Japan says China's military strategy unclear, of serious concern

The international community must come up with one voice to approach China

It has. China is surrounded by an increasingly cohesive group of nations to thwart China, a coalition it cannot beat. They're panicking in Zhongnanhai as their plans go array.

alling for Beijing to explain why it was also rapidly developing its air force, now the third-largest in the world

It is to remove air cover for opposing naval forces to set the theatre for naval battle in the South China Seas.

The United States has no ground-launched cruise missiles, the U.S. data said, after signing arms control agreements with Russia that China is not subject to.

The US abandoned the Intermediate Nuclear Forces Treaty with Russia and has land launched Tomahawks coming probably next year. There will also be an IRBM and a smaller ballistic missile with a Hypersonic Glide Vehicle warhead in two to three years. Because the US has been producing ballistic missile surrogates to use as targets for BMD testing the US has most of the pieces for an IRBM already designed and qualified, lacking only suitable guidance and a warhead. One of the targets is based on the old Pershing II. The Navy will also have some sort of ballistic missile sharing the same HGV used by the Army for shipboard or submarine launch.

Japan said on Thursday China's military intentions are unclear 

They're trying to establish military dominance throughout the whole region so whatever dictates they decide to fling out will have muscle backing it. They're going to become more demanding and belligerent.

They're the new scourge for regional peace and stability.

Don't keep investing in them or allow them to invest in yours. Don't honor them and feed their ego by giving them international sporting events, forums etc.

The problem for both militaries will be finding their adversaries warships among the many hundreds of merchant ships in those same waters, especially at night or when there is cloud cover and the warships employ EMCON. Use your radars on the receive mode only. Maybe you only radiate a single navigation radar. Looks just like a merchant ship to your adversaries ELINT. Use signal lights to communicate instead of radio. No way to tell who you are from your emissions. We used to fly from ships using only light signals. No radio. Limits what you can do in bad weather a bit, but you can hide from surveillance pretty well.

Japan says China's military strategy unclear

It's very clear actually. They want to grab Taiwan and South-China Sea.

CCP has a deadline for Taiwan capture - before 2049 (100th anniversary of CCP's rule on China)

Xi Jingping has said that they won't hesitate to use force to take Taiwan.

CCP's military/navy was half of US a decade ago. Now they are almost equal. This expansion won't stop here at equal. Right now they do not have confidence, that's why they are not attacking Taiwan. They keep checking international appetite by sending bigger and bigger air-force fleets in Taiwan's airspace. Once they have bigger military than NATO+Quad to give confidence to CCP, they'll attack Taiwan. The strategy is very clear.

And all this will happen much before 2049. Within life-time of Xi Jingping. He is very impatient to show that his legacy is bigger than Mao.

One thing that all of these east asian countries share in common minus Taiwan is the strong nationalistic agenda.

And China represents the pinnacle of this.

"China has been in beefing up its military capacity very rapidly and we are not sure what the Chinese intentions are," Japanese Defense Minister Nobuo Kishi told the European Parliament's security and defense sub-committee."

Im not a Military Expert by any stretch of the imagination, however everyone except the Japanese can understand what China's military is up to.

The purpose seems very clear, the thing that is still on doubt is how far they are willing to go to reach that purpose.

CCP's military/navy was half of US a decade ago. 

Chinese Generals got a very rude shock watching CNN during Desert Storm. In hindsight I wish the US had not allowed much of that video to be seen. The Chinese could not believe their eyes. Saddam's military organization, doctrine and equipment was not that different than that of the PLA. To see how precise western weapons were and how a numerically inferior force steamrolled the Iraqis really scared them.

It is possible the US still has some surprises left if they ever clash with the Chinese.

"China has been in beefing up its military capacity very rapidly and we are not sure what the Chinese intentions are," Japanese Defense Minister Nobuo Kishi told the European Parliament's security and defense sub-committee."

Im not a Military Expert by any stretch of the imagination, however everyone except the Japanese can understand what China's military is up to.

It's clear to everyone including Japan. "We are not sure what the Chinese intentions are" is an expression to avoid worsening relations.

