircraft about 50 kilometers outside Yonaguni Island, Japan's westernmost island.

The ministry said the ships were in the contiguous zone, an area just outside Japan's territorial waters in which Japan has certain rights under international law.

China has increasingly sent ships to patrol Japanese-controlled areas since September, when Japan nationalized a group of islands claimed by Beijing. So far there have been no clashes.

The uninhabited islands at the center of the dispute are called Senkaku in Japan and Diaoyu in China. They are surrounded by valuable fishing grounds and potential energy deposits.

Japan says it purchased some the islands from their private Japanese landowners to ensure their stability. But Beijing has responded furiously, saying they are part of their “sacred territory” since ancient times.

Big U.S. Fleet Nears Disputed Islands, But What For?

Aircraft carriers USS John C. Stennis, front, and USS George Washington sail in formation with an escort vessel during a training exercise in waters near Guam, earlier this month.

It’s probably just a coincidence; no need to worry yet. But the U.S. has quietly assembled a powerful air, land and sea armada not far from where Japan and China are squaring off over disputed islands in the East China Sea.

Two Navy aircraft carrier battle groups and a Marine Corps air-ground task force have begun operating in the Western Pacific, within easy reach of the Senkaku Islands. That’s where Japanese and Chinese patrol boats are engaged in an increasingly tense standoff.

Chinese vessels have repeatedly entered territorial waters around the small islands in recent weeks and Coast Guard vessels from Japan and Taiwan fired water cannons at each other last week. The islands are controlled and administered by Japan, but claimed by both China and Taiwan.

No warships have been directly involved in the confrontations, so far. But China has vowed to continue sending patrol vessels into territorial waters and Japan has assembled scores of Coast Guard vessels to “defend” the islands.

The U.S. hasn’t taken sides in the ownership dispute, and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has called for “cooler heads” to prevail. Nonetheless, U.S. officials have stated clearly that the Senkakus fall under the U.S.-Japan security treaty, which would require the U.S. to come to Japan’s aid in case of attack.

Navy officials confirmed Sunday that the USS George Washington carrier strike group has begun operating in the East China Sea, near the disputed islands. The USS John C. Stennis group is only slightly further away in the South China Sea. Each carrier is armed with more than 80 warplanes, and strike groups typically include guided-missile cruisers and destroyers, submarines and supply ships.

In the nearby Philippine Sea, some 2,200 Marines are embarked aboard the USS Bonhomme Richard and two escorts. The Marines are equipped with amphibious assault vehicles, light armored vehicles, artillery, helicopters and Harrier fighter jets.

Carrier groups and Marine task forces often operate alone, so the convergence of the three groups in a relatively small part of the Pacific represents an unusual concentration of firepower. All three are fresh from training exercises in and around Guam. Those exercises included live-fire with missiles and joint beach landings by U.S. Marines and Japanese ground troops.

A spokesman for the U.S. Pacific Command says the training missions and carrier deployments are not necessarily related to the Senkaku tensions.  The islands are called Diaoyu in China, and Tiaoyutai in Taiwan.

“These operations are not tied to any specific event,” said Capt. Darryn James, a spokesman for the U.S. Pacific Command in Honolulu.  “As part of the U.S. commitment to regional security, two of the Navy’s 11 global force carrier strike groups are operating in the Western Pacific to help safeguard stability and peace.”

In truth, the carrier and Marine deployments may have as much to do with the “re-balancing” of U.S. forces in the Asia-Pacific region, and with an unrelated crisis in the Middle East, as with the squabble in the East China Sea.

The George Washington battle group and the Marine task force, both based in Japan, were scheduled to conduct separate but overlapping exercises in the Guam region well before the Senkaku dispute heated up. Guam and nearby Tinian Island have been tabbed as a hub for the “re-balancing” of U.S. forces in the region — a hedge against China’s growing military power and ambitions in the region.

The Stennis is being sent from its homeport in Washington state to the Persian Gulf, four months ahead of schedule in response to the escalating crisis over Iran’s nuclear program. The Guam exercises allowed the Stennis to grab a few days of extra training with the George Washington group en route. The Senkakus are situated close to the major sea routes from Pacific to Mideast; it is unclear if the Stennis group is simply passing, by or will remain awhile.

The Marines, meanwhile, were expected to move from Guam to the Philippines for previously scheduled training with the Philippines military.

Navy spokesman James said he could not comment on future ship movements.

Although significant oil and gas deposits may exist within the islands’ territorial waters or exclusive economic zone, the Senkaku dispute has centered largely on old grievances and resurgent nationalism. U.S. officials have privately expressed frustration with the lack of diplomatic progress in resolving the dispute. China placed two-page ads in major U.S. newspapers this weekend, accusing Japan of “stealing” the islands and citing claims that date back hundreds of years.

The Senkakus are located about 100 miles (160 km) northeast of Taiwan and about 200 miles (320 km) east of the Chinese mainland.

While the big U.S. fleet might have been intended as a warning to China not to escalate the islands dispute, it may have been intended to focus Japan’s attention, as well.

Or, it could have been a coincidence.