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China Deploys Artillery On "Sand Castles" In South China Sea
When last we checked in on what has to this point been a war only of words (although that could change quickly) between the US and China over the latter’s island-building efforts in the South China Sea, Beijing had just issued its 2015 defense white paper which signaled a shift in focus from “offshore waters defense” to “open seas protection” and also indicated that the PLA Air Force would move towards “offensive” strategies.
This was essentially a thinly-veiled reference to the country’s intention to set up what will effectively be a no-fly zone over the islands it’s built atop reefs in the Spratly archipelago. Earlier this month, a US spy plane had a close encounter of the PLA kind when a PA-8 Poseidon carrying a CNN crew was told to “Go Now!” by the Chinese Navy when the surveillance aircraft came too close to Fiery Cross Reef.
Washington has responded with all manner of amusing rhetoric including the characterization of China’s islands as “sand castles”. The US is also set to conduct war games with regional allies in a show of maritime force.
Now, the US says it has detected artillery on one of the man-made islands. WSJ has more:
U.S. surveillance imagery shows China has positioned weaponry on one of the artificial islands it is developing in the South China Sea, American officials said, supporting their suspicions that Beijing has been building up reefs for military purposes.
The U.S. imagery detected two Chinese motorized artillery pieces on one of the artificial islands built by China about one month ago. While the artillery wouldn’t pose a threat to U.S. planes or ships, U.S. officials said it could reach neighboring islands and that its presence was at odds with China’s public statements that the reclaimed islands are mainly for civilian use…
American officials said that the equipment more recently has either been removed or purposely obscured from view by the Chinese. It was unclear how or why the equipment was no longer visible...
A Chinese Embassy spokesman in Washington wouldn’t comment specifically on the weaponry, but said its development work within the Spratly Islands—known by the Chinese as the Nansha Islands—was primarily civilian.
“It needs to be emphasized that the Nansha Islands is China’s territory, and China has every right to deploy on relevant islands and reefs necessary facilities for military defense,” said Zhu Haiquan, the spokesman for the Chinese embassy. “However, the facilities on relevant islands and reefs are primarily for civilian purposes.”
Of course, China isn’t the only country to have built “sand castles” in the region, but it is the only country to have done so that isn’t a US ally, which Beijing quite plausibly contends is the reason for Washington’s hostility:
Ms. Hua and other Chinese officials assert that Washington has a double standard, criticizing the U.S. for being “selectively mute” about construction activities carried out by other countries in the region.
She didn’t name those claimants, but Vietnam, Taiwan, Malaysia and the Philippines have also engaged in reclamation and other work in areas they control.
“If it’s not a double standard, then there must be some hidden motives behind that,” Ms. Hua said at a daily media briefing.
Washington’s response: size matters.
U.S. officials said the reclamation efforts by those countries are on a far smaller scale than China.
In sum, China has created some 1,500 acres of new sovereign territory this year alone and has indicated it will defend that territory just as it would the mainland. That's a problem, says US Defense Secretary Ash Carter who told an audience in Hawaii that make "no mistake", the US intends to "fly, sail, and operate wherever international law allows, as [it] does all around the world."
Clearly, Beijing's position cannot coexist peacefully with Washington's position which is why we continue to believe a shooting sand castle showdown may be in the cards.
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Agree with other posters that this is not artillery. It is likely surface to air missiles. What would you shoot artillery at on a small island?
The most likely reason for calling it artillery is because the MSM is too stupid to tell the difference between artillery and SAMs (reference Mini-14s being called machine guns by the MSM) - either that, or the US does not want to risk the press asking why we might still want to fly spy planes over an island with SAMs!
USSA - not happy unless it's making a sand castle out of a sand dune, FFS the hypocrisy is astounding.
I prefer the term coastal defense batteries.
Hm. maybe we should get Elon Musk to help.
Well. If you put work into it, it is yours. From a moral point of view, I support China owning the things its builds, as long as they are not in some one else's territorial waters. Of course I know the issue is not the simple when it is disputed territory.
Better be careful of those Chineese, they have a used aircraft carrier.
"Better be careful of those Chineese, they have a used aircraft carrier."
Better be careful of those Chineese, they have 70+ submarines in the China South Sea.
fify
And they have a couple hundred fighters bearing missiles within 15 minutes flight time.
roadhazmat,
Your icon is perfect. Your insight could use glasses.
http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2015-05-27/who-would-win-conflict-south-ch...
Aircraft Carriers in the next war will become tombs. With the advent of hypersonic missiles and other modern weaponry they are pretty much useless except for show sakes to nations with little or no defense capabilities.
this is a step towards China taking Taiwan
it will happen
The blockade will happen
The US will respond like before
But this time it will not be a trial run
Russia will then hit the US from over the north
This will be a Chinese sucker punch
With Russian roundhouse knockout following
Don't be in a big hurry for this to happen
but it will happen
Taiwan? I was thinking more of Sandwich.
How do I open a KFC or Starbucks or brothel on the isand?
all the brothel medallions have already been taken. The best you can hope for is a position as an Uber cunt.
Those things are barely above sea level. One good tidal wave and its over.
US track record with Pacific island fighting - "it-a-not-a-so-good"
I don't think the US leadership is insane enough to actually do anything about these 'sandcastles'. They'll bluster, they''l pout, but in the end they won't jepordize the flow of chinese goods into the US, a flow which makes many of them very wealthy.
That, and I don't see how the US wins a war against China, unless it goes nuclear.
Insanity knows no limit.
I can say without hesitation, the US .gov has NOT reached peak insanity. they're just getting warmed up.
de escull late eye says.
we need those iwatches
the ships must sail from china lands
regardless of sprach lie
archi pela go
President Obama told the Chinese we wanted to have bases on the Spratleys and the next war will be staged betweed China/NATO for US benefit
.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XspsJACj8WY
Some practicing going on in Yemen right now!