Twenty-eight Chinese air force aircraft, including fighters and nuclear-capable bombers, entered Taiwan’s air defense identification zone (ADIZ) on Tuesday this week. It is the largest reported incursion to date.

It's unclear if this is a response to G7 statements over the weekend or the US Senators taking a military aircraft to Taiwan to announce the 750,000 doses of vaccine donation in early June.

Taking a military aircraft and landing in Taipei sends Beijing a message. Flying four H-6 bombers, which can carry nuclear weapons, around the southern part of Taiwan sends Taipei a message. Lots of messages are being sent from both sides.

Saddam's military organization, doctrine and equipment was not that different than that of the PLA. To see how precise western weapons were and how a numerically inferior force steamrolled the Iraqis really scared them.

Have Chinese pilots never been in a dog fight post WWII? Warbirds Extreme and Ace Combat 7 are not the same as Desert Storm.

Looking at the histories of most empires, almost all started out first setting up ways to control trade and commerce in selected regions. See China"s Belt and Road today. Greater control of trade was followed by establishing greater military presence. See Russia's European Economic Union for another current example. See the US throughout its history. See Turkey and Iran, too. See 1930s Japan.

Empires have long been the way regional and global trade has been organized. And when trade was threatened militaries were called in.

We're on a loop.

Resist empires.

Have Chinese pilots never been in a dog fight post WWII?

Lots. Hundreds at least. The PLAAF pilots were tough adversaries in the skies over Korea during the Korean War. Later in the 1950s and 1960s there were daily dogfights between the PLAAF and ROCAF over the Taiwan Straits. In fact the first use of an air to air missile in combat was on 24 September 1958. As was the case during the Korean War, the PLAAF MiG-17s had an altitude advantage and cruised at a higher altitude than the ROCAF F-86 Saber could manage, allowing the MiGs to chose the time and manner they would engage the Sabers. On that day however the ROCAF was carrying AIM-9B Sidewinders and used them to good effect downing some Chinese MiGs. However during a subsequent engagement a Sidewinder lodged in the side of a MiG without exploding. The Russians reverse engineered it, learning a great deal about guided missiles in the process, and the resulting copy the Vympel K-13 is such a close copy one may interchange parts between one and an AIM-9B and they both work.

Today the PLAAF trains hard. Find out what their Golden Helmet Award is. Modeled after Top Gun and Red Flag in the US. Warsaw Pact, Soviet and later Russian Federation pilots never trained like US and NATO pilots. They don't get much flight time and their intercepts are all rigidly controlled by ground controllers to the point where the ground controller tells the pilots when to turn sensors on and when to shoot missiles. NATO and US fighter pilots are expected to think autonomously and they fly a lot. The PLAAF is not like the Russians. They train hard.

Please forgive the CCP, they are a “developing nation”. We should support them [sic]

They're the G7 due to their history of military dominance, Replete with genocides, pillaging and plundering of other people's lands...now they're looking over their shoulders and quaking in their boots...in fear of the payback which I don't think China or any other country has any intentions to exact. Barbarians can ONLY think in barbarian's terms.

Michael MachidaToday  08:23 am JST

Im not a Military Expert by any stretch of the imagination, however everyone except the Japanese can understand what China's military is up to.

You actually believe that Japan has no idea what China is up to? LOL

Here's what China is up to. No big secret.

"Xi Jinping orders China’s military to be ready for war ‘at any second"

https://www.scmp.com/news/china/military/article/3116436/xi-jinping-orders-chinas-military-be-ready-war-any-second

The Chinese Juggernaut is clearly and dangerously starting to believe it’s own propaganda. This will either end well with a calm-headed rational realization, or it will end in tragedy on a scale we haven’t seen since WW2. 70 years unfortunately is the perfect time gap to forget the horrors of war. One generation has s all it takes by the looks.

The choice unfortunately, is completely theirs.

It’s pretty obvious Chinese military strategy.

chinese are traders. Have no desire to invade counties and steal the resources. They like friendly trading.

but certain nuclear armed countries have encircled them and threatened them military, economically and with slander.

what would you do if you have to protect the lives of 1.4 billion citizens

" You actually believe that Japan has no idea what China is up to? LOL..."

Yes. I do. The way Japan handled the Pandemic is a clear sign that the Japanese Government cannot understand how to handle life's emergencies because they are inward thinkers. So, yes. I do.

We are entering a period of extreme danger of a nuclear war. It will soon be possible for the USA to launch a first strike against China and Russia. This would leave them in the position of having to launch on warning. It does not matter if there is a strike against them. If they believe a strike against them is in progress they will be forced to launch. The old use them or lose them. China and Russia may be able to go to DEFCON 2 to survive but being at such a state of alert is dangerous. No one will win a nuclear war.

Communist China wants to take over the entire western Pacific region, and bully every neighbor in the process. They cannot be trusted; they cheat when it comes to trade; threaten war daily against neighbors; steal territory; commit genocide on a scale not seen since the Nazis; have turned peaceful, freedom loving Hong Kong into a dangerous terror state... the list of outrages is endless.

Anyone who disagrees is a collaborator with Communist China. Simple as that.

Michael MachidaToday  01:52 pm JST

" You actually believe that Japan has no idea what China is up to? LOL..."

Yes. I do. The way Japan handled the Pandemic is a clear sign that the Japanese Government cannot understand how to handle life's emergencies because they are inward thinkers. So, yes. I do.

Guess you don't read much.

"The Japanese Self-Defense Forces' first amphibious fighting unit went into full operation on Saturday, with its main mission being to defend the country's remote southwest islands in the face of China's growing maritime assertiveness."

https://english.kyodonews.net/news/2018/04/2f3bb80eb01b-japan-holds-kick-off-ceremony-for-1st-full-fledged-amphibious-force.html

"The white paper described “relentless” intrusions in waters around a group of islets claimed by both nations in the East China Sea, known as the Senkaku in Japan and the Diaoyu in China.In the South China Sea, it said Beijing was asserting territorial claims by establishing administrative districts around disputed islands that forced countries distracted by the virus outbreak to respond."

https://www.reuters.com/article/uk-japan-defence-whitepaper-idINKCN24F03S

I am actually always surprised how all the countries with history of barbaric invasions always play the China card to create hysteria. Has China invaded any country so far or has toppled the Governments?

A free world means every country in the world including China has the right to build military according to their needs. And no other country or group of countries has any right to dictate the needs or required capabilities.

Also, aren’t military plans and strategies supposed to be a secret. Does Japan know the plans and strategy of it’s allies or share its own plans with them?

If Japan doesn't deal with the situation now, she may very well one day wake up to find herself a vassal state, with Chinese bases dotted across the country and no independent foreign policy, pressured to spend public treasure to equip JSDF with Chinese made weapons (ostensibly for self defense), and kids forced to learn Chinese in school!

China wants to be a bully and like most bullies, they act differently when nations stand up to them. The last four years China, Russia, and NK have been able to do what they want because of the weak and incompetent leadership of trump. That is why they all supported trump's re-election campaign. trump was incompetent, and other nations were unwilling to work with a confirmed dishonest failed leader.

Countries are more optimistic with the credibility of the Biden administration, so they now want to work together deal with these problems that have been festering.

China being the source of the virus and lying about it makes nations more willing to work together to stop them. They are seen as an existential threat globally. Smaller less developed nations are also learning the hard way with minerals and fishing. Also setting up man made islands off the coast of nations will not fly.

The most effective means of countering China’s growing military might is to simply stop funding it. Stop outsourcing to an imperialistic, militaristic and genocidal regime and the economic capacity to fund the war machine ceases to exist.

Vastly cheaper for all concerned than being forced to fund huge increases in your own military capabilities.

but certain nuclear armed countries have encircled them and threatened them military, economically and with slander.

It is true that China has land borders with four nuclear armed countries, two in the south west and two in the north east. None of these nations has seriously threatened China militarily however. China faces zero military threats but does have unresolved border disputes with a number of nations.

China's economy has never been threatened but only been invested in by the West and major companies to maximise their own profits.