"Let's see who complains if we do THAT.
Then LATER it won't seem so nasty after all."
All of Pentacon Kill Industries foreign "assets" will be taken over by China in the not so distant future in lieu of debt that can never be repaid by the Anglozionazi Empire of Chaos. Spratley is very very small fish in comparison to when USSA finally gets shafted.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=915JZnIjFmg
Artillery? What, is this place a museum?
Arguing over man-made sandbars? Ha, what a sad empire you are DC. What's next...making a criminal example out of people who run a children's game?
Hahahaha! Oh, wait...
hey if we can pump 136 rounds into an unarmed suspect, sitting in a parked car, we can definitely take care of those sandanistas, errrr, sandabaras, ummmm, sand monkeys.
Here's a cute little article that points out the blatant hypocrisy of the u.s.s.a and the West in general.
http://www.npr.org/sections/parallels/2015/04/16/399845336/hope-builds-f...
Do as we say,,, not as we do.
Well, if it was artillery it would make minor sense, that will keep off anyone without an aircraft carrier, and it's very cheap. I wonder if they think the island is large enough that just moving a hundred yards is good enough to dodge stuff incoming only on GPS. Hmm.
But we have a secret plan: rising sea levels. Obama will now fully embrace global warming, give every welfare recipient a surplus Humvee and an unlimited gas card, and goodbye sand castles!
Quick, apply Sanctions and make loud bombastic badly produced "there will be costs" speeches ...
If China shoot overflying aircraft down the US are likely to back right off as usual....
Whatever. Put some mobile ICBMs on those islands or GTFO.
The USA government IS crazy enough to start wars. Their only leash is their own people. And we all know - they - are busy with the next vacation, phone and/or car.... The world is f...ked until USA is in default.
Shutterbug,
I don't see any good coming of the mess of debt across the globe. When the USA defaults, the world will not be better off? The elites might make out fine; USA financed wars will end, but the average folks across the world are going to go through a hard transition and millions will die in wars started by yet other tyrants.
Goddamnit, let the kids play in the sand, leave them the fuck alone.....
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Help! Malaysia FLT 007! Our aircraft has been remotely controlled. We pilots are locked out. We are flying towards the new Chinaman islands!!
Breaking news. They just located the missing Malasian airliner. It's in the last hanger on Diego Garcia ... next to the mass grave.
"Chinaman islands"
Awesome
Bath House signs new EO increasing his claim to all water on the earth. The Chinamen must now pay rent.
"U.S. officials said it could reach neighboring islands and that its presence was at odds with China’s public statements that the reclaimed islands are mainly for civilian use..."
Officials from the same US of A that spends billions on weapons and ammo under the budget heading of Homeland Security???
I am thinking that if the so called leaders of the US and China want to have a war, then they should get their staffs together collect on some deserted island get naked and swing at each other with sticks.
Then when they get tired out, the survivors can grill some steaks, drink some scotch and have gay sex.
It makes so much more sense than sending the kids of hard working and good people to kill each other on behalf of the parasitic sodomites.
This is a Game of Thrones World,where the "Peasants" will always do the dirty work.
.
Must have forgot to ask USA for permission. Fuck You State Dept, Obama, CIA, NSA and Congress
An export duty on Christmas tree lights (and other Xmas shit) will have Obysmal eating out of Xi's hand.
"International law" he said and survived...
Wouldn't these islands just be easy nuclear targets?
Unless they intend to use them in such a way as thinking the US won't get invovled I don't know. You know, like were gona go blow so and so up and if you interfere we're going to war also. You tell me. There has to be some strategic reason for this.
No easier targets than Guam, Midway or Pearl.
Everything except for planes is an easy nuclear target. Regular land based military base won't be able to "dodge" a nuke just as much as this outpost.
USA sunk enormous amounts of money for their carrier fleet and main role of these is to have an airfield and support for a bunch of planes where and when you want it. Here it's a much cheaper alternative (especially considering yearly maintnence) that can occupy only one spot, but is obviously already built in a strategically important spot.
Does said artillery reach out 10,000km? Otherwise leave it alone already.
Let them have their Man-Made islands. Mother Nature will come across at 150 mph and there will be nothing left except water!
I know, MIC doesn't get their cut, asswipes!
Wait 'til they start deploying SAMs, Silkworms, D21s, and parking Fighters, Bombers, Subs, and their Naval Infantry on those...
...and then watch someone get torched for "trespassing".
It's going to escalate sometime. Someone is going to challenge those Outposts.
China is just jealous. The US has military bases all over the world. They won't let China do that so they build their own, LOL.
WEEEELLLLLL, if there were a full-scale war, what is the US then supposed to do? We full time in an RV and ALL we see are people COVERED IN TATTOOS, and piercings, hanging out smoking Ganja, never worked a day in their lives and these are the young men and women ripe to be DRAFTED? This is the issue. On the other side of the Globe, just recall the MARCHING in formation that we saw in the Olympics in China. IT WAS A SIGHT TO BEHOLD and be NERVOUS about. I do not think that weapons alone can cream the enemy. We simply will not do it. When war breaks out, the US will want MANPOWER on the ground, to drag is out, so that the Military Complex can continue to build weapons, oriented to filling orders for all suppliers. The distraction will doom the US. The Chinese and Russians will in the meantime KILL every American possible and we will be mired down in Politics run by nincompops who have not waged a "winning war" anywhere in the world since WWII. THIS WAS PURPOSEFUL but not ON PURPOSE. WINNING is not the aim of US might: CAPITALISM is the focus. So, I am making a point that we are sunk.