Slander is hardly the reason to build the worlds biggest and strongest military to threaten those who may "slander" them. One persons slander is another person speaking the truth as they know it.

China is secretive and does not always speak truthfully. Where western nations have free press that to some degree, keeps them honest. China has no internal mechanism to keep the CCP honest.

Japan and others must always attempt to guage Chinas intentions and purposes without the benefit of using China's press to help in doing so.

I am actually always surprised how all the countries with history of barbaric invasions always play the China card to create hysteria. Has China invaded any country so far or has toppled the Governments?

Yes China has invaded other countries and has toppled a government.

China's 20th century invasions include India, Soviet Union, Vietnam, Tibet (still occupied).

Big or small, invasions are still invasions. China is not a innocent benevolent nation under CCP rule.

Any nation not being threatened that is engaged on a seemingly unending military buildup is to be questioned on its intentions. Invading and setting up new constructed fortresses in the South China sea, in other nations recognized EEZ's is hostile. China has its own hostile past and clearly has a hostile future planned including invading Taiwan at some point in the future.

Anyone making out like calling China out on it's behavior, intentions and military buildup is just spouting "china hysteria" is an apologist for China and likely a nationalist that will defend any action China takes, good or bad.

People warned of the German Nazi buildup of it's military and we know the history of how that turned out. History is repeating.

The comments accusing China of this and that are just hilarious. The US and Europe have done much worse things in their histories, yet that doesn't seem to bother anyone.

The comments accusing the US and Europe of past history seem unable to grasp that it is the present and future that worry people much more than what has already gone and is unchangeable.

China is the worlds biggest danger today. That is what concerns the majority of the world.

Laugh all you like it just shows where you stand. The rest of us will keep one eye locked on China and its actions, which make it's words often worthless.

China is the worlds biggest danger today.

Really? According to The Guardian, US is a bigger threat to democracy than China or Russia, so who is right?

https://www.google.com/amp/s/amp.theguardian.com/world/2021/may/05/us-threat-democracy-russia-china-global-poll

Japanese is much more vague than Chinese. Japanese people should know better.

Always talking about China totally irresponsible and uneducated. Look at yourselves and then start talking. Please take care of Japanese matters first.

Alex, you actually give credence to anything written in that propaganda sheet? :) The Manchester Gardian was a respected paper espousing liberal views. It alas has fallen a long way from those days.

The comments accusing China of this and that are just hilarious. The US and Europe have done much worse things in their histories, yet that doesn't seem to bother anyone.

The 50-yuan army are out in force.

The US and Europe did bad things in history, but so did the Mongolian Empire, the Romans, etc etc .

We are talking RIGHT HERE AND NOW with Communist China - the Genocide they are perpetrating on millions of innocent Muslims is the worst genocide since Nazi Germany. Simple as that.

Communist China is the biggest threat to humanity, and the worst enemy known to freedom and democracy.

Fighto! Do you really care about Muslims? I do not believe China is killing them or working them to death. What they are doing is not right yet, Japan should not get involved. There has to be a better way than using a club on China over and over again.

chinese are traders. Have no desire to invade counties and steal the resources. They like friendly trading.

The CCP want to re-establish China as the Middle Kingdom where all the surrounding nations in Asia are tributary states under China's direct control. Don't kid yourself otherwise. The CCP does not represent the average Chinese worker or business person either. As my family in Shanghai says, "the government does what it wants and we do what we want". After the Red Guards got done with our family there is no love of or respect for the CCP. Only fear.

Countries are more optimistic with the credibility of the Biden administration, so they now want to work together deal with these problems that have been festering.

The major difference is the previous administration treated long time allies as adversaries who were viewed as being almost as bad for the US as the Chinese are. The US was waging trade wars with its allies and demanding outrageous payments from them to maintain a US troop presence. By comparison the current administration seeks to bring the US many allies together with a common approach to China, who all of these nations recognizes now as a threat. The US allies are seen as adversaries by this administration.

Fighto! Do you really care about Muslims? I do not believe China is killing them or working them to death.

You need to pay closer attention to what is going on there. With the suppression of the Tibetans, Uyghurs, Hong Kong and now the Inner Mongolians the CCP is waging war on its own people trying to forcibly make everyone in China behave like a Han Chinese while denying their own long heritages.

We are entering a period of extreme danger of a nuclear war. It will soon be possible for the USA to launch a first strike against China and Russia. This would leave them in the position of having to launch on warning. It does not matter if there is a strike against them. If they believe a strike against them is in progress they will be forced to launch. The old use them or lose them. China and Russia may be able to go to DEFCON 2 to survive but being at such a state of alert is dangerous. No one will win a nuclear war.

Sigh. This has been the case for 60 years.

Always talking about China totally irresponsible and uneducated. Look at yourselves and then start talking. Please take care of Japanese matters first.

How is defending Japan not taking care of Japanese matters first? China claims Japanese territory and increasingly has the means to take that territory by force.

Really? According to The Guardian, 

Your first mistake is quoting The Guardian. They are very far from a reliable source of honest information.

Your first mistake is quoting The Guardian. They are very far from a reliable source of honest information.

I see. They don't fit your believes, so they are not reliable. That's convenient.

Also, aren’t military plans and strategies supposed to be a secret. Does Japan know the plans and strategy of it’s allies or share its own plans with them?

To a degree yes. Allies develop their strategies jointly to respond to the situations that would invoke mutual aid, and then practice these strategies in joint exercises. It does no good if say the US has one set of plans to respond to a Chinese attack on the Senkaku Islands and Japan has a completely different plan and neither side knows the other sides plan. Instead there will be one plan both the US and Japanese implement together with the proper resources trained and available.

I see. They don't fit your believes, so they are not reliable. That's convenient.

The Guardian have been wrong wrt the US too many times going all the way back to their absolute ridiculous assessment of the US Civil War. Brits and Europeans do not understand the US. Never have and never will. The US was created in large part as a total rejection of all things European, their kings, their religions, their idle wealthy, their teaming festering cities, their constant wars, all of it. World events forced the US to ally with Europe to fend off aggressors but the differences remain, are substantial and irreconcilable.

Dessert Tortoise, while I agree with some of your above posts your last one is alas way off the mark. The USA was founded by a group of elite land and slave owning local “aristocracy” because they didn’t want to pay for the military protection provided by Britain (a lot like Japan and Korea today?) the USA was and still is far more hagridden by religion than Britain. Europeans and the British in particular well understand the USA, we have a long history of interacting with other countries and cultures going back more than a thousand years, we just don’t automatically kowtow to your lead.

The USA was founded by a group of elite land and slave owning local “aristocracy” because they didn’t want to pay for the military protection provided by Britain 

Go back and read what the Guardian wrote concerning the US Civil War. It was completely wrong. They had no idea what the Civil War was about. You also do not understand what led to the founding of the US. Taxation, specifically taxation without representation, was only part of it. The British Army confiscated American homes as they desired for use by their military. The abused people, arrested them for political offenses and denied the colonists the rights of a free press and freedom of speech. The colonists could not pass their own laws and govern their own affairs. If you read the writings of James Madison, Thomas Jefferson and John Adams you will see the founders of America were horrified by all things European and sought to rid the US of European influences to the degree that was possible. That anti European sentiment lingers in the US btw. Half of my family decamped from Europe for the US and good riddance to that miserable place. None of us want to go back. The first six Presidents of the US were not themselves Christians. They were Deists and Unitarians who rejected Christian dogma and wrote often of their hostility to it. Thomas Payne was almost violently anti-Christian. These were men of the Age of Reason where everything was subject to question and answers had to correspond to what was known in science. Miracles and royal authority were rejected outright. Brits to this day do not understand Americans. That they fancy they do proves they do not. One of the interesting things about having an immigrant background is learning the true America is absolutely nothing like what hears about abroad. It is a much harder place in many ways but by the same token you are not put down and pigeon holed the way Europeans do, especially the atrocious way Europeans including Brits look down on their minorities. A Turk in the US or an Arab has more opportunities than a Turk in Germany or an Arab in France